Bent by the Powers
by Daniele-Marx
Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS or Angel, but the plot is from my own brain, and forgive me, I don't know anything about the show Angel, but I am slowly learning the ways. There will be updates should my assumptions be incorrect.
P.S.= This story should take place somewhere after Fred comes into the picture and before the next season of Angel. Buffy didn't die, but it couldn't've taken that long for her to speed into the next season of Angel as well. Thank you.
~.Marx.~
Storyline: What would have happened if Glory had succeeded in killing all of the Scoobies but Buffy and Dawn?
~~~~
Cordelia tucked Dawn into her bed after a shower and a little talk of what happened, and Dawn noticed the light shut off on its own. She felt nervous until Cordelia explained Dennis, her ghost of the apartment. Dawn then felt something touch her cheek, and she drifted off. Cordelia felt tears rise to her eyes as she thought of Xander, proud Xander as he fought off Glory's Minions with the same bravery as she remembered from him. She never realized his love until it was gone, but she tried very hard to move on. It seemed to be her curse. A hand touched her back, an invisible one, and she cried as he sat next to her, listening to her.
~~~~
//"Let me go!" Buffy shouted, feeling Glory force her hands behind her back as she lay face down on the broken concrete. She wondered why Glory hadn't sucked her brains out yet, and Glory lifted her by her hair to look ahead of her. The minions had Giles by the arms, and they threw him onto a sharp spike coming from one of the walls, killing him instantly. Buffy cried out in pain as Glory reached into the skin of her back, breaking it and grabbing for something. The Goddess was pulled off by Spike before he was beheaded and dusted, and Buffy got up, denying the pain and looking around. Everyone was dead. Dawn grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the scene...\\
Angel looked at her coat as he put it aside, and he glared at the soaked red part of her jacket. He looked hard at Buffy's back as she lay stomach down on his bed. It wasn't healthier to lie like that, but it was the only way. He would have to remove her shirt as best he could, and discard it because it was no longer a good memory for one, nor was it an off-white color. The hard part would be removing the shirt from the wound so he could bandage her up. When he lightly lifted the shirt up, she shuddered, and began to cringe, trying to roll over. He stopped her by messaging her lower back. Glorificus did a job on her. Angel knew he needed help, and he walked over to the phone, dialing a number.
Minutes later, Buffy opened her eyes, and felt the tears begin again. There was a stinging sensation in her back, and she found herself sleeping on her stomach. When she tried to move, a jab of pain raced through her back muscles, and the same happened when she breathed. Angel was sitting next to her, dabbing her back. Buffy tensed up as he hit a nerve, and she couldn't move.
"Probably the worst physical wound yet, right?" he said. She breathed in as the pain ensued, and nodded, looking up at him while moving her neck and denying the pain again. "Just relax, Buffy, this is going to hurt."
"Does it look as bad as it feels?" Her muscles tensed once she spoke, and he touched her neck, soothing it so she would lay back down. "I'm going to need a lot of training after this."
"Yes. But for now try not to move. The material is beginning to soften so I can take it off without causing you anymore pain." Only then did she realize that not only was she wearing nothing over her upper body, but also someone else was in the room. She looked past Angel to see Wesley walking upto the bed with supplies to help her back.
"Gunn went to check up on Fred and won't be down for a while. I spoke with Cordelia on the phone when I got here. She left a note to call her. I had no idea Dawn was here as well. I heard something about Glorificus, who has been terrorizing Sunnydale for a while. I don't have that much information about her, though. I might have to contact some old friends for the information." Wesley looked at Buffy's back and noticed something odd. "I don't understand why she isn't healing faster now that I notice it. Slayers always have had the power to fight off illnesses." Buffy tried to calm herself down, but her muscles began to spasm on her back, which forced her to tense up even more. Angel's hands touched her shoulders gently, and began messaging them.
"Why couldn't I save them?" she asked him as her breathing began to return to normal.
"I don't know..." He was thinking about blaming the Powers, and it would have worked, but she would have to find a way to fight them herself. Fight them and Glory.
Buffy tensed up despite Angel's very soothing touch.
