CHAPTER SIX

"Back again I see," a voice from behind said.

Spike and Angel turned to see the Miedstayne standing behind them, an evil glint in its eyes.

"Oh, look.you've brought a friend."

Spike scoffed and looked towards Angel. "Hardly what I'd call a friend, mate."

The Miedstayne shrugged and looked between them.

"You think you can kill me. You don't have the strength," the demon said cockily.

Angel vamped out, Spike quickly following suit.

"Let's put that theory of yours to the test, shall we?" Angel asked angrily, the blade of his sword cutting through the demon's slimy skin.

A thick black liquid oozed out from the wound, puddling at the demon's feet and turning a light shade of green.

From behind the demon, two war cries were sounded and the Miedstayne didn't even have the chance to turn around before it felt another sword pierce its chest and a battle axe cut through its neck.

It fell to the ground, it's head half decapitated, blood running quickly from its body.

"You think you can take down a Slayer and not piss people off?" Spike asked, swiftly kicking the dying demon in its injured side.

He stepped back and looked towards Angel who looked satisfied that they had won the battle against the demon, and won it rather easily. Spike held out the sword in his hands.

"You wanna finish this bastard off?" Spike offered.

Angel grinned at him and shook his head. "I know you want to."

Spike cocked his head to the side and nodded. With a primal growl, he brought the sword above his head and swung down, removing the demons head from its body.

The group just watched as the body disintegrated into the earth.

Spike clapped his hands together. "Right! Let's go tell Rupert the good news."

________________________

"Hey Giles, yer demon's dead," Spike announced happily as he walked through the front door. He went quickly to the sleeping Slayer's side and dropped to his knees, putting one cool hand against her forehead.

Buffy shifted against the vampires cool touch, her eyes fluttering open at the disturbance. Before she had a chance to focus her eyesight properly, Angel had pushed Spike violently away from Buffy's side.

Giles sent an apologetic glance towards Spike who tried to shrug it off nonchalantly, pretending he wasn't hurt by Buffy's inability to remember who he was to her.

"Angel," Buffy whispered softly.

The darker vampire smiled gently at her and bent down over her forehead, kissing her softly.

"You're okay," she said, her voice hazy and tired.

"I'm okay," he affirmed, fairly certain her knew what particular time in their lives she was referring to.

"Faith?" she asked.

He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"She's fine. She's in jail."

"I didn't kill her?"

He shook his head and watched as her body seemed to relax completely. She gave him a small smile and closed her eyes.

"Am I dying?" she whispered, afraid to open her eyes and see the true answer written in the depths of Angel's eyes.

The room seemed to stop, no one daring to breathe as they waited for Angel to reply.

"No, you're not," he said forcefully. "You're going to get better Buffy, I swear to you."

She just nodded and opened her eyes with great effort. She looked past Angel to where Dawn was curled up, asleep on the couch.

"Who's she?" Buffy asked.

Angel grimaced as he saw who Buffy was looking at.

"A friend," he replied, not wanting to confuse her by saying it was her sister.

Buffy nodded, too exhausted to question any further.

Spike shifted his weight on his feet and looked towards Giles impatiently.

"Why's she still sick?" he asked testily.

Giles took off his glasses and began polishing them, not wishing to see the pain in Spike's eyes. His actions only helped to fuel Spike's worry.

"The demon's blood still has an affect on her for up to an hour after it's death. The blood's dying out which.unfortunately will be rather painful," Giles explained.

"You mean it's hurting her even more now that it's dead?" Willow asked, horrified by the thought.

Giles nodded sadly and replaced his glasses.

"The blood takes about fifty minutes to die completely, which has no more of an effect than it has had since the beginning. After it's dead.Buffy's body will try to rid itself of the dead blood."

"Uh.how?" Xander asked.

Giles hesitated, not wishing to even think about the answer to that question.

"Any way it can," Wesley replied, seeing the older Watcher's discomfort.

All eyes in the room turned to look at him.

"It's never been this complicated before," Wesley said. "Most Slayer's are able to defeat the Miedstayne before it infects them completely. Buffy's had the blood in her system for nearly two days now."

Willow looked towards Giles nervously. "What's hurting her more?" she asked, her voice quiet and shaking.

"The blood, but the spell isn't entirely pleasant for her either," Wesley told her, seeing Giles tense up and try not to glare at the young witch when reminded of the memory spell that she had cast.

"Are we gonna reverse the spell?" Xander asked.

Spike shot him a hateful look. "Yea, sure, if you want her dead again."

Giles looked wearily at the blonde vampire and said his name, trying to get Spike to back off.

Xander looked between the two British men and finally decided to turn to Wesley.

"Why can't we reverse it?"

"Simply put, right now it would kill her," Wesley said bluntly. "Her body's not strong enough to withstand such.painful memories."

