Chapter 39: Passion

A security blanket of sunshine lights the room as Buffy wakes and she smiles. She rolls onto her side, coming face to face with an envelope made of parchment paper. The envelope is propped against the side of her pillow at eye level.

Buffy sits up, heart-beating, picks up the envelope. She removes a sheet of parchment paper, unfolds it to reveal a charcoal sketch - skilled, accurate, lovingly rendered - of Buffy sleeping, her head on her pillow… obviously drawn while she slept the night before.

Buffy gets up and runs out of her room and runs downstairs. She finds Prue, Piper and Phoebe in the kitchen having breakfast.

"Look who's awake." Piper says. "You almost overslept."

Buffy shakes her head, "I'll flame over there later. Angelus was in my room."

Prue, Piper and Phoebe look up at Buffy in shock.

"Your sure," Prue says.

Buffy nods and hands the sketch to Prue, "Yeah. Unless I'm learning to draw myself in my sleep."

Prue looks at the sketch and frowns. She then looks at her sisters, "Find some way to keep him out of the Manor. I'll take Buffy to school on the way to Bucklands. That way she and I can talk to Giles together."

30 minutes later Buffy and Prue walk into the library.

"He was in my room…" Buffy says.

"Who?" Giles asks.

"Angelus. He was in my room last night." Buffy says.

"You're sure." Giles says.

Prue nods, "Yes. He left her a sketch he drew of her sleeping by her bed."

"A visit from the pointed-tooth fairy." Xander says.

Cordelia frowns, "Wait, I thought vampires couldn't come in unless you invited them in."

Giles nods, "Yes, but if you invite them in once, thereafter, they are always welcome."

"Ya know, I think there may be a valuable lesson for you gals here about inviting strange men into your bedrooms…" Xander says.

"Oh, my god! I invited him into my car once! That means he could come back into my car whenever he wants!" Cordelia says.

Xander rolls his eyes, "Yep. Now you're doomed to having to give him and his vamp pals a lift whenever they feel like it. And those guys never chip in for gas."

"Giles is there a spell to reverse the invitation? A barrier of some sort to keep him out?" Prue asks. Piper and Phoebe were researching on their end trying to find one but it didn't hurt checking other sources.

"That also works for cars." Cordelia says.

"Well, I could certainly check my-" Giles says.

All eyes turn as two students step into the library. They both freeze at the four pairs of eyes fixed on them.

"Hel-lo… excuse me, but have you ever heard of knocking?" Xander says.

"We're supposed to get some books," one of the students says, "On Stalin. For a report."

"Does this look like a Barnes and Noble?" Xander asks.

Giles shakes his head, "Xander! This is the school library."

"Since when?" Xander asks innocently.

Giles nods and points, "Yes, third row, historical biography."

"Okay… uh, thanks." The Students pass them, walk behind the shelves.

Prue, Buffy, Giles, Cordelia and Xander look at one another for a beat, frustrated. Silenced.

"So… about-ay ee-thay ampire-vay… Allway-hay?" Xander says.

Giles nods, and the gang crosses to the doorway and exits.

Prue, Xander, Buffy, Cordelia and Giles walk the empty hallway.

"So, apparently Angel has decided to step up his harassment of you," Giles says.

"By sneaking into her room at night and leaving stuff? Why not just slash her throat, or strangle her in her sleep, or cut out her heart…? What? I'm trying to help." Cordelia says.

"It is a good, question though." Prue says. "Well, Giles?"

Giles nods, "It's a classic battle strategy, to throw ones opponent off his game. He's trying to provoke Buffy." He turns to Buffy. "To taunt you… goad you into a misstep of some sort."

"The "nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah" approach to battle," Xander says.

Giles nods, "Yes, Xander, once again you've managed to boil a complex thought down to its simplest possible form."

"Giles, Angelus once told me, when he was obsessed with Drusilla, one of the first things he did was to kill her family…" Buffy says.

Xander frowns and looks to Prue, "Your cousins."

Buffy nods, "We're going to have to do something to make sure Prue, Piper and Phoebe are protected from him."

"Buffy, we're the Charmed Ones. We've taken out vampires before with you." Prue says.

"Prue," Buffy says. "I'm still going to worry till I've taken care of him."

