Willow groaned as she rolled out of bed. She'd forgotten what Buffy's nights were like. Lately she had been going to bed a one or later and getting up at seven. It was nine right now, thankfully, so if she ever managed to get herself out of bed she could go straight to the library. Or Giles's. She couldn't remember which one it was today.
Then she remembered suddenly and dashed out of bed, pulling some clothes out of her drawers. Willow had important business today.
Today Giles was going to show them how to slay the demon that had been sighted in Sunnydale twice by the Scooby Gang. And without Buffy, it was up to Willow and the Slayerettes to fight the demon.
She grabbed a quick breakfast, told her parents that she was off to the Bronze to meet Xander and walked out into the streets. She caught sight of many familiar faces from school, but the one face she would have loved to see was nowhere around.
There was still no word on Buffy's whereabouts.
Willow told herself to forget Buffy for a moment, hard as it was to do. She had to have her full concentration if she was going to slay a demon.
Oz was waiting for her when she left her house. Willow skipped over to him, sitting beside him in the van while he drove towards Giles's apartment.
"So we're going to Giles's today?" Willow asked.
"He said he's got some weapons and stuff to show us," Oz replied, nodding. "Xander said he'd meet us there."
"Well, it's close enough to walk," Willow admitted. Xander had limited transportation while Cordelia was on vacation for the summer.
Oz parked in front of Giles's apartment and he and Willow hurried to Giles's apartment. Xander opened the door for them.
"About time you guys got here," he said. "I almost had to listen to the amazing and informative 'demon-lecture' by myself. Oh, and look what I got!" He pulled a walkie-talkie out of his belt. "Neat, huh?"
"Uh, yeah....what's it for?" Willow asked.
"What, don't you see the genius of it?" Xander replied. "You see, with this, we can discuss slaying-type things from long distances. You know, stuff like...slaying. And vampires. Anyway, it's cool. Trust me."
"Xander..." Giles came out of the kitchen, sounding exasperated. He looked better than he had a month earlier; his wounds were almost completely healed. "This is the third time you've mentioned that silly little radio. I told you, you don't need it."
"Sure I do," Xander said. "You'll see."
"So, what do we need to know about this demon?" Willow asked brightly, settling down on the couch with Oz beside her.
"Ah yes, the, uh, the demon." Giles fumbled around in the apartment for a moment before pulling a dusty book out of a box by the wall. He flipped through it a moment until he found the page he wanted. "Here it is." He held the picture out for them to see.
"Whoa. Freaky," Oz said in a rather calm tone.
"It's like some sort of....evil monkey," Willow said.
"Do we kill it with poisoned bananas, then?" Xander asked.
"No." Giles gave him a look.
"That was a rhetorical question," Xander replied. "It was yet another of my witty comments designed to relieve tension among the Scooby Gang."
"That no longer has a Scooby," Willow said morosely.
They were all silent for a moment, thinking of Buffy. Finally Giles spoke again.
"Uh, yes, quite. Now, this demon is named Culpanos. He was believed to have been killed in the late Eighteenth Century, but, apparently, this belief was false. It is also referred to as the 'guilt demon,' for, if it manages to bite you, it can dig into your deepest secrets and use them to cause great feelings of guilt. Culpanos then feeds off that guilt in order to become stronger. Eventually, when its feedings have left the victim in a weakened and vulnerable state, he kills them."
"Well, it won't be feeding off me," Xander said nervously. "Nope, I'm guilt-free. Mr. Guiltless, that's me." He smiled tensely. He still hadn't told his friends about his little lie to Buffy.
"So, how do we stop Culpanos?" Willow turned to look at Giles. She smiled. "Will we need any spells? 'Cause I'm Spell-Girl, you know."
"And I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Giles said. "But we won't be needing any spells. Culpanos can be killed by simply stabbing it in the heart or cutting its head off. Nothing too complicated, providing we can find it."
"I told you this would come in handy." Xander pulled out his walkie-talkie, then picked up a second from the floor where he had set it. "We can split up and communicate using these puppies." He nodded proudly at them all. "Yup, what would you guys do without me?"
"I shudder to think," Giles said dryly.
Willow grabbed one of the walkie-talkies.
"Me and Oz will take this and check the East Side of town," she said. "Xander, you and Giles can check the West. That way, one of us is bound to find Culpanos."
"But not now," Giles said. "Culpanos is very sensitive to light; it won't be out to feed until tonight. Until then, I suggest you all go home a rest up. We'll most likely be up all night."
"What do we do about our parents?" Oz wondered.
