Chapter Eleven

Tuesday again. One week since Giles and Jenny had died. Xander walked alongside Buffy in the quiet cemetery. There hadn’t been a whole lot of activity from the vampire gang since Wednesday, although every morning since, Buffy had read the homicide column of the crime section of the paper with even more intensity than usual. Her finger would glide down the page as she read, until it froze in one place, and Buffy would softly say, “This one. This one was Giles.”

He wasn’t sure how she did it. He wasn’t even entirely sure if she was right, although he’d come to trust her instincts on icky things implicitly. Still, whether she was right or not, the killings were always brutal ones and her apparent obsession with ferreting them out was worrisome.

Right now, though, the night was still and quiet. It was a silence that extended even between them. He knew that with the arm thing, he wasn’t a whole lot of help to her right now. In fact, he was probably more of a burden than anything, someone she’d have to worry about while fighting. But really, that wasn’t much different than the way things usually are, and the thought of letting her out here on her own troubled him more than the thought of being a distraction.

On Saturday, Joyce had begun to make gentle jokes about adopting him into the family, in fact, because of the amount of time he was spending at their place. He’d felt really dirty for it, but he’d finally resorted to hinting that maybe his home life was responsible for his current condition, and since then, there’d been less pointed jokes and more chocolate chip cookies, so maybe it wasn’t an entirely bad thing. And, anyway, his house really wasn’t the place to go for sympathy and understanding.

Buffy sighed softly beside him, and he glanced over at her. She was walking with her arms crossed over her chest, a stake in one hand, her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. Like she had for the past week, she looked tired, run down.

“How’re we doing, Buff? ‘We,’ of course, being the medical ‘we.’”

She smiled a bit without looking at him and said, “We’re doing not too bad. Medically.”

“Well. Good.”

There silence again... until they rounded the corner and stumbled over the body. Literally. Buffy grabbed his shoulder before he could skillfully plow face first into the grass, and she hauled them both back a few steps.

Xander could swear his heart stopped in his chest when he looked up.

Jenny, lounging back against the side of the crypt, watching them with that hint of amusement in her eyes. Except for the cigarette dangling from her fingers, and that *outfit,* she looked pretty much like she always had.

“Wow, hey, I always suspected sluttiness was part of the whole vampire package, but *damn*... now I *know*.”

As the words escaped his lips, Xander seriously contemplated where, exactly, this death wish of his had come from.

“Xander!” Buffy hissed at him for good measure, obviously wondering exactly the same thing.

Jenny just dropped the cigarette and ground it out with her toe and said, “Xander, Xander, Xander. You never change, do you?”

“Apparently not,” he said, feeling, for a moment, real remorse, even as his heart rate increased and the stark terror began to take over. Beside him, Buffy was looking around, searching the darkness. Jenny was walking slowly towards them.

“Giles,” Buffy said, and Xander barely resisted the urge to yip in horror. And then he realized she was addressing the words to Jenny, “Is he with you?”

Jenny sniffed dismissively.

“Like I’d tell you. It’s so much better to leave you wondering whether or not I’ve got back up waiting in the wings.”

“Stay close,” Buffy said, inclining her head slightly in his direction, and she readied her stake, moving towards Jenny, tensed for battle.

Only, instead of attacking, Jenny just made a break for it. Buffy grabbed her arm and threw her into a nearby tombstone, darting after her, stake held high. Jenny blocked the downward sweep of Buffy’s arm and shoved her back, following her and grabbing Buffy’s stake arm, trying to disarm her.

As they tussled, Xander looked around the graveyard, watching for any sign of movement that might indicate Jenny wasn’t alone.

“Ha!” the sound of Jenny’s triumphant voice drew his attention back to the battle in a hurry. Buffy was reeling back to her feet near the crypt, clutching her head. Her stake was lying on the ground a few feet from Xander, and Jenny was approaching Buffy, who was looking extremely out of it.

Without even stopping to think, he grabbed the stake and charged Jenny.

She blocked his blow of course, but then she snarled at him and retreated. Xander hurried to Buffy’s side, wrapping his good arm around her.

“Hey. You ok?”

Buffy shook her head vaguely. “Don’t feel so-”

“Hey,” Jenny’s voice called, and he looked up. She was standing at a safe distance, grinning, “Buffy. Just thought you might want to know. Your boyfriend’s dust.”

And on that note, Jenny fled.

Xander looked over at Buffy, who was leaning heavily against him.

