Big Sister: Disturbance of the Peace
by MissEdith
Chapter Seven: Disturbance of the Peace

Jim’s right hand strayed from the steering wheel to fiddle with the dial on the radio. He was driving in that place, the place he had found her, and he was getting a strong sense of deja vu. Here he was, driving his truck through the neighborhood where he had found a girl, broken and bleeding on the pavement. He had been fiddling with the dial then, too. Irritated with himself, Jim let the pop music continue and put his hand back on the steering wheel. He didn’t like taking this route anymore, and he didn’t want to take his eyes away from the road. You never knew when somebody was going to fall from the sky and land right in front of you.

Jim didn’t like this route anymore, but he took it anyway for the simple reason that if he hadn’t happened upon her, that girl probably would have died. He could never stop thinking that it might happen again. After all, the police had never caught the attacker, and it sure hadn’t looked like a suicide attempt to those who knew the girl. So Jim continued driving through the unsettling neighborhood, and kept his eyes trained on the road in front of him.

He went over a speed bump and the cargo in the back thumped about. Idly, he wondered what it was. His boss had made him sign a paper saying he wouldn’t tell anyone the little he knew about it. Jim had thought that might be in violation of some rights he had, but he hadn’t been too sure so he’d kept his mouth shut and signed the document. All they’d told him was that it was something for the government, and he was to get it to the empty lot on Marbury Drive by 10:00. So here he was, driving past the place he hated, delivering he-knew-not-what to he-knew-not-whom.

In reality, that place was now several blocks behind him, but he still couldn’t put it out of his mind. He couldn’t help searching the street in front of him for a young blond woman with blood in her hair and her clothing, limbs twisted beneath her. His thoughts flashed to the unhappy people who had come to the hospital for her. He wondered how they were doing. He wondered how she was doing.
~~~
Kelly yawned and paused in her filing to think about her plans for tomorrow, her day off. She was looking forward to sleeping in, especially since she was working the night shift tonight. She placed her elbows on the desk and her chin in her hands. Yes, she thought, I am definitely looking forward to sleeping in. Kelly was tired and bored, which was never a good combination. The hospital was terribly slow tonight, and she jokingly wished some people would have a really interesting emergency, just to disturb the peace.

A few seconds later, a scream shattered the still night air, and Kelly found herself staring down the hall and thinking that wishes were dangerous things. She glanced around, but no one seemed to be in the halls. Okay, she told herself, that’s a bit creepy. Nervously, she began to jog down the corridor in the direction she thought the scream had come from.
~~~
Buffy woke to the sound of screaming, and belatedly realized the cries were coming from her. She drew in a deep breath and squinted at her harsh surroundings. Fluorescent lights shone on sterile white walls. The light in the corner of the room was flickering madly. Feeling very confused, she sat up in the bed, swinging her legs onto the floor. Looking down at herself, she realized that she was wearing only a hospital gown. Perfect.

Disturbed by the fact that she was in a hospital with no recollection of how she got there, Buffy felt the first stirring of panic. What had happened to her? They were all preparing for the Ascension, she remembered. She had gone somewhere . . . where had she gone?

Faith.

She had gone to find Faith. They had fought. She had . . . Oh god. Did I . . . did I kill her?

Buffy gulped and shoved herself away from the bed, but something snagged her hand, and she realized that she was hooked up to some machine. She thought it was called an IV, but she avoided hospitals liked the plague, and therefore knew very little beyond what she’d seen on television.

“Ouch,” she whispered, her voice sounding coarse in her own ears, as she pulled the thin tube from her hand.

She had to get out of here; she had to find everybody and find out what had happened to Faith and stop the Mayor and save . . .

Oh god. Angel.

How could she have forgotten Angel? How could she have forgotten the only thing that could have driven her to face Faith and to do . . . what she had done. Had she really tried to kill her fellow Slayer? It seemed so surreal that she almost thought she must have dreamed it. Dreamed the adrenalin pounding through her veins as they fought in Faith’s room, as they crashed through the window . . . dreamed the feel of the cold steel handcuffs around her wrist and the satisfying click as she snapped the other half around Faith’s . . . But Buffy knew with a terrible certainty that not even in her worst nightmares could she have dreamed driving the blade into Faith’s cut, feeling the spray of the other girl’s blood as it poured over her hands, then the other girl’s fist against her cheek: one solid, concrete moment in which the adrenalin rush faded to be replaced by harsh, brutal reality as she lost her balance and was sent sailing through the air.

