Chapter Twenty-Four: Training Tension

"Now, I am certain you have had some experience with a stake before," Giles had been rambling on for almost ten straight minutes on proper caution to take while patrolling and now he had moved on to weapons. He rambled way too much for any sane human being. Joy didn't know how much more of his lessons she could handle.

"Yes, Rupert, I am acquainted with the 'high-tech' weaponry we slayers are privledged to use." She rolled her eyes and grabbed the sharp stick from the watcher. "The pointy end goes into the heart the vampire goes 'poof', did I leave anything out?" She twirled the stick between her fingers with a bored smirk plastered on her face.

"Uh, yes, I see you are not unused to stakes," Giles cleared his throat. "Good, then we should move on." He led the small group through the maze of tombstones scattered throughout the dark cemetery. Joy wasn't sure he really knew where he was taking them or what exactly he wanted to teach Joy, but she followed obediently since she had promised Dawn that she would be good while out on patrol. "Perhaps we should let you have some real practice." Giles nodded towards a vampire that had stepped out of the trees and had started creeping towards them, trying to stay hidden in the shadows to avoid being seen by the group. Obviously, he wasn't a very smart vampire or else he would have noticed that there were two slayers among the group. "Joy, go ahead."

Joy shrugged and approached the vampire. She could feel the eyes of everyone watching her, waiting to see if she succeeded or if she failed. A part of her felt a little nervous. What if she did fail? I won't fail! She convinced herself. I've fought plenty of vampires, and I've never lost! Why would I fail now? She tried to shake off her doubt as the vampire took its fighting stance.

"Do not force attack Joy, let it happen naturally." Giles coached.

Joy gritted her teeth, trying to ignore his lecturing as she tried to fight. The vampire took her as fresh meat and flashed his teeth before lunging towards her. Joy barely had time to duck before Giles shouted out another 'suggestion'.

"Defense is just as important as offense!"

She tried to control her rising irritation at his constant tips. She knew how to fight! She was only here to oblige their uncertainty about her abilities. The vampire lunged again and this time she lunged back, surprising the creature and managing to knock him off his feet. Joy pounced on the fallen vampire, pinning him to the ground and proceeded to attack him with a series of ferocious punches to his face. When the vampire tried to throw her off of him she took a fierce hold on his shirt collar and began shoving his head into the ground. She repeatedly pulled him up and forced him back down, smashing the back of the vampire's head into the hard dirt beneath him.

The group had grown suddenly very quiet as she continued to brutalize the vampire. She could have staked him a while ago, but she preferred to give him pain. Or maybe she just wanted to prove to the group that she could cause pain.

"Is that enough offense for you?" Joy demanded, taking a quick glance towards her so-called watcher. He looked shocked at her behavior. She pulled a stake out of the back pocket of her jeans where she had stored it and quickly dusted the squirming vampire. When he had dissapeared, she stood and brushed the remains of dust off of her stomach-bearing, white halter. She noticed the dissaproving frown on Giles's face and sighed. "Now what?"

"Was that really neccessary Joy?" Giles questioned.

"Excuse me?" Joy returned the sharpened stick to its pocket. "Killing the evil creature? Yea, I think it was necessary!"

"That is not what I was addressing Joy," Giles corrected her sarcasm.

Buffy cut in to assist the struggling watcher. "Joy, why did you beat on him for so long before staking him?"

"It was a fight! That's what happens in fights, we beat each other up and then I kill him." Joy wasn't losing her sarcasm. "Isn't that how you fight demons, Buff?"

"Usually I just stake them and get it over with. It's not about the battle, Joy," Buffy explained. "Your focus shouldn't be on how badly you can beat him up before you dust him, you should focus only on how quickly you are able to kill the vampire. If you waste too much time with unnecessary fighting you could become too distracted..."

Giles interrupted. "And distraction is a weakness."

"Whatever," Joy rolled her eyes. She could tell that Giles was about to speak again and so she quickly cut him off. "Look, Buff can fight her way and I'll fight mine, okay? It doesn't make a difference so why does it matter. The vampires get dusted all the same!"

"Joy, that's not the point..." Buffy tried to make the new slayer understand.

"Come on Buffy," Joy cut her off, "You have to realize that I'm not you. I'm nothing like you and I never will be. That includes the way we fight."

Buffy was silent. "Fine. You're right. I can't persuade you to be like me, but I just wish that you'd at least pretend to listen to our instructions. I know that you're a good fighter, but there's just some stuff that you need to learn. Remember, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have." Buffy looked at Giles. "I'm going home. It's dead tonight." She grinned. "No pun intended." She turned to Joy. "You should get home too. Get some rest. We'll do this again tomorrow, okay?"

Joy shrugged. "Sure, I'll see you tomorrow." She started walking away from the slayer and watcher. "Goodnight."

"Joy, do you want me to walk home with you?" Buffy asked quickly as the young girl began heading towards the opposite end of the graveyard. "Just in case you run into any trouble on the way."

Joy shook her head. "That isn't necessary Buffy. I'll be fine on my own. See you tomorrow." They didn't stop her. They realized that she would have to become comfortable with them in her own time and until then she was definitely choosing to remain an independent and stubborn young woman.

