Part 2
Part 2
See part one for disclaimer
Buffy searched the open yard of the high school looking for a certain redhead. She saw her sitting alone eating a sack lunch under a tree. She strolled over to the quiet redhead and sat down next to her.
" Willow Rosenberg?"
"Yes." Willow looked at the trendily dressed blond with a confused expression. " Are you talking to me?"
" Yup, my name is Buffy Summers and I heard through the grapevine you are so the person to talk to when it comes to schoolwork. And I so need help.
Willow relaxed visibly and began to chatter. " I love school. Science, math, taking tests, I love it all. We just got this cool new librarian, he's like from England and…
Buffy smiled as the quiet girl began ramble about her teachers and classes. Wow she doesn't even breathe buffy looked about to interrupt when two guys swooped down on her and Willow. One of them was a tall, tan, thin teenager with a wide smile. He dropped next to willow and draped an arm around her shoulder. The other guy was Xander Harris. He smiled widely at both buffy and willow. Once again Buffy was struck by the warmth and humor in his eyes and smile.
"Buffy, my new oldest friend. How's your first day." Xander sat down next to buffy and she shivered a little. She didn't know what it was but there was something about him. Something special. She almost missed what he was saying, " this is my buddy Jesse and I guess you already know Wills."
Jesse draped his other arm around her shoulders, " So Buff what's your story. Got any deep dark secrets you'd like to share with the class."
" Nope, Totally secretless, " she said with a smile. She began to talk to them and three started to get to know her. Buffy was surprised at how easily she was included in the obviously tight knit group. They made her feel like she belonged completely without judging her based on her clothes or appearance, a marked difference from Cordelia and her gang.
**
The lunch hour flew by as the group laughed and talked about school. The had just agreed to go to the bronze that night when Cordelia strolled up to Buffy like a princess mingling with the commoners and spoke to Buffy. " I hate to interrupt your downward mobility Buffy, but I wanted to tell you that gym was cancelled today thanks to the seriously dead body found in the boys locker room…again." She snorted at the thought of yet another death in the school.
Jesse sidled up to Cordelia. " If you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you Cordy." He put a friendly had on her arm. She shook it off her and scowled at him, " get off me geek boy." Pain flashed across Jesse's face as he sat back down and stared blankly at his hand.
" Umm, How did he die Cordy? Where there any marks on his neck." Buffy looked quite concerned at what Cordelia was saying. Xander glanced flickered between Cordelia's beautiful but imperious face and Buffy's, which seemed scared and…resigned?
**
Buffy was PISSED. The mouth of Fricking HELL. This was where her mom had decided to mover her after the divorce. The whole idea was ridiculous and clearly someone upstairs hated her. The story that the librarian, Rupert Giles had told her was unbelievable. She had gone back to see him after examining the body stuffed in the locker and the librarian told her about the specialness of the place Buffy now called home. Buffy realized that she was going to be dragged back into the slaying game however reluctantly. On top of everything else someone was following her as she made her way to the bronze.
Ugh!!!
**
Faith shadowed Buffy quietly. She was busy trying to think of a way to introduce herself to Buffy. She was kind of shocked at the transformation that Buffy had undergone in the months after Faith left LA in order to train for her new mission. This new Buffy seemed to have no desire to slay. No desire to help others. No fire. Faith had heard about the vampire lord Lothos and how he killed Buffy's watcher Merrick. She needed to get Buffy's head in the game or she'd die. As she trailed Buffy deep in thought, she lost sight of her. Buffy had ducked into an alley quietly and as Faith rounded the corner she saw that Buffy had totally disappeared.
Faith entered the alley cautiously and paused under streetlight. She extended her senses trying to pinpoint Buffy's breath and heartbeat. It was a trick her sire had taught her. The body of a slayer sounded slightly different than that of a normal. Unfortunately the nearness of the local club interfered with her senses too much. She started to enter the alley when something hit her from behind. She went flying headfirst into the alley and would have landed hard on the ground had her reflexes not been as good as they were. She rolled over and flipped to her feet in a smooth lightning fast motion to face her attacker.
