ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES

A/N Here's a bonus chapter for the weekend, to tide you over! I hope you all are enjoying the journey. They'll be back in Julian soon, hopefully in the next two chapters. I can hardly wait for her to show him the house...I'm as excited about it as some of you are!

Oh, I know some of you are looking for Angel to be brought back in, but since Willow's protection spell applies to him, I'm not sure that's possible. Remember what he said to her about just riding things out. He's banking on William not being around very long, well, not after two years, in any case.

So, as for Angel, I'm not sure he'll be back in the undead flesh, so to speak. However, another long, lost character is going to be brought in at a most crucial time, pivoting the story toward the ultimate ending (if I ever get there!).

So, stay tuned for Clem, Edna, and some surprises and yummy Spuffiness, as I wield my way back to CA.

For those of you that haven't already, may I suggest you read the prequel to this called, ONE NORMAL DAY, which takes place over a weekend of S-7, Post-First Date. It explains how Spike came to own the house, about Edna, about Clem, etc.

Ta!

spikealicious


CHAPTER 80 - GRAND CANYON

It wasn't soon after Buffy and Willow had come out of the bedroom, that Xander told them that they would probably be at the Grand Canyon in about 45 minutes.

Buffy joined William back on the couch and Willow went up front to talk to Xander and Dawn.

"Miss me?"

"Always miss you," William whispered into her hair, his face lingering there for a moment, before wandering down to kiss her neck.

She closed her eyes, as her body responded to his touch, as it always did these days. Her hand tightened on his thigh, "Don't," she whispered.

"Stop me," he whispered back, in his low, sexy voice. It was their little game; they'd recently played when others were around. Buffy wondered if some part of him didn’t remember the oh-so-familiar-words from a much darker time in their history. She hoped not.

Suddenly she was aware that he'd stopped, but hadn't moved.

"What's wrong?"

He sat up and looked at her, "Nothing. I don't know...I just had a funny feeling.”

"What kind of funny feeling?" she asked, worried by the expression on his face.

"I'm not sure, felt a little nauseous all of a sudden."

"Are you still feeling it?"

He nodded.

"Maybe the greasy goodness of the fry bread didn’t sit too well in your stomach. You want to take half of a Dramamine?"

He shook his head, "No, I think I'll go use the bathroom," he said rising a bit unsteadily.

She stood up and put her arm on his.

"I'm okay, really, Elizabeth."

"Don't be a baby," she said, lightly, but kept her arm on his, until he was at the bathroom door.

Once inside the bathroom, he looked in the mirror and shook his head at himself. He grabbed a washcloth and wet it with cool water, wiping the sheen of sweat from his face, "What's the matter with you?" he asked his reflection.

A wave of dizziness hit him, and he grabbed the counter, before swinging himself over to plop down on the toilet. His head was pounding and his heart was beating fast. He put his head down between his legs, willing the feelings to abate. And then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, they did.

Buffy knocked on the door of the bathroom a few minutes later, "Are you okay, William?"

He opened the door, "I'm okay, Elizabeth," he said, looking at her face all scrunched up with worry over him.

He put his hand in her hair and caressed her face; "I'm fine. Really, it passed, whatever it was."

She smiled, "Good, I'm glad."

They walked back to the couch and he sat down, while she popped open a can of 7-Up and gave it to him, insisting he drink some.


“I’m okay,” he assured her.

“I know, just drink it, anyway. For me.”

He obliged her and took a few sips, “Think I’m going to rest my eyes a while,” he said.

“Okay,” she said, starting to move away.

“No, stay,” he said, a little too quickly.

“Of course,” she said, and sat down, she placed a pillow on her lap and motioned for him to lie down.

He looked like he was about to argue, but quickly changed his mind. She exed hed him to either lay on his back, or turn sideways so that he was facing out, but for some reason; he drew up his legs and lay facing inward, so that his face was nestled on her stomach and beneath her breasts.

