Once again I must admit with some sadness that I do not own Buffy or any such creations, a little dialogue borrowed from 'Welcome to the Hellmouth' and 'The Harvest' obviously isn't mine.

Angel, the Harvest and Other Issues

The remainder of that first day was uneventful. Buffy had no problem finding her way around, which was good, and supremely weird considering she'd never set foot in the place before. School wasn't the worst problem at present. It was already apparent that Cordelia had told various people about her, no doubt as retaliation to her dismissal of Queen C and Buffy was already being classed as a 'loser'.

At this point she didn't care, even the illusion of six years of growth and experience appeared to have left an impression and the ability to brush off such immature nonsense was one of those things.

When she and Willow headed to the library for some studying, she was in a surprisingly good mood. Giles was standing at the counter, clearly engrossed in one of his Time Life series volumes on creatures of the night, vampire, werewolf, who knows, though considering their current prophesy concerning the Harvest, it was more than likely to be vampire related.

He glanced up as they approached the table and set their books down.

"Hello Willow, Buffy, are you looking for some books?" Giles asked in a completely neutral tone, a natural actor then, Buffy wasn't sure she'd ever realised that about him.

Willow looked at him, slightly taken aback,

"Do you know Buffy Mr Giles?" She asked, clearly curious because Buffy was the 'new girl'.

"Yes, we met earlier, didn't we Buffy?" He asked mildly,

Buffy was impressed with his dissembling skills.

"Oh, yeah, I was looking for a history textbook, but I didn't have a chance to get it." Buffy explained, Willow nodded as she accepted the reason.

"What would you like to go over first?" Willow asked taking out some books from her bag as they approached the table in the centre of the room. Buffy tried not to think about the hellmouth directly beneath them.

The study session went well, and Willow and Buffy got to know each other a little better, which was comforting amidst everything else that was going on.

She told Willow she'd see her at The Bronze and Giles turned to her after Willow had left.

"I'm pleased that you're taking your normal studies so seriously."

Buffy smiled feeling self-satisfied,

"Well, they are important, and when I'm paying attention, studying really isn't that bad, or difficult." She admitted,

"Quite, very good, now we need to discuss the Harvest. You are aware of the specifics I assume?"

"Yep, Sunnydale is on a Hellmouth and there's a big bad old vampire trapped between the earth and a demon dimension from when he tried to open it in 1938 or whenever it was, but it caused an earthquake instead and he was trapped inside. The Harvest is a ritual for him to become powerful enough to break free."

Giles smile was tempered by his obvious surprise.

"You have a remarkable memory for a girl who saw an entire six years in just two weeks."

Buffy shrugged,

"I guess so, I don't remember everything, but I'm hoping I know enough,"

Giles watched her curiously for several seconds before he spoke again.

"Once this Harvest is taken care of, we must have that talk."

She nodded, though unsure if she was looking forward to that, Buffy knew it was necessary, but it wasn't going to be fun. How was it going to feel to recount all those events to her Watcher, the best and worst of every decision she might make? Many of which had hurt their close relationship and isolated the other to an intolerable degree.

She almost snorted out loud, so help her, she was beginning to sound like him.

"You are going to The Bronze correct? Well then I suggest you remain on the lookout for vampires and any odd activities, though I know the Harvest is tomorrow they may be making some preparations." He advised,

"You're right, they will be. I need to watch out for several, and make sure I pay attention this time." She said, mostly talking to herself, she could feel Giles gaze.

"Buffy is something bothering you? What do you know?" He asked, far too intuitive, he knew there was something; she had a terrible poker face, looking back up at him she considered all of it.

"It's Jesse, I need to save Jesse."

"Jesse? Is that Willow and Xander's friend?" He asked, concerned,

"Yes." Her voice sounded small to her ears, "Yes," She repeated, this time more determined and when she looked at Giles again he seemed to understand the seriousness of her statement and the implication.

"I better go." Buffy told him, gathering her bag and books.

