Title: "Episode 83 & 1/2 - With A Little Help From My Friends".
Part: 02/12
Author: "A Gentleman Of Leisure".
Summary: There's a stranger in town and the world's about to end. Who you gonna call?
Story Type: In-Canon adventure set between Episodes 83 & 84 (hence the title).
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to Series 5, Episode 83 (of course).
Pairing: In-Canon.
Disclaimer: The-Powers-That-Be own everything. 'Nuff said?
Author's Note: I'm a British writer, so there may be some terms (and spelling) not used in the US. OK? Now read on...
*
Part Two - 'Walk Right In, (Sit Right Down...)' - The Rooftop Singers.
"I've seen some pretty exotic swords in my time, but this one was different, you know? Old. Really old. With a funny handle".
"Hilt, Buffy. You must remember to call things by their right and proper name".
"OK, Giles. Whatever. The bit you hold it by", she replied with a wicked grin.
"But listen", she added. "That wasn't the weirdest part. What I didn't realise until after he'd gone was that he already knew my name!"
"Had you ever seen him before, Buffy? I mean, he sounds pretty easy to recognise", Willow asked.
They were hanging out at the recently opened 'Magic Box' late the following afternoon after college was through. Buffy had been puzzling over her strange encounter all day - it had even distracted her during lectures.
"I think I'd probably remember a six-and-a-half foot swordsman in a fedora if I'd ever met him before, Will", she said. "And he moved so fast!"
"That backhand stroke sounds like the move of a highly experienced swordsman", Giles remarked from behind the counter. "The weapon itself sounds unusual, though". He looked at them over his glasses. "I think I've found a picture of one that matches your description".
Rupert Giles had once been Buffy's Watcher, and librarian at Sunnydale High School, which is where they had all first met. Now, after everything that had happened since then, including that never-to-be-forgotten, dramatic, High School Graduation Day which had ended in the total destruction of the High School itself, he had neither job. Instead he was now the proprietor of the 'Magic Box', which had partly come about through Willow's growing interest in the subject. Willow Rosenberg was the really bright one of the Scooby Gang, with her computer hacking skills and her piles of magical study texts, and sometimes-spooky witchy abilities.
Giles turned round the book that he'd been studying, and they could see an illustration in colour.
"That's it", Buffy said, stabbing it with her forefinger. "Just like that. What is it?".
Willow peered at the caption.
"Celtic early Iron Age sword from around 450BC, found in a river in England in the eighteenth century. Now in the British Museum! Wow!" she said. "That's really, really old. I wonder if it has any magical significance?" she added absent mindedly.
"The one your chap had can't possibly be an original", Giles continued, partly to himself, as he studied the text. "A real one two and a half thousand years old would be in no condition to be used now, even if the iron had not completely corroded away, which it would have. No iron blade could ever stand up to later weapons - it would bend or break almost immediately. No, it has to be a modern replica made of high quality steel. Quite clever though - it does have the benefit of being small enough to carry under a long coat - ideal for close quarters work".
"Hmm, could be useful. We haven't got anything quite like that in the armoury, have we Giles?" Buffy commented, studying the picture closely.
Giles thought for a moment.
"Sabres and foils, a cutlass, axes, spears, daggers, commando knives, a halberd I think, a morningstar..."
"Is that the spiky ball on a stick?" Willow asked.
"...on a chain on a stick, yes. Er, where was I? Oh yes, bows and arrows, and crossbows. And crucifixes, and holy water. Oh, and of course plenty of stakes".
"Did someone say steaks?" said Xander, from the big round table in the back part of the shop, his attention caught by what sounded like talk of food. "I am starving. Just what I need after a hard day on the construction site; lots and lots of steaks - even better than pizza, and you don't even have to wait for them to be delivered! In fact, I'm so hungry you can forget the steak, just give me the horse".
"No Xander, he means the wooden pointy sort", said his girlfriend Anya, looking out from the storeroom in the back of the shop, where she was stocktaking. "And I didn't know that humans could eat a whole horse. I've known demons who could, though most of them preferred the taste of humans. Not that I ever did -- eat a human that is. When I was a demon. Ever. Well, much".
