First of all... this took WAY longer than I expected to
write. I thought it'd take me the usual 3-4 hours. Ha. Try two to three days. My
apologies. Second of all, I switched the POVs around too, so the story would make more
sense.
So. Chapter 14 POV's: Buffy, Anya, Spike
And since 15 is a continuation of 14: Willow, Giles.
And now...
Chapter 14
Plans
* * * * *
I forced them open.
I was lying on a sofa, in Giles' apartment. Glancing at the heap of blankets twisted at the end, I realized he must have got up. Curling into a little ball, I lifted the pillow to block the sun and closed my eyes again. It seemed way too early to get up or even move.
I could feel a weight on the other end of the sofa. Opening an eye, I saw Giles sit down, gently setting a cup on the table in front of us. I had to open both eyes and chuckled. His hair was sticking up and out on the sides, and his glasses were crooked on his face. I knew he didn't know I was watching him, because he pushed the heap of blankets on top of me and settled back on his end, a book in hand. I watched him as he read a while. He was reading the "100 Reasons Why..." book and I could see from the intense look of distaste on his face that he found the 100 Reasons Why Muskrats are bad housepets an even worse waste of time. Finally deciding to give him a break from misery, I stirred and stretched. He immediately snapped the book shut and turned to me. "Good morning," he said, his voice full of cheerfulness.
"Morning," I yawned sleepily as I sat up, stretching. "What time is it?"
"About seven thirty," he replied, lifting up the cup he had set on the table and handing it to me. "This is for you."
I took it and sipped at it. It wasn't half bad. It tasted a bit like tea, but was quite sweet. "What is this?" I asked, cupping my hands around the mug and swinging my legs down to the floor to give him a bit more room.
"A chai latté," he replied, setting the book down and standing up. "I figured you might need it before the morning meeting."
"Which is when?" I asked, risking another sip.
"About an hour from now," he replied, watching as I brushed the blankets off of me. Automatically, he began to fold them up. "You can have the first shower if you want."
I smiled at him and stood up, dragging my overnight bag and mug of chai latté with me. The temptation of hot water was overwhelming, considering I was wearing the clothes I'd worn after I'd left the hospital.
It was the first brush of hot water that awakened me. The hot water was absolutely wonderful on my cramped back. As I turned to the front, I noticed a small white bandage covering the area where the dart had struck me. I carefully peeled back and lathered, the steam swirling about me.
Then I opened my eyes. This was probably the last shower I would be taking before I would be risking my life for someone who, two years ago, had almost killed me. The water suddenly became scalding as a chill penetrated my spine. Forcing the issue from my mind, I rinsed my hair and stepped out the shower, wrapping myself in a large striped towel.
I quickly tied a robe around me and took my bag into the kitchen so I could blow-dry my hair while Giles showered. He was staring at me with a mixture of surprise and interest as I breezed past him. The book he'd been reading earlier was propped in his lap. "See a ghost?" I asked him, pulling the towel from my hair and plugging in my dryer.
He was still staring at me as he stood up. "I just haven't had a woman pass through my bathroom in quite a while, I guess," he replied, a faint touch of pink coloring his face. "Excuse me."
I shrugged and turned on my dryer, flipping my hair, which was, for some reason, being stubborn.
I finally turned off the dryer, running a hand through my hair, every single inch of it dry. I let out a short breath. I hated going anywhere with wet hair. It was more of a pet peeve of mine than anything. Even worse than Dawn borrowing my clothes.
I picked up the towel from the kitchen floor and set it aside as I dressed quickly. Realizing there was no sound coming from the bathroom, I rapidly packed my bag and took the towel back.
The door was still almost closed, but not latched. Hearing the sound of running water, I assumed it was safe to return the towel to the bathroom. I pushed open the door, my view expanding until...
I dropped the towel. My eyes widened and my face was automatically flushed. Before I could utter a sound, I forced myself to turn and walk quickly back down the hallway.
