Doza: Jackie only gets a cameo and here's why- Too many cooks spoil the broth. I know some are eager to have an elaborate story with many TC characters, but the fact of the matter is a story like that can get cumbersome. I was even questioning whether or not to Illyria in since I had a cast of characters that was pretty sizable. I know it shoots down some hopes, but for my story to work I have to set limitations.
Thanks for sticking around, all you readers. Please read and enjoy. Oh yeah... REVIEW TOO!
10:41 pm, Wednesday - Slayer Base HQ
"Giles! Giles!" Willow yelled out as she supported Sara through the front door.
"Willow? What's…?"
"It's Sara. Somebody pumped her full of Onyx."
"God, no," he said in shock. "Let's get her upstairs." He went to the other side of the sickly and disoriented detective and put his arm under her hers, supporting her. They started to make their way toward the elevator when Buffy came in, early from her patrol.
"Hey, guys," she greeted, "what's… up?" She noticed Sara looking unwell and asked in an anxious voice, "What's going on?"
"Someone pumped Sara full of Onyx," Willow replied. "We have to get her upstairs." Willow closed the elevator and pressed the floor button. As it closed, Buffy ran up the stairs towards Giles' room. The elevator opened nearby and the three emerged. Buffy opened the door and they all went in, laying Sara on Giles' bed. She started to shake uncontrollably and her breathing hastened.
"We need to get her to a hospital," Buffy said.
"Buffy, we can't," Willow said. "She…"
"Willow, she needs medical help! She might be dying!"
"If we take her to a hospital she might hurt people. Onyx makes people violent and paranoid. She gets violent and we could have a lot of dead people on our hands."
"So what're we supposed to do?" Buffy asked.
"I could try and make some kind of potion to soak up the toxins, but that could take a while."
"You said Onyx makes people violent, correct?" Giles said. Willow nodded. "We need some way to secure her so she doesn't become a danger to herself or anyone else."
"Chains," Buffy said. "Do we have any chains?"
"The Council kept some chains and manacles in the cellar in case they needed to go on a capture mission. They should be sufficient."
Buffy acquired the chains and came back with them in hand. As they began to secure Sara, she suddenly began to flail about violently, growling and snarling as she did so. Fearing she would hurt herself, Willow tried as best she could to hold the woman down as Buffy and Giles came to her aid. They tried to hold down her legs as they kicked about. One caught Giles in the chin and the other caught Buffy on the bridge of her nose. Willow looked back at them. She turned back to Sara only to see the cop's eyes turn black. She had no time to be surprised, however, as Sara's right hand shot out and gripped Willow neck, the Witchblade's metal enclosed over the flesh of Sara's fingers.
Willow struggled for air as Giles tried to regain himself. Buffy was already on her feet dashing towards Willow as Sara tightened her grip. She reached them both only to have Sara's left fist forcefully hit her nose, which had already ached from the kick. Giles grabbed Sara left hand and held it down with his weight as Willow struggled to breathe and her face began to get redder and redder. Her own eyes began to turn black and her hands started to spark with electricity. Before she could do anything, Buffy brought down a metal bar against the bare part of Sara's arm, which made the woman howl in pain and release her grip. Willow fell to the ground and breathed in. Never in her life had she been so enthusiastic for New York City air.
Buffy and Giles secured the chains and manacles on Sara's arms and wrists as Sara began to taunt the Slayer through her black-tinged mouth and teeth. "Want to try that again?" she asked as a small amount of darkened saliva dripped from her lips. "I'll rip your throat out." Her eyes still black, she started to smile evilly at Buffy.
"You're sick, Sara," Buffy replied. "We want to help you."
"Liar!" Sara quickly retorted. "You think I don't see you, plotting, planning to get rid of me, Buffy? It was just a matter of time. I knew you'd stab me in the back… I knew it. Unchain me and I'll give something to plan about."
"Sara, that's not…" Buffy started to say.
"Don't lie to me!" Sara yelled. She lunged at the Slayer, but her chains only allowed limited movement. "You can't fool me. That innocent look doesn't fool me… I'll kill you before you can even blink."
As Buffy, Willow, and Giles began to back away and exit the room, Sara yelled at them in contempt. "Traitors! I'll kill you… I'll kill you all! I'll split you open from stem to sternum and rip out your insides!"
They closed the door, if only to muffle the sound of venomous threats ever so slightly. "This is a bold move, even for Amy," Giles said. "Attacking a police officer, particularly in New York, isn't something one takes lightly."
"Guys," Willow said as she addressed Buffy and Giles, "that sniper didn't aim at Pez… he aimed at me. Pez got between the shot at the last minute."
"What!" Giles exclaimed.
"Willow…" Buffy said.
"I know," she replied. "Amy tried to put me out of commission. She tried to exploit my past. The dosage that sniper shot was huge. If it'd hit me, not only would I have gone berserk, I'd have died of heart failure from the overdose."
