A/N : Okay, been working hard to get this chapter done and I've started the next chapter of 'The Guy Next Door' too, so for those who are interested in that, the new chapter should be done and posted in a couple of says. Anyway, back to this story, thanx so much for all the reviews, I appreciate all your comments. Just a warning - more twisty plots coming, so concentration needed - I don't want to lose anybody on the way through ; )
Oh, and review if you like this please, it helps with my inspiration!
(For disclaimer etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 14 - Rambling and Remembering
"Buffy..." Willow started, but realised she had no idea what to say anyway.
"What did you just say?" Buffy asked, coming further into the room as the two Wiccas sat up straighter "I'm not...Dawn she...oh God" Buffy rambled, running her hands back over her face and pushing back her hair.
"Buffy, we could be wrong, we're just guessing..." Tara tried to make some sense and calm down her friend but Buffy was apparently not done with her ramble. As if she hadn't heard a word the blonde witch said she continued.
"I was weak...she was strong...she found Spike and he thought she was me...but how could this...I don't..." the seemingly ex-Slayer paced back and forth as thoughts swirled in her mind.
"Buffy, it's okay" Willow tried to comfort her friend but as she reached her hand out to her, Buffy stopped walking, flinching as if she'd been shocked by electricity.
"Oh my God, the lightning" she exclaimed.
Buffy looked on as Spike fell and then hung, motionless, in the centre of the portal, making expressions of severe pain. The portal writhed and spat and a huge lightning strike shot out, passing through herself and her sister, jolting their bodies wildly, but delivering no pain. The shock awakened the younger girl but seemed not to harm either of them as it curved back into the opening half way down the tower. Dawn gasped as she sat up and saw Spike below, realising what had happened and what he had done. Buffy wondered how her sisters strength had returned so fast, but her thoughts were more occupied by Spike's act of sacrifice than by her sisters awakening. The lightning forgotten, the portal closed, Buffy mourned the loss of the man she loved.
"The lightning on the tower, the day Spike..." she trailed off, her explanation much more coherent now "the lightning from the portal it woke Dawn and passed through us, I felt it, but I didn't know, I...oh my God"
"You mean it joined you two?" Willow guessed.
"And passed your Slayer energy from you to Dawn?" Tara added.
Buffy could say no more, merely nodding mutely at her two friends, wondering what on earth was supposed to happen next.
Xander arrived outside Buffy's bedroom just as Giles exited.
"How's the patient?" the younger man asked.
"Er, better, I think" Giles nodded as he cleaned his glasses "It appears to be pneumonia, it's just hit him fairly hard, probably due to his new human state. His new body is weak already, the illness is therefore more severe for him than the average man" he explained.
"But he's gonna be okay, right?" Xander checked.
"Oh yes, I think so" the older man assured him, putting his glasses back on.
"So, where did you go before?" the brunette was curious to know "Or is it like a Watcher's secret?"
Giles dropped his voice as he answered.
"Drugs for these kind of illnesses only come from doctors on prescription but there was no way we could let an everyday doctor see Spike, how ever would we explain who he was?"
"Good point" Xander conceded, "...so?"
"I called in a favour or two" Giles shrugged and tried to make light of what he'd done. He was not particularly proud of some of his 'contacts'.
"G-man" Xander slapped him on the back "you know people" he smiled, with the emphasis on 'people', making these people sound every bit as unsavoury as they were.
"Yes, well" Giles fidgeted "I'd rather Buffy weren't told, it may undermine me as her Watcher"
No sooner had the girls' name been mentioned than she emerged from Willow and Tara's room, having heard the final few words the man spoke, she said;
"You're not my Watcher"
"Buffy?" he looked at her strangely, as did Xander.
"I'm not the Slayer" she said in a perfectly ordinary, flat tone of voice, as if the fact were not special at all. She was clearly in some sort of shock "How's Spike?" she added her question quickly.
"I think he's going to be fine" Giles told her with a small smile "it'll just take time now" he made a face as he continued "er, what do you mean you're not the Slayer?"
"Dawn is, I'm not, ask Willow and Tara" she said just as flatly as before, pushing past her Watcher and her friend to go into her room, to Spike.
The two men looked to each other for an answer but neither had one. They glanced toward the door Buffy had disappeared through, then toward the door that hid the two Wiccas, before their attention was finally diverted to the girl bounding up the stairs.
"What's going on?" Dawn wanted to know why they were looking at her so strangely, but the truth was neither of them knew, not really.
Willow and Tara suddenly emerged from their room, confusion etched on their faces to match that of the two men there in the hall.
"Guys, what's wrong?" Dawn tried again, "Is it Spike? Is he okay?" she continued, suddenly frantic as she dived for the bedroom door and burst in. She was relieved to see Buffy seated on the side of the bed, holding a still alive Spike's hand.
"He's okay?" she said slowly, moving toward the bed.
"Yeah, he's going to be okay" her sister told her with a watery smile, before tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall.
"Then what's wrong?" the younger girl asked, glancing between her sister and the gang beyond the door.
"I think we should go downstairs" Giles said quietly, closing the door to the bedroom and taking the Scoobies away. Dawn turned back to Buffy, who in turn looked down at Spike.
"Dawn" she breathed, not looking at her, "we need to talk..."
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked her sister, clearly scared by the seriousness on Buffy's face and in her voice.
