A/N: So I have decided to do a story about Checkpoint, it was in Season 5 where Buffy is having to do those test with the Council and leaves Joyce and Dawn with Spike to protect them from Glory. I wanted to change the storyline just slightly in the sense that Riley never left to help the army, he stayed and they talked it out, still working it out together. Just because I need a human villain and he is so easy for it, especially with what I plan on doing for this story.
Summary: While Spike is watching over Dawn and Joyce they are attacked by Glory. Spike having no idea what the hell is going on sensed something powerful and angry coming his way so he sent Dawn and Joyce down through the tunnels so he could face this foe. When Xander and Buffy find a brutally beaten Spike, they take him back to Buffy's place. As Spike heals Buffy learns a lot more about him and the world she once thought she knew she quickly discovers she knows nothing about.
Warnings: Violence, Sexual situations and Bad language.
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Chapter 1
Joyce and Dawn were running through the tunnels that neither of them even knew existed. Apparently they went all through Sunnydale and the only way they hadn't been able to get lost is that the street names were painted onto the cement walls down here. Joyce figured it worked to help the workers know where they were and where they were going so they didn't get lost. Joyce had never been down here before and she already knew that it could be easy to get lost down here and being down here was not some place you wanted to get lost in. They were on their way to the Magic Shop like Spike had told them in his hurry to get them downstairs and into the tunnel. Spike didn't know who was coming towards them, all he knew was that the person was powerful and pissed off. Spike could smell that the person wasn't human, but he didn't know what they were. He had never smelt anything like it before so he couldn't say for sure if they would be safe or not. He didn't want to risk their safety and put himself in the path of a pissed off Slayer. So he had sent them away to the Magic Shop where he knew Buffy and her friends would be. He didn't know what was going on besides the fact that the Council was here poking their nose into her life. He didn't know why as no one ever told him anything. They just expected him to do as he was told and not ask questions about it.
Joyce and Dawn ran as quickly as they could to the Magic Shop. They finally arrived after fifteen minutes to the street that the Magic Shop was located on. There was an access ladder and a manhole above.
"Let me go first Sweetie and you just follow behind me." Joyce said.
She went up the ladder first with Dawn following behind her. Joyce very carefully moved the manhole out of the way being careful of any traffic. There was none so she moved it enough to get them through it and once they were both through the manhole Dawn helped Joyce to push it back so no cars would hit it while driving. They were just a block away from the Magic Shop and they quickly walked the rest of the way. Joyce was getting rather tired as she had just had surgery on her brain to remove a tumor. She wasn't supposed to be doing much, but she couldn't help it right now. They arrived at the Magic Shop and they ran into the shop, both clearly out of breath. Joyce noticed everyone was shocked to see their presence.
"Mom, Dawn what are you doing here? You were supposed to stay at Spike's until I came back for you." Buffy asked with anger that Spike would let them leave.
She was going to be going back there shortly as the Council had just left. She just needed time to digest everything they had learnt and time to try and form some kind of plan.
"Buffy it wasn't his fault. Something was coming he didn't know what it was. He just said it wasn't human and it was powerful and very angry. He brought us down to the tunnels and told us to come here. He went back up to fight this thing. Buffy what if it was her?" Joyce said with worry in her voice.
"What that blonde that was at the house?" Dawn asked confused.
"It's going to be okay Spike can handle himself. I'll go and check it out. You guys stay here." Buffy said.
"I'll come with you just in case." Xander said.
"Xander no it's too dangerous." Anya protested.
"I'm not letting Buffy go alone." Xander said in a serious voice.
"Grab a weapon." Buffy said.
Xander went and grabbed a sword and he left with Buffy. They took his car as it was faster than running and they took off for Spike's crypt. Xander parked his car at the entrance to the graveyard and they took off at a run for Spike's crypt. As they got to the door it opened and Glory stumbled out. Both Xander and Buffy stopped to see her. Xander had never met her personally, but from what Buffy and the Council had told him she was a Hell God and Buffy hadn't been able to put a mark on her. So he was just as shocked as Buffy to see her bleeding, stumbling and clearly seriously injured as she walked out of Spike's crypt. Glory looked at them as she spoke.
"I will kill your pet vampire. He will pay for this." Glory said with seething anger before she clapped her hands and disappeared before them.
Once she was gone Buffy didn't even hesitate to run into the crypt with Xander behind her. They both stopped dead when they saw the crippled body of Spike in a pool of his own blood. They slowly went over to him both having a hard time at seeing the level of damage that had been done to him.
"Oh good God." Xander said sadly completely horrified at the shape that Spike was in.
Buffy carefully bent down so she was by Spike's head as she spoke softly, but it was more to reassure herself than Xander.
"He's not dust, not dust means he's alive and will heal."
Buffy tried to look at Spike and take an inventory of his injuries. His head was covered in blood and she could see that parts of his skull were broken and not in place. His right hand looked completely shattered along with his whole arm and wrist. Buffy knew that he would have more injuries that they couldn't see right now. She could see that most of the blood was coming from his head. He also had some dripping out of his ears, eyes, nose and his mouth. She had a feeling that he had some major internal bleeding going on.
"We need to get him out of here. Let's get him to my place I'll call the shop along the way." Buffy said with a slight panic to her voice.
With the help of Xander they were able to get the unconscious vampire up off of the floor with an arm over each of their shoulders. Buffy saw something in the blood and she noticed that it was a small device. Buffy instantly knew that it was the chip, during the severe beating on Spike's brain it must have gotten knocked out. Buffy didn't say anything she just walked out with Xander. She didn't know what to do about it or how she felt about it and she couldn't think about it just yet. All she could think about was the fact that Spike was this injured because she had got him to watch her mom and sister. If it hadn't been for that then Glory would never have been there in the first place. Chip or no chip Buffy had to help him and then she would deal with what came next later. They got Spike into Xander's back seat and they both got into the front seat. Xander handed Buffy his cell phone and she called the Magic Shop.
"Magic Shop how can I help you?" Anya asked with a cheerful voice.
"Anya put mom on."
"Oh Buffy ya one second."
Buffy could hear Anya telling them it was her on the phone before her mother spoke.
"Buffy, what happened is Spike ok?" Joyce asked with genuine concern for the vampire.
"No he's not ok. He's not a pile of dust but he's not ok. Look I know this is a lot to ask, but it's not really safe for him there right now and he's really badly injured." Buffy said, but before she could say anymore Joyce cut her off.
"Of course he can stay with us. Put him in the guest bedroom. We need blood right?" Joyce asked already in her motherly role.
