Summary: This story is based on Challenge #87 on the Bloodshedverse, issued by Bloodshed Baby. The challenge reads like this:

Another early season "lost somewhere and having to rely on each other to survive" Spuffy story in the same vein as Castaway, Stranded, The Game series, etc. (Oh come on, you know these kind of fics are fun). The challenge? Trying to come up with a plot/story line that is somewhat unique (or not) yet keeps us on the edge of our seats. Can be time travel, stuck somewhere, kidnapped, etc.   
I really didn’t need another WIP in progress, but I was looking through the challenges the other day and this one started talking to me.

Set in Season 3, after Lover’s Walk, Vampire Council decides to punish those responsible for the state the Aurelius line is in and kidnap Buffy and Spike.

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Prologue:

In a large, dark room they sat behind long wooden tables that lined three walls. In the center sat the oldest, Matsema, the Father of most the current Families. It was his fortress they gathered in deep in the jungles of the Congo. Just looking at him it was hard to believe that this vampire had enough power to destroy everyone in this room. He sat slouched in a chair, his fangs so pronounced; it was almost hard to understand when he spoke.

They did this once every century, the Heads of the Clans gathered together for a month. They discussed possible threats and they solved Blood Feuds that developed over the past century and were becoming dangerous for their kind. They also reestablished their connections to their Sires and Grandsires, receiving some rejuvenating blood from the oldest among them.



They sat according to their age and power. The ones in the center, all well over two thousand years, in no way resembled humans, instead appearing more like shrunken gargoyles.

The ones at the end, only around one thousand years, even in their demonic visage, appeared more human; when they changed they could still pass for their mortal counterparts.

“Now on to one last topic for the day.” Matsema rasped. He gestured to the empty chair on his right. “Most of you know of the great loss we suffered recently. The House of Aurelius has been all but destroyed from within and the Slayer has killed my favored child, the Head of that House. We must decide whether to elect a new Head of that line and gift him with their power or whether to end the line now.” He sighed. “Even though it saddens me greatly, I must recommend that we just end the line, there is no one I believe who could take his place. We will vote on this at the end of the month.”

There wasn’t really a need to vote, all the older demons would vote how their Sire wanted them and none of the younger ones would dare to go against him.

Not that they didn’t plan.

Almost at the end of the table sat a female vampire. She had been around since the time of Cleopatra; in fact she was the favored maid of Cleopatra. It was her that had brought the asp to her mistress that would end her life.

Ipwet had followed under Matsema, for her entire existence. She fought and clawed her way up to become the Head of her own Family, but still it wasn’t enough. She was tired of the old ways; she was tired of hiding in the dark from a weaker species. She wanted to wipe out the humans, except for the ones they kept in farms for food.

She wanted to own this world.

But Matsema insisted that for them to survive the Balance must be maintained. It had been almost a thousand years and Ipwet was getting impatient. She knew she had to come up with a way to topple Matsema and soon.

“I also wish to vote today on a matter of punishment.” Matsema continued. “Punishment for the ones responsible for the state of the Aurelius Line, punishment for the one who killed my Childe, and punishment for the one who killed the Anointed One, the means through which my Childe was meant to return.” He looked at each vampire sitting around him. “Is there anyone who opposes that?”

Of course no one did.

“Then I sentence Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer and William the Bloody to an immediate death. Get the word out to all of your Families and let the sentence commence right away.”

Knowing they were now dismissed, they began to rise to leave.

“Sire, wait,” Ipwet called from the back. Everyone stopped wondering why this young one was contradicting their Father.

“You have a problem with this?” Matsema growled at her.

“No Sire, I just think that your grief has made you overlook other options.”

“Such as?”

”Well, an immediate death is pretty easy for such heinous crimes. Why not make them suffer? You could have them brought here, put them in your…garden with your other pets. Make them know fear and pain before they are finally put down.” She said with a cruel smile. “Plus it will provide up with some entertainment while we are here for the next month.”

Matsema considered. “I like the way you are thinking, Ipwet.” She knew it was supposed to be a great honor that he knew the name of one so young, such as herself.

“Send the word out. They are to be captured and brought here immediately. I want them to arrive within the week.” He said.

The meeting over everyone left to go contact their Childer.

As she was leaving another vampiress caught up with her. “What was that all about?” She demanded.

Ipwet motioned her to silence and then beckoned her to follow her, several of the other younger vamps followed as well.

If they were allowed to be considered an actual faction of this Council, Ipwet would be their leader and all of them were curious as to what she was up to.

When they reached her set of rooms they waited in silence for her to begin. “With the destruction of the Aurelius line, all that power, second only to Matsema’s, would be separated out amongst us. The oldest lines would of course get the largest percentage. If instead the mantle is given to one easily controlled or sympathetic to our cause, then we are suddenly in a much better position.”

“So who are you thinking of?” The other vampiress, Rangda, asked her. Rangda was from Bali, there were stories told in legends their of her penchant for the blood of children. “Surely not William the Bloody.”

“He’s sought after and killed two Slayers, a feat no other has accomplished.”

”Simply because he sought them out, the rest of us are smart enough to stay away from Slayers.”

“He also has no love for the Old One’s, he cares nothing for their ways and traditions.”

”So how exactly do you plan on him going from a death sentence to a Head of the second strongest Family?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I want everyone trying to think up a way. I’m tired of living under the humans. We should be the rulers of this realm.”



In his car driving back to South America, back to Drusilla, Spike was cursing. He was still annoyed with his Grandsire and that bloody Slayer.

He could respect her as a warrior, as enemies went she was pretty ok. He even admired her fighting style, but when it came to men, she was obviously dense.

Why would she keep putting herself in the position of temptation? All she was going to get was heartbreak from the Poofy One.

And if she unleashed Angelus again, he hoped she would be ready for the fallout, because he sure as hell wasn’t going to be around to save her this time.

‘Why the hell are you worrying about the Slayer, mate?’ Part of him was asking. ‘Serves the chit right if she gets what she keeps asking for.’

Spike reassured himself by choosing to believe he was only worried because Dru would definitely leave him for her Sire. And this time she wouldn’t even keep him around as a novelty pet.

Spike wished that just once he would come first in her mind. He took care of her, loved her, acceded her every wish. He had been faithful to her for the past century and he didn’t know what else he could do to win over her heart. No matter what he did, her precious Daddy was always the only one to her.

He wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship with someone who loved you as much as you loved them.

Thoroughly depressed now, he decided to stop at a demon bar he knew of just south of Tijuana.

A couple bottles of whiskey would chase these blues away, he thought.

He pulled in just after 2am and walked up to the bar ordering a whiskey and some blood. He noticed some of the vamps stopped what they were doing to look at him, but he figured they were just checking out the new Tom Cat in town. He grinned; he could take anyone of these Fledglings, probably even any three or four of them.

He drank is his blood and whiskey slowly as he again turned his mind back to Drusilla; he needed to come up with a plan. Maybe he would take her some young virgins to play with, she always loved the young innocent girls. He thought she took pleasure in destroying them the same way Angelus had destroyed her. He figured that along with some heavy torture sessions and she would be his again.

“Excuse me?” The bartender interrupted his thoughts.

“What?” Spike growled unhappy at having his thoughts interrupted.

“Are you William the Bloody?”

“What of it?” Spike snarled, then he felt it. He turned around and saw every vamp in the bar had gone and got all their friends. They stood around him in a circle.

“You kiddies trying to make a name for yourselves.” The thought flitted through his mind that it was a shame the Slayer weren’t here. She would have loved these odds and he actually had fun fighting on the same side as her. He prepared himself for the first strike.

Too bad he forgot about the bartended. With a loud crash he broke the bottle of whiskey over Spike’s head knocking him unconscious.

“Let’s get him on his way, boys. Some important vamps are asking to see him.” The bartender said as they started to tie him up.



Buffy wandered through one of the cemeteries, trying not to think about what Spike had said the other night. She had been trying not to think about it ever since he said it.

Why was he always so right about things? She swore he only did it to annoy her.

Plus, it so wasn’t fair, that Spike, of all vampires, seemed to be capable of undying love and devotion with or without the soul. If he could do that why couldn’t Angel?

She wondered what it was about him that allowed his demon to have such feelings and emotions. She also wondered what it was like to have someone love you that much.

The poetic justice of it all was the fact that she knew Drusilla didn’t love Spike in the same way. She knew all it would take would be for Angel to have another happy and Drusilla would come running right back into town, even if she had to stake Spike on the way.

Buffy noticed vaguely a tingling inside her. It was about time, she hadn’t come across any vamps yet tonight. Suddenly, the tingling got stronger as the number multiplied. She knew there were more of them then she would be able to handle by herself. She turned to go back the way she came, but she felt more of them coming from that direction.

Every way she tried to go, they were there, just outside her sight. Finally accepting that she was surrounded she pulled out her stake.

“Let’s get this over with guys. I have some ‘Must See TV’ I need to get home for.” She swallowed her fear when she saw how many of them came out of the mist. For a second she almost wished Spike were here. It had surprised her how much fun she had fighting with him instead of against him. They worked well together and she knew if he were here she wouldn’t be nearly so afraid right now.

They started coming at her all at once. She managed to dust three of them, but then two others grabbed her arms. She struggled in their grasp, kicking away anyone who tried to approach her from the front. Finally a large vampire came up behind her and slammed his fist down on the top of her head.

“Owie.” Buffy said before unconsciousness claimed her.

The vampires eyed her hungrily.

“Can’t we just have a little taste? Who knows when we’ll get another chance at a Slayer.” One of the bolder ones asked.

The large vampire picked up Buffy’s stake and drove it through the one who asked.

“Any one else want a little taste?” He knew better than to disobey orders like this.

“All right, lets secure her and deliver her.”

 
Chapter 1:

Spike had no idea where he was going or how long they had been traveling. He believed it had
only been a few days since his capture, but he couldn't be sure. They had incarcerated him in a
small metal box, with no holes or openings anywhere on it, except for a little slit at the top his
captors used to drop blood packets in.

After drinking the first one and finding it laced with sedatives that knocked him out for an
indeterminate amount of time he vowed not to drink anymore.

Unfortunately, trapped as he was with now way to tell how many hours were passing, hunger had
begun to eat away at him. He finally drank the blood just so he could sleep and alleviate the
overwhelming boredom. He knew there was no way out of this for him at this time. All he could do
was wait and hope that someone slipped up whenever they decided to remove him from his tiny
cage.

During the time he was awake, he racked his brain trying to figure out who would have done this to
him. His first thought was Drusilla, wanting to punish him for returning to Sunnydale and proving her
right about his fascination with the Slayer. The fact that he went there for a love potion to get her
back wouldn't convince her any different. Then he thought about the Slayer herself, but she wouldn't
use vampires to hunt him down.

