Title: Devil's Jeopardy (New Life- pt 13)
Author: Nimue
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Yes, please
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN, Fox... Just Borrowing.
Summary: Buffy and Spike find each other at last. But it is not the reunion either of them had hoped for.
Devil's Jeopardy
Two little men in red suits burst through the door in the basement. Spike looked up from his perch against the wall, every nerve on edge, expecting anything, everything terrible. The Peacemaker had left, or at least she was silent. He couldn't tell anymore. His senses were too busy humming with anticipation to pick up her scent.
Luke followed the little men, wiping his hands with a washcloth that had
turned a deep crimson. Spike tried to smell the air, but he couldn't focus. Damn, he couldn't get a sodding grip on anything. A procession of little red suit-wearing leprechauns followed Luke like the lollipop guild gone awry. The last two were dragging something. Spike leaned, straining against the darkness to sense anything.
"Oops, need some light?" Luke said, clapping his hands, fires spontaneously igniting all around the room.
Spike's jaw dropped and it was everything he could do to keep the facade
that he was still chained. The last two little red demons were dragging
her. He could barely make her out across the room, but he could see she was barefoot and covered in dirt, a steady line of blood dripping crimson down her neck, staining the back of her dress. Spike closed his eyes and tried to focus, stop the raging inside him. "This isn't real," he whispered to himself. Then, he caught the Peacemaker's scent.
"This *is* real," the girl whispered in his ear. "But you mustn't move."
Spike bit down hard on his lip, trying to distract himself. Trying to force down the demon that was struggling to the surface, struggling to surge off the wall in a frenzy of fury and strike down every one of those bloody little men and destroy their horrific little master. "This is what he wants," the girl whispered. "She is alive."
The Vampire closed his eyes again and tried to tune out the scuffling of the men, the incessant cackling of his host, the crackling of the fires. He caught the sound and pulled it to him, tuning his senses only to her. Spike heard the rain in his head. Slow and soft like spring. They were alive.
"Slayer meet Vampire. Vampire meet Slayer," Luke said as the two little men in the rear dragged Buffy's battered body into the center of the room, dropping her directly in Spike' s line of sight. Spike clenched his fists, pulsing them, trying to control his rage. She was lying in a ball on the floor. The wound on her head did not seem to be that bad, but had been enough to set her unconscious. There were cuts and claw marks on her legs and her arm hung at a strange angle dangling above the floor.
It amazed him how tiny she really was. Other than the swell of her belly, her arms and legs were gaunt, her neck hollowed deep, her skin pale and sad. Almost as if she had died as well. Still, she was beautiful. Everything about her was perfect. Even at her worst, she still made his heart ache and his body tremble.
"But I guess you two have met," Luke said, walking over to Buffy on the
floor. Luke kicked her in the back. Spike roared, yanking against the
chains. Invisible hands rushed to press Spike back into the wall. The
pressure was enough to remind him and he stopped pulling, debating whether or not the Peacemaker's little plan was worth this.
Buffy stirred at the feel of the boot in her kidney. Her head was swimming and her body felt like it had been through a hamburger grinder. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the relative darkness, but they flickered open all the same, staring at a pair of perfectly shined cowboy boots.
She let out a whimper, pressing her hands to the dirt and immediately
lifting the pressure from her injured arm. Somehow, she managed to pull
herself upright and onto her knees, still trying to focus. The little spot in the back of her skull that usually told her there were vamps nearby was humming and buzzing, but between feeling blood trickle down her neck and being in a room full of demons, she guessed it didn't mean much.
Spike watched her steady herself wanting nothing more than to call her, to run to her, to pick her up and run from here to anywhere. The girl's hands still held his arms and he could hear her cooing calmly in his ear. "Wait. Be patient."
"Wh.where am I?" Buffy said, giving up on even pretending she was not
afraid.
"In the pits of Hell where naughty little girls who sleep with demons
belong," Luke answered.
