Countdown: Ten Minutes
Author: Elsa Frohman
Feedback: elsa@frohman.net
Rating: PG
Spoilers: We're back in the 24-verse, which split off and went
AU after Dead Things.
Summary: Previously in the 24-verse: Buffy and Spike did not
break up at the end of AYW, but they did a little later because
Buffy refused to let her friends know about Spike. When she
finally made up her mind and told them, they already knew.
But before she could go tell him the secret was out, he decided
to change himself to be someone she would be willing to be
seen with, and left town. The Nerds have been raided, and
Jonathan and Andrew are in custody. Warren got away and
came back and shot both Buffy and Xander, who pushed her
out of the way and took a bullet meant for her.
Willow sat beside Tara in the hospital waiting room. Nobody
would tell them anything. It was chilly in here -- the air
conditioning seemed to be turned up too high. The only warm
thing was Tara's hand holding her own.
"Why won't they tell us anything?" she said for the tenth or
fifteenth time.
"They're busy trying to save Buffy and Xander," Tara said
softly. "Let them do their work."
Willow wished she had words to express the feeling of
helplessness that was pressing down on her now. There was
nothing she could do. Nothing. If she was still doing magic she
could help somehow. But without magic, all she could do was
sit here waiting for someone to come out and tell her two of the
three people she cared most about were gone. There had to be
something she could do.
A young doctor in surgical scrubs stepped into the waiting
room.
"Is the Summers family here?" he asked.
"That's us," Tara answered.
The doctor came over to them.
"Is she ..." Willow asked, afraid to finish the sentence.
"Miss Summers is doing fine," the doctor said with a smile.
"She's out of surgery and in recovery. The bullet stopped
against her clavicle -- her collarbone. The bone sustained a
hairline fracture. She'll have a sore shoulder for a while. But
other than that and some blood loss, there was very little
damage. A few weeks of restricted activity while the bone
mends, and she'll be good as new."
"Thank the Goddess," Tara said with obvious relief.
"What about Xander?" Willow asked.
"Who?"
"The man who came in at the same time," Tara explained. "The
other gunshot wound."
"He's still in surgery. Someone will come for you when there is
news," the doctor said, checking his clipboard as he spoke.
"Can we see her?"
"One of you can go into the recovery room. She's not conscious
yet, but she will be soon."
"You go," Tara said. "I'll wait here for news on Xander."
-----------------
Buffy was already struggling toward consciousness when
Willow got to the recovery room. She was groggy and
disoriented, but her Slayer constitution was throwing off the
effects of anesthesia quickly.
"Buffy, it's me, Willow. You're going to be OK. The doctor said
you're going to be fine."
Buffy blinked and tried to focus her eyes.
"Xander?" she mumbled.
"We don't know yet."
"You have to help Xander," Buffy said louder. There was a
tinge of panic in her voice.
"We're at the hospital, Buffy. They're helping Xander right
now."
Buffy looked confused.
"Please, help Xander," she pleaded.
"God, I wish I could," Willow whispered. "How I wish I
could."
"Dawn?" Buffy asked.
"It's all right. We called her school. She's going home with
Janice. You don't have to worry. Janice's mother is going to
bring her here later."
Buffy relaxed. "So tired," she said.
"Rest now. You're going to be fine. Everything is going to be
fine."
"What happened?" Buffy asked, her voice trailing off as she
sank back toward sleep.
Willow reached over and brushed a strand of hair away from
her friend's face. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was
five after twelve.
"Everything is going to be fine," she repeated to herself. She
just wished she could believe it. Not knowing about Xander
was eating at her gut. She couldn't get the image of his blood
oozing out around her hands as she put pressure on the wound
out of her head. There had been so much blood. Bright red
arterial blood. The wound had been so close to his heart.
She had to know how he was doing. She simply had to know,
so when Buffy woke up again she could tell her and put her
mind at ease. It wouldn't take much. Nothing big. Just a little
passive magic to let her see him. For Buffy's sake.
She closed her eyes and slipped into the mental state that
allowed her to touch the magic. It had been months, but it still
came to her easily. Nothing big. Nothing invasive. She just
needed to find Xander's mind among the hundreds of minds in
this place.
