Title: So Far Yet So Close
Author: Hilary
Rating: PG
Pairings: B/S implied
Summary: Buffy finally admits her feelings to Spike, albeit unconsciously. A bit of Fluff
Setting: General Season 5, post Into the Woods
Spoilers: Into the Woods
Dedication: To Fin, Flick and Richess for helping me with the idea. Cheers guys!
Authors notes: This is set in an AU where Spike has told Buffy his feelings but none of the events in Crush actually happened.
******
Buffy staggered backwards as the demon she was fighting dealt her a powerful roundhouse kick. Grunting as the wind was knocked out of her she looked frantically round for a weapon. Finally she saw the stake that had been kicked out out of her hand earlier in the fight and rolled as the demon took another swipe at her, landing in front of the stake. Grabbing it she jumped to her feet and quickly turned to face her assailant. It was like no demon she'd faced before, it was tall and broad, its whole body covered in large spines which made it rather difficult to attack without risking damaging herself. The other problem was that she had no idea how to kill this thing. She looked down at the stake in her hand and shrugged, it was usually effective against most sorts of nasty.
The demon snarled. "Your death will see our race rule supreme." It rasped. Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Do you have any idea how many demons and vampires have tried to take me on? Let me tell you it's been a lot, and I'm not about to let some little nothing of a demon succeed where..."
Buffy's taunts were cut off by a hand being clamped over her face, a hand holding a soaked cloth. Buffy let out a muffled cry and began to struggle, her vision already beginning to blur. Overcome by the fumes her cries trailed off and her struggles grew weaker until they eventually ceased too. The stake which she had been holding slipped uselessly from her now loose fingers.
Lexacus continued to hold the cloth over Buffy's nose and mouth even after he felt her go limp in his arms. Any ordinary girl would have passed out almost immediately, but this was no ordinary girl. She had special powers and he wanted to make sure the chloroform was fully effective. It wouldn't do to have her waking up before he was ready. Leaving it another minute he finally discarded the cloth and took a moment to look at the unconscious Slayer slumped in his arms. She was exquisite, more beautiful than any Slayer he had seen before. Perfect golden hair and perfect skin. It was too bad he had been hired to kill her. It seemed a shame to waste such beauty. With a sigh he threw her unconscious form over his shoulder and followed the demon to their destination.
******
Spike was bored. He'd been roaming the cemetery for over half an hour looking for a bit of action and had found none, not a single demon and not a single vampire. He'd even found himself wishing that Buffy would show up to kick his ass a bit, anything was better than this. But that wasn't likely to happen, she'd made a point of avoiding him ever since he'd stupidly blurted out his feelings to her. He sighed. Sunnydale was dead, no pun intended. As he continued to walk he stopped as his sensitive nose picked up an odd smell. Looking around he spied a piece of cloth, the smell of chloroform distinctive even from the distance he was standing. What captured his attention was the stake lying on the floor nearby. Buffy. It didn't take a genius to work out what had happened.
Spike was at a loss for once. If he went and told the Scoobies that Buffy was in trouble it might be too late to save her from whatever had taken her. On the other hand he had no idea where to start looking for her or even what he was up against. Finally he made up his mind, there was only one place to go if you needed information fast
******
Willie looked surprised when Spike stormed into the bar, ignoring the glares of several demons who were aware of his allegiance with the Slayer. Walking over to the bar he leaned in close, his voice low and dangerous.
"Who's got the Slayer?" He asked
Willie lowered his eyes uncomfortably. He'd expected one of the Slayer's friends to show up eventually, but there was no way that he's expected it to be Spike, or that he'd show up quite so soon.
"I don't know anything." Willie gave his standard response to any question he was asked. It wasn't as though Spike could hurt him or anything.
As if he was reading his thoughts Spike grabbed Willie's shirt and pulled the man closer. "Now, we both know that I can't hurt you, but I'm betting one of these demons could do a fair bit of damage if I told them how you'd helped the Slayer in the past."
Willie paled at this. He knew enough of Spike to know that he was serious, and he knew enough of the demons that frequented his bar to know that the majority of them would have no qualms about killing him. He quickly scribbled an address down on a napkin and handed it to Spike. Taking the napkin Spike nodded his thanks and let go of Willie's shirt.
"What am I dealing with here?"
"A couple of Croec demons and a human, a sorcerer by the name of Lexacus. I heard there was some sort of ritual going on but I don't know what."
Spike nodded again and left, praying he wasn't too late.
