Author's Note: Hey guys, so a much quicker update for you this time and I have already started Reptile Boy as well. Thank you so much for the favourites, follows and reviews! Every single one means the absolute world to me.
DaBillmann: I'm glad you liked the chapter and I like the thought of Wesley being less uptight with having his own Slayer there and the circumstances being different with Giles being the Watcher in charge if you like. I just feel that Giles is rather harsh sometimes and I feel like Wesley needs to balance that rather than be just as strict. I hadn't actually thought of their friendship like that, I like that you've seen something and noticed something that I haven't! Haha, I just feel so bad sometimes when I take a while to update! And it annoys me too though, cause I feel bad as well! I always feel like that with me but then anyone else and I'm just like 'take as long as you need, don't worry!' One standard for me, a different standard for everyone else! I hope you enjoy the chapter!
NutterButter123: I hope you enjoy the chapter, I'll try and get the next one out as fast as I can!
Grapejuice101: I'm glad you're enjoying it, I hope you like this chapter too!
Chapter Twenty-Five:
Inca Mummy Girl: Part Two.
Buffy brought Ampata straight to the library in the morning where Giles practically ambushed the young woman, asking immediately about the seal, in a rather awkward way which the blonde Slayer couldn't help but comment on.
Ampata took the artifact gingerly, her eyes widening in shock as she looked at it.
"Is everything okay?" I asked the girl and she shook her head, inquiring as to why she was being asked.
"It's an artifact from the tomb of an Incan mummy from your region." Wesley explained to the girl who looked confused. "We are trying to translate it for our-" Wesley faltered, looking at the rest of us for help and Willow piped up.
"Our archaeology club!"
I gave her an impressed look as Ampata asked about the other pieces.
"That's all we found." Buffy stated.
"Hmm. It is very old and valuable." Ampata held the seal out to Giles for him to take. "You should hide it!" She said urgently and I frowned in confusion, exchanging curious glances with Wesley as Giles asked further about it, the "chap with the knife" to be specific. Sometimes I forgot how English the two Watchers really were.
Ampata identified the man with the knife as bodyguard, before explaining part of the legend behind it. "Legend has it that he guards the mummy against those who would disturb her."
Watcher and Slayer started going on about different things that they had to do and Xander volunteered to babysit Ampata for the day, to which she looked extremely happy and the pair left the library, Willow watching them leave wistfully as Giles started handing out jobs. He got to Willow but the red-head wasn't paying attention, too busy looking at where Xander and Ampata had just gone.
"Boy, they really like each other." She murmured and I limped over to her, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Will." I apologised and she sighed before shrugging me off gently.
"Rebecca, you can help with research about this 'bodyguard'. Giles and I will work on translating the rest of the seal." Wesley explained and I nodded, moving to the table to sit down.
"Can we translate it without the rest of the pieces?" I questioned and Giles gave a shrug.
"Well, we'll have to find out. For now, we can start work on translating the piece that we have." Giles answered and our small group sat down at the table, Buffy and I sat next to one another, analysing the artifact, Willow sat across from us and the two Watchers in their office, researching the other aspects and the region it was found in.
The library was silent as Buffy and I studied it, asking Willow for advice about what we thought looked to be a match between the translation and the seal. The red-head wasn't really paying much attention though, playing with her toy frog.
Buffy called the red-head out of her daze. "Oh! Yes. I'm caring about mummies." The red-head tried to convince us and herself but I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ampata's only staying two weeks." Buffy tried to comfort the girl but she just gave a small shrug.
"Yeah. And then Xander can find someone else who's not me to obsess about. At least with you I knew he didn't have a shot." The red-head gave a small shrug and I smirked.
"Yeah, too bad he was the only one who couldn't tell." I teased and the two girls gave a small smile. Willow sat up a bit straighter.
"Well, you know, I have a choice. I can spend my life waiting for Xander to go out with every other girl in the world until he notices me, or I can just get on with my life." Willow declared and Buffy grinned at her.
"Good for you."
Willow's face fell slightly. "Well, I didn't choose yet."
I was about to reply, encouraging her to choose the latter option when Giles and Wesley spoke from next to the blonde Slayer, congratulating the pair of us on our work, although personally I wasn't sure what I'd done.
