Fix You by Enigmaticblue

Summary: Desperate times call for desperate measures where the First is involved. In order to prevent the end of the world, Buffy asks Willow to do a spell that's supposed to fix everything, and Spike goes along for the ride.

Chapter 44: Relief

Anya looked at the items on the counter with some trepidation. She knew exactly what a Kuhl’s amulet and a Sobekian bloodstone were used for in conjunction, and that meant that the person standing across the counter from her was probably very powerful, and very evil.

She didn’t want to make the sale, but she didn’t want to die either.

“I don’t think I can—”

Mairead suddenly appeared at her side. “Anya, weren’t you just telling me that you were trying to get rid of the Sobekian bloodstone?”

Anya blinked. “Uh, I don’t—”

“In fact, it’s on sale,” Mairead continued, treading hard on her foot. “It’s very kind of you to take it off our hands.”

Anya watched the woman preen a bit, and she began to see what Mairead was up to. “Very lucky for us,” she agreed. “I can give you a real deal on it.”

“Let me wrap it up for you,” Mairead added, whisking both items off the counter and dropping them on the tissue paper behind the counter.

“Thank you,” the woman said. “It’s so hard to find good service these days.”

“Isn’t it, though?” Anya asked. “No one is polite anymore.”

She let out a theatrical sigh. “That’s so true. And no one recognizes my true worth.”

“There you are,” Mairead said, putting the neatly wrapped package on the counter. “I hope you enjoy!”

“And here’s your receipt,” Anya added, handing the slip of paper to her. “Have a nice day!” They remained silent as Glory swept out of the shop. “Please tell me that you switched the stone out.”

Mairead opened her hand to reveal the Sobekian bloodstone. “Of course. There was no way I was going to let her leave the shop. She shouldn’t even have the amulet, but it was much easier to replace the stone.”

“What did you change it with?”

“An onyx I put a glamour on,” Mairead replied. “It’s lucky for both of us that I’m good at that sort of thing.” She looked over at Anya. “We’d best tell someone that a Hellgod is trying to do some serious dark magic.”

Anya nodded. “Spike will want to know. I can’t leave the shop, though.”

“I’ll go, then. Will he be at Buffy’s house?”

“Yes, although he’ll probably be sleeping.”

“That’s alright.” Mairead looked grim. “I think he’ll want to know, particularly since we’ll likely need to confront Glory tonight when she attempts the spell.”