With a deep breath and a glance at her unconscious lover, the older girl began.
"Dawnie, you remember the day on the tower, when Spike..." she couldn't even say it and was forced to swallow hard as a lump rose in her throat and her eyes watered.
"Of course I remember" the younger girl replied, taking a seat on the other side of the bed, looking between her sister and her friend.
"You remember, waking up?" the blonde continued and Dawn nodded "do you know why you woke up?"
The brunette seemed to consider the question for a moment before slowly shaking her head. It had not occurred to her why she'd woken up as she had, much the same way as it hadn't really occurred to her how she could fight so well with little or no training and this strength she felt inside of her that sometimes scared her, she'd told no-one of it but it had worried her.
"Dawn, there was power, from the portal, kind of like lightening" Buffy tried to explain, "It passed through me and then you and that's what woke you"
Dawn nodded that she was following so far and her sister continued, blinking back further tears as she did so, "it connected us somehow, my power, it connected it to you and it's flowing all the time, Tara saw it when she was under the trance"
"I'm getting your Slayer power?" the brunette shook her head, not really understanding, "Why? How?"
"I can't answer that Dawn" Buffy smiled at her sister's belief that she would always have the answers, but she didn't, she never would, "I wish I could tell you why it happened and how and what will happen next, but I can't"
"So...I'm...you're not, and I..." Dawn muttered, trying to make sense of what she'd been told. How could she be the Slayer instead of Buffy? She didn't know how to be a Slayer! But then, had she not been fighting, slaying, while Buffy had been unable to, while Spike had been gone...?
"Buffy?"
Both girls attention was diverted from whatever they may have been thinking by Spike's voice, quiet and rough, but unmistakably him.
"Spike, honey, I'm here" Buffy turned to him, still holding his left hand in both of hers, "I'm here and Dawn's here, and you're going to be fine"
"What happened?" he asked, rubbing his forehead with his free hand, his eyes flickering open and closed as they tried to adjust to the level of light in the room.
"You're sick" Dawn told him, "We didn't know what was wrong, but you're gonna be okay cos we're gonna look after you" she said, too fast, making Spike smile at her.
"Nibblet, still a little incoherent here" he told her, "slow down"
"Sorry" she blushed, "I'm just so glad you're awake" she told him, momentarily forgetting the shock news she'd just received, and flinging herself on top of the ex-vampire and hugging him awkwardly.
"Dawn" Buffy smiled as Spike winced, "I think you're crushing him to death"
"It's okay" he assured her, despite the pain, "There are worse ways to die" he smiled and the young girl blushed yet again as she let go of him.
"Dawnie, why don't you go tell the others that Spike's awake" Buffy suggested, wanting a moment alone with her man.
"Okay" the younger Summers nodded as she stood up, "I'll be right back" she promised as she went out of the door.
Buffy looked down at the man before her.
"You have no idea how glad I am that you're awake" she smiled, leaning forward to kiss him lightly on the lips. She saw him smile as she pulled away again but his expression soon turned solemn.
"Truth time now Buffy" he said seriously, "I know you would have told the little bit I was gonna be okay no matter what but...am I really?"
"For a while we weren't sure" the girl admitted, "but Giles says you just have pneumonia, the regular human disease, it just hit you hard cos you're new to the species and all"
"Makes sense" Spike nodded, his eyes closing briefly again, "I'll tell you something, I haven't felt this bad in a while though"
"It's okay" Buffy assured him, putting a hand to his face, "I'm going to take care of you and you're going to be fine. I'm here for you and I'm going to do everything I can for you until you're one hundred percent better"
"I appreciate it, Slayer" he smiled, "but I'm not a child..." he trailed off when he saw a look in her eyes that he knew only too well, that pained, scared, kind of a look, it really bothered him when she looked like that.
"What did I say?" he asked, as she looked away from him.
"Nothing, I'm fine" she lied, but Spike didn't believe her. He was about to ask what was going on when Dawn returned with the entire Scooby gang in tow.
They were all pleased to see their newly human, newly accepted Scooby friend awake again and less pale and ill than he'd looked earlier. There was some general chatter about Spike and how they would all make sure he was fighting fit in no time at all, they never heard the knock on the front door.
* * * * *When no-one answered his knock, the man tried a second time but still no-one came. On the off chance he tried pushing the door and was kind of surprised to find it unlocked and easy to open. He first glanced into the living room and then the dining room, before making his way around o the kitchen. No-one was there, but he knew there were people in the house, he could sense that much. 'Upstairs?' he thought to himself and made his way back around to the hallway.
* * * * *Spike was very weak and Giles suggested that whilst he was awake, he drink as much liquid as possible to get his strength back. After a joke from Xander about drinking blood, which made everyone nauseous, including the newly human Spike, Buffy offered to fetch her love some soup. He agreed that was a good idea and pressing a quick kiss to his forehead, Buffy left the room.
* * * * *As he reached the bottom of the staircase, prepared to go up and search for the people he knew must be there, he came face to face with the owner of the house, who was more than a little shocked to see him there. Buffy's shock, mixed with her worry over Spike, lack of sleep and earlier shock over her non-Slayer status, caused her to faint, falling from two steps up into the waiting arms of the man below. One word passed her lips as she fell, the name of the man who caught her - "Angel"
To Be Continued...