"Be careful Buffy." Giles called after her and she smiled in acknowledgment before leaving the library and attempting to put a plan in place.

There was that vamp that Willow talked to and Jesse, he'd talked to Darla, but Buffy had staked her. She would need to watch out for them, hone as Giles might have said.

And then there was Angel who she knew would be a whole other ball game, a conversation she wasn't ready for but her potential friends came first.

It wasn't long after she'd left the house that she became aware of Angel's presence as he followed her, can anyone say stalker?

He wants to be treated as a non-biting variety vampire? Well, perhaps he should be employing some different meet and greet tactics and not behave like a garden variety stalker. She made her way down an alley, hoping to catch him.

He slipped into the alley completely unaware, but was he unaware?

She pondered this while holding herself upside down on the pipe. He's a vampire, hello, they have that icky smelling people thing going on, don't they?

Regardless, she swung down and kicked the back of his head, he landed in the dirt and she flipped down and wedged her foot on his neck.

He sure looked yummy in that shirt; oh boy, was there no hope for her. She knew it could never happen and yet here he was, dark, gorgeous, annoying; smirking up at her like he knew something she didn't know, sure smug bastard, let's see, shall we?

"Is there a problem ma'am?" He said, laughing slightly.

A problem, you could say that.

"Yeah, there's a problem, why are you following me? Stalking is an offence you know, but then you guys don't much care for the law do you?"

Oh, this was fun!

"I know what you're thinking," He told her.

She very much doubted that.

"But don't worry, I don't bite."

He lies. Is that really the way to open the slayer – vampire with a soul, business relations? No thoughts of any other relations for obvious reasons.

She smiled but didn't move her foot.

"Riiiiight," She said in reply, dragging out the word for effectiveness "Is that what you say to all the girls?"

The smile was not back, and he now looked unsure.

Buffy smiled again,

"Oh, don't worry yourself; I don't think I'll be using this," She swung her stake around carelessly, "At least, not right now anyway."

She removed her foot and he got up, brushing himself off, casting furtive glances in her direction, obviously still trying to work it out.

"What's the matter, vamp got your tongue? Huh, that isn't right is it, ugh; need to work on my puns." She chastised herself, almost giddy with power.

After composing himself, Angel tried to regain his previously cool exterior.

"The truth is I thought you'd be taller, bigger muscles or something, you're pretty spry though." He said, rubbing his neck like it still hurt him.

Another lie. Maybe he should have therapy.

She tried not to giggle, vampire therapy.

"Yeah, look, what do you want?" She asked, playing along a little longer.

"Same thing you do." He replied mysteriously.

"Okay, what do I want?" She smiled, unable to stop herself; boy was he in for a surprise.

He stepped towards her then, more creepy déjà vu type feelings rushed through her.

"To kill 'em, to kill 'em all."

She pretended to think for a moment.

"Them?" She asked, "Maybe, but wouldn't that include you?"

He looked unsure of her again, like he wasn't sure whether to admit to this or not.

"Don't turn your back on this, the Harvest is coming." He says this like the last few minutes never happened.

She wondered if she'd scared him.

"Gee, can you vague that up for me?" Buffy asked sarcastically, putting the stake in her jacket and preening inwardly that she'd managed to include a classic Buffy-ism she'd loved but had been completely lost on Giles at some point.

"You've got to be ready." He told her as he threw a small box over which she deftly caught, reflecting on the likely contents.

"I wouldn't worry yourself Angel, I will be ready." She told him and turned to walk away. She could almost hear the gears within his mind working overtime.

She had only walked a few paces to the end of the alleyway when he spoke again.

"You know me?" He asked, clearly beyond curious now.

Buffy turned again, half a smile gracing her features, but it wasn't a happy one.

"I thought that was obvious."

He said nothing,

"You know me, I know you; we're even at this point so let's just leave it for now, after all, I've got the Harvest to stop."

He nodded almost imperceptibly, and she turned again,

"Try to keep out of trouble, I think you're the only vampire who wouldn't be better off as a pile of dust. See ya around Angel."

