Twining Vines (COMPLETE)

*~*Twining Vines*~* By Echidna

Author's Note - Thanks so much to Ali for BETA reading this chapter and for the wonderful feedback! ;)

Part IX - David and Goliath

The two blondes stood next to each other gawking at the sight before them. All around them a crumbled sketch of what Revello Drive used to be. The smell of burnt wood reached their noses as a harsh breeze brought the scattered ashes closer to them. Rusted bars of metal stuck out from various cement girders left standing in the cluttered chaos. A fires still burned, hungrily consuming the debris; above them - clouded black sky.

“What the hell happened?” Spike finally managed to speak, his eyes drifting over the nuclear holocaust like scenario.

“Where are we?” Was Buffy’s question.

“Looks like…” The vampire began when realisation finally came to Buffy. Her pupils dilating to ridiculous proportions and she suddenly began to wander around.

“This…? Is this…?” She stammered as she slowly recognized the outline of her house.

To her right was what seemed like the lingering form of a door, the door that led to… the kitchen? Further ahead a huge hole in the ground made way to her basement and right behind her were the remains of the stairs that used to head up to the top floor of the house.

“Dawn!” Buffy called out, as she looked at the crumbled steps that now led her nowhere. She turned to face Spike, a deep confused frown over his eyebrows mirrored her own. “What happened?”

“I don’t-“

Suddenly, the fragile floor beneath them started to cave in under their burden. Cat-like, Buffy jumped, pushing Spike with her as she lunged for solid ground. They rolled over each other on the dried up dirt with the force of impact as the sound of wood cracking and concrete crumbling echoed in their ears.

Breathless, Buffy nestled her face in the crook of the vampire’s neck as the thick cloud of dust and ash came upon them and engulfed their entangled bodies. Instinct took over as he brought his arms around the tiny form laying on top of him and with a swift move of his hips rolled them over once more so his broader body was covering hers, protecting her from all and any debris.

They remained intertwined long after the wave of wreckage had fluttered over them. Slowly, he pulled away from her, his hands framing her head as he stared down at her flushed face. Fear swam in his widened eyes, making his blue iris dark and murky.

“Are you ok?” He immediately asked.

She tried to say something, but only gasped sharply as the frightening heart rate caused her lungs to demand a larger supply of oxygen. Unable to speak she nodded and swallowed hard, while she waited for the frantic pounding in her chest to slowdown.

Their gazes remained locked, the fear slowly dissipated as their minds became aware of their closeness. Lying on top of her, his fingers lingered in her hair, tangled in the now dust-covered threads as he pulled sharp unneeded breaths that matched her panting. Her hands were crushed between their torsos, her fingers clinging to the red fabric of his shirt, as if trying to pull him closer.

“Are you sure you’re ok, luv?” He rasped as his thumb unconsciously rubbed her forehead.

All her nerve endings seemed to be connected to the small patch of her skin that was in contact with the rough tip of his finger. She closed her eyes for a split second, savouring the soft touch as his scent surrounded her; the smell of leather, cigarettes and alcohol almost intoxicatingly familiar.

A sharp scream snapped them out of their daze, their heads immediately whirling in the direction of the sound. Spike clumsily stumbled to his feet, his hands running frantically over the still partially wet blond curls of his hair as he tried to ignore the tight knot in his throat.

Without exchanging a word the two quickly crossed the street and entered another crumbling house. This one was in better shape than Buffy’s as most of its walls were still up and so was the ceiling, even though the creaking sound coming from it testified to its fragility.

They moved through the wreckage, a myriad of burnt furniture in their way as they moved around looking for any clue. Suddenly, Spike straightened up, his eyes widening as he tried to listen.

“What?” Buffy whispered.

He held out a hand, signalling her to silence as he slowly made his way to a large cabinet at the far end of the room. As he reached for it, the carbonised door fell open revealing a young boy curled up in the corner. The vampire silently squatted in front of him while Buffy stood behind.

“Hey!” he breathed, but as he tried to reach for the boy, the small creature curled up even further, small sobs became bigger and his breathing became ragged as the adrenaline surged through his veins. “It’s ok…” Spike tried to reassure him as his hand came to rest on the small child’s hair.

After a few second, the boy’s head moved and he looked up, over his forearm that rested on his bony knees and covered the lower part of his face. Buffy repressed a gasp as she saw the fear swimming in the child’s eyes. He couldn’t be more than 9 years old; his clothes torn, his pale complexion marred with coal black dust.

“Are ok? Are you hurt?” The vampire asked as he continued to caress the boy’s light brown curls.

He shook his head, signalling that he was ok, he wasn’t injured.

“Why are you in there?” Spike asked. “Don’t you want to come out?”

The boy’s eyes immediately widened, his black pupils dilating and spreading over the light blue of his iris as he once again shook his head.

