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Terri Botta
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own `em. I just take them out and play with them. No money, no infringement, yadda yadda yadda. I'm poor so don't sue.
Summary: Spike gets a chance to do a few things over again.
Rating: PG
Authors note: Feedback welcome. text in italics denote thoughts.
Send feedback to tci100@mail.psu.edu. Note: it's a new email address!
******
As he thought, Soldier Boy had abandoned the Scoobies in deference for a vamp suck-job, and he came upon Giles, Willow and Xander grossly outmatched by a pair of female vamps. Throwing himself into the fray, he dusted one while Willow scored a lucky shot with the other.
"Good work, Red," he complemented.
Willow gave him a shell-shocked look, but smiled. "Thanks, Spike."
The three humans were breathing heavily. Giles and Xander took quite a few blows and the pain showed on their faces.
"My god, a rough night," Giles gasped.
"Whoa, I did one of 'em! Yay on me! Pretty cool except for the part where I was really terrified and now my knees are all dizzy," Willow said, losing her balance. Spike caught her and steadied her on her feet.
"And Spike got the other," Xander said.
"Good for you, Spike. Now why are you here?" Giles asked, catching his breath.
"Just came from the hospital. Buffy said you were out here with Soldier Boy, so I thought I’d lend a hand. Where *is* Captain Cardboard anyway?" he replied, making a show of looking around.
"Good question," Xander replied, getting to his feet. "Not so much a big success-night for me, but I think I should get points just for showing up."
"Yes, that was disappointing. Things would've been much easier with Riley here."
They began to stumble out of the graveyard. Spike followed closely.
"Oh piffle. Who needs him -- whoops!" Willow scoffed, then tripped on her own feet and nearly fell. Spike caught her again and set her back on her feet.
"Okay, it might have been good if he'd showed," she admitted. "But, hey Spike’s here so it wasn’t like we didn’t have *some* super-strength help."
"I suppose he just forgot," Giles offered.
"Doubt it," Spike said dryly. "Boy’s problem is that he’s a real boy now and not Super Soldier. That kinda thing does somethin’ to a man."
"Yes, well, I’m sure he had a good reason for not being here," Giles covered.
"Yeah," Spike agreed, sighing. "Look, you lot go on home. I’ll finish up here, then head back to my crypt. If I run into Captain Cardboard, I’ll tell him I gave you the night off."
The three gave him blank looks, and he ground his teeth. "Are you all stoned? Go home. You can barely walk as it is. Big Bad’s got it so you kiddies can toddle off to beddie-bye."
Confused but exhausted, they moved to obey. Spike watched them leaving, his face calm and neutral. Giles turned around, a question on his lips.
"Joyce’s surgery’s in a couple of days. Buffy and Dawn are with her. I need to kill something. You go on and get me some info on that Glory bint so the Slayer and I can take her down," he spoke before Giles could speak, then he nodded at the stunned man and stalked off into the graveyard.
Once he was out of sight and earshot, he switched to gameface and began to Hunt. He knew that the space-roach demon would be arriving soon, but he wasn’t quite sure when. It would be some time between now and when Joyce came home from the hospital to wait for her surgery date. He planned to kill it when it tried to hurt Joyce. In the meantime, he was free, free to wreak havoc on the demon population of Sunnydale.
He was worried about Joyce, sick with the knowledge of what was to come, and tortured by the fear that he wouldn’t be able to stop any of it. His soul took a back seat as his demon ran unfettered, and left a trail of carnage in his wake. By the time he stumbled into his crypt, exhausted and battered, he’d killed a dozen vampires and four lesser demons. It was empty, thankfully. Harmony had left the previous evening to hunt and shop in LA, and she wouldn’t be back until…
‘Until Druscilla returns,’ he thought, remembering his sire even as he collapsed into bed. He’d deal with Dru when the time came.
He slept sleep of the exhausted and did not wake until the following evening. When he did, he ate two bags of blood and headed to the hospital. He took the DeSoto, preparing for the possibility that he might drive Joyce and her daughters home. He found Dawn sitting by herself in the hall right outside her mother’s room.
"Hey Nibblet," he said quietly, coming to stand in front of her.
One look at her face when she looked up at him made his unbeating heart ache.
"Spike."
Softening, he crouched down to her level. "What’s wrong, Sweet Bit?"
The teen sniffed back a sob. "It’s Mom… She’s… She says awful things, but she doesn’t know she’s saying them…"
He nodded. "Uglies in the brain make people do and say things they normally wouldn’t."
Dawn bit her lip and looked down. "She wants to come home to wait for the surgery. Buffy’s arranging it now."
Spike looked around, trying to see if the demon he had nicknamed ‘Space Roach’ was around, but he saw no sign of it.
"’S that a good idea, Bit? Hospital’s the safest place for her if somethin’ goes wrong."
Dawn shrugged. "She’s really upset here. I think she’ll feel better waiting at home."
"I suppose that’s true." He stood, looking at the door to Joyce’s room. "Lemme see if I can find out what’s going on."
He knocked lightly on the closed door. A moment later Buffy opened it and peered out.
"Spike?" she said, surprised.
"Hey, Slayer. How’s Mum?"
Buffy cast a glance behind her. "Umm, Dr. Kriegel said she can go home and come back for her surgery. She’s getting dressed while the doctor gets her medications ready."
"Do you need a ride? I have my car tonight," he offered.
