See Part I for disclaimer and details. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story, with an extra special thanks to those who do it regularly – you know who you are. Please, keep 'em coming! I'm still finding it hard to believe that this fanfic has gotten so many reviews, myself. Who knows, maybe it'll beat the record set by that Buffy/Angel/X-men Movie fanfic I wrote five years ago, called "This Changing World". But enough about all that – on with the story!
Part VIII: The Calm Before The Storm
Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. Not long after lunchtime
( Americans. Bloody American teenagers! Why must they do such horrible things to their books? ) a very irate Giles thought to himself as he bitterly placed an overdue and somewhat tattered return onto his pile to be shelved.
As a boy named Warren left the library after handing in that particular book on robotics, the Watcher calmed himself down and went back to the study table again. The British guy then sipped his cup of tea before he opened up the volume he'd been looking at before, and started researching the Harvest once again.
It was times like this that Giles really missed England and the facilities of the British Museum. Well, he'd only been in the U.S. for something less than two months, so that was perfectly understandable. It was always hard to move away from all that you'd held familiar to become the Watcher to the Slayer, and especially THIS particular Chosen One at that.
Deep down, Giles suspected he'd been assigned the job only because of his family ties within the organization, and because the betting pool back home had it that this girl wouldn't last another year in service. And sometimes, Giles also suspected that a few people high up in the organization believed that he would get himself killed on the Hellmouth as well, and if so they would get rid of the annoyance with a tainted past whilst keeping their own hands as clean as a whistle.
( Damned Council politics... ) Giles grumbled to himself absently. ( Well, if nothing else, at least I'm going to be spared from being part of all that for a while! )
But then Rupert frowned as he recalled the first entry into his Watcher's diary that he'd made not long ago. 'The Slayer is not at all what I'd expected, upon meeting her and her twin brother who somehow receives the Slayer dreams and sensations in her stead. Both are wilful and occasionally insolent, and the boy's abuse of the English language in particular is such that I can only understand every other sentence.'
Giles took another sip of his tea, before starting on the book again. And suddenly, his attention was captured by a passage about the Harvest that was somewhat difficult to translate. Muttering to himself Rupert said, "'For they will gather and be gathered. From the Vessel pours life'. P-pours life?"
He absently turned the page back to the picture of Satan feeding power to a man. "'On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice, it will come'."
Giles quickly got up and checked his calendar. ( The winter solstice was just a couple of weeks ago, yes, yes, uh, the full moon was on Christmas Eve – and the current moon phase is... ) "Oh dear God. That's tonight!"
Sunnydale High Computer Lab, Sunnydale. The same time
Cordelia was uncharacteristically quiet, as she half-heartedly attempted to do her computer assignment. "Damn it! Why do we even have to write these stupid programs? Isn't that what nerds are for?" she suddenly growled to herself.
Harmony was seated right next to her, and the blonde girl just shrank away from the venom in her friend's tone. She knew something was wrong with Cordelia, but Ms. Kendall simply couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was.
And Ms. Chase wasn't the type to just ask, not when she was in this sort of dark mood.
Cordy's thoughts once again slid away from how to get the computer syntax to align with the rest of the program, and against her will focused on what had happened in the library a short while ago.
Try as she might, Cordelia didn't get it. WHY had that kiss happened? And why afterwards had she turned around and bolted out of the library as fast as she could go? She wasn't the type to do that sort of thing! Cordy had wondered more than once why she hadn't just slapped the little pervert then and there, and warned him never to try that again...
But the answer to that was, unfortunately, horribly simple. The feeling of Xander's lips on hers...the girl had never experienced anything quite like it before. That kiss had almost literally CRACKLED with intensity and passion, on both their parts.
( I still don't get it. I've been kissing boys ever since I became a teenager! What the hell makes this one so special? ) Cordelia wondered.
The thought of it all just being a case of being tempted by something she couldn't have had occurred to the Chase girl. But Queen C had quickly dismissed that as a possibility. After all, when that hunk Darryl Epps had died six months ago due to a rock-climbing accident, sure she'd been hurt from the realization the football hero would never know what a prize she really was. But that was almost nothing, just a fancy that Cordelia was sure she'd outgrow in a few more months.
This, however...this was different.
While Darryl Epps had simply ignored her as an annoying freshman back then, here and now Xander Summers actively disliked her. And from what Cordy had seen, his juvenile sophomore attitude wasn't likely to improve anytime soon. So, why the hell did a part of her want that boy to think he was going to need CPR after she was done with him – once they ended up alone again?
( I mean, just yesterday, I was wanting some cute senior as my new boyfriend! Oh...Xander's going to be poison on my social position around here if I do hook up with him. I'm already sure of that much! ) the young woman suddenly had an epiphany as her hearing suddenly picked up Harmony chatting with the boy sitting next to her.
