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thismazTitle: Doing IT
Part 27 of the Blood on a Sundial series.
Previous parts, in reverse order, are here or in my memories.
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: #43 - Narcissus
At:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
tamingthemuse
Disclaimer: here.
Rating: Pg
Word Count: 2,460
27. Doing IT
Spike surveyed the front of the building from across the street. He allowed his eyes to sweep across the exposed windows, noting the faint flash of a torch which marked the presence of at least one security guard doing his rounds. With a nod to Xander he led them away, around the corner and into the alley that ran along the back of the row of converted Victorian office buildings. As they walked past parked cars and occasional dumpsters Jimmy counted backwards in a low whisper, until they got to approximately the right place. Xander ran his eyes along the ranks of windows. "I stuck a sheet of paper in the one I unlocked," he explained. "Like a flag. Hang on. Look. That one there," he added, pointing. "I jammed the catch with a pencil."
The wall in front of them obviously enclosed a small back yard and was about fifteen feet high. The door set into it was strong and well locked but the window Xander was pointing at was set close to the edge of the yard and they should be able to reach it from the top. The next yard seemed to be the main goods delivery point, since the wall had been removed to allow trucks in to the reinforced back door. If necessary they could maybe pick the lock and get in that way, but they would be one floor too low and there was security inside. Better to make straight for the room they wanted. He walked up to the base of the wall and looked up, measuring it, before turning back to Xander and Jimmy.
Xander was hanging back, already glancing around with that discouraged look on his face that irritated Spike for some reason. "It didn't look so high from inside," he whispered.
Spike shrugged. "Not to worry. It's not that tall." He walked around to the open space of the loading bay. "Come on. What are you waiting for?"
Xander glanced at Jimmy, then back at Spike. "What? You want us to hoist you up, or something?"
That made Spike grin. All this time in the company of a vampire, all that time fighting them in Sunnydale and the boy still didn't know what he was dealing with. He winked at Xander and stalked over to the foot of the wall and jumped, grabbed the top and hauled himself up in one smooth fluid movement. Not to be outdone and probably wanting to show off to Spike, and possibly show up the human, Jimmy followed. Not quite so graceful, but he still managing to reach the top without assistance.
Xander stood below them and looked up at Spike sitting astride the wall, his right leg dangling, his foot swinging at least three feet out of Xander's reach. He sighed in resigned recognition. "There's no way I can get up there by myself," he whispered fiercely.
Spike stretched his right leg straight. "Jump and grab hold of my ankle," he instructed.
Xander crouched slightly and jumped up, reaching for Spike's foot. One hand brushed Spike's boot, but he couldn't get a good grip and he ended up back on the ground in a crouch. He stood up again, wiping his hands on his jeans and shook his head.
"Once more, pet," Spike instructed. "Bit more spring in your legs, yeah?"
Shaking his head in disbelief, Xander paced backward, measuring the distance. He took a couple of running steps and launched himself upwards again. This time he managed to get one hand around Spike's ankle and the other on his foot. He hung there for a moment before tilting his head back and looking up. "Now what?" he gasped.
"Now, hold on tight, okay?" Spike began to bend his leg, lifting Xander further off the ground. When he had his knee bent almost to his chest, he reached down and grasped Xander's wrist. "Grab my hand," he said. Xander's weight shifted from his leg to his arm as the boy let go his hold on Spike's boot and quickly shifted it to Spike's forearm. Spike's foot swung free and Xander was now hanging six feet clear of the ground. Placing his left hand in front of him, Spike used his shoulder muscles to lift his right arm higher, pulling Xander's dead weight with it. Xander shifted his left hand from Spike's arm in order to grab the edge of the wall and Spike twisted on his perch, getting his right foot up onto the wall and pushing with his left arm, began slowly to stand up.
One small swing and Xander was sitting secure. Spike let him go. Xander sat on the top of the wall, his legs dangling. He turned his head and gazed up at Spike in amazement. "Wow," he said.
