AN- Please excuse Buffy's damsel-in-distress thing. Up until now, she's never seen a demon or a vampire. I'd act this way if I saw people with bumpies too. And Sixpence None the Richer owns the lyrics.
"How the hell can you hear something like that?"
"Language, Summers. And perhaps my senses are a bit more attuned than yours. Please be quiet." He half dragged Buffy out of the room's center, towards the check-out desk.
"I don't understand. It's day time," he said half to himself.
"Uh, it's uber cloudy out, in case you haven't noticed. It's like night, practically," Buffy pointed out as she indicated the window to their left. Giles groaned. He peeked out the book-return slot as Buffy tried to squeeze in.
"I want to know what's happening too," she hissed. Giles looked at the ceiling.
"Having you here right now is fate's cruel joke."
"Maybe you should have been nicer that time when I forgot to return that book on the French Revolution."
"When was that?"
"Sophomore year."
"Did I ever get it back?"
"Yes. It may have been a tad late, but I returned it. It's not like anyone else wanted it all year."
"I'd love to continue this debate, Miss Summers, but there's someone in the building with us."
"Maybe it's the janitor. You know Mick, he's real clumsy. I bet he broke the window by accident."
"You be quiet, or I'm putting a shut-up spell on you."
"What would the school board say about that?" Giles rubbed his temples.
Someone threw open the library doors, and a group of people padded into the room. Buffy saw the harsh lights of the library glinting off a bleached-blonde head.
"Is that Spike?" The look Giles shot her made her want to curl up and hide. But even though she'd spoken, none of the men glanced her way.
"It'll be well-hidden, boys," Spike's voice boomed throughout the library. That was definitely the man from the alley. "Spread out and search. You pick up a little recreational reading, you answer to me stake." Steak? Buffy's head was swimming.
Spike wandered around as his 'boys' (tall, foreboding-looking men with greasy hair and a punk wardrobe) sifted through the aisles. The blonde approached where Buffy had been working, and saw the spell books stacked on the floor.
"Looks like Rupert left us some breadcrumbs," he said with a leer as he held up each individual book, and then tossed it over his shoulder when it wasn't the desired book. He looked up, and his eyes fell upon the back of the room, and the door marked PRIVATE. His black duster swirling around him, he moved towards it with the grace and stealth of a cat.
His hand touched the doorknob, and Buffy thought she saw a flash of pink emanate from the door.
"Rupert, Rupert. What games are you playing, mate?" He leaned his head in slowly, and immediately yanked it out. "Got ourselves a M'Fashnik, gents!" A roar sounded from the room as the men ran towards the source of the roar. Buffy noticed they'd donned masks that caused their faces to look scrunched-up. She couldn't see how the masks were staying on their faces, but they had to be masks. What else could they be?
Spike backed up as a creature emerged from the backroom. No, not a creature…a man in a scaly green mask. That was all it was. A really good mask. She gulped as Giles opened his arms, and let her crawl inside them.
The thing charged Spike, who laughed like a madman as he swung something shiny at him.
"Rupert hired you to protect his precious books in case a baddie came calling, didn't he, poofter?" The thing growled in response. Buffy squeezed her eyes tightly shut, feeling like a little kid afraid of the monster under her bed. Only instead of hiding under the bed, this monster was out in the open, making its presence known. She dared to peek out through the drop again, and saw that Spike had donned his own 'mask'. That was enough for her. She started crying.
Giles awkwardly comforted her as he watched the fight anxiously. Buffy heard crashes and growling, lots of growling. It seemed like it was coming from all the men/monsters now, in addition to the Umfashionick thing. She felt herself leave the ground as Giles hoisted her into his arms, and ran off while the fight held everyone's attention.
Giles didn't stop running until he got Buffy to the office. It was closed and dark by now, but there was still a sofa for her to sink down on.
"Stay here. Do not leave this spot. I'll come back for you," he ordered, before dashing off again. So frightened by the afternoon's events, Buffy could only muster one thought: 'Giles runs fast for an old geezer'.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Buffy awoke with a start and looked at her watch. For a second she believed the whole thing had been a dream, but then she saw the time and her surroundings. She'd dozed off for a whole ten minutes. It did nothing to calm her nerves.
