Buffy found herself standing in a darkened alley, a stake in her hand and tingles spreading down her neck and onto her arms. Despite the scary location, the tingles were more familiar to Buffy than her own skin and she glanced around for the blonde hair that always seemed to glow in the darkness, as though drawing in every bit of available light. She walked down the alleyway until she rounded the corner and finally spotted the pale sight.
Confused was an understatement as she watched as the blond head seemingly nuzzled into the neck of the redhead. Moments later, the redhead dropped dead to the floor and Spike threw his head back in satisfied relish. Buffy watched as Spike spun around and seeing her standing there, grinned and wiped the trickle of blood off his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Spike?" Buffy asked, unable to believe the scene in front of her very eyes.
"Slayer, here for a show then huh." Buffy watched as Spike motioned to the dead girl and Buffy saw that it was Willow, her blank eyes seemly to accuse Buffy of failing to protect her.
Buffy shook her head, frowning. This was wrong somehow. But she couldn't seem to remember what it was she had been doing before she was in the alley.
Spike bounced on his feet in front of her, beckoning her to him, grinning and cracking his head to the side.
"Come on then Slayer, let's do this."
Buffy fell into fight position, but dropped it a moment later, the wrongness making her stomach churn.
"Spike, where were you before you here?"
The blond vampire merely continued bouncing as though he didn't even hear her.
"Whatcha scared Blondie?" The Spike before her mock swung a few times. "You're not going let me get away with that, now are you?" Swing swing, punch, grin.
Buffy shook her head. Wrong wrong, it was all wrong.
She turned and walked away down the alley, taunts and cruelties following her to batter at her ears. But the sense of rightness was settling the churning belly butterflies.
Suddenly she found herself in her house in Sunnydale, setting the dishes on the table as Dawn and her Mom chatted in the kitchen. There was a banging at the front door and Buffy hurried to open it before whoever was knocking smashed their way through.
She snarled as she threw open the door.
"Knock the thing off its hinges, why do…" Angelus stood there, in full vampire snarl, holding a dead Xander who he dropped at her feet, blood pooling quickly from the gaping neck wound. She heard screams coming from behind her but she kept her eyes firmly on the snarling vampire in front of her.
But the tingles she had weren't Angel's tingles. Odd. She looked over his shoulder towards the street. But there was no sign of the cocky younger vampire anywhere. She looked back towards Angelus and frowned. Definitely Spike tingles.
She was feeling slightly floaty, like she was in a dream or something. Insults and promises flowed from the dark soulless vampire's mouth and blood seeped into the rug at her feet, yet she couldn't seem to care. Oh, she felt slight concern that Angelus was at her door, and a mild sadness that Xander was apparently dead…. But.
But.
No Angelus tingles, yet tingles for a vampire that wasn't even there and that sense of wrongness that was churning her stomach to butter. Or however the saying went. Whatever it was, it was starting to hurt, as though the butterflies had developed teeth and claws. Very confused, her head also starting to throb, Buffy slowly shut the door on the snarling demon and ignoring the screaming of her mother and sister, turned and walked towards the back door, sighing with relief as the churning lessened as she stepped over the threshold.
And into a fight scene.
Angel and Spike were fighting, fangs flashing and claws bloodied. This wasn't like previous fights, this one was obviously to the death, feral bestial battle for ultimate winner. Roars vibrated the very air and impacts made the earth shudder. In the corner, Giles, Willow and Xander were slumped, either dead or unconscious. Buffy looked behind her for the door she just stepped through.
Hang on, what door? She was in the middle of a warehouse.
She shook her head as though to reset everything somehow. It all seemed muddled up. She heard her name being called and looked over to see Willow weakly stretching a hand out in supplication. But to get to the wounded girl, Buffy would have to go through the inhuman battle first. Absently she bent down and picked up a broken bit of pallet and took a step towards the raging vampires that were literally tearing each other apart. But the moment she went to take another, her chest felt as though it had been tapped hard. She brushed at her breastbone, trying to see what caused the feeling. But it was coming from inside her. She pushed hard at her chest and the feeling eased minutely.