"Are you going to the Bronze tonight?"
He shrugged. "It's Friday night, right? Plus, no cover charge. And it's not like there's any other cool place to go in this town, is there?"
"Guess not..." Harmony shrugged back. "It's just that last night, that FREAK Buffy Summers? She attacked me there with a wooden stick outside the bathroom!"
"Really?" Cordelia asked, injecting herself into the conversation.
Harmony at once included her in what they were saying. "Oh, yeah! I mean, could she be any weirder? I swear, that girl was just about to kill me!"
"What's her deal?" the other student asked as Cordelia looked at her friend, wondering if she was exaggerating just a bit.
"She's crazy. Probably runs in the family, too! I mean, did you hear the latest about her brother? Apparently he was involved in some sort of gang fight outside the Bronze last night! And that business with his old high school gym?" Harmony demanded.
"What about it?" Cordelia asked immediately, wincing at the 'gang fight' reference.
"After it happened, he left for Las Vegas! And then when Xander Summers eventually came back to Hemery High? Booted!" the blonde said excitedly.
"Man. He sounds like a psycho loony," the boy named Cody shook his head.
"No he isn't. I mean, you don't even know him," Willow said, looking up from her workstation. She had finished the assignment ages ago and was now surfing a newspaper archive web site, discovering to her horror just how long mysterious deaths had been occurring in her home town. But when she'd heard the 'psycho loony' crack Willow had felt the need to speak up.
"Excuse me? This is a private conversation!" Harmony lashed out at once, glad to have such an easy target for today's barbs. "Only people who actually matter in life are allowed to take part in it!"
Willow turned away, instantly averting her eyes to the ground. Harmony and Cordelia had constantly been picking on her for the last eight years, more or less. Thus, the redhead knew when to shut up and look the other way if she didn't want one or both of them to eventually reduce her to tears.
Luckily, Harmony was distracted when Cordelia asked her a question, "Harm, is this part supposed to be 'pattern run' or 'go to end'?"
The girl looked over at Cordelia's computer screen, her face a mask of bewildered concentration. "Uh...pattern run, I think."
"You think? Willow!" Cordelia instantly demanded, noticing that the girl had gone to get her printouts. "Get over here! I need somebody who actually knows what she's talking about!"
Ms. Rosenberg obediently came over and checked the program. "It's 'go to end'," she said carefully.
"I thought so!" Cordelia glared for a moment at her so-called best friend, who wisely decided to look elsewhere. She made a few final adjustments and sighed, "Finally, the nightmare ends!" The brunette girl then glanced at the brainy genius, "Save it for me, will you? I need to go to the bathroom!"
Willow just sighed as her fingers danced across the keyboard, and Cordelia got up and left. Harmony was distracted as Cordy barked out a trademark angry comment to a couple of students in her way, and as Willow began to depart the blonde asked her, "Hey, how did you save it? I didn't see!"
"Shift-Control-Deliver," the Jewish girl said simply, as she headed for the door herself.
"Uh, oh...yeah, there's shift, there's the ctrl button...but where the hell's deliver?" And unfortunately for her, Harmony spotted the 'Del' key. When she pressed it the screen went black, as her computer program was deleted.
Harmony's instant loud scream could easily be heard all the way down the corridor.
The Girls' Bathroom, Sunnydale High. A few minutes later
Cordelia came into the room, and headed straight for the mirror. As she got out her blush and brushed some onto her cheeks, the girl thought to herself, ( Well, let's see, winter formal's coming up. I wonder, which guy should I bless with my presence to escort me to that? )
The girl started to contemplate the possibilities, as she put the blush away and took out her lip gloss. ( There's Steve. Or maybe Mitch. I suppose Larry's also a possibility, even if his head's as thick as Daddy's private vault! Or maybe... )
But Cordelia instantly rejected that possibility, even before the thought had fully formed. ( No. There is NO WAY I'm going to that dance with Alexander Summers! )
Suddenly the sound of a toilet being flushed was heard, and Buffy came out of one of the stalls as Cordy put away her lip gloss. "Uh, hi," the Slayer said in surprise as she went over to wash her hands. "I'm Buffy Summers-"
"I know. I'm Cordelia Chase," the young woman said bluntly.
"I know. Nice to be formally introduced, though," Buffy said simply as she turned off the taps and turned to face the taller brunette.
"Is there something else you wanna say?" the Chase girl asked upon noticing her stare.
"Well, I sorta have a question. Are you gonna be dating my brother now? 'Cause, y'know, I saw you guys fighting and kissing in the library earlier," the Chosen One asked with a small smirk that quickly vanished.
