Slayer Gothic 2

Child Killer

Even a Slayer couldn't prevent flu season from coming to this town. For all the magic and technology at my command I was unable to fight a something as a small and deadly as a disease.

Actually that wasn't totally true. I could have taken sick people to the Forgotten Realms and had a Cleric cast Cure Disease upon whomever I wanted. Or I could have just got to Silverymoon and brought potions, or scrolls of my witches to use.

However that was not without risks, if I was infected by the virus I might pass it on to others. The people of other worlds weren't likely to have an immune system that could handle the flu, and even though they had magical ways of dealing with diseases those resources might easily be overwhelmed. It could be like how European diseases wiped out most of the native American population.

So when Buffy got sick I had to bring to the hospital, and I'd had to carry her in because she'd passed out. If it had been up to me, it would have never even come to this. Buffy would have stayed at home and battled her flu with medication before it got too bad.

Avoiding the hospital had been a very tempting thought for Buffy I was sire, but she had a job to do. And she only could do that job if she was sick enough to see the child killer demon, which I had explained about to the group once I'd read about a kid dying in the hospital.

I had considered physically restraining her so that , but I couldn't bring myself to take advantage of her weakness and overpower her, and nothing short of that would have prevent Buffy from coming her in order to help the kids.

So I had resigned myself to staying at her side and keeping her out of harm's way until the inevitable would happen. Which was one of us slaying the child killer demon.

When I'd put Buffy down on the gurney, and had handed her over to care of trained medical personal I was glad that at least this part of their mission was over.

It had been rather nerve-wrecking for me. It had been a balancing act between trying to protect Buffy and at the same time respecting her wishes on how to play things out, she was also the Slayer after all. But I wasn't exactly thrilled about what would come next either.

The current plan was to get rid of the child killing demon during the first night, when Buffy was still sick enough without deliberately drinking viruses to see the demon.

My other plans had been better, at least in my view. Their were a number of ways to deal with an invisible enemy. Motion sensors, infra red goggles, or just simple shooting at where the sick kids said there was a monster. We could have even used paintball guns, and just made the creature visible before slaying with real guns.

Understandably Buffy had been against taking guns into the children's ward so that we could shoot at something we couldn't see. And she was right there was a chance we'd have hit a kid, it simply wasn't worth risking such a thing. So we'd agreed to try it her way, which was much like it had been in the show only with me as back up.

Alas Buffy's scheme didn't work out as planned, it failed before it even started really. The doctors had pumped Buffy full of sedatives once she had started babbling on about a child killing monster and the need to kill with her magic sword.

While that had been going on I'd called Buffy's mother, pretending not to have known she was ill until she'd fainted. Then I'd called Giles to let him know that Buffy was at the hospital. Both Joyce and Giles had soon come to check on Buffy. But Buffy was fast asleep and they both left again after the doctors had assured them that she would be alright.

After Giles and Joyce had left , I'd sat at Buffy's bedside the whole night. I'd been afraid the demon might attack her, too. When the nurses found me in the room deep into the night they had asked me to leave. At first I'd refused to go, but I'd done as I was told once they had threatened to have me removed by security.

I had left, but not for very long as it had been clear for a while that I would have to deal with the demon.

(Line Break)

Hospital. Sunnydale.

Not long after returning to the hospital I passed by one of the children's rooms, and I suddenly felt something strange. But when I looked I couldn't see anybody else inside the room besides the two sleeping children. However since I knew that didn't mean anything, as the creature was not only invisible to the naked eye but also to sensors, so I quietly opened the door and went inside.

That was when the feeling got stronger, so I ventured further into the room and by this point I was certain that there was somebody else in the room. I could feel someone watching me.

The longer I concentrated on the presence, the more I was able to pinpoint an exact location for what I assumed to be the child killing demon. If my gut feeling was right the creature was moving slowly towards the door.

When I attacked I impacted with something I couldn't see, but the demon managed to elude my grasp and even my attempts to stab it. Then it was gone. The bugger was fast, and as soon as it left whatever range my supernatural senses had when it came to invisible demons I lost track of it.

Lacking a better idea I went back to Buffy's room. She looked to be fast asleep, and since I didn't want to wake her, I simply sat down and waited for her awaken on her own, which she soon did.

"Got him?" Buffy asked sleepily, without opening her eyes.

Alas I only had bad news.

"Sorry, no" I reported "but I think I scared him away, at least for tonight".

That was my hope anyway.

"See him?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"No, but I could sense him" I told her.

Buffy was definitely not happy about this.

"Sleep. We'll catch him tomorrow" I promised "I'm sure he won't try again tonight".

She smiled slightly.

"Hope so" she said as she shifted around in bed.

I'd make sure of it.

"Check again later?" she requested.

She already knew I would.

"I will. Don't worry. Just get some sleep" I urged.

(Line Break)

Hospital. Sunnydale.

Buffy had gotten some uninterrupted hours of sleep. And when Joyce came to see her daughter, Buffy was already feeling somewhat better. The drugs had worn off ,and her slaying powers had almost taken care of the fever.

