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Buffy?"
"I don't want to hear this Giles."
"I'm, er, afraid you must. We've spent a week searching for another alternative, and have failed in that. We won't stop looking, but she may be our only choice, and the longer we wait the ess chance we have for success."
" Well keep looking, there has to be another way."
"Actually, there is."
"Xander what are you doing here?"
"We've been looking for another means of beating this without using the key, but not much about why they wanted the key. So I looked in that direction, and had the Council search their libraries. Apparently, she's like a battery, stored up energy, but not just ordinary energy, but the kind that's released when a soul leaves its body. They figure that about five hundred people would have to die to replace the key."
"Those are the kind of people you want to work for."
"Hey, you wanted an alternative I gave you one. Nobody wants it to happen. But you might want to think about what happens when this all goes to hell."
"That's all I've been thinking about," Buffy screamed. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "This is gonna kill my Mom."
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THUD THUD THUD THUD THUMP
Willow was greeted by the noise as she entered the Magic Box, and found Giles behind the counter, instead of in his office. Where he usually was when Anya was on duty, which she was now, staring glumly ahead of her.
"Giles, is everything all right."
Giles looked up from the book he was trying to read. "Of course Willow, its just that Buffy seems rather perturbed and doesn't want to talk about it."
"If I got pepper sprayed in church, I sure wouldn't want to talk about it."
Willow looked around to see Xander come into the store. "Xander what are you talking about?"
"Only the juiciest piece of gossip to hit Sunnydale in, well I don't know when, but a long time anyway. Some crazed woman ran into St. Ignatious and started dragging a screaming teenager out of the Confessional. Father Rosenberg popped out of his side and got her right between the eyes."
"How do you know it was Buffy?"
"I didn't. Not until a very pissed Slayer's Mother roared into the construction yard where I was working, and told me in no uncertain terms to move my sorry ass and find her errant daughter. Doesn't anyone answer the phone around here?"
"Er, where is Mrs. Summers now?"
"Off buying pepper spray."
Giles hid his face in his arms.
"It was Dawn," Willow guessed. " Dawn went to Confession with Father Rosenberg, and Buffy stopped it?" Willow shook herself. "But that doesn't seem like her, and why would that make Mrs. Summers so mad?"
"Well, she had these two important showings coming up at the gallery, big name stuff, shows she spent a ton of money promoting and getting ready for. Well they were co-sponsored by the Catholic Women's League and they weren't too thrilled when they heard the news, and ..."
"They didn't?"
"They did ... poof."
"Are you through discussing my business?"
Buffy's face was red, especially around the eyes, which were still streaming. There was no disputing the fact. She was furious.
"It was Dawn and she was telling him that she was the Key. How can I keep her safe, if she keeps doing things like this."
"Maybe if you'd talk to her..."
" I just want her to live a normal life for as long as possible."
"Not going to happen Buff." Xander almost flinched as the slayer eyes were turned on him. "She's different and she knows it, and she's going to find out how different. If you don't tell her, then her only option is finding things out on her own, and who knows what she's going to run into, maybe even when you're not there to protect her. Take it from one who knows, keeping her safe and not telling her things don't add up to the same thing."
"Why don't you mind your own business Watcher boy?"
Buffy stared at Xander, then her shoulders slumped.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk to her, but first, I guess, I gotta go talk to my Mom."
Buffy?"
"I don't want to hear this Giles."
"I'm, er, afraid you must. We've spent a week searching for another alternative, and have failed in that. We won't stop looking, but she may be our only choice, and the longer we wait the ess chance we have for success."
" Well keep looking, there has to be another way."
"Actually, there is."
"Xander what are you doing here?"
"We've been looking for another means of beating this without using the key, but not much about why they wanted the key. So I looked in that direction, and had the Council search their libraries. Apparently, she's like a battery, stored up energy, but not just ordinary energy, but the kind that's released when a soul leaves its body. They figure that about five hundred people would have to die to replace the key."
"Those are the kind of people you want to work for."
"Hey, you wanted an alternative I gave you one. Nobody wants it to happen. But you might want to think about what happens when this all goes to hell."
"That's all I've been thinking about," Buffy screamed. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "This is gonna kill my Mom."
-----------------------------------------------------------
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUMP
Willow was greeted by the noise as she entered the Magic Box, and found Giles behind the counter, instead of in his office. Where he usually was when Anya was on duty, which she was now, staring glumly ahead of her.
"Giles, is everything all right."
Giles looked up from the book he was trying to read. "Of course Willow, its just that Buffy seems rather perturbed and doesn't want to talk about it."
"If I got pepper sprayed in church, I sure wouldn't want to talk about it."
Willow looked around to see Xander come into the store. "Xander what are you talking about?"
"Only the juiciest piece of gossip to hit Sunnydale in, well I don't know when, but a long time anyway. Some crazed woman ran into St. Ignatious and started dragging a screaming teenager out of the Confessional. Father Rosenberg popped out of his side and got her right between the eyes."
"How do you know it was Buffy?"
"I didn't. Not until a very pissed Slayer's Mother roared into the construction yard where I was working, and told me in no uncertain terms to move my sorry ass and find her errant daughter. Doesn't anyone answer the phone around here?"
"Er, where is Mrs. Summers now?"
"Off buying pepper spray."
Giles hid his face in his arms.
"It was Dawn," Willow guessed. " Dawn went to Confession with Father Rosenberg, and Buffy stopped it?" Willow shook herself. "But that doesn't seem like her, and why would that make Mrs. Summers so mad?"
"Well, she had these two important showings coming up at the gallery, big name stuff, shows she spent a ton of money promoting and getting ready for. Well they were co-sponsored by the Catholic Women's League and they weren't too thrilled when they heard the news, and ..."
"They didn't?"
"They did ... poof."
"Are you through discussing my business?"
Buffy's face was red, especially around the eyes, which were still streaming. There was no disputing the fact. She was furious.
"It was Dawn and she was telling him that she was the Key. How can I keep her safe, if she keeps doing things like this."
"Maybe if you'd talk to her..."
" I just want her to live a normal life for as long as possible."
"Not going to happen Buff." Xander almost flinched as the slayer eyes were turned on him. "She's different and she knows it, and she's going to find out how different. If you don't tell her, then her only option is finding things out on her own, and who knows what she's going to run into, maybe even when you're not there to protect her. Take it from one who knows, keeping her safe and not telling her things don't add up to the same thing."
"Why don't you mind your own business Watcher boy?"
Buffy stared at Xander, then her shoulders slumped.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk to her, but first, I guess, I gotta go talk to my Mom."