CHAPTER FIVE: NERVOUS
Erika walked through the campus of UC Sunnydale, trying to avoid the rushing students who seemed to be everywhere at once. She was tired and irritable, two things that were never good for a Slayer. Ex-Slayer, her mind told her.
She sighed and finally found the right building. She looked down at her time-table, wondering whether anyone would even miss her if she just didn't show up for her lectures.
The Council would find out of course. And then they'd tell her off. Again. And as much as she really wanted that to happen again, she knew she could live without ever having to see Quentin Travers again.
She took a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket, staring at the two names she had been given of the people she should get in contact with.
Rupert Giles and Buffy Summers.
Ryan had briefly explained that there had been two Slayers due to Buffy dying for a few minutes and being brought back by CPR. She scrunched the paper into a ball in her hands and casually dropped it into a nearby garbage bin.
"Oops," she said softly, a small smile dancing about her lips as she let the paper go.
If the Council questioned her, she would just say that she'd lost it.
She sat down at an empty table on the grass and put her head down, wishing that the world would just swallow her whole. She didn't want to be here, and she definitely didn't want to be attending UC Sunnydale. She wanted to be back in Sydney where she at least knew people. Even though she knew her life had been torn apart back there, she at least had a semblance of a life there.
Here, she was just Erika Wylcroft, international student from Sydney Australia.
She closed her eyes and tried to think of Ryan. All she could see however, was what had become of him playing over and over again in her mind.
Jack Sampson stepped aside and Erika watched as the group split again to make way for a new vampire to enter, his fangs beared. She looked at Sampson, not understanding the significance of his sudden announcement.
"Yeah? So?" she asked petulantly.
He smiled and turned to the other vampire. The vamp grinned suddenly shifting back into his human face.
Erika gasped and took a step back, shaking her head, her heart having completely dropped.
"No," was all she could whisper as she saw her Watcher's gorgeous blue eyes staring back at her.
Sampson smiled, loving the reaction which had been better than he had expected.
"You know, I heard that you were keen on killing every one of my childers," Sampson said casually. "I'd honestly like to see that happen."
Erika closed her eyes for a moment, a tear falling from her eyes. She opened them again and glared at Sampson.
"Why don't I just start with you?" she asked angrily.
He grinned and looked around at his minions. "No one moves until one of us is dead," he warned.
Erika was somehow thankful that she wouldn't have to try and take on ten vampires at the one time. She gave him a pained smile and they began circling one another.
Erika made the first strike, throwing a punch at his face. He quickly retaliated, kicking her in the stomach, sending her stumbling backwards. The vampires surrounding her moved a little, obviously wanting to join in on the fun.
Two of them couldn't resist and went to join the circle. Before she could even begin to change her tactics to accommodate for three vamps, Sampson grabbed Erika's stake, dispatched the two disobedient vampires and handed it back to her.
"Ta," he said, grinning politely at her as she took it off him.
He was trying to throw her off, and it worked perfectly. He punched her nose, sending her spinning. She quickly regrouped and hit him with a roundhouse kick.
They grappled with each other, both of them very evenly matched. She kicked again, sending him flying to the ground.
Two vamps behind him went to his aid, but he jumped to his feet. He glared at them, and they went to retreat nervously. Erika watched, confused and a little amused when Ryan pulled out a stake from his jacket and staked the two vampires who had gone to Sampson's aid.
At least now there were only six, including Sampson and Ryan. The four minions would be the easy kills, but as for the other two, they would be considerably harder.
A shout from behind her startled her out of her painful reverie. She shook her head, trying to forget the memories of that night. She stood up, grabbed her bag and slowly wandered inside, hoping that she could just get through one day without too much trouble.
She moved into the lecture theatre and sat down in the middle where she would blend in with the crowd. She really didn't want to draw any attention to herself if she could help it.
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Giles walked across the campus with Buffy who was looking around, taking everything in as though it was for the first time.
"I'd forgotten how big this place was," Buffy said.
Giles smiled down at her and reached for her hand. "You'll be fine."
She grinned and moved closer to him, giving him a small hug.
"At least the Council enrolled me in one of your classes," Buffy said.
Giles pulled her closer to him. He had been a little surprised that she was willing to display public signs of affections. He had almost been expecting her not to tell any of the gang about their relationship, but at the first complete Scooby meeting, she had looked at him, smiled, walked over and held his hand, announcing to the group that they had something they needed the others to know.
He had been a little flabbergasted, but the group had responded extremely well to the news.
Buffy pulled back and looked up at him.
"What?" he asked, a little concerned.
