Author's Notes: Here's chapter 7! Only two chapters to go after this. Enjoy! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! -hugs-
Chapter 7: Unforseen Circumstances
It was on the morning of the sixth day that it happened.
It started out just like the previous five days. Everyone was just going about their business as usual. Angel and Buffy were putting more fuel in the fire, Dawn and Connor were snuggling, Spike was flirting with Cordy, Anya was arguing with Xander about something, Giles was sitting there looking weary, and Willow and Tara were handing out bananas. Then the noise started. It was a loud sort of humming noise. Everyone looked up, curious.
"Oh my God, it's a plane!" Buffy yelled. Sure enough there was a large commercial jet flying right over the island. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing. "Quick, everyone run around or something!"
Everyone started running for the open beach, save for Cordy, waving their arms around and yelling. Angel even stuck a stick in the fire and waved it back and forth like a torch. "HELP!" everyone screamed. But they could only watch in horror as the plane sailed right past the island and faded off into the distance. The island inhabitants just stood there in dead silence for a few minutes after that.
"DAMMIT!" Anya screamed. "We're never gonna get off this FREAKING island!"
Dawn burst into tears. Connor ran to comfort her. Buffy closed her eyes. The others just sort of stood there.
"We weren't ready," Buffy said.
Angel rubbed her back. "It's not your fault. That's the first plane we've seen all week. There was no way we could have known."
Up in the air, the pilot of the plane was frowning. He could have sworn he had seen something as they had passed that small island. It was a flash of light, like a fire. His mind drifted to the newscast he had seen about the group of people who were missing after a boating accident. He picked up his radio.
"This is number 501 to air traffic control," he said. "I just passed a small island at these coordinates," he said, reading them off. "And I saw possible signs of life. Maybe it's the survivors of that boating accident about a week back."
"I'll send the report," came the static reply. The pilot smiled to himself. It would be pretty cool if he ended up saving some lives.
The mood was very somber back at the island that day. Their first chance of rescue had passed them by, and it was quite depressing. It was a very somber afternoon. Buffy and Angel had snuck away again.
"Dawn had a total meltdown after that plane left today," Buffy said. "I'm really worried about her."
Angel pulled her close. "She has Connor. She'll be okay."
"I hope so." Buffy smiled at him. "Maybe if you kiss me, I'll feel better."
Angel smiled back. "Happy to oblige." He kissed her passionately. The kiss soon became a full fledged make out session, and before they knew what was happening Buffy was flat on her back in the sand with Angel on top of her.
"This feels so right," Buffy moaned. Angel wrapped his hands around her, moving one hand up the back of her tank top. Suddenly Buffy pulled away, somewhat reluctantly.
"Oh Angel, we can't," she said sadly.
He frowned. "Did I do something wrong? I thought you were-"
"No, it's not you. And it's not me. I want to. I really want to, more than anything. But we don't have any protection. And it would be really irresponsible of us to just have unprotected sex, what kind of example would we set for Dawn and Connor?" she rambled.
Angel closed his eyes. "You're right. I just didn't realize." They sat there in silence for a moment. "God, I want you so badly and I don't know how much longer I can take it."
Buffy inched closer to him. "I know. But I promise, as soon as we get home, we will have the most romantic evening you can possibly imagine." She kissed him softly. He smiled.
"I like the sound of that." They continued to kiss, but were interrupted when Dawn came running through the trees.
"Buffy! Angel. Come quick, it's Tara."
They jumped up and followed Dawn back to the beach at a run. When they got there they were shocked to see Xander and Spike carrying the blonde, who appeared to have collapsed. They placed her in the shelter, while Willow talked frantically.
"I don't know what happened, she just collapsed!" Willow said, tears in her eyes. "Tara baby, can you hear me?" Tara seemed to be only half-conscious, and her eyes were closed. She moaned lightly.
Spike turned to Buffy. For the first time since they had been out here, he looked truly afraid. "What should we do?" he asked her quietly. It had gotten to the point where everyone considered Buffy the leader.
