This batch of vampires wasn't so easy to dispatch. True, they were mostly fledglings created by a little boy desperate to build up his power base. But there were a lot of them fighting in an enclosed and darkened space they knew a lot better than Buffy and her friends. Not only that; there were two Slayers and each vampire was slavering to get his teeth into one of them.
The fighting was therefore brutal and exhausting with neither side willing to give quarter. However, when Xander, Willow and Mrs. Summers descended into the sewer, the demons realized they might be up against superior odds and the survivors took the opportunity to scatter down the various tunnels.
Willy had managed to escape their clutches and hide in an out-of-the-way spot. When the noise died down, he poked his head out of a corner and squinted fearfully in Buffy's direction. "Hey, you people didn't carry any of this fighting up to my bar, didja? 'Cause that kind of property damage really drives up the insurance."
Xander jerked his thumb in Willy's direction. "This the bartender Kendra mentioned?"
Buffy nodded, her wrinkled nose indicating her distaste. "That's the creepola. He wanted to turn me over to the Anointed One. Or have me, Kendra and mom pose for dirty pictures. Not sure which was higher on his agenda."
"No fooling?" Xander glared and then turned to Willy. "No, no damage, fella. But, hey, do you know what gets icky, sticky glue out of the floorboards?"
Willy stared at him suspiciously. "No, not really. Why?"
Xander grinned back, unabashed. "Good." He turned to his friends. "Well, if that's all the excitement for the day, I think we should head back to our various ports of call."
Cordelia Chase leaned down through the opened trapdoor and yelled, "That's easy for you to say, Harris. You didn't get glue slime all over $300 shoes."
Angel raised his eyebrows at Buffy and muttered, "She paid $300 for shoes? Is she crazy?"
"Jury's still out on that one," Willow whispered.
"I heard that, Rosenberg," Cordelia retorted icily. "I came here to help your sorry ass and I've got nothing to show for it but abuse and a pair of ruined shoes. Maybe you can afford to get your cheap clothes spoiled but I've got an image to maintain."
"Nobody cares, Cordelia!" Xander yelled back. "Now if you'll just stop blocking the doorway, those of us with real lives and not fashion statements to make would like to get back to school…before we're all expelled," he added meaningfully.
Cordelia sniffed and continued to carp about the unfairness of having her life destroyed by a bunch of monsters and the antics of underdressed so-called superheroes. Other than Xander's snippy comebacks, nobody paid her any mind. Back above the smell of sewer, Angel was more comfortable although he was still weakened from his injuries and hunger.
Willy was less than pleased when he saw the glutinous mess in his storage room. "Oh, man! Did you kids have to use the whole bucket? This is gonna be hell to get out! Who's going to pay for all this?!" He glared at the others and then gulped as he saw the hostile glares aimed in his direction. Belatedly he recalled that he was facing a room of armed fighters who had just killed a sizeable number of vampires.
Joyce Summers came over to him and handed him back his sodden wad of cash. "I believe these are yours. That should cover the damage."
"Thank you so much for giving me back my bribe. You're all heart, you are," Willy groused.
"Willy?" Angel said.
"Yeah, Angel?" Suddenly the bartender was nervous again.
"I believe you said something about pigs' blood earlier. I'd like to collect—now," the vampire finished in a flat tone.
"Huh? Well, uh, sure, Angel. Anything for you, buddy. So we're even, right? Um, no payback for the, uh, you know," Willy stammered.
"The betrayal? I'm willing to overlook it. This time." Angel bared his teeth slightly. His face didn't change but the threat was clear. A feeble smile flitted over the bartender's face and he scooted behind the bar to fetch the plasma.
Kendra was satisfied that the battle had been sustained with no casualties on their parts although there was an unexpected outcome that rather aggrieved her. One of the vampires had torn her good shirt—her only shirt—and she was examining the rip unhappily. Joyce was torn between confronting her daughter who had her arm around that, that vampire and soothing the Jamaican girl's obvious distress. "Buffy? You still need to get back to school, don't you?"
"Yeah, mom. But first I have to stash Angel. We can't get to the car in the daylight…"
"I took the precaution of bringing blankets, Buffy. If your mother drives you a-and the others to school, I can take Angel to his apartment," Giles responded.
"No, Mr. Giles. You should bring Buffy and the others back," Joyce said. "You all need to return to school in any case. I can take Angel and Kendra in my car."
"No! Bad plan! I should be with Angel," Buffy said, clutching her boyfriend possessively. In spite of Kendra's timely intervention, she didn't trust the girl alone around the souled vampire.
"Listen, people! All this quarreling is not helping," Cordelia snapped. She pointed at Buffy. "You and your little gang of freaks need to get back to school before that troll of a principal figures out you've been spending more time off campus than on. Mrs. Summers can stash Angel in the trunk of her car and take him back to his apartment."
"What about Kendra?" Willow asked. She didn't know why Cordelia was being so helpful. But she didn't think Kendra should be left out of their plans.
"Her? Well, if what the Superfriends were telling me is true, Kendra only came here to fight the Order of Tetra—"
"That's Taraka, Cordelia," Giles said wearily.
"Whatever. They've all been taken care of and the vampires are all 'whoosh!' dust so no more trouble from them. I'm thinking Kendra can go back to wherever she came from," Cordelia finished.
"No, we shouldn't just dismiss her like that. Don't you want to stay in Sunnydale awhile? We can always use another hand. This town has no shortage of monsters," Joyce asked only to meet her daughter's disbelieving stare.
"Mom, I'm handling the Slayer gig just fine. I don't need a second stringer," Buffy retorted.
"Second what?" Kendra asked, her eyes narrowing. She didn't know what the phrase meant but it sounded like an insult of some kind.
