Title: Sweet Dreams 1/3
Rating: PG-15, borderline R
Pairings: B/S
Spoilers: Runs up to The Body
Disclaimer: There are so many people, places and things in this story that
I do not own: BTVS, ATS, RHPS, NYC, ADL, the list goes on and on. I
submit!!!
Distribution: my site, the archives, those who have my permission already,
and anyone else, just tell me where it's going!
Summary: Buffy is having nightmares and Spike helps her cope. I know it's
been done before, but read it! I think you'll like it, it's different.
Romance, comedy, horror, action, all that good stuff.

*************************************************************

She was having nightmares again. They were horrible! She kept seeing her mom lying on the table in the morgue. She was so pale and had that little cut on her head where they did part of the autopsy. Then her mom would slowly sit up. She clutched the sheet to her body and stared at Buffy with vacant eyes.

“It’s all your fault. It’s always your fault. Why couldn’t you have been a NORMAL girl? Then I wouldn’t be dead!”

Buffy would stare at her in paralyzing fear. Slowly, her mom would slide off the table and start walking towards her. The sheet would drop to reveal her naked form. Only she wasn’t completely naked. She was covered in cuts. Buffy looked closer at the cuts and realized they formed words. She saw the names of all the people she knew who ever died. The carved names began to seep blood, and that’s when Buffy saw her name carved on her mother’s left side.

She’d scream in the dream, and in her sleep. The scream was a blessing. It woke her up and pulled her away from the horror in her mind. She would sit up and clutch the blanket to her. The tears would start to come and Buffy would sit there until she cried herself back to sleep.

Watching this every night was as much torture for Spike as the dreams were for Buffy. He would sit outside her window, seeing her toss and turn and cry, while pressing his hands against the invisible barrier barring his entrance. He would patiently watch her fall asleep and stay until it was almost too late before returning to his crypt. This had been going on for five weeks now, every single night.

Tonight, Spike resolved to do something about it. He sat watching her, and started to see the telltale signs of her nightmare. As soon as it started, he knocked on the window and called her name. She didn’t wake up right away, so he repeated his action several times, each time louder than the last. Finally, Buffy sat up gasping for air.

“That was new,” she said into the night. Spike was frozen outside the window. He had planned to wake her and run, but instead felt compelled to stay. Her head turned slowly to the window, and her eyes met and locked with Spike’s. She realized he woke her from her nightmare. Maybe it was the late hour, or maybe it was the look behind the blond Vampire’s eyes, but she wasn’t angry. She was grateful.

The Slayer opened the window, and then pulled up a chair to sit in front of him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Why though? After all that’s happened, why wake me like that?”

Spike wasn’t prepared for this. Normally, he would have gone over every question she’d ask and formulate every answer to perfection. He’d have to wing it.

“You were having a nightmare again. Wanna tell me what it was? Maybe I can help some.”

She cocked her head to one side and yawned. When she nodded yes, Spike relaxed and gave her his undivided attention. She told him the dream in explicit detail, starting to cry at parts. He wanted to comfort her, but this was the best he could do. He did not have an invitation to come inside.

“That’s horrible pet. I’m sorry you’ve been having such bad dreams. Anything I can do to help?”

“Don’t know. Do you know how to stop nightmares?”

He smiled and thought back to his childhood. He was plagued by night terrors as a toddler, and nightmares as a child and young adult. His mother would read to him, and instead of dreaming of monsters and death, he would dream of the story. He told Buffy about his experiences, and she frowned.

“I don’t have anyone to read to me. Dawn has enough problems of her own without needing to tuck me in, Giles is concentrating on her ever since he adopted her, and mom, well, you know.” She looked quite sad and started to make her way back to bed. “Night Spike.”

“Wait, luv. I wouldn’t mind reading to you. Not like I have much else to do these days.” He smiled at her with hope and care.

“You’d do that?”

”Yeah. I don’t even need to come in. Go on and climb in bed. I have a good book with me that I can start with now. It’s a fantasy novel that is very easy to escape into. Lots of action, suspense, romance, a true good vs. evil epic. Interested?”

She chuckled and agreed. After settling in and making herself comfortable, Spike began:

“In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort…”

Spike read to her, making up little melodies for the songs and creating special voices for Bilbo, Gandalf and Thorin. He listened to her heart beat and breathing, and when she finally slept, he closed the book and watched until just before dawn.

