She looked over at Emma, watching the other Slayer as she sat huddled against Aiden. Emma had dark circles under her eyes, and her normally bronzed skin was looking almost pale. The energy drain had obviously taken its toll "Thank you, Em, for what you did for him," Buffy said.
Emma looked up. "He was kind to me before. I was simply repaying the favor."
"Still, you didn't have to. You went above and beyond there."
"No, I didn't," Emma replied, shaking her head. "Not for a Slayer."
Buffy met Emma's gaze, seeing the strength in the other woman's brown eyes despite the currently-weakened state of her body. An understanding passed between them, and Buffy realized something fully for the first time.
Being the Slayer no longer meant being alone.
Buffy broke away from Emma's eyes when Spike groaned, her heart leaping at the sound. "Spike?" she asked softly, stroking his hair. "Talk to me, honey. Please…"
"Buffy?" Spike replied groggily, forcing his eyes opened. "What the hell happened?"
The overwhelming sense of relief Buffy felt at hearing his voice again almost made her burst into tears. "You got hurt," she said, her own voice cracking. "I thought for a while there I might lose you."
"I'm too bloody stubborn to die. You should know that by now," Spike replied as he sat up, ignoring the throbbing pain throughout his whole body. He glanced around, then frowned. "Where's Dawn?"
"She fell through the sand," Emma said.
"I don't believe she's dead," Aiden added. "Clearly, she was targeted as the Key, so Chalchicomehuel would want her alive."
"Then we need to find her," Spike said, trying to stand only to have his legs give out on him, though Buffy quickly caught him.
"Easy there, Billy. You were poisoned by a giant snake monster. You're not exactly in top form," Buffy chided softly.
He wanted to protest and insist he really was perfectly fine, but the way his head swam told him that would be useless. "Then leave me here, pet. Go on and save Dawn."
"No," Buffy said, shaking her head emphatically. "There is no way I'm abandoning you out here."
"Buffy, I can catch up later. Dawn's in trouble. For all we know, whatshisface could be using her right now to do whatever world-ending thing he's planning to do. You can't wait around for me."
"I don't believe Chalchicomehuel could have already started the ritual," Aiden said. "These sorts of things, they take preparation and proper alignments. We should have time enough still."
Buffy placed her hand against Spike's leg. "We'll save Dawn—but you'll need to be there beside me to do it. I need you in this fight."
When Spike opened his mouth to protest some more, Buffy put her finger against his lips. "Shh… Just rest, get your strength back up. The more you chatter on, the more energy you're wasting that you could be using to heal."
Spike gave her a dirty look, but he also let her guide his head back down to her lap so he could rest some more.
Dawn looked on in disgust as she watched Krez eat what appeared to be giant beetles from a pack at his side. They crunched; he slurped.
She wished she could break out of her prison and snap his neck.
She couldn't let herself believe Spike was really dead. As unfair as the universe tended to be, that would be just too much. She and Buffy had just gotten him back in their lives, and now he was going to marry Buffy, plus they were awaiting the birth of their first child. To take him now…
Even the universe couldn't be that cruel, could it?
She'd seen him hit, yet only moments later, the ground had given out beneath her feet and she'd lost consciousness. Anything could've happened since then. For all she knew, Spike was already back on his feet, ready for a fight.
Dawn had to believe that. Otherwise, she thought she might break down, and she didn't have time for that.
Krez turned his yellow, reptilian eyes on Dawn as he sucked a beetle leg into his mouth. "Pretty little Key need not have worry for friends. Friends and pretty little Key will be too dead to care soon." Krez laughed as if he found his words very funny.
Dawn glared, unable to keep herself quiet. "My sister is going to kill you," she snarled.
Krez hissed, then bared his fangs. "No, no, pretty little Key. Krez will kill golden-haired Slayer. Krez will taste golden-haired Slayer's flesh." He hissed again.
The thought made her want to shudder in revulsion, but Dawn continued to glare. If pathetic little Krez honestly thought Buffy couldn't kick his slimy ass, then he was one delusional demon.
"Krez's lord will so rule the Heavens and the Hells. All the Slayers will be nothing under the power of Krez's lord." He clapped rowdily.
Dawn turned her head, no longer wanting to look at the creature. His words meant nothing to her; she wouldn't let them mean anything. Spike, Buffy, Emma—they were all fine still, and they would get to her in time to stop whatever ritual that Chachi guy had planned. Then they could go home, and everything would be fine.
As the snakes continued forth through the tunnel, Dawn held on to that thought.
Night had already fallen by the time Spike woke again. He sat up, rubbing his head.
"Are you feeling better?" Buffy asked.
"I've felt a lot worse," Spike replied. "I think I can go on now."
"It will be possible for us to travel during the night; however, it will put us in greater peril," Aiden said. "We will have to move slowly, and with caution."
"Which is still better than not moving at all," Buffy replied. "We'll just have to watch each other's backs. Emma, are you okay enough to go on?"
