Chapter Six: Conversations: Part Two

When the shopping crew finally returned to the Hyperion several hours later, they found Giles and Team Angel loitering around in the lobby waiting. Gunn noticed that Fred seemed completely at home with her newfound friends and was smiling happily as they lugged in their purchases.

"So," Buffy began, "How'd it go with the slayer testing?"

"You and Faith were right," Giles replied simply.

"So what do we do?" Buffy asked. "I mean, with the girls?"

"I've given it a lot of thought and discussed it a bit with Wesley." The former watchers shared a glance, and Buffy was glad they were going to work together. "We've decided to gather together the tattered shreds of the Watcher's Council and rebuild it. Make it better than it was before, of course." Everyone laughed at this. "I'm going to ask Dawn to help me cast a relocating spell for any scattered Watchers that weren't casualties of the war. The Council brands all its members with a magickal signature so they can keep tabs on them. We can use this to locate them much like we do potential slayers. And we'll have to recruit new members, of course, since so many were lost. Since the line has been restored, it would be best to begin training and preparing potentials again." Buffy nodded in approval, and Dawn looked happy to be needed.

"There's one thing I'm not sure of," said Buffy. "The scythe. I'm not real clear on what Whistler meant about the whole bondage thing." Off their looks, she cleared her throat. "Not bondage like with whips and leather," she blushed and stopped talking.

"Yes, quite. I'm not sure what to suggest. Unfortunately, we don't have the time required to run tests and determine the nature of the bond Willow formed with her spell," Giles replied.

"I think B should take it," Faith said.

Buffy looked surprised. "But Faith, it's yours. I'm not the true slayer anymore."

"It's served its purpose here, B. You told me the Guardians meant for it to be used in the battle against the First. It was. Cuz of you. It was already yours even before Red made with the mojo."

"I have to agree with Faith," Giles said. "It's bound to you, Buffy. Who knows what might happen if you try to leave without it. Perhaps someone in Middle Earth can help you learn more about its nature."

"Maybe that's what Whistler meant when he told me to bring weapons," Buffy muttered, annoyed. "Stupid top hat wearing demon."

Angel stepped forward then and Wesley glared at him. When Angel ignored him, he stepped forward and pulled Angel to the side.

"We don't need to share our theories," Wes whispered. "What possible good would it do except to dishearten them both?"

"They need to know what they're getting themselves into," Angel whispered back angrily. "Buffy's always running off to do what's best, she never notices when she's being played until it's too late." He turned and addressed the others. "We were talking and we realized some things. Buffy, the Powers are using you," he began vehemently.

"Angel man," Gunn interjected. "This ain't the time." Buffy looked back and forth between them and then sighed.

"Too late now," she said. "Out with it, boys."

Angel hastily explained their theories. "They're using your guilt to keep you from demanding what's rightfully yours."

"Rightfully mine?" she asked.

"Peace," Angel replied, angrily. The room fell silent.

Buffy turned on Angel angrily. "What's with you?" she demanded. "You act all mopey, refuse to talk to me, and then break your silence to say this? Wil and I are leaving this world, and we've been holding on to the fact that we had a choice. That we can make amends for the things we've done. But you just had to rub it in that we don't have a choice, and that I'm taking my best friend into yet another war on some whim of the Powers." She grabbed Willow's hand.

"Buffy," Angel began, beseechingly.

"No," she cut him off. "You're too used to being in control of how things go between us. I've grown up, Angel, and you can't handle it. So you had to take control back by sharing this oh-so-helpful information. Did you really think that deep down we didn't realize this? But you always have to play hero to the simpering girl-child and save the day with your wisdom. You're the one that hasn't changed." He stared at her, and then disappeared down into the sewers.

"Sooo…" Faith drawled lazily. "Wanna put anyone else in their place today, B? Cuz you're gettin' wicked good at it." She smiled to take the sting out of it.

Giles wiped his glasses, "How about you show me what I had the Council pay for?" He eyed the shopping bags.

They each took turns showing off the various bits of hiking and camping gear that they'd contributed to the pile. Xander displayed a large array of preserved food products. "What could be better than MREs and twinkies?" he grinned. Buffy and Willow eyed each other nervously.

