FF: Fever Chapter 5

["Christeen Demons" <Shyfox30@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I recently got a very nice email from somebody reminding me very nicely, 
that I hadn't posted in months...and though there's various reasons for 
that, I do feel a little bit guilty for leaving you all hanging...for those 
of you who still remember me that is.:-) So, I finished Chapter Five of 
Fever, and will be working on the last part of On Occasions ten, asap.

Btw, this is for Sammy, who has returned to us from parts unknown, and to 
Madhamlet, for his mind and inspiration.:-) I really am sorry for 
disappearing for so long...I'll try not to let it happen again.

Shyfox

Chapter Five: Dream a little dream

Last thing I remember I was running for the door.
I had to find the passage back to the place that I was before.
Relax, said the nightman. We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

The Eagles "Hotel California"

The coven sat in rapt attention as they watched events transpire through the 
portal produced by a merrily bubbling cauldron in the center of the group. 
These weren't actual events-- events taking place in real time-- merely 
events that they themselves produced. Produced through the clouded mind of 
one Willow Rosenberg-Summers.

"I wonder why she's dreaming about that?" Mabel asked, shuddering almost 
gleefully, as the moans and cries the redhead was emiting reached their 
ears.

"Expectant mothers have ..so many..lovely fears dearie. I should know--I was 
one." The oldest of the group smiled, her green eyes flashing merrily at the 
recollection. "They seem so small now, but for Willow..well..let's just say 
we gave them teeth. More tea?" She
asked, holding up the fine bone china teapot.

*****

"Push Willow! Push!" Buffy urged her wife. Willow could hear the excitement 
in Buffy's voice, but it didn't stop her from being annoyed at the 
encouragement.

"I AM PUSHING!!" Willow screamed back. 'What does she think I'm doing? 
Having a field day?' She thought lucidly, in between spouts of pain.

Oh it hurt. And she thought she knew pain, having tussled with so 
many...tussleworthy night beasties in her time. Birth took her definition of 
pain, put it in a blender, set it on puree and shoved it up her nose.

"I can see the head!" The doctor said clearly. "One last push should do it."

Buffy shot up excitedly from her knealt position beside Willow's head, 
craning her neck to see if she could see what was happening between Willow's 
legs. "Oh my god." Buffy said, her voice tiny as she stared in awe at the 
earth shattering occurance.

Willow was distracted for a brief moment from her overwhelming pain, by the 
white pallor that was crossing Buffy's face. "What?! What's wrong?" 
Willow cried urgently.

"Not- Nothing." Buffy stuttered, tearing her eyes away from Willow's lower 
half through shear force of will. "You're fine...you're good...I can see 
the head."

"Don't DO that!!" Willow howled, swinging with aggravation at her wife for 
the near fatal heart attack.

Buffy caught the flailing hand with her own, ignoring the glare she 
recieved. "Come on honey! You can do it!" Buffy cheered, grinning brightly 
as she squeezed Willow's hand. "You're almost there."

"NNnnnnnnnaaaaaaRRRGGHH!" Was Willow's intelligent reply.

"Annn..dd..You're good. I've got her." The doctor said finally, his voice 
wearily comforting.

Willow smiled weakly. She could see her toes. 'Hello toes.' She greeted the 
once missing appendages giddily. "Well?" She asked weakly. "Is it her? Can 
I see her?"

The doctor's eyes widened behind his mask. His mouth appeared to be working 
but no sounds came out. Willow watched as a clipboard, being carried by one 
of the nurses, tumbled, almost floated--to the floor.

And in the sudden silence of the maternity ward...with a wet sickly burble, 
new lungs took their first breath of air...and something hissed.

*****

"Tara?" Buffy questioned the blonde witch's sudden appearance with a growl, 
eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Tara stood in the doorway, shifting nervously from foot to foot. She knew 
what they'd think if they saw her here...she knew Buffy would think that she 
was behind all of this somehow. But she had to come. She'd had no choice. 
When she'd felt all of those mystical forces converging on this one place, 
she had been pulled here like a moth to a
flame. She had to know what was behind it. And, before entering, when she 
had heard all of them talking, when she knew it was Willow lying so still in 
that bed...she knew that she had to help, some way, any way that she could. 
Even if they initially blamed her, even if Buffy beat her senseless...she 
knew that she had to help. She had to atone for what she'd done.

Knowing all of that was one thing...being faced with the fierceness of the 
Slayer now was something else. She wanted to back away from the power she 
felt radiating from her, wanted to melt away under the heat of the Slayer's 
gaze. But she stood her ground, knowing her prescence would be needed, if 
not completely appreciated.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy growled at her, stepping toward the blonde 
witch menacingly, backing her up into a corner. Tara held her hands up in 
front of herself, defensively, her eyes widening at the aggresive gesture. 
"I-I came here to...I'm...I'm here to help...honest."