"We'll just tell them that we're staying at each other's house," Willow said.
Giles looked about to protest when Xander added,
"Or we could just tell them that we're out hunting demons while the resident Slayer's AWOL."
That quieted Giles.
The Slayerettes filed out with promises to be back before nightfall. Once they were gone, Giles settled himself by the phone the way he had every day once he was alone.
After all, one never knew when someone would call with word of the Slayer.
* * * *
They met at Giles's house and got sufficiently armed. Giles was understandably nervous at giving them weapons, but he had no choice. He handed Willow a sword and gave Oz a spear.
"You two can manage to work those without harming yourselves, can't you?" he asked tensely.
"Don't worry, Giles." Willow swung the sword experimentally and nearly took Xander's head off. She smiled sheepishly. "I'm sure I'll get the hang of it."
"I shudder at the thought of you two on the streets with those." Giles muttered. He took a sword for himself and was about to give a crossbow to Xander when he thought better of it and gave him an ax instead.
"We'll meet back at the library at midnight and discuss whatever we've seen," Giles said. "Remember, if you see Culpanos, contact me immediately and do not engage it unless you have no other choice. I don't want any of you being hurt. Do you understand?"
"Don't worry, Giles," Willow promised. "Culpanos won't get within three feet of us."
They set out in different directions a few moments later. Willow and Oz walked side by side, trying to be nonchalant with weapons in their hands.
The bushes suddenly rustled by Willow's feet. She jumped back, pointing her sword at the foliage.
"Is it Culpanos?" Oz leaned over to look.
The bushes rustled some more. Suddenly, a cat streaked out of them, running over Willow's feet as it dashed across the street. Willow stumbled backwards in surprise, and Oz caught her.
"It's cool," he said. "After all, I'm sensing major evil vibes from that cat." His voice was sincere.
"Oh, yeah," Willow said, smiling. "Majorly evil."
Xander and Giles skirted the park, Giles checking under the trees and bushes for any signs of Culpanos while Xander played with the walkie-talkie.
"Hey, Will! Nighthawk here. See any evil monkey-things? No? Too bad. No, we're batting zero, too. Wait a second. Oh, my God, it's a demon! Aah! Just kidding." Xander smiled as he continued chatting.
"Give me that!" Giles took the walkie-talkie away and put it in his belt. "Xander, this is a hunt, not-not a party! We have to be quiet if we want to find Culpanos before it finds us."
"Hey, you're the one talking, not me," Xander replied. Suddenly, Giles held up a hand.
"Quiet. I heard something." He inched towards a nearby clearing. "Wait here, Xander. I'll call if I need you."
Giles carefully made his way towards the clearing. The trees to his right rustled as a crow flew out of them, cawing fiercely.
"Watcher."
The voice was breathy, low, so quiet that he almost didn't catch it at first. Then it came again, more insistently.
"Watcher. Come here, Watcher."
"Who's there? Culpanos?" Giles held up his sword, turning around slowly.
Something barreled into him from behind. Giles cried out as he was forced to the ground. The was a searing pain in his shoulder, which felt as though it had been bitten off. The sword fell from his hand.
"Look at you, pathetic Watcher. You have no Slayer. You failed her." A small, wiry demon covered in brown fur clambered off Giles's back, standing in front of him. Its long brown tail whipped back and forth. "You are such a failure, Watcher. You let your Slayer down....you let your Jenny Calendar down. You can never save those you love because you do not love enough."
"I-I will not listen!" Giles mumbled, feeling as though he might black out.
Culpanos darted forward again, biting Giles in the arm.
"You failed them all! You are a worthless waste of breath! You should have let Angelus put you out of your misery!"
"Hey! Mr. Monkey-Demon!" Xander came barreled through the bushes, ax held high. "Eat ax!"
Culpanos hissed and darted away. Xander stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then he heard a branch break behind him, and dodged to the side just as Culpanos attacked. The demon managed to nip his leg.
"You lied to your friend." Culpanos turned on Xander. "You never told your friend Buffy about the spell that would have restored her Angel's soul. You caused her to run away."
"What?!" Willow's voice caused Xander to glance backwards, remembering belatedly that the walkie-talkie was still on. Willow and Oz had heard every word.
"I--I was trying to help her," Xander muttered, stumbling backwards.
"You still lied. She would be safe if not for you. Look what you have done." Culpanos dived at Xander, knocking him through the bushes and into the road.
A car barreled down upon him, honking loudly. Xander looked up dazedly, then rolled away at the last second. He stared after the car for a second, then lurched to his feet, stumbling back to the park.
