"The Dark Age"
Based on the Episode Written by Dean Batali and Rob Des Hotel
The following story is copyright © 2022 by Mark Moore.
In the library of Sunnydale High School, at night, Buffy was doing step aerobics to "Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)" by The Immortals on Mortal Kombat: The Album.
"Test your might. Test your might. Test your might. Test your might. Mortal Kombat! Fight. Mortal Kombat! Finish him! Excellent. Kano. Liu Kang. Rayden. Johnny Cage. Scorpion. Sub-Zero. Sonya. Mortal Kombat!"
Giles was sitting at the table with his hands to his ears, not relishing the music. He raised his head. "Must we have this noise during your calisthenics?"
"It's not noise! It's music!" Buffy replied.
"I know music. Music has notes. This is noise."
"I'm aerobicizing! I must have a beat!" Buffy insisted.
"Wonderful. You work on your muscle tone while my brain dribbles out of my ears."
Buffy continued aerobicizing through "Scorpion (Lost Soul Bent On Revenge)", "Sonya (Go Go Go)", and "Rayden (Eternal Life)". Once that song was over, Buffy decided she had finished her aerobics. She strolled to the table and turned off her boombox.
Giles smiled. "Ahhh! Very good. And the rest is silence."
Giles was having a nightmare, flashing back to his youth. He had visions of rituals and tattooing.
"Time to go to sleep!" young Giles exclaimed and then screamed.
He saw a vision of a demon.
Giles woke with a start. He looked around as he sat up in bed, concerned but relieved to find it was only a nightmare.
At Sunnydale High School, Buffy and Tara were sitting under the willow tree.
Buffy smiled. "I'm on a beach, but not one of those American beaches, one of those island beaches where the water's way too blue, and I'm laying on my towel, and it's just before sunset, and you're massaging my feet!"
Tara smiled. "Oh, that's good! Uh, I'm in Florence, Italy; I've rented a scooter that's parked outside; and I'm in a little restaurant, eating ziti, while I've secretly got a vibrator in my pussy and enjoy a delightful orgasm."
"Ooh! Very impressive. You have such an eye for detail."
"Do you think Giles ever played Anywhere But Here when he was in school?" Tara asked Buffy.
They saw him coming toward them.
Buffy stared at him. "Giles lived for school. He's actually still bitter that there are only twelve grades. He probably sat in math class thinking 'There should be more math. This could be mathier.'"
"C'mon, you don't think he ever got restless as a kid?" Tara asked.
"Are you kidding? His diapers were tweed."
Tara chuckled.
Buffy saw Giles about to walk by. "Giles!"
Giles turned and saw them. "Oh! There you are." He came over.
"Hey, morning. Say, is that tweed?" Buffy stared at his jacket.
"What?" Giles asked, preoccupied. "Oh, uh, yes. Um, now, uh, look, tonight is very important, um..." He headed inside.
Buffy stood up and followed him. "Now, that's a surprise."
Tara stood up and followed Buffy. They entered the school and followed Giles to the library.
"So...what's on tap tonight that's so important? Uprising, prophesied ritual, preordained deathfest?" Buffy asked.
"Um, a medical transport is delivering the monthly supply of blood to the hospital."
"Mm. Vampire Meals on Wheels." Buffy stopped at her locker.
"Hopefully not. Uh, we'll meet outside the hospital at 8:30 sharp. I'll bring the weaponry."
Buffy smiled. "I'll bring the party mix!"
"Just don't be late."
"Have I ever let you down?" Buffy asked him.
"Do you want me to answer that, or shall I just glare?"
Jenny arrived. "Morning, England."
"Oh, hello, Ms., uh, uh, tuh, Jenny."
Jenny looked at Tara. "Tara, we still on for tomorrow?"
Tara smiled and nodded.
"What's tomorrow?" Buffy asked Jenny.
"I'm reviewing some computer basics for the couple of students who've fallen behind. Tara's helping out for extra credit." Jenny looked at Giles. "Walk me to class?"
Giles smiled. "Pleasure."
Jenny and Giles headed for her class. Buffy and Tara watched them go.
Buffy smiled. "Look at them."
Tara smiled. "A twosome of cuteness. Can't you just imagine them getting together?"
Their expressions changed to ones of being grossed out after they thought of Jenny and Giles having sex.
Jenny smiled. "Oh! Thank you so much for loaning me the Forrester book. It's wonderful!"
Giles smiled. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it!"
"Yeah, it was so romantic, so evocative."
"That edition was my father's. I-I-I must've read it...twenty times."
"Yeah, y'know how you have to - to dog-ear your favorite pages, so you can go back to them?" Jenny asked him.
"Uh, uh, uh, what?" Giles asked.
"Well, I mean...I-I practically had to fold back every single page. So finally I just - I just started underlining all the pages I really wanted to discuss."
"U-U-Underlined...?" Giles asked in horror.
"But then, of course, I spilled coffee all over it; I can't even read it-"
"It's a first edition!" Giles exclaimed.
"I'm lying, Rupert." Jenny smiled. "The book's fine." She held it up. "I just love to see you squirm." She handed him the book.