Giles nods, "I'll look for a spell…

"What about until you find a spell?" Buffy asks.

"Until then, you and your cousins are welcome to ride around with me in my car. You can protect them there." Cordelia says.

"Buffy, I understand your concern, but it is imperative you remain level-headed in this." Giles says.

Buffy shakes her head, "Easy for you to say. You don't have Angelus lurking outside able to come in whenever he wants."

"I know how hard this is for you. But as the Slayer, you do not have the luxury of being slave to your passions. You mustn't let Angel get to you, regardless of how provocative his behavior may become." Giles says.

Prue nods, "He does have a point. We have to keep an open mind on this."

"There you go. You Zen, you win." Xander says.

Buffy frowns, "Great, so basically, what you're saying is, "Just ignore him and maybe he'll go away.""

Giles nods, "Precisely."

Xander shakes his head, "Hey, how come Buffy doesn't get a snotty "once again you boil it down to its simplest form" thing? Watcher's pet."

Prue frowns, "Giles, seriously he's not going away because we ignore him."

In Ms. Calendar's classroom Willow sits in the front row.

"Don't forget I need your sample spreadsheets by the end of the week." Ms. Calendar says. The BELL RINGS. The exodus begins. "And I want both a paper print-out and a copy on disk." She looks to Willow, "Willow…"

Willow stop and turns to Ms. Calendar, "Yes?"

"I may be a little late coming in tomorrow. Do you think you could take over my class until I show?" Ms. Calendar asks.

"Really? Me? Teach the class? Sure! Oh, wait… but what if they don't recognize my authority? What if they try to convince me that you always let them leave class early? What if there's a fire drill? What if there's a fire?" Willow babbles.

Ms. Calendar smiles, "Willow… Willow, you'll be fine. I'll try not to be too late, okay."

Willow nods, "Okay… good. Earlier is good. Will I have the power to assign detention? Or make 'em run laps?"

"Willow…"

Willow and Ms. Calendar turn to see Giles and Buffy standing at the doorway to the hall. Buffy and Ms. Calendar's eyes meet. There's still a little tension there.

"Hello, Rupert… Payson." Ms. Calender says.

"Hey, Will. I thought I might take in a class. I could sure use someone who knows where they are," Buffy says.

Willow looks from Jenny to Buffy, then crosses quickly to join Buffy at the door. "Sorry. I have to talk to her. She's a teacher. And teachers are to be respected. Even if they're only filling in until the real teacher shows up. Otherwise, chaos could ensue, and…"

Buffy and Willow turn and leave.

That evening in her room at tha Manor Buffy is talking to Willow on the phone.

"I agree with Giles, you need to just try and not let him get to you. Angel's only doing this to try to get you to do something stupid. I swear, men can be such jerks sometimes… dead or alive." Willow says.

Buffy sits up in bed, her back against her headboard, as she talks on the phone. "I just hope Giles can find a "keep out" spell soon. I know I'll sleep easier once I can… sleep easier."

"I'm sure he will. He's, like, BookMan. Until then, just try to keep happy thoughts and…" Willow says.

"And… what? Willow…?" Buffy asks.

30 minutes later Willow and Buffy sit up side by side, backs against the headboard in Buffy's bed. Both are heavily laden with crosses and weapons, amazingly alert and wide-eyed.

"Thanks for having me over, Buffy. Especially on a school night and all." Willow says.

"Hey, no problem. Sorry about your fish," Buffy says.

Willow nods, "It's okay, we hadn't really had time to bond yet. I just got them for Hanukkah. Although, for the first time, I'm glad my parents didn't let me have a puppy."

Buffy shakes her head, "It's so weird… Every time something like that happens my first instinct is to run to tell Angel. Well actually not my first but definitely up there under Prue, Piper and Phoebe. I can't believe it's the same person. He's the complete opposite of what he was."

Willow nods, "Well… Sort of, except…"

Buffy sighs, "Except what?"

"You're still the only thing he thinks about." Willow says. "So…" she points to crossbow by Buffy's feet "…are you using that?

Prue walks into the room, "How are you Willow?"

"I'm okay, Prue. Thanks for asking." Willow says.

Prue smiles, "Piper, Phoebe and I are keeping our doors open. That way we can be in here in an instant. Buffy if you have to flame Willow straight to the attic."

