Fic: From the Ashes
May. 4th, 2011 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
disturbinglynicTitle: From the Ashes
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer- AU
Pairing: Spike/Buffy mentions of previous Buffy/Angel
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5210
Warnings: death and destruction, but in the background
Summary: Buffy is a volcanologist on leave from the USGS. She's staying in a small village at the base of a volcano. where she meets Spike
Disclaimer: If I owned them then I wouldn't have to play with them in stories.
A/N: This was supposed to be written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
jossverse_bb, but I did not make the word count. It's the longest Spike/Buffy I've written, so I'm not complaining.
For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shannon2914 ♥
The stewardess was walking down the aisle, taking drink orders. The guy next to her had finally given up on talking to her. The baby in the front of the plane was wailing. She hated flying. It was such a hassle, and she just hated sitting on a plane for hours while babies cried and people tried to make nice with you. Tightened airport security didn’t make things any better.
She closed her eyes and put in her headphones. She didn’t want anything to drink. She didn’t want to be bothered. She didn’t really want to think either, but that wasn’t as easily avoidable.
The past few months had been close to unbearable. Three months ago, she and her husband had divorced, and then two months ago, her mother had died, leaving her and her little sister alone.
Angel had been the one to file the divorce papers. He claimed he loved her, and that that was the reason he was leaving her. She had been shattered, and still was. Angel had been the love of her life. That had been painful. She hadn’t thought things could get worse, and then her mother died.
Already ripped apart by the divorce from Angel, Buffy had completely shut down when her mother died. At the time when her sister had needed her most, Buffy hadn’t been available to her. She had tried, but there had been nothing left of her. Her mother had been her rock, and she still couldn’t imagine life without her.
One month ago, Buffy had decided to take leave from USGS and get out of the country. She needed time to heal, time to put herself back together. And if she couldn’t, she didn’t know what she was going to do.
*****
*****
The village was small and peaceful. The nearest town was about a thirty minute drive away. There were enough modern conveniences so she didn’t feel like she was walking around covered in a layer of dirt, but they weren’t modern enough to have computers, telephones, or televisions. That was the appeal of this village though. Buffy wanted to be cut off from the world around her.
Though she had taken a six month leave from the USGS, she was spending her six months in a village at the base of a volcano. She would like to say it was a coincidence, but she knew it probably wasn’t, even if she hadn’t consciously picked this place because of the volcano, she had no doubt that she had done it subconsciously.
She couldn’t help it. She wasn’t at the USGS because it was a job, she was there because she truly loved what she did. Ever since she was a little girl, she had been fascinated by volcanoes. She had had toy volcano sets and books about volcanoes. It had been the most natural thing in the world when she had decided to study volcanology in school. She was the one that had been noticed by the USGS, and she had never looked back. She had no doubt that she would go back, but she needed to find herself again first.
*****
She had only been in the village for about a week, but she already felt like she was a part of it. The villagers had gone out of their way to be nice to her, and to accept her as one of their own. There was a guy, Spike, who seemed particularly fond of her, but after her divorce, after having found the one and having him ripped away from her, the thought of even trying to date again was lost. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to love again.
She had even already developed a routine. She got up early, and she had found a nice secluded area where she went and did yoga, chai-chi, jiu-jitsu, and pilates. It was something she did back home too, though she always did it indoors there. Doing it outdoors seemed to help her feel more centered, more relaxed, and more peaceful.
She had been in her spot for a couple of minutes, when Spike showed up. He didn’t say anything, just watched her for a few minutes, and then joined in. He stood behind her and a little to the left, mimicking the moves that she was making. She was a little surprised when Spike was able to keep up with her, even through the harder moves.
Normally, yoga helped to clear her mind, but Spike had thrown her all off. She found herself thinking about him. She couldn’t help but wonder about him. He seemed alone in the village. Sure, he was friendly with everyone, and everyone seemed to love him, but more often than not, she saw him sitting alone. She wondered how he had come to be at the village. He had no family here, that much was obvious. She also wondered how he got the name Spike, but honestly, she wasn’t really sure she wanted to know.
*****
After a few weeks, she decided that it was finally time to start writing her book. She was trying to put a new volcano book together, one that the general public would not only understand, but would enjoy. It was relaxing for her to do this, but it wasn’t going so well.
She was sitting in her cabin with all of the windows and doors wide open. The weather always seemed to be perfect here, and she took advantage of it. She was going through her notes when there was a knock at the door. She looked up to see Spike standing in the doorway.
“Come in, Spike.”
“Are you sure I’m not interrupting anything?”
“You’re fine. Come on in.”
Spike came in and sat across the table from Buffy. “How’s the book coming along?”
Buffy sighed. “It’s not.”
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s just not coming together. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“I hope so.”
Buffy was startled when Spike grabbed her hand. “You need to clear your head. You should come take a walk with me.”
She shouldn’t. She really shouldn’t. The more often she agreed to hang out with Spike, the more she was leading him on. Still, a walk would be nice, and she could use the break from writing. “Yeah, okay. Why not.”
Buffy stood up from the chair and realized that Spike was still holding her hand. She pulled out of his grasp and headed for the open door. She didn’t bother shutting any of the windows or doors. Nobody in the village would enter her cabin without her permission, and even if they did, they weren’t going to take anything.
Spike got in front of her and led her down a path away from the village. It would take them partway up the volcano before coming back down. It was a decent length path, but with enough switchbacks to make the climb easier. It was actually one of the easier paths, but no less beautiful.
They walked in silence, enjoying the beautiful weather and the fantastic scenery. She had just started to relax and enjoy herself when Spike spoke up. “I was thinking, maybe tomorrow night we could go into town and have dinner, maybe go see a movie also.”
