Chapter 10: Trollmarket
Trollmarket, January 14th, 2017
"Cool stairs. A little deathtrappy, but cool."
"Going down is nice, but going up? With these troll-sized steps, you better not be old and cranky. Oh my God! Giles! We might have to carry you up. And with 'we' I mean 'Buffy'."
"I can assure you that I am still able to climb even steep stairs, Xander."
"Good, 'cause I'm not carrying you. I'm the Slayer, not the pack mule."
"Unless it's weapons or shopping bags. Then you are the pack mule. And you're as stubborn as a mule, anyway."
"Dawn!"
"I'm just telling it like it is, sis! I've been living with you all my life, after all - I know you best!"
James Lake Jr. suppressed a sigh at the antics of the Slayer and her friends. Couldn't they take anything seriously? Or at least be a little impressed by the entrance to Trollmarket? Instead of treating the magical entrance and the glowing crystal stairs leading down to the village like… like an obstacle?
Or, in Dawn's case, a playground? The girl was skipping down the stairs!
"Dawn! Don't! Stop!" And the Slayer didn't like it.
"Be careful!"
"I'm fine, sheesh!"
"If she slips and falls, I'll portal her into the lake!" Claire muttered.
Jim glanced at her, but she seemed completely focused on Dawn. Which wasn't a bad thing, of course - having the Slayer's sister fall to her death, even if it was her own fault… Jim shuddered at the thought.
"Say, Claire, do you always use the stairs here? Or do you portal straight to Trollmarket?" Willow asked.
"We usually take the stairs unless it's an emergency," Claire replied.
"Ah." Willow nodded. "Saving magic for important things. Tara shares that view."
"Yes." Claire nodded.
Jim nodded as well, if a little belatedly. As far as he knew - and he doubted that he was mistaken - it was mostly that Claire was still learning how to use the staff and needed to build up more of a rapport with or tie to Trollmarket, but there was no need to tell the witch that.
"But it's really impressive," Willow went on. "Was it created by magic? I mean, it's obviously magical, what with the magic flowing door - or was that a portal, actually, and is the concrete solid unless you activate the magic? - but did the trolls shape and tunnel through the earth by other means, or just spell the whole thing into existence? It's fascinating. And also pretty."
"Uh…" Jim blinked as he tried to follow the witch's questions. He jumped down a step to gain some time. "I don't actually know," he admitted. "I never asked." He was the Trollhunter, not Merlin, wasn't he?"
"Oh. Well, that makes sense. Buffy isn't very interested in magic, either," Willow said.
"Unless it's magic related to fashion," Xander added.
Willow giggled, then glanced at the Slayer, who was scolding Dawn at the bottom of the stairs. "So…" She looked at Claire.
"I've been focusing on the staff and spells that are useful in combat," Claire replied to the implied question.
"Ah, yes." Willow nodded. "You would. In your place, I would have done the same. It's nice to know about magical building techniques, but they won't help you fight demons."
"Unless you need to fight in a building or lair. Or need to deal with a trap. Or want to trap a demon," Xander pointed out.
Willow blinked - as did Claire, Jim noted. Which was a little eerie. "You're right! I'm so stupid!" the witch exclaimed. "I need to look into such magic! I should be able to create much safer buildings for us! Or, at least, an underground base!"
"You want to create an underground base?" Claire asked.
"Well, it seems the obvious choice - there's a reason the military uses bunkers so much," Willow said.
"The military has bunkers because they protect against bombs and artillery," Xander pointed out.
"But the Initiative had an underground base as well, and they didn't fear bombs," Willow retorted. "They did that to hide their base."
"'The Initiative'?" Jim asked.
Willow blushed. "Uh… forget I said anything? I'm not supposed to tell anyone about it."
"About what?" Claire asked.
"I can't tell you. Well, I could, obviously - I'm not magically bound or anything - but if I do, there's this NDA, and… I shouldn't say anything about this any more, should I?"
"Probably better, Wills," Xander agreed.
Jim narrowed his eyes. This sounded as if the Slayer had contact with the Military. Or with some secret organisation with soldiers and underground bunkers.
