Adult-FanFiction.org : Buffy

One Clear Shot	By : QueenB Category: AtS/BtVS Crossovers > Het - Male/Female > Angel(us)/Buffy > Angel(us)/Buffy Views: 11736 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Oz handed Angel the ring. “That’s the Gem of Amara. You should hang onto it; you’re gonna need it for the future. Oh, and Buffy says Spike’s on the way so watch out for that. But he’s not the vampire you have to worry about. He’s traveling with this freak called Marcus…”
__________
There was a knock at the door and Buffy smiled knowingly at the other holiday revelers. “I think that’s the package I’ve been expecting,” she said.
Spike stood shivering in the doorway. His frame was scrawny to the point of emaciation and his cheeks were even more sunken than usual with bluish shadows under his eyes. As he stood trembling under the blanket shielding him from the sun’s rays, he demanded of the cool blonde Slayer staring at him, “Help me.”
Buffy shoved him so that he went stumbling back from the door. “Oi! What part of ‘help me’ do you not understand?”
“The part where I help you,” she replied sweetly. Out of sight, behind the door, she silently motioned for Giles to hand her a stake.
“Come on! I’m parboiling out here.”
“I can help with that.” In a blur of movement he never saw, the stake flashed out and he was dust seconds later. As the blanket drifted to the ground, Buffy kicked it to the side and beamed back at Giles. “Thanks, Watcherman.” She raised her voice and called out to the others. “Who wants marshmallows in the sweet potatoes?”
__________
“Willow, I know you’re hurting about Oz. But casting a spell to get him back is NOT the answer. If you use magic every time your feelings land in an emotional ditch, you are going to be in serious trouble one day.”
Buffy shuffled closer to the red-eyed girl sitting on her campus bed and stroked her shoulder. “You can always talk to me, you know. That’s the great thing about being college roomies and bestest girlfriends. I’ll listen, you’ll pour your wicca heart out and we’ll pig out on strawberry ice cream until your innie becomes an outie.”
Willow wiped her eyes on the Kleenex Buffy handed her and blew her nose. “It’s just that it hurts so much. I don’t want to deal with all this pain. And I know being mopey Willow is getting on everybody’s nerves.”
“You’re not getting on my nerves. Don’t listen to what anybody else says. Now let’s go get that Ben & Jerry’s.”
__________
The other Englishman gave Rupert Giles a piercing look out of shrewd, narrowed eyes. “When you went to the loo, I slipped a small pellet of poison in your drink. You’ll be dead in an hour.” He watched the horrified look on Giles face and burst out laughing. “Just kidding!”
Giles laughed in response, gulped down the last of his drink and grimaced. “I’m gonna feel like hell in the morning.”
The other sorcerer raised his glass. “Relax. Enjoy the night. We’re just a couple of sorcerers. The night is still our time. Time of magic.”
Giles raised his glass in a return toast. “To magic.”
__________
The next morning, the sorcerer gaped in outrage as he stared in the mirror. Somehow his spell to turn his old pal Ripper into a Fyarl had backfired. Instead the horrible visage of the horned demon was staring him in the face. The next moment, the motel door flew open and a number of armed military men stormed in and leveled their guns at him. Rupert Giles stood behind them wearing an infuriating smirk on his face.
“Sorry about this, old boy,” Giles emphasized the words with a happy grin. “I knew what you were up to so I switched the drinks when your back was turned. I hope you’ll enjoy your new home. The U.S. government may not give you the best treatment but I understand the accommodations should be stellar.”
The Fyarl that was formerly Ethan Rayne bellowed and lunged for him. The next moment he was hit by blasts from several tazers. His oversized grotesque body jerked in the fiery onslaught and he fell unconscious to the floor.
Riley Finn and his men wrapped the creature up as best they could in the body bag they’d brought with them. The tall Iowan glanced doubtfully at the burden and asked Giles, “Won’t the people here get suspicious about a bunch of military guys carrying what is so obviously a body out of here in broad daylight?”
“You’ll find the people of Sunnydale remarkably blind when it comes to the strange and unusual in their midst. Tell them he’s a victim of a virulent disease; that should be sufficient to ward off the curious.”