"Ya we need some. Have Giles get it and then have everyone come to the house and we can figure out what to do next. Thanks mom."
"He saved our lives tonight the least we can do is get him better." Joyce simply said.
Buffy ended the call and handed the phone back to Xander.
"Mom said he can crash in the guest bedroom and I don't want to hear any arguments from you." Buffy said.
"Believe it or not I don't have one to that right now. I don't like him, but he didn't have to do what he did tonight. He didn't have to protect them like that, but he did. That's earned some respect in my book. And for as far as vampires go he's not that bad." Xander said sadly.
"He's really injured." Buffy said sadly with a great deal of guilt in her.
"He's not dust like you said he just needs some blood and he'll be back to his annoying self you'll see Buff." Xander said trying to reassure Buffy even if he didn't truly believe it himself.
When they got to Buffy's house they both carried Spike inside and they carefully got him up the stairs as gently as they could. It wasn't easy as Spike weighed more than he looked. They were able to get him into the guest bedroom and down on the bed. Buffy immediately went into the bathroom and grabbed some old towels and the first aid kit before she went back into the guest bedroom. Buffy lifted Spike's head to put the old towel down to protect the bed from the blood. Xander went and began to remove Spike's boots while Buffy ripped Spike's shirt off to reveal the level of damage done to his torso. It was covered in black and purple as the external bruising and internal bleeding showed on his torso. Buffy could see that he didn't have a rib cage anymore as it had been crushed into nothing by the power of Glory. Buffy also knew that if his pants were removed they would be able to see even more bruising covering his legs.
"I don't even know what to do." Buffy softly admitted.
"I think his head took the worst of the beating. How do we know if he doesn't have brain damage or something from all of this?" Xander asked unsure if he should or not.
"I don't know. Do vampires get that? Maybe I should just start by getting the blood off of him and go from there." Buffy said as she stood up and went into down the stairs into the kitchen to get a bowl of warm water and a wash cloth. She went back up the stairs and got to the room as she heard the front door open.
"Buffy, sweetie!" Joyce called from the front door.
"In here mom!" Buffy called back as she slowly began to wash the blood off from Spike.
They could hear everyone coming up the stairs and it was clear by their faces that they didn't expect Spike to be this bad.
"Oh my God!" Dawn yelled horrified by what she was seeing.
"Get her out of here." Buffy instantly said.
Anya grabbed Dawn and brought her out of the room and back down the stairs.
"Good God. Joyce said you told her he was injured, but I didn't expect this." Giles said shocked at the sight of Spike.
"Will he be ok?" Joyce asked horrified at the level of damage done to the man that had protected her and her daughter.
"He's not dust so he should be okay." Buffy said as she washed the blood away from Spike's face.
"We got blood. I'll go warm some up. How are we giving it to him?" Willow asked
"In a mug with a straw I guess. I'm kinda hoping he'll wake up once he smells it. He wasn't conscious when we got to him." Buffy answered.
"I'll go warm some up." Willow said as she headed out of the room.
"What happened?" Tara asked.
"It was Glory. I'll explain later." Buffy said.
"Of course. Why don't we go downstairs and leave Spike to Buffy." Giles said.
"Oh I don't know." Joyce started to protest but Buffy stopped her.
"Mom it's okay I got this. You're supposed to be resting. Please go sit downstairs with Dawn it's okay."
"Alright Buffy."
Everyone left Buffy alone with Spike to get him cleaned up and then eventually eat. Buffy continued to clean Spike up when Willow brought in a mug of blood. They heard the front door open and they both knew that the only person missing was Riley.
"I don't want him up here Will." Buffy said.
"I'll go down and keep him away. You just try and get him to eat something." Willow said comforting.
Willow headed down the stairs to see Riley standing in the entrance of the living room.
"Where's Buffy?" Riley asked with concern.
"Um she's upstairs. You can't go up there though she's busy." Willow said slightly unsure of what Riley knew about.
"Busy doing what?" Riley asked slightly angry that Willow told him he couldn't see his girlfriend.
"She's busy taking care of Spike." Dawn said not even realising the threat Riley was to Spike.
"She's with that thing! What the hell is he even doing in this house?" Riley asked furious now as he went for the stairs, but he was stopped by Xander standing in front of him to block the stairs. "Xander what the hell are you doing? That thing is in this house." Riley said with anger.
"That thing has a name. I might not like him, but even I don't call him that. His name is Spike and if Buffy doesn't want you up there right now then you're not going up there." Xander said with anger after everything Spike just did to protect Joyce and Dawn.
"Riley this is my home and if you are going to be here then you will respect my home. Spike is here because he is injured. He was injured protecting myself and Dawn so if you have a problem with my daughter trying her best to keep him alive then you can leave. You will not speak about my friend in that way under my roof or you won't be under my roof ever." Joyce said with anger as she sat on the couch holding Dawn.
"She shouldn't be alone with him Ms. Summers, he's not safe to be around." Riley said trying to get her to understand.
"He is no threat to my family if he was he wouldn't have been allowed in my home for all of these years." Joyce said back.
"Years? What do you mean years? I thought he was just allowed in? Are you telling me that thing has had access to you all for years? He could have killed you at any second what were you all thinking?" Riley asked amazed at their stupidity.
"Riley that is enough. You do not know the whole history so you do not get to comment on it. Buffy will be down when she is done and then we can all be filled in on what has happened until then I suggest you take this time to calm down." Giles said in a tone that everyone knew he wasn't about to tolerate any further comment.
Buffy finished washing the blood off from Spike and she couldn't believe how injured he was. Both of his eyes were swollen shut, his nose was broken, his right cheek bone was broken and it looked like his jaw had been broken as well. Buffy couldn't believe the damage that he had took. She also couldn't believe the level of damage that Spike had been able to cause to Glory, something Buffy hadn't even been able to do yet. Buffy knew that Spike was strong and she had defended her decision to leave her mom and Dawn with him. She knew that her decision would never be questioned again. Spike had at least proved that he was strong and willing to defend her family no matter what. For some reason she had always felt like Spike was a man of his word. He had helped her to save the world when Angelus was walking around again. When he had received the chip he went to them. He didn't have to go to her and Giles, but he chose to. It was like they had always had this understanding of each other. Buffy couldn't help but think that it was weird that they had trusted each other on some level even when they were enemies. Now that he had been chipped and helping her with slaying and protecting her family she didn't know what that made him. He was no longer an enemy, but an alley, yet an alley she had trusted with her family's lives. Now he no longer had the chip and she couldn't help but wonder if he would go back to being the enemy. Part of her hurt at the thought that she would have to stake him if he turned against her. Yet there was this other part of her that told her he wouldn't turn on her, that he had changed and it wasn't just because of the chip. She wanted to believe that he could be good, because she didn't want him to go through all of this pain only for her to have to stake him for turning on her. The problem was Spike didn't have a soul and without a soul there was nothing to retain the demon. The chip forced him to not be able to hunt or harm anyone and now that it was gone there was nothing stopping his demon from coming out to play. Buffy couldn't help but fear that she would have another Angelus problem on her hands.
