Categories > TV > Buffy the Vampire Slayer > Returned to Active Duty
Chapter 5. - Where to now?
0 reviewsPost Chosen and Not Fade Away: As Willow's relationship with Kennedy rapidly disintegrates, Tara is resurrected by the Powers that Be. But, of course, things can never run smoothly in the Buffyverse
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Chapter 5. - Where to now?
Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg sat together on the couch, supposedly watching a DVD of some random generic romantic comedy. Buffy knew that she wasn't really paying attention; she was too busy worrying about her best friend. From the distracted expression on the redhead's face, Buffy was willing to bet that Willow wasn't paying attention either.
The phone jangled harshly over the swell of what was supposed to be romantic music from the TV, and both girls jumped in shock. The blond and the redhead glanced at each other somewhat shame-facedly. Together, they had faced down more apocalypses than they cared to count, and they could still be startled by something as mundane as an unexpected phone call.
Willow's lips began to tremble, and for a single terrible moment Buffy thought her friend was about to burst into tears. Then Willow began laughing. Buffy stared at Willow in shock for a second, then felt her own lips begin to twitch uncontrollably. Soon, both young women were laughing uproariously, and all the while the phone kept ringing.
Eventually, Buffy managed to mostly restrain herself, though Willow was still giggling uncontrollably through the hand she had clamped over her own mouth. Trying not to succumb to her own bout of the giggles, Buffy answered the phone. To her surprise, it was Giles.
She knew that Dawn had rang Giles the previous night to inform him of Willow's breakup and the fact that she was staying with the sisters in Rome, but Buffy hadn't expected such a rapid response from the man who was now the effective head of the Watcher's Council.
Buffy mouthed Giles' name to Willow, who managed to shout out a brief greeting in between giggles, and Buffy relayed Giles' warm reply.
"Buffy, I'm glad I managed to catch you. I was beginning to be afraid that I'd missed you."
"Nope, I'm stay at home Buffy today. Will and I were just trying to see if we could laugh ourselves out of our skins."
"Oh. Er, why exactly were you doing that?" Buffy could have sworn that she could actually hear Giles cleaning his glasses over the phone.
"Well, you know us young people and our fads. We'll try anything once."
"Yes, quite," replied Giles, obviously distracted by something. His voice trailed off into silence and Buffy waited impatiently for the man who had been her watcher, and a surrogate father, to continue.
After nearly a minute of mutual silence, Buffy finally snapped. "Did you actually ring for a reason, Giles? Or are you just running up a huge phone bill just because you can?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, I have some ... news." Giles' voice had adopted that all too common tone that he always adopted when announcing the latest threat to the world, and Buffy's blood ran cold. "I was going through some of the remnants of the old Council library, and I found some fragments of a ancient prophecy. One that seems to be coming true."
"Crap. That's never of the good."
Willow, picking up on plummeting of Buffy's good mood, stopped giggling all together, and her brow furrowed with concern.
"Yes, quite so," replied Giles.
Buffy squared her shoulders. "Okay, what is it this time? Vampires, demons, hell gods?" she asked, her tone all business now. "Or is Anya's worst fear coming true? Are bunnies taking over the world?" suggested Buffy, her words a quiet memorial for her late friend, lost in the final battle at Sunnydale.
"Unfortunately, no. I'm afraid the situation is more dire than anything we have previously faced before."
"Great," drawled Buffy, her voice positively dripping with sarcasm. "Evil just keeps upping the ante, doesn't it?"
"It certainly seems that way, doesn't it."
"Yeah. So come on, make with the details already. What am I dealing with this time?"
"Well, the prophecy deals with a particular slayer." Giles paused briefly, and Buffy guessed what his next words would be. "You, Buffy." She'd guessed right.
"So, what about me?"
"This prophecy says, loosely translated of course, that this slayer needs to call her friends more often, not just when the world is ending."
Buffy's jaw dropped in amazement, and she spent several moments flapping her mouth noiselessly in a quite decent impression of a beached goldfish. Willow could only stare at her friend in concern and wonder exactly what Giles had told Buffy.
