Mission Implausible

Part Five: The Mission - Infiltration

"I don’t have anything to wear!" Xander whined as he held his hands out for emphasis. The girls just looked at him with raised eyebrows. "What?"

"We just bought you a whole new wardrobe," Willow reminded him.

"But I’ve worn everything!" Xander exclaimed.

"It’s called mixing-and-matching, Xan," Buffy said patiently. "We bought you extra tops to wear with the bottoms. Come on," she said, getting up. "We’ll show you. Again."

Buffy led Xander to the training room and stopped in front of the rack of clothes. "Here," she pulled out a plum-colored silk t-shirt and the silver leather pants. "Wear this." She looked at Xander who was staring at the outfit in horror. "What?"

"Th-that shirt, it’s purple," he said.

"Plum," Buffy corrected, her tone indicating her patience was waning.

"Purple, and it’s a girly color," Xander insisted.

"Dark purple, and it is a very manly color," Buffy growled. "Now put them on." She handed the clothes to Xander and stormed out of the room.

Xander had pulled on the leather pants and was looking for the tag so he could put the t-shirt on right, when Spike wandered into the room.

"Nice combo," he said, making Xander jump and drop the shirt. "Or that way," Spike said with a shrug, then moved over to the rack and picked out a shirt to go with his black leather pants. He chose the red silk button-up shirt. He wanted to look every inch the Master Vampire tonight.

Spike shrugged his duster off and tossed it on the couch, then untied his boots and toed them off. When he reached for the button on his jeans, Xander shrieked, "What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed," Spike said, turning his head to look at Xander, but not halting his movements. Moments later his jeans dropped to the floor and he stepped out of them. Xander’s eyes dropped, and then he slammed them shut. Spike wasn’t wearing any underwear!

"Oh, God, my eyes!" he cried, slapping his hands over them, though they were already closed.

Spike just laughed and reached for the leather pants. "Best bum you’ve seen in, well, ever," he said with no modesty at all. He stepped into the leather pants and pulled his t-shirt off before zipping and buttoning them. He pulled the silk shirt off the hanger and took a moment to revel in the feel of it against his skin before slipping his arms into the sleeves.

He sat down and pulled on the boots without buttoning the shirt. He loved the way it felt as the silk whispered over his flesh. Standing, he buttoned three middle buttons, leaving the rest undone. He grabbed his new jacket, and looked over at Xander who was still standing there, just staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"How’d you do that so fast?" he asked.

"It’s a talent," Spike joked. "Hurry up, sweetums. Don’t wanna miss the party." Spike sauntered out of the back room with an extra swing in his step.

Xander hurriedly pulled the t-shirt on and then the boots. He grabbed his jacket and followed Spike. When he got to the shop, Spike was leaning against the counter listening to the girls’ chattering. He looked at Xander and shook his head.

"What?" Xander asked softly when he reached the vampire.

Spike ran his fingers through Xander’s hair. "There," he said. "That’s better."

When they both looked back at the table, the three girls and Giles were all staring at them. "What?" they both asked.

***

When Spike and Xander arrived at Kormac’s estate, the party was in full swing. Just inside the front door they were met by Gregho’r. The creature led them to the ballroom.

"Spike, William the Bloody, childe of Angelus, and his near-Consort, Alexander," Gregho’r announced to those already assembled.

"What was that all about?" Xander whispered. A hush fell over the room as everyone turned to examine them.

"No idea," Spike whispered back, though he had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

Kormac was immediately by their side. "Good evening, gentlemen," he enthused. "I’m so glad you could make it. Please," he turned to indicate the room. "Let me introduce you to everyone."

As they were circling the room, Gregho’r appeared with a tray holding two drinks. Spike took them both and handed one to Xander. Because he was wary and wanted to keep his wits about him, Spike held the glass at his side, but didn’t drink from it. Too busy scouring the crowd and trying to remember the names and types of the different demons they met, Spike didn’t notice Xander drain his cup and take another from the tray Gregho’r conveniently showed up with at the exact moment Xander finished his drink.

