"Killed by Death"
Based on the Episode Written by Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali
The following story is copyright © 2022 by Mark Moore.
Buffy hooked her hands over the top of the perimeter wall of the cemetery and pulled herself up. She coughed while she pulled her legs over. She jumped down the other side. When she hit the ground, she couldn't keep her balance and had to use her hands to keep from toppling over. She breathed heavily through her mouth, because her nose was stuffed up. Every now and then, she sniffled. She pulled a stake out of her jacket. She put her hand on her forehead and moaned as she stood up. Slowly, she started to make her way across the graveyard.
She was still sniffling and rubbing her nose. She sensed something and tried to concentrate while she slowly approached a small mausoleum. She raised her stake and jumped around the corner, swinging it to strike at whatever was there. Tara screamed and reflexively jumped back, holding on tightly to her own stake. Cordelia let out a high-pitched scream behind her. The girls both reflexively held up holy symbols at Buffy: Tara a pentacle and Cordelia a cross.
Buffy stared at them. "Non-vampire. Plus two."
Tara put her pentacle away. "Hi."
They all stepped out into the open.
"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked them.
"What are you doing here?" Tara asked her.
"Well, I'm patrolling!" Buffy replied.
Tara was concerned. "Buffy, you're sick."
"No, I feel fine. I mean, I'm...the world's spinning a little bit, but I like it; it's kinda like a ride."
Cordelia shook her head. "Half the school's out with this flu. It's a serious deal, Buffy. We're all concerned about how gross you look."
"I'm touched. Really. But I have work to do."
Tara frowned. "Buffy, come on, one night of rest is not gonna kill you."
"No, but it might kill somebody else."
Cordelia stared at her. "You mean Angel might."
Buffy turned away.
"It's okay, you can say it. Buffy, this is not the time to challenge Angel." Cordelia gestured with her stake. "He's at full strength; you're only half a Slayer."
Buffy looked at her. "Yeah, but I'm still a Slayer, and I fucking swear Angel's not gonna kill anybody else."
"Aw, c'mon."
Buffy turned to face Angelus.
"Just one more."
He attacked, and the girls screamed. He ran right past Buffy, straight for Cordelia, and tackled her to the ground. Buffy grabbed him by the back of his coat and pulled him off her. She turned him around, took him by the coat collar, and swung at him with her stake. He blocked her with his arm, grabbed her, and made her drop the stake.
"Not feeling well, cunt?" Angelus asked her.
Buffy looked at him and punched him in the jaw. He glared back at her and tried to kick her, but she grabbed his foot and shoved his leg up, making him fall hard onto his back.
"That helps."
Angelus scrambled to all fours. She came at him from behind and tried to kick him, but he kicked out with his leg into her chest, and she staggered back a ways until she regained her balance. He got up and came toward her. She took a couple of swings at him, but he evaded them easily. He blocked a third, grabbed her arm, and took her by the throat.
"You know, you being off your game's kinda takin' the fun out of all this."
He punched her in the face, and she stumbled backward again.
"Nope, still fun!"
He punched her in the gut, then grabbed her by the neck and shoved her around and into a corner column of the small mausoleum. She was dazed and tried to regain her balance but didn't get a chance, because Angelus wasted no time punching her in the face and knocking her flat on her back.
He got on top of her and pinned her arms down. "Uh-oh. This does not look good for our heroine."
He started to bend down to bite her, but just then Tara threw her jacket over Angelus' head. She grabbed his head under the jacket, punched him, and kneed him twice in the face. Angelus fell over onto his back. Tara and Cordelia pulled out their holy symbols and held them out at him as he got up, and he had to back off.
Cordelia stared at him. "Don't think I won't kill you right fucking now." She raised her other hand and lunged at him with her stake.
Angelus evaded her. Buffy got to her feet.
Angelus slowly backed away. "We'll have to do this again sometime." He turned and walked off.
Cordelia started to go after him.
"Let him go." Buffy just watched him go. "You're not his match yet."
Cordelia was offended. "Yeah, well, neither are you."
"Fair point."
"Buffy, are you okay?" Tara asked in concern.
Buffy put her hand to her forehead. "I told you guys to leave, I..." She started getting dizzy. "I...Oh..."
She fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Buffy!" Tara kneeled next to her and cradled the fallen Slayer in her arms.
Tara rushed into the emergency room's waiting room at Sunnydale Memorial Hospital with Buffy in her arms. Cordelia was right behind her.
"We need help!" Tara cried. "Somebody, please, now!"
An intern approached them. "What happened?"
"She fell. The flu."
Cordelia nodded. "She fainted."
A nurse brought over the gurney.
The intern pulled the gurney up. "It's gonna be okay. Let's get her up."
Tara laid Buffy out on the gurney. The intern took out his pocket light and checked Buffy's eyes for a response. The nurse took notes while he spoke as they started to wheel her into the emergency room. Tara and Cordelia followed.
"Patient's unconscious. Pupils are unequal and unresponsive."
"What does that mean?" Cordelia asked.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Tara asked.
"Please, you gotta give us some room."
Dr. Wilkinson arrived. "What do we have?"
"High-grade fever, possible fractures."
