Part 4
#
"Hey guys, what's up?" Buffy asked as she entered Giles' apartment, seeing the entire gang assembled there. The entire gang plus a strange woman. "And who's that?"
"Buffy," Giles made the introductions, "this is Rose McNamara. She is a Watcher."
Rose had started to come forward to greet Buffy, but was stopped in her tracks by the hostile look on Buffy's face.
"What's she doing here?" Buffy asked in a cold, cold voice. "I fired the Council, remember?"
"She came here because the stiff suits overseas think you're dead," Spike offered from where he stood in Giles' kitchen. "Too bad they were wrong."
"Dead?" Buffy asked, confused and getting angrier by the second. She was really getting fed up with Spike's presence, too. "I'm not dead. How come they think I'm dead? Rapidly running out of patience here, people!"
Giles came toward her and put a calming hand on her shoulder.
"Sit down, Buffy. We have a few things to discuss."
With everyone seated on the couch Giles started to explain.
"The Council of Watchers has a group of seers, Buffy, whose sole job it is to keep a look out for potential new Slayers and to ... to inform them when the current Slayer ... when she dies."
"Must be a great job," Buffy mumbled.
"It seems the seers did register the Slayer's death, Buffy," Giles continued.
For a moment Buffy was confused, then she paled. "Faith?"
These last two weeks, ever since Faith had awoken from her coma, Buffy had slowly but surely managed to put her anger against Faith to rest. The other Slayer seemed genuinely eager to change and, so far, had done a very good job of it. It was almost like the old times, when the Chosen Two had patrolled together, before everything had gone down the tubes.
"The seers saw the death two weeks ago, Buffy," Giles calmed her down. "Which makes it right around the time ..."
"... I was down in that laboratory," Buffy finished for him.
There was a curious silence inside her head.
"Anything you want to tell me about this, Anne?" Buffy asked, earning a strange look from Rose.
"Who is ...?" the Watcher whispered to Giles.
"Long story!"
"Anne?" Buffy asked again when no answer was forthcoming.
Yes? a very hesitant voice sounded out in Buffy's head. Buffy sighed internally. The artificial intelligence might as well have been wearing a sign saying 'I have something to hide' on her nonexistent forehead.
"On the topic of me being dead ..." Buffy began.
You are not dead, Anne quickly said. I'm sure. You're sitting right here. I'd notice if you were dead. Really.
"I know that I'm not dead right now. What about two weeks ago?"
Buffy did notice that Rose was staring holes into her, but she didn't care what the Watcher might think about her mental stability right now.
I ... I'm really not qualified to talk about all this dead and life stuff, Anne said. I mean, I'm a machine, remember? Computer program, artificial intelligence. What do I know about life and death?
"I am sure you are perfectly capable of knowing when the body you bunk in is dead, so quit dancing around the question! Was I or wasn't I dead in that fucking laboratory down there?"
She saw Giles flinch, unused to her using profanity, but she honestly didn't care. Xander and Willow, along with a bored-looking Anya, were just looking on, trying to make sense of her conversation with hearing but one side of it. Rose looked confused mostly.
There might have been some of that, Anne admitted after a moment. The being dead stuff, I mean. Some.
Buffy felt her stomach lurch up as Anne's words sunk in. Dead. She had been dead. Again. She very clearly remembered the first time she had been dead, drowned in the Master's little pool. She hadn't seen a tunnel of light or singing angels or anything of the sort.
Just darkness. Eternal and everlasting. She never wanted to go back into that dark place.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she screamed at the voice inside her head.
What was I supposed to say? Anne retorted. Hey, Buffy, great news! Not only do you have someone else living inside your head, you get the extra price of having died down in the Initiative laboratory. I'm sure that would have been a great conversation starter.
Buffy found herself pacing Giles' apartment in front of her friends without remembering getting up from the couch.
"I had a right to know," she yelled.
"Know what?"
