Warnings and disclaimer in Chapter 1. Enjoy.
"What?" Xander asked, looking between Buffy and Ben. Ben rushed over, checking her vitals.
"Is it too late?" Giles asked as Joyce laid her unconscious daughter on the bed.
"It's a long shot," Ben admitted as he pulled the oxygen mask off the hook and put it on Buffy. "But they have a willing donor and are ready to do the operation." He stopped and watched them closely. "Or we can let her go. She probably won't last more than a few hours but she's still fighting."
"Slayers are always fighting," Faith asserted. Joyce looked to her.
"Ms. Summers?" Ben asked. She looked over to Giles desperately.
"Rupert?" He looked at her steadily.
"I can't make this decision," he told her calmly, his eyes bright with unshed tears, "but I will stand by whatever you decide." Joyce sighed and looked down at her daughter. Was it wrong to make Buffy continue to fight or was it wrong to let her slip away without a chance to fight. She pondered this as she glanced from face to face. They all looked back with hope and she realized she could not keep her daughter from any fight. She couldn't back in High School when she found out about Buffy's calling, and she couldn't now.
"It might be her time, but I won't stop her from fighting." She turned to Ben. "Make the call." He nodded, reached in his bag and pulled out a syringe. He injected the medicine into her port before pulling out his phone. After a quick conversation that nobody could follow he turned to Joyce.
"We need to get her to L.A. quickly."
"Allow me," Daniel told him. He gathered her up in his arms and disappeared. Ben didn't even blink at the display. Instead he got on the phone again.
"They'll need verbal confirmation to do the surgery," he said. "Then I expect you'll want to head down."
"Absolutely," she said. The others realized what that meant and quickly went to change from their night clothes. Ben nodded and focused on his phone call while Dawn grabbed clothes for both of them. Soon Ben handed the phone to Joyce and she talked with Dr. Hansen for a few minutes. When she gave the phone back to Ben she quickly changed clothes. "Let's go," she said when she was ready.
The cars were ready. They piled in, barely having enough room for everybody, and made the trip down once more. They caught early morning rush hour traffic as they neared L.A. and by the time they finally pulled into the parking lot more than three hours had passed. Joyce led the charge into the hospital. As soon as the nurse at the information desk saw her she pointed to the waiting room. Daniel was pacing back and forth. He looked up as soon as he saw them and rushed over to Faith, giving her a back breaking hug.
"I went back as soon as Buffy went into surgery," he told them, "but you were all gone. Andrew said you were on your way here so I came back and waited." He let go of Faith and turned to Joyce. "I stayed with her till the very end."
"Thank you," she said as she started crying softly. Giles put his arms around her and she leaned into his chest. The group was just starting to get comfortable when a very familiar man walked into the waiting room. "Gregory?" Joyce asked, pulling away from Giles.
"It is nice to see you again," he told her, before speaking to the room in general. "All of you."
"What are you doing here?" Joyce asked. She then cringed when she realized how that sounded, but he just smiled.
"I finished up in Russia and was in L.A. on business when I got a rather alarming call from Ben. I rushed over shortly after Buffy arrived and Dr. Hansen was kind enough to let me observe."
"How did it go?" Giles asked, noticing the doctor was in surgical scrubs. He smiled cautiously.
"The surgery went fine. They're finishing up now."
"But?" Dawn prompted when he paused.
"She has already started showing signs of rejection," he told them. Joyce sighed.
"So it didn't work again," she said, turning into Giles and burying her head.
"There's still a chance," he told them, pulling out a case from his pocket. "Ben and I have been discussing the possibility since she rejected the first kidney."
"What?" Giles asked. Gregory handed him the case. He opened it, his eyes widening. "The Cruciamentum drug?"
"It does strip away the power of the Slayer," he told them, "and we know it works on Buffy. But there are risks."
"Isn't The Slayer the only thing keeping Buffy alive right now?" Willow asked.
"The Slayer is compensating for the loss of her kidneys, yes," he told them, "but if this kidney takes Buffy will be able to function on her own."
"If it doesn't take she's dying anyway," Joyce said. Gregory nodded. "Is that the only risk?"
"We've never given the drug to anyone with a fever," he admitted. "We have no idea how it will react."
"So our choice is uncertainty or death," Giles said. "Give her the drug."
"Ms. Summers?" Gregory double checked. She nodded. "Very well." He looked behind him before smiling. "She's back in her room." They followed him to the room, meeting Dr. Hansen along the way.
"Ms. Summers," he greeted her as he led them into her room. "She did very well, but we've already seen signs of rejection."
"I know," she said, sitting down next to her daughter. She took one of Buffy's hands in her own.
"We've already started treatments."
"We've got another treatment to try," Giles said as Gregory moved toward the IV lines. Dr. Hansen intercepted him.