The man nodded and eyed the strange Englishman speculatively. He’d tried again and again to get Buffy to go out with him but she’d been firm in her refusals. She had some odd relationship with this man that he couldn’t quite fathom. They were more than friends but weren’t lovers; he was certain of that. However, she hadn’t been more forthcoming than that. She told him she knew about his secret but that was as far as things went. It seemed that she and her friends knew quite a lot of things about this place that might prove invaluable in the future.
She certainly was dead-on about that stuff the Initiative has been putting in my food. Without the constant drugs in his system, Riley had felt dazed and shaky. The withdrawal had been awful. But her group had stood by and him and, thanks to them, he was definitely on the mend. Now if only he could convince the members of his team about their good intentions…
__________
Faith wandered down the hospital hallway. Things were really quiet--too quiet. Shouldn’t the halls be filled with casualties from the Mayor’s attack? Why did everybody look so cheerful, so damned, stupidly happy?
“Hey, if it isn’t everybody’s favorite psycho Slayer out for a stroll. Hi, Faith. I brought you flowers.”
She swung around, tensing for battle, and then relaxed. It was only Xander and he was holding what looked like a bunch of…pink roses? “What the fuck? Are you…what is this? What’s going on?”
“Oh right. You’re kinda out of the loopy what with the coma and all. So here’s the edited version of events. Mayor Wilkins turned into a huge snake. Buffy kicked its ass. The world was saved. We partied. How about you? All rested up?” He thrust the flowers towards her with a smarmy grin. She wanted to throw her fist through his face; let’s see how well he laughed then.
“I’m five by five, donut boy. No apocalypse then, huh?” She was casually edging around to his left, trying to get to the stairs.
Xander matched her move for move still casually holding the flowers as if he’d forgotten about them. “Sorry. We rescheduled the apocalypse. But look on the bright side. We’ve still got pizza and nachos. Of course, we’ve still got boy bands, too. But you gotta take the rough with the smooth.”
“Well, it’s been a blast catching up with ya but I’ve got things to do. Tell Buffy--in fact, don’t tell Buffy anything. I’ll deliver the news personally.” She lunged towards him only to be caught in an iron grip from behind.
“Faith. I got the message that you might be up and about. Good to see the coma hasn’t changed you.”
“Angel?” She darted a glance outside. It was broad daylight and the vampire was standing in a shaft of sunlight from the door. How was that possible?
Before she could figure it out or twist out of his grasp, Xander pulled out the miniature tazer he’d hidden in the bouquet and held it to her mid-section. She stiffened and twitched violently as the current shot through her system and then slumped in the vampire’s grasp.
“You think you’ll be able to handle her until you get to L.A.?”
“Yeah. I’ve got the drug Giles used to render Buffy helpless during her Cruciamentum mixed in with a strong sedative.” Angel pulled a syringe from his pocket and carefully injected the unconscious Slayer with it. “She’ll have ordinary strength for several hours. That oughta be enough time for me to get her there.”
“What if this doesn’t work? I mean, what if she doesn’t want to go straight? Buffy told us things got really hairy in L.A. before she decided to play her own role in a women’s prison movie.”
Angel hefted the girl in his arms and stared solemnly at the man in front of him. “Buffy said Faith becomes a better person in the future. We have to trust her judgment…and we have to trust Faith. She’s gotten nothing but bad breaks, Xander. She deserves a second chance. Buffy wants her to have that.”
“Guess she would.” The two men eyed each other for a bit before Xander stepped back, breaking the mood. “Well, since Faith won’t be wanting these flowers, maybe you could have ‘em. Hope you like pink.” He tossed the bouquet to Angel. The vampire caught them deftly and smirked at Xander.
“Why, thanks, Harris. But you shouldn’t have. You’re really not my type.” Throwing the bouquet into a nearby waste disposal unit, he walked out with his burden leaving behind a scowling Scooby.
__________
Willow lurked near the science lab and fell in step beside the short brunette who came out. “Hey, Jonathan! How are things?”
The young man yelped, jumped a foot in the air and dropped all his books. “Geez, you scared me!” He stooped to pick up his books and then did a double take, staring at the woman standing over him. “Willow? Willow Rosenberg? Y-you’re talking to me?”
“Sure. Why not?” She gathered up the rest of his things and favored him with a brilliant smile. “Jonathan, it occurs to me that we never talk any more.”
“Actually, we’ve never talked. Not unless you’re counting the time you were hitting on me in the library or interrogating me about the swim team.”