Can they be any more controlling? Joy whined to herself as she headed home. She hadn't driven that night since they had met at the cemetery instead of at the Summers' house like before. She had chosen to walk to the cemetery in order to clear her head before training with her new watcher. I'm a good fighter! I get the job done, I don't know why they have to complain and try to change me! She hated being told what to do. They don't understand me. They don't accept me. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the approaching footsteps creeping up on her from behind. A hand touched her bare shoulder and she screamed in surprise, pulling her stake instinctively from her pocket and spinning around in defense.

"Angel!" She gasped as he caught her arm before she managed to stab him with her pointy weapon. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too."

"Sorry," Joy smiled. "I wasn't expecting to see you tonight. You know I'm always glad to see you though." She sighed. "I was just a little distracted."

"You were very distracted, Joy," Angel agreed. "I've been able to sneak up on you a few times before but I've never made you scream before!" He frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Joy nodded. "Sure."

"What were you doing out here?"

She sighed. "Umm...nothing really..."

"You were with Buffy weren't you?"

Joy nodded. She couldn't lie to Angel. "I agreed to let Giles train me." She quickly tried to explain, hoping that Angel wouldn't be angry about her finding a new teacher. "I still want you to train me too, Angel, I'm not trying to replace you or anything, but Dawn begged me and..."

"It's fine Joy, you don't have to explain yourself to me." Angel interrupted her. "I think it's good that you've agreed to take on a watcher. There's only so much I can teach you."

"Good," She smiled. "I'm glad you're okay with it." She realized that she was still holding her stake and so she returned it to her pocket. "So, what's up tonight? Are you going to take me out to train?"

"Haven't you already done enough training for tonight?" Angel asked with a knowing grin.

"Come on Angel," Joy laughed. "You know I'm always up for more fighting!" She sighed and tried to pout. "Of course, I could just go home though. It is late, and way past my bedtime!"

"That could be a good idea," Angel pretended to be finished with the conversation.

"No Angel! Please don't make me go home now!" Joy knew that she'd have to go home eventually, but she couldn't help trying to avoid her aunt and uncle as long as possible. "We don't have to train, we can go get some coffee or something..."

Angel smiled, "We could but it's late or early actually, in fact it's almost sunrise. You should probably get home and try to get some sleep before you have to go to school."

Joy sighed. "Yea, you're probably right. I still have some homework to get done too..." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, like I'd actually go home and do homework right now." She grinned at Angel's frown. "It's fine, I've got home room first period tomorrow, I can take care of my homework then! I promise!"

"Joy, you know how important I think your training is, but I also think your schoolwork is just as important. I don't want you falling behind."

"I know, you're very sweet, and very concerned about my future." Joy glanced at her watched and her eyes widened in surprise at how late it was. "Okay, so maybe I should be going home. When are we going to train together next?"

"Whenever you can. Are you meeting the scoobies again tomorrow?"

"Yea, I'm supposed to. I don't have to though if you wanted to meet." She quickly added.

Angel grinned. "Why don't you go ahead and train with them tomorrow." He shrugged. "I think it might be time for Giles to take over your training." Joy's face instantly melted. "I'll still be around to fight with you, whenever you want."

"I still need you Angel," Joy confessed. "I know I'm not usually the girl to need somebody, but...I really don't want to lose you yet Angel." She stared down at her feet. "You're one of the only friends I have, Angel. You're the only person that appreciates me!"

"I'm sure that's not true, Joy. Dawn's your best friend, and what about your aunt and uncle?"

Joy smirked. "Yea, they're great at being appreciative." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Angel, all I'm trying to say is that you mean a lot to me. You've been incredible in helping me, and I'm still not really sure why." Her eyes started tearing and she quickly became embarassed. "God, what's wrong with me!" She tried to laugh off her tears. "I'm like all of a sudden an emotional mess, and that's so not me!" The tears kept coming and she couldn't force them back. "Damn!"

Angel frowned and pulled her into his arms. He didn't speak. He didn't know what was wrong with the young slayer, but he didn't care. She needed comfort and reassurance. That is something that he could give her, he hoped. And so he held her in his arms, slowly rubbing her back, and let her cry until she had ran out of tears.

"I'm so sorry, Angel," Joy sniffed. "I don't know what's wrong..." Her hands were clutching his jacket like a little girl would cling to her mother after waking up from a nightmare.

He tried to quiet her, "Don't apologize, Joy." He continued to hold her. "Come on now, tell me what's going on."

She shook her head. "I don't know." Suddenly she pulled away from him and wiped away any remains of tears and cleared her throat. "I'm fine, I really am." She forced a smile. "I better get home and get to bed. I'll see you later." She started to turn to leave.

"Wait!" Angel grabbed her hand to stop her. "Why won't you tell me what's bothering you?"

"Nothing's bothering me, Angel," Joy insisted. "I'm tired and I have to be at school in only a couple hours!" She succeeded in wriggling her arm free from his grip. "Bye!" She took off at a run, eager to put distance between herself and Angel, who was no doubt watching her leave in confusion.

He wouldn't understand. He couldn't understand. Of course maybe if I actually explained it to him, he could try to understand, but...Joy started to cry again and she ran faster towards her house, desperate to be in the comfort of her bed. Nobody can know. It's not their problem. I can and I will deal on my own.