In The Face Of Danger
"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away."
Xander - The Witch (Season 1)
Chapter 1 - Misconceptions
----
They heard the lock click and the door swing open. It was followed by a strange pattern of solid steps and akward shuffles.
"Buffy?", one of the SITs ventured softly.
"Yeah?" Her voice betrayed her exhaustion.
"Is everything alright?" Their eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness, and while Buffy seemed slightly mishapen they didn't stop to think she could be accompanied.
"It's fine. Go to sleep, we have a lot to do in the morning..Xander?"
"Mmm..Buff?"
"Can you uh..come upstairs with me? I need to talk to you."
"Yeah..one sec.." The reply was slightly muffled by pillow.
Minutes later the SITs burst into excited whispers.
"I need to *talk* to you Xander-muffin.", one of them attempted to impersonate Buffy.
"I so told you they were sleeping together!", another whispered triumphantly over the sound of giggles.
"C'mon, she's the Slayer, I'm sure it's purely professional. He's like..her sounding board..or something." The voice had started out sure, but ended wavering with confusion.
"Don't be stupid. It's so obvious!"
One SIT yawned and it started a snowball effect that quieted them for at least a moment.
"If you say so..but what's obvious to me is that we all need some serious sleep. And I say, with the UberVamp gone, now's the time to get it."
"Amen to that."
----
"Oh my god Kennedy! You totally should have been downstairs last night. Xander and Buffy were having like, this secret midnight..well..past midnight..whatever, this secret late night rendevouz!"
Kennedy scoffed.
"Whatever. Unless they have some nasty threesome thing going on with Willow, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't swing that way..at least, not towards--"
"What?"
"Xander came to get Willow waayyy late last night. They went rushing off to Buffy's sacred bedroom. Besides, I peaked in there this morning and there is totally some other guy in her bed."
"What?!?"
"You heard me." Kennedy grinned mischieviously, loving being in the know.
"What'd he look like? Was Buffy in bed with him?"
"I couldn't really see. He had major bleached hair though. Buffy was sitting on the side of the bed, just kinda, watching. I skidaddered quick though..girl's got eyes in the back of her head!"
"Woah..I have to tell the others!"
----
"Girls." Xander called, trying to gather up the more excited than normal teenagers. They didn't give him the time of day.
"Ah..time to rely on one of the classics.." He reached over and flickered the lights like his grade 3 teacher used to do.
The girls shut up in record time, fear of the unknown evident on their faces.
"Well, hello then. Breakfast is almost ready and then it's time for another round of--"
"Where's Buffy."
The forced cheerfulness quickly fell away and was replaced by the real tired out and true Xander.
"Upstairs."
"With a guy!" One of the SITs whispered.
"What?" Xander hoped he didn't hear what he thought he just heard.
"Well uh..some of us have uh..noticed that last night there were some strange occurences and uh..as a group we've come to the conclusion that we are in a very bad time right now and we have the right to know what's going on." Kennedy began to warm to her topic, "We have a right to know just what measures are being taken to protect us..to protect the world. And while we understand there is a..ah..certain comfort in a..in intimate relations..we uh.." She ran out of steam and looked to the others for help.
"Who is it? Who's she boning?"
"What?!?"
"Look, its just, late night rendevouz..a guy in her bed.."
"A guy in- ohhhhhhh. No."
"No what?"
"No, it's not what you think."
"There's no guy?"
"Well.."
"There's a guy. But not in her bed? But Kennedy-"
"Ok, can I say..no comment."
A loud chorus of 'No's and 'Not fair's resounded.
Xander smiled cheerily, "I'll be right back."
Minutes later he was replaced by a frazzled looking Willow.
"Willow! Will you tell us--"
"Look, no questions, just let me talk. Last night, after the fight, Buffy went to where the First has been hiding out and got Spike."
The room errupted in excited chatter.
"Shh! Now listen, he's been beaten pretty bad and Buffy is letting him stay in her room. He needs comfort. Nothing more. There has not been and will not be any 'boning'."
"But she's completely in love with him."
Willow was at a loss, she knew Buffy would want her to deny it, but at the same time she thought she owed these frightened few the truth.
"She was so obsessed with saving him."
"There's a history, I can smell it."
"Isn't Spike a vampire?"
"Look, I know this is all very confusing and overwhelming..and yeah, he's a vampire but he's different and he's important to us. All of us. He's been around a long time and he's experienced. He also has been closer to the First than any of us and when he's rested I'm sure he'll have lots to tell us. For now, I want you girls in the basement for a few hours to do some training. I'm going to take you through some meditation techniques."
----
Days later the questions had subsided, the SITs knew they would only be given information when the Slayer so decided. However, that didn't stop frequent Spike spottings from being all the rage.
Everything from what kind of blood he liked, to what colour his skin was, to how many times Dawn went to see him was discussed. Most importantly, all Spike and Buffy interaction was logged and analyzed.
----
"Buff, I know you want to give him more time. But I can't shake this feeling that we're running out of time. Besides, the longer we leave the baby slayers to their own devices, the more they jump to their own conclusions."
Buffy sighed. Still not caught up on her sleep due to constant Spike surviellance, she was really feeling the weight of every decision she had to make.
"Fine. We'll have a little meeting. You get them round up, I'll bring him down."