"Kendra, I don't need you as backup any more, really. I've got my friends, my mom, my emotional attachments—you know, all that stuff you say you don't need. You wouldn't want to get involved in all that nonsense. So it's been nice knowing you and all, but…"
"Buffy, that's no way to behave. She came here at great personal risk and sacrifice to herself and she did help even though she didn't think she needed to. The least we can do is show her hospitality." Joyce turned towards the other Slayer. "If you don't have other arrangements, would you mind staying with us for awhile?"
"Stay with ya, Mrs. Summers?" Kendra asked in surprise.
"Stay with us?!?" Buffy yelped.
"No, Mrs. Summers, I'd rather not. Buffy is…" Kendra eyed the blonde Slayer and hesitated to continue.
"Buffy is what? What's the prob with me?" Buffy demanded. She was no eager to have the junior Slayer with her than Kendra was to hang around. But she was piqued at the other girl's clear distaste at the idea.
"Too different," Kendra concluded. She turned to Giles. "If it's all right, I'd prefer to leave as soon as possible. My Watcher will want a full report from me about all the tings I've seen here."
"Does that include Angel?" Buffy asked, thinking hard. If another Watcher found out about him, the Watchers Council would be involved. She was suddenly worried as she realized what that could mean for the souled vampire. "You can't talk about him."
"I can't lie to me Watcher," Kendra replied, frowning. "Is that what ya do with Mr. Giles?"
"I'm not talking about lying. Just don't tell Mr. Zamboni—"
"Zabuto. His name's Zabuto," Kendra corrected, a slight hint of anger seeping into her voice.
"Right, right. Look, Angel is a good guy. You saw how he fought in the tunnels. But the Council wouldn't understand that. They'd think he was dangerous—like you do. Please, Kendra. I'm not asking you to lie. Just—don't tell your Watcher. Okay?"
Kendra didn't like this. It went completely against her training. Hiding news of this magnitude from Mr. Zabuto wasn't something she thought she could do. It was an incredible revelation. Angelus had disappeared from Watcher intelligence for over half a century. None of the Watchers, even hers, had managed to locate him or learn what his final fate had been. Now she was privy to that coveted information—and she was being asked to hide it from her Watcher, her mentor and the closest thing she had to family since she'd been taken from her parents.
She looked at the vampire seated on one of the bar chairs. His eyes were closed and his head tilted forward onto his chest. He seemed curiously defenseless, nothing like the monster she'd been taught to fear. She had heard the menace in his voice when she threatened to find Buffy. Yet, moments ago, she'd seen him fight like a tiger to protect Buffy and shield the others. Was he really that different from the demons she'd been killing most of her life?
Fighting every instinct that told her to destroy him, she marched over to him and pushed her hand under his chin. "Look up," she commanded. "Look at me."
Angel restrained himself from trembling or drawing away from her. He'd seen what a formidable opponent this girl was. She'd kicked his ass quite solidly. The adrenaline rush from the battle had left him and he was still weak from hunger. If she chose to kill him now, he could put up little resistance. He looked into her eyes without flinching and waited for her verdict.
"What is this? She doing the Vulcan mindmeld? Beam me up, Scotty!" Xander joked.
Giles spoke absently, never taking his eyes off the odd tableau of Slayer and vampire. "Xander. Do shut up."
Endless moments seemed to crawl by while an unspoken communication passed from the vampire to the foreign Slayer. Something she saw in his eyes must have satisfied her. She nodded sharply and released him. Turning to Buffy she said, "Very well. I won't tell Mr. Zabuto."
Buffy let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Kendra had been altogether too close to her boyfriend. It had taken every ounce of will power she had not to knock the other girl away from him. "O-okay, then. Mom, let's get going before the sunshine reaches fatality levels."
"W-wait. What do we tell our teachers? What do we tell Snyder if he sees us? I'm thinking fighting evil isn't going to be an excuse he'll go for," Willow said as she remembered their other problems.
"Family emergency?" Giles ventured.
"One that involved all of us?" Xander replied. "What kind of family emergency would that be? An earthquake?"
"Well, I was taken away by computer recruiters. They wanted me for my big logic-y brains. They gave me these canapés. Oh!" Willow exclaimed as an idea came to her. "I don't have to go back to class right away. I could tell my teachers I got all ooey and sick with food poisoning and had to go yack in the bathroom. I'm pretty sure those things had shrimp in them…" she mused.
"Well, that covers you, Willow. What about me?" Xander said.
"We'll think of something on the way. We should really get going." Cordelia lifted up her feet from the floor again and sighed heavily. No, that glue wasn't ever going to come out; she was lucky she hadn't wound up being stuck to the floor. She wobbled out, her shoes being wrenched up from the floor with a sharp "squick" at every step.
Giles pointed out that Kendra should stay for a while. They needed to decide on a similar cover story if neither of them were going to mention Angel in their reports. It was obvious the Jamaican girl wanted to return to her Watcher right away. But she reluctantly agreed to Mr. Giles's wish. She nodded stiffly at the others and got into his car without another word.
"Huh. Somebody needs to work on her personal skills," Cordelia sniffed and then dismissed the girl from her mind. So they all went to their separate destinations: Xander, Willow and Giles in his car, Cordelia in hers (in a fresh pair of shoes she'd kept stashed in the trunk—no way was she getting glue in her father's car) and Buffy's mother, Buffy and Angel in Joyce Summers's car.
In spite of her mother's assurances, she didn't trust her to take care of Angel as he needed. The fight had left him severely drained and he was deathly pale even for him. He hadn't even the energy to argue over being stuck in the trunk instead of protected under a blanket in the back seat.
Joyce drove carefully through the lightening streets. The fact that her daughter knew the way to Angel's apartment was not lost on her. She wondered just how much time Buffy had spent there and couldn't help darting suspicious glances at her daughter. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. "Buffy. I don't know where to begin about this. This is just…you died? You really died?"
