AUTHOR'S NOTES: We're steadily coming to the end, but don't worry I have a few more chapters to post. I'm so happy with the reviews and I'm glad you guys are continuing to read this fic!
Hope you all enjoy this chapter, I had fun writing it!
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Buffy was walking through aisles of antiques, diligently following her grandmother as they found different things around every turn. Christmas coming up had spurred Grams into a sort of a mood. She was already talking about the tree, and asking Buffy what she wanted as a present; that had prompted this afternoon shopping trip.
Buffy honestly didn't know what to get for her grandmother, so they'd made a deal to look at some stores in town. Anne would point a few things out here and there, naming what she liked in between looking for gifts of her own to give to friends.
Evidently, there was an annual party on Christmas day. It included food and sweet candied desserts, drinking and dancing and live music. It was held at the richest community member's home, where there was a large hall, an almost ballroom like space, perfect for such events.
Buffy wasn't even going to try and get out of it. With the way Grams talked about Christmas, and how she'd been acting ever since hearing Carol of the Bells on the radio earlier this morning, there was no cruelty-free way of telling her she didn't want to attend that party.
Buffy wouldn't say a word. Perhaps, she could get Spike and the guys to come...? That might be a little awkward, but her boyfriend had to meet the family sooner or later, right? And it was only one family member.
Give or take a few dozen townsfolk.
But if the others decided they wanted to tag along, maybe it would be easier. It would certainly even things out when meeting Grams at least, that woman didn't cower against any man, but she might be a little less... probing, with more newcomers around.
However, it would probably be more difficult getting Spike and friends to meet her, rather than the other way around. The topic of food might turn out to be the factor that tipped the scales when this conversation was brought up.
Either way, Buffy wasn't exactly excited about Christmas, but she would endure. For her Grams if for no other reason. Maybe, if she tried hard enough, she would be able to enjoy herself a little. It would all be okay. Christmas had always been one of her favorite holidays in the past.
She exhaled steadily, setting down a small clock she'd just picked up. The dust on it stuck to her fingers. Buffy brushed the tiny machine off, freeing the face of a layer of grey. She slapped her hands together in the air when she was done and watched little motes dance in the sunlight. She had always found it oddly pretty, like living glitter or something, when that happened. A sunray could stream at just the right angle, and make something as ordinary as dust look so delicate and different. Otherworldly, if she let herself get fantastical.
And it still managed to distract her.
"Buffy!"
*Oh.* She looked around and caught sight of the searching woman. "Coming!"
Buffy broke through the ray of light that had her hypnotized and moved around a tall bookshelf. She supposed, that if anyone had a right to think more with their imagination than with the less colorful part of their brain, it would be her. She was dating a vampire, after all. She had friends now who were all supernaturally endowed in one way or another. And she was with them as often as she was with her normal, human grandmother. It made sense Buffy had an abnormally open mind now.
It had taken her a while, but she doubted little nowadays. She'd decided- she wasn't quite sure when -that such thinking was a good thing, if not scary sometimes, as well as necessary.
Speaking of scary, it was a tad frightening she was actually out of the house today without Spike. Frightening as in surprising.
After last night, Buffy hadn't thought she'd be able to leave his sight long enough to use the bathroom. She'd gone home with the whole group, only to get hooked into a game of monopoly until her eyes were too heavy to care any longer if she was broke or not, and Spike walked her back to Grams'.
The game had been a way of everyone relieving tension, and yet, her vampire had still stayed with her under too many quilts until sunrise came. The fact he knew she didn't have work later only validated his reasons for calling her at noon and asking what her plans were. She'd told him she would stay close to home if it would make him feel better, for he'd offered to come and get her the second sunset came. He'd also asked if she wouldn't mind coming to him right then, he would have one of the guys pick her up. Buffy had reminded him that if the sun was out, they had an agreement. She could walk herself places. However, he wasn't in the fairest mood about things, and so he'd only repeated his questions.
Buffy told him just to come by once the sun went down; AND he got some more sleep. She knew he wasn't supposed to be getting up yet, the man had most likely gone to bed at eight in the morning. He was just so on edge since yesterday, even after Stevo and Rex came home with bruises on their knuckles.
It got Buffy thinking that maybe she should've let Spike knock that ass-slapper's teeth out.
Well, time would just have to be his tension relief, because even if she'd thought of it before, she couldn't have actually let him do anything to hurt the jerk. It would have played on her conscience too much.
Well, maybe not that much. But still, she wasn't sure Spike would have stopped at just teeth.
Buffy's head came up as her grandmother's voice rattled her thoughts. "Sugar, what do ya think of this lamp?"
She stared at the contraption in front of them, and rose an eyebrow. A lamp... More like a circus. There were elephants and tigers painted on the stand, and it had a purple glass shade with images of dancing ladies all along the fringe that fell from it. "It's uh... different."
