Hey guys… sorry this one took forever. My computer hasn't been working for two weeks, but I finally got a chance to get onto my sisters computer and type this up
********
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.
She was back in Sunnydale.
Buffy wished she could be happy about her return. After all, she was going to see her mother again, and her friends, and Giles. She hadn't seen any of them all summer and she missed them all fiercely.
But she was back where the master was. For some reason, she could not get him out of her head. Despite the fact that she had killed him at the end of the school year, on prom night none the less, she still had the horrible feeling that he was out there, waiting for her. Waiting to kill her. Again.
Sometimes the terror got overwhelming. All summer long, in between overindulgent shopping trips with her father, she had trained until she collapsed with exhaustion, or until her knuckles bled from wild, mindless punches. She was determined to be ready for whatever the Hellmouth chose to throw at her next. Without the help of her friends. Without the help of Giles, if she could get away with it. She refused to put them in any unnecessary danger.
Because she wanted to clear her mind before facing anyone, she had asked her father to drop her off at the park a few blocks from her house. He had driven her luggage to her mother's, while she walked home. She had walked nearly to the end of the park already, and yet her mind was still as muddled as before.
Buffy spotted two people against the wall ahead. At first, she could not tell who it was. The girl was sitting on the wall, and the boy was leaning in with a napkin to wipe something off the girl's face. Then he leaned in close, as if about to kiss her. Buffy's head tilted slightly to the side. It was a cute scene.
Suddenly, a vampire popped up out of nowhere, just behind the girl. The couple spotted it, and the girl screamed and jumped off the wall. As the boy pulled her away, Buffy finally saw that it was Willow and Xander.
"Willow, Run!" Xander cried, standing between Willow and the vampire.
After recovering from her shock that the 'cute' couple was Willow and Xander, Buffy swore and went over and behind the wall, running stealthily along the side towards the vampire. Why did neither of them have stakes, or at least crosses? It was careless and dangerous. She was trying to keep them safe, dammit.
Willow watched with wide eyes as Xander punched the vampire in the face. Ignoring the punch, the vampire grabbed Xander and tried to bite his neck as Xander began to struggle uselessly. Before the vampire could do anything, however, a hand came up and grabbed the vampire by the shoulder, pulling him off the boy easily.
Buffy punched the vampire in the face – her punch having a much better affect thenXander's had – then kneed him between the legs and flipped him onto his back.
"Hey guys!" She said cheerfully.
The vampire got up, and Buffy turned her attention back to him, kicking him in the chest and sending him into a tree, where he was impaled on a dead branch. As he turned to ash, Buffy smiled at her friends. "Miss me?"
******
Buffy would be back today.
It was the only thought that had been in Giles' head all morning. Indeed, it was one of the only things he had thought about all summer. He had not expected to miss her so much. Currently, Giles was walking along outside the school with principal Snyder, trying to focus on what the other man was saying.
"The first day back. It always gets me."
"Yes."
"I mean, it's incredible. One day the campus is completely bare. Empty. The next, there are children everywhere. Like locusts. Crawling around, mindlessly bent on feeding and mating. Destroying everything in sight in their relentless, pointless desire to exist.
"I do enjoy these pep talks." Giles lied. "Have you ever considered, given your abhorrence of children, school's principal was not, perhaps, your true vocation?"
"Somebody's got to keep an eye on them." Snyder said, with the tone of a martyr. "They're just a bunch of hormonal time bombs. Every time a pretty girl walks by every boy turns into a gibbering fool."
"Hmm." Giles glanced away, looking for an escape – any excuse that would get him away from Snyder and closer to his library. Buffy would probably go there first. Then he spotted Jenny Calendar. Mentally, he took a moment to figure out who was more annoying. But it didn't really matter. She would get him inside.
"Ms. Calendar!"
Jenny's face brightened. "Mr. Giles!"
"Well, I, uh, um... Hello!"
Snyder was muttering in the background, but he had obviously not noticed that Giles' attention was elsewhere, so he ignored him.
"It's good to see you."
