Spike was scrambling past bricks and shards of glass to reach Buffy now. She was half covered by the door frame, glass fragments pointing dangerously close to her body. He could smell the blood trickling from the large gash on her forehead that had barely missed her eye. After lifting the frame off of her, he made one last ditch attempt to wake her but she was out cold. No surprise with the force that the door had hit her at. He threw her arms around his neck and lifted her limp body out of the rubble. He planned to hide behind one of the overturned shelves in case the Miyrids hadn't spotted them but it was too late. Spike could tell, even though black hoods covered their faces, that they had their sights firmly set on the weakened slayer in his arms. Never the less, he ducked behind one, hoping to take cover and earn some precious extra seconds. There had to be another way out of here. Some sort of emergency exit. He frantically searched every wall in sight but nothing was visible. He only had 2 choices. Try to go around the side and outflank them or hell with it and try barge straight through the group. He preferred the first option and started to immediately tread around the scattered produce across the floor. He was only a few metres from the door when a Miyrid appeared out of nowhere and blocked his path. Any other day he could probably take one on it's own but not without endangering an already injured Buffy. Spike successfully swerved past it and was pleased to see that the rest of the pack were at the back end of the shop where he was once standing. He didn't hesitate to fly out of the gap, where the doors once stood, and leg it towards the Desoto parked about 10 metres away. Once there, even in the rush they were in, he delicately propped Buffy up against the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt. He couldn't help but take a quick look at her head wound and cringe when he eyed it's deepness. He had plenty of stuff to sort that out at the house. He just hoped that the Miyrids weren't able to track them home.
After about 5 minutes in the car, driving as fast as he was able, Spike pulled up to the kerb. Buffy began to moan and groan, probably being brought round by the pain. This wasn't good. She was most likely not going to let him anywhere near after the awful thing he'd said to her back there but he had to get her gash cleaned up asap. He clambered out of his seat and rushed round to Buffy, attempting to pick her up again. She resisted slightly but was still too weak and dazed to stop him completely. She eventually let herself be carried and mumbled a few words that Spike could hardly make out. Something like,
"Bastard", was the only word that sounded vaguely familiar. He chuckled slightly. She'd got that right. He hadn't considered how his earlier comment would effect her. It'd only just dawned on him how insecure she must've felt about her efforts in the bedroom thanks to Angel and that git Parker. He didn't want to be the latest guy to make her feel shit about not being too experienced with men. He certainly didn't want her to think that he'd used her last night either. Honestly, she was good. Great in fact. Gave him a run for his money. The door automatically locked behind him as he slammed it shut with his foot. He settled the semi-conscious woman on the couch before reaching for the phone. He had to make a call if they had any chance of evading the Miyrids...
"Ooh you owe me money!", Anya squeaked as Dawn landed on one of her properties.
"Damn it", she muttered, reluctantly handing the ex vengeance demon a wad of paper cash. Anya, Dawn, Xander and Joyce were all gathered round a game of Monopoly in the living room. Of course, Anya was thrashing everyone. Willow was in the kitchen with her new friend, Tara, preparing snacks for the gang. Giles never usually made Scooby social events anymore as he was always knee deep in Miyrid research.
"Language sweetheart", Joyce reminded her daughter. Dawn pretended not to hear and focused on the game at hand.
"How come you're so good at this Ahn? Me and Dawnie here don't stand a chance!" A toothy grin spread across Anya's face at the compliment as she counted her money.
"I like money. When you want it bad enough, it always comes to you." Xander shared a smirk with Dawn.
"Unlikely", he murmured. The home phone began to ring, automatically prompting Joyce to walk over and pick it up.
"Hello?", she chirpped.
"Joyce? It's Spike". Joyce was alarmed at his tone. He sounded distressed and panicked.
"Spike? Is everything okay?" Everyone's heads in the living room spun around in sync at the mention of the vampire's name. They hardly ever had contact with Buffy and Spike anyomore, except in emergencies. It was safer that way.
"Don't have time to explain. I just need Willow. Please tell me she's with you?"
"Yes. Yes, she's in the kitchen."
"Could you get her please? I need her right now!", he almost growled.
"Of course." Joyce yelled out to the woman in the kitchen and she and Tara came speeding in with the snacks.
"Sorry about the delay with the food but it's here now."
"Willow, it's Spike on the phone. He says he needs you urgently." Willow placed the bowls she was carrying on the nearest surface and rushed over to rake the receiver from Joyce.
"I'm here."
"Red, thank god. Can you cast protection spells?", he spat out urgently.
"Uh,yes. I think so. Why?"
"I need you to cast one over the house me and Buffy are in now. I don't have time to explain why." Willow started to shake.
"Where are you?"
"Can't say. It'd endanger us even more."
"Well how can I cast one over you? I can barely cast a basic spell over somewhere I can see!"
"Love, now's not the time for questioning whether you can or you can't. You need to try." Willow stood fixated on the phone.
"Willow!" Spike's cry made her snap out of it.
"O-okay", she stuttered. She placed the receiver face up before pressing the loud speaker button so that she could communicate with him whilst gathering spell books. The whole gang were now aware of Spike's panting. He didn't need to breathe so why was he doing that? Something must be seriously wrong. A moan was distantly heard on Spike's line and everyone instantly recognised the voice.
"Buffy, I need you to stay still yeah? I'll be one minute.", Spike comforted. Joyce and Dawn both gasped together.
"Oh my god. Buffy! Is she okay?", Joyce squealed.
"She will be. Got knocked on the head pretty badly though." Buffy began to writhe and moan at the searing pain in her head again.
"Red, dammit hurry up! I need to know we're protected before I can help Buffy!" Tara began to help Willow frantically flick through pages, Dawn was crying against her mother's side and Xander and Anya were both frozen to the table, trying to home in on the noise from the phone through the whimpering and scratching of pages.
"I-I've got it!", Tara stammered. Willow glanced over at the spell.
"That's it! Tara, will you do it with me? It might be better if both of our powers are combined. The bond will be stronger."
"That's all very touching but we can hurry the hell up?!", Spike snapped, putting an already nervous pair of witches on edge even more. The Wiccas joined hands in a circle and began muttering words of Latin as they closed their eyes. Yellow and orange light began to leave their hands and swirl around them before flying out of the open window. The light transfer continued for several minutes before the pair broke apart and the last of the energy disappeared into the horizon.
"It's on it's way! Depending on where you are, it might take longer to reach you. The 30 seconds before the sheild arrived, felt like hours to Spike as he kept glancing between a distressed slayer and the window. The light flooded the outside of the house, coating it in a bright sunny bubble before fading.
"Is it meant to fade into nothingness Red?", he asked.
"Yes. It's working."
"How long will it last?" Tara consulted the pages.
"Ha-Half a day maybe?"
"That's long enough", Spike sighed under his breath. Finally, Xander jumped up.
"Long enough for what? What the hell's going on Spike?", he demanded.
"Don't have time to explain Harris", he repeated.
"Oh no,you tell us right now. We're fed up of being kept in the dark. I knew we shouldn't have left you with her!"
"Look do ya' want her to bleed out? If not, I suggest you let me get to patchin' her up." There was silence and then a disconnection tone echoed through the Summer's living room.
"Is she gonna be okay?", whimpered Dawn..
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