Feeling like I was about to collapse, I sat down, trying to control my beating, but my heart kept speeding up. Taking a deep breath wasn't helping, so I yanked my mug to me and gulped down the rest of the latté. That didn't help either, except to add butterflies to the anxiety pitted in my stomach.
I heard footsteps and touched my face, still scalding hot.
"I'll be ready to go in about ten minutes," Giles said, breezing past me, now fully dressed. "I just have to finish dressing. And we should pick up some donuts before we get to the Magic Shop."
"Right," I said, my voice unusually high and squeaky.
He disappeared upstairs and I let out a long breath. He hadn't seen me, walking out of the shower, his gaze had been twisted to turning the water off. But I had seen the full view, the full monty, or whatever those British called it.
Yet I couldn't laugh. I was shocked, beyond shocked even. What I had seen, and it had been quite a bit, had been rather...
"You okay?" Giles asked from the top of the stairwell.
I quickly turned to look at the stairs, my eyes darting everywhere except up. "Just great. Mmhmm."
I heard him laughing upstairs. Giving up on all resolve not to think about what I'd seen, I plunked my head against the couch, moaning. How could any woman not be impressed with that? I had seen Giles, the Giles, walking out of the shower.
Well, now. That certainly added yet another complication to the whole deal.
I heard footsteps behind me and stood up, feeling I was finally ready to face him. I picked up my bag as he walked past me without another glance. "Thanks for throwing that towel in."
My mouth was so dry I couldn't speak. Couldn't even utter a sound. His eyes widened as he turned to me, his eyes questionably gazing into mine. I knew I would probably betray the thoughts and part of me was hoping he would see the truth. Finally, he shook his head and opened the door. I almost happily ran past him and up the stairs toward the shiny convertible, the top still up.
"How about we take the top down today?" he asked, pressing the button. I watched as the top lowered into position before he got out of the car and opened the passenger door for me.
"Thanks," I finally stuttered, getting into the car. As we took off, I could feel my heartrate return to normal. Maybe things are getting back to what they were.
"You know," Giles said softly as he slowed at a stop sign. "Last night was most restful night of sleep in over nine months."
Then again, maybe not.
The door burst open as Tara came in. Willow was absent because she had an earlier class. Behind her was Giles, followed closely by Buffy, two large white boxes in her arms. "I bring essentials!" she said, her voice unusually tight as she set the boxes down right in front of me, pulling them both open with an expression of gusto. "Dig in."
The nerve of her! Here I was trying to find a wedding dress to fit my midriff and here she was trying to get me to eat one of those horrid fried blobs!
Ooh, was that a jelly one?
After we'd sufficiently stuffed ourselves on the oversugared bobbles, Buffy called the meeting to order to go over every detail. She began with: "I know you're all scared. I'm scared too." She glanced up and exchanged a private glance with her Watcher. "But we need to do this. We leave at 2 this afternoon. The Magic Box will be closed early for repairs. Dawn will be staying with Janice. And the rest of us are going to pack up. As soon as we're done here, I'm going to rent a van. With tinted windows so our undead warriors can join us."
She continued to babble on and on, going over each and every minute of the plan. Honestly, did she think we were that dense? Finally, she shut up. I returned my gaze to the magazine. It wasn't a minute before the door burst open and Willow swept in, looking harried and windblown. After a quick hug from Tara, she took the reins from Buffy and another half hour of spew came out.
I actually wanted to go back to the horrendously overdressed skimpy models in the magazine. But I forced myself to listen to Willow until she finally stopped talking, selected her own glazed roll, and sat down, pulling her laptop out of her bag.
Buffy had finally sat down, trying to look through a narrow binder Tara had given her. After she came back from calling for the van, Giles disappeared into his office and Buffy pulled Willow aside. After Buffy whispered urgently to her, Willow pulled back, her eyes wide in shock. "No way!"
"Yes way," Buffy said, pulling her closer and continuing to talk to her in those impatient tones. Pretending I wasn't eavesdropping, I continued to flip through my magazine. Next to me, Xander was completely immersed in research.
