TITLE: "Normal again" (6/8?) part 3
(Because of length, cut in three parts.)
AUTHOR: Richard Bachman
EMAIL: bachman_rchard@hotmail.com
SITE: nope
FEEDBACK: Give it to me luv, you know you want more of this!
DISTRIBUTION: Do whatever you like poodle. As long as Richard is mentioned I'm fine.
RATING: NC-17 Humor/angst
PAIRING: B/S
SUMMARY: Got this wonderful idea after watching normal again. Instead of Buffy, Spike gets a dose of demonic goodness inserted into his system. As his consciousness is transported to an AU where he finds Sunnydale is no longer the good old Sunnyhell he despises and knows so well, things are getting a bit surreal for the poor bleached wonder.
WARNING: This fic describes scenes of rape, and is dark and angsty but I suppose that we kinda got used to it after watching whole bleedin S6.
THANKS: To anyone for reading my senseless dribble. Love you guys. You truly make wasting my weekends worthwhile!
CHARACTERS: Spike is knee deep in the AU thing. He discovers the benefits of team spirit, has some Angel/Liam interaction, and finds out that sunlight does indeed make him freckle (a bit).
ACT 6: The harsh light of day does not keep me restrained in darkness any longer.
SCENE 5
"Dr Walsh is here."
"Huh?"
Buffy turned around and noticed a bit too late that the strict doctor was sitting at the other side of Giles'desk, and was currently following her annoyed rambling with quite some interest.
"I don't mind her interruption. Buffy, why don't you sit down and join us? We were just discussing one of your patients. Perhaps you can provide us with your insight opinion."
"Oh no, she couldn't possibly. Um, Buffy would you mind to let me speak to Dr Walsh here in private before we discuss your matters in more detail?"
Giles deadly serious expression was enough to hint his pupil that it had been once again a very bad time to speak up her mind. Mentally slapping herself for her slip of the tongue, Buffy immediately recomposed her attitude. Besides, she knew Dr Walsh's reputation too well to feel comfortable to bash her tricky patient in her presence anyway.
"Oh sure. I'm sorry. I didn't know that you were in the middle of something important. I come back later."
"Close the door behind on your way out, will you?" Her mentor added.
"OK. You guys continue."
She swiftly headed back to the door and had already her hand on the door handle when her elder colleague decided that she wasn't going to let her slip out of the room that easily.
"Are you having problems dealing with patient 17, Buffy?"
Just ignore her, pretend that you didn't hear the question, she thought and pulled the door open a bit too fast and a bit too eagerly.
"Buffy, I was speaking to you. At least be polite enough to answer or I would find your behaviour very suspicious indeed."
She hoped that it was not visible, but she flinched as she was called back to clarify herself.
"Ops, sorry. Tend to go really deaf once in a while. It's probably the loud music that they are playing at the Bronze. Giles did warn me that standing too near those damn giant boxes are a sure way to ruin your eardrums."
"I was asking you if patient 17 was causing you any trouble."
Buffy looked confused.
"Who is causing me trouble again?"
"Patient seven- I mean mister Byron. Or William, as you both so carelessly prefer to call him. How is he reacting to your therapy sessions?"
"Oh you mean Will, why are you calling him." She shot one look back at the elder woman and decided not to go in on this one. "Um, He's doing just fine! Very nice guy, if you get to know him really. And the other guys just love him too. He's so." She paused, looking for a word to describe this total dysfunctional individual that wouldn't sound too far off from the truth. "Interactive with his surroundings, particularly when he wants something from you. But interactive in a good way of course, not in a mentally sick, constantly crying out for attention kind of way."
Silently, Dr Walsh kept staring at her.
"Oh yes, he's absolutely adapting incredibly well." She added, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
"Are you saying that he has no tendency to violence and he's not rebelling against your authority?"
"No! Not at all!" She had a very bad feeling about where this conversation Spanish inquisition style was going to lead into and she was trying her best to revert it for Will's sake. "Honest, he's no trouble at all. Meek as a lamb."
"Really? So why did you seem so upset with him?"
"I was?"
"As my short term memory allows me to recall, you were practically referring to him as the Big Antichrist when you rushed in to speak to Dr Giles."
"Oh, I was just jabbering nonsense." Buffy smiled nervously. "I though I give Giles a really good scare. He was acting all busy and important this morning, didn't have the time to speak to me so I became a little bit annoyed, that's all. It had nothing to do with William, really. "
Walsh kept her chilly eyes on the blond girl, then handed her the thick pile of stapled together paper that she had been reading. Buffy took it, not quite knowing what to think of this.
"Did you read this report on his psychological evaluation?"
"No, I didn't. He did the tests last Wednesday, I didn't expect the results coming back this soon. Normally, it takes a week or two."
"That's because the department thought Mister Byron's case was serious enough to pay attention to as soon as possible."
Buffy's anxiety just tripled in response to Walsh explanation.
"What do you mean? Is it really that bad?"
"There are clear indications that Mister Byron is suffering from a very serious form of his disease. He has disturbed thinking patterns and an extremely violent mind. The man we're dealing with here is absolutely a potential threat to the other patients."
"Now, let us not jump into conclusions. These test are a reflection of his state of mind on one particular time point. We should take his daily behaviour in real life into account as well before rushing into decisions." Giles tried.
"I do agree with you on that. That's exactly why the opinion of Dr Summers is so very important here."
She gave Buffy an impatient look, making the poor girl feel as if she was drifting in the open sea on a crappy-self made craft and was circled by a hungry shark.
"Tell me, Buffy. Considering Mister Byron's evaluation, shouldn't we bear in mind the possibility that there may be a need for a more stringent approach then simple group therapy?"
