A/N
Hey everyone! I'm home, the play's showing next week, and after that these chapters should start arriving more regularly.
Talk to you all later.
Love,
Kennie
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Day Five, Saturday, 15 High Street, St. Treharne
Darcy ran through the back door of the Watchers Council house.
It had been decided that she would stay with Giles, Buffy, Xander, Anya and Willow for a while.
For your protection, Buffy had told her.
Does she have to? Anya had asked.
To help us with our research and so forth, Giles had said.
Whatever the reason, Darcy didn't mind. For the first time, she felt like she belonged, like she was needed. And the last thing she wanted was to let everyone down and cause them pain. And it sounded as though that's what she would be doing if anyone found out that she had been sneaking off to meet with Angel, Cordelia and Doyle. She went through into the library. And the library had, for some reason, become accepted as the Scooby Gang's headquarters. Darcy turned the radio on and Giles' favourite jazz station broke the silence. She picked up one of the many books lying on the table, settled into a leather armchair and began to read.
Barely two minutes later, Darcy heard the front door bang and shot to her feet. She slapped the book she had just picked up down on the closest flat surface, the floor, and raced into the hall.
"Hi!" She said brightly, staring at the trio in the hall. "Buffy, guess what…"
Buffy glared at her and stalked over. "You set us up!" She shouted, pushing her face into the tiny girl's.
Darcy stared, confused, at Buffy. "I, I don't know what you're talking about." She whispered.
"Now Buffy," Giles stepped further into the room "We simply don't have any concrete evidence that…"
"Shut up Giles!" Buffy snapped. A slightly hurt look spread across Giles' face.
"Hey!" Xander said, trying to defend Giles. Buffy turned to face him, about to attack.
"What are you talking about?" Darcy shouted.
Buffy turned back to Darcy. "I'm talking about you, sending us to get your clothes, knowing that your apartment was full of vampires just undying to get a piece of the Slayer. I'm talking about you being no more than a lying, no good, spy!"
"There were vampires at my apartment?" Darcy asked shakily. "In daytime?"
"Don't pull the innocent with me!" Buffy paced a little. "You know there were."
"Buffy, I don't think she had anything to do with it." Xander said
"How many?" Darcy asked Buffy urgently.
"Two." Buffy looked sheepish.
"It was Ramiculus." Darcy ran her fingers through her hair and sighed tensely.
"And your proof being?" Buffy spread her hands out, a questioning look on her face.
"Did you get any of my books?"
"Why?" Buffy was mystified
Xander looked at his feet and kicked the box Buffy had dumped on the floor toward the duelling pair. Darcy knelt and rummaged through the box. She cried out in triumph, pulling out a particularly battered book. She quickly found the page she wanted and showed Giles.
"It's all here. What Ramiculus is going to do, when and how." She smirked triumphantly.
"And this refers to our conversation how?" Buffy was sceptical.
"There are certain days when he can perform this ceremony. If he misses this one, there won't be another for six centuries. The ritual must be performed in two days time. He sent two vampires to my home to catch me, one for each day. It's the sort of thing he does. Something to do with poetry. Look, you have to trust me. Read the books if you don't believe me. Then you'll see that I'm telling the truth."
Giles looked up quickly, too engrossed in what he was reading to spare them more than a quick glance. "It's probable that she's telling the truth." He looked up at them again. "This text certainly seems to corroborate her story."
"There are others." Darcy pointed to the cardboard box on the floor. "You can double check, do loads more double checks."
Giles' face lit up at the thought of all the cross-referencing.