Chapter 32
"Giles?" Buffy said, turning back to look at her watcher.
Anya was standing and helping Angel to stand. "Giles!" Anya said.
Giles walked a little further into the room, never taking his eyes off Willow.
"Uh oh. Daddy's home." She sat up. "I'm in wicked trouble now."
"You've no idea." Giles said. "You have to stop what you're doing."
"Ooh, sorry, can't do that. I'm not finished yet."
"Neither am I." He gestured for her get back down on the floor. "Stay down."
Willow hit the floor.
"How did you." Angel asked.
"New trick from the old dog. That's barrowed power. No way it's strong enough to." Willow started.
"I'm here to help you." Giles cut her off.
"Thanks, but I can kill a couple of geeks by myself. But, hey, if you'd like to watch. I mean, that's what you watchers are good at, right? Watching. Butting in on things that don't concern you."
"You concern me, Willow. Stay on this path and you're going to wind up dead."
Buffy stood painfully and went to Giles' side. "Willow. Listen to him. I don't want to fight you anymore."
"I don't want to fight you either, I wanna fight him." Willow said eyeing Giles. Willow stood and Giles tried to keep her down.
"Stay dow."
"No." Willow waved her hand and looked hard at Giles. A low hum began to emanate from her. "Remember we had that little spat before you left? When you were under the delusion you were still relevant here? You called me a rank, arrogant amateur? Well, buckle up Rupert..." Her eyes turned black and a glow started to form around her. ".cause I've turned pro." She looked around, then back at Giles. "Asmodea, bring forth."
"Vincire!" Giles said. A green blob of energy shot from his hand and wound around Willow's middle, pinning her arms down.
"What.? No! Off me.! Solvo Libero." Willow tried to cast a spell, but her head shot back and she went into a trance like state. She was floating like that when Buffy looked at Giles.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"Contained her and her powers within a binding field. It puts her in a kind of stasis for the time. You cut your hair!" Giles said, shocked.
Buffy just laughed. "You're just now noticing?"
"Well. I was. in a hurry then."
Buffy cut him off by throwing her arms around him. Giles hugged her back. Anya and Angel came to stand next to them.
"I'm blonde." Anya said. "I colored my hair. Again. I'm blonde."
"Yes, I noticed." Giles said.
Anya hugs Giles too and he hugs her back.
"I didn't do anything new to my hair. I guess I don't get a hug." Angel said.
Buffy and Giles chuckled. He let them go and for the first time, Giles and Angel hugged. Buffy smiled. She had been waiting for Giles to finally accept Angel after all this time, and now he finally had.
"It is good to see you Angel." Giles said when they pulled apart.
"You too." Angel replied.
"I do hope you're taking care of my slayer."
"There's nothing in the world more important to me."
"Good." Giles walked up to Willow and looked at her. "I'm very sorry about Tara."
Willow's head lolled to the side so she could look at him. "This.won't hold.me.forever."
Buffy, Angel, and Giles stood in the training room talking. Anya was out in the shop trying to clear some of the rubble.
"I came as soon as I heard." Giles said.
"Did the council.?" Angel asked.
"The Council hasn't a clue. About much of anything, really. There's a powerful coven in Devonshire. They sensed the rise of a dangerous magical force here. A dark force, fueled by grief."
"Willow." Buffy said.
"I hoped not. Then a seer in the coven told me about Tara... That's when the coven imbued me with their powers."
"And sent you to bring Willow down."
"Buffy, what's happened here? Things seemed perfect when I was here not too long ago."
"God. I don't know where to start."
"Well, Willow's clearly been abusing the majicks."
"She has. She was. and I barely even noticed. Everything's been so... Dawn's a total klepto, Xander left Anya at the altar and Anya became a demon again. And I. I'm so... I slept with Spike. You now about the rest with Conner and Angel. I told you that."