Everyone looked toward the door, where Faith stood, looking confused.
"Knocking seems to have gone out of style," Giles muttered to himself.
"Who's she?" Faith pointed at rose.
"A Watcher," Xander and Willow said at the same time.
Faith took two steps back, looking somewhere between angry and frightened. The last time the Watchers had come by, they had tried to kidnap her to England to undergo the Council's disciplinary program.
"Glad to meet you, Faith," Rose said without getting up, not wanting to frighten the Slayer into doing anything rash. Like beating her into a pulp or worse.
"Sure," Faith just said.
"Please come in, Faith!" Giles tried to smooth things over a little. "You have nothing to fear from Miss McNamara and we could maybe use your input on the matter."
Reluctantly Faith walked into the apartment, sitting down as far away from Rose as was possible.
"So what's the big bad?" she finally asked when the strained silence got to her.
"Faith," Giles began, "when you awoke from your coma, you told us you had a dream about Buffy being in trouble."
"Yeah," Faith said, unsure of where this was going.
"We need details, Faith," Rose interjected. "Prophetic Slayer dreams are notoriously ..."
"Shut up," Buffy snarled at her. "You are tolerated here, nothing more! Just be thankful we're not throwing you out on your ass!"
Everyone was stunned by Buffy's sudden outburst. Giles, sensing the distress in his young charge, decided to best continue on.
"Faith, we have reason to believe that ... that Buffy ... well, that she ... died, when she was down in the Initiative base. Seeing as you woke up pretty much at the same moment as that explosion took place, maybe your dream holds some ... clues that might aid us."
Faith nodded and, after some hesitation, described everything she remembered about her dream. How Giles had told her to look him up, how Spike had turned up to tell her that staying alive was highly overrated, how Angel had sung about a coming end of the world, and how Buffy had been sitting at the bar, eating little faces while watching the show.
"Gross," Xander just said when she relayed the part about the faces.
"Oh, that's nothing," Anya chirped. "There was this guy in Spain once, and I made him ..."
"Not now, Anya," Giles shut her up.
"Just remembering," she pouted.
"I'm afraid all this isn't making much sense," Rose said, not too loudly lest the Slayer take offense.
"I'm afraid you're right," Giles added.
"Anne?" Buffy asked under her breath while the others discussed Faith's dream.
Now you're asking me about dreams? What do I know about dreams?
"You know something about this and I want to know what!"
There was silence inside her head for a long time.
Please don't, Buffy, Anne whispered finally. Just don't!
"What?" Buffy yelled, attracting everyone's attention.
Anne just stayed silent.
Buffy shook her head and looked at the others.
"Anne is keeping something from me and now she's gone into silent mode. I think we have no choice. We have to go down into the Initiative base."
"Hey, we tried that, remember?" Xander rose from the couch. "There are people swarming all over that place and they have clean-up-dirty-laundry- guys written all over them. Plus they all have this nice little bulk under their jackets and last time I checked none of us here is bullet proof."
"I don't care," Buffy said sternly. "I want to find out what happened to me down there once and for all! And if I have to punch out each and every one of these guys, then so be it!"
With that she walked out the door.
"Now you're talking, Slayer," Spike whistled and followed her, joined shortly by Xander and Willow, as well as Faith. Anya shook her head, mumbling something about the foolishness of helping people with whom you weren't sexually involved, then followed as well. Giles and Rose remained behind in his now empty living room.
"Who is this Anne person?" Rose asked him.
"Long story," Giles repeated, grabbed his coat, and hurried to catch up with the other. Somehow taking on armed government agents seemed a preferable situation to relaying everything that had happened here in Sunnydale these last two weeks.
Rose looked after him.
"I guess I know why they said he let things get out of control," Rose murmured to herself and walked out after the small army that had just departed, closing the door behind her.
Inside the phone rang with no one to answer it. About a hundred miles away Angel cursed several times, then accelerated.