She rubbed his back with one hand, while the other played gently in his hair. Once in a while, she thought she detected a little tremor go through him, then again, she wasn’t sure, but there was something about the way William was acting that was making her feel ill at ease.

William himself wasn’t sure what was going on, just that every once in a while; he was hit with nausea and a wave of heart pounding fear. If it had just been nausea, he would have just chalked it up to motion sickness, but the rest of it, he didn’t understand. That’s why he decided to curl up in Elizabeth’s lap when she offered. It had taken him half a second to fight himself over feeling like a little child or accepting the offer of comfort. Comfort won out.

“Hey, we should be at the Grand Canyon pretty soon,” Xander called out, “we’re entering Kaibab National Forest.”

Again, a wave of nausea hit William, and his heart pounded. He winced, trying to bury his face in Elizabeth’s stomach.

Buffy looked down at him, and saw him scrunch up his face, felt him pull up his legs more. She could see the pulse pounding through his skin near his temple.

“It’s okay,” she whispered to him, “we’ll be stopped soon, you’ll feel better, then.”

He didn’t answer her back, and she wasn’t sure if he had nodded off or not.

Willow walked back from the front and took a seat opposite Buffy. She looked at Buffy questioningly, her head motioning toward William.

Buffy shrugged, but her eyes showed how worried she was.

“Not feeling well?” Willow whispered.

Buffy nodded.

“Um, Xander wanted to tell you that we’re going to be at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in about 5 minutes, though it may actually take longer to get to an overlook, depending on the traffic there,” Willow said.

Buffy nodded, still idly rubbing William’s back. He stirred and turned his face upward a little to look at her.

“I’m up,” he said.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m…I don’t know. Maybe I should’ve taken half that Dramamine when you suggested it.”

“You still want it?”

“Well, we’ll be stopping in a few, right? So, maybe once I’m out of this bl…thing, I’ll feel better. Why don’t I wait and see how I feel after my feet have been on the ground for a while,” he suggested.

“That sounds like a smart idea.”

He swung his legs over the side of the couch and sat up slowly, leaning back and taking a few deep breaths.

Buffy handed him the 7-Up again, and he took a couple of sips.

He shook his head and looked at her sheepishly, “Don’t know what happened,” he said.

“Don’t apologize, you can’t help it if you’re not feeling well,” she said, feeling his head, which felt rather warm.

“Do we have a thermometer, Willow?” she asked.

“Is he running a fever?”

“He might be.”

“I’m not, I just got up and my head was against you,” he said, smiling. “Probably why it feels warm.”

“You don’t feel warm to yourself?”

“Not really.”

“Okay, but I want you to let me know if you do. Maybe you should take a couple of aspirin anyway.”

“Don’t fancy swallowing anything right now,” he said, “might not keep it down.”

“Oh, of course. We’ll just wait, then.”

“Okay,” William said, patting her hand, and trying to smile. “I’m okay, don’t worry so much about me, it’s nothing.”

She looked at him trying to gage if he was telling her the truth.

William looked at her, trying to read him. He looked over at Willow, “Tell Elizabeth she needn’t worry.”

“I can tell her, William, but I doubt it would do much good. Once Buffy sets her mind to something, that’s it. I’m afraid you’re just going to have to accept the worry-wartiness of her, until she’s sure you’re feeling better.”

He looked from Willow to Elizabeth and sighed, shaking his head, “Women!”

“Men!” they both replied at once, then started laughing.

They felt the RV slow down and looked out. They were in line, behind other vehicles on Desert View Drive, as it wound its way along the South Rim.

About ten minutes later, Dawn called out, “We’re stopping.”

“Okay, Dawn,” Buffy called back.

Once again, a wave of nausea, dizziness, and heart pounding hit William. He stood up, unsteadily, and steered himself toward the door.

Buffy looked at him questioningly. He gave her a peck on the cheek, “I’m okay,” he lied, “really, right as houses.”

“You sure?”

He nodded, “Yes, let’s go,” he gave her a smile, which she returned, making him feel better.