Giles smiled in relief. "Yes, well, I, uh...trust I gave good...squirm."
"Did anyone ever tell you you're kind of a fuddy-duddy?" Jenny asked him.
"Nobody ever seems to tell me anything else."
"Did anyone ever tell you you're kind of a sexy fuddy-duddy?" Jenny asked.
"Well, no. Actually that - that part usually gets left out." Giles smiled. "I c-can't imagine why."
"This weekend."
"Would you like to go out?" Giles asked her.
"Mm, no, I think I'd like to stay in."
They drew together for a kiss as the bell rang. They touched lips but broke it off as students began pouring into the halls.
Giles cleared his throat. "Uh, this Saturday, then."
"Saturday night." Jenny cleared her throat. "I'll see if I can make you squirm."
They looked at each other for a moment before Giles headed off to his library. He walked in to discover a female detective and two police officers there.
"Rupert Giles?" the detective asked.
"Yes?"
"Detective Winslow. You're gonna have to come with me."
"Why?"
Cordelia walked into the library. "Well, evil just compounds evil, doesn't it? First, I'm sentenced to a computer tutorial on Saturday; now, I have to read some computer book..." She paused in confusion. "There are books on computers? Isn't the point of computers to replace books?"
"Cordelia, I'm a little busy right now." Giles pointed out the detective.
"Oh! Great!" Cordelia stepped up to Detective Winslow. "Can you help me with a ticket? It's totally bogus. It was a one-way street. I was going one way."
"Cordelia!" Giles exclaimed.
"What?! Why does everyone always yell my name? I'm not deaf!" Cordelia yelled back. "And I can take a hint." She paused, unsure. "What's the hint?"
"To come back later."
"Yeah, when you've visited decaf land." Cordelia turned and headed toward the doors.
"There was a homicide on campus last night. The victim had no identification, but he was carrying this slip of paper with your name and address on it." Detective Winslow held up the slip in a baggie.
Giles set down his briefcase. "My name? Where do you want me to go?"
They went to the city morgue.
The coroner opened one of the body storage doors and pulled out the drawer. "Have you had your breakfast?"
Giles shook his head. "No."
"That was probably a good idea." He pulled back the sheet to reveal a man's body.
It was bruised all over - with two especially dark bruises on the throat. Giles looked down at him in recognition.
"Do you know him?" Detective Winslow asked.
"Yes. Yes. I-I mean...I did. His name's Philip Henry. He was a friend of mine in London. I...I haven't spoken to him in twenty years."
"Can you think of any reason why he might've wanted to contact you?"
"No." Giles saw a tattoo on Philip's right arm, near the inside elbow.
"Do you know what that is? The tattoo."
"No. No, I don't."
That night, Buffy was waiting on Giles at the Emergency Room entrance of Sunnydale Memorial Hospital.
Buffy sighed. "'Don't be late.' Sheesh." She helped herself to some party mix from a plastic bag.
She walked over to a pay phone to try calling but stopped when she saw the blood van pull up. The driver got out with his clipboard as two ER doctors came out to meet him.
"Hey, fellas."
"Hey."
Buffy watched them go to the back of the van and get out the insulated container. They started back with the driver, and he got back into the van.
Buffy realized something was wrong. "Since when do doctors take deliveries?"
The van backed out of the ambulance slot. The doctors waved to the driver.
"See ya."
The van drove off, and behind it a car engine started, and a pair of headlights came on. The old convertible pulled up into the light as the doctors set the container down. One of them opened the lid, took out a bag of blood, and began to suck on it.
The driver of the car got out. "Hey! No sampling the product!"
The doctor vampire hissed but put the bag back down and dropped the lid closed. Buffy ran to attack. She kicked the first doctor vampire down, then the second, and did a roundhouse kick to the driver's face. The first one got up, and she tried kicking him again, but he grabbed her leg and threw her onto the hood of the car. She scissor-kicked him in the neck, and he staggered away and fell. A fourth vampire ran up as Buffy got up and took out a stake.
Buffy turned to attack him. "Angel!"
"Buffy! Look out!" Angel jumped up onto the car's hood and leaped off to tackle the driver vampire coming at her from behind.
Angel punched him in the face, but he stayed up. The second vampire jumped up onto the hood and swung at Buffy. She ducked the punch and jabbed him in the chest. The first vampire jumped up on the hood, too, and Buffy knocked him back off with a punch to the face. She punched the second one in the face, too, and he fell down on the hood on his back. She jumped off the car and thrust her stake into the first vampire as he tried to get back up. The second one was off the car again and grabbed her by the shirt from behind. She swung around with the stake and got him in the chest also. Angel, in the meantime, roundhouse-kicked the driver and sent him spinning into the car. The vampire quickly sat up in the driver's seat and floored it as Angel tried to chase him. The car raced off, leaving Angel and the blood behind.
Buffy opened the lid to check on it. "How did you know about this?"
"It's delivery day. Everybody knows about this. They only ruined one bag."
Buffy stood up and looked after the car, which was long gone. Angel kicked the lid back closed.
