Monday Night

Xander and Cordy had finished their dinner and bagged their
trash; they heard happy shouts and childish squeals from a nearby
clearing. "You feel like turning in yet, Cor?"

"Nah. I feel too sociable. Want to join them?"

They walked toward the voices, and they saw a campfire with an
adult couple and a few college students around it. Meanwhile,
some children were racing around the campsite playing hide and
seek. One of the students was playing a guitar.

"Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all."

"I'm Cordy and this is Xander."

"Hi!"

---

Willow heard a tapping from the front door.

"That must be Oz." She ran to greet him.

Jonathon closed the notebook he was writing in and went to put
some books back into a bookcase. He turned away from the door.

"Oz!"

"Hey, babe." Oz and Willow kissed, and then Oz pulled back and
said, "Jonathon?"

"We met at the hospital. We're setting up a memorial service."

Oz nodded. "Seems right. Good idea, Jon. Hello."

"Hi. We met while giving blood. Have you yet?"

Oz looked a little stricken at that, while Willow replied, "Oh,
he can't. He's been exposed to hepatitis, I think." Willow then
whispered to Oz, "Larry died this afternoon."

"Sorry, Jon."

"Well, I'll head off. It looks like you, well--"

"Oz will drop you off. Sunnydale isn't safe, you know."

"Course."

The three went to Oz's van.

"What do you want to do tonight, babe?" asked Oz. "Bronze it?"

"Not tonight. We should stop by there--I promised the people at
the blood center I'd try to get some volunteers, but I don't feel
like dancing."

"Understood. Jon, you OK?"

Jon waved his hand; he couldn't say anything.

"Sorry, man."

"If you want to talk, call me in the morning, Jon."

They drove to Jon's house and saw him to his door. "Thanks,
Jon."

Jon went inside, turned, and waved at them again; he looked
smaller than usual. They nodded, and Jon closed the door.

They walked briskly to the van; Sunnydale was no place to dawdle
at night. After they got into the van and locked up, Oz asked:

"Hepatitis?"

"Couldn't tell him the truth, could I. Ooh, my boyfriend can't
give blood because anyone who received it would turn into a wolf
the next full moon, and we don't want werewolves to be running
around in hospitals, but I couldn't tell him that you are a
coward, because you're not, so I just came up with something
plausible that wouldn't make you sound bad, and should I stop
talking now?"

He gently kissed her. "Yes." They drove off toward the Bronze.

"Can we just hold each other tonight, Oz? I feel a bit weird."

"Just hit you, didn't it."

"Yes."

"I love you. It's not just about sex, Will. I'll hold you, and
we'll remember them together."

---

"... And from the driver's door handle dangled a large hook."

"Oh, boo," called out Xander.

"Lame," added Cordelia.

"Oh, can you do better?"

Xander and Cordelia started giggling.

"Which story should we tell?"

"Leave A out of it."

"Right. Follow my lead," said Xander. "This happened about two
years ago. There was a girl in our high school, Marsha Rossberg."

"Rossberg?" asked Cordelia.

"Please, Cordy."

"She tried to maim me!"

"Everybody was tempted to do that at least once, Cordy." Xander
then murmured, "I wanted a story without any Type Vs."

"OK. Go ahead."

---

"I'm going to soak in the spa for a while. Will you two be okay?"

"Fine, Buff."

"We'll be fine. Go relax. You've earned it."

The three of them got up from their dinner table, and Buffy went
off to change.

"How is she, really?"

"She's the strongest gir--sorry, the strongest woman I've ever
known. I'm not sure, though. She looked so lost after the battle
was over. She blames herself for the casualties. Now, I don't
know."

"She seems okay."

"We both know that can be deceiving. She keeps a lot bottled up
inside; the more we get her to talk, the better she'll be. Try to
listen, really listen."

They walked into the cocktail lounge and sat down at a booth in
back. A waitress went over and took their drink order, and then
they sat awkwardly for a minute. Each of them tried to begin a
sentence, but failed to say anything remotely understandable. The
waitress came back with her wine and his Scotch, and they each
took a sip. Finally, Giles managed to choke out:

"How are you?"

"Terrified. What do I say to you?"

"I know. Our indiscretion--does it hurt you that we made love?"

Joyce laughed. "We didn't make love; we had hot sex. I know the
difference. Besides, it wasn't even us."

"You don't hate me, do you?"

"No. Not for that, at least. You were as much a victim as I."
Joyce looked around for a moment, and then talked more softly: "I
do resent you sometimes, though. About Buffy, I mean. I blame you
for making her be Her."

"Joyce, you know I didn't Choose her."

"I know that, and I know you've kept her alive and sane so many
times. But the entire situation is insane. How can a system that
makes an 18-year-old girl face those pressures be right?"

"Or a 15-year-old girl. I was trained to think that the Calling
was right and proper, but now that I've seen what it does, I'm no
longer so sure. Still, all I can do is help her with everything
that I am."