"Why should I believe you?" Buffy asked, her face grim. 'She's a witch...a 
very powerful one at that.' Buffy reminded herself, never having really 
forgotten the whole body switching fiasco. "You could be behind this whole 
thing." Buffy growled, her face turning even more savage, if possible.

"I-I would never hurt Willow." Tara replied, her face paling. Buffy opened 
her mouth to reply, but a heartbreaking howl emerged from the bed and all 
action halted within the room. For a heartbeat, and then Buffy was racing 
toward the bed, looking frantically down at the thrashing, convulsing form 
of her wife.

"Xander...get the Doctor...now!" Buffy yelled, spending only half a second 
to see the Scoob swinging open the door and barreling out into the hall, 
before she was concentrating all her energy on trying to calm her wife. 
"Will!" She cried, getting one knee up on the bed as she moved to embrace 
her. She felt the shock of the tremors vibrate down her arms as she held 
the still thrashing body tightly. "Will, honey, I'm here." She spoke 
softly, gently, as she tried to calm her obviously distraught lover.

She brushed red hair out of her wife's face, continuing to murmur 
reassurances, as she searched longingly, hoping for a sign of awareness, or 
a return to consciousness, but to no avail. The cries quieted to a dull 
unbroken keening sound coming from the back of the
redhead's throat as her eyes moved restlessly beneath closed lids. It was 
on this scene that Ira Rosenberg entered.

He stared, shock freezing him in place, the condescending words he had 
intended to hurl at his daughter's 'wife' catching in his throat as he took 
in the scene. "What...What's going on here?" His tongue tripped over the 
words, his tongue feeling like rubber in his mouth. The satisfaction he had 
previously been relishing at the thought of seeing their surprised, bemused 
faces was washed away in an instant, replaced with the shock of seeing his 
daughter in such a condition.

"What's wrong with Willow?" He asked, his gaze hardening as he stared at 
the Slayer, damning her with his eyes. The girl appeared not to notice him, 
her eyes never left Willow's face, so he turned his anger on his wife. "Why 
didn't you call me!?" He asked, his voice harsh, his eyes filled with 
hatred. Ira lashed into her before Sheila had a chance to reply. "Do you 
know how I found out?! One of my colleagues came up to me at work, gave me 
their condolences and wishes for Willow's rapid recovery! Imagine my 
surprise! I should have been notified...what if she'd died?!" Ira ranted, 
taking great pleasure in berating his wife.

"You weren't notified because you aren't wanted here." Buffy said quietly, 
her voice tightly controlled. She never shifted position, never lifted her 
eyes from Willow's face to meet his, yet he could feel the venom behind her 
words, like a fist to his mid-section.

"She is my daughter...or have you forgotten that?" He spat, glaring 
spitefully at the woman he blamed for everything. The distance between 
himself and his daughter, the almost complete ruin of his 
marriage...everything. "I have a right to know if my daughter
is...dying." His voice caught on the word, and for a moment, Buffy could 
actually see a bit of humanity in the man.

She would have almost felt sorry for him, if she'd had any room left in her 
heart for sympathy. But she didn't.

"It's because of you isn't it? You caused this." Ira's lip curled into a 
sneer, and he almost laughed when he noticed her flinch, seeing the pain 
flare up in her eyes before she could control it. 'I have you now.' He 
thought with grim satisfaction. "Willow is dying because
of you. You and your unnatural ways!"

Buffy glared at him balefully. 'Ignorant ass.'

"How dare you talk that way to my daughter?" Joyce almost growled, her eyes 
flashing fire. Her entire body itched with the desire to strike back at 
this man for all that he had done.

"Joyce." Giles put a restraining hand on her arm, but Joyce shook it off, 
not wanting to be hindered.

"No...I want to know, Ira, how you can treat everyone in your life like 
they're your property, then treat my daughter like she's some vile creature 
that stole your daughter away." Joyce took a step forward, meeting the man's 
hardened gaze.

"I don't think this is any of your business." Ira said, condescendingly 
looking Joyce up and down, dismissing her as just another woman who didn't 
know her place. Just like her daughter. "You're daughter robbed her from 
me. She took away my only daughter...and
if she dies...if she dies it will be all her fault." He finished, pointing 
accusingly at Buffy.

