Title: The Surrogate 7/19
Author: Jacqui
Rating: Drum roll, please (dumdum da da , G!!!.
Disclaimer: Buffy, Giles and all other assorted Buffy candies belong to Joss Whedon, WB and ME. Elizabeth, and everything from her world, belongs to me (the real me, not the ‘grr aargh’ ME .
Notes: Well, this one shocked the hell outta me. I had no idea this was coming, it just kinda wrote itself. All I can say is that I need more sleep. The trippy keeps on coming. I promise that real life will return with the next installment.

Feedback: Give me a happy. wily_one24@yahoo.com.au

"Buffy?"

"Mphwah?"

"Pssst, hey Buffy? Wake up!"

She could hear the whisper creep into her mind, could feel the softest pressure against her shoulder, nudging her, but Buffy really didn’t want to wake up. It was easier to stay asleep, deeply asleep, unconscious even, and yet she forced her eyes open.

"Somebody better be dying." She raised herself on her elbows. "Or they will be."

Elizabeth’s blurry face grinned at her through the darkness. Suddenly, Buffy became extremely aware of her lack of knowledge concerning exactly where she was or how she got there. A quick look around told her she was in a hospital, attached to the wall by an IV pole. In a hospital gown, no less. She looked at Elizabeth and saw the girl was in a matching gown and had a matching IV. Great.

"Shh." Elizabeth pulled up a chair and sat next to Buffy’s bed, she gestured to the window. "Look at them, aren’t they cute?"

Buffy looked to the window and saw two chairs, in which sat a sleeping Giles and a sleeping Joyce. They did look cute. A little too cute. A tightness overcame her chest and she tried to push it down. Elizabeth felt it and looked confused, until the false memory invaded her conscious.

"Oh hey, relax. Give them some credit. They’ve both been so worried about you that they barely had time for themselves let alone each other. Believe me, they’re over each other, if I’ve seen anything tonight it’s that."

"Yeah." Buffy didn’t sound too convinced as she looked down into her lap and picked at her fingernails. "So what the hell happened, anyway?"

"Nobody’s really sure. I heard them talking to the docs before, we’re a medical mystery. What’s new? But we’re okay, they’re letting you go tomorrow, if you can keep some food down and they can take out the drip. Me they want to keep for another day, do some tests on the baby and just observe."

"Oooh. Guinea pig-dom, enjoy." Buffy tried not to giggle as she reached over for the jug of water she spotted on the night stand. Her mouth was tacky and her tongue kept sticking to the roof of her mouth. It was not a good thing.

"Yeah, great, thanks."

"So, remind me, why’d you wake me up in the middle of the night, when I was sleeping so well?"

"I’m not sure." Elizabeth shook her hands, her arms stretched out like a scarecrow, Buffy suddenly picked up on her edgy, sudden movements. "There’s an electricity humming in the air, don’t you feel it?"

"No…"

"It won’t go away, I can’t sleep. I thought, maybe, you could shed some light. I mean, it’s calling to me."

Buffy closed her eyes and concentrated hard. There was nothing, not a inkling of what Elizabeth was talking about. She pushed her mind further, as far as it would go. Then it came to her, suddenly, in a flash. It as almost physical when it came to her, a rush of energy and power that buzzed and tickled her mind.

"Wow."

"Ah, I see you found it."

The two girls looked at each other, their eyes wide. Laughter teased the ends of both their lips. It felt childish, in a good way, so secretively delicious. Being there, in the middle of the night, when it seemed as if the rest of the world was sleeping.

"Come on." Elizabeth pulled Buffy’s sheets down. "Let’s go find out what it is."

"What about these?" Buffy motioned towards the tubes that were stuck in both their wrists.

"They run on batteries, too. You can unplug them and wheel the poles around."

Buffy gave her a strange look as she stood up.

"I don’t even want to know how you know that. Shouldn’t we wake up Giles, maybe he can help?"

"Look at him." Both girls turned to stare at the man in question. "Do you really want to wake him up? He spent most of the night fawning over you, anyway."

Quietly, they opened the door to the room and looked out into the hall. It was not quite silent out there as it was within the room. Hospitals never were. Muted beeps and buzzes, voices whispering, typing on a keyboard, rubber soled shoes shuffling around. Somewhere in the distance came the rush of water in a sink. Buffy and Elizabeth walked swiftly and confidently. Nobody paid them much attention.

* * * *

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

"Xander!" Willow hissed at him over her shoulder. They sat back to back, their hands tied to each other by their sides.

"That’s okay," Ethan walked up to them. "Monty Python is good for all occasions. Except, come to think of it, when you’re being held hostage by a lunatic."

