Sitting up abruptly, Buffy looked around the dark room in confusion before realizing that she must have fallen asleep. Her eyes fell on Spike, still unconscious, and she let out a shaky breath. Although the more rational part of her knew that he wasn’t dust and therefore would be okay, she was absolutely horrified by the condition he was in.
His clothes were torn, revealing his severely bruised skin, and he was all covered in dried blood. The knuckles on his right hand were raw and bloodied. And his left hand – although she had done her best to set the broken bones – was almost twice its normal size by now and had taken a sickening, bluish color.
Still, it was nothing compared to what had been done to his once so beautiful face. Both his eyes were swollen almost completely shut, and the skin was covered with both blisters and large, open wounds which made it look like he had been burned by acid. Also, his eyelashes, eyebrows and even some of his hair had been singed.
Buffy was afraid of touching him, terrified of adding to his pain, although she couldn’t keep herself from brushing her fingers softly over Spike’s dry and cracked lips, needing the contact to make sure that she wasn’t just imagining things – that he was really here. That she hadn’t lost him again, for good this time.
She had pulled up a chair next to the bed, wanting to be as close to Spike as possible, but as the time passed, she had eventually dozed off. Now her arms and back were aching and she felt dirty, having not taken the time to shower this morning. Casting a longing look towards the bathroom, she decided that she should at least go and wash her face.
“I’ll be right back, okay, Spike?” she whispered, although she knew he probably wouldn’t hear her. More than anything, she wished he would respond. But Spike remained silent and unresponsive. Buffy sighed and gave his hand a gentle squeeze before she got up and headed for the bathroom.
~ ~ ~
“Angel? Wait!”
The vampire stepped away from the microwave, just about to leave the room. Now he stopped and turned to look over his shoulder. “Fred? I’m sorry, didn’t see you over there.”
Fred waved her hand in dismissal. “How’s Spike?” The concern in her voice was evident.
“How would I know?” Angel grimaced. “Ask Buffy. She’s the one who’s up there playing nurse.” Seeing Fred’s slightly confused expression, he gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry. Again. Guess I’m a bit on edge today.”
“Oh, that’s perfectly understandable.” Fred let out a nervous laugh. “I mean, there’s an evil demon out there, and Rowan...” She hesitated. “Um, have you decided what to do with him? You’re not actually gonna kill him, are you?”
“No.” Angel rolled his eyes and added, “Buffy still might, though.”
Fred scoffed. “Oh, come on! She wouldn’t do that.” Then she suddenly became uncertain. “Would she?”
“I don’t know,” Angel admitted with a sigh. “She’s pretty upset, and I can’t exactly say I blame her.” The brunette nodded in understanding. Angel went on, “Rowan’s staying here at the hotel for now. I figured it wouldn’t be safe for him to go back there.”
“Guess not,” Fred agreed. She was quiet for a moment. “So, what are we gonna do about the demon in the basement?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Angel stared at her in disbelief. “We’ll go back there and take him out, of course. Make sure he won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”
“Well, I kinda get that. It’s just...” Fred bit her lip. “Any idea how?”
The dark-haired vampire didn’t answer at first. Instead he lowered his eyes to the steel thermos he was holding. Finally he sighed. “I’m working on it, all right? We’ll figure something out.”
~ ~ ~
After his brief conversation with Fred, Angel took the elevator up to the third floor, marched down the long corridor until he reached Buffy’s room. He knocked on the door, waited for a moment, then frowned when nothing happened. He tried again. “Buffy?” he called out, quietly. Still no response.
Hesitating a little, he reached out to try the doorknob. It moved easily, so he carefully pushed the door open and peeked inside. “Buffy? Spike? It’s me. I brought some...” His voice trailed off when he heard the water running in the bathroom. As he stepped through the door, he immediately spotted Spike’s still form on the bed.
Angel frowned and took a step closer, watching the other vampire for a moment. He was surprised to find that Spike was still out, having almost expected him to be awake by now, but then again, his body had clearly taken a lot of beating and would need a lot of time to recover. For some reason, Angel felt a wave of sympathy well up inside him, and his frown deepened.
It was no secret that he and Spike didn’t get along. But despite their open hostility towards one another, it had never been a question of pure hate between them, at least not as far as Angel was concerned. Not really, anyway. The thing was just that every time he looked at the bleached blond vampire, Angel was reminded of all the horrible things he had done before his soul was returned to him by the Gypsies.
And Spike, he had actually chosen to get his soul back, just so he wouldn’t be able to hurt the woman he loved. The ironic part was that, without a soul, Angel had never even been capable of loving anyone. In fact, Angel hadn’t even wanted the soul back in the first place. And that was what made the two of them so different.
Angel would never admit it out loud, but a part of him had always envied Spike’s ability to love. Of course, he used to mock the younger vampire back in the days, derisively telling him love was nothing but a pathetic weakness. Now he couldn’t help but think that maybe he was the one who had been pathetic all along. After all, in the end, Spike was the one who had gotten the girl.
Buffy. Angel let out a sigh. To him, the blonde slayer represented everything that was good and pure in the world. Everything he was not. He had known they could never have a future together. She deserved so much better. Over the years, Angel had come to accept that as a fact – she was better off without him.
So he had done the only thing he could think of at the time. He had let her go, so that she would be able to live a normal life, with a normal man. Angel had been so convinced that he had done the right thing; that in the end, Buffy would see the sacrifice he had made for what it was, and be grateful towards him.
Only Buffy hadn’t been grateful. Not at all. In fact, she had resented him for his actions, accused him of making decisions for her and trying to control her life. And in the end, she had moved on. It was only natural that she would eventually fall in love again. The only problem was that the love of Buffy’s life happened to be another vampire.
Angel now realized how incredibly naive and stupid he had been. Buffy was the Slayer. Of course she would never have a normal life. And it turned out that it didn’t really matter. Because now, she was finally happy. He should have accepted that a long time ago.
Sometimes, he really wished that he could just hate Spike. It would make things so much easier. Not that Angel actually liked Spike. No, he still found the other vampire to be one of the most annoying creatures he had ever come across. Still, he couldn’t hate Spike. Because deep down, Angel respected him too much for that.
Suddenly Spike stirred on the bed, causing Angel to snap out of his thoughts. After a brief moment’s hesitation, he took another step closer. When nothing else happened, Angel cleared his throat. “Spike?” He was just about to call out for Buffy when Spike moved again, his lips parted slightly and he let out a low groan.
Angel opened the thermos he had been carrying, the thick, sweet yet metallic scent of blood spreading in the room. “Hey, Spike? Want some of this?” He took one more step towards the bed, holding out the thermos in front of him.
In that moment, Spike vamped out, his damaged face shifting into a demon. Despite his injuries, he struggled to sit up, bared his fangs and let out a threatening roar. Angel was taken by surprise and jumped back, almost dropped the thermos and just barely managed to save the contents from spilling on the floor.
TBC
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to Mabel Marsters for betaing. Also like to say thanks to guest, shelly, JO, IamGhost, PhotographyNut, Amaya and cordykitten for reviewing the last chapter!
Chapter End Notes:
If there's anyone who'd like to do a banner for this story, I'd really appreciate it. :)