Summary/Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
*****
Chapter 12
Spike hated flying. In his years he had flown on everything from an airship to Concorde and he still couldn't get used to it. Looking over at Buffy, who had fallen asleep immediately after takeoff, he couldn't help but feel a touch of envy. He supposed that being brought up in a world where flight was so common then it didn't seem like a big deal to her, but he was a product of Victorian England, where things stayed firmly on the ground like they were meant to. Although he was avoiding looking at Angel, Spike could tell he was also uncomfortable with the mode of transport. This helped to improve Spike's mood.
Spike shook his head as he thought about how he had ended up where he was. One advantage of never settling down for long in one place was that when it was time to move on, it didn't require a lot of packing.
All of Spike's possessions fit neatly into one suitcase while Buffy's things took up another three. They had been forced to leave behind the car he had been using, just as he had abandoned the DeSoto when they left South America. He still occasionally missed that car, but it was easier to simply steal another one than try to shit it abroad.
Within six hours of Angel's arrival the two vampires and the ex-Slayer were in the air headed for California.
He just wished he knew a bit more about what was waiting for them there.
*****
Buffy slowly opened her eyes to see a vampire standing over her. She frowned. It was the wrong vampire.
"Angel?"
"Buffy, we're here."
*****
Spike had actually faced a firing squad in 1944 when he and Dru were captured by the Nazis. They had been knocked unconscious and when they came 'round they were tied to posts with five men aiming their rifles at them.
The feeling Spike had while waiting for Buffy's friends to arrive was surprisingly similar to what he had felt that day.
It wasn't that he had had any contact with these people back in Sunnydale, so he really didn't know anything about them, but he knew they had hurt Buffy. That definitely put them on his shit list. Just before they had boarded the flight Buffy had made him promise to give her former friends a chance and being the whipped sod that he was, he agreed. Spike had a feeling he was going to regret that.
Pity he couldn't just kill them like he did the Nazis.
*****
Buffy was beyond nervous, this was near panic attack status. Not only was she about to see her friends who she was still slightly mad at, she was going to see her mother for the first time in three years and to top it all off her mother was in hospital.
Buffy had no idea what she was going to say to everybody. The only people she had parted on good terms with were Giles and Willow but what if they hated her now for running away?
*****
As the trio entered the waiting area of the airport Buffy started to scan the crowd for signs of anyone she knew. Angel caught the action out of the corner of his eye.
"They're not here. Since they knew we'd all be going to the hospital anyway it was decided to just wait for us there."
Buffy visibly relaxed at this. She knew she still had to face them, but at least she had a few more minutes before then. Spike loaded their bags into Angel's as she and Angel got in. As soon as Spike was in the seat next to Buffy the car pulled away from the curb headed for the hospital
"So how long has mom been in hospital? And you never told me what was wrong with her."
"I don't know, Giles phoned me and told me to track you down. He never went into details." Buffy was confused by this.
"Why did he need to phone you? Don't you see him all the time?"
"I live in LA Buffy, I moved about a year after I came back from hell."
This came as a shock to Buffy and she wanted more details but she decided it would have to wait as the car was pulling up outside Sunnydale Memorial hospital. Buffy was already halfway across the car park before she realised than neither vampire was following her. She quickly went back to the car to see what was happening.
"Spike, Angel, aren't you coming in." It was Spike who answered her.
"Well pet, this is more of a private thing, thought we'd let you say hello to your mum in private. Besides, me and the poof have a few things to discuss. Give us a ring on the mobile when you're done and we'll pick you up."
Buffy wasn't especially happy about being left alone but she could see that Spike being there would only cause more problems when she really only wanted to see her mom. She nodded her agreement and the black car pulled away from her
*****
For the second time in less than an hour Buffy was thankful to be spared from a big reunion with her former friends as she spotted only Giles in the waiting room near the entrance to the hospital.
The man who for two years had been a father to her rose as she approached and enveloped her in a warm hug.
"Buffy, it's wonderful to finally see you again."
"Giles. Where's everyone else?"
"I thought it best that welcoming you home be in a more suitable location than the hospital so I sent everyone home. Now, I expect that you will be wanting to see your mother."
Buffy smiled up at Giles, really glad to see him. He was one of the few things about Sunnydale that she missed. As they started to make their way through the hospital towards a thought again occurred to Buffy.
"Giles, Angel couldn't tell me what's wrong with mom, I need to know." Giles sighed as he slowed their pace.
"Buffy there have been certain changes since you.left. Now I will explain them but first you are right, you deserve to know what is happening. Your mother has a brain tumour Buffy. She had an operation seven days ago, after we sent Angel to find you, and the tumour was removed. The doctors say that there is a 75% chance that Joyce will make a full recovery."
