"You all know that Angel lost his soul. You all know why it is that he lost his soul. But that's not the only thing that happened that night… I bit him, and I drank some of his blood. When I-- it changed me, but not in the obvious way that you would think." Buffy's voice was soft, softer than it had been even when she first woke up, laced with what could only be labeled as apprehension at her startling revelation. Her eyes drifted down from the tortured orbs of her love to gaze at the floor, seeing her bare feet contrasting with the white and blue speckled linoleum.
"Buffy! Tell me you didn't. Please!" Giles' voice was heavy with shock and recrimination. His only response from his Slayer was a slight flinch then her unwavering gaze being settled on him. Giving a muffled oath he took off his glasses and began to pace in tight circles, running a hand through his thinning hair. Besides Giles, Willow was the only other that knew what significance that held, besides repetition being icky. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers and her mouth gaped in shock.
Willow was the only one that knew of Buffy's little research project, and only because one night the small slayer told her of her confusion based on Angel's actions. Willow turned from her friend to look at her mentor. As she watched the man pace and continue with his muffled words, she realized then that even though Angel was the oldest one there, they all, including the cursed vampire, thought of the ex-watcher as a father figure. She knew that if Giles expressed enough anger or other kinds of negative emotions her friend would do almost anything to make up for it. Willow knew that her friend was not the only one in a rather unconventional relationship. She herself was attracted to a werewolf and now, according to the very old vampire, they were mates. Knowing that once again she was going to have to be the voice of reason, she straightened her shoulders and risked to take a step forward to inturupt the hole that Giles was wearing into the floor of the hospital room.
"Giles, calm down. There's nothing that anyone can do about it now, so just take a chill pill and stop the pacing. Okay?" She knew that her voice had come out rather harsh, stunning the group of people around her with its intensity and she knew that everyone was staring at her in shock. Xander was the only one that knew from past experience that there was a voice to go along with the resolve face that everyone bowed down to. He even knew in what types of situations she would use it, so he was the only one that was not 100 shocked with her tone. There was little that Willow would not do for her friend especially at this moment when she knew that everything was coming to a head.
"I-- I know that what I did was wrong. Especially for a slayer. I know, but…there was just…I let my instincts control me, and you know something? It actually had a good outcome. We're lucky that I did what I did, cause otherwise Faith or I would be dead right now. They told me that there would be this new big bad coming, only it's going to be bigger and badder than anything that we've faced before. They wanted me to fight and kill Faith! They thought that it would prove my worth, as if this was the 16th century at a jousting tournament. They were going to give me Faith's strength in addition to my own. They in their crazy, old-fashioned, warped mind, thought that by me killing Faith and giving me her powers that they would be helping. Then when they found out that I got some extras from my…experience with Angel they decided that they would just take her memories and give her strength to the next Slayer in Training. I know that you're not happy right now, and to tell you the truth, they weren't either, but they realized that good could come of it." Here she stopped for a moment, made sure that he was holding her gaze and continued on, her voice softer, but instead of loosing focus or impact, it seemed to multiply. "Giles, you know where the power of the Slayer comes from, I know you do, even if I'm fuzzy on the details. This power boost that I got from Angel, it doesn't feel wrong, it doesn't set off my slayer. Giles, my slayer welcomed it."
Silence met Buffy's enflamed speech. Everyone wanted to say something, but no one was willing to break the spell that her words had cast on her former watcher. The Scoobies and Angel watched as Slayer and Watcher kept their gazes locked on each other, knowing that a conversation and battle was being waged silently, the only weapons being used were their eyes.
It was Giles that finally broke the hypnotic gaze between him and his slayer. He turned his gaze on the vampire that has surprised him more on this night than in the entire two and a half years that he had known him. Giles thought back on this night, thinking on how he had sided with Buffy against Wesley this night, even though he in the darkest part of his heart still felt anger, blame and hate towards his slayer's former lover. He knew that Angelus was the one responsible for Jenny's death, as well as his own torture, but he could not help the disquieting whispers in his heart that said that Angel was just as responsible. He looked at the ensouled vampire and knew that he would need to come clean about what exactly his demon friend did that night when they were playing Faith, but he knew that now was not the time.
Looking back to his slayer, he realized that he couldn't turn back time and change what she did. And in the back of his mind, he's almost thankful that she did indeed acquiesce to her instincts; he knew that if she were to listen to them she would live a longer life, perhaps not safer, but longer.
"Would it be too much to hope that they were able to come up with a plan about how to stop the ascension?" At his question everyone knew that the issue of Buffy's new gifts was over, not forgotten, but over for this moment.
"Actually, I have a plan. It's crazy and a long shot, but I think that it could work."