If they found out about trolls… Jim winced. They might've found out about trolls already if they were in contact with the Slayer. And it was all Jim's fault.
Damn. Jim frowned as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
The troll town looked neat, Buffy Summers had to admit. Built into a giant cave - or was that cavern? Not that it mattered - the houses often looked like caves. Or like the buildings in Flintstones. As much as real buildings could look like cartoon buildings outside Disneyland, in any case. And lit by crystal thingies. Probably environmentally-friendly as well.
And the trolls themselves looked neat, too. No one looked the same, as far as she could tell. All were huge, though, almost twice her height. Or taller. And… well, she didn't know how much they weighed, but it had to be a lot, what with their stone biology.
"Humans! Here!"
"What is the Trollhunter thinking?"
"They multiply worse than gnomes!"
"Someone needs to do something about this!"
"This isTrollmarket! Our town! Not the human town!"
And they were all glaring at them as if Buffy had stolen their breakfast. She blinked. Right. The hammer. Her hammer. She narrowed her eyes at the next troll who glared at them.
He looked away. Smart. Smarter than the average fledgling, for sure.
"I didn't think it would be that bad," Jim muttered. "We should've met with Blinky above ground."
"The Slayer wanted to see Trollmarket, remember?" Claire replied in a whisper.
Buffy snorted. Had they already forgotten about Slayer hearing? Well, she wouldn't remind them - this could come in useful.
"This is great! A whole different culture! A whole different civilisation!" Willow gushed.
"They sell TVs here, Wills."
"What? Oh my God! You're right! They have TVs!"
"I see that the corrupting influence of popular culture has even spread to alien civilisations," Giles commented.
Buffy shook her head. Her Watcher would never change.
"It could be worse, G-Man!" Xander chuckled. "Imagine if they were selling computers!"
Buffy didn't need to look over her shoulder to know that Giles would be polishing his glasses now. Or at least he'd want to.
"I wonder what kind of shows they watch," Dawn piped up.
"Probably The Flintstones," Xander joked.
"We can ask!" Willow said. "But… if they have TVs here, then that means they have reception. Or cable! That means human technology. Well, human as in known to us, since technology is universal, based on scientific principles and all, but it means that they aren't entirely relying on magic, but will be using technology as well."
Jim cleared his throat. "Actually, the trolls just like the static from the old TVs when they're turned on. They don't actually watch TV."
"Really?" Willow didn't sound disappointed. "But they still need electricity for that! That's technology as well. Oh! Do they use magic to power the TVs? Or use magic to power a generator? That would probably be easier but still require more technology. Although they could've scavenged that, I guess."
"No experimenting with powering your home with magic, Wills!"
"Xander! I wouldn't do that!" Willow protested.
"But you are thinking about it."
"I'm planning experiments - provided I can talk to whoever set the TVs up here. The shopkeeper should know. Can we ask them?"
The troll glaring at them through the window of the shop looked anything but willing to help them, Buffy noticed. But asking shouldn't hurt. At least not them - she was quite sure she could take a troll easily since Jim was the Trollhunter, and she could take him easily. "Well, we could…"
"Trollhunter! What have you done? Bringing more humans to Trollmarket? Without our permission?"
Buffy frowned at the rude troll interrupting her. Who did he think he was, shouting at her and the Trollhunter?
"Vendel!" Jim winced. "I can explain!"
Oh. That was the Troll Mayor. And he looked mad.
"You can explain why you led more humans to us?"
"Chill, Mr Troll Mayor." Buffy smiled at him. Sweetly, not the kind of smile she reserved for vampires. "He didn't have a choice - I insisted."
"It seemed the best way to sort out our differences without further violence," Giles added.
"Further violence?" The Troll Mayor turned to glare at Jim. "Who are these humans?"
That was her cue! "I'm the Slayer," she told him.
He gaped at her. "The Slayer? Trollhunter! Have you lost your mind? You brought a demon to us?"
The other trolls - those nearby - shrank back from them, Buffy noticed. Not that she cared. She narrowed her eyes and stepped up right into Mr Mayor's face. "I'm not a demon! I hunt demons!" she corrected him. And she'd hunt him if he kept slandering her like that!