It wasn’t long before Xander was listing against Spike. When the vampire found himself carrying Xander’s full weight, he turned to the boy in annoyance. "What is wrong with you?" Spike asked.

Xander stared at him with glazed eyes. "D-don’t know," he replied.

"Buggerin’ fuck," Spike snarled beneath his nonexistent breath. "How many drinks did you have?"

Xander frowned in concentration, and then held his fingers up and tried to count them. "Uh, just two, I think," he finally said.

"You stupid sod!" Spike hissed. "You were supposed to stay sober. How are we supposed to find the book if you’re drunk? And not only drunk..." Spike leaned in and sniffed Xander. "You’ve been drugged," he growled deep in his throat.

"Oh...no," Xander said. "That’s bad, right?"

Spike lifted the glass he still carried to his face and sniffed. He growled and threw it to the floor, then dragged Xander over to Kormac. "What have you done to him?" he roared.

"Just a little harmless potion," he said. "I detest violence, but this was just too good an opportunity to pass up."

"What are you talking about?" Spike asked angrily.

"Why, the chance to see a Master Vampire claim his Consort," Kormac simpered.

Spike froze, his mind awhirl as images of what the half-demon wanted filled it. "And you’re not going to see it now," he snarled.

"See?" Kormac said reasonably. "I knew there could be trouble, so I took the liberty of, well, making sure there wasn’t any. The drug will make you and your near-Consort very...compliant." He smiled brightly. "Now, all these nice people have paid an awful lot of money to see a claiming - blood and sex are such a draw! - and we don’t want to disappoint them, now, do we?"

"Wha-wha’s wrong, Spike?" Xander slurred.

Spike ignored him as he stared-down Kormac. "Actually," he retorted, "I don’t give a bloody fuck if they’re disappointed. We’re leaving." He turned, Xander clasped tightly to his side, to find his way blocked by Gregho’r. "Get out of my way," he snapped.

"I would simply hate it if Gregho’r had to kill your near-Consort," Kormac simpered.

"Thought you hated violence," Spike responded without taking his eyes off the looming creature in front of them.

"Oh, I do! Unfortunately, Gregho’r doesn’t share my distaste for it," Kormac replied.

"How convenient," Spike muttered. "And your guests?" he asked.

"Well," Kormac said with a ‘what can I do’ shrug. "No one likes to lose money."

"No, I’m sure they don’t," Spike retorted. What in soddin’ hell were they going to do now? He needed time to think. And they needed to get out of this room, somehow. But how? Inspiration struck suddenly as Xander made a choking sound.

"I think he’s feeling ill!" Spike cried. "Hell, he’s probably allergic to that stuff you gave him! If he dies, I’ll kill everyone of you," he roared threateningly, hoping that wasn’t a bit over the top. "I need to take him somewhere he can recover from the drugs you fed him," Spike demanded.

"Why?" Kormac asked suspiciously.

"Because, claiming a Consort is a momentous occasion, for both parties. I don’t want my Consort to be ill, or to not remember the claiming ceremony," Spike asserted. "Besides, I’m not drinking blood contaminated with that stuff. How long is it supposed to stay in his blood stream?"

"The effects only last a couple hours," Kormac said. "Three at the most. Depending, of course, on how much he was given."

Spike growled low and deep. "And how much was he given?"

"Not that much, I assure you," Kormac responded.

"Yeah, I feel so much better now," Spike snarked. "I knew there was a reason I didn’t trust you. Find us a room. A private room. Now."

Kormac nodded his head, and Gregho’r moved off. "Gregho’r will show you the way," he said.

"He fuckin’ better," Spike muttered angrily. He adjusted his grip on Xander and lifted him into his arms, then followed Gregho’r out of the room.

"Spike," Xander whimpered.

"What is it, luv?" Spike asked as he carried him up the staircase.

"I’m so *hot*!" he complained.

"They gave you a drug, Xander," Spike said, speaking slowly and clearly so Xander, even in his dazed state, could understand him.