Buffy shook the thought from her mind as she picked up the mug of blood with the straw in it. She didn't even know if she could get Spike to drink any of the blood, but she knew she needed to try. She brought the mug over to Spike's face and held it under his nose hoping the smell would wake the demon up enough to drink it. After a minute and Spike didn't even flinch Buffy let out a sigh. She looked down at the blood and made a little disgusted face at it and what she was thinking of doing. She knew Spike needed the blood to heal and to live. She needed Spike to recover from this so he could help her fight Glory. Buffy found a new hope that they could defeat Glory if they did it together. Together they would be unstoppable and they could defeat her without having to risk Dawn's life. With that thought in mind she dipped her finger into the warm blood and brought it to Spike's mouth. She gently put her finger into his mouth and rubbed it against his tongue. It was her last hope that the taste would get him to stir slightly to be able to drink the blood. Once the blood was gone from her finger she tried it again as she spoke.
"Come on Spike I know its just pig's blood but come on. Take the blood Spike. I need you too." Buffy said with a desperate voice.
Spike started to move his tongue around her finger and Buffy smiled.
"That's it Spike take the blood."
Buffy moved her finger out and dipped it into the blood before she put it back into Spike's welcoming mouth. After doing it two more times Buffy removed the straw and very carefully tipped the mug into Spike's mouth. She went slowly so to allow Spike to swallow the blood. What worried her was that he didn't vamp out with the blood and Buffy didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad sign. Once the blood was all gone Spike still didn't stir, but Buffy took comfort in the fact that she could get him to drink the mug of blood. She would give him some more in an hour and keep it up until he was healing. She needed him healed and back in fighting shape for Glory. Buffy put the blanket over Spike to help keep him warm before she picked up the mug and headed down the stairs. She could see the anger on Riley's face, but in this current moment she couldn't bring herself to care. She had other problems to worry about right now and his ego was not one of them.
"How is he?" Xander asked with concern.
"I got him to finally drink the blood, but he still didn't wake up. For a while there I didn't think I would be able to get him to drink any at all." Buffy said sadly.
"What happened?" Anya asked.
"Dawn, why don't you go upstairs." Buffy said gently.
"Oh right can't tell the kid what's going on, but it's okay for her to be in a vampire's crypt." Dawn said sarcastically.
"You were there for Spike to keep you safe. You're only fourteen I don't want you to have to deal with this stuff. Look, you can go and sit with Spike just be quiet he needs to rest." Buffy said hoping it would be enough to make Dawn leave.
"Fine, but only because I get to sit with Spike." Dawn said as she got up from the couch.
"He doesn't look too great right now, but remember he's still alive and he will heal from everything. So don't be scared it's just bruises and swelling." Buffy said comfortingly.
"I'll be fine. I'll come get you if he wakes up." Dawn said before she headed up the stairs to sit with Spike.
Buffy went over and stood by the couch where her mother was sitting.
"Buffy do you really think it would be wise for your little sister to be sitting alone with a vampire?" Riley asked with a slightly condescending tone.
"He can't hurt her even if he wanted to which he wouldn't. He got that injured because he was protecting them."
"Did he kill that woman?" Joyce asked Buffy with a slight hopefulness to her voice.
"No he didn't kill Glory. He did injure her though pretty badly." Buffy said proudly.
"He injured her?" Giles asked with complete interest now.
"Ya he kicked her ass. She could barely stand up when she was coming out of his crypt. She clapped her hands and disappeared before we could do anything though." Xander said.
"So then she isn't human if he hurt her." Riley said not seeing the big deal in it.
"She's a Hell God. The Key works to open the portal to her Hell dimension. She wants to go back to her home and the Key is the only way for that to happen." Buffy said.
"What happens to the Key if that happened?" Joyce asked fearing for her youngest daughter.
"The Key's blood starts to ritual to open the portal and it can only be assumed that the portal won't close until the Key is dead. During that time the portal will remain open allowing demons in that Hell dimension to cross over into our dimension. Essentially bringing forth Hell on Earth." Giles said.
"But it's okay that's not going to happen, because Spike hurt her." Buffy said proudly.
"So what? What's the big deal in that?" Riley said clearly annoyed that everyone cared about it so much.
"Because Spike did something that I haven't been able to do. I haven't even landed a hit on Glory, but Spike seriously injured her. Ya he's seriously injured, but he fought her not knowing what she was or what to expect. I kept him in the dark and it almost cost him his life. When he's better I'll tell him everything so he can be prepared for the next time. And when's ready we'll go after her together and take this Hell bitch out." Buffy said with confidence.
"You don't know if he could even hurt her again. It could have been a fluke. For all you know he could betray you. You should be keeping him far away from all of this. If you need backup then I will back you up. I'm your boyfriend I'll be there for you." Riley said.
"You can't fight her Riley. She's a God for Chris sake. She took an old, powerful vampire and severely injured him. Spike used to make comments all the time about how if he wanted me dead I would have been dead. I always took it as some ego talk and nothing more. But you know what, he was right. I've never fought the Slayer of Slayers. I've never fought William the Bloody. I've fought Spike and Spike just likes to dance around and get a feel for someone. He was testing me every time he fought me and I'm still alive because he didn't kill me on purpose. Maybe I wasn't good enough yet for him or maybe I interested him so he kept me alive to see what I would become I don't know, but it was because of his choice and not my skills. Spike is powerful and he has done something that I haven't been able to do. So the very last thing I am going to do is keep him away when he might be the only person strong enough to kill Glory and to protect my family." Buffy said with seriousness to her voice.
"As for him switching sides. History has dictates that Spike is very loyal to those that he considers his own and he seems to have taken Joyce and Dawn as his own. It is also known that Spike is not one who loses a war sort to speak. He will go after Glory again if for nothing else to be able to say that he won." Giles added.
"We'll he is my friend and he will be here until he is well enough to be back on his own. Frankly, I would feel better with Spike in the house where he is safe and can recover properly." Joyce said.
"You want to keep a soulless vampire around in your house." Riley said with disbelief in his voice.
