Banner by Selene

Chapter 20: The Truth Comes Out

Rome
8:00 p.m. Local Time

From his perch on the chair, Spike felt Buffy start the slow process of waking. A slight increase in her heart rate, deeper breaths. Looking up from the book he was reading, he was rewarded with her slight moan, and fluttering eyelashes. Discarding the book, he stood and crossed over to the bed. Her head twisted towards the noise of the book falling to the floor. Blinking, Buffy attempted to bring the fuzzy image of Spike into focus. Spike sat on the edge of the bed, lifting one of her hands unto his, stroking it tenderly.

“Hey, luv. How ’r you feelin’?”

She opened her mouth and attempted to speak. A croaked, “Sore,” tumbled from her lips. Glancing towards the nightstand, she saw the pitcher of water and motioned to it. Spike laid her hand back down and quickly filled a glass full of the cool water. Slipping one hand under her shoulders, he eased her up so that she could take a sip. She must have been regaining some of her strength, because she was able to finish the glass of water as well as half of a refill. When she was finished, Spike eased her back down onto the pillows.

“There’s someone here that wants to see you.” Buffy gazed questioningly at him. A slight smile played about his face, and he got up and exited the room. Walking across the hall, he knocked on the watcher’s door before opening it. Giles was sitting on his bed, a book open on his lap. He looked up when the door opened.

“Guess who’s awake?” A smile broke out over the watcher’s face and he quickly discarded the book to follow Spike back to Buffy’s room. Giles walked into the room and his eyes went immediately to the figure reclined on the bed. When Buffy saw who the visitor was, a smile broke out on her face and her eyes filled with unshed tears. Spike went back to the chair while Giles crossed to the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed like Spike had done earlier, he looked down at his charge. Well, not his charge anymore. A grown woman, now. Seeing her in this state was almost more than he could bear. This was worse than that time when everyone’s thought were invading Buffy’s mind. She had been reduced to a quivering mass back then. Now she just looked broken, haunted.

“Hey, Buffy. How are you feeling?” he asked as he slipped his hand in hers. The show of affection didn’t go unnoticed by her, and the unshed tears spilled over on her ashen cheeks.

“Hurt. You’re here to help?”

“Yes. Spike called me earlier when you wouldn’t wake up. I caught the first flight out. Arrived here a couple hours ago.” Buffy glanced at the vampire across the room and smiled at him. He gave a tentative smile back. “We going to figure out what happening to you, Buffy. Whatever it is, it’s strong. The good thing is that your slayer healing has slowed the progress down somewhat. I’m trying to find a spell that will help even more.” He gave a quick glance at Spike, knowing his dislike for magicks, and spoke to him. “Nothing black arts, just a simple deterrence spell. Increase her healing abilities while decreasing whatever it is that’s ki… er, hurting her.” Spike caught the watcher’s slip, and anguish filled his face before the indifferent mask came back.

“Well, yes… I’m going to let you rest, Buffy,” he said turning back to her. “I’ll be back in a while to perform that spell, ok?” Buffy just nodded, worn out. At this point, she would take what she could get. Giles got up and headed back to his room. He needed to find that spell and make sure he had supplies necessary to complete it. He shut the door behind him when he left.

“Dawn?” she asked, drawing Spike’s attention from the closing door. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he went back over to Buffy.

“She’s downstairs with the girls. She doesn’t know. Thinks you’re just sick,” he said.

“I’ve never been sick a day in my life. That’s excuse is not going to hold up for long.”

“I know. Especially if Giles is going to do this spell. He’s going to need help. She’s going to have to know.” He sighed uselessly, dreading that scene. “We’ll wait until Giles is ready. Then I’ll tell her. No sense shattering her world before then.” Carefully, he crawled onto the bed and cuddled as close to her as he could get without hurting her. He didn’t know what else to do for her, and he lay there contemplating Giles’ Freudian slip. The watcher thought she was dying. Spike didn’t think he could go through that again. That summer after she died was a dark period for him. He lost weight from lack of sleep and food. If it hadn’t been for his promise to protect Dawn, he would have lain down on Buffy’s grave and welcomed the sunrise, his dust covering her final resting place.

~*~*~*~*~

An hour later, Giles knocked on Buffy’s door. He had found the spell relatively easily; he just had to get a few herbs. He mentally thanked his foresight in having the young slayers learn a little about magicks. This made obtaining what he needed rather expedient. A soft “come in” sounded. Holding his supplies in one hand, he used the other to open the door. Both Spike and Buffy watched him enter the room and close the door.

Giles eyed the couple. They looked like hell. Buffy he could understand, even Spike partially because of his feelings for Buffy. But still. Then it dawned on him. “When was the last time you fed?” Spike looked up sharply at the blurted question, blue eyes glaring.

“’M fine.”

“No you’re not. And you’ll be no good to Buffy in your condition. Go get something to eat.” At Spike’s mutinous expression, he added in his best Ripper voice, “Now, Spike.”

“Yes, Da,” Spike replied petulantly. A brief smile came to both the slayer and watcher’s mouth and that show of “twoish-ism.” A growl escaped his mouth as he left the room to get some blood.

“Thanks, Giles,” Buffy spoke softly from the bed. “I’ve been trying to get him to eat for a while. He didn’t want to leave me. Darn stubborn vamp!” Giles just chuckled. He may not understand this relationship between his slayer and the vampire, but he could see that it did her good. Even though her body was struggling to deal with the poison coursing through her body, he could see that the vampire was beneficial to her well-being. And, if Spike makes her happy, who was he to begrudge?

A few minutes later a grumpy vampire stormed back into the room, Dawn following quickly on his heels. She took in the scene and stopped short. Buffy was lying on the bed, pale, like her life’s force was being drained from her body. Giles, normally so stoic, showed signs of desperation, fatigue, and pain. She pushed her way past Spike. “Buffy…” Her eyes darted to Giles. “What’s going on?” He just looked at her for a moment then turned away. Whirling around, her eyes locked on with Spike’s. “Spike?” she whispered. Irritation gave way to despondency, and Spike had trouble holding her gaze. But, he did.

“’Bit,” he began.

“No!! Not again. Not now,” she began, then stopped. She started to crumble and would have fallen to the floor if Spike didn’t catch her. He pulled her close and gave her a big bear hug. “’Bit. It’s gonna be ok,” he murmured as he stroked her hair. The other two occupants were quiet as Spike tried to comfort Dawn. “That’s why Giles is here. He’ll have her better in no time. Just you wait.” Hopeful eyes looked up and locked with pained blue. “Really?”

“You bet.” Forcing a smile, he held her at arms length. “And, you’re gonna help.” Dawn tore her eyes away from him and looked around the room. Spike’s arms slowly fell away from her. She noticed the books and magicks supplies lying on the floor near the bed.

“A spell. You’re going to do a spell?” she asked.

Giles spoke up. “Yes. Nothing too complicated. It’s just going to enhance her slayer healing abilities, while suppressing whatever it is that’s spreading through her body.”

“Spreading through her body?” she questioned. She walked towards the bed to get a good look at her sister. Buffy’s face was pale, and she could make out blue, web-like bruising on her upper arms that were lying on top of the sheet. “Hey, Dawnie,” Buffy whispered, taking hold of Dawn’s hand and giving a loving squeeze. “It’ll be ok. Honest. Giles is going to get me fixed right up.”

Answering Dawn’s question, Giles said, “It appears to be some type of poison spreading through her body. We’re going to try and stop it and let her body do the rest. Dawn turned away from Buffy and said to Giles, “What do you need me to do?”

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