Chapter Ten was my favourite to write so far, even though I haven't actually wrote a lot :)
I hope I showed the instability of Buffy clearly, how she's struggling and how she doesn't seem to know what she's doing some of the time.
I'd love see what you think of the story so far, so if you could, please review.
I'm not sure how long the story will be at the moment. It won't be a mega mega long story, but I do have a while to go I think before I see the ending I want being able to take place. The romance and declarations of love aren't going to happen instantly. Buffy needs time.
Oh and if anyone wants certain things from the series to take place then let me know and I'll try reconstruct it to fit here.
Thank-you to everyone who's reading this far, you guys are clearly awesome and I bow down at your feet!
I'm sure you guys know already, but Joss is master of the universe!
Dawn was near on inconsolable right now. I pulled her to her feet and she wrapped her arms around me, holding on for dear life it seemed. I stroked her hair and whispered that I'd find Buffy and bring her home for Dawn. "She needs me Spike, but I don't know how to help her." Bit cried into my shoulder. I looked around at Buffy's friends, some of them were looking at the ground, and the others at the exit Buffy had run through.
"Well Buffy evidently needs our help right now. Willow, will you and Tara take Dawn home please, the rest of us should go and find Buffy and try bringing her back to the house." Giles said, moving into action and taking charge of the situation. The red witch just nodded, her eyes silently streaming as she stared at the ground. Instantly Dawns mood did a total bloody 180 as she pulled away from me. "Didn't you hear Buffy? This is her fault." She shouted pointing at the witch. "I'm not going anywhere with her, she did this!"
After Dawn's outburst Xander said he and Anya would take Bit home and wait for us, it wouldn't have been great to have the stupid bint there waiting to ambush the Slayer as soon as she walked through the door anyway. Surprisingly Tara said she'd rather help us find Buffy, see how she was doing and tell her she was ok. Her hand only seemed sprained so Willow said she'd take her to the hospital after we'd found Buffy.
"There's no need to split up to find her Watcher, I'm pretty sure I know where she's gonna go." I told him then explained about Joyce's grave after Dawn had left. "Well someone needs to take over patrol so I'll do a quick sweep and meet you there I suppose. You'll keep Tara safe?" he asked.
"We'll be safe as houses Ripper. Wouldn't let anything happen to the only Scoobie I haven't wanted to eat for some reason or another now would I" I answered winking at the white witch.
"She cares for you." Tara said, out of the blue as soon at Rupert was out of earshot. The statement threw me a little, how was I supposed to respond to that. "Did the way she practically roared her possession of me to those blokes put that idea in your bonce Glinda. The slayer doesn't care for the likes of me. I'm just the help." I said whilst trying to figure out which bones had been broken in the fight. It felt like a rib, nose definitely and maybe my collarbone. "I see it Spike." She said turning to look at me instead of the ground "You're off your rocker sweetheart, you sure you didn't hit your head back at the Bronze?" I asked her.
I couldn't met her eyes, I was too afraid she's see the hope in them that Buffy actually liked being around me. "Her aura changes when you're near. Usually there's so much black and dark red for her pain and anger but when you're close to her the black fades to grey. People change colours depending on their opinions on people and the colours I see have different shades which all signify different types of emotions and I can get a vibe of how they feel for that person. Like with Dawn, Buffy sparkles with brightest pink and orange. The bright pink shows me her love for Dawn is infinite and the orange shows me her thoughtfulness, self-control plus her ambition to be the best for Dawnie. But with you the colours all swirl together: orange, because she knows she doesn't need self-control with you. Red, because she sees your energy and strength and it gives her her own in return, also you give her courage. Yellow, because you make her feel optimistic. There's a little bit of blue in her aura too, usually changing between confusion and intrigue. But the most important ones I see are the small flickers of green and pink. The pink shows me she feels companionship and gratitude towards you but the green tones that fly up when you're around signal peace and healing. Buffy feels safe with you Spike; she knows you'll protect her when she can't protect herself."
We walked in silence for a few minutes. "Bloody hell Glinda, you see all that in everyone? Sounds like a pain in the arse to me luv." I answered finally.
