Note: Speech between Buffy Spike in italics is telepathy.
Buffy looked up at the small bright hole they had just climbed down. Willow's face was still visible at the top, her anxiety clearly written across her features.
"Be careful, Buffy."
"I'll call as soon as we have him." She called back up at her friend and watched her face disappear as the manhole cover was replaced.
Buffy turned to Spike. He was sniffing the air like a predatory animal searching for the scent of their prey. Angel was his prey.
She mused that either Angel or herself always seemed to be his prey-it was always the same with Spike since she'd met him.
"Anything?" She watched him run his fingers along a rung on the ladder and bring them up to his face for inspection.
Spike sniffed at the dirt on his fingertips and then frowned as he raised his nose up into the air, trying to get a lock on the scent he'd found.
"You're in luck, love. Angel was bleeding-left a good enough trail at the time, but it's fading now." Spike stared down a long straight stretch of sewer.
Buffy resisted the temptation to roll her eyes in order to mask the conflict his words stirred in her. His tone had been hard and cold, void of the emotions she was sorely growing used to and it was an obvious sign of things to come. He wasn't going to be nice during their mission. He was going to shift from nice to nasty and back again in the blink of an eye like he used to. He was going to make her pay for wanting to save Angel.
Heaving a long sigh, she started down the tunnels after him, watching his coat sway as he walked with purpose through the dirty water at their feet. Buffy pulled a face at the bottom of her dark blue jeans, already coated in filth and she'd only walked ten metres.
Catching up with Spike, she fell into line alongside him and followed his lead. She hoped he knew where he was going and that in a fit of jealously he wouldn't be tempted to walk her around in circles and let Angel die. She realised that was fast becoming a recurring thought-would Spike let Angel die? Or would he save him just to make his mate happy?
Buffy let a pensive expression settle on her face.
Spike tilted his head as he looked down at her. She had her hair still up, drawn back into a tight ponytail that showed his marks on her neck to the world. The ones he had inflicted as a show of territory were healing now, the bruises beginning to fade even if the actual wounds weren't.
"You okay, kitten?" He watched her start slightly as his voice roused her from her thoughts.
"Yeah…" She said sullenly, and saw he wasn't convinced. His brow arched. "Okay…no…be honest with me…"
"Always, if you want me to." Spike watched her expression soften over his reply.
"Angel…" She waited for a sign of a reaction to that name but he just continued to watch her. "…You do know where you're going, I mean…I know there's a million reasons you can think of to just let him die, but I need to know…you're not going to lead me in circles or anything like that are you?"
She saw his face fall, the lines of it turning hard and causing her to run over what she'd said. Buffy stopped as it hit her.
"I trust you, Spike…really I do." She caught hold of his arm and forced him to look at her. "Just…I need to know…only to silence the voice in the back of my mind."
Spike stepped towards her and let the backs of his fingers brush against her cheek.
"I'd never lie to you. I'd never hide anything from you. I'd certainly never do anything to hurt you. You're my mate, Buffy. Perverse as being bonded to a Slayer is, you're my flesh, my blood. My heart." He removed his hand and clenched it into a fist. "I wouldn't do such a thing…much as I'd love to. I couldn't stand to see you upset…couldn't stand to see you pissed at me."
Buffy smiled and ran her fingers over his hand, the palm of it wrapping around his still clenched fist. "Feelings mutual."
Spike searched her eyes in the dim light to see if there was truth in what she'd told him; he smiled as he saw it in their green depths.
"We'd better move. I have a rough idea where they're keeping him and it's a long trek from here. Still…if it's where I think it is then we don't have to walk home dragging Peaches' tired little feet."
Buffy watched him walking off and hurried to catch up with him as she shifted her axe to her other hand. "Huh?"
"My baby…she's in LA by the docks…I think that's where they are. The whole time I was locked up by those bastards I could smell sea water and day old fish." He peered down both stretches of sewer as he stopped at a t-junction. Holding his hand up to silence her reply, he sniffed the air and pointed to the left.
When he started walking again, Buffy took it as a sign that she could speak. "Baby?"
"My car…I was down the docks with her."