Buffy shrank back into the seat a little. She would have preferred not to have this talk with her mother in an enclosed space. It made her feel trapped as if there was no place to run. She was also acutely aware of Angel in the trunk of the car. Could his vampire hearing pick up on what they were saying? "Yeah. It was…it was on prom night. There was a prophecy about my facing the Master—"
"The Master? Didn't you mention him when we were talking about Billy Fordham and his little vampire club? You said you killed him last year," Joyce mused.
"Well, yeah, I did. But not before—he killed me." Buffy's voice got very low and she stared out the window, her throat closing up as she remembered what her death had been like. The Master's stinky breath on her neck, his fangs digging into her jugular, the still, shallow pool of water rushing up towards her nerveless body as he let her drop to the floor of his cavern…
Joyce's eyes widened and her hands tightened on the steering wheel. "He what? H-he was the reason you died?" She breathed hard as she tried to process this insane news. "B-but I saw you that same night. You came home from the prom." Her eyes darted all over her daughter's averted face. "You looked fine. I never saw any, any, marks. H-how did he… how did it happen?"
Buffy bit her lip. That night was something she never wanted to relive. She'd avoided even thinking about it. She'd certainly never discussed it with any one in her group—not Willow, Giles, not Angel. She wasn't sure she could tell her mother. But her mother had insisted on knowing.
"The prophecy said I would face him and die. I didn't want to go. I told Giles I quit. But he was going to go in my place and I couldn't let that happen. So I knocked him out and went. That's when I met the Anointed One." She took a deep breath as she thought of how easily she'd let that creepy little kid lead her to her death like that. For the first time, she was kinda pissed at the memory instead of just shivery and afraid.
"It was stupid to face him alone; I get that. I mean, the Master was waiting for me with his face like a lab rat's." She wrinkled up her face as she recalled how ugly he had been. Was that what was waiting for Angel down the road?
"Then he bit me. I fell into a pool of water. Giles thinks the low temperature must have been what saved me. It stopped me from bleeding to death. The next thing I knew Xander was kneeling over me. He was giving me mouth to mouth…"
"Xander was there?" Joyce interrupted. "He saved you?"
"That he did. Let's hear it for the donut fetcher," Buffy said. She turned towards her mother with a wan smile but Joyce saw through the trembling bravado. Her daughter had been scared that night. But she had gone to fight this creature nevertheless…and she'd never known it until today. What kind of mother was she?
"So...how does Kendra fit into the scheme of things? I thought Mr. Giles told me there was only one Slayer at a time," Joyce continued.
"You remember the speech Giles gave you about Slayers, right? H-how the next Slayer comes only if the present one dies, blah blah, pour me a cup of snooze."
"Yes, what about...?" Her eyes widened and she looked at her daughter. "Oh. I see. You died and Kendra..."
"Was activated. It's a whole magical, mystical Slayer screwup that the Watchers Council didn't bank on. So we get two Slayers for the price of one," Buffy explained.
Joyce drove in silence for a bit, turning this over in her mind. "She's really a Slayer, then? I-I didn't see her fighting in the tunnels. I-is she any good? Compared to you, I mean."
"Sure. She's kinda lacking in the imagination department but she kicks butt and then some." Buffy frowned as she thought of what Kendra must have done to Angel.
"This is incredible. I can't believe this happened and I didn't know, that you couldn't tell me. I know you face death every night. But this—it's too much." She considered what she was going to say next.
But Buffy was thinking about Angel again. "Mom, we're here."
"What?" Joyce looked up. This was where Angel lived? She had expected a crypt or a graveyard somewhere. This place was none too prepossessing from the outside but it didn't seem particularly threatening. Popping open the trunk, she stood by as Buffy gently eased Angel out, the blanket covering every part of his body except his legs. He leaned on her daughter a little and she watched Buffy help him into the building.
Joyce was caught between helping Buffy and looking around the dimly lighted space. The weaponry was troubling but perhaps to be expected given the nature of his work with her daughter. Buffy had said he helped her, after all. It probably took more than vampire strength to kill demons.
He had a shelf lined with books written in several different languages and the worn edges suggested that he read them often. The few prints and the statues were also not what she expected. They were classical in nature and very old; she could tell that at a glance. He had exquisite taste. Had he possessed such leanings when he was human or had that been something he picked up after he died?
Shaking her head, Joyce realized she was more curious about the vampire than she should be. She should be more concerned about what he wanted with her daughter. What could a human female barely 17 years old have to offer a vampire besides the obvious?
There was some broken and ruined furniture in the place. Angel was upset to see his neatly ordered space so violated. "What happened here?" he asked as he eyed the torn pillow and hanging bed curtain.
"Kendra ambush. She saw me sleeping here and came at me all Texas Chainsaw Massacre-y until we introduced ourselves," Buffy explained.
"You were sleeping here, Buffy? I thought you told me you were never at Angel's place," Joyce accused.
Buffy began to babble as she brushed aside the pillow and laid Angel down on the rumpled mattress. "I'm not. I know where Angel lives and all that but I've never actually stayed over at his place. I was only here because I thought he could help me with the Order of Taraka. I didn't mean to but I fell asleep on the bed. That's when Kendra decided to give me a haircut with an axe."
Angel stiffened at the idea that Buffy had been in such danger and he hadn't been around to protect her. The next moment he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of his Slayer where it lingered in the bed sheets. The aroma was powerful and he smiled as the vanilla scent rose around him.
Unaware of the vampire's growing desire, Buffy sat near Angel, resting a hand on his forehead. He was still rather ashen but he was in no danger of expiring. "You sure you'll be okay? You look really on the ick side of unhealthy, Angel."
He smiled at her. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and cuddle against her warmth. But he was acutely conscious of her mother's hovering presence. He contented himself with running his hand over her hair. "That's always nice to hear. But I'll be okay. I've got enough blood from Willy's to last me. You should get back to school."
