Spinning around with a blindfold on I huffed feeling Giles' hands leave my shoulders "one, two, three, four" I counted listening out for the telltale sounds of Giles' shoes scuffing around "five" I called throwing the ball and grinning when I heard a thud followed by a groan.
Pulling the blindfold up a little I smiled noticed Giles' glasses askew "right, you seem to know what you're doing" I giggled at Giles' tone as I placed the blindfold back down knowing our training session wasn't over.
"Is Buffy coming?" I asked Giles hearing him walk off "Uh, yes, she should be here soon" I nodded at his answer waiting for his next instructions "Now I want you to do something different," he said as I frowned "different?".
"Yes, this time I will throw the ball" Giles explained as I nodded a little confused "and you want to test my catching skills?" I questioned sarcastically feeling Giles circling me like a predator waiting to pounce "No, I want you to deflect it".
"seems simple enough" I interrupted shrugging this was nothing compared to our other training "using your telekinesis" my head shot up, and I ripped the blindfold off "no way" I growled turning to find had stopped behind me "I can't".
"You're not using your gift enough and after what happened with.." I growled again knowing what Giles was about to say "You're losing control of your power" I clenched my jaw knowing it was true after what happened with Angelus my 'gift' seemed to have more power over me than I do of it.
"Who told you" I questioned watching as he pushed his glasses back up holding the dodgeball under his arm "Faith" he told me honestly and I huffed out a laugh "she was just thinking about you" Giles explained as I put my hands on my hips "She's always thinking about me".
A quietness overtook the two of us and I looked up at my mentor sadly "What if I hurt you" Giles' eyes softened a bit as he heard my whisper "I have a lot of faith in you Nicola" nodding I tied the blindfold back on with shaky hands.
"Remember your breathing" Giles added as I heard him circle around again, closing my eyes under the blindfold I began to use the breathing technique Giles had shown me for my panic attacks. In and out, slowly, in and out.
Rubbing my thumb again my finger I felt the static of my Slayer senses tingle throughout my body as my ears tuned into Giles' footsteps, his steady breathing and the faint sound of his pocket watch ticking but what I was trying to tune into was my Slayer Instincts, they were like an alarm clock that rang throughout our bodies when danger approaches.
Feeling the ball coming to me I suddenly started to flail as fear constricted me instead of the confidence I used to feel when I finally had got used to me power "damn it" I mumbled when I felt rubber bouncing off my head.
Lifting up the blindfold I looked at Giles silently as he watched me almost like a confused father would do when his child falls after learning how to walk "Nikki" he started but I had enough "I can't do it okay!" I shouted feeling trapped as my gaze landed on the floor.
"I can't do it... I'll just hurt you... my powers are out of wack and no good" looking back into Giles' eyes my breath hitched as I refused to cry "I'm no good" I tensed when Giles pulled me into his chest like he had done so many times before.
"There is nothing in this world that could ever make me believe that" he murmured to me as I held onto his jacket "we just need to find the trigger for your power" pulling back I looked up at my watcher "Trigger?" I questioned as he nodded cleaning his glasses.
"As far as I've read Powers like yours all have a trigger for them to work. Be it a word, emotion or even gesture" I nodded following along with Giles' explanation "now we know you can use your telekinesis through both your eyes and uh your hands".
"So it's an emotion?" I questioned as Giles walked into his office and came back out with an old book in his hands "I've been researching about telekinesis since, well, you came into your power" feeling a smile pull on my lips I looked at Giles gratefully.
"here, I think you could benefit from reading it too, I uh took the liberty of marking the important things," Giles said as he pushed up his glasses and stuttering a little "Thanks G" I whispered appreciatively as the library doors opened.
"What's going on?" Buffy questioned as she walked over to us looking confused "Nothing" I quipped throwing Giles the blindfold as I tucked the book into my bag "Your turn B" Giles tied the blindfold tightly around Buffy's head "Ow!"
"Sorry" Giles apologized as Buffy huffed "Why do I put up with this?" I smirked knowing I questioned the same thing "Because it is your destiny..." Giles answered sending me a look as he walks around her " and because I just bought twenty 'cocorific' candy bars from you and Nicola" I let out a laugh as he hands her the dodgeball.
"Okay, you're just doing this to take funny pictures of me," Buffy said as she twirled the ball in her hands as I had done minutes earlier "As I told Nicola I'm doing it to test your awareness of an opponent's location during a fight in total darkness. Now, wait five seconds and then throw the ball at me".
He silently backtracks and takes several steps away from her toward the cage "You ran out of new training ideas about a week ago, huh? Okay. Five, four, three, two, one" She turns around and faces the door to Giles' office. He smiles, thinking she's completely clueless as to where he is.
Buffy throws the ball it hits the wall high above the checkout counter and bounces off "It's not that simple, is it..." Giles begins as I smirk knowing exactly what she had done, the ball bumps him in the side of the head "Ow. Ahem. Yes, well, very good".
Buffy takes off the blindfold and throws it to me "Thanks!" she calls as she heads out of the library "W-w-w-where are you going? We have to patrol!" Giles queries as I put my hands up in question as Buffy stops and faces us "I can't. Moms in hyperdrive. She wants me home tonight. I told you".
She starts out again before looking at me with a look I could place "Uh mom said you're fine to stay out" I nodded slowly wondering why she was acting weird, mom had loosened the leash with me slightly but if Buffy was wanted home earlier usually I was ordered to do the same.
"But, I..." Giles tried to get Buffy's attention as she stops by the door "I know, I know. She's out of control. Enjoy the candy!" she called blowing a kiss at me over her shoulder as she leaves, I look at the swinging library door for a moment, considering my sister's odd behavior.
"That was weird, right?" I questioned my mentor as he eyed the door too "Yes, strange" he agreed turning to me with a pondering look on his face "Me thinks a certain Slayer is up to no good" I told him shaking my head as Giles just looks at me.
A shirtless Angel is stood in his mansion practicing T'ai Chi. He brings his arms down together in front of him and then over to his right. As he brings his left arm up across his abdomen, he crosses his right arm over his left.
