Sorry… this chapter took a long time. But I finally have my shiny new laptop, so they'll be updated more quickly from now on. I was going to make the episode "Ted", but I didn't quite realize how many BuffyXAngel and GilesXJenny scenes there were in that episode. So, instead, here's "Bad Eggs".
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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.
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Buffy was distracted.
She couldn't help it. It wasn't her fault, really. It was just that her life was so full of slaying and schooling and partying that when she was finally alone, with nothing more important to do then pick up her mother's clothes at 'Everyday Woman', her head was busy and full.
The most confusing and distracting thought in her head at the moment was really very simple at first glance. Giles. What was there to be confused about, really? He was her Watcher. And the librarian at her school. He was to be thought of as stuffy, strange and of little importance.
And yet no matter how many times she told herself that, she could not help but see his shining hazel eyes looking into hers, feel the pressure of his hand in hers, feel the warmth of his body behind hers as they both looked out over the crowded ruckus of the Bronze. Every moment she spent with Giles was special to her. More special then it should be. And yet she couldn't get such thoughts out of her head.
Buffy blinked herself back into focus as she got onto the elevator, and looked around to make sure she was going to the right way. The Sunnydale mall wasn't very big, but it was extremely crowded today, and she wouldn't be surprised if she had gotten turned around. Luckily, though, she seemed to be in the right place.
As her gaze roamed around the mall, her eyes lighted on a man dressed up as a cowboy, going down the escalator with his girlfriend. Buffy rolled her eyes. Nice costume, she thought. Then she saw something that made her pause.
In the large mirrored wall behind the escalator, she could see her reflection, and that of the cowboys girlfriend. But the cowboy had no reflection.
Buffy turned instantly and began to ran back up the escalator, going the wrong way. People shouted and grumbled as she weaved her way through the mass, but she ignored them. When she got to the top, she slowed to a walk, trying to remain inconspicuous as she followed them down a hallway.
At one point, Buffy slowed down too much and lost sight of the couple. But it only took her a minute of wandering before she found them in the arcade.
The arcade was deserted except for the vampire and the girl, who were at the pinball machine. The girl was playing enthusiastically.
"Turn around, baby, I have somethin' to show ya." The vampire said from behind her.
"Wait a sec. This is my high score."
The girl continued to play, and the vampire moved up behind her. He took off his hat and moved the girl's hair aside, his face morphing into his true demonic appearance.
"Well, ain't you just got the prettiest little neck I ever did see." The vampire drawled.
"Boy, you guys really never come up with any new lines, do you?" Buffy asked.
Simultaneously, girl and vampire looked over at Buffy, clearly annoyed.
"Do you mind? We were talking here." The girl snapped.
Buffy turned suddenly shimmering eyes to the vampire. "But you promised you'd never cheat on me again, honey." She crooned.
The girl blinked, scowled, and pulled her bag onto her arm. "Um, I better go."
"But I ain't done yet." The cowboy snarled, and the girl turned to see his face.
The girl took a hurried step back and gasped, frightened. Then she turned and ran from the room.
The vampire looked back at Buffy. "Alright, sugar lips. Giddy-up!"
He put on his hat and lashed out at Buffy, who easily blocked his punch and threw one of her own, smashing him in the face and between the legs. When he dropped his hands, she shoved him into the pinball machine.
The vampire smiled at her. "Well, you're a rough one, ain't cha! I like that!"
He swung at her again, and she blocked it. He aimed higher, and she ducked. Finally, as if frustrated, her grabbed her by the arms and threw her into the pinball machine. The glass shattered around her, and the cowboy was at her side again, lifting her by the straps on her backpack.
"You must be that Slayer I've been hearin' so much about. Lyle Gorch. Pleased to meet cha!"
Buffy kicked him off of her and into another game.
"Pleasure's mine!"
In one simple move, Buffy leapt off the machine towards him, and even when he ducked out of the way she spun to face him again, stake already in hand. Lyle stood, settled his hat back on his head, and pointed a finger at her.
"This ain't over!"
He ran.
Buffy rolled her eyes and let him go. For now. "Oh, sure. They say they'll call." She muttered.
Buffy trudged back though the mall towards the food court. She smiled when she saw her mom and sat down.
"Oh bliss. Mall food."
Joyce blinked at her. "Buffy?"
"Mom?"
"Where's my dress?"
Buffy frowned. "Your dr…? Oh. Oh God."
Joyce shook her head disapprovingly. "Let me guess: you were distracted by a boy."
Buffy thought of the cowboy vampire. "Technically."
"Buffy…"
"Look, I-I can go get it right now."
"They're closed. I'll just have to fit it in tomorrow."
"Sorry."
Joyce adopted a stern tone. "A little responsibility is all I ask. Honestly, don't you ever think about anything besides boys and clothes?"
"Saving the world from vampires?" Buffy suggested, knowing her mom would not take it seriously.
Joyce crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head again. "I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes on in your head."
Buffy just sighed and glanced away.