"Lay still, it's going to hurt more if you move around." He began to work a kink out of her neck, and she calmed herself once again. He wasn't about to tell her that he wasn't letting her out of bed until she healed up. Buffy exhaled, and Wesley sat on the other side of her, checking her back. At this point she didn't care to argue with the point that she was naked from the waist up, and internally, she really could have cared less. Wesley looked at her soaking back, and lifted the washcloth that Angel had put over her wound. The shirt raised with the cloth, not yet ready to come off, and Buffy felt something tear at her back, making her back move upwards from the pain and with it every single muscle in her body following. Wesley put the cloth down gently when he received a glare from Angel, who was still working on her relaxation.
"Could you go tell Gunn that there's a God on the loose called GLorificus? We're going to need to research her in case she does come here. I'll be up in a while."
"Yes."
"Thank you." Wesley left the room, and something dawned on Buffy, making her tense up once again to the point of getting up. Angel held her down.
"You didn't tell him about Dawn, did you?"
"He has changed for the better, Buffy. I promise he won't do anything."
"I don't know what I would do if I lost her." Angel understood her, and stopped his ministrations, taking care to hear her words and understand them as he always had.
"You should probably try to get more sleep. I'll take care of you." She nodded very slightly, and he kept messaging her shoulders until he heard her gentle breathing once more, his hands slipping down to the washcloth, checking it in case it needed to be resoaked. He very carefully parted the material of her torn shirt from the washcloth and resoaked it, placing it back on the remains of her shirt. Sooner or later the wound would have to let go, and he wasn't going anywhere until it did. The Powers would have some explaining to do, though.
//Anya watched as two of Glory's minions started swinging at Xander with a large metal pipe, and she lost control, sending herself into the mass. One of them saw her and struck her fatally with the pipe, and she fell to the ground, lifeless and dead. Xander paused, and fury enraged him as he tackled one of the minions, then felt a hard object, more and likely the pipe, strike him in the same manner as Anya had been hit; he too fell to the ground, dead.
Tara and Willow stuck together, throwing blows and hexes everywhere to hold off the enormous crowd, but they failed. Glory struck Tara from afar with a large brick to the head, and she knocked into Willow, who was building up her anger and fear. She threw a curse at Glory, and the Goddess ricochetted it off of her hand and threw it back at Willow, killing her instantly.
Giles watched as Spike freed Dawn, and watched as Buffy got tackled by Glory from behind and forced to look upwards toward Giles. He didn't understand until three minions grabbed his arms and body, pulling him back until he felt a sharp spike pierce his back. Spike pulled Glory back off of Buffy, and saw her bloody hand and Buffy's back. Spike distracted the Goddess, and Buffy got up, denying herself any immediate pain. "No, Spike!" Glory threw a large metal disc at the vampire, and beheaded him. Buffy looked around mournfully and Dawn ran to her and dragged her out. There wasn't anyone alive, but the Slayer and the Key were gone.\\
Buffy woke up abruptly, feeling herself shedding tears unnoticeably. A sob wracked her throat, and she let everything come together. The pain in her back intensified as she strained to breathe, but she clenched the bed sheets tightly. She groaned as she bit her tongue, and felt like itching the pain in her back, but she knew she was healing that way. All she knew was that Glory somehow put a large hole into her back and tried to squeeze her heart out of her body; she imagined there was a big hole where her spine (insert sarcasm) used to be. Overhearing a conversation between Angel and Wesley, she calmed down unwillingly. The smell of the sheets under her had the essence of Angel, and she concentrated on his image with closed eyelids as she had when she was training with Giles; it seemed to work so long as the image never faded.
"We have to take her to the doctor, Angel. She needs major medical attention. Her spine has been damaged and I am guessing that her her body reacting like this is because she's the Slayer."
"She said she didn't want to go to the hospital." said Angel reluctantly. The image of her relaxation began to wither as she heard this and it forced her to think, while her training taught her to not just think, but to think and then forget. Her mind strayed and she let herself be compliant with what options there were.