Emma nodded. "I feel fine now."
"What happened to Em?" Spike asked, his brow furrowed.
"She gave Aiden energy so he'd be strong enough to heal you," Buffy answered.
Spike turned to Emma, but she held up her hand. "Please, just don't make a thing out of it, okay? We need to go save Dawn."
Understanding, Spike nodded. It seemed as if though Emma was quick to jump in and help someone in need, she was uncomfortable receiving any credit for her actions.
Spike wondered if it was humbleness or a resistance to see herself as a hero. He filed the question away to think about later.
Now, he needed to concentrate on rescuing Dawn.
At night, the desert was even worse than it was during the day. The heat seemed to linger even in the darkness, and the sky had grown more ominous, the red crackles of lighting above bathing everything in an eerie blood-colored glow.
Spike still wasn't at top strength, and Buffy was grateful he hadn't insisted on carrying her now. Instead, he allowed her to let him lean on her, her arm wrapped around his waist to catch him if his legs started to tremble.
She'd asked him once if he needed to rest again, but he'd shaken his head no, determination set in his eyes. Buffy knew him well enough to know if he wore that particular expression on his face, nothing was going to stop him from doing what he had his mind set on.
Buffy had long since come to terms with the fact that she was in love with a very stubborn man.
Periodically, something would make a sound in the distance, bringing them to a stop while Aiden listened to see if he could identify the creature. So far, they hadn't run into anything that was an immediate threat.
However, Buffy had an idea that was about to change when a loud screeching filled the air. "Duck!" Aiden yelled right before something large swooped, coming down over the tops of their lowered heads.
"What the bloody hell is that?" Spike asked, glancing up cautiously.
"Mulnax," Aiden said. "It'll be coming back around soon."
Seconds later, the mulnax came in for a second pass, its screeches reaching near-earsplitting levels. This time, it brought down its talons, the claws digging into Aiden's shoulder. He hit at the creature with his sword, making it cry out in pain before it flew back for another attack.
When it came back again, Buffy looked up from her crouching position, waiting until the beast was right above them. Then, she sprung up, flipping into the air to drive her sword through it.
The mulnax let out one more horrible screech, its wings flapping idly before it fell to the ground beside the group in a dead heap.
Buffy flicked her arm, her nose wrinkling. "You'd think after all the times I'd been demon slimed, I'd be use to it by now." She looked over at Aiden. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I think it was only a scratch."
"Aiden, it dug its claws into you," Emma said, standing on her toes to try to get a better look at his shoulder. "Let me see."
"I'm fine," Aiden insisted.
Emma crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. "What happened to always being truthful, huh? I saw what that thing did to you—I was right beside you."
He raised his own eyebrow in response. "It's not a lie if I believe it to be true."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Great. A stoic." She moved her hands to her hips. "Let me look at your arm. Otherwise, I'm going to be spending the rest of this trip wondering if it's going to drop off into the sand, and that'll just be a distraction."
Aiden sighed. "There's a cleansing strip in my pack. It's blue."
Emma reached into the pack on his side, digging around for a moment until she pulled out a blue strip. "This it?"
"Yes," Aiden told her with a nod. "Place it over the wound and it will prevent any infection that may cause my arm to 'drop off into the sand.'"
"Good to know," Emma muttered as Aiden knelt down enough to let her reach the top of his arm. She placed the cleansing strip over his shoulder, watching as it spread out to cover the whole of the injury. Then, she kissed his arm softly. "There. I can go on without worrying about your stubborn self now."
The darkness of their surroundings hid the blush on Aiden's cheeks. "Thank you."
As Spike fussed over Buffy, checking her for any sign of damage, despite her insistence the mulnax had never touched her, she watched Aiden and Emma, a smile tugging at her lips. It had surprised her to realize they had seemed to connect so quickly, yet watching them now, she had to admit they were rather cute together.
Although somehow, she had the feeling they'd both scoff at that assessment—outwardly at least.
She wondered what would happen to their fledgling relationship once this was all over.
"Those demon guts aren't burning you, are you? Making you feel a little woozy?"
At Spike's question, Buffy looked back at him and rolled her eyes. "Honey, they're just average, every day demon guts. I'm fine. Baby's fine. It's good."
"You about gave me a heart attack flipping up into the air with your sword like that," Spike told her.
"Yeah, well, I had to kill the nasty giant hell-bird thingy," Buffy retorted. "Deal with it."
Spike shook his head, then placed a kiss on her cheek. "Just be careful."
"I always am." At Spike's raised eyebrow, Buffy pouted, then insisted, "I am!"
"I'll believe that when I see it, Slayer. Now come on, if we're all all right here, we might as well get moving again." Spike's nose wrinkled and he nodded his head towards the dead mulnax. "That thing really reeks."
The other three in agreement, they set out again.
I'm really trying to get this one to its end, and I'm going to do my best not to keep having such big gaps between posts. Please take a moment to let me know what you think of the story. I could really use the encouragement right now.