Anne laughed and set the lighting fixture back down. "That was my reaction, but I was lookin at it for someone who's a bit eccentric." She eyed the lamp again, finally shaking her head after a moment. "No. She ain't that eccentric."
Buffy smiled, following her grandmother again as they finally headed toward the checkout counter. Laid out before the cashier, who sat calmly with a magazine in his lap, there were two wooden jewelry boxes, a pair of crystal wine glasses, an antique letter opener, some books that might be older than MayBell was, and aquamarine earrings with gold backs.
Buffy hadn't spotted anything she thought would be the perfect present for Grams yet, so she was empty handed, but the lady herself had gone to town.
"Grams, how many presents are you buying for your friends?" she asked, hiding her worry behind a mask of curiosity.
"This is most of it. Don't fret," Anne advised, looking at her perceptively. "I know how to keep track of how much I'm spendin, dear."
Buffy nodded, allowing herself to be appeased after gauging the truth in those warm eyes. Waiting patiently for the items to be rung up, she gazed out the window at the streets surrounding town square. The sky was gray and the sidewalks were hardly crowded. Everything was dull, tired, as if people were hiding out from the gloom of this windy Saturday.
"Buffy," Anne said a minute later, "would you mind goin over there for me and seeing if you can find a perfume bottle. It's red glass, tall and thin. I'd like to get it instead of these wineglasses."
"Sure," she replied, then turned and walked to the front of the store. She twisted around some shelves to stand before the wide display window. There were more lamps here, some as tall as she. Mirrored boxes filled with costume jewelry were laid out on top of old trunks and suitcases. She didn't spot any perfume bottles though, so Buffy turned around and surveyed the tall shelving unit.
She wondered, as she looked at the numerous knickknacks and old books, dolls and little sundae cups, how an antique store might have sprung up here. Most of the houses in MayBell were probably filled with old, pretty things; she knew Grams' was. Maybe townsfolk bought things in to sell here, and then found other stuff they admired to bring home. It would create good business. Include the tourists who came through during the summertime, and an antique shop just might do pretty well.
Buffy's eyes landed on several delicate little containers up high. "Ah ha, gotchya." She reached around the group of colored glass and gently pulled out a tall red perfume bottle from the back. With merchandise as unique as the stuff in this place, business definitely had to be doing well.
She brought it close and ran her hand along the smooth, unmarred surface. It was the color of a rose, darker than your typical red, but not quite maroon. The inside smelled like orange peel.
She pressed the bottle securely to her chest and started walking around the shelves again. Then, something strange happened. Buffy's eyes caught the window again, and she didn't stop until she noticed what was so suddenly odd about the view.
It was moving.
A slight vibration started beneath her toes, then grew into a rumble. The window frame started cracking, and Buffy realized that the outside was just fine, people kept walking without trying to keep their balance. But the antique store was shaking beneath her.
*Earthquake? No, it can't be.*
"Buffy!"
She dropped the perfume bottle, the ground shifted as she spun at the sound of Grams shouting, and Buffy hit the floor. "Unh!" Her hands slipped on the trembling wood floors, her balance knocked off again before she could even make it to her knees. The glass from the broken bottle danced near her fingers, the suitcases and shelves and pretty little knickknacks all threatened to fall and meet them. "What the fu-"
"Buffy WHERE ARE YOU?!"
*Earthquake.* Her head shot up. She yelled back over the roar of the earth, "Get under something sturdy!"
Buffy started to hastily stand again, grabbing frantically at the heavy shelves that were wobbling and swaying, adding to the unsteadiness of the ground. Her grip felt like steel on a moving rope.
She finally planted her feet, trying to ignore the fact that she felt the tremors were getting worse. It all became louder, boards split as nails dislodged under her shoes and the ceiling shook. She had to find a doorway or a table, or a corner of a well supported wall. After she got to Grams. Being from California, her mom would've shot her for thinking of doing anything before getting to safety right now, but she had to make sure Grams got there with her.
And nothing was near Buffy that would keep her protected anyhow. On the beginning step of a sprint, she moved to turn the corner, letting go of the shelves that were losing their balance.
A board broke beneath her twisting foot, and with it her body came down hard, her jaw connecting with the wood. Buffy groaned, the sound indiscernible in the loud, roaring room. Her head felt like it shook with the building.
Her eyes opened after a second, she thought she saw something reflect, a trick of light from the ones currently shaking above her head. Then it didn't go away, but continued to glint from under a bent, misfit floorboard. Buffy tilted her head and reached out on impulse as she began to sit up, scooting closer.
She tore the wooden board from its crooked alignment and yanked up, then threw it against the wall. Her eyes widened at what she found beneath. Greedy fingers shot forward and picked up the shiny, silvery thing; a bracelet, and from it dangling- "The Gem of Amara."
Her breathy statement got lost in the air. The lights shook more, making the powerful jewelry in her hand wink at her beneath their glow, and the windows rattled. Buffy brought the Gem to her chest and glanced around frantically, thinking quickly as crashes sounded behind her from glass bottles and books.