The parking lot was across the road, and about 200 yards from the lookout point. They got their cameras and piled out into the parking lot.

Dawn and Xander were the first ones across the road. Dawn took his arm as they reverently viewed one of the wonders of the world.

“You know, right now I’m glad I have only one eye,” Xander said.

“What? Why?” Dawn asked.

“Because if I had two to transmit to my brain all this beauty, I think it would explode,” he said, in all seriousness.

She squeezed his arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Lot different from the last crater we saw, eh, Dawn?”

It took her a half-second to figure out that what he meant. She nodded, “Sure is.”

Willow was next to join them, “Hey, let me take your picture,” she said.

Xander and Dawn turned around and Willow snapped the photo. They took turns taking pictures of each other.

Buffy and William were last to stand at the overlook. They stood in front of the gaping chasm that the Colorado River, over millions of years had forged. Saw the myriad of colors, grays, browns, pinks, reds, oranges, and everything in between. They saw the layers of rock that divided the epochs from each other.

The closer that William had come to the edge, the harder his heart pounded, and the more nauseous and dizzy he was becoming. This terrible sense of dread, of foreboding that he couldn’t shake, couldn’t voice. He gripped Elizabeth tightly around the waist, and she did the same, unaware that he was doing it to steady himself, to steer himself to the edge, not for the usual reasons he had when he hugged her to him.

They stood there for a few moments looking out, “God, William, it’s so…”

“Hey, guys, turn around,” Willow said, and as Buffy did, Willow took her picture.

“You, too, William,” she called.

He was terrified to have his back to the edge. If it hadn’t been for Elizabeth turning him around as she gripped him, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to move, he felt like he had two lead feet

“Smile,” Willow said.

He gave a wan smile and she snapped the picture.

“God, Buffy, this is fantastic. We should walk further down here on the outlook,” Willow said, motioning to her rightou cou could take our picture…”

“Sure, I’ll take your picture,” Elizabeth said.

William tried, but he was unable to keep track of the conversation, just that suddenly, Elizabeth had let go of him and was going over to where the others were.

He swayed, feeling like a leaf in a windstorm. He swallowed hard, his throat dry. “Stop being such ponce!” he berated himself, then slowly forced himself to turn back around.


“Here, you get in there with Willow and Xander, and I’ll take your picture, Buffy,” Dawn said, grabbing the camera.


William turned around and that’s when he saw them. Thousands of them; inhuman beings with unearthly, glowing eyes, and with long, shining, horrible teeth. He started stumbling backward, just as they looked up from the cavernous depths and started charging forward. He looked around him, but only saw dozens of girls, fighting the beings with swords and knives, stakes and fists, as they poured up and out. He saw death and blood and total destruction.

“Okay, now you Dawn, get in there with Willow and…”

“BUFFY!”

Buffy turned around, just as William was stumbling backwards, arms flailing as if he was fighting something.

“BUFFY!”

“SPIKE?” SPIKE, STOP!” she screamed at him, as he was just moments away from stumbling backwards onto the roadway. She took off running; reaching him just as a car horn blared. She tackled him to the ground only a couple of feet from where the car whizzed by.

Buffy landed on top him. “What’s wrong?” she yelled at him, but he didn’t answer. He was still flailing his arms, trying to get up. She struggled with him for another few minutes, before doing what she had to. She hit him. Hard.

He looked up at her, finally seeing her, “Buffy,” he barely whispered, “there were monsters…so many monsters,” he said, then fell silent.

The others had run over just as she had tackled him to the ground.

“What’s happening? What’s wrong with him?” Dawn said, standing over them.

Buffy looked up at her, “I don’t know, he was…”


“Hey, what’s wrong with your friend here? Do you need some help?” a man asked, who had just come over from across the road.

“Um, no…he just,” Buffy started, not taking her eyes off of William, who was now just staring up at nothing.

“He had a seizure,” Xander said, appearing beside her, “he’ll be fine.”

