Chapter 19

Buffy looked at Spike who was pacing across the floor. He stopped and poured himself a glass of blood, and quickly sucked it down. Turning back towards Buffy, he watched her eyes for a moment, judging quietly what she might or might not do to him.

"What about, Spike?"

"Buffy, do you feel better now? Are you so thirsty?" He was hedging around the question, could see it himself, but he was not about to blindly leap towards her with out at least first showing her where he was coming from. Finally, he stopped pacing, and came to a stop before her.

"Yeah, I feel better now, why?" Her voice was soft, but questioning as she looked up towards him.

"Buffy, that was blood I finally gave you to drink. You said it was painful, and that is what I was like at first. It hurts badly when blood lust starts to hit, and nothing else will take care of it. You drank water, and it didn't help at all, but the blood did." Buffy's eyes had grown wide while Spike talked, and she almost looked like she was going to be sick, but she refrained from that yet. "I think…. I think these bloody wankers are doing something to us, making us switch, or something. Hell, I do not know what it is. I woke up hungry, but when you drank the blood, I wasn't hungry anymore."

Buffy nodded as she thoughtfully nibbled at her lower lip. "How do they… how does that happen? I mean, they did not do anyt- Oh, god, they gave me that shot! Do you think that had something to do with it? Oh god, am I going to be wanting to taste blood for the rest of my life?"   Buffy sat up unexpectedly, and started to ramble loudly. "I can't just go back to my life as a blood sucking thing! I just can't! We need to fix it!"

"Now, now, love. Careful what we say, might hurt a guy's feelings." Spike sneered, before turning to walk away from her. In the enclosed space, however, it was hard to do before hitting the opposite wall. Spike snarled with a low growl as he paced back and forth on the floor. "Slayer, grow up, you think I want to spend my time attached to your hip? Don't bloody well think so."

Both were busy arguing loudly when the door behind them opened, and revealed the man of the hour, Quentin Travers. Travers walked in slowly, and with a sneer on his lips, the door closed behind him, leaving just the three of them in the space. Both Buffy and Spike turned sharply towards him at the sound of the door shutting.

"You! You miserable little wretch! Didn't you learn the last time not to fuck with me?" Buffy screeched out as she stood and suddenly pounced on him. Spike hesitated only a second before they had Quentin restrained. Buffy glared at him as she started to pace before him. Spike had his fangs poised on Travers neck, waiting to plunge his weapon in at any moment. He could smell it, the fear. It rolled off his victim, wave after wave of the sweet ambrosia.

Buffy stopped suddenly, and turned to face her… what, her watcher? That wasn't right, she thought as she shook her head. "What were you trying to pull here, this time? I've started getting my strength back. What is going to happen if I decide to get, oh, say, angry?" Buffy lunged in, and faked that she was going to throw a punch at his face, and Travers squealed as he jerked back just slightly. The slight pinch and the pain told him that he very nearly impaled himself on Spike's fangs.

"So, talk to us. Explain what's happening to me, and to Spike. And make it good and fast. I think Spike's getting hungry for human blood. Or, in you're case, less then human." She glared at him, her arms folded across her chest.

"Little lady, you have no idea what you're dealing with here. You would do best to let me go now, before you bring down any more trouble."

"Oh? You really think your little friends can get in here before my new friend Spike can use his teeth?" As if to emphasize the point, Quentin felt Spike's fangs scraping along his skin. Barely suppressing a whimper, Travers glanced up towards Buffy and remained grimly silent. She raised her eyebrows, then looked up at Spike, who in turn, scraped harder, and started to press his sharp fangs against the tender flesh over the jugular.

"All right! You want to know what's happening? You think you can handle something like this? Well, all right, missy. You are your friend here are sharing minds and to an extent, bodies now. He is thirsty for juice, and you want blood. There's a simple solution. You drink the juice, he drinks the blood, and it goes away. I have been told you will get used to it in time. However, the reason we did it to you, is that you two will become a very strong fighting duo now. You will anticipate each other's moves, you will feel the danger, and you will react accordingly. And before you ask, you cannot change it. Only death will free you now."

Buffy stepped back as the words registered. Travers sneered at her while holding deathly still in Spike's morbid embrace. Her eyes drifted to Spikes, and she thought, Oh god, I am… merging with SPIKE?!?! Without taking her eyes from his, she stepped forward again, until she was standing right in front of Spike and Travers again. She was stopped, however, when she heard quiet plainly, What, you think this is a picnic for me, blondie? Buffy's eyes went to Spike's lips when she heard the voice, but she saw that they were not moving.

Blinking, she stumbled back, and landed on her ass with a thud. She turned her gaze up to Spike's, and tried to think to him again, but he was not hearing it, or it stopped working, because she did not get a response from him. Spike motioned to Travers with his eyes, and without thought, Buffy nodded and glanced away while Spike sank his fangs deeply and brutally into Travers neck.

As Travers felt his life slip away, the main door opened, and two guards came running in. In their haste, the door was left open behind them, and while their attention was diverted to Spike, Buffy edged backwards. You get the hell out of here, and do not look back. I will find a way, love. She paused only briefly upon hearing the thoughts of Spike echoing in her head.

Running through the door, she came to a short stop in a new room with all sorts of video camera's set up, and red buttons. She glanced quickly around, but found no other people in here. She flipped a light switch, and the small room became bathed in light. She turned to look back into the room, and for the first time noticed that she could see into the entire room from there. Pausing only briefly, she started looking at the button labels. She found the one she was looking for, and pressed it, while calling out for Spike in her head.

A quick glance up showed that he had heard her, and was even now tossing the dead body of Travers aside, and shoving the two guards into the bathroom. He quickly ran to the door just as she slammed the button down, shutting and locking the door behind Spike. He glanced at her, and before she knew it, she was pressed hard against the wall, her arms around his neck, and her legs tight around his waist. And then, he was kissing her for all it was worth, and she could taste the coppery blood on him.

AN: Only a chapter or two left, and now that I figured out how to get them OUT of the room, I've got the rest pretty much locked up, so only another chapter or two!!! WOOOOT!