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Chapter 10 - Shattered


“Angel back yet?” Faith asked, walking into the living room of the fraternity house and looking around. She rolled her eyes and smiled as the room full of men playfully leered at her. She was used to the familiar antics of Angel’s friends, knowing that they were just being appreciative of her and had a funny way of showing it. “Yo! Everyone direct your attention about eight inches higher,” she said with a laugh before seeing Riley and Gunn walk out of the kitchen.

“Faith,” Gunn nodded in greeting while Riley gave her a wave. “Angel’s not back yet.”

“Okay. I’ll be in his room. You boys don’t have too much fun,” she replied, heading toward the stairs and leaving the guys to have their ‘boys night in’.

Everyone sat in the spacious room, talking and laughing for several minutes, occasionally throwing popcorn at the TV screen when Riley heard a soft thud. Frowning, he looked around the room, realizing it was coming from the kitchen. Motioning for Gunn to follow him, both men got up and walked through the house.

“Did you hear that?” Riley asked quietly, his brow furrowed as they walked into the kitchen.

“Sounded like it was coming from the back door.”

Slowly approaching, Riley’s frown deepened when he heard what sounded like a small whimper. Pulling open the door, both men felt their blood run cold as they saw the tiny blonde sitting on the back porch, blood slowly streaming down her body from multiple cuts along her face and arms. It streaked the porch, leaving the wood almost black as it dripped down her legs. Wearing nothing but a tattered, white satin pajama top that barely offered any coverage as she clutched at it, they noticed the white fabric becoming a strong shade of crimson before their eyes. Riley felt the bile rise in his throat when he saw that most of the collective blood flow was focused around her thighs. He didn’t want to think about the implications of that as he tried to get his brain to function.

“We need help in here!” Gunn shouted, running out of the room as Riley slowly crouched in front of the young girl.

“Buffy,” he whispered, hearing his housemates walk up behind them and seeing her cringe at the combination of the collective gasp that ran throughout the room and the fact that she was nearly naked in front of a bunch of men. “I’m going to pick you up and take you inside…okay?”

Trembling as her knuckles turned white with the force of holding the shirt together, Buffy nodded. She didn’t want to be around any man right now, but her subconscious knew that she was safe here, having run across the entire campus to get away from Parker. This house was her safe haven. Spike would be here.

Riley carefully picked her up, preparing himself for a surprise attack from the frightened girl and only slightly relieved when she didn’t do anything. He would almost prefer if she had fought him- at least then he would get some kind of reaction. Seeing Gunn reappear with a blanket, they covered Buffy as best they could before carrying her through the house and into the living room.

“Go get Faith,” Riley whispered, not wanting to startle Buffy anymore than she already was. Watching Gunn run toward the stairs, he felt her trembling worsen as he quickly made his way to the couch. Placing her gently on the cushions before turning to the group of men who were silently following him, he quickly looked around the room. “Graham, you and Lindsey go find Spike. He and Angel were going to get a few beers, so split up and hit their favorite spots. Just get him here.”

The two men quickly ran out the door with a few more volunteering and running out as well. Every man in the house was becoming increasingly protective over the young woman. Most of them hadn’t even met her, but they knew Spike and they knew what she meant to him.

“Buffy, can you talk to me?” Riley asked, leaning down to face her so he wouldn’t seem imposing.

Seeing her shy away from him, he quickly backed away.

“It’s okay,” he said in a soothing voice. “No one’s going to hurt you.”

Hearing a commotion behind him, he stepped aside when he saw Faith running down the stairs. She quickly made her way over to the couch and Riley was moderately relieved when Buffy relaxed as soon as she saw the other woman.

“Hey, B,” Faith said gently in a soft voice, swallowing hard when she saw some of the blood. “You’re safe now, okay?”

Getting a slight nod, Faith slowly wrapped her arms around the blonde’s shoulders, helping her stand.

“We’re going to go get you cleaned up, okay?”

Not getting a verbal response, she felt a little relieved when Buffy began to walk with her toward the stairs.

“Is someone getting Spike?” Faith whispered, turning toward Riley for a moment. Seeing him nod, she breathed a soft sigh of relief and helped Buffy up the stairs, wanting to get her cleaned up as quickly as possible.

* * * * *

Spike said goodnight to Willy, leaving some money on the bar as he stood up. Angel had left a few minutes before, wanting to find Faith. Not that Spike blamed his friend for ducking out as soon as he could- he was hardly good company tonight.

‘At least I get to go see Buffy now,’ he thought, looking at his watch.

Walking toward the door, he was practically run over by Lindsey, barely catching himself as he nearly flew backwards with the momentum behind the other man.

“Where’s the fire?” Spike asked, studying the other man after he’d steadied himself.

“It’s Buffy,” Lindsey said, slightly out of breath.

“Buffy?” Spike repeated, feeling as if his heart stopped. “What about Buffy?”

“She’s at the house. She’s…it’s not good, Spike.”

Feeling his entire world shifting beneath him, Spike quickly ran out of the bar with the other man right behind him.



Thanks so much: Franchesca, melissa, spuffette, Seraiza, TammyAsh666, Maddie Mae, Caatje, Brunettepet, Caitie, Alicia, Amanda, Charlene, Jenn, willowmouse, Kerrylee, gypsy_jin, jess, Kez, stace, jessiesaly, Spikes Sweety, Demonica Mills, ebontier, Laine, Anne, BuffyRat, jenny, Crystal Pegasus & pj for reviewing!





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