"Giles ... did you just prank call me?" Buffy finally managed to ask faintly.
Willow's face immediately adopted a look of amazement similar to Buffy's own. The sound of hearty laughter came simultaneously from just outside the front door, and over the phone. Buffy leapt to her feet and charged at the door with a ferocious expression on her face. Yanking open the door with barely less than enough force to rip it off its hinges, Buffy found a rather shame-faced Giles, together with another, equally familiar figure.
"I'm terribly sorry, Buffy," apologized Giles in a rush, somewhat concerned by the slayer's furious appearance. He pointed an accusing finger at his partner in crime, who was still doubled over with laughter. "He made me do it!"
Xander Harris finally looked up, his familiar features creasing in a welcoming smile, not in the least put off by Buffy's thunderous face.
"Hey Buff! We got you!" he crowed happily. His cheerful demeanor rapidly vanished when the irate slayer seized him firmly by the ear and dragged him inside, yelping repeatedly in protest. Giles followed wordlessly after Buffy imperiously beckoned him to follow.
Releasing Xander's ear, Buffy stared at him with narrowed eyes as he stood up straight and gingerly rubbed at his ear. Xander stared back, his grin briefly making a return appearance before it wilted beneath the weight of Buffy's anger, and was replaced by a distinct mixture of guilt and apprehension.
Buffy broke the standoff by darting in, and enfolding the one-eyed carpenter in a spine bruising hug. She broke off the hug just as Xander began to over-theatrically gasp for breath, and jabbed him in the chest with a single pointed finger.
"God, it's good to see you, Xander," Buffy exclaimed, interrupting his objection before he could begin to make it. "And before you ask, you deserved that. Making me think there was another looming apocalypse, so not cool."
"Okay, first; Ow! Slayer strength, remember! Second; it was just so funny I couldn't resist. Third; Ow again." Buffy just shook her head in mock disgust, secretly glad to deal with Xander's quirks again, before turning to Giles. Her former watcher was still looking vaguely ashamed.
"And you! I thought the British had standards when it came to humor. Standards I neither agree with or understand, but still!"
"Yes, well. Have you had to sit next to Xander on an airplane for several hours after he has consumed far too much sugar for a human being to safely consume? I'm afraid he just overwhelmed my better judgment through sheer repetition."
"Oh," replied Buffy, her lips curving in a mischievous grin. "Something like this? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Buffy kept reciting the words like a chant, and Xander suddenly chimed in on the second iteration. All the while, Willow sat on the couch, trying unsuccessfully to control a fresh bout of giggles. Both Buffy and Xander continued in an unpractised harmony born of time and close association, and the Englishman hung his head and covered his eyes in despair.
----------
Several hours later, after their impromptu 'Survivors of Sunnyhell' reunion, the original core members of the scoobies sat around Buffy's dining room. Both Dawn and Andrew had joined them now, though in Andrew's case it was more because he had pouted terribly at the prospect of being let out rather than in any particular desire to include him.
"Guys, I'm kind of flattered that this is all for my benefit, but you didn't all have to fly here you know," offered Willow with a smile. "It's almost like you all thought I'd be depressed and suicidal-y just because Kennedy broke up with me, and it was just the anniversary of Tara's death, and sure I was depressed, 'cause who wouldn't be, but I would never do anything like that, I mean sure I did kinda go insane and try to destroy the world but .... I think I'll just shut up now." Her smile had now turned embarrassed, and a slight blush darkened her cheeks.
"Willow, none of us were worried that you would do yourself harm," replied Giles soothingly. "We all know that you're too strong a person to do anything like that. But we do all care for you, and as such we want to be here for you in such a moment of ..." Giles' voice trailed off as he sought vainly for a suitable adjective.
"Post breakup doldrums?" Xander offered, and Giles nodded reluctantly.
"Also, Dawn did mention that that you were somewhat at a loose end as to what to do with yourself now. We," Giles indicated all of the scoobies before continuing, even Andrew, who puffed up self importantly, "thought that perhaps we might be of some assistance."
