"Hey Giles!" Buffy sauntered over to Giles' desk and planted herself on top
of it.
"Whats up?" He asked as he took in the expression on Buffys face, he could always tell when something was bothering her. He prided himself on being able to read Buffys expressions as if she were a book. Today, however, her expression only gave away the fact that something was clearly wrong.
"Increased vampire activity?" Giles hazarded a guess, "new demon on the block, don't worry yourself, we'll find out what it is and then you'll slay it. Routines are good Buffy."
"Woah Giles, watcher cap off for a moment- it's nothing like that, well not entirely."
"OK, as much as I enjoy cryptic puzzles, you are really going to have to let me in on this bother."
"ok, watchers, how much do you know about each other?"
"Personally or professionally? The council, of course, know the location of each watcher, and many watchers are posted all over the world to continue to track down potential slayers, so if they are called, they will be fully trained."
Buffy took in the information which Giles had just spewed out, none of it entirely helpful to her question.
"What I meant was, did you know about my first watcher?" Buffy asked tentatively.
"Merric? Didn't know him personally, I believe he was an American. Died in service, during a battle with Luthos. Was assigned to trace and track down the new slayer. The council at that time were all in a mess, they had several potential slayers in training and none of them were chosen," Giles giggled as if it was a fond memory, "they had psychics and seers attempt to trace your exact where-abouts, but the most accurate they could get was Los Angeles. Merric was already fairly close, based in L.A so he was assigned to find you and begin your training."
Buffy remembered the first time she had seen Merric, he looked like a homeless person, she and her friends had laughed openly at him. He looked right into her eyes and it had sent shivers down her spine. She remembered from that moment on, she had felt like something was missing, as if there was something really important she had forgotten to do.
She remembered the recurring dreams she had had around that time, one of her more prophetic, alarming dreams, which woke her up screaming in the middle of the night. She remembered how Merric had tracked her down to her school, cornered her after a cheerleading session and told her about her birth right. She had thought the birth right had meant money, inheritance. And she had been told about her duties as the slayer. It was the first time she had ever heard the speech, how there was one girl in every generation chosen to fight vampires and the forces of darkness. She had tried to laugh it off, flippantly, told Merric he'd found the wrong girl. But then he'd brought her dreams into it, told her the dreams were prophetic, and that she indeed was the chosen one. He'd said he'd prove it. He took her to a graveyard and she had faced her first vampire.
"Was there anything particular you wanted to know about Merric?" Giles asked.
"No, I was just wondering if you knew him. All these years and we haven't really discussed him have we?" Buffy sighed deeply.
"You were close with Merric?"
"We didn't know each other for long before he intervened in a fight. He saved my life, but got himself killed doing it."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'm not sure. I just still feel really guilty about the whole thing."
"Why? It wasn't your fault. You didn't tell him to get himself killed did you! Merric intervened in a fight between his slayer and a master vampire. We aren't strictly allowed to do that you know. The council expects us to uncover all the demon and vampire activity and let you go off on your own and kill it. Merric had a choice. He chose to intervene, saving your life. I'm sure he knew what he was doing."
"But maybe if I'd taken him more seriously when I found out. I was always trying to bend the rules, to carry on having a normal teenage life, maybe if I'd done what he told me I would have been more prepared for Luthos, and Merric wouldn't have died."
"You handled a messy situation perfectly. I'm sure any other teenager would have done the same thing. You wanted your life back, and that feeling has never left you. You know that if you actually had a choice whether to go on slaying or to return to having a normal life, you'd take the normal route every time."
"I don't think I remember what a normal life is anymore. Slaying has been my life for so long." Buffy held back tears. Giles was right. She would of course love to have a normal life again, but how could that ever be possible? She couldn't just sit back and be normal now that she knew what evil was out there, and that she had the power to destroy it.
"I just wish it had been different. I wasn't ready to face Luthos, he pulled the whole hypnotism trick on me and I was defenceless. If it wasn't for Merric intervening, I would be dead. Instead Merric died because of my stupidity."
"By all accounts Merric was a very respectable watcher. From all accounts he wanted to be a cobbler. A Big believer of the phenomena of previous lives. He was much respected among the Watcher world, and I'm sure he wouldn't have done what he did if he felt it was foolish. I'm sure he had a very good reason for that kind of sacrifice. I've no doubt in my mind that Merric was a hero."
Buffy nodded. Merric had been her hero, he had saved her life. She sank her head between her hands and remembered his last words.
"You do everything wrong" he had choked out, Buffy remembered she had been in tears apologising, he had waved it aside continuing with "no, carry on, do it your way." She remembered his advice. Tears falling from her eyes as the memory of him dying in her arms pounded through her mind.
