Episode 2- Helping Hands
Scene 1
The Matrix was one of Buffy’s favorite movies. She’d seen it six times. Neo was a character she could sympathize with. She felt like her entire world turned upside down when she discovered she was the slayer. But now, she could identify with him even more. She had been living a crafted matrix.
The main gang, what was left of it, was all gathered in the library. After the hallway confrontation, Dawn grabbed Buffy’s hand and dragged her along to wake up the others. Dawn spilled out something about this Spike raising from the grave. It took Giles and Willow to understand better what was going on.
“Good lord,” Giles had muttered.
“What have we done?” Willow asked herself softly.
This led to Buffy wanting to know what they did exactly. Then the bombshell hit.
Currently, Buffy eyed the broken down woman in front of her. Willow’s eyes were red and swollen. She kept repeating herself, as if the words might eventually change Buffy’s reaction to them.
“I’m sorry. I was only trying to help. If I’d known . . .” Willow’s voice wavered.
“Your solution to everything is to poof the problem away,” Buffy spat.
Dawn took a step forward. She’d been standing off to the side until now. “I asked her to do it.”
Betrayal formed in Buffy’s eyes. How could her sister be against her as well? She shifted her gaze to fall on her mentor and father-figure.
“And you,” Buffy accused, “Did you have a part in it as well?”
Giles cleared his throat. He took hold of his glasses and removed them to clean the lenses. Buffy knew she wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Buffy-“he began.
Shaking her head, Buffy stepped backwards. She fell into a wooden chair at the library table. Her head throbbed. She couldn’t trust a single one of them.
“You do not understand the circumstances. I am foremost against magical practices unless unavoidable. I gave permission as a last resort. Your safety was at stake.”
Buffy’s eyes widened. “My safety?”
Dawn turned her face away. Buffy could hear sniffles come from her direction.
“You were okay for awhile. But then you just broke down. You walked right into oncoming traffic. Giles had to pull you back. You kept repeating over and over that ‘he wasn’t coming back’. After that, you walked around like you were a zombie. You hardly spoke to anyone. You went out late one night and almost . . . We couldn’t send you to a psychiatrist. What could you tell them? They’d put you away for sure. Don’t you see? This was the only way to help you,” Willow explained. Her lips wobbled.
“So you decided to fix me, huh?” Buffy snapped. “Make me forget all the pain?”
“We only want to see you happy. You had to move on with your life.”
Dawn rushed over and embraced Buffy. Buffy remained unmoved by the action. Dawn let go by the lack of reaction. “I couldn’t lose you again, Buffy. I’ve lost you already once. And not just you. I miss Mom so much. And you weren’t the only one who mourned Spike.”
“My life as I know it is a sham. You decided to be my puppet masters, pulling my strings. I was never happy. You just made me believe I was. I’m missing huge chunks of myself. I don’t even know who I really am,” Buffy said.
“You’re still the same person. Spike doesn’t affect that,” Giles insisted.
“Right, that’s why I was ready to shrivel up and die. Because he was irrelevant,” Buffy replied with sarcasm. She stood up and pointed a finger at him. “You didn’t like him, did you? That’s the real reason you agreed to the spell.”
Giles clenched his jaw. “You don’t even know what role he played in your life. He is a vampire, Buffy.”
That made her freeze. Her mind ran. A vampire? Again she’d chosen a no-future relationship. But then again, what kind of normal life could she have? Her experience in Rome proved it. She was ruined for the mundane. The shock subsided and she nodded. It made sense really.
“Okay. Well, given my heroic slayer dream, I gather he’s a champion for the good. What’s the big?”
“Hardly,” Giles said. “He’s spent more time trying to kill us all and later on stalking you.”
Dawn’s head snapped to the side. “That isn’t fair! How can you say that after what he did?” Dawn turned back to Buffy. “Don’t listen to him! Spike made up for his wrongs. He died to save the world. And if he has returned like you say, we have to go save his ass.”
She should have chastised her sister for using fowl language. Or, maybe not. Buffy realized that Dawn wasn’t that young anymore. She was a strong young woman, a strong young woman who just stood up to Giles. A smiled formed on her lips. Dawn noticed and smiled back. Both were aware that Buffy was on the way to forgiving her.
“It’ll be okay,” Dawn said. “As soon as you see him it’ll all fall into place. You’ll remember somehow. If you don’t, well I’m sure you’ll dive right back into love with him. And if not, Spike won’t give up until you do. He’s very persistent.”
“I’ll do anything to make this right,” Willow said. “Please, let me try to fix this.”
“Well, you can start by gathering an army. Then you can get them and myself to wherever he is,” Buffy commanded.
“I can do that,” Willow agreed.
“Oh, and hurry,” Buffy added.
Scene 2
New York, Central Park
Oz crept through the trees and underbrush. He hefted his tranquilizer gun, ready to use it any moment. A chill ran through him and he glanced up. The moon shone through the branches above, lighting his path. It was large and round, free of cloud cover.
Every time he saw a full moon panic would ignite, even though it had been over two years since he had changed unwillingly. He no longer needed any charms or potions to keep control. The beast had merged with him, having formed a compromise with his humanity. Let me out to play once in awhile and I’ll behave myself, it said. Oz was happy to oblige. He had even accepted that the werewolf was part of him and always would be. It didn’t mean he had to let it take him over, though.
A twig snapped. Oz pivoted. He sniffed the air. His keen sense of smell caught the scent of an animal. A werewolf. He felt the pulling bond of his own kind.
He followed the link and smell. He came to a clearing, halting in his tracks. He slowly spun, his finger hovering over the trigger of his gun.
Suddenly a dark creature jumped out of the bushes. Its silver fur caught a moonbeam and gleamed. A female, Oz realized. He could tell by her stance. Her golden eyes gazed at him with distrust. Oz was taken over by her beauty. She was gorgeous. Arousal rose up at the revelation. Deep within him something told him to drop the gun and let the animal take over. Mating is a natural part of life, it told him.
Oz ignored the urge and steadied his gun. The she-wolf lunged. Oz fired. The dart hit her on target. She fell, whimpering, and then went still.
Oz took a shaky breath. He relaxed his arm. Slowly he made his way to the werewolf’s side. He knelt beside her, stroking her silky fur.
“I’ll help you out,” he promised.
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That’s right, Oz is in the mix. Anyone else miss him? This is my first time using his character, so I hope I get him right. Oh, and for anyone thinking ‘Where the hell is Xander?’, he will pop up eventually. |