All that was left were the forgotten ax and sword...and a small pool of drying blood. Both Giles and Culpanos were nowhere to be seen.
Sighing tiredly, Xander hung his head and began the long walk back to the library.
Willow and Oz were waiting when he got back. Willow was shaking her head, looking devastated.
"Will, I--" Xander started to say.
"Xander, how could you?" Willow turned and ran out of the library. Xander followed her.
"Willow, please!" She stopped halfway down the hall.
"Why? Why didn't you tell her?" Willow asked. "I trusted you! She trusted you! And you-you threw it away because you were--jealous! If only you'd told her..."
"I didn't--It wasn't like that!" Xander went to her. "Will, I know this looks bad, but--I couldn't tell her. I was afraid that--that if I told her, she wouldn't fight her hardest. And then she'd be killed...and it would be all my fault."
"I don't believe you." Willow turned away. "You wanted her to kill Angel, so you d-didn't tell her a-a-and--"
"I wanted to tell her!" Xander burst out. "But I knew I couldn't! I-I was afraid for her. I didn't want Angel to hurt her anymore. And the only way to make sure that that didn't happen was to lie to her. I didn't want to....betray you guys. I'm sorry, Will. Really. I'm....sorry that I betrayed your trust."
"If you really wanted to help, why didn't you tell me?" Willow turned on him. "Why didn't you just tell me this before? Were you ever going to tell me? Or are you just making this up because the evil monkey gave away your secret?"
"I was gonna tell you eventually," Xander said. "But after Buffy left and all, it didn't seem like a good idea. I didn't want everyone to get mad at me or...blame me for her running away. I-I was afraid, Will. I don't want to lose you guys as my friends."
"If you had just told us...." Willow's voice trailed off. "I'd be a lot less angry if I had heard it from you instead of from a demon monkey. And I'd believe you more about wanting to help Buffy if you hadn't hidden it."
"I'm sorry, Will," Xander said. "How many times do I have to apologize?" He paused for a moment. "Just round off the number and I'll say it as many times as you want. Anything to make you stop being mad at me."
"I'm not mad," Willow said. "Well, not really mad. But I still wish you would have told me. I'm your friend. We've been best friends since first grade. You know you can tell me anything, no matter how bad. I just wish you would've trusted me with this."
"I promise, I'll never do anything like this again," Xander told her. "And if I ever do screw up again, you'll be the first one who knows."
"That's all I ask." Willow smiled slightly. "I guess I kinda forgive you now. I know you would never intentionally hurt Buffy, no matter how much you hate Angel."
"Thanks Will," Xander said sincerely.
"So, what did you and Giles find?" Willow asked. "Is he mad at you, too?"
Xander was silent for a moment.
"Uh, Willow? I think I screwed up again."
Giles woke up with spots clouding his eyes and pain in his shoulder. He blinked several times to clear his vision, then blinked again in surprise when he realized where he was. In the basement of the old factory where Spike and Drusilla had once lived. Drusilla's dolls were still on the nearby table and Giles was chained by his ankle to the post of an old Victorian bed that had once been Drusilla's as well.
After taking stock of his surroundings, Giles took stock of his condition. There was a manacle around his ankle that held him tightly to the bedpost. His shoulder was crusted in dried blood and throbbed painfully, and there was a small bite on his other arm that also had some dried blood on it. Interestingly enough, despite all that had happened to him, he had managed to keep his glasses intact.
The door creaked above him and he glanced up as Culpanos slunk in. The demon smiled wickedly, its little red eyes glowing and its fangs bared.
"Good day, Watcher. Are you ready to be fed on once more?"
"Culpanos," Giles groaned. "Am I to be your personal buffet, then?"
"Indeed." The demonic red eyes glowed happily. "You have guilt to spare, Watcher. I will enjoy the pain of bringing it out."
Giles stared at the creature a moment. Then something in him snapped, something that was tired of being a victim and was sick of torment. Giles kicked Culpanos suddenly, sending the beast several feet backwards. Giles grabbed a poker that had been propped beside the bed and swung it at the attacking demon.
"You have fire, Watcher!" Culpanos screeched, fur sticking up in rage. It dived at Giles, but the Watcher was too quick. The poker hit Culpanos square in the stomach, throwing it backwards.
Some demons would have punished Giles horribly for such impudence and wouldn't have stopped attacking until successful. Culpanos was not one of those demons. It scurried up the steps, well out of Giles's reach. Culpanos hissed once, like a cat, then darted out the door.