"Yes." What was a good excuse? "Uh, were you headed to the, uh…faculty room?"
That was close enough to the library, he supposed.
"Sounds like fun!"
They left, and Giles tried to make polite conversation as he scanned the crowds of students for his girl.
"How was your summer?"
"Extreme. I did Burning Man in Black Rock, ohhh, such a great festival, you should've been there. They had drum rituals, mobile sculptures, raves, naked mud dances, you would've just... hated it with a fiery passion!"
"I can't imagine finding any redeeming, uh..." He stopped and frowned at her. "Naked?"
"Hmm. And you probably spent all summer with your nose in a book."
In between thinking about Buffy, training, and thinking about Buffy. "Yes. I suppose you'd consider that frightfully dull."
"Depends on the book."
She smiled flirtatiously at him, but Giles was no longer paying her the slightest attention to her. He had just spotted Willow and Xander coming down the stairs, with Buffy not far behind them.
"Giles!" Willow called in greeting.
"Yo! G-man! What's up?"
"Nice to see you. And don't ever call me that."
Buffy was silent, but her eyes did not leave his face.
"Hi, kids." Jenny said.
Willow was the only one who graced her with a 'hello'.
"How are you?" Giles asked, his expression concerned. Buffy seemed… different. There was something wrong, he was sure of that. But what?
"Live and kicking." She said with obviously false cheer.
As they all looked around to see if anyone had heard, Buffy rolled her eyes and suggested, "Uh, I think you can get a little more volume if you speak from the diaphragm."
"Sorry."
Jenny spoke up. "We've got vampires? I thought the Hellmouth was closed."
Giles looked at her in surprise. He hadn't even noticed she was still there. "Well, it's, it's closed, but not gone. The mystical energy that emanates from it is still concentrated in this area."
"Which means we're still the undead's favorite party town." Xander pointed out.
Giles mused to himself. "I wonder if they're here for any purpose, particularly."
"You're the Watcher." Buffy reminded him, "I just work here."
"Yes, I-I must consult my books."
Xander grinned and looked at his watch. "Oh, eight minutes and thirty-three seconds, pay up." Willow handed him a dollar. "I called ten minutes before you'd consult your books about something. Thanks."
"We better get to class." Willow suggested.
When Buffy started to walk away, Giles called, "Oh, uh, Buffy! Uh, I realize you've only just returned, but when you're ready I-I think we should start your training
again."
"I'm ready. I'll see you after school."
Giles frowned. "Well, I-I-I understand if, if you want a few days to..."
"I'm ready." She left.
******
That afternoon after school, Buffy set out to prove to Giles that she was, as she had said, ready. Ready to face anything, ready to protect him, Willow and Xander. Ready to be the slayer she should have been all along.
First she did tumbling and kicking exercises that had her spinning and moving all around the library. When Giles wanted her to practice with the quarterstaff, she beat onto Giles' hand pads as hard as she could, and knocked him into some chairs by the table, then destroyed the practice dummy. In her mind, the practice dummy had become the Master, a foe she had to defeat. She was deaf to Giles' calls of 'that's enough', until the wooden dummy splintered and broke.
"Uh, safe to say you've stayed in shape." Giles said gently, watching her carefully.
Buffy was breathing hard. She bunched her hair in a fist above her head to pull it off her neck and panted out, "I'm ready. Whatever they've got coming next, I'm ready. Yeah."
******
The next day in the student lounge, Buffy was sitting on a couch, thinking hard. She was so lost in her own little world, that she didn't hear Willow and Xander come up the stairs until Xander basically screamed her name,
"Fine! I'm fine." She said, jerking back to the present.
"Good! It's good that you're fine."
Xander sat next to her, and Willow on a couch opposite them.
"What were you thinking about?" Willow asked, pulling an apple from her bag.
"Nothing."
"Oh, c'mon, you can tell us. We're your bosom friends! The friends of your bosom!" Xander enthused, also pulling a snack out – his a power bar.
"Xander." Willow chided. Then they frowned simultaneously at their snacks and switched, tossing them to each other over the table between the two couches.
