The males reconvened in the morning. All sat around the table, save for
Angel, who was lingering out of sunlight's reach, in the shadows of the
bookshelves. Giles cleared his throat after the initial silence.
"I've been able to discover how long the job will take."
"How long?" Xander and Angel spoke in unison.
"What job?" Oz asked, smiling in confusion.
Xander glanced at him. "The men... They have a job, building something. A
prison. Mighty appropriate," he mumbled. "Anyway, it's in Falston. They
live in Denison. They're going to have to..."
"Pass right through here on their way home." Oz nodded his understanding.
"And Denison is about three hours from here. Chances are, they'll break for
the night." His lips tightened. "That is, if they liked this town."
Angel made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. He turned to
Giles. "Go on. How long?"
"Nearly a year. They'll be flying home on breaks. It's to be one of the
larger prisons in the country. But," he added at the angry looks of the
group around him, "They do have to bring home their own supplies. I learned
that the truck they were driving isn't theirs-- It belongs to the company
they work for. The company based in Denison. We *will* have a chance to do
this," he said forcefully.
Giles looked at Oz. "I'm working on a component for you, to heighten your
senses even further. Perhaps to the level that you are in right before you
transform. It is dangerous, though, I must warn you."
Oz shrugged. "Still in." His mouth quirked. "I'll do what I can. And then
leave the rest up to you."
Xander nodded. "What he said. I'll do what I can, if it helps any. You
need battle equations or defense routines, I'm your guy. I could even get
into the mix, probably. And hey, we all know that I'm the one who knows how
to kill with humor."
"Always a plus," Angel deadpanned, no real annoyance in his remark.
Giles lifted his head. "Good. We'll need this. We'll need all of this."
He turned to the vampire. "Angel?"
Angel stepped forward, until the sun was almost touching him. "Yeah?"
"I need to know you haven't reconsidered." Giles paused. "For the record."
Angel frowned, not needing to think. "I'm there."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow's soft gasp woke Buffy up. She untangled her hair from Willow's hand,
wondering how it had gotten wrapped around her best friends fingers, and
rolled over. Groaning, she sat up.
"We're late," she muttered, hopping out of bed.
"I know," Willow said back, hurried. "What do we do?"
Buffy glanced at her with a grin. "We go to school. Just... late."
"Oh... Okay... School. Yes." Willow nodded quickly and began pacing. "I
don't have anything to wear."
"Wear something of mine," Buffy said easily. "Though you should pick out
something fast if you want to make it to fourth period."
"Fast. Fast is good." Willow headed to the closet, pulling out and holding
up clothes at random. Finally finding something in her style, she pulled it
out and began dressing. "Thanks, Buffy."
Buffy smiled briefly, putting the finishing touches on her own outfit.
"Anytime you need it, Will," she murmured.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How did we miss fourth period?" Willow cried out. "We left before it
started."
Buffy shook her head. "We woke up before it started. And then there was...
something that looked like breakfast, and even though we got ready pretty
fast, there's a few minutes there too. So we're late." She lifted her
shoulders. "No big. We're in time for lunch."
Willow smirked at her. "Which is real big in the classes-I-need-to-finish
column."
Buffy grinned. "Like you really need to do anything other than stay alive to
go to any college in the country?" she shot back playfully.
They walked into the library; the doors swished closed behind them.
The guys were sitting there. They fell silent at the sight of the girls.
Buffy narrowed her eyes. "New demon?"
Giles regained his thought process quickly. "Yes, actually. But I don't
think we need to worry quite this soon. Perhaps in another dozen years. He
was brought to my attention by this interesting prophesy I read in...."
Buffy yawned, exaggerating, her suspicions dissolving with his boring
lecture. "Never mind, Giles. If I don't have to worry about it for another
dozen years, then I plan on not worrying about it until then."
Giles smiled at Xander and Oz, who were looking at him appreciatively.
"Well, Buffy, it really is best to be prepared..."
"I'll be prepared. In twelve years. Thanks, though," she joked.
Willow sidled up to Oz, sitting in the free chair next to him. "Buffy?" she
mumbled. He nodded back, mutely. A satisfied smile lifted her features as
she appraised the Watcher in a new light for the dozenth time.