Giles stared at her. She was a little self-conscious. She started to say something, but Giles started to laugh. She stared at him, not believing that he could laugh at her. Then Angel started to laugh too. Buffy looked at him, then the absurdity of it all hit her too. She started to laugh along with the two men. They all laughed so hard that they were crying. Buffy and Angel didn't make it any easier for Giles or themselves because they told the almost full stories of what had been happening since he had been gone.
"Duct tape?" Giles asked through his laughter and tears.
"Over their mouths! Then I'm letting the demon eat them!" Buffy answered.
"Because their just figments?"
"All of it! You, Sunnydale... And I'm a nutcase in L.A.!"
"Of course! Why didn't we see it before?"
"I didn't know you had taught Buffy how to tie knots!" Angel said.
Giles laughed harder. "Why's that?"
"Cause I couldn't break the knot to try to help Buffy!"
That made them laugh harder. After a few more minutes, they finally caught their breaths. Buffy's side hurt she was laughing so hard.
"Can you forgive me?" Giles asked.
"For what?" Buffy asked.
"I should never have left."
"Oh, Giles... You were right to leave. We're just... stupid."
"But I know you're all stupid. I shouldn't have abandoned you."
"No. You were right about everything. It is time I was an adult."
"Sometimes the most adult thing you can do is ask for help when you need it."
"Now you tell me." Buffy chuckled. "Guess the thing is... I wasn't ready before. It just took a while for that feeling to go away... The feeling that I wasn't really here. Like... like when I clawed my way out of that grave... I left something behind. Part of me. Or... I just. I don't understand. Why I'm back."
"Buffy, you have a calling."
"It was my time, Giles. Someone would have taken my place." Buffy looked down then at Angel as if she were apologizing. She looked back at Giles. "So why?"
Neither Giles nor Angel could give her a simple answer for that.
"Right." Buffy nodded. "What's going to happen to Willow?"
"The coven is working on a way to extract her powers without killing her. And should she survive, you ought to know... There's no guarantee she'll be... as she was."
Buffy looked down. Angel came over and wrapped his arms around her. She lay back on his chest and listened as Giles continued.
"Willow killed a human being, Buffy. How will she be able to live with herself?"
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Willow's voice said behind them. They all turned and stared at a floating Anya. Then Willow moved Anya over, revealing that she was picking the girl up by the neck. "Willow doesn't live here anymore." She threw Anya aside.
Buffy rushed Willow, but Willow threw up a hand and Buffy went flying back into Angel and they both went down.
Giles held up a hand. "Vincire!"
Willow waved the green blob away. "Solutom." She wagged a finger at Giles. "Fool me once." Willow looked at the knives on the wall and they came off their hooks and pointed at Giles.
"Willow."
"Shame on you!" The knives flew at Giles.
"TEGO!" Giles called. The practice dummy came to rest in front of him and the knives stuck in it. Willow just grunted and waved the dummy away. Giles took the advantage and shot his palm at her "Excudo!" Willow was thrown back through the brick wall and slammed into one of the pillars that held up the upper landing, cracking it, and she came to a sprawled out landing.
"Giles! You're gonna kill her!" Angel cried. Giles threw him a glance and noticed that he was taking care of Buffy. She had landed hard on the floor and was bleeding.
Out in the main room, Willow stood up and turned to look back into the training room. She was pissed now. Giles walked up to her and it was on. They shot at each other with different colors of magical energy and cast spell after spell on each other. It went on for a while. Finally Giles was thrown back onto a pile of rubble. He stood looking around wearily. The Magic Box was a war zone. He looked at Willow. She was cut in a few places and there were bruises, but she was still up for more. Him however.
"That all you got Jeeves?" she asked. "Cause I could stand to go another ten rounds. Whereas you can barely stand, period."
"Your powers... may be significantly greater... But I can still hurt you. If I have to."
"Hurt me? Boy, you just don't get it, do you? Nothing can hurt me anymore. This.?" She pointed to her wounds then took her hand and waved it in front of her face. The wounds disappeared. ".is nothing. It's all nothing."
