Disclaimer: Nothing but the original characters belong to me. All songs quoted through-out the story are owned by their respective artists.
Rating: M-ish, overall (for violence, mild language, maybe some sexual innuendo in later chapters, but there will be absolutely NO smut!)
Thank you to all who have reviewed so far!
~o~
"I close my eyes every night
And I dream that I can hold you
They fill us full of lies everyone buys
About what it means to be a soldier
I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel
About all the blood that's been spilled
Will God on his throne
Get me back home
On the day after tomorrow"
- "Day After Tomorrow" by Tom Waits
Chapter 35: Mulling Things Over
When Giles had called Buffy the following day to ask her to come down to the bookstore, she was rather apprehensive. She knew she would end up having to answer everyone's questions about what had happened, and she hated when everyone fussed over her. Furthermore, she was still upset after her conversation with Angel the previous night, and felt more like spending her time alone, moping. After the initial glow of knowing that Angel still wanted to be with her had worn off, she was left with so many unanswered questions, ones that she dreaded asking him. She decided finally that maybe having everyone ask her a million questions about her poor shredded arm would be less torturous than sitting alone and letting her imagination run away with itself, thinking of all the horrible things that could befall Angel on his journey. As soon as she stepped into the shop, Lily shot out of her seat, and crushed Buffy in an overly enthusiastic hug.
"Ow..." she winced.
"Oh God, I'm sorry!" Lily apologized, "I was just so worried! You're okay right? You're gonna be okay?" she rambled.
"I'll be fine in a few weeks, don't worry." Buffy smiled. Olly remained a bit more composed than Lily did. Without speaking he hugged her gently, and gave her a friendly pat on the back, but Buffy could tell from the look on his face that he was clearly relieved to see her in one piece. She took a seat next to Willow, who smiled at her, and squeezed her shoulder affectionately. Buffy could see in her eyes that she was eager to talk to her, and surmised that Giles must have told her that it was Angel who came to her rescue.
"So what's the deal Giles?" She asked, hoping to turn everyone's attention to the matter at hand.
"Ah, yes." Giles began, "Well, once discovering that the dagger we had in our possession was in fact the wrong one, it sent me back to consulting sources dealing with Ancient Egyptian rituals... and I believe I may have found something."
"Well spit it out Giles, the clock's ticking!" Olly urged.
Giles shot him an irritated glance, "I found mention of a spell in the Book of the Dead, a spell that could be used to call back powerful spirits from the Afterlife."
"What does this have to do with the Hellmouth though?" Buffy asked, "And why does he need my blood for it?"
"Well, one of my sources made reference to a dark Priest who attempted to alter a spell from the Book of the Dead to overthrow one of the Pharaohs... it was said that he used a ceremonial dagger, and the blood of a warrior in his incantation." Giles explained.
"You think this warrior was a Slayer?" Lily asked.
"No... but I would suppose warriors are in short supply in these modern times..." Giles drawled.
"Regardless, if such a powerful spell was possible with just a warrior's blood, think about what a Slayer's blood could do in a similar ritual." Willow added.
"Right..." Buffy muttered thoughtfully, "But I still don't see what this has to do with the Hellmouth."
"It's my guess that Dustin is trying to use the spell to awaken the Guardian."
"Great," Buffy groaned, "So, when is all this supposed to be happening then? In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a little down for the count right now, so we need a plan, and a good one."
"That's why I called you here. As we may be pressed for time, Willow thinks she may have found a solution, or at the very least something to take some of the pressure off your shoulders, Buffy."
Willow smiled excitedly. It had been a while since she'd had to use magic to save the world, she was looking forward to something challenging again. ""I think I can create a binding spell. I'll need a bit of time to work out the kinks, but essentially, as long as we manage to catch them before anything crawls out of the Hellmouth, I can reverse anything they might try to do. You, Angel and Spike will just need to keep them distracted long enough for me to complete it, and then we'll have saved the day again!"
"That sounds great Will, how much time do you need?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I've got Lily helping me so-"
"I'm sorry, what?" Buffy blurted.