"Why not? He's very powerful. The demons and vampires in this town won't attack him unless he fights them. I mean Spike could literally sleep in the middle of the cemetery and he wouldn't be attacked. Unless some stupid new vampire tries to, but then he would just kill them without even having to get up. Spike is also the reason why Joyce and Dawn have yet to be killed by any demon looking to get at the Slayer. History would prove that by now they would have been killed, but Spike has everyone knowing that they are untouchable so they leave them alone. It only seems fair to let him stay here to heal after all he's done to protect them." Anya simply said.
"I didn't know that." Buffy said surprised that Spike had made it so that her family was safe.
"Well it's not like he's going to tell you. You'll just accuse him of trying to get something from you. He's not. He's doing it because he cares about them and wants them safe when he's not around. He's loyal and he always keeps his word. I think that was made pretty obvious tonight." Anya said.
"While I don't fully agree with having Spike here, he is unable to harm anyone. He does have the chip and even if he didn't he still wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. He's too injured. For all we know he could have brain damage from the powerful blows to his head. There's no telling just how much damage is done until he is able to talk." Giles said.
"Even if he does he'll heal right? I mean he's a vampire they can heal from anything." Xander said with a slight concern to his voice.
"Almost anything. You can cut out their organs and they will grow back, but body parts won't. They heal from brain damage just takes a long time." Riley said like he was talking about the weather.
"How do you know that?" Willow asked slightly unsure if she wanted the actual answer.
"We were able to learn a lot about their species in the lab. It helped us be able to be better prepared in the field and for medical advancements." Riley simply said.
"You tortured them?" Tara said with hurt in her voice.
"No we ran tests on the subjects. We're not talking about people we're talking about soulless things they don't matter." Riley simply said.
"That doesn't mean you can torture them and call it experiments. How do you know they don't have souls?" Joyce said disgusted by her daughter's boyfriend.
"Ms. Summers, they were demons and vampires. They kill people and are evil. They didn't have souls, no demon or vampire does except for that one who was cursed."
"You don't know if they hurt anyone. You just make assumptions on them because of their race. You could make the same assumptions about the human race as well. We're full of murderers, serial killers, child abusers, rapist and worse. What you did can't be justified because you think they are all evil without any knowledge of it being true." Joyce said with anger.
"Shouldn't we be more worried about this Hell God? I mean how long will it take before Spike is back to being able to fight?" Xander asked trying to get everyone back on track. He didn't want to hear how Riley may have participated in torturing defenseless creatures. Xander didn't like demons or vampires, but that didn't mean he would torture them when they couldn't even fight back. It was wrong and not something he wanted to think about right now.
"Depends on his injuries, how much blood and rest he gets. Spike would have a better idea, but that will have to wait until morning I suspect when he wakes up. For now see if you can get him to drink some blood every couple of hours and just let him sleep. Pig's blood will take longer for him to heal with if he has serious internal injuries. If he does have brain damage it could take months before he is fully healed and able to fight I'm afraid." Giles said.
"We don't have months, not just for him to heal anyways. You said so yourself we have three months before Glory needs to open her portal. We don't have time to wait for Spike to heal if it's going to take that long." Buffy said with worry.
"Animal blood is not strong. It's just strong enough to keep a vampire alive and in fighting condition. It doesn't do much against serious injuries I'm afraid. I can pick up some human blood from Willy's in the morning and that should help him heal quicker. If he does have brain damage though, it could take a long time before he is able to fight. It's something we will deal with if it happens. Like I said we won't know more until he wakes up." Giles said.
"Great now we're feeding the thing human blood. You know if he's in that much pain it would be more humane to just stake him right?" Riley said clearly not happy that everyone wanted Spike to be fighting by Buffy and not himself.
"No one is staking him. I need him in this fight it's that simple. Giles get the blood and if he does have brain damage from the attack then we can deal with it then." Buffy said.
"I might be able to do a spell to see what his injuries are. I could get the supplies from the magic shop tomorrow morning." Tara suggested.
"That wouldn't be a bad idea. If he isn't able to talk just yet at least we will know what level of damage we are dealing with." Buffy said with a small smile to Tara.
"We'll pick up the stuff tomorrow morning once we find the right spell." Willow said with a small smile to Tara.
"I am going to lie down. Buffy will you be alright with Spike tonight?" Joyce asked with concern.
"I'll be fine go and rest. I'll stay with him to make sure nothing happens or in case he wakes up." Buffy reassured her mother.
"I'll be with her." Riley added.
"No you won't be. I don't want you anywhere near Spike while he is like this. You're negativity will do more damage than good. You will go to your own place tonight." Joyce said with a seriousness to her voice as she stood up.
"She shouldn't be alone with it." Riley said.
"My daughter can handle herself with Spike. Now please go home so I can rest in peace." Joyce said as she gave Buffy a kiss on the cheek before she headed up the stairs to say good night to Dawn and Spike.
"Go home Riley I'll call you tomorrow." Buffy said with a voice that everyone knew meant she was angry.
"Buffy." Riley started, but Buffy speaking cut him off.
"Everyone is going home. I'll be fine to handle Spike."
"We'll come by tomorrow morning with the stuff for the spell." Willow said understanding that Buffy wanted some time alone.
"I'll bring some human blood by in the morning and once the spell is done we can go from there." Giles said.
"Ok sounds good." Buffy said.
"Are you sure you don't want someone to stay? I don't mind." Xander said.
"Thanks, but I'll be okay he's just going to sleep." Buffy said.
"I'll come by in the morning then and see what the damage is." Xander said.
"Thanks for your help tonight." Buffy said to Xander sincerely.
"No problem Buff. Come on Ahn let's get home." Xander said.
They all filed out of the house and Buffy went into the kitchen to get another mug of blood warmed up before she went upstairs and into the guest bedroom. She walked in to see Dawn sitting down in the chair by the bed with her mother sitting on the other side of the bed facing Spike.
"How is he?" Buffy asked as she walked into the room.
"He hasn't even moved. He's not breathing either. I know he doesn't have to, but he normally breathes." Dawn said sadly.
"He'll be okay Dawnie. As long as he isn't dust he will heal from everything. He just needs blood and rest." Buffy said trying to sound comforting.
"Did everyone leave?" Joyce asked.
"Ya they are going to come by in the morning to see how he is." Buffy answered.
"Alright, well I am off to bed and Dawn you need to start getting ready as well. It's getting late and you have school in the morning." Joyce said.
"Can't I stay home tomorrow?" Dawn asked.
"No you can't. Spike will still be here when you get home from school. He needs rest you can see him in the morning before school and when you come home." Joyce said.
"Alright fine. I'll go get ready for bed. Goodnight."