Her breath came out in rushes. She saw a heavy desk with an indent for a chair not far ahead. Okay, she could crawl there- And Grams, she could reach the desk and then get to Grams. She had to.
Shit, she had the Gem of Amara in her hands! Buffy looked down at it again and decided it couldn't help her, so she'd better just keep it safe. And herself.
In all her haste she'd forgotten about the shelves.
A great rumbling followed a series of harsh thuds and splintering sounds. Buffy didn't even have time to scream.
***
The group had just woken up. Their sleeping schedules were all off. They'd gone to bed at different times, and Dylan had only needed about seven hours to be ready for the day- er, night.
Not long after he'd started making coffee, everyone else had risen, if not grumpy then certainly still grateful for his beneficial thinking. They were working on their second pot of caffeine when Rex's head shot up from his take-home version of Leonard's menu- Take-home meaning "borrowed" off of table nine when no one was looking.
The thunderbird's strange expression went unnoticed at first, until Ace looked at him with tired eyes long enough to assess that something was up. "What is it?"
Rex frowned hard at the address, and raised his head. "What?"
"You look like you're trying to... well, think," he said matter-of-factly. "That worries me. Somethin wrong?"
Uncharacteristically, Rex ignored the small gibe. With eyes squinted he said, "I don't know. I hear something."
"Hear what?" Blake asked, his brows drawing closer together as he noted the seriousness waving in the air.
"It's like a rumbling..." Rex turned to Spike. "You've got the next best hearing here. You catch anything?"
The room went very quiet, no papers shuffling or coffee pouring. The men each held as still as statues, until Spike shook his head in the negative. "You still hear it?"
"Yes..." He closed his eyes and concentrated. The wind could be heard outside before his yellow stare showed again about a minute later. "It stopped."
"What'd it resemble?" Spike asked.
"A really low rumble, almost like a growl or... No, it wasn't steady enough. It got louder." He shook his dark head. "I don't know. If anything, it sounded like thunder, that's the closest description I can think of."
"Well there ain't a storm on its way," Spike said, "I checked the weather report last evenin."
Stevo rose his brows. "That's not normal. None of us simply hear odd noises that mean nothing. Perhaps your bird hearing-" the gypsy paused, and redirected his statement at Rex's glower, "-heightened senses, are picking up on something important."
He went to pour himself another cup of hot coffee, and Ace brought his mug over to meet him. "Maybe something in town is happening." He turned to face Spike with a shrug. "Give Buffy a call? She might know."
He frowned, uneasiness suddenly settling over him as he headed for the phone. Picking it up from its mount on the wall, he mumbled, "She said she'd be stayin close to home today."
"Well being in town WOULD be close to home," Blake said. "It's walking distance from her house."
Spike frowned harder, and then harder still as the ringing on the other end of the line went on and on... and on... Voicemail.
He pressed the phone catch to get the dial tone back and redialed. *She always answers.* It rang again, until ultimately, Spike received the voicemail again.
He hung up the phone with a loud **clank,** then turned to Rex impatiently. "Come with me, we're goin to get Buffy."
He left the room and was quickly followed. "She didn't answer?" Dylan asked worriedly.
"No, and I'm gonna find out why."
"Spike, she might just be away from her phone, did ya ever think of that?" Blake questioned.
"Yeh. I did," he claimed, as he threw his duster on over his shoulders. "But I was goin to pick her up anyway, and she always answers her cell. May as well head over there now to get her."
Rex already had his brown leather jacket on, heading for the door. He opened it and preceded Spike outside into the cloudy, dim lit early evening.
"If she calls back tell her I'm on my way."
With each step the vampire took, his unease increased. He felt like something was wrong. It was as if nothing fit, like a screw was loose in a machine, making it tremble oddly. His steps sped up as his feet met hard dirt and the wind whipped his side; he turned into it and headed for town.
No. Wait. He was supposed to be going to Buffy's house. Why was his first instinct to go to town?
"Rex." Spike pointed in the direction of the square and said, "You go that way, take a look in town to see if Buffy's there after all. I'm goin to her place."
The brunette was already striding towards the main road. "Why?"
Spike shook his head and sniffed the cold air, breathing shallowly and quick. "Just 'cause. Follow your ears, Tweety."
"Fuck you, bloodsucker," Rex called out. He began his trek into the heart of MayBell as Spike walked fast in the direction of Buffy's house.
She'd better be home.
***
He approached in strides, seeing from a distance the stillness of the house. The windows were silent and dim, the sun was only now setting but the outside world was dark enough to call for lighting.
As Spike got closer he caught a whiff of Buffy's scent, and he passed it in order to make sure she wasn't inside. He hoped against his gut feeling that she was.
The vampire pounded on the door without any pretense of politeness. No answer. He pounded again.
