Spike was out of cigarettes. Bloody tragedy, that was. Unexpected, too. He hadn't even savored the last one. Just smoked it halfway, then tossed it aside as if they grew on trees. And now, trekking through the middle of nowhere to get to some mystical, portal-friendly destination, he had no way of getting any more.

Just one more reason for him to get home.

He'd expected Buffy to look different after the Slayer power-up. Brighter, maybe. Shinier.

Right, that was idiotic. She was still the same Buffy she'd been before. Too skinny. Too pale. Red nose and dark-circled eyes told all about her little addiction. Still such a far cry from the stunning looker she'd been in Sunnydale.

So there was no reason why he should be enjoying the view of her lounging on a rock in the middle of the lake they'd camped out by. Stark naked. Bathing in the lake turned into bathing in the sun. The trees shielded him from the sun's rays, but she lay out in full sunlit glory.

It shouldn't be the most appetizing of sights. Lack of readily available convenience shops meant she was unkempt and ungroomed after their time spent traveling. He was getting a bit shaggy, himself.

And yet, even knowing she wouldn't turn the head of most blokes anymore, he couldn't take his eyes off her. There was power in those bony arms.  Maybe it was that she was shinier, what with the strength emanating from every pore. It excited him, far more than anything else had in the past several years.

"You should be sleeping," she called without looking.

He grinned. She'd sensed him.

"Should. But I'm not."

"Why?"

He paused. He didn't want to tell her about the nightmares. "Found something more entertaining here."

Her arm was draped over her face, shielding her eyes from the sun's rays. She remained silent for a moment. "Then you should question Jigal. See what you can get out of him."

Jigal. The demon waiting to be killed. Spike had left him tied up at the campsite. The creature unnerved him. "And you? Is working on your tan more important than interrogating the captive?"

She moaned. "I'm not tanning. I'm just...tired. I was taking a bath, and I just had to rest."

Oh, right. She was finally coming down off her high. Probably for the best considering a coke high didn't mix well with Slayer powers. She'd been near unbearable the first several hours after they'd left Avery's place.

The only downside to that was the big crash she'd have to go through now. She was gonna be a slug for the next few days. Or weeks. Or...he actually wasn't sure how long this might last. Her Slayer powers seemed to mess up her metabolism.

"So?" Buffy called expectantly.

What had they been talking about?

"You gonna talk to Jigal or what?" she asked.

Seeing as she was out in the sun and dusk was still a good hour away, Spike had some time to kill. He nodded before heading back to the camp.

Relying on trees for shade was always risky business for a vampire. He didn't have much choice, though. The underground tunnels didn't extend out to this non-location, and they had to travel another week or so to reach their destination. In the meantime, makeshift shade would have to do. Spike could feel the sunlight peeking through the leaves. It burned him in spots for brief seconds. Not pleasant, but it was tolerable.

Trying to deal with the Yral demon, however, wasn't. The thing made his skin twitch. Demon with a soul. Wasn't natural.

Oh, how his glow laughed at him. No, mocked him. Some days, Spike wished he could rip the bloody thing out and forget about it.

Spike knelt beside the tied captive. "Don't suppose you're gonna talk without some persuasion."

Jigal quivered, rustling the leaves on the ground. Yral demons were bug demons. They had exoskeletons and mandibles that clicked when they were nervous. Like now.

"I...I won't betray my master." The voice was raspy, like claws on chalkboard.

"Thought as much." Spike reached into his boot to fetch his knife. Torturing a Yral demon wasn't difficult. It had one main nerve bundle underneath its exoskeleton at the base of its body. Expose the nerve center and you could have a field day in introducing it to the variety of sensations that pain had to offer.

Spike jabbed the knife into Jigal's crusty exterior shell. Should have thought to gag him first. The hoarse scream was torture to Spike's vampire hearing.

Black demon muck covered the blade as he discarded it. Spike wasn't sure if the sludge was blood. He didn't know if Yral demons had blood. Whatever it was, it smelled like something Dru might've dug out of a dumpster in times past. Foul.

"Now," Spike said. "Why not let us in on Dehevret's plans, yeah?"

"I don't know anything! He didn't tell me anything!"