"Buffy, how did you get to the hospital?" Joyce asked.

She hadn't brought her daughter, she hadn't even realised that Buffy was sick, so naturally she was curious and concerned about what had happened yesterday.

"Damien brought me," Buffy said sweetly "um… we were studying".

Actually for once they had. They'd been studying demons.

"Studying? You had a fever and you went to study?" Joyce asked incredulously.

Her daughter would never willingly go and study if she actually had a valid excuse not to.

"I couldn't reach him by phone to cancel. I didn't want him to wait for me or worry why I hadn't shown up" Buffy explained.

This seemed somewhat reasonable.

"Oh. That was very… um… thoughtful of you, Buffy" Joyce said "But I think he would have understood, if you had told him later on, its not like he doesn't know where to find you".

She'd had the young man over during Xmas so he knew where the house was.

"Thinking wasn't exactly my strong point last night" the blond pointed out.

In some people's opinion it never really was.

"So he brought you here and then simply left?" Joyce questioned.
Buffy found an answer.

"Well, he couldn't really do anything for me, could he?" the Slayer argued "Besides it was past visiting hours and only family are allowed to stay after that".

Which Joyce hadn't.

"Did you know that Mr. Giles was here as well last night?" the older woman asked, changing the subject.

In fact she had not known that.

"Um… I was pretty much out of it, Mom" reminded Buffy.

Mostly due to the sedatives.

"Oh, of course. But it was really nice of him to come by. Do you know how he found out you were here?" her mother wondered.

Again Buffy had an answer.

"Well… um… l guess Damien probably let him know" she said "They're both British".

That seemed to appease the older women, for some reason.

"Oh, I see. Still, it was very nice of him to come. He seemed very concerned about you" Joyce stated.

Apparently her mother hadn't yet come to terms with the idea that Buffy was a supernatural warrior who had a middle age man around to assist her. Not that this was something most people had to come to terms with.

"Yeah, he's a very nice guy" was all Buffy could say.

Joyce was unsure who which British person her daughter was referring to, and she let the matter drop.

"Well, anyway, the doctors say you can go home" was what the older woman said next.

Buffy hated having to lie, but she had no choice. The Slayer felt fine, or at least well enough to go home, she had just had to pretend otherwise.

"Um… I think I should stay a bit longer until I feel better" she fibbed.

Joyce was surprised.

"Are you sure, Buffy? I know how much you hate hospitals" she said.

At this point the teen was wishing she could faint again as that would get her out of this conversation.

(Line Break)

Hospital. Sunnydale.

Upon returning to the home of sick people I spied Buffy's watcher and walked over to Giles, who looked rather unhappy.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

Upon closer inspection I realised that he was more distracted than upset.

"Yes... yes…," Giles said absent-mindedly.

He hadn't heard me so I spoke more, in order to get his attention.

"Are you alright, Giles?" l asked, this time more firmly.

Now he did pay me some attention.

"Um… what? Yes, I am alright. Thank you" he said.

For some reason I didn't believe him.

"You sure? Is this about Buffy?" I asked.

If I'd fallen ill I was sure that my Watcher wouldn't be hanging around like this. That made me a little sad.

"Um… yes, yes… I'm sure she'll be fine," Giles said, while leaning against the wall.

Now I understood that his worries weren't about his Slayer. Something else was going on here.

"Giles?" I asked, getting concerned.

Soon he told me what had him so distracted.

"Miss Calender... Jenny is pregnant" I was informed.

That explained a lot.

"So you sent her home I hope" I said.

Giles nodded.

"You don't want her and the baby around all those germs" I then said "and she wasn't happy about that".

I could tell there had been a fight. The Watcher shouldn't be so worried looking, the news of a pregnancy shouldn't have made him seem unhappy so I'd known that more had happened.

"How did you know?" he asked.

It shouldn't have been a mystery.

"That's what I would have done" I answered "If you disapprove or not I do care for my girls".

I even cared enough to proper use birth control.

"I never said I don't approve," Giles objected. "I admit that your relationships are highly unusual, especially for a Slayer. But you and Buffy have never been like other Slayers".

That was very true.

"You make her life a lot easier. You watch her back. I am very grateful for that. I care about her a lot. More than I probably should as her Watcher. And your relationship is none of my business." Giles said.

I was pleased to hear that.

"How did you get the impression I was against you and Buffy being together, with others?" he asked. "I admit, it took a bit getting used to. But personally, I have no problem with your and Buffy's relationships".

This was another surprise.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me" I said. "Now why don't you go and look after Miss Calendar?"

Giles seemed uncertain.

"Buffy will be fine. And I won't leave her side until morning" I promised.

Giles was now rubbing the bridge of his nose

"This is not exactly how I had imagined this day was going to develop. I asked her to get checked out because she hadn't been feeling too well" he told me "I thought it might be the flu".

Clearly he wanted to talk more about this so I did talk.

"It sounds like you two didn't exactly plan this" I said.

