Damsel in Distress, My Ass

[Beg me and I’ll think about it]

It’s a Christmas tradition she hasn’t indulged in for several years. It’s a Wonderful Life is on the television, she’s got a glass of eggnog and the tree is almost decorated. She tilts her head up, looking at the top of the tree.

“What do you think, Buffy? Angel on top this year?”

Her throat seizes up, air trapped inside of her. She closes her eyes, tears trickling out the corners. “Mommy?” She’s afraid to turn around, afraid to move or breathe or let her heart beat.

“Say yes. Please say yes.”

The fear and hope turn to anger and she can breathe again. She turns on her heel and cocks an eyebrow at him. “Beg me and I’ll think about it.”

“I don’t beg for anyone, Buff.”

She shrugs, rolling it off her back as she’s taking stock of her surroundings. She knows there’s a stake under the couch cushions a few feet away. “Sorry but I’m going with Cop on top this year.”

Angelus is reclining against the doorframe, a cocky smirk on his face. He’s got his arms cross over his chest and one ankle draped casually across the other. “And that’s exactly why I’m here.”

“Go back to LA, Angelus. Maybe if you’re lucky, I won’t chase you,” Buffy responds. Her mind is clicking at a hundred miles an hour. She needs to call Willow and let her know. She needs to check on Lucy and Jill. She needs to call Giles and Dawn and everyone else that he can possibly use against her.

“What are you going to do, Buffy? Kick my ass?” Angelus laughs. “You won’t kill me. You can’t kill me because killing me gets rid of any hope you’ve got of getting Angel back. And you’re a hopeful girl, Buff.”

She bites back her words knowing that she can’t argue with him. Angelus is almost always truthful. It is what makes everything he says hurt so much. “I’m not the seventeen year old girl I used to be,” she says in a voice that is more broken than she wants to confess.

“Nope. You’re all grown up and I made you that way,” he leers at her as he slides from his perch against the door frame and slips up to the Christmas tree. He flicks a bell with his finger, tilting his head to listen to the sound it makes.

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings

The stupid movie is even playing along and that makes his grin a little wider. “I may get my wings yet,” he winks at her and starts for the door.

“And don’t be too confident about that Cop on top deal. It may be angels after all.”

*-*

It is the momentum of the ball of her foot pressing off the floor, preparing her for a lunge that wakes her; muscles coiled, tense and ready to strike but her opponent only exists in a dream world, leaving her frustrated and confused. Buffy rakes her fingers through her hair then grasps almost blindly for her cell phone on the coffee table. Danny is out late working a case and she knows he can’t talk but she’s worried nonetheless. Text messages make checking on her people so much easier than it ever was in Sunnydale.

U OK?

Y OK there?

Y B Careful on ur way home.

U sure u ok?

Y bad dream. Going slaying. ILU

She can’t get rid of the chills that run marathons up and down her spine but slaying relieves some of the restlessness. It lets her feel like she’s on top of her game and if she stops by the crime scene to stalk a little bit…well maybe it’ll make both of them feel better.

[She only wanted to know what it felt like…]

“You okay?” She feels guilty for the way his face is pinched with worry and his eyes are lit with panic. His hands run over her body, eyes skimming every inch.

“I’m fine,” Buffy assures him. “Really. “ She’s sullen but it’s not because she’s hurt. The hole in the apartment wall is responsible for that.

“Then what happened, Summers?” Danny asks as he steps back a little, arms crossing over his chest.

Buffy sighs and rakes her hand back through her hair. “I was boxing up my summer shoes and getting out my winter boots and I saw the gun on the shelf at the top of the closet. I know I’m all anti-guns and it’s kind of ridiculous because slayer implies I’m naturally proficient with all weapons. Only…hole in the wall.”

“Sunshine, you wanna learn to shoot a gun, I’ll take you to the shooting range,” Danny tells her, a crooked grin sneaking across his face.