It was exactly what she had been worried about. Spike was asking her on a date. She had grown to like Spike, but the pain of the divorce from Angel was still too fresh, and she just wasn’t ready to try dating again, if ever. Now she had to think of something to say to Spike that would let him down gently.
She decided to go with the truth. Nobody here knew about her divorce, and even though she and Spike had been spending quite a bit of time together lately, she hadn’t told him about the divorce either. It was just something she wanted to put behind her, and if the villagers knew about it, then it would just make it that much harder.
“Listen, Spike. You’re a nice guy, and I love talking to you and hanging out with you, but I just went through a divorce with a guy that I was deeply in love with. I’m just not ready to start dating again.”
She expected Spike to get mad or upset, but he just smiled at her. “Guess I’ll have to wait then.”
They finished the rest of their walk in silence, but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t get herself to relax the way she had done earlier. She couldn’t believe that Spike had been so nonchalant about the whole thing, and had actually said that he would wait. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she may never be ready, though she had a feeling that even if she did, he would still tell her that he would wait for her.
They made it all the way back to her cabin without saying a word, when Spike broke the silence again. They were standing outside her doorway, and she had been prepared to say goodbye.
“So, who was this bloke that was stupid enough to let you go?”
Buffy hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to start talking about that part of her life quite yet. However, if she was going to talk to anyone about it, then it may as well be Spike. Though she was friendly with everyone in the village, Spike was the only one that she had really become friends with.
“Sorry. Forget I even asked.” Spike started to walk off.
“Spike, no. Wait. Why don’t you join me inside?”
She walked into the cabin, hoping that Spike would follow her in. She smiled when she heard his footsteps behind her. She pulled out two cups and poured them both some water while Spike settled himself at the table. She brought their drinks to the table and sat across from Spike.
“His name was Angel. He was the first man I ever fell in love with, and I was so in love with him, and him with me.”
“If he was so in love with you, then why are you here all by your lonesome?”
“Spike, do you want me to tell the story or not?”
“Sorry.”
Buffy sighed and continued. “He was older than me and he had a dark, violent past. I never worried about him hurting me. He never laid a hand on me, but he couldn’t stop worrying about it. Eventually, he decided to leave me in order to protect me from himself.”
Buffy could feel the tears threaten to escape, but she took a deep breath, and another, and forced herself to gain control over her emotions. Spike reached across the table and took her hand in his. She smiled at him and a few tears managed to escape. Spike used his other hand to wipe the tears from her face.
“I still think he’s a stupid git for letting you go.”
Buffy huffed out a laugh. “Thanks, Spike.”
*****
After their conversation about Angel, Spike started hanging around Buffy even more often. He had been spending so much time with her that she hadn’t thought it even possible for them to spend more time together, but Spike had found a way.
Weeks flew by, and before she knew it, she had already been there for three months. In her three months there, she had grown very fond of Spike. She thought that maybe, just maybe, he would be the one that could make her feel again. It was a scary thought, to let someone that close again, but Spike was already pretty close. He was as close as he could get without actually being in a romantic relationship with him.
Her three months might actually not have been so great if it hadn’t been for him. She got out from her cabin more often because of him, laughed because of him, and began to forget her pain because of him.
*****
She had skipped the yoga this morning, choosing to just relax in bed with a good book instead. There was a pounding on the front door, and Buffy groaned. So much for that relaxing morning. She heard Spike calling out her name as she hurried to get dressed. She flung the door open. “What is going on?”
“Buffy, come quick. You have to see what’s happened.”
Spike didn’t even give her a chance to answer, just took off at practically a run, and Buffy had no choice but to follow him. They were headed in the direction of the river, and as they got closer, Buffy could see a crowd of people. She pushed her way through the crowd so that she could see what was going on. Her stomach dropped at the sight.
She raced back to her cabin for some supplies. She might be taking a vacation, but taking a vacation at the base of a volcano meant she at least came with some supplies. She grabbed her kit and raced back down to the river. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Of all the dormant volcanoes in the world, why did this one have to decide that it was time to wake up?
Her equipment only confirmed what she had suspected. The acidity level in the river was way too high. It was the reason that all of the fish were dead.
Everyone was looking at her. It was a small village. She could easily evacuate all the people without any damage being done. It wouldn’t be too much of a problem to get everyone to safety, and then if the volcano didn’t erupt, to get everyone back to the village, no harm, no foul.
She wished she didn’t have to be the one to tell them that their village might very well be destroyed. They hadn’t stopped staring at her though, and she had to say something. She saw Spike watching her carefully, and for some reason, it made her feel better. The people in the village, they were important, not the village itself.
“Everyone, I have some bad news. The fish in the river are dead because the acidity level in the water is high. High acidic level in water is something we usually see before a volcano is going to erupt.”
“You’re saying that this volcano that’s been sitting here quietly for so many years is about to erupt?”
“I’m saying it’s possible, yes.”
“So, you don’t even know if it’s going to erupt?”
“There is a chance that it might not erupt, yes, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t. There is no definite when it comes to Mother Nature.”
“Then what exactly are you trying to tell us?”
“All I’m saying is that there is a possibility of this volcano erupting, and you all should take the necessary precautions.”
There was a muttering throughout the crowd, and she could make out various people saying they wouldn’t leave the village, especially if there wasn’t a good reason to. She tried to call out to them, tried to get them to stay and to listen to her, but everyone walked off except for Spike, of course.
“Do you really think it’ll blow?”
Buffy shrugged. “There’s really no way to know for sure, but these dead fish are definitely an indication that there’s a good possibility.”
“But you think it will?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
“What?”
