Twist of Fate: Chapter 5
by Lisette

Legalese: See Chapter 1 for disclaimers and ratings.

Sunnydale Memorial Hospital

As the automatic doors swung open before him, Giles' nose was instantly assaulted by a wave of antiseptic smell, clogging his nostrils and reminding him once more that he was in the hated place of death and occasional healing. Cringing slightly, he took one last lungful of clean night air before hurrying forward and into the bustling ER.

He had been there too many times before in his relatively brief time as a Watcher. Too many times for his taste, and definitely too many times as a patient himself. But even worse than being an actual patient in the hospital was the horrid dread that twisted his innards now, the dread based on the fear that someone he cared about was hurt in some unknown way. Possibly dying. Possibly dead. The possibilities were unending and that was what frightened Giles more than anything. The possibilities of what could have gone wrong on that ordinary night and what he could have already lost.

"Giles!"

Hearing Buffy's voice, Giles felt a wave of relief sweep over him as he hurried towards his Slayer. Grabbing her arms, he couldn't help but sweep his eyes over her, assuring himself that from the top of her blonde head to the bottom of her small feet his ward was not hurt. But seeing that she wasn't only caused his worry to shift to the other two teenagers that had gone out with her that night.

"Giles?" Buffy asked, her voice filled with confusion as she took in her Watcher's obvious panic.

"Xander, Willow - are they alright? Where are they? No one said, just to get to the hospital quickly," he said quickly, straining to keep his voice from shaking.

"Xander and Willow are fine," Buffy quickly assured, gently but firmly pushing Giles' hands to his sides as her two companions joined them. "But we have another problem," she added, her voice hitching as her eyes drifted to the cracked linoleum floor.

"Problem?" Giles asked, not understanding as his eyes quickly darted back and forth between the two other glum looking teenagers. If everyone was alright, he couldn't understand what he could possibly be doing at the hospital, that late at night. What they were all doing there.

"I didn't get there in time," Buffy continued, her tan face paling slightly as she slowly lifted her eyes to meet those of her Watcher.

"Hey, he's alive, ain't he?" Xander cut in as he slung a casual arm over Buffy's shoulders, grinning weakly as Giles slowly and patiently removed his glasses to begin polishing them.

"Buffy, what happened?" he finally asked, his eyes gently holding the girl's as he returned his glasses to their proper place. "What is going on?"

Sighing dejectedly in response, Buffy turned and led the older man into a nearby room, empty save one bed. Confused, Giles pushed past the teens and moved until he was standing beside the bed's metal railing. Covered by a starch white sheet lay a man, probably ten years his junior, with spiked brown hair and a pallor that was almost sickly pale. Nodding in understanding, Giles' eyes focused on the large bandage that was swathed around the stranger's neck. "Vampire?" he asked, turning back to the others.

"I didn't get there in time," was Buffy's solemn reply as she stared at the man, her eyes filled with self-loathing.

Surprised, Giles slowly shook his head. While it was a disturbing fact, this wasn't the first time that his Slayer had arrived too late to help someone. And in this case, she obviously hadn't arrived too late. After all, as Xander so crudely pointed out, the man was still breathing thanks to his Slayer. What he didn't understand was her profound sense of failure for not having arrived before the man had to be sent to the hospital. "Buffy, I don't-" he began, about to point out his confusion when a doctor entered the room behind them, clipboard in hand.

"Doctor, how is he?" Willow quickly asked, nervously wringing her small hands as she shuffled aside so that the man could get to his patient.

"Better," the man responded, his demeanor suggesting that it wasn't the first time that he had fielded the teens' questions. "He seems to be taking well to the transfusions," he continued as he adjusted a monitor. "He has a rare blood type, so it was a little tricky at first, but I'm sure that with a little bed rest he'll be fine in no time," he finished, smiling reassuredly at the teens.

"Well that's splendid," Giles quickly responded, sending Buffy a meaningful look as he began ushering Willow and Xander towards the door.

