Title: Broken (and Mended)
Author: Hils
Email: ImmortalBeloved2000@yahoo.co.uk
Summary: Spike has a little accident
Rating: PG
Spoilers: General S6, set before All The Way
Author's Notes: Response to the Oct/Nov challenge at the Watching You Awards. The challenge can be seen at the end of the fic.
Dedications: To Isabelle for setting the challenge and suggesting I have a go at writing it, to Tracy for helping me go through my ideas, to Py for encouraging me to write this and for being my beta, and a HUGE thank you to Daks for reading draft after draft until I got it right.

A small smile curled up at the edge of Spike's lips as Buffy paced up and down nervously. He'd seen her worried about things before, but never something like this.

"I don't understand why we can't be in there," Buffy muttered, nibbling on her lower lip. "What are they doing that I can't see?"

As she passed him for about the hundredth time, Spike caught hold of her arm and stopped her.

"Relax, pet. She just wants a little privacy is all."

Buffy shook her head, it just didn't seem right that her little sister was alone in the house with her first boyfriend. They could be doing anything. The only reason she'd agreed to leave them alone in the first place was because Spike had practically dragged her out of the door.

"Besides," Spike continued. "Think how you'd like it if she was standing over you while you had some bloke round."

Buffy sighed. Spike was right; not that she had much of a chance to think about bringing men home, she had enough to worry about with looking after Dawn, making sure they had enough money to get by and slaying. At least on that last matter she had help. Spike patrolled every night, with her if she wanted company, and without her if she didn't. That reassured her.

She glanced over at Spike and smiled. She never imagined that he, out of all of her friends, would be the one to give her the most comfort and assurance. Still, if there was one thing she'd learned in her time as the Slayer, it was to always to expect the unexpected. She was just glad he was around.

"What?" Spike asked with confusion, seeing a small smile play on her lips.

"Nothing."

Her head snapped up suddenly as Dawn's bedroom light came on.

"They're in her bedroom." she hissed to Spike, as if he couldn't see for himself.

"I'm sure it's nothing." he replied, although there was a hint of doubt in his voice now.

Buffy began to pace again. "I knew I shouldn't have let her be alone with him. He's probably in the process of deflowering her right now."

Spike glanced up at the window, either Buffy was having a bad influence on him or there really was something going on up there. Whatever it was, he now had an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach and he didn't like it one bit.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asked as he walked over to the tree outside their house.

"I'm going to see what's going on." he replied, grabbing hold of a branch and preparing to hoist himself up. Buffy ran up and grabbed hold of his arm.

"You're going to spy on my little sister?"

Spike sighed and let go of the tree. "Fine, if you'd rather not know…"

Buffy thought for a moment. "Want a boost?"

Spike grinned and nodded. She helped him up onto the first branch and then stood back and watched as he began to climb.

Once he was at the top, he peered into Dawn's window and smiled. She was sitting at the foot of her bed next to James and they were sharing a set of earphones, listening to some of her CDs. Definitely no crazy, naked sex happening.

"What can you see?" Buffy hissed from the foot of the tree.

He looked down and instantly wished he hadn't. Not because he was scared of heights, but because from where he was sitting, he had an amazing view right down Buffy's shirt. A wave of lust flooded through him and he suddenly lost his grip on the tree. The last thing he saw was the ground hurtling towards him before everything went black.

Buffy laughed as she saw Spike come flying down from the tree, but it soon faded when she realised he wasn't moving. Hurrying to his side she grimaced when she saw his left leg bent at a strange angle. Broken. After several failed attempts to wake him, she gave up and ran inside to call Giles. He'd know what to do.

As Spike swam back from the darkness, the first thing he saw was Buffy's face gazing worriedly down at him.

"Are you ok?" she asked softly

For a moment he tried to remember why he wouldn't be ok, then bits and pieces began to slide into place. He'd been up a tree and he'd fallen. Raising his head, he looked down and saw that one of his legs was now in a cast. Oddly enough he wasn't in any pain. The he saw the drip feeding into the back of his hand and he knew why.

"Am I in a hospital?" he asked, still not entirely sure what was going on.

Buffy nodded. "Apparently there's a special wing that takes care of demons and vampires. One of the perks of living on a Hellmouth I suppose. Giles managed to get you admitted."

"Ah, Spike, I see you're awake."

He turned his head to face the new voice and saw a doctor standing at the other side of the bed.

"Quite a nasty break," the doctor said cheerfully. "But you'll be up and about again in no time. Another hour or so and you'll be able to go home. I take it there's someone there who can help you get around until the cast is ready to come off."

"He's staying with me." Buffy said without thinking about it.

"Right then," the doctor said. "I'll need to fill out a few forms and I'll get you a prescription for some painkillers."

As suddenly as he'd arrived, the doctor was gone again, leaving Buffy and Spike alone. He turned his head back to her.

"I'm staying with you? Did I hit my head or something? Because I don't remember that."

Buffy's cheeks flushed red. "I just figured you'd need a place to stay until your leg heals. Besides, this is kind of my fault. If I hadn't overreacted about Dawn you wouldn't have been up that stupid tree in the first place."

