Thursday, April 22nd, 2004

Spike yelled his normal greeting for anyone knocking on the door to his apartment. "Piss off!"

A nervous female voice made another muffled attempt to brave the vampire's wrath. "Mais, m'sieur, il y a-."

"An' how much do I bloody pay you lot to speak English? The sign over the door says Rick's American Café. People don't want to come here to listen to the locals prattlin' away in French as if to say bugger them if they can't understand. They can get that in every other bar in Paris. Once you walk through that front door the only time you speak French is if the customer can't understand English."

The girl continued in a slightly more halting fashion and with a sigh Spike slid out from beneath the ultramarine sheet and pulled it up to cover the bed's other occupant. She stirred slightly, moaning his name as a question. "Stay put, love. I'll see to it," he whispered before pulling on a pair of jeans and opening the door a scant six inches so that his body hid the devastation that had engulfed the loft apartment.

"Mr Wells is in the café. He says he is your intimate friend-."

"Yeah, him an' every other bloody ex-pat in the goddamn city. The only Wells I ever knew were Herbert an' his lady Amy an' I doubt they'll be comin' to call.

The missus is still tryin' to sleep off the jet lag from goin' to see her folks. Tell your Mr Wells that I'm indisposed an' if he wants to see me I'll be down when I take over from Mike at eight."

"But he says it's... important. Mr Giles... He says Mr Giles sent him and Mike said Mr Giles was a friend of yours. He said that he had visited before."

Spike sighed. "Friend's a bit of an exaggeration, but I suppose I better see what's up. Tell this Mr Wells, whoever he is, I'll come down." Spike shut the apartment door in the girl's face and began the search for his boots. He seemed to recall at least one of them being thrown in the direction of the corner by the front door during Luba's 'welcome home' last night. The one on the fire escape might prove more of a problem.

 

* * * * *

 

"Andrew..." Luba wrapped the sheet around herself to keep off the cold until she could find enough of her clothes to make herself presentable.

"What?" Spike asked. "I'll answer to Spike, William and even, if I'm in a particularly good mood when some tourist's too stupid to work out where the bar's name comes from, to Rick, but Andrew's a new one."

"Andrew Wells, brother of Tucker Wells?" she expanded as she raided her underwear drawer.

"The video voyeur?" Spike gave a snort of disgust. "Great! So we're the Watcher's latest excuse to get him out of his hair... an' he thinks that's gonna buy him favours."

"How do you know he's wanting a favour?"

"They only ever get in touch when they want something. Miss Prissy Britches still has her knickers in a twist about Dawn thermidor an' the Watcher barely spoke when I was on her approved list. If you hadn'ta been human you'd have been staked before she even heard the explanation an' I doubt the pair of us hookin' up earned either of us any extra brownie points. If they're sendin' out the search parties rather than pickin' up the phone, then the teen slayers have been bitin' off more than they can chew again playin' hunt the Turok-Han."

"The phone's been unplugged for the better part of a day, Spike. If he was nearby, they might have been trying to call, and you haven't replaced the computer monitor from when you were trying to balance the books two weeks ago, so Willow might have emailed." As she spoke, she pulled her hair loose of the roll neck of her sweater and then she retrieved Spike's Doc Marten from the balcony at the back of their apartment before finding her own socks and her boots, zipping them up while Spike was still tying his laces. "I'm ready. Let's go see if you're right, Mr Vamp-yr-a."

Spike swatted at her bottom as she swayed past him toward the door that separated their living quarters from the café bar that provided them both with a living. "Don't you start, wench. The boy's bad enough."

 

* * * * *

 

"Look, it isn't like you don't know the story..." Andrew argued. "Angel bore the amulet of mystical sunlight until he had slain scores of the foul Turok-Han brethren, but in doing so was gravely burned himself before Buffy pulled the mystical pendant from him. Half the school disappeared in a massive crater and although through the day we were able to keep them confined in their dark subterranean lair at the cost of many lives, with the coming of evening we were forced to flee from their overwhelming numbers.

Buffy chose to stay, tending to her demon lover and continuing to patrol the Hellmouth itself. Willow, once more heartbroken by the death of yet another beautiful and powerful lesbian lover chose to retreat to Cleveland to aid those of the newly chosen who defend humanity against the evil which is drawn to that pit of hell. Anya, the excessively attractive former demon, has been charged with the task of finding the new slayers and explaining to them the duty that comes with their power, with the help of her trusty paramour, Xander... Well, actually he's more of a hindrance. For some reason, when a guy with an eye-patch starts trying to explain to a thirteen year old girl that she has a sacred duty to fight the world's evil, they don't seem to want to listen."

