Chapter twenty-seven �Where are we going to put her?� Gunn carried Aria onto the girls floor. �Put her in my bed.� Willow said as she headed to the bathroom to get the first aids kit. Gunn went to the redhead�s room and gently lowered Aria down, shifting her to her stomach. He tried to figure out how to remove the young woman�s battered dress, and was relieved when Wesley appeared with a pair of scissors. After they had the girl cleaned up they took in the damage. It wasn�t as bad as they first thought. Though her pale skin was cut by the belt buckle, it would heal. Welts were raised on her back, and black and blue shades were appearing. �Could be worse.� Cordelia tried to sound optimistic. Everyone nodded in agreement. �Why hasn�t she woken up?� Gunn asked. �Probably the herbs we gave her.� Willow bit down on her lip. They all stood around the bed in silence. The scene bringing back the horrible memories of Douglass. Angel watched as Willow�s eyes filled with tears. She was fighting hard to put on a brave front, but she was too filled with tenderness for others suffering not to be affected. Reaching out and placing an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her near. Willow cuddled to his side, leaning on him for support. Wesley cleared his throat. �Why don�t you all get some rest. I�ll stay here incase Ms. Gallagher wakes up. We can all take turns taking care of the young lady.� Angel lead Willow to Douglass�s room. �I can�t stay in here, where will Douglass sleep... never mind. Forgot about her all-nighter with Lindsey.� Too much in a daze she unzipped her jeans and slid them down over her hips and legs. She was getting ready to peal her top off Angel�s hands replaced hers and he helped lift the top over her head. Willow watched wide eyed as Angel went over to Douglass�s dresser and went through her drawers until he found what he was looking for. Walking back to her silently he helped her into one of the blonde witch�s PJ�s. He led her to the bed and as she climbed in he striped off his shirt and pants, leaving on only his boxers. Willow tried to control her breathing. Sure they had been flirting for months, joking around, sharing little touches. But she had just undressed in front of him, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. If that didn�t beat all he had helped dress her for bed. Angel crawled into the bed next to her and gathered her in his arms. Willow bit back the questions she was dying to ask, forcing herself to enjoy the moment. Who knew when the next time she�d be able to share a bed with the love of her life. ****************** Spike entered the lobby and made his way to the fourth floor. He somehow knew that's where the group would have put the young woman he had saved that night. He shook his head, he knew he was losing his edge. First adopting a human family, now helping innocents. He may help around the agency but only because of two reasons. One to keep the family from any harm, second to be able to kick demon butt. �I�m not like Peaches, I don�t have a damn soul to blame all this nancy-pancy crap on. I used to be the Big Bad, now all I do is run around making sure the humans are all safely tucked into their beds.� Opening the door to the girls floor he was surprised to find it quiet. He knew they were all there, he could smell them. Stopping first at Willow�s door he saw Wesley asleep in the chair next to Willow�s bed. Though the figure did have Willow�s hair coloring, it defiantly wasn�t the witch. Turning around to find the others he didn�t get two feet when he heard the girl scream out from the bed. Wesley jumped and tried to calm the girl, only to have her fight him. �Wesley watch out for her back.� Spike shoved the other Englishman aside. �Come on Pet, shh. You know who I am. Look at me. Come on open your eyes.� Spike wish he could cover his ears with his hands to block out her high pitched screams. Soft he thought again. I used to love to hear these cries. �Spike what did you do?� Willow came running into the room, Angel at her heels. �Nothing. In fact I was on my way to find you when the silly chit started bellowing like some sort of deranged Banshee.� �It must be the herbs we gave her.� Wesley said from the other side of the bed. �She�s probably disoriented.� Cordelia and Gunn showed up, and watched the scene in front of them. Aria was trying to curl up in a ball, as though she were protecting herself from some invisible assailant. �Girl looks like she�s strung out on drugs.� Gunn grunted. �I hope we didn�t overdue the herbal remedy.� Willow watched as Spike tried to edge closer to the bed. �Come on Luv, you�re safe here. We wont let anyone hurt you.� Spike cooed at the girl. Everyone else in the room stopped breathing as they heard the soft voice coming from the blonde vampire. Aria�s cries lessened as his voice broke through to what ever world her nightmare had taken her. �That�s it...Shhhh. I�m right here. Go to sleep, I�ll make sure your safe.