Spike grinned at Buffy as she entered the cave; her face a bright red and her eyes scrunched closed in sheer embarrassment. She threw the clothes down onto the ground and sighed, turning to look out the cave covertly.
"One of them fainted!" Buffy turned back, abashed.
"Well, of course they did," Spike picked up his clothes and started separating them from Buffy's casually "He's never seen anything as hot as you"
"God! I can't believe I just did that!" Buffy grabbed up her underwear and slipped the items on, quickly followed by her trousers "That was, without exception, the most embarrassing experience of my life"
Spike arched an eyebrow "More embarrassing then when your friends found out about us the first time?"
"Well..." Buffy sighed, pulling her shirt on "That's a close second. Oh my god! Giles! Willow! Xander! Dawn! I should have called them they'll be worried...I've been gone all night"
Buffy started to do up her shirt rapidly and motioned for Spike to hurry up and get dressed he just grinned and pulled his jeans on. Suddenly a sharp, searing stabbing pain sliced through his abdomen. Spike groaned and stumbled forward into the wall of the cave. His hands clutched at the affected area and his nerve ending screamed with pain. A moment later it was gone.
Buffy's hand was on his shoulder "What's the matter?"
"...Nothing. It's...it's nothing," He said in a hoarse voice "Must just be an after-effect of last night's activities"
"We need to get you to Giles right now" Her voice was tainted with pure concern.
"Yeah, 'cos he's gonna be so happy to see me" Spike stood up straight "Besides, luv, incase you haven't realised – the sun is up and roasting, toasting"
"Like that's stopped you before" Buffy tossed her drying jacket at him "Cover yourself in this. The car is just around the corner"
"Your coat is not really enough to cover me"
"It's gonna have to be" Buffy reached over and took his hand "I have to get back to Dawn and we have to get you...secured in case that thing takes your body again"
Spike squeezed her hand "Suppose so. If I fry to death again, it's you who I'll be haunting this time"
"Ooh, in a sexy Patrick Swayze way?"
"No" He shook his head "In a I'm-dead-as-hell-and-I'm-gonna-wreak-my-vengeance-upon-you-slowly-and-painfully kind of way"
Buffy shrugged with one shoulder "Whatever you want, sweetie" She grinned.
Spike tilted his head and looked at her. The Slayer turned her back as she gathered the rest of her belonging and picked her shoes up to hold in one hand. Had she really just called him 'sweetie'? And, more importantly, not even realised it? If she felt the weight of his gaze on her back then she did not show it as she hummed a song under her breath. He tried to recognise the tune but only caught "I'm under your..."
So, he asked, "What are you singing?"
"Huh?" Buffy turned back to him, brow furrowed "Oh. Nothing. Just a song Tara taught my before she..."
"Oh. She was a...nice girl," Spike said, nodding.
"The best" Buffy smiled briefly "And Willow still misses her, we all do but..."
"But Willow loved her with all her heart and soul," Spike said softly, looked at the ground then back up into Buffy's eyes "That witch and I have a lot in common. We should have talked more after I got my soul. If anyone's an expert at being love's fool – it's me"
Buffy shook her head slightly with an amused smile on her face before turning around and walking cautiously up to the entrance of the cave probably to see if the boys were still lurking. Spike could not stop watching her in curiosity. She seems different. Almost...nonchalant...but that wasn't the ideal word to describe it either. The pet name, the humming, the cute little smile. Why couldn't he put his finger on the change in her?
"Okay, let's go" Buffy turned to him "We're turning left then running like hell"
"Got it" Spike smiled, threw the girly jacket over his head.
He walked up behind her and she grabbed the left over length of his belt.
He arched an eyebrow "If you wanna stay a while, all you had to do was say..."
"No...well, yeah..." Buffy looked at him, melted, then snapped herself out of it "But the guys will be worried. I'm grabbing your belt so I can pull you a long"
"Hmmpf" Spike was disappointed "Well, don't pull too hard. The family jewels are precious"
"If they turn to dust they won't be" Buffy faced back out of the cave "Okay, let's go"
She started running immediately and Spike followed being pulled along by the Slayer hanging onto his belt. The heat hit him almost immediately and Buffy veered left severely. Spike stumbled on the sand and nearly went down but she pulled him along up the dune.
