Summary: Spike's working on his tan...

CHAPTER 9

Under any other circumstances, Spike thought, this would have been one of the happiest days of his undead life. There he was, strolling along, holding hands with his slayer in the sunlight…or is that 'sunlights'?

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Buffy, an amused smile on her lips as she spotted the small frown marring his features.

"Um…nothin', luv," he replied embarrassedly. "Just a little problem with semantics."

"Oh yes, those darned semantics," she teased. "I can see how they would be a problem. We'd better call a halt to the world-endage until you've wrestled them into their place."

"Ha, ha," Spike retorted, giving her a mock growl. "You think you're very funny, don't you?"

"That's me," she told him cheerfully as she swung his arm. "Buffy Summers, she of the mean left hook and the witty repartee!"

"Oh yeah, and that was a classic example of it earlier on, I suppose, - oh, shut up and kiss me!" Clutching his other hand to his chest he gave a squeaky rendition of her Californian accent, batting his eye lashes for good effect.

"Oh stop that," she told him, slapping his shoulder. "Or there will be no Buffy luvin' for you, tonight."

"And I suppose that was supposed to be an example of your mean left hook, you're slippin' slayer," he mocked, rubbing his shoulder.

"That's it! You are so going down!" she told him, hand on her hip as she glared up at him.

Spike smirked, curling his tongue as he pulled her up against him. "I'm going down, am I?" he whispered suggestively into her ear.

Buffy's cheeks grew hot as she mentally rewound what she'd said. "That is not what I meant and you know it!" she blustered, her voice wavering as he nibbled gently on her neck.

"Oh, all right, then," he said, stepping back abruptly, a wide grin on his face as he looked down on her astonished face.

"Ooh, you are so dead," she declared.

"Spot on, slayer," he teased. "You're obviously a master at stating the obvious, too." Luckily, he was ready for it; he was already on the move when she pounced - the chase was on.

"Come back here, you evil vampire!" Laughing, she sped after him, leaping over the rocks and brambles as she gained on him. He really wasn't trying too hard to get away, she realised; he kept slowing down as he looked over his shoulder. Ooh, naughty vampire, were the words that flew through her mind as she leapt onto his back and sent him flying.

"You've got me," he said, laughter lacing his voice as he went limp underneath her. "Do what you will with me."

"Sorry, no can do," she told him, struggling to keep a poker face as she spoke. "I left my stake in my other jacket."

"Why you…" Springing back to life, Spike threw her off his back and pinned her to the ground before she could protest. "Say you're sorry,"

"Nope," she replied, looking up at him through solemn eyes. "My Mom taught me never to lie, you see."

"I'll bet that Joyce also told you not the tease the boys," he retorted, growling softly as she wriggled under him. "It doesn't seem to stop you, though!"

"She also told me not to make them cry," agreed Buffy. "Fortunately for me, you don't fall under the category of 'boy' - having been born during the civil war, and all"

"Hey, I'm not that old…" Spike's voice trailed off mid-sentence as he cocked his head, his body suddenly stiffening. Leaping to his feet, his eyes narrowed as he peered into the distance.

"What's up?" Buffy asked as she scrambled to her feet beside him.

"'heard something," Spike said softly.

"Someone's out there?" Buffy asked excitedly, shading her eyes as she tried to make out what he saw.

"Not someone, luv, something," he corrected her, grabbing her hand. "C'mon, let's get out of here." Tugging at her arm, he tried to pull her after him. Buffy pulled back, however, glowering at him as she stood her ground.

"What's out there, Spike, and don't tell me that you don't know," she demanded, crossing her arms as she waited for a reply.

"It's a vampire," he eventually blurted out reluctantly. "Nothing to worry about, now let's start moving…"

"Oh no, not so fast, buster," Buffy told him, pulling on his arm once more. "Since when do we run away from a vampire?"

"Since you've become the only thing within a hundred mile radius with a heartbeat and that vampire would be more accurately described as an uber-vampire?" he ventured.

For a moment, Buffy stood there nonplussed before realisation set in. "You mean, its one of those Turuk-han thingies?"

"Afraid so, luv, wanna get a move on, now?" Dragging her by the hand, he tried to haul her away from the direction of the uber-vamp. He was not in luck, however.

"Hold on," she told him, her eyes searching the distance as she resisted his attempts to move her. "I wanna see what he's up to."

"I already know what he's up to, luv," he muttered back. "He's lookin' for a little light lunch - and that would be you, in case you're wonderin' "

Rolling her eyes, Buffy pinned him with another glare. "So what? I can take him," she said confidently, pulling a stake out of her jacket as she spoke.

"I thought you said you left that in your other jacket!"

"I lied."

"Tut, tut, telling fibs were you, what would have Joyce said?" Spike asked, cocking an eyebrow as he grinned at her unrepentant face.

"That's easy - she would have told me I was a smart girl!" Buffy retorted "My mother didn't raise fools, you know."

This time, it was Spikes turn to roll his eyes. "Okay then, but all we have is that stake and the machete I had when we got here," he reminded her. "All the other weapons got left behind in that room."

"How could I forget," Buffy muttered. "Get ready, here he comes." Sure enough, the uber-vamp had stopped any pretence of subterfuge and was now speeding silently in their direction. "Wow," breathed Buffy. "How come I never noticed how quick they were?"

