When alone, being unhappy was much worse than having friends around you to help the pain subside. Xander was glad to finally be back in Sunnydale with his two best friends because he could worry about their problems instead of lying in the giant holes he managed to dig. Walking out of the wedding had hurt and caught everyone off guard, but it seemed like the best choice to protect the one he loved. Time away helped him cope and understand the importance of his actions, but being back meant he didn't have to only think of what he'd done and could concentrate on all the evil the world had to offer. Wait, was fighting, and getting involved with vile creatures, for your entire life, better than feeling miserable for a few weeks? On second thought, maybe he made a mistake.
"Hello! I'm back! Clean and with a better smell now," cracking the door just far enough for a quick peek. The house seemed almost lifeless; the living room lights were off as well as the dining room, while silence crept throughout. Stepping in a bit further into the foyer, "Friends? Romans?" The only sign of someone's presence were the streams of light shining from the kitchen. If he strained his hearing, dishes shuffling with water splashing, gave him a definitive answer that somebody was in fact home. Having dropped by earlier, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he poked his head in. Xander was concerned about Buffy and her newfound mental problem. Spike helped to capture the demon for Willow to extract its poison for the cure, so he was hoping everything was fine in the Summers’ residence by now.
Willow was standing in front of the sink, soaping up a few of the bowls she dirtied while mixing ingredients, as Xander entered from the doorway. "Ah! Just the witch I wanted to see."
Continuing the washing while looking over her shoulder at the new arrival, "Xander! Hey!" Willow finished the last dish, turning to face him while drying it with a towel, "Feeling better?"
"It hurts...," looking down with sad eyes, "I guess still no word from her?" The red head just shook her head softly. "Well how’s the Buffmiester?" Changing the topic was always a specialty with him.
"At the moment? Unconscious. We're waiting for her to wake up so we know if the potion took."
"Unconscious how?"
Of course he would get stuck on that little detail. "Well she was practicing the 'violence solves all' idea. Spike held her down so she'd drink, but ended up having to knock her out." The jealous, over protective guy will be taking over at this point, she thought.
"He what?!" Over reacting was another specialty.
Folding the towel and placing it on the counter, Willow rolled her eyes, "Xander, he was helping. He wants her better just as much as we do, but she wasn't too thrilled about that."
"I guess... At least the chip gave him one hell of a headache. That gives me a happy," an overly excited smile tugged his lips, hands rubbing together.
"Holy bejesus!" The chip! It never went off, why didn't she notice something as monumental as it not firing? Sure she was distracted, but not enough to overlook Spike not screaming in pain, right? In order to knock one out, especially of the Slayer variety, it had to have been rather hard. The behavioral modification chip was designed so that vampires and demons alike couldn't even point a toy gun at humans without exploding their brains, so how hard or soft of a blow shouldn't have mattered.
The look of panic on Willow's face set Xander aback, "Holy be-what, Will?"
Even though her friend meant well, he couldn't know about this. Not until some good old fashion research was done first. There had to be an explanation why the government work wasn't working. She should warn Buffy, unless she already knew? Buffy was upstairs, passed out with the vampire, alone. Oh no, not good! What if- Okay, she's been around Xander too long. Spike wouldn't hurt Buffy, even if he could, it would never happen. Still, this was something to look into because she wasn't sure if the chip didn't work on anyone or just Buffy and all the non-slayers in this town could be in danger. That was the plan then. Keep the small secret from Harris, then look into the 'why factor' later.
"Oh, umm... I forgot to tell Dawnie that everything should be normal again," walking around the center island, she was never good at lying so she thought it best to get out of there as soon as possible. Otherwise, he'd figure something was wrong. Mostly she was hoping that he was too wrapped up in the Anya situation to really detect anything.
"Right,” he said slowly as he eyed the red head. “How is the Dawn Monster? Still taking this pretty hard?"
"She's just upset, sister stuff. I think it’s a given that what was said wasn't anyone's fault. Dawn will come around and back again when I tell her the good news." Willow inched her way to the doorway, passed the boy. "So, I'll let you know when Miss Sleepyhead decides to tumble outta bed." She had made it to the bottom step, with Xander following, grabbing the hand rail and spinning around, "Bye." Short, sweet, and to the point. Instantly her feet began climbing the stairs.
"Sure, glad I was able to offer my manly skills to help." By the time the top step was behind her, the door had opened and closed, Xander let himself out, she sighed out of relief before continuing on to speak with the younger Summers.