Five seconds passed and then he was leaping from the stairs onto the leaf covered ground and heading for the back where he'd find Buffy's bedroom window. His useless breaths were shaking when he got there.
He looked through the glass, and no more proof was needed. She wasn't home.
Spike started hurriedly toward town, and with each step another tingle of apprehension climbed up his spine. Something was not right. It might be the earlier mystery of what Rex's hearing skills had picked up, but Spike had practice in telling apart paranoia from a warning. And Buffy wasn't answering her phone.
He needed to get a cell phone, he'd be calling her right now if he had one of the bloody things.
That girl was going to run up his bills. He'd need to start stealing more often. First she asks for some sort of special makeup junk for bite marks, and now this. When he found her he'd need to explain why she should always answer her bloody phone.
He didn't want to think there was a reason why she couldn't.
Spike walked faster, and ignored the abnormal chill in his bones.
***
Rex sped into town like a dog on the hunt, his heart was beating quick and his breaths were deep. The air cooled him off but the high body temperature he kept had risen with his urgency.
Immediately, he knew something was wrong. The few people that were out had all seemed to gather around the front of a small store down the street. He began moving towards the crowd, able to discern a sign hanging crookedly above the blocked doorway that read "Antiques: The Old and the Soon to Be."
What an idiotic phrase. He started to roll his eyes, but then halted mid roll to stare at the new commotion by the front door of the shop.
It was Buffy. She was being carried out by a man as tall as himself, though with a very different complexion and build. Her eyes were shut and she looked... passed out.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.
He wanted to speed ahead and find out what had happened, almost did, but then he caught sight of the grandmother- He'd seen her once before in town, pointed out by Spike -fluttering at the man's side and seeming to be murmuring in Buffy's ear.
The large carrier loaded her into the back of a short little car, and the grandmother went in the front. A woman who'd been trailing behind hopped into the front and started to drive. Shit.
Where the hell were they going? What had been done to Buffy? Was she going to be okay? It wasn't hard to tell from here that she didn't look to be dying, her color was fine and he'd seen her chest moving up and down.
That didn't mean anything great, though. And his heart was beating even quicker now, his panicked eyes looking around with indecision. He never panicked. Fucking shit.
Rex began following the car holding Buffy when the engine started, and as he passed the concerned group of townies, he saw that behind them the little antique shop was nearly destroyed inside. The sight almost made him stop in his tracks; nothing else in the area looked damaged, or even out of place.
He kept moving. Enough time to figure that mystery out later, possibly sooner, actually. It didn't matter, he just had to fucking make sure that girl was okay. They'd be taking her to a doctor. Sure. Of course. That made sense, the problem was he wasn't positive a tiny town like this even had a local doctor...
Gods they better, or he was going to punch something. He could run pretty fast and probably keep pace with the car on these roads, but he'd rather reach Buffy as quickly as possible than have to hurry to the closest town far enough into the future that they actually had a damn doctor!
Rex heaved a great breath and sped on, beginning a jog now. He didn't know how long he had to go, but it wouldn't be far if MayBell was equipped with a little medical office somewhere. He moved into a wooded area once the block of shops came to an end, following the car down swerves and passing houses. He arrived at their destination within five minutes.
The car parked in front of a big two story mansion-like building, there was an iron gate and the bricks were old, crusty vines that no doubt bloomed in summer covered the house like veins. The windows up high were lively and lit, the ones below dim and quiet. It looked like people lived above, while the first floor was...
" 'Roger R. Cruse, M.D. Family Medicine.' " Rex sighed after reading the sign in the front lawn. He saw the grandmother exit the car and open the back door before the driver could exit. When she did, the woman sped around the back just as a man in a sweater and khakis exited the building.
He rushed to the open backdoor, and seemed to get Buffy out with minor issue. The guy (Rex was assuming the doctor) carried her inside, quickly and steadily.
He held his breath until he watched the four people enter the house, the grandmother wrapped around the shoulders by the curly redheaded woman who'd driven the car.
Rex sighed with aggravation, torn between going inside and phoning the guys while he stayed with Buffy, or going back to find Spike. It was reasonable to assume the vamp would head to the square once he discovered Buffy wasn't at home, probably already had.
Rex groaned. Damn it! Alright, think. If he went inside he could make sure Buffy was okay, and figure out what was wrong with her before facing a no doubt slightly panicky Spike. Slightly panicky Spike was never an easy thing to deal with, and Rex did not feel like body slamming anyone right now.
He growled and smacked his hand against a rough tree trunk, then braced his grip. If he went back to Spike he could bring the guy here and they'd both be able to watch over the girl. But Buffy was inside, and Rex was actually very worried about her. He'd done a lot of worrying since Spike had brought her into their lives, and Rex wasn't used to it. It really bugged him.
With a disgusted "Ugh!" the man turned and strode for the house, deciding that since Spike had been the one to find Buffy, the moron could wait and worry an extra ten minutes. Let him use his sniffer to locate them. He'd get there soon enough.
