The Wrong Side of the Line
Chapter 13: Second Chances and Catch 22s
Author: Rylee Jane
See Chapter 1 for summary, disclaimers and rating.
A/N: I have done a bit of overlap at the beginning here. It's not an oversight, I did it on purpose. Don't ask me why, I'm sure it made sense when I did it. Enjoy yourselves! (The words that Willow uses are Italian, and they are traslated as basically, Crumble, capture and release.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
When Angel turned back to him, he stopped moving, watching his foe with a wary eye. "So what's it to be, mate?"
Angel held up a metal gadget with several skewers coming out of the tip. "I was thinking we'd see what happens if I make you into a sieve."
He started towards Spike with the device, grinning from ear to ear.
They all heard the word, as it was shouted in the hallway just outside the door. "Sbriciolare!"
The wall at Spike's back blew out, causing him to fall backward into the yard. He rolled quickly onto his side and shielded his face from the falling rocks. Luckily, most of them had been forced directly outward and none fell on him. He opened his eyes and stared up at the starry black sky overhead. "What the---?"
Another shouted word interrupted his question. "Cattura!"
Spike glanced up just in time to see a blue light fly off of Willow's fingers. It wrapped around Angel, knocking him to the ground.
"Will! Get me out of these things!" Buffy yelled to her friend.
"Oh, right," Willow muttered, then bit her lip. "Cessione."
Buffy stood, pulling the loose shackles from her arms. "Thanks." She dashed past Angel, who was still writhing on the floor. She knelt next to Spike and ran a hand over his cheek. "You OK?"
"Will be. Get me out of here."
She helped him to his feet and together they stumbled after Willow and across a field.
"How long will that hold him?" Buffy asked as they ran toward the sound of the river.
Willow shrugged, fighting to keep up. "Couple hours, maybe. Long enough, I would think."
They stopped when they hit the river bank, and the girls slumped onto a rock to rest.
"Thanks, Red," Spike said, giving her a sincere wink.
She smiled back. "No problem. When they told me at camp that Buffy was missing, I did a locator spell and it led me straight to you. Didn't take me long to find out what was going on."
"Nice work with the spells, Will. Been practicing?"
The redhead nodded, pushing her hair back from her face. "It's why I took the trip to London. The cult that Giles referred me to was really something. They helped me out a lot."
Spike let the two gossip, figuring out that they hadn't seen each other in a while. He walked down the bank a little way, trying to get his bearings. He figured the base had to be west from where they were, because the river was more narrow here, and west of the base, it was almost a mile wide in places. This had to be somewhere after the main river branched off into three smaller ones. Which branch they were standing on, though, he couldn't be sure. "Pet?" he called back over his shoulder.
Buffy stood and walked over to him. "What?"
"Any idea where we are?"
She looked around, then shrugged. "Not exactly. We can't be too far from our camp though. Angel's compound wasn't that far a walk from home. Of course," she said, looking around again. "It may have been on the other side of the compound from here."
Spike nodded, glancing at the sky. "What time is it, Red?"
She glanced at her watch. "A little before 5."
"The sun'll be up in less than an hour. Can we get back to your camp by then?"
Buffy shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure exactly how far it is from here. Maybe we can find shelter somewhere else, stay there until it gets dark again?"
Spike bit his lip. "No, you all should go on back. I'll hole up somewhere and start walking again tonight."
"Not a chance," Buffy said, propping her hands on her hips. "You're hurt. I'm not going anywhere until I know you can get help."
He started to argue, then gave it up. "Fine. Either way, we'd better get going. Don't fancy testing the sun today."
They headed west, hoping to find at least a tent to hide out in. There were remains of camps all along the river, ones that had long ago been deserted or cleaned out. Buffy thought that surely there were one or two left with some form of shelter.
It was nearing daybreak when they found an old rundown building that looked to have been home to a vampire family before the army took over the land. There were still beds and chairs inside, and the three slumped down to rest.