Then there was Angelus. He couldn't help but wonder if the Slayer had made him a happy vamp
again. This would be right up his alley to send some lackeys after him and transport him back to
Sunnyhell in this box.

The only problem with that was they had been traveling way too long just to head back to
Sunnydale.

There was a loud noise and he felt his little box move slightly. He heard noises of vamps
approaching. He braced himself, hoping this was going to be his chance to escape.

"Should we wait for the other team to get here so we can move them both together?" One voice
asked.

"Nah, I hear they are having trouble with her, we don't want to get caught up in that. Let's just get
him inside."

The box was tilted and then Spike could tell he was being carried somewhere. They were
obviously climbing up a staircase by the angle they were holding him at and the constant jostling as
they climbed upwards. The farther up they went the more Spike could sense power coming from
above.

They finally reached the top of the stairs and he could hear the squeaking noise of a large door
being swung open on its hinges.

By the time they sat him down, Spike didn't need anyone to tell him where he was. The feeling of
power and family surrounding him, gave him that answer.

He heard them undoing the locks on his prison before they lifted off the lid.

He didn't stand immediately. First he let his eyes adjust to the light that his eyes had become
accustomed to not having.

When he did stand, he did so slowly and made a great show of stretching his cramped muscles
and cracking his neck before acknowledging his surroundings. He stared directly at the vampire in
front of him. This was the one all the legends and stories were about. Mastema.

Spike had heard he had been around since the time of Job. It had been him that had killed the
man's family and slaughtered his livestock. He was also rumored to have been chosen as the head
of the vampires by asking God, himself, to give him control over these demons to exercise his
authority because they were intended to lead corrupt and lead astray the evil sons of men before
God's judgment. On his death bead Isaac promises that neither Mastema, nor his spawn will have
the power to turn Jacob or his descendants.

Of course who knew how much of that was myth or truth. It was impressive that he was mentioned
in the Old Testament, though.

"I got your invitation." Spike said with a smirk as he gracefully stepped out from the box. "The travel
accommodations left a little to be desired though."

There were gasps around him, as the others were outraged at his lack of respect.

"You should be on your knees, miscreant." A voice shouted. Several more joined in shouting their
agreement.

Spike turned in a circle slowly, meeting the eyes of each and every vampire in the room levelly. The
older vampires looked at him with hatred and easily recognizable blood lust, the younger ones
didn't hold the hatred in their eyes the older on had. Instead they looked at him with something
close to curiosity or interest. One vampiress in particular gave him a small smile that almost
looked like respect.

Spike wondered what that was all about.

When he had turned around three hundred and sixty degrees and was facing forward again
Mastema held up his hand and everyone was silenced.

"Why don't we bring in our other guest?" He said with a cold smile.

The heavy doors swung open again and Spike turned to see who the other 'guest' was and finally
lost his cool façade, gasping at what he saw. Had he not been familiar with her unique signature
that always alerted him to her presence he might not have recognized her.

"Slayer?" He all but whispered, bewilderingly.

Her hair was greasy and matted to her head, her clothing was dirty, torn and by the smell of her she
hadn't showered or bathed in quite a while. Her eyes were surrounded by black from her makeup
that had smudged and not wiped away.

Around her neck was a heavy, metal collar about two inches wide, with four metal around it.
Attached to each metal ring was a three-foot long metal poles with chains running out from the
ends. Four vampires held the end of these chains. From her appearance and the blank look in her
eyes, Spike assumed they must have broken her on the trip here.

Then they began to escort her in. As soon as they moved she began kicking out. The poles made
sure she couldn't reach any of them, but that didn't stop her from trying. She clawed at the collar
with her hands desperately.

She had to sense as well as Spike could the strength and age of the vampires present. Even if she
managed to get free, she had to know there would be no way out for her.

Yet that didn't stop her from fighting them, she seemed determined not to give.

Spike respected her resilience.

At one point when she kicked out with her right leg, the handlers on her left hand side pulled
sharply causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. The vampires around the room
laughed as they began dragging her quickly towards the middle of the room. She scrambled to
stand so they wouldn't keep dragging her causing her to choke and cough.

When they finally came to a stop, next to him, Spike could see now that some of what he thought
was dirt was actually dark bruises on her skin and she smelled even worse close up.

Spike had the urge to lean down and help her stand up, but he refrained. He wasn't sure what he
had done to incur the wrath of the most powerful vampires in existence. Actually he had actually
committed any number of crimes that would earn him the right to be here like this, he just wasn't
sure what they knew about. Either way he doubted that showing kindness to a Slayer would help
him in any way.

He might be reckless, but he wasn't an idiot.


Buffy lay there panting from exertion. Days, possibly a week or more trapped in darkness. A large
metal crate, no bathroom, no bed. They would throw rotting food at her. She even tried to eat it in
an attempt to keep her strength up. Some of it she could stomach, some of it made her ill. She
spent most of her time engaging in meditation techniques that Giles had been trying to teach her
designed to improve her skills. If it weren't for them she probably would have gone mad.

When they had finally arrived here her Slayer senses went crazy. She felt like someone had
attached live wires to her. When they opened the box she made no movements or noise and they
had mistakenly assumed they had broken her.

"She gave you trouble?" Mastema growled out.

His voice caused the currents running through Buffy to strengthen noticeably.

"She killed six of my men before we could get the collar on. It took another twelve to get it done."
The large vampire who had first captured her in Sunnydale answered.

"And she injured four of them." Another vamp muttered.

"Would you shut up!" The first vampire snarled.

"Silence." The voice booming like that caused all of Buffy's muscles to tense. Every instinct in her
body was calling out for her to destroy the owner of that voice. She concentrated on controlling
herself, knowing now wasn't the time. She wasn't going to get very far. She finally caught her breath
and looked up.

As soon as she saw the shrunken figure in the center, who kinda reminded her of one of those
hairless cats, she knew he was the one. He was the leader of them all.

She observed him for a few moments while he continued addressing her captors.

"Your arrogance cost you your men, and could have cost you your life had she managed to get
free." He looked directly at Buffy and she felt her lips curl into a snarl. "Be thankful you don't join her
in her fate." A shiver ran through her, revulsion not fear.

"Welcome Slayer." He sounded so smug and happy now. "This is the first time one of your kind
has ever come here."

Buffy turned her head and took in her surroundings.

No wonder her Slayer senses were going nuts, every one of these vampires was old and powerful.
She looked towards the other side of the room and swallowed. In her present state she didn't think
she could handle one of them, much less this many.

She was going to die here.

Fear finally broke through the wall she had been keeping it behind and steadily began to grow into
panic. She tried to rein it in, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of smelling it on her.

Then she noticed someone standing next to her, someone who felt familiar. She noticed the dark
Doc Martens first.

Fear was replaced by white-hot rage.

"Spike!" She hissed. She jerked so suddenly her handlers almost lost their grip on her chains, but
they managed to pull her back before she reached her quarry.

She hit the floor choking and gasping. "What have you done?" She wheezed in between coughs.
She didn't take the time to wonder about the pain of betrayal she felt.

"That's what I'd like to know, Slayer." Spike commented.

She glanced at him in confusion. If he wasn't the one behind this, then why was he here?

He jerked his head towards Mastema. They both turned their eyes back towards the powerful
vampire.

"William the Bloody, you are here for the murder of the Anointed One." Mastema began.

Spike exploded. "WHAT?" He roared. "Of all the things I've done over the years you want to come
after me for offing that little…"

"SILENCE!" Mastema bellowed. Spike quieted immediately, but only because he had no choice
under the influence of the Sire's voice. He almost growled in anger, but stopped himself. That
would be considered a direct challenge.

"He was the vessel which would allow the Master of you line to return. Mastema finished.

If anything that only made Spike happier her got rid of him when he had the chance.

"Buffy Anne Summers, you are charged with the death of my favorite Childe and the Master of the
Aurelius line."

He paused dramatically, perhaps waiting for them to realize the severity of their crimes.

"And now for your punishment…"

"You mean having to look at you wasn't punishment enough?" Buffy asked.

Spike tried to hide his smirk. He did.

"Sire, we should just kill her right now." The vampire next to Mastema said. He was almost as
pretty as Mastema, himself.

"No, this is going to be much more entertaining." He laughed and addressed Buffy. "Your smart
comments are not going to save you. You are both sentenced to life imprisonment in my Garden.
Not that you will live long. I have a zoo of sorts there. I have collected many different species of
demons that have long since left this realm." He sat back in his chair. "Know that we will enjoy
watching you get ripped apart." He smiled in delight and gestured with his hand.

"Take them away."

As soon as the guards closed in around Spike he dropped into a defensive position. His plan was
to go out fighting, no incarceration for him.

"Stop." Again Mastema used the Sire voice on him and he had no choice but to obey. This time he
did growl at the older vampire, but he didn't even respond to the challenge.

Spike noticed that Buffy had resumed her desperate struggle, but there was no hope for her either.
A vampire got close enough behind her to kick her soundly in the head and she slumped to the
ground.

Spike's guards restrained his arms and put a collar on his neck similar to Buffy's before they
began taking him out of the room. Buffy's guards just drug her unconscious form.

Chapter 2: The Garden

They led the prisoners through a maze of hallways and corridors moving farther down staircases or ramps all the time, until Spike finally gave up trying to keep track of what direction they were headed in. He would never remember all these twists and turns, he knew.

He glanced at the Slayer being led ahead of him. She had finally stopped struggling with her captors when the reached the first steep staircase, not wanting to have her neck broken. The fire of hatred was still burning brightly in her eyes, however.

Spike couldn’t help but admire her again. He didn’t know of any other being, human, vampire or Slayer that would be able to stand before a room full of their sworn enemies, be sentenced to death and wet themselves in fear. Yet this girl, not only didn’t cower, she still had the fight left in her. The chit either didn’t have the smarts to realize she was already beaten or she had some pretty hardy stones.

“So what’s up with Garden thing?” She asked the guards. “I hate to say this, but I’m allergic to a lot of different flowers.” She smirked when they ignored her. “What’s the matter? Big Bad vamps afraid of little old me?” She taunted them sweetly.

The guards stopped and one of Spike’s caretakers stepped up and hit her across the face, hard. “Shut up, Slayer.” He told her. “If I had my way, you’d already be dead.” Buffy’s head had fallen back from the blow, when she lifted it to face her attacker; she met Spike’s eyes directly. It took only an instant, but Spike got the plan.

“So why don’t you go for it then, Mate?” Spike spoke up, causing the vampire to glare at him. “Wot? I’ve already taken out two myself, its quite a rush. Gotta let her go, though, its so much better when they fight back.”

“You shut up, too. You traitor. I’m not stupid enough to unchain her.”