“Oh, those were…totally about other things, I mean, freak Sunnydale High things. And I wasn’t hitting on you. I thought you were going to kill…” She pulled herself up short with a gesture of impatience. “You know what? That’s all in the past. Let’s start off fresh. So…how’re you doing?” she finished awkwardly. Didn’t anybody ever tell him that stripes going up and down instead of side to side would make him look taller? Focus, Willow! God, how do you talk to a nerd? It can’t be that hard. I used to be a nerd and Buffy talked to me all the time.
“Okay, I guess. Look, if this is some kind of sick joke to get all your friends to laugh at me…”
“No, Jonathan. No joke. It’s just…I understand you’re into magic.” Oh, that was smooth intro, Rosenberg, in no way awkward.
The expression on the short man’s face became that of a deer caught in the headlights. “M-m-magic? No, no magic. Why would I dabble in magic? I’m a science nerd not a gaming wizard. That’s strictly for the Lord of the Rings geeks; they hang out with the chess club mostly.”
“Jonathan, you don’t have to lie to me about it. It’s just that I have friends who get it about the magic mojo and they’d really like to get to know you better. Wouldn’t it be nice to have real friends instead of made-up ones?” She eyed him as he squirmed under her meaningful stare.
The dwarfish man’s eyes darted in all directions as if searching for escape. His squeaky voice wobbled out of control. “Uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Made-up friends? Like I said, I’m not into the whole fantasy thing.”
“Oh, I think you are. I think you’d think it’d be really neat to cast a spell to make you, say, the most popular person in the world. Am I right?” The sweet smile accompanying her words did nothing to hide the somber warning in her green eyes.
“Uh, uh, uh.” Jonathan’s complexion had turned positively pasty. He looked as if he was going to swallow his tongue or pass out on the ground.
“Calm down, Jon boy. I’m not turning you in to the cops or anything. It’s not like I could say, ‘I’ve got a rogue wizard on my hands. Book ‘im!’ “ She giggled at his relieved expression and then sobered. “But Jonathan, you have to listen to me. Magic is nothing to be fooled around with or used for personal gain. I know what I’m talking about here. My friends want to help and we’d like you in with us.”
“R-really? You’d--they’d be okay with me joining you guys?” The pathetic gratitude in his eyes made her cringe but she understood the feeling behind it. And, if bringing Jonathan into the fold kept him out of trouble and prevented an early death, then she was more than fine with it.
“Yeah, no sweat. And you can keep an eye out for us. See if there are other people in the school misusing magic, trying to conjure demons, that kind of deal. Think you’re up for that?”
“Yeah! Yeah, no problem. See, since I’m small and everybody thinks of me as a dweeb, they don’t really pay attention to me. I just blend into the background and I hear all sorts of things because nobody notices me. Like the other day…” He glanced around in a conspiratorial manner and shuffled closer to Willow. Lowering his voice dramatically, he whispered, “I heard this rumor that Cordelia’s dad lost all his money because of some tax evasion and she’s totally broke. Can you believe it?”
Really? So that’s what happened to her! I wondered where she’d got to after graduation. Storing the information away for future reference--or ammunition--she smiled encouragingly at the dwarfish guy. “That’s nice, Jonathan, although it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. But keep up the good work.”
He grinned and scampered off, struggling not to drop any more books and papers. She shook her head slightly. Maybe it was a mistake bringing the junior nerd into the fold. But Jonathan could be one of the good guys; she’d bet her lucky charms on it.
__________
Buffy folded her arms and stared Travers coldly in the face. “Screw your review.”
The elderly man raised his eyebrows in a small gesture of surprise. “Pardon?”
“We know about Glory. She’s a god, she’s trying to get back to her own dimension, and she’s got this whole brainsucking dealie going on. Blah blah blippity blah. See? We’ve got all the skinny and we don’t need you for that. Sorry to have had you waste a trip. So if you don’t have some cool mystical weapon I can use to chop her head off or spell to undo her magic, you can pack up your tea things and leave.”
She leaned forward onto the table and stared down the older Englishman. “See, I get it now. It’s about power. I’ve got it. You don’t. The Watchers Council needs Slayers. Otherwise, you’re just a bunch of tea-swilling, uptight losers watching Masterpiece Theater. So here’s the deal. If you do come up with anything new about Glory, you’ll tell me. Rupert Giles gets to stay here and help me as my active Watcher and you’ll pay him for the job.”
