Danger

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She guided her mother to sit on her bed as she moved around the room, opening the curtains and placing her bag down on a chair. Her mother had finally been given the okay to go home and she was so relieved to have her mother back where she needed her. The previous night had been a long one as she had worried so much alternatively about her mother and about Riley’s reaction and even Spike’s embrace could not soothe her enough.

Instead, she had spent a restless night curled up against him on his sofa, dozing for short periods as the television murmured in the background. He hardly slept either and she left him early in the morning to go and meet her mother, urging him to sleep and promising to see him later. She began to put her mother’s clothes away, but stopped abruptly when her mother spoke up.

“You’re in love with him.”

She froze and stood, still facing away from her mother.

“Me and Riley-“

“I wasn’t talking about Riley.”

She sagged and placed the top she had been folding aimlessly on top of the dresser, smoothing it out mindlessly.

“We broke up.”

“Because of Spike?”

“Yes and no,” she answered with a sad laugh.



She fell silent and dropped her head, biting her lip to control herself. Suddenly, she felt her mother’s hands on her shoulders and she turned towards her hesitantly. Joyce reached up and brushed her hair away from her face.

“I love you, Buffy, and I want you to be happy more than anything.”

“He’s a vampire,” she murmured weakly.

“I know. And there was a time when that would have scared me...But I know Spike...and I can see how much he cares for you.”

She raised her eyes and met her mother’s open, honest gaze.

“He loves you, Buffy. I think he has for longer than he even knows.”

“It’s so complicated though, Mom. I...I tried to be normal...to have a normal life.”

“My beautiful girl, there’s no such thing as normal.”

With a smile, Buffy collapsed into her mother’s arms, hugging her tightly as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I love him so much, Mom.”

“Oh, honey.”

“I tried not to. I know it was wrong.”

Her mother pulled back and cupped her face in her hands, her eyes soft with concern.

“Buffy, you want to be with him. There’s nothing wrong in that. Do you hear me? I told you once to follow your heart and I meant it.”

She nodded numbly and sank against her mother again.



“I’m so afraid of losing him,” she whispered, curled up against her mother where she lay on her bed, “What if I’m not good enough for him?”

“How could you not be? You’re a beautiful young girl. You’re sweet and you’re strong...and I’m so proud of you.”

She closed her eyes, basking in her mother’s praise. Suddenly though, her eyes snapped open as a flash of agonising pain went through her.

“Oh God!” she cried out, jumping to her feet.

“Buffy?” her mother called, panicked, “Buffy, what is it?”

“It’s Spike!” she got out, pulling on her shoes roughly, “He’s...someone’s hurting him. I have to go.”

She grabbed her jacket from the chair and threw it on, struggling to get her arms into it and heading for the door.

“Buffy!” her mother called out and she paused for a moment, turning to her, “Be careful.”

She nodded and rushed out of the room, running down the stairs and out of the door, using every bit of Slayer speed to propel her across town to Spike’s crypt.



She had a pretty good idea who would be trying to hurt Spike and it spurred her on even more. She reached the crypt and burst through the door, stopping as she spotted blood on the floor by Spike’s armchair, which was upturned.

“Spike?” she called shakily.

She heard a groan coming from behind the sarcophagus and rushed towards it, rounding it- and freezing as she spotted Riley. He was bleeding from a deep wound in his neck and seemed to be bordering on unconsciousness. She had no time to worry about him though and she righted herself again, scanning the room.

“Spike?!”

She spotted the closed trapdoor and went to it, hauling it open and dropping to the dark room below. She sensed Spike immediately and heard a moan from his bed.

“Spike?” she whispered fearfully.

“Buffy,” he choked out and with a suppressed cry, she moved to the bed, reaching out and finding him in the darkness.

“Oh God, Spike. What happened?” she got out, holding his hand tightly as her other hand found his face- only to find it covered with a wet liquid. He moaned again and she got to her feet.

“One minute, baby,” she whispered, “I just need to light some candles. I can’t see anything.”

He groaned and she quickly found his lighter, moving around and lighting the candles. She lit the last one and noticed with horror the blood staining her hand. She whirled back round to face Spike and was almost sick at the sight of him.



“Oh, Spike,” she gasped, moving back to his side and taking his hand- much gentler than before. He was covered in blood, half of his face stained red from a cut on his head and his clothes bloody and dirty. Looking over towards the ladder, she could see where he had tumbled to his bed and collapsed.

“Oh, baby,” she whispered, reaching out and stroking his cheek gently, “What happened?”

She could see that he was having difficulty speaking and one eye was swollen and bruised so much she doubted he could see out of it as he turned his head painfully towards her.

“Ri-ley.”

“I know. I saw.”

“Is he...” Dead?

“No,” she answered, only half-realising that the end of his question had been in his head, not out loud.

She took another look at him and swallowed hard.

“Do you think you can move?”

He gave her a painful half-shrug, his one good eye shutting as he grimaced in pain.

“I don’t want to leave you here...with him. I need to get you home...get you fixed up.”

He nodded helplessly and she moved closer, carefully threading her arm around him and lifting him into a sitting position. He groaned loudly and she bit her lip, hating how much pain was in.

“I’ll be as gentle as I can...but I don’t want to wait.”

He nodded again and she hefted him to his feet as he moaned and almost collapsed again. She wrapped an arm around his waist tightly, draping his arm across her shoulders and holding onto it tightly.

“It’s gonna be okay, baby.”



Somehow, she managed to get Spike across town- probably helped by the fact that he kept slipping into unconsciousness- and stumbled up the steps of her porch.

“Mom?!” she cried out as she managed to open the door and push it open with her shoulder, her arm still wrapped around Spike.
She guided him inside as he moaned lowly, lolling against her helplessly. She heard footsteps and her mother appeared on the steps. As soon as she saw Spike, she let out a gasp and hurried down the stairs to them.

“Oh God, Buffy, what happened?!”

“Riley,” she choked out, “I need to fix him up.”

“Get him to the spare room, I’ll get some things.”

Being as gentle as possible, she got him up the stairs and helped him onto the bed in the spare room. She eased off his heavy boots and put them by the side of the bed, her worried eyes running over him.

“Spike, are you still with me, baby?” she whispered, moving to his side again and touching his cheek.

He groaned again and she shut her eyes, feeling his pain as if it were her own.

“We’re going to make you all better, ‘kay?” she breathed, desperately trying to hold back her tears, “He won’t hurt you again.”

She took his hand in hers, stroking it gently, trying to subdue her body’s helpless trembling.



Her mother appeared and soon took over, cleaning his wounds and bandaging his ribs as Buffy sat by helplessly, her hand still clutching his tightly. He had fallen unconscious again and she was almost glad, hoping it would help him to heal quicker.

“Will he need blood?” her mother asked worriedly, laying a hand on Buffy’s shoulder as she rose to her feet.

“Yeah,” Buffy whispered, her eyes meeting her mother’s.

Her mother said nothing but nodded in understanding and soon left the room after reminding Buffy to get some rest herself. After her mother had left the room, Buffy stretched out on the bed beside Spike, her hand clinging to his as she rested her head on the pillow beside him.

“S’gonna be okay,” she whispered, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek.

She ran her hand over his bruised face and finally settled down beside him, her eyes fixed on him until finally she felt sleep calling her.