All characters belong to Joss Whedon, The WB Network, and 20th Century Fox. I am just a fan.

"Bloody hell! You cursed it!" Spike yelled.

"Me?? This is your fault!" she yelled even louder.

"Shut up! They'll 'ear you!"

"You mean see us! As in our mutilated carcasses once our bodies get aquainted with the ceiling!"

At that moment, they glanced at each other, finally realizing how serious their situation was.

"Shit. We have to get out of here now!"

"And how'd you s'pose we do that?!"

Buffy searched her moving whereabouts. The elevator was rising at a slow pace, but in about 30 seconds... well, Buffy didn't really want to think about 30 seconds from now.

"We have to get back in the elevator. It's the only way. There's nothing to jump onto!"

"There's wires all over this damn thing!"

"They won't hold us!"

Spike dropped to his knees and began to pry off the top of the elevator, failing.

"It's stuck or somethin'!"

"Oh, God."

Buffy fell to the ground next to Spike and helped him pull the door. She glanced over her shoulder, as the ceiling approached. The trap door wouldn't budge.

"Damnit!"

She stood up and frantically tried to find something - anything - that would look strong enough to hold them. She spotted a few metal poles lined up the side of the wall. It was their only hope. But they had to move fast or their exit would pass. She pulled Spike to his feet and pointed to the poles. He immediately understood and the two of them carefully made their way to the edge of the elevator.

"You take the left pole, I'll take the right, got it?"

He nodded. Buffy took a deep breath.

"Ready... set... jump!"

They both leaped off the elevator and grabbed hold of the poles, simletaneously. They held on for dear life, as they watched the elevator reach the top. Buffy closed her eyes for a moment and tried to steady her erratic breathing. That was scary.

"You alright?" Spike asked her from across the five foot gap between the poles.

"Yeah, you?"

"Never better."

"Good, 'cause now it's time to make like a monkey and climb."

"Where to?"

Buffy searched for the air vent she spotted a few seconds earlier. It was big enough to climb through and hopefully it led to anywhere but here. She saw it out of the corner of her eye and pointed Spike in that direction.

"Right, let's move."

They then began to pull themselves up the poles. Spike stopped about midway.

"You sure these things are strong, enough, Slayer? Mine seems a bit shaky to me."

He wiggled it gently for effect.

"Well, if you continue to try and pull it off it's hinges, than no, they're not."

He rolled his eyes and started to climb again, with Buffy just a few feet ahead of him. It wasn't long before he could feel the pole start to loosen like he suspected. He stopped again, not moving a muscle.

When she sensed his delay once more, she let out an exasperrated sigh and looked down.

"Spike, come on!"

"Shut up," he said, quietly.

She frowned.

"Look, we so do not have time for this. If you're that scared, than just let go and --"

Creak.

Buffy's eyes widened, as she glanced up at the top of his pole.

"Oh," she said.

Spike swallowed hard. The fall most likely wouldn't kill him, but that's the part he was dreading.

"C-Can you make it over to my pole?" she asked him.

"If the bloody thing can't hold my weight alone, there's no way in hell it'll support the both of us."

Creak.

Spike tensed as he dropped about an inch.

"Well, we have to do something!" she cried.

"How much farther we got to go?"

"Um... a few more feet. The vent's right up there."

Spike didn't bother to look.

"Right then. I'll try to make my way up as far as I can. If the pole starts slippin' on me, I'll make a jump to the wires."

Creak. Creak.

"No, you can't risk that."

"Don't have much of a choice, do we now."

Buffy held her breath, as Spike proceeded to climp, taking it ever so slow. He was almost caught up to her, when he stopped again.

"See, no biggie."

Buffy was about to let out the air she was holding, when one of the two chains that were holding the pole, snapped.

"Spike!"

He was now almost ten feet below from where he started.

"I'm okay," he called up to her.

She let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm coming down there."

"No, I said I'm good."

"Yeah, as good as dead."

He ignored her.

"Lemme try again."

"No way," Buffy told him. "Just hold on, I'm coming."

"Damnit, Buffy!"

She remained in her place.

"Now listen. Go on up. I don't want you riskin' you life, comin' down 'ere to save my sorry ass. Just climb up to the air vent and --"

"Are you crazy? You want me to just leave you hanging there?"

