Chapter 20 - Open Mouth, Insert Foot
Anya's been gone for a week. At least, I haven't been able to contact her in that long. It hurt they way she made it clear that she thought I was wrong.
I know, I haven't always been too friendly to demons. It might just have something to do with the number of them that seem to have taken a personal dislike to my continued life. But, I was dealing with her new status. I really was. And, I was trying to cope with Buffy being with Spike. Of course, when it comes to that relationship, only half the problem has to do with Spike being a demon. The other half is just because he's Spike.
I hated the way he waltzed into our lives, after all the attempts to kill us, and still thought we'd want him around. I know, he's been useful, but from my point of view, that usefulness hasn't made up for the annoyance factor.
So, when it seemed to me that they were suggesting we sacrifice Willow for Spike, naturally I'm going to object. It's not that I object to rescuing Spike as such, it's just that I'd put him at the bottom of the list. I mean, I wouldn't want to risk Willow, Buffy, Anya or even Giles.
I thought for the first few days that Anya was just avoiding me. Then I found out that the others hadn't seen her, and that Giles was back in the Magic Box full-time because Anya was off looking for an alternative to Willow's plan.
I've been hanging around at the shop all week after work. Ok, nothing new there, I know. Willow's been there a lot too, saying she wants to get out of the house. That means Jenna's there too, and Buffy has been coming in after work. They've all been researching alternatives to Willow's plan, but they haven't come up with anything.
Buffy seemed a little strange with me the first couple of times we met after the argument. I've done my best to show her that I want to help rescue Spike, just not to risk one of my friends, and she seems to have accepted that, in a tired, rather understated way.
That's pretty much the way she's taking everything these days. She looks more tired than I've ever seen before, and I've seen her post-apocalypse tired. Sometimes you see her sitting there, staring into the distance, and you just know she's thinking about Spike, wondering what they're doing to him. I hate to see her suffering. It hurts me too to know she's scared stiff of having to face life without him.
She doesn't seem to be suffering from any of the oft-mooted side-effects of pregnancy. I mean, she isn't being sick (as far as I know) and she hasn't been asking anyone to get her strange food combinations. She's eating better than usual, though, and it's good to see.
She's distant, though. It seems like the only one of her friends she's been entirely comfortable with lately has been Anya, and with her gone ..
I want to be there for her, to hold her or whatever she needs, but she doesn't seem to want me. So, situation normal. Don't get me wrong. I love Anya. The things I feel for Buffy include love, but it's love of a different sort. I'd like to think of myself as her big brother, but apart from the fact of being physically bigger, and male, it's not really an apt description. 'Big brother' sort of implies looking after her, keeping her safe, and the truth is, she's done more of that for me over the years than the other way around.
Willow's kinda spooky too. She's my oldest friend, and I love her to bits, but looking at her, with eyes that don't follow her attention, it's, well, spooky. If she couldn't see, I could deal. Not that I want her to be blind, I don't, I'd just kinda like her to be my old Will again. This other sight, it's like her power's on all the time. You don't ever get the chance to forget about her being into magic.
She's been trying to persuade me to feel comfortable about her plan. She can be pretty damn persuasive too, when she puts on that resolve face, too. And, maybe if Giles seemed altogether happy about the plan, she might have persuaded me. But, it's quite obvious that Giles isn't happy. I don't think his reasons are exactly the same as mine, either. He's not so worried about Willow not making it, as of Willow trying to destroy the world again. And, I get that. I've seen it first hand, and .. not a pretty sight. And can I add painful? Those bolts of lightning she threw at me - don't want that again.
Buffy just got up from the books to announce she's going to patrol. Giles gets up too, saying he's going with. He's been doing that every night, I think. On the spur of the moment, I stand too.
"Let me go tonight, G-man," I ask.
"Shouldn't you be asking me?" Buffy demands. "I'm the Slayer. I'm perfectly capable of patrolling alone."
"Of course you are," Giles reassures. "It's just that I thought you'd like some company."
"Not really," she answers.
"Still," he continues. "I think you should avoid patrolling alone, at least while you're pregnant. There's no saying what side-effects it might have on you. And we've no physiological information to go on."
She shrugs and turns to me.
"Ok, you coming?"
I know, she's only turned to me to make a point to Giles. She wants me to go along because she knows there's absolutely nothing I can do if she gets into serious trouble, and I know it. Giles isn't happy, but he concedes.