" Who the hell are you and why the hell are you following me." Buffy posed underneath the lamppost in a relaxed guard stance.
Faith easily slipped into the persona of a street tough. " Nice job on the ambush B. I give it an 8. Points off for no follow though and that stance is god-awful. She punctuated her sentence with a swift attack to Buffy's leg that caused her to fall. Faith knelt beside her. " Ya can't fight like this B. You're going to die without the fire.
Buffy flung Faith off her. She stood up and dusted herself off angrily. " I told Giles that I wasn't doing this anymore."
I don't work for your watcher. I'm more of an independant agent. Names Faith."
Buffy sized up the girl in front of her. She was beautiful if you liked dark haired bad girls with pouty lips. She wore skintight black leather pants and a too small black tee shirt with BAD TO THE BONE emblazoned across the front. Her dark makeup stood in sharp relief against pale skin. She crossed her hands beneath her breasts and graced Buffy with a sardonic smile. " You think the vamps are just going to accept that you've what…retired," she laughed. " They aren't going to stop coming for you."
Buffy snarled at her, " I'll make an exception with any vamp that comes near me and mine." She whirled around and walked toward the entrance to the bronze.
**
The Bronze was really packed with people. Surprising considering it was the first day of school. Buffy searched the room looking for her new friends. She easily spotted Cordelia and Harmony holding court with several of the football player. She also spotted Jesse flitting about the edges of the group visibly trying to catch the attention of Cordelia who both saw and ignored him.
She saw Willow waiting at the bar for Xander to show and Jesse to tire of courting Princess Cordy. She approached Willow and sat down next to her. " Hey Wills."
Willow turned and smiled shyly. "Hi Buffy."
Buffy smiled at the shy girl. " So where is Xander and Jesse. I figured they wouldn't leave you here alone to be swept up by some strange guy here at the Bronze." Willow laughed so hard she snorted Coke through her nose. " Oh Yeah, I'm quite the guy magnet. I fight them off daily with the stick I carry in my purse."
Well why not? Your smart, pretty and I have it pretty good authority that guys dig redheads. You have to carpe diem. Seize the day."
Willow blushed at the compliment. " It's just that when I meet a guy I get all tongue-tied and there's unsexy drooling. I doubt guys want a girl who can't talk and drools excessively."
" Wow, for a girl whose best friends are guys, you sure don't know them well. What's the deal with the three of you anyway? Why aren't you and one of the guys going out?" please don't say anything about Xander
" No, the three of us are like the three musketeers. We've known each other forever. Xander was my first kiss. We tried going out in middle school but it just didn't work. YES We're too much like brother and sister. We chalked it up to a fluke and never speak of it." She sized up Buffy and with a look that seemed out of place on the meek girl, she said, " He kisses very well, I might add. "
Buffy looked shocked at Willow. " I'm not blind, Buffy. I noticed you looking at Xander before. I say go for it." She looked happy for her old friend, and her new one as well. Buffy could only stare and laugh with Willow. " So, I'm that transparent huh."
" If Xander wasn't blind to life he would notice it too."
" So what's the 411 about Xander. Tell me about him."
Willow smiled as she thought about one of her two best friends. " He's loyal, funny, and just about the nicest guy in the world. The three of us have been friends since we were five. Whole yellow crayon thing." She laughed but her emerald eyes glistened. She might make light of the memory to Buffy but it must have meant something to her. " We don't have the greatest parents in the world but we've always been there for each other. Mine think I'm some kind of Skinner baby to test the newest psych theories on. Jesse's are worse than mine, but Xander's are really, really bad. He lives with his mom and stepfather and if you want to know more you'll have to earn his trust." Willow looked solemn at that the last bit. " Don't tell him I said anything. Its just that if you like him you need to know," she finished quietly
Buffy looked shocked. " He seems so happy, " she whispered.
" Yeah he does."
