An hour later we were walking around the mall, talking and joking
like old friends. More than once I had to remind myself that Buffy and
Xander were old friends, and that he had probably forgotten that there was
a different soul residing in her body now, at least for the moment.
We were riding down the escalator when Xander said something that really threw me off guard.
"You know, Brooke is really quite beautiful," he remarked. I straightened in surprise.
"H-how do you know what I look like?" I stammered. He nodded at the large mirror. I followed his gaze to see myself, not Buffy, staring back. I raced down the escalator. Xander caught up with me at the bottom.
"What the hell just happened?" I snapped. Xander held up his hands.
"Hey, I just said what I thought…before thinking. I do that a lot. I didn't mean to offend," he offered.
"No, no, not that!" I said impatiently. "I mean, that was pretty sweet of you," I tried, more gently. "I meant the mirror, the funky reflection thing." We looked at each other for a second.
"Giles!" we agreed in unison.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Moments later, we burst through the library doors, having run the entire distance from the mall.
"Hey, guys, what're you doing back here already?" Willow asked, looking up from the computer and stretching.
"It's six-thirty, Will," Xander said. "Where's Giles?"
"I'm right here," Giles replied, striding through the door. "I was asking Jenny her opinion…"
"Jenny?" I asked incredulously. Giles nodded.
"Jenny Calendar," Willow said, "you know, the computer science teacher?" I waved my hands impatiently, opening my mouth to warn them of her impending death. Just then, Doc Brown's warning of interfering with the past in "Back to the Future" popped into my head. I decided to ignore Christopher Lloyd's advice. I figured Joss could handle the sudden change in situation. Sunnydale was on a hellmouth, after all.
"Watch her!" I ordered. "I won't explain everything, just keep her from being alone with Angel! He'll kill her!" Giles, Xander, and Willow stared at me in shock.
"B-but Angel's good, right?" Willow asked, confused.
"Only because he still has his soul now. Look, Jenny was sent here to keep Buffy and Angel apart."
"But why? And by whom?" Giles interjected.
"I'll allow her to explain it, if and when she's ready. If Buffy and Angel end up…well, together, in the physical sense," I started to explain before Xander interrupted.
"SEX?" he roared. I put my hands on his chest.
"Calm down. I'm just telling you what is going to happen. Things will get worse than ever, worse than when the Master was around. If Angel has just one true moment of happiness, like…with Buffy, he loses his soul. Forever." I left out the spell to return his soul for the moment. "Once that happens, he'll return to Spike and Dru, and become hell-bent on killing Buffy and taking over the world, basically."
"What does all of that have to do with Ms. Calendar, then?" Giles questioned.
"She knows how to restore his soul, if lost. I mean, she will find out how, once he loses it. Only…only Angel won't want his soul back. He'll only want to torture and kill Buffy. So, in order to keep on doing so…he'll kill her. It's horrible, Giles, please! You have to watch her closely and keep Buffy from Angel!" I pleaded. Xander snorted, moving away from me.
"You must not know that much about the Slayer, then," Giles replied. I could tell I had gotten to him though.
"Look, maybe while I'm here, I could just act as Buffy, and ruin things between her and Angel so that he leaves. The consequences will be disastrous otherwise," I suggested. Willow had sat mutely back down at the table. Xander was sitting across from her now. I could tell they wanted to believe me, but just weren't sure how any of this would or could come about. "I know this makes no sense. But," I stopped.
"Okay, so what do we do? I mean, this may not be the most opportune time to bring this up, Brooke," Xander broke in, "but he's a vampire still. He has no reflection. And, well, you…do." It began to dawn on me what he was saying.
"Um, what does this have to do with Angel not having a reflection?" Willow asked. "Isn't that kind of common knowledge about vamps?" Giles nodded.
"Do you have a mirror, Will?" I asked. She looked confused, but pulled a compact out of her bag and handed it to me. I opened it and moved over next to Giles, peering into it.
"Good heavens," he said. Willow came over to look.
"Wow," was all she said. "But so what? Just don't go by any mirrors with Angel. Not like he looks in them anyway."
"No, I think that what she and Xander were getting at is this: Angel knows when something is up. He can sense it. He'll be able to see right through Buffy's image and know it's not really her soul," Giles explained.
"Oh."
"So, then, what do we do?" Xander asked. "We can't have Angel going off the deep end and killing Heather because she's not Buffy!"
"I highly doubt he would do that, Xander. Angel knows that the real Buffy could never return if that happened. If," Giles said, turning towards his office, "you would excuse me, I need to make a couple of calls, try to find out what is going on, and what we should do about slaying for now." Xander and Willow exchanged looks. All three of us started towards the doors.
"We'll go to your, I mean, Buffy's house first, get some stakes, crosses, the usual, then patrolling. Ready for your first night of slaying?" Willow asked. I nodded, hoping that I wouldn't die.