“You talked about evacuating, and I figure just because the rest of the villagers are being idiots and don’t want to come doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t leave, and I’d like to go with you.”
Buffy looked at him, surprised that he would want to leave this place behind. “Are you sure about that, Spike? Are you sure you want to leave these people behind?”
“I don’t, but if they don’t want to leave, then I can’t make them.”
“Maybe you can try and convince them?”
“I’ll do what I can, but I don’t see them leaving.”
“As long as you try. See you later then?”
“Yeah. I’ll be by later with my things.” He turned and headed for the village, leaving Buffy standing by the river alone. She looked up at the volcano and couldn’t help but wonder what it had in store for them.
*****
*****
The walk back to her cabin had been slow. She was lost in thought. It didn’t feel right to leave all of these innocent people behind while she ran. They had been so nice to her, so welcoming, and this was how she was going to thank them. On the other hand, if the volcano was going to blow, then she wanted to survive. It wasn’t her fault if the villagers didn’t want to leave.
She couldn’t understand that though. There was nothing that couldn’t be rebuilt. Surely the safety of yourself and of your loved ones was more important. Still, she couldn’t help but feel that she should be staying with the villagers rather than running off with Spike.
Running off with Spike. If the volcano did blow, there was no telling how long they could be trapped together, how long they would have to spend together. She wondered how this would change her relationship with Spike.
She gave herself a mental shake, and began packing some belongings to take with her. Thankfully, she didn’t have much here with her. She had packed as lightly as she should for her six months here. She had some clothes, a few photographs, some books, and the materials for writing her book. She also, of course, had some of her equipment with her.
Most of the clothes she could leave behind. That was easily replaceable. She packed the photos and her equipment, some of her clothes, and a few books. She packed some food and some water because there was no telling how long they would be without it. Her pack was heavy, but it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to carrying, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
She looked at the table and at the book she was trying to write, and sighed. She would leave it behind. It wasn’t worth taking. Now all she could do was wait for Spike. Hopefully, he could talk some sense into some of the villagers.
*****
For the second time that day, she was woken up by someone knocking on the door. She looked at the clock and was shocked to see that it was late afternoon. She had expected Spike would take awhile, but she couldn’t believe how long she had slept for.
She went to the door and let Spike in. His pack was bigger and probably heavier than hers was. She hoped Spike didn’t bring anything that wasn’t essential.
“I tried, Buffy. I tried, but nobody would listen to me.”
“So it’s just you and me then?”
“Looks that way.”
“Spike, are you absolutely sure about this?”
Spike glared at her and set his pack down. “I didn’t really have much to bring with me, and I didn’t really know what we would need, but I did grab some extra food and water.”
She smiled at him. “That’s good, Spike. That’s really good. I have pretty much anything else we would need anyway.”
“So, what’s the plan then? We gonna hide in town until this blows over?”
She looked at him, but didn’t say anything. Luckily, Spike was quick to get it. “The town isn’t safe either, is it?”
Buffy shook her head. “We have to get past the town. We probably don’t have time to get to the city, so we’re just going to have to get as far as we can.”
“Well, right then. Let’s go.”
Buffy took one last look around her cabin, grabbed her bag, and followed Spike out. They made the hike to the jeep that she had leased for her six months here. She kept it away from the village - nobody there had cars, but she had wanted a way to get into town if she needed to. She hadn’t yet. She had really been enjoying her time in the village. She did come up here every so often to start the jeep up and make sure it still ran. She was glad for that now because she had no problem starting it up, and she and Spike were on their way.
They drove in silence. She didn’t know what to say, and she was sure that Spike felt the same way.
It didn’t take them long to reach the town, and they were just past it when the ground beneath them began to shake. She pulled off on the side of the road and looked behind them. A huge ash cloud was billowing over the volcano.
“Bloody hell,” Spike said from beside her.
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“Now what?”
“Now we need a safe place to hide that isn’t too far away because this jeep won’t be of any use when the ash starts to fall on us. Damn. I wasn’t expecting it to blow this fast.”
Spike looked at her expectantly. She got out of the jeep and took in their surroundings. Spike got out with her.
“What about caves, Spike? Are there any of those around?”
“I think I’ve heard talk of there being some out that way.”
She looked in the direction he was pointing. It was a heavily wooded area. Looking around, it really did seem like the best place to hide anyway.
“We’d better hurry. This baby’s just warming up.”
They hopped back into the jeep, and they raced towards the woods. She pulled up to it, and they grabbed their bags and hopped out of the jeep. The woods were so dense that the sun barely penetrated them. It made travelling through the woods slower, so slow, in fact, that ash was starting to fall on them. Not much was making its way through the trees at the moment, but that would change soon.
“Wait, we need to get something out of my pack.” She dug through he bag, trying not panic about how long before there was a pyroclastic cloud coming to get them, and pulled out a couple of bandanas. She handed one to Spike.
“You need to cover your nose and your mouth.”
“Why?”
“The ash is tiny pieces of glass. You really don’t want to be breathing that in.”
“Right then.” He tied the bandana around his nose and mouth, and Buffy did the same with hers. They continued walking, searching for a cave they hoped would be there.
“Buffy!” His voice was muffled by the bandana, but she could here the excitement in his voice. “Over here! I found it!”
Buffy headed towards Spike’s voice, and sure enough, there was a cave, a very well protected cave. It was the closest they could get to perfect. Perfect would be being nowhere near the volcano, at least while she was a civilian. If she wasn’t on leave and had all of her equipment, and was here with her team, she would be having the time of her life.
She pulled out her portable lamp and lit it before heading into the cave. She really hoped there wasn’t some large wild animal already in here. The cave wasn’t very deep, and was definitely empty. It wasn’t really a cave, it was more like a deep hole, which was fine. It should still provide the protection that they needed.
