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| Smoke |
| DISCLAIMER: All hail Joss Whedon, UPN, the WB, FOX , Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. Theirs not mine. She gives Spike a look of seething hatred. �He�s asked that Spike not be here.� �Xander telling me not to have my boyfriend in my own house? That�s so not gonna fly.� The boy�s lost his mind. �Try having respect for someone else�s feelings, Buffy. It�s a human trait, and I�m guessing you�ll need to be working on those now.� Shoving her chair back, Willow leaves the room, stomping up the stairs. Distantly, her door slams. Dawn looks up from her plate, her eyes sad. �I wish that everyone could just get along with each other. I hate all the fighting.� I pat her on the shoulder. �It�s okay, Dawnie. Things will be back to normal soon.� I stop, considering that. �Well, not normal, but as close as it gets for us.� �I wish she wouldn�t leave,� Dawn says. �Dad, Mom, Tara, Willow. And you were gone�� She looks like she is going to burst into tears. �I have to go to school. �Grabbing her backpack, Dawn dashes out the front door. Turning to Spike, I sigh. �Well, that went well.� Tara comes in from the kitchen, bearing a platter of pancakes and a paper sack. �Round or funny shapes, I made both. Eat up,� she says, putting down the platter. Looking around, she turns to me. �Where is Dawn? I have her lunch.� �Thanks, Tara. I�ll catch up with her.� Grabbing the sack, I run out the front door. Dawn is just turning onto the sidewalk. �Dawn, wait. I have your lunch here,� I call. As I walk towards her, I feel odd. My skin feels heated, like I have bad sunburn. �Buffy? You�re smoking.� says Dawn, her eyes wide. I look down at my hands, seeing the smoke rising up. �Oh My God,� I scream, as I turn and run back to the house. I feel the heat rising as I run. Clouds of smoke surround me, making it hard to see. I trip and stumble, finally making it up the stairs of my house. I am screaming, over and over, burning with pain. �Stop, drop and roll,� says my mind, as I collapse inside my open door. I feel my back ignite into flame. �Christ, Buffy!� Spike yells, as something presses down on my back. The last thing I hear is my sister�s screams, ringing in my head. I fall through spinning stars, landing in a blanket of darkness. Later, I hear distant voices, echoing from far away. �You have to take her to a hospital,� I hear Xander say. �They won�t know what to do with her, monkey boy. Not to mention, taking her back outside will cause her to burst into flame again!� Spike�s voice is dripping with sarcasm, and an undercurrent that I can�t place. �And whose fault is it that, huh?� says Xander. �You got her into this mess. This is your fault, Spike! You did this to her. Just to satisfy your filthy-� I hear a scuffle, and the two large thumps. �Knock that crap off, now!� growls Angel. I hear sobbing in the background, familiar cries falling and rising. Dawnie? I try to lift my head, but it hurts too much. The dark is sweet and soothing, and I drift back into it. ************************************ My love lies on her stomach in her metal bed. She looks so delicate and frail. The skin of her back is glossy from Tara�s salve. I turn to Tara. �What did you say was in that stuff?� �Comfrey, coltsfoot, heals all. Just herbs, ordinary stuff for healing spells. Plus dragons blood, yarrow, mandrake root. Angel told me to what to put in for the vampire side of the house.� She gives me a smile. �We�re covering both bases.� �I never wanted this to happen to her, Tara. I wanted her to acknowledge the darker part of herself, to feel an affinity for it. I never wanted it to swallow her, to eclipse her humanity entirely.� I look over at Tara, and her face is full of understanding. �The binding, Tara. It can�t be undone. But we have to do something.� When I look at Buffy, all I can see is my sweet vibrant girl, trapped in darkness forever. �We need to talk to Giles, pick Angel�s brain, research on the Internet. Fuck, let�s hop on the ouija board and channel Darla and the Master,� I go on. � I don�t care what we have to do. We need to see if there is any way around this.� . |
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