Welcome to the last episode of season one!!! Here's "Prophecy Girl". The episodes are still following the plot almost exactly, I just did a lot of character-switching to make it more Giles-y. : P
*****
In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.
Rupert Giles was at his desk in the back of the library, researching. It was late and he soon stood to get some tea, needing the caffeine surge. As he waited for the tea to be ready, he wondered how Buffy was doing on patrol. The vampire situation was getting more and more dire lately, part of the reason he was up so late looking for a reason. There were so many vampires around that they probably out-populated the humans.
With a sigh, he returned to his desk with his tea, and read some text from the Codex out loud.
"Ho korias phanaytie toutay... tay nuktee. 'The Master shall rise...' Yes, yes, this is it! 'The Master shall rise, and the Slayer...'" Suddenly Giles paled, "My God!"
He could not believe what he had just read. As the message sank into his mind, he reached distractedly for his tea on the table in front of him. The cup began to jiggle, and he looked at it curiously. A few
seconds later the whole building began to shake. He got up from the desk and looked around, as his teacup smashed to the floor.
******
Giles had been at the library all night after the earthquake, desperately trying to find an alternative to the prophecy he had read about it the Codex. So far he had found nothing, but he was far from ready to give up.
As he left his office and headed towards the cage, Buffy walked into the library.
"Morning!"
Giles froze, and stared at her with wide eyes. Although the prophecy had obviously not come true yet, he was still surprised, and pleased, to see her alive and well in front of him.
Buffy looked around at the damage the earthquake had caused. "Wow. The damage looks fairly structural. Are we safe in here?"
"Buffy!" Her name came out as a slightly hoarse cry.
She looked at him with raised brows and patted her face. "What? Do I have something on my face?"
"No!" Snap out of it Giles. There's no reason to frighten her until you're sure there's no way out of this. "Uh, and, and yes, we're, we're safe." He gestured towards the stacks. "Uh, but probably best not to go up there."
"How're you doin' there, Giles? Get much sleep last night?"
"Um... I-I-I've been working."
"Me, too. I went hunting last night, and it is awfully sweet of you to ask. It's getting hairy out there, Giles. I killed three vampires last night, and one of them was practically on school grounds."
"Their numbers are increasing." Giles agreed, still distracted.
"And they're getting cockier. Look, I'm not loving it. Last night was a pretty close call."
"Yes."
She frowned at him. "Giles, care? I'm putting my life on the line battling the undead. Look, I broke a nail, okay? I'm wearing a press-on. The least you could do is exhibit some casual interest. You could go, 'hmm'."
Still distracted, Giles said, "Hmm?" Buffy gave him an exasperated look. "Oh, sorry. Um, yes, I'm very glad that you're alright." More glad then she could know, though in light of the current situation, he couldn't muster the energy to worry about a broken nail. "Uh, I-I need to verify, um... I just can't really talk right now."
"Fine. That's okay. I can't put it off any longer. I have to meet my terrible fate."
Suddenly, she had his full attention. He spun around to face her. "What?!"
"Biology." She explained.
The bell rang, and Buffy left, leaving a shocked Giles staring after her.
******
A little over an hour later, Giles looked up from the research – which had still gotten him nowhere – and realized that Buffy would be out of class right now, and would have a few minutes before her next one. This would be the perfect opportunity to tell her about the prophecy, or at least to enlist her and the other Scoobies to help him with the research, whether they knew what it was about or not. And besides, he wanted to make sure she was still okay. The prophecy was spooking him, and he felt absurdly overprotective.
Leaving the book, Giles walked out of the library and out into the courtyard of the school, where Buffy, Willow and Xander were walking down the stairs towards the benches outside.
Buffy exhaled as she walked in front of Xander and Willow. "Wow. That was boring."
"I don't feel that boring covers it." Xander mused.
Buffy agreed. "No, boring falls short."
"Even I was bored." Willow said, making a face. "And I'm a science nerd."
"Don't say that."
"I'm not ashamed. It's the computer age. Nerds are in." Suddenly Willow looked worried. "They're still in, right?"
Xander rolled his eyes. "Willow, don't you have a thing?"
"A thing?" Xander shot her a meaningful look. "The thing! That I have! Which is... a thing that I have to go to."
"See ya later." She said, and took off.
Buffy and Giles watched her flee with similar expressions of confusion.
"What on earth is her deal?" Buffy asked.