"This is all old news, geek boy."

"Heyyyy. I am geek boy no longer. I am Mr Giles' right hand man. I have a pivotal role to play in rebuilding the council of watchers to its former magnificence."

"Really? Thought the council used to be known for its library of arcane texts and prophecies, not its collection of Star Trek DVDs? An' I get that Blondie can't bear to leave Bad Hair Boy's bedside but wasn't the second string slayer meant to be trackin' down all the nasties that escaped? Her an' that smoother than snot boyfriend of hers?"

"Faith and Robin are in Peru. The Nosferatu seem to have established some sort of enclave there and our brave heroes have been forced to fight a campaign of attrition. Besides, we haven't managed to work around the whole convicted murderess thing and get her a passport. Within the confines of North and South America she is able to infiltrate her beautiful and acrobatic way across the borders, but alas she is unable to purchase passage on the wingèd machines, which daily cross the natural barrier known as the Atlantic Ocean."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "I suspect that the guys she's chasin' didn't travel British Airways neither, but I have a feeling that you're gonna tell us they're here anyway. Just spit it out, 'cause my food's comin' an' I plan to give it my undivided attention." Andrew's eyes widened in anticipation as he recognised the familiar flowering onion that they had eventually resumed serving at The Bronze, once the civilian population trickled back. "This one's mine. You want one, then order your own," the vamp snapped.

"We think they got aboard a container ship, possibly offloaded in Hamburg."

"Hamburg's a long way from gay Paris. Why are you coming to me?"

"The new slayers have been working in teams and they've managed to take out stragglers but the group of supernaturally gifted ladies who we're worried about should have reported in yesterday. We haven't heard anything and Giles is worried that the longer the foul vampyrès have to acclimate to their new home, the more deadly they'll become. Mr Giles was hoping you would be able to leave straight away. He's hoping because you've spent some time there that you would have an advantage over any newcomers."

"One, no way I'm going anywhere until after the weekend. It's my girl's birthday on Monday an' we've got quite the bash planned for Saturday night, an', two, quit with the Mr Mysterioso crap an' tell us where this is that the watcher thinks I know so well, 'cause I sure as hell don't remember tradin' memories with him."

"Prague."

Spike began to cough convulsively, trying to clear his windpipe of the irritating chunk of deep-fried onion which had lodged there. "He's got to be joking. Last time I left Prague it was one step ahead of a lynch mob."

"There's no one else with the expertise to pull it off, and Giles says we can't afford to let them get a foothold or they'll colonise all of Europe."

"'An' besides I promised the lady when we moved here, that by her next birthday we'd have our own place... in Paris... and the bar would be a success an' she'd have all her new friends to invite to the hottest party in town. Now, I've worked my arse off to make it happen an' happen it will."

Luba shook her head, stealing one of the petals from his onion with an impunity that Andrew obviously envied. Up to a point she'd been happy for the two men to discuss things between them while she listened, but only so far. "They're right. Somebody has to take them out before they get too established or they'll spread out right across Europe. Prague's meant to be nice or so I hear. I'll settle for a birthday trip to the Czech Republic."

"Now, just hold up. These damn things are dangerous. I'm not taking you."

"And I'm not going to sit hundreds of miles away wondering what the hell's happening. It's not like I haven't gone with you when you've hunted before."

"These things are different... an' besides I promised you Paris for your birthday."

"You should know... 'We'll always have Paris'."

 

* * * * *

 

"The atlas says it's a straight thousand miles. We're going to have to borrow a car or rent one, either that or stop overnight in Stuttgart or something."

"The atlas is either talkin' bollocks or you've misread the units, love, 'cause you can do it easy overnight. I'd guess it's a bit over six hundred, which if you take a thousand an' multiply by five eighths would work out. An' a good chunk of that is autobahn as well, so no speed limit, even for those as might worry about gettin' a ticket or two." He gave Luba a teasing look.

"You don't have a car? Giles said you had a huge American thing the size of a bus."

"It's in the shop. Yearly strip down an' rebuild an' even if it wasn't the streets in Prague aren't designed for wide cars."

