His Slayer

CHAPTER 13

Xander and Dawn followed the nurse into the Toxicology ICU on the third floor of Sunnydale Memorial Hospital. "Ving ing hours haven't really started yet, but Dr. Williams left a note saying you were to be allowed in first thing when Ms. Summers was out of post-op. Regular hours start at 9 AM and are only 'til 3 PM for ICU patients," he said. "If there are any problems we're right out there."

Xander nodded thanks, then looked at Buffy. *She looks awful.* Xander didn't say a word, just took in Buffy's mottled gray skin tone, and all the tubes stuck...everywhere. One across her nose. Another down her throat. IVs in both arms. And a tube ran from a plastic bottle below the bed up under the blanket that covered the Slayer's lower body. "Dawnie, you know, maybe we should wait outside--"

"No! She's my sister and I'll bloody well stay here until she wakes up."

*Wonderful effect Spike was having on the kid.* "Okay, but I'm going to call and check in with the G-man, all right?"

"Yeah, Xander, that'd be good. And see if he's heard from Spike yet."

*That was actually my main concern.* Xander walked out of Buffy's room towards the nurse's station.


* * *

Spike pushed the 200-pound manhole cover up and out of the way, then poked his head up and looked around. The large industrial park buildings on one side of the street threw shadows that just covered the open manhole. Not that Spike wouldn't have walked a hundred yards at high noon to help Buffy get better. He went back down the ladder and came up again, slowly. He placed his burden on the pavement with surprising gentleness.

*I'll call the watcher and we'll get the claw to the hospital. Got to get the claw to the hospital.* He refused to look down at Faith, lying cold and motionless in the street. Not just yet.


* * *

The phone's second ring brought Giles' head up off the books on the table, leaving an imprint from the cover of McKendall's 'Demon Spawn of the Lower Planes' on the left side of his face. He shuffled to the counter to pick up the phone before Anya's message kicked in. *Really must learn how to change that bloody message.* "Magic Box. Giles speaking."

"Rupert. Come get me an..."

"Spike, what's wrong?"

"Faith's dead, Rupert."

*Dear Lord.* "Where are you?"

"We're in the gas station that's being remodeled over on 7th and Mueller. And Rupert, bring a blanket. Two."

"Of, of course, Spike. Were you, ah, successful in the mission?"

"Got the demon's soddin' claw. Don't think the Slayer dyin' qualifies as a success."

"Certainly, Spike. I'm sorry. I'll be there in ten minutes."


* * *

Nine minutes and forty-one seconds later, Giles' Honda pulled up next to the former 76 station. He pulled two blankets from the rear seat, and walked up the gate in the fence. He noticed the gate had been pushed so hard it bent, leaving an opening wide enough for a man. And his burden. Giles followed the blood trail to the bathroom on the shaded south side of the station. He pushed the door in slowly, noting the lock had been kicked open.

Inside on the floor of the bathroom sat William the Bloody, former Master Vampire of Sunnydale. In his lap he cradled the body of one Faith Summers, former Vampire Slayer. A demon's partially wrapped claw lay in the corner, trailing green blood into a drain in the floor.

Spike looked up at Giles. "I hope it's worth it, mate."


* * *

They raced to the hospital. Spike had already called and gotten a hold of Dr. Williams' answering service to let him know they were on the way. They said they would contact him immediately. Spike had re-wrapped the severed claw in a piece of raincoat from Giles trunk. *Trust an Englishman to have a raincoat in a town where it rains eight inches a year.* Faith's body, wrapped in the rest of the raincoat, lay in the trunk.

"Rupert?" The voice was slightlffleffled by the blanket over the figure in the back seat.

"Yes?"

"We need a cover story about the...about Faith."

"What did you have in mind Spike?"

"Bear attack?"

"In this town? Of course, Principal Snyder passed off your attack on the school as 'gang on PCP' so I suppose anything might fly."

"Hope so, mate. It just didn't feel right to leave her body to be gnawed by rats or discovered by garbage collectors."

"Quite right, Spike, e rie right." Giles glanced back at Spike out of the corner of his eye. *It really is remarkable. Of course, Spike was not a typical vampire before being resouled, but there was something indefinably different about him now. His concern for Faith was just the latest manifestation of that difference.*

Spike peered out from under the blanket. "Quit staring at me and drive, Rupert."

"Sorry." Different didn't mean polite, of course.


* * *

CHAPTER 14

"Help, we need a doctor here!" Giles had pulled up under the overhead that sheltered the emergency room entrance from the Sunnydale sun. *As if this town isn't vampire-friendly enough with the damned Hellmouth.*

Spike was just thankful that it was a different crew from the previous night. That would have been more awkward. "Need a bloody stretcher here, people!" Spike and Giles both knew from previous experience that the Slayer's body temperature was far to low for a person to be alive. They merely had to act like they thought she had a chance.

