I own Michelle, Matt, the beat up Corvette, and nothing else.
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Part Four
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"Ready?"
"Go!"
Buffy ran at top speed and jumped onto Angel's hand. He pushed her up to the top of the hole. She grabbed on with her arms and looked around for something to hang onto. Unfortunately, she didn't find anything in time and began to slip. Before she knew it, she was falling back into the hole. Angel tried to catch her, but she knocked him down. They both hit the floor of the tunnel with an "Oof!"
"You Ok?" he asked.
"Yeah." She sighed, "We should have done this the other day, before it rained."
"You wouldn't have made it the other day. You're arm wasn't healed enough."
Angel sat against the wall. Things were not going well. They'd been trying this all night and she still wasn't out of the hole. They had been down there for seven days now and they were both getting extremely weak. The fact was, she was right. If they had tried this the other day, she probably would have made it, she was stronger then. They both were.
She leaned against him
"What are we gonna do?" she asked.
"I don't know."
"Hey, I have an idea!" she said.
"What."
"If you were a little stronger, you could push me up farther and then, I might be able to get out."
Angel gave her an annoyed look. He knew what she was getting at.
"Oh, come on." She said, upon seeing the look, "The only reason we can't get out of here is because you won't let me help you. Why should we both have to suffer?"
"Buffy, if I take blood from you, it'll only make you weaker, giving you less time."
"Time for what? All it does is give me a few more days to suffer down here. I am willing to get out of here any way I can."
Angel didn't answer her.
"Look," she said, "I understand what you're going through, but please try to understand what I am. If I can get out of here, I can go get help to get you out. Just think about it. For now, sleep on it. It's almost morning."
He put his arms around her and leaned his head against the wall. She'd come accustomed to sleeping during the day, so that she could be with him at night. Every morning, before falling asleep, she made a silent prayer that she wouldn't wake up the next evening to a pile of dust. She didn't get the chance to this time; she fell asleep before she could.
The next evening, she woke up at 9:00. She woke up at a later time, every night. Weakness seemed to make her sleep more.
"Hmm…Angel, wake up." She said.
He remained asleep. She shook him slightly, but he was still. She soon realized that he wasn't sleeping, he was unconscious. She suddenly remembered something in a book that Giles had made her read a while back. Starvation is the second most painful way to kill a vampire. (The most painful was sunlight exposure.) After a few days, they went into a state of shock.
This must be the first stage of it, she thought.
"Sorry, Angel." She said getting up from her spot, "but, I can't sit back and do nothing."
She went to the car and took a glass shard from the windshield then, returned to where he lay against the wall. She took off her shirt and used the shard to cut the top of her right arm, near the shoulder.
"Ow!" she yelled at the pain. She took some deep breaths then proceeded to put her arm to his mouth. It took only a few drops to call him from his shock. After a second, he lifted a hand to arm and pushed it closer to his mouth. It soon came so far that he bit into her arm.
"Ahh!" she cried out.
Angel's eyes shot open. He released her. She clamped a hand over the wound, then walked to the car to get a bandage. It was the last one. She wrapped it around her arm, then returned to him. She put her shirt back on and said, "Sorry, I had to."
He said nothing, but looked straight ahead.
She stared at him, "Angel? C'mon talk to me." The way he avoided her face now had to be the worst part about these past eight days. It made her want to cry. This came through in her voice.
"Why are you doing this to me?" she yelled.
"To you?" he said surprised.
"Yes, to me. Do you have any idea how bad it feels to know that you have the ability to help someone but you can't because they're too stubborn to let you? Because they won't swallow their pride and accept some help? This feeling's a bitch, especially when it comes from you! Now, when I try to do something good for you, you treat me like this! Why do you do this to me?"
"Did-" he began, then paused for a second, his own pain and frustration showing in his face, "Did I hurt you? Your arm."
She stared at him for a second, then said "No. You just surprised me." She buried her face into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I yelled," she said, "I just want to get out of here."
"Me too." He said quietly, "I- um…I didn't take too much, did I?"
