****************
Friday, 3 pm
"Go somewhere tonight, Buffy," Joyce insisted.
"I don't want to," Buffy protested.
"Well, tough! You're driving me crazy moping around, and I can't see
how you're not driving yourself crazy," Joyce said. "I'm glad you've spent
time with Willow this week, that was a huge relief to me. But you
still haven't left the house, except for when you left long enough to get
beaten up by whatever it was that beat you up. Whatever happened
between you and Angel, you've got to just pick yourself up and get back out
there."
"Okay, mom, I thought I made it clear earlier that Angel was not an
acceptable topic of conversation!" Buffy yelled and stormed out of the
room.
She reached her room and slammed the door for good measure. "Okay,
get a grip," she told herself. "She's just trying to help. Losing it isn't a
helpful thing. It just makes her even more annoying." She flopped down
on her bed, and jumped at the sound of the phone.
Thirty seconds later, her mom knocked on the door, "Buffy, it's for
you."
Buffy reached for her phone on the bedside table. "Yeah?" she said not
very politely.
"Buffy, it's Xander. Are you okay?"
"Mom and I are just getting on each other's nerves," Buffy sighed.
"Otherwise I'm fine."
"Well, I just came from Giles', and he said he needs to talk to you.
He doesn't want to intrude on your need for space from the slayer stuff,
but it's really important. He asked me to see if you would be up to
seeing him so you could talk about it. I was going to just come over,
but then I thought that I'd see if you were up to it first before I
assumed that you'd be willing to see him."
"I knew this would happen eventually. I can't stay away forever,"
Buffy said.
"Willow said you and she spent some time together yesterday, and that
went okay, didn't it?" Xander asked. "So what makes you think it won't
be that easy to talk to Giles?
"After what Angelus did to Jenny and Giles, how can I face him?"
"Because he's your friend, and he doesn't blame you for what happened
to him, or Jenny. Just like Willow doesn't blame you for being put into
the hospital, and just like I don't blame you for any of the above. I
think the only person that blames you is you, Buffy."
"When did you get so smart?" Buffy asked ruefully.
"Hey!" Xander protested. "I've always been smart. I just....hide it
well."
Buffy couldn't suppress a giggle. "Sorry, didn't mean to imply that
you weren't smart," she said. "I just meant that you've gotten really good
at shooting down all my excuses lately. Okay, I'm going to go over to
Giles'. Now before I lose my nerve," she added, standing.
"Wow. When you make up your mind, you make up your mind," Xander said
in amazement. "So would you like company, or would you rather do this
alone?"
"Oh, if you wanted to come along, that would be great," Buffy
said. "At the very least, you could keep me from changing my mind halfway
there."
"Okay, I'll come over and we can walk to Giles' together," Xander
replied.
&&&&&&&&
"I should knock," Buffy said, staring at Giles' door.
Xander, standing next to her, said, "Yes, that is the typical human
behavior in these situations."
Buffy hit him on the arm, and said, "Gee thanks for the moral
support," rolling her eyes.
"Any time, and can I add... OW?" Xander replied, rubbing his arm.
"Slayer strength, remember?"
"Oh, oops," Buffy said, with a grin. "At least I can still beat _you_
up," she added under her breath.
"Hey!" Xander protested again. "What is this, beat up on Xander day?"
Buffy just ignored him. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
Giles opened it, and stood there, looking at her for a moment, in
obvious shock. "Buffy," he finally managed. "Come in," he stood back
to let the two in. Oz and Willow were there, sitting on the couch.
"Hey!" Willow smiled at the sight of her friend. "This is a pleasant
surprise."
"Hey, Buffy," Oz said in typical reticent greeting.
"Hey, guys," Buffy smiled. "I figured leaving my house would be a good
thing. Before my mom pushed me out the door."
"Please sit down," Giles offered, and Buffy sat on a nearby chair,
while Xander took a chair across from her. Giles sat on the couch next to
Willow.
"So...." Buffy tried.
"So...." Giles attempted.
"Sew buttons," Xander supplied, quickly followed with, "Sorry. Stupid
even for me."
