Gods And Monsters

Chapter Seventy-six:

Seated at the head of the dining room table, Willow stared at the screen of her laptop, scrolling through webpages. Dawn and Amanda stood on either side of her, Kennedy behind her.

"Nothing? No records or certificates? College transcripts?" Dawn inquired.

"Looks like the only stuff in the system about Principal Robin Wood is super-recent, like since he moved to Sunnydale." Amanda observed.

"I've Googled 'til I just can't Google no more. He's not in there." Stated Willow, reclining in her chair.

"Well, that's suspicious." Kennedy remarked.

All of a sudden, Anya stormed into the room, clutching a stack of papers.

"Anya, calm down. They're educational—" Giles insisted, trailing after her.

Anya handed the papers to Willow.

"What's this?" Willow asked, flipping through the pile of crude, stick figure illustrations drawn in red and black marker. Each one depicts a gruesome, bloody mess as the creature shown is killing someone or something.

"Giles made them for Chao-Ahn, and now she's locked herself in the bathroom. There's other girls upstairs, and they're starting to complain." Anya explained.

"Those are flash cards. I–I made them to facilitate her training. Chai–Ahn never had a Watcher. The language problem—" Giles stated, attempting to justify the drawings.

"You showed her these?" Willow asked him, horrified.

"I wanted her to understand the seriousness of her situation."

"Holy crap!" Dawn exclaimed, her eyes widening as she glimpsed the flash cards, and took one from Willow. She held it up, displaying the image of a creature standing over a girl who has been ripped in half, labelled 'Turok-Han'.

"Perhaps I'll rethink the approach." Giles admitted.

Hel appeared in the doorway, black hair dripping wet from her shower and her first mug of coffee in hand. She leant one shoulder against the frame, cautiously sipping the hot beverage. The familiarity of its rich bitterness was soothing. Her gaze took in the scene before her, intrigued.

"In the meanwhile, wanna help us get researchy?" Willow invited, "We're trying to invade Buffy's date's privacy."

"Buffy has a date?"

Anya rolled her eyes. "Yes. Haven't you heard? Everybody has a date. Buffy has a date. Willow's been completely making out with this girl—"

Kennedy shot to her feet, pouting. "Hey!" 

"Spike and Hel have been mentally undressing each other for weeks now. And Xander's out with some hardware-store-whore." Anya continued unabated. "It's Date Fest 2003." She took a seat in one of the chairs with a sigh, defeated.

Hel smirked, impressed by Anya's bluntness.

"Actually, Buffy's investigating Principal Wood. It's not a date." Willow corrected her.

"Really?" Asked Giles pointedly, staring her down.

Willow caved, a guilty look on her face. "Might be a date."

"For God's sake! How can anyone think about their social life? We are about to fight the original primal evil. These girls are in mortal danger. Didn't you see the flash cards? This isn't right."

Rolling her eyes, Hel turned and strode out of the room. She followed the corridor into the kitchen, and began rummaging around for something to eat. Eventually, she found some leftover pizza in the fridge and took a few slices for herself. Stacking all three on a plate, she stuck them in the microwave.

Once her meal had been heated through, it was devoured in less than ten minutes. Hel rinsed off her plate, placed it in the sink, and brewed herself a second coffee. Then, she went outside to stand on the back porch, sipping her coffee in the cool night air.

The kitchen door creaked open behind her, and she turned around, alerted by the rusty hinges.

Clad in the infamous black leather duster she hadn't seen him wear in what felt like ages, Spike shut the door behind him.

There was a pause, a stretch of empty silence before either of them spoke.

Hel cleared her throat. "I don't know how you felt about last night, but—"

He swallowed. "Terrified."

"Of what?"

"Last night was..." He paused before finishing his sentence, averting his eyes. "God, I'm such a jerk. I can't do this."

"William..."

He used to decapitate anyone who dared to speak his birth name aloud. But when she said it, every syllable was pronounced with such eloquence and warmth that he couldn't help but feel privileged to hear his name spoken by her.

His eyes returned to hers, holding her gaze. "It was the best night of my life." Spike confessed, "It may not mean that much to you, but—"

"It did." She said softly.

"Yeah. I hear you say it, but..." He trailed off, sighing. "I've lived for sodding ever, Hel. I've done everything. But... I've been close, to anyone. Until last night. All I did was hold you, watch you sleep. And it was the best night of my life. So, yeah, I'm... Terrified."

She took a step forward, staring up at him earnestly. "You don't have to be."

"Were you there with me?" He whispered.

"I was." Hel assured him.

His brow furrowed slightly, his hopeful eyes searching hers. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know. Does it have to mean something?"

"No." He shook his head, not wanting to spoil the moment. "Not right now."

The corner of her mouth curled upward, the slant of her lips hinting at a slight smile, and she lowered her head.

Spike smiled tentatively. His fingers brushed her cheek as he extended his hand and tucked a rebellious tendril of black hair behind her ear. "We should go back inside. They might be wondering where we got off to."

She raised her head, smirking a little. "According to Anya, everyone already knows."

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh? Well, in that case."

He took ahold of her hips with both hands, pulling her against him with smug satisfaction. Cupping her face between his strong hands, he brought her mouth to his in a passionate, yet tender, kiss. Her lips parted for him instinctively, and his tongue mercilessly ravaged her mouth, making her head spin.

Their kiss ended as abruptly as it had begun, and left her reeling.

Spike released her and sauntered over to the door, holding it open. He gestured for her to proceed, smirking devilishly, as if he was aware of the effect he had on her. Dear lord, that sexy smirk of his. It possessed a power no one else's could ever hope to wield.

Attempting to conceal how breathless she was, Hel rolled her eyes as she strode past him and into the house.