| TITLE: Growing Up on the Hellmouth pt 16/? AUTHOR: Faery E-MAIL: Faery@m... FEEDBACK: It really makes my day. It also makes me write faster! :-) DISTRIBUTION: If you've already asked me, go ahead and take it. Anyone else...I would be honoured, just let me know first. PAIRING: Spike/Dawn RATING: PG-13 for this part DISCLAIMER: Joss owns all. Joss rules all. But if he ever wants to give up Spike I'd be more than happy to play with him for a while. AUTHOR'S NOTE: The timeline is a little out of wack, but canon does make an appearance every once in a while SUMMARY: Dawn finds out about how sick her mom really is Spike escorted Dawn back to her room in silence. She was in a dazed state, worse even than the night she had unwittingly discovered that she was the Key...with his help. Always with his help. If he hadn't been with her that night, she could have found out from her family, from her friends. Not in a way that resembled a blow to the head more than a discovery. And this was just the same. Poor kid didn't need to find out about her mom that way...wouldn't have either, if she hadn't been with him. Spike was beginning to feel deep pangs of guilt, made all the more severe by the fact that he so rarely experienced this emotion. He never really made the attempt to get used to the feeling. It was all he could do to keep staring stonily ahead as they made their way back to the room. Dawn, feeling Spike's guilt flowing through her in painful currents, came out of her daze to give Spike's hand a squeeze. "Not you fault," she said softly. "You didn't give her cancer...you didn't make me the Key." "But luv, there were ways of disclosing these choice tidbits of info that wouldn't have been so hurtful." "Spike, do you *really* think that there is any *easy* way of hearing that you're mom is dying? Do you think TIMING would make it all better? There is nothing you could have done. If you want to make things better, stop feeling guilty. You being upset only makes it worse for me...you know, you being inside my head and all." Dawn said this last bit with a slight smile, but Spike felt even worse after hearing it. Dawn glared at him and gave him a punch in the stomach, letting him know that his latest little dive deeper into self-loathing was *not* the help she was looking for. He gave her a sheepish grin and forced himself to think happy thoughts. Inside his head he began to sing: "Ninety-nine bleeding bodies on the wall, ninety-nine bleeding bodies. Take one down, pass it around, ninety-eight bleeding bodies on the wall..." Dawn grimaced as she looked up at Spike. "That's really gross...you know that, right?" "Hey, if you can't take the gore, get out of my head," Spike said with a cocky grin. Dawn laughed, and Spike was relieved to see that her mood was visibly improving. He had her smiling... right up until the moment they entered her and Buffy's hospital room. Dawn stepped into the room, ready to send another taunt Spike's way, and her voice caught in her throat. Giles had Buffy cradled in his arms as best he could, her whole body shaking with the force of her tears. Dawn just stood there in stunned silence. Finally, she asked in a trembling voice, "It's Mom isn't it? Is...is she gonna die?" Buffy and Giles immediately started from their mournful embrace. Buffy reached out one arm, beckoning Dawn to join them. Together, the three of them shared in their grief for a short time while Spike shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Normally in this sort of situation he would laugh or make some rude remark, but he didn't think that would help him work towards his goal of a stake-free existence. And hell, he didn't like it that Joyce was sick any more than the rest of them did. Finally the three of them broke their embrace. Buffy wiped the tears out of Dawn's eyes and stroked her hair back. "Dawnie, the doctors gave us some bad news about mom. She's got cancer...there's a tumor in her head and if they don't remove it, she could die." Dawn tipped her head so that her hair covered her face as fresh tears began to fall. Buffy grabbed her chin and tilted her head up, staring intently into her eyes. "Listen to me, just because Mom needs an operation, *doesn't* mean that she's going to die. Ok? You *have* to believe that." "I do...it's just...what happens if she *doesn't* make it?" Dawn asked in a scared voice. "The doctors say she has a really good chance, Dawn. And they are going to operate right away. She's scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11." Dawn's brow furrowed slightly. "How could they fit her in so soon? I thought you had to wait weeks to get an appointment with a brain surgeon." Buffy paused for a moment, looking for the proper way to phrase what she needed to say. "There was a man scheduled for tomorrow, but he couldn't make his appointment..." Buffy said with reservation. "That's impossible!" Dawn exclaimed. "People who need brain surgery just don't cancel appointments." Spike came up from behind her and gave her a pat on the back. "What big sis is trying ever so delicately to say is the bloke... well he may still be in the hospital... but his bed's down in the frosty freezer." "Spike!" Buffy and Giles exclaimed, their voices tinged with disapproval. "Hey, don't get your knickers in a twist over me! I'd have thought by now you'd have realized that Dawn here outgrew sugar coatings a long time ago. She had to, living in a place like this, with a sister like you. This girl...this young *woman*, she has to bear the weight of the world on her shoulders. The least you can do is treat her like an adult every now and again." For a moment there was silence, then Buffy opened her mouth to give an angry reply, but she was stopped by a sudden commotion outside of the door. "Sir!...Ladies! Visiting hours are over! You *can't* go in there!" There were some more loud sounds and quite a few screeches that came from the hallway, then Anya, Willow and Tara came into the room, followed by Xander, who was brandishing a chair like a lion tamer at the angry nurses outside. Finally, he dove into the room, slammed the door, and jammed the chair underneath the knob, blocking their entry. Making sure the door was secure, he then turned towards the room's occupants and gave a deep bow. "Xander and his harem have arrived," he said with a flourish. "He doesn't mean that," Anya said. "He's only sleeping with me." "Yes, we are all quite aware of that," Giles said with a slightly bemused smile. Buffy beamed at her friends. "What are you all doing here?" she exclaimed. "Hey, we're the Scoobies. When Giles called and told us you were in here, we came as soon as you could. You can just call me moral support gal," Willow grinned. "A...all of you look really beat up. What happened?" Tara asked timidly. Spike snuck up behind the shy girl who had yet to notice his presence in the room. He tapped her on the shoulder and she screamed when she saw him. "Yep, I win the prize for most gore," Spike said cheerily. Buffy and Dawn both gained rather lost, haunted looks in their eyes, the question removing the brief happiness they had felt at the arrival of their friends, and bringing reality back to smack them in the face. Not trusting Spike to tell the tale with any degree of validity, Giles found himself bracing himself to deliver the many pieces of upsetting news. He took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose "Right, then. Where shall I begin?" he said with a sigh. He then began to recount the events of the day. Faery This is a little shorter than my normal parts, but I hope you liked it! :-) |