*****
The next day in the library, Giles and Buffy were hard at work trying to research the cowboy vampire she had met at the mall. Giles was in the cage behind her, and Buffy was working in the card catalogue.
Giles glanced through the bars of the cage at her, and his eyes roamed her bent head, her perfect skin, the loose lock of blonde hair that fell over the side of her face. Then he jerked his gaze away. What was he doing? He was her teacher, for God's sake.
Luckily, it was then that Willow and Xander entered the library, bringing a welcome distraction to the tension in the room.
"Buffy! How come you weren't in class?" Willow called.
Buffy looked up, surprised, then winced. "Vampire issues. Did Mr. Whitmore notice I was tardy?"
"I think the word you're searching for is 'absent'." Xander pointed out.
Willow nodded. "Tardy people show."
"Right."
"And, yes, he did notice, so he wanted me to give you this." Willow handed her an egg.
Buffy frowned and rolled the egg around in her hand. "As far as punishments go this is fairly abstract."
Willow beamed at her, "No, it's your baby!"
Buffy blinked. "Okay, I get it even less."
"Well, you know, it's the whole 'sex leads to responsibility' thing," Xander explained. "Which I personally don't get. You gotta take care of the egg. It's a baby. You gotta keep it safe and teach it Christian values."
Willow shot Xander a look. "My egg is Jewish."
"Then teach it that Dreidel song."
Willow smiled.
Buffy groaned. "I can't do this! I can't take care of things! I killed my Giga Pet. Literally, I sat on it and it broke."
She set her egg down and walked over to a cart of books.
"You'll do fine!" Willow insisted.
"Yeah, the only thing that stresses me is when do we tell them that they're adopted?"
"I'll just lay that one off on my partner." Buffy said, then she looked up, worried, "Who'd I get?"
"Well, there were an uneven number of students, and you didn't show, so…"
Buffy gasped, "I'm a single mother?"
Xander nodded. "No man of her own."
"Do you know what this says about me? That I am doomed to lead my mother's life! How deeply scary is that?"
"How 'bout this: it says nothing, it means nothing, this whole egg experiment thing is completely pointless!"
Giles burst out of the cage with a book in hand, pretending he hadn't been listening to the entire conversation.
"Success! At last. Your playmate is a fellow of repute, it seems."
He moved to set the book the book down on top of the card catalogue. Suddenly Buffy gasped in fright and snatched something out from under it. Her egg was clutched in her hand.
Giles winced, but pretended not to notice as he dropped the book and opened it to a picture of two cowboys.
"That's, um, Lyle Gorch, and that one's his brother, Tector. They're from Abilene. They, uh, they made their reputation by massacring an entire Mexican village in 1886." He took off his glasses and rubbed at them distractedly.
"Friendly little demons." Buffy mused.
"That was before they became vampires."
She raised her eyebrows at him.
"B-but, um, the good news is that they're... not amongst the great thinkers of our times. I doubt if they're up to much. They're probably just drawn here by the, uh, Hellmouth's energy." He put his glasses back on.
"'Nuff said! I propose Buffy slays 'em. All in favor?" Xander's hand shot into the air.
Willow copied the movement. "Aye!"
"I-I don't think you should underestimate them." Giles cautioned. "I mean, y-you may need to have some help if, if, if, if…" He was going to say if they proved to be stronger then expected, but even the thought of such a danger to Buffy unsettled him, so instead he pretended to be distracted by the eggs. "Why do you all have eggs?"
Willow smiled. "Hey, maybe you can have Angel help you find the Gorches."
Giles frowned. Not Angel. I can help you. It was too bad he had yet to admit to Buffy that he could also fight. "Yes! Yes, yes, that's not a bad idea. Strength in numbers." He muttered.
"Oh, right. I see a lotta hunting getting done in that scenario."
Giles eyes narrowed.
"Please. Like Angel and I are just helpless slaves to passion. Grow up!"
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That night at the park, the first thing Angel did was wrap his arms around Buffy and kiss her passionately.
Buffy pulled back. "I really…"
"I know."
He tried to kiss her again, and Buffy pulled back. "No, you don't know. Angel please…"
He frowned at her. "What's wrong?"
How could she do this? How could she break it off with Angel, just because she was confused? It wasn't fair…
Angel started kissing her again. Buffy broke the kiss.
"You know, this isn't hunting in the classical sense. We should…"
"You're right."
He kissed her yet again. Then he pulled back.
"Okay."
"Okay."
They started walking side by side.
"You see anything?"
"No."
"Okay. Enough hunting."
Angel kissed her again.
"Wait, Angel, can I please say something?"
"Yeah, what?"
"I don't know about this."
God, what was she doing? Angel was hot! He was dark, but he cared about her. Everything she had ever wanted in a guy. What was she saying?
"What do you mean?" Angel asked.
"I mean… I think I'm falling in love with someone else."
Angel's eyes widened in disbelief, and he took a step back from Buffy. "Buffy… what do you mean someone else?"
