TITLE: She Came Before Me
AUTHOR: Leah
EMAIL: Fraser@escape.ca or Sunnyhell11@buffymail.com
RATING: G
TEASER: Riley's cousin turns out to be the new slayer sent to replace
Faith. The only bad thing about dating a slayer and being related to the
other is having to choose between them.
DISCLAIMER: All the characters in the following story belong to Joss Whedon
and Mutant Enemy. I just try to make them sound as good. :) I own Taylor.
Warnings: Mushiness ahead

        Buffy tapped her pen impatiently on the desk in her psychology class as
professor Walsh began talking once more at the front of the class. She
sighed and glanced over to Willow, who sat beside her and noticed tears
glistening in her friend's eyes.

"Will." She whispered, placing her hand on her shoulder.

Willow refused to look at her, just kept her eyes forward and her hand on
the empty chair next to her. The chair Oz used to occupy.

"Read chapter seventeen for next class." Maggie said, then closed her book.
"Class dismissed."

Buffy collected her books and stood up, then followed Willow out of the
class room.

"Listen Will, I just have to ask Riley about something," she nodded toward
the TA, "I'll be in the room in about ten minutes, okay?"

Willow nodded listlessly. "Okay Buffy. Have fun."

Buffy sighed as she watched her friend walk away, then turned to where
Riley was standing. She stopped in her tracks when she saw a short blonde
girl place her hand on his arm. She girl brushed her short hair behind her
ear then laughed and touched his arm again. Buffy moved closer to hear what
they were saying.

"Don't forget." Riley said as the girl stepped away.

She nodded. "I won't. See, it's written on my hand. Call Riley."

He smiled, then leaned down to kiss her quickly on the cheek. The girl
wrapped her arm around his neck and gave him a quick squeeze before turning
away.

"Riley?" Buffy asked, her voice full of confusion. "You can stay too." She
snarled at the girl who was now walking away. Buffy placed her hands on her
hips as she stared at him. "So, was that whole 'Parker and his latest
conquest' speech just an act? Because now I'm staring at you and your
latest conquest."

Riley opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a surprised
laugh.

The girl smiled and shook her head as she waited for Riley to answer.

Riley smiled. "Buffy, this is Taylor. She's my cousin."

Buffy opened her mouth, then closed it. "She's your . . . your cousin?"

Taylor nodded. "I'm his cousin."

Riley stepped forward. "Taylor Finn, meet Buffy
Summers."

"Buffy Summers?" Taylor suddenly looked interested and she tried to nudge
Riley discreetly.

"Yeah." Buffy said slowly. "Why?"

Taylor bit her lip and glanced nervously at Riley. "Uh, I arrived here last
week with someone you know."

"Who?"

"Wesley Windham Pryce."

Buffy felt her jaw drop. "Oh." She said.

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, we should meet later."

"We should."

Riley looked confused. "You know Wesley?" He asked Buffy.

She nodded. "You know him too?"

Taylor smiled. "Listen Buffy, I need to talk to Riley for a minute. We'll
meet after classes okay?"

Buffy nodded. "Meet me in the library." Then she turned and walked away.

Riley looked at Taylor. "What was that?"

"She's the slayer."

"I thought you were the slayer."

Taylor nodded. "I am, but so is she." Riley still looked confused and she
sighed. "An accident a few years ago. Buffy died for a few minutes,
resulting in a new slayer being called. She died, another was called and
then she died. So I was called."

Riley frowned. "You'd better not die."

She smiled. "I'm not going to die Riley." She smiled and squeezed his arm.
"I'll be fine." She cleared her throat. "Does she know that you're a,"

"Demon hunter?" He interrupted. "No, I haven't told her yet."

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think you should?"

"Probably." He sighed. "I guess it should be easier now since I know she's
a slayer."

"I should go meet her." Taylor said. "Do you want to come?"

Riley shook his head. "Not yet. I'll tell her tonight."

"You guys going out?"

"Yeah, I'm taking her to a movie."

Taylor smiled. "Have fun Riley. I'll be rooting for you."

Riley nodded then watched as Taylor turned and walked away.