There was no doubt in Buffy's right mind that Dr Walsh was after William. The officious woman was always trying to force her will through the policies of the institute, acting as if she owned the whole place. She had a notorious reputation for her way of running her own wards, governing over her patients like a monarch, not tending them. The doctor was a firm believer in the therapeutic benefits of using cruel and savage methods when dealing with patients which she considered to be hopeless or dangerous, and there were rumours in the corridors that her way of practice was often crossing the limit of what was approved by the board. Still, she was quite influential and well respected by the higher ranking officials in charge, and most of the staff would rather give in to her sometimes impossible demands then to rise up against her. But Buffy Summers was not like the other members of the staff. Breathing in deeply, she managed to compose herself and stop her heart from fluttering in her chest. She had brought William in danger with her terrible sense of timing and she was the only one who could save him now from this dangerous woman's clutches.
"Look, I don't know what the results in this report are indicating, but I do speak the truth here when saying this. William is not dangerous. He may be impulsive and incredibly annoying most of the time, but he won't hurt anybody. He's just all tough talk, nothing more."
"How can you be so sure?" Walsh stated coldly.
"Because - because he's good guy. I believe that he has enough common sense left in him to judge right from wrong. I trust him."
Walsh fell silent, not pleased with the outcome of her inquiry.
"So there won't be any transfers to your department or scheduling for ETCs. I know that you're trying to take William out of our care. Just get that idea out of your head. It won't happen. I won't let you."
"Neither will I."
Giles, moved by the firm stand his student had taken in order to protect their patient, had finally ceased cleaning his glasses and was taking action.
"If Buffy is certain about him then so am I. William is well taken care for in her hands."
He rewarded her bravery with a nod and a supportive smile, and Buffy could feel the uncertainty that had clasped her heart melt away immediately.
"This is outrageous. You're endangering the whole institute with your recklessness."
"No we aren't." Buffy replied, bolder now. "We're helping a patient that we trust to recover. That's all."
"He won't function properly. This is bound to head for a disaster. One for which I will certainly hold you two responsible for."
"Oh yes, undoubtedly you will." Giles remarked. "But please do remind me to make you take back every word you've said when we do succeed. I kind of look forward to prove you wrong and rub it in tactlessly on the day that William Byron is proclaimed healthy and is dismissed from this institute."
The elder woman's face was showing her disgust visibly, the corners of her thinning lips crocked and her cold green eyes stared at the pupil and the mentor full of contempt. Silently, she rose out of her seat. Just before she stepped out of the room, she turned around to have her final say in this situation.
"I don't think you'll have the opportunity to do so Dr Giles. As time will prove, you're once again horribly wrong in your judgements. But if it's your decision to let this madman roam free in the wards of your department, so shall it be. I won't stop you. Just remember that I've warned you about patient 17 when you both crash and burn."
SCENE 6
"Come on mates, don't look that gloom."
Sitting on the floor of the recreation room, I got myself a nice game of poker going on. I gazed up at the daft wankers, smiling arrogantly, while I wiped the entire floor clean, stuffing the coins, candy bars and crumbled fags into my pockets. Did I ever encounter a more susceptible crowd to fall victim to my brilliant schemes?
"Get out your stakes and I give you another crack at it. Win some of you boys' lunch money back."
Steward, who should be a fire breathing inferno demon in reality but was just a bloke with very bad breath in this wacky dimension gave me a real dirty look.
"We're not your mates, * mate*. And I quit playing with you. You've won about everything I got."
"Not much of a loser, are you?" I smirked. "Well then, anybody else who's chickening out and want to call it off?"
My mate Clem - I'm sorry, I mean the assumed perfectly human "Glen" - and the Fearall demon strangely given the nancy name James shook their heads and tossed their cards on the floor in an act of absolute surrender.
"You're really incredible William." James kept shaking his head in disbelief. "Winning seven times in a row? How can any guy beat that amount of luck?"
"It's not only a matter of luck, mate. It's a matter of technique as well." I placed a fresh fag between my lips and searched my shabby outfit for the box of matches that I had nicked a day before. Finally, after almost two weeks being put on dry, I was getting another shot at the third love of my life. The Slayer being the first and Drusilla and the liquor bottle ranking a close second. "You gotta keep yourself focussed when playing, use your wits. Not like corpse breath here who just keeps tossing his cards out like a crackers sloth machine vomiting coins."
"Hey, watch it bleach boy. Don't start ticking me off."
I lit my cigarette and took a long drag, acting unimpressed.
"Stew, don't do this. You remember what Dr Summers has told us to ignore comments like these coming from him? Patient suffering of serious insecurity issues here!?" Glen tried.
I almost choked on my fag.
" *Cough* What!!?"
"I don't give a damn about how fucked up he is! I'm not gonna let him turn me into his butt monkey just because that Summers woman tells me to swallow all of his crap."
"What did she say I had?!!'" I blurted, ignoring the inferno demon's pissed off reactions.
"Well, she told us that you were having problems with accepting who you are. That you were feeling really insecure about yourself and therefore, was trying to compensate for it by making us feel bad." James explained.
"It was a good thing she explained it all, otherwise it's kinda hard to ignore the nasty stuff you've said to us. But after Dr Summers' clarification it's almost impossible to be angry at you." Glen added, worsening my dread. "I mean, it was so inconsiderate of us to judge you on your behaviour, while all the time you were just scared and lonely, desperately trying to reach out to us."
I felt sick to my stomach. There was that bloody sense of misplaced sympathy again. Why on earth did they all feel sorry for me? Had everybody become suddenly immune to my obnoxiousness?
Do I really need to try even harder to get them react normally toward me?
"Hey Stew, chum of mine. I thought you are going to throw a tantrum when I don't shut my gob about how disgusting and repulsively smelly you are. What's with the waiting?"
The inferno demon eyes flared wide open and were shooting daggers. He leaped up like a foaming dog with Rabbis and grabbed me by my throat. Glen tried to hold him back but failed, resulting into the tosser knocking me over. As I struggled back on my feet, the extra cards fell out of the hidden compartments that I had sewn into my sleeves, landing right in front of the noses of my daft poker mates.