She searched through the jumble of roiling consciousnesses. So
much worry. So many of the people here were afraid. Afraid of
losing a loved one. Afraid they were going to die. Pain. So
much pain.
She steeled herself. She couldn't be distracted by all the
emotions surrounding her. She needed to find one mind. She
knew what Xander felt like. The previous summer, when she
had communicated with her friends this way during their
demon hunting, she had touched his mind again and again. She
looked for him -- and found him.
He was unconscious, naturally. She felt the weight of the
anesthesia.
And she felt him slipping away. He was getting weaker. He
was losing his connection to the mortal plane. Oh, God, he was
dying.
Her eyes snapped open. She knew she had to let go of him
now. If he slipped off the mortal plane while she was
connected to him, he might pull her along with him.
But she couldn't let go. If she did, she knew he would be gone
in a moment. She held on, hoping her will alone could keep
him in the world. The doctors could repair his body -- if they
had time. She held on to him with every bit of her magical
strength.
//Xander, stay with me. Please stay with me. You have to hold
on.//
He was still slipping away.
//No! I won't let you go. You have to stay with me.//
//Willow? Is that you?//
//Listen to me, Xander. Hold on to my voice. You have to hold
on.//
//Sorry. Have to go now.//
"NO!" Willow shouted.
----------------
Buffy heard the shout and snapped fully awake. She was lying
on a gurney. There was an IV in her hand. Her shoulder hurt
like hell. But none of that mattered.
Something had happened to Willow. She had shouted. And
now she was standing frozen, her eyes wide and completely
black. She was staring into nowhere.
"Will!" Buffy said, sitting up. The IV got in the way and she
tore it out of her hand, paying no attention to the pain and the
little trickle of blood that came out of the needle wound.
"Will! Come back. Speak to me," she said, jumping off the
gurney to grab her friend and shake her.
Willow came back enough to push Buffy away with surprising
strength.
"Willow. Don't do this!" Buffy pleaded.
---------------
In the operating room, the struggle to save the young man with
the gunshot wound continued. It was a losing battle. His pulse
and respiration were faltering.
An alarm went off.
"Flatline! We've got a flatline," someone said urgently.
----------------
Willow heard Buffy's voice from a distance. It was too late.
She had to act now. Xander was almost gone. If he crossed
over, there would be no way to bring him back.
She reached out into the otherworld that the magic flowed
from. The real world of the recovery room froze in time.
"Osiris!" she cried out. "Hear my call, Osiris."
A dark gathered above her. She could feel the
presence of the god of the dead as he approached through the
ether.
"How dare you call upon me, witch. I granted your request.
Now you call upon me again. You risk your very existence."
Willow looked up at the angry face forming out of the gray
clouds over her head.
"There is one about to cross over. I entreat you to reject him.
Don't take him."
----------------
"Clear!"
There was a thump as the jolt of electricity flowed out of the
paddles into Xander's chest.
-----------------
"This is a mortal death, witch. It cannot be reversed."
"He has not crossed yet. You can refuse him. I beg of you.
Don't take him."
"You came to be before and proved your strength. I granted
your request. What can you offer me now? Why should I
interfere in the natural order?"
"I beg of you, Osiris."
"To stop a death already begun is against the laws of nature. If
I am to intervene on your behalf there will be a price."
"I will pay the price."
"It will be dear."
"I will pay any price."
-----------------
"Clear!"
Another jolt.
----------------
"I ask you again. Will you pay the price?"
"I will pay."
"Very well. Thrice asked. Thrice answered. Your contract is
irrevocable."
The recovery room came back into focus. Buffy stumbled back
against the gurney, then came back to look into Willow's eyes
again.
"Will, please. Come back..."
---------------
In the waiting room, Tara had closed her eyes for a moment.
She was meditating -- finding calm to face the uncertainty. She
relaxed and felt the energies around her. So much worry. She
rose above the turbulent emotions and found her quiet place in
the ether. She reached out and touched the steady pulse of life
energy that flowed through all everything in the universe.
There was peace to be had here.
Then she felt it. A sharp, discordant pulse of energy.
