Sequel to Head Under Water
Spoilers: Bargaining Parts 1 & 2; Afterlife; & Flooded
Summary: A continuation of "To Me", "Best Laid Plans", and "Head Under Water" Ongoing, week-by-week rewrite of Season 6. My own twisted little universe. :)
Author's Note: I neglected to mention that I was still honoring the fact that Giles came back. That part I liked, cause Giles rules. I also ignore the Buffy/Spike interactions. So far, whenever Spike has come to visit Dawn, Buffy is either not there, or she avoids running into him. Oh, and I TOTALLY wrote the check-giving bit before seeing the episode. Way back on Thursday/Friday. I just wanted to make sure *someone* gave her money.
*CUT TO: The Summers House. Buffy is sitting at the desk, sipping some coffee, as she pours through her bills once again.*
The front door swung open,
and Xander came in lugging pieces of a coffee table. Buffy gave him a small
smile as he entered the living room and leaned the parts against the couch.
He returned the smile as he spoke, "Just dropped by to put together your
new coffee table. Figured today was as good as any."
She stood up, "I don't know how I can pay you back for all your help..."
She quickly offered an elongated hug, which they both seemed to enjoy.
He pulled back to show her his lop-sided grin, "Well, that's definitely
a good start..." He looked down at the pieces of wood against the couch,
"But it's really not a problem... just some pieces of lumber I bought and
carved myself. No biggie."
She sighed and stepped over to look at the desk, "Yes, biggie... I don't
have the money to pay you for..." She turned around to see Xander cautiously
presenting a check between his two hands. Her were confused at first, then bulged
as she saw the amount the check was for, "Xander... the idea is for *me*
to pay *you* for the work, not the other way around."
He looked at her pleadingly, before looking slightly fearful as she realized
what he was trying to do. "Xander! I'm not taking money from you. You need
it just as much as I do." He didn't back down, despite looking worried,
"I can't!"
"You can, and you will." The kitchen door swung open, revealing Giles
with a platter. He walked into the room and set it down on the edge of the desk.
Picking up the tea pot, he slowly poured three cups of tea before answering,
"Coffee is terrible for you, you should start drinking tea. And Xander's
gesture, albeit unsubtle, is heartfelt. You need help from all of us, Buffy.
We won't take no for an answer."
Buffy looked furious, "You two planned this!"
Xander spoke up this time, "No, we didn't actually. Anya and I did. Well,
more like I did and then convinced Anya it was a good idea. I don't mean to
disrespect you Buffy. This isn't meant to be a handout. I just don't want to
see you lose everything."
Buffy was still angry, "You think I can't take care of myself?"
"No!" Giles and Xander answered in unison. They exchanged a glance
before Giles continued, "You've recently gone through a tremendous ordeal.
And now that you've come back, there are a great deal of new responsibilities
which will take you a while to get acclimated to. We simply wish to provide
a... safety net of sorts, to keep you from being overwhelmed."
"I..." She sighed, "I don't know what to say." She glanced
at her bills dejectedly.
Xander walked over and placed the check on her desk, within her field of vision,
on top of the bills, "You can start, Buffy... with yes." He turned
her around and looked in her eyes, "We're always going to be here for you.
All you have to do is ask."
Giles smiled at the exchange, but said nothing, simply waited for a reply. Buffy
lowered her head, stifling what sounded like soft sobs, before whispering, "Yes."
Both men put a hand on her shoulders and tried to offer comfort.
*CUT TO: The Magic Box. Giles is performing a small ritual on the main table, while the others are researching here and there.*
Willow leaned heavily on
the counter as she poured over the book again and again. It only served to frustrate
her more and more. She curses quietly, before speaking up, "It has all
the basic characteristics of Thaumogenesis... but there's no explanation of
how it could make Xander a vampire for any amount of time. It completely unexplainable."
Xander hopped down off his perch on the stairs, setting his own book aside,
"It's not your fault, Will. We've had worse before. Glory baffled us until
we got a clue from the Watcher's Council. They were hardly helpful until we
got in their faces. We've gotten through the hard times before, and this is
no different."
"But last time we survived and Buffy..." Willow trailed off.
"Died? You can say it, Will. Not talking about it won't change the fact
that it happened." Buffy commented.
Willow nodded mutely. Giles sensed the tension and broke it quickly, "Well,
I do believe that's finished. I'll have to make the rounds to each of your residences...
but we should be relatively safe." He walked over to Willow and looked
at the materials she had before her, "Let me have a look at the texts on
Thaumogenesis... perhaps I can make a correlation between it and other materials
I've studied."
Xander nodded, "And that's my cue to head for home. Anya's gonna start
to worry, and I have to work tomorrow anyway." He packed up his things
and headed towards the door. As Willow and Giles looked over the texts, Buffy
jumped up and followed Xander to the door. She caught his attention by tapping
him on the shoulder. When he turned around, he couldn't help but smile, "Yes,
Buffy?"
"I..." She looked back at the others before lowering her voice, "I
want to pay you back for they money."
For a reason he couldn't easily explain, his mind flashed to a memory he didn't
remember having. He saw Buffy hovering over him, in her front yard, almost kissing
him. It played over in his mind over and over. So consuming it was to his mind,
that he completely missed what Buffy had said. He had to shake his head and
ask, "Say what? I'm sorry, I was non-occupado in the cabasa there."
"I said, I want to pay you back... as soon as I possibly can. I was wondering...
could you get me a job?"
He looked at her in confusion, "Isn't that something you should do for
yourself, Buff?"
She frowned, "No... I meant... could you..." She paused, blushing,
"Getmeajobatyourconstructionsite?"
Xander took a moment to interpret her garbled words. When it dawned on him,
his eyes went wide, "You want to... work at the construction site? I...
well..." He thought for a mere moment, then he smiled at her warmly, "Sure,
Buffy. I'll go in tomorrow, talk with my boss... pull a few of my 'good worker'
strings, and see to getting you some temp work."
"Really?" Her face lit up.
He laughed, "Of course. I'm always willing to help out my slayer friend."
She pounced on him with a hug, causing him to groan in minor pain before hugging
her back, "Yeah... friend." He was unable to hear it, as she had mumbled
it into his chest.
"What?" He was confused again.
She looked up at him, "Nothing, I just said 'thank you.'"
"It's my pleasure, Buffy. And if it doesn't work out there's always working
for Giles." She made a face that he couldn't help but laugh at. He waved
goodbye one last time before heading out.
Giles walked up and saw her distant, wistful look, "What was that about?"
She suddenly became aware of her surroundings, "I was just asking Xander
for a favor... to help me pay him back."
"Oh... really?" Giles looked surprised at hearing she was asking for
help, "Well, I suppose that's good. What was it?"
"I just asked him to try to get me a job at his construction site. To help
earn his money back."
"That sounds like quite a good idea, Buffy. I'm glad to see such maturity."
He smiled warmly.
She nodded, before pausing, "Are you saying I'm not mature?"
"Uhh... uhh..." He looked off towards Willow, "Willow, did you
say you needed more help? I'll be there in just a moment." He looked at
Buffy once more before dashing off to 'help' Willow. Buffy laughed quietly,
then went back to where her books were and continued researching.
