Part 2
Spike woke up thirty minutes later on the couch in the training
room. For a minute he thought he was alone. But he wasn't.
He felt a presence. The he smelt her. Buffy. She probably
got a kick out of it when I passed out, he thought, probably
here to laugh in my face. He slowly opened his eyes, not
quite ready to face the onslaught of her laughter.
He saw her, instead, looking solemn, a frown on her face.
Well, this is different, he thought as he sat up, a little
too abruptly. His head ached again ad he winced in pain.
"How long has this been happening?" Buffy asked.
"What's it to you, Slayer? Why do you care?"
"Spike." He looked at her and saw something that shocked
the hell out of him. Genuine concern. For him.
He sighed. "'Bout two weeks."
Buffy's eyes grew wide. "And you didn't tell us?"
He shrugged. "I didn't think it was a big deal."
"You didn't think it was a big deal?!" she asked, shocked.
"I didn't think any of you'd care. I figured you'd all
laugh or something."
He got to his feet and went to the door.
"Giles wants to ask you a few questions."
Spike nodded and went back into the store. Buffy quickly
followed suit.
Spike sat down at the table where there was an empty seat.
The gang all looked at him.
"Stop look at my like I'm some kind of bloody side-show
attraction," he growled.
They all turned their heads down. Spike looked at Giles.
"You have a few questions for me?"
Giles nodded, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.
"I understand you've been in this situation for a couple of
weeks now. My question is, what are we just now finding out
about this?"
Spike sighed, "Like I told Buffy, I didn't think any of
you'd care one bit about what was going on with me."
Xander mumbled, "You wouldn't be wrong."
Anya smacked him on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" he asked, grabbing his arm in
pain. She said nothing, just glared at him. Her look
quieted him down.
Spike began to feel the onslaught of another headache. He
rubbed his forehead, hoping against hope to ease the pain a
little.
"Do any of you have any idea what's going on with me?"
Willow spoke up. "Tara and I did a magic detection spell
and came up with nothing. Whatever's happening to you
isn't being caused by magic."
Spike nodded, grimacing and grasping his head with two hands.
"It's the chip, isn't it?"
"That is what we've narrowed it down to, yes," Giles responded.
Spike felt another tremendous bout of pain strike him. He
gasped.
"Spike, are you okay?" Buffy asked quietly, even though she
already knew the answer.
"What do you think, you bloody bint?" He turned to Giles,
"It's killing me, isn't it?"
"I'm not sure. My guess is yes."
Spike nodded, accepting this. He knew deep down that it
was true.
"So, any idea how long I've got?"
"Could take hours. It could take days, months, maybe even
years. I don't know."
Spike took this information in and nodded in an accepting
way. He rose to his feet.
"Well, then. I guess I'll be on my way. Thanks for the help,
Watcher. Slayer." If one listened carefully, one would have
noticed the slight pain in his voice as he spoke.
He left the shop, leaving the Scoobies confused and worried.
Buffy took off after him. She found him in the alley behind
the shop.
"Slayer," Spike said, acknowledging her presence.
"Spike."
"What can I do for you?"
"How can you be so calm?"
"What do you mean?"
She moved closer to him. "How can you take the news Giles
told you so calmly?"
Spike shrugged, "I already suspected it. The Watcher just
confirmed my suspicions ."
"But, Spike, the chip is going to kill you."
Spike laughed bitterly, "You forget, Slayer. I'm already
dead."
"You know what I mean." Buffy was beginning to get angry.
Spike nodded, "I know. But I've lived long enough. I've
seen enough for one lifetime, or two."
Buffy was getting desperate. Didn't he see how much she
didn't want him to die. That she needed him in her life.
"Spike-"
He was hit by another wave of intense pain. Buffy caught
him before he fell to the ground. He leaned into her,
waiting for the pain to dissipate.
"God. Why won't it just kill me already?" Spike said,
gritting his teeth together in agony.
Buffy was shocked to find herself desperately blinking
back tears. Why did seeing Spike in pain and dying hurting
her so much?
Spike groaned. Buffy found herself running her hand through
his soft spiked hair in a loving, comforting manner. She
was about to lay a kiss on his temple when he jumped up.