"I think the G-man is saying that he wants to tell you what to do again," added Xander helpfully, earning a scowl from Giles, and grins from the others.
"That's not what I ..." protested the watcher. "And stop calling me that!" Xander only grinned.
"It's okay, Giles," replied Willow. "I know what you meant. I'd appreciate any help that any of you could give me."
"Well, I did have one suggestion."
"Oooh!" Dawn interrupted, leaping to her feet and flailing a slender arm wildly.
Buffy regarded her sister with amusement. "Dawn, you're not in high school any more. You don't have to raise your hand."
"I know that, Buffy," replied the younger Summers haughtily, then spoiling the effect somewhat by sticking out her tongue at Buffy. "How about somewhere in the Caribbean?"
"Why there, Dawnie?" Willow asked bemusedly.
"Umm, because it's pretty?" Dawn's voice trailed off into uncomfortable silence, as everyone else stared at her. "What?"
"It sounds good to me," added Xander. "I could go with you. I mean, I've already got the eye patch, so I'm halfway there with the whole pirate look. Plus, plenty of hotties in bikini's, right Will?"
Willow ignored Xander's rather unsubtle elbow jab, and shook her head.
"Dawn, I'm not going on vacation. I want to go somewhere that I can do some good."
"Once a scooby, always a scooby, huh?" said Buffy, hugging Willow warmly.
"Yes, well, if I could perhaps finish what I was saying without any further interruptions?" Giles ignored Dawn's exceptionally unladylike noise of disapproval. "I was going to suggest that Willow could perhaps look into a little mystery that has been concerning me for the past year or so."
"Ah! The game is afoot!" blurted Andrew, with what was supposed to be a knowing nod. Giles just sighed resignedly.
"So, what's the four-one-one?" Buffy asked. "What's the big mystery that's troubling your big brain?"
"Angel."
That one simple word was enough to silence all of them. The name of the vampire-with-a-soul, or at least one of them anyway, carried a heavy weight of memories and emotions for all of them. Except Andrew, who'd only really met the brooding vampire a handful of times.
"What about Angel?" Buffy asked flatly, her voice and body tight with suppressed emotion.
"We still don't know what happened to him, or to Spike, or any of the others who worked with him prior to his shift to Wolfram and Hart. Excepting Wesley, anyway." A brief shadow passed over Giles' face at the mention of the late former watcher who had once been his supposed replacement. "We know next to nothing about the events of that day, or what part Angel and his people had in them, only that something major happened to a large number of powerful factions in the demonic underground."
"And you just hate not knowing, don't you Giles?" quipped Xander.
"It's been a year, Giles. Do you even think they're still alive?" asked Willow, glancing at Buffy in concern. She knew full well that both of the ensouled vamps were a touchy subject for the blond slayer.
"That's just it, Willow. We don't know anything. If they are alive, they've dropped completely off the radar. And if they are dead, then we should have at least heard something."
"We abandoned them." Buffy's words were quiet and unemotional. On the surface at least. Who knew what powerful emotions were surging beneath her tightly wound exterior?
"Buffy ..."
"No, Giles. We did. We abandoned them. We didn't trust them, so we cut them out. And when whatever it was happened, they were alone. Because we didn't trust them."
"In all fairness, Buff," interrupted Xander. "They were running the LA branch of evil incorporated. How were we supposed to trust them?"
"I know, Xander. And I still think we did the right thing. It was my decision, remember. But it still hurts. And I have to know, one way or the other, what happened to them."
"We will, Buffy," declared Willow, slipping into her resolve-face. "I will."
Buffy took Willow's hand in her own and squeezed it comfortably. "Thanks, Will. Just promise me you'll be careful, okay? Anyone or anything caught up in this is pretty much guaranteed to be nasty."
"Oh, don't worry. Not feeling much love for the whole risk taking thing right about now. Or, you know, ever."
"You'll be perfectly well protected, Willow. You can be sure of that." Giles added firmly.
"Besides," interjected Xander. "If you run into any trouble, you can magically whup it's butt."