Anya couldn’t disagree, but she hoped they left her and Xander out of it.

~~~~~

Spike picked up on the first ring. “H’lo?”

“She made it.” He could hear the relief in Buffy’s voice. “The doctor said that they got all of the tumor, and that he doesn’t think she needs radiation or chemo. The surgery went really well.”

He closed his eyes. “I’m glad.”

“I’m going to stay for another day or two, but then I’ll be coming home.”

“What about your mum?”

“The doctors aren’t sure how long she’ll need to be in the hospital. It depends. Giles is going to stay, though.” There was a pause, and Spike could hear her talking to someone else. “He wants to know how the shop is doing.”

“Far as I know, everythin’ is fine,” Spike assured her. “Sounds like Mairead an’ Anya make a good team.”

“Has there been any trouble with Glory?”

“No, no trouble,” Spike said, glancing at Mairead, who was sitting on the couch.

There was a pause. “What happened, Spike?”

“Nothin’ happened, luv. We’re all safe and sound.”

“There’s something that you aren’t telling me.”

“I don’t want you worried about me or the others. You concentrate on your mum.”

“Spike—”

He sighed, knowing that he didn’t have a choice, not when she used that tone of voice. “Glory sent the Lei-Ach demons again, an’ she was in the shop today to buy materials for that snake demon.”

“Shit.” Spike couldn’t have put it better himself. “When is she casting the spell?”

“Tonight, I’m assumin’,” he replied. “At least, that’s prob’ly when she’ll try. Mairead said she switched the stones when Glory wasn’t looking. She won’t be able to finish the spell, an’ since Dawn isn’t in town, it wouldn’t have mattered even if she had. The damn thing wouldn’t have been able to find the Key.”

“Don’t even think about going after her tonight, Spike,” Buffy warned him.

“Buffy—”

“I’m serious,” she insisted. “She sent the demons after you, didn’t she?”

“Well—”

“That’s what I thought. Do not make yourself more of a target than you already are.” Buffy sighed. “Look, when I get back into town, we can talk more about how we’re going to deal with this, but there’s no point in risking your skin tonight.”

Spike sighed, knowing when he was beaten. Buffy was right; Glory wouldn’t be able to raise the demon, and so it probably wouldn’t make sense to confront her. “I promise I won’t go lookin’ for her.”

“Is anyone there with you?” Buffy asked.

Spike frowned. “Yeah, Mairead. Why?”

“Pass the phone over.”

“Why?”

“Because I want someone watching your back, Spike. If you do go out on patrol, I want someone with you.”

“We knew that I’d likely become a target, pet,” he reminded her gently. “I’m gonna be fine.”

She sighed. “I know that, but I want to talk to Mairead anyway.”

Spike rolled his eyes, glad that Buffy couldn’t see him, and gave the phone to the witch. He had no trouble overhearing their conversation, of course, which mostly consisted of Buffy asking for details of exactly what had happened in the Magic Box with Glory, and instructions for not leaving him alone.

He was torn between irritation and amusement; while he could take care of himself, Spike felt warmed that she cared so much.

“I promise he won’t be left to patrol by himself,” Mairead promised for the third time. “We’ll go as a group or not at all, Buffy.”

She finally handed the phone back. “She wants to talk to you again.”

“Slayer,” he growled. “I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”

“I’m worried enough about Mom,” she shot back. “I don’t need to worry about you, too.”

That silenced him. “Fine. I guess we’ll talk when you get back then.”

“I love you.” There was fear in her voice, and Spike knew why. She didn’t want to hurt him, or their relationship, but she loved him too much to risk him.

He sighed. “I love you, too. Don’t worry about me. I won’t risk it.”

“Thank you.” She paused. “I should go.”

“See you soon,” he promised, then heard the dial tone.

Mairead gave him a sympathetic smile when he looked at her. “She cares for you very deeply.”

“I know.” Spike shook his head. “’Course, if I were to try to forbid her from doin’ her job, she’d be singin’ a different tune.”

“No, she wouldn’t, not if it was a risk she could avoid.” Mairead stood. “Come on, then.”

Spike frowned. “Huh?”

“You can come over to our place for dinner.” She glanced out the window. “The sun’s low enough, and Tara’s cooking, so you know it’ll be good. We’ve got room for one more.”

Spike hesitated. “Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

She just smiled. “Well, you’re family, aren’t you? Family is always welcome.”

Spike swallowed. “Be happy to join you.”

It looked like his evening wouldn’t be quite so lonely after all.

~~~~~

“So, we’re definitely not going after Glory tonight?” Willow asked.

Mairead took a sip of her beer. “Definitely not. Buffy was quite clear about that, and she can do no harm.”

“Thanks to you,” Anya spoke up. “There was no way I was going to let her leave the shop with both of those items, but I don’t think I could have stopped her.”

“There wasn’t a way,” Spike assured her. “An’ if you had tried, she would have swatted you like a bug.”

Xander grimaced, taking a drink of his own alcoholic beverage. Technically, he wasn’t old enough to drink, but Spike and Mairead had bought it, and he wasn’t one to turn it down. “Good thing there was no swatting. Don’t you think Glory might put two and two together, though? If she figures out what happened, she could come back to the Magic Box.”

Tara’s eyes widened in alarm. “Could she trace the glamour back to you, sweetie?”

Mairead shook her head firmly. “No chance of that. Besides, if the spell is anything like I think it is, the amulet and stone won’t be there when she’s done, whether it works or not. She’ll still be putting quite a bit of energy into it.”

“And you’re sure it won’t work?” Spike pressed.

Mairead gave him a stern look. “Of course, I’m sure, and you aren’t going to see for yourself. There’s no point in risking it, and I promised Buffy.”

“Wait, what’s this?” Xander frowned. “When did you talk to Buffy?”

“Earlier this evening,” Spike replied. “Remember? Told you she’d called about Joyce.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t say anything about making promises. What promises?”

Mairead spoke before he could, and Xander was amused to see Spike squirm a bit. “I promised that Spike wouldn’t patrol by himself while she’s gone. Glory’s made him a target since he confronted her.”