"You're really nervous," she commented.
He smiled and chuckled a little. "You know me far too well."
She grinned at him and kissed him lightly. "You're not nervous about teaching are you?
He nodded a little and embraced her tightly. "I haven't taught in years Buffy. Not since before I worked at the museum before you were called."
She squeezed him round the waist comfortingly. "You'll be fine Professor Giles," she assured him.
She grabbed his wrist and twisted it so she could look at his watch. "We're gonna be late if we don't hurry," she said.
He looked at his watch. "Good lord."
He was about to race off, but she grabbed his wrist. "Hey, slow down. There's still time."
He hesitated a little, but complied, bringing his head down, his lips meeting hers. They kissed deeply and eventually parted.
"Wanna play hooky?"
He grinned and shook is head, pushing her slightly so that they began walking. "Believe me, it's incredibly tempting."
And it was. So far, they had been rather reserved around one another. The Council phone call had been on Friday night. They had been together two days, and they were taking everything incredibly slowly. Giles didn't think that Buffy was ready for anything too serious so soon after being brought back, but he knew it would only be a matter of time.
Somehow, he was a little thankful that he didn't need to worry about her mother or father telling him off for being a manipulative pervert who had been trying to get into her pants for the last six years.
"So, what do you think the new Slayer's like?" Buffy asked as they walked up the stairs towards the lecture theatre.
"I really haven't thought much about it," he replied with a grin. "I've had…other Slayers on my mind."
She smiled and gave him one last kiss before they entered the room. "I better be the only Slayer on your mind mister," she whispered.
He winked at her and she smiled, surprised by how playful he was when he was completely comfortable. She sat down near in the middle taking a seat next to a brown haired girl in a half-length leather jacket. The girl gave a small smile and turned her attention to the Professor.
"Good morning everyone," Giles said. "My name is Rupert Giles, and as you may have guessed, your history professor."
Buffy saw the girl start a little when Giles introduced himself. She heard the girl breath in sharply and sink into her chair. Buffy looked at her a little, but went back to staring at her guy. It was good that she was able to stare at him for an hour straight without anyone thinking oddly of her.
Buffy happily listened to Giles talking, wondering how she could have missed the gorgeousness of him whilst in High School. When Faith had been making eyes at Giles, Buffy had been intrigued, but there just seemed to be something a little…wrong with looking at her Watcher in that manner.
But…none of that mattered anymore. She was back, and for the first time in weeks, she actually felt pretty happy about it. She'd been miserable without him, but now…he was back, and she was his. She smiled. All was right with the world.
The girl next to Buffy began doodling idly after about forty minutes, not even bothering to pretend to take notes anymore. Buffy looked on unobtrusively, the other girl not even realising she had an audience. She watched as the girl drew a heart and then proceeded to draw what looked like a stake.
Buffy looked a little closer, still trying to look as though she wasn't looking. She knew that design almost off by heart. She had started drawing it when she was fifteen, though she'd never once thought about how she'd learnt it. It was as though it had just come to her one day.
Buffy sat up in her seat a little. The girl next to her was the new Slayer!
"Kinda boring, huh?" Buffy whispered, her heart racing with nervousness all of a sudden.
The girl looked up and smiled a little. She nodded. "To say the least."
"You'd think they wouldn't start drowning us with information on the first day," Buffy whispered.
"Ah, but then they'd hafta figure out a new form of torture for us all," she replied.
Buffy looked at her curiously. "You're not from around here, are you?"
The girl shook her head. "That obvious?"
Buffy grinned and shrugged a little.
"I just moved here from Sydney."
"Sydney Australia?"
The girl nodded and Buffy raised her eyebrows, a little impressed. "Wow. Why'd you come here? I mean…no offence or anything but…this town's kind of a…well, hellhole just doesn't seem to cover it."
She grinned and bit back a laugh. "Yeah, I noticed that."
The room began to buzz with noise as people began getting up out of their seats. They both looked up, a little confused.
"Cool. Early mark," Buffy said.
The girl grinned and shoved her notebook into her bag.
"Hey, you wanna go grab lunch or something?" she suggested.
Buffy looked down to where Giles was arranging some papers on his desk. He looked up and caught her eye, and she nodded her head towards the girl next to her. He looked confused, but she just rolled her eyes and turned her back to him.
"Sure, sounds good."
They headed out and Buffy shot a look towards Giles who stared at her in confusion. She mouthed the word 'Slayer' to him, but he still didn't get it. She just shook her head and waved at him, hoping he could forgive her for not eating lunch with him.