Home Before Dark - Part Eleven
by Debbie Nockels
COPYRIGHT: March 2002
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters from BTVS or ANGEL. They're owned by Joss Whedon (who needs to treat them nicer), MutantEnemy, Kuzui, Sandollar, David Greenwalt, the WB, UPN, Fox, etc.
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"I've had it!" Glaring at Spike, Buffy grabbed her jacket from the chair she'd placed it on and stalked out of the back room of the bar. It had been a long, long day. A long week, actually; one that began with her attempt to audit some classes at UC Sunnydale (which wasn't going well even before time began going all warp speed on her), then went on to the Incredible Disappearing Demons that wrecked a construction site (and her job along with it) before proceeding to today's equally disastrous afternoon spent working at the Magic Box. But this - this was the absolute end!
Spike cast one longing glance at the kittens she'd freed, most of which were under various pieces of furniture hiding from the demons trying to grab them, then followed her into the front room. "What's wrong, luv?"
"What's wrong?" she repeated. "Oh, nothing, except this was the perfect sucky conclusion to a sucky day - no, make that a sucky week! You were supposed to help me! You were going to . . . beat heads and, and fix my life. But you're completely lame. And just look at me! Look at Stupid Buffy!" Angrily she thrust an arm into the jacket. "Too dumb for college, and, and, and Freak Buffy - too strong for construction work."
The jacket was pulled up over her shoulders. "And my job at the Magic Box? I was bored to tears even before the hour that wouldn't end! Then instead of helping Giles research whatever turned my afternoon into a 'Groundhog Day' clone, I chose to go check out seedy bars with a . . . a neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker. The only smart thing I did was not join you in your whiskey-guzzling."
Spike looked embarrassed. "Oh, you saw the cheating, did you?"
"Also? I think you're drunk!" Buffy whirled around and stormed outside. Spike looked after her with an expression of frustration. After a moment he threw up his hands in exasperation and went after her. "Whoa!" He stopped barely in time to avoid running into her. "Thought you were leaving."
Buffy was standing in the street, arms crossed, staring at something down the road. "That van."
Spike followed her gaze to a black van parked at the sidewalk. He looked at Buffy. "You wanna steal a van, I'm with you, luv, but we have got the motorcycle, remember?" He gestured behind them.
Buffy shook her head, eyes still focused on the van. "I've seen it before - at the construction site the other day, right after those demons attacked and just before I got fired because no one but me saw the demons because I killed them too fast." She took a couple of steps. Spike frowned as he studied the vehicle, trying to remember if he'd noticed it around before. Suddenly a large demon jumped into view from behind it, making a growling noise at them. It was tall, with red skin, curved horns and wings, and was clothed in only a white loincloth.
Spike examined it curiously. What the hell kind of demon was that? It was nothing he'd ever seen before. The demon's mouth opened and he prepared to grab Buffy and run if started spouting flame or something equally destructive. Instead -
"Rrrarr!" The roar was definitely less than impressive, Spike thought critically; kind of puny, in fact. "You have discovered me!" The demon put its hands on its hips in a would-be swaggering pose. To Spike's mind it looked more like a kid playing at being a swashbuckling pirate.
"But do not try to defeat me," the demon went on, "for I have been testing you and I know your weaknesses. Ha ha ha!" The van's engine suddenly started up, surprising the demon. It looked over as the vehicle drove off, turning the corner with a squeal of tires. The demon hesitated, as if considering whether to go after it, then turned its attention back to them just as Buffy attacked. With a loud gasp it ducked away barely in time to avoid her fist, but her second blow landed - a kick square in its groin.
It doubled over in pain, whimpering. "Ooh! Ohhh!"
"Who are you?" Buffy demanded, grabbing the demon by one arm. "Why are you messing with my life?" She shook it. Spike came closer, just in case she should need assistance.
"I am well struck!" the demon gasped in a quavering voice. "Ooh, ow! I call on the . . . misty portal to my demon dimension . . . where I will lay my head and gently . . . die." On the last words its voice broke again and it threw something to the ground.
A shower of sparks exploded upward, followed by a cloud of heavy, dark smoke. Buffy got the brunt of it. Spike, not as close and also not being someone who breathed, escaped the worst but still his eyes stung from the acrid fumes. Not so much, however, that he didn't spy the demon making its getaway at an awkward, hunched-over run. Grabbing Buffy by the arm, he hauled her, choking and with eyes streaming, into fresh air well out of range of the smoke.
"What happened?" she asked hoarsely as soon as she could speak. "Where'd all the smoke come from? Did it blow up or something?" She blotted her eyes with her sleeve.
"Smoke bomb," Spike said tersely.
Buffy stopped in mid-cough. "Smoke bomb? I thought it said it was escaping into its misty demon dimension, or something." Another cough, then a throat-clearing.
"That's what it said, all right," he agreed, "but what it did was run around that corner there."
Buffy turned to look. "The corner the van also went around."
"Right." As one they broke into a run and turned the corner just in time to see the the black van taking off down the street. There was no sign of the demon.
