"Go fish," Spike smirked. Kat slammed the cards down on the over-bed table, groaning and resting her head back on the mountain of pillows Spike had acquired for her.
"I'm booored," she whined petulantly. She'd been in hospital for a week now and she hated it. There were only so many times she could play card games. She was losing her mind. The gang was no closer to finding the demon but they were working tirelessly. Luckily though there had been no more mass murders as of yet. And while that was great, Kat had a bad feeling brewing inside of her. Like the calm before a storm. She felt restless and being laid up in a hospital bed wasn't helping. She was healing fine and there was no infection, although it still hurt like a bitch if she moved her shoulder. They'd told her she'd be able to go home in the next few days but they just wanted to keep her in a little longer.
"Wanna play a different one?" Spike asked, scooping up the cards and glancing at her.
He looked worn out. This whole week he hadn't left her side, only napping occasionally in the uncomfortable chair. She felt bad for him.
"No. I'm sick of cards. You should go home. Get some real sleep, maybe shower," she murmured softly.
"You sayin' I stink?" He asked with narrowed eyes, making her smile.
"Maybe. Also you could drop by Buffy's and get the monopoly," she suggested with a cheeky smile. She did want to play something different but she was mostly trying to give him another reason to leave. She knew he wouldn't go home just to take care of himself.
"Just the two of us? Bit of a sad game with just two people," he snorted.
"Scared you'll lose?" She asked teasingly, quirking a brow. A sly grin worked its way into his face.
"You'll regret that," he promised.
She moved to sit up better and he was quickly up and helping her. He'd been doing that a lot. Hovering and helping. She knew she'd been shot but she was mostly fine. He was acting like she'd been paralysed or something.
"You sure you'll be fine on your own?" He asked quietly, stroking her hair from her face tenderly as he gazed down at her.
"I'll be fine. I'll just sleep too," she smiled up at him. He leaned down and kissed her softly, moving away with a sigh.
"You sure?" He asked again, a worried frown creasing his brows.
"I'll get the nurses to kick you out," she threatened lightly. He gave her a fake dirty look before grabbing his duster and putting it on.
"I'll be back later, luv," he said as he reached the door.
"Come back well rested and smelling better," she grinned. He gave her the two finger salute with a snort before slipping out of the door.
She shuffled around carefully so she didn't jostle her shoulder too much, getting comfortable so she could have a nap. Her pain meds made her sleepy. She was on a lower dose than when she'd first been injured so they didn't just knock her out randomly, but they still made her tired enough that she could go to sleep easily. She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep for when she heard the door open. She blinked blearily, trying to sit up presuming it was Spike. To her surprise, she saw the girl she'd saved at the Bronze.
"Oh… hi," Kat murmured tiredly, finally sitting up. The girl hovered next to the door for a moment looking nervous.
"H-Hi… you're the girl that saved me, right? Katherine?" She asked softly.
"Uh… yeah. That's me," Kat snorted. She wasn't really sure what to do in this situation. She didn't expect to see the girl again.
"Why did you do that? Why did you save me?" The girl asked, tilting her head. Kat blinked dumbly for a moment. The question was weird and caught her off guard.
"It just seemed like the right thing to do," Kat explained, not having another explanation. She hadn't thought, she'd just acted.
The girl watched her for a moment and Kat suddenly felt a cold sensation trickle down her back, making her sit up more. An eerie wide smile stretched across the girl's face that had Kat's heart thumping uncomfortably in her chest. She made slow steps towards the bed and Kat pressed herself further into the pillows.
"It will be fun corrupting your pure soul," she grinned maliciously. The realization felt like a smack to the face. The demon. She went to jump out of the bed but it was too late. The girl's body hit the floor and suddenly Kat felt like she'd been hit by a mack truck. Everything went black for a moment as dread seized her tight.
The gang were all sitting around the table as they tried tirelessly to figure out who the demon was in now. They kept hitting dead ends and the air around them was tense. Knowing it was only a matter of time before something happened once again. For once they were all silent, the gravity of the situation making their usual banter none existent. The silence only served to make them all jump out of their skin when Spike burst into the shop like the Kool Aid guy.
"Kat's gone!" He exclaimed, his face grave as he looked at them all.
"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Buffy asked tensely as she stood up, eyes wide.
"As in, she's gone. She's not there. What do you think I bloody mean?!" He yelled angrily.
"She's not at the hospital?" Willow asked softly with a frown. Spike closed his eyes and tried to will himself to calm down before he killed them all, chip be damned.
"She made me go home to rest for a bit. When I went back, she was gone. The staff have no idea where she is," he muttered. His heart was in his throat. He was still in shock after seeing her room with her not in it and the staff all clueless to her whereabouts.
"That doesn't make sense. Kat wouldn't just leave the hospital like that. It's most unlike her," Giles commented, his brows furrowed as he took off his glasses and started cleaning them furiously.