Giles looked suspiciously at Xander. It appeared, that for some reason, Xander wanted Buffy alone. Carefully, he moved a bit further away from them, keeping to the shadows.
"Uh, she's Willow." Xander gave a forced, nervous laugh. "So, uh, Buffy, I wanted to, um... There was this thing I wanted to ask you, to talk to you about."
"Okay, what's up?"
"Uh, let's go over here and sit."
He led her over to a bench. Luckily, it was close enough that Giles did not have to move; he could still see and hear them from where he was hiding.
"Okay, now you're making me nervous." Buffy said worriedly.
"Oh, no, no, there's nothing to be nervous about. Really, it's silly. Ha, ha!" He laughed again.
They reached the bench, and Xander was undeterred by the fact that another boy was already sitting there.
"Hey." He said, "Leave."
The boy left.
"Thanks."
They sat down.
"Well?"
"Um... You know, Buffy, uh, Spring Fling is a... time for students to gather and... Oh, God! I want you to go to the dance with me. You and me, on a date."
Giles' eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward out of his hiding place – but still luckily out of sight – too see Buffy's reaction. He watched her face, measuring her expression in much the same way that Xander was. For the moment, she looked only surprised.
"I-I don't know what to say." Buffy stammered.
"well, you're not laughing." Xander pointed out, sounding hopeful, "So that's a good start. Buffy, I
like you. A lot. And I know we're friends, and we've had experiences... We've fought some blood-sucking fiends, and that's all been a good time. But I want more. I wanna dance with you."
Buffy's expression turned anxious. "Xander, you're one of my best friends. You and Willow..."
"Well, Willow's not looking to date you. Or if she is, she's playing it pretty close to the chest." He let out another nervous burst of laughter.
"I don't want to spoil the friendship that we have." She said gently.
Giles' heart leapt in happiness. She wasn't going to date him. Whether the same thing would hold true for him, or if Buffy would ever feel something for him, was irrelevant at the moment. The point was she wasn't going to date Xander. Giles was unsure if he would be able to forgive the boy, if she did.
"Well, I don't want to spoil it either. But that's not the point, is it? You either feel a thing or you don't."
Buffy looked down, and away for a moment, then looked up at him, meeting his gaze clearly. "I don't. Xander, I'm, I'm sorry. I-I just don't think of you that way."
Xander blinked. "Well, try. I'll wait." He gave a weak smile.
Buffy's face creased with concern. "Xander..."
"Nah. Forget it." He stood abruptly. "I'm not him. I mean, I guess a guy's gotta be undead to make time with you."
Giles was taken aback. I'm not him. Who was the boy talking about? Angel? Buffy didn't love Angel did she?
"That's really harsh." Buffy said.
Xander sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't handle rejection well. Funny! Considering all the practice I've had, huh?"
"Xander, I'm sorry, I don't know..."
"You know what? Let's just not."
He turned and left. Buffy let out a deep breath, watching him go. But Giles was watching Buffy. He had mixed emotions over what had happened. Now that he was sure Buffy wasn't going to date Xander, he could feel sympathy for the boy. He couldn't imagine the pain of being rejected by Buffy. But he was also certain that Xander did not love her on the same level that he did.
He also felt for Buffy. Xander was her friend, and whether she had meant to or not, she had just caused a rift between them.
And then there was Angel. Did Buffy actually love the vampire? He knew she had almost kissed him – before he revealed his demonic face – but he had thought that was the end of that. How could she love Angel?
Because none of the Scoobies were in any condition to help him at the moment, he turned away and headed back to the library alone. He needed to focus on his research. Whoever Buffy did or did not love at that moment was irrelevant. Her life was more important, and he needed to make sure she kept breathing.
However, the conversation had given him an idea. There was one person who would be able to help him, and if what Xander had said was true, he would be more then willing to help.
He picked up the phone and dialled the number that Angel had given Buffy in case of emergencies.
(A/N: Sorry, I know that's far fetched, but I have no idea how Giles got Angel's phone number, or how, later in the episode, Xander knew where he lived. So I had to make something up.)
"Hello. Uh, this is Giles. Uh... Uh, Rupert Giles."
As he spoke on the phone, Jenny Calendar, another teacher at the school who happened to be a techno-pagan, walked into his office.
Giles spoke into the phone. "I-I need to see you. No, I-I realize that. Uh... Come after sundown. Good. I'll see you then." He hung up.
