Title: Back Track
Author: Nebula
Chapters: 5 of ?
Pairings: B/S, X/A, W/T
Rating: PG-13, possibly R later on
Time Period: Post 'Get it Done' to ...?
Summary: In the midst of war, Buffy finds she's not the only one
that wishes the last year would just make itself all better. It
can't be done, unfortunately. Or can it?
Disclaimer: Who wants to guess what I'm about to say? ~_^ Joss
said I could write, so I'm gonna write, dammit! LOL Of course,
none of the characters are mine. They all belong to Joss.
NN: Okay, I know that this chapter is really short, but 6 is
longer. Promise. ~_^
< --- >
The next day was spent organizing fliers, ads, prices, and
anything in between for Buffy's new job. Anya appeared to be
enjoying herself immensely, and took over everyone's job by mid-
afternoon. Nobody complained.
"Anyone want pizza?" Dawn said, collapsing in a chair. "Wait. I
can have pizza, right? I can just work it off, right?"
Buffy laughed, taking a seat next to her sister. "Working out
doesn't mean you need to go on a crazy diet. Eat what you want, so
long as you keep exercising. That's all."
"Cool! Then I want anchovies."
Everyone groaned and glared at Buffy. "I take it back," she said
weakly. "Sorry."
Dawn said nothing, but kept her eye on Spike and Buffy. They
seemed to be getting along a lot better, which she was glad for.
She hated it when they fought.
Towards early morning, Spike had brought Buffy back to the house,
and had sat with her on the back porch until Willow had opened the
door. She had said good morning to both, and Spike had been invited
to stay for breakfast. Willow had asked what Buffy had been doing
outside so early.
"Just sitting and talking with Spike," Buffy had replied, as her
sister had entered the kitchen. "I wanted some fresh morning air,
and he'd been coming off of patrol, so he stayed."
Willow had nodded and said nothing about the back door having been
locked. Fresh morning air indeed.
"Now, I expect you all to be here early tomorrow morning. I'm
going to need help hauling inventory up, so Xander and Spike, you
can do that, since you two don't seem to mind working with each
other so much anymore. Giles, you can help me man the registers…"
"ANYA!"
Anya stopped in mid-sentence and frowned. "What, sweetie?"
"What do you need our help for?" Xander asked, not looking
thrilled at whatever she was about to tell them.
"The Halloween sale? It's tomorrow!"
Dawn grinned. "Can I help? Please?"
Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Spike all exchanged glances. They knew
where this led.
"Then we can head back to our place, right? Well, technically
Buffy's, but…oh, you all know what I mean," Willow said, throwing
her hands up in the air.
Buffy nodded, smiling. "You wanna make a list of games we can
play tomorrow, Dawnie? We've got the whole gang together, we might
as well have some fun."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Cool." Dawn rose and hurried for a pad of paper and a pen.
Buffy winked at the others. One problem solved.
"You want to invite your friend, too?" Xander suddenly asked
Dawn. "What's her name?"
"Oh, Janice?"
Buffy could've kissed Xander. 'Thank you,' she mouthed. He
merely nodded. "Yeah, why don't you call her up and see if she
wants to come," Buffy said, smiling.
Dawn looked at her sister. "You sure?" she asked tentatively.
"Sure," Buffy said, only to find her arms full of Dawn.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!" she sang, as she began to
dance around the room.
"Hate to burst your bubbles, but what if they find different
girls?" Willow whispered.
Buffy bit her lip. "Then we say that we forgot something,
something for the party. A couple of us go out to get it, and we
find them, dust them, and bring a food item home for the party."
Spike nodded. "Sounds like the best course of action."
"At what time should we 'conveniently' forget something?" Xander
asked.
Willow drummed her pencil against the table. "Try eight, eight-
thirty?"
"What can I do for tomorrow?" Dawn asked Anya, catching the
group's attention.
"You can help give out fliers," Anya said. "What better way to
promote the class then on our busiest day of the year?"
Buffy winced. She wasn't sure if she could do this.
"You taught the Potentials, didn't you?" Xander whispered. "Don't
worry 'bout it, Buff. You'll be fine."
Anya hurried towards the basement, muttering something under her
breath. She turned back and said loudly, "And don't forget to wear
a costume!"
The group groaned. "There's just some evil you can't get away
from," Spike muttered.
The next day, everything went as scheduled. Xander and Spike were
the pack-mules, pulling stock from the basement. They worked
together in companionable silence, until Spike asked him what
getting married really felt like.
Xander was surprised, but answered, "Scarier than facing a master
vampire, but...happy. You get to spend the rest of your life with
the one person you love. It's that kind of scary. Does that make
any sense?"
Spike thought back to Buffy, and nodded. "Yeah, it does."
After that, anything seemed open game to talk about. By the end
of the day, a definite friendship had formed between the two. The
girls noticed, but didn't say anything. If they were going to get
along, good for them. Giles noticed as well, but wasn't as pleased.
Dawn brought Janice over to the party, and they actually did run
out of soda at a quarter to nine, so the excuse to get some was
legit. "I'm gonna run out and get some more," Buffy said, grabbing
her jacket. "I'll be back in a few."
"I'll go with you," Spike said, rising from his seat. Buffy
turned, surprised. She wasn't the only one. Willow and Xander
exchanged glances as the two headed out.
The trip out to the woods was made in silence, until Buffy spoke
up. "How come you decided to come along?"
Spike shrugged. "Figured you could use the help."
"Oh." So he hadn't come along to talk, like she'd hoped. She
turned to him and plastered on a smile. "Thanks. An extra person
is always a great thing to have when you're patrol..."
"I wanted to talk to you," he blurted out.
Buffy stopped walking. So he HAD wanted to talk to her
alone. "About?" she asked, trying not to sound too interested.
"What you said the other night." Spike looked up at her and
sighed. "I don't hate you, Buffy, and I couldn't stand the thought
of you thinkin' that. I don't."
"Oh," she said again. "We, uh, covered that that night. I got
it." She put on a fake smile once more, her stomach twisting in
knots. Why couldn't anything be simple?
"Don't have to put that stupid smile on 'round me," Spike said,
chuckling. "I know it's not real."
The smile immediately disappeared. "I should've figured," she
said, rolling her eyes.
The serious look was back on his face. "I...I don't know what my
other feelin's are right now," Spike admitted. "I wish I could tell
you."
"Spike, it's ok..."
"No it's not!" He looked away, anywhere but at her. "I don't
hate you, and you matter to me. I just don't know what I'm
feelin'. I thought I should let you know."
Buffy stared at him, trying to understand what he was saying. He
wasn't saying he loved her, she realized. But he wasn't saying he
didn't, either. Spike just wasn't sure. She almost laughed at the
irony. She'd done this all year when they'd taken the year the
first time around. At least he was being upfront and honest with
her. Like she hadn't been with him.
And she didn't even know how she felt about him, she realized with
a start. She cared about him, that was certain. What other
feelings lurked beneath the surface?
"Would you be willing to find out?" she asked quietly.