"No more than I would have let you. It wasn't a lot. It may only last a couple of days."
"Do me a favor, don't do this again."
"Angel!" she sat up and looked at him.
"Please! All it does is give me a few more days to suffer down here, remember? It also gives me the chance to watch you waste away. If I go back into shock, like that, at least I'll die with some peace. So, you promise?"
She wiped a few tears from her face and nodded, "Yeah, I promise. I really don't like it, but I promise."
* * *
"Great, more mud puddles." Said Willow. Not only had the rain had made the entire path muddy, but it had held them up at that camp for an extra two days. Luckily, the sun was drying it out. They were on their way to their final camp and according to Michelle, this was the good one. There was hot running water and carpet in every cabin. As they walked, they noticed that the area looked very familiar.
"Hey, Xander, doesn't Cordelia live around here?"
"Yeah, there's her house." He pointed to her house at the top of the hill. They were at the bottom of the canyon in her back yard, "Hey, guys, if we walk back a little bit, we can find the road and head for her house."
"Sounds good to me." Said Matt.
Twenty minutes later, they were at the cabins. They exactly weren't a dream come true but compared to the past two cabins they'd stayed in they were Heaven. They all met at the center of the campsite then they made the long trip to Cordelia's. On the way, Matt noticed a large hole in the ground.
"Hey," He said, "you guys wanna check it out?"
"Nah," said Willow, "Maybe on the way back."
They soon came to the road. It was about a mile to Cordelia's house. She was rather surprised to see them standing on her doorway. They all looked kind of like war refugees; they were dirty and smelled funny. She let them in, but sent them immediately to the bathrooms to get showers. When they came out, she had plates of junk food set out for them. They ate it ravenously. It had been nearly two weeks since any of them had even seen a potato chip. They stayed there all day, living in luxury. Cordelia invited them to stay overnight, but they said they had to be back for lights out. Matt and Michelle left for dinner at 7:30. Willow and Xander stuck around for awhile.
The subject of Buffy's whereabouts came up once. All Cordelia could say was that the car hadn't there when she went to pick it up. The conversation dropped after that; the clock had just struck 10:00, telling them that they had an hour to get back before lights out. Xander gave Cordelia a long kiss then he and Willow ran out the door and down the road. While in the forest, they walked quickly. The creature that attacked them in the last camp had made them a little paranoid. When they past by the hole that Matt had seen, Xander stopped.
"Hey, Wil, you wanna check out the hole?" said Xander in a playful tone.
"Can we do it tomorrow?" she asked.
"C'mon, just a quick look inside." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the hole. It was huge. They could see a car inside. Xander walked around to the other side of the hole and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Willow, go get Cordelia."
"Why?" she walked to him and looked inside.
"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed.
"Go! Tell her to bring her car to the top of the hill."
Willow just stared for a second.
"Willow, go!" he ordered, "And bring some rope."
She ran back up the hill at top speed.
Xander jumped into the hole, landing on top of the car. The moon shone brightly on the lovers. Angel lay on the floor of tunnel on his side. Buffy also lay on her side. She was lying against his back with an around his middle. She appeared to be hugging him. He held the hand that was draped around him.
Xander couldn't get over how thin and waned Buffy looked. He checked her pulse and was extremely glad to find it. He shook her.
"Buffy!" he called to her.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. She had no voice, but mouthed the word "Xander?" She sat up as best she could and hugged him tightly. Finally, her voice returned to her.
"How did you find us?" she asked.
"Luck."
She turned her attention to Angel and tried to rouse him. He looked at her long enough to hear her say, "We're going home." then he was out.
"We need to wait for Willow to get back with Cordelia. How did you get stuck down here?" asked Xander.
"We we're driving back from the party and we were driving a little too fast and this- this truck came around the corner. There wasn't enough room on the road and we got… got… um…" It was at this point that Buffy started to feel faint. She became dizzy and fell back against the wall. A few seconds later, she passed out. Xander tried to wake her up, but she was out cold.
