Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story are the sole property of
Mr. Joss Whedon.
Summary: This takes place sometime around season 4. Some of the timeline may be off slightly because I haven't watched season 4 for a while, but it should be pretty accurate. Buffy wakes up one morning to find that her slayer powers are gone, and this time, it looks like it's for good. There will be a great deal of Spuffy, I promise. Please leave your reviews and comments. I hope you enjoy!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Buffy yawned and stretched her arms. Morning sunlight peeked in through the slits of her blinds. It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing and people were happily walking to and from class on the large Sunnydale College campus. None of this mattered however to the tired, grumpy slayer who did not want to wake up yet. With a groan she pulled the blanket back over her head. She tried to ignore the ear-splitting noise coming from her alarm clock but without success. With a clumsy hand she smacked the snooze button on the noisy contraption and sent it flying to the floor.
"Another alarm clock bites the dust," mumbled a still sleepy Willow from the neighboring bed. She leaned up on one arm and smiled at her roommate. "You have to get up Buffy. You've already missed three of your Calculus classes."
Buffy's muffled voice responded from under the covers. "Remind me again of why I want to take this class."
Willow thought for a moment. "Because you want to graduate from college and get a job that doesn't involve staking, killing, or the poking out of eyes?"
"Yeah, I guess," replied the Buffy shaped lump. Throwing the covers off her face, she smiled back at Willow. "You always have to be right, don't you?"
"It's my job," joked the witch. She hopped out of bed and grabbed her towel and shower supplies. "You better hurry up Buffy. Math awaits!"
"Yeah, yeah," replied Buffy as she slowly pulled herself out from under the warm covers. Who ever heard of a Calculus class at eight in the morning? It was inhumane, like some new form of demon torture.
Willow headed out of the room towards the showers as Buffy chose what to wear. She grabbed a light blue spaghetti-strap shirt and a pair of blue jeans that were hanging in the closet and quickly got dressed. After completing her morning beauty routine, she grabbed her book and walked briskly out of the dorm.
Even a still-sleepy, breakfast deprived slayer had to appreciate the beautiful weather. Staring up at the clear blue sky, Buffy forgot to watch where she was going and crashed into a fellow college student.
The force of the collision caused both girls to drop their books. "I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Buffy. "I wasn't paying attention. Are you ok?"
The brunette girl looked a bit stunned but when she noticed Buffy she smiled. "It's ok. I wasn't paying attention either. I think my pen rolled under that bench though. It's the only one I have."
Buffy was about to offer the girl one of her own pens but realized she had forgotten to bring any with her. She mentally scolded herself for being such a slacker of a student.
"No problem," she told the girl. "I'll just lift the edge of the bench and you tell me if you can see it, ok?"
The girl nodded and Buffy tried lifting the cast iron bench. It didn't look that heavy but for some reason it wouldn't budge. Buffy took a moment to catch her breath and tried again. Still, the bench wouldn't even move an inch. 'This is ridiculous,' Buffy thought to herself. 'I'm the slayer. I should be able to lift a bench.'
A passing college boy noticed Buffy's distress and walked over. "Here let me try," he said, and before Buffy could refuse he was easily lifting the bench off the ground. The brunette girl picked up her pen and with a quick "thank you" was on her way. The boy eased the bench back onto the ground, as Buffy stared speechless.
"Heavy, isn't it?" he said though Buffy knew that he was just trying to make her feel better. She managed to nod and mumble some form of gratitude.
She waited till he had walked away and made a third attempt at lifting the bench. Once again she had no luck. Her heart started pounding and she realized that something was wrong. If that boy had been able to lift it without breaking a sweat then she should have no problem at all. She was the slayer after all. What was wrong with her?
A thought entered her mind and Buffy gasped. Last time something like this had happened, Giles had given her a muscle relaxer. Maybe he had done it again.
'But why would he do that?' she thought to herself. Giles knew how much pain it had caused her last time and how it had nearly cost Buffy her life. Why would he do something like that again?
A million questions spun around inside her head. She decided that the only way to get any answers was by paying Giles a visit. Buffy started walking in direction of the magic shop. She didn't even remember to pick up her Calculus book after having dropped it. Right now, Calculus was the last thing on her mind.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Anya was happily counting the money in the cash register when Buffy bounded through the magic shop doors.
"Buffy!" exclaimed the ex-vengeance demon with a smile. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in class now or suffering with a hangover after one of your many college drinking parties."