They all stood in silence, shocked at what they heard. Amy had planned to exploit Willow's weakness and bring her back into darkness before killing her. The mere thought of it sickened them. Giles in particular was enraged. He had personally helped Willow out in her recovery and Amy wanted to put her through all of that again to get rid of her. He thought nothing more of 'Ripper' emerging and mercilessly putting a bullet through Amy's skull, consequences be damned. Only the thought of being near Sara and helping her through recovery kept his anger in check.
Momentarily horrified at the intent of the sniper they soon left the hallway, leaving Sara to rant and rail against them and the other Slayers the rest of the night. For eight hours it went like that, Sara yelling at the top of her lungs at how she would gruesomely kill everyone in the building. The Slayers who lived there heard her yells and growls throughout the night. Some were disturbed at how descriptive she was. If they didn't already know a hundred ways to kill something they could have added ten more to the list.
Each Slayer was under strict orders by Buffy not to engage her, no matter what she said. The months that Sara was with them had drastically softened the animosity between the Witchblade and the Slayers, but this new drug had seemed to take down all of Sara's defenses. They felt uneasy around her, more than ever before. They could feel the Witchblade's urge to tear them limb from limb and knew that Sara would surely try it if set loose.
It was only after those eight hours of macabre and unhinged yelling that everyone in the building heard dreadful scream come from Giles' room followed by what sounded like a person choking. Buffy, Willow, and Giles ran as fast as they could to Sara, the Slayers in the building trailing behind. Buffy approached the door and opened it, only to see Sara foaming at the mouth and writhing about. Kennedy had came after Willow with a few of the girls in tow.
"What's wrong with her?" Ling asked.
"Kennedy, get them out of here!" Giles ordered. "They don't need to see her like this."
"Giles…" Monica protested.
"Kennedy… now."
The dark-haired Slayer heard his tone and knew that there was no negotiating when he sounded like that. She felt a little silly. She was a Slayer and, somehow, that voice gave her the creeps. "Guys, let's give Pez some space," she said. "Come on." She and Rona led the other Slayers away as Buffy, Willow, and Giles were left with Sara.
The cop kept flailing about violently, screaming in pain. Buffy ran over and, against her better judgment, held Sara's arms down as Willow and Giles held her legs. Her mouth continued to foam even more and Buffy was beginning to think the worst until Sara's arm began to shake. Her body began to heat up and the shaking arm began to pick up speed. The three backed off of Sara as her body, save the arm, went slack. The veins in Sara's arm started to show themselves.
"What do we do?" Buffy asked.
"I don't…" Willow started to reply. At that moment, Sara became stiff and a blackcurrant-colored liquid began to drip from the dart wound and onto the bedsheets. As Sara began to expel the drug, the black started to leave her eyes, only to reveal the bloodshot in them. Once the last of the offending fluid left her body, Sara once again went slack.
"What in the world just happened?" Buffy asked.
"The Witchblade," Giles said in a hush. "It must've expelled the drug."
"What now?" asked Buffy. She looked directly at Willow.
"I'm going to make the brew to get the toxins out. I'll need charcoal and some herbs. The herbs I have but someone will have to get the charcoal. It'll take some time, but it should help. In the meantime, we'll have to deal with the withdrawal symptoms and aftershock." She looked at Sara lying still in the bed. "She's not out of the woods yet."
Sara squirmed under her chains, lightly groaning. Indeed, as Willow said, she wasn't out of the woods yet.
Three hours later, she woke up, the sunshine hitting her pale countenance. Her eyes, delicate from the effects of the insidious drug, batted them about trying to stave off the pain that kept making itself excruciatingly clear. She lifted her hands only to see them clasped in manacles. Buffy and Giles were asleep in the room, on the floor, and heard the chains move. Roused from their slumber they walked over to Sara who was struggling to against her restraints. Though she made a valiant effort, it was only a few moments before she gave up, weakened from the night's experience.
"Sara?" Buffy asked.
Sara began to shiver and said in a whispered and anguished voice, "Cold… so… cold."
"Just hang on," Buffy said. "We'll…"
At that moment, Sara began to vomit. The putrid contents of her stomach were forced out and were threatening to choke her as she lay face up. Giles saw what was happening and tried to undo her leg clamps as Buffy proceeded to break the ones on her hands. She would worry about new ones later on.
They dragged her over to the bathroom and she hung her head above the toilet as Giles held her hair back. A sickening sound came as she retched into the porcelain bowl. Both Buffy and Giles turned their heads away from Sara and it took all of the strength in the world for them not to follow suit. Ten seconds later, Sara finished and sat back, exhausted. Her face was red and her eyes began to tear from the strain of vomiting. Giles quickly grabbed a towel, wet it, and wiped the remaining matter from Sara's mouth. She began to shiver again and repeated her strained words. "Cold, so cold, so cold, so cold…"
Buffy went over to the closet and produced a new blanket as Giles tried to help Sara to the bed. As soon as he tightened his grip to support her, Sara yelled out.
