Welcome to Sunnydale: Part Nine
by Eliz
Angel sat with his arms wrapped around Buffy, trying to comfort her. Cordelia held Xanders hand as me rambled on about something insignificant. Oz paced the floor, looking up every few minutes for a sign of the doctor.

Giles and Nikki saw them as soon as they walked in the door.

“Buffy”, Giles ran over to them. “What happened? How is she?”

“It was Spike and some vamps. Angel and I were fighting them and we weren’t faring too well when Willow tried to help and got caught in the crossfire. Oh God Giles, if anything happens to her...”, a sob escaped from her throat.

“Don’t think like that”, Angel pulled her closer to him.

“There’s the doctor”, Xander shouted, suddenly.

The doctor smiled at the seven concerned faces looking at him. “She’s going to be fine”, he smiled. “We’ll just keep her over night to make sure, but, other than that...”

“Can we see her”, Oz pleaded. He had been so worried he felt like dying.

“Follow me”, they followed the doctor to the room at the end of the hall.

Nikki stayed behind. She felt that Willow would want to see her close friends and didn’t want to intrude.

“Nikki”, she heard a soft voice coming from the shadows at the end of the corridor. She moved towards the voice.

“Hello”.

“Hello, dearie”, Spike suddenly stepped out from the shadows.

“Do I know you”, she tried to place his face. He smiled seductively while running his hand through his bleached blond hair. He was quite good looking, in a menacing sort of way.

“How’s little Willow”.

“Oh, you know Willow”, she relaxed a bit. “The doctor says she’s going to be fine. You can see her if...” she stopped. He was looking at her very strangely.

“You’re not at all like I imagined”, Spike laughed.

“What?”, Nikki tried to move away but he caught her by the arm.

“Nikki”, she heard Giles shout from behind her. “Get away from him”.

“God. They’re everywhere. Gotta run”, he released his hold on her arm when he saw Angel coming for him. “I’ll be seeing you around”. He blew her a kiss and was gone.

Giles quickly pulled Nikki away and sat her down in a nearby seat.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”, Angel was trying to keep his animal instinct intact for the moment.

“I’m fine, really. Who was that guy? He said he was a friend of Willows”.

“Spike”, Buffy practically spit out his name. “and he’s no friend of Wills. He’s the vamp that attacked her tonight”.

“Vampire”, Nikki suddenly didn’t feel so well. “I think I need to sit down”.

“You are sitting down”, Giles told her kindly.

“Good”.

“We should really get going”, Giles helped Nikki to her feet. They arranged to meet in the library the next morning and they went their seperate ways.

Nikki didn’t say a word the whole way home. Giles expected that she was still shook up from her meeting with Spike. When they got home Giles made them something to eat and they sat down at the table.

Giles noticed a troubled look on Nikki’s face.

“Is everything okay”, Giles said softly.

“Yes, well, no, not really. It’s just that vamp, Spike. He knew my name”.

“Well”, Giles tried to sound reassuring. “Vampires have a habit of secretly listening to conversations so it’s probably that Spike heard someone mention your mane”.

“Yes, I suppose”, Nikki still looked worried.

“Is there something else”, Giles felt like taking her in his arms right now.

“No, no”, she shook her head. “you’re probably right. I’m just not used to all this”.

“Of course, of course”, he looked at her sympathetically. “I’m sure all this is a lot different from you life in Ireland”. Giles took her plate and they made their way into the sitting room.

“You must miss your family a lot”, Giles sat down beside her.

“I do”, her head dropped and he saw tears form in her eyes.

“Will they be joining you here soon”, Giles tried to comfort her, like she had comforted him earlier.

“You don’t understand”, she looked at him sadly. “My parents are dead”.

Giles looked at her, not knowing what to say.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. If you don’t want to talk...”

“No”, Nikki interrupted. “I’d like to, if you wouldn’t mind”. Giles smiled. “My parents were wonderful people. I was an only child so I guess they spoiled me a lot. It happened about a year ago. They were driving home one night, there was a car accident. It was a drunk driver - he crashed into them and they were killed instantly. I moved in with my Gran after they... but she was very old and passed away a few months ago. After that I just needed to get away, to start afresh and Angel was the only one I could think of turning to. I still miss them so much. It’s so hard sometimes”, tears were streaming down her face. Giles moved closer to her and put his arms cautiously around her shoulders. As she cried he pulled her closer to him.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay”, he whispered as he stroked her hair. Her sobbing subsided but Giles didn’t let go. He brought his hand down to her back and held her tightly against him. He could feel her breath against his neck and the warmth of her body against his.

They sat there in each others arms for a few minutes before Nikki stirred.

“Any better”, Giles released her from his arms at looked at her. He cupped her face in his hands and wiped away her tears.

“Much. Thank you”, she stood up and stretched. “I think I’ll go to sleep. I’m pretty tired. It’s been a pretty exciting night”.

“Of course”, Giles nodded. “You can take the bed until we get the spare room sorted out”. Nikki tried to protest but Giles insisted. He heard the door of his bedroom closed as he settled down for another night on the couch.


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