Chapter Three

"Buffy?"

Joyce stood outside Buffy's room, knocking on her daughter's door. When no one answered, she opened the door.

"Oh god," she whispered when she noticed that Buffy wasn't there. She did a quick search, then walked downstairs to the kitchen, where Spike and Dawn both were sitting.

"Have any of you seen Buffy?" she asked.

"No," the two answered in unison.

"She's not in her room," Joyce said, sounding slightly worried. "I'm going to call her friends."

She disappeared quickly with the phone. Spike and Dawn didn't move from their seats. Dawn kept eating, but Spike couldn't. A terrible feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach, saying that Buffy was in trouble. He stood up to go and talk to Joyce. Dawn looked at him.

"Aren't you gonna finish?" she asked.

"No, Nibblet, I need to go talk to your mum," he said and walked out to the living room where Joyce was saying, "So you haven't seen her? Well, thanks anyway."

She turned around and saw Spike. "She's not at Willow and Tara's, and Giles hasn't seen her. I'm going to try Xander."

Spike nodded and kept quiet as Joyce called, but Buffy hadn't been there either.

"Where could she be?" Joyce asked Spike, now very worried.

"I don't know, Joyce. Did she say where she was going last night?" Spike didn't know everything that had happened the day before, but he knew some and could read from the tension in the house, that it was serious.

"No… No, she just left," Joyce said. "Why didn't I stop her? She was so upset, and when she's upset, she does stupid things…" Her eyes were blank from tears, "She's the Slayer, and she thinks that makes her invincible."

Joyce sat down on the sofa, her legs not holding her up anymore. Spike sat down next to her and said, "Don't worry, we'll get her back." He wished that he felt as sure as he tried to sound. "She's made it so far, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts. I'm going to the Magic Box, and her mates will find her. Don't worry."

T he Scooby Gang met at the Box less than half an hour later. Willow and Tara, hand in hand, both looked worried. Xander came in with Anya in tow just a little after Spike arrived. Giles was taking to a customer as the gang started discussing.

"Wiccas, could you do a locator spell, you think?" Spike asked.

"Sure, that's easy," Willow answered.

"D-Do you have a map? That's t-the easiest way," Tara wondered.

Giles got her a map and the Wiccas started doing the spell.

"I hope that she hasn't just taken into a hotel now," Anya said. "Me and Xander had to stop…"

Xander put a hand over her mouth. "It's really not necessary to tell them, An," he said.

"Xander, can you collect some bloody weapons, instead of talking of sex with your girlfriend?" Spike asked in a low voice. "Buffy could be in danger; we need to find her."

"Since when did you start caring so much about Buff, Spike?" Xander wondered, amused at the Englishman's distressed expression.

"I don't, but I assume you do, mate, so start digging weapons," Spike threatened, not really wanting to show how worried he was.

They all got to work. Spike mostly paced, walking back and forth thinking of Buffy and who had taken her.

Buffy.

She was the most stubborn, annoying, childish… bravest, gorgeous… He didn't know when it had happened, but he had gotten feelings for her. He had strong feelings. For the Slayer. Well, weirder things had happened.

"We've got it!" Tara suddenly burst out, pointing to a spot on the Sunnydale map.

"That place," Giles said, "It is known as an holdout for various creatures, all non human. It is a very dangerous place."

"Yeah, it must be, for them to be able to hold Buff," Xander said. "She doesn't go without a fight."

"Well, what are we bloody waiting for?" Spike asked. "The longer we wait, the more chance they have to hurt her."

"And you're absolutely not worried," Xander mocked him.

"And you fellas not?" he asked. Xander shrugged. "Get off my case then, mate," Spike continued.

They got weapons: Crossbows, stakes, axes and various other items. Giles was the only one who stayed, to keep the shop running. He had given them detailed instructions on what to do, though.

They reached the place in no time, although it to all of them felt like forever. The place was an old house, which had seen better days. Back then, it had been white; now it was gray from dirt and flaked off color. The windows were all covered, and the whole place had a scary feeling to it. It was the perfect hide out.

"Okay," Spike said. "You go two and two. Red and Tara, Xander and Anya. Remember, the most important thing is to get the Slayer out safely. Everyone's got weapons?"