"A drug to make me hot?" Xander asked. "That’s stupid! And not very smart, either, ‘cause it also made you really sexy! Huh!"

"I *am* sexy," Spike retorted, his mind only half on what Xander was saying.

"Yeah," Xander laughed. "Dead sexy. Nice chest," Xander said as he ran his hand over the bare skin visible between the gaping sides. "Can I touch it?"

"Uh, Xan," Spike said. "You’re already touching it, luv."

"Oh, yeah!" Xander said with a slightly embarrassed laugh. "You noticed that, huh?"

"I bloody well did," Spike groaned, wondering if he’d be able to hold Xander off until the drug cleared his system. Trying to ignore the warm hand exploring his chest, Spike carried Xander down the hall after Gregho’r. Finally the creature stopped before a door and indicated that Spike should enter.

Spike laid Xander on the bed, disengaged the hand that had slipped beneath his shirt, and turned to the creature that had followed them into the room. "Leave us," he commanded.

Gregho’r frowned, but did as Spike asked, since his master had told him no differently. Spike waited until the creature stepped outside the room and pulled the door shut, then turned his attention to Xander, who was struggling with his jacket.

Spike rushed over to the bed and grasped Xander’s hands. "What are you doing, luv?" he asked.

"Hot!" Xander said. "Need to get this *off*!" he whined. "Plus, you’re really *hot*, too," he said, reaching for Spike’s chest again.

"Xan, Xander," Spike said, grabbing Xander’s hands to keep them from roaming over his body, cursing himself as he did so. If only they were someplace else. And Xander wasn’t touching him just because he’d been drugged.

Spike laid on the bed beside Xander and pulled the boy’s pliant body against his own, holding him tight with his hands trapped between them so Xander couldn’t try to feel him up. "Xander," he said, "that pillock Kormac drugged you. It was in whatever they gave us to drink."

"Why’d he do that?" Xander asked.

"Because all those people downstairs paid him to watch us, well, have sex," Spike said. He left out the bit about the biting, not wanting to freak Xander out.

Xander’s eyes got big. "Paid him?"

"Yes." Spike nodded, pleased to see he was getting through to Xander despite the drug.

"Do we get a cut?" Xander asked.

Spike growled. "No," he said. "Because we won’t be having sex."

Xander frowned, and then his lips quivered. "You don’t want to have sex with me?" he asked tearfully.

"That’s not the...!" Spike stopped, realizing that losing his temper wouldn’t help the situation. He only hoped Xander wouldn’t remember this in the morning. "Yes, Xander," he began again. "I do want to have sex with you. But not in front of an audience, and not while you’ve been drugged. Do you understand?"

Xander nodded and sniffled. "I think so," he said.

"Good. Now, we’re going to wait until the drug has cleared from your system..."

"Can we have sex then?" Xander asked hopefully.

"Not tonight, Xander," Spike said softly. "Tonight we have to steal the book. Remember the book? The one Giles sent us after? If you still want to have sex tomorrow, we will, okay?"

"Okay!" Xander nodded eagerly.

"You just rest for a bit," Spike said. "And then we’ll get the book and go home."

In the alternative, Spike thought, we just need to get out of here alive. Or, no more dead than usual. He got up and paced over to the window. Pushing the curtain aside, he looked out. Bars covered the window and an electrical wire ran around it, probably hooked to their security system. Or his luck, a bomb. No way they’d be sneaking out that way.

He considered their options. To steal the book they’d need to find it first, and with Xander out of it, it was going to be nearly impossible. Spike couldn’t take the boy with him and perform a covert search, nor did he feel comfortable leaving him alone.

Not to mention the guests downstairs who were keen to have the two of them return so they could witness a claiming. Instead of being an anonymous face in a crowd, they were the entertainment, and sneaking around the house without being seen would be nearly impossible.

Too bad they didn’t have back up, he thought, and then mentally slapped himself. He strode over to the bed and reached into Xander’s jacket pocket, pulling out the cell phone.

