Part 5: Misc. Moments

Meanwhile…

Winfred Burkle is running from the Pyleans, stolen food in her arms, as she makes her way back to her cave, where she shall…

Oops. Wrong story.

"Buffy is dead," Giles finally concluded, "and a demon has replaced her."

His eyes darted to Angel, who leaned against the wall, head bowed. It was as if he wanted to melt back into the shadows after telling them the horrible news, confirming all of Giles's worst fears.

Willow's face was utterly stricken, and Xander's seemed to be wallowing in misery. Cordelia stood near the balcony railing, looking down at her feet and trying to hide her emotion. Oz simply placed his hand on Willow's arm to comfort her. The truly terrifying one to look at was Faith.

Giles hadn't had a chance to watch her as told them about the Cruciamentum, about finding Joyce in the boarding house and Travers in the library, or during Angel's distressing tale. But now, seeing the murderous rage caught in Faith's eyes—

She looked like she was having difficulty breathing, actually. "Faith," Giles asked quietly, shifting the ice pack on his bruised face, "are you all right?"

A stupid question and he knew it, yet what else was there to say?

Faith gave a strangled cry in her throat, a truly pitiful sound, and strode to front desk, pushing everything—books, papers, pens—to the floor.

"It's not true," she declared, grabbing an empty chair and smashing it to the floor, so hard that it splintered into pieces. With each act of destruction she cried out wordlessly in grief and said, "It's not true." Faith overturned a book cart violently and was smashing her fists on the book cage when Angel finally came up behind her and firmly held her arms, pulling away her bloody fists. She struggled and sobbed until her knees gave and she was on the floor, and Angel with her.

There they sat for two seconds, before Willow came over and was hugging Faith as well. The others watched in desolation, locked in there own thoughts and incapable of movement.

After a few minutes Giles heard Willow whisper something. Angel stood, followed by Willow and Faith.

"I'm taking her to my house. I-I don't think she should be going back to the motel right now," Willow told them. Faith refused to look at anyone, ashamed of her moment of vulnerability. The two of them left the library.

"What are we going to do?" Cordelia asked so suddenly, so gently, that everyone looked up at her in surprise.

"I don't know," Giles honestly replied.

In a cabin in the woods…

Well, the basement at least…

"I have the oddest sense of déjà vu," Buffy said as she slid on a black boot.

Spike gave out a short laugh. "In the habit of destroying houses during sex, are you, pet?" His mouth twisted in a grin.

Buffy thought about it for a second. "No," she answered. "Like my new pants? I got them yesterday." She turned about in her tight black leather pants.

"Love them," he said, still lying naked on the floor.

"They're what one wears when one has gone evil."

Spike's smile faded. "If you're Angelus," he scoffed and got up to put his own pants.

"I'm experimenting in evil fashion," she added distractedly. "Aha!" Finding her shirt, she put it on. Whirling around, Buffy went to Spike and circled her arms around his waist. "I love it when you're jealous." She kissed his bottom lip, then like the ever-moving whirlwind she had become, flitted away.

Back at the library…

"I'm going to leave Sunnydale," Giles said abruptly. "I'll stay until Faith's new Watcher arrives, then I'm returning to England. My slayer is…dead. And I'm to blame." He choked on the words and they hung painfully in the air.

No one disagreed with him about that.

"No." Xander spoke without intonation. He sat at the table, looking down at his hands. "Giles, you are going to leave now. First reason is because you'll probably be Buffy's first target. Second, because as soon as Faith can see past her grief she's going to kill you. Third…" his words stumbled, "b-because if I have to spend one more minute in this library with you, I'll kill you myself." Xander met Giles' eyes coldly.

Giles mouth widened in shock, but he quickly regained himself and nodded. Cordelia's eyes were wide as she turned her head back and forth to each of them.

Without the heart to say another word, Giles turned and walked out of the library, the ice pack pitifully pressed to his swollen, purpling face.

But when Angel tried to slip away, Xander surprised everyone, including himself, when he said, "Wait. We're going to need your help."

Angel went closer to where Xander sat. "What for?"

"Look, you know I hate you, and I certainly don't trust you. You've given us all plenty of reason not to. But the truth is you'd make good bait. Besides, you'll know how her mind works…considering you taught her everything she needs to know about being cruel last year."

At this point Oz stood up. He threw a questioning glance to Xander, then said, "I'm bailing."

"Me too," Cordelia added. "Walk me to the parking lot, just in case?"

"Sure."

As they were walking out, Xander glanced back to Angel, who to his chagrin had fled into the night. Now, he alone in the Scooby headquarters, and everything they had worked for was broken. And she was gone.

"Oh Buffy…"

In that wacky cabin…

"I'm not jealous," Spike affirmed, lying through his teeth.

"Spike, you've told me, flat out, that you're jealous of Angelus." Giggle. "That rhymed." Buffy, who finally stopped her circular search of the room, suddenly said, "I've just remembered that I won't show up in mirrors!!!! Truly the fate of the damned!!!" She sighed dramatically and watched Spike gawking at her, making her slightly amused. "But that is nothing compared to what we're going to do to all my old pals.

"Willow's slender little neck is going snap like a twig. I'm going to stare into Xander's deep brown eyes while I let you torture him to death." Her eyes glinted at Spike's sharp intake of breath. She continued. "Cordelia's blood will run in rivers and Giles, oh dear old Giles will suffer worst of all." Buffy's wicked enthusiasm had caught on to Spike.

"And Angelus?" he queried.

"Angel, you mean?" Buffy shrugged. "Torturing his poor little soul to the point of madness, for starters…" The image of evil Angelus flashed into her mind. She could turn him, should the opportunity arise. Not that it'd be wise to let Spike in on that plan.

"Best of all," she continued, "is what's coming. Something big, and evil, and wonderful…I woke up as a vampire, feeling connected to some larger evil, I knew what I had to do and…but now it's fading in my mind. Don't you feel it?" Buffy seemed to tremble slightly. The feeling had been creeping around the back of her mind, but when she had voiced those words she knew they were true.

"I'm feeling a lot of things, pet," was all Spike could say.

"I'm sure."

And still meanwhile…

Fred has lost her pursuers and is at her cave, finally.

"Gee, that was close," she says a bit hysterically. She takes a bite of apple and remembers tacos. "I wonder if I can make tacos out of bark." She takes up her glasses and chalk and begins to work it out.

They're all trying to work out something.

A/N: Phew! That seemed longer than usual. But don't worry, my minscule but loyal fan base, vamp!Buffy shall return in full force next time, and boy does she have some torturing to do! Did you see that to do list up there? No one works as hard as Buffy,well maybe except for her boyfriend and sexy sidekick Spike! But the real question here is will treebark tacos hit it off? In this alternate reality, will Fred open the first Pylean taco stand and make her fortune? Eh, I don't know...