For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1
Chapter 36: Family Portrait
(Buffy's POV)
All I can think of as we make our way back home is 'how could he do this to me?' I trusted Giles but he poisoned me, he weakened me, he took away... never mind. Now is so not the time for this. I knew there was something weird going on, I knew something wasn't quite right from the moment he moved out a few days ago but I never expected something like this. At first I thought he had had a fight with mom but now I'm not so sure. There were some details that didn't quite add up, details that have never added up, like why he asked us to keep the fact that he and mom had gotten married a secret, but now it's all starting to make sense.
He knew what he was going to do to me, he knew about it all along and he didn't say anything. The thing is that now that this has happened I can't keep myself from wondering if my mom knew, if she went along with him. If there was no fight he must have given her a reason for moving out. Did she know what he was going to do to me? Did she willingly go along with him? I believe so, I don't want to believe it but I can't get the idea out of my mind. I need to find my mom, I need to talk to her... I need to know because right now I don't understand, I don't understand any of this.
I thought I could trust Giles, I thought he would never betray me.
When I came back he was there for me even when mom wasn't. I don't want to hate Giles but I can't forgive him, not for what he did to me. He betrayed me and I can't stop thinking about it. I trusted him and now...
I can feel that Faith is with me and I can tell she's worried but there's nothing I can do about that right now, it's all just too much. To make matters worse the first thing I see as soon as I walk in the kitchen is that stupid flower arrangement my father sent me. A stupid reminder of just how stupid I was to believe that he was actually going to be here for me.
I really should have known better than that. The creep didn't want me even before the divorce, why should that have changed now? I look at the flowers for a moment. I can tell that the arrangement is an expensive one, one that is supposed to be pretty but to me it seems incredibly ugly as it sits there, mocking me. I can't take it any more and with one sweep I toss it in the garbage where it belongs... and then I realize that there is something wrong here, something that's incredibly wrong and goes a lot deeper than Giles's betrayal. The front door is open and here in Sunnydale, especially after sunset, that is most definitely not a good sign.
I call for my mom but , just as I expected, there is no answer. Dreading what we are going to find, Faith and I approach that door. That's when we notice that there is something there, something that doesn't belong, something that is so deceptively ordinary. I pick it up with a feeling of dread, knowing that whatever it is, it's not likely to be a good thing but nothing could possibly have prepared me for the terror in my mother's eyes as she is being held by Kralik and a challenge, just one word: "COME".
I wonder how he got her. I know it's a stupid question, I know it doesn't really matter, I know the only thing that matters right now is getting her back but I can't keep myself from wondering. Last year something like this was my greatest fear. I was all too aware of the fact that my mom didn't know what went bump in the night, that she didn't know better than to open the door or invite a stranger in but I thought I had finally managed to get the safety rules through her head... apparently not.
The good news is that at least I know who has her and, more importantly, I know where he is. I rush toward my room with Faith right beside me. I know I can't leave my mother in his hands but I don't know what I'm going to do. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't even be all that worried, it would be just another vampire in need of a serious dusting, trying to use my family against me but this time around it's different. I'm weak and that means I can't just go in there and beat him to a pulp no matter how much I want to.
For a moment I consider the possibility of calling Giles. That is still my first instinct in spite of everything that's happened, in spite of what he did to me, but I can't bring myself to do it. Yes, my mom may be his wife but all of this is his fault. If he hadn't...
As I start shoving as many weapons as I possibly can into my weapons bag I feel a hand on my shoulder and when I turn around I see Faith, who is looking about as worried as I am. True, she still has her strength but that doesn't mean she's any less scared. I know her well enough by now to know that she doesn't let people in easily but when she does she is terrified of losing them... and I also know exactly what she saw another vampire do to her first watcher. I know this can't be easy for her, just as it is anything but easy for me, but the good news is that we are in this together... and with a little luck Kralik doesn't know that just yet.
He was brought here to fight the slayer and he is probably not expecting to be confronted with an 's'... funny how much difference one tiny little letter can make, how it changes the odds. That may give us a bit of an edge, even though I'm feeling incredibly weak. In fact I know that under the circumstances the most logical thing would be for me to step back and let Faith handle it, after all she is at full power and I'm not, but I can't do it. Not when he has my mother.
I know I can trust Faith, I know she is my sister and that means that my mom is her mom, even though at times it is still a little weird to think of it in those terms, especially because she doesn't use the m-word... not that I blame her. I guess after meeting Cristina I can understand why for her the m-word is a four letter word with one letter missing. The thing is that I know Faith is as afraid of mom getting hurt as I am... as Giles should have been.
I still can't believe he did that to me. I trusted him and he stabbed me in the back. These past few months I had believed that I finally had the family I had always wanted. I was happy, I had my mom, a sister and a dad who actually cared for me, who was there for me when I needed him... now that's a laugh. I shake my head, trying to get myself to stop thinking about it, at least for the time being. Yes, Giles screwed me over, big time, but right now I have other priorities, like getting to my mother, like getting her out of the mess she's in. I can always worry about Giles later.
When I'm done packing my bag I realize that it is almost too heavy for me to carry and that is another shock. It is true that it is stuffed with more weapons than I usually carry but I hate the fact that I am being confronted with yet another reminder of just how weak, how helpless, I am.
I don't want to leave my weapons behind, I don't know what's going to happen or what am I going to need to bring Kralik down, especially now, but I've also been doing this long enough to know that if it impedes my movements any weapon is a liability rather than an asset... and I also know that while bringing the appropriate gear into battle is critical the fact remains that any weapon you bring into the battlefield is one more weapon your enemy might take from you, one more weapon your enemy can turn against you.
I feel Faith's coming up to stand behind me and then she is there, helping me unpack my weapons, helping me to choose the ones I am most likely to need, narrowing things down to a couple of stakes, some crosses and holy water... items that, for the most part, can be used against a vampire but can't really be turned against a human. I wanted to take my crossbow but then I realized that it is just too dangerous. He could take it away from me and with the way my aim's been acting up that is not a risk I can afford to take so I reluctantly hand it over to Faith... and then, without a word, we walk out of the house.