Buffy looked at the pointed finger, saw the smug, overbearing, pompous face, 
heard the repeated threat of Willow dying over and over in her head, and 
something inside of her--something that had been wound up so tight she could 
hardly think straight anymore--snapped. One second she was sitting, 
stroking Willow's hair lightly with one hand...the
next she was pinning Ira Rosenberg up against the wall, her fingers slowly 
squeezing the life out of him. A small, minute, miniscule part of her brain 
screamed at her that this was wrong, that she couldn't just squeeze the life 
out of Willow's father. The bigger part of
her, the part that was frustrated, and scared, and so thoroughly pissed off 
that she just didn't give a damn anymore, enjoyed hearing him gasp and 
sputter as he grasped at her fingers, struggling for every breath. She 
relished seeing his face turn red and then purple as he lost oxygen, his 
eyes starting to bulge as he fought fruitlessly against her strength.

For a long moment, the group stared in shock, not believing that this was 
really happening. But then Giles came to his senses, and realized that if he 
didn't stop her soon, Buffy was going to kill Ira Rosenberg right there in 
Willow's hospital room. "Buffy...Buffy stop it!"
Giles said, laying a restraining hand on her shoulder. "You can't kill him. 
No matter how much you want to, or how much he deserves it." Giles said, 
glaring at the desperately struggling man.

"Oh no?" Buffy questioned blithely, her fingers tightening imperceptibly on 
the man's larynx. "It really wouldn't be so hard Giles. All I have to do 
is tighten these two fingers a little more..." Buffy demonstrated, 
tightening her thumb and index finger, smiling humorlessly as she heard Ira 
gag. "...and his head will come cleanly off. It would be so easy."

"Think about Willow, Buffy. How would she feel if she knew you had killed 
her father?"

"After all that he's done?! I'm not convinced that she would miss him."

Ira lifted an eyebrow in outrage, but he was too busy choking to be too much 
upset.

"Buffy...don't cross that line. Once you cross it...there's no going back. 
Remember what happened with Faith? You don't want to become like her, 
Buffy." Giles, continued, with some desperation, hoping that some of his 
words were sinking into her clouded, enraged mind. It was with a great deal 
of relief then, when slowly, ever so slowly, Buffy loosened her grasp, 
allowing Ira to stumble to the floor, watching emotionlessly as he gasped 
for breath.

"You...you're crazy." Ira managed, finally, his voice hoarse as he 
continued to take in large gulps of air. "You're insane...I could have you 
arrested."

Buffy tilted her head, pretending to consider the charges. "You're 
right...you could, but...haven't we already played this game?" Ira looked 
at her, equal parts, confusion, anger and fear playing on his face. "You 
remember...you...me...and the psy--"

"I remember." Ira got out before she could finish, glancing uneasily at his 
wife, who had been staring at the whole scene in horror. "I remember...just 
don't..." He glanced again at his wife, then back up at Buffy, who was 
waiting, arms crossed for him to continue.

She could have blown him out of the water right there--she knew that. She 
really wanted to, and yet, looking down at him, remembering somewhere in the 
very, very back of her mind that he was still Willow's father, even after 
everything that he had already done, she just couldn't bring herself to do 
it. "Get out." Buffy said finally, feeling more tired than she could ever 
remember feeling. Ira opened his mouth to say something further but Buffy 
shook her head. "Just get out...I'll make sure that you're kept informed."

"This isn't over." He warned her as he stood up slowly. Buffy just stared 
at him. He kept a wary eye on her while he reached for the door, only to 
have it be pulled out of his reach as Dr. Wiseberg entered. The gray-haired 
doctor halted for a moment, bemused to be coming face to face with Ira 
Rosenberg.

"Hello, Sam." Ira grunted, his face still a mask of impotent rage.

"Ira." Dr. Wiseberg greeted him with professional disinterest.

"Nice to see you're taking such good care of my daughter." Ira said 
brusqely, his lips curled into a sneer, before sweeping past him, nearly 
knocking the doctor over. Dr. Wiseberg watched Ira storm down the hall, and 
enter the waiting room, before he turned
his bemused attention back to what was happening inside the room, his 
immediate concern for his patient--who was still keening pitifully in the 
back of her throat. "Okay...Buffy, you can stay. Everyone else, clear out, 
please." He instructed, briefly glancing around at the room full of people, 
before he headed for his patient.

The crowd exited reluctantly, one by one, each casting a worried glance back 
at the pale-faced redhead before they left the room.

"Tara..." Buffy called to the blond before she left the room. Tara looked 
back at her, a tinge of fear in her eyes. "Don't go far." She was 
satisfied to see an imperceptible nod of the blonde's head, before she too 
disappeared.

Buffy ran a hand through her hair, releasing a shaky breath. "How is she?" 
She asked, coming up beside the doctor, her eyes examining her wife's body 
on their own.