"Right. Can't miss Snyder's daily rant about what a menace to society I am." Buffy pulled away from Angel although every fiber of her being yearned to nestle in his arms. But she knew her mother wasn't finished talking to her. Angel contented himself with kissing her hand and the two parted.
However, her mother didn't say another word about Angel or her death. Buffy found this even worse than accusations. Her mother's silences were mundo upsetting; they only meant she was gonna get it some other time.
Willow's excuse worked perfectly. Given that she'd just come back from a huge battle with vampires and was looking extremely worn around the edges, her teachers found it easy to believe that she might have been sick. Buffy's only excuse was that she'd stayed with Willow to give support and hold back her hair as she puked. To Xander's chagrin, no one seemed to have missed him much. The blindness of Sunnydale officials strikes again.
Giles's absence had also been overlooked. Being a librarian in Sunnydale High gave him a lot of leeway. Closing the library with a vague note about water leakage didn't appear to inconvenience any of the students unduly. Sometimes he wondered why they kept a library in the first place. No one other than Buffy and her friends ever seemed to use it.
Buffy and Willow ducked into the library as soon as the blonde girl had had her obligatory run-in with Principal Snyder. Since the policewoman who was going to lecture her about her future as a cop had mysteriously disappeared, he had no real reason for chiding her about missing her appointment with the bulky female police officer. But he couldn't resist the urge to take a swipe at Buffy's own lack of cooperation, her oh-so-timely disappearances and her group of hooligan friends who insisted on covering for her.
Finally, he had reluctantly released her and Buffy had gladly escaped to the library. It was beginning to feel a bit like a sanctuary since Snyder seemed to visit it as infrequently as the students. The two girls walked into the room only to stop short at the sight of Giles and Kendra poring over the book detailing the members of the Order of Taraka.
"De assassins…I've read about them before in the writings of Dramius," Kendra said, oblivious to Buffy's presence.
"Really?" Giles replied. "W-which volume?" He was curious as to the extent of this girl's knowledge. Mr. Zabuto had the reputation of being a hard but fair taskmaster as well as one devoted to the more aesthetic arm of knowledge every Slayer knew. Well, every Slayer but his.
Kendra didn't disappoint. "I believe it was six, sir. It didn't have any of dese helpful pictures, dough."
Buffy spoke up, inexplicably disturbed to find her Watcher in such close confab with Kendra. "Um, how do you know this?"
Kendra didn't lift her head. She was once more noncommittal as if Buffy's question and Buffy herself were of no real consequence. "From me studies."
Buffy was determined to show that she could be dismiss-y, too. "Oh, so you obviously have a lot of free time."
"I study because it is required," Kendra replied, a touch of asperity once again surfacing. She turned to Giles. "The Slayer handbook insists on it."
Handbook? What was Kendra talking about? And why did Giles suddenly look guilty? "Wait. Handbook? What handbook? How come I don't have a handbook?"
Willow realized that Giles wasn't exactly being supportive. "Is there a T-shirt, too? 'Cause that would be cool."
"After meeting you, Buffy, I realized that, uh, the handbook would be of no use in your case," Giles said absently, watching as Kendra lifted a page of the old volume by one corner and carefully turned it without touching it more than necessary. How he wished Buffy and the others treated his ancient texts with such reverential care…
"What do you mean it would be of no use in my case? Wha-what's wrong with my case?"
Giles apparently didn't notice Buffy's distress. "Well, Buffy, you've indicated on more than one occasion that you found research in general to be boring. You don't consider yourself the research type. You leave that up to me, Xander and Willow." He turned back to the Jamaican girl avidly scanning the texts. "Kendra, um, perhaps you'd like to show me the part in Dramius VI where he refers to the Order of Taraka."
Kendra smiled, the first one Buffy had ever seen from her. Her whole face seemed to light up as she spoke to Giles. "It was difficult. All dose footnotes. Dis book is much easier to follow," waving her hand at the tome underneath her fingertips.
She and Giles both laughed and Buffy glared at them. "Yeah, all those pretty pictures must be a big plus," she gritted.
Giles finally noticed her ill temper. "Um, Buffy, is anything wrong?"
"Wrong? What could be wrong? We slayed the bad guys today. We slayed them good. I suppose Kendra will be leaving soon," Buffy replied cheerily.
"Y-yes, yes, I suppose so." Giles couldn't hide his disappointment and Buffy raked her eyes at the other Slayer. Then her Watcher spoke up again. "Oh, by the way. Principal Snyder was snooping around after you."
"Already seen the little toad. He gave me the lecture. Big nastiness with a side order of bitch thrown in."
"Ah. I see. Well, was there anything I could do for you? The danger has passed as you pointed out. Was there anything else?" Giles asked.
"Uh, no. I guess I just wanted to check in. See if you were all right," Buffy said lamely.
Giles replied, "We're quite all right, thank you." Buffy's lips thinned at the word "we."
"She had to talk to de principal? Buffy's a student here?" Kendra asked, one eyebrow raised. "And I imagine she's a cheerleader as well."
Giles smiled again. "Oh, no, well, a-actually she had to give up her cheerleading. It was quite an amusing story. I'll get the book of Dramius and I'll tell you all about it." The two retreated into the stacks and Buffy and Willow could hear occasional laughter as the two compared notes.
Buffy stalked out of the library. She had been thrown out! Okay, maybe that was too strong a word but that's what it felt like. "Did you see her giggling? And with Giles, no less! She's like a, like a, she-Giles!"
Willow struggled to keep up with her. "Yeah, creepy."
Buffy paused before going into her next class. Biology. All those sliced up pictures of humans and their veiny, pulsating insides. Ugh. Maybe this was the attitude that Giles was so down on. "I'll bet Giles wishes I was more of a book geek."
Willow replied, "Giles is enough of a book geek for the both of you."
