For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1
Chapter 18: Of Kids and Grown-ups
(Buffy's POV)
We are halfway to Giles's place by the time Oz mentions the possibility that he too may have been affected by... whatever it is that has all the grown-ups around acting with all the maturity of sixteen year-olds, and I turn to Willow who has suddenly gone pale. I know the feeling. I left my mom with him... and if the fact that she voluntarily handed me her car keys is anything to go by, then we are in trouble. I really need Giles right now but I have the sinking feeling that I'm about to get a taste of Ripper instead.
I take a moment to explain to Oz that Giles at sixteen is not 'a pretty together guy' as he had first assumed but rather a 'bad magic, hates the world, ticking time-bomb kind of guy' and I see the look of disbelief on Faith's face. Yups, I can totally relate, I felt the same way when I first found out about it... I mean we are talking about my watcher here, the dependable guy I'm supposed to be able to rely on to tell me what to slay and what not to slay. When Oz mentions that then my mom is probably in a lot of trouble I floor it, not caring about Willow's increasingly obvious green complexion.
I'm too worried about my mom to notice a car speeding toward us and before I know it we've been hit, hard, but luckily no one got hurt... or rather no one got seriously hurt and right now that'll have to do. We get out of the car and have a good look around. It's like nothing about this night makes any sense at all. People who usually have the common sense to stay indoors after dark --even if they won't acknowledge why they are doing it-- are out roaming the streets without a care in the world and yet I can see no snacking vamps, and I do mean none at all. That just doesn't quite add up, no matter how I look at it. This should be a vampire's paradise, so where are the walking leeches?
I see Snyder unwrapping a candy bar and then someone comes along and snatches it from his hand. The little troll doesn't seem to be all that happy about that one... in fact he seems to be over-reacting badly. I turn to Faith and I see she's come to the same conclusion I have. We have a what, now we just need to come up with a how, a who and a why. What I do know is that this --whatever this is-- is not good now and the results probably won't be pretty either. I try asking Snyder where the bars came from but he doesn't really know. I tell Oz and Willow to find Xander and Cordelia, head to the library and take care of research while I go with Faith and Snyder to look for some answers at the source but first we must go to Giles's place.
After a couple of tries I manage to restart the car and we finally make it to my watcher's place with no further incident... except that as soon as we arrive we realize that Giles and my mom are not there and I know that's so not of the good right now. I shake my head, knowing that no matter how much I want to go looking for them we really can't afford to waste our time so we head for the candy factory.
When we arrive we are greeted by a rather disturbing scene. Hordes of waiting adults have somehow gathered here and there are a bunch of guys throwing candy bars at them. If we had any doubts that the candy was behind this mess they are gone now... of course not everyone seems to be focused on the candy, there's a couple that seems to be far more interested in each other than on what's going on around them. For a moment I wonder if I should tell them to get a room or if I should ignore them. I just hope they are making out with the 'right' person, otherwise they'll end up hating themselves once this thing is over. I mean, I know it's none of my business but I was there when my dad started cheating on my mom and getting caught in the middle of that one was so not fun. I'm still thinking about that when our little lovebirds turn around and I can almost feel my jaw hit the floor. I can barely stutter the words 'Giles' and 'mom' but that's enough to get Faith's attention, she turns around and before I know it she's gapping right next to me... good to know I wasn't the only one who was caught totally off guard by that scene.
It takes us a few seconds to gather our wits enough to interfere, of course they are ignoring us... I guess they are kind of busy right now. Eventually Faith pulls Giles's arm while I handle my mom and we drag them away from the crowd. That gets their attention though I can clearly see that they are not happy at having been interrupted. I so cannot believe this is happening.
I suddenly realize that my mom is wearing a coat she didn't own last time I checked --a coat she'd never let me get away with wearing-- not to mention the fact that it's still got the price tags attached... why do I get the feeling that she didn't exactly pay for it? Anyway, I try to dismiss those thoughts as I ask her if she knows me, I'm relieved when she does. I turn around to make sure Faith's still got Giles under control. I can see that he wants to challenge her but luckily even in his current condition he seems to be able to recognize her as a slayer and he has the common sense to hold back.
I look at Faith, hoping that maybe she'll have the first clue of what to do but she seems to be feeling just as lost as I am. All I can think of doing is trying to keep my mom and Giles from getting their hands on any more candy --or each other-- but even I know that's not the answer. We need to figure out what's going on here but in order to do that we are going to need Giles's help, not Ripper's but Giles's.
Keeping them away from the candy works for exactly two minutes but after that they decide that they don't have to listen to us, that they are the adults... now if only we could get them to start acting as such. In a desperate attempt to get their attention I point to the huge dent in my mom's car, hoping to get her mad enough at me, but the thing that causes her to freak out is the thought that she could have bought such a car in the first place while Giles is laughing his head off at her expense. This is so much worse than I had originally thought... and let me just state for the record that I wasn't feeling particularly optimistic before I came to this latest realization. I turn to Faith and I can see that she too is shaking her head in disbelief.
I try to order Giles to take my mom home but he's refusing to listen... which come to think of it may actually be a good thing considering how the two of them are acting. Well, that doesn't really make much of a difference, I know I have to put an end to this and that means I'm going to have to go tackle this situation at the source. I go up to the loading platform and stop the two guys who are giving the candy away... did I mention that that doesn't go too well with our little crowd of addicts? Well it doesn't, but luckily Faith's there to keep them from getting too out of hand.
Eventually I manage to drag my mom with me as I make my way into the factory itself and Faith follows us dragging Giles along in a similar fashion while Snyder insists on tagging along like a puppy. I scan my surroundings and almost immediately I'm rewarded with an answer to my questions concerning who could possibly be behind this one... come to think of it, it should have been kind of obvious. In fact I probably would have seen it coming from a mile away if I hadn't been so distracted by the thought of my mom stuck in a lip-lock of death with my watcher and all that... anyway, I can barely keep myself from groaning as I realize that the one behind this neat little mess is none other than Ethan Rayne.