"I wasn't thinking anything, really." Buffy insisted.
'What'd you do last night?"
"Mm. Slept. I had weird dreams."
"Dreams are meaningful."
"Tsh! Tell me about it." Willow agreed. "The other night I dreamt that Xander... Uh, I-it wasn't Xander. I-in fact it wasn't me. It was a friend's dream, and she doesn't remember it."
Buffy managed a weak smile. "I bet she doesn't."
"Buffy!"
Buffy looked up, and saw Giles walking towards them. Seeing the look on his face, she frowned and stood up.
"Giles! What is it? You look worried."
"This vampire activity, I think I know what they're up to."
Buffy smiled slightly, relieved that he was okay. "Well, we'll deal with it." She'd deal with it. Giles didn't have to worry. He would be in no danger.
"I hope it's that simple." Giles mused.
"It is not to worry. Trust me."
"Oh, I don't know. I mean," He chuckled, a strange, very not-Giles sound. "I've killed you once, it shouldn't be too difficult to do it again."
She froze. "What?"
Giles took a hard backhand swing at her face, knocking her down onto the table between the two couches. Then he climbed over and began to choke her. As she gasped for air, she looked over his shoulder and saw Xander and Willow smiling absently at each other as they munched their snacks, paying the two on the table no attention.
No. This was not her Giles. He would never, ever hurt her like this. Reaching up, Buffy grabbed at the mask over Giles' face, pulling it off to reveal the face of the Master.
Buffy awoke with a scream.
******
That night at the Bronze, Cibi Matto was playing "Spoon", and Willow and Xander were sitting together at a table, Willow eating from a cup of ice cream.
"I just think something's up is all." Willow said.
"Willow, you're paranoid." Xander insisted. He appeared to be distracted, and was eyeing the people packed into the Bronze.
"Buffy's never acted like this before. Ever since she got back she's... different."
Can't find a spoon...
"Buffy's always been different."
"She's never been mean."
...that we have had
He exhaled and looked around again. "Any sign of her? She said she was coming."
The sugar cubes...
Willow frowned. Maybe it had been a mistake to mention Buffy. "No. The band's cool, though."
"Yeah, cool."
...can melt our mouth / We belong, yes, to-to-together
Remembering the other day, Willow dipped her nose into her ice cream and smiled, trying to get Xander's attention.
We belong, yes, to-to-together / We belong, yes, to-to-together
Xander shot her a careless glance. "You got somethin' on your nose."
We belong, yes, to-to-together / We belong, yes, to-to-together
Willow's smile faded, and she wiped the ice cream away with a napkin.
We belong, yes, to-to-together
"Sugar Water" started playing.
The velocity of time... turns her voice into... sugar water
Buffy walked into the Bronze, but Angel noticed her before Xander could.
"Hi." Buffy said as Angel walked over.
"Hi."
"So, is there danger at the Bronze?" She asked sarcastically. "Should I beware?"
"I can't help thinking I've done something to make you angry." Angel murmured sadly, "And that bothers me more than I'd like."
"I'm not angry. I don't know where that comes from."
"What are you afraid of? Me? Us?"
Us? Where had that come from? Admittedly, they had shared that kiss… and Buffy knew that Angel liked her as far more then friends… but she was not sure if there was an "us". And at the moment she was in no mood to think about it. She needed to forget about vampires for a while, and Angel was not helping. The exact opposite in fact.
"Could you contemplate getting over yourself for a second?" She snapped, "There's no 'us'. Look, Angel, I'm sorry if I was supposed to spend the summer mooning over you, but I didn't. I moved on. To the living."
I'm on a concrete way / The wind is blowing...
Buffy left Angel staring after her and walked over to Willow and Xander's table. "Hey!"
"Hi."
"Hey."
…to the north-northwest
"What's wrong with Angel?" Willow asked.
"Beats me."
It smells like sands of the southern island
Because she could still feel the vampire's gaze on her back, Buffy turned to Xander. "Let's dance." She pulled at his shirt insistently.