Spike punched the wound with a force that propelled Jigal down into the ground. His screams turned into a wail of pain.

"Funny how I'm not believing that." God, he wanted a cigarette so much right now. Or maybe that was his glow acting up. Hard to tell the difference sometimes.

"It's the truth!"

"All that noise and still no luck?" Spike looked up to see Buffy leaning against a tree. She wore the same clothes she'd been wearing since they'd started this journey. The dip in the lake didn't look to have refreshed her in any way. She looked about to collapse.

He shook his head. "Just started. Thought you were lounging."

"Couldn't with this racket."

Jigal looked hopefully at Buffy. She was oblivious, though. She sat down heavily beside him and watched with a disinterested eye.

"Maybe we should try fire...," she said.

Jigal squirmed. "Okay! Okay! All I...all I know is that something happened five years ago."

"Five years ago?" Spike said. That's when he and Buffy had gotten here.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know. It was...he didn't tell me. It was a plan he had. All I know is that ten human slaves were sent over to your world."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh, you're asking for it, mate. What type of nitwit would send ten humans over to the good side? Not exactly a thoroughly evil plan, now is it?"

Buffy placed a hand on his elbow. "Spike, the vampires."

He looked at her in confusion.

Buffy clarified, "The vampires that were doing the ritual. In the cemetery. Remember, the night we got sucked in the portal? We'd come across a group of vampires doing something." Buffy leaned closer to Jigal. "These ten human slaves...Dehevret sent them to get vamped, didn't he?"

Jigal nodded.

The pieces were clicking in Spike's head. Buffy continued talking. "It's the only way Dehevret could get his people back and forth. He needed someone with a soul to cross to our world, but they'd need to lose the soul to come back over."

"So they were fetching something, then," Spike finished her thoughts. "And we interrupted them."

"Yeah. Once I crossed over, that gummed up the whole system. Nobody else can pass through the portal until I go back home."

"So that's why Dehevret's so hot to get us back there."

Jigal maintained a high-pitched keening noise. Like background music.

"So," Buffy said. "The question then is what Dehevret sent the humans to fetch from our world?"

"I don't know," Jigal said in a strangled voice.

"Wrong answer," Buffy said. She turned to Spike. "You know, I'm honestly tired of him. Wanna kill him now?"

As if that were an unappealing thought. Spike had been wanting to squash the bug demon since he'd first seen it. 'Bout time Buffy came to her senses.

Spike was reaching for his knife when Jigal spoke up again. "I'm valuable! My master...he'll trade for me."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "No, he won't."

"But I know where the item is! In your world...I could lead you to it."

"Don't care."

"You should. It's powerful. And once you're back through the portal, Dehevret will just try to get it again."

Buffy frowned but she looked to Spike. Spike's fingers itched to killed the thing, but his better sense was telling him that it might still be useful. His better sense didn't always win out, but it was about to in this case.

Spike heard it first. Fast footfalls through the underbrush. He put his hand on Buffy's arm to keep her still before she started torturing Jigal. He smelled a demon. Well, another demon.

Spike stood in one fluid motion and quietly approached the noise.

It was a runner demon. Damned if he could remember the name of them. Delicate, scrawny limbs and long legs. They...they ran. That's what they did.

This one careened to a halt when it saw Spike and the others. It quickly glanced at Jigal before looking back at Spike.

"Don't suppose you have any food?" the demon asked.

****

Spike knew he probably shouldn't be handing out food to random demons passing by, but this demon was outside of its territory for a reason. Might have some information. And they needed all the information they could get right now.

"Thanks. You guys are swell. Name's Cecil. Clan Dao, though that probably means nothing to you. Still, it's a habit to repeat it every damn time I meet someone. Creature of habit, you know?"

Buffy sat a few feet away. She'd gotten quiet once Spike had invited the new arrival to sit down and rest a bit. Spike would say she was pouting, but she still looked far too tired to muster up a good sulk.

"Where you headed, mate?" Spike asked as he fetched some of the old, stale blood from the duffel. Cecil was already gnawing on some of the food they'd gotten from Avery.