She sat up, rubbing her eyes. She hated crying. She needed to get to the bathroom, and wash her face of any tell-teal tear signs. Ignoring Giles's warning, she headed for the ladies room. On the way there, however, she was stopped as she saw one of Spike's boys running down the hallway. She ducked into a classroom and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. They'd moved out of the library.
"From dust you are, to dust you shall return." Giles? Buffy chanced brining her eye to the crack of light in the door, as she saw Giles standing next to a water fountain, holding a…crossbow? They still had those? That was too weird. The man she'd seen running screamed, and Giles moved towards her door.
"Buffy, I told you not to leave the office," he said, anger evident in his voice. She looked up at him, and tried to shut the door. "Stop it Buffy, I need you to go back."
"Why-why can't I just go home?" she sniffed. It was strange seeing the weird-but-passive librarian holding a weapon of any sort.
"It's clear to me that I have a bit more explaining to do. Please go back, Buffy. I can't protect you and fight them off."
"So you're not on their side? You're one of the good guys?" He chuckled a little.
"Yes, I'm one of the good guys. I'll explain later, Buffy. Hide in the office." Buffy nodded and scurried off past a pile of dust as Spike rounded a corner.
"That was mighty clever, Rupert. I just keep underestimating you, eh?"
"It will be your undoing, Bloody," Giles snarled.
"I must say, I was surprised. I knew you dabbled in magic, but I wasn't entirely prepared when I discovered who it was that possessed my dark book. Once again, kudos to the Protector." Their voices floated on to Buffy as she continued walking. What was a Protector? "My men have the book, so you can give up now."
"You're not men, you're monsters," Giles retorted.
"Roses by other names. I got what I came for, but you depleted half my crew, so I don't quite think it fair that you keep breathing." Buffy reached the office and hid under a table, the closing door shutting off their voices.
She waited about twenty minutes before Giles came to get her.
"It's all over, Buffy. The got the book, but they're gone now."
"Did you kill them?" she asked, like they were talking about spiders.
"Some of them."
"Then you're a killer too." She shrunk away from him.
"They weren't human, Buffy. They were Vampires." She said nothing, than laughed.
"Good one, Giles. You're even crazier than I thought."
"Buffy, you saw their faces. You saw the demon. Something very powerful is happening right under your nose, but you've always ignored it, because you don't think these beings exist." She didn't come out from under the table.
Pulling up a chair inches from her, Giles sighed.
"You saw some scary things tonight. I guess I owe it to you to tell you what I know." He took a deep breath. "Yesterday you asked if I was practiced Wicca. I do. In fact, I'm one of the select few who have been granted the title of Protector. There are some bad things out there. Things that want to hurt people like you. My family and a few others have dedicated our entire lives to fighting evil such as Spike. We're not superheroes, just men and women with a gift. As Sunnydale's Protector, I watch the groups of demons that live nearby, and defend their prey when I can. It's not much, because I'm so outnumbered. But I can fight off a pack of Vampires.
"They got the du Lac Manuscript. A loss, but they didn't take any of the books containing spells to bring about the end of the world. And you're safe, which is what matters."
"Why does it matter if I'm safe? I mean, if you're not screwing with my head, I hardly think I matter when there's books for the end of the world."
"Protecting innocents like you is my call, Buffy. I'm glad I was able to keep you alive." With these words, Buffy's pride melted away. She crawled into Giles's arms again, feeling like a little girl with her Daddy.
"So," she said a few minutes later, when the tears had stopped falling. "They're gone? Spike left?"
"Yes, Buffy."
"And they're not coming back?"
"I don't see why they should."
"How…how do you stand up to a Vampire? They're not human, they're creatures. Monsters, like you said."