I sighed a bit, trying loudly to interrupt their giggles as I reached across and took another roll, chewing loudly and moaning so loudly that Xander was kicking me under the table. Rolling my eyes, I stuffed the last bit into my mouth as Buffy and Willow separated.
It was just after one when Spike showed up, under his usual smoldering blanket, his eyes for once not suspicious, but accepting. I growled under my breath, but Xander held me back as both Giles and Buffy explained the plan to him.
"We leave in an hour. We make it down to just north of LA. We sit, we have dinner, we watch the sunset, fine. We wait until eleven. We go to the prison and we use magic to disengage the security systems around the gate and somehow two or three of us get in. Obviously, that means you and me. And maybe Anya. She has good experience with this."
At this, I rolled my eyes.
"We head toward the main tower first. We have to use a spell that Willow thought up to confuse the guards into thinking there's a riot in the next section. That's where we need you, to create a distraction in the other areas. I thought about kidnapping another vampire and just letting him have a free-for-all, but the less dead bodies, the better."
"Are you on bleeding crack?" he gasped out. "I'm chipped and can't play anymore, or have you forgotten? The moment I grab another human being, I get a bloody migrane."
"That's where Anya steps in," Buffy replied, turning to me. "You don't get hurt when you fight her, do you Spike? She's going to be part of your distraction."
"I am?" I asked. "When did I agree to this?"
"About three hours ago when you kept saying 'mmhmm mmhmm' to everything I was suggesting," she replied wryly.
"Oh. Well, continue."
Buffy turned back to Spike. "Anya's going to pull a weapon. Because she's a vengeance demon, the bullets won't kill her. They'll hurt her, but she won't die. Hopefully you and her fighting and causing a ruckus and even if you decide to break out a few prisoners, no maiming or torture. I'm not looking forward to breaking the law even more than I already am." She took a deep breath. "I'll go in and find Faith, bust her out and somehow get her back to the van where the rest of you will be waiting."
"Sounds like a plan," Spike said, his tone ironic. "Anya and I spar, you break out the vixen and the witches and Watcher wait by the van as a safety net." His eyes flicked toward Giles. "I imagine you're trying to keep your Man away from all danger considering you took his last blow."
Buffy tinted pink and I saw Giles' eyes narrow dangerously. Spike was walking on some pretty thin ice. "He is not my Man," Buffy hissed, keeping her eyes low.
But I saw differently, the way her face was scarlett when she glanced up, her eyes were narrow and they held a bit of fire in them. "Unless you want to dispute it," she said dangerously. "I have Mister Pointy waiting. He's been itching for a good slay."
Spike's eyes widened and he took a step back. "No need to get all defensive, luv."
"Stop. Calling. Me. That."
Oh my. Spike and Buffy, once again at odds. This was almost delicious.
"I can call you whatever I bloody please. Remember, you said we were partners. Equal share, fair respect, all that bloody muck. You can't keep playing the games, Slayer."
"I can do whatever the hell I want to do."
This was way more than delicious.
"Then do it, Slayer. Stake me."
"You don't think I would?" she asked, a laugh sounding from her. "You don't think I could?" As she stepped forward, she brought out the stake hiding conveniently in her back pocket. "You wouldn't see it coming if I did."
"That's enough," Giles growled softly, pulling Buffy away from Spike, almost roughly.
"Trying to protect your Slayer, aren't you Watcher? You don't want your good girl to become a killer like the vixen."
"That's enough, Spike." It was Willow who spoke up this time, her face was flushed, and her eyes had their own fire in them. "Unless you want to be cursed and immoralized for all eternity, shut up."
Spike shut his mouth and I let out my long breath. I had expected there to be ashes and blood. Not a lot, but enough to be entertained. Even my magazine was beginning to bore me.
Spike backed off, unclenching his fists. Buffy stood next to Giles, his hand still cuffing her right arm, but he really wasn't holding her back as much as he was holding her to him. To me, it was a suspicious gesture.