But suddenly, he knew. Giles. Buffy was in love with Giles! He had known the older man was in love with her, but… How could Buffy return that love? Giles was hardly her type, and he was twice as old as her. Of course, that was nothing compared to how much older Angel was, but at least he looked young. How could she do this to him?
Buffy was obviously searching for words, her green eyes large and shimmering, her expression upset. Maybe they just needed a bit of time. Time to make sure they knew what they were doing.
Buffy glanced away from Angel, lowering her eyes as she struggled with what to say. Then she saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye, and when she looked up, Angel was gone.
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Buffy walked into her room, wiping the last traces of her tears from her cheek as she moved over to her bed.
"Okay, little egg dude." She whispered, opening her egg diary. "Let's see. Feeding? Check. Burping? Ewwww…check. Diapers…Sort of, in theory, I guess."
She set her egg in the little basket she had made for it.
"Okay."
Buffy set the notebook down and crawled under covers, then yawned widely.
"Good night, Eggbert."
She turned out the light and went to sleep, never noticing when the egg cracked open and tentacles reached over towards her.
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Buffy woke up the next morning feeling groggy and disoriented. She ran her hand through her hair and sat up.
"Oh…oh, God."
She sat up and looked over towards her egg, which was whole and apparently unaltered.
Buffy stumbled downstairs and walked over to where her mother was sitting. She set the egg on the counter and took a sip of coffee.
"At least eat something if you're gonna drink that." Joyce suggested.
"Not that hungry."
Joyce munched on a piece of toast and gestured to the egg.
"How's the parenting going?"
"Fine."
"Are you sure your egg is secure in that?" She asked, frowning at the nest.
Buffy frowned back at her. "Did I ask for backseat mommying?"
"Are we a little touchy this morning?"
"No, I just feel all funky."
"Hmm." She reached up and felt her daughter's forehead. "You don't have a fever."
"Oh, no, it's not that, I just... I didn't sleep well."
Joyce struggled not to laugh. "What's the matter? Your egg keep you up all night?"
Buffy gave her mother a Look. "You're killing me. Parenting's a pain!"
Joyce smiled, "Wait till it starts dating."
Buffy rolled her eyes, snatched her egg up, and left.
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Giles was returning some books to the shelves in the library when he walked out to see Xander, Willow and Buffy staring at him from the first level.
He scanned Buffy's face first, and his forehead creased with concern. Something was wrong. "Oh! Why are you three hanging about? Don't you have classes to go to?"
"Teen health got canceled." Willow explained.
"Mr. Whitmore's out. Couldn't find an egg sitter or something." Xander added.
Buffy and Willow walked up a few stairs.
"Well, then, can you give me a hand?"
"No." The girls said simultaneously.
They sat down, but Xander bounced up to help.
"Sure!"
"How did the, um... hunt go last night, Buffy?" He watched her face carefully.
"No go."
"Uh, 'no', 'no' you didn't go, or, or, or you were unsuccessful?"
"No Gorches."
"Apparently Buffy has decided the problem with the English language is all those pesky words. You... Angel... big... Smoochies?"
"Shut... Up."
Giles didn't smile. "I-it's true, Buffy, you and Willow do seem a little sluggish. Are you quite sure everything's alright?"
If Angel had hurt Buffy… But then why did Willow seem equally sluggish?
"Maybe something we ate." Willow suggested.
"Or perhaps it's the burden of parenthood." Xander argued, "Notice how seriously you two have taken this egg thing."
As if to prove his point, both Buffy and Willow clutched their eggs closer, protectively.
"While I, in turn, have, uh, well, chosen a more balanced approach." Xander added, as he pulled his egg out, tossing it up carelessly.
Willow gasped, "Xander, maybe you shouldn't…"
Xander interrupted her. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. You can't stress over every little thing! A child picks up on that. Which is a one-way ticket to neurotic city."
He caught the egg and tossed the egg up, then tossed it again and missed. Buffy, Willow and Giles and gasped, horrified, but the egg appeared to be unharmed.
"It didn't break!" Willow put on a suspicious tone. "Why didn't it break?"
Xander smiled, a little guiltily. "Which is another secret to conscientious egg care: pot of scalding water and about eight minutes."
Willow's eyes widened. "You boiled your young?"
"Yeah! I know it sounds cruel, but sometimes you gotta be cruel to be kind! I mean, you can bet that little Xander here is thick skinned now."
Giles raised his eyebrows. "Technically that would be cheating, yes?"
"No! It's like a short cut. You know, when you run a race?"
"That would also be cheating." Buffy pointed out.
Willow shook her head. "You should be ashamed."
"I suppose there is a sort of... Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression." Giles admitted with a shrug. He was not really paying attention… Buffy looked even weaker then ever and was resting her head against the wall behind her.
" I resent that!" Xander exclaimed. When Giles shot him a look, he said, "Or possibly thank you."
Cordelia entered the library. "Figures you three would all be hanging in the dungeon while something major's going on at Sunnydale High."
"And what would that be, Cordelia? Barrette Appreciation Day?" Xander quipped, turning back to his shelving.
