Chapter Six

"Kids"

Spike snarled in rage, connecting his fist to Buffy's chin. But it wasn't Spike who hit her. No. Spike was somewhere, passed out in the back of his mind. This was another Spike. This was pure demon. His demon.

Buffy quickly recovered, throwing a good kick to his gut. He growled low in his throat, flashing his fangs.

"What the hell are you doing?" Buffy cried, pulling the stake close to her shoulder. Spike just gave a snarl and lept at her again. That's when it hit her. The trigger. She sighed inwardly and held the stake tight. She didn't want to use it. This wasn't Spike. But somehow she had to get him to stop. She thought of two ways.

She only liked one of them.

Spike swiped low with his foot, connecting with her calf and sending her sprawling. He wasted no time and lept ontop of her, leaning into her jugular. Not good. Buffy reached back and punched him hard in the nose. He howled in pain, elicting another feril snarl. But he didn't give up.

Buffy quickly rolled, bringing herself ontop of him instead. She held the stake, poised for her attack. But rethinking her plan, she rolled off and waited for him to get onto his stomach to push himself up.

Before he could think about even standing, Buffy brought the heel of her boot down hard on his back. He grunted, falling. She tucked the stake away and slammed her foot into his forehead.

He lay motionless, demon face receding.

He was out cold. Blood dripping from his lip and nose.

He felt cold. Something cold was at his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Buffy holding a towel in her hand, wet with blood.

"Hey." she said, looking down at the floor.

"I seem to remember this happenin' before, love." he said weakly, head throbbing. He felt his lip. It was swollen pretty good.

A sigh. She wouldn't look at him.

"Wha' happened?" he asked, sitting slowly up. He felt a dizziness course through him and he braced the wall for support. When he could finally get a good look, he saw that he was in the basement again.

"The trigger."

"No, not that. I mean, did I hurt..."

"No." Buffy said quickly, folding the bloody towel in her lap. "We're O.K."

She still wasn't looking at him.

Spike gave a weak little sigh. He needed to be chained up. He should be shut away. The trigger was still working. And there were Potentials not twenty feet away.

"Buffy..." he said thoughtlessly. He came out as more of a sigh. Buffy still didn't look at him. "You need ta lock me up. In here. I can't get out."

"No." she said, warning coming into her voice. "We've been over this."

"I know that. I ain't talkin' bought you offin' me. I'm sayin', jus' chain me up. Tie me down. If I go off..." he stopped. He wanted her to look at him. "Buffy, look at me."

She sighed, looking at the ceiling. Slowly, her eyes drifted to his face. Their eyes locked.

"Spike, if the First uses the trigger again, I can stop you."

"Why can't you jus' do it?"

"Why can't I just do what?"

"What I'm askin'?" he narrowed his eyes, searching for an answer. "Just once."

She sighed, playing with the towel and looking down. Spike reached out and took her chin in his fingers, making her look at him, instead.

"Why? S'all I wanna know."

"Because you don't need to be. This...thing...whatever it is, we can handle it. But I wont chain you down here like some animal. A dog or something. I don't just keep you around to fight." she said, pulling out of his grasp. Spike still didn't understand. She needed him. She wanted him, yes, but she needed who he was. After everything he'd been through, the one thing he was worried about was...

...her.

It was a twisted kind of love, to be sure, but it was something she couldn't live without. She knew that sometimes she hated him, feared him, but in the end, all she wanted was for him to be there.

She couldn't fool Spike. For some reason, he knew what it was like to be all alone. And being with him, made it seem less lonely.

Spike sighed again, dropping his hands.

"You can do what you want Spike. If you want to chain yourself up, go ahead. I wont stop you, but I'm not going to do it." she huffed, standing. It took a moment of silence before she began walking, and when she did, he stopped her...

"Buffy," Spike suddenly pleaded as she headed for the stairs. She turned back to face him. He was unsure. He was so unsure. He was so lost. She sighed and walked back, sitting on the edge of the cot, her eyes never leaving his. And for a moment, she saw a flash of sorrow across them.

Something inside her told her to do it...

Everything screamed for her to just wrap her arms around him.

And she did. With one swift motion, she swept her arms around his bruised back and squeezed his shoulders. He leaned into the gesture, folding his own arms around her slight hips.

It was just a hug. A simple hug.

Like kids on a swingset, they were just holding each other.

--------------

Fin