A/N : Thanx to the reviewers of chapter three; Moonjava, EMBER91, Demonica Mills, bella-lover, Charmed-angel4, ShalBrenfan, Xtremely-Canadian, sheilamarie, OnlyHaveEyesForYou, Mony19, Moluvsnumber17. So glad you're enjoying this little fic so far, hope you continue to do so!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 4
"So what you're saying is Wolfram & Hart own the amulet so they own us?" Buffy scoffed, "An evil law firm owning the Slayer, yeah that makes sense"
"It actually makes a great deal of sense, Buffy" Wesley pointed out, knowing he didn't have to worry about offending or annoying her. Any swings she took at him would pass straight through, "The amulet was given to us by Wolfram and Hart for purposes unknown. Perhaps it was supposed to trap the two of you and bring you here" he considered, glancing between her and Spike who stood a couple of feet from her.
"Well, here's the kick, Percy" the ghostly vampire shot at the ex-Watcher, "Maybe me and the Slayer don't wanna be tied to this soddin' place, nevermind be bloody owned by it!" he yelled angrily.
"Yelling about it won't solve anything" Angel pointed out.
"Then what do you suggest, Peaches?" Spike asked, turning to him with tilt of his head, "Stand around here saying 'oh well, bloody shame we're ghosts but hey could be worse'"
"I suggest you let Wes and Fred try to help you and quit complaining in the meantime" Angel said shortly, "I'm even less thrilled to have you stuck here than you are, Spike, but you have to give us time if you want an escape route"
"Believe me when I say, really do" Buffy snapped, before turning to leave the room, her lover obediently following her.
"Hey" he caught up to her and touched her arm. When she turned he put his lips to hers and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her close, "We will get out of here, Slayer" he promised her, "Find your mates and maybe even get that happy ever after thing that's so popular" he smirked.
"I wish you could promise me those things" Buffy sighed, comforted to a degree at least by the feeling of his arms around her, "but you can't, Spike, no-one can. We have to accept this could be it for us, stuck at this incorporeal level of here-ness, tied to an evil empire, with only each other for company"
"Would it be so bad?" he asked, suddenly looking much less confident about his worth in his Slayers eyes, "I mean, I know it wouldn't be your perfect scenario but, would an eternity alone with me be so terrible?"
"I didn't mean it that way" Buffy assured him, one hand caressing his cheek, "I want my life to be with you, you know that...but I need more" she admitted.
"I understand, pet" he told her with a nod, making her smile.
"You always do" she said softly as they kissed again, "Just one of the many reasons that I love you so much"
In his office, Angel watched through the internal windows as his ex and his grand-childe got impossibly close to each other. It made him nauseous to see it and yet at the same time, when the couple pulled apart and Buffy smiled brightly his heart felt a little lighter.
When the brooding vampire had left his love the day of her High School Graduation, he'd told her before it was because he wanted her to be happy with a normal guy. Okay, so Spike wasn't normal, far from it, but he made Buffy so happy, that much was obvious. There had to be a reason why the Powers had brought them back this way, and together, though that wasn't necessarily their plan. Buffy hadn't had to stay with Spike in the falling Hellmouth, she'd chosen to. That might just be the thing that hurt Angel the most.
"I think we should head back to the lab" Wesley said to Fred, ushering her out of the office when he noticed Angel wasn't listening to anything they were saying, his eyes glued to the pair beyond the window.
"You think he'll be okay" the Texan asked quietly as they left the room and passed by the kissing couple.
"Angel has a lot of issues where Buffy is concerned" the ex-Watcher sighed, "She was essentially the love of his life, or perhaps unlife would be more accurate" he considered as they walked along together "It is very difficult to let go, to see someone you hold so dear in the arms of another" he said sadly and Fred was not stupid enough to not realise he spoke from experience on that subject.
She liked Wesley a lot, and sometimes she thought there might be more between them than friendship, but making the first move was really not something she did, besides Knox was being such a sweetie and she kind of liked him too, and then there was her history with Charles to consider. Could love never be simple?
Back in the lobby, Buffy and Spike's kissing session was becoming increasingly heated. They needed to be close to each other right now, needed to know they were not alone in a world where they could not touch anything or effect change at all.
The ding of the elevator bell and the shudder as the doors opening caught there attention, causing them to finally break apart. Spike smirked as a couple of lawyers walked past whispering about the floorshow. Buffy tried to hide her face in his chest, clearly embarrassed.
"I think we should do this other-where" she told him and he led her towards the stairs, her hand held tightly in his. They headed right for the top of the building, because Spike had an idea. He stopped outside a pair of large wooden doors with Buffy at his side. The couple shared a glance before stepping forward and passing through into the bedroom that belonged to Angel.
"Wow, for an evil place they have good taste in decor" Buffy noted as she looked around, "and oh my God, check out the view" she continued, dragging Spike over to the window to see.
"Stunning" he rolled his eyes, not really caring for the rows of buildings and rooftops, "but not as stunning as you" he told her, pulling on her hand and spinning her into his arms where he kissed her thoroughly.
