Chapter 12

Spike awoke with a pounding in his skull. He tried to move his hands, but noticed that he was tied up. He opened his eyes and glanced around at his surroundings, which seemed to be the inside of a crypt. A soft moan had him focusing on the person in front of him, his eyes bulging at the sight of Buffy in chains. It looked like she was just coming to.

“Love, are you okay?”

She finally opened her eyes enough to stare at him, panicking as she pulled at the chains. “What’s going on? Where are we?”

Spike could hear how scared she sounded and wished more than anything that he could take her in his arms. “That’s what I would like to know. Where the fuck are you, Drusilla? Get the bloody hell out here now!” he yelled, hoping to get her attention.

Buffy gulped at that name. “D…Drusilla? She’s the one that brought us here?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, paid me a visit earlier. I was hoping she would just leave town, should have known the crazy bint wouldn’t listen.”

An insane giggle sounded through the crypt, until Drusilla finally made her presence known.

Buffy pulled harder on the chains, but they wouldn’t budge.

“Naughty girl, you’ll only hurt yourself.” She moved closer to Buffy, striking her hard across the cheek. “I could do that for you.”

Spike growled. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”

Drusilla turned to look at him, a somber expression on her face. “My poor Spike, you’re so lost. Not even I can help you now.”

Spike chose to ignore her, instead noticing that she didn’t make his ropes very tight. He took a sudden whiff of the air, realizing something that hadn’t occurred to him before. “Fuck, it reeks of kerosene in here.”

Buffy was confused, continuing to pull on the chains as Drusilla stepped closer to her. “Why would she do that?”

Spike thought back to what Drusilla told him earlier that night.

“You know what happens to the bad sunshine? They get burned.”

He looked up, just as Drusilla grabbed a nearby torch. “Shit, she’s going to set the place on fire.”

She giggled. “The sunshine must be punished.”

Spike had to act quickly. “Dru, pet, you don’t want to do this.”

Drusilla glared at him. “You’re not my Spike anymore,” with that said, she laid the torch down, watching in merriment as the area next to Buffy went up in flames.

Buffy could feel how hot it was, and knew that it wouldn’t take long for the fire to reach her. “Spike, you have to do something!”

Enough was enough, Spike immediately got loose from the ropes, once again grateful that she didn’t tie them right. He attacked Drusilla, never before feeling such hatred for his ex. She gave back just as good, but Spike was stronger. He slammed her to the ground, about to lay the final blow, when Buffy’s coughing stopped him. He could see how close the flames were to her, and how she was still struggling to get free. Spike ran to her side and tried to break the chains, but it was no use. “I need a key.”

It was times like this that Buffy wished she didn’t need to breathe. “She probably has it on her somewhere.”

Spike nodded and went back over to Drusilla, searching through her pockets. He smiled in satisfaction once he came across the key.

Drusilla screamed, banging her head against his and almost causing him to fall back. She shoved him out of the way, moving over to Buffy with a twisted smirk on her face. “Burn, sunshine, burn like the rotten little girl you…” Anything else she would have said was cut off by the wooden stake now sticking out of her chest. Drusilla turned sad eyes on Spike, right before she exploded in a cloud of dust.

Spike sighed in relief, then made his way back over to Buffy.

“Where’s the key?” she wondered.

Spike cursed. “Bloody hell, I must have dropped it when she hit me.” He went to go look for it, knowing that time was running out.

Buffy coughed and could feel the smoke enter her lungs. It was so hot. “Spike, just get out of here! This whole place is going to come down!”

Spike shook his head, staring up at her. “No, I’m not leaving without you.” He continued to search on the ground, crying in triumph when he finally located the key. He ran over to her, noticing that she was trying to keep herself conscious. “It’s okay, baby. I’ll have you out in no time, just stay with me.”

He managed to unlock the chains, catching Buffy as she fell in his arms. Spike quickly took off his duster and placed it over her body, then picked her up and made his way out of the crypt, careful to avoid any flames. Once they were safely outside, he lowered Buffy to the ground and removed his coat. Spike panicked when he saw that she wasn’t breathing.

“Come on, love. Baby, you have to wake up now.” He didn’t know what to do, but was willing to try anything at the moment. “I don’t know if this would work since I don’t really breathe, but I’m going to give it a try.” He tilted her head back, then pinched her nose and lightly pressed his lips to hers, blowing into her mouth. Spike only saw this done on the telly before. Some show about lifeguards, but prayed that he was doing it right. He pulled away and noticed no change, then placed his hands on her chest and pumped a few times. When that didn’t work, he went back to breathing into her mouth.

“Please, Buffy, don’t do this to me. You need to come back, baby. I love you.” Spike tried giving CPR one last time, when she finally coughed and started to take in deep breaths. Spike couldn’t remember ever feeling so relieved, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to his chest. “That’s my girl, you’re okay now. Just breathe slowly, sweetheart.”

Buffy did as he said, gazing up into his eyes. “Did we make it?”

He laughed and kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, we made it. Shame about that crypt, though. It was bloody nice.”

“Fire bad, tree pretty. I’m gonna keep that in mind from now on.”

Spike nodded. “That sounds good to me, unless it’s a tree that catches on fire.”

She glared up at him. “Fire bad, tree pretty.”

He smiled at her warmly, gently caressing her cheek. “Whatever you say, pet.”

Buffy snuggled up closer to him, her eyes widening when something suddenly came to her. “Did you say that you loved me?”