Dr. Wiseberg slowly raised his eyes to hers, his expression grim. The look 
in his eyes stopped her heart dead in her chest. 'He knows.' The 
instinctual thought flashed across her brain, leaving cold dread behind. 
'What does he know?' Buffy wondered, swallowing past a sudden fear induced 
lump in her throat. 'Does he know something that I don't?'

"Well...her heart beat's faster than I'd like...but natural considering the 
dreams she's having." Buffy could see Willow's chest moving rapidly with 
her quick breaths, could hear the rabbit-quick thrum of the red-head's 
heartbeat. She could see the rapid movement beneath Willow's eyelids, 
indicating Willow was lost in yet another nightmare. All things considered, 
she had to disagree with the doctor on this--nothing about this was natural.

"Isn't there any way you can stop this?" Buffy asked, knowing she was being 
unfair, knowing there wasn't any way the doctor's science could combat the 
witch's magic.

Part of her wanted him to lift the burden from her shoulders, to have him 
somehow find a miraculous miracle cure. The other half knew that it wasn't 
going to be that easy. That saving her wife and child was her 
responsibility only -- only she could save them.

"Well...we could sedate her...but I hesitate to do that." Not only because 
he was as stymied as everyone else as to what was really happening. A 
shudder slipped down his spine as he remembered the image on the sonogram, 
that image of the defenseless fetus screaming inside the womb. "That would 
send her deeper into unconsciousness, beyond
where she would be dreaming, but I don't want to take the chance that we 
might not be able to retrieve her. Besides, the drug would be harmful to 
the baby."

"They're going to get worse." Buffy muttered, knowing that's what the 
witches intended.

The doctor nodded slowly, eyeing Buffy critically. "Which is why I want to 
do the ceasarian as soon as possible. Willow is weakening more and more 
every hour. If I don't do it soon, I may lose them both." He left it 
unsaid that he wasn't sure if he could even save Willow at this point...but 
he had to try for the baby.

Buffy blinked at him, shock stealing her voice and sending the room into 
silence, broken only by Willow's raspy breathing. She knew he had been 
thinking of doing that, but she really didn't think that it would come down 
to this. "You can't." She said, with sudden conviction, before the picture 
even fully formed in her head. "You'll kill them both. Willow and the baby. 
They're connected." They all were really. Willow, the baby...and Buffy.

'Why didn't I see this sooner?' She wondered, shaking her head at her own 
stupidity.

"You know what's causing this." Dr. Wiseberg half-asked, half-stated, his 
eyes peering shrewdly at Buffy.

Buffy wasn't sure how much she should give away, so she shrugged her 
shoulders noncommitantly. "Maybe." She muttered, a fierce, protective 
spark lighting in her eyes as a plan started to turn in her head.

Dr. Wiseberg nodded somewhat uneasily, not knowing if he understood all that 
was going on, and not even sure that he wanted to. "Well, if you know of a 
way to fix this...whatever this is...I suggest you do so soon." He was 
reluctant to wait on the operation, knowing that he was putting the risk 
into this remarkable young woman's hands, but somehow he knew it was the 
right thing to do. "Whatever you have planned...do it quickly."

*****

"So..what's it like exactly?" Mabel asked, contentedly sipping on her hot 
cup of tea, enjoying the way the tea's vapors wafted across her nose, 
leaving behind a pleasant cinnamon-y scent.

The wise, older witch of the group set her tea aside and idly began to stir 
with a silver spoon. "Well, I'm not really sure, having never been on the 
receiving end of it." This comment got a few chuckles from the circle. "But 
if the description rings true...she will drink her own fear. And drown in 
it."

"Cryptic." Mabel replied.

"Very." The old woman nodded.

"Good work."

"I know. Thank you though. Could you pass me another snack cake? You must 
tell me your secret, Mabel, they're so buttery." The old woman praised, 
before she turned to study the portal once more.

*****

Willow paced the length of the kitchen. Her eyes moving constantly from the 
clock on the wall to the pitch-blackness outside the kitchen window. It 
wasn't as if her daughter hadn't been late before. Still..this WAS 
Sunnydale, and the daughter of a Slayer and a Witch or
no...

'Okay, so I'm a professional worrier.' She decided. But Buffy had said she'd 
pick her up after work and they should have been home an hour ago. 'What's 
taking them so long?' She frowned, glancing once more at the clock on the 
wall.

It was with no small sense of relief when she heard the truck pull in the 
drive. A few seconds later she flung open the front door her little 'Where 
have you two been speech' died on her lips. Ridges..teeth..yellow 
eyes...two pairs. One adult, formerly blue..the
other child like, formerly green.

"Invite us in, Lover." The adult eyes glimmered. "You know you want to."

"Yeah, Mommy." The child like voice piped up. "I'm hungry."


...to be continued...Honest.;-)



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