Shooting Stars

Part 2

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"What is your problem?" she demanded, her voice rising in anger.
Xander let go of her wrist, and motioned for her to keep it down. She stared at him questioningly.
"Cordy, we're looking for Buffy. She is going to be hiding. This
door,"
he explained, pointing to the door, "is locked." There was a pause.
"So?" Cordelia asked, looking at him, then to the door and back
again.
The teen stared at his girlfriend, rolling his eyes slightly when he
realized
that she didn't get it.
"Buffy could be in there," Xander said. Cordelia showed a spark of
realization on her face.
"Oh! Okay!" Then, after a pause, "now what?"
"One of us stays here, preferably me, while the other goes to find
Giles
and tell him what's going on," Xander explained. Cordelia glared at him
a
moment before speaking.
"Why do you get to stay here?" she finally asked.
"Because you're loud. We need her to think that she's safe in there
so
she won't try to run. Now, you go get Giles, and I'll stay here. And
don't
forget to find someone with a key."
"For what?"
"The door! If we plan to get her out of there, we need a key to
open the
door. Find the manager or something, and make sure we have enough
people to
effectively search the bathroom so she doesn't have a chance to
escape."
"Alright, soldier boy! Too bad that didn't wear off," Cordelia
muttered
as she walked off to find Giles and the others. Xander couldn't help
smiling
at the memory of his soldier experience on Halloween. He had been the
in-control guy with the machine gun that got to tell everyone else what
to do
for once. And, he remembered all of it, which made him a pretty good
'commander' in times like these.
He shook the thought from his head and leaned back against the
locked
door to wait for Cordelia to return…
* * *
Buffy had her ear pressed against the opposite side of the bathroom
door.
She had heard some people talking moments ago, but everything was
silent now.
She sighed, heading back to her corner on the far side of the room.
She'd opened her bag once since she came in the bathroom, and that
was to
jam a stake up by the video camera to keep it on the far side of the
room. It
was fairly small, and probably didn't even show anything on a monitor
anywhere, but she wanted to make sure that no one knew she was in
there. The
camera was probably just set to move back and forth so people would
think it
was on and not use the bathroom to steal things.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. She became slightly
curious,
but didn't worry. There had been a few people knocking on the door
throughout
the day, since there was no apparent reason for why it didn't open.
However,
if she left it unlocked and someone walked in to see her sitting there
with a
bag full of weapons and wet toilet paper on her shoulder as a makeshift
ice
pack, things would get very interesting. She tossed the 'ice pack'
under the
counter by the sinks, pulling the sleeve of her shirt back up onto her
shoulder as she moved to the door to listen to what was going on
outside.
"Can you open this?" It was Giles. They'd found her already. And
that
meant they wanted to take her back to Sunnydale, and she wasn't giving
up
that easily. Before she really thought about what she was doing, she
ran
quietly to the back of the room. The Slayer ducked in one of the stalls
and
shut the door. She slid the lock into place as quietly as she could.
Buffy
stood with one foot on each side of the toilet seat, slightly bent down
so
that Giles and the others couldn't see her head. There was a clicking
noise
from the main door, and then the sound of footsteps. She held her
breath.
"She's not here. Now who's the idiot, Xander?" she could hear
Cordelia
ask.
"Isn't that her bag?" Willow asked. Buffy had forgotten to grab it.
Then,
she realized how much more trouble that caused her. She'd gone into the
back
stall by her stuff, thinking that it would be the last place they
looked.
But, now that they'd seen her bag, it would be the first.
Quietly and quickly, she lifted herself onto the narrow edge of the
stall, looking down on her friends. Her shoulder burned with pain from
the
fire escape mess only hours ago, and she had to bite her lip to keep
from
crying out. She climbed over to the next stall, figuring that if she
could
get close to the end, she could jump down and run out into the store.
Luckily, the doors were all closed, even when they were unlocked.
"Look in there," Cordelia said. Giles turned to the stall she'd
been in
seconds ago, kicking it open. Buffy could hear the lock skitter across
the
tile floor. She slid involuntarily down the side of the stall, and her
foot
landed in the water inside the toilet. She swore under her breath,
pulling
her foot out of the water and shaking some of the water off of it.