Giles rolled his eyes, and said, "But in typical Xander-fashion, you
did break the awkward moment," he admitted. "I don't want to bring up
unhappy memories, Buffy, but I'd like to ask you a few questions about
what happened the night you confronted Angelus," Giles finally said.
"I'm getting ready to ship the demon Acathla off to the Watcher's
Council, but I wanted to be sure first that it's safe. He appears to
be dormant, but--"
"He is," Buffy said firmly. "You want to know what happened," she
sighed. "Angelus and I fought, and I'd gotten the better of him. Then
I realized he had already started the process of awakening Acathla.
This.... vortex came out of Acathla's mouth. It was getting bigger,
and bigger, and I figured out it was how we'd get sucked into hell. I had
to kill Angelus to stop it. So I did, and Angelus disappeared, along with
the vortex. Acathla went back to sleep, end of story."
She looked down at the floor to avoid the pity she knew she'd see in
their faces. *I can't tell them the curse worked. Willow already feels
bad enough thinking it didn't work, and it would just upset her if she
knew that it had worked too late. It's easier for all of them to move
on thinking it was just Angelus I killed. Knowing it was Angel is
something I have to deal with, but that doesn't mean anyone else has to.*
"I'm sorry, Buffy," Giles surprised her by saying. "I know you were
hoping it wouldn't come to that."
"Thanks, Giles," Buffy replied, looking up at him. "I know that it
isn't easy for you to feel anything but happy, not after what he put you
through."
"However I felt about Angel doesn't discount what you felt for him,"
Giles said kindly. "I won't press the matter either, I know you don't
want to talk about it. Thank you for telling me."
"You needed to know," Buffy said. "So now do you think you can get
Acathla out of the country safely?"
"Now that you've told me exactly what happened, I'm convinced that
Acathla will not wake up again unless someone or something decides to
try to wake him up," Giles said. "And the Watcher's Council will
ensure that Acathla will be out of the reach of any more enterprising
demons."
"Good," Buffy said. "Giles, I have a question for you. Would you be
willing to talk to my mom about the slaying thing? She's still pretty
freaked. I'm not sure but I think she wants to put me into therapy."
"Oh, well, I'll see what I can do of course," Giles replied. "I
suspect that she just needs time. It's not an easy situation for anyone to
handle."
"True," Buffy agreed. "And speaking of slaying, what's the demon
activity been like lately?"
"Just the usual," Oz replied. "That's kind of a contradiction in
terms, isn't it?" he frowned.
"Yeah, I guess it is, but I get it," Buffy replied with a smile.
"Nothing the usual stakes, crosses and holy water can't fix, right?"
"Exactly," Oz said.
"Okay, then, it's nothing I can't handle," Buffy said.
"Buffy, are you sure you're ready for that?" Willow asked, a worried
expression on her face.
"Uh, yeah," Buffy said. "Me Slayer. Slayer kill demons. I didn't say
I'd do it alone; I remember I told you and Xander I wouldn't." She
realized she needed to explain to Giles. "I went for a walk a few
days ago, and discovered a vampire who could beat me. Nothing
really bad," she added, not wanting him to worry. "Just
general humiliation, a very slight concussion and a black eye. After
that, I realized I might need some help for a while."
"That's a good idea," Giles agreed. "For a little while, at least.
Until you're back in full form. So I suppose the question is who will
go on patrol with Buffy tonight?"
"Oz and I were planning on going out anyway, so we'll go," Willow
offered.
"Hey, I'm not going to be left out of the action," Xander
protested. "If there's demon ass-kicking to be done, I want to be part of it."
"Or in the way of it," Buffy teased.
"Ouch," Xander said. "Could you go easy on the ego please?"
"Sorry, I guess the prospect of slaying puts me in a good mood," Buffy
shrugged. "So anything particularly evil to stop tonight, Giles?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Giles replied. "I think a general patrol of
the cemeteries should be sufficient."
"Okay, an easy night of slaying works for me," Buffy said.
6 hours later.....
Buffy didn't know what the name was of the demon who was holding her
by the neck, she just knew she wanted to kill it. It was big, it was
ugly, and it smelled like the garbage dump. She reached for it, but
unfortunately its arms were much longer than hers. She couldn't reach
it, and she was starting to feel light-headed from its grip which was
cutting off her air supply.
