It's Okay Just To Say I'm Not Okay - Tumblr Posts

borrowed clothing / bridal carry / not much longer (it’s okay just to say “I’m not okay.”)

Part Three of Three (first prompt 6, second prompt 28)

"...not much longer..." A familiar voice was assuring her. Or someone near her at any rate.

Faye immediately regretted the return to consciousness. There was pain in every portion of her body that was currently reporting to her mind. Some parts seemed to be numb but that was a pale sort of relief when you considered why they might be lacking sensation, and when you considered how eventually that numbness would recede and discomfort would take its place.

She was being carried in someone's arms, one strong arm under her upper back and another under her knees as if she were about to be brought over a threshold into a happy new future as someone's blushing bride. There was something unpleasant smelling covering her... she squinted at her own lap and realized she was wrapped in a filthy and bloodstained trench coat. What the fuck?

"Faye?" Her ride was speaking to her.

"I'm fine." She replied instantly, though she was the furthest thing from fine that she could imagine.

A wheezy chuckle. "Don't make me laugh. I'll drop you." She noticed the arms that were carrying her seemed to be shaking from the strain. "It's okay to just say 'I'm not okay' you know. It's just us, you don't have to put on a show of strength."

"Look... whose talking..." she mumbled, head lolling against the dirty suit jacket that could only belong to one man. "In what... mad world... did I decide to borrow your clothes?"

"If it's any consolation, you fought me pretty hard while I tried to put that around you." Spike told her. "Granted, you were obviously out of your head with delirium thinking that I was the enemy. For someone so fucked up... you still had quite a bit of fight in you." There was definitely pride in his tone and Faye smiled.

"We going... back to the ship?"

"Nah, well, yeah. Not immediately though. Almost to Doc's place. It's kinda like a safehouse and he can patch us up while we're there. I don't know where your bracelet is and my ship is too far to get to."

"My bracelet..." That was a significant blow. Having the ability to call upon her own vessel for rescue or a quick escape? Absolutely clutch in so many situations.

"We'll see if Doohan can rig you up another." Spike promised, seeming to understand her dismay. "In the meantime... well, I'll come running whenever you call."

He had clearly been through a bloodbath on her behalf. There were far worse options as far as having a backup plan went. Or, backup in general.

This wasn't the first time he'd answered a hail to save her life. And truthfully she trusted his ability to get her out of no-win scenarios just as much as she trusted herself to do the same. Perhaps it was time to admit that she was grateful for his presence in her life... to admit she needed him around.

"Spike, I... you..." she fumbled over her words, knowing what she wanted to say but not sure how to get it out.

"I know." He interrupted.

She tilted her head to look up at him in confusion and saw a smirk dance across his lips. "Wha..."

"You told me all sorts of stuff last night when you thought we were about to die." He replied. And then glanced down at her with a softer smile. "You were pretty out of it so I won't hold you to anything you said."

A blush spread across her cheeks. What could she have confided? Worse, what could she have promised?

"Stop thinking so loud," he complained then. "I can practically feel you giving yourself a headache. Later, when we've had a chance to decompress, I'll tell you everything you might have forgot."