"You've never seen them move in the light of day before," Spike reminded her, pulling out his knife. "Let's get this over with, if there's one of 'em, they might be more."

Buffy nodded grimly, stake in hand as the uber-vamp closed in. Taking a deep breath, her eyes did a quick scan of the terrain before the vamp leapt. Ducking sharply, she quickly turned on her heels as the uber-vamp sailed over her head and landed on the other side, its movements easy as it twirled and kicked at her head. With reflexes long honed in battle, her hand came up and grabbed it, turning his ankle as she stepped within range and tripped his other foot.

Spike bounced around the edges of the fight, watching nervously. "Need any help, luv?"

"No…I'm good," she said lightly, flipping back as the uber-vamp regained his footing and took a swipe at her with its clawed hand. Twirling the stake in her hand, she circled the snarling vamp as it eyed her warily, its whole posture screaming resentment and surprise. Parrying another blow, Buffy concluded that the uber-vamp had never, until now, come across a dinner that could fight back. "Surprise," she said softly as she saw her opening and stepped in to strike.

"With a scream of rage, the uber-vamp clawed at her hands as the stake slid through it ribs. Ignoring the pain, Buffy put her full weight behind her blow and pushed the stake home. The vamp still wouldn't die, however. "Darn…I'd forgotten how hard these things…are…to…stake…" Suddenly, the vamp slammed into her, turning into a cloud of dust as she stumbled back.

"Are you alright, luv," asked a worried Spike, standing in the spot that the uber-vamp had just 'vacated'. "I didn't mean to push you; I just thought that a little nudge from behind might speed things along."

"It did, thanks," replied a relieved Buffy, wincing as she examined her hands.

"Here, let me see." In a flash, he held her hands in his as he examined them. "Hmmm…they'll sting for a while, but I think you'll be okay. I don't see any dirt on them or anything"

Buffy gave him a small smile, pulling her hands gingerly out of his. "Hey, its not a problem, slayer healing, remember?"

Spike didn't feel too reassured but decided to take her at her word. "Right then, we'd better get a move on, I suppose." Looking around, he picked a direction. "How about we head for those hills" he asked, pointing at the sky line to the east. " We should get a good idea of the lay of the land from there."

With a relieved smile, Buffy put her arm through his. "Sounds good," she said breezily. "Let's go."

                                                                          ~~*~~

They reached the foot of the mountains by late afternoon, or at least they thought it was late afternoon. With two suns, it was hard to definite about that kind of thing. Spike gave an anxious glance sideways as Buffy stumbled slightly on the gravel. He hadn't commented on it but he'd noticed how her footsteps had slowed as they walked. Worriedly, he wondered how long she could last without food or water. Dehydration was the biggest problem, he thought, especially as they had the heat of two suns to worry about.

Cocking his ears, he listened out for the telltale sounds of running water. He had hoped that they might run across a spring once they'd reached higher ground; he had read in a book somewhere that they were more common in hilly areas. Scanning the hinterland he noticed, with some relief, that the plant life was starting to look a lot healthier, some of them even had leaves - admittedly, they were a strange purple-grey colour…but still, they were leaves, weren't they?

Buffy stumbled again and Spike's frown deepened. Looking around, he spotted a boulder and steered Buffy towards it. "Here, luv, you sit down for a couple of minutes while I have a look around."

For a moment, a glimmer of protest shone in her eyes, but her shoulders quickly slumped as she realised that she didn't have the energy to argue. "Oh, alright then - but only for a couple of minutes," she added, with a little of her usual heat.

"Right you are, then," Spike told her, trying to keep the smile of relief off his face. "I'll just go and have a look around and…"

The earth shook - actually, it heaved but that phrase reminded him a little too much of the stars from the night before, so he decided to stick with shook.

"Oh great, that's all we need - an earthquake," muttered Buffy as she struggled to keep her seat on the rock.

Spike cursed, falling onto his back beside her as the earth heav...shook once more. "Somehow, I don't think that this is just an ordinary earthquake, luv," he roared over the tumultuous din.

"What makes you think that?" Buffy asked.

Spike pointed at the sky in answer. Looking up, Buffy's jaw dropped as she saw a rolling black cloud belting across the sky, lightening piercing its dark mass as it changed direction and sped off again. "What the heck is that?" she cried as she tried to get to her feet

"I've got a sneaking suspicion, luv," he answered as he watched the 'cloud's' progress. "But it looks like we're about to find out first hand." Looking up, Buffy noted that the 'cloud' had changed direction again and was now heading their way.

"Should we try to take cover?" she asked.

"Don't bother, luv," he said. "Here she comes."

"She?" repeated silently to herself before her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh my God, of course, it's…" her next words were drowned out as the storm cloud came to a halt over their heads and loomed. With a sharp, crackling, snap, it ballooned outward, swallowing Buffy and Spike for a moment before it shuddered and 'popped'.

The silence in the aftermath was almost deafening as Buffy looked dazedly around for Spike, she didn't have to look far, he was lying on his back beside her with a big foolish grin plastered on his face. "What are you grinning at?" she huffed.

Spike shrugged his shoulders as he sat up on his elbows. "It just seemed like the thing to do," she told her, the grin still lurking on his face.

"Hi guys, I hope I didn't shake you up too much," a voice interrupted them. As one, the slayer and the vampire turned and glared. "So…are you glad to see me?" asked a sheepish Willow.

TBC...