Chapter Text
Meeting up the next day when she saw Willow, pulled the redhead into a quick hug before releasing her to say,
“You survived, I wasn’t sure.”
“That explains why I spent most of the night in a supply closet with Cordelia.” Willow snapped with a glare. Buffy frowned,
“Oh my God Will, I’m so sorry. I guess I was so focused on mom I kind of…forgot to check.” She winced at how bad that sounded.
“Did something happen to your mom?” Willow asked, clearly more worried about Buffy.
“She saved me from Spike.” Buffy admitted.
“What?!” Everybody exclaimed at the same time.
“Well, her and the fact that I’m not human.” Buffy said.
“You’re not human?” Cordelia questioned, entering the library, “You mean because of the slayerness?” Buffy sent a look to her watcher who had pulled his glasses off to polish as he explained,
“No, traditionally the Slayer is human, but with more than human powers.”
“But Buffy’s not?” Cordelia asked again.
“Not now Cordy, Buff’s about to explain Mrs. Summers vamp stoppage.” Xander said.
“It was the not human thing that allowed mom to stop him, I don’t understand why but somehow he hadn’t realized I wasn’t human until he was about to deal the killing blow. He paused long enough to question what I was which gave mom the opening to smack him upside the head with the blunt end of fire axe.” Buffy explained.
“Isn’t that so? You didn’t end up as Spike’s third.” Willow said.
“Except, he outed me. Major downside.” Buffy said.
“As the Slayer or as a Time Lady?” Giles asked.
“Don’t worry Watcher-mine, my Slayerhood is safe.”
“How’s your mom taking it? Your not – humanyness?” Xander asked.
“She hasn’t mentioned it, I think she’s in Denial land.” Buffy shrugged.
“Or she could just be okay with it.” Willow said optimistically.
“I guess, maybe but it’s more likely that she thinks it was Spike’s ‘PCP induced hallucination’ since she bought the ‘gangs on PCP’ thing from the news.” Buffy said, thankful that the bell rang before the silence could turn awkward. After last bell, she returned to the library to find that Giles had the step aerobics stuff pulled out. She ducked into the office for a moment to change, then flipped through the small music collection that stayed with her training equipment including a boom box that Giles had gotten for her. Picking something with a steady thumping beat, she turned it up and got started.
A couple hours later, when Giles started complaining that her music wasn’t music but noise, Buffy decided she’d worked out enough. The next day, before classes she met up with Willow for a game of Anywhere but Here. Xander joined them and the conversation turned to whether Giles had ever played the game while he was in school; Willow thought he might’ve while she and Xander argued that Giles was too into school. Seeing the object of their discussion, she called,
“Giles!” Once she had his attention and he’d joined them, she said,
“Hey, morning. Say, is that tweed?
“What? Oh, uh, yes. Um, now, uh, look, tonight is very important, um...” Giles said, starting to walk. They follow him inside.
“Now, that's a surprise.” Buffy said, sarcasm evident, “So, what's on tap tonight that's so important? Uprising, prophesied ritual, preordained death fest?
“Ah, the old standards!” Xander joked.
“Um, a medical transport is delivering the monthly supply of blood to the hospital.” Giles said, clearly preoccupied and oblivious to the tone of the teens.
“Mm. Vampire Meals-On-Wheels.” Buffy quips, stopping at her locker.
“Hopefully not. Uh, we'll meet outside the hospital at 8:30 sharp. I'll bring the weaponry.” Giles said.
“I'll bring the party mix!” Buffy said, overly perky.
“Just don't be late.” Giles said, finally seeming to catch the tone of the conversation.
“Have I ever let you down?” Buffy teased.
“Do you want me to answer that, or shall I just glare?” Giles asked. The conversation ended as Ms. Calendar appeared. Buffy listened with half an ear to the conversation until the two teachers walked away.
###
That night, eight thirty sharp, she was at the hospital where she was supposed to meet Giles…except Giles wasn’t. Slightly annoyed but mostly worried, she watched as two emerg doctors took the blood donation bag cooler until her brain reconnected and she realized that doctors wouldn’t be taking a delivery. Sure enough, as soon as one vehicle pulled away another took its place.