Willow's
head snapped up.
"What was that?" the redhead asked, looking down the aisle. Buffy
bit her
lip, wanting to call out to her friend, but knowing what would happen
if she
did. She didn't want anything to do with the Hellmouth. As far as she
was
concerned, it was pretty much Hell itself. She could see Willow looking
around the room through the small crack between the door and the wall
of the
stall she was in.
"Hey, mister." It was Xander. "Can you lock that door?"
"Sure," the man said, locking her only escape off.
She swore again, this time more quietly. Looking up, she could see
the
ventilation shaft that led to the store's air ducts. She pulled herself
up on
the ledge once more, using her Slayer skills to balance while she
pushed the
grate aside as quietly as she could. She climbed up and into the shaft,
dropping the grate back in place with a loud clang. Her friends all
looked
up, as she took off running, wondering if they could catch her…
* * *
Xander ran over to the man at the door, making him unlock it
quickly. The
entire group was crowding around the door behind him, wanting out of
the
small bathroom to chase their friend.
"How do we get up there?" Giles asked the man, once they were
outside
again. People all over the store were looking up at the ceiling,
murmuring
about where the noise might be coming from.
"There's access from the roof," the man told Giles.
"Where else?" he pressed, eyes wide.
"Well, all the bathrooms, various places in the store."
"Get the police here, guard all the places she might try to get
out.
We'll go to the roof," Giles said. "Xander, you and Cordelia stay here.
Willow, Oz, please come with me," he added, motioning for the redhead
and her
werewolf boyfriend to follow him.
"Got it," Oz said, dashing after Giles with Willow close behind.
Xander
followed the maintenance guy to the phone, letting him call the police.
Now,
they just had to wait and hope that Giles and the others would return
with
the Slayer.
* * *
Buffy shoved the next grate out of her way, pulling her body out of
the
tiny air conditioning shaft and wincing at the pain in her arm. She
looked
around to see that she had made it to the roof of the building.
"Great job, Buffy," she muttered to herself, "get yourself trapped
on the
roof." She moved to the edge, stepping slightly back when she saw just
how
far up she was. If she tried to jump, she'd probably be killed. She
would
only have to jump if she had been followed.
"Buffy!" She spun around to see Willow, Oz and Giles several yards
away.
They had stopped coming when she faced them, afraid of what she might
do. She
glanced back over the edge. She knew that it was off the roof or back
to the
Hellmouth. Neither option sounded very good. There were several cars
racing
past on the busy street below.
"That would be crazy," Oz said, noticing what she was planning to
do. She
looked back to him, a slightly insane smile on her face. Oz and the
others
were hanging back slightly, trying not to make the Slayer feel
threatened so
she wouldn't jump.
"So?" she replied.
"Buffy, do you have any idea how high we are? We're three or four
stories
up, at least. That fall could kill you!" Willow said pleadingly. There
were
tears in her eyes.
"I wouldn't be planning to jump if you weren't chasing me!" she
replied,
anger filling her voice. Willow winced as if the Slayer's tone had run
up and
slapped her in the face. She took a step back, not wanting to make her
friend
jump off the edge of the department store building.
"Willow's right, Buffy," Giles said with a serious look on his
face. "You
can't run forever." At that she narrowed her eyes, the smile already
gone
from her face.
"Really?" she asked daringly. She ticked her eyes over to glance at
the
street below. When Buffy looked back to her Watcher, she glared at him
for a
moment, finally completing her statement with, "watch me."
"Buffy, no!" Willow cried, running towards her friend. But, before
she
made it, Buffy turned to the edge and jumped. Things seemed to move in
slow
motion as she fell to the ground. Her knees hit first, and she rolled
to
lessen the impact. Both of her kneecaps would be severely bruised and
scraped, but nothing was broken. As she rolled, she felt her skull hit
the
pavement, squinting her eyes shut and feeling blood begin to seep down
the
back of her neck where her head had been cut open. The Slayer could
hear car
horns blaring at her, and there was a police siren somewhere nearby.
