130

Time Lag

That evening, the doctor removed the I.V., and before leaving, told Spike to call him if anything seemed amiss and to keep Rose quiet and well hydrated.

Spike felt like he was trapped in a silent tomb. The kids gone, Rose out of it. He hadn't felt this alone in years.

A small sound, so quiet a human would never have heard it, from the bed caught his ear, and he was at Rose's side in an instant, kneeling beside the bed, watching the rise and fall of her chest and thankful that it was so.

Rose's eyelids fluttered, then opened. And the first thing she saw was Spike's face, cast in a expression of loving concern. A smile broke over her features that was like sunshine to Spike's soul.

"Hello, darling." Her voice was a little raspy. Angelus hadn't been gentle with her.

"Hello, luv." Spike seemed to be having trouble with his voice too, although for far different reasons. He took one of her hands and lifted it to his lips. "Gave us all quite a fright, babe."

"He doesn't want me dead," Rose stated softly. "Right now, I think he's still trying to decide if he can turn me, considering the bond between us. He wants to have power over..,"

"One of The Powers," Spike finished. "I knew there had to be a reason why he was so set on getting hold of you, pet. That one never occurred to me."

"It had to be that or the eternal rivalry between you," Rose pointed out.

"I had thought of that one," Spike replied. "But even so, it didn't quite seem reason enough. As for the other, I think you're so extraordinary in so many other ways that sometimes I tend to forget about that one." He picked up the other hand and kissed it. "Do you want anything to eat or drink, sweetheart? You've been out of it for the better part of the day."

"I'm thirsty," Rose admitted. But as he started away, her hand gripped his tightly. "Was it very terrible for you, love?"

Spike bent over her, kissed her forehead, then kissed her lingeringly on the lips. "You'll never know, luv."

&&&&&&&

Angelus turned in that night, furious and frustrated. He was furious with Eve for barging in on him when he was busy with Rose, and frustrated because of what that loss of time had cost him. True, Spike's face had been a sight, and he'd enjoyed knowing that it was because of him. But it could have been so much better. And despite Spike's threats, he fully intended there to be other times. And when the next opportunity arose, he'd make sure that there was no way he could be interrupted. He still had yet to determine whether or not he could turn Rose without both her and Spike going poof. He didn't want them going anywhere. After all, weren't they all family? He just wanted to make those family ties a little closer.

&&&&&&&&

"It's what, about 2 a.m. there?" Giles asked. Then, he answered his own question, ticking off the hours on his fingers. "Yes, that would be about right. I agree that it's not the most congenial hour to have the phone ringing, but under the circumstances..,"

"Okay," Oz sighed. "I'll do it. But if Spike yells, I'm going to tell him that it was your idea."

"Don't you think that's just a bit juvenile?" Giles asked. "And get on with it, will you, Oz?"

Oz started punching buttons. It seemed to take a long time, making a trans-Atlantic call. Then, there was the matter of the phone ringing and ringing while someone got rousted out of bed to answer it.

"You've got ten seconds to explain yourself before I climb through this bleeding wire and strangle you for waking Rose up." Spike's voice came over the line, a little fuzzy with sleep, but irritated as well.

"The kids were worried about her," Oz said quickly. Of course, he didn't believe that Spike could carry through with his threat. But he could hang up and then he'd have to go through the whole thing again. "They had a dream about her early this morning. They said that Angelus bit her."

There was a long silence. Finally Spike spoke again. "Bloody hell," he swore. "He did. But that was round about lunch time here. Hours before the kids could have had that dream."

"Is Rose okay?" She was alive, that much was obvious. But there was a difference between merely being alive and being okay.

"She's weak," Spike answered. "Took some serious transfusions. The only reason she's here and not in medical or a proper hospital is that Angelus can't get to her here." After a brief pause, he continued. "Oz, could you do me a favor? Just for my peace of mind."

"Name it," Oz replied.

"Get the kids some crosses and make sure they wear them," Spike directed. "The ponce knows where they are and I wouldn't put it past him to hop on a company jet to drop in on them. I want them protected as much as possible. I'm going to get one for Rose as well."

"I should have thought of that already," Oz admitted. "I'll get on it right away. Did you want to send any messages to the kids? I guess I ought to have had them here when I called."

Spike shook his head, then realized that Oz couldn't see it. "Just give them our love," he replied. "I think it's probably better this way for now. They don't need to know how bad off Rose is."

"Should I tell them what happened?" Oz wanted to know. "Or should I just try to give them the impression that everything's hunky dorry?"

"Might as well give them the straight," Spike said with a sigh. "If they think you're lying to them, they'll just dig it out of your head."

&&&&&&&

Spike moved quietly back into the bedroom, hoping that Rose had gone back to sleep. But as soon as he settled back in beside her, she snuggled up to him, very obviously awake.

"Who was it?" she inquired. She could almost sense his disappointment that she wasn't sleeping, but given the current circumstances, a phone call in the middle of the night was something to get the adrenalin flowing.

"Oz," Spike replied, cuddling her close. He always liked holding her, but now, he figured she'd need it, after what she had been through. Come to that, so did he. "The kids had a dream about Angelus biting you. But it was hours after it happened."

"Poor darlings," Rose murmured. "Were they very upset?"

