Part 14: All In a Blink of an Eye

ccc

Bounding down the stairs two-three steps at a time, then circling around the banister in record time, was no easy feat for Buffy. Not when her body was protesting to stop, to slow down, her body wanted to shut down, because just maybe it would be better this way, better to not see what happened. She allowed her instinct to take over, and it told her to run.

However, her instinct, though loud, did not drone out her inner thoughts, which told her that she would be too late and there was nothing she could do about it.

And she saw it. She saw everything that happened not a second ago. She saw him turn when she got to the kitchen. She saw him take a step towards the house, towards her, when she got to the end of the table. And she saw the arrow come out of thin air and pierce him in his chest when she got to the back door. "No."

The arrow did not pierce his heart, it's an inch-maybe two inches away-she mentally assured herself. But for some reason she knew this was more worse than seeing him turn to dust.

She saw his expression as he looked up at her, like he wasn't hurting, like he wasn't surprised by the arrow, just concern and worry written all over his face. Concern and worriment for her, as if she was the one who was hit.

But here she was, standing awestricken, willing, trying, wanting to make the image disappear, and waiting to wake up from this horrible dream.

Once it all came crashing into her, letting her know that this was real, utterly real, the impact was so great, she felt nothing. No emotion, no pain, nothing. Just a mind numbing numbness that crept from her hair follicles to the very tips of her toes.

She screamed nonetheless, or at least she thought she did, because she didn't recognize the scream she heard, but the resonant 'no' did not leave her ears, not until she looked to the side and saw Angel, standing just the same, as if he didn't know what happened.

How dare he?

Her heart was pounding so hard she thought that it would stop from overuse. Her ragged breathing worked painfully through her lungs. When she looked back at Spike, he was running towards her with a look she had never seen before, and for some reason, for the life of her, she just stood there, like a deer caught in headlights.

When he caught the arrow that she did not see, the arrow that was aimed right for her heart, she heard him say her name. But the sound was all wrong, it was just a gasp of air. Then Spike collapsed. Buffy caught him before he fell forward, and gently lowered him to the floor. She didn't know what was going on and she felt like giving up. Everything was just so wrong.

But she knew this was not the time for that. One look into Spike's dazed eyes, she knew she had to get moving, because there was something that still had to be done.

She looked at the floor and saw the stake straight away. The stake Spike was using. She quickly made a move to grab it, but she had to leave Spike's side to do so. Once there, she tightened her slim hand around the hard wooden stake and looked at the culprit.

She saw her swaying form, heard her mad laughter and incoherent mumblings, and somehow to her the words were crystal clear. But she didn't want to hear it. She didn't have the time to listen. They meant nothing to her.

But before she could raise the stake, something caught her eye. Angel had moved and darted for Spike. Buffy heard Spike groan in protest, and her already wounded heart, shattered at the sound. "Get the fuck away from him!"

She made a grab for Angel's arm, and yanked him back one-handedly. Angel hit the tree behind him with an audible thud, causing leaves to fall while the tree house above rattled. But for all of Buffy's effort, she got to him too late. Angel had already gotten to Spike.

Buffy glanced at her lover, lying motionless on the ground. "No." And the she saw it, or the lack of it. The arrow was gone.

She turned back just in time to see Angel snap the thin twig in two with his thumb and index finger, and throw it into the distance-not missing the center of Drusilla's cold dead heart. The arrow didn't linger to collect dust, as it kept on its way to where her eyes could not follow. Then she was gone. A flicker. But even that took an eternity.

She didn't say a word to him, not a single word. She didn't even look into his face to acknowledge what he's done. In her mind, he didn't even deserve a moment's glance of gratitude.

"Buffy—"

She heard him start, "Just stay away."

She made her way back to Spike's side.

"Spike, baby, open your eyes, look at me." When Spike's eyes fluttered open. and met her gaze, she smiled. "That's right," she whispered. "That's it, just stay with me."

But she knew there was more to it than that.