Time to show me the will to change, and I swear I will help you, I will...

Five: Enter the Dragon

It took about two weeks for Spike to heal enough to walk. He was smashed up pretty badly in that accident. He broke three ribs on both sides, broke his left leg, fractured his left arm, shattered his right collarbone, and needed fourteen stitches to close the gash on his head. For four days he had been in and out of surgery. A doctor told Julia that he had been inches from losing one of his lungs. To say the least, she was glad when he woke up one morning and decided to go and find her. She had been afraid that he would be bed ridden forever.

"What did I do to be lucky enough to be treated by such a beautiful nurse?" He asked when she walked into his room carrying his lunch. She rolled her eyes. He loved to tease her and had been doing it every chance he got as soon as he was able to talk again.

"Candy striper. Not nurse," she replied, placing the tray in front of him. "All the nurses are busy."

"Oh well. Same thing." He opened his mouth wide enough for her to help him drink. "Is my sponge bath next?"

"If it is, I won't be giving it to you."

"Aw, that's not fair. I'm really dirty too." Julia smirked, trying to keep herself from laughing at his dumb joke.

"You're in an awfully good mood today. Why is that?"

"I don't know. Happy to be alive, I suppose."

"Your dumb ass is lucky to be alive."

"Is it hospital policy to insult your patients?" Julia sighed, helping him eat a spoonful of soup. They still wouldn't allow him solid foods until they were absolutely positive he had no more internal injuries.

"You were a lot more pleasant to be around when you were unconscious." Spike smiled defiantly, opening his mouth for more soup. She fed him for a bit, not saying anything, until the question that had been burning on her tongue for two weeks singed her enough for her to want to ask it. "So why were you being chased?"

"Because there's nothing else to do around here."

"I'm serious, Spike. What were you doing?"

"So am I. I wasn't doing anything."

"Spike, you could have been killed that night."

"So?"

"You don't care?" Spike shrugged, then instantly regretted it due to his injuries. Julia shook her head. He was going to seriously hurt himself again one day, and she might not be around to save him. She sighed, feeding him another spoonful. She didn't know why she felt like she had to stop Spike from killing himself. She wasn't his keeper and she wasn't even sure if she considered him a friend. But she cared about him. Her heart had skipped several beats when she realized it was him lying almost unrecognizable on a stretcher with no one sure if he was going to make it. Maybe she thought subconsciously that she owned him something since he had helped her find a job and a place to stay on her first day on the planet. The least she could do for him was look out for him and make sure he didn't die at the age of seventeen.

"I think you should care," she said after a moment's quiet.

"Why? Do you care?"

"I don't want you do get killed doing something stupid, if that constitutes as caring then yes, I do." Spike laughed weakly. She glared at him. "What is so funny about that?"

"You're probably the only person in this entire planet who cares about a delinquent like me."

"So? I don't give a damn about the entire planet." A nurse popped into the room, humming cheerfully, holding Spike's sponge bath materials.

"Hello, Julia," the nurse chirped. "How's our little mummy?"

"He's fine. He just ate," Spike replied almost as cheerfully as the nurse. Julia wanted to laugh, but she was still a little peeved at Spike to give him the satisfaction of knowing he amused her. The nurse smiled, placing the bath supplies on the empty bed next to Spike. "Bath time, eh?"

"Yep. I'll be right back with the water." The nurse practically skipped out of the room, leaving them alone again.

"I'll be all right, Jules. You don't have to worry about me."

"That doesn't mean I'm not going to." Julia picked up his empty tray and started for the door. If she really was the only person on the planet who was concerned for him then at least he had someone.

"Goodbye, Julia."

"See you, Space Cowboy."


Julia didn't see Spike for two years. By then she'd saved enough money to get her own apartment and had almost forgotten about their last encounter. Sometimes, though, when she was sitting at the receptionist's desk and a call came in about an accident, she would brace herself when she looked at the figure on the stretcher, hoping that she wouldn't see a mop of green hair. She never did, however, and her thoughts would wander from Spike to something else. She had somehow managed to lose the only friend she had on the planet, other than Annie, who she visited occasionally when walking home from work.

