A/N: You guys are great. :) Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjoy! (I really couldn't resist putting this scene in here.) ;)
Fool Me Once
Chapter 10
Buffy sat nervously in the hospital waiting room, one eye on the clock and the other on her pensive sister sitting next to her. She had been seemingly calm through the several hours that they had already waited, reading the book on spells that Willow brought without any complaint from her sister—but Buffy knew that Dawn must have quite a bit on her mind, considering the conversation they had with their mother prior to her being taken in to surgery.
It had surprised both of them that Joyce had remembered what she had seen in her second daughter when her sanity was less-than-present; even more surprising was the connections she made to what she had sensed. The anticipation of their mother's reaction had worn on both of the sisters, so when she had pulled both of the girls into her arms and told them she loved them, all the exhaustion of the past few weeks finally crashed down upon their forms.
So there they stayed, waiting for their mother's return. Giles, Xander, Willow, and Riley were all there, with Anya watching the Magic Shop. Giles paced, Xander and Willow talked nervously, and Riley… he was mostly silent, staring at the wall in front of them and occasionally patting Buffy's arm in a gesture of attempted comfort.
The past several days had been a constant event of taking care of both her mother and Dawn, so Buffy hadn't had much time to think about anything other than her familial responsibilities. In the quiet waiting for the surgery to end, however, Dawn wasn't the only one with big things on her mind.
The weight of realization was heavy, but uplifting at the same time. Guiltily, Buffy tried to avoid thinking of a certain vampire's wickedly gorgeous face while her significant other dozed next to her, but his role in the support of her the past few weeks was instrumental in her ability to care for her mother. Essentially, the fact that she had made it this far in the increasingly messy web of cancer and medical care could be attributed solely to him… since that first night on her porch, Spike had been there for her, and there was no way for him to realize just what he was beginning to mean to her.
A moment later, Buff jumped slightly when Riley put his hand on her knee. "Sorry," he said, giving her a half-smile.
"No, don't be," Buffy answered quickly, the pangs of guilt in her stomach beginning to make her feel somewhat sick. "I'm just… I'm going to go get something from the machine, you want anything?"
"I'll get it for—"
"It's fine, I need to stretch my legs," she interrupted, giving Riley the sweetest smile she could manage and rising to her feet. "If anything happens—"
"I'll come get you right away." His tone was normal, but Buffy sensed that undercurrent of irritation that had been so present in his voice as of late. Turning away from her now-sleeping sister and involuntarily-snubbed boyfriend, Buffy walked down the adjacent hallway to the nearest vending machine. Searching through her pockets for enough change for a soda, she came up five cents short.
"Damn it," Buffy said, frustration infiltrating her voice as she looked through her pockets once more and turned her gaze to the floor.
"I'll give you a nickel if you watch your language, Li'l Lady." His liquid smooth voice caused her to jump backwards and into the machine, a loud thud echoing through the pristine halls.
"Spike!" Buffy said, her words surprisingly loud and squeaky. "What're you doing here?"
"Just wondering whether there was anything new with your mum," the vampire answered. "Do you—"
"We don't know anything yet," Buffy said quickly, looking away and studying the brightly-colored depictions of the soda brands on the machine.
"Hey, now," Spike said upon her instantly worried expression, reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "What have we here?"
Pretentiously, he seemingly pulled a silver coin from behind the Slayer's ear, eliciting a smile and a laugh from the blonde. "I'm not five, you know, Mr. Evil Dead."
"I know, but it made you smile all the same," he answered, a grin appearing on his face to match hers. "Is there… anything I can do, pet?"
Buffy shook her head, slipping the nickel into the coin slot and receiving her soda from the machine. "You've definitely done enough, Spike," she answered, looking up at the vampire and the modest expression on his face. "I… told Dawn and my mom. About, you know…"
"How'd they take it?" he asked solemnly.
"Surprisingly well," she answered, a wry expression on her face. "A lot better than they would've found out any other way, I think. And that's because of you." Her last words penetrated into him deeply, sending some of the light and warmth in her sweet smile into the cold depths of his body.
To know something that would strip the warmth from her beautiful face… a pang of guilt infected the growing heat inside of him and shadowed the glow within. "Slayer, I—"
"Buffy?" Riley's voice was incredulous, tinged with something not unlike jealousy. The second she heard his voice, a strange look went over her face, and she exasperatedly turned to face her impatiently waiting boyfriend. "The doctor's out of surgery, he's waiting for you." Without another word, the man walked down the hall, leaving Slayer and vampire alone together in a now-uncomfortable silence.
"Well, I guess I'd better…" Insecurity was plain on Spike's face, as he slowly began inching away from the Slayer's small frame.
"Do you want to come with me?" Buffy blurted out, her face reddening with her invitation.
He hesitated for a moment, and then nodded; the two set off down the hallway and towards the throng of her closest friends standing before the doctor. Upon the site of Spike, Riley's face darkened and he turned away from the blonde. Giles and Willow merely gave Buffy questioning looks, the redhead not-so-subtly pinching Xander to keep him quiet when he opened his mouth to vocalize his wonderment.