When she woke the next morning, she felt refreshed. She went through her day in a much better mood than in recent weeks. When the day came to an end, she opened her window wide and settled into bed again. Not long after she drifted off, Spike appeared at her window. He was just in time to see the start of her nightmare.

“Buffy, wake up luv,” he called. After a minute or so, she woke up and immediately went to the window to greet him.

“Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome. How did you sleep last night, after I read to you?”

“Very well, actually. I kept dreaming of hoarded gold and dragons, and burning corks! It was a pleasant change.”

“Shall I continue?”

She was shocked. She figured this was a one-time deal. “If you want to. I don’t mind.” Back to bed she went and Spike picked up where they had left off:

“Up jumped Bilbo, and putting on his dressing-gown went into the dining room. There he saw nobody, but all the signs of a large and hurried breakfast…”

Buffy was getting into the story, and tried to stay awake to hear more. It didn’t work. She was asleep after a chapter, and Spike sat watch once again. Several times in the night, she dreamt, but she didn’t have any nightmares. She even laughed out in her sleep once.

This continued every night for a week. He would read to her from outside the window, and she would sleep peacefully.

On the eighth night, it started to rain. Spike stood at the window with his duster pulled up over his head. He looked pitiful, trying to shield both himself and his book from the weather. Buffy looked at him and took pity.

“Spike, why don’t you come inside tonight? I don’t want your book to get ruined.”

The shocked blond Vampire didn’t know what to say. Instead, he stepped inside and pulled a chair up to the foot of the bed. They moved in complete silence, neither wanting to say or do the wrong thing. Once they were both settled in, Spike picked up where he left off. It was one of his favorite parts of the books, being an intellectual person during his life.

“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills,
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.”

She squirmed in her bed. The riddle had a rotting, decaying feeling to it. She felt that it cast a reflection of those creatures that had no real manifestation in a mirror. When she learned the answer was ‘The Dark,’ she relaxed slightly and allowed herself to enjoy the story once more. This Bilbo was crafty! She liked the Hobbit, thinking his escape from Gollum’slair was quite ingenious!

The night continued as usual, and when Buffy slipped off to sleep, Spike kept his vigil from her chair, leaving right before sunrise.

Buffy’s health improved, as well as her state of mind. Giles noticed the change in her, and wondered what caused it. He casually remarked on her transformation, and she answered that she was sleeping better. No more nightmares. That was all the answer Giles needed.

*****************************************************

Spike had been reading a few pages to her every night for several weeks now. They both came to treasure the nights that they spent together. Buffy even stopped pretending to fall asleep while waiting for him to arrive

The Vampire sat at the end of the bed every night, and once she was asleep he allowed himself to drink in her beauty and purity. He loved everything about her, right down to the little snores that occasionally escaped her perfect mouth. They had a silent understanding though. Neither of them mentioned his feelings for her, or her feelings for him. They also never spoke of their nighttime meetings with any of their friends. That was easy for Spike, since Buffy was his only friend. She had it much more difficult.

Luckily, everyone had assumed the old Buffy was back and stopped asking her what made her feel better. Deep down however, she was afraid of what would happen if he didn’t read to her one night. She remembered the nightmare with vivid clarity, and did not want to be revisited by it.

******************************************************

Giles had a surprise for Buffy and her friends. He was taking them to New York for one week! The Council had long ago accepted the fact that Buffy worked in a team, and that the members of that team were just as important as the team leader. Thanks to their revelation, Giles was able to convince them to finance the excursion for all of them.

When Giles told them the news, everyone reacted with extreme delight, including Buffy. But her excitement was equaled by her nervousness at the thought of being without Spike for the week. He was not part of the group, nor did any of them know he was still in Sunnyhell.

When she told him the news, he wasn’t the slightest bit worried. “I’ve been thinking about that, wondering what we’d do if you needed to go away for the night or so. I have a gift for you.”

Spike pulled a cellular phone from his pocket and set it on her dresser.

“Call me when you’re ready to sleep and I’ll read to you over the phone. It will be like when we first started the books and I’d sit outside, alright luv?”

She was ecstatic with his gift, and thanked him by throwing her arms around him in a genuine hug. Spike hugged her back tentatively. It was the most physical contact they had had in months, and it caused an awkward moment between them. They pulled apart and he picked up the book and started reading.