"Do you mind if we stay with him until his friends arrive?" Buffy asked of the doctor, surprising them all as she moved to the man's bedside, gently taking his large hand in her own small one. She didn't even understand her unwillingness to leave the guy's side. There was just something in his eyes back in the clearing - something that was so vulnerable and innocent - so frightened at being alone, of dying alone. It was a feeling and a fear that she understood well. With a destiny that all but guaranteed a young death, a painful death, Buffy was sensitive to the idea that when her time came she would have to face it alone. It was that idea that scared her more than the thought of dying itself. After all, she had already done that once before.

"I don't see why not," the doctor replied, smiling gently at the slim girl before slipping once more from the room.

"Hey, you okay?" Willow asked, moving beside her friend and placing a hand gently on her shoulder.

But any response Buffy was about to give was forgotten as the man slowly began to stir in the small bed.

Groaning, Jarod slowly found his way out of the sea of darkness that enveloped him, struggling weakly up and up until his blinking eyes took in the harsh glare of fluorescent lights and the putrid green walls that surrounded him. Wincing, he tried to lift his hand to his aching head, only to find that it was enclosed in a small circle of warmth. Surprised, he slowly turned his pounding head until his eyes took in the sight of what seemed to be an angel to his weary eyes. "Who.. who are you?" he asked, licking his parched lips as he took in the short blonde, her green eyes conveying so much wisdom and pain for someone so young.

"You don't remember?" Buffy asked as she felt her friends gather around her. "We met earlier," she continued as she smiled warmly at the man. Once more she was reminded of how cute he was as his brown eyes crinkled in concentration. "I'm Buffy, and this is Willow, Xander, and Giles," she added, waving absently at the people gathered behind her.

"Buffy?" he repeated back, testing the unfamiliar name on his lips. Struggling silently, he searched his memory for a reference to this girl or her friends, quickly coming up short. Sighing, he dropped the issue for now as he turned to take in the small hospital room and the other people that filled its small space. "What happened? Why am I in a hospital?" he asked as he once more struggled to lift his hand, this one containing an IV drip, to his aching neck, finding a large bandage swathing the skin.

"You were attacked," Giles quickly explained, moving beside Buffy to place a strong, reassuring hand on her shoulder. "By a gang on PCP," he continued, falling back on the time-old cover story, sharing looks with the others.

"PCP?" Jarod asked, fragments and flashes of memory returning to him. He remembered now. He was in Sunnydale, investigating the graduation day explosion and trying to help the parents of Harmony Kendall... and then he was jumped in the graveyard by people with disfigured faces and... fangs? "I've never seen PCP do that to a person before," he quickly countered, suspiciously meeting the man's flustered gaze. And then, as all eyes turned to the blonde, Jarod finally remembered meeting her. She had saved him, moving faster than his eyes could follow. "Wait, I remember you... how did you do that?" he asked, his brown eyes boring into her green.

"Uh..." Buffy stammered, pulling her eyes away from Jarod's. His brown eyes were so piercing, obvious intelligence hidden there. She felt as though he would easily see through any lie that she fed him.

"Steroids," Willow quickly threw in, flushing as all eyes swiveled to her.

Biting back a groan, Buffy forced a smile and met Jarod's confused gaze. "Yeah, steroids," she confirmed reluctantly. "But don't tell the doctor or anything," she continued, waving her arm dramatically at the open door behind her. "My, uh, coach would get in trouble for it," she added as she waved at Giles, including him in her flustered lie.

"Yes, well," Giles stammered, glaring at his Slayer, "uh, go team," he finished weakly, lamely pumping his fist in the air.

Even more confused, Jarod watched as Xander, the tall and lanky guy with thick black hair, quickly hid a snicker behind his hand as the short redhead elbowed him sharply. "Well, I'm a doctor," he lied smoothly, "and I've never seen steroids do that to anyone before, either," he continued, watching as they all shared guilty looks.

"Yeah, well a lot of things happen in Sunnydale that don't happen elsewhere," Xander countered, as he nodded towards the door, none too subtly indicating that it was time to leave before they dug themselves even deeper.