They say if you hit the ground in your dream, you die.

She remembered hitting the ground, and was fairly certain she was still alive. No, it had all been real. All of this added up to a burning need to get out of this hospital room.
~~~
Kelly had been down this hallway before, doing routine checks, and she knew that there was only one occupant. One comatose occupant who was never supposed to wake up. The girl had friends, unlike some of the hospital’s other long-term patients. One man in particular; he was there every day, Kelly knew. She’d seen him walking out earlier tonight. There ought to be just two people here: Kelly and the girl.

But who had screamed? Had the girl? That would mean she’d woken up, which the doctors said was impossible. Only one way to find out, Kelly told herself as she pressed her palm against the door and slowly pushed it open. She stuck her head inside, then quietly slipped her whole body through as she looked around in confusion. The room was empty. The patient was gone.

Crap.
~~~
Buffy walked as quickly as she could, but her legs felt shaky, her muscles weak as if she hadn’t used them in weeks. But her weakness wasn’t all that surprising, even though she couldn’t deny her disappointment. After all, she thought she had fallen pretty far, and she was just glad her Slayer healing had her up and running. Or in this case, walking.

“Excuse me?” a young woman’s voice interpreted her thoughts. “You know how to get to Third Floor West?”

The woman was carrying a teddy bear. Probably visiting a little kid, Buffy thought. With great effort, she pulled her scattered thoughts together and gave the woman a very intelligent response. “Um, sorry?”

The woman looked at her hospital gown, and then met her gaze uncomfortably. “I see . . . do you need some help or something?”

Buffy blinked. Did she need help? Yeah, she needed help. She needed help stopping the Mayor and saving Angel. But right now, she needed answers, and she couldn’t get any from this stranger. She couldn’t go home; she’d sent her mom away. She needed to find Giles and the others. They were probably in the library or at the mansion, but Buffy knew she couldn’t go to the mansion now; she was terrified of what she might find, or what she might not find. The library it is.

“Uh, no, I just need to get to the school. Sunnydale High School.”

The woman stared at her incredulously. “You can’t. They don’t let people in there; it’s not safe.”

When was it ever safe? Buffy wanted to say, but instead she said, “What do you mean? I have to get there now. I . . . I’m graduating.”

“Graduating? I don’t think . . . Maybe I should get you a nurse.”

Buffy felt a sick feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t have missed it, could she? But it was the Ascension, people were going to die if she didn’t stop it . . .

“Are you o–” the woman began.

“What day is it?”

“Friday,” the woman hesitantly supplied.

Was it Friday? Buffy couldn’t remember, but she kind of felt like it had been Tuesday. “What date?” she asked again.

“February 25th.”

February? Buffy wanted to scream. Since when is it February? It was June this morning! But the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that she was wrong, that something horrible had happened, that it really wasn’t June anymore, that it wasn’t even 1999.

“What year?” she choked out.

“Maybe I should get you a nurse.” The woman was quite clearly out of her league.

“What year is it?” Buffy asked again, a definite note of hysteria in her voice. “What year is it??”

“2000. I really think I should get you a nurse.”

“Just tell me what happened to the school,” Buffy said in a near whisper. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes as she envisioned everyone she cared about dead while she lay unconscious in a hospital bed. She had been unconscious for almost a year; there was no way Angel could have survived that long. Not without a miracle. Buffy struggled to control the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. He’s not dead. The gang wouldn’t let him die. Giles hit the books, and Willow hit the Net. They found another way. They always do.

“Well, it was a tragedy really. Lots of students died. The Principal, the Mayor. I really think maybe I should get you some help.”

Snyder kicked the bucket? Can’t say I’m heartbroken at the news. Her heart caught in her throat as her mind went back to the woman’s other words. Lots of students? Which students? “I need to get out of here,” was all she said before taking off, leaving a stunned young woman clutching a teddy bear to her chest and staring after the running girl in the hospital gown.

Buffy was running as fast as she could, pausing only to scan the walls for EXIT signs. She no longer felt shaky; instead she felt terrified.

TBC

AN: Sorry this chapter took so long; real life’s been crazy. I just finished my exams and decided to take advantage of my short break and crank this out. It beats practicing for the SAT (which I’m taking next week) any day. But anyway, I’m probably going to be freaking out all week, so you should make me feel better by reviewing ;)

This story archived at: The Slayer\'s Fanfic Archive
The Slayer\\\\\\\\'s FanFic Archive - http://www.slayerfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=15844