Chapter Seven

Flowers kept coming to her mother, but Joyce threw them in the trash, because every single one had a card attached to it that said, "I'm sorry." Buffy knew her mom was miserable, even more so now it seemed than the previous five months. Why, she didn't know, but she was.

Finally, one night when Buffy was getting herself ready for a night out with her friends, a thought hit her.

"Mom," she said as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Yes, Buffy?"

"Me and Spike are going Bronzing tonight, you wanna go with us?"

Joyce turned around and smiled slightly. "That's a nice idea but –"

"No buts. Come on, it will be fun!"

Her mother looked down at herself. She was dressed in sweatpants and a loose tee shirt. "But I don't have anything to wear," she said.

"Oh, I'm sure we can find something. Come on," Buffy begged.

"Oh all right," Joyce said. "I guess it's time I got out of here anyway, right?"

"Yeah. Let's go!"

An hour later, Buffy, Spike and Joyce entered the Bronze. Joyce looked a little unsure, saying, "Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all…"

"Oh, mom, don't be such a bore. Look, there are the others!" She pointed over at the table where Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya and to her surprise also Giles were sitting. They made their way over there.

"Hi ya guys, having fun?" Buffy asked.

"Hi Buffy, hi Spike," Willow said. "Joyce!" she then exclaimed. "Fun that you could come!"

"Well, we just ordered drinks," Xander said, smiling, "So you might want to do that too."

"Oh good idea," Buffy said.

"So what b-brings you here, Mrs. Summers?" Tara asked shyly.

"I decided that it was time for her to get out some," Buffy answered. Joyce just smiled and sat down next to Giles. The two older people started talking, although Buffy couldn't hear what they were saying over the loud music.

"C'mon," she said to Spike. "Let's go dance."

The night was a total success, Buffy thought happily, lying in her bed later at night. Her mother and Giles had left earlier than the younger group, but they had left together, so Buffy wasn't too worried. Spike, her and the other Scoobies had kept on dancing, talking and laughing together until two at night. It had been one of the better Bronzing nights in a while, Buffy thought.

"Ugh, why do we have to have finals?" Xander whined. "It's another month to go, but the teachers are giving us homework and tests like – I don't know…"

"Well, you have another month before your finals," Willow responded, "But my AP classes have their finals next Wednesday."

"But Will, after that, you're like off, you don't have to do anything."

"Then why don't you take AP courses, Xan?" Buffy asked. She smiled. "If they are so easy…"

"Ha, ha, very funny. See how I'm not laughing?"

"Take it easy, Xander," Willow said. "You will survive the homework and the tests, and you will do good in the finals, and then we will all be seniors next year."

"Talking of which," Buffy said, "Are any of you going to the graduation?"

"If someone gets me tickets," Xander said. "You going?"

"Of course! Spike is gonna get me, mom and Dawn tickets, and I'm sure he can get you some if you want to go too."

"Okay, sounds like fun," Willow smiled. "I haven't been to a high school graduation in such a long time."

"And to think, next year, we'll be in it," Xander grinned. He definitely liked the thought of getting out of high school.

But of course, the Scoobies wouldn't be allowed to just study for their tests and finals on their own, without having something else hanging over their heads. Giles gathered them all up at the Magic Box, only days later, to tell them that something was up.

"There has been an decrease in the vampire activity," Giles told them. Buffy nodded; it was her who had made Giles aware of the fact. "I think it has to do with the Carishou, which will take place next Saturday. I believe they are preparing for it."

"The Cari-what-did-you-say?" Buffy asked, having never heard of the name.

"The Carishou. It is when five planets of the solar system lines up, and this one is particularly strong because the lined up planets are the five closest to the sun."

"What happens then?" Anya asked, worriedly.

"Well," Giles said, "If I read these books correctly, then at dusk, at the moment the sun disappears beyond the horizon of the Hellmouth, there will be an opening in it. This – this opening will give anyone who steps into it and back out on Earth at the exact right moment powers beyond imagination. He or she, who then will have spent time in Hell, will be ruled by darkness, but continue to live on earth. If a vampire goes in, the vampire will become completely immortal. And," he added, "Anyone the person – demon – touches will be given of the powers too."

As he stopped talking, he looked into five dumbfounded faces.

"So you're saying," Xander said, "If a vampire – or worse, some huge demon – succeeds in this, they can like start their own super race, which will never die?"

Giles looked uneasy. "Right."