Buffy looked taken back and for a moment he thought she might actually take him up on his offer, but then she shook her head.
"We have Mom’s SUV."
"I didn’t know you could drive, Slayer."
"I can’t," she admitted.
"Drivin’ without a license then?" he said with an amused wiggle of his brow. "Decided to walk on the wild side, eh pet?"
Buffy smiled and shook her head. "No. Buffy and cars do not mix."
"Gonna let Mum drive then?" he asked, concerned.
She nodded.
"Is that wise?"
Buffy shrugged. "It’s not that far."
Spike didn’t like it. "I’ll follow you home at least, make sure you get home all right and settled in."
"You don’t have to…"
"Look Slayer, I don’t want to be the one that has to explain to Giles that you, your Mum and Little Sis got wrapped around a tree because I let you put a woman with a brain tumor behind the wheel."
Buffy still looked unconvinced.
"Slayer, what harm is there in my making sure you get home in one piece?" he pressed.
Buffy sighed and relented. "Okay. I guess it’s probably a smart thing to do. Mom’s… not been herself today."
Spike nodded. "Bite Size told me she’d been saying things that weren’t very nice."
Buffy looked away and hugged herself. "Yeah," she agreed faintly.
"How you holdin’ up?" he asked.
"I’m…"
She was cut off by her mother, fully dressed, coming out of the room. "If feels so good to be out of that damn hospital gown." She stopped when she saw Spike. "Spike!"
"Hello, Mum."
"Come to help me escape, have you?"
He gave her a wry smile. "I tried Joyce, even offered to drive the getaway car, but your eldest would have none of it. I have to settle for backup this time ‘round."
Joyce chuckled and pushed past him, heading for the nurse’s station where the doctor was filling out forms. Dawn jumped to her feet and both girls joined their mother at the counter. Spike stood back, but kept an ear out, as Dr. Kriegel gave Buffy instructions. He was looking for Space Roach, but so far still no sign of it. That made him uneasy because he knew from secondhand accounts that the demon was nearby.
"Well, I guess we're all set then. You've got my phone number, pager number ... And here ..." the doctor said, handing Buffy three prescription bottles. "Those are the medications I talked to you about. The sedative and so forth. Pain killers ..."
Buffy looked at the bottles, uncertain. "Right. I remember…"
"If this is going to be too much for you, we can make your mom perfectly comfortable here …"
Spike thought he heard something and whipped around to face the mental ward doors, but there was nothing. Wary, he moved closer to Joyce and the girls, taking up a protective stance. Dawn gave him a confused look, but he waved her concern away.
"No, no. I've got it. And I really appre-" Buffy was saying when her mother suddenly snapped at her harshly.
"You look like your father when he cries."
Buffy blinked and looked wounded, triggering Spike’s protective instincts.
"Hey now Joyce…"
Joyce turned on him, eyes hard and crazed. "You think it will make a difference? It didn’t for Angel. He was still a monster."
Spike froze like a deer in headlights at Joyce’s words.
‘She can see my soul!’ he thought frantically.
"Mom…" Buffy said, tugging at her mother’s sleeve.
Joyce snarled and put herself in front of Buffy. "You’ll never touch my daughter!"
Buffy looked apologetic. "Spike, she’s…"
"I know, Slayer. Dementia. Lived with it with Dru, know all about it and all the nasties it entails."
Buffy gave him a grateful smile, thankful that he understood, then turned to the doctor. "I told you she's been…"
The doctor nodded. "I know," he said, then got Joyce’s attention. "Joyce? Joyce. We're done here. Why don't you take your girls home now?"
Joyce’s eyes focused on him and she slowly returned to herself. He smiled at her reassuringly.
"Yes. Yes, thank you. Thanks for all your help, Doctor," Joyce said after a moment.
"I'll see you in a couple of days," he said.
"Thank you," she told him, then turned to Buffy and Dawn, smiling. "Let's get the hell out of here."
The ride home was nerve-wracking and he couldn’t smoke because Dawn decided to ride home with him. She sat, forlorn and small, in the passenger seat of his DeSoto and didn’t even play with the radio.
"Mum’s gonna be fine, Sweet Bit," he comforted, desperately needing a smoke.
Dawn nodded sadly and examined her fingernails.
"Spike…" she said after a moment.
"Yeah, Bit?" he answered absently, concentrating on following Joyce’s SUV.
"Am I real?"
His stomach bottomed out and he almost jerked the car to a stop. "What?" he said in a panic.
‘Does she know? No, she can’t know. She didn’t find out until Buffy’s birthday when we broke into the Magic Shop…’
"These guys, crazy guys, two of them… both of them said I wasn’t real."
"Well, you said it yourself, they were clear off their rockers," he covered. "What are you doin’ listenin’ to a loonies like that?"
Dawn shifted uncomfortably. "I dunno. It’s just that sometimes…"
"Look, Dawn, you’re 14 and goin’ through a lot of changes. It’s normal for you to be questionin’ yourself, but don’t take it too far." She looked unconvinced. "Do you feel real?" he finally asked.
"Yes. I think…"
"Lemme put it this way, Nibblet, if I didn’t have this chip in my head, you’d be a nummy treat."
"You’d bite me? Really?" She sounded happy about it.
"In a heartbeat."
He gave her a sideglance to see her smiling at him. "What?"
"That’s a compliment coming from you. Thanks, Spike."
He shook his head and focused back on driving.
‘Teenagers.’
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