Blood. That's all she could see at the moment. It pooled on the floor around the chair where he sat, dripping from his arm, from the mouth of the vampire who sucked voraciously on the open bite. Riley's face was pale, drawn, his eyes were closed, his expression fixed somewhere between pleasure and pain. The blood…it was dark, red, pulpy like freshly squeezed orange juice…orange juice with blood in it…she thought dully, felt her stomach heave.

She must have made a sound, because he looked up, sought her eyes in the darkness. "Buffy," he said without surprise, without feeling.

Whirling, she stumbled from the crypt, retching the contents of her stomach on the ground, which wasn't much. Soon she was dry heaving, unable to stop, her throat raw, her stomach ripped of any nourishment it might have accumulated.

She felt a hand on her midsection, but when she looked down, it was stained red. "Don't touch me," she warned her boyfriend, forcing herself to stand and look at him, avoiding the cut in his forearm, focusing on his eyes.

"What the hell were you doing?" she said coldly, and then stopped when his gaze brightened with something akin to insanity.

"What was I doing? You know what? I don't fucking know Buffy! Maybe I was trying to be what you want!"

Her lips curled in disgust; "You think that's what I want? How delusional are you Riley? You think I want a psycho for a boyfriend…someone who is obviously fucked up? IS that what you think?"

"No," he yelled back, "I think you want someone dark…like Angel," his mouth was a pained slash across his face as he said that name.

Her face darkened and she took a threatening step towards him. "Don't you dare bring Angel into this. He has nothing to do with it!"

"Oh yeah?" Riley challenged. "Well then how come you don't love me Buffy? I've given you everything but you still don't love me! Why is that Buffy?"

She could only stare at him for a moment, stricken. He laughed without humour and turned away.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