Title: Sweet Dreams 2/3
Rating: PG-15, borderline R
Pairings: B/S
Spoilers: Runs up to The Body
Disclaimer: There are so many people, places and things in this story that
I do not own: BTVS, ATS, RHPS, NYC, ADL, the list goes on and on. I
submit!!!
Distribution: my site, the archives, those who have my permission already,
and anyone else, just tell me where it's going!
Summary: Buffy is having nightmares and Spike helps her cope. I know it's
been done before, but read it! I think you'll like it, it's different.
Romance, comedy, horror, action, all that good stuff.

************************************************************

They landed at JFK airport at 5 p.m. and were met by a luxury van. Their entire luggage collection was packed away and they were driven to the heart of Manhattan. They went straight to their hotel to check in, and the beauty of it amazed Buffy. They weren’t staying at any of the better-known hotels, such as the Waldorf Astoria or The Plaza, but instead at a small private
hotel that overlooked Central Park. They were around the block from The Museum of Natural History, a fact that did not escape Willow and Giles, and Xander had already insisted that they go to the midnight showing of the “Dark Side of the Moon Laser Show” at the Planetarium. Leave it to Xander to find the Museum’s ‘fun’ side.

It was dark when they were ready to begin their exploration of Manhattan, and Giles suggested they start with dinner at one of the ‘theme’ restaurants. They ended up at Jekyll & Hyde’s and ate dinner to the tune of Frankenstein and Dracula crooning away in the center performance area. After spending a good deal of time laughing at the ridiculous decor, they went back to the Planetarium to purchase their tickets. The show was set to start in 30 minutes so they joined the building line.

Once inside and seated, the laser light show began. They had a great time, except for Willow. She ended up with a headache, and so ended their first night in New York City. Giles informed them that since tomorrow was Saturday, they were going to take in a Matinee showing of a popular Broadway show, but refused to tell them which one. The morning was theirs to do with
as they pleased, and they all agreed to explore the Natural History Museum with the Witch and the Watcher.

After everyone retired to their rooms, Buffy dressed for bed and pulled out the cell phone. He had pre-marked one of the buttons “Bed Time,” and when she pressed it he answered after one ring.

“Evenin’ Luv, enjoying The Big Apple?”

“Why do they call it that?”

“No clue pet. They’re New Yorkers. No one knows why they do anything.”

Buffy laughed and agreed with him. She told him about her day and the weird restaurant they ate in, about the laser light show and their plans for tomorrow.

“Pink Floyd. Fun, but more fun when you’re stoned. I went to see it once after feeding off this guy that had dropped some acid…talk about colors!”

They laughed and talked a bit more when Buffy started yawning. “Someone’s getting sleepy. Tuck yourself in and let me read to you.”

“How will this work? I’m afraid that I’ll fall asleep on an open line and the bill will be huge!”

“The phone will shut off within three minutes of me hanging up the line pet. Don’t worry. Ready?”

“Mmm-hmmm,” came the sleepy reply.

“…The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here. But this in the Common Tongue is what is said, close enough:

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

It is only two lines of a verse long known in Elven-lore:

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”

He read to her for a while, and soon she was sleeping. Spike stayed on the line for a bit longer though, making sure she was deep asleep, and listening to her breathing. He found it difficult to hang up the line, and once he did, he regretted it. * Oh well, I’ll read to her again tomorrow night. *

******************************************************

The Museum was lots of fun! They saw some great exhibits, and ate lunch in the Whale’s Den under a life-size whale that was hung from the ceiling. Dawn feigned boredom, but everyone knew it was an act. She was actually having a great time, and when they made it to the main shop, she bought the most trinkets.

Afterwards, they returned to the hotel, each with a hot pretzel from a street vendor, and prepared to go to the show. Giles rang their rooms from the lobby and told them their transportation was waiting. They were driven to mid-town in a van and dropped off in front of the Nederlander Theatre on West 41st Street.

“Rent!” was yelled in unison, and they made their way into the theatre for the 1pm showing. The show was fantastic, and they walked out singing “No Day But Today,” and “Seasons of Love” at the top of their lungs.

They finished the afternoon off by having an early dinner at the Stage Door Deli. Anya asked for cheese on her pastrami sandwich, and didn’t realize how lucky she was to even be served at all. When the sandwich was given to her cheeseless, Willow had to explain how the best Jewish Deli’s worked. Anya had trouble grasping why they wouldn’t want to make their customers happy at any cost, and Xander ended up asking for a plate with a few pieces of cheese on it to make her happy.