"What the-? You were cheating?!!" James exclaimed.
"Yeah, of course I was." I said mockingly, hoping to get their clocks ticking again. " You didn't seriously think that I could win that often without a bit of help, did you?"
Steward growled at me, his voice sounding much demon-like already.
"On second thought, yeah, you lot are probably daft enough to buy that. I mean you did believe that crap about having a standard of 5 aces in a pack of cards."
That did the trick. Good ol' Stew threw himself at me and before I could even rejoice the moment and feel the much craved rush of adrenaline pump again in my veins, the brute wanker had me fixed to the ground and sat on top of me, whacking me like there was no tomorrow and turning my face into a bloody mess.
This time, Glen didn't even attempt to interfere with me being trashed.
That should have been a big relief and a soothing bandage on the wounded self-esteem of this evil bad-ass vampire if it wasn't for the fact that I got knocked out almost immediately.
SCENE 7
"What are you trying to prove here?"
She eyed at me, annoyed as usual, dapping the swellings on my cheeks with a cold wet cloth while she tried to stop the continues stream of blood that tickled down the corner of my mouth, much to the courtesy of the cut lip that Steward had given me.
I was sitting in bed, not tied up for a change, and was having a major headache after having my features redone by a pissed off inferno demon. The good thing was that Buffy Nightingale had once again come to patch me up. Unfortunately, she was as unpleasantly talkative as ever.
"I didn't want to prove anything. Just got carried away by that wanker. No big deal."
"If you're trying to get yourself killed, do this when you're out of here and I'm no longer responsible for your stupidities, will you?"
I grinned because I could hear her concern through the vibe of her anger, and bloody cursed myself for doing it b'cause it bleedin hurt my face.
"You don't' see how serious this is getting, do you?" She pushed a tad too long and a bit too hard on one of my bruises to emphasize her irritation, causing me to flinch. "I'm telling you, if you don't improve on your behaviour we're going to get into some serious trouble with lady Jaws closing in."
I tried to blink with the one eye that I got left which was not completely beaten shut.
"I don't know what you're trying to tell me luv. Seriously puzzled here. What's with the reference to the fish monster?"
"Dr Walsh. Senior psychiatrist with astounding powers to doom any patient into oblivion because she has friends on high places. All you have to do if you have a dead wish is attract her attention and she will pull her strings to get you hooked up to the ETC equipment before you even can start screaming. "
"So, she's a bit of a cranky bitch then?"
"Oh yes, she's one scary and unpleasant harpy. And I was trying to keep her off your back. She seemed to have some morbid fascination with you, God knows why. She was trying to get you transferred to her department for special therapy."
I certainly didn't like the sound of that. Transfer to another department? If that would ever happen to me I was sure to see a lot less of my Slayer. A light panic entered my consciousness, making my skin tingle.
"So now what, I'm on her list for Santa now? Why is she picking on me for anyway. I don't even know the ol' bint."
"She thinks you're dangerous. Remember that test you did last Wednesday?"
"Yeah." I furrowed my brows. "The one with those funny questions you mean?"
"The one I asked you to fill in very carefully and not to fool around with."
"Look, I did exactly what you asked me to do."
"Will." She tossed the cloth on my bed and jumped right up, agitated. "When you were asked what you wanted to do once released from the institution you answered that you would like to go down to the Double meat palace to get your fangs imbedded in one of the juicy co-workers there. And your favourite colour seemed to be fresh aortic crimson with just a hint of ripped out gut's dark brown. Don't tell me that you were trying your best to be serious when you were writing all that crap down on your inquiry form."
"I was, actually."
"Yeah right! You were obviously trying to sabotage your tests!"
"Hey! You were the one who told me to answer in all honesty. Not to bloody lie to them. I could have made up an entire political correct poofter version of myself to please those pencil suckers in letting me go if it wasn't for trying to keep my word. I'm not completely daft here."
I was getting angry with her. Bloody hell, why had she to be so bloody difficult? And why was everything that went wrong automatically my fault? Does she ever going to consider me more then her convenient personal punching bag?
"Just - just stop acting this crazy."
She sighed, and looked very tired as if she had been fighting off a whole army of demons instead of one bitchy shrink.
"That's easy for you to say. Look, I can't stop being who I am." I averted my eyes and stared at the wall, angrily. "Why can't you bloody see that?"
"I don't want her to take you away from my care. Please listen to me Will, it 's really for your own good. I'm not trying to read you a lesson here or trying to mould you into someone better. I know you too well by now to keep those naïve hopes up."
I kept my gob shut and continued to pretend that she wasn't even in the soddin room.
"Fine, keep acting like a spoiled little kid. I've done my best to warn you. You want to be sent to the hell dimension of modern psychiatry, be my guest."
She turned away from me. Surprised that she was giving up so easily this time, I shot her a short glance, and got myself staring straight into her eyes again.
"I just wanted to tell you that I and the guys are going out on a fieldtrip this afternoon. I want you to join us."
"Thought you said I was on my own now. Why the sudden change of heart?" Smirking slyly I added. "Are you going to reward me from now on for my bad behaviour since whacking me is obviously not doing the trick?"
"Just show up at two. Grouping is in the recreation room on the sixth floor." Without changing her frigid attitude, she left the room, leaving me to ponder what the bleedin hell this was going to be all about.
SCENE 8
Staring at the bright new world that had presented before my squinting eyes as I was standing outside of the institute, I wasn't that dead sure anymore if I was that eager to leave the loony bin this soon.
"Um, I think I need a blanket."
"Nonsense William, it's 90 degrees outside! You hardly need a coat, let alone an extra blanket." Dave again, always the sensitive and considerate one.
"Yeah, what's the matter though guy, afraid the sun will melt the white right off your ass?" Steward of course, always the infuriating ol' git.
