Chapter Ten
~The Good with the Bad~
Disclaimer: I own nothing...Joss owns it all!
Spoilers: Up until Into the Woods, with some of seasons six and seven in it. I am trying to keep some continuity with the actual storyline from the show but making it my own as well.
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The next few weeks went by so slowly for Buffy. She visited Spike's crypt everyday for the first two weeks. But the last week she was beginning to feel like it was all for nothing, so she made her visits with Clem less frequent. It was no exactly three weeks to the day since Spike stormed away from Buffy and everyday it just got harder and harder. Buffy spent her days helping Giles in the Magic Box. She was still determined that there was another way to get rid of Glory. The Council stayed for only a few days and left with no other trace of information on Glory. Speaking of the God, there had been no sightings or encounters with her for at least two weeks. Buffy began to grow suspicious. At least it was something to keep her mind off of Spike.
One day after many gruelling hours in the Magic Box, Buffy arrived home. Normally this was nothing unusual but this particular time when she entered her house she felt something. It was unexplainable, but she felt the need to run to her mother's bedroom.
When she arrived, she knocked softly on the door, calling to her mother. There was no answer so Buffy opened the door to find Joyce crunched on the floor, writhing in pain and clutching her head.
"Mom! What is it?" Buffy rushed to her mother's side.
"It's nothing honey. Just a headache." Joyce answered weakly.
"Mom, I don't call lying on the floor in pain, 'just a headache'. C'mon I'm taking you to the hospital so you can see a doctor."
"Buffy, I'm fine. Ahh..." Joyce clutched her head again.
"You are no fine. Let's go now." Buffy lifted her mother from the floor and made her way down the stairs with her.
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Buffy and Joyce arrived at the Emergency Room just in time. Just as they entered the building, Joyce collapsed in Buffy's arms.
"Help. A little help here!" Buffy exclaimed bringing her mother to the nearest hospital employee.
"Here. Bring her over here." One of the residents told her. "What happened?"
Buffy brought her mother to sit in the wheel chair next to the resident. She then explained everything that happened from the moment she got home to bringing her to the hospital.
"Alright. What's her name?"
"Joyce. Joyce Summers." Buffy managed to get out. "She'll be okay right?"
"We'll see what we can do. Is she your mother?"
"Yes. I am Buffy."
"Well Buffy, my name is Ben and I'm going to do my best to see that your mother gets top notch care. Here," he said taking some change from his pocket and handing it to her. "Go get something to drink, on me, and by the time you come back we should be done examining your mother."
"Um...thanks. I'll be right back." Buffy replied turning to go get her drink.
Buffy walked stone-faced to the cafeteria, a million thought going through her mind. What was wrong with her mom? Was it a spell? Was it natural? What if is WAS natural? Would she be able to stop it? Was Glory behind this? She hadn't seen or heard from her in about two weeks and that was when her mother started to feel mild headaches. It had to be Glory! That was the last thought on her mind when she made it back to the ER.
"Buffy?"
Buffy snapped out of her daze at the sound of Ben's voice.
"Huh?"
"You okay?" He looked at her with sympathetic eyes.
"Oh. Yeah. How's my mom?"
"She's fine. We gave her something for the pain. You can go in and see her if you want. Then we can let both of you know what's going on."
"Going on? Is it bad?"
"Let's go see her and we'll explain everything." Ben explained, gently pulling Buffy towards her mother's room.
"Mom!" Buffy exclaimed when she got to the room. She ran to her mother and gave her a hug. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been hit by a truck, but better." Joyce said trying to bring some humour to the situation.
"You're a funny lady. So Doctor Ben," she said turning her attention away from her mother. "What's the what?"
Ben began to explain what tests were being done, needed to be done and what they found to be a possibility for the headaches. Buffy and Joyce sat motionless as he explained everything to them.
"A tumour?" Buffy finally managed to say?
"Like I said that's what we suspect but we have to keep Joyce here overnight for observation just to be sure. She'll have the have a CAT scan done, but it looks like a good possibility that this is what we are dealing with. But keep in mind that we are most likely catching this early and with a small surgery we can remove it with little to no complications." Ben said reassuringly.
"Well, that's a relief." Joyce said with a sigh. Buffy looked at her as if she were a leper. "What? You heard him. A small surgery and everything will be fine, right?"
"Well that's what we suspect Mrs. Summers."
"So I'll stay overnight, get the tests over with to confirm your suspicions and everything will be fine. Buffy, you should go home and tell your sister. She can come over later and see me. She'll be worried because we're both not home." Joyce said firmly.
"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you here." Buffy questioned.