Only knocking once before swinging the door open, not waiting for a reply because she knew one wouldn't be given. Most likely, Dawn was lying on the bed with headphones on and the volume turned all the way up, blaring in her ear. A brief glance around confirmed that the teen was too engrossed in a magazine and music to notice a person had entered her quarters. As the older girl sat on the edge of the bed, sloping the mattress to fit her form, Dawns head turned sharply to her before sitting up, leaving the Cosmo Girl behind.
"What’s up?" she asked while sliding the headphones down around her neck. The music still played, as if they were in an elevator listening to a background melody nobody actually paid attention to.
"I wanted to come up to tell you how things are looking up, way up," smiling for reassurance.
"You got her to drink it?" one eyebrow was raised, "So she's better then? We're all real now?"
"I'm pretty sure, but we're sorta in limbo till she wakes up." Willow's eyes lit up, "Do you wanna come downstairs and watch a rated "R" movie? It'll cheer you up, and we won't even tell Buffy about the "R" part."
It was worth giggling at; the fact that Willow thought a rated "R" movie was living on the dangerous side. Regaining her composure, Dawn couldn't stop smiling, "Sure, sounds fun." She wasn't about to tell her how watching an "R" movie was nothing new to her because she and Janice sneak into them on a regular basis.
Willow waited for Dawn to put away the CD player before walking down with her. The pair disappeared, laughter trailing after them. Teenagers needed to have somebody to hang out with when feeling blue, it gave them the sense that they were cared for and everything would eventually work out. Actually, it wasn't just teenagers, Willow thought; people of all ages would always crave that sense of security.
****
Supernatural abilities were all part of the Slayer package, but there were some things that were purely human. Intuition couldn't be claimed by the Slayer side of her, it was part of Buffy's natural instinct. It didn't need to be honed in on, it just simply was. For this reason, before her eyes opened, Buffy knew she was not alone.
Stretched out on her stomach, the pillow was soft on her cheek and she was so comfortable, it seemed like a crime to get up just yet. Instead, without maneuvering her body, she lifted her eye lids slowly, surveying the mysterious presence next to her. If the black t-shirt didn’t give it away, then surely the bleached tousled locks were what clued her in. He was on his back, beside her, with one arm under his head while the other hand rested on the rim of his jeans, his thumb hooked through the belt loop. Minutes passed as she laid there silently just watching him rest.
A small smirk graced his face and his fingers would twitch slightly, but he seemed so much at peace. It was strange how her tingles weren’t the first to sound alarm when she woke, or how they weren’t warning her now, but she never felt anything but safe under his watch. Admitting that to her psyche was difficult, but the hardest thing was coming to terms with loving the way this vampire could make her feel impervious to the outside world. Nothing could touch her when Spike kept her under lock and key.
And on that note... it was time to get up. Lovey dovey thoughts of a certain evil creature always ended badly. Besides, there were loads of apologizes to be shoveling out, which took time, so it was better to start early. Let him sleep, he needs it. The fact that I won’t have to thank him for stopping me from killing my friends and family, that’s just a convenient bonus. I can talk with him later... there’s always later. Not much of a fight, but Buffy pushed herself up carefully, taking into consideration that some beings had impeccable hearing, tiptoeing out of her room and shutting the door behind her.
****
Old wooden steps had a tendency to rub when stepped on, causing them to squeak and creak. The groaning floorboards stirred Spike from slumber. Rolling his head to the left, opening his mouth, “Buffy?” He berated himself in disgust at the worrisome William, pussy-whipped. Squinting, as his eyes readjusted, he inspected the empty space on the covers, along with the rest of the room. The only reasonable explanation he could come up with was that Buffy must have gotten up and went to chat with her chums.
He knew she probably was avoiding him, after a debacle like trying to murder your friends and family; there weren’t many things to say. The things one would have to say after such a fiasco were things Buffy seldom ever did, to him anyway. Sorrys’ and thank yous’ are reserved for those people in her life that truly mattered, and he wasn’t people.
“Fair enough,” he groused. “Wouldn’t want me down there muckin’ up the group hug.” Spike growled slightly as he sat upright on the bed, his peripheral vision catching a movement in the far corner of the room.
Enemies of the Slayer rarely made habit of lingering around her home, much less inside her room where she hid many weapons. Who, or what-ever this was couldn’t be the wisest of the bunch to ever declare war on the Slayer and her pals. Swiftly throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, boots thundering onto the floor, enabling him a better view. The unexpected individual rose too, shocked to see him. Disbelief filled his ocean blue eyes as his head hung to the side, Spike knew this one. Shaking his head as he processed what his eyes landed on, maybe a mistake was made somewhere along the ripple of time. No, he didn’t think so. Despite all the nonsense capturing his minds attention, there was one thing he knew for sure; who he saw standing before him, was supposed to be dead.