Sleeper
Disclaimer: Use and abuse em but don't own em.
Summary: Thought it was the end, was mistaken.
Reviews: Yes, please. Love reviews, adore reviewers. Readers Rock but Reviewers RULE!
A/N: I lied but I didn't mean to I really thought this would be the last chapter but you know how these people are about the attention, they crave it like I crave Spike moments. So I guess we have this one and at least one more to get through.
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Shock held everyone immobile for long minutes. Wesley glanced at Willow.
"What happened to the demon?" He asked. She indicated the layer of sparkly dust scattered around Spike's unconscious body.
"I kinda panicked." She admitted. "Blew him to bits."
Susan regarded Spike's bloodied appearance. "Good." She murmured savagely.
Wes smiled at her ferocity. He appreciated her loyalty and love for the vampire. He considered himself highly lucky to have found her and had begun wondering how to persuade her to let him keep her in his life.
She felt his eyes on her and glanced his way. A smile lit her gray eyes as she looked at the handsome British former watcher. He was someone she wanted to keep. He had all the qualities that Will had with the added bonus of a heartbeat. While she didn't have anything against Will being a vampire, she had hopes for children one day and knew it wouldn't have been possible with him. She returned her gaze to the blond on the floor. She could never have competed with Buffy, she knew. The slayer would always have Will's heart and Susan wouldn't have it any other way. She was just happy he was finally coming back to them.
Angel tentatively approached his insentient childe. Casting wary glances at Buffy hoping she wouldn't attack him again. He knelt beside Spike and ran a practiced eye over the injuries.
"He hasn't been feeding. That's why he looks so bad. A couple days rest and some blood, he'll be good as new." The elder vampire stated softly. "Lorne, can you arrange for a delivery of some human?"
The green demon nodded. "I'll go do that. I just need to call the supplier for the club. How much do you need?" He curbed his natural exuberance in deference to his favorite customer's sensitive hearing. He knew that Spike would not be able to filter out excess noise in his unconscious state. The Pylean noticed that everyone was either talking in hushed tones or moving about as silently as possible. The thought crossed his mind that the blond vampire was mistaken about this group's reason for wanting him around. He'd known it but seeing it now drove home how much these people loved the resurrected member of their family. He smiled to himself as he moved toward the broken front doors. Everything was going to be all right now. Glancing back one more time, the Pylean frowned suddenly. Angel had shifted over slightly clearing Lorne's view of the stricken vampire. Worry darkened Lorne's red eyes as he struggled to process the disruption in Spike's aura that hadn't been there earlier in the evening. Realizing that Angel hadn't answered the question, Lorne decided it would be wise to obtain as much human blood as possible and left to make the arrangement.
Jake handed Dawn the box he'd been carrying under his arm and guided his tearful girlfriend over to the sofa. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he moved back over toward Spike.
"How can I help?" The artist asked softly.
Wesley glanced at him over a shoulder. "We need to get him upstairs but I don't want to jar him while we move him." He caught a glimpse of Gunn and Fred coming down the stairs.
"Charles, could you go get the stretcher? I believe you know where it is." The former Watchers requested. "Fred, if you could collect the first aid supplies?"
Gunn nodded and left for the basement returning in minutes with a folded stretcher. The slender brunette detoured into the kitchen to gather the needed items. Snapping it open, he placed it on the floor next to the prone blond. Wesley grasped Susan by the elbow and guided her to sit next to Dawn. She gazed up at him for a moment.
"Shouldn't he be waking up?" She asked shakily.
Wesley closed his eyes, thinking. "Yes. He should be. I don't know why he's still out. It may have something to do with the demon and whether or not there was poison in the claws. We don't know what kind of demon it was so there's no way of telling yet what's going on. We'll get him upstairs and get some blood into him. Then we'll wait."
His crystal blue eyes met her worried gray ones. "It's all we can do for now." She nodded wordlessly. Wes turned back to supervise the moving of the injured vampire.