Her eyes snapped open. "Willow! No!"
----------------
"We have a pulse. Respiration re-established."
"I've got the slug. Let's start closing."
________
Willow's eyes focused. She was back in the recovery room.
Buffy was off the gurney standing in front of her, looking very
concerned.
"It's OK," Willow said vaguely. "Xander is going to make it."
"What?"
"Everything is going to be OK," Willow said, a little more
confidently.
Buffy looked worried. "What did you do?"
"Nothing. It's going to be OK."
She backed away from Buffy. The worry on her friend's face
bothered her. Buffy should be happy now. Xander was going to
survive. Everything would be all right. She glanced around the
room. Why didn't Buffy see that it was going to be OK now?
Her eyes fell on the clock. Twelve fifteen. It had been ten
minutes. She had immersed herself in the magic again for ten
minutes. But those ten minutes had made all the difference in
the world. Xander was going to live. She knew it. That's all that
mattered. And now she could quit again. No problem.
"Willow, something's wrong. I can tell..."
"No, nothing's wrong. Really!"
------------------
It was late afternoon, but the sun had dropped behind the
mountain and he could move around again.
He'd wandered all the previous night without success. When
morning came, he hung his duster over a branch on a scrub oak
tree and made a crude shelter. He huddled there through the
day, not sleeping. There wasn't enough shadow to relax and
sleep. He could only sit in the small space shaded by his coat
with his knees drawn up to his chin, waiting for the sun to go
down.
Mid-morning a group of hikers had come upon him and he'd
had to explain that no, he wasn't in any distress and would they
please bugger off and leave him alone. He realized he must be
an odd sight with his black jeans and shirt, huddled under a
black leather coat in the middle of a copse of scraggly trees.
They probably thought he was stark raving mad.
Maybe he was. He was wandering through this dry forest
looking for a place he wasn't even certain he'd recognize. He'd
heard that if his desire was strong enough, he would know the
place when he found it. But right now, he wasn't sure he hadn't
walked by it a dozen times.
He was stiff from sitting still, and hungry -- though there was
nothing for that. He'd be fasting until he got back to
somewhere with a butcher shop.
He stretched and swung his coat around his shoulders. He set
off up the path he'd been following. If this didn't pan out, he'd
try another, and another, until he found what he was looking
for.
-----------------
They brought Buffy home from the hospital that afternoon. She
refused to stay any longer. Her shoulder was sore, but required
no more than a sling. Dawn had read the information sheet on
changing the dressing on the wound, and had promised the
nurse she'd be certain it was taken care of.
Xander came out of the operating room and was in a semi-
private room by mid-afternoon. Willow stayed with him until
the nurse made her leave when visiting hours were over. He
was pale and weak, but coherent, and she sat by his bed
holding his hand as he slept. Tara said her farewells and went
back to campus around dinnertime.
When Willow got back to Revello Drive, Buffy was in bed and
Dawn had fallen asleep in front of the television. She woke the
teen and sent her upstairs to bed.
Willow was tired to the bone. But she was happy. Her friends
were safe. Xander was mending. Buffy would be back to
normal in a day or two. She allowed herself a small measure of
pride that she'd proven up to the day's challenges. She'd made a
difference.
She was about to turn off the television and head to bed herself
when she was startled by a figure standing in the hallway door.
It was a demon, tall enough that he had to bend down a little bit
it into the doorway. His skin was gray-green and covered with
iridescent scales. His fingers ended in curved talons. She could
see the tops of folded wings over his shoulders.
But even as fearsome as his appearance was, his attitude was
relaxed and unthreatening. He was simply standing there
looking at her. Willow found she wasn't afraid at all.
"Who are you?"
"I am the courier." His voice was deep and hollow.
"Excuse me?"
"I have come to collect the payment."
A dagger of fear stabbed Willow's gut. Her hand went to her
mouth.
"The payment. It's my life, isn't it?" she asked in a tiny
frightened voice.
The demon shook his head. "No. Your life is not forfeit."
"Oh, OK. That's good at least."
The demon continued to look at her.
"So, what is it. I agreed. Whatever the price, I'll pay it."
The demon nodded.