"It seems Rodney's killer might be the mummy." Giles stated and I raised an eyebrow, getting up and hobbling over to where the Watchers were, looking over their shoulders at it.
"Where does it say that?" Willow questioned.
"Here. The mummy is apparently capable of feeding on the life-force of a person." Wesley murmured.
"Effectively freeze-drying them, you could say." Giles added, before mumbling about how "extraordinary" the findings were.
"So then we just have to stop the mummy. Which leads to the question: how do we a: find the mummy and b: stop the mummy?" Buffy questioned and Giles sighed.
"Well the answer to that is somewhere still in here. Or in the rest of the seal."
We were silent for a few minutes, contemplating our next move when Xander and Ampata burst through the library doors, panting and looking terrified.
"Xander, what's wrong?" I asked, standing up and limping over to my brother, as he moved towards me, one arm around Ampata as the pair sat down at the table. I moved back to my seat as my brother and Ampata explained what had happened.
"Are you both okay?" I questioned, focusing more on my brother than on the exchange student. It wasn't that I didn't care about her, it's just that I care about my brother more.
Giles came out of the office a few minutes later, handing Ampata a cup of tea, which she looked extremely grateful for.
"Why's this guy so into us? I mean, what's he want?" Willow asked.
"He said 'give me the seal'." Xander answered and Giles picked the aforementioned artifact up rather gingerly.
"Apparently this is more popular than we realized. I just don't know what we should do with it." Giles confessed.
"Destroy it." Ampata murmured quietly but her voice echoed throughout the silent library. "If you do not, someone could die."
"Someone already has." Wesley stated rather bluntly and the girl looked worried.
"You mean the man with the knife killed someone?" She demanded and I exchanged a glance with Buffy, letting her decide how much to reveal.
"Uh, no. Well, not exactly." Buffy tried to evade the question but Ampata wasn't having any of it, noticing the Slayer's hesitation.
"You are not telling me everything." She challenged, locking eyes with each of us in turn, but I didn't drop my gaze from hers. I didn't care if she was offended by my refusal to tell her what was going on; I didn't know anything about this girl, no way in hell was I going to tell her exactly what was going on and who we were.
"You're right, Ampata." My brother took her hand and I worried about what he was about to do. "We're not an archeology club. We're in-"
Giles cleared his throat and Buffy and I glared at him. I couldn't believe it! We barely even knew this girl and Xander was just going to tell her about us? Did he have no brain? Well, he certainly had one but he was clearly using something else to think with.
"We're in the crime club. Which is kinda like the chess club, only with crime and no chess." I rolled my eyes at his explanation but let out an inaudible breath I didn't know I'd been holding.
"Please understand me. That seal nearly got us killed. It must be destroyed!" The girl stressed, getting to her feet and rushing out of the library and I hobbled over to my brother, before he could run after the girl and punched him in the arm, as lightly as I could but still hard enough to hurt.
"Ow! Becks?!" He snapped but he fell silent at my glare.
"Don't ever do that to me or Buffy again." I warned. "That is our secret to tell and only ours."
"Alright fine. Ampata!" He called, running out after the girl and I rolled my eyes, not even surprised that he didn't apologize, turning back to the two girls and the Watchers.
"Well that was weird." Buffy commented and I raised an eyebrow in question. "Ampata's reaction." The Slayer clarified.
I frowned, thinking over it before giving a shrug. "I dunno, I think she's just freaked over what happened. I guess it's not normal for her to be attacked by a guy with a knife." I pointed out and Buffy nodded, but she didn't seem sure.
Willow mentioned that she was going to go find Xander and I nodded at her, sitting back down, as did Buffy, the two Watchers standing nearby.
"I don't get it. Why would the bodyguard have such a jones for a broken piece of rock?" Buffy questioned and I frowned.
"Unless he needs to put it with the other pieces maybe?" I suggested and Giles nodded.
"That could be possible."
"If he has them. I mean, we didn't find them." Buffy stated and I frowned.
"We were ran out of there pretty quickly though by that guy - maybe we missed them?"
"Then they could still be at the museum." Wesley realized.
"So, maybe we should go there and find them. And odds are he'll show up too right?" Buffy questioned and Giles nodded.
"And hopefully we'll be ready." Giles murmured and Buffy grinned.
"Hey, look at us! We came up with a plan. A good plan." Buffy mused.