"Hmm." Buffy pursed her lips, watching the taillights recede into the distance. "Did anything about that demon strike you as . . . odd?"
He snorted. "What wasn't odd about it? I've seen some pathetic demons in my time but that one takes the blue ribbon. And where the hell did it come from? One minute, empty street with Mystery-mobile, then poof! There's a bloody demon standing there. Something off about that, pet. What kind of demon hangs out in a bloody stupid van like that one?"
"Good questions." Buffy turned on her heel and began walking away. "I think Giles might be interested in finding out the answers." Spike fell in beside her, saying, "Much as I'd love to spend the rest of the night with you, luv, that doesn't include your Watcher. Not that a menage a trois wouldn't be fun, mind you, just not one that involves that stuffy Brit."
Buffy shot him a look. "In your dreams, Spike."
"Every night, luv," he replied easily. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. You're horney as hell, Slayer - I can see it in your eyes. And who else is there that can scratch your itch? Xander? Nah, he's too wrapped up in his little demonette. Rupert?"
"Ew!" Buffy made a face. "Don't be disgusting."
"Exactly," he nodded as if he'd made a point. "What with him being a father-figure to you and all, that's kind of incestuous, isn't it? And we all know Peaches is out of the question, thanks to that anti-happiness bit in his curse. So I figure that leaves only me. And you know what that old song says - if you can't be with the one you love then love the one you're with. So here I am, offering myself as a substitute."
"Very generous of you," Buffy said drily. "I'll pass, thanks."
Spike shrugged. "Your loss, pet. If you change your mind let me know. See ya around." Without another word he veered down a side street. After a moment he glanced over his shoulder. Buffy was nowhere to be seen but his vampire hearing detected her footsteps, heading away from him. Tightening his lips, he continued on his way.
<><><><><><><><><>
"I'm sorry I couldn't find any information on that demon." Giles stood in the doorway to her bedroom, looking apologetic.
"That's okay." Buffy was lying on her bed, as she had been since she'd returned and told Giles about this latest demon encounter. Depressed, she mumbled, "I'm really screwing up, Giles."
"What? Come on." Giles sat down beside her. "You were being tested . . . er . . . sequentially, by some unknown demon. I don't call that screwing up."
Buffy shook her head. Rolling over on her back, she clasped a pillow to her chest and stared at the ceiling. "No, it completely is. I let the demon set the rules."
"Go easy on yourself, will you?" Giles gently chided. "I mean, you don't have to figure the whole thing out at once, you know - job, demon, and everything. You're pushing yourself too hard."
Her head turned; her eyes looked at him owlishly over the pillow. "The nice people at the phone company? They seem to think it's not hard enough."
Giles coughed. "Well, maybe there's something I can do about that." He took a piece of paper from his pocket. "This is, um . . . I . . . "
Buffy waited, curious. He was turning the folded paper over and over, stammering, not looking at her. Then he held it out. "It's for you."
Automatically she took it, and realized what it was. "A check?" Sitting up, she unfolded it and looked at the amount. She was stunned. "This is, is too much. I can't take it."
Giles shrugged. "Well, tear it up then." He reached for it. Yanking it out of his reach, Buffy said, "No! I was just being polite." She gave him a sheepish smile. "I'm taking the money."
Giles leaned on his arm and grinned. Buffy took another look at the check. "This is . . . this is great. This is more than great." Feeling his hand on her shoulder she looked up at him. "I don't . . . really know how to say this -" Her voice sank almost to a whisper. " - but it's a little like having Mom back."
Giles got a quizzical look on his face. "In this scenario, I'm your mother?"
"Want to be my shiftless, absentee father instead?" she asked lightly, in keeping with the tone he'd set.
A faint, sympathetic smile indicated he understood the bitterness behind her words, then he frowned thoughtfully. "Is there some sort of, uh . . . rakish uncle?"
" 'Fraid not." Buffy smiled too, then turned serious. "I'm just saying - thank you. So much." She stood up. "I'm going to show this to Dawn. She loves it when things get easy." Before going out the door, she paused and looked back at Giles. "I - I just want to say that . . . this makes me feel . . . secure. Safe. Not the check - though that's a really big help and I can't thank you enough for it - but having you here, Giles. I know that I have to learn how to . . . to be the grownup in the family now that Mom's gone."
She blinked away involuntary tears. "I know I can't expect you to do all the things she used to do, like worrying about the bills, and I know that I shouldn't lean on you too much. But . . . if you could help . . . just for a while . . . give me a little time to kind of . . . ease into it. . . ." Her voice trailed away.
Giles got up and went over to her, stricken by the pleading look in her eyes. He cleared his throat, but even so his voice was husky. "Of course I will. Good lord, it's only been two weeks since you . . . came back. You need time to adjust. I understand that - all of us do, and we all want to help. We will help, Buffy, until you're on your feet again."