"Oh. You could really use a dustbuster," Buffy said, beginning to scan the room with her eyes. Spike had to smile. Some things about her would never change. At least he hoped not. Still, the smell of her fear, her pain, her anguish was telling a different story than her snarky little ways. He knew her better than that.
"Well", Luke responded. "All together at last." Luke tipped his head to the right and Buffy followed his eyes along the wall, gaining focus as she went. When she saw the blonde hair against the darkness of the wall, her vision snapped to clarity and her eyes honed in on his form.
"Spike?" she yelped, trying to get up onto her feet.
"Not so fast," Luke said, planting his hand on her dislocated shoulder and pushing her back to her knees. She cried out in pain.
"Get.Off.Of.Her," Spike said slowly, calmly, his hands pulsing again. There was acid in his voice. His blood screaming in his veins. The unseen hands still pressed to his wrists. He looked at Buffy and his faced softened immediately. Luke loosened his grip, but kept her on her knees. "Hello, Love." Spike said to her. Tears began rolling down her face.
Buffy struggled to get out from under Luke, to get to Spike, but the girl had been right. Her powers were nothing here. She was just a girl.
"Spike," she cried out, struggling still, feeling her arm burning under
Luke's hand. The soulful wail of her voice almost split his heart in two and shattered his resolve. He yanked the chains again, but the girl held him steady. Strong for a vision, he thought.
"It'll be OK, Pet," Spike said, trying to comfort her. Buffy was sobbing now. He could not bear to see it, but he was afraid to take her eyes from her or she might disappear.
"This is all very sweet, but I think we need to have a little talk," Luke said. Buffy stared at him through tired and swimming eyes. She felt as if she might fall back into darkness any moment. She took a deep breath and stilled herself, turning her attention to Luke. Luke pulled his hand from her shoulder and walked a few steps back.
"What do you want to talk about?" Buffy asked.
"What are we going to do about this? Can't have so many uninvited guests... Well, maybe I can make a little room upstairs for *you*," Luke chattered.
"Let the Slayer go." Spike said slowly, measuring his voice.
"No, Spike. I didn't come all the way out here to leave without you," Buffy retorted.
"Well, I was volunteering, Pet. Just being all chivalrous and the like," the Vampire sputtered.
"Spike do we have to do this right now?" Buffy said, as the dance began. They could not be in a room together for five minutes under any
circumstances without fighting, shagging, or both. All of it was just part of the wonderful, terrible, loving, passionate energy that
crackled between them every minute of every day.
"Enough!" Luke hollered, slapping his hands over his ears. "Maybe I should let you both go so I don't have to *ever* listen to you again." Buffy and Spike both looked hopeful for just a moment. "Nah, that would be no fun. Here's the deal. One of you stays. The other can go."
"Well, that's bloody stupid mate. I'm already here. Let her go."
"Spike?!"
"Shut.Up" Luke snapped the crack in his voice shaking the room. The mini Evil Santas jumped at the sound. Buffy's mouth clapped shut. Spike paused mid word, mouth wide open. "My dimension, my rules," Luke continued, shrugging his shoulders and shuddering as if trying to get comfortable in his own skin. "Now, I know where nancy boy Willie over here stands, so let's hear it from the girl."
"Like.I.Said. Let the Slayer....."
"Did I *not* just tell you to shut up?" Luke whined, spinning toward the Vampire. He raised his arm and a blue flame shot from his fingertips impacting Spike's chest and pinning him back to the wall. Buffy could see it pierce the skin just over his heart and she let out a yelp, hopping to her feet. The horde of Keebler elves forced her back to her knees before she could take another step.
Spike's body was shaking and seizing against the wall, the chains rattling against the stone. A pained roar escaped his lips and Buffy struggled whimpering to break herself free. "STOP..." Luke wouldn't pay her any attention. Buffy picked up a stone from the floor flinging it as hard as she could with her human strength, and smacking Luke in the elbow. The current stopped.
"Feisty little bi**h, aren't you?" Luke began to stride toward Buffy. His eyes were hollow, empty. Buffy's heart raced in her chest trying to think of what to do next.