"Xander." Cordelia, who had just arrived, with Willow, called to him from the top of the hole, "Are they Ok?"
"They will be, but we need to get them out of here. Did you get the rope?"
Willow nodded and lowered the rope into the hole. Xander lifted Buffy and brought her to the mouth of the hole. There wasn't much he could do with just a rope. Then, seeing the car he had an idea. He returned Buffy to her place against the wall and went to the car.
"How much rope do you have up there?" he called up to his friends.
"A lot." Said Willow.
"Good, cut it in half. I need two extensions down here." He threw his pocketknife up to them so that they could cut it. He opened the door and with all his force, ripped the front seat from the car. He put Buffy on the seat and called up for the ropes. The girls lowered them, each hanging on to one. Xander tied the ropes to the top and bottom of the seat, securing Buffy in with the lap belt, which was still attached. Willow and Cordelia carefully pulled on the ropes until the car seat was out of the hole. After removing Buffy from the seat and placing her on the ground, they sent it back down. Xander strapped Angel in and he too was gently lifted out of the dark tunnel. Finally a rope was sent down. Xander grabbed it and they pulled him up.
They headed for the car. Xander picked up Buffy while the girls used the car seat as a stretcher to carry Angel. Halfway to town, Buffy came out of it. She was surprised and confused to find herself in a car, leaning against Xander.
"Hey," said Willow from the front seat, "How you feeling?"
"I've been better." Buffy answered, quietly.
"Well, you're going home, now." Said Xander.
"Home?" Then she realized it, "Home? I can't go home. My mom thinks I'm on a camping trip. What am I gonna tell her?"
The mentioning of the trip made Willow and Xander realize that they had to get back.
"Drive faster." Said Xander.
"OK, but where exactly am I driving to?" asked Cordelia, "Where are you gonna stay, Buffy?"
"Right now, you're heading for Angel's place. Um-Can I stay with you tonight? I can find somewhere else tomorrow."
"It's fine. In fact, you can probably stay until the trip is over. I doubt my parents will mind. They seemed to like you at the party."
"What about the car?"
"The car was reported stolen about a week ago. If you're lucky, no one else will find that hole. If anyone asks just say that you left the car where you were supposed to."
Buffy nodded slightly, then put her head back on Xander's shoulder and closed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, the car was stopped in front of Angel's apartment.
Xander had roused her from her sleep and told her that they were taking Angel inside. She got out of the car and followed them inside. When she entered the apartment, she watched them immediately put Angel to bed. Feeling she had to do her part, she walked to the fridge and pulled a bottle of blood from it. She found a glass in a cupboard and filled it. She walked to the bed and sat next to him. As with the incident in the tunnel, it didn't take much to call him back to consciousness. He tried to drink it all at once, but stopped suddenly to vomit over the side of the bed. She was too exhausted to be disgusted
"Drink it slowly." She said, feeling almost motherly, "Your body isn't used to it, yet."
He said nothing but did as he was told. This went down much better.
"I can't stay," she said, "but I'll be back tomorrow to check on you, Ok?"
He nodded. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. She got up on unsteady feet and took a few steps towards the door. Unfortunately, a few steps were all she could take, before she fainted to the floor.
Her friends ran to her side. Had Angel been awake, he would have jumped up from the bed to help her, but he had been out since right before she'd kissed him. They took her to the car and let her lay down in the back. Buffy was taken to Cordelia's house and Willow and Xander were taken back to the hill. They hopped out of the car.
"Take care of her." Willow told Cordelia, "We'll try to make it back tomorrow."
"I will." She assured them. They ran at top speed back to camp.
Though they were late, they didn't get in trouble. They were able to sneak into their bunks without being seen.
"Where have you been?" asked Michelle, when Willow entered the room.
"We just lost track of time." Willow lied.
Xander told Matt the same thing.
While she lay in bed, Willow realized that she and Xander had had a surprising amount of luck these past few days. There didn't seem to be any situation they couldn't get out of. She was beginning to wonder how long this streak would last. She didn't know, but until it ran out, she planned to enjoy it.
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