CHAPTER ELEVEN  
The fan they’d had to get past only a couple of nights ago was still now.
 
“That can’t be a good sign,” Buffy said.
 
“Depends on whose side you’re on, Slayer. Could just mean that things are shutting down and there won’t be any obstacles.”
 
“Could also mean there isn’t going to be any light,” she reminded him. “We won’t be able to see where we’re going.”
 
“We know where we’re going. To the middle of the place. Should be able to follow the noise. And I’ll be able to see at least a little bit.”
 
Buffy’s knees were starting to really complain by the time they reached the area near the labs.  Faint light from the emergency lights below made it possible for even Buffy to see well enough to locate the vents leading to the rooms below.
 
“Incoming, pet,” Spike hissed as his ears picked up sounds. Whatever was coming their way was making no attempt to do anything but move fast, and it wasn’t long before they could see a small demon family frantically hurrying down the air duct. The little group froze when they saw Spike and Buffy, the mother gathering her children and pushing them behind her. “Harmless, luv,” Spike said. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
 
Buffy nodded and moved over to the side with Spike. “Go on,” she said. “You can get out the way we came in.”
 
With whispered thanks, they began to scuttle by. The largest one stopped in front of Buffy. “The big guy. The one who’s running things? He’s operating off an atomic power pack in his chest. I heard them talking about it. Take that out and he’s done for.”
 
“Good to know,” Spike answered for her. “Thanks. Now get your family out of here.”
 
Moving more cautiously now that they were approaching the center of the complex, Buffy and Spike communicated mostly by touches and gestures.  When Spike’s sharper hearing began picking up the sounds of battle, he held up his hand for her to halt.   She moved up beside him and peered down into the vacant corridor below. “I don’t see anything,” she breathed in his ear. “Maybe we should go down now. I’m tired of crawling.”
 
She felt him shake his head, causing her lips to brush across his check and earlobe when she left her face too close to his. His sharp intake of breath made her pull back, but when she moved to put more distance between them, he pulled her against his side where he could whisper back.
 
“I think we should get as close as we can. We’re probably only going to get one chance at the Big Bad. No sense letting him know we’re coming...” Before she could retreat again, he licked the shell of her ear and took the lobe gently in his teeth. “Two can play at that game, luv,” he whispered when she shivered against him.
 
“I wasn’t—“ A hand over her mouth stopped her in mid- denial, and she held her breath while Spike listened again. He pushed her down and flattened himself on the floor beside her.  Soon even Buffy could hear the sound of shuffling, but fast moving footsteps.
 
“Fuck!” As Spike spoke, he rolled over and pulled Buffy on top of him, holding her tightly in place as she struggled against his grip.
 
“What the hell are you—” She felt rather than heard the first bullets strike Spike’s body as the creatures below fired up through the ceiling. She couldn’t prevent a gasp as several of the high-powered bullets went all the way through Spike’s body and hit hers. She felt his arms go limp as the barrage of bullets overwhelmed even his vampire ability to absorb them. Buffy knew he wouldn’t die from them, but he was rapidly losing blood and consciousness.
 
Fighting off the pain from the bullets that had hit her, she fumbled for the bag of grenades and pulled one out, using her teeth to pull the pin, and tossing it through the vent cover that she nudged up with her foot. She rolled them back against the outside wall of the shaft and covered her head with her hood, wrapping her hands around Spike’s head in a futile effort to protect it from the concussion below. 
 
The silence that followed the explosion felt wonderful on her ears, although she wasn’t sure if it was really silent below them or if she’d just gone deaf. Getting off Spike’s inert body, she crawled over to peer down and saw nothing but body parts, some still twitching, but none holding weapons. The blast seemed to have collapsed the walls, as well as weakening the part of the ceiling the duct ran over, and she moved carefully back to where Spike was lying against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt the solid floor under her.
 