"I'll be fine, over-protective daughter of mine. Now go. I'll see you in the morning."
"Alright. I'm gone. But I'll be back first thing in the morning with Dawnie." Buffy kissed her mother's head and left the room with Ben following.
"She'll be fine. She's got the best looking after her." Ben gave her a soft smile. He quickly looked down and quietly said "Hey Buffy?"
"Uh huh?"
"I was wondering, and I don't do this often, if ever, but I was wondering if you wanted to go for coffee sometime? With me." He looked up with hopeful eyes.
"Oh. Uh...coffee? I..." She sputtered.
"It's okay if you don't want to. I just thought..."
"No see, I just got out of this relationship, sort of, and I just...you know what? Screw it. Coffee sounds great." Buffy blurted out. She figured she didn't have to wait around for Spike. He might never come back for all she knew.
"Really?! That's great. Um...here's my number and you can call me when you feel the need for coffee." He said handing her the paper with his number written on it.
"Great. Well, I should probably go. I need to get home to my sister. She's probably worried sick by now. I'll call you." Buffy said putting the paper in her pocket. She turned and made her way out of the hospital with a smiling Ben watching her go.
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Buffy opened the door of her house to find not only Dawn waiting for her, but the whole Scooby gang, excluding Spike of course.
"Well it's about time. We were worried sick. Where's Mom?" Dawn demanded.
"Dawn you should sit down. You all should sit down." Buffy said calmly putting her jacket on the coat rack.
"Why? Buffy you're scaring me. What's wrong? Where's Mom?" Tears threatened to spill from her little sister's eyes.
"Mom is sick." Buffy blurted out. The whole room became silent. Buffy explained everything to the group, obviously leaving out the part about coffee.
"Is she gonna die?" Dawn whispered, tears making their way down her face.
"Oh Dawnie, no. The doctor's said they probably caught it in time that a small surgery to remove it should do the trick." Buffy comforted her sister.
"So we can see her tomorrow?"
"Yep. They gave her some medication for the pain and they'll probably send her home tomorrow."
The Scoobies stayed for a little while longer. Everyone decided it was time to get going but they would all be back in the morning to go to the hospital with Buffy and Dawn.
Dawn was upstairs attempting some sleep while Giles and Buffy remained downstairs in the living room.
"How are you holding up Buffy?"
"Meh. I'm here. I think I'm kind of numb to it all still. But it will all be fine, so no worries." Buffy sat looking at the floor for a few moments when a quiet "Giles?" escaped from her lips. When she looked up, her eyes were filled with tears. Giles rushed to his Slayer's side to comfort her.
"Oh Buffy. It's going to be alright. I promise."
"But what if it isn't? Giles! I can't fight this! It's not mystical; it's not a demon or a God! This is something that I can't fight! I feel useless in this." Buffy broke down in Giles' arms.
"Then you'll just have to trust the doctor's to fight it for you. You can't fight everything Buffy. I can't guarantee anything on their behalf, but I can promise that I'll be here for you through it all." Giles said smoothing Buffy's hair as he held her to him.
"You're right. This is out of my control. Do you know how hard this is for me? First Spike leaves and I can't control that. Now this thing is hurting my mother and there is nothing that I can do about it. I can't take anymore heartache Giles. I won't be able to survive anything else."
"I understand. You've been through too much loss for someone your age. Even being a slayer..."
"Giles, being a Slayer I'm supposed to expire before my mother, not vice versa." Buffy stated firmly. "And also being the Slayer, I'm not supposed to be making moon-eyes at vampires; I'm supposed to by slaying them!" She took a deep breath. "Speaking of slaying, I should go patrol. There have to be some baddies for me to take my aggression out on. Can you stay with Dawn for a while? I don't want her to wake and find no one here."
"Of course. Buffy, you will be careful though? Your energy isn't properly focused and I don't want you to do anything rash."
"I promise I'll be careful Giles. Thanks." With that, Buffy was out the door with stake in hand.
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The vampires must have been sensing that Buffy was not in the mood to be messed with, she only encountered three fledglings. It was such a quiet night; she figured she should head over to the crypt to visit Clem. Maybe Spike had contacted him. That was all Buffy had left to cling to...the faint hope that Spike would return.
As Buffy got closer to Spike's crypt she felt...a familiar presence. Her body was overcome with a strange warmth. Before she knew, she was off in a full sprint towards the crypt. She lowed down when she reached it. As she approached the door she could hear voices coming from the crypt. Buffy tried to make out what was being said but the door was too thick. 'That's it, I'm just going to go in,' she thought. Buffy stepped back, stepping on a twig and opened the door quickly.