He draws his arms together again, this time crossing his left arm over his right and repeats a mirror image of his last move, never stopping his motion, he brings both hands to his waist, palms facing forward, and slowly raises his right arm and sweeps it across in front of himself, palm down, while he sweeps his left arm across below his right, palm up.
Buffy walks into the doorway and stops just to watch him, amazed at the fluidity and smoothness of his motions, Angel doesn't notice her and continues his exercises. He has his arms extended, his left hand angled up sharply from his forearm, and his right hand clasping the heel of his left.
He brings them around in a broad sweeping motion toward Buffy and then raises them, separates them and spreads them apart with his palms facing away from him. He raises his head as he does so and sees Buffy standing there watching him "Buffy".
She looks down briefly, slightly embarrassed to be caught watching him like that, and then looks up at him again with a little smile on her lips "I didn't know you could do that" He gives her the briefest glimpse of a small smile as he tries to straighten himself up from his slightly bent stance "I-I'm feeling better"
He can't maintain his posture, and bends back over, supporting himself with his right hand on his knee. Buffy rushes to his aid "Angel..." she whispers as she gets under his left arm and helps him stand up straight "Let's... get you inside"
They slowly make their way back into the mansion "It's late. How'd you get away?" Angel questions as they walk past the fireplace where a steady fire was crackling "Aw, it was easy. Started a fire in the prison laundry room. Rode out in the garbage truck".
They stop and Angel faces Buffy, not sure what to make of that "Oh" He sits on the edge of the couch "I'm joking" Buffy raises her right hand and waves it "No garbage. Smell me" She steps closer to him, but stops Angel just looks up at her.
She lowers her arm and sighs as she puts a bag down next to him and steps over to an adjacent couch and sits also, but very stiffly as a little guilt hits her knowing she had to lie to her sister to be here with the man that hurt her so badly.
"How is, uh... Scott?" Buffy head shoots up at the question "Scott?" she smiles weakly and looks down "Oh, um... boyfriend Scott. Uh... A-actually, he's not..." she exhales and nods "He's fine" Angel gives her a little nod as he plays with his hands before looking up again his face softening "and Nikki?".
Buffy's breath hitches this is a topic they've not discussed since Angel had been back and Buffy didn't quite know how to tackle it "She's okay" A minute silence develops before Buffy indicates the bag she left next to him "Uh, that's for you".
Angel reaches for it thankfully off the subject of her sister "Uh... I-it's fresh from the butcher" she tells him awkwardly as he nods in reply "Thanks" He reaches in and takes out a quart-sized plastic tub of blood he gives it a brief look, then slips it back into the bag and sets it aside.
Buffy looks away shyly, knowing he doesn't want to eat in front of her "You're being careful, right?" Buffy looks up surprised "With Scott?" Angel just stares at her unmoving "The slaying" Buffy smiles and exhales "Oh. Uh... Yeah. Of course. Full of carefulness".
"and your sister?" Angel once again tries to question about Nikki and Buffy can feel the guilt pouring from Angel "She's..." Buffy wanted to say reckless, out of control or even impetuous but all she could think of was what her sister is "Nikki"
Angel looks down knowingly "I worry about you, both of you" he finishes looking back at Buffy as she pauses briefly knowing how bad this could hurt her sister if she ever found out "I worry about you".
Angel stares down again for a moment, stroking the cushions "I'm getting stronger" Buffy gives him a little smile "Yeah, pretty soon, you won't even need me" Angel nods a little "That'll be better" Buffy feels a pang of pain go through her as she's unsure how to take Angel's words "Yeah".
Sitting on the stairs I knew Buffy was in for it when she got home, she was lying to both mom and Giles about where she was going, I had been interrogated by my mom as soon as Giles came over to talk to mom about sorting out our schedules.
But even I couldn't tell them why Buffy had been lying to them of her whereabouts, I couldn't figure out where she was sneaking off to at least when I was sneaking off to meet Beck I was honest about it, which I guess doesn't really count as sneaking off.
Looking at mom I winced as she ripped open another bar of chocolate I had sold her "mom, might wanna take it easy on the..." seeing my mom's eyes bore into mine I quickly shut my mouth that was one fight I wasn't going to jump into.
Suddenly the door opens and Buffy walks in closing it behind her as she sets her books down on the table by the coat rack. She turns around and is startled by mom looking back at her "Hey! Uh, sorry I'm late. You know Giles. All slay, all the time" Buffy begins as mom moves to show me sitting behind her as Giles steps into view from the dining room with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face "Hello, Buffy".
Buffy mouth opens and closes like a fish before she gestures into the living room "Do you guys wanna watch some television? I hear there's a very insightful Nightline on" I snort at her poor line as Mom huffs in anger "Buffy, you lied to us. And you made us into your alibis. That's... playing us against each other, and that's not fair".
"I called Willow" Buffy is at a loss now and by the look of her, she knows it too "You also lied to her about your whereabouts. We were all concerned" Giles tells her as I raise my hand I the air "I'm not," I say deadpan getting a look from everyone.
Mom unwraps another chocolate bar and holds it out to Giles to take a piece "Oh, thank you" he says as he breaks off a piece "Look, I'm sorry, but I had to..." Buffy starts as she turns around and walks into the living room. Mom and I follow her, and Giles also a few paces behind.
Leaning against the door frame "Were you at the Bronze? What was happening there that was so important?" Mom questions as Buffy stops letting out an exasperated sigh and turns to face mom "Bronze things. Things of Bronze".
Mom continues to chew on a piece of her chocolate bar "You're acting really immature, Buffy" she tells my sister condescendingly as Giles interjects himself into the conversation "I know I'm not your parent, but I am responsible for you, both of you. I think your mum's right" he says as he sits on the couch armrest.
"Okay, fine. I'm acting like a child. Maybe that's because you're both treating me like a child" Buffy fights as mom looks at her hurt "Buffy!" my sister just shrugs looking unapologetic "You're both scheduling us twenty-four hours a day" she claims pointing between the two of us.
"Between the two of you, that's forty-eight hours. I just wanna be able to make a few decisions on my own" Buffy says with a sigh as mom scoffs "The last time you made a decision on your own, you split" my eyes widen in shock as mom pops another piece of candy.
