"No!" Buffy exclaimed. "That's not... That's impossible."

Holding the heavy rock out in one hand, Spike smirked, "Yeah? Want the rock again, Slayer?"

Buffy stepped back. Her heart was pounding and she felt droplets of sweat trickle down her back. Memories flooded her mind, memories of a time when her strength had been taken from her. Memories of an insane vampire, a locked house, and her mother tied and helpless. She'd forgiven Giles, eventually, but she'd never forgotten the feeling of helplessness she'd had. But she'd survived then, she assured herself. She'd survive now.

"How..."

"When you grabbed my arm. Didn't hurt, and I know how much you like to hurt me." He waggled his eyebrows, his tongue peeked out from between his teeth, and his eyes gleamed maliciously. Spike casually tossed the rock aside and swaggered up next to Buffy. "You know, Slayer," he said silkily, "with all these differences, I can't help wondering what else has changed."

"What are you talking about, Spike?" Buffy asked, lifting her chin with a bravado she really wasn't feeling. She'd be damned before she'd let on how much his proximity was unnerving her.

"Well," he said, looking up at the bright, hot sun. "I'm not burning up, and you've lost your Slayer strength, so it just makes a fellow wonder." Slipping into game face with a shake of his head, he finished, "What else has changed?"

Buffy hurriedly stepped back away from him and fumbled for her stake, but her speed was gone with her strength, and Spike had her arms trapped before she could free her weapon.

"Ah, ah, Slayer, none of that now."

Buffy struggled, but he held her easily in place as his head began its slow descent to her neck. His mouth opened, his fangs touched her skin, and he doubled over with a loud cry of pain.

Spike writhed on the ground clutching his mangled manhood in his hands. Finally managing to pull her stake from her pocket, Buffy leapt on him. Straddling him, she raised the stake in the beginning of a killing stroke. Spike reached up in time to wrench the stake from her hand and toss her off him.

Buffy rolled several times before she was able to stop and sit upright on the ground. Spike sat up as well, still rubbing his smarting balls.

"Did you have to knee me so hard?" he whined, his face back to human.

"You were going to bite me, Spike, so yeah, I did."

"Wasn't going to bite you...hard," he muttered sullenly. "I was just conducting an experiment."

"An experiment in eating me?"

"An experiment to see if this sodding chip would go off. Which," he added with cool satisfaction, "it didn't."

Buffy swallowed and eyed the discarded stake. Spike reached over and claimed it, slipping it into his duster pocket. "I think I'll just hold onto this for the time being," he said.

Buffy cast a quick glance at the woods behind them, wondering if she could outrun Spike in his current condition. There would be plenty of staking material there. She heard him sigh.

"Look, Slayer, I wasn't going to bite you. Really."

"Of course you weren't," she told him with a bright false smile. "I mean, I know you wouldn't really bite me. We're best friends."

"No, we hate each other. But we're all we've got right now, and we might just need each other to get back home."

Buffy looked at him dubiously. "Why would you want to get back home? I'd think you'd want to stay here. No sun allergies. No chip zapping you. This place is Spike heaven."

Spike stared at her for a second and then said, "Tell me, Slayer. Have you noticed anything strange about this meadow?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Did you get brain damage when I kneed you in the nuts, Spike? We've already had this conversation."

Spike gave her a disgusted look. "No, this is a whole new conversation. Look around you, Slayer, and think about something other than yourself. What do you see?"

Buffy glared at him, but looked around the meadow. She didn't see anything she hadn't seen before. Turning back to him she said, "I see flowers, shrubs, grass, rocks, stones, and dirt."

"Yeah. See any bees, Slayer? Hear any birdsong? See one sodding butterfly fluttering around out there? Has one insect crawled on you?"

Buffy went perfectly still as his words struck her. Listening carefully, she noticed for the first time the complete absence of any sound other than the wind blowing. No buzzing, twittering, chittering, or scrabbling noises reached her ears. There were absolutely no sounds of animal life.

Buffy swallowed as she immediately realized what that meant.

"So, if there are no animals here," Spike said as if reading her mind, "I'm going to get real hungry real fast. And you're so small you wouldn't last more than three, four days tops."

Buffy glared at him.

He smirked back.

Getting up, she brushed the dirt from the back of her pants. "Can you walk yet?"

Spike jumped up, only a slight wince betraying the pain that still throbbed through his groin. "Yeah. You have a plan, Slayer?

Buffy shrugged and glanced across the wide empty meadow to the forest that surrounded it on all sides. "We need to try to find civilization and locate somebody that can help us get back home. And we need to find food. Maybe there are animals in the woods. If nothing else, there may be water and some fruit or nuts."