Spike nursed his wounds, tearing up old sheets to use as bandages. Buffy forced herself up from the couch to walk over and kneel in front of him. "Let me help," she said softly, taking one of the makeshift wraps from him.
He let her, jumping as her hand brushed a little patch of undamaged skin on his side. "Sorry," he muttered, looking anywhere but at her.
"Did I tickle you?" she teased, gently wiping some dirt out of one of the cuts.
"Funny," he scoffed, shaking his head. "If I weren't so damned hungry, I would probably laugh."
She finished wrapping his torso and sat back on her heels, sighing. "I don't think there's anything that we can do about that."
He nodded. "I know. 'S all right. I'll be OK for a while longer."
Willow was wondering around the home, looking at the furniture and trinkets that the family had left behind. "Why would they just leave all this behind? I mean, it looks like they didn't take anything with them."
Spike sat up slightly, stretching. "Probably ran out of time," he said softly.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"I mean, they were probably told they had a month to get out and refused. When the army came through the next time, they had to leave with just what they had on them. "Wasn't unusual for the army to kick people out of their homes without any notice at all. Just come in, tell them to leave and burn the home behind them. I've seen it happen." There was a touch of bitterness in his voice, and Willow decided to leave the subject alone.
They fell into an uncomfortable silence, each finding a comfortable spot in the living room to rest. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that Buffy realized she was getting hungry too.
"Will, I don't suppose you have anyway to conjure some food for us?"
Willow shook her head. "Not unless you want me to summon a deer or something to kill and eat. That's about the best I can do."
Buffy shuddered at the thought. "No thanks. How're you doing, Spike?"
He was still slumped in the easy chair, head tilted back, staring at the ceiling. "Fine," he said, his voice rough.
"How much longer can you go without blood?"
He shrugged, though it was barely noticeable. "I'll probably be fine for a few more days."
She remembered well enough the need for blood. It was worse than any thirst she'd ever felt as a human; an all-consuming burning that started in your throat and slowly seeped through your body until you ached all over. She'd never been to the stage that Spike was at, though, and she was glad of that.
During her army training, they had done survival exercises in which they had been sent out for a few days with no blood, and that had been bad enough. Spike had been starved for weeks, and bled on top of that. He was so thin that she thought his bones were going to break through his skin. "We have to find you some blood," she said, more to herself than to him.
He shook his head. "You aren't going to find any around here, pet. The only things around here are demon camps and the base. And if I could get to the base, I would be there by now."
"What about towns?" Willow asked.
"Closest one's about 20 miles. May as well wait until sundown and head back to the base."
"What about our blood?" Buffy asked, her voice breaking slightly.
Spike's head jerked up to look at her. "What?" he snapped.
"I mean it. We have blood. You need blood. It's pretty simple once you think about it."
He glared at her for a minute before letting his head drop back again. It was then that Buffy realized he couldn't hold it up anymore. "That's not going to happen."
She walked over and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him to a sitting position. "It is going to happen. You're so weak you couldn't stand if you had to. You're never going to make it back to the base that way. You need blood."
"I'm fine," he argued, but his voice was tired.
She let go of him and he slumped back against the chair. "Fine. You think you're doing OK? Stand up."
He looked up at her, then sighed. "Really, Buffy---."
"I mean it. Stand up."
He grimaced but dropped his arms to the chair and tried to push himself up. He barely got his butt off the seat when his arms gave and he dropped back down. He moved like he was going to try again, but quickly gave up.
Buffy tried to hide a smug smile. She turned to Willow. "Do you want to help him too? If not, it's OK."
Willow looked slightly sickened. "I---yeah. I can."
"No!" Spike snapped, his voice rough from the exertion. "I'm not doing it!"
Buffy snatched him up again and dragged him to the couch. "You are doing it, because I'm not carrying your butt all the way back." She dropped him on the dusty cushions and sat down next to him, pulling her hair over her shoulder. "Take as much as you can from me without hurting me. If you need more, you can take from Willow."
He turned his head away like a stubborn child. "I can't."