"Eewww, gross!" exclaimed Buffy's little sister, Dawn, arriving from school and slamming the shop door vigorously behind her, which made the little old fashioned bell perform a brief percussion solo, a la Ginger Baker. "You'll put off all the customers".
"No customers at the moment", Anya replied, looking round the shop. "Too bad".
"Yes, it has been a bit quiet today, I'm afraid, compared with the rush we had in the first few days of trading.", Giles remarked sadly. "The last people who came in were unfortunately frightened away by Anya describing what happens when a particular spell goes wrong. Apparently it turns the user completely inside out. Very visual, very graphic! Oh yes".
"The multicoloured luminous vomit was a good touch, I thought. And all true, too!" Anya said happily.
"There is such a thing as being too vivid and accurate, my dear", Giles told her, but in his heart he knew it was a wasted effort. Now she was no longer a vengeance demon she was throwing all her energies into being a real human being. Unfortunately she still had to acquire a sense of proportion. And timing. And discretion. And...so on.
"So what are we going to do about this night walking guy with the sword?" Buffy asked, trying desperately to get the conversation back on track. "He may be quick, but he can't really know how things are in Sunnydale, and he's going to get himself killed if he isn't careful".
"What guy with a sword?" Dawn asked, dumping her bookbag on the table. "You never said anything at breakfast this morning. Did you fight him? Did you win?"
"I didn't say anything because I didn't want to bother Mom. You know she's not feeling well right now. And no we did not have a duel. He sliced the heads off a couple of vamps, the second one right behind me. It sneaked up while he and I were talking".
"So who is he? Another Slayer? I thought you said Slayers were always female?"
"They are, and as you know there's usually only one at a time", said Giles. "That doesn't mean to say we are the only people interested in killing vampires".
"And demons too", Willow added brightly. Then realising she might possibly have offended Anya she went on, "Not nice ones, of course. We don't kill nice demons, do we, really. There wouldn't be any point in that, would there? No, no, nice demons are nice. We don't mind them. It's nasty demons we don't like - because, because..."
"Because they're nasty?" Dawn suggested impishly.
"Yes, yes. 'Nasty' nasty demons. Horrid, wicked demons. Demons who do bad things to humans. And, and - I think I'd better stop talking now, hadn't I?"
"I used to know lots of demons", Anya observed. "You wouldn't have called any of them nice, though. No such thing as a 'nice' demon really, well not to humans. But anyway I'm not a demon now, so there you are!" she finished blithely.
Behind them, in the front half of the shop, someone cleared their throat politely.
'A customer at last', thought Giles, gratefully. "Good afternoon. Welcome to the Magic Box. Can I help you?"
"I'm not sure, Mr. Giles. Can you?"
Buffy's head came up sharply as she recognised the voice, and they all turned to look.
A tall man, wearing an old fashioned wide-brimmed hat and a long dark coat, was standing there. No one had heard him come in - this time the old fashioned bell on the door had not rung as it opened.
"Hey! It's him, Buffy. Isn't it? He's just like your description", Willow said quietly.
"Who he?" Xander whispered in Willow's ear. He'd obviously not been paying proper attention to Buffy's description of her encounter the previous night.
"Later", she whispered back, intent on the scene before her.
Buffy got up and strolled slowly over to lean casually on the sales counter.
"Giles, this is the er, gentleman I was telling you about. From last night", said Buffy.
*
The sun slowly began to set. In a damp untidy crypt in a cemetery across town a blond haired vampire yawned and stretched, puzzling over the vague memories of a strange dream from which he had just woken. It wasn't like the usual ones he'd been having recently, about himself and the Slayer. It was more a sort of 'Look out, something wicked this way comes' sort of dream - maybe some sort of warning. He decided he ought to take a look around town and see if anything new was on the go. Then, later maybe, he'd see if he could discover where Buffy Summers was patrolling tonight, and keep an eye on her. You never knew, something interesting might occur that could conceivably be to his advantage!