"So how're you going to get there? Mr Giles said I should travel with you."

"Sorry, no spare helmets," Spike gave an insincere smile. "An' it's not like we can afford the time to get pulled over."

"The hog out front is yours? That is so cool."

"Like I'm goin' to have the stars an' stripes on the fuel tank of any bike of mine? The Harley is hers. Mine's the Triumph."

"I can get a helmet. It'll be like Torque or something. Me at your back, holding on tight to your compactly muscular body, a huge, throbbing machine between our legs."

Spike smirked as he watched Luba's hackles rise, knowing she would put Andrew in his place.

"If a woman gave my man that kind of look I would bitch slap it off her face, and don't think I'm going to double up with him and let you have my hog, either. I might not like it quite as much as I like him, but I like it too much to trust it to someone that handles an ATV the way you do."

"But-."

"I dare say you'll find a plane, or a train or a rental car that'll get you there."

Spike gave a sardonic smile and offered the boy a crumb as he prepared to leave. "Time we packed our gear. I guess, if you make it, we might run into you at Charles Bridge a bit after sunset tomorrow."

"But Mr Giles-."

"Is your boss, not mine or his..." Luba cut short Andrew's protests. "He asked for Spike's help and he'll get it, but he can't dictate to either of us." She rose from her seat, Spike slipping an arm around her waist. "It's been a pleasure. I guess we'll see you in Prague."

 

* * * * *

 

"I need a shower and-."

"Sounds like a plan." Spike's smile ratcheted up a notch.

"And you need to pack."

"S'long as we've got the plastic, an' maybe some jeans an' a pair of boots that you don't mind goin' underground in, we can get anything else while we're there. We can pick up some toys easy enough. Unless things have changed a hell of a lot you can buy swords an' stuff in the Town Square an' I know where we can pick up a couple of crossbows. It'll be easier than tryin' to get them 'cross borders."

"So, how come the rush to pack? Sundown's not for another hour and a half."

"Well," he answered, as he ushered her toward the bathroom, unbuttoning his shirt. "Figure before we head off, I better finish the 'welcome home'."

Luba turned, draping her arms around his neck and interspersing her words with kisses. "No point showering just yet, then. You'll only get me all dirty again." With a little jump, she wrapped her legs around his body.

Spike continued towards the bathroom in any case, carrying Luba with him. "Yeah, but I love it when you're all slippery an' wet."

 

* * * * *

 

Friday, April 23rd, 2004

They took it in turns to take the lead as they travelled, almost like a game of high speed tag. It was motorway almost all the way there, only downgrading to an 'A' road after they had passed Nurnberg and were on the last stretch. Thanks to a couple of breaks, it was after three by the time they arrived, Spike taking the lead as they made their way into and traversed the city. The outskirts were as bleak as anything Luba had witnessed in any of the conurbations she was familiar with, tracts of cheap housing that was coming towards the end of its useful life, walls covered in graffiti.

As they neared the city centre the housing was older, and where the walls weren't covered with plaster you could see that they were often of sandstone rather than brick. Still, many of them seemed like grand old ladies who had let themselves go, their beautiful and ornate façades in much need of cleaning, or fresh paint that wasn't in the form of some local vandals' tag. Finally, in the very centre of the city, the town seemed to regain its former glory, the buildings there having been kept up as befitted their original grandeur. Many had the look of Art Nouveau, but most were older still and for Luba it sank in that this city must have been a prosperous place before Columbus even set sail for his New World. The narrow streets made the four and five storey buildings seem much taller, as Spike led them through the seemingly complicated one way system, where some of the roads ran alongside tramlines and in some cases followed them, yet in others the trams appeared to be the only traffic allowed.

When Spike pulled into a back lane and stopped at the rear of one of the houses, Luba pulled off her helmet, shaking her hair free, and gave him a questioning look, her eyebrow raising even farther as he hopped onto the seven foot wall that separated the small yard at the back of the property from the lane they were in.

"Left my keys inside, pumpkin."

"This is yours?"