"Get her into Trauma 1, give her a CBC, Chem 7, type, and screen."
"Right."
The intern and nurse took Buffy through the doors to the emergency room beyond. Tara and Cordelia tried to follow, but Dr. Wilkinson blocked their way.
"I'm sorry, you can't go any further."
"Someone should be with her!" Tara cried.
"I'm sorry! You can't go any further." She backed in and closed the door in their faces.
They looked through windows for a couple of seconds.
Tara looked at Cordelia. "I'll call Mr. Giles, tell him what happened. You call Buffy's mom."
The two of them went to find the phones.
Later, Cordelia and Tara were sitting in a row of chairs in the waiting room, worried. Giles was waiting by the door and nervously cleaning his glasses. The elevator door opened, and Joyce came out. She saw them sitting there.
"Where is she?" Joyce asked them.
They got up.
Giles walked over also. "She's still in the emergency room."
"I wanna see her." Joyce started out of the waiting room.
Cordelia shook her head. "They won't let us in there."
Joyce stopped and looked back at her.
Just then, Dr. Wilkinson came to the door. "Mrs. Summers?"
Joyce faced her. "Yes?"
"I'm Dr. Wilkinson."
"Is Buffy okay?"
"We were able to stabilize and-"
"Is she okay?" Joyce asked insistently.
"She's going to be fine."
Joyce was relieved. "Thank you." She put her hand to her face.
"Good. Good." Tara rubbed her hands. "That's good." She looked up. "Thank you, my Lady."
"I wanna keep her here a few days, though. She still has some healing to do."
Giles and Joyce looked at Dr. Wilkinson anxiously.
They went to a hall upstairs near Buffy's assigned hospital room. They were all waiting for her to be brought up. When they saw her coming, they all approached the bed. She had an IV in her right hand. Her left forearm was wrapped in an elastic bandage.
"Buffy?" Joyce reached the bed. "Hi, sweetheart."
They all accompanied her toward her room.
Tara looked at her. "Hey, Buffy, we're all here."
Buffy was groggy. "Hey. Here we are. It's all of we. Are we taking me home?" She tried to get up.
Dr. Wilkinson pushed her back. "No. Buffy, you need to lie down, honey."
"Yeah? Lie at home. My bed is better than any bed that's...not my bed."
Dr. Wilkinson looked at Joyce. "She's still a little out of it."
Joyce nodded back.
Buffy looked at Tara. "Shhh!" She pointed at her. "Hospital zone. No singing."
"She'll feel better after she's been here a while."
Buffy looked at Dr. Wilkinson. "No!" She tried to get up again. "Lemme go. Look, I wanna go."
The orderly pushing the bed, two nurses, and Dr. Wilkinson struggled to get her to lie back down. Buffy put up a fight.
"Buffy, what's wrong?" Tara asked.
"No! No! Let me go!" Buffy cried.
Cordelia looked at Tara. "I think she wants to go."
They managed to get her pushed back down on the bed.
"No, don't do that! Stop it!" Buffy cried.
"Hold her steady!" Dr. Wilkinson ordered.
Buffy was delirious. "Giles, tell them! The vampires! I need to kill the vampires!"
"This'll help you relax." Dr. Wilkinson put a needle against Buffy's inside elbow and injected her with a sedative.
Cordelia cringed and looked away.
"Ow!" Buffy winced in pain. "No!"
When the doctor pulled the needle back out, she lay back and breathed heavily.
"They're out there!" Buffy told Giles insistently.
Giles smiled reassuringly. "Yes, uh, well, we'll, uh, we'll get those, uh, vampires later."
Tara smiled reassuringly at her love. "The Slayerettes can handle it, sweetie. You get some rest."
The sedative took effect, and Buffy began to relax. One of the nurses checked her IV.
Her mother leaned in and stroked her hair. "Honey, listen..."
"I wanna go home."
"It's gonna be okay. I promise."
They started to wheel her away again.
"Please don't make me stay here..."
"I promise."
They all followed as Buffy was taken to her room. They waited outside. The door closed, and Tara looked in through the narrow window.
After a moment, Tara looked over at Giles. "That was a new experience. I'm not used to seeing Buffy scared like that."
Joyce looked at them all. "Yeah, she just hates hospitals. Ever since she was a little girl."
"What happened?" Tara asked her.
"When she was eight, her cousin Celia died in a hospital. Buffy was alone with her at the time."
"Yuck!" Cordelia exclaimed.
"Yeah, they were very close." Joyce looked in at Buffy. "Well, it looks like she's asleep. I should go call her father." She headed toward the nurse's station.
Giles accompanied her. "Um, I-I think there's a-a phone..."
"Thank you for coming. I-I really appreciate the way you look out for her."
"Oh..."
"All of you."
"Well, we're, uh, we're very fond of her."
They stopped at the nurse's station.
"The, uh, the telephone." Giles started away.
Joyce stopped him. "Buffy's been so down since...well...you know. She was starting to regain her sense of humor, but then that boy, Oz, was killed, and she went into a funk again. I mean...she never gets sick."
Giles looked down. "Well, Slayers generally aren't supposed to, but I'm sure she'll be, uh..." He looked up and smiled reassuringly. "She'll be fine."