Willow chanted softly and Spike's damaged body rose gently. While he floated a few inches over the floor, Angel and Buffy grasped the ends of the stretcher with Angel at the head and the slayer taking the feet and brought it over to meet Spike's form rather than have him drop back down onto the floor. Realizing he wasn't needed to help with his friend, Jake moved back over to take a seat between Dawn and Susan. He put an arm around each female and pulled them over to his shoulders, soothing them with soft words and gentle hugs. The three of them watched as Spike was carried carefully up the stairs and into the room he'd used the first couple of nights they'd been there.
In Spike's room, Willow once again performed the levitation spell allowing Angel and Buffy to remove the stretcher before letting him drift down with infinite gentleness onto the mattress. There was some debate over who should remove Spike's torn, bloody clothes. Angel won by telling the girls that although Spike would have doubtless enjoyed being stripped while conscious, he would be embarrassed if he knew anyone had seen him while unaware.
Fred brought the first aid kit in. "Can I help?" She asked.
Angel shook his head, all his attention on his bleeding Childe. "No, I've got it. Thanks." She nodded and the girls withdrew taking the stretcher with them. Mentally hoping Lorne hurried with the blood, Angel turned his attention to the black jeans that were part of his Childe's trademark look. Ever so carefully, he eased the buttons open and slid them down the blond's too slender hips. He assured himself there was no damage other than extensive bruising to the legs then pulled the sheet up to accord the blond a modicum of modesty. Taking the very sharp scissors kept in the box for that very reason, Angel began carefully cutting Spike's shirt from his limp form. He hadn't seen any blood on his back so he decided to leave the back portion of the t-shirt underneath Spike, settling for cutting away the front and sides so he could address the bruised and broken torso. He carefully pushed on the broken ribs to ensure they would heal in the proper placement, frowning when the normally excruciating activity elicited absolutely no response.
The dark vampire fetched a bowl of warm water and poured some antiseptic into it. It was usually an unnecessary measure but since he didn't know what kind of demon it had been, he didn't want to take any chances of infection. Using the softest cloth he could find, Angel cleaned and dressed the distressingly deep claw marks disfiguring Spike's muscled abdomen.
That finished, he moved to wash the blood from the younger vampire's swollen face. The fact that Spike's natural vampiric healing hadn't kicked in was frightening to the elder vampire. The handsome face was marred by a bleeding cut under his left eye and severe bruising over the entire face. He looked as if he'd been used as a punching bag. Angel gently washed the blood from the lean features and carefully removed every trace of red from the blond curls.
He sat back and surveyed the damaged vampire. Spike was not breathing and unmoving; those two facts scared Angel more than anything. After a few minutes contemplation, Angel morphed into gameface and used a fang to slice open his wrist before reverting back to human visage. He held the bleeding cut to Spike's closed mouth and let a drop fall on the full lower lip. There was no reaction. Angel reached over with his other hand and pulled on Spike's chin, opening his mouth fractionally. He held the closing slice over the barely parted lips and allowed a dribble of blood to fall in. Sire's blood was the second most powerful nourishment an injured vampire could have. In Angel's experience, he'd never seen his Childe so hurt that a small amount of the potent substance failed to make a difference. Until now. There was still no reaction.
Nearly an hour after they had taken Spike upstairs, Angel concluded he'd done as much as he could to make Spike as comfortable as possible. He left the door open and went downstairs to see if Lorne had come back. Although after the failed attempt to feed Spike his Sire's blood, Angel wasn't certain the human blood would be helpful.
The group had been busy while he'd been gone. Giles, Faith, Gunn and Fred had made tremendous progress cleaning the lobby. They had gotten most of the blood from the walls and were working on the floor. Xander had found a tape measure and was measuring the doorway in preparation of replacing the destroyed doors. Jake was cuddling Dawn and murmuring comforting phrases in her ear. Wesley had moved with Susan to a secluded part of the lobby and he was doing his best to convince her that Spike's vampire healing would make him as good as new in just a few days. Willow was talking to Buffy, trying to convince the heartbroken slayer that Spike would be fine.
