"Hanging By A Moment" is by Lifehouse
"The Rose" is by Bette Midler
Dawn was ripping off pieces of her skirt to help staunch Buffy's bleeding. The police sirens grew closer, so Faith stomped the gas pedal down to the floor. Cordy leaned over the side of the seat and gave directions to Spike and Dawn.
"Hush, hush." Spike whispered, stroking Buffy's hair as she whimpered in pain. "Can't you drive a little faster?" He barked at Faith.
"Don't you dare yell at me, you bleach-blonde freak!"
"Guys, please!" Wesley snapped. "Faith, take a right here at the intersection."
******
Emma stared at her Daddy, her anger rising.
How could he have done that?
"It wasn't supposed to happen that way. Miss Summers got in the way." Daddy said calmly. Emma searched his face for any semblance of feeling at all. Nothing. He was rationalizing the entire incident, making it so it would never be his fault. Emma had learned at the feet of the master how to keep her emotions in check.
"I'm going upstairs." She said quietly, not doubting that the party would continue with or without her.
In her room, Emma took off her white heels and threw them against the wall. Feeling horribly, sickeningly guilty after that display of anger, she went to take a shower.
"She'll get over it." Lauren assurred her husband.
"She must learn that vampires are creatures incapable of bieng anyone's *friend.* It doesn't matter what technology the American goverment placed in his brain, Spike is a vampire and will kill again."
"Dearest,"she said delicately, "Quentin has told me that he believes this has become a personal vendetta, and that he is concerned for your mental health."
"Quentin Travers may lecture me about mental health and personal vendettas when HIS wife and child are murdered by vampires, and the killers are allowed to roam free."
Emma placed one foot carefully on the next rung of the trellis. It creaked even under her slight weight. She had 60 seconds to reach the ground before the burglar alarm on her bedroom window went off.
It was amazing what a mind full of math and science could come up with in an emergency.
"They aren't going to be happy about the Slayer," Lauren reminded Richard.
"It couldn't be helped. She got in our way! Surely she did not believe that we would harm her sister?"
An earpiercing wailing began upstairs.
Emma moved to put her foot on the ground and felt a pair of strong male hands around her waist.
"It's me!" Gunn hissed.
"Charles," Emma breathed. "You came back?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
******
Spike sat with his head in his hands in the hospital waiting room.
"Is she okay?" Angel gasped as he ran in, followed closely by Darla.
Spike didn't say anything.
Wesley approached them and laid a hand on Angel's arm.
"She's lost a lot of blood, but she's going to live."
Faith was leaning against the wall, arms folded, eyes squeezed tightly shut. Cordelia was pacing at the other end of the hall. Dawn was sleeping curled up in a plastic chair.
"This is all your fault you know," Spike spoke up.
"What are you talking about, Spike?" Angel asked angrily.
Spike jumped up.
"She only came here 'cause YOUR demented creation insisted that you were in trouble!"
"Don't blame this on me!" Angel snarled. Darla touched his arm, but Angel shook her off. "What are you talking about?"
"She only came here because of you. You're the only thing that could get her to leave Sunnydale at a time like this. And now she's lying in there, and she might die, and it's all your fault!"
"Since when do you want Buffy to live? What, are you in love with her or something?" Angel asked incredoulously.
If Spike could have had color in his face, his face would have flushed bright red.
"Am not!"
"You are!" Angel laughed cruelly. "You love Buffy!"
"Take that back!" Spike vamped out. Angel vamped out, as well.
"It's true, isn't it?"
Spike launched himself at Angel, who easily shoved him away. Darla ran to hold her grandson back before he did something he might regret. Spike shifted back to his human features, breathing hard.
"Why don't you do what you do best, Angelus, and leave?" he said with a choked sob. Spike turned, hurled a chair against the wall, stormed off down the corridor.
******
Cordy, Dawn, and Faith sat together in the hospital cafeteria. Dawn was eating butterscotch pudding from a tiny plastic cup. Faith had a sandwhich, and Cordy nursed a Diet Pepsi.
"Notice how, once again, Buffy has managed to make it all about HER?" Cordy grumbled.
"How does she do that?" Faith wondered. "And how do we bottle it?"
"Buffy's not always selfish," Dawn spoke up. "She wasn't so bad when Mom was sick."
"I feel...wrong...sittin' here trashin' her when she's in the hospital," said Faith. "Think it's a sign that I'm becoming a nice person?"
"That'll never happen!" Cordelia snorted. Wesley came in and sat down with them.
"How are things going up there?"
"Spike and Angel got into an argument. Darla's probably going to get caught in the middle. I decided that standing outside Buffy's room was not the safest place for me to be."
"That's pretty much why we're down here," said Dawn. "Angry vamps are not on my list of favorite people to be around."
"We lead different lives from other people, don't we?"Wesley mused. Cordy reached over and touseled his hair.
"I'm not going to repeat my opinions about your father, Wes. But I think maybe he should check into getting some therapy for this little vendetta of his."
"He's become what he beheld."
