“This has to be the worst New Year’s Eve ever,” Buffy said under her breath.  She shivered when the cool air hit her legs after leaving the warmth of the stalled train.  Her knees and lower thighs were covered by only one layer of denim protection while the rest of her was amply warm.  “Blasted English weather.”

“Scotland, not England.”  The train conductor’s proud voice pulled Buffy away from her grumbling.

“Sorry about that.”  The petite blond sounded sheepish and embarrassed.  “You have a California girl here.  This is just one big island to me.”

The conductor was a big bear of a man with a hearty laugh.  “That’s fine, lassie.  Since the train won’t go any farther on the tracks, the railroad company has hired some taxis to take you the rest of the way to the station.”  He pointed towards a lighted area where there appeared to be some frantic activity.  “Just go over, lassie.  One of the men will fix you up with a ride.

Buffy glanced at the activity before she gazed down the tracks in the direction they had travelled before the stalling.  “What the heck happened?” she asked.  “There were all kinds of stories being told on the train.  I think the weirdest was that the engineer was beamed up by aliens.”

“Not hardly, lassie.”  The conductor laughed again before he looked around to check for eavesdroppers.  The man looked like he had a secret he wanted to spill.  “To tell you the truth, there was a car with a dead body parked across the tracks.”  His eyes darted around in confusion.  “Then, it disappeared.”

Buffy looked perplexed.  “What disappeared?”

“The body did!”  The conductor swallowed convulsively.  “I’ve seen some weird things before, but even I know dead bodies don’t get up and walk away.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised what they can do,” Buffy muttered.  Her mind drifted to the memory of Spike.  The things he could do with his dead body ruined her for mere humans, but other demons were not trustworthy enough to date.

“What did you say?”  The conductor sounded confused.

“Nothing important, honestly.  Don’t worry about it.”  Buffy made a mental note to contact the local Slayer about a possible vampire in the vicinity when she got back to the Slayer castle.  She glanced towards the taxis again.  “I guess I better get over there before there’s no rides left.  Be careful of stragglers.  Never know when one might be that stray body.”  Buffy chuckled.  “Have a happy New Year’s Eve.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.”  The conductor moved off in another direction.  He called back over his shoulder.  “Happy New Year to you too, lassie.” 

Buffy wandered down to where several of the train employees directed people into the waiting taxis.  She looked around to find a vehicle with a free seat. 

“Four to a car!”  One of the employees called out.

“Here’s one that needs one more rider!”  Another man pointed towards a car.

Buffy strode over to the taxi where she opened the door.  Ducking inside she found three men.  As she settled herself in the remaining spot, she studied the other occupants.  Two were clearly brothers with longish red hair and a massive amount of freckles.  However, one was tall and slim while the other was of a stockier build.  The third man huddled in the shadows.   Buffy smiled brightly.  “Hi, guys.  I’m Buffy.”

The redheads glanced at each other with a smile.  This woman was cute.  They both felt that they were lucky to have her in their taxi.  The stockier one stuck out his hand.  “I’m Charlie, and this is my big brother Bill.”

Buffy grabbed Charlie’s hand.  “Glad to meet you.”  She nodded towards the third man.  “Your friend have a name?”

“Not our friend,” Bill said.  Then, he shook Buffy’s hand too.

A rumble came from the depths of the darkness.  “Name’s Randy.”

The redheads chuckled and nudged each other.

Buffy chuckled when she heard the name.  “I once knew a Randy.  He was very sweet and noble.”

Randy growled at the blond woman’s words.  Behind the disguise the vampire watched the Slayer with an avid interest.  Her comment amused him.

Bill directed the taxi driver to start driving, and he sat back against the seat.  He flung his arm across the back of the seat behind his brother.

“So, what do you do for a living, Buffy?” Charlie asked.

Buffy shrugged with a disgusted look on her face.  “I’m the gopher girl for a school for special girls.  I think I need some new friends.  How about you guys?  What do you do?”

“I work with winged creatures,” Charlie said.  “Bill here is in banking.”

Buffy looked over the man in question.  Besides the long hair, Bill didn’t dress like he was a banker.  He looked like he’d be right at home at a rock concert with his scarred face and fang-like earring.  “Guess it takes all kinds,” Buffy laughed.  She turned to Randy.  “How about you, mister?”

“Acquisitions,” Randy’s voice rumbled again.

“What do you acquire?” Charlie asked.  His eyes tried to pierce the darkness to ascertain the identity of the fourth passenger.  He glanced at his brother for a moment before he returned his attention to Buffy.

“What I’m hired to acquire.”

“Sounds a bit like me,” Buffy replied.  “I gopher for whatever I’m sent for.  One of these days, I swear I’m gonna sneak away never to return.”  She smiled sadly.  “It’s not like they’d miss me.”

“I’m sure someone would miss a pretty girl like you.”  Charlie shifted in his seat.

Buffy shook her head.  “Nah, the only person who would miss me has been dead over a year.  Spike was one of a kind.”  Her sadness became palpable, and the conversation waned for a few minutes.

