Seeing You Broken Part 2

Disclaimer: Don't own them, just take them out and break them so I can put them back together better.

Summary: Spike's broken. Can Xander and Anya fix him?

Reviews: Yes please. Love em, crave em, need em like air. Readers Rock but Reviewers RULE!

A/N: This was meant as one chapter of the 'Can't Help But See' Spike/Xander friendship story but seems to have expanded itself. Still in canon but my version of the events between the episodes 'Dead Things' and 'Older And Far Away'.

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Xander felt a chill as he silently watched Spike physically withdraw. He watched the leanly muscled arms wrap around the bruised and broken chest. His throat closed up at the sight of the single tear as it tracked down the misshapen cheekbone. That tear scared the human more than anything else he'd ever seen.

"Oh, God, Spike. What did she do to you?" Xander breathed. He crouched in front of Spike for long minutes staring into the sliver of blue still showing through the swelling. The normally bright color remained dull, unfocused. Xander shivered as he stood up to take the cramp out of his knees. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, flipped it open and dialed quickly.

"Hey, Chuck? Listen, my friend I told you about? Yeah, well he's worse than I thought. I'm not gonna make it in at all today. Huh? I know it's not a really good time but this friend has no family and I don't wanna leave him alone. I'm afraid if I do he'll dus… um die. Yeah, he really is that bad." The tall brunette listened for a second. "Yeah, I know, good thing it's Friday huh? I'm sorry but I can't leave. He got mugged and he's really trashed as well as traumatized." A pause. "No, man, who ever did it beat him down before he had a chance. Yeah, please tell Roger that I'm taking a personal day. I'll work extra hours next week." He nodded then realized what a silly gesture that was. "Okay, got it. Sure thing, thanks for covering. Thanks, Chuck. I owe you big."

He hung up the small phone, paused, looking at Spike's unmoving form and opened it again. "Anya, Honey, listen. I need your help. No, Sweetie, I didn't make it to work. No, I'm not hurt. I didn't get attacked. It's Spike. I need you to go to the butcher's and pick up some blood, lots of it. He's pretty bad." He listened. "No, I can't go myself. I'm afraid if I leave he'll dust. Yeah, Ahn, it is that serious. See you soon." He folded the phone and stuck it back in his pocket. He settled on the bedraggled sofa to wait.

Anya cautiously eased the crypt door open. It had taken her over an hour to get to the butchers and pick up the blood Spike seemed to desperately need. Xander had dozed off on the sofa but jerked upright as the door creaked. The blonde ex-demon set the heavy bag on the sofa next to her fiancé.

"Ahn, thanks for doing this." Xander got up to give her a kiss.

"Explain to me again why we're helping Spike?" Anya wandered over to bend down for a closer look at the motionless vampire. "Um…Xander? You do know he's broken, right?"

"Ahn, what do you mean? Broken?" Xander asked nervously.

"Broken as in he's not there. Gone." Anya elaborated.

"Are you telling me that Spike has left the building?" Xander closed his eyes as his worst fears were confirmed. He picked up the bag of blood and carried it over to the refrigerator to put it away.

"Yes, I think so. He's all bruised and swollen. Who did this?" Anya stood up and watched her fiancé load the shelves.

Xander finished his task and closed the door. With his shoulders slumped, he turned around to face her. "Buffy."

"Really? Why? What did he do to her this time?" Anya took another look; she'd noticed a tiny flinch at the mention of the blonde slayer. 'Maybe he's not quite as gone as he looks.' She thought.

"I don't know." Xander sighed.

"I need to get to the shop and open up. Somebody in this family needs to earn money." Anya stated, moving toward the door.

"Okay, Hon. I'll be by later. If he's gone he won't be able to do himself harm." Xander hugged his fiancée. "Thanks for coming over."

"You're welcome. You owe me thirty-five dollars for the blood." She kissed him briefly.

Xander smiled fondly. "Catch you payday." He murmured as she smiled.

"Count on it." She told him sharply.

"That's my girl." He said lovingly. Neither noticed the involuntary flicker of pain across the vampire's battered face.

