Chapter Five

As soon as they arrived home, much to the startled looks of everyone but Willow, Spike handed Buffy off to Willow with instructions to make sure that Buffy got to bed and he headed for the basement. Buffy let it slide considering Spike’s drunken state. But she couldn’t help feeling like some child he’d pushed off on a babysitter.

Spike spent the entire next day in the basement. He didn’t come up to see her, or even to raid the refrigerator. Well, it was dark now and Buffy wasn’t going to take it any more. She wasn’t some child who needed to be looked after! She grabbed her stakes and informed Giles she was going to patrol. Alone. He asked if she was feeling better, so she lied. She was just as nauseated, and tired, but she was going to patrol anyway. She wasn’t going to be a captive in her own home. However, as soon as she opened the back door she noticed Spike sitting on the porch steps, calmly waiting for her.

“Nice try slayer.” He was looking directly at Buffy and looked anything but happy. Spike handed Buffy a jacket and extended a hand toward the yard.

And so it began. Each night Buffy tried to sneak out to patrol alone. She tried all the doors and the bedroom window. She tried different times. She tried mixing up which way she tried to get out. Heck, she even tried to sneak out Dawn’s window one night, and each time Spike had been patiently waiting at the end of her escape route. Last night Buffy had actually smiled when she got to the ground and saw Spike waiting for her. She could have sworn he had been smiling too for a half a second.

Over time their patrols had become more comfortable. They now talked a lot while making the rounds. Not of anything earth shattering, and certainly not what really needed to be said. But a definitely cozy companionship had developed. Of course, each night it seemed to Buffy that the patrols were getting busier as well, with last night having been the worst. They’d been laughing about Dawns latest scheme to get out of doing the dishes when they found themselves surrounded by 7 vampires. Spike loosed a string of curses that made Buffy blush even if she didn’t know the precise meaning of several of them.

Spike had reluctantly “allowed” her to take out three of the vamps as he took on the other four. Unfortunately the last two vamps managed to get her off balance and she fell back against a large tombstone, but managed to stake one of the vampires while doing so. The last one had just pounced on her, when he burst into dust as Buffy thrust upward with her stake right into his chest. Her success, despite her off timing and balance, had her feeling pretty good about the slayage again. So of course Spike had to go and ruin it.

“That does it, luv. No more slaying for you.” Spike proclaimed, extending a hand to help Buffy stand.

“What do you mean no more? I’m the Slayer, Spike; that’s what I do!”

“Not anymore, you don’t.” Spike firmly grabbed hold of her arm and forced her to look in his eyes. “It’s already getting too dangerous, and it’s only going to get worse. We have to worry about more than just you now.”

“You think I don’t know that? Have you forgotten exactly who’s the pregnant one here?” She was really angry now.

“Why do you think I’m calling a stop to it? Sure as hell isn’t because *I’m* the one up the duff!”

“Why are you being so damn stubborn about this? I am the chosen one. The slayer slays. Just because I’m a little pregnant doesn’t mean I have to stop doing my job!” Buffy seethed.

“Are you completely insane?” Spike’s eyebrows were nearly into his hairline by now. “What did you think was going to happen here, slayer? Did you really think you could do this the whole time? By yourself? Haven't you ever wondered why there haven’t been any slayers with rug rats?”

“It’s happened once!” Buffy defiantly replied.

Spike barked out a humorless laugh. “It’s happened a hundred times, Buffy. That one slayer is the only one who survived long enough to have the damn thing!”

That seemed to stop Buffy’s rant cold, with a shocked expression on her face.

“Slayer, this isn’t up for debate here. I will do the patrols from now on.” He was staring into her eyes hoping that she would somehow understand how dangerous this really was for her. When she dropped the argument and nodded her assent, Spike said a silent thank you to whatever deity had been listening to his fervent prayer.

They made it home with only two more vampire run ins. Spike even hung around and talked quite a while with the girls and Giles. He seemed almost happy. Relaxed even. Then seeing the yawn she unsuccessfully tried to hide, he excused himself and ushered her to the stairs telling her she should get to bed.

She gave him a glare for good measure, but went up and showered quickly. When she got to her room, she saw Willow setting a tray on her bedside table. On it was a bowl of soup and some crackers, and a cup of what smelled like chamomile tea.

“Spike wanted me to make sure you ate and then went straight to bed,” Willow said, teasingly shaking her finger at her.

