Yellow Skies

By: Isis

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, or anything related to Buffy the Vampire Slayer- they belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

Rated PG-13

Distribution: As long as you ask and tell me where it's going.

Author's Note: I'm sorry it's been a while since I last updated. This has been a crazy week for me. I thank my lucky stars for my beta, Madrog. She knew I was stuck on this chapter, and I didn't really have time to work on it, but she didn't let me give up. Go read her story, Future Written In Blood (hint, hint)

Reviews: Thanks for all the reviews, and encouraging words. It really keeps me going.

Email: isis_fanfic@hotmail.com

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Chapter 4

Alone

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The next time Buffy woke, she felt even worse than before. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to regain composure. But she knew it was useless; her body shivered uncontrollably and she still felt nauseous. Her neck throbbed where she had pulled out the claw, and the area was hot to the touch.

Since darkness had settled in, she figured it must be around 9 PM, but she had no real way of telling. It could have been the next morning, for all she knew, but she guessed it was more likely the same night. It was very quiet, except for the sound of rats scurrying by, and the rhythmic sound of dripping water. 'It must be raining,' she thought, and suddenly felt very thirsty.

Buffy knew that her body still wasn't up to par, but if she was going to help Dawn, she had to act now. Her sister still had yet to wake up, and she had good reason to believe she wouldn't, unless the claw was also removed from her neck.

Slowly, Buffy made her way to her sister, and then carefully took out the poisonous tip. Dawn made a slight whimper, but still did not wake. After checking her over for any other visible injuries, Buffy then made her way over to the dead guy in the opposite corner. She made a face as she got closer to him. The stench was over whelming, and the fact that his head was missing didn't help her already queasy stomach. He was a pretty big guy, so she figured the jacket he was wearing would at least keep Dawn's torso warm.

After the pain-staking ordeal of trying to move the body around to get the jacket off, Buffy crawled back to Dawn. She spread the jacket out, and then rolled Dawn on top of it, face up. Then she crossed her sister's arms, and zipped it up around her. Luckily, there was a hood, so she used that, knowing Dawn would lose most of her body heat through her head.

By the time she was done with that ordeal, Buffy knew she had over-exerted herself. For a while, she just sat there, with her arms crossed upon her knees, and her head resting on them. She thought about trying to find help, but she knew she couldn't make it very far in the condition she was in. Plus she didn't really want to leave Dawn. There was also the inevitability that the demons who had taken them, would be back. She found that sort of strange that they still had not shown, but then again, they probably thought their victims would stay unconscious until they decided to come for them. This was probably just one of their lairs that they kept future meals stored. 'Well,' Buffy thought, 'Guess you didn't know you were dealing with a slayer, did ya?' She tried to put some pep into her inner voice, but it didn't work.

Buffy lay down once again, and snuggled up to Dawn, hoping they could share what little warmth their bodies were still able to produce. She wondered how long it would take for Dawn to wake up, and then she thought about Tara and Willow. Were they searching for them? She hoped not, because that would only put them in danger as well. Maybe they got a hold of Xander, or even Spike...oh yeah, he wasn't around, and they didn't know how to contact him. It felt strange to realize this. So often she had taken him for granted, and most of the time, acted as if his presence during patrol was more of a nuisance than anything else.

Though the current situation caused many maladies, her heartache over Spike was felt above all else. That constant, familiar ache was ever present, and it was something she could no longer try to ignore. Since he had left, it had grown worse. She knew that the feeling in her heart was from missing him, and because of all the secrets it contained about the feeling she had for him. And now, her presently weakened state of being caused her mind to frequently summon thoughts of times they had shared, and words that had been spoken between just the two of them.