Spike looked at her, surprised. "I think so," he said.
"And we can be honest with each other, this time around?"
He smiled. "Yeah. We can be honest."
She smiled back at him, a genuine smile. Spike chuckled. "Now
that's a smile."
Buffy was about to reply when they heard screams not far
off. "Guess that's our cue," she said, taking off, with Spike not
far behind her.
They disposed of the vamps quickly enough, (there were only six,
after all), and sent everyone home. Another wrong righted.
"That was MUCH easier without my sister," Buffy said, stretching
her arms above her head as they headed for the store.
"Agreed. Now, before we get the soda: what's our excuse again?"
Chapters: 6 of ?
Pairings: B/S, X/A, W/T
Rating: PG-13, possibly R later on
Time Period: Post 'Get it Done' to ...?
Summary: In the midst of war, Buffy finds she's not the only one
that wishes the last year would just make itself all better. It
can't be done, unfortunately. Or can it?
Disclaimer: Who wants to guess what I'm about to say? ~_^ Joss
said I could write, so I'm gonna write, dammit! LOL Of course,
none of the characters are mine. They all belong to Joss.
NN: Whoops! Chapter 5, I forgot to remove the 'Re:' part in the
front. Sorry! ^^' But here's chapter 6. I'll hopefully be back
on Thursday; I'll make my replies then. Hope you enjoy!
< --- >
Buffy swallowed hard. She peered through the crack again, her
heart hammering in her chest. She was a fool to think she could do
this.
"Are you going to go in there, or not?" Dawn asked from behind her.
Buffy whipped her head around, her face twisted in a grimace. "I
can't do this," she said, fidgeting with her hands.
"You'll be fine," Spike assured her, pushing her in. Talking
stopped as she entered the room.
Buffy glanced around nervously, her hands behind her back.
Suddenly,she felt her hand being squeezed. "All the way," a voice
whispered in her ear. She smiled, the nervous tension leaving her.
For the last week, things between her and Spike had returned to a
friendly status, and she was happy. Still smiling, she turned back
to the people in front of her.
"Welcome to the class, everyone."
Buffy came out an hour later, and headed for her water
bottle. "You okay?" Willow asked.
Buffy nodded, taking a sip before turning to her friends. "They
were good in there. And checks? Always good."
Spike peeked a glance over from where he was helping Anya. Buffy
was glowing. For once, she had a genuine smile on her face. It was
enough to make him smile, too.
"Can we have pizza for dinner?" Dawn piped up.
Everyone groaned. "Again?" Buffy asked, staring at her sister.
"How about some Italian subs? My treat, as I'm being considered
for a promotion, which means a raise," Xander said, bowing slightly
as everyone applauded.
Everyone placed their orders, and Xander headed off with Giles.
Buffy waited until they'd left, then turned to Spike. "You want to
patrol tonight? If not, I can do a sweep on my own."
Spike nodded. "Why not? Get my spot of violence in before bed."
"When can I start joining you guys?" Dawn asked.
Buffy thought for a moment. "When you can use a sword. Deal?"
Dawn looked ready to object, so she quickly added, "I just want to
make sure you can defend yourself. Sometimes you get separated when
patrolling. All right?"
Seemingly enough to pacify her, Dawn nodded.
"Who's hungry?" Xander asked, holding up the bags of dinner.
"You're doin' good with Dawn," Spike commented. The two had had
their dinner (Spike had stolen a few potato chips from Willow and
Buffy when he thought they weren't looking, eliciting giggles from
Dawn,) and were currently patrolling through a nearby cemetery.
"I know," Buffy said, frowning slightly. "I just...I still feel
like I could be doing more for her."
"Did you see the grin on her face when you said she could patrol
in the near future? Thought she was gonna light up the whole bloody
room."
Buffy smiled. "Yeah. She was pretty happy about the checks
people were handing over for the class. She wasn't the only one.
Those checks will really help us out."
"You're doin' good," Spike repeated, smiling.
Buffy was about to comment when two vampires sprang from the
shadows. The two launched themselves at the slaying pair, and the
battle began.
Spike dodged a few blows, took a punch to the jaw, then sent the
vamp's dust flying. He turned back to Buffy and found her staking
the vampire. Spike frowned. Her movements were jerky, not the
grace he'd come to know and expect from her.
"You all right?" he asked.
She swiveled around, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"
"Fine," Spike replied absently. Her breathing was irregular, and
her heartbeat was too fast. She stepped towards him and stumbled,
heading for the ground.
Spike caught her and helped her up. "You're fine, huh," Spike
said sarcastically.
"Just tired," Buffy said, heading off, with Spike right by her
side. "It's been a long day, between sparring with Dawn, teaching
the class, and patrolling. Little more then I'm used to," she said,
offering him a grin.
Spike smiled slightly, a worried expression on his face. "I think
we should get you home," he said, preparing himself for the argument.
Buffy opened her mouth to object, then paused. She could stay
home with Dawn, get some rest, and actually be of some good to
everyone the next day. "What about patrolling?" she asked softly.
Spike's eyes widened in surprise. That wasn't the argument he'd
been expecting. "I can take care of it," he offered, but she shook
her head.
"That's not fair to you. Listen; we've been out for an hour, been
through three cemeteries, and found only two vampires. It's a slow
night. We can both just head home and..." She tripped over a small
hole in the grass, and fell into Spike.
"How 'bout I take you home, and then I head home. Sound fair?" he
asked.
Buffy nodded, clutching his shoulders for support. Together, the
two headed back towards her house.
By the time they reached the Summers', Buffy had collapsed twice.
The second time, Spike had wrapped her in his arms and had carried
her home. Buffy hadn't argued, merely snuggling up in his arms.
"What happened?" Willow asked, opening the door for them.
"Just tired," Buffy mumbled, her head cradled in the crook of
Spike's neck.
Willow looked up at Spike, who nodded and smiled. "Just a long
day, that's all Red. Where's Glinda and Bit?"
"Watching a movie. Are you sure she's okay?"
Spike nodded again. "She'll be fine. Don't worry."
Willow didn't look too happy, but she led the way up the stairs
and into Buffy's bedroom, pulling back the sheets. Without a word
Buffy clutched her pillow and went back to sleep.
Spike chuckled. "So much to see if she wanted to get into
somethin' comfy," he said, helping Willow pull Buffy's shoes off.
They managed to get her out of her jacket, and covered her up,
before heading downstairs.
"Is everything all right?" Giles asked Willow, frowning.
Willow grinned. "Just a sleepy Slayer. Nothing to worry about."
"She was yawnin' so loud on patrol, she was warnin' vamps about
our arrival," Spike joked.
Dawn giggled. "Then you should be glad she wasn't asleep; her
snoring would've been loud enough to warn vampires in the next
county."
Spike smiled, knowing it wasn't true. He'd spent countless nights
last year just watching Buffy sleep, and she'd never made a peep.
He stayed a little longer, (the movie had just ended) and chatted
with everyone, before saying his goodbyes. He noticed the glares
that Giles was giving him, and wasn't sure of what to think.