She left Spike to set up a little camp for them, and she stood just outside the cave, hoping to see any of the volcano’s activity. It was no use though. There were too many trees in the way, though that wouldn’t be a problem for long if the pyroclastic cloud was on its way. She didn’t want to be outside when it arrived. She hurried back into the cave.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
Spike had been perfectly calm the whole time, but there was no way that he really could be. She worried that if he held it all in, then he would break too much for them to fix right now, and she needed him to be okay if she was going to keep them alive.
“I’m just fine.”
“Spike,” she sighed.
“No, really. I am. I trust you to get us out of this alive. You already saved my life by getting me out of the village.” A frown crossed his face as he mentioned the village, and really, she couldn’t blame him. He had been with them for quite some time, and then he just left based on what she had to say. He must like her a great deal deeper than she had thought.
“Maybe you shouldn’t put so much trust in me.”
Spike just looked at her like she was crazy for even thinking such a thing. Buffy didn’t try to push it. She felt so unsure of everything that she knew so well because she was here alone instead of with a team.
They were set up near the back of the cave. She could only hope that the rock was thick enough to survive the pyroclastic cloud. Actually, she really didn’t want to think of that at all.
They sat side-by-side, leaning against the cave wall.
“So, why is it we couldn’t stay in town?”
“Well, for one, the pyroclastic cloud would obliterate everything in its path, and even if it didn’t, ash is dense. If we stayed in a house, or in any building, the roof would collapse on us. Oh, and let’s not forget that the ash would suffocate you.”
“Oh. This pyroclastic cloud, are we going to be safe in here from it?”
Buffy turned her head to look at him. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Spike reached out and took her hand, and she gripped him just as tightly as he gripped her. She didn’t know how bad it was, or what was going on, but she had seen and studied enough eruptions that she couldn’t shake the mental image of what was happening to the village and to the town.
Lava would be flowing down the side of the volcano, ash would be raining down from the sky. People would be suffocating, buried alive, incinerated. Nothing would survive. It wasn’t a pretty picture, and she hated thinking of all of those people that she had grown so fond of dying in such a terrible way.
Years of studying volcanoes on her own, and years of formal training, and years of actual experience had honed her senses, her instinct. She could hear it. She could feel it. She grabbed the blankets she had taken out earlier and shoved Spike to the ground, covering both of their bodies with them.
*****
*****
There were no trees left, just ash and cooled lava. They had been in the cave for days, waiting. Ash was still raining down on them, but the density of it was lessening. They decided to chance it, to walk back to the village. The bandanas were tied more securely around their nose and mouth, the only defense they had against breathing the stuff in.
It was morning, but the sun wasn’t shining here. The earth around them looked cold and desolate, dead. It was like looking at the after in an apocalyptic movie. Nothing had survived except for a couple of lone stragglers. Their clothes the only color in a world of gray, though they too would probably soon be gray.
After this, Buffy was sure she’d never wear gray again. Spike was pale, panic finally settling in after a couple of days in the cave. She had gotten him calmed down, but he still looked like hell. She could understand that though. They were kind of going through hell, after all.
Their hike back to the village was slow despite the lack of trees now. It took them three days to make it back to the village, or rather what used to be the village. There was nothing left.
Spike fell to his knees and started crying on top of a pile of ash. Buffy got to her knees beside him, and hugged him, tears of her own starting to fall. It was how the rescue crews had found them- on their knees on a pile of ash, hugging and crying and clinging.
*****
A steady beeping was the first thing she heard when she woke up. She was tired, and her whole body ached. Her eyelids were heavy, but she forced them open. A hospital. She was in a hospital. There was a nurse in the room with her, but she wasn’t paying any attention to Buffy. She rolled her head to the side and saw Spike lying in the next bed over. She smiled and let sleep pull her under again.
*****
The next time she woke up, she felt so much better, so much lighter.
“Well look who’s finally awake.”
Buffy looked over and saw Spike sitting up in bed and looking at her, smiling. She sat up in her bed. “Do you know what happened, because my memory is a little foggy.”
“Well, see, a volcano erupted.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure I remember that.”
Spike chuckled. “Yeah, kind of hard to forget that. I don’t remember much either. I know we were on our knees and hugging each other on the ash pile, but I kind of lose it from there.”
Buffy nodded and leaned back against her pillows. “Do you know how long we’ve been here?”
“Just a few days.”
Buffy closed her eyes but didn’t sleep. Instead, her brain went through all of the scenes of destruction the volcano had produced. She couldn’t believe all of the villagers that she had come to know over the past few months were dead. She didn’t want to think about it, but she knew she had to. She couldn’t ignore the pain, she had to move past it. There had been so much pain in her life these past months though. Tears started falling down her face. She needed another vacation, and this time it was going to be nowhere near a volcano.
*****
*****
Two years had passed since the volcano incident. She and Spike had spent a week in the hospital, and he had flown back to the states with her and had stayed in her apartment. The guy had been completely alone except for her, and she couldn’t turn her back on him.
They had lived in her apartment for months just as roommates when Spike had asked her on a date again. This time, she had said yes. Now, they were engaged to be married.
Around the time she and Spike had started dating, she had begun writing again. This time, she wrote about her time in the village and the incident with the volcano. It was a first hand survival account, and it was now a bestseller.
She had gone to the village to pick up the shattered remains of her life, and she had come out of it with so much more.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer- AU
Pairing: Spike/Buffy mentions of previous Buffy/Angel
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5210
Warnings: death and destruction, but in the background
Summary: Buffy is a volcanologist on leave from the USGS. She's staying in a small village at the base of a volcano. where she meets Spike
Disclaimer: If I owned them then I wouldn't have to play with them in stories.
