Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Kersey and a few other little add-ons. Buffy and Co. belong to Joss Whedon, the WB network, and Mutant Enemy.
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Part Eight
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Xander swallowed hard and with great effort managed to rasp out, "Blind? As in..not able to se..see?" His eyes widened with fear. Willow touched his arm in a gesture meant to offer comfort but her hands' trembling betrayed her.
Kersey nodded slowly, "I'm afraid so. I conducted several tests and.."
"Is it permanent?" Angel cut in sharply, not really caring about the tests. All he gave a damn about was Buffy. Really it was all any of them cared about.
"Hard to say without seeing the test results. I need to go back to the hospital and check them out. However, as an educated guess.." he chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment before replying, "I'd have to say that there is a good chance of permanent blinding.
"Oh God no..." Willow whispered as she sank against Xander who instinctively placed an arm around her and pulled her closer.
Angel shook his head sadly, "God's not responsible for this."
"Does she know?" Giles asked. "You said she was consious."
"Consious yes..but not exactly lucid. She thinks she's in some type of dark room that doesn't have lights. I could have told have told her but I don't think it's my..it's not right for her to hear this type of news from a man she's never met or seen."
Giles nodded, "Right..um..would you recomend that we wait until you know more or.."
"She's confused and scared..and she doesn't strike me as the type that tends to be either rational nor calm when she's scared..she'll demand answers to the point of hurting herself further."
"So we should tell her," Xander said, looking up from where he had pressed his face against Willow's hair. Never much of a big tough man, it was obvious from the tear that streaked down the male Slayerettes' face that he was just barely holding everything in check. "At least she can't throw us across the room," he joked feebly.
Giles cocked his head, "I wouldn't be so sure. Um..Shawn..are you leaving now to return to the hospital." Kersey nodded solemnly. "Should we wait until you return?"
Kersey shook his head, "That won't be necessary. I don't see an immediate change in her condition. However, after you speak to her, I would reccomend that someone stay with her for at least the next day. No matter what she says..remember..she's young and it's not uncommon for teens especially to try to push the people they love the most away when they need them the most."
Angel gave him a strange look and then said very quietly, "Don't worry, we'll be with her the whole time."
For a moment Kersey looked a little bit taken aback but he recovered quickly and said, "Good. Then I'll uh..be on my way. I should return by morning." He turned to leave, glanced at Angel once more and then departed rapidly. The others all glanced at each other in shock and astonishment.
"What now?" Calendar asked softly. She put a hand on Giles' forearm but he barely noticed. He was staring directly downwards and his eyes were vacant as his mind spun circles.
"We tell the Slayer that she may never see again and then we step back and hope that she's either too weak to flame or too scared to recall how to see without using her eyes," Willow said seriously, her voice cracking hard between words. She felt Xander lean against her for a moment before taking a deep breath and then straightening to support her.
"She's right. Buffy needs our strength.."he shook his head, "Well..I think we're gonna have a hard time hiding this from her mother."
Giles looked up at him with a strange expression on his face, "Um..yes..we uh..right now we need to talk to Buffy.."
* * *
Joyce Summers jerked upwards in her bed, shaking far more fiercely than she'd ever imagined possible. "Buffy.." she swallowed hard and tried to get out of bed but her legs turned to jello and she fell to the ground in a panting, fiercely shuddering heap.
Without realizing it, Joyce lunged for the phone. She started dialing and then stopped when it occured to her that the first two numbers she had pressed were the 9 and the 1. Shaking her head she hung it up. "It's a dream," she whispered to herself. But oh God..it had been so much more than that.
Buffy had been scared..badly so. She'd been crying. That was until she'd seen her mother and then she'd suddenly walled up but it hadn't lasted long because Buffy had experienced some bizarre type of seizure that had doubled her over and made her scream in pain and agony. And the cuts and bruises..
"A dream..just a dream..she's fine, " Joyce stammered, reaching for the phone again. "I'll just page her.." Still trembling she quickly dialed Buffy's number.
"Hi-ya..you've reached Buffy..so leave a message or a number and then push the tic-tac-toey thingee and I'll talk ta ya in a few.." Buffy's voice sang out from the phone as her pagers' message came on. It was so ironic to be hearing Buffy so chipper after the horrific dream.
"Honey..this is your mother..um, call me..I just want to..uh..see how things are going. Bye." She hung it up and shook her head. "Smooth. Yeah..freak Buffy out.."
* * *
"Buffy?" Angel asked softly as he led the small group into the Slayers' bedroom. "You awake?" He moved over to her bed.
"Angel? Angel..where are you?" Buffy threw out an arm and then hissed in pain as her ribcage protested the sudden movement. "Did you bring a light? It's so dark..my eyes aren't adjusting.."
Angel touched her hand and then brought it up to her lips and lightly kissed it. "I'm right here, Buffy."
"Angel..I'm scared." Buffy said softly as she tried to push against him. "I'm so scared.." A tear ran down her cheek.