"I'm sorry, I-I babble when I'm nervous; I just wanted to..." Joyce paused. "Well, if - if you need anything..."
Giles nodded. "Thank you. Thank you." He walked off.
"Do you think she's gonna be okay in here?" Tara asked Cordelia.
Cordelia was pacing. "I don't know; Lysette got her nose done here, and she came in looking for the Gwyneth Paltrow, and it looked more like the Mr. Potato Head." She stepped over to the door and looked into Buffy's room.
"Cordy...Buffy's not here for cosmetic surgery."
"I know, but...how can a Slayer even get sick?" Cordelia asked. "Seems like a big oversight."
"You mean like a new Slayer being activated just because Buffy stopped breathing for a few minutes?" Tara asked her. "That kind of oversight?"
Cordelia faced her.
Tara shrugged. "The gods are drunk. Or idiots. Take your pick."
"And why is there usually only one Slayer at a time?" Cordelia went on. "Who's patrolling the rest of the world?"
Tara crossed her arms. "All very good questions, Cordy. I don't have a fucking clue. Ask whatever...powers that be."
Cordelia suddenly thought of something and grew somber. "Do you think Angel will attack Buffy in here?"
"He can come in; it's a public building."
"Then one of us should be here at all times."
That night, Buffy stirred in her bed. She took a deep breath as she woke up. She blinked her eyes several times before looking over at the door. It was standing open, and a young boy was there, just silently staring in at her. A few moments later, he started away down the hall. She continued to look out the door, and a man in a black suit and hat walked by.
He glanced into Buffy's room as he walked by. She saw his face. It was all disfigured, his nose was long and bent down to a point, his teeth were all long fangs, and his fingers were grossly elongated. He looked back after the boy and continued to follow him out of view. Buffy raised her head in disbelief. She pushed her hair back with her bandaged hand and slowly sat up. She got out of bed and steadied herself to a stand. She tied her robe closed as she walked out of the room.
The hall was deserted except for the janitor mopping the floor behind her. As she walked, she had a flashback to her youth, and the corridor was suddenly brightly lit. Buffy walked down the bright but deserted hall. She saw a cart of surgical instruments and looked around nervously as she walked. She approached Celia's room. Sunlight was pouring brightly from the door. She edged up to it and went in.
Buffy slowly went over to the curtain pulled around Celia's bed.
Buffy stirred and woke from her dream. Her door was open, but there was no one there. She pushed her hair back with her bandaged hand and slowly sat up. She felt the IV in the back of her right hand and looked at it. She pulled the tape off and the needle out. She covered her face with both hands, drew them back through her hair, and started to get out of bed. She steadied herself to a stand. She tied her robe closed as she walked out of the room.
She walked down the hall, holding her robe closed with her hands. It was deserted except for the janitor mopping the floor behind her. She heard coughing coming from a room and looked in.
A woman was tucking in an old man and comforting him. "You'll be fine. Is that better?"
She continued down the hall and looked into the next room. An old woman was sitting on the edge of the bed with her face in her hands. She continued, heard the old woman cough, and let out a little cough of her own. She passed another doorway.
Buffy walked toward the door to the children's ward as two orderlies wheeled a child covered with a sheet out of the ward.
"Man, I hate it when you lose the young ones."
They went down the hall past Buffy. She looked at the gurney as they went by. She turned back to the children's ward door and slowly approached it. She could hear Dr. Wilkinson and another doctor arguing inside in hushed tones, so she didn't go in.
"I'm just saying...step back on the dosage until we can analyze the results."
"There isn't time. I should think that would be clear to you by now."
Buffy peeked into the room and saw them arguing. From his badge, Buffy learned the other doctor was named Backer.
"The normal course of treatment-"
"They aren't responding to the normal course of treatment." Dr. Backer gestured to the kids. "Look, they're getting worse."
"Raising their temperatures is poten-"
"Dr. Wilkinson! I have the consent of the parents."
"They're desperate! They don't understand what you're-"
"You know what? If - If you have a problem with my methods, just take it up with the board."
"I have!"
Buffy had heard enough and turned away to go. There in front of her was the little boy that she saw in her dream and a little girl. She stopped, and they looked at each other.
"He comes at night. The grown-ups don't see him. He was with Tina. He'll come back for us."
"Who?" Buffy asked him.
"Death."
Buffy looked back and forth between the two kids in disbelief.
Cordelia was sitting on a chair outside the waiting room across from the nurses' station that was down the hall from Buffy's room. An open bag of Krispy Kreme doughnuts was sitting on the table between her chair and the next one. Cordelia held a cup of coffee in one hand and a copy of Cosmopolitan that she brought with her in the other. She took a long sip of coffee. There were two police officers talking to a security guard. Nurses and orderlies were going about their tasks. Cordelia heard someone whistling a few bars of "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and looked to see who was coming. When she saw Angelus, she quickly got up and faced him down in the hall.
"Visiting hours are over."
"Well, I'm pretty much family."
"Yeah. Why don't you come back during the day?" Cordelia suggested. "Oh, shit, no, I guess you can't."
"If I decide to walk into Buffy's room, do you think for one microsecond that you could stop me?" Angelus asked her.
