CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: JANE DOE
Buffy has drifted off to sleep, but Spike was content enough to alternate between watching the unknown girl sleep and watching Buffy sleep. A much as he said he was alright with Buffy and Giles being together, part of him still wished that it was him making her smile.
It had been over six hours, Buffy had made a phone call to Giles, telling him that she was at the hospital. Spike had listened with a smile on his face when Buffy had had to repeat several times that she was at hospital, not in hospital. Giles had been told not to wait up and that Buffy would be back when she got back, not knowing when she would be home. She didn't want this girl to wake up and not have a single young face to wake up to.
And, even though she trusted Spike with her life, she didn't want the poor girl to wake up alone with a vampire either. She knew Spike would never hurt the girl, but the girl wouldn't know that. And waking up with a man in leather beside your bed probably wouldn't be too comforting. Not to mention the fact that waking up in a bed that had the name 'Jane Doe' written above the bed head would be enough to frighten anyone.
Spike looked up when he heard a small moan. He looked at the girl on the bed intently, and casually leaned back in his chair, shifting into a non-threatening pose.
He watched the girls eyes open and close quickly, the girl wincing as the light had hit her. The warehouse had been dark, not pitch black, but dark enough that the bright lights of the hospital were painful.
She took in her surroundings quite calmly, Spike thought. As her eyes adjusted to the light, he watched as her body almost relaxed.
Then again, who wouldn't relax after being taken out of a hellhole warehouse. Hospital was far better, even though there was still the whole issue of needles and doctors.
The girl suddenly tensed and looked directly at him. He didn't blink, didn't even make a single expression. Her eyes narrowed.
"You're a vampire," she whispered.
That certainly got his attention. Most people couldn't guess that he was a vampire, he rarely wore his game face and for the most part, acted human, especially lately. The fact that this girl could automatically tell that he was a vamp was astonishing. Then again, she had spent the last month or so in the company of vampires. She had probably learnt to tell when they were close.
"Yeah," he replied casually. "What of it?"
She didn't reply, only swallowed and half sat up. Her gaze drifted towards Buffy who was still sleeping.
"And her? Is she one too?"
"No…she's not a vamp," he replied.
He could tell the girl was tired, probably exhausted, but she was fighting to stay awake. Probably didn't want to let her guard down with a vampire in the room.
"Are we…we're not in England are we?"
He shook his head and finally placed her accent. She was Australian. It made sense. The second Slayer was Australian and the Watcher had probably brought her over from the Slayer's hometown. Which meant that Rik would probably know who she was.
"But…we're not in Sydney anymore?"
"No. Sunnydale actually. In California," Spike replied.
She opened her eyes and wondered why a vampire would be interested in making conversation with her. The vampires she had met had wanted one of two things. Her blood or her services. Never a conversation.
"Go to sleep pet," he said, internally wincing as the endearment slipped out. She looked at him before letting her eyes close. She either trusted him with her life or expected him to take. The fact that she was willing to let him do either was terrifying.
Spike gently shook the sleeping Slayer.
"Huh? What? Is she awake?"
"She just woke up luv," he replied. "She went back to sleep."
"She okay?" Buffy asked, sounding as sleep deprived as she felt.
"Sort of," he replied.
"Did you get find out her name?" she asked.
He shook his head. "She was too tired. Still pretty out of it as well. She's an Aussie girl."
Buffy looked at him blankly and he rolled his eyes, excusing her cluelessness as sleepiness.
"She's from Australia. She said she's from Sydney."
"One of Rik's friends, you think?" Buffy asked.
Spike shrugged and nodded. "Maybe."
Buffy thought for a moment and was horrified at the thought.
"Oh god," she whispered.
Spike dropped to his knees in front of her, clutching her hand supportively.
"What?"
"Ami," Buffy replied.
"Huh?"
"Ami. Rik's friend in Sydney. Ryan probably woulda gone for her closest friends, knowing that Rik would rise to the bait if she knew that they'd been taken."
"Well, before we go blurting out that the girls' best friends been nabbed and turned into a pet, maybe we should get our facts straight first. S'not good to rush headfirst into something that we don't know enough about," Spike rationalised.
"Good point," Buffy said quietly.
Spike looked out the window and saw the sky beginning to lighten outside.
"I need to get back to my crypt before I become small enough to fit into a dust duster. Go talk with your number two and scout around. Don't just blurt it out Slayer. I know tact's not exactly your strong suit, but just give it a try," he said with a grin.