Spike answered with a wicked grin. "Let's just say that the title deeds made their way into the hands of my solicitor a while back." In seconds, the vampire had scaled the building, making his way to a window four floors above ground level and pushing it open. As his feet disappeared through the gap, Luba unzipped the front of her biker's jacket and set her bike on its stand, unstrapping the large leather panniers on either side of the motorcycle. Almost before she was done, she could hear the rattle of Spike unlocking the house's back door. By the time she had walked up and down a bit to relieve the stiffness in her legs, Spike opened a door in the back wall and ushered her inside. "You go make yourself at home, princess. I'll sort the bikes out."

 

* * * * *

 

"So, what now?"

"Now, you get to pick a room, get rid of the dust sheets while I see to the fire an' then, you get some sleep while I go see a man about a couple of crossbows an' try givin' Rupert a ring to see if his tribe of Amazons have made it back onto the radar yet. See if he knows any more than boy blunder's lettin' on about where they were pokin' around before they went missin'."

"And that's all?" she asked.

Spike rolled his eyes, knowing she could easily spot him in the whitest of lies. "Well, I thought as maybe I might scout out where they were, or if the Watcher doesn't know, maybe check some of the more obvious places. Nothin' heroic, love, leastways, not unless I happen to trip over a gaggle of teenage girls in chains."

Luba gave him a hard stare before conceding. "Okay... only because those girls could be in danger and because when I'm this tired I'd be more of a distraction than a help. No stupid risks, okay?"

"No stupid risks... I'm no Champion Wanker and the only woman I'm looking to impress is goin' to be curled up in bed asleep an' unable to be impressed by anythin' I don't get back to tell her about."

"Curled up in bed not sleeping till you make it home, honey," she told him, even though the weariness of a transatlantic flight followed up within a day by an eight hour motorbike ride was clear in her voice.

Spike leant in and took her face between his hands, letting his forehead rest against hers as he looked into her soul. "Baby, I'm going to be gone three, four hours, but I will be back around sun up. In the meantime, you need some sleep. Set the alarm on your cell phone for when I'm due back if you have to, but you've got to try to get a few hours at least. Promise me, sweetie, please. Else Giles' harem can get chewed up one by one by my Neanderthal predecessors for all I care."

"Couldn't you just call me every hour so I know you're okay?"

"Don't think our cell company covers Czechoslovakia or whatever it's callin' itself these days, either that or we're in a dead zone. I've got no signal at any rate. Stay, love. Sleep, and if I'm not back by half an hour after sun up, then get in touch with Rupert, but no worryin' before then. Come morning I need you to go shoppin' for swords an' maybe pick up a couple of phones that'll work, but you'll be no use if you're in zombie mode. I need you ready for anything... Promise."

"Sure, you know you can talk me into anything, you silver-tongued limey. Even when it goes against my better judgment."

Spike's eyes showed his relief. "I'll be back."

 

* * * * *

 

'What the hell am I doing back here?' Spike asked himself as he made his way through the tunnels that wound their way under the city. 'An' more to the point, what the blazes am I meant to be able to do that four slayers couldn't?'

The vamp desperately wanted to light another cigarette but he knew that the smell would mask his senses and if the Turok-Han were nearby, then the last thing he needed was for them to be aware of him before he knew they were there. Nevertheless, he kept finding the packet in his hands. Mostly in an effort to stop this automatic reflex, he decided to unpack one of the crossbows that he carried in a bag slung across his back even though he was still a little way off from the area that Giles had been told that girls were going to check. The bows were large and bulky, but they needed to be. Anything with a lower poundage would be insufficient to penetrate the ubervamps' natural armour around their hearts. He didn't like them at all, or to be more precise he didn't like the idea of Luba having no more than one of them between her and one of the vamps. The gearing required to load his own weapon made it seem impossibly slow, Luba's far more so. Even if they came across the creatures in a wide open area the odds were against either of them managing a second shot.

Everything about this whole scenario reeked. Without Luba's help, he had doubts about his own survivability. With her assistance, he had doubts about hers. The girls they were looking for were most likely dead already. If they weren't, then the ubervamps were getting smart enough to keep a milk cow or two, and if that were the case, smarter was scary and those things on a diet of slayer blood was even scarier.

The distant sound of heavy-footed movement in one of the side tunnels was enough to interrupt the vamp's musings and he was glad of the distraction. He paused to confirm that the prowler was heading his way and then silently slipped into position where he could fire from the cover of another tunnel mouth. He focused his aim at chest height, waiting for his target to come into the line of fire. His finger gently squeezed the trigger and only at the last instant did he swing the bow wide.