"I have come to take your soul."
Author: Elsa Frohman
Feedback: elsa@frohman.net
Rating: PG
Spoilers: We're back in the 24-verse, which split off and went
AU after Dead Things.
Summary: Previously in the 24-verse: Buffy and Spike did not
break up at the end of AYW, but they did a little later because
Buffy refused to let her friends know about Spike. When she
finally made up her mind and told them, they already knew.
But before she could go tell him the secret was out, he decided
to change himself to be someone she would be willing to be
seen with, and left town. The Nerds have been raided, and
Jonathan and Andrew are in custody. Warren got away and
came back and shot both Buffy and Xander, who pushed her
out of the way and took a bullet meant for her.
Willow sat beside Tara in the hospital waiting room. Nobody
would tell them anything. It was chilly in here -- the air
conditioning seemed to be turned up too high. The only warm
thing was Tara's hand holding her own.
"Why won't they tell us anything?" she said for the tenth or
fifteenth time.
"They're busy trying to save Buffy and Xander," Tara said
softly. "Let them do their work."
Willow wished she had words to express the feeling of
helplessness that was pressing down on her now. There was
nothing she could do. Nothing. If she was still doing magic she
could help somehow. But without magic, all she could do was
sit here waiting for someone to come out and tell her two of the
three people she cared most about were gone. There had to be
something she could do.
A young doctor in surgical scrubs stepped into the waiting
room.
"Is the Summers family here?" he asked.
"That's us," Tara answered.
The doctor came over to them.
"Is she ..." Willow asked, afraid to finish the sentence.
"Miss Summers is doing fine," the doctor said with a smile.
"She's out of surgery and in recovery. The bullet stopped
against her clavicle -- her collarbone. The bone sustained a
hairline fracture. She'll have a sore shoulder for a while. But
other than that and some blood loss, there was very little
damage. A few weeks of restricted activity while the bone
mends, and she'll be good as new."
"Thank the Goddess," Tara said with obvious relief.
"What about Xander?" Willow asked.
"Who?"
"The man who came in at the same time," Tara explained. "The
other gunshot wound."
"He's still in surgery. Someone will come for you when there is
news," the doctor said, checking his clipboard as he spoke.
"Can we see her?"
"One of you can go into the recovery room. She's not conscious
yet, but she will be soon."
"You go," Tara said. "I'll wait here for news on Xander."
-----------------
Buffy was already struggling toward consciousness when
Willow got to the recovery room. She was groggy and
disoriented, but her Slayer constitution was throwing off the
effects of anesthesia quickly.
"Buffy, it's me, Willow. You're going to be OK. The doctor said
you're going to be fine."
Buffy blinked and tried to focus her eyes.
"Xander?" she mumbled.
"We don't know yet."
"You have to help Xander," Buffy said louder. There was a
tinge of panic in her voice.
"We're at the hospital, Buffy. They're helping Xander right
now."
Buffy looked confused.
"Please, help Xander," she pleaded.
"God, I wish I could," Willow whispered. "How I wish I
could."
"Dawn?" Buffy asked.
"It's all right. We called her school. She's going home with
Janice. You don't have to worry. Janice's mother is going to
bring her here later."
Buffy relaxed. "So tired," she said.
"Rest now. You're going to be fine. Everything is going to be
fine."
"What happened?" Buffy asked, her voice trailing off as she
sank back toward sleep.
Willow reached over and brushed a strand of hair away from
her friend's face. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was
five after twelve.
"Everything is going to be fine," she repeated to herself. She
just wished she could believe it. Not knowing about Xander
was eating at her gut. She couldn't get the image of his blood
oozing out around her hands as she put pressure on the wound
out of her head. There had been so much blood. Bright red
arterial blood. The wound had been so close to his heart.
She had to know how he was doing. She simply had to know,
so when Buffy woke up again she could tell her and put her
mind at ease. It wouldn't take much. Nothing big. Just a little
passive magic to let her see him. For Buffy's sake.
She closed her eyes and slipped into the mental state that
allowed her to touch the magic. It had been months, but it still
came to her easily. Nothing big. Nothing invasive. She just
needed to find Xander's mind among the hundreds of minds in
this place.
