Title: Tumblin' Down 16/?
Author: Elisabeth
Email: dragonydreams@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.dragonydreams.com/
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Willow/Giles
Summary: What if Riley hadn't been there to pull Willow out of harm's way during "Wild at Heart"?
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Joss et al.
Distribution: My site, the usual lists, anyone with previous permission. Anyone else - please ask.
Feedback: Yes please! It makes me happy and keeps me writing.
Author's Note: Thanks to my wonderful Betas for all your help and encouragement. Emmy, thanks for the last minute questions and support.
A/N: I know I've been terribly neglecting this story lately, but I have finished the W/Aus story I was working on, so I can once again devote my attention to Tumblin' Down. Thanks for your patience. - Elisabeth
"Willy's was a bust," Buffy announced as she and Xander entered Giles' apartment. "All the little weasel would say is that they're not here to hurt anyone. As if."
"Actually," Giles nervously disagreed, "they are benign."
"How would you know that?" The slayer asked, glaring menacingly at her watcher, taking a small degree of satisfaction in his backwards step.
"We, ah, we ran into them… a-at the construction site."
"They're healers," Willow added, leaning against Giles to offer him some moral support.
"What were they healing?" Xander asked. "And why at my site?"
Now Willow looked nervous too. She glanced up at Giles, wondering if they should say who was healed. "A vampire," she vaguely said. "They used the site because of the natural materials and the open space. I asked them to move any future rituals to the woods at the edge of town."
"Any vampire in particular," Buffy asked, knowing her friends were keeping something from her. They obviously knew who was healed, and why magick was needed to do it.
"Sure," Willow admitted. "One who had been captured and had a computer chip put in his brain so that he couldn't bite people anymore."
"What aren't you telling me?" the blonde asked, throwing her hands up in frustration. She spun to look at Willow, "They can do that? Make vampires not able to bite?"
"Yep," the hacker agreed, grinning widely. "I wish they'd saved the chip. I would have loved to study it."
"The vamp must have hated that. Not being able to feed." Xander grinned, having no issues with frustrating the vampire population.
"Yeah, that's why Spike called on the VHU to take it out." Willow slapped a hand over her mouth as she realized what she'd said.
"Spike?!" Buffy screeched. "It was Spike?"
Willow looked up at Giles, panic etched into her face. He took pity on her and confirmed, "Yes, Spike is the vampire who had been neutered."
Buffy and Xander broke out in a fit of laughter, as if they'd just been told the best joke in the world.
As she tried to catch her breath, Buffy panted, "Spike, William the Bloody, couldn't bite. Man, I wish I could have seen that."
When Xander put together the information about the healers and Spike he paled. "But it's gone now? He can bite again? With all kinds of anger and aggression to work out?"
"Uh-huh," Willow agreed.
They were all silent for a minute as they contemplated the dangers of Spike out for revenge against humanity.
"I guess it's time to finally dust the blond wonder once and for all," Buffy finally said.
"What about these healer vamps?" Xander asked. "Are they leaving now?"
"They said they would stay in town until they were certain their services were no longer needed," Giles said. "Spike may not have been the only vampire who was so incapacitated."
"They said they'd leave you alone if you do the same," Willow added.
"You mean I can't stake them?" Buffy pouted.
"Not unless provoked," Giles evenly said, a gleam in his eyes.
"Well, okay then," Buffy nodded, hoping to she'd be able to get them to provoke her.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Another week passed with no VHU sightings, at least by Buffy.
Willow had sought them out one evening to ask if they could tell her whether or not the strengthening spell was working. After much convincing, the leader agreed to read Willow's aura and determined that her hip was indeed knitting faster than it should be. Willow squealed in joy and ran home to make an appointment with her doctor with many thanks to the VHU.
Several days later Buffy drove Willow to the doctor's office. Willow insisted that she wanted her friend to drive her, despite Buffy's knuckle-whitening driving skills.
Willow sat nervously on the examination table, awaiting the doctor's return with her newest x-rays.
"This doesn't make any sense," Dr. Ashman muttered as he opened and closed the door to Willow's room.
Worry immediately flooded Willow's face. "Is something wrong with the x-rays?" she asked, wishing she'd asked Buffy to come in with her.
"What?" the doctor distracted asked. Realizing he'd spoken his thoughts aloud, he quickly apologized. "No, nothing to worry about. Quite the contrary." He put the x-ray on the backlit board. "See here, this is where the pins are. Usually at this stage we still see obvious fracture lines, but here you can see this area of calcification," the doctor trailed a finger over a more brightly lit area on the bone, "indicating there's been far more healing than we usually see at this stage, post-operatively. Remarkable," he muttered.
"That's a good thing, then?" Willow asked hopefully.
"Very good. How have you been feeling? Has the pain lessened?"
Willow enthusiastically nodded her head. "Yes, there's hardly any pain at all anymore. I'm still using my little cushion and the cane, because I'm still kinda stiff, but it doesn't really hurt." Willow paused to look down and blush. "I've even tried using the stairs in the apartment and I can almost do them normally."
"Willow, you shouldn't be pushing yourself like that," Dr. Ashman admonished.
"I know, but it wasn't hurting," Willow quickly tried to explain. "Besides, you had said that stairs would be a test of healing, so I was testing myself."
"And if you weren't going through this remarkably speedy recovery you could have seriously hampered your recovery." Dr. Ashman looked down at her.
"But since I am healing so quickly…" Willow prompted.
"You were lucky," he said succinctly.
"But can I… I mean am I ready… Is my body…" Willow struggled with the words she desperately wanted to ask her doctor. Finally she whispered, "When I can I have sex?"
Years of being in the medical profession had steeled Dr. Ashman for questions of this nature, no longer causing him to fidget nervously and/or blush. He could understand the desire for physical intimacy, especially when knowing you can't have it.
"Let's do a few more tests before I give you a green light on that," he offered.
"What kinds of tests?" Willow nervously asked.
"We'll meet with your physical therapist, and if I see with my own eyes that you appear to be in no discomfort then I will caution you to be careful, but to proceed."
"Thank you," Willow squealed, wanting to jump up and hug the doctor.
"Don't thank me yet. Let me call down to the training room and we'll see if we can schedule a time for later this week."
Willow's face fell. "We can't do it today?"
Dr. Ashman chuckled. "I have other appointments this afternoon, Willow. As I'm sure your PT does. You've waited this long, a few more days won't kill you."