"Put her down!" she heard Xander yell, and then she and the demon were
knocked to the ground as he tackled the demon. He did succeed in
getting the grasp on her neck removed, and she rolled out of the way, gasping
for breath. She looked over and saw that Oz had gone to Willow's aid,
as she was the point of interest for the other demon.
Unfortunately, Oz wasn't much of a match for the demon, and it knocked
him to the ground and kicked him in the stomach. "Stop!" Willow
yelled, and with a wave of her hand, the demon went flying across the field,
landing at Buffy's feet.
"Oh," Buffy said in surprise, and decided to see if Mr. Pointy would
do the trick. She was relieved to see it did, but then frowned and said,
"Why didn't it go 'poof'?"
"Could we contemplate it later?" Xander asked. She looked over to see
him dodging the demon's blows, and trying to get a few in himself.
"Oh, yeah," Buffy said. She quickly ran over to the demon and kicked
his legs out from under him, staking him too as he fell.
"Thanks, Xander," she said.
"No problem, you returned the favor," Xander replied with a shrug.
"Besides, I was more impressed with Willow's demon throwing act."
"That? That wasn't anything," Willow said. "Now what do we do with
them?" Willow asked, indicating the two bodies.
"Well, there's a cemetery across the street," Oz reminded them.
"There's a cemetery across _every_ street," Xander reminded him.
"Yeah, well, so we've got our pick of places to put the bodies,"
Willow said. "We're missing one thing if we have to bury them, though. A
shovel."
"I'll drive to Giles' place, and meet you guys at the cemetery with a
shovel or two," Oz offered.
"Fine. In the mean time, we gotta drag them over there," Buffy said.
She sighed, and said, "I much prefer the ones that go 'poof'. I mean,
yeah, there's ash to get out of your clothing and hair, but at least you
don't have to do body disposal."
She leaned down to grab the arms of one demon, and Willow and Xander
grabbed the legs. "And I thought this would be an easy night of
Slaying," Buffy said, shaking her head.
END of 6
Friday, 3 pm
"Go somewhere tonight, Buffy," Joyce insisted.
"I don't want to," Buffy protested.
"Well, tough! You're driving me crazy moping around, and I can't see
how you're not driving yourself crazy," Joyce said. "I'm glad you've spent
time with Willow this week, that was a huge relief to me. But you
still haven't left the house, except for when you left long enough to get
beaten up by whatever it was that beat you up. Whatever happened
between you and Angel, you've got to just pick yourself up and get back out
there."
"Okay, mom, I thought I made it clear earlier that Angel was not an
acceptable topic of conversation!" Buffy yelled and stormed out of the
room.
She reached her room and slammed the door for good measure. "Okay,
get a grip," she told herself. "She's just trying to help. Losing it isn't a
helpful thing. It just makes her even more annoying." She flopped down
on her bed, and jumped at the sound of the phone.
Thirty seconds later, her mom knocked on the door, "Buffy, it's for
you."
Buffy reached for her phone on the bedside table. "Yeah?" she said not
very politely.
"Buffy, it's Xander. Are you okay?"
"Mom and I are just getting on each other's nerves," Buffy sighed.
"Otherwise I'm fine."
"Well, I just came from Giles', and he said he needs to talk to you.
He doesn't want to intrude on your need for space from the slayer stuff,
but it's really important. He asked me to see if you would be up to
seeing him so you could talk about it. I was going to just come over,
but then I thought that I'd see if you were up to it first before I
assumed that you'd be willing to see him."
"I knew this would happen eventually. I can't stay away forever,"
Buffy said.
"Willow said you and she spent some time together yesterday, and that
went okay, didn't it?" Xander asked. "So what makes you think it won't
be that easy to talk to Giles?
"After what Angelus did to Jenny and Giles, how can I face him?"
"Because he's your friend, and he doesn't blame you for what happened
to him, or Jenny. Just like Willow doesn't blame you for being put into
the hospital, and just like I don't blame you for any of the above. I
think the only person that blames you is you, Buffy."
"When did you get so smart?" Buffy asked ruefully.