"Mr. Whitmore didn't show today."
Buffy looked over at Cordelia. "That news is of the past."
"He's missing? Presumed dead?"
Giles sighed. "Presumed by whom?"
She crossed her arms. "Well, me!"
"I think we should give him a few hours before we give up on him completely." Giles said sarcastically.
"Well, I think we should look around, don't you Xander?"
"It can wait."
"Well, his body could fall out of a closet somewhere."
Xander looked at the others anxiously.
"So we should check some closets to see if he's in a closet?"
"You're right. There could be a closet. Let's go."
Xander jumped down the stairs. "You guys look for more clues. We'll meet back here."
Xander grabbed Cordelia's arm and dragged her out of the library.
Buffy's eyes drifted closed. "We'll get right on it."
"Are they getting weirder?" Willow asked, "Have you noticed the weirdness of them?"
"They're weird. Should I have guilt about not looking for Mr. Whitmore?"
Giles smiled, "I-I'd rather you conserve your strength for hunting the Gorches."
"I'll be fine by tonight. Maybe I'll sweep the cemetery?"
Giles' smile instantly faded. "Well, be careful, i-i-if you're still feeling a little sluggish."
"No worries."
"And Angel's helping you, right?"
Buffy glanced away, unsure what to say. She didn't even know if Angel would be willing to talk to her. Reluctantly, she looked up and met Giles concerned gaze.
"He does what he can."
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Buffy was alone in the cemetery, once again far too distracted to put any real effort into searching for the Gorches. But this time, it wasn't Angel who was distracting her. Not in the sense of actually being there, anyway.
What was she going to tell him? The truth, right? She'd have to. She couldn't stand it anymore. His kisses still made her tingle, but there was no deeper feeling in it. And she couldn't help but think of Giles whenever they were together, no matter how ridiculous it seemed later…
"Buffy."
"Eep!"
She spun around to face Angel, who was standing behind her laughing.
"You'd think the Slayer would be more alert. In a cemetery. At night." Angel said.
Buffy put her hands on her hips. "You'd think the vampire would take our 'subtle' hints and start wearing a bell."
Angel smiled, then let his expression become sober once more. "Buffy, I want to talk about what you said yesterday."
Buffy's smile also faded, and her eyes grew wide. "Angel about that…"
"Why is he so much better then me?" Angel asked sadly.
"He? Angel… What are you talking about?"
His face hardened slightly, but when he spoke his voice sounded a little broken.
"I know I'm a monster, Buffy. But…"
Buffy's eyes filled with tears. "I don't know why I'm doing this. I don't even know… It doesn't feel fair to you, but…"
Angel waved his hand at her, dismissively. "Buffy, I understand. He… He cares about you."
"Angel I don't understand. Who are you talking about?"
"You know who I'm talking about."
Buffy wasn't sure what to say to that.
"And he can offer you a future. Did you know I can't have children? I can't offer you anything. You would grow old and die, and I would still look exactly the same. I've known all along how difficult that would be. For both of us."
Buffy still couldn't speak. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. For the thousandth time, she wondered, why am I doing this?
Angel turned to face her again. His face was clear, his eyes dry. He lifted his cool hands and placed them on either side of her face.
"Buffy. I love you." He didn't say it insistently, as if he were trying to convince her. Just simply. It was the truth.
"I love you too." Buffy replied. But she knew it was not in the way he wanted…
Reading her mind, Angel chuckled sadly and kissed her forehead gently, "I know you do. But not the way he loves you. Not in the way you love him. I've known since the day you killed the Master, Buffy."
She stared u at him, dazzled, bewildered. "I'm sorry…"
He shook his head. "Don't be. I understand. But… Stay away from me for a while, okay? If you need me, I'll be here. But I need some time."
Buffy nodded, and closed her eyes. When she opened them, he was gone.
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Once again, Buffy climbed into her room with tear-stained cheeks. She was distracted, lost in thought, until she glanced over to her egg and saw it rocking back and forth in its nest. Her eyes widened.
Slowly, Buffy walked over to her egg, her eyes now narrowed in suspicion and confusion. The shell began to break and crack, and, without warning, two pieces of shell blew off to reveal a purple-gray thing with tentacles.
The thing jumped out at Buffy, and she reacted automatically, moving out of the way and spinning around to watch the thing crawl under her bed. From beside the bed. She knelt in front of the bed, and lifted the edge of the blanket.
The egg-creature isn't there.
Suddenly, it jumps from out of nowhere and lands on her back. With a gasp of surprise, Buffy grabbed it and flung it off of her, then spun and threw it. As it crawled along, she reached over and snatched a pair of scissors from her desk. When the creature began to crawl up the wall, she turned and stabbed the scissors through the thing and into the wall.
The creature finally dead, Buffy fell back against her bed in relief. Her next thought was to call someone, so she snatched the phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.
lean against her bed. Her next thought is to call Willow. She
frantically grabs for her phone on the nightstand and knocks it and the
clock to the floor. She grabs the receiver and nervously taps in the
numbers.