Damn, but he was clever.
Suddenly Cordelia burst into the library, stopping in her tracks when she saw
everyone already there. "God, you guys really don't have lives, do you?" she
asked, her words sarcastic but not hurting. Buffy just rolled her eyes.
"Then what are you doing here?" she muttered. She and Willow exchanged
hidden grins.
Cordelia sat down next to Xander, turning her eyes to Willow. "Anyway. So
you'll never guess what just happened." She snickered. "I was in English,
and the teacher called on Harmony for.... Something, I don't remember what.
But Harmony didn't answer. So the teacher called on her again, and then one
more time. She was getting really pissed." She burst into giggles.
"Turns out," she finished through hiccupping laughter, "That Harmony had
forgotten her name. *And* her phone number, *and* the need to brush her hair
in the morning. I thought she looked really weird this morning." She smiled
at Willow. "So, what you did, thanks. I've never seen anything funnier."
"She remembers now?" Willow asked, a slight smile edging over her face.
"Yeah," Cordelia said flippantly, "But only after we had to take her to the
nurses office and tell her her name and phone number like, three dozen times.
She's never going to live it down."
A soft giggle escaped Buffy, and everyone turned to her in surprise. She
looked up, tears of laughter beginning in her eyes. "I just...." She began
to get louder, uncontrolled. "She didn't.... brush her hair." Buffy leaned
forward, holding her stomach, as everyone looked at her in concern. After a
moment, she righted herself, wiped away her tears and looked up with a grin.
"What? I can't laugh at something totally stupid? If that were the case,
Xander's jokes would never get laughed at."
The group exchanged amused and agreed looks and then started laughing.
Xander's mouth hung open in shock for a moment, and then he nodded, resigned.
"Gotta hand it to you, Buff. You tell it the way it is," he grinned.
Buffy, a spark thought dead re-lighting in her eyes, nodded happily at him.
Maybe things *could* get better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow nudged her as they walked home. Buffy smiled at her friend. "What?"
"It's just... I'm happy," Willow said softly. "Happy that you're happy."
Buffy stopped walking, turning to face her. "I'm not," she admitted
seriously. "I don't think I will be for a long time. It won't ever be like
it was before. But it won't ever be as bad as it was for a while there. I
don't think it could *get* that bad again." She smiled, bitter-sweetly. "I
can deal. I always have."
"You really have," Willow said admiringly. Her eyes lowered. "Buffy?"
They resumed walking. "Yeah?"
"What's it... Never mind."
Buffy looked at her shoes; she was scuffing them along the sidewalk. "What's
it like?" Willow nodded, biting her lip. "Don't feel bad for asking, Will.
It's horrible. It's like... Like having this really big secret, something
that was special to only you and maybe someone else, and having another
person, one you hated, finding out about it and... I don't know, telling
people, or making fun of you for it. I wasn't, you know, a virgin because
of, well, Angel, but it was different with them. Not just because they
weren't him, but because it made me feel weak. And not like I *was* weak, at
the time. Weak inside."
Willow was silent as Buffy talked and Buffy glanced up at her before she
continued. "You know that feeling you get when you see a cockroach or
something equally gross? It was like that was inside me. I was infested
with them. They took my special away from me."
Willow shook her head. "Nobody could do that."
"Thanks," Buffy said softly. "But, with Angel?"
Willow nodded, curious. Buffy had never talked about Angel in depth before,
and she was wondering.
Buffy's eyes got distant. "It was different than that. So different. It
*gave* me a special feeling, because I loved him and he loved me and,
forgetting everything that happened after that, it was perfect. Pretty much
what every girl dreams her first time is going to be like." Buffy blushed.
"You know, not just because he's had... experience, although that might have
been a part of it, but because we had gotten so close in our feelings, and
that was the only way we could be even closer, and it did that for us."
"I'm sorry," Willow whispered hollowly.
"Why?" Buffy asked, genuinely confused.
Willow shrugged. "Just... For everything that you've gone through. But it
seems to all work out in the end. Right?" she finished hopefully.
"Don't be sorry, Will," Buffy said, smiling sadly. "And, as for the other,
the working out thing... I'm still hoping. I guess we'll just see."
