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Chapter 21 – Rescue


Forty-five minutes later, Buffy was nervously hugging her knees and rocking back and forth on the hard floor. She was becoming increasingly edgy as the minutes ticked by. Hearing a noise, Buffy looked up and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Spike looking down at her. Holding up a hand to signal he’d be right back, he disappeared as she stood up and anxiously rubbed her hands over her arms.

A minute later, the sound of glass shattering filled the room as Spike jumped through to land on the floor, close to Buffy. He held the end of a rope as he looked at her with a mixture of anger and love shining through in his eyes. “Tell me, pet, is there a reason I shouldn’t say ‘I told you so’?” Not waiting for a response, Spike lunged at Buffy, pulling her close to leave a searing kiss on her lips. Pulling away a moment later, he narrowed his eyes on her. “Wait ‘til I get you home.”

Feeling the fatigue set in when he went to check the rope, she felt the tears fill her eyes. Wrapping her arms around Spike’s waist, she told herself not to cry- to stay strong.

Hesitating for a second before wrapping his arms around the woman he loved in a strong grip, Spike buried his face in her hair. Breathing in the familiar scent as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him. “I almost lost you, baby,” he said in a choked whisper. “I can’t lose you.” Pulling away, he cupped her face in his hands. “I won’t lose you!”

Reaching up to put her hands over his, she gently squeezed them, offering him a tender smile. “I’m still here.”

“Another few hours and you wouldn’t have been. What if Willow hadn’t been here? What would we have done?”

“Spike,” she said softly. “You can’t say ‘what if’ to everything. You’re here, and I’m okay. I’m okay,” she repeated with a nod.

“We need to get out of here,” he said softly, needing to get his mind off his thoughts.

“Yeah, where is everyone?”

“Angel and Cordy are standing watch about two buildings over. Willow’s on the roof with Wesley. Gunn and Fred are across the street, making sure we don’t get any company. We figured it was best if they got the closest position since they’re not as recognizable.”

“Okay. Do you have a stake on you?”

Spike pulled one out of his back pocket. “I’m guessing our unconscious friend on the floor did something you didn’t like.”

“Grabbed my ass, that’s about it,” Buffy said with a shrug.

Growling as he stalked over to the vamp and plunged the stake into his heart, he turned and tossed the stake to Buffy while the dust settled before walking back to the rope. “Right then. Ready to go?”

Buffy laughed as she grabbed the rope. “Now, Spike, that wasn’t very nice. I was responsible for leading him on.” Before waiting for a response, she began scaling the rope, laughing when she heard a much louder growl come from the man she loved.

“And just what the bloody hell does that mean?” he yelled, quickly pulling himself up to the roof.

Turning around to look at him, she smiled as he swung his legs onto the roof, pulling himself to a standing position and raising an eyebrow in her direction. “It means I had to use some feminine wiles to get what I wanted.”

“And what, pray tell, would those be?” he asked as he pulled the rope up with him.

Biting her lip as she walked over to Spike and seductively ran her hands over his abs and chest, she gave him the same smile she’d used on the vamp earlier. “What do you think?” she asked suggestively. Laughing at the raised eyebrow he gave her in response, she shook her head as she giggled. “It means I wanted the key to unlock those shackles. You don’t trust me?”

“No,” Spike replied with a smile, walking past her. “No more than I have to.”

“Hey!” she cried indignantly, smacking him on the shoulder as he passed. Spike laughed as she followed him to meet Willow and Wesley on the other side of the roof.

Giving her friend a hug when she got close to her, Buffy finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Wills. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Don’t mention it. But I think it’s time we got outta here. There’s a lot of undead activity, and I don’t really feel like facing them with just us. Strength in numbers, and all that.”

“Yeah, I’m hoping we have weapons,” Buffy replied.

“What do you take us for?” Wesley asked with a smile.

Buffy smiled and followed the others over to the ladder, built in to the side of the building. Spike headed down first, making the ten-foot jump from the end of the ladder to the ground below as he skillfully caught Willow and Buffy, taking the impact of their landings. “Sorry, Wes, you’re
on your own.”

“Why, thank you,” Wesley said as he jumped the remaining distance.

The three slowly made their way down the long row of buildings, seeing Angel and Cordelia up ahead as Gunn and Fred met up with them.

“You okay?” Angel asked Buffy as they got within hearing distance.

“Right as rain,” Buffy said with a small smile. “So, what kind of weaponry are we talking about?”

Reaching into a rolled-up blanket, Angel extracted a sword, tossing it to Buffy. Catching it in a firm hold, Buffy tested the weight and gave it a few practice swings. “Nice,” she said with a nod of her head. “Wouldn’t have said no to the rocket launcher, though.”

“You have a rocket launcher?” Spike asked, seeing the smiles on the girls' faces.

“Actually, it’s been misplaced,” Buffy said, looking sheepish.

“I think Giles has it,” Willow spoke up.

Spike turned to Angel. “You wanna tell me, or should I guess?”

“Long story. Involves the time I turned evil and tried to rid the world of humanity. Buffy was there to stop the demon I assembled.”

“Assembled? No,” Spike said, shaking his head, busying himself with unloading one of the bags. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

The group laughed as Spike tossed various weapons to his companions, tucking away another stake for himself and straightening to his full height. “Well, kiddies, time to make an entrance.”





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