                                           *  *  *

        Taylor arrived at the library and looked around for Buffy. The other
slayer stood up to meet her and smiled. "Hey."

Taylor smiled. "A slayer. It's great to finally meet someone else like me."

Buffy nodded. "That's how I felt the first time another slayer was called."

She began to walk to the door. "There are some others I'd like you to
meet."

Taylor nodded. "We should go get Wesley on the way."

                                           *  *  *

        Giles paced excitedly in his apartment as Xander and Willow watched.

"Another slayer." Giles breathed. "It's unbelievable."

"Calm down G-man." Xander said. "We've had this happen before."

"Yes but, now Faith has officially passed on." He cringed, realizing how it
sounded. "I just mean we no longer have to worry about her waking up and
wanting revenge on Buffy."

Willow just shook her head.

"Hello?" Buffy called and pushed the door open.

"We're in here." Giles answered.

"Guys, you know Wesley. This is Taylor, the new slayer. She's Riley Finn's
cousin."

Taylor smiled. "Hi."

"This is Xander, Willow and Giles, my former watcher."

Wesley stepped forward and Xander raised both of his eyebrows. "Nice
threads." He said. "I'm surprised, there's no suit."

Wesley glanced down at his jeans and sweaters, then chose to ignore
Xander's comments. "As you know, Taylor is the new slayer and I'll be in
Sunnydale training with her."

"Thrills." Buffy muttered sarcastically.

"Well, it's good to know you're exactly the same as when I left." Wesley
said.

"You're patrolling together tonight?" Giles asked.

Buffy winced. "I actually have something to do tonight."

"Yeah, Riley asked her to go out." Taylor grinned. "It's not a problem, I
can patrol by myself."

Giles nodded. "I'm sure you can take care of yourself."

"I've been training with another former watcher for most of my life." She
grabbed her jacket and slid it over her shoulder. "I'll be fine."

Wesley placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Be
careful."

She nodded. "I will." Then she turned and walked out the door.

Xander grinned. "I like her."

Wesley shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? I'm sorry, but she's
taken."

Giles glanced up. "I didn't think a watcher as stuffy as yourself would let
the poor girl have a real relationship."

Buffy's eyes widened. "Of course he wants her to have a
relationship. He's the one that's in love with her."

"I-I am not." He sputtered.

"You are too. It's so obvious." Buffy grinned. "Does she know?"

He sighed. "No, she doesn't know." He turned his dark eyes upward. "Should
I let her know?"

Buffy chuckled. "Well, I don't suggest just blurting it out."

He sighed again. "This is bad, isn't it? I mean, she's my responsibility."

"And the fact that you're old." Xander added.

"I'm not old!" Wesley exclaimed defensively.

Buffy smiled. "So what are you going to do?"

"What should I do?"

"Didn't you ever date?"

He cleared his throat. "Not really. I kept to myself."

"Well," Buffy tapped her foot, "take her out, buy her flowers."

"Yeah," Xander said, "and put on a tux. She'll never be able to resist the
Bond look."

"But she's my slayer." Wesley moaned.

"She's also an adult." Giles pointed out. "She can make her own decisions."

Wesley nodded. "You know, you're right. Thank you, I'll work on it."

Willow glanced at the clock. "We should probably get back to the room if
you want to be ready on time."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Good luck Wesley."

                                           *  *  *

        "Take this." Riley shoved a walkie talkie into Taylor's hands. "If you
need help, just call me."

She saluted him. "Yes sir!"

"Taylor I'm serious." Riley sunk down onto the edge of his bed. "I worry
about you."

Taylor flipped on the walkie talkie and sat beside him. "Are you happy?"
She asked into the speaker. Her words came out the other machine hanging
from Riley's belt.

"How are you going to explain that to Buffy?" She asked.

He shrugged. "I won't have to. I'm going to tell her once we get to the
movie."

"Okay well, it's dark." She glanced out the window. "I think I'll get going
now. Wouldn't want to upset Wesley."

Riley laughed. "You could never upset Wesley. I swear the guy's in love
with you."

"Funny Riley. Don't play with my emotions that way."

Her cousin shrugged. "If you would just tell him that you're interested . .
."