Giles blushed slightly and looked at his shoes.

"No… um… not really" was all he said.

Giles wasn't exactly ready for the retirement home, but nor was he a young man. The idea of becoming a parent so late in life must be quite scary.

"Well, you obviously you haven't had time to talk about it. You should do that" I was now saying

The older man nodded.

"Yes, yes, you might be right. Maybe I will leave for a while" he muttered "But call me if anything changes, if Buffy gets worse..."

He wasn't able to say anything else on that subject.

"I will, don't worry" I assured him.

Giles was halfway down the corridor, before I realised that since Angel had left Sunnydale then Miss Calender, who had been sent by her clan to keep an eye on him, hadn't also left that she must have chosen Giles over her own people.

Something else that crossed my mind was that this change of circumstances meant that the Watcher would have less time to be involved in the lives of my group. This could also mean an end to the whole multi world confederation he and the lady of Silverymoon had cooked up. Which might be a shame, as it was something I could exploit so I'd have to finally decided if I was going to allow it or not.

Then I looked at the clock on the wall, which showed the time and date. This allowed me to recall that it was February, a whole month had gone by while I was dealing with bounty hunters, slaying vampires, keeping my girls happy, and trying to find out who had put the bounty on me in the first place. Not that I'd had any luck in that department.

Where had the time gone.

(Line Break)

"How are you?" I asked once I had entered Buffy's room.

She looked better.

"Not bad, which means probably not sick enough to see the demon" she replied. "I'll need your help, but you can't see him and I don't want you get the flu."

I looked at her disapprovingly. I had a feeling she was going to go with the stupid plan of making herself ill again.

"We need to get him tonight. Let's get this over and done with," Buffy said as she got out of bed.

She stood up and closed her eyes for a moment. I held on to her arm to steady her.

"We need to go to the lab first," Buffy said. "By the way, where did Giles and Miss Calender go?".

That was not something we needed to discuss right now.

"They went home" I explained "Its past visiting hours".

I noted that Joyce Summers, who as Buffy's mother could stay all night if she wished, had left before Giles, and she hadn't been here at least when Buffy had be in a fever. Something didn't seem right about that.

"Good thinking. We wouldn't want them to be around for the big finale and to have to answer some unwanted questions" Buffy said.

I had something to ask.

"So what is the plan?" I wondered.

Buffy flashed a smile at me that got me very worried.

(Line Break)

It didn't take long for us to find the child killing demon as we looked in the children's rooms first and when I saw that their beds were empty. Thankfully I knew exactly where to find them.

We headed for the basement and arrived just in time, the demon had already picked out his neck victim and was leaning over a small boy, pinning him to the ground.

Well at least that was the impression I got, as I could not actually see anything demonic. How ever the kids could so we used their stares of horror to guide us to the victim.

"Oh no, you won't!" Buffy said.

She was able to grab the demon and get it off the kid, and then I heared something smash into the pipes.

I tried to focus on that feeling I'd had the night before, but the kids were too loud to allow me be able to locate the demon, I couldn't focus. Even worse Buffy seemed to have used up all the energy she had left. She had to bend over to catch her breath. She might have been well enough to go home, according the doctor, but that just meant she was well enough to go home and lie in bed for the next few days.

When I saw Buffy go down, I was instantly at her side, helping her up and hoping to at least shield her from any further attacks. As I moved the demon grabbed Buffy and put his hands around her neck, trying to choke her. Again that was guess, but my gut told me it was a good one.

With hidden strength Buffy managed to wrestle him to the ground. When they hit the floor they wrestled for a bit more, it would have looked really funny if not for the screaming kids.

When I saw that Buffy had a hold of the demon, which again looked like an amusing mime act, I timed my attack and stabbed in such a way that minimised the danger to my fellow Slayer. The knife cut into something, and I attacked again.

I then stood back, and Buffy let go of the demon she'd been holding on to. To be sure it was dead I stabbed at what seemed to be the ground a few times, only I stabbed into flesh.

"You okay?" I asked her.

She looked as if now would need another night at the hospital.

"Yeah," Buffy wheezed.

She tried to stand up but hardly had the energy to do so. I swiftly lifted her into my arms in case she passed out. Then I turned towards the children who were still cowering behind some more pipes. Hopefully I had not traumatised them.

"Come on, let's get you all back to bed. It's over. You'll be safe now" I said.

I waited until every child had left the basement, then I followed with Buffy still in my arms. She was burning up again. I could feel the heat of her body, and I had the horrible feeling that she'd reinfected herself without telling me.

"By the way Mrs Calender is pregnant" I said.

This startled Buffy

"Pregnant?" she asked.

I confirmed my last statement, and it took Buffy a moment to let that sink in.

"Giles told you that?" she asked.

Again I nodded.

"I think he's a bit overwhelmed by the situation" I told Buffy as I herded the kids back to the children's ward.

He wasn't the only one. Buffy had been struck dumb. Which was like a first for her, that or she'd passed out from shock.