"Do you think you could make sure the hospital gets the rest?" Buffy asked him.
Angel just nodded, not insulted by the query.
"Thanks. I'm worried about Giles. He was supposed to meet me here."
"Maybe he's late."
"Giles? Who counts tardiness as, like, the eighth deadly sin?" Buffy asked.
"Right. Go."
Buffy hurried off.
Buffy walked to the door to Giles' apartment and knocked.
Giles opened the viewport and looked out at her, then opened the door. "Buffy. I-It's late. Uh, are you all right?"
"I was gonna ask you the same thing."
"Yes, I'm fine, fine. Look, I'm, uh, I'm rather busy a-at the moment, so, uh, I'll see you on Monday at - at school." Giles started to close the door.
Buffy held it open with her hand. "Giles, did you forget? The hospital, vampires, handy carryout packets of blood?"
"Oh! Yes, uh, are you all right? W-Were you hurt?"
"No. I mean...my feelings a little. What's wrong?" Buffy asked him.
"Nothing - Nothing - Nothing's wrong. I-I'm just in the, uh, middle of something extremely important, and, uh, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to say good night now."
He closed the door in her face, leaving her confused and taken aback. She could hear Giles on the phone but left him alone to his work.
"Yes, I'm - I'm sorry to disturb you. It's, uh...I-I realize it's, uh, five in the morning there, um..." Giles paused. "Uh, I-I'm trying to reach Diedre Page. My name is Rupert Giles; uh, uh, she knows me. It's - It's very important."
"I'm afraid Ms. Page is deceased."
"I'm terribly sorry. I..." Giles paused. "I-I didn't know. W-When did she, uh, pass away?"
"Three days ago."
"Ohhhh. That recently." Giles sat at his desk. "Um, yes, yes, um, we were friends when we were young. My condolences."
He hung up the phone and stared off into space with his fingers to his lips while he considered and remembered. He took off his glasses and reached for his drink. The bottle next to it was almost half-empty already. He gulped the rest from the glass and set it back down. He thought another moment before grabbing his pen and crossing Diedre's name off a list of five names: Thomas Sutcliff, Philip Henry, Diedre Page, Ethan Rayne, Rupert Giles. He got up and went into his bathroom to the sink in front of the mirror. He rolled up his sleeves, and on his left arm, just above the inside elbow, was the same tattoo that Philip had. He reached into the sink full of water, cupped his hands, and splashed some on his face.
Giles looked up at himself in the mirror. "So. You're back."
The next morning, at Sunnydale High, Jenny, Tara, Harmony, and Cordelia headed for the computer classroom.
Cordelia frowned. "This isn't right. School on a Saturday. It throws off my internal clock."
"When are we gonna need computers for real life, anyway?" Harmony asked.
"Hmm, let's see. There's home, school, work, games..." Jenny unlocked the classroom door.
They all went into the room. Tara, Harmony, and Cordelia each took a seat in front of a PC. Harmony took the one next to Tara, and Cordelia took the one next to Harmony.
"All right, guys. The first thing we're gonna do is...Buffy!" Jenny exclaimed.
Harmony laughed. "Ooh, kinky."
Buffy walked over to Jenny. "I want to talk to you for a second."
"Something wrong?" Jenny asked her.
"Is there some crisis that requires instant action? Very far from here?" Cordelia asked.
"It's Giles."
Jenny was worried. "Well, he's all right, isn't he?"
"I don't know. Uh, he didn't show up when he was supposed to last night, and then, when I went over to his place, he was acting...well, very anti-Giles. He wouldn't let me in, and he looked really bad. I-I think he might've been..." Buffy didn't want to believe it. "I think he was drinking."
"He was home alone, drinking?" Jenny asked her.
"Yep, yep, I knew this would happen. Nobody can be wound as straight and narrow as Giles without a dark side erupting. My Uncle Rory was the stodgiest taxidermist you've ever met by day. By night, it was booze, whores, and fur flying." Cordelia looked at Buffy. "Were there whores?"
Buffy looked at her. "He was alone."
"Give it time."
"So...none of you guys have noticed anything different lately?" Buffy asked them.
"No!" Tara replied.
Jenny shook her head. "Not really."
"Uh, you haven't seen anything weird?" Buffy asked.
Harmony shook her head. "Nope."
Cordelia shook her head. "No, he seemed perfectly normal yesterday when I saw him talking to the police."
Everyone stared at her.
"And you waited till now to tell us this, because...?" Buffy asked Cordelia.
"I didn't think it was important."
"Well, what were the police talking to him about?" Jenny asked Cordelia.
"Oh, don't tell me; I know this one. Um..." Cordelia thought for a moment. "Something about...a homicide."
"That's it. I-I'm calling him right now." Buffy went to find a phone.
Jenny rubbed her head with worry.
Buffy headed for Giles' office in the library when she heard something in the stacks and stopped in her tracks to look. She saw a shadow move across one of the bookcases in the anteroom. She went up the stairs and through the French doors. Slowly, she walked down the main aisle, looking around and down each side aisle. She looked up and saw a man and dashed away just in time to avoid being crushed under a falling bookcase. He tried to make his escape, but he was limping heavily and couldn't run.