‘Three against one. Yay!’ She thinks sarcastically as she attacks. During the fight, she feels a fourth vampire arrive. She turns to stake it, only to see…
“Angel!” She exclaimed.
“Buffy, watch out!” She ducks the punch and jabs him in the chest. The first vampire jumps up on the hood, too, and Buffy knocks him back off with a punch to the face. She punches the second one in the face, too, and he falls down on the hood on his back. She jumps off of the car and thrusts her stake into the first vampire as he tries to get back up. The second one is off the car again and grabs her by the shirt from behind. She swings around with the stake and gets him in the chest also. The vampire quickly sits up in the driver's seat and floors it as Angel tries to chase him. The car races off, leaving Angel and the blood behind. Buffy opens the lid to check on it.
“How’d you know about this?” Buffy asked.
“Everybody knows about delivery day.” Angel said, with a look like it should be obvious, “They only ruined one bag.” She nods, uncomfortable in the presence of the souled vampire and more concerned about Giles being a no-show, she asks him to make sure the hospital gets the blood and quickly makes her excuses, explaining about Giles.
“Maybe he’s just late.” Angel said.
“Late is Giles’ eighth deadly sin.” She said, leaving without even a goodbye.
At Giles apartment, she knocks until he finally opens the door. He’s well on his way to being drunk. A small part of her was still worried, this type of behaviour wasn’t like her stuffy British watcher but most of her was just annoyed, she’d have gotten the disappointed speech complete with matching expression if she’d have not shown up. It didn’t help that he wouldn’t even tell her what was up.
The next day, she showed up at Ms Calendar’s Saturday class hoping for backup in helping Giles. The class ended up being completely derailed after Cordelia dropped the bomb that she’d walked in on Giles talking to the police the morning before. Deciding to call him, she heads to the library phone. A noise in the stacks causes her to investigate, she finds an older man – she’d place him in the same age bracket as Giles – whom she’d never seen before. Grabbing him, she asks,
“Who the hell are you?” Mystery guy just blinks at her in apparent shock as she gets a rushed flash of blonde and tan before it changes to a much younger Giles calling a younger version of the man in her grip Ethan, Finally Ethan seems to find his voice and responds,
“An old friend.”
“Uh huh, you know Giles,” she said more than asked, “And why are you here?”
“We go way back and that would be telling.” He said cryptically but his thoughts gave him away as she was shown an ugly tattoo, and an even uglier demon along with a name, Eyghon.
“Okay” Buffy rolls her eyes, “Well I’ve got better things to do so here’s what’s gonna happen… you’re gonna come with me while I call the police and report you for breaking and entering.” She said.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. See police will have a lot of questions, for me, Rupert and even you.” Her eyes narrowed in annoyance.
“Come on.” She said, forcing him to walk in front of her. Back in Giles office, she keeps her grip on
“Hello.”
“Giles, it’s me,” Buffy said in lieu of a hello.
“Buffy, unless this is an emergency, I’ll see you Monday,” Giles said, sounding like he was getting tired of putting her off. She wasn’t exactly happy at being put off again either so she said,
“I'm in your office with someone who claims to be an old friend of yours. Ethan…?” A look shot in his direction, the man in question quietly spoke his last name which she repeated “Ethan Rayne?”
“He's there with you? Listen, Buffy, you're... you're in grave danger while Ethan's there. I want you to put the phone down and get out of the library as soon as possible.” Giles warned.
“I'm not going anywhere until you give me some answers!” She commanded, determined to hold her ground until somebody comes crashing through the window. Ethan steps behind Buffy and holds her in front of him. She snorts as she pulls away from his hold,
“Classy, do you often use teenage girls to protect you?” She quipped but didn’t wait for a response as she began to fight. Ethan tries to get away as her friends and Ms Calendar enter.
“Don’t let him get away!” She shouts, her focus never leaving her opponent. Soon she’s got him locked in the book cage and like she asked, her friends have kept Ethan from running. She moves the downed man to a chair while the others move to see what she’d been fighting.
“I’m not getting close enough to be sure, but I think he’s dead,” Willow said, talking about the guy in the cage.
