Part 26, by Estepheia
It had been close to daybreak when Rupert Giles woke up. He heard birds chirping outside the window, greeting the surise. His sleep had been restless. There had been dreams so horrible that his consciousness shied away from the memory. All he had been left with was a metallic taste in his mouth, a racing heartbeat and an almost overwhelming sense of dread.
After getting up he had quickly gotten dressed, feeling strangely dissatisfied with his wardrobe. He had packed an overnight bag, and filled a small suitcase with a few selected books, before leaving the house. He hadn't even taken the time to have breakfast. He had just wanted to leave the house, to get away from that vampire.
He had driven to the shop to pick up some more books, his diary, his old golden pocket watch, his trusty 1875 Single Action Remington Army Revolver (which was in an annoying state of neglect), and the framed photograph of his Slayer.
After writing a note to Anya, asking her to look after the shop for a few days, he had treated himself to coffee at a Diner. He had withdrawn money from his account, locked up his luggage at Sunnydale Station and then wandered through town, as if seeing it for the first time. He had bought several newspapers and studied them.
Now, three days later, he had a new wardrobe, the scruffy beginnings of a beard, new lodgings and an arsenal of weapons, suitable to fight all kinds of foes, vampires, demons and human traitors.
He picked up the framed photograph of his Slayer. It was faded, but the beauty and strength of the young girl were evident. „Bald, Emma, sehr bald." (Soon, Emma, very soon.) He didn't even notice he was speaking in German.
Part 27, by William the Bloody
Spike, Buffy, and Dawn had slept remarkably well, considering that they had slept on the floor in an empty living room. They didn't even bother getting up until around noon. Buffy heated up some food that she'd thought to grab while they were at Giles' apartment, and they all sat around eating and planning the upcoming evening. Spike and Dawn both wanted to start moving stuff back to the house as soon as the sun was down and Spike could go out, but Buffy felt that other matters needed to be attended to first.
"You guys said that Giles has been gone for a few days, and Anya mentioned that he'd left her a note to watch the shop for him. I really think we need to figure out where he's gone and go find him."
Spike glared at Buffy. "Why the bloody hell would we want to do that?! Remember... Giles... wooden stake... almost dead Spike?!"
Buffy set her plate of food down in front of her and tried to keep from losing her temper. "He IS still my watcher, and my friend! He thought he was doing what was right, and I TOLD you I would talk to him about it!
Spike looked at Buffy strangely. "You'll talk to him?" Spike asked calmly. Then he shouted, "He wants to KILL ME! Is this like when you EXPLAINED to Willow that 'Attacking Glory. Not a good thing'?" His attempt to mimic Buffy was quite bad, but it was still obvious he was making fun of her.
Buffy was furious. She stomped upstairs to her empty bedroom and slammed the door loudly. Spike visibly flinched at the sound of the slamming door. He looked sadly over at Dawn. "I didn't mean to..."
"I know", Dawn answered. "That's Buffy for ya."
Part 28, by Snakes
"I suppose I should go up and apologize, but how can she expect me to help find someone who just tried to kill me a few days ago?" Spike had no idea what he should do. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. He remembered when times had been much simpler, and he hadn't spent all of his time confused.
"I'll go up and talk to her, Spike", Dawn offered.
"You think you can get her to understand?"
"No, but I know I can irritate her enough that she'll forget she's mad at you." Dawn grinned at Spike. "I've always had a knack for driving her crazy."
Dawn ran up the stairs and barged into Buffy room without knocking. Spike could hear them arguing, but he couldn't tell what they were saying. He hadn't meant to get the sisters into a fight. He seemed to be doing everything wrong. Maybe he should still move back to his crypt. Finally he heard Buffy stomping back down the stairs, grumbling, "Little sisters! Ugh! I swear she's going to make me insane!" Spike felt terrible until he saw Dawn follow her sister down the stairs. Dawn grinned at Spike and gave him the thumbs up.
Buffy hadn't seen Dawn's signal to Spike, although she knew that Dawn had followed her back downstairs. Buffy walked over to Spike. "I'm sorry, Spike. I do need to find Giles. I hope you can understand that. But I don't have the right to expect you to help after what he did. You're right that there's a definite possibility that he won't listen to me", she sighed, "So I guess you shouldn't be around when I try to talk some sense into him."