Spike was still unconscious and bleeding, lying on his back as he’d been when he placed himself between her and the hail of bullets he’d sensed coming. Buffy bit her lip, then took his hand and pulled it under her shirt where she could knew the Gem was doing it’s job and healing the wounds she’d sustained in spite of Spike’s efforts to protect her. She tried to keep the ring pressed against her own skin while at the same time, putting one of Spike’s fingers through it.  She lay down next to him and held his hand pressed between her breasts, willing the Gem to do its thing and heal the vampire and her at the same time.
 
She was listening so hard for any more activity below them, that it took a while for her to realize that she was no longer holding Spike’s hand against her skin. In fact, the hand had shifted position and was cupping her breast while his thumb stroked the nipple. Buffy let herself enjoy the sensation for a few seconds, then pulled his hand away.
 
“How long have you been pretending to be unconscious?” she hissed, trying very hard to sound as indignant as she knew she should be.
 
“Bout as long as you pretended you didn’t know what I was doing,” he said, a smile in his voice. He pulled his finger out and tucked the ring inside her bra.
“Think you’ll need this more than I will,” he said, giving it a little pat in place. “I’m bulletproof, you’re not.”
 
Buffy was speechless. He’d had his hand on the ring and was willingly giving it back. She put her own hand over it to reassure herself that it was still there.
“Spike? Wha—“
“You need it more than I do just now, luv,” he said as if explaining to a child. “Those weapons can kill you. They can’t kill me.”
 
“They almost did!”
 
“Not sayin’ they didn’t do some damage... or that I don’t appreciate what you did for me, but I wasn’t dust. Same thing happens again, you can go on without me and just come back for me when you’ve kicked cyborg arse.”  He touched her face with his hand, pushing the hair that had come out of her ponytail back behind her ear. “You would come back for me, wouldn’t you, Slayer?”
 
“I... yes, of course I would, but....”
 
“Not giving up on my ring, Slayer. Just making an informed decision about who needs it most just now.  If they bring out the wooden stakes, we might be having a different conversation.”
 
“You are one very strange vampire, Spike.” She was suddenly aware that they were lying side-by-side, their bodies just touching and Spike’s hand, which he’d moved from her face to her torso, rested on her ribcage just below her breast. His thumb was just grazing the bottom of her breast as he moved it slowly from side to side.
 
“St... stop that.”
 
“Why? Don’t you like it?” He shifted closer and breathed in her ear. “I think you do...”
 
“Not the point, Spike!” She sat up and glared down at him. “We have a job to do.”
 
He sighed. “You’re right, pet. Time and place, yeah?” He sat up beside her. “But when we’re done here, we’re going to continue this conversation.”
 
“That wasn’t a conversation!” she said, moving forward again and forgetting that would leave him following behind her. “That was you, molesting me.”
 
“Whatever you say, luv.” He chuckled as he began to crawl after her, enjoying the way her ass swayed every time she brought a leg forward.
 
When the next group of half-man, half-demons appeared below them, Buffy had a grenade ready. She dropped it down into the corridor as soon as the group was below them, then she and Spike crawled as fast as they could on hands and knees to get away from the blast zone. This time, they only had to cover their ears for a few seconds, then continue moving toward their destination.
 
They had to repeat the procedure two more times before even Buffy began to hear sounds of shouting and strife. A glance down into the room where they’d first watched Maggie Walsh in action showed them that it was empty, so they continued crawling as silently as possible toward the sounds. Spike had just held up his hand when the floor under them erupted downward, dropping them into a large open area, almost at the feet of a part mechanical, part demon, and part human creature that looked at them with some disgust.
 
“What is this?”
 
“Your worst nightmare, Frankenstein,” Spike snarled, going into game face as he rose from the floor.
 
“My name is Adam. Why should the dreams I do not have be troubled by a small human and an ordinary vampire?”
 
“Neither one of us is as ordinary as you might think, you ugly bugger.”
 
“And how so? What are you?” It was apparent that Adam was impervious to insults.
 