"I can confirm that," Giles said. "Rupert Giles, of the Watcher's Council. Your information with regards to the Slayer seems incorrect. Buffy is not a demon but a magically empowered human."
"And a magically empowered pain in the butt," Dawn added. "But she's not a demon. Unless you let her into the kitchen."
"What?"
Jim cleared his throat. "She insisted on meeting Blinky. After a… misunderstanding."
"They wanted to steal my hammer," Buffy explained.
"Your hammer?" The troll gasped again. "By the Heartstone! It's the Hammer of the Troll Gods!"
Buffy glared at him. It was her hammer.
This was turning into a disaster! James Lake Jr. clenched his teeth, took a deep breath and put his hand and arm between the Slayer and Vendel. "Vendel! This is a complicated situation! One that could endanger Trollmarket! That's why we need to discuss this with Blinky - in private." Not in public, where all the trolls could overhear them.
"Yeah, Mr Mayor," the Slayer unhelpfully chimed in. "You've got a lot more problems than Olaf losing the hammer to me."
"Olaf lost the hammer to you?"
"Sure did," she replied. "After he tried to kill my friends and eat babies, I put him down, and we banished him back to hell."
Vendel's eyes widened at the claim.
"Her friends include Aud," Claire added. "And William the Bloody."
"Aud? The witch who banished Olaf in the first place? She's still alive?" Vendel sounded much less shocked than Jim had expected.
"Yes. And she didn't like your Trollhunters breaking into her shop."
"It's actually my shop, I believe," Mr Giles said, sounding a lot like Señor Uhl when he was annoyed.
"Yes, you believe that, Giles." Willow nodded with a wide smile.
"We really shouldn't discuss this here," Jim repeated himself.
Vendel looked at the group. "Where's your friend Tobias?"
"He was hurt in the fighting," Jim said. "He's recovering."
"He almost died," the Slayer added. "And it wasn't even me. So, talky-talky sound good to you?"
Vendel stared at her for a moment, then turned his head to meet Jim's eyes.
Jim smiled as encouragingly as he could.
And Vendel sighed. "Very well. I suppose this is Blinkous's fault, anyway. I knew he was up to something - he was far too excited for comfort."
"It wasn't his fault!" Claire protested at once, but Vendel had already turned away and was walking towards Blinky's home.
"Well, if he gave you the mission, then it was his fault. Kinda. That's how leadership works," the Slayer claimed.
"Yes," Xander added, "we blame Giles for everything that goes wrong."
"You do; I blame Buffy," Dawn added.
"Dawn!"
"What? I do!"
"That's not the point!"
Well, Jim thought as they made their way through Trollmarket, perhaps this visit will make us look like the perfect Trollhunters in comparison.
"Master Jim! And Claire! You're back, hale and whole!" Blinky beamed at them as soon as James Lake Jr. opened the door.
"Unlike their friend, or so I heard," Vendel said as he followed them inside.
"Ah…" Blinky's smile vanished. "Vendel! What a pleasure and surprise - a pleasant surprise - to see you!"
"The pleasure is all yours, I assure you," Vendel replied. "Did you invite the Slayer and her allies to Trollmarket?"
"We're here, you know," the Slayer said. "You shouldn't speak about us as if we're not present." She turned to Blinky and glared at him. "Hello. You're the troll who sent three kids to the Hellmouth, aren't you?"
"Blinky - the Slayer. Buffy - Blinkous Galadrigal," Jim belatedly remembered to make the introductions. Even though he didn't think he needed to introduce the Slayer; her attitude left no doubt who she was.
"Charmed," Blinky said. "And while, technically, this might be seen as an accurate statement, it is also a little misleading."
"You sent the Trollhunter to the Hellmouth?" Vendel blurted out. "Have you lost your mind?"
"That was where the Hammer of the Troll Gods resurfaced after a thousand years of being lost," Blinky replied. "And I thoroughly briefed the Trollhunters."
"Well, yeah, your briefing was a little too briefy." The Slayer blinked, then scoffed. "I mean… you left out a few important things. Like the fact that I'm not a demon!"
"I didn't know that," Blinky defended himself. "I shared everything that we know about the Hellmouth and the situation at hand."