"Night Dawn." Buffy said.
"Goodnight Sweetie." Joyce said as she gave Dawn a hug before she left.
Once they were alone Joyce spoke.
"I don't like Riley. I wish you would stop dating him."
"I don't like him very much tonight either. I didn't know that they did experiments on the demons they captured. I should have known though, Spike should have told me." Buffy said sadly.
"Maybe he didn't know. Do you think he had to suffer through it?" Joyce asked sadly.
"I don't know. He didn't say anything about it. He didn't even really want to talk about it. He just told us what we needed to know and that was it. I don't know what he went through and what he didn't. I never asked him though either."
"He's become an interesting part of our lives. I know it's not easy for you, but you may want to consider being nicer to him. He really does do a lot to keep Dawn and me safe."
"I just don't know what to do with him. He's not Angel, he doesn't have a soul all he has is a chip and he doesn't even have that anymore." Buffy finally admitted.
"What do you mean? What happened to it?" Joyce asked calmly.
"It fell out at some point when he was fighting Glory. I saw it in the blood on the ground."
"And you didn't tell anyone you saw it." Joyce simply stated.
"He's no danger right now as he is. I didn't want to start the argument of if we stake him or not. It's not like he would know he doesn't have the chip anymore I could just not tell anyone and he'll go on thinking he can't feed off of humans."
"Buffy Anne Summers you will not leave this man thinking he can't defend himself against a human. I raised you better than that." Joyce said with a slight anger to her tone.
"It's not that simple mom. I don't want him to go back to feeding off of humans and trying to kill me." Buffy said in her defense.
"And what happens when he is out and Riley or one of those Army men grabs him and he gets captured or killed because he doesn't know he can fight back? If you truly believe that after everything he has done to keep our family safe that he would just turn around and try to kill you then you don't know him at all. He would never disrespect this family like that. You know as well as I do if he wanted you dead in this past year he could have had any demon gang go after you. He has changed and he deserves for you to treat him as such."
"I know he's done a lot to protect us. This happened because I asked him to watch over you and Dawn tonight. I just don't want to have to stake him, not after everything he just did and I'm afraid that if he knows he doesn't have the chip he'll go back to killing again and I'll be forced to kill him." Buffy said honestly with sadness to her voice.
"I don't see him doing that Sweetie and I think deep down you don't either. I think you are afraid to trust him fully because of Angel. But he's not Angel he doesn't have a soul to lose, but that's not a bad thing."
"How can that not be a bad thing Mom? There's now nothing stopping his demon from going crazy."
"He didn't have a soul or a chip when he was here before. When we had conversation together over hot cocoa. He didn't have a soul or a chip then and he didn't even try to hurt me. I don't know how it all works, but Spike seems to have a much better control over his demon than Angel ever did. There were times when I looked at Angel and I couldn't even see a soul in him. Yet with Spike, there are times when I look at him and I don't see a vampire, I just see a man. A man that I believe cares about you on some level and he would never put you in the position where you would have to stake him." Joyce said patiently.
"I don't know what to do. I have to tell the others about it at least. It's not something I can keep from them and I'll figure out the rest later. It's all I can do right now." Buffy said calmly.
"Just keep in mind what I said. Now I need sleep. Come and get me if you need me in the night Sweetie."
"I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm going to sleep while he sleeps. If he wakes up I'll feel it. I'll also set my alarm so I can get up and give him blood every couple of hours."
"Ok Sweetie I love you." Joyce said as she went and gave Buffy a hug.
Buffy hugged her back as she spoke. "I love you too Mom. And thanks for being so understanding with all of this. I'm pretty sure other Slayer's moms wouldn't have been so accepting of them and their friends."
"You are my daughter and I love you with all of my heart no matter what. He's my friend too and I care about him. It's that Riley I don't care much for."
"I know, major conversation ahead for him trust me, but tonight was not the night for it."
"No it was not. Goodnight Sweetie."
"Goodnight Mom."
Joyce headed out of the room and Buffy turned her attention to the still unconscious vampire. She sat down with the mug of blood and she didn't even hesitate this time she dipped her finger into the blood and gently put it into Spike's mouth. It took a moment before Spike's tongue moved to lick off the blood. Buffy did it a few more times before she got him to drink from the mug. Once the blood was gone she went downstairs and rinsed out the mug and set it aside for later before she went back up and sat down in the big comfy chair in the room by the bed. She put her feet up on the edge of the bed and then sat back. She was exhausted from everything that had happened in the past couple of days so she closed her eyes after setting her phone for two hours from now and she let herself fall asleep.
It was six in the morning when Buffy woke up feeling that something was wrong. She opened her eyes and looked over at Spike. She could see him sweating and horribly shaking. It was clear that his body was in a great deal of pain and he wasn't able to handle it. Buffy got up out of the chair and gently placed her hands on each of his shoulders as she spoke.
"Spike, Spike can you hear me?"
Spike didn't respond at all to her and Buffy knew that he was a lot more injured than they had all thought he would be. She grabbed her phone and quickly called Giles. After four rings he answered.
"Hello?" Giles' voice was filled with sleep as he had just been woken up.
"Giles it's me. Spike is worse. I don't know what is wrong with him, but he's sweating and shaking uncontrollably. He's in a lot of pain and I still can't get him to wake up." Buffy said with worry.
"His body must be more injured than we had anticipated. I will go and get him some blood and call everyone else. Willow and Tara need to do a spell so we know exactly what the damage is." Giles said now more awake than he had been before.
"Ok what should I do?"
"Try and see if you can relieve some of his pain until we get there."
"Got ok thanks."
Buffy ended the call, but she still wasn't sure what she should be doing. She didn't know what to do for someone that was this injured. She looked up when she heard her mom walking down the hall. Joyce walked into the doorway and she was instantly worried when she saw the condition that Spike was in.
"Buffy, when did this start?" Joyce asked with concern.
"I don't know I just woke up when I felt something was wrong. I called Giles he is going to get some human blood and then get Willow and Tara over here to do the spell so we will know what is wrong. He said I should try and help with the pain, but I don't know how."
"I'll get him a damp cloth to put on his forehead and some ice packs."
Joyce went down the stairs and into the kitchen to get a couple of ice packs to help with Spike's more serious injuries and a cold damp cloth for his forehead. She also warmed up some blood to see if it would help with the pain as well. She didn't know anything about vampires really so she didn't know if any of it would help him with his pain, but it was worth a try. With those items in her hands she went back up the stairs to see Buffy trying to soothe Spike by talking to him. Buffy turned to see Joyce coming back into the room. She handed Buffy the mug that Buffy put down on the bedside table before she took the damp cloth and placed it gently over Spike's forehead and she put the two ice packs on his stomach and chest. She didn't know if that was what was hurting him the most or not, but it had the most bruising so she was going to chance it. Buffy sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up the mug of blood. Spike turned his head towards the smell of the blood and Buffy spoke.