"Okay, so.we have to wait, I get that. But how long will we have to wait?" Cordelia asked bluntly.

"Possibly another day," Giles said, moving to sit beside Buffy on the couch.

The movement stirred Buffy from her sleep and she looked tiredly up at her Watcher.

"Can you tell Wes," she whispered, her voice sticking in the back of her throat. "Take the fight to him."

Giles placed a wet cloth over Buffy's forehead and whispered gentle words to her, assuring her that everything would be fine, that they would take down the Mayor and that everyone would be safe.

Gunn looked towards his fighting partner curiously. "Uh.why are they taking the fight to you?"

Wesley shook his head. "They weren't taking it to me. The attacks were aimed at the Mayor of Sunnydale."

"Oh.why?"

"He wanted to turn into a giant snake and eat everybody at graduation," Cordelia explained succinctly.

Gunn just looked at the confused but eventually nodded. Even with all he had seen he knew he would never be able to grasp exactly how much went unseen in the city.

Giles closed his eyes tiredly, wishing that he could be left alone to take care of Buffy. He opened his eyes and looked around at the group.

"Perhaps it would be best if you all went home. There's nothing more you can do here tonight," he said.

Most of the group hesitated, but eventually agreed.

"I'll take the Nibblet home. I'll come back later, just to keep an eye out. If works got around about the Slayer being like this.wouldn't be good," Spike said.

Giles nodded gratefully and watcher as the group departed, Willow generously offering Cordelia a place to stay the night.

Angel, Wesley and Gunn headed off to the old mansion on Crawford Street while Xander and Anya when home to their apartment.

Spike lifted Dawn up easily and carried her out to his car, trying not to wake the sleeping girl.

Giles yawned and closed his eyes, close enough to Buffy so he could notice when she woke up, but still comfortable enough to sleep. Blessed unconsciousness finally claimed him.

~*~

"Faith no!" Buffy cried, her body shooting into a sitting position, the movement immediately waking Giles.

Buffy threw off the blanket around her and stood up, her body trying to keep up with her mind and failing miserably. Giles raced to her side and sat her down, trying to keep her from attempting to stand again.

"Buffy.Buffy, it's alright. Faith's fine. There's nothing to worry about," he soothed.

"No.we.we killed him! It was an accident, I swear!" she cried, her panic rising as she realised what she had just told her Watcher.

She took a deep breath and tried to clear her head, making an attempt to ignore the pounding in her head.

"I know it was.it's alright Buffy. Accidents happen," he said calmly.

Buffy just shook her head with an almost violent fervour. She stood again on shaky legs. Giles stood quickly and put a steading hand on her shoulder, ready to catch her if she fell.

"I have to talk to her," Buffy said, her voice sounding unnervingly calm in comparison to what Giles had been hearing over the last few days.

"No, Buffy, you're not well. You need to stay here," he said forcefully.

She looked at him for a moment, her balance wavering as the room began to spin. She put a hand out on Giles arm trying to steady herself and closed her eyes.

Her knees gave out from under her and Giles gently brought her to kneel on the ground.

"What's happening to me?" she asked weakly, her eyes pleading with his.

"A demon attacked you.it's blood's making you ill," he explained.

"There's a cure right?" Her question came out fearfully, her eyes showing just how afraid she was.

Giles nodded and wrapped the discarded blanket around her shoulders.

"Angel and some others killed the demon that did this to you. You should be fine in about five minutes," he explained.

He went to explain further but was interrupted by a demanding knocking at the door. Giles stood up and opened the door, surprised to see Spike rush inside just as the sunlight hit the front door.

Buffy was on her feet in an instant, positioned in a weak fighting stance.

"What's he doing here?" Buffy asked, confused.

Spike looked at her pained and shrugged. "Just got some info for your Watcher. Nothing to worry about pet."

Buffy continued to glare at him but dropped her fists. She sat back down on the couch but kept her eyes trained on him, ready to move if the vampire attacked.

"She alright?" Spike asked quietly.

Giles just shook his head sadly. "You killed the Miedstayne about forty five minutes ago so.the fever should peak in the next five minutes before her body tried to rid itself of the blood."

"I know the whelp asked earlier, but I think that Giles junior was trained in how to dodge questions. How exactly is the blood gonna get out?"

Giles hesitated and looked towards where Buffy was sitting on the couch, her head in her hands.

"The best way for it to get out will be that she'll simply throw it up," Giles said.

Spike grimaced and cast a sympathetic look towards Buffy.

"And the other ways?" Spike asked.

"Uh.well, it would be best to keep her away from sharp objects," Giles said.

Spike looked horrified at the implications of what was being said. He looked up at the clock at the exact moment Buffy doubled over in pain, falling off the couch and onto her knees.

"Get it out!" she screamed.

Spike was at her side in an instant, keeping her hands from scratching at her face. Giles raced to the coffee table and retrieved a syringe with a sedative in it, quickly administering it to the still struggling Buffy.

