Chapter 7
Buffy woke up with a bad feeling in her gut. She saw Dawn sitting the chair that was occupied by Spike the night before. Dawn was reading her book. She looked around the room. It wasn't like Spike to leave her. She knew something must be wrong. She pushed herself up in the bed. Dawn looked up from her book.
"Hey, Buffy," Dawn said with a smile. Buffy smiled weakly and looked around the room.
"Where's Spike?" Buffy asked concerned. Dawn looked at her hands then back at Buffy.
"Buffy, Spike's chip…well it's killing him," Dawn said soothingly. Buffy stared at her with wide eyes. She tried to get out of the bed but Dawn pushed her back down.
"Angel is trying to contact Riley. Willow is with Spike. Tara and Willow are putting a soothing spell on him." Buffy shook her head.
"I have to be with him, Dawnie. He needs me," Buffy said looking Crushed. Her faced was full of worry.
"Buffy, he will be here with you once the spell kicks in. Until then just relax. You need to rest and I'm sure Spike won't let you go patrolling after what happen." Dawn shuttered thinking about it.
Buffy's door opened and they saw a battered Spike. Angel was helping him into the room. Dawn stood up immediately and grabbed her things. Angel sat Spike down in the chair. Spike wasn't even awake. Buffy ran her fingers through his bleached locks.
"How is he?" Buffy asked softly. Angel let out a sigh.
"He stopped screaming in the car," Angel said giving her a small smile. "I had to knock him out. Willow and Tara said that the spell should kick in within seconds of him waking up. I am still trying to contact Riley. I have to go back to L.A. Wes and Gunn can't hold the place down forever. Call me if you need anything." He kissed Buffy on the forehead. He turned to leave.
"Angel," Buffy said stopping him. He looked back at her. She gave a soft smile.
"Thank you for everything." Angel smiled and nodded. He disappeared around the door way and was gone from her life once again.
"I'm going to head home. I'll call Giles and tell him that you are awake. He is already worried about his son," Dawn said with a smile. She started to giggle. "Who would have thought Giles would take Spike in as a son?" Dawn shrugged with a huge smile on her face and closed the door behind her as she left. Buffy stared at the door then closed her eyes. She hoped that when she woke up Spike would be awake.
Spike woke up and felt a familiar pain coming back. He tensed then it vanished. Looking over he saw Buffy sound asleep. He wondered how he had got into the hospital. The last thing he remembered was Angel knocking him out. Rubbing his head he stretched out his legs and tried to get comfortable. After getting antsy he got up and went to the window, by simply standing there he could feel the warmth of the sun hitting him. It was so soothing. He watched as everyone went on with their lives doing their daily routine. Life seemed different since he became human.
"Hey," A voice came from over his shoulder. He looked away from the window to a just woken Buffy. He smiled and walked back over to the bed. He kissed her softly on the lips.
"How are you doing, love?" Spike asked in a soft voice. She stretched and then promptly yawned.
"Bored and I'm worried," Buffy answered. He looked at her concernedly.
"What are you worried about?" Buffy put her hand into his and gave it a squeeze.
"I'm worried about you. I don't know what is going with you but I'm scared to death. Angel said you were in so much paint that you were screaming." Spike put a finger on her lips.
"Hush now, pet. Don't worry about the big bad. I can hold my own. Now you gather your strength back for you and the lil bit." Spike got up from his chair and sat on the side of the bed. He wrapped her arm around her. She cuddled close. She laid her head against his chest. She still couldn't believe it. She could hear his heart beating. She had to admit she loved the sound of it.
"Spike, do you think it's a boy or a girl?" Buffy asked. Spike put her hand on her stomach and gently rubbed it in slow circler motions.
"I think it's a boy. Because junior going to take care of his good ol' dad." Buffy began to caress his arm. She smiled slightly.
"What if it's a girl? Is going to take after you too?" Spike kissed her on the head.
"No, she is going to take after her stubborn mum." Buffy laughed and kissed his chest.
A few hours past and Buffy was released from the hospital. It was a good thing too. The magic began to wear off and Spike was in the back seat screaming in pain. Dawn drove them home. Buffy talked frantically to Giles on the cell phone.
"Giles, he hasn't shut up since we got into the car," Buffy complained. "I'm beginning to get a headache myself." Giles grumbled on the other line.
"God forbid, Buffy that you have some kind of sympathy for the man you love," Giles grumbled. "Willow says she thinks its Spike's chip. Since he turned human the chip could have malfunctioned."