Angel, who was lingering out of sunlight's reach, in the shadows of the
bookshelves. Giles cleared his throat after the initial silence.
"I've been able to discover how long the job will take."
"How long?" Xander and Angel spoke in unison.
"What job?" Oz asked, smiling in confusion.
Xander glanced at him. "The men... They have a job, building something. A
prison. Mighty appropriate," he mumbled. "Anyway, it's in Falston. They
live in Denison. They're going to have to..."
"Pass right through here on their way home." Oz nodded his understanding.
"And Denison is about three hours from here. Chances are, they'll break for
the night." His lips tightened. "That is, if they liked this town."
Angel made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. He turned to
Giles. "Go on. How long?"
"Nearly a year. They'll be flying home on breaks. It's to be one of the
larger prisons in the country. But," he added at the angry looks of the
group around him, "They do have to bring home their own supplies. I learned
that the truck they were driving isn't theirs-- It belongs to the company
they work for. The company based in Denison. We *will* have a chance to do
this," he said forcefully.
Giles looked at Oz. "I'm working on a component for you, to heighten your
senses even further. Perhaps to the level that you are in right before you
transform. It is dangerous, though, I must warn you."
Oz shrugged. "Still in." His mouth quirked. "I'll do what I can. And then
leave the rest up to you."
Xander nodded. "What he said. I'll do what I can, if it helps any. You
need battle equations or defense routines, I'm your guy. I could even get
into the mix, probably. And hey, we all know that I'm the one who knows how
to kill with humor."
"Always a plus," Angel deadpanned, no real annoyance in his remark.
Giles lifted his head. "Good. We'll need this. We'll need all of this."
He turned to the vampire. "Angel?"
Angel stepped forward, until the sun was almost touching him. "Yeah?"
"I need to know you haven't reconsidered." Giles paused. "For the record."
Angel frowned, not needing to think. "I'm there."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow's soft gasp woke Buffy up. She untangled her hair from Willow's hand,
wondering how it had gotten wrapped around her best friends fingers, and
rolled over. Groaning, she sat up.
"We're late," she muttered, hopping out of bed.
"I know," Willow said back, hurried. "What do we do?"
Buffy glanced at her with a grin. "We go to school. Just... late."
"Oh... Okay... School. Yes." Willow nodded quickly and began pacing. "I
don't have anything to wear."
"Wear something of mine," Buffy said easily. "Though you should pick out
something fast if you want to make it to fourth period."
"Fast. Fast is good." Willow headed to the closet, pulling out and holding
up clothes at random. Finally finding something in her style, she pulled it
out and began dressing. "Thanks, Buffy."
Buffy smiled briefly, putting the finishing touches on her own outfit.
"Anytime you need it, Will," she murmured.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How did we miss fourth period?" Willow cried out. "We left before it
started."
Buffy shook her head. "We woke up before it started. And then there was...
something that looked like breakfast, and even though we got ready pretty
fast, there's a few minutes there too. So we're late." She lifted her
shoulders. "No big. We're in time for lunch."
Willow smirked at her. "Which is real big in the classes-I-need-to-finish
column."
Buffy grinned. "Like you really need to do anything other than stay alive to
go to any college in the country?" she shot back playfully.
They walked into the library; the doors swished closed behind them.
The guys were sitting there. They fell silent at the sight of the girls.
Buffy narrowed her eyes. "New demon?"
Giles regained his thought process quickly. "Yes, actually. But I don't
think we need to worry quite this soon. Perhaps in another dozen years. He
was brought to my attention by this interesting prophesy I read in...."
Buffy yawned, exaggerating, her suspicions dissolving with his boring
lecture. "Never mind, Giles. If I don't have to worry about it for another
dozen years, then I plan on not worrying about it until then."
Giles smiled at Xander and Oz, who were looking at him appreciatively.
"Well, Buffy, it really is best to be prepared..."
"I'll be prepared. In twelve years. Thanks, though," she joked.
Willow sidled up to Oz, sitting in the free chair next to him. "Buffy?" she
mumbled. He nodded back, mutely. A satisfied smile lifted her features as
she appraised the Watcher in a new light for the dozenth time.