"Yeah, but did you see how they were vibing?" She spoke in a mocking Jamaican accent. " 'I believe it was six, sir. But look at all de pretty pictures! Ha ha ha!' "
Privately Willow thought it was nifty that Kendra had book smarts and Slayer power. But she knew that wasn't what the other girl wanted to hear. "Buffy, no one could replace you. You'll always be Giles' Slayer."
Buffy leaned beside the door, waiting for the bell to ring. "I wonder. Would it be so bad—being replaced?"
Willow's eyes widened. "You mean, like, letting Kendra take over?"
"Maybe. Now that it's all over, I could say, 'Kendra, you slay, I'm going to Disneyland.' " Except she couldn't enjoy Disneyland without Angel. She wondered if Disneyland was as much fun at night and how he'd look in Mickey Mouse ears.
The redhead was alarmed. Was Buffy thinking about going away? She couldn't do that! She didn't consider why the thought was so distressing. She only mumbled, "But not forever, right?"
Buffy shrugged, stepping out of the way of the departing biology students as the bell rang. "Naw. Disneyland would get boring after a few months. But I could do other stuff. Career Day stuff. Maybe even get that normal life mom keeps wishing I had."
Consultation about Dramius aside, Kendra proved remarkably efficient in cobbling together a report about her stay in Sunnydale. They created two reports, one for himself and the Council and one for her Watcher, Mr. Zabuto. True to her word, it contained no mention of Angel. She was still unhappy about lying to her teacher but at least she didn't pout about it as Buffy undoubtedly would have done. He was sorry to see Kendra go but he'd taken the liberty of keeping her address and phone number for future reference.
Musing about the tough, talented Slayer, he nearly missed hearing the library doors open. Expecting to see Buffy again, he stood straighter in surprise at his unexpected visitor. "Mrs. Summers?"
"Please, call me Joyce. After everything we've been through, formality seems a little out of place," she answered. She had had a tough time finding a parking spot for the car although she didn't mind the extra time. It gave her an opportunity to think about what she had to say to this man and plan her strategy.
"Well, then. Y-you must call me Rupert."
"Rupert?" Joyce's lips twitched involuntarily but to her credit she didn't laugh. "Very well—Rupert. We need to talk." She pulled up a chair and sank into it heavily. "It's been quite a morning," she started.
"I-indeed," he said. He crossed to his office. "W-would you, uh, like a cup of tea?"
"Gladly. Do you have lemon herbal?"
"Uh, unfortunately no. Only Earl Grey. Will that suffice?"
She waved her hand wearily. "I'm easy. At this point, I'd take day-old coffee." She leaned back in her chair and surveyed the area. "This is a wonderful place. I can see why Buffy spends so many hours after school here."
"Y-yes. I quite like it myself. The many books, the airy, open space. It's a very secluded retreat almost like the libraries in England. I find it q-quite relaxing especially a-after a day like today." He heard the kettle hissing and poured two cups of tea. He handed one to Joyce and cradled the other in his hand, taking comfort from its warmth. He was certain she hadn't come here to discuss architecture and he waited to hear what she had to say.
Setting down the teacup untouched, she folded her hands and began. "Rupert, you told me there could only be one Slayer at a time. Do you remember that conversation?"
He blew on his tea to cool it—a stalling tactic—before answering. "In excruciating detail."
"Well, then. I was led to believe that Buffy would be the only Slayer in this generation. Kendra proves that's clearly not the case."
"I know. As I indicated, this is quite unprecedented. It's truly remarkable. I wonder if the people in the Watchers Council know about this. I-I'm afraid in all the excitement I haven't exactly gotten around to calling them." He set down his cup, removed his glasses and began scrubbing them vigorously, excited by the notion of informing his superiors of this extraordinary turn of events.
Joyce's slightly frosty tone brought him back to the current situation. "Yes, I can see how big a deal this is for them. Now there's something I need to ask you. Since there is another Slayer, wouldn't it be possible for Kendra to take over Buffy's duties? Kendra seems—devoted to the idea of being a Slayer in a way that Buffy isn't. It's all she knows and she's obviously passionately committed. I'm certain if you informed her Watcher,—Mr….Zabuto, is it?—about Kendra's willingness to perform then he might see his way towards letting her stay here."
"I-I'm afraid Kendra has already left. I called a cab for her. She's on her way to the airport as we speak."
"Oh." Joyce slumped slightly. "But we could get her back, couldn't we? I mean, we could call her Watcher and have her come back if it's convenient. How pressing could things be in Kendra's home country if she could be spared to come here?"
"Evil exists all over the globe. Kendra needs to fight it in her part of the world just as much as Buffy must do so here. It was simply a matter of dire urgency that caused Kendra to leave Jamaica and come to Sunnydale. Now that the emergency is over, she is needed elsewhere."
"So…there's no chance of her coming back for a more permanent stay?" Joyce pleaded.
"I'm afraid not. Buffy is the guardian of the Sunnydale Hellmouth and she is doing a capital job. There is no need to bring in a 'second stringer' as she put it except in extraordinary circumstances such as arose these past few days. Besides, I don't think Buffy would take kindly to being replaced. She was quite freaked, as she put it, by Kendra's unexpected appearance."
"Well, weren't we all? But I guess Buffy may have seen it as competition. She was always quite the little spitfire back in Hemery."
Intrigued, Giles set down his cup and sat by the table opposite Mrs. Summers. "W-was she? She never talks about those days to me."
"Oh, well, perhaps it's too painful to remember those happy days given what she has to do now. Did she ever tell you she was cheerleader in Hemery?" Joyce picked up her tea at last and took a sip of the cooling liquid.
"Really?" Giles smiled. "I can't say I'm surprised. Was she any good?"
"Astoundingly so. Athletic, powerful, with phenomenal leaps and splits. Now that I think about it, she was probably showing Slayer tendencies way back then. I just didn't realize it," Joyce mused thoughtfully. "Well, since you seem to feel Kendra can't replace Buffy, I want to know something. Would you have told me about her?"