A/N: This was supposed to be written for
jossverse_bb, but I did not make the word count. It's the longest Spike/Buffy I've written, so I'm not complaining. For
shannon2914 ♥ The stewardess was walking down the aisle, taking drink orders. The guy next to her had finally given up on talking to her. The baby in the front of the plane was wailing. She hated flying. It was such a hassle, and she just hated sitting on a plane for hours while babies cried and people tried to make nice with you. Tightened airport security didn’t make things any better.
She closed her eyes and put in her headphones. She didn’t want anything to drink. She didn’t want to be bothered. She didn’t really want to think either, but that wasn’t as easily avoidable.
The past few months had been close to unbearable. Three months ago, she and her husband had divorced, and then two months ago, her mother had died, leaving her and her little sister alone.
Angel had been the one to file the divorce papers. He claimed he loved her, and that that was the reason he was leaving her. She had been shattered, and still was. Angel had been the love of her life. That had been painful. She hadn’t thought things could get worse, and then her mother died.
Already ripped apart by the divorce from Angel, Buffy had completely shut down when her mother died. At the time when her sister had needed her most, Buffy hadn’t been available to her. She had tried, but there had been nothing left of her. Her mother had been her rock, and she still couldn’t imagine life without her.
One month ago, Buffy had decided to take leave from USGS and get out of the country. She needed time to heal, time to put herself back together. And if she couldn’t, she didn’t know what she was going to do.
*****
*****
The village was small and peaceful. The nearest town was about a thirty minute drive away. There were enough modern conveniences so she didn’t feel like she was walking around covered in a layer of dirt, but they weren’t modern enough to have computers, telephones, or televisions. That was the appeal of this village though. Buffy wanted to be cut off from the world around her.
Though she had taken a six month leave from the USGS, she was spending her six months in a village at the base of a volcano. She would like to say it was a coincidence, but she knew it probably wasn’t, even if she hadn’t consciously picked this place because of the volcano, she had no doubt that she had done it subconsciously.
She couldn’t help it. She wasn’t at the USGS because it was a job, she was there because she truly loved what she did. Ever since she was a little girl, she had been fascinated by volcanoes. She had had toy volcano sets and books about volcanoes. It had been the most natural thing in the world when she had decided to study volcanology in school. She was the one that had been noticed by the USGS, and she had never looked back. She had no doubt that she would go back, but she needed to find herself again first.
*****
She had only been in the village for about a week, but she already felt like she was a part of it. The villagers had gone out of their way to be nice to her, and to accept her as one of their own. There was a guy, Spike, who seemed particularly fond of her, but after her divorce, after having found the one and having him ripped away from her, the thought of even trying to date again was lost. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to love again.
She had even already developed a routine. She got up early, and she had found a nice secluded area where she went and did yoga, chai-chi, jiu-jitsu, and pilates. It was something she did back home too, though she always did it indoors there. Doing it outdoors seemed to help her feel more centered, more relaxed, and more peaceful.
She had been in her spot for a couple of minutes, when Spike showed up. He didn’t say anything, just watched her for a few minutes, and then joined in. He stood behind her and a little to the left, mimicking the moves that she was making. She was a little surprised when Spike was able to keep up with her, even through the harder moves.
Normally, yoga helped to clear her mind, but Spike had thrown her all off. She found herself thinking about him. She couldn’t help but wonder about him. He seemed alone in the village. Sure, he was friendly with everyone, and everyone seemed to love him, but more often than not, she saw him sitting alone. She wondered how he had come to be at the village. He had no family here, that much was obvious. She also wondered how he got the name Spike, but honestly, she wasn’t really sure she wanted to know.
*****
After a few weeks, she decided that it was finally time to start writing her book. She was trying to put a new volcano book together, one that the general public would not only understand, but would enjoy. It was relaxing for her to do this, but it wasn’t going so well.
She was sitting in her cabin with all of the windows and doors wide open. The weather always seemed to be perfect here, and she took advantage of it. She was going through her notes when there was a knock at the door. She looked up to see Spike standing in the doorway.
“Come in, Spike.”
“Are you sure I’m not interrupting anything?”
“You’re fine. Come on in.”
Spike came in and sat across the table from Buffy. “How’s the book coming along?”
Buffy sighed. “It’s not.”
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s just not coming together. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“I hope so.”
Buffy was startled when Spike grabbed her hand. “You need to clear your head. You should come take a walk with me.”
She shouldn’t. She really shouldn’t. The more often she agreed to hang out with Spike, the more she was leading him on. Still, a walk would be nice, and she could use the break from writing. “Yeah, okay. Why not.”
Buffy stood up from the chair and realized that Spike was still holding her hand. She pulled out of his grasp and headed for the open door. She didn’t bother shutting any of the windows or doors. Nobody in the village would enter her cabin without her permission, and even if they did, they weren’t going to take anything.
Spike got in front of her and led her down a path away from the village. It would take them partway up the volcano before coming back down. It was a decent length path, but with enough switchbacks to make the climb easier. It was actually one of the easier paths, but no less beautiful.
They walked in silence, enjoying the beautiful weather and the fantastic scenery. She had just started to relax and enjoy herself when Spike spoke up. “I was thinking, maybe tomorrow night we could go into town and have dinner, maybe go see a movie also.”
It was exactly what she had been worried about. Spike was asking her on a date. She had grown to like Spike, but the pain of the divorce from Angel was still too fresh, and she just wasn’t ready to try dating again, if ever. Now she had to think of something to say to Spike that would let him down gently.