"Yeah. After all, you kicked Buffy's ass, remember?" Dawn said, directing a smirk at her sister.
"Are you ever going to stop rubbing that in my face?" Buffy demanded with an answering frown.
"Nope!"
Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg sat together on the couch, supposedly watching a DVD of some random generic romantic comedy. Buffy knew that she wasn't really paying attention; she was too busy worrying about her best friend. From the distracted expression on the redhead's face, Buffy was willing to bet that Willow wasn't paying attention either.
The phone jangled harshly over the swell of what was supposed to be romantic music from the TV, and both girls jumped in shock. The blond and the redhead glanced at each other somewhat shame-facedly. Together, they had faced down more apocalypses than they cared to count, and they could still be startled by something as mundane as an unexpected phone call.
Willow's lips began to tremble, and for a single terrible moment Buffy thought her friend was about to burst into tears. Then Willow began laughing. Buffy stared at Willow in shock for a second, then felt her own lips begin to twitch uncontrollably. Soon, both young women were laughing uproariously, and all the while the phone kept ringing.
Eventually, Buffy managed to mostly restrain herself, though Willow was still giggling uncontrollably through the hand she had clamped over her own mouth. Trying not to succumb to her own bout of the giggles, Buffy answered the phone. To her surprise, it was Giles.
She knew that Dawn had rang Giles the previous night to inform him of Willow's breakup and the fact that she was staying with the sisters in Rome, but Buffy hadn't expected such a rapid response from the man who was now the effective head of the Watcher's Council.
Buffy mouthed Giles' name to Willow, who managed to shout out a brief greeting in between giggles, and Buffy relayed Giles' warm reply.
"Buffy, I'm glad I managed to catch you. I was beginning to be afraid that I'd missed you."
"Nope, I'm stay at home Buffy today. Will and I were just trying to see if we could laugh ourselves out of our skins."
"Oh. Er, why exactly were you doing that?" Buffy could have sworn that she could actually hear Giles cleaning his glasses over the phone.
"Well, you know us young people and our fads. We'll try anything once."
"Yes, quite," replied Giles, obviously distracted by something. His voice trailed off into silence and Buffy waited impatiently for the man who had been her watcher, and a surrogate father, to continue.
After nearly a minute of mutual silence, Buffy finally snapped. "Did you actually ring for a reason, Giles? Or are you just running up a huge phone bill just because you can?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, I have some ... news." Giles' voice had adopted that all too common tone that he always adopted when announcing the latest threat to the world, and Buffy's blood ran cold. "I was going through some of the remnants of the old Council library, and I found some fragments of a ancient prophecy. One that seems to be coming true."
"Crap. That's never of the good."
Willow, picking up on plummeting of Buffy's good mood, stopped giggling all together, and her brow furrowed with concern.
"Yes, quite so," replied Giles.
Buffy squared her shoulders. "Okay, what is it this time? Vampires, demons, hell gods?" she asked, her tone all business now. "Or is Anya's worst fear coming true? Are bunnies taking over the world?" suggested Buffy, her words a quiet memorial for her late friend, lost in the final battle at Sunnydale.
"Unfortunately, no. I'm afraid the situation is more dire than anything we have previously faced before."
"Great," drawled Buffy, her voice positively dripping with sarcasm. "Evil just keeps upping the ante, doesn't it?"
"It certainly seems that way, doesn't it."
"Yeah. So come on, make with the details already. What am I dealing with this time?"
"Well, the prophecy deals with a particular slayer." Giles paused briefly, and Buffy guessed what his next words would be. "You, Buffy." She'd guessed right.
"So, what about me?"
"This prophecy says, loosely translated of course, that this slayer needs to call her friends more often, not just when the world is ending."
Buffy's jaw dropped in amazement, and she spent several moments flapping her mouth noiselessly in a quite decent impression of a beached goldfish. Willow could only stare at her friend in concern and wonder exactly what Giles had told Buffy.
"Giles ... did you just prank call me?" Buffy finally managed to ask faintly.