They all nodded. "Then let's go and kick some sodden demon ass."

The gang crept slowly in the door. It creaked as they opened, and once they were inside, they split up like Spike had said.

Willow and Tara took to the left, through a room that looked like it might have been the living room earlier on. Through slits in the windows a dim light shone in, making the room look spooky. Everything was deadly quiet.

Xander and Anya sneaked up the stairs to the right. They too creaked as they went, and the two were scared that they might attract the attention of whatever creatures inhabited the house. On the second floor, a vampire came at them, but it was quickly discarded as Xander drove a stake through its heart.

Spike had walked straight into the house. When that floor didn't give him anything, he found another set of stairs, which he went up. On the second floor, he found Xander and Anya again, and they decided, all three, to go up to the third floor.

"This is really spooky," Anya complained. "I don't want to be here."

"You don't have a choice, An," Xander responded, quietly, as Spike gestured to them to be quiet.

On the third floor they discovered the first sign of life in the house. Thousands of flickering lights were set out on the floor, in every room they passed. Suddenly, they were attacked. Five vampires jumped at them, game faces on. Spike kicked the first one to the floor, then right handed the second one over to Xander, who drove the stake through the vampire's heart. Anya kicked the third one with the heel of her shoe, grounding it to the floor, before staking it. Spike staked the first one, then took care of the other two in a matter of seconds, with help from Anya and Xander.

"C'mon, we're getting closer to something," Spike muttered to the two, and they made their way up the stairs where the candles continued. They did no longer care to be quiet; they knew the inhabitants knew they were there.

But nothing could have prepared them for the fourth floor.

Vampires everywhere, bowing on their knees, all facing the middle. There, on a podium, stood a demoness with long black hair and a black dress, holding a knife with both hands, swinging it back and forth while chanting in some language they Spike, Xander and Anya did not know. Next to the demoness though, was the thing that made their hearts stop.

Buffy sat there, staring out over the vampires with an empty look. She was dressed in a long black dress. Her face was beaten, bruised and she didn't seem to know what she was doing.

"Where are the Wiccas?" Spike asked, quietly. They were sitting hid behind a big wooden balk.

"Right here," Willow panted. "Oh my gosh."

"Red, do you know what the bloody hell that bitch is doing?" Spike asked Willow and pointed at the demoness in the middle.

"She's chanting, in … ancient Latin, I think," Willow answered. "The vampires are under her control, in some kind of trance, I believe."

"W-we need to get going," Tara mumbled, "The spell is a-almost finished."

Spike nodded. "Can you do a spell to help us with the vampires or something?"

"We can do a slowing spell, s-so they won't be able to move so fast," Willow offered.

"Do whatever. I'm going; we need the bloody Slayer out of here."

With that, he, with Xander in tow, leaped out among the vampires. Willow and Tara began chanting, and Anya looked after her boyfriend for a second, before deciding to join him.

Stakes were put through the one un-beating heart after the other, but the amount of vampires in the room was enormous. The three Scoobies were slowly making their way through the crowd, but not without getting hurt. Vampires hit them, kicked them, and turned the stakes so they penetrated the human flesh instead.

"– Slow evil creatures down!" Spike heard the Wiccas finish the spell, and suddenly, the room seemed to stop dead. The staking went faster, because the vampires could hardly defend themselves.

"Red! Get that bitch to stop chanting!" Spike screamed to Willow and she nodded. With her hand in Tara's, the two started fighting their way to the middle of the room.

Spike fought furiously and got there first. He grabbed hold of the demoness' black dress, getting her unbalanced. She stopped chanting for a second, but then she kicked Spike in the face, and continued. Spike crawled up on the podium and stood between the demoness and Buffy. She was beautiful but Spike had learned to not go by looks.

"Go away, you silly man," the demoness breathed.

"I'm not going to let you hurt her, bitch," Spike said, anger glowing in his eyes.

"Then I'll just kill you," she said, and with one slash of the knife, she had sliced his chest up. Spike screamed in pain, but instead of falling to the floor, he grabbed hold of the demoness, and turned the knife she was holding towards her. He was holding the blade, and it was cutting into his hand making it bleed. But he didn't care. He pressed on, and with one last push, he shoved it through her hand. She screamed, then exploded in a heap of red dust, and together with her all the vampires around her dusted to, as if it was suddenly raining stakes.

