| Two By Two Hands of Blue by Thursday Next |
| Chapter #14 - Chapter 14: Interlude |
| Chapter 14: Interlude “It was foolish, it was reckless, it was dangerous…” The acting captain’s tirade went on for some minutes, before Zoë finally concluded, “…and I would have done exactly the same thing.” Buffy visibly relaxed into her chair. “You’re one tough girl, you know that?” Zoë smiled at her. “I know,” Buffy said, emotionlessly, “But I couldn’t have done it alone.” Zoë’s face creased into a frown. “I know that. Simon’s still out for your blood for taking his baby sister along.” “I can imagine,” Buffy sighed, “Not so long ago, I would have been the same if anyone had let my little sister go on a dangerous mission like that.” “And now?” Zoë wondered. “And now?” Buffy shrugged, “Now I’m just too used to it. Danger, death. Girls younger than River get sent to me and I get them killed. It’s what I do. I’m the Slayer. Death is my gift…” “Don’t talk like that,” Zoë told her, shuddering, “You’re a Slayer, fine, whatever a Slayer is. But you’re not Death, Buffy. You don’t bring death. Death is a part of the universe. Believe me, I’ve seen enough death, without even knowing what a Slayer is. And if River really is a Slayer too, as your friend Willow seems to think, then it seems to me that it isn’t up to you to get her into trouble. She has been managing it jus fine for a long time before you came along.” “I suppose,” Buffy conceded. “You talk like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders,” Zoë continued. Then she smiled, sadly, “You remind me a lot of Mal.” “How is Mal?” Buffy asked. “Stable,” Zoë said shortly. “How is Spike?” “Resting,” Buffy said. “I…I haven’t seen him since we got back, I don’t want to disturb him…” It sounded lame even to her own ears. She hadn’t seen him since she had risked her life and others to save him. Since she had kissed him. The memory of that kiss was seared on her consciousness. She could almost feel it still burning her lips. It wasn’t even that she thought he didn’t want to see her, it was more…could she see him and not want to kiss him, want to touch him, want to hold him and comfort him? She knew she couldn’t. Couldn’t bear seeing him in pain, couldn’t bear knowing that she had forfeited her right to be the one to comfort him. God knew she had had enough chances in the past, which she had ignored. And now it was too late. She shook her head. “Go and see him,” Zoë told her, “I’ll try to smooth things over with Simon.” She wouldn’t go in, Buffy decided. She made her way to his door and stood outside, in an unconscious echo of the times he had stood outside her door before. She heard a sound from inside, soft speech. Tentatively, she opened the door and turned to peek inside the cabin. Inara was there, bathing Spike’s wounds in some kind of herbal solution. Spike looked up at her as she stood there, motionless in the doorway. Their eyes met and held for a second and Buffy suddenly felt panic rising in her throat. She couldn’t do this, she couldn’t see them together. She turned and fled without a word, leaving Spike staring after her with sick longing which burned worse than any of the tortures his captors had visited on him. What was it, in his eyes? Buffy wondered as she scrubbed herself in the shower. Guilt? Reproach? Pity? She didn’t want to know, she decided. She couldn’t stand the thought that he knew that she loved him, finally, and pitied her for it. She determined not to see him again. It would be easier that way. * Simon’s eyes flickered with mistrust as Buffy took her place at the table. She couldn’t blame him, not really. Not after all he had been through to rescue his sister from that place. Whatever Zoë had said to him must have had some effect, however, as he nodded to her cordially. “How is Spike today?” he asked politely, with a note of genuine concern for the invalid. It was the wrong choice of subject however, a shadow of pain crossed Buffy’s face at the mention of the vampire she loved. “You’d better ask Inara,” she said listlessly. Willow looked up at Buffy’s words, concerned about her friend. She knew Buffy and Spike weren’t together, but for a long time they had been pretty much inseparable. Whatever Buffy said about her feelings for Spike, Willow knew that she cared about him. Hell, she had just flown off on a crazy mission to rescue him. So why was she acting now like she barely knew him? There was no time to ponder the question further, though, as Buffy brought all their thoughts back to the matter in hand. “So, Will, why have you brought us all here?” asked the Slayer. “For this,” Willow said, setting the Source on the table in its replica box. “It’s powerful, yes, but there’s something missing. Like it’s only a tenth part as powerful as it should be.” “You can tell all that?” Simon asked incredulously. “It’s gone,” River said, peering at the box curiously. Simon seemed to take River’s words as confirmation of what Willow had said. Clearly he had faith in his sister’s uncanny powers, if not in Willow’s magical abilities. “So, where is it?” Kaylee asked. “Well, that’s just it,” Willow went on, glancing nervously at Simon and River, “I think it’s in River.” There was an uncomfortable pause. “It makes sense,” Kaylee ventured. “I think that’s why she’s been a little…crazy,” Willow continued, “They gave her too much. The transfer of power left her as strong as any Slayer, but also clearly left her mind unbalanced.” “You’re sure?” Simon asked, “You’re sure the power didn’t just get…used up?” Willow shook her head. “One of the things I learned from my time with the coven in England was that magic doesn’t get ‘used up’,” she said, “It’s like energy, it only gets transferred into something else, a different form of power.” “So, I guess the big question is: how do we transfer the power out of River and back into the box?” Buffy said. |