"Hey!" Xander protested. "I've always been smart. I just....hide it
well."
Buffy couldn't suppress a giggle. "Sorry, didn't mean to imply that
you weren't smart," she said. "I just meant that you've gotten really good
at shooting down all my excuses lately. Okay, I'm going to go over to
Giles'. Now before I lose my nerve," she added, standing.
"Wow. When you make up your mind, you make up your mind," Xander said
in amazement. "So would you like company, or would you rather do this
alone?"
"Oh, if you wanted to come along, that would be great," Buffy
said. "At the very least, you could keep me from changing my mind halfway
there."
"Okay, I'll come over and we can walk to Giles' together," Xander
replied.
&&&&&&&&
"I should knock," Buffy said, staring at Giles' door.
Xander, standing next to her, said, "Yes, that is the typical human
behavior in these situations."
Buffy hit him on the arm, and said, "Gee thanks for the moral
support," rolling her eyes.
"Any time, and can I add... OW?" Xander replied, rubbing his arm.
"Slayer strength, remember?"
"Oh, oops," Buffy said, with a grin. "At least I can still beat _you_
up," she added under her breath.
"Hey!" Xander protested again. "What is this, beat up on Xander day?"
Buffy just ignored him. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
Giles opened it, and stood there, looking at her for a moment, in
obvious shock. "Buffy," he finally managed. "Come in," he stood back
to let the two in. Oz and Willow were there, sitting on the couch.
"Hey!" Willow smiled at the sight of her friend. "This is a pleasant
surprise."
"Hey, Buffy," Oz said in typical reticent greeting.
"Hey, guys," Buffy smiled. "I figured leaving my house would be a good
thing. Before my mom pushed me out the door."
"Please sit down," Giles offered, and Buffy sat on a nearby chair,
while Xander took a chair across from her. Giles sat on the couch next to
Willow.
"So...." Buffy tried.
"So...." Giles attempted.
"Sew buttons," Xander supplied, quickly followed with, "Sorry. Stupid
even for me."
Giles rolled his eyes, and said, "But in typical Xander-fashion, you
did break the awkward moment," he admitted. "I don't want to bring up
unhappy memories, Buffy, but I'd like to ask you a few questions about
what happened the night you confronted Angelus," Giles finally said.
"I'm getting ready to ship the demon Acathla off to the Watcher's
Council, but I wanted to be sure first that it's safe. He appears to
be dormant, but--"
"He is," Buffy said firmly. "You want to know what happened," she
sighed. "Angelus and I fought, and I'd gotten the better of him. Then
I realized he had already started the process of awakening Acathla.
This.... vortex came out of Acathla's mouth. It was getting bigger,
and bigger, and I figured out it was how we'd get sucked into hell. I had
to kill Angelus to stop it. So I did, and Angelus disappeared, along with
the vortex. Acathla went back to sleep, end of story."
She looked down at the floor to avoid the pity she knew she'd see in
their faces. *I can't tell them the curse worked. Willow already feels
bad enough thinking it didn't work, and it would just upset her if she
knew that it had worked too late. It's easier for all of them to move
on thinking it was just Angelus I killed. Knowing it was Angel is
something I have to deal with, but that doesn't mean anyone else has to.*
"I'm sorry, Buffy," Giles surprised her by saying. "I know you were
hoping it wouldn't come to that."
"Thanks, Giles," Buffy replied, looking up at him. "I know that it
isn't easy for you to feel anything but happy, not after what he put you
through."
"However I felt about Angel doesn't discount what you felt for him,"
Giles said kindly. "I won't press the matter either, I know you don't
want to talk about it. Thank you for telling me."
"You needed to know," Buffy said. "So now do you think you can get
Acathla out of the country safely?"
"Now that you've told me exactly what happened, I'm convinced that
Acathla will not wake up again unless someone or something decides to
try to wake him up," Giles said. "And the Watcher's Council will
ensure that Acathla will be out of the reach of any more enterprising
demons."
"Good," Buffy said. "Giles, I have a question for you. Would you be
willing to talk to my mom about the slaying thing? She's still pretty
freaked. I'm not sure but I think she wants to put me into therapy."