"Hi Anya," Buffy replied deciding it best to ignore Anya's babble. "Is Giles here?"
"Yes. He's in the back. He left me in charge of the money. The money must be kept safe at all times you know."
Buffy walked to the back of the shop where Giles kept all the dangerous magic books and the more valuable items. She found him examining the new shipment of lizard tongues and heard him mumble something about the shoddy quality of tongues these days.
"Giles!" Buffy said startling the distracted shopkeeper.
"Oh, hello Buffy." He put down the jar he had been studying and greeted her with a smile. "Umm...shouldn't you be in class about now?"
"Something came up," said Buffy, her arms crossed over her chest. 'Might as well go with the direct approach,' she thought.
"Tell me the truth. Did you give me another dose of muscle relaxer?" Her words sounded strong and forceful but inside she was trembling. She trusted Giles like a father and the thought of him betraying her made her queasy.
"Buffy... I..." Giles took off his glasses and walked closer to Buffy. "Of course not. Why would you think such a thing?"
Buffy let out a deep breath she hadn't known she was holding. "I'm sorry Giles. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. It's just that... I think I lost my powers."
A look of concern crossed Giles' face. "Are you sure? Maybe you're just overtired from patrolling all night. It may be nothing to worry about."
Buffy considered the possibility but shook her head. "No. It's something more serious than that. I'm sure of it."
Giles put his glasses back on. "I see. Let's do some tests then shall we? It's probably best that we first see how much of your power has been lost."
Buffy nodded and followed Giles into the training room. He picked up a 25 pound hand weight and handed it to Buffy. She reached out with one hand to grab it but found that she needed two hands to hold it firmly. Even then she was struggling with its weight.
"It's heavy," she told Giles with a frown. "Much heavier than it usually is."
Giles watched Buffy hands shaking under the weight of the object and a wave of concern rushed over him. "Ok Buffy. You can put it down now. Let's try something else."
He covered Buffy's eyes with a blindfold and led her towards the center of the room. It was an exercise they practiced regularly. Giles would silently walk around the room and stop at a random spot. Buffy would then use her slayer senses to locate his position and hit him with a rubber ball.
Buffy waited a few moments for Giles to choose a spot and then tried to sense where he was standing. She turned slightly and threw the rubber ball. Lifting the blindfold from her eyes, she was surprised to see that she had missed hitting Giles by a few yards. She hadn't failed at this exercise for years and even then she had only been off by inches.
"What's wrong with me?" Buffy asked her watcher with a shaky voice. "I have no strength, no slayer senses..."
Giles didn't admit it but he was just as scared and baffled as Buffy. He had no idea what could be causing her lack in slayer power. Rubbing his brow, he thought desperately for some sort of explanation.
Suddenly Buffy had a thought, a thought that made her very angry if it was true.
"Giles, last time this happened to me the watcher's council was involved. Maybe they're behind it this time too."
"Good idea, Buffy," he replied, thankful that they now had some sort of lead to follow. "Perhaps if I call Quentin Travers he can give us some answers."
Buffy really didn't like the idea of turning to the watcher's council for help, especially Quentin Travers, but she had no choice.
Giles and Buffy headed to the front of the store where Anya was now sweeping the floor. He dialed the number for the council and waited for someone to pick up. Buffy nervously drummed her fingers on the cash register, causing Anya to send many angry glares her way.
"Hello? Yes. This is Mr. Rupert Giles. It is imperative that I speak to Mr. Quentin Travers immediately. What's that? Oh yes, I'll hold."
A few minutes later Quentin Travers picked up the phone. Giles nervously adjusted his glasses when he heard the older man's voice on the line.
"Mr. Travers? Yes, this is Rupert Giles. I have a very urgent matter to discuss with you..."
Buffy listened as he explained the situation to Travers. She hoped with all her heart that for once, the stubborn man would have good news for them.
The longer the conversation went on the more distressed Giles looked and the more nervous Buffy became. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Giles hung up the phone and shook his head.
"I'm afraid it's bad news Buffy."
Buffy felt her heart sink but she tried to appear brave. "What is it?" she asked. "Did some green, slimy demon steal my powers and run off with them to Disney World?"
Giles didn't even crack a smile at her joke. She knew that something was very wrong.
"I'm afraid it's worse than that, Buffy." He sighed and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm afraid your powers might be gone for good."