"Bloody hell," Spike swore, realizing what that would mean.

"What can we do to stop it?" Buffy asked.

"We have to figure out where the opening will be, and be there to stop anyone from going into it," Giles replied.

"If – If a human goes into the portal?" Tara wondered quietly. "What will happen?"

"Same as for a demon, I believe," Giles said. "Ruled by darkness. The books aren't that clear on it all, though."

The Scoobies nodded their heads, all trying to take in the information.

"I guess it will be research night tonight," Anya sighed. "No sex."

"Anya!"

It was Saturday at two in the afternoon, only hours until the Carishou would take place. Buffy paced back and forth over the living room floor, while the others were collecting weapons.

"You all right, pet?" Spike asked her and put his arms around her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little nervous," she responded, grateful for having his arms around her. They wouldn't be around her much longer, she thought sadly. He was leaving in only seven weeks.

"You know we'll make it today, don't you?" he wondered. "We won't let anyone or anything go through that portal, okay?"

"I know, Spike, I know." She smiled at him.

Willow and Tara were the one's who had figured out – with magic of course – where the portal would appear. Buffy, Spike, Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya headed over there at five in the afternoon, still with another three hours to sundown.

They reached a big cave, and Tara said, "It-it should be in there."

"Of course, there'd be vampires," Buffy muttered at the two standing guard outside the cave opening. To her friends she said, "Hide, I'll take care of them." Then she strolled casually over to the two ugly demons. "Hello, boys," she said in a sugary tone.

The two vampires moved closer to her, game faces on.

"You must be two naughty boys," Buffy continued, "To be beat so badly so you look like that."

With that, the two vampires threw themselves on the little Slayer, but she dodged them and kicked one in the stomach, making him fly over into the cave wall. She cart wheeled over to the other one and staked him before he knew what was going on. The one by the cave side moaned and tried to get up, but Buffy was there with the stake through his heart within a second. "You shouldn't get up, you look hurt," she said before the vampire turned to dust.

She called out to her friends. They came over and the group entered the opening, as the portal they were looking for would be somewhere inside. The ground was greasy, and they slipped several times as they were walking down, further and further into the grotto.

"Why do these things always have to take place in such annoying, icky places?" Willow wondered as she slipped for the third time. Spike grabbed her before she fell, and the redhead gave him a thankful look.

"Well, it's better than having it in some big fancy house where we'd have to break in to get there, don't you think?" Buffy asked with a slight smile, trying to cheer the others up.

It was totally dark where they were walking now, with the exception of the magic light Tara and Willow had produced. As they got further in, though, they heard voices, and Buffy whispered to the Wiccas to turn the light off. They did so, and the gang crept on.

The cave opened up into a big underground chamber, lit up by thousands of swaying lights, Buffy noticed. The chamber was filled with creatures, demons of all kinds, from big ugly trolls to a sloppy green creature, which looked like a great worm, to a little flying dragon who kept blowing fire at all the others in there. There were also several vampires, strutting around the room.

"What's the plan now?" Buffy asked quietly. "Where will the portal be?"

"Over there, if we're right," Willow whispered and pointed at the right corner. "Right where that vampire in black is standing."

Buffy nodded. The vampire stood by himself, with a smug smile on his face. While many others in the room still seemed to be looking for exactly where the portal would appear, this one seemed sure that he was in the right place.

"Okay," Buffy whispered. "Spike, Anya and Xander will create a diversion. You two," she said to the Wiccas, "Will go with me over to where the portal will hopefully be. That guy has to go away. Once he's staked, you will do your magic and hinder anyone from getting into the portal. Everyone understands? It is just fifteen minutes until sundown, so we will have to work fast."

The Scoobies nodded and the plan was put in place.

Spike ran out first, axe in his hand and began slashing the demons. Xander and Anya followed quickly afterwards, and soon, there was chaos in the chambers. Xander dusted a vampire, but before he could react, a big troll picked him up by his hair and threw him into the wall, rendering him unconscious. In the meantime, Buffy and the Wiccas were making their way over to the vampire in black, them too dusting vampires and slaying demons on their way.

"Iiih," Buffy heard Tara scream. A big slimy monster had picked her up in its hand, and the witch was fighting hard to get out of its grip.

"Release!" Willow screamed, her eyes dark. Immediately, the monster let Tara go, and just stood there, thunderstruck. "He's momentarily paralyzed," Willow said, "But it will stop working soon. Let's go." She grabbed Tara by the arm and helped her up.

