Chapter 25 - Thursday, Standard Reality

It took several moments before either Meddows or Xander realised what had happened. They both dropped to the ground as one, to find Buffy, unconscious, and paler than Spike had ever been, at their feet. With one mind, they picked her up and made for the exit. Between them they hoisted her up onto the library floor. When they got there they saw the two witches with Spike. Tara had obviously done some sort of spell, because he seemed to be peacefully at rest, although his injuries were horrific. The two witches took Buffy to hospital while Xander and Meddows put Spike in the back of the newspaper van they had used.

"Where to?" Meddows asked as he slipped into the driving seat. Xander paused. He had been about to direct him to Spike's crypt, then realised he couldn't, remembering the key Tara had pressed into his hand before she left. Instead he said, "Revello Drive."

When they arrived, the two men carried Spike indoors. Leading the way, Xander climbed the stairs and opened the door to Buffy's room. It went against his better judgement to have Spike here, but he knew it was what this other Buffy would want. He said a silent prayer that their own Buffy would be back soon and keeping Spike at a decent distance. They placed the vampire on the bed, and Xander went to find towels and the first aid kit. Between them, they tended his wounds as well as they could. Meddows was amazed that anything could have survived such injuries. They were relieved when they heard Tara returning.

"Willow's going to stay with Buffy. She's getting some blood, and she'll be ok. Still unconscious when I left, though. How's he doing?"

Tara approached the bed. "I did a spell my mom taught me. It's a healing spell - it won't speed things very much, but it'll give him some respite from the pain, for a while at least."

At the hospital, Buffy had come around. Immediately, she started trying to sit up, instantly realising that was a bad idea when a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her. She lay back down and opened her eyes to see Willow leaning over her. "Spike?" she whispered.

"Xander took care of him," Willow started, then realised that her words were open to misinterpretation. "He's safe. Xander and Meddows took him," she paused. They hadn't discussed where Spike should go. She hedged her bets, hoping Xander had taken Tara's hint, "home."

"I've got to go," Buffy started to try to sit up again.

Willow pushed her back down. "Buffy, wait. You lost a lot of blood. They say if you'd lost any more, you wouldn't still be here. Let the transfusion finish. Then see how you feel. You're no good to him now any way. Tara did a healing spell. It'll lessen the pain and let him sleep for a while. Xander'll get him some blood."

"Will he?" Buffy asked, unsure.

"I'll make sure he does. I'll just go and call, ok?"

As she stood up to go, Buffy grabbed her arm. "I don't know what happened, but I do know neither Spike nor I would still be here if it hadn't been for you, Tara and Xander. And you don't even know us. Thanks."

Willow nodded. "It's just what we do. What we've always done."

This seemed to satisfy the Slayer, and Willow went off to make the call.

As promised, the local paper that morning was full of details of how a disused warehouse had been blown up by 'what appeared to be a gas explosion'. In a town where odd things weren't unusual, no one paid any attention.

Meddows stayed at the house in Revello Drive for a while, gently asking questions, finding out what he could about the creature upstairs. He had had the opportunity to hear his daughter's story of her rescue now that she had calmed down, and he was filled with admiration for the whole group of people, but especially for the vampire. Sarah was obviously completely in awe of hem. He knew that without the information supplied by Spike, the raid on the warehouse wouldn't have resulted in the rescue of all those people. Some were still in hospital, and some would need counselling, but none had died. For Sunnydale, that was an amazing occurrence.

It was well into the day when Spike finally regained consciousness. As soon as he did, his demon face resurfaced as his need for blood once again overtook rational thought. The moan, which came from his lips as he tried to move, roused Xander from his spot on the other side of the room. Seeing the demon face, his first instinct was to run or grab a stake. Hedging his bets, he checked he still had a stake in his back pocket. He stood up, took the blood he had obtained from Willy, and poured it into the mug he had ready. Sitting beside Spike on the bed, he helped the vampire sit up and drink.

It took several pints of blood before Spike's face returned to its human form. Even then, it was hardly recognisable. Both eyes were swollen shut and his nose had been broken. Tara had used her limited healing skill to set that and other broken bones. His ribs were bandaged and there was hardly a spot on his body which was unmarked. Xander and Meddows had removed what was left of his clothing, so he was now naked under the sheet on the bed except for a pair of boxers Xander had lent him to spare Tara's blushes. Sinking back into the bed, Spike seemed about to drift back to sleep, when his eyes suddenly tried to open again, as the events of the previous night reasserted themselves onto his consciousness.

"Buffy?" he croaked.

"She's going to be fine," Xander reassured him. "I spoke to Willow, and the only thing that stopped her coming straight home was the fact that Willow told her she'd be no use to you until she's stronger. They're giving her blood."

Spike nodded slightly. He looked at the young man sitting close to him. He knew he had been involved in what had happened even though he didn't know the details. He realised that both he and Buffy owed their lives to him and the others. "Thanks," he muttered.

Xander wasn't quite sure what to say, and that's where polite formulae come in. "You're welcome," he replied.

Satisfied, Spike sank back down again, sleep claiming him as the healing process at last started.

These chapters are short as I decided to stick to my formula of one day in one reality per chapter.