Giles made his way towards Buffy and put his arms round her, comforting. She remembered how Pike had been there for her before. She remembered his comforting arms around her. He had been the only one who had known, the only one she could confide in.
Buffy wiped the tears away and moved away from Giles, "It's ok, I've dealt with this." She was scolding herself more than anything, she had been here and got over it. She had beaten Luthos, revenge for Merric. It had been a remarkable fight.
Giles expression turned from concern to surprise, Buffy felt a breeze course through her hair and she turned round to see what the culprit had been.
It was standing there, tall and muscley, its grey skin stretched over extruding bone. Yellow eyes opened wide at the sight of the slayer. "You." It growled, "you shouldn't be here."
"Aww did I spoil your plans?" Buffy shot back, preparing for battle. She sized the demon up, his size could be used against him, and he did seem surprised to see her. Still she waited before she launched her attack, she had to be sure he was a threat.
"You should be dead." He growled.
"Been there, done that, got bored what more can I say?"
"NO!" He growled. "You are dead!"
"I'm getting bored of this." Buffy threatened getting ready to fight.
The Demon moved towards her and struck, Buffy dodged the blow, grabbed his extended arm and pulled him down as she kicked his stomach repeatedly. The demon pulled back and threw Buffy to the ground. Surprised by the move, Buffy rolled over and got back to her feet.
This Demon was stronger than he looked, she could feel bruises appear on her skin.
Buffy launched herself at the Demon, feet first. The demon was fast, he grabbed her approaching leg and flipped her over in mid air, she landed flat on her front. The demon wasted no time in landing heavy blows to Buffys head and chest. Buffy grabbed his fist as it was connected and pushed back hard, unbalancing the Demon, who fell down. Both Buffy and the Demon got to their feet at the same time. Buffy moved to attack again but the Demon held up his hand signalling him to stop. Buffy paused. "I Cannot defeat you now Slayer, you are strong. But this can be fixed." The Demon motioned in a circular pattern and the floor directly in front of him seemed to melt, and swirled around, as if the Demon was stirring a cup of tea.
"We will meet again, when you aren't quite so strong." The Demon stepped into the puddle and disappeared, leaving the floor behind him, solid. Everything looked normal.
Buffy looked round at Giles, "What the hell was that?"
Giles looked back at Buffy in obvious shock. He looked blankly at Buffy, pulled off his glasses and absently wiped them.
***************************************************************
"Whats up?" He asked as he took in the expression on Buffys face, he could always tell when something was bothering her. He prided himself on being able to read Buffys expressions as if she were a book. Today, however, her expression only gave away the fact that something was clearly wrong.
"Increased vampire activity?" Giles hazarded a guess, "new demon on the block, don't worry yourself, we'll find out what it is and then you'll slay it. Routines are good Buffy."
"Woah Giles, watcher cap off for a moment- it's nothing like that, well not entirely."
"OK, as much as I enjoy cryptic puzzles, you are really going to have to let me in on this bother."
"ok, watchers, how much do you know about each other?"
"Personally or professionally? The council, of course, know the location of each watcher, and many watchers are posted all over the world to continue to track down potential slayers, so if they are called, they will be fully trained."
Buffy took in the information which Giles had just spewed out, none of it entirely helpful to her question.
"What I meant was, did you know about my first watcher?" Buffy asked tentatively.
"Merric? Didn't know him personally, I believe he was an American. Died in service, during a battle with Luthos. Was assigned to trace and track down the new slayer. The council at that time were all in a mess, they had several potential slayers in training and none of them were chosen," Giles giggled as if it was a fond memory, "they had psychics and seers attempt to trace your exact where-abouts, but the most accurate they could get was Los Angeles. Merric was already fairly close, based in L.A so he was assigned to find you and begin your training."
Buffy remembered the first time she had seen Merric, he looked like a homeless person, she and her friends had laughed openly at him. He looked right into her eyes and it had sent shivers down her spine. She remembered from that moment on, she had felt like something was missing, as if there was something really important she had forgotten to do.
She remembered the recurring dreams she had had around that time, one of her more prophetic, alarming dreams, which woke her up screaming in the middle of the night. She remembered how Merric had tracked her down to her school, cornered her after a cheerleading session and told her about her birth right. She had thought the birth right had meant money, inheritance. And she had been told about her duties as the slayer. It was the first time she had ever heard the speech, how there was one girl in every generation chosen to fight vampires and the forces of darkness. She had tried to laugh it off, flippantly, told Merric he'd found the wrong girl. But then he'd brought her dreams into it, told her the dreams were prophetic, and that she indeed was the chosen one. He'd said he'd prove it. He took her to a graveyard and she had faced her first vampire.