"Ahh!"
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It hurts… it hurts."
"Come on, Sara, you can make it," he said. "Let's just get over to the bed." As soon as he tried she yelled out in pain again. Seeing no other alternative, Giles swiftly scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. Quickly but gently he laid her on the bed as Buffy rolled the covers over her. She clutched the edges in her hands as would a child her favorite doll.
Giles looked at her worryingly. He then ran down the hallway and to the steps, and yelled out to Willow, "Willow, how long before that brew is ready?"
Walking out oft the kitchen she replied, "It'll be about an hour. How is she?"
"Not well," he said. "She just vomited and she's shivering like crazy. I could barely touch her skin before she screamed out in pain." Looking at Willow with his somber eyes he said softly, "Willow…"
"I know, Giles. I'm working as fast as I can. We'll help her."
It was the longest hour Giles ever had the displeasure of experiencing. Sara kept clutching the thick blanket and sheets to envelop her body in their warmth. Numerous globs of sweat began to form as she shivered and her breathing became more and more excited. Buffy leaned against the wall in the corner of the room not saying anything as Giles began to gently pat the sweat from Sara's face. Each touch on her forehead made her flinch from the prickly pain and Giles ached inside as he saw her reaction.
Once the hour was up, Willow came in with a cup and saucer, the cup itself filled with a dark, steaming liquid. "Sit her up," she said.
Buffy moved in closer as Giles sat Sara up on the bed. Taking the cup from Willow he held to Sara's lips. The cop had no clue what she was doing as her eyes were closed. She only felt the mouth of the ceramic cup touch her lips and began to sip the brew. Immediately she gagged from taste and coughed. She turned her head in disgust, to which Giles replied, "Sara, you have to drink this."
"No," she said in a sweaty haze, shaking her head.
"Please, Sara," Willow said. "It'll help."
Sara opened her puffy eyelids and looked over at Giles. He held it to her lips once more and she began to drink the unpleasant beverage. As soon as she finished she coughed at its taste. Though she began to feel slightly warmer from drink working its way to her stomach, she grabbed the thick blanket once again and covered herself. Giles set down the cup and patted her forehead once again with the towel.
"Sara was supposed to be at work hours ago," Giles said.
"I took care of that," Willow replied. "I told her partner Danny that she came down with a 24-hour flu bug and I was a friend taking care of her. I'm not sure if he bought it."
"If he's as good as Sara says he is," Giles replied, "he'll have his suspicions. When will she be lucid enough to move about on her own?"
"Hopefully by tomorrow," Willow replied. "She probably won't have the best of days at the station, but she should be well enough to function."
"Should?" inquired Buffy.
"For a dose as big as she got, I'm not sure how long it'll be before she fully recovers. But with the Witchblade on her, it might even be sooner."
"Yeah, like it's done her any good so far…" Buffy muttered.
"Buffy…" Giles began to say to chastise her for the remark.
"Just thinking out loud, Giles." And so the three waited, waited for their comrade to show the slightest sign of improvement.
Sara stayed quiet for most of the day, except for the moaning and groaning that happened sporadically. Giles, Willow, and Buffy had journeyed up a few times to the room to check up on her, particularly when she felt nauseous. After about seven hours of it, they heard footsteps and an audible thud that surprised them. Running up the stairs they found Sara trying to gain her bearings and walk toward the steps. Quickly, they ran over to her to help her.
"Pez!" Willow exclaimed.
The three picked her up and supported her on their shoulders. Giles looked at her sallow face and asked, "What were you thinking trying to walk in your condition?"
"I wanted... to move... on my own," she mumbled between breaths. "I need to… I need to get to work. Stop…Amy."
"The only place you'll be getting to is bed," Willow replied, "at least until tomorrow."
"No!" Sara yelled out. "I need to stop her! I need to…" She stopped midway only to faint from exhaustion. Buffy, Willow, and Giles dragged her into his bedroom and laid her on the bed once again. Buffy took the covers and set it over the unconscious woman. Looking at Willow, she asked, "Are you sure she'll be fine tomorrow?"
"Pretty sure. Like I said, she probably won't be at a hundred percent, but she'll be much better than she is now."
"What about afterward?" Giles asked. "I mean, will she be craving the drug?"
"I'm not sure," Willow said. "She may experience that a little bit, but hopefully she'll be able to fight it off. We'll just have to keep an eye out for any signs. That shot was meant for me, Giles, and I'll do anything I can to help Sara through this."
"We'll do anything we can," Giles amended.
Buffy just stood in silence and looked at Sara, her face unreadable. What she was thinking was anyone's guess.