B/S Fan Fiction

A Tale of Two Hearts

By A.Price

Dawn is home by now, I know she's frantic, I wonder if dad will even let her stay if I wasn't there to meet her. Even if I get out of here, I may have lost my chance to keep Dawn. I'm sorry Dawnie.... I have a terrible cold, the kind that makes you want to curl up and sleep. I hope Spike is okay. Maralee keeps telling me that he is.

Later that day, as James was leading a badly beaten Spike back to his cell he met Maralee bringing Buffy's supper. She opened the door before James had Spike back in the cell

Buffy eagerly went to the small door to look out, she was aching for companionship and Maralee had become her only link to the outside world. She was surprised to see James andSpike outside, Spike was shirtless and his chest was covered in open wounds. "Spike! What have they done to you?" She cried out trying to reach her hand through the bars, trying to touch him.

Spike looked up when he heard her voice, he tried to wrench himself from James' grasp. Maralee gave James a look, and James let the vampire make his way to the front of Buffy's cell. "Oh, Spike." Buffy said tenderly as her fingertips reached through the bars and caressed his bruised face, "I'm sorry." She didn't know what else to say and the anger that rose inside of her just fueled her desperation. Hot tears rolled down her cheek, she was sick and weak and absolutely useless right now.

James and Maralee watched as Spike leaned into Buffy's touch. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and smiled at her, "I'm okay, luv. Looks alot worse then it really is."

"Why? Why are they doing this?" Buffy asked him still tenderly stroking his cheek with her fingertips.

"I'm not sure, but you have to do something for me." He tried to smile for her again.

"Anything." She whispered through fresh tears.

"Be strong, okay? No matter what." He placed his his hand over her fingers resting on his cheek and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"Okay." She answered soflty more determined then ever to find a way out of here for both of them.

"That's enough. If he finds you like this we'll all be in trouble." James steered Spike back into his cell.

Maralee put Buffy's food through the small door, Buffy turned on her full of anger. "You lied to me!" She shouted between coughs. "You said he was okay...he's not okay. Someone is hurting him."

"I'm sorry, Buffy. He...Spike asked me not to tell you. I don't think he wanted to worry you." Maralee tried to explain as Buffy paced angrily.

"Maralee, you have to help me........help us. You know this isn't right." Buffy pleaded with the girl in front of her.

"I..I can't my uncle.........I just can't." Maralee began crying softly, "I'm sorry." She turned and ran from the cell.

"Maralee!" Buffy shouted after her, but she was gone. Buffy looked at the plate of food in front of her drugged or not she had to eat, she had gone without food for a couple of days and it seemed to have weakned her even more and now she had this cold. She picked up a biscuit and nibbled on it, her appetite was going and she had to force herself to eat. Perhaps she could work on Maralee some more later, she would tell her some more of her story. She finished the juice and half the biscuit and eggs and lay on the cot.

She closed her eyes and saw Spike's battered body in front of her. Why? Who would do this, she was sure it was Council related - Giles would be so proud of her deducing skills. A) The drug used to weaken her, she was sure it was the same one the council used, B) the captors had Britsih accents - didnt' seem like much but it was yet another small connection to the Council.

Reaching for another tissue, she sat up and opened the notebook, writing down her theory. Now if she could only figure out why the Council wanted her - or Spike?

*****

Spike lay his aching body down on the cot and tried to listen for sounds of Buffy she was quiet tonight aside from the occasional cough he heard nothing. He hoped she was eating, maybe Maralee could get her something for that cold, it sounded like it was getting worse.

***

"Tomorrow school starts, I'm not sure I should go." Dawn told Xander as he fixed her some breakfast.

"You have to go, Dawnie. No one can suspect Buffy is missing." He handed her a plate loaded with pancakes.

"I guess you're right, that was quick thinking on your part telling my dad that Buffy had gone to managerial training in Nevada for the Doublemeat. He was aggravated that she didn't call but I thnk he was happy about her becoming a manager or at least he thinks she is." Dawn sighed, "We have to find her Xander."

"Dawn, if we can we will." Xander sighed.

"You're afraid aren't you? Afraid she's ........gone for good this time." Dawn asked over a bite of pancake.

Xander didn't answer right away, then in a small voice "Of course not."

"It's okay, I know she's alive, I just feel it. We just have to find her." Dawn gave him a half smile.

Xander gave her a hug, "Yeah, we just have to find her."

*****

Buffy lost count of the days that passed over the next couple of weeks. Her cold had turned into bronchitus she was sure of it. Maralee had apologized several times but her uncle wouldn't allow her to bring Buffy any medication. The coughing was worse now and she was waking up at night sometimes feeling like she was choking on the phlegm.

She continued to croak out her story to Maralee though when she felt like it. Today was a good day, she was telling Maralee about Spike being the first one she told about where she had been when she came back. She had never gone into full detail about Dawn being the key, she was afraid for very many people to know that part of the story. She just told her that Spike had tried to save her sister and she had died saving her, she quciky glossed over Willows spell to bring her back.

"He was the only one I felt like I could tell. And he never told anyone, he just listened and tried to comfort me. I think thats where the trouble started. He kept telling me that he loved me, and I just kept denying that he could." Buffy wrung her hands together, "I was wrong.....wrong about a lot of things."

"So he just decided one day that he loved you? But how he's a vampire?" Maralee shook her head.

"I think you can tell he's not your average vampire." Buffy laughed softly, "He said it was because we were working together, something about raomance in the workplace, I shot him down quickly over that. But he was persistent and after everything with Dawn. Well he took care of her and fought with the others while I was....gone.I couldn't explain it, so I just tried to deny it alot." Buffy shrugged her shoulders and coughed loudly. "We'll talk more later, okay?"

