A/N: For Kelly. I've got a theory, it could be bunnies.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Trouble With Heroes
"Brad Pitt or Bruce Willis?" Buffy asked.
"Eww, Brad Pitt," Dawn said. "Ewan McGregor or Hugh Grant?"
"Ewan. Every time." Buffy grinned and glanced up at the television screen, her fingers working through her sister's hair. "He can dance, he can sing, he can wield a light saber."
"Not all at once, I bet," Willow said with a smile.
"Star Wars: The Musical!" Xander piped up excitedly. Dawn and Willow giggled. Xander looked pleased with his joke. "With such hits as 'The Ballad of Vader.' And Yoda would tap dance."
"Tap-dancing Yoda would wig me out," Buffy said. "He'd be all 'Rhythm I've got, yes.'" Willow and Dawn started to laugh again. Buffy smiled. She liked nights like this. She got to hang out at home with her friends, doing nothing and not worrying about the oncoming apocalypse. It seemed there was a new disaster every Tuesday.
But not tonight, no sir. Popcorn, Doritos, Pepsi, and a bunch of movies from the Rent-A-Vid down the street was all that was in store for the Slayer and the gang. Right now they were sitting in Buffy's room watching Resident Evil. Buffy was braiding Dawn's hair and Willow was attempting to put Xander's hair into a bunch of tiny pig-tails. He was starting to look like a porcupine.
"Eww, look!" Dawn pointed to the television. "That guy's dead and he's walking on his ankle and it's all twisted. Isn't that gross?"
"Not as gross as your face." Buffy teased. Dawn threw popcorn at her head, but missed horribly. "Whatever you do, don't join softball," her sister grinned.
"Oh, shut up."
"Do you think you kick more ass than Milla Jovovich?" Willow asked, looking at Buffy. They all watched intently as the actress on TV managed to kick some major zombie butt. Buffy shrugged.
"Well, let's see," Buffy starting counting on her fingers, "I died, defeated the Master, then the Judge, then I blew up the Mayor, and after that I ripped Adam's heart out, then I beat a god and then I died again, and now we're here. What do you think?"
"Chalk one up for the Buffster." Xander said.
"Yeah. I bet if Milla died, she'd stay dead." Dawn agreed. "Well, maybe not in this movie, because she'd actually die and then turn into a zombie…"
"Wouldn't it be cool to turn into a zombie?" Xander asked. The girls all looked at him in unison. Xander's smile faded quickly. "Or, you know, not."
Suddenly there was a shrill beeping noise. Buffy looked down and let out a sigh. "Shoot. It's the Giles beeper. Guess tonight's fun is cut short, you guys."
"Aw, no fair!" Dawn said. "We were just getting to the good part!"
"You mean Milla in the shower wasn't the good part?" Xander quipped. Willow whacked his head and he flinched. "Ow!"
Buffy pulled the beeper from her pocket and looked at it. As the Chosen One, she had a duty to fulfill when she was needed. It was like the Bat Signal. She couldn't just ignore the Giles beeper. What if some chaos demon or something had broken into the mall?
Willow seemed to read Buffy's mind. She leaned close to her friend and whispered, "Want me to make it blow up?"
"Thanks, Will, but no thanks," Buffy stood up from her bed. "When you gotta go, you gotta go. Right?"
The other three looked at her sukily. "Right," they said together.
"And this," Buffy held up the beeper, "has got to go." Then she turned and tossed it out of the open window. Its shrill beeping could no longer be heard. Buffy grinned. "Who wants pizza?"
The next day, Buffy walked into the magic box with a slice of leftover pizza in her hand. Giles saw her and immediately rushed over. He had on his Angry-British-Guy-Who-Hasn't-Had-Tea face. Buffy tried to look innocent as she said, "Morning, Giles."
"You do know that I gave you that pager for a reason, right?" Giles said irritably.
"Right, to call me if there was ever any trouble," Buffy took a big bite of pizza.
"Right! And I tried to call, but you never came!" Giles huffed.
"Was there any trouble?" Buffy asked sweetly.
"No. But there could have been!" Giles said. "I was testing you, and I believe it's a bit redundant to say you failed."
Buffy let out a playful sigh and patted Giles' shoulder. "Well, Giles, that's the trouble with heroes. When we get a night off, we take the night off. Period." Then she grinned and walked toward the table where Willow, Xander, and Anya sat. Giles smiled in spite of himself. Yes, that was the trouble with heroes. Especially his.