"Thanks," Tara whispered to her girlfriend.

"C'mon," Buffy said. The minutes were ticking away, and they were still only halfway to the vampire in black.

In the corner of her eye, Buffy saw Spike fight against a red, eight feet tall demon with claws. Spike had angry red gashes over his chest, and his face was beaten, but he was still standing up, at least. She couldn't think of that at the moment; she had to get to the portal.

Finally, she leaped forward, her way clear to where the vampire in black was. He saw her and smiled an evil grin.

"Welcome, my dear," he said to Buffy.

Buffy didn't respond; she just aimed a kick at him. He dodged easily, and threw a punch at her. She dodged it and ran around him, attempting to take him from the back. But he swirled around and moved to the side, and she kicked into thin air.

Willow and Tara had lost Buffy, and were now fighting for their lives together with Anya, among ugly demons, which were all taller, bigger, and stronger than them.

"Stupefy!" Tara and Willow yelled together at one demon after the other, leaving them still, staring out with empty looks.

Spike stood over the body of the eight feet tall monster he had just killed with his axe. He was panting, and hurting from the wounds on his chest. Suddenly, he saw Buffy fighting against a vampire in the corner. Buffy was having trouble, he could see it even from where he was standing. Quickly, before any other demon had had time to register that he didn't have anyone to fight with, he began making his way over to her.

"You're not very strong, Girl," the vampire told Buffy and punched her one more time in the face.

He had cornered her; behind her was only the cold stone wall. He took out a knife from a belt in his clothes, and asked her, "Any last words?" The knife was by her breasts, the point touching her shirt. Suddenly, she was trembling with fear.

"Here are some last words," Spike said all of a sudden and the vampire whirled around. Spike drove the stake through the vampire's chest immediately. "See you in hell."

"Spike!" Buffy said happily, but before she could continue, she noticed the chaos around her. And in front of her, a bright light had begun shining. The portal she though, quickly checking her watch. It was exactly on time.

Suddenly, all of the room's creatures noticed the portal, and they were all rushing towards it. Tara and Willow were screaming spells to keep the different demons away, but Buffy and Spike had to fight for their lives anyway, as demons of all sizes and forms were getting past the Wiccas.

Buffy slayed for all that she was worth, sending creature after creature to hell. Behind her, the portal was glowing with a light so bright Buffy couldn't watch it. It helped her though; it blinded some of the creatures coming at her.

A demon jumped at her, and she fell backwards. She was only inches from entering the portal herself, and she rolled the creature that was sitting on her to the side, getting away from the portal.

Then suddenly it shut.

All the light disappeared from the cave, and total darkness came instead. Buffy grabbed Spike, who she knew had been just right beside her, and told him, "Let's go."

The two could hear Willow and Tara chanting some feet away, and suddenly, there was a blast, which threw Spike and Buffy to the ground. He shielded her, holding her so she landed on top of him.

"What happened?" Buffy asked and stood up.

No answer. In fact, everything in the cave was deadly quiet.

"Spike?" she asked tentatively. "Willow? Tara?"

"Light!" It was Willow.

A fire started in midair, half way to the ceiling in the cave. Suddenly, Buffy could see what the blast had done.

Around her, all the demons of the room lay dead. Not one demonic creature was moving anywhere. In the middle of the room, Willow and Tara was standing, slight smiles on their faces. Buffy looked down at her feet, where Spike lay.

"Oh god…" she whispered. Spike's face was deadly pale, and blood was sipping out from the back of his head. "Spike? Spike, come on… You can't be…"

She took his pulse. There was one, a faint but steady one. He wasn't dead. Without thinking much more of it, she picked him up in her arms, biting her lip as he groaned of pain.

"Willow?" she said, getting her friend's attention. Willow came running over to her. "He's hurt," Buffy said, "We need to get him to a hospital."

Willow nodded, "X-Xander too. Anya is with him. Come on, let's go."

So they made their way out over the dead bodies and dust from the demons. Anya and Willow were helping each other carry Xander, while Buffy held Spike close. Tara kept the light above their heads going, helping as much as she could.

Why do hospitals always seem so cold? Buffy wondered, sitting in the waiting area in the emergency room. Beside her sat Willow, Tara, Giles and Joyce. They had called the two grownups as soon as they had come to the hospital. The two had come immediately, and Joyce had phoned Spike's father in England.