She swatted him on the arm for that and stood up with his help.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll come back here after lunch and see how she's doing," Buffy said.
Spike nodded and hesitated before asking. Buffy noticed that he looked as though he wanted to ask something and Buffy almost smiled as she realised what it was.
"I'll let you know how she's doing."
He smiled, thankful that he didn't have to embarrass himself by saying it.
"Thanks."
At six thirty, Buffy knew that Rik would be awake. It was the Slayer's internal body clock. Buffy had previously just thought it was hers, but Faith had been complaining about it often enough for Buffy to realise that it wasn't just a Buffy Summers bonus, but a Slayer deal. It sucked, but at times like these, it was kind of okay.
She knocked on the younger Slayer's dorm room door and it opened within seconds, a dressed and showered Slayer poking her head around the door.
"Hey Buffy," Rik greeted happily.
Buffy nodded and walked into the room, taking in the assorted objects. In one corner sat a guitar and an amplifier, in another corner was an expensive looking sound system. On the desk sat a computer that was giving off a low hum and on the walls were posters and photos and quotes.
"Nice room," Buffy commented.
"Thanks," Rik replied. "I'm just grateful that I got my own room. The Council certainly isn't being all frugal with their money."
Buffy smiled at that. She owed the Council a fair bit. If it weren't for them, she would be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
"So…what'cha up to?" Buffy asked, sitting herself down at the desk.
"I just got off the phone with Kim. That's Kat's mum. Ever since…well, we've been keeping in contact. She told me that she and Ami's mum started talking and Ami's just started opening up about everything. She's…turns out she's started getting counselling over the whole thing. I kinda feel guilty about not being there when she needs me," Rik said quietly.
"It's not your fault," Buffy replied.
At least now she knew it wasn't Ami who had been taken. Perhaps it was just a random Sydneysider, someone who had been easy pickings for a vamped Watcher.
"Yeah I know. But still…it can't be easy to go through something like that alone. At least I had Ryan…for a while," Rik said, her eyes beginning to blur with tears.
She shook her head, trying to clear away the depressing thoughts.
"Anyways," Rik said, trying to bounce into a happier mood. She sat down on the bed cross legged and reached for her guitar, strumming softly so as not to wake up any of the surrounding residents.
"You're pretty good on that thing," Buffy commented after a few minutes.
Rik smiled. "Thanks. Kat taught me. It's uh…it was hers. The guitar. But her mum, Kim…she…she gave it to me just before I left. When I went to do the whole goodbye thing, she…she said I could have it."
Buffy wasn't sure how to reply to that. What exactly could be said?
"So uh…what brings you here at this hour anyway?" Rik finally asked.
Buffy shrugged, almost having forgotten about the reason she was there. The nameless girl in the hospital. How she had forgotten, she didn't know. The image of that vampire raping the girl was forever seared in her memory. She had only ever hated a handful of vampires in her life. That vamp was one of them.
"Just thought I'd check out your room. I knew you'd be up," she said.
Rik grinned and put the guitar back on its stand.
"Don't you hate that whole, up at six-thirty internal clock thing? So annoying," she exclaimed.
"Yeah I know. Really kills your Saturday mornings, hey?"
"I'll say," Rik agreed.
Rik went quiet for a moment before she looked up at Buffy with a serious expression.
"I uh…I spoke to Tara last night," she said.
"Oh?"
"She's nice. Kinda quiet, but…once you get past that, she's…she's pretty funny," Rik said.
Buffy nodded, knowing that she had never really taken the time to get to know Tara, something for which she had no real excuse. She loved Tara, that was for sure, but she didn't know her as well as she could.
"She knows…about where you were."
Buffy stared at the other Slayer blankly. "Where I was?"
"When you died. She knows you weren't in hell."
Buffy's eyes went blank. For a while she had completely forgotten. She had been so focussed on finding out who the poor girl lying in hospital was that she had forgotten about her own pain. It had been nice to think about something else for a while.
"How…how did she find out? How did you find out?" Buffy asked.
Rik gave a sad smile. "She uh…we were talking about it. She was kinda explaining stuff. About life here without you. How everything fell apart. And she mentioned that maybe Willow had been wrong about you being in a hell dimension. And…I didn't really do much to discourage that thought."
