Chapter/episode 9: Listening to Fear.

I would just like to say that I WAS READY TO POST THIS YESTERDAY. It's not my fault it didn't get on until today. It wouldn't upload to the website. This made me very mad, and I tried two seperate times last night and it didn't work. So as soon as I got home from school today I tried and now it's working. So just for the sake of getting credit for finishing it...it was done.

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy in any way, shape, or form.

Buffy, Angel, and Dawn were with Joyce at the hospital. Dawn was sitting with Joyce on the bed, and Buffy and Angel were sitting in a couple of chairs at the foot of the bed. Angel had a notebook and pencil in his lap. "What are you guys doing?" Dawn asked. "Slayer stuff?"

"Nope." Buffy replied. "Wedding stuff."

"Oh, good." Joyce said, smiling. "What have you decided?"

"Well, Angel said he would be willing to have a church wedding since he has the ring of Amarra and stuff, but I think I'd rather get married in the park at night. I don't want anything there that could burn him, ring or no. And then we thought we could have the reception at the mansion." Buffy said.

"The only worry I have about the park at night thing is that vampires will during the wedding." Angel said, frowning.

"I think we can take any vamp stupid enough to attack our wedding."

"Stupid?"

"Yeah! Angel, come on. This is the Slayer's wedding to Angelus, one of the most feared vampires of all time. Plus there will be well known demon fighters in attendance. Who'd be stupid enough to attack us?"

"Point taken."

"I think it sounds nice." Dawn said. She frowned. "The wedding in the park, not being attacked by vampires."

The door opened and the doctor walked in. "Hello Joyce." He said.

"Hi Doctor. Um, you know my girls, Dawn and Buffy, and Buffy's fiancé Angel." Joyce said.

"Yes." The doctor said. "You guys are becoming part of the regular crew around here."

"Just keeping her company." Buffy said.

"That's good. Just make sure you don't wear her out."

Joyce sighed. "Oh, don't worry about that. I woke up exhausted, there's really no more exhausted to get."

"Well maybe some good news will help." The doctor said. "The blood work's come back from the lab and everything looks good, so we should be able to operate in just a couple of days."

"That's good." Angel said, smiling at the others.

"I was wondering," Joyce said, "If I could spend time at home until the operation instead of staying here."

The doctor hesitated, and Angel could tell they weren't going to like the answer. "I wouldn't recommend it." The doctor said finally.

"Why can't she come home?" Buffy asked.

"I don't see why I have to spend time in this little hospital room just waiting for surgery for days." Joyce said hotly.

"Joyce, there's no reason to get upset-" the doctor began.

"Oh, I must just think there is because of my brain tumor!" Joyce yelled. The room fell silent. Dawn looked uncomfortably at the ground. "Sorry." Joyce said quietly.

"Dawnie, come on." Angel said, standing up. "Let's find something to eat." He led her out of the room. They walked down the hallway, Dawn silent and looking at the floor. "I'm sorry you had to hear that." Angel said finally.

"It's ok." Dawn replied.

"I know this is hard, Dawnie." Angel said quietly. "I understand how you feel."

"How could you?" Dawn hissed at him, suddenly angry. "You killed your parents!"

Angel stepped back in surprise. Suddenly, he was very glad there was no one else in the hallway. Her comment stung, but he understood where the anger she felt was coming from so he didn't get mad. Dawn looked guilty, however. "Sorry." She said. "That was out of line."

"No, it's true." Angel said. "I did."

"It's just…" Dawn sighed. "Buffy seems so…ok with it. I mean, has she even cried?"

"Dawn." Angel said sharply, startling Dawn. She noted how he got angrier when she insulted Buffy than when she insulted him. "You have to understand that Buffy's being strong, keeping it together, for you. But inside she's hurting just as much as you are. She cries when no one's around to see her."

"Except you."

Angel almost smiled. "Well yeah, but that's a given."

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They had convinced the doctor to let them bring Joyce home before the operation. Buffy and Dawn were getting her from the hospital and bringing her home. Angel would meet them at home soon, but Buffy had asked him to check with the Scoobies first. And it was a good thing he had, because Willow and Tara had seen something fall from the sky.

Angel, Giles, Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, and Riley went to investigate. Angel looked around the area where it had fallen. "Something was here." He said. "Something was in the rock over there, but it's gone."

"There's slime all over." Riley said, looking at the comet that had been broken open.

"Why do we have to worry about the killer snot-monster?" Xander whined.

"Because it's a killer snot-monster from outer space…I did not say that." Giles added quickly, frowning.

"We have to track this thing." Willow said slowly.

"I can track it." Angel said. He sniffed the air. "I'm good at that. I might bring Spike for help, but the two of us can probably find it easy."

"Do you want us to help?" Tara asked.

Angel shook his head. "We can take care of it."

"You better not be expecting Buffy to come along and help." Riley said angrily.

"Of course not." Angel snapped. "Spike and I can handle it. You, go home."

Riley growled as Angel turned to leave. He turned and marched off in the opposite direction. When he was sure he was out of even the vampire's range of hearing, he pulled out his phone. "Graham." He said. "I need your help."

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Angel had gotten Spike, and the two of them were trying to track the monster. They were following the scent (Angel took Spike back to the comet's landing site so he would know what it smelled like), trying to figure out where it had gone.

"So, um, how's Buffy?" Spike asked. Angel glanced at him, surprised that he was attempting to make small talk.

"She's ok. It's been hard on her, with her mother, but she's getting through it."

"That's good." Spike replied. "And you?"

"And me what?"

"How are you?"

Angel blinked and stared at him. "Um…who are you and what have you done with Spike?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Just trying to be friendly. I thought since we were working together we might as well attempt to talk other than arguing."

