CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: OZ
Wednesday: 11pm
30th January 1999
California: California
She had changed, wanting to be rid of the filthy clothes that were badly torn. She had grabbed another stake and shakily climbed out the window, trying not to hurt herself even more. She had crept away from the building, wanting nothing to do with either of the Englishmen that were sitting in the living room.
She made her way slowly down the street, unsure of where she was going, as long as it was in the opposite direction of anyone in the Council.
"Buffy!"
She heard her name being called from behind her. She stopped and turned, her hands going to her aching ribs. She squinted in the darkness. She'd never realised that her vision had improved with her strength as well.
A young man her own age walked towards her, his eyes worried, but his face completely passive. Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne.
"You alright?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"You need somewhere to stay?" he offered.
"If you don't mind," she whispered.
"Nah, it's cool. Wills and Xander are staying at my place tonight anyway," Oz explained. "The more the merrier."
She hesitated a moment. If there were three of them, they would question her relentlessly. The problem was, she had nowhere else to go. Ethan was out doing more 'freelance work' that he always refused to explain in detail, and Faith had gone with him. She nodded and let Oz lead her towards his house. He was walking deliberately slow, but not making a big deal out of it, for which Buffy was infinitely grateful.
They made it to the house, heading down the stairs slowly.
"I'll get you some ice and bandages," he said, moving towards the kitchen. Buffy nodded and walked further into the larger downstairs area. Xander and Willow looked up, eyes going wide simultaneously as they saw Buffy standing there, shaking and injured.
"Buffy!" Willow was on her feet first, helping Buffy further into the room and leading her to a seat. Buffy sat down and let Willow and Xander fuss around her.
Oz came back holding a first aid kit and some ice wrapped in a towel. Buffy took the cold cubes gratefully and wrapped them around her knuckles. Willow expertly dressed all the other visible injuries and then helped Buffy out of her jacket. There were tinges of red showing through the back of her shirt.
"You're back's hurt," she whispered. "We're gonna need to get your shirt off."
Willow shot a look to Xander and Oz who took the hint and left the room.
Buffy nodded, not really comprehending what was going on. She was shaking badly, and Willow couldn't imagine what had done this to her. She sat behind her and helped her take the shirt off, Buffy clutching the material to her chest.
Willow's eyes went wide as she took in the damage to her back. It wasn't the fresh scars that worried her though. It was the intricate patterns of old scars that astonished her.
"Please don't ask," she heard Buffy whisper shakily.
She swallowed hard and forced herself to stay quiet. She was extremely gentle while she treated the cuts on Buffy's back. She helped her pull her shirt on again and gently pulled Buffy to her feet.
"You're tired," Willow commented.
Buffy nodded and let herself be led towards the spare bedroom. Willow helped to remove Buffy's shoes for her and helped her to lie on the bed, covering her gently with the quilts. When she drifted off almost immediately, Willow left the room, going back to Xander and Oz, a worried look on her face.
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"What happened to her?" Xander whispered. "I've never seen her that hurt."
"She didn't say what was wrong," Oz admitted. "But she looked really upset."
"God, you should see her back," Willow whispered. "It's so horrible."
"Maybe we should call her mom," Xander suggested.
Both Oz and Willow shook their heads. It wasn't a good idea.
"Joyce still doesn't know about the slaying. If she saw Buffy like this, she'd…she'd be really worried," Willow explained.
"Well, what about Giles?" Xander said.
Only Oz shook his head. "She was heading away from there. Maybe they got in an argument."
"You're not trying to say that Giles did this to her, are you?" Willow asked.
"No. Giles wouldn't. She musta got badly hurt on patrol. The only thing we can really do is take care of her," Oz said.
Willow nodded and quietly moved back into the spare room. She didn't want Buffy to wake up in a strange house with no one near her. She settled into a comfortable chair while Xander and Oz camped out in the larger living area on sleeping bags, none of them getting too much sleep as they worried about the blonde Slayer who had somehow wormed their way into all of their hearts.
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Thursday: 8:30am
31st January 1999
California: Sunnydale
Buffy awoke slowly, her entire body aching. She stretched slowly, groaning as her muscles protested from being used. She sighed tiredly and opened her eyes for a moment before closing them again.