"I see. You lose someone you love and the other people in your life... The ones who care about you become meaningless." Buffy and Angel came up behind Giles. Buffy was tired and hurt, but she was the slayer, she could take it. She and Angel watched Willow and Giles, but Willow didn't seem to notice. "I wonder. What would Tara say about that?"
"You can ask her yourself." Willow pointed at the pillar that she had cracked earlier and the upper landing started to crash down. Buffy and Angel rushed Giles and brought him flying out of the way. Buffy looked up at Willow and she just stared right back. "You two are always saving everyone. It's kinda pesky." Willow bent down and stuck her hand in the fire. When she came back up, there was a ball of fire burning on her hand. "You probably even think you're buying escape time for Jonathan and the other one... Well, I got a little secret for ya... I can kill them from anywhere I want. Anytime I want." The flame started to spin and grow. "With this. It'll find them. And it'll bury them. Along with anyone helping those Dead Men Walking."
"Don't." Buffy said.
"Unless. Somebody, somehow. Can get there in time to save them. Huh, oh well." Willow tossed the fireball into the air. "Fly, my pretty. Fly. See what I did there?"
Buffy and Angel looked at Giles.
"Go!" he said.
They took off.
"Good luck!" Willow called. "Thought they'd never leave! Now I finally have you all to myself."
Buffy and Angel looked up into the sky as the fireball flew overhead. With one last glimpse in the Magic Box, they tore off after it. The streets and back streets of Sunnydale were a blur as they ran at super human speed. The fireball was moving at a fast speed and they had a hard time keeping up with it.
"They're near by." Angel said as they neared the graveyard.
"How can you.?"
"Vampire. Good hearing."
"Right." Then Buffy heard them too. Someone was banging on a metal door.
"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Jonathan said.
"Butt wipe!" Andrew replied.
"I wasn't talking to you!"
"Oh. Reflex."
"Man, they've really tightened up security around here. One too many squatters from the Hellmouth." Xander said.
"Hide out in the cemetery. What a fantastic idea!" Andrew shot at Xander.
"Yeah I'm working on a whole shut-the-hell up pitch I think you'll like too."
"Xander." Dawn said, looking up in the sky with Conner.
"I've had just about as much as I can stand baby-sitting a couple of social retards who don't appreciate." Xander kept going.
"XANDER!" Conner cried.
"What!?"
"What is that?"
Xander, Jonathan, and Andrew looked up to see the huge fireball. Then they heard Buffy and Angel yelling at them.
"Move!" Angel shouted.
"Go! Get out of there!" Buffy screamed.
"Move! Now get out of the way!"
"Xander! Dawn! Look out!" Buffy reached Jonathan and Andrew and managed to tackle them out of the way. Angel only got to Dawn and Conner. Xander was too late. He was blown back onto a headstone and knocked out.
Angel started to help Dawn up when the earth shook and gave way out from under them. They fell into a giant cavern filled with caskets hanging out of the earth.
"Angel! Dawn! Conner! Hold on." Buffy crawled over to where they had fallen and peered in. Then suddenly the ground was gone and she was falling downwards. When she looked up, a sword was headed straight for her face. Buffy rolled out of the way just in time. She stood up and brushed herself off. Angel came over and checked her out for any injuries.
"I'm fine." She said.
He kissed her. Dawn groaned and Conner looked at her. "You sure?" Angel asked.
"Positive." She smiled. "What about you?"
"I'm fine too."
"Are you guys ok?" Buffy asked Dawn and Conner. She walked over to Conner and started to check his face for any cuts.
"Mom! Geez." Conner protested, backing away.
"Sorry. It's a mom thing." Buffy looked at Dawn. "You ok?"
"Been better. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you if I could go to the chiropractor, but don't need that anymore." Dawn said.
Buffy was confused and she looked at Angel.
"She landed on her back." He explained.
"Oh. Ok, now the question du jour is: how in the hell are we gonna get outta here?"