Suddenly, the violent battle was right in her face and she stepped back with a gasp. Tingles swarmed over her skin, alerting her to the fact that Spike was there. With a puff of fire and a cloud of dust, Spike stood there alone, breath heaving as he wiped the blood off his face with a forearm. Without even a glance at Buffy, he strode towards the slumped trio, Willow screeching her terror and begging Buffy to save them.
Buffy gripped the makeshift pallet firmly and stepped forward, Spike's name on her lips. But as she called out, her fingers convulsed and she dropped the wood and clutched at her chest. At the feeling that swelled behind her breastbone, like her very heart was banging against her bone, trying to send a message to her.
"Spike!" She tried to call, but the words barely made it to a whisper as she fell to the ground, consumed by the heart pounding swelling at her very centre.
She watched in horror as Spike reached the trio and with a yank, pulled Willow up and wrapped his arms around her. With one sudden look over his shoulder at Buffy, he smirked and sank his teeth into the pale neck of her best friend.
Buffy sobbed as the sight faded. "Spike!" She called, only knowing that whatever was going on, he would know what to do. Everything felt so wrong. Like she was trapped in some sort of reverse horror funhouse.
A hand suddenly appeared in her vision and she glanced up. Giles was standing there, smiling warmly and with that cheeky sparkle in his eye that always said 'I maybe old, but don't underestimate me'. Buffy glanced around. They were in Giles apartment, Xanders was sleeping on the couch, a young Willow waved from the table where she sat with her books spread out in front of her.
Buffy wiped away the tears and let Giles pull her to her feet.
"D-did you see what you needed to see?" Giles asked kindly, as he led her to a chair by the table. Willow pushed a cup of tea over in front of her and handed her a cookie.
"I made this to boost your blood sugar, you know, because the future seeing spell really takes it outta ya Giles said." And she smiled friendly up at the hovering Watcher.
"Spell?" Buffy muttered, terribly confused now. "Wha...what spell?" God her head hurt so bad!
"Did I get hit by a fyarl demon? My head is splitting!" Buffy groaned and rested her head on the table, trying to alleviate the pounding.
"An unfortunate side effect of the Seer Spell I'm afraid Buffy. Your Slayer powers should deal with it soon enough. But drink your tea, there's a girl." Giles patted her paternally on the back and wandered to the other side of the table before gathering up a notebook and pen.
"As soon as you feel right again, please let me know what you saw."
"In the future seeing spell." Buffy repeated slowly, holding her head as she sat back in her chair.
"Oh dear, it seems as though the side effects were worse than mentioned. Are you okay Buffy?" Giles asked worriedly, Willow abandoning her research to study the slayer, her worried frown marring the young face.
"Yeah… yeah I guess." Buffy muttered. The pain wasn't getting any better, but she seemed to be not feeling it as much. She snorted at her thoughts. But it was true. She could feel the pain pulling away, as though it was on a string and someone was gently drawing it away.
Her skin tingled and her heart leapt. Glancing around, she caught Giles eye.
"Is Spike here?" She asked, confused but somehow happy at the thought. As the words slipped past her lips, the aching feeling in both chest and head eased more. Giles looked around surprised.
"Not that I am aware, should he be?"
Willow shuddered. "I sure hope not. I don't fancy having another bottle shoved in my face today. Today is broken bottle free day!" Willow wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered again.
Xander's sleepy head popped up from the couch.
"Evil Dead Jr's here?" He scrambled worriedly over to the Slayer, his eyes darting around the room. "Giles, quick, hand me a stake."
Giles sighed.
"Get it yourself, you silly boy. He can't come inside, he hasn't got an invitation."
Xander relaxed and smiled sheepishly.
"Oh yeah, right, heehee." and slunk back to the couch.
Buffy watched the trio and felt the ache in her chest throb in time with her pulse. She definitely felt Spike tingles. And he was close. Like right next to her close, not outside trying to spy close. She looked around the room again, wondering what it was that felt so incredibly wrong with the whole thing.
"Now, Buffy, if you w-would be so kind, what did you see in your vision." Giles asked perfunctorily, pen poised over paper.
