Buffy walked into the room quietly not wanting to disturb Laura. The sound of the machinery buzzing in the room seemed overly loud and she watched the silent rise and fall of her breathing. Putting a chair closer to the bed Buffy sat down.
"Hey." Laura's eyes opened slowly.
"Oh hi. I didn't mean to wake you."
"I wasn't really sleeping. Is something up?"
"No not really. Angel and Spike are trying to find some answers for you."
"Oh. What brings you by?"
Buffy shrugged at the other woman. "Thought you might like some company. This place looks like it could get pretty boring."
"It is believe me."
"How are you doing?"
"You mean other than the fact that everyone is walking on eggshells around me, I feel like total crap, and it's a strong possibility that I'm gonna die. Pretty good." The smile she gave Buffy didn't touch her eyes instead there was only fear and sadness there.
"Look Laura these are good people they aren't going to give up." What else could she tell her?
Laura sighed. "I know I can tell. And everyone has told me stories about what they've done. But I can't help but think that this morning I was just looking forward to watching a little TV tonight and now..." She gestured around the room.
She was at a loss there wasn't anything she could tell her that would help she knew. But the urge to stay with her and somehow be there for her when she was unable to do anything else kept Buffy in her seat.
"What stories have they told you?" Maybe if she could just distract her from everything else it would be enough.
"Just a little bit really. Some of the stuff the other people that work here have seen." Now Buffy couldn't help herself she was curious to know how the others saw these people.
"Okay like what?" Laura didn't look like she wanted to share. "C'mon you can tell me I promise it won't make it back to them." She had an evil thought. "Or if it's really embarrassing I promise that they won't know I found out from you."
That earned her a small smile and a slight nod.
"Okay but you didn't hear it from me."
*******
Buffy couldn't help herself she was laughing.
"I wish I had gotten here when that was going on. I wouldn't have let them live it down." She giggled again. "I'm so gonna use that against Spike. How could he get his ass kicked by a puppet? Let alone an Angel puppet."
Laura was smiling but Buffy could see her eyes fighting to stay open.
"Oh you're tired you should get some rest."
"No. I'm fine really." The loud yawn that followed left Buffy a little short of convinced. "Okay so I'm a little tired."
"Please. You need to get some sleep."
"It's whatever drugs they've got pumping into me. Don't worry about it." She shook her head like she was trying to clear it. "I don't want to go to sleep." Her voice shook a little and Buffy looked at her sharply.
"Why?"
"If I sleep I might miss something. It will be time I won't ever get back." A few tears slipped out of her brown eyes.
Impulsively Buffy grabbed her hand and clasped it tightly.
"I can't promise anything Laura, you know that, but I swear if there is any way we will find it."
Her eyes seemed to search Buffy's. "I've never been this scared before."
"I'm right here Laura I promise I'm not going anywhere and you won't be alone." She could see the shine of relief in her eyes as they started to drift closed.
********
She wasn't aware of how long she sat in the chair holding Laura's hand and watching her sleep. It must have been really late and she could feel the pull of sleep on all of her senses.
At least Laura was sleeping comfortably. Maybe it was a good thing that the doctors had insisted on the powerful painkiller cocktail in her IV push. She couldn't imagine the amount of pain one must feel as you cooked from the inside.
She was just letting her eyelids close when she heard someone’s footsteps enter the room. Raising a weary head she looked over to the doorway.
"Hey Wes." She kept her voice low not to disturb the sleeping patient.
"Buffy how is she?" Wesley's face looked drained.
"She's scared Wes. I don't blame her, I just I don't know what to do."
"Hopefully Angel and Spike will be able to stop this. In the meantime why don't you go and get some rest Buffy?"
"Like you have." She shook her head at him. "I promised her that I would stay."
She heard the scraping of the chair across the floor and Wesley sat next to her. He placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder.
"You've been here for hours Buffy at least get yourself something to eat."
"I don't want her to feel alone."
"I'll stay with her until you get back."
She opened her mouth again to protest but quickly closed it not having any sane reason to give him. Instead she sat a moment longer the humming machines a grating noise in the background.
"It's hard you know?" The sound of her voice surprised her. "I'm used to being the one who can charge in and save the day. I feel useless, helpless in a way. I hate that."
"You can't save everyone Buffy."
She let out a long sigh.
"But isn't that what I'm supposed to do? You know I've saved the world more times then I can count. But the thing is that's not what I remember. It's the ones I couldn't save. So many people have died that shouldn't have."
