Chapter 3

“...and I expect you to hand your reports in next Monday at the beginning of class. Class dismissed.” The teacher diverted her attention from the students in front of her to the stack of papers on her desk.

“So,” Willow turned to her best friend, “why did you duck out so early last night? Xander and Anya might have bought the ‘early patrolling’ bit, but I know you better than that. You’ve never let duty get in the way of having fun. So, ’fess up.”

Buffy tried to give her friend her best nonchalant expression. “Nothing’s the matter, Will. I just didn’t feel like dancing. I couldn’t stop thinking about that phone call Giles got. That’s it, honestly.” Averting her eyes from Willow’s look, she collected her books and began to stuff them in her shoulder bag.

The redhead put on her best resolve look, and pressed the subject. She held her hand out, and put it on the Slayer’s forearm. “Buffy, look at me. See my resolve face? We’re not leaving this classroom until you tell me the truth.” She pursed her lips further and sat back, giving the blonde every indication that she was serious.

Buffy sighed, and leaned back in the rigid plastic chair. “Fine. I met up with Spike, we had a few... choice words, and I left. He’s just so irritating. I mean, do you know what he was up to? He was hustling--that‘s how he‘s been making money!”

The witch‘s eyes grew, as her interpretation of the Slayer‘s words hit her. “He’s been having sex for money?!” She brought her hand up to her mouth. “Oh my God! That’s, that’s... ooky!”

“What? No! No sex and Spike!” Buffy closed her eyes, trying to remove mental images of Spike having sex out of her mind. She met with little success, as the image of Spike‘s chest was still imprinted in her mind; what would it look like without his T-shirt on? “He’s hustling at pool--taking advantage of poor students.” Seeing the redhead cock an eyebrow, she pressed the subject. “Ok, not as bad as killing people, but still--it’s evil in a different kind of way. Isn’t it?”

The witch smiled, relieved that it wasn‘t anything bad. “Uh, not really, Buffy. People play for money all the time. Anyway, it’s probably the closest he’ll ever come to making an honest dollar. You shouldn’t let him get to you like that, it just makes you all stressy. You’ve already got enough to worry about without having to keep an eye on who Spike plays pool with.” Willow stood, and picked her books up. “Now come on. I’ll buy you a latte--that always makes for a stress-free happy Buffy.”

As they were making their way out of the classroom, Buffy heard someone call her name. She turned around, and found herself staring into the eyes of the T.A--now, what was his name? Riley, that‘s it...

Turning back to Willow, she let her know that she’d catch up with her in a few minutes.

Buffy walked up to the brunette. “Hey, Riley.”

With a big grin plastered on his face, the T.A. summoned up the courage to speak to her; he’d had his eye on her since first class, but had never found the right moment to catch her for a word. “So, how are you enjoying class so far?”

How about: the teacher’s an evil taskmaster and I have to work at staying awake every session? Nah, might not go over too well... “It’s really a fun class--a bit harder than I thought for a first year, but it’s really interesting.”

Riley fell for her false enthusiasm. “It really is interesting, isn’t it? Professor Walsh has a way of making even the most mundane subjects interesting. Her classes were always my favourite--they may be a little more difficult than most, but they’re more than worth the effort.”

Buffy thought to herself, Is this guy for real? You’d have to be either a freak or in the army to appreciate Walsh’s drill-sergeant style of teaching. “Yeah, I can imagine. The more effort there is, the more it builds character, right?.” She was straining to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

This was the girl of his dreams. Riley couldn‘t believe that he‘d finally found someone to whom he could relate. “That’s precisely it! You know, I’m happy you‘ve made that observation; not everyone sees it like that or appreciates the value of hard work.” Here goes--might as well give it a go... “So maybe we could go to one of the campus pubs sometime. With what you’re learning in class, we’d have lots to talk about. That sound good to you?”

Buffy jumped slightly, and made a face. “Uh, my hip’s vibrating...”

Riley furrowed his brow. “Huh? Your hip’s vibrating? I know I’ve been out of the dating loop for a while, but is that some sort of code or something?”

Buffy laughed nervously. “Actually, I meant my pager--it’s vibrating.” She pulled the small piece of technology out of her pocket and looked at the name on the display. “Crap, it’s Giles.” She smiled brightly at the teacher’s assistant and put her hand on his arm. “Sorry, Riley, but I have to go make a call. The pub idea sounds nice--maybe we can do that sometime...” Yeah, and maybe I could go to the dentist and have some teeth removed while I’m at it.

