Late Fees :: Spike/Tara.

[fenderlove]

Title: Late Fees
Author: fenderlove
Pairing: Spike/Tara
Rating: R.
Summary: Set post-"Older and Far Away," Tara gets a new job at the UCSD library, but there's one pesky troublemaker who just can't bring his books back on time.
Notes: For the nekid_spike fic/art exchange. I have never written Spike/Tara before, so I hope this turned out okay.



Late Fees

Tara had been in desperate need for a distraction when she had come upon a job posting for an assistant librarian at UC Sunnydale. She had been having trouble adjusting to single life, though there was more that was lost when she ended her relationship with Willow. All the friends she had made, the new family she had gotten attached to were suddenly at arm's length. Of course, it was her own doing, but it was so difficult to find a way not to make herself feel uncomfortable. The whole situation only reinforced the old, self-conscious feelings that her new friends were never hers; they were Willow's, and Tara was always outside looking in even in a jovial, close-knit crowd.

Working at the library had allowed Tara to refocus on school and keep her thoughts occupied. After closing, when she was left alone to shelve the returned books and go over over-due notices, she even had time to catch up on perfecting simple, useful spells. After the break-up, magic had temporarily lost its magic so-to-speak. It took a lot of effort to continue her studies, memorizing incantations and finding comfort with her natural-born intuition again. Tara had not been a confident person for most of her life, but she believed in her own aptitude and skills. Magic had an order and a purpose, and Tara wanted to remain useful if the Scoobies needed to her, especially since Willow was continuing to struggle with the burdens of her own power.

However, the responsibilities of being a librarian extended beyond merely sitting behind a desk and pushing around the return cart; there were also students and other patrons to contend with, which was not always a relaxing experience. One evening while she was checking in a laptop she had borrowed after the library had closed, Tara was startled when a large stack of books was dropped onto the front counter. She glared at Spike, who seemed pleased with himself at having frightened her.

"We're closed, you know," Tara said as she gathered the stack of books and pulled them towards her.

Spike shrugged, "I have to wait until the sun goes down and then walk all the way here. Give a fellow a break, love."

Tara gave him an incredulous look, "The sun doesn't stop you from going over to Buffy's in the middle of the day."

"Yeah, well," Spike paused and seemed momentarily taken aback, "That's different."

Running the scanner over one of the book's barcodes, Tara saw something curious appear on the computer screen as Spike was turning to leave and called out, "How were you able to check out these books?"

The vampire glanced over his shoulder and smirked, "I've got a card, like everyone else."

"You've got a card, but not your card," Tara read over the account details on the monitor. "Spike, you've accrued more than $500 worth of late charges and missing books to a student's account."

Spike replied, amused, "That much? I hope it will be a lesson to Evan Cole not to leave his library card just laying around where anyone could take it."

"This isn't funny," Tara admonished. "If you don't pay all these fees by the end of the semester, he won't be able register for classes or get his grades."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not him, isn't it?" he laughed.

Tara shook her head and began typing on the keyboard, "I'm going to put a block on his card to prevent any further damage."

Spike's brow furrowed as he tilted his head, "Go right ahead, pet."

When he started out again, Spike grabbed a few random books off a shelf he passed by and tried to put them under his leather coat.

"Hey! Put those back," Tara left her post and came out from behind the counter.

Spike stopped, apparently surprised that she would actually call him out, but did not move to return the books to the their rightful spots, "Are you going to make me?"

Lifting her chin, Tara responded, "I could, but I won't."

"I believe you," Spike took a few steps towards her, "You could, after all, just snap your pretty little fingers and make me do anything you pleased, but you can't 'cause you're the Good Witch."

The taunting tone the vampire used sparked something off in Tara's mind. Spike was always pushing, always wanting someone's attention, but he could be nice of his own accord if given the chance. Her thoughts went back to Buffy's unfortunate birthday bash, and how she had been able to quell some of the vampire's snarkiness with a dose of her own. Perhaps he would better respond to some authoritativeness. It was worth a shot, at any rate.

"Spike, I'm going to count to three, and those books better be back in their places," Tara began, keeping her voice level. "One..."

"Right, Glinda," Spike rolled his eyes and began to walk in the direction of the exit.

"Two..."

"Two and three-quarters," the vampire waved a hand flippantly.

"Three."

Spike was just about to push open the door to the outer promenade when something slapped him on the ass. He jerked his head towards Tara. She was still standing in the same spot as he had left her with a satisfied smile on her face. Trying to take another stubborn step forward resulted in a second very hard smack on his posterior by whatever invisible force the witch was able to control.

Tara spoke, "Final warning."

The vampire was about to offer a snippy reply, but was silenced when the slaps to his backside and thighs continued in rapid-fire succession. It felt as though each hit was on his bare skin rather than through his coat and jeans. The pain quickly built up until Spike was reluctantly sent running awkwardly back inside. He fumbled getting the books out of his coat, dropping one of them, as he returned them to the proper shelves while the barrage of stinging blows kept landing. When Spike had arranged one volume incorrectly, an especially sharp smack actually elicited a yelp from him until he had righted the mistake.

After the pain ceased, Spike glared at the young woman, "Bugger all, that wasn't fair."

"Is it fair that some kid is going to be stuck with your bill?" came the irritated response.

"Well, what am I supposed to do about it? I don't have that kind of dosh," Spike frowned, admitting his own destitution even in a roundabout way stung his pride almost as much as the spanking spell had stung his skin.

Tara motioned for him to follow her back to the front desk, "We'll figure something out."

There was a moment of defiance in which Spike wanted to just escape the library, but that was quickly quelled by not wanting to give the appearance of being afraid of the witch, so he fell in step behind her.