After making their way back to the hotel, Giles told the group that he bought two more tickets for a show that night. He and Dawn were going to see Phantom of the Opera, and the others were given strict orders to stay close to Buffy at all times, and use the taxi’s to get anywhere. He didn’t want their first experience on the NYC Subway to be at night, and they agreed to follow his instructions.

Buffy made a quick call to Spike while everyone was preparing for their night out, and he gave her a few suggestions on places to visit and things to do. Everything seemed to take place in The Village, so Buffy called for the concierge to have a taxi waiting for them.

They piled inside and made their way to Washington Square Park. It would be closed off soon, and she wanted to see the famous park before dark. They arrived in time to see a street performer or two, and then made their way towards West 19th Street.

Tara wanted to visit a bookstore that she had heard a lot about, and when they arrived, everyone moved inside. The two witches made their ways through the aisles of books meticulously, while the others milled around reading titles. They found Xander in the lesbian erotica section, and it took some time to pull him away.

“Thank you for shopping at A Different Light. Come back soon!” Between the two of them, they spent a small fortune. Luckily, they had brought backpacks and stuffed the books inside for easier carrying.

The next stop was one of Spike’s suggestions. He told her to go to a store on West 4th Street that they would get a kick out of. “Look for the bright pink cat,” was his only description.

If they thought it was difficult to drag Xander out of the bookstore, it was nothing compared to getting Anya out of The Pink Pussycat. In fact, they were all walking around with their jaws dropped. A man behind the counter with more piercings then one could count was helping Willow and Tara pick out something, but every time someone walked close to see what they were
buying, the clerk threw a scarf over it and they were silent. He was used to tourists coming to visit his store, and knew when discretion was necessary. Each of them walked out with a bright pink bag in their hands which was immediately stuffed into their backpacks and out of sight.

They walked around and window shopped for a while, and as it grew close to midnight, they made their way to their final stop for the night. 12th Street and 2nd Avenue loomed as they caught sight of a hoard of people dressed up for the night’s event. They were of all ages and backgrounds and sizes, and they looked to be having a blast!

“Oh Wow! Rocky Horror Picture Show!” They stood in line until the doors opened and they too their seats. Then the true madness began. They all caught on to the audience participation pretty fast, screaming out “asshole” when it was time, and dancing the Time Warp with everyone. During the entire show, all Buffy could think about was how Spike would have loved
being there with them. She could visualize him dancing and singing, and just having a fantastic time. She missed him, and for the first time, she allowed herself to accept the fact that there was something there. She decided to give it more thought when they got back home.

When they returned to the hotel later that night, Buffy immediately rang Spike and told him all the tales of her evening.

“So luv, what did you buy at the Pink Pussycat?”

She vehemently denied purchasing anything from the sex store, and Spike let off, figuring he would find out later anyway.

He read her to sleep, and the routine of day and night NYC excursions followed by a bed-time story continued until they decided to stay up late one night in Buffy’s room. They were talking about everything they had done and what they were going to do the next day, when Willow and Dawn fell asleep in their chairs. Instead of waking them, those remaining covered
them in blankets and went back to their own rooms.

Buffy crawled into bed and turned on the cell phone. The beep it made seemed exceptionally loud, and she was afraid her guests would wake up. She spoke to Spike in whispers, never saying his name out loud.

The beep had started to wake both the Witch and Dawn up, but it was Buffy’s hushed words that pulled them out of sleep enough for them to listen in on the conversation.

“I can’t talk too much tonight…No, it’s just that Dawn and Willow are here, sleeping in my chairs…No, I won’t kick them out, but I still want you to read to me…Thank you…”

They watched Buffy behind half-closed eyes, and both came to the conclusion that the Slayer was seeing someone, a new boyfriend. They would ask her tomorrow.

**************************************************************

“So, who were you talking to last night?” Willow and Dawn stood in front of a sleepy-eyed Slayer and began pumping her for information. The only thing they could get from her was that, yes, she was seeing someone behind their backs; no, they couldn’t know who; and yes, she was happy.

The first chance they got, the eavesdroppers ran to the others to tell of Buffy’s love life. Everyone was happy and understood her reluctance to introduce him to the group. Buffy stood strong, refusing to give them any real information on Spike. She was actually enjoying the game she was playing. They thought of her ‘friend’ as a boyfriend, and she did nothing to dissuade their assumptions. Buffy tucked the idea of Spike as her boyfriend to the back of her mind, just another thing to think about once
she was back in Sunnyhell.