Spike executed a little dance step of shear exuberance, balancing on the narrow brick top and spun on the spot to inspect the back of the building again. As he turned he caught Jimmy's eye across the top of Xander's head and winked. Jimmy's slight frown immediately lightened and he grinned back, happy again, now that his Sire had noticed him. Fledges and minions, they were so predictable.
Spike pulled a hunting knife similar to Xander's, from the sheath on the back of his belt and passed it to Jimmy. "You're nearest," he said. "Go stick that in the gap and jimmy the window," he added, ignoring Xander's snigger.
Jimmy took the knife and walked along the top of the wall until he reached the back of the building. He leant across and grabbed the sill. It took only moments for him to insert the point of the blade at the base of the pane and work it open enough to get his fingers into the gap and push upwards. Heaving himself up onto the ledge, he shimmied through the gap and into the room beyond.
Spike climbed over Xander's seated form then turned and gave him a hand up as Jimmy opened the window wider. Spike pulled himself into the room and took a quick look around at the computers on their benches. Xander was still on the wall outside, but already leaning over, trying to get a good grip on the window frame. He hauled himself over, for a moment he teetered on his stomach, half in and half out, before pitching forwards in an ungainly heap onto the floor inside. Cursing under his breath he scrambled around until he was sitting and tried to look as if that had been deliberate. "Stupid vampire stealth thing," he muttered.
"You finished playing?" Spike asked.
Xander got to his feet, looking faintly resentful, and took his time dusting himself down to hide his embarrassment. Spike spared him a glance, but was more interested in what Jimmy was doing to one of the computers. "Okay all yours. Do your thing. I want to know where that book is and I want to be out of here, sharpish. Got that?"
Jimmy nodded enthusiastically "Not a problem. Just let me log-in," he said eagerly. He pulled up a stool and set to work. Within minutes he was engrossed. "Shouldn't take more than half an hour," he muttered. "If all goes well."
"Make it go well." Spike was peripherally aware of Xander wandering aimlessly around the room, idly hitting keys and shifting mice, but he was being quiet, so Spike left him alone. Until he got bored with watching Jimmy. When he wandered over to Xander he saw that the boy had apparently found a computer that hadn't been turned off. "Thought you said you didn't know how to use these things," he commented.
"No, I said I didn't know how to hack into the secure network of a commercial enterprise. Everyone knows how to surf the web."
Spike raised an eyebrow at him. "Learn that at school, did you?" he asked. Xander nodded. "Okay. So show me."
Xander looked at him in surprise. "You want to know how to....?"
"Yeah. Never had the chance before. Didn't have these things when I was human." He paused. "Didn't have cinema. Didn't have TV. Didn't have computers." He pulled up a stool next to Xander. "Come on, show me how it works. What's this web thing look like?"
"Okay. Well, see this? This is the mouse."
"I know that, you berk. I do watch TV. I know what a computer looks like. I've just never used one."
"Sorry." Xander moved the mouse and clicked it. The screen changed. "There. This is Yahoo. It's the search engine. You type words into this box and Yahoo finds web pages with those words in."
"Just like that?"
"Yep. What do you want me to look for."
"How about me?"
"Huh?"
"Put 'Spike' in there. Lets see if there's anything about me."
"Err... trouble is... if it finds the word 'spike'... it can't tell what kind of spike. You could gets loads of hits for Spike Lee, or Spike Milligan, or railroad spikes, or... I don't know, all sorts of spiky stuff."
"Okay, put in 'William the Bloody'"
Xander just looked at him. "Narcissistic, much?" he asked.
Spike scowled. "Don't go all articulate on me, pet. You don't know what that means. Hardly know how to read, if I remember right."
"Hey! I read. I read today. When the computers froze, before the other guys gave up and left. I read the books you gave me." He placed his right hand on his heart and stretched out the other, hamming his delivery. "I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high ... er, something, something. When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils." He grinned and looked up at Spike from under his hair. "Doesn't even rhyme. And how does a cloud wander, anyway? Sounds like it should have legs."
"Don't mock Wordsworth, pet,"
"And I do so, know what Narcissistic means."
There was definite sulk in that voice and Spike was about to retort, when he was interrupted from the other side of the room.