Willow tried to smile, weakly, in an attempt to soften the situation, but it came out as a grimace, nor could she hide the little whimper. She could only imagine the sort of things that were about to happen, the way that Buffy had reacted to her vision kept flying through her mind. It had to have been extraordinarily bad for her to react that way. And now she and Xander were being held hostage by the same person.

"That’s what Rupert told you, isn’t it? That I’m some kind of lunatic? Well, you know what they say, forewarned is forearmed. Sorry boy, but you’ve got a mouth on you and I only really need one of you to do the talking."

With no real care for gentleness, Ethan shoved a gag into Xander’s mouth and knotted it behind his head. He patted Xander’s cheek and smiled at the growing redness in his cheeks and the hatred that jumped from his eyes.

"Before we start," Ethan came to stand before Willow. "I just want to be clear. None of this was necessary, none of it. But you attacked me first. All I wanted was a civil conversation, but you persisted in trying to kill me. I don’t appreciate that. Really, I don’t."

"Ethan…"

"Ah, ah, ah. Pretty one, this is my conversation. I’ll lead the discussion, okay?"

He reached out and traced a line from Willow’s chin up to her hairline. She shuddered. Behind her, Xander tried to shout underneath his gag, it came out more as an angry groan. His feet pressed hard against the floor and the chairs skidded towards Ethan.

Ethan held out his hand and the movement stopped instantly.

"Now, was that nice? I’m only trying to talk. You’re a very impulsive little puppy, aren’t you? Keep it up and I’ll make sure you stay quiet. You don’t want that." Ethan came, once again, to concentrate on Willow. "Although, can’t say I blame you, she is a lovely little one."

A tear slid down her cheek and Willow could feel Xander tensing up again. She edged her fingers around so that they clasped his, urging him to settle down. He would not help them by making Ethan angry. Long before this moment, Willow had felt a certain energy surrounding her, making it all but impossible to use any form of power.

"Hey! Anybody home? Door’s open."

All three turned to the voice at the door. Ethan groaned, Xander tried to signal with his eyes and Willow just smiled.

"Oz!"

* * * *

"Wow, I’m gonna rest assured knowing security in this hospital is so tight."

Elizabeth giggled at Buffy’s statement. They counted the floors as the elevator ticked its way upwards. There was something altogether criminal about the way they were sneaking around. At least, it felt that way. The sight of two girls, in hospital gowns, dragging IV poles around in the middle of the night, only seemed to get other people’s attentions because they looked alike.

The elevator doors opened and the energy began to hum, it became alive. Without looking at each other, they knew that this was the floor. It began to pull at them, leading them forward. Buffy looked at the numbers on the doors as they passed and she realized where they were headed.

"Oh."

"Oh? Oh what?"

"No need to keep looking, room 814 is where we’re headed."

Elizabeth stopped as Buffy walked on ahead.

"Room 814? What’s in room…? Oh."

As images of Faith clouded her mind, Elizabeth felt the source of the strange energy take on a shape. A human shape. She’d never actually seen the rogue slayer before, only in Buffy’s memories. It felt traitorous to feel that way, but Elizabeth wanted to see her for herself. She couldn’t shake the thought that Buffy’s memories were somewhat biased and tainted.

Buffy turned around and flashed Elizabeth with a glare.

"Well, thank you very much."

* * * *

"Damn." Ethan’s shoulders slumped theatrically. "Doesn’t Ripper teach any of you to knock?"

"Let them go." Oz glared at him, ready to take action at the slightest sign of danger.

"Down boy." Ethan knelt next to the chairs and began to untie the ropes. Willow exchanged a puzzled glance with Oz. "They’re free."

"I don’t get it." Willow stood up and Oz stood next to her, running his hand down her face and convincing himself that she was okay. She felt a weight being lifted and knew that whatever block Ethan had been putting on her powers had been lifted. Xander was busying trying to untie the gag, but his eyes were shooting daggers at the man in front of them.

"Look, I thought I’d do the whole hostage gig. It seemed like fun at the time, a few laughs, but three of you would take too much energy, it really would, and I just couldn’t be bothered."

"Oh yeah." Xander breathed in deep as the gag fell from his mouth. "’Cause let me tell you how much fun we were having…"

"Alright, fine, you’re right, I was a little out of line, but I wanted to do it right. You know, I’ve done mischief spells and caused a few little bouts of chaos, the usual. I’ve never caused any real damage and I thought it might be fun. But like I said, three of you is wasting too much energy."

"So all this…?" Willow waved her arm over the ropes lying scattered on the chairs.