She searched through the jumble of roiling consciousnesses. So
much worry. So many of the people here were afraid. Afraid of
losing a loved one. Afraid they were going to die. Pain. So
much pain.
She steeled herself. She couldn't be distracted by all the
emotions surrounding her. She needed to find one mind. She
knew what Xander felt like. The previous summer, when she
had communicated with her friends this way during their
demon hunting, she had touched his mind again and again. She
looked for him -- and found him.
He was unconscious, naturally. She felt the weight of the
anesthesia.
And she felt him slipping away. He was getting weaker. He
was losing his connection to the mortal plane. Oh, God, he was
dying.
Her eyes snapped open. She knew she had to let go of him
now. If he slipped off the mortal plane while she was
connected to him, he might pull her along with him.
But she couldn't let go. If she did, she knew he would be gone
in a moment. She held on, hoping her will alone could keep
him in the world. The doctors could repair his body -- if they
had time. She held on to him with every bit of her magical
strength.
//Xander, stay with me. Please stay with me. You have to hold
on.//
He was still slipping away.
//No! I won't let you go. You have to stay with me.//
//Willow? Is that you?//
//Listen to me, Xander. Hold on to my voice. You have to hold
on.//
//Sorry. Have to go now.//
"NO!" Willow shouted.
----------------
Buffy heard the shout and snapped fully awake. She was lying
on a gurney. There was an IV in her hand. Her shoulder hurt
like hell. But none of that mattered.
Something had happened to Willow. She had shouted. And
now she was standing frozen, her eyes wide and completely
black. She was staring into nowhere.
"Will!" Buffy said, sitting up. The IV got in the way and she
tore it out of her hand, paying no attention to the pain and the
little trickle of blood that came out of the needle wound.
"Will! Come back. Speak to me," she said, jumping off the
gurney to grab her friend and shake her.
Willow came back enough to push Buffy away with surprising
strength.
"Willow. Don't do this!" Buffy pleaded.
---------------
In the operating room, the struggle to save the young man with
the gunshot wound continued. It was a losing battle. His pulse
and respiration were faltering.
An alarm went off.
"Flatline! We've got a flatline," someone said urgently.
----------------
Willow heard Buffy's voice from a distance. It was too late.
She had to act now. Xander was almost gone. If he crossed
over, there would be no way to bring him back.
She reached out into the otherworld that the magic flowed
from. The real world of the recovery room froze in time.
"Osiris!" she cried out. "Hear my call, Osiris."
A dark gathered above her. She could feel the
presence of the god of the dead as he approached through the
ether.
"How dare you call upon me, witch. I granted your request.
Now you call upon me again. You risk your very existence."
Willow looked up at the angry face forming out of the gray
clouds over her head.
"There is one about to cross over. I entreat you to reject him.
Don't take him."
----------------
"Clear!"
There was a thump as the jolt of electricity flowed out of the
paddles into Xander's chest.
-----------------
"This is a mortal death, witch. It cannot be reversed."
"He has not crossed yet. You can refuse him. I beg of you.
Don't take him."
"You came to be before and proved your strength. I granted
your request. What can you offer me now? Why should I
interfere in the natural order?"
"I beg of you, Osiris."
"To stop a death already begun is against the laws of nature. If
I am to intervene on your behalf there will be a price."
"I will pay the price."
"It will be dear."
"I will pay any price."
-----------------
"Clear!"
Another jolt.
----------------
"I ask you again. Will you pay the price?"
"I will pay."
"Very well. Thrice asked. Thrice answered. Your contract is
irrevocable."
The recovery room came back into focus. Buffy stumbled back
against the gurney, then came back to look into Willow's eyes
again.
"Will, please. Come back..."
---------------
In the waiting room, Tara had closed her eyes for a moment.
She was meditating -- finding calm to face the uncertainty. She
relaxed and felt the energies around her. So much worry. She
rose above the turbulent emotions and found her quiet place in
the ether. She reached out and touched the steady pulse of life
energy that flowed through all everything in the universe.
There was peace to be had here.
Then she felt it. A sharp, discordant pulse of energy.