"Yeah, and I took care of myself. I don't need this much active parenting" Buffy mumbles as mom laugh incredulous "You can't really be trying to use this summer as a reason you should be trusted" Buffy looks annoyed as mom calmly eats another piece of chocolate "You can't babysit me all the time. I need you to back off a little".
Giles holds up his hand "Uh, alright, come on. Let's, let's not, uh, freak out" I grin at Giles' words "'Freak out'?" I repeat blinking slowly as he nods at me "Uh, I think you two should go to bed. Um, we're all tired".
I jump away from the door frame annoyed "But I didn't do anything wrong today" I pouted as mom just sighs at me rolling her eyes, I look at Buffy who just looks at the two of them as though they're crazy, something I was beginning to wonder myself "Whatever, freaks".
Tapping my foot against the table leg I frowned as I flipped my pen between my fingers, something wasn't right today everything just seemed off "What are you thinking about?" Beck questioned as he sat on top of the desk I was sitting at.
"just wondering where Perky is," I said referring to the middle-aged detention teacher "probably at home writing some erotic pornography," Beck said with a wide grin "Ew" I laughed leaning up to kiss him as he pulled me up close.
Hearing the door open I raised my eyebrow at Professor Stanford walked in eating a chocolate bar "Hey! We're all stuck here, okay? So now let's just sit quietly and, pretend we're reading something" my eyebrows shot up and I looked at Beck in shock.
"Where's Ms. Perky?" Beck questions at Stanford just shrugs and plops himself down at the desk in front of us and lifting his feet up onto the table "who cares, a few more minutes and then we're all outta here!".
Looking at my boyfriend I let out a laugh as Stanford turns on the radio behind him and nods to the rock music that comes from the black box "what the hell?" I ask as Beck sits by my side "mid-life crisis?" he guesses as he pulls me into him again.
"Dude! Get a room!" Stanford calls out throwing a paper airplane at Beck who frowns "ok now I know something is up" I nod along with him until the bell rings to which Stanford lets out an excited yell charging from the room.
"That's more than a mid-life crisis" I say as Beck and I leave detention "That's more like a whole life crisis" I joke as Beck leans against a set of lockers pulling me with him "So you wanna come round later, we'll watch a movie?" he questions running his hands down my back.
"Is that what we're calling it now" I smirked putting my arms around his neck "hey I could have said wanna come round for a..."
"Nikki!" my sister's voice cut over Beck's who winked at me knowing I knew what he was going to say "Yes B," I said with a sigh turning to see Buffy walking over to us "Giles didn't show up for study hall, I'm worried".
I frowned it wasn't like Giles not to turn up for work "yeah, we should go see him" turning to Beck I gave him a quick kiss "I'll see you later" I told him with a meaningful look as Buffy and I began to walk to Giles' place.
Following Buffy, to Giles' door, I frown when she stops and peers in through the viewport "what are you doing?" I ask with a sigh before Buffy opens the door and lets us in, Giles is crouched by a cabinet where he keeps his vinyl record collection the sound of our entrance gets his attention, and he looks up "Buffy, Nikki".
"Uh... sorry. I... I was just worried. You were a big not-there in study hall and after your lecture to me on not ducking out..." Buffy babbles looking confused "and what is my mother doing here?"
Giles steps over to mom who waves at us "We had an opportunity for, um, you might say, a summit meeting. It took priority over study hall. I called in" Giles explains to us with a mouth full of chocolate.
"We decided that you made a good point earlier, honey," mom tells Buffy as she and Giles nod at us "I did. Yeah" Buffy agrees as I look at the two adults confused "she did? Which was...?"
"A-about us overscheduling you" Mom starts then looks to Giles for support "Pulling you both in two directions, uh, your home life and your duties as Slayers" the two of us nod probably with identical dumbfound expressions "Oh. That was a good point".
"We're working out a coordinated schedule for you" mom informs us as Giles smiles widely "It'll be tight, but, uh, I think we can fit in all your responsibilities" I give them an uncertain smile "Sounds nice and..." Buffy says struggling for another word "structured" I offered with a tight smile.
"We've got more work to do here, girls. Why don't you give us a little more time?" Mom tells us as Giles gets up and walks over to the fireplace mantel to stare at a picture.
Mom reaches into her purse, pulls out her car keys and stands up "Um... Take the car, and, um, Mr. Giles can drive me home" she says as she holds out the keys "What?" Buffy smiles and shakes her head as I look at our mother wide-eyed "Excuse me, I meant what?!".
"Keys. Take them" Mom says again as she jangles her car keys in front of us "You don't have to tell me twice. Well, actually, you did, but..." Buffy snatches the keys "bye!" she rushes out with me following her.
"Hey, I wanna drive!" I shouted from behind my sister as she holds the keys away from me "nuh uh, mom gave me the keys" Buffy said as I tried reaching for the keys "no she didn't you snatched them" I exclaimed as we fought with each other.
"Yeah well, I'm older!" Buffy called as she jangled the keys at me "that's bullshit!" I shouted noticing the looks the neighbors were giving me "Okay let's settle this" Buffy finalizes as she puts the keys on the car and holding out her hands.
Sighing to myself I adopted the same stance "Rock, Paper, Scissors. Shoot!" we both call out hammering out fist into our palms "Ha! Rock beats Scissors!" Buffy cheers as I frown at her rock "son of a bitch!".
Getting into the passenger seat of mom's car I pout as Buffy gets in behind the wheel "Do you even know how to drive?" I question as my sister slams her foot down on the peddle "Oh god, we're gonna die" I mumble to myself.
"I'm sorry we can't all be experienced drivers" Buffy sasses as I hold on the door handle "how come dad didn't get you a car after you passed the test?" my sister questioned as we drove down a familiar street.
I gave my sister a sheepish look "he caught me joyriding in the neighbors' car" Buffy turned to me and blinked slowly "She's 89 B, what does she need a car for?" I exclaimed as Buffy shook her head at me.
Stopping outside Willow's house Buffy pressed the horn and waved when our redheaded friend looked out of her window before gesturing for us to wait for her to come down "Willow's gonna have a heart attack with you driving" I told my sister dryly.
I smiled when Willow climbed into the backseat looking all excited until Buffy once again floored the car and we took off "Tell me again how it happened" Willow asks when Buffy explains how mom let us borrow her car.