Nodding in understanding, the girls allowed Giles and Xander to herd them towards the open doorway and the hallway beyond. "Don't worry, Jarod," Willow added over her shoulder, "we were able to reach your friends and they should be here soon."

Instantly Jarod shot forward, ignoring his weakened body's protestations. "My friends?" he asked, his brown eyes widening and filling with panic.

Surprised, Buffy paused in the doorway and then slowly moved back within, shrugging off Giles' hand. "Yeah, we found your lady friend's number programmed into your cell phone. When she found out where you were she said they'd come right away."

Feeling his eyes slip shut, Jarod slowly shook his head, panic all but consuming him. "Miss Parker," he whispered, her cold eyes flashing in his mind's eyes. "The Centre," he continued as he quickly began pulling at the wires and nodes that were attached to his body, blind to everything but his need to get away from the hospital as soon as possible. Cursing himself and their kindness, Jarod kicked himself over and over again for having programmed their numbers into his phone. By doing so, he had just signed his return to the Centre. Shuddering, images of the Centre flashed through his mind's eye: his heart being stopped by a drug injection, over and over again, hanging by chains as Lyle mercilessly tortured him, sending current after powerful electrical current through his battered body. He couldn't go back there. He'd never go back there.

"Hey, take it easy," Buffy quickly intoned as she threw a confused glance at the others. "You're still weak from blood loss," she continued as he draped his legs over the edge of the bed, pushing himself to stand only to have them buckle beneath him.

Grunting, Buffy quickly moved forward and supported the bigger man, easily helping him back into his bed. "No, uh uh," she stated firmly, pushing him forcefully down as Giles moved over to help. "I already said that you're not going anywhere."

"Yes, you've lost a lot of blood," Giles added, confused at the man's obvious panic. "You're in no condition-"

"I have to get out of here before they get here," Jarod quickly interrupted, trying to shove the girl's hand aside, pushing aside the puzzling fact that he couldn't. I must be weaker than I thought.

"Before who gets here?" Willow asked, making sure to stay back and out of the way. "Your friends?"

"They're not my friends," Jarod broke in, his voice filled with venomous bitterness. "And I need to get out of here before they get here," he repeated, his eyes shifting until they locked on the blonde's green eyes. Unconsciously, he knew that despite her young age, it was with this girl that help would come and that the decision would be made. "Please, let me go."

For the briefest of moments, indecision clouded Buffy's mind. But then, as she locked eyes with him once more and saw the fear and desperation there - the pleading, Buffy had her answer. "You're not going anywhere... alone," she added, throwing Giles a glance that brooked no arguments.

Sighing, Giles hesitated for a moment before nodding his agreement. "Willow, search that cabinet over there for his clothing," he said as he leaned forward and began helping Buffy to remove the many nodes and wires that were still attached to the man's body.

Nodding, Willow quickly did as told, tossing the soiled garments to Xander as she and Buffy turned, allowing he and Giles to help the weakened man out of the thin hospital gown. Minutes later, Buffy was once more called back to the bed as Jarod once more tried to stand, this time clothed in his bloodied white shirt and black dress slacks.

"Here, lean on me," Buffy ordered, helping him to drape one arm over her shoulder as Xander moved under the other.

Surprised, Jarod threw the girl the briefest of glances before she and Xander pulled him to his feet, effectively supporting his weight between the two of them as they hurried to the door. Pausing briefly, they waited for the redhead's nod before they swept into the hallway.

With Willow and Giles guiding their way, the group moved quietly through the bustling hallways, daring not draw any undue attention to themselves as they hurried towards the hospital entrance. "My car is right outside," Giles muttered as the group left the hospital and started towards the darkened parking lot. Soon, shadows encompassed them as they finally reached the side of an ancient, rusting little car... only to come to a halting stop as a soft click echoed in the quiet night. Turning, the small group came face to face with four men and a woman.

"Jarod," the woman said, her voice cold. As a tight smile lifted her lips, she tightened her hold on her small pistol, her aim steady on the group.