*****************************************************************

The night they arrived back home, Spike was waiting for Buffy in her bedroom. He was hiding in the closet in case Dawn decided to come inside, but they had arrived late at night and Dawn went straight to bed. When Spike came forth, she welcomed him with a warm lingering hug. They sat and spoke of her trip for hours, and suddenly they realized the sun was rising. It was too late for Spike to leave, and Buffy desperately needed to sleep. Everyone was taking the day as a day of recovery, and so she invited Spike to stay in her room with her.

He pulled out the well-worn copy of his book and went to take his seat in the chair. She motioned for him to join her and he sat on the bed next to her. She pulled a bag out from one of her suitcases earlier, and dumped its contents on the bedspread.

“These are for you. I thought you might like them.”

Among the pile of goodies were a pair of wax lips from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a Statue of Liberty figurine, a mirror from the Vampire Underground club, and a little pink box with a picture of a pussycat on it. He opened the box to find a lighter in the form of a naked woman. They both laughed and he pressed her to find out what she bought for herself. After much prodding, and a promise not to laugh, the Slayer produced a long thin box.

When Spike opened it and pulled out the contents, he laughed hysterically. Inside were seven lipsticks, all carved very erotically.

“Slayer! You are too much! Tell me, what will go through your mind when you rub these little goodies on your pouty lips?” They laughed for a while longer, and when Buffy began yawning, he tucked her into bed and continued reading to her.

Things went back to normal after this, or as normal as one could expect living on a hellmouth. The Slayer patrolled every night, the Scoobies backed her up and nudged her for more information on her mysterious boyfriend, and Spike read to her nightly after tucking her into her bed.

Buffy explained that her boyfriend read to her every night, and that because of this, she was able to sleep without having any nightmares. She told them he was reading The Lord Of The Rings and that she was enjoying it very much. The women all swooned at the notion of a man so sweet, and were all a little jealous. Tara and Willow started reading to each other at night, and Xander and Anya made time to sit and talk about anything and everything every single day.

Title: Sweet Dreams 3/3
Rating: PG-15, borderline R
Pairings: B/S
Spoilers: Runs up to The Body
Disclaimer: There are so many people, places and things in this story that
I do not own: BTVS, ATS, RHPS, NYC, ADL, the list goes on and on. I
submit!!!
Distribution: my site, the archives, those who have my permission already,
and anyone else, just tell me where it's going!
Summary: Buffy is having nightmares and Spike helps her cope. I know it's
been done before, but read it! I think you'll like it, it's different.
Romance, comedy, horror, action, all that good stuff.

*******************************************************

Buffy woke up from a wonderful and exciting dream and found herself in very strange surroundings. She was in a room that resembled a barrack, in a bed that was so thin she could feel the frame underneath the mattress. She sat up and looked around her to find several other occupied beds around her. There were two long rows of beds against the walls, and the room was
rectangular in shape. There were very tiny windows about 20 feet up, just under the ceiling, and the only door led into a bathroom/shower room.

She ran to Spike and shook him awake. “Luv, what’s happening? Did I oversleep?”

“Shhh! No, look around you!” The Vampire ran his eyes everywhere and then back to Buffy.

“Damnit, we’re in trouble, aren’t we?” He saw the worry behind her eyes and reached out to take her hand. She grasped back and held on tight.

“Yep, you start waking them on this side and I’ll start on that side.”

Spike pulled Dawn, Giles and Tara from their sleep, and Buffy woke Xander, Anya and Willow. Once everyone was up and moving around, they began to search the room.

They were trapped. There didn’t seem to be any way out, and Buffy began to hit the walls, hoping to find a weak spot. The others helped as much as possible, going over every square inch of the main room and bathroom to superb detail. They found a dresser with a change of clothes for each of them, and a linen closet with sheets and towels enough for all.

They had been up four hours and hadn’t heard a single noise coming from outside the room. Buffy was doing everything she could to hold them together, but panic had already set it. Suddenly, a seam in the wall opened and a tray laden with food slid inside. As fast as it opened, it closed. Buffy tried everything she could, and the Witches cast spell after spell, but they couldn’t open the door again.