“Why not?” Buffy finally spoke as she kneeled next to the vampire who gave her a disapproving look before he spoke:

“My name’s Spike.” Spike outstretched his hand.

The child looked at the large fingers in front of him and after some pondering he took them in his small hand and shook them.

“M-Michael…”

“Nice to meet you, Michael.” Spike gave him a smile and the fear in the boy’s eyes lessened. “This here’s Buffy.” The vampire introduced pointing to the blond next to him.

“Hey there!” The Slayer smiled taking his small hand into hers and shaking it.

“Hi.” Michael greeted shyly.

“So… What are you doing? Playing hide and seek?” The vampire offered.

Michael shook his head as he finally relaxed his arm muscles and released his knees from his death grip.

“Then why are you in there?”

“So the-they won’t get me.” He stammered.

“Who are they?” Buffy asked.

“Th-the ones tha-that came from the hole in the sky.”

“The hole in the sky?” Buffy repeated frowning as she looked at Spike, his eyes, however, remained on the child.

“Can you show it to me? The hole?” The vampire asked.

Michael paused for a second. Pondering his answer and then he nodded.

They walked for a while and soon they realised the destruction hadn’t just struck Revello Drive but the rest of Sunnydale as well. Michael’s small hand held Spike’s pinkie as they made their way towards the outskirts of town. Slowly, in the horizon a sharp blue light pulsated, threatening to take over the ebony clouded sky. As they came closer, a chill ran down Buffy’s spine as she recognized the place – it was the tower, the place where she had fought Glory, almost a year before, the place where she had… died. Eventually, they saw it, from far away, a large gash marred the skies, a tear in the fabric that separated dimensions. All sorts of creatures crawled their way out of there just like they had when… A gut-wrenching pain took over her abdomen as the memories flooded back to her.

“Spike…” she whispered as they all came to a stop.

The vampire’s eyes remained glued on the sky, occasionally drifting toward one or other creature that lurked out.

“It’s open…” He spoke softly as his mind tried to make any sense of what was happening.

“But it can’t be… I closed it. I-I… died to close it.” Buffy’s glassy eyes stared blindly at the ripped piece of sky. “How?”

Her question remained unanswered as a thundering roar scrapped the skies and a large, black, scaly creature came tumbling out of the blue gap falling about 15 feet away from where the trio stood. Lightning-quick it straightened up, revealing its astonishing height, its nostrils flaring as the scent of fresh meat filtered in. With one swift movement, it whipped its slimy head around to face them exposing too large, elliptic white orbs, deprived of iris or pupils. They bore into Michael’s small form as it remained perfectly still, simply staring at the small brown haired boy.

A small squeak escaped Michael’s parted lips as the creature suddenly started running, its large reptilian legs making their way towards them with ground-eating steps.

Instinctively, the child’s grip on Spike’s finger grew stringer as the fear paralysed every muscle in his body.

The vampire’s eyes widened as the demon came closer and closer to them. He turned to look at Buffy who was still at his side and they exchanged a silent glance. Soon they too were running, away from the slimy ebony creature that followed them close behind.

Michael pressed his lips against each other as Spike picked him up and held him against his chest as the three raced through the deserted, wrecked streets.

“Spike, we…” gasp “have to…” gasp “hide.” She managed to say between large gulps of air.

The vampire and the Slayer’s eyes scanned their surrounding as the threatening chase continued – the creature was gaining on them, coming closer and closer with each step. There was nowhere to go. All houses, buildings had been torn down or were about to crumble.

Buffy gasped as she slowly became aware of the demon’s proximity, its breath almost on them as her legs buckled from under her.

“There!” Spike shouted as his vampiric sight detected a small hole in the ground no bigger than one or two feet in diameter.

As they reached it, Spike gave out a loud sigh as he realised that it apparently led into a small pit.

“Buffy… Hurry!” The vampire ordered and begged as he looked over his shoulder to check on her. “Buffy!” he cried out as he saw her trip on some debris and stagger to the floor – the creature hovering over her tiny form.

Its large white orbs stared blankly at the prize at its feet as Buffy lay on her back staring up at him, her chest rapidly moving up and down as she drew deep, urgent breaths. For the first time in her life she was paralysed.

“Buffy move!” Spike ordered, screaming at the top of his lungs, but it was no use, she remained motionless as the demon lowered its head to her, sniffing her before opening its mandibles to let out a dinosaur-like roar.

The inhuman sound seemed to snap something inside the vampire as he turned toward Michael:

“Michael, you have to do something for me, ok?”

The child nodded.

“Go in there and don’t come out till I tell you to.” The vampire looked straight into the boy’s eyes at it nodded one more.

He watched as Michael crawled into the small pit and fell out of sight. Glancing towards Buffy he saw that the creature now seemed to be playing with her, bringing its paws around her to imprison her. Pushing back the fear of seeing her so helpless, Spike picked up a small stone and aiming for the creature’s eyes, threw it with all his strength.