"Sire, I'm in."
Suddenly Spike lost interest in scoring points, or defending the art of a bloke who'd been dead for over a hundred years. He was across the room in moments, wanting to see what Jimmy had found.
"I've got their archive accounts. Do you have any idea how long ago the book was sold?
Xander came to stand next to him, peering over Jimmy's shoulder.
"1992. 22nd of June." Catching Xander's incredulous look he added, "Told you - they all tell the truth in the end."
Xander shuddered.
There was more clicking of keys as Jimmy typed rapidly. Then he sat back. "There it is. Argentum Veneficus, slightly foxed, one tear in the binding. Wow! That was a lot of money to spend on a book."
"So who bought it?" he asked impatiently.
"There's no name. Just an account number and 'WC, London'. Does that mean anything to you? There's an address."
Spike growled with suppressed excitement and frustration. He started to demand more information when he heard something. He cocked his head, listening. There was a faint sound of foot steps in the corridor outside. "Print it out, quick. I'll be back." He went to the door, listening carefully, locating the direction of the approaching security guard. Xander followed him and behind them there was a faint hum as the printer started to work. "You, stay here," he ordered, pushing Xander back with his hand on Xander's chest.
"No. Stop. Please? You don't have to kill him. You said you'd go to the blood house to feed." The boy sounded frightened, but Spike wasn't sure if it was for himself, for Spike, or possibly for the guard. "If you kill him, people will ask questions and they'll find out someone was hacking and they'll track it back and find out that you're interested in the book."
Spike paused. That sounded almost convincing. Could they do that? Trouble was, he didn't know. He growled again and shot Xander an interrogatory look. The boy was pleading with him with his eyes. He hesitated. "Can they do that?" he asked Jimmy.
Jimmy grimaced. "Probably," he admitted.
Spike checked the door was locked and turned back to the room. "Turn off that screen and get down," he instructed, taking up a position against the wall, out of sight of anybody looking through the glass pane in the door. Jimmy did as he was told, while Xander took up position flat on the other side of the door. Stupid human boy, he'd probably try and get in the way if Spike did have to take the guy out. He still looked a little panicked, but at least he was being quiet. The foot steps got closer. They stopped outside the door and the knob rattled as it was tested. Spike got ready, listening for the sound of a key in the lock. They waited. Then the footsteps resumed, moving away and he relaxed. Next to him Xander let out a huff of held breath and slumped against the wall. Jimmy's head appeared from behind the bench. "Huh!" Spike snorted. "You got that page?" Jimmy nodded. "Right. Lets get out of here then."
Xander raised his head and turned to look at Spike. "Thank you," he breathed.
*****
Getting out was easier than getting in and half an hour later they were a mile away, heading back to the factory. Xander was almost skipping with suppressed energy and relief. Jimmy was eagerly offering to set up a computer at the factory, if Spike wanted to hack any more auction houses. Spike was scanning the information on the sheaf of printed pages, not really listening to either of them. Watchers' Council. Damn! Wasn't it just his luck that the only copy of the book he needed had been bought by the bloody Watchers' Council? He wondered if that antiquated bunch of old dinosaurs had got around to computerising their inventory yet. Xander started jumping, playing hopscotch along the paving stones and Spike turned to Jimmy. "Yeah. We'll do that. Get a computer and you can see if you can track it down." Jimmy's face lit up with the gleeful knowledge that his Sire needed him and he opened his mouth to say something, but Spike silenced him with a gesture, peering into the darkness of the alley they were passing. "Quiet," he ordered, as a figure detached itself from the shadows and stepped out in front of Xander, who froze mid-hop before placing both his feet on the ground and stepping carefully backwards to Spike's side.
Spike looked at their visitor. "Black Wind," he greeted. "What brings you this side of the country?"
Next Part
Part 27 of the Blood on a Sundial series.
Previous parts, in reverse order, are here or in my memories.
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: #43 - Narcissus
At:
tamingthemuseDisclaimer: here.