She walked determinedly towards the Bronze, pausing briefly to open the box. The silver cross that nestled inside seemed to say more than words could, and the additional physical confirmation hung heavy around her neck when she placed it there.

Willow was sitting at the bar when Buffy found her. Of course she was.

"Hey Willow!"

She turned and smiled.

"Oh hi Buffy! You okay?" She asked looking concerned while Buffy returned the look as one of confusion.

"Yeah, I'm fine"

Willow looked around at the crowd, and Buffy smiled,

"You looking for Xander by any chance?"

"Yeah, he usually meets me here." Willow replied smiling, "But we're just good friends, we're not dating or anything." She added quickly after seeing Buffy smile.

"We used to, go out, but we broke up." Willow told her.

"Really, what happened?" Buffy asked, smiling a little, she remembered this story.

"He stole my Barbie."

"Huh?" Buffy replied whilst dealing with another familiar feeling, maybe she would discover a new illness, déjà-vu-itis.

"We were five." Willow explained as Buffy managed to look confused and enlightened while she sipped her drink. "I don't actually date a whole lot lately." Willow admitted,

"Why not?" Buffy asked, more dissembling.

"Well, when I'm with a boy I like, it's hard for me to say anything cool or witty or at all, I can usually make a few vowel sounds, and then I have to go away." She sounded matter a fact about it, but it was still a little sad.

"It's not that bad." Buffy encouraged, hoping to coax some confidence out of the girl.

"It is, I think guys are more interested in a girl who can talk."

"You really haven't been dating lately." Buffy told her, thinking how cynical she already was at the tender age of sixteen.

"It's probably easy for you."

"Oh yeah; really easy." Buffy grudgingly agreed, not feeling it, only regretting her involvements to date and trying not to think on future ones that were doomed from beginning to end.

"I mean, you don't seem too shy."

"Well, my philosophy, do you want to hear my philosophy?" Oh why, why was she going down this road again?

"I do." Willow replied in earnest.

"Life is short."

"Life is short." Willow repeated nodding her head.

"Not original I'll grant you but it's true, you have to seize the moment because tomorrow you might be dead." This was a bad idea, she should have picked a different philosophy.

"That's nice," Willow paused, not sure what to say now,

"Yeah, just don't go seizing the moment with complete strangers okay? You never know what they're really like, or after for that matter."

Willow nodded again,

"I understand, especially round here, did you know that Sunnydale has the highest percentage of violent or unexplained deaths in California?"

Buffy tried to look surprised.

"It does? Not in America then?" She asked her.

Willow produced a grim smile.

"Well, almost, there are a few other places that are as high as or higher than Sunnydale, like New York for example." Willow told her,

"Wow," That is horrible, and for a moment Buffy found it hard to concentrate.

"Yeah,"

"So, everyone hangs here huh?" Buffy asked after her quiet moment of contemplation; the badness that abounded around the world.

Willow nodded,

"Yeah, I think I saw Jesse somewhere, he's probably near Cordelia, wherever she might be."

"He got a crush?"

"Big time, poor Jesse, he keeps on liking her even when she's nasty to him."

"Well, maybe we can bring him to his senses? Get his mind off Cordelia somehow." Buffy looked around for any sign of Jesse but found none.

"That's a good idea," Willow said as she began looking around as well. "Or it would be if he was here." She continued.

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked, growing more and more concerned for him.

"Pretty sure, Cordelia's over there," Willow pointed out Cordelia sitting at a table surrounded by her minions. "Jesse would be within ogling distance of her, and, well, I just don't see him, do you?"

"No." Damn it, she was right, Jesse wasn't here anymore, if he had ever been here that is.

Buffy needed to find him and fast.

"Hey Willow, I'm just going to the bathroom, you wait here okay, I'll be back in a sec."

"You don't have to come back," She told Buffy in her sweet unconfident voice.

This was the same Willow who could end up with a seriously bad addiction to magic someday? It seemed so unbelievable.