Oblivious to this scene, Doctor Kriegel began to speak. "Okay, your mom's in recovery."
"What happened, is she all right?" The doctor's frank manner wasn't straightforward enough at this moment, and all Buffy wanted was to know if her mother was going to get better.
"It was possible to visualize the tumor completely, which means I was able to get all of it. So, barring complications in recovery ... I think your mother's going to be fine."
"Yes!" Dawn yelled, jumping on Spike and nearly knocking the surprised vampire over.
"Of course we're still going to have to watch your mother carefully, and, uh, have her back in here for some follow-up testing, but, uh, overall I'd consider the procedure a complete success," the doctor quickly finished, Buffy nodding adamantly with a huge smile on her face.
"Oh, doctor, thank you, thank you so much!" the Slayer said, the happiness in her voice spilling over when she hugged the doctor with all her might.
"Ow!" he yelled, Buffy jumping back in fright as she remembered too-late her strength.
"Oh, sorry!" she said, nonplussed by the doctor's inquisitive look as she turned to her celebrating friends and shared their enjoyment. Spike stood a little away from the group, smiling at the blonde as she hugged Giles and Xander. He was only too-aware of Riley's glare directed towards him, but knowing that Joyce was healthy was more than enough to make up for his likely impeding death.
"Spike," Dawn said, turning back to him after bear hugging Willow. "What exactly are you doing here, anyway?"
"Checking up on your mum, Bit."
"But how'd you get here in the daylight?"
"That is an excellent question," Giles said, finally addressing the vampire standing before the gradually-calming group. "It's mid-afternoon, surely you didn't—"
"Sewer pipes, lead up to under the ambulance bay, it's shielded from the light this time of day," Spike answered shortly, winking at Dawn and smiling. "But, if my company isn't desired, I'll just be on—"
"No!" Surprisingly, the word was shouted by three people simultaneously—Buffy, Dawn, and, strangely enough, Willow. Buffy gave her best friend a questioning look for a moment, and then turned back to the somewhat stunned vampire. "Spike, whenever it's alright for us to leave, would you like to go with us to the Bronze?"
"Um… yeah, alright then," he answered quickly, not about to refuse the oh-so adamant offer.
She smiled and started to turn to Giles to ask him something when the larger man cut in front of her and cleared his throat. "Can I talk to you a minute, Buffy?" Riley asked tersely, his first words since his brusque information of the doctor's arrival.
"Yeah, sure," she said evenly, a feeling of dread beginning to form in her stomach when he led her away from the group now chatting amiably among themselves. "What's the what, Riley?"
The soldier sent a venomous look towards the vampire and then looked back to the petite blonde before him. "What exactly is he doing here, Buffy? And why exactly are you wanting to… hang out with him?"
"Spike's… he's… I…" After several failed starts, Buffy shook her head exasperatedly, throwing her hands into the air. "Riley, what is your problem?"
"My problem?" he said, his voice rising a level in volume as he gestured back to the not-so-oblivious group behind them. "You're the one who wants to socialize with a murderer!"
The words Riley chose sent Spike's blood boiling—not for the barbs aimed towards him, but the hypocrisy of his statements, knowing exactly who the soldier had been cavorting with as of late. He refrained from stepping in, though, the Slayer angrily saying, "Exactly who I spend time with is not for you to judge, Riley. I can't believe you're picking a fight with me when my mom has just—"
"Have you even thought about your mom in all the time you've been hanging out with Spike?"
He had stepped over the line. Buffy crossed her arms in front of her chest and narrowed her eyes at the tall man before her, her voice deadly soft as she said, "I owe no explanation to you Riley. Now get out of here."
He hesitated for a moment, then stalked out of the room, leaving Buffy to stare at her friends standing before her. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice surprisingly small after its force from before.
"It's okay, Buffy," Willow said, the first to walk forward and pull the blonde into a hug. "Do you want to…?"
"Yeah," the Slayer answered quickly, turning to the others a moment. "We'll catch up with you, you guys go ahead."
"Okay, Buff," Xander said, eyeing Spike's form next to him and shrugging. "See you at the Bronze for celebratory goodness?"
"Definitely," Buffy confirmed. "Giles, you don't mind watching Dawn for a while, do you?"
"No, I dare say it will be an interesting affair," the older man said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.
"Ol' Rupes here'll have a ball," Spike said condescendingly, giving Buffy a peculiar look before leaning closer to her form and conspiratorially whispering, "Do you need me to take care of Captain Cardboard for you?"
"Thanks, but oh, god no," Buffy said, shrugging, then adding, "I may just have to take care of that myself."
"Right then." Spike nodded and then turned to Dawn, walking out with the other two men and leaving the Slayer and Witch alone.
"Okay," Buffy said to the redhead as they sat down on the uncomfortable plastic chairs. "There're some things I need to confess."