"Well, I daresay you're as prepared as anyone could possibly be given the situation," Giles assured them. He glanced at his watch.

"Oh, I forgot!" Fred said suddenly. "We got food, too." She and Faith hefted several grocery bags onto the large counter. As afternoon wound into evening, they ate and laughed and talked of many things. Anything but the reality of what was coming that night. The only two noticeably absent were Angel and Kennedy, and with the exception of a short trip to grab food, the potentials were purposely staying out of the way. Buffy led Dawn outside to watch the sunset and spend some time alone.

"So," Dawn was trying to be cheerful, "Are you packed? Snack foods and all?"

"Yep," Buffy replied. "Even the weapons. I figured I should bring some everyday ones, too. Ones that I don't share a mystical bond with."

"Don't wanna forget those," Dawn said, wishing she had some idea where her sister was going and what she'd find there.

"Dawn, Giles is your legal guardian, but that doesn't mean you have to stay with him. I mean, if you decide to go to school somewhere," she trailed off. "I'd like you to go to college one day."

"Buffy, I want that, too. I also want to be part of the new Watcher's Council. I'm not sure how yet, but I need to be involved," Dawn said earnestly. "But college is on my list, too."

"I was afraid you'd want to stay in the biz," Buffy replied. "Well, two parts afraid, two parts proud. You know that, right?"

"Yes, Buffy. Of course I do."

"I told you last year that I knew I wanted to live, because I want to see what kind of person you become. I don't think I'll ever get over missing that," Buffy said sadly.

"Well, you'll just have to convince Willow to figure out a way to pop me over to where you are. Where is that, again?"

"Whistler called it Middle Earth. He didn't say much about it, except that they aren't hip to the Industrial Revolution."

Dawn smirked at her. "Poor, back-woods Buffy. Bet you'll get split ends."

"OH NO!" Buffy cried out. She pulled Dawn back inside, stopping short in front of everyone, a look of horror on her face. Angel had returned from brooding and came running when he heard her yell. "Wil!" she cried, plaintively. They all stopped their conversations to stare at her. "What am I gonna do about my hair?" Gunn and Xander snorted loudly. She grasped at the tips in concern. "Big, bad evil, I can handle. But what have I done to deserve a future filled with split ends?"

"Now, Buffy," Willow replied calmly. "Take it easy. I was planning on saving these as a surprise for later, but I'll give them to you now." She reached into her bundle of belongings and extracted a pair of hair cutting sheers. "I got them at the salon while you were deciding which khakis to buy."

"Willow!" Buffy shrieked happily. "You are the best!" She ran over, and, grabbing Willow by the hands, spun her around in a circle, laughing.
Giles spoke up as their laughter died down. "Do you two think you should get some rest before Whistler returns?"

"Nah," Buffy replied and Willow nodded in agreement. "I'm way too wired to sleep, and I'd rather hang."

"Yeah," Faith put in. "We can all sleep later. But for now," she looked around the group with an evil grin, "I think we should play a game."

"A game?" Wesley asked in trepidation. "What sort of game?"

"A sharing game," Faith replied. "We go around in a circle and tell one of our most embarrassing moments to the group."

"No way!" Gunn stated, and Xander nodded to back him up.

"Come on, guys. We gotta face our fears. Plus, the alternative is sitting around all mopey while we wait for demon boy to show."

"I'm in," Willow said.
"Me too," added Dawn, and Buffy reluctantly agreed.

"Boys?" Faith asked, winningly. "We can't do it without you," she teased. Grumbling, they conceded, and they all sat in a circle on the floor. "Xander, you go first."

"What?" he protested. "Why do I always draw the short straw?"

"Just go," Faith replied. He sat in thought for a few moments.

"Ok," he looked at the others fearfully. "It had been my first date in a long while." He paused, thinking of Anya, and Buffy patted his knee comfortingly. "As per usual, she turned out to be a demon, and she strung me up over the seal to bleed me. I was only wearing my boxers. And. Well, we'd sorta been fooling around before the badness started, so when I was hanging there you could see my…" he trailed off miserably when everyone exploded into laughter. "It wouldn't go away until she sliced me open, and she kept making fun."