"It's gone," he said.
Buffy was reeling. What the hell was going on with her?
Why did she want to kiss him? Was his being in pain making
feelings she kept buried so far down she didn't realize she
had them come out?
"'Night, Slayer. I think I'll head back to my crypt to die
in peace."
He started to leave but Buffy stopped him with a hand on
his arm.
"Spike, wait. Stay at my house. If you have to die, you
don't have to die alone. You don't deserve that. No one
does."
The vampire looked at her, confused. What was she saying?
He was tempted to say no, but he saw the look on her face.
She needed this. So he decided to comply. Besides, he didn't
really want to go back to his crypt anyway. Too lonely.
"Fine. I'll stay at you place."
Her expression lightened barely. At least this way, she'll
be able to watch him and help him.
"Lead the way," Spike said.
On the way home, another migraine hit him. Spike stumbled
through the door, grasping hold of Buffy blindly as he led
him to the sofa. He fell onto it face down. He moaned.
"They're getting worse. Oh, God. Just kill me already."
Buffy sat down beside him and, like she did behind the shop,
brushed back his hair.
The pain exhausted him and he promptly fell asleep. Even
in slumber, he still looked like he was in pain. Buffy
leaned down and gently gave him that kiss to the temple
she tried to give him earlier.
Quietly, she vowed, "I'll help you, Spike. I'm not going
to let you die."
She closed all the curtains to ensure she wouldn't have a
dusty Spike on her hands in the morning and went to her
bedroom quietly so she wouldn't disturb Dawn, Willow and
Tara who were probably back from the shop and asleep.
She closed her bedroom door and everything came out. The
fear, the tears. Leaning against the wall, she slid down
and rested her head against her knees and cried. She finally
came to a realization. She couldn't lose Spike because,
somewhere along the way, she fell in love with him...
Buffy was the first one up in the morning. After taking a
shower, she went downstairs. Spike was still on the sofa.
She couldn't tell if he was simply asleep or if the pain
rendered him unconscious.
Sighing, mostly out of worry, she went into the kitchen.
She grabbed eggs and bacon out of the refrigerator. She
pulled a pan out of the cabinet and placed it on the stove.
As she began to spread the bacon across the bottom of the
pan, Willow walked in, followed closely by Tara.
"Good morning. So, how you guys want your eggs?" Buffy
asked, smiling.
"Uh, Buffy, why is Spike on the couch?" Willow asked, worry
seeping into her voice.
"I couldn't let him be by himself when he was in so much pain.
Besides, if he's going to die, he shouldn't have to do so in
a dark, cold, lonely crypt."
Willow nodded, accepting. She liked Spike, sometimes even
ventured so far as to call him a friend.
"Does Dawn know yet?" Tara asked, "We all know how fond she
is of Spike."
Buffy shook her head, "I haven't told her. She was asleep
when we came home last night and I didn't want to wake her."
She sighed, "I don't know how I'm going to tell her because
I know it's going to break her heart."
Willow rested her hand on Buffy's arm reassuringly, "You'll
figure it out."
Buffy nodded, "I know I will. I just don't know what I'm
going to tell myself. I never realized how much his presence
means to me."
Will smiled slightly.
Dawn walked in with a huge smile on her face. She pointed
back towards the living room, "So, what's Spike doing out
there?"
Buffy looked from will to Tara and then to Dawn. She had
to tell her now.
"Dawn, there's something I need to tell you."
Dawn's smile grew even bigger, if it wasn't already big
enough. "So, you finally came to your senses and you and
Spike are together but before you two could do anything, you
kicked him out of your bedroom?"
Buffy tried to look disgusted, even though the thought didn't
disgust her as much as it probably would have a while back.
In fact, she wished that were the case. "What? No! Please!"
Dawn's smile faded slightly and she sat on one of the stools
around the island. "Okay, Buffy. What is it?"
Buffy sighed. This was going to break Dawn's heart. "Dawn,
Spike's chip-"
She was interrupted by a loud moan coming from the living
room. Spike was awake and in pain. Buffy rushed in to help,
leaving the others behind.
She found him leaning back against the back on the sofa,
holding his head in pain.