"Come on! Pick up!"
Willow answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Willow! Are you okay?"
"Why shouldn't I be?"
"Your egg! I-is it doing anything?"
Willow sounded confused. "Doing what?"
"Break it! Right now! I want you to smash it with something heavy!"
"Buffy, what…"
"My egg! It went... It went postal on me! The thing hatched, and it, it sprung this creepy-crawly thing, and it attacked me!"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, no, I'm fine, but, but your egg!"
"I-is totally normal. Uh, I put it in the fridge."
"Oh."
"Maybe it's a trap. Something the Gorch bothers planted for you?" Willow suggested.
"Maybe. Yeah, uh... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have woken you. Uh, g-go back to sleep."
"You sure?"
"Yeah! Yeah, I'm, I'm better. I'm, I'm fine."
"Okay. I'll see ya tomorrow."
Buffy turned off the phone.
What she couldn't see was that on the other end of the line…the egg already had control of Willow.
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The next day at school Xander was sitting down in front of the school munching on a chocolate bar. He frowned at it disapprovingly.
"Mm. Cardboardy!"
He tossed the candy bar aside and opened up his back pack to find his egg. He pulled it out.
"Sorry, Junior, but a man's gotta eat."
He tapped the egg against the wall he was sitting on and started to take off the shell.
"So, was there any more hatchling activity last night?" Willow asked Buffy as they started towards Xander.
"No. Uh, you were probably right. It was just a trap from them set for me. And everyone else's egg seemed perfectly normal."
"Did you bring the thing that attacked you?"
"Yeah. Giles wants to see it. He's in full research mode."
"Okay. Well, bring it to the science lab, and I'll get Giles, and we'll analyze it." Willow said.
"Great. You know, I always say that a day without an autopsy... is like a day without sunshine." Buffy quipped.
Xander nodded at them as they approached. "Hey."
He held up his egg and was about to take a bite when he saw the dead creature inside.
"AHHH!"
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Where was Buffy?
Giles was pacing back and forth in his office, frowning to himself. Why hadn't he seen Buffy today? She always came to the library at least once. Always. And she was supposed to bring him that egg creature to show him. So why hadn't she shown up? Where was she? He needed to talk to her.
He sank down into his seat. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to tell her how he truly felt. But his feelings for her were too deep, too all-consuming for him to keep it from her any longer. Even if she rejected him and called the council to request a new watcher… he'd have to be okay with that. What other choice did he have? Buffy meant the world to him, and if there was even the slimmest chance…
Suddenly, he heard a noise from the front of the library. Instantly, he perked up. Buffy? He stood from his desk and left the office. No one was there. Frowning, he looked around.
"Buffy? Is that you?"
Nothing.
Then, without warning, something small, but heavy, landed on his back. Giles yelped and fell forward, knocking the thing off of him. It was a large, flat looking creature, a strange purplish gray colour, with tentacles. There were bits of egg shell on its back.
Of course, this was the egg creature Buffy had mentioned! There were more of them? She had insisted that the other eggs seemed perfectly normal, but what if she was wrong? What if the other students had been attacked? What if one of them had gotten Buffy, and that's why she hadn't shown up?
Giles lurched to his feet and looked around for a weapon, mind churning for an answer. Before he could act, however, the thing leapt around him, jumped onto his back again. And this time it latched on.
Giles felt his mind going numb as the thing took over. His thoughts were still in order. He could see everything around him. He just couldn't control his movements.
His body lurched again as the Creature tried to get used to moving that human body around. Then a wave of dizziness crashed over Giles. What was happening? What was the creature doing to him?
But the creature was confused too. Giles could feel it. This wasn't its doing, this was a vision.
Everything went black.
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Buffy, Cordelia and Xander were in the science lab together, and Xander and Buffy were looking down at the dissection tray on which the dead creatures sat.
"Can I just say Gyughhh!" Xander exclaimed.
"I see your 'Gyughhh!' and raise you a Nyaghhh!" Buffy agreed.
"What is it?" Cordelia asked.
"We don't know what it is, Cordelia, that's why we're here. Capisce?"
"'Capisce'? What are you, world traveler now?"
Willow entered the lab. Instantly, Giles saw the egg creature on her back, the lump it formed under her shirt. He tried to shout a warning, but couldn't, and Willow was careful to keep her back facing away from her friends.
Buffy frowned. "Hey, where's Giles? I know he won't wanna miss this."
"He said to get started. He'll be by as soon as possible."
Had Willow been there? Was it she who had released the thing into his library? She must know that the creature had him.
"So, okay! Get started, Buffy! Dissect it or something." Xander stuffed the blade into her hand.
She took it reluctantly. "Me? Why do I have to dissect it?"
"Uh, because you're the Slayer?"
"And I slayed! My work here is done." She dropped the knife.
"Oh, no, I almost ate one of those things. I think I've fulfilled my gross-out quota for the decade."
"Guys…" Exasperated, Willow took the scalpel and started the dissection.
