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

Buffy’s eyes frantically searched around for her car, but it was nowhere to be found.

“This is not happening,” she said out loud. “This is *so* not happening...”

Meanwhile, Spike was becoming weaker, less conscious, and a hell of a lot harder to carry. She knew she had to get him back to his crypt before it was too late. He was losing a lot of blood. In fact, she could feel it seeping through her own clothes.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to do this the hard way,” she told him.

Spike didn’t reply, and instead, staggered and placed more of his weight upon Buffy. She readjusted him and headed down the road, preparing herself to walk the rest of the way.

“So...which one did you bring me?” Glory asked her brother anxiously, an immense smile spread across her face.

She was sitting on her bed painting her toenails, when her Ben walked in. He cleared his throat.

“There, uh, seems to be a bit of a problem, Sis...they sort of, well, they...”

“Spit it out already! My nails are going to be dry by the time you finally finish the damn sentence.”

“They got away.”

Glory stopped what she was doing and looked up at her brother. That was definitely not what she was planning on hearing. She stood up and strolled towards him.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you correctly. I mean, I *thought* you said they got away, but that can’t be right. I know for a fact that two, unconscious, weaklings don’t stand a chance against a powerful, immortal, god...”

Ben took a deep breath and repeated himself.

“You heard right. They got away.”

The small smile that was still suspended on Glory’s face, quickly vanished and only rage was evident now.

“You stupid fool! Do you know what this means?!”

Glory cried out in frustration and raised her hands upward towards the sky. Suddenly, large bolts of energy and electricity protruded from her fingertips, pierced the ceiling, and clashed with the clouds above her. When she was finished, she let out a sigh of relief, and walked towards one of her huge closets. She swung open the doors and pulled out Dawn by her hair. She squirmed and shrieked in her grasp.

“It means we’re gonna have to get this ritual set up a tad bit sooner than we expected.”

Buffy trudged along the side of the road praying a car would see them and pull over. But, unfortunately, no car was visible within a 50 mile radius. Spike had completely passed out and Buffy was getting worried. She had stopped briefly to rest, and while doing so, ripped off part of shirt in order to stop the blood. She tied it around his waist as tight as she could, but it wasn’t doing much good. He was still bleeding pretty bad. And to her dismay, she realized that if she didn’t find blood for him soon, he would die. Suddenly, the sky flashed before her eyes, and Buffy was momentarily blinded.

“What the...” she whispered, covering her eyes.

When the light finally subsided, Buffy felt cold droplets falling on top of her. She looked up and was shocked to see that it was...

Snowing?

*OK, maybe I got hit in the head harder than I thought,* she pondered to herself.

All of a sudden, the winds picked up and the snow became heavier and heavier. In no time at all, Buffy was walking through a blizzard. A blizzard, in the middle of spring, in California. It was unreal. The bitter cold numbed her delicate skin as she struggled against the fierce storm. She regretted leaving her coat in the car, stolen car for that matter, and it was even worse because she had just ripped off half her shirt to bandage up Spike. Why she was even bothering to help Spike, she had no idea. She supposed, that since he was willing to give up his life for hers, the least she could do was try to save his.

So there she was. Buffy Summers, half naked, carrying an unconscious vampire down the streets of Sunnydale in the middle of a blizzard. And all she knew, was that if she didn’t find shelter quickly, they would both be dead by morning.

"Um, Giles? Is it supposed to be snowing?” Willow asked in bewilderment, as they drove towards Glory’s mansion.

“I - I don’t believe so...this is extremely peculiar.”

Willow, Anya, and Tara all sat in the backseat, with Xander in the front with Giles. Willow and Tara had been practicing a new spell, when all of a sudden a blizzard struck.

“Do you think Glory had something to do with it?” Tara asked.

“You know, that would be so like her. That hussy of a god...trying to keep us from spoiling her plans,” Xander replied, shaking his head.

“Xander’s right. It wouldn’t amaze me at all if she was somehow behind this,” Giles agreed.

“Turn right!” Anya shouted from the backseat.

“Where?” Giles asked.

“Oh, uh, back there,” she replied.

Giles slammed on the breaks and put the car into reverse.

“Are you sure, Anya?”

“I think so...I mean it’s hard to tell with all this snow blowing around us. Maybe it was two streets back.”

“Well, perhaps you should give the direction duties over to Xander, here.”

After about 20 more minutes of bickering over what street to turn on and what direction to proceed in, the Scoobies finally came to the disturbing conclusion that...

