Inhuman Hearts

Part XVIII - Putting out the Sun

Author's Note: The title comes from Brian Adams' song (which I adore by the way!!!) "When You Love Someone". To understand the title better, heare are the lyrics:

When you love someone,
You'll do anything...
You'll do all the crazy things that you can't explain,
You'll shoot the moon put out the sun.....
When you love someone.

You'll deny the truth,
Believe a lie...
There will be times that you belive you can really fly,
But you know that life has just begun when you love someone...

When you love someone you feel it deep inside,
And nothing else could ever change your mind...
When you love someone,when you need someone,When you love someone...

When you love someone you will sacrifice,
You will give everything you got and want think twice...
You risk it all no matter what may come,
When you love someone...

You'll shoot the moon put out the sun,
When you love someone.............

“Xander, watch out!!!!” Willow shouted as she saw a large rock falling inches away from her friend.

He stumbled to the floor taking Tara down with him. As the hard stones poured on them, Xander struggled to scramble to his feet.

“Tara, you ok?” he asked as he reached out his hand to help her up.

She nodded and with a lot of effort stood up. Her strain was evident in her face as she hissed in pain. Realising she wouldn’t be able to walk, let alone run from the avalanche of rocks that was quickly catching up to them, Xander scooped her off her feet and resumed running after It and Anya.

“Fast!” It squealed never looking back.

“Ah!” Anya shouted as some debris grazed her arm, making her lose her balance and fall.

Willow quickly came to her aid, pulling her up and pushing her forward. The Wicca glanced over her shoulder to see Xander with Tara in his arms close behind her.

“We almost there!” It yelled as itsawnyawny index finger pointed in the direction of a faint ray of moonlight at the far end of the tunnel.

The small creature ran as fast as it could, reaching the exit closely followed by Anya and Willow. The Wicca’s heart raced as she turned around to see the ceiling caving in right behind Xander.

In a last monumental effort, he jumped, propelling Tara’s limp body a few feet away.

“Xander!” Anya screamed, coming to kneel next to the tired young man.

His breathing was erratic and he tried to speak but all that came out of his mouth were sharp gushes of air. So, instead, he just nodded frenetically.

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

“What was that?” Dawn asked as she saw the tunnel she and Spike had just exited cave in.

“I don’t know, bit.” The vampire confessed pulling the young teenager away from the entrance, afraid some debris might hurt her.

“Buffy…” Dawn whispered, bringing her hand to her mouth.

“I’m sure she found her way out just in the nick of time. That’s what she does best, she’s a hero remember?” Spike tried to force a smile on his lips, but deep inside he felt something break.

Something about this moment reminded him of that dreadful night where he had to stand and watch her… fall to her death.

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

“Tara, honey, are you hurt?” Willow asked concerned, brushing her lover’s hair away from her face.

Tara smiled and nodded.

“They’re you guys are, I was afraid you were trapped under the rubble.” Dawn sighed in relief bringing her arms around Xander’s bruised neck. He hissed in pain but didn’t protest. It was good to see that little Dawnie was safe.

Spike kept his distance as he scanned the perimeter for the Slayer. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he realised she wasn’t there. He swallowed hard before asking:

“Where’s the Slayer?”

Everyone’s eyes became dark and sad, none of them wanting to say what had happen. Dawn unwrapped her arms from Xander’s neck and looked straight at him.

“Where’s Buffy, Xander?”

The young man’s gaze was buried in the grass under his feet.

“She didn’t make it, Dawnie…” he whispered, running his fingers through the girl’s hair.

“What do you mean?” Dawn asked in disbelief.

“She stayed behind and she wasn’t able to get out in time.” Willow said in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the ground as well. She couldn’t face the look of hurt in Dawn’s glazed eyes.

“Bollocks! She’s the Slayer, super-strength and all, people. A little rock is no match for her.” Spike refused to believe what they were telling him.

“All the tunnels caved in, there was no way out.” Xander insisted.

“Fine! You stay here and plan her funeral once more, I’ll go in there and help her out! She’s had to dig her way out of her grave once, I’m not about to let her have to go through that again!” Spike scuffed walking away.

“How are you even going in there? Everything caved in!” Xander shouted after him.

“I’ll find my way.” Spike answered never stopping or looking back.

“I’m going with you.” Dawn said running after the vampire.