Whatever the Watcher was thinking, it probably wasn't good.
Spike headed out and stopped by the tree in the front yard,
pulling out a cigarette. He'd stopped smoking the next year, after
the soul, but every now and then he missed the nicotine. Thank
goodness it didn't do any damage: his lungs were already dead.
He switched into game face momentarily, listening to the
heartbeats in the house. He smiled, thinking about a much more
crowded house, where switching into game face and listening for
heartbeats was a required safety check every night.
Suddenly one of the heartbeats sped up. He frowned,
concentrating. It was coming from the second floor. Buffy. It had
to be.
Emotions warred inside of him. They'd been okay this week,
everything on a friendly level. He knew she was looking for a
response, but he couldn't give one. Not yet. Besides, what kind of
feelings did she have for him? His life was simple, wasn't it? Yet
add her to the equation, and everything turned upside-down. Maybe
if he just ignored her for awhile, he could sort this out.
The heartbeat rate increased, and he sighed, put the cigarette
away, and climbed the tree. So much for ignoring her. He reached
the window and pushed it open, not pausing to think of why it wasn't
locked.
Inside, Buffy was wide awake, sitting up, her eyes on a sword in
the corner. "Buffy?" he called softly.
Buffy kept her eyes on the sword, not even listening.
"Buffy," he called again, this time a little louder. Downstairs,
he could hear them laughing, oblivious to the battle going on in the
room above them.
Buffy blinked and looked at Spike, her eyes filled with fear. "I
did it again, didn't I?" she whispered, looking at her hands
frantically, afraid she'd actually picked the weapon up.
"You're fine," Spike assured her, taking a seat on the
bed. "Don't worry."
"I haven't had a nightmare in a week," she said, looking over at
the sword again. "I woke up, and that was the first thing my eyes
landed on. I wanted to..." She swallowed, burying her head in her
hands. "What's wrong with me?" she said, her voice muffled.
Spike reached over and pulled her into his arms. "Nothin'," he
murmured. "You're just tired, s'all. People think 'bout it all the
time."
Buffy said nothing, merely burying her head into his shoulder and
crying. Spike held her until she fell asleep once more. Laying her
down, he paused, then kissed her forehead, before hurrying out into
the night.
From the door, Giles watched with narrowed eyes as Spike leapt to
the ground. He'd seen and heard the entire thing from the crack in
the door. What else was she keeping from them? Spike was also too
close to Buffy. She had been in a distressed state, and he had
taken advantage of her.
He would put an end to this immediately.
Chapters: 7 of ?
Pairings: B/S, X/A, W/T
Rating: PG-13, possibly R later on
Time Period: Post 'Get it Done' to ...?
Summary: In the midst of war, Buffy finds she's not the only one
that wishes the last year would just make itself all better. It
can't be done, unfortunately. Or can it?
Disclaimer: Who wants to guess what I'm about to say? ~_^ Joss
said I could write, so I'm gonna write, dammit! LOL Of course,
none of the characters are mine. They all belong to Joss.
NN: Thanks to all who gave such wonderful feedback! I'm back to my
laptop, and am ready to post the next section. Hope you guys enjoy!
< --- >
Buffy came out of class, water bottle in hand. After a few days,
she'd adjusted well to teaching Dawn, teaching the class, and
patrolling. She'd found an inner strength, and had continued with
it.
She scanned the shop again, trying not to let her hurt show. Ever
since he'd comforted her four days ago, she hadn't seen hide nor
hair of him. He'd been avoiding her.
She slammed her water bottle down, growling. They'd been doing so
well, too. Being friendly, and talking again. Now he was back to
her not existing.
Tears welled in her eyes. Why did everything she touch turn to
dust? It should be gold, not dust. It shouldn't disappear.
"Ms. Summers?"
Buffy whipped around, smiling at the young man who'd obviously
been trying to catch her attention for awhile. "Sorry," she
apologized. "You're...Steven, right? From the class."
Steven nodded. "Yeah. Listen, I wanted to thank you for the
classes. You're an awesome teacher, Ms. Summers."
"Please, call me Buffy," she said, her smile broadening.
Steven grinned. "Okay, Buffy. I was wondering...would you like
to go out sometime? I know this is kind of sudden, but you can
think on it, if you want. I'll be at class," he said, heading for
the door.
Buffy stood, staring at where he'd been. "Congratulations!" Anya
said, coming up from behind her. "He's very nice looking."
"Who is?" Xander said, climbing out of the basement. Behind him
were Willow and Dawn.
"That man. He just asked Buffy out. Isn't he one of your
students?" Anya asked.
Buffy nodded, ignoring the glare she was getting from her sister
and the odd looks from her friends. "Yes, he is. I'm not sure what
I want to do about it yet," she said to Dawn.
"What would I care?" Dawn retorted bitterly, heading for the
training room.
As she slammed the door behind her, Xander glanced over at
Buffy. "She cares because she's a strong advocate of 'Buffy and
Spike, the eternal couple'," he said.
"Yeah, well, Spike isn't," Buffy snapped suddenly. She didn't
even know what she was angry at. "I'll see you guys later."
"Where are you going?" Willow asked, as Buffy stormed off towards
the front door.
"To patrol," was all Buffy said, as she headed off into the night.
Buffy staked her fifth vampire, still furious. Why couldn't she
get along with her sister? Oh, she could, she realized. If only a
certain bleach-headed menace would say...
"Buffy?"
Buffy whirled around, the target in front of her. "Oh, we're
speaking to me now? Or is that not allowed?"
Spike's gaze narrowed. "What are you yammerin' 'bout now?"
But Buffy was spoiling for a fight, and she knew how to get one.
She also knew who she was mad at now. Spike. "Let's see: you
ignore me, then pretend not to notice that anything's wrong. So
you're either an idiot or just being nasty; I'll vote on the latter,
as tempting as the first one is."
Spike's eyes flashed flecks of gold. "What the bleedin' 'ell are
you tryin' to get at?!"
"Why have you been avoiding me?!" Buffy shouted.
Spike snorted. "Gee, I don't know. How could I want to avoid
such a 'darling' angel like yourself?" he said sarcastically.
Buffy gripped the stake in her hand tighter. "You know, I'm
beginning to think I should be thanking you. I didn't have to put
up with you for all this time!"
"Oh, no, the pleasure's all mine," Spike snarled. "Haven't had to
deal with your stuck-up attitude problem!"
"Stuck-up?" Buffy seethed. "I think you've got the wrong person.
I'm not sure how you got that, though, because you can't see
yourself in a mirror!"
It was lame, and he knew it, but it still stung. "Oh, it's you I
was thinkin' of, with the whole 'General Buffy' drama, havin' to be
the martyred leader who helps the poor, pathetic people," he spat.
Buffy bit her lip, trying not to cry. He could really be evil
when he wanted to be. "At least I'm helping," she snapped. "What
were you doing, besides crying and whining?"