Buffy grabbed him by the arm and turned him around. "I know you! You were in that costume shop."
"Oh, I'm pleased you remember." He tried to go.
Buffy stopped him. "You're the unlubed assfuck that sold me that dress for Halloween - and nearly got us all killed!"
"But you looked great."
Buffy punched him squarely in the jaw.
"Owww!" Ethan straightened back up, holding his jaw. "So now we're even?"
"I'll let you know when we're even. What're you doing here?"
"Snooping around."
"Honesty. Nice touch."
"It's one of my virtues." Ethan smiled. "Not really."
"I've got a great idea: why don't I just call the police and have you arrested for breaking and entering, and then I can get back to my fun Saturday?" Buffy suggested.
"Yes, the police. Well, they'll have all those questions, and they'll really need Rupert to answer them all."
"You know Giles."
"We go back. Way back. You don't happen to know where he is, do you?"
Buffy walked into Giles' office, picked up the phone's handset, and called Giles' home phone number.
Ethan followed her. "Ask him about the Mark of Eyghon. The name's Ethan Rayne."
The phone rang.
"Hello."
"Giles, it's me."
Giles sighed. "Buffy, u-unless this is an emergency, I'll see you on Monday."
"What's the Mark of Eyghon?" Buffy asked him.
He was silent.
"Giles?" Buffy asked.
Ethan grinned. "Cat got his tongue?"
"I'm in your office with someone who claims to be an old friend of yours. Ethan Rayne?"
"He's there with you?" Giles asked. "Listen, Buffy, you're...you're in grave danger while Ethan's there. I want you to put the phone down and get out of the library as soon as possible."
"I'm not going anywhere until you give me some fucking answers!" Buffy told him.
Philip came crashing through a window in Giles' office. Ethan stepped behind Buffy and held her in front of him.
"Buffy?" Giles asked.
Buffy dropped the handset and backed out of Giles' office, Ethan behind her. Philip came out of the office and straight for Buffy. She kicked him in the chest and rolled over the counter. He came through the door and at her again. Ethan climbed over the counter, too.
"Ethan!" Philip called.
Tara walked in, followed by Cordelia, Harmony, and Jenny.
"Don't let him get away!" Buffy told them.
Tara pushed Ethan up against the counter, but he pushed her aside. The doors were held wide open by Harmony and Jenny, and Ethan tried to make his escape past them, but Cordelia kneed him in the penis, and he collapsed.
Buffy looked around for what to do with Philip and spotted the open cage door. She backed toward it, then turned and made like she was running in. Philip hurried to follow, but she sidestepped the door and kicked him into the cage as he ran by. She slammed the door shut and locked it. Ethan was still lying in pain on the floor.
A while later, Ethan was sitting in a chair at the table, being watched by Buffy. The others observed Philip.
Tara had seen enough and walked over to Buffy. "I'm not gonna get close enough to feel his pulse, but...he looks dead."
Harmony looked at them. "Except for the walking and attacking Buffy part."
"He's dead." Ethan looked at Philip's body. "Sorry, Philip. Really, I am."
Giles barged into the library. "Is everyone all right?"
Cordelia grinned, proud of herself. "Super! I kicked a guy!"
Jenny looked at Giles. "We're okay."
"Deadguy here interrupted our tutorial." Harmony looked at Philip. "Been meaning to thank you for that."
Philip jumped at her, and Harmony backed off.
Giles walked over to have a look at Philip. "It can't be!"
"Yes, it can."
Giles turned to Ethan.
"Hello, Ripper."
"I thought I told you to leave town."
"You did. I didn't."
Giles approached him.
"Shop's lease is paid till the end of the month."
Cordelia looked at Harmony. "Uh, why did he call him Ripper?"
Harmony shrugged.
Giles grabbed Ethan by the hair on the back of his neck and lifted him out of his chair. "You should've left when I told you."
Cordelia suddenly got it. "Ohhhh..."
"Giles?!" Buffy asked in surprise.
"You put these people in danger. The people I care about."
"If you cared so much about them, why didn't you leave town?" Ethan pushed Giles' arm away. "You've been having the dreams. I know. I have. We both know what's coming."
"What dreams?! What the fuck is going on here?!" Buffy demanded.
"Tell her, Ripper."
Buffy stared at Giles. "Giles-"
Philip broke the cage door and threw it open into Jenny, knocking her out. Harmony quickly moved away and pushed Cordelia with her.
"Jenny!" Giles scrambled to her aid.
Buffy got between Ethan and Philip and kicked Philip in the chest three times, forcing him back against the cage. He slid down to the floor but got back up and came for Buffy again. Before he could reach her, his eyes went wide, he began to convulse, and he collapsed to the floor, next to Jenny. He disintegrated into a puddle of slime. It began to spread out. Everyone stared in horror.
Cordelia stared at the slime. "I'm gonna be in therapy till I'm thirty."
Buffy looked around. "Where's Ethan?" She ran off. "Where'd he go?"