� �Drucilla.� Angel whispered. The group looked at him and tried to explain. �She used to have episodes like this. Spike always knew how to calm her down.� �You don�t think the herbs harmed her in anyway do you? I mean I didn�t fry her brain with the stuff did I?� Willow worried. Spike took off his boots and laid down besides Aria, never stopping the calming words. He slowly reached out his hand and started to smooth back her hair. She resisted at first, but after a few strokes she allowed him to touch her. Spike looked around the room and motioned to the door, hinting for the others to leave. Without question everyone filed out, letting him calm the girl back to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lindsey wrapped the towel around his hips and opened the bathroom door. He felt a little guilty about just leaving her alone in his bed. It was well past time for the drug to take effect. Standing in the middle of his room he blinked at the empty bed. She wouldn�t just leave would she? Hurriedly he went to the living room and let out the breath he was holding when he noticed her sitting cross legged in front of his stereo. �I thought you left.� He admitted. �You�re music selection sucks. Come on Lindsey, I know you�re pushing thirty, but what�s with all this orchestral crap?� Douglass kept her back to him. �What do you mean, that�s some of the best written-.� �Crap.� Douglass switched on the radio and started to go through the stations. �You know why you listen to that stuff? It�s because it�s what is expected of you. The suits the car, even this depressing apartment is all about your image. Do you even know who you are anymore?� Douglass felt more at ease with him, plus knowing that the effects of the drug were lessening, made it easier to say these things. Who knew if she�d ever be able to again. �I happen to like this-.� �Crap.� �It�s not crap.� �So before you became evil lawyer what kind of music did you listen to?� Douglass kept changing the stations. �..............� �Well?� �Country.� Douglass looked at him in disbelief. Finally finding a song she liked she stood up and walked over to the kitchen. Shifting through the cupboards she let out a sigh of disappointment. �Do you ever eat here Lindsey? There�s no junk food.� �Thought your group was into the working out and health thing.� He asked purposely avoiding her question and asking one of his own. �If Wesley had his way I would be. He has this thought that I�m his substitute slayer or something. The way he trains me is inhumane.� Intrigued, Lindsey joined her in the kitchen. �Substitute slayer?� Douglass wondered if she was giving too much information out, but swept up in the moment she answered. �He�s making up for Faith. He was her Watcher. I guess you could say things blew up in Sunnydale. So now he beats my butt into the ground everyday. It�s fun and all, but I�m not a slayer.� �You�re a witch.� He saw something in her eyes, he had struck a nerve. �I used to be a witch. I can�t cast anymore.� �Do you remember any of that night?� Lindsey hoped he hadn�t pushed his limits. �No.� Douglass swept past him. �Do you mean you haven�t searched for any answers as to what happened to you?� Douglass started to wish they could go back to the informal conversations they were used to. It was one thing to get Lindsey to answer questions about himself, and another to bare herself to him. �It�s kind of hard seeing that the crime scene is a couple states over, and that by the time I came to, the apartment was rented to new tenants. There are no leads, so why bother.� �I can�t believe you�re all taking what happened to you so lightly. Who ever did this could still be out there you know.� �Face it Lindsey it was some random act of violence. I�m not all that important that I�d have some sadistical killer after me. I don�t own anything of value, except my damn Jeep, and the way I feel about driving anyone is free to it.� �Random act of violence my ass.� Lindsey thought. Why was she just giving up on the matter. Someone had tried to kill her, and she just shrugged her shoulders. �I think the drug is fading, I haven�t felt the urge since you took your shower.� Lindsey was going to question her, until he realized that she must of satisfied herself. The thought of her playing with herself in his bed made him hard. �I can drive you home if you want.� �Can I stay over. I�m really not in the mood to face the others right now.� �Plus I really just want one night by your side.� Lindsey thought about it. He knew it was probably not the best idea to have her stay, but the thought of her leaving didn�t sit well with him. �Yeah, I can drive you home tomorrow, I have an early meeting.� He held out his hand to her and lead her back to his bed. |
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