"Clem?" She shouted.
"Right here Slayer." He answered from the chair in front of the TV.
"Who were you just talking to?"
"Me? No one. It was the TV." He answered quickly.
"Oh. Wait. Clem the TV isn't even on. Who was just here? Was it Spike?" Buffy started to look frantically around the crypt.
"Buffy, I told you. Spike is gone. He hasn't been here for weeks. The sound you heard was the TV. I swear."
"Clem. I heard voices in here. I know it was Spike. Please just tell me the truth. I could feel him. I could feel his presence Clem, don't lie, please don't." Buffy broke out it tears as her legs gave out under her and she fell to the floor.
Clem rushed to her side. "Slayer, please don't cry. I'm sorry. Look the noise you heard was me and a guy who was delivering a message to me, from Spike."
"You've heard from him then?" Buffy brought her head up, wiping the tears from her eyes and face.
"He sent this to me." He said pulling out a letter. "He wanted you to have it."
Buffy opened the letter and read: ~Slayer, I wanted you to know that I am okay. I am terribly sorry that I left the way I did. I understand you still love the Poofter and always will. That's why I've been away. I've been looking for another solution to sending Glory home. I have found one. I'll be around soon to give you the good news myself. Until then, I love you as much as always even if you don't still or ever feel the same. Always Yours, SPIKE
As Buffy finished reading the letter, tears poured freely out of her eyes. She closed the letter and brought it to her chest. She looked up at Clem with a tear-stained face.
"Thank you." Clem nodded and Buffy got up to leave. She looked back with a faint smile and headed out the door.
"Well," Clem said. "Was that the reaction you were looking for?" He finished, looking to the darkened corner of the crypt. Spike stepped out of the corner with a sombre look on his face.
"Not sure, mate. I'll know soon enough though. Don't let her know I'm back yet. I want to bide my time."
"She misses you, you know. Up until this week she was coming everyday looking for you. Why don't' you just let her know that you are back?" Clem questioned.
"Not just yet. I need to play my card at the exact perfect time. Soon. She'll get to know soon." Spike said with a tiny smirk crossing over his face.
A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying this. I am having a hard time writing it. But I have a chapter list written out and I have figured out at least the next 4 chapters and what will occur. So be patient. I know it's been a long time. Thanks for sticking with me. ~AJ~
Disclaimer: I own nothing...Joss owns it all!
Spoilers: Up until Into the Woods, with some of seasons six and seven in it. I am trying to keep some continuity with the actual storyline from the show but making it my own as well.
****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****
The next few weeks went by so slowly for Buffy. She visited Spike's crypt everyday for the first two weeks. But the last week she was beginning to feel like it was all for nothing, so she made her visits with Clem less frequent. It was no exactly three weeks to the day since Spike stormed away from Buffy and everyday it just got harder and harder. Buffy spent her days helping Giles in the Magic Box. She was still determined that there was another way to get rid of Glory. The Council stayed for only a few days and left with no other trace of information on Glory. Speaking of the God, there had been no sightings or encounters with her for at least two weeks. Buffy began to grow suspicious. At least it was something to keep her mind off of Spike.
One day after many gruelling hours in the Magic Box, Buffy arrived home. Normally this was nothing unusual but this particular time when she entered her house she felt something. It was unexplainable, but she felt the need to run to her mother's bedroom.
When she arrived, she knocked softly on the door, calling to her mother. There was no answer so Buffy opened the door to find Joyce crunched on the floor, writhing in pain and clutching her head.
"Mom! What is it?" Buffy rushed to her mother's side.
"It's nothing honey. Just a headache." Joyce answered weakly.
"Mom, I don't call lying on the floor in pain, 'just a headache'. C'mon I'm taking you to the hospital so you can see a doctor."
"Buffy, I'm fine. Ahh..." Joyce clutched her head again.
"You are no fine. Let's go now." Buffy lifted her mother from the floor and made her way down the stairs with her.
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Buffy and Joyce arrived at the Emergency Room just in time. Just as they entered the building, Joyce collapsed in Buffy's arms.
"Help. A little help here!" Buffy exclaimed bringing her mother to the nearest hospital employee.
"Here. Bring her over here." One of the residents told her. "What happened?"
Buffy brought her mother to sit in the wheel chair next to the resident. She then explained everything that happened from the moment she got home to bringing her to the hospital.
"Alright. What's her name?"
"Joyce. Joyce Summers." Buffy managed to get out. "She'll be okay right?"
"We'll see what we can do. Is she your mother?"
"Yes. I am Buffy."