******
Buffy opened her eyes with a small moan and looked around, she was in some sort of warehouse by the looks of things. There were three figures stood at the far end but they were too far away for her to be able to tell who they were. She blinked a couple of times, trying to clear the fog which was surrounding her mind. The last thing she remembered was fighting a demon, then nothing. As her head cleared she realised that she was chained to the wall, manacles fastened to her wrists. She began to pull at the chains, testing them to see if she could free herself.
The sound of rattling chains told Lexacus that Buffy was awake. He turned back to the demons he was addressing.
"It's nearly time. Once the moon has fully risen, I will perform the sacrifice and we will raise your God."
The two Croec demons nodded with satisfaction. They has searched for years for someone with both the magical ability and the willingness to sacrifice a Slayer in order order to raise their ruler. Now finally this night would see their plan fulfilled.
Lexacus opened a bag he had brought with him and pulled out a long narrow box. The two demons looked at him quizzically.
"Just a little something to keep her quiet." He explained. "It's not going to take her long to get out of those chains and we can't risk a disruption to the ritual. Make the preparations you need while I deal with her."
The demons nodded and dropped to their knees, chating softly in their native tongue. Lexacus walked over to Buffy, who was still pulling at her chains.
She glared at the man who approached her. She was a little surprised to find that he was human, in his forties, his hair just starting to grey.
"When I get out of these chains you'd better make sure you're far away from here." She hissed through gritted teeth as she continued to pull at her restraints.
The man stood before her merely smiled. "Oh come now, Buffy, there's no need for talk like that." He had a soft British accent which reminded her eerily of Ethan Rayne.
She looked up at him, so he knew who she was.
"Oh yes, I know who you are. I've been studying you for some time now." He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "None of that really matters though. Before we get down to business perhaps I should introduce myself, it seems a shame for you to die at the hands of a man whose name you don't even know. I am Lexacus, wielder of powerful magics and performer of rituals."
"You've got a big mouth on you too." She interrupted. "Why is it that you bad guys always have to talk so much. Do you just like the sound of your own voice or what?"
Lexacus merely smiled and reached out his hand to brush his fingers across her cheek.
"So fiery for one so young," He murmured. "I like that in a girl."
Buffy jerked her head away from his hand.
He lowered his voice so that the chanting demons couldn't hear him. "It doesn't have to end like this you know. Tell me you'll be mine and I'll let you go. You can slay those two and we can do anything we want."
Buffy stared at him for a moment in disbelief. Finally she narrowed her eyes. "Go. To. Hell." She gritted.
Lexacus sighed loudly. "Very well, I thought you'd say as much."
He opened the box and pulled out a large syringe. "If I'm going to hell, I'll see you there."
Buffy's eyes widened at the sight of the needle and she began to pull frantically at the chains. They wouldn't give.
Lexacus quickly injected her in the neck and watched with satisfaction as she slumped forward, the chains being the only things holding her up.
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance." He muttered before turning his attention back to the two demons.
******
Spike stood in the shadows of the doorway and peered into the warehouse. It was just like Willie had said, at one end of the warehouse there were two Croec demons kneeling down and a human, obviously the sorcerer was stood over them. Spike's eyes travelled to the other end of the warehouse and suddenly it felt as though his heart was being gripped in a vice. Buffy hung limp in a set of chains, was he too late? There was only one way to find out.
With a cry he hurled himself at the two demons, breaking one of their necks before they even realised what was happening. The other one lunged at Spike while Lexacus looked on in dumb horror. Spike was so infused with rage that he soon dispatched the other demon before turning his attention to the human man.
Letting his vampiric features show he hoped that his display with the demons would be enough to scare the man into talking.
"I have two questions for you." He growled. "Answer me quickly and I might let you live."
Truly terrified for perhaps the first time in his life, Lexacus nodded.
"Where are the keys for the chains?"
Lexacus fumbled in his pocket and tossed the key to Spike who slipped it into his duster.
"What exactly have you done to the Slayer?"
"J-just a s-sedative....it'll h-have worn o-off by the m-morning." He stammered.
Spike grinned. "Good. Now piss off before I change my mind and eat you."
Not needing to be told twice Lexacus ran and didn't look back. As soon as he was out of sight Spike hurried over to Buffy, who was still unconscious. Cupping her chin in his hand he lifted her head.
"Slayer? Buffy? Are you going to wake up?"
After a moment she let out a small moan and half opened her eyes. Spike sighed with relief.
"You back with us pet?" He asked gently.
Buffy struggled to focus on who was talking to her, her eyes felt so heavy and she just wanted to sleep.
"Spike?" She murmured.
"Yeah pet, it's me."
"I'm so tired." She said sleepily.
"I know you are luv, come on, let's get you home."