He blinked, startled at the abrupt change of topic. "Pardon?"
"Would you have told me there was another Slayer if I hadn't walked in here today? Or would I have gotten some idiotic story from you when I returned on Thursday about uneventful patrols?" Joyce asked. Her tone was stiff, her look accusing, as she questioned her daughter's Watcher.
"Mrs.—Joyce, I believe Buffy would have wanted to tell you herself. She certainly wouldn't have appreciated my running around behind her back tittle tattling."
"But Buffy wouldn't have told me!" Joyce cried in frustration. She stood up and began pacing, an eerie reminder to Giles of her daughter whenever Buffy was feeling agitated and cooped up. "She's lied to me for over two years. Every time I find out something new about what she does, it's because I've stumbled across it by accident." She plopped down into her chair again, jostling the table and nearly spilling the tea. "I know it's partly because I'm her mother and young girls reach a point where they start hiding things from their parents. But you and I are adults, Rupert. I'd expect you to be honest with me, at least."
Mr. Giles glanced down as he tried to arrange his thoughts. "Joyce, you have to understand that, if Buffy has been hiding the truth from you for two years, the Watchers Council has concealed their existence and that of Slayers for centuries. Reticence and secrecy are drilled into us from the very first day of our training. If Buffy finds it difficult to-to confide in you, imagine how much more so it is for me. It was shocking and deeply disturbing to me to learn that outsiders like Xander and Willow had learned about her secret identity. When she made it clear that you were not to be informed, I was only too happy to bow to her wishes."
"But things are different now," Joyce insisted. "Rupert, I just learned today that my daughter died. She died and she never told me. If I'd known, then I would have had all this time to reconcile myself a little better to what she does. But now I've been thrown the news that she was dead and that it could happen again at any time. It's just too much for a mother to take all at once. I have to know you'll be straight with me in the future. Hiding only makes things worse in the long run. Don't you see that?"
"Yes. I understand completely. But my first priority is to my Slayer. If she feels you are better off not knowing about certain things, then I must consider her wishes first." He raised his hand as Joyce opened her mouth to contest his decision. "However, I am, as you said, an adult and Buffy is not. She has yet to mature and her judgment is sometimes not what it should be. If I feel it is necessary for you to learn about certain aspects of her Slaying duties, then I will tell you."
"Thank you." Joyce smiled gratefully at him and Rupert was startled by the abrupt resemblance he could see between this woman's weary smile and the unhappiness that had tainted Buffy throughout Career Week. Both women struggled to come to grips with Buffy's calling. It must be extremely hard for them to cope.
Any answer Giles might have made was interrupted as Jenny Calendar came striding smartly through the swinging doors. "Rupert, I—" She stopped when she saw Joyce sitting at the library table. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had company."
"It's all right, Jenny. Was there something you had to tell me?" Giles sat up straighter. His heart fluttered whenever he saw the dark-haired teacher and he wondered what she had to say to him.
"Well, it's not important. I suppose I could come back later." She turned to leave and Rupert felt a strong surge of disappointment.
"Are you sure? I've plenty of free time at the moment." He realized that wasn't strictly true with Mrs. Summers there but he didn't want to let Jenny go.
She flicked a meaningful glance at Joyce Summers. "No, I'll come back later. This is rather—private." She left before he could formulate a convincing reason for her to stay.
"Who was that?" Joyce asked. She had sensed some hidden tension between Rupert and this woman. The Watcher had gotten a little flustered and that woman had called him by his first name.
"T-that was Ms. Calendar. She runs the computer classes here at the school. She may have been looking for Buffy."
That didn't make sense to Joyce. "Why would she have been looking for Buffy here? Wouldn't it be better to talk to her after one of her classes?"
"Perhaps the matter she had to discuss was related to slaying. Ms. Calendar i-is a t-technopagan and has lent her assistance a f-few times in the past when we needed help. She doesn't know that you know so that may have been why she was so uncommunicative just now."
She threw up her hands and slapped them on the table in frustration. "So a teacher knows that Buffy is the Slayer. When did she find out about it?"
Giles was rather flustered as he tried to avoid her angry glare. "Um-um, i-it was last year when Buffy was f-facing the Master, I believe."
Joyce rested her head in her hands before lifting her face to grimace at Mr. Giles. "Last year. My god, did everybody know about this before I did? You have no idea how stupid that makes me feel, Rupert."
Giles shrugged helplessly. Nothing really made you feel better when you'd been made a fool of so he couldn't really think of anything to say to console Mrs. Summers. She had taken the news of Buffy's slaying with remarkable aplomb. But a lot had come her way and she looked to be near the breaking point.
"Joyce, all I can say is that I'm sorry you're feeling so distressed. But the truth about such matters is extremely difficult for most people to hear. As they grow older, they take comfort in the knowledge that the monsters under the bed that they feared as children aren't real. They close their minds to the very possibility that such fearsome beings could exist. For the average citizen to learn that these monsters are real, that they exist to devour and destroy mankind and the only thing standing between them and a hideous death is the life of one frail girl—well, it would be too much for many to handle. There would be panic, pandemonium in the streets. We hid this from you as we would hide it from anyone else. Believe me, it's no reflection on your intelligence that you didn't suspect the truth."
"Like Buffy says, I was into denial about all those strange things that kept happening around here." She finished her tea and set down the cup. "Now I know why those TV shows have the government covering up the existence of aliens." Joyce chuckled tiredly. She lifted her eyebrows as a thought occurred to her. "Aliens aren't real, are they, Rupert?"
"Um, not to my knowledge, Joyce. But on the Hellmouth, anything is possible."
His halfhearted attempt at humor was not unappreciated. Joyce graced him with a tiny smile and stood up. "I guess that's all there is to say, then. Thank you, Rupert, for being so understanding. Maybe, if I have you to talk to sometimes, this won't be so hard to take."