"Well Buffy, my name is Ben and I'm going to do my best to see that your mother gets top notch care. Here," he said taking some change from his pocket and handing it to her. "Go get something to drink, on me, and by the time you come back we should be done examining your mother."
"Um...thanks. I'll be right back." Buffy replied turning to go get her drink.
Buffy walked stone-faced to the cafeteria, a million thought going through her mind. What was wrong with her mom? Was it a spell? Was it natural? What if is WAS natural? Would she be able to stop it? Was Glory behind this? She hadn't seen or heard from her in about two weeks and that was when her mother started to feel mild headaches. It had to be Glory! That was the last thought on her mind when she made it back to the ER.
"Buffy?"
Buffy snapped out of her daze at the sound of Ben's voice.
"Huh?"
"You okay?" He looked at her with sympathetic eyes.
"Oh. Yeah. How's my mom?"
"She's fine. We gave her something for the pain. You can go in and see her if you want. Then we can let both of you know what's going on."
"Going on? Is it bad?"
"Let's go see her and we'll explain everything." Ben explained, gently pulling Buffy towards her mother's room.
"Mom!" Buffy exclaimed when she got to the room. She ran to her mother and gave her a hug. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been hit by a truck, but better." Joyce said trying to bring some humour to the situation.
"You're a funny lady. So Doctor Ben," she said turning her attention away from her mother. "What's the what?"
Ben began to explain what tests were being done, needed to be done and what they found to be a possibility for the headaches. Buffy and Joyce sat motionless as he explained everything to them.
"A tumour?" Buffy finally managed to say?
"Like I said that's what we suspect but we have to keep Joyce here overnight for observation just to be sure. She'll have the have a CAT scan done, but it looks like a good possibility that this is what we are dealing with. But keep in mind that we are most likely catching this early and with a small surgery we can remove it with little to no complications." Ben said reassuringly.
"Well, that's a relief." Joyce said with a sigh. Buffy looked at her as if she were a leper. "What? You heard him. A small surgery and everything will be fine, right?"
"Well that's what we suspect Mrs. Summers."
"So I'll stay overnight, get the tests over with to confirm your suspicions and everything will be fine. Buffy, you should go home and tell your sister. She can come over later and see me. She'll be worried because we're both not home." Joyce said firmly.
"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you here." Buffy questioned.
"I'll be fine, over-protective daughter of mine. Now go. I'll see you in the morning."
"Alright. I'm gone. But I'll be back first thing in the morning with Dawnie." Buffy kissed her mother's head and left the room with Ben following.
"She'll be fine. She's got the best looking after her." Ben gave her a soft smile. He quickly looked down and quietly said "Hey Buffy?"
"Uh huh?"
"I was wondering, and I don't do this often, if ever, but I was wondering if you wanted to go for coffee sometime? With me." He looked up with hopeful eyes.
"Oh. Uh...coffee? I..." She sputtered.
"It's okay if you don't want to. I just thought..."
"No see, I just got out of this relationship, sort of, and I just...you know what? Screw it. Coffee sounds great." Buffy blurted out. She figured she didn't have to wait around for Spike. He might never come back for all she knew.
"Really?! That's great. Um...here's my number and you can call me when you feel the need for coffee." He said handing her the paper with his number written on it.
"Great. Well, I should probably go. I need to get home to my sister. She's probably worried sick by now. I'll call you." Buffy said putting the paper in her pocket. She turned and made her way out of the hospital with a smiling Ben watching her go.
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Buffy opened the door of her house to find not only Dawn waiting for her, but the whole Scooby gang, excluding Spike of course.
"Well it's about time. We were worried sick. Where's Mom?" Dawn demanded.
"Dawn you should sit down. You all should sit down." Buffy said calmly putting her jacket on the coat rack.
"Why? Buffy you're scaring me. What's wrong? Where's Mom?" Tears threatened to spill from her little sister's eyes.
"Mom is sick." Buffy blurted out. The whole room became silent. Buffy explained everything to the group, obviously leaving out the part about coffee.
"Is she gonna die?" Dawn whispered, tears making their way down her face.
"Oh Dawnie, no. The doctor's said they probably caught it in time that a small surgery to remove it should do the trick." Buffy comforted her sister.
"So we can see her tomorrow?"
"Yep. They gave her some medication for the pain and they'll probably send her home tomorrow."
The Scoobies stayed for a little while longer. Everyone decided it was time to get going but they would all be back in the morning to go to the hospital with Buffy and Dawn.
Dawn was upstairs attempting some sleep while Giles and Buffy remained downstairs in the living room.
"How are you holding up Buffy?"