“Dawn, you can’t you’ll get hurt.” Xander protested running after the young teenager.

“I don’t care, she’s my sister and I-“

“Little bit, listen to me.” Spike cut her off, pushing a strand of tussled hair behind Dawn’s small ear. “I don’t much care for the whelp here, but I must admit that, this time, he’s right. You better stay behind.”

“But-“

“I’ll bring her back, I promise.” He whispered, placing a soft kiss on her forehead and walking away.

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

“BUFFY!!!!” Spike yelled off the top of his lungs for the 100th time that night. His voice was hoarse and his body begged for a much-needed cup of warm blood and a peaceful hour of sleep, but yet he continued his search relentlessly.

He had been digging for hours with his our hands and nothing. He hadn’t been able to find a way under the rubble. He looked up at the sky. The sun threatened to rear its ugly beams as the deep blue of the heavens gave into a fiery yellow.

“Buffy!!” he was getting frustrated and kicked a rock that stood at his feet.

To his amazement, the stone moved to reveal a small entrance to the underground. With newfound hope, he crawled his way through the small opening.

As he landed on the floor and his eyes adjusted to the darkness he realised he was in yet another poorly illuminated tunnel. To his left the ceiling had caved in, which made his choice quite easy. “I guess I’ll take right, for 100.” He joked to himself.

He walked quickly along the frail tunnel, which threatened to fall at any second when a familiar smell invaded his nostrils. “Blood!” he thought out loud.

Instinctively, his game face overcame his soft human features as he sniffed the air, trying to pinpoint where the scent came from. The moment he realised it came from the far end of the tunnel he increased his pace and eventually ended up running, until he reached a dead end. The ceiling had also caved in at this side of the passageway.

“Bugger!” he cursed under his breath when suddenly another familiar aroma caused his nostrils to flare up. “Mango.” He breathed.

It was Buffy’s new perfume, the one that had intoxicated him just days ago in her kitchen. He closed his eyes as the images of her in that sundress, leaning against the fridge and batting her long eyelashes at him flashed in front of his eyes. That seemed so long ago, a lifetime ago.

He shook away the memory and concentrated on figuring his way around the barrier of rubble that separated him from his Slayer. Silently, he thanked whatever gods the fact that he was a vampire. Without his enhanced smelling ability he would have never have found her.

He examined the rocks in front of him and tried to move one. When he did, the entire wall of debris growled in protest. He immediately retracted his hand and put aside the idea of digging his was through the wreckage.

“Ah…” he heard a strangled cry from the other side of the wall.

“Buffy?” he breathed recognizing the Slayer’s voice. “Buffy!” This time he shouted.

Uncontrolled and ignoring the roaring and threats of the tunnel around him, he began to move the rocks in front of him at a frenetic pace until he had dug a small hole in the wall. He squeezed his way through it and was now in another compartment.

It was pitch dark and he couldn’t see anything, even with his game face on. He had no choice but to rely on his vampire instincts. He smelled the thick air in the room and soon he could pinpoint the exact spot where the Slayer was. He stumbled his way to her, falling over a few dead bodies on his way. As he approached her, he could hear her weak and shallow breathing. His blindly outstretched hands landed on the Slayer’s arms. Spike heard her moan in pain as his fingers connected with a thick liquid that covered her skin. He didn’t need to resort to his vampire instincts to understand that it was blood.

“Buffy…” he whispered as his hand sightlessly travelled up her shoulder, pass her neck and rested over her cheek. “Buffy!” he insisted when she didn’t answer.

Suddenly the room restarted its roaring. It was clear that because of the opening he had dug, the wall would soon give in and collapse.

“Buffy, wake up. We have to go.” He pushed her gently, trying to bring her back to reality, but she simply moaned.

Seeing he had no choice, he slid his arms under her neck and her knees and scooped her up. Slowly he moved through the piles of bodies scattered across the floor of the room and reached the small passageway.

“Buffy, you gotta wake up now, pet.” He called once more. There was no way he could simply push her body through the narrow hole.

The wall growled once more and Spike felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest.

“Buffy…” he paused to push back the tears. “I need you to wake up, luv!” he begged, lightly patting his fingers over her cheek.

No answer.

He took a deep breath and whispered:

“Come on, Goldilocks!”

At the sound of her pet name, Buffy stirred.