Spike glared, his nostrils flaring. Back at square one; the very
thing that had upset him so much in the first place. "Who was the
one cryin' and whinin' not too long ago? Whimperin' 'bout how sad
the world was, and 'I just can't do it anymore, I don't have a
purpose'," he said, falsetto.
"I at least do something now. I teach!" she yelled, forgetting it
was Spike who had come up with the idea for that in the first
place. "In fact, one of my students, a very nice young man, just
asked me out for a date today!"
Spike was surprised, but her statement only added fuel to the
fire. "Oh he did, did he?" he sneered. "And why would he do such a
stupid thing like that?"
"Because he appears to like me, and wants to spend time with me!"
Buffy hissed.
"He wants you? Oh, that's rich, Slayer."
Buffy fumed. "Yeah, he does want me!"
"Well that's good," Spike shouted, "'cause I sure as hell
don't!!" He stopped abruptly, the words already out before he could
stop them.
The stake slipped from her fingers, landing in the grass. So it
was true. He didn't want her anymore. He'd only been stalling for
time. Tears streaming down her face, she turned and ran.
"Buffy!" Spike called, horrified. He hadn't meant it. He hadn't
meant to say those things...
He watched as she disappeared, tears glistening in his eyes. When
she had disappeared from view, he turned back to his crypt, his
words echoing in his ears.
They weren't being replayed just in his head. Buffy could hear
the words over and over again in hers. "He wants you? Well that's
good, 'cause I sure as hell don't...I sure don't...I don't..."
She burst through the front door, ignoring the others as she raced
up the stairs. She ran into her room, fell onto her bed, and
sobbed. It all came down to two little words: I don't. She's
really messed things up between so much, that Spike didn't even want
her anymore. She'd been hoping to fix things between them. Now she
never could.
"Buffy?" Willow called softly. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"
Buffy felt weight pull the bed down slightly, and strong arms were
pulling her back. "It's okay," she heard Xander say, as she crawled
into his embrace. She continued to cry into his shirt, as Willow
came around from the other side. The two engulfed their leader in a
gigantic hug, not pulling away until she'd calmed down some.
"Let me guess: starts with an 's' and ends with a 'pike'?" Xander
said, smiling at her. In his eyes, she could see a small fire
beginning to burn.
"Not really," Buffy said, sniffling. "It's more my fault then
his. In fact, it's all my fault." She sighed, hiccuping. "I've
completely screwed things over between the two of us. He doesn't
even want me anymore."
"That's not true!" Willow said, frowning slightly.
Buffy chuckled bitterly. "Considering he just told me that..."
Willow's frown disappeared, replaced by a blank, helpless
look. "Oh," was all she said. "Xan?" she pleaded, turning to her
best friend for help.
"How is it your fault?" Xander asked.
Buffy wiped her eyes. "I...what I did to him, when we took this
year around the first time. A-and telling him he was useless next
year. He wasn't, though. He's been one of the strongest people to
stay with me, and now...I..." She shook her head, tears streaming
down her face. "I've ruined everything."
"Do you want to go back?" Willow asked tentatively.
Both Xander and Buffy looked up at her. "What?! No! I'm still
fixing things with Dawn, and besides, that's not fair to you guys,"
Buffy exclaimed, before realizing something. "Do YOU want to go
back?" she asked.
Willow flushed and looked down at her hands. "Lately, I've been
using a lot of magic for things I don't need to. Tara came up and
gave me that speech again just today. The one where she's worried
about me, and I need to stop the magic. I know I do! But it's..."
Willow bit her lip, trying to explain. "Past me doesn't know how
powerful I can become. She's still testing her limits, unafraid,
and reckless. Future me knows what I'm capable of, and knows when
to say stop." She was about to continue when she cringed and rubbed
her forehead.
"You okay?" Xander asked.
Willow nodded. "That's another thing I was going to say. As you
can guess, past and future me don't get along very well." She made
a face, as if she'd bitten into something sour, and tapped her
forehead. "It's...it's like they're up there, actually fighting in
my head. And the magic usage isn't helping. Migraines from that,
and battles on the brain-front...it's starting to become to much to
take. And poor me right now doesn't know what to do."
Xander sighed. "Merciful Zeus. I thought I was the only one."
Buffy and Willow turned to him. "What do you mean?" Buffy asked,
frowning.
"She's not the only one who's been getting headaches. I have
been, too. Past and Future me are regular war generals in my head,
blasting away at my cranium."
"What do they argue about?"
Xander tried to grin sheepishly. "Um, Buff? Remember when I
bailed out last year?" The grin disappeared. "I'm starting to
think that's a good idea again."
"NO!" Willow and Buffy yelled.
"Okay, okay, knowing that. But PAST me doesn't seem to think like
we do. It's trying to take over."
Buffy growled, wiping her eyes. "We're not gonna let them win.
If we can fix this, maybe...maybe we can..."
"Can what? Why exactly DID we come back in the first place?"
Xander asked.
"To fix things. Duh much?" Willow retorted.
Xander shook his head. "Why did we want to fix things? Besides
that we felt bad for dorking things over so badly."
There was silence as they thought it over. "I don't know," Buffy
admitted. "It just seemed so important at the time."
"Would it stop the First?" Willow said suddenly.
Two pairs of startled eyes turned to her. "How do you figure?"
Willow grinned, warming up to Buffy's question. "I'm thinking
that if I don't go black, it won't upset the scales of good and
evil, therefore NOT bringing the worst evil into the picture."
"How did you upset the scales? 'Splainy, please," Buffy demanded.
"See, everything was balanced, and then Tara died. They lost a
good guy, right? Then, I take out Warren. There goes a bad guy.
Scales are evened. Now, I'm evil, really evil, and I'm going to
take out the world."
"Typical Sunnydale thing to do," Xander quipped.
Willow gave him a look, and Xander muttered something about not
interrupting anymore. "Anyways, Xander saves the day and me. The
end, right?" She shook her head. "Wrong. What happens to most of
the big bad that try to destroy the world?"
"I make them go buh-bye, easy," Buffy said.
"What about me?"
Xander frowned. "Willow, you're obviously still..." His eyes
widened as he realized what she was getting at. "Here," he finished
softly.
"And whose side am I on?" she asked.
"Ours," Buffy finished, understanding. "So what you're saying is,
we didn't get rid of the big bad, we just brought it back to our
side."
Willow nodded. "A huge evil was taken away, but more good was
brought into the world. In response to the scales being tipped too
far in one direction..."
"They brought the First into play. Great," Xander muttered
sarcastically.
Buffy sat back against her bed, thinking. Her face was still red
and tear-stained, and she could still hear Spike's voice in her
head. But she couldn't think about that anymore. She would just
start crying again. "But if you don't head into blackness at all..."
"The First shouldn't come into the picture. Right," Willow nodded.
Buffy looked around at Willow, then Xander, and smiled. "So maybe
we're doing something good after all."
Willow nodded again, and Xander grinned. "Yeah. We just have to
battle ourselves for authority. Will, tell me aspirin will stop it?"