"Well, it wasn't enough," the Slayer retorted. "And you almost got your Trollhunters killed as a result."
"Blinkous!" Vendel shook his head. "How could you do this without checking with me?"
"It wasn't Blinky's fault," Claire protested. "We made mistakes."
"Yes," Jim agreed. "We, ah, jumped the gun." Blinky hadn't told them to commit a robbery, after all. Or to disguise themselves as demons.
"You shouldn't have been on the Hellmouth in the first place," the Slayer told them. "You shouldn't have been the Trollhunter, to begin with!"
And Vendel turned to glare at her. "James Lake Jr. was chosen by the Amulet of Daylight. And, while I was sceptical at the start, he has proven to be an adequate Trollhunter - even though some of his decisions remain questionable."
That was a very mixed compliment, but Jim couldn't exactly be choosy. "Look, no one is without blame in this whole, ah, mess."
"Speak for yourself! I didn't make a mistake!"
"Not now, Dawn!"
"Or then, yes!"
"That's not what I meant!"
Jim cleared his throat. "Anyway, we made mistakes, there was a misunderstanding, but we've talked, and we can talk this out. Without further violence. And we have bigger problems to worry about than who was to blame for the misunderstanding, don't we?"
"Bigger problems than the Slayer in Trollmarket?" Vendel asked, narrowing his eyes at them.
"Yes." The Slayer nodded. "There's a hell-god trying to destroy the country. Or the world - we're not quite sure yet."
"A what?"
Buffy Summers rolled her eyes. "A hell-god." She looked at Giles; he was the explainy guy.
Her Watcher took his cue. "According to our information, Glorificus, a hell-god, was banished to Earth and is trying to return to his home dimension, though his chosen method to achieve that will have, or so we assume, dire consequences for our own world."
"What sort of dire consequences?" the Troll Mayor asked.
"We're still researching the exact effects that breaking the seal that keeps her from returning will have, but a preliminary analysis suggests that this will also open the Hellmouth," Giles explained.
Typical. It was all about the Hellmouth. Well, they were talking about a hell-god. Or hell-goddess.
"I did some research on the way here," Giles replied. "It is by no means a certainty, but based on our - the Council's - experience with similar, if smaller situations, I am reasonably certain that my conclusion is far from unlikely."
That was a lot of maybes, in Buffy's opinion. Then again, Giles was British, so he liked his understatements.
"So, Glory wants to return to her home by opening the Hellmouth?" Xander asked.
"But…" Jim frowned. "You said you banished Olaf back to hell. Can't you banish her back to her hell?"
"Olaf, for all his boasting, wasn't a god," Giles said. "Not on the same level as Glorificus, at least." He pulled out a thick dusty tome. "Glorificus was banished by two other hell-gods. The power involved in such a banishing is far beyond what Aud managed. Although the fact that we're in the dimension to which the hell-god was banished also plays a role - I dare say that whatever was done to summon Olaf to Earth wouldn't have worked if attempted in the hell he was banished to. Melachus the Younger expands on this a little in his tract about summoning and banishing."
"You have his work?" Blinky gasped and took a step forward. "It was thought lost when the library of Alexandria was burned down!"
"The Council's library goes back to the time writing was invented," Giles told him.
"Great Gorka Morka!" Blinky's expression looked a lot like Willow's when faced with a forbidden book. Which was kinda disturbing, now that Buffy thought about it, seeing as Blinky had six eyes and tusks. And six arms.
She cleared her throat. "Anyway, big mythical magic stuff on Hellmouth means bad things for the countryside. That much we know. And your trolltown is part of that countryside."
"You do not know this for certain, though." The Troll Mayor frowned at them.
"We've already stopped bad guys before they could open the Hellmouth. Or sacrifice California to become a greater demon. You're welcome, by the way," Buffy told him with a toothy smile.
"You claim to have done so."
"Oh, come on, don't be like the mayor in Jaws!" Dawn blurted out.
"Jaws?" The big stony guy seemed confused.
"A horror movie about a man-eating great white shark," Willow explained. "It features a mayor who ignores the danger, so he isn't forced to take action, like closing the beaches. It was very successful, even though sharks aren't nearly as dangerous as the movie makes them out to be, which is a major hindrance to protect the species. The press coverage of shark attacks is a disgrace, to say the least, and..."