"Told my mom I wanted to be treated more like a grownup, and voila: driviness" Buffy grins as she takes a corner without slowing down, and skids around it. That shakes up Willow again and she begins to breathe nervously.
"Also, I think she wanted us otherwhere. Considering my mom and Giles are planning mine and Nikki's future, I think it's easier for them to live our lives if we're not actually there" Buffy tells Willow as I lean against the window watching the world go by "that and I'm pretty sure they're gonna have sex".
Both girls look at me quickly and I just shrugged uncaring "mom and Giles! No way" Buffy exclaims as Willow continues her heavy nervous breathing in the back "Do you know that you have the parking brake on?" she asks Buffy who looks at me and I nod to the brake "Uh-huh".
She releases the parking brake and the engine suddenly begins to rev much higher, as we accelerate more "Are, are you sure about the Bronze? I mean, the SATs are tomorrow" Willow questions sounding more nervous than before.
"I can study at the Bronze. A little dancing, a little cross-multiplying" Buffy smiles wickedly "You know what we need?" She reaches over, turns on the radio and begins to turn the station dial. In the process, she bends over too low to see over the dashboard.
"Eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!" Willow screams out loud and I turn to see her holding on for dear life. While changing stations, Buffy doesn't realize that she is pulling on the steering wheel, and the car makes a wide left turn, but fortunately onto another road, and so doesn't hit anything.
Walking into the Bronze with Buffy and Willow the three of us looked around speechless, there was an unusual mix of people in the crowd tonight "Let's do the time warp again" Buffy exclaims as we walk through the mostly adult/old people crowd.
"Maybe there's a reunion in town or, or a Billy Joel tour or something" Willow shrugs as Ms. Barton walks past us "Ms. Barton?" Buffy questions as the elderly teacher stops to face us "Buffy? Whoa!" Ms. Barton says as if she's shocked to see us there.
"Are you okay, Ms. Barton?" Willow asks looking concerned as Ms. Barton smiles widely holding a blue solo cup "Oh, I'm cool, Willow" a look of realization passes over her "Willow... That's a tree. You're a tree!" she giggles as the three of us exchange a look.
"Yeah, uh, uh, are there any nachos in here, little tree?" Ms. Barton questions as my eyebrows shoot up in surprise "A-are you sure you don't need some fresh air, Ms. Barton?" Buffy suggests as the teacher laughs hysterically "Okay..." she sighs as she goes into the crowd.
"Hey, this is not normal" Willow stutters as Buffy gives her a look "Uh, w-well, maybe that goes without saying" Willow affirms as I look around the room in wonder "is it me or is everyone here a little stoned?".
"Hey, gang!" a familiar voice shouts from behind us and an arm is suddenly swung over my shoulder "This place is Fun City, huh?" Snyder laughs as we all look at him in shock "Principal Snyder?" Buffy gasps "Call me Snyder. Just a last name, like... Barbarino".
I look at my sister completely lost "B, he's touching me" I whispered looking at the short man in between us "I don't like to be touched" Snyder lets go of us and pumps his arms and fists around wildly "Ooh! I'm so stoked!"
Snyder comes back down from his outburst and lets out a breath "Hey, did you see Ms. Barton? I think she's wasted" Snyder almost giggles "I'm gonna have to put that in her next performance review 'cause..." he stops and gives us an impish smile "'cause I'm the principal!".
Snyder laughs as he turns around and heads back into the crowd "I don't like this. They could have heart attacks" Willow tells us looking concerned "Uh, well... ma-maybe there's a doctor here," Buffy says as an older, shirtless man jumps up onto the stage, pushes Devon away from the microphone stand and yells out into the crowd "Yeeeeaaaaaah!".
"I think that is my doctor" Will cries out as the man jumps from the stage expecting to be caught by the crowd, but they don't react fast enough, and he slams into the floor. The three of us cringe at the sight "He-he's usually less... topless".
Snyder sticks his head between us again and I step away slightly, no need for anymore Snyder cooties "I got a commendation for being principal" he tells us impressed with himself "From the Mayor! Shook my hand twice".
Buffy gives Snyder a fake smile "That's nice" Snyder nods and inhales deeply, two attractive women walk past us with drinks and Snyder makes eyes at them "Whoa! There are some foxy ladies here tonight!" He heads off after them.
Buffy, Willow and I walk in the other direction "What's happening?" Will asks sound distraught "I don't know, but it's happening to a whole lot of grownups" I concede as we stop by the stairs looking around at the crowd.
"They're acting like a bunch..." Willow starts as Buffy interjects "They're acting like a bunch of us" frowning I watch the adults act like prepubescent teens "I don't act like this" Buffy eyed me "You stole an 89-year-old woman's vehicle".
I scoff and point to the rowdy adults "Yes! But I've never lay across a bar and let someone pour a jug of screwdriver down my throat" I tell them watching the people at the bar "...yet" I confessed grinning at my sister.
Boxes of chocolate bars keep rolling off of the line at the Milkbar factory, Trick, and Ethan walk through the shipping area "Demand's high" Trick stated as the warlock next to him grinned deviously "I thought it might be".
"That's the reason I love this country. You make a good product, and the people will come to you. Of course, a lot of them are gonna die, but that's the other reason I love this country" The dark-skinned vampire confessed happily.
They stop walking, and Trick steps over to the man inspecting the boxes before they get sealed "Hey! Don't sample the product" he shouted as the man shook his head quickly "But I didn't".
Trick grabs him by the overalls, pulls him into a headlock and jerks his head around, breaking his neck and throwing him to the floor as Ethan looks away in distaste.
Trick straightens his jacket and checks his pinky ring as they continue to walk "Okay. Uh, how did you know he was..." Ethan started motioning back to the body in question as the vampire shrugs.
"I don't. Now I know no one else will" Trick checks his watch "We're getting close" stopping a line worker Trick motioned to the product on the line "Keep it flowing" Giving Ethan a smirk he tipped his head "It's almost feeding time" He walks off leaving Ethan standing there staring after him, After a moment Ethan heads back the way they came.
Oz, Willow, Buffy and I all observe the crowd "Something's definitely changing them" Buffy says as I nod in agreement "A spell?" Willow offers as we continue to watch the vivacious adults.
