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Author's Chapter Notes:
the last chapter wet down well, so here's the next.
thanks for all the great reviews I received
Spike woke up to smell fresh blood somewhere near him. It was human and rich: he could smell that too. He opened his eyes carefully; he couldn’t hear any heartbeats close by but some demons didn’t have them. He couldn’t smell any either. In fact all he could smell was blood and a reminder of home. Looking round the room he saw that the window was covered with a thick, heavy curtain, completely blocking out the chance of any sun. There was a small table by his bed with a lamp and a mug containing the blood that had been tempting his nose and his pallet. He reached over for it, sniffing it carefully to see if there were any drugs in it. Waking up in a strange place had bad memories for him.

A careful sip told him the blood was not drugged and confirmed that it was fresh, very fresh. It hadn’t even been bagged. It tasted familiar as well. He tried to sit up but was stiff and sore. His back hurt and every muscle complained at his attempts to reposition himself. Then he noticed he was buck naked; not that he was shy, but he had to wonder who had stripped off his jeans. His duster was hanging up on a hook on the back of one of the doors into the room, but there was no sign of anything else to cover his manhood. Good job he wasn’t the modest sort.

There was a soft knock at the door and a voice he recognised called out, ‘You decent Spike?’

‘Yeah,’ was the only answer he could give, making sure the sheet covered what it needed to. Flashing the goodies was one thing but not to an unknown woman, though the voice did sound familiar.

The door opened a little more to reveal a strange looking man and JOYCE. Joyce Summers was standing in his room looking amazing: well, alive - and that was amazing to start with. Spike looked at her again. Was it the First coming to mess with his mind?

Joyce stuck her head round the door and stared at the vampire in the bed: no wonder her daughter had been so enamoured. He looked more like a greek statue brought to life than anything human. She smiled to herself: he wasn’t human, was he?

‘Well you look better than you did last night,’ she said with a smile. ‘Is the blood up to standard? We got some from the hospital and added some of mine as well: seems I have slayer in my system and it should speed up your healing.’

‘R-i-g-h-t,’ Spike said slowly, still looking around for the trap. ‘Joyce, I thought you were dead, and I seem to remember the poof coming back for your funeral.’

‘And leaving my baby alone afterwards. If he wanted redemption he was going the wrong way about it.’ Joyce looked furious.

Ok, thought Spike to himself, don’t mention Angel or funerals.

‘What do you need from me Joyce? Vampires don’t normally get to visit heaven.’

‘What makes you think you’re in heaven, Spike?’

‘No torture and fresh blood available, and you’re here.’ He answered simply, ‘Can’t see you ending up in the fiery furnace.’

‘Well that is kind of you: with the mistakes I made raising Buffy I’m surprised I didn’t end up there, but I was given a chance to redeem myself, and so here I am trying to help.’

Spike looked at the woman who had become a second mother to him, and sipped his blood. She didn’t look any different than when he’d last seen her. She didn’t smell any different either, but there was no heartbeat, no smell of blood pumping through her body. What ever she was, she wasn’t human.

‘Wha’ you need me for then Joyce? It’s not like you would have rescued me for my conversation skills.’ He took another drink of the blood, emptying the mug fully before putting it back on the small bedside table.

Merrick kept watch from the door, not wanting to disturb the reunion, but they had little time to spare.

‘Joyce,’ he said quietly, ‘we have to tell him what’s happened.’

Joyce nodded and took Spike’s hand, sitting gently on the edge of the bed. ‘It’s Buffy, she’s….’

‘She’s what Joyce? You’re frightening me…’ Spike could feel his demon trying to break through. He knew Joyce had seen him in game face, but he didn’t want to scare her and held the yellow eyes back.

‘Giles and Willow, and to a certain extent Dawn, have controlled her with magic and lies since Sunnydale went. And she finally snapped: she took a potion that has left her in a magical coma.’ Joyce let the tears fall unchecked down her face. Spike wrapped his arms around her, trying to give what comfort he could, ignoring the fact that the sheet barely covered his modesty.

Joyce held onto the man she thought of as her son and wept as though her heart was breaking.

‘She set wards around her room so no-one can get in and has just taken her own life. She must have been so lonely to take that step.’

‘Did she make it back to heaven? ‘Cause I won’t take her from there.’ Spike’s eyes filled with unshed tears but he was determined that his wonderful beautiful slayer wouldn’t live through that hell again.

‘No she’s not in heaven Spike, I would never do such a cruel thing. If she was there, you would be with her, but she is immortal. And the wards she set up mean that her soul cannot leave the room.’

‘Well then, why don’t you just go in and do what the Powers that Meddle do best, and meddle? Go fix it and leave me in peace.’

‘Do you know she meant what she said when the hell mouth went up?’ Joyce looked at the vampire, seemingly changing the subject, ‘and did you know she hasn’t had a boyfriend since you went up in flames?’

‘What about the Immortal? She was getting pretty friendly there.’

‘You mean Dawn’s fiancé? Well he will be when he gets around to asking.’

‘Dawn’s fiancé? She’s not old enough to be thinking of getting married, and he’s a wanker anyway.’ Spike allowed what Joyce had said to filter through his brain: not Buffy’s date, Dawn’s date.

‘But Andrew said…’

‘Andrew said a lot.’ She sat back a little. ‘Andrew lied and manipulated everyone around him; he’s a little toad.’ she added with a frown.

‘How do I rescue her?’ he asked. ‘If I wasn’t the answer you wouldn’t have brought me here.’

Joyce smiled, then blushed. And Merrick grinned. ‘You ever read Sleeping Beauty? The original, not the Disney version?’

‘Well I remember something about seven little men and one bird, and a witch and a poisoned apple.’

‘That was Snow White; Sleeping Beauty was the one where she pricked her finger and fell asleep for 100 years. But do you remember how they woke Sleeping Beauty up originally?’ The old man asked with a glint in his eye.

‘Gave the bird a kiss: some tosser rides up on a horse, kisses the girl and they ride off into the sunset happily ever after.’

‘That’s the Disney version again. I would have thought you would have read the original: full of blood and guts it was, in the original she awakens when she’s giving birth to twins.’

Spike burst out laughing. ‘You want some boy toy to shag the slayer? And I… what, watch? Give him some pointers? Hold her down if he’s not man enough for the job?’

Joyce gave him a look as old as time.

‘William,’ it was a mother’s voice through and through, ‘it has to be from her heart’s true love - and that’s you.’





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