Buffy nodded, not really certain about what to say. So now Spike, Giles, Rik and Tara knew her secret. It wasn't really much of a secret if half of the Scooby Gang knew it.
"And you…how did you find out?"
"A Slayer in hell? It'd hafta be snowing there before any one of us was sent there," Rik replied.
Buffy nodded. She, like Rik, had always been so assured that when Slayers died, no matter how they died, even if they were turned, they would be guaranteed a pretty good seat in the afterlife.
"She wants to tell Willow," Rik continued.
Buffy looked up sharply. Willow was on edge as it was; telling her that little piece of information would probably send her right over.
"But she won't. She wants to talk to you about it though. See how you feel and stuff."
Buffy nodded. "Yeah…I'll…I'll talk to her."
Rik nodded and stood up, straightening her shirt and grabbing the leather coat that seemed to be permanently attached to her.
"I'm gonna go grab breaky. You want?"
"Huh?"
"Breakfast. You wanna come with?"
"Oh uh…no. No, I should…I should get home," Buffy said.
Rik's eyes widened. "You didn't go home last night?"
"No. I was uh…at the hospital."
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Rik asked hurriedly.
"I'm fine," Buffy replied, holding up her hands to stop Rik's quick on-sight inspection. "We just uh…we found someone who was pretty badly hurt. Took them to the hospital."
"We?"
"Oh…me and Spike."
Rik paused at that and looked up thoughtfully.
"He finally worked out he didn't have a pulse and wanted to get a doctor to listen to his heart not beating?" Rik guessed.
Buffy grinned, trying to imagine Spike actually doing that. Surprisingly, it was a fairly easy image to conjure up.
"Just helping a stray 'happy meal with legs' get to the hospital," Buffy explained.
Rik grinned and shoved her wallet into the pocket of her coat.
"Only Spike could call people that and get away with it."
"I think it's all about the accent."
Rik laughed a little and locked the door behind them.
"Yeah, what it is with Slayers and Brits huh? We just attract them or something?"
"We'll just go with the 'or something'. I swear, if Wes was even remotely attracted to me for a second, I will have to go and stake myself right now."
Rik looked up. "Wes? Wesley Wyndham-Price?"
"You know Wes?" Buffy asked.
"Never met the guy, but…Ryan spoke about him a lot. Said that they didn't get along too well at school, that Wesley was always trying to prove how much better he was. Ryan was naturally brilliant, but Wesley…he worked his arse off to become a Watcher. Ryan said he was never any good at the field work. That he'd get his Slayer killed in an instant," Rik said.
"He was right," Buffy replied. "If it hadn't have been for Giles, I would've been dead. I think even Wes knows that. But…he's not a bad guy. He had to move to LA and start killing demons in his own way to become a good guy, but…he's pretty decent. Bordering on slightly cool."
Rik shivered at the thought, earning a laugh from the elder Slayer.
The pair walked out of the dorm building and into the beginnings of what looked to be a gorgeous day.
"Well, this is where I get off. I'll see you on patrol, bout eight?" Buffy asked.
"Can't," Rik replied, frowning. As much as she hadn't wanted to get into the patrolling, she found it hard to stay away from the blonde's enthusiasm. There was just something about her that made Rik want to be around her. She wondered if it were a Slayer trait or just a Buffy trait.
"You bailing on me?"
"Kinda. We got given our first group assignments, and our self-appointed leader Cindy wants to make sure we stay ahead of the rest of the class," Rik said, rolling her eyes.
"I feel your pain. We'll catch up tomorrow then."
"For sure."
"Any word?" Spike asked, not bothering to look up when he heard the door to his crypt enter. He was sprawled in front of the television, flicking between channels, trying to settle on a program that suited his mood.
"Nope. I spoke to Rik, but she just spoke to her surrogate mom who said that Ami was doing just fine in Sydney."
"So is that good or bad?" he asked.
Buffy perched herself on the crypt opposite Spike and breathed out slowly.
"I really don't know. Visiting hours aren't for another hour and I don't really wanna sit in a waiting room."
"You're welcome to stay," he offered.
She nodded and made herself more comfortable. Or as comfortable as she could get on a slab of concrete. She sat indian style and looked off blankly into space.
"You tell Rik about the girl?"
"Nah. Didn't wanna ruin her day. I mean, it could just be someone really random for all we know. Better safe than sorry. Like you said…we wait to get all the facts."