Steward gave me a shove and I almost got hurled from underneath the small rim of shadow that was provided by the porch and into an alarmingly bright beam of sunlight, only able to regain my balance and back out of it at the very last sec.
"Hey, watch it tosser! Keep your scaly hands off me."
I pushed the wanker, causing him to stagger a couple of steps backward, and having his back slammed against the rotating doors. The fair amount of yelping that he did because of it was like music to my ears.
"You son of a bitch!"
He was ready to jump on me again, and I was ready to run back inside to kick his ass before he could turn our location into his advantage, when the Slayer rolled out of the revolving entrance and reacted immediately in her usual bossy way.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing! Get your hands off each other!"
Steward had me by throat. I snickered at him till I was reminded that I actually needed to breath in this stupid dimension.
"Steward! Let go of him! You're suffocating him!"
The savage wanker did what she ordered, and I sank through my knees, coughing violently while trying to catch my breath.
"Can anybody tell me what is going on? I spent two seconds trying to organize our lunch and then I find you guys out here trying to kill each other. Honestly, what's wrong with both of you? Can't you play nice for a change?"
"Well, he bloody started it." I bended over and kept my head between my legs, still struggling to breath. "He shoved me."
"Squealer!" Steward yelled.
"It seems that young William has troubles dealing with sunlight." Dave explained. "He kept asking for a blanket for comfort. Poor little thing."
"I was asking for a blanket to shield myself against the sun, you overly feminine freak show. Remember, vampire?"
"You see, major issues."
"I would have been surprised if he hadn't got an issue." Buffy opted.
"Ratty snitch face!"
"Ugly tosser!"
"That's enough! Look this was supposed to be a fun filled roller coaster ride of an afternoon, but it's starting to turn into my friend Anya's wedding party. And let me tell you that that was one hell of a dreadful picnic."
She grabbed me by my collar, and since I was wearing the traditional loony bin's outfitthat looked professionally shabby and was incredibly loose fit, I kinda swayed back up like a funny head on a spring.
"Look, I don't want to go on this soddin trip of yours anymore. You go with these losers. I stay home."
I yanked myself free from her grip, even here the Buff was strong enough to grab and hassle me around. How's that for being pathetic?
"What's the matter this time? You don't want to come with us because of Steward, or because you're afraid of a little bit of sunshine?"
I snapped my head around, gazing at her agitatedly.
"I don't give a rat's arse about the Red and easily Combusting One here."
"So it is the sunlight, isn't it? You are still afraid that you're going to turn into ashes as soon as you walk out there with the sun beating down."
My cheeks became flushed with humiliation as I felt the others ogling at me my like I was some kind of exotic rarity, a freak amongst freaks.
"I need more time for this." I stumbled nervously, much to my own amazement and irritation. "Look, I can't go out there. I'll burn."
There was shift of mood in the Slayer's eyes, and as she spoke again much of the harshness that had sounded in her voice earlier had melted away.
"You won't burn. Nothing is going to happen William. This is a good way to test yourself and face the inevitable. You can't and you won't like to be locked up in the clinic for the rest of your entire life."
"Actually, that sounds really tempting right now." And I gazed through the wall sized windows behind her back into the building with the nice dark corridors, thinking fondly of my depressing but window free room. "I'm done with day time prancing. It's rather overrated if you ask me."
The slayer gave me a friendly smile.
"Come here. Let's do this together." She grabbed me by my arm and pulled me behind her, heading for the border of the small strip of shadows that had been my bloody sanctuary.
"It's just a one minute walk. The bus is parked around the corner."
She stepped over the thin line that marked the end of the shadowy patch, and then waited for me to cross as well, while her hand hold on to me tightly. I had thought that she might just drag me over right into the sun without as much as turning her head to see if I was actually smoking or not, but she surprised me with her considerate attitude and her patience. She just stood there in the sunlight, a encouraging smile on her lips as though she was inviting me to join her.
I waited till the others had passed by and were already halfway down the street, then decided that it was rather chicken shit to not at least give it a try and, after taking one last look at the Slayer, I crossed the grey and stepped into the light.
To be completely honest here, I was expecting to hear a sizzling sound, a smell of burning leather and the sensation of mind-numbing pain.
However, much to my surprise, there was none of that at all.
"You see! That wasn't frightening at all was it? Now can you please open your eyes so you can see where you're going? Or do you want me to play guide-nurse for you as well?"
Usually, this kind of comment coming from her was just begging for a juicy comeback that would make her blush like a 19th century maiden, but at the moment, all the wit had been melted off me by the freakishly scary, but also strangely exciting experience of actually to be standing outside during the day, bathing in a beam of sunlight without so much as a getting sunburn. The sun warmed my skin, wrapping me in a most comforting blanket of heat and I could see an orange glow through my closed eyelids. Slowly, I opened my eyes, blinking and squinting against the sun I saw a whole new world stretch out in front of me that started with the bright yellow and whit flower beds lining the borders of the path leading to the pavement, down the cheery, white houses with bourbon red roofs, up to the two giant maple trees that marked the end of the street.
Everything was so bloody intense and so bloody shiny, it hurt to look around, but I could hardly make myself not to. Had the sky always looked this blue? And the clouds drifting near the brilliance of the sun, had they always been like this, white with just a rim of gold as if a bloody angel had dipped them in bucket filled with dairy dust? Am I having one of my headtrips again or am I really, really here?
Buffy waited once again patiently for me to adjust myself to this strange world, giving me enough time to absorb it all and put myself at ease with these new experiences. I must have looked like a blind bloke who had miraculously regained his sight after having spent most of his life being lost in total darkness.
Finally, our eyes met again again.
"Are you all right William? Do you think you'll manage to join us?"
I gazed back at her and slowly, I nodded.
The smile that she had been wearing widened into a huge contagious grin as she took my hand and lead me further down the sunny path.
