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Chapter 11


As Spike reached the front door, he heard her soft voice. “Please, no.
Please don’t leave me.”

Turning back to the woman on the floor, Spike seemed to remember what
he needed to do. Dropping to his knees, he gathered Buffy into his arms
and stood up, heading upstairs to her bedroom. Entering the room, he
carefully deposited her on the bed before walking to the bathroom and quickly
filling up the tub with steaming water and bubbles. Upon re-entering the room,
Spike felt his heart break at the muffled sobs coming from the bed. Carefully
approaching her, he slowly ran a hand down her back, only to pull it away when he saw her flinch.

“Pet, I’ve got you a bath all ready to go. Come on, baby, you need to get up.”

Buffy allowed Spike to help her into the bathroom, cringing as he stripped away
her remaining clothes. He noticed as she covered her body,
ashamed of the damage that had been inflicted to it.

“Don’t, sweetheart. You did nothing wrong,” he said, taking a hand and
helping her into the tub. Buffy seemed to relax as she became immersed
in the bubbles, slowly leaning back and closing her eyes.

“I’ll be right back, pet.”

Buffy’s eyes snapped open in panic. “Don’t leave.”

“I’m not going to leave, baby. I’ve just gotta make a phone call.”

Buffy nodded and watched with some trepidation as Spike left the room.

Safely out of hearing distance, Spike whipped out his cell phone and
dialed Gunn’s number.

“Hey, man, everything okay?”

“No,” he ground out.

Gunn immediately sat up straighter at the tone of voice. “What happened?”

“He raped her, Gunn.”

“What!?! That bastard!”

“I need you to call your friend at the Sunnydale PD and tell them they
need to get a warrant ready to arrest Riley Finn. And they better hope to
find him before I do.”

“Alright, man, I’ll call right now, but you do know you’ll have to get
her to a hospital so they can evaluate her, right?”

“I’ll get her there.”

“Spike, how’s she doing?”

“Not too good, mate. Flinches at every move I make…nearly took my head
off when I was checking her over. She’s a strong woman, but this is bad.”

“Yeah, I’ll call in a few favors and keep an eye on Caitlyn. Tell
Buffy she’s in safe hands.”

“I will. Thanks, Gunn.”

Spike entered the bathroom again and was pleased to see a soft smile
grace her lips when she saw him.

“Baby, I’ll need to take you to a hospital, let them check you out.”

Before the full sentence was out of his mouth, Buffy began vigorously
shaking her head. “No, I-I don’t wanna go.”

“Buffy, pet, I know you don’t want to, but you’re going to have to report this. That wanker can’t get away with doing something like this, and if the police don’t get him, then I’m going to have to go after him.”

Buffy seemed to study him long and hard, realizing he was serious. She gave a slight nod. “Okay.”

Spike went to lay out some clean clothes for her as she got out of the
tub. He jumped a little when he felt a pair of small arms wrap around his
waist. Spike smiled as he felt her lay her head down on his back and relax.
Bringing his own hands up to carefully rub her arms, he turned around slowly and embraced her. Spike planted gentle kisses on top of her head as she held onto him and didn’t dare move until she was ready.

“Thank you for being here,” he heard her whisper.

“Wish I was here when I was needed,” he murmured, unconsciously
gripping her a little tighter.

“You’re needed now.”

“I know, pet, but you know what I mean.”

“It would have happened anyway. There’s nothing you could have done.”

“Oh, there’s plenty I could have done, luv,” he said with hatred evident in his voice.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” he said, giving her head another kiss. “You should probably get dressed.”

Spike stopped before leaving the room. “Gunn said to tell you Caitlyn’s safe. He’s keeping an eye on things.”

“Tell him thank you the next time you talk to him.”

“I will,” Spike said, turning again to leave the room, only to stop when she softly called his name.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what, pet?”

“For everything. For not trusting you enough in the beginning. For not
listening when you first told me about Gunn. Most of all, for not having the
strength to do anything about Riley.”

“Buffy, you have nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong,” he
said compassionately. “Now, get dressed. I’ll be here.” He gestured toward
the hallway and left the room.

* * * * *

Spike held Buffy’s hand through the entire examination. As the police
officers asked her questions regarding her relationship with Riley, Spike
felt himself tense slightly at hearing a detailed description of the rape,
upset at himself for leaving her alone. As Buffy was led into a different
room for her injuries to be photographed and catalogued, Spike made his
way over to a group of police officers, discreetly listening in on their
conversation. Smiling after a moment when he heard that Riley had been
picked up and was arrested, the smile broadened when he heard that he
was in rough shape.

“The girl looks bad, but from what I hear, she inflicted a helluva lot on
the guy,” said one of the officers.

“Yeah, I heard he had a broken nose, sprained wrist, and an array of
bruises of his own,” said another. “She’s definitely a survivor.”

Spike turned and headed back to wait for Buffy. He was proud of her
despite the horrible circumstances.

While he was waiting, Spike grabbed Buffy’s bag and looked through it until
he located her cell phone. Scrolling through the phone book, he found an
L.A. number for Joyce Summers and dialed it.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Summers?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“My name is Will Hawthorne,” he said, deciding it was better to use his
given name. “I’m a friend of Buffy’s.”

“Will Hawthorne? Aren’t you an actor?”

“Yes, I usually go by Spike. I met your daughter when she made her recent
trip to L.A.”

“Why are you calling? Is something wrong with Buffy?”

“First and foremost, Buffy is just in the next room, but we are in a
hospital. Joyce…I’m afraid your daughter has been raped.”

Spike listened to her sharp intake of breath as she tried to come to
terms with it. “My baby girl! How is she?”

“She’s strong, Joyce. The doctors just examined her, and a policeman is
with her right now. I thought she would want you to know.”

“Of course, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Who did….Riley.”

“Yes. I just heard that he was arrested a few minutes ago."

“I knew something like this was going to happen. I should have said
something.”

“There’s nothing you could have done, but I understand how you feel.”

“What about Caitlyn?” she asked with fear in her voice.

“She’s fine. She’s been staying with her daycare teacher. I have a friend
of mine watching the house to make sure she stays safe.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne.”

“It’s Spike,” he said, and then as an afterthought, “or Will.”

“Thank you, Spike. I’m glad my daughter has a friend like you. Will
you tell Buffy I’ll be there in a few hours?”

“Of course. I’ll see you soon.”

Spike hung up the phone as the door swung open, revealing a slightly
more relaxed Buffy.

“Ready to go, luv?”

She nodded and reached for him. Spike immediately drew her into his
arms, wrapping his coat around her shivering body. He smiled at the
sympathetic hospital staff and officers who were watching the touching display, and led
her out of the hospital.





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