“Don’t have the stones to face her, do you?” Spike persisted.

“Yeah, where can I go in a fortress full of Master Vampires?” Buffy questioned.

“ENOUGH!!!” The large vampire in charge roared. He let go of the pole he had been leading Buffy by and approached Spike menacingly. “No one is letting either of you loose, so just be quiet.” Spike looked over at Buffy; he saw in her eyes that she agreed with him, this might be their best shot. They both knew that even if they managed to free themselves the most they could hope for was to take a few of the bastards down with them and go out fighting.

The large one grabbed Spike by his throat. “I heard a rumor Drusilla left you.” He said evilly. “A nut job like that throws you out, what does that say about you?” Spike only glared at him, waiting for just the right moment to attack.

“Pillock.” He managed to squeeze out of his throat that was almost squeezed shut.

The vampire turned away. “The Slayer of Slayers. What a joke.” He turned to his friends. “Hey guys, you believe this young punk actually took out two Slayers. Seems like the only thing he can do is entertain the insane and kill child-vamps.” They all laughed and that was when Spike struck. He kneed the vampire holding him in the crotch who dropped Spike and let out a cry of pain.

Buffy, meanwhile, used the other vampires’ shock to yank herself in the direction that the large vampire should have been at. She managed to break loose from two of her captors. She grabbed the chain that led to one of the poles and twirled around hitting her last handler in the face and knocking him down.

Spike in the rolled away from his other captor and was preparing to send a kick towards the one who had hit Buffy, unfortunately the large vampire recovered much more quickly than he anticipated and grabbed him and yanked him back before he could get too far. Buffy ran into similar trouble when the vamps she had gotten the poles away from ran forward and managed to grab them again. Even though it was obvious their attempt failed they both continued to struggle making sure to make things as difficult as possible.

“What is going on here?” Spike looked up at the female voice that rang across the hallway. It was the vampiress who had smiled at him upstairs.

The large vampire stood up straight. “They attempted to free themselves, Sire.”

“Really?” She said. “It looks like they could have succeeded. Should I tell our Master what you almost allowed to happen again?” She asked quietly.

“No, please!” The vampire sounded almost frantic.

“I want to see the traitor.” Ipwet said.

The guards looked at each other nervously. “You think I can’t handle myself with a vampire who is little more than a fledgling to me?” She asked amused.

Everything about her set Buffy’s teeth on edge, and the way she kept eyeing up Spike like he was an entrée made her stomach turn. She was also surprised to find herself angry at the appraising looks Spike was sending back to her.

Ipwet walked up to Spike and almost pressed herself against him. Buffy resisted the urge to growl at the woman.

“We met once before. Do you remember?” Ipwet asked him. “My name is Ipwet.”

Spike searched his brain frantically. He didn’t want to tell her no. No woman he ever met reacted well to not being remembered, yet he didn’t want to lie.

“I must have been drunk when we met. Under normal circumstances, I’m sure I would remember a woman as beautiful as you. Wanna help a fella out here?” That sounded as good as anything else he supposed.

Buffy rolled her eyes at his flirting, while Ipwet answered him.

“It was in New York. You had just killed the Slayer there and you and Drusilla attended a massacre the next night.”

Spike vaguely remembered that night. There was blood flowing freely from several Studio 54 patrons that had wandered away from the night club and had been picked up by the vampires. Most all of them had several different drugs in their system, which accounted for Spike’s vague recollection of the night.

“I propositioned you and you turned me down.” She continued “You didn’t want to cheat on your ‘Dark Princess’ you told me.” She moved in even closer and Spike felt his body respond to her.

“It’s a curse, but I’ve always been a faithful guy.” He told her. She ran a fingernail across his cheek.

“Believe me, it was your loss.” She purred. She circled her hips against his. “And unfortunately you’ve missed your chance.” She laughed and stepped back from him. “Such a shame.” Spike was confused, he thought she just put something in the front pocket of his over shirt, but he couldn’t be sure.

Ipwet turned and walked back the way she came, having delivered the item she wanted to. Now she just hoped he noticed it and no one else did. “You can take them away now.” She waved behind her dismissively.

“All right, let’s get this over with.” The large vampire resumed his position near Buffy and once again the party began to move.

They didn’t travel that much farther before they went through a door way that held another stairway behind it. This one led to a dungeon area by the looks of things, but when the reached the bottom there was just a hole in the ground with a mist running above it.

“Welcome to the entrance of The Garden.”

“Newsflash, moron, gardens are usually located outside with lots of pretty plants or veggies you can eat.”

“Not this one. This one is a maze of tunnels and caverns that the Master keeps his pets in. There is now way out other than this hole, even if there were the Guardian won’t ever let you leave.”

“Guardian?” Spike had to ask.

He gaped as the mist rolling over the hole seemed to take the shape of a face and began speaking.
“I guard the Garden.” It hissed.

“Killer steam, nice.” Buffy said.

“So you see, your lives end here.” The large vampire said.

The three other vampires released the poles that were attached to her, but before Buffy could do anything the big one shoved her forward until the only thing keeping her from falling down was the collar around her neck. “I hope your death is slow and painful Slayer.” Then he released her collar as well. Spike heard her scream echoing through the chamber as she fell. They shoved him forward next and dangled him over the deep pit, by the chains holding his arms.

“As for you, traitor, maybe I’ll look up your crazy one, see if there’s any more to her.” Spike growled at him, but it lost its effect as they released him from his bonds and he too fell down into the dark hole.



The first thing Spike became aware of was an eerie glow. It reminded him of fluorescent light bulbs, the kind that flickered all the time and gave off a yellowish or pinkish light. The ones that caused people to go into seizures from prolonged exposure.

The next thing he noticed was the rancid odor, it was enough to make his stomach turn.

The last thing he became aware of was someone shaking him and yelling at him.
“Get up you worthless, undead piece of…” A blow to the face followed that. That woke him up completely.

Spike let a fist fly as he fully opened his eyes and saw the Slayer tumble back off of him. He could tell immediately the smell was coming from her.

”Back off Slayer.” He growled. That’s when he noticed the other creatures that surrounded them and he suddenly remembered where he was and why.

There were three large insect looking demons studying them closely. “What the hell are they?”

“I don’t know.” Buffy said through gritted teeth. “But silly me thought you would like to be awake to at least get a punch in.” She stood up to face the threat. Spike got up and stood next to her. He was glad he didn’t have to breath; otherwise her stench would have been enough to knock him out.

“So another truce then?” He asked her.

“Unless you think you can do better on your own.” She answered. One of the creatures started to move forward and extended a clawed appendage towards Buffy, she kicked it away, but yelled out as she did so.

“OW!! These guys have a heavy armor protecting them.” She looked at the around quickly. “Do you see anything we can use as a weapon?” She asked him.

“No.” Spike said, looking around and seeing nothing but large boulders lying on the ground. “Wait. Yeah, I do.” He ran to one of the boulders and hoisted it up over his shoulder, almost falling backwards in the process.

“What are you doing?” She asked him exasperated. “Are you planning on dropping that on your own head to end this?”

“Shut up and help me.” He yelled.

One of the bugs shot a stream of liquid at Buffy just as she moved to help Spike. “Hey now, spitting is SO not cool.” She helped him get the boulder steady. “Now what?” She asked.

Spike rolled his eyes. “On the count of three we throw the big rock at the big bug’s head and the big bug goes SPLAT!!”

“Oh goody, a Spike plan.” Buffy muttered.

“I don’t see you with the brilliant ideas.” He snapped. “One…two…three.” With a groan they let go of the boulder and watched as it flew threw the air and did indeed hit one of the bugs in the head, it didn’t exactly go splat, but it did go crunch and the bug fell to the ground. The other two made noises that sounded like a high pitch chitter and attacked as one.

“Ok now what?” Buffy demanded.

“Now I suggest you get your arse in gear and fight.” He yelled as he dodged one of their claws.

Buffy ducked out of the way of another on, grabbed its arm behind the claw and pulled it so it fully extended. “Spike.” She yelled.

He turned and saw her holding the arm outstretched and with a loud growl he brought his arm down on it breaking the arm in half. The creature howled and began to retreat. Buffy held up the claw and grinned.

“Thanks for the hand.” She said.

Spike rolled his eyes.

“DUCK!” She yelled and he hit the ground without a thought.

He heard several swings above him, then a loud thud behind him. When he looked up Buffy was standing over the last creature beating it with the claw.

“Well at least we have some kind of weapon now.” Spike said as he stood up.

Buffy looked around wearily. “Do you know what kind of demons those were?”

“Never seen 'em before.” Spike started looking more closely at their surroundings. They were in a cave that wasn’t very large. The walls were covered with a fuzzy mold that grew in several pastel colors, water dripped from it in some spots. The light seemed to come from the rocks themselves and was colored according to the color of moss growing on it. The mist ran along the length of the ceiling occasionally Spike could see eyes or faces forming the gray matter.

Buffy also looked around at the walls and up the hole they had fallen down through. “How are we ever going to get out of here?” She asked.

“There’s got to be a way.” Spike insisted as he began to search his pockets for a cigarette. If there’s a way in then there’s got to be a way out.”

“No, duh, but if the only way out is by climbing up that, I don’t see how we’ll be able to do that.”

“We have more important things to worry about right now.” Spike told her. He finally found his cigarettes, pulled one out and lit it. He inhaled deeply enjoying the aroma and flavor of the tobacco.

“What is more important than getting out of here?” She asked him.

“Figuring out what we are going to live on until we get out of here.” He answered her. He began exploring out, away from where they landed. Several different tunnels ran off from this cavern, each looked as unremarkable as the next.

“Oh.” Buffy followed suit and began looking down the different tunnels.

“Plus we are going to have to find you some way to wash up, because while the smell could be used as a weapon, on the rare occasion I do breath, I would like to do so without wanting to throw up.”

Buffy didn’t answer him and Spike turned to make sure she was still behind him. He was amazed at what he saw. The girl who just faced the most terrifying vampires in the world was now staring at him with tears in her eyes and a sad, pouting face. He had no idea what had happened to make her look like that. He also had no idea why he suddenly felt bad for her.

“I really do smell that bad?” She asked tearfully. “It isn’t just me that smells it?”

Spike could only stand there and stare at her stupefied.



Chapter 3: Surviving


Spike tried to think of something to say to stop the tears that he could see in the Slayer’s eyes from falling. The thought came to him about why he would care whether or not she cried. He should be delighting in her misery, not wanting to ease her pain. However, the lost look that accompanied those tears did him in and he found himself reacting like a complete wanker, like he would have when he was still human.

“Come on now pet, it really isn’t that bad. I just think you’d feel better if you got yourself cleaned up bit.”