"Spike."
He let out another gasp of pain. She sat beside him and
tried to soothe the pain away as best as she possibly could.
The pain passed quickly and Buffy helped Spike to his feet.
He felt weak and dizzy and lost his balance, causing Buffy
to catch him before he fell to the floor.
"Come on. Let's get you upstairs."
Spike nodded mutely and leaned against her as they went up
the staircase. She took him to her bedroom. She helped him
shed his duster before laying him down on her bed. She then
helped him remove his boots, to make him more comfortable.
"Why are you doing this, Slayer?" he asked her weakly, his
eyes closed.
"Doing what?"
"This," he motioned around him, "Helping me. Thought you'd
be happy to see me suffering."
Buffy sighed and sat down on the bed beside him. The
situation reminded her of last night. She found herself,
once again, brushing the hair back on his forehead. She
decided to be straightforward with him.
"I have absolutely no clue. You're right though, I *should*
be happy to see you suffering, but I'm not. I hate the idea
of you being in pain and dying. And I hate how you've
accepted your fate so easily."
"Because I know it's no use. It's going to win anyway," he
said, opening his eyes and looking at her. Buffy wasn't
sure, but she swore she saw a few tears threatening to fall.
"If you won't fight, I will. No one's dying on my watch."
He smiled slightly. There's his Buffy. He was shocked
when she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.
"Now, I'm going to drop by your crypt and grab a few things
for you. Anything you want in particular?"
He thought for a second. "There's one thing. A journal on
the coffin. Could you get that for me?"
She nodded. "Sure. I'll be back shortly with a journal
and some blood. Right now, you rest."
She left him quietly and went downstairs. There, she was
confronted by Dawn.
"So, what's wrong with him?"
Buffy walked the streets, heading for Spike's crypt. She
was surprised at how well Dawn seemed to take the news of
Spike and his chip. Of course, she may have been putting
on an act for her sake, waiting to be alone before crying
her eyes out.
She was startled out of her thoughts by a voice behind her,
calling her name. She turned around.
"Oh, my God. Riley?"
End Part 2
Spike woke up thirty minutes later on the couch in the training
room. For a minute he thought he was alone. But he wasn't.
He felt a presence. The he smelt her. Buffy. She probably
got a kick out of it when I passed out, he thought, probably
here to laugh in my face. He slowly opened his eyes, not
quite ready to face the onslaught of her laughter.
He saw her, instead, looking solemn, a frown on her face.
Well, this is different, he thought as he sat up, a little
too abruptly. His head ached again ad he winced in pain.
"How long has this been happening?" Buffy asked.
"What's it to you, Slayer? Why do you care?"
"Spike." He looked at her and saw something that shocked
the hell out of him. Genuine concern. For him.
He sighed. "'Bout two weeks."
Buffy's eyes grew wide. "And you didn't tell us?"
He shrugged. "I didn't think it was a big deal."
"You didn't think it was a big deal?!" she asked, shocked.
"I didn't think any of you'd care. I figured you'd all
laugh or something."
He got to his feet and went to the door.
"Giles wants to ask you a few questions."
Spike nodded and went back into the store. Buffy quickly
followed suit.
Spike sat down at the table where there was an empty seat.
The gang all looked at him.
"Stop look at my like I'm some kind of bloody side-show
attraction," he growled.
They all turned their heads down. Spike looked at Giles.
"You have a few questions for me?"
Giles nodded, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.
"I understand you've been in this situation for a couple of
weeks now. My question is, what are we just now finding out
about this?"
Spike sighed, "Like I told Buffy, I didn't think any of
you'd care one bit about what was going on with me."
Xander mumbled, "You wouldn't be wrong."
Anya smacked him on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" he asked, grabbing his arm in
pain. She said nothing, just glared at him. Her look
quieted him down.
Spike began to feel the onslaught of another headache. He
rubbed his forehead, hoping against hope to ease the pain a
little.
"Do any of you have any idea what's going on with me?"
Willow spoke up. "Tara and I did a magic detection spell
and came up with nothing. Whatever's happening to you
isn't being caused by magic."
Spike nodded, grimacing and grasping his head with two hands.