"You know, that outfit looks just like the one you wore yesterday. Only wrinklier. Were you here all night?" Jenny asked.
"Sorry, uh... I'm not really up to, uh, socializing just now." Giles muttered, his mind already returning to his books.
"Something's going on, Rupert, and I'm guessing you already know what it is."
Giles turned and got up. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Jenny, but any information she could bring to the table would be helpful. "What do you know?"
"Well, I have been surfing the 'Net, looking for unexplained incidents. You know, people are always sending stuff my way. They know the occult's my turf. Now, here is the latest. A cat last week gave birth to a litter of snakes. A family was swimming in Whisper Lake when the lake suddenly began to boil. And Mercy Hospital last night, a boy was born with his eyes facing inward. I'm not stupid. This is apocalypse stuff. And throw in last night's earthquake, and I'd say we've got a problem. I would say the end is pretty seriously nigh."
Giles scowled. Not at all helpful. He knew that. Was it worth having to associate himself with Jenny Calendar – who tended to be bold, flirtatious and endlessly annoying – just on the off chance she found something interesting? The image of Buffy's face rose in Giles' mind, and he knew he would put up with anything, for her.
"I don't know if I can trust you." He said.
"I helped you cast that demon out of the Internet. I think that merits some trust. Look, I'm scared, okay? Oh, plus, I've got this, this crazy monk e-mailing me from Cortona about some Anointed One?"
Giles frowned. "The Anointed One? He's dead!"
"Someone's dead?"
Oops. "Uh, who is this monk?"
"Uh, a brother Luca something? Keeps sending out global mailings about a prophecy."
"I need you to talk to him, find out everything he knows."
Jenny frowned. "Look, Rupert, you haven't told me jack, so what's with the order?"
Giles snapped. "Just do it! I'll e-explain later."
"You'd better."
******
"It's clear. It's what's gonna happen. Uh, it's happening now!" Giles was facing Angel, showing him the text in the Codex. Angel was his last chance, but he was staring to loose hope. Angel seemed just as lost as he was, and almost as upset.
"It can't be. You've gotta be wrong." Angel argued.
As if he hadn't repeated that to himself a million times? "I've checked it against all my other volumes. It's very real."
"Well, there's gotta be some way around it." Angel snapped.
"Listen." Giles insisted. He did not need disbelief and anger right now. He needed results. Solutions. "Some prophecies are, are a bit dodgy. They're, they're mutable. Buffy herself has, has thwarted them time and time again, but this is the Codex. There is nothing in it that does not come to pass."
"Then you're reading it wrong."
"I wish to God I were! But it's very plain! Tomorrow night Buffy will face the Master, and she will die."
His voice broke on the last word, but Angel did not notice.
"Well, have you verified the text?"
Suddenly, there was a slightly hysterical laugh from the doorway. Both Angel and Giles swung towards the door, to see a stunned Buffy standing in the doorway to the office. They exchanged a look.
She walked away from the office door, and Giles moved around Angel to follow her out of the room. Although the instantly possessive movement startled Angel, he did not contest Giles' movement, stopping in the doorway.
"So that's it, huh?" Buffy asked, her voice weak and trembling. "I remember the drill. One Slayer dies, next one's called! Wonder who she is." She looked at Giles, and he felt a horrible pressure on his heart. "Will you train her? Or will they send someone else?"
Never. Only you, Buffy. "Buffy, I..."
"They say how he's gonna kill me? Do you think it'll hurt?"
Tears flowed freely from her eyes, and Giles felt himself tearing up as well. He stepped forward, wanting to hug her, to comfort her in any way he could. But she put her hands up and stepped back from him.
"Don't touch me! Were you even gonna tell me?"
"I was hoping that I wouldn't have to. That there was... some way around it. I..."
"I've got a way around it. I quit!" Her voice broke, and she looked so fragile in that moment, that Giles was sure she would shatter at any moment.
"It's not that simple." Angel said from the doorway.
"I'm making it that simple! I quit! I resign, I-I'm fired, you can find someone else to stop the Master from taking over!"
"I'm not sure that anyone else can. All the... the signs indicate..."
"The signs?" Buffy cried. She grabbed a book and threw it at him. Giles managed to duck the blow. "READ ME THE SIGNS!" She threw another. " TELL ME MY FORTUNE! YOU'RE SO USEFUL SITTING HERE WITH ALL YOUR BOOKS! YOU'RE REALLY A LOTTA HELP!"