"Why?" Buffy let a slight frown wrinkle her brows as she tried to think of a possible reason for him to be in the vicinity of the docks after he'd left her.
"Don't know. I guess I was looking for somewhere quiet to think, you know? My head was so full of you that I couldn't get any peace though. I was just drinking and watching the light of the moon playing on the water. It was…" His look turned thoughtful as he pursed his lips, searching for the right word.
"Calming?" Buffy offered and he flashed her a wide smile.
"Yeah." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Did you feel it, too?"
"I was sleeping mostly, but in the morning I went outside to listen to the birds and watch the sun rising…" She watched him arch a brow. "Okay, I wanted to be alone…but it felt calm…like I'd found peace."
Spike nodded in understanding and then turned down another section of sewer.
"If you know where we're going then why are we wasting time walking in the sewers?" She looked down at the grime under her feet, her boots ruined by its slimy wetness.
"I said I had a rough idea where we were going…I have to track his scent to know for sure." He put his hand in his pocket to find his cigarettes but found the small gold and diamond bracelet from the tomb instead. Ignoring it, he searched his other pocket and found them.
Buffy watched him light up and frowned as he exhaled. "Isn't that going to ruin your tracking abilities?"
Spike tapped his nose. "Got lover boy all locked in now, sweetheart. No need to fret. Could find him a mile off."
She let her frown intensify over the sarcastic tone he'd used and his choice of wording. "Let's get one thing straight, Spike. We're rescuing Angel because he's my friend…he's a good man and he's fought by my side…I can't let him die, I have to try and save him…it has nothing to do with the fact that I used to love him."
Spike felt the words hit him hard.
She used to love him.
Who did she love now?
"So why'd you rescue me?" He ventured hesitantly, unsure of whether he really wanted to know the reason or whether his enquiry was solely motivated by jealousy.
Buffy mused his question and then smiled as she realised what he was up to.
"Because I had to." She answered in a casual tone and with a shrug of her shoulders.
Spike stopped dead, his brows knitting tightly as he felt like she'd just trampled all over his emotions.
"What?" He stared at her back.
She turned with a smile on her face that soon faded on seeing him so crushed and pressed her hand to her mouth as her eyes widened. "Oh…god…I was just joking…well…I mean, I really had to but there was more to it than that."
Spike did his best to look unaffected, the stunned and hurt expression he'd been wearing not moments before washed from his face.
He started walking again, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead of him as he tried to discern if there was any danger in the dark tunnels and tried to take his mind of what Buffy had said.
"Spike…" Buffy hurried to catch up with him again, but this time decided to hang back so she wasn't walking along side him, but rather a few steps behind. It was easier to talk to him when there wasn't any chance of him looking at her. "…I had to find you; I had no choice! I felt like if I didn't find you that I would die along with you. I couldn't leave you hurt and alone somewhere…even though I didn't know where you were, I left straight away to try and track you down…stole my mom's car…"
Spike stopped dead again and Buffy almost walked into his back.
"You stole your mum's car, to find me?" Spike kept his back to her, his eyes straying to the side in an attempt to see her without moving his head.
"Yes. She was so pissed at me, but then she saw you and she went into mom mode."
Spike didn't quite know how to interpret the new information. She had stolen her mother's car to come and rescue him. She had worked on instinct and let it guide her actions. She hadn't plotted and planned, arranging lifts and wasting time like she had with her rescue attempt of Angel. She had done everything as quickly as possible, regardless of how much trouble she was going to get into for the things she did. She had been that desperate to get to him, to rescue him. To ensure that he was safe she had risked everything. She hadn't known where he was or who was holding him, yet she came alone and without a weapon, so sure that she would be able to rescue him-or possibly prepared to die trying.
He didn't know what to say to her. Suddenly his jealously over her wanting to rescue Angel seemed pointless. Now that he realised that he meant more to her than Angel did, a tranquil feeling washed away the conflicts inside him and he turned to face her in the dim tunnel.
"I know I shouted at you once for thanking me…told you I was evil…well, thanks…for coming to get me…saving me from the horrible clutches of tall, dull and forehead."
Buffy tried to stifle a giggle and saw Spike smile at her.