Buffy sniffled and nodded her head. “But how can I do that? I don’t think they are going to have a shower down here.”

Spike thought a moment, while looking around, and then he was struck with inspiration. He walked to the wall of the cavern and peeled a section of the moist moss off the wall and handed it to Buffy.

“You can use this to scrub yourself off with, there’s plenty of it.” Buffy looked at it and wrinkled her nose up at him.

“You want me to wash with fungus?”

Spike quickly lost his patience and empathy. “Bloody hell woman, do you have a better solution? Anything is better than what you have now.”

She grabbed the moss from him and rubbed it experimentally over one of her arms. It was abrasive enough to scrub the heavier dirt from her body and she smiled slightly when she saw her skin peak out from under the grime. “This will work I guess.” Then she looked at her soiled and torn clothing, “I don’t know if it will make much of a difference, most of the smell is coming from this.” She pulled the nasty cloth away from her body. “If I don’t have anything else to wear though.”

Spike sighed, he knew she was right, but still what did she think he could do about her clothing. “Well, there’s no one here to see anything, really. You could go without the clothes if you wanted.” He offered with a leer.

Buffy glared at him. “I think the bleach you use had effected the few brain cells you had. There is no way you will ever see me naked Spike.” She said coldly.

“That’s your call, pet, but I don’t really think you are going to find a clothing store anywhere down here.” He snapped at her, for some reason the certainty with which she told him that angered him. Spike shook his head, there must’ve been something still affecting him from the drugged blood they gave him. His reasoning was evidently all out of whack.

Buffy looked resigned, but she moved forward to pull more of the moss off the wall and continued to scrub the exposed parts of her body with it. Spike watched her struggle to get under her clothing and get most of the dirt off, without letting the filthy fabric touch her skin again while it was still wet.

“Oh for the love of…” Spike took off his duster than removed his read button down shirt and black T-shirt. He shoved the two shirts at Buffy. “Here, put these on, they should be long enough to cover your sensitive parts.” She looked at him surprised and for a minute he thought he saw something else in her eyes as she took in the sight of him standing so close to her bare-chested, but it was gone before he could be sure, only to be replaced with stubborn suspicion.

“You expect me to get changed right here in front of you?”

Spike held up the duster. “I’ll hold this up and that way no beastie or even I will get to see the Slayer’s sacred parts.’ He told her snidely. In reality the thought of seeing her naked didn’t disgust him in the least, in his mind he could see her well-toned body and it was a very nice image indeed.

Buffy still looked at him doubtfully and Spike couldn’t help but push her further. “Would you prefer to stand here and debate about it until another big and nasty comes to gobble us up?”

“Fine, but if you peak even once, truce or not, I will rip your head off with my bare hands.”

”Please! Like I would ever want to see your scrawny arse.” He held up the coat to cut off any reply she was forming, but of course that didn’t stop her.

“I really hate you, you know.” The acid in her voice was clear.

“And here I thought you considered me one of your bosom chums?” He snickered.

Then there was silence except for the sounds of her removing her torn clothing and washing herself down. After fifteen minutes she still wasn’t done and Spike was getting tired of standing there holding up the coat. “We aren’t getting ready to go to the ball. What’s taking you so long?” He finally asked her.

“I’m having trouble, I can’t get my back.” She complained. “I tried just rubbing up against the wall, but I don’t know if I got it all.”

“Tie the red shirt around your waist and hold the other up to your front and I’ll get your back for you.” She didn’t answer him and he figured she was just ignoring him. He really needed to stop offering to help the stupid girl. It wasn’t like she was even going to accept his offer, much less appreciate it…

”Ok. I’m covered.” Her soft voice stopped his thoughts and he lowered the coat slowly almost certain that this whole encounter was a dream. The captivity, the Garden, even Mastema couldn’t be real, not if the end result was him having to stand here with his mortal enemy, who was basically naked, except for his clothing, and wash her back. Yet there she was standing before him. He didn’t need a crystal ball to know how tense and nervous she was about the situation. He could see the tightness across the muscles of her shoulders and lower back, but what a beautiful back it was. And from what he could see he was completely off base about her having a scrawny ass as well.

“Well?” She snapped. “As you pointed out we don’t have all day.” He could even here her nervousness in her voice.

Spike reached around her and grabbed some of the moss off the wall; the action caused him to come much closer to her than he had ever been when they weren’t exchanging blows. He heard her swallow thickly and wondered what was running through her mind right now. He felt kind of strange himself. As he stood back he found his hand had a slight tremor to it when he raised it to finish removing the dirt she couldn’t get to.

He could feel the heat from her skin radiating off of her and he tried to tell himself that he wasn’t enjoying that warmth. His hands were moving with a mind of their own, scrubbing the dirt gently from her body, while also taking the time to smooth over the tight muscles he could clearly see.

He saw her begin to relax slightly under his ministrations and he couldn’t help but admire her the flawless skin that emerged from under the dirt. His demon was clamoring in his body; he felt his fangs itching to emerge. In his mind he could see it so clearly, sinking his fangs into the soft flesh right above her hip bone and hearing her scream echo through out the tunnel they were standing in. The fact that it wasn’t a scream of pain or terror he was imagining didn’t even register in his mind.

He licked his lips and fought the sudden urge he had to brush them across the area between her shoulder blades to taste the soft warm skin there.

A quiet hissing noise caught his attention and Spike looked up. Above them the mist that was also their jailer had from a face above them and was peering down at the Slayer, lust clear even on the insubstantial face. It snapped Spike out of the daze he had fallen into at the sight of her standing there like that. He quickly dropped the moss and jerked the coat back up.

“You’re all set now, Slayer. Hurry up and get dressed.” He ordered her; he didn’t want to tell her about the peeping tom that was spying on them. No need to get her more upset than she already was, besides there was nothing to be done about it.

His gruff angry voice kicked Buffy out of the lull she had fallen into at Spike’s touch. How someone so inherently evil could create such magic over her with his hands was completely beyond her, yet when he was washing away the dirt she wanted nothing more than to lean back against him and let him rub other places on her body. Now she felt disgusted with herself for even letting such urges come across her and she quickly pulled the T-shirt over her head, followed by his red button down shirt. He was right they did cover her about to mid thigh. It would work fine as long as she didn’t try any high kicks while fighting.

She stepped around the coat to show him she was finished. She still wished there had been a way to wash her hair, but she did feel much better now that she was cleaner and had those clothes off her. She felt something heavy in the breast pocket of his over shirt; she put her hand in the pocket and pulled out a large crystal.

“What’s this?” She asked.

Spike peered at it curiously. “I have no idea. Where did you get it from?”

”Your shirt.”

Spike remembered when Ipwet had pressed herself against him; she must have slipped it in there then. Spike wondered what it was or what it did, but he didn’t want their watcher above them to figure it out.

“Just some trinket I picked up.” Spike shrugged and took it from her, putting it in his duster pocket. “Ok, so now that you are all squeaky clean, we need to figure out a game plan.” He tried to change the subject. Buffy looked at him strangely, but didn’t push the issue.

“I guess we should start checking the place out. Look around and stuff.”

“Right, but these tunnels could go forever, how are we going to mark our way?”

Buffy smiled. “That’s easy.” She turned back to the wall and picked at more of the moss making an arrow shape pointing right. “Now we head this way.”

“Not bad Slayer.”

“Fungus, not just for looking pretty and cleaning anymore.” Buffy joked lightly.

Spike shook his head. “With wit like yours, it amazing you’re still alive.” He said dryly, following after her.

High above them in the large conference room, the Vampire Council sat and watched them in a screen of mist. Mastema had called up the Guardian to show them what was going on in the Garden below. There was no color or sound, but their forms were easily recognizable.

Everyone watched as first they fought next to each other then as they continued on without attacking one another.

“What is he doing? The vampire next to Mastema growled. “Look at what has become of the Aurelians, they even stand with Slayers.” His name was Baraqel and he was now the second in command. The destruction of the Aurelius line would secure that position for him. “Every one of the spawn since he turned that worthless whore, Darla has been nothing but a disgrace.” Baraqel continued. He never hesitated to remind Mastema of the Grandchilde he never approved of. To every vamp’s eyes it had been the turning of Darla that marked the beginning of the clans demise.

“That must be the wisdom of age.” No one expected Ipwet to speak up. “I would have thought it clever to team up with the Slayer to increase the odds of survival.”

Baraqel turned towards her with a snarl. “That is why you sit where you do.” He said.

A startled cry arose as those still peering into the mist now saw Spike bare-chested while the Slayer stripped off her clothing.

“Disgusting.” Someone gasped.

“She isss a perfect exsssample of the female form thoughss.” The voice hissed from the mist itself.

“Enough.” Mastema said. “We don’t need to see this.” The screen of mist dissolved back into the floor.

He looked thoughtful. “William is more resilient and resourceful than I would have thought.”

“Maybe he is more like you than you realized my lord.” Ipwet said.

Cries of outrage rang out through the room.

“How dare you compare our Lord and Sire to that traitor.” Baraqel yelled. “You forget your place.”

“Yet I remember the stories of the ones our Lord killed to get where he is. How is that different?” She insisted.

“He never sided with a Slayer.” Baraqel replied.

”No, but he did help the Holy Father.” The name was said with disgust. “In Egypt I believe, when the one called Moses called up the last plague, the death of the first born child.”

Murmurs ran throughout the room.

“This meeting is at an end.” Mastema declared. “We will reconvene tomorrow.”

Everyone quickly left the room.

Rangda grabbed Ipwet. “Are you trying to get yourself thrown down into the Garden with them?”

“No, I’m trying to make Mastema realize he is more like the traitor than he wants to realize.”

“Tread carefully. Baraqel will not let anything get in the way of his succession at this point.”

”Relax, my sister. Everything is going according to plan.”



Chapter 4: 


Spike and Buffy walked for what seemed like hours through the winding maze of tunnels. The spoke very little, both still uncomfortable with the other.

For the most part Buffy let Spike lead the way. They would only choose a path after he would reach out with his sensitive hearing, listening for anything up ahead of them. Several times they managed to avoid, what probably would have been, dangerous confrontations.

What worried him were the demons that he wouldn’t be able to sense. He knew a little bit about the first demons, enough to know that not all of them were as corporeal as their present day counterparts. The evil mist that was their ever present companion was proof enough of that.

Buffy was struggling. The tiny amount of food she had consumed during her captivity, combined with exhaustion, and the let down after the earlier adrenaline rush had her on the edge of collapse. She kept pushing herself forward though. Spike, so far, showed no signs of weariness and she didn’t want to be one who held them back. Not when he was doing such a good job at avoiding the demons that inhabited this eerie place.

The unfamiliar and conflicting emotions that she was having concerning Spike also added to her exhaustion.