"No!" Taylor shook her finger at him. "He's my watcher. There's gotta be
some Council law about watcher and slayer relationships. Against them."

Riley shook his head. "Go patrol. Remember, use the walkie talkie if you
need anything, don't hesitate to call."

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Have fun tonight." She kissed him quickly on
the cheek. "Don't stay out too late."

Riley smiled as he watched her walk out into the hall and close the door
behind her. Then he got up and went to his closet, trying to find something
to wear.

                                           *  *  *

        "Do I look all right?" Buffy asked, turning in a circle for Willow.

Her friend glanced up. "Huh?" She looked at what Buffy was wearing and
nodded. "Yeah, you look nice. Pretty."

Buffy sat down beside Willow. "Are you okay? I know things are hard with Oz
gone right now, but you have to concentrate on the good stuff that's going
on."

Willow crossed her arms. "Yeah? Like what? My boyfriend slept with another
girl, tried to kill me then ran away. I got attacked and nearly killed by
Spike. My best friend is leaving me for a guy on Friday night, even the new
slayer has someone pining after her. Xander's going out with Anya and I'm
going to sit at home and feel sorry for myself. Find me one good thing in
that list."

Buffy bit her lip. "Well, at least you and Spike talked. If you're feeling
down you could always go visit him. He still has that chip in his head and
he can't feed without getting a blinding headache."

Willow laughed bitterly. "Great. So the one person I can talk to is a
psychotic vampire who can't kill me because of a chip in his head."

Buffy stood up. "If you want me to, I can cancel Willow. I don't have a
problem doing that."

"No," Willow shook her head, "I'm being stupid. I know you like Riley, go
have fun."

Buffy squeezed her shoulder. "I won't stay out too late. We can have a
movie night when I get home." She grabbed her purse off the desk and walked
out the door.

Willow sighed. "Great." Then she flopped back onto her bed to stare at the
ceiling.

                                           *  *  *

        Taylor hummed to herself as she walked down by the waterfront with a stake
in her hands. Wesley had said the campus hadn't had much action lately, the
vampires had seemed to move closer to the water, which was the reason she
was now walking up and down the docks.

"Here little vampires." She called softly, tired of walking without finding
anything. She knew she would be able to take anything that came along.
Taylor had sort of lied when she had told the others she had trained with a
former watcher for most of her life. It wasn't a complete lie because she
had until she was thirteen. Then Riley had taken over, he had been fifteen
at the time. He had trained her for six years and they had become nearly
inseparable. He was all she had, her best friend.

She lightly touched the walkie talkie that hung from her belt. He was so
over protective of her even though he knew she could fend for herself. He
had trained her.

Someone stepped onto the dock behind Taylor and he raised his hands above
his head to slam down on her.

She turned and plunged her stake into his heart. The vampire looked up in
surprise before he burst into dust. Taylor yanked her stake back, then
continued toward the end of the dock.

"Yup, sure is busy Wesley." She murmured, sinking to the wooden planks and
looking up at the sky.

                                           *  *  *

        Riley smiled at Buffy as they walked into the movie theatre.  She pointed
at the walkie talkie.

"What is that?"

He smiled as they took their seats and the lights began to go down. "Okay,
that's sort of what I have to explain." He took a deep breath.

                                           *  *  *

        Taylor was staring up at the stars when someone leaned over her and
blocked her view. She leapt to her feet and turned to see a male vampire
grinning at her.

"Shouldn't be out all alone little girl." He hissed.

Taylor whipped out her stake. "He keeps me safe." She said, then kicked him
in the face. The vampire staggered backward, his hands reeling in the air.
Taylor took this opportunity to deliver an upper cut to his jaw, then tried
to shove her stake into his heart. The vampire knocked her stake away and
it clattered over the side of the dock and into the water.

"Dammit." Taylor muttered, then punched the vampire in the face.

Another vampire joined the first one and she faced them on the end of the
dock. The first vampire slammed into her hard and she tripped, falling
backward into the water. The vampire fell with her as she plunged into the
cold ocean water then tried to push her down as she struggled for air.

*Vampires don't need air.* She reminded herself and pushed him away from
her. She broke the surface to received the other vampire's foot connecting
with her jaw. She looked up to see three more vampires standing behind him.