Lily's face drained of colour, and Willow clamped her mouth shut tightly, her eyes wide in horror as she realized what she'd just let slip.
"I mean... um..."
"Lily!" Buffy exclaimed.
"It's not... I didn't... you weren't..." Lily stammered, her face slowly turning a deep shade of red.
"I told you not to do anything that could get you hurt!" Buffy scolded.
"Buffy, relax, she just wanted to do something to help." Olly intervened.
"Don't you start Olly, I know your dirty little secret too!" Buffy exclaimed.
Olly's jaw dropped open, "He told you? That was supposed to be our secret!" he stammered, "What a jerk..."
"Look, I appreciate you wanting to help out, really, I do..." Buffy sighed, "I just don't want either of you at the front lines, you don't know what you'll be up against."
"Buffy, though I understand your rationale, I'm sure both Willow and Angel are taking every precaution to make sure they're prepared and safe." Giles interjected. He understood Buffy's irate reaction, however there were more pressing matters at hand.
Buffy glared icily at Giles, but her expression soon melted away as she realized Giles' words held some truth in them. She knew Lily and Olly were both in good hands, and that perhaps with Willow and Angel watching their backs, they wouldn't be in any immediate danger.
"Alright... but if either of you die, I'll kill you." she pouted.
"That sounds pretty redundant." Olly smirked.
Buffy rolled her eyes, and the gang got down to discussing the details of their plan. As it began to take shape, she felt a familiar buzz of excitement. She felt as though she were back in the old Library, hashing out a way to stop the next end of the world. Braebrook may not be home, but it was definitely starting to feel like it.
~o~
Angel stalked towards the cemetery, his hands stuffed deep into his coat pockets, his head down, completely lost in his own thoughts. He'd been in a rather foul mood ever since confessing to Buffy that he planned on leaving town. He'd stopped by to see her before heading over to sweep the cemetery, and it had been difficult to bear. The conversation had been rather strained; it was as though they'd both forgotten how to act around each other. As Angel replayed the encounter in his head, it began to drive him mad. He was starting to worry that Buffy was secretly resentful of him, but scolded himself silently as the thought crossed his mind. He knew it was most likely that she was feeling the same way he was; desperately wanting to give into temptation, but knowing they had to keep themselves restrained until they both had answers. He sighed heavily, the unknown did not become less infuriating with time. He was shaken unceremoniously out of his deep thoughts by Olly bounding towards him enthusiastically.
"Angel man! What's the what?"
Angel's brow furrowed, "Olly, what are you doing here?"
"Patrolling! I figured since you let our little 'agreement' slip in front of Buffy, that I could, you know, help out." Olly explained.
"I don't know Olly..."
"Aw, come on man! You're here! You can save my ass if I get into any trouble!"
"I don't need to be 'saving your ass' on top of trying to patrol."
"Come on! Just this once! If it goes badly I'll stay home from now on, promise!" Olly pleaded, "I even brought my own stake!" he announced proudly, holding up a thick tree branch that he'd sharpened crudely on one end.
"No, Olly, if something happens to you Buffy will kill me."
"No, it's fine! See, you can just skip town before she even finds out!"
Angel glared daggers at the younger man, and continued walking.
"Yeah, she told us about the little trip you're planning." Olly said, trailing Angel into the cemetery.
"And?" Angel grumbled. He really didn't mind Olly's presence, but the one thing that drove him mad was he didn't seem to know when to keep his nose out of Angel's business.
"Well – uh – "Olly stuttered. He could tell Angel was irritated, but in his mind he kept seeing Buffy's face when she broke the news to all of them earlier that day. She put on a brave front, she tried to be positive, but he could see right through her act to how discouraged she really was underneath. There had to be a solution other than Angel travelling across an ocean, right? "It's a little extreme isn't it?" he asked.
"No. I need answers, and I'm going to get them." Angel answered bluntly.
"Can't you just... I don't know... test the theory out or something?" Olly continued, "I mean what's the worst that could happen?"