"I'll find some way to --"

Buffy was already on her way down.

Creak. Creak.

She cursed to herself. Why did every situation they got themselves into manage to become more complicated than ever thought possible? She sighed when finally reached him.

"Okay, don't move. I'm gonna reach over and pull you over to my pole."

"I told you, Slayer, the weight --"

"No. Now give me your hand."

Creak. Creak. Creak.

He shook his head.

"I'm serious, Spike!"

"So am I!"

Snap!

She reached out and grabbed him by the arm, just as his pole broke from it's restraints. They heard a shattering sound, like breaking glass, as it made it's way to the ground below them. It was too dark to actually see what was below them, but it sounded like some sort of big window or something.

Spike was hanging by one arm, as Buffy held him tightly. She tried desperately to hold onto her own pole with her other hand, as the vampire dangled below her. But he was right. There was no way the pole could support the both of them.

"You should 'ave let me fall," she heard him say.

"And live with that for the rest of my life? I don't think so."

"Well, looks as if you won't be livin' much longer."

Buffy shuttered, but refused to let him go. She maintained her grip on the pole.

"I'm gonna swing you over to the pole next to me, okay?"

Creak.

Oh, shit.

Creak. Creak.

She looked down at him, her eyes frightened. They were going to fall and that was that. His eyes conveyed the same message, but weren't scared at all. They were angry. He was angry.

Spike glared up at the Slayer. How could she have been so stupid? She should have let him fall. Now they were both on the verge off plummeting to the ground below them, but only one had a good chance of surviving it. Him.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

Buffy squeezed the pole with all her might. She wouldn't slip. They wouldn't fall. She would swing him over and everything would be fine. And so she began to swing.

Crack!

There goes one chain.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he bellowed.

"I - I told you I was going to swing you!"

"That was before the soddin' thing snapped in two!"

"Just shut up and swing, damnit!"

Creak. Creak.

Spike made up his mind at that moment. He wasn't going to let her die. Not again.

"Let me go."

"What?!"

"You heard me. Let go of my arm."

"No way!"

"Just do it, Buffy. Trust me."

His words were calm, but forceful. Buffy didn't know what to do.

"I - I can't."

Creak. Creak. Creak.

"Yes, you can."

She closed her eyes. Part of her was telling her to let him go. She didn't even like the guy... why risk her life to save his? The other part was telling her to hold on tighter. Even though they never got along, he was still a part of her life, and she couldn't let him fall.

Creak.

Buffy felt as the pole began to loosen. She looked up to see how much time they had, only to realize that the chain hadn't snapped at all. Both chains were still in place... and attached to the big chunk of ceiling about to give way. If part of the ceiling fell apart, there was a good chance the entire thing would collapse on them. Then they'd surely be dead. Buffy glanced down at the vampire, still looking up at her. She knew what she had to do.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

Spike's eyes saddened. She was letting him go. Well, it's not like he could blame her. He told her to do so, afterall. He was about to reply to her, when he saw what she was about to do. Spike watched in horror as the Slayer let go of her pole instead of his arm.

"No!" he yelled up at her, but it was too late. They were both falling. For some reason, the bottom wasn't as far down as they suspected.

They crashed through the glass pane that they heard the pole break through, and landed with a... splash? Suddenly, there was nothing but water around them, as they sunk to the bottom of the pool.

Spike opened his eyes and immediately began to search for Buffy. He saw her floating to the top of the pool and his undead heart twisted. Swimming vigorously, he caught her in his arms and brought her to the surface for air. She had cuts all across her body, and he figured she was rendered unconscious as soon as she hit the glass. He noticed the blood running down the length of his own arms as he held her, but ignored it. He carried her limp body out of the pool and placed her down gently on the cement floor. He brought his ear to her chest, and listened for a heartbeat.

Thump... th-thump... thump... th-thump...

She was alive. It took all of his will-power not to scream for joy, and instead wiped a wet strand of hair from out of her eye, and tucked it behind her ear. Her breathing was shallow, but at least she was breathing.

Suddenly, a herd of people came barging through the double doors. A tall woman with short blonde hair pointed the rest of the group in Buffy and Spike's direction.

"Get them."

Beyond Surrender: Part 9
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