“So, anyone know what held up the train?”  Bill’s quiet voice echoed through the confines of the cab.

“Conductor told me there was a car parked on the tracks with a disappearing dead body,” Buffy answered.  Buffy watched the two brothers with a growing interest.  They seemed particularly troubled by the news.  “It was probably a vampire anyway,” she continued with a dry laugh.  “Or we’re in one of those old Abbott and Costello movies.  You know where Costello finds the monster, but it’s gone by the time he’s back with Abbott?”

“Who?” Bill and Charlie asked together.

Randy’s chuckle rumbled out of his dark corner.  “Vampires are all balderdash and chicanery.”

Buffy gave the shadows a narrowed glare.  “Watch it buster, or I’ll think you’re from the nancy tribe.”

Bill suddenly looked out the window.   “Looks like our stop is coming up, Charlie.”  He tapped the button to communicate with the driver.  In a few seconds the taxi pulled up to what appeared to be a train station out in the middle of nowhere. 

“It was nice meeting you, Buffy,” Charlie said.  He shook the blond woman’s hand again.

“It was,” Bill agreed.  The brothers exited the back of the cab.

Buffy poked her head out into the cold air for a small look around.  She was a little turned around, but she was fairly certain that her own stop was still pretty far down the road a ways.   She gazed up at the castle on the hill, the windows ablaze with light.  “Nice castle you got there, boys.   It’s even nicer than ours.  Bye.”

As the taxi drove away, Bill turned to Charlie, “She could see the castle?”

Charlie shrugged.  “I’ve never heard of anyone named Buffy.  I’m sure I’d remember a name like that.”

Bill nodded.  “Let’s get up there for the celebration.”  He flung his arm around Charlie’s shoulders, and they trudged towards the castle.

Buffy settled back into her seat, and she pulled a stake out of her coat pocket.  She placed the wooden object beside her.  “You’re the disappearing body, aren’t you?”

“Never could get one past you, Slayer,” Spike’s voice was much clearer now that they were alone in the taxi.

“Spike?”  Buffy uttered the name in a mixture of disbelief and reverence.  She caught her bottom lip between sharp, white teeth when the vampire leaned forward into the light.  He didn’t get a chance to speak before Buffy was across the cab to cover his face with salty, tear-filled kisses that tasted of relief and hope.

Spike pulled his lips away from Buffy’s.  “You really want to leave your little group of buddies behind?” he asked in an awed whisper.  “Run away with me, Slayer.”

Buffy sniffled with a nod.  She reached up with one hand to dash away the tears that spilled down her cheek.

“Just so you know your little sis would miss you if you left her behind.”  Spike’s happy grin gave way to a smirk.  “If she hadn’t hired me to acquire you that is.”  He leaned over to talk to the taxi driver.  “Isn’t that right, Nibblet?”

“Yep, you are correct.”  Dawn Summer’s light, young voice drifted through the cab.  “We’ll be getting to the airport in a few.  I hope you like the tropics, Buffy.  We’re going to Aruba.  However, the thing I wanna know is… where did that big ass castle we dropped those guys off at come from?   When the girls and I were real estate searching for Giles last summer, there certainly wasn’t anything like that there.”

Spike grinned.  “Magic.”  He’d been surprised at first when Buffy saw the castle too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Spike slowly opened his eyes when he felt Buffy’s side of the bed move.  He rolled over to clutch at the soft, golden flesh of his lady love.  She spent her days basking like a sun goddess, and he spent his nights worshiping her the way she deserved. 

An occasional acquisition job stemmed the need for violence, stimulated the pocketbook, and still kept Buffy’s presence to her former friends under the radar.  The only person attached to the Council that knew where Buffy lived on the island was the local Slayer, a young girl named Caridad Vossen who reminded Buffy and Dawn of the late Kendra.  Caridad was so glad for the extra help around the island that she eagerly kept the secret.  Humans weren’t the only ones that came to Cancun for vacations.  She had yet to be assigned a Watcher.  So, she looked to Buffy and Spike for guidance.

“Dawn called.  She’s having a study date,” Buffy said.  She rolled over into Spike’s embrace, and she pressed her heated body against his cooler one.  “Caridad says that her call from the Council was bad news.  They’re sending her a Watcher.  Some guy called Charles Gunn.”  She looked up into Spike’s face when he tensed.  “Does that mean something to you?”

Spike nodded.  “Gunn’s one of the poofter’s crew.  He was hurt pretty bad in that last fight.  I thought for sure he’d kick the bucket.”

“You think he’ll be cool with us?”  Buffy had a worried look on her face.

Spike contemplated the question for a few moments.  “Yeah, I think so.”

Buffy let out a sigh of relief.  “Oh thank God.  I didn’t want to move again, especially since there’s supposed to be this new karaoke guy that can tell your future when you sing him a song.”  She giggled when Spike tensed again.  “Not another one!”

“All we’re missin’ is our two redheaded fellows from the taxi ride,” Spike chortled.  He had no idea how true his words would be until two hours later at Lorne’s newest bar when Bill and Charlie strolled into the establishment.

But that’s a different story.