----
"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away."
Xander - The Witch (Season 1)
Chapter 1 - Misconceptions
----
They heard the lock click and the door swing open. It was followed by a strange pattern of solid steps and akward shuffles.
"Buffy?", one of the SITs ventured softly.
"Yeah?" Her voice betrayed her exhaustion.
"Is everything alright?" Their eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness, and while Buffy seemed slightly mishapen they didn't stop to think she could be accompanied.
"It's fine. Go to sleep, we have a lot to do in the morning..Xander?"
"Mmm..Buff?"
"Can you uh..come upstairs with me? I need to talk to you."
"Yeah..one sec.." The reply was slightly muffled by pillow.
Minutes later the SITs burst into excited whispers.
"I need to *talk* to you Xander-muffin.", one of them attempted to impersonate Buffy.
"I so told you they were sleeping together!", another whispered triumphantly over the sound of giggles.
"C'mon, she's the Slayer, I'm sure it's purely professional. He's like..her sounding board..or something." The voice had started out sure, but ended wavering with confusion.
"Don't be stupid. It's so obvious!"
One SIT yawned and it started a snowball effect that quieted them for at least a moment.
"If you say so..but what's obvious to me is that we all need some serious sleep. And I say, with the UberVamp gone, now's the time to get it."
"Amen to that."
----
"Oh my god Kennedy! You totally should have been downstairs last night. Xander and Buffy were having like, this secret midnight..well..past midnight..whatever, this secret late night rendevouz!"
Kennedy scoffed.
"Whatever. Unless they have some nasty threesome thing going on with Willow, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't swing that way..at least, not towards--"
"What?"
"Xander came to get Willow waayyy late last night. They went rushing off to Buffy's sacred bedroom. Besides, I peaked in there this morning and there is totally some other guy in her bed."
"What?!?"
"You heard me." Kennedy grinned mischieviously, loving being in the know.
"What'd he look like? Was Buffy in bed with him?"
"I couldn't really see. He had major bleached hair though. Buffy was sitting on the side of the bed, just kinda, watching. I skidaddered quick though..girl's got eyes in the back of her head!"
"Woah..I have to tell the others!"
----
"Girls." Xander called, trying to gather up the more excited than normal teenagers. They didn't give him the time of day.
"Ah..time to rely on one of the classics.." He reached over and flickered the lights like his grade 3 teacher used to do.
The girls shut up in record time, fear of the unknown evident on their faces.
"Well, hello then. Breakfast is almost ready and then it's time for another round of--"
"Where's Buffy."
The forced cheerfulness quickly fell away and was replaced by the real tired out and true Xander.
"Upstairs."
"With a guy!" One of the SITs whispered.
"What?" Xander hoped he didn't hear what he thought he just heard.
"Well uh..some of us have uh..noticed that last night there were some strange occurences and uh..as a group we've come to the conclusion that we are in a very bad time right now and we have the right to know what's going on." Kennedy began to warm to her topic, "We have a right to know just what measures are being taken to protect us..to protect the world. And while we understand there is a..ah..certain comfort in a..in intimate relations..we uh.." She ran out of steam and looked to the others for help.
"Who is it? Who's she boning?"
"What?!?"
"Look, its just, late night rendevouz..a guy in her bed.."
"A guy in- ohhhhhhh. No."
"No what?"
"No, it's not what you think."
"There's no guy?"
"Well.."
"There's a guy. But not in her bed? But Kennedy-"
"Ok, can I say..no comment."
A loud chorus of 'No's and 'Not fair's resounded.
Xander smiled cheerily, "I'll be right back."
Minutes later he was replaced by a frazzled looking Willow.
"Willow! Will you tell us--"
"Look, no questions, just let me talk. Last night, after the fight, Buffy went to where the First has been hiding out and got Spike."
The room errupted in excited chatter.
"Shh! Now listen, he's been beaten pretty bad and Buffy is letting him stay in her room. He needs comfort. Nothing more. There has not been and will not be any 'boning'."
"But she's completely in love with him."
Willow was at a loss, she knew Buffy would want her to deny it, but at the same time she thought she owed these frightened few the truth.
"She was so obsessed with saving him."
"There's a history, I can smell it."
"Isn't Spike a vampire?"
"Look, I know this is all very confusing and overwhelming..and yeah, he's a vampire but he's different and he's important to us. All of us. He's been around a long time and he's experienced. He also has been closer to the First than any of us and when he's rested I'm sure he'll have lots to tell us. For now, I want you girls in the basement for a few hours to do some training. I'm going to take you through some meditation techniques."
----
Days later the questions had subsided, the SITs knew they would only be given information when the Slayer so decided. However, that didn't stop frequent Spike spottings from being all the rage.
Everything from what kind of blood he liked, to what colour his skin was, to how many times Dawn went to see him was discussed. Most importantly, all Spike and Buffy interaction was logged and analyzed.
----
"Buff, I know you want to give him more time. But I can't shake this feeling that we're running out of time. Besides, the longer we leave the baby slayers to their own devices, the more they jump to their own conclusions."
Buffy sighed. Still not caught up on her sleep due to constant Spike surviellance, she was really feeling the weight of every decision she had to make.
"Fine. We'll have a little meeting. You get them round up, I'll bring him down."
----