"Okay," Buffy says.

The next morning Buffy and Willow walk toward the school.

Xander runs up to them. "Well, good morning, ladies. And what did you two do last night?"

"Oh, we had kind of a pajama-party-sleepover-with-weapons thing." Willow says.

"Ah, and I don't suppose either of you had the presence of mind to locate a camera to capture the moment?" Xander asks.

"I have to go. I have a class to teach in about five minutes and I need to get there early to glare disapprovingly at the stragglers." Willow says before she spots Ms. Calendar. "Oh, darn. She's here… Five hours of drawing up lesson plans yesterday down the drain."

Buffy watches Ms. Calendar and Giles and sighs. "I'll see you guys in class." She angles away to interrupt Ms. Calendar on her way inside. "Hey."

"Hi. Is there something - did you want something?" Ms. Calendar asks.

"Look, I know you're feeling bad about what happened and I want to say… good. Keep it up." Buffy says.

"Don't worry, I will." Ms. Calendar says. She turns to go.

"Wait. I, uh –" Buffy says. "He misses you." This is not what Ms. Calendar expected. "He doesn't say anything to me, but I know he does. I don't want him to be lonely. I don't want anyone to."

"Payson… Buffy, if I have a chance to make it up to you." Ms. Calendar says.

Buffy looks at Ms. Calendar and nods. It's what Prue would want her to do, "You really didn't know?"

Ms. Calendar looks to Buffy and shakes her head, "I was just told to watch him. I was never told what would happen if he and you…"

Buffy nods, "Then were good. In fact let's start over, okay?"

Ms. Calendar nods, "Sure."

"Hi, I'm Payson Halliwell, but my friends call me Buffy." Buffy says as she holds out her hand.

Ms. Calendar looks at Buffy and then smiles as she shakes Buffy's hand, "Jenny Calendar."

A few minutes later Buffy finds Giles in the hall. Cordelia sees them and crosses over to them.

"Buffy… so, how was your night?" Giles asks.

"Sleepless… but no fatalities," Buffy says.

Giles nods, "I found a ritual to revoke the invitation to vampires."

Cordelia smiles, "Oh, thank goodness. I actually had to talk my grandmother into switching cars with me last night."

Giles gives Cordy an incredulous look, then back to Buffy. "The ritual itself is fairly basic, actually: recitation of a few simple rhyming couplets, burning of moss herbs, hanging of crosses, sprinkling of holy water…"

"So stuff that we have at the house. And we can perform the ritual." Buffy says.

Giles and Buffy start away, leaving Cordelia behind.

"Holy water?! But… my car has leather upholstery!" Cordelia says.

That night at Willow's, Willow is nailing a wooden cross to her wall. "I'm going to have a hard time explaining this to my dad."

Buffy looks on as Willow nails the last of four wooden crosses to the frame around her French windows. Behind them, Cordelia pokes around Willow's room, bored.

"You really think this'll bother him?" Buffy asks.

Willow nods, "Ira Rosenberg's only daughter nailing crucifixes to her bedroom wall? I have to go to Xander's house just to watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas" every year."

"I see your point," Buffy says.

Willow smiles, "Although, it is worthwhile just to see Xander do the Snoopy dance."

"Uh, Willow, are you aware that there are no fish in your aquarium?" Cordelia asks.

Willow reacts, a hint of sadness wells up.

"You know, Cordelia, we've already done your car. You can call it a night if you want." Buffy says.

Cordelia crosses to her coat on Willow's bed. "Sure, two's company, three's… not. And you know I'd do the same for you if either of you had a social life." She picks up her coat from Willow's bed, revealing a parchment paper envelope on the pillow. "Oh, hey… this must be for you."

Willow and Buffy exchange a concerned look. Willow takes the envelope, removes the paper inside, glances at it. She reacts with concern, then holds the page out to Buffy. "It's for you…"

Buffy takes the paper from Willow and sees a charcoal sketch of a sleeping Piper. "Piper…"

Outside the Manor Piper turns her car into the driveway, the headlights sweep across Angel, who seems to appear in front of the car out of nowhere. Piper slams on her brakes out of habit.

Angel crosses to open the door for Piper. "Piper, I have to talk to you."

Piper frowns as she gets out of her car. She raises her hands trying to freeze him, "Angelus. Why aren't you freezing?"

