~*~

The Scoobies were crowded into the small waiting room of Sunnydale General Hospital awaiting word on Willow’s condition. Her vital signs had stabilized, but she was still not awake.

Buffy had yet to join the group and Giles was beginning to become worried for his Slayer as well as for Willow.

Xander looked as pale as any vampire that Giles had ever seen. Tara was doing her best to keep him holding onto positive thoughts. "Xander, I know it might sound crazy, but we really do create energy by our emotions and thoughts. Right now,
Willow needs all the positive energy she can get. We aren’t doctors, but we can help her by just making sure she has all that she needs and that includes the energy to heal".

Giles had always believed that to be true, but so much had happened in the last few years he decided to bite back the cynical words that nearly choked him. Perhaps it was seeing another young woman he cared for very much plummet from the skies and crash into the pavement in front of him that was making that battle with Glory so fresh in his memory. He heartily hoped that Buffy would soon arrive and he could get THAT image from his head, at least.

The doctor finally came out and approached Giles. "Excuse me, are you Miss Rosenberg’s father?", he asked.

"No. I am a close family friend, however. Willow’s parents are not in town at the moment", Giles answered nervously.

"Well, we have her condition stabilized and will be moving her into intensive care in a few moments. You might want to contact her family in case her condition changes and decisions need to be made", Dr. Ward suggested.

"Decisions, decisions….what decisions are we not making here?" Xander broke in. "I’ve known Willow for, like, forever. Any decisions to be made will be made by HER. Her parents don’t even know what she looks like half the time. How about…I decide? Yeah, I decide that Willow wakes up and gets the hell out of here, how’s that for a decision?!".. Xander had risen from his seat by the window and was advancing on the
startled doctor, frustration and worry rolling off him in waves.

At that point, Buffy moved forward and took Xander by the arm, stopping his advance. No one had noticed her slip into the room as the doctor made his comments.

"Sorry Dr. um, Ward?" Tara interrupted. "I’m Willow’s sister, what sort of decision are you talking about? Maybe I can help you". The lie rolled off of Tara’s tongue with the surprising ease born of desperation.

"Well, Miss Rosenberg, Willow has been badly injured. I understand the injuries were caused in some sort of vehicle hit and run? She has suffered multiple broken bones and internal bleeding. All of that will heal. It is the injury to her skull that is of concern. She is currently in an induced coma. We feel Willow has the best chance of having her brain heal with the minimum of residual damage if we give it a chance to … well … sort of rest, actually. The problem is that we aren’t sure just how much damage there might be. The brain is a funny thing. Sometimes it can take brutal blows-- bullets, impaling, unbelievable trauma--and still come through with little or no negative impact. Other times, a single blow can destroy a once fine mind. We won’t know, of course, until your sister begins to come around and we can start the tests. It’s possible that the damage will be severe enough to require long term full care. Someone with legal authority will need to be available to make a decision as to placement if that is the case", he explained.

"Well, if it is only a question of placement, I can tell you now that Willow stays with me. Where I am, Willow is. If she needs to be cared for, tended, dressed, bathed, fed..whatever she needs, I will take care of it. You don’t have to worry, Dr. Ward, Willow HAS a place and it’s with me", Tara said. Her level, no-nonsense gaze stopped any further arguments from the doctor.

"Yes, well, that may not be the case. I am not a neurologist and we won’t know a thing for certain until she comes out of the coma. I merely thought her family should be made aware", he said.

"Her family HAVE been made aware", replied Xander. "Thank you, Doctor."

Tara turned to her friends cum family and smiled weakly. "I’m staying, of course. You all need to go home and get rest. Take care of all the other things that need to be done. We’ll be fine here. Those energies I told you about will help, Xander, and I’ll be guardian to what wafts into her room", she assured him.

"She’ll be fine. Remember, I know about brain damage first hand. Willow and that wonderfully large, talented brain of hers will be back to normal in no time".

"Look, I’m not psychic, but I am a witch", Tara continued. I see auras. I can see from hers that there is pain and healing needs to happen, but I don’t see anything that might show a permanent injury. I really believe, I have to believe, and so do you", she concluded. "Go home. Willow wouldn’t want you hovering here and worrying."

Giles looked at Buffy and Xander and said, "Yes, I think Tara is correct. We’ll do Willow no good standing about feeding off of each other’s fears. Tara, dear, we’ll be by in the morning to see how she… well, both of you, actually,are doing. Is there anything you need tonight?" He looked at the beautiful, nurturing girl who had moved so easily into the role of mother figure for the group and who obviously loved Willow more than any of them could imagine, and saw the determination in her eyes. "Fine, do try to rest, my dear. Willow will need you to be strong and healthy as she recovers. Be sure to call if you need anything, or if anything changes", he said.