“Maybe. “ She tilts her head back and stares at the ceiling. “It’s not that I don’t know how to use it. It’s just…the trigger was a lot lighter than I thought it would be and my twitch was a long harder than I thought it was.” She starts to scrub her hands over her face and wrinkles her nose. “I’ve washed my hands until they’re raw and they still smell like gunpowder. And guns are loud. “

“We’ll wear ear plugs,” Danny promises as he steps forward and wraps his arms around Buffy, pulling her close then dipping his head to press a kiss to the top of her head.
Buffy looks up, resting the point of her chin against his chest. “You’re not mad about the hole in the wall?”

“Nah,” Danny chuckles. “We’ll get some spackle and boom…no problem.”

[Awake]

Co-written with stillacrime and whattingawhat

Buffy was lying on her back, hands folded across her stomach, staring up at the ceiling. There was a cricket somewhere out in the alley and she was pretty sure their neighbors were fighting. She was trying to sleep. In fact she even wanted to sleep but wanting and doing were two entirely different things at the moment. Finally she loudly blew out her breath, not at all afraid she'd wake up Danny and turned on her side. Danny was still soundly asleep. She dipped her head and kissed his shoulder.

"Hey, Boyfriend, wake up," she told him. He grunted and mumbled something but didn't wake. Buffy laughed and nudged his hip with her knee as she rolled over to sit straddle on top of him. "Come on, I have a plan, Stan. And it includes you waking up. I promise it'll be fuuuuun."

His hand fell deftly to her hip and thigh and a corner of his lips moved just barely but he didn't open his eyes. "What time is it, Sunshine?" He mumbled.

"Hmmm 2:45," Buffy answered with a glance to the clock on the nightstand. She pressed a kiss to his jaw. "I can't sleep and you don't have to get up in the morning for work so..I wanna go ice skating. Wake up and come with."

At the kiss, he tilted his head back into the pillow to lean his jaw into it. He finally opened his eyes, blinking through sleep to look up to her shadowed form on top of him. "Ice skatin' at two in the mornin'? You gotta be kiddin' me. Really? Where?"

"There's a rink in Harlem that's twenty-four hours and I know it's not a good neighborhood but I think I can handle it," Buffy teased him. "It'll be fun and we'll get hot chocolate afterwards and cuddle. I insist on post ice skating cuddling."

For a long moment he remained silent, thinking it through and convincing himself that he could get out of bed without the necessity of work making him do it at two in the morning. Finally, he nodded and patted her thigh. "Alright, you got it. But tomorrow I get to sleep and watch football. Lemme get dressed."

"Tomorrow will be full of sleeping, eating and football watching," Buffy promised as she rolled off Danny and padded barefoot and naked across the room. She grabbed clothes out of the dresser; underwear, a pair of black leggings and a pink sweater.

Danny got out of bed in the same state as Buffy did and lazily pulled on a pair of old jeans, a worn olive hued tee shirt and some boots. He simply added some deodorant and ran his hand back and forth through his hair to 'fix' it. It didn't take him much and he was still ready before Buffy was. He grabbed his leather coat and then went to sit on the couch to wait. Being a girl, she naturally took longer. It didn't help that ice-skating was a 'pretty' sport and being pretty on the ice was sorta important. She finally emerged with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, black leggings, knee-high black boots and the pink sweater hitting just at her hips. She smiled at him and grabbed a white pea coat from the closet as well as her ice skates which she slung over her shoulder. When she was ready, he took her hand and she suffered through the elevator for him since too much strain was still hurting his torso. Her heart was still pounding from the elevator but she fared it as well as could be expected. She kept her eyes closed the whole time, not opening them until he tugged on her hand, elevator doors wide open. Once they were in the open air, she tried not to gulp it like she'd been suffocating; because she hadn't and it just made her feel ridiculous. They got on the bike and he moved through traffic towards Harlem. He found the rink and parked the bike.

Buffy got off the bike first and handed Danny her helmet. Once he'd locked both of them up, she took his hand and led him inside. The rink was reasonably empty. Just them and some insomniac working on a sit spin. She glanced over at him and smiled. "Okay, Boyfriend, moment of truth. Are you skating or walking?"