"Thank you," she whispered. They hugged, and for a moment Buffy rested her head against his chest, closed her eyes, and pretended that all was right with the world - that there was no mysterious and unknown Someone or Something playing mind games with her; that the bills were all paid and there was money in the bank acount; that Giles would always be there for her, strong, reassuring and caring - all the things her true father wasn't anymore - and that any time she wanted she could walk a few blocks and find Angel home at the mansion, or waiting for her to join him on patrol, instead of having to be content with phone calls and occasional visits.
Then she sighed and stepped back. "Thank you," she repeated. Waving the check, she added, "I'll go tell Dawn the good news now."
"Good idea," Giles agreed. As she moved to go, his hand tightened on her shoulder, stopping her. "Buffy - " He paused; she looked at him, waiting. " - I know that it, it must be . . . difficult . . . painful . . . to remember what you, you went through . . . before Willow's spell rescued you - but I - I'm not sure that keeping it bottled up inside you the way you are is a good thing."
Buffy had to look away from the concern in his face. He went on. "If, if talking about the hell dimension - what happened there - if it will help at all . . . I hope you know that you can come to me. You do know that, right?"
"I know." She flashed him a quick, brittle smile. "But there's nothing to talk about, Giles. It was the usual stuff - torment, suffering, you know the gig - and anyway it's all kinda melted into one big blur now. Thanks, though." She patted his arm, turned and was gone, down the hall to Dawn's bedroom. Giles gazed after her with a disturbed frown, then turned and walked slowly down the stairs.
<><><><><><><><><>
"Why didn't you tell him the truth?" Angel asked.
Buffy sighed and curled her legs under her, making herself more comfortable. It was close to midnight; she and Angel had been talking on the phone for half an hour. "I can't," she finally said. "You didn't hear him after he got here, the way he tore into Willow for using dangerous magics to bring me back. He was furious with her, Angel. If he knew I wasn't in hell after all, that I'd really been . . . elsewhere . . . I'm afraid he'd never forgive her."
There was a moment of silence. "Giles called me earlier this evening," Angel said. "He wanted to know if you'd told me anything about the hell dimension he thinks you were in."
She bolted upright. "What? You mean he went behind my back?" She couldn't believe Giles would do something that underhanded.
"No! It wasn't like that," Angel assured her. "When I said that you'd told me some things he was very relieved and wanted to know if I thought talking about it had helped. He didn't ask for details of what you'd said, Buffy."
"Oh." Buffy slowly settled back against the pillows again. "So what did you tell him?"
"Basically that I thought you were getting over the trauma of everything - leaving 'everything' conveniently vague - but it would take more time and we just needed to be patient and not pressure you."
"Thanks."
"My pleasure." She could hear the smile in his voice, and smiled too. "So how has your week been?" she asked.
"Slow as far as work is concerned," he replied.
"No clients?"
"One," he told her, "but it turned out that his wife was having an affair with the demon, not that she'd been kidnapped by it. Didn't even take us twenty-four hours to figure it out."
"So what part of it wasn't slow?" Buffy wanted to know. There was a pause. Then - "Cordelia and I had a talk," he told her. "About what happened last spring with Darla."
"You mean your epiphany?"
"No," he said in a hurry. "She doesn't know about that - I mean, how it happened. They don't know that I slept with her and I don't want them to know. They - they wouldn't understand."
"I'm not going to spill the beans," Buffy said mildly. "So then your talk was about you getting obsessed with Darla."
"Yes." She heard a rustling sound, as if he'd changed position - perhaps sliding down lower or sitting up higher in the bed to get more comfortable. A moment later he continued, "We talked for a long time, and at the end she . . . she apologized."
Buffy had to smile at the wonder in his voice. "Not like the old Cordy, is it? What did she apologize for?"
"For not being there for me when I needed help." It sounded like he was quoting. "And for not trying harder to understand what was happening."
"Well, granted I don't know a whole lot about what went on then, but from the little I have heard I'd say an apology was called for," Buffy remarked. "They're supposed to be your friends, Angel. Real friends don't accept that things are fine when they're obviously not. They try to understand what's going on."
"Real friends also don't fire their friends," was Angel's comeback.
"They might," Buffy countered, "under certain circumstances, like dangerous ones." Of course Angel couldn't accept that without more argument, but his rebuttals were fairly mild and it was clear to her that this talk with Cordelia had changed his views about the dark events last spring - at least a little. She was surprised and pleased that Cordy had obviously laid out in detail exactly what she was apologizing for, and why. She was also glad when Angel told her he too had apologized, for shutting them out the way he'd done. There had been blame on both sides, in her opinion.
Angel changed the subject. "Have you found out anything about this mysteryious demon - or the black van?"
"Zip, so far," she sighed. "But Giles is working on it, so I'm sure something will turn up, sooner or later."
"Let me know if we can help," he told her.
"I will," Buffy promised. A sudden, loud yawn took her by surprise. "Oh! Sorry 'bout that."
"You're tired. I guess I should let you get to bed," he said reluctantly.
"Yeah," she sighed, with equal regret. "I'm pretty much done in."
He said softly, "I love you, Buffy, and I miss you. I wish I could be there to kiss you goodnight."
"Me too," she whispered. "All of it."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
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