"Ooo-kay." Buffy pulled him by his shirt towards the dance floor.
When a black cat crosses my path
Buffy and Xander began to slow dance, Buffy purposefully making the dance sensual. She knew, somewhere in her mind, that she was being irrational and cruel, but she needed to forget. She didn't want to be thinking at all.
A woman in the moon is singing to the earth / A woman in the
moon is singing to the earth / La la la, la la la la la la / La la la,
la la la la la la
Buffy turned her back against Xander and pulled his arms around her waist, moving against him.
La la la, la la la la la la / La la la, la la la la la la
She reached up and stroked his face, aware of Angel's angry glare and Willow's shocked expression.
I'm riding on a camel that has big eyes / The buildings are changing into coconut trees / Little by little…
When a black cat...crosses my path
A woman in the moon is singing to the earth
Suddenly, without warning, she moved away, leaving a stunned Xander on the dance floor.
A woman in the moon is singing to the earth.
Buffy walked over to the table and grabbed her jacket, then made her way out of the Bronze.
La la la, la la la la la la La la la, la la la la la la
******
Giles frowned at Willow. "Possessed?"
The three of them – Xander, Willow and Giles – were sitting at a table in the student lounge together, discussing Buffy.
"That's the only explanation that makes any sense. I mean, you should've seen her last night. That wasn't Buffy." Willow said.
"Are we overlooking the idea that she may be very attracted to me?" Xander asked hopefully. When they shot him looks, he sighed. "She's possessed."
"Possessed by what?"
"Aaaaa possessing thing!" Willow suggested.
Giles rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically. "Well, that narrows it down."
He tried a sip of the soda he had just bought and winced. It was so sweet!
"Well, you're the expert." Xander shrugged, then brightened. "Hey, maybe when the Master killed her some... mystical bad guy transference thing happened."
"That's what it was!" Willow agreed. "I mean, why else would she be acting like such a b-i-t-c-h?"
"Willow, I think we're all a little too old to be spelling things out." Giles told her.
Xander was frowning. "A bitca?"
Not at all surprised that Xander hadn't understood, Giles nodded. "Yes." Then he turned back to Willow. "I suggest that, uh, the explanation for her behavior may be something more, more mundane."
The bell rang, but Giles continued.
"She may simply have what you Americans refer to as Issues. Uh, her experience with the Master must have been extremely traumatic. Well, she was, for at least a few minutes, technically dead. I-I don't think she's dealt with that on a conscious level. She's convinced herself that she's invulnerable... for the very reason that she feels..."
Xander interrupted, as he noticed Buffy standing in the doorway. "That's a very interesting point about trout, you just brought up now."
"Trout?" Then Giles noticed Buffy too. "Trout! Yes, trout, i-is a fish. Good morning. Did you sleep well?"
"Like a rock. Master's gone."
"I'm sorry?" He frowned, looking at her eyes. She was trying to look angry, and very obviously was angry, but more then that, she was terrified. Giles had never seen so much fear in the Slayer's eyes.
"The Master. I went by his grave last night, and they have a vacancy."
"Good God!" Giles murmured.
"What would somebody want with Master bones?"
"A trophy, a horrible conversation piece?"
"They're gonna bring him back." Buffy said, her voice trembling and her eyes suspiciously bright. "They're gonna bring the Master back to life, and I seem to recall you telling me he was history."
"Buffy, I-I-I've never heard of a-a revivification ritual being successful."
"But you've heard of them? Thanks for the warning."
Giles could not bring himself to be annoyed with Buffy. She had every reason to be angry with him, and every reason to be terrified. He should have realized before why Buffy was acting so strangely. He should have taken care of her, and not assumed that she would be just be okay after dying and coming back to life. He should have been more careful with the Master. Willow however, had no such reservations.
"Well, Buffy, Giles did bury him and..."
"Look, this is Slayer stuff, okay?" Buffy snapped, her terror unleashing into anger at her friends. "Could we have just a little less from the civilians, please?"
"Okay, that's just about enough!" Xander cried.