"Breathe, Willow," Xander said. "And - not the time."
"Oh. Sorry."
"No worry."
Blinky the troll cleared his throat. "Leaving the claims of past apocalypses aside, I doubt that a demonic creature of such power should be allowed access to the Hellmouth." He looked at the mayor. "And the weakening of dimensional barriers could have unforeseen consequences."
Claire gasped. "You mean it could affect Gunmar's prison!"
"Precisely, Fair Claire!" Blinky beamed at her. "While it is by no means certain that this would allow him to circumvent the need to reconstruct Killahead Bridge, we cannot dismiss the possibility, either."
"Which is a bad thing, right?" Buffy prompted him.
The troll blinked. "Err, yes. A very bad thing."
"Great." Buffy shook her head. "Two apocalypses for the price of one."
"It's the Hellmouth New Year's sale!" Xander still wasn't as funny as he thought he was.
Buffy chuckled anyway. Making jokes was better than crying about how unfair things were. And they were unfair. But she was used to that. But, speaking of unfair… "While it's interesting - and disturbing - to learn what we're facing, that wasn't the reason we came here to talk to you," she said. Not the only reason, at least.
"It wasn't?" Blinky blinked with all six eyes.
"No. We were also talking about drafting kids as Trollhunters!" She frowned at him. "And no blaming amulets for that!"
"But Master Jim was chosen by the Amulet of Daylight. We had no hand in this."
"You can trust us that we would never have handed the amulet to a human," the Mayor added.
"You can say that again," Jim muttered.
Buffy scoffed. "But even if you aren't guilty of that, you are still exploiting them!"
"Exploiting?" James Lake Jr. shook his head. "Blinky doesn't exploit me!" The Trollhunter had to protect trolls and humans from Gunmar, and Jim was the Trollhunter. And he had proved that he was a worthy Trollhunter!
The Slayer turned to look at him. "So, what's your salary?"
"Salary?" Jim stared at her.
The Slayer stared back. "You know, money. Payment. Dollars. Green stuff that you exchange for shoes and dresses. What are you kids learning in school these days if you don't know what a salary is?"
"You graduated less than two years ago, Buffy," Dawn said, "but you sound older than Mom."
"I'm a college girl!"
"That doesn't mean anything - it's all about the attitude!"
"Is that something Spike told you?"
"No, that's something that's obvious."
"You think we're doing this for money?" Claire blurted out, interrupting the sibling spat.
The Slayer frowned at her. "No, I think you're doing this so your boyfriend doesn't die because he's fighting monsters all by himself. But that doesn't mean you don't deserve money. Do you think the other Trollhunters worked for free?"
Jim gritted his teeth. But just before he could tell the Slayer what he thought about her attitude, Blinky spoke up: "None of the Trollhunters received a salary. It's considered a great honour to be chosen."
"Really? And how did they pay for their food and clothes?" The Slayer scoffed. "Did the amulet only pick rich trolls, or didn't any of them live long enough to run out of money? Because let me tell you this: Being the chosen one is rather hard on your job prospects. 'Sorry, boss, I have to go and save the world so can you tell someone to take over for me?' won't get you good references."
"Do you get paid?" Claire shot back.
"No, but I certainly should get paid. So should Giles."
"I thought you'd ask the Council for money," Dawn commented.
The Slayer scowled at her sister. "I forgot after they mentioned the hell-god thingie. Which is totally understandable!"
"And who's going to put me through college? Mom's going to be broke if she has to keep paying for you!"
"Hey!"
"Children…" Mr Giles spoke up. "We'll revisit the matter with the Council once the current crisis has been solved. I dare say that the recent events will strengthen our position with regards to fair recompensation."
"Unless we fail, and then Buffy won't need any money anyway since all of us will be dead," Xander commented.
"Xander!"
"What? It's true, isn't it?"
"We won't die," the Slayer said. "Not if I can help it."
"Very reassuring, Buffy."
"Dawn!"