"Alright. We'll meet there tonight after it closes." Giles declared and Buffy's face fell.
"No! Bad plan. I have other plans. Dance plans." She complained but Giles glared at the blonde and she sighed, frowning. "Cancelled plans." She murmured and I smiled apologetically at her, for the first time glad that I had injured my leg. Wesley hadn't mentioned anything about me having to go and considering he freaked out over me going to the museum for a research reason, I doubted that he would make me go to the museum when there was more risk of a fight occurring. Sometimes I was really glad that Giles wasn't my Watcher; he was sometimes rather harsh towards Buffy whereas Wesley was more easy-going. Maybe it was because he was younger, I mused curiously.
~8~8~
The walk home from school with Xander was rather quiet, as we were still rather annoyed with each other; him because I punched him, and me because he almost told Ampata about our lives.
"My arm still hurts." Xander snapped as we went into the house and I rolled my eyes.
"Good. Maybe next time that'll teach you not to tell other people's secrets." I retorted and Xander huffed.
"What's the big deal?" He questioned and I sighed in annoyance.
"Xander, that isn't your secret to tell. You're not allowed to tell people about things like that unless you ask me first and make sure that I'm alright with it. The same with Buffy." I explained and he sighed, frowning.
"Alright, fine." He conceded and I nodded.
"Thanks. Now, can I have the bathroom first or do you want it?" I asked; Xander didn't wait to reply, just practically dived for the stairs, up to the bathroom and I rolled my eyes, a small smirk on my face.
"Well, that answers that." I murmured.
~8~8~
A few hours later, and Xander and I were ready to go. There was a knock at the door and I grabbed my crutches, limping over to the door and opening it to see Jonathan stood there in a costume rather similar to my brother's.
"Wow, Becky. You look amazing." Jonathan praised and I grinned. I had decided to go for an 'English Military' style costume, with a shirt and tie, under a button up 'blazer' and a long skater skirt with my combat boot, my other foot still in its cast. My hair was pinned back, curled and my make-up was rather minimal, just a small line of black eyeliner coating my eyelid and wearing a pale pink lipgloss.
"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." I complimented and he smiled back. I said goodbye to Xander, who was leaving to get Ampata. He'd told me about Willow telling him to take Ampata to the dance just the two of them and I'd felt so sorry for the girl but also rather proud at how she'd handled Ampata. I just hoped that she wasn't too upset.
"Xander, I'll see you at the Bronze." I told him before leaving the house, hearing a "goodbye" shouted at the pair of us as the door closed.
"So how've you been? It feels like I haven't spoken to you in ages." I commented and Jonathan rolled his eyes.
"That's because you haven't." He pointed out and I smiled sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, things have just been rather hectic lately." I apologised and Jonathan waved my apology off.
"Don't worry about it, it's okay. I know a lot of things are up at the moment. It's okay." There was a moment of silence before Jonathan spoke next. "It was the night of Spring Fling, wasn't it?" Jonathan asked and I sighed, debating silently whether or not to tell him.
"Yeah." I answered, nodding.
"Can I ask what happened?" He murmured and I sighed.
"I don't know if I can tell you. Not right now anyway." I murmured and he nodded.
"That's okay. So what do you think of Xander's new girlfriend?" Jonathan asked and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"You know?"
"Becky, the whole class knows. They're not exactly hiding it." He pointed out and I sighed.
"True. Xander isn't exactly discreet." I admitted.
"None of you are." Jonathan stated and I raised an eyebrow at the boy, curious as to what he meant. He looked embarrassed but continued with what he was saying. "Well, you're always around when all the shit that happens goes on. You and your little group."
"You've noticed?" I questioned curiously and Jonathan shrugged, blushing slightly.
"Everyone has. Becky, the whole year knows that if something weird goes down then your group will be there to sort it out and get rid of it." Jonathan carried on as we neared the Bronze and I frowned.
"Seriously?" I asked, bewildered to discover this and my friend gave another shrug.
"Well, yeah. Everyone knows this town is weird anyway; it's actually kind of nice to know that there's people who can stop what's happening and prevent people from getting hurt." He explained as we entered the Bronze and I smiled.