"Do we even know what to look for?" Xander asked, "I mean, how are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?"
"Turn it over." Buffy suggested. "Maybe we missed its ID bracelet."
"So, now I guess, uh, we know what happened to Mr. Whitmore."
"He saw this and ran away?" Cordelia asked.
"Try best case scenario."
"It's possible that Mr. Whitmore wasn't harmed. Maybe the offspring simply used him to return to the mother bezoar." Willow said, her voice now cold and distant.
Giles frowned.
"Yeah maybe he…" Xander blinked. "What?"
Cordelia picked up a metal baseball bat. Just then, Giles saw that her teddy bear backpack's eye had popped out, and a tentacle stretched from the eye.
"What's a bez…"
Cordelia slammed Buffy in the face with the bat, and she crumpled.
Buffy!!!! No!!!
"Cordy! What…"
Willow hit Xander, and he crumpled as well. All was dark.
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"Buffy?"
Giles attention perked. For the last few hours, the egg had done nothing but wander around the library, flip through a few books. He had been bored out of his mind… no pun intended, and this was the first interesting thing that had happened.
Joyce Summers entered the library and looked around, confused.
"Hello?"
Egg-Giles poked his head out of the cage. "Hello?"
"Oh! Mr. Giles, hi. Uh, I-I was looking for Buffy. She, she was supposed to wait for me here."
She was?
"Well, sh-she hasn't been in. I-I've been waiting to talk to her myself about, uh, uh... h-history texts." Egg-Giles said with a shrug.
"That is just the last straw!"
Giles frowned. "I-I'm sure she didn't mean to, uh…"
"She never means to, but somehow she always manages to anyway. Do you have children, Mr. Giles?"
"Um…"
"Sh-should I be whispering?"
"No. A-a-and, uh, no, I, I haven't any children. A-although, uh, sometimes I feel as though I do, uh, working here…"
"They an be such a... Joyce paused, considering. "I don't want to say 'burden', but, uh... Uh, actually I kind of do want to say 'burden'!"
Giles smiled outwardly and said, "Feel free!" On the inside though, he was pondering. What would Buffy be like if she didn't have the burden of being a slayer? Would she be so much trouble for her mother? If only Joyce knew. Of course, Buffy probably thought that a billion times a day.
"Oh, they're just so irresponsible."
"Sometimes."
Joyce noticed some of his books, "'Bristow's Demon Index', 'Hell's Offspring'?"
Giles scooped up the books. "A hobby of mine, uh, but, uh, having nothing to do with Buffy in any way."
He stored the books in the cage and returned.
"Um, you say Buffy told you that she'd be here all afternoon?"
"Well, yes. I-i-is something wrong?"
"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing."" Egg-Giles pulled open a drawer and Giles inwardly gasped in horror when he saw the egg creature inside, waiting. He tried to speak, to warn Joyce, but couldn't. "What was that?"
"Mm, probably the janitor." Joyce says, turning towards the door. Egg-Giles scooped up the creature and put it on her back, and Giles watched helplessly as Joyce scream and crumpled to the floor.
***********************************************************************
Giles was walking into a dark hole underneath the school. And now he was leading Buffy's mother and a whole hoard of students into the darkness, down a tunnel, and out into another underground room. He had long since given up trying to gain control of his body and his actions.
As he watched passively, Egg Giles wandered to a side ramp and accepted a crowbar from Mr. Witmore, the health teacher who had started the project in the first place. The man had a box of eggs under one arm.
Cordelia was there, cleaning eggs, as was Willow, pounding on the floor with a large hammer. Buffy and Xander were nowhere to be seen.
As the students, teachers and Joyce pounded on the floor, breaking it into smaller pieces, eggs surfaced beneath the stone. They were passed to Cordelia, who cleaned the eggs and handed it to Mr. Whitmore, who put in his box of eggs. Underneath the floor, a large pink mother bezoar could be seen, her body throbbing.
Giles glanced up from his work slightly to see Jonathon, another student, enter with tools and get to work. Then he saw something behind the boy that made his gasp in surprise and look away.
Buffy and Xander were in the doorway, peering around the edge of the door. Egg-Giles didn't seem to have noticed yet, but Giles watched them carefully from the corner of his eye.
The two had obviously not been affected by the eggs yet, their eyes were clear and their movements loose and easy.
"What are they diggin' up?" Xander was whispering.
"Oh boy." Buffy muttered, not answering his question. It was clear she had figured it out, though, her eyes were on the mother bezoar.
"We can't let them spread those eggs." She added.
Xander nodded. "I'll handle it. Um, can you, uh, hold down the fort?"
"I'm gonna need a weapon. I'm gonna need a big weapon.
"Yeah."
Buffy walked back through the tunnel, theoretically to search for a weapon, and Xander shook himself off slightly and tried to make himself look like the other affected students. His eyes went blank, and when he stepped from the wall his movements were stiff and zombie-like. Giles winced internally. A brilliant actor he wasn't.