She knew
one thing, though.
She'd run from that hell until it killed her…
* * *
Xander heard the honking of car horns outside the store, and he ran
to
the front doors. The police were pulling into the area, as he shoved
the door
open and dashed out onto the sidewalk. Cordelia followed him out, as he
looked to see what all the noise was about. Then, he noticed Buffy
lying in
the middle of the road, unconscious and bleeding. One of the officers
pushed
him to the side.
"Hey, is she gonna be okay?" he asked, looking concernedly at his
friend.
The officer shrugged as he went about his business, leaving Xander and
Cordelia to watch from the sidewalk. "Serve and protect my-"
"Xander!" Cordelia hissed, slapping him on the arm. "He doesn't
know if
she's going to be okay. Jeez, have a spaz!" He rolled his eyes and
patiently
waited for the verdict on whether or not Buffy was all right…
* * *
Slowly, Buffy pushed herself up to a sitting position, looking
around.
She was lying in the street below Neiman Marcus. Her head was pounding,
and
the torn muscle in her shoulder screamed and burned with pain. Her
vision was
very blurry, so she couldn't really tell what was going on around her.
She
tasted the coppery tang of blood on her lips, realizing that she'd
knocked a
tooth loose. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arms and pull her up
off the
ground.
"You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and
will be
used against you in the court of law," a voice said roughly in her ear.
Her
hands were pulled back behind her, as some kind of metal pinned them
there.
"What?" she muttered, as she was pulled toward a car. There were
lights
coming from it, but she'd hit her head so hard that she didn't really
understand any of it. She saw blue and red flashes, and heard lots of
yelling
from the direction of the store.
"You have the right to an attorney. In the event that you cannot
afford
an attorney, the court shall provide one for you," the same voice told
her as
she heard a door open. She was pushed into the car, feeling someone
push her
head down. She sat down, blinking several times. "Do you have any
questions?"
"What… What are you doing?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes and
trying to
clear her head. It was pounding, and her vision and hearing were both
murky.
Her senses were all jumbled up. It was like she was underwater and
trying to
fight her way to the surface, but someone was holding her head down
just
below the water.
"Placing you under arrest," the voice replied. She could sort of
guess
who was speaking. He was male… Police officer… Forty or so…
"Why?" she managed to ask, as the engine started.
"Buffy Summers, we are placing you under arrest for assault and
murder in
the second degree." The door of the car closed and the vehicle sped
off,
rubber squealing on the hot California pavement.
Buffy was too stunned to notice.
* * *
"What was that all about?" Cordelia asked Xander, who just stared
in
shock after the police car that Buffy was taken away in. The two of
them had
been restrained, and the police had taken off the Slayer.
"Xander? What happened?" Willow asked. She, Oz and Giles had come
down
off the roof the safe way, unlike Buffy. Buffy, who had jumped off the
building into the middle of the street.
Buffy, who was now on her way to the police station.
"Well," Xander started; amazed that he was able to speak at all
after
being so surprised. He was also worried about his friend. "Buffy landed
over
there. Then, the police showed up and arrested her."
"What?" Cordelia asked. She'd been arguing with one of the
officers, and
hadn't seen anything that happened.
"Why? What did you tell them?" Giles questioned, moving up until he
was
beside Xander. "What did you tell them?!" he asked again, harshly.
"Her name," he replied, stressing name as if to say
was-it-that-big-of-a-deal? Giles shook his head in disbelief.
"Did you forget that she was wanted for murder?" he asked.
"Well, I wasn't the one that said to call them in the first place,
mister-know-it-all! If you hadn't told us to call them, then this
wouldn't
have happened!" Xander argued.
"Xander, Giles, this isn't getting us anywhere. Why don't we just
go down
to the station and make them let her go?" Willow asked. Xander shot a
glare
at her.
"Yeah, that'll work really well. Maybe if we say 'pretty please',"
Xander
replied. Oz seemed to catch on to something, interrupting the
arguments.