“Except the walking around and attacking Buffy part,” Xander said.
“He’s dead.” Ethan confirms, “Sorry Phillip.”
“Is everybody alright?” Giles asks as he barges into the library. Getting a good look at the guy in the cage, Giles stops,
“It can’t be.” He mutters.
“Yes, it can.” Ethan’s voice pulls Giles attention away from the dead guy, “Hello Ripper.” Buffy focuses on the two men though she can hear Cordy asking Xander about the nickname. Giles has moved in front of the other man and lifted him to a standing position by his grip in his hair.
“Giles!” Buffy shouts
“You’ve put the people I care about in danger by coming here.” Giles all but growls.
“Not any more than you’ve put them in by staying,” Ethan replies, still sounding cocky in the face of Giles’ anger. He pushes Giles away, “You've been having the dreams, I know. I have. We both know what's coming.”
“What dreams?! What is going on here?!” Buffy demands
“Tell her, Ripper.” There’s a hint of steel in the man’s voice.
“Giles...” Buffy trails off, as the dead guy now known as Philip breaks the cage door and throws it open into Ms. Calendar, knocking her out. Xander quickly moves away and pushes Cordelia with him.
“JENNY!” Giles shouts, fear in his voice. He scrambles to her aid. Buffy gets between Ethan and Philip and kicks him in the chest three times, forcing him back against the cage. He slides down to the floor, but gets back up and comes for Buffy again. Before he can reach her, his eyes go wide, he begins to convulse and he collapses to the floor next to Jenny. He disintegrates into a puddle of slime. It begins to spread out. Everyone stares. Once they’re over the shock, Buffy looks around,
“Ethan ran off.” She states. Giles pays no mind as he attends to the now conscious Ms Calendar. The four teens watch as the two adults walk away. Tired of Giles being so hush hush on something that’s clearly not only his problem anymore, Buffy hands out orders – Willow to research Eyghon and tattoos associated with him, and Xander with Cordelia to dig through Giles personal records. Then she goes and picks up one of the books Willow has already pulled out. Two hours, fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds later, Willow is bringing her a book. Once she identified the tattoo and the relevant information’s been said, it doesn’t take any of them too long to come to the same conclusion – the demon didn’t die when Philip dissolved, it transferred to the one person it could, the one who’d been unconscious, Ms Calendar. A quick call to both Giles and Ms Calendar without reaching either of them, had her running out the door, leaving the others to continue researching how to defeat Eyghon.
At Giles’ place, she kicks Ms Calendar/Eyghon across the room, then orders it to back off before the possessed teacher dives through the window. She finally gets the story out of Giles and ends up having to go searching for Ethan. She has no idea where the man would go, and worries she’ll be too late but thankfully she finds him. She explains that she isn’t going to run, but that he’s gonna hide and starts to lead him through to the back of the abandoned storefront when she hears him,
“I’m sorry about this Buffy, really I am.” It goes dark. She wakes up tied face down to a table, with Ethan setting up what looks like a tattoo station. As he draws the symbol on the back of her neck, he said,
“I hope you know this isn’t personal, I like you.” At the look she sends him, he continues “I really do, but it has to happen this way.” Under his breath, he mutters,
“You’ll understand one day.” Once he’s done with her, he picks up what looks like a bottle of acid. Her eyes widen slightly in panic, the tattoo process was already uncomfortable; what could this possibly be for. He must notice the look on her face as he reassures her,
“I’m done with you. This part is for me.” He pours the acid over his own mark. When Eyghon arrives, he starts to go for Ethan then seems to notice that Buffy is now marked and changes direction. She’s fighting as hard as she can, unsure what’ll happen if she’s possessed since she’s not human when she recognises a familiar uncomfortable feeling in the vicinity of her spidey – sense. Angel pulls the possessed woman away from her and she can only watch as the vampire begins to choke the poor woman. She hears Willow stop Giles from intervening, apparently having an idea of what should be happening.