"Spike… I saw Spike." Buffy murmured, rubbing at the ache in her chest that was growing again.
Giles noted it down.
"I certainly hope you saw yourself staking the vampire, Buffy. Your sacred duty of course." He peered over his glasses at her.
"...sure, duty…stake Spike" Buffy mumblingly repeated. She rubbed her eyes. Something was very very wrong. Tears pricked at her eyes and she wiped at them, looking at the wetness on her fingers with concern. She glanced up at Giles and Willow, but they were heads down writing away.
The swelling feeling grew again and tears filled her eyes. Buffy desperately blinked them back and realised that Giles was speaking again.
"...all well and good to have a relationship with a souled vampire, but one simply cannot trust William the Bloody. It would be best for all concerned if you dealt with him the moment you see him next Buffy."
"Uh huh… Angel good...Spike bad." Buffy mindlessly repeated as she scanned the room, trying to figure out what it was that was bugging her so badly. She felt as though she was two different people crammed into one body!
Pain lanced through her, causing her to gasp and clutch at her chest in fear. It felt as though someone had just staked her! Scrabbling at her top, she yanked it aside enough to see that her skin was unblemished, but the pain continued to burn.
Giles droned on, seemingly unaware that Buffy had her chest practically exposed to the room. Willow nodded her head in agreement with whatever Giles was saying and Buffy vaguely heard Xander cheering on from the couch.
So it was with surprise that she found herself being pulled to her feet and hustled to the door and a stake shoved into her hand.
"So go deal with him now Buffy. All the portents show it must be tonight!" Giles and her two friends all stood around her, nodding their heads seriously.
"Huh?" Buffy asked as she tried to understand that the fuck was going on! GOD When would her head stop freaking Pounding already!
Xander joked in front of her, laughing as he hunched his shoulders and mimed a staking.
"Stake plus Evil Dead Jr equals happy Scoobs, so hop hop Buffster!"
"Stake Spike..." She repeated as she looked down at the stake in her hand and then back at her friends who were again nodding seriously, Willow with her Resolve face on and Giles in full Watcher Mode. Her head thumped.
Buffy dropped the stake like it was on fire as another stab of pain shot through her chest.
No No, it was all wrong! Pain speared through her head and heart and she fell to her knees, screaming and clutching at her hair.
Giles leant down and held out the stake.
"Go Stake Spike NOW Buffy!" he ordered, his demeanour both angry and disappointed in her and she felt her heart actually groan. No No No!
Pain. Sweeping over her in breath stealing waves. Head and Chest pounded in counterpoint to each other.
She sobbed as she fought to gain control.
She struggled to her feet, chest and head complaining so much she thought she was going to black out. Feet braced, head in her hands, she slowly sucked in one deep breath after another until she was able to push the pain away, bit by bit. Until she had enough space from the crippling agony to look around and see what was going on.
She was in a white room, white walls, white floor, white ceiling. She could see where the walls met, so she realised that there was texture and depth at least. Moving slowly so as not break her meagre control over the pain, she moved to the closed wall and ran her hand over the white surface. As she walked the wall, she realised there was furniture here, but it was as white as everything else. Tables and chairs, lamps and other householdy stuff. The glare of the utter white room was starting to make Buffy's eyes water, so it was with disbelief when she finally saw a dark pile curled up in the corner. Blinking her watering eyes didn't remove the vision, Buffy determined that it wasn't a mirage and sank down beside it. Reaching out a shaking hand, she grasped the leather jacket and pulled it away from the balled up vampire.
"Spike. I've been looking for you." Buffy heard herself utter so matter-a-factly. The man uncurled slightly, just enough that bruised blue eyes peered up at her. Her heart stuttered and she frowned in confusion. The blue eyes that watched her filled with sorrow.
"Fight" The whisper said. Buffy leaned down, uncertain if the words came from the beaten vampire in front of her.
"Spike? What?" She asked again, tugging at the jacket like a child tugging at their mother's apron.
"You gotta fight 'em luv. This is all to stop you fightin and do what they want. They want you to stake me. You gonna?"