"I'll be back." Buffy assured her as she turned to look for Jesse.

There was no sign of him, Buffy couldn't find him, and her heart grew heavier by the second, a sickness settling heavily in her stomach. Deciding to collect Willow so that she at least was safe Buffy turned, bumping into Xander who had just arrived.

"Xander, hey, you seen Jesse at all?" She asked, now beginning to panic.

"I think I saw him go off somewhere," He replied, not at all concerned for his friend's whereabouts.

"You did, was he with anyone?"

Xander gave her an odd look before answering,

"Yeah, some pretty brown-haired chick, I'm giving him major kudos for this; usually he's stood within drooling distance of Cordelia."

"Yeah, there won't be any kudos if he's dead." Buffy muttered to herself, weighing up the options, go back to the library or go find Jesse with Xander and Willow tagging along. Neither was particularly attractive.

"Right, because what, the girl he went off with might be a vampire and then you'd have to slay her?" He asked, half joking, looking at her like she had two heads.

She looked back at Xander who had a strange smile on his face.

How had he known? And then it came to her.

"You heard us in the library, didn't you?" She asked, sighing in defeat.

"Yeah, I heard you and that weird British guy talking crazy."

"That I'm the slayer, right?"

"I heard that you think you're a slayer and that both of you should probably have some serious therapy and possibly medication." He told her,

"I am the slayer Xander. But I can't debate the issue right now, we have to get Willow and find Jesse somehow, before it's too late." She muttered the ominous cliché at the end as she dragged him towards Willow who was blessedly still sitting where Buffy had left her earlier.

10 minutes later they had walked in the general direction Xander had mentioned and had found nothing, a cemetery was, of course, in this area so Buffy resolved to do a quick sweep of it, including the mausoleum which seemed way too familiar and she had to do this while making sure Xander and Willow didn't end up as the master's midnight snack, fun times.

No sooner had they come within hearing distance of the mausoleum, they were surrounded by three vamps, three fashionably challenged vamps at that. When one tried to grab Willow, Buffy punched him and let a quick roundhouse kick do the rest, dusting him before the others could look appropriately disturbed, but the vamps didn't seem too bright and were eager to attack again. Buffy thought she'd try to distract this time while she considered the chances of others joining this party,

"Where's Jesse?" She asked savagely,

The first one sneered at them.

"Oh, was that his name, I'm afraid it's a little late for that he's already been and gone, gone forever that is!"

"Yeah he's dead." The second one added needlessly, this one, a girl, was about as empty headed as she could be.

"I just covered the whole dead bit you dumb bitch!" The other one yelled at her.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it." Dumb vamp told him and turned, striding off into the dark leaving butt face behind.

"Oh, dear, looks like you had a tiff, oh just as well, you'll be dead in twenty seconds." And before he could manage some lame ass reply, Buffy slammed him with several kicks and blows to his head before her stake collected its second dusting of the night.

"Oh god! What was that Buffy? Jesse can't be dead, he just can't be, right?" Xander asked looking ill,

"Dead? That couldn't have been a vampire, could it, I mean they don't exist." Willow said quietly, looking worse than Xander.

"I'll explain when we get back; right now, we need to get out here, fast." Buffy told them, heading towards the school.

Her heart was heavy; Jesse was gone, she'd known it was going to happen but still hadn't been able to save him.

Was there anything she would be able to change, beyond her own choices, even then her decision to look for Jesse had made not one bit of difference. She'd been too preoccupied by other things, other friends, keeping them safe, and Angel.

Giles was saying something, something about demons on earth eons ago or something, she wasn't really listening. All she could see was Jesse's face and all she could think was that she had failed to save him. She'd known he was going to die and still hadn't saved him.

She'd known…. she'd known…

"Buffy!" Giles voice shook her out of that depressing reverie,

"Sorry Giles, what was that?" He looked at her for a second, apparently hesitant as to whether to ask if she was ok, he was making the face.

"I was saying that before man…"

"…. demons walked the earth, made it their hell, but in time they lost their hold and that's when humans came, right?" Buffy provided.