"I could lose my soul. You wouldn't like me very much without a soul."
"How do you know I like you all that much now?" Olly teased.
Angel shot him a dirty look, but it was quickly transformed into a smirk when he saw Olly grinning at him mischievously.
"Aw, come on, it can't be that bad... can it?"
"Yes. It can. Just ask Willow what I did to her fish..." Angel muttered, kicking a pebble aside as he walked. He took a beat to think and a grimace appeared on his face, "On second thought, don't ask Willow what I did to her fish..."
"Well, now you've got me all curious!"
Angel kept walking, looking straight ahead and hoping maybe Olly would take a hint and turn around, but he continued to trail him.
Olly sighed, "I don't know man, it just seems like a giant cop-out! You're both young- well, sort of... she is at least- that's not the point; you're both here, and pretty much got the green light from that creepy gypsy lady, so what are you dancing around the issue for!"
"Do you really want to get into a conversation about 'dancing around issues' with me?" Angel chuckled.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean how much longer are you gonna dance around asking Lily out?"
"Like apples and oranges! Don't go changing the subject!"
"If anything you have even less of a reason to not be with Lily-"
"That's not even true!"
"Really? Have you had a Gypsy curse placed on you, that if it breaks you end up torturing and killing everyone she loves?"
"No..." Olly huffed.
"Like I said, less of a reason." Angel smirked.
Their disagreement was interrupted by the sound of a snapping twig behind them. Olly span around with what he believed was a fierce yell, his gnarled stake raised to strike.
"Oi! Watch where you're pointin' that thing, pal." Spike exclaimed, his hands in the air.
Olly's hand dropped back down to his side, an indignant look on his face, "Maybe you shouldn't be creeping around in the dark!"
"Vampire." Spike retorted, placing a hand on his chest, "Creepin' around in the dark is what I do best."
"You're late Spike." Angel interjected in an attempt to derail the bickering that was probably soon to erupt between his two new patrolling companions.
"Thought I'd swing by the industrial park, make sure all was quiet... you're welcome!" he cracked, "So what were you two ladies bickerin' about before I interrupted?"
"Angel's leaving town again." Olly explained.
"That's not what we were fighting about!" Angel snapped.
"Again mate? Bloody hell..." Spike shook his head, "Well, at least I'll be here to comfort poor Buffy this time..." he taunted, a large grin plastered on his face.
"Oh please Spike, as if that'll ever happen again." Angel scoffed.
"Hey, I'm quite a catch you know!"
"Really? The 80's called, Billy Idol wants his hair back-"
"Really Pal? The 90's called, they want their joke back-"
"I'm sorry, can we skip back to where you said 'this time'?" Olly interrupted. He turned to Spike, "You mean, you... and Buffy?"
"Yeah... she never mentioned anythin'?"
"I wouldn't have if I were her..." Angel smirked.
"After all the help I've given you over the years? Really Angel, that hurts." Spike pouted.
"Seriously Spike?" Angel groaned sarcastically.
"Alright, fine, I'll forgive you." he turned to whisper to Olly, "It's a touchy subject."
"You know, I'm doing this for Buffy, so we can know for sure if we can actually be together... I'm coming back. Not that I have to explain myself to you." Angel grumbled.
"Right then! Well, cheers mate! But just know that if you don't come back, I'm pouncin' on that – you've been warned." Spike grinned as Angel glared daggers at him. "So, since that's settled," Spike continued, turning to Olly, "When are you finally goin' to quit wussin' out and go for that cute little Pixie, eh?"
"Oh good greif..." Olly groaned.
Angel just chuckled and continued walking.
~o~
Sorry if the whole Book of the Dead thing seems hokey... I sort of have a mild obsession with Ancient Egypt. That aside, I thought it might be fun to try and tie some real-world stuff into the Buffyverse instead of just making up another spell book, or another prophesy.
The whole Angel/Olly/Spike scene was really just filler! I enjoy having them bicker, and I needed to add something to this chapter! :p
Reviews please?
Until next week!