Andrew's eyes bulged as he stared at the metal tipped bolt that was solidly stuck into the wall by his head. Spike could see him drawing breath to protest and closed the gap between them with inhuman speed, his hand covering the youth's mouth, until Spike could march him to a nearby exit from the sewer system and get him out. Once the fledgling watcher was back on the city's streets rather than under them Spike spared him one word. "Wait."

Andrew fidgeted until the other blond returned and then went straight into whine mode. "You shot at me."

"If I'd shot at you, you'd be dead. What the hell are you playin' at wandering around the sewers, not even armed?"

"Am too," Andrew protested, pulling several liquid-filled balloons from his coat pocket. "Holy water bombs. Good for letting me get a head start with the running. And Mr Giles said that he'd told you the girls were checking the sewers southwest of Wenceslas Square."

"Guess he really must be fed up of you, but that still doesn't explain why you were northeast of Wenceslas Square an' heading northwest."

" Oh!," Andrew's hands waved in the air at various angles until he worked out that he had been on the wrong side of the long, thin square and going parallel to it rather than toward it. "And what do you mean he's fed up of me?"

"The bloody things took out four slayers an' you don't think that sendin' you anywhere near them was one of Rupert's 'Make People Dead' missions?"

"Actually, Mr Giles said to try to make contact when you left the sewers but I decided to use my own initiative."

"Nice to know he's worried about one of us coming back." Spike reloaded the cumbersome crossbow and then placed it gently on the ground to one side, deciding to have that cigarette he'd been craving before he ventured back underground. He eyed Andrew up and down. "You have two choices. You head on back to your hotel an' stay the hell out of my way or you head in there ahead of me, going in the right direction this time, and use your clumsy arse as bait. Your choice."

 

* * * * *

 

Spike actually let up on the geek so far as to let him temporarily trade his holy water balloons for Luba's new crossbow, but only after he had issued sufficient warning of what would happen to Andrew should he happen to live through any encounter where he lost or damaged the weapon.

The vampire did his best to ensure that the other man never left his sight, whilst trying to maintain sufficient distance between the two to allow the young man to draw in any of the Turok-Han who might be in the area without their prey realising Spike was there, but it was an awkward balance to maintain. Spike had to dart from the mouth of one side tunnel to the next, relying on the fact that the flashlight Andrew by necessity carried would blind the other vampires to his own presence in the shadows.

When the attack came Andrew twisted to one side, getting his back against one of the side walls and leaving Spike's line of sight clear, if only for a fraction of a second, and it was all the blond needed. Andrew's own shot embedded itself in the ubervamp's shoulder before it turned to dust and Spike winced, knowing if there were more than one of the creatures around they would pay dearly for the wasted shot. He rushed to work the lever on his own bow as he closed the gap between himself and Giles' protégé. Until one of them had a loaded bow, the boy was an exposed target. He cranked the lever back five times before the heavy wire slipped into place and he could load the bolt. Andrew struggled with the unfamiliar mechanism on his own, more used to a stirrup crossbow that was adequate for tackling normal vampires. Spike would have swapped, but given the fact that Andrew's last shot at almost point blank range had missed its target he decided that they were both safer if he had the loaded weapon.

Once Andrew had finally finished reloading, Spike motioned the boy to take the tunnel from which their assailant had emerged. He didn't want to give the boy false hope, but there was a hint of some sort of perfume in the air that was certainly nothing to do with the malformed vampire they had just killed. There was also the scent of blood.

The vampire wanted to move faster than Andrew was going, thankful at least that his race's forerunners didn't seem to have developed speech and so they were unable to check on their missing companion by any means other than physically investigating his whereabouts. After they passed by what Spike knew was the last side tunnel before a larger room that must once have been the cellar of some largish building, both scents became stronger. Spike placed a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Switch off the flashlight until the trouble starts. I'll go first from here. Be as quiet as you can, and if there's more than one in there, wait for me to shoot and then pass me your bow," he whispered.

