Catastrophe
by
Disclaimer: I don't claim. Not mine. Bow to Joss Whedon.
Author's Note: Feedback may decide whether I finish this, so please tell me if you loved it, hated it, or somewhere in between!
Summary: An AU version of the events after the 5/15/01 BtVS episode. (Right after 'Spiral')
Rating: PG, so far.
PART FOUR
Angel was gone, on patrol, Buffy told him. Apparently, LA had about as much appeal to the demons as the hellmouth, just larger quantities of the less bizarre ones, rather than the small but constant army of hellish oddities that frequented Sunnydale. Spike was glad, not really in the mood to deal with his sire and all of his pent-up angst.
And not quite so pent-up anger, frustration and hatred pointed at Spike.
Xander and Anya had left hours ago, and Spike was curled up in one of the hard hospital chairs, dozing gently. The vampire killed many hours this way under ordinary circumstances, so he continued to do so when faced with the daunting boredom of a hospital.
Buffy was laying on the bed, perfectly still, watching some stupid television show, or at least, that was what she was supposed to be doing. Spike, out of his half-open eyes, could see that the Slayer's were unfocused and staring, not really affording the TV any of her attention.
"Spike?" She asked, out of the blue.
The vampire straightened, and put his arms over his head, stretching. "Yeah, pet?"
"Will you tell Angel when he gets back that I'm asleep? Even if I'm not?"
Spike almost grinned at this statement, but nodded solemnly. "Sure, Slayer."
Then Buffy turned towards him, and glared, typical Slayer-fare, and Spike smiled a little, fighting to keep his laughter from spilling through his tightly closed lips. "This isn't my vote for you in this little competition you have against Angel, Spike." She told him hotly.
Spike nodded. "Wouldn't think so, ma'am." He tightened his lips even further.
Buffy returned to the television screen.
Moments later, she turned back to the blond vampire, still glaring. "I just don't want his pity right now," She told Spike defensively.
Spike shrugged, trying hard for the indifferent look. "You don't have to explain to me, Slayer."
Buffy stared at the vampire, hard. Spike looked right back, daring to attempt to stare her down. Of course, he'd lose, but he was willing to try.
Buffy relaxed after a moment, and returned to staring dazedly at the black box in the corner of the room. Spike watched her as she dozed off, then left to sit in the hallway. Dawn was back in surgery in the morning, and needed her sleep, so he didn't want to bother her. Xander and Anya were at home, hopefully getting some rest.
The vampire dozed off again in the waiting room chairs.
Angel returned just as the dawn was breaking. He shook Spike shortly, his patience about as long as his hair, the younger vamp was sure. He looked crusty and old for a moment, the pain of his soul weighing heavily in his eyes for a long moment before he spoke. Spike almost felt sorry for his grand-sire, for a moment.
"How's Buffy?"
That moment passed about as quickly as it had come.
"Asleep." Spike kept his answer as short and curt as Angel's question. If the bloody poof wasn't going to make any semblance of being polite, then he sure as hell wasn't going to put out any effort, either!
"And Dawn?"
Spike shrugged. "Surgery's in an hour," He told the older vampire. "Gonna go hang out with her in a few minutes."
Angel cocked his head. "Mind if I come?"
Spike didn't answer, and Angel didn't press the matter, merely tagged along when Spike picked himself up off the chair about five minutes later, and headed towards Dawn's room. Waiting for six am seemed like a reasonable thing to do, he decided, even though these definitely weren't approved visiting hours, either, anymore than midnight was.
Spike knocked gently on the door before he entered, remembering how upset Dawn was with people just walking in and out. Teenagers needed their privacy, Spike knew, but how much they needed it, he'd never realized until he met Dawn.
"Who is it?" She called weakly.
Spike frowned on the outside of the door, concerned about the way her voice sounded. "It's me, Little Bit."
There was a moments pause, and then, "Come in,"
Spike cracked open the door, and poked his head in, carefully shielding the view of the room from Angel. He didn't actually think she would care, but he enjoyed bothering his grand-sire, under the pretense of doing what Dawn wanted. "I brought the big poof with me, too."
Dawn nodded a little, propped up just a bit on a wall of pillows. "You guys can come in," She told Spike.
The younger vampire pushed open the door, and both creatures of the night wandered into the girl's room. There was a nurse on one side of her bed, checking her pulse, and feeding her some pills, but the woman ignored Dawn's visitors.
"Hey," Dawn greeted them, spreading a thing smile for Angel. "Haven't seen you in a while," She told him.