She watches as the demon leaves Ms Calendar for Angel, watches as there seems to be some kind of internal struggle as the body switches back and forth between Angel and Eyghon’s demon visage until finally Angel seems to triumph. When they’re sure that Angel won, Willow explains her plan. Put in danger, Eyghon would jump ship, leaving Ms. Calendar alive and possessing Angel but since the vampire already had a demon and couldn’t or wouldn’t host another Eyghon was destroyed.
The rest of October went rather peaceful as far as the Hellmouth was concerned. Even Halloween which she’d been sure would be a pain despite Giles’ assurance that Halloween was dead for the undead. The only bad on Halloween was Snyder’s hoop of the week – involuntary ‘volunteer’ trick or treat duty. Personal lives were a bit rockier, Ms. Calendar was majorly wigged after the whole possession thing, and doing an avoid-o girl routine with Giles, which was understandable except it was causing a guiltapalooza for the man.
For her, there was waffling between the feelings that had been developing between her and Angel before the Bad Wolf changed her and the apprehension that was steadily growing into outright unease. Not to mention her touch telepathy was getting stronger; which while she was working with the Old Girl to develop shields, was slow going making things kind of awkward around her friends. She was really glad it was only when she touched somebody, or she had a feeling she’d have lost most of the deck she was playing with, especially with some of the things she discovered.
One of which came out when their next major crisis hit, Xander and Cordelia had been together at Lover’s Lane when they were attacked by a werewolf. Buffy just waited, she had a feeling that once Giles left the tension brewing would burst. She was right, Willow was the first to speak,
“You’re dating Cordy?!”
“Yeah.” Xander said, scratching his neck nervously, as Cordelia retorted,
“Problem with it?”
“Treasurer of the We Hate Cordelia Club ringing a bell?” Willow directed toward Xander, ignoring Cordy.
“Yeah, I know it’s weird…” Xander starts, Willow interrupts,
“Weird?! It’s against the laws of nature!”
“Look, I was gonna tell you…”Xander said.
“Gee, what stopped you? Could it be shame?” Willow said.
“Overreact much?” Cordy scoffed, “Buffy’s his best friend too and she doesn’t have a problem with it.” Buffy glared at Cordy, then sighed knowing her secret was out now too.
“Oh I do, but I’ve had more time to get used to it.” Buffy admitted. All three turned to look at her in shock,
“You knew?” Willow cried at Buffy, then turning to Xander said, “You told her and not me?”
“Nobody told me Will” Buffy said, not willing to let Xander take the fall in something he didn’t do, “at least not voluntarily.”
“So how’d you know Buff?” Xander asked.
“I’m touch telepathic, it’s part of my new abilities that’ve started developing. I’ve been able to hear your surface thoughts every time you touch me for the past month or so.” Buffy admitted, figuring she might as well take the opening to come clean.
“What?!?” They all exclaimed at the same time.
“At least I’m not the last to know this time.” Willow said, slightly petulant.
“Nobody knew Wills, not even Giles. I’ve been meaning to tell everybody but I wanted to avoid the awkwardness. I’m working on building my shields but until then, I can’t exactly control it. If it makes you feel better, I’ve not spoke a word of anything to anybody.” Buffy said, deciding now wasn’t the time to remind Willow that she had been told and sincerely hoping she still had friends after this. She watched nervously for their reactions, strangely Cordelia was the first. She just shrugged seeming not to care. It really shouldn’t have been much of a shock, one because she and Cordelia didn’t touch all that often, and when Buffy did hear something, it usually came out of the brunette’s mouth soon after. Willow just looked at Xander, then her before walking away, clearly hurt at the secret keepage.
“I don’t know Buff, this is gonna be hard; even now trying not to think about certain things makes me think about them. I mean, you’re not hearing my thoughts now are you?”
“No Xand, I can only hear thoughts through touch, well unless I’m dealing with a telepathic species but humans aren’t so…” Buffy trailed off, then plastered a fake smile on her face as she said, “I understand, the ability isn’t exactly a walk in the park for me either, but I promise I won’t tell anybody anything I hear; you saw I didn’t even tell Will about you and Cordy. I’ll be like vault Buffy.”