"Wait. Didn't that Spike guy used to say that?" he asked, looking
to
Xander.
"Yeah, he did. So what?" Xander replied.
"Well, didn't that crazy chick he was hangin' with kill that girl?"
Oz
asked. They had explained everything to him after everything was
settled down
over the summer. Everyone seemed to catch on as well.
"Right! We can tell them it was Drusilla that killed Kendra, and
that
Buffy wasn't even there!" Willow exclaimed. "That way, we can get Buffy
out."
"Sending the police after Drusilla would get them killed, Willow. I
admit, it is an idea, but we can't-" Giles was interrupted by Xander.
"We let a few LA cops die, or we try to save the world without the
Slayer. Your choice, Giles," he said. Giles thought about that for
several
minutes, finally shrugging and nodding in agreement.
"Alright, we have to try this plan, then. Hopefully, we can find
and kill
Drusilla before the police ever find her," he said. Xander nodded.
"Well, let's go already!" Cordelia said. Everyone looked at her in
confusion. "What? I can't be enthusiastic?"
"Well, Cordy, it's kinda an unexplained phenomenon," Xander teased,
causing Cordelia to roll her eyes in reply. Giles glanced from Cordelia
to
Xander, silently willing the both of them to shut up.
"If we plan to do this, I suggest we do it quickly," he said. The
group
started for the van to make their way to the police station.
* * *
A few hours later, Buffy was locked in a small cell at the police
station. They had forced her to change into an orange jumpsuit type of
thing,
taken her picture and her fingerprints, and put all of her belongings
in
small ziplock bags. Who knew what they had done with her clothing.
Then, she
was brought back to the small cell and locked away from the world.
And she was still incredibly sore. She sighed, regretting it
because her
ribs hurt, absently rubbing her forehead. There was a bump on the side
of her
head where it had hit the pavement, and there would be bruises covering
her
face within days. There was dried blood caked in her blonde hair.
Luckily for
her, she had sort of landed on her feet, and the rolling had helped
even out
the impact. Her knees were scraped up badly, and hurt when she tried to
move
them. Still, if she'd been anyone other than the Slayer, she would've
died.
It was almost ironic. The very thing that she was trying to get
away from
was what kept helping her in her escapes. She couldn't have made it
past the
hotel room incident if it hadn't been for her heightened athletic
skills. And
even then, she had broken bones and injured herself.
Suddenly, there was a scratching and rattling noise. She recognized
it as
the gate to her general area. Then, there were footsteps moving down
the
corridor, two different people. One of them was a girl, about her age.
She
guessed by the sound of her steps that it was Willow. Being the Slayer,
she'd
made a habit out of learning how to tell people apart by the sound of
their
footsteps. It helped when she was patrolling, especially when her
friends
snuck up on her. The other person had to be the guard. She didn't
bother to
turn around from her position on the small cot with her back leaning
against
the bars.
"Buffy Summers?" Sure enough, it was the voice of the guard. Still,
she
didn't turn to face him, wondering what her friend wanted.
* * *
Willow swallowed thickly, wondering if Buffy would be mad that they
were
still following her around town. She seemed pretty mad already, and
Willow
really didn't want to make it even worse. Last time they had all tried
to
talk to her, the Slayer had jumped off the roof of a department store
to
avoid the encounter.
"What?" Buffy asked, her tone enough to make Willow want to run the
other
way, right out of the station. Instead, she just flinched and prayed
that she
could talk a little sense into her friend.
"You have a visitor," the guard said, setting down the little
folding
chair he'd carried along for Willow to sit in. She sat down
reluctantly, and
the guard left them to talk. There were no other prisoners in the area,
and
that made Willow feel a little better, but not much.
"Um, Buffy?" Willow asked quietly, her voice shaking slightly in
fear.
Giles had chosen her to talk to the Slayer, since the two girls were
best
friends. Or at least we had been, Willow thought.
"What do you want?" Buffy asked. Willow could tell that she wasn't
as
angry as she had been. Her tone was a little mellower than it had been
when
Willow first arrived.