"It should lessen the pain, but it won't go away entirely until
they're done...er, battling." Willow looked at Buffy,
puzzled. "Have you gotten a headache yet?"
Buffy began to shake her head, but stopped. There had been a day
when things had gotten bad, and she'd wanted the pain to stop.
She'd had that fight with Giles, and had run home, her head pounding
from a headache. That had been seconds before she'd grabbed the
scissors and almost done something horrid with them. Spike had
saved her. Her lower lip trembled as she thought back to the fight
in the cemetery.
"Oh, sweetie," Willow crooned, hugging her friend.
"Want me to go be manly and challenge him to a fight?" Xander
offered.
Buffy shook her head, giggling through the tears. "No, it's okay."
"Thank heavens," Xander said with an immense sigh of relief. "I
wouldn't have done very well."
"Besides, I told you: it's my fault. I did this. Now I have to
suffer the consequences," Buffy said, offering them a small smile,
before frowning. "And you actually would've done well. Spike still
has the chip."
Xander's eyes widened. "That's right. It gets taken out next
year. There's so much we gotta fix, isn't there?"
Buffy nodded, a determined look on her face. "That's why our past
selves can't win. We will. We have to."
Title: Back Track
Author: Nebula
Chapters: 8 of ?
Pairings: B/S, X/A, W/T
Rating: PG-13, possibly R later on
Time Period: Post 'Get it Done' to ...?
Summary: In the midst of war, Buffy finds she's not the only one
that wishes the last year would just make itself all better. It
can't be done, unfortunately. Or can it?
Disclaimer: Who wants to guess what I'm about to say? ~_^ Joss
said I could write, so I'm gonna write, dammit! LOL Of course,
none of the characters are mine. They all belong to Joss.
< --- >
Buffy stretched her arms above her head as she came out of class.
They were warming up to her as a teacher, and she enjoyed passing on
her store of knowledge. Spike had really come through on the idea.
Spike. The mere thought of him made her stomach twist. Why
couldn't her romance life be simple? She would never have the
chance to find out what a normal relationship felt like.
She turned and noticed Steven heading her way. Maybe she would
get that chance...
"So, have you given it any thought?" Steven asked.
Buffy flashed him her best smile just as Dawn came out of the
basement. "Actually, I have. I'd like to take you up on the offer,
if it still stands."
"That's great!" Steven said, grinning. "I'll meet you at 'The Red
Bird', tomorrow at 7?"
Buffy nodded. Normal. She could do this.
With a wave to Buffy, he headed outside. "A date, huh?" Dawn
sneered at her sister. "So, who gets 'Dawn Duty'?"
Buffy sighed. "You can stay with whoever you want to. How's
that?"
Apparently, it wasn't good enough. "What's wrong with Spike?
Isn't he good enough to date?" Dawn demanded.
"Dawnie, please. Dating isn't that simple. Wait until you try
it," Buffy replied, trying to hold on to her temper.
If anything, this infuriated Dawn even more. "Oh, sure, I'd love
to, but wait! I can't date! You won't let me!!"
"Dawnie..."
"Don't Dawnie me! You're not going out with Spike because you
hate him!"
"That's not true," Buffy started, but Dawn interrupted her.
"Yes it is! You don't care about him, and you're just using him!"
Buffy froze. She wasn't using Spike, was she? No, not
again...she couldn't, wouldn't use him like she had before...
Images ran through her mind. Images of cold crypts filled with
lies and games, cemeteries covered in dark secrets, and alleys
spattered with blood. The images rushed around her head, making her
clutch her head in an attempt to stop the pain.
She was aware of Dawn calling her name, but couldn't see her.
Everything was so foggy, and it all hurt so much...
She closed her eyes and let herself fall into the rushing images.
Spike stepped into the basement of the Magic Box, determined to
fix this. He had to make it up to Buffy. Or maybe he'd just come
to argue with her some more. He growled at himself. No! Fix it.
That's what you came back for, wasn't it? To fix things. Here's a
thing to fix.
He had almost reached the stairs when he heard a shrill scream
coming from the shop. "Dawn," he breathed, running as fast as he
could towards the noise.
He flung open the door to the shop, and found her screaming at
something on the floor. "What's wrong?" he yelled over her
voice. "Dawn!"
The screaming stopped as she turned to him, terror in her
eyes. "She...I...I didn't..."
Spike hurried to her side. "What do you mean..." It was only
then that he caught sight of what she'd been so upset about.
Buffy lay on the floor, pale as a ghost. Her body shook, and her
features were twisted in agony.
Spike knelt next to her, checking for any signs of injury. "What
happened?" he asked Dawn gently.
"She..." Dawn swallowed and tried again. "We were arguing about
Steven..."
"Steven?" Spike asked, turning to look at her.
Dawn gave him a look of sympathy. "A guy from her class. He
asked her out tomorrow night."
Spike winced but nodded. She should be with someone that could
give her a normal date. Like, say, a walk in the sun?
"Anyways, all of a sudden she stopped, like she'd gotten hit in
the stomach, grabbed her head, and then passed out."
"When?"
Dawn shrugged, clearly agitated. "I screamed a little after she
hit the floor. What do we do?"
Spike was about to reply when movement caught his eye. He turned
to see Buffy twisting on the floor, emitting small sounds of pain.
He pulled her into her arms, his heart wrenching. "Get a cup of
water," he ordered, sending Dawn scurrying.
Buffy's movements turned to thrashing as she laid in his
arms. "Shhh," Spike whispered, trying to calm her. He ran his
fingers through her hair, anything to distract him from the look of
torment on her face.
Buffy blinked, looking up at him, her actions having slowed to
trembling. "Spi...?" she mumbled.
"Shhh," he said again, smiling at her. "I've got you. You're
safe now."
Buffy whimpered, resting her head against his chest. Spike pulled
her closer, feeling helpless.
"Hurts," she whispered, touching her head lightly. Spike reached
up to massage her temples, but Buffy shrugged away from his
touch. "Inside," she croaked, her bottom lip trembling as she
fought back tears.
"Aspirin?" Dawn asked, handing him a paper cup of water.
Spike nodded, sitting Buffy up. "Just hold on, pet. Feel better
in a bit." He thought back to what she had said and frowned. He'd
felt pain coming from the inside of his head a few days ago. He'd
disregarded it as a headache at the time, but it hadn't felt right.
Something had been off. He'd felt dizzy, tired, ready to collapse.
Maybe she had experienced the same thing he'd had, but had gotten
hit worse.
"Here," Dawn said, handing her the pills. Buffy accepted them
gratefully and swallowed them down with the water Spike gave her.
She handed the cup back to Dawn and leaned against Spike's chest
again.
"What happened?" Dawn asked, worried.
"I don't know," her sister said faintly, before passing out once
more.
Buffy awoke to a sharp pain in her head, as if someone had rammed
a knife through her skull. It was throbbing, but not as bad as it
had been. There was also something wet on her head that she
couldn't place.
She could hear noises around her, and decided to risk opening her
eyes. She was in the training room of the Magic Box, laying on a
cot. The wet had been a damp washcloth, and the room was
fortunately dark. She didn't think she could handle light.