“You sure? Because I can call the Ranger. They have some first aid training…”

“Thank you for your concern,” Xander said, taking the surprised man’s hand shaking it, “but he’ll be fine in a few minutes, happens all the time.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” the man said, and started to walk away, “still think he ought to be looked at, though.”

Xander waited until the man had his back turned then looked at Buffy, “What the hell just happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Buffy said, shaking her head, “I don’t know. He said he wasn’t feeling well before, but I just thought it was motion sickness again. I think he…” she stopped.

“You think what, Buffy?” Willow asked.

She shook her head, afraid to say it aloud.

Willow caught her eye; “Can you hear me, Buffy?” Willow asked, telepathically.

“I hear you.”

“Xander?”

“Yeah, Willow, you got me ‘online,’ too.”

“What is it, Buffy?”

“The Hellmouth. I think he thought we were fighting at the Hellmouth. He mentioned monsters.”

“Oh, Buffy,” Willow said, sympathetically, looking at her and William.

“He…” she stopped, gathering her thoughts.

“He what?”

“He called me ‘Buffy,’ he never calls me Buffy, only Elizabeth,” she said to them, looking up, shock on her face.

“What are you guys doing?” Dawn asked.

“Tell you in a while, Dawn,” Willow said aloud, then turned toward Buffy, “We need to get him out of here. Do you think he can walk?”

“Uh-oh, 2 o’clock,” said Xander. They looked over and saw the man that had come over, now talking to two National Park Rangers, while pointing in their direction.

“I think this calls for something,” Willow said, and then relying on one of the first spells she had ever done, she said a few words in Latin, then said, “Freeze!”

All movement around them stopped, even the wind seemed to still.

“Let’s go,” she said.

Xander got on one side of William, while Buffy got on the other. They sat him up, then pulled him to his feet.

“There’s blood!” Dawn said, alarmed.

Buffy back to where he had been laying, “It’s from where his head was,” she said, “Oh God, I shouldn’t have…”

“You had to, Buffy. Otherwise, William here would be road-kill,” Xander said, as he supported most of William’s weight.

“Come on William, you’ll be okay. Let’s get you back to the RV and get you all fixed up,” he said.

William didn’t answer, just walked slowly forward, with Xander and Buffy’s support. Suddenly he stopped, lurched forward, and threw up.

“That’s it, buddy! You get all that bad stuff out of your system. You’ll feel better now, you’ll see,” Xander said, holding him up, while Buffy supported his head.

She looked over at Xander, gratefully. He was doling out just the right amount of sympathy, while doing what was necessary at the same time.

Dawn hurried ahead and opened the RV door.

“Let’s get him into the bedroom,” Xander said.

“Willow, can you bring me some wet towels?” Buffy asked.

“Xander do you have a first aid kit?”

“Yeah, it’s under the sink in the kitchen area.”

“I’m on it,” Dawn said.

Xander and Buffy had sat William down on the edge of the bed. He seemed to be in some sort of shock.

Willow brought in the wet towels the same time that Dawn brought in the first aid kit.

Buffy kneeled down in front of him, trying to make eye contact with him. “William,” she said softly, “I’m going to take a look at the back of your head, where you hit it, okay?”

He didn’t answer and didn’t look up at her.

“Okay then,” she said. Although his lack of response was tearing her up, she was now in ‘slayer mode,’ doing what needed to be done. Take care of the physical wounds, before worrying about any of the other stuff.

She got up from the floor and got on her knees behind him and started to wash off the blood. “It’s not a deep cut, it’s stopped bleeding already,” she said to all of them, while applying antiseptic, and a bandage, “but he’s got a pretty good sized goose egg.”

“Dawn, could you go look in the freezer? I think we have an icepack,” Xander said, “oh, and could you bring the empty, plastic ice cream tub, too?”

She came back a few seconds later with both items.

“What’s the tub for?” Buffy asked.

“In case he needs to throw up again.”