“That’s it, wake up. Come on, I need you to stay with me, just for a second.” The vampire encouraged the weak girl.

“Spike?” she spoke in a faltering voice.

“I’m here.”

“I-I… Where am I?”

Spike didn’t have time to answer as the sound of rocks falling inside the compartment was heard.

“I’ll explain later. Now I need you to go through this passage.”

Buffy frowned and stared at the place where his voice came from. It was pitch black in the entire room, except for a dim light coming from a small hole in the wall. She felt someone push her in the direction of the brightness and she forced her tired body to creep and crawl its way to it. When she reached it, she pulled herself up and squeezed herself through the small passage.

The moment she reached the other side she slumped to the floor and lost consciousness once more. Spike quickly followed her out of the cave and was met by the gruelling sight of a badly bruised and thrashed Slayer. He swallowed hard as he noticed the deep gash in her arm, from which thick blood still pooled down to her shoulder. Her jeans were also bathed in the red liquid and Spike questioned himself if it all came from her arm or if she had yet another wound in her legs.

His eyes then travelled to her sweet face and what he saw made him catch an unneeded breath. She had a long cut that ran along her forehead and stopped inches away from her right eyes.

He stood there and contemplated her for a while until he noticed her heartbeat slowdown to a frightening pace. She had lost too much blood, he had to take her to a hospital as soon as possible. Unceremoniously, he picked her up once more and ran down the tunnel. His game face came forth to help him see in the dim light.

Finally he reached the small opening he had weaselled his way through minutes before. He caught his breath when he saw a bright ray of sunlight shine through the entrance. He fell to his knees in desperation, the tears now ran freely down his soft and marbled skin as he looked upon an unconscious Buffy in his arms.

It was now his turn to curse the gods for his demonic nature. There was nothing he could do. If he tried to get her through the opening he would be dust and she wouldn’t have anyone to take her to the hospital. If he stayed there and waited for night to fall she would probably die.

The thought of loosing her brought a terrible numbness to his entire body. In a second, all the moments he had spent mourning her death that terrible summer assaulted him. He couldn’t go through that again. He couldn’t lose her, not again.

“Buffy… Luv… you have to wake up again.” He begged her, running his index finger over her cheekbones.

She stirred slowly, but didn’t open her eyes.

“Buffy…” he whispered bringing his lips to rest on her forehead and squeezing his eyes tightly shut as the numbness disappeared and desperation and pain settled in. He felt his throat tighten as he realised how cold her skin was.

“Spike…” she breathed quietly.

He was startled by the sound of her voice.

“Hey there…” he greeted her with a forced smile.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she saw the tears streaming down his face. “Dawn!”

She called out and tried to stand up. He pulled her close and reassured her:

“She’s fine. She’s with Xander and the others. The-They’re all ok.” He paused, trying to push down the lump in his throat and then continued with the same fake joy: “I guess you saved the world once again.”

Buffy smiled weakly and let her heavy eyelids fall for a while before opening them once more.

“That’s me, hero-gall.” Her voice was weak and it was clear time was running out.

As the thought sank in, a new wave of tears came flooding down his face.

“Spike…” she whispered, her eyes closed once more. “I’m so tired.”

“I know luv.” He forced the words out between sobs.

She opened her eyes to look at him, she knew what was to come.

“I’m sorry.” She breathed.

“What for?” he asked a bit startled.

“I should h-have…” she took one deep breath and tried hard to keep from drifting into sleep. “told you.”

“What, pet?” he ran his hands through her hair as he waited for her to speak.

“I-I…” her eyelids became to heavy to keep open, but she forced them up anyway. “I miss you…” she paused and them continued: “…when you’re not there… I miss you.”

Spike sat there in silence as his heart was tossed around between utter joy and heart wrenching pain.

In one last effort, she brought her hand to rest of his cheek and stared up at him: “I’ll miss you’re face.” She breathed and smiled one last time as darkness finally took over her and her hand fell lifeless over her chest.

“No, Buffy, please don’t!” he cried out as the sound of her heartbeat faded and her body became limp and inert. “Luv, please wake up.” Sob. “Please, I can’t go through this again.” Sob. “Not again. Please don’t go.”

She lay motionless in his arms, her chest no longer rising and falling, her body like a dead carcass.

“Buffy!” he cried out in desperation as he saw her slip away.