Things didn't go quite according to plan. As they neared the cavern's entrance Spike was able to make out two of the creatures they were hunting. They had their backs to him and were blessedly preoccupied with the girls that they had chained up against the far wall... or at least they were until they were distracted by the sound of Andrew stumbling in the darkness. Spike loosed a bolt as they turned toward them, taking out one of the pair, but was caught off guard by the creature that appeared instantly before him, having been standing just to one side of the cellar's entrance. It ripped the weapon from Spike's grasp, knocking the blond off balance. Spike tucked into a roll that brought him to his feet again in a spot nearer the centre of the room than he would have liked. The two creatures circled him, using wolf pack tactics, each waiting until he was forced to give the other his attention before lashing out with razor-like claws. Spike pulled his best remaining weapon from his pocket. Too crude to really qualify as a stake, it was simply a piece of green wood that he had broken from a tree branch. He tried to manoeuvre into a position where he could put his back to something but the pair started out with an advantage and were rapidly increasing it. His leather duster was slashed in several places and a cut on his forehead was trickling blood that he knew would soon partially obscure his vision. Spike let the change come over him as he launched himself at one of the pair, demon against demon.

It was Andrew's cue. He still hadn't turned his flashlight back on, knowing that it would alert the primeval vampires to his presence, but the cellar was illuminated by a couple of flickering torches and after Spike had been drawn into hand to hand he had known that he had to wait however long it took him to make his one shot count. While the three had manoeuvred for position he hadn't dared fire for fear of hitting Spike, but when Spike lunged at one of the vampires, taking both himself and it out of Andrew's line of sight, the younger man was fortunate enough to be aiming at the heart of the other with the bow seated firmly against his shoulder. This time, his aim was true.

Spike's unexpected attack had carried both him and his remaining opponent off their feet, the more primitive vamp's head colliding with the wall as they fell, though it seemed to do little to deter the beast. Spike crawled his way up the foul-scented body raining blows to its legs and lower torso, trying to keep it down on the ground while he himself struggled to rise despite the kicks it managed to land on his own not quite so impervious chest.

Andrew moved up to the room's entrance. As well as the two girls chained to the far wall, there were two chained to the side wall. He looked in horror at the bite marks all over the naked and unmoving body of one of the pair, transfixed for seconds even as Spike struggled for his life.

The Turok-Han managed to bring a leg up between it and Spike, using its powerful muscles to launch the blond against the far wall. Spike slumped there, inches from the slayer's suspended corpse, waiting for the primitive to come to him, his inability to take the fight to the other vamp only partially feigned. The creature charged at him with an ungainly yet effective lope, and Spike let his head loll slightly to one side, leaving his neck exposed. It took the bait and Spike couldn't prevent his howl of pain as its teeth ripped into his flesh. He grabbed the torch above his head, yanking it from its sconce, and set the flame to the other vamp's back, even as his leg wrapped around one of those of the Turok-Han, so that, as it tried to back away, it tripped and landed on its back. Spike pressed forward, pushing the burning brand into its flesh even as it briefly tried to roll to put the fire out before it exploded into a cloud of dust.

Dropping the torch to the ground, Spike clamped a hand against his neck. Blood flowed from between his fingers at a discomfiting rate and he struggled to remove his shirt to make a dressing for the wound. "Get the ones that are still alive an' see if they know whether there are any more of them things around. But before you undo the chains, make sure they know I'm on their side. Not in the mood for some psycho slayer tryin' to stake me while I'm meant to be rescuin' her arse, even if I do give her the tinglies."

 

* * * * *

 

"Spike?" Luba came running through from the kitchen to the house's front door at the sound of its opening. She was already fully dressed, and had been debating for the last ten minutes whether to go in search of a phone box to contact Giles or stay where she was in case Spike turned up and needed her help.

She froze in shock when she saw the tears in his beloved leather coat and the bloody wounds on his forehead and neck.

"S'not as bad as it looks, pet. Just get me a bath an' maybe strap up my ribs an' once I get some blood down my neck I'll be fine."

Luba helped him to the sofa in the living room and then banked up the wood-burning stove in the kitchen, filling every available kettle and pan that would fit on its surface, having discovered earlier that unsurprisingly neither the gas nor the electricity in the house was working. Then, when preparations were underway, she returned to where the vampire was waiting. "You promised no heroics," she accused with a beady eye.

"Unless I ran into a gaggle of teenage girls chained to a wall. Well, actually it was two walls an' one of them was already dead, but..."

"But you got the rest of them out?"

"The Watcher's apprentice took them back to his hotel. He was goin' to get a quack out to have a look at them." Spike didn't mention that after he had left Andrew and the girls he had gone back to "make sure" that the dead girl wasn't a threat, severing her head with a small hunting knife that he had picked up from the same supplier as the crossbows.