Anya was in the room with Xander, and the couple came out an hour later. Xander's head was wrapped in bandages and his arm was in a cast.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate trolls?" he asked jokingly as he came out. He had a tired expression on his face.

"Xander, do you want me to take you home?" Giles asked, as Anya didn't drive and Xander wasn't allowed to at the moment.

Xander nodded, and Giles left with Xander and Anya. "I will be back soon," he promised.

So it was back to waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Buffy hated waiting more than anything else. She felt so helpless, and she didn't like being helpless. Helpless equals weak, she thought, and I have to be strong for him. Spike. She had never felt worse than when carrying his unconscious body up from the cave. Why had it happened? she asked herself. He was trying to protect me, just like he always is. What if he dies now? What if he doesn't make it? I'll never get to hear him say 'bloody hell' again. Or hear him crack another dumb joke. Or kiss him. Or hold him…

She didn't notice the tears that were falling down her cheeks. None of her friends said anything, which she was happy for, because if they had, she wouldn't have been able to reply.

Finally, the doctor came out. It was hours since they had gotten in, hours since they had last heard anything about Spike.

"Mrs. Summers?" the doctor asked Buffy's mother.

"Yes." Buffy walked over there too.

"How is he?" she managed to ask between tears.

"Not good, I'm afraid. William has lost a lot of blood, and is at the moment in a coma, caused by a bad concussion. He also punctured one lung because of several broken ribs and he had lots of bruises all over. We have done everything we could, but now it is only to wait and see. The next twenty-four hours will be critical."

Buffy held her head in her hands and sobbed. Joyce hugged her, and at long last, Buffy asked, "Can I see him?"

"I guess you could," the doctor replied. "As long as you just sit in there."

Buffy nodded, not able to speak another word. A nurse over led her to his room, but when she saw him in there, through the window, she wondered if it hadn't been better not to see him. Yet, she opened the door and made her way in.

Outside the room, there had been lots of noise and people running around, but inside, it was completely quiet, apart from the machine that registered his pulse with high pitched beeps, and the wheezing sound from the tube that supplied Spike with oxygen down his throat.

"Hi Spike," she breathed. "It's me, Buffy." She sat down on one of the chairs by the bed and took his right hand in both hers. She started talking again. "You know, you can't just lay here. It's not good for you, and it's definitely not good for me. I've been crying you know. Oh, what am I talking about, I'm still crying," she said, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. "Sorry, I shouldn't talk about me. I guess it always about me… You're lying here because of me… Because you saved me…" She looked down, sobbing. "I love you so much, you know… I've never loved anyone else like I love you… You're my whole life, my everything. Please don't die from me… Please…"

She couldn't talk any longer. Words failed her, and she just sat there, his hand in hers, stroking it gently, tears still falling from her eyes. Finally, she cried herself to sleep. She didn't know how long she slept there, it felt like only minutes, but it must have been hours, because when she woke up, the sun was rising outside.

She looked up at her boyfriend. His face and chest were bruised, and though he was well bandaged up, she could still see the swollen, purplish skin underneath.

"Hey Spike," she said softly, wanting nothing but to touch him, and have him touch her back. "It's morning, time to get up, you know."

The door opened and her mother with Dawn in tow came in.

"Hi Buffy," Joyce said, hugging Buffy. "You should go home, sweetheart. You look tired."

"I'm not leaving until he wakes up," Buffy told her mother, who found it unnecessary to argue, since she knew she wouldn't win.

"How is he?" Dawn asked shyly, coming forth to where Buffy was sitting.

"I-I don't know," Buffy said, fresh tears burning behind her eyelids. But she held them back, because crying wouldn't get Spike back.

Her mother continued speaking, but Buffy was not awake and aware enough to care. She stared at the young man in the bed, and suddenly –

"Spike?" Buffy whispered. He had moved, she was sure of it. Not much, but that didn't matter. She held his hand tighter, though careful not to hurt him more. "Come on Spike, you can do it, you can do it…"

She saw him move again, and she continued speaking to him, as he seemed to react to it. "Come to me, sweetie, you'll make it –"

His eyelids fluttered, and suddenly he opened first his right eye, then the left. He squeezed them shut again, obviously in pain. Buffy raised her hand and stroke his cheek gently.

"Mom, close the shutters," she said, "It's too light for him in here." She turned back to Spike, in tears, and whispered happily, "I love you."

Read? Review here!

Chapters

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9