The slime oozed its way to Jenny, and her hand stirred when it made contact. She regained consciousness.
Giles helped her sit up. "Are you all right, Jenny?"
"Ow!" Jenny cradled her head in her hand.
"Careful!"
"Ohhh..."
"Can you stand?" Giles helped her up.
"I think so."
Cordelia looked at everyone. "This is what happens when you have school on Saturday."
Tara gave her a look.
Jenny was unsteady. "Mm."
"Lean on me." Giles pulled her close. "It'll be all right."
Jenny pulled away to look at him. "Promise?"
"I promise."
"I believe you." Jenny closed her eyes and leaned on his shoulder, hugging him close.
After searching the school grounds for a while, Buffy strode back into the library. Giles was at the table, stroking Jenny's hair as she rested her head against her hand.
"How's your head?" Giles asked her.
"Throbbing."
"I lost Ethan. Giles, what's going on?" Buffy asked.
"It's complicated, Buffy, and, quite frankly, it's private."
"I don't care from private! I care from dead guys attacking us. I care from you drinking in your apartment."
"I wasn't..." Giles paused. "I was just trying to find a solution."
"Giles, share! What is the Mark of Eyghon?" Buffy asked.
"Hey!" Giles stared at her. "This is not your battle!" He stood up. "And as your Watcher, I'm telling you unequivocally to stay out of it!"
Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I have to get Jenny home." Giles helped her up.
"Mm. Thank you."
Jenny rested her head on his shoulder as the two of them walked from the library. Buffy walked over to the others, who were sitting on the counter.
"We have work to do. Tara, I want you to find out anything and everything you can about the Mark of Eyghon."
Tara nodded. "I'll try the 'Net, but 'Mark of Eyghon' sounds like Mr. Giles and his books sorta deal."
"Then we hit the books."
Tara hopped off the counter and headed up into the stacks. Cordelia and Harmony hopped off the counter and smiled at Buffy.
Buffy raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"What about us?" Cordelia asked.
Harmony nodded. "We care about Giles."
Buffy thought for a moment. "Cordy, how do you feel about digging through some of Giles' personal files and seeing what you can find?"
"I feel pretty good about it. Does that make me a sociopath?" Cordelia thought about it. "Nah." She headed for the office.
"Harm, help me and Tara look through books."
Harmony saluted Buffy. "Righty-ho, boss."
Buffy went into the stacks to help Tara, and Harmony followed her.
Giles took Jenny to his apartment.
Jenny was sitting on the couch. "Thanks for bringing me here. Not quite ready to be home alone just yet." She accepted a drink from Giles.
Giles walked around the couch and sat down next to her.
Jenny took a sip of the drink. "Ooh!"
"Jenny, uh...I'm so very sorry about all of this." Giles set down his drink and took off his glasses. "I, uh...I never meant for you to be involved in - in, uh, any of this."
"So I got involved." Jenny leaned forward. "That's what happens when two people get involved."
Giles looked at her and smiled. He started to make a move in to kiss her but stopped himself. "I really am, however, gonna have to get you home. It's not, uh...I'm not a very safe person to be around at the moment."
"Nothing's safe in this world, Rupert. Don't you know that by now?" Jenny reached up and stroked his head behind his ear.
In the library, Tara had found something and went over to Buffy with her book. "Ah! Aha! It's not Egyptian; it's Etruscan, mistaken for Egyptian by the design pattern. Look, the Mark of Eyghon, worn by his initiates. 'Eyghon, also called the Sleepwalker, can only exist in this reality by possessing an unconscious host. Temporary possession imbues the host with a euphoric feeling of power.'"
"Yeah, but what about non-temporary?" Buffy asked her.
"'Unless the proper rituals are observed, the possession is permanent, and Eyghon will be born from within the host.'"
Harmony was disgusted. "I'm guessing eww!"
"Wait. Hey, listen. 'Once called, Eyghon can also take possession of the dead, but its demonic energy soon disintegrates the host, and it must jump to the nearest dead or unconscious person to continue living.'"
Buffy was confused. "I still don't get what this has to do with Giles."
Tara shook her head. "I don't know about Mr. Giles, but ancient sects used to induce possession for bacchanals and - and orgies."
Harmony felt like vomiting. "Okay! Giles and orgies in the same sentence. I coulda lived without that one."
Buffy thought of something. "Uh, wait a minute. The dead guy's all puddly now."
"So the demon's gone. There was no one dead to jump into. I mean...we're all not dead, right?" Harmony asked.
"No, no one dead." Buffy came to a realization. "But someone unconscious."
Tara and Harmony realized what happened.
In Giles' apartment, Giles was in the kitchen, preparing tea, when he heard a sound. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Jenny asked from the living room.
"I thought I heard something." Giles walked into the living room with the tea.
"I didn't."
"Here." Giles handed her a cup. "Drink that, and then I'll drive you home."
Jenny took a sip. "You could take me home." She set the cup down. "Or you could take advantage of me in my weakened state."
