Buffy sighed as Spike moved over, making room for her. It was really dark in this world and Buffy admired the flame as it burned and cooked her meal. She leaned her head against his shoulder, too tired and sore to worry about what he would think of her. He removed his clothes putting them outside of the ledge to wash and helped Buffy to do the same. She didn’t protest as he wrapped her up in his leather coat to keep her from catching a cold. Their clothes needed washing and this was the only way he could think of to do it. He would see about drying them near the fire during the night hoping they would be dry by morning.
He watched as Buffy slipped in and out of sleep next to him. Her hands were cut pretty bad and she was cold. He silently wondered how they were going to make it. They were over half way up the cliff but still had a ways to go. He would imagine if they continued moving they would make it by nightfall tomorrow. That was assuming they went at a nice speed, which glancing at Buffy and feeling the way he did, wouldn’t be possible. He wished there was an easier way but knew at this point up and over the cliff was their best bet. He wondered how Dawn had made it this far but figured she had help from Natives so she was probably just fine. He checked their meat and noticed it was done.
He roused Buffy from her sleepy state whispering, “Slayer, love, you really need to eat. It’s finished and hot and you need the warmth.”
She glanced down noticing she had just his coat on but was too tired to protest. She longed for her home and for warmth and for food. She smelled the meat and heard her stomach grumble. She eagerly took the stick of meat Spike offered her and devoured it. He took a few bites of meat for strength but knew it was mostly hopeless in that respect. Buffy wasn’t sure if the meat was really that good or if she was really that hungry. She hadn’t eaten in 24 hours and she could feel her body was starved and drained. She eagerly reached for another stick of meat and managed to consume that one as well. She finally was feeling full as she leaned back closing her eyes.
Spike pulled in their clothes arranging them near to the dry woodpile but close enough to feel some of the heat from the fire. He threw a bit more wood on the fire and watched the rain fall as he pulled the coat from around Buffy to cover them both hoping that some heat from somewhere in his body would help warm Buffy. Buffy yawned and he felt her heart beat slow down. He was starved but at least she was full. He would worry about blood in the morning. It had been well over two days since he had fed. He was really starting to feel the effects. Perhaps tomorrow would bring a solution. He closed his eyes ignoring his hunger pains and went to sleep.
Spike awoke first seeing Buffy still snuggled in his arms. He reached over not wanting to let her go and touched their clothes noticing they were quite dry despite the fact the fire had gone out. He carefully dressed Buffy resisting the urge to tease her into making love with him this morning knowing that both of them would need their strength to survive.
He really didn’t care for the situation they were in. He had always secretly thought if he could manage to whisk her away from her watcher and friends, then things would be easier on them both. He thought they might actually have a real relationship but this was not the way he had planned it.
He felt her stir as he moved to quickly dress himself. He was feeling a tad bit better. His wounds were closed but not healed due to his lack of eating. He really wished blood existed on this dimension. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take of this. He wasn’t healing, he wasn’t regaining strength and he was so hungry. He felt Buffy whisper, “Is it daytime yet?”
Spike nodded and she sighed. She stood up swaying for a second before gaining her footing, “We better get going. My clothes feel clean.”
Spike smiled and nodded, “Did them last night in the rain. I figured since we felt lousy, at least we could wear clean clothes.” Buffy smiled at the sentiment and pulled on her jacket and boots. She watched as Spike did the same and stood up.
Both felt a little better than last night. Buffy was sore and achy but still quite full. She frowned hearing Spike’s stomach growl and asked her voice full of concern, “How long can you really go without feeding?”
Spike shrugged, “Forever I reckon but we don’t look pretty when we don’t feed.”
Buffy frowned noticing how pale he still was despite the slight tan he was getting from being in the sun two days in a row. She asked, “When did you last feed?”
Spike answered softly, “Not too sure. I think the last time I fed was when you were over at my place being all invisible.”
Buffy frowned at that realizing that was in the middle of the day so he had probably not fed for almost 3 days straight. That couldn’t be healthy for a vamp. She had to do some serious thinking about what their options were. She had blood coursing through her veins that would sustain him. She first remembered the Master and how he had drained her to death. Then she thought about how Angel had fed from her once and almost killed her. Then Dracula had used her for his own little fountain. She sighed thinking none of those examples would apply. This would be more like survival. She didn’t want to be alone in this world and she wanted Spike with her. Her frown deepened as she noticed he was staring at her wondering what she was thinking. He had his head cocked to one side as though studying her. She decided she’d think while she climbed, “Let’s start so we can get to the top faster. I don’t want to spend another night on these cliffs.”
Spike nodded and let her lead the way.
Buffy spent the time climbing, thinking. First she thought about her and Spike again. She wondered why she really dreaded the idea of him hurting himself over not feeding. When he had come in from the Initiative, he looked just as bad as he did now. He was pale and shaking and she was worried but more upset than anything else. This time she felt worried and afraid. She wanted to help him. Without thinking she put a hand to the side of her neck pausing for a second.
Spike looked at her strangely so she kept on climbing. She had felt the marks on her neck. There were the Master’s tiny two pricks that were covered by Angel’s harsh deep mark followed by Dracula’s jagged mark. All three could be felt on her neck. She wondered for a second what Spike’s mark would be like. Would it even be noticed over the assortment of bite marks she carried around?
She frowned almost wanting it to be noticed. She hated that the Master had marked her. She hated that she had been in a thrall allowing Dracula to mark her. Angel’s mark was because he was dying. She hated that the mark was on her to remind her that Angel wasn’t perfect. It was a huge deep mark that she felt ache when he was near. She hadn’t felt that since he left Sunnydale. She figured it had healed with time as most marks do.
She sighed slipping more heavily into thought. What would Giles and her friends think if they found out she had fed Spike? They wouldn’t understand, that she was sure of. Giles was mad she saved Angel much less her friends. Xander had been really upset and Willow hadn’t really understood either. She could almost hear them reprimanding her for even thinking of such a thing.
Spike was hardly dying even if he did look pale and sickly and she knew that human blood was addicting and could only imagine what weaning off slayer blood would be like. That’s it; she wouldn’t feed him for his own safety and hers. All she needed was for him to think of her as some blood fountain. He was sexy and hot in her mind already and she couldn’t resist him for that reason, all she needed some was weird blood tie to make it stronger. She was so curious about how it would feel though.
Every other bite she had received, had hurt. Dracula’s she was under a thrall so she hadn’t been able to scream or fight him but Angel’s had really hurt. It had felt like he ripped her neck apart as he bit her. She sighed as she climbed. She looked up and noticed they were getting pretty close to the top. She turned around to tell Spike she could see the top when she slipped losing her balance.