"Stop arguing. You don't have a choice." She touched his cheek, rather gently in contrast to her stern words. "Come on. Let's do this before I lose my nerve."
She leaned over him and she could tell that he was fighting the need as much as he could. Finally, she felt his breath stop as his face shifted and his teeth brushed her neck. She fought back a shiver and held as still as she could. His hand slipped around the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Willow turn away. Buffy couldn't really blame her. It seemed a lifetime ago that the two of them had been in this kind of spot.
Spike's lips brushed her skin just over the vein in her throat. Her breath quickened as she remembered times that they'd been here before, in the heat of the moment, wrapped in the bed sheets and each other's arms, and nothing else. Then came the sting of the bite, followed almost immediately by the warm feeling of feeding. She couldn't help but moan as she felt the heat building in her stomach. The room melted away into a thick darkness, and she could only feel his hand on her back and his lips on her neck. It was pure ecstasy, and terribly cold when he let go and pushed her back slightly.
"That's enough," he muttered, sighing. "That'll last me until we get back."
She felt her cheeks grow red when she realized how badly she'd wanted him to keep going. Sometimes, sharing blood had been better than sex and she had forgotten just how good it could feel. She fixed her shirt collar, glancing around the room. "Where's Willow?"
He raised his head just slightly to look around. "Dunno. Maybe she thought we needed some privacy."
She gave him a playful slap, but allowed him to pull her down beside him. She curled into his body, in awe of the fact that she seemed to still fit so perfectly against him. She'd always thought that they'd been made for each other, body and soul. Now, she had to push that thought away. He was still a vampire and she was still a human, and the two really couldn't mix. Not socially, not physically, not even emotionally.
But for now, she could hold him, press her body to his, pretend that everything was still all right.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
OK, so review now. Please. To all of you who have reviewed, Thank You! I really appreciate it! I hope you know that. I intend to read your stories too (some of them I have already read) and I will get to it very soon! I swear! Please forgive me for not getting it done by now. I promise, I will get to them soon! Thanks to you all again!
Chapter 13: Second Chances and Catch 22s
Author: Rylee Jane
See Chapter 1 for summary, disclaimers and rating.
A/N: I have done a bit of overlap at the beginning here. It's not an oversight, I did it on purpose. Don't ask me why, I'm sure it made sense when I did it. Enjoy yourselves! (The words that Willow uses are Italian, and they are traslated as basically, Crumble, capture and release.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
When Angel turned back to him, he stopped moving, watching his foe with a wary eye. "So what's it to be, mate?"
Angel held up a metal gadget with several skewers coming out of the tip. "I was thinking we'd see what happens if I make you into a sieve."
He started towards Spike with the device, grinning from ear to ear.
They all heard the word, as it was shouted in the hallway just outside the door. "Sbriciolare!"
The wall at Spike's back blew out, causing him to fall backward into the yard. He rolled quickly onto his side and shielded his face from the falling rocks. Luckily, most of them had been forced directly outward and none fell on him. He opened his eyes and stared up at the starry black sky overhead. "What the---?"
Another shouted word interrupted his question. "Cattura!"
Spike glanced up just in time to see a blue light fly off of Willow's fingers. It wrapped around Angel, knocking him to the ground.
"Will! Get me out of these things!" Buffy yelled to her friend.
"Oh, right," Willow muttered, then bit her lip. "Cessione."
Buffy stood, pulling the loose shackles from her arms. "Thanks." She dashed past Angel, who was still writhing on the floor. She knelt next to Spike and ran a hand over his cheek. "You OK?"
"Will be. Get me out of here."
She helped him to his feet and together they stumbled after Willow and across a field.
"How long will that hold him?" Buffy asked as they ran toward the sound of the river.
Willow shrugged, fighting to keep up. "Couple hours, maybe. Long enough, I would think."
They stopped when they hit the river bank, and the girls slumped onto a rock to rest.
"Thanks, Red," Spike said, giving her a sincere wink.