This was Spike, her mortal enemy.

The thorn in her side.

The fly in her Chardonnay.

No wait. That was an Alanis Morissette song.

God, she was so tired her brain was starting to go wonky.

It was just so strange for her to feel grateful for his presence, yet at that moment she was so thankful he was here, without him she was certain she would have happened upon some kind of demon by now and in her state there was no way she would survive the battle.

Grateful for Spike.

Never did she think she would feel grateful for Spike in her life.

What kind of vampire was he? Not only did he kill Slayers, but he also made deals with them?

Shouldn’t he be more like Angelus and rip her throat out at the first opportunity?

Especially since she was in such a vulnerable state, she wouldn’t be able to stop him if he decided to attack her.

Angelus certainly would never have offered her clothing to wear, much less wash her back.

And what was up with that? The feeling of his cool hands on her had been one of the most erotic moments of her young life. The night she shared with Angel had been full of tender awkwardness. It hadn’t even held a candle to feelings she got from her impromptu scrub by someone who wanted her dead.

None of it made any sense to her and in her tired state it was hurting her brain to go over and over it. She just didn’t understand why he was working with her, why he didn’t just kill her?

‘What would he have to eat then?’ A little voice, which she recognized as the Slayer in her, whispered.

Buffy stumbled. She recovered quickly and stared warily at the bare back of the vampire in front of her.

Out of the corner of his eye Spike noticed Buffy stumble slightly, his first instinct was to reach out and steady her, but he quickly over rode that inclination by reminding himself who she was.

This was the Slayer who put him in a wheelchair for all those months.

She was the one who made him helpless while Angelus shagged Dru in front of his very eyes.

His shoulders tensed as he remembered the humiliation and pain he went through because of this very woman and for a few minutes his demon raged inside him to kill her, forget about the long term plans, and just kill her.

She saw him glance towards her before continuing on. Then she saw him tense visibly.

The silence suddenly became deafening and she swore she could almost hear the mist above her hiss in excitement.

“Spike? Are you ok?” She asked hesitantly.

He spun around and glared at her with yellow eyes. Buffy backed quickly away from him.

“Sure, luv, I’m just peachy keen. I mean I’m trapped in a fuzzy dungeon, with some weird boogey-boo above our heads, forced to make nice with you, of all people. What on earth could be wrong?” He growled out as he moved closer and closer to her. She continued to back up until she felt the damp moss pressed against her back and legs, the moisture seeping through the red shirt and into the T-shirt she wore.

“Spike…” She began weakly, but didn’t know how to continue. The look in his eyes made it clear he was the predator. And she was his prey. That realization snapped her spirit back.

“Look if you want to whine about this situation, I think I have more reason to be upset than you.” She said snottily. “Hello, half naked here.” She gestured down at herself.

His eyes swept down her body to her bare legs and she swore the hunger she saw in the golden depths changed. It was still hunger, but a different kind. Then it was gone and blue eyes replaced gold. The answering tingle between her legs made her question her own sanity. She swallowed thickly, trying to get her body under control.

“God Slayer, you are a right pain in the arse aren’t you? Why don’t you shut your bloody mouth and let me scout out the area, that way we can avoid any big monster that would use you as a toothpick.”

“Oh yeah, like I’ve been talking your ear off.” She muttered as he backed up giving her back her personal space. She tried to convince herself that she was glad he stepped back.

They started to move again, after a few minutes Buffy couldn’t help but ask. “Why did you agree to this partnership?” Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

Spike wanted to snap at her that he never agreed to another partnership, but he knew that was a lie. As soon as he met her eyes upstairs, he knew they were going to work together to get out of here and more than that, he had been relieved at the thought of having her on his side. She gave him hope that one day they might make it to freedom.

When he took so long to answer she filled in the answer herself. “It was so you had something to eat wasn’t it?” Spike spun around again, he found himself strangely hurt that was her first assumption and the fact that she could hurt him made him angry.

“No, that isn’t why I agreed to this.” He snapped.

”Then why did you?” She asked, her tone still accusing. “Huh? Why would you team up with me? You hate me. Why else would you want to work with me?”

Spike ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “You know what, just forget it. You go your way and I’ll go mine. This partnership is off.” He stormed off down the tunnel, but he didn’t get very far before turning around and walking back towards her. “And for you information, you stupid bint, I actually agreed to this because I thought if anyone would be able to fight their way out of here, it would be you.”

“Really?” Buffy asked him, her anger and suspicion replaced by pride that he thought so highly of her skills.

“Oh don’t go puffing all up.” Spike lowered his head embarrassed now. “I just know you can handle yourself. Its not anyone who could face those blokes upstairs and not piss themselves.”

“First of all…ewww. Second, thanks, I guess. Although if we don’t get to stop or find me some kind of food soon, I won’t be much help at all.” Buffy felt strange admitting that she was starting to lose her stamina, but she figured she needed to let him know before it became a serious problem.

Spike sighed and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “I know.” He admitted. “Problem is I don’t see anything in the way of food for you. I don’t know what you are going to eat.” He thought for a moment. “We could always hunt down another demon and see if you could eat that.”

Her look of disgust and shock made him shrug his shoulders in irritation. “I don’t bloody know.” He hit the large claw that he was still carrying from the first batch of demons they dispatched against the wall. The truth was he was worried, without food she wasn’t going to last too long down here. He didn’t want to consider what this place would be like without her.

“And if I die from not eating than there goes your food supply.” Buffy filled in what she assumed, had him so upset.

Spike turned back towards her angrily. “That wasn’t what I was thinking. Why do you keep assuming that?”

“Gee, let’s see, maybe because you are a soulless vampire, who has killed two Slayers before and has tried to kill me more than I can remember.” Buffy shook her head. “What should I believe, that you really want me here just because I can help fight? We both know that once your hunger gets out of control I’ll be in just as much danger from you as the rest of the creatures down here.”

“Unlike your boyfriend, I know how to control myself.” Spike growled at her, eyes glowing again.

“I see that.” Buffy snapped.

With that so did Spike’s patience.

He had her backed up into the wall again so fast she didn’t realize they had moved. She didn’t even have time to think about struggling of fighting him off when his face changed completely and he dove for her neck. She let out a weak cry, but it cut off abruptly when she felt his fangs pierce her skin.

Time seemed to stop. It hurt, but not in a bad way. It was like when she had chicken pox when she was younger and her mother had left her alone for a while and she had set about itching and scratching them. It had hurt when she broke them open, but the pain was almost a relief compared to the itching she was feeling.

This felt a lot like that only here she didn’t even know she had an itch. When he started to pull on her blood, her body arched up into his and she felt comfortable in the strong lean frame that seemed to fit her perfectly. She swore that the blood he was pulling out of her was coming directly from between her legs. Specifically from that one little part of her that she knew was responsible for causing pleasure.

It was over as abruptly as it began. He pulled away from her after a few draws, leaving her breathless and weak kneed, staring at him in awe. His human face was back in place and there wasn’t even a drop of blood anywhere to prove that he had even bit her. She reached a shaky hand up and lightly touched the bite marks on her neck just to make sure she didn’t just imagine that.

She never knew getting bit could feel like that. The Master biting her sure didn’t feel like that.

“Now if I wanted to kill you I would have done it.” Spike spoke angrily. Buffy just stared at him dumbly, still trying to get her brain to start working again. “That little bit I just took for you should hold me off for at least three days, because your blood is so powerful. I don’t want you dead Slayer, you won’t be any help to me if you are dead.” Spike didn’t want to say that after feeling her warm body arch up into his when he was biting her, he didn’t know if he would ever be able to kill.

Neither of the Slayers he had tasted before tasted as sweet as she did. The one in China had a spicy flavor to her blood, as if all the incense they burned in their temples worked its way into her flesh. The one in New York had a musky taste to her blood, it wasn’t unpleasant, but Spike hadn’t even drained her completely. The musky flavor combined with sheer richness of her blood made him almost sick after a while.

Buffy was a whole other story. She was sweet and flavorful, full of power and strength, with a perfect balance of spicy and musky to give it body. Spike didn’t even have to force himself to stop drinking from her, just a little bit had more than satisfied his demon’s need for blood. Its need for sex was a different matter. Spike pulled his coat in front of himself, protectively. If the Slayer saw what kind of reaction he was having towards her right now she would probably rip his head right off.

It was disgusting really. Vampires shouldn’t have thoughts or urges like that towards Slayers. The fact that it was the demon that wanted her, while he was protesting never registered.

“Now we need to find you some food don’t we pet?” He asked her trying to get some sort of response from her. She just continued to stare at him glassy eyed.

“Slayer? Anyone home in there?” He waved his hand in front of her face. Was she thinking of ways to kill him? Did he send her into shock? He stepped closer to her again.

Was that arousal he smelled coming off of her? Spike grinned a self-satisfied smirk, before he wisely hid it. Looked like he wasn’t the only one who enjoyed himself.

“I’m ok.” Buffy finally spoke. “I’m ok.”

“You sure?” Spike asked her.

She nodded.

“Well then, let’s find you food and then someplace to rest for a few.”

Again, she just nodded.

Spike turned to head back the way the came. He turned back when he didn’t hear her following him. “Come on pet.”

Buffy tried to take a step away from the wall, but her shaky legs had her falling to the ground with out the support behind her. Blackness started overwhelming her vision.

“Bloody hell.” Spike yelled rushing forward to help her up. “Dammit Slayer, you should have told me you were already feeling weak.” Spike cursed himself internally. He didn’t take nearly enough blood to have any sort of effect on her, unless she was already severely weakened.

“I’m ok.” Buffy said again, blackness was all she could see even though her eyes were still open. Part of her was yelling and screaming for her to wake up get it under control, but her body was too exhausted.

“Sure you are.” Spike said. He looked around them as he held her tightly around her waist. He didn’t want to let her sleep here because it was way too open for his taste, but he hadn’t seen anything else much better. “Why don’t you take a little kip and I’ll keep watch for a while. Then when you wake up, I’ll get some shut eye, ok?”

Buffy nodded against him. He felt her nuzzle his bare chest and he almost dropped her. “Come on pet, none of that. What would Peaches say if he knew you cuddling up to me?” Actually that was the only appealing thought about her cuddling up to him. It certainly didn’t feel good to have a warm Slayer in his arms while she seemed to want to crawl inside of him.

She didn’t answer him, at least not in words, just a slight incoherent mumbling against his skin. Her warm breath against his skin was quite distracting.

Needing to get some distance between them Spike lowered her to the ground and removed his duster to cover her with it. He lifted her head and managed to pull one of the sleeves up and fashion it into a pillow of sorts.