Buffy's demeanor suddenly became dark. She’d taken all of the babying she could stomach. Sure she still couldn’t keep anything down and she was certain she had never felt this tired in her life, but she wasn’t a baby. This was going to end.

“Spike said that, huh?” Buffy picked up the tray and shoved it toward a very confused Willow, and continued to push on the tray, backing Willow through the bedroom door. “I will eat and sleep when I feel like it!” Buffy screamed loud enough for the whole house to hear and then she slammed the door hard enough to shake the house. She was fairly certain she heard a faint “Bloody Hell” before she flipped on the radio and sat down with a magazine on the bed. Which is how she found herself the next morning. Still wrapped in her towel with the magazine on her lap. Apparently they’d taken the hint.

Deciding that today would be different, Buffy stayed extra late at school. She called Giles and told him she had lots of paperwork to finish. She didn’t want to go home and have Spike or Willow treating her like some four year old. And she certainly didn’t want to explain to Giles why she suddenly wasn’t “allowed” to patrol anymore.

When she got home she found that the girls had already eaten dinner, which saved her to effort of trying to make a show of eating only to make a mad dash for the bathroom. Giles told her Spike had already left to Patrol reasoning that Buffy needed the rest, which Giles seemed to agree with. So Buffy simply announced she was going to join him for the patrol and left. She was a grown woman, a slayer with a half dozen apocalypses behind her; she could patrol alone. She certainly didn’t need Spike to do it for her!

Buffy had almost finished her patrol without incident when a very large Mowrok demon rounded the corner. Buffy had never seen one in person but she’d read about them more than once during their all too frequent research parties. Very difficult to kill. They had large scales that made getting to sensitive areas hard. Buffy fought it for 15 minutes and was certain she was gaining the upper hand, when the 600 pound demon landed a crushing blow to her leg, and she felt the agonizing snap of bone, sending her to the ground in an instant. Then the demon’s other foot caught her temple and the world tottered. But then the thing was gone and all she could hear were high-pitched screams as everything faded to blackness.

**********

Spike came in and hung his jacket over the back of the chair. He wandered around the house looking to see if Buffy had made it in yet from school. He didn’t want her being out after dark. Her hormones were beginning to draw in every vampire for miles around. Patrol consisted of about a dozen fledges, and two demons he hadn’t ever seen on the Hellmouth before. Word must be out about the slayer. He was very relieved that he’d managed to get through to Buffy in the nick of time.

“Spike!” Willow practically plowed into him as he rounded the corner into the living room.

“Buffy upstairs? Was going to tell her about patrol tonight.”

“Giles said Buffy went out to patrol with you,” Willow replied with considerable confusion.

“You let her patrol?” Spike bit out through clenched teeth.

“She was already gone when I got home." At Spike's panicked look, she quickly asked, "Spike, what's wrong?"

Giles had wandered into the living room and was watching the exchange with growing curiosity when Spike suddenly grabbed Willow’s arms and asked, “How long?!”

“I don’t know Spike,” Willow looked imploringly at Giles for help.

“About an hour or so,” Giles supplied. “Spike, is something…. wrong?”

But Spike had already disappeared through the front door, leaving it swinging on its hinges.

Spike quickly remembered Buffy’s regular patrol routine and decided to work backward. He’d just reached the first cemetery when he saw Buffy fighting the huge Mowrok. He broke into a full run again as he saw Buffy hit the ground. God, he wasn’t going to reach her in time. Spike lunged into the fray just as the demon brought its foot down on Buffy’s skull.

Spike’s rage burst every dam in him as he tore into the beast with unparalleled ferocity. Finally ripping the throat out of it, scales and all. The demon sputtered and collapsed in a heap.

Spike turned back to Buffy. She was bleeding from everywhere, it seemed. There was an odd gash on her head and he could see bone. It was bleeding badly. Her leg was clearly broken, jagged bone jutting through the skin. He couldn’t be sure she didn’t have a few broken ribs as well.

“Buffy? Buffy, luv, come on. Open your eyes for me, pet.” Spike picked her up, carefully cradling her head and felt the crunch of the broken bones grinding against each other in her leg. Blood was pouring from her head and leg at an alarming rate. Spike thanked every deity he could think of that this cemetery was the closest to the hospital as he ran with Buffy. He could hear her heart growing rapid and irregular, her breathing erratic.

“Come on love, stay with me. You can’t leave me again pet. Not like this. Please not now, Buffy.”