Buffy felt like someone had slugged her in the gut with a baseball bat. All she wanted to do was sit in a corner and cry but she needed to be strong for her mother. Later, when she was alone with Spike she could cry and wail and break things, but now she needed to be strong.
"What other changes were you talking about?"
"Well, there are two things to tell you. Myself and Joyce argued about who would get to tell you so we have ended up with one piece of news each." Buffy was certainly intrigued now.
"After you left, your mother started to come to me to learn about what your life was like as the slayer. I decided to tell her everything, holding nothing back. During this time we actually became good friends. Eventually things progressed from there."
"Is there a point in there somewhere?" she joked. She and Giles shared a small chuckle before he continued.
"Buffy, two years ago your mother and I were married."
Buffy instantly went from the punched-in-the-gut feeling to where's-my- knees-gone in about half a second. 'Mom's married?' she thought, 'Mom's married to GILES?'
"So you're like my step dad now?"
"Yes Buffy I am. Buffy, I want you to realise something. I love Joyce, very much. And I'm lucky enough to be able to say that she loves me back. I hope you can be happy for us." Giles suddenly found Buffy in his arms as she hugged him for the second time that day.
"Of course I'm happy for you Giles. Now what's the second thing I need to know."
"I've already told you Joyce is to be the one to tell you that, I'd be sleeping on the sofa for a week if I told you." With that Giles opened the door to his wife's room.
Buffy certainly wasn't expecting the scene that greeted her. Her mother was sat up in bed holding a small baby.
When she heard the door opening Joyce looked up to see Buffy standing in the doorway.
"Buffy sweetheart, come in. I'd like you to meet your sister, Dawn."
TBC
AN: Finally a new chap! Anyway, I've still got to make an important decision for this story: Should Joyce die or not? I have worked out how the story would proceed if Joyce dies and also if she does not die. Now I just need to decide which path to take the story down.
Any suggestions?
I was pleasantly surprised today to receive an e-mail from Josephine Martin regarding a review I posted. Just in case Josephine reads this, thank you, the e-mail was appreciated.
On a different note, my first story 'So Pretty' was based around the episode 'Normal Again' and today I finally got to see the actual episode. I was not disappointed, although I think Joss could have saved the episode to be the last ever Buffy, a quirky way to finish off the show.
*****
Chapter 12
Spike hated flying. In his years he had flown on everything from an airship to Concorde and he still couldn't get used to it. Looking over at Buffy, who had fallen asleep immediately after takeoff, he couldn't help but feel a touch of envy. He supposed that being brought up in a world where flight was so common then it didn't seem like a big deal to her, but he was a product of Victorian England, where things stayed firmly on the ground like they were meant to. Although he was avoiding looking at Angel, Spike could tell he was also uncomfortable with the mode of transport. This helped to improve Spike's mood.
Spike shook his head as he thought about how he had ended up where he was. One advantage of never settling down for long in one place was that when it was time to move on, it didn't require a lot of packing.
All of Spike's possessions fit neatly into one suitcase while Buffy's things took up another three. They had been forced to leave behind the car he had been using, just as he had abandoned the DeSoto when they left South America. He still occasionally missed that car, but it was easier to simply steal another one than try to shit it abroad.
Within six hours of Angel's arrival the two vampires and the ex-Slayer were in the air headed for California.
He just wished he knew a bit more about what was waiting for them there.
*****
Buffy slowly opened her eyes to see a vampire standing over her. She frowned. It was the wrong vampire.
"Angel?"
"Buffy, we're here."
*****
Spike had actually faced a firing squad in 1944 when he and Dru were captured by the Nazis. They had been knocked unconscious and when they came 'round they were tied to posts with five men aiming their rifles at them.
The feeling Spike had while waiting for Buffy's friends to arrive was surprisingly similar to what he had felt that day.
It wasn't that he had had any contact with these people back in Sunnydale, so he really didn't know anything about them, but he knew they had hurt Buffy. That definitely put them on his shit list. Just before they had boarded the flight Buffy had made him promise to give her former friends a chance and being the whipped sod that he was, he agreed. Spike had a feeling he was going to regret that.
Pity he couldn't just kill them like he did the Nazis.
*****
Buffy was beyond nervous, this was near panic attack status. Not only was she about to see her friends who she was still slightly mad at, she was going to see her mother for the first time in three years and to top it all off her mother was in hospital.
Buffy had no idea what she was going to say to everybody. The only people she had parted on good terms with were Giles and Willow but what if they hated her now for running away?
*****
As the trio entered the waiting area of the airport Buffy started to scan the crowd for signs of anyone she knew. Angel caught the action out of the corner of his eye.