Buffy thought back to the first time they had kissed. Spike's intense, blue eyes had looked deep into hers, and she couldn't look away. She knew at that moment, he could see everything in her. The distance started to close between them, as they walked toward each other, but she didn't want to run away this time. Lost in the moment, she forgot to hide...hell, she forgot her name, because the moment their lips touched, the world went away. There was desperation and longing as they hungrily tasted each other, and it surprised her how utterly natural it felt to be in his embrace. Warm sensations awakened the cold spots that had formed in her body, and hot desire chased away any of her previous mantras of how this could never be. At that moment, she didn't give a fuck. For the first time ever, she felt literally weak in the knees, and her heart felt like it had beat for the first time since coming back from the grave.

When that long, "need to catch my breath" kiss ended, he had backed up a bit, but didn't let go of her. "Buffy," was all he could say, after a long pause passed between them. She had kinda smiled at her name; something about the way he said it sometimes, sounded so cute. She had looked at his chest, and then leaned her weary head against it to feel the vibration of his voice against her cheek, as he said he loved her. And though she wouldn't tell him so, that kiss took away any question she had as to whether he meant it. That revelation jerked her from this newfound Heaven, and she looked up apologetically before walking off. Her body felt the sudden loss of his hands and her heart twisted in retaliation, causing a tear to fall unnoticed by anyone other than herself.

It was the fact that Spike could truly love her that scared and confused her. So after that night, she demanded of herself, to never give into him again. In the end, it would only cause them both grief. She tried hard to live up to that promise to herself, but what was she to do that night when he had come up to her at the Bronze. and asked her if she still wanted him, even if he had only used his slight head-tilt and cocked eyebrow? His eyes like a puppy out in the cold, asking to be let in. Damn his way of saying something without a speaking a word. Looking away sure hadn't helped either. Couldn't fight it anymore, so she had turned to look back at him, but he was gone. Luckily the place was crowed, so he hadn't made it very far; she caught up to him as he was walking past the stairs. He had turned; able to sense she was close to him again. It didn't take any time before he was pushing her into an unoccupied space near the stairs to once again claim her lips.

After that, her dilemma only grew more complicated over time. Relentlessly, she told herself that nothing more could happen between the two of them. She told Spike he wasn't good enough for her, but in fact, she just worried she wasn't good enough. Not good enough for any sort of relationship, let alone one with him. Pushing Spike's faults aside, she actually really did like him, and knew he could make some girl happy. She just couldn't see it being her. He could just say "whatever" to the fact they were Slayer and vampire, but she couldn't let that go so easily. She didn't trust him, but she didn't trust herself either. It was easier to shove him away and avoid any pain that may come out of them being together, than to actually give in and allow the chance of everything falling through. So she brought up every reason for them not to be together.

Then it had happened, that one night when the tension between them had become too thick to think straight, and she finally gave into that ache. She had thought to herself, in between gasps of pleasure, that this would be the only time. It was just sex, nothing else. But half way through the night, she knew she knew better, and no amount of denial would keep her heart from heading in the direction it wanted. Every time his lips brushed her skin, a piece of her soul was restored. Every time he pushed himself into her, she knew they were connecting themselves in a way that would take more than fists and words to tear apart.

Buffy rolled onto her back, to give her ribs a break from the hard surface. She lay there for a while, trying to come up with a plan to get out. But it was like her mind would go blank every time she came up with something half feasible. She knew she had walked quite a long way before being taken, but she had no idea how long she had been carried. The sewer tunnels, she figured, could go on for quite a distance, and they probably connected to other tunnels. Probably some that were unmapped, knowing Sunnydale.

Besides the smell of the rotting dead guy, it didn't smell relatively bad wherever they were located. Well, not as bad as it could have. Buffy guessed they were in some kind of an unfinished, dead-end tunnel and that it was an offshoot to the main sewer line. That had her thinking; maybe she wouldn't have to go too far to find a manhole, or some other way out.

