Giles to find out about Spike. I was actually going to leave that in the air. When I started this story,
I was going to leave that up in the air. Buffy hadn't told anyone but Tara, and I was going to keep it
that way. But, since such a high percentage wrote that they wanted Giles to find out, I'll try to work
it into the next chapter.
As far as Ethan is concerned, I'm not sure if he'll be
making an appearance in the final chapter. I
wasn't planning on it, but I've gotten a few requests(so
to speak), so maybe. Here's the final big
argument between Buffy and Giles. I'm not very
good at confrontation, so writing it is difficult
too. Sorry about that. Enjoy the rest though.
Chapter 6
There were no signs of Katherina
the next morning or afternoon. All of the Scoobies traveled in
pairs at least, with the exception of Buffy, who called
in sick to work and was day patrolling. Giles
and Tara began scavenging for magic supplies and fine
tuning the spell they would need. Willow
and Xander took Dawn to school and then took snitch duty;
asking around about vampirish girls
walking around during the day. In essence, it was
a normal day on the hellmouth.
They all met up again that evening
over left over chinese food and tea. This time they sat in various
positions around the living room.
"So, how do we get Katherina in a room with all four of us there and in place?" Xander asked.
"Bait? We need some kind of bait!" Willow suggested.
"Yeah, but the only thing she
wants is us dead, and she's being pretty careful about picking her moments.
I don't think she'll walk into a room with all of us
in it at once."
Everyone looked around the room
at each other, at a loss for any ideas. "Alright." Buffy once
again took
charge. "Everyone brain storm tonight on how we
lure Katherina. We need some ideas, and we need
them yesterday. I'm going on patrol. Willow,
can you watch Dawn until I get back?"
"Sure." Willow said. "Hey Dawn, lets make popcorn and watch Iron Chef again!"
"Listen, I'm going past the campus. Tara, do you want a lift?" Tara nodded and smiled at Xander for
the offer.
"Uh, Buffy, if you don't mind,
I'd like to patrol with you tonight. If Katherina shows up, you might
need
some back up." Giles was polishing his glasses
again as he spoke.
Buffy looked at him as though
she was going to protest, but then nodded. "Let's see if we can add
some
effective, but non-lethal weapons to our arsenal."
"I left most of my weapons at the Magic Box. The tranquilizer gun should be there still." Giles suggested.
"Yeah, actually, I've got that
here. Good suggestion, Giles." Buffy ran up the stairs and
came down
after a moment with a stake, a crossbow, the tranquilizer
gun, and a smaller stun gun compliments of the
now defunct Initiative. She handed the crossbow
and tranquilizer to Giles, and kept the two smaller
weapons for herself. "Ready?" She asked.
"Yes, of course." Giles answered. Grabbing his jacket on the way out.
"Be careful!" Dawn called as they left. Buffy waved back at her in answer.
Walking into the dark of Sunnydale's
night streets, Giles listened to the sound of Xander's car as the
engine started and they pulled out of the driveway. Then he focused all of his attention to the task at hand.
**********
Buffy sighed. "This stinks." She grumbled.
"Yes well, it does seem rather
quiet." Giles walked next to Buffy through the cemetery. They
walked
slowly, listening and watching for signs of vampires
and other slayers. In the last two hours, they ran
into one newborn vampire, which Buffy dispatched before
Giles even had a chance to react.
"Well there doesn't seem to be much point. Why don't we call it a night? We're not going to find anything."
"It is getting rather late. Perhaps we'll have more luck tomorrow."
They took the long route home,
passing one last cemetery on the way back, and several other popular spots
for vampires. Nothing was stirring that evening. Buffy and Giles made it back to the Summers' home
frustrated, but without incident.
The first hint that something
wasn't right was when Buffy noticed that the front door was slightly ajar. It
wasn't hanging wide open, but neither Willow nor Dawn
would be stupid enough to leave a door open, even
slightly.
Buffy froze when she saw it. Her muscles tensed and her senses flared as the hairs on the back of her
neck
stood on end. Giles, whose eyesight wasn't nearly
as good as Buffy's, might not have seen the door, but he
picked up on Buffy's tension.
"What is it?" He whispered,
not wanting to distract the slayer, or call attention to themselves if
there were
any demons nearby.
Buffy whispered back. "Something's not right. The door's not closed."
Giles took position just behind
Buffy, his crossbow at the ready. Buffy stalked towards the door,
silently.
Each step on the front stoop was taken with deliberate
concentration. Buffy pushed open the door the
rest of the way. Inside, it was quiet. In
fact, it was eerily quiet, taking into consideration the state of the
house. Tables and chairs were turned over. Lamps and vases were shattered. Things were strewn about
the floor.
Talk to me!" There was
no answer. Buffy ran into the living room in a panic. From
the kitchen her heard
Giles' strained voice. "Buffy, in here quickly!"