"I don't usually see it that intense but I was trying to focus on Buffy tonight, I kind of blocked out everyone else and focused on her. That's why I could pick out specifics tonight. You should have seen her when she realised you were being hurt Spike. Her aura flared the brightest of reds for her anger and fear. The orange showing her self-control snapped and she felt like her will had been taken, there was never a choice of whether or not to help you."
"Well that's a bloody lot to take in luv. Who'd have thought it ay pet? William the Bloody living with Buffy and the Bitty Buffy, not to mention the fact that I'm also the Slayers personal life coach. Then to top it all off I found out Blondie actually likes having me around. Surely there's an apocalypse on its way to ruin everything." After that conversation we walked the rest of the way in silence, I think the witch was giving me time to process what she'd said. I mean, Buffy Summers, Miss Higher Than Thou herself liked having me near and felt safe with me.
Buffy was there of course, just like I knew she would be. Curled up against Joyce's tombstone with another of those blank looks on her face. She hadn't picked up her coat before bolting from the club so she sat there shivering in the dark. "I don't want her to feel like we're ambushing her, do you mind if I go first? Just for a few minutes." Tara whispered as we came to a stop under the same tree I had stood under when Buffy had first come here. "Knock yourself out pet. She's probably annoyed she had to step in and save my pasty arse anyway." I say trying to look indifferent.
Tara approaches slowly and cautiously. I'm just out of earshot and can't hear what she's saying to Buffy but she seems to be getting through to her and talking. The slayer slowly gets up on unsteady feet and Tara supports her weight until she stops shaking. They're still talking when suddenly Buffy's head whips my way and she stares at me in shock.
She comes to stand in front on me, barely a few inches between us then places her hands on either side of my face checking each of the injuries on my face. "You're hurt" she says in a soft voice. "Because of me and what I did. I'm sorry I caused this Spike, I guess I wasn't ready to celebrate after all." She says giving me a small smile. It was an exhausted smile, tonight had taken a lot out of her, I could see from the way she carried herself that she was running on pure fumes right now. "Can you take me home please Spike?" she asked so politely.
"Of course fair maiden, anything for the lady of the house. Let us retire to the Summers estate." I tell her in a proper nancy boy accent. Buffy laughs but she still seems a little out of it. Her eyes aren't as lucid as I'd like them to be but I seem to have a knack for looking after women who couldn't quite look after themselves so I don't comment on it, it would only make her more upset. She just stands there staring into the distance.
Giles turned up at that moment telling us how quiet Sunnydale seemed to be in terms of beasties to slay. "Well Watcher, you should get Red and take Glinda here to the hospital to check out that wrist." I said nodding to his car I could see in the distance. Lazy bugger must have driven to each graveyard. "Yes certainly. I can take you both home as well. Buffy what do say?" Buffy turns and walks over to her Watcher and hugs him gently. "No thank-you Giles, the cold air is helping me think more clear so I'd like to walk back if that's ok with you?" she asks holding on to his hand. "That is if Spike doesn't mind walking with me." She says turning back to me.
"'Course I don't mind kitten" I can see Rupert studying her, seeing she's not quite back to being in a normal state just yet. Her emotions really do seem to be overdrive 'cause she seems like she doesn't know what she's doing, she still has the blankness on her face. Like she's just on autopilot.
As Rupert and Buffy said good-bye and arranged for him to come over tomorrow I turned to Tara and was surprised to see her smiling at me. "What's got you looking so chipper then Glinda? Maybe that my devilish good looks have you thinking you're batting for the wrong team?" I ask her. She laughs quietly, trying not to draw attention from the others. "I was right, she cares about you. Notice how she rushed over when I mentioned you got hurt, she's worried for you. Even though Buffy knows she's in a worse condition." The witch gave me her own wink and walked off with the Watcher to the car.
I quickly shrugged out of my duster and helped Buffy into it. It drowned her of course but she did look adorable. "Let's go home Slayer" I said holding out my arm waiting for her take it. The old Buffy would have pushed me to the ground and strode off on her own, but this Buffy, she quickly placed her arm in mine and tucked her head on my shoulder as we walked under the stars. "Home" she whispered in a sort of delirious tone.