Title: The Sacrifices
Author: mispel
E-mail: Willow plans an escape from the hospital. Buffy and Anya struggle to climb through the collapsing tunnel
Spoilers: Early season 7
Disclaimer: I own no one and nothing
Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.
A/N: Takes place in early season 7, not long after Beneath You and Same Time, Same Place.
Previously: Spike made a wish. The Denekari Beast got the cluster. The cave collapsed. Willow came to Xander's rescue.
Willow could smell the sweat and gin on the woman sitting next to her in the waiting area and on the guy dozing one seat over. The woman's feet scraped over the floor every few minutes while her hands moved restlessly up and down her thighs.
"I wonder why they're letting those other people go?" Willow said to no one in particular.
The blonde woman was instantly alert, looking around.
"I don't see anyone leaving," she said after squinting suspiciously at the door and the security guy guarding it.
"Before. They let a bunch of people walk right out," Willow said. She had seen someone leave when she came in, wheeled out by staff, with discharge papers in hand. But she didn't feel she needed to mention that part.
"I don't think that's fair. I need to get home," Willow complained.
"I need a drink," the woman said bluntly.
"I think you've had enough," the man next to her said without bothering to straighten from his extreme slouch or even open his eyes.
"Shut the hell up," the woman retorted and kicked at his feet.
"Quit that!" he yelled back.
Willow moved away and sat down next to a woman who was wearing a nightgown tucked into her jeans. With her was a boy, still in pajamas, sneakers on his bare feet, who looked about eight.
"I can't believe they're making us wait like this when they let those other people leave," Willow said as the woman eyed the door.
The woman just smiled while shrinking from the noise the couple behind her was making. Their scuffle was already attracting the attention of the cops, one of whom had been on his way toward Xander's hiding spot. Xander changed hiding places to the other side of the vending machine. The kid in pajamas squirmed in his seat and tried to put his finger up his nose.
"Stop that! I think you've had enough things up your nose," the woman told him and slapped down his hand. "He got a wheel from a toy car stuck in his nose. Can you believe it?"
"I guess someone gets a day off from school tomorrow," Willow said to the boy, who looked happy at the news.
"Oh, no. He can't," the woman said looking worried. "I can't get another day off from work. He's had two colds already. My boss... no way." And she was out of her seat dragging the boy by the hand.
Willow turned to the fighting couple behind her.
"That lady is going to get them to let her leave," Willow told them. Then she had to repeat herself to be heard over their fighting.
"Like hell!" The blonde woman said and went toward the exit dragging the man with her by his T-shirt.
"Would you watch it! You'll tear it," he complained. "Are they letting her leave?" he then asked as he saw the woman with the kid talking to the guard at the door.
Willow turned to the only other person who remained waiting. He was a large, neatly dressed man who didn't look perturbed by any of it.
"I'm not staying here if they're going," Willow said but the man just shrugged.
"No one waiting for you?" Willow said as she watched the guard try to get himself heard while beset by the two women and the guy in jeans who always seemed to say something to set off his blonde friend whenever she looked like she might be backing off.
"Dogs," the large man answered Willow. For a second she didn't know what he meant.
"Oh, you have dogs at home. You're lucky you can leave them alone. My friend's dogs tore up her apartment when she left them alone at night this one time. She had to get a new carpet," Willow said and watched the guy start to stir a little.
"They chewed up her favorite quilt. And the neighbors went nuts over the noise. She thought she was going to have to move," she continued wondering at what point her story was going to sound unbelievable.
The guy started to shift in his seat, and finally got up. He and Willow joined the others as they harangued the guard. Both of the cops went over to try and take control of the situation. The man one of the cops had been questioning came over too. He felt if anyone was going to leave, it should be him.
The blonde woman shoved the guy she was with into the large, neatly dressed man and the cops were on her. As if backing away, Willow bumped into the guard, pretended to lose her balance and hung onto him to steady herself and distract him. While smiling up at the guard, out of the corner of her eye she saw Xander walk right out the door.
Spike was cut off. The ground under him slipped downward taking him with it. Dirt and rocks rained down from the disintegrating ceiling. Spike fell as the tunnel collapsed. The darkness was swallowing him. The ground finally showing its true nature, no longer pretending to be solid, just a lose collection of stuff falling apart all around him. All the light was buried now. Spike couldn't see, just feel heavy, unyielding things battering him into the darkness.