Spike nodded. "Yeah, let's try to keep you healthy just in case I do need to eat you."

Buffy stomped forward muttering to herself about finding a nice pointy stick and ridding herself of one annoying vampire.

She could hear Spike chuckle as he followed her.

As soon as she stepped into the woods, Buffy came to a sudden halt and slapped her hand over her nose and mouth.

"Ewww," she said with a muffled voice. "It stinks in here."

Spike drew in a deep breath and then made a gagging noise. "God, it smells like Xander's underwear!"

Buffy choked back surprised laughter and turned away from him so he couldn't see her amusement at his gibe.

"I think we just found out why there aren't any animals around here," he continued, oblivious to her laughter. "This is the Bog of Eternal Stench. They can't get past this sodding smell."

"Yeah," was all Buffy could muster in response.

"So, what do you want to do, Slayer? You're the one that has to breathe."

Buffy looked back the way they'd come. She really didn't see much choice. There was open meadow and there was forest. They could leave this bit of forest and hike the five miles or so across the meadow to the other side only to discover the same smell. Buffy was nervous at the thought of being stuck in this weird dimension without her Slayer powers and with only Spike for company. He was dangerous and unpredictable and she was vulnerable, and it was going to take all the strength she had left to hide her unease from him. She needed to find help and fast. Buffy cautiously removed her hand from her face. If she breathed through her mouth, she thought she'd be able to stand the smell.

She wasn't going to like it though.

***

The forest was thick with tall leprous-looking trees whose broad foliage blocked out most of the sun and thick scrubby bushes. Buffy noted that none of the plants looked very healthy, probably owing to the foul stench in the air. Or perhaps they were the cause.

Despite the fact that the forest appeared to be as devoid of animal life as the meadow had been, Buffy and Spike were able to spot several trail-like openings leading in different directions. They picked one of the wider ones and headed deeper into the woods. It'd been fairly smooth and obstruction free, and at first Spike had moved at a pace that had Buffy wheezing from the bad air. It surprised her when he seemed to notice and slowed up.

As they moved deeper into the woods, Buffy found that she was becoming used to the fetid air that hung like a miasma throughout the woods. They'd been walking through the cool, dank woods for a couple hours when she realized that she could breathe easier.

Spike was several feet ahead of her when he stopped suddenly and tilted his head as if listening intently.

"What?"

"Come on," he said, moving off the path and pushing his way through the bushes.

"Spike, why are we leaving the path? Spike! Dammit!"

Buffy was furious as she fought her way through the undergrowth, yanking her hair and jacket clear of clutching branches while trying to protect her face from jutting tree limbs.

If I had the energy and breath, she fumed, I'd catch up with him and slug him.

Well, if I had the energy and breath and my Slayer powers, she thought miserably.

When she pushed through the last bit of brush she stopped in disbelief, her anger at Spike immediately dissipating.

"Oh."

He had led her to a sparkling stream. The clear water rushed past them splashing forcefully over rocks. Droplets from the spray glistened like rainbow-colored jewels in the bright sunlight. The sight made Buffy's throat ache with thirst, and she walked to the stream's edge.

"Do you think it's safe to drink?"

Spike moved up beside her, hands casually stuffed into his coat pockets, and looked down at the water. He shrugged disinterestedly.

Buffy licked dry lips. "Guess we won't know unless I take a drink, huh?"

"Yeah, go ahead, Slayer. I promise that if it poisons you, I won't let you suffer. I'll just eat you right quick-like."

Buffy gave him her millionth glare of the day, knelt down and scooped a bit of the water into the palm of her hand. Leaning forward she took a small sip.

"Tastes okay," she said. Her thirst was really raging now, so she scooped up more water and took a deeper drink. As the cool, fresh water slid down her dry throat, she moaned softly. Bending over once more, she brought more and more of the refreshing liquid to her mouth. Her thirst finally satisfied, she took a double handful of the water and splashed it on her face. When she sat back, tiny streamlets ran down her neck dampening the top of her blouse. A few glistening drops slid down her chest and into the vee of her neckline, trickling down into the valley between her breasts. When the cool breeze hit her damp skin, her nipples hardened into peaks.

Buffy heard an inarticulate sound coming from Spike's direction and looking up saw that he was staring at her.

"What?" she asked challengingly.

Spike turned away, bent down and rubbed some of the water over his own face and across the back of his neck not answering her. Standing up again, he avoided looking at her and asked, "You ready to go?"

Buffy nodded and stood up. "Yeah, I guess." As she followed Spike, she gazed anxiously around. So far, they still hadn't seen any signs of animal life, and Buffy was beginning to become concerned. How long would Spike wait until he decided he was hungry enough to attack?