"What did I tell you about calling her names, mate?" Spike hoarsely called, trying to interrupt Luke's angry walk to his love. Luke turned back toward the Vampire and lifted his arm.
"*Stop this*!" Buffy snapped. "What do you want to hear?" Her voice was a torrent of anger and hurt and fear. The sound of it swirled around her, rushing over Spike, stinging his skin.
"Now *that's* more like it," Luke replied, rubbing his sparkling hands
together. "Little girl, it's your call. I'll take 'Who Stays In The Hell Dimension for $500, Alex', you say? So, Buffy. What's it going to be and why?"
Buffy was absolutely silent. Her head dropped slowly toward the floor and she watched the red dust swirl at her knees. Pictures raced thought her mind. Dawn. Giles. Willow. Xander. Tara. Anya. Who would watch them? Who would take care of them? Luke was determined to keep her from Spike. To keep her from making things right. God, the little girl inside her. If she stays, the baby sees this awful place as home. Grows up without ever seeing Buffy's world. If she goes, her daughter has no father and a mom who will be dead in the next five years. Ye olde expiration date. We're comin to get you, Buff.
And Spike. How many times had he been willing to die for her? Her sister? Her friends? He didn't owe any of them anything. How many times did he say 'I love you' and get nothing. No proof. No reason to stay. But he stayed.
Always. Every day.
Buffy lifted her head and looked at him and it dawned on her in that moment that there really wasn't' any life for her without him. That love was not a word but an all-encompassing connection that bound people no matter where they were, no matter what happened to them. She loved him with every fiber of her being, soul or no soul. What he gave her was more than she could ever return.
Spike watched her, pleading her to take her chance. His eyes were endless cerulean seas, ebbing and flowing and dancing in firelight. She could get lost in there. She was so lost. Buffy could hear his thoughts, his voice, in her head. "Buffy, go. Run, Pet"
She dragged her eyes off of Spike and looked up at Luke, tears streaming
down her cheeks. "Open the portal and I'll give you my answer."
To be contd.
Author: Nimue
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Yes, please
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN, Fox... Just Borrowing.
Summary: Buffy and Spike find each other at last. But it is not the reunion either of them had hoped for.
Devil's Jeopardy
Two little men in red suits burst through the door in the basement. Spike looked up from his perch against the wall, every nerve on edge, expecting anything, everything terrible. The Peacemaker had left, or at least she was silent. He couldn't tell anymore. His senses were too busy humming with anticipation to pick up her scent.
Luke followed the little men, wiping his hands with a washcloth that had
turned a deep crimson. Spike tried to smell the air, but he couldn't focus. Damn, he couldn't get a sodding grip on anything. A procession of little red suit-wearing leprechauns followed Luke like the lollipop guild gone awry. The last two were dragging something. Spike leaned, straining against the darkness to sense anything.
"Oops, need some light?" Luke said, clapping his hands, fires spontaneously igniting all around the room.
Spike's jaw dropped and it was everything he could do to keep the facade
that he was still chained. The last two little red demons were dragging
her. He could barely make her out across the room, but he could see she was barefoot and covered in dirt, a steady line of blood dripping crimson down her neck, staining the back of her dress. Spike closed his eyes and tried to focus, stop the raging inside him. "This isn't real," he whispered to himself. Then, he caught the Peacemaker's scent.
"This *is* real," the girl whispered in his ear. "But you mustn't move."
Spike bit down hard on his lip, trying to distract himself. Trying to force down the demon that was struggling to the surface, struggling to surge off the wall in a frenzy of fury and strike down every one of those bloody little men and destroy their horrific little master. "This is what he wants," the girl whispered. "She is alive."
The Vampire closed his eyes again and tried to tune out the scuffling of the men, the incessant cackling of his host, the crackling of the fires. He caught the sound and pulled it to him, tuning his senses only to her. Spike heard the rain in his head. Slow and soft like spring. They were alive.