"It is not hospital policy to allow unqualified treatments," he told him, eyeing the other doctor willfully. Gregory sighed.
"I have consent from the family," he told him, "and neither you nor the hospital will be held accountable if it doesn't work." Dr. Hansen held firm. "Do I need to remind you what the Director said? Or do we need to get her on the line?" Dr. Hansen glared, but stepped away. He turned to the family while Gregory prepared the dose.
"I urge you to reconsider this," he said. "He wants to administer an unknown compound to your daughter. She is already extremely weak."
"I'm sorry," Joyce told him, "but this is her only chance." Dr. Hansen nodded as Gregory injected the medicine into Buffy's line.
"Now we can only wait," he said.
"Doctor," Joyce called as he was leaving the room. "Who's kidney did you use? I'd like to thank them personally." Dr. Hansen pulled her chart from the foot of her bed.
"Hmmm," he muttered as he flipped through it. "It says the donor wishes to remain anonymous." He put the chart back in the slot. "I'm sorry. If a patient expresses anonymity, the hospital policy is to grant it. There will be no records of even a name in your daughter's chart."
"Thank you," Joyce said, feeling stunned. He nodded to them as he exited the room. Gregory followed him out. Hours later Dr. Hansen came back into the room, studying the clipboard in his hands intently.
"I don't know how," he looked up in amazement, "but the rejection has stopped."
"She's going to be okay?" Dawn asked.
"She's still very weak," he cautioned. "Her body is acclimating the new kidney, and it is starting to work as it should, but there's a lot of damage to overcome." He closed the folder.
"Shouldn't she be awake by now?" Joyce asked. Dr. Hansen gravely nodded.
"I'm afraid she's slipped into a coma. We've done everything we can do. The rest is up to her." Everyone sniffled as they held on to each other tightly. There was little they could do but wait and hope. After several hours they had to return to their lives, leaving only Joyce and Giles to continue the vigil, though they promised to return on the weekend. The ride back to Sunnydale was somber, none of the laughing and joking that there usually was. When they got back Anya immediately went to open up The Magic Box, even though the day was half over. Tara opened up The Gallery since she was there and the rest of them hung out between the two stores in a state of shock. Dawn pulled the Codex from the shelf and started reading. Willow, Xander, and Veronica all took turns helping her translate the large book. They went home that night and did the same thing for the rest of the week. Three days later they got the call they were all dreading.
"Hello?" Anya meekly said into the phone. "Thank you for calling The Magic…" She trailed off as whoever called got a word in. She listened intently for several minutes before nodding her head. "Okay. I'll tell them. Bye Giles." She turned to hang up only to find every eye on her when she turned back around. "She woke up." She smiled big as she said this. It took a minute for the news to sink in, but soon everybody was high-fiving and hugging and cheering.
"Thank God," Dawn said wearily as she absently turned the page she was studying.
"So that crucium drug worked?" Faith asked as she jumped up on the counter. Anya nodded.
"Apparently. Giles said that her new kidney is actually working this time and it's getting stronger every day. And so is she. Gregory is ready to start weaning her off the drug. They'll be bringing her back Saturday. Giles said we can go down if we want or we can stay and wait for them here."
"We can decorate the house," Willow suggested. "Have a big welcome home party."
"And we can clean the house first," Tara added, "so Joyce won't have too. I doubt they'll be up to anything for the next few days."
"Yeah," Dawn agreed absently as she flipped to the next page. She skimmed the writing then paused and read the words properly. "Guys?" she looked up with wide eyes. "I think I found it."
"This looks ominous," Giles said as he pulled the car up to the house. Gregory looked over from the passenger seat and smiled.
"I think it's perfect," he told him. "And she has more than earned this."
"Yes she has," he said as he examined the 'Welcome Home Buffy' sign that was nearly covering the door. Balloons and streamers were taped next to it, but there wasn't a soul in sight. He sighed, before turning in his seat to face the back. "Joyce?" he called gently.
"Wha?" she asked, forcing herself into a sitting position. She and Buffy were in the back of the car, Buffy was using her mother as a pillow, when Joyce found she couldn't keep her eyes open. About halfway there she fell asleep, using her daughter as a pillow. Now she blinked her eyes, trying to wake up enough to figure out what she was seeing. "What is this?"
"I believe it's what you Americans call a party," Giles teased her. She swatted him lightly on the arm.
"Let's go crash it," she said. "Can you get Buffy?"
"Of course," Giles said, opening the door quietly. Buffy was still extremely weak and slept more often than not. He didn't want to disturb her if she was still sleeping, but apparently she woke up when the car stopped. She smiled at him sleepily as she held out her arms. He gently swooped her up and carried her into the house. Joyce and Gregory followed him.
"We need more chips," they heard Willow call out from the living room. "Xander keeps eating them."