Forget what I said, Angel...she thought. Angel looked over to her as if had read her thoughts.
"Two ribs, Angel, two! One is practically floating around in her stomach, disconnected almost totally from her spine and the other is cracked almost beyond all repairs. Glorificus has disabled Buffy! She needs medical attention now!" Angel had agreed, knowing Buffy would have to accept it as he had. She heard his footsteps approach her and braced herself.
"We're taking you to the hospital."
"What time is it..." Buffy felt him very slowly and gently sit her up so she could lean against his shoulder. She realized her face was covered with sweat, but she paid no mind to it as he held her. She wished she could remain in his arms forever. She winced as she felt a reason not to at the moment and reclaimed her attention.
"Three a.m. Wesley is going to put a light shirt over your back, okay?" Buffy nodded, but winced as she felt her back pain stitch at her. Angel looked upwards and cursed the Powers before Wesley came up behind her with a shirt, trying not to glance at her appearance. Buffy watched as Angel glanced slightly down, and she didn't really care if anyone saw her bare chest at this point. Wesley helped her put her shirt on, and Angel buttoned it up for her, trying to keep the back from sticking to her wound as he lifted her up into his arms again as he did before. The Powers would owe both of them this time, he thought, walking up and out of his home. He felt a wave of remorse sweep over him and Buffy saw it.
"What's wrong?" she asked, pushing the pain away from her mind. Giles had always told her that pain was only 10% of the actual wound; the rest was just psychological. Angel looked down at her and didn't answer right away.
"It's nothing. There are more important things to tend to at the present. Just try to get some more rest before we get there. I won't let anything happen." Buffy stifled a yawn and blinked slowly. She then nodded off again.
~~~~
Morning came, and Dawn woke up, rested. She got out of bed, and noticed that Cordelia had left her some clothing for her. Dawn had worn a large tee shirt of Cordelia's, and they discarded the dress she had been forced to wear. Putting on the outfit, she walked out into the livingroom, watching her newfound friend making breakfast. Whatever it was, it didn't smell too good, but she would rather be nice than pessimistic. At least she was getting breakfast.
"Good Morning, Dawn. Have some bacon and eggs." Cordelia was very nice to her all through breakfast, and Dawn wondered why she and Buffy never got along. "After this did you want to go see Buffy? Wesley and Angel took her to the hospital this morning to fix her up."
"What happened?" Dawn felt stupid asking this since she had spent three hours with her sister in the car driving down. Three hours of silence and she didn't even know Buffy was even injured.
"Apparently Buffy got hurt by that God you guys were fighting."
"What happened?"
"Two of her ribs got practically disconnected from her spine."
"I can't believe I didn't know she was hurt while we ran from Glory. She never even flinched or said 'ow' or anything."
"Buffy has a way of hiding her emotions and pain until the last moment. We were all surprised with her reactions, but now she's in the hospital getting worked on, and we're all back on caffine once again."
"I hope she's going to be okay..."
"I know she will be, Dawn. Maybe you should try to eat something before we go."
"I'm not hungry."
"Maybe that's a good thing. I don't cook very well." Cordelia smiled, then giggled. "Angel doesn't have any taste buds and he thinks my coffee tastes like sludge!" Dawn smiled, and then tried to laugh, but she stopped herself before anything came out all funny like.
"She's my only living relative besides dad...What's going to happen to me if she doesn't make it?" she paused, realizing one thing. "Glory will win."
"Uh-uh, no, no, miss negative, we're not ruling victory out for us yet. We'll make it." Cordelia smiled genuinely, and took a bite of her eggs, chewing on them slowly before forcing herself to swallow. "Forgot the salt again..." Dawn laughed finally, and took a bite of the bacon, which was burnt but not too bad.
"Who likes all that fat anyway? You can make decent bacon. Okay, I want to go see Buffy."
"Me too, lets go." They discarded the food and said bye to Dennis before walking out the door.
~~~~
Angel sat inside the hospital room next to Buffy. She was going to go in for surgery, and they said they could fix her, but were pressing on how she got injured. He evaded those questions very deftly for her, and when they said only family were allowed into her room, he said he was her boyfriend and that her sister was her only family left, and they let him slide. She was already under with drugs, and she just lay there on her side that wasn't injured, which was facing the door.
