Giles was waiting for Buffy in the foyer when she came home from training
with the Potentials. Rona, Vi, Kennedy and Molly headed toward the kitchen
for a late night after-training snack.
"I have something to tell you, Buffy," Giles said with an intensity that alarmed her. He led her out onto the porch for privacy.
"You sound serious," Buffy said, her eyes wide with mischief. "Are you going to be cleaning your glasses soon?" Just as she said it, Giles was reaching up to do just that.
He frowned, squared his shoulders and crossed his arms in front of him. "Buffy, this is serious. Anya and I have uncovered startling information that may hold some key to fighting The First."
"From Botox's Eye? What did it say?" Buffy's mouth turned into a half- frown, a thoughtful look on her face. "Can an eye even talk? Was that a mouth and an eye, or just an eye and no mouth?"
Giles frowned, taking off his glasses and cleaning them after all, which had Buffy smirking. "Yes, well-I-I'm not quite sure exactly. We did hear it, but the sound wasn't exactly coming from the eye. Actually there were several eyes, or hundreds, I'm not sure. We didn't count them." He put his glasses back on. "Oh, for god's sake! This is serious, Buffy! We are in a war, and all you can do is make jokes like this is all fun and games."
Buffy sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just a little pent up after-slayer-training tension. Ok, I'm serious. I'm straight-faced Buffy. What's up?"
Giles leaned against the porch's column and crossed his arms again. "The Beljoxa's Eye told us the reason why The First came back. The First saw an opportunity. What this means I cannot begin to imagine." He looked down at the floor. "It was you, Buffy. You brought it back."
Buffy stepped closer to him. "I what?" Her voice had a tinge of anger in it.
Giles heard it and cautioned himself on continuing. If he said the wrong thing, if he didn't tell her delicately enough it could open old wounds. "You brought it back. It was something you did."
Buffy's eyes were wild with disbelief. "What did I do? Did I kill the wrong demon? Did I mess up It's plan? Did I-"
"You came back."
Buffy stopped short. "I did what?"
"You came back from the grave. You were dead and now you're alive." Giles took his glasses off again and wiped them with his shirt. "Why that was seen as an opportunity for The First to start an apocalypse is beyond-"
"I didn't do it." Buffy crossed her arms, turned around and stared up at the night sky. "They did it."
"They thought they were doing the right thing. They thought you were in Hell, Buffy."
"Yeah I know that. But you said I did it. I didn't do it." She turned to him, the man who had watched over her for years. "It was my friends, messing with Magicks they thought they-they thought Willow could control, and it nearly burned me alive. For the longest time I wondered if I even had a soul. The things I did, the many times I just wanted to crawl back into that grave..."
Giles stared at her intently. "You have come a long way from that."
"I have. And that's not me anymore." Buffy composed herself. "So what do we know?"
"Well, Beljoxa's Eye said that the mystical forces surrounding the chosen line have become irrevocably altered, become unstable, vulnerable. Because you live again."
"No, it's because I was resurrected."
"Well yes, I believe I said that."
"No. I mean, it's because I was brought back. If a Slayer could be brought back...if such a thing is possible, then the Slayer line goes all wonky. It means that new slayers could just be activated after each death and then slayers would be resurrecting all over...wait...what about my new Slayer?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Where's my slayer? The one I activated? I died the first time, right? And so Kendra was called. And when Kendra died Faith was called. But what about when I died again? Where's my new slayer? There should be three now."
Giles thought for a moment. "The Council never mentioned a new slayer. With the seers in the Coven looking for potentials, I'm sure they would have spotted another slayer."
Buffy was quiet. Something suddenly occurred to her, something she had never thought of before. "I don't have a new slayer."
"Hm?"
"The first time I died. That was it. Kendra was called and that was my new Slayer. It doesn't work anymore. I used up my New Slayer Ticket."
"I think I follow you."
"It's like a thread that moves between us all, all the Slayers. First me, then Kendra, then Faith, then...the Slayer line doesn't move through me anymore. Faith would have to die for a new one to be called."
"It makes sense."
Buffy took a deep breath. "So why is this a threat to The First? Because we have modern medicine and access to primitive Magicks that can prolong and bring back life?"
"Are slayers evolving in such a way that Evil itself feels threatened? Buffy, I don't know the answer to these questions."
"Well, at least we are asking them." Buffy smiled and turned toward the door. "Let's go inside. I'm so hungry I could eat a Beljoxa's Eye." She opened the door and stepped into the house.