Spike stood panting, still holding the knife. Then he turned around to Buffy, who still sat and stared out, her eyes showing nothing.

"B-Buffy?" he asked.

He untied her quickly and picked her up in his arms. They got down from the podium and he walked over to the Scoobies.

"Should we take her to the hospital, you think, Red?" he asked Willow.

"I-I don't know. I think we should take her home, her-her Slaying powers usually do the rest."

So they did. Slowly, they descended the stairs, which were now all dark since the lights had gone out when the demoness had exploded. When they got outside, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They all felt the same thing; If they were never to enter that house again, it would be too soon.

Spike put Buffy down on her bed, with everyone watching. She had her eyes closed now and seemed to be unconscious. She hadn't moved or said anything since they first saw her at the house, and that scared them all. She wasn't usually this way. Normally, she would be up, fighting new demons by now.

"I'm guessing they drugged her pretty bad or something," Willow said to Joyce, who was sitting on the bed, holding her eldest daughter's hand.

"Are you sure we shouldn't take her to the hospital?" Anya asked, but no one answered.

Spike, who'd left the room, came back with a first aid kit in his hands. Slowly and carefully, he began cleaning the cuts and bruises on the Slayer's face.

"Well," Xander said, "Since there's not much more we can do, maybe we should go."

"Yeah, we should," Willow said. "Good bye, Joyce, bye, Spike."

They all said good bye to each other, and after Joyce had thanked them all for bringing her daughter home, they left. Joyce left the room to see them out and to go talk to Dawn of what had happened, which left Spike alone with Buffy. He tended the wounds on her forehead, then took her jacket off, revealing even more cuts.

"Buffy, you need to wake up," he mumbled and stroke some hair out of her face. "You can't just lay there, your friends need you, you know. And your family. Especially Dawn, I think, because she's really upset about your parents' divorce." He looked at her apologetically. "Sorry, I shouldn't talk about that I guess. I know you were really upset about it, pet. But don't worry, it will be okay." He paused, and kissed her forehead gently. "I need you too, you know. For some bloody reason, I've come to like you, you know."

Suddenly, Buffy moved, and she opened her eyes.

"Why hello Slayer," Spike said with a grin.

"S–Spike? Where am I?" she asked very quietly, and looked around with fear in her eyes. "Where is she?"

"Don't worry, love, she's gone," Spike said softly and stroke gently over her bruised forehead.

"You–you saved me?" she asked, staring at him.

"Yes, me and the other Scoobies. Now, you need to relax. Although you might want to get out of those clothes, pet. Not very comfy to sleep in, I imagine."

Buffy continued to stare at him as if she still wasn't sure it was really him, or that she was home, safe. The drugs or whatever magic that bitch had used on her still had its hold on her, Spike thought grimly.

He helped her sit up and she took of her shirt, revealing her bra. He looked away, feeling his own arousal as he saw her like that, but intent on not using her when she was in this state. It wouldn't be fair to her. Instead, he handed her her nightgown, which she put on. Then she took of her pants, and he helped her in bed, thinking that maybe he should get Joyce instead.

But Buffy's words stopped him.

"Stay with me," she asked.

"Okay, pet," he said and sat down on the side of her bed, holding her right hand as she fell back asleep.

Buffy woke in the morning feeling much better than the night before. The room was light; it was nice to see the sun again. She noticed that someone was still holding her hand.

Spike.

He was sitting by her, asleep him too. It was an odd feeling to have him hold her like that, but she found that – to her own surprise – she liked it.

She nudged his arm to wake him. He stirred and opened his eyes.

"Hey," she said softly.

He looks cute, she thought. Hey, was the next thought, that's not what you're supposed to think of him!

"Hey. Feeling better now?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Although, you'll have to fill me in on what happened, 'cause I don't remember it all."

"Sure, pet."

He seemed to realize that he was still holding her hand, and he quickly let go. He stood up, and suddenly Buffy could see the angry red gash he had over his chest.

"Spike, you're hurt!" she exclaimed, sitting up.

"It's nothing, pet."