He just sat there, holding her hand gently. She could be fixed, like some sort of doll whose arm just popped off. He knew it would be difficult for her until she got out, then she would have to make up every second she rested for. He knew if he said they were brother and sister or something that they would ask for him to donate blood, but he scoffed at the idea.
Even though Buffy didn't acknowledge it, he knew what she was thinking when he read the note Cordelia had dictated. She wasn't sure if staying with Angle Investigations was the wisest thing to do considering Glorificus was now out for her blood. Giles had been wrong in assuming that the God's will would be broken once the ritual failed, and now there was no stopping her if she found out where she was hiding. He as well didn't want to bring it to anyone's attention.
Dawn was her only living (or rather, loving) relative, and their dad, well, they didn't contact him for the fear of him getting involved. He didn't even care to show up to Joyce's funeral. Angel watched as they cleared him out into the waiting room and Dawn arrived just as they took her in. She looked at Angel, who was sitting in the shade of the waiting room, his hands clamped together at his face as his elbows rested on his knees. Gunn was sitting next to Cordelia and they were basically staring at Angel and Dawn. It was Wesley who explained the situation and what they were doing, and then they all tensely down. Dawn sat down next to Angel, and she looked at him carefully. He glanced at her.
"You really love her, don't you." He nodded without needing to think. "Do you think she'll be okay?"
"She's strong."
"Yeah. If you believe she'll be alright, why are you looking scared?"
"Because I know some people who could make something go wrong, really wrong, and so far, they haven't been very giving when it came to letting people live."
"The Powers That Be?" Angel looked at Dawn, sort of surprised. "Buffy told me about them. They supposedly control every aspect of our lives, which doesn't make me want to root for the team..." Angel felt her pain.
"They've taken a lot from me too." He felt Dawn unravel his hand and hold it tight. "But I still know what's right and what's wrong. It dosen't take much to fight for the good of the innocent."
"Yeah, save those who have no idea what's going on. Sounds about right. But are the Powers That Be good guys or bad guys?" Angel didn't answer, and they waited.
The nurses came and went, one appeared holding forms for Dawn to fill out, and they did so to the best of their knowledge. A male nurse came up to them, explaining the process they were performing on Buffy. They were going to basically superglue her ribs back together and make small metal 'beams' to keep them balanced for her healing process; it would take a long while until they would be removed, but later Wesley translated that two years for the Slayer would be one year, just cut everything in half basically. The only problem they had was Glory because she was not the waiting type. They could probably hide for that long, but Buffy could not be left alone in that case; Angel would help her train, and Dawn would stick around and try to stay underwraps until Buffy felt two hundred percent better. Buffy and Dawn were going to stay with them, no questions or exceptions; Angel seemed very pleased with the thought.
Hours passed, and they were approached by the same doctor, who announced their success. Angel tried very hard to remain indifferent, but he was almost overcome with joy but made a mental note to visit the Powers. He hugged Dawn and they went to see Buffy in the recovery room. They followed the nurse and saw Buffy lying on her good side once again.
"Her back wound will heal, we have some perscriptions for her to take daily, and her ribs will be fine. We would, however, like to know what happened to her, uh..."
"Angel."
"Yes...Angel. If you would explain?"
"She was attacked."
"What could possibly be horrible enough to cause that much damage?"
"A bear."
"Preposterous. A bear would have left claw marks, and I don't think a bear wears strawberry red nailpolish..." The doctor held up a small vial of water, which had a red fingernail at the bottom of it. He looked at Angel, who glared at him suddenly.
"Do you think you could handle the truth?" Angel's eyes flashed gold for a millisecond. The man lost his voice, then swallowed, very nervous. "Say it was a bear attack, and don't make it too detailed." The doctor nodded shakily and left, leaving them quite relieved. Angel turned to them.
"If Glorificus reaches L.A. we'll have to hide out. As much as I'd love to snuff her out right now, I'm only one."