Giles followed her inside. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to. It didn't look very appetizing at all." The door closed behind him.
"I have something to tell you, Buffy," Giles said with an intensity that alarmed her. He led her out onto the porch for privacy.
"You sound serious," Buffy said, her eyes wide with mischief. "Are you going to be cleaning your glasses soon?" Just as she said it, Giles was reaching up to do just that.
He frowned, squared his shoulders and crossed his arms in front of him. "Buffy, this is serious. Anya and I have uncovered startling information that may hold some key to fighting The First."
"From Botox's Eye? What did it say?" Buffy's mouth turned into a half- frown, a thoughtful look on her face. "Can an eye even talk? Was that a mouth and an eye, or just an eye and no mouth?"
Giles frowned, taking off his glasses and cleaning them after all, which had Buffy smirking. "Yes, well-I-I'm not quite sure exactly. We did hear it, but the sound wasn't exactly coming from the eye. Actually there were several eyes, or hundreds, I'm not sure. We didn't count them." He put his glasses back on. "Oh, for god's sake! This is serious, Buffy! We are in a war, and all you can do is make jokes like this is all fun and games."
Buffy sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just a little pent up after-slayer-training tension. Ok, I'm serious. I'm straight-faced Buffy. What's up?"
Giles leaned against the porch's column and crossed his arms again. "The Beljoxa's Eye told us the reason why The First came back. The First saw an opportunity. What this means I cannot begin to imagine." He looked down at the floor. "It was you, Buffy. You brought it back."
Buffy stepped closer to him. "I what?" Her voice had a tinge of anger in it.
Giles heard it and cautioned himself on continuing. If he said the wrong thing, if he didn't tell her delicately enough it could open old wounds. "You brought it back. It was something you did."
Buffy's eyes were wild with disbelief. "What did I do? Did I kill the wrong demon? Did I mess up It's plan? Did I-"
"You came back."
Buffy stopped short. "I did what?"
"You came back from the grave. You were dead and now you're alive." Giles took his glasses off again and wiped them with his shirt. "Why that was seen as an opportunity for The First to start an apocalypse is beyond-"
"I didn't do it." Buffy crossed her arms, turned around and stared up at the night sky. "They did it."
"They thought they were doing the right thing. They thought you were in Hell, Buffy."
"Yeah I know that. But you said I did it. I didn't do it." She turned to him, the man who had watched over her for years. "It was my friends, messing with Magicks they thought they-they thought Willow could control, and it nearly burned me alive. For the longest time I wondered if I even had a soul. The things I did, the many times I just wanted to crawl back into that grave..."
Giles stared at her intently. "You have come a long way from that."
"I have. And that's not me anymore." Buffy composed herself. "So what do we know?"
"Well, Beljoxa's Eye said that the mystical forces surrounding the chosen line have become irrevocably altered, become unstable, vulnerable. Because you live again."
"No, it's because I was resurrected."
"Well yes, I believe I said that."
"No. I mean, it's because I was brought back. If a Slayer could be brought back...if such a thing is possible, then the Slayer line goes all wonky. It means that new slayers could just be activated after each death and then slayers would be resurrecting all over...wait...what about my new Slayer?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Where's my slayer? The one I activated? I died the first time, right? And so Kendra was called. And when Kendra died Faith was called. But what about when I died again? Where's my new slayer? There should be three now."
Giles thought for a moment. "The Council never mentioned a new slayer. With the seers in the Coven looking for potentials, I'm sure they would have spotted another slayer."
Buffy was quiet. Something suddenly occurred to her, something she had never thought of before. "I don't have a new slayer."
"Hm?"
"The first time I died. That was it. Kendra was called and that was my new Slayer. It doesn't work anymore. I used up my New Slayer Ticket."
"I think I follow you."
"It's like a thread that moves between us all, all the Slayers. First me, then Kendra, then Faith, then...the Slayer line doesn't move through me anymore. Faith would have to die for a new one to be called."
"It makes sense."
Buffy took a deep breath. "So why is this a threat to The First? Because we have modern medicine and access to primitive Magicks that can prolong and bring back life?"
"Are slayers evolving in such a way that Evil itself feels threatened? Buffy, I don't know the answer to these questions."
"Well, at least we are asking them." Buffy smiled and turned toward the door. "Let's go inside. I'm so hungry I could eat a Beljoxa's Eye." She opened the door and stepped into the house.
Giles followed her inside. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to. It didn't look very appetizing at all." The door closed behind him.