"Maybe not. Maybe that security guard couldn't either. Or those cops. Or the orderlies. But I'm kinda curious to find out. You game?" Cordelia challenged him.
Angelus paused. "Buffy's White Knight. You in love with her?" He leaned in close. "Honestly, I've suspected you're a closeted dyke."
Cordelia fought her nervousness. "You're gonna die. And I'm gonna be the one to kill you."
Angelus gave Cordelia one final look and then went back into the waiting room. Cordelia shuddered, covered her mouth, and let out a sigh of relief.
Celia was on the bedroom floor, covered with pillows, and writhing around, pretending to be trapped under a pile of snow and ice. "Help me, help! Avalanche! Help! Help! I'm trapped! Avalanche! Help! Help!"
Buffy ran in through the door and stopped in a heroic stance with her hands on her hips. "Power Girl to the rescue!" She kneeled down and started to heave off the pillows - as though they were huge, heavy blocks of ice and snow - and thudded them aside.
"Help me! Help! Help! Please, help!" Celia cried.
Buffy got the last pillows off Celia's face, and she sat up.
"You saved me! Thank you, Power Girl!"
The two girls embraced.
"You're safe now."
Buffy walked into Celia's hospital room. She slowly approached the curtain around the bed and opened it enough to look in at her cousin. She stepped through. Celia was lying there, peacefully asleep.
Buffy woke with a start.
Dr. Wilkinson came in. "Good morning."
Buffy moaned, rubbed her eyes, and sat up. "Could've fooled me."
"How are you feeling? Looks like your fever's gone down."
"Well, good! Thanks for having me. Let's try and keep in touch." Buffy tried to get out of bed.
Dr. Wilkinson pushed her back. "Not so fast." She inspected Buffy's bandaged arm. "Hmm."
"Good 'Hmm' or bad 'Hmm'?"
"Swelling's...gone!" Wilkinson looked up. "Does this hurt?"
"Nope."
"Amazing." Wilkinson got the chart.
"Well, then I should probably go, right?" Buffy tried to go again.
Dr. Wilkinson stopped her again. "No. Soon. We have to make sure that fever is gone. That's a strong virus you have. Maybe not as strong as you, but-"
"I-Is that the same virus the kids have?" Buffy asked her.
Before Dr. Wilkinson could answer, there was a knock on the door.
"May we come in?" Giles asked.
"Please!" Wilkinson replied.
Giles, Tara, and Cordelia walked in.
"Maybe you can keep our patient from bolting." Wilkinson looked at Buffy. "Rest! Hmm?" She left.
Tara set school books on the bed. "For milady."
"Homework!" Buffy exclaimed in horror.
"It's my way of saying 'Get well soon'."
"You know, chocolate says that even better."
"I did all your assignments. All you have to do is sign your name."
"Chocolate means nothing to me."
Tara kissed Buffy on the lips, stepped back, and looked at Cordelia.
"Nobody told me I was supposed to bring a gift." Cordelia looked at Giles. "I was out of the loop on gifts."
"It's - It's tradition among, um...people. Um..." Giles walked up to the bed. "Grapes." He set down the bag. "Well, did you, uh, pass the night well enough?"
A nurse came into the room and walked around the bed.
"Not really. Something happened I thought you-"
The nurse checked Buffy's IV.
"You know what?" Buffy asked. "Let's take a walk."
Tara pushed Buffy along in a wheelchair outside the hospital's main entrance while Cordelia and Giles walked alongside.
Buffy smiled. "Now, this part, I could get used to."
"Do you want me to go really fast?" Tara asked her.
Giles gave her a look.
Tara got serious. "Not that I would."
Giles looked at Buffy. "We were discussing, um, stuff."
"Yes, stuff. Um, you know, a girl died here last night."
"How?" Tara asked.
"Well, the flu."
Cordelia looked at Buffy. "Flu doesn't exactly sound monsterrific."
"I know. But there's this Dr. Backer, and he's been giving them these experimental treatments."
They stopped by a bench, and Giles sat.
"I-I'm not sure what he's up to, but he's a little creepy. A-And then there was this kid, Ryan. He said he saw something."
"Saw what?" Giles asked.
"Death."
"Death?" Cordelia asked her.
"The Death? As in the sub-boss in Castlevania games?" Tara asked.
Giles was skeptical. "Buffy, a-a-a frightened child-"
"Yeah, but I thought I saw something. I'm not sure; I was really out of it, but-"
"But you do know that you saw Death." Cordelia stared into Buffy's eyes.
Buffy shrugged. "Maybe it wasn't Death. Maybe it was something else."
"So this isn't about you being afraid of hospitals, 'cause your friend died, and you wanna conjure up a monster that you can fight, so you can save everybody and not feel so helpless?" Cordelia asked her.
"Cordelia, have you actually ever heard of tact?" Giles asked her.
"Tact is just not saying true stuff. I'll pass."
Tara looked at Buffy. "Your mom did tell us about your cousin."
Cordelia sat also.
"This has nothing to do with that. This little boy, Ryan, is afraid of something, something real. As long as I'm forced to stay here, I'm gonna find out what."
"What can we do to help?" Tara asked her.
That evening, after hours, Cordelia and Tara quietly walked into the hospital's records room. The place was deserted.