Angel smiles and pulls out a necklace from under his shirt, "Protection amulet. Protects me from your powers. You really didn't think I wouldn't take precautions?"

Piper turns and runs for the front door, Angel is on her heals. She fumbles for her keys and finally unlocks the door seconds before Angel grabs her. She runs inside as Angel tries to follow her.

Angel stops short when he sees Buffy standing just inside the front door holding burning sage. "… his verbes, consenus rescissus est," Buffy says.

Buffy breezes past Piper to just inside the open doorway, face to face with Angel, who is unable to move any closer. "Sorry, Angelus. I've changed the locks."

Buffy slowly, coolly closes the front door in Angel's face, leaving him stranded on the porch.

Later that evening Giles knocks on the door. Willow answers it.

"Willow? Hi." Giles says.

Willow smiles, "Hi. Come on in. Here's the book." She hands him Ms. Calendar's book.

"Yes, I should do my apartment tonight. Did the ritual work out all right?" Giles asks.

Willow nods, "Oh, yeah. It went fine. Well, it went fine up until the part where Angel showed up and tried to kill Piper. He has a protection amulet that protects him from their powers."

"That's disconcerting," Giles says. "So otherwise the ritual went fine? Buffy had no problems in casting it?"

Willow shakes her head, "Nope. I guess she really is a powerful witch just like her cousins."

"Well goodnight, Willow." Giles says.

Late that night Willow is staying over again. The phone rings. Buffy walks over and answers the phone, "Hello…?"

"Buffy?" Giles says.

"Giles! Hey, we finished the sp-" Buffy says.

"Jenny… Ms. Calendar… she's been killed…" Giles says.

Buffy's face goes slack and she starts to slide down the wall until she's sitting on the floor. "What…?"

"It was Angel…" Giles says.

Willow notices, crosses quickly to Buffy, kneels down in front of her, as Buffy lets the phone receiver fall to the floor. "Buffy…?" She picks up the phone. "Giles?"

"Willow. Angel's killed Jenny." Giles says.

Willow criest out, "What? No… Oh, no…"

Piper, Prue and Phoebe come down the stairs sees Willow crying and Buffy looks distraught.

Piper goes to Willow, holds her. "Willow! My god, Buffy, what's wrong? Has something happened?"

Prue kneels down next to Buffy and holds, "Buffy?"

Moments later Buffy and Willow run from the house as Cordelia's car pulls up to the curb. Xander is in the passenger seat, Cordelia behind the wheel. They both look shaken.

The girls go to the car as Xander and Cordelia come out and meet them at the curb.

"Well? Where's Giles?" Buffy asks.

"No luck. By the time we got to the station, the cops said he'd already left. I guess they just wanted to ask him some questions." Xander says.

"I still don't get it. Why Ms. Calendar? She was so… harmless." Cordelia says.

"Because Angel's a blood-sucking coward. They pick on the harmless." Xander says.

"And we're sure it was Angel?" Cordelia asks.

"It was Angel, alright." Buffy says harshly.

"Did Giles say… is Ms. Calendar going to… you know, be a vampire?" Cordelia asks.

Willow shakes her head, "No."

"Cordelia, will you drive us to Giles' house?" Buffy asks.

Cordelia nods, "Of course. Does your cousins know?"

Buffy nods, "Yes."

"But do you think maybe he wants to be alone?" Willow asks.

"I'm not worried about what he wants. I'm worried about what he's going to do." Buffy says.

Later the door is slightly ajar door and Xander pushes it open and pokes his head in.

"Hello…? Giles…?" Xander says as he ducks under the yellow crime scene tape to enter the room, followed by Buffy, Willow and Cordelia.

The group fans out, starts poking around.

Xander crosses to the empty wine bucket, sees the single rose on the desk, and the album cover propped up next to the still revolving turntable.

"Looks like Giles had big plans for the night," Xander says.

"Giles didn't set all this up…" Buffy says flatly by the entry table by the front door. She has Angel's sketch of Ms. Calendar in her hand. She puts the picture down, crosses to the stairs and up. "…Angel did. All this is like the pretty gift wrap he wrapped Ms. Calendar's body in."

"Oh, man. Poor Giles," Xander says.