Maralee smiled, "Okay, get some rest." She walked away from the cell worried, she wished her uncle would let her give Buffy something for her illness.

Spike smiled to himself as he lay on his cot, ear to the wall, "She said she was wrong about thngs..........alot of things." He smiled at the wall, he didn't think he had would ever hear her admit she was wrong, the smile turned to a worried frown when he heard yet another coughing spell from the next cell.

*****

"I went to see Clem, last night." Dawn told Xander as she sat her book bag down on the table in the Magic Box.

"Has he heard anything?" Xander asked anxiously.

"He had one bit of information, I'm not sure if it connects to Buffy or not." Dawn sat down and leaned her elbows on the table, "He says he thinks Spike came back, he found a bag downstairs in the crypt and it had some clothes and stuff that looked like Spikes. But that was a few weeks ago and he hasn't seen him."

"That would have been about the time Buffy dissappeared! I'll stake him if he's done anything to her - he may have her holed up somewhere doing who knows what!!" Xander pounded his fist on the table.

Dawn jumped at the noise, "Xander..I know what you think you saw, but Buffy talked to me, I'm not sure she feels the same way you do about that night, and well........she was there and you weren't."

"I know what I saw, Dawnie. I can't figure out what kind of hold that bleached vampire has over you ...or your sister." Xander stood up, "I'm going to go ask around, see if anyones seen Spike."

"Xander, I really don't think Spike has hurt Buffy." Dawn started to argue but it fell on deaf ears as Xander stomped his way out of the Magic Box.

"I don't think he would intentionally hurt Buffy either." Anya patted Dawn's shoulder.

*****

Travers laughed out loud as he watched Spike pacing the room, limping from the cuts on his feet. He thought that he had the vampire just about where he wanted him. He would probably tell him anything now. The Slayer was sick, he was sure it was turning into pneumonia. His niece Maralee wanted to take her to a doctor, but he had quickly nixed that idea. It was much easier on him if Buffy Summers just quietly died a natural death from her illness.

It had been a month, and the vampire looked even paler then before if possible and he was very thin, Travers had only been feeding him every other day now. As he chained Spike against the wall he pulled a fireplace poker from a small fireplace against the backwall.

Spike grimaced at the memory of another time, another firepoker - one that he plunged into Angel. He remembered smiling at Angels agony. He cried out when Quentin stuck the first poker in to his chest, he realized that he had tears rolling down his face and they weren't just for his pain but for the memory of the pain he had put Angel through. He wondered how Angel had dealt with the pain of his soul for so long, and suddenly understood why Angel spent so much time brooding, it would be easy to fall into that trap......but he had to fight, he had to concentrate on getting Buffy out of here.

"You know William, there is a way to stop all of this." Travers leaned in only inches from Spike's face. "Let's make a trade, I'll let you go, but Buffy Summers must die."

Spike growled out "Never." He spit directly in Traver's face.

"Okay, we'll play some more then." He smiled at Spike as he picked up another poker. "So you don't want her dead, maybe we can make another deal, I think you have some information about........an incident that happend last year. It involved a key of sorts, Rupert was never clear on all the details, he just said that Buffy died protecting her sister. Why would a demon be that hellbent on killing the slayers sister? I think there is a lot more to the story then we were told. I know the slayer would only die again to protect her sister and Ruper would die to protect his slayer. I warned him about that father's love he has for her. So that leaves you to tell the story."

"I don't know anything." Spike shouted the words as Quentin thrust the hot poker into his midsection.

"I think you do." The poker was thrust deeper with his words.

****

"I can't bear this anymore, James." Maralee leaned against him wrapping her arms around him. Spike's screams had filled her nightmares for several nights now.

"I know, he's out of control. I..I don't know what to do, Maralee." James held her closer dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

"I think maybe my father was right. I don't think it's all black and white, Spike loves Buffy. And I think she feels the same way. She told me about him, they were lovers." Maralee pulled back from him, "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, I'll think of something." James left her to finish Buffy's supper.

*****

Buffy coughed up another bit of bloody phlegm into the kleenex. She was running a fever now and her chest ached with every cough. Breathing was beginning to be hard and painful. She was sure she wasn't going to make it, she was going to die in this cell. She found her paper and pen and decided she would write a note to Spike, things had to be set right between them.

"Spike,
I need to tell you something. I forgive you for that night......I forgive you because now I understand how it came to that. I know you didn't come to my house to hurt me, you wanted to make me understand, make me face feelings I didn't want to. Now for the really hard part, I did alot of thinking thissummer and I sorted through a lot of denial in my life. I wanted to blame sleeping with you on me - I wanted to think I was using you because that was so much better then facing that I might have stronger feelings for you - because we all know how Buffy's romances always turn out. I was scared and I'm sorry for that. So here is the big finish........I LOVE YOU. Yes you read that right, I'm sorry you never got to hear me say it. Be strong.
Love, Buffy

She reread the note and folded it neatly, she would give it Maralee when she brought her supper, she was sure that Maralee would deliver it. She was so tired now though, she just wanted to lie down and close her eyes.

Maralee opened the door to the cell and Buffy never stirred. She held her own breath for a moment as she watched Buffy's chest rise and fall, her breaths were hard and it pained Maralee to watch the pale girl on the cot. She left her food and went back to the kitchen, she couldn't do this anymore!

Spike listened to Buffy's labored breathing through the cell wall. She wasn't going to last much longer. He had to do something and he had to do it now.

Maralee opened his food door and he called to her, "Maralee, please tell your Uncle I want to deal."