"Well, that's what we do." I murmured. "Now come on, that's getting too deep. Let's go find Willow." I declared, pulling Jonathan through the crowd, until we found the red-head. Not that Willow's red hair was visible underneath her fluffy hood; the girl had decided to go as an eskimo and she looked adorable.
"Will! Your costume is amazing, it's very authentic." I nodded, grinning at her and she smiled back but only slightly.
"Ampata said the same thing." She murmured and I smiled apologetically.
"Well, she wasn't wrong." Jonathan chimed in. "It's a very accurate costume, even the spear is accurate."
Willow smiled at Jonathan, complimenting him on his own costume. "Becky though, you look amazing! The hair and the skirt, it's very you!" She exclaimed and I grinned.
"Agent Harris, reporting for duty!" I smirked, pretending to salute and the pair rolled their eyes at me.
"Do either of you want a drink?" Jonathan asked the pair of us and I nodded whilst Willow shook her head.
"I'll have a coke, please Jonathan." I asked and he nodded, leaving to get me a drink and one for himself I assumed.
"So still no sparkage?" Willow questioned with a smirk on her face and I rolled my eyes.
"For the last time, there is no sparkage between Jonathan and I. We're just good friends." I stated, rolling my eyes.
"Who's just good friends?" A voice came from nowhere and I looked over to see Amy Madison standing beside us, smiling widely.
"Amy, how are you?" I asked, moving forward to hug the girl, as did Willow a few seconds later; we hadn't spoken to the girl since the body swap with her mother was reversed and Buffy was nearly killed. You'd think that people would stay in touch after something like that but alas, we hadn't so it was nice to see the girl again.
"You look amazing by the way!" I commented and it was true; her short blonde hair had been straightened, framing her round, pale face and a light gold eyeshadow brought out the blue in her eyes. She'd clearly come as some sort of English medieval princess or upper class maiden as she was in a gorgeous red and gold corset dress which accentuated her curves and went down to the floor.
"Thank you! You guys do as well, your costumes are so good!" She exclaimed and the pair of us thanked the blonde. "But Becky, what'd you do?" She asked, gesturing to my crutches and cast and I gave a shrug.
"I would tell you but then I'd have to kill you." I joked and the blonde rolled her eyes, laughing.
"I'd like to see you try. You couldn't face off against me." She retorted and I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really, you wanna take that bet?"
"Well, I've become rather proficient in magic since we last saw each other." She teased and I smirked at her.
"Well, maybe you should show me at some point."
"Maybe I will." Amy winked at me and Willow looked between the pair of us curiously but I don't think either of us really noticed; I certainly didn't notice her walk away, too wrapped up talking to Amy.
"How is that coming along anyway? Still no sign of your mother?" I questioned, dropping the joking tone and she shook her head.
"None whatsoever. Whatever that spell did to her, she hasn't been able to return." Amy shrugged.
"I bet you're glad." I commented and she gave a shrug.
"It's more a relief than anything. To just be me and be cool with being me. Eat as many brownies as I want." Amy joked and I grinned.
"Well, the brownies certainly aren't showing. You really do look great."
"It's just the dress. It's a corset so it's pulling my figure in pretty tight. I can barely breathe in it, to tell you the truth." Amy murmured, and I smiled apologetically at her.
"Oh the things we do for beauty." I moaned and she nodded.
"Beauty indeed." She agreed as Buffy and Willow ran up to me, supporting a half-conscious Xander between them.
"What's going on?" I questioned. "What's up with Xander?"
"Ampata's the mummy. She's going after Giles at the museum. He's trying to reassemble the seal. And we think Ampata tried to kiss Xander and drain his life force. Are you coming?" Buffy demanded and I made to move with them, but remembered the crutches and shook my head.
"I can't, my leg, I can't fight and I'll only slow you down. Go, save Giles and reassemble the seal. Come find me afterwards." I told them and Buffy nodded, the trio leaving as quickly as they arrived and I turned back to a rather startled Amy.
"So the exchange student's a mummy?" She questioned and I gave a shrug, feeling rather annoyed once again that I wasn't able to fight. I had faith in Buffy that she'd stop Ampata but I hated the not knowing and waiting around. It made me feel like I was helpless and unable to do anything; which, I guess that at the moment, I was. I was also rather pissed that I hadn't figured out the girl was the mummy; it was rather obvious now that I thought about it. She had freaked over the seal in the first place, wanting it hidden and then destroyed and she must've recognised the man with the knife, which would explain why she was so anxious about it.