They waited until they got to the parking lot before Giles turned to Buffy to ask the results of her search for the beast that had harmed Willow. Giles suddenly pictured the sweet child Willow had been, startled from sleep in the old school library. She had been dreaming of tadpoles and was frightened. He wished frogs were the only thing the dear girl ever had to face with those wide eyes that had seen far too much in such a short life.

"Well, am I to assume we no longer have to concern ourselves with the vermin that so endangered you and interfered with your mission this year? Please tell me you have handed him over to the police and he is now enjoying a cell with a six-feet weightlifter named Brutus as we speak", he said. Ripper may be in his past, but when his loved ones well being was threatened, he proved to still exist.

"Well, yes and no, and only if Brutus is in hell. Warren tried to run, leave town. I caught up to him while he was stuffing a gym bag with the money they got in the bank robbery. Then this whole Bonnie and Clyde with a side order of Curley act started. He saw me coming and took off in his mom’s car. He drove right in front of a garbage truck. They’re still picking up the pieces now. I imagine they’ll be bringing what’s left of Warren Mears into the morgue before too long. I think it’s safe to say his crime spree is over. The police found the bags with the money so they can tie him to the robbery if they aren’t total morons".

"Yes, well, I suppose a good attorney might try to place the blame for most of these crimes on Mears, and with the confessions of the other two, Sunnydale will be safe from the lot of them for at least the next ten to twenty years", Giles said. "I daresay the murder of the girl Katrina will be laid at the feet of her former boyfriend and not his nancy boy followers. They might even find true love behind the prison gates, you never know. I’m afraid I am all out of sympathy, but I COULD certainly use some tea about now", he said. It was obvious from Buffy’s face that she completely missed his reference to the phrase "tea and sympathy". Ah, his wit was wasted on California. He’d quite forgotten that.

"I never thought I would say these words, Buffy, but we could have used Spike on this mission tonight. Perhaps Willow could have avoided injury. Lord knows if Spike had taken a fall like that he would have simply gotten up, brushed himself off, made a snide remark, then stumbled off to demolish Willie’s Bar", said Giles.

"Yeah, well, Spike’s not around. Before you ask, I don’t know where he is. His crypt hasn’t been lived in for weeks. His stuff is all there and I’ve been sorta trying to find out what happened to him. I mean, he left his coat, Giles! It looked like there might have been a fight, but I’m sure he wasn’t dusted", she said. ‘I’d know it, feel it, if he was dust’, she thought to herself.

Giles noted with concern that Buffy’s eyes seemed too bright, as if she were tearing up. He sincerely hoped the emotion in them was a reflection of her concern for Willow coupled with natural fatigue from the battle.

"I see. Well, I’m sure he’ll turn up. He always does no matter how fervently we hope he doesn’t. I understand his crypt was blown up recently. Perhaps Spike has simply moved on with no snug hole to hide from the sun". Giles tried hard not to smile at the thought of Sunnydale minus the irritating vampire.

Something about Spike was like a thorn in Giles’ side. It went beyond Spike’s being a vampire and it was vaguely unsettling to acknowledge the birk was so able to get under his skin.

"Spikey was playing in the big leagues, but Ri came to the rescue", Xander offered. He had perked up at the reminder of how the comando and his bride had shaken up all
their lives for a brief, exciting moment only a couple of months ago.

"What on earth are you talking about, Xander?". The boy puzzled Giles to no end at times. "What has Spike to do with baseball and how is a cereal grain involved in this business?. How does your cryptic yet colorful comment explain why our least favorite undead pest is suddenly missing?", he asked in exasperation.

"What Xander is trying to tell you is a lot more complicated than he made it sound, Giles", Buffy explained. "Spike is Spike, you know?. You can’t blame him for doing the evil. He’s a vampire. I can’t really get mad at him for acting like one. The "Ri" Xander is referring to is Riley"..

"Good Lord, don’t tell me he’s back in town now", Giles exclaimed.

"Well, no, not now. He came back with his wife Sam to track a dangerous Suvolte demon that had migrated up from Central America". Buffy wasn’t looking at Giles so she missed his confused look as he tried to decipher her rushed words.

"Excuse me, Buffy, did you just say that Riley is married to a man named Sam?", Giles asked in puzzlement. He really did need that tea and then several hours of sleep. He had been away too long to easily communicate with either Buffy or Xander, it would seem. ‘Ah yes, Britain and America, two nations separated by one language’, he thought to himself.

"No, Giles. Sam’s a woman, of course. Really hot, too. Dressed in this black leather cat suit kinda thing and lots of cool weapons. She’s tall too, almost as tall as Ri, all leg and…". Xander was waxing enthusiastic on the subject of Mrs. Finn..
Buffy cut him off before he could continue singing Sam’s praises and embarrassing himself as well as Giles in the process.