"They're teenagers. It's a sobering mirror to look into, huh?" Oz admits as Snyder walks by, sees Oz and stops "You've got great hair" He walks around Oz, smiling and staring at his hair.
Suddenly the music stops and a group of older men starts singing "Louie Louie" up on the stage. They are off-key, out of sync and basically just plain terrible but the crowd dances to them anyway.
"It just gets more upsetting" Willow mumbles as I look at the old guys in stage wide-eyed "No vampire has ever been that scary," I tell my friends as I point to the stage.
Suddenly loud shouting and noises start behind us as Snyder turns to face us smiling and nodding his head vigorously "Fight!" Willow lets out a helpless sigh and I rub my temples in annoyance.
Buffy starts to head out "We've gotta figure out what's going on," she tells me as I follow nodding "This has Hellmouth fingerprints all over it" Willow and Oz follow behind us.
I bump into my sister as she stops by a pinball machine where we see a woman hold out a candy bar to her boyfriend. He takes a huge bite while he keeps playing the game. Our pause gives Snyder a chance to catch up after noticing we're leaving "Hey, where are we going?".
Pushing my sister the four of us leave the club heading for mom's car "Wait up, you guys!" Snyder calls from behind us as he follows us out "Hey! You guys aren't trying to ditch me, are ya?".
Buffy pulls out the keys as we walk up to the car and I stop my sister "B, I think now's the time to let me drive" Buffy just rolls her eyes and once again puts her fist into her palm.
"Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot!" We call and once again Buffy grins as me knowingly "Rock always beats scissors" I punch the air in annoyance "son of a..." opening the door to the passenger seat I slam the door behind me.
"We should find Giles. He'll know what's going on, right?" Oz tells us as he and Willow climb into the backseat "Sure. Except for all we know, he's sweet sixteen again" Buffy huffs as we all pull on our seatbelts.
"He's with your mom at his place" Willow states as I let out a laugh "bom chicka wah wah" Buffy starts the car and gives me a look until Snyder opens the door behind her and gets in.
"I said, wait up!" he huffs slamming the door closed "Uh, Snyder..." Oz tries but I just wave at him "No time. He's coming with us" Buffy puts the car in gear and slams on the gas, burning some rubber in her hurry to get going "Whoa, Summers! You drive like a spaz!".
Driving down the streets I look out of the window and notice all the adults parading around looking like idiots "It'll be okay when we get to Giles" Willow says sounding hopeful "Of course, I mean, even if he's sixteen, he's still Giles, right? He's probably a pretty together guy" Oz mentions as Buffy and I look at each other knowingly.
"Yeah, well..." I start with a grimace remembering the stories Giles had told us and back when we fought Eyghon "What?" Oz questions confused "Giles at sixteen? Less Together Guy, more Bad-Magic-Hates-The-World-Ticking-Time-Bomb Guy".
"Well, then I guess your mom's in a lotta trouble" Oz states as I nod slowly "I wonder what mom was like a sixteen" I questioned aloud as my sister snorts "probably a good girl, doing her homework and getting home before curfew".
I looked over to my sister to laugh when I saw a car speeding towards us "Buffy look out!" I shouted tensing up for the impact. The other Jeep hits us hard on the left rear door and back panel, making us spin around a quarter turn.
The driver of the other Jeep quickly gets out "Sorry! Gotta go!" he shouts as he runs off laughing, the fours of us get out of moms car, my first instinct is to chase the man but Buffy grabs my arm letting him get away and looks at the dent in the car "Oh, God".
Buffy closes her door as Snyder swings his door closed as well, but it won't shut properly anymore because of the impact from the crash "Are you guys okay?" Buffy questions shakily as we all look over the car in shock "Told you, you should have let me drive" I muttered as Buffy glares at me for a minute.
"Is anybody else all creeped out and trembly?" Willow asks as we look around seeing three men sitting in the playground, laughing and smoking "Oh, Buffy... Your mom's gonna kill you" Snyder tells my sister who is busy looking at the other side of the street "Something's weird" she mumbles
"No grownups" she concludes as we watch two women strut past the men by the tree, munching on chocolate as the guys give them catcalls. Snyder starts to unwrap a bar of his own "No one's protecting their houses. Everyone's just... wandering" A man runs up behind Snyder, grabs his chocolate bar and runs off with it.
"Hey!" Snyder shouts as we stare at the man as he runs away "Hey, give it!" Snyder goes after the man "Defenseless" Willow utters as Buffy turns to us again "So where are all the vampires?" The four consider this "Soup's on, but no one's grabbing a spoon" I say as I watch all the adults running around like kids.
"Something's happening... someplace that's else" Oz offers as Buffy nods "I'd say something big" Snyder returns upset "That guy took my candy!" Suddenly Buffy and I look at each other astonished "It's the candy!" we call in unison "it's gotta be the candy! It's cursed" Buffy tells Willow and Oz as they exchange a look.
Snyder turns to me looking worried "A curse?! Oh, I've got a curse" I roll my eyes at the older man "You are a curse" I huff turning back to my friends "God, using candy for evil!" Willow gasps as Oz jumps "My parents ate a ton".
Buffy looks at Snyder and jumps at him, pushing him up against the other Jeep "Who's behind it?" Snyder eyes us confused "I don't know. It came through the school board" he shakes his head "If you knew that crowd..."
Losing my patience I pushed my sister away and grabbed Snyder by his lapels "Where did it come from? Do you know where to get it?" Snyder has the right mind to look terrified and nods quickly "Yeah".
Letting go of Snyder I turned to Willow and Oz "You guys get Xander and Cordelia. Go to the library and look it up" I order them as Oz frowns at me "Candy curses?" Willow grabs Oz's hand "Disturbing second childhood. Got it" Willow pulls on Oz's hand, and they start on their way.
Buffy turns to Snyder with a sneer "Ratboy, Nikki and I are going to the source" she calls out to Willow as they run off, grabbing Snyder's shoulder Buffy shoves him toward the car, quickly getting in to the drivers seat I looked at my sister "no time" I told her as she got into the seat next to me and we drive off towards the Milkbar factory.