Besides, Rex really needed to make sure that girl was okay. If she wasn't then everyone would go crazy, including himself and the fanged idiot.
Especially the fanged idiot.
Rex ran up the five stone stairs to the door with two glass panes in it. His hand covered the entire doorknob and then some. He twisted it and walked into a den with couches and a colorful, flowery rug.
" 'Welcome to wait here,' " he read a standing sign. "Yeah, right." Rex looked ahead at the tall desk with a call-bell and an open appointment book set on top of it. To his left there were two doorways, one with a "Restroom" sign above.
He turned and went through the other, striding down a hallway with several open doors. He immediately located the occupied one.
Coming out was Buffy's grandmother and that redhead. They barely glanced at him as they exited, but his eyes followed their backs for a moment until they'd reached the end of the hallway. When he turned back to the room where Buffy sat, the door closed in his face. He groaned.
He heard voices inside- She was awake. What? She HADN'T been passed out?
"Like I told my Grams, I'm really fine. I'm only here because she insisted on having me checked out. Nothing fell on me, and I didn't hit my head on anything."
"I understand, but since you're here, why don't we just have a check anyway? It will set your grandmother at ease, I know."
"I'd rather SHE got checked out. She said she's alright but she looked a little shaken."
"I think she's just worried about you, Elizabeth."
Rex frowned at the name, and shook his head at their continuing argument.
"I'm sorry she made you carry me in. She did that back at the store, too. Someone named Andy wearing a mechanic's uniform brought me to the car." There was quiet for a few moments, filled only with deep breathing.
"Well your lungs are fine- I suspected they would be. I'm just doing a full checkup, it will give your grandmother time to fill out any paperwork, besides. And you probably mean Andy Tanner, he's helpful that way. And I don't think I've ever heard him complain about carrying a pretty female around, so don't worry about it."
Rex could have sworn he heard Buffy grit her teeth together, but she covered it with a stiff laugh. The doctor checked her pulse rate next. Once he was done, she quickly asked, "Will you please check my grandmother over once you're done with me? I know she's tough and all, but I'd still like to be sure she didn't get hurt or too upset over this."
"If I can convince her, then yes, of course. What-" he cleared his throat "-What exactly happened anyway?"
"Oh. W-Well... I don't really know. I think it was like, an earthquake or something. Maybe just a shift in the Earth. Who knows, right?" She laughed.
Rex scowled, noticing her flippant change. She didn't want to talk about what had happened, she was avoiding an explanation. As he listened further to the conversation between her and the doctor, he realized Buffy was starting to put on an act of being a bit of a ditz.
She must really not want to talk about the earthqua-
Earthquake! Son of a bitch, that was what he'd heard!
Rex blew out a disbelieving breath, and then started to think. Earthquakes weren't centered, they didn't affect only thirty or so feet of space, but the entire town square was absolutely fine, except for that one small antique shop.
This sounded supernatural. Great. Just fucking great.
He groaned again, and listened idly to Buffy and the doctor prattle on behind the door as her checkup, very tediously, came to its end. His arms crossed, leaning against a white wall the thunderbird tapped his foot while thoughts sprang up in his head like a bunch of popping balloons. He discarded one after the other, while pushing several off to the side to consider later.
One thing was for sure, this whole thing stank of Flora.
And Spike was not going to like that.
Fuck, he better call the others. It wasn't likely the vamp would head back home, but just in case he did they could tell him what had happened.
Before Rex could move into the annoyingly cozy waiting room once again, Buffy and the doctor- now dressed in a white coat, the graying at his temples easy to see -came out of the examining room. Her big eyes managed to grow two sizes at spotting him. Rex smiled tightly at her. "You okay?"
"H-How..." Buffy shook her head, blinking hard. "HOW?"
"Followed you," he replied casually.
The doctor sent Buffy a strange look, and eyed Rex curiously. He said, "I'm going to go talk to your grandmother, Elizabeth. Should I tell her..." he glanced at the man leaning and looming, "that you'll be out in a minute?"
She nodded jerkily and said, "Yes. Thank you."
The good doctor walked down the hallway and it wasn't until he was out of sight and Buffy heard him speaking with Grams that she opened her mouth. "How did you 'follow' me?"
"Are you okay?"
She sighed. "I'm fine." His consideration warmed her, but she still didn't understand how he was here- WHY he was here. "Now what's going on? Is something wrong?" Her heart skipped a beat, and her legs stiffened as she asked, "Where's Spike?"
Rex stood up straight and uncrossed his arms. "Probably sniffing around for you right about now."
"What?"
"He wanted to pick you up, but he asked me to come with and sent me in the direction of town while he went to your house. He's probably on his way here by now, I'm sure he caught my scent."
Buffy shook her head and frowned. "How'd you know that *I* was here?"
"I saw you get carried out of that place that used to be an antique shop," he said. "Followed the car here. What the hell happened?"