He looked down at the almost unconscious Slayer and couldn’t help but be proud of all the uses he was getting out of that duster. That Douglas Adams fellow thought a towel was thing to take on any adventure; he obviously never had a coat like this.

Spike paced back and forth for a long time, while the Slayer fell into a deep sleep. He kept listening for any sort of trouble heading their way so he could wake her and get moving at a moments notice, but nothing headed their direction. Still keyed up from the Slayer blood and unable to sit still he began to shadow box, to work off the excess energy. That didn’t even keep his attention for very long.

Finally bored he sat down near the Slayer, still sound asleep. He started studying the walls around them trying to detect any type of weakness in the stone walls.

Next to him the Slayer murmured in her sleep and rolled over towards him. She seemed to sense his proximity because she shuffled closer to him and wrapped her arms around his outstretched leg and put her hand on his thigh.

Spike froze.

He knew he should push her off him; yell at her for using him as a pillow. Instead he found himself lightly stroking her hair as her warmth soaked into his leg and moved through his whole body.

“I am so bloody fucked.” He said with a sigh.




Chapter 5: 


The persistent nagging of her bladder started her gradual swim towards waking. She tried to cling to the warm comfort of sleep a little longer. It was rare she felt this relaxed and peaceful. Her dreams were filled with desire and sensuality. Usually her sleep was filled with dreams of Angelus, demons, or other creatures that also haunted her waking hours.

She stretched her hand up and ran it across her pillow, tucking it in where she had it folded over above her head.

‘I really need to use fabric softener next time I do laundry.’ She thought as she felt the rough fabric of her pillowcase. She nestled her head farther down into the firm pillow trying to ignore the tingling in her bladder in an attempt to reclaim her dream state.

Her hand moved unconsciously back and forth against the crease of her pillow as she relaxed back into slumber.

Up and down her hand moved, she could feel one of the bars on her headboard through the fabric of the pillowcase.

Her pillow jerked upwards jostling her head. She almost opened up her eyes and looked around before she figured out that she must be asleep in the car. That would explain why her pillow felt so rough and firm. She must have gone on an out of town shopping trip with her mother and fell asleep in the car on the way home. She always slept well after extensive shopping.

She let her head drop back down as she snuggled closer to the back of the car seat.

Spike was going to dust. He was going to spontaneously combust, burst into flames and turn to dust. This was it. This was the end.

Here he sat on the floor, of this whacked out prison, the dampness from the moss and the floor was soaking into his jeans, but he didn’t even feel it. He was too caught up in the beautiful blonde, who happened to be his mortal enemy most of the time, asleep in his lap with her hand sandwiched between his thighs as she unconsciously stroked his cock and balls in her sleep.

He couldn’t wake her up, because he was pretty certain that would end with a stake through his heart. Especially considering that the last thing she was going to remember was him biting her before she passed out. He tried to move her hand, but she started to wake up every time he tried.

He bit his lip as his leg unconsciously jerked under the movements of her hand. He held his breath when she lifted her head, but she lowered it back down after a few seconds and her breathing evened out once again.

He tried to think of something, anything that would relieve some of the pressure of the denim against his painful hard on.

Of course nothing worked. Not that he really expected it to. Never in all his years on this planet had he ever experienced a torture as exquisite as this. The Slayer’s warmth on his lower extremities combined with her powerful blood running through his veins had made him so extremely aroused and sensitive to her slightest touch. Even her breath on his thigh sent shock waves to his groin, through the denim.

His jaw clenched as the pleasure built along with her stokes. She never speeded up or in any other way indicated she was aware of what she was doing to him, but ever slight movement stoked the fire burning inside of him higher and higher, yet no closer to any release.

So here he sat on the floor of this whacked out prison, certain that any moment he was going to burst into flames and crumble to dust. His body wasn’t going to be able to withstand much more of this torment.

The cramping in her abdomen continued keeping her from finding the sleep she was trying to return to. She rubbed her face back and forth along her pillow…no, the car seat, trying to get the energy together to wake up enough to let her mother know it was time for a pit stop.

She stopped the movement of her hand when she realized that she was still running it along the crease of the pillow…no wait, it must be in the crack of the car seat. She felt around and her hand wrapped around the object she thought was a bar on her headboard. She squeezed it a few times. It must be one of the rods that held the back of the car seat upright she decided. She squeezed it once more firmly. You would think they would make car parts sturdier than that, she though. While it was hard and strong there was a little bit of give to it. She squeezed again slightly harder.

A hoarse cry rang out through the air and suddenly Buffy was jumping upright as the car seat suddenly tilted, throwing her off.

As if the light stroking wasn’t bad enough, the Slayer seemed to wake up slightly and then she began to squeeze him through his jeans. Spike’s eyes went wide and it took everything he had not to come right there in his pants. She patted around a bit more around his crotch before squeezing him again. He bit his lip until it bled as he tried to keep his body under control.

One more squeeze, firmer than the previous ones made all his attempts futile as he felt himself loose control. His entire body jerked and the warmth he felt down below flooded through him. His cock jerked and spewed forth coating the inside of his pants.

Buffy flew upright at his violent thrashing her eyes unfocused and wild.

Buffy tried to get her brain working as her eyes moved wildly around her surroundings. This wasn’t her car. Her mother was nowhere in site. She was in some kind of cave with fuzzy pastel colors on the wall and next to her…

Next to her…

Oh my god.

Spike.

She wasn’t sleeping on a car seat she was sleeping on his lap. Which meant that her hand had actually been…

Her eyes widened as she stared into his blue eyes. Neither moved for several seconds. Then Buffy smacked him across the face as hard as she could.

“You bastard!!” She screamed. “How dare you try to take advantage of me while I was asleep.”

“WHAT?” Spike roared. He pushed her back roughly. She remembered at that moment how badly she had to pee. “Take advantage of you? I don’t think so Slayer, you were the one who had her grubby little hands all over my privates.”

“You are so disgusting, Spike.” Buffy looked around trying to find a corner she could duck around to relieve herself.

“How is this my fault?” He demanded. She stood up, leaving his duster lying on the ground where it had covered her.

“Oh please, you could have moved me off of you at any point in time, but no, you just want a cheap thrill.” She shouted at him.

“I tried to move you. Didn’t anyone ever tell you, you sleep like a log?” He growled.

“Actually, I sleep very light.”

“Really?” Spike asked sarcastically. “Light compared to, say a sumo wrestler?”

Tired of his stupid comments hauled off and punched him in the nose.

“Bloody Hell.” Spike swore.

Buffy walked around him towards an alcove not far from them. “I have to go to the bathroom. I will deal with you when I get finished.” She said.

“Bloody, fucking, stupid Slayer.” Spike muttered as she walked off. Once she was out of sight, he relaxed slightly. Even with the violent ending to her nap, that was one of the strongest orgasms he had ever experienced. Now he need to figure out how to clean himself up before she got back. He reached out and peeled some of the moss off the wall and unzipped his pants. He tried to wash himself off the best he could. He sure as hell didn’t want to be wandering around down here with his spunk in his jeans. That would probably get a tad uncomfortable.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Buffy’s voice practically screeched as she turned the corner and saw him with his pants undone and one of his hands down inside of them.

“I’m trying to get cleaned up.” He barked at her.

“Cleaned up from what?” She yelled. Then her eyes widened again. He couldn’t mean that he…
All she did was stroke him a little bit, he couldn’t have…
Not just from that. Could he?

Her cheeks took on a bright pink tint and she turned away quickly, wishing she could think of some witty retort, but her mind wasn’t working properly.

“I’m done, you can turn around now.” Spike said angrily.

But Buffy didn’t think she could turn around. What could she say to him? She knew she couldn’t look in him in the eyes after what had happened. She shook her head and her stomach growled loudly.

Since she emptied her bladder, her stomach decided it was time for some much needed food. The only problem was, they still didn’t know what there was for her to eat.

“Slayer?” Spike called her again.

”Leave me alone, Spike.” She gritted out, still refusing to face him.

Spike grabbed her and turned her to face him, she reacted without thinking and pulled back to hit him again, but this time he was prepared and caught her hand in the air. “Would you stop already.” He yelled. She struggled for a few more seconds, trying to prove she wouldn’t do what he told her before she relaxed slightly.

“Now we don’t have time for this crap. We need to find you some food or water before you start losing your strength.” He told her quietly and intently. He tried to force her to look at him, but she refused to raise her head and meet his eyes. He sighed and let go of her.

“Look Slayer, it was just a mistake. You were all warm and snuggly…”

“I was not.” Buffy insisted, knowing she was lying.

“…and I was just all worked up on account of your blood and all.” Spike continued as if she never spoke.

That reminded Buffy of what happened before she went to sleep. Spike had bitten her. He had bitten her and she LIKED it. She almost came just from his bite.

This situation was getting out of control. Teaming up to stay alive was one thing, but all this other…stuff was a whole other ball game. She didn’t understand how she could have that kind of reaction to her mortal enemy. She hated Spike. It was Angel she loved. Angel was the only one she was supposed to react to like that.

Maybe she was just thinking that Spike was Angel. That was it. That had to be it. She wasn’t attracted to Spike. How could you be attracted to someone who was lost in the eighties like he was?

She raised her eyes slightly and they got stuck on his stomach. His chiseled abs were there in front of her. He had drawn up his zipper, but the top button was still undone and she could see a few wisps of dark curly hair peeking out from the opening.

She turned away from him quickly, when she felt a flood of warmth wash through her.

”Food!” She said. “I need food.” She took several deep breaths to calm herself.

Spike watched her confused. What got into her now? Then he caught a whiff of her arousal through the air and he felt himself stir at the scent.

Bloody hell. He thought. This wasn’t going to do; they needed to stop this now.

What had she just said?

Food.

The chit needed food. Right.

“I haven’t seen anything that I would recommend you eat, pet. However, you can squeeze some of the moisture out of the moss and get some liquid into you.” He told her.

“How is that going to help with the starvation factor?” She snapped at him.

“Listen here, it’s a known fact that humans can live for weeks without food, its when you don’t have any water you die within a few days. Since you are the Slayer I imagine you could make it a least a month or more without food as long as we keep you hydrated.”

Finally Buffy turned and faced him, she looked at him incredulously. “How do you know that?” She asked.

“Learned it in school.” He muttered quietly.

“What?” She asked

“I said ‘I learned it in school.’” He repeated louder.

“What kind of school did you go to?” She asked sarcastically.

“Oxford.” He told her as he began to pick of some of the more saturated moss off the wall and handing it back to her.

“That’s a school for smart people in England, right?” She asked.

Spike rolled his eyes. “Well its unlikely you’d ever get in.” He said.

“Hey!!” She said indignantly.

“You don’t even know the difference between moss and fungus, pet.”