"Oh, well, I'll see what I can do of course," Giles replied. "I
suspect that she just needs time. It's not an easy situation for anyone to
handle."
"True," Buffy agreed. "And speaking of slaying, what's the demon
activity been like lately?"
"Just the usual," Oz replied. "That's kind of a contradiction in
terms, isn't it?" he frowned.
"Yeah, I guess it is, but I get it," Buffy replied with a smile.
"Nothing the usual stakes, crosses and holy water can't fix, right?"
"Exactly," Oz said.
"Okay, then, it's nothing I can't handle," Buffy said.
"Buffy, are you sure you're ready for that?" Willow asked, a worried
expression on her face.
"Uh, yeah," Buffy said. "Me Slayer. Slayer kill demons. I didn't say
I'd do it alone; I remember I told you and Xander I wouldn't." She
realized she needed to explain to Giles. "I went for a walk a few
days ago, and discovered a vampire who could beat me. Nothing
really bad," she added, not wanting him to worry. "Just
general humiliation, a very slight concussion and a black eye. After
that, I realized I might need some help for a while."
"That's a good idea," Giles agreed. "For a little while, at least.
Until you're back in full form. So I suppose the question is who will
go on patrol with Buffy tonight?"
"Oz and I were planning on going out anyway, so we'll go," Willow
offered.
"Hey, I'm not going to be left out of the action," Xander
protested. "If there's demon ass-kicking to be done, I want to be part of it."
"Or in the way of it," Buffy teased.
"Ouch," Xander said. "Could you go easy on the ego please?"
"Sorry, I guess the prospect of slaying puts me in a good mood," Buffy
shrugged. "So anything particularly evil to stop tonight, Giles?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Giles replied. "I think a general patrol of
the cemeteries should be sufficient."
"Okay, an easy night of slaying works for me," Buffy said.
6 hours later.....
Buffy didn't know what the name was of the demon who was holding her
by the neck, she just knew she wanted to kill it. It was big, it was
ugly, and it smelled like the garbage dump. She reached for it, but
unfortunately its arms were much longer than hers. She couldn't reach
it, and she was starting to feel light-headed from its grip which was
cutting off her air supply.
"Put her down!" she heard Xander yell, and then she and the demon were
knocked to the ground as he tackled the demon. He did succeed in
getting the grasp on her neck removed, and she rolled out of the way, gasping
for breath. She looked over and saw that Oz had gone to Willow's aid,
as she was the point of interest for the other demon.
Unfortunately, Oz wasn't much of a match for the demon, and it knocked
him to the ground and kicked him in the stomach. "Stop!" Willow
yelled, and with a wave of her hand, the demon went flying across the field,
landing at Buffy's feet.
"Oh," Buffy said in surprise, and decided to see if Mr. Pointy would
do the trick. She was relieved to see it did, but then frowned and said,
"Why didn't it go 'poof'?"
"Could we contemplate it later?" Xander asked. She looked over to see
him dodging the demon's blows, and trying to get a few in himself.
"Oh, yeah," Buffy said. She quickly ran over to the demon and kicked
his legs out from under him, staking him too as he fell.
"Thanks, Xander," she said.
"No problem, you returned the favor," Xander replied with a shrug.
"Besides, I was more impressed with Willow's demon throwing act."
"That? That wasn't anything," Willow said. "Now what do we do with
them?" Willow asked, indicating the two bodies.
"Well, there's a cemetery across the street," Oz reminded them.
"There's a cemetery across _every_ street," Xander reminded him.
"Yeah, well, so we've got our pick of places to put the bodies,"
Willow said. "We're missing one thing if we have to bury them, though. A
shovel."
"I'll drive to Giles' place, and meet you guys at the cemetery with a
shovel or two," Oz offered.
"Fine. In the mean time, we gotta drag them over there," Buffy said.
She sighed, and said, "I much prefer the ones that go 'poof'. I mean,
yeah, there's ash to get out of your clothing and hair, but at least you
don't have to do body disposal."
She leaned down to grab the arms of one demon, and Willow and Xander
grabbed the legs. "And I thought this would be an easy night of
Slaying," Buffy said, shaking her head.
END of 6