Cordelia was stunned. ( She knows? Oh dear God, who else knows? ) "Who else knows about that?" the schoolgirl quickly demanded in no uncertain terms.
Buffy blinked. "Uh, I haven't told anyone if that's what you mean. But Jesse and Willow witnessed it all too, of course."
"OH MY GOD!" Cordelia cried out in horror, as visions of being the object of student ridicule danced through her head. "My life is over! RUINED!"
"What? Why?" Buffy looked honestly perplexed. "I mean, Jesse's so in love with you that you could be an axe murderer, and he'd still never mention it to anyone! And Willow's so scared of you, she...well, y'know. Say, what's the story with that? How come you and your friends are so mean to her?"
"None of your business," Cordelia said frostily, but with a definite edge of relief.
"Well, then, I'll tell you what is my business." Cordelia reflexively stepped back as Buffy's voice suddenly got a harder tone, "And that is looking after Xander's best interests. You hurt him, and I'll hurt you. Clear?"
"Oh, what, am I supposed to be scared of you now?" Cordy sneered at the shorter blonde.
"If you're smart? Yeah," Buffy said, nodding her head.
Ms. Chase looked at her new social enemy carefully. "Are you and Xander in some sort of gang? But how's that possible? I mean, you guys just moved here like yesterday!"
"We're not in a gang," the Summers girl snorted in annoyance. "Look, this is ridiculous, there's no point trying to beat around the bush. How much do you remember about what really happened in that alley last night?"
Cordelia backed off again at once. "What do you mean?"
Buffy shrugged minutely. "Xander and I have no secrets from each other, it's a twin thing. He told me what happened after I got to the hospital last night, and like I said we all heard you guys talking in the library today. SO, how much do you remember?"
Cordy tried to fight off the bad memories. "Those two in the alley, I dunno what the hell was wrong with their faces...and Xander was babbling something about vampires and Slayers? Look, deep down – is he nuts?"
"No!" Buffy exclaimed in annoyance. "Xander's just...no. Just forget about it, all of it. Xander was right, it's really none of your concern. Okay?"
"I...I'm not sure I can do that," the brunette girl said falteringly. "Explain it to me?"
Buffy hesitated. "Did, uh, did Xander happen to mention how he dreamed about you? Before he even met you yesterday?"
"Oh, come on!" Cordelia exclaimed in disbelief. "And you believed him? That's the oldest line in the-"
"It's true! He also dreamed about your two attackers and the Bronze, even though at the time he'd never seen any of them before in his life."
The brunette stared at the Slayer in disbelief. "So what are you telling me? That your brother's some sort of psychic?"
"Kinda sorta," Buffy said evasively, as Cordelia tried to get a read of what she was really thinking. "Look, I better go. Just...watch out from now on, okay? Especially after dark, and especially at the Bronze!"
Study Hall, Sunnydale High. The same time
Xander sat on the couch as he put his books down on the table. ( Math sucks, ) he thought to himself grumpily. ( And I swear, Miss Jackson's totally out to get me! )
The young man exhaled, thinking about his interview with Principal Flutie earlier today. ( Gotta admit, I don't know how the heck he heard about what happened last night so quickly. What? Is all the major news around here strictly about Buffy and me? )
He eventually picked up a copy of the high school newspaper called the 'Sunnydale Sentinel' that had been laying on the table. The boy flipped through it, but then he frowned as he came across one particular page. ( What the hell-? Since when does a school paper have an obituary section? )
Xander put down the newspaper, and tried to think objectively about all that had happened lately.
It was times like this the young man remembered that he was still just a kid in spite of all the drastic changes in his life since last year. After the dreams had started, and he'd seen vampires like Lothos, Amilyn and Benny kill and mutilate young girls with a genuine smile on their faces, Xander had thought he'd grown up fast. Seen the worst the world had to offer, and emerged from it battered but unbowed.
But this whole business now with the Harvest, and what had happened last night and today with Cordelia Chase...well, Xander just wished that his father or Merrick was here so that he had another guy to discuss things with.
And at that point, of course, his sister's new friend Jesse came up to where Xander was sitting and said in no uncertain terms, "I need to talk to you. In private!"
Getting a very weird vibe off of this guy he'd just met last night, Xander simply nodded and followed him into an empty classroom. "Shut the door!" Jesse demanded.
As soon as he had done that Xander turned around – only to find Jesse's fist flying towards his face. "And stay away from Cordelia!"
Nearly a year of training by Merrick made the reflex almost automatic. Xander ducked under the blow, kicked his opponent in the right kneecap, and then grabbed the offending arm and wrenched it around Jesse's back.
