Willow pushed the door open with her foot, and set the bowl of cool water on the nightstand next to Alex's bed. She was still unconscious, and had been for the past two days. After ringing out the washcloth, Willow removed the band-aid Alex had on, and placed the cloth over her forehead.
"Anything yet?" she asked, dabbing some cool water on Alex's neck.
"Nothing…Just breathing…Which is still good…" Spike replied, standing. She nodded, and turned her head to see him.
"You going off watch?"
"Yeah…I'll send Xander in…"
"I can do it…It's okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah…" Spike nodded, and headed out of the room. Willow sat down beside Alex on the bed, and picked up the cloth, dabbing it over her face to keep her cool. "Alex…you should wake up…We're all worried about you…" Sighing, Willow put the cloth back on her forehead, and moved across the room, bringing the chair Spike had been in over by the bed.
Spike leaned against the wall in the living room, a cigarette in his lips. It was past midnight, and the others had gone to sleep. He was supposed to be watching Alex, but didn't feel like smoking in her room, especially when she wasn't conscious. After standing there with the cigarette for a minute, he pulled it from his lips, blowing out the smoke, and went into her room to check on her. His eyes widened, when he realized she wasn't in her bed. He moved to the other side, but she wasn't on the floor. Looking around, he ran out of the room, and into the kitchen, setting his cigarette on the edge of the sink. He moved into the living room, and looked around. No sign that she'd even come thru.
"Alex?" he asked, not really wanting to wake the others up. He jogged downstairs, to the basement, and found no one. Heading back up into the kitchen, he paused, seeing his cigarette, though still balancing on the edge of the sink, had been put out. He lit it up again, putting it to his lips, and looked around him. Nothing. "Alex?" He glanced out the window, watching the rain pour down, and heard a soft thud over his head. Looking up, he realized something was on the roof.
He jogged off the front porch, and looked up at the roof. In the darkness, he could barely make out a form of someone on the roof, but knew someone was there, nonetheless. Climbing up to the roof, Spike left his cigarette in his mouth, even though the rain had put it out already.
"Hey! Who's there?" he called. They took a step away from him, but didn't answer. He hopped across the room, and took hold of the person's arm. As he spun them towards him, lightening flashed, and he saw Alex's face in the brief light. "Alex? What are you doing up here, it's pouring!"
"It was really hot in my room…And I didn't know where anyone was…" He breathed a sigh of relief, and raised an eyebrow as she lifted her hand. Her fingers enclosed around the cigarette, and she flicked it off the roof. "It was useless now, anyways," she stated, and blinked slowly.
"Alex?" She dropped down, sitting on the roof, her hands supporting her. Spike sat beside her. "Alex, come on, let's get you back inside…"
"It's hot in there," she replied, not looking up at him.
"We'll turn on your fan and open the window a bit, c'mon. You'll catch cold out here…" He pulled her up, and hopped off the roof with her, helping her back inside.
"But, Spike…It's hot…"
"I know, Alex…I know…Just…do this for me…" She faintly nodded, letting her head roll about on her shoulders. He sat her on the edge of the bed, and put her face in his hands. "Sit right here, I'll be back in a second…" He hurried out of the room, and came back with a blue towel and a white towel. Letting the blue one drop to the floor, he took the white one, and placed it on top of her head, rubbing it around to dry her hair a bit. "Do you feel any better now than when we found you in the tomb?"
"The…tomb?" she asked slowly, looking up at him. He nodded, and sat beside her.
"Yes…" She paused, thinking.
"I remember nothing but pain in the tomb…so I think I feel better now…" He smiled, and let the towel hang around her shoulders.
"Your soaked to the bone, Alex…you should change…"
"I can't, Spike…"
"Yes, you can…"
"No, I mean…I really can't…you saw me up on the roof…I could barely stand anymore…What makes you think I can change…?" He stood, and moved to her closet, pulling out a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.