Before long, Buffy was up and slowly exploring her dim surroundings. She didn't want to go too far, because she didn't want to get lost, or have Dawn wake up without her there. Besides, being as dizzy as she was, she couldn't walk very far if she wanted to. The fear of the demons coming back, or running into a vamp, scared her. That was unusual for her, but she knew there was no way to protect herself. They were both sitting ducks.

After about a half an hour of looking around, Buffy made her way back, unlucky. Not only did she not find a way out, but also she had tripped more than once on the uneven, wet concrete beneath her, and ended up soaked in the process. Dawn was still sleeping, but moving around a bit, so she settled back down beside her once more. Her strength was completely gone now, and even her shivering exhausted her. Never had she felt so weak and vulnerable, unable to protect herself, let alone the ones she loved. . She stretched out and then went back to hugging her sister. It wasn't long until she felt herself being lulled back to sleep by the rhythmic melody of Dawn's shallow breathing, and the rainwater dripping in the cavern's entrance, and tunnel beyond.

****

Spike had been sitting in the shadows that stretched across the Summer's front lawn for about an hour and a half now. It was around 11:30, he figured, and watched the silhouettes of people moving about inside the house. None looked to be Buffy, but maybe she was out patrolling. Dawn was probably in bed.

Spike, in all his self-pride, couldn't get up the guts to just walk in the door and tell her he couldn't do it. He couldn't sit around in some other town, waiting for her to want him back. On one hand, he didn't want to fuck things up, and on the other, that was better than the non-existent interaction had had with her for the last few days.

Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out a ring. The flat, gold band had engraved roses that ran along the circumference of it, and in the middle was a deep, red Ruby, hugged on each side by slightly smaller diamonds. Spike held it up in the moonlight, and the gems shone with brilliant radiance. It was beautiful. How many times had he imagined Buffy's face lighting up the same way when he finally placed it on her finger? He had lost count long ago. He thought maybe tonight he would give it to her, but with the way things were going between them, he thought better of it. It was only meant for someone that could love him back; no sense in giving it to someone that would think it worthless.

It had belonged to his Grandmother, who, as a child, he had adored. He envisioned her beauty hidden beneath her laugh lines and droopy eyes; he believed her a queen of sorts. Her breast had often been a pillow to cry his tears when some harsh word was spoken his way. By the time he was entering adolescence, she had become his rock in his watery world of propriety and hierarchy. It was at this important, self-defining time in his life, that his grandfather died. At the funeral, it seemed to him that over night, she had aged beyond her years. He held her hand, trying to console the now fail woman who had always held him steadfast.

Spike took a drag on his cigarette as he turned the ring over in his hand. The last words he heard from his grandmother replayed in his head, and even though it had been over a hundred years, he could still hear her voice as plain as day. "He had come to me, one night, before we were married, and asked me to the town dance." Her eyes had lit up with remembrance. " I told him I didn't have anything to wear, but then he brought out a beautiful blue dress, from his wagon, and said he had bought if for me." A smile perked up her lips as tears streamed past them, pooling on her chin. "He said I was a vision for angels to behold, when I floated down the stairs toward him." She then pulled the ring off her finger and enclosed it in his hand, while looking into his grief stricken eyes. "He gave this to me as we danced beneath the stars, and he said we'd be together always. I loved him more than anything; he was my life. He would have done anything for me. What we had was true love, William. I know someday you will find someone to give it to. Someone you will love beyond belief."

At 13, William was a responsible boy, and he kept the ring well hidden in a safe spot. He didn't even tell his mother about it. The promise held in that ring, was something that intrigued him. He spent many nights studying it, as if it held some magical power.

Looking back on it, Spike wondered if that enchanted ring, and his grandmother's stories were what encouraged him into becoming love's bitch in the first place. He shuddered as he remembered being a child, who was always looking for approval, which he felt was closely tied with love. Instead he always felt rejected, and as a man, it became even worse. After Cecily had walked off, with her nose in the air, he had put the ring away, and light hardly touched it from that point on.

