Chapter 29: Lover's Walk
Xander and Willow sat on the front steps of the school, reading their SAT scores.
"This is a nightmare. This is ... my world is spinning," said Willow, distraught.
Xander smiled at his friend. "Will, it's not that bad. Really."
"Seven-forty verbal? That's ... I'm pathetic. Illiterate! I'm Cletus the slack-jawed yokel," said Willow.
"That's right," Xander said. "And the fact that your seven forty verbal closely resembles my combined scores in no way compromises your position as the village idiot."
"I just ... where did I go wrong?" Willow said as Xander put a hand on her shoulder, comfortingly, as Paige and Oz walk up from behind them.
"You did amazing, Willow. As usual," Xander said, softly.
"You guys get your scores?" asked Paige as Xander removed his hand from Willow's shoulder.
"Paige! Willow is very sad. From her academic failure and how did you do?" said Xander as Paige handed him her scores. He frowned as he read her scores. "This is not good."
"What's not good?" asked Paige.
Xander smiled. "I'm just worried it may hurt my standing as campus stud when people find out I'm dating a BRAIN."
"Yeah, I can see why you'd be upset," Oz said looking over Willow's scores as she looked up at him. "That was my sarcastic voice."
"Sounds a lot like your regular voice," said Xander.
Oz nodded. "I've been told that. But I'm thinking we should celebrate. Do something."
"Double date ... Could have potential ..." said Xander as Buffy and Dawn approached.. They notice that Buffy is looking pretty shell shocked.
"Buffy! Dawn! Hey, did you two get your SAT scores?" asked Willow as the sisters nod.
"And from the look on your face, Buffy, I suspect that we'll be manning the drive-thru side by side," said Xander.
"These scores—what do they really mean?" Buffy asked as she handed her results to Willow.
"Fourteen-thirty combined?!" Willow said, wide-eyed. "Buffy, you kicked ass!" Everyone gasped. "Okay, so academic achievement gets me a little excited."
"Then you really should be happy with mine," said Dawn as she handed hers to Willow.
"Buff, that's amazing!" said Xander.
"Two thousand?" said Willow, shocked as she looked at Dawn's results.
"I do have a genius level IQ," said Dawn by way of explanation.
"Scores like that, you can apply pretty much anywhere you want," said Oz as he looked at Buffy and Dawn.
"This could, like, change your whole future," said Willow in agreement.
Buffy nodded. "That thought had occurred to me ..."
"To all of us," said Dawn as she motioned to herself and Paige.
"Then why the long face?" asked Xander.
"I don't know. I guess ... My future. Never really thought about it. Wasn't sure I was gonna have one," said Buffy.
Later Xander and Paige stood in front of her locker. "Come on, it'll be fun," Xander said.
Paige sighed. "I don't know. I thought we were gonna do something, you know, classy."
"What's classier than bowling?" Xander asked.
Paige rolled her eyes. "It would just have been nice to gone out you know, have dinner, maybe a movie."
"Oz and Willow are down. You're the swing vote," Xander said as he noticed pictures of him and Paige taped to the inside of the locker door. "Hey. Those are from the pier."
Paige nodded. "Yeah, I just got them developed."
"There's pictures. Of me. On your locker," Xander said.
"So?" Paige asked. "I put them there because I want to see your face between classes, get it? You make me happy, Xander. It's not really that big of a deal."
Xander took Paige's hands and smiled. "For ME, big deal. Never knew I was locker door material."
"Well you are," Paige said as Oz and Willow walked over to them.
"Hey, guys!" Willow said.
"What's the verdict? Do we bowl?" Oz asked.
Xander looked at Paige.
"We bowl," Paige said as she looked at Xander.
"A double bowling date! I'm on Oz's team," Willow said excitedly.
Xander linked arms with Paige as they started to leave. "Yeah, well, prepare to be crushed," he said as he looked at Paige. "Maybe we should practice..."
When Paige and Xander turned the corner, she finally spoke up. "You owe me dinner, you know," she said.
Xander smiled and kissed her. "I know. And I'll make it up to you I promise."
Later Paige walked into the library and noticed that Buffy and Dawn were already there and that he was holding both Buffy and Dawn's S.A.T. scores. He looked at Paige expectantly and she handed hers to him.
Giles looked over the scores and a smile crossed his lips. "This is remarkable."
"So is this... Where IS this retreat thing - the Yukon?" Buffy asked motioning towards the camping gear.
"It's quite nearby. The clearing at the top of Breaker's Woods. Site of some fascinating Druidic rituals," Giles said.
"Okay, but it's just a few days, right? You're not gonna settle there and grow crops or anything," Buffy said.
"What? My gear? I'm only bringing the basic necessities," Giles said.
Paige shook her head as she looked at the gear. "Giles, you pack like us."
Giles handed the girls back their scores. "Here. I suspect your mother will want to put these on your refrigerator."
