It's All About Power (Unfinished)

[Spuffy]

I thought that might be something you'd pick up on

[JamesMFan]

My DikeDar was on.

[Spuffy]

Well, I still haven't figured out if I'm waking Buffy up or not so it may just end up that way *nods*

[JamesMFan]

Angel can wake her up with a kiss.

[Spuffy]

I plan on this story being Angel-free!

[JamesMFan]

I always plan that way, yet somehow...

[Spuffy]

And the fact that I'm not sure where I'm going with the story doesn't really help me much. I did know what I wanted the last chapter to be, but now that people actually read it I don't know if I want to do that.

[JamesMFan]

Bummer, dude.

I always fly blind.

[Spuffy]

I just think the readers would hate me if I ended it that way... But I even have an idea for a sequel if I use that ending!

[JamesMFan]

Crickey, plan in advance why don't you.

[Spuffy]

All I have figured out in advance is the final chapter of this story, I have no clue what's between then and now, and the first chapter of a sequel if I use that ending. hahah. I need to figure out what's gonna happen in this one first.

[Spuffy]

Chapter 10


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spike was striding towards the house, the one that held Giles, the other slayers, and his slayer, Buffy, all inside. “Dawn, invite me in. Now.” He ordered, not slowing down in the least. He wanted to barge in, and if he was stopped by the stupid forcefield that kept a vampire from entering a house, his entrance wouldn’t have the desired effect.


Dawn nodded. “Spike, you are personally invited into my home, any time.” She stated, trying to sound nice about it to lighten the mood a little, but it didn’t seem to work.

“Thanks.” He replied dryly then as soon as they got up to the house he kicked the door open. Giles was sitting on the sofa and immediately shot up from his seat.

“Well, well, well. Nice home you’ve got here.” Spike commented as he looked the place over. As soon as he had stepped foot into the house he’d felt Buffy’s presence. No. That was a lie. As soon as he had seen the house he’d felt her. Hell, as soon as he’d been within a hundred yards of the place he’d felt her. He wondered why he hadn’t known sooner, but then he realized he’d never really been to this part of town.

“Spike?” Giles’ voice was alarmed and he quickly cast a glare Dawn’s way. He had been wondering where she had gone off to, and had considered this but didn’t think she’d be that foolish.

Dawn took a step back once he glared at her and almost tried to hide behind Spike. As she had said the other night while talking to Giles, the wrath of Giles was not good.

“Do I look like jolly ol’ Saint Nick?” Spike raised an eyebrow as he stepped towards the watcher. “Course it’s Spike, you wanker.” He said, but he knew Giles knew who he was. He was just pissed off right now with the man.

He turned his gaze to the stairs and knew it he went up there right now he’d be able to find Buffy, and probably a few slayers trying to listen to the conversation.

“Dawn, you went off to find Spike? I specifically told you that he wasn’t to be involved in all of this...” Giles began but Spike stopped him.

“Oh, shut it, would you?” But it was more of a demand than a question. He turned his gaze from the stairs to Giles, then looked down at the floor as he took a step towards him.

He slowly lifted his head, showing he had vamped out while moving closer. The glare he gave Giles could kill.

“How long were you gonna let this go on before I found out?” He growled. “ ‘S already been three bloody months. Didn’t think I deserved to know?”

“Spike, if you would just calm down, possibly sit, we can talk about this calmly, and rationally...” He took a step back from the vampire. He knew how dangerous Spike could get if he wanted to be.

“Bull.” Spike moved closer. “You gave up your chance at calmly and rationally the day you decided not to let me know!” He then snapped, grabbed Giles’ throat and slammed him into a nearby wall.

“Giles!” Dawn called out, worried about what Spike might do. “Spike don’t hurt him...” She knew deep down that Spike wouldn’t kill Giles, but she knew he’d hurt him if he had to. Right now he seemed to feel he had to.

“Stay out of it, bit.” Spike didn’t even try to hide the growl in his voice as he ordered her. She was scared. He knew it, but right now he couldn’t seem to care.