Willow stands by an open and very stripped-bare trunk. "Look, all his weapons are gone."

"But, I thought he kept his weapons at the library," Cordelia says.

Xander shakes his head, "Those are his everyday weapons. These were his "good" weapons. The ones he only breaks out when company comes to visit."

"So, it is what we were afraid of. Giles isn't here," Willow says.

"Well, then, where is he?" Cordelia asks.

Buffy comes back down the stairs. She has a distant, unfocused look in her eyes. "He'll go to wherever Angel is."

"That means the Factory, right?" Willow asks.

"So, Giles is going to try to kill Angel, then," Cordelia says.

"Well, it's about time somebody did," Xander says bitterly.

"Xander!" Willow says shocked.

"I'm sorry. But let's not forget that I hated Angel long before all of you guys jumped on the bandwagon. So, I think I deserve something for not saying "I told you so" long before now. And, if Giles wants to go after the… fiend who murdered his girlfriend, I say "Faster, Pussycat. Kill. Kill."" Xander says.

"You're right," Buffy says flatly.

"What?!" Willow says.

"Thank you," Xander says.

Buffy nods, "There's only one thing wrong with Giles' little revenge scenario."

"And, what's that?" Xander asks.

"It's gonna get him killed," Buffy says.

Later at the factory Angel and Giles are fighting.

"All right, you've had your fun. But you know what it's time for now?" Angel says.

Buffy comes up behind Angel, staggers him with a kidney punch. He lets go of Giles, gasping for breath, as Giles drops to the ground unconscious. "My fun." She hits Angel, kicks him, drives him back.

Spike and Drusilla fade into the shadows, escaping.

Flames spread to the chairs and nearby boxes.

Angel decks Buffy and takes off, scrambling up to the gangway. Buffy runs after, jumps onto a box, thence to another, thence to the gangway where she tackles Angel.

Buffy gains the upperhand as they spar, leaning Angel against the railing, the fire raging below them.

"You know, even when I feed off other girls, the name I call out… is yours," Angel says.

Suddenly Buffy sees Giles on the ground, out cold, the fire reaching closer to him.

Angel takes her moment of distraction to knock her down. He takes off.

Buffy is momentarily torn but then she jumps down and drags Giles to safety as he begins to regain consciousness. They head out the door.

Buffy and Giles are met by Willow, Xander and Cordelia as they make it outside.

"Buffy!" Willow says.

"Are you okay?" Cordelia asks.

Giles turns on Buffy, "Why did you come here? This was not your figh-"

Buffy decks Giles with a single, wicked, angry punch to the face. He falls back, gets to his knees. "You bastard!"

"You don't understand…" Giles says weakly.

Buffy is fighting back tears as she advances on him. He is still on his knees, practically shaking. "How could you do that? You're trying to get yourself killed? You can't! You can't leave me alone… not now… I can't do this by myself!"

Giles stares at her, despair draining the fight out of him. "Jenny…" Buffy goes to him, drops to her knees, holds him tightly. He hangs limp in her arms, looking at nothing. "Jenny…"

The others stand, watch, as Buffy holds him.

A couple days later Giles and Buffy stand next to Ms. Calendar's grave. Prue, Piper and Phoebe stand back a ways giving Buffy and Giles some privacy.

"In my years as a Watcher, I've buried… too many people. Some I knew… most I didn't. Jenny is the first one that I've loved," Giles says.

Buffy sighs, "Sometimes, I wonder if any good ever comes of it."

"Comes of what?" Giles asks.

"Falling in love. Letting your emotions call the shots for you. Because if there is an upside, I sure haven't come across it." Buffy says as she sighs, "You're right about that rule of yours. You're the Watcher, I'm the Slayer… we don't have the luxury of passion. It just gets in the way. Life's easier without it."

Giles looks to Buffy, "No it's not." He motions to Prue, Piper and Phoebe.

Prue nods as she and her sisters walks over to Buffy and Giles. "Buffy remember what you learned from Cupid?"

Buffy nods, "It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." She looks to Giles, "I'm sorry I couldn't kill him for you… for her… when I had the chance. Did she tell you that we made up, that I forgave her?" Giles nods. "She was my friend. I think I'm finally ready… because I know now that there's nothing that's ever going to change him back to the Angel I fell in love with."