In Plain Sight
The day continued to roll by with little progress. With nothing to go on, Giles, Willow and Xander finally took a break. It was no use trying to read when the pages all blurred together. On the other side of town, Angel sat on the couch in front of the fireplace. He couldn't sleep, not with knowing Buffy was somehow stuck in the past. He heard footsteps approaching from outside and for a moment his heart leapt with anticipation. It fell as Faith appeared, framed by sunlight.
"Didn't think you'd be up," Faith commented as she walked further into the room.
"I couldn't sleep."
Faith just nodded and slid onto the couch beside him. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Faith watched him closely as he concentrated.
"Don't hurt yourself ok."
"Huh?"
"Don't strain yourself. I'm just saying you looked kind of like you were thinking too hard."
He laughed a little. "I'm just trying to remember…anything about the past. To see if anything else changed."
"Remember anything?"
Angel shook his head. "No." He paused. "It's kind of hazy…like the memories are still forming."
"Hey as long as you didn't kill her, we still have a chance at bringing her back, right?"
"I think I would have remembered killing her."
Another silence fell and Faith looked out the doorway. The sun was slowly beginning to descend. It would be a few hours yet before it was low enough for Angel to go out.
"So you think they found anything?"
"Who?"
"Giles and them. I figure they have been doing the research thing all day."
"I hope so. I hate not knowing what's going on…what happened to her. It's not like I can ask her."
It was Faith's turn to laugh. "Relax. We'll handle it. We always do."
"I'm not so sure about this time, Faith. Something about it feels different."
--
Life had once more fallen into a routine with Buffy and William. He'd finally finished his grieving and was a lot more pleasant to be around. Even with just the two of them, the house felt comfortable. Buffy continued to do her nightly patrols, much to William's discontent. The sun had just slipped beneath the horizon and Buffy reached for her stakes.
"Are you certain you should go out tonight? It's getting colder. You'll catch your death if you stay out late."
"William, I'll be fine. You know I have to do this."
"I worry for your health, Anne. That is all." He'd accepted she could handle herself. He'd seen her slay a time or two after the night she'd saved his life.
"I'll make it quick. I promise." With that, she wrapped an extra shawl around her shoulders and headed out.
As she walked through the streets of London, she couldn't help but reflect on the life she'd established here. Buffy couldn't deny that she missed her friends and family but something about this time was freeing. She could make her own decisions. There was no Watcher's Council to worry about or Principal Snyder to make her life miserable. Sure she missed having Angel with a soul but she'd recently started to grow closer to William. She reached the edge of the cemetery and looked around before sneaking through the wrought iron gate.
"Come on guys. We all know its cold out. So let's do this quick tonight," she called. Some habits she just couldn't shake.
She got no answer at first. It seemed the vampires had taken a hiatus from turning people. Maybe they didn't like the cold and dismal weather either. On the other side of the cemetery Darla stood watching. Angelus continued to rant about all of the things he was going to do to the Slayer when he finally got her alone but he had yet to act. She grew tired of his speeches. As Buffy drew closer, Darla took a step away from the tree she'd been standing under.
"A young girl like yourself shouldn't be out all alone," she called.
Buffy looked over and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping the stake against her arm. "Where is he? I know he's around somewhere."
"I don't know who you mean."
"Angelus. You two don't go anywhere without the other."
Darla took another few steps into the pale moonlight. She looked so non-threatening wrapped in her own shawl and skirts. She continued to walk until she was nearly face-to-face with Buffy.
"He doesn't like the cold."
Buffy gripped her stake tightly and Darla let out a small giggle.
"Silly girl. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have already."
"Yeah, I've heard that one before. So what do you want?"
"Angelus wants you dead, Slayer. It's all he talks about. I'd watch your back." With that, Darla began to walk away.
Buffy took the few steps to catch up and grabbed Darla by the arm, spinning her around. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Just a warning." Darla pulled her arm from Buffy's grasp and continued on her way.
Buffy stood watching for a few moments more in shock. Since when did vampires give you warning they wanted you dead? Besides, she already knew Angelus wanted her dead. She'd seen what he was capable of already. After a quick sweep of the back fence she decided she wasn't going to find anything and headed home. She arrived back at the house and met with a roaring fire and a cup of hot tea.