“Spike...put me down!” There was a moment of struggling from Giles before Spike pulled him away from the wall, and slammed him there once again. He looked at him for a moment, and morphed out of vamp face. He stepped away letting Giles go. He’d deal with him later.

Giles rubbed his throat, coughing a couple times before straightening himself up. “This is exactly why I didn’t want you to know, Spike. You may have a soul now, you may have saved the world, but as far as I can see you’re still that same Spike you’ve always been, and I’m not about to chance that you’d hurt her.”

Spike laughed and turned around. “Always had a way with words, haven’t you, Watcher?” His head was cocked to the side. “I’m goin’ up to see her, and there’s nothing you can bloody do to stop me.” He pointed towards the stairs as he spoke. “And if I even get the slightest hint that you’re within 20 feet of that room...” He began then paused as he made his way to the stairs. He turned back once he got to the first one.

“You’ll wish you were in a coma.”

With that the blonde vampire disappeared up the stairs.

Giles looked over to Dawn, still rubbing his neck. “Dawn I can’t believe you deliberately disobeyed my orders!”

Dawn rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms. “You can’t order me around, Giles. You’re not my father and you’re not my watcher. I may be younger than you but you have no right to tell me what to do when it comes to my sister. Because the fact is, you stopped being her watcher a long time ago. And you were never her father.”

The words seemed to hit Giles hard. Each word had stung inside of him, and he couldn’t seem to stand any longer. He slowly made his way to the sofa and watched as Dawn began up the stairs as well.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spike had walked past a few doors but as soon as he had stepped foot on the upper floor he knew exactly which one belonged to Buffy. It was the one at the very end, the one that the hall led straight to.

As he walked down the hallway one of the doors opened and a girl bravely peaked her head out to see what was going on. They had heard arguing downstairs and Janine had been the lucky one picked to go see what was going on. When she saw Spike though, she pulled back inside and shut the door. He had given her a death glare to end all death glares.

Spike wasn’t really mad at her, he just didn’t want any interruptions, plus he was in a pissed off mood so there was probably no one that wouldn’t suffer.

But then he was to the door.

He gathered a deep breath that was unneeded but altogether helped him calm down a little. He stared down at the doorknob as he slowly reached for it. His hand reached it finally and he swallowed hard as he twisted it, then pushed the door open just as slowly as he had just reached for the doorknob.

Once open, he saw her there, lying on the bed. She was motionless, save for the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

He stepped in as he felt like the very life in him was sucked out, like the very room was a huge vacuum. He shut the door behind him and things seemed a little bit calmer.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Dawn got to the top of the stairs she saw just the back of Spike before he went into the room and shut the door behind him. She was going to go in after him, but figured he needed sometime alone with Buffy first. That was only fair.

She was walking towards the door, planning on just standing outside of it till the right time, when one of the girl’s rooms opened. Janine stuck her head out once more and gave a sigh of relief as she saw Dawn. She grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the room.

“He’s not here to kill us, is he?” She quickly asked Dawn after shutting the door. Christine and Samantha were both in the room as well, and the girls had seemed to have been playing a game of Monopoly. Giles must have finished the training early and let them have free time.

“No he’s not here to kill you.” Dawn stated with a “Duh” tone evident in her voice. “Have you heard nothing I’ve ever told you about him?”

Janine just shrugged. “Well, he kinda gave me this look that said “Grr! I’m a vicious vampire and I’m gonna kill you!” So that’s what I figured he was here for.”

Dawn rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor by Samantha and Christine. “He’s just mad. I told him about Buffy and he went ballistic on Giles downstairs.”

“I knew there was fighting!” Christine jumped up. “Is Giles hurt? Should we stake the vampire?”

Dawn quickly shook her head, holding out her hands in a stopping gesture. “No, no, no. Giles is fine. A little sore around the neck region probably...” She paused as she realized it probably sounded like Spike bit him. “No, not like that. Spike just pushed him up against the wall, and right now, I’m not so happy with Giles so lets just forget it, okay?”

“So he is fine?”

“Yes, Chris. I promise, your oh so great watcher is perfectly fine.”