"You had to ask that, didn't you?" Cordelia whispered.
They walked over to a records cabinet.
"We just gotta figure out what killed this little girl, Tina." Tara opened a cabinet door.
Cordelia leaned against the wall. "This is what happens when you're compassionate towards sick people. They take advantage of you."
Tara gave Cordelia a look. "Uh-huh. Buffy almost died just to put you out."
"I didn't wanna be the first one to say it."
Tara found nothing and pointed over to the cabinet to her right. "You there." She pointed to her left. "Me here."
"Right."
Tara went on to the next one around the corner. Cordelia reluctantly went back to the one on the other side of the door where they came in. She opened the cabinet and looked in.
Tara found the file that she wanted and walked back over to Cordelia. "Got it. Tina was one of Dr. Backer's patients. I'll take this to Mr. Giles and help him research. Stay here and protect Buffy."
"Right."
Later, Tara and Giles walked into the Sunnydale High School library.
"So...where do we start?" Tara asked him.
"Hmm? Oh, I don't know. Maybe look into the history of the hospital, bizarre incidents, that sort of thing."
"I'm sensing a little less than full committal here."
They stopped by the counter.
"Oh, I-I suppose so. Cordelia may be Homerically insensitive, but she may also be right. Death and disease are - are things, possibly the only things that - that Buffy cannot fight. It's only natural for her to try to create a-a defeatable opponent."
"That's true. But we live on the Hellmouth; these kids may have seen a monster."
Giles started toward the stacks. "What, a monster that grown-ups can't see? Doesn't ring a bell." He paused. "Unless..."
Tara sat on the table. "Unless?"
"Well, sometimes, small children do see something we adults don't: us. Our true selves, our - our...our hidden faces."
"So the kids might be afraid of a regular person?" Tara came to a realization. "Like the weird doctor!"
"Stanley Backer was his name, no?"
"Let's look him up." Tara went to get her laptop.
Buffy walked along the hall outside the children's ward, stopped by the door, and looked into the room. Ryan was sitting at a table, drawing a picture with crayons.
Buffy walked over to him. "Hey. Remember me?"
"You shouldn't be here."
"Why not?"
"Contagious."
"Nah. I already got what you got." Buffy sat down by the table.
Ryan went back to drawing his picture.
"Oh, what, you think because I'm a grown-up? Believe me, I'm not that grown up."
She took a look at his picture. It was of the monster that he'd seen coming after the other kids. Buffy briefly flashed back to when she saw it walk past her door in her dream.
"He'll come again tonight."
"Ryan, listen to me."
He looked at her.
"I'm not gonna let this thing hurt you. Any of you. Grown-ups don't believe you, right? Well, I do. We both know that there are real monsters. But there's also real heroes that fight monsters. And that's me."
Ryan looked away and went back to drawing his picture. "Can't fight Death."
In the library, Tara was sitting at the table, surfing for information on her laptop. Giles was standing behind her, looking over her shoulder. Dr. Backer's medical database file came up on the screen.
"Our Dr. Backer has something of a rap sheet."
Tara nodded. "Reprimands for controversial experiments, risky procedures, a malpractice suit. Looks like it was dropped suddenly."
Giles took off his glasses. "Factor in Buffy's observation that he gives her the, um, uh, wiggins..." He turned away and thought.
"This may be our Death guy?" Tara asked.
Giles turned back to her. "I just wish I knew what he was doing to these children."
Tara looked up at him.
Buffy entered the hall outside Dr. Backer's office. He walked out and made his way to the children's ward. Buffy followed him. He went through one of a pair of doors. Buffy stopped and waited behind the other door, suspicious.
"Uhh!" Dr. Backer yelled out in pain. He screamed.
Buffy slowly approached the door to the ward and looked in, then she walked through, but she quickly had to step back and out of the way as Dr. Backer came flying out and onto the floor. He groaned, and she bent down to help him, but something pushed her away and threw her back into the wall. She hit it hard and slid down to the floor, unconscious.
The next morning, Buffy was back in her hospital bed, looking at the picture that Ryan drew. The grapes that Giles gave her were on a plate on the table. Giles arrived in the doorway and knocked. Buffy looked up as he, Cordelia, and Tara walked into the room. Tara closed the door behind her.
Giles nodded. "Uh, well, it looks as if you, uh, were on to something."
"I know."
Giles walked around the bed and sat in a chair. "The, uh, the - the girl, Tina, um, it's apparent that she - she died of the fever, simple enough, but - but her records show her improving and then suddenly deteriorating w-w-w-without any apparent cause."
Tara nodded. "So we checked Dr. Backer out. This guy was not a solid citizen."
"It wasn't Backer. He was clean."
"What do you mean 'clean'?" Cordelia asked her.
"What do you mean 'was'?" Tara asked her.
"He's dead. This thing killed him - and not with kindness." Buffy handed Giles the picture.
"You saw it?" Tara asked her.
Giles looked at the rough child's drawing.
Buffy shook her head. "No, it's invisible. I saw Backer nearly shredded, and the fucking thing knocked me down. But it's real. Which means I get to fight it."
Giles took off his glasses. "Um, this is your work?" He indicated the picture.