Summary: This takes place sometime around season 4. Some of the timeline may be off slightly because I haven't watched season 4 for a while, but it should be pretty accurate. Buffy wakes up one morning to find that her slayer powers are gone, and this time, it looks like it's for good. There will be a great deal of Spuffy, I promise. Please leave your reviews and comments. I hope you enjoy!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Buffy yawned and stretched her arms. Morning sunlight peeked in through the slits of her blinds. It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing and people were happily walking to and from class on the large Sunnydale College campus. None of this mattered however to the tired, grumpy slayer who did not want to wake up yet. With a groan she pulled the blanket back over her head. She tried to ignore the ear-splitting noise coming from her alarm clock but without success. With a clumsy hand she smacked the snooze button on the noisy contraption and sent it flying to the floor.
"Another alarm clock bites the dust," mumbled a still sleepy Willow from the neighboring bed. She leaned up on one arm and smiled at her roommate. "You have to get up Buffy. You've already missed three of your Calculus classes."
Buffy's muffled voice responded from under the covers. "Remind me again of why I want to take this class."
Willow thought for a moment. "Because you want to graduate from college and get a job that doesn't involve staking, killing, or the poking out of eyes?"
"Yeah, I guess," replied the Buffy shaped lump. Throwing the covers off her face, she smiled back at Willow. "You always have to be right, don't you?"
"It's my job," joked the witch. She hopped out of bed and grabbed her towel and shower supplies. "You better hurry up Buffy. Math awaits!"
"Yeah, yeah," replied Buffy as she slowly pulled herself out from under the warm covers. Who ever heard of a Calculus class at eight in the morning? It was inhumane, like some new form of demon torture.
Willow headed out of the room towards the showers as Buffy chose what to wear. She grabbed a light blue spaghetti-strap shirt and a pair of blue jeans that were hanging in the closet and quickly got dressed. After completing her morning beauty routine, she grabbed her book and walked briskly out of the dorm.
Even a still-sleepy, breakfast deprived slayer had to appreciate the beautiful weather. Staring up at the clear blue sky, Buffy forgot to watch where she was going and crashed into a fellow college student.
The force of the collision caused both girls to drop their books. "I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Buffy. "I wasn't paying attention. Are you ok?"
The brunette girl looked a bit stunned but when she noticed Buffy she smiled. "It's ok. I wasn't paying attention either. I think my pen rolled under that bench though. It's the only one I have."
Buffy was about to offer the girl one of her own pens but realized she had forgotten to bring any with her. She mentally scolded herself for being such a slacker of a student.
"No problem," she told the girl. "I'll just lift the edge of the bench and you tell me if you can see it, ok?"
The girl nodded and Buffy tried lifting the cast iron bench. It didn't look that heavy but for some reason it wouldn't budge. Buffy took a moment to catch her breath and tried again. Still, the bench wouldn't even move an inch. 'This is ridiculous,' Buffy thought to herself. 'I'm the slayer. I should be able to lift a bench.'
A passing college boy noticed Buffy's distress and walked over. "Here let me try," he said, and before Buffy could refuse he was easily lifting the bench off the ground. The brunette girl picked up her pen and with a quick "thank you" was on her way. The boy eased the bench back onto the ground, as Buffy stared speechless.
"Heavy, isn't it?" he said though Buffy knew that he was just trying to make her feel better. She managed to nod and mumble some form of gratitude.
She waited till he had walked away and made a third attempt at lifting the bench. Once again she had no luck. Her heart started pounding and she realized that something was wrong. If that boy had been able to lift it without breaking a sweat then she should have no problem at all. She was the slayer after all. What was wrong with her?
A thought entered her mind and Buffy gasped. Last time something like this had happened, Giles had given her a muscle relaxer. Maybe he had done it again.
'But why would he do that?' she thought to herself. Giles knew how much pain it had caused her last time and how it had nearly cost Buffy her life. Why would he do something like that again?
A million questions spun around inside her head. She decided that the only way to get any answers was by paying Giles a visit. Buffy started walking in direction of the magic shop. She didn't even remember to pick up her Calculus book after having dropped it. Right now, Calculus was the last thing on her mind.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Anya was happily counting the money in the cash register when Buffy bounded through the magic shop doors.
"Buffy!" exclaimed the ex-vengeance demon with a smile. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in class now or suffering with a hangover after one of your many college drinking parties."