"I don't know. Does she have a fever? Has she been drinking enough? Maybe she's dehydrated," Buffy said, trying to come up with an explanation.
"She's been drinking just as much as the rest of us!" Willow said, looking very panicked.
Xander felt Tara's forehead. "She's burning up."
Buffy took a deep breath. "Dawn, get some water." Dawn nodded and ran to the ocean. Buffy looked at Giles. "Giles, what could have done this to her?"
The older man was rubbing his forehead. "I haven't the slightest idea. If it were a virus, she would have come down with it before now, she surely didn't catch anything out here. And Willow says she's been drinking enough...." he was deep in thought. "Maybe perhaps an infection of some kind?"
Buffy frowned. "You mean, like a bug bite gone bad?"
Giles stared at her. "That could be."
Buffy moved closer to Tara. "Willow, help me check for any kind of bite or infection," she said, beginning to scan Tara's legs. She was sweating now, and still mumbling incoherently.
"Buffy..." Willow held up Tara's limp arm, to reveal a purple, swollen bite. Buffy's eyes widened.
"That looks like a spider bite," Giles said.
Willow was crying now. "But wouldn't she have known if she got bit by something?"
"Victims often don't realize until the effects become noticeable. It's even possible it occurred while she was sleeping," Giles said. "We need to clean the wound. It should help relieve some of the pain."
Dawn returned carrying some ocean water in an empty coconut shell. "Here," Angel said, ripping off a piece of his shirt. Buffy soaked the cloth in the water and applied it to the bite. Tara screamed loudly.
"Shhh, baby it's okay," Willow said, rubbing her girlfriend's forehead. "We're going to take care of you."
"She should probably drink some water, perhaps if it is an infection it can help to flush it out," Giles said, thinking hard.
"H-hurts..." Tara moaned, rubbing her stomach.
Willow glanced at Buffy. "She says she has a stomachache."
Buffy touched Willow's shoulder. "We'll do everything we can. I won't let anything happen to her." But she even doubted her own words. Tara needed medical attention. The spider bite appeared to be highly infected, and she was afraid that if they didn't get help soon...
Angel pulled Buffy aside while Willow tried to prop Tara up so she could drink some water Xander had brought. "Now might be a good time to get to work on that raft idea," he whispered.
Buffy nodded. "We need to do something. Get Spike and Xander, they can help." She felt so incredibly overwhelmed right now. The worst part was that everyone considered her the leader, and she would feel responsible if something happened to Tara. What scared her the most was that it could have been any one of them that got bitten. That thought made her eyes grow wide. She ran back to the others. "You guys, we all need to check ourselves for spider bites. We all sleep in the same area," she said.
Dawn looked alarmed. Buffy ran to her, and began scanning her exposed skin. To her relief, she found nothing. "You're fine," she said, hugging her sister. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Angel talking to Spike and Xander in hushed tones. It's going to be okay. We'll build a raft and Angel and I will go for help. But she doubted herself even more with each passing moment.
The guard on duty at the Sunnydale Water Search and Rescue headquarters answered the phone wearily. The past few days had really sucked. The whole team had been working long hours looking for survivors of the boat that sunk 6 days ago. Yesterday the mission had been officially changed from rescue to recovery, and they had been up all night listening to phone calls from frantic, angry friends and relatives of the missing passengers. So far the bodies of Riley Finn and Kennedy Limon had turned up, along with all of the crew and the radio station reps. But eleven winners were still unaccounted for. They had scoured the area and found nothing. Everyone pretty much agreed that they couldn't still be alive. "Hello?" he said wearily.
"This is Jim from Air Traffic Control. One of my pilots reported possible signs of life at these coordinates." He read them off, and the guard checked the computer screen.
"That's a good ways from the site of the accident, it's highly unlikely that it's our missing winners," he said.
"Well, he seemed convinced. Can you send someone out to the area just to check?"
The guard sighed. "What can it hurt? All my pilots are out right now, but when one comes back I'll send him out to the area." He shook his head. It seemed like a lost cause, but after 6 long days of searching, what difference did one more area make?