"It's too much. When I saw her the other night, I thought she was
going to break. How much more can she take?"

"I don't know. She is unique, you know. No Slayer has ever faced
the quantity of enemies she has. And she has prevailed. And no
Slayer has ever had the allies she has. I wish you could have
seen her on Graduation Day. She was a Queen leading her knights
into battle. She was magnificent."

"In the end, she's just a teenager."

"She's not 'just' anything. Not just a teenager, not just a
Slayer. She's grown up. Oh, she has a few rough spots, but she's
grown up."

Joyce nodded and finished her drink. "Has she talked about Angel
much?"

"Why, no. I'm surprised actually. Angel was in her nightmares,
but not in our conversations." He paused. "Of course, she might
be trying to spare my feelings. No, she's actually more
concerned with the students who fell in the battle."

"I hope she can get past him."

"I hope she can. And I."

---

Oz looked up from his computer. "Larry's funeral is Wednesday."

"We'll go."

"Yes." Oz put the computer into sleep mode and they got into
bed. "So tell me about Jesse."

---

"We never saw Marsha again. Frankly, I think she's now an
invisible 'La Femme Nikita'. But, if someone you ignore in high
school just disappears, watch out. She might be right
behind--Oof!" Xander found himself sprawled on his back next to
the fire. "Cordy!"

"You were ignoring me."

Xander shook his head and returned to Cordy's side. "I'll never
do that again."

"You sound like that story actually happened," said one of the
other teens.

"It's just a story."

"Keep telling yourselves that."

---

"So, what do we do now, Rupert?"

"We relax. We are a happy family on a well-deserved vacation."

Joyce just stared at Giles.

"Too domestic?"

"Yes."

"Let's go find Buffy."

"Do you want to use the spa yourself?"

Giles cringed. "That wouldn't be proper."

"Sorry." They walked through the hotel to the pool area, where
they saw Buffy in the spa. She had slipped low in the water, her
head was tipped back, her hair trailed behind her, her eyes were
closed, her breathing was slow, and her body was
relaxed. Suddenly, she gave a start and leapt from her seat,
splashing the other bathers. She exited the pool, apologizing to
the others.

Joyce and Giles caught up with her as she reached the chair with
her towel. Joyce asked, "Are you okay?" "Just a flashback. Not a
prophecy, Giles." They went back to their rooms.

---

"So Xander's dad forced him into Little League; he wanted to make
a man out of him."

"Ha. What does he know?"

"Have you ever met his dad?"

"No."

"Well, his idea of being a man involves sports and lots of beer."

"Oh."

"So, Jesse joined up to keep him company, and I went to their
first game to cheer. Jesse turned out to be pretty good, while
Xander was, well, Xander. In the bottom of the first, Jesse lined
a double to right. Then, in the bottom of the second inning,
Xander hit a ball that the shortstop just barely caught up with,
and he managed to beat the throw, but he tripped on first base
and went sprawling. The rest of the team started to laugh, and
Xander's dad started to scream at him; I knew Xander was about to
cry, and I yelled out something encouraging. He heard me, took a
deep breath, and returned to first.

"The next inning, someone hit a ball over Xander's head in
right. He ran back for it, and it just tinked off his glove. He
picked it up and threw it back, and then the manager just started
screaming at him. So did his father. Some people are
vamp-cruel. Anyhow, the manager put in someone else mid-inning,
and Xander trudged to the bench. He looked miserable. Jesse led
off the next inning, and I saw him wink at Xander. The manager
also doubled as the first-base coach, and Jesse proceeded to line
foul ball after foul ball through the coaches' box. Finally, he
bounced one off the manager's head, knocking him out. The two
quit the team after the game, and everything was fine. Except
for Xander's dad, of course. You know, something similar happened
two years ago."

"And Xander had to stake Jesse. This damned town."

"Yeah." Willow hugged Oz and they both lay there until they were
relaxed enough to sleep.

---

"So, do you have any more stories?"

"There was the candy we sold," said Cordelia.

"No, Cordy--Giles wouldn't want us to talk about that. What about
your trip to college?"

"Ewwww! I hate snakes. No, please. What about Ms. French?"

"You've got bugs in your head. Hey, let's talk about Chris and
Daryl."

"You are asking for me to tear you from limb to limb. Hey, I
have it. Remember your performance on the swim team?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Don't act coy. You know you loved it."

"You are going to pay for this."

"I know."

---

"How bad is it, hon?" Joyce and Buffy were back in their hotel
room.

"I don't know. I just can't seem to relax. Whenever I try, I
think I see something to stake. Or something coming after me. Or
you. Or Giles."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you that you'll get over it."

"As if I'd believe you."

"And you don't think I have my nightmares too?"

"I can't help that. I tried to keep it a secret, but it didn't
work out."

"I know. I'll adjust to watching my baby put herself in danger
every night. Someday."