"I can take five." She muttered, feeling for the walkie talkie at her
waist.

The vampire on the dock grabbed her shoulders and pulled her out of the
water. She collapsed on the dock as they closed around her, grabbing
desperately for the walkie talkie. Finally she found it, brought it to her
mouth and pressed the button before screaming, "Riley!" into the speaker.

                                           *  *  *

        Riley held Buffy's hand lightly as he tried to tell her. He heard Taylor
call his name from the speaker on his belt and shook his head.

*She can take care of herself.* He thought, before turning the volume down.

"Buffy, I have to tell you something." He whispered in the dark.

She nodded. "Go ahead."

"I know you're the slayer."

She stiffened. "How do you know?"

"Taylor. I trained her for most of her life. She told me."

Buffy nodded slowly. "Okay." She sighed. "Is that what you had to tell me?"

Riley shook his head. "No, but knowing that makes this easier for me to
tell." He drew in a deep breath. "I'm a demon hunter."

Buffy was silent.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded, then laughed. "You're a demon hunter?"

"Yeah. Professor Walsh actually heads us. There are a few of us and we hunt
demons. We wear camouflage and track them down."

Buffy laughed again. "That's you? I've ran into you quite a few times." She
shook her head. "Well, I'm glad you've told me Riley. At least now I don't
have to hide my powers from you anymore."

He smiled. "Nope, you can tell me whenever you're going on patrol, because
I can come with you."

Buffy chuckled. "How romantic."

                                           *  *  *

        "Riley!" Taylor screamed into the mouth piece, waiting, hoping for some
kind of reaction. There was nothing on the other end but static.

The vampires were surrounding her now. Taylor forced herself to her feet to
face off with the five vampires around her. One to her left struck first,
punching her in the side of the face. She did a roundhouse kick to his
face, forcing him to stagger backward. This left an opening in the circle
and she shot out of it, only to realize it left her at the end of the dock.
Another vampire pulled her back into the circle, then shoved her off to the
side. Taylor fell over the side of a fishing boat and thumped to the floor
inside. She grabbed a paddle off the floor and swung it as hard as she
could, hearing it crack when it connected with one of the vampire's skulls.

She hopped back onto the dock, still holding the paddle and swung again.
Another vampire fell backward but the three that remained standing grabbed
the paddle and ripped it from her hands.

Taylor stood in a circle of vampires without any weapons but her own hands.
"They'll have to do." She muttered, then kicked out the knees of the
vampire in front of her. The vampire behind her pushed her forward and she
stumbled out of the circle, hitting the huge house boat on the other side
of the dock. The vampire pushed her again and she lost her footing,
slipping between the dock at the boat.

A wave crashed against the dock, sending the boat slamming into her body,
pinning her between it and the dock.

A scream ripped through Taylor as she felt it crack her spine and most of
the bones in her legs. Then she began to lose feeling.

The vampires smiled at each other and turned and walked away.

Taylor scrambled for the walkie talkie and put it to her mouth.

"Riley." She rasped. "I can't talk for much longer. Please hear me. It's so
hard to breathe."

                                           *  *  *

        Riley smiled to himself as they watched the movie, glad Buffy had taken
his news so well. He dropped his hand to his side  and remembered that he
had turned off the walkie talkie. He turned it back on, not expecting to
hear anything.

Instead of the quiet static, Taylor's voice came whispering over the
airwaves. Riley grabbed it, his eyes wide, then raced out of the theatre.

Buffy followed him in confusion. "Riley, what's wrong?"

He shushed her quickly, trying to hear Taylor.

"Please hear me." She begged through the speaker. "I can't feel my legs
anymore Riley, please help me."

He pressed down the button. "I hear you Taylor. Where are you?"

He heard her fumble with the button then her voice came over the speaker
full of excitement. "I'm by the docks. Please hurry."

Riley turned to Buffy. "Let's go."

                                           *  *  *

        They found her fifteen minutes later nearly unconscious, pinned between
the huge house boat and the dock. Buffy held the boat away from the dock as
Riley slowly lifted Taylor back up.