"Giles?" Buffy said, turning back to look at her watcher.
Anya was standing and helping Angel to stand. "Giles!" Anya said.
Giles walked a little further into the room, never taking his eyes off Willow.
"Uh oh. Daddy's home." She sat up. "I'm in wicked trouble now."
"You've no idea." Giles said. "You have to stop what you're doing."
"Ooh, sorry, can't do that. I'm not finished yet."
"Neither am I." He gestured for her get back down on the floor. "Stay down."
Willow hit the floor.
"How did you." Angel asked.
"New trick from the old dog. That's barrowed power. No way it's strong enough to." Willow started.
"I'm here to help you." Giles cut her off.
"Thanks, but I can kill a couple of geeks by myself. But, hey, if you'd like to watch. I mean, that's what you watchers are good at, right? Watching. Butting in on things that don't concern you."
"You concern me, Willow. Stay on this path and you're going to wind up dead."
Buffy stood painfully and went to Giles' side. "Willow. Listen to him. I don't want to fight you anymore."
"I don't want to fight you either, I wanna fight him." Willow said eyeing Giles. Willow stood and Giles tried to keep her down.
"Stay dow."
"No." Willow waved her hand and looked hard at Giles. A low hum began to emanate from her. "Remember we had that little spat before you left? When you were under the delusion you were still relevant here? You called me a rank, arrogant amateur? Well, buckle up Rupert..." Her eyes turned black and a glow started to form around her. ".cause I've turned pro." She looked around, then back at Giles. "Asmodea, bring forth."
"Vincire!" Giles said. A green blob of energy shot from his hand and wound around Willow's middle, pinning her arms down.
"What.? No! Off me.! Solvo Libero." Willow tried to cast a spell, but her head shot back and she went into a trance like state. She was floating like that when Buffy looked at Giles.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"Contained her and her powers within a binding field. It puts her in a kind of stasis for the time. You cut your hair!" Giles said, shocked.
Buffy just laughed. "You're just now noticing?"
"Well. I was. in a hurry then."
Buffy cut him off by throwing her arms around him. Giles hugged her back. Anya and Angel came to stand next to them.
"I'm blonde." Anya said. "I colored my hair. Again. I'm blonde."
"Yes, I noticed." Giles said.
Anya hugs Giles too and he hugs her back.
"I didn't do anything new to my hair. I guess I don't get a hug." Angel said.
Buffy and Giles chuckled. He let them go and for the first time, Giles and Angel hugged. Buffy smiled. She had been waiting for Giles to finally accept Angel after all this time, and now he finally had.
"It is good to see you Angel." Giles said when they pulled apart.
"You too." Angel replied.
"I do hope you're taking care of my slayer."
"There's nothing in the world more important to me."
"Good." Giles walked up to Willow and looked at her. "I'm very sorry about Tara."
Willow's head lolled to the side so she could look at him. "This.won't hold.me.forever."
Buffy, Angel, and Giles stood in the training room talking. Anya was out in the shop trying to clear some of the rubble.
"I came as soon as I heard." Giles said.
"Did the council.?" Angel asked.
"The Council hasn't a clue. About much of anything, really. There's a powerful coven in Devonshire. They sensed the rise of a dangerous magical force here. A dark force, fueled by grief."
"Willow." Buffy said.
"I hoped not. Then a seer in the coven told me about Tara... That's when the coven imbued me with their powers."
"And sent you to bring Willow down."
"Buffy, what's happened here? Things seemed perfect when I was here not too long ago."
"God. I don't know where to start."
"Well, Willow's clearly been abusing the majicks."
"She has. She was. and I barely even noticed. Everything's been so... Dawn's a total klepto, Xander left Anya at the altar and Anya became a demon again. And I. I'm so... I slept with Spike. You now about the rest with Conner and Angel. I told you that."