~~~~
by Daniele-Marx
Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS or Angel, but the plot is from my own brain, and forgive me, I don't know anything about the show Angel, but I am slowly learning the ways. There will be updates should my assumptions be incorrect.
P.S.= This story should take place somewhere after Fred comes into the picture and before the next season of Angel. Buffy didn't die, but it couldn't've taken that long for her to speed into the next season of Angel as well. Thank you.
~.Marx.~
Storyline: What would have happened if Glory had succeeded in killing all of the Scoobies but Buffy and Dawn?
~~~~
Cordelia tucked Dawn into her bed after a shower and a little talk of what happened, and Dawn noticed the light shut off on its own. She felt nervous until Cordelia explained Dennis, her ghost of the apartment. Dawn then felt something touch her cheek, and she drifted off. Cordelia felt tears rise to her eyes as she thought of Xander, proud Xander as he fought off Glory's Minions with the same bravery as she remembered from him. She never realized his love until it was gone, but she tried very hard to move on. It seemed to be her curse. A hand touched her back, an invisible one, and she cried as he sat next to her, listening to her.
~~~~
//"Let me go!" Buffy shouted, feeling Glory force her hands behind her back as she lay face down on the broken concrete. She wondered why Glory hadn't sucked her brains out yet, and Glory lifted her by her hair to look ahead of her. The minions had Giles by the arms, and they threw him onto a sharp spike coming from one of the walls, killing him instantly. Buffy cried out in pain as Glory reached into the skin of her back, breaking it and grabbing for something. The Goddess was pulled off by Spike before he was beheaded and dusted, and Buffy got up, denying the pain and looking around. Everyone was dead. Dawn grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the scene...\\
Angel looked at her coat as he put it aside, and he glared at the soaked red part of her jacket. He looked hard at Buffy's back as she lay stomach down on his bed. It wasn't healthier to lie like that, but it was the only way. He would have to remove her shirt as best he could, and discard it because it was no longer a good memory for one, nor was it an off-white color. The hard part would be removing the shirt from the wound so he could bandage her up. When he lightly lifted the shirt up, she shuddered, and began to cringe, trying to roll over. He stopped her by messaging her lower back. Glorificus did a job on her. Angel knew he needed help, and he walked over to the phone, dialing a number.
Minutes later, Buffy opened her eyes, and felt the tears begin again. There was a stinging sensation in her back, and she found herself sleeping on her stomach. When she tried to move, a jab of pain raced through her back muscles, and the same happened when she breathed. Angel was sitting next to her, dabbing her back. Buffy tensed up as he hit a nerve, and she couldn't move.
"Probably the worst physical wound yet, right?" he said. She breathed in as the pain ensued, and nodded, looking up at him while moving her neck and denying the pain again. "Just relax, Buffy, this is going to hurt."
"Does it look as bad as it feels?" Her muscles tensed once she spoke, and he touched her neck, soothing it so she would lay back down. "I'm going to need a lot of training after this."
"Yes. But for now try not to move. The material is beginning to soften so I can take it off without causing you anymore pain." Only then did she realize that not only was she wearing nothing over her upper body, but also someone else was in the room. She looked past Angel to see Wesley walking upto the bed with supplies to help her back.
"Gunn went to check up on Fred and won't be down for a while. I spoke with Cordelia on the phone when I got here. She left a note to call her. I had no idea Dawn was here as well. I heard something about Glorificus, who has been terrorizing Sunnydale for a while. I don't have that much information about her, though. I might have to contact some old friends for the information." Wesley looked at Buffy's back and noticed something odd. "I don't understand why she isn't healing faster now that I notice it. Slayers always have had the power to fight off illnesses." Buffy tried to calm herself down, but her muscles began to spasm on her back, which forced her to tense up even more. Angel's hands touched her shoulders gently, and began messaging them.
"Why couldn't I save them?" she asked him as her breathing began to return to normal.
"I don't know..." He was thinking about blaming the Powers, and it would have worked, but she would have to find a way to fight them herself. Fight them and Glory.
Buffy tensed up despite Angel's very soothing touch.