“Well, who really needs to know the difference?” She fumed. “And if I’m so dumb then why do you need my help to get out of here? Huh? Oh that’s right so you can have your own take out Buffy buffet.”

“Once you get something in your head, you just don’t let go of it do you?” He turned on her angrily.

“Gee, the whole grabbing me and ramming your fangs in my throat really proved me wrong didn’t it?”

“Duck.” Spike yelled.

“Huh?” She asked. When she didn’t move immediately he kicked her legs out from under her just as a large tentacle whipped out where her head had just been. Buffy landed on the ground and looked behind her at their attacker.

There wasn’t too much she could make out. She saw three large eyes and lots of tentacles waving about in the air. She rolled back towards Spike as another tentacle reached out for her.

“Where’s the claw from the crab thingies?” She yelled. She jumped backwards again as another tentacle reached for her.

“Its on the ground by my coat.” Spike answered, helping her get to her feet now that they were out of the monster’s range for the moment. The coat and the claw were not out of its range.

“That’s not good.” Buffy said.

“I’ll distract it and you get the claw.” Spike said before dashing forward. “And don’t forget to pick up my coat.” He yelled back over his shoulder as he jumped up to avoid a tentacle that tried to wrap around his legs.

All of the creature’s limbs seemed to focus on the vampire that was now weaving and jumping around it.

“Come on, you Octo-Pussy. Is that all you got? I’ve seen squid that was tougher than you?” He yelled as he ducked and rolled to avoid more of the tentacles.

Buffy stood there and watched him for several moments, admiring the ease and grace he moved with. Then she shook herself out of her daze and ran for the coat and the only weapon they had down here. She snatched the coat up and threw it on. She noticed the crystal Spike had taken from her earlier rolled out onto the ground. She was going to leave it there, thinking it unimportant, but then she saw movement in one of its facets. She leaned down and peered closer. Inside she saw the vampiress that had pressed herself onto Spike upstairs. It looked like she was saying something, but Buffy couldn’t hear what it was over the noise.

The noise.

“Slayer.” A gargled yell made her turn her attention back to the situation at hand. The creature had managed to get hold of Spike and now dangled him upside down in the air above a large mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

Buffy snatched up the crystal and dropped it back in the coat pocket before spinning. She reached out with the claw and managed to cut into the tentacle that was holding Spike. She didn’t cut all the way through because she didn’t want it to drop him down in its mouth. Instead, it threw him into the wall of the cave where he landed in a heap. Another tentacle reached out for her, but she sliced it clean off before it could even get close. All thoughts left her head as she found herself getting lost in the rhythm of the fight.

Duck, roll, slice.

Jump, slice, duck.

Roll, jump, duck, slice.

Again and again she reached out until there was nothing left of the creature but a small round body with eyes and mouth that had blood pouring out of all the stubs that once had tentacles attached. Buffy stood before it breathing heavily.

Spike stood up slowly and made his way over to her. They both stared at the creature for few minutes, not speaking. Finally the turned and made their way down the cave away from the creature. As they walked Spike peeled more moss off the wall and handed it to Buffy. She tilted back her head and squeezed the water out of it, down her throat. Not a word was spoken between them.

“What happened?” Rangda asked Ipwet.

“The crystal has awoken.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that we now have a way to track William and offer him some help.” Ipwet smiled slowly. “The Council isn’t even going to know what hit it.” She finished with a cold smile. “I wonder if he’ll let me have a taste of his Slayer once I free him, we can bathe in her blood together.”

 

Chapter 6: The Creature

It had existed here in this prison for thousands upon thousands of years. It stayed hidden from the larger predators by clinging to the dark upper corners of the caverns. Three feet long and about a foot wide with hundreds of tiny legs running along the sides of its body, the creature resembled a large, grotesque centipede. Only instead of a head, two large antennae sat at one of stretching almost eighteen inches out from its body.

The antennae were used to detect food for the creature; it fed off of the life force of other beings. Creatures without life forces, vampires or other demons, it couldn’t even detect if they were next to it. It used its numerous legs to navigate the space, many time before it was wounded from unknowingly crawling upon a demon, mistaking it for just another facet of the cavern and being torn apart.

Its kind couldn’t die, they could be incapacitated if their antennae were removed or severely damaged, but they could not die. They did not know illness and any wounds received, even their antennae would eventually heal. And if they couldn’t feed, they just went hungry. Year after year with the gnawing pain of hunger eating them from the inside, making them vicious in their need for sustenance. Not that they weren’t vicious before.

Once in a while it would sense a food source down here and it would race towards it. Sometimes the fact that it could travel along any surface gave it the edge it needed to reach the prey first. However, these beings were usually so weak in life and power they barely even whetted its appetite, usually just working it up into a frenzy.

A short while ago it sensed something.

Power.

Life.

Strong.

The strongest life force it had encountered since its capture so long ago. A being such as that would not only finally satisfy its hunger, but make it stronger as well. And unlike the weaker signatures that had appeared down here in the past, this being had lasted much longer than the others. The only problem was that it kept moving, so the creature scuttled along walls chasing the life force. Determined not to let this source of food get away from it.

They walked in silence for what seemed to be hours. Buffy wanted to do something, anything, to break the awkward silence, but she was afraid anything she would say would only make things worse.

At first she was embarrassed by what had happened and found it hard to even glance at Spike. Then as time passed she found herself growing curious.

Did she really make him…

She couldn’t even think it without getting embarrassed.

But still how could he react to her like that?

He hated her, found her repulsive. He told her that often enough.

She thought she understood a little bit about men from her experience with Angel. Although granted Angel wasn’t really a man, but then neither was Spike.

Why did Angel vamp out just from kissing her and Spike didn’t vamp even when he was…

God, she hoped he didn’t notice the way she kept blushing. He would probably think she wanted him or something.

Which was completely repulsive.

Spike was disgusting.

And rude.

And mean.

And arrogant.

She could never want him.

So what if he had a really nice body underneath that leather coat? And so what if he could make a fight look like a well choreographed dance? And so what if his hands rubbing on her back had been one of the most luxurious things she had ever felt? And so what if she almost had an orgasm from his bite?

Buffy shook her head. It was just this place. It was confusing her. She knew logically that Spike was evil and if they weren’t in this situation he would waste no time in ripping her throat out to drain her of all her blood.

Spike hated her and she hated him and that was the way things were and that was the way things should be. She just had to remember that. Nothing else that happened down here mattered, in the end they were mortal enemies and at some point one of them was going to kill the other. If they ever got out of here.

Spike’s thoughts were very similar to Buffy’s only his were also filled with self-loathing. He couldn’t believe that he had come in his pants just because the twit gave him a grab or two in the crotch.

Sure it had been a while since Drusilla had let him touch her. And since he was a one-woman vamp a substitute was out of the question, so he had been left alone with his hand for longer than he liked to think about.

But what kind of self-respecting vamp would get hard for the Slayer?

It was one thing when they were fighting. A good fight always got his juices going and she was the best he had ever come across. But to have that kind of reaction when she was asleep on his lap?

And just how did she come to be on his lap anyway. He had just laid her on the ground after she passed out. Sure he had given her his coat, but that was just cause she looked cold and uncomfortable. And if she were cold and uncomfortable then she wouldn’t sleep well and if she didn’t sleep well then she wouldn’t be able to fight well. That was the only reason. That was also the only stupid reason he let her snuggle up with his lap in her sleep, too.

He had been sitting there thinking his evil thoughts. He hadn’t been daydreaming about how soft her hair felt and wondering if it could actually feel as soft as he imagined. He had been thinking of how much he wanted to kill her. Then the next thing he knew, she was curling up with his lap, rubbing her warmth all over him and it was all he could do not to grab her pull her up, strip her and press her against him.

To feel that warmth seeping into his body all over. Spike almost stopped short at the thought, his chest felt like it was going to explode. He glanced over at the Slayer walking beside him; a pink blush tinted her cheeks, further evidence of the warmth inside of her.

What would it be like to be buried in that heat? In that flesh?

He quickly looked away from Buffy, his head felt like it was swimming.

How long had they been walking for anyway? It felt like days to him. The silence was grating on him, but he knew that anything he said to the woman next to him would probably result in another punch to the nose.

He sighed. She was such a judgmental uptight bitch. He needed to remember that. Remember the way she threw herself at the poof of a Grandsire. Remember that this was the bitch that put him in a wheelchair for all those months.

The bloody bitch threw an incense burner at him and put him in a fucking coma for months.

She threw an incense burner at him, knocked him out into an organ and it fucking paralyzed him. Fucking brilliant really. Not that she planned it that way, but she had the talent that things like that happened to her in fights. She was good. The best he ever fought.

Probably going to be the one to kill him some day. That was if he didn’t kill her first.

For some reason those thoughts didn’t bring him the satisfactory feeling they should have.

Deciding that he must just be exhausted he stopped walking. “You up for a bit of watch duty, Slayer?”

She looked at him like she didn’t understand what he was saying.

“Hello?” Spike waved a hand in front of her face. “Anyone home in there?”

“What? I’m fine.” Buffy said, irritated.

“Oh really, that’s good. I don’t really give a fuck.” He continued speaking over her look of outrage. “I was asking if you could take a watch while got a bit o’rest.”

“Oh.” Buffy looked disappointed, but she quickly hid it. Spike wondered what the hell was running through that blonde brain of hers. “Yeah, I can watch. Where do you want to rest up?”

“Right here looks good to me.” Spike said, removing his coat and laying it out on the ground.

“Ok.” Buffy said, sitting down not far from him.

Spike looked at her suspiciously. She was being way to agreeable. Maybe she was up to something. Maybe she had found a way out of here and was just waiting for him to go to sleep so she could abandon him.

He shook off those thoughts about as quickly as they came. This wasn’t Darla he was dealing with. The Slayer was a White Hat and they didn’t do things like that.

He lay down on his coat and fashioned the sleeve into a pillow of sorts. “All right, wake me up if anything suspicious heads this way, or even if you hear something that may be something suspicious. Got it?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir.” She gave him a mock salute to which he glared at her.

“And don’t forget to keep sucking on that moss, I don’t want you getting dehydrated.” He told her.

“Ok. Will you just go to sleep already?”

“Don’t get your knickers all upset, I’m working on it.”

“Well work faster.”

“Maybe I could if you would shut your yap.”

Spike turned his back to her and shut his eyes. For some reason, though even with his eyes closed he could still see her face glaring at him, but with that small smile at her lips that made him want to…

Spike quickly tried to shut his brain down before he could finish that thought.

Sleep. He needed sleep. His head would be that much clearer in the morning.

Ipwet walked into the Council’s sitting room cautiously. It had never been stated that it was forbidden to enter here unaccompanied when the Council wasn’t in session. However, Ipwet wasn’t certain how the Older Ones would view her sneaking in to check on William’s progress.

