A World of Their Own

Title: A World of Their Own
Pairing: X/S
Rating: NC 17 eventually
Summary: Set at the end of season five. Xander and Spike get sucked into a portal during the battle with Glory.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.
Feedback: Makes me write faster.
A/N: Happy Birthday Meleesa!
A/N 2: Thanks to Alex, my woderful Beta! You rock!

Part 1

Dawn stands at the end of the platform; she can see the battle taking place below her but is helpless to do anything to stop it. She hears someone approach and looks up. It's Doc. "You. You can help me. Untie me. Please. Help me, she's coming!"

Doc continues to walk towards her, "Well, it seems she's running a bit late, is the thing. And, uh, if her Splendidness can't be here in time to bleed you... " Dawn realises that he isn't going to help her when he pulls out a knife.

Down below, Willow separates the mob of crazy people and Spike darts through. He quickly begins to ascend the stairs to save Dawn.

Up top, Doc produces a pocket watch and looks at it. "Well. What do you know? It's just about that time." Dawn sees Spike come up the stairs and calls his name. Then Doc spins around as Spike slowly strides toward him. "Doesn't a fella stay dead when ya kill him?"

Spikes lunges forward, Doc sidesteps him and grabs him by the neck. He thrusts his knife into Spike’s back. Spike gasps in pain. Dawn gasps in sympathy. Doc looks at Spike appraisingly. "I don't smell a soul anywhere on you. Why do you even care?" Spike replies, "I made a promise to a lady."

Doc shoots his tongue out at Spike. Spike ducks and the two grapple on the floor. Doc pins Spike’s arms and tells him "Then I'll send the lady your regrets," before throwing Spike off the tower.

Dawn screams and reaches out for Spike as he falls. She loses her balance and falls over the edge of the platform. Her dress catches on an extended piece of a metal girder and she hangs there, suspended above the ground. Her arm is cut badly from the fall and is bleeding slowly.

Down below, the group looks on in horror as Spike plummets to the ground. Willow takes control, issuing orders to those around her. "Xander, get Spike. Anya, take care of Tara. I'm going after Dawn." The others do as they are told and Xander kisses Anya quickly before leaving her to care for Tara while he runs to collect the injured vampire.

Buffy gets to the top of the tower and sees Doc standing at the end of the platform looking down. He turns around when he hears her approach. "Oh, this should be interesting." He smiles at the slayer who just pushes him off the side of the platform and drops down to look over the edge.

"Dawn. Are you okay?" Dawn looks up at Buffy and tries to smile. "I'm okay, but I'm scared. Buffy, please get me out of here." Buffy swings her legs over the edge and begins climbing down to her sister just as the blood begins to drip off her fingertips and into the night air.

Xander gathers Spike up into his arms and starts to carry him back toward Anya and Tara when he hears the noise. It sounds like an airplane engine it's so loud. A strong wind begins to whip around him and he feels himself being pulled upward. He frantically looks around; his eyes lock with Anya's as he and Spike are sucked into a portal.

Buffy pulls Dawn back to the top of the platform just as the portal begins to open. "Buffy it's started." Dawn looks at her sister and makes a decision. "I have to stop it, only when my blood stops flowing will the portal close." Buffy shakes her head. She leans in and whispers to Dawn before hugging her tight. "I love you, Dawn." Buffy then turns and leaps off the tower, throwing herself into the portal.

Giles killed Ben. He knew that if he didn't, Glory would come back and make his slayer pay for sparing her life. He had to make the hard choices, it was Ben or Dawn; he knew he had chosen correctly. He looked when he heard the noise and saw the portal open. He left Ben's lifeless body and headed back toward the others. He was too late to see Xander and Spike disappear, but he was just in time to see his slayer jump.

Anya screamed and ran toward the portal after Xander disappeared. She didn't want to live without him; if he was gone she had no reason for being. Tara grabbed her and held her back, she couldn't allow Anya to throw her life away. Besides, it was a portal that meant it had to lead to somewhere. Maybe there was a way to bring Xander and Spike back.

Willow saw Buffy pull Dawn back up to the top of the tower. She was just about to head back to Tara when she heard the noise. She looked over and saw Xander and Spike get pulled into the portal, she heard Anya scream and saw her rush out into the open. She was glad that Tara had stopped her, but she understood. Part of her felt like jumping in after Xander, as well.

Willow noticed that everyone was looking at the portal and staring. She looked up and saw Buffy, suspended in the centre of the portal. "Buffy, no!" Willow felt hot tears run down her face. In the span of seconds, she had lost the two people who had made up her world for the past five years. It wasn't fair. She had just gotten Tara back and now she'd lost her two best friends in one horrifying minute.