"Somewhere that's else, if you know what I mean. Honestly, no clue. I wasn't meaning to go anywhere until I hit Cathela. After that..."

"What happened in Cathela?" God, the blood was rancid. What Spike wouldn't give for something fresh. His eyes wandered back over to the Slayer.

"Better question there would be, 'What came to Cathela?' You ever hear of Dehevret?"

Spike's focus shot back to Cecil. The bony demon kneaded its calf muscles as it ate, completely unaware of the bombshell it had dropped. "Dehevret's men are in Cathela?"

"His men? Got some wax up in your ears, vampire? I said Dehevret. The demon, himself!"

Dehevret never traveled. He directed his affairs from the safety of his own headquarters. If Dehevret were in Cathela...following them...

Cecil continued, "That demon gives me the oogie boogies, if you know what I mean. So once he stormed into town, I hightailed it out of there along with just about everybody else."

"Where's he heading?"

Cecil shrugged. "I didn't ask. It's not like he stopped to hold a press conference. Alls I know is that I heard he was in town and I started running."

Spike ran a hand through his hair. Things were never easy, were they? He had to think. Would this change things? Dehevret still wanted them to get home, right? So they should still be able to get through the portal, no problem. What was the guy after, then? And was it worth their time to bother trying to stop him? Cause if Dehevret were planning something evil in this world…well, Spike couldn't give a fuck. He'd be leaving it soon.

But if Dehevret planned on bringing any chaos to Spike's world, the bastard would get his ass duly handed to him.

Too many questions. All the answers they'd gotten had led to more questions. Just never ended, did it?

"How long ago was this?" Buffy asked, suddenly joining the conversation.

Cecil looked up at her. "Word is that he arrived there yesterday. But he moves slower than me. He's got his entourage, you know. Say, this lump of bread ain't bad for travel rations. You got any more you can spare?"

"'Fraid not, mate," Spike said absently.

He was lost in his own thoughts. He didn't even notice what Buffy was doing until it was done. Once Spike realized what had happened, Cecil's neck was already broken and his body was slumped to the side. Buffy stomped around the camp, gathering supplies.

"We need to leave. Now," she said as if she hadn't casually killed their demon visitor two seconds ago.

Spike bound to his feet. "What the bloody hell did you do that for?"

Buffy paused. "Don't tell me you're forgetting the central theme of being the Slayer: I kill demons."

"Not helpful, harmless demons!"

"Harmless to you, maybe, but I saw plenty of his kind in the brothel." She shook her head. "This is part of the Slayer package that you wanted me to sign up for. No refunds or exchanges, you know."

"Funny, I don't recall you being such a bloody-thirsty bitch when you were the Slayer before."

Buffy threw the duffel down and straightened up, hands on hips. "Spike, what's the problem here? Scared I'm gonna try to stake you?"

"You mean you're not? Can't imagine I'm exempt from the demon-killing rule you got there."

She looked down. "You're not."

Spike exhaled sharply, wishing again for a cigarette. He closed the distance between them in two quick steps and snatched the duffel away from her.

He waved his hand at the body. "Get rid of that, and then we'll leave. Have to keep a quick pace to stay ahead of Dehevret. Should probably off the captive now, too. He's extra baggage at this point."

Buffy's hands went to her hips, and she wore that stubborn expression he knew so well.

"What?" he questioned.

"Don't act like you're in charge."

"Not acting. Last I checked, I was the guy who started this thing."

"I thought we had a partnership."

Spike nodded. "A partnership where I make the calls. If it had been up to you, we'd be back at the brothel with your precious drugs."

"Fight for it."

"What?"

"You heard me. You want to play Leader, then fight for it. Strength being the determining factor, of course. Winner gets the title."

For five years, Spike had called his own shots. By necessity. Being by oneself required it. Nobody else was going to step in and make the decisions. Figure things out. Tell him what to do.

He'd enjoyed things being like that. For once, he wasn't under anybody's thumb. Not his mother's or Angelus' or Dru's or that damned chip's. Was his own man. Well, his own vampire. Who wouldn't want that sort of freedom? To always be open to choose the next step. Always have the last (and only) word on the "big decisions". Have the sole opinion on what to do. Knowing that it always came down to him. Whatever "it" was: Finding Buffy, rescuing Buffy, finding the way home, figuring out this portal business, getting a soul. One misstep, one wrong calculation, one mistake and the whole thing was ruined. It was all on his shoulders.