She nodded.

“Let’s get him into bed,” Xander said, “we’ll lay him on his side, in case he needs to throw up again, he can just lean over and…”

“Yeah, but what about the icepack?”

“We’ll prop some pillows between the back of his head and the icepack,” he answered.

“You’re good at this,” Buffy said, grateful to him.

“Comes with the territory.”

They all just looked at him.

“Kids,” he explained, shrugging, “always falling off something, banging themselves up, scaring you half to death. You learn to deal with minor emergencies and illnesses.”

“Thank you,” Buffy said, as Dawn and Xander pulled him to his feet so she could pull the covers back. They sat him down again. Buffy once more got behind him and pulled him toward the center of the bed.

“Hold on a minute,” Dawn said, and took off his shoes. “There you are, William. That’s better now, isn’t it?” she said, in the same voice she had used on him in thepitapital. The only difference was that in the hospital, he had answered her back.


After they had settled him onto his side, bucket within reach, and icepack wedged between a pile of pillows and his head, Xander said, “I’ve got to get us back on the road. We’re still about 100 miles from Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona.”

Buffy looked blankly at him.

“Campground we’re booked at.”

“Oh.”

Think he’ll be alright with the driving?” Xander asked.

“I don’t know, but we should get out of here; the sooner the better. He started getting sicker the closer we got. I didn’t put it together as such, but that’s what it seems like to me now. Then with him seeing…” she stopped herself from saying more.

Xander nodded, “Yeah, and if he really does need a doctor, we’ll have better luck finding a hospital in Flagstaff than around here.”

“No! No hospitals!” Buffy said.

“Just saying…”

“No, I’ll take care of him, no hospitals,” she repeated, adamantly.

“Okay, Buffy. Whatever you say,” Xander said, giving her a reassuring pat on the arm before leaving the bedroom.


“Dawn,” can you watch William for a minute? I need to talk to Willow,’ she said. She had called him Spike after he had called her Buffy, outside at the overlook, but somehow, she couldn’t just bring herself to start referring to him as Spike, not before knowing for sure, if all of his memories were returning, or if this was some sort of aberration. Aberration? Poor William! Poor Spike! Poor herself!

“Sure, be glad to,” Dawn answered, sitting down on the edge of the bed, just as the RV started moving. Buffy looked over at William, but he hadn’t made any movement or indication that he knew what was going on. She shook her head and motioned for Willow to follow her.

Buffy stopped and turned once she’d gotten to the kitchen galley, “What the hell is happening, Willow?” she asked, running her hands through her hair, “what the hell is happening?”

“I don’t know Buffy. I wish I did,” she said, looking out the window, and just in time, saw the people in the parking lot still frozen by her spell. “Oops, hold on,” she said as she reversed the spell. “There, that’s better.”

Willow turned back toward Buffy, “You said William was getting sick and it increased the closer we got to the canyon?”

Buffy nodded.

“But if he was getting sick anyway, wouldn’t that just be the course; starts out with a little feeling and increases more?”

“Of course, and that’s what I thought, too. At first, but there was something about the way he was acting that made me feel he wasn’t telling me everything, that is, if he could even express what it was he was feeling. I think he was covering up how badly he was feeling for my sake. Maybe I even let him convince me,” she said, sadly.

“Stop blaming everything on yourself, Buffy.”

She looked at Willow, “You’re right. It’s not going to help him if I stop for a ‘pity party,’ anyway, is it? So, here’s what we think we know; he got sicker as we came closer to the canyon, either related or unrelated. I’m going with the first, and if it is related, why? Because something inside of him was sensing that something would remind him of the Hellmouth? Again, why? I can sort of see why looking into the canyon reminded him of the Hellmouth, but why would he sense it beforehand? Is he getting his memories back?”

Willow thought for a moment before answering her, “I don’t know, but it appears that there’s something of Spike’s memories inside of William, so we know that he isn’t just William from the 1880’s; not if he’s channeling some of Spike’s experiences. Or it’s something else, altogether? I really don’t know.”