After a moment’s hesitation Christine sat back down on the floor. Samantha, who had been silent this whole time, still didn’t say a word, but stared down at the floor.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spike didn’t know if he was strong enough to take this. He’d faced demons, vampires, died saving the world. But seeing Buffy like his really hurt him. She only looked like she was sleeping, yet there was so much more to it. And it all wasn’t fair. She didn’t deserve this. Not one bit.

He crept towards the bed, as if afraid of waking her. With each step he seemed to have to use more of his strength. As he finally got to the bed he weakly sat down beside her. He began to look her over, study her. Remembering everything about her. Wishing he could just see her smile or hear her laugh again. But now that seemed so distant and impossible.

He gently reached forward, brushing the side of her face lightly with his hand. Her skin was still soft, she was just as beautiful as ever. Didn’t seem to age a day since the last time he saw her.

While not taking his eyes off her face, his hand seemed to have found hers and he held it in his own. They seemed to fit perfectly together, even if she didn’t seem to respond to his touch at all.

“Buffy, love... It’s me... Spike.” He told her, not knowing if she could actually hear him or not. He hoped that she could. That somehow, someway she knew he was there and could hear him. That would give him hope.

“I’m here now... Would’ve been here sooner but... Giles can be a right stubborn man.” He smirked slightly. “The important thing is, I’m here now... and I’m not leaving you ever again. I’ll figure this out, Buffy. I’ll figure out how to get you better if it’s the last thing I do.”

He looked at her a moment then closed his eyes. He opened them slowly as he brushed the side of her face once more with his free hand. “I love you Buffy. Always have... always will. I’ll see you through this. We’ll get through this.”

And then a spark of hope shot through Spike. His eyes traveled down to where he was holding her hand. He knew she had heard him. He knew because as soon as he had finished speaking, right that moment... She had squeezed his hand.

[Spuffy]

Chapter 11

Spike lifted her hand up to his lips and planted a small, gentle kiss on her hand before lying it back down on the bed, he still held it though.

“Knew you heard me, love.” He smiled down at her. She seemed peaceful, content. Like she was just getting a good nap in before the big fight. Though he wasn’t happy about any of this, he was glad she didn’t seem to be in any pain. If she were, he couldn’t handle it.

“So, what to say...” Spike spoke to himself a and looked around the room for a moment. He’d heard somewhere that it was good to talk to people who were in a coma. He didn’t know where he’d heard it, but since he knew she had heard him, he figured it could only be good to talk to her more.

“Well... I’m alive. As alive as ever anyway. But you knew that... Heard you got a little pissed off that I didn’t tell you. Sorry ‘bout that. I just... I didn’t know how to do it... Thought you were happy. Should’ve known better though. The Immortal was never your type.” He smiled slightly down at her as he spoke.

“I bet you would have kicked my ass when you came here. If it wasn’t for, well, this... I’d have looked forward to it though. Fighting always was our personal form of foreplay.” He smirked and winked at her, though she couldn’t see it, then touched the side of her face gently again.

“Maybe a nice rest is good for you, pet. Not a permanent one, though. You’re always running ‘round, saving the world, taking care of everyone else. Don’t really have time for yourself. Only got a few hours a night after patrolling. Who knows, when you wake up you might just be all refreshed and ready to kick some demon ass. They won’t know what hit ‘em.” Spike adjusted himself on the bed a little, sitting somewhat closer and looking down at her hand in his, wishing she’d just squeeze it again. Show some sign of hearing him, knowing he was there.

“I’ll be right there at your side, and believe me, those demons are going to pay. I’ll rip ‘em all limb for limb. Or maybe you’ll like to be the one to do that.”

“Or maybe me...” Spike turned around to see Dawn standing in the door way. She gave him a soft smile then shut the door behind her. “Hey...”

Spike simply nodded to her then returned his gaze back to Buffy.

“She seems so... helpless.” Dawn commented as she slowly made her way over to the other side of the bed. “It’s weird to see her like that.”

