Okay chapter 3! Lets have some feedback too please (ie – keep or delete?)

For almost 20 minutes she just looked at Spike, or rather she glared at Spike. He had lied to her, he had betrayed her and now she was in too much trouble than she could handle

"Buffy" he began, getting bored of the silence

"Shut up!" she hissed. She hadn't moved since she woke up. She felt like she couldn't move, which was odd. She was lying on her stomach on a creaky bed in a house she'd never been in before. How had she gotten here? It was all fuzzy, like a bad dream

"Just hear me out," he pleaded

"No! I can't hear you" she shut her eyes tight as he rolled his

"Come on, that's just silly" Spike almost laughed – almost. Buffy still shut her eyes tighter and her eyebrows scrunched up in annoyance and pain

"Go away, I hate you," she snapped

"You don't even know my name!" he insisted and her eyes flew open

"William" she dragged it out "Willy, Will, William" she droned

"Okay I get it" he sighed "and I know what your thinking" he continued

"That your head should explode and the rest of you should just disappear?" she asked, feigning innocence

"No, you think I lied to you"

"I know you lied to me" she corrected bitterly, still rather disappointed that Angel wasn't there like she'd thought when she woke up

"Well not really!" she gave him a look that demanded truth "yeah well okay, maybe I did but I feel really bad about it now!" he mentally kicked himself for saying something so lame

"Oh well in that case" she rolled her eyes and attempted to hoist herself from the bed. Spike nearly jumped when he heard the shrill cry of pain when she tried to put pressure on her arms and fell flat back on stomach. There were tears in her eyes, but it was plain to see she was trying to hide them

"Don't move, the poison'll spread" Spike put a hand nearby the blackening area where the arrow was still in her back. It was standing upright, with Buffy's blood covering half of it already, Spike glared daggers at it

"You poisoned me as well? What kind of sick freak are you?" Buffy screamed but had to take a few breaths afterwards, the pain was still flashing through her body

"I don't know how to fire sodding arrows, let alone how to make poison" he defended himself and Buffy raised her eyes as she suddenly remembered

"Rotting teeth" she muttered and turned her face into the pillow as the memory of the arrows coming in contact with her skin came rushing back to her. She bit her lip, she just yelled at William for something that was utterly out of his control

"Say William" she turned her head back towards him, trying to look nonchalant "can I call you something else? William doesn't really suit you" she couldn't help but compare this conversation to the one she'd had last year with Angel.

"Most people call me Spike," he said after a short pause and she raised an eyebrow

"Why?" she wasn't really educated about proper names or anything but Spike did not seem like a name at all

"I write poems" he mumbled, slightly embarrassed

"Which now makes sense that they would call you Spike" he smirked at her sarcasm

"Long story" he replied vaguely

"Okay then…" Buffy would have turned her head away again if it didn't hurt so much "why did you tell them where I was" she asked suddenly

"Don't really know… wish I hadn't now… the orders were just to catch you not to give you a deadly dose of bloody poison" he crossed his arms

"Deadly?" Buffy tried to sound carefree about it, but her voice broke a little at the end. Even she didn't want to die – and certainly not slowly

"If you let me take the arrow out maybe I could try and dilute…" Buffy cut him off

"No" she said bluntly

"But"

"No"

"I was just"

"Forget it"

"Buffy"

No!" she knew that keeping the arrow in was a good idea, she couldn't tell Spike why yet of course – he could just run off and tell Holtz. He frowned at her stubborn figure

"I cant win this can I?" he questioned quickly just in case

"Not a chance buddy" she smiled. This was the first time Spike had seen her smile and he had to admit – it suited her much more than when she was angry

"I should go, you probably don't want me hanging around" he got back on his feet, he had been kneeling on the wooden floors for far too long and his knees even cracked when he stood back up. Buffy watched as he made for the door and made what was possibly a stupid decision

"Spike" she called at him, he stopped, turning around a little bit

"Yes?" she had a stern look in her eyes, though a trusting smile on her lips

"You can stay… if you think your sorry then prove it" she said, ignoring the throbbing in her back "I cant protect myself if Holtz finds me in this state, stay here tonight and make sure he doesn't" she gave him his mission and he took a minute

"Okay" was all he could manage to get out. He couldn't describe the relief he felt after she had trusted him with a task like protecting her. He was sure it meant nothing to her, but still, he was grateful all the same

"Besides, this way I can make sure you don't go off and rat me out again" she added before she shut her eyes, he sighed

'Okay… maybe not all that much trust' he thought with a light chuckle as he sat down in the nearest chair and watched as Buffy fell asleep.

"You've got an hour, enjoy it Summers" Holtz grinned horrifically at her and pushed her into the cramped little lunchroom. It was the only time she'd be able to find Angel. She hadn't seen him for weeks and she was starting to get worried

"He's gotta be here…" she whispered to herself "they cant execute people for tax evasion can they?" she asked herself. Before long she found herself being served a gooey mixture and she stared at it in disgust

"This would be?" she questioned the twitchy looking cook from behind the counter

"Its ya supper, eat up little one" he grinned a toothless smile as she shuddered and backed away from the bench. She bumped into someone's front as she was backing away. she turned around angrily

"Watch where you're… Angel!" she couldn't help herself, she flung her arms around him and her flinched a little, she took it as a rejection

"Watch it… just had a fight with one of guards" he explained when he saw the look of hurt on his face

"Oh my God are you okay?" he was clutching his stomach but he nodded anyway

"They look stupid but take my advice – do not piss them off" he half joked, although half it was serious, those guards could really throw a punch when they needed to

"Want food?" she offered, showing off her bowl as a visual aid

"Is that the food?" he asked

"Yes"

"Then I'll skip it," he groaned as he sat down then the swinging doors flew open and Holtz stormed in and marched over to Buffy and Angel. Angel immediately got up and stood between Holtz and Buffy. Holtz smiled at him with a sickening look in his eyes

"Stand down" he said calmly

"Don't touch her" Angel spat back, Holtz shrugged and pushed him to the ground

"Oh don't worry, I won't" his face turned into an evil grimace as he kicked Angel directly in his face, causing blood to pour out his nose and mouth. As if on cue, the other guards ran over to Buffy and pinned her against the wall and began what was soon to become a daily torture routine

Spike jolted awake, he'd accidentally fallen asleep for a few minutes. He looked around frantically before remembering where he was. He cast a glance at Buffy who was moving and trashing about on the mattress. She was crying and small shrieking sounds escaped her lips every few seconds. Spike didn't know what worried him more, the fact that she was obviously scared of something or that fact that the more she moved the faster the poison would work its way through her system. He ran to her side as she jolted awake, still thrashing about wildly. Her wrapped his arms around her waist, making her stay still, it was both a gesture of comfort and way to stop the poison. She was crying and tears were dropping all over the bare nape of his shoulders

"They're here!" she screamed accidentally and he put a hand in her tangled hair and shushed her

"No ones here… you're safe," he whispered into her ear but it didn't seem to sooth her down at all

"I'm never safe… he'll always find me" she wailed

"No ones going to find you…" he promised her and she seemed to calm down "try not to move… it'll just make you feel worse" he muttered. Then at the same time they both seemed to notice the fact that Spike still had his arms wrapped firmly around her waist. He let go immediately and placed her gently back down on her stomach. Giving yet another worried glance at the arrow sticking dangerously from her back

"Sorry" Buffy couldn't think of anything better to say

"Just go to sleep" Spike replied. He didn't know who was more embarrassed at this point, him for leaving his hands around her for so long or her for weeping like a child in his arms.

Reviews, comments or even theories are all welcomed! I'll write much quicker! (hint hint)