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Animal Nature by beanie
 
Reinforcements
 
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A/N: Sorry this update took so long. School and RL have really been kicking my butt. Thanks for sticking with me.

Chapter 6: Reinforcements

Spike paced in front of the foyer with his fists clenched at his sides, his knuckles white from the amount of pressure he was exerting. He had smoked through his entire pack of cigarettes an hour ago and he desperately needed something to relieve his irritation. He did not want to face what was coming. The thought of it brought him stress and worry, for himself as well as for Buffy.

In less than an hour, Giles was arriving at the airport.

The gang had already gone to the airport to greet him. Spike had received a call from Willow, telling him the time Giles was to arrive and that everyone would be meeting at Revello Drive when he got there. That was the reason he was now out of cigarettes.

Since last night, things with Buffy had been calm and quiet. After Dawn had cleaned her and Spike had wrapped her hands, she curled up on her bed and fell asleep. Spike knew she must have been exhausted from the events of the day; he knew he was. Instead of sleeping, however, he had stayed with her for a little while, watching her sleep and monitoring her breathing.

At one point during the night, she became restless. She started to scream and thrash on the bed, tears making wet trails down her cheeks. Immediately, he had wrapped her in his arms, whispering loving words to her and trying to calm her. He expected there to be nightmares. She had experienced something traumatic, and no matter where she had been, it would take a while for her to come to terms with being alive once more.

As he gently rubbed her back, rocking her like the scared child she resembled, she calmed down. Her breathing returned to normal as her heart rate slowed to a calmer pace. He sighed unnecessarily, happy that she seemed to be okay. He was even more reluctant to leave her after her nightmare, but he knew a night without sleep would have consequences, and he needed to be strong.

He eventually wandered downstairs to sleep on the couch, where he would hear Buffy or Dawn, if either were in trouble. Luckily, all three slept soundly through the night.

Up until this point, the day had been relatively stress-free. Buffy seemed to have calmed down immensely from the day before. Though she still hadn’t spoken, she had started to resemble her old self. A few times throughout the day, Spike had noticed familiar mannerisms in the small blonde: scrunching up her nose in dislike, a familiar look in her eyes when she disagreed with something. Even her stubbornness had made a cameo around lunch when she refused to eat what he had cooked.

It seemed that since he had rescued her from the tower, she was becoming more and more comfortable around him and Dawn. She was still somewhat jumpy, but that was understandable considering the circumstances. He just hoped she would continue making progress and that Giles arrival wouldn’t set her back.

Spike glanced into the living room where Dawn and Buffy were sitting on the couch. Buffy appeared to be on edge, probably caused by his nervous vibes. He knew she felt safe around Dawn and him, but the Scoobies were a different story. She knew they had put her in the position she was in now and she did nothing to try to hide her feelings of betrayal.

He jumped when he heard a car door slam out side. Running a hand through his blonde locks, Spike gritted his teeth. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now, but it was necessary to find out why Buffy had acted the way she had.

The headlights of the car shut off as five shadows made their way across the lawn towards the house. “Now or never, mate,” Spike mumbled to himself before opening the door for the group to enter.

“Giles.” Spike nodded in the Watcher’s direction as he walked through the threshold.

“Captain Peroxide, how is she?” was Xander’s greeting.

“Worse, I ‘spect, since you lot arrived,” the vampire replied while closing the door.

“Hey Buffy, we’re back. How are you?” Willow smiled politely at her best friend.

The blonde in question just looked at the group with wide eyes, unsure of how to react to their presence. Dawn wrapped a comforting arm around her sister’s shoulders.

“She still hasn’t said anything,” Dawn finally said when Willow looked disappointed at Buffy’s lack of response.

“Apart from that, how has she been today? Better I hope.” This came from Giles as he cleaned his glasses with a worn rag.

“Yeah. Still a little jumpy, but she’s calmed down since last night,” Spike answered from the doorway. His hands were in his duster pockets as he leaned against the wall. He had felt completely at home in the house with Dawn and Buffy there, but now with the rest of the gang there, he felt out of place and unwanted.

“Good. Good,” Giles said distractedly while putting his glasses back on and looking at Buffy.

When he didn’t say anything else, Spike felt obligated to give him more information, “She, uh, had a spell last night. Was cryin’ an’ thrashin’ around in her sleep. I got her to settle down and she was fine after that.”

“That’s to be expected, considering,” Giles replied.

In the meantime, Xander had moved to sit on the couch and Buffy had jumped in fear. She glared at him with cold eyes and made a threatening noise under her breath.

Xander looked hurt by her reaction. “Hey, Buff. It’s just me. The Xan-Man. No need to go all Hyde on me.”

Spike rolled his eyes at Xander’s stupidity and lashed out at the other man, “She doesn’t trust you, wanker. Can’t you see that? Get off the couch. Give her some soddin’ space!”

Xander glared but said nothing as he stood up from the couch.

“Are you completely mad?!” Giles’ angry voice broke the silence a few minutes later, “Were you even thinking when you did this?”

“We thought we were helping her,” Willow argued.

“This was a reckless and ignorant act. I would have expected more from you, especially you, Willow,” The watcher glared at the witch, his comment making it painfully obvious how disappointed he was in them. At that moment, Willow could say nothing to defend herself, and silently wished for the Hellmouth to open and swallow her. Tara rubbed her girlfriend’s arm soothingly, though she partly agreed with Giles. “You acted as children.”

“We couldn’t just leave her there, Giles!” Xander yelled.

“This does not concern what you should and should not have done. You tampered with powerful magics that can have disastrous consequences. You’re fortunate you didn’t open a portal to a hell dimension!” Giles sighed, closing his eyes and pinching his nose, “You should have contacted me first.”

“Well, you’re contacted now. How do we fix this?” Spike, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet until this point, spat, annoyed by the arguing and impatient to discover exactly why Buffy was acting the way she was.

Giles removed his glasses for the second time that night to clean them while saying, “From everything I’ve been told, this is a favorable consequence. I will have to research it further, but it seems Buffy has drawn into herself, allowing her Slayer tendencies to act for her. It is how she is managing the trauma.”

“Will she ever come out of it?” Dawn queried.

“In time, she will learn to live normally again, I believe she will come back to herself. However, the process cannot be forced. You must let her recover in her own time.”

“Is there anything we can do to move the process along?” Xander ventured, somewhat hesitantly.

“I would suggest giving Buffy her space. Do not crowd her, and be wary for signs of fear. Keep her here, where she feels safest.”

“That means Spike, you have to stay. She trusts you the most out of everyone here,” Dawn explained from her place on the couch.

Giles glanced up quickly, looking at Spike with questioning eyes, “Is that true? She trusts you?” His surprise was evident in his voice.

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic, Rupert.” Spike said, stepping away from the wall and walking towards the couch to sit next to Buffy.

“Interesting,” Giles mumbled to himself, before saying louder, “Well, I think this has been enough excitement for one night. I propose we meet tomorrow at the Magic Box for research.”

“I concur,” Dawn agreed while standing up to open the door, showing without words that the meeting was over.

The rest of the group was smart enough not to fight Dawn and the two angry Brits in the room. They headed out the door, heads bent in shame, like children in trouble with their parents.

Giles paused at the doorway and hugged Dawn, “It’s good to see you Dawn. I’m sorry it is under these circumstances.”

“Thanks, Giles.” Dawn gave him a squeeze before stepping back to let him leave the house and closing the door.
 
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