"Anyway……. They were tracking this Suvolte and Riley came in to the Doublemeat to ask me to help, you know, ‘got a demon to track, call Buffy’. Well, we found it and I killed it before he could tell me that they only wanted to capture it. That’s when Sam showed up. She works with Riley hunting demons for the army. Anyhow, the Suvolte had laid its eggs and Spike was going to sell them on the black market to be used as weapons, so we blew up his crypt when they hatched", Buffy finished breathlessly.

Buffy hoped she would have time to talk Giles out of deciding that Spike needed to be staked for his part in the plan. Really, how could they blame Spike? He didn’t know any better. He was evil and he naturally did evil things. No one got hurt, not really.

Instead of making plans for a swift staking, Giles began to laugh until tears streamed down his face and he bent over double. "Suvolte eggs? Did you say Suvolte eggs? Oh God, that is rich. Let me guess. You decided to bypass research altogether and just go after the monster, am I right? No, no, you don’t have to answer. Finn must be laughing himself silly at playing someone for a fool. Most likely Spike. God, this is rich", he coughed out.

"What’s so funny, Giles?" Xander looked truly perplexed. "I mean, okay, the idea that Spike would pull off being some international arms dealer scene is kinda funny, I’ll admit, but I haven’t seen you laugh this hard since we watched Monty Python last year. Giles, are you all right?" Xander asked in concern.

"While I do admit that the image of Spike, of all people, engaging in arms procurement or sales is worthy of Monty Python, that’s not what is so funny. Suvolte demons do not lay eggs. They are rare in the demon world. They’re marsupials. They also only breed once a century and produce no more than one offspring at a time. I have no idea what sort of eggs you scrambled in Spike’s crypt, but they most assuredly were not Suvolte! Really Buffy, there is an entire chapter devoted to the breeding habits of the Suvolte in the ‘Demon Oddities of the Americas Compendium’. You have it on your shelf at home! I have no idea what was going on with demon eggs, but there is no way they could have been Suvolte".

Buffy stopped walking and stared at her Watcher in shock. Giles began to fear she was going to pass out as her eyes widened and all the color left her face.

"Oh God! Riley set him up, set us up!" Buffy was shaky but indignant. "That has to be it. I mean, Spike seemed confused when Riley called him the Doctor and he tried to tell me something about holding the eggs for a friend, but I wouldn’t listen. I…I…Riley and his wife just seemed so sure. They were all take charge-y like James Bond. It just seemed to make sense, ‘cause Spike is evil and always looking for a way to make some money. What the hell kind of eggs were they, Giles?" Buffy demanded. There was no doubting Buffy’s anger and distress at this point. Even Xander had the decency to lower his eyes at her stricken look.

"I have no idea, Buffy", Giles suggested. "Perhaps if you described the creature, I could look through the books you have onhand and we could find out. I really have no quick answers for you right now, my dear. There is a valid reason for research, Buffy. Look, perhaps this was nothing more than a bad practical joke Riley played on Spike. He did have a lot of resentment towards Spike for telling you about his nightly visits to that vampire woman. It must have just gotten out of hand. Spike is likely off somewhere sulking because you listened to Finn and assumed he was harboring dangerous demon eggs. He’ll come around".

Giles felt odd trying to reassure his slayer that the vampire in which he now strongly suspected Buffy of having a highly personal interest would be returning soon. Spike fancied himself in love with Buffy. Giles only prayed that Buffy was not beginning to have similarly inappropriate feelings for Spike.

Angel had been one thing; he at least had a soul. Spike, on the other hand, would never be accepted by the Council. They would have both he AND Buffy brought to London for retraining. They would most likely send a wet works team to get rid of Spike as well. No soulless vampire would ever be allowed as a consort for the Slayer, not even with twenty chips implanted in his head!

"They looked like big insects, big ugly black bugs. They hatched and started scampering all over the lower level of the crypt and up the walls. Riley started shooting them and we wound up blowing up the whole basement to get rid of them.. They were big, like dogs, and kind of spidery but not as many legs" Buffy’s description ended on a whisper.

‘God, Spike, I’m so, so sorry. I should have at least listened to you. I owed you that much at least. I should have trusted you. You’ve never lied to me and Riley made a habit of it. I am so sorry. Please come back so I can tell you’, she thought desperately.

Buffy struggled to hold back the tears. She just wasn’t in the mood to cry in front of Giles and Xander over the mess she had made of things with Spike. She knew that no matter how decent Xander had been the other day, neither he nor Giles wanted Spike anywhere near her. Neither of them would ever understand the way she felt; like there was a hole that had opened up under her and she was being slowly sucked into the earth. Like she had made the biggest mistake of her life. Like she was terrified that this time she couldn’t fix the mess she had made.

Somehow the whole egg thing had to be the reason Spike was missing. Someone had to know more about what had really gone down with those damned eggs. In the morning, Buffy was going to start beating down doors or beating up demons until she had answers. Somehow she was going to get Spike back so she could apologize and maybe he’d forgive her like he always seemed to be able to do. She just had to and …he just had to.