"Lay still, it's going to hurt more if you move around." He began to work a kink out of her neck, and she calmed herself once again. He wasn't about to tell her that he wasn't letting her out of bed until she healed up. Buffy exhaled, and Wesley sat on the other side of her, checking her back. At this point she didn't care to argue with the point that she was naked from the waist up, and internally, she really could have cared less. Wesley looked at her soaking back, and lifted the washcloth that Angel had put over her wound. The shirt raised with the cloth, not yet ready to come off, and Buffy felt something tear at her back, making her back move upwards from the pain and with it every single muscle in her body following. Wesley put the cloth down gently when he received a glare from Angel, who was still working on her relaxation.
"Could you go tell Gunn that there's a God on the loose called GLorificus? We're going to need to research her in case she does come here. I'll be up in a while."
"Yes."
"Thank you." Wesley left the room, and something dawned on Buffy, making her tense up once again to the point of getting up. Angel held her down.
"You didn't tell him about Dawn, did you?"
"He has changed for the better, Buffy. I promise he won't do anything."
"I don't know what I would do if I lost her." Angel understood her, and stopped his ministrations, taking care to hear her words and understand them as he always had.
"You should probably try to get more sleep. I'll take care of you." She nodded very slightly, and he kept messaging her shoulders until he heard her gentle breathing once more, his hands slipping down to the washcloth, checking it in case it needed to be resoaked. He very carefully parted the material of her torn shirt from the washcloth and resoaked it, placing it back on the remains of her shirt. Sooner or later the wound would have to let go, and he wasn't going anywhere until it did. The Powers would have some explaining to do, though.
//Anya watched as two of Glory's minions started swinging at Xander with a large metal pipe, and she lost control, sending herself into the mass. One of them saw her and struck her fatally with the pipe, and she fell to the ground, lifeless and dead. Xander paused, and fury enraged him as he tackled one of the minions, then felt a hard object, more and likely the pipe, strike him in the same manner as Anya had been hit; he too fell to the ground, dead.
Tara and Willow stuck together, throwing blows and hexes everywhere to hold off the enormous crowd, but they failed. Glory struck Tara from afar with a large brick to the head, and she knocked into Willow, who was building up her anger and fear. She threw a curse at Glory, and the Goddess ricochetted it off of her hand and threw it back at Willow, killing her instantly.
Giles watched as Spike freed Dawn, and watched as Buffy got tackled by Glory from behind and forced to look upwards toward Giles. He didn't understand until three minions grabbed his arms and body, pulling him back until he felt a sharp spike pierce his back. Spike pulled Glory back off of Buffy, and saw her bloody hand and Buffy's back. Spike distracted the Goddess, and Buffy got up, denying herself any immediate pain. "No, Spike!" Glory threw a large metal disc at the vampire, and beheaded him. Buffy looked around mournfully and Dawn ran to her and dragged her out. There wasn't anyone alive, but the Slayer and the Key were gone.\\
Buffy woke up abruptly, feeling herself shedding tears unnoticeably. A sob wracked her throat, and she let everything come together. The pain in her back intensified as she strained to breathe, but she clenched the bed sheets tightly. She groaned as she bit her tongue, and felt like itching the pain in her back, but she knew she was healing that way. All she knew was that Glory somehow put a large hole into her back and tried to squeeze her heart out of her body; she imagined there was a big hole where her spine (insert sarcasm) used to be. Overhearing a conversation between Angel and Wesley, she calmed down unwillingly. The smell of the sheets under her had the essence of Angel, and she concentrated on his image with closed eyelids as she had when she was training with Giles; it seemed to work so long as the image never faded.
"We have to take her to the doctor, Angel. She needs major medical attention. Her spine has been damaged and I am guessing that her her body reacting like this is because she's the Slayer."
"She said she didn't want to go to the hospital." said Angel reluctantly. The image of her relaxation began to wither as she heard this and it forced her to think, while her training taught her to not just think, but to think and then forget. Her mind strayed and she let herself be compliant with what options there were.