"Spike, can you hear me?" Buffy asked softly, but Spike didn't register it.
"Move the blood." Joyce suggested.
Buffy moved the blood to the left and Spike followed it. She moved it over to Spike's mouth and he opened it slightly and she was able to get him to drink it.
"He can still smell at least. I don't know if he can hear us or if he even knows what is going on. The demon in him can smell the blood today though so I think that is an improvement." Buffy explained.
"So the blood might be doing something for him after all." Joyce said hopeful.
"It will normally, it just takes a long time. I don't know how long he'll be in this level of pain though." Buffy said sadly.
"Well hopefully the others will be here soon to give us some answers. I'm going to get dressed and put on some coffee." Joyce said before she turned to head out of the room.
Buffy just sat down on the edge of the bed and she gently touched the side of Spike's face. Spike turned his head at the smell of her hand before it touched his uninjured cheek. Buffy moved her hand back around his nose and Spike followed it. Buffy couldn't help but smile at him. She placed her hand against Spike's right cheek gently and she made sure her wrist was near his nose.
"Well I don't know if you can hear me, but at least you can smell me so you know you're safe. At least I hope you know you are safe. I never thought I would be so happy that you can smell me. You would think after dating Angel this type of thing wouldn't bother me, but he spent so much time getting me to forget what he was that we didn't talk about any of it. I never noticed it before just how different you both are. I know you would say that you are completely different, but I never noticed how different you are outside of the whole soul thing. I used to think all soulless vampires were the same, but you're making me see otherwise. Before you were just an evil enemy and now I don't know what you are, but you're not what I thought you would be. I didn't think you would actually go this far to protect them. I owe you a lot for what you did Spike." Buffy said softly into the empty room.
It was just over an hour later when Dawn woke up and everyone else arrived. Giles came up into the room with a mug of human blood. He handed it to Buffy as he spoke.
"How is he?" Giles asked with a slight concern.
"He's still shaking, but it's not as bad as it was. We gave him some blood about an hour ago that seemed to help slightly. He could smell the blood and he can smell me. He hasn't opened his eyes or even gave any indication that he can hear us, but he can smell at least."
"Did he do that last night?"
"No he didn't even move at all."
"He might be improving then. Willow and Tara are down in the kitchen working on the spell right now. Hopefully they will be able to tell us more. How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine. I slept some last night in between giving him blood."
"I meant emotionally and mentally. It couldn't have been easy to hear what Riley had said about Spike. It wasn't easy for myself to hear it and I am not dating the man." Giles said gently as he moved closer to the other side of the bed so he could get a better look at Spike.
"We've always had different opinions. I know I slay vampires, but I don't torture them or run experiments on them. It's different."
"It is different. That opinion is something that you will need to discuss with each other eventually. I want you to be happy and to be with a normal human being, but maybe that was just my wishful thinking. The normal human being isn't turning out any better than the ensouled vampire."
"Maybe I'm not meant to have a relationship. I mean really how many vampire Slayers have there been that had a husband?"
"None that I am aware of. I know you feel responsible for what has happened to Spike, but you are not at fault. And he would tell you the same thing if he could."
"He got hurt because Glory went there looking for me or she was looking to hurt mom and Dawn. It doesn't matter the only reason he got hurt is because of me. I brought him involved in this without even giving him any information or a choice. I should have known better. I should have at least given him the basics before I forced him into this. We all treat him like crap and then we expect him to be there to help us defend each other. And what does he do? He takes it because he has no other choice but to."
"We are not used to being around vampires Buffy. The only one we have been around is Angel and he was different with his soul. It takes time to adjust and change our opinion of one vampire. We all have treated him a little unfairly since he has been helping us killing demons. That is something that can be changed though Buffy. It doesn't have to stay as a regret."
"So you trust him? What if he didn't have a chip anymore? Would you still trust him to not go back to being evil?" Buffy asked cautiously.
"I have always believed from when Spike received his chip that he was meant to have it. A change of course from the Powers that Be. A very powerful and old master vampire gets a modification chip to make it so he can't hurt humans yet he can do all the damage he wants to a demon. Spike could have got a pack together and destroyed this city, but he chose not to. He chose to help you fight demons and patrol with you at night to watch your back. I don't think not having the chip would change that. I think he has made his choice and I don't see him changing it." Giles simply said.
Willow and Tara came up into the room with a bowl in Tara's hands.
"Ok we're ready." Willow said.
Buffy moved away from the bed with Giles as Willow and Tara went on each side of the bed. They began to do the spell and they could hear the front door opening with Anya and Xander coming into the house. They came up the stairs and walked into the room to see everyone around Spike. They saw Tara and Willow working on the spell around Spike and Xander went over to Giles and Buffy and whispered.
"How is he?"
"I don't know. He's either getting worse or getting better I'm not sure." Buffy said with worry.
"What happened?" Xander whispered.
"I woke up at six to find him shaking and sweating really badly. He's in a lot of pain, but it could be from healing I don't know. Hopefully Will and Tara will be able to tell us."
They heard the front door open again and they figured it was Joyce or Dawn going outside to the paper. After twenty minutes Willow and Tara had finished the spell and they both looked really sad and hurt.
"How bad is it?" Buffy asked trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
"Maybe we should go downstairs where we can talk properly and Joyce can be there to hear it." Willow said sadly.
They all headed down the stairs to see that Riley was actually standing in the living room with Joyce.
"Riley, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked trying to keep calm.
"You said everyone was going to be here this morning to see what injuries the vampire has. We also didn't come up with a plan for the new Hostile."
"How is he?" Joyce asked with worry doing her best to ignore Riley.
"He's in bad shape." Willow said sadly.
They all filed into the living room, but before Willow elaborated Buffy spoke.
"Where's Dawn?"
"She's upstairs getting ready for school. What are his injuries?" Joyce asked.
"His rib cage and chest plate is completely shattered. His lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys are horribly bruised and mush practically. He has to regrow the organs and it is causing him a great deal of pain. He has a fever and he's weak right now. His eyes are both swollen, his nose is broken, his whole right arm and hand is shattered, his left cheek bone is broken and his jaw. He also has three spots on his skull that were crushed. The bones went inward and it pierced parts of his brain. He has damage done to three parts of his brain, his speech, his eyes and the nerves that control his right hand. I'm afraid he will be blind when he does wake up and he might have a hard time talking if he can talk at all. Not to mention his right hand will shake and might not work properly until the nerves heal." Willow explained sadly.