In the library, Buffy was on the phone. "Thank you, operator." She hung up. "Shit. There's no answer at Ms. Calendar's, and Giles' phone is out of order. I'm gonna go over there." She strode out.
"Jenny, uh..." Giles moved away. "I'm - I'm really very attracted t-to you."
"Good." Jenny followed.
"But, um, now really isn't the right time." Giles faced her.
"Oh, there's never been a better time." Jenny pushed him back onto a chair, climbed onto his lap, and kissed him hard.
Giles pushed her away. "It's not right. I would be taking advantage."
Jenny got off him. "God, you just don't change, do you?" She paced.
"What?" Giles asked in confusion.
"It's not right; it wouldn't be proper; people might get hurt. You're like a woman, Ripper. You cry at every funeral. You never had the strength for me. You don't deserve me. But guess what? You've got me." Jenny took his head. "Under your skin." She spoke that last line in a deep male voice. She grabbed his hair and lifted him to his feet. She kissed him roughly. When she pulled back, her face had started the transformation to Eyghon. "Was it good for you?" She smashed his head into the phone on the desk. "Aw, you never had the stomach. But that's okay. 'Cause I'm about to rip it out!"
She pulled him back, and he cried out as he staggered backward into the bar and stumbled to the floor.
Buffy kicked open the door and kicked Jenny/Eyghon hard in the jaw, sending her back over the couch and onto the floor. She got up again and walked around the couch, eyeing Buffy.
"Back off!" Buffy warned.
Jenny/Eyghon stopped and laughed. "Three down, two to go. Be seeing ya." She ran and dove through the window.
Buffy crouched down beside Giles. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, Jenny! Oh, God!" Giles cried.
"Giles, how do we stop this?" Buffy asked him.
"Oh, God, what have I done?" Giles asked.
"Talk to me!" Buffy pleaded. "Giles, you're scaring me."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, be Giles. C'mon, we fight monsters. This is what we do. They show up, they scare us, I beat 'em up, and they go away. This isn't any different!" Buffy insisted.
"It is different."
"Because you don't know how to stop it?"
"Because I created it!"
In the library, Cordelia walked out of Giles' office.
"Did you find anything?" Tara asked her.
"The most meticulous banking and phone records you've ever seen. And, um, this." Cordelia handed her a picture of a young Giles in a leather jacket, playing an electric bass.
Harmony looked over at the picture. "Holy shit."
Tara giggled. "Oh, my fuck. That's Giles?"
Giles and Buffy sat on the couch.
"I was twenty-one, studying history at Oxford. And, of course, the occult by night. I hated it. The tedious grind of study, the...overwhelming pressure of my destiny. I dropped out, I went to London..." Giles sighed. "I fell in with the worst crowd that would have me. We practiced magicks. Small stuff for pleasure or gain. And Ethan and I discovered something...bigger."
"Eyghon."
"Yes. One of us would, um..." Giles nervously poured a drink. "...go into a deep sleep, and the others would, uh, summon him. It was an extraordinary high!" He smiled nervously. "God, we were fools."
"You couldn't control it."
"One of us, Randall, he lost control. Eyghon took him whole. We tried to exorcise the demon from Randall, but it killed him. No. We killed him. We thought we were free of the demon after that. But now he's back. And one by one, he will kill us all."
"Three down, two to go?" Buffy asked him.
Giles nodded.
"Then it's going after Ethan." Buffy got up. "I better beat it there."
Giles got up. "We'd better."
"I'd better. Giles, you're barely mobile, and speed is of a serious essence here."
Giles sat back down. "I don't know how to stop it without killing Jenny."
"I've got the girls working on it. I'll, um, try to contain it until we figure something." Buffy started to go.
"Buffy?"
Buffy stopped and looked at him.
"I'm sorry."
Buffy stared at him for a moment. "I know." She left.
Buffy opened the door to Ethan's Costume Shop and looked in. "Ethan?" She walked in and closed the door. "Ethan?" She looked around. "Giles told me everything. Look, it's coming for you."
Ethan came out of the back room. "And you came to protect me? I'm touched."
"Don't worry, it's nothing personal. To protect Giles, I have to protect you." Buffy walked past him.
"How does Ripper inspire such goodness?"
"'Cause he's Giles."
"And I'm not. Still, lucky me."
"Hmm. Lucky you."
"Well, we can't run. Eyghon will find us." Ethan showed Buffy his tattoo. "This mark's like a homing beacon."
"That's okay. I'm not much into running."
"Aren't we manly?"
"One of us is. You're gonna hide till it's over."
"Excellent plan."
"Is there a way in through the back?" Buffy asked him.
"Uh, there's a back door. It's locked. I think it's solid."
"We'll set up there. Let's go."
"Oh, no, please." Ethan indicated she should go first.
Buffy headed toward the back and suddenly felt a sharp blow against the back of her head. She lost consciousness before she hit the floor.
Buffy woke up and found herself lying face-down on a table in the back room of Ethan's shop with her arms tied together underneath.
Ethan was humming while he worked. "Wakey, wakey. You're missing all the fun."
"What fun?" Buffy asked.
