Roll Me Away

By: Valkyrie

Summary, disclaimer, etc…See part one.

            Spike sat frozen as the petite blonde he’d been chasing for the last nine days came up and set a fresh bottle of beer on his table.  He heard her voice, but shock turned the words into an incoherent mumble.  He opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment she lifted her head and shook her hair out of her eyes.  Stunned blue collided with wary hazel before recognition shot through and he watched her eyes widen and he vaguely noted all the color drain from her face.

            “Oh. My. God.” The words fell from Buffy’s lips without any thought on her part as her muscles locked and her heart skipped about fifty beats.  She didn’t even acknowledge the bottle shattering at her feet as everything around her tilted to a crazy degree and she found she couldn’t breath quite right.  She stumbled back a step, bumping into the beam behind her, as her gaze remained locked on Spike.  She saw him reach for her, an unconscious attempt to steady her, and she shook her head violently. 

“No!” She held up a hand, “You- What-“ She couldn’t form a coherent sentence and she felt the beginnings of tears burning in her eyes. <<He wasn’t supposed to be here.>>

“Buffy…” Spike finally found his voice as Buffy fumbled to a stop.  This wasn’t exactly how he had been hoping this would go.  He stood up from his stool and took a step toward her.

What was wrong with her?  In some part of her brain that was functioning, she knew she should be ecstatic.  He was here…standing within arms reach…obviously he had come looking for her.  Yet ecstatic was a far cry from what she was feeling.  She was frozen…stuck somewhere between sobbing and fainting and all she could do was shake her head at the man in front of her.  Afraid that if she moved, she would explode, shatter into a million pieces.  Through a dim haze she saw him step closer and her breath hitched once again as he reached for her. 

Spike moved as slow as his jittery nerves would allow, sensing that she was wavering on the edge of hysteria.  He was a little annoyed with himself when he felt his hand trembling as he reached for her arm.  He was also, somewhere in the back of his mind, a little miffed that she wasn’t jumping into his arms.  He felt an ache somewhere in the vicinity of his heart when he noted the tears building in her eyes and his hand went to curl around the one she still held slightly in front of her. 

At the touch of skin on skin, a shiver went through them both.  Spike opened his mouth to speak…and never got the chance.

“Excuse me, miss?”

The customer’s words seemed to break Buffy’s paralysis and her head snapped back as if she’d been slapped and she pulled her hand away from Spike’s. 

“Miss?”

Buffy’s head whipped back and forth between the wounded expression on Spike’s face and the irritated one on her customer’s.  She felt a lone tear slip and that got her moving, “I-I’m sorry…” She wasn’t sure if that was directed at the man or Spike, but it didn’t matter really, because she was already pushing her way through the crowd toward the back exit.  Her job and her friends falling out of her head and being replaced with the need to be anywhere but here.  She barreled out the back door and into the alley, nearly slipping on the greasy asphalt, before finding her balance and bolting down the narrow space toward Main Street.

* * * *

It took a few seconds for Buffy’s disappearance to register, before Spike was pushing his way through the crowd after her.  Heedless of the flare of pain in his abdomen at the exertion, he flew down the hallway, slamming through the door and out into the alley.  His boots skidded as his head whipped to either side looking for her.  He caught a flash of black shirt and blonde hair skirting around the corner of the building to his left.  He took off after her, one arm now pressed against his stomach as the pain became more noticeable. 

When Buffy reached the sidewalk in front of the building, she took a second to orient herself before skirting the line at the door of the club and darting across the street.  As she gained the other side, she heard her name and looked back to see Spike come around the side of The Bronze clutching at his middle and moving between people to reach the street.  A few cars passed as they stared at each other before Spike could step off the curb and Buffy started moving again.  She didn’t run this time, only walked backwards as she watched Spike narrow the gap between them.  She knew running from him had been a moment of panic…and even now, she still felt that urge to run.  But even as she turned to do just that, his voice stopped her.

“Buffy, wait…please,” Spike’s voice came out tempered with a slight hiss as the burning in his stomach grew.  He was pretty sure he’d reopened the wound, but that took a back seat to the girl still backing away from him.  She stopped and eyed him warily, and Spike put the hand not clutching at his middle up in a gesture of peace.  “Please pet, just wait.”

Buffy watched as he winced, bending forward slightly.  For the first time she noticed the way he was walking, favoring his left side slightly, not really limping but definitely walking in a way as to not jar his body too much.  Her brow wrinkled in confusion, before sliding her gaze down to where he had one arm wrapped around himself.  Without thinking, she moved a step closer, “Spike?  What’s wrong?  Are you okay?” 

Spike tried to take a breath to answer but the movement caused a fresh wave of pain to slice through him and he hissed between his teeth.  He felt the blood trickling beneath his shirt and knew for sure he had reopened the hole in his gut and cursed under his breath.  He raised his head to meet Buffy’s worried gaze and felt the ground tilt under him as both his arms dropped, one reaching out to grab at the light pole next to him for support.

“Spike!” Buffy eyes widened in horror as she saw the blood staining his shirt and saw him start to slide down the pole to the ground.  She hit her knees next to him catching him under the arms and turning herself to support his upper body as his legs gave out completely and he came to rest against her.  “Oh God…” Her voice wavered as she pressed her hand over the bloody area of his shirt, feeling the bandage underneath and putting as much pressure as she could.  She heard him groan, and felt her eyes water knowing it hurt him.