Willow's face immediately adopted a look of amazement similar to Buffy's own. The sound of hearty laughter came simultaneously from just outside the front door, and over the phone. Buffy leapt to her feet and charged at the door with a ferocious expression on her face. Yanking open the door with barely less than enough force to rip it off its hinges, Buffy found a rather shame-faced Giles, together with another, equally familiar figure.
"I'm terribly sorry, Buffy," apologized Giles in a rush, somewhat concerned by the slayer's furious appearance. He pointed an accusing finger at his partner in crime, who was still doubled over with laughter. "He made me do it!"
Xander Harris finally looked up, his familiar features creasing in a welcoming smile, not in the least put off by Buffy's thunderous face.
"Hey Buff! We got you!" he crowed happily. His cheerful demeanor rapidly vanished when the irate slayer seized him firmly by the ear and dragged him inside, yelping repeatedly in protest. Giles followed wordlessly after Buffy imperiously beckoned him to follow.
Releasing Xander's ear, Buffy stared at him with narrowed eyes as he stood up straight and gingerly rubbed at his ear. Xander stared back, his grin briefly making a return appearance before it wilted beneath the weight of Buffy's anger, and was replaced by a distinct mixture of guilt and apprehension.
Buffy broke the standoff by darting in, and enfolding the one-eyed carpenter in a spine bruising hug. She broke off the hug just as Xander began to over-theatrically gasp for breath, and jabbed him in the chest with a single pointed finger.
"God, it's good to see you, Xander," Buffy exclaimed, interrupting his objection before he could begin to make it. "And before you ask, you deserved that. Making me think there was another looming apocalypse, so not cool."
"Okay, first; Ow! Slayer strength, remember! Second; it was just so funny I couldn't resist. Third; Ow again." Buffy just shook her head in mock disgust, secretly glad to deal with Xander's quirks again, before turning to Giles. Her former watcher was still looking vaguely ashamed.
"And you! I thought the British had standards when it came to humor. Standards I neither agree with or understand, but still!"
"Yes, well. Have you had to sit next to Xander on an airplane for several hours after he has consumed far too much sugar for a human being to safely consume? I'm afraid he just overwhelmed my better judgment through sheer repetition."
"Oh," replied Buffy, her lips curving in a mischievous grin. "Something like this? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Buffy kept reciting the words like a chant, and Xander suddenly chimed in on the second iteration. All the while, Willow sat on the couch, trying unsuccessfully to control a fresh bout of giggles. Both Buffy and Xander continued in an unpractised harmony born of time and close association, and the Englishman hung his head and covered his eyes in despair.
----------
Several hours later, after their impromptu 'Survivors of Sunnyhell' reunion, the original core members of the scoobies sat around Buffy's dining room. Both Dawn and Andrew had joined them now, though in Andrew's case it was more because he had pouted terribly at the prospect of being let out rather than in any particular desire to include him.
"Guys, I'm kind of flattered that this is all for my benefit, but you didn't all have to fly here you know," offered Willow with a smile. "It's almost like you all thought I'd be depressed and suicidal-y just because Kennedy broke up with me, and it was just the anniversary of Tara's death, and sure I was depressed, 'cause who wouldn't be, but I would never do anything like that, I mean sure I did kinda go insane and try to destroy the world but .... I think I'll just shut up now." Her smile had now turned embarrassed, and a slight blush darkened her cheeks.
"Willow, none of us were worried that you would do yourself harm," replied Giles soothingly. "We all know that you're too strong a person to do anything like that. But we do all care for you, and as such we want to be here for you in such a moment of ..." Giles' voice trailed off as he sought vainly for a suitable adjective.
"Post breakup doldrums?" Xander offered, and Giles nodded reluctantly.
"Also, Dawn did mention that that you were somewhat at a loose end as to what to do with yourself now. We," Giles indicated all of the scoobies before continuing, even Andrew, who puffed up self importantly, "thought that perhaps we might be of some assistance."
"I think the G-man is saying that he wants to tell you what to do again," added Xander helpfully, earning a scowl from Giles, and grins from the others.
"That's not what I ..." protested the watcher. "And stop calling me that!" Xander only grinned.