End Of Part Two. To Be Continued...
Part: 02/12
Author: "A Gentleman Of Leisure".
Summary: There's a stranger in town and the world's about to end. Who you gonna call?
Story Type: In-Canon adventure set between Episodes 83 & 84 (hence the title).
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to Series 5, Episode 83 (of course).
Pairing: In-Canon.
Disclaimer: The-Powers-That-Be own everything. 'Nuff said?
Author's Note: I'm a British writer, so there may be some terms (and spelling) not used in the US. OK? Now read on...
*
Part Two - 'Walk Right In, (Sit Right Down...)' - The Rooftop Singers.
"I've seen some pretty exotic swords in my time, but this one was different, you know? Old. Really old. With a funny handle".
"Hilt, Buffy. You must remember to call things by their right and proper name".
"OK, Giles. Whatever. The bit you hold it by", she replied with a wicked grin.
"But listen", she added. "That wasn't the weirdest part. What I didn't realise until after he'd gone was that he already knew my name!"
"Had you ever seen him before, Buffy? I mean, he sounds pretty easy to recognise", Willow asked.
They were hanging out at the recently opened 'Magic Box' late the following afternoon after college was through. Buffy had been puzzling over her strange encounter all day - it had even distracted her during lectures.
"I think I'd probably remember a six-and-a-half foot swordsman in a fedora if I'd ever met him before, Will", she said. "And he moved so fast!"
"That backhand stroke sounds like the move of a highly experienced swordsman", Giles remarked from behind the counter. "The weapon itself sounds unusual, though". He looked at them over his glasses. "I think I've found a picture of one that matches your description".
Rupert Giles had once been Buffy's Watcher, and librarian at Sunnydale High School, which is where they had all first met. Now, after everything that had happened since then, including that never-to-be-forgotten, dramatic, High School Graduation Day which had ended in the total destruction of the High School itself, he had neither job. Instead he was now the proprietor of the 'Magic Box', which had partly come about through Willow's growing interest in the subject. Willow Rosenberg was the really bright one of the Scooby Gang, with her computer hacking skills and her piles of magical study texts, and sometimes-spooky witchy abilities.
Giles turned round the book that he'd been studying, and they could see an illustration in colour.
"That's it", Buffy said, stabbing it with her forefinger. "Just like that. What is it?".
Willow peered at the caption.
"Celtic early Iron Age sword from around 450BC, found in a river in England in the eighteenth century. Now in the British Museum! Wow!" she said. "That's really, really old. I wonder if it has any magical significance?" she added absent mindedly.
"The one your chap had can't possibly be an original", Giles continued, partly to himself, as he studied the text. "A real one two and a half thousand years old would be in no condition to be used now, even if the iron had not completely corroded away, which it would have. No iron blade could ever stand up to later weapons - it would bend or break almost immediately. No, it has to be a modern replica made of high quality steel. Quite clever though - it does have the benefit of being small enough to carry under a long coat - ideal for close quarters work".
"Hmm, could be useful. We haven't got anything quite like that in the armoury, have we Giles?" Buffy commented, studying the picture closely.
Giles thought for a moment.
"Sabres and foils, a cutlass, axes, spears, daggers, commando knives, a halberd I think, a morningstar..."
"Is that the spiky ball on a stick?" Willow asked.
"...on a chain on a stick, yes. Er, where was I? Oh yes, bows and arrows, and crossbows. And crucifixes, and holy water. Oh, and of course plenty of stakes".
"Did someone say steaks?" said Xander, from the big round table in the back part of the shop, his attention caught by what sounded like talk of food. "I am starving. Just what I need after a hard day on the construction site; lots and lots of steaks - even better than pizza, and you don't even have to wait for them to be delivered! In fact, I'm so hungry you can forget the steak, just give me the horse".
"No Xander, he means the wooden pointy sort", said his girlfriend Anya, looking out from the storeroom in the back of the shop, where she was stocktaking. "And I didn't know that humans could eat a whole horse. I've known demons who could, though most of them preferred the taste of humans. Not that I ever did -- eat a human that is. When I was a demon. Ever. Well, much".