“Yeah. Buffy Summers, helpless. Not something that you see often. Not something I really want to see either.” He watched the younger Summers girl as she sat down on the bed on the site opposite to him.

“It’s been hard.” She spoke softly. “I miss her a lot. Sometimes I sneak in here at night just to sleep with her. Giles gets mad about it though. He says it could “jeopardize her condition” or something.”

Spike scoffed. “He doesn’t know what the bloody hell he’s talking ‘bout. If anything that could help her, not make her worse.”

“I know. It just seems sometimes like he doesn’t want her to wake up... Or maybe he just doesn’t think she will so he sees no point in it.” Dawn shrugged. “He said he’s been helping. All he’s basically done is flip through a few books and make some phone calls. That’s about it. He’s got Willow looking up stuff too but we haven’t talked to her since about the week after it happened so I don’t know how much she’s doing.”

“I may not be too happy with the watcher right now, but I know he wouldn’t want Buffy to stay like this. It’s probably like you said. He just doesn’t see a point it. Doesn’t see any reason to hope she’ll wake up because he thinks it’s impossible. You’d think after knowing a woman who’s died twice and is still here to tell the tale, he’d believe a little more in the impossible.”

Dawn nodded and smiled slightly then looked down at her sister. “I bet she’s glad you’re here. Maybe you’re the reason she’s still alive.”

Spike looked up at her curiously raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean? You didn’t say she was close to dying....”

“I got a doctor to see her one time, Giles didn’t know about it. He thinks a doctor can’t help. Well, anyway... The doctor said she could... go... at anytime. He said that she’s probably only alive because she’s fighting. If she just gave up, she would just... die.” She looked back up to Spike. “Maybe she’s fighting because she wants to see you again. Maybe she wants to be able to tell you that she loves you... and have you believe it.”

Spike sat in silence until he heard that last thing. “She told you about that?”

“Yeah. She understood why you didn’t believe her though. She named about a thousand reasons for it. But, she did mean it.”

“I’ll just wait until she tells me again to let her know I believe her.” Spike looked from Dawn to Buffy, squeezing her hand slightly as he did so. “So how’s Rupert doing down there?”

Dawn replied with a shrug. “I don’t know. I told him off then came upstairs after you.”

He raised an eyebrow and smirked over at her. “Told him off, eh? That’s my girl.”

She smiled. “He deserved to hear it. Had it coming.”

“Bet he did.” Spike nodded. “I’ll be telling him off later. You might not want to be around for that. Could get dangerous.”

“Figured as much. You had me really worried earlier. Next time I think I’ll just stay up here with the others.”

“The others? Oh, right. Slayers. Saw one of them when I was coming up here. Think I scared the living daylights out of her.”

“She thought you were here to kill us.” Dawn laughed. “I set her straight though. Then of course Chris got all worried about Giles.”

“Ah, yes. Watcher’s little girl, that one.”

“Yep. That’s Christine. She even asked if she was supposed to stake you.” She shook her head slightly as she thought about it. “She’s only known about her being a slayer for like... a month and she’s like every watcher’s dream slayer.”

“Old Rupert just loves that, I bet.” Spike commented. “If you ask me, Buffy should be every watcher’s dream slayer. She’s strong, brave, courageous, a fighter, does everything she can to protect the world and the ones she loves. I’d say that makes her a true slayer. She’s perfect.”

“And she’s my sister.” Dawn’s eyes turned to Buffy once more. “I’m just glad you’re here, Spike. Maybe you can help her.”

“I’ll try. I’ll bloody well do anything and everything there is to do in this world until she is up and running around as normal. I’ll even go into a coma myself if that’s what I have to do. Nothing’s gonna stop me.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, little bit. I love her.”

[JamesMFan]

I wonder if Buffy is having some whacked out dreams whilst she's in that coma. Like, is she dreaming that Xander is Jesus, and Giles is King Kong? Spike's a tramp, Angel's a flying pig, Dawn's a telescope and Willow likes boys?

[Spuffy]

I've considered having Buffy dream and then making a whole chapter just about her dream, but I didn't know what I'd have happen