Spoilers: "The Prom", with vague references to season 4
Disclaimer: Everything in the Buffy universe belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. "Which Way Books" belong to R. G. Austin and Archway Paperbacks.
Note: This is in response to my own challenge, which reads as follows: take any individual episode or story arc from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and turn it into a "Which Way" story. The story must feature either Giles or his other half in the ship of your choice, with your main character making different decisions leading to different endings. There must be at least four endings (though you are certainly encouraged to do more than that, if you wish!), resulting from at least two different decisions. At least one of each ending must be included:
a canonical ending, i.e., end it exactly the way Joss did; a fatal ending, i.e., Giles' or his love's decisions lead to his or her death; an unhappily-ever-after ending, i.e., your character will continue to live long after your story ends, but will live in misery. Your character may or may not be aware that she or he isn't truly happy; a happy ending, i.e., lots of smoochies (or, better yet, some hot Gilesian monkey-sex) after some good decisions."It's not fair, Wills," Buffy whined.
"No, it's not," Willow agreed loyally, not giving any hint that she was getting a little tired of this conversation. She had spent the last two hours listening to Buffy complain about Angel and how much it sucked to be the Slayer, and she was prepared to go another two hours if necessary. It was a best friend's job to listen and advise and, by golly, she intended to do just that. Perhaps this evening had been a tad excessive, but Buffy was her best friend. And Buffy had saved her life more than once. And that had been really, really nice of her. And she wasn't really thinking of finding a vampire to put her out of her misery. Cause, who could think of listening to your best friend bitch, um, chat as misery anyway?
"I mean, it's like the Hellmouth has this never-ending quest to screw up my life. Other girls get to get gussied up, wear gorgeous dresses, and accompany their tuxedo-clad boyfriends to their proms; I get to chase down hellhounds. Hellhounds! I mean, maybe I don't have a date, but damnit, I still wanted to go!" Buffy ended that last statement in a loud wail, and Willow was proud of herself for not flinching.
Hoping to put an end to Buffy's diatribe, the redheaded witch picked up on the last thread. "But Buffy, you could still go. You still have the tickets, right? And you don't have to have a date. You know that Oz and Xander would both dance with you if you ask them. Maybe even Giles? He's gonna be chaperoning, and I'll betcha anything that he looks fantastic in a tux. It could be fun!"
"I know I could go without a date but, hello, hellhounds?"
Willow firmly reminded herself that best friends did not smack each other upside the heads. And even if they did, Buffy was way stronger than she was, so it still wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, she called up her last reserve of patience and suggested, "You could always go after you finish Slaying. I mean, skip patrol and give the vampires a night off for a change. I'm sure that Giles would agree that a couple of hellhounds counts as a good night's work, and I bet he would let you go to the prom as soon as you finished killing them. He might even let you leave the bodies til morning, and we could make clean-up a big Scooby event!"
"Yeah, that would be fine for a night of dancing at the Bronze, but Will, this is the prom! I want to wear my eye-popping dress and do something really cool with my hair. I can't do that after an evening of Slayage! You know that I'll be all trashed. And wouldn't Cordelia just love to rub my nose in it if I show up to the prom looking like hell. I just don't see any way I can go..."
"Ooh, I have an idea! I once found an anti-stain spell. Blood and dirt just float right off, and clothes stay perfectly clean no matter what you do." Willow was excited. Not only did this sound like a cool spell for her to perform, but she could also solve Buffy's problem at the same time. Which was good, because Willow didn't want Buffy to have any problems. And if Buffy just happened to shut up, then that was a bonus. The main thing, of course, was to make her best friend happy. And to make her stop whining.
Buffy sounded miffed. "And I didn't already know about this spell because? Do you have any idea how much money I spend on dry-cleaning? This could have extended my allowance a lot further over the last few years!"
"Yeah, well, Giles didn't want me to tell you about this spell," Willow admitted sheepishly. "But you know how he is about magic, going all You don't know what the consequences might be,' and There's no reason to do unnecessary magic.' But Buffy, I know I can do this spell, and it's sort of a good cause, you know? I bet I could even extend it to your head, so you won't mess up your hair or make-up. Giles might even approve, cause it would help you be the Slayer and a regular high school student, and he's all in favor of that. Just don't tell him, okay? Cause he would feel all obligated to object just on general principle, and what he doesn't know he can't object to. Did I just end that sentence in a preposition? Maybe I should have said--"
After three years acquaintance, Buffy was adept at recognizing an impending babble, and adeptly interrupted Willow before the witch could get started. "I don't know, Willow. "Things never turn out well for me when I keep things from him. Remember that frat party with the giant snake? That was a lot of fun. And let's not even get into Angel's return! Maybe I should see what he thinks about this spell..."
Now it was Willow's turn to be miffed. "You just don't think I can do the spell! Buffy, that is *so* not fair! I am totally improving, and I know I can do it!"
"I just don't know," Buffy wavered. "I mean, I don't want to keep things from Giles any more, but I really would like to look my best for the prom and not have it all messed up by Slaying. Let me think about it, and I'll decide in the morning..."
If you think Buffy will put her appearance before common sense and have Willow do the spell, go to part two.
If you think Buffy will ask Giles' opinion and actually follow it, go to part six.