Giles stared at her. She was a little self-conscious. She started to say something, but Giles started to laugh. She stared at him, not believing that he could laugh at her. Then Angel started to laugh too. Buffy looked at him, then the absurdity of it all hit her too. She started to laugh along with the two men. They all laughed so hard that they were crying. Buffy and Angel didn't make it any easier for Giles or themselves because they told the almost full stories of what had been happening since he had been gone.
"Duct tape?" Giles asked through his laughter and tears.
"Over their mouths! Then I'm letting the demon eat them!" Buffy answered.
"Because their just figments?"
"All of it! You, Sunnydale... And I'm a nutcase in L.A.!"
"Of course! Why didn't we see it before?"
"I didn't know you had taught Buffy how to tie knots!" Angel said.
Giles laughed harder. "Why's that?"
"Cause I couldn't break the knot to try to help Buffy!"
That made them laugh harder. After a few more minutes, they finally caught their breaths. Buffy's side hurt she was laughing so hard.
"Can you forgive me?" Giles asked.
"For what?" Buffy asked.
"I should never have left."
"Oh, Giles... You were right to leave. We're just... stupid."
"But I know you're all stupid. I shouldn't have abandoned you."
"No. You were right about everything. It is time I was an adult."
"Sometimes the most adult thing you can do is ask for help when you need it."
"Now you tell me." Buffy chuckled. "Guess the thing is... I wasn't ready before. It just took a while for that feeling to go away... The feeling that I wasn't really here. Like... like when I clawed my way out of that grave... I left something behind. Part of me. Or... I just. I don't understand. Why I'm back."
"Buffy, you have a calling."
"It was my time, Giles. Someone would have taken my place." Buffy looked down then at Angel as if she were apologizing. She looked back at Giles. "So why?"
Neither Giles nor Angel could give her a simple answer for that.
"Right." Buffy nodded. "What's going to happen to Willow?"
"The coven is working on a way to extract her powers without killing her. And should she survive, you ought to know... There's no guarantee she'll be... as she was."
Buffy looked down. Angel came over and wrapped his arms around her. She lay back on his chest and listened as Giles continued.
"Willow killed a human being, Buffy. How will she be able to live with herself?"
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Willow's voice said behind them. They all turned and stared at a floating Anya. Then Willow moved Anya over, revealing that she was picking the girl up by the neck. "Willow doesn't live here anymore." She threw Anya aside.
Buffy rushed Willow, but Willow threw up a hand and Buffy went flying back into Angel and they both went down.
Giles held up a hand. "Vincire!"
Willow waved the green blob away. "Solutom." She wagged a finger at Giles. "Fool me once." Willow looked at the knives on the wall and they came off their hooks and pointed at Giles.
"Willow."
"Shame on you!" The knives flew at Giles.
"TEGO!" Giles called. The practice dummy came to rest in front of him and the knives stuck in it. Willow just grunted and waved the dummy away. Giles took the advantage and shot his palm at her "Excudo!" Willow was thrown back through the brick wall and slammed into one of the pillars that held up the upper landing, cracking it, and she came to a sprawled out landing.
"Giles! You're gonna kill her!" Angel cried. Giles threw him a glance and noticed that he was taking care of Buffy. She had landed hard on the floor and was bleeding.
Out in the main room, Willow stood up and turned to look back into the training room. She was pissed now. Giles walked up to her and it was on. They shot at each other with different colors of magical energy and cast spell after spell on each other. It went on for a while. Finally Giles was thrown back onto a pile of rubble. He stood looking around wearily. The Magic Box was a war zone. He looked at Willow. She was cut in a few places and there were bruises, but she was still up for more. Him however.
"That all you got Jeeves?" she asked. "Cause I could stand to go another ten rounds. Whereas you can barely stand, period."
"Your powers... may be significantly greater... But I can still hurt you. If I have to."
"Hurt me? Boy, you just don't get it, do you? Nothing can hurt me anymore. This.?" She pointed to her wounds then took her hand and waved it in front of her face. The wounds disappeared. ".is nothing. It's all nothing."
