"What's that noise?" Asked a nervous and still very emotional Fred.
Spike and Fred had been sat in the same position for what seemed to be an eternity, but in reality, it was only a few minutes, Spike holding her, and Fred burying her head in his chest in hope too bury this awful situation in the mud, so to speak.
"What noise, luv?" He opened his ears and glanced around, that's when he heard a low growl, he shot up to his feet but he wasn't quick enough, a four legged beast jumped on him and they both landed on the floor, Spike on his back and the creature towering over his body.
Fred wanted to run away and fast, but she couldn't just abandon Spike, she forced her shakey self to stand, she glanced around, looking for any kind of weapon, when she saw the gun, that's right, she had hold of it when she was sucked in, she quickly ran towards it and took it in her hands.
The creature was growling and drooling all over Spike, who was struggling to break free from his grip, the creatures claw met his cheek and it tore at Spike's skin.
Fred didn't waste another second, she pointed the gun at the creature and aimed, she fired the shot and the bullet landed in its stomach, it shook violently, sparks radiated from it and it dropped on top of Spike, who did feel the electricity slightly.
He threw the creatures corpse off of him and returned to his feet.
"Nice shot, pet." He grinned almost like a chilld and jogged towards her. "Lets get the hell outta here."
She nodded her head and they both started to run off in the opposite direction of the corpse, they ended up in a forest, surrounded by trees and bushes, hardly any flowers and they did hear the occasional growl, which they avoided, they didn't want another run in with a beast from hell.
They eventually came to a small village, that's when fear struck, the same beast they encountered in the alleyway must of returned home, bring them to with them.
"Well, that's bloody wonderful, ugly beasty has a family." Spike commented when they saw the large amount of demons running around all the little shops, grunting and growling, a few of them where even fighting each other.
"I can't stay here, I have to go, have to go home, me and hell dimensions down mix well, can't stay, can't, can't stay her-"
"Fred, I'm sorry but you have to calm down, luv." By this time, he held onto the top of her arms and shook her gently. "I know we can't stay here but we're not gonna get outta here by just sayin' we are, are we?"
Fred shook her head, once twice, three times. "No, you're right."
"Then lets go find that way home."
"I'm not going out there, we don't exactly blend in." Fred motioned her hand towards there clothing... And skin.
"You're right, d'ya reckon they sell costumes?" He spoke, sarcastically.
"I doubt it, I mean, I guess they might, if they get visitors, but that's highly doubtful too, I suppose."
"Fred luv, that was a joke."
"Oh right, erm, I knew that."
Spike shook his head slightly, chuckling. "Sure you did, pet. Come on, lets go."
Fred nodded her head and they emerged from the trees, they tried to creep around but the demons caught them, they where hardly inconspicuos.
The demons formed a circle, whilst two of them held Fred and Spike in place, gripping there arms tightly, they struggled to break free, including Spike, these demons where strong.
"This one's human." One of the demons said, his voice rough and deep, there laugh sounded like growls.
"But this one," The other demon smelt him. "This one smells... Bad."
"'Ey! Watch it, green guy." Spike defended.
"She'll be fun to play with." The first demon said to another, he seemed to be the leader, he was stood in the center of the circle in front of Spike and fred.
"Lock them in the dugeons." The leader ordered the two demons and they obliged, they dragged Fred and Spike off, she could barely stand, not enough dugeon, she couldn't cope.
"Like hell I'm going in som' rotten dungeon." But they where still dragged off, another 3 or 4 demons followed them for back up, they weren't likely to escape now, but Spike had to try, he punched the demon holding onto him, hard, aimed straight at his face, he jolted backwards but another two demons caught Spike and knocked him with a single blow from a wooden instrument.
"Spike." Fred yelled at the top of her voice.
"Shut her up." One of the demons said, the other grabbed her mouth, she tried speaking and even screaming but it just sounded like mumbles, all air was cut short, she couldn't breath properly and she saw white.
Her eyes started to narrow to a complete close and her body flopped backwards, thankfully, the demon caught her but even her nightmares where plagued by these horiffic creatures.
-w-
Meanwhile, back at Wolfram and Hart.
"Hey, Harmony, has Spike returned from his field mission yet?" Angel asked, as he approached the front desk.
Harmony simply shook her head. "Nope, not yet, boss. I can go look for them?"
She sounded almost too excited to get out, Angel saw right through her escape plan, he didn't think it was too bad working there. "No, I'll go later, if they're not back in an hour, inform me."
"Oh and Fred went with him too, I can call-"
"What?" Angel exclaimed, angrily. "Why did Fred go?"
"I think he asked her too." She sounded a bit frightened, an angry Angel wasn't to be messed with.
"Are you joking? That's it, you're joking. I mean, you know better than too let Fred go out on a mission, right? I mean, she's the nicest girl I've ever met."
Harmony didn't answer, instead she just looked down.
"Damn it, Harm." With that, Angel jogged out of the building, he could smell Fred a mile away, so she left him something to track.
