[Reviews - 537]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 3590 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
sorry it's a few hours late...and Chapter 34 was posted last Sunday in case you didn't see :)
Chapter 35

Spike hadn’t said anything since Dawn had left, hadn’t even moved from where he was—and Buffy was starting to worry.

“Are you okay?” Buffy asked him quietly, not wanting to startle him too much.

Spike looked started, but not too much so. “Fine, pet. Sorry, was just thinking about something. You doing okay? She’s just worried you know; doesn’t mean most of it.”

“Yeah she does. I’m the Slayer and that’s what’s gotten me and Mom in our oh so wonderful positions. Makes sense for her to be mad at me. To doubt me.”

“Pet, if you weren’t the Slayer, she wouldn’t be. Wouldn’t be anything at all, so I don’t exactly think that’s what she really wants.”

“She can still hate it.”

“Yeah, but—people aren’t always too smart when they’re in pain, luv. Makes you…act differently a lot of the time. Try not to take it to heart.”

“I don’t see me succeeding any time soon, but yeah, I’ll try.”

“Good. You want to watch a movie or something?” he effectively changed the subject and appeased some of his worrying self.

“Sure—you can pick though, I’m not feeling incredibly choosey right now.”

Spike chose a movie at random, one of the ones he knew Buffy liked and sat on the sofa, on the opposite end from Buffy. He put a pillow in his lap several minutes into the movie when he saw her trying to find a comfortable way to rest her head. He patted it and was surprised when Buffy readily laid her head on it; he knew she was just tired, but the amount of change in her feelings for—or at least actions towards—him still surprised him every time.

As they watched the movie, Buffy nearly asleep, Spike knew that contrary to what he had told Buffy, he was going to be thinking about what Dawn had said for a long time to come; probably even longer than Buffy thought about it.

Was he really blind? Was he really not seeing what was right in front of him?


*(*(*)*)*


Dawn did not in fact go to her friend Janice’s house. She knew it was stupid, knew Spike would kill her if he found out. But she just needed to be away from people right now. Everyone at school had somehow found out about her mother and had been asking all day long for several days now, about the surgery and how she was doing. Then her friends that knew Buffy was sick wanted to know about that.

And now there was one more thing to add to it all. Her mother was in a ‘magical’ come. Well didn’t that just beat all?

It wasn’t like that was something she could go cry about to her friends. Either your mother was in a coma—and in the hospital or she wasn’t. There wasn’t an in between. At least not where everyone else in the fucking world was concerned but when it came to her…well of course this had to be different too. Because God forbid her mother just get sick, have a surgery, get better, come home, and that’s that. Noooo! Her mother had to get sick, have the surgery, get better, come home, and fall into a damn magical coma.

A magical coma that Buffy’d had a dream about and one Spike had a ‘feeling’ about to boot.

She didn’t know much about this Key business still—things had sort of gone a little crazy before she could properly find out—but she did know what it meant: She could wish all she wanted that Buffy wasn’t the Slayer but if Buffy actually weren’t the Slayer, well then, no more her. She existed solely because her sister was the Slayer. The why and the how were still fuzzy but she thought she had the ‘what’ down pretty well.

The only thing she wished was that one of those books would tell her who else she had been made from. If they’d made her from Buffy and just Buffy then shouldn’t’ she be a mini-Buffy? She looked too different than her sister to be made from only her. With the way all this stuff went though, she’d probably never find out.



She’d been in Spike’s crypt for over an hour—she’d gone there directly after leaving her house—but she was still thinking about things.

Was it better to have all of the bad things compressed like this? Or would she rather have them spread out? Was it better to have your mother die and then your sister die—or the reverse or was it better to put a few months in between? Wasn’t it better to have your mother around when you were wondering what the hell was killing your sister? Wasn’t it better to have your sister there when your mother was going through having a brain tumor and everything that followed? And wasn’t Buffy there for her? Didn’t it count? True, Buffy hadn’t been there as much as Dawn had wanted her to be, but she’d gone to the hospital all but that once and been there for the surgery—shouldn’t that be good enough? And, God, did she have an answer to anything?

Well there was, she realized, the fact that Spike had gone wonderfully blind in the past few days.

Sure he was still all about Buffy—Dawn didn’t think that would ever change—and he still was insanely worried about her, but…But Dawn didn’t think he was really seeing the whole thing at the moment. He was so intent on making sure Buffy was okay right then that Dawn didn’t think he saw just how poorly her sister was doing. She didn’t walk anywhere now without Spike helping her or carrying her; she was managing to eat maybe one little thing a day; and if she lost any more weight or got any paler, they could use her at Halloween for a ghost or skeleton—or both.

Whether or not her mother needed to be in the hospital, she didn’t really know; Buffy’s dreams were there for a reason after all. But she did know, had known for a while actually, that her sister did need to be in the hospital.

Dawn decided she would give him until the end of the week to decide it on his own, then she was going to make Spike take Buffy to the hospital; or she’d be calling 911 herself.


*(*(*)*)*


“Mother?”

“Well, not quite, but yes.”

“You’re—you’ve been—you’re dead…Am I dead, too?”

“No sweetheart, you are not. And yes, you’re quite right that I am; but I am here to guide you to where they need you, to help you find your way.”

“My way to where?”

“You’ll see.”


TBC……..



*hugs* and well wishes and good thoughts to everyone in the UK, as well...





You must login (register) to review.