Seeing Red
by TheBear
Chapter 2
[reviews]
Part 2
========== BtVS ==========
Cordelia and Xander were sitting on a row of chairs in the waiting room with worried looks on their faces. Giles was leaning against a doorway, nervously cleaning his glasses.
Willow was nervously pacing back and forth, glancing at the elevator each time she reached the end of her path. She was mostly worried about her girlfriend, but she'd be lying if she claimed she wasn't nervous about seeing Buffy's mom. Every time the elevator dinged, and the door opened, Willow jumped slightly and held her breath until she saw who was coming out.
She knew that Joyce knew about her and Buffy; Buffy had assured her on several occasions that her mom was cool with the whole thing, but Willow hadn't actually spent any time alone in Joyce's presence since she and Buffy had begun their new relationship. Plus there was the added stress of Buffy being in the hospital, which Willow imagined wouldn't put her girlfriend's mom in the best frame of mind.
Giles watched the redhead becoming more and more frantic as time passed. Finally he stepped into her path and stopped her, his hands gently gripping her shoulders. "Willow, you must calm down," he said. "You aren't doing her any good by working yourself into a state..."
This time when the elevator dinged and the door opened Buffy's mom was the one who walked out.
Giles felt the redhead tense under his hands and saw her eyes widen in alarm. He quickly spun around to see what was coming and was surprised when it turned out to be Joyce Summers. He had, from Willow's response, halfway expected some monster to be attacking.
Joyce walked up to Giles and demanded, "Where is she?"
Cordy and Xander got up and approached, flanking Giles and Willow.
Giles answered, "She's still in the emergency room."
Joyce made as if to walk out of the waiting room, saying, "I wanna see her."
Willow said, "They won't let us in there!" her frustration and concern clearly evident in her voice.
Joyce stopped and looked back at her, not having noticed her at first, as she was hidden behind Giles. She saw that the redhead was near tears, and immediately went to her; wrapping her in a tight hug. "I'm sure she'll be all right, Honey," she tried to reassure her daughter's girlfriend.
Willow let go one loud sob and tightly wrapped her arms around Buffy's mom. That one gesture, and calling her honey, finally convinced her that Joyce was really ok with her dating Buffy. She only managed to keep from breaking down entirely, because she didn't want to worry the older woman any more than she already was. She nodded her head, not yet releasing her embrace, and agreed, "She will be. It'll take more than the flu to do in the slayer!"
Just then the Doctor came to the door and asked, "Mrs. Summers?"
Joyce and Willow let go their embrace and turned to the doctor. Joyce kept one arm around the girl, silently offering her support. "Yes?" she answered.
The doctor smiled and introduced herself, "I'm Dr. Wilkinson."
Joyce immediately asked, "Is Buffy okay?"
The doctor began to explain, "We were able to stabilize and..."
Joyce interrupted exasperatedly, "Is she *okay*?"
Dr. Wilkinson reassuringly said, "She's going to be fine."
Joyce and Willow both spoke at the same moment, "Oh, thank God!" They looked at each other and smiled before looking back at the doc.
Xander was shifting back and forth on his feet. "Good... Good..." he said; his apprehension manifesting itself in the way he was fretfully rubbing his hands together "That's good," he repeated once again.
Cordelia just kept one hand on her boyfriend's shoulder and didn't say a word.
Giles smiled briefly and put his glasses back on his face.
Dr. Wilkinson added, "I want to keep her here a few days, though. She still has some healing to do..."
========== BtVS ==========
The whole gang was in the hall upstairs near Buffy's hospital room. They were waiting for her to be brought up.
As soon as the elevator door opened, Joyce went to the gurney, "Buffy?" she asked as she reached the bed. "Hi, sweetheart," she said, her concern for her daughter evident.
Everyone followed along as the orderly wheeled her toward her room.
Willow took her girlfriend's hand, careful of the IV needle, but needing some physical contact. "Hey baby, we're all here," she said.
Buffy sounded groggy and out-of-it as she said, "Hey. Here we are. It's all of we. Are we taking me home?" she struggled to get up as she spoke.
The doctor tried to push her back down, saying, "No. Buffy, you need to lie down, honey."
Buffy, still groggy, but insistent said, "Yeah? Lie at home. My bed is better than any bed that's... not my bed."
The doctor looked at Joyce and stupidly observed aloud, "She's still a little out of it."
Joyce just nodded at her, not wanting to offend the doctor by saying "Duh!" even if that was what came to mind.
Buffy looked at Willow and said, "Shh! Hospital zone. No moaning." Looking over at her mom, she confided, "She gets noisy..."
Willow blushed so hard that she was almost glowing. All eyes turned to her for just a moment before everyone discretely looked away. Everyone except Cordelia, who was enjoying Willow's embarrassment far too much to miss a moment of it.
Oblivious to the redhead's consternation, Buffy looked at her and quietly said, "It's true Will, you do."