Rating: Pg
Word Count: 2,460
27. Doing IT
Spike surveyed the front of the building from across the street. He allowed his eyes to sweep across the exposed windows, noting the faint flash of a torch which marked the presence of at least one security guard doing his rounds. With a nod to Xander he led them away, around the corner and into the alley that ran along the back of the row of converted Victorian office buildings. As they walked past parked cars and occasional dumpsters Jimmy counted backwards in a low whisper, until they got to approximately the right place. Xander ran his eyes along the ranks of windows. "I stuck a sheet of paper in the one I unlocked," he explained. "Like a flag. Hang on. Look. That one there," he added, pointing. "I jammed the catch with a pencil."
The wall in front of them obviously enclosed a small back yard and was about fifteen feet high. The door set into it was strong and well locked but the window Xander was pointing at was set close to the edge of the yard and they should be able to reach it from the top. The next yard seemed to be the main goods delivery point, since the wall had been removed to allow trucks in to the reinforced back door. If necessary they could maybe pick the lock and get in that way, but they would be one floor too low and there was security inside. Better to make straight for the room they wanted. He walked up to the base of the wall and looked up, measuring it, before turning back to Xander and Jimmy.
Xander was hanging back, already glancing around with that discouraged look on his face that irritated Spike for some reason. "It didn't look so high from inside," he whispered.
Spike shrugged. "Not to worry. It's not that tall." He walked around to the open space of the loading bay. "Come on. What are you waiting for?"
Xander glanced at Jimmy, then back at Spike. "What? You want us to hoist you up, or something?"
That made Spike grin. All this time in the company of a vampire, all that time fighting them in Sunnydale and the boy still didn't know what he was dealing with. He winked at Xander and stalked over to the foot of the wall and jumped, grabbed the top and hauled himself up in one smooth fluid movement. Not to be outdone and probably wanting to show off to Spike, and possibly show up the human, Jimmy followed. Not quite so graceful, but he still managing to reach the top without assistance.
Xander stood below them and looked up at Spike sitting astride the wall, his right leg dangling, his foot swinging at least three feet out of Xander's reach. He sighed in resigned recognition. "There's no way I can get up there by myself," he whispered fiercely.
Spike stretched his right leg straight. "Jump and grab hold of my ankle," he instructed.
Xander crouched slightly and jumped up, reaching for Spike's foot. One hand brushed Spike's boot, but he couldn't get a good grip and he ended up back on the ground in a crouch. He stood up again, wiping his hands on his jeans and shook his head.
"Once more, pet," Spike instructed. "Bit more spring in your legs, yeah?"
Shaking his head in disbelief, Xander paced backward, measuring the distance. He took a couple of running steps and launched himself upwards again. This time he managed to get one hand around Spike's ankle and the other on his foot. He hung there for a moment before tilting his head back and looking up. "Now what?" he gasped.
"Now, hold on tight, okay?" Spike began to bend his leg, lifting Xander further off the ground. When he had his knee bent almost to his chest, he reached down and grasped Xander's wrist. "Grab my hand," he said. Xander's weight shifted from his leg to his arm as the boy let go his hold on Spike's boot and quickly shifted it to Spike's forearm. Spike's foot swung free and Xander was now hanging six feet clear of the ground. Placing his left hand in front of him, Spike used his shoulder muscles to lift his right arm higher, pulling Xander's dead weight with it. Xander shifted his left hand from Spike's arm in order to grab the edge of the wall and Spike twisted on his perch, getting his right foot up onto the wall and pushing with his left arm, began slowly to stand up.
One small swing and Xander was sitting secure. Spike let him go. Xander sat on the top of the wall, his legs dangling. He turned his head and gazed up at Spike in amazement. "Wow," he said.
Spike executed a little dance step of shear exuberance, balancing on the narrow brick top and spun on the spot to inspect the back of the building again. As he turned he caught Jimmy's eye across the top of Xander's head and winked. Jimmy's slight frown immediately lightened and he grinned back, happy again, now that his Sire had noticed him. Fledges and minions, they were so predictable.