"Come on, Alex…I'll even help you right now…" Pushing her door closed, he moved the towel from around her neck, and dropped it to the floor. "Arms up…"
"Can't…" she muttered, lowering her eyes. He sighed, but pulled her long sleeves over her hands, and tugged the shirt over her head. As it fell to the floor, he tugged her jeans off, too. She faintly smiled, looking at him.
"Alright…Can you move your legs a bit?" he asked, holding out the shorts. She bit her lip, and lifted her legs a little, just enough for him to pull the shorts on her. He took her shirt, and pulled her head thru the neck of it, and moved her arms thru the sleeves. As her arms fell back to her sides, he saw the marks on her lower arm, and lifted it up again. "Alex…What happened?" he asked. She had faint slashes on her arms, that resembled X's. She looked down.
"Must've happened in the tomb…" she mumbled, and blinked, yawning. He pushed her hair off her face, and laid her back on her bed, letting her head hit her pillow.
"Alright, you just rest now, okay? You've had a long couple of days…" She nodded, and he stood, clicking on her fan and cracking her window a bit. As he headed to the door, she groaned, and struggled to roll herself onto her side.
"Spike…" He turned around.
"What?"
"Don't leave me in here…alone…" He faintly smiled.
"I'm going to get you a bottle of water…I'll be right back…" She sighed, and fell back onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. She couldn't remember much of what was said or what was seen in the tomb, but she could remember some screams, and hitting something before hitting the ground…and the feeling of a spear being jammed thru her stomach as she spoke the spell. Alex closed her eyes, and sighed.
"Redirme poinē. Redirme dēath…" she mumbled. Spike opened the door, lightly humming to himself, and lifted his head. He was frozen to the spot, eyes wide, now silenced. Alex was laying in her bed, her hands laying a small space from her sides, and her feet together, looking similar to how she looked in the tomb. Above her was the faint, faint outline of her mother, just hovering. Alex's lips were moving, but she didn't seem conscious of it…or conscious at all, for that matter. "Redirme heorte acan, heorte brecan. Forgiefan mē. Forgiefan eall…" Spike couldn't find the strength to move as the image of Emilia became more and more real. "Redirme…" Spike tossed the bottle into the air, and ran to the bed, finally getting the strength back.
"Alex! Wake up!" he exclaimed, shaking her shoulders. Emilia's cat-like eyes were glowing, and angry, and she reached down, grabbing Spike by the throat.
"She won't wake now till she completely finishes the spell!" she hissed, angrily. He began to choke, reaching up to rip her hand from his throat, but she was just a ghost. He couldn't touch her, but she could touch him. Alex was shaking a little.
"Alex!" Spike choked out. "Alex, open your eyes!" She howled, and her eyes went wide. They weren't there usual green color, either. Now, as in the cemetery, there was no pupil, no iris, or anything else inside her eyes. They were now similar to Willow's eyes when she becomes evil, only they were red, and Willow's were black. She cried out, seeing Spike, and her mother.
"No!" she cried, and tilted her head back. "Bēon gān, yfel spīritus! Bēon gān, daimōn! Bæc to hwǽr ēow cuman!" Her mother screamed, and released Spike. He fell back to the bed, laying over Alex, coughing. They watched Emilia begin to tremble, and finally, her ghost popped. There was nothing left but a faint, smoky fog that was pulled out the window by the breeze. Alex's eyes closed, and her head fell back to the pillow. She was unconscious again. Spike, still coughing, rolled over, and kneeled beside Alex's head.
"Alex…wake up…c'mon…Wake up…" he muttered, running his thumb over her cheek. She just laid there, barely breathing. Spike looked up at the door, wondering how Willow, Dawn, and Buffy didn't hear any of that. He heard the loud rumble of thunder outside the window, and nodded. The two of them were drowned out by the storm.
Alex laid still on the bed for awhile, as Spike sat on the end of the bed, head in his hands. The water bottle was still laying on the floor, since he'd avoided picking it up. As he tilted his head back, to see the clock, he caught sight of her chest heave, and she began to gasp, eyes wide again. He jumped up and walked around beside her. She took in a bunch of deep breaths, and looked up at him.
"Spike?" she whispered. He nodded, faintly smiling.