"Well, I, um, I wanted to… Tell you that we have a-a plan to get
you out
of here," Willow said, her muscles relaxing a bit when she realized
that
Buffy wasn't very mad at her.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you guys want to get me out of here after what I did to
everyone?"
"Well, maybe because we're your friends."
"Right. We're all one big happy family."
"Well, okay, I admit, that's not all of it. But, I miss my best
friend,
a-and the other part is, well… We sorta need your help. Like, a lot
of it."
"It figures this was all a business call. So, what is it? Is there
some
immortal demon that can't be killed by anything known to man coming to
town
to end the world? Because last time that happened, my life took the
fast lane
to 'ruined'." Willow was silenced for several minutes, remembering what
had
happened just before Buffy left. Apparently, she'd ended up killing
Angel.
That was what the group had figured on, since they hadn't seen him
around
Sunnydale either.
"Well, that's sort of it. Um, yeah, there is a big evil thing that
is
going to show up pretty soon."
"And let me guess. Giles said you guys needed to find me so I could
come
back to the Hellmouth and save everyone from the end of the world.
Again."
Willow couldn't tell if Buffy was mad at her, or if she was just
depressed.
It sounded like it was some of both.
"Basically? Yeah, that's what he did. So, we came here to look for
you-"
Willow was interrupted.
"To enlist my help in stopping the big evil monster so that we can
all go
back to our happy little lives. Why bother?"
"Look," Willow said, getting angry, "I know you've probably been
through
living hell over the summer, but you're not the only one! We've been
trying
to do your job so Sunnydale doesn't disappear off the map, and it's not
easy!
There's vampire attacks on the school all the time; we've only had
three or
four days of actual classes, and without help, there's nothing we can
do
about it!"
"That's right, Willow. Life is hard. That's the way of the world,
and
sometimes, yes, it is more than you're prepared to handle. Frankly, I
don't
give a damn if this demon shows up and sucks the world into Hell!"
"Fine. That's great. After all, you're the Slayer, if anyone's
gonna
condemn the world to Hell, it should be you, right? Go ahead, I'm not
stopping you!"
"Do you think I like being like this? What, do you think I'm some
kind of
killing machine? I'm not!" Buffy yelled, turning to face her friend.
Her face
was streaked with dirt and tears. "What have you people been thinking?
I'm
some kind of superhero that can do anything and doesn't have problems?
Well,
this just in; I'm human too!"
"I know that! All I'm saying is that-"
"What? I'm special? Just because I got picked to be super girl
doesn't
mean I can handle all of this on my own! I can't just forget that all
my
friends nearly died! That my mother kicked me out of the house! I can't
just
pretend that I didn't have to send my boyfriend to Hell because the
demon
that wore his face wanted to end the world! Everyone has problems, and
I want
you to understand that I'm not perfect just because I can kill demons
or
whatever."
"I know that, Buffy, I'm not an idiot! Just… Get over yourself
for a
minute and listen to me!" Willow felt tears sliding down her cheeks
now, too.
"Hey, I didn't ask for any of this crap, and I sure didn't ask for
you to
come here and harass me! Now you can either stop yelling at me, or get
the
hell out of my life!"
"Okay then," Willow said, lowering her voice again. "Will you still
kick
me out if I try and talk to you? Or can you? With all due respect, I'm
not
the one locked in a cage, here."
"Right. You're not. I am, and for what? For saving the world? I
come back
to try and help - to save everyone, as usual. I nearly get arrested, I
get
kicked out of school, I have to rely on my worst enemy for help, I get
kicked
out of the house, and, on top of it, I have to send the one last hope
of ever
getting my life back into Hell because of my 'destiny'. And what thanks
do I
get? How does the human race thank me? By locking me in a damn cage!"
Buffy
yelled, kicking the bars in anger. They rattled loudly, but didn't bend
or
anything. Buffy didn't seem to be hurt, either. Willow flinched, but
didn't
back away.
"Look, I know how hard this is for you! It's hard for me too! But
there's
a demon on his way to Sunnydale-"
"When isn't there?"