Buffy refrained from shaking her head again. Her mind wasn't clear and she was suddenly worried about Spike worrying about HER. He would wig the second he knew what happened. And then wig some more if he came to the same conclusion Buffy already had: That the "earthquake" wasn't really an earthquake at all.
The sudden reminder brought back three focus grabbing realities that Buffy had forgotten- Well, not precisely forgotten, but subconsciously pushed aside. First, Grams needed to be checked out ASAP.
The moment Buffy had lunged out from under that shelving unit just in time to avoid being squashed, and rammed her shoulder into the wall, the shaking and tremors had all stopped. Fallen lamps and broken glass paused their trembling so she was able to stand and meet her Grandmother in the middle, both of them hugging and nearly crying.
The old woman was unhurt, to the naked eye anyway. Buffy wanted her checked out though by a doctor. And the second thing bothering her was the strangeness of this attack- and she definitely believed it was an attack.
That same belief had her near terrified, so she ignored it.
The third and final thing on her brain? She'd found the Gem of Amara. She was wearing it around her wrist right now, and she didn't know whether the ridiculous incident and shaking floors had been meant to help her find it, or meant to harm someone in the shop.
She refused to think that most likely she was that someone.
"Buffy?"
Brought back to the present by Rex's jarring tone, she looked up at him and said, "It doesn't matter what happened... I-I don't even know. But here." She rolled up her red sweater sleeve and said, "Look at this."
Rex frowned as he stared at her jewelry adorned wrist. "Your bracelet? What about it?"
"No!" She raised her wrist and shook it in his face. "Look CLOSER," she demanded impatiently.
Rex squinted as he stared, his head tilted. Suddenly, in turn with another contemplating incline of his dark face, his eyes widened. "The Gem."
"It was under one of the floorboards in the antique shop."
"How the fuck did you find it there?" he asked in shock.
"An earthquake or something hit the store we were in, nowhere else. But the freakiness of that isn't important. A couple floorboards sprang up and this was under one of em." She internally questioned her own sanity over jumping for something shiny in the midst of all that chaos, but she'd been pulled toward it. A hunch had latched on, and with its nudging, Buffy had found the Gem of freaking Amara. She was lucky that shelf hadn't fallen any sooner.
"Beneath the floor of an antique shop?" he said with disdain.
"Yeah." She looked down apprehensively at the thing dangling from her wrist. "I don't know what to do with it."
Rex scoffed and said, "Nothing. We'll get it back to Spike's place. Until we do, just make sure you don't lose it."
"No pressure at all."
He rolled his yellow eyes and then Buffy heard her Grams' voice down the hall. She approached, looking much calmer than she'd been, with Doctor Cruse behind her. "Buffy darlin," she said, seemingly oblivious to the large man standing next to her granddaughter, "are you really alright?"
She nodded and smiled as convincingly as she could. "Yes, Grams, I'm fine. Promise." Physically yes, she was fine, so it wasn't a lie. Mentally she was bordering on mental patient.
"Alright, well..." the elder Summers looked up at the doctor and then back to Buffy as she was lead into the examining room. "Ya know, I don't think I really need a checkup, dear. I wasn't hurt in that earthquake."
"Please, Grams. Just..." Buffy looked up at Roger, the expectant doctor, and then said to her grandmother again, "Please?"
"Fine," Anne sighed, resigned. Her wise eyes then caught on Rex's imposing form behind Buffy and she rose one thin eyebrow, staring in silent question.
The girl shook her head in a "don't worry about it" way, and Grams gave a barely discernible nod before finally following the doctor. The door shut, and with it, Buffy relaxed somewhat. One thing taken care of.
"We need to find Spike," she said as she spun around.
"First I need to call the guys," Rex replied. "They gotta know what's goin on."
She nodded readily, recalling how she'd realized in the car that her phone was gone. "Okay. I think I saw a phone in the waiting room." She lead the way down the hall, internally following a thought process sure to drive her crazy. Spike was somewhere, hopefully nearby, but he was going to fly in here any second. And she had the Gem just hanging around her wrist.
The shop in town was all messed up, the owner was probably getting volunteers to help clean up the place right now. Thank the Gods for close-knit communities.
Buffy had an urge to go and help out, too, but she didn't have time. She figured it was her fault the shop had been targeted, most likely the "earthquake" had something to do with the Gem, she just wasn't sure whether it was good or bad.
Ugh, she was getting a headache. And if she complained, no doubt she'd be back in that exam room with a light in her eyes in under a second. Stubbornly, Buffy pushed aside the thoughts that plagued her mind and focused on counting her footfalls.
Alright, she was at the desk now. Good. Oh, there was the woman who'd driven her and Grams here. "Chelsea, right?"