He nodded and continued for Xander and Willow's benefit.

"Yes, what remains of these are certain magic's, certain creatures,"

"And vampires." Buffy said as he did.

Xander looked agitated while Willow looked vaguely sick.

"Okay, this is where I have a problem, because we're now talking about vampires; we are having a talk with vampires in it." Xander complained,

"Isn't that what we saw?" Willow asked, her voice quavering slightly.

"Yes, they were, as much as you can try to justify or explain them away as something else, they were vampires, believe me, I had trouble with it in the beginning, trouble believing, ya know, after I was done with the screaming part. I'm sorry you guys." Might as well tell it to them straight, brutal but necessary, in a way.

"I need to sit down." Willow replied

"You are sat down." Buffy replied, any deeper comfort would have to wait.

"Oh, good for me" She took a deep breath.

"And vampires are demons?" Xander looked between them for conformation.

"The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed – infected – by the demon's soul. He bit another and another and so they walk the earth, feeding, killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind; waiting for the animals to die out and the old ones to return."

"This is not good; how could we not know this?" Willow asked, her voice a mixture of disbelief and terror.

"People no longer believe, there isn't enough evidence for them and they would rather be blind to it. But there are those who know, who fight against them; including the slayer and those sworn to protect her."

He glanced at Buffy, but she felt too sick to care, disgusted with herself that she hadn't saved Jesse.

"And that would be what? Buffy?" Xander asked also glancing at her, "But she's a girl…"

This she did take issue with, giving Xander a withering glance, but it was hardly a surprising reaction, their society still did not put both sexes on an equal footing and women around the world experienced even less equality.

"I suggest you re-think that ridiculous sexist and chauvinistic attitude right now," Buffy told him coolly, which seemed to work, he shut his mouth and sat down.

Giles glanced at Buffy, distracted but amused.

"As long as there have been vampires, there has been a slayer. One girl in all the world, the chosen one…"

Buffy had to smile slightly; this was just so Giles,

"He loves doing this part." She told them, smiling wickedly.

Giles looked less amused, now the object of fun and Buffy felt instant guilt.

"Alright, the slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is the slayer, don't tell anyone, I think that is sufficient information." He said closing his book and looking a bit annoyed.

"Except for one thing, how do we kill them?" Xander asked, obviously desperate to avenge Jesse.

Buffy just wished there wasn't any need for avenging his death in the first place, what should she have done differently?

"You don't, I do."

"But Jesse…"

"Jesse is gone Xander." She told him, a little too harshly, while an errant tear escaped out of her eye. "Besides he was my responsibility."

"That's not true…"

"If you hadn't showed up, they would have taken us too, killed us…does anybody mind if I pass out?" Willow said quietly, looking even paler.

"Breathe." Buffy provided

"Breathe," Willow repeated.

Repeated, repeat, repeat. It felt like a rerun with a sick sense of humour.

"This is probably a dumb question, but shouldn't we call the police?" Poor Willow asked next.

"And they'd believe us of course." Giles provided sarcastically.

"We don't have to say vampires. We could say there was a bad man." She suggested quietly, knowing it was pointless but voicing the thought out loud nonetheless.

"They couldn't handle it if they did come. They'd only show up with guns." Buffy explained.

"We have a pressing problem on our hands." Giles said, speaking directly to Buffy.

"The Harvest, crap, but isn't that tonight?"

He nodded,

"Yes, it is, from what I have gathered."

"What's the harvest?" Xander asked, looking from Giles to Buffy and back again.

Giles was clearly hesitant to tell them.

"You might as well Giles, I don't think they're just gonna go back to class and pretend all this didn't happen." Buffy declared, it was the truth.

"Very well, we have…discovered that a ritual is to take place tonight, it is called the harvest."

"The short version is it's a ritual to free a very old and powerful vampire and to restore him to full strength."