"Slayer meet Vampire. Vampire meet Slayer," Luke said as the two little men in the rear dragged Buffy's battered body into the center of the room, dropping her directly in Spike' s line of sight. Spike clenched his fists, pulsing them, trying to control his rage. She was lying in a ball on the floor. The wound on her head did not seem to be that bad, but had been enough to set her unconscious. There were cuts and claw marks on her legs and her arm hung at a strange angle dangling above the floor.
It amazed him how tiny she really was. Other than the swell of her belly, her arms and legs were gaunt, her neck hollowed deep, her skin pale and sad. Almost as if she had died as well. Still, she was beautiful. Everything about her was perfect. Even at her worst, she still made his heart ache and his body tremble.
"But I guess you two have met," Luke said, walking over to Buffy on the
floor. Luke kicked her in the back. Spike roared, yanking against the
chains. Invisible hands rushed to press Spike back into the wall. The
pressure was enough to remind him and he stopped pulling, debating whether or not the Peacemaker's little plan was worth this.
Buffy stirred at the feel of the boot in her kidney. Her head was swimming and her body felt like it had been through a hamburger grinder. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the relative darkness, but they flickered open all the same, staring at a pair of perfectly shined cowboy boots.
She let out a whimper, pressing her hands to the dirt and immediately
lifting the pressure from her injured arm. Somehow, she managed to pull
herself upright and onto her knees, still trying to focus. The little spot in the back of her skull that usually told her there were vamps nearby was humming and buzzing, but between feeling blood trickle down her neck and being in a room full of demons, she guessed it didn't mean much.
Spike watched her steady herself wanting nothing more than to call her, to run to her, to pick her up and run from here to anywhere. The girl's hands still held his arms and he could hear her cooing calmly in his ear. "Wait. Be patient."
"Wh.where am I?" Buffy said, giving up on even pretending she was not
afraid.
"In the pits of Hell where naughty little girls who sleep with demons
belong," Luke answered.
"Oh. You could really use a dustbuster," Buffy said, beginning to scan the room with her eyes. Spike had to smile. Some things about her would never change. At least he hoped not. Still, the smell of her fear, her pain, her anguish was telling a different story than her snarky little ways. He knew her better than that.
"Well", Luke responded. "All together at last." Luke tipped his head to the right and Buffy followed his eyes along the wall, gaining focus as she went. When she saw the blonde hair against the darkness of the wall, her vision snapped to clarity and her eyes honed in on his form.
"Spike?" she yelped, trying to get up onto her feet.
"Not so fast," Luke said, planting his hand on her dislocated shoulder and pushing her back to her knees. She cried out in pain.
"Get.Off.Of.Her," Spike said slowly, calmly, his hands pulsing again. There was acid in his voice. His blood screaming in his veins. The unseen hands still pressed to his wrists. He looked at Buffy and his faced softened immediately. Luke loosened his grip, but kept her on her knees. "Hello, Love." Spike said to her. Tears began rolling down her face.
Buffy struggled to get out from under Luke, to get to Spike, but the girl had been right. Her powers were nothing here. She was just a girl.
"Spike," she cried out, struggling still, feeling her arm burning under
Luke's hand. The soulful wail of her voice almost split his heart in two and shattered his resolve. He yanked the chains again, but the girl held him steady. Strong for a vision, he thought.
"It'll be OK, Pet," Spike said, trying to comfort her. Buffy was sobbing now. He could not bear to see it, but he was afraid to take her eyes from her or she might disappear.
"This is all very sweet, but I think we need to have a little talk," Luke said. Buffy stared at him through tired and swimming eyes. She felt as if she might fall back into darkness any moment. She took a deep breath and stilled herself, turning her attention to Luke. Luke pulled his hand from her shoulder and walked a few steps back.
"What do you want to talk about?" Buffy asked.
"What are we going to do about this? Can't have so many uninvited guests... Well, maybe I can make a little room upstairs for *you*," Luke chattered.
"Let the Slayer go." Spike said slowly, measuring his voice.
"No, Spike. I didn't come all the way out here to leave without you," Buffy retorted.