"Was for show. I wouldn’t have hurt you. Cripes, could you imagine the damage Ripper and his Slayer would have done me then?"

"So why…?" Xander faced the man, not quite ready to accept him at face value.

"I wanted to find out the truth. Willy told me the Slayer was pregnant, to good ol’ Ripper himself."

Willow was never sure what surprised her more. Quite possibly it was Ethan’s calm assurance that they’d believe him. It was more likely the fact that Willy the snitch knew about the pregnancy. Yet, there was always a sneaking suspicion that it could have been Oz’s mouth dropping open and the small little squeak that came out.

* * * *

"She’s… she’s…" Elizabeth seemed at a loss for words as they stood in the door.

"Beautiful." Buffy finished in a whisper. She walked into the room, softly, her eyes focused on the motionless body on the bed. "I miss her, sometimes, you know?"

"I was going to say fragile, but, yeah, beautiful covers it."

Elizabeth was torn between looking at Faith and watching Buffy. This was something she hadn’t seen before, something Buffy hadn’t shown her, but it came to her now. A wave of raw emotion, a regret mixed with guilt and loss. They eddied and stirred within and Elizabeth could feel the need, the desperate longing for kinship. It was something she’d never had, another slayer, someone to share the duty, shoulder some of the hopeless destiny, someone who just knew.

The buzzing, the undeniable pull that had led them there seemed to be both calmed and exacerbated by Faith. It was like three opposing forces joining and becoming stronger. There was no more resistance, no more struggle, instead a smooth, clear path that sang to a fever pitch and bristled with energy. It was like someone drawing a bow mercilessly over the strings of a violin, creating shrill screeches until, all at once, they get it right and the most beautiful music is heard. It changed the very air around them and both girls could taste it in their breath. It was intoxicating.

"Was it always like this?"

"No." Buffy reached out and touched a lock of dark brown hair, tucking it behind an ear, avoiding the little plastic tube that reached into Faith’s nostril. Her touch was gentle, hesitant, as if she feared the electricity in the air would collate and jump out at her with contact. "I’ve never felt this before. It’s strange."

Strange, but also very sobering. Underneath the clarity, the ease which accompanied this new atmosphere, was a low, deep keening. A wordless, nameless plea. Coming strong and steady, it tugged at them, twisting their insides and forcing them to face the truth.

"She’s alive in there." Elizabeth spoke in a whisper, reverently, as if Faith were only sleeping and could be woken at any moment. She wanted, ached really, to reach out like Buffy and touch the pale, white face, to feel the warmth under the skin which belied the lifeless demeanor. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to do so, to assume an intimacy that was never given. "She wants to come back."

"No." Buffy’s voice was a whisper, too, but filled with a desperate passion, an emotion that caught in her throat. "She wants out, can’t you feel it? She wants this to end."

Elizabeth looked into Buffy’s eyes and her breath suddenly became harder. She could hear the words roll over, again and again, through Buffy’s brain. Accusing, blaming, taunting her with cruel barbs, a screaming that was too loud to bear.

Kendra. Faith. Kendra. Faith. Kendra. Faith.

"You didn’t kill them."

Yes I did. Yes I did. Yes I did.

"Buffy, you couldn’t have stopped them. It wasn’t your fault. You did everything you could for both of them. More than anybody had the right to ask in Faith’s case."

"That’s what everybody says, but I went there to kill her. I stuck a knife in her gut and I was ready to feed her to Angel."

A finger came up to catch the tear that began to roll down Buffy’s cheek. Its touch was light, feathery, a loving caress. Buffy jumped back as if she’d been hit. Her IV pole teetered, but she caught it before it could fall. She looked around the room.

"What? What the hell was that?"

"Buffy? Just calm down, don’t forget to breath, okay?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes and sent out her senses. It wasn’t too hard to find the source. Behind her eyes she could see a tall, slender figure standing shyly to the side, her arms wrapped around herself defensively.

"Well hello. Finally we meet."

"This is kinda weird, ya know? Is she ever gonna see me?" Faith jerked her head towards Buffy, every gesture was sudden and forced, as if she weren’t too sure of her solidity, her face crinkled with question.

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth, what’s going on? Who’re you talking to? This is creeping me…"

"Buffy close your eyes."

Buffy shrugged and obeyed. The hospital room showed itself behind her eyes, blurred and indistinct. Then two figures made themselves clear, Elizabeth and Faith. Faith looked odd, as if she was too large to fit inside her body and it was cramping her, but overall she looked better. Buffy raised her hand and gave a little wave.

"Hi."

"You look nervous, B, what’s the matter, guilt got your tongue?"