Forget what I said, Angel...she thought. Angel looked over to her as if had read her thoughts.
"Two ribs, Angel, two! One is practically floating around in her stomach, disconnected almost totally from her spine and the other is cracked almost beyond all repairs. Glorificus has disabled Buffy! She needs medical attention now!" Angel had agreed, knowing Buffy would have to accept it as he had. She heard his footsteps approach her and braced herself.
"We're taking you to the hospital."
"What time is it..." Buffy felt him very slowly and gently sit her up so she could lean against his shoulder. She realized her face was covered with sweat, but she paid no mind to it as he held her. She wished she could remain in his arms forever. She winced as she felt a reason not to at the moment and reclaimed her attention.
"Three a.m. Wesley is going to put a light shirt over your back, okay?" Buffy nodded, but winced as she felt her back pain stitch at her. Angel looked upwards and cursed the Powers before Wesley came up behind her with a shirt, trying not to glance at her appearance. Buffy watched as Angel glanced slightly down, and she didn't really care if anyone saw her bare chest at this point. Wesley helped her put her shirt on, and Angel buttoned it up for her, trying to keep the back from sticking to her wound as he lifted her up into his arms again as he did before. The Powers would owe both of them this time, he thought, walking up and out of his home. He felt a wave of remorse sweep over him and Buffy saw it.
"What's wrong?" she asked, pushing the pain away from her mind. Giles had always told her that pain was only 10% of the actual wound; the rest was just psychological. Angel looked down at her and didn't answer right away.
"It's nothing. There are more important things to tend to at the present. Just try to get some more rest before we get there. I won't let anything happen." Buffy stifled a yawn and blinked slowly. She then nodded off again.
~~~~
Morning came, and Dawn woke up, rested. She got out of bed, and noticed that Cordelia had left her some clothing for her. Dawn had worn a large tee shirt of Cordelia's, and they discarded the dress she had been forced to wear. Putting on the outfit, she walked out into the livingroom, watching her newfound friend making breakfast. Whatever it was, it didn't smell too good, but she would rather be nice than pessimistic. At least she was getting breakfast.
"Good Morning, Dawn. Have some bacon and eggs." Cordelia was very nice to her all through breakfast, and Dawn wondered why she and Buffy never got along. "After this did you want to go see Buffy? Wesley and Angel took her to the hospital this morning to fix her up."
"What happened?" Dawn felt stupid asking this since she had spent three hours with her sister in the car driving down. Three hours of silence and she didn't even know Buffy was even injured.
"Apparently Buffy got hurt by that God you guys were fighting."
"What happened?"
"Two of her ribs got practically disconnected from her spine."
"I can't believe I didn't know she was hurt while we ran from Glory. She never even flinched or said 'ow' or anything."
"Buffy has a way of hiding her emotions and pain until the last moment. We were all surprised with her reactions, but now she's in the hospital getting worked on, and we're all back on caffine once again."
"I hope she's going to be okay..."
"I know she will be, Dawn. Maybe you should try to eat something before we go."
"I'm not hungry."
"Maybe that's a good thing. I don't cook very well." Cordelia smiled, then giggled. "Angel doesn't have any taste buds and he thinks my coffee tastes like sludge!" Dawn smiled, and then tried to laugh, but she stopped herself before anything came out all funny like.
"She's my only living relative besides dad...What's going to happen to me if she doesn't make it?" she paused, realizing one thing. "Glory will win."
"Uh-uh, no, no, miss negative, we're not ruling victory out for us yet. We'll make it." Cordelia smiled genuinely, and took a bite of her eggs, chewing on them slowly before forcing herself to swallow. "Forgot the salt again..." Dawn laughed finally, and took a bite of the bacon, which was burnt but not too bad.
"Who likes all that fat anyway? You can make decent bacon. Okay, I want to go see Buffy."
"Me too, lets go." They discarded the food and said bye to Dennis before walking out the door.
~~~~
Angel sat inside the hospital room next to Buffy. She was going to go in for surgery, and they said they could fix her, but were pressing on how she got injured. He evaded those questions very deftly for her, and when they said only family were allowed into her room, he said he was her boyfriend and that her sister was her only family left, and they let him slide. She was already under with drugs, and she just lay there on her side that wasn't injured, which was facing the door.