Reaching into the one of the filing cabinets behind the front desk, Tara pulled out a form and presented it to the vampire, "Fill this out."

"What's this then?" Spike tilted his head as he looked down at the piece of paper.

"It's an application for a library card," she answered and held out a pen.

As though the very idea raised his ire, Spike felt a tick in his jaw as he slid the paper back towards her.

Placing her hand flat on the page before it could fall off the counter, Tara frowned, "Just fill out the form."

"And what are you going to do if I don't?" Spike leaned over the counter slightly, "Are you going to give me more of those pop-gun shots to my arse?"

Tara shifted uncomfortably, but not wanting to allow Spike to get the upper hand replied, "No."

With a triumphant expression, Spike straightened up, "That's what I thought."

Glancing over the surface of her work area, Tara picked up a wooden ruler from the supply basket and whipped it under Spike's nose, "I'd use this."

Tara really had no idea what had come over her. There was something about Spike that made her want to push him, to be bold and unafraid, to say and do the things that would have made the Tara of a few years prior cringe with ill-ease.

Spike seemed to be gearing up to a tirade, but then his face softened, his eyes became large and innocent-looking, and he started to pout, "Please, Miss Librarian, can't you just take the charges off my account? I promise I'll never, ever bring books back late ever again."

Tara was unmoved by his performance, "I can't do that. You're going to have to pay back every cent."

"But I'm just a poor college student. Please, make an exception just this once?" Spike tried to sound pitiful while semi-leering at her. "I'll do anything."

Though she was certain the vampire was trying to get her flustered so that he could leave, Tara made the tactical decision to join in his act, "Are you sorry?"

"I'm so sorry. I really am," Spike vowed solemnly, though the smirk he was desperately trying to hide kept belying his sincerity.

Grabbing the application and a pen in one hand and keeping the ruler in the other, Tara tilted her head to invite Spike behind the counter. He sauntered over before being taken into the slide library. The room was small and cramped with metal cabinets with photo equipment, slide carousels, and copystands lining the walls. Tara shut the door behind them and turned the lock. Spike stared at her for a moment, but said nothing. He took off his leather coat and tossed it onto a large flatbed scanner.

"Get on your knees," she said matter-of-factly.

Spike did so, batting his eyelashes, "Do you want me to beg?"

Tara dropped the library card application and pen on the tiled floor in front of him, "Fill that out."

It did not appear to be what Spike wanted to hear, but he bent forward on his elbows and picked up the pen, reading over the lines before scribbling in answers. After a few minutes, he sat back on his haunches and handed the paper up to her. Tara scanned over the nearly illegible writing and crumpled up the form before throwing it in a nearby trash bin.

Spike narrowed his eyes at her angrily, "I did what you wanted."

Without a word, Tara left the room and returned with another form. She dropped it onto the floor and repeated, "Fill that out."

Leaning down again, Spike began to write, spreading his legs a little more to ease some of the pressure of his knees digging into the tiles. While he remained bowed over, Tara walked in a slow circle around him. She had never been attracted to men, but there was something about Spike's narrow waist and pert, firm backside while he was in such a prone position that intrigued her. Spike looked over his shoulder and held out the second application. It took Tara only a moment of reading it before she threw it into the trash as well.

"There was nothing wrong with that one! I'm done," Spike snapped and began to get up.

"No," Tara put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back to his knees. Grabbing another form and letting it drop where the other two had landed, she continued, "Your real name is not Spike. Your address is not Buffy's, and Sunnydale's zip-code is not 666-West-Coast-of-Hell. You have to fill it out correctly before you can leave."

At first, Spike appeared to want to argue, but returned his attention to the paper on the floor and began more carefully filling it out. As soon as he was completely focused on the page, Tara gripped the ruler in her hand and lifted it. She brought the wooden ruler down on the seat of Spike's jeans. It was especially satisfying in an odd way for her. The vampire's body stiffened for a moment before relaxing again. Spike didn't speak or even turn to look at her but continued to slowly move the pen across the paper in front of him.

Tara pondered about what she was doing, but she knew that Spike needed to be taught a lesson that he could not simply swagger around and take what he pleased without consequences. Not only had he disregarded the library's rules, but his actions were going to potentially cost a student money he might not have. Tara swung the ruler down several more times, each strike making a resounding smack as they hit their mark. When she paused for a moment, she noticed that Spike's left hand was clenched around the pen, and he was breathing quite heavily. Tara reached down to gently rub her palm over Spike's warmed backside. To her surprise, Spike bent forward more, his chest almost to the floor, and lifted his hips to meet her touches.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Tara asked sternly.

Spike licked his bottom lip as he sucked in a breath, "I'm sorry." Glancing down at the paper in front of him, he said quietly, "I don't have an address or a phone number."

Holding out her hand for the form, Tara replied, "I'll put my information down."

"Thanks," he muttered as he gave her the paper but was unable to meet her gaze.

"For?"

"For finishing the form," Spike then added in a hushed tone, "and for punishing me."

Tara nodded and said, "I'm going to explain to you what's going to happen next. I am going to take the charges off that student's account and pay it back myself. However, you are going to be here for each of my shifts to help me to repay what you owe."

Spike's blue eyes flicked to meet hers momentarily before looking away.

"Get up and get your coat," she tapped her foot, feigning impatience.

Slowly standing, Spike grabbed his duster and slipped it on, his face reddened slightly. Tara held the door open for him, and he was swift to get out of her wake. Though she still wasn't sure what possessed her to take the vampire to task so firmly, Tara felt somewhat proud of herself.

Before Spike could disappear, Tara said, "My shift starts tomorrow at 6PM."

The vampire turned to her, and, though he still appeared embarrassed, he smiled, "You better keep that ruler handy."

The End.



x-posted to nekid_spike and darker_spike.