"Thanks all the same, Slayer, but I don't need any help. I'll be fine in my crypt."

If there was one thing he couldn't bear the thought of, it was Buffy having to look after him, she had enough to worry about as it was.

"Spike, please," Buffy pleaded. "It won't be for long, and I'll be happier if I know for sure that you're ok."

Spike sighed; she'd said the only words that could cave in his resolve in an instant. She knew he'd do anything to make her happy.

"Alright, pet. But just until my leg's healed. I don't want to get in the way."

She smiled. "You won't. I'll go home and make up a bed for you, just call me when you're ready to leave."

Spike nodded and then froze with shock as Buffy placed a kiss on his cheek. By the time he managed to regain his sense of speech, she was gone

About an hour later, the doctor came in, cheery as ever, handed Spike a prescription and told him he was free to go home. Spike thanked him for his help and then asked for a phone so that he could call Buffy. After wandering the hospital corridors for what seemed like an eternity, he eventually found a phone and made the call. Buffy told him Xander would come by and pick him up and to just wait in his room.

The problem was he was now having some difficulty finding his room, all the corridors looked the same and there didn't seem to be anyone around that he could ask. Finally he came across a door and pushed it open. A dozen or so pairs of eyes moved up from a TV screen to look at him and immediately he knew he was in the wrong room. He was in the children's ward.

He could hear the faint sound of a girl singing 'Once Upon A Dream' and as he looked at the screen he could see that the children were watching Sleeping Beauty. If it was one thing he hated, it was Disney movies, full of sentimental crap. Over the few months Buffy had been gone, Dawn had tried to force him to watch pretty much every Disney movie there was, she liked them and he'd put up with it for her sake. But there was no way he was going to stick around now.

Glancing back at the children he could see that they looked totally bored and he couldn't help but grin. At least some kids didn't think Disney was cute.

Suddenly he felt the leg of his jeans being tugged and he looked down to see a boy holding up a book.

"Will you read us a story?" he asked with pleading eyes.

He was about to say no when the TV was switched off and the rest of the children turned to face him.

"Yeah, a story." They all said excitedly.

Spike glanced down at the book in the boy's hand. It was a selection of short ghost stories. He grinned. Maybe this would be fun after all.

"Alright, kiddies," he said, pulling a chair over as they gathered around him. "I'll read you a story."

He took the book from the boy and opened it, scanning the index for something that sounded good. In the end he gave up, threw the book to one side and decided to tell them one of his own 'special' stories.

He lowered his voice to make it sound particularly dramatic and wished he could dim the ward lights.

"A long time ago," he began. "There was a devilishly handsome vampire who went by the name of Spike. Do you want to know how he got his name?"

The children nodded with excitement and Spike grinned before continuing with his story.

"…and from then on, William the Bloody was known as Spike, a name that was feared by everyone in every country."

As his story drew to a close, he became aware that the ward was now deathly quiet. Looking up he saw that the children were now staring at him, their eyes wide and their jaws open. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned the details of the torture with the railroad spikes.

Suddenly he silence was shattered by the sound of one of the children clapping slowly. The rest of them soon joined in, the look of shock on their faces being replaced with a look of excited joy.

"Another!" one of them cried and soon the rest of them were joining him. "Another, another."

Spike smiled and stood up. "Sorry, time for me to be going now."

One of the kids wrapped himself around Spike's leg.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

Spike tried to shake the boy off but was finding it rather difficult to do without setting the chip off. Finally he let go as two other kids blocked the door.

"Come on now," Spike tried to reason. "I've got a home to go to."

They wouldn't listen though. As two of them stood guard at the door, the rest of them tried to get him to sit back down. Spike began to hobble around the ward, looking for another way out, whilst being chased by the children who were still demanding a story. As he tried to get away, he made a vow never to tell horror stories to children again…not even Dawn.

"Hey, kids, who wants candy?"

Instantly the children turned away from Spike to see Xander standing in the doorway, the two 'guards' now munching happily on a chocolate bar each. In his hand was a bag crammed full of various different types of candy.

Suddenly they all made a beeline for Xander, losing all interest in Spike. Xander handed them the bag and motioned for Spike to follow him.

Once they were outside, Spike sighed in relief and realised, much as it pained him, that he would have to thank Xander.

"Um...thanks for that."

Xander nodded and they made their way back to Spike's room to pick up his things.

"How did you know where I was anyway?" Spike asked. "And how did you know that there would be a group of candy-needing kids?"

Xander shrugged. "I wandered around until I found you, and the candy was mine. Which, by the way, you will be replacing."

Spike sighed, picked up his crutches and prescription, and the two of them made their way out to Xander's car.

As thunder rumbled in the distance, Spike sighed and took a deep drag of his cigarette. He'd only had his cast on for a day and already it was driving him insane. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't patrol, and he couldn't train. All he was good for was sitting around and keeping Dawn company while Buffy was out. What bothered him most of all was the fact that Buffy was seeing him useless like this.

Right now she was in the shop training and she'd brought him along because Dawn was staying with a friend and she didn't want to leave him alone. He sighed again. He was pathetic.

He didn't look up as he heard the back door of the shop open and felt Buffy join him in the alley.

