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Chapter 13

It was late. Willow had collected together more ingredients for the spell and now they were standing around the bed, which had been pushed into the middle of the room. Willow had taught them the few words of the spell. They were all holding hands in a protective circle around Buffy. After Willow had made some complicated movements with the eclectic collection of objects on the bed, she fitted herself into the circle with the others.

And they began chanting the words, over and over.

Nothing happened.

'Ok, plan B. Maybe we all need to be connected to Buffy.

Spike took hold of one of Buffy's hands, Dawn the other, then the others continued the chain until they were all linked.

'I love you, Buffy.' This was Willow.

One by one they all said it. 'I love you, Buffy.' 'I love you, Buffy.' 'I love you, Buffy.' 'I love you, Buffy.' 'I love you, Buffy.' 'I love you, Buffy.'

The Slayer gave them one of her blinding smiles that made each of them remember why they had risked their lives for her on so many occasions and why they always would.

'I love you guys.'

And then they started the chanting, on and on, endlessly repeating the words. Minutes went by and yet no one stopped. Absolutely final, million to one chances always worked out, didn't they? This one had to. And so they continued.

Just when Willow had almost allowed herself to think that she might have to stop them, Dawn shrieked. They could all see it, but they continued saying the ancient words.

This time the vicious green mist that was spiralling out of Buffy did not disappear, but grew stronger and thicker. In the midst of the eerie twister of green light that was spilling out of the Slayer, they could see a red pinpoint of light. Instinctively, they started to chant more loudly.

Buffy started moaning and then writhing in pain. Willow shouted, 'Don't let go, no matter what!'

Tears were streaming down Dawn's face as she gripped her sister's hand, refusing to let Buffy go, even though the Slayer was trying to pull her hands out of their grasp, as her body twisted in agony.

The sense of evil in the room was palpable, especially to those with supernatural abilities. Angel's jaw was clenched tight, Spike's cheekbones seemed more prominent than ever as the muscles in his face were set rock hard, and Willow was whiter than a sheet as she tried to fight the weakness she felt creeping over her.

The dot of light in the centre of the mist began growing larger and spinning. It was transparent but, as it got bigger, it became more opaque. It had seemed a formless blob but now it was taking on a shape.

The chanting faltered a little when they saw what it was. Something so incongruous, so ordinary, and yet so wrong.

A piece of apple, white inside with a scarlet skin and tooth marks where someone had bitten into the fruit.

It continued to become more solid and to revolve in the green light. They started chanting more quickly. Buffy was almost screaming now as the paroxysms of pain lifted her body off the bed. But no one lost their grip, no one wavered.

Their incantation, the swirling mist, the spinning apple all grew stronger. It was reaching a crescendo and all of them felt an intense, agonising pressure inside their heads, as if something were crushing their skulls in its vice-like hands.

Then everyone felt a blinding flash of pain that made all of them clutch each other's hands to stop from falling over. But no one lost their grip. There was a loud bang and the mist seemed to explode outwards. The seven of them fell to their knees with heads bent but they did not break the circle.

After an endless moment, Willow was the first to speak. 'Guys, guys, get up!'

Finally letting go, the Scoobies stood up, their eyes turning to Buffy. She lay there, seemingly lifeless , all colour drained from her face.

'Willow! Is she, is she…?' Dawn spoke in a high pitched, terrified squeal, unable to finish her sentence.

Willow and Spike bent over Buffy, feeling for her pulse, putting an ear to her mouth.

'She's still breathing.' Willow tried to sound reassuring but there was a tiny element of doubt in her voice that made everyone's feel a tightness in their chest.

'What's that?' Andrew put out a tentative finger towards something lying on the counterpane.

'Don't touch it!' Giles and Willow spoke in unison.

Everyone's eyes swivelled in the direction of Andrew's pointing finger.

On the bed lay a small, shrivelled, blackened object. It was impossible to tell what it had been but a dreadful smell was coming from it, and the material on which it was sitting looked like it was stained a rusty brown colour.

Giles picked up two magazines and managed to manoeuvre the object onto one of them. Willow had a plastic bag that had contained some herbs for the spell and they put the nasty thing inside it and then inside a brown paper bag. They then took the cover off the bed, rolled it into a ball and put it in corner of the room. No one spoke a word as they did this. Everyone stood frozen, a tableau of uncertainty.