Jim wasn't really listening to the squabbling. As much as he loathed to admit it, the Slayer was correct - trying to hold down a job and be the Trollhunter wouldn't work. He wouldn't even be able to go to college, though perhaps he could take correspondence courses or something. He snorted - it wouldn't matter much, anyway, since he probably wouldn't live to graduate high school. Not with Gunmar gunning for him. And Angor Rot. And Strickler.
But he would do everything he could so Claire and Toby wouldn't die. He glanced at Claire and...
...his faint smile died. She was glaring at him. "Uh…?" He grimaced.
"You won't die, either, you hear me?"
"Ah." He nodded. "Of course not."
"I mean it!"
"As long as you don't die." He clenched his teeth as soon as the words had slipped out. He shouldn't have said that. He was an idiot!
Claire recoiled, gaping at him. But after a moment, she grew serious. Very serious. "If something happens to me, you won't commit suicide. Understood?"
It was clear the only acceptable answer was to agree, so Jim nodded.
"Yes, yes, no one is going to kill themselves. But that doesn't put food on the table. And no one wants to keep mooching off their parents forever," the Slayer cut in.
"Actually, I'm sure that a great many people would love to do that," Xander said. "I could name a few names from school."
"But those people wouldn't have been chosen by the amulet, right?" Willow asked.
"The Amulet of Daylight only chooses worthy, ah, people," Blinky said. "Though sometimes they are unlucky."
"Yes, yes, we've heard about Ugg Boots the Unlucky." The Slayer made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "But Jim's still alive, and he needs money. I bet you've lost clothes and other stuff to Trollhunting, didn't you?"
"Actually, no," Jim said. "The armour is magical."
"So unfair…" the Slayer muttered. "Anyway, you still deserve compensation. If only to buy your girlfriend new clothes since she doesn't have self-repairing magic armour. And even if she did, she really needs new clothes." Claire protested, but the Slayer kept talking. "And once you graduate, you'll need money." She glared at Blinky. "You don't want a Trollhunter begging on the streets, do you?"
"Well, of course not!" Blinky protested. "Though money… usually, a Trollhunter's, ah, needs were covered by the community, though I fear that Master Jim doesn't have any need for the goods and services of Trollmarket."
"So you did pay them!" Willow all but cried out in glee. "Just in food and lodging, not money!"
"That's a fair assessment, I believe," Blinky agreed.
"Great. So, how much is that in dollars?" The Slayer asked.
"Uh…"
"You don't have an exchange rate?"
"We don't trade with humans," Blinky said. "The last time we did, humans, ah, mainly had a barter economy."
"Then how did you get the TVs you're selling?" the Slayer asked.
Blinky frowned. "Now that you mention it, I do wonder how they were acquired."
Jim closed his eyes. He hadn't thought about the matter before, but I could imagine how the trolls acquired the human goods they used.
Like they acquired the cats they ate.
"Scavenging," Mr Troll Mayor said. "You wouldn't believe what humans throw away."
Buffy Summers narrowed her eyes. That sounded a little too glib for her taste.
But before she could say something, Willow piped up: "Oh, yes! That's why you have CRT-TVs - people threw them away once flatscreen TVs became the norm, even though they worked perfectly fine!"
"Ah!" The other troll, Blinky, nodded. "You mean that there are different models, not just brands? I was wondering why the TV in Tobias's house didn't work like the ones down here!"
Willow nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. There are several models, actually - or were, CRT and plasma TVs are pretty much gone."
Buffy cleared her throat. "Not the time, Will. We're talking fair compensation for Trollhunters."
"Do you expect us to procure human money for the Trollhunter?" the Mayor asked.
It was clear that he meant it as a rhetorical question. Buffy nodded anyway. "Yes!"
"Who gave you the right to speak for Jim?" the girl blurted out. She took a few steps, stood in front of Buffy and glared at her, her arms crossed over her chest.
"What?" Buffy replied. The girl was as tall as she was, even without decent heels, which was so unfair!
"'What?' You force us to take you to meet the trolls, make fun of everyone and act as if you knew best and were in charge!" The girl bared her teeth at her. "Newsflash: You aren't! You're just some outsider who doesn't know about what we do and what we have to deal with! So stop trying to bully people!"
