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Angel’s on the phone ordering Chinese (can’t you tell I love Chinese food?), “Yeah, hold the duck sauce. Uh-huh. And if you could throw in some extra egg rolls… yeah, be there.” Spike comes in and heads right for the stairs. “Ok, bye. Spike? What’re you doing here?”
“Hmm? Sorry?”
“You’re supposed to be tracking Moon.”
“She saw me. Going to go to that club later to make nice.”
“When later?”
“Good, that’s good.”
“Are you ok?”
“Hmm? Sorry, zoned out again. Who was the ring for?”
“Chinese. Maybe you should have some blood. You look..” The phone rings, Angel answers, “Yeah? Oh, hi. No, I have to call you back, business. Soon. Bye.” When he hangs up the phone, Spike’s gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike goes into his room. He goes to his dresser and pulls out a metal box that had been resting next to Autum’s old one. He sits down on his bed and opens the box. It’s full of poems and letters that he’d written and received. “She knows me too well.” He sifts through them and pulls out a picture of Autum in a 19th Century dress. “What are you doing here, pet?” He rummages some more and finds a letter. He smiles when he reads it, they puts his box aside and brought out Autum’s box.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy opens the box. There’s nothing in it except a carving of a rose on the bottom of it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Gunn yells.
“Maybe another spell.” Xander proposes.
“There’d be a trace of it.” Buffy says softly.
“I guess that means we’re at odds ends. Whatever was there’s gone.” Spike admits in defeat.
“Maybe the first time we tried to open it… with the..” Willow waves her hands around trying to explain it.
“Yeah!” Xander agrees, “Self-destructed.”
“Yeah!”
“Maybe.” Buffy sighs.
~~~~~~~~~~
Spike opens the box and rests his hand on the engraving, it begins to glow. Spike pulls his hand out of it, then cautiously touches it again.
~~~~~~~~~~
“That’s the last time I use a wooden cross!” Xander declares in anger.
“It wasn’t your fault!” Willow Tells him.
“That was blessed by monks! AND soaked in holywater for a century. You can even use it as a stake! And now it’s all burnt up.”
Spike runs in with the box, “I know how to open it.”
“Take off the lid?” Xander guesses.
“Watch.” He touches the rose and it does that glowy thing. “The rose is an ancient symbol for protection. Especially in spells that go too far back to date! But the original meaning is ‘to conceal’ not ‘to protect’.” The rose dissipates as the false bottom burns to ash. At the bottom of the box is a key.
“What’s that to?”
~~~~~~~~~
Voice looks at his minion, “So they found the key?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Interesting, I didn’t think she’d let them do that. Take it.”
“Yes, sir.”
~~~~~~~
“Buffy, maybe we should take a break.” Willow sighed over to the Slayer.
“Yeah, Buff. There’s got to be somewhere around here to party.” Xander chimes in.
“Sunset.” is the only reply they receive.
“Sunset?” Willow says, moving closer to Buffy, concerned.
“It’s a club. A little demony, but not all… arg I’m going to rip your throat out. Humans go too.”
“And how do you know this?” Xander asks Buffy in his macho-fatherly voice.
“I’ve kinda lived here twice.”
~~~~~~~~~~
A guy with brown hair down to his shoulders is pacing back and forth in a tiny room. Autum watches him pace for a while. “Would you chill out Sky? If you’re not careful you’ll turn into a lawyer or something.”
“Sorry.” Sky sits down.
“It’s like you’ve never player a gig before!” She gets up and knocks on a door, “Ducks? You ready?”
Connor emerges from the door, “I guess.” Mitch runs into the room hyperventilating. He looks a around the room, then panickingly looks at Autum.
“I can’t find my drumsticks!” he squeaks.
“Search.” Autum lets loose a spell. The drumsticks fly out from under the couch and smack Mitch in the head. Sky laughs.
“Very funny!”
“I wasn’t exactly laughing, pet.”
“I was.” Sky tells them, raising his hand.
“We’re on in five. What’s our line-up?”
“Usual?” Connor asks.
“As we go? Wing it her tonight?” She looks at Connor, then smiles, “You’re insane, and I love you for it.” She kisses him and the manager pokes his head in.
“Ayant…”
“Got it, love.”
“The girls’ll dance. You gotta supervise the make-up”
“Black, black, and more black?”
“Don’t forget the deal. You have to dance too.”
“Don’t blow your top off! I’m headed to wardrobe now!”
~~~~~~~
Spike’s sitting at a table in the club, downing a beer. Autum runs out of the back with her hair piled up on her head and very gothic make-up on. Heavy eyeliner, creepy pale, dark lipstick, mucho mascara, the works. She’s dressed in a trench coat. She immediately rushes up to the bartender.
“Phil, I need a drink.”
“What did Dorkly do now?”
“DONLY is letting the band play tonight.”
“Really? Great!”
“Eh, one condition. I have to give some bloke a lap dance onstage. There’s this rich bugger from New York he wants me to ‘convince’ to ‘donate’ a whole bunch of money.”
“Good luck.” He picks up a beer bottle.
“And just look at this outfit!” She opens the trench coat and Phil drops the bottle, “Get a grip, mate!”
Spike turns and sees Phil handing her a beer, “Here’s your beer.”
“Thanks love.” She turns and sees Spike, rushing over to him. “Spike, you came!”
“Seemed a pity not to.” She throws her arms around him in a hug, then quickly pulls away.
“Kind of glad you did. Never seen the band before.”
“Band?”
“It’s tough to get local gigs when over half of you aren’t human.”
“Guess it would at that.”
Autum looks around, “Well, kitten. I’d best be getting back. I’ll look for you.” She winks as she disappears behind door number one.
Phil sizes up the young man Ayant had been talking to. Over her time here, Phil had learned that she didn’t always have the best taste in men. He saw it as his duty to protect her. “How do you know our Ayant?”
The young man looks at him confused, “You mean Autum?”
“Pretty well, then.” Spike nods, “Lucky you.”
“Pardon?”
Phil chuckles, “You’ll see.”
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