And then he left her, walking away without a word, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Buffy stared down at the reddened, soggy grass and didn't cry.

~~~
"How is she?"

The doctor grimaced a bit and regarded Buffy. "She's…not doing well."

The Slayer's lips trembled, but she bit them hard, stilling the movement. "What do you mean, not well? Give me details."

He cleared his throat, "Well basically Ms. Summers, she's in a coma…it's not that her brain isn't active…but it will get less and less the more she stays in the sleep. And the longer she stays unconscious…"

"The more likely is that she won't wake up," Buffy finished lamely, sitting down with a thump on the chair behind her. "Oh."

He patted her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she answered coolly, shrugging off his hand. "Can I see her?"

He looked sympathetic. "Of course, go on in."

As Buffy entered the room, she instinctively flinched away from the wires and machines connected to her mother, who lay still and silent on the bed. "Hi Mom," she greeted her softly, sitting down on the edge of the bed and taking one cold hand in her own.

"Well the doctor says that you just have to wake up…so would you please hurry up?" she smiled, kissing her mother's cheek tenderly. "You know, a lot of people need you, like Dawn. She loves you so much. And so…do I," her voice caught. "I need you Mommy."

She shifted and lay down with her head on her mother's stomach. "Please…" she pleaded painfully, "You…don't know it, but you were always my strength Mom. And with all this going on…I can't…I can't hold up much longer. It's selfish, but I need you to look after me…"

Weeping softly, Buffy pressed her cheek to her mother's heart, hearing it beat, steady but a little weak. "Somehow you just have to open your eyes, do you hear me? It drives me crazy…but I can't help you this time. You have to do it yourself. Wake up, please," she whispered. "Mommy? Please, hear me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me alone."

~~
"Ms. Summers?"

Startled from sleep, Buffy sat up from where she had been laying on the bed next to her mother and said, "Yes?"

The nurse smiled at her gently, taking in her ravaged face and tear-stained cheeks. "There's someone here who wishes to see you."

Wiping her face, Buffy stood up, "Okay, thanks," she replied and with one last glance at her mother, walked from the room. Riley leaned up against one chair, looking vastly uncomfortable.

She didn't say anything, just stared at him, waiting for him to speak, not even sure if she wanted to hear his voice.

"Well," he said quietly, and she shrugged.

"Well what? You're taking a break from being a vampire snack bar?"

His face tightened with anger, "Don't try and hurt me to make this easier on yourself."

She threw her hands in the air in frustration. "Why shouldn't I? You've made this all about yourself. Meanwhile," her voice broke slightly, "my mother is…"

"But that's what this is about Buffy! You wouldn't let me close to you…I was never the person you went to for comfort about your mom…for advice."

Wide-eyed with disbelief she stared at him. "Are you actually saying these words? Could you be that selfish? IS that all you care about? That I'm not going to you for hugs? Oh my God…" she finished with disgust evident in her tone and he grabbed her arms forcefully, forcing her to look at him.

"No, you know what's bothering me? Is that you would have gone to that fucking vampire," he sneered, "but you can't go to me."

"Do you really want to know the difference between you and Angel, Riley?" she asked wearily. "He would never, and I mean, never have made this about him. He would have been concerned about me. He would have held me, unselfishly…whenever I needed it. But you…you don't help with patrol, and you let vamps suck your blood. That is not helping in the least."

"Well I guess Angel didn't need to get blood anywhere else," Riley retorted coldly, "he had you for that."

She laughed for a moment and pushed his hands away from her. "You think that's what we did? That he sucked my blood for fun? Oh my God, Riley…the only time he did was because I had to save his life, okay?"

"I bet he enjoyed it, bet it got you both off," he scoffed and she slapped him full across the face as hard as she could.

"He did not enjoy it…I had to force him to do it. Don't you ever talk about me and Angel like that again. You don't know anything about us, Riley. And you don't even deserve to."

"Oh yeah, cause you and Angel…that's sacred I guess. Your whole dramatic relationship…like a fucking legend or something. But guess what, Buffy…it's not real. And you're not with Angel. You haven't been for a long time."

She nodded empahatically, "I know that. But I don't think you do."

"No, you know what I know? That you should be over, but you're not. You still love him. Why can't you get over him Buffy?" he snapped, his eyes filling with tears.

"Why can't you fixate on something else? Like your rampant insecurities? Admit it…this has nothing to do with my past boyfriends. This has everything to do with the fact that you don't feel like you're good enough."

His eyes exploded with rage, and he grabbed her, slamming her against the wall with brutal force. A doctor walked by and saw the scene, rushing over to call security.

"You bitch," Riley spat in Buffy's face, snarling almost like an animal as his fingers tightened on her flesh and she shrank away, frightened at his anger.

"I'd let her go."

Both Riley and Buffy whirled at the command and Buffy leant back, shocked at the sight. "Angel…" she breathed, and her boyfriend looked down at her with fury in his eyes.

"You know," Angel said, almost conversationally, coming closer to the couple, "I kicked your ass once Riley and I don't have a problem with doing it again. Which I will if you ever, and I mean, ever lay another hand on Buffy again."

The ex-commando flushed with anger, and looked belligerently at the demon before him. "I think that's for me to decide," he said coldly. "After all, it's me who's her boyfriend. You're her ex."

Angel tilted his head to the side as if considering what Riley had just uttered. "Well I guess you're right about that part," he conceded, and then stepped closer and the boy saw the absolute fury burning in the vampire's eyes. "But you're wrong if you think those little facts mean I won't kill you. I will…and I'd make it last."

Buffy had heard enough. Stepping between them, she placed a hand on both of their chests. "That's enough," she snapped, "Can you please lay off it? I don't need this right now."

Angel stepped away immediately. He could sense the utter misery in her, and knew she meant what she said. Riley, however, did not. He took a swing at Angel, but his fist was stopped in a millasecond by Buffy, who caught it and twisted his arm behind his back.

"I don't think you heard me," she said calmly. "I said to stop it. Now, unless you want me to humiliate you right here by kicking your ass, get gone. I don't have time for you right now."

Shocked that she would talk to him like that, Riley skulked away, defeated.

Buffy sighed, turning to her ex-lover with a grimace. "Sorry about that," she apologized, urging him to sit down on one of the waiting room chairs. "What's going on? Why are you in Sunnydale?"

He leaned back, rubbing his temples. "Drusilla's here," he said simply and she gasped.

"What? Oh, shit. Not what I need right now."

He nodded, agreeing with her. "I know. But that's not even the worst of it…" his face tightened with slight pain. "She's got a playmate."

"Spike?" Buffy guessed. He shook his head.

"Darla."

Buffy stared at him. "Woah…no, not possible. Are you ok? You staked Darla years ago."

"This big evil law firm in LA brought her back…she was human, but Dru turned her. And now they're here. And there's only one reason why they'd be here."

"To kill me," Buffy realized, and slumped a bit. She wasn't at her best right now, and this wasn't what she needed. How could she look after her mother, Dawn, deal with Riley, fight Glory and take out Drusilla and Darla at the same time? It was close to impossible.

"Oh great," Buffy remarked and looked at Angel. He looked good, she thought irritably. Better than her. Of course he looks good, she told herself. He's a fucking vampire, they don't age.

He touched her arm gently. "I can help," he informed her. "If you want me to. Things seem pretty busy around here."

"Suppose you want to know why I'm at the hospital?" she inquired but he shook his head.

"Giles told me. I'm sorry Buffy."

She smiled, shrugged; "You didn't give her the tumour. You know, in some ways I wish someone had. Then I could kill them. Make them pay for doing this. But it was just…science…or something."

Angel nodded. "That frustration is the worst. Feeling powerless."

Buffy relaxed. He knew her. She had forgotten that over time. How well he could read her moods, guess what she wanted. How she was feeling, thinking…it was addictive, she realized.

Reaching out, he took her hand. And they sat, in the quiet of the waiting room, two warriors, old friends, old lovers, old enemies. They would fight, die if they had to, and try and resist what could never be. Their love.

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