The slayer joined her watcher
in the kitchen. What she saw almost made her heart break. Willow
was
sprawled on the kitchen floor, a deep gash in her forehead. Giles kneeled beside her to determine the extent
of her injuries.
"What happened? Is she
okay? Where's Dawn?" Buffy asked, scanning the kitchen for
clues as to what
happened.
"I don't know. Buffy, call
an ambulance. Then check upstairs for Dawn." Before he had
finished, Buffy
was giving their address to the operator over the phone. She hung up as soon as she was done, then ran
upstairs, calling Dawn's name.
Just before the ambulance came,
Buffy returned downstairs. "She's not here." Her voice had
hints of
both fear and relief. She didn't find Dawn's dead
body, and right now that was what she was trying to
hold onto.
Giles looked up at her from the
floor. "Do you think it was Katherina?" Buffy shook her head,
unsure,
but before she had the chance to answer, Willow stirred. At the same time the paramedics came in through
the still opened front door.
Buffy knew that they wouldn't
have a chance to talk to Willow once the paramedics got to her, so she
quickly knelt down next to her semi conscious friend,
and shook her gently. "Willow, what happened?"
"Hmm?" Willow's eyes opened and fell on Buffy's concerned face. "Buffy?" She slurred. "Dawn!"
"Willow, did Katherina do this?"
Willow shook her head yes. The paramedics were in the kitchen, pushing Buffy and Giles out of the
way.
"Buffy, the factory...she said...she's got Dawn...she
wants to fight..." Her eyes rolled back up in her head
and she once again passed out.
Buffy and Giles both turned their
attention on the paramedics who were lifting Willow onto a cart. "Will
she be okay?" Buffy asked.
"She's suffered a major trauma
to the head, but no neck or spinal injuries. She should be fine,
but we
need to get her to a hospital." Buffy got the name
of the hospital that they were taking her to, and then
watched as they wheeled her out.
The slayer turned to Giles with a smoldering expression. "Go with Willow." Then she walked away.
"Wait, Buffy! You're not going after Katherina alone."
"I'm going to kill her."
"Buffy, you can't, you know that. She's still human."
"She attacked Willow and kidnapped
Dawn, Giles. What do you suggest I do, ask her nicely to stop
hurting the people I love?"
"All I'm saying is that..."
"I don't care!" Buffy's
anger and fear and frustration were all boiling to the surface. "You're
not my
teacher and you're not my watcher. You gave that
and the right to make decisions in my life up when
you left Sunnydale. I am not going to risk the
lives of my friends, just because you..."
"That's enough!" Giles
roared. His fist pounded the kitchen table, nearly cracking the wood. The
sudden fury made Buffy jump, her mouth hung open in mid-rant. "I am sick and tired of listening to you
whine and complain about my leaving. Maybe my returning
was a mistake. My presence only seems to
bring out the worst in you. Willow's hurt and Dawn's
missing and all you can think about is that I left."
Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but Giles silenced her
with a warning look.
"Now if you're not going to accept
my help, then fine, do it your own bloody self. But I suggest you
think before you go rushing in like a...a cartoon cowboy
because you're going to get yourself and Dawn
killed that way!" The watcher turned his back on
Buffy and stormed out of the house.
Buffy listened as the front door
slammed shut behind him. The only sound Buffy could hear was the
beating of her own heart. She was alone again,
and it was her own fault. Her eyes widened as realization
hit her. All of those things that she said and
did to Giles; how could she do that? How could she blame all
of her problems on him? She realized that it might
be too late to apologize, but she had to try. She raced
out of the door, prepared to chase Giles down; prepared
to track taxis, buses and planes to find him. She
wasn't prepared to be met by him on the front porch.
Giles made no move leave. He waited silently for Buffy to act. She stepped back, suddenly very
unsure
of what she wanted to say. She decided that simple
would be best.
"You're right. I've been
selfish and immature." She looked at the ground, unable to face him. "So
many things happened after you left...things I didn't
tell you. It's been too much. And then you came back
and I just fell into old habits; really bad old habits. I swear that I didn't mean to hurt you. I saw what I was
doing to you. I really hated myself, but I couldn't
stop." She looked at Giles with pain and fear clouding
her eyes. "I used you. I used you as a punching
bag; as a focus for all my pain and anger. And it's not
your fault. You had nothing to do with anything that has happened. It's my fault. This is all a result of
my decisions. And I'm making a decision right now. I'm going to get Dawn back. But Giles, I need your
help."
Giles hadn't a clue what she
was talking about. Whatever was bothering Buffy, Giles assumed that
Dawn must not know about it either. Nothing that
she had written to him about would elicit this type
of reaction in his slayer. Whatever it was must
be pretty bad, he thought.
"Alright. I think you and
I need to have a long talk when all of this is over. I'm obviously
missing
something. Right now, why don't we make some phone
calls and let the others know what happened."
Buffy brushed some stray tears from her eyes and
nodded. They walked back into the house to make
the phone calls and then drove in silence to the hospital.