"Faith," Elizabeth chided her gently, far from the distance she felt consciously, in this little world she felt she knew the girl totally. "That’s not why we’re here."

"I know, I know, but old habits die hard." She shrugged and gave a secret smile to Buffy. "I miss it, ya know, the feeling."

"The feeling of what?"

"Just feeling. Anything, really, but mostly I miss feeling alive during a fight, or just after." She looked at Elizabeth, but nodded towards Buffy. "She never admitted it, but I always knew she felt it too. That spark."

"You don’t feel anything?" Elizabeth was intrigued.

"Not like I used to. It’s all different. So much clearer." Suddenly Faith grew serious as she turned to look at Buffy. "I can’t stay long, I don’t want to stay, but you’ve gotta let me go."

"Me?" Buffy gulped.

"Yeah, B. I thought you got it with that whole forgiveness dream, but you’re still all guilt. I can read it in your head. You didn’t kill me and you didn’t kill Kendra, she wanted me to tell you that."

"Kendra? You can see her? Can we see her?"

"She’s risen, Buffy, forgive yourself and let me rise too."

Elizabeth didn’t say anything, even standing there made her feel like a voyeur. There were strange undercurrents passing between the two Slayers and she didn’t want to intrude. A pleading that crossed both lines, in their eyes, in their words, even in the way they moved, Buffy and Faith were asking mountains from each other.

Buffy’s form walked over to Faith and reached up, touching a hesitant finger to her bottom lip. She whispered something, but Elizabeth couldn’t make it out. Faith closed her hand over Buffy’s and both girls cried. Then a loud shrill made them all jump.

Buffy and Elizabeth opened their eyes suddenly, shocked out of their dream by the machines in the room. They escalated, the beeping turning frantic and then speeding up to one long, continuous drone. Buffy shook her head as she stared at the body on the bed.

"Come on Buffy, we have to go."

"No." It wasn’t a refusal, but a plea.

As Elizabeth grabbed Buffy’s arm and dragged her out of the room, Buffy felt herself go numb. She let herself be led down the corridor, her body not moving of its own volition, but malleable like clay. They maneuvered themselves through the rush of staff come to attend to the alarms. When they reached the elevator, Buffy turned to Elizabeth and looked into her eyes.

For the first time Elizabeth felt needed, not just wanted, not just someone who shared a connection, but needed. She took Buffy into her arms and wiped away her tears, whispering no words at all, but a meaningless barrage of sounds.

"And another one bites the dust." Buffy’s voice shook as she spoke, trembling with the pain. Elizabeth felt the surge of self hatred that accompanied it and wished she could make it better.

* * * *

"And so," Finished Willow with a flourish. "I think the answer to it all lies in one of these books, if I can just remember where I saw it."

Oz and Ethan had matching expressions of confusion and incredulity on their faces. Xander just nodded as if it were the most natural story in the world. As if selves from other dimensions just happened to pop by everyday and cause freaky little psychic episodes and phantom pregnancies.

"Yeah, okay." Ethan frowned. "I really did all of that?"

"One thing I’ve come to learn," Xander nodded obtusely. "alternate reality people are just nasty."

"Heh, they’re funny that way." Willow shrugged nervously, not quite comfortable with the subject of alternate reality selves around Ethan.

"Well, you know, except Elizabeth." Xander jumped in again, realizing the source of her discomfort. "I mean, she’s pretty much Buffy, except for the whole orphaned, married, widowed and pregnant thing."

"Like a mirror." Oz rubbed the insides of Willow’s right wrist.

"I can’t imagine Buffy being mean in any universe." Three pairs of wide eyes turned to stare at Ethan. He looked up and saw their questioning expressions. "Damn. I said that aloud, didn’t I?"

* * * *

"She died, Giles, I’m like the kiss of death." Buffy whispered to him as she leaned against him. She wondered if he realized that this was the first time they’d sat like this since they’d told each other how they’d felt. He was so warm. "Forget Dr. Kavorkian, I’m your gal."

He didn’t say anything, there was no need. What she needed, he knew without even thinking about it, was not word for word replies, but just to be held. She was so small, curled up like that, in his arms. It took his breath away how she could trust him like that, to let everything go and relax against him, drawing solace and comfort just from the rise and fall of his chest.

"Giles?" Her voice sounded so small as she examined the puffy skin of her wrist where the drip had been taken out moments before. She leaned her head back so that she could just see the curve of his cheek. "I don’t want to hurt people anymore. I don’t… I don’t want to hurt you."

"Shh, Buffy. That’s inconceivable."