“Retroactively,” Giles coughed discreetly behind his hand.
“Retroactively from the month he was fired. You give me the help; I stomp the bad guys. You don’t give me the help, I stomp the bad guys anyway. Do we have a deal?”
There was a long silence from the assorted company as all eyes turned to where Travers sat. Finally he murmured, “Your terms are acceptable.”
She nodded sharply. “I think this discussion is over. I have patrolling to do. You can talk to Giles about any notes you’ve got.” She turned and strode out the Magic Box door and resisted the urge to slam it behind her.
A familiar figure detached itself from the shadows. “How did it go?” Angel whispered.
In spite of his traditional black duster and dark attire, she easily picked him out of the darkness. “Piece of cake. Piece of cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles on top. Any luck sniffing out Glory?”
“No. You still can’t remember who it is?”
She huffed in exasperation. “No. It’s like I told you. I memorized everything I could from my diary about the next three years. But when I got back to the here and now, her human identity was completely stripped from my mind. All I can remember now is that our hellgod wears designer clothes and a mortal body and hangs out near the hospital. Whatever magic she’s using to cloak herself still works and I can’t latch onto it no matter how I try. It slips through my mind like memory noodles.” She sighed and wound her arms around Angel. “Don’t sweat it, Angel. We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m not worried for myself.” As the days wore on, he became more and more terrified at the thought of her impending death. He knew she was worried about it, too, although she hid it under a mask of chipper, rambling conversation. His beloved put up a brave front but he knew her too well.
She was becoming more aggressive on patrol and taking greater refuge in her training. Such immersion into the physical part of Slaying was always her typical retreat from expressing her feelings. After witnessing a needlessly violent attack on a Mar’nox demon, he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her back. “Okay, Buffy, I think it’s dead. You can let go now.”
She glared at him through slightly unfocused eyes. Then she blinked and awareness seemed to come back to her. She jumped up from where she lay in the demon’s scattered limbs and sticky, greenish blood and grimaced. “Ugh. Demon ick. I hate this stuff; you can never get it out.”
She strode on ahead and he ran in front to cut her off. “Buffy, I think we need to talk.”
“About what?” She halted and he could see the swift flash of fear in her eyes. No matter how often he reassured her, she seemed to believe that every moment of conversation was going to lead to a breakup.
“It’s about you. You’re getting too aggressive. You need to take things a little easy.”
“Easy? EASY? Angel, what part of insane hellgod do you not get? Weren’t you there at the meeting? Maybe we should have had Wesley take more notes.”
“I’m not talking about Glory. I’m talking about you. You’re pushing yourself too hard. If you place too much of a strain on yourself or get injured because you’re taking foolish risks, you’re not going to be any good to anybody…especially her.”
His voice lowered on the last syllable and she knew whom he meant. They were always careful never to say Dawn’s name out loud in public. Many demons had sharp hearing and there was no need to tip any of them off.
“Speaking of which…how are things going there?” Buffy continued scanning the area for possible activity even as she tried to steer him away from the dreaded topic of her death.
“Fine. Don’t change the subject.” He stopped her forward movement by catching her arm and forcing her to look him in the eye. “What’s with you? Something is; don’t deny it.”
“Noth…” Biting her lip, she stared at the ground for a moment before looking up again. “I-It’s the future. What if, in spite of everything, I face Glory and I die again? My friends aren’t going to bring me back. I’ve made them all promise not to try especially Willow. But…I’m just worried about what might happen afterwards. That future me had such problems to deal with and if I die then I’ll be leaving all that on everybody else’s shoulders.
“What if I’m being selfish or suicidal in wanting to stay dead? What if bringing me back was the right thing to do in terms of world saveage? What if…?”
Angel wrapped his arms around her and listened to her rambling questions spin themselves out. When she was finished, he smirked slightly in face of her fears. “Wow. You really needed to talk, didn’t you?”
She glared and then snorted. Yeah, it did seem as if she did. “No putting anything over on you, huh? I guess I have been bothered by it…that future me. How she seemed so lost, depressed--not to mention whiny as all get out. I just don’t understand what happened to her and her friends. Where was my support group when I really needed them?”
“Maybe that world wasn’t real, Buffy. Did you ever think of that?”
“Then how do you explain the Initiative and everything else I told you guys about? They all happened so it wasn’t just lies and fairydust sprinkled in my eyes.”