"She was...she was outt tht the junkyard, near the woods. A bear! A bear got her! Please help her!" Giles waved his arms frantically. One of the nurses who came out of the fast track area actually had to dodge a flailing limb.

Spike glanced over at the Watcher who was gesturing emphatically. *No need to overdo it, pillock.* Spike gently laid Faith down on the gurney, and looked on as she was whisked away into the depths of the ER. "Rupert..." Spike nodded towards the exit.

"Certainly, Spike. Go to the toxicology lab. I'll meet you in Buffy's room after answering many questions here, I'm sure." Giles turned away and headed for the triage desk.

Spike stayed on the covered walkway as he jogged around to the front of the building. He stopped at the information desk. "Toxicology lab. Which floor, which way?"

The pleasant blue-haired lady behind the information smi smiled. "Well, do you see that bank of elevators there?"

"Thanks!"

"No, that's not them. You go down the hall past them, take the second left..."

Her voice faded as Spike sprinted towards the elevators. The door on the elevator going up was starting to close. "Hold the bloody lift!" Someone hit the 'hold' button and thors ors reopened letting the vampire slip inside...to an elevator that had a mirror on the back wall. *Bloody hell!*


* * *

Spike got off the first time the elevator doors opened. He didn't want to look back to see if any of the other passengers had recognized his condition. Spike strode rapidly down the hall The second time he stuck his head into an office he got an informed response. Shouting thanks over his shoulder he took off down the hall again. *Left at the next hall, up the stairs one floor, down the hall on the right hand side.* He repeated the mantra in his head.

Spike arrived in the toxicology lab just in time to interrupt Derek, the lab tech, who was having 'morning coffee donudonut break' at the front desk in the lab. Strictly against policy. "Hey, mate, this here's for Buffy Summers' blood workup."

"I'm on break." Derek scar had had time to finish his sentence before he found himself lifted from his seat by his shirt front. The he was up, barely on the tips of his toes, looking down at a very pissed off Billy Idol wanna-be.

"My girl's in bad shape, mate, and I'd appreciate it if you could take this 'ere specimen as soon as you're finished with your break."

All Derek's cuer ser service training from working at Bucky's Fondue Hut in high school came rushing back in a surge of adrenaline-fueled inspiration. "Actually, sir, my break just finished, and I'd be more than pleased to take the specimen of ...whatever it is you have there."

Spike put the tech back on his feet. "Put yer gloves on, mate. The doc thinks it's some nasty stuff." Spike waited until Derek returned, properly gloved, with an oversize specimen container. After sealing the claw inside, Spike asked if Derek knew where the Toxicology ICU was.


* * *

Spike strode into the ICU and stopped at the desk. A serious-looking nurse pointed him to the second room on the right. Spike walked in, first noting the presence of Xander and Dawn, before his eyes settled on Buffy. His unbeating hear leapt into his throat. "What the bloody hell's going on here? Why isn't she being helped?"

"Spike!" The youngest Summers jumped to her feet and ran to him. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face in the shoulder of his filthy duster. Her voice was uneven. "They said... they said they needed to wait before they tried another treatment."

Xander looked at Spike, then the empty doorway. "Where's Faith?"

Spike looked at Xander, momentarily at a loss for words. "Look, Harris. I'm really sorry. She didn't make it."

"What? Don't fuck with me Spike. This shit isn't funny!"

"I'm sorry, mate. Rupert and I just brought her into the ER downstairs. She and I caught up with the bastard that did this to Buffy, but...

Xander didn't hear any more. He blasted out the door on his way downstairs, narrowly missing a nurse who was coming to see what the disturbance was.

"If you can't quiet down, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

Spike turned his head to face the nurse. He still had Dawn wrapped around him and sobbing. Spike let just enough of his face slip so that his eyes turned yellow. "No problem. They're just upset. Now LEAVE.”

The nurse stopped, decided it the patient was fine, and left, all within an extremely short time span. "Please try to keep the noise down" was thrown over her retreating shoulder in an attempt to save her pride.

Dawn looked up at Spike, her eyes puffy. "Is Faith really dead?"

"'Fraid so, Bit. She did real good, though. Took out the bloody bastard with her dyin' breath. That's how I got a piece for the docs to study."

"Oh." Dawn looked over at her sister, then back at Spike. "Is Buffy going to die?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it."


* * *

When Xander got down to the ER Giles was still answering questions. The secretary was finished, but a police officer had arrived, and was busy recording Giles' answers. The policeman closed his notebook, and looked up. "Thank you Mr. Giles. We'll be contacting you within the next 24 hours. We'd appreciate it if you didn't leave town."

"Certainly. Good day."

"No, it's not," said Xander. "Where is she?"

"Xander, I'm terribly sorry. Faith's dead."

"I need to see her for myself."