"I'm sorry too, Buffy. I really don't want to find Giles, for obvious reasons, but I will at least help you try to find out where he is. But I'm not going with you to try to get him to come back. Ok?" Buffy nodded. "That's fair. Let's head over to the magic shop to talk to Anya. Maybe she has some information on where he went."
They arrived at the magic shop to find Anya frantically looking over everything in the shop, and scribbling notes on a clipboard. They barely even managed to get her attention, and then she just mumbled something incoherently to them before going back to her intense scrutiny of the shop items. Xander was also standing there watching her. He looked over at Buffy and Spike with a baffled but somewhat amused look on his face. "My girlfriend has apparently lost her mind. She's been doing this for the past two hours, ever since the Watcher's Council called. I've never seen her this intent on taking inventory before. Hey Anya!" Anya looked up briefly, then went back to her inventory. "Anya!" "What, Xander?! Can't you see I'm busy?!"
Buffy interrupted, "Watcher's Council? The council called? What did they want?"
Xander replied, "All I've been able to get out of her is that they want her to take inventory."
Buffy walked up to Anya. "Anya, can you stop that long enough to tell me what's going on. Why did the Watcher's Council call? Were they trying to get in touch with Giles about something?"
Anya looked very irritated. "Well, since you're obviously not going to leave me alone, I guess I don't have much choice. The Watcher's Council called to say that they think Giles took stuff from the shop when he left."
Spike asked, "Why does it matter if he took stuff?" Anya looked at him like he was an idiot. "If Giles took stuff, it's not here to sell! If I can't sell it, we don't make money off it! How can you act like that doesn't matter?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Of course that's important, Anya. But why did the council care that Giles took stuff from the shop? I doubt they're concerned about loss of sales."
Anya thought for a minute, "Oh, I think they said something about needing to know what he took. They think that he might have been affected somehow by certain items we had, and they want to know if he took those. Most of the items they mentioned didn't seem very valuable though." She shrugged and went back to work.
It had been close to daybreak when Rupert Giles woke up. He heard birds chirping outside the window, greeting the surise. His sleep had been restless. There had been dreams so horrible that his consciousness shied away from the memory. All he had been left with was a metallic taste in his mouth, a racing heartbeat and an almost overwhelming sense of dread.
After getting up he had quickly gotten dressed, feeling strangely dissatisfied with his wardrobe. He had packed an overnight bag, and filled a small suitcase with a few selected books, before leaving the house. He hadn't even taken the time to have breakfast. He had just wanted to leave the house, to get away from that vampire.
He had driven to the shop to pick up some more books, his diary, his old golden pocket watch, his trusty 1875 Single Action Remington Army Revolver (which was in an annoying state of neglect), and the framed photograph of his Slayer.
After writing a note to Anya, asking her to look after the shop for a few days, he had treated himself to coffee at a Diner. He had withdrawn money from his account, locked up his luggage at Sunnydale Station and then wandered through town, as if seeing it for the first time. He had bought several newspapers and studied them.
Now, three days later, he had a new wardrobe, the scruffy beginnings of a beard, new lodgings and an arsenal of weapons, suitable to fight all kinds of foes, vampires, demons and human traitors.
He picked up the framed photograph of his Slayer. It was faded, but the beauty and strength of the young girl were evident. „Bald, Emma, sehr bald." (Soon, Emma, very soon.) He didn't even notice he was speaking in German.
Part 27, by William the Bloody
Spike, Buffy, and Dawn had slept remarkably well, considering that they had slept on the floor in an empty living room. They didn't even bother getting up until around noon. Buffy heated up some food that she'd thought to grab while they were at Giles' apartment, and they all sat around eating and planning the upcoming evening. Spike and Dawn both wanted to start moving stuff back to the house as soon as the sun was down and Spike could go out, but Buffy felt that other matters needed to be attended to first.
"You guys said that Giles has been gone for a few days, and Anya mentioned that he'd left her a note to watch the shop for him. I really think we need to figure out where he's gone and go find him."
