Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat.
Crossover: At the moment, none.
Disclaimer: I own naught but debt.
Feedback: Why not?
Pre-fic Comments:
Quite surprised at the number of replies to the first part, so I'll continue this for now. I don't know how long I can write until I have to come up with a plot, so you have been warned.
The timeline of this compared to the canon program will probably be a bit messed up. Close your eyes and imagine that I am God and there is no canon timeline.
Today's album recommendation: 'The Art of Rebellion', by Suicidal Tendencies. And if no one comments on this paragraph, I shall desist from recommending any music due to lack of interest.
* * *
That day, the small group met again in the Library during a free period.
Right after Xander and Giles had another little training session. When Giles did something, he didn't do it by halves.
"Wow, Xander, love the look," Buffy commented.
Xander had been introduced to the rudiments of knife fighting, and as a result had numerous bruises from the blunter-than-2x4-lumber knives Giles used to train. The most nasty bruise was in a straight line travelling over his left eye across his forehead above his right eye.
"Xander!," Willow cried, grabbing Xander's head to take a closer look to reassure herself. The redheaded hacker gave Giles a /very/ dirty look. "You hurt him!"
"I'm fine," Xander protested. "I feel better than a Goth at a Type O Negative concert."
The Slayer looked at her Watcher curiously. "Wow, you come across as timid, but... wow."
Giles rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Ah, the legacy of a misspent youth."
(A/N: all embarassed fighters/martial-artists rub the back of their head when nervous. Anime series would never lie to me.)
"I'm pretty sure they don't teach you to knife people in the groin at those formal schools," Xander joked weakly.
The librarian coughed, then picked up an open book.
"Well, after some research with Willow's help last night, we've established that it's some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. However, we haven't established where this will take place."
The American teenagers gave the Watcher a combined Look.
"That was rather British, wasn't it?"
"Welcome to the New World," Buffy grinned.
"I want you to go on the 'Net," Giles told Willow, manfully restraining the urge to tell her to remove that machine from his Library. If she didn't figure out for herself that those dread machines were of no use... then she wasn't as smart as he thought.
"Oh, sure, I can do that," Willow chirped, happy to be of use. She was certain that the vast Internet would have some materials on this Harvest thingy. At the least, some university somewhere would have /something./ Perhaps that www.miskatonic.edu address she'd come across last week...
"I'm off to try and get Jesse back," Buffy said resolutely.
"Er, right," Giles said. "I'll search for more information on the Harvest as well."
"I'm with the Buffmeister," Xander announced.
"Xander, this is deeply dangerous," Buffy complained.
"I'm inadequate," the maligned teen moaned. "That's fine. I'm less than a man."
Giles looked up from the book he was skimming. "Xander, ten laps of the soccer field then come see me for more training. Buffy, go."
* * *
Once free period for Xander and Willow had finished, they had had to return to class. Willow had her elective Computer Studies class, while Xander (never one to take class work /too/ seriously) normally read a book or something.
He was seriously beginning to regret agreeing to Giles' proposal.
"I don't get it," Xander bi--, um, said. "Why are you teaching me knives? Why not swords?"
Giles fixed his glasses in place. They'd slipped slightly, during the last ten minutes. "Er, swords are hard to hide in an urban setting and rather hard to replace, while knives are a simple matter of stealing from the kitchen and putting them in your jacket. That's one of the major reasons."
"Why no guns?"
"Bullets that can kill vampires are either silver, which is hard to explain, or hollowpoints, which are hard to explain to law enforcement."
* * *
Post-fic Comments:
Sorry this is so short. I don't really have a lot to base this story on from real life experience.