Chapter Eight - Acceptance
A/N: It has taken me some time to get to a point where I could work on this again, but it finally happened. If you are just tuning in, please read the earlier parts first. If you have been a regular viewer, you may wish to re-read a few of the most recent chapters, as a refresher.
I have decided that, since it does take me quite a while for updating, that Chapter 8 shall be posted in "chunks" (duck, Bethesda). Chapters will be listed individually on and each day will be posted in about two-three week intervals, depending on how busy I am. With this setup, Chapter 8 will last for...bunches of weeks.
Any and all credit I have goes to my two awesomest betas – Alaidh, who handles the proofreading and the DA side of things, and Tallera, who handles additional proofreading, and the Buffy side of things. Any change that they drop goes to the rest of you in the wings who have been so supportive of me.
This chapter is dedicated to all of those who aren't quite sure where they belong...
March 12, 2001
"I'm going to kill her," Buffy said through clenched teeth as she burst through the door of the Magic Box, the bell jingling wildly.
Giles glanced up at her from the book he was reading, peering at her over the rim of his glasses. "Who?" he asked. The answer could be a different person any given day of the week.
"Max. Who else? I bet I could take her. Except I wouldn't put it past her to fight dirty..." Buffy trailed off as she pondered her best mode of attack.
"Buffy..." Giles warned.
"What?"
Giles took his glasses off and began to clean them. "As much as I realize that you are most likely trying to be humorous in the face of your frustrations, this is not the best way to go about it. Need I remind you8212;"
"Yeah, yeah. 'Don't kill the chimera.' Giles, we haven't heard from Mickey—"
"Maurice."
"Maurice since he called with his cryptic message. Isn't there some kind of statute of limitations on this sort of thing? Warning of doom and death, time goes by without a word, and voila! I'm allowed to kill her." Buffy gave Giles her most charming grin, hoping he would see the bonus of her side.
Giles sighed very Britishly. "I hate to venture into the trap that I am surely headed directly towards, but...why would you want to kill Max?"
"She—"
"I'm going to kill her," Logan said through clenched teeth as he burst through the door of the Magic Box, sending the bell jingling wildy. He gave his wheels an angry push as he rolled down the ramp, which had recently been installed on half of the front stairs.
"Dear God. It's contagious," Giles mumbled as he rolled his eyes.
"Hey, wait! I was first in line! I called killing her weeks ago," Anya piped up from behind the counter, where she was working on the store's ledgers. "I don't know about where you're from, buster, but in this time there are no cuts!"
Buffy looked at Logan quizzically. "You seemed okay with it before. Why the sudden team switch?"
Logan raised a wry eyebrow as he glanced at Buffy. "Just because I can deal with it doesn't mean I like to."
"Yeah, but still..."
"Would either of you mind telling me what is going on here, before I start up a vote to kill the two of you?" Giles groused at them.
Buffy and Logan looked at each other sheepishly for a minute. Buffy sighed. "We don't really want to kill her, Giles."
He sighed and smiled. "I'm aware of that."
"I still want to kill her," Anya offered.
"I'm quite aware of that, too, Anya," Giles said without daring to turn and look at her. "But obviously the two of you have found some reason to be miffed with the girl."
"She got in a bar fight last night," Buffy finally admitted.
Giles blinked at her few times, waiting for the punch line. When none was forthcoming, he asked, "So? As I recall, she got in a bar fight her first night here."
Logan shook his head. "Actually that was a fist fight."
"What's the difference?" Giles questioned in frustration.
"The difference is," Max replied from the entryway to the shop, "that chairs aren't often thrown in a fist fight."
Giles, Buffy, and Logan turned to look at her. Buffy and Logan blushed at the realization that she'd probably heard them. Giles continued to look mildly perplexed at the entire situation. He glanced at the door briefly before returning his attention to Max, noting that in addition to her usual jeans and leather jacket, she'd added a pair of dark sunglasses and a baseball cap. "I would assume that the reason these two are plotting your assassination is because you had a chair thrown at you last night."
Max shrugged. "Not exactly." She pulled off the cap and glasses. "It's because I got hit with the chair that got thrown at me."
Giles slowly stood in astonishment as he took in the sight of the massive purple and black bruise that extended from the right side of her forehead down to parts of her jaw. There was a long, thin gash that ran the entire length of her cheek. Giles walked over to get a better glance, but Max quickly replaced the glasses and cap. "Why did you not move if a chair was thrown at you? You certainly have the capabilities."