"Meh. I'm here. I think I'm kind of numb to it all still. But it will all be fine, so no worries." Buffy sat looking at the floor for a few moments when a quiet "Giles?" escaped from her lips. When she looked up, her eyes were filled with tears. Giles rushed to his Slayer's side to comfort her.
"Oh Buffy. It's going to be alright. I promise."
"But what if it isn't? Giles! I can't fight this! It's not mystical; it's not a demon or a God! This is something that I can't fight! I feel useless in this." Buffy broke down in Giles' arms.
"Then you'll just have to trust the doctor's to fight it for you. You can't fight everything Buffy. I can't guarantee anything on their behalf, but I can promise that I'll be here for you through it all." Giles said smoothing Buffy's hair as he held her to him.
"You're right. This is out of my control. Do you know how hard this is for me? First Spike leaves and I can't control that. Now this thing is hurting my mother and there is nothing that I can do about it. I can't take anymore heartache Giles. I won't be able to survive anything else."
"I understand. You've been through too much loss for someone your age. Even being a slayer..."
"Giles, being a Slayer I'm supposed to expire before my mother, not vice versa." Buffy stated firmly. "And also being the Slayer, I'm not supposed to be making moon-eyes at vampires; I'm supposed to by slaying them!" She took a deep breath. "Speaking of slaying, I should go patrol. There have to be some baddies for me to take my aggression out on. Can you stay with Dawn for a while? I don't want her to wake and find no one here."
"Of course. Buffy, you will be careful though? Your energy isn't properly focused and I don't want you to do anything rash."
"I promise I'll be careful Giles. Thanks." With that, Buffy was out the door with stake in hand.
****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****
The vampires must have been sensing that Buffy was not in the mood to be messed with, she only encountered three fledglings. It was such a quiet night; she figured she should head over to the crypt to visit Clem. Maybe Spike had contacted him. That was all Buffy had left to cling to...the faint hope that Spike would return.
As Buffy got closer to Spike's crypt she felt...a familiar presence. Her body was overcome with a strange warmth. Before she knew, she was off in a full sprint towards the crypt. She lowed down when she reached it. As she approached the door she could hear voices coming from the crypt. Buffy tried to make out what was being said but the door was too thick. 'That's it, I'm just going to go in,' she thought. Buffy stepped back, stepping on a twig and opened the door quickly.
"Clem?" She shouted.
"Right here Slayer." He answered from the chair in front of the TV.
"Who were you just talking to?"
"Me? No one. It was the TV." He answered quickly.
"Oh. Wait. Clem the TV isn't even on. Who was just here? Was it Spike?" Buffy started to look frantically around the crypt.
"Buffy, I told you. Spike is gone. He hasn't been here for weeks. The sound you heard was the TV. I swear."
"Clem. I heard voices in here. I know it was Spike. Please just tell me the truth. I could feel him. I could feel his presence Clem, don't lie, please don't." Buffy broke out it tears as her legs gave out under her and she fell to the floor.
Clem rushed to her side. "Slayer, please don't cry. I'm sorry. Look the noise you heard was me and a guy who was delivering a message to me, from Spike."
"You've heard from him then?" Buffy brought her head up, wiping the tears from her eyes and face.
"He sent this to me." He said pulling out a letter. "He wanted you to have it."
Buffy opened the letter and read: ~Slayer, I wanted you to know that I am okay. I am terribly sorry that I left the way I did. I understand you still love the Poofter and always will. That's why I've been away. I've been looking for another solution to sending Glory home. I have found one. I'll be around soon to give you the good news myself. Until then, I love you as much as always even if you don't still or ever feel the same. Always Yours, SPIKE
As Buffy finished reading the letter, tears poured freely out of her eyes. She closed the letter and brought it to her chest. She looked up at Clem with a tear-stained face.
"Thank you." Clem nodded and Buffy got up to leave. She looked back with a faint smile and headed out the door.
"Well," Clem said. "Was that the reaction you were looking for?" He finished, looking to the darkened corner of the crypt. Spike stepped out of the corner with a sombre look on his face.
"Not sure, mate. I'll know soon enough though. Don't let her know I'm back yet. I want to bide my time."
"She misses you, you know. Up until this week she was coming everyday looking for you. Why don't' you just let her know that you are back?" Clem questioned.
"Not just yet. I need to play my card at the exact perfect time. Soon. She'll get to know soon." Spike said with a tiny smirk crossing over his face.
A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying this. I am having a hard time writing it. But I have a chapter list written out and I have figured out at least the next 4 chapters and what will occur. So be patient. I know it's been a long time. Thanks for sticking with me. ~AJ~