"Yeah…You're okay, Alex, don't worry. You're here, in your room in Buffy's house, with me. No demons, no spirits, just your normal, everyday vampire." She sighed, and chuckled, pushing her hand against her forehead. "You can move." She nodded.
"Yeah…It must've been the rain earlier, knocking out much of the use of my body." He sat beside her, pushing the hair from her face.
"You feel a bit better?"
"Yeah…yeah, I do…are you going to stay?" she asked softly, lifting her eyes to his.
"Yep. I'm not going to risk leaving you in here alone…not again…" He bowed his head, and kissed her, making her smile. She moved her hand over his, and squeezed it. She pulled away, and took a breath. "You ready to go to sleep now?" he asked. She nodded, and rolled onto her side. He clicked off her light, and, after shutting the window, laid down beside her. "Well…I'm right here, so nothing will happen," he stated, and kissed the back of her head as she fell asleep.
Alex stood at the kitchen sink, filling up a glass with water, still in her shorts and T-shirt, her hair stringy and damp. She smiled at the fact that the scars on her arms had disappeared during the night, and she felt that they had been a mark left by her mother so she could come back. Seeing them gone made her feel so safe now. Spike slid his arms around her waist, pressing her against him as she downed her water.
"You sleep thru the night?" he asked. She set the now empty glass in the sink, and turned around.
"Well, the rest of the night, anyway…" He smiled, and kissed her forehead, stepping back to pull a cigarette out of his pocket. He patted his other pockets, and muttered curses under his breath. "No light?" He shook his head. Alex headed into the living room, and dug in the pocket of her jacket for her lighter. Stepping back up to him, she lit the cigarette he had hanging on his lips.
"Uh, thanks…Thought you hated it when I smoked…" She shrugged.
"When you've hit the edge of life, and been brought back because it isn't your time, you begin to see how precious some things really are…Even things as stupid as smoking. But you're a vampire, I really don't think it's going to do much to you but color your teeth…" He chuckled, and, after removing the cigarette from his lips and blowing out the smoke, he kissed her again, and started out of the kitchen.
"If you need me, I'll be downstairs…"
"What am I gonna need you for?" she asked. He leaned back into the kitchen, winked at her, and headed downstairs. She began to giggle, and turned back to the sink.
She threw some bacon into a pan, and brought the eggs out of the fridge, clicking on the burner beneath another pan. She let the meat sizzle for a moment before cracking an egg into the second pan. Alex turned her head slightly, hearing a door close, and smirked, cooking up the bacon and the eggs.
"Alex?" Willow asked.
"Mornin', sleepy head," she replied, laughing a bit.
"You're awake!"
"No, really?" she asked sarcastically, turning to give Willow a funny look.
"God, how do you feel?"
"I feel fine…I woke up last night, actually, but Spike made me stay in bed…" she lied, sliding the bacon onto a plate. She stirred up the eggs, and, a moment later, she slid them onto a plate, too. "You hungry?" she asked.
"Yeah…yeah, I am…" Alex spooned some eggs onto a plate, surround by some bacon and toast, and handed it back to Willow.
"There you go…and…Here's a glass of milk," she said, holding it out. Willow smiled.
"Good to see you're okay, Alex." She smiled, and Willow left the room as Buffy and Dawn walked in. She served them food and milk, too, silencing their astounded exclamations, and ushered them into the living room, with the statement, "Eat before it gets cold." She slipped the two pans into the sink, running cool water on them, and then filling them with hot, soapy water to let them soak on the counter. Flipping the water off, Alex dried her hands and headed into the living room to sit with her friends. Willow lowered her fork to her now empty plate, and looked up.
"Alex…Your hair is wet…"
"Yeah…"
"It rained last night, but you said Spike kept you in your room last night…Did you take a shower this morning?" Willow asked. Alex gave her a slightly funny look, but nodded.
"Yeah…"
"It's good to see you awake, Alex," Dawn said.
"Yeah…you look so much better this morning than you have the past week…" Alex smiled.
"Thanks, guys…" She cast a backwards glance at the basement door, and sighed.