Author's Babble: Prezzie induced nervous Energy!

So yeah, I'm 19 years old and I still get crazy excited on Christmas Eve like I did when I was 9. I've got butterflies in my tummy just thinking of all the goodies I'm gonna get tomorrow, so what better way to use my insane christmas energy than to work on my fics? Its not like I can sleep with all that impending joy hanging over my head like some hovering thing! So yes, here's the result of far to much Christmas spirit and far too much Christmas Coffee...Enjoy!

Chapter Seven: Devious Dead Dude

"Faith?" I crawled across the blue floor, wincing. It wasn't that I was in pain. My body was quite numb, but the fact that I was naked and covered in bruises and bleeding wounds made me worry about the numbness. Was it permanent damage? It could just be drugs to keep me comfortable while they dug around my body looking for something. But why keep me comfy? I'm the enemy, remember? So once again I'm wondering if they damaged my nerves or something....or was my whole body in shock? Wouldn't I be cold or something? I tried to remember how people acted when they were in shock in the movies and my own slayery experience.

Meanwhile, I'd made it over to Faith, who was if similar shape to me and curled into fetal position. "Faith, c'mon, wake-up?" I poked at her ribs and she started shivering uncontrollably. I poked her again and she whimpered. I sighed. She was useless if she was just going to lie there and shake. What kind of Slayer was she? An evil-bitch-that-lies-there-shaking kind, I guess. I frowned at her, thinking back on all the horrible things she'd done to me. After all she put me through, she should be begging to help me out, but instead she just lay there all useless and traumatized-looking. I pouted.

"Faith, if you don't get up and tell me what's what right this second I'm going to poke you sooo hard...." I threatened, then snorted at how childish I sounded. I poked her anyway. I poked her right in the middle of one of the skinless patches on her hip. She jerked upright and slapped at my hand.

"What the hell is the matter with you, you stupid bitch?!" She demanded, he eyes no longer looking quite as glazed. She looked normal, aside from the naked, bruised, and bloodied thing. I did a happy dance in my head. I fixed her!

"Now that you've rejoined the awake and aware world, tell me what the hell is going on!" I demanded. She scowled at me, edging further away.

"What do you think? We've been abducted by aliens." She snapped, wrapping her arms around her knees. I sighed again. I should have just left her in lala-land. Suddenly I shivered, my slayer-senses wiggling so slightly in the familiar tickle in the bottom of my spine that usually indicated that a familiar vampire, like Spike or Angel was around. I blinked, and looked around me but saw nothing before the sensation passed. I shook it off and frowned. The aliens probably had a vampire on board for experiments too...but if it were just any vamp it'd feel differently. I started to worry. Did this mean that they'd caught Angel? Or Spike?

*Xander*

"Spike, you diabolical fiend."-Xander

"So, I just have to sit here and think about Buffy?" I asked again, just to be sure. I just knew I'd screw up the spell. I'd think the wrong thing at the wrong second and then someone would turn into a duck or a frog and then I'd have no clue and we wouldn't be able to find Buffy or Wills and we'd be excessively screwed and I hate magic its scary and I want to go home and look! I'm hyperventilating again.

"Breathe, kitten." Spike said with a strange smile on his face. He'd been watching me since I'd sat down with him, Oz, Jonathan, and Tara. I gave him my Are-you-insane-this-is-never-going-to-work-we're-all-going-to-die look. He just gave me another smile. It was almost...sweet.

"Everyone join hands. All you have to do is picture Buffy in your heads. I'll do the rest." Tara told us, her voice growing a bit more confident as she started doing witchy stuff, making sure we were all sitting in the correct spots and such. I wiped my nervously sweating hands on my pants and held them out.

Oz took my right hand and gave me a calming smile. Everything about him exuded calm. He looked so comfortable and easy, that I felt my eyelid twitch. Its not fair! I wanna be calm and cool and non-freaky-outy! I pouted and turned to look at Spike, since he'd yet to take my other hand. He was scowling at Jonathan who was staring at Spike's other hand like it was a rattlesnake. I smirked. Spike opened his mouth to say something undoubtedly rude and mean but Tara cut him off.

"Jonathan, could you switch places with me? Spike has the most energy right now and it'll be easier for me to draw on it through direct contact." She said sweetly. Jonathan scrambled over quickly and took Oz's hand with a lot less trepidation. I looked back in time to see Tara wink at Spike. Spike and I blinked at her startled. I guess she was a lot more confident when dealing with magic.

She sat down in the vacated space and leaned forward to light the candles in the center of the circle. Spike slid his hand into mine when I wasn't looking and squeezed it when the spell preparations started to freak me out again. I looked at him and he smiled softly again. I melted. If he kept doing that I was going to be a puddle of goo before we got the spell done. Maybe that was his goal? Puddle-Xander wasn't Freaked-Xander. Spike was one Devious Dead Dude. I beamed at him and he chuckled quietly. Wow...Lookit us with the non-verbal communicatin'! We're so...coupley. Huh.

"Now, everyone, close your eyes and envision Buffy." Tara instructed. I pouted as I closed my eyes. She expects me to be able to think about Buffy when Spike's being so sexy with the smiling and the deviousness? I mentally slapped myself, reminding myself that my friend could be dead in a ditch somewhere. That thought got rid of all the nice Spike imagery and brought to mind one of my most frightening memories.

In my head I saw Buffy on the night of the Harvest so long ago, floating face-down in the water, dead. I shivered, and made myself focus on how awesome and beautiful she looked after I'd brought her back to the living. A badass in a white gown. In the back of my head, I registered the sound of Tara chanting in latin, then the sudden pull of energy from what felt like the pit of my stomach, then I heard Tara call out new instructions.

"I found her, now concentrate on Willow!" She sounded strained and my arms felt weak, held up only by my grip on Oz and Spike. I switched my thoughts to my sweet Willow. I had quite a few memories to draw from. I brought up a few of my favorites, Willow scolding me for not studying in High School, Willow smiling when I did something right...

I was startled out of a sort of trance when my head hit the floor. I jerked myself back upright, looking around to see the others, pulling themselves up. Oz and Jonathan looked sleepy, blinking a lot, heads nodding, but Spike and Tara looked the worst. Tara looked pale and shakey, and my Spike was paler than usual and his eyes were a bit glazed-looking.

We all turned to Tara, expectantly. "I saw them." She confirmed. "B-Buffy's on a ship. In a b-blue room with another girl. She's alive but p-pretty beaten up...but I think she sensed us." She looked a little confused but then she had lightbulb face. "She can sense vampires and other d-demons right?" Spike grunted an affirmative, still looking a little dazed. "She probably felt S-Spike's energy." I shrugged. I blinked at her.

"Okay. So um...explain it when we're more awake?" I said with a smile. She looked at me, startled, then smiled sheepishly.

"S-sorry. Um...I saw Willow too...she's on a different ship. A smaller one, b-but they're n-near each other." I nodded and blinked as Spike fell over with a thud. "I used a l-lot of his energy..." She added, looking at him worriedly. I nodded and smiled reassuringly at her.

"We should get some rest if we're going to figure out how to save our buds." The others nodded and climbed wearily to their feet, using each other and crutches and staggered over to the beds where Riley and Willow slept. Oz tossed a blanket to me and I used the last of my energy to curl up around Spike and pull the blanket over us on the floor.