"Call an ambulance." He ordered, then lifted Taylor's head into his lap.
"You'll be okay." He promised. "We're getting you to a hospital."

Buffy ran to find a phone and Riley knelt over his hurt cousin. "Tell me
what hurts." He said.

"Nothing hurts." She answered dreamily. "It's like I have no legs at all."

He lightly poked her thigh. "You can't feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Riley felt his breath catch in his throat. She had been pinned between two
heavy objects which might have severed her spinal chord. If that was true,
Taylor might never be able to walk again.

"Riley?" She asked. "Am I going to die?"

He shook his head. "No baby, you're not going to die." He kissed her
forehead. "You'll be fine. You'll be just fine."

Taylor smiled at him, then gazed blankly up at the cloudless sky. He had
convinced her she would be fine, now all he had to do was convince himself.

"Is she okay?" Buffy asked, coming back onto the dock.

Riley slowly shook his head. "She was stuck for a really long time Buffy. I
think it might have," he paused and swallowed hard, "it might have caused
her to be paralysed from the waist down."

Buffy put her hand over her mouth as she gazed down at Taylor.

A siren wailed in the distance as the ambulance neared the scene.

"There were just too many." She whispered, grasping Riley's hand tightly in
her own. "I couldn't handle them all, they attacked me and I lost. Are you
mad at me Riley?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"I failed you." She took a shuddering breath. "You took all your time to
train me and I failed you on my first patrol."

He shook his head. "You didn't fail me Taylor. If anything, I failed you. I
promised you I'd be here to help you but I wasn't. I'm so sorry."

Taylor smiled. "It's not your fault."

"I wish I hadn't turned it off." He murmured. "Then I might have been able
to save you."

The ambulance pulled up beside the dock and two paramedics with a stretcher
pushed Buffy and Riley out of the way. They loaded Taylor carefully onto
the stretcher, then into the back of the ambulance.

"One of you needs to ride with her." One of the paramedics ordered.

Riley glanced quickly at Buffy before getting into the back. "Tell Wesley.
He'll want to know."

She nodded, then ran to the phone as the ambulance raced to the hospital.

                                           *  *  *

        Riley paced worriedly in the waiting room of the Sunnydale Hospital as the
doctors took Taylor into the emergency room.  Buffy pushed through the
doors followed by Giles and Wesley.

"How is she?" Wesley asked, taking off his glasses and rubbing his
forehead.

"They don't know yet." Riley answered. "But she was pretty bad when we got
to her."

Wesley sunk warily into a chair. "How bad?"

Riley glanced at Buffy before sitting beside the watcher.
"She couldn't feel her legs."

Wesley closed his eyes and nodded slowly, then waved Riley away.

Giles took the seat next to him and attempted to comfort the distraught
man.

Buffy sighed. "I should call Willow and let her know it'll be a while
before I get home."

Riley nodded. "The phone's right over there." Then he sighed and bit his
lip.

"It's not your fault Riley." She said.

"But if I just,"

"No!" She interrupted him. "It's not your fault." Then she turned and
walked over to the phone.

"I hope you're right." Riley murmured, then dropped down into a chair.

                                           *  *  *

        They had been there for over an hour. The doctors were still working on
Taylor, trying to save her legs.

Riley shot a sad smile in Wesley's direction before he saw the doctor
coming out of the room.

Both Riley and Wesley were on their feet in a flash.

"Is she okay?" Riley asked.

"You might want to sit down." The doctor warned.

Wesley glanced at Riley with worry before taking his seat again.

The doctor sighed. "At the moment Taylor is unable to walk. We were able to
save her spine but she lost circulation in her legs for the last hour. She
may be able to walk in the future with the help of physiotherapy and it
doesn't look good."

Riley stood up again. "Can we see her?"

"Family only."

"I'm her cousin."

The doctor nodded. "Follow me."

Riley looked at Wesley. "I'll tell her that you're here." Then he turned
and followed the doctor toward Taylor's room.

"Fifteen minutes." The doctor told him, then closed the door.

Riley turned to see Taylor watching him from the bed. her left eye was
bruised and he could see a purple bruise creeping up her neck.

"Hi." He said, smiling softly then coming to sit by her bed. "How are you
feeling?"