“ ‘S okay, pet,” Spike tried to reassure her even as he felt unconsciousness pulling at him. “Jus’ shouldn’t have run is all…not healed all the way.” His voice was a whisper before he blacked out completely. 

Buffy winced at his words, “Oh God, Spike…I’m sorry.  Please be okay…I promise not to run again…” She was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder and she raised watery eyes to the two teens standing over her.

“We called 9-1-1.  The paramedics are on their way,” The girl gave Buffy a sympathetic face while her boyfriend wadded up the button down he’d had over his tee shirt and handed it to her. “Here use this.” 

Buffy accepted the makeshift bandage and pressed it against the wound, “Thank you.” 

Her whisper was drowned out by the sound of sirens as an ambulance and police cruiser came around the corner and pulled to a halt.  One of the cops pushed back the crowd of people and made a path for the paramedics and the stretcher.  The other officer crouched next to Buffy and gently disentangled her from Spike, “Come on honey, let the guys do their work.”  Buffy nodded dazedly and stood, watching as they lifted him onto the stretcher.  The officer, a stocky man with thinning hair and kind face, turned to her, “What happened?”

“I-I don’t know,” Buffy whispered.  “He just started bleeding.  He said he hadn’t healed…Is-Is he gonna be okay?”  She twisted her blood-covered hands together in front of her.

One of the paramedics heard her and offered a gentle smile, “He should be okay, and the docs at the hospital will fix him up.  He seems to have reopened a wound.  Had he been doing anything strenuous before this happened?”

Buffy felt fresh tears start at the question, “He-He was running, um he was trying to-to catch up with me.”

“Then that’s probably what caused it.”

“Oh God…my fault,” Buffy’s breath hitched as she sobbed.

“Actually, it’s the hospital’s fault…he should still be under a doctor’s care,” The paramedic reached out and squeezed her arm. “Don’t blame yourself.” He turned to his partner and nodded, “Ready to load?”  At the other man’s affirmative response, he turned back to Buffy, “Do you wanna ride with him?”

Buffy nodded and followed the man and the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, sitting on the bench that ran along the side.  As the doors closed and the sirens turned back on, Buffy reached out and took Spike’s hand in hers.  She pressed it against her cheek and whispered, “I promise Spike, no more running.”

* * * *

For the second time in less than a week, Spike found himself waking up in a hospital bed.  This time though, he found an angel curled up in the chair beside the bed, one arm stretched out and a small hand holding his.  He took a few moments to gaze at the sleeping girl, taking in the tear stained cheeks and swollen eyes, before squeezing at the fingers wrapped around his.  Her eyes fluttered open, and it took a few moments for her to wake up fully.  He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face at the adorable picture she made as she rubbed a fist against her eyes, looking for all the world like a little girl.  When her eyes finally landed on his face, he spoke, “Hello cutie.”

Buffy stood slowly and moved closer to the bed, “Hi.  How do you feel?”

Spike grimaced, “Been better.  Remind me next time…no running so soon after getting shot.”

“Not funny, Spike,” Buffy frowned.  “And how did you get shot?”

“Wrong place at the wrong time,” Spike squeezed her hand again. “My turn… Why did you run from me last night?”

Buffy chewed on her lower lip and looked at the floor.  “Spike, I- I’m sorry.  I was shocked and I panicked.  I never expected you to follow me…why did you follow me?”  She raised her eyes to meet his steady gaze.

“What else was I gonna do?” Spike sighed and used the hand in his to pull her farther up the side of the bed until she was level with his shoulder, and lifted her fingers to press a kiss against the back of them.  “I don’t give up easily, Buffy.  I was serious when I told you how I felt, and that’s not something I can just let slip away.  What we started in Oklahoma was too damn important to me to not come after you.”

“But,” Buffy stopped for a second and gathered her thoughts that had scattered at the feel of his lips against her fingers.  “How did you know?”

“What?” Spike raised one scarred eyebrow, “How did I know you’d go home?”  She nodded and Spike answered with a slight shrug, “Didn’t really…followed an instinct.  Hoped you’d decided it was time and prayed all the way here that you wouldn’t slam the door in my face when I found you.” 

Buffy lowered her eyes to the floor and whispered, “I…missed you.” 

Spike swore his heart did a complete somersault in his chest at her words, “Tell me I’m not a complete fool for coming here, Buffy.” 

“No Spike, you’re not a fool,” Her voice was so soft he had to strain to catch her words.

“No?”

“No,” This time she met his eyes when she said it.  She had promised herself she wasn’t going to away run from whatever was happening here…and this was the first step in running back to him.

Spike’s eyes searched her face, seeing the conviction behind her words, and smiled.  “Come here,” He said as he used their still joined hands to tug her towards him.  He watched her eyes drift shut and followed suit just before their lips touched.  Buffy sighed into him as he wrapped his free arm around her to bury in his hand in her hair.  Spike felt every nerve in his body come alive as she opened her mouth to him, a soft moan issuing from her as their tongues met and mated.  Better than he remembered, better than his dreams…kissing Buffy made him feel alive for the first time since she had walked out of that apartment in Mountain View.  As he allowed himself to drown in the taste and heat that was Buffy, he prayed to whatever powers might be listening that she was done fighting him.  He didn’t think his heart or his body could take the punishment if she wasn’t.