TO BE CONTINUED
#
"Hey guys, what's up?" Buffy asked as she entered Giles' apartment, seeing the entire gang assembled there. The entire gang plus a strange woman. "And who's that?"
"Buffy," Giles made the introductions, "this is Rose McNamara. She is a Watcher."
Rose had started to come forward to greet Buffy, but was stopped in her tracks by the hostile look on Buffy's face.
"What's she doing here?" Buffy asked in a cold, cold voice. "I fired the Council, remember?"
"She came here because the stiff suits overseas think you're dead," Spike offered from where he stood in Giles' kitchen. "Too bad they were wrong."
"Dead?" Buffy asked, confused and getting angrier by the second. She was really getting fed up with Spike's presence, too. "I'm not dead. How come they think I'm dead? Rapidly running out of patience here, people!"
Giles came toward her and put a calming hand on her shoulder.
"Sit down, Buffy. We have a few things to discuss."
With everyone seated on the couch Giles started to explain.
"The Council of Watchers has a group of seers, Buffy, whose sole job it is to keep a look out for potential new Slayers and to ... to inform them when the current Slayer ... when she dies."
"Must be a great job," Buffy mumbled.
"It seems the seers did register the Slayer's death, Buffy," Giles continued.
For a moment Buffy was confused, then she paled. "Faith?"
These last two weeks, ever since Faith had awoken from her coma, Buffy had slowly but surely managed to put her anger against Faith to rest. The other Slayer seemed genuinely eager to change and, so far, had done a very good job of it. It was almost like the old times, when the Chosen Two had patrolled together, before everything had gone down the tubes.
"The seers saw the death two weeks ago, Buffy," Giles calmed her down. "Which makes it right around the time ..."
"... I was down in that laboratory," Buffy finished for him.
There was a curious silence inside her head.
"Anything you want to tell me about this, Anne?" Buffy asked, earning a strange look from Rose.
"Who is ...?" the Watcher whispered to Giles.
"Long story!"
"Anne?" Buffy asked again when no answer was forthcoming.
Yes? a very hesitant voice sounded out in Buffy's head. Buffy sighed internally. The artificial intelligence might as well have been wearing a sign saying 'I have something to hide' on her nonexistent forehead.
"On the topic of me being dead ..." Buffy began.
You are not dead, Anne quickly said. I'm sure. You're sitting right here. I'd notice if you were dead. Really.
"I know that I'm not dead right now. What about two weeks ago?"
Buffy did notice that Rose was staring holes into her, but she didn't care what the Watcher might think about her mental stability right now.
I ... I'm really not qualified to talk about all this dead and life stuff, Anne said. I mean, I'm a machine, remember? Computer program, artificial intelligence. What do I know about life and death?
"I am sure you are perfectly capable of knowing when the body you bunk in is dead, so quit dancing around the question! Was I or wasn't I dead in that fucking laboratory down there?"
She saw Giles flinch, unused to her using profanity, but she honestly didn't care. Xander and Willow, along with a bored-looking Anya, were just looking on, trying to make sense of her conversation with hearing but one side of it. Rose looked confused mostly.
There might have been some of that, Anne admitted after a moment. The being dead stuff, I mean. Some.
Buffy felt her stomach lurch up as Anne's words sunk in. Dead. She had been dead. Again. She very clearly remembered the first time she had been dead, drowned in the Master's little pool. She hadn't seen a tunnel of light or singing angels or anything of the sort.
Just darkness. Eternal and everlasting. She never wanted to go back into that dark place.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she screamed at the voice inside her head.
What was I supposed to say? Anne retorted. Hey, Buffy, great news! Not only do you have someone else living inside your head, you get the extra price of having died down in the Initiative laboratory. I'm sure that would have been a great conversation starter.
Buffy found herself pacing Giles' apartment in front of her friends without remembering getting up from the couch.
"I had a right to know," she yelled.
"Know what?"