"Like I was hit by a ten tonne boat. Which I was."

"Did they tell you?"

"That I can't walk?" She laughed bitterly. "Yeah, they told me." She
paused. "Why didn't you come Riley? I called for help, where were you?"

His eyes widened. "I was there Taylor, I swear. I just didn't hear you."

"You told me if I needed anything that I should just call and you'd come.
Well you didn't come Riley and now look at me."

"Taylor, this isn't my fault."

She shook her head. "Not completely. Why couldn't you hear me?"

"I had turned the volume down so I could tell Buffy."

"So you could tell her you're a demon hunter? That's more important than
this?"

Riley shook his head. "No, it's not more important. I didn't know something
like this would happen. Taylor I swear."

She looked at him for a moment, her blue eyes boring holes into his then
she turned away and stared at the wall.

"Taylor I,"

"Just don't Riley." She said, still facing the other way. "Just don't
speak."

"Wesley came to see you." He said meekly. "They wouldn't let him in."

He waited for a moment, waiting for her to reply. When she didn't, he stood
up and began to walk from the room.

"Tell them I want to see him." She said softly before he reached the door.

Riley turned around hopefully but found her still facing the wall. He
nodded. "I will."

                                           *  *  *

        Wesley crept toward the door slowly, watching for any doctors. They had
forbidden him to go into the room but Riley said Taylor wanted to see him.
He glanced either way then slipped into the room and closed the door behind
him.

When he turned toward Taylor she was already watching him. Her blue eyes
were both shrouded by dark circles and she looked tired and weak.

He slipped into the chair by her bed and picked up her hand gently in his
own.

"They let you come." She said.

He shook his head. "I had to sneak in."

"Why?"

"Family only."

She nodded slowly. "So you know right? That I can't walk. That I'll be
confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life."

"They said you might be able to walk with physio." He said.

She laughed. "And you believed them? They sugar coated it." She muttered.
"I'll never be able to walk again."

"That's not necessarily true." Wesley insisted. "If you try I'm sure you'll
be able to,"

"I can't." She said, cutting him off. "I just can't." She sighed. "But this
did make me realize one thing."

"What's that?" Wesley asked.

"My life is at risk all the time. It's dumb for me to hide things from
people and to be scared to try something, because tomorrow I could be
dead."

He sighed. "Scary but true."

"So now I've decided that I have to tell people what I think and how I
really feel."

Wesley looked at her hopefully. "And how do you feel?"

She struggled to lean toward him and Wesley moved his head to meet hers.
Taylor kissed him lightly and then smiled when he moved away.

"Does that explain it?" She asked.

Wesley nodded. "I think so." He paused, not wanting to ruin the moment.
"Riley said you blame him."

Taylor's eyes hardened. "Not completely but I'm angry at him. Wesley he
said he'd be there for me if I needed any help. When I did need help, I
called for him, but he wasn't there. He was too busy with Buffy. She came
before I did."

Wesley shook his head. "You know that's not how he meant it. He didn't mean
it,"

"I know." She sighed. "But it still hurts. To know that telling Buffy that
he hunted demons came before my life. I thought he'd be there for me
whenever I needed him and all of the sudden he wasn't. That's so scary
Wesley."

"I know." He lightly rubbed her hand. "But don't blame him for something he
didn't do."

She sighed. "I just don't know what else to do. I don't know how to tell
him that I need him to help me. It's horrible. I'm supposed to be a slayer,
I'm supposed to be able to take care of myself. Instead I need my cousin to
come save the day for me."

"There were five vampires Taylor." Wesley said. "You couldn't have handled
them all on the docks like that. Slipping down between the dock and the
boat was just an accident. It has nothing to do with your abilities and
it's not your fault."

She looked up at him. "Then if I'm not at fault and Riley's not at fault,
there has to be someone else to blame for crippling me."

"You're not crippled!" Wesley insisted. "You'll be able to walk again. I
promise."

She sighed. "I hope you're right Wesley. How can I be a good slayer when
I'm in a wheelchair?"

                                           *  *  *

        Riley sunk onto his bed and stared at the ceiling as he thought about all
the events of the night. He had told Buffy he was a demon hunter, Taylor
had been injured and was now paralysed and she blamed him.