"That's pretty good," Faith approved. "Dawnie, you're up next."

Dawn blushed preemptively. "You guys remember RJ?" They all groaned. Dawn looked at Team Angel and explained quickly. "RJ had a mystical jacket that made every woman he met fall madly in love with him. Love spell love, not soul mate love."

"Meaning?" Gunn asked.

"Meaning obsession. Buffy was gonna kill someone, Anya was gonna rob a bank, and Willow was gonna turn him into a girl. That kind of love."

"Woah," Gunn replied.

"That was life on the Hellmouth," Willow said quietly.

"Anyway," Dawn continued, "RJ asked me out, so I dressed up all skanky. We went to the Bronze and I was trying to convince him how wild and crazy I was. He… He dared me to get up on stage and sing that song, 'I touch myself.' So I did. It was horrible! Kids at school made fun of me ever since," she glared.

"Good thing we blew your school up, right?" Xander asked.

"All right!" Faith clapped her hands, laughing. "Who's next? How about Wesley!" He sighed.

"When I first came to L.A., I presented myself to Angel as a Rogue Demon Hunter, and I was dressed in black leather pants and a jacket. He and I reluctantly agreed to work together to find a demon, and we went looking for it in the apartment building where it was purported to live. My pants were much too tight, and when we found the demon I squealed in fear and fell down the stairs. Angel had to help me up because my legs wouldn't bend."

"Go Wes!" Faith laughed. "B it's your turn." Buffy growled at her.

"Fine, fine. I can take my lumps," she said. "Back before I was the slayer, I entered a lot of beauty pageants. One was hosted in my school auditorium, so everyone was there. I was wearing a tight, sequin-y dress that wrapped around my legs and made it hard to walk. So, as I wiggled out on stage, I tripped over a wire and went sprawling on my hands and knees. This was too much for my poor dress, and not only did it rip up the front to my crotch, but my boobs popped out the top. I cried for a week," she cringed.

"Gee, Buff," Xander said evilly. "You seem to have a thing for stripping!" Buffy gasped and glared at him to be quiet.

"What's this about?" Faith asked. "Do tell."
"No way!" Buffy cried. "I already did one."

"Come on, B. Share, share, that's fair."

"Fine," Buffy replied. "But only cuz I'll probably never see you again." She told them about dressing up in heels and a gray raincoat and trying to strip for Xander while under his love spell.

"Good lord," Giles mumbled, and cleaned his glasses vigorously.

"Lucky for me, he's a stand-up guy and the raincoat stayed on," Buffy finished. "But Xand," she cooed sweetly, "Why don't you tell us about Ladies Night?" Everyone joined her in cheering for him to tell.

"Nothing says 'thank you' like dollars in the waistband," was all he'd say. When the room quieted down, Faith spoke up.

"Giles, you go next," she directed.

"Right, then. This is from back in my Ripper days. My father was desperate to convince the Watcher's Council not to discontinue my training despite my indiscretions. There was a meeting at which I was meant to prove my worth. My mates and I had summoned a mischief demon the night before, and I didn't realize that once a Tremptor possesses you in trance, it can possess you at any time unless you destroy it. I had assumed it was like Eyghon. Incidentally, when one board member asked, 'What makes you think you're worthy of the time I'd need to invest in training you fully?', Tremptor took over and responded for me by saying, 'Because I would run my tongue over every inch of your fat, naked body.' I was put on probation for a year," Giles smiled woefully.

"Red, you're up next," said Faith.

Willow began speaking very rapidly. "Right before I came back to Sunnydale from England this really attractive girl from my coven started coming on to me. I was so embarrassed and confused and upset that I pictured her naked and suddenly, well, she was naked." She stopped abruptly.

"She was for real naked?" Dawn asked incredulously. "You can do that?"

"Yep," Willow said in a tiny voice as she turned bright red. "It took a while to fix, too." They all gulped sympathetically.

"Gunn, you're up."