She decided to go with the truth. Nobody here knew about her divorce, and even though she and Spike had been spending quite a bit of time together lately, she hadn’t told him about the divorce either. It was just something she wanted to put behind her, and if the villagers knew about it, then it would just make it that much harder.
“Listen, Spike. You’re a nice guy, and I love talking to you and hanging out with you, but I just went through a divorce with a guy that I was deeply in love with. I’m just not ready to start dating again.”
She expected Spike to get mad or upset, but he just smiled at her. “Guess I’ll have to wait then.”
They finished the rest of their walk in silence, but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t get herself to relax the way she had done earlier. She couldn’t believe that Spike had been so nonchalant about the whole thing, and had actually said that he would wait. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that she may never be ready, though she had a feeling that even if she did, he would still tell her that he would wait for her.
They made it all the way back to her cabin without saying a word, when Spike broke the silence again. They were standing outside her doorway, and she had been prepared to say goodbye.
“So, who was this bloke that was stupid enough to let you go?”
Buffy hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to start talking about that part of her life quite yet. However, if she was going to talk to anyone about it, then it may as well be Spike. Though she was friendly with everyone in the village, Spike was the only one that she had really become friends with.
“Sorry. Forget I even asked.” Spike started to walk off.
“Spike, no. Wait. Why don’t you join me inside?”
She walked into the cabin, hoping that Spike would follow her in. She smiled when she heard his footsteps behind her. She pulled out two cups and poured them both some water while Spike settled himself at the table. She brought their drinks to the table and sat across from Spike.
“His name was Angel. He was the first man I ever fell in love with, and I was so in love with him, and him with me.”
“If he was so in love with you, then why are you here all by your lonesome?”
“Spike, do you want me to tell the story or not?”
“Sorry.”
Buffy sighed and continued. “He was older than me and he had a dark, violent past. I never worried about him hurting me. He never laid a hand on me, but he couldn’t stop worrying about it. Eventually, he decided to leave me in order to protect me from himself.”
Buffy could feel the tears threaten to escape, but she took a deep breath, and another, and forced herself to gain control over her emotions. Spike reached across the table and took her hand in his. She smiled at him and a few tears managed to escape. Spike used his other hand to wipe the tears from her face.
“I still think he’s a stupid git for letting you go.”
Buffy huffed out a laugh. “Thanks, Spike.”
*****
After their conversation about Angel, Spike started hanging around Buffy even more often. He had been spending so much time with her that she hadn’t thought it even possible for them to spend more time together, but Spike had found a way.
Weeks flew by, and before she knew it, she had already been there for three months. In her three months there, she had grown very fond of Spike. She thought that maybe, just maybe, he would be the one that could make her feel again. It was a scary thought, to let someone that close again, but Spike was already pretty close. He was as close as he could get without actually being in a romantic relationship with him.
Her three months might actually not have been so great if it hadn’t been for him. She got out from her cabin more often because of him, laughed because of him, and began to forget her pain because of him.
*****
She had skipped the yoga this morning, choosing to just relax in bed with a good book instead. There was a pounding on the front door, and Buffy groaned. So much for that relaxing morning. She heard Spike calling out her name as she hurried to get dressed. She flung the door open. “What is going on?”
“Buffy, come quick. You have to see what’s happened.”
Spike didn’t even give her a chance to answer, just took off at practically a run, and Buffy had no choice but to follow him. They were headed in the direction of the river, and as they got closer, Buffy could see a crowd of people. She pushed her way through the crowd so that she could see what was going on. Her stomach dropped at the sight.
She raced back to her cabin for some supplies. She might be taking a vacation, but taking a vacation at the base of a volcano meant she at least came with some supplies. She grabbed her kit and raced back down to the river. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Of all the dormant volcanoes in the world, why did this one have to decide that it was time to wake up?
Her equipment only confirmed what she had suspected. The acidity level in the river was way too high. It was the reason that all of the fish were dead.
Everyone was looking at her. It was a small village. She could easily evacuate all the people without any damage being done. It wouldn’t be too much of a problem to get everyone to safety, and then if the volcano didn’t erupt, to get everyone back to the village, no harm, no foul.
She wished she didn’t have to be the one to tell them that their village might very well be destroyed. They hadn’t stopped staring at her though, and she had to say something. She saw Spike watching her carefully, and for some reason, it made her feel better. The people in the village, they were important, not the village itself.
“Everyone, I have some bad news. The fish in the river are dead because the acidity level in the water is high. High acidic level in water is something we usually see before a volcano is going to erupt.”
“You’re saying that this volcano that’s been sitting here quietly for so many years is about to erupt?”
“I’m saying it’s possible, yes.”
“So, you don’t even know if it’s going to erupt?”
“There is a chance that it might not erupt, yes, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t. There is no definite when it comes to Mother Nature.”
“Then what exactly are you trying to tell us?”
“All I’m saying is that there is a possibility of this volcano erupting, and you all should take the necessary precautions.”
There was a muttering throughout the crowd, and she could make out various people saying they wouldn’t leave the village, especially if there wasn’t a good reason to. She tried to call out to them, tried to get them to stay and to listen to her, but everyone walked off except for Spike, of course.
“Do you really think it’ll blow?”
Buffy shrugged. “There’s really no way to know for sure, but these dead fish are definitely an indication that there’s a good possibility.”
“But you think it will?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
“What?”
“You talked about evacuating, and I figure just because the rest of the villagers are being idiots and don’t want to come doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t leave, and I’d like to go with you.”
Buffy looked at him, surprised that he would want to leave this place behind. “Are you sure about that, Spike? Are you sure you want to leave these people behind?”
“I don’t, but if they don’t want to leave, then I can’t make them.”
“Maybe you can try and convince them?”