Buffy looked around the room trying to figure out what to say. She saw that Jesse had moved on from Cordelia and was talking to a very pretty college girl at the other end of the bar. Cordy was laughing with some dull-eyed jock. She looked up to the second level and saw something that truly frightened her. Her would be watcher stood on an upper level of the club and looked out over the crowd. He saw her and motioned to her. She turned to Willow and said, " I'll be right back. I'm off to mingle."
**
She moved to the upper level, weaving through the crowd upstairs. The crowd suddenly thinned as if the tweed clad librarian created an invisible no fun zone. Buffy smiled at the thought as she joined him at the railing. " Wow, you don't look out of place at all. That tweed works better than camouflage," she began.
" This place is a primary feeding ground for the undead. Your slayer senses should be able to pick up the vampires even through this din that passes for American music." Giles looked over at her. " Didn't your watcher ever teach you to hone your senses? Work on your instincts."
"Merrick tried, but I never had the gift. He told me not all slayers have the whole sixth sense thing. Guess it just skipped over me." she shrugged.
" You can't run from your destiny you know. It won't just go away just because you want it to." The librarian looked over at his young charge.
Buffy didn't respond. She just stared off into space and began to talk. " At first I scared. I was just some dumb cheerleader. What did I know about fighting, about saving people? I tried but my heart wasn't in it. Then one of my friends at Hemery disappeared. I ran into Pike a few days later on a patrol through a graveyard." She smiled sadly at the thought. " I was so happy to see him. I threw my arms around him and hugged him. I never even thought about how cold he was. He vamped out and nearly killed me. I tried fighting him off but I couldn't. He was strong as a mortal and as a vamp he was stronger than me. He had me on the ground and was about to drink my blood when he suddenly burst into dust. I looked up and saw Merrick extending his hand to help me up. After that I realized that every vamp I killed was one less that would do something like that again. One more family would never wonder about a missing child. I threw myself into slaying. I did it when my friends abandoned me. I did it when my parent's marriage fell apart thanks to the stress that I was placing on them. I did it when I could barely hold a stake because of the antipsychotic medication I was on. I was doing it when Merrick died. I couldn't save my own watcher. Lothos killed him. I got him though, him and his whole gang. I paid them back for every bruise, for every tear they cost me. But end the end they won. Doubt crept into my soul." Buffy looked over at Giles. " I don't want to die Giles but that's not what I'm scared of. I don't want to fail anyone. I failed my parents. I wasn't the daughter they needed me to be. I failed Pike; I wasn't the friend he needed me to be. I failed Merrick because I wasn't the slayer he needed me to be. I don't want to fail anyone else. I don't want the responsibility of the world on my shoulders. I'm just some cheerleader," she finished so quietly that Giles wasn't sure he heard her right.
Giles stood quiet for a moment. " Buffy," he began.
" Way to go Willow," buffy suddenly exclaimed. She smiled suddenly as she saw something downstairs. Giles could only shake his head at the mercurial moods of teenage girls. He looked out and saw what Buffy was smiling at. Willow, a girl he had enjoyed meeting through his job as a librarian, was talking to a handsome man around college age. He leaned in close to the redhead and said something that caused the normally shy girl to laugh out loud and turn a little red. Her green eyes danced as she in turn whispered something to him. They got up to leave. He draped his calf length leather coat around Willows shoulders.
Buffy was a little impressed. Earlier she had encouraged Willow to when it came to meeting guys, and not ten minutes later a totally hot college guy was hitting her on. He was tall, with what seemed to be piercing eyes, and carefully mussed hair. How much product does that guy use? He wore a wine colored silk shirt and black leather pants. Jesus, how tight are those pants. I'm surprised he can breathe. Wait a minute- Gotta go Giles. That guy is a vamp.
Giles looked shocked. " How can you tell? I thought you had no slayer sense."
" I don't. That guy is wearing leather pants so tight there's no way he can breathe in them." Buffy took off down the stairs weaving around the students on the stairwell.
**
Buffy darted down the stairs weaving around dancing students. She tried to keep willow in her sight gut she lost track of her in the press of the crowd. She looked around trying to spot Jesse or the chick he was talking to earlier. She couldn't spot them in the crowd.
Damn
**