"AGGGHHH! That hurts, you son of a bitch!" McNally screamed in pain and anger. Fortunately, the closed door prevented anyone outside from hearing him.
"You insult my mother like that again, and I'll break it in half! Now what's your problem, pal?" Xander demanded angrily.
"Lemme go!"
"Only if you give me your word that we'll talk, and not fight. I can't afford to get expelled or suspended here. So how about it?"
The agony was so bad that Jesse was in no position to do anything but nod helplessly. As Xander released him, the boy hobbled a short distance away as he painfully massaged his knee. ( You fucking bastard! )
"Okay. You mentioned something about Cordelia?" young Mr. Summers asked simply.
Jesse glared again. "How the hell did you do that to me, you asshole?"
Xander shrugged, ignoring the personal insult. "I've been trained to help fight things that are at least four times stronger than the average guy on the street for months now. Guess some of it's stuck, especially against a human."
Jesse stared as he suddenly contemplated the possibilities. "You think Giles will teach me as well, if I asked nicely?"
"Couldn't hurt to try. Now spill, what exactly did I do that got ya so mad just now?"
"You have to ask? YOU KISSED CORDELIA!" McNally ranted at his perceived competition for the girl's affections.
"How did you know about that?" Xander asked in confusion.
"Well, I saw you guys in the library then, going at it-"
Xander's eyes narrowed as he interrupted, "So Cordelia was right last night, you ARE her stalker?"
"NO!" Jesse denied it vehemently. But he quickly calmed down a little. "Uh...Wills, Buffy and I just happened to be upstairs, when...what happened, happened."
"I see," Xander said thoughtfully as he digested the implications of that. "So then, mind explaining how...Cordelia and me...is any of your business?"
"I love her!" Jesse said hotly, as the previous anger returned with a vengeance.
"I don't doubt it. But hey, I think we both know how she feels about you. Last night, that girl made it pretty damn clear in front of everybody. So again, how is what happened today in the library any of your business?"
"Do you love Cordy?" Jesse tried hard not to break his promise and attempt to punch this guy's lights out, even as his heart sagged at the bitter truth in Xander's words.
"Merciful Zeus, I just met her yesterday! And we started annoying each other from almost the very first moment. What do you think?" Xander said in exasperation.
"Uh, well...good! So, Xander, you're not planning to make her your girlfriend, right? What happened with you guys today was just a freak occurrence?" Jesse asked with a look of pure hope in his eyes.
The other boy rolled his eyes. "Great googley-moogley, Jesse, I don't know! I haven't even talked to her about anything that's happened between us yet. But you want my opinion? You could do better than her."
"How can you say that? She's Cordelia, man!" Jesse exclaimed in shock. "Haven't you got eyes? I mean, how could I possibly settle for anything less than perfection?"
Xander sighed, briefly thinking about his own romantic disasters in the past. He'd taken more than a few girls out to dinner and a movie, so to speak, but before the girl named Nicole Bobbitson – God rest her soul – there had never been anyone who hadn't hurt him one way or another.
"Look, Jesse, I'm not planning to beg Cor to accept me as her new boyfriend. On the other hand, I'm not going to actively avoid her if she comes looking for me either, comprende? Whatever happens, whatever Cordelia decides to do – that's totally up to her," Xander tried to explain his feelings.
"So, what exactly are you saying? 'May the best man win' type scenario?" Jesse frowned again.
Xander shrugged, "I guess."
Mr. McNally just stormed out of the room after glaring at his counterpart, still hobbling a little as he departed. Xander simply sighed once more at all the problems people created for themselves like this.
Looking at it objectively it was a damned shame about how these two young men, who had previously been destined to be as close as brothers, were now estranged adversaries – and all because of a woman...
Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. The same time
Giles looked up as Willow entered the library. "Buffy?"
"No, it's me," the redhead replied as she walked over to the table where Giles was researching.
"Oh, Willow. Did, did you find anything of interest?" the librarian asked as he adjusted his glasses.
"Yeah. I think, maybe...I surfed through the old newspapers, all the way back to around the time of that big earthquake back in '37? And for several months before that, there was this big rash of murders!" She handed him her printouts when the Watcher held out his hands for them.
"Great!" Giles enthused before he got a look at the papers. "Well, I mean, well, not, not 'great' in a good way, uh, um, uh, go on?"
Willow said simply, "Well, they sounded like the kind of stuff you were looking for." She flipped through the pages that Giles had laid aside. "Throats, blood..."
Giles could easily see her squeamish expression. He sighed, "It's all coming together. I rather wish it weren't."
"What do you mean?"
"The Harvest. It's tonight, I'm afraid."
"WHAT?" Willow screeched out, suddenly terrified. And so the countdown to the Master's ascension truly began.
TBC...