TBC
AUTHOR: Richard Bachman
EMAIL: bachman_rchard@hotmail.com
SITE: nope
FEEDBACK: Give it to me luv, you know you want more of this!
DISTRIBUTION: Do whatever you like poodle. As long as Richard is mentioned I'm fine.
RATING: NC-17 Humor/angst
PAIRING: B/S
SUMMARY: Got this wonderful idea after watching normal again. Instead of Buffy, Spike gets a dose of demonic goodness inserted into his system. As his consciousness is transported to an AU where he finds Sunnydale is no longer the good old Sunnyhell he despises and knows so well, things are getting a bit surreal for the poor bleached wonder.
WARNING: This fic describes scenes of rape, and is dark and angsty but I suppose that we kinda got used to it after watching whole bleedin S6.
THANKS: To anyone for reading my senseless dribble. Love you guys. You truly make wasting my weekends worthwhile!
CHARACTERS: Spike is knee deep in the AU thing. He discovers the benefits of team spirit, has some Angel/Liam interaction, and finds out that sunlight does indeed make him freckle (a bit).
ACT 6: The harsh light of day does not keep me restrained in darkness any longer.
SCENE 5
"Dr Walsh is here."
"Huh?"
Buffy turned around and noticed a bit too late that the strict doctor was sitting at the other side of Giles'desk, and was currently following her annoyed rambling with quite some interest.
"I don't mind her interruption. Buffy, why don't you sit down and join us? We were just discussing one of your patients. Perhaps you can provide us with your insight opinion."
"Oh no, she couldn't possibly. Um, Buffy would you mind to let me speak to Dr Walsh here in private before we discuss your matters in more detail?"
Giles deadly serious expression was enough to hint his pupil that it had been once again a very bad time to speak up her mind. Mentally slapping herself for her slip of the tongue, Buffy immediately recomposed her attitude. Besides, she knew Dr Walsh's reputation too well to feel comfortable to bash her tricky patient in her presence anyway.
"Oh sure. I'm sorry. I didn't know that you were in the middle of something important. I come back later."
"Close the door behind on your way out, will you?" Her mentor added.
"OK. You guys continue."
She swiftly headed back to the door and had already her hand on the door handle when her elder colleague decided that she wasn't going to let her slip out of the room that easily.
"Are you having problems dealing with patient 17, Buffy?"
Just ignore her, pretend that you didn't hear the question, she thought and pulled the door open a bit too fast and a bit too eagerly.
"Buffy, I was speaking to you. At least be polite enough to answer or I would find your behaviour very suspicious indeed."
She hoped that it was not visible, but she flinched as she was called back to clarify herself.
"Ops, sorry. Tend to go really deaf once in a while. It's probably the loud music that they are playing at the Bronze. Giles did warn me that standing too near those damn giant boxes are a sure way to ruin your eardrums."
"I was asking you if patient 17 was causing you any trouble."
Buffy looked confused.
"Who is causing me trouble again?"
"Patient seven- I mean mister Byron. Or William, as you both so carelessly prefer to call him. How is he reacting to your therapy sessions?"
"Oh you mean Will, why are you calling him." She shot one look back at the elder woman and decided not to go in on this one. "Um, He's doing just fine! Very nice guy, if you get to know him really. And the other guys just love him too. He's so." She paused, looking for a word to describe this total dysfunctional individual that wouldn't sound too far off from the truth. "Interactive with his surroundings, particularly when he wants something from you. But interactive in a good way of course, not in a mentally sick, constantly crying out for attention kind of way."
Silently, Dr Walsh kept staring at her.
"Oh yes, he's absolutely adapting incredibly well." She added, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
"Are you saying that he has no tendency to violence and he's not rebelling against your authority?"
"No! Not at all!" She had a very bad feeling about where this conversation Spanish inquisition style was going to lead into and she was trying her best to revert it for Will's sake. "Honest, he's no trouble at all. Meek as a lamb."
"Really? So why did you seem so upset with him?"
"I was?"
"As my short term memory allows me to recall, you were practically referring to him as the Big Antichrist when you rushed in to speak to Dr Giles."
"Oh, I was just jabbering nonsense." Buffy smiled nervously. "I though I give Giles a really good scare. He was acting all busy and important this morning, didn't have the time to speak to me so I became a little bit annoyed, that's all. It had nothing to do with William, really. "
Walsh kept her chilly eyes on the blond girl, then handed her the thick pile of stapled together paper that she had been reading. Buffy took it, not quite knowing what to think of this.
"Did you read this report on his psychological evaluation?"
"No, I didn't. He did the tests last Wednesday, I didn't expect the results coming back this soon. Normally, it takes a week or two."
"That's because the department thought Mister Byron's case was serious enough to pay attention to as soon as possible."
Buffy's anxiety just tripled in response to Walsh explanation.
"What do you mean? Is it really that bad?"
"There are clear indications that Mister Byron is suffering from a very serious form of his disease. He has disturbed thinking patterns and an extremely violent mind. The man we're dealing with here is absolutely a potential threat to the other patients."
"Now, let us not jump into conclusions. These test are a reflection of his state of mind on one particular time point. We should take his daily behaviour in real life into account as well before rushing into decisions." Giles tried.
"I do agree with you on that. That's exactly why the opinion of Dr Summers is so very important here."
She gave Buffy an impatient look, making the poor girl feel as if she was drifting in the open sea on a crappy-self made craft and was circled by a hungry shark.
"Tell me, Buffy. Considering Mister Byron's evaluation, shouldn't we bear in mind the possibility that there may be a need for a more stringent approach then simple group therapy?"