“Not events per se. I mean a possible timeline. Maybe what you saw was a kind of warning. You know there’s more to being a Slayer than mere physical strength and combat skill. Perhaps it was a vision, one telling you just how bad things could get if you let go of your friends…or if they let go of you.”
“Or if you let go of me,” she whispered.
Ah, so that’s where the problem lay. He tilted her chin up so she could see the sincerity in her eyes. “Buffy, íf I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. I’ve only loved one woman in 245 years. That won’t change. I’ll always love you.”
“Even if I’m covered in slime?” she gently teased and then held up one greasy greenish hand.
“What slime?” he replied. He pulled her into the shadow of a crypt and the next few moments had very little to do with actual conversation.
__________
After letting her come up for air, Angel suddenly recalled another clue about the hellgod. “Didn’t you say Glory hung out with these diseased-looking trolls?”
“That’s right. Only we haven’t been able to spot any.”
His eyes narrowed until they became one shadowed unreadable spot of darkness. “I’ll pay a call to Willy. He’s bound to have seen or heard something. If I can get wind of these creatures, I’ll follow one of them back to Glory’s lair.”
“You won’t try taking her on, will you, Angel? According to my diary she pretty much reduced Spike to vampire kibble.”
“I won’t. I’ll let you know what I find.” Pressing another ardent kiss to her lips, he left her to continue patrolling alone.
__________
“Hi. I’m April. Have you seen Warren?” The pretty brown-haired female approached Angel even as he began winding his way through the crowd.
“Leave me alone. I’ve got business,” he growled, pushing past her. He had his sights on Dr. Williams. Willy had come up dry and there had been many a night of fruitless patrolling. But finally he lucked out. He had witnessed the man’s angry exchange with one of the diseased hobbits Buffy had mentioned and was certain this was his target.
Unfortunately, he nudged April just a bit too hard and her ever-present smile vanished. “Hey! You can’t treat me like that!” She grabbed his arm and spun him around. His eyes widened at the strength of her grip and he stared down at the diminutive little woman who had him in such a tight hold. “You know where Warren is, don’t you? Why won’t you tell me?!”
“Listen, I don’t know any Warren. Now let go.” Other people had gathered around to witness the exchange including Buffy and her friends. Dr. Williams had drifted out of sight and he was going to lose him. He tried to break free from this woman’s tenacious grasp.
“TELL ME WHERE HE IS!” she shrieked as she picked him up by the lapels and threw him through the window. He flew onto the lawn and watched as Buffy came up to the woman and tried talking to her. With the same ease with which she’d handled him, he saw his beloved thrown several feet across the floor.
The girl’s smile switched back on and she blithely announced that she was going to look for Warren now. Angel climbed back through the window as Buffy reached out her hand to steady him. “Angel. Are you all right?”
“Still charming the ladies, huh, Deadboy? What did you say to get her so steamed?”
“Nothing, Harris,” he groused at the other man. He turned to his beloved. “Buffy, there was a man--”
“Angel, that girl--” she said at the same time.
“Right. You go after her; I’ll go after him.”
“Gotcha. See ya later.” She stretched up on her toes and kissed him.
“Be careful. That girl packs a punch.” He squeezed her hand and watched as she disappeared after the super strong female.
__________
Dr. Williams walked to his car. Buffy had been polite but decided in turning down his latest offer of coffee. Over the months that her mother had been coming in for MRIs, he’d gotten to appreciate seeing her at the hospital. In spite of Glory’s frequent unscheduled interruptions into his existence, he’d managed to make a living and carve out a niche for himself around his divine sister’s intrusive lifestyle. He’d even been holding out for the hope of human passion. Buffy had seemed like a perfect choice with her winning smile, blondish hair, fragile human beauty and witty conversation.
However, she never really let him get close to her. She was sweet but distant, a distance he wished he could break through. He never saw her with a boyfriend--in the daytime anyway. He was tall, brunette and was considered reasonably handsome according to the current American standards of beauty, at least judging by the attention he got from human females. Why wouldn’t she give him a chance?
Now it seemed as if his efforts would be for naught. They had found the aneurysm the Summers woman had insisted was there and part of him regretted it. Some invasive therapy and she would be as good as new. That meant that Buffy wouldn’t be showing at the hospital any longer. He was obviously never going to get another chance with her. He fumbled for his car keys and sighed at the lost opportunity for romance.