"No, I don't suppose I am." Giles murmured brokenly, glancing away from her.
"I know this is hard." Angel said.
"What do you know about this? You're never gonna die!" She screamed at him.
Giles stepped forward again, ignoring Buffy when she tried to move away, and placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to meet her desperate, terrified eyes. "Buffy, do you think I want anything to happen to you? Do you think I could stand it? We just gotta figure out a way..."
"I already did. I quit, remember? Pay attention!"
Angel spoke again. "Buffy, if the Master rises..."
Buffy yanked the silver cross from her neck. "I don't care!" Then she turned suddenly, strangely calm. "I don't care." She turned tearful eyes to Giles, and lifted a hand to his cheek briefly, before closing her eyes tightly, turning away, and dropping her hand. "Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die."
Buffy dropped the cross to the ground, and left without another word.
*****
The next day, Giles was in his office, still desperately going over the codex. He knew, now, that there was no way around it, but he still had to try. Had to do something. He could not let Buffy die. It had not escaped his attention that she had not shown up at school today.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Giles felt a surge of dizziness. The feeling did not bother him anymore, they came so often that he barely noticed the side affects to his visions. But the fact that he was having a vision at all terrified him. Buffy hadn't already been lured to the Master, had she?
Instead of showing him Buffy, his vision showed him Willow and Cordelia walking down the hall. Giles' forehead creased in confusion. What did they have to do with Buffy? Where was she?
"Oh, Kevin said that he'd bring everything to the Bronze last night. He promised! We'll never get everything ready in time." Cordelia said.
"He probably forgot. It's not that big a deal."
"Uh, you don't understand. I'm not mad! He totally flaked on me. On me! And I don't even care. God help me, I think it's cute! Oh..."
Willow smiled. The two girls reached the Audio-Visual room, and saw Kevin – Cordelia's boyfriend – and his friends through the windows.
"There they are! They're watching cartoons. That's so cu... That's not cute. That's annoying. I'm annoyed."
"Right." Willow agreed, hiding a smile. "I'm furious."
"Men. I don't know why we put up with them."
"I hear ya."
Cordelia opened the door. "Obviously, Kevin has underestimated the power of my icy
stare."
Kevin's body fell out into the hall at Cordelia's feet. He had a vampire bite on his neck, and all his blood had been drained.
Cordelia screamed. "Oh, my God! Kevin!" She dropped to her knees besides him. "No!"
Willow looked up from Kevin's body, and, in a sort of daze, entered the room. She took in the sight of the dead bodies, the blood, that was everywhere, pooling on the floor and streaked across the TV. In the center of the TV, in front of the cartoons that played cheerfully in contrast, was a bloody handprint. Even Giles, watching from the safety of his office, felt queasy at the sight.
"Kevin!" Cordelia wailed.
Suddenly, the scene was changing in front of Giles' eyes. For a moment, he thought he was coming out of the vision and then another image rose. It was Buffy, looking stunningly beautiful in a long white dress, apparently getting ready for the dance. Giles felt a wave of relief, pleased to know that, for the moment at least, she was safe. Buffy was looking at herself in a mirror, with a thoughtful expression on her face, when her mother entered the room
"Buffy?! There's something on the news. Willow."
Buffy spun around in shock, and the scene changed again, until Giles could see Willow's room. Willow was curled up on the bed, hugging her knees. Her eyes are red, her cheeks streaked with the remnants of now-dried tears. Buffy was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at her with sad eyes.
"I've seen so much." She murmured, in a dead, lost voice. "I thought I could take anything. But, Buffy, this... this was different."
"It'll be alright." Buffy whispered gently.
"I'm trying to think how to say it... to explain it so you understand."
Giles knew that Buffy understood all too well. With everything that she had witnessed...
So much pain and so much death for someone so young to deal with. For anyone to deal with.
"It doesn't matter as long as you're okay."
"I'm not okay. I knew those guys. I go to that room every day. And when I walked in there, it... it wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs. And they had fun." A tear rolled down Willow's cheek. "What are we gonna do?
"What we have to." Buffy stood from the bed and let out a breath. Suddenly her expression was fiercely determined. "Promise me you'll stay in tonight, okay?"
Willow nodded, and Buffy started to leave.
"Buffy?"
Buffy stopped and turned back. Willow smiled tearfully at her.