"No, one of the kids."
"Oh. Um..." Giles paused. "Well, it would help if - if we knew what it was." He sighed. "I-It's invisible to you, but the - the children can see it."
Cordelia looked at Buffy. "But you said you did see something two nights ago."
"Uh, yeah, but I was pretty delirious. I mean...it doesn't make any sense. Why would I see it then and not last night?"
The door to the room opened, and Buffy's mother came in.
Joyce smiled. "Good morning."
Giles put his glasses back on.
Joyce set down the bag that she brought with her. "Honey, I-I just talked to the doctor, and she said I can take you home."
Buffy considered a moment. "No. I should stay here."
Joyce was confused. "But, honey, I thought you'd be raring-"
"Weird shit's going down here. Kids are dying." Buffy paused. "I need to find out what's stalking them."
"Are you sure?" Joyce asked her.
"Oh, yeah, but just for a day...or s-so."
"Okay, well, I'll, uh, I'll talk to the doctor." Joyce frowned in confusion. "What should I tell her?"
Buffy smiled. "Bullshit. I'm still sick. Cough, cough. Sneeze, sneeze."
Joyce smiled and went back out of the room. Cordelia closed the door behind her.
"So what's the plan?" Tara asked.
"Giles, see if you can get a mug shot on that guy. I need to know what I'm fighting."
"Right. Yes." Giles stood up and walked around the bed.
"I'll check Backer's office. See if I can find any Post-its marked 'Why a monster might want me dead'."
Cordelia smiled in amusement. "Sounds like a plan."
"Course, if I find anything, I won't know what it means, so, Tara..."
Tara nodded. "Oh, yeah, I'll research that medical shit on the 'Net."
Buffy nodded. "Right. Go!"
Giles nodded. "W-W-We'll call you if we...know something."
He started out with Cordelia and Tara close behind.
"Know something soon."
The three of them left the room and started toward the waiting room.
Giles looked at the girls. "I'd best head for the library. Research beckons."
Tara nodded. "I'm on sentry duty."
Giles nodded. "Well, you two, stay alert."
They stopped outside the waiting room.
Tara looked at Cordelia. "Finding out who this thing is takes priority. Cordy, you should go with Mr. Giles."
Giles was bewildered. "Why do I have to have-"
Cordelia shot him a look.
"Uh, good thinking. I-I-I could do with a research assistant."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Let's go, tact guy."
"Yes." Giles went to the elevator.
Cordelia looked at Tara. "Be careful." She followed Giles.
Tara sat down on the chair across from the nurse's station.
That evening, Buffy opened the door to Dr. Backer's office and poked in her head. Seeing it was empty, she opened the door further to let Tara in, checked the hall, and closed it behind her.
She started to look around and checked out the reference volumes on the shelves by the fridge.
Tara looked over the papers on his desk. "It's weird going through his things."
Buffy opened the fridge.
"Look, he didn't finish his coffee. Guess he won't." Tara felt sad as she looked at the printouts.
Buffy closed the fridge. "Yep, another person I wasn't in time to save." She went to the desk. "It's too bad Angel didn't put me in the hospital sooner." She paused and made a face. "There's something I never thought I'd hear myself say."
The two of them kept looking.
Tara read a paper. "Hey, wait, I think I have something."
"Hmm. Sherlock."
"Okay, this makes sense. Dr. Backer was trying to inoculate the kids with a controlled dosage of the same virus they already had."
Buffy gave her a confused look.
"Oh, raising their temperatures to burn the fever out of them."
"Would that work?" Buffy asked.
"According to this, it was starting to. So he really was trying to help the kids."
"Till that thing stopped him."
In the library, Giles and Cordelia were going through a stack of books on the table. He had Ryan's drawing for comparison. She turned a page and found a picture of a demon. He took a sip of his tea.
"Eww, what does this do?" Cordelia asked him.
Giles put his mug down. "What?"
"What does this do?" Cordelia pushed the book toward him.
"Uh, it, uh, extracts vital organs to replenish its own mutating cells."
"Wow!" Cordelia leaned over to look at his book. "What does this one do?" She pointed to a drawing.
Giles looked up at her. "Um, i-it elongates its mouth to, uh, engulf its victim's head with its incisors."
"Ouch. Wait, what does this one do?" Cordelia pointed to another.
Giles was frustrated. "It asks endless questions of those with whom it's supposed to be working, so that nothing is getting done."
Cordelia was amazed. "Damn, there's a demon for everything."
Giles slapped down Ryan's picture and got up from the table in disgust. He took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead. "I don't even know if we're on the right track. Since this, uh...miscreant has only been seen by select individuals, there's a chance we won't ever...find a picture of it."
"Well, it's not in here." Cordelia closed her book.
On the cover was a drawing of the monster that they were seeking. Giles looked down at it and put his glasses back on. She noticed his gaze and looked at the book's cover also.
Soon, in Giles' office, Cordelia was on the phone with Buffy. "It's called Der Kinderstaad."
"Who is this?" Buffy asked.
"It's me. I've got your monster!"
"Where's Giles?"
Cordelia paced, looking at the book. "Looking up shit."
"Well, can you put him on?"