"Have you tried your place? Or Buffy's? Maybe she was just sick of being in hospital and decided to go home," Angel suggested. Spike gave him the dirtiest look he could muster.
"Of course I checked, you wanker. I'm not bloody stupid," he growled.
"Giles is right. Kat wouldn't just leave like that. Not without letting us know. The staff knew nothing?" Buffy questioned as she stepped closer to Spike. Worry was etched all over her face and Spike knew the feeling. Something was off. He could feel it.
"Nothing. She was there and then she wasn't. Room was empty as a starvin' man's stomach," he muttered.
"How do we know they weren't lying?" Xander piped up.
"Well, I threatened them and they still knew nothing. So I'm guessin' they don't know squat," he shrugged with a glare.
"What were you gonna do? Glare them to death?" Angel huffed quietly, but Spike caught it.
"Chip only goes off if I intend harm. Wasn't gonna hurt 'em, but they didn't know that, did they?" He glowered.
"Look, let's leave the pissing contest until later. We need to find out where she is and why she left," Buffy instructed, shooting a look at both Spike and Angel. Angel gave her a contrite look and Spike half expected the tosser to fall to his feet and kiss her sodding shoes. Made him sick.
"I might be able to help," Willow said, grabbing her laptop from her bag. She opened it and started tapping on it furiously.
"What are you doing? Do you think she's in the computer?" Anya asked quizzically, completely serious.
"I can hack into the camera feeds from the hospital. I noticed the other day that the hospital rooms all have cameras," she murmured as she continued to type.
"Wait… cameras in the rooms. Isn't that… creepy and skeevy and completely wrong?" Buffy scrunched her face up in disgust.
"Yep. But it's coming in handy right now," Willow said with a wry smile. Spike wasn't too happy to learn his girl was being watched in her room and when he found her, he'd be sure to ask her if she'd changed in her room or gone to the toilets. Someone had a lot to answer for if it was the former. Everyone gathered around Willow with her laptop as she worked to hack into the cameras.
"Aha!" She grinned, the camera feed coming up on screen. Spike felt sick. Sure, she could have just left for one reason or another, but he just knew in his bones that something wasn't right with this whole thing. After messing around some more, Willow managed to find the camera to Kat's room and navigate it to just after he left. Kat was sleeping peacefully and it gave him a sense of calm just watching her like that.
"I'll just speed it up a little," Willow hummed, fast forwarding it until Kat woke up.
"I think someone just came in, but they're not in frame," Buffy muttered as she leaned closer to the screen with a squint as if that would help.
They all watched as Kat spoke to the person. They had no sound on the feed but at first Kat seemed okay. A little awkward but nothing bad. But then her demeanor changed.
"What's goin' on?" Spike huffed, gripping the back of Willow's chair so tight that it groaned under the pressure. The other person still wasn't on screen but Kat looked scared. And then the figure slowly walked to the bed.
"Isn't that the girl she saved?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Yeah," Spike answered grimly, eyes glued to the screen. The girl said something before a weird smile graced her face. Nothing prepared them for what happened next. The girl collapsed and Kat recoiled like she'd been hit.
"God no," Spike breathed, his back straightening as he felt ready to throw up. It wasn't like the movies. There was no smoke or light or any of that. But he knew what had just happened.
"What?! What just happened?!" Buffy asked frantically.
"The demon… it possessed Kat," Angel murmured apologetically. Spike heard the breath leave Buffy's lungs and everyone fell silent for a moment.
"Did you just say… the demon possessed Kat?!" Xander asked, his voice increasing in pitch.
"Guys, watch," Willow muttered. On screen, Kat ripped the IV out of her hand and hopped out of bed in her pajamas that Spike had brought her earlier in the week. She walked over to the unconscious girl on the floor, dragging her into the bathroom before she left swiftly.
"Okay, we need to find her, like now," Buffy said firmly, yet she remained unmoving in a state of shock.
Spike felt like a black hole had opened up and it had swallowed him right in. Kat had been so upset about the victims of the possession, thought it was worse than death what they'd experienced. And now it was happening to her. Being locked inside her own body with no control. And if the demon started killing… Oh God. They needed to find her and they had to do it quick. She'd never be able to forgive herself even if it wasn't her fault. Then there was the additional issue of being thrown in jail.
"What do we do?" Spike asked. His voice cracked but he was too in his own head to give a toss.
"We take the box, take the amulet just to be sure. We need to try to locate her, stop her before the demon can do anything. We need to get it out of her," Giles muttered gravely. They all settled on a plan to go out and try to find her or see if anyone had seen her. Giles had the box and Spike had the amulet, though he was sure he wouldn't need it. They'd split up to cover more ground but they all had their cell phones on them to communicate if needed. Wasn't really a good plan. Splitting up. But everyone feared for what the demon might do in Kat's body and time was of the essence. Spike really hoped they'd get to her in time. He wasn't sure he'd be able to bring her back to herself if she ended up killing anyone.