The windows were dark as well, which told her someone had climbed
ten feet up to cover them, or it was night. She'd vote on the
latter.
The door to the shop creaked open, and she winced at the sudden
light. "Sorry," a familiar British accent said.
She stiffened at the sound of Spike's voice. "It's fine," she
said, trying to show no emotion in her voice.
She could sense rather then see him approach her. "How you
feelin'?" he asked, gazing at her with concern.
"Horrible."
Spike nodded, hiding the hurt as best he could. He knew she would
give him the cold shoulder after what he'd said. He deserved it.
He almost chuckled, wondering if he still had the soul.
"Bit told me a lil' of what happened. Mind tellin' me the rest?
I get into the shop and find her screamin' her lungs out, and
pointin' at you. You're lookin' like you're havin' a seizure,
and..." Spike shrugged helplessly. "You scared me," he started,
but Buffy interrupted him.
"I was fine until Dawn and I started arguing. I got a major
headache, and just..." She sighed. "I fell. The room started
swirling, sharp pains in my head..."
"Sounds like fun," Spike joked.
Buffy merely nodded.
An uncomfortable silence descended on the two. "Um, listen,"
Spike started, "I know what I said, and I want you to know that..."
"You don't mean it? Don't be an idiot, Spike. You meant it."
Spike shook his head quickly, growing frustrated. "No, I didn't.
It just came out, and I didn't..."
"Do you love me?" she asked, looking up at him. "Do you want
there to be an 'us'?"
Spike stopped and stared at her. He didn't know how to answer
that. He looked away, her gaze unnerving him.
Buffy felt a stab of hurt, knowing she'd proved her point. "I
told you that you meant it," she said softly.
Spike looked back at her and began to protest, but she shook her
head. "Just let it go," she said, standing. "Obviously, we weren't
meant to be." Turning, she walked to the shop, and she didn't look
back.
Spike watched her go with a look of shock. She'd given up. She
had tried to talk with him, maybe give them a second chance, and
he'd gone and screwed things up. Typical thing for him to do.
She closed the door behind her, leaving him alone. Like he always
was. With a heavy heart he turned and walked away.
Buffy smiled at everyone. "Sorry for the scare," she said,
closing the door behind her.
Dawn jumped out of her chair and embraced her sister. "Don't do
that again. Please," she said in a pleading voice, looking up at
her sister.
"You've got my word," Buffy promised.
"We need to talk to you," Xander said. Buffy glanced over at her
friend. Not a single smile or trace of humor was on his face.
Great. More serious stuff.
"Serious, huh?"
Willow fidgeted in her seat. "Just concerning that problem we
were discussing earlier. It's no big."
Yet Buffy could tell from the look on Willow's face that it was
big. "Okay. Tara, could you help Dawn with her homework? We'll
just be training room."
Tara nodded, catching that they needed to talk alone. "Sure
thing."
Once Buffy had closed the door behind her, she turned to the
others. "What gives?"
"We had a talk with Spike when we got here," Xander said. At
Buffy's surprised look, he sighed. "We didn't attack him. Will
only asked if he'd been having headaches."
"Verdict?"
Willow nodded. "Yup. We're not the only ones getting the
migraines."
"Okay, it's been confirmed," Buffy said, starting to pace. "Our
jump back is the reason for the pain."
"And it's getting worse," Willow added quietly.
Buffy frowned. "The headache pain is getting worse?" They stared
at her until her eyes widened with realization. "You think my
episode today was caused by this."
Slowly Xander nodded. "Kinda like Spike's lapses next year
concerning the First. It's a trigger word or phrase, that reminds
you of something bad that happened this year. Something that
mattered to you."
"Dawnie said you'd been arguing when you fell. What exactly were
you arguing about?"
Buffy bit her lip at Willow's question. "Um...if I say it again,
won't I have it again?"
"You shouldn't. I think it has to do with the emotional levels,"
Willow said. After a minute, she added quickly, "But let's not find
out the hard way."
"Something to do with Spike, that we know," Xander said.
Buffy looked surprised. "How do you know that?"
"When Spike went in to check on you for the hundredth time, Dawn
told us about it. She said she'd accused you of not liking Spike,
and you were just using..." At Buffy's cringe, Xander
stopped. "Oh," he said softly.
Buffy looked down at the floor, feeling miserable. She'd forgiven
herself for this in the future. Told herself it was done. Then why
was she still feeling this way?
"Is there any way to overcome our old selves?" Buffy asked, her
voice relaying her despair.
"I think we can," Willow said, smiling. "If we teach our past
selves that we can do better, then maybe they'll get the drift. We
just have to teach them."
Buffy chuckled. "Teaching's what got me in this mess."
"Dawn's still upset about the new guy, I take it?" Xander asked.
"Yeah. That's what set her off. I just...want the chance.
That's all, Xander."
"At normal?" Willow asked, shaking her head. "This is as normal
as we're gonna get, sweetie."
Buffy groaned. "That's what I was afraid you were gonna say.
Have you told Spike everything?"
Xander nodded. "We gave him the heads up. Told him to tell one
of us if it started getting really bad. We need to stick together
more then ever this year. Help each other get through this."
At Willow and Buffy's looks of amazement, he threw up his
hands. "What, I can't be mature?" he said, earning giggles from the
girls.
"Certainly not your past self talking," Willow teased.
Xander gasped with mock hurt. "You've wounded me!" he pouted,
clasping a hand over his heart.
Buffy smiled at the two. It seemed for every two steps forward,
they took one back. That meant they were still getting somewhere,
though. Just a step at a time.
Title: Back Track
Author: Nebula
Chapter: 9 of ?
Pairings: B/S, X/A, W/T
Rating: PG-13, possibly R later on
Time Period: Post 'Get it Done' to ...?
Summary: In the midst of war, Buffy finds she's not the only one
that wishes the last year would just make itself all better. It
can't be done, unfortunately. Or can it?
Disclaimer: Who wants to guess what I'm about to say? ~_^ Joss
said I could write, so I'm gonna write, dammit! LOL Of course,
none of the characters are mine. They all belong to Joss.
NN: The song used is "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" from
Disney's 'Hercules'. I don't own that, either. ^_^
< --- >
More dirt...it was everywhere. Surrounding her, swallowing
her...then it was pulling her down as she fought to get out of the
coffin.
She looked up and saw a flash of blonde hair. "Spike!" she
choked, reaching out to him. "Help me! Please!"
"Why?" she heard him say, unable to see his face. "I don't love
you. Go ahead and die. Do you think I care or somethin'? Well, I
sure as hell don't."
She stared at him, shocked, as it pulled her down again. She
tried to fight it, desperately trying to reach for Spike. But he
was leaving, leaving her again...she screamed as the dirt pulled her
down to the dark abyss...
Buffy sat up, not registering where she was. That's right, she
was home. She was safe. No one was pulling her down.
Her eyes turned to the window, wondering if she should. Should
she go to him? Things were finalized between them, she realized.