"Hey!" Cordelia closed the book and headed for the desk. "I found your guy, okay? Just listen."
"Right."
Cordelia sat down in Giles' chair, set the book on the desk, and opened it. "The name means 'child death'. This book says that he feeds off of children by sucking the life out of them. Eew! But anyway, afterwards, it looks like they died, because they were sick."
"So it did kill Tina."
"Yeah, that's my take. 'Cause it would be looking at the children's ward as basically an all-you-can-eat kind of thing, y'know."
"Backer was curing the kids and taking away the Kinderstaad's food."
Cordelia nodded. "Hence the slice-age."
Giles walked into his office, holding a book. "I found a picture of how it kills. Let me talk to her."
Cordelia took the book and looked. "Oh! Eww!"
"What?" Buffy asked.
"Oh! Uh, you should see this thing! The way it does its thing, I mean, eww!" Cordelia handed the phone to Giles and got up. "Why do I let you guys drag me into this shit?" She left.
"Uh, uh, Buffy? Are you - Are you still there?" Giles asked.
"Hanging on every 'eww'."
Giles sat down. "Uh, the, um, the Kinderstaad gorges by sitting atop his prey, pinning it down, uh, helplessly. Then he slowly draws out the life. I-It must be, uh, h-horrifying for the victim."
Buffy didn't respond.
"Buffy? Hello?"
Buffy pulled aside the curtain around Celia's bed. "Celia?"
Celia woke and started to scream. She held her hands in front of her as if trying to push something away.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked her.
Celia kept screaming at the top of her lungs in complete terror.
"I don't know what to do, Celia!" Buffy cried.
Celia continued screaming and swatted with her hands at something unseen.
Buffy looked toward the door. "Help! Help! Help! Somebody help!"
"Get it off of me!" Celia screamed.
Buffy looked at her cousin. "Come on, Celia!"
"Get it off of me!" Celia screamed.
Buffy was holding the phone to her ear and staring off into space.
"Buffy, w-what is it?" Giles asked.
Tara took the phone. "Thanks." She hung up.
"It killed Celia."
"Your cousin?" Tara asked.
Buffy looked at Tara. "We have to get this thing, Tara, before it gets any more kids."
"You will. We will."
"But how? I-I can't even see it."
"You saw it once."
"Did I? Uh, maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. I mean...I was crazed with that fever. Who knows..." Buffy suddenly had an idea.
Buffy opened the door of Dr. Backer's refrigerator. The light came on.
"Buffy, think about this."
"I have. Lots of thoughts." Buffy crouched down.
"It's crazy."
Buffy searched the test tubes. "The fever. That's how you see the Kinderstaad. That's why Celia could see it. That's why Ryan still can." She found the right one. "It's the only way." She stood back up and faced Tara.
"But how are you gonna fight this thing with a 107-degree temperature?" Tara asked her.
"I guess we'll find out." Buffy uncapped the tube and raised it to drink the serum.
Tara quickly stopped her. "Buffy!"
"Tara, I'm going to do this."
"Buffy, that's 100% pure. It'll kill you in an instant."
"Oh. They really should put that on the label."
Tara reached into the refrigerator for a bottle of drinking water and grabbed a beaker that was sitting on top. Buffy closed the fridge while Tara set the beaker on the desk and opened the bottle.
"It needs to be diluted." Tara poured some water into the beaker and closed the bottle.
"Okay, but this better work fast."
Tara took the test tube and drew some of the serum into a dropper. She held it over the beaker and let a single drop fall in.
"Faster than that."
Tara looked at her, worried, but gave in and put another drop into the water.
Buffy took the beaker, held it up, and looked at it, then over at Tara. "Here's to my health." After another moment's hesitation, she quaffed the water and serum.
Tara and Buffy walked around the corner and headed toward the children's ward. Buffy was already feeling the effects of the virus and walked unsteadily, breathing heavily. Tara supported her.
"Oh, God. I'm not sure this was such a good idea."
"Hang in there. You'll be okay."
"Okay. I'm okay."
They reached the door to the ward, and Buffy looked in through the door's window. The beds were all empty.
"The kids. They're gone."
She and Tara exchanged a surprised and very worried look.
"What could have happened?" Tara asked her.
"I don't know. Maybe we're too late. Maybe they moved." Buffy felt her forehead. "Maybe I don't...I'm burning up!" She looked back into the room and started to see something. "Babe?"
"What?"
"I think it's in there."
A form began to take shape as though unfolding. It stepped over to a bed, and suddenly the Kinderstaad was clearly visible to Buffy. It looked into a bed and found it empty. She stared at it through the door's window. The monster looked over at another bed and noticed her staring. It straightened itself up and looked at her. Buffy's eyes went wide with fear. It just giggled maniacally and took off its hat to her. It kept an eye on her for another moment as it turned toward the other door to the ward, then put the hat back on and walked to the other door. The Kinderstaad opened it and went through. When the door closed, Buffy saw the sign on the door: "Basement Access". Buffy frantically tried to follow, but the door to the ward was locked, and the virus had weakened her enough so she couldn't break it open.
"It's going after them!" Buffy turned to Tara. "We gotta get 'em."
Dr. Wilkinson came around the corner. "Buffy?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Okay, we'll get 'em in a second."