There was no doubt in Buffy's right mind that Dr Walsh was after William. The officious woman was always trying to force her will through the policies of the institute, acting as if she owned the whole place. She had a notorious reputation for her way of running her own wards, governing over her patients like a monarch, not tending them. The doctor was a firm believer in the therapeutic benefits of using cruel and savage methods when dealing with patients which she considered to be hopeless or dangerous, and there were rumours in the corridors that her way of practice was often crossing the limit of what was approved by the board. Still, she was quite influential and well respected by the higher ranking officials in charge, and most of the staff would rather give in to her sometimes impossible demands then to rise up against her. But Buffy Summers was not like the other members of the staff. Breathing in deeply, she managed to compose herself and stop her heart from fluttering in her chest. She had brought William in danger with her terrible sense of timing and she was the only one who could save him now from this dangerous woman's clutches.
"Look, I don't know what the results in this report are indicating, but I do speak the truth here when saying this. William is not dangerous. He may be impulsive and incredibly annoying most of the time, but he won't hurt anybody. He's just all tough talk, nothing more."
"How can you be so sure?" Walsh stated coldly.
"Because - because he's good guy. I believe that he has enough common sense left in him to judge right from wrong. I trust him."
Walsh fell silent, not pleased with the outcome of her inquiry.
"So there won't be any transfers to your department or scheduling for ETCs. I know that you're trying to take William out of our care. Just get that idea out of your head. It won't happen. I won't let you."
"Neither will I."
Giles, moved by the firm stand his student had taken in order to protect their patient, had finally ceased cleaning his glasses and was taking action.
"If Buffy is certain about him then so am I. William is well taken care for in her hands."
He rewarded her bravery with a nod and a supportive smile, and Buffy could feel the uncertainty that had clasped her heart melt away immediately.
"This is outrageous. You're endangering the whole institute with your recklessness."
"No we aren't." Buffy replied, bolder now. "We're helping a patient that we trust to recover. That's all."
"He won't function properly. This is bound to head for a disaster. One for which I will certainly hold you two responsible for."
"Oh yes, undoubtedly you will." Giles remarked. "But please do remind me to make you take back every word you've said when we do succeed. I kind of look forward to prove you wrong and rub it in tactlessly on the day that William Byron is proclaimed healthy and is dismissed from this institute."
The elder woman's face was showing her disgust visibly, the corners of her thinning lips crocked and her cold green eyes stared at the pupil and the mentor full of contempt. Silently, she rose out of her seat. Just before she stepped out of the room, she turned around to have her final say in this situation.
"I don't think you'll have the opportunity to do so Dr Giles. As time will prove, you're once again horribly wrong in your judgements. But if it's your decision to let this madman roam free in the wards of your department, so shall it be. I won't stop you. Just remember that I've warned you about patient 17 when you both crash and burn."
SCENE 6
"Come on mates, don't look that gloom."
Sitting on the floor of the recreation room, I got myself a nice game of poker going on. I gazed up at the daft wankers, smiling arrogantly, while I wiped the entire floor clean, stuffing the coins, candy bars and crumbled fags into my pockets. Did I ever encounter a more susceptible crowd to fall victim to my brilliant schemes?
"Get out your stakes and I give you another crack at it. Win some of you boys' lunch money back."
Steward, who should be a fire breathing inferno demon in reality but was just a bloke with very bad breath in this wacky dimension gave me a real dirty look.
"We're not your mates, * mate*. And I quit playing with you. You've won about everything I got."
"Not much of a loser, are you?" I smirked. "Well then, anybody else who's chickening out and want to call it off?"
My mate Clem - I'm sorry, I mean the assumed perfectly human "Glen" - and the Fearall demon strangely given the nancy name James shook their heads and tossed their cards on the floor in an act of absolute surrender.
"You're really incredible William." James kept shaking his head in disbelief. "Winning seven times in a row? How can any guy beat that amount of luck?"
"It's not only a matter of luck, mate. It's a matter of technique as well." I placed a fresh fag between my lips and searched my shabby outfit for the box of matches that I had nicked a day before. Finally, after almost two weeks being put on dry, I was getting another shot at the third love of my life. The Slayer being the first and Drusilla and the liquor bottle ranking a close second. "You gotta keep yourself focussed when playing, use your wits. Not like corpse breath here who just keeps tossing his cards out like a crackers sloth machine vomiting coins."
"Hey, watch it bleach boy. Don't start ticking me off."
I lit my cigarette and took a long drag, acting unimpressed.
"Stew, don't do this. You remember what Dr Summers has told us to ignore comments like these coming from him? Patient suffering of serious insecurity issues here!?" Glen tried.
I almost choked on my fag.
" *Cough* What!!?"
"I don't give a damn about how fucked up he is! I'm not gonna let him turn me into his butt monkey just because that Summers woman tells me to swallow all of his crap."
"What did she say I had?!!'" I blurted, ignoring the inferno demon's pissed off reactions.
"Well, she told us that you were having problems with accepting who you are. That you were feeling really insecure about yourself and therefore, was trying to compensate for it by making us feel bad." James explained.
"It was a good thing she explained it all, otherwise it's kinda hard to ignore the nasty stuff you've said to us. But after Dr Summers' clarification it's almost impossible to be angry at you." Glen added, worsening my dread. "I mean, it was so inconsiderate of us to judge you on your behaviour, while all the time you were just scared and lonely, desperately trying to reach out to us."
I felt sick to my stomach. There was that bloody sense of misplaced sympathy again. Why on earth did they all feel sorry for me? Had everybody become suddenly immune to my obnoxiousness?
Do I really need to try even harder to get them react normally toward me?
"Hey Stew, chum of mine. I thought you are going to throw a tantrum when I don't shut my gob about how disgusting and repulsively smelly you are. What's with the waiting?"
The inferno demon eyes flared wide open and were shooting daggers. He leaped up like a foaming dog with Rabbis and grabbed me by my throat. Glen tried to hold him back but failed, resulting into the tosser knocking me over. As I struggled back on my feet, the extra cards fell out of the hidden compartments that I had sewn into my sleeves, landing right in front of the noses of my daft poker mates.