"It's okay, Giles," replied Willow. "I know what you meant. I'd appreciate any help that any of you could give me."
"Well, I did have one suggestion."
"Oooh!" Dawn interrupted, leaping to her feet and flailing a slender arm wildly.
Buffy regarded her sister with amusement. "Dawn, you're not in high school any more. You don't have to raise your hand."
"I know that, Buffy," replied the younger Summers haughtily, then spoiling the effect somewhat by sticking out her tongue at Buffy. "How about somewhere in the Caribbean?"
"Why there, Dawnie?" Willow asked bemusedly.
"Umm, because it's pretty?" Dawn's voice trailed off into uncomfortable silence, as everyone else stared at her. "What?"
"It sounds good to me," added Xander. "I could go with you. I mean, I've already got the eye patch, so I'm halfway there with the whole pirate look. Plus, plenty of hotties in bikini's, right Will?"
Willow ignored Xander's rather unsubtle elbow jab, and shook her head.
"Dawn, I'm not going on vacation. I want to go somewhere that I can do some good."
"Once a scooby, always a scooby, huh?" said Buffy, hugging Willow warmly.
"Yes, well, if I could perhaps finish what I was saying without any further interruptions?" Giles ignored Dawn's exceptionally unladylike noise of disapproval. "I was going to suggest that Willow could perhaps look into a little mystery that has been concerning me for the past year or so."
"Ah! The game is afoot!" blurted Andrew, with what was supposed to be a knowing nod. Giles just sighed resignedly.
"So, what's the four-one-one?" Buffy asked. "What's the big mystery that's troubling your big brain?"
"Angel."
That one simple word was enough to silence all of them. The name of the vampire-with-a-soul, or at least one of them anyway, carried a heavy weight of memories and emotions for all of them. Except Andrew, who'd only really met the brooding vampire a handful of times.
"What about Angel?" Buffy asked flatly, her voice and body tight with suppressed emotion.
"We still don't know what happened to him, or to Spike, or any of the others who worked with him prior to his shift to Wolfram and Hart. Excepting Wesley, anyway." A brief shadow passed over Giles' face at the mention of the late former watcher who had once been his supposed replacement. "We know next to nothing about the events of that day, or what part Angel and his people had in them, only that something major happened to a large number of powerful factions in the demonic underground."
"And you just hate not knowing, don't you Giles?" quipped Xander.
"It's been a year, Giles. Do you even think they're still alive?" asked Willow, glancing at Buffy in concern. She knew full well that both of the ensouled vamps were a touchy subject for the blond slayer.
"That's just it, Willow. We don't know anything. If they are alive, they've dropped completely off the radar. And if they are dead, then we should have at least heard something."
"We abandoned them." Buffy's words were quiet and unemotional. On the surface at least. Who knew what powerful emotions were surging beneath her tightly wound exterior?
"Buffy ..."
"No, Giles. We did. We abandoned them. We didn't trust them, so we cut them out. And when whatever it was happened, they were alone. Because we didn't trust them."
"In all fairness, Buff," interrupted Xander. "They were running the LA branch of evil incorporated. How were we supposed to trust them?"
"I know, Xander. And I still think we did the right thing. It was my decision, remember. But it still hurts. And I have to know, one way or the other, what happened to them."
"We will, Buffy," declared Willow, slipping into her resolve-face. "I will."
Buffy took Willow's hand in her own and squeezed it comfortably. "Thanks, Will. Just promise me you'll be careful, okay? Anyone or anything caught up in this is pretty much guaranteed to be nasty."
"Oh, don't worry. Not feeling much love for the whole risk taking thing right about now. Or, you know, ever."
"You'll be perfectly well protected, Willow. You can be sure of that." Giles added firmly.
"Besides," interjected Xander. "If you run into any trouble, you can magically whup it's butt."
"Yeah. After all, you kicked Buffy's ass, remember?" Dawn said, directing a smirk at her sister.
"Are you ever going to stop rubbing that in my face?" Buffy demanded with an answering frown.
"Nope!"
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