“Which is a good thing,” Spike broke in. “Because she doesn’t know anything about Buffy yet. The longer that’s true, the better off we’ll be. She won’t even think that the Slayer has her Key.”

“But will she think that you have the Key?” Willow asked.

“That could be unpleasant,” Oz murmured.

Spike shrugged. “All she knows about me is that I’m a vampire, and I insulted her a lot. Don’t think she’ll look much further than that.”

“Well, let’s hope not,” Anya said. “Because she could rip you limb from limb without breaking a sweat from what I’ve heard. You can’t win against a Hellgod.”

Xander managed to smile, in spite of that rather depressing statement. “We did before, right?”

Spike nodded, although he didn’t look convinced. “Yeah, we did, an’ we know a hell of a lot more this time.”

Xander just hoped that’s all they needed.

~~~~~

Joyce’s head felt fuzzy, her thoughts disconnected. At first she couldn’t remember where she was, or why she was there, although the mattress beneath her didn’t feel like her own. She realized that her hand was being held, and she slowly opened her eyes to see Buffy sitting next to her bed.

“Hey,” Buffy murmured. “How are you feeling?”

“A little fuzzy.” She frowned, still trying to remember. Clearly, she was in the hospital; the smell alone would have given it away. “What—” She stopped, the memories flooding her mind. She’d had surgery to remove a brain tumor. “How did everything go?”

“Really well,” Buffy replied with a teary smile. “The doctor said that he was able to get it all.”

Joyce felt a sense of relief, although she knew that she wasn’t out of the woods yet. There was still the possibility of complications. From what Buffy had told her, however, everything was so different this time that perhaps they had warded off the potential problems.

“Where’s your sister?” Joyce asked, trying to swallow and finding her mouth very dry.

“Here.” Buffy grabbed a cup from the table. “The nurse gave me ice chips for when you woke up. Just let it melt. And Dawn’s with Giles. They went to get something to eat. I think he’s trying to bond with her or something.”

“Dear Rupert,” Joyce said, although she hadn’t meant for it to be out loud.

Buffy’s eyebrows went up. “I didn’t know you guys were that close.”

“He’s a good man.” A smile formed. “And he’s a very thoughtful lover.”

Her daughter held up a hand. “I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that. The doctor said you were getting the good stuff.”

“Good stuff?” Joyce asked.

“Drugs. That’s probably the only reason you don’t have a killer headache right about now.” Buffy glanced up as Giles and Dawn’s voices filtered down the hallway. “Please don’t mention sex in front of Dawn. You’ll scar her for life.”

Joyce smiled. She had no intention of mentioning any such thing in front of her youngest daughter, but she did enjoy making Buffy freak out.

“Mom!” Dawn was clearly overjoyed to see her awake. “Are you okay? The doctor said we could visit all together because you were doing so well. He even had you moved to a private room early.”

“Dawn,” Buffy said in warning. “Go easy.”

“I’m fine, Buffy,” Joyce assured her, knowing how much her youngest needed reassurance that she was okay. “Come here, Dawnie.”

Joyce held her, meeting Giles’ eyes over Dawn’s head. She could read the relief in his eyes, and for one brief, beautiful moment, she believed that everything would be alright.

~~~~~

Dawn still didn’t think it was fair that Giles got to stay with her mom and do who knew what in the hotel room, while she and Buffy had to go home. Joyce had said it was because they both had school to attend, and she had to stay until the staples were out.

It might be a logical reason, but it didn’t change the fact that it wasn’t fair.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for Spike and Buffy to get done trying to suck the other’s face off. Dawn even checked her nonexistent watch and cleared her throat loudly, but they were firmly attached. Spike might not have to breathe, but what about Buffy?

“They’re probably taking our baggage to the lost and found by now,” Dawn announced. “You know, since we haven’t picked it up.”

“Feel free to grab the bags, Nibblet,” Spike said with a smirk. “You know what they look like.”

“I’m not the one with superpowers,” she shot back.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Ignore her, Spike. She was a brat during the whole flight.”

“I was not!” Dawn said. “Just because I was bored—”

“Giles offered to buy you a book or game,” Buffy reminded her. “Remember?”

“I couldn’t find one that I liked,” she said.

Spike held up a hand. “Enough. Dawn, I know you’re unhappy ‘bout leavin’ your mum behind, but just think. Another few nights with the two of us, an’ no bedtime. There might even be movies your mum wouldn’t let you watch an’ food she wouldn’t let you eat. Assumin’ you behave yourself.”