Buffy shot Xander a dangerous look, but before she could do or say anything else that she would regret later, Snyder interrupted, popping up out of nowhere,
"I believe some of us have class? And some of us have jobs."
"Y-yes, well, I'll, uh, I'll see you all, uh, in the library later. We'll, we'll continue this discussion."
"About trout." Willow agreed.
Giles and Snyder watched Buffy, Willow and Xander walk away.
"There're some things I can just smell. It's like a sixth sense." Snyder said.
Giles sighed. "No, actually that would be one of the five."
"That Summers girl. I smell trouble. I smell expulsion, and just the faintest aroma of jail."
Giles scowled at him. "Well, before you throw away the key, you might consider giving her the benefit of the doubt. She may surprise you."
"You really have faith in those kids, don't you?"
"Yes, I do."
Snyder sniffed and turned away. "Weird."
*******
"Alright, alright, I-I-I've got something." Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles were in the library after school, and Giles had just discovered something in one of his books. "It's Latin, so bear
with me. Uh, to revive the vampire they need his bones, uh... w-which they have, and, um, the blood... this is very unclear, of the closest person... uh, someone connected to the vampire."
"That'd be me." Buffy said.
"Perhaps."
"We were close." Buffy insisted. "We killed each other. It really promotes togetherness."
"Well, is there anything on when the ceremony might take..."
A rock suddenly crashed through the window, interrupting Xander mid-sentence."Whoa!"
Buffy caught the rock and unfolded the note from the rock. It was tied on with a bracelet.
"This is Cordelia's." Buffy said, and then read the note. "'Come to the Bronze before it opens, or we make her a meal.'"
"They're gonna cook her dinner?" Xander cried. When everyone looked at him, he sighed. "I'll pretend I didn't say that."
"What do we do?"
"I go to the Bronze and save the day." Buffy said, letting out a heavy breath.
"I don't like this." Xander protested.
"Nor I!" Giles agreed.
Buffy turned back. Did they really think that she would let them come? That she would endanger them like that? She scowled to herself. Of course they did. She had done it before, hadn't she? "Yeah? Well, you guys aren't going."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't do it anymore. I can't look after the three of you guys while I'm fighting."
"Well, what about the rest of the note?" Willow demanded.
"What rest of the note?"
"The part that says, 'P.S. This is a trap'?"
"You'll be playing straight into their hands." Giles said, taking off his glasses and rubbing at them absently.
"I can handle this."
"Stop saying that!" Willow cried, "God, what's wrong with you?"
"Cordelia may be dead." Xander added.
"This is my fight." Buffy left before they could argue anymore, and the three in the library just watched her go with angry, confused expressions.
*******
Close to an hour later, Willow spoke up. "I still think we should've gone with her."
"Buffy's about to lose it. I think we should be trying to reach minimum safe distance."
"Xander, you know it's a trap!"
Giles looked up from his book. "Ah! Ah, ah, ah! Uh, uh, the Latin is, is translated from the
Sumerian, a-a-and rather badly. Closest to the Master actually translates as 'nearest'. Physically. The, the, the person or persons who were with him... when he... " He trailed off, looking up. "It is a trap…. It just isn't for her."
Several vampires had appeared on the level above them, grinning down at them.
******
Meanwhile, at the Bronze, Buffy had found a vampire dressed as Cordelia, and had realized this was a trap. Angel had showed up to 'help' her, but she didn't have time to deal with him at the moment. The second she realized Giles and her friends were in danger, she bound the vampire's wrists and pushed in towards Angel.
"Watch her. Don't kill her unless you have to."
"Buffy! What's goin' on?" Angel demanded.
"I'll be back."
She ran out of the Bronze and to the school, not slowing down for a second until she burst into the library. She stumbled to a halt once inside though, as she saw the place was in shambles. The centre table had been tilted over to the side, and someone was trying to use it to haul themselves to their feet.
Giles.
Buffy rushed over to help him up, but he shook her off. As much as Giles loved her, he was so furious with her now that he could barely speak.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Vampires. The ones you could handle yourself."