Angel smiled back at her, a little uncomfortable, Spike could see. Gloating at the fact that he knew Dawn much better than the other vampire, he took the seat next to Dawn's bed.
"I wish we had," Angel replied. Dawn nodded, and then turned back to the nurse to take the pills she offered.
When the nurse left the room, Dawn looked pleadingly over at Spike, and the vampire bent his head down lower, so that Dawn didn't have to speak so loudly with her still-sore throat. "What is it, Little Bit?"
Dawn averted her eyes from his before she spoke, and even then, only continued hesitantly. "I'm... nervous, Spike."
Spike reached out, and took her hand. "Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of, Little Bit. Even vampires get scared, though a lot of them aren't smart enough to."
Dawn looked up at him for a second, then pulled her eyes away once more. "Do you, Spike?"
Spike looked up at Angel, who was watching them out of the corner of his eye, feigning disinterest, and hesitated. Then, deciding that he owed Dawn a real answer, and not one set up to impress the big ol' poof, he took a breath, and turned back to her. "Yeah, Dawn, I do."
Angel turned, and for a moment, Spike thought he saw something shining in the older vampire's eyes, something that looked suspiciously like... pride? But it vanished seconds later, and he only looked at Dawn. "You'd have to be pretty stupid not to be scared of some of the things Spike and I have seen, Dawn."
Dawn scanned Angel thoughtfully for a moment, then turned back to the blond vampire. "Will you be here when I come back?" She asked.
Spike nodded, and brushed her uninjured hand with his. "'Course I will, pet. But you'll be fine. You're my Bitty Buffy, remember?"
Dawn smiled, and Angel looked confused. No one took enough pity on him to explain, though.
The next forty-five minutes Spike and Angel spent mostly alone in Dawn's room, because various people came to get her, to wash her, and otherwise prepare her for the surgery. They stayed in her room, though, because periodically, she would return for a moment or two, and Spike wanted to be there for her.
When Dawn was finally taken away for her surgery, Spike and Angel returned to Buffy's part of the hospital. Spike let Angel knock on the door, and stick his head in, thinking that he would probably be more likely to believe his eyes than Spike's word. Together, the vampire's took the shadiest corner of the waiting room, and waited for half an hour or so.
After a while, the big vampire grew restless. "I've got to go back to the agency," he told Spike. "Tell Buffy that she can reach me on my cell phone, if she needs me."
Spike bit back an unpleasant remark about how much Buffy needed him, and just nodded. He waited until Angel was out of sight, and just a little longer, allowing for vampire hearing, then made his way back into Buffy's room, unsure of whether she'd really been asleep, or faking it for Angel's benefit.
Knocking on the door, he wasn't surprised to hear no response. She had no way of knowing who it was, did she? Pushing it open just a couple of inches, he spoke into the crack in the door. "It's me, Slayer,"
Buffy's eyes opened, and she turned her head towards the door. "Come in," She told him. "Where's Angel?"
Spike flopped himself down in one of the chairs next to Buffy's side. "Gone. Got bored, standing around in the waiting room. Says you can call his cell phone if you need him."
Buffy nodded, and lay back in bed, closing her eyes. Spike closed his own eyes, and dozed lightly, though fully aware of his surroundings. When a doctor rapped on the door, and pushed it open, both he and Buffy opened their eyes quickly, observing the man who entered. "Good morning, Buffy, ...Spike."
For some reason, many people that Spike met, had real trouble with his name. He couldn't figure out why.
Buffy gave the doctor a weary smile, and Spike didn't bother acknowledging him at all. "Hello, Dr. Gringlie," She greeted him. "So, do I get to go today?"
The doctor looked over her, and nodded slowly. "Yes, you can go. I would recommend that you stay another day or two, though."
"Why?" Buffy asked, puzzled.
"Well, for a while, you're going to need help getting around. Getting dressed, getting in the bathtub, things like that. I can get you clearance to stay a couple more days, but no longer. I just thought that the longer you stayed here, the longer until you have to worry about who's going to do that for you."
"What do people usually do?" Buffy asked.
"Hire nurses. Stay with their parents, their siblings, if they have them. Friends sometimes help out, too."
Buffy's face cracked a little at the mention of all those people she didn't have anymore. "Thanks, Doctor, but I think I'll leave today."
Dr. Gringlie nodded, and pulled a wheelchair into the room, from the hall. "I thought you might say that," He replied. "I'll leave you to get dressed, and then you can ring the bell for a nurse when you're ready to leave."