Pulling the jeep into a screeching halt, Buffy and I jump out of the car and march over to the crowd with Snyder following behind us. Passing a couple making on the street Buffy pulls me to a stop and we look back at the couple "Mom? Giles?!".
Giles doesn't look up at us and continues kissing our mother "Go away. We're busy" my lip curls in disgust as my mom lets out a moan "Mom!" Buffy shouts pulling mom away from our Watcher "Hey!" mom calls and my eyes widen seeing her outfit.
"Where did you get that coat?" Buffy asks shock before shaking her head " Never mind. Listen..." Giles grabs Buffy's arm and turns her to face him "Back off!" my hand shoots out and grabs Giles' wrist and twists a little "Giles, think about this. You wanna fight me, or you wanna let me talk to our mother?"
Giles glances at me as I look at him blankly, realizing he wouldn't have a chance against us he backs down, yanking his hand from me and up to the side of his face, where he grabs a cigarette from behind his ear.
"Mom, look at me. Do you know who we are?" Buffy questions our mom who smiles at us "Of course. You're Buffy and Nikki" she looks over at the crowd "Hey, look. They're, they're giving away candy. You want some candy?".
"No, I don't! And you don't need any more, either" Buffy argued as mom looks at her annoyed "I'm fine. I can have more if I want" I watched as mom rolled her eyes with attitude "You are not fine. You need to go home" Buffy laments more like a mother now and not a child.
"Screw you," Mom tells Buffy whose mouth drops "whoa! Wait a minute when I act like this you ground me but when you do it, it's suddenly okay?" I argued as Buffy sighs when mom and I glare at each other.
Buffy grabs my arm as I continue to argue with my teenaged mother "Nikki please, I really need you to be an adult with me right now" I frowned at my sisters innocent meaning words "I always have to be an adult, I always have to push my feelings back!"
"I want candy!" Mom tells us almost stomping her foot as Buffy looks like she wants to rip out her own hair "Mom!" but mom's not having it "You wanna slay stuff, and I'm not allowed to do anything about it. Well, this is what I wanna do, so get off my back!
"Mom, please, this is..." Buffy tries until Giles reaches for mom and pulls her away "Oh, for God's sake. Just let your mum have the sodding candy. C'mon, Joyce..." Buffy holds mom back and points at her black Jeep Cherokee "Mom, look at your car. Look at that dent the size of New Brunswick. I did that"
Mom lets out a loud gasp and Buffy sighs thinking she was back "Oh, my God. What was I thinking when I bought the Geek Machine?" Giles busts up laughing and Buffy looks like she can't believe our mom's response.
I give up and step over to Giles "Listen to me. You need..." Giles interrupts and leans down into my face "No, you listen to me. I'm your Watcher, so you do what I tell you" he points at the Jeep "Now, sod off!"
"Nikki" Buffy's voice comes out as a warning as my lips curls in anger, grabbing the cigarette from Giles' mouth I throw it down and stomp it out angrily "Take her home" I barked at Giles before turning to my mother "and don't even think we're finished young lady".
Turning I start to push my way through the crowd toward the loading dock with my sister following in tow. Stepping up on a crate I take out one of the men tossing candy to the crowd by punching him in the back of the knee.
As he crumples and falls off of the end of the dock Buffy log rolls onto the platform and flips up to her feet. The other man throws away the box of candy bars he just grabbed, and Buffy ducks, thinking that it's being thrown at her.
Jumping up next to Buffy I watch as she grabs onto the guys shirt, spins halfway around and launches him off of the dock, turning I see Giles and my mom at the base of the dock stuffing chocolate bars into their pockets.
"Mom!" Buffy calls and grabs her by the arms and pulls her up shocking our mother "Hey!" she cries out making Giles looks up "Oy! You leave her alone!" kicking open the door to the factory I look over my shoulder to see Buffy pushing mom in behind me.
As we walk into the shipping area Buffy lets go of mom "Stay" she orders and walks over to me nodding as we look around to see what we can find. Buffy nudges me and nods over to a lone man on a phone.
We slowly approach the man on the phone tuning out what the other adults are talking about "Yeah, I've been out there. Town's wide open. You guys can go anytime" my jaw clenches as I immediately recognize the voice.
Buffy crosses her arms as we close the distance between us "Ethan Rayne" He turns to face us and his eyes go wide with surprise putting the phone back to his ear he speaks into it nervously "Might wanna hurry".
"Ethan" Giles greets from behind us and Ethan nods back at Giles knowingly with a hint of fear "Ripper" He wastes no time breaking into a fast run and we give immediate chase.
Ethan runs under the inclined end of the conveyor and pulls a rack behind him to block their way, but the three of us just jump over the low end of it instead and continue the chase. Running through a maze of aisles we round a corner only to discover that we've lost him.
Behind us, Giles stops running, too, and breathes heavily to catch his breath "Where... Bloody Hell!" glancing at my Watcher I smirk "That's what smoking will do to you. Now be quiet" Giles throws his hands up "Well... Where'd the bastard go?"
"Shh!" Buffy hisses sounding annoyed as we walk around a corner before stopping "What?" Giles questions as I put my hand out for him to stop when my instincts start to go static just like in training this morning.
Buffy looks at me and I nod to her as she suddenly does a half-spinning hook kick into a crate and yanks away a chunk of wood, reaches in and pulls Ethan's head out "Look. A box full of farm-fresh chicken" Ethan gives us a nervous smile, but it quickly fades.
I reached in and pulled Ethan out of the box "So, Ethan, what are we playing? We're pretty much in a talk-or-bleed situation. Your call" Buffy hisses at Ethan "Hit him" Giles calls behind us and I give a small smile at his rambunctiousness.
Buffy glares at him for an instant, then looks back at Ethan "I-I'd just like to point out that this wasn't my idea" Ethan says as Giles begins to pace behind us "Meaning...?" I question as the warlock looks over at me.
"I'm subcontracting. It's Trick you want. I'm just helping him collect a tribute... for a demon" Ethan admits to us with his hands in his pockets looking like a scorned child "He's lying. Hit him!" Giles shouts egging us on.
"I don't think he is, and shut up" Buffy calls to Giles over her shoulder "You two are my Slayers" Giles tells us before he points at Ethan "go knock his teeth down his thr..." Buffy turns and interrupts him "Giles!" He turns away from her and continues pacing.