Buffy blinked. The girl had guts, but… "That's not what this is about!" She was only trying to help!
"This is exactly what this is about! You act as if we're kids without a clue. We've fought Gumm-Gumms, changelings, goblins, Stalklings, Angor Rot and Bular the Butcher!" the girl spat. "You don't get to waltz in here and order us around!"
"You tell her, Claire!" Dawn chimed in. "Buffy always thinks she knows best!"
"What?" Her own sister! Buffy whirled to glare at Dawn. "That's not true! There's lots of stuff I don't know! Like French! Or Chemistry! Or..." She trailed off. That didn't seem like a good argument.
And Dawn smirked at her.
Giles cleared his throat. "Perhaps you came on a little strongly, though I do think you have made several good points."
Buffy beamed at him. Giles knew best! Except for when he didn't, of course, but this time, he did!
"I agree that the Slayer can't order us around and doesn't know what we do here," Jim spoke up, "that's what we came to discuss here, anyway." Buffy was about to give him a piece of her mind - she had gone through all of this 'chosen one' stuff! - when he went on: "But she has a point: How am I supposed to live my life once I graduate from school? Provided I live to see graduation, of course. But, hypothetically speaking, I can't exactly go to college, and even if Mom accepts that, she'll expect me to get a job, and, well, I kinda have a job already - I'm the Trollhunter."
"Jim…" Claire turned and put her hand on his arm.
He smiled at her in a really sappy way. "I know you're going to college, but that's not really possible for me. I can't leave Arcadia Oaks."
"But…" Claire trailed off, obviously at a loss for words. She shook her head.
Buffy bit her tongue so she didn't point out that Claire had been speaking for Jim just like Buffy had.
"I know the odds aren't good, but I'd like to… you know, have some sort of life outside being the Trollhunter. With you." He tilted his head.
Claire sniffled, and Buffy saw tears appear in her eyes. "I'm not going to leave you!"
"You can't sacrifice your life for me!" Jim told her. "Not like that, and not… well…"
She glared at him in return. "It's my life!"
"Were we ever that bad?" Xander broke the sudden silence. He ignored the glares of the two kids.
"You're barely older than we are!" Claire snapped. "Stop acting like an old man!"
"It's not the years, it's the mileage," Xander replied. "But, seriously, don't do the sacrifice thing. It never helps. Whatever you do, don't die."
"Listen to yourself," Buffy heard Willow mutter under her breath, and she winced. A little. She was in college, not in high school any more. She had years of experience on the two kids. She… Oh God, she was acting like her mom!
"As someone who is quite a bit older than anyone else present - except for Mr Galadrigal and Mr Vendel - I can assure you that planning to sacrifice yourself isn't a recommended course of action," Giles cut in. "And neither is assuming that you won't live long enough to need to plan ahead."
Buffy winced at that as well.
"It's not your decision!" Claire insisted. "It's not anyone's but mine!"
"Yes, quite," Giles told her. "But I do believe you have, or should have, more options than death or, ah, Trollhunting, And I do think that you should take your families' wishes and needs into account."
Buffy pressed her lips together. She had experience with that, too.
James Lake Jr. looked from Claire to Mr Giles and back, then glanced at the Slayer, who had uncharacteristically fallen silent. Then he focused on Claire. Claire… "Claire." He cleared his throat. "You're smart and talented, and…" He licked his lips. Beautiful. "You shouldn't give up on everything just to…"
"...just to stay with you? Help you save everyone? Fight at your side?"
She was frowning at him. "Uh…" He started to nod.
"That's my decision," she repeated herself.
"Yes, but…"
"No 'but'! I'm not going to leave you! And that's final!" She took a step, then she was hugging him. Despite his armour.
Jim placed his arms around her - carefully, of course. He wouldn't risk causing her pain.
And he ignored how she sobbed softly.
The Slayer cleared her throat, but she didn't say anything when Jim glared at her. The others didn't meet his eyes - even Mr Giles polished his glasses.
"We're doing this together!" Claire said into his chestplate before looking up at him. "And we'll save Enrique!"
"Enrique?" The Slayer asked. "Wasn't your friend called Toby? Oh, wait, he's your..."