Buffy found that in her ghostly form she didn't have to worry about breaking for air and so the kiss could go on forever if they wanted it too, a thought that pleased them both immensely. She was equally thrilled that despite their incorporeal status, she and Spike could still touch and feel each other. He wanted her, that much was evident and she wanted him too, but something made her pull away when he pushed the jacket from her shoulders and ran his hands up inside her shirt.
"No, Spike, stop" she said, squirming away from him.
If she didn't know any better she'd say the look in his eyes right now was pure fear and it took her a moment to realise why. He was getting a flash-back to that night in her bathroom at Revello Drive. The night he'd wanted to prove his love to her and again she'd told him no. Every other time she'd protested it'd been a lie and they'd ended up doing it anyway. This one time she'd meant her refusal and he hadn't realised, continuing with his efforts to get close to her until she'd kicked him away. The words she'd spoken now echoed down through time from that night. The guilt he'd felt had led to his getting his soul, and more than one serious conversation last year, with so much repentance that Buffy had almost broken down in tears as she offered her own apologies for the terrible way she had treated him before.
"Spike" she said softly now as she stepped towards him, but he backed-up sharply.
"I'm sorry" he said, looking so petrified he'd done wrong. It seemed that one night haunted him more than it did her. She'd come to realise that, although what he did was not completely excusable, she had to take some blame for his moment of insanity. She'd treated him appallingly, used and abused him when all he'd ever wanted to do was be allowed to love her, as she found she could let him now. She loved him too, they'd come so far and now it was all getting screwed up again.
"You don't have anything to be sorry for" she promised him, taking another quick step forward and putting a hand to his face, making him look at her when he tried to turn away, "I wasn't...I mean, I do want to be with you, be close to you again. Honestly Spike, there's nothing I want more" she promised him, "but not like this"
"I don't understand" he admitted, finally able to look her in the eye again. Buffy sighed, feeling a little silly about what she was about to say. She turned away from him and took another look at the view outside.
"I want it to be special, like it was that last time in Sunnydale" she explained, hoping he understood. She felt his arms wrap around her from behind and she leaned back into his embrace.
"I get it" he told her, kissing the top of her head, "but y'know, every time we make love, it's going to be as special as the first time for me...because it's you, Buffy" he said softly, "and you mean everything to me"
She turned in his arms then, the sincerity in his words and in his eyes making tears form in her own. He loved her more than she ever deserved, more than anyone ever could deserve. Spike loved with his whole being, body, heart, and soul, he knew no other way, and she so admired him for that. He also counted their first time together as their actual last time, all those terribly damaging days before all forgotten, and she loved him for that as well.
Despite her earlier words, she put her lips to his. Passion took them over and it was more her than him that moved them towards the bed. He turned as they reached the edge, planning on pushing her gently back onto the bed, momentarily forgetting that they were not as solid as they might be.
Her body passed straight thorough and he went with her, through the floor too and the next and the next, free falling the entire drop of the building through every floor and ceiling. They landed with an unfelt thud on the final level, the basement, as an untidy tangle of limbs.
"Well, that was a rush" Spike smirked as he got to his feet and gave Buffy a hand up too.
"Not exactly what I planned on happening" she admitted, as they glanced around and tried to get their bearings, "So I guess this is the basement, huh? Not exactly a romantic spot but..."
"Ssh!" Spike shushed her suddenly, walking a couple of steps down the dark corridor they found themselves in. The room opened up just a few feet in front of them, and Spike was glad his vampire-sight was just as good now in the dark as when he was corporeal, "You hear that?" he asked Buffy who followed him on tip-toe, before realising she made no sound when she walked anyway in her present ghostly state.
"I don't hear anything" she frowned as they continued carefully along.
It was then Spike spotted the back of a man, as he sat at the table working away at something out of view. The vampire was startled when the disfigured face turned to look at him and it became clear he'd been slicing at his own hand, several bloody fingers laid out on the table as proof. He recoiled, about to speak when suddenly the man, the fingers, the blood, all of it was gone.
"There's nothing here" Buffy shook her head as she walked around the empty table, "You can't have heard anything"
"You didn't see?" Spike checked, staring at the chair that the disappearing figure had been sitting in moments ago.
"See what?" the Slayer frowned finding it a little ironic that he looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Er, nothing" he lied, forcing a smile and offering his hand to her, "Reckon I need some kip, going a bit insane" he smirked as she rolled her eyes and put her hand in his.
"We need to get out of here" she said firmly as they began to walk towards the steps that led upwards, "You've spent enough time in basements to last an un-life-time!"
"Yeah" he agreed absently, glancing back over his shoulder at the empty table before following his Slayer up the stairs. Maybe he really was going insane, or maybe he should accept the fact that hell wanted him for a resident after all.
To Be Continued...
A/N2 : That last part you may recognise as it's similar to a scene from 5.4 Hellbound. There will be some more stuff from that ep in the next chapter too. In the meantime, please review, thanks.