"Where are the others?"
"I don't know." He turned away from her. "I don't know what your problem is, Buffy. But as of right now, I don't care. You could have stopped this. You should have stopped this. You are the slayer."
Buffy glanced away from him. "We, we just have to think. Where would they have taken them? Why did they take them and not you?"
"They needed people who were close to the master. Physically close."
"The ones who were with the Master when he died."
"Xander, Willow, Cordelia..."
"Ms. Calendar."
Giles sighed. "The odds are that they have all of them by now."
"We need to find out where."
"How?"
*****
"One more time: where are they?"
Buffy threw the female vampire down to the ground angrily. They were back at the Bronze, and Buffy was attempting to get information from the vamp who had pretended to be Cordelia.
"You're too late. Your friends are dead."
Buffy picked her up. "Tell me where they are!"
The female only laughed. "What are you gonna do? Kill me?"
Buffy tossed her onto the pool table.
"As a matter of fact...Yes. But since I'm not gonna kill you any time soon, the question becomes..."
She pulled off the silver cross from around her neck and dropped it into the vampire's mouth, covering it with her hands.
"How are we gonna pass the time till then?"
The cross began to burn the vampire's mouth, and she twisted her head in an attempt to get away. Eventually, Buffy took it out.
"So. One more time."
******
Inside an old abandoned warehouse, Collin, the Anointed, carries a black case past the Master's skeleton, which is laid out on a table. Another vampire takes it from him.
"Begin." The vampire said.
Yet another vampire began to pull on a chain, and Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Jenny and yanked along a conveyer to hang, upside down and unconscious, over the bones of the Master.
"Behold, these four mortals."
Buffy entered the warehouse through a side door, Angel and Giles beside her.
"Witnesses to our Master's wretched demise. They will breathe their last this night. The blood that pours from their throats will bring NEW LIFE to the old one. We gather for his resurrection. For the dawn of this new hell."
"Buffy!" Buffy faced Giles. "We have to do something." Giles insisted. "Now."
"You two get the others out of here." Buffy instructed.
Angel nodded. "We need you to distract the vampires."
"Right."
Giles placed a hand on her shoulder. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm gonna kill them all." She pulled away from him. "That oughta distract them."
The first vampire was now holding a long, curved knife. "For the old one. For his pain. For the dark."
"For the dark!" The other vampires chimed in.
The vampire kissed the blade, then looked over in disbelief as one of his followers turned to dust and Buffy appeared in the circle, holding a stake. He roared in fury, and three of the vampires began to attack Buffy. Meanwhile Giles and Angel began to climb the ladder to get the others down.
The first vampire ushered Collin out of the warehouse and to safety, then returned to see Giles and Angel pulling on the chain.
"The sacrifices! Stop them!"
A vampire responded and ran up the ladder as Buffy continues to fight below. Buffy executed a flip over a bunch of wooden boxes, grabbed one and smashed it over a vampire's head. She kicked another in the face, and was tackled from the side.
Above, Giles pulled the others off the conveyer and laid them on the floor, attempting to tend to them and wake them. Before any regained consciousness, however, the vampire made it up to the platform and growled dangerously at them. Angel instantly turned, put on his vampire face, and attacked the other vampire.
Down below, a vampire was on top of Buffy, trying to bite her. Buffy wasted no time in grabbing a piece of splintered wood and jabbing it into the vampire's back. He turned into ash, covering her with it. Instantly, another vampire rushed to attack her.
Above, Xander gained consciousness. "Are you alright?" He asked Jenny, who was closest to him.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"Where's Buffy?"
"Uh, she's working out her issues."
Buffy is still fighting a vampire below. Angel's attacker tries to stake him, but Angel stops him and stakes the other vampire instead. Buffy kicked her vampire into a storage rack, and both vampire and rack crashed to the ground. Before anything else can happen, the first vampire showed up again, now carrying a large sledgehammer.
"ENOUGH!"
Buffy turned to look at him. The vampire she just kicked stands.