"Come here, let me see," she said, ignoring him.

Reluctantly, he sat down next to her. Gently, she ran her fingers over it. "It won't need stitches, I think," she said, "But we need to put something on it so it doesn't get infected."

"What love, you worried about me?"

"Yeah, just like you were for me, Spike. My memory might have been clouded, but not that bad."

"Oh bloody hell, don't tell me you heard what I said," he groaned. "I was delirious, or something."

"Spike, it was sweet."

"I didn't mean… Huh? What did you say?" He stopped dead in his denial.

"It was sweet. I liked it."

"Oh."

An awkward silence fell. Neither knew what to say. Finally, Buffy looked around and saw the first aid kit. She grabbed it and began working on Spike's chest. He winced in pain as she put disinfecting alcohol on a piece of fabric and taped it there with hospital tape. She had also noticed his bloody hand, and she took a look at it. There were three long cuts reaching from one side of his palm to the other. She disinfected that too, and then wrapped his hand up.

"That's better," she said and smiled a little. "We should go downstairs."

"Um… Yeah, sure, pet."

"Just let me get dressed."

He nodded and left the room. She remembered how he'd helped her that night before, and she could still feel his warm hand holding hers. It had been nice.

Her father moved out of the house that following week. One day when Buffy got home from school, all his clothes were gone, and she found her little sister crying in the kitchen.

"Dawn? Dawnie? What is it?"

"He's gone," the younger girl sobbed and looked up at her sister. Buffy sat down beside her on the couch and hugged Dawn, who clung to her.

"I know, Dawn," she whispered. "I know it's hard, sweetie."

"He's not coming back," Dawn said, still letting her being hold by Buffy. "He took all his stuff, and he told me to take care of me. He left – He left like he was some friend who was leaving after a visit."

"Shh," Buffy whispered. "It's okay… You'll see him again, don't worry. Everything will be all right."

"But I don't want him to go! I want it to be like it was before, Buffy," she sobbed. "I hate him like this; I don't want him to be with someone else than mom!"

Buffy just sat there, whispering soothing words to her little sister, while not really knowing what to say, because she felt the same way. Finally, Dawn told her that she was going to her room, and Buffy nodded. Dawn left. Just seconds later, Buffy heard someone enter the house.

"How are you, Nibblet?" she heard Spike ask her sister.

"I'm okay, Spike," was the response. Creaks from the wooden stairs told her her sister had left.

Spike came into the living room, backpack on his back and a jacket on.

"Hello, pet," he said to Buffy.

"Hi Spike," Buffy responded in a tone that implied, I'm not in the mood for a fight.

"What's wrong?" Spike asked and sat down where Dawn had just been sitting.

"Nothing," Buffy mumbled, but when she noticed Spike's gaze, she added, "It's dad. My parents' divorce. It upsets Dawn and it upsets me."

"Well of course it does, pet. Why wouldn't it? My parents split up when I was six years old, so it was a while ago, but I still remember the pain. It hurts like hell, and it feels like it's your fault. Right?"

Buffy closed her eyes and nodded.

"Listen to me, Buffy," Spike said and held a finger under her jaw. "It is not your fault. It wouldn't have mattered if you would have been home more, skipped some slaying, or helped more. It would still have happened. No one is to blame but your dad and his decisions, okay?"

She was quiet. Finally she nodded, and said with tears in her eyes, "How come you know me so well?"

"I pay attention, pet. Just promise me that you won't blame yourself, all right?"

Buffy nodded. "I'm gonna try."

"Good girl." He put a hand on her shoulder and she surprised herself by leaning on him.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" He looked puzzled.

"For everything. For saving me that first time, for helping me with the math, for being nice – at times at least," she smiled, "for rescuing me last week, and for just being you, always."

"That's a lot of thank yous, pet," he smiled.

"I know. And you deserve every one of them." She smiled back at him and snuggled closer to him. It felt so nice to be the one being held for once.

"Well, you're welcome, love." He decided to be brave, and planted a kiss on her forehead. She tensed for a second, then relaxed back in his arms. It felt so good.

Read? Review here!

Chapters

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

© Cosmicuniverse.net 2002-2013 | Design & production by Cosmic Creativ Consulting