“I’ll do what I can, but I don’t see them leaving.”
“As long as you try. See you later then?”
“Yeah. I’ll be by later with my things.” He turned and headed for the village, leaving Buffy standing by the river alone. She looked up at the volcano and couldn’t help but wonder what it had in store for them.
*****
*****
The walk back to her cabin had been slow. She was lost in thought. It didn’t feel right to leave all of these innocent people behind while she ran. They had been so nice to her, so welcoming, and this was how she was going to thank them. On the other hand, if the volcano was going to blow, then she wanted to survive. It wasn’t her fault if the villagers didn’t want to leave.
She couldn’t understand that though. There was nothing that couldn’t be rebuilt. Surely the safety of yourself and of your loved ones was more important. Still, she couldn’t help but feel that she should be staying with the villagers rather than running off with Spike.
Running off with Spike. If the volcano did blow, there was no telling how long they could be trapped together, how long they would have to spend together. She wondered how this would change her relationship with Spike.
She gave herself a mental shake, and began packing some belongings to take with her. Thankfully, she didn’t have much here with her. She had packed as lightly as she should for her six months here. She had some clothes, a few photographs, some books, and the materials for writing her book. She also, of course, had some of her equipment with her.
Most of the clothes she could leave behind. That was easily replaceable. She packed the photos and her equipment, some of her clothes, and a few books. She packed some food and some water because there was no telling how long they would be without it. Her pack was heavy, but it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to carrying, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
She looked at the table and at the book she was trying to write, and sighed. She would leave it behind. It wasn’t worth taking. Now all she could do was wait for Spike. Hopefully, he could talk some sense into some of the villagers.
*****
For the second time that day, she was woken up by someone knocking on the door. She looked at the clock and was shocked to see that it was late afternoon. She had expected Spike would take awhile, but she couldn’t believe how long she had slept for.
She went to the door and let Spike in. His pack was bigger and probably heavier than hers was. She hoped Spike didn’t bring anything that wasn’t essential.
“I tried, Buffy. I tried, but nobody would listen to me.”
“So it’s just you and me then?”
“Looks that way.”
“Spike, are you absolutely sure about this?”
Spike glared at her and set his pack down. “I didn’t really have much to bring with me, and I didn’t really know what we would need, but I did grab some extra food and water.”
She smiled at him. “That’s good, Spike. That’s really good. I have pretty much anything else we would need anyway.”
“So, what’s the plan then? We gonna hide in town until this blows over?”
She looked at him, but didn’t say anything. Luckily, Spike was quick to get it. “The town isn’t safe either, is it?”
Buffy shook her head. “We have to get past the town. We probably don’t have time to get to the city, so we’re just going to have to get as far as we can.”
“Well, right then. Let’s go.”
Buffy took one last look around her cabin, grabbed her bag, and followed Spike out. They made the hike to the jeep that she had leased for her six months here. She kept it away from the village - nobody there had cars, but she had wanted a way to get into town if she needed to. She hadn’t yet. She had really been enjoying her time in the village. She did come up here every so often to start the jeep up and make sure it still ran. She was glad for that now because she had no problem starting it up, and she and Spike were on their way.
They drove in silence. She didn’t know what to say, and she was sure that Spike felt the same way.
It didn’t take them long to reach the town, and they were just past it when the ground beneath them began to shake. She pulled off on the side of the road and looked behind them. A huge ash cloud was billowing over the volcano.
“Bloody hell,” Spike said from beside her.
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“Now what?”
“Now we need a safe place to hide that isn’t too far away because this jeep won’t be of any use when the ash starts to fall on us. Damn. I wasn’t expecting it to blow this fast.”
Spike looked at her expectantly. She got out of the jeep and took in their surroundings. Spike got out with her.
“What about caves, Spike? Are there any of those around?”
“I think I’ve heard talk of there being some out that way.”
She looked in the direction he was pointing. It was a heavily wooded area. Looking around, it really did seem like the best place to hide anyway.
“We’d better hurry. This baby’s just warming up.”
They hopped back into the jeep, and they raced towards the woods. She pulled up to it, and they grabbed their bags and hopped out of the jeep. The woods were so dense that the sun barely penetrated them. It made travelling through the woods slower, so slow, in fact, that ash was starting to fall on them. Not much was making its way through the trees at the moment, but that would change soon.
“Wait, we need to get something out of my pack.” She dug through he bag, trying not panic about how long before there was a pyroclastic cloud coming to get them, and pulled out a couple of bandanas. She handed one to Spike.
“You need to cover your nose and your mouth.”
“Why?”
“The ash is tiny pieces of glass. You really don’t want to be breathing that in.”
“Right then.” He tied the bandana around his nose and mouth, and Buffy did the same with hers. They continued walking, searching for a cave they hoped would be there.
“Buffy!” His voice was muffled by the bandana, but she could here the excitement in his voice. “Over here! I found it!”
Buffy headed towards Spike’s voice, and sure enough, there was a cave, a very well protected cave. It was the closest they could get to perfect. Perfect would be being nowhere near the volcano, at least while she was a civilian. If she wasn’t on leave and had all of her equipment, and was here with her team, she would be having the time of her life.
She pulled out her portable lamp and lit it before heading into the cave. She really hoped there wasn’t some large wild animal already in here. The cave wasn’t very deep, and was definitely empty. It wasn’t really a cave, it was more like a deep hole, which was fine. It should still provide the protection that they needed.
She left Spike to set up a little camp for them, and she stood just outside the cave, hoping to see any of the volcano’s activity. It was no use though. There were too many trees in the way, though that wouldn’t be a problem for long if the pyroclastic cloud was on its way. She didn’t want to be outside when it arrived. She hurried back into the cave.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
Spike had been perfectly calm the whole time, but there was no way that he really could be. She worried that if he held it all in, then he would break too much for them to fix right now, and she needed him to be okay if she was going to keep them alive.