"Hi Anya," Buffy replied deciding it best to ignore Anya's babble. "Is Giles here?"
"Yes. He's in the back. He left me in charge of the money. The money must be kept safe at all times you know."
Buffy walked to the back of the shop where Giles kept all the dangerous magic books and the more valuable items. She found him examining the new shipment of lizard tongues and heard him mumble something about the shoddy quality of tongues these days.
"Giles!" Buffy said startling the distracted shopkeeper.
"Oh, hello Buffy." He put down the jar he had been studying and greeted her with a smile. "Umm...shouldn't you be in class about now?"
"Something came up," said Buffy, her arms crossed over her chest. 'Might as well go with the direct approach,' she thought.
"Tell me the truth. Did you give me another dose of muscle relaxer?" Her words sounded strong and forceful but inside she was trembling. She trusted Giles like a father and the thought of him betraying her made her queasy.
"Buffy... I..." Giles took off his glasses and walked closer to Buffy. "Of course not. Why would you think such a thing?"
Buffy let out a deep breath she hadn't known she was holding. "I'm sorry Giles. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. It's just that... I think I lost my powers."
A look of concern crossed Giles' face. "Are you sure? Maybe you're just overtired from patrolling all night. It may be nothing to worry about."
Buffy considered the possibility but shook her head. "No. It's something more serious than that. I'm sure of it."
Giles put his glasses back on. "I see. Let's do some tests then shall we? It's probably best that we first see how much of your power has been lost."
Buffy nodded and followed Giles into the training room. He picked up a 25 pound hand weight and handed it to Buffy. She reached out with one hand to grab it but found that she needed two hands to hold it firmly. Even then she was struggling with its weight.
"It's heavy," she told Giles with a frown. "Much heavier than it usually is."
Giles watched Buffy hands shaking under the weight of the object and a wave of concern rushed over him. "Ok Buffy. You can put it down now. Let's try something else."
He covered Buffy's eyes with a blindfold and led her towards the center of the room. It was an exercise they practiced regularly. Giles would silently walk around the room and stop at a random spot. Buffy would then use her slayer senses to locate his position and hit him with a rubber ball.
Buffy waited a few moments for Giles to choose a spot and then tried to sense where he was standing. She turned slightly and threw the rubber ball. Lifting the blindfold from her eyes, she was surprised to see that she had missed hitting Giles by a few yards. She hadn't failed at this exercise for years and even then she had only been off by inches.
"What's wrong with me?" Buffy asked her watcher with a shaky voice. "I have no strength, no slayer senses..."
Giles didn't admit it but he was just as scared and baffled as Buffy. He had no idea what could be causing her lack in slayer power. Rubbing his brow, he thought desperately for some sort of explanation.
Suddenly Buffy had a thought, a thought that made her very angry if it was true.
"Giles, last time this happened to me the watcher's council was involved. Maybe they're behind it this time too."
"Good idea, Buffy," he replied, thankful that they now had some sort of lead to follow. "Perhaps if I call Quentin Travers he can give us some answers."
Buffy really didn't like the idea of turning to the watcher's council for help, especially Quentin Travers, but she had no choice.
Giles and Buffy headed to the front of the store where Anya was now sweeping the floor. He dialed the number for the council and waited for someone to pick up. Buffy nervously drummed her fingers on the cash register, causing Anya to send many angry glares her way.
"Hello? Yes. This is Mr. Rupert Giles. It is imperative that I speak to Mr. Quentin Travers immediately. What's that? Oh yes, I'll hold."
A few minutes later Quentin Travers picked up the phone. Giles nervously adjusted his glasses when he heard the older man's voice on the line.
"Mr. Travers? Yes, this is Rupert Giles. I have a very urgent matter to discuss with you..."
Buffy listened as he explained the situation to Travers. She hoped with all her heart that for once, the stubborn man would have good news for them.
The longer the conversation went on the more distressed Giles looked and the more nervous Buffy became. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Giles hung up the phone and shook his head.
"I'm afraid it's bad news Buffy."
Buffy felt her heart sink but she tried to appear brave. "What is it?" she asked. "Did some green, slimy demon steal my powers and run off with them to Disney World?"
Giles didn't even crack a smile at her joke. She knew that something was very wrong.
"I'm afraid it's worse than that, Buffy." He sighed and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm afraid your powers might be gone for good."