Xander giggled as Spike’s hand tickled his thigh. "I thought we weren’t having sex tonight," he said sleepily.

Spike shook his head as he flipped the phone open and checked for service. He patted Xander on the back. "Go to sleep, pet," he said as he dialed the number for the Magic Box.

***

Spike explained their predicament to Giles, who ‘oh, dear-ed’ his way through the conversation. He asked if Willow could do an invisibility spell, or a confusion spell, or just teleport them the Hell out of there, but Willow told him that the place was warded against magic. He told Giles that they’d have to fight their way out, of course, they didn’t have any weapons.

"And there are humans involved," Giles added. "No matter how, well, evil and nasty they are, we can’t just *kill* them..."

"What humans?" Spike interrupted. "Kormac’s a half-demon, and most of his guests are demons. In fact, the only human I smelled was the one I was bloody *stupid* enough to walk in here with!"

"Demons, you say?" Giles asked. "Perhaps you could have mentioned that earlier. Say, like, last night?"

"Thought I had, Watcher," Spike said with a deep sigh. "How’s that change things?"

"Well, if they’re demons, Buffy can kill them!" Giles said.

"If Buffy can kill them," Spike grated, trying really, really hard not to lose his temper, "then why didn’t you send her after this bloke in the first place?"

"Because we didn’t know Kormac was part demon," Giles replied reasonably. "We thought he was human, and though we’re willing to steal from him, although I would have felt very badly about it, we’re not prepared to kill indiscriminately. However, his being a demon is excellent news! Also, we had no way to get into his estate, but since you and Xander are inside now, you can knock out the security system so we can get in. We just need to load up on weapons, and then we’ll be on our way. It should only take us about twenty minutes to get there. Can you find the security room in that amount of time?" Giles asked.

"I don’t know," Spike said. "I can’t leave Xander alone, just in case someone comes in to check on us, and dragging him along in this state is going to be awkward at the very least. And that doesn’t solve the problem of finding the security room and disabling the security."

"I’m sure you can handle it, Spike," Giles said. "I have every confidence in you. Now, don’t forget to place the phone on vibrate, we’ll call you when we get there. Oh, and Willow says check the basement. There are stairs at both ends of the upper level, according to the blueprints."

Giles disconnected and stared at the phone in his hand. "Oh, dear Lord. We must hurry or Xander is doomed."

"Hello? Hello?" Spike stared at the phone and growled. Bleedin’ Watcher! Every confidence my bum, Spike thought.

When Spike turned back to the bed Xander was sitting on the edge, crying. "What’s wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"I’m just a liability, aren’t I? I mean, I can’t fight, right now I can’t even walk by myself, and you don’t even want to have sex with me!" Xander wailed and threw himself back on the bed, sobbing.

Spike growled again, just because it made him feel better, and then walked over to the bed. "Xan. Xander. Xander!"

Xander just kept crying. Spike climbed onto the bed and laid down next to him, placing his hand on Xander’s stomach. He pushed Xander’s t-shirt up and rested his hand on the warm flesh beneath it. Xander’s sob caught.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"We need to get to the security room before the rest of your Scooby gang gets here," he said. "And I never said I didn’t want to have sex with you. In fact, I distinctly remember saying I *did* want to have sex with you. *After* the drug wears off," Spike tried to reassure Xander. "But I don’t want to see you cry."

Spike licked the tears off Xander’s face, and then placed light kisses all over it. When he finally reached his lips, Spike gently ran his tongue along them and nipped at them. He covered them with his own and pressed for entry as his hand slid beneath the bunched-up shirt. He dragged his thumb over Xander’s nipple and slipped his tongue between his lips.

Xander groaned and reached for Spike. Placing one hand behind the vampire’s head, Xander held him as he deepened the kiss. Spike moaned when Xander’s wandering hand reached his bum and squeezed, and then pulled back.

"Security room, book, get out safely, then sex, okay?" Spike asked.

Xander nodded, his eyes wide and bright.

Part Six: Mission Debriefing