a/n I know. It's a travesty how long this took me to update. All I can say is that real life got busy.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Joss Whedon's characters…..

Previously:

'You want to drain me.' She continued murmuring, backing up another step, her small frame seeming even smaller against the black wall that she was inches from banging into.

With his lips not moving from their spot, I knew that I wouldn't live seconds if I refused him. Swallowing, feeling his lips move as I did, I nodded before speaking hoarsely, "what do you want".

Dragging her out of the alley into the dark night, I asked gruffly, "What's your name anyway, pet?"

After a quick, surprised pause, she replied softly, "Buffy."

'I want you to scan the graveyard, love, and tell me how many creepy critters of the night there are.'

'13 'creepy critters', 2 humans and,' I paused for a second, 'She felt human, but there was something a little off. Her mind was full of the death of vampires and demons and she was practically oozing power.'

'The girl you sense now will kill you for helping me. Never, ever go near her. Got that pet?'

Suddenly, I was brought back to what was happening by the sharp sting on my neck. I felt my eyes water but to my surprise it didn't hurt when he started drinking.

'I forgot to mention that you tasted delicious. You really are a prize love. That's the sort of thing that will keep you alive.'

SPOV

After climbing back up the ladder away from the girl downstairs, I closed my eyes, savouring the remaining flavour of her blood in my mouth. I'd never tasted anything like it before and already I yearned for another taste. I ran the image through my head again of her long, pale neck exposed. The taste of her skin as I pulled the artery to the surface. I shuddered at the image, opening my eyes and having to forcibly shove it away.

Flopping myself onto the couch, I turned on the tele as I felt dawn approach and let myself fall asleep still thinking about the treasure I'd found tonight.

BPOV

My mind was full of chaotic images. Nothing real. Nothing distinct. Some I recognized from my own past. Images that I spent every waking moment pretending never happened. Some flashes came from the people who were close enough for me to read. Considering where we were, I shouldn't have been surprised that all the pictures that flitted through my head quicker then I could decipher. Images of grief, anger, despair, hate, death.

The swirling in my head jarred me from unconsciousness. Bolting awake, I breathed heavily as I slowly reconstructed the walls around me, blocking out all the noise from the graveyard above. I heard the voices fade and dim until they were gone. Only when I was sure that my barriers were up did I open my eyes.

Looking around the room, it was like I hadn't been here last night. The room looked completely unfamiliar to me. Of course, I hadn't been in any state to notice anything last night. Turning to take in the rest of the room, I felt a slight pull on my neck. Pausing, I slowly lifted my hand to feel the damage.

At first I didn't feel anything but after a few seconds of probing, I felt the two slight indentations from the bite last night. I let my fingers trace the small holes, marvelling at how gentle he must have been to leave almost no mark.

Lifting my other hand to push my ratty hair out of my face, I heard a rustle. Looking down, I saw the cuff that Spike had used to chain me to the bed the night before. Staring at the cuff, I couldn't seem to stop the torrent of memories and emotions. I knew where I was now, knew I was no longer there anymore, but that couldn't seem to hold the terror beating at me at bay at the sight of the cuff.

Flashback

My head smashed against the wall as I was thrown back by the vicious punch that felt like it had fractured my cheek. I couldn't make myself move as my father picked me up by my shirt and slammed me against the wall again. It was one of those nights. He was so drunk that he barely was able to walk, but it seemed that beating on me was more regular to him then walking.

Moving in close to me so that his eyes were level with mine, I was vaguely aware of him screaming at me to pay attention to him. Trying my hardest, knowing how much angrier he was getting by the second, I made eye contact with him for a second before my eyes decided they didn't want to focus anymore.

He had won at poker tonight. He always did. He made me doll myself up. Put on makeup, do my hair but of course wear jeans and a long shirt so no one saw anything wrong. Then he'd have me sit next to him at the poker table, and tell him when to fold and when to bet.

The problem was that he hadn't won much. Nowhere near enough to cover the money he spent of alcohol. It wasn't my fault; people had learnt not to gamble with my father, but he had to blame someone. My wrists were chained above my head. They were tight; they were starting to chafe of the skin on my wrists already.

Another punch registered as my world exploded into stars. But I couldn't lose consciousness. If I passed out worse things could happen. In least if I was awake I would know. I would know first and I wouldn't have to hear it on his mind first thing in the morning instead. I had to stay awake…

SPOV

I was jerked awake by the sudden whimper from downstairs. After a few disorientating seconds, I remembered about the girl, Buffy, that I had stumbled upon last night. Jumping out of the chair that I'd fallen asleep in last night, I quickly made my way back to the ladder and climbed down, jumping the last foot to look around the room to find the problem.

But there were no monsters in the room, and my eyes quickly focused of the small blonde on my bed. Her face was twisted into her shoulder, so that I could only just see her eyes squeezed shut tight and her lips making the small whimpers and moans that had woken me. Looking around again to confirm there was no-one around was in the room with us, I strode over to the girl.

Her heart was beating fast, and I grabbed her arms to try to shake her out of whatever nightmare was causing the sounds that were coming out of her mouth. But as soon as I touched her, she started to squirm in my grip her moan turned into a quiet sob that almost made me let go of her straight away. Taking a deep breath, I ignored her sobs and shook her until her bleary eyes focused on mine.

BPOV

Suddenly I was aware that someone was shaking me. Snapping back to current time, I realized that it was Spike who'd grabbed me by the arm, trying to snap me out of my memory. 'Buffy! Come on luv you're already awake. 'M not planning on hurting you pet. Buffy!' I focused my eyes on his and he breathed out a sigh of relief and stopped shaking me. 'Nice of you to join us kitten.'