"I see. You lose someone you love and the other people in your life... The ones who care about you become meaningless." Buffy and Angel came up behind Giles. Buffy was tired and hurt, but she was the slayer, she could take it. She and Angel watched Willow and Giles, but Willow didn't seem to notice. "I wonder. What would Tara say about that?"
"You can ask her yourself." Willow pointed at the pillar that she had cracked earlier and the upper landing started to crash down. Buffy and Angel rushed Giles and brought him flying out of the way. Buffy looked up at Willow and she just stared right back. "You two are always saving everyone. It's kinda pesky." Willow bent down and stuck her hand in the fire. When she came back up, there was a ball of fire burning on her hand. "You probably even think you're buying escape time for Jonathan and the other one... Well, I got a little secret for ya... I can kill them from anywhere I want. Anytime I want." The flame started to spin and grow. "With this. It'll find them. And it'll bury them. Along with anyone helping those Dead Men Walking."
"Don't." Buffy said.
"Unless. Somebody, somehow. Can get there in time to save them. Huh, oh well." Willow tossed the fireball into the air. "Fly, my pretty. Fly. See what I did there?"
Buffy and Angel looked at Giles.
"Go!" he said.
They took off.
"Good luck!" Willow called. "Thought they'd never leave! Now I finally have you all to myself."
Buffy and Angel looked up into the sky as the fireball flew overhead. With one last glimpse in the Magic Box, they tore off after it. The streets and back streets of Sunnydale were a blur as they ran at super human speed. The fireball was moving at a fast speed and they had a hard time keeping up with it.
"They're near by." Angel said as they neared the graveyard.
"How can you.?"
"Vampire. Good hearing."
"Right." Then Buffy heard them too. Someone was banging on a metal door.
"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Jonathan said.
"Butt wipe!" Andrew replied.
"I wasn't talking to you!"
"Oh. Reflex."
"Man, they've really tightened up security around here. One too many squatters from the Hellmouth." Xander said.
"Hide out in the cemetery. What a fantastic idea!" Andrew shot at Xander.
"Yeah I'm working on a whole shut-the-hell up pitch I think you'll like too."
"Xander." Dawn said, looking up in the sky with Conner.
"I've had just about as much as I can stand baby-sitting a couple of social retards who don't appreciate." Xander kept going.
"XANDER!" Conner cried.
"What!?"
"What is that?"
Xander, Jonathan, and Andrew looked up to see the huge fireball. Then they heard Buffy and Angel yelling at them.
"Move!" Angel shouted.
"Go! Get out of there!" Buffy screamed.
"Move! Now get out of the way!"
"Xander! Dawn! Look out!" Buffy reached Jonathan and Andrew and managed to tackle them out of the way. Angel only got to Dawn and Conner. Xander was too late. He was blown back onto a headstone and knocked out.
Angel started to help Dawn up when the earth shook and gave way out from under them. They fell into a giant cavern filled with caskets hanging out of the earth.
"Angel! Dawn! Conner! Hold on." Buffy crawled over to where they had fallen and peered in. Then suddenly the ground was gone and she was falling downwards. When she looked up, a sword was headed straight for her face. Buffy rolled out of the way just in time. She stood up and brushed herself off. Angel came over and checked her out for any injuries.
"I'm fine." She said.
He kissed her. Dawn groaned and Conner looked at her. "You sure?" Angel asked.
"Positive." She smiled. "What about you?"
"I'm fine too."
"Are you guys ok?" Buffy asked Dawn and Conner. She walked over to Conner and started to check his face for any cuts.
"Mom! Geez." Conner protested, backing away.
"Sorry. It's a mom thing." Buffy looked at Dawn. "You ok?"
"Been better. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you if I could go to the chiropractor, but don't need that anymore." Dawn said.
Buffy was confused and she looked at Angel.
"She landed on her back." He explained.
"Oh. Ok, now the question du jour is: how in the hell are we gonna get outta here?"