Buffy realised that she was holding a stake in one hand and she looked in disbelief at the broken vampire beside her. Slowly she realised that the white room was losing some of its brightness. A quick glance around showed that the walls showed signs of a battle, blood splatter and broken furniture now filled the room.
"Spike, what happened here?" Buffy realised that the fog in her mind was slowly lifting, as the pain in both head and chest eased. The vampire groaned and she automatically reached for him, dropping the stake to help to sit him up and arrange himself more comfortably.
"Ah Pet, a long story and not one I'm gonna tell now." He wheezed and Buffy realised that he was badly injured, not just the usual beaten up.
She ran her hands over his chest and counted three shattered ribs. The pain he must be in, slumped over like that!
Quickly she sat beside him and urged him to lay down, easing the stress on his battered torso. The groan that forced its way out of his clenched jaw found it way straight to her heart and she felt the thing literally spasm in sympathy.
Finally she had him laying down, with his head on her lap as she stroked back his bleached curls. With every stroke, the pain in her heart eased until finally, it drifted away, leaving only a mild ache to remind her it had ever been there. Even her headache was lessening somewhat.
But the blood bubbling at the corners of Spike's lips cause her breath to catch.
"Spike. You've pierced a lung, stop breathing and let it heal."
"Can't slayer, gotta keep talking don't I? Can't let you go."
Buffy looked at Spike in utter confusion.
"Spike you aren't talking much now. Just stop the little bit…" She watched as even though he wasn't even breathing, the blood still bubbled and spat as though he was shouting non stop.
"Buffy, luv, I need you to fight, yeah? You're somewhere I can't get to luv and I need you to come back to me. Even if it's to dust me, just get your perky ass back, yeah?" he coughed and groaned at the pain.
"But.. you're here" Buffy argued weakly, already knowing that he wasn't. This room felt too familiar in a way that was starting to creep her out. A glance around the room showed more blood on the walls, almost like a slaughter had occurred here. Furniture was now broken and blackened, scattered around in piles.
"I...I think I know this place… I don't like this place Spike."
"Sorry love, it was the best I could do with the limited amount of time we had. Never figured on a mind war, now did we." He chuckled weakly, blood now pouring in a steady stream from his mouth. "I'm honestly not even sure where we are now or even how I got here."
Buffy knew he couldn't survive much longer if he continued to lose blood at this pace. With a sudden movement, she bit her wrist and thrust the bleeding wound to Spike's mouth, holding it there as he struggled to force it away.
"Spike, Cut It OUT! Drink, goddammit and heal before you lose it all and dust on me! And you promised I would be the only one who would dust you!" Spike didn't even glance at the dripping red lifeblood, blue eyes stayed locked on green.
"Only if you come back with me pet. I won't go back without you.' He whispered sadly. Buffy snarled as she watched the normally pale skin in front of her fade to parchment.
"FINE! DRINK!" Spike took her wrist in hand, and pulled strongly twice before sealing the wound with a lick. He smirked a cocky grin at her growl of frustration and licked the healed wound sensually.
"What am I going to do with you Spike?" Buffy grumbled with a smile as she looked at the sealed wound. Spike chuckled weakly. "Get out of here and you can do whatever you bloody well like!"
Buffy smiled tiredly in reply. She was suddenly so sleepy.
"You say that now Blondie Bear…" She grinned at his protest of the hated nickname and rested her head tiredly on his as it lay on her lap.
"So tired Spike. Feel like I've been fighting forever. Can we go home now?" She whispered, missing the look of terror on Spike's face as he looked up at her.
Calmly, forcing back the fear and hiding it away, he reached up and stroked her hair.
"Course we can Pet, anywhere you want. I'm yours to command luv." He leant up and pressed a kiss to her cold lips, fighting back the tears at the worry of her cooling skin.
"No Spike, never mine to command, never again. I'm yours. Forever." She whispered, her forehead sagging further, coming to rest on his cheek as another wave of exhaustion hit her and drained the last of her strength.
"Mine" Spike replied, his voice catching. "No matter where luv."
And the now red room faded away.