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Willow was glad that Buffy wanted her to wait until she was present before she lowered the healing shield around Spike. As Willow looked at the mixture of pink and green light swirling around him, she smiled at how peaceful he looked, like a sleeping angel. The field had allowed a calm to settle over him that hadn't been there three months ago. And, thinking back on it, Willow wasn't sure she had ever seen Spike in quite this way, in all the years she'd known him. Willow was glad that she'd said kaddish for him, even though Kennedy couldn't understand why she would do it, after all, Spike was just a vampire, she'd, just once, reached back to her Jewish roots to offer up a prayer for the dead, hoping that somehow, Spike would find peace.

Now, for this brief moment, lying in the glow of magical energies, he had it, and letting the field drop would plunge him back into agony. She didn't want to do it. Once the magic dissipated, the wall between Spike's emotions and the others around him would be gone. If Willow didn't act fast, his pain would affect her and anyone he cared about, for miles around. Willow wasn't sure she was that fast, or that strong.

Dawn had been so quiet that Willow had forgotten she was even with her, until she spoke, "He looks so pretty, doesn't he? The pink and green sort of bouncing off of him like that? Don't tell him that I said he was pretty though, he still wants me to think he's tough, which I guess he is, because, Angel wasn't this bad off when Faith shot him with that arrow full of poison, and he couldn't go two days without going all fang-faced and trying to eat Buffy."

Willow smiled, letting Dawn's head rest on her shoulder, as she watched the magic do its thing, "You know Dawn, comments about how the pastel color scheme of the healing spell make Spike look slightly effeminate aside, I think he would take that as a compliment."

Dawn's nose scrunched up, "You mean, if I didn't say that the spell makes him look like a girl, he'd think what I said was cool?"

Willow nodded, "Something like that. Where is Buffy, anyway?"

"Oh, she's coming," Dawn said, "Angel and Riley showed up at the hotel, and she wanted to talk to them before coming here."
************************

"...And, explain again why it took you almost a month to make it from Cleveland to Los Angeles?"

Angel hung his head, "Part of it was because I really thought I could make heads or tails out of Drusilla's dribble, and I could bring her back here..."

"And the other part?" Buffy asked, impatient to get back to Spike, "Come on, we've got six weeks to find Drusilla, and I don't want to waste any of it talking to you if I don't have to."

Angel was puzzled, "Six weeks? But, I thought you were feeding him."

Buffy sighed, exhausted, "Oh, that's right. You didn't hear about the nifty little parasite that ate up the blood I gave him faster than I could give it to him."

"What?" Angel asked, genuinely shocked at this development.

"That's right," Buffy went on, "A little something left over from Maggie Walsh's bag of nightmares. A parasite that, when introduced into a vampire's system, feeds off of human hemoglobin, slowly starving the vampire," Buffy shook her head, "Normally, I'd say that her evil scheme was brilliant, but not in this case."

Riley spoke up, "I know this. Maggie called it, 'Wasting Serum,' it was the next level up from the chip. No matter how much a vamp ate, he'd always end up looking like a concentration camp survivor. Before he turned to dust, that is."

Angel was still confused, "So, how did it get into Spike's system, this parasite?"

"Something he drank, I guess. Angel, did you know someone named Lindsey McDonald?"

Angel's face grew dark, "Say no more. Buffy, how long has he been without blood. I'm assuming that's what you did," he looked at Buffy's swimming eyes, nodded a little, trying to reassure her, "You put him on a forced fast, didn't you," Buffy nodded slightly, and Angel could see that she was trembling from exhaustion, "Don't worry Buffy, it's what I would have done."

Buffy's voice was barely a whisper, "That's not all I did," she said.

"What did you do, Buffy?" Riley asked, gently.

"I took the blood back, Riley, like you'd treat a snakebite victim. I sucked the blood right out of him."

Angel was afraid Buffy would say something like that. Now, not only did Spike have to fight excruciating pain, but also he had to do it without the aid of blood. Though Buffy certainly did not have enough blood volume to completely eliminate it, her feedings should have allowed Spike to flush the poisons introduced into his system the night of the fight. If he'd had Buffy's blood to help him, he might have been able to move by now, but now, Angel wasn't sure what kind of timeline he was working against, or even if he could help Spike, even if he did give him his blood. From what Riley described, the parasite was brutal, and in Spike's weakened state, Angel wasn't sure Spike would be able to call out to Drusilla, even if he wanted to.

Angel closed his eyes; honestly afraid of what he might find when he went down into the sepulcher under Saint Benedict's. Angel had dealt with fear before, by driving those people he held nearest and dearest to him away. That tactic not only left him numb and dead, inside as well as out, it also made him the Home Office's new poster boy, apparently. If he remembered right, Angelus had told Spike that, without passions, we'd be truly dead inside. Well, it seemed that Spike had taken that lesson to heart, even before he'd given it. Now, Angel thought, who's Yoda in this scenario? Angel smiled at the irony, "You're finally taking the old man to school, Boy."