"They must have been for Oz to call in what he knew were the wee small hours for us," Spike answered. "But we can talk about it tomorrow, luv. Why don't you try to get back to sleep now?"

"I'm not really sleepy at the moment," Rose said. She tilted up her head and kissed him. "Make love to me, Spike."

"You should be resting, babe," Spike protested. "The doctor wanted you to keep quiet. I'm pretty sure that making love wasn't on the agenda."

"I don't care," Rose replied stubbornly. "If Eve hadn't barged in, I think that he really would have..," She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought, but she was sure that Spike would understand. "It scared me, Spike, really scared me. The thought of something that should be only shared in love being taken like that. I need to feel what it's like to be in your arms, knowing that you love me. Please, make love to me."

"You're still awfully weak, pet." Spike's protests were growing more feeble, as was his will power. He didn't have much resistance where Rose was concerned.

"Then I guess that you'll have to do all the work," Rose replied, with just a hint of teasing in her voice. "Show me what it's like when two people are in love, darling."

Spike kissed her, stroked her hair. "I'm almost afraid to touch you, babe," he whispered. "You look so fragile right now." All right, so it wasn't exactly a no.

"You felt the same way when we found out that I was pregnant," Rose pointed out. "I didn't break then, and I'm pretty sure that I won't now." She kissed him again, her hands beginning to explore the chiseled planes of his body.

Spike groaned. How was a bloke supposed to deal with this? Especially since it didn't take much for Rose to turn him on. The sight of her, her scent, the sound of her voice. When she started touching him, he was lost, and they both knew it. Still, he felt he ought to assert himself, at least a little bit. He grabbed her wrists and pinned her hands over her head. "Thought I was supposed to be doing all the work, luv."

&&&&&&

"So we know that the episode quite definitely wasn't precognitive," Giles mused. "Since the event it concerned happened some hours before. Retrocognition, perhaps?"

"They haven't shown any signs of any extra sensory perception other than telepathy before," Oz reminded him. "So why don't we try to keep it simple?"

"And what would you call, 'keeping it simple'?" Giles inquired.

"Different time zones," Oz replied. "They're still reading Rose, but even the thought waves, or whatever you want to call them, take time to travel this far."

"I was always given to understand that thought transference was instantaneous," Giles argued.

"And how has that theory been tested?" Oz queried. "What distances have been tried? I'm betting that they never tried almost half way around the world."

"I haven't really studied the phenomenon much of late," Giles admitted. "I'll have to brush up. But your theory does have a certain seductive logic, Oz, I'll grant you that. And of course, it would be Rose that they're reading, since they had a connection to her since the moment of their conception."

"I'd better be getting back to the kids," Oz remarked. "If I don't they'll be wondering what's happened to me." He started to leave, then had a thought. "Have you got a couple of spare crosses on chains? Spike said that Angelus knows where the kids are and wants them to wear them as a safety precaution."

"But they're vampires," Giles pointed out. "Crosses will burn them."

"I've seen them handle crosses," Oz informed him. "Rose fainted, Spike nearly went into shock, but the kids were just fine. It didn't leave a mark on them. In fact, they didn't understand what all the hoorah was about until Spike touched them, and they saw what it did to him."

"Well I'll be damned," Giles muttered. "As you may have guessed, Oz, one thing we have in ample supply here is crosses. We'll get the children set up with some. Do you want one as well?"

"After a great deal of thought and taking into consideration a certain ambiguity where religion is concerned," Oz began. "Hell, yes."

&&&&&&

"Hi guys, watcha doin'?" Willow came across the children, heads bent over their papers.

"Math." Alaric made a face. "We don't like math."

"What are we going to do with it anyway?" asked Ariel.

"Try balancing your checkbook without it," Willow replied lightly. "Besides, math can be a lot of fun."

The twins looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Fun how?" Alaric asked suspiciously.

"Well, for starters, how about this?" Willow took his pencil and made a box and divided it with lines into nine boxes. "This is called a 'magic square'," she explained. "No matter which way you add the numbers, the answer's the same."

"But there's three numbers in a row," Ariel pointed out. They hadn't gotten that far yet. They were still very much in the basics.

"If you can add two numbers, you can add three," Willow stated. "It really isn't hard. Here, I'll show you."

&&&&&&

"I feel fine, Spike," Rose protested. "There's absolutely no reason why I shouldn't go to work today."

"You're still weak," Spike replied. "And you've got less color in your face than I have. You stay in bed today, pet. And if you want one more reason why you shouldn't show up to work today, I'll give you one. Angelus."

"So I'm supposed to spend the day in bed staring at the walls with nothing to do?" Rose inquired. "Spike, within an hour, I'll lose my mind."

"I'm staying home too," Spike confessed. "I know you're not the best at obeying doctor's orders, luv. So I'm going to stay here and make sure that you do."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Rose accused. "Knowing that you can tell me what to do and I don't have any choice to do it."

"Believe me, babe, I'm not," Spike said quietly. "I don't enjoy one little bit the thought of what put you there." He gave her a smirk. "Besides, it's my pleasure to wait on you. What will my lady's heart's desire be first? I am at your disposal, for anything from breakfast to a trip to the bog."

Rose giggled despite herself. Spike could always make her laugh. "I love you."