"Oh my God." Joyce said with pain in her voice as she sat down in the chair.
"How long will it take for him to heal?" Buffy asked sadly.
"I don't know." Tara said sadly.
"It could be at least six months before he is able to be fighting. He'll be in a great deal of pain for six months until he has fully recovered." Giles answered clearly upset at the level of damage that had been done to Spike.
"Can't we speed that up somehow?" Xander asked.
"Even if we gave him human blood everyday it would still take six months at least. The only other blood that would be stronger than that is Drusilla's, but that is out of the question." Giles explained.
"Well now what?" Anya asked.
"A healing spell wouldn't work on a vampire or I would try one." Tara said sadly.
"Just leave him to heal. We can drop him off back at his crypt and he can heal. We need to focus on the new Hostile and how to defeat it." Riley said.
"I need to make a phone call." Buffy said as she moved to go out the back door and pulled out her cell phone. After three rings the person answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey Angel it's me. I'm sorry did I wake you up?"
"No I haven't gone to sleep yet. Is everything alright?" Angel asked with concern as Buffy never calls him this early.
"No not really. It's Spike he's hurt, really bad." Buffy said with worry not even bothering to hide it from her voice.
"How bad is really bad?" Angel asked calmly.
"We've been fighting this new Big Bad and I didn't keep him in the loop. It's a long story but basically she is after me because I have this Key that she can use to open a portal to release Hell on Earth so she can get back to her Hell Dimension. She knew where I live and Mom had just gotten out of the hospital after brain surgery not too long ago and she's still weak from it. I had Mom and Dawn go to Spike's crypt to keep them safe, because he's the only one strong enough besides me to do it. I didn't tell him what she was though or who was after them possibly. I should have told him." Buffy ranted on.
"Buffy slow down. Who is after you?" Angel asked trying to make sense of what Buffy was going on about.
"A Hell God that goes by the name Glory. Only we didn't know she was a Hell God until last night. Last night the Council came down to test me again and see if I was worthy of them before they gave us any information they had on her. I got them to tell me, but I was worried about Mom and Dawn being in the house alone after Glory had already showed up here. So I took them to Spike's and got him to watch over them. While we were at the Magic Shop Glory showed up at Spike's place and he got Mom and Dawn down into the tunnels before he fought Glory only he didn't know what she was or why she was coming after Mom and Dawn. I kept him out of the loop about everything. I hadn't been able to hurt Glory in the two times I've fought her. I haven't even landed a hit so when Mom and Dawn came into the shop and told us that someone had shown up at Spike's but they didn't know who it was. Xander and I went to see what was going on as I thought it would be Glory. We got there and she was leaving his crypt. She was seriously injured, but before we had a chance to fight her she disappeared. We went in to see how Spike was, but it was bad. It's really bad. We brought him back here and we've been giving him pig's blood and we just gave him some human blood, but it's bad Angel, it's really bad and it's my fault because I didn't keep him in the loop and I put him in the position to protect them."
"Buffy calm down. Spike will heal as long as he isn't dust he will heal. Just calm down and tell me his injuries." Angel said calmly trying to keep calm himself. Him and Spike didn't have much love for each other, but Angel knew Spike had been trying in the past year after he was chipped. Angel had to give him some credit for trying to help Buffy and her friends out.
"Willow and Tara did a spell to see what the damage was. His kidneys, liver, spleen and lungs are practically mush they said. His eyes are both swollen shut, his nose, left cheek bone and jaw is broken. His whole right arm and hand is shattered. All of his ribs and chest plate are broken or shattered. He also has three broken spots in his skull and they broke inward. He has brain damage done to his eyes, speech and the nerves that control his right hand. Willow said he would be blind when he woke up and he might not be able to talk and his right hand might not work. Giles said it could take six months before he's healed."
"At least six months if he's just getting pig's blood. It could take years to fully recover from it. He needs something stronger."
"Drusilla's blood, but we can't just have Drusilla walking around here. I was wondering if my blood would work for Spike like it helped you."
"It wouldn't help right away. With me I was just poisoned with Spike he's seriously injured, gravely injured to be accurate he could still die from his injuries. Your blood would help to make him stronger, but you would need something else to help it make it stronger, you need family blood. Can he bite?"
"No he's not strong enough to. What do you mean family blood?"
"I could give him some of my blood to boost the blood you give him. If he gets enough of it during the next week he could be fully healed or close enough to it to reverse the broken bones and brain damage."
"He could be back to normal in a week?" Buffy asked surprised that it would be that quick.
"He'll still have a few broken bones and bruising, but the serious injuries will be taken care of. I have some of my own blood in packages in case I was ever badly injured, my blood is powerful and works to heal better. I can come up there tonight and give him some of my blood and you can use the packages for the rest of the week. I can't stay I have a lot going on right now down here, but I could be there tonight and you can fill me in on everything."
"Ok what do I do in the mean time? Should I give him some of my blood?"
"I can't tell you what to do Buffy. I can tell you that Spike could still die from those injuries. You have to figure out the rest for yourself. I'll leave as soon as I can and be there tonight."
"Ok thanks Angel I'll see you tonight." Buffy said as she made up her mind on what she was going to do.
Buffy ended the call and took a deep breath before she went back into the living room to hear everyone arguing.
"I've been gone for two minutes." Buffy said annoyed.
"Everything would have been fine until Captain America over here decided it would be more humane to kill Spike now that he is not useful to anyone." Xander said with anger.
"When an animal is injured and no longer useful you put it down." Riley said.
"He's not an animal." Joyce said.
"He doesn't have a soul, a heartbeat or breathes he's a walking dead animal Joyce." Riley said back in a condescending tone.
"Dogs don't have souls that doesn't mean you can go around killing them for fun." Giles said even he was appalled at the idea that Riley was suggesting.
"People use normal animals all the time for scientific experiments. If the results can help humans then there is no reason not to do it." Riley said back.
"Ok that's enough we're not killing Spike. The only one who gets to decide when Spike is staked is me. It doesn't matter anyways because I've figured out a way to make Spike heal within a week." Buffy said.
"How?" Giles asked interested.
"I called Angel he said that his blood is family blood so it will do the trick to help Spike heal. Plus I guess because he's so old it's stronger that way too. He keeps packages of his own blood in the freezer in case he gets injured so he's going to bring some and if we give that to Spike plus human blood for the week he'll be healed up" Buffy answered.