"What the-? You were cheating?!!" James exclaimed.
"Yeah, of course I was." I said mockingly, hoping to get their clocks ticking again. " You didn't seriously think that I could win that often without a bit of help, did you?"
Steward growled at me, his voice sounding much demon-like already.
"On second thought, yeah, you lot are probably daft enough to buy that. I mean you did believe that crap about having a standard of 5 aces in a pack of cards."
That did the trick. Good ol' Stew threw himself at me and before I could even rejoice the moment and feel the much craved rush of adrenaline pump again in my veins, the brute wanker had me fixed to the ground and sat on top of me, whacking me like there was no tomorrow and turning my face into a bloody mess.
This time, Glen didn't even attempt to interfere with me being trashed.
That should have been a big relief and a soothing bandage on the wounded self-esteem of this evil bad-ass vampire if it wasn't for the fact that I got knocked out almost immediately.
SCENE 7
"What are you trying to prove here?"
She eyed at me, annoyed as usual, dapping the swellings on my cheeks with a cold wet cloth while she tried to stop the continues stream of blood that tickled down the corner of my mouth, much to the courtesy of the cut lip that Steward had given me.
I was sitting in bed, not tied up for a change, and was having a major headache after having my features redone by a pissed off inferno demon. The good thing was that Buffy Nightingale had once again come to patch me up. Unfortunately, she was as unpleasantly talkative as ever.
"I didn't want to prove anything. Just got carried away by that wanker. No big deal."
"If you're trying to get yourself killed, do this when you're out of here and I'm no longer responsible for your stupidities, will you?"
I grinned because I could hear her concern through the vibe of her anger, and bloody cursed myself for doing it b'cause it bleedin hurt my face.
"You don't' see how serious this is getting, do you?" She pushed a tad too long and a bit too hard on one of my bruises to emphasize her irritation, causing me to flinch. "I'm telling you, if you don't improve on your behaviour we're going to get into some serious trouble with lady Jaws closing in."
I tried to blink with the one eye that I got left which was not completely beaten shut.
"I don't know what you're trying to tell me luv. Seriously puzzled here. What's with the reference to the fish monster?"
"Dr Walsh. Senior psychiatrist with astounding powers to doom any patient into oblivion because she has friends on high places. All you have to do if you have a dead wish is attract her attention and she will pull her strings to get you hooked up to the ETC equipment before you even can start screaming. "
"So, she's a bit of a cranky bitch then?"
"Oh yes, she's one scary and unpleasant harpy. And I was trying to keep her off your back. She seemed to have some morbid fascination with you, God knows why. She was trying to get you transferred to her department for special therapy."
I certainly didn't like the sound of that. Transfer to another department? If that would ever happen to me I was sure to see a lot less of my Slayer. A light panic entered my consciousness, making my skin tingle.
"So now what, I'm on her list for Santa now? Why is she picking on me for anyway. I don't even know the ol' bint."
"She thinks you're dangerous. Remember that test you did last Wednesday?"
"Yeah." I furrowed my brows. "The one with those funny questions you mean?"
"The one I asked you to fill in very carefully and not to fool around with."
"Look, I did exactly what you asked me to do."
"Will." She tossed the cloth on my bed and jumped right up, agitated. "When you were asked what you wanted to do once released from the institution you answered that you would like to go down to the Double meat palace to get your fangs imbedded in one of the juicy co-workers there. And your favourite colour seemed to be fresh aortic crimson with just a hint of ripped out gut's dark brown. Don't tell me that you were trying your best to be serious when you were writing all that crap down on your inquiry form."
"I was, actually."
"Yeah right! You were obviously trying to sabotage your tests!"
"Hey! You were the one who told me to answer in all honesty. Not to bloody lie to them. I could have made up an entire political correct poofter version of myself to please those pencil suckers in letting me go if it wasn't for trying to keep my word. I'm not completely daft here."
I was getting angry with her. Bloody hell, why had she to be so bloody difficult? And why was everything that went wrong automatically my fault? Does she ever going to consider me more then her convenient personal punching bag?
"Just - just stop acting this crazy."
She sighed, and looked very tired as if she had been fighting off a whole army of demons instead of one bitchy shrink.
"That's easy for you to say. Look, I can't stop being who I am." I averted my eyes and stared at the wall, angrily. "Why can't you bloody see that?"
"I don't want her to take you away from my care. Please listen to me Will, it 's really for your own good. I'm not trying to read you a lesson here or trying to mould you into someone better. I know you too well by now to keep those naïve hopes up."
I kept my gob shut and continued to pretend that she wasn't even in the soddin room.
"Fine, keep acting like a spoiled little kid. I've done my best to warn you. You want to be sent to the hell dimension of modern psychiatry, be my guest."
She turned away from me. Surprised that she was giving up so easily this time, I shot her a short glance, and got myself staring straight into her eyes again.
"I just wanted to tell you that I and the guys are going out on a fieldtrip this afternoon. I want you to join us."
"Thought you said I was on my own now. Why the sudden change of heart?" Smirking slyly I added. "Are you going to reward me from now on for my bad behaviour since whacking me is obviously not doing the trick?"
"Just show up at two. Grouping is in the recreation room on the sixth floor." Without changing her frigid attitude, she left the room, leaving me to ponder what the bleedin hell this was going to be all about.
SCENE 8
Staring at the bright new world that had presented before my squinting eyes as I was standing outside of the institute, I wasn't that dead sure anymore if I was that eager to leave the loony bin this soon.
"Um, I think I need a blanket."
"Nonsense William, it's 90 degrees outside! You hardly need a coat, let alone an extra blanket." Dave again, always the sensitive and considerate one.
"Yeah, what's the matter though guy, afraid the sun will melt the white right off your ass?" Steward of course, always the infuriating ol' git.