"Yes, thank you Buffy, the long version, as you would put it began some sixty years ago…"

Buffy resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and kept quiet, she wasn't all-knowing after all and figured Xander and Willow deserved to know. Though it may not be terribly clever, it could be that certain knowledge had kept them alive over the years.

Knowledge is power. Repeat.

The mantra helped, a little.

"…. when a very old and very powerful vampire came to this land, not just to feed, but because this town is a mystical convergence. The Spanish settlers called it Boca Del Inferno, roughly translated as Hellmouth, a sort of portal from this reality to the next. This vampire hoped to open it, hoped to let the demons have the earth, but it didn't work. He caused an earthquake that swallowed half the town and him with it. Odds are he got himself stuck, opening dimensional portals being a rather tricky business."

"And the Harvest is to get him out?" Xander asked, looking more horrified by the minute.

"It is; it comes once a century, on this night. The Master will draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. The minion is called the vessel and bears this symbol." Giles said, ending in his drawing a three-pointed star like symbol on the board.

"I need to dust the vessel." Buffy told them, Giles nodded,

"Where do you suppose this is going to happen?" Giles asked, looking straight at her and giving a pointedly pointed look.

"The Bronze," She answered with no hesitation,

"Are you sure?" Willow wondered looking between the two of them and back again.

Buffy wondered if the undertone was showing itself.

"I'm sure. Need to do a little planning, and I'll need to make a stop for supplies, my mom is so not gonna be cool with this." Buffy groaned, oh well, she'd have to make amends later, she needed to stop the harvest now.

They made plans and backup plans between a few classes, not that anyone of them was concentrating, but missing classes on the second day of school was not going to go down too well.

Buffy's mom was uncharacteristically chilled out about her going out, she wasn't thrilled about it, but it was probably partly relief, she was relieved Buffy seemed happy, was settling and making friends.

The harvest went down nearly exactly as she remembered.

Luke was the vessel, he had the Bronze locked up tight, but not well enough and it was over quickly without any more unnecessary deaths. What was different was that Jesse wasn't there, he was dead by this point this time and Xander at least didn't have to stake him. Not that that was the best of best things.

Buffy guessed, very depressingly, that it was one less hurt Xander was going to endure because of vampires, this town, and of course, her. Not that she was feeling sorry for herself. Or maybe she was, she certainly had a special monopoly on that.

Buffy was sat in the library, after persuading both Xander and Willow that they needed to go home and sleep. There was no way she was going sleep yet; too many thoughts were going around her head, too many bad thoughts. Primarily Jesse and what it meant for the future, and she felt so, tired. She knew too much, knew she'd have to share it or else really go crazy this time.

"Buffy." Giles said quietly, sitting down himself and passing her a cup of tea. He regarded her, and her current unspoken mood. "You cannot blame yourself Buffy."

Well he'd hit the nail right on the head there.

"I can very easily Giles. I knew; I knew it would happen and I didn't stop it. I thought maybe after I'd killed Darla that would be enough to stop..."

"Buffy," He interrupted looking very stern but compassionate too, "You tried, you tried to save him and that has to be enough. It's terrible that he died, yes, but you cannot dwell on whether you could or could not have saved him. You tried to save him Buffy, you did your best."

"Did I?" She looked up, her face showing eyes full of unshed tears and the desperate tone of her question reflected in her expression.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with this, but vampires are neither merciful nor understanding. They plough onward leaving destruction and death in their wake and it's us that is left to deal with it, with the death, because that is inevitable." He spoke gently,

"I know that, I just don't understand why I couldn't have…when I knew. What's the point of knowing what's going to happen if I, we can't change it, change the bad things." She asked, again sounding desolate.

He shook his head, knowing this question had been coming and she was right in a way, what was the point?

"Buffy, the truth is that you may not be able to change some things, things happen for a reason, both good and bad, and as much as I hate to say it…perhaps Jesse was meant to die, and there was nothing you could have done."