"Completely?" Joyce asked.
"No Angel said he'll still have bruising and he'll be sore and he may have a few broken bones still. But he will be seventy-five percent back to normal health."
"That's good though he can fight with that he has in the past before. So when do we take on Glory then?" Xander asked.
"I don't know. I don't know how long it takes a Hell God to heal, but she's going to be pissed when she is healed up and ready for a fight." Buffy said.
"She's either going to be pissed off and try to come after Spike again to kill him or she's going to work on something to make him pay that will take time. " Xander said.
"We won't know until something happens. We need to be prepared for either option right now." Giles said.
"We need more information. There has to be more out there on her than what the Council has been able to find." Buffy said.
"I could try the demon world, but Spike would have more luck on that then I would." Anya said.
"It's worth a try." Buffy said.
Riley's phone went off and he pulled it out. He saw that there was a text message and he read it before he spoke.
"I have to go. I'll come back tonight and we can come up with a plan then."
"You don't have to be here if you can't make it. It's not a big deal Angel is just going to give Spike blood." Buffy said with a shrug.
"Ya then there will be two vampires in this house. I'll be back just after sunset. I love you." Riley said as he kissed Buffy on her cheek before he headed out of the house.
"Ya because Riley being here is really going to keep Angel and Spike in line." Xander said sarcastically once the door was closed.
"What did you have to do to convince Angel to come down?" Willow asked.
"Nothing he offered. Apparently family is family." Buffy said.
"He knows that Spike has the chip I had called to inform him of that shortly after Thanksgiving. He knows that Spike has been helping you; that might have something to do with it as well." Giles said.
"Well I don't care either way he is going to be here tonight to give Spike blood." Buffy said.
"What is the other part you were hiding from Riley I'm assuming?" Joyce asked.
"How do you even know that I'm hiding something?" Buffy said calmly.
"Because you are my daughter. There's something else that needs to happen in order for Spike to be healed in a week, what is it?" Joyce asked calmly.
"Angel said that Spike is gravely injured, that he could die at any minute still with his injuries. There's something I can do to keep Spike alive until Angel gets here tonight and I'm going to do it. Riley wouldn't understand and I'm not looking to get into another argument. I need Spike alive to help me fight Glory and after what he just did for me I owe him that much to keep him alive." Buffy said.
"Buffy what is it?" Joyce asked calmly.
"Spike needs to drink my blood. It will help him heal and keep him alive long enough for Angel to get here when he can give his blood to Spike."
"Is that dangerous?" Joyce asked with concern.
"Buffy the last time Angel bit you, you almost died." Willow said with concern.
"This time will be different. Spike isn't going to bit me, he's not strong enough anyways. I can cut my wrist and he can drink it from there. With my healing the cut will close up and I'll be fine in an hour."
"Buff, are you sure about this?" Xander asked.
"Look I know it's not ideal here, but if I can keep him alive long enough for Angel to get here then I'm going to do it." Buffy said with a strong voice.
"I think if it keeps him alive then you should." Tara said calmly.
"Giles?" Buffy asked.
"It's your decision. I don't ever want a vampire drinking from you, but this is an unusual and extreme situation. Spike is currently our best chance at stopping Glory before she tries to end the world. I would give him my blood if I thought it would help. You have to do what you feel is right Buffy." Giles simply said.
"Ya I mean if you aren't going to let him bite your neck I don't think it'll be that dangerous. He is really injured I doubt he would be able to do much anyways." Xander said.
"Mom?" Buffy asked not wanting to upset her mother.
"He saved my life and Dawn's life yesterday. I'm not about to stop you from doing something that could save his life. Just be careful." Joyce said with concern.
"I'll be fine, like I said he's only going to get a cut on my wrist. Just enough to keep him alive until Angel gets here." Buffy reassured her mother.
"Then I will work on making some breakfast for everyone." Joyce said.
"We'll come help." Tara said and her and Willow headed into the kitchen to help Joyce.
"I'll be down when I'm done." Buffy said to the others before she went upstairs.
Buffy went into her room and grabbed one of the knives she kept there before she went into the guest bedroom. She went in and saw that Spike was still shaking and sweating. It was clear that he was in a great deal of pain and Buffy couldn't say she blamed him. He was gravely injured and he desperately needed stronger blood than pig or human. Buffy went over and sat down on the edge of the bed facing Spike. She moved her hand and brought her wrist under Spike's nose as she spoke.
"I don't even know if you can hear me or if you can feel anything other than pain right now. But just in case, you don't have to be scared. You're in my house and you're safe for now. Angel is coming down tonight and he's going to give you some of his blood so you can be all healed up. I'm going to get you there I promise. The least I can do is keep you alive after what you just did for me and my family. Just hang on Spike I got something that will help you feel better."
Buffy took her left hand and turned it so her wrist was facing her. She then used her right hand to hold the knife and she made a deep cut going across her left wrist. Spike turned his head the instant he smelt her blood, but he didn't change into his game face. Buffy put the knife down and she brought her wrist up to Spike's mouth. Spike opened his mouth slightly and the blood dripping into his mouth. Once it hit his tongue that was all his demon needed and he started to lick and suck as much blood as Spike could get out of the cut. Buffy let Spike drink from her for a few minutes until she felt like she was getting dizzy before she slowly pulled her wrist back. Spike wanted to fight against it, but he was too weak to truly put up much of a fight. Buffy grabbed some of the gauze that was in the first aid kit and wrapped her wrist as she spoke.
"I know you want more, but I can't give anymore right now. Angel will be here tonight and he'll give you blood to make you strong again. You're going to be ok."
Spike slowly moved two fingers on his left hand and Buffy gently reached down and held onto his hand with her right hand.
"It's okay. Spike if you can hear me and understand me it's ok. You're safe."
Buffy held onto Spike's hand for a few minutes before she needed to eat something to make up for the blood loss. Buffy moved off of the bed and out of the room after making sure the sunlight wouldn't come through the curtains. She headed downstairs to see everyone in the kitchen helping to make breakfast.
"How are you feeling?" Giles asked once Buffy came into the room.
"Nothing a little food and orange juice can't fix." Buffy said with a shrug as she sat down on one of the stools.
"Did it work?" Joyce asked as she poured Buffy a glass of orange juice.
"I hope so. He moved two of his fingers on his left hand afterwards so I'm taking that as a good sign for now."
"Now we just need to keep giving him human blood every couple of hours and it should get him to when Angel arrives." Giles said.
"So all we can do is wait." Willow said sadly.
They all ate breakfast and then went off on their own as they waited for nightfall when Angel would be able to come down and help Spike.