"Your initiation." Ethan set down a tray of tattooing instruments.
"You know what? I'm not really interested in joining your club."
"Too late. I already voted you in."
Buffy struggled.
"Y'know, I hope you're not taking this personally, Buffy. I actually kinda like you. It's ju-It's just that I like myself a whole lot more. If you think of it karmically, this is - this is really big for your soul."
Buffy struggled with the rope.
"You know, taking my place with the demon, giving so that others may live."
Buffy gave him a death stare. "I'm gonna kill you. Will that blow the whole karma thing?"
"Sweet child." Ethan took the tattoo ink and needle. "Now, this may sting a little just at first. But don't worry, that'll go away once the searing pain kicks in."
Buffy struggled harder. "Fuck you, asshole!"
Ethan bent over her to begin. "You can go ahead and scream if you like." He started tattooing her on the back of her neck.
In the library, Tara, Harmony, and Cordelia were researching books.
"We have to figure out how to kill this thing, and we need to do it fast." Tara took a sip of tea.
Cordelia looked at a passage in her book. "Uh, 'hot lava.'"
Tara looked at her. "That's for a heretic."
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, okay. Uh, ooh, ooh! 'Bury a potato!' No, that's for warts. Who writes this shit?" Cordelia asked.
Harmony pointed at a passage in her book. "I've got the solution right here. 'To kill a demon, cut off its head.'"
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Brilliant, retard."
Harmony was hurt. "I'm trying, okay?!"
Tara sighed. We don't have time for this shit. Our friends are in trouble. Now, we have to put our heads together and - and get them out of it. Now, we've done the research. We just have to figure out how to use it."
Harmony thought of something. "Oh, hey! Why don't we find another dead body for the demon to jump into?!"
Cordelia nodded. "Yes! At the cemetery."
"Well, that won't kill the demon. It'll only give it a change of scenery." Tara suddenly had a revelation. "Oh. Oh! Oh, I've got it!" She stood up and ran for the phone. "I've got it!"
Harmony and Cordelia smiled and followed her.
In his shop. Ethan had finished Buffy's tattoo. "Hmm. I think I missed my calling as an artist."
"Ethan, listen to me. This is a bad idea. You're dealing with something very dangerous."
Ethan rolled up his left sleeve. "But it will get Eyghon off my scent."
He picked up a bottle of sulfuric acid. Buffy drew a breath in fright, thinking the acid was meant for her.
"Now, relax. I'm finished with you. This is for me."
Buffy had found an exposed screw on the underside of the table and began scraping her rope against it. Ethan steeled himself for the burn of the acid. He slowly poured it onto his Mark of Eyghon tattoo. Buffy looked at him like he was insane. He did his best not to scream but let out a few grunts of pain. Buffy kept scraping the rope on the screw.
Giles was about to leave his apartment when he was caught by a waking nightmare and collapsed to the floor, unable to remain standing. He had visions of the Mark of Eyghon and various friends incarnate of Eyghon - and finally of Buffy with her new tattoo.
Giles woke. "Oh! Ethan..." He paused. "No. No!"
He quickly got up, grabbed his coat, and staggered out the door, still weak and not bothering to close it behind him.
Ethan wrapped his arm in a bandage. "Well, I hate to mutilate and run, but..."
He and Buffy saw a diffuse green light shine through the shop windows and the shadow of Jenny/Eyghon coming to the door.
The door opened, and Jenny/Eyghon stepped in, well on her way to transforming into Eyghon. "It's your time."
Buffy was almost through the rope under the table. Jenny/Eyghon stepped up to Ethan. He stared at her in fear. She sniffed a few times and realized he was not the one that she was after anymore. She turned to Buffy, and her eyes glowed. Jenny/Eyghon shoved Ethan aside just as Buffy got through the rope. Buffy rolled off the table and onto the floor as Jenny/Eyghon lunged for her. She kicked up and flipped Jenny/Eyghon and the table over and onto the floor. They both got up. Jenny/Eyghon held the table in her hands and rushed Buffy with it, pushing her into some crates.
Giles barged in through the door. "Eyghon! Take me."
Jenny/Eyghon tossed the table aside and turned to face Giles.
"Buffy, get out of here!" Giles yelled.
Jenny/Eyghon slowly advanced on Giles.
"No!" Buffy got between them. "No!"
Jenny/Eyghon stretched her arm out at Buffy, and she went flying into a pile of boxes.
Jenny/Eyghon grabbed Giles by the collar, pulled him around and down to the floor, and stood over him. "I've been waiting a long time to do this."
As she bent down to grab Giles, Angel ran in through the door, grabbed her, and pulled her to the crate, banging her head into it. He took her by the neck and started to choke her. Tara, Harmony, and Cordelia ran in next. Tara held Giles back as he got up.
"He's killing her!" Giles yelled.
"No! Trust me! This is gonna work!" Tara yelled back.
Angel continued choking Jenny/Eyghon. Harmony helped Buffy up. Finally, Eyghon had to jump and did so - right into Angel. He dropped Jenny as he was thrown back into the wall and began convulsing. When Jenny hit the floor, she was herself again. Tara let go of Giles, and he immediately got on his hands and knees next to Jenny.