"-That's going to kill all of us unless we get help, and I know
you
don't want to be the one to do this anymore, but you're our only hope.
And
you're our friend. Now, are you going to be a pathetic little whiner,
or are
you going to get off your sorry-for-yourself ass, and actually help
us?"
Willow took a minute to register what had come out of her mouth, and
when it
clicked, her eyes got wide. She sunk back into the chair, and both
girls were
silent for several minutes. The redhead found herself wondering what
had just
come out of her mouth.
"Well, if I'm going to help, I need to get out of this stupid
cell,"
Buffy said. Willow couldn't help laughing a little. She even noticed a
slight
smile on her friend's face, which was definite forward momentum.
"Giles is sorting that out now," Willow said, glad that they had
stopped
screaming at each other. She didn't like it when she had to yell at her
friends. "Well, I have to go tell Giles that you plan to help." Then,
after a
pause, "you are going to help us, right?" Buffy nodded. "Okay." She
stood;
heading towards the gate to be let back into the main part of the
station.
She turned around when Buffy called her back for a minute. "Huh?"
"Um… Would you mind if? I'd feel a lot better if you didn't tell
the
others. A-about Angel, I mean. I just… I don't want them bringing it
up."
Buffy said. Willow could see that she was about to start crying again
just
thinking about it. Whatever had happened before the summer break, the
Slayer
wasn't handling it very well. Willow nodded sympathetically. "Thanks."
* * *
Giles looked up as Willow re-entered the room. He stood quickly,
putting
his glasses back on. He took them off and put them back on a lot when
he was
nervous.
"What'd you tell them?" Willow asked him, as he approached her. He
could
hear the other teenagers standing behind him, but didn't look back to
them.
There were police milling all around the room.
"Well, something of the truth. I told them Buffy wasn't responsible
for
Kendra's death, and I gave them Drusilla's description. With any luck,
they
won't ever find her," Giles said. He wasn't very comfortable at the
thought
of the police going after a very insane and very powerful vampire. "And
with
you and Buffy? How did that go?"
"Well, on the way out, the guard was going in to let her out, and
she's
going to help us," Willow reported. Giles looked relieved.
"But, you didn't ask why she took off?" Xander asked. Giles moved
into a
position so he could see the others, as well as Willow.
"Well, I sorta know, but I'm not supposed to tell you," Willow
said,
matter-of-factly.
"Fine, I'll ask her myself," Xander said.
"Fine," Willow said, not knowing Xander would try and continue the
little
argument they had started.
"Fine!" he said.
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"That's quite enough from both of you," Giles interrupted.
"Sorry," Xander said, stepping back beside Cordelia. Oz had moved
around
to stand with Willow.
"Sorry, Giles," Willow said. "Um, I have a question, though. How do
we
know where Drusilla is? If we're supposed to find her and kill her and
everything."
"Out of the country. Beyond that, I don't know." It was Buffy.
Giles
faced her, glad to see that she was all right. There was a large bump
on the
side of her head that would bear a nasty bruise later, but she'd live.
"How do you know that?" Xander asked, his forehead creased. Giles
was
wondering the same thing, and looked back to the Slayer for an answer.
* * *
"Spike told me," Buffy replied. She didn't feel like explaining the
entire thing to Xander, so she gave him the simple version of her
answer.
"What?"
"Spike?"
"Who told you?"
"Buffy, what on Earth happened?" The last question was from Giles.
As
usual, Oz had been the quiet one throughout the whole exchange, not
seeing
the point in wasting time with questions. Buffy liked his approach.
"Well, I ran into him after the attack on the library when I was
looking
for you, Giles. We made a deal," she explained calmly, obviously not
wanting
to talk about it.
"What deal?" Willow asked. She hadn't heard this part of the story
when
they were talking before.
"He wanted Drusilla back and didn't want the world to end, so he
helped me
… Stop Angel, and he and Dru escaped. Left the country, if he stuck
to his
word." She added silently, what are the chances of that?
"So you just let them go?" Cordelia asked.