“Jackpot!” The vampire celebrated as the black demon let out a loud howl and stumbled back. Seeing his chance, Spike ran towards Buffy, picking her up in his arms and making his way back to the pit while the creature continued to wail.

“Buffy, snap out of it.” Spike ordered as he ran.

Slowly, she seemed to be coming to moving in his arms. As they reached the pit, Spike put her down falling to his knees as he quickly looked around, trying to find the entrance, but it was gone – vanished.

“Where the bloody hell is that thing? Michael!” The vampire called out as he tapped the ground looking for the gap.

“Spike…” Buffy’s weak voice reached his ears.

“Not now Slayer, help me find that…” He trailed off as, suddenly, wet grass spurted out from under his hands and he felt raindrops violently hitting his back.

“Spike…” she called out again as her eyes drifted over the changing scenery.

The vampire looked up and gasped as building started growing around them, trees appeared out of thin air and the creature, that had been howling disappeared, its ungodly scream being the last evidence to dissipate as, suddenly, they seemed to be back in good old, non-cataclysmic Sunnydale.

They stare blankly, letting their clothes soak through as they tried to make some sense out of every thing their eyes had just witnessed. A loud roaring thunder made them aware of the storm around them as they looked at each other.

“Michael…” Spike breathed as he looked at the stomped grass at his feet.

~+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++~

With tired arms she pushed the kitchen door open, thankfully she hadn’t locked it when the… thing happened.

The two blond hurried inside as the rain continued to pour outside. They made it just in the nick of time as the sun first rays cut through the thick grey clouds.

They stood gasping, taking in sharp breaths when their eyes met, the doubt and questions reflecting off one another for a moment.

“What just happened?” Spike managed to ask as he set his hand over the counter for support.

Buffy shook her head pressing her lips together. She was soaked through; her blond hair, that she had pinned up, was now plastered against her skull and hung down the sides of her face as thick drops of water dripped from the tips of her tangled threads.

Spike swallowed hard as he noticed the way her clothes clung even more to her body, the white tank top was now slightly see through, the outline of her nipples revealed by two dark circles sticking out against the thin fabric. Shaking his head out of his daze he quickly move towards her.

“You better get out of those wet clothes. Don’t want you catching a cold.” He said as he tried to ignore the growing pain in his groin.

“Oh… right!” Self-consciously she brought her arms across her chest to cover herself as they went towards the hall.

He bent down to pick up the towel she had discarded earlier, before… He draped it around her small form, softly rubbing her naked arms as he tried to dry her. Taking the edge of the white fabric and pulling at it he worked on her tangled hair. She remained still, looking up at him as her mind raced. The questions blurred as their proximity dawned on her, as her arms pressed against his soaked shirt, as his scent reached and engulfed her, as she felt him softly caress her hair. She tried to lock his gaze, but his eyes remained focussed on her rebellious blond threads as he now slowly tried disentangling them - the towel forgotten over her shoulders.

A familiar chill coursed through him as he felt her heart violently pounding in her chest, her breathing now coming in deep, needed pants. He pushed back the urge to crush her against him and claim her trembling lips by swallowing hard and keeping his eyes on her dishevelled hair.

Realising he wasn’t going to make a move, her fingers found their way to the small space between two buttons of his shirt, sneaking in to touch the soft alabaster skin beneath. At the contact his mind swirled, the sensations creeping up on him and he wasn’t able to repress a gasp from escaping.

“What…” He swallowed hard as another finger found its way to gently caress his chest. “…are you doing…?” His voice was hoarse and weak from the effort he was making to ignore the effect she had on him.

She remained silent, with ragged breaths; looking up, desire swam in her hazel eyes as she edged closer to him and pressed her entire body against him. Cat-like she leaning her head into his hand and instinctively he rubbed his thumb against her flushed cheek as she slowly lifted herself on the tip of her toes to close the distance between their mouths.

“Buffy!” The young voice hovered from the top floor as steps were heard.

The Slayer’s eyes shot open as the vampire’s body seemed to have magically disappeared. As her eyes focused in the dim light she saw him standing two feet from her. She stared at him perplexed when she finally heard her name being called again. She looked up the stairs to see a scared Dawn coming down. As she came closer, she noticed a mixture of pain and fear reflected in her glassy eyes. Behind her came Willow, Sam, Tara and Anya. The ex-demon limped down the stairs and the redhead witch had a deep gash on her forehead.

“Oh, my God, Willow! What happened?” Buffy swallowed hard and tried to get her breathing under control as she spoke.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a stake materialized in Dawn’s trembling hand; she aimed it straight at Buffy’s chest.

“I’m sorry, Buffy!wn mwn managed to say before lunging at her sister.