“William the Bloody, line of Aurelius, childe of—”
 
The creature waved its hand for silence. “Spare me the vampire pedigree. You’re no different from any of the others in my army. The question is, what are you doing with this human girl and why were you crawling through my ceiling?”
 
“That’s two questions,” Buffy supplied helpfully, pulling the sword off her back and letting it hang loosely at her side. Without looking, she flexed her arm and sliced off the head of a demon hybrid that was approaching her from the rear. Spike had picked up a slow-moving cyborg wearing an Initiative uniform and thrown him at the two others approaching from the side.
 
“Interesting... “  Adam said, watching them methodically and successfully defend themselves against a steady stream of his soldiers. He raised his hand and the advancing line of workers went back to what they’d been doing before Spike and Buffy dropped in.  “Ultimately futile, of course, but interesting.  Perhaps I will keep you around for awhile to study you – once I have cemented my position as the rightful commander of Mother’s organization.” As he spoke, a body of put-together parts wearing the face of Maggie Walsh shuffled past him carrying a beaker of red liquid.
 
“Oh my God,” Buffy whispered. “Professor Walsh?” There was no reply or even any acknowledgement of Buffy’s presence.
 
“My servants are not easily distracted,” Adam said. “Your presence here could present a problem though.” He pointed at Buffy. “I do not believe having you here is in my best interest.”  He studied the dead and twitching bodies around them and seemed to give some thought to what he wanted to do. He then gave a very human shrug. “You, vampire, kill the girl. Perhaps, if you are obedient enough, I will keep you around.”
 
Spike stared from Buffy to Adam, then pulled her across his body in classic vampire bites girl position. He knocked aside the sword she tried to swing at his head and stared into her eyes as he bent her almost to the floor. “Trust me, love?” he whispered, putting his mouth on her throat and growling. Buffy struggled against him enough that he was afraid for a moment that the answer was going to be “no”. As he pretended to fasten his teeth on her neck, she whimpered and pushed against him, not using her full strength.
 
“I hope you’ve got a plan,” she hissed, raking her nails over his face.
 
“I’m hoping the bloody Gem is still working,” he snarled, sinking his teeth into the soft skin on her throat.  While the sounds he was making seemed genuine enough, and Buffy’s struggles were only partially faked, the bite was as gentle as he could make it without being obvious, and although he held her there until she stopped struggling, he swallowed only enough blood to smear his lips and teeth. When Buffy went limp in his arms, he pulled his mouth away, blood dripping from it, and gave a smirk.
 
“That wasn’t as hard as I’d expected it to be,” he said, walking toward the cyborg. He dropped Buffy at Adam’s feet. “That what you wanted, big guy?” Spike looked around and sniffed. “I don’t expect any of your mechanical monkeys here could have taken down a slayer that easily.”
 
“It was surprisingly easy for you...” Adam’s eyes unfocused for only a second as he accessed his database for “slayer”. He snapped his gaze back to Spike and grabbed his throat in one giant hand. “Much too easy.”
 
“Plan B, Slayer!” Spike gurgled, flailing his arms helplessly as the cyborg held him at arm’s length and began to squeeze.
 
“On it.” Buffy moved straight up, her position at Adam’s feet allowing her to reach his torso before he could react. While Spike’s snarls and attempts to pull Adam’s hand away from his throat gave her a split second to act, Buffy plunged her hand into the cyborg’s chest, clutching the warm object sitting where a human heart would be. Using all her strength, she pulled as hard as she could, bracing her feet against Adam’s body until the power cell broke free and she flew backwards to land on the floor.
 
Adam stared from the hole in his chest to the girl holding his source of power. His eyes glazed over and he began to topple, still holding Spike by the throat. He landed with a crash, pinning Spike beneath his mostly metal body. The workers in the large room began to mill around in confusion, those with more demon than human advancing on Buffy, who rolled to her feet and picked up her sword.  She began hacking at the advancing but slow moving creatures, wincing when she decapitated anything that was clearly part human.
 