Her apartment was located on the far side of Tharsis City, and for a nineteen year old, it was pretty nice. It wasn't as furnished as she would have liked, but she was working on that.

She wasn't exactly located in a ghetto, nevertheless she still eyed the door suspiciously when a soft knock one day interrupted her reading.

"It could just be the landlord," she told herself, standing up and reaching for the bat she kept under the couch just in case. She walked to the door, looked out the peephole, and was in disbelief with who she saw.

"Spike?" She slowly opened the door just in case he wasn't who she though he was.
"The one and only." He flashed his trademarked sarcastic smile, and she knew she wasn't seeing things.

"Oh man," she said in shock, ushering him in. "I haven't seen you in so long!"

"I know. I was missing my favorite nurse."

"Candy striper," she corrected with a laugh. "Sit down. Do you want something to drink?"

"Naw, I'm okay." He looked around as he ambled toward the couch. He seemed either mildly amused or vaguely interested. "Nice place you have here."

"Thanks. How did you find me? Did Annie tell you?"

"Yeah. I was surprised when she told me you moved out. I suppose I couldn't expect you to live there your whole life."

"I figured it was time for a change."

"Change is good." They fell silent, and for the first time, Julia got a good look at him. She didn't like what she saw. He was still as tall and lanky as ever and his hair was still a mess of curly forest green. But there was something different about how he carried himself. And that could have been because of what he was wearing.

"So, you're part of the Dragons now." Spike looked down at his finely tailored suit and unmistakable crest that ran across his chest. He sighed, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah."

"I guess that's what you wanted all along."

"I didn't choose this. It sort of chose me."

"I remember you telling me when we were sixteen that you were interested in that sort of thing."

"I was sixteen. I was reckless. I didn't care about anything."

"And you care now?"

"I've cared ever since I got into that accident." She found that hard to believe. He had told her himself that she was the only person on the planet who have a flying fuck about what happened to him. There was no way that had changed.

"You're old enough to know what you've gotten yourself into. I don't have to tell you." She folded her arms across her chest and looked out the window. She couldn't see anything more than the pathetic orange streetlights that cast unnerving shadows on the sidewalks when one was walking alone late at night.

"Julia, don't be mad," Spike said, almost pleadingly. This was one of the first times she'd seen him so serious, and it made her slightly nervous.

"I'm not mad."

"Are you sure?"

"Why would I be mad, Spike? Because you're putting your life on the line everyday? Because you've probably killed as many people as I have helped save? Because you're a criminal?" Spike caught her in an intense stare that she had never seen from him before. She didn't like this new Spike. His graveness made her worried. Julia held his stare, trying to convince herself that he was the same person even though everything about him was different. Especially his eyes.

She leaned forward, attempting to figure out why his eyes were different other than the fact that there was a layer of solemnity that blocked his former amusement. A funny feeling came over her after a while, and it hit her.

"Have they always been like that?" she accidentally asked out loud.

"What?"

"Your eyes are two different colors." He broke his gaze with her and looked out the window like she had been previously doing. She wondered if he thought the same things about the streetlights or if he had lost any fear of the world he might have had when he agreed to serve the Dragons. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She had the feeling that there was something seriously wrong. Spike did not suddenly track her down after two years for no reason.

"Do you need my help?" She asked carefully. Maybe he was in trouble and she was his only friend. That would have made her slightly satisfied to know that Spike would go to her when in need.

"I have an offer for you."

"What kind of offer?" Spike paused, looking as though he didn't know how to reply.

"Never mind." He stood up, ready to leave. He went as far as walking out the door before she managed to stop him.

"Spike, what's wrong?"

"Can you meet me somewhere tomorrow?" She leaned against the doorframe, trying to remember her schedule for the next day. He seemed a little desperate to have her meet him, which made her not want to turn him down.

"I'm free after ten. Is that too late?"

"No, that's fine. You know the bar at the edge of town?"

"Yeah."

"I'll see you at ten thirty then." And with that Spike left Julia standing there confused and curious. What would make Spike come looking for her after two years? Why did he seem like something was terribly wrong? And what did he want to offer her? Tomorrow wouldn't come fast enough for her; she just wasn't sure what it would bring.


Thanks to my reviewers.

P