"I like your dress."
Buffy looked down at it, smiled back weakly. "Take Care."
Then she was gone.
The vision faded, this time for good.
******
"Rupert?"
At first, Giles did not hear the voice calling his name. He was too lost in thought, going over the events that had occurred in his vision. He knew that look in Buffy's eyes. As terrified she was at facing her own death, she was prepared to go against the Master now. In fact, she was planning on seeking him out. That had been easy enough to read, in her expression and in her words. Things were different now. The vampires were killing people at the school, hurting her friends. There was nothing she was not prepared to face now. As much as Giles admired that courage and loyalty in her, he could not let her die. The very concept was incomprehensible.
"Rupert?"
Giles finally looked up, and realized that Jenny Calendar was standing in front of his desk. This time, he could not even muster enough energy to be annoyed by her presence. He just burst out of his chair, spun around and hurried to the cage, began to pull out weapons and prepare them.
"Okay, so I was thinking about what you told me earlier. This Master guy tried to open the Hellmouth. But he got stuck in it, and now all the signs are reading that he's gonna get out, which opens the Hellmouth, which brings the demons, which ends the world."
Distractedly, Giles muttered, "Yes. That about sums it up, yes."
"The part that gets me, though, is where Buffy is the Vampire Slayer. She's so little."
Giles ignored that. "You know how to get in touch with this, uh, brother Luca chap?"
"Hmm. As far as I can tell, no one can. He's disappeared. Did send out one last global though. A short one."
"What did it say?"
"Isaiah 11:6, which I dutifully looked up."
Giles took the initiative, pondering over the words even as he said it out loud. "'The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf, the lion and the fatling together, and the little child to lead them.'"
Jenny frowned. "That's kinda warm and fuzzy for a message of doom."
"Well, that depends where he's leading them to. Aurelius wrote of the Anointed One, 'The Slayer will not know him, and he will lead her into Hell.'"
"So Luca thinks the Anointed is a kid."
"If the vampire that Buffy killed was in fact not the Anointed, then it may well be."
"Well, then we need to warn her."
Giles turned his full attention back to the weapons. "I don't intend involving her at all."
"What do you mean?"
"Buffy's not gonna face the Master. I am." Anything to protect her.
"No, you're not."
Giles and Jenny looked over and saw Buffy approaching. Giles felt a swell of fear, a tightening in his chest. She would not stop him. He could not let her do this.
"So, I'm looking for a kid, huh? And he'll lead me to the Master?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy, I'm not gonna send you out there to die." Giles insisted. "Now, you were right. I-I've waded around in these old books for so long, I've forgotten what the real world is like. I-it's time I found out."
"You're still not going up against the Master." She said quietly, a strange expression in her eyes.
"I've made up my mind." He told her firmly.
"So have I."
"I made up my mine first!" He said childishly, "I'm older and wiser than you, and just... just do what you're told for once! Alright?"
"That's not how it goes. I'm the Slayer."
"I don't care what the books say. I defy prophecy, and I am going. There's nothing you can say will change my mind."
"I know."
She turned, as if to leave, and Giles squinted his eyes suspiciously. Then she spun and punched him hard in the face. He crumpled to the ground. As Jenny scrambled to help him, Buffy picked up her cross from the table.
Giles was not quite unconscious, but he knew any strenuous movement would send him off to La-La land. So he stayed motionless, watching Buffy's form in from of him, feeling more helpless then he ever had before.
"When he wakes up tell him... I don't know." She looked down at him, her eyes shimmering. "Think of something cool, tell him I said it."
"You fight the Master, and you'll die." Jenny said.
She did not seem surprised that Jenny knew. "Maybe." She picked up the crossbow. "Maybe I'll take him with me."
As she turned to leave, Giles closed his eyes. With the last burst of energy in him, he pushed out with his mind, trying to link it to hers. He had to see. Had to be with her. If only he could get it to work again...
He blacked out.
*****
Buffy was walking across the school grounds, looking beautiful and powerful in the moonlight. In her long white dress, with the crossbow held carefully in one arm, she looked almost ethereal. She looked around her, and spotted a small boy standing in the middle of the school grounds.
"Help me...." The boy cried.
Buffy lowered the crossbow and walked over to the boy.
"It's okay. I know who you are." She said.
The boy held out his hand in an endearingly childish gesture, and Buffy took it. He led her away, taking her towards the master... and her death.