After she left, Xander walked back over to look at Spike. "Well at least you picked a good time for your meltdown. No big supernatural baddies to fight. Just a trio of annoying humans that you can't fight anyway. And I didn't mean that in a 'Spike you're no good to us right now' kind of way it's just that… well… you know." He dropped back onto the sofa. "God, I'm sorry."

Much later, Xander had attempted and failed to get Spike to feed. The failure in the project had resulted in Xander having to clean up and cover the vampire with a fresh shirt. He'd spent much of the day just talking to his unresponsive companion. He was once more sitting on the threadbare sofa just looking at his not-so-mortal enemy wondering how in the world he was going to fix the problem, when his cell phone buzzed, startling the brunette.

"Hello?" He answered the summons. He heard Buffy's coldly dispassionate voice requesting he come over to the Magic Box and help with a research problem. His deep brown eyes were trained on Spike while he listened to his best friend insist he drop everything and run to do her bidding. So he didn't miss the reaction he got at his next words.

"Okay, Buff. I'll be there in a little while." He paused, listening, his dark gaze riveted on Spike. "No, I'm already off work, didn't go in today. Had something I had to do. No, I don't want to tell you what it was." He listened again. "I already told you I'd be right there. See you shortly." He hung up distractedly.

He rose and moved over to squat in front of Spike. He took in the smaller-than-before posture of the injured vampire. He'd noticed that as soon as he'd said the slayer's name, Spike had pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, pulling himself into an almost impossibly small bundle of pain. The defensiveness of the pose was not lost on Xander.

"I guess you're not as gone as Anya thinks, huh, Bleach Boy." The human murmured. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, okay?" He didn't expect an answer and naturally didn't get one. "I'll be back soon. I promise." He swore as he quietly left the crypt.

Later, in the Magic Box…

"You always hurt the one you love." Buffy said. The look on her face puzzled Xander. His gaze caught Anya's. Her expression told Xander that she'd heard the odd note in the slayer's voice as well.

After the meeting…

Xander closed the car door behind Anya and climbed into the driver's seat. He sat for a moment with his fists on the steering wheel. "She never mentioned Spike." Xander said sadly. "As far as she's concerned we don't know he was anywhere around."

"She's in serious denial." Anya stated bluntly.

Xander started the car. "Do you want to go back to Spike's with me?" He asked quietly.

"Okay, but you still owe me orgasms later." She smiled to take the sting out.

"Deal. Have I mentioned today how much I love you?" The brunette sighed.

"Not often enough but you can remind me later." The ex-demon said.

Xander parked at the cemetery entrance. Hand in hand, the couple quietly walked toward Spike's crypt. It wasn't quite dark yet so they were safe from any newly risen vampires that might be so foolhardy as to lurk in the vicinity. Spike generally kept his portion of the area predator free. He pushed the door open and led the way inside. It paid to be careful, even in Spike's crypt.

"Hi, Honey, we're home." Xander called softly. Anya punched her fiancé in the arm.

"I'm your 'Honey'." She complained.

"It's just an expression." He patiently explained.

They could see that the battered vampire had barely moved during Xander's absence. The platinum head had tilted over to rest on the arm of the chair but the rest of Spike's posture remained the same. He appeared to be asleep. They noticed that there hadn't been much healing. The lean features were still massively bruised and swollen.

Anya perched on the edge of the sofa. "What do we do now?"

"I want to try something." Xander crouched in front of Spike. "Say what Buffy said. Try to sound like her if you can."

The blonde nodded and took a breath. "You always hurt the one you love." She'd lowered her voice and sounded eerily like the slayer.

Spike visibly flinched. He took a sharp breath. 'Buffy?' Her name echoed through his mind. An impossible hope brought him back to himself. He tried to open his eyes to see her but they were swollen shut. The last few vestiges of sleep melted away. He inhaled another breath. "Buffy?" His voice was vaguely slurred.

"There's the vampire I know and loathe." Xander said gently.

Spike sat up a little straighter. "What are you doing here Whelp?" He growled. "Where's Buffy, I heard her."

"I'm sorry Spike. She's not here that was Anya. As for why I'm here, well first I was saving your undead ass from Mr. Sunshine. The rest of the day, I've just had a wonderful time staring at your multi-colored mug." Xander remarked.

"Shouldn't have bothered." Spike mumbled almost to softly to hear.