Spike came at her with no warning, and Dawn's eyes flared wide in panic as she squealed, jumping to her left and barely avoided being tackled to the ground as he flew past her, but when she whirled around, trying to track his progress with her preternatural vision, she saw he was already coming at her again, barely more than a blur of black leather and platinum hair. Feeling clumsy, she ducked, darting past his legs with a gasp, and felt his hand clench around her ankle as she tried to escape.
Fear kicked in.
Somewhere inside her, Dawn knew it was only practice, but she had plenty memories of a Spike that hadn't been chipped, and she kicked at his hand with her other foot until he let go with a annoyed growl, allowing her to scramble to her feet, and Dawn did the only thing she knew.
She ran.
It only took seconds for Spike to grab her by the arm, and when Dawn tried to pull away, her foot slipped in a gopher hole, sending her flying, and when Spike plowed into her side, she twisted with a yelp, landing with him on top of her.
"Bloody hell!" he cried out after they hit the ground, sounding much more angry than she'd expected. She forgot that, however, when she realized Spike was on top of her. Like, really on top of her. And he wasn't going anywhere. And why was he gasping like that?
"S-Spike?" she managed.
"'S'alright, Bit," he told her through clenched teeth. "Thought I told you to be more careful with that stake, though."
"Huh?" Dawn looked down, seeing her hand was clenched in between their stomachs. Oh, Dear Lord, she'd impaled him! "Spike! I'm sorry!" she cried.
"My fault. It's gonna take me a bit to get--" He realized he'd nearly said 'off,' and considering their position, decided it wasn't the best choice of words. "To get this stake out. Think it's wedge between my ribs."
"...Ow," she replied with a remorseful wince.
"Not too bad; I've had worse." He started to move slightly, trying to jimmy the stake loose, and Dawn had to stifle her gasp as she felt him move against her, his leg sliding between hers in a way that wasn't entirely appropriate.
"Do you want me to let go of it?" Oh, God, could she have sounded more perverted?
"If you do, there's a chance I'd fall, and then we'd turn ourselves into Siamese twins."
"Oh. Okay."
Spike gave one good pull, but nothing happened, other than he was going to get himself hard rubbing against the Bit's leg. She was scared enough. Stupid to think that some of her more frightening memories of him wouldn't be forgotten, even if they had been made up by a bunch of monks.
"Okay, pet. We're going to roll to the side, alright? Try to keep your hand steady. I don't want a bigger hole in me than there already is."
"Okay," she said breathlessly, sounding uncertain.
Spike put a hand on her shoulder to steady her, the other hand planted firmly on the ground. Slowly, they rolled, face to face until Dawn was on her left side, and Spike on his right. Dawn let go of the stake, looking to check the damage. Her hand immediately flew to her mouth. "Oh, God!"
Spike sat up slowly, giving her a reassuring look. "It's alright, Niblet. Just inconvenient, is all." He looked around, weighing his options. "Alright. I'm gonna stand next to that tree. You use it to brace yourself, and pull this bugger out."
"O-Okay."
It was over in seconds, Dawn stumbling back after pushing herself from the tree with one long leg. But there was a bloody stake in her hand, and Spike sank to the ground.
She rushed over to him. "Did I mention I was sorry?"
"Hey, you won, right? Hell of a strange tactic, though." He smiled, causing Dawn to give him a wavering one in return, and she helped him get to his feet.