She smiled back. "No problem. When they told me at camp that Buffy was missing, I did a locator spell and it led me straight to you. Didn't take me long to find out what was going on."
"Nice work with the spells, Will. Been practicing?"
The redhead nodded, pushing her hair back from her face. "It's why I took the trip to London. The cult that Giles referred me to was really something. They helped me out a lot."
Spike let the two gossip, figuring out that they hadn't seen each other in a while. He walked down the bank a little way, trying to get his bearings. He figured the base had to be west from where they were, because the river was more narrow here, and west of the base, it was almost a mile wide in places. This had to be somewhere after the main river branched off into three smaller ones. Which branch they were standing on, though, he couldn't be sure. "Pet?" he called back over his shoulder.
Buffy stood and walked over to him. "What?"
"Any idea where we are?"
She looked around, then shrugged. "Not exactly. We can't be too far from our camp though. Angel's compound wasn't that far a walk from home. Of course," she said, looking around again. "It may have been on the other side of the compound from here."
Spike nodded, glancing at the sky. "What time is it, Red?"
She glanced at her watch. "A little before 5."
"The sun'll be up in less than an hour. Can we get back to your camp by then?"
Buffy shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure exactly how far it is from here. Maybe we can find shelter somewhere else, stay there until it gets dark again?"
Spike bit his lip. "No, you all should go on back. I'll hole up somewhere and start walking again tonight."
"Not a chance," Buffy said, propping her hands on her hips. "You're hurt. I'm not going anywhere until I know you can get help."
He started to argue, then gave it up. "Fine. Either way, we'd better get going. Don't fancy testing the sun today."
They headed west, hoping to find at least a tent to hide out in. There were remains of camps all along the river, ones that had long ago been deserted or cleaned out. Buffy thought that surely there were one or two left with some form of shelter.
It was nearing daybreak when they found an old rundown building that looked to have been home to a vampire family before the army took over the land. There were still beds and chairs inside, and the three slumped down to rest.
Spike nursed his wounds, tearing up old sheets to use as bandages. Buffy forced herself up from the couch to walk over and kneel in front of him. "Let me help," she said softly, taking one of the makeshift wraps from him.
He let her, jumping as her hand brushed a little patch of undamaged skin on his side. "Sorry," he muttered, looking anywhere but at her.
"Did I tickle you?" she teased, gently wiping some dirt out of one of the cuts.
"Funny," he scoffed, shaking his head. "If I weren't so damned hungry, I would probably laugh."
She finished wrapping his torso and sat back on her heels, sighing. "I don't think there's anything that we can do about that."
He nodded. "I know. 'S all right. I'll be OK for a while longer."
Willow was wondering around the home, looking at the furniture and trinkets that the family had left behind. "Why would they just leave all this behind? I mean, it looks like they didn't take anything with them."
Spike sat up slightly, stretching. "Probably ran out of time," he said softly.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"I mean, they were probably told they had a month to get out and refused. When the army came through the next time, they had to leave with just what they had on them. "Wasn't unusual for the army to kick people out of their homes without any notice at all. Just come in, tell them to leave and burn the home behind them. I've seen it happen." There was a touch of bitterness in his voice, and Willow decided to leave the subject alone.
They fell into an uncomfortable silence, each finding a comfortable spot in the living room to rest. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that Buffy realized she was getting hungry too.
"Will, I don't suppose you have anyway to conjure some food for us?"
Willow shook her head. "Not unless you want me to summon a deer or something to kill and eat. That's about the best I can do."
Buffy shuddered at the thought. "No thanks. How're you doing, Spike?"
He was still slumped in the easy chair, head tilted back, staring at the ceiling. "Fine," he said, his voice rough.
"How much longer can you go without blood?"
He shrugged, though it was barely noticeable. "I'll probably be fine for a few more days."
She remembered well enough the need for blood. It was worse than any thirst she'd ever felt as a human; an all-consuming burning that started in your throat and slowly seeped through your body until you ached all over. She'd never been to the stage that Spike was at, though, and she was glad of that.