“Little help?” Spike’s muffled voice came from beneath Adams heavy body.
 
“I’m busy just now, Spike. You’re gonna have to wait,” Buffy grunted as she took off the head of another single-minded demon hybrid.  She was trying to work her way back to where Spike was snarling and swearing as he threw Adam’s surprisingly heavy body off, when Riley and his remaining squad members shot their way through a locked door.  The remaining leaderless workers turned toward the new arrivals, leaving Buffy to pull Spike to his feet and hand him his sword.
 
“Time to go?”
 
“Ya think?”  Buffy could see Riley’s eyes as he saw Spike’s bloody mouth and the blood on her neck. “I really don’t want to explain this new neck decoration.”
 
Hurdling the dead bodies between them and the tunnel, they ran at top slayer/vampire speed, ignoring the shouts from behind them. They paused only long enough to leave the remaining grenades and the plastic explosive in a lethal heap. The rumbling explosions behind them leant wings and they were soon past all the places they’d dropped grenades earlier, pausing briefly to decapitate a surviving demon that tried to grab Buffy as she ran by.  When they reached the dirt tunnels and felt they’d left the Initiative behind, they slowed their steps.
 
“Hold up a second, Slayer.”
 
“Why?”
 
“Want to fix something...” Spike leaned toward her throat, growling when she flinched away.
 
“Did you just growl at me because I wouldn’t let you bite me again?” Buffy’s angry eyes were just visible in the fading light from the Initiative tunnels.
 
“Wasn’t going to bite you, you stupid bint.” He glared back at her.
 
“Oh, really? Well what were you going to do, huh?” She put her hands on her hips and glared back.
 
“I was going to clean it up for you, but you can just keep bleeding now! Go ahead, attract every vamp in Sunnyhell. See if I care.”
 
“You just want an excuse to drink from me again.” She watched as he visibly controlled his temper. Her certainty ebbed as she watched his face. “Don’t you...?”
 
“Of course I do! But I’d never—not without your permission.” He looked at her, his expression more sad than angry. “Thought you trusted me enough by now that I wouldn’t have to explain. My mistake.”  He turned away and started walking. “Let’s go, Slayer. Want to get home sometime tonight.”
 
Buffy watched him walk away, his shoulders hunched under his coat.  She raised her voice to call after him. “Does this mean our truce is over?”
 
He slowed and turned around to meet her gaze as she walked toward him. “Do you want it to be?”
 
She searched his eyes for some sign, seeing both resignation and hope, but no sign that he wanted to kill her.  “I’m not ready to be enemies again. Not yet.”
 
He sighed and relaxed his shoulders. “Don’t think I’m ready for that either, Buffy.” He reached out a hand, raising an eyebrow for permission before tipping her head so he could see the wound he’d made. “Don’t think it’s going to leave a scar, pet. I tried not to tear the skin too badly, but I had to make it look good.... not that I fooled him, I guess.” He dropped his hand and gave an apologetic shrug.
 
“We tried. It got me close enough to grab his power pack – so it was worth it. No biggie.” Buffy tried to look like she let vampires bite her all the time.
 
“Let me clean it up?” he asked. “Please? It’ll heal faster and I’ll feel less... guilty.”
 
“Guilty? How does a soulless vampire feel guilt?”
 
He growled again, and shook his head. “Have it your way, Slayer. I’m evil, soulless, and just looking for an excuse to sip some of that nectar that flows through your veins.” He started walking again, paying no attention to whether she was with him or not.  “Not everything your ponce of an ex told you about vampires was the gospel truth, you know,” he said as he disappeared into the dark tunnel. “Might be true of him, but not the rest of us.”
 
Buffy watched until she couldn’t see him anymore then realized how dark it was going to be when she moved away from the lights behind her.  “Spike, wait! I can’t see!”  She hurried forward, only slowing when the tingles on her neck told her there was a vampire nearby.  “Spike?”
 