They were lost.

Buffy sat down and wrapped her arms around her body. She had finally found a little tunnel that went underneath the road. It wasn’t much better, but it sure as hell beat walking through the damn snow storm. She leaned her head back closed her eyes.

Suddenly, a slight groan brought her back to reality. She looked over at Spike who was attempting to sit up.

“Spike, you’re awake!” She said, surprised at how much thrill was in her voice.

“Where the bloody hell am I?” He mumbled out, glancing over at Buffy. “And who the hell are you?”

Oh.

Loss of memory was definitely not a good sign. She looked down at his side and saw fresh blood seeping through the cloth. She sighed and reached over to fix it.

“Get your grubby paws off me!” He shouted swiping at her hand.

Buffy jerked back.

“Look, I’m just trying to help you. You’re hurt and --”

“Listen, Dru, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s bloody over with. Nothing you say is gonna make me change my mind.”

Buffy just sat there, not knowing how to handle the situation.

She cleared her throat.

“Maybe you should just get some rest now, Spike. We can talk about this later.”

Spike stopped talking and stared blankly at her. He then, leaned toward her and placed his head on her shoulder.

Buffy sat completely still for a moment, not knowing whether to sit him back up or not. She decided to just let him be, figuring her shoulder was more comfortable than the brick wall. She took a deep breath and hesitantly placed her head against his, only planning on resting her eyes.

Though, in moments, Buffy was eventually drifting off to dream land.

Buffy awoke with a start and looked around her. Her mind was foggy and it took a while before she remembered where she was.

*Oh no,* she thought. *Please don’t tell me I fell asleep.*

She looked at her watch and let out a sigh of relief. It was only ten past ten, which meant she was only sleeping for a half an hour. Not knowing what had woken her up, she searched around. Her eyes immediately fixated on Spike who was now, violently shaking in his sleep. He was laying next to her and there was a small pool of blood on the ground, next to his wound.

Buffy rushed over to him and sat him up. She put her arms around him and held him tight, trying to make the shaking subside. After about fifteen minutes, his shivering ceased and Buffy gently laid him back down. She turned him over and began to undo the material, covering his wound.

“Damnit,” she said out loud, when she realized how much blood he’d lost.

The cut was already beginning to heal, but there was still no way he could make ‘til morning. Buffy looked around the tunnel for something, anything, that she could use to help him. If only she had blood with her. She smiled briefly at how stupid that sounded. You know Buffy, always known for carrying around packets of blood, just in case.

Then an idea struck her. She didn’t have blood *with* her, but she did had blood *in* her. Maybe...

No. There was no way she was going to risk her life to save a vampire’s. Then again, he was going to do the same thing for her...

Still. He loves her. She doesn’t love him.

Buffy sat there, her thoughts conflicting, and looked down at the unconscious vampire. She coudn’t just let him die here. Not when she had a chance to save him. It would just be...wrong. She may not like him, but she doesn’t hate him enough to let him die.

Buffy sighed. Not letting herself think about it any longer, she searched around for something sharp to cut her arm with. She spotted a piece of broken glass laying across from her.

*Great,* she thought to herself. *I can get myself blood poisoning in the process.*

Buffy reluctantly picked up the glass and placed the tip of it against the inside of her arm. She bit down on her lower lip and quickly made the cut. When the blood began to rise to the surface, she ran over to Spike and tilted his head up. She placed her arm to his mouth, waiting for him to respond. He just sat there at first, but as the blood dripped into his mouth, he slowly moved his lips apart. Buffy watched in fascination as he suckled the warm liquid into his mouth. She trembled when she felt his tongue graze the tender flesh on her arm, but didn’t pull away.

OK, this was just...weird. What had gotten into her? Why was she actually letting Spike drink from her? First, the hugging, now, the blood drinking. This is definitely *not* how Buffy had planned her day. It felt like days had gone by before she finally pulled her arm away. She hoped he had gotten enough, because she was already beginning to feel light headed. And there was no way either of them would get of there if they were both passed out.

Buffy ripped off yet another piece of her shirt to wrap her own arm with. She was freezing. The blizzard still hadn’t stopped and it looked like it wasn’t going to for a long time.

Not knowing any other way to make herself warm, Buffy hesitantly cozied up inside Spike’s duster. Yes, it meant being in close proximity with the vampire, but it was the only way to make her warm. She was half naked, after all.

Besides, she was almost certain he wouldn’t mind.

Change of Heart: Part V
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