"This is sweet of you," she said as William wrapped a large blanket around her. She hadn't noticed that she was shivering.
William simply gave her a smile and sat down next to her. They stared at the fire for a while. Buffy was grateful for the warmth. Outside the wind howled and tugged on the branches of the trees, making an awful scraping sound. It was then that Buffy caught William looking at her intently.
"What is it?"
He cleared his throat. He had never been one to be so forward with a woman. Certainly he'd written poetry expressing his feelings for Cecily but something about that experience seemed to pale in comparison with how he felt about Buffy.
"Well…I…forgive me if I am being too forward Miss Summers but I would very much like to know if…"
He couldn't seem to find the right words to ask the question. Still, Buffy seemed able to pick up the unfinished question and blushed. She'd never really been asked out before. Even when she and Angel had been together, it was like they were a normal couple. Sure, William was several years older than her but she liked him.
"Yes."
"Oh, good." He heaved a breath, thankful she understood what he was asking.
"I…I've never done this before though…"
He reached a hand out and took one of hers. "We shall go through it together. I must admit you are the first young lady I've asked to…be my companion."
Buffy smiled. She felt special. It didn't matter that he was so much older than her. She could tell they had something and that's all that mattered. Buffy leaned against his shoulder, gazing into the fire.
--
The sun took its sweet time going down that afternoon and by five o'clock, Angel was pacing back and forth. Faith had left a little more than an hour ago to get something to eat. All he wanted was to get to the school and find out what was happening. That foggy feeling in his brain was still there and he wanted to make it go away. He nearly jumped when Faith walked back in
"You need to relax. Get laid or something."
"That's not funny, Faith."
It took her a minute to realize what she'd said. "My bad. I forgot. Guess with B not around at the moment, it slipped my mind."
"Yeah." He peered out the doorway to see the sun was down enough that he could make it to the school without burning up.
"Come on. The sun's down enough we can leave."
"I get here and all you want to do is go out. I see how it is." She gave him a smile as they walked out of the mansion.
By the time they reached the school, it was deserted except for the library. They walked in to find Willow and Xander slumped over large piles of books. Xander let out a noise that sounded like a wheeze and a snore.
"So, how's it going guys?"
Willow looked up and let out a groan. "We've got nothing."
Xander looked up as well. "I've flipped until I just can't flip anymore."
"Why don't we take a look? Fresh eyes and all that."
"Be my guest." Willow pushed the chair back and got up. She stretched for a minute or two before Giles appeared from his office.
"Oh good, you're here. We could use the extra sets of eyes."
"We really don't have any idea what could have sent her back in time?" Angel asked.
"Not unless you've acquired some new memory in which you asked her how she managed to end up there."
Angel shook his head. "I haven't remembered anything new. It's all kind of hazy."
"Maybe we're going about this al wrong. We keep thinking we don't have anything to go on," Faith interrupted.
"What do you mean?" Xander asked.
"Well we know we didn't see her leave the library and her stuff was still here. So I'm thinking she disappeared from here. Maybe there's some magic something you can do to see what sort of mojo was worked," she explained, looking to Willow.
"Me? Why me?"
"You're the one into all the witch stuff. Come on. It's worth a try."
Giles pulled off his glasses, reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief to clean them. "I think Faith is right. It's something we haven't tried yet."
"Ok…but…I don't know if I can. I just…float pencils. I'm not a really powerful witch."
"I'll help you."
Willow finally nodded and Giles led her up the stairs to the stacks. There were a few texts he hadn't yet brought down for them to browse. They hadn't seemed relevant at the time. While they browsed the shelves, Faith hoisted herself up on the counter, knocking over a couple of books. Just as she went to pick them up and put them back, she noticed an envelope.
"Hey Giles!" she called.
He stuck his head around the stacks. "Yes?"
"What's this?" She held the envelope up.
"I…I don't know. Open it."
She pulled the paper out, raising an eyebrow in confusion as she read the short letter. Giles made his way down the stairs, books in hand.
"Well?"
She handed the note to him and he glanced at the message. Ripper- Found this and thought you would want it back. Brings back some old memories. Be seeing you.
The paper fell to the floor as he did his best to keep his composure.
"Giles, what is it?" Willow asked.
"Dear God."