After several more hours of trying, Buffy walked over to the food cart and surveyed the lunch. There were apples and bananas, several sandwiches, sodas and bottled water, chips, chocolate chip cookies, and a single bag of human blood. All the food was kept on ice, and she played guinea pig and bit into a ham sandwich. It was sealed and said “Safeway” on it, and she hoped there was no drug lacing the food. They washed the fruit in the bottled water and everyone started eating.

Spike took the blood and stashed it under his pillow, explaining that he wanted it warm and it was too disgusting to have right now, all cold and lumpy.

They energy they gained from their lunch drove them to work harder to find a way out. Once again as before, the hole in the wall opened, the cart zipped into it and it slammed shut once again. Buffy was standing nearby and worried terribly over what she saw. It looked like the tunnel was booby-trapped. There were razor sharp blades on the walls and floor, and the entire tunnel collapsed once the tray was through.

They sat to discuss the situation. It was nearing nighttime and a second tray came into the room. It had several carafes filled with steaming soups (Tomato, Clam Chowder and Vegetable), crackers, cheese, more fruit, a full sized chocolate cake, more soda and water, hot water and Earl Grey tea bags, and one more bag of blood.

This time the Scoobies dug in, they were famished after working so hard and worrying so much. Buffy was glad they were being treated ‘kindly’, if one could call it that. At least they weren’t being tortured. They were given food and beds, a clean bathroom, and they were all together.

**********************************************************

The sun had long since set, and everyone was getting ready to get into their beds. Buffy agreed to sit the first watch and everyone turned the light over their beds off. Absolutely nothing happened, and in a few hours, she woke Spike for the next watch.

Buffy slipped under the covers and found she was more nervous over the fact that Spike couldn’t read to her than the fact that she was in a prison with everyone. She fell asleep eventually, and her dreams were wracked with nightmarish images.

Spike watched her and slowly crept to her side to shake her awake when the dreams became too violent. She looked at him gratefully and squeezed his hand. He ended up having to wake her several times before the night was out, and when morning came she looked terrible. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her face was pale and sunken.

This day brought nothing different from the last. They searched and tried to find a way out, were fed, and eventually the sun set again. Spike drained the most recent bag before climbing into bed. Xander was taking first watch this night, and Giles second.

Buffy woke up screaming a few hours later, and every light went on immediately. Her hair was clinging to her sweat covered body, and tears were streaming down her face.

“My God, Buffy, what’s happened?!” Giles ran to her side and brushed the strands of hair out of her face.

“Nightmares. I’m okay. Really, you guys don’t have to worry!” She was frantic inside. These nightmares weren’t just a reoccurrence of the one with her mom; these were new and deathly frightening. She wanted Spike to hold her and sooth her so badly…she needed him to read to her, but she wasn’t ready to reveal her mystery friend just yet. If only she hadn’t
allowed them to think he was her boyfriend, it would have been so much easier to tell them the truth.

************************************************************

Four days later and there was still no change in her situation. They had piled the beds together and Buffy used them as ladders to look out the windows. They were frosted and she couldn’t see through them, and when she tried to break them it proved to be impossible. She used the leg of one of the metal beds, her fist, everything she could pick up, but nothing even scratched the glass.

They had tried sending Buffy through the food tray tunnel and it was a failure. She sat under the tray and held on to the legs, hoping to ride it through, but it wouldn’t move until she got out. They rolled an apple down the tunnel to see what would happen. The second the apple entered the tunnel, blades came flying out of the wall, chopping up and down, left and right, until all that was left was a pile of applesauce. The blades moved down the length of the entire tunnel, so even if she could get past the first set, there were dozens more to come and all too close together to dodge.

The Slayer was angry and edgy. She was sick of having to sit in a room, not knowing who or what was watching them, waiting for something hideous to happen. She wanted her own bathroom back and her own bed back, but most of all, she wanted Spike back.

That night, her nightmares were far out of level with anything that came before. She woke screaming and shaking, and her body wracked with sobs as she lay there. Everyone moved around her to comfort her except for Spike. He had had enough. He waked over to the dresser and pulled out his duster. From the left pocket he pulled what looked like a book.

He walked over to her bed, sat down next to her and looked into her red puffy eyes. He changed his mind and pulled her covers back a little, allowing him more access to her. Spike sat with his back against the wall and his legs under the covers. Buffy put her head in his lap, and everyone else stared in amazement. Then Spike began:

“’Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!’

Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. ‘But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Eowyn I am, Eomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.’”