“Yeah, sure Buffy.” Xander nodded, though sounding unsure and Buffy noticed he took care not to touch her. Sighing, Buffy accepted that even if she got to keep her friends, they’d be uncomfortable around her for a while and that this was better than outright rejection. With that thought, she headed back to campus. That afternoon’s junior – senior mixed gym class focused on self-defense tactics. With Xander giving her a wide berth and Willow giving both her and Xander the cold shoulder, Buffy was relieved when the coach called out her group,
“Buffy Summers, Larry Blaisdell, Theresa Klusmeyer, and Daniel Osbourne.” She spotted Larry perving on Theresa and headed toward them, lamenting on the fact she had to hide her strength from the creep. The last person to join their group was a redheaded boy who wasn’t any taller than she was that she’d seen around campus but hadn’t met yet. Smiling, she offered,
“Hi, I’m Buffy.”
“Oz.” The boy replied. There wasn’t any more time for talk when the whistle blew. The first technique they practised was how to get away from someone attack from behind, she was paired with Larry. Playing at being a normal female until Larry spoke,
“Oh Summers, you are turning me on…”When his other hand grabbed her butt, she flipped him over hard onto the floor but just before she let go, his mind said something different, ‘I wish you were turning me on. I’m the star football player, girls are supposed to turn me on, not boys.’ Buffy’s eyes widened in shock but after a moment she shook it off, Larry’s sexual orientation was none of her concern. She smiles sheepishly at gaining the coach’s attention and Oz’s comment of,
“That works too.” The next manoeuvre is escaping a frontal attack. This time, she was paired with Oz. When he grabs her arm as the coach had demonstrated she hears,
‘There haven’t been any reports of death by anything that could be a werewolf, should probably figure out how to make sure I can’t hurt anybody. But how? Grandpa died last year and both Aunt Maureen and Uncle Ken are human.’ Shocked at how easily she’d found their werewolf, Buffy strikes harder than she’s supposed to, though thankfully she remembered to pull her strength so she didn’t actually hurt her classmate. Unfortunately, she’s drawn the attention of the coach yet again.
“You seem to know what you’re doing, Summers.” The Coach observed with an unreadable expression.
“I’ve been taking self – defence training for years.” She replied, wondering how bad this looks with her having already been labelled a trouble student. Luckily no further comments were made as the coach went on to demonstrate the last manoeuvre they’d be taught. For this one, she’d be paired with Theresa but with her mind on how to approach Oz without sounding like she wouldn’t be gracing the cover of Sanity Fair anytime soon, she didn’t register whatever thought she might have picked up from the quiet girl. Finally, as the coach called time to change, she made a decision to go for total share mode. She hurried through changing and was able to catch Oz before he left.
“Hey Oz, can I talk to you for a minute?” She asked quietly, trying to avoid catching anybody else’s attention.
“Yeah sure,” Oz replied. As they walked off together, she surreptitiously guided them toward the library while she took a breath and wished she’d planned this out a bit better before speaking,
“I, um, this is gonna sound crazy but I heard what you were thinking about in gym and I think I can help you.” She said, trying not to babble Willow style. He was silent for a long moment before,
“You heard what I was thinking?” He questioned.
“Yeah, about you being worried about hurting someone with your, uh, condition.” She explained, providing the only proof that she had that she wasn’t crazy.
“Wow, so you hear thoughts,” He said.
“Only through skin contact,” She hastened to explain, “People aren’t telepathic enough to project their thoughts.”
“Okay.” He accepted, “You said you could help me?”
“My friends and I deal with this kind of stuff all the time.” She said, leading him into the library just in time to hear Xander ask about silver bullets.
“Well…” Giles starts. Buffy grabs Oz’s arm to keep him from booking as she interrupted,
“Don’t mind Xander, he watches too many horror movies and doesn’t always think before he speaks. I’m sure Giles was about to tell him we don’t kill innocents even if they aren’t completely human.”
“Buffy – and Mr. Osbourne.” Giles greeted, stammering slightly, “What can I help you with?”
“Guys, this is Oz. He’s, uh…” Buffy trails off, uncomfortable sharing somebody else’s secret.
“She means, I’m the werewolf.” Oz admitted.
“You’re sure?” Giles asked.