“Buffy?”

She moaned softly and passed out.

And that was how Xander ended up in the ER for the second time in a week. He munched a bag of peanuts from the vending machine and made up dialogue for the characters on the muted TV screen in the corner.

“Hey, weren’t you just in here?” one of the ER interns grinned at him.

Xander sighed, “Yup. You’d think they’d give, like, frequent patients discounts or something. Or maybe give us a nice lounge.”

The intern laughed, “Sure thing. Right after they give the *doctors* a nice lounge, maybe.”

He looked back up at the TV as the intern scurried off. Mulder and Scully were doing an autopsy on something gooey.

“Oh, Scully,” he muttered, in his best Mulder deadpan, as Mulder’s lips moved, “You are so sexy when you’re slimy. Make passionate love to me!!”

Scully looked faintly perturbed.

“Xander!”

Xander twisted around in his chair. Ah, the gang was all here. Willow, Oz, and Joyce were rushing in the door.

“Hey, guys.”

“What’s going on? Where is she?” Joyce asked, craning her neck to try to see around the various walls and curtains.

“They wouldn’t let me back there. She was sort of going in and out. Flu’s been going around.”

Joyce headed for the main desk, and Willow and Oz sat down next to him, immediately clasping hands.

“What is it, really?” Willow said, softly.

Xander ate a peanut, then said, “Flu, I think.”

“Oh. Ok. Good. I think.”

“Less research involved, anyway,” Oz pointed out. “Oh, hey. X-files.”

Xander contemplated his peanuts for a moment, then said, “We, uh, saw Jenny. Right before Buff went sleepy-time.”

”Oh?” Willow said, her voice a bit shaky.

“Yeah... she, uh, she said that Angel was... um. Dead.”

“What?” Willow was staring at him now. Oz raised one eyebrow just a bit.

“I mean, she could have been lying, but, you know, why would she?”

“To hurt Buffy, maybe?”

“I guess. But. I mean, unless Angel really is gone in some way, we’d probably run into him sooner or later, right?”

“But... Why would he be dead? I mean, he’s not stupid... it’s not like he’s gonna be, be trying to get a tan or something... how would he die?”

There was a moment of silence, then Oz looked away from the TV.

“Giles,” he said.

Xander and Willow both looked at him.

“Giles?” Willow said.

“Yeah. I mean, Giles was always an alpha-male kinda guy. He probably didn’t get along too well with Angel. Vampires... they’re like wolves. They have a hierarchy. Giles was a new member of their pack. He’d have to eventually challenge the established leader. Ergo, a duel with Angel. And, well, vampires are a violent bunch. They would fight to the death.”

“Which all makes sense except the Giles is an alpha male part. Giles? Hello, did we know the same tweedy librarian?”

Oz looked as inscrutable as always.

“A librarian whose real job is... was... controlling a Slayer and fighting demons. Trust me, Xander, the guy was no pushover.”

“Huh,” Xander said. Giles had never really struck him as the tough-guy type. Well, except that whole beating-up-Ethan-Rayne thing, but come on, that guy just inspired that. He noticed that Willow’s eyes had gone wide and tragic, that way they had that made her look like a Disney character.

“Does Buffy know?”

“Not sure,” Xander said. “She kinda did the unconsciousness thing right after, so, I’d say, fifty-fifty chance.”

“Oh. She’s... she’s not gonna take this too well.”

“Hey, come on now. This is a good thing. Remember? Soulless evil demon? Kills people? Including Giles? Right now, I’m thinking ‘Ding dong, the witch is dead...’ Um. Not that there’s anything wrong with witches in general.”

“An apt metaphor, considering that the more dangerous enemy is still out there,” Oz said, but Willow was still staring at Xander like he’d just declared that he’d converted to Satanism.

“Ok, I’m still having trouble with the Giles alpha-maleness hypothe- Holy shit.”

Giles. Oh god. Giles. Here. Crap. And wow, Jenny wasn’t the only one who’d changed her look. Giles was here and he was... he was heading for the receiving desk. Where Joyce was waiting in line. Oh God.

He really meant to say something intelligent and useful, like, “Joyce doesn’t know Giles is evil now, perhaps we should assist her.” Instead, what came out was, “What the heck is it with vampires and leather anyway?”

“She doesn’t know!” Willow whispered urgently, “We’ve gotta go over there!”

She and Oz stood up. Xander--tried.

“I can’t,” he said, his throat suddenly dry. “I--shit.”