"I-I'm glad you're feeling better, Joyce. Although I have to confess I'm not sure I'm really helping. All I can do is let you know the worst of what's happening with Buffy. I'm not certain you'll thank me for that in the long run."
This time her smile was laced with a kind of resignation. "Maybe. But I can't say I didn't ask for it."
Buffy still wasn't too happy about Giles getting cozy with Kendra. But after having seen the girl leave the school grounds in a taxicab she became a lot chipper about it. Now something else was worrying her.
"I'm telling you, Willow. I thought mom was going to scream me stupid for holding back on her about the dying thing. Sure, she was upset about it. But then she sorta calmed down when I had to take care of Angel. In fact, she was way too calm. I'm wondering if she's suppressing again or storing up ammunition," Buffy said to Willow between their remaining classes.
"But it's a good thing, right? You're getting everything into the open all at once so you can get it out of the way and there'll be no badness later with her finding out ugly stuff that you kinda forgot to tell her. I mean, now that she knows everything—and I mean, everything—she can get it all out of her system. So how'd she take it about Angel?" Willow finished.
"We didn't really get into that. I think she's accepted that Angel is batting for the good side—barely. But we spent most of the drive talking about me dying. So I guess the Angel issue is on the rear burner. For now, anyway. It's later I'm worried about."
Xander overheard the last bit of conversation as he caught up to them. "Whacha worried about, ladies? We just trounced a buncha bad guys. I say we take a well-earned rest, sleep through the rest of our classes and then party at the Bronze."
"I'm gonna have to pass, Xander. I-I promised mom I'd talk to her about Angel and then there's patrolling. That's gonna take time. So no party hardy for this Slayer."
"Oh, right. Guess Momma Summers was a bit upset at the idea of her daughter groping with the undead," Xander said. "Mothers are funny that way."
"I'll see you later, Willow," Buffy said pointedly and went off to her next class without looking at the snarky teenager.
Willow scolded him. "Xander, stop being so rough on Angel. Angel saved her from that guy who attacked her."
"Really? 'Cause I got the idea from her story that she saved him. I don't know why you guys keep thinking he's such a big hero," Xander groused.
"Maybe because he is. You just don't want to see it," Willow replied as she looked after the departing Slayer. "And Buffy doesn't need you doing the dump on him. She's gonna get enough of that from her mom."
Buffy wasn't looking forward to this. She'd rather go on patrol and stomp on some demons. She wanted to run into Angel's sheltering arms. But she had promised her mother a talk. [Seems we've been talking an awful lot lately. Who knew being a Slayer would be so much of the chatty?] Taking a deep breath, she opened the front door and walked in.
"Yes. Yes, I know I left rather hastily." Her mother was on the phone talking to someone, her back to her daughter. "I had to leave. It was a family emergency." Pause. "I told you. I was worried because my daughter wasn't answering my calls. I'll get back as soon as I can to pick up the other merchandise." Another pause and she sighed in relief. "Thank you for being so understanding."
She hung up just in time to catch Buffy edging up the stairs. "Where are you going, young lady? We were going to have a talk, remember? About you and that vampire you got all hot under the collar about."
Buffy tried a light smile. "I know. I-I wasn't sneaking off. I saw you were on the phone and wanted to get upstairs and change before we had the big blowup over Angel."
Mrs. Summers gestured Buffy into the living room and sat on the couch. "Buffy, I don't want to 'blowup' about him. But you have to see that your relationship with him is…unrealistic at best."
"You think I don't know that? You think I don't see that 'Slayer + Vampire' equals unrealness? Mom, when I met Angel I didn't know who or what he was. He was just some annoying guy that kept popping up and giving me these cryptic messages of doom. 'Danger, Danger, Will Robinson!' was a lot more of the inform-y than Angel ever was." Buffy huffed and plopped down on the couch beside her mother.
"So what changed? How did he go from annoying to—kissable?" Joyce stammered.
"I-I don't know. He's good looking. You've seen that." She darted a peek at her mother's face and blushed slightly at the woman's exasperated expression. "But it's more than that. I've seen cute boys before. But none like him."
"I'll bet."
Buffy protested before her mother could leap to the wrong conclusion. "It wasn't the vampire thing, I swear! I've seen other vampires and I just kill them. There's no lustiness involved there. I mean, eww. I didn't know Angel was a vampire at first. I'd see him around and we'd talk and there was just…I don't know, sparkage. I mean, major fireworks were going off every time I saw him. I didn't mean for it to happen and neither did he. H-he told me that he was older than me and this thing between us couldn't go anywhere. Then he talked about how every time he was around me he couldn't think of anything except kissing me and then we kissed…and that's when I knew."
Buffy stopped and stared at her hands. She could see it in her mind as if it were yesterday: Angel standing there in her darkened room, speaking in his low voice about his desire, his lips sucking fervently at her own, the sudden spasm as if he'd been in pain and then that demonic face lifting up to hers… There was a faint prickling in her eyes and she blinked rapidly to clear it.
"When did you know? H-how long ago did this happen?"
Buffy thought about that memorable first kiss. What girl doesn't remember that? "April 14, 1997."
Joyce frowned as she considered. This thing between her daughter and that creature had been going on for seven months. That wasn't so long in the grand scheme of things—less than a year. But it was a long time for a teenaged girl full of raging hormones with a handsome boyfriend. And how long was it to a vampire of his years? How old was Angel, anyway? "This—Angel. How old is he? Those things in his room…some of them were precious antiques. I recognized them," she added in response to Buffy's look.
"He's…" She swallowed and continued defiantly. "He's around 240 years. Not really old as vamps go. The Master was way older. He'd been around so long he made the 'grrrr' face and it stuck that way. Guess his mother didn't warn him about that."
Joyce didn't smile. This wasn't the least bit amusing to her. "Buffy, this is serious. This vampire is over two centuries older than you. And you're not even legal yet! He must have seen thousands of women far more experienced. What could he possibly see in you?"