Lorne eased his way in through the broken doors carrying a large cooler. Xander and Faith dropped what they were doing to take the heavy container and carry it to the kitchen.
"Wes." Angel's tone caught Wesley's attention and he jumped up to follow his friend into the kitchen. One look at the dark vampire's face was enough to chase Faith and Xander back to the lobby, leaving Angel and Wes to put the bags away.
"Angel?" Wesley's concerned voice broke through the elder vampire's absorption with precisely placing the vital bags of blood just so in the refrigerator.
Angel dropped into a chair and buried his face in his hands. "It's bad, Wes. I tried to feed him some of my blood and he didn't react. Nothing." Wesley had to strain to hear his voice. A cold shaft of fear shot down the former watcher's spine when he realized what Angel said.
"We need to find out what kind of demon it was." The Brit stated.
"If Cordy and Willow can describe it, I can draw it." Angel felt the need for motion and went back to putting away the blood.
Wes nodded. "Maybe slayer blood will make a difference."
The tall brunette shook his head. "I don't know, Wes. It's the only thing stronger than mine. It might work."
Buffy and Willow came into the room. "I want to see him." The slayer stated.
Angel nodded and led the way. Outside the door, he turned to her. "He's not breathing, moving or healing. He didn't respond to my blood. Wes and I were thinking maybe slayer blood would help…" He trailed off just short of asking her to attempt to feed the injured vampire.
"What ever it takes. I want my Spike back." She held out her hand. "Do you have a knife?"
He took a pocketknife out of his jeans and handed it to her. "Are you sure?" He asked.
She glared at him without speaking. "Right. Stupid question." He mumbled. She pushed the door open and took a place next to the bed. Angel could tell a tiny amount of healing had taken place in his absence. The cut under the eye had stopped bleeding and the swelling had started to go down but nowhere near the amount that should have healed with the intake of Sire's blood. Angel felt he should have tried to feed him more.
Buffy flipped a sharp blade out of the knife and poured some antiseptic on it. She made a quick slice across her wrist and held her bleeding arm against the slack mouth, allowing the powerful blood to drip into it. They waited breathlessly for a reaction. There was no movement in the slim throat to indicate he was swallowing. The blood pooled in Spike's mouth until it began to dribble out of the side and dripped down his cheek. With a sharp gasp, Buffy pulled her arm back and grabbed a towel with her free hand to catch the blood trailing down the too pale face. Gently, she closed his mouth in hopes of allowing the remaining liquid to drain slowly down his throat. Angel squeezed excess water out of the cloth he'd used to clean Spike's injuries to dab at Buffy's cut, pressed the edges of the skin closed and fastened a fresh bandage over it.
Tears welled up in the slayer's green eyes. "Please, Spike come back to me. I won't lose you again. I love you so much." She pleaded with the unconscious figure. She scanned his battered face for any sign but he remained as still as a statue. There was no movement, no indication that he heard her.
"Come on, Buffy. Let's let him rest." Angel knew he was sounding a bit uncaring but he needed to get her away from Spike before she completely broke down. He grasped her arm and pulled her up from the chair, leading her unyieldingly toward the door.
As soon as they were out in the hall, she glared up at Angel. "Fix him." She demanded.
"I'll do what I can. The rest is up to him. We have to find out what kind of demon that was. I think the claws were poisonous." He told her gently.
Spike had heard Buffy's plea. He'd woken up as soon as the first drops of blood had hit his lip but as hard as he tried he couldn't open his eyes. He'd tried to move to touch his slayer but couldn't make his arms work. He heard his Sire and Buffy leave the room. His mind shouted for them to wait but no sound left his throat. There was no outward sign of his awareness. He slid back into unconsciousness before panic could set in.