The pretty redhead looked up from the appointment book on the front desk. She was Doctor Cruse's secretary, it'd been a fortunate coincidence she was at the scene in town. Apparently, she'd been on a late lunch break, but it hadn't taken her longer than a heartbeat to offer to drive Buffy and "Annie" to the office. She'd offered the same to the storeowner, but he'd declined.
Buffy liked her immediately. Because even though she'd helped carry out Grams' worrisome demands that Buffy be seen by a doctor, she'd also helped to calm the older woman down. And in her helpfulness, Buffy heard her mention that Grams should be checked out too once they made it to Doctor Cruse.
Chelsea nodded her head at Buffy and smiled brightly. "Right. Ya know, strangers usually forget my name five minutes after the first time I tell em what it is."
Buffy couldn't help but smile at her genial tone. "You've been too helpful today for me to forget it," she said. "Um, I was wondering if my friend-" she turned and pointed at him, "This is Rex. Is it okay if he uses your phone for a minute?"
Chelsea looked at the tall man and Buffy saw her pause for a second, though she couldn't tell if the woman had noticed his yellow stare in particular, before shaking her head. "Oh sure, sure." She grabbed the corded turn dial device and said, "Take your time, we're not real busy today. And if there's any emergency most everyone in town knows they can call the doc or me on our cell phones."
All of this was said to Rex in a warm voice of welcome as she set the phone down in front of him. Buffy looked at the thunderbird and... he was thunderstruck.
It was surreal, to see Rex, of all people, looking taken aback. His bright eyes had glued themselves to Chelsea's face. Buffy looked at the bright girl, her smile blinding and as sweet as syrup. Undoubtedly pretty, the twenty-something female had a head of fiery red curls, somehow not very frizzy. Her skin was porcelain and her eyes a deep green, darker than Buffy's could be sometimes, more foresty. She was nice to listen to, her voice gentle yet upbeat, and her face was open. Her expression friendly.
Not the type of girl Buffy would have thought Rex might go for, but certainly an attractive one. And if she really thought about it, probably the type that just might be good for such a temperamental male.
Buffy fought a smile, idly taking note of how strange yet relieving this moment of joy felt in the midst of such a day. She poked Rex in the arm, and finally caught his focus. She looked straight into his bemused eyes. "You'd better call them now, before they get worried or something and leave the house."
"Oh. Yeah, right," he said gruffly, and then stepped around her to reach the phone. He looked up and met Chelsea's gaze. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," she said blushingly. The woman was tall, only a few inches shorter than he. Rex never met tall women. Petite of build with a pretty smile... she was awfully eye-catching. There were no freckles or birthmarks on her face, her teeth were straight and neat, her hair the most vibrant color he'd ever seen.
"Rex!"
"What?" He turned at Buffy's shout.
"Dial," she commanded.
Shit. When was the last time he'd been distracted by a girl? He couldn't remember.
Buffy laughed with a shake of her head when Rex finally started using the phone as it was meant to be used, not just as a paperweight. Chelsea didn't seem to notice anything funny, for she'd gone back to her work. Buffy watched her put a folder away in a file cabinet, hoping that it contained papers her Grams had filled out earlier. Buffy so hated filling things out.
She saw Rex move off to the side of the room with the phone, and she realized someone must have picked up on the other end. She hoped Spike wasn't at home, she wanted to see him soon. Rex was most likely right, the vampire was probably already on his way here, and though she could see him running through the door any minute and making an ass of himself, she wanted him here sooner rather than later. Besides, Stevo telling him she and Rex were at the doctor's office in town would not calm his nerves anymore than Spike finding out on his own.
She just had to hope he didn't freak TOO much, Buffy really didn't like scaring him. She'd done it enough times already. Never on purpose, of course, but still. And the incident at the diner yesterday had only managed to put him a couple notches higher on the protective scale.
Suddenly, there was a bang at the front of the room.
Chelsea jumped and Rex's eyes came up; Buffy's widened comically, she was sure. She'd been ready for it, too, but Spike running in the door like a madman still managed to startle her. She'd have to get used to it.
Mentally sighing, she sped towards him as he slammed the door and strode to meet her with grabbing hands and worried eyes. That stare still succeeded in making her heart melt. "Before you ask, I'm fine. I promise."
Her words didn't register. "What the hell happened?" he demanded.
His brows were nearly meeting in the middle, his gaze was slightly frantic and he breathed unevenly, chest rising and shuddering. Buffy placed her hands there, and asked, "Did you see what happened in town?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Yeh. When I couldn't find your scent anymore I followed Rex's. Figured he might lead me to you." Spike glanced up at the thunderbird and then back at Buffy. His arms closed tighter around her. "The place was demolished, an then I end up HERE- Almost forgot this place had a bleedin doctor's office. I sure as hell wasn't prepared for YOU to end up in it!"
"Hey," she soothed, "I'm okay. I promise. There was some... weird earthquake at the antique store when my Grams and I were inside. After that she insisted on getting me checked out, when all I did was bang my shoulder." Buffy shook her head from side to side. "She's in there now and I am FINE, I promise you. Take a deep breath."