"Well, if you're trying to stop a psycho vampire from sucking the
world
into Hell, you can't always play babysitter for the others," Buffy
snapped
sarcastically, glaring at Cordelia. Apparently, it was enough to shut
her up,
and she stepped back a little at Buffy's sudden outburst.
"So, why'd you take off?" Xander asked. Willow shot him a look that
would've melted him into a puddle if she'd had heat vision.
"Xander, you guys came all the way out here for me so I could go
kill a
demon. Let's just get it over with," Buffy said, feeling the
all-to-familiar
tears in her eyes again. She turned her gaze to the ground, not wanting
to
attract more attention and questions than she already had.
"Yes, let's. Um, Oz, would you go and get the van started, please?
We
should get back to Sunnydale as quickly as possible," Giles said. Oz
nodded,
and he and Willow left. Xander and Cordelia, who were hissing insults
at each
other, quickly followed them. "Are you alright?" Giles asked the
Slayer, as
soon as the others had left. She looked up at him, the tears still
slightly
apparent in her eyes. She didn't dare rub them away, for fear of more
questions from her Watcher.
"Sure. Why not? I'm only going back to the place I tried to get
away
from, hoping I could stay alive, for one thing. My mom's going to have
a fit
when I try to get back in the house that she kicked me out of, and I
have no
means of education because of Snyder," Buffy explained, purposely
leaving out
the part about Angel and what had happened to him. She didn't want
Giles
bugging her about it all the way back to the Hellmouth. "Other than
that, I'm
'peachy'," she added, following the others out the door, leaving Giles
in a
confused stupor.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Oz's van pulled up in front of Buffy's house.
She
took a deep breath, glancing over at Willow. She was the only one Buffy
felt
reasonably comfortable talking to. She had snapped at Giles back at the
police station, and wasn't really willing to talk to the others.
"Okay. I'm going to go inside and hope my mom doesn't try and axe
murder
me or something. You'll all be here, right?" Buffy asked. Willow
nodded, then
paused for a moment.
"Well, we have to run to my house and then back to the library…
But we'll
be here in the emotional sense," Willow explained with a smile.
"Okay. Well, I'm going in. Wish me luck," Buffy said, sliding the
door
open and climbing out. It was a warm afternoon, and the fresh southern
California air felt and smelled good after being stuck in the back of
Oz's
van for the last half hour. He lugged the band and their equipment
around
sometimes, so the van smelled like beer and sweaty musicians.
"Good luck," Willow said. Buffy smiled a little, shutting the door
and
starting up the walk, hearing the van drive off behind her. She took a
deep
breath, hoping that her mother wouldn't be too awfully mad at her…
* * *
Within minutes, the group was at Willow's house. She had a plan
that
could help them a lot in the long run, but she couldn't tell anyone.
Especially not Giles, after everything that had happened. They'd all be
really mad at her.
Or worse.
"Well, guys, why don't you all head back to the library, and I'll
stay
here and look on the Internet for information," Willow said, glad she
hadn't
messed up her line. She had practiced it in her head over and over on
the way
to her house, and made it sound very believable.
"There's a perfectly good computer in the library," Xander pointed
out.
Willow mentally smacked herself. She felt her muscles tighten, worry in
her
eyes.
"W-well, I'll look here, and you can go to the-the library, and…
We'll be
able to look faster. R-right?" Willow choked out. She was horrible at
lying,
and she hated doing it, but this would really help them out. Even if
they did
yell at her later.
"Willow's got a point, Xander. Um, Willow, you search for the
ancient
prophecies on Chaos while we cover the mystical convergences and
imbalances
at the library. Good thinking," Giles said. "Call us if you find
anything."
Willow tried not to look too relieved that her plan had worked. The
stuttering was a classic giveaway. Oz was looking at her curiously, and
she
silently pleaded with him not to say anything.
"Okay! And, I'll come to the library once I'm done here," Willow
said.
They all left, Oz stopping to give her a quick kiss. She smiled as she
watched them drive off in the direction of the High School, glad that
none of
them had picked up on what she was really planning to do. Not that any
of
them would have guessed.

Part 3

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