The doctor cleared her throat and said, "She'll feel better after she's been here a while."
Buffy again began to struggle, "Lemme go. Look, I wanna go!"
The orderly pushing the bed, two nurses and Dr. Wilkinson all struggled to get her to lie back down. Buffy, however, was having none of it and put up a fight.
Willow shouted, alarmed, "Buffy, what's wrong?"
Buffy just continued to struggle. "No! No! Let me go!" she cried.
Cordelia spoke. "I think she wants to go," she said, once again demonstrating a magnificent grasp of the obvious.
The hospital employees finally managed to get her pushed back down on the bed, while Buffy was still crying, "No, don't do that! Stop it!"
The doc began fumbling for a hypodermic needle, telling the nurses, "Hold her steady!"
Buffy, clearly delirious, looked back at her watcher, saying, "Giles, tell them! The vampires! I need to kill the vampires!"
The doctor spoke soothingly as she slipped the needle into Buffy's arm, "This'll help you relax."
Xander threw Giles a concerned look while Cordelia cringed and looked away. Willow was focused on Buffy, unshed tears in her eyes and confusion written all over her face as she watched her girlfriend fighting to get away.
Buffy cried out, wincing in pain, as the needle penetrated her flesh, "Ow! No!" When the doctor pulled the needle back out, she lay back and breathed heavily for a moment.
Xander, trying to cover for Buffy 's slip, said, "It's gotta be the fever."
Cordelia chimed in, "Yeah, it made her delusional."
Buffy looked again at her watcher. "Giles, They're out there!" she insisted.
Giles smiled reassuringly and said, "Yes, uh, well, we'll, uh, we'll get those, uh, vampires later." He laughed lightly, looking at the doctor. "I hear it's best t-to play along," he explained, keeping on smiling.
The sedative began to take effect and Buffy started to relax. One of the nurses checked her IV while Joyce leaned in and stroked her hair. "Honey, listen..."
Buffy interrupted. "I wanna go home," she whined plaintively.
Joyce tried to reassure her, "It's gonna be okay. I promise." They start to wheel her away again.
Buffy cried out one last time, "*Please* don't make me stay here..."
Joyce said, "I *promise*."
They all followed as Buffy was taken into her room. The door closed and Willow looked in through the narrow window.
After a moment Xander looked over at Giles, saying, "That was a new experience. I'm not used to seeing Buffy scared like that."
Joyce said, "Yeah, she just *hates* hospitals. Ever since she was a little girl."
Willow, her eyes still shiny with uncried tears, asked, "What happened?"
Joyce crossed her arms and leaned up against the wall next to the door to her daughter's room. She sighed and answered, "When she was eight her cousin Celia died in a hospital. Buffy was alone with her at the time."
Cordelia interjected, "Yuk!"
Joyce nodded her head and said, "Yeah, they were very close."
Willow whispered, "Wow, and she was eight?"
Joyce said something about needing to use the phone and Giles commented that there was one by the nurses station. He made as if to walk with her, when Xander stopped him with a question. "Do you think she's gonna be okay in here?"
Giles stopped for a moment and pondered the question.
Cordelia answered Xander's question as she began to pace up and down the hall. "I don't know, Lysette got her nose done here, and she came in looking for the Gwyneth Paltrow, and it looked more like the Mr. Potatohead." She stepped over to the door and looked into Buffy's room.
Xander said, "Cordy..." clearly exasperated with his girlfriend's cluelessness.
Even Giles was compelled to comment on Cordelia's gaffe "Buffy is not here for cosmetic surgery..."
Cordelia didn't miss a beat, saying, "No, but while she's in here, she might as well get that thing done."
Giles and Xander shared a look of confusion.
Cordelia explained, "You know, that thing on her face?" She turned to look at Xander and Giles, "You know that *thing*..."
Willow said, "There is nothing wrong with Buffy's face!" and then shook her head, amazed that she had bothered to address Cordelia's comment. Turning to Giles and Xander she asked, "Do you think Angelus will attack Buffy in here?"
Xander pointed out, "He can come in, it's a public building."
Giles sounded worried as he agreed, "That's true..."
Cordelia was still stuck on her own topic. "Am I the only one that's noticed that thing?" she asked, bewildered that no one else agreed with her.
Willow ignored her, "I think I have an idea..."
========== BtVS ==========
Xander sat outside, hidden in the bushes across the street from the hospital's main entrance. He was supposed to have stayed with Cordelia, but couldn't resist being here just in case Angelus did show up.
Willow's plan was twofold, Giles was to wait in the parking lot with a crossbow to try and take Buffy's ex out from a distance- if he made an appearance. She figured that his arrogance would lead him to use the main entrance, rather than skulk around to a side or back entrance. If Giles failed, he was not to engage, but rather to take off in his car, hopefully drawing Angelus away from the hospital. In the meanwhile, Willow was going to try and do the uninvite spell on Buffy's room at the hospital, in hopes that it would create the barrier and keep the vamp out if he got past Giles.