"Well find out how we can fix it! He could die! I was serious about the headache too, Giles. Now get your asses moving before I lose my entire life" Buffy hung the phone up and looked back at Spike. He had passed out. His nose was bleeding. He looked horrible. She hated being scared. She felt weak and her slayer part of her hated it. Her semi-perfect life was crumbling. Her dream of a house with a white picked fence was there and tugging at her. Her slayer self told her that she will never have that kind of life. The regular her part of her didn't even know if Spike would live long enough for it. She didn't even know if Spike was going to make it through the next twenty four hours. She didn't even know she would live a long enough life to get that kind of peace. Peace. She had peace when she jumped off the tower. She was in peace when she in Spike's arms. His arms were her heaven. If she lost him then this world would become hell again.
Just the thought of living without Spike brought Buffy to tears. Dawn looked over at Buffy. She placed her hand on her sister's arm. Buffy whipped furiously at her tears. She tried not to cry but she broke down in tears.
"Buffy, we will find away to get the chip out of Spike's brain," Dawn said in an assuring voice. The dam broke and she was weeping heavily. Dawn didn't know what to do. Spike was good at this part. He always knew what to do. He knew Buffy better then she did and Buffy was her sister.
Buffy looked at Spike as a groan was released signaling that he was gaining coconsciousness.
Buffy felt the relief fill over her. She unbuckled her seat belt and moved into the back seat. Spike grabbed her by the hand and pulled her down on the seat.
"You know how sodding dangerous that was. You could have fallen and hurt the bit or worse you could have been thrown through the bloody window," Spike scowled. The familiar pain zapped through his head and he screamed.
Dawn stopped half way down their street. There was a white van parked in front of the house. She looked at the back seat. She didn't know what to do. She used her put the car into park and turned towards Buffy and Spike. Buffy was running her fingers through Spike's curly locks.
"Hey guys, I hate to put another notch in the world of love for you two but there is some sort of suspicious white van park in front of the yard and I have a feeling it isn't good," Dawn said with a grim look on her face.
"I have an idea what to do," Buffy said taking charge.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Angel pulled up at Willow's house. It was a two story house. It was alight base house with a tiny front porch. The porch had a swing on it. There were flowers in front of the porch. The yard was clean cut and you could smell freshly cut grass. The path that led to the porch had tiny light on the side. In between the lights were more flowers. It looked like a very famine house.
Before he knocked on the door, the door flew open. Willow was standing there. She grabbed Angel by the arm and dragged him off the porch.
"Come on," Willow said hurriedly. They went to Angel's car.
"What's wrong?" Angel asked surprised.
"Someone is camping in front of Buffy's house," Willow said hurriedly. They jumped into Angel's car and drove to Buffy's house.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Giles, I hope you don't mind us being here," Buffy said with a gratitude smile. Giles smiled and put his hand on Buffy's shoulder.
"Let's focus on William's problem," Giles advised. Buffy looked at his face and notice his distant look.
"What is it, Giles?' Buffy asked. Giles looked at her confused.
"Buffy," Dawn interrupted. Buffy turned and looked at Dawn.
"Spike isn't breathing."
Buffy rushed passed Dawn and flew up the stairs to Giles's bedroom. She rushed to Spike's side and saw blood oozing from his nose. She grabbed the wash cloth from the side table. She held it to Spike's nose. She checked for a pulse and let out a sigh of relief. His heart was still beating. She sat him up and notice the blood stopped flowing. She ran her fingers throw his curly blonde locks. She kissed his forehead as she watched Spike's chest rise and fall.
"William, can you hear me?" Buffy whispered in Spike's ear. He opened one eye in acknowledgement. She kissed his head. They heard pounding on Giles's door. She heard Giles voice. She couldn't make out what they were saying.
Dawn walked up the stair with a grim look on her face. Buffy about stopped breathing for a moment when she saw who was behind Dawn.
"Riley," Buffy gasped.
She was now uncomfortably aware of what she was wearing and how she looked. She hid to her best of abilities. She kept her hand in Spike's, now, matted hair.
"Angel called me and I met him at your house. He told me Spike's chip was malfunctioning," Riley said. He looked and acted like a solider.
"What are you going to do to him?"
"I'm going to take him to the lab and get his chip out. It wasn't made for a human brain."
Riley turned and gave a signal. Three men dress in army gear came in and put Spike on a stretcher that they had brought in. They strapped him in the carried him away.
"Am I able to go with him?"
"Of course. You can ride with me on the way there."
Buffy followed Riley down the stairs. She looked at a crying Dawn. Her hands were over her face. Giles stood by her drinking his brandy. She stopped and walked over to Dawn.
"Dawn, He will be fine. Riley is going to get the chip out of his brain. Then he'll be back to his stubborn self," She said with a soft smile. Dawn looked at her with watery eyes and nodded. Buffy looked over at Giles. She grabbed the brandy away from him.
"No, more brandy."
With that Buffy followed Riley out the door.