“I’m just fine.”
“Spike,” she sighed.
“No, really. I am. I trust you to get us out of this alive. You already saved my life by getting me out of the village.” A frown crossed his face as he mentioned the village, and really, she couldn’t blame him. He had been with them for quite some time, and then he just left based on what she had to say. He must like her a great deal deeper than she had thought.
“Maybe you shouldn’t put so much trust in me.”
Spike just looked at her like she was crazy for even thinking such a thing. Buffy didn’t try to push it. She felt so unsure of everything that she knew so well because she was here alone instead of with a team.
They were set up near the back of the cave. She could only hope that the rock was thick enough to survive the pyroclastic cloud. Actually, she really didn’t want to think of that at all.
They sat side-by-side, leaning against the cave wall.
“So, why is it we couldn’t stay in town?”
“Well, for one, the pyroclastic cloud would obliterate everything in its path, and even if it didn’t, ash is dense. If we stayed in a house, or in any building, the roof would collapse on us. Oh, and let’s not forget that the ash would suffocate you.”
“Oh. This pyroclastic cloud, are we going to be safe in here from it?”
Buffy turned her head to look at him. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Spike reached out and took her hand, and she gripped him just as tightly as he gripped her. She didn’t know how bad it was, or what was going on, but she had seen and studied enough eruptions that she couldn’t shake the mental image of what was happening to the village and to the town.
Lava would be flowing down the side of the volcano, ash would be raining down from the sky. People would be suffocating, buried alive, incinerated. Nothing would survive. It wasn’t a pretty picture, and she hated thinking of all of those people that she had grown so fond of dying in such a terrible way.
Years of studying volcanoes on her own, and years of formal training, and years of actual experience had honed her senses, her instinct. She could hear it. She could feel it. She grabbed the blankets she had taken out earlier and shoved Spike to the ground, covering both of their bodies with them.
*****
*****
There were no trees left, just ash and cooled lava. They had been in the cave for days, waiting. Ash was still raining down on them, but the density of it was lessening. They decided to chance it, to walk back to the village. The bandanas were tied more securely around their nose and mouth, the only defense they had against breathing the stuff in.
It was morning, but the sun wasn’t shining here. The earth around them looked cold and desolate, dead. It was like looking at the after in an apocalyptic movie. Nothing had survived except for a couple of lone stragglers. Their clothes the only color in a world of gray, though they too would probably soon be gray.
After this, Buffy was sure she’d never wear gray again. Spike was pale, panic finally settling in after a couple of days in the cave. She had gotten him calmed down, but he still looked like hell. She could understand that though. They were kind of going through hell, after all.
Their hike back to the village was slow despite the lack of trees now. It took them three days to make it back to the village, or rather what used to be the village. There was nothing left.
Spike fell to his knees and started crying on top of a pile of ash. Buffy got to her knees beside him, and hugged him, tears of her own starting to fall. It was how the rescue crews had found them- on their knees on a pile of ash, hugging and crying and clinging.
*****
A steady beeping was the first thing she heard when she woke up. She was tired, and her whole body ached. Her eyelids were heavy, but she forced them open. A hospital. She was in a hospital. There was a nurse in the room with her, but she wasn’t paying any attention to Buffy. She rolled her head to the side and saw Spike lying in the next bed over. She smiled and let sleep pull her under again.
*****
The next time she woke up, she felt so much better, so much lighter.
“Well look who’s finally awake.”
Buffy looked over and saw Spike sitting up in bed and looking at her, smiling. She sat up in her bed. “Do you know what happened, because my memory is a little foggy.”
“Well, see, a volcano erupted.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure I remember that.”
Spike chuckled. “Yeah, kind of hard to forget that. I don’t remember much either. I know we were on our knees and hugging each other on the ash pile, but I kind of lose it from there.”
Buffy nodded and leaned back against her pillows. “Do you know how long we’ve been here?”
“Just a few days.”
Buffy closed her eyes but didn’t sleep. Instead, her brain went through all of the scenes of destruction the volcano had produced. She couldn’t believe all of the villagers that she had come to know over the past few months were dead. She didn’t want to think about it, but she knew she had to. She couldn’t ignore the pain, she had to move past it. There had been so much pain in her life these past months though. Tears started falling down her face. She needed another vacation, and this time it was going to be nowhere near a volcano.
*****
*****
Two years had passed since the volcano incident. She and Spike had spent a week in the hospital, and he had flown back to the states with her and had stayed in her apartment. The guy had been completely alone except for her, and she couldn’t turn her back on him.
They had lived in her apartment for months just as roommates when Spike had asked her on a date again. This time, she had said yes. Now, they were engaged to be married.
Around the time she and Spike had started dating, she had begun writing again. This time, she wrote about her time in the village and the incident with the volcano. It was a first hand survival account, and it was now a bestseller.
She had gone to the village to pick up the shattered remains of her life, and she had come out of it with so much more.
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 09:56 pm (UTC)I don't usually read AH Buffy stories but I was intrigued by the volcano twist. I liked the working, writing, get-away world of the story and the slow growth relationship with Spike.
[One thing - I would have like a little more conflict or danger, maybe.]
no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 04:05 pm (UTC)Thanks for giving it a chance and reading it!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-11 09:48 pm (UTC)I love it =)
Thank you so much!
I even learned some stuff about volcanoes! haha
This is a really great story.. =)
no subject
Date: 2011-05-11 10:26 pm (UTC)We'll have to think of some more AUs to do :)