Her eyes snapped open. "Willow! No!"
----------------
"We have a pulse. Respiration re-established."
"I've got the slug. Let's start closing."
________
Willow's eyes focused. She was back in the recovery room.
Buffy was off the gurney standing in front of her, looking very
concerned.
"It's OK," Willow said vaguely. "Xander is going to make it."
"What?"
"Everything is going to be OK," Willow said, a little more
confidently.
Buffy looked worried. "What did you do?"
"Nothing. It's going to be OK."
She backed away from Buffy. The worry on her friend's face
bothered her. Buffy should be happy now. Xander was going to
survive. Everything would be all right. She glanced around the
room. Why didn't Buffy see that it was going to be OK now?
Her eyes fell on the clock. Twelve fifteen. It had been ten
minutes. She had immersed herself in the magic again for ten
minutes. But those ten minutes had made all the difference in
the world. Xander was going to live. She knew it. That's all that
mattered. And now she could quit again. No problem.
"Willow, something's wrong. I can tell..."
"No, nothing's wrong. Really!"
------------------
It was late afternoon, but the sun had dropped behind the
mountain and he could move around again.
He'd wandered all the previous night without success. When
morning came, he hung his duster over a branch on a scrub oak
tree and made a crude shelter. He huddled there through the
day, not sleeping. There wasn't enough shadow to relax and
sleep. He could only sit in the small space shaded by his coat
with his knees drawn up to his chin, waiting for the sun to go
down.
Mid-morning a group of hikers had come upon him and he'd
had to explain that no, he wasn't in any distress and would they
please bugger off and leave him alone. He realized he must be
an odd sight with his black jeans and shirt, huddled under a
black leather coat in the middle of a copse of scraggly trees.
They probably thought he was stark raving mad.
Maybe he was. He was wandering through this dry forest
looking for a place he wasn't even certain he'd recognize. He'd
heard that if his desire was strong enough, he would know the
place when he found it. But right now, he wasn't sure he hadn't
walked by it a dozen times.
He was stiff from sitting still, and hungry -- though there was
nothing for that. He'd be fasting until he got back to
somewhere with a butcher shop.
He stretched and swung his coat around his shoulders. He set
off up the path he'd been following. If this didn't pan out, he'd
try another, and another, until he found what he was looking
for.
-----------------
They brought Buffy home from the hospital that afternoon. She
refused to stay any longer. Her shoulder was sore, but required
no more than a sling. Dawn had read the information sheet on
changing the dressing on the wound, and had promised the
nurse she'd be certain it was taken care of.
Xander came out of the operating room and was in a semi-
private room by mid-afternoon. Willow stayed with him until
the nurse made her leave when visiting hours were over. He
was pale and weak, but coherent, and she sat by his bed
holding his hand as he slept. Tara said her farewells and went
back to campus around dinnertime.
When Willow got back to Revello Drive, Buffy was in bed and
Dawn had fallen asleep in front of the television. She woke the
teen and sent her upstairs to bed.
Willow was tired to the bone. But she was happy. Her friends
were safe. Xander was mending. Buffy would be back to
normal in a day or two. She allowed herself a small measure of
pride that she'd proven up to the day's challenges. She'd made a
difference.
She was about to turn off the television and head to bed herself
when she was startled by a figure standing in the hallway door.
It was a demon, tall enough that he had to bend down a little bit
it into the doorway. His skin was gray-green and covered with
iridescent scales. His fingers ended in curved talons. She could
see the tops of folded wings over his shoulders.
But even as fearsome as his appearance was, his attitude was
relaxed and unthreatening. He was simply standing there
looking at her. Willow found she wasn't afraid at all.
"Who are you?"
"I am the courier." His voice was deep and hollow.
"Excuse me?"
"I have come to collect the payment."
A dagger of fear stabbed Willow's gut. Her hand went to her
mouth.
"The payment. It's my life, isn't it?" she asked in a tiny
frightened voice.
The demon shook his head. "No. Your life is not forfeit."
"Oh, OK. That's good at least."
The demon continued to look at her.
"So, what is it. I agreed. Whatever the price, I'll pay it."
The demon nodded.
"I have come to take your soul."