"Vampires cannot go into sunlight. Holy Water and Crosses burn them, wood can kill them if it pierces their heart, and there is no reasoning with them. I have no inclination to think you will ever need to know any of these things, but they exist, and they live in Sunnydale. In the event that you need this knowledge, you have it, although I pray that day never comes. Do you have any more questions?"
"Do they really drink blood?"
"Yes. It's cannibalistic, but they do."
"Do they have reflections?" She was scared, but she was strangely fascinated as the tried to recall all vampire myths she knew.
"I don't think so. I'm no expert, but I've come across a few in my day. I mainly just chant spells against the demons that wander towards the school, because the tax payers brilliantly decided to build on top of an ancient burial ground for dark leaders, many of whom can probably be resurrected by some means or another, not to mention an evil portal. Tonight was interesting. Made me feel twenty years younger." Buffy laughed lightly, drying her eyes again.
"Is it safe for me to go home?"
"Take a public route, and walk quickly." She got up to leave. "And Buffy? My demon and the Vampires did a number on the library. You can serve the rest of your detentions helping me clean up." She rolled her eyes as she left the building, her head spinning.
So, monsters under the bed were real. And she should carry a cross with her wherever she went. And old Mr. Giles was shooting Vampires and hiring rent-a-demons. This was too weird even to be a dream.
She moved along the sidewalks, wishing the streetlights were on. It wasn't late enough for them yet, but the ominous clouds were making it certainly dark enough.
She was skittish tonight. Normally she walked with her head high and her waist swaying, letting all who were interested know that Buffy Summers, homecoming queen and cheerleading co-captain, was there. Now she looked over her shoulder and took longer, faster steps.
The faster she walked, the more scared she let herself become. Her pulse quickened and her breathing sunk as she whipped her head back and forth, attempting vision in all directions as once. She finally slowed to take a breath. If anything, she realized, she was just encouraging more people to look at the jumpy girl. Play it calm, Buffy. Cool as a cucumber.
She resumed her proud, waist-swaying strut, but only after picking up a fallen branch from the sidewalk. She cracked it over her knee, and ran her thumb over the splintered edges. 'Wood can kill them if it pierces their heart.' Now all she had to do was get home, dig up her cross necklace, and wear it for the rest of her life. That way, she'd be safe.
She was almost at Revello Drive. It was just one street over, past the tiny playground she would have played on if she'd grown up in Sunnydale. The playground was a square of those little woodchips surrounded by broken wooden beams the kids liked to play 'tightrope' on. There was a swing set with three regular swings and a kiddie swing, a teeter-totter, and a twisted wooden structure serving something to climb. It had ladders and slides hanging off it, a second story, and a metal steering wheel. One of the slides had broken last year, and the city had replaced it with a bright orange plastic enclosed slide. It was the only modification that had been made in years, and the plastic tube stood out against the rusting metal of the other playground equipment.
No children were around, probably because of the light outside. It appeared to be completely deserted, so she slowed and walked towards it. She could see the back of her house from here, and the area was well-lit anyway. She needed some time to think before she got home and hid under her covers. She sank down onto one of the swings, and let the movement carry her back and forth a few times. When it finally stopped moving, she reluctantly began to push against the ground with her feet, and soon as flying back and forth. It felt good to soar like that. It helped take her mind off the terrifying night she'd had.
She let a laugh rip from her throat. She hadn't been on a swing set in years. It made her feel younger, happier, safer. She'd deal with the whole demon thing. She'd managed to go two whole years in Sunnydale without ever running into anything, and she could just go back to her normal, oblivious life now. Which she would do, when she finally got off the swings.
Not happening anytime soon. She pulled her hair out from its ponytail and leaned back so it brushed the ground as she ascended.
"Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight.
Lead me, out on the moonlit floor."
She smiled as she sung the sound she'd heard on the radio this morning.
"Lift your open hand.
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance,
Silver
moon's sparkling.
So kiss me."
She hummed the harmonica tune as she got read to start the next verse, when she heard shuffling to her left. She gasped and dropped to the ground, her fears coming back.
"H-hello?" Please be a cat, please be a cat, please be a cat.
"Lovely singing voice you got there, pet."