He just sat there, holding her hand gently. She could be fixed, like some sort of doll whose arm just popped off. He knew it would be difficult for her until she got out, then she would have to make up every second she rested for. He knew if he said they were brother and sister or something that they would ask for him to donate blood, but he scoffed at the idea.
Even though Buffy didn't acknowledge it, he knew what she was thinking when he read the note Cordelia had dictated. She wasn't sure if staying with Angle Investigations was the wisest thing to do considering Glorificus was now out for her blood. Giles had been wrong in assuming that the God's will would be broken once the ritual failed, and now there was no stopping her if she found out where she was hiding. He as well didn't want to bring it to anyone's attention.
Dawn was her only living (or rather, loving) relative, and their dad, well, they didn't contact him for the fear of him getting involved. He didn't even care to show up to Joyce's funeral. Angel watched as they cleared him out into the waiting room and Dawn arrived just as they took her in. She looked at Angel, who was sitting in the shade of the waiting room, his hands clamped together at his face as his elbows rested on his knees. Gunn was sitting next to Cordelia and they were basically staring at Angel and Dawn. It was Wesley who explained the situation and what they were doing, and then they all tensely down. Dawn sat down next to Angel, and she looked at him carefully. He glanced at her.
"You really love her, don't you." He nodded without needing to think. "Do you think she'll be okay?"
"She's strong."
"Yeah. If you believe she'll be alright, why are you looking scared?"
"Because I know some people who could make something go wrong, really wrong, and so far, they haven't been very giving when it came to letting people live."
"The Powers That Be?" Angel looked at Dawn, sort of surprised. "Buffy told me about them. They supposedly control every aspect of our lives, which doesn't make me want to root for the team..." Angel felt her pain.
"They've taken a lot from me too." He felt Dawn unravel his hand and hold it tight. "But I still know what's right and what's wrong. It dosen't take much to fight for the good of the innocent."
"Yeah, save those who have no idea what's going on. Sounds about right. But are the Powers That Be good guys or bad guys?" Angel didn't answer, and they waited.
The nurses came and went, one appeared holding forms for Dawn to fill out, and they did so to the best of their knowledge. A male nurse came up to them, explaining the process they were performing on Buffy. They were going to basically superglue her ribs back together and make small metal 'beams' to keep them balanced for her healing process; it would take a long while until they would be removed, but later Wesley translated that two years for the Slayer would be one year, just cut everything in half basically. The only problem they had was Glory because she was not the waiting type. They could probably hide for that long, but Buffy could not be left alone in that case; Angel would help her train, and Dawn would stick around and try to stay underwraps until Buffy felt two hundred percent better. Buffy and Dawn were going to stay with them, no questions or exceptions; Angel seemed very pleased with the thought.
Hours passed, and they were approached by the same doctor, who announced their success. Angel tried very hard to remain indifferent, but he was almost overcome with joy but made a mental note to visit the Powers. He hugged Dawn and they went to see Buffy in the recovery room. They followed the nurse and saw Buffy lying on her good side once again.
"Her back wound will heal, we have some perscriptions for her to take daily, and her ribs will be fine. We would, however, like to know what happened to her, uh..."
"Angel."
"Yes...Angel. If you would explain?"
"She was attacked."
"What could possibly be horrible enough to cause that much damage?"
"A bear."
"Preposterous. A bear would have left claw marks, and I don't think a bear wears strawberry red nailpolish..." The doctor held up a small vial of water, which had a red fingernail at the bottom of it. He looked at Angel, who glared at him suddenly.
"Do you think you could handle the truth?" Angel's eyes flashed gold for a millisecond. The man lost his voice, then swallowed, very nervous. "Say it was a bear attack, and don't make it too detailed." The doctor nodded shakily and left, leaving them quite relieved. Angel turned to them.
"If Glorificus reaches L.A. we'll have to hide out. As much as I'd love to snuff her out right now, I'm only one."
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