"Morning," a quiet voice whispered.
Her eyes shot wide open. She hadn't realised that someone was with her.
"Willow," she said, not entirely comprehending why she was there with her.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
She thought about the question for a moment. "Bad. Like, really bad," she replied.
"What happened?"
She woke up a little more as she recalled what had happened the night before. Giles. Travers. The Cruciamentum. Oz finding her. She shook her head slowly and closed her eyes.
"You don't have to explain it if you don't want to," Willow said quietly, seeing Buffy's reluctance to open up to her.
She smiled thankfully and forced herself to sit up, her ribs aching badly.
"You got hurt pretty badly," Willow said.
"If it helps, the other guy looks worse," Buffy said, trying to lighten the mood.
Willow smiled a little and leant forward in her chair.
"You don't get this hurt every night, do you?" Willow asked.
She'd never seen Buffy after patrols except for the first week that Buffy had been in Sunnydale when Xander had dragged Willow out to spy on the Slayer.
"No."
"Then what happened? What was so bad about last night?" Willow asked.
Buffy swallowed hard and looked Willow in the eyes.
"I don't have my strength," Buffy explained.
Willow's eyes went wide. "What? You've lost it? Why? How?"
"It's temporary, apparently. Some sick test designed by the people I work for," Buffy explained.
Willow had always wondered how the whole Slayer thing worked, but she had always been too intimidated by the smaller girl to ask. She adored the Slayer, but there was something about her that was still frightening. Willow supposed it was because of the violent nature of Buffy and Faith's friendship that scared her a little. On a conscious level she wasn't afraid that Buffy would physically hurt her, it was just that Buffy was so confident with who she was and what she did.
"You work for someone?" Willow asked.
Buffy nodded. "The Council of Watchers. A British organisation that helps to train the girls that may become Slayers. They basically gave me some shot or something that took my strength away."
"That's horrible," Willow commented.
Buffy nodded. "I don't wanna go back home right now," Buffy admitted.
"You can stay here," Willow said quickly. "You don't have to go back. We were just gonna hang here anyway, so…you can stay."
"Thank you."
"Maybe you should try and sleep some more," Willow suggested.
Buffy nodded tiredly and lay back down, her eyes closing tiredly.
"Can you tell Oz I said thanks," Buffy whispered before falling into a deep sleep.
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"Maybe we should let Faith know that she's here," Willow said quietly. "They're best friends, Buffy wouldn't mind."
Oz nodded, grateful that there was finally a solution that there wasn't too much of a problem with.
"I'll go get her," Oz offered. "It'll be faster that way."
Willow nodded and Oz gave her a quick kiss before grabbing the keys to his van and driving towards Faith's apartment.
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"B!"
Buffy awoke to the sound of Faith calling out to her. She woke up completely and found herself in a bone-crushing hug from her best friend.
"What happened to you?" Faith demanded.
"The Council," Buffy whispered.
Faith's eyes narrowed dangerously. Xander, Willow and Oz were lingering in the room quietly, unsure of what was going on. They didn't understand the connection between the two girls, but they knew that Faith and Buffy were close, despite the obvious attempts on Faith's part to be cool and unattached.
"Travers?" Faith asked coldly.
Buffy nodded. Faith swung her fist in the air, wishing desperately to hit someone or something.
"I'll kill him," Faith said seriously. "I'll put a fricken stake through his heart."
"Faith no. He's gone," Buffy said.
Faith turned to look at her best friend.
"He's not gone B. He'll never be gone! Not when you've still got those scars on your back. Don't you get it? You're never gonna be free of that bastard, and he knew it from the second he started pickin' on you."
Willow's eyes widened at the mention of the scars on Buffy's back. Obviously they weren't new, and they were something that Faith knew about. Willow could only wonder who this Travers man was and whether or not he was responsible for the hundreds of marks that ran across the blonde girl's back.
"And killing him won't change that," Buffy said calmly.
"You're the Slayer girl," Faith reminded her. "You coulda kicked his ass way easy! How'd he hurt you this bad?"
