The Hart of L.A.

Angel was not a happy person. Dawn taken almost an hour, which was understandable, but then Willow had jumped up, Xander had gone in third, and Giles was currently in with her. Spike had called next. He understood why they should get to go first, but it still made him mad. Wesley had tried to talk to him, but Angel just kept pacing. When Giles came out, you could tell that he'd been crying, and that was never a good sign. Spike jumped up and went in then, angel just glared at him. No one had gone in to see Oz yet, because his condition was more severe than Buffy's. They'd hopefully be able to see him tomorrow. Poor guy, he hadn't even wanted to take part. Angel felt partially responsible for him getting injured. He'd been one of the one of the ones to talk him into to staying. He just wished that Buffy would wake up already. The girl had slayer strength, so why wasn't she popping back from this? He couldn't lose her again, dammit, he'd just gotten her back! Well, she'd gotten back two years ago, but still! Was this demon the last draw? He really hoped not. It's not like he could pray for her or anything. He hated waiting.

When Spike went into her room, he couldn't the crying. She didn't look like his Buffy just lying there all bruised and broken. She had all of these tubes coming out of her. This was all his fault. He should never have let her take that sword out of Angel's hand! Angel would have been fine getting stabbed where she'd been stabbed, so would he for that matter! Why wasn't he ever smart enough to stop her? He'd tried to stop her from turning herself in that one time, but he hadn't even been able to do it then, either. " God Buffy, you've got to wake up. I'll die if you don't." He sat there for a little while longer, and then he left. He couldn't stand to see her like that. When he got back to the waiting room, Angel wasn't there. He'd been practically foaming at the mouth to get in to see her. He looked over at Willow, and she just shrugged. It was then that Riley spoke up. " If anyone doesn't mind, may I go in next? I mean, Angel just left, didn't tell us where he was going. I'd really like to see her." Everyone nodded their agreement, so in he went.

Angel was outside venting. Spike had taken the longest so far. Angel had no doubt that Spike was trying to send him some sort of message. Didn't Spike, of all people, understand his need to know if she was going to be alright? He knew now that this prophecy probably wasn't going to happen, but it was still Buffy! This was the girl that had defined the word 'Love' for him. He'd never known love before here. No one seemed to understand that he'd loved her before he'd even met her. The fact that she'd loved him back, had been pricless for him. When he looked at his watch, he noticed how late it was. He went inside and saw that Spike was back, so he started to go on back, but Giles stopped him. " You can't go back there yet, Angel." He stopped short. " why not?" Xander spoke up then. " Riley's back there with her. We waited on you, but since you didn't tell anyone where you were going, we let Riley go on back. He should be out shortly, see? There he is now." Angel walked over to him. " Did she wake up at all?" Riley just shook his head. " I don't know if you guys remember, but she's been stabbed there before. I wonder if that thing had some kind of poison on those horns." It was a feasable answer, but Giles shook his head. " No, because we were all scratched by them. Maybe Buffy just wants to give up. After everything the girl's been through, I don't really blame her."

Angel walked into her room, and sat down in a chair similar to the one in Cordelia's room. " Buffy, you've got to come back to us. I know you probably want to give up, but I'm not going to let you. You belong here with us, so you have to wake up. We're all waiting on you. If you want Spike, then be with Spike, just wake up. I can't lose you again, Buffy! No one will ever know the hell I went through when Willow told me what had happened. Then I got to have you back. Well, not back, but you were here! Please, don't give up, Buffy. It's really not worth it. You're a hero, you know, and way more so than any of us. I love you, Buff. I know I haven't told you that in a really long time, but I do. So, come back to us. You're our hero." While he was talking, he didn't hear the person enter the room behind him. " That she is, my friend, but she doesn't feel like one." Angel jerked around to see Whistler standing the doorway.

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Talia was worried. She was stuck in some guy's apartment that she knew nothing about. Well, she knew that he was a lawyer, and a very cute one. The way he'd saved her from that thing? Man, she almost died right there! He'd come back early morning, exhausted and injured. Then late tonight he'd left again. he'd asked her not to leave, but she was about to! Why did he keep leaving, and making her stay here? Her family was probably worried sick! She'd searched the apartment for a telephone, but the mad obviously didn't have one. What kind of person saves you from an ugly monster, then locks you up in his apartment for hours at a time? A creepy one! It was weird, actually, the things that had happened to her lately. She'd been in a club in San Fransisco, when all of the sudden, she'd broke the glass she'd been holding. She hadn't done anything special, it just sort of popped in her hand, and she didn't get cut at all. Two hours later, there had been a big earthquake that had apparently swallowed Sunnydale, and that had made her very worried about her friend. The girl had moved away their sophomore year in high school. It was so unfair that she'd gotten booted out of Hemery. The way she'd heard it, it wasn't her fault that the gym had burned down! She'd actually lost contact with Buffy two years ago. She'd heard that her mom had passed away, and she hadn't even had an address to send a letter or card. After a few hours had passed, Talia started to get restless. It was turning light outside, and she hadn't slept a wink. When the doorknob jiggled, it scared her to death. As it was, it was only Charles. He was a very nice guy, she just didn't know about him. When she saw him, she smiled at him with relief. " Good morning."

Gunn could really get used to this. She was always smiling when she saw him. It made him feel really good. " Well, good morning, ms. Talia." He walked over and sat down beside her on the couch. " I'm sorry that I've had to leave you here by yourself for so long. I've just had to be at the hospital." She looked up at him with concern in her eyes. " Well, I should hope you'd do something about your stomach." He ducked his head. " I wasn't there for myself, actually. I have friends in the hospital that were hurt pretty bad. Well, they're potential friends at least. The girl, I've only met briefly, but she seems cool. She has a very unusual name, though." She smiled at him again. " What name might that be?" He looked at her very seriously. " Buffy."