"Apparently so."
"Who says this town is weird?" She smirked and I laughed, the blonde being able to make me forget about Ampata and my inability to fight or be helpless. "Would you care to dance with me, Agent?" She asked, her tone turning quiet and rather shy and I smiled warmly at the witch.
"I would be honoured to, Princess." I held my hand out for her, keeping up the charade of our costumes and she took my hand, as the pair of us walked slowly out onto the dancefloor. We had to walk slowly; I still had my crutches after all.
The band started playing something slow and, I suppose most wouldn't call what we did dancing; we mainly stood in one spot, opposite each other, holding hands and just swaying to the music. But hey, not a lot of actual dancing can be done when the one partner is on crutches.
~8~8~
Amy had returned home by the time Buffy, Xander and Willow came back to the Bronze, Xander upset and Willow quiet. Buffy filled me in on what happened and I told her about what Jonathan had said.
"Can I tell him? About us being Slayers?" I asked and she gave a shrug.
"If you really want to. Thanks for asking." She mentioned and I smiled.
"Well, I'd just given a massive speech to Xander about asking consent before spilling secrets. I couldn't then tell Jonathan about everything without checking with you first." I pointed out and the Slayer laughed.
"Well, true. He probably wouldn't be very happy." She commented and we both had a small laugh before I asked about him and what happened earlier that evening.
"Are they going to be okay?" I questioned quietly, looking over at where he and Willow were sat on the stairs, not saying a thing.
"I think so. They just need time. Xander to understand that his taste in women isn't totally rubbish and Willow to realise that there are other guys other than him." She murmured and I sighed.
"So basically, we're going to be waiting a lifetime." I stated and Buffy nodded.
"It certainly looks that way."
~8~8~
"Wow." Jonathan murmured and I nodded. I'd just finished telling the boy everything about what had happened since Buffy first came to Sunnydale up to the events of this evening. Fair to say, he was rather overwhelmed.
"That's… Really… Wow." He said again and I let out a small laugh.
"Pretty much sums it up."
"Becky, you're like a superhero." He commented and I tilted my head to the side.
"Technically, I suppose but I'm not wearing a cape or spandex. It makes my hips look big." I teased and he laughed.
"No but seriously Becky, you're amazing. The shit you've gone through… You and Buffy. It's…" Jonathan trailed off, struggling to find the words and I smiled at him.
"We're awesome. We know." I teased and he nodded. "So does this mean I can always copy your history homework from now on?" I questioned and he rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Becky. Although you do it anyway, I might add." He pointed out and I gasped in fake shock.
"How dare you suggest such a thing! I always do my homework! Especially history!" I declared and Jonathan snorted, causing me to lose the act and start laughing as well.
"Yeah, that didn't sound very convincing to me either." I admitted as we arrived at his house. "Well, have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday." I told him and he nodded, starting to walk up his drive as I began to limp down the road towards my own house.
"Becky!" I turned around. "Have you ever thought about a codename?" I rolled my eyes, before continuing down the road, a small smirk playing at the corners of my lips. Maybe telling Jonathan wasn't such a good idea after all…
~8~8~
"Xander? Are you okay?" I murmured, wandering into my room to see my brother lying on his bed, still fully clothed in his costume.
"I'm sorry about what happened with Ampata." I told him and he scoffed.
"It's typical. The only girl who actually liked me turned out to be a rotting mummy corpse." He complained and I frowned.
"At least she was a pretty corpse." I tried to console him but he just glared at me and I winced. "Yeah, maybe not the best comment to make." I admitted and he gave a humourless laugh.
"Look, Xander, there'll be other girls. Just because this one was an Incan mummy, raised from the dead that had to suck the life force out of people to stay alive, doesn't mean that they're all going to be like that." I pointed out and Xander sat up, nodding.
"Well when you put it like that…" He trailed off and we laughed. I grinned to myself, proud that I'd been able to coax a laugh out of my twin brother; I really was sorry about Ampata. Xander, although he may be a pain in the ass, he was my brother and I wanted him to be happy. The girl may have only been here a few days but in the short space of time that she was, she had made him happy.
I just hoped that next time he'd find someone to make him happy who wasn't an Incan mummy raised from her tomb.