Beta'd by RavenLove12

It was hard work maneuvering Buffy into the shackles. Difficult to be gentle, and to get her limp form into position without inadvertently dislocating a shoulder, but he managed it with a firm arm around her ribcage, holding her up as if they were in a slow waltz as his hand got the cuff closed around her wrist.

"I really don't like this game," Dru moaned from behind him, still dazed from the shock.

"I told you I'm not playing anymore," he bit back, trying to shut out the sound of rope scratching against rope as she wriggled against the stone pillar. Maybe he should give her another jolt with the cattle prod.

Maybe he should find her a gag…

"Too tight, Spike," she complained, clearly pouting, as he grit his teeth. Fucking want rid of the way she says my name like that…

"Boo fucking hoo," he mumbled as he swapped arms around Buffy's waist and shackled the other wrist. With her arm secure and hanging from its chain he could slip his fingers between hers. Just for a moment. Hold her close as he leant his forehead against hers for a second, breathing her in. He had to stop himself from pressing his lips against hers. First kisses were important and generally better if both people were conscious. He could wait until the end. After all this was going to work.

It had to.

"You're really choosing this, then?" Dru asked disbelievingly, shattering the moment. "You could come back, William. We could be a family again." The way she said it made it sound unsavory. Incestuous.

Which is obviously how she bloody meant it.

"And watch you fuck Grandad for the next century? Hard pass."

She didn't drop it though. "This path will kill you."

"And yet here I am skipping merrily on down this yellow brick road rather than join hands with you, cheers all the same." He released Buffy's waist once he had her leaned back against the rock, cocking his head as she swung in the chains. Checking he hadn't accidentally suffocated her as her head slumped, and that she was still breathing.

"The pixies told me to come back, Sweet William," Dru murmured and he glanced back over his shoulder, agitated that she was still harping on. She wasn't looking back at him though, her eyes were off dancing as if following twinkling lights that weren't there. "They told me The Slayer would trap you with a shining diamond and it'd make you glow like the sun… like a match in the dark... before being pinched out."

He rolled his eyes and turned back away from her, deciding the cold shoulder would be the best answer to this fresh bout of mad rambling.

…On second thought he really didn't like the way Buffy was dangling with her head on her chest. He'd spent a good amount of time around necks to know windpipes were generally rather vital in the whole 'staying alive' process, and her breathing had started to labor.

He pulled her up into his arms again, holding her in an embrace as her head lolled against his neck.

He'd keep her upright until she woke up. Shouldn't be long now, and until then he could just savor the warmth of her and the perfumed scent of her and think about how at the end of it all they'd slow dance and kiss and laugh and it'd all be over…

And he would be loved.

And she would be his.