"Enrique is her brother. He was kidnapped by goblins and taken to the Darklands, so he could be replaced by a changeling," Blinky explained.
"Right." the Slayer growled. Literally growled. And all her friends looked angry. Livid. And determined. Jim almost shivered. Then the Slayer frowned. "He's still alive? I thought..."
"Yes, he's still alive!" Claire said, releasing Jim to face the Slayer. "So stop acting like we're just kids you can order around! We know what's at stake!"
"Ah…" The witch, Willow, glanced at Xander, then looked at Claire. "How long ago was that? I mean…" She trailed off as both the Slayer and Mr Giles frowned at her.
"If you're afraid that Gunmar's forces might harm Fair Claire's little brother, rest assured that dear Enrique is safe," Blinky spoke up. "As with all children taken to be replaced by changelings, they are not hurt, but taken care of - should they die, the changeling cannot take their form any more. Oh, and they don't notice anything since they are placed in a magical slumber. They don't even age in the Darklands." He smiled reassuringly at them.
The Slayer and her friends didn't look reassured. Or calm. "They kidnap children to replace them with… changelings?" The Slayer spat.
"That's how changelings are inserted into human society. They grow up as humans, never suspected to be anything else than the person they replaced," Blinky went on.
"So the legends of changelings replacing babies are true," Mr Giles said.
"Babies?" The Slayer was growling again. "They're kidnaping babies? First, they eat babies, then now we hear they kidnap babies…" Jim saw the knuckles of her hand gripping the hammer turn white.
He winced. "The Gumm-Gumms do this," he told her. "The trolls don't do this."
"Indeed," Blinky said. "Such practices are limited to Gunmar's supporters, chiefly amongst them the Order of Janus - an organisation of changelings who have infiltrated human society at all levels."
The Slayer looked at Mr Giles. "Great. It's the Initiative 2.0, just that their evil plans have progressed a lot more."
"See? You can't just assume that you know best! You know nothing!" Claire said, scowling at the Slayer.
"Hey!" The Slayer returned her scowl.
"You're a fan of the show?" Willow blurted out, then flushed when everyone looked at her.
"Not the time to talk about TV," Xander said.
"Sorry."
"Anyway," Mr Giles spoke up, "It's clear that there is more afoot than it might have seemed at first glance. However, I remain convinced that neither Buffy nor the Trollhunters should be expected to shoulder their own expenses while they are, effectively risking their lives for everyone else. Not just because forcing them to work without fair recompensation would be exploiting them indeed, but also, and even more so, because it would be a very shortsighted policy."
"Which is why the Council's doing it," the Slayer muttered.
Mr Giles didn't react to the comment. "With so much at risk, one cannot afford to have one's champion be distracted by mundane concerns while fighting the forces of darkness."
Literal darkness, in Jim's case. He caught himself nodding before he realised what he was doing.
The Slayer was nodding as well before pouting at Mr Giles. "And why didn't you say that when I was buried under homework?"
"Your education, my dear, is very important. And you managed to balance both, didn't you?"
"With great effort and suffering!" she replied.
"We all suffered. It's the high school experience," Xander said.
"Well, it shouldn't be!"
"Tell that to the Secretary of Education," Willow said.
Mr Giles cleared his throat once more. "I believe we have more important concerns to address than the state of the American educational system - no matter how deplorable it is."
"I see the experience as a high school librarian left a trauma!" Xander quipped.
No one laughed. Mr Giles sighed. "In any case, we've covered this, and I trust the issue will be addressed as time and circumstances permit."
"Of course," Blinky said, nodding. "It would be extremely shameful if the Trollhunters would be left to fend for themselves while they are protecting us."
Jim smiled at him, then at Claire, who hugged him again.
"Trollhunters?" Vendel asked. Jim looked at him, but the old troll was looking at Blinky.
"Yes," Blinky replied, nodding slowly at Vendel.
Vendel held the other's gaze for a moment then sighed. "I'll look into it."
"Very well," Mr Giles spoke up again. "Now, shall we address the current crisis threatening the world?"
"He means Glory," the Slayer added as if that wasn't clear. "And afterwards, we'll talk about rescuing babies."