"No!"
Giles pushed himself forcibly out of the vision and into reality, only to find three pairs of eyes look over to him. Ignoring his apparently random shout, Xander turned back to Jenny.
"She what?"
"I told you there was something going on with her." Willow said.
"And she knew about this prophecy of yours?"
Giles nodded, got up from the floor.
"Aw, man, what do we do?"
"We stay calm, first thing." Giles said. At least until I gain the strength to go find her.
"Calm?" Xander cried.
"I think he's right." Willow said.
"I'm sorry, calm may work for Locutus of the Borg here, but I'm freaked out, and I intend to stay that way."
"Xander..."
Giles was no longer listening to Xander. Despite what he had told Buffy's friends, he was far from calm, and he spun to Jenny. "How could you let her go?"
"I didn't let her go!" Jenny protested.
"Well, how can we help her?" Willow asked.
"Uh, I'm sorry to bring this up, but we also have an apocalypse to worry about?" Jenny reminded them.
"Do you mind?" Xander snapped.
"How come she's in the club?"
Jenny, naturally, took offence. "Hey! Once the Master gets free, the Hellmouth opens, the demons come to party, and everybody dies."
Giles was too far gone to pretend to be polite to her. "Uh, uh, I don't care. I'm sorry, I don't. Right now I have to help Buffy."
"We don't even know where she's gone." Willow said.
"No. But I can find out."
******
Giles pounded on Angel's door. He opened it.
"Oh. Look who's here."
Obviously, Angel was still angry at Giles for the prophecy thing. As if it was his fault. As if he wanted Buffy to die.
"Mind if I come in?" He entered.
Angel closed the door after him. "Make yourself at home." His tone was scathingly sarcastic.
"She's gone."
"Whadaya mean?"
"Buffy, she's gone to fight the Master." Giles snapped.
"He'll kill her."
"No. We're not going to let that happen."
"Well, what do you propose we do about it?"
"Listen, I know you know where the Master is. You have to take him to me."
"You're way outta your league, Watcher. The Master'll kill you before you can even breathe. If you're lucky."
"How can I say this clearly?" Giles mused. Then he held up a cross, and Angel growled. As Giles advanced upon him, Angel fell back onto the couch.
"I don't like you. At the end of the day, I pretty much think you're a vampire." Slowly, he lowered the cross. "But Buffy likes you. I don't know how much, but she likes you. She trusts you. She thinks you're a real person. And right now I need you to prove her right."
Angel blinked, realizing. "You're in love with her."
Giles laughed humourlessly. "Aren't you?"
******
As Angel led him along the twisted tunnels of the underground, Giles felt another vision coming and stumbled slightly.
"What's wrong?" Angel asked.
He shook his head. "I can't explain right now. You're going to have to lead me."
Reluctantly, Angel took Giles' arm and forced him to keep stumbling forward as his vision went black and the scene unfolded in front of him.
The boy had stopped walking, and Buffy looked down at him. He pointed, and Buffy went down into the tunnel. The Anointed one walked away and Buffy made her way through the tunnel to the floor below. Candles burned everywhere.
"Welcome."
The Master's voice seemed to be coming from all directions.
"Thanks for having me."
"Y'know, you really oughtta talk to your contractor. Looks like you got some water damage."
The Master's voice sneered. "Oh, good. The feeble banter portion of the fight. Why don't we just cut to the..."
Buffy spun around and shot a bolt from the crossbow in the direction of the voice. The Master stepped out and caught it, midflight. Buffy faced him completely and reloaded.
"Nice shot. But you're not going to kill me with that thing."
"Don't be so sure."
The Master laughed. "You still don't understand your part in all this, do you? You are not the hunter. You are the lamb."
He had vanished again, so Buffy began slowly walking around, searching for him. She came across a dead and rotted body, but ignored it.
"You know, for someone who's all powerful, you sure do like to hide."
"I'm waiting for you." The Master said, "I want this moment to last."
"Well, I don't."
She searched some more, then suddenly, the Master was right beside her.
"I understand."
She turned around and the Master knocked the crossbow out of her hands, grabbing her by the neck.
Buffy swung up her arm, knocking his hand away, started to run. But the Master held up his hand, forced her to freeze with his hypnotic powers. She stared into his face, and could not move. Unhurried, he approached her, came up behind her. He slipped her leather jacket over her shoulders.