Spike glanced at her and cocked his head to the side.
"Did you…no…I know I'm hearing things…" he said, a smile dancing on his face.
"You probably are. But if you heard me say that you were right…well, enjoy it cos it's not gonna happen again," Buffy replied.
He laughed and stood up, stalking over to the fridge and pulling out a bag of blood and a can of soda. He threw the can towards her and she caught it without even a heads-up from Spike.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
"Welcome."
It was a full ten minutes before Spike turned the television off and turned to stare at her.
"What?" she asked, uncomfortable under his sudden scrutiny.
"You're usually not this quite luv."
"I was being polite," she replied, suddenly defensive.
Spike scoffed at the remark.
"Why do I find that so very hard to believe?" he asked.
Buffy rolled her eyes and just sipped at her drink, even though the can was empty. It gave her a chance to look as though she was doing something with her mouth, rather than just being seen as silent.
"What's with the sudden introspection?"
"Intro-what?"
"Introspective. Inspecting your thoughts pet. I thought you were meant to be smart," he taunted.
"I am smart," she sulked. "I just…haven't been sleeping well."
He lost the grin almost immediately. He had suspected as much. Occasionally during the night he had heard a slight whimper come from the girl. Nightmares, plain and simple. But Buffy had seen things that no one should ever have imagined, let alone fought. Her nightmares were more than your average gigantic spider. Plus, the memory of clawing the way out of a coffin wouldn't be too thrilling a dream.
"You still haven't told any of em," he said, stating, not asking.
"Well, you and Giles know. And Rik knows. And she said that Tara suspected it and Rik did nothing to deny it, so Tara knows. I think she wants to sit down and talk to me," Buffy said.
"Well, Wiccan girls a pretty safe one to have a chat with I'd wager. She's not one to judge," Spike said.
Buffy nodded. "I know. I just…I don't want to come between her and Willow. I just…I want it over Spike. Done. I just…you know, I really wish none of this had happened. Things are finally sort of okay for me, and then this new and wonderful problem comes up. When they say Chosen One, they really mean Chosen. They won't choose anyone else. Everything seems to happen to me."
"Makes life interesting luv," he replied.
She rolled her eyes and shifted her position when she felt her feet beginning to fall asleep.
"I wish I had a dull life. Even for one day. That'd be nice."
"You and dull just don't mix Slayer. Just accept it."
Buffy smiled. "Will once told me that I was above all things average. She got that a little too right."
Spike's gaze darkened at the mention of the red-head. Buffy noticed the change in his usual care-free demeanour.
"What?"
"Nothing," he replied quickly.
"Come on Spike. I just bared my soul. You could at least return the favour," she said, pouting a little.
He grinned and chuckled a little. "Don't have a soul luv."
"Spike," she said, groaning out his name.
"Oh fine. I was just thinking…you're life woulda been a lot less complicated without Red in it. Every spell she's ever done has messed up your life," he said.
"That's not true," Buffy replied quietly. She wasn't sure that she was telling the truth, but she felt the need to defend Willow from a soulless creature who felt no remorse. At least Willow felt a little guilty about some of the spells she had preformed.
"Oh really?" Spike asked. "Let's see…the first spell she ever cast gave Angelus his bleeding soul back, which meant you had to kill him as Angel and not Angelus."
Buffy stared at the vampire incredulously. How had he even known that?
"What else…" Spike mused. "Oh…her bloody will it so spell. You and me getting all pelvic. I can't imagine you thanking her for that one after it was over and done with."
"So she's made some mistakes. No one's perfect. And her spells have helped sometimes. When Faith switched bodies with me, Will conjured up a katra thingy to switch us back," Buffy said.
Spike stared at her blankly.
"Faith? The other Slayer?"
"You met her?" Buffy asked.
"Brown hair. Ye high? Homicidal maniac?" he asked.
"That'd be her," Buffy replied.
"Nah, never met her," Spike said, a grin on his face when Buffy began to look confused.
Buffy rolled her eyes and quickly crushed the empty soda can with her hands. She glanced at her watch and her eyes lit up as she realised she could finally go to the hospital and get away with visiting the poor girl who she and Spike had rescued the other night.
"I'll catch you later Spike. I'll let you know how she is," Buffy said, jumping off the sarcophagus and walking past Spike who just waved his goodbyes and let the Slayer walk out into the sun.
TBC…