"Jenny!" Giles called.
Angel's face twisted and contorted as the demons inside him fought it out. He was thrown to the crate and hit his head. His face went through a few more contortions when Eyghon suddenly appeared, apparently gaining the upper hand. After a moment, Angel's face shifted back to normal, then back to Eyghon, then back to normal again. He was thrown back against the wall. Another moment's struggle, and the demon inside Angel threw Eyghon out. Without a host body to occupy, Eyghon quickly crumbled into ashes. Angel gasped and collapsed to the floor. Cordelia, Buffy, Tara, and Harmony all ran over to his aid.
Giles reached out to Jenny. She shifted to look at him.
"Jenny!"
"Rupert..."
Ethan got up and ran from the shop.
Buffy looked at Tara and smiled. "You knew that, if the demon was in trouble, it was gonna jump into the nearest dead person."
Angel looked at Buffy. "I put it in danger."
"And it jumped." Tara stood up.
Angel got up. "I've had a demon inside me for a couple hundred years...just waitin' for a good fight."
Cordelia smiled and stood up. "Winner and still champion." She kissed Angel on the lips.
Harmony stood up and looked around. "Uh, I think that Ethan guy disappeared again."
Buffy stood up and frowned. "Damn. I really wanted to hit him till he bled."
Cordelia shrugged. "Well, at least it's over."
Cordelia, Angel, Harmony, Tara, and Buffy looked over at Jenny and Giles. Jenny clung to Giles as they walked out of the shop.
On Monday morning, at school, Tara, Cordelia, Harmony, and Buffy walked across the quad.
"You know what the worst thing is?" Buffy asked. "I was saving up for some very important shoes, and now I have to blow my entire allowance to get this stupid tattoo removed. Let's just hope my mom doesn't see it first."
Tara looked at Buffy. "Let me try something."
The four of them stopped walking.
Tara pressed her left hand to the back of Buffy's neck and concentrated. When she removed her hand, the tattoo was gone, and Buffy's skin was undamaged.
Tara smiled and kissed the back of Buffy's neck. "All gone."
Buffy smiled. "Thanks, sweetie."
Cordelia looked at Tara. "Puttin' that demon into Angel was pretty brill, Tara."
Tara looked at Harmony. "Well, Harmony inspired me."
Harmony smiled. "Yay, me!"
Tara looked at Cordelia. "I wasn't sure it was gonna work."
Buffy smiled. "But it did."
Cordelia smiled. "Like a charm."
Buffy had an idea. "Hey! Maybe you should consider a career as a Watcher."
Tara shook her head. "Oh, no, I don't think I could handle the stress. I don't see how Mr. Giles does it."
They saw him walking.
"I don't think he has a choice." Buffy kissed Tara on the lips and looked at her friends. "I'll see you all later."
Buffy followed Giles from a distance and entered the building.
Jenny walked to the stairs and was about to start up.
Giles caught up with her. "Uh, uh, Jenny! Jenny..."
Jenny stopped and turned to face him. "Rupert, hi."
"Uh...I-I-I tried to call you last night, s-see how you were."
"Yeah, I-I-I, uh...I left my phone off the hook. I seem to need a lot of sleep lately."
"But - But you're all - all right? Is - Is - Is there anything you need?"
"Mm, no, I'm fine. I mean...I'm not...fine, but...I'm coping."
"I-I would like to help."
"I know."
"Perhaps we could, um, talk sometime, um...dinner - or - or a drink?" Giles offered. "When you're feeling stronger."
"Sure, sometime."
Giles reached out to her.
Jenny took a backward step up and away from him and drew a deep breath. "Yeah. Sometime." She paused. "I better get to class."
"Yes, of course."
He watched her go up the stairs. When she was gone from sight, he looked down sadly; after a moment, he started to go to his library.
Buffy caught up to him. "Hey."
They rounded the corner and stopped.
"Is she okay?" Buffy asked him.
"Um...I don't know."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"I don't think she'll ever really forgive me. Maybe she shouldn't."
"Maybe you should."
"I never wanted you to see that side of me."
"I'm not gonna lie to you. It was scary." Buffy took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm so used to you being a grownup, and then I find out that you're a person."
"Most grownups are."
"Who would've thought?"
"Some are even, uh...shortsighted, foolish people."
"So, after all this time, we finally find out that we do have something in common. Which, apart from being a little weird, is kind of okay." Buffy paused in consideration. "I think we're supposed to be training right now."
Giles knew Buffy would never volunteer training and recognized it as her way of saying things were okay between them. "Yes. Yes. Um, need to concentrate on your flexibility."
"And you know what? I have just the perfect music." Buffy held up the Divinyls album, The Collection. "Go on, say it. You know you want to."
"It's not music; it's just, uh, meaningless sounds."
"There. Feel better?" Buffy asked him.
"Yes. Thanks."
They headed toward the library.
"Bay City Rollers. Now, that's music."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I didn't hear that. Divinyls. 'I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore'. Perfect training song."