Giles had come up alongside Joyce, and when she’d startled at his appearance, he’d laid a comforting hand on her arm and smiled a comforting Giles-smile and murmured something to her. Willow looked at Xander, concerned, and then glanced quickly back at Giles. For a moment, she seemed torn, then she grabbed Oz’s hand and they both crossed the waiting area towards receiving.

Great. Just great, Xander, he thought to himself. Very manly.

Yeah, well, they weren’t the ones Giles-the-evil-thing had been about to gut with a screwdriver. At that thought, his hand tightened slightly on the arm of the chair, slippery with sweat, and he pulled his slinged arm a little closer to his chest. He could feel his heart pounding.

Come on, he rallied himself. You’re in the middle of the ER. He’s not gonna do anything here. And if he does, you’ve got a nice little cross and some holy water in your jacket.

Willow and Oz had reached the line, and subtly inserted themselves between Giles and Joyce, no doubt trading clever jabs that all had no less than two possible meanings. It was the kind of thing he generally enjoyed. But right now, the idea of standing near that--thing, was just unbearable. Not to mention terrifying in a way he hadn’t even truly realized existed.

He’d always been the brave one. Brave, but, well, kinda dumb. But now, now the whole thing had been turned on its head, because no matter how much lip-service Willow paid to the to the fact that Giles was dead, and that was a demon, she, and Buffy, and Oz, and everyone else, they just didn’t quite get it. Not on the gut level that Xander did. For once, *he* was the one who understood exactly what they were facing, and it was a feeling that made him suddenly sympathize a whole lot more with the position Giles must have been in countless times during their acquaintance.

He *always* knew. He *always* understood exactly what it was that lurked in the dark. Damn, whoever said ignorance was bliss had no idea how right they were.

Giles always knew. But then, he also always did it anyway.

Xander took a long, deep breath, and before he could stop himself, he stood up and walked across the room.

“Hey, Xander,” Willow said, her voice light and filled with notes of admiration and relief and fear. He forced a smile, and then pushed his eyes up to meet Giles’s.

The vampire smiled slowly.

“Xander,” he said, with a slow nod.

“Giles,” he said, through his tight throat, then he let himself wimp out a bit and turned to Buffy’s mom, “Joyce. Hey.”

She looked tired and afraid, and he felt bad suddenly that they couldn’t tell her. The poor woman knew that something was going on with her daughter, but she didn’t know what, and probably every little thing that happened to Buffy was colored in her eyes with that fear of the unknown.

“Xander. You were with her? What happened?”

Xander shrugged a bit, trying to look nonchalant, and not quite getting it, cause all his internal alarms were screaming about the vampire standing just a foot or so away.

“Not sure. She just passed out for a second or two. I really think it’s that flu.”

The person ahead of them in line moved away, and Joyce stepped up to the counter, and the rest of them shifted forward to follow. In the shuffle, Xander felt the sleeve of Giles’s jacket brush against his arm and he shuddered, and then stepped away.

Joyce turned back to them after a brief conversation with the nurse.

“They said it’s the flu. Family only with her right now, though, I’m sorry. I’ll... I’ll let you know what room she’s in. Um. Xander, you’re welcome to stay at our place tonight, if you want.”

He had no intention of being *anywhere* except right by Buffy’s side tonight. Especially not with leather boy over there hanging around.

“Thanks. But. I think I’ll just stay here.”

Joyce looked surprised at this, but didn’t comment.

”Well, I’ll be back there with her.”

He nodded, and Joyce moved off into the back, following the nurse. He turned back to the group.

”What are you doing here, anyway?” he asked, feeling a bit braver now.

Giles smiled enigmatically.

“I was simply curious to see if I needed to worry about another Slayer being called.”

“Is it true?” Willow asked, suddenly. “About Angel?”

“That depends on what, exactly ‘it’ is. If ‘it’ means dead, then yes. He’s dead.”

“Why?” Willow asked, obviously also not quite buying Oz’s explanation.

“We had a slight... difference of opinion.”

“You killed him? You killed Angel? Killed? On purpose?” The concept seemed to be eluding Willow’s grasp.

Giles just smiled again, and turned and walked away.

“Ok. Ten points for Oz,” Xander said, still staring after him. “Would be twenty if you’d called the biker thing.”

“He killed Angel,” Willow said, her eyes doing that Disney thing again. Oz gently rubbed her shoulder.

previous | title page | next