Even though the attack caught her by surprise, Buffy easily deflected the blow with a swift move or her arm and soon she had the stake in her hand as Dawn stagger to the floor.

“What are you doing!?” The slayer asked confused and as she turned to look at the four women on the stairs, three of them held up crosses, Sam was the only one left unarmed.

A frown settled on Willow’s eyebrows as she brought her cross closer to the blond who seemed immune to its effect.

“Willow?” Buffy looked at her questioningly as the heavy metallic object was now pressed against her forehead.

The witch’s eyes widened as she quickly dropped the cross and flung her arms around her best friend.

“Buffy! You’re not a vampire!!” The redhead cried out, her hug bordering on assault.

“What… are you talking about?” The blond asked as she finally managed to disentangle herself from the redhead.

“How?” Anya asked as she dropped her own cross on the stairs.

“I’m the one who should be asking ques-“ Buffy wasn’t able to finish her sentence as now she found herself surrounded by her younger sister’s arms.

The Slayer frowned exchanging a look with the vampire who still stood in the corner of the hall.

“We need to talk, guys.”

~++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++~

They all sat in the living room around the coffee table. The two witches and the ex-demon took the couch while Dawn sat in one of the armchairs and Spike on the other. A very sleepy Xander sat at Anya’s feet and Sam stood a bit farther away while Buffy paced around.

“The portal was open?” Willow asked confused.

Buffy nodded as she stopped pacing and crossed her arms around her chest.

“An-and the whole town was destroyed?” Tara stuttered.

“Major destructorama.”

There was silence in toom.oom.

“And while you were… in this place… some vampy-Buffy was here?” Willow tried to sum it up.

“Plus, some really strange things have been happening to me.” Buffy added. “Like, remember when you came into my room last Saturday? Asking if I was ok?”

Willow nodded.

“Did you come back again afterwards?”

“No.”

“Well, not even two second after, you came in again and started acting exactly the same as you had the first time, like… I don’t know, someone had rewind the tape and played the scene again.”

“Like in that movie with Bill Murray, where the same day happens over and over again.” Xander offered as he yawned.

“Yeah, sort of.”

“T-that happened t-to us too, honey!” Tara stammered and her stomach turned as all eyes were focused on her.

“It did?” Willow asked a bit confused.

“Whe-when we at the Espresso Pump and that old lady asked us where the bus stop was? Remember?”

“Oh, yeah, and then she asked us again. We just thought she was kinda strange. Weird thing was that the first time she came to talk to us she was holding her glasses. She accidentally dropped them and broke them and the second time she came she had the glasses in her hands and they were in perfect condition.” Willow finished.

A frown settled over Sam’s eyebrows as she got two conflicting images from Tara’s mind.

“Oh, or when we saw Spike had crashed…” Dawn stopped her reasoning and turned to ask the vampire: “Have you ever crashed into the Sunnydale welcoming sign?”

At the question a smug smile crossed Spike lips and he chuckled before he answered:

“Every time I come back. It’s sort of like… tradition.” The room turned to look at the vampire sprawled on the armchair. “What?”

“See, it’s some time shifting thingy.” Dawn concluded.

“Then what we saw…” Buffy pointed towards her and Spike and continued: “It’s the future?”

Silence filled the room once more as fear filtered into their minds. Willow was the one to break the stillness:

“But it doesn’t make sense. We already closed the gate and Dawn is no longer the Key. They can’t open it. Who would want to open it?”

ne one offered any theory or reasoning, they all stared blankly at each other. A loud sighed was heard from the corner of the room and they turned to see Sam leaning against the wall.

“Might as well give them a little shove in the right direction, it’s not like I’m interfering.” The redhead thought to herself before she spoke:

“Tara?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Was there anything different between the first time the old lady came to speak to you and the second?”

Buffy’s eyebrows came together to form a frown. What was she getting at?

“Well…” Tara’s eyes rolled skywards as she tried to replay the events in her mind. “I-I don’t think… Wait! The glasses!”

“What about the glasses, honey?” Willow asked.

“She dropped them the first time and broke them, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What about the second time?” Tara tried to make the redhead see.

“She dropped them again.” Willow answered matter-of-factly, still confused. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she cried out: “She didn’t break them!”

“Exactly!” Tara smiled.

“What do you mean?” It was Xander’s turn to question.

“The first time she dropped the glasses and when she picked them up they were broken, the second time around she dropped them, but when she picked them up they were slightly bent, but not broken.”

The look on the young man’s face told her that he didn’t understand the relevance of that detail.

“So she was lucky the second time, so what?”

“Can’t you see? It didn’t happen the way it was supposed to happen. It was different, so it couldn’t have been a repetition or a time shifting thing.” Willow concluded triumphantly.

“Smart girl.” Sam noted in her mind as she leaned back on the wall.

To Be Continued...