Ain't destiny's grand?: Chapter 20
by i_hate_mornings
Disclaimer: Not mine; Joss's
Chapter 20
Angel almost combusted on the spot when the lifeless body of his beloved flowed out of the room. He began to panic- she’s dead, oh god, she’s dead, we’re too late- before something hit him. Her heart was still beating, faintly yes, but it was there. The small sound spurred him action and he cradled her body to him.
‘Someone needs to give her CPR,’ he yelled out, not taking his eyes off her still face. ‘She’s not breathing.’
Xander and Willow were the first to his side. Willow looked too panicked to do it so the task fell to Xander. The boy gently took her from Angel’s arms and lied her flat on the floor. He tilted her head back and covered her nose before he leant down and covered her lips with own. Angel couldn’t even work up the energy to be jealous. His love’s life was at stake and he did not resent the boy’s ability to bring her back. In fact, he was truly grateful for it. Had the vampire been alone, Buffy would have died.
Her heart beat was getting weaker, almost stopping completely and Angel’s hope was fading with it. It wasn‘t working. As Xander leant down for another try, Buffy’s heart suddenly jolted in her chest. Xander pulled back, waiting with bated breath as her limbs twitched slightly. She moved and Angel fought the urge to grab her and never let go.
She struggled and Angel realised she was trying to take a breath but she couldn’t. He quickly turned her on her side and she coughed up the water and bile from her lungs. He looked at Xander in relief and saw the same written all over the boy’s face. He smiled slightly and the boy did the same.
Buffy tried to sit up and Angel immediately held her down. She was still coughing but nothing more was coming up. He looked up sharply as a small keening sound filled the white hallway. A small round, chubby creature was crawling down the hallway away from them. Angel stared at it, puzzled about where it came from before he realised it too was soaked. Had it been in the room with Buffy?
The Slayer collapsed back onto the floor, unable to hold herself up and Angel decided enough was enough. He gently lifted her into his arms and settled her snugly into his chest. She curled into him and he smiled.
The group was standing by worriedly watching and Angel smiled slightly at them. ‘Let’s get her home to rest,’ he said quietly and Giles nodded instantly.
He motioned for the others to exit the building and they all stood there confused, lost in the endless white hallways. Connor had to lead them out, being the only one who remembered the way they came. Buffy’s eyes were still closed and Angel clutched her closer, almost squashing her. She didn’t seem to mind, just tried to get even closer.
When they emerged into the alleyway, the cold night air hit them and Buffy shivered. Angel relinquished Buffy to Giles for a moment as he took off his leather jacket. He slipped it around Buffy’s slim shoulders, wrapping it tightly round her. He picked her back up and again she snuggled into his arms.
They returned to the cars and Angel slipped into the backseat of Xander’s car, taking Buffy with him. Xander got the hint and he and Willow got into the front. Seconds later they were peeling out of the alley and were on their way to the hospital. Angel knew of her fear but he was determined to get her checked out. She’d almost drowned tonight.
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The hospital was fairly quiet when the small group entered. Buffy was still cradled in Angel’s arms and he didn’t feel particularly inclined to let her go. She hadn’t stirred once on the drive. Willow went to get a nurse while Xander and Angel waited with Buffy, neither wanted to leave her but knew they’d have no choice once the doctors took her.
It seemed like seconds later Buffy was being taken out of the vampires arms and put on a gurney. They wheeled her away and the three could only watch as she disappeared through the double doors.
Angel wasn’t too worried. He could hear her heartbeat after all. Physically, she should be fine; mentally was another matter. Angel knew she was strong but even the strong failed. He wondered how her mind would hold up to a second near death by drowning. Except, he thought dismally, last time she did die. Kendra was proof.
The two friends and the vampire took a seat in the waiting room, knowing the rest of the gang would be there soon. They hadn’t told Giles where they were going but Angel knew the Watcher would instinctively know. He would have done the same.
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Buffy’s mouth felt as though it was filled with sand. She frowned in distaste and made chewing motions with her mouth but when it didn’t go away, she opened her eyes.
They stung like someone had poured salt water in them and she blinked like crazy as she tried to focus on something, anything in the room. All she could see was white and for a fearful moment she imagined she was still in that room. The thought that she could be in heaven didn’t even cross her mind.
She painfully rolled her head to the side and saw all the machines. Hospital, she panicked and she tried to tear herself out of the bed. To her horror, she found she couldn’t move. She wasn’t strapped down, she noted as she feebly tried to sit up. So what was the problem?
The drip from her arm itched and her hand came up to try and pull it out. Her eyes widened fractionally when she found she didn’t even have the strength to lift her arm from the bed. She slumped further back on the pillows. I’ll just sleep for a while. Just a while, then I’m out of here. I don’t need hospitals. Her eyes closed and she lapsed into sleep just as Angel entered the room.
He sat down beside her and picked up her hand. Even in sleep she knew his touch. Her grip tightened around his fingers and a small smile appeared on her face. Still she slept on.
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Angel walked into Buffy’s hospital room, glad for the quietness. Giles and the others had arrived and everyone was talking about the battle. Gunn had called Cordy to let her know what had happened and she’d met them here. Everyone was okay. Gunn had a few cuts, one serious and Wesley had been knocked out but otherwise everyone else had come out of the fight with only minor cuts and abrasions.
He’d known as soon as he and Connor had taken down the three men in the alley that they hadn’t been the only security. He’d been right.