Smoke wafted off of his legs and back, his head, arms and shoulders being the only things that were really protected. Spike felt the skin on his legs blister and pop. The jeans were burning up. He hissed and powered up faster, Buffy meeting his speed and then bettering it. Since he was essentially blind Spike entrusted himself completely to the Slayer. Vines and leaves slapped at his torso. This must have been where Buffy got that cut on her cheek he had been concerned about but hadn't mentioned.
The heat was almost unbearable yet he could have only been out of the cave for less then ten seconds. He was gonna burn. Again. He began to yell.
Buffy shouted "Almost there!"
No, gonna burn! Burn! Burn! Was all he could think. Suddenly Buffy ground to a halt and he didn't expect it so he ran smack into something hard and metal. His gut ached and he let out a moan. There was a loud sound and Spike's skin was on fire.
He was shoved and fell into a confined space. The car's boot!
Buffy slammed the thing shut thus sealing him in blessed darkness.
"Let's go home," Buffy said but she sounded far away.
The smell of his own singed flesh entered Spike's nostrils.
"Oh," Spike rolled his eyes "This is just charming"
-------------------
"Okay, thank Fred" Willow nodded to herself as she spoke into the receiver "Yeah, yeah I think I got it. You're the best! No...no you are! Okay. Yeah. Bye!"
The witch turned and walked into the living room with a grin on her face, a slight bounce in her step. Andrew was still sweating away on the couch, Xander's eye on him, Giles glaring out of the window waiting for any sign that Buffy was going to return home. Dawn sat perched on the windowsill, picking her nails, a sign of nervousness. Whether it was for Buffy or Spike, or both of them Willow couldn't decide.
"So, from the flash of your pearly white I'd say that scientist girl had good news?" Xander turned to look at hi best friend.
"Have they managed to translate the word?" Giles questioned, sipping his luke-warm tea.
"No," Willow shook her head and everyone sighed wearily "But they managed to get a sample of water-feral poison from Wolfram and Hart's databases. Fred analysed it, for, you know, signs that could turn it back into a vamp potion and she struck gold!"
Dawn turned around abruptly "You mean Spike can be turned back?!"
"Yep, but that's not the only good news. See, she found something else too" Willow's grin widened.
"Don't keep us hanging, Will" Xander said.
She shook her head "I'll tell you later. When Buffy comes back. They're sending the samples now"
"Right now? How is that possi –" Giles started.
Suddenly a glimmer of purple light appeared in the centre of the room. Everyone stared at it in wonder. A blink of the eye and the light had turned into two vials filled with black viscous liquid. The vials floated for a moment in suspended animation and then fell without warning.
Everyone dived for them at once. Willow ended up tripping over the table and falling headfirst into Xander's now vacant chair. Giles slid on the rug and went down on his ass. Dawn propelled herself off the windowsill, sailing over the table outstretched like a panther. Unfortunately Xander had jumped from the opposite direction at the exact same time. Xander and Dawn went boom. Both fell to the floor, dazed.
Andrew reached out his arm and caught the vials in his hand.
Everyone looked at him wide-eyed from their positions in one big heap on the floor, all attempting to sit up. It looked like the Scoobs had been playing Twister and lost.
Andrew pulled a face "This stuff is kind of gross. Reminds me of the stuff Venom and Carnage are made out of in Spiderman"
The gang let out a sigh in unison and flopped back down onto the floor.
A/N: Ooo errrr! It's all getting rather exciting. Oh and for the American's amongst you a car "boot" is a "trunk". Since it was from Spike point of view I must be loyal. If you knew this already I apologise for being a smug Brit. Thanks to everyone for reviewing keep it up. Oh, and special thanks to fangfaceAndrea – I'm glad you found last chapter funny.