“Dr. Williams?”
He started and dropped his keys. A tall, solemn stranger he hadn’t seen had appeared from nowhere to stand beside his car. “Uh, yes. C-can I help you?” Ben bent to retrieve the keys and glanced around. The parking lot was practically deserted and there was no cover for several yards in any direction. Where had this man come from and how had he appeared so silently?
The man watched him for a moment before speaking again. “I’d like to talk to you about Glory.”
Ben paled and backed up until he bumped into his car door. “Glory? H-how…I don’t know any Glory.”
It was a little but it was enough. Dr. Williams knew about Glory; that much was certain in his accelerated heartbeat and the sudden stink of fear that bloomed like a rash all over his skin. This man was human but there was a smell on him, a smell that hinted to Angel of something other that wasn’t of this world. There was also an electric buzz, warning of ancient, dark magicks, that began to coalesce in the air. The change was coming, triggered by this man’s agitation, and Angel knew he had scant seconds to make up his mind and act.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Without warning his hands shot out, grabbed Ben’s head and twisted it sharply to the side. There was a sharp ‘crack!’ and it was over. The bare beginnings of surprise appeared on the mortal’s face for a split second before the eyes dulled in death and his body dropped to the parking lot tarmac.
There had been a brief blurring of his face, a moment when the eyes had flickered from brown to green, and Angel knew this had been the right choice. But his human soul howled at the taking of an innocent life even though he knew he’d saved his dear Buffy by doing so. Drawing in a breath he no longer needed, he hefted the body over his shoulder and disappeared into the darkness.
__________
Giles leaned over the pot, seasoning the spaghetti sauce to taste. He lowered the spoon when he heard the rapping on his door. “Coming!” He had been waiting impatiently for Buffy to check in after patrol. In s of of her promises to do so every night until the Glory threat was eliminated, she occasionally forgot, a fact that irritated him no end. However, he pulled open the door to encounter the last person he expected. “Angel?”
The vampire didn’t come in, his shoulders slumped as if he were bearing an intolerable load, and the Watcher’s heart stopped in his chest before beginning to pound frantically. “What is it? What’s happened?”
“I-I…” His voice failed him momentarily. Then Angel shook it off. “I found Glory.”
“Really? That’s fantastic news! Do come in.” He frowned as the souled vampire made no move to cross the threshold. “That is good news, isn’t it?”
“I did something tonight, Giles. Something I didn’t want to do and…I have to go away for a while. I can’t be around anybody. I can’t be around Buffy. I don’t want her to know, not yet. I’ll be in L.A. Just make my excuses, will you?”
“I must certainly will not--not without knowing what this pertains to. You gave me spectacular news a moment ago and now you’re simply going to leave? I think I deserve an explanation.”
The vampire’s jaw twitched but no other expression appeared on his face. Giles opened the door wider and got a better look at him.
At first, there seemed to be no change in the vampire’s appearance. But there was a thick heavy smell about him that Giles was all too familiar with from his many nights standing over Buffy while waiting for a fledgling to arise from a new grave. He stank of freshly turned earth, his hands were filthy and his shoes were covered in…mud?
“Angel. What have you done?”
Suddenly the vampire cast his head up and sniffed the air. “She’s coming, Giles. I can smell her. I can’t let her see me like this; she’ll know something’s wrong.” He turned his head towards Giles and the Watcher was taken aback by the wild, desperate pleading in his eyes. He hadn’t seen Angel look like this since that fateful Christmas when the First had haunted him.
“All right. But the Glory threat--”
“--has been eliminated. Don’t worry about it. You can tell Buffy that. I’ll let her know the rest when I can.” The vampire melted away into the shadows so imperceptibly the Watcher blinked. One moment Angel was there; the next he had vanished.
He had been gone for only a moment before Buffy came running up the walkway. She halted when she saw Giles standing motionless in the doorway. “Giles. There you are. Were you waiting for me? I told you I’d check in.”
“Ah. Yes, yes. I-I was expecting you and thought I’d greet you at the door. How was patrol?”
“Pretty hairy. There aren’t that many vamps but the demons are getting bigger and uglier. Think they’re coming here for Glory’s going away party?” She seated herself on one of the stools and sniffed appreciatively at the aroma of oregano and thyme wafting from the simmering pot.