Giles stared up at the closed door for a moment, then sank tiredly to the floor, still clutching the poker tightly.
Meanwhile, back in the library, Willow, Oz, and Xander flipped through Giles's books, trying to find anything that could help them discover where Culpanos was hiding Giles.
"I don't think this book's even in English," Xander muttered, throwing it onto the table. "This isn't working very well, Willow."
"I know," Willow said sadly, fiddling with her walkie-talkie.
"Wait a sec," Oz said. He looked at Xander. "Doesn't Giles still have the other walkie-talkie?"
"You're right!" Xander exclaimed. "We can just contact him with this radio and ask where he is."
"I just hope it's still turned on," Willow said. She turned on her walkie-talkie and spoke tentatively into it. "Giles?"
A weak voice answered her.
"Willow?"
"Giles!" Willow jumped up in happiness. "Where are you? We'll come and get you."
"I'm in the old factory," Giles replied. "But I don't want you coming down here--"
"We're on our way!" Willow switched the radio off and picked up her sword.
"Come on. We'll take my van," Oz said, taking hold of his spear as Xander gleefully took hold of the ax.
"Let's go kick some demon butt!" Xander said. Willow and Oz stared at him for a moment. "Yeah, I know it's kinda clichéd, but, hey, it sounds cool, right?"
Several minutes later Oz pulled up in front of the factory.
"There it is," he said.
"Let's go!" Xander prepared to step out of the van. Willow stopped him.
"Wait! We can't just...rush in!"
"Why not? We've got weapons and attitude. What else could we need?"
"A plan," Willow replied.
"I'm assuming you have one?"
"Actually....no." Willow smiled sheepishly. "But...let's just try to sneak in, okay? We don't want to attract Culpanos's attention."
"Whatever you say, Commander." Xander gave an exaggerated salute as he headed towards the factory.
The three Slayerettes positioned themselves just outside the door, weapons in hand. Oz put his ear to the door.
"Hear anything?" Xander asked.
"No. It's quiet," Oz told him. Suddenly, he held up a hand. "Wait. I hear something....it sounds like an animal."
"It must be Culpanos!" Willow said, gripping her sword. "Let's go!"
"You know, it could be a little bunny or something, in which case we're going to look pretty stupid rushing in with swords and stuff," Xander commented as he pushed the door open.
There was an animalistic hiss, and Xander was suddenly knocked down by a brown furry shadow. Culpanos opened his mouth, his sharp teeth pointed at Xander's face. Xander screamed.
Oz dived forward, pulling the demon off Xander. As Culpanos turned to face him, Willow jumped behind it. Raising her sword, she plunged it into the demon's back.
Culpanos screeched loudly and turned to face her. It stumbled a few steps towards her, then collapsed, dead.
"That--that was easy," Xander panted, pulling himself to his feet. "We did pretty good. Oz with the grabbing of the demon, Willow with the stabbing of the demon, and me--"
"With the screaming?" Oz suggested.
"That was a bellow," Xander corrected. "I was bravely using myself as bait so that you guys could finish off the evil monkey."
"Very clever tactic, that," Oz said, nodding. "I never would have guessed."
"Come on." Willow slipped inside the factory. "We've gotta find Giles!"
"He's probably in the basement," Oz said as he and Xander followed Willow inside.
Giles looked up as the door opened. His grip on the poker tightened, then slackened as he recognized Willow, Oz, and Xander coming down the stairs.
"Giles! Are you okay?" Willow hurried up to him as Xander and Oz looked for the keys to the manacle around Giles's ankle.
"Well, I've--I've been better," Giles replied. "But I am intact. Have you taken care of Culpanos?"
"Yeah, Will killed him," Xander said as he walked up with the key and began to free Giles. He set the manacles on a nearby table.
"I wonder what Spike and Drusilla used those for?" Willow wondered aloud.
"I think wondering about that would send me to a scary visual place," Xander replied. "Let's get going before that happens, shall we?"
"That sounds like a very good idea," Giles replied, touching his shoulder and wincing. "I'm afraid it's back to the hospital for me."
The Slayerettes helped him out of the factory towards the van, stopping first to let Giles look at Culpanos.
"It, uh, it does appear to be dead," Giles said. "We'll have to take it with us and bury it somewhere later, lest someone find its body and start asking questions."
"Take it with us?" Xander stared at Giles. "Can I just say, ew?"
"Well, we can't leave it here," Giles said. "Xander, would you bring it to the van please?"
Xander opened his mouth, then shut it again. For once, he had nothing to say.