She fought with them both for a moment longer before the sedative kicked in and her body went slack.

"Just keep hold of her," Giles warned as Spike began to loosen his grip.

His warning came just in time as Buffy's body went into violent convulsions. Spike held her down firmly and could only watch in horror as Buffy began to choke.

Giles came to Buffy's side and gently held her body forward, a bucket below her chin. It took only moments before the Slayer began retching, mouthfuls of blood coming out from her lips.

"He didn't lose that bloody much," Spike commented.

"No, I imagine not. The blood attaches itself to the hosts blood and multiplies, that's why she was becoming weaker," Giles explained.

It was several minutes before Buffy was able to lie down once more, sleep claiming her body as her fever went away, almost in an instant, the demon's blood completely gone from her body.

Spike smiled as he watcher her sleeping naturally without a fever.

"You should sleep Rupert," Spike said.

Giles nodded gratefully and headed up the stairs for the first time in days. He fell gracelessly onto his bed and didn't wake up for nearly twelve hours.

~*~

Spike silently watched over the Slayer, intermittently feeding her small sips of water, Buffy's exhaustion so great that she didn't even question why Spike was helping her.

Her temperate finally came down until it was completely normal, and each time she woke, she seemed to be more aware of where she was. She stirred a little and opened her eyes groggily.

"I'll go get your Watcher pet," Spike whispered, when he felt it would be better for Giles to be looking after her.

Buffy sat up, looking panicked at the suggestion.

"No!"

Spike looked at her, wondering why Buffy would feel more comfortable being taken care of by the blond vampire than by her Watcher.

He didn't get a chance to ask her for answer, as Giles walked down the stairs looking considerably more awake. The Watcher smiled softly at Buffy.

She shot him a look of hurt and betrayal, and Giles smile immediately fell. She stood up shakily and moved away from Giles.

Spike could only look between the two of them, wondering what memory of Buffy's could possibly make her step back from her mentor.

"Buffy," Giles said softly, his voice unable to convey his regret for the actions that he had den o cause Buffy to back away. The Cruciamentum. The biggest mistake he had ever made as Buffy's Watcher, the archaic test that the Council had set on Buffy to test her skills as the Slayer.

"Stay the hell away from me," Buffy warned angrily.

Spike noticed that Buffy's hands were clenched in fists, her body shaking with anger and betrayal.

"Buffy, you don't understand," Giles said slowly, hating to replay this memory of hers with her. He had forgotten all about how hard this had been on their relationship at the time, and he had been hoping to reverse the spell before they had to relive this moment in their lives.

"How can you explain it you asshole? You tried to kill me!" she yelled, close to tears.

"It wasn't like that," Giles said, trying to plead with his Slayer.

Buffy just shook her head and let a tear slip down her cheesk.

"Nothing you say can make me understand," she said sadly.

Giles breathed in, trying to remind himself that within seconds she woud forget that she had been betrayed by him.

Buffy spun around, wanting to get out from Giles' apartment as soon as possible, but before she could get anywhere, her legs gave out from beneath her. She fell forward, grabbing onto the couch to stable herself.

Both Giles and Spike rushed forward to her aide, but she pushed them both away. She sat down to steady herself, still glaring at her Watcher.

"If you touch me, I'll kill you."

Giles breathed in sharply and walked past away, trying to regain his composure. He silently looked towards Spike, telling him not to let Buffy leave.

He emerged from the kitchen moments later with a pot of tea and three cups. He gently handed a cup to Buffy who took it gratefully.

"We'll work this out right?" she asked softly.

He nodded and gently touched her shoulder.

"I know we will," he said.

Buffy shuffled closer to Giles and curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder.

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, a little bewildered at the request, but unable to deny her anything.

Buffy smiled and closed her eyes tiredly.

Spike coughed a little when he could tell that Buffy had drifted off to sleep.

"What the hell was that about Watcher?" Spike asked.

Giles shook his head, not wishing to go into any details of the hardest test he had ever had to give.

"Doesn't matter. We should try to reverse the spell the next time she wakes up," Giles said, deliberately changing the topic.

Spike noticed the obvious change, but decided to let it slide.

"Are you gonna get Red to do it?" Spike asked.

"She won't be doing anymore magic for a very long time I'd wager. But, she'll be here when I reverse it," Giles said. "She needs to see the consequences of such foolish magic."

"What sort of consequences?" Spike asked worriedly.

Giles hesitated but finally decided that the vampire could handle the truth.

"That it hurts others," Giles said simply.

"She knows that now. She's seen Buffy," Spike said.

Giles shook his head. "She's seen the affect of the demon's blood and the spell combined. She needs to see exactly what she's done."

Giles gently pushed Buffy away and stood up, making his was to the phone.

"She'll only realise exactly what she's done when she sees the results."