Giles looked at Xander for a moment, then went over and spoke to the triage nurse. He returned to Xander after a few minutes of quiet talking. "Xander, they'll only let family see the body--"

"I don't care!"

"--but Dawn's on the way down, and as Faith's step-sister, she can get you in." Giles looked at Xander sadly. "You know, she died doing a good thing, to help Buffy."

Xander was more subdued. "I don't care. I just want to see her."


* * *

Dawn stood outside the ER's small viewing room, facing AWAY. Xander had asked to be alone with Faith, and Dawn didn't want to be anywhere near another dead body. Somewhere near this room was the hospital's morgue, where she had seen her mother. She thought Tara had been taken there, too. It was taking every last bit of self-control she had not to run screaming from the hospital.

Xander stood inside the room, quietly gazing down at Faith. The body bag was unzipped only far enough to show her face. Xander figured the hospital staff had seen way too many people freak out at the sight of their loved ones' mangled bodies. Finally, he began to speak to her.

"Faith, I know you probably can't hear me, but I'm proud of you. Spike says you did good, and you know, he's not one for the compliments. I'm proud of you, baby. You've been doing so well; why'd you have to go and die? I was just starting to feel like we were really getting along, getting the past behind us, you know? And now? I know you're in a better place. Buffy said it was great, and I'm sure they'll be glad to have a smart, gorgeous, evil-fighter like you there. I love you." Xander bent down and kissed Faith on the forehead. He stood, wiped the tears from his face, and walked out to meet Dawn.


* * *

Giles looked up at the bell as Dawn walked into the Magic Box.

"Spike called from the hospital. He wanted us to meet him there to speak with Buffy's doctor."

"I see," Giles responded tiredly. Two days since Spike carried Faith out of the tunnels. Two days of no more sleep than a few minutes at a stretch. Two days of wasted time. Dozens of volumes explored and discarded. Occult experts consulted. It was a measure of how desperate Giles was that he had managed to fire up Willow's old computer and search the Internet. All for nothing. At least nothing good. All confirmation of what he had been dreading. There was nothing that could be done for Buffy.

"So, how's the research going?"

"Slowly, Dawn. I still have some texts to consult." *Which will have nothing to say except how to cast love spells or find buried treasure.* "And I'm still waiting for the rabbi to call back from Jerusalem." *Who has been insane nearly as long as I've been a Watcher.* "Where's Xander?"

Dawn frowned. "In the car. Staring. Not talking."

"I hadn't thought Faith's death would hit him so hard."

"They were...trying to fix old mistakes. I think it was going well." Then, in a whisper: "Giles, I think he loved her."

"Oh. I hadn't realized..." Hean fan furiously cleaning his glasses. "Well, should we be going now? Do you think Xander's safe to drive, or should I?"


* * *

The rest of the group stood outside the door of Buffy's room, trying to ignore the argument going on three feet away. Giles polished his glasses. Dawn kicked at a laundry bin. Xander stared into nothingness.

"What do you mean you can't identify the toxin? It doesn't bloody well matter! Just find something that'll stop it!" Spike was radiating anger in waves.

Dr. Williams looked solemn. "I'm sorry Spike, but there's nothing else we can do. We tried transfusions of both plasma and whole blood. We put her on dialysis. We tried broad-spectrum antibiotics. I even prayed for her. Nothing so far has worked, and I'd be lying to you if I said something else might work. At the rate she's deteriorating she won't last another day."

The doctor looked at Spike speculatively. "I want to show you something." Dr. Williams held his closed hand out to Spike. When he opened his fist, Spike instinctively caught the small object. Which burned his hand.

"Bloody hell, you bastard!" Spike threw the crucifix across the room.

"I thought so." Dr. Williams didn't run, or pull out a stake, or even have the decency to look panicked. "Buffy. She's special, isn't she? And not just to all of you."

"Damn straight, you pillock."

"And you could save her from this, couldn't you?"

"That's not saving, mate. That's damnation."

The doctor considered the vampire "But you could make her like you? She'd live forever?"

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be her. Not really. And I love her too much to do that to her." They looked at each other for a while, each trying to see into the soul of the other.

Finally the doctor spoke. "You're a good person, Spike." Then Dr. Williams turned and quietly left the room.


* * *

"Third time's the charm baby, third time's the charm." Spike whispered quietly to Buffy in the dimness of the hospital room. He knew this time there would be no miraculous resuscitation, no magical restoration. She was gone from this world forever. He held his bright Slayer for a long, long, time, until there was no more heat in her body than there was in his. Then William the Bloody, killer of two Slayers, and a thousand other people, walked away from the body of his soul-mate. He did not tear a swath of bloody death through the hospital. He didn't feed on the blood of the newborn. He did not even kill the mail delivery boy who tipped over a cart onto him while coming around a corner as Spike walked out. All these things he had reveled in as a soulless monster he did not do now. His final tribute to Her was to do nothing. He simply walked away.


* * *