Angel came closer to Buffy and stood on the opposite side to Spike, looking down at the unconscious figure of the Slayer.

'So, did it work?' He spoke in a carefully neutral voice and did not look at the other vampire.

'I….. I'm not sure,' Willow said reluctantly.

'I think she must just be exhausted from the ordeal. She's still breathing. We need to give her some time to recover.' Giles sounded like he was convincing himself as much as the others. 'Let's give her some space.'

He moved away from the bed towards the window. The others followed him; except Spike, who had said nothing, but who had taken hold of Buffy's hand again and was staring down at her, his eyes blazing with such intensity, such love, that it seemed indecent to intrude on such a moment.

'What was that disgusting thing you just bagged? Was it really a piece of apple or am I going crazy?' This from Xander.

'Well, it certainly looked like it. And it would explain the fruit Dawn found in the flat when this all started.'

'This is nuts! How can fairy stories be so real? I mean, a poisoned APPLE?'

'Xander, surely you have been involved in the world of the supernatural long enough to know that the influence of the forces of evil has touched every aspect of human society over millennia and nothing is impossible? I…..' Giles stopped. This was hardly the time or place for a historical or sociocultural lecture.

'I think we should leave and let Willow and Spike stay with Buffy.'

Angel opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. He knew that he was no longer the one she needed. He walked over to the bed, and kissed Buffy on the forehead. 'Wake up, Buffy, we need you.'

One by one, they all followed her lead, and walked over to kiss Buffy and whisper something to her, something that did not feel like a goodbye.

Once they had all gone, the witch and the vampire sat back down next to the Slayer.

Eventually, Willow broke the silence. 'Spike, do you…'

He finally tore his gaze away from Buffy's face and looked at Willow. The agony in his eyes made Willow flinch.

He spat out the words, each one rising in volume so that he was almost shouting. 'I don't know! Don't ask me anything! We got the damn thing out and still she's not right! What else can we do? This Myrsina bitch has played us all for fools! All this talk of true love is just complete crap! Well, I don't know about you, but I am done hanging round here. I'm going to go and find that evil bitch and torture her until she tells us how to fix this! Touchy-feely never works, Will, you should know that by now!'

'Spike, my head hurts. Do you have to shout?' This was said in the merest whisper, but at the sound of that tiny, pleading voice, Willow and Spike jumped and their heads swivelled back to look down at the bed.

Buffy was looking up at them, pale as ever, black circles under her eyes, smiling faintly.

'Buffy!' Spike and Willow bumped heads as they bent down to hug her. 'Oh, Buffy, you're alive!'

'Well, this is me, Will. Death doesn't stand a chance, you know that. Help me up.'

They helped her to sit up and Willow gave her some water. The two of them could not take their eyes off her.

'How do you feel?'

'Like my bones are made of limp spaghetti and as if I haven't slept for days.'

'Then it didn't work.' The bitterness in Spike's voice made Buffy reach for his hand.

'Actually, I feel like crap, but something is different. You know when you get something stuck in your teeth and it drives you crazy until you can get rid of it? Well, I kind of feel like that, except it's a whole body thing, not just a tooth thing. Does that make any sense?'

'That absolutely makes sense!' Willow's mega-watt smile lit up the room as she started to explain to Buffy what had just happened. As she was talking, Spike stood up, kissed Buffy on the head and stalked from the room, without another word.

Buffy called out weakly after him. 'Spike..'

'It's ok, Buffy. He's probably gone to tell the others and then he might need a bit of time to himself. He's been through a lot.'

'I do love him, you know.'

If Willow was surprised by the Slayer actually saying this out loud, she did not show it. 'I know you do. You always have.'

And, without pausing to let Buffy reply to that, she resumed her story. Just when she had got to the part where they were bagging the apple, the door burst open and the others rushed in, Dawn at the front. They were all talking at once. Buffy smiled as they all pushed each other in their haste to hug or kiss her. She did not fail to notice that Spike was not with them. The smile faltered a little but she turned her attention back to her family.