Dr. Wilkinson quickly approached her. "What's wrong?"
Buffy took out her wallet, opened it, and flashed her police identification. "Emergency. We need to get in there."
"What the hell is that? You should be in bed." Dr. Wilkinson put her arm around Buffy.
"No!" Buffy protested. "I need to go after them!"
"No, you're coming with me." Wilkinson started to pull her away.
"No!" Buffy pushed the doctor away and started to run down the hall.
Tara quickly followed.
Buffy and Tara ran through a pair of doors. Two security guards were coming down the adjacent hallway. They headed the girls off at the intersection.
"Okay, come on now." A guard held his baton threateningly. "We can do this the easy way."
Buffy showed him her identification. "As you rent-a-cops may or may not know, I'm a police-sanctioned Slayer. We have a supernatural situation with lives at stake. If you wanna be useful, prevent anyone from going down into the basement. But let me pass and do my job, or, I fucking swear, I'm gonna ram that baton up your ass."
The two guards looked at each other, and then they looked at Buffy and nodded.
Buffy and Tara ran around the corner and down the other hall.
Tara supported Buffy as they hurried down the basement tunnels under the hospital.
Tara looked at Buffy. "You don't know how to kill this thing."
"I thought I might try violence."
"Solid call."
They ran down the tunnel and heard the kids screaming. Buffy grabbed a large section of pipe and pulled it loose. They arrived at the children. The Kinderstaad was leaning over Ryan. It took his head to hold him steady. The monster's eyes bugged out and split open. They extended from their sockets down toward his forehead. The monster drooled heavily and licked its lips. Its eyes made contact with Ryan's forehead. He screamed as his energy was drained. Buffy hit the Kinderstaad in the head with the pipe, and its eyes snapped back into their sockets.
Buffy stood over it with the pipe held ready. "You make me sick."
The Kinderstaad stood up and faced her. She swung the pipe at it again, but the monster blocked it and knocked it from her grip.
Although Tara couldn't see it, she saw Buffy was fighting something and took the opportunity to go to Ryan and lift him up from the floor. "Up." She carried the boy over to the other kids.
Buffy was not in top form as she fought the Kinderstaad, and it gained the upper hand and punched her twice in the face, then threw her against a pipe.
Tara found the other children and started to herd them away. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Hurry!" She followed them, throwing a few glances over at Buffy along the way.
Buffy swung twice at the monster, but it just leaned back and avoided the blows. It grabbed her again and threw her into another pipe. She recovered quickly, spotted a raised grating, and hopped up onto it. She took a good look at the Kinderstaad and then jumped from the grate and landed a hard kick on its face. It stumbled back and to its knee as she landed on her feet. She kicked it three more times while it tried to get back up.
Tara ran back after leading the kids away and watched her fight. She saw her kick, but to her it looked like she was fighting thin air. She heard her get hit, and she spun around and let out a grunt of pain. The monster took her by the shoulder and backhand-punched her in the face again. He took her by the throat, lifted her up, and threw her into some sections of large duct tube. Buffy was dazed and just lay there on the pipe. The Kinderstaad reached down for its hat, brushed it off, and put it back on. Buffy recovered from her daze - but not in time to get away as it kneeled and reached for her head. It held her steady with both hands. Its eyes bugged out and split open again. She reached up for its head with both hands and gave it a good, quick twist. The monster's neck snapped loudly, and it fell over dead next to her. Buffy stood up and looked down at the Kinderstaad's prone body.
Tara finally dared to come closer, concerned. "Are you okay?"
Buffy looked up at her. "Actually, I think I'm starting to feel better. Let's-" She took a step but lost her balance and fell into Tara. "Oh!"
Tara put her arm around her to support her, and they started walking.
"He's dead, right?" Tara asked. "I mean...I heard something snap."
"That would be his neck." Buffy briefly flashed back to Ted's neck breaking, and she wished she would lose consciousness.
Despite being sick, Buffy was discharged from the hospital, because they really didn't want her there. Buffy and Tara were lying back comfortably on Buffy's bed in her room, watching Ghost in the Shell on TV.
Joyce walked in with a tray containing two sandwiches on plates and two glasses of juice. She also held an envelope. "Here you go, honey. Peanut butter and jelly, without the crust, just the way you like it." Joyce sat on the bed next to Buffy and put the glasses on the night stand.
"And the juice?" Buffy asked.
Joyce handed Buffy and Tara their plates. "Two parts orange, one part grapefruit."
Buffy smiled. "That's my drink."
"I measured it exactly." Joyce got up to go.
Tara smiled. "Thanks, Mrs. Summers."
"Thanks, Mom."
Joyce smiled. "Anything to help my daughter get well. Oh, Buffy, here. Um, this came in the mail." She handed the envelope to Buffy.
Buffy read the return address and smiled. "It's from Ryan." She opened it.
"The boy from the hospital?" Joyce asked.
Buffy took out the paper inside and unfolded it.
Joyce looked down at it and smiled. "Oh, he drew you a picture."
The picture was of Buffy standing over the Kinderstaad with her foot up on its chest. The monster's neck was split open, and blood was gushing out.
Joyce stared at the picture. "How...nice."