Damn, but he was clever.
Suddenly Cordelia burst into the library, stopping in her tracks when she saw
everyone already there. "God, you guys really don't have lives, do you?" she
asked, her words sarcastic but not hurting. Buffy just rolled her eyes.
"Then what are you doing here?" she muttered. She and Willow exchanged
hidden grins.
Cordelia sat down next to Xander, turning her eyes to Willow. "Anyway. So
you'll never guess what just happened." She snickered. "I was in English,
and the teacher called on Harmony for.... Something, I don't remember what.
But Harmony didn't answer. So the teacher called on her again, and then one
more time. She was getting really pissed." She burst into giggles.
"Turns out," she finished through hiccupping laughter, "That Harmony had
forgotten her name. *And* her phone number, *and* the need to brush her hair
in the morning. I thought she looked really weird this morning." She smiled
at Willow. "So, what you did, thanks. I've never seen anything funnier."
"She remembers now?" Willow asked, a slight smile edging over her face.
"Yeah," Cordelia said flippantly, "But only after we had to take her to the
nurses office and tell her her name and phone number like, three dozen times.
She's never going to live it down."
A soft giggle escaped Buffy, and everyone turned to her in surprise. She
looked up, tears of laughter beginning in her eyes. "I just...." She began
to get louder, uncontrolled. "She didn't.... brush her hair." Buffy leaned
forward, holding her stomach, as everyone looked at her in concern. After a
moment, she righted herself, wiped away her tears and looked up with a grin.
"What? I can't laugh at something totally stupid? If that were the case,
Xander's jokes would never get laughed at."
The group exchanged amused and agreed looks and then started laughing.
Xander's mouth hung open in shock for a moment, and then he nodded, resigned.
"Gotta hand it to you, Buff. You tell it the way it is," he grinned.
Buffy, a spark thought dead re-lighting in her eyes, nodded happily at him.
Maybe things *could* get better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow nudged her as they walked home. Buffy smiled at her friend. "What?"
"It's just... I'm happy," Willow said softly. "Happy that you're happy."
Buffy stopped walking, turning to face her. "I'm not," she admitted
seriously. "I don't think I will be for a long time. It won't ever be like
it was before. But it won't ever be as bad as it was for a while there. I
don't think it could *get* that bad again." She smiled, bitter-sweetly. "I
can deal. I always have."
"You really have," Willow said admiringly. Her eyes lowered. "Buffy?"
They resumed walking. "Yeah?"
"What's it... Never mind."
Buffy looked at her shoes; she was scuffing them along the sidewalk. "What's
it like?" Willow nodded, biting her lip. "Don't feel bad for asking, Will.
It's horrible. It's like... Like having this really big secret, something
that was special to only you and maybe someone else, and having another
person, one you hated, finding out about it and... I don't know, telling
people, or making fun of you for it. I wasn't, you know, a virgin because
of, well, Angel, but it was different with them. Not just because they
weren't him, but because it made me feel weak. And not like I *was* weak, at
the time. Weak inside."
Willow was silent as Buffy talked and Buffy glanced up at her before she
continued. "You know that feeling you get when you see a cockroach or
something equally gross? It was like that was inside me. I was infested
with them. They took my special away from me."
Willow shook her head. "Nobody could do that."
"Thanks," Buffy said softly. "But, with Angel?"
Willow nodded, curious. Buffy had never talked about Angel in depth before,
and she was wondering.
Buffy's eyes got distant. "It was different than that. So different. It
*gave* me a special feeling, because I loved him and he loved me and,
forgetting everything that happened after that, it was perfect. Pretty much
what every girl dreams her first time is going to be like." Buffy blushed.
"You know, not just because he's had... experience, although that might have
been a part of it, but because we had gotten so close in our feelings, and
that was the only way we could be even closer, and it did that for us."
"I'm sorry," Willow whispered hollowly.
"Why?" Buffy asked, genuinely confused.
Willow shrugged. "Just... For everything that you've gone through. But it
seems to all work out in the end. Right?" she finished hopefully.
"Don't be sorry, Will," Buffy said, smiling sadly. "And, as for the other,
the working out thing... I'm still hoping. I guess we'll just see."