Willow walked through the hospital corridors seeing two security guys going toward the commotion at the exit. She felt her fingertips tingling like they were going to catch fire. There was a spell that would let her walk through walls. That would come in handy. She had always wanted to try it out. But she was always afraid something would go wrong when she was halfway through, and there were no safety goggles when you're experimenting with magic.
An invisibility spell would be just the thing now. And a locator spell to get to Dawn quickly. And a spell to get them out and straight home. It used to be that easy, and getting easier all the time. Her strength was building with every new spell. Until it built up into something she was now afraid of. Something that stirred at every challenge, ready to help her, make things easy for her again. It looked down at the primitive being that walked using muscles, moving as slowly as a snail. It wasn't easy to say no to it when Dawn might be in trouble.
Willow hoped her stunt wouldn't lead to their escape being cut off. But she didn't think Xander could have avoided detection much longer. Even now she wondered when the police would roll up to Xander, sitting suspiciously in a parked car, and arrest him.
Buffy climbed up the tunnel first, holding the baby in one arm, digging her other hand in the ground in front of her so she could pull them both up. Anya half pushed her half supported her from behind. Instead of boulders, the tunnel walls now spilled dirt. Clumps of it and big and small stones came down on them. Buffy feared for the baby as the earth would hardly let her breathe. Dirt replaced air. The space around them was shrinking, pressing down on them. Soon it would be too heavy for them to move through it. Buffy found the child's cries reassuring. As long as she was crying, she was breathing, not choking on dirt. They didn't get this far to get beaten by a few feet of soil. This was nothing. They struggled upward clawing through the loosening dirt, hardly able to find a foothold or handhold that didn't turn into quicksand. They had to be close to the opening now. Buried, they couldn't move to reach it.
Willow was trying to look like she knew where she was going so no one would stop her. Finally, she found Dawn talking to an old woman in her hospital room. Willow stood in the doorway until Dawn noticed her.
"This is Mrs. Etcher. She lost her glasses. She was released, but she couldn't get a ride home," Dawn explained sitting on the woman's bed. Except that wasn't an explanation for why Dawn was just sitting there. Willow stared at Dawn for a minute.
"Okay," Willow said slowly.
The old woman smiled in Willow's general direction and went back to using her fingers to check that her blouse was buttoned the way it should be.
"I'm helping her get ready. We can give her a ride. Did I tell you she lost her glasses in the accident? She can hardly see a thing," Dawn babbled as she winked and made faces at Willow.
"I'm sure they'll turn up," Willow said vaguely, finally seeing Dawn's point.
"She's been a real dear," the lady said toward the doorway where Willow was still standing wanting to leave right now.
Dawn was putting a few of Mrs. Etcher's things into a bag, and Willow went over and dumped some things in there quickly while giving Dawn a hurry up look.
"We can give her a ride, right?" Dawn asked.
"Sure," Willow said distracted as she kept her ears open for noises from the hallway.
Dawn introduced Willow, giving her the name Heather. Since Willow didn't know what Dawn called herself, she was careful not to call her by name. Using the lady as a cover, Willow and Dawn walked on either side of her mandatory wheelchair and left the hospital without any trouble.
Helfreck paced as she waited at the tunnel entrance for Anya to come out. She stood away from the hole as it was rapidly closing, the ground shifting to fill it.
"Why did you have to get your teleporting privileges revoked, Anyanka?" She grumbled as she watched the opening disappear.
Finally she saw movement that wasn't caused by the shaking of the ground. Something that might have been a hand disturbed the dirt. Halfrek grabbed it and pulled. She saw an arm then a dirt covered blonde head pop up along with a small child. Halfrek pulled them free of the ground that threatened to trap them. Once they were out, Buffy was coughing and spitting and making sure the baby was OK. Lying on the ground to keep from sinking in herself, Halfrek dug trough and found a clump of hair. She pulled.
"Not by the hair, Hallie," Anya had the temerity to complain.
"Don't be so picky, dear," Hallfreck said as she pulled her out by the arm.
Halfrek was happy to see Anya stand up and shake dirt off of her clothes and hair. She was also somewhat delighted to see the baby had made it through. Between coughs, Buffy was cleaning her up, cooing to her worriedly. But the child was clearly hale as she cried lustily.
"Look at the little, pink survivor. She will be making wishes in no time. Maybe something to punish those neglectful parents who let her get kidnapped," Halfrek said and tried to think of something appropriate. Halfrek saw that Buffy didn't seem pleased with that idea, but what did she know.
To be continued