Xander walked up to Giles and held out his hands. Egg-Giles passed the boy a piece of concrete, which he grabbed and tossed to the side. Then he spotted Cordelia moving away with a box of eggs. Instantly, he followed.
Buffy stepped back into the room, carrying a large piece of pipe. Before she could get very far, the Gorch brothers moved up behind her.
"I told you this weren't over." Lyle, the first one she had met, snarled.
"She's so cute. And little. Think we can keep her?" his brother, Tector, asked.
"Guys, this really isn't a great time." Buffy began, but before she could say anything else, Lyle sneered at her and said,
"Oh, its gonna be."
Without another hesitation, Buffy gammed the pipe into their faces, then pulled it back and slammed it into Lyle's gut. Tector punched her, and she stumbled back before kicking him in the chest, causing him to fly back into the metal shelves.
At this point, they were going back towards the tunnel, and Giles almost lost sight of her. It was at that point that Buffy spotted her mother. Forgetting about her opponents, she moved forward again.
"Mom?"
Joyce and Willow looked up at her. Their expressions didn't change.
"Kill her." Willow said. Buffy's eyes widened.
The students began to move towards Buffy and Lyle. Buffy kicked two down with a roundhouse kick, and at the same time Lyle ducked a shovel, then got hit with another and fell to the floor. Buffy kicked down more students.
Then Egg-Giles tried to get into the fight.
Giles watched helplessly as his body swung his crowbar at her. Luckily, Egg-Giles was not very coordinated, and he missed and stumbled into the wall behind the girl when she sidestepped.
Lyle was on his feet again, punching one student and bodily throwing another. Buffy pushed one boy away from her and kicked him in the head. Then Giles came at her again. He caught one glimpse of her eyes, wide and upset, before she grabbed his arms and pushed him into another student. She didn't try to punch or kick him, just moved him away from her.
Lyle tossed another student aside, "What the hell is goin' on?!"
Buffy shrugged. "Long story."
Since all the students had been momentarily pushed back, Lyle turned back to Buffy and took a swing. She ducked and punched him. Again, he tried to hit her, and she ducked and kicked him hard. Then the students came back and both turned to fight them off.
Lyle is hit by a students and stumbled into the wall. Buffy kicks yet another away from her. Finally, Tector appears again at the mouth of the tunnel.
"Well, alright!" He cried, rubbing his hand together.
Then he noticed the mother Bezoar. He wandered over to the edge and looked in.
"Well, looky there!"
The mother opened one giant eye and stared at him.
Tector smiled. "Well, hello!"
The Bezoar paused, then reached up a tentacle and wrapped it around his neck. Tector began to choke, and struggled to escape, to no avail. He fall in as Lyle and Buffy watched.
"TECTOR!" Lyle cried. "Tector?"
The bezoar burped, and Lyle rounded on Buffy.
"This is all your fault!"
"How?"
Lyle flipped her onto her back, and Joyce came out of nowhere, swinging her pickaxe. Rolling out of the way, Buffy's feet ended up too close to the edge of the bezoar's hole. Instantly, the tentacle reached out, and wrapped around Buffy's ankle, pulling her towards it.
No! Fear rose up in Giles so powerfully that he began to feel the bezoar's hold on him breaking. He strained against it, desperate to get to Buffy, but before he could, her hand latched out and snatched the pickaxe, and then she was gone.
NO! Far from giving up, Giles struggled harder against the Egg Creature, determined to dive into that whole after her. And just as the beasts hold on him started to drop, there came the sounds of fighting from within the hole. The entire room was outwardly still and silent except for those sounds, and the inward struggle Giles was waging.
The bezoar screamed.
As the great monsters eyes closed, all the Egg-Creatures dropped off their hosts, who all crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Giles fell, but he had felt his egg creature fall off milliseconds before the others… somehow, he had managed to break it. He was weakened, but remained conscious.
Without warning, a pickaxe came flying out of the hole.
Buffy? Was it possible she was okay?
Then a hand, covered in slime, exited the pit, and Buffy hauled herself up and out. Shakily, the girl managed to stand and face Lyle, who remained watching the events in disbelief.
Lyle nodded and topped his hat at her, still appearing bewildered, "Alright. Its over."
He ran, and Buffy stared after him, expressionless.
"Buffy…"
Buffy's eyes widened, and her head wiped around to look at him. "Giles? Is it…" She took a hesitant step towards him. "Are you really Giles? Or Freaky-Egg Giles?"
Unsteadily, Giles hauled himself off the floor, "If that thing was still on me… I wouldn't be able to say your name."
She smiled, eyes dancing, and launched herself into his arms, locking her arms around his neck and burying her face into his chest.
Giles stumbled back slightly, then regained his balance and wrapped his arms around Buffy just as she stiffened, realizing what she had done. She tried to pull back.
"Giles, I'm sorry…"
"Oh, God, Buffy I thought you were dead."
His arms tightened around her again, refusing to let her leave.