He chuckled bitterly. She had every right to blame him, it was his fault.
He had promised her that he would be there if she needed any help and she
had trusted him to save her. But he hadn't been able to. He had turned off
the walkie talkie and had ignored her when she called for his help. And
now, she would be stuck in a wheelchair, probably for the rest of her life.

Riley sighed and sunk deeper into his bed, trying to escape the memories
and the guilt of what had happened. All he wanted to do was sleep.

                                           *  *  *

        Taylor tested out the wheelchair slowly, rolling around in her room. She
stopped by the window and looked out sadly, debating whether or not to
leave the room and wheel herself down to the waiting room where Riley and
Wesley sat. She wanted to see them, she really did but she didn't want them
to see her like this. It was humiliating and it was painful. She wasn't the
only one it would be painful for. She was almost certain Riley wouldn't be
able to handle the sight.

A nurse rapped on her door. "Are you ready?"

Taylor nodded and the nurse moved around to the back of the chair to push
her.

"I can do it myself." Taylor said in a low voice and the nurse backed off
slowly. She placed her hands on the wheels and began to push herself out
the door and down the hall. It wasn't hard for her to make it to the
waiting room, her arms were strong, she was a slayer after all.

Wesley and Riley both stood up to meet her, but her watcher though better
of it and sat down again.

"Hi." She said, forcing a fake smile to her face.

"How are you feeling?" Wesley asked.

She shrugged. "Okay I guess. I don't hurt anymore."

Wesley nodded. "That's good. They told me you're starting physio next
week."

Taylor sighed. "Yeah, that'll be great fun."

"Well, you want to walk again don't you?"

Taylor nodded then glanced at Riley who had remained quiet this whole time.

"Wesley, I have to talk to Riley for a minute." She said, then glanced at
her watcher. He nodded, then kissed her forehead lightly and walked away.

Riley sat in the chair Wesley had just been in and smiled. "Hi." He said.

"Hi."

They both sighed in unison, then glanced up at each other.

"I want to apologize." Riley began. "I told you I'd be there for you if you
needed me and I wasn't. I'm sorry Taylor."

She nodded slowly. "Do you even know why I'm angry Riley? It's not because
I'm in this chair, there's a different reason."

"What is it?"

"After everything we've been though together, it felt like you abandoned
me. We're cousins Riley, family, in fact you're my best friend. I thought
maybe that would mean a little more than some girl."

"She's not just some girl."

"I know, but you still picked her over my life. She came before me Riley
and that's not fair."

He gazed at the floor. "And it's not fair for you to make me choose. Think
about this," he looked at her again, "you were having a very important
moment with Wesley and all of the sudden I called for help. What would you
do?"

Taylor's eyes widened. "I'd get up and go help you. Whatever else was going
on at that moment can always be relived another time. You have your whole
life to tell Buffy that you're a demon hunter but you only had one chance
to help me. It's not a matter of choosing someone over the other, it's a
matter of importance. Isn't someone's life more important than telling
someone a secret?"

He nodded. "It should have been. You have no idea how guilty I've been
feeling Taylor. I'm so sorry." He put his head in his hands and sighed. "If
I could rewind everything that's happened I wouldn't have ignored you when
you called for me. I'm sorry."

Taylor's face softened. "I'm sorry too Riley. I think I've been kind of
nasty about this. I just felt so alone."

He grasped her hand. "You're not alone, I swear. I'll always be here for
you."

She smiled. "Thank you Riley."

He hugged her. "I love you."

Taylor laughed into his shoulder. "I love you too."

He released her and looked at her smiling face. "It's been a while since
I've seen you smile."

She nodded. "Oh yeah since, you know, last night."

"It's felt like a lot longer."

"It has."

"Let's go." Riley stood up and grabbed the back of her chair. "I think the
others want to see you."

Taylor smiled again. "All right Riley. Giddy up."

"I'm not your horse." He muttered as he pushed her out of
the hospital.

"No, but you can certainly be my slave for a while, after all, this is all
your fault."

"Shut up Taylor. You're never going to let me forget this are you?"

She shook her head. "Never."

                                          The End

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