"Got a pretty giggle, too…" He turned around again and started walking.
Buffy slipped her free hand into his and intertwined their fingers. She felt a warmth creep up her arm as he squeezed her hand in his gently and pulled her a little closer to him.
Spike peered out of the sewer exit and into the street. Angel's scent had led them back to the docks and he almost felt like giving Buffy an 'I told you so', but then thought the better of it when he remembered he was over a century old-not a teenager.
Crawling out of the manhole, he helped Buffy out before replacing the cover. Buffy walked over to the nearest building as quietly as possible and pulled out her phone as she rested against it.
10:47pm.
She raised her brows and looked down at her clothes-they certainly looked like she'd been in the sewers for five hours.
Spike watched her look down at her feet and looked down at his own. He sighed emphatically at the sight of his boots covered in a thick layer of filth and then walked past her. As he disappeared around the corner of the warehouse at her back, Buffy hastened to follow him, putting her phone away and gripping her axe tightly as though she expected trouble to be waiting for her.
There was only Spike.
Lighting up a cigarette with a broad smile on his face.
She frowned and then followed his gaze. He was staring at his car.
"Just where I left you." Spike's smile widened into a grin and he walked over to the black Desoto. Pulling his keys out of his pocket, he opened the driver's side door and rummaged about.
Buffy tried to peer around him to see what he was looking for.
She rolled her eyes as he held up a near empty bottle of bourbon, a triumphant look etched on his features as he pulled the cork out and then offered the drink to her.
Buffy shook her head.
"Little Dutch courage?" He continued to hold it out to her but when she shook her head more firmly, he just shrugged. "Your loss."
Spike swallowed down the remains of the bottle and then tossed it back inside his car. Locking the door, he patted the roof affectionately before closing his eyes.
He inhaled deeply.
Wherever Angel was, he was close.
Buffy watched Spike closely as he tried to get a lock onto Angel's scent. At least she hoped that was what he was doing. It was either that or he was trying to communicate telepathically with his car. She raised a brow as he stroked the roof idly.
"Anything?" Buffy tried to bring him back to her.
He nodded and pointed to their right. "Back that way…blood is stronger there."
Jamming her hands into her jeans pockets, Buffy started to wish she'd worn more than just her trousers and little green t-shirt. It was cold in LA tonight.
Spike walked alongside her. He was mesmerised by the little goosebumps that kept appearing and disappearing in waves along the bronzed skin of her arms. He wondered if his touch would have the same effect on her, the cool of his skin as it brushed against hers.
Buffy frowned questioningly at him and he turned his attention back to tracking Angel. Taking one last drag on his cigarette, he exhaled the smoke into the cold night air and flicked the spent stub to the ground.
The smell of metal laced the air.
Like snow.
"Close." Spike whispered and looked along the row of warehouses to the left, searching for something he'd remember or would trigger a memory.
Nothing.
Just the smell of the ocean mixed with blood.
Taking hold of Buffy's hand again, he started walking faster and with every step he took, the strength of the blood in the air seemed to increase. Buffy allowed him to lead her as her eyes remained locked on his profile. He was frowning, his nostrils flared as he stared with steely intent ahead of them.
As he stopped and sniffed the air near an alleyway between two warehouses, she rubbed the arm that held the axe in an attempt to keep the chill off her bones.
"Something's not right." Spike growled quietly and caught hold of her hand again, leading her down the alleyway.
Buffy's eyes widened as she looked at the rusty corrugated metal walls surrounding her. There were long streaks of blood along them that looked as though they had been painted on, all pointing directly towards the large warehouse ahead of them.
"It's a trap." Buffy whispered and Spike narrowed his eyes.
"That it is…someone bled Angel on purpose…someone knew we'd be coming."
There was a series of bangs inside the warehouse at the end of the alley; light flickered through the broken dirty windows and Buffy frowned.
"Welcoming committee?" She hissed at Spike and started walking at the same time he did.
"Maybe." He stopped just outside the main doors to the building. "Let's see who wanted us here so badly."
Buffy gripped the axe tightly in both hands.
Spike pulled open the door.