He walked over and lowered the heat so it wouldn’t burn. Keeping his back to Buffy allowed him to formulate a convincing pretense in being worried about Glory. “Perhaps. Although, since she is merely trying to quit this dimension and not exactly taking on followers to do so, it’s difficult to see what they’d gain from making an appearance now. She isn’t offering power, wealth, riches, world domination…”
“…or free rides to Disneyland. You’re right. No mega demon perks here. Guess they’re just hoping for some attending end-of-the-world related carnage.”
She started as she remembered the major news. “Oh! I almost forgot. I took care of that April ‘bot Warren cooked up. I’d almost forgotten about her because she was so not important when dealing with a god but she came to the UC Sunnydale dorm and threw Angel through a window. I managed to find Warren on my own. That saved some time. But he still got into an argument with his girlfriend Katrina. I ran after her and caught April before she gave Katrina what she gave me.
“Then we got into this real knockdown, drag-out fight and her batteries ran down. She just stopped working with this idiotic smile plastered on her face because that Warren jerk wouldn’t let her cry. I mean, he made her growl and scowl but no tears because ‘tears are blackmail.’ Bastard.” The very thought made Buffy angry.
“Buffy. I’m not certain why you’re so upset. She was just a foolish, lonely little boy’s plaything. She wasn’t real nor human.”
“I know that, Giles! It’s just…I was prepared to feel sorry for him, you know? I thought ‘he’ll turn out to be this pathetic loser who can’t get himself a date so he makes himself one.’ And that’s exactly what he was except he did manage to get himself a girlfriend.” She paused while she thought of how Warren had spoken to his girlfriend Katrina. “He didn’t treat her so well, either, now that I remember it. And he kills her in the future. I’m going to have to warn her about that somehow,” she muttered to herself.
“So what has you so upset is that you realize that Warren doesn’t know how to behave with women. Real or simulated, he treats them all badly without even allowing them the benefit of grief merely to spare his feelings and provide a sop to his ego. Perhaps this strikes a far too personal note, hmmm?” He raised an eyebrow and they both knew what he meant.
She blushed as she recalled Parker. She hadn’t slept with him this time around but had mentioned the incident in passing as a kind of joke. Mercifully, he had never teased her about it and, even now, he sounded more rueful than chiding.
“Wow, that said it so much better than I did.” She sank onto her Watcher’s couch and sighed heavily. “I know Warren hasn’t done anything yet. But he’s going to kill Katrina because he’s your basic abusive louse of a boyfriend. I don’t think I can reform him like Jonathan or Faith. What should I do?”
The taller Englishman sat on the stool beside her and leaned on the counter as he attempted to advise her. “Buffy, ultimately the urge for redemption lies within the individual. All you can do is reach out and point the way. You’ve seen much of the future and will save many lives because of it. You may even save Warren’s. However, it will be by his choice not your mere intervention. Perhaps letting Warren know, discreetly of course, that he’s being watched and that illegal activity on his part will not be tolerated may be enough to keep him from performing any crimes.”
“I hope so. Maybe we should be on the lookout so he doesn’t gather together a new band of ubergeeks.” Buffy decided that she’d had enough excitement for one night and got up to leave.
Belatedly, Giles remembered Angel’s news. If he said anything to Buffy about Angel, she would insist on seeing him and the vampire needed time to get away. However, she might be going to see him anyway. Buffy and Angel never said anything to him but he was certain they spent time together at night. He searched for a topic to keep her with him just a little longer. “Buffy, have you ever thought about binding Angel’s soul?”
That got her attention, all right. Her eyes widened and lit on his face with shock in their hazel depths. “W-what? Angel’s soul? What are you saying, Giles?”
“I believe there may be a spell that can seal his soul to his body so that it cannot be lost by anything less than sorcerous means. S-surely that would be the best and safest thing for everyone in the long run.”
Hope and fear alike burgeoned on her face as she struggled for something to say. “You think it’s possible? I mean…that would be fantastic! On the scale of one to twelve of news bearing goodness, that definitely rates a fifteen.” The next moment the light died out of her eyes and she began chewing her lip in thought.
“What is it? I thought you’d find this thrilling news.”
“Y-yeah. I guess. But we’re knee-deep in this Glory mess. Do we really have time to spare on personal Angel business? It’s not like his soul is going anywhere.”