Who wouldn't enjoy that?

"What's the game, then?" Spike asked, certain he could best the Slayer. Sure, she'd been powered up, but she was still on a coke drag.

"Arm wrestle." Buffy smiled. "Keep it simple and quick."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Nothing about this is gonna be quick, luv."

****

Her arm was slender, but her grip was firm.

Spike knew he should be locking eyes with her, but his gaze kept traveling down to the collar of her shirt. Soaking up the wetness from her recently-bathed body, it gaped open, revealing the expanse of skin just above her breasts. Goosebumps appeared with the breeze.

"You're getting distracted," Buffy said.

That drew his eyes back to hers. "Yeah. And yet, I still manage." Spike squeezed her hand.

"For now. But you're gonna get tired, and then those distractions will win out."

"Not my arm that's shaking," he pointed out. It was true. She was still feeling the effects of her withdrawal, and it was hurting her in this game. Spike didn't expect her to hold out much longer.

"Doesn't matter." She opened and reclasped her hand around his, shifting her arm slightly without giving way any. "I'm gonna win. I should win.You have an Achilles heel."

"What's that?"

She leaned closer. The collar of her shirt dipped lower. Her breath teased his lips. "Cause you're in love with me."

Spike's instinct was to recoil, and he had to quickly recover his composure so as to not lose any ground in the arm wrestling that now seemed incidental to the other game going on. Spike swallowed. He'd wondered if she'd noticed his little slip before the empowering spell, but he figured she'd been too out of it. Of course she would mention it now.

But he could just as well play that game.

"Past tense, Slayer. I did love you. Barely know who you are anymore." That was true. With the drugs and the fucking and the wanton demon-slaughter, this Buffy was far and away what she'd used to be. Spike's feelings for her had changed. He hadn't decided yet just what they'd changed into, though.

She shook her head. "I know what a demon in love looks like. You think I didn't have plenty of the johns in the brothel fall for me? I also know what a demon looks like when it wants to submit to someone else. And you're looking awfully tired, Spike."

Her palm sweated against his dry hand. She was exerting more effort than she let on. If Spike didn't let her head games get to him, he could outlast her.

Buffy shifted even closer, then, her forehead almost touching his. Her words were whispered just loud enough that a vampire could hear them. "I know you want me to take the reins, Spike. Let me help you."

Wasn't gonna work.

Her lips met his in a crushing kiss. He growled, yet yielded to her forceful advance. His senses screamed at him as he felt everything Buffy. Her mouth, her tongue, her breath, her moans, her teeth, all tantalizing and seducing him with ferocious confidence. This wasn't love; it was sex. She wasn't even touching his supposed Achilles' heel. All she was touching was his desire. More like firmly stroking it while promising a more thorough exploration later. He could let her. He could absolutely let her and still win the game.

He could.

Buffy sucked his lower lip between her teeth, biting down sharply enough to draw blood. She withdrew, and then there was a stillness. Spike opened his eyes to her triumphant gaze. His hand lay palm-up on the rock they'd been using as a surface, her hand on top of it. She'd won.

Spike licked the blood from his lip.

****

His unlife for a cigarette. He craved the nicotine like he'd never craved anything.

Spike watched Buffy's movements around the camp. She gathered the supplies and dragged the body of the runner demon into the lake. She wanted the bloody reins, she could damn well have them. Spike wasn't gonna lift a finger.

The preparations for departure seemed complete, and Buffy approached him with a smile.

"Ready to travel, partner?"

He didn't return the smile. "This little power trip of yours might come back and bite you in the ass, you know?"

She raised her eyebrows.

"Portal needs you just as you were when you came through. If my dreams are right, it's gonna recognize how big a bitch you've become and spit you back out."

The smile remained, but it didn't reach her eyes anymore. "Before we leave, I need you to do something for me." The subject had been changed. Spike rolled his eyes but continued listening. "Kill Jigal. And I'm gonna be watching, so make it...exciting."

tbc...