There would be no more conversations late in the night. No
patrolling together. No friendship. No one to run to when things
went bad.
She pulled her robe on and hurried downstairs before her eyes
caught something shiny, and she tried to do something...stupid.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and paused, looking around.
Heaven could wait, couldn't it? It wasn't going anywhere. Right?
Maybe that's what she was afraid of, she suddenly thought. If she
didn't catch her train now, she'd never get there. And Spike in the
dream...that had been odd.
That led her back to what she'd been thinking about before. Why
she felt so bad about what she'd done to Spike. She'd forgiven
herself, right? Forgive and forget. Yet she still held on to those
memories with a bitter taste, as if something wasn't right.
Her eyes widened as she realized that only half of the equation
was complete. She'd forgiven herself, but Spike never had. Oh,
he'd been friendly enough, and said it was all right, but he'd never
said the words. He hadn't forgiven her for what she'd done.
NOW she knew why he wouldn't get involved with her again. Tears
ran down her face as she thought of it from his point of view.
She'd hurt him once before; she would just do it again. No wonder
he'd kept his distance.
A hand on her shoulder caused her to whip around. Giles stood,
his gaze watery. "I'm so sorry, Buffy," he murmured. "I should've
been here. I should never have left." He wrapped his arms around
her and buried her in his warm embrace.
Buffy returned the hug, not wanting to let go. Here was the Giles
she'd missed so much, and needed wisdom from. Here was the Giles
she knew and loved.
Buffy sat at the kitchen table as Giles brought them both a cup of
tea. She smiled at him as he took a seat next to her. "I take it
I'm not the only night owl," she said, the warmth of the tea cup
filtering through her hands.
Giles chuckled. "I do tend to stay up later than I should most
nights. I didn't realize you did as well."
"Not all of the time. I usually sleep just fine."
Giles gave her a knowing look. "Nightmares?" he asked, his voice
soft.
Buffy paused, before nodding slowly. "I get the same nightmare
all the time," she admitted. "Me being pulled down into the grave,
trapped, and fighting for my life." She took a sip of tea and
turned to her Watcher. "They've been getting worse. But I've been
okay with them, so far."
"Spike's been helping." At Buffy's stunned face, he smiled
ruefully. "I may be old, Buffy, but I'm not ignorant. I saw you
both the other night. Since then, however, you've done nothing but
avoid each other. I want to help you in any way I can, but you need
to trust me, and tell me what's been going on."
Buffy bit her lip, weighing her options. She could tell Giles
most of it, and leave the Spike issue out. She wasn't sure if that
was her past or future self on that one.
But she'd come back to fix things. So she took a deep breath and
plunged in. She told him about her mixed feelings for the vampire,
and his feelings for her. Their talks, their argument in the
cemetery, and their final conversation in the training room.
When she'd finished, Giles sat back, closing his slightly open
mouth. "I..." He shook himself and tried again. "I had no idea.
Do the others know about this?"
"Obviously Spike knows. Will and Xan know, too." Buffy cringed,
feeling guilty now for not having told him sooner.
Sensing her emotions, Giles took her hand in his. "You did the
right thing," he encouraged, giving her hand a reassuring
squeeze. "You had every reason to think I would get upset."
"Are you?" Buffy asked tentatively.
Giles sighed. "Yes and no. My first reaction is, it's Spike. A
vampire, not to be trusted. But you trust him, and I trust your
judgment. You're a grown woman. It's time for you to make choices
of your own."
"You'll help when I get stupid, though, right?"
Giles chuckled. "Indeed. And all the times in between. I'll be
here for you when you need me."
Buffy fought back tears of happiness. She'd done the right
thing. It had been easier then she'd thought it would be. Giles
took a sip of tea before facing his charge once more.
"I will admit," he said, "that when I saw him comforting you after
a nightmare that night, I was of the mind to dash in and rip the two
of you apart."
"Thank you for not doing so," Buffy replied, giving him a look.
"I was upset that you hadn't told us about the two of you, and
your nightmares. I do understand why you did it now, as much as I
may dislike it." He gave her a smile and continued. "Buffy, don't
be afraid to come to any of us if you need our help, whether it be
fighting or listening. We'll be here, I promise you."
Buffy wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. She was overjoyed
at the way this had turned out. "I know," she said, laughter
tumbling out as she hugged him. "And I'm here for you guys, at all
hours, twenty-four seven. You know that, right?" she asked, pulling
away slightly.
Giles nodded. "I've always known that."
Buffy grinned. "Just double checking," she chirped happily,
before returning to his embrace.
A sweet aroma wafted into Willow's room, causing her to smile.
Smelled like pancakes. Yum.
She threw on her robe when she noticed Tara was gone and headed
downstairs. On the way, she met up with Buffy.
"You okay?" she asked, at the serious look on her friend's face.
The look vanished, replaced with a grin. "Couldn't be better. I
talked to Giles last night."
Willow could feel a grin growing on her face as well. "I take it
everything's sun-shiney then?"
"Yup, the shiniest it's been in a long time."
The two shared a happy smile, before Dawn came rushing out of her
room. "Ooh, pancakes!" she beamed, taking the stairs two at a
time. "I get the hot ones!"
"Hey! Save some for us!" Willow said, hurrying down after her.
She could hear Buffy giggling behind her as she met up with the
others who were gathered in the kitchen.
"You looked happy sleeping, so I let you stay asleep," Tara said,
manning the griddle.
Willow blushed. "Thanks, sweetie. Need any help?"
"Nope, it's all good." Tara flashed her a smile and turned back
to her task.
Willow took a seat next to Giles, gazing at her girlfriend
happily. She still couldn't believe she was with Tara again. Every
time she woke up, she had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't
dreaming.
A familiar tune caught her ear, and both her and Buffy turned to
see Tara whistling as she worked. "That's a pretty song," Dawn
said, reaching for the plates. "What is it?"
Tara stopped and shrugged. "I'm not sure. It just sort of came
to me this morning. I feel so happy, like I'm under a spell." She
winked at Willow and said, "I should say, under someone's spell."
Normally, Willow would've blushed at such a mention of their
relationship. But Willow wasn't feeling any embarrassment at the
moment. She was horrified. She glanced up at Buffy, who had the
same look on her face. This could only mean one thing.
Sweet had come to town.
By the time they'd gotten to the shop, they'd all sung a song
concerning breakfast, and everyone else had figured out that
something was up.
Xander and Anya were waiting for them. "We just burst into song
this morning! It was very entertaining," Anya said, straightening
out the register.
"We did too," Tara said, closing the door behind them. "That
isn't normal."
Giles shook his head and headed for the books. "No, I believe it
may be a demon. A singing, dancing demon. Though I'm not even
sure if one exists."
While the others conversed on the subject, Willow and Buffy hauled
Xander into the training room. "You did this!" Buffy hissed at him.
"What? No! Okay, I'm not that stupid to have done something like
this twice. Give me some credit."
"Then if you didn't, who did?" Willow asked.