I grab some stakes and follow her out.
It's a fairly standard patrol. There're a few fledglings, and she takes them out effortlessly. She's said things are quiet in Sunnydale just now, and what I see confirms that. I remember the time she was gone, patrolling with the bot or with Spike. Things were a lot harder then.
As we turn into the last cemetery on her route, she spots something ahead. There're a couple of figures crouched over something. She motions to me to stay put, and approaches quietly.
I do as she asked, but I'm waiting, ready to pounce as soon as she attacks. She does, and it's soon obvious these two aren't fledglings. Even so, she's more than holding her own. In fact, the pace of the fight is so furious that I haven't a hope of joining in. All of the vamps' attention is on the Slayer, and they're doing pretty well, but it's obvious that she doesn't need my help.
A few minutes later, in her patent 'double vamp stake' move, they're dust, and Buffy's breathing heavily as she relaxes. I take the opportunity to move closer to whatever it was the vamps were looking at.
Once I'm close enough to get a good look, I'm still none the wiser. Definitely not human, although not nearly as ugly as most demons. It seems to be unconscious, and from the marks around its head, that's where the damage was done. I don't know if those vampires were trying to feed from it or not.
As I'm looking at the figure on the ground, Buffy comes up behind me.
"What is it?" I ask.
She shrugs. "We could ask Giles, I suppose."
"So, we heading back?" I ask.
"Yeah."
Then she bends down to pick up the creature, cradling the small body as if it were a child.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"I'm taking it back to the shop. I don't know what it is, but, as a general rule, if it's prey to vamps, it's probably vulnerable. And, it's been injured. If we just leave it here, there'll probably be some more vamps along in a few to finish the job."
"Ok," I agree, although I can't keep the doubt out of my voice.
She flashes me an exasperated look.
"Do you want me to .." I ask, gesturing carrying.
"No, it's ok, Xander. I'm fine."
Once back at the shop, and with the demon lying on one of the mats in the training room, we can take a proper look at it. It's about three foot tall, maybe a little more. It's a reddish orange in colour. It's got a fairly standard head, two eyes, nose, mouth, two arms and two legs. No clothes I can see, but nothing embarrassing to be seen either.
Buffy immediately got out her first aid kit and started to get it cleaned up. She motioned me out of her way when I tried to help. I guess I failed the demon-friendly test again. I know, I don't adapt easily. It's just, we spent years learning the lesson 'demons are bad'. It's hard to have to reconsider it, not just for specifics like Anya, or Buffy, or even Spike, but now it seems we've got to reconsider it for anything that's at danger from vamps.
Of course, Giles hit the books as soon as he had a glimpse of it. He didn't recognise it at all. Willow, well, she's only got our description for its physical appearance, and she doesn't seem to be getting a lot else. Might be because of the unconsciousness, of course.
When she's finished, Buffy comes back into the shop. By this time, I've given Giles a full account of the patrol, but he's no closer to recognising the demon.
"It was attacked by vampires, you say?" he asks.
"Yes, Giles, at least that's what it looked like."
"Most unusual. Vampires, of course, they're naturally violent, but, for the most part, it's all to do with the hunt. Most don't worry too much about anything they can't eat, unless they perceive it as a threat of some kind. Or, unless it's actually annoyed them in some way. And, I can't see a creature of that size annoying a pair of vampires unless it had some pretty impressive defensive system. Which by the look of it, it doesn't have."
There's a sound, something between a whimper and a growl, and we all rush back into the training room. Whatever it is has opened its eyes. It's looking around, obviously scared. Buffy kneels at its side, and places a comforting hand on its shoulder.
"It's ok, you're safe. The vampires've gone."
Buffy repeats this a few times but there's no sign of a change in its fear level. It scrambles to a sitting position with its back against a wall, eyes flicking from one to another of us.
Buffy immediately takes charge, and shoos the rest of us back into the shop. Of course, that makes no difference to Willow, but it's irritating for the rest of us. Even more so when Giles hands me a huge book with the obvious intention of getting me to read it.
I can't hear anything coming from the other room. So, wearily, I start to leaf through the book. It's at least more interesting than most, with pictures I can look at without having to go into the text much. Despite myself, I half smile. At least Giles knows me.