She looked up at this, it was so not what she wanted to hear but, something told her it was true, however much she didn't want it to be. How could she get past not being able to help people, people she knew to be in danger? Was she meant to get over it; get on with it like a good little cold-hearted and unfeeling slayer? Buffy just couldn't do that.

Her mind started running in circles again. Did it mean she could only change her own choices and stuff that they affected and nothing else? Or were there things that could be changed and others that couldn't, and she would just have to find out which, when they became issues? She shook her head in a futile attempt to clear it a little.

"There are too many things, too many possibilities. How do I know?" She asked him, hoping he had some special Giles-type wisdom for her.

It was Giles turn to shake his head,

"I don't know Buffy, all I can say is that time will tell. And maybe it would help you if you shared what you know. That way it isn't just you carrying this…knowledge, and we can face whatever problems arise together, like watchers and slayers should." He suggested,

Buffy smiled a little.

"Ok, oh you didn't tell the council, did you?" She suddenly remembered to check that small detail.

"No, I did not inform them as you asked, though I'm not normally in the habit of keeping things from them." He raised his eyebrows in silent question as to her motives.

"I know, but I don't trust them and if they knew about this they might want to study me or something." She told him, only half of the truth for now.

He made a face that was one of disbelief but nodded none the less.

"Very well, where would you like to begin? The beginning is always a good bet." He smiled, and she felt better.

She still had Giles after all, and there was Xander and Willow too, provided she could keep them safe.

"The beginning," Where in the hell was that? "Ok, I guess the beginning would be, Amy's witch mom who has switched their bodies, so she can relive her glory days as a Sunnydale cheerleader. Oh, and there might be an invisible girl hiding in the school because no one paid any attention to her, I'll have to check out class lists and see if she's still visible, I reckon probably not though."

Giles looked at her for a second, she'd got him there, he looked way too intrigued as Buffy went on to tell him the rest of the story and began forming a plan for how to deal with it.

That done, she told him; of what she could recall, of the rest of the mayhem and chaos that was living on the Hellmouth; at least in this first year, and the major big bad things that followed over the years. Giles believed that they could deal with most of what came later, later, but she would have to tell him if she started to forget things, that way they would have to go through everything.

As she had expected his notebooks and diary were at the ready.

It was with a partially relieved heart and mind that Buffy climbed into bed a little later, there was not much left of the night for sleeping but she would catch a few hours and her slayer stamina would mean she'd manage ok. Sharing some of what she knew had been both a relief and an arduous painful experience. She had tried to glaze over a few of the worse parts, but Giles had known she was withholding and had managed to coax it out of her somehow. The Angel thing had been awful to recount, and she found herself unable to meet his gaze for a while as she relived it through those odd 'memories'.

But he'd been so patient, understanding, hell even sympathetic and she finally began to feel less alone, less frightened, they would stand together to face all the storms that were headed their way, whether they turned out to be familiar or not. She would need to remind herself often, that the future wasn't set in stone, any number of actions, reactions, choices, decisions, all of these had the power to set them in a direction even she could not predict.

Yes, it was going to be, interesting, his word not hers. As she drifted off to sleep she was struck by the slightly inappropriate thought that her welcome to the hellmouth had been quite something, Sunnydale, quite literally a hellhole of immense proportions, and yet, there was so much potential for good too; and guessed that it was the ever-sadistic fun that came with living above all those nightmares.

Sooo, questions, comments, any serious issues I may have forgotten or ones you're desperate that I clear up?

This was a nice long chapter, was it too long? I amalgamated two of my original chapters before re-writing as they just seemed too short by themselves.

Also you may be relieved to hear that it's likely I'll borrow much less actual dialogue the more we get into the story, simply because things are not likely to follow a familiar path and because that would be a serious snooze-fest right? :)

I'm enjoying myself though I'm still at the re-writing stage which is far easier than original content of course, though miraculously I have some of my original notes to hand which helps! Also having fun watching all the seasons with my eldest for the first time, she's loving it, we're a few eps into season 3, one of the best. Though I'm finding it slightly disturbing to be relating far more to Buffy's mother these days... ha

B x