Spike did so, but his grip tightened once again. He'd felt a spiral of sickening fear run through him once he'd finally arrived here, and he would swear that over a hundred nasty images of Buffy injured ran though his brain on that ten second dash to the door. Hugging her, cradling the back of her head as she lay it on his shoulder, Spike breathed her in.
Her scent always managed to reach through to him the best. His panic began to subside. He listened intently to her heartbeat, the sound of a healthy pulse, and her breathing against his leather coat. "I can't lose you."
The admission had not been on purpose, he hadn't meant for it to come out, but Buffy heard it. She kissed his cheek and said, "I love you. You won't lose me."
He hugged her closer still, and silence engulfed them.
Until Rex hung up the phone, that is. The clang of the device, followed by him talking to Chelsea again preceded Grams returning from the exam room with Doctor Cruse.
Buffy knew the second she turned around that the old woman had noticed Spike and her in each other's arms. Even as Buffy disentangled herself and took his hand instead, Grams was eyeing them very curiously.
The lady talked to Roger pleasantly and thanked him, and as they approached, Buffy decided to keep it casual. And not stutter out of nervousness like a moron.
"Is everything okay?" she addressed the doctor.
He nodded kindly and said, "She's just fine."
"I told you," Grams put in.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Thank you, doctor," she said. He nodded at her, showed a disinterested glance at Spike, and then told her Grams to have a nice, RELAXING rest of her day. He left them quickly, claiming he should check on his teenage daughters upstairs who had some friends over. Apparently, he and his family lived above the practice. The house was certainly big enough.
Once he'd left, Grams' intelligent eyes landed on the bleached male in leather again. She smiled at him in a welcoming way, but there beneath the friendliness lie something that reminded Buffy of a scientist with a new specimen. She knew Grams knew exactly who he was. If she didn't already, it wouldn't have been hard for her to figure out. The lady may be old but she was as sharp as a tack.
"Hello," she stuck her hand out in greeting. "I'm 'Lizabeth's grandmother. And you are?"
Straight to the point, then. That look in the old woman's eye didn't beg for small talk. Spike smiled politely and took her hand. "I'm... William." He ignored the startled look from Buffy's direction and gently released her grandmother's hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, uh... Mrs. Summers."
She gave him a sideways look and said, "William. Hmm. It's nice to finally meet you, as well." She sent a speaking glance Buffy's way, to which the girl obviously didn't know how to react. "Please, call me Annie. Everyone else asides from Buffy here does."
Ah, see, that right there was a trick to see if he knew her granddaughter's nickname, considering Buffy always told people her name was Elizabeth first off. It was a way of gauging how well he actually knew the girl. Spike only smiled. "Thank you, Annie. Until today I've mostly heard you referred to as 'Grams.' "
She grinned at him, then at Buffy quickly, before replying, "So I have been mentioned. Well, I feel I have to tell you William, that I appreciate your textin abilities very much."
Buffy smiled tightly and fought off a laugh; the bet had just been risen. She watched in amusement as Spike's jaw dropped and he worked it, unsure of how to respond. Finally, her boyfriend croaked, "Anytime."
"I do like to know where my granddaughter is spendin her evenings, and it was nice f'you to let me know that time she spent the night at your house- Of course," she said with a chuckle, "I do believe you're more than just a 'friend,' am I right young man?"
Buffy pursed her lips. She couldn't laugh. She really shouldn't, but the picture of Spike, an over-a-century old vampire getting called "young man" by Grams and nearly stuttering before he answered in the affirmative to her question, had Buffy near giggles.
What an introduction. Perfect "first meeting." What ever happened to the Christmas party?
"Well," Grams said, and patted him warmly on one leather clad arm, "as long as she's welcome at your home, you're always welcome at ours." The lady sent Buffy an approving look from her wise eyes, as if she sensed on some unseen level Spike was a good soul. Little did the woman know he didn't actually HAVE one.
Still, she was right to approve of him. Buffy stood close as her Grams left them to approach the front desk and talk to Chelsea. In the corner stood Rex, who'd at some point hung up the phone, half distracted by the redhead yet again and half trying not to laugh at his bemused friend. Buffy didn't think Rex had ever witnessed Spike getting a Summers' run down before.
"What d'ya think of her?" Buffy asked with a shrug, still smiling.
"Um... Your Grams is somethin, pet." He let out a sudden, rusty chuckle. "I like her."
Buffy gave him a blinding smile, and looked back to where the older woman stood conversing with Chelsea. She seemed to notice Rex but paid little attention to him.
Buffy abruptly remembered something she should probably mention... "Oh, Spike?"
"What?"
"I um..." She turned her back on the others and rose her hand up for him to take. She rolled up her own sleeve, and there was a sparkle at her wrist.
Spike's blue eyes widened as he took hold of the dangling bracelet. "Bloody hell."
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