Angel could feel Buffy was very close, maybe a few doors down from where they stood. But something else was wrong. He could hear running water. A lot of running water. Running fast enough to fill a room. A room that held Buffy.
He ran forward frantically trying to find the door to the room in which she was held when all of a sudden people filled the wide hallway. They seemed to just bleed from the walls and there had to be about fifty of them. Angel didn’t even stop. He lifted his sword and attacked the first person he met. They charged but the others were there straight away, backing him up.
The battle was ugly. No one would come out of it unscathed. Angel took the head off of one of what they now knew to be demons, not humans. He had a brief respite before he was attacked again to check the others were okay.
Willow and Xander, though having no formal training, were holding their own taking on a demon between them. Gunn and Connor were both fine, taking down demons left and right, both feeling the urgency pouring off the vampire. Giles and Wesley were fighting back to back; Giles had a small cut on the side of his head but otherwise seemed okay. Wesley looked to be tiring.
The vampire was knocked forward as one of the demons hit him in the back. He swung round, game face on and growled. These demons were keeping him from his Buffy. She was dying and he was wasn’t there to save her because of these demons. He slammed the blade of sword thought its heart before he pulled it out and quickly chopped another demon in half. It took mere minutes to dispose of the rest.
When the last fell to the floor, felled by Angel’s sword he ran towards the room Buffy was in, uncaring of the fate of the rest of the team for the moment. He put a hand on the door and instinctively knew the room was filled with water. Buffy’s heartbeat was slowing down; it was the only thing he could concentrate on.
Telling the others to brace themselves, he opened the door. A torrent of water escaped the room, pushing the vampire into the wall and knocking down the still standing members of the gang. Giles had the presence of mind to pick up the other Watcher from the floor as the water ran over Wesley’s prone form.
Angel shoved himself away from the wall in time to catch Buffy as she slipped from the room, carried by the escaping water. The moment he touched her he was struck by how cold she was. The life was gone and if he hadn’t been able to hear her heart beat, he would have assumed she was dead. Not this time.
Angel was brought back to the present when Buffy squeezed his hand again. His gaze lifted to the resting Slayer to see she was awake and gracing him with a pain-filled smile. He tentatively smiled back and lent forward to brush her lips with his.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked her softly as he ran the back of his hand down the side of her face in a loving caress.
She closed her eyes and leaned into the touch, causing him to kiss her again. When he pulled back, she tried to sit up but he jumped forward to stop her. ‘Not yet,’ he advised. ‘Wait ‘til you have your strength back.’
At his words Buffy teared up and Angel kicked himself, feeling he’d said something wrong. She tried to bury her face in the blankets but he pulled them back, sensing something bigger was going on. ‘What’s wrong, Buffy?’ he asked cautiously, dreading her answer.
She took a deep breath before bursting into tears. ‘T-they s-shot me w-with something,’ she sobbed as he bundled her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. ‘It made me weak. I-I wasn’t the Slayer anymore. I wasn’t me.’
Angel’s eyes widened in recognition. They gave her something? ‘Buffy,’ he took hold of her head and turned it up so he could see her eyes. ‘Did they give you a drug?’ she nodded. ‘Was it in a syringe?’ he continued and again she nodded.
He swore. Bastards. How they got a hold of that he’d never know. That drug was only supposed to be known and used by The Watchers Council. The idiot’s used it during the Cruciamentum; a trial for all Slayer’s that reached their eighteenth birthday. It relaxed their muscles, made them powerless, vulnerable.
He kissed her forehead and held her as her sobs quietened. He and Giles were going to have a little talk when this was over. She fell asleep in his arms and he held her for a few minutes, still not quite ready to let her go. He’d almost lost her today. From now on, she stayed closer to his side. He didn’t know how he was going to manage it but he was going to be in Sunnydale a lot more often.
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Buffy smiled and pulled herself up to rest on the pillows as Willow and Xander slowly entered her room. Angel had left mere seconds ago and only then because she had to force him out. She wanted to talk to her friends without her overprotective shadow. Even if it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. She’d decided pretty quickly that she liked being taken care of.
Buffy wasn’t deluded though. He mainly wanted to stay to prevent her from escaping the hospital. Ever since her cousin Celia had died when they were eight, Buffy had had an irrational fear of hospitals. She couldn’t stand to be in one for more than five minutes and it was absolutely intolerable that she be a patient
Willow hugged her tightly while Xander stood back a couple of paces. She was so glad they were both here. Angel told her everything that had happened and she was never more grateful to have Xander as a friend then she was now. He’d saved her life, even though he’d been angry with her.
Willow pulled back, tears streaming down her dirty face. Buffy lifted a hand and brushed her hair behind her ear before giving her a warm smile. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly and Willow nodded and stepped back. The tears continued to fall but she didn’t brush them away.
Xander came forward and sat on the edge of her bed. He didn’t look at her. ‘I’m so sorry, Buffy,’ he apologised, shaking his head at his stupidity. Buffy smiled slightly. ‘I never should have said the things I said. I was outta line and I acted irrationally.’
Buffy gave a short laugh, which resulted in a wince at the sudden pain that shot through her. Both of her friends stood in concern but she brushed their concern off.
‘Who told you to say that?’ she smiled at Xander in amusement. She knew he hadn’t come up with that on his own. The sentiment was all his though.
‘Giles,’ Xander grumbled, making Buffy laugh.
‘So, how are we going to sneak me out of here?’
Yay, Xander's back. Couldn't keep him bad, they need him. Review please.
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