Buffy's breath came out in frightened pants.
"You tried. It was noble of you. You heard the prophecy that I was about to break free and you came to stop me. But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell you everything." The Master's voice lowered to a whisper. "You're the one that sets me free! If you hadn't come, I couldn't go. Think about that!"
Giles watched in horror. This could not be happening. Even as he recognized the truth in the Master's words, he could not believe them. He, Rupert Giles, was the one who had unintentionally told Buffy about the prophecy. The one who had told her there was no way to avoid it. If she had never found out, she ... Despite all of Buffy's good intentions, she was about to die releasing a great evil on the world, instead of stopping it.
The Master paused a moment to revel in the moment, then bent down and bit at the base of her neck. He drank deeply and then released her.
"Oh, God! The power!"
Buffy fell to her knees.
"And by the way..."
She fell facedown into the water.
"I like your dress."
The master stepped over the edge of his confines and pushed against the force field around him. It broke in a burst of light and energy, and he left.
"No!"
"Giles?"
Giles burst past Angel and ran on his own, towards the light he could now see coming out of an adjoining tunnel.
"It's too late! He's gone up!" Angel called after him.
Giles ran into the lair, instantly spotting Buffy. He scrambled down to the floor and rushed to her side as Angel stumbled into the opening of the lair. Giles pulled Buffy out of the water, pulling her into the safety of his arms. He tried to listen for breathing. Nothing. Buffy was dead.
Pain.
This pain was a thousand – no, a million – times worse then the pain he had felt when Buffy had 'died' during Billy's rein of nightmares. This was no dream. Buffy was not going to come back this time, neither as a human or a vampire. There was no way he could fix it this time. He felt like reality was shattering around him. There was no way that any human could survive this level of agony; could continue to live after loosing something so dear.
"She's dead!" He choked out the words, and Angel looked down at him in disbelief, then hurried towards them.
Giles looks down at them and swallows hard.
"She can't be dead." He protested weakly.
"She's not breathing." Each word, each of his own breaths were painful, as if the physical act of surviving each moment without her was too difficult.
"But if she drowned, uh, there's a shot! CPR! You'd have to do it. I have no breath."
Giles glanced down at her beloved face. Slowly, he took off his jacket and tossed it over her. He knelt be her, his eyes roaming her peaceful expression. Then he laid his lips against hers and began to blow life into her lungs.
After a moment, He leaned back and began to pump her chest.
His voice lowered to a hoarse whisper. "Please, Buffy, you can't do this to me. Don't leave me, Buffy, please."
He did not notice the thoughtful look Angel shot him. Instead, he leaned down and tried again, desperate for a breath.
"Please... I love you Buffy. Please don't leave me."
Angel gave him a look of deep sorrow, but Giles didn't give up.
Finally, Buffy's eyes flew open and she drew a rough breath, her eyes taking in the scene.
"Buffy!"
She turned her head to the side and coughed out a bunch of water. Giles shot Angel a beaming smile, and Angel blinked at the overwhelming joy on the other man's face, at the tears of relief that brightened his eyes.
Giles put his hand on Buffy's forehead and stroked it gently as she looked up at him.
"Buffy."
"Giles?"
"Welcome back."
Giles helped Buffy stand up.
"Easy. Easy."
She stood, and for a moment, they could only stand there. Angel took a few steps back from the pair, feeling almost as if he were intruding on a very personal moment, although neither said or did anything. They just stared at each other, but the depth of emotion that passed between them was too great to name.
Reluctantly, Buffy turned away. "The Master?"
"He's gone up."
Buffy started to go towards the tunnel to the surface.
"No. You're still weak." Giles protested.
She stopped, turned to face him. "No. No, I feel strong. I feel different. Let's go."
******
On the surface now, Angel, Buffy and Giles made their way towards the school, Buffy leading the way.
"So, how do you know where the Master's going?" Giles asked.
"I know."
A vampire moved in front of them, trying to block their way into the school. Buffy was not even fazed.
"Oh, look, a bad guy."
She punched him carelessly on her way by, and he fell to the side.
Giles hurried after her, his face etched in concern. Something was very wrong. Buffy was acting so strangely...
They hurried into the building, to the stairs leading to the roof. Buffy came around the corner in the hall.
"Okay, you two wait here; keep the rest of the vampires off me."
"Right." Angel said, at the same time Giles thought, rather childishly, As if.