"What demon?" I inquired as Ethan just shrugs at me "I don't remember" bringing back my fist I punch him solidly in the nose without a care as he stumbles back against the broken crate "Yes!" Giles jumps and swings his fist through the air.
Buffy gives Giles a glaring look and he loses his smile as Ethan holds his nose looking at me "Lurconis. Demon named Lurconis. They wanted a way to get the tribute away from people" Buffy crosses her arms "So you're just Diversion Guy?".
"More than a diversion. Well, they said the tribute was big, so big that people would never let them take it. That people had to be out-of-it. And later on, when the candy wore off, they'd blame themselves" Ethan explains as Buffy sighs "Hence, land of the irresponsible. So, where's Trick?".
Ethan looks down with another shrug "I don't know exactly" Giles taps on my shoulder repeatedly "Hit him again" I give Ethan a threatening look and he puts his hands up in defense "No! I-I-I really don't know. Delivering the tribute".
I look at my sister questioningly wonder whether to punch Ethan again but she steps closer to him "Which brings us to the bonus question, and believe me when I say a wrong answer will cost you all your points" Giles leaps up joyously behind us with a huge smile on his face, anticipating a good fight "What's the tribute?"
The phones are ringing off the hook and all of the circuits on the switchboard at the nurse's station are flashing at the maternity ward at Sunnydale General Hospital, the nurse just ignores it all and watches her small television.
Four vampires boldly enter the hall and walk right past the nurse but she doesn't even notice them, they turn down another hall looking very sure of where they are headed.
They reach the room where the newborns are kept and walk straight in, each of them carefully takes a crying baby from its crib. They walk out of the ward in single file, gently holding the babies in their arms.
Ethan is leaning against a table while Snyder crouches nearby, keeping an eye on him. Buffy is on the phone with Willow at the library "Right. Lurconis. See if it says anything about a tribute" Sitting on the conveyor belt I watched my sister's one-sided conversation.
"I don't know".she looks at Ethan who is glancing in my direction "My source is all tapped out" Snyder notices Ethan's looks and smirks "She whupped you good, huh?" he throws two punches in the air "Yah! Wah!" he stands up proudly "I can do that. I took Tae Kwon Do at the Y".
He goes into a series of kicks and punches, grunting with each one as he advances toward mom, trying to impress her. She just rolls her eyes, looks away and sighs, unimpressed. It worrying to see how much my mom and I are alike at the 'same age' Snyder realizes it wasn't working and leans against the wall as mom blows a bubble with her gum.
"No, no. It's definitely a demon. A big one" Buffy says again and I glance over to her as she played with the phone cord "I wouldn't" my eyes shot over to Giles and noticed he had a gun pressed into Ethan's neck.
Buffy turns around and swings the telephone receiver hard into Ethan's chin, he spins down to the floor,
dropping the crowbar. Giles aims the gun at the back of Ethan's head, execution style as Buffy hands the phone to mom.
"Giles, give me the gun" Buffy orders holding out her hand but Giles just stares at Buffy and doesn't give in "Giles..." she tries again using the same warning tone she uses with me, Gile keeps the gun aimed right where it is.
"G!" I pipe up when Giles still doesn't give Buffy the gun, after another moment Giles reluctantly gives up his weapon to Buffy who stuffs it into the back of her pants "Good way to put a bullet in your butt" I tell her sarcastically as mom holds the phone out to Buffy "Uh, it's, um, it's Willow. She wants you real bad".
Buffy takes the phone back "Uh-huh?" a few moments go by and Buffy quickly hangs up the phone looking at me worried "We need to go, now" I nod and jump up as Buffy grabs mom's hand "Well, what about that man?"
We both turn to see Giles holding the crowbar over Ethan, who is still on the floor "Uh, see if you guys can find something to tie him up with" Buffy dictates as mom reaches behind her and pulls out a set of handcuffs, dangling them from her thumb and giving us a sheepish but mischievous look.
Taking the cuffs from mom I point at her "If you remember this tomorrow you can no longer give me shit about the way I act" I tell her and head over to Ethan and grabbing his wrist.
Looking into the empty cribs I frowned as Buffy holds an identification wristband left behind "Something's gonna eat those babies?" mom asks me sounding sad and worried as Snyder walks up beside her "I think that is so wrong" he says shaking his head.
Giles comes into the room looking annoyed "She says she never saw who took them. Dozy cow" Buffy looks over at our Watcher sadly "We know who took them" Giles throws his hands up chewing his gum "Well, then let's do something. Let's find the demon and, and... kick the crap out of it".
"Is that what happens now?" Snyder asks looking nervous as he chews his nails "Yeah if we knew where they were" I huffed starting to pace "'Lurconis dwells beneath the city, filth to filth.'" Giles utters and I stop pacing "What?".
"Ooo!" Giles exclaims as he turns to face me "I know this" we all look at Giles expectantly as he tries to remember more "Uh... I knew this. 'Lurconis' means..." he stops to think "'glutton'. And we'll find it, um..." he thinks again and shrugs "in the sewers".
"The sewers?" mom repeats as she goes to Giles for a hug "Uh, good. You go do that thing with the demon, and I'll stay here in case the babies, you know, uh... find their way back" mom lets go of Giles and whispers sadly "The babies must be so scared".
Giles looks at Snyder with a sneer "You filthy little ponce" he steps toward him in challenge "Are you afraid of a little demon?" Snyder eyes Giles miffed "If you want to splash around in the poo" he gives Giles a shove "you're the filthy one!" Giles shoves him back equally annoyed.
Buffy gets between them "Okay, you know what? Everybody just stop it! Okay, listen to me. I need help, okay? Giles, I need grownups." Snyder and Giles continue trying to stare each other down "These children are gonna die if we don't act now, okay, and think clearly" she tries to get Giles' attention "There is no room for mistakes. Besides which... you guys are just wigging me out".
Snyder gives in and looks away and Giles gives him one last stare then steps back over to mom "Sorry" mom nods at us "We'll behave" her and Giles curl into each other "Good" I sigh and look at Snyder rolling my eyes "Snyder, go home" he nods his head and pulls a face as he leaves "I can do that".