She had assumed after the crystal had been activated he would have found a way to contact her immediately, but so far there had been nothing. She knew the mist was keeping him under constant watch and he also had that Slayer with him, but with his resourcefulness he should have been able to come up with something.

She knew he was still alive, her crystal showed that he was still moving, but again he had not contacted her.

Ipwet had bought the crystals about five hundred years ago from a peddler, in, what she knew as, Constantinople. They could be used to relay messages back and forth between the holders and also they could be used to track the person holding the other crystal. While the crystals couldn’t be used as two-way communication devices the messages were usually only delayed by a few minutes.

Ipwet was worried that maybe the Slayer found the crystal somehow. She knew William had offered her his shirt, but she saw him take the crystal from her and put it in his pocket.

Finally deciding she couldn’t wait any longer, Ipwet ignored Rangda’s pleas for her to be patient and headed for the sitting room to see for herself what was happening down below. She had planned and waited for this opportunity for too long, to let it pass now. She was determined that William would be the key to her taking down the Council, allowing her kind to rule over the humans.

Ipwet was so caught up in her plans and concerns she never noticed that she wasn’t alone in the room.

“Did you need something, Ipwet?”

Mastema asked.

Startled she looked up to find him sitting in his chair in the center of the room, staring into the wall of mist intently.

Knowing he would be able to sense a lie, she decided to go with the truth.

“No Sire, I just wanted to see how the prisoners were doing.” From where she stood Ipwet couldn’t make out anything in the mist.

Mastema raised his head and looked towards her, his sharp gaze seemed to pierce right through her.

“You have a special interest in the traitor.” He said. It was not a question.

“Yes Sire, I do.” She admitted.

“And what is it you find so interesting about our traitor?”

Ipwet tilted her head as if she were hesitant. “Well Sire, there are many things.”

Mastema raised what might have been an eyebrow and gestured for her to continue.

“The way he sought out not one, but two Slayers, challenging the one thing we have all been taught to fear. Yet he is not above teaming up with a Slayer when it comes to matters of survival. I find him to be very resourceful and determined. He would make a powerful Master and ally.” She paused. She knew she was about to cross a line that would very likely get her killed, but if it paid off it could get her everything she ever wanted. “You really don’t think he reminds you of the Masters of old, Sire?” She asked.

Mastema flew from his chair and stood before her, proving despite his aged appearance the aura of power that surrounded him, was in fact, accurate. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her above him. “That is the second time you have compared that traitor to me.” He snarled at her.

“Please Sire, I meant no disrespect.” She whispered.

“How could this be seen as anything but disrespect?” He bellowed throwing her to the ground. While she didn’t need air to breath the intense pressure on her vocal chords caused her to choke and wheeze.

She knew she shouldn’t push this any farther, but she had come too far to back down now.

“When was the last time one so young accomplished so much?” Mastema approached her with fire in his eyes. “Sire, he was raised by a mad woman, Angelus and the whore, Darla. Had he been trained properly who knows where he might stand today. Is it right that he be punished for their ignorant ways and teachings?” Ipwet practically pleaded with him as she scrambled backwards along the ground.

Mastema stopped cold and considered her carefully. “Perhaps you are right, my Childe.” Ipwet felt her limbs go weak with relief. “But I cannot overturn my ruling. Besides William won’t last much longer. I believe his food source is about to be drained of life.” He stepped out of the way giving Ipwet a clear view of the screen of mist.

She saw Spike asleep on the ground and not far from him sat Buffy. Ipwet cursed when she saw the Slayer’s attention was focused on the vampire in front of her while behind her a large insect creature crawled down the wall of the cavern towards her.

It didn’t take Spike long to fall asleep. It was funny; once he fell asleep he began to breath heavily, just like a human. It was like his body forgot he didn’t need to breathe when he was asleep.

For a while Buffy sat there and scanned all the tunnels, extending her senses as far out as they would go, searching for anything that could mean trouble for them. After a while she got bored with that and began to make little designs in the moss growing along the wall. She would pick some out, drain it of its water then put it back on the wall in a different spot.

She had just made a cute little house out of the furry substance when Spike rolled over.

It was a simple thing. Everyone who slept probably did it. But not everyone looked so delicious when they did it. She couldn’t help but admire the muscular chest that now lay before her.

Why wasn’t Angel’s chest and stomach that well defined? Did Spike work out? Did vampires even need to work out?

Buffy ran her eyes up over his chest, to his face. He looked so peaceful while he slept. His face was smooth and soft and she felt the urge to run her fingers against his cheeks.

For the first time she wondered what Spike had been like as a human. Was he like Angel before he was turned? Supposedly Liam O’Connor was not a nice human being. Darla wasn’t much better from what she had read. She knew Drusilla’s story, but she never thought about what Spike had been like.

From the way he talked and acted most of the time she bet he was some kind of robber or something. Then again he really didn’t have the stealth to be a robber. Granted as a vampire he had supernatural grace, but she couldn’t see him being like a cat burglar or anything before he was turned.

From the way he doted on Drusilla, and how upset he was over their break up, Buffy was certain he had been hurt before. Badly.

She wondered if his first experience at love ended a horribly as hers had.

She was so caught up in her contemplation of Spike and what his life had been like before she never noticed the large centipede that was crawling down the wall behind her.

Suddenly a large antenna appeared in her line of sight. She went to move or jump up, but by the time her brain got the message to her muscles it was too late.

The creature had established a connection with her and she could feel her life force being pulled out of her. She tried to move or shout out to alert Spike, but she no longer had control over any of her bodily functions. She couldn’t see anything but the large appendage about an inch away from her eyeball and all she could feel was an alien, cold numbness running up her limbs as she slowly lost herself to this creature.

Spike was buried deep in his dreams. Buried deep in warmth. The warmth of the Slayer. In his dream he hadn’t just bit her, he also stripped her and took her right there against the wall of the cave, making her scream out his name over and over again until the water poured out of the moss from their pressure against it. The cold water sent a chill through him, counteracting the dream of Buffy’s warm flesh.

The chill didn’t dissipate, instead in grew, filling him up inside.

Spike jerked awake, certain that something wasn’t right. He turned to look at the Slayer.

She sat not far from him, her face a chalky white color that live humans should never have and her cheeks were sunken so far into her flesh he thought for a moment that she had lost her flesh and just her skull sat atop of her neck. He caught site of the antennae next, before raising his eyes to the creature it connected to.

Spike didn’t waste anymore time. Panic almost as bad as the time Buffy held a stake to Drusilla, filled him. He vamped out, stood up and grabbed the antenna in front of her face with one hand and the middle of the creature with his other and threw it off the wall away from Buffy. The antenna ripped off in his hand when he did so.

He heard Buffy gasp when he broke the creature’s connection with her, but he didn’t stop to see if she was ok, wanting to deal with this threat first. He grabbed the claw from where it lay just out of reach of her grasp and leaped after the thing.

The creature had only fallen a few yards away and even after loosing and antenna it still headed straight back after Buffy. Spike pushed the claw underneath it and threw it back again, only this time he rushed after it and speared it through the middle. The creature continued to fall, landing on its back. Spike brought the claw down again and again spearing it repeatedly until the thing finally lay still.

Only then did he look back towards Buffy, still snarling and in game face.

She looked pale and haggard still, but not nearly as bad as she had when the creature was feeding off of her. He could already see color beginning to return to her cheeks. Still she was visibly shaking and he breathing was coming in sharp gasps.

She raised her head, met his golden eyes and then her face seemed to dissolve as tears began to pour over her eyelids.

In an instant Spike was on his knees next to her. Even if he weren’t a vampire he would have been able to sense the bone chilling terror inside of her.

Without even thinking about what he was doing or why he felt the overwhelming need to do it, he pulled her into his arms and began stroking her hair, holding her shivering form close to him.

She whimpered then began to sob against him. “I felt so cold and empty.” She cried. “I couldn’t move, I couldn’t stop it.”

“Shhh. Its ok, luv. I’ve got you now. Its dead.” He told her quietly, never ceasing his movements.

He rocked her back and forth, talking to her softly and occasionally brushing his lips softly against her forehead. It was all completely instinctive. He wasn’t consciously aware of what he was doing, all he knew was that she was scared and upset and he wanted to make it better. Who they were and what their roles were never entered into his mind.

Her sobs quieted after a time, then her crying slowed before coming to a stop. He could feel the fear draining out of her slowly.

She pulled away from him finally, still sniffling. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes determinedly.

“Some Slayer I am. She turned her face away from him. “I fall apart over a stupid bug. No wonder I never got a Slayer handbook.” She started to stand up, but Spike grabbed her arm and made her look back at him.

“You are one of the bravest creatures I’ve encountered, Slayer.” He told her seriously. “It’s ok to have things that scare you, but you have never let that fear rule you.”

Buffy stared at him in shock. The look in his eyes made her feel warm inside, it shook her to the bone. Who was this vampire? She had now idea there was so much more to him than she assumed.

The stayed that way for a few seconds, Buffy lost in his eyes and the words he had spoken. Neither one of them seemed to be aware that they were gradually moving closer and closer to each other.

Buffy tilted her head slightly, and her eyes almost closed as she prepared for the inevitable touch of his lips against hers. She licked her lips, and watched his eyes focus on her tongue before he opened his mouth and moved his head forward to close the last distance between them.

Just then the creature managed to flip itself over, causing them to jump apart and look at it in apprehension. They could see its wounds were beginning to close and where Spike had torn off the antenna a new one was already starting to grow back in its place.

“I thought you killed it.” Buffy said nervously.

“I thought I did.” He answered.

He glanced down at the claw, their only weapon. He looked at her, shrugged, then leapt forward and drove the arm down through the top part of the creature, near its antenna. It went through its body and down into the rock below. It jerked, and then lay still.

“Is it dead now?” Buffy asked.

Spike didn’t answer her at first, just watched it carefully. He saw one of its back legs start to twitch, then the others followed suit as it tried to move and wriggle, but couldn’t because of the claw.

“No.” Spike turned and walked towards Buffy, he took her arm and began to lead her away from the thing. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Don’t you think we should take the claw?” She asked.

Spike turned back to the creature. “I think that will buy us time. It will take it a while to get out of that, I hope.”

Buffy looked back worriedly.

“Come on pet, we need to get moving.” They turned as one and began to move through the corridors.

After a few steps Buffy spoke quietly. “Thank you.” She said. “For saving my life and for what you said.”

Spike didn’t respond. He honestly didn’t know what to say.

Behind them the creature began to heal itself again, its remaining antenna reaching out in the direction Buffy had gone, its legs squirmed to be moving again. It had a taste of her sweet life and it wasn’t going to stop until it devoured it all.