"When I was 16, my buddy and I were strollin' around the city tryin' to act like badasses. I chugged all this Coke to impress a girl, and 10 minutes later I had to go. There wasn't any place nearby, so I went down an alley. I was partway through when six girls from my school came lookin' for me. My buddy sold me out. Anyway, I couldn't stop, you know, so they saw everything. And they told everyone, man."

"F, you're up." Buffy said cheerfully.

"Alright, when I was in junior high, there was this annual fashion show. All the girls got dressed up pretty and modeled their fancy designer clothes while one kid narrated through a microphone. I didn't have any designer clothes, but I really wanted to be part of it, so I made little fake labels for my outfit. The other kids saw me coming, so when I got up on stage all proud of myself, the kid narrating said, 'And now, Faith, the Queen of White Trash, with her own brand of dumpster-wear.' Everyone started laughing and I ran off stage."

"Wow, that's just… really sad," Buffy said soberly.

"No big, makes for a good tale," Faith replied flippantly. The game went on, as they started to share embarrassing stories that they knew about each other.
"I can't take it anymore," Willow gasped. "My belly hurts!"

"Hey, wait. Dead Boy never went!" Xander protested. They looked around for Angel, who was no longer in the room. "Huh." Buffy was about to go look for him when Whistler appeared.

"Ugh. It's you," Buffy groaned.

"Don't look so happy to see me, Kid, I might cry."

"Whistler?" Faith asked, suspiciously.

"Whistler," Buffy confirmed.

"Screw that." The brunette glared at him and walked to the other side of the room.

"Now why didn't I say that?" Buffy asked no one in particular.

Willow stood up and wrung her hands nervously. "Is it time to go already?" she squeaked.

"Soon, Witch." Angel came through the double doors behind them and growled at him. "Not happy to see old friends, are we?" Whistler joked.

Giles spoke up. "Will they get aid when they reach Middle Earth?"

"No worries, Watcher. They're not going to war right off. They're being transported to a land called Lothlórien. It's a large Elven realm guarded by the most powerful elf left in Middle Earth. She knows you're coming."

"How generous of the Powers to arrange this," Angel inserted, automatically suspicious.

"Oh, you can thank the Lady of the Wood for that. When the PTB contacted her with their offer of help, she insisted that we don't just dump you anywhere, but with her where it's safe."

"Where were you gonna 'dump' them?" Angel asked angrily.

"Wherever was easiest. But it wasn't gonna be Mordor!" the demon retorted defensively.

"What's Mordor?" Wesley asked.

Whistler ignored him. "You'll be getting your itinerary and mission statement once you land."

"There's a mission statement?" Xander asked.

"Is there a T-shirt?" Willow bubbled. "Cuz that would be cool."

"Are you ladies ready to go?" Whistler asked, interrupting her. "It's time."

"Time?" Xander hedged. "Time with the… timeliness?" Everyone gathered around the two young women. They all took turns hugging and saying their final farewells, and no one could keep themselves from crying. The two sisters held each other's hands, and Fred walked up and put an arm around Dawn.

"I'll take good care of her, Buffy. We're both in need of a friend." Buffy smiled at her.

"Daughters," Giles said as he wrapped his arms around Buffy and Willow. "Do watch out for each other."

"Buff, Wil, I can't believe the Scooby core is finally breaking up. I guess I'm gonna have to get me a life," Xander joked as the three hugged tearfully. Finally, only Angel was left in front of Buffy.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I want you to be happy, but I can't help being angry with the Powers, and hurt that you didn't choose me. I'll always love you."

Buffy put her arms around him and said, "Good-bye, Angel. Take care of my family."

"OK ladies," Whistler said. "Join hands and don't let go. It'll keep you together when you land on the other side." He looked up towards the ceiling and said, "NOW." The air around them began to crackle and bright beams of light surrounded the young women. They could hear people calling out farewells as they stood waiting. To the eyes of those standing around them, it seemed as if for a brief moment their shapes bent and stretched, and then they were gone. Whistler blinked out a moment later, and the room felt suddenly silent and empty. Dawn sank down to the floor and sobbed. Fred joined her, folding her arms around the younger woman.

"So what do we do now?" Faith asked, her question directed nowhere in particular.