Nightmares Realized

Disclaimer: Don't own any of them, just like to play with em.

Summary: Nightmares abound.

Reviews: Yes, please. Love reviews they give me warm fuzzy shivers. Reader's Rock but Reviewers RULE!

A/N: WayWard Childe is an invaluable asset when my muse is being tetchy so thanks to him for his input in this chapter.

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Six year old William staggered into the drawing room and whimpered, holding out his swollen hand. His breathing was labored and his vision was failing. He could feel his throat closing up and he hated the sensation. The glasses he despised were slipping down his nose. His mother rushed to her precious boy's side as he faltered and almost fell.

"William, darling? What's wrong? Your hand!" She took the painfully swelling appendage in her gentle grasp as she sat on the floor to pull her small boy into her lap.

"Mother. A bee stung me. It hurts. Can't breathe." William gasped. His eyelashes fluttered as his head lolled against her arm. Panic seared through the woman. She shook her son violently as his small chest ceased its movements.

"William!" Anne screamed as she realized her only son was dying in her arms. Servants gathered into the room, whispering among themselves as they realized the little master they all doted on was falling victim to an allergy none of them knew about.

"Ye must hold him up and pound his back. Get his wee heart started again." Moira, the Irish cook knelt next to her mistress and gently help raise the tiny child's body upright. Golden curls bounced gently as the limp head bobbed with the motion. Anne frantically rained blows on her son's narrow back, pausing when she thought she felt a movement of the still chest.

"Wait." She ordered. All activity stopped as everyone waited breathlessly. William's small body shuddered once as he gasped. Anne rubbed his back and prayed for another breath. Her prayer was answered as he inhaled again. Slow breaths rasped as Anne wept with relief and Moira placed a calloused hand on the laboring chest. The tiny heart fluttered then settled into a slow steady beat.

The eminently capable cook then raised the swollen hand and searched gently for the stinger she knew would be imbedded in the fragile flesh. She pulled the offensive item from the boy's hand and sent a maid for a basin of water and a box of sodium bicarbonate. She quickly made a paste with the versatile white powder and spread it liberally on the site of the sting. A damp cloth was wrapped around the tiny hand as William settled into a healing sleep.

Angel's mansion, present day….

Spike rolled over in his nightmare infused delirium and groaned as his painfully swollen hand and arm thudded against the floor. Agony thrummed through his body and he sank deeper into unconsciousness. The day passed and night fell once more. Still the vampire slept on, his body fighting the effects of the poison as it moved slowly through his system.

Spike's crypt…

Faith sat up as she realized she was still alone and that Spike had not returned. She dressed quickly and raced up the ladder. Using the clock on the VCR to determine the time, she went into a quiet panic as she realized that Spike had been missing almost twenty four hours. Her stomach rumbled hungrily but she didn't know if she could keep anything down. A niggling worry that he was avoiding her so she wouldn't get too attached to him refused to leave her mind. A note on the television screen caught her attention.

'Faith, I'll be checking out all Spike's usual haunts to see if anyone has seen him. There are some drinks and snacks for you. Hope they're okay. Don't worry we'll find him, he'll be all right. Clem'

Faith grabbed a cold soda from the refrigerator and selected a bag of chip from the pile on the table. After a handful of the chips, her stomach rebelled and she closed the bag back up. She took her soda with her when she left. It was time to ask Giles for help again.

Magic Box, sunset…

Faith slowly opened the door causing the bell to give off a subdued jangle. Giles looked up from the book he'd been pretending to read as his agile mind went over the information Mr. Whitestone had given him. Xander was sitting across from the older man and looked up from his own work as the dark haired slayer descended the step. Buffy had already left for early patrol and Willow, as well as Tara, had stayed home to watch Dawn, a situation Dawn was not really happy about.

"Hey." Faith said quietly.

Giles removed his glasses and looked closely at the girl. Her face was pale and tense. "Faith, are you all right? Did you find Spike last night?" He asked.

Faith shook her head. "No. Have you seen him?" She asked huskily.

"We try to discourage the evil undead from hanging around." Xander said acidly.

Giles gave the boy a glare. "Don't help, Xander." He chided. "I'm sorry. I haven't seen him since he left here last night."

Faith's dark gaze scanned the shop and landed on Anya. "What did they say about Spike last night? What would make him disappear again?" She asked.

Anya gave her an uncharacteristically apologetic look. She left her normal post behind the counter and sat in the chair next to Xander. Quietly she told them everything that had been said the previous night. Faith's eyes grew darker in anger but she valiantly refrained from letting her temper fly. She realized that the ones who'd actually hurt her vampire were absent and she hoped she would not run into them before she found Spike.