Everyone looked toward the door, where Faith stood, looking confused.
"Knocking seems to have gone out of style," Giles muttered to himself.
"Who's she?" Faith pointed at rose.
"A Watcher," Xander and Willow said at the same time.
Faith took two steps back, looking somewhere between angry and frightened. The last time the Watchers had come by, they had tried to kidnap her to England to undergo the Council's disciplinary program.
"Glad to meet you, Faith," Rose said without getting up, not wanting to frighten the Slayer into doing anything rash. Like beating her into a pulp or worse.
"Sure," Faith just said.
"Please come in, Faith!" Giles tried to smooth things over a little. "You have nothing to fear from Miss McNamara and we could maybe use your input on the matter."
Reluctantly Faith walked into the apartment, sitting down as far away from Rose as was possible.
"So what's the big bad?" she finally asked when the strained silence got to her.
"Faith," Giles began, "when you awoke from your coma, you told us you had a dream about Buffy being in trouble."
"Yeah," Faith said, unsure of where this was going.
"We need details, Faith," Rose interjected. "Prophetic Slayer dreams are notoriously ..."
"Shut up," Buffy snarled at her. "You are tolerated here, nothing more! Just be thankful we're not throwing you out on your ass!"
Everyone was stunned by Buffy's sudden outburst. Giles, sensing the distress in his young charge, decided to best continue on.
"Faith, we have reason to believe that ... that Buffy ... well, that she ... died, when she was down in the Initiative base. Seeing as you woke up pretty much at the same moment as that explosion took place, maybe your dream holds some ... clues that might aid us."
Faith nodded and, after some hesitation, described everything she remembered about her dream. How Giles had told her to look him up, how Spike had turned up to tell her that staying alive was highly overrated, how Angel had sung about a coming end of the world, and how Buffy had been sitting at the bar, eating little faces while watching the show.
"Gross," Xander just said when she relayed the part about the faces.
"Oh, that's nothing," Anya chirped. "There was this guy in Spain once, and I made him ..."
"Not now, Anya," Giles shut her up.
"Just remembering," she pouted.
"I'm afraid all this isn't making much sense," Rose said, not too loudly lest the Slayer take offense.
"I'm afraid you're right," Giles added.
"Anne?" Buffy asked under her breath while the others discussed Faith's dream.
Now you're asking me about dreams? What do I know about dreams?
"You know something about this and I want to know what!"
There was silence inside her head for a long time.
Please don't, Buffy, Anne whispered finally. Just don't!
"What?" Buffy yelled, attracting everyone's attention.
Anne just stayed silent.
Buffy shook her head and looked at the others.
"Anne is keeping something from me and now she's gone into silent mode. I think we have no choice. We have to go down into the Initiative base."
"Hey, we tried that, remember?" Xander rose from the couch. "There are people swarming all over that place and they have clean-up-dirty-laundry- guys written all over them. Plus they all have this nice little bulk under their jackets and last time I checked none of us here is bullet proof."
"I don't care," Buffy said sternly. "I want to find out what happened to me down there once and for all! And if I have to punch out each and every one of these guys, then so be it!"
With that she walked out the door.
"Now you're talking, Slayer," Spike whistled and followed her, joined shortly by Xander and Willow, as well as Faith. Anya shook her head, mumbling something about the foolishness of helping people with whom you weren't sexually involved, then followed as well. Giles and Rose remained behind in his now empty living room.
"Who is this Anne person?" Rose asked him.
"Long story," Giles repeated, grabbed his coat, and hurried to catch up with the other. Somehow taking on armed government agents seemed a preferable situation to relaying everything that had happened here in Sunnydale these last two weeks.
Rose looked after him.
"I guess I know why they said he let things get out of control," Rose murmured to herself and walked out after the small army that had just departed, closing the door behind her.
Inside the phone rang with no one to answer it. About a hundred miles away Angel cursed several times, then accelerated.
TO BE CONTINUED