Dawn knew it was a bribe, but she didn’t care. Spike was implying that he was going to be around, and he was quite right. Once her mom got home, and things returned to normal, there would also be a return of rules. It was a lot easier to get around Spike.

Sort of. Dawn had a feeling that he only let her persuade him when he was good and ready to be persuaded.

“Okay.” She didn’t want to give in too easily; it set a bad precedent.

“But only if you get caught up on your homework,” Buffy added.

Dawn glared at her. “You have homework to catch up on, too.”

“And I will,” Buffy said. “Willow’s been getting my assignments for me, so you know what I’ll be doing during the day.”

Dawn sighed, knowing when she was beat. Besides, her mom had already talked to her about catching up with classes, and what was in store for her if her grades fell this semester. Not that there were threats, exactly. It was more the knowledge that Joyce would be really disappointed and would blame herself if Dawn’s grades slipped.

“So, uh, how did that thing go?” Buffy asked.

Dawn rolled her eyes, yanking her bag off the carousel. Buffy was always trying to talk about Slayer stuff in front of her without giving any of the details. She was so old enough.

“‘That thing’ didn’t actually happen, because you threatened dire things if I went looking for ‘that thing,’ remember?”

“I just wanted to make sure,” Buffy said, giving him a quick kiss, then grabbing her own bag. “Home, William.”

“As my lady wishes.”

Dawn trailed behind them disconsolately. They were just so together it made her feel like a third wheel all the time.

~~~~~

Spike was grateful that the others were so willing to spend time with Dawn. Buffy might not want him patrolling on his own, but he felt the same way, which meant they were in need of a steady supply of babysitters. Not that Dawn would be happy to know that she couldn’t be left alone, but at least she knew why.

Just because she understood the reason didn’t mean she accepted it, however.

“But I’m old enough to stay by myself!” Dawn protested.

Buffy looked at him for help, but he shrugged. He’d run interference enough for one day; it was beginning to wear him down. “Yes, you are old enough,” Buffy said. “But it’s not safe, so be grateful that there’s someone who’s going to stay with you, because otherwise I would have to lock you in the basement.”

Dawn’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

The doorbell rang, and Spike let Xander and Anya inside. “Thanks for comin’, you two. An’ by the way, great timing.”

“We aim to serve,” Xander replied. “Hey, Dawnster! You ready to get wild?”

Spike saw the look that Buffy gave Dawn, a clear warning to behave herself. “Have fun, you guys!” Buffy said. “Let’s go, Spike.”

He followed her out the door cheerfully enough, grateful to have a few moments without anyone else around. It had been too long, that was for sure. “You okay?” he asked.

“If the definition of ‘fine’ includes wanting to kill your sister,” Buffy replied.

“Think it probably does.” Spike grinned at her. “She’s just worried about your mum an’ unhappy about all the disruption goin’ on. It wasn’t that long ago that she learned she was the Key, luv.”

Buffy grimaced. “I know. I’m trying not to get too upset, but come on, Spike. She’s being a brat.”

“She’s a teenage hormone bomb,” Spike said. “It’s part of her job description.”

Buffy tucked her hand through his arm. “I just wish Mom was home.”

“I know you do, luv.”

“Do you think she’s going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Are you just saying that?”

“Do you want to know the truth?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, yes, I do think she’ll be fine, and I’m not just sayin’ that.” Spike pulled her close. “An’ now we’ve got company.”

Spike released the Slayer to sprint towards the vampire he’d sensed approaching. “Spike!” Buffy squealed from behind him. “Who’s the Slayer here?”

“Depends on who gets there first.”

Buffy put on a burst of speed that moved her past him to confront the vampire. He watched as she fought, enjoying her inventiveness and grace; it had been too long since they had been on a patrol together.

Actually, it had only been a week, but it felt like a lifetime.

He had just dusted the vampire when she called, “Spike! Look out!”

The second vampire came out of nowhere, and Spike pulled out his stake. Buffy cried out behind him, and he craned his neck, catching sight of her fighting off a third vampire.

The moment’s distraction was all his opponent needed to turn the stake around and plunge it into his chest.

Spike heard himself cry out, and Buffy’s shout, and then he knew nothing more.