"They're not here. Since they knew we'd all be going to the hospital anyway it was decided to just wait for us there."
Buffy visibly relaxed at this. She knew she still had to face them, but at least she had a few more minutes before then. Spike loaded their bags into Angel's as she and Angel got in. As soon as Spike was in the seat next to Buffy the car pulled away from the curb headed for the hospital
"So how long has mom been in hospital? And you never told me what was wrong with her."
"I don't know, Giles phoned me and told me to track you down. He never went into details." Buffy was confused by this.
"Why did he need to phone you? Don't you see him all the time?"
"I live in LA Buffy, I moved about a year after I came back from hell."
This came as a shock to Buffy and she wanted more details but she decided it would have to wait as the car was pulling up outside Sunnydale Memorial hospital. Buffy was already halfway across the car park before she realised than neither vampire was following her. She quickly went back to the car to see what was happening.
"Spike, Angel, aren't you coming in." It was Spike who answered her.
"Well pet, this is more of a private thing, thought we'd let you say hello to your mum in private. Besides, me and the poof have a few things to discuss. Give us a ring on the mobile when you're done and we'll pick you up."
Buffy wasn't especially happy about being left alone but she could see that Spike being there would only cause more problems when she really only wanted to see her mom. She nodded her agreement and the black car pulled away from her
*****
For the second time in less than an hour Buffy was thankful to be spared from a big reunion with her former friends as she spotted only Giles in the waiting room near the entrance to the hospital.
The man who for two years had been a father to her rose as she approached and enveloped her in a warm hug.
"Buffy, it's wonderful to finally see you again."
"Giles. Where's everyone else?"
"I thought it best that welcoming you home be in a more suitable location than the hospital so I sent everyone home. Now, I expect that you will be wanting to see your mother."
Buffy smiled up at Giles, really glad to see him. He was one of the few things about Sunnydale that she missed. As they started to make their way through the hospital towards a thought again occurred to Buffy.
"Giles, Angel couldn't tell me what's wrong with mom, I need to know." Giles sighed as he slowed their pace.
"Buffy there have been certain changes since you.left. Now I will explain them but first you are right, you deserve to know what is happening. Your mother has a brain tumour Buffy. She had an operation seven days ago, after we sent Angel to find you, and the tumour was removed. The doctors say that there is a 75% chance that Joyce will make a full recovery."
Buffy felt like someone had slugged her in the gut with a baseball bat. All she wanted to do was sit in a corner and cry but she needed to be strong for her mother. Later, when she was alone with Spike she could cry and wail and break things, but now she needed to be strong.
"What other changes were you talking about?"
"Well, there are two things to tell you. Myself and Joyce argued about who would get to tell you so we have ended up with one piece of news each." Buffy was certainly intrigued now.
"After you left, your mother started to come to me to learn about what your life was like as the slayer. I decided to tell her everything, holding nothing back. During this time we actually became good friends. Eventually things progressed from there."
"Is there a point in there somewhere?" she joked. She and Giles shared a small chuckle before he continued.
"Buffy, two years ago your mother and I were married."
Buffy instantly went from the punched-in-the-gut feeling to where's-my- knees-gone in about half a second. 'Mom's married?' she thought, 'Mom's married to GILES?'
"So you're like my step dad now?"
"Yes Buffy I am. Buffy, I want you to realise something. I love Joyce, very much. And I'm lucky enough to be able to say that she loves me back. I hope you can be happy for us." Giles suddenly found Buffy in his arms as she hugged him for the second time that day.
"Of course I'm happy for you Giles. Now what's the second thing I need to know."
"I've already told you Joyce is to be the one to tell you that, I'd be sleeping on the sofa for a week if I told you." With that Giles opened the door to his wife's room.
Buffy certainly wasn't expecting the scene that greeted her. Her mother was sat up in bed holding a small baby.
When she heard the door opening Joyce looked up to see Buffy standing in the doorway.
"Buffy sweetheart, come in. I'd like you to meet your sister, Dawn."
TBC
AN: Finally a new chap! Anyway, I've still got to make an important decision for this story: Should Joyce die or not? I have worked out how the story would proceed if Joyce dies and also if she does not die. Now I just need to decide which path to take the story down.
Any suggestions?
I was pleasantly surprised today to receive an e-mail from Josephine Martin regarding a review I posted. Just in case Josephine reads this, thank you, the e-mail was appreciated.
On a different note, my first story 'So Pretty' was based around the episode 'Normal Again' and today I finally got to see the actual episode. I was not disappointed, although I think Joss could have saved the episode to be the last ever Buffy, a quirky way to finish off the show.