Steward gave me a shove and I almost got hurled from underneath the small rim of shadow that was provided by the porch and into an alarmingly bright beam of sunlight, only able to regain my balance and back out of it at the very last sec.
"Hey, watch it tosser! Keep your scaly hands off me."
I pushed the wanker, causing him to stagger a couple of steps backward, and having his back slammed against the rotating doors. The fair amount of yelping that he did because of it was like music to my ears.
"You son of a bitch!"
He was ready to jump on me again, and I was ready to run back inside to kick his ass before he could turn our location into his advantage, when the Slayer rolled out of the revolving entrance and reacted immediately in her usual bossy way.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing! Get your hands off each other!"
Steward had me by throat. I snickered at him till I was reminded that I actually needed to breath in this stupid dimension.
"Steward! Let go of him! You're suffocating him!"
The savage wanker did what she ordered, and I sank through my knees, coughing violently while trying to catch my breath.
"Can anybody tell me what is going on? I spent two seconds trying to organize our lunch and then I find you guys out here trying to kill each other. Honestly, what's wrong with both of you? Can't you play nice for a change?"
"Well, he bloody started it." I bended over and kept my head between my legs, still struggling to breath. "He shoved me."
"Squealer!" Steward yelled.
"It seems that young William has troubles dealing with sunlight." Dave explained. "He kept asking for a blanket for comfort. Poor little thing."
"I was asking for a blanket to shield myself against the sun, you overly feminine freak show. Remember, vampire?"
"You see, major issues."
"I would have been surprised if he hadn't got an issue." Buffy opted.
"Ratty snitch face!"
"Ugly tosser!"
"That's enough! Look this was supposed to be a fun filled roller coaster ride of an afternoon, but it's starting to turn into my friend Anya's wedding party. And let me tell you that that was one hell of a dreadful picnic."
She grabbed me by my collar, and since I was wearing the traditional loony bin's outfitthat looked professionally shabby and was incredibly loose fit, I kinda swayed back up like a funny head on a spring.
"Look, I don't want to go on this soddin trip of yours anymore. You go with these losers. I stay home."
I yanked myself free from her grip, even here the Buff was strong enough to grab and hassle me around. How's that for being pathetic?
"What's the matter this time? You don't want to come with us because of Steward, or because you're afraid of a little bit of sunshine?"
I snapped my head around, gazing at her agitatedly.
"I don't give a rat's arse about the Red and easily Combusting One here."
"So it is the sunlight, isn't it? You are still afraid that you're going to turn into ashes as soon as you walk out there with the sun beating down."
My cheeks became flushed with humiliation as I felt the others ogling at me my like I was some kind of exotic rarity, a freak amongst freaks.
"I need more time for this." I stumbled nervously, much to my own amazement and irritation. "Look, I can't go out there. I'll burn."
There was shift of mood in the Slayer's eyes, and as she spoke again much of the harshness that had sounded in her voice earlier had melted away.
"You won't burn. Nothing is going to happen William. This is a good way to test yourself and face the inevitable. You can't and you won't like to be locked up in the clinic for the rest of your entire life."
"Actually, that sounds really tempting right now." And I gazed through the wall sized windows behind her back into the building with the nice dark corridors, thinking fondly of my depressing but window free room. "I'm done with day time prancing. It's rather overrated if you ask me."
The slayer gave me a friendly smile.
"Come here. Let's do this together." She grabbed me by my arm and pulled me behind her, heading for the border of the small strip of shadows that had been my bloody sanctuary.
"It's just a one minute walk. The bus is parked around the corner."
She stepped over the thin line that marked the end of the shadowy patch, and then waited for me to cross as well, while her hand hold on to me tightly. I had thought that she might just drag me over right into the sun without as much as turning her head to see if I was actually smoking or not, but she surprised me with her considerate attitude and her patience. She just stood there in the sunlight, a encouraging smile on her lips as though she was inviting me to join her.
I waited till the others had passed by and were already halfway down the street, then decided that it was rather chicken shit to not at least give it a try and, after taking one last look at the Slayer, I crossed the grey and stepped into the light.
To be completely honest here, I was expecting to hear a sizzling sound, a smell of burning leather and the sensation of mind-numbing pain.
However, much to my surprise, there was none of that at all.
"You see! That wasn't frightening at all was it? Now can you please open your eyes so you can see where you're going? Or do you want me to play guide-nurse for you as well?"
Usually, this kind of comment coming from her was just begging for a juicy comeback that would make her blush like a 19th century maiden, but at the moment, all the wit had been melted off me by the freakishly scary, but also strangely exciting experience of actually to be standing outside during the day, bathing in a beam of sunlight without so much as a getting sunburn. The sun warmed my skin, wrapping me in a most comforting blanket of heat and I could see an orange glow through my closed eyelids. Slowly, I opened my eyes, blinking and squinting against the sun I saw a whole new world stretch out in front of me that started with the bright yellow and whit flower beds lining the borders of the path leading to the pavement, down the cheery, white houses with bourbon red roofs, up to the two giant maple trees that marked the end of the street.
Everything was so bloody intense and so bloody shiny, it hurt to look around, but I could hardly make myself not to. Had the sky always looked this blue? And the clouds drifting near the brilliance of the sun, had they always been like this, white with just a rim of gold as if a bloody angel had dipped them in bucket filled with dairy dust? Am I having one of my headtrips again or am I really, really here?
Buffy waited once again patiently for me to adjust myself to this strange world, giving me enough time to absorb it all and put myself at ease with these new experiences. I must have looked like a blind bloke who had miraculously regained his sight after having spent most of his life being lost in total darkness.
Finally, our eyes met again again.
"Are you all right William? Do you think you'll manage to join us?"
I gazed back at her and slowly, I nodded.
The smile that she had been wearing widened into a huge contagious grin as she took my hand and lead me further down the sunny path.
TBC