"It's the chip, isn't it?"
"That is what we've narrowed it down to, yes," Giles responded.
Spike felt another tremendous bout of pain strike him. He
gasped.
"Spike, are you okay?" Buffy asked quietly, even though she
already knew the answer.
"What do you think, you bloody bint?" He turned to Giles,
"It's killing me, isn't it?"
"I'm not sure. My guess is yes."
Spike nodded, accepting this. He knew deep down that it
was true.
"So, any idea how long I've got?"
"Could take hours. It could take days, months, maybe even
years. I don't know."
Spike took this information in and nodded in an accepting
way. He rose to his feet.
"Well, then. I guess I'll be on my way. Thanks for the help,
Watcher. Slayer." If one listened carefully, one would have
noticed the slight pain in his voice as he spoke.
He left the shop, leaving the Scoobies confused and worried.
Buffy took off after him. She found him in the alley behind
the shop.
"Slayer," Spike said, acknowledging her presence.
"Spike."
"What can I do for you?"
"How can you be so calm?"
"What do you mean?"
She moved closer to him. "How can you take the news Giles
told you so calmly?"
Spike shrugged, "I already suspected it. The Watcher just
confirmed my suspicions ."
"But, Spike, the chip is going to kill you."
Spike laughed bitterly, "You forget, Slayer. I'm already
dead."
"You know what I mean." Buffy was beginning to get angry.
Spike nodded, "I know. But I've lived long enough. I've
seen enough for one lifetime, or two."
Buffy was getting desperate. Didn't he see how much she
didn't want him to die. That she needed him in her life.
"Spike-"
He was hit by another wave of intense pain. Buffy caught
him before he fell to the ground. He leaned into her,
waiting for the pain to dissipate.
"God. Why won't it just kill me already?" Spike said,
gritting his teeth together in agony.
Buffy was shocked to find herself desperately blinking
back tears. Why did seeing Spike in pain and dying hurting
her so much?
Spike groaned. Buffy found herself running her hand through
his soft spiked hair in a loving, comforting manner. She
was about to lay a kiss on his temple when he jumped up.
"It's gone," he said.
Buffy was reeling. What the hell was going on with her?
Why did she want to kiss him? Was his being in pain making
feelings she kept buried so far down she didn't realize she
had them come out?
"'Night, Slayer. I think I'll head back to my crypt to die
in peace."
He started to leave but Buffy stopped him with a hand on
his arm.
"Spike, wait. Stay at my house. If you have to die, you
don't have to die alone. You don't deserve that. No one
does."
The vampire looked at her, confused. What was she saying?
He was tempted to say no, but he saw the look on her face.
She needed this. So he decided to comply. Besides, he didn't
really want to go back to his crypt anyway. Too lonely.
"Fine. I'll stay at you place."
Her expression lightened barely. At least this way, she'll
be able to watch him and help him.
"Lead the way," Spike said.
On the way home, another migraine hit him. Spike stumbled
through the door, grasping hold of Buffy blindly as he led
him to the sofa. He fell onto it face down. He moaned.
"They're getting worse. Oh, God. Just kill me already."
Buffy sat down beside him and, like she did behind the shop,
brushed back his hair.
The pain exhausted him and he promptly fell asleep. Even
in slumber, he still looked like he was in pain. Buffy
leaned down and gently gave him that kiss to the temple
she tried to give him earlier.
Quietly, she vowed, "I'll help you, Spike. I'm not going
to let you die."
She closed all the curtains to ensure she wouldn't have a
dusty Spike on her hands in the morning and went to her
bedroom quietly so she wouldn't disturb Dawn, Willow and
Tara who were probably back from the shop and asleep.
She closed her bedroom door and everything came out. The
fear, the tears. Leaning against the wall, she slid down
and rested her head against her knees and cried. She finally
came to a realization. She couldn't lose Spike because,
somewhere along the way, she fell in love with him...
Buffy was the first one up in the morning. After taking a
shower, she went downstairs. Spike was still on the sofa.
She couldn't tell if he was simply asleep or if the pain
rendered him unconscious.
Sighing, mostly out of worry, she went into the kitchen.