“Yeah, that would be nice. I guess I’ll be seeing you around.” The last part was said mostly to himself, as the young woman had already disappeared down the hall. He shrugged and muttered to himself “Peculiar girl...”

***

Buffy sprinted past Willow, nearly knocking the poor girl over.

“Buffy! Wait--where are you going? What happened with Riley? Did he say something mean to you, ‘cause you know, best friend here--I could go and scowl at him for you!” She ran alongside the Slayer, until they reached a pay phone.

The blonde turned to Willow. “Sorry, Wills. It’s not Riley--he was nice. Bland, but nice. It’s just that Giles paged me. He never pages me unless it’s, like, an apocalypse or something. I just hope it doesn’t have to do with the Council.” As she dialled, she muttered, mainly to herself. “Who am I kidding, anyway? Travers calls, Giles kicks us out, next thing you know he’s paging me at school...”

Willow held the little machine in her hands. “When did you get a pager, anyway? I didn’t know you had one.” She jumped and nearly dropped it when she pressed the vibrate button by accident.

Ring... ring... “Where is he, anyway?” Buffy was getting worried.

She looked up at Willow. “The pager? Uh, Giles got it for me when he got sick of never being able to reach me. Surprised the heck out of me, ‘cause you know how unmixy he is with tech....” She was cut off by her watcher’s answer.

“Giles! Where were you? You page me, and then you don’t answer the phone--are you ok? Why are you paging me at school? It‘s bad, isn‘t it?”

Her watcher sighed, and replied. “I was in the kitchen getting the kettle off the stove, I’m fine, thank you, I need to call a meeting for tonight, and yes, possibly. Does that answer your questions?”

Buffy relaxed a little comforted at hearing the British man’s voice. “Sorry, Giles. You just had me worried there for a moment. Why the surprise meeting?”

“I can’t get into details right now. I just need you to gather everyone and meet me at the Magic Box tonight at eight.”

The short hesitation after her watcher’s response alerted Buffy to the fact that he was trying to find a way to tell her something she wouldn’t like. “Ok, Giles. Spit it out--what else is there?”

She could practically hear him cleaning his glasses.

“There’s someone else who needs to attend tonight’s meeting.”

The Slayer’s muscles tensed as she asked him the million-dollar question: “Giles, please tell me who... I have a feeling, a bad feeling, I already know--but I need you to prove me wrong.”

Sighing, the watcher confirmed her fears. “Buffy, we need Spike to be present at the meeting. He’s an integral player in what you... in what we’ll be discussing tonight.”

“But Giles, it’s Spike! He’s not an integral part of anything... Can’t we just leave him...”

The young woman’s diatribe was cut short by an outburst from the usually mild-mannered Brit. “Buffy! Can we please, for once, pretend that I know what I‘m talking about? Get Spike, make sure he’s at the Magic Box at eight o’clock, end of story.”

Properly chastised, the young woman knew when to capitulate. “Ok, I’ll go see Spike and tell him that you want him there tonight. Look, Giles, I’m sorry about giving you a hard time...”

The man’s voice softened at his charge’s apology. “No, Buffy, I should be the one to apologize. I’m just... tense... at the moment. You’ll understand more clearly tonight. Just make sure everyone shows up. Thank you, again.”

They said their good-byes and hung up.

Buffy turned to a worried Willow. “Giles called a meeting tonight at the Magic Box for eight o‘clock. He’s really wigged out about something; I don’t think this is going to be good, Willow--he even told me to make sure Spike shows up.”

The witch visibly paled. “Spike? Really? This can’t be good... My classes are over for the day--I can go see Anya at the Shop, to let her know about the meeting--she‘ll make sure that Xander shows up as well. I think I’ll leave Spike to you, though. Just make sure there aren‘t any bottles lying around.”

Offering her friend a wry smile, the blonde sighed. “Don‘t worry, Will. I’ll make sure he’s bottle-free. Thanks for letting the others know--it’s nice to see I’m left with the fun assignment.” Hoisting her bag up to her shoulder, she took a deep breath. “If you don’t see either of us at the meeting, we’ll have killed each other. If that happens, take good care of Mr. Gordo for me...”

At that, both girls went their own way, spirits heavy with apprehension.

Author's Note:Ok, so from now on I'll be updating twice weekly. I've got a sizeable chunk of the story already written and squirreled away, but I'd rather post it slowly to give myself time to write more. That way you gentle readers won't be stuck waiting months in between posts.
And thanks, as always, to those who reviewed. You make this worthwhile :)