She looked at Giles for a second. "Can I use the phone? I wanna call Angel see if Blondie decided to do a runner on me."

"Yes, of course. Come use the one on my desk." The watcher took her to the alcove where she could talk to the dark vampire with some privacy.

She dialed the number she knew by heart.

"Hello?" She closed her eyes in relief when Angel himself answered the phone.

"Angel." She nearly wept as she said his name.

"Faith? What's wrong? Did they give you any trouble? Do you need me to come?" Angel's immediate concern was soothing to the slayer's fear.

She gave a shaky sigh. "No. Don't need you here. At least not right now. Is Spike there?" She asked.

"Spike? No, he's not. Has he done something wrong? Say the word and he's dust." Angel growled.

Faith sank into the chair and fought the urge to cry. "Don't stake him, please. I just… um… he's missing. I need to find him. We've looked everywhere, Clem and I have."

"Faith, is there something you need to tell me?" Angel tried to keep the censure from his voice. He cared about the younger slayer and wanted to be sure she was okay. He'd pushed her into going to Sunnydale to make amends and now was wondering if it had been a mistake.

The gentleness in his voice broke her defenses and she spilled everything that had happened since her arrival at the Hellmouth.

"Oh Faith." It was the only thing he could think of to say.

She sniffled. "Yeah, I know. I couldn't help it. He's just so damned…" She paused when she heard him huff in exasperation.

"I know. He is. But still…" Angel began to snicker. "It's Spike."

"It's not funny." She protested before the giggles welled up.

"Well, yeah. It kind of is." He tried to control himself. "So you checked everywhere?" He finally managed to ask.

"I don't know Sunnydale that well but Spike's friend Clem said he was going to go check all his usual haunts but I haven't talked to him yet today." Faith sobered up at the thought of her missing vampire.

"Have you checked my house?" Angel's question surprised her.

"I didn't know you still had it." She answered.

"He thinks I don't know but he goes there sometimes when things get bad and he needs a bolt hole. Don't know why he doesn't just move in." The elder vampire revealed. "That's why I keep it."

"You keep your house just so Spike has a place to hide?" Faith couldn't believe it.

"Yes, but don't tell him. He'll stop going there and he really needs it. Don't tell the others either." Angel thought to add.

"Don't worry. I'm so pissed at some of them they'll be lucky if I ever speak to them again." Faith told him grimly.

"Don't blame you. Let me know if you don't find him and I'll come up." Angel assured her.

"Thanks, Angel." They said their goodbyes and hung up. Giles, Xander and Anya looked up as she came back into the main part of the shop.

"Well?" Giles asked. "Was he helpful?"

Faith smiled. "Yeah, he had a couple of ideas. Thanks. Let me know how much the call was and I'll have him pay you back."

"No need." The Watcher told her. "Just find Spike. Tell him I need to speak to him, if you would."

Faith tilted her head and gazed at Giles. "No sweat. As soon as I see him, I'll let him know." She left the shop on her way to Angel's mansion, praying that Spike was there and unharmed.

Angel's mansion….

Spike rolled over with a groan. He slowly became aware that it was night time and he'd slept the day away. He felt odd, dizzy and shaky. He reached over for Faith and realized with a jolt that he was not only alone but he wasn't in his own bed. The hand he'd reached for Faith with thudded on the floor and sent a shaft of agony through his body.

"Bugger!" His voice was weak. He was vaguely aware he hadn't fed in a long time, not an unusual occurrence since the chip but a small niggle at the back of his mind made him think it was a bad thing in this instance. He was dimly aware he was becoming dangerously dehydrated. An unneeded sigh drifted through his chapped lips. The back of his neck tingled. There was a slayer nearby. His sharp hearing picked up Faith's voice calling his name. His vision dimmed again as his movements allowed the bee venom to renew its attack his weakened system.

"Faith." The single word whispered out as he lost his grasp on reality again.

Summers house…

Dawn dragged her pillow over her head as the argument in the next room grew in volume. Tara and Willow had been arguing off and on for days, mainly over Willow's overuse of magic. What Dawn couldn't understand was how quickly Tara seemed to get over the altercations. The ups and downs atmosphere in the house reminded the teenager of the horrific time before her parents' divorce. Dawn loved Buffy and was exceedingly happy to have her back but she wished with all her heart that Spike still stayed in the house the way he had sometimes while Buffy had been gone. Tears spilled when the arguing increased in volume again. Buffy was out patrolling and Dawn felt more alone now than she ever had in her young life. Her life was a nightmare and she didn't know how to escape it.