“As for why he would sense it, my guess is that the canyon, because its size and its age, might carry some sort of energy.”

Buffy looked at her blankly.

Willow continued, “Old, ancient memories, as old and ancient as the Hellmouth’s were. I mean all things have their own energies, good/bad, negative/positive, yin/yang…so maybe it was that energy that was exerting some sort of pull on William. Not that the canyon is good or bad, just that William, because of who he was, what he did, what he is, was affected by it. All things are connected, every molecule, every atom, they’re all a part of each other, a part of us…maybe he’s just more connected now. Just a theory.”

“Did the Shanshu Prophecy say anything about it?” Buffy asked.

“No. It didn’t say anything about what the Shanshu will experience, in regards to his ‘humanness,’ his memories,” Willow said shrugging.

“What about the part of the prophecy that you couldn’t read? Do you think there’s anything in there about this? Maybe you could check?” Buffy asked, hopefully.

“Um…I don’t think it has anything to do with this.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t, it’s just they way it was reading up to that point, it didn’t seem like it was leading in that direction,” Willow said, feeling guilty about what she knew, yet couldn’t tell.

“Well, would you just check it out for me? Please? There might be something that will help me to help him…adjust…when we get back.”

“I’ll check it out.”

“That is, if he comes out of the state he’s in now,” Buffy said, shuddering.

“I’m sure he will,” Willow said.

Buffy didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes. Absentmindedly, she strummed her fingers on the counter, “When we down in the Hellmouth battling the First, just as the amulet he was wearing started to activate, moments before the light shot out from it, Spike called out to me, just like he did back there at the canyon. He called out Buffy.”

“I know. I heard him, I mean back at the canyon. That must have been shocking for you,” Willow said, sympathetically.

Buffy nodded, “It was, and he sounded so scared Willow. Not back then, but now. So scared,” she said, wiping a tear that had found its way down her cheek.


“Buffy!” Dawn called.

Buffy and Willow hurried back to the bedroom.

“He started to shake a few minutes ago,” Dawn said, motioning over to the bed.

“Why didn’t you call me?” Buffy asked, going over to the bed, where William lay shivering.

“I did, Buffy,” Dawn said, exasperated, “it was only a little at first, then as soon as it started getting worse, I called you.”

“I’m sorry. Of course you did,” she said, pulling the blankets higher up and tucking them around him. She put her hand on his forehead; it felt more or less normal.

“Maybe the icepack is making him cold,” Dawn suggested.

“Could be, but I don’t want to remove it yet. Listen, you guys can go up there with Xander, I’ll stay with William.”

“You sure you don’t want us to stay?” Willow asked.

“No, I’ll be alright, I’ll call if I need you.”

“Okay, we’ll check back with you in a little while.”

As soon as they’d left, she pulled up the covers on the opposite side, loosening those she’d tucked around him and lay down next to him. He was still shivering, his eyes opened, but unfocused.

“William,” she sighed, “it’s just me. Elizabeth,” she said to him, hoping he would hear her, not wanting to startle him.

She pulled him towards her, and wrapped her arms around him. She forced his legs, which were bent, down, so she could give him the most body contact and warmth as possible.

He lay shaking in her arms, as she rubbed his back and whispered comforting words to him; “It’s going to be alright, William. You’re safe. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

Finally, after they’d been driving for what seemed to be close to an hour, his shaking seemed to lessen, then finally it stopped. He had closed his eyes a while back, she wasn’t sure if he was actually asleep or not, but was glad that he was resting more comfortably now.

She tentatively moved the icepack off his head and felt for the bump. It seemed to have gone down quite a bit. She sighed in relief.

“That’s it, William, you rest now,” she murmured, kissing the top of his head, which rested below her chin.

“You rest now, so you can come back to me,” she whispered, exhausted, as the tears she’d been holding back, fell onto his hair, “please, come back to me.”

END CHAPTER 80