Max huffed a sigh, rolling her eyes behind her glasses. "Because if I had dodged the chair, I would have been knifed in the gut, Giles. Not quite as easy to shake off." She brushed by him and walked down the steps, giving only the barest glance at Anya before turning a chair at the main table backwards and straddling it. "Look, I didn't expect this to happen. Someone was doing some business that went sideways, and the whole place got involved in the aftermath. I had no choice but to get involved."
"You were lucky you didn't get killed," Giles grumbled under his breath.
Max pulled down her glasses to glare at him, not appreciating his tone. "I'm lucky I got out before the cops got there."
"Being thrown in jail would be infinitely more preferable to being thrown in a grave!" Giles was getting annoyed, not understanding why Max wasn't getting his point.
Logan saw the color begin to rise in Max's face, and knew that if he didn't intervene, she was likely to say something he'd regret. He moved over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, as much to keep her in place, as it was to show his support. "Max," he whispered sternly before turning his attention to the other man. "Giles, Max understands that you are simply worried about her safety, and she will do her best not to be killed in the time she's here, right, Max?" Not getting a response, he gave her shoulder a sharp squeeze.
"Hey! Yeah. Right." Max looked at Logan and frowned. "You don't have to squeeze so hard," she murmured testily.
"And, Max, Giles does realize that although you do recognize the inherent danger in the mysterious message he received, you can't be expected to live in a box until it is clarified. And that includes doing the things you normally do, right, Giles?"
Giles didn't reply to Logan's patronizing tone, until Buffy, standing next to him, kicked him sharply in the ankle. "Ow! Yes, of course I realize that. But—"
"Good," Logan interrupted him. "Now that that's settled, we can all move on, right?"
Max and Giles both glared at Logan. "Right," they replied in unison.
Buffy tried her best not to laugh at all of them. Her chest was beginning to hurt from the effort. Instead, she took a seat at the table next to Max, and looked at Logan. "You did that well. Just like Mom."
Max blanched. "Oh, no..." she whispered.
Buffy caught her train of thought. "How are you going to manage to avoid this one? You were lucky that Mom wasn't home this morning when you walked in that door. Once she sees your face..."
"Maybe I can just... stay away. Hang elsewhere until this heals up?" Max offered, thinking quickly.
Buffy shook her head. "You may heal fast, but that still looks like it'll take a few days. Mom's had that Mom Radar locked on you since that first morning you were here. You're gone for too long, she's gonna know something's wrong and hunt you down."
With a mildly panicked look in her eyes, Max turned to Anya in desperation. "Anya, maybe I could stay with—"
"Absolutely not. I'd rather kiss a rabbit."
Logan couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, Max. You might as well just face up to her," he teased.
"No."
Giles sighed, pushing his earlier concern aside. "We have some herbs here that might help with the healing, and I could make a salve for that cut," he offered, an olive branch for peace.
Max warily narrowed her eyes at him.
Buffy caught the look, and tried to assuage Max's concerns. "It's cool, Max. He's used some of the stuff on me before. It really helps."
Max nodded and stood, walking with him to the storage room in the back of the shop. "I did get this bruise on my stomach that kinda hurts. Do you think you can help with that, too?" Buffy and Logan heard her ask as they walked away.
There was a pause before Giles exclaimed, "Dear God! Is that a footprint?"
Buffy and Logan looked at each other and laughed.
It lay on the table, unmoving. She ran a long red fingernail down its bulky frame. But even with its stature, she wasn't sure that it was worthy to be deemed "male" or "female." What it was...was a castoff. An amalgam of scraps and castoffs that had itself become a castoff.
Until her minions found its mangled body and brought it to her. What a wonderful present!
It needed a little repair, of course, but nothing she couldn't handle...with the assistance of a minor incantation.
She looked down at the shimmering red gown she wore to celebrate this special occasion. She smoothed out a teeny wrinkle, making a mental note to kill her tailor, and then turned her attention back to her gift. She lifted a hand and signaled the troll-like beings that worshipped her, and they began to chant as she spoke to it.
"Your purpose before...doesn't matter. Your purpose now...is like that of all others. To do my bidding." She grinned, her brilliant white teeth standing out against the contrast of the blood red lips, which perfectly coordinated with her dress. Obviously. "Of course, that's not really the difficulty here, is it? I mean, who wouldn't want to do my bidding? It's just those select few who don't get it! But you, my wonderful little undead jigsaw puzzle...you're my solution to that pesky little problem."
She looked up from the creature, and saw that her minions had stopped chanting, and were now looking at her expectantly. She leaned down next to one gray ear, and whispered just one word.
"Awaken."
March 14, 2001 - coming February 20.