"I haven't skated at a rink in... a long time, Summers. Plus I'm normally a soled feet on solid and dry ground kinda guy. That on top of it bein' past three in the mornin' now..." Squeezing her hand, he shrugged and shoved his other hand in his jeans pocket. "Tell you what, you don't mind dealin' with a rusty skater, you got it."

"I don't mind," Buffy assured him, a smile spreading over her face. She had the guy at the desk get Danny a pair of skates and they went over to the bench to sit down and put on their skates. "Just stick with me. I'll take care of you," she told him once she had her skates on. She stretched up, going up on the toe picks of the skates and then back down to the blades. "It's been...wow a long time since I've skated too but it's like tricycles and riding...or cars and driving? Maybe it's cars and riding but that doesn't make sense. Anyway we'll have fun."

"You'll have fun when you get tired of me and boot me off of the rink." Danny glanced around, kind of glad that there weren't any crowds here to see his soon-to-be failure at ice skating. He stood up, a bit wobbly even on the regular floor before he got his balance. "So what're you gonna do? Lead me around the rink?" He asked.

"Sure, if you want me too," Buffy told him as she held a hand out to him. "And I won't get tired of you or boot you off the ice but when you do get tired, I probably will goof around a little while longer before we go home. Right now, I want to skate with you." When Danny put his hand in hers, she stepped backwards over the threshold onto the ice and held out her other hand.

Both hands placed in Buffy's, Danny held on almost too tight. As his skates slid out onto the ice, he was a little wobbly at first. "I'm gonna fall on my ass."

"Have a little faith in me, Boyfriend. I'll keep you upright," she assured him as she skated backwards. She moved her hands so she was holding onto his upper arms instead of his hands, giving her better leverage. She was probably one of the few people in the world with the strength, coordination and balance to keep him on his feet if she were so inclined.

And she did make him feel steadier. Her grip held him upright for the first few minutes until he got his bearings. And then he loosened his hold on her just a little. He didn't let go. He wasn't ready for that. "Alright. Alright so faith in you works out for me. You got it, Summers."

She loosened her hold slightly when he did, a smile sliding over her lips as they both relaxed a bit. She swiveled on her skates, letting go of his left side and dipping under his arm on his right side so that they could skate side by side. "See, awake in the middle of the night isn't so bad."

"Middle of the night, middle of the mornin'..." Casting Buffy a crooked grin, Danny shrugged. He really didn't mind what they did as long as it was together. "Nah, I'm not complainin'."

1.8.1 - 1. Homesick – Thirsty Merc
I would give all my time
just to spend my nights with you
I would lay down my fears
Just to spend my years with you
Cause when I’m standing at your door
I don’t feel homesick anymore
When I’m standing at your door
I don’t feel homesick anymore
OOC: Co-written by stillacrime and whattingawhat.


It had been just over forty-eight hours that Danny had been in the hospital. The doctors had declared him in a coma after the first twelve hours of his not waking up. Buffy had been with him the entire time. Dawn had brought her clean clothes and Buffy had used the shower in the small hospital bathroom. Danny's co-workers had come and gone several times, as had his family. His hospital room was adorned with flowers and cards.

At the first movement of one hand, Buffy shifted to sit up. Danny hadn't so much as moved in over two days so it was more than enough to alert her. In his mind, Danny was just swimming back into conscious thought. His thoughts had been blank for what felt like forever. He could smell familiar scents, hear familiar voices. No matter how hard he tried to call out to them, nothing happened. Until now. He tried to speak but the breathing tube in his throat choked him. And as much as he tried to open his eyes, it didn't happen.

Buffy moved to the edge of the bed, squeezing Danny's hand in hers. "Hey, Boyfriend, I think you're all caught up on beauty sleep. You gotta wake up. I've started watching Passions and Spike is never gonna let me live that down." Her heart was firmly lodged in her throat and her eyes were dry, itchy and aching. She was terrified that Danny was going to end up like Louie. "You know, in protest of the continued sleep, I've shaved my head and nunhood is next. Is that even a word? Nunhood. Nunnery? Nun-ness...I don't know." She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Okay, I've played Prince Charming. Now it's your turn to play Sleeping Beauty or Snow White...or you know pick your fairytale."