"Angel, better put on your game face."
Angel vamped out. "I'm ready."
"One way or another, this won't take long."
She looked at them both once more and then hurried up to the roof.
Giles followed close behind, but just far enough away so she wouldn't notice he was there. Angel did not even bother to protest, merely moved so he was covering both their posts.
******
The Master was looking down through the skylight into the library below, clapping his hands at the sight of the tentacle monster that was crawling its way through the floor, attacking Willow, Jenny, Cordelia and Xander.
"Yes. Come forth, my child. Come into my world."
Buffy came up onto the roof behind him. "I don't think it's yours just yet."
The Master turned his head and looked at her in shock. "You're dead!"
As Giles came up to the doorway behind her, unnoticed by either, Buffy gave a short laugh. "I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you."
"You were destined to die! It was written!"
She shrugged. "What can I say? I flunked the written."
The Master growled and reached his arm out to try his hypnosis on her again.
"Come here!"
Buffy began to approach the Master, apparently hypnotized. Giles began to move from the doorway towards them as the Master grabbed her throat again.
"Did you really think you could best me here when you couldn't below?" He let go of her neck.
Buffy tilted her head, causing Giles to pause. "You have fruit punch mouth."
The Master blinked. "What?"
She swung a hard punch into his face, knocking him down. "Save the hypnosis crap for the tourists."
As he stood, Buffy executed a swinging roundhouse kick that connected squarely with his face. He swiped at her and she jerked back, but he managed to slice her with his fingernails across her upper right chest, drawing blood. She punched him in the kidney, and he punches her in the jaw. She tried to punch him again, but he blocked her and punched her in the face, sending her flying backward into the wall behind her.
Before Giles could react, Buffy launched herself into a front tuck over the Master's head and landed between him and the skylight. She kicked him in the side with a side snap kick, but he quickly turned around and grabs her by the neck again.
"Where are your jibes now?"
She looked behind her and saw something in the library below that brightened her expression.
"Will you laugh when my Hell is on Earth?" The Master demanded.
"You're that amped about Hell?" She grabbed him by the neck in turn. "Go there!"
She lifted him up and flipped him over herself and through the skylight. He fell down in a shower of glass and was impaled on a splintered table. He instantly turned to ash, leaving only his skeleton on the table. The people in the library slowly stood, looking up at her, and Giles came up beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She did not seem surprised by his presence, only lifted her hand, and placed it over his.
******
Cordelia opened the library doors for Giles, Angel and Xander.
"The vampires?" Giles asked.
"Gone."
"The Master?" Angel asked.
"Dead." Xander replied.
Giles smiled. "The Hellmouth is closed." He glanced over at Buffy, noticed she seemed spaced out. "Buffy... Buffy?"
She blinked. "Oh, sorry. It's just been a really weird day." She smiled at the understatement.
"Yes!" Angel nodded. "Buffy died."
Willow raised her eyebrows. "Wow! Harsh."
Giles smiled gently down at Buffy. "I should have known that wouldn't stop you."
"Well, what do we do now?" Jenny asked.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd like to get out of this place." Willow said, "I don't like the library very much anymore."
"Hey! I hear there's a dance at the Bronze tonight." Xander suggested. "Could be fun."
"Yeah!" Cordelia agreed.
Willow looked at the Slayer. "Buffy?"
"Sure! We saved the world. I say we party!" She looked down at her dress. "I mean, I got all pretty."
Jenny gestured to the Master. "And what about him?"
Buffy shrugged. "He's not going anywhere. Loser."
"You can come with us, Angel." Willow offered.
"Okay, but I'm not dancing, though." He insisted.
She laughed. "We'll see."
"I'm hungry." Buffy mused.
"So what's the story with the car?" Giles asked.
Cordelia brightened. "Oh, that was me, saving the day!"
"Is anybody else hungry?" Buffy asked, apparently obsessed with the topic.
"You could get a drink." Willow suggested to Angel. Then she paused. "Well, no, don't do that. Just hang."
"I'm really, really hungry."
To distract her from food, Giles hung back with Buffy and said,
"By the way, I really like your dress."
She smiled at him. "Yeah, yeah. Big hit with everyone."
******
OMG THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE!!!! Lol I'm still having adrenaline rush from the pure fun in that. XD Anyway, the character switching part was a bit confusing, but I think it worked. Hope you all like ^ ^ Next chapter will be late - computer is dying