Once in a while, when he was with Dru, he would take it out when she wasn't around. Sometimes he felt like maybe he should give it to her, but something about it just didn't feel quite right. He loved her, there wasn't any question to that, but he imagined it wasn't quite the kind of love his grandmother had meant. So he kept it hidden from her, hoping she wouldn't accidentally find it one day, and be angry with him for hiding something "so pretty." He felt guilty about it, actually. But he always felt like there was something else out there for him. Being a vampire, he should have been happy and want for nothing, when he had such power, and a pretty girl by his side. But something else called to him, and it was Sunnydale. Crashing through the Sunnydale sign, and stepping out of his car to survey his new territory, he thought it was the evilness that lurked around the hellmouth that had drawn him there. But he soon learned he was wrong. Realized it the second his eyes landed on the Slayer at the Bronze, and all hell broke lose in his heart. Something about her was different. Watching how her body moved to the music, he suddenly had yearned to see her in action. From the shadows he watched her fight, and he was seduced by the challenge she provided him.

What intrigued him furthermore, was the fact that he ended up crashing the parent-teacher night, just because he couldn't be patient enough to wait to see her again. Plus, he wanted to have a little one on one action with her. She didn't disappoint either. It was the first time he came face to face with her fiery self; he knew he was in trouble.

Spike flung his fag down by his boot and ground it with the heel. He tilted his head back as he blew the smoke out between his lips, and let his eyes close for a moment. He was tired from the drive, and the sleepless days were catching up to him.

"Spike, what the hell are you doing here?" Xander's menacing voice rang out.

He jumped up to his feet, surprised that he had let himself go so unguarded. He quickly shook it off, and put on his "Don't fuck with me" face.

"Wait, don't tell me, haven't gotten the whole evil stalker thing down pact yet, and your just doing your homework on the refresher course."

Willow had heard the commotion outside, and went to inspect. "Xander, glad you showed up." She turned to Spike, "What are you doing here? How did you find out?"

Xander butted in. "I was just asking him the same thing. About the whole being here part."

"Gees, sorry Harris, I didn't know I had to muster everyday to tell you my plans for the day."

Xander snorted, "Yeah, give me all the details of your plans. Drink blood, throw in a few hard drinks to forget about your unlife, and then go lurk about to watch the one girl that hasn't played, jump-the-stiff-guy with you, yet."

Spike's lack of sleep only shortened him temper. "I *wasn't* lurking!" His voice rose as he got in Xander's face. "I came her to talk to Buffy." His voice then went down to just above a whisper, "Was thinking what to say, is all."

"Ummm...guys? Buffy and Dawn are missing." Willow said.

"What?" Both guys said in unison.

"I...I tried to call you, Xander, but you never answered. You really do need to get an answering machine."

"I had to run some errands after work. Anya is gone for a few days with Hallie."

Spike, losing patience, almost growled at them. "Enough of the small talk, what the hell is going on?"

"Oh, right." Willow said, as she crinkled her eyebrows up, apologetically. "Dawn met with me for lunch, and then said she was heading over to your place, Spike. Well, when Buffy got home from work, in the early evening, Dawn still wasn't back. So she asked Tara and I to stay here while she went to look for her. They still haven't returned."

"Something's wrong." Spike said, and Willow figured if he could have gone paler at that moment, he would have. "I'm going to go find them." He turned to leave, but Xander grabbed his arm.

"Wait, I'm coming with you."

"I can do this one on my own. I don't need to be holding your hand, dragging you behind me like a woman."

"Spike, I don't like myself mixed in your fantasies."

"Ya know, I'm not going to stand around, talking about what you do and don't like. What I am going to do is go find the girls. If you want to come, fine. But I'm not saving your ass if you fall behind. I've had enough of saving your ungrateful ass." He turned on his heel, Xander close behind.

Willow yelled to them. "I'll wait here. Don't worry about us. I'll..." She stopped when she realized they were long gone.

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