The familiar voice rambling away filled his senses and his fingers curled around her hand in his. He forced his eyes open to mere slits but he didn't really see anything yet. They immediately closed again as he choked and coughed around the breathing tube. He tried to move his arms to pull the breathing tube out but as much as his mind tried to make it happen, it didn't. Luckily, a passing nurse hurried inside and removed the tube as carefully as possible. She checked his vitals and then informed Buffy that she would be back in awhile with a doctor.

Buffy wanted to scream at the nurse to make her hurry so she could sit back on the bed with Danny. Her heart was thrumming in her chest like a hummingbird. She felt like she couldn't breathe and the minute the nurse was gone, Buffy was back sitting on the edge of the bed, her fingers wrapped around Danny's.

Danny's lips parted, but his throat was too dry and scratched to get anything out of it but a croak. "Buffy..." Not Summers, not sunshine... he had been through too much for either of those to be the first word out of his mouth.

"I'm right here, Baby," Buffy told him in a whisper. She kissed his temple and straightened up. "I'll get you some water. Just a little bit." She got up and filled a glass, found a bendy straw and moved back over to sit on the edge of the bed. She fiddled with some of the controls so that he was half sitting up. Her arm slipped behind his shoulders as she held the straw up to his lips. "Tiny, tiny sip," she cautioned him as she leaned in and kissed the top of his head again.

Even with just the small sip, the water burned down his throat as if it were scotch or whiskey. He winced against the sharp hurt and then opened his eyes just barely. This time he could see the blurred image of things around the room, of Buffy sitting so close. "I hurt." He whispered.

"I know and maybe the doctor will give you some pain medicine when he comes back," Buffy told him as she smoothed her hand over his forehead. "If it helps at all, the guys who did this are hurting a whole lot more. I made sure of it and I think Mac knows something is up. I think I'm going to tell him Batman helped out. Maybe Superman," she tried to joke as she held onto the water in case he wanted a little more.

His features fell around a small sob that made his ribcage ache. "Fred Hirsch... there's guys and they... you gotta tell Mac. He's got the right guy, just Fred wants him to mess with the evidence." His voice came out raspy even when he whispered. "How long was I...?"

"Yeah, he knows. So do I," Buffy whispered in response. She pressed a kiss to Danny's temple, unable to do anything else at the moment. Her breath caught and she ached inside when he got upset. She took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip. "Just over seventy two hours," she answered quietly.

A doctor came in with a nurse, checking Danny's pupils, his pulse, his vitals. The nurse added some morphine to his IV and then they both left the room. "Thought I was gonna die. Not often I think I'm gonna die." Another wave of emotion hit him, half pain and half drugs.

Buffy shook her head at Danny's comment and squeezed his hand a little tighter. "There was no way I was going to let that happen. I'm a better girlfriend then that," she told him. Watching Danny, listening to him made her hurt and at the same time she was so incredibly fucking grateful. He was here and he was alive. That was what counted. It also made her incredibly pissed off. She wished she'd hurt them more. She wished she didn't have the whole moral issue about killing humans. It made her want to call Angel and say go or give some vampires some business cards. Something that would cause this kind of pain. "You're going to be okay. I'm going to get you home and get chicken and stars soup in you, some oj and grapefruit juice. You'll be okay."

Home. That was a place he had never thought he would see again. Home had Buffy and Rocky and their things. His brow furrowed and he closed his eyes again. "You can make chicken and stars?" It was the first tease he had given, his first shift back into his normal personality.

Buffy almost laughed but the sound would have been too weird in the hospital room. She shook her head and pressed another kiss to his temple. "Nope, not without shorting out the microwave and burning down the apartment but I can threaten to kick Spike's ass until he comes over and makes Chicken and Stars soup. Plus we'll get to hear him bitch and that's always fun." For the first time since Danny had gone missing a little bit of relief settled over her and she thought maybe things were going to be alright. Danny was home.