Angel sighed. He had a point. "I'm good." He hesitated. "What about you?"

"Good." Spike said. There was a very awkward silence. Then Spike said, "Am I invited to the wedding?"

A smile flickered across Angel's face. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Oh, come on, Angel."

"I'm not saying anything. You're just going to have to wait and see."

"Well-wait." Spike held up his hand and sniffed the air. "It spent a lot of time here."

Angel looked up. "At the hospital?" he asked.

"Yes."

Angel nodded slowly. "Yeah, you're right, it was here…but it's not anymore. It left. This way!" he ran down the street. Spike followed.

"It came down this street." Spike said.

"And then it turned this way…" Angel continued. They followed the scent through town until Angel stopped.

Spike looked at him. "What is it?" he asked.

"Either I'm crazy or…you do realize where this is leading us, don't you?" Angel asked.

Spike thought for a moment, and then he looked alarmed. "Oh no."

"Buffy." The said at the same time, and then they ran down the street as fast as they could to Buffy's house.

"We should go in through the back!" Angel yelled. Spike nodded and they ran around the house to the back door. Angel ripped the door open and they ran inside. There was a shriek of surprise and a crashing sound. Both vampires looked and saw Buffy standing by the sink, looking very startled and rather wet. She was cleaning the dishes, and the crash had been the sound of her dropping a pot to the floor. Angel looked her in the eyes and saw she'd been crying, and he knew why, but he didn't have time to comfort her now. They'd talk later.

"What are you guys doing here?" she hissed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Where your mom? Where's Dawn?" Angel asked.

"Upstairs, why?"

"There's something here. We tracked it to the house."

Buffy looked worried. "Like a demon."

"Maybe." Angel sighed.

"It came from outer space." Spike added helpfully.

"Outer space?" Buffy repeated.

"Yeah." Angel told her. "We're not sure what it is, exactly. Willow and Tara saw it fall from the sky."

"Am I invited to the wedding?" Spike asked Buffy randomly. Angel glared at him. Buffy just gave him a look. "What?" he cried. "Peaches here won't tell me."

Buffy sighed. "Ok, we have to find this thing before it hurts Dawn or Mom."

Suddenly there was a scream from upstairs. Buffy, Angel, and Spike all raced for the stairs. Angel ran ahead into the hallway, and came tumbling back a moment later with some kind of demon on top of him. The two of them went rolling down the steps. Buffy and Spike jumped out of the way. "Wow." Spike said. "Ugly thing."

"Little…help…please?" Angel growled from the floor. Buffy and Spike grabbed the demon from behind and pulled it off Angel. It wrestled out of their grip and scurried away.

"It's fast." Spike commented.

"Where did it go?" Buffy asked frantically, looking around the dark room.

The front door suddenly opened and Riley came running in. "Buffy-"

"Riley, get out of here." Buffy said. "There's a-"

Spike gave a strangled yell suddenly and Angel saw the demon grab hold of him. "There!" Angel yelled, and he rushed towards Spike with Buffy and Riley behind him. Angel tackled Spike to the ground and ripped the demon off his back. It fought him, but he wrestled with it on the ground. "Somebody get something to kill it with!" he gasped as he fought with it. Buffy ran to her weapons cabinet and pulled out an axe. She hurried back and swung at the demon, chopping it in half. It became still. It was dead. Angel relaxed. Spike helped him up. "Thanks. Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Spike said. "I'm fine. You?"

"Fine." Angel said. He looked down at the corpse of the demon. "What do we do with it?"

"I'll take it." Riley said. The others stared at him.

"You want the dead demon?" Buffy asked.

"I'll get rid of it for you." Riley clarified. He picked it up.

"Right." Spike said. "Well, this has been fun but I think I'll go home now. See you later." He walked towards the door.

"Show Riley out while you're at it, will you?" Angel called after him, glaring at Riley. Riley scowled at him. Spike came back, grabbed Riley by the back of his shirt, and dragged him towards the door. Angel had to grin. "See you later!" he called. Once they were gone, he turned to Buffy. "I have a strong urge to laugh." He admitted.

Buffy laughed, and then her laughter turned to tears. She buried her face into his shirt and cried. He embraced her comfortingly. Then he heard Dawn's voice. "Guys?"

Buffy immediately pulled away from Angel and wiped her eyes. "What is it Dawn?" she called, managing to keep her voice steady.

Dawn appeared on the stairs. "What happened? There was this thing upstairs and then…"

"We took care of it." Buffy said, forcing a smile. "Don't worry."

"Go back to bed Dawn, it's late." Angel said. Dawn nodded and went back upstairs. Once she was gone, he brought Buffy upstairs to their room. As soon as he shut the door she broke down into sobs. Angel kissed her. They got ready and slipped into bed, where Buffy curled up in his arms and cried until she fell asleep.

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The Next Morning

They took Joyce to the hospital, where she was immediately prepped for surgery. Willow, Xander, Riley, and Giles came to be with them while Joyce had her surgery. Buffy went to talk her right before the operation. Angel waited outside the room.

Buffy came out first. She turned to Angel. "She knows." She said. "About Dawn. She knows. I didn't tell her, she just knew."

Angel nodded and kissed her. "Don't worry about that right now." He whispered.

Joyce left the room next in her bed. She waved to Buffy and gave her a small smiled before she disappeared behind a door. Buffy squeezed Angel's hand and whimpered. He put his arm around her a led her to the others. Dawn sat in a chair next to them. Everybody just sat and waited.

Next chapter: Into the Woods. Riley's last episode, and I've got some extra stuff planned. Should be fun. Please review!