[Reviews - 55]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2236 times

- Text Size +




Buffy kept her hands on her hips, staring at Spike, waiting for even the slightest sound to come from his mouth.

His mouth opened and then closed a few times, but he still didn’t speak.

“Gotta tell you, Spike. Fish impressions? Not your best.”

Spike seemed to snap out of his daze, but his eyes were still wide. “Is…is it really you?”

Buffy sighed and let her hands fall to her sides. “I don’t know. I mean…yes; it’s really me. But I don’t really feel like me.”

He took a cautious step toward her. Everyone in all the other cells were staring at Spike and the first female they had ever known to get him to show any emotion.

“Buffy…”

“Yes. I’m Buffy. We’ve established that,” she said in mock-annoyance and gave him a slight grin.

Spike didn’t misuse a single second and before Buffy’s mind or body could act in response, she was being held in his arms in an almost crushing embrace. She just stood for a second, not returning the hug. She patted his back somewhat, but not really hugging him.

“Okay, Spike. Missed you too. But, um…there’s still the whole ‘You’re on the side of evil and are probably supposed to be killing me now’ thing.”

When he pulled away, she watched him lower his head slightly in shame. “Buffy, I…”

“I don’t care why you did it. Angel explained a lot, so I kind of get most of it. Point is, you fight on the side of evil.”

Spike looked down again, avoiding her gaze. “But…” She continued. “From what I’m seeing, you’re not all that evil.”

Cautiously, Spike lifted his gaze and just looked at her. “’Sides, I hear you’ve still got that whole soul thing workin’ for ya,” Buffy said with another smile.

“Buffy…”

“Okay…if you keep saying my name like that, I’m going to have to change it.”

“How can you be so calm about this?”

“Because I’ve been dead for ninety years, or so I hear. So now I’m pretty much just trying to keep from ripping my own head off.”

Spike’s gaze hardened at the admission that she was in emotional pain. “Did Angel do this?”

“No, I believe that would be me,” Serena said from the next cell.

“Bloody hell, I knew I should’ve killed you!” Spike almost yelled.

“Hey, calm down,” Buffy responded. “It’s for a greater good, and hey!” She mock-punched him on the shoulder. “Not happy to see me?”

“Of course I am. But, Buffy…” He paused, trailing off to look at her again. “Sorry, I’m still in the shock stage right now. Any second now, I’ll be in the questions phase…and then I’ll probably just skip down to the kissing and sha-” Buffy knew where he was going, seeing as how he was smirking now.

“Hey! Stop that sentence right there,” she replied with a smile of her own.

“I missed you, Buffy.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” she answered a little coldly.

“What do you mean?”

“I come back and you’re all working for the side that you used to fight against? Sorry, it isn’t adding up as ‘I missed you, Buffy’.”

Spike’s own voice got icier. “You have no idea what it’s been like here, Slayer. I don’t exactly enjoy working for my enemies, but that’s how it works.”

“That’s not how it works for Angel or Xander.”

“Yeah? Well, then maybe you should go running to them!”

“I can’t, considering I’m stuck in a prison right now.” Her voice was so cold, he didn’t reply right away.

“Guess you weren’t meant to come back and save the day then, were you?” He knew he was being harsh, but he didn’t care. “This isn’t about you, Buffy. None of this is about you. Things stopped being about you the day you died!” Buffy’s face was void of all emotion, but her eyes were becoming glossy. “This war was about fighting to live, Buffy! And I realized I couldn’t do that on the other side, so yeah, I’m working for the enemy now!”

“And I can’t help that I was brought back,” she replied, not letting her voice show any emotion. “I never said it was about me. But you still loving me? I find that hard to believe, Spike.”

Spike didn’t let his anger, shock, or sadness show in his tone. “I said I missed you. Not that I love you,” he replied casually.

Buffy half expected him to say it, but she didn’t realize it would cut through her like this. She felt sick and had to swallow a couple of time to get rid of the lump in her throat.

But she wouldn’t cry.

Spike saw the sudden sadness seep into her features, and he regretted the lie he’d just told her. Of course he still loved her. Always did and always would. But for some reason, he didn’t say anything.

“Is that something you like to do?” She asked weakly, her voice showing how close she was to crying.

“What?”

“Hurting me in the worst ways possible. You’re really good at it sometimes.”

“Buffy…” He sighed. He was planning to apologize. But something in him told him not to give in. “If truth hurts, sorry then pet.”

She ignored the comment, knowing that the tears would fall if she dwelled on it. “I’m escaping now,” she informed him, going to walk past him. Spike, without thinking, held her back.

“No, you’re not.”

“Spike, let me go.”

“Can’t do that.”

“Sure you can. It’s easy. You take your hand off my arm.”

“You aren’t leaving. You got caught. Deal with it, Slayer.”

Buffy just looked at him, trying to control her emotions. “You know they’ll kill me the second they sense I’m the slayer!”

“Then I guess you’ll go back to your precious Heaven.”

Buffy pushed him away from her as if he was burning her arm and backed against the concrete wall. She couldn’t help the few tears that slid from her eyes, so she just looked away.

Spike didn’t say anything else, just closed the prison bars and locked her cell. Soon he was out of the room completely.

Why was it hurting her this much?

She knew she loved Spike.

But she hadn’t realized she was in love with Spike.

Not until he didn’t love her anymore.

He should never be allowed to make her this weak, Buffy realized.

Turning all her anguish into anger, she turned on the wall so she was facing it. With all the strength she could find, she delivered blow after blow to the concrete.

Each punch was sending blood down her arms and making her knuckles completely raw.

When the pain in her arms was too much to bare anymore, she felt the anger leave her and the tears return. Sliding down the wall, she sobbed silently, each cry shaking her body.

She finally fell asleep, still bruised and bloody on her hands and arms.

What she didn’t feel was two strong arms picking her up carefully in the middle of the night, trying not to wake her up.

A/N: Okay, don’t shoot me! I wasn’t going to turn Spike into a willing slave again just because Buffy’s back. There’s going to be a little hostility there for another chapter or two. But I’m not going to make this unrealistic and have them rushing into each others’ arms right now. So, hold on. If I can finish my homework soon enough, I’ll get another chapter up tonight.





You must login (register) to review.