During her army training, they had done survival exercises in which they had been sent out for a few days with no blood, and that had been bad enough. Spike had been starved for weeks, and bled on top of that. He was so thin that she thought his bones were going to break through his skin. "We have to find you some blood," she said, more to herself than to him.
He shook his head. "You aren't going to find any around here, pet. The only things around here are demon camps and the base. And if I could get to the base, I would be there by now."
"What about towns?" Willow asked.
"Closest one's about 20 miles. May as well wait until sundown and head back to the base."
"What about our blood?" Buffy asked, her voice breaking slightly.
Spike's head jerked up to look at her. "What?" he snapped.
"I mean it. We have blood. You need blood. It's pretty simple once you think about it."
He glared at her for a minute before letting his head drop back again. It was then that Buffy realized he couldn't hold it up anymore. "That's not going to happen."
She walked over and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him to a sitting position. "It is going to happen. You're so weak you couldn't stand if you had to. You're never going to make it back to the base that way. You need blood."
"I'm fine," he argued, but his voice was tired.
She let go of him and he slumped back against the chair. "Fine. You think you're doing OK? Stand up."
He looked up at her, then sighed. "Really, Buffy---."
"I mean it. Stand up."
He grimaced but dropped his arms to the chair and tried to push himself up. He barely got his butt off the seat when his arms gave and he dropped back down. He moved like he was going to try again, but quickly gave up.
Buffy tried to hide a smug smile. She turned to Willow. "Do you want to help him too? If not, it's OK."
Willow looked slightly sickened. "I---yeah. I can."
"No!" Spike snapped, his voice rough from the exertion. "I'm not doing it!"
Buffy snatched him up again and dragged him to the couch. "You are doing it, because I'm not carrying your butt all the way back." She dropped him on the dusty cushions and sat down next to him, pulling her hair over her shoulder. "Take as much as you can from me without hurting me. If you need more, you can take from Willow."
He turned his head away like a stubborn child. "I can't."
"Stop arguing. You don't have a choice." She touched his cheek, rather gently in contrast to her stern words. "Come on. Let's do this before I lose my nerve."
She leaned over him and she could tell that he was fighting the need as much as he could. Finally, she felt his breath stop as his face shifted and his teeth brushed her neck. She fought back a shiver and held as still as she could. His hand slipped around the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Willow turn away. Buffy couldn't really blame her. It seemed a lifetime ago that the two of them had been in this kind of spot.
Spike's lips brushed her skin just over the vein in her throat. Her breath quickened as she remembered times that they'd been here before, in the heat of the moment, wrapped in the bed sheets and each other's arms, and nothing else. Then came the sting of the bite, followed almost immediately by the warm feeling of feeding. She couldn't help but moan as she felt the heat building in her stomach. The room melted away into a thick darkness, and she could only feel his hand on her back and his lips on her neck. It was pure ecstasy, and terribly cold when he let go and pushed her back slightly.
"That's enough," he muttered, sighing. "That'll last me until we get back."
She felt her cheeks grow red when she realized how badly she'd wanted him to keep going. Sometimes, sharing blood had been better than sex and she had forgotten just how good it could feel. She fixed her shirt collar, glancing around the room. "Where's Willow?"
He raised his head just slightly to look around. "Dunno. Maybe she thought we needed some privacy."
She gave him a playful slap, but allowed him to pull her down beside him. She curled into his body, in awe of the fact that she seemed to still fit so perfectly against him. She'd always thought that they'd been made for each other, body and soul. Now, she had to push that thought away. He was still a vampire and she was still a human, and the two really couldn't mix. Not socially, not physically, not even emotionally.
But for now, she could hold him, press her body to his, pretend that everything was still all right.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
OK, so review now. Please. To all of you who have reviewed, Thank You! I really appreciate it! I hope you know that. I intend to read your stories too (some of them I have already read) and I will get to it very soon! I swear! Please forgive me for not getting it done by now. I promise, I will get to them soon! Thanks to you all again!