Buffy shook her head a little. "We'll just be going to my sister's room, to wait fro her to come out of surgery," the Slayer explained. "So I won't need the nurse. But are there papers to sign, or forms to fill out, or something?"
The doctor nodded, and explained. "At the desk here, there are a couple of papers to pick up and fill out. Then you return them to the main admittance desk for this floor, which is all the way at the other end of building." He looked down at the Slayer for a moment, and held out his hand. "It was nice to meet you, Buffy."
Buffy shook his hand, and nodded at the doctor. "You too, Doctor. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, at therapy?" She questioned.
The doctor nodded. "Yes. But just tomorrow, to get you settled in, and then you'll have a different doctor as a therapist," he explained.
Buffy nodded. "Well, see you then," She told him, with a small smile. The doctor nodded again, and ducked out of the room. Spike picked up Buffy's clothes from the nightstand, and handed them to the Slayer, then followed suit.
"Call me when you're decent, Slayer," He told her. Buffy nodded, and Spike closed the door behind him.
Several moments later, Buffy called Spike back into the room, and the vampire entered, expecting to see her dressed and ready to leave. Instead, he found her clothed from the waist up, and covered with a sheet below, crying frustratedly. Spike moved quickly to her side, and sat down. "What's wrong, love?" He asked.
Buffy pounded her fist against his leg, and he hid his wince. Slayer strength she still had, whether her legs worked right or not. "I can't put my pants on!" She cried. "I can't even dress myself, and it's so frustrating!"
Spike grabbed her pants, and yanked back the sheet. Buffy gasped, and stopped crying, looking outraged at his actions. "What the hell are you doing, Spike?"
"Getting you dressed," He replied, pulling her pants-legs over her limp feet. She put her hands on his back, prepared to display her infuriation, but for some reason or another, she didn't actually act on her impulse.
Spike pulled her pants up to her thighs, and then rolled her on her side to slide them over her hips, one at a time. Putting her on her back once more, her deftly buttoned them, then swooped her up and placed her in the wheelchair. Buffy grabbed her purse, and said, "Let's get out of here!"
Pushing her chair down the hallway, Spike wondered if he dare ask his question. Deciding that he needed to know the answer, he braced himself for the Slayer's wrath, and asked. "Who are you going to have help you out, Slayer?" He asked, calmly continuing to push her towards the desk they needed to visit.
Buffy shook her head, a lot more calmly then Spike had thought she was liable to. "I don't know. I can't really ask Xander and Anya, it would be imposing on them too much. I wouldn't ask my father, even if I could. I guess I'll stay with Angel for a while."
"Won't that be a bit hard on the poof?" Spike queried. He didn't like Angel, but he wouldn't wish the sight of Buffy, frequently in a state of undress on the already grief-stricken vampire anyway.
Buffy shrugged. "It's the best I can do at the moment. I don't really have that much money, so I'll probably end up staying with them anyway. Angel says they own a hotel, and he offered me a couple of rooms."
Spike nodded slowly, even though Buffy couldn't see him. "Why don't you let me hang around and help out, pet?"
Buffy twisted around in the chair, and looked at him oddly. "Why?"
"Why what?"
Buffy's face suddenly hardened, and she nodded. "I get it. You get a lot of chances to see me naked this way, is that right, Spike? Can't get me the real way, so might as well get me anyway you can, is that it?"
Spike glared back at her, determined to meet her icy stare with a fiery one of his own. "Actually, Slayer, that wasn't what I was thinking. Actually, I was thinking that you're in trouble, you've got no one to help you out except an old ex-boyfriend, who I'm certain you don't actually want to see you in the aforementioned state, and I thought I might help you out!"
Turning from the wheelchair, the vampire stalked away, knowing that Buffy's Slayer strength was more than enough to make up for her lack of practice rolling wheelchairs.
Sure enough, she came swiftly after him. Her face was guarded, but softened slightly by his outburst, and she wheeled the chair so that he couldn't get past her in the hallway, stopping him in his tracks. "You really want to help, Spike?" She asked.
The vampire looked down at her. "Yes. I really want to help you, Slayer. I'm not all about sex and naked girls and blood, you know."
Buffy looked thoughtful. "I guess you actually haven't been, lately," She mused. "I'm sorry about jumping at you back there," She told him. "I accept your offer, if it's still open," She said, holding out her hand.
A small smile crossed the vampire's face, and he reached for her hand, shaking it firmly. "It is," He told her.
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