Buffy's expression turned wounded as if she'd been slapped. Joyce hastened to amend her last statement. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm not saying you're not a wonderful, bright, talented, sweet, terrific girl. You're my daughter and my only child. Naturally, I'd be biased. But to a…creature of his experience—"
"Angel's not a creature, mom. He's got a soul. That puts him a notch above all the beasties I stake every night," Buffy snapped, her eyes flashing with hostility.
Joyce took a deep breath. She would get nowhere antagonizing her daughter over her choice in boyfriend material. She recalled enough of her own teenaged years of rebellion to understand that. "All right. But if he's like most men, he'd eventually prefer a woman of experience, one more like…himself. Why would he hit on a teenaged girl a fraction of his years? What, exactly, is it that you're offering him that he hasn't seen or gotten elsewhere?" Had Buffy even asked herself these questions? Joyce looked into her daughter's eyes and watched her struggle with the answer.
"Mom, you're right. I know I'm way younger than Angel and he's been with other women. I'm not stupid about that. But I know his past and he knows I know. So it's not as if he's lying to me or trying to trick me. And if I really wasn't special, why would he stay with me…or feel for me? And he does. I-I spoke to him on Halloween when I tried dressing like a lady from back when he was still walking in daylight. He didn't get why I thought he'd like me better that way. I guess I was trying to see whether he'd like me as an ordinary woman of his day."
"And what did he tell you?" This was on Halloween? Joyce had been out of town that day. What had occurred between her daughter and this Angel that she didn't know about?
"He said he found those noblewomen boring. They were dull and stupid. He'd always wanted to meet somebody exciting and different. I guess I fit the bill."
"So that's it? He gets a thrill out of being with a-a Slayer?"
"NO." Buffy was irritated. Didn't her mother get it? "It's not the Slayer thing. Honestly, that would be just sick. I'm supposed to kill his kind, remember? He likes me for me. He convinced me of that." She remembered that night when Angel lay on her bed, laughing because she'd thought being a noblewoman was the way to his heart. He had convinced her of his true feelings…quite thoroughly, as a matter of fact.
"Well, I'm glad you're convinced. Because I'm not."
"Mom, he's fought by my side. If it hadn't been for him, I would have died the night the Master killed me."
"I thought you said Xander rescued you."
"He did...by giving me CPR. But he'd never have found the place if Angel hadn't shown him. There are gadjillions of tunnels running under Sunnydale. There's no way Xander could have found the right one on his own." She clasped her mother's hand trying to convince her of Angel's decency.
"He wants to help people, to make up for all the years of killing. I've seen the goodness in him. I-I wouldn't care about him if he was evil." A small part of Buffy wondered if this was so true. But she squelched it and sternly sent her inner critic to go sit in the corner.
"But he's immortal—and you're not. You have to see there's absolutely no future in this," Joyce pointed out.
"Way to be depressing, mom," Buffy said, rolling her eyes.
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do. But I think today proves Angel's just as weak as anybody else. Kendra might have killed him. Willy might have done it if he didn't have a joneses for money. He's not Superman, mom. H-he's just a guy trying to make up for a lot of major evil."
"But he's not just any guy, is he, Buffy?" Joyce corrected gently. "He's a vampire and that's definitely an obstacle to a long-term relationship."
"Mom, I'm a Slayer. That's definitely an obstacle to a long-term relationship," Buffy countered. "I learned that last year and today with Kendra. I'm the expendable one."
"Buffy, don't—"
"But it's true!" she burst out. "I die, another rises. That's the Slayer dealie. There'll always be Slayers. But a souled vampire is kinda of the unique. And one who fights the good fight? Definitely not gonna find another one of those hanging around the local K-Mart. If I live, if I'm gonna survive, it's because I have good people helping me. People like Angel."
"Then you're with him only because he's a powerful fighter?"
Any feeling of hope Joyce might have had was dashed when Buffy spoke again. "That's part of it. But, even if he wasn't, I'd still care about him. I'd-I'd still love him."
There was a profound silence following that statement. Joyce didn't know what to say. Today had produced one unpleasant shock after another and this was hardly the worst. What could she say that wouldn't have Buffy immediately up in arms? Her daughter looked defiant and fearful both at once. She'd carried these burdens for so long, afraid to let her own mother in on her secret. If Joyce pulled away now, Buffy would go back to hiding—perhaps permanently.
She hugged Buffy with one arm and sighed heavily. "Buffy, I can't say that I'm happy with this."
"I know."
"Then again, I haven't been happy with any of this since I found out about the whole slaying thing. But, if this Angel is as important as you say he is, then I'll have to learn to accept him."
"It's okay. I'm not going to be inviting him over or anything. You'll never see him. I promise," Buffy said hastily.
Joyce peered at her daughter's anxious face. "Oh, Buffy, please. You make him sound like an unwanted hamster you're promising to keep out of sight in your room. Have you forgotten I've already met and talked to him?"
"But that was before, uh, you found out about the vampire thing."
A deep sigh came from her mother. "Yep. The vampire thing." She thought for a long moment. "So I guess having him over for dinner is out of the question?"
Buffy pursed her lips. "Um, I'm thinking not unless we start storing pigs' blood with the frozen veggies."
"Let's not go rushing things, dear."
"Gotcha." She looked at her mother. "Are-are we good here?"
"Not by a long shot," Joyce replied bluntly. "But I suppose I'll have to grin and bear it."
Buffy squeezed her mother's hand and stood. "I-I've got to get out and go slay." She pressed a kiss to her mother's forehead and ran off before the startled woman could react.
Joyce shook her head. "Only in this household would that be considered a closing line to an argument." She rose to her feet and stared sightlessly through the front windows of the house as she considered all the demonic, dead and undead monsters that awaited her only child.
And one of them was Buffy's boyfriend.
TBC