Spike glared at Buffy. "Why the bloody hell would we want to do that?! Remember... Giles... wooden stake... almost dead Spike?!"
Buffy set her plate of food down in front of her and tried to keep from losing her temper. "He IS still my watcher, and my friend! He thought he was doing what was right, and I TOLD you I would talk to him about it!
Spike looked at Buffy strangely. "You'll talk to him?" Spike asked calmly. Then he shouted, "He wants to KILL ME! Is this like when you EXPLAINED to Willow that 'Attacking Glory. Not a good thing'?" His attempt to mimic Buffy was quite bad, but it was still obvious he was making fun of her.
Buffy was furious. She stomped upstairs to her empty bedroom and slammed the door loudly. Spike visibly flinched at the sound of the slamming door. He looked sadly over at Dawn. "I didn't mean to..."
"I know", Dawn answered. "That's Buffy for ya."
Part 28, by Snakes
"I suppose I should go up and apologize, but how can she expect me to help find someone who just tried to kill me a few days ago?" Spike had no idea what he should do. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. He remembered when times had been much simpler, and he hadn't spent all of his time confused.
"I'll go up and talk to her, Spike", Dawn offered.
"You think you can get her to understand?"
"No, but I know I can irritate her enough that she'll forget she's mad at you." Dawn grinned at Spike. "I've always had a knack for driving her crazy."
Dawn ran up the stairs and barged into Buffy room without knocking. Spike could hear them arguing, but he couldn't tell what they were saying. He hadn't meant to get the sisters into a fight. He seemed to be doing everything wrong. Maybe he should still move back to his crypt. Finally he heard Buffy stomping back down the stairs, grumbling, "Little sisters! Ugh! I swear she's going to make me insane!" Spike felt terrible until he saw Dawn follow her sister down the stairs. Dawn grinned at Spike and gave him the thumbs up.
Buffy hadn't seen Dawn's signal to Spike, although she knew that Dawn had followed her back downstairs. Buffy walked over to Spike. "I'm sorry, Spike. I do need to find Giles. I hope you can understand that. But I don't have the right to expect you to help after what he did. You're right that there's a definite possibility that he won't listen to me", she sighed, "So I guess you shouldn't be around when I try to talk some sense into him."
"I'm sorry too, Buffy. I really don't want to find Giles, for obvious reasons, but I will at least help you try to find out where he is. But I'm not going with you to try to get him to come back. Ok?" Buffy nodded. "That's fair. Let's head over to the magic shop to talk to Anya. Maybe she has some information on where he went."
They arrived at the magic shop to find Anya frantically looking over everything in the shop, and scribbling notes on a clipboard. They barely even managed to get her attention, and then she just mumbled something incoherently to them before going back to her intense scrutiny of the shop items. Xander was also standing there watching her. He looked over at Buffy and Spike with a baffled but somewhat amused look on his face. "My girlfriend has apparently lost her mind. She's been doing this for the past two hours, ever since the Watcher's Council called. I've never seen her this intent on taking inventory before. Hey Anya!" Anya looked up briefly, then went back to her inventory. "Anya!" "What, Xander?! Can't you see I'm busy?!"
Buffy interrupted, "Watcher's Council? The council called? What did they want?"
Xander replied, "All I've been able to get out of her is that they want her to take inventory."
Buffy walked up to Anya. "Anya, can you stop that long enough to tell me what's going on. Why did the Watcher's Council call? Were they trying to get in touch with Giles about something?"
Anya looked very irritated. "Well, since you're obviously not going to leave me alone, I guess I don't have much choice. The Watcher's Council called to say that they think Giles took stuff from the shop when he left."
Spike asked, "Why does it matter if he took stuff?" Anya looked at him like he was an idiot. "If Giles took stuff, it's not here to sell! If I can't sell it, we don't make money off it! How can you act like that doesn't matter?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Of course that's important, Anya. But why did the council care that Giles took stuff from the shop? I doubt they're concerned about loss of sales."
Anya thought for a minute, "Oh, I think they said something about needing to know what he took. They think that he might have been affected somehow by certain items we had, and they want to know if he took those. Most of the items they mentioned didn't seem very valuable though." She shrugged and went back to work.