"I'm a nervous eater," he replied, "besides I'm the one doing all the heavy banner hanging."
"Hey!" Faith and Daniel called out simultaneously. Willow chuckled as she headed to the kitchen, stopping as soon as she saw them standing in the doorway.
"You're back," she called out loudly. Immediately noise in the other rooms stopped as everyone gathered together. "You're also early," she said, checking her watch. "We weren't expecting you for another hour."
"There was no traffic," Giles explained. He motioned to the living room. "Is it safe to go in there?"
"Yeah," Willow said. "Just ignore the banners unless you want to start the party now?" Giles nodded and brought Buffy into the living room. He laid her carefully on the couch before pulling a blanket over her and tucking her in.
"What if we waited until the guest of honor is awake?" Joyce suggested as Xander, Daniel, and Faith came from the living room.
"Wasn't she awake when you came in?" Anya asked as she emerged from the kitchen.
"She's still very weak," Joyce told them. "She still sleeps a lot." She looked around. "Where's Dawn?"
"She's in the library," Willow said, "with Veronica. She thinks she found the prophecy."
"What?" Giles asked, hurrying back in. He sped off toward the library without a second thought. Joyce smiled as she watched him go. The smile quickly turned into a yawn.
"Finish getting the party set up," she told her kids. "I'm going to take a quick nap. Wake me up when you're finished." They nodded and dispersed to do their assigned tasks while Joyce slowly walked into the living room. She curled up on a recliner and gratefully closed her eyes. In what seemed like seconds someone was poking her in the arm. "Dawn," she grumbled.
"About time," her youngest said to her. "It's time to get this party started." Joyce finally forced her eyes open, amazed at the transformation the room had undergone. She looked over to Buffy, elated to find her awake and watching everything. "Welcome home Buffy," Dawn said, which started a round of 'welcome home' from everybody. There was soft music playing in the background and everybody was gathered around the couch where Buffy lay, laughing and talking and remembering all the good times they had. Buffy watched everything contentedly, until her eyes started to droop. Giles saw this and picked Buffy up and took her to her room. Gregory followed behind him.
"What's with the doc?" Faith asked. "He's taking this house call thing very seriously."
"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that," Veronica said out of nowhere. "The Council, in an attempt to be more human, is thinking about instigating medical checkups for Slayers. My father has asked Gregory to develop a field plan for Slayer health and wellbeing."
"Slayers don't get sick," Faith immediately protested.
"Neither did Buffy," Gregory pointed out as he and Giles rejoined the group. "Until she did. The Slayer masked her symptoms to the point that when we found out there was very little we could do. If we found this sooner, we could have avoided much trouble and heartache." Faith relaxed slightly.
"So you're talking a monthly blood drawing? Weekly temperature checks?" Gregory sighed.
"Actually I'm not sure what I'm talking about. The last recorded medical checks the Council did for Slayers was in the fifteenth century and Slayer healing was far more effective than anything they had back then. Only recently has modern medicine been able to catch up. I was hoping you would be willing to help me figure out the best way to keep Slayers healthy."
"So you want me to be a guinea pig?" she asked defensively.
"Not the way you are thinking," he reassured her. "There will be no experimentation, unless you consent. It will be more trial and error until I figure out what exactly a Slayer needs and the best way to bring it to them. And you have to admit having a doctor on hand is always a plus, especially in your line of work."
"I guess," she shrugged but she couldn't deny how helpful Ben had been through everything. "Why can't Ben work this thing out with Buffy?"
"Ben will continue to work here with Buffy," Giles told her, "but you are the active Slayer."
"For now," she told him. "Give it a few days and Slayer healing will kick in." She stopped when Giles and Gregory looked uncertainly at each other. "What?"
"There was an unexpected side effect with the Cruciamentum drug," Gregory said carefully. "We're not sure why, but when we weaned her off it her strength didn't return."
"What's that mean?" Dawn asked, her eyes going to the stairs. "Does that mean Buffy's not a Slayer anymore?"
"I don't know Dawn," Joyce answered honestly. "But she's alive, and she's home, and that's what really matters."
The end. For now.
AN: So ends another journey through my crazy world of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. Thanks for taking this journey with me. This is definitely my longest trip yet. I hope it was filled with enough ups and downs and twists and turns to keep it interesting the whole way. It was my darkest journey, putting everyone through all sorts of emotional pain. And yes, I know the super was missing from this supernatural tale, especially towards the end, but that's life.
Now for anyone reading who thinks 'how can it end like this?', I am writing the next chapter of my saga as we speak. What will happen to Buffy and the gang? What will happen to the children? What about this Prophecy I alluded to? Stay tuned to find out some of the answers, and probably a whole lot of questions. I'm not sure when this next one will be ready, but it will come.
Thanks for reading.
CritterKid