Spike pulled a hunting knife similar to Xander's, from the sheath on the back of his belt and passed it to Jimmy. "You're nearest," he said. "Go stick that in the gap and jimmy the window," he added, ignoring Xander's snigger.
Jimmy took the knife and walked along the top of the wall until he reached the back of the building. He leant across and grabbed the sill. It took only moments for him to insert the point of the blade at the base of the pane and work it open enough to get his fingers into the gap and push upwards. Heaving himself up onto the ledge, he shimmied through the gap and into the room beyond.
Spike climbed over Xander's seated form then turned and gave him a hand up as Jimmy opened the window wider. Spike pulled himself into the room and took a quick look around at the computers on their benches. Xander was still on the wall outside, but already leaning over, trying to get a good grip on the window frame. He hauled himself over, for a moment he teetered on his stomach, half in and half out, before pitching forwards in an ungainly heap onto the floor inside. Cursing under his breath he scrambled around until he was sitting and tried to look as if that had been deliberate. "Stupid vampire stealth thing," he muttered.
"You finished playing?" Spike asked.
Xander got to his feet, looking faintly resentful, and took his time dusting himself down to hide his embarrassment. Spike spared him a glance, but was more interested in what Jimmy was doing to one of the computers. "Okay all yours. Do your thing. I want to know where that book is and I want to be out of here, sharpish. Got that?"
Jimmy nodded enthusiastically "Not a problem. Just let me log-in," he said eagerly. He pulled up a stool and set to work. Within minutes he was engrossed. "Shouldn't take more than half an hour," he muttered. "If all goes well."
"Make it go well." Spike was peripherally aware of Xander wandering aimlessly around the room, idly hitting keys and shifting mice, but he was being quiet, so Spike left him alone. Until he got bored with watching Jimmy. When he wandered over to Xander he saw that the boy had apparently found a computer that hadn't been turned off. "Thought you said you didn't know how to use these things," he commented.
"No, I said I didn't know how to hack into the secure network of a commercial enterprise. Everyone knows how to surf the web."
Spike raised an eyebrow at him. "Learn that at school, did you?" he asked. Xander nodded. "Okay. So show me."
Xander looked at him in surprise. "You want to know how to....?"
"Yeah. Never had the chance before. Didn't have these things when I was human." He paused. "Didn't have cinema. Didn't have TV. Didn't have computers." He pulled up a stool next to Xander. "Come on, show me how it works. What's this web thing look like?"
"Okay. Well, see this? This is the mouse."
"I know that, you berk. I do watch TV. I know what a computer looks like. I've just never used one."
"Sorry." Xander moved the mouse and clicked it. The screen changed. "There. This is Yahoo. It's the search engine. You type words into this box and Yahoo finds web pages with those words in."
"Just like that?"
"Yep. What do you want me to look for."
"How about me?"
"Huh?"
"Put 'Spike' in there. Lets see if there's anything about me."
"Err... trouble is... if it finds the word 'spike'... it can't tell what kind of spike. You could gets loads of hits for Spike Lee, or Spike Milligan, or railroad spikes, or... I don't know, all sorts of spiky stuff."
"Okay, put in 'William the Bloody'"
Xander just looked at him. "Narcissistic, much?" he asked.
Spike scowled. "Don't go all articulate on me, pet. You don't know what that means. Hardly know how to read, if I remember right."
"Hey! I read. I read today. When the computers froze, before the other guys gave up and left. I read the books you gave me." He placed his right hand on his heart and stretched out the other, hamming his delivery. "I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high ... er, something, something. When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils." He grinned and looked up at Spike from under his hair. "Doesn't even rhyme. And how does a cloud wander, anyway? Sounds like it should have legs."
"Don't mock Wordsworth, pet,"
"And I do so, know what Narcissistic means."
There was definite sulk in that voice and Spike was about to retort, when he was interrupted from the other side of the room.
"Sire, I'm in."
Suddenly Spike lost interest in scoring points, or defending the art of a bloke who'd been dead for over a hundred years. He was across the room in moments, wanting to see what Jimmy had found.
"I've got their archive accounts. Do you have any idea how long ago the book was sold?
