[ this has a little more focus on buffy and teddy than spike and kitty, but my babies still have some screen time, so don't sweat it ]
♡︎
I DON'T FUCK WITH GHOSTS.
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[ 6.03 ]
"Buffy?" Kitty breathed out in disbelief. She stumbled back a bit as she looked at one of her oldest friends, who was now back from the grave somehow.
When Buffy didn't speak or blink or move, Dawn spoke up once more. "She's kind of, um, she's been through a lot... with the... death. But I think she's okay," she said, sounding hopeful. They could all see that Dawn had been crying.
Buffy finally tore her eyes away from Teddy and looked down. The bottom buttons on her white shirt were still open, so she focused on doing those up. All three of them followed the shaky movement of her hands.
"Teddy, Kitty," Dawn said slowly, looking at the confused and pained looks on their faces. Why wasn't relief and happiness the only thing? "Are you okay?"
"I'm..." Teddy trailed off and looked from Buffy to Dawn. "What did you do?"
"Me?" she asked, her voice going up an octave nervously. "Nothing."
As Buffy finished buttoning her shirt, she clutched the fabric as if it was the only thing keeping her grounded. Kitty eyed her bloody knuckles and torn fingernails. "Her hands," she whispered. Buffy instantly lowered her hands and hid them behind her back.
"Um, I was gonna fix 'em. I don't know how they got like that," Dawn told them, frowning.
"We do," Teddy said, the pain in his voice evident. "She had to claw herself out of the coffin. Didn't you? Whoever did this wasn't there to help."
"Yeah," Buffy responded quietly, finally speaking. "That's... what I had to do."
Spike frowned — not even he liked seeing the Slayer so scared and confused. "Done it myself," he said, knowing how unpleasant it must have been. At least Drusilla was waiting for him on the other side so that he wasn't alone.
Teddy continued to stare at Buffy as if he was dreaming before slowly snapping out of it. "Um, we'll take care of you. Come here," he said. He reached out an arm to guide Buffy to the living room but he didn't touch her, not knowing if she'd be comfortable with that. Then he glanced back at Dawn. "Get some stuff, uh, disinfectant, bandages."
"Okay," she said, obediently going off.
Kitty didn't follow Teddy as he sat Buffy down on the sofa. She just watched with tears in her eyes and her hand over her mouth, and Spike remained at her side. Teddy took a seat on the coffee table across from Buffy and gently held her hands, looking them over.