He unlocked the chains and scooped Buffy up in his arms. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Trying to ignore the feelings he felt at having her so close Spike walked out into the night and made his way back to her house.
******
Spike walked in silence for a few minutes, thinking Buffy must have fallen asleep again. He was more than a little surprised when he heard her speak, her voice a little muffled as she spoke into the leather of his duster.
"Spike, why do you love me when I'm so mean to you all the time?"
To say that Buffy's question stunned him was an understatement. Still, if she asked he was going to answer.
"I honestly don't know. I asked myself that all the time when I first realised how I felt about you. But after a while I just stopped questioning it and I accepted it."
Buffy was silent for a few more minutes.
"I don't mean to." She said quietly.
"Don't mean to what?" Spike asked, getting increasingly confused.
"I don't mean to be so mean to you all the time."
It was all Spike could do to stop himself from laughing out loud, did she even know what she was saying?
"Sure you do pet, that's the way it's always been between us."
"I just don't want you to leave." She said, seemingly ignoring his last comment.
"What makes you think I'm going to leave?"
"Everyone I love leaves...Angel....Riley...I like having you around."
Spike almost dropped Buffy with shock.
"I'm not going anywhere." He said gently
Silence. Looking down he saw that she had fallen asleep.
A few minutes later they arrived at Buffy's house, which was in darkness. Everyone must be in bed he thought to himself as he opened the door and climbed the stairs as quietly as possible. Stepping into Buffy's room he gently placed her on the bed and sat down beside her. Looking at her sleeping peacefully he couldn't help but think about how scared he'd been about the idea of losing her. He really was losing himself in her. With a deep sigh he pulled the covers up over her and stood up ready to leave. At that moment her hand reached out and grasped his wrist tightly. He looked back down at her and saw that her eyes were still closed.
"Stay." She whispered.
Spike paused for a moment, unsure of what to do. Finally he tried to detach Buffy's fingers from his wrist. She merely whimpered and tightened her grip.
"Don't leave."
With a resigned sigh Spike sat back down on the bed and Buffy immediately shuffled closer to him, still holding his wrist. After a moment he reached out and began to stroke her hair, Buffy sighed softly and relaxed her hold. Spike continued his soothing gesture, determined not to fall asleep despite the exhaustion which was beginning to sweep over him.
******
Buffy awoke with the sensation that something wasn't right. She lay there for a moment trying to figure out what it was, then it hit her. She wasn't alone. Her eyes snapped open and fell on Spike, who was sleeping soundly next to her. Her whole body was filled with a sense of horror until she looked down and saw that she was still fully clothed, shoes included. At least nothing of that nature had happened. That still didn't explain what he was doing in her bed. She shook him firmly, needing answers. When he didn't wake up she pushed him hard, sending him sprawling off the bed and onto the floor.
"Bloody hell." He groaned. "Good morning to you too."
Buffy scowled at him as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "I know you're going to have a good reason for being in my bed."
He looked up at her in amazement. Was she kidding?
"You told me to stay." He replied.
Of all the answers and excuses she'd expected him to give, that hadn't been one of them.
"What?"
Realisation suddenly hit him.
"Pet, what do you remember about last night?"
"What are you talking about? I-" She stopped and her brow furrowed in concentration, everything was so hazy. She remembered going out for patrol, and she vaguely remembered fighting a demon. After that there was nothing. She walked over to Spike and pulled him to his feet.
"Tell me what happened." She said firmly.
"It just so happens that I rescued you from being part of the latest attempt to bring Hell to Earth." He resisted the urge to grin at this, knowing that is he did she'd probably dust him. As it was she put her hand to her head and sat back down on the bed.
"I don't remember anything." She said quietly. Spike sat down beside her, resisting the urge to put his arms around her.
"It's hardly surprising luv, you were given quite a healthy dose of drugs." He grinned. "You said all kinds of crazy things."
"Like what?"
Spike swallowed, it was now or never.
"You said that the only reason you were on my case all the time was because you were scared I'd leave if you got too close. Like I said it was crazy talk, I didn't take any notice."
Buffy stared at him for a moment, her mouth open in shock. He was serious. Finally she laughed weakly.
"Yeah, crazy talk." She looked out of the window, the sun was well and truly up. She walked over and closed the curtains.
"You'll have to stay here now, the sun's up. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to let you burn after you helped me last night."
Spike smiled to himself, it was the closest thing to thanks he was ever going to get from her. He removed his boots and lay back down on the bed, watching Buffy as she walked to the door.
"Slayer," he called. She turned back. "I'm not going anywhere, you know that, right?"
Buffy didn't say anything, merely walked out of the door and closed it behind her. On the other side she sighed.
"I know it."
The End