“Yes, you’re quite right. I just thought this was something you’d want to know.”
“It is. It really is. Yay Giles with the knowingness.” She gave him a swift hug. “I’m glad. This is really good of you, Giles. I-I know you and Angel aren’t…” Her voice trailed away uncomfortably.
Jenny Calendar’s death wasn’t a topic either of them ever brought up for discussion. Not for the first time, she wondered how he could stand being around the demon that had murdered his girlfriend in cold blood.
Giles is a good man. I’m never letting things get so bad that I ever forget that. Having made this silent promise, she stepped back and darted a quick peek into his face.
He knew what she was thinking about; as always, his English reserve refused to touch on the subject. Instead he resumed their earlier theme of conversation as if the uncomfortable pause hadn’t occurred. “So we’ll shelve Angel’s soul for the moment and concentrate on Glory. But afterwards…”
“Afterwards.” She hesitated, now caught up in a different train of thought. “Where should we start looking? Do you have those kind of books here? Maybe we should get in touch with Wesley in L.A.”
He had to smile at her renewed burst of enthusiasm. “I fully intend to start looking although there may be books at the Magic Box that can provide more in-depth knowledge about the subject.”
“Hey, how about the books we liberated from the high school library before it went kablammo? Angel’s got most of them at his place here in Sunnydale. I’ll just go and talk to him…” She headed towards the door and he shouted after her in alarm.
“No! That is, I don’t think you should disturb him about this, Buffy.”
“Why not? He’s going to want to be disturbed because this is good disturbance. This is people jumping out of the dark yelling ‘Surprise!’ disturby. Why shouldn’t he know?”
“Because I only came up with the idea this moment, Buffy. I don’t even know if such a spell exists. Don’t you think we should find out for certain before getting his hopes up?” He held his breath and, after a slight hesitation, she bought his excuse.
“Oh. Guess you’re right about that. No raising of the hopes for Angel. If we failed he’d become Depresso Boy and nobody wants to see that.”
“Most assuredly not. Angel at his normally gloomy is quite enough,” Giles responded. He and his Slayer shared a moment of private amusement at her boyfriend’s melancholic demeanor. Then he showed her to the door. “Please keep in mind what I said. You’ll keep this from Angel?”
She nodded and smiled at him. “Absolutely, Giles. I can keep a secret. But he might guess something’s up so I’ll skip hanging out with him. This is gonna be hard to keep under wraps, though.” Her face lit up as she got a brilliant thought. “Can we get the gang in on this? Willow might be able to find out a juicy spell. She is the one who got with the soul-restory deal.”
“That would be a fine suggestion except that Willow can’t keep a secret. You know that as well as I do.”
Oh yeah. She’d been witness to many of Willow’s rambling attempts to stumble through unconvincing lies. Anya could do better than the redhead if it came down to it. “Okay. No spilling to the wiccan. But this is big, Giles. This is girlfriend big. This is the sort of thing gal pals are supposed to share. She’ll be all pouty and upset that I didn’t tell her.”
“We shall try all available resources between the two of us. If we can’t come up with something, then we’ll call the rest of our friends in on this.” He noted the still, pensive expression on her face. “Buffy? Is everything all right?”
“It was just what you said just now. ‘Our friends.’ I can’t believe the future me gave that up. That woman was such a dope.”
The Watcher couldn’t help chiding her. “You could never be that. That woman was merely angry, frustrated, deeply unhappy and--”
“--and a dope. Unhappy is one thing. Boinking the evil undead ranks down there with sticking your hands inside whirling blenders.” Shuddering at the awful memories of her future self’s diary writings, she stepped into the dark. “Let me know when you want to start on that soul thing, Giles,” she called back.
He shut the door after her and sighed. Now that he’d mentioned this to Buffy, he knew she wouldn’t let it go. At least he’d kept her from Angel for the time being. But now he really would have to look up a soulbinding spell.
And sooner or later he’d have to let her know about Glory’s demise. Naturally, she’d be angry with him and furious at Angel. Well, the vampire would probably come in for the greater share of Buffy’s anger. He couldn’t help but smile at the idea of Angel facing down a wrathful Slayer. He wouldn’t want to be in the souled vampire’s shoes when she learned the truth.
Chuckling dryly to himself, he went back to his pot of sauce.

TBC
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One Clear Shot