Buffy shook her head. "Let's see if we can find that necklace.
I've been with Dawn a lot, so I don't think she's been stealing.
I'd know if she was."
Thoughts still rolling in their heads, they walked back into the
shop, to find the gang at the table, books stacked high.
Willow frowned. If only she could remember what book they'd found
the information on Sweet in...
She headed over to the stacks and placed her right hand above
them. "What are you doing?" Tara asked, frowning slightly.
"It's like a search tool for the Net, only one for books." Willow
closed her eyes and concentrated. "Seeking a demon that harvests
the power to sing and dance, and influence the others around it to
act the same."
A red book floated out of the mess and flopped open to a page near
the end. Willow took the book and smiled. "Here it is. His name
is Sweet, summoned by a..."
"Hold on," Anya interrupted. "How do you know there aren't
multiple demons?"
"The spell would've found them all. Not just one. If it only
discovered one, that's all there is. Lucky us!" she grinned.
Tara still frowned but said nothing.
"As I was saying, Sweet is summoned by a necklace with a pendant
hanging from it. It looks like a crystal." She held up the book
for everyone to see.
Giles and Anya exchanged glances. "Oh dear," Giles mumbled, as
Anya raced for the jewelry section of the shop.
"You've seen it?" Xander asked.
Giles nodded. "We unpacked it at Halloween. One of the few boxes
you and Spike didn't bring up."
"Great, just great," Xander muttered under his breath.
Anya walked back, a grimace on her face. "It's gone. I must've
sold it."
"Can you check the books and see who?" Willow asked hopefully.
Anya nodded. "Gimme a second, and I'll see what I can do."
Ten minutes later, they heard a triumphant yell from the
register. "Found it! Sold to a Thomas E. Baker."
"A guy?" Buffy asked, frowning.
Giles glanced at her. "Why?"
Buffy's eyes widened. Oops. "Uh, it says here in the book," she
said, taking the book from Willow, "that whoever is in possession of
the pendant will summon the demon. Sweet arranged it this way so
that whoever wore it would become his bride." Buffy made a
face. "And I don't think he likes guys that way. At least, I hope
not," she cringed. Okay Buffy, stop the train before it hits the
station.
"Ah," Giles said, scrunching his face up as he understood what she
was striving at. "Oh."
"That's not a pretty picture, Buff," Xander said, wanting to bang
his head against the table to get rid of the image.
"Yeah, especially when you see a picture of this guy," Willow
said, then looked sheepish as everyone turned to stare at
her. "Okay, pulling the zipper, mouth is closing." She made a
small gesture of her mouth being zipped up and sat down next to Tara.
"So...what are we going to do about it?" Buffy asked.
Silence. Xander sighed. "I guess we just watch out for this guy,
right?"
Buffy nodded. "I guess. I mean, we'll eventually find him and
send him packing. There's really nothing more we can do about it."
After teaching Dawn, Buffy left her sister in the training room
and headed back into the shop. Dawn was at least talking to her,
but it was still short and cold. She sighed. It would be awhile
until Dawn forgave her for the Steven thing.
Speaking of Steven...she had a date tonight. She found Tara,
Willow, and Anya busy in the shop. "Where's the guys?" she asked.
"Xander and Giles are downstairs," Willow offered. "I don't know
where Spike..."
"That's fine," Buffy replied shortly, setting her water bottle
down on the table.
"...is," Willow finished, sighing. "Buffy, I don't know what's
going on between you two, but shouldn't you talk to him about it?"
"We did. End of discussion."
Anya rolled her eyes. "Oh for crying out loud, I know what your
problem is: you're in love with him, and just won't admit it."
Buffy's eyes widened. "What?! No!"
Tara giggled. "It's kinda obvious."
Buffy shook her head rapidly. "Nuh uh. Not happening. I don't
fall in love with vampires. Did that before, and we all remember
how well THAT ended." She turned away from the others, frowning.
Maybe they were right...
"If there's a prize for rotten judgment," she said, or rather,
sang. She cringed. Damn. Now she'd undoubtedly admit
something... "I guess I've already won that. No man is worth the
aggravation..."
She could've sworn she'd heard a flare of trumpets. "That's
ancient history; been there, done that!"
From behind her, Tara, Willow, and Anya joined in the
song. "Who'd ya think you're kiddin', he's the Earth and heaven to
you. Try to keep it hidden, honey we can see right through ya.
Girl ya can't conceal it, we know how ya feel and who you're
thinkin' of..."
"No chance! No way, I won't say it, no, no," Buffy sang, turning
to them and shaking her head.
"You swoon, you sigh, why deny, uh oh!" they sang right back at
her.
"It's too cliché, I won't say I'm in love..." Buffy sighed,
sitting at the table, looking miserable. The others gathered around
her, singing hushed soprano.
"I thought my heart had learned its lesson...it feels so good when
you start out. My head is screaming, 'Get a grip, girl!'" She
stood up quickly, causing the others to jump back. "Unless
you're dyin' to cry your heart out," she sang bitterly, walking past
them.
"You keep on denyin', who you are and how you're feelin'. Baby,
we're not buyin', hun, we saw you hit the ceiling! Face it like a
grown-up, when you gonna own up that you got, got, got it bad?" The
trio chorused, each woman singing a 'got' by themselves, then
returning for the last words.
Buffy stared at them, desperately trying to convince herself and
them that she wasn't a rotten liar. She wasn't in love with him!
Was she? Her thoughts drifted back to how'd he'd been there for her
in the future. How much she found herself missing him, wishing she
could be with him. A smile tugged at her face at the thoughts of
him, but she kept on singing. "No chance! No way, I won't say it,
no, no."
The trio grinned and headed her way. Her resolve was breaking,
and they knew it. "Give up! Give in!" they sang, as Willow took an
extra step towards her friend. "Check the grin, you're in love!"
the redhead sang solo.
The smile disappeared. "This scene won't play! I won't say I'm
in..."
"You're doin' flips, read our lips: You're in..."
"Love!" they sang together, as Buffy headed for the bean bag
chairs near the window. She couldn't do this! Fall in love again.
But something told her she'd already fallen in love.
"You're way off base, I won't say it," she sang, the others
falling into step behind her. She whirled around suddenly, her eyes
blazing. "Get off my case! I won't say it..." She plopped down in
the bean bag, the anger melting. Oh, who was she kidding.
The others took a seat on the floor next to her, offering her
smiles. "Girl don't be proud, it's okay, you're in love," they
said, as Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Oh...at least out loud," she sang, a smile blooming on her
face. "I won't say I'm in...love..."
There was an orchestra playing a final chord to her song
somewhere, Buffy figured, as the others grinned at her. "Told you,"
Willow teased, happy for her friend.
Buffy's smile faltered as she thought back to Spike and how he'd
been so angry at her. How he'd just walked away from her at the
house that night. How he'd told her he didn't want her.
She jumped out of the bean bag and grabbed her purse. "Where are
you going?" Anya asked, frowning.
"To get ready for my date," Buffy mumbled, hurrying out the door.