His thumb traced a feather light path over her lips. A quiet hush seemed to have descended on the two and they spoke as if they were alone. It was an intimate scene, the two of them, she in his lap, he with his arms around her like a bear. Five steps away no one could hear their words with any clarity.

"Ooooh!" Buffy suddenly sat up, her voice loud with surprise. "That’s cold!"

Elizabeth giggled from across the room, lying back on the bed, leaning up on her elbows, she had her hospital gown hoisted above her belly as the technician squeezed a gel onto her skin. The blanket folded demurely over her legs.

"Yeah, well, he did warn me, weren’t you listening?"

The technician blinked twice before continuing. He placed the sensor over her abdomen and swirled it around, his ears tuned to the various thick echoes and pulses that were now heard. What business was it of his what life these people led?

A sudden stillness hung over the occupants of the room as a loud thumping bounced off the walls. Buffy stood up and walked over, staring at the screen. She couldn’t make out any detail at this point, but her eyes thrilled to the wavy pattern, her ears ringing with the sound of the tiny little heart beat.

"That’s her, that’s the baby."

Her voice was a quite awe, she could barely get them out without crying. Elizabeth looked from the screen to her and their eyes met. Held in each was a deep, secret excitement, a joy so profound it almost hurt.

In the doorway, unable to move, Joyce’s mouth opened and closed. In her hands were three cups, two of which steamed and gave off a darkly delicious scent of coffee. That sound, the sweetest she had ever heard, was her granddaughter.

Movement returned to everybody simultaneously it seemed, Buffy jumped a little before turning and rushing to Joyce, Elizabeth broke out into a large grin as she leaned closer to the screen and Giles stood up, putting on his glasses as he did so.

Joyce held her arms high and away from the figure that squeezed her around the middle. She couldn’t help but feel the excitement that buzzed off of Buffy and she hoped that it would last. There was a certain inevitability in the whole situation that made Joyce wary.

She handed Giles his coffee and then gave the juice to Buffy, who looked down at the cup and pouted.

"Hey, how come I get juice? There’s no restorative powers in this. Where’s my jolt of caffeine?"

"It’s bad for the baby."

Buffy glared at Joyce, who stepped back just a little and looked over at Giles.

"It’s probably a good thing that she doesn’t drink or smoke."

* * * *

He studied his private collection and frowned. Somewhere, he couldn’t remember where, was the answer to whatever was happening with Ripper and the Slayer. Ethan’s mind still reeled with the knowledge of the havoc he’d caused in the other reality.

One thing he wasn’t totally sure about were the images he kept getting from the little witch’s head. A rather striking version of herself, dressed to kill in leather and velvet. He didn’t know what they meant, but if he was responsible for that too, his other self couldn’t be that bad.

Ethan chuckled as he reached out for the book.

* * * *

"I should have stayed." Buffy looked down at her hands.

"We’ve been through this." Giles took his eyes off the road for a second to look at her. "There was no need for you to stay longer, Elizabeth is perfectly capable of surviving without you, Xander stayed with her. Besides, you and Willow have classes tomorrow and you have to be ready."

With the last sentence, he looked in the rear view mirror and nodded at the red head who smiled back eagerly. Buffy, however, did not seem too impressed with the thought of starting college. She slumped slightly in the seat and sighed.

"If I passed out again, would they take me back?"

"Buffy." Giles intoned, his voice weary and worried. "We don’t know what’s affecting you both this way, or why. It’s not something you should be playing with."

In the back seat, unseen by the others, Willow ducked her head. Guilt nearly made her open her mouth, but she agreed with the general assumption that telling them now would only cause unnecessary heartache. When they had something concrete to go on, then they’d tell Giles.

"It was only a joke, sheesh, lighten up." Buffy snapped her seat belt off and opened her door before Giles had totally stopped the car. He sent her a glare that she didn’t see. "I’m going to class."

They walked up to the front door and Giles put the key in the lock. He missed the look that came over Buffy’s face. She paled suddenly, a look of pain and fear descending over her features. Willow saw it, however.

"Buffy?"

Giles spun around as the door lurched inwards and nearly cried out when he saw the change in her. Buffy’s hand floated above her head as if she were trying to break a cob web.

"He’s here. Ethan’s here."

"What?" Giles placed one hand on her elbow and the other on her lower back, he supported her as he led her into the house. Neither of them saw the guilty flush that graced Willow’s cheek.

"I feel it, that headachy thing Elizabeth was telling you about. Not as strong as the other night, but it’s here."

Giles went to investigate, leaving Willow with strict instructions to watch Buffy closely. He came back, confused.

"There’s no one here."

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