"Was there anything particular you wanted to know about Merric?" Giles asked.
"No, I was just wondering if you knew him. All these years and we haven't really discussed him have we?" Buffy sighed deeply.
"You were close with Merric?"
"We didn't know each other for long before he intervened in a fight. He saved my life, but got himself killed doing it."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'm not sure. I just still feel really guilty about the whole thing."
"Why? It wasn't your fault. You didn't tell him to get himself killed did you! Merric intervened in a fight between his slayer and a master vampire. We aren't strictly allowed to do that you know. The council expects us to uncover all the demon and vampire activity and let you go off on your own and kill it. Merric had a choice. He chose to intervene, saving your life. I'm sure he knew what he was doing."
"But maybe if I'd taken him more seriously when I found out. I was always trying to bend the rules, to carry on having a normal teenage life, maybe if I'd done what he told me I would have been more prepared for Luthos, and Merric wouldn't have died."
"You handled a messy situation perfectly. I'm sure any other teenager would have done the same thing. You wanted your life back, and that feeling has never left you. You know that if you actually had a choice whether to go on slaying or to return to having a normal life, you'd take the normal route every time."
"I don't think I remember what a normal life is anymore. Slaying has been my life for so long." Buffy held back tears. Giles was right. She would of course love to have a normal life again, but how could that ever be possible? She couldn't just sit back and be normal now that she knew what evil was out there, and that she had the power to destroy it.
"I just wish it had been different. I wasn't ready to face Luthos, he pulled the whole hypnotism trick on me and I was defenceless. If it wasn't for Merric intervening, I would be dead. Instead Merric died because of my stupidity."
"By all accounts Merric was a very respectable watcher. From all accounts he wanted to be a cobbler. A Big believer of the phenomena of previous lives. He was much respected among the Watcher world, and I'm sure he wouldn't have done what he did if he felt it was foolish. I'm sure he had a very good reason for that kind of sacrifice. I've no doubt in my mind that Merric was a hero."
Buffy nodded. Merric had been her hero, he had saved her life. She sank her head between her hands and remembered his last words.
"You do everything wrong" he had choked out, Buffy remembered she had been in tears apologising, he had waved it aside continuing with "no, carry on, do it your way." She remembered his advice. Tears falling from her eyes as the memory of him dying in her arms pounded through her mind.
Giles made his way towards Buffy and put his arms round her, comforting. She remembered how Pike had been there for her before. She remembered his comforting arms around her. He had been the only one who had known, the only one she could confide in.
Buffy wiped the tears away and moved away from Giles, "It's ok, I've dealt with this." She was scolding herself more than anything, she had been here and got over it. She had beaten Luthos, revenge for Merric. It had been a remarkable fight.
Giles expression turned from concern to surprise, Buffy felt a breeze course through her hair and she turned round to see what the culprit had been.
It was standing there, tall and muscley, its grey skin stretched over extruding bone. Yellow eyes opened wide at the sight of the slayer. "You." It growled, "you shouldn't be here."
"Aww did I spoil your plans?" Buffy shot back, preparing for battle. She sized the demon up, his size could be used against him, and he did seem surprised to see her. Still she waited before she launched her attack, she had to be sure he was a threat.
"You should be dead." He growled.
"Been there, done that, got bored what more can I say?"
"NO!" He growled. "You are dead!"
"I'm getting bored of this." Buffy threatened getting ready to fight.
The Demon moved towards her and struck, Buffy dodged the blow, grabbed his extended arm and pulled him down as she kicked his stomach repeatedly. The demon pulled back and threw Buffy to the ground. Surprised by the move, Buffy rolled over and got back to her feet.
This Demon was stronger than he looked, she could feel bruises appear on her skin.
Buffy launched herself at the Demon, feet first. The demon was fast, he grabbed her approaching leg and flipped her over in mid air, she landed flat on her front. The demon wasted no time in landing heavy blows to Buffys head and chest. Buffy grabbed his fist as it was connected and pushed back hard, unbalancing the Demon, who fell down. Both Buffy and the Demon got to their feet at the same time. Buffy moved to attack again but the Demon held up his hand signalling him to stop. Buffy paused. "I Cannot defeat you now Slayer, you are strong. But this can be fixed." The Demon motioned in a circular pattern and the floor directly in front of him seemed to melt, and swirled around, as if the Demon was stirring a cup of tea.
"We will meet again, when you aren't quite so strong." The Demon stepped into the puddle and disappeared, leaving the floor behind him, solid. Everything looked normal.
Buffy looked round at Giles, "What the hell was that?"
Giles looked back at Buffy in obvious shock. He looked blankly at Buffy, pulled off his glasses and absently wiped them.
***************************************************************