She grabbed eggs and bacon out of the refrigerator. She
pulled a pan out of the cabinet and placed it on the stove.
As she began to spread the bacon across the bottom of the
pan, Willow walked in, followed closely by Tara.
"Good morning. So, how you guys want your eggs?" Buffy
asked, smiling.
"Uh, Buffy, why is Spike on the couch?" Willow asked, worry
seeping into her voice.
"I couldn't let him be by himself when he was in so much pain.
Besides, if he's going to die, he shouldn't have to do so in
a dark, cold, lonely crypt."
Willow nodded, accepting. She liked Spike, sometimes even
ventured so far as to call him a friend.
"Does Dawn know yet?" Tara asked, "We all know how fond she
is of Spike."
Buffy shook her head, "I haven't told her. She was asleep
when we came home last night and I didn't want to wake her."
She sighed, "I don't know how I'm going to tell her because
I know it's going to break her heart."
Willow rested her hand on Buffy's arm reassuringly, "You'll
figure it out."
Buffy nodded, "I know I will. I just don't know what I'm
going to tell myself. I never realized how much his presence
means to me."
Will smiled slightly.
Dawn walked in with a huge smile on her face. She pointed
back towards the living room, "So, what's Spike doing out
there?"
Buffy looked from will to Tara and then to Dawn. She had
to tell her now.
"Dawn, there's something I need to tell you."
Dawn's smile grew even bigger, if it wasn't already big
enough. "So, you finally came to your senses and you and
Spike are together but before you two could do anything, you
kicked him out of your bedroom?"
Buffy tried to look disgusted, even though the thought didn't
disgust her as much as it probably would have a while back.
In fact, she wished that were the case. "What? No! Please!"
Dawn's smile faded slightly and she sat on one of the stools
around the island. "Okay, Buffy. What is it?"
Buffy sighed. This was going to break Dawn's heart. "Dawn,
Spike's chip-"
She was interrupted by a loud moan coming from the living
room. Spike was awake and in pain. Buffy rushed in to help,
leaving the others behind.
She found him leaning back against the back on the sofa,
holding his head in pain.
"Spike."
He let out another gasp of pain. She sat beside him and
tried to soothe the pain away as best as she possibly could.
The pain passed quickly and Buffy helped Spike to his feet.
He felt weak and dizzy and lost his balance, causing Buffy
to catch him before he fell to the floor.
"Come on. Let's get you upstairs."
Spike nodded mutely and leaned against her as they went up
the staircase. She took him to her bedroom. She helped him
shed his duster before laying him down on her bed. She then
helped him remove his boots, to make him more comfortable.
"Why are you doing this, Slayer?" he asked her weakly, his
eyes closed.
"Doing what?"
"This," he motioned around him, "Helping me. Thought you'd
be happy to see me suffering."
Buffy sighed and sat down on the bed beside him. The
situation reminded her of last night. She found herself,
once again, brushing the hair back on his forehead. She
decided to be straightforward with him.
"I have absolutely no clue. You're right though, I *should*
be happy to see you suffering, but I'm not. I hate the idea
of you being in pain and dying. And I hate how you've
accepted your fate so easily."
"Because I know it's no use. It's going to win anyway," he
said, opening his eyes and looking at her. Buffy wasn't
sure, but she swore she saw a few tears threatening to fall.
"If you won't fight, I will. No one's dying on my watch."
He smiled slightly. There's his Buffy. He was shocked
when she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.
"Now, I'm going to drop by your crypt and grab a few things
for you. Anything you want in particular?"
He thought for a second. "There's one thing. A journal on
the coffin. Could you get that for me?"
She nodded. "Sure. I'll be back shortly with a journal
and some blood. Right now, you rest."
She left him quietly and went downstairs. There, she was
confronted by Dawn.
"So, what's wrong with him?"
Buffy walked the streets, heading for Spike's crypt. She
was surprised at how well Dawn seemed to take the news of
Spike and his chip. Of course, she may have been putting
on an act for her sake, waiting to be alone before crying
her eyes out.
She was startled out of her thoughts by a voice behind her,
calling her name. She turned around.
"Oh, my God. Riley?"
End Part 2