"That's always been the case I'm afraid. Death is always going to win in the end." She looked into his warm caring eyes.
"But that's not always true is it? Look at me I should be dead now and I'm not the only one. I mean Angel died and came back and I don't mean in the vampire sense. How is it fair that we're still here and someone like Laura has to go through this? What makes us so different?"
"I'm afraid I don't have the answers to that. I doubt anyone on this plane of existence does. But the fact remains that you are here and you're still doing your best with the situation that you've been presented."
"But it's not enough is it? She's still going to die." She squeezed Laura's hand a little tighter. "She told me that we're almost the same age just a few months off. And yet her life is just like I would have pictured mine if I weren’t the Slayer. She got to grow up and have normal relationships and finish college and find a job that she really liked. She was just really starting to live. And now it's all being ripped away."
"If there's a way they'll find it."
"Maybe, I'd like to believe that." She let out another sigh. "Maybe I'll just go and stretch my legs a little. Will you stay here?"
"Of course."
She placed Laura's hand into Wesley's and stood up stretching cramped muscles. Making her way around the back of her chair and around the back of his, she walked towards the door.
"Thank you."
He just gave her a slight nod.
********
She walked down the quiet hallway and passed the lab they had been in earlier in the day and she could see Fred hard at work trying to figure out the stupid piece of stone that started all of this mess. She continued down the hall passing another lab where she could see Gunn talking to that guy Knox.
Standing rooted to the spot she watched as Gunn picked up a metal cylinder and hit Knox over the head with it. He crumpled easily to the floor.
She burst through the door in time to see Gunn look around and raise the metal for a second blow. Grabbing his arm she pushed him back.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Goddamn bastard he's a part of this! He knew!" She looked and saw the truth written in his eyes.
"Get him out of here. Put him someplace where Wes can question him." She moved back towards the door. "I'll tell him to find you."
She went quickly back down the way she had come turning this bit of info in her mind. If Knox was somehow responsible it meant that Fred was the intended target after all. That her theory had been right.
Coming through the door she was horrified to see Laura thrashing in a convulsion on the bed as Wesley tried in vain to hold her down. She rushed to the side of the bed to help him. After a few minutes she stilled her hair plastered to her forehead from the sweat of her exertions.
Buffy was taken aback for a minute when she opened her eyes and looked at her.
"Buffy?" Her voice was low and weak.
She clasped her hand in hers again. "I'm here Laura."
"You didn't leave."
"I told you that you wouldn't be alone." Wesley was standing on the other side of the bed watching them carefully.
A slight smile passed her lips.
"You know I'd like to think under different circumstances that we could have been friends."
Buffy could feel the sting of tears behind her eyes. She placed her other hand on top of their joined ones.
"I think we already are." Tears were streaking down Laura's face now a slight nod her answer.
"I don't want to go." There was a catch in her words.
"Then don't Laura just keep fighting."
"Can you tell my family that I love them?"
Buffy could only nod mutely at her, the pain in her throat keeping her from speaking. She stared into the warm brown eyes in front of her.
A set of convulsions racks her body and Buffy grasped onto her hand a little tighter.
"Tell them..." Her voice trailed into a raspy whisper. "Tell them I tried to stay."
And with a shuddery sigh her last breath passed from her body.
Buffy felt the tears start to streak down her face and barely registered the long tone that came from the machinery behind her. She stared down into the blank face in front of her that only seconds before had been so full of life. Slowly she drew her hands back away from Laura's body.
She only looked up as she heard the click and sudden silence as Wesley turned the machines off. She met his eyes and was about to speak when Laura's body starts to convulse violently. In reaction the both of them automatically take a step away from the bed.
Her eyes snap open and are a startling blue, at the same time her body jerks once and then twice. Buffy watches as the woman she had known as Laura swung her legs from the bed and stood up. She stared as the new being looked down at its own body and a slight sadistic smile spread on her lips.
"This will do."
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Author's Chapter Notes:
First off let me just say that because of you guys directly this fic has made it into the top ten reviewed fics in the last 30 days. I've never been in the top ten of anything so I just wanted to tell you that I got like the biggest thrill out of that. And like I said it really has nothing to do with me it's all you guys. You're all completely wonderful thank you. Okay this is kind of short well not too short but it was a good place to stop. Again any dialouge taken from A Hole in the World belongs to Joss and his mighty pen. Please keep letting me know what you think and thanks again!