"Well, I was volunteering, Pet. Just being all chivalrous and the like," the Vampire sputtered.
"Spike do we have to do this right now?" Buffy said, as the dance began. They could not be in a room together for five minutes under any
circumstances without fighting, shagging, or both. All of it was just part of the wonderful, terrible, loving, passionate energy that
crackled between them every minute of every day.
"Enough!" Luke hollered, slapping his hands over his ears. "Maybe I should let you both go so I don't have to *ever* listen to you again." Buffy and Spike both looked hopeful for just a moment. "Nah, that would be no fun. Here's the deal. One of you stays. The other can go."
"Well, that's bloody stupid mate. I'm already here. Let her go."
"Spike?!"
"Shut.Up" Luke snapped the crack in his voice shaking the room. The mini Evil Santas jumped at the sound. Buffy's mouth clapped shut. Spike paused mid word, mouth wide open. "My dimension, my rules," Luke continued, shrugging his shoulders and shuddering as if trying to get comfortable in his own skin. "Now, I know where nancy boy Willie over here stands, so let's hear it from the girl."
"Like.I.Said. Let the Slayer....."
"Did I *not* just tell you to shut up?" Luke whined, spinning toward the Vampire. He raised his arm and a blue flame shot from his fingertips impacting Spike's chest and pinning him back to the wall. Buffy could see it pierce the skin just over his heart and she let out a yelp, hopping to her feet. The horde of Keebler elves forced her back to her knees before she could take another step.
Spike's body was shaking and seizing against the wall, the chains rattling against the stone. A pained roar escaped his lips and Buffy struggled whimpering to break herself free. "STOP..." Luke wouldn't pay her any attention. Buffy picked up a stone from the floor flinging it as hard as she could with her human strength, and smacking Luke in the elbow. The current stopped.
"Feisty little bi**h, aren't you?" Luke began to stride toward Buffy. His eyes were hollow, empty. Buffy's heart raced in her chest trying to think of what to do next.
"What did I tell you about calling her names, mate?" Spike hoarsely called, trying to interrupt Luke's angry walk to his love. Luke turned back toward the Vampire and lifted his arm.
"*Stop this*!" Buffy snapped. "What do you want to hear?" Her voice was a torrent of anger and hurt and fear. The sound of it swirled around her, rushing over Spike, stinging his skin.
"Now *that's* more like it," Luke replied, rubbing his sparkling hands
together. "Little girl, it's your call. I'll take 'Who Stays In The Hell Dimension for $500, Alex', you say? So, Buffy. What's it going to be and why?"
Buffy was absolutely silent. Her head dropped slowly toward the floor and she watched the red dust swirl at her knees. Pictures raced thought her mind. Dawn. Giles. Willow. Xander. Tara. Anya. Who would watch them? Who would take care of them? Luke was determined to keep her from Spike. To keep her from making things right. God, the little girl inside her. If she stays, the baby sees this awful place as home. Grows up without ever seeing Buffy's world. If she goes, her daughter has no father and a mom who will be dead in the next five years. Ye olde expiration date. We're comin to get you, Buff.
And Spike. How many times had he been willing to die for her? Her sister? Her friends? He didn't owe any of them anything. How many times did he say 'I love you' and get nothing. No proof. No reason to stay. But he stayed.
Always. Every day.
Buffy lifted her head and looked at him and it dawned on her in that moment that there really wasn't' any life for her without him. That love was not a word but an all-encompassing connection that bound people no matter where they were, no matter what happened to them. She loved him with every fiber of her being, soul or no soul. What he gave her was more than she could ever return.
Spike watched her, pleading her to take her chance. His eyes were endless cerulean seas, ebbing and flowing and dancing in firelight. She could get lost in there. She was so lost. Buffy could hear his thoughts, his voice, in her head. "Buffy, go. Run, Pet"
She dragged her eyes off of Spike and looked up at Luke, tears streaming
down her cheeks. "Open the portal and I'll give you my answer."
To be contd.