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Nothing," Angel sighed, "Take me to him."
*******************

What Angel found under the church was worse than he'd expected. The skin was healing in some spots, that was true, but Spike's body was almost skeletal from lack of nourishment. If it wasn't for Willow's healing spell, Angel was sure Spike would be screaming. Yet Dawn had told him that the demon had not come to the fore. Not even briefly, in three months. To Angel, that meant that Spike's body had already begun to shut down. Without some kind of support, Spike would be dust by the end of the week, Drusilla, or no, Drusilla.

"We have to get him somewhere quiet," Angel said, scooping Spike up in his arms before anyone could protest, "He has to be more comfortable," Angel tried not to show how the sight of Spike really made him feel, "Spike can't be comfortable here. He has an apartment, not far from here," Angel saw the others glare at him in distrust, "You all can come with me. He'd want you with him," he said, nodding toward the helpless form in his arms, "And, Buffy, if a man calling himself Holland Manners comes calling while I'm busy with Spike, don't believe anything he has to say. Riley, I need you to raid a blood bank for me, do you have a problem with that?"

"No, I don't," Riley said.

"Angel, what are you going to do? He can't have human blood," Buffy said.

"He can't," Angel said, " but I can."
************

Angel had drank his fill of the preserved blood, and looked at Spike, who slept on, oblivious to pain, in the shimmer of Willow's magic. Angel hated taking him from that peace, even for a moment. "Buffy," he said, You might want to be close when Willow lets the magic down, to let Spike know you're still with him."

"Okay," she said, moving into position on one side of the bed.

Angel nodded toward Dawn, who moved in to flank Spike on the other side. Once the girls were in place, he checked to see if Riley was ready with the tranquilizer dart, in case things got out of hand. With Spike in this condition there was no telling what kind of emotions could come flooding into Angel's conscience. They all had to be on guard against Angelus.

Angel nodded to the girls in flanking position. Buffy and Dawn started to murmur comforting words, softly, into Spikes ear, while Angel stood with his wrist near Spike's mouth, ready to accept the fangs, when they descended. He nodded to Willow, who whispered an incantation, and the glow of light around Spike was gone.

Just as the light flickered out, Angel felt the fangs, and heard the same scream boom in his head, that he heard that night in the alley. Buffy dropped to her knees, and started to sob. It was then that Angel knew that Buffy had heard it too, and felt the horrible pain Spike had been trying to hide from her.
****************

Drusilla looked out at the dark water as it carried her back home to her boy. Normally she never listened to Miss Edith. Miss Edith was always trying to ruin her fun, and Drusilla couldn't have that, so she just ignored her. Not tonight though. Tonight the air worried about William, and Miss Edith told her to listen, and she did.

Drusilla heard her boy screaming, and she wished the boat had wings so that she could fly to him and make him better; set him free, "Hang on, my brave, brave, glowing boy," Drusilla whispered to the black waves, "I'm coming."
********************

Buffy sat on the toilet in the small bathroom, the only place in the small apartment where she could get away from the sight of Spike in that much pain. Buffy had a hard enough time hearing it, but seeing it as well, and knowing that Spike had lived with it, for months, and never let on, just made her crazy. Buffy didn't know whether to punch him silly, when he was on his feet again, or kiss him senseless. Perhaps a little of both was in order.

There came a small tapping at the door, and then Willow's voice, "Buffy, it's over. We told Spike that he should sleep, that's what Angel left to do, but, you know Spike," she giggled a little, "he said, and I quote, 'Not on your life, Red. Get Goldilocks out here, now.' And we don't want to disappoint him, now do we?"

Buffy opened the door a crack, just enough to see that Spike was sitting up, in that tiny bed, and smiling at her. Wait, Buffy thought, Spike's sitting up in bed, and is that a finger I see calling me over to him? It is, I never thought this would happen, but here it is, Spike's crooking his finger, and, here I come running.

Before Buffy knew what was happening, she was at the side of the bed sitting as close to the edge as she dared, so as not to hurt him.

"Well, Slayer, still have the reflexes I see," Spike smiled a genuine smile, "You look good, Slayer, a bit tired but otherwise, perfect, as always."

"Me," Buffy gasped, "Spike, you look... you look," she shook her head, completely at a loss for words.

Spike smirked, "Cat got your tongue, Slayer?"

When she said nothing, Spike shifted a little under the bedclothes, and looked down at his clothing, "Buffy, who dressed me in sodding bunnies? This is...well, this is...oh, who am I kidding? I couldn't care less what I'm wearing. All that matters now, is that, though I still need Dru to get back to 'Big Bad' status, and I'm weaker than a week old kitten right now, I don't think you need to wear the floor out with your worrying, Pet. Seems the old Grandsire finally did something right."

"Yeah," Buffy said, "Remind me to thank him. And to beat the tar out of you, once you can hit back, that is."

"Me," Spike asked in teasing tone, his eyes glinting with a shade of the old fire, "What on earth did I do to deserve that kind of treatment?"

"You didn't tell me how bad it was for you," she pouted, "That's what you did."

Spike's eyes dropped, "Still is bad, Pet, just not as bad as before. Still need Dru. All Peaches did was buy me some time, is all."

Buffy almost kicked herself for pushing the issue, "How much?" she asked.

"Enough," was all he said, as he leaned her head against his chest, and held her tight, as he drifted into sleep, contented, for the first time since he'd held her, just like this, in an abandoned house in Sunnydale.





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