Buffy turns to face Giles "Giles, we're going to the sewers" we both grimace seeing him kissing our mom again "And don't do that!" Buffy hisses as we both stalks out of the room with the two of them reluctantly following us.
Opening the manhole I frown hearing the sounds of baby cries "they're here" I tell Buffy as I drop down into the manhole with her following behind me, the Mayor turns his head to face us "Hi" behind us Giles climbs down a few rungs of the ladder and drops down the rest of the way.
The robed vampires quickly growl at us and in for an attack move to attack them, the first vampire swings wildly at Buffy, but she ducks him "I'll take the ugly one" she announces as I look at each of the vampire's faces "wait but they're all ugly" I say as questioningly as mom hops down next to Giles.
Buffy roundhouse kicks the second one and turns back to the first one and shoves him away from her and he smashes into the ladder as the second one squares up to me, giving him a roundhouse kick another vampire tries to kick me from behind, but I block him and roundhouse kick him in the side.
I notice mom and Giles run over to the table with the babies and wheel it away, Buffy and I fight perfectly in trained sync as the vampire keep coming back for more, pulling out our stakes we both cleanly stake our enemies and watching as they burst into ashes.
Another vampire runs towards Buffy who side kicks him, and he flies backward onto the rim of the pool and back rolls into the water. Suddenly we all hear a deep rumbling the vampire tries to get up out of the water.
Putting my arms down out of my fighting stance I listen to the rumbling as it gets louder., the vampire climbs onto a pedestal in the middle of the pool "What the hell's that?" Giles questions out loud as the vampire gets to his knees.
Just then a huge demon snake appears through another tunnel by the water, it sees the vampire on the pedestal, engulfs him and retreats back into the tunnel "Lurconis, I'm thinking" I say wide-eyed in surprise "Ordinarily, I like other people to do my fighting for me, but I just gotta see what you got" Trick announces as he cockily steps up to us.
Buffy and I get back into fighting stance "Just tell us when it hurts" We start to advance on him, but Giles rushes past us "Giles! No!" Buffy screams as I watch I shock as he throws a solid left to Trick's face, but he isn't fazed.
He grabs Giles by the shirt and throws him into the pool. Trick makes a dash for it. Giles starts to climb out of the water at the rim of the pool "Oh shit!" I shout as the rumbling starts again, quicker this time and I knew what was about to come.
I looked around frantically for a way to stop the demon and notice my sister look up "Nikki jump" she shouted as we both lept up and grabbed the gas pipe above our heads, it breaks under our weight, and gas begins to hiss out of it.
Giles is out of the water now and rolls over the rim of the pool and down to the floor as we angle the gas pipe into one of the torches, and it bursts into flames. The snake demon comes through the tunnel once more but rears back and screams in pain as it becomes engulfed in flames.
Screeching loudly the Lurconis move back down the tunnel taking the fire with it "You and me, girls" A voice calls out and we spin around to see Trick up the manhole "There's hard times ahead" He gets up and makes himself scarce.
Buffy exhales "They never just leave. Always gotta say something" I nod along and shrug in ponder "maybe something to think about next time we need to stake him" mom comes out of the shadows and over to us "Can we go home now?".
Giles gets up, soaked to the skin as Buffy nods "Yeah, we can go home. I've got the SATs tomorrow" Mom scoffs at Buffy "Oh, blow them off. I'll write you a note" I brighten up and smile widely "Ok!" I agree as mom goes back to the babies.
Buffy gives me a look "No" before turning to mom "No. It's okay" I roll my eyes as we join mom by the babies "Poor babies. Come on..." mom coos at the four small babes as Giles come over to help as well.
Brushing my hair I jumped on my bed with a sigh knowing I should be doing some last minute prep for the SATs but the book I remembered Giles gave me this morning was practically burning through my brain.
Picking up my bag I pulled out the red tattered leather book and opened it slowly to where Giles had marked "The strength of Telekinesis varies depending on the strength and skill of users. A lot of practice and concentration will improve the precision and accuracy as well as the distance that objects/beings can be moved".
I nodded to myself that seemed pretty obvious, reading on I noticed Giles had underlined the trigger section but as I skimmed over it I noticed there was nothing to tell me what my trigger might be so that was something I would have to figure out on my own.
Putting the book down I focused on my alarm clock before closing my eyes and thinking about something happy "okay, uhh..." opening my eyes I realized I had no happy thoughts springing to mind "Damn it, uh, okay, thinking about...oh Beck".
Picturing Beck in my mind a smile came to my face but when I opened my eyes the alarm clock hadn't moved an inch "not a happy trigger then" looking at the page again I tried to think of some more emotions "Sadness, right, I'm sad because... people are idiots" again nothing.
Sighing I closed my eyes tightly this time I knew I had to try fear it would make sense for fear to be my trigger after what happened, breathing heavily I began to picture myself back at the mansion and how scared I was but the more I thought about my emotions started to haywire.
Remembering how his eyes looked when he told me what he was going to do to me, the way he taunted me when he cut me with his dagger "the annoying thing is, you'll be healed in a few hours and it won't leave a scar" my breath hitched slightly.
"Well, it's sexy I'll give you that but it's just in my way"
"Shh, beautiful, it'll all be over soon"
"baby, I don't want to kill you"
"Oh no, I want to keep you forever".
"Princess there's more than one way to break a woman"
Opening my eyes suddenly I let out a strangled scream as I flung my arm up in sheer anger and watched as the entire contents on my desk flew into the wall but the little alarm clock stayed sitting on my desk in perfect condition almost like it was mocking me.
Angry tears poured down my face as I clenched my hands into fists and closed my eyes tight "Nikki, you okay?" I heard Buffy's voice come from the other side of my door and a fire of hatred hit me and I remembered the song I had sung to Buffy at our house party.
"Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted. Did you have to ruin what was shiny? Now it's all rusted. Did you have to hit me, where I'm weak?. Baby, I couldn't breathe And rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me"
A/N: So here is Bandy candy, I just want to say a big sorry for not getting it out sooner and thank you for everyone for waiting patiently for this chapter. I'm struggling a little with my mental health right now so thank you all for sticking it out with me!
Q: Did you catch the reference in this chapter to another fandom? leave a comment if you did!