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Chapter 13

"I always thought you were hot stuff love, but this ridiculous," Spike whispered at Buffy's bedside, sitting in a chair holding her hand in his. She looked half dead already, hooked up to monitors and machines. Barely even in this world. Over the course of a couple of days she had gone from being the valiant warrior of the people who had defeated the First Evil, to a fading, nearly lifeless shell of herself.

"Don't fret, Buffy, I'm not going anywhere and I'll make sure these doctors get you well. Soon as Willow comes we'll get her doing her mojo with spells n' herbs. The nibblet will come, boss you out of bed. Giles' scold you, Xander'll make jokes and Anya will something horribly inappropriate."

The quiet between the two of them was blown apart by Dawn who came tearing through the ward and straight to her sister's room.

"Spike?!" she cried upon finding them and the severity of her sister's situation,"Oh my god, Buffy!"

"Here, nibblet, sit with her," Spike bade, giving up his spot.

"What happened?"

"Not just a cold..." It was the only explanation he could muster. Moments later the room was full of them, down to the last Scooby, while Spike receded into the corner, simply overwhelmed. Giles noticed the vampire's despair keenly and chose to stand stoically with him.

"Buffy has proven before that she is beyond resilient. Just give her time to get her bearings and she'll be on the mend. You'll see, trust Buffy," the Watcher spoke. Spike forced a smile, he appreciated Giles' effort, even if it was a lie.

"This started out like a regular cold as far as any of us could tell, then it went bloody poxy on us, she was out of her mind, Giles, attacking me, sayin' things..."

"What sort of things?"

"Stuff we'd put behind us, forgiven and forgotten about. I don't think this is a normal illness."

"Perhaps not, the doctors are working on it. Let me play devil's advocate, presuming this isn't a natural human disease that's taken hold. It could be a residual effect of the battle with the First. Has she come in contact with anything strange in the past week?"

"Nothing more than your average Hellmouth lot, the only thing a little out of the ordinary were a couple of Pluthors..." Suddenly Giles gripped Spike's arm with bruising strength,"Pluthors? Giles?"

"Their blood was blue?"

"Y...yes..."

"Did any get on her skin, near any membranes - nose, eyes, mouth?"

"We were covered in the stuff, ruined our clothing...Giles, the Pluthor blood's done this?"

"God, Spike, it's a wonder she's even alive, how could you two have been so stupid, do you never remember anything you read?!"

"Are you blaming me? Watcher, I just remembered what the things looked like, never knew a soddin' thing about poisons! Bloody hell! Those things were notorious for eatin' little kids, so the Slayer and I killed 'em before they got the bloody chance! How do we cure it?" Giles pushed Spike into the corner with quiet panic, speaking between them in a hushed but strong voice.

"You don't, Spike. Pluthors are all but extinct, and as it is they live no where near the Hellmouth, I can't even imagine why they were here, they stick to arid desert. How many were there?"

"Just two."

"Likely mates, they travel in familial pods."

"Then I'll find more, I'll go to the desert tonight..."

"Even if we had a sample from one to make an antidote, it would take skill and..."

"Willow, Willow did it last year when Buffy got stung by a Glarghk Guhl Kashmas'nik, give Red the chance, and I know she can do it, she'll make it work for Buffy."

"I don't see much point if there isn't a sample, you won't find a Pluthor out there Spike, it's impossible given the time Buffy doesn't have left."

"We killed them near my old crypt, about 20 feet south into the woods, we made a spectacular mess. Giles, please try." Giles nodded, pushing off from the corner.

"Xander, you're coming with me, we have work to do. Willow, Anya, we'll meet you back at Buffy's in an hour, be prepared for mixing an antidote to Pluthor demon poisoning."

"Pluthors?" Anya questioned,"But Giles..." The Watched waved off his girlfriend.

"We're going to try."

***

Some time later a nurse came into Buffy's room pulling behind her a basin full of ice packs. Spike had been sitting away from Buffy and Dawn, letting the two sisters be together while he ran the last few days over in his mind. Before the showdown with the First, he and Buffy had gone out on a routine patrol, just to relieve a bit of tension, get away from the house full of people. The Pluthors attacked them first and in all honesty and it was a good fight. Afterwards, they'd stripped their ruined clothing off in the backyard and had more fun with the garden hose and lots of ice cold water before streaking through the house and upstairs into the shower. They'd been laughing together, touching, loving, the whole night long .

Now he watched with a pain spreading out from his heart through his entire body as the nurse pulled back the covers and placed the frozen packs around Buffy's limbs and body.

"Hopefully this will prevent her fever from rising," the nurse informed them as she was leaving. Spike nodded absently and went back to his memories, though only briefly when Dawn left her sister and came to him.

"Don't you think Buffy would rather you sit with her, hold her hand, telling her you love her instead of sitting in the corner being sorry for her and yourself," Dawn asked, already pulling him over.

"It's not like that, bit."

"Then what is it like?" She sat him in the chair at Buffy's side, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him. The two of them were as close as ever now, friends again.

"Can't stand to see her weak....to see her suffering. I feel useless, impotent. I feel like I'm dying inside, nibblet. How can you keep it together?"

"Because I have confidence in Buffy, I know she'll be okay. Don't you?"

"She can't even bloody breathe on her own!"

"I heard breathing's overrated, you don't do it." Dawn squeezed him tighter, trying to make him accept her attempt a levity."Tell her you love her." Spike did as he was told, pressing his lips into the palm of her hand and whispering.

"I love you, Buffy."





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