"And the Turok-Han?"

"S'far as we can tell we got the lot, but I said we'd catch up with the boy an' any of the slayers as have some fight left in them come sundown an' we can do a proper search, make sure. At least we know the bows work."

"Tell me there's a local equivalent to Willy's where we can get some decent blood for you."

"Even better. They deliver. If you take out some spare crowns when you go shopping, an' if you can get phones that we can switch the sim cards into ours so that we don't need to wait ten hours for them to charge or somethin' stupid like that, I'll ring them when you get back."

"Okay. Now you can explain how come I get left at home while you go vamp-hunting with Andrew, huh?"

 

* * * * *

 

The following day passed uneventfully. By the time the water was ready, Spike had his bath and Luba had dressed his various wounds, both of them had been ready to simply climb back into bed and rest for a couple of hours. Later, Luba had gone out to run the various errands that were needed and get something to eat. She had even managed to pick up a couple of shirts to replace the one that was damaged. As Spike had attested, they were able to have a ready stock of blood delivered to the house. Then, while the vampire slept a healing sleep, she painstakingly repaired his coat, ready for their nighttime outing before she joined him in their bed again.

The day turned out to be overcast and Spike judged it safe for them to venture out into the shady streets early enough for a quiet meal before they met Andrew and the slayers. He took her to a bar cafe not dissimilar to their own, except this one called itself Jo's American Cafe. They didn't do the onion, but the selection of Tex/Mex food was plentiful, cheap and tasty. "Once we know we've got rid of all the bug uglies we'll have a proper night out. Posh frock, dinner at the Grand, opera even, if you want."

Luba smiled, knowing whatever he said he was happiest in the more low-rent places. "We'll see." 

Spike shook his head. "I insist. Birthday Treat. An' you might as well take advantage 'cause that sort of night out would probably cost you ten times as much in Paris... unless you want to turn around and do the return trip tonight. We could still make your party tomorrow."

Luba wrinkled her nose and echoed Spike's head shake with one of her own. "I saw enough on my little shopping trip to know that I want to see more. The buildings here are amazing, not least the mini-mansion where we're living."

"Squatting," he corrected her. "These days, gas and electricity are required before you can officially call it living. The thing is by the time we can get someone out to connect everything we'd be going back home. If you fancy a longer stay, I think we best get a hotel."

Luba considered. If Spike was classing this break as part of her birthday celebrations, he'd probably book them into a five star hotel in the middle of the tourist district on principle, which considering he had a five storey house on the slopes below the castle seemed pretty pointless to her, even if it did take two hours to get a bath ready. "How about a compromise? We check it out see if we can get an overnight flight or train back to Paris. We have the celebrations that you've spent months planning, if I know you, with all our friends. Then, a couple of weeks from now or whatever, assuming with a bit of advance notice you can get the utilities hooked up, we come back for a couple of weeks and then take the bikes home."

Spike smiled. "Sounds good to me. Can't say I would have been thrilled to be here next Friday."

"Next Friday?"

"April thirtieth. Czech version of Walpurgisnacht, or nicht, or whatever."

Luba's eyes softened in a sympathetic smile. "By all means let's skip the witch burning. We got a deal?"

"Deal. Anyway, yer mum would have been right brassed off when she gets into Paris tomorrow if you hadn't been there."

"You're flying my mom over for the party and you weren't going to tell me? Not to mention her saying nothing when I saw her this week."

"Well, I said I'd asked all your friends. Didn't you think she qualified?"

"Okay, mister, you realise that now we have to go back tonight, even if my butt ends up so numb from sitting on that Harley that I think my legs are going to fall off. You forget you're dating an old woman."

"Younger than Johnny Rotten or Lemmy an' they're still goin' strong... An', yeah, beautiful, I do forget, 'cause when I'm round you, 'old' doesn't come into it... just 'woman' an' 'mine'."

Luba knew just what he meant because when he looked at her like that, damned if she didn't forget as well. That meant more to her than any present, any holiday, any party or any other grand gesture that the vampire might have planned. His extravagances were romantic, exciting and wonderful, but nothing compared to simply being with him. If someone said she could be twenty again she still wouldn't trade the last year she had had with him. Wherever they ended up celebrating she knew this would be her best birthday yet.