"Do you guys think they're done screaming at each other by now?" Dawn asked. "I wanna go back up and check on Buffy."
"We'll come with," said Cordy. They stood up and walked back out through the lobby, toward the elevator.
"Excuse me, Miss." A young girl was speaking to the night nurse on duty at the desk. "Which room is Buffy Summers in?"
"Emma?" Wesley questioned. His sister turned around. She'd changed out of her ball gown and into a pair of faded blue jeans and a purple hooded sweatshirt.
"Wes?" She ran up to him, but they hesitated a moment before embracing.
"I was so scared. They grabbed me, and made me come home," she babbled. "Daddy wouldn't let me leave the house, and then we had my party, and it was no fun at all, and then he shot Buffy!"
"Shhh," Wesley mumbled into her hair. "I'm here now. I'm here now." Then he pulled back and looked at her sternly.
"You ran away again. Please tell me you didn't run away again."
Emma ducked her head sheepishly.
"I climbed down the trellis."
"EMMA!" Wesley groaned. "This is not the way to handle things!"
******
Four hours later, Buffy awoke in her hospital bed to find Quentin Travers sitting next to her.
"Get out," she whispered hoarsley.
"I want you to know, Miss Summers, that the Council was not involved in Lord Wyndham-Pryce's actions tonight. None of us wish to see you dead, not even Lord Wyndam-Pryce. It was all a terrible accident, no one intended for you to get hurt."
"Sure."
"Believe me, we'd all much rather have you alive. The idea of Miss Hennessy as our only active Slayer does not appeal to the Council."
"Miss who?" Buffy asked drowsily.
"Faith."
"Oh."
"I have discussed the situation with Lord Wyndham-Pryce. I have told him that he is to be more careful in the future, and impressed upon him the importance of not endangering the Key. However, I have also told him that while I will not actively seek to elimnate William the Bloody and Darla, I will not stand in the way of him doing so himself."
******
"Guys, we've got a big problem." said Cordy as they all sat at a table in a pub down the street from the hospital. "We're out of money. Well, me and Wes and Darla and Angel are. What about you guys, Gunn?"
Gunn pulled out his wallet and rifled through it.
"We got just enough to pay for these drinks, and one more night in the hotel. Then we're broke."
"I could sneak back inside the house and steal from Dad?" Emma suggested. Wesley turned a shocked face towards her.
"No you will not!"
"And we're going to need a bigger car." said Darla. "When Angel and I rented that little convertible we thought at the most, there'd be four people riding in it. Now it looks like we're up to 10."
"We were gonna take the train." said Faith, "But we'll still need money."
"We could call the jet, and have them meet us at a secluded location in the country,"Wesley thought out loud. "When will Buffy be well enough to travel?"
"Tommorrow." Spike announced as he entered the pub and flopped into a chair. "Quentin Travers paid her a visit today. He's given His Lordship carte blanche to go after me. Nibblin, you want something to drink?"
"Can I get a beer?"
Spike paused, clearly conflicted. Clearly trying to remember whether it was okay to give children alcohol or not.
"No." He said decisively.
I'll have an orange juice." Dawn muttered.
Spike gestured at Gunn.
"Gimme some cash."
"Don't got enough."
"What the hell!"
"We nevah expected to be here this long." Faith explained. "We're all out of money."
"Stuck in a foreign country with no money and we're hiding from an elite group of international demon hunters. FUN!" said Cordy, taking a big swig of her beer.
"I think we can all agree that stealing is out of the question." Angel decided.
Spike raised his hand.
"I don't agree with that!"
"I didn't ask you."
"Here he goes again," Spike muttered. "King of the mountain, that's our Angel!"
The bartender was starting to look at them suspiciously, and who wouldn't have, considering the subject of their conversation. They wisely settled up the bill and left the pub. As they strolled down the street, Darla had lagged behind to read a yellow flier taped to the window of a shoe shop.
"Spike, c'mere!"
He jogged over.
"Look, This club, The Junkyard Dog, has bands every night."
"So?"
Darla just looked at him. Spike started to back away.
"Uh uh. No way. No WAY."
"It's a paying gig - We need the money."
"No." He said a little more plaintively.
"It's settled then. I'll call the manager and arrange an audition."
******
The club was small, but homey. Darla and Spike were set up on a small stage at the back. The manager had certainly been impressed with their talents, and thought they had a *great look*. A big sign hung over the stage, advertising *The Two Bleached Blondes*. At this moment, they were arguing, or it looked like they were anyway. Spike was waving his arms animatedly, Darla stood with both hands on her hips, looking impatient.
It sounded, though faint and muffled by the noisy crowd, as if he were saying *But I hate Bette Middler!*
Darla's lips seemed to be telling him to perform a phyisically impossible action with himself.
Darla turned to the michrophone, a big, cheerful smile on her face.
"Hey, Everyone!" She chirped. Spike looked up from tuning his borrowed guitar and glared at the audiance. "How are y'all? Looks like Spike wants to get this over with, so let's get going!"