Buffy smiled slightly and rested her head against him once more. But she only let herself revel in the feeling for a moment. She had no idea what this meant. This could mean a dramatic change in their relationship… or it could mean that Giles was a good and caring Watcher, concerned about his charge.
She sighed and pulled back, and this time Giles let her.
"My mom and the others will wake up soon." She said, looking away from him, "we should think up something to tell them."
He nodded, turning his head in an attempt to meet her eyes. When she looked away again, he put his hand to her chin and lifted her face, staring into those beautiful green eyes.
"Meet me in the library after everything is sorted out? I need to talk to you."
She nodded.
******
Close to an hour later, students were stumbling out of the school building into the cool evening air, looking dirty and confused. Giles was trying to convince everyone that it was a gas leak, even as he wandered over to Xander, Willow and Cordelia. He was pretty sure he knew what had happened, but he knew that Xander and Buffy had gone through his books… they probably knew more about what had actually happened them him, which was rare.
As police and fire trucks started to arrive, Giles rose his voice over the noise.
"Yes, yes, uh, i-i-it was a-a, a gas leak, everyone. Uh, well, just, uh, get some air, and a... good night's rest, you know, uh, you'll be fine. These gas things... will happen." He had finally reached the others, so he asked Giles, "What was it really?"
"Stick with the gas thing. I'll fill you in tomorrow."
Tomorrow. If everything went well, his life would change forever. His tomorrows would never be the same…
"Right."
He wandered back towards the library to wait for Buffy.
Buffy, meanwhile, was looking for her mother when she too, ran into Xander. She had cleaned up and changed.
"How is she?" She asked him.
"She's a bit confused, but it's goin' around."
He nodded to where Joyce was standing, and Buffy walked over to her. Buffy clasped her mother's hands.
"Are you okay?
"Buffy, I was worried you'd gotten caught in the building. There, there was a gas leak."
"Uh, yeah, I-I just heard. I was in the gym."
"I went looking for you in the library."
"Oh, well, I was on my way there, when I…"
Joyce frowned at her. "I thought I made it pretty clear that you weren't to leave the library till I came."
"The other side of that is there was a gas leak, and…"
"Well, I'm not really interested in the other side right now. Young lady, you have to learn some responsibility, okay? Once and for all."
"I'm grounded?"
"You're already grounded."
"Oh, yeah."
Joyce stopped walking. "Until further notice you are confined to your
room. You will not leave your room at any time except to go to school or the bathroom. Am I making myself clear?"
"You're clear. I won't leave my room."
"You're damn right, you won't."
Buffy stopped walking suddenly and said, "Mom… I left something in the library when I dropped by this morning. I'll meet you in the car okay?"
Joyce was too angry to wonder why the library would still be open and accessible after a gas leak. She just waved her hand to acknowledge the comment and stalked towards her car.
*******
Buffy hesitated outside the door to the library, unsure she could muster up the courage to step inside. What was she going to do? What was he going to say?
She shook her head suddenly, roughly. Her mind had been filled with confused, worried thoughts for a couple of days now. Or, if she were to be truly honest with herself, ever since she had first stared into his hazel eyes…
Whatever Giles wanted to talk to her about, she had to tell him how she felt. She couldn't spend the rest of her life stressing about this.
Determinedly, she pushed the door open and stepped into the library.
He was waiting there for her, leaning against the table, facing the doors as he waited for her to enter. When she finally did, he did not move, didn't react at all except to lock eyes with her.
That seemed like enough. There was enough force in the meeting of their eyes to send a wave of heat crashing over her, to cause her knees to feel weak and her head light. She didn't move either, fearing she might fall if she tried.
Then Giles straightened, and as he walked towards her, her muscles somehow found the strength to work, she somehow found the courage to meet him half way.
When he didn't speak, Buffy whispered, "What did you want to talk to me about?"
Giles closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and said, "Buffy, I can't think of a simple or easy way to say this. I've been your Watcher now for over a year, and every moment of our time together I have spent…" He took a deep breath and said, quickly, "hopelessly in love with you."
Buffy was dazzled. She was so stunned, so wonderfully, perfectly overjoyed, that for a minute she couldn't find the words to say. Giles face, in the meantime, fell slightly, and he glanced away from her again.
"I know what you're thinking. I'm too old for you. I'm your teacher, your watcher. I'm twice as old as you are, Buffy, and if this works out you'd hate me one day for being old and lethargic while you are still young and beautiful. I'm sorry -"
She reached up and put her hand over his mouth.
"Giles, please, stop. Don't apologize." She took a deep breath, just as he had, needing the air, "I don't care that you're twice as old as me. Up until a couple of days ago I was dating a man who was over 200 years old! Facing a feature of being, as you said, "old and lethargic", while he would remain "young and beautiful forever." But there's a difference here. You…You will always be beautiful to me. I love you, too."
She had no idea where the words came from. She was no poet, she had never been good at sounding eloquent. But somehow, she had managed to say the right thing. Tears filled her eyes and Giles' own vision blurred, and he kissed her, gently. They still had a lot to work out, but for now, for this one perfect moment, they were simply together.