"He didn't do this," Buffy said. "It was a test."
"What kind of a sick test is it? Sic an army of vamps on the Slayer? Cos from the looks of your bruises, you fought about a hundred vamps last night," Faith said.
"Two actually," Buffy replied.
"Two?"
Faith was confused. She'd seen Buffy take on a group of ten vamps and walk away without a scratch. To see Buffy with so many bruises from two vampires was astounding.
Buffy stood shakily and forced her hand into a fist. Faith noticed and immediately readied herself for the hit. Buffy hit Faith with everything that she had, and Faith barely even moved.
Faith felt her breath catch in her throat. Buffy was still strong, but if that was her strength with no holds barred, then something was seriously wrong.
"You've lost your strength," Faith said.
Buffy nodded and sat back down on the edge of the bed.
"I'm not volunteering to get hit when she gets her strength back," Xander whispered from the corner of the room. Faith and Buffy completely ignored the trio that were watching on in awe.
"Travers did this to you?"
"No. Giles did it," Buffy admitted.
Faith felt something snap within her. She had been angry before. Now, she was downright furious.
"Giles?! Giles did this?!"
"Faith-"
"What the hell did he do that for? I hope you kicked his British ass for it," Faith yelled angrily, beginning to pace the small length of the room.
"Faith-"
"He's meant to be your Watcher. You're meant to be able to trust him! He's worse than fricken Jeremiah Miller," Faith cried.
Buffy felt herself flinch involuntarily at the name that she had dutifully tried to repress for the last three or so years.
"Just wait til Ethan hears about this," Faith continued. "Giles will be worm food within seconds."
Somewhere in the midst of Faith's angry diatribe, Buffy felt herself slowly letting go of her anger. It was hearing her own thoughts said aloud by Faith that was slowly bringing her back to herself. She had hated Giles with a passion for what he had done to her, but hearing Faith screaming about wanting to kill the man, a thought that had run through Buffy's head for a few fleeting moments…it made Buffy's anger lessen.
"Faith…I don't want him dead," Buffy finally managed to get in. Faith stopped pacing and looked towards her friend.
"You don't?"
"He's my Watcher. And I trust him." She was surprised that her statement held truth in it. She still trusted him. He had never betrayed her trust before, but hearing his deed compared to what Jeremiah had tried to do, she realised that it even though it had been worse, she still trusted him.
"You still trust him after what he did to you?" Faith asked incredulously.
Buffy nodded and tried to collect her thoughts.
"Do you remember me telling you about Father Pat?"
Faith nodded, wondering where Buffy was going with this.
"I told him that I'd lost my faith in the Council because of Travers and because of Miller. And he told me that I had to see past the Council. I had to be able to look at my Watcher and see a man, rather than just the organisation he was part of. He told me that I had to understand that Giles was just a man who had hopes and fears. And he made a mistake," Buffy said.
"A mistake? Running your car into a tree is a mistake, taking away someone's strength is a plan!" Faith cried.
"So he planned it, whatever! It was still a mistake," Buffy said.
"And you'll forgive him just like that?"
"What other choice do I have? He's still my Watcher, no matter what happens. And if I can't trust him, then I'm not gonna live much longer."
That completely shut Faith up. It was a good argument.
"So why are you here then?" Faith asked. "Why did Oz come and get me, telling me that you were hurt and upset and you really needed someone to talk to? If you've forgiven him, why are you here? Why am I here?"
Buffy stood up and gave her best friend a small smile.
"Cos I only just worked out that I wasn't angry."
I don't think I ever mentioned anything about Oz. He's not a werewolf. Basically I couldn't be bothered writing that particular plot line in. Maybe I'll bring it in later, but…until then, he's just a musician and a damn hot one at that.
Heya everyone! Guess I should kinda explain a bit about the Spike thing…honestly, pretty much the ONLY reason I put him in this fic at all was cos I wanted to re-write the Cruciamentum with him as the villain. That's all it really was. As for the version at my site…that's my first real attempt at anything even slightly smutty. It had nothing to do with anything at all, and even I don't' really like that she kills him, and I made her do it! *grins* Anyways…hope you're still reading!!
Toodles.
K.