The Scoobies stood staring and listening to Spike read to her. Buffy’s eyes were closed and she was smiling slightly. Everyone returned to their beds without saying a word. When Spike stopped a while later and returned to his own bed, he and the Slayer were the only two to find restful sleep that night. The others dwelled on the fact that Spike was her secret boyfriend,
and none of them were able to come to any conclusions on what was to happen next.

The next morning the rounds of questions began. Yes, Spike was the one reading to her all this time; no, they weren’t dating; yes, she called him her boyfriend, but they were not a couple. It went on and on, and Spike zoned them out when he realized that she had been calling him her boyfriend all this time. He knew it was something for them to discuss in private, but he felt like a teenager again. If he heart could beat, it would be racing!

Three more days passed, and Spike read to her every night. The nightmares stopped completely and Buffy was back to being healthy enough to concentrate on the problem at hand. They had all agreed not to discuss the special arrangement between Vampire and Slayer any further, and no one questioned the nightly ritual.

On the fourth day following, there was a loud explosion outside the room. Everyone shook at the sudden noise, and ran to the wall closest to the source.

“BUFFY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Angel! Oh thank God! ANGEL, WE’RE IN HERE!”

Several hours later, with the help of some trucks and jack-hammers, the prisoners were freed. They ran outside into the cool night air. The only ones there were Angel, Cordi, Wes, Gunn, Kate and the now free prisoners.

”Who the HELL did this to us! We were about to go CRAZY!” Xander was furious and ran around trying to find a guilty party.

“There’s no one left,” answered Cordi. “We dusted them all. They were taping you and planning on selling the tapes in the demon market. ‘Watch the Slayer Go Mad’ was how they were marketing it.”

“How did you find us, find out about what was happening?” Buffy was so glad they were freed, tomorrow was to begin a hunger strike for all but Spike. She hated to think of a starved Vampire in a locked room with a group of mortals.

“We would have been here sooner, but it was really hard to find this place. Figures it would be around the block from my home.” Angel was looking at the floor with shame written across his face. He explained that an idiot fledgling bragged to him about the plan to make money off the Slayer’s coming dementia and death, and it took the Soulful one several days to track
the location down. When they did, they dusted the 5 vamps running the show with ease.

“Come on, lets go back to the Hyperion. There’s room for everyone to stay.” Angel led them around the block to the huge hotel and set them all up in their own rooms.

The next day, the humans returned to the scene of the prison to find out what they could. The vamps had used humans to drug and kidnap everyone. Once all the players were captured, the humans were killed and the camera’s began recording. There were shots from every angle, and nothing was hidden from the camera’s eye.

They found a list of creatures that had prepaid for the video, and Buffy pocketed it. She wanted to send them a picture of them standing in front of the destroyed prison with a warning NEVER to try anything like that again.

*************************************************************

The Slayer and her family and friends returned to Sunnyhell the next night with all the tapes and everything they could salvage from the prison. They slept through the next day, Spike in Buffy’s room, and they agreed to meet at the Magick Box the following night.

Spike brushed a strand of hair from Buffy’s face, and she opened her eyes to face him. “Are you okay?”

“Me luv, yeah. Fine. Peachy.” She could tell something was bothering him and she pressed him.

“What’s wrong? Please tell me.”

“Why did you tell everyone I was your boyfriend, everyone but me?”

She sighed and motioned for him to sit against her headboard with his legs under the covers. Once she tucked herself into him, she began to explain.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m very sorry. It’s just that when they found out someone was reading to me, they assumed that we were a couple. I just played along because I didn’t want to talk too much about us.”

“Us?” he interrupted.

“Yeah, us. Spike, I know we never discussed it before, but I do think of us as an ‘us’, you know? I look forward to seeing you, miss you when you’re not there, and I love it when you are. So, yeah, I think of us as an, ‘us.’” She was repeating herself and starting to ramble, and Spike smiled wide as he ran his fingers through her hair. When she lifted her head to meet his eyes, he held her chin in his hand and lowered his mouth to hers.

The kiss was sweet and lingering. She sank into him and his moved down on the bed a little. When it broke, he held her gaze and said in the most serious voice he could muster, “I love you Buffy.”

She smiled, kissed him lightly, and said back, “I love you Spike.” They made love quietly and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

**********************************************************

Buffy was never plagued by nightmares again. Every night Spike would make love to her, and read to her, and every few years they would return to The Lord Of The Rings. He reread the story that brought them together, and they would fall in love all over again.

The End