"Desperate for changingStarving for truth
Closer where I started
Chasing after you
I'm falling even more in love with you
letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you"
"I didn't know he could play." Buffy whispered to Cordelia.
"He's had 126 years to learn." Cordy whispered back.
"Forgetting all I'm lackingcompletely and complete
I'll take your invitation
you take all of me
I'm falling even more in love with you
letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you
I'm living for the only thing I know
I'm running and not quite sure where to go
I don't know what I'm diving into
just hanging by a moment here with you"
They played a few contemporary hits, some classic rock tunes, and as the evening wore down, some folk songs and ballads. At the end of the show, Darla held a short, whispered conversation with Spike. Everyone was suprised to see him go and sit down at the piano that was situated at the back of the stage. The lights lowered just a bit, as Darla took center stage with the microphone. The spotlight shone down on her bowed head. The tinkley notes of a familiar song began.
Darla took a deep, uneeded breath and opened her eyes. Her clear, pure voice floated out over the hushed crowd.
"Some say love, it is a river,That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
an endless aching need."
"I say love, it is a flower,
and you, its only seed."
"He plays the piano." Buffy murrmered to herself, staring at the stage in a sort of daze. "I didn't know Spike played the piano."
"It's the one who won't be taken,Who cannot seem to give.
And the soul, afraid of dying,
That never learns to live."
Cordelia leaned her head against Wesley's chest, he reached down and stroked her hair. Faith shivered and reached for her denim jacket. A cold draft sent chills down her spine.
"When the night has been too lonely,and the road, has been too long.
And you think that love is only,
for the lucky and the strong.
Just remember, in the winter,
far beneath the bitter snow...
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love,
in the spring, becomes the rose."
******
"That man is following us." Said Angel as the group strolled down the street after the gig.
"Yeah, we bein' followed." Gunn agreed. A man was walking slowly, about 50 feet behind them, talking intensly on a cell phone. Sometimes he could be seen, and sometimes he couldn't but he had been behind them for about four blocks and wasn't walking with the purposful steps of a man who just happened to be going in the same direction.
"We can take one guy." Faith laughed. "If anyone could, it's us!"
"I think there's more than one person tailing us." said Darla. "These guys never work alone. They've probably got a car waiting around the corner, with another guy in communication over the phone."
"Or someone will block us off when we get to the end of this street." Angel added.
"We've done a lot of stalking in our time." Darla said wryly.
"Remember, If they come after us, to keep Spike and Buffy protected, Buffy's weakened and Spike can't hurt humans." Angel instructed.
"Hey - who died and made you boss?" Buffy complained. "I'm not so weak that I can't defend myself!"
"I wasn't trying to boss any of you around!" Angel protested. "Except for maybe my Grandchilde and the three of you who WORK for me. I would never presume to give YOU orders!"
"Oh, Angel, you're stealing Buffy's thunder? Poor girl must be so upset that she can't be in charge." Darla drawled.
"It's not MY fault we're on the run from angry Watchers." Buffy reminded everyone. "I hate to point fingers but a certain vampire kinda caused that little problem!"
Darla threw up a *talk to the hand* and kept walking.
"Let it go, B." said Faith. "It's seriously not worth it."
"When did you get so mature?" Buffy smiled sadly.
"Prison, baby. Prison."
"You look cold." Wesley said to Cordelia. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Better?"
"Much better." Cordy put her hand in his. It still felt strange to be doing *couple* things with the man who was her best friend. "Thank you." She whispered.
"I'll do anything for you, you know that."
"You know you're not getting it back, right?"
"I know." Wesley sighed.
******
"I'm bored." said Dawn, who sat crosslegged on Faith's bed, a bottle of purple nail polish in her hand.
"I hate this. I totally hate this." Em agreed. "We're not babies, they didn't need to leave us here while they went out to the club."
"Keep the doors locked and DON'T LET ANYONE IN." Dawn did an excellent imitation of her sister. "I'm not a moron and I'm not five."
A knock sounded at the door. Emma got up and went over, standing by the lock.
"Miss Wyndham-Pryce? Miss Summers?"
Emma put a finger to her lips, meaning *don't speak*.
"On behalf of the Watcher's Council, I'm asking you to please open the door."
Emma tried to slow the pounding of her heart, sure that he could hear it on other side of the door.
"It would not be wise to refuse us, Girls. If you don't open this door, I shall have to take drastic measures."
The hotel was an old one, so the doors didn't have key card setups, only regular locks. A clicking sound, as if someone were fiddling with the lock, then a final click as the knob turned and the door swung open.
******
Angel and Darla were the first ones to get off the elevator at the hotel. The door to the girls' room was wide open.
"Oh no..." Darla breathed. Buffy pushed past them both.
"NO!" She cried. Dawn and Emma were no where to be seen, and there was an unconcious man on the floor.
"Looks like someone hit'm with a lamp." said Faith.
"No, they just knocked it over, that looks more like a *phone* shaped dent in his head." said Darla.
Go to Part 10b