"Eewww, gross!" exclaimed Buffy's little sister, Dawn, arriving from school and slamming the shop door vigorously behind her, which made the little old fashioned bell perform a brief percussion solo, a la Ginger Baker. "You'll put off all the customers".
"No customers at the moment", Anya replied, looking round the shop. "Too bad".
"Yes, it has been a bit quiet today, I'm afraid, compared with the rush we had in the first few days of trading.", Giles remarked sadly. "The last people who came in were unfortunately frightened away by Anya describing what happens when a particular spell goes wrong. Apparently it turns the user completely inside out. Very visual, very graphic! Oh yes".
"The multicoloured luminous vomit was a good touch, I thought. And all true, too!" Anya said happily.
"There is such a thing as being too vivid and accurate, my dear", Giles told her, but in his heart he knew it was a wasted effort. Now she was no longer a vengeance demon she was throwing all her energies into being a real human being. Unfortunately she still had to acquire a sense of proportion. And timing. And discretion. And...so on.
"So what are we going to do about this night walking guy with the sword?" Buffy asked, trying desperately to get the conversation back on track. "He may be quick, but he can't really know how things are in Sunnydale, and he's going to get himself killed if he isn't careful".
"What guy with a sword?" Dawn asked, dumping her bookbag on the table. "You never said anything at breakfast this morning. Did you fight him? Did you win?"
"I didn't say anything because I didn't want to bother Mom. You know she's not feeling well right now. And no we did not have a duel. He sliced the heads off a couple of vamps, the second one right behind me. It sneaked up while he and I were talking".
"So who is he? Another Slayer? I thought you said Slayers were always female?"
"They are, and as you know there's usually only one at a time", said Giles. "That doesn't mean to say we are the only people interested in killing vampires".
"And demons too", Willow added brightly. Then realising she might possibly have offended Anya she went on, "Not nice ones, of course. We don't kill nice demons, do we, really. There wouldn't be any point in that, would there? No, no, nice demons are nice. We don't mind them. It's nasty demons we don't like - because, because..."
"Because they're nasty?" Dawn suggested impishly.
"Yes, yes. 'Nasty' nasty demons. Horrid, wicked demons. Demons who do bad things to humans. And, and - I think I'd better stop talking now, hadn't I?"
"I used to know lots of demons", Anya observed. "You wouldn't have called any of them nice, though. No such thing as a 'nice' demon really, well not to humans. But anyway I'm not a demon now, so there you are!" she finished blithely.
Behind them, in the front half of the shop, someone cleared their throat politely.
'A customer at last', thought Giles, gratefully. "Good afternoon. Welcome to the Magic Box. Can I help you?"
"I'm not sure, Mr. Giles. Can you?"
Buffy's head came up sharply as she recognised the voice, and they all turned to look.
A tall man, wearing an old fashioned wide-brimmed hat and a long dark coat, was standing there. No one had heard him come in - this time the old fashioned bell on the door had not rung as it opened.
"Hey! It's him, Buffy. Isn't it? He's just like your description", Willow said quietly.
"Who he?" Xander whispered in Willow's ear. He'd obviously not been paying proper attention to Buffy's description of her encounter the previous night.
"Later", she whispered back, intent on the scene before her.
Buffy got up and strolled slowly over to lean casually on the sales counter.
"Giles, this is the er, gentleman I was telling you about. From last night", said Buffy.
*
The sun slowly began to set. In a damp untidy crypt in a cemetery across town a blond haired vampire yawned and stretched, puzzling over the vague memories of a strange dream from which he had just woken. It wasn't like the usual ones he'd been having recently, about himself and the Slayer. It was more a sort of 'Look out, something wicked this way comes' sort of dream - maybe some sort of warning. He decided he ought to take a look around town and see if anything new was on the go. Then, later maybe, he'd see if he could discover where Buffy Summers was patrolling tonight, and keep an eye on her. You never knew, something interesting might occur that could conceivably be to his advantage!
End Of Part Two. To Be Continued...