Dawn stepped off the last stair and walked over to the fallen body of her sister. Her sister who had told her to live - for her. She reached out to touch her but pulled away before making contact. Tara was beside her in an instant, pulling her into a warm safe embrace and stroking her hands over her hair. "Hey, lets get you away from here, okay?"

Giles called the ambulance while the others piled into his car. They had lost too much in one night. He had lost his slayer, a young woman who meant the world to him, and Xander who he thought of as the son he never had. Willow had lost her best friends, both of them. But Dawn, Dawn had lost not only her sister - and therefore the only real family she had, but she had lost the man she had been not so secretly crushing on for years, and the vampire that she called her friend. She had lost the most.

~!~

Xander struggled to sit up, but a solid weight on his chest was keeping him from moving. He opened his eyes and blinked at the bright sunlight. He groaned in pain and tried to push the heavy object off his chest.

The object moaned in protest and Xander yelped. He began to struggle to free himself when he heard a very distinct British "Bloody hell!" emanate from the lump on his chest. The lump that - now that he could see clearly - had a white/blonde head and was wearing black leather.

"Shit! Spike!" Xander pushed the vampire off of him and began to frantically look around for shelter. He needed to get Spike out of the sunlight, now. He turned in a circle but all he could see was grass and weeds, trees and plants. And of course debris, a lot of debris from the building site.

Spike pushed himself up to his hands and knees and then flopped over on his back. He was in agony from the fall. He wasn't sure if his arm was broken, but it hurt like hell. He had a knife wound in his back and his face felt hot. He opened his eyes and screamed. "Fuck! Shit, cover me fer Christ’s sake before I catch fire!"

Spike rolled onto his front and curled up under his duster. Xander ripped his jacket off and threw in on the vampire as well. After a few minutes, when Spike didn't start to smoke or catch fire, Xander had a thought. "Hey, Spike?" A muffled "What?" came from under the jackets. Xander chuckled.

"Shouldn't you be on fire by now? I mean, you were laying out here in the sunlight for God knows how long before we woke up, and no vampire flambé. Why is that?" Spike mumbled something that sounded like "Dunno mate," and Xander watched as one pale hand crept out from under the leather.

Spike waited for the inevitable pain of his hand catching on fire. When it didn't come, he stuck his other hand out as well. Still no pain. With a smile on his face he rolled back over and let the heat of the sun warm him in a way he hadn't felt in over a century. He didn't care that his arm might possibly be broken, or that his back was bleeding. He was in the sunlight! Him, a vampire, in the light of day and not frying to a crisp. This was like heaven.

Xander chuckled at Spike and then took a good look around him. Now that he wasn't so concerned about Spike's safety, he wanted to know where exactly they were. "Hey Spike, where the hell do you think we are?" He spun back around when he heard Spike chuckle.

ot hot hell, Shaggy, feels like heaven to me. But to answer your question, I don't have a clue." Spike continued to enjoy the sun, he stripped off his jacket and his t-shirt, letting the warmth soak into his chest. He considered stripping his jeans off as well but figured he'd better not, he wasn't so sure how Xander would take it, him being in the full monty and all.

"I'm going to take a look around, don't wander off." Xander shook his head fondly and then left Spike to his sunbathing while he headed off in the direction of a stand of trees. They were farther than they looked and by the time Xander got close, he could hear running water. He figured that was a good sign, he would need water pretty soon.

As he got closer to the trees he saw a slow moving river winding through them. There was a small waterfall - about eight feet in height, a lot of plants along the far side and the water looked crystal clean. He stopped at the bank and knelt down. After cupping his hand and bringing some water to his face, he sniffed at it before tasting it. It tasted pure and it was cold and refreshing. He drank a few mouthfuls and carefully made his way across the river to the other side by stepping on some rocks.

On the other side of the river, Xander examined the plants and shrubbery. He found some wild strawberries and raspberry bushes, but the others didn't look familiar. He took off his shirt and used it to carry the fruit as he made his way back across the river and toward Spike. He wasn't sure how long they would be stuck here before Willow, Tara, and Giles found a way to rescue them and he didn't want to starve while waiting.

Spike waited until he knew Xander was gone before skinning out of his jeans, boxers and boots to lie naked in the sun. His arm, while definitely sore was not broken. The wound on his back was healing up and he felt great. He wished Buffy were here so he could see her in the sunlight. He tried to imagine how she would look with the sunlight glinting off her hair.

Spike, while not the most educated demon when it came to mojo, knew that the chances of them getting out of this place were slim to none. If anyone could find a way to rescue them, it would be Red, but it could take a bloody long time for her to do it. He wasn't as upset at the idea of being stuck here as he should be. Probably had something to do with the fact that he was lying naked in the sun. He wondered if he had time to toss off before Xander got back.