“Very.” Oz said.
“And how did you discover this Buffy?” Giles asked. Before she had a chance to say anything, Cordelia exclaimed,
“I bet it was that freaky telepathy thing of hers, Oz was in her self-defence group for gym today.” Giles takes his glasses off and begins to polish the already clean lenses as he asked,
“Telepathy, Buffy?” She winced at the clear ‘why wasn’t I told about this’ tone then, “We’ll discuss this later. Right now, we need to make sure we can ensure Mr. Osbourne is safely secured for the next two days and every month here after.” Giles said.
“Oz.” Oz interjected, “You can call me Oz.”
“What about the book cage?” Willow suggested.
“But will it hold him?” Xander questioned, “How strong is a werewolf? Cos that dead guy was able to bust out of it. “
“Dead guy?” Oz whispered to Willow.
“One of Giles’ friends when he was young, he was possessed by a demon. It was a thing.” Willow explained.
“Weird,” Oz said.
“The book cage will have to do for this lunar cycle until and unless we need something stronger. And Buffy, I still think we should patrol tonight just in case Mr. Osbourne – Oz - isn’t the only werewolf in the area.” Giles said.
“Sure can do,” Buffy said.
“That night, with Oz secured and the other Scoobies, minus Cordy, set up with a Taser in case he got out, she and Giles headed to where a werewolf would most likely attack if there was another one loose. First, they did a couple sweeps through Lover’s Lane. Finding a lot of juicy gossip and zilch indicating there was a second wolf, she was about ready to find Giles so they could do a sweep of the rest of the town when suddenly she found herself at tree level in a net.
“Giles!” She screamed, “Somebody! Let me down!” She dropped to the ground just as Giles arrives in the clearing. He helps untangle her from the netting, to find a guy pointing a gun at them.
“Gotta say, I’m impressed, the librarian and the cheerleader.” The guy said. She looks at Giles, then back at the guy before she makes a face in realisation,
“Okay, yeah, no repulsive brain. That’s not even in the vicinity of right.” She said.
“Hey, what you two do at Lover’s Lane is nobody’s business.” Moving so she prevented Giles from lunging at the pig, she quirked at eyebrow as she spoke,
“And you’re here what? Looking for a party?”
“No, I’m looking for werewolves. See this,” He holds out the necklace he’s wearing, “I pulled a tooth from each beast I killed. This one will make an even dozen.”
“You – You hunt werewolves for s-sport?” Giles stuttered in disgust.
“No. Purely for the money. Those pelts fetch a pretty penny in Sri Lanka.” He said. Buffy tensed, trying to keep her anger and disgust in check as she said,
“They’re people. The werewolves you murder are people twenty-eight days out of the month.”
“I know, that’s why I only hunt them the other three.” He said with a complete lack of concern for the lives he was taking.
“Well, you aren’t gonna find this one.” She said. He smirked at her,
“And who’s gonna stop me? You? Sweetheart, this is a man’s job. Go home with Daddy before you get hurt.” He started collecting his net, “Now since the doggie isn’t here, I have somewhere else to be.” Buffy just stared him down until he turned so neither she nor Giles was in danger of being shot, then she struck. Kicking the gun out of his hand, she snatched it from the ground. With his attention back on her, she bent the barrel of the gun until it was rendered unfixable then tossed it back to him as she said,
“Your hunting license just expired. Get the hell out of my town and please let the door hit you in the ass as you leave.” She turned and headed back toward the car, Giles following behind her. They did a quick drive through the rest of the town and made it back to the school just in time for sunrise.
###
After Oz became a full-fledged member of the Scoobies, the tension surrounding Xander and Cordy’s couplehood and her own secret keepage seemed to have broken as they all hung out at the Bronze. Currently, it was just her and Willow as Oz’s band was playing and Xander and Cordy were either on the dance floor or otherwise had found a dark corner somewhere. She took the opportunity for some well-needed girl talk,
“So you and Oz, wow potential?” She asked with a bit of a teasing lilt to her tone.
“Huh? What?” Willow startled out of where she’d been slightly entranced and blushed with a shy smile, “I think so.”