"Who knows, maybe some of Buffy rubbed off on me, and I know how to do this stuff…" I replied feebly.
"Maybe," Xander said.
We were riding down the escalator when Xander said something that really threw me off guard.
"You know, Brooke is really quite beautiful," he remarked. I straightened in surprise.
"H-how do you know what I look like?" I stammered. He nodded at the large mirror. I followed his gaze to see myself, not Buffy, staring back. I raced down the escalator. Xander caught up with me at the bottom.
"What the hell just happened?" I snapped. Xander held up his hands.
"Hey, I just said what I thought…before thinking. I do that a lot. I didn't mean to offend," he offered.
"No, no, not that!" I said impatiently. "I mean, that was pretty sweet of you," I tried, more gently. "I meant the mirror, the funky reflection thing." We looked at each other for a second.
"Giles!" we agreed in unison.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Moments later, we burst through the library doors, having run the entire distance from the mall.
"Hey, guys, what're you doing back here already?" Willow asked, looking up from the computer and stretching.
"It's six-thirty, Will," Xander said. "Where's Giles?"
"I'm right here," Giles replied, striding through the door. "I was asking Jenny her opinion…"
"Jenny?" I asked incredulously. Giles nodded.
"Jenny Calendar," Willow said, "you know, the computer science teacher?" I waved my hands impatiently, opening my mouth to warn them of her impending death. Just then, Doc Brown's warning of interfering with the past in "Back to the Future" popped into my head. I decided to ignore Christopher Lloyd's advice. I figured Joss could handle the sudden change in situation. Sunnydale was on a hellmouth, after all.
"Watch her!" I ordered. "I won't explain everything, just keep her from being alone with Angel! He'll kill her!" Giles, Xander, and Willow stared at me in shock.
"B-but Angel's good, right?" Willow asked, confused.
"Only because he still has his soul now. Look, Jenny was sent here to keep Buffy and Angel apart."
"But why? And by whom?" Giles interjected.
"I'll allow her to explain it, if and when she's ready. If Buffy and Angel end up…well, together, in the physical sense," I started to explain before Xander interrupted.
"SEX?" he roared. I put my hands on his chest.
"Calm down. I'm just telling you what is going to happen. Things will get worse than ever, worse than when the Master was around. If Angel has just one true moment of happiness, like…with Buffy, he loses his soul. Forever." I left out the spell to return his soul for the moment. "Once that happens, he'll return to Spike and Dru, and become hell-bent on killing Buffy and taking over the world, basically."
"What does all of that have to do with Ms. Calendar, then?" Giles questioned.
"She knows how to restore his soul, if lost. I mean, she will find out how, once he loses it. Only…only Angel won't want his soul back. He'll only want to torture and kill Buffy. So, in order to keep on doing so…he'll kill her. It's horrible, Giles, please! You have to watch her closely and keep Buffy from Angel!" I pleaded. Xander snorted, moving away from me.
"You must not know that much about the Slayer, then," Giles replied. I could tell I had gotten to him though.
"Look, maybe while I'm here, I could just act as Buffy, and ruin things between her and Angel so that he leaves. The consequences will be disastrous otherwise," I suggested. Willow had sat mutely back down at the table. Xander was sitting across from her now. I could tell they wanted to believe me, but just weren't sure how any of this would or could come about. "I know this makes no sense. But," I stopped.
"Okay, so what do we do? I mean, this may not be the most opportune time to bring this up, Brooke," Xander broke in, "but he's a vampire still. He has no reflection. And, well, you…do." It began to dawn on me what he was saying.
"Um, what does this have to do with Angel not having a reflection?" Willow asked. "Isn't that kind of common knowledge about vamps?" Giles nodded.
"Do you have a mirror, Will?" I asked. She looked confused, but pulled a compact out of her bag and handed it to me. I opened it and moved over next to Giles, peering into it.
"Good heavens," he said. Willow came over to look.
"Wow," was all she said. "But so what? Just don't go by any mirrors with Angel. Not like he looks in them anyway."
"No, I think that what she and Xander were getting at is this: Angel knows when something is up. He can sense it. He'll be able to see right through Buffy's image and know it's not really her soul," Giles explained.
"Oh."
"So, then, what do we do?" Xander asked. "We can't have Angel going off the deep end and killing Heather because she's not Buffy!"
"I highly doubt he would do that, Xander. Angel knows that the real Buffy could never return if that happened. If," Giles said, turning towards his office, "you would excuse me, I need to make a couple of calls, try to find out what is going on, and what we should do about slaying for now." Xander and Willow exchanged looks. All three of us started towards the doors.
"We'll go to your, I mean, Buffy's house first, get some stakes, crosses, the usual, then patrolling. Ready for your first night of slaying?" Willow asked. I nodded, hoping that I wouldn't die.
"Who knows, maybe some of Buffy rubbed off on me, and I know how to do this stuff…" I replied feebly.
"Maybe," Xander said.