Xander came to stand next to him, peering over Jimmy's shoulder.
"1992. 22nd of June." Catching Xander's incredulous look he added, "Told you - they all tell the truth in the end."
Xander shuddered.
There was more clicking of keys as Jimmy typed rapidly. Then he sat back. "There it is. Argentum Veneficus, slightly foxed, one tear in the binding. Wow! That was a lot of money to spend on a book."
"So who bought it?" he asked impatiently.
"There's no name. Just an account number and 'WC, London'. Does that mean anything to you? There's an address."
Spike growled with suppressed excitement and frustration. He started to demand more information when he heard something. He cocked his head, listening. There was a faint sound of foot steps in the corridor outside. "Print it out, quick. I'll be back." He went to the door, listening carefully, locating the direction of the approaching security guard. Xander followed him and behind them there was a faint hum as the printer started to work. "You, stay here," he ordered, pushing Xander back with his hand on Xander's chest.
"No. Stop. Please? You don't have to kill him. You said you'd go to the blood house to feed." The boy sounded frightened, but Spike wasn't sure if it was for himself, for Spike, or possibly for the guard. "If you kill him, people will ask questions and they'll find out someone was hacking and they'll track it back and find out that you're interested in the book."
Spike paused. That sounded almost convincing. Could they do that? Trouble was, he didn't know. He growled again and shot Xander an interrogatory look. The boy was pleading with him with his eyes. He hesitated. "Can they do that?" he asked Jimmy.
Jimmy grimaced. "Probably," he admitted.
Spike checked the door was locked and turned back to the room. "Turn off that screen and get down," he instructed, taking up a position against the wall, out of sight of anybody looking through the glass pane in the door. Jimmy did as he was told, while Xander took up position flat on the other side of the door. Stupid human boy, he'd probably try and get in the way if Spike did have to take the guy out. He still looked a little panicked, but at least he was being quiet. The foot steps got closer. They stopped outside the door and the knob rattled as it was tested. Spike got ready, listening for the sound of a key in the lock. They waited. Then the footsteps resumed, moving away and he relaxed. Next to him Xander let out a huff of held breath and slumped against the wall. Jimmy's head appeared from behind the bench. "Huh!" Spike snorted. "You got that page?" Jimmy nodded. "Right. Lets get out of here then."
Xander raised his head and turned to look at Spike. "Thank you," he breathed.
*****
Getting out was easier than getting in and half an hour later they were a mile away, heading back to the factory. Xander was almost skipping with suppressed energy and relief. Jimmy was eagerly offering to set up a computer at the factory, if Spike wanted to hack any more auction houses. Spike was scanning the information on the sheaf of printed pages, not really listening to either of them. Watchers' Council. Damn! Wasn't it just his luck that the only copy of the book he needed had been bought by the bloody Watchers' Council? He wondered if that antiquated bunch of old dinosaurs had got around to computerising their inventory yet. Xander started jumping, playing hopscotch along the paving stones and Spike turned to Jimmy. "Yeah. We'll do that. Get a computer and you can see if you can track it down." Jimmy's face lit up with the gleeful knowledge that his Sire needed him and he opened his mouth to say something, but Spike silenced him with a gesture, peering into the darkness of the alley they were passing. "Quiet," he ordered, as a figure detached itself from the shadows and stepped out in front of Xander, who froze mid-hop before placing both his feet on the ground and stepping carefully backwards to Spike's side.
Spike looked at their visitor. "Black Wind," he greeted. "What brings you this side of the country?"
Next Part
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-05-19 07:33 pm (UTC)I shudder to think how many hits you would get if you typed in spike. Hee. Even funnier, if he could narrow it down there probably would be something on him somewhere on the Internet.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-20 11:19 am (UTC)Yes, he does, it's a problem. *g* But he keeps getting reminders that bring him back down to Earth.
Actually, I tried searching for 'spike', to see. On Google in 2007, it's 29.2 million (32.5 million on Yahoo). *g* Amazing how many of the top ones are references to our boy here. But this is 1998, so there would probably be only a couple of million. *g*
Thank you for reading and commenting.