I blinked out the tears that were blurring my vision and tried to focus on his face. Looking into his eyes which were looking worryingly into mine confirmed that I was no longer in that house, that I had escaped. I exhaled deeply as I felt relief flood through me and tried to banish the lingering images in my mind.

Without opening my eyes I scanned the vampire in front of me. He was confused, wondering what could have happened in my short life to react this way. I continued to listen to his train of thought as he created theories as to what could have affected me in such a way. Some of them ran close but none of them quite grasped the horrors in my memory.

With my breathing finally evening out, I opened my eyes and glanced up at him. He didn't look so concerned now, though I could hear the undercurrent of it in his thoughts. Thankfully, he didn't seem angry that I woke him up in the middle of the day. He just still looked curious and he almost got a faraway look as he continued to spin tales of my past.

I went to rub my hand against my face when it was stopped short after a few inches. I sighed in discontent and used my other hand, trying to push Spike's incessant theorising out of my brain. It was usually a breeze but I was just so tired. After another moment, I said tersely, 'could you please think of something other than guessing at my past?' His eyes snapped back to the present at that, and quickly released my arms which he had still been grasping tightly. I felt anger roll through him but it stopped short almost immediately as he looked at me. 'That's the second time in 12 bloody hours that you've lost all sense of time and place and looked like fear was just going to consume you. So you can't blame a bloke for being curious as to what the bloody hell caused it!'

I flinched at that as a figment of my dream came back, and felt a fleeting feeling of pity in Spike's mind. My eyes snapped to his though the feeling was gone almost as soon as I felt it. He scowled at me and took a step back, distancing himself from me. As the anger went through him again, I found myself thankful that this time he wasn't hungry. I closed my eyes, wondering if I could go back to sleep now. I'd probably be up all night, so it seemed like a good idea to sleep while I could. Not to mention I was still exhausted from the night before.

SPOV

I watched the girl's eyes close again, seemingly recovered from whatever nightmare had woken her up. I didn't press her on it at the time, but I would eventually learn the story behind all the flinches and terror. I knew it wouldn't be a pretty tale. I wondered if she could go back to sleep now. Probably, after last night. By the time they had gotten back to the crypt and I had fed on her, it was nearly dawn.

I involuntarily smiled at the memory of her blood. It had been damned fine and I couldn't wait for another taste. I hadn't taken much last night, which had been bloody difficult, because I wanted more tonight but didn't want to drain her dry or turn her anaemic. While I fully intended to drink her blood as often as I could, I couldn't forget the reason I had brought her back to the crypt last night. She had a special gift and I didn't want to lose it.

Something had been nagging at me through these thoughts, and looking down at her tired, petite form, it finally clicked as to what that was.

BPOV

'Do you have any human needs?' Spike said unexpectantly. My eyes flew open at his voice, and I frowned, trying to understand what he meant. 'What do you mean? Like food?' He shrugged at that. 'Food, water, the bathroom.. whatever it is that you humans need to stay alive.' I couldn't talk for a moment, trying to decipher his mood, see if he was playing with me. He looked at me with a mixture of expectation and puzzlement, waiting for my answer as the seconds passed.

Swallowing, I tried to speak up, but not knowing what to say. 'I… I um…'. I stopped for a second trying to collect my thoughts and decided I'd just focus on one thing at a time. 'I'd like to use the bathroom'. I looked at Spike again, and this time there was only confusion on his face. Tentatively, I peered into his mind. It's not like I offered her a bloody chest of gold I just wanted to know if she needed the bathroom. What the bloody hell happened to her that that question stumped her?

I looked at the floor at that, face burning as horrible images tried to make their way to the surface before I forced them back down. He knelt down so his face was level with me and pulled a key out of his pocket. He picked up my wrist gently, and unlocked the cuff on it. Instinctively I cradled it, inspecting it and seeing that I had obviously pulled on it while I was asleep, most likely during the latest nightmare.

I had a moment to notice the barely there cut with a minimal amount of blood surrounding it, when Spike picked up my wrist again and brought it to his lip. For a terrified second I thought he was going to bite down into it, but instead he started lapping at the tiny portion of blood. He hummed appreciatively as he gave my wrist a final lick, looking up at me with an wicked grin on his face. 'I almost thought I was dreaming the taste of you last night, love.' He bent his head back down to my wrist and I unsuccessfully tried to tug it away. However, he just held it there for a moment, inhaling deeply, before letting go.

I stood up shakily and looked around, trying to get to the bathroom and get some distance between me and Spike. But the darkness of the room kept me immobile staring into shadows trying to find a door. I felt Spike grab my hand to start pulling me in the right direction and I immediately hissed and tried to pull away as my wrist throbbed. Spike gentled his grip and held up my hand between us, looking at the hand shaped bruise that circled my wrist. I immediately tapped into his head, and was surprised to see the faint edge of regret.

Letting go of my wrist, he turned around and said over his shoulder, 'follow me then'. I followed him quickly before he could disappear into the darkness but it was only a few steps before he opened a door and switched on a light to reveal a bathroom. It wasn't exactly pretty, but it looked like it had all the bare essentials. I walked past Spike into the bathroom, and as I heard him close the door, he paused for a moment. He didn't say anything, but in his head he clearly said, 'Sorry pet, didn't have to do that.' I watched his back as the door closed, surprised but finding myself slightly more relaxed about our deal. Maybe this would be ok.

a/n hope you guys liked it, review and let me know what you thought. I've started the next chapter so hopefully I can get it out soon :)