"Oh yeah," Dawn said. "She saw our scores, her head spun around and exploded."
"I've been on this Hellmouth for too long. That was metaphorical, yes?" Giles asked wearily.
Buffy nodded. "Yes. She was happy. Started up with all kinds of crazy talk about us going to college, maybe going somewhere ... else ..." she said as Giles knitted his brow. "We know, we told her you'd have a goat, I mean, responsibilities and all, I know the drill. Besides Paige and Dawn would want to stay and help."
"We would," Paige and Dawn agreed.
"She may be right," Giles said as Paige, Dawn and Buffy looked at him shocked.
"What?" Dawn asked.
"Be kind, rewind," Buffy said.
"May be right?" Paige asked.
Giles nodded. "With scores like these, you three could get first rate educations. I'm not going to ask you to ignore your calling, Buffy. Or for Paige and Dawn not to continue to help you. But you three do need to look to your futures. And with Faith here, it may be that you three could move on, at least for a time."
None of the sisters are sure how they feel about that. "Wow," they said together.
"We'll discuss it when I get back. While I'm gone I'll expect you three to keep up on your training. And don't do anything rash," Giles said.
"Anything rash meaning...?" Buffy asked.
"Are you planning to see Angel?" Giles asked.
"Well, yeah, but Giles, there's not gonna be any rash," Buffy said as she got his meaning. "Anywhere. We're friends, and that's all either of us wants. Nothing's gonna happen."
That night Buffy, Paige and Dawn are sitting at the kitchen island eating as Joyce presented them each with college brochures.
"Carnegie Mellon has a wonderful design curriculum," Joyce said. "And Brown University's history program is ... You three like history, right?"
"Couldn't we do this another time?" Buffy asked. "This whole day, everyone's like, Congratulations. Go away."
"That's not it. It's just – You three should be at a good old-fashioned college, with keg parties and boys. Not here, with Hellmouths and vampires," Joyce said.
"Not really seeing a huge distinction there ..." Buffy said.
"You three are always talking about how you wish you could lead more normal lives. Well, this is your chance," Joyce said.
Buffy sighed. "It's not that simple, Mom. I have responsibilities."
"And we're not leaving Buffy to face those responsibilities alone," Paige said.
"I know, I know," Joyce said. "But I spoke with Rupert, and he said –"
"That Faith could be Miss Sunnydale in the Slayer pageant. We know," Buffy said.
"It's time to think about the futures," Joyce said. "About your whole lives. You know this is in part why I turned my back on our heritage. I wanted no part in it. I wanted to settle down, have children. Not what my Uncle wanted."
"We know mom," Dawn said. "But you also raised us to respect our heritage also. You raised us to not shirk our duties. It's mine and Paige's duty to help Buffy. And it's Buffy's …"
Joyce sighed and nodded. "Well just think about it, okay?"
"We will," Buffy said, "we promise. Right Paige? Dawn?"
Paige and Dawn nodded.
The next night Oz and Paige walk into the Chemistry lab, where Willow and Xander had said to meet them and frowned at the mess they found. They turned and headed for the library.
Buffy was jumping rope when the library doors slammed and she spun around to find Paige and Oz.
"Good you're here," Paige said.
"Not all of us have dates tonight," Buffy said as she rolled her eyes.
"Something's up," Oz said as Paige grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her back to the Chemistry lab as Oz followed them.
"We were supposed to meet them here," Paige said.
Buffy picked up a candle and ran her finger through a gooey puddle of potion on the counter. "What is all this stuff? Cause I'm thinking WEIRD science."
"I'm not sure," Paige said. "I didn't look to closely when we came in looking for them. They look like spell ingredients. But I don't know what spell they would have been working."
Buffy nodded. "Whatever happened, whatever they were working on, there was a fight."
"There's no blood," Oz said.
"Either they ran, or they were taken, or..." Buffy said.
"Don't go there," Paige said.
"Sorry, Paige," Buffy said. "Paige can you orb to Giles."
Paige nodded as she tried to orb out but only managed to orb back in, in the same spot. "Uh…"
"You always did have a problem," Buffy said. "When you were worried about me, Dawn or mom when it came to orbing." She looked to Oz. "Can you drive her?"
Oz nodded. "Sure."
"I'll look around—maybe they didn't go far," Buffy said.
"He said he was going to be in Breaker's Woods right?" Paige asked as Buffy nodded. She looked to Oz. "Do you?"
"I know the spot. But it's like a 45-minute drive," Oz said.
"So motor," Buffy said as Oz and Paige left.
Several minutes later they were in Oz's van as Oz drove them down the street.
"What are you sniffing?" Paige asked.
"Hmm?" Oz asked, he doesn't even realize he's doing it.
"You're sniffing," Paige said and then her eyes went wide. "The wolf!"
"What about it?" Oz asked.