He eventually found the alleyway, he didn't pay much attention the people who where giving him funny looks as he passed them, sniffing the air, he was too concerned for Fred's welfare.
"Fred?" He yelled, his voice echoed throughout the alleyway, he heard and saw nothing, except a complete mess, boxes and trash cans where scattered about, whatever happened, it wasn't good, extremely dangerous.
Then something caught his attention, he turned to see scorch marks on the ground, he knelt down, getting the knee areas of his expensive suit dirty, he scraped his finger along it and brought it to his nose, he took a good whiff, but it made him flinch, it smelt horrible.
"Fred, where are you?" He muttered under his breath.
-w-
Fred and Spike where finally starting to wake up, she still felt a bit queezy from the lack of oxygen and Spike was just angry
"They really did throw us in a dugeon." Fred spoke, weakly.
"No kiddin'." Spike jumped to his feet and grabbed a hold of the bars, he'd tried pulling and kicking them but they didn't loosen, he even tried breaking the gate, but that was a failed attempt too.
"'Ey, you!" He shouted to one of the demons guarding the dungeon, he had a sowrd in hand, held in front of his face, he looked very military. "Let us out."
The demon didn't pay any attention to him at all.
"I'll kill ya, I swear it, I will, if you dont let us out."
Still no attention, so Spike tried to reach him by putting his arms through the space between the bars, he was too far away but he didn't give up straight away, he wasn't much of a quitter, he stretched as far as he could.
"Spike..." Fred said, her tone of voice quite low, he brought his arms back inside the cage and turned too look at her, he truly was concerned. "I'm scared."
"Don't be, luv," He sat down opposite her, she was leaning against the wall, her legs crossed her beneath her and her hands in her lap, fidgeting. "Don't be scared of these goons, I promised i'll get ya home an' I will."
She smiled softly at him. "Thank you."
"It's all my fault," Remorse filled his voice. "I should never of bloody asked ya to come with me on this stupid mission in the first place, it's my fault you're locked up in a dugeon in a stupid hell dimension."
"No, no Spike, it's not you fault, you didn't force me to come with you, you asked, I said yes, not your fault at all."
"I shouldn't of asked."
"I shouldn't of said yes."
He diverted his gaze to the ground, deep down, he couldn't help but feel it was all his fault, if he hadn't of been so eager to kill the demon in a hurry, then this wouldn't of happened.
"Hey," Fred placed her hand on his cheek, lifting his head align with hers. "It's not your fault."
His heart skipped a beat by the physical contact. "It is." His voice cracked and emotion seeped through.
He slowly and hesitantly placed his hand on top of hers. "I'm sorry, luv, truly I am."
"You're sweet but don't be." She smiled at how he was acting, he wasn't acting like his usual self, he was actually bothering to apologize and take responsibility for his actions but in Fred's point of view, it wasn't, she appreciated it anyway.
"But I promised I'll get you home and I will." He bent his fingers and they intertwined with Fred's, even her heart was beating rapidly too, and she was sure the butterflies in her stomach where having a field day.
"I know you will 'cause that's the kind of man you are."
"And what kind of man is that?"
"A hero."
He smiled sincerely, for the first time in a while, she wasn't the only one surprised by his actions.
He slowly moved his face towards hers, she didn't stop him, in fact, she neared his face too, until there lips met, Spike brought his hand to her face, his fingers caught in her hair as he pulled her closer, she released there hands and her arms slid around his neck, the passion in the kiss they shared only increased, what was it about Fred that made her so special? That made Spike more drawn to her?
After a minute or two, they finally pulled back reluctantly, and just gazed into each others eyes, Fred had a happy smile spread on her lips and Spike was just overwhelmed, any feelings he had for Fred before this moment had drastically increased to a very high level.
"Oh, Spike, I've still got the gun." she said, completely out of the blue and she sounded so innocent too, she opened the right side of her jacket and the gun was revealed, Spike grinned at the mere visual, he removed it from her pocket and stood up, standing in front of the bars.
"Oi, goon." The demon turned around and saw the gun pointed at its head, he fired instantly and the bullet landed in his head, sparks flew and his body shook, before falling with a thump, Spike knelt down on his knees and put his arms through the bars again, he pulled the body closer and started patting around it, when he heard a jingle, he smiled. "Jackpot."
He took the keys from its pocket and stood back up again, he walked the very short distance to the gate and peered his hand around the bar nearest the lock, he struggled to get the key in the keyhole at first but he did it, Fred jumped to her feet and stood behind him as he twisted the key and unlocked the gate, he quietly opened it.
"Lets go." He whispered.
He took Fred's hand and they both ran out, as quietly as they could and as quickly but they got lost as soon as they came to the first exit, there where two paths, one leading right and the other left, they both shrugged and took the right exit, the rest seemed to be smooth sailing, it wasn't exactly a long journey, there where only a few more twists and turns until they came to the exit.
It really was a cave, the exit didn't have a door, just an opening, they didn't complain, just ran.
Hopefully, towards freedom.