"It's okay..we're all here. It's okay," Angel told her, slipping an arm around her protectively.
"Who's all there..did we all get captured..where are we? Where's Xander..I saw him earlier..and my mom.."
Angel glanced up at Giles who shook his head. Xander stepped away from Willow. "Buff..I'm right here. It's gonna be okay."
Buffy tried to sit up,"Where are you..what can't I see?" She clenched her teeth as a wave of pain crashed through her. "Why..why..it hurts.." she grasped onto Angels hand and squeezed as the pain overwhelmed her. She screamed and began to hypervenilate. Angel pulled her to his chest and started to rock her.
"Shh..it's okay, it's okay..you're gonna be alright.."he whispered. He looked up at the other with worry in his eyes and he could see that they were all thinking his exact thoughts; could she deal with the trauma of the truth of her situation?
After a few moments, she started to calm down again. "Angel..I don't understand.."she lifted her hands to her eyes, "Why can't I see? Why am I lying on a bed with you guys standing around me?"
Giles sat next to her on the bed, "Buffy?"
"Giles?" Buffy gasped. "Tell me what's going on?" she yelled. Then her voice softened and took on it's third tone within three sentences. This one made her sound like the small child she really looked to be on first glance, "Please.."
Giles took her other hand, "What I, uh..am going to tell you might be difficult to believe but you need to be strong.." God, that really sounded stupid, he thought.
"Giles..you're scaring me..what's wrong?" Buffy pleaded.
"You've uh..lost your vision."Giles told her in the softest voice he could manage while still being audible.
"What?" Buffy asked without comprehension. "I don't understand..are you..are you saying I'm..buh..buh.."
"Blind." Angel finished for her as he pulled her closer. There was a moment of silence and then realization dawned on the injured Slayers' face.
She let out a howl of anger and then nearly tossed Angel away from her.The pain washed over her but for once she welcomed it as it helped to further light her angers' fire. She felt someone put their hand on her arm before she shoved it roughly away. "You're lying...you're lying!!" She reached out for the table next to her and found a glass of water on it. Without hesitation she threw it through the air. It connected with the wall and shattered.
Eyes widened, Xander jerked towards her and covered her body with hers. Angel quickly joined him in holding her down. She struggled violently against them but even in her state of rage and anger, terribly weakened by her injuries and the fact that she hadn't the Slayers' strength behind her, they overwhelmed her. And yet she continued to struggle against them. She slammed her small fist into Xanders' chest and he winced. Still he held on, his eyes locking with Angels.
Angel whispered her name over and over but she wasn't listening. She managed to free an arm and hit him across the face. Hard. Especially for someone who shouldn't have any strength at all. He tightened his arms around her and with Xanders' help, they finally imbolized the Slayer.
"Lemme go," she growled. "Please.." her voice cracked and she lost all pretense of being strong. Over and over she begged for them to let her go. Tears began to streak down her face, "Please..Angel...please..I love you..please..why are you doing this?"
Angel looked at Xander who reluctantly stepped away from Buffy. Angel mouthed a silent thank you and then moved closer to the frightened young Slayer. "I would never hurt you, Buffy..it's gonna be okay."
"I can't see.." she replied between sobs. A few moments passed and then, without any warning, the fire returned and she slammed her fist into his chest. It caught him by his suprise and made him fall backwards and away from her. Almost immediately, against the odds and most certainly against the rules of biology, she was on her feet. Xander tried to grab her but she lashed out and hit him. He groaned and hit the floor. Willow was by his side instantly.
"Buffy!" Giles yelled. "Buffy, for Gods' sake, calm down...you're aggravating your.."
"Injuries?" she screamed at him. "Don't lie to me..don't fucking lie to me..I'm not as stupid as you bastards think I am..you're not going to break me by making me think you're my friends..I'm not buying." Her hand drifted out aimlessly in search of a weapon and she came up with a lamp which she held above her head. "If you've hurt them in any way I'll kill you..I swear."
"Buffy..it's me Giles..I swear to you."
"Bullshit!" the Slayer screamed. "I don't what you've done to me but I'm not falling for this charade any longer.."she opened her mouth to continue speaking but all that came out was an anguished moan. She looked up, her sightless eyes wide with horror as a convulsion ripped through her tiny frame and dropped her to her knees. Almost immediately the others surrounded her.
She pulled herself into a ball but was unable to keep herself contained as the convulsion shook her. Angel tried to hold her but her trembling was almost too fierce and he was far too scared to hold on much tighter for fear of further injuring her. She tried to speak but was unable to do much more than gasp out the beginnings of words.
And then, just like that, it was over and the fierce shaking stopped leaving in it's wake only a slight trembling as the Slayer fought for both control and strength but found neither. Exhaustion finally overtook her and her eyelids drifted down. Her mouth opened once and what she said reminded them of all of just her very small and vunerable the Slayer really was; "Mom.."
Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of the park in Sunnydale, California..a pager went off.
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