"When you're a werewolf your senses are more keen than they are as a human. What if there is some transference of that," Paige said.
Oz slowed the van to a halt, sniffing harder and harder. "I think you might be right. I can smell Willow. She's nearby," he said as he sniffed again before throwing the van into reverse. "She's afraid..."
"While I'm not complaining," Paige said. "Don't you find that a little disturbing?"
"Yeah," Oz said as he turned the van down a side street.
Somewhere Xander stirred, moaning as Willow put her shoulder to the door trying to force it open. Hearing Xander she over to him. "Xander!" she said as Xander sat up with her help. "Are you okay?"
"Dizzy," Xander said. "Kinda nauseous, too. Do I remember having a fight with Spike?"
Willow nodded. "You do."
Xander felt his head and found dried blood on it. "I won, right? I kicked his ass."
"You were real brave ..." Willow said.
Xander bent over, head down, and held tightly onto Willow's hand.
"Do you need to barf?" Willow asked.
Xander shook his head. "No ... I'm okay," he said as he looked around. "Where are we?"
"The factory," Willow said. "We're locked in the basement."
"The factory where Spike lived?" Xander asked. "Burnt out place in the middle of nothing ... So we're pretty much into a scream all you want scenario."
Willow nodded. "Pretty much."
"Why didn't he just kill us?" Xander asked.
Willow sighed. "He wants me to do a love spell."
Xander blinked. "What?"
"Drusilla broke up with him," Willow explained.
Xander shook his head. "Gee, and we'd all hoped those crazy kids were gonna make it work."
Willow sighed. "He's out of control. I mean, not that he was Joe Restraint in the old days ..."
"So what are our options?" Xander asked.
Willow shrugged. "Well, I figure either I refuse to do the spell and he kills us, or I do the spell, and he kills us."
"Give me a third option," Xander said.
"He's so drunk he forgets all about us and we starve to death. That's sort of the best one," Willow said.
Xander grabbed Willow's shoulders. "Willow. We're not gonna die. If he's so drunk he'll get sloppy and I'll make my move. As long as my move doesn't involve standing up or using my limbs, we'll be okay."
Willow folded into his arms, frightened and weary. They move closer to each other ... "We're not supposed to ..."
"Exemption for Impending Death Situations," Xander said as they kiss. They sink to the bed as Paige and Oz come through the door and down the stairs staring at them.
"Oh, Goddess," Paige said as Willow and Xander look at her and Oz.
"Oh, God," Xander said as he and Willow scramble to a seated position.
"Oh, God ... Oz ..." Willow said.
"We have to get out of here," Oz said, emotionless.
Xander jumped off the bed and moved a couple steps toward Paige. "Paige, I ..."
Paige clearly devastated, turned and ran up the stairs.
"Paige …" Xander called after her.
Just then they heard the sound of something collapsing Paige screaming just before the sound of a crash and silence. Willow, Oz and Xander ran up the stairs to find that the stairs had collapsed, leaving a gaping, splintered hole through which Paige fell.
"Paige!" Xander yelled as they reached the edge of the hole and peered down.
They saw Paige one level down, lying on her back in shock amidst a debris pile. "I fell ..." she said, dazed.
They looked down and saw that she has been skewered through her abdomen. "I'll go get help," Oz said as he made his way around the hole and out of the factory.
"Paige? Don't move! Oz went for help!" Xander said. "Oh, God ..."
"Don't move! Don't even talk ..." Willow said.
"Xander?" Paige said, feebly.
Willow shook her head. "No! That's talking! DON'T talk!"
"I'm going down there," Xander said.
"It's too unstable, Xander!" Willow said, concerned.
"Will, she needs someone with her," Xander said as he looked to Willow for approval, and against her better judgment, she nodded.
Using whatever he could grab hold of, Xander lowered himself down into the guts of the staircase. At the edge of the hole. Willow cried and squeaked the occasional "careful!" as she watched Xander descend.
Xander knelt cradling Paige, holding her hand. As he began to cry he noticed that Paige was losing a lot of blood. "Just hold on. Please. Hold on ..."
"Xander ..." Paige said.
"Paige ..." Xander said.
"I can't see you ..." Paige said as her eyes rolled back into her head and her body went limp.
"Paige!" Xander yelled, afraid that she might be dead.
A few days later in Paige's hospital room; Xander appeared at the door, grovel-ready, with a humongous bunch of flowers. He looked at Paige who laid in the bed, facing the chair that Buffy slept in.
"Can I come in?" Xander asked.
Paige turned to look at him as he walked in and placed flowers near her bed.
"They wouldn't let me see you till now," said Xander. "Look, Paige, I just need you to know that –"
"Xander?" Paige whispered.
"Yeah?" Xander said as he moved in close to her face.
"Stay away from me," said Paige, icily.
Xander looked at her, then slowly moved from the bed. She looked back toward Buffy, pain etched on her face.