"Your day is done, girl." The first vampire snarled. "I'll grind you into a *sticky* paste, and hear you beg before I smash in your face."
Buffy just looked at him with shimmering eyes. "So, are you gonna kill me or are we just making small talk?"
The vampire raised the sledgehammer and ran at Buffy, who was now standing in the centre of the room. On the other side of her, the other vampire rushed at her as well. Calmly, Buffy looked at the tall wooden torch in front of her, and pulled it off, turning it around in her hands. At the last second, she jabbed it back and forth, stabbing the second vampire with the pointed end and killing him, and setting the first vampire on fire. Flames engulf him and he burns to ash, dropping the hammer.
For a moment there is only silence.
"It's over." Willow whispered.
"No, it's not." Xander disagreed.
Giles, standing only a few feet from Buffy, called her name quietly and took a step forward, but he knew that Buffy could neither see or hear him. Her eyes were bright as she bent to pick up the hammer, and walked over to the Master's skeleton. Then she snapped and began to slam the hammer into the Master's bones, whaling on the skeleton until there is nothing left to smash.
Giles came up behind her and watched her until she finally stepped back and dropped the hammer. When Buffy burst into tears, Giles whispered, "It's okay… It's okay…"
Buffy instantly turned to him, and began to cry into his shoulder. As his own eyes welled with tears, Giles held her close to him, his arms gentle, and swore to himself that he would never, ever let her go.
******
"I don't think I can face them."
Buffy and Giles were walking along outside the school, side by side.
Giles did not respond at first. He was looking at her face. Although she seemed worried, there was still serenity, a basic happiness about her now that the master truly was gone. It pleased him to see her as herself again. "Hmm? Of course, you can."
"I can't! What am I supposed say? 'Sorry I almost got your throat slit. What's the homework?'"
"Punishing yourself like this is pointless." And it bothered him. He had forgiven her, and he knew her friends had too. She just needed to forgive herself.
"It's entirely pointy. I was a moron. I put my best friends in mortal danger on the second day of school."
"What are you gonna do? Crawl inside a cave for the rest of your life?"
Buffy looked thoughtful. "Would it have cable?"
Giles smiled slightly. "Buffy, you acted wrongly, I admit that. But believe me that was hardly the, the worst mistake you'll ever make." Then he frowned. "Uh, that wasn't quite as comforting as it was meant to be."
She smiled at him anyway, eyes gentle. "Well, points for effort." The bell rang and she sighed, "See you."
Buffy entered the classroom, but stopped nervously when she saw Willow and Xander. They look up at her briefly, then away.
Trying to gather her courage, Buffy entered the room and walked over to an empty desk near Willow.
"Hey Buffy." Willow said.
"Hey."
"We saved you a seat."
Buffy looked at her friends carefully and then cautiously sat down in the seat.
"There's a rumor going around that, uh, Mr. Cox is the most boring teacher in the entire world." Xander said. "Like, I think he won a belt or something.
"Yes." Buffy was smiling now. Giles had been right. Her friends, by some miracle, had forgiven her.
"Well, I hear he nods off a lot. So that's a plus."
"So, we Bronzin' it tonight?"
"Wednesday, it's kinda beat."
"Well, we could grind our enemies into talcum powder with a sledgehammer, but, gosh, we did that last night."
Buffy stiffened, but then realized her friends were still smiling at her. She grinned back.
"Hey, I got a plan: how 'bout miniature golf."
"There's no course here."
"Okay, uh, miniature tennis! A very tiny form of tennis that we could invent..."
*******
OKAY that's the end of the first episode of season 2. I know there wasn't a whole lot of Giles POV in this chapter, and a lot of switching, but I felt this episode needed to be included. Firstly because we needed some kind of closure on the Buffy/Master thing, and secondly because Giles needed to comfort Buffy after her destruction of the Master. Because Giles was not physically close to the master when he died however (if you remember, he was with Buffy), he could not be kidnapped. Anyway, hopefully I will have the next chapter up soon, It depends on when I get access to a computer again. Please review ^ ^