As a backup, Willow was going to try and sneak into Buffy's room with a supersoaker filled with holy water, just in case the spell didn't work.
Both she and Giles told Xander just to take Cordelia home- claiming that this was just insurance, and that Angelus wouldn't likely come with this being such a public location and all.
Xander felt differently. He had a feeling that this was exactly the situation that Angel- in his mind they were one in the same- would love. He wasn't about the big fight and defeat- he was about the cruelty and pain. Nothing would please him better than to torment and kill the slayer while she was helpless to defend herself.
Xander really wanted to be there if Giles got lucky. He wanted to see Angel dusted so badly that he could smell the ash in the air. He wanted to collect the remains and keep them in a jar to look at once in a while. He figured it would make a nice pick-me-up whenever he was feeling down.
Cordelia hadn't been very happy when he left her, though. She was still on the whole, 'You spend all your time thinking about your darling Willow and your precious Buffy, and never think about me!' kick.
He'd not bothered to deny her charge- he just quipped, "You think about yourself enough for both of us!" Seeing her eyes flash, and knowing they were about to have another knockdown, drag-out he apologized, saying, "Look, Cordy. I'll make it up to you tomorrow- anything you want to do. I just want to be there if they dust his ass."
Cordy had recognized that he was being mostly truthful, plus the promise of a day of power-shopping with Xander as her bag carrier and personal attendant, was enticing, to say the least. She acquiesced, but couldn't resist a parting shot, "Fine. Go. But remember, even with Angel gone- and even sick and delirious, Buffy's only got eyes for Willow- not you."
Xander grimaced at the memory. Clearly, Cordelia had some serious jealousy issues. Though, he had to admit that he hadn't done too much to reassure her. Cordy had made a big step- at least for her- when she had gone against her flock and hooked back up with Xander. He had given her every reason not to- especially with that stupid love spell stunt he had pulled. She would have been well within her rights to hate him for that- for trying to put a love spell on her that would have made her his love slave. Even more so because he had planned to use it just to dump her; to cause her as much pain as she had caused him. That really more than made up for her dumping him on valentine's day.
Xander really liked Cordelia. Despite her self-centeredness and many other flaws. He saw that they were a shield against the outside world, just like his own joke-guy persona. When he occasionally got a peek at the real Cordelia, the girl behind the bitch, he liked what he saw. She was strong and self-confidant, with a dose of vulnerability. And she had made a true emotional investment in their relationship. As he had mused more and more often lately, she would complain vociferously, but was always there to help- grousing the whole time of course.
There was only one thing that was stopping him from trying to deepen their relationship. He needed to be sure- for both their sakes- that he wanted her for her, not as the runner-up to Buffy's grand prize status. He needed to convince himself before he would have a shot at convincing Cordelia.
========== BtVS ==========
Xander's introspective musing was interrupted as he heard the sounds of whistling. When he looked up, there was Angelus, walking down the sidewalk toward the hospital, a bouquet of white roses in hand. He seemed so happy and carefree. Xander's blood boiled and he almost couldn't wait until Giles took his shot.
Just when he thought it wasn't going to happen, when he was about to (stupidly) charge the vamp with nothing more than a cross and stake, he heard a muted popping sound. He saw Angelus stagger and growl, his gameface on, and looking for the source of his pain. Another popping sound and Xander noticed that, instead of a wood arrow sticking out of the vamp's chest- followed by a glorious dusting sound- there were two darts sticking out of his neck. He could hear angel's growl as he slowly slipped to his knees, and then went face down on the ground.
Xander goggled as he saw Buffy's Watcher step out from between a couple of parked vans, his head swiveling left and right as he checked for witnesses. As much as he wanted to jump out and go over to Giles, Xander restrained himself, wanting to see what would happen next.
Giles approached the fallen vampire, a compact black rifle slung over one arm. As he got within a couple meters of the body, he pumped another round into him; calmly opened the action and loaded a fourth dart and then fired that one into Angelus body as well. It seemed clear that Giles wanted to take no chances that he might be playing possum. Xander wondered what the hell was going on.
The scene became a little clearer as Giles set down the rifle and opened up a pack containing heavy iron manacles. He shackled the vampire's hands behind his back, then his ankles as well. Then he attached some sort of device to the vamp's elbows, cinching them up tightly behind his back, separating them with an iron bar so that they were restrained. He then chained his knees together as well, effectively immobilizing Angelus' arms and legs.
Xander looked on, confused, as the watcher picked up his rifle, slung it over his shoulder, and them began to drag Angelus by his feet, face down, across the parking lot to his car. As he watched Giles stuff the comatose vampire into his little CitroÎn, he tried to figure out where the Watcher would be taking him.
He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but he knew he was very curious. And, if Giles had some plans to get a little payback for Jenny, before makin' with the dust bunnies, well Xander wanted front row seats.
========== BtVS ==========