“Right here, Slayer.” He took her hands in his and pulled her into the familiar position behind him. “Hang on.”
 
Without speaking they made their way down the tunnel until they reached Spike’s former lair. He paused and removed Buffy’s hands from his waist. “Let me light a torch, then you won’t need to hang on to my coattails anymore.” Buffy stood quietly, waiting for him to take a torch from its holder and use his Zippo to light it. When it had flared up, illuminating the cave, he put it back on the wall and looked around.
 
“Looks like Harm moved out,” he said, gesturing to the bare shelves. “Look, no unicorns.”
 
“I guess you could move back in,” Buffy agreed, looking around the much barer room. The shelves and the table were still there, as was the big bed off in an alcove, but it had been stripped of linens and didn’t look very inviting.
 
“S’pose I could,” he agreed. “On the other hand, I could also take some more coins and whatnot from that stash up that way...” He pointed toward the treasure cave. “Could get myself a real place to live.  Maybe even go back to Vegas and live there.”
 
“You’d leave Sunnydale?” Buffy hoped she was imaging the disappointment in her voice, but the look Spike sent her told her it was a futile hope.
 
“Any reason why I shouldn’t?” he challenged, stepping closer to her.
 
“Well... I mean your—the ring is here, and you might need—” She stopped and sighed. “No. I guess there isn’t.” She met the eyes that were now only a few inches from hers. “Not if you don’t want to...”
 
“What I want,” he said, “is to kiss you without having to start an argument to do it.”
 
“You mean kissing... without getting into a fight first?” She frowned. “Can we do that?”
 
“I think we can, luv,” he breathed, dipping his head. “I know I can...”
 
He fastened his lips on hers, waiting until she was kissing him back before sending his tongue out to trace around her lips tentatively.  For a moment, neither of them was willing to take the kiss any deeper, not sure of what they wanted, then Spike groaned and put his arms around her, pulling her against his body and deepening the kiss.  She stiffened at first, then relaxed and put her own arms around his neck, letting her body sink against his.
 
When Buffy finally broke away from his mouth, she stayed in Spike’s arms, taking deep breaths and trying to come to terms with what she was doing. “So much for the ‘heat of the moment’ excuse,” she said, resting her head on his chest, her voice shaking. 
 
Spike gave an equally shaky laugh.  “If you need an excuse, I’ll try to come up with somethin’ else. Jus’ give me a few to get my brain working again.”
 
Her eyes were serious as she looked up at him. “I think my brain has left the building... and it took my common sense with it.”
 
“Ah, don’t say that, luv.” He nuzzled her hair and planted light kisses all over her face. “It’s not so bad, is it? We’re not hurtin’ anyone. I’m not askin’ you to marry me. Just let me... let me love you for a while. Let me show you how good it can be....”
 
“Spike... don’t you think this is taking the truce a little too far?” Even while she complained, she was tipping her face up for another one of what she was already mentally calling  “Spike’s amazing kisses”.
 
“This has nothing to do with the truce,” he murmured as he fell into the soft lips she was raising to his.  Buffy’s curiosity about what else it could be wasn’t answered as Spike’s mouth kept hers too busy to ask the question.
 
This time, the kiss went on long enough for Buffy to feel his cock pressing into her, inspiring a reaction completely different from the one she’d had only a few weeks ago. She eagerly pushed back, wrapping her legs around his hips when Spike lifted her up. She whimpered when she felt him against her suddenly damp crotch, earning a tighter hold and an answering growl. She was losing herself in the sensations being created when he shocked her by raising his head and loosening his hold, allowing her feet to drop to the floor.
 
“Wha—?”
 
“Not quitting on you, love. But this isn’t what I wanted – standing up in a dirt cave, or on an old bed with no sheets. Want to do you right, Buffy. Want to make love to you where we can be comfortable and know we won’t be interrupted—” As he spoke, he threw his head up and snarled. Furious at the interruption, Buffy whirled around, sword in hand, to face the small group of vampires approaching through the cave entrance.