The Magic Box fell silent. Buffy, Willow and Tara went out to get supplies, such as picnic materials and blankets. Giles stayed behind with me as we went over our accounting records. Xander was now flipping through my bridal magazine upside down.
Spike was sitting on the ladder, a curious look on his face, almost as though he didn't want to believe what he was seeing.
I'm not sure I wanted to believe it myself.
Was it just me, or was there something going on between the Watcher and the Slayer?
We had just pulled over a few miles from the prison. After a rather uneventful dinner, we had retreated back to the van. The only thing of interest was that Giles had pulled Buffy aside. Trying not to eavesdrop, I had lit up a cigarette and stood at the back, barely catching the tail end of their conversation.
"I'm not letting you go in there, Giles. You could die, and I can't lose you. Not now." Her voice was awfully urgent.
"You won't lose me and this is my fight as much as it is yours."
"Giles, no. I actually... c-c-care what happens to you, so you can't go. I'm the Slayer. That's the final word."
So. Buffy cared for him. Is that what she called it?
I had seen it in her eyes earlier. When I had sharply retorted my words about her and Giles, her eyes had dropped down and she had blushed a furious shade of red.
There was something going on there. And during dinner, I saw their wayward sideways glances at each other. More was going on that met the eye.
Interesting scenario. Enter the Slayer, just back from a nine-month long coma. The first person she turns to is the Watcher who's stood by her for six years.
Pathetic really.
I stubbed out my cigarette and hauled myself back into the back of the van. They didn't consider me human enough to sit in the front.
Buffy and Giles also got in, but Giles was behind the steering wheel, Buffy in the passenger seat as their conversation continued.
"Thank you for letting me stay at your house last night," Buffy said softly. "It meant a lot that you slept with me too."
"You're quite welcome," Giles said, removing his glasses. "And it was the best night of sleep I've had since before you fought Glory."
"Giles," Buffy said in a soft voice. "I know I never told you any of this... but when I was dreaming, I had a vision about Ben." She glanced up at him. "Did you kill him?"
Giles glanced at her and slowly nodded.
Bloody hell. Even he was being honest with her.
"I did it because I knew the consequences of him and Glory rising again would be. Your sister would be in even graver danger and you would most certainly be dead by now."
I heard a small sniffle as Buffy choked out a few tears. "I never thought you would do that for me."
She considered murder a precious gift? What the hell was this?
"Because you did it for Dawn too."
That's what it was all about. Buffy, the selfless Slayer, was thanking someone with gratitude because they had saved someone she loved. What about me? Part of my envy in her growing relationship with the Watcher was that they had a deeper connection than we ever had. All we had was violence. They had the trust, the compassion, the communication and the intelligence, all wrapped up into the precious Slayer and her precious Watcher.
Giles mumbled something I wasn't quite sure I heard. And then she did it. She leaned over and did something I never thought I'd ever see her do. She brushed her lips on his cheek and pulled back, lowering her eyes. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." His voice sounded fazed. Without missing much of a beat, he started the van. "Buffy, you've grown up."
I reached behind me and fumbled in the dark to find the handle. I had to put an end to this before the gang caught them in the van in a liplock or something that was equally painful for them to see, as well as for me.
As my attention was pulled away, I didn't see him reach across and take her hand, telling her how she was growing up. I didn't see her hand cover his and her eyes twinkle as she raised that precious smile to meet his gaze. And I didn't see their faces growing nearer...
The backdoor burst open and the magic had broken. Pulling apart, Buffy turned and saw me, stepping back into the van. Voices filtered in behind me, letting me know the others were approaching from the ice cream stand about three blocks away.
"We better move, it's almost eleven," Buffy said, checking the clock on the dashboard. "Giles?"
"Call me Rupert," he replied, unlocking the doors as the rest of the gang filtered in.
"All right, let's do this," Buffy said, swinging around. "I need to know you're all behind me." Her eyes flickered towards me. "All of you."
"I'm in this," I said, my voice a menacing growl. She didn't notice as she turned around.
"Let's go."