"Spike, are you going to come inside? It's going to rain."

He shrugged. "In a minute."

As the rain began to pour, Spike moved over so that he was in the shelter of the shop doorway, but he made no move to go inside. Buffy stood beside him, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Spike," she finally tried. "Are you ok?"

"Peachy." He replied and continued to watch the rain fall.

Buffy sighed. She hadn't seen him like this before…not since he first got the chip.

"You wanna come in and train with me?" she tried again.

"Can't. Not with this bloody thing on my leg."

Buffy smiled and then quickly pushed it away. So that was it, he was feeling useless because of the cast on his leg. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before. Without thinking, she slipped her hand into his and squeezed it gently. For the first time since they'd arrived in the shop, Spike looked at her.

"You remember the last time we were out here?" Buffy asked.

Spike nodded, he wasn't going to forget that one in a hurry. It had been then that Buffy had confided in him that she'd been in heaven, and that her friends had pulled her out.

"Well, there's something else I want to tell you. Spike, I want to thank you for everything you've done. Not only while I was gone, but after I came back too. You've taken good care of Dawn and you've always been there when I needed you. You don't push me like the others do, I can be myself when I'm with you and I'm grateful for that."

Finally Spike smiled. "You're welcome, luv."

"Can we go inside now?"

Spike nodded and limped back into the shop, Buffy close behind. She stopped for a moment to listen to the rain.

"Well, I guess we're stuck here for now. You can't get your cast wet so we'll have to wait for it to stop raining."

Spike shrugged. "You may as well carry on with your training until it stops."

Buffy nodded. "You want to come with? I know how you love to point out what I'm doing wrong."

Spike grinned. "You got that right. Ok, pet. Let's go."

They made their way into the training room and Spike took a seat while Buffy wrapped her hands. She then positioned herself in front of the punching bag and began to practice some of her moves.

Occasionally Spike would chip in. "You're kicking too high." or "You're dropping your shoulder."

Finally Buffy sighed and turned to face him, her body glistening with perspiration.

"Well, I'd like to see you do any better." she snapped, and was amazed when Spike climbed to his feet.

"Duh, I was kidding. You can't do anything with your leg like that."

Spike said nothing, merely walked over to her and placed his arms around her waist, turning her back to the punching bag.

"Hit it." he said softly. She complied and as she did so, he kept one arm around her waist and placed his other hand on her shoulder, moving it to the right position.

"That's better."

Buffy turned around and found herself pressed up against him, and it wasn't an unpleasant experience. She reached up her hand and brushed it lightly over his cheek.

"Thank you." she whispered and leant up and kissed him.

Spike seemed startled for a moment but as soon as he got over the initial shock, he responded, deepening the kiss and tightening his hold on her as though he was afraid she was going to disappear. Neither of them heard the door to the shop open or saw Giles standing in the doorway.

He looked at the kissing couple for a moment before closing the door quietly. Suddenly he felt the urge for a nice, stiff scotch. He poured himself a healthy glass and gulped it back before making his way back out of the shop.

"At least I was blind last time, didn't have to see that." he muttered to himself as he climbed into his car and made his way home.

As Buffy and Spike parted he looked at her questioningly. "Buffy, are you sure this is what you want?"

She nodded. "Do you remember back at my house, just before we went to face Glory? You told me that you knew I'd never love you. Well, the truth was I think I already did. I almost told you that night but I was scared."

Spike couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Scared? Of what?"

"Of loving you," she replied, tears in her eyes. "Everyone I have loved has left me so far, and I don't think I could stand it if I lost you too."

Spike smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You know I'm not that easy to get rid of."

Buffy nodded, a smile spreading across her features as she pulled him in for another kiss. "Spike…I love you."

His unbeating heart soared. "Buffy, god, I love you so much it hurts."

As they kissed again they became aware that the rain had stopped and hand in hand they made their way back into the shop's main room. The sun was just in the process of rising, but it was light enough that Spike wouldn't be able to leave. However, what caught their eye was the beautiful rainbow that arched its way across the dawn sky, filling it with a full spectrum of colours.

"It reminds me of where I was," she whispered, still nestled in Spike's arms. "Do you suppose it's a sign?"

For once he had no answer to give. It was possible that it was a mark of blessing from the powers that be, after all, how often did a vampire get to see a rainbow? Whatever it was, he knew that what he and Buffy had was right, and nothing else was going to change that.

The End

Two of the following MUST happen:
*The ghost of Glory appearing--in a funny way.
*Spike climbing a tree while Buffy watches, he falls and breaks his leg.
*Giles walking in while Buffy and Spike are at 'it'--if Spike has his cast on it is better *g*
*Buffy singing for the 'host'.
*Spike being chased by a mob of children--Xander comes to his rescue.

MUST include 2 of the following settings:
*A soccer field
*Gym
*Ice cream shop
*The hospital
*A court room
*An alley

Four of the following items MUST be included:
*Earphones
*Black thongs
*Rain
*A rat
*A veggie burger
*A flying demon
*Green goo
*Song: "Fools rush in."
*Movie: "Sleeping Beauty"
*A horror Book
*A giant