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Chapter 16

All feelings of animosity toward the monk seemed to ease as he pleaded with Dawn to look upon the events of the past week as a gift, a second chance. Her tears dried with the knowledge that she was no longer a threat to the dimensional walls; that the horrors of the previous year would and could not be repeated. She thought back to when she’d made her mental list of the pros and cons of her present situation and realised somewhat guiltily, that she had not even considered the consequences of being back in this time as an active Key. She hadn’t even considered the possibility of having to face Glory all over again. Thinking about it now made her mind whirl. This changed everything, but wouldn’t that cause a…oh, what was the word…

“Ooh, ooh! A paradox!”

“What do you mean, little one?” the bemused monk asked.

“Well now that I’m not the Key anymore, Mom and Buffy won’t die, and Buffy won’t be brought back from the dead and, well, what if all that had something to do with Buffy being sent back in time and that now stops Buffy from being sent back in time, then I won’t be following her because she’s like, still there, so I’ll still be the Key, but I’m not, so…paradox.” Dawn tried really hard to explain her thoughts, but she really feared that she had not done a very good job. Biting her lower lip, her eyes pleaded with them all to understand what she had been trying to say.

“The future is not written, child. We may get warnings of events that could happen if we continue on a certain path, but we have free choice so we have the power to change the events that have been foreseen,” the monk started to explain.

Both Buffy and Giles stiffened at the monk’s words. Giles was the first to react, “But…the Codex? Prophecy cannot be thwarted.”

“Of course it can. Prophecies are just warnings and the Codex is full of them. Most of the warnings can be easily averted. It’s not always easy mind you, but it certainly can be done. I like to call them our little early warning system from the Powers That Be.” Smiling at the group, as if sharing a joke, the monk had no idea of the distress his words were causing.

“So, I didn’t have to die at the Master’s hand?” Buffy asked flatly.

The monk looked shocked at her revelation, “But…I don’t understand. You were sent a guardian to stop that from happening.”

“A what huh?” A room full of confused faces stared at the monk.

“The cursed one,” he enunciated clearly, “He was sent to protect you from that prophecy. As family he would have been able to get close enough without too much suspicion to the Master to kill him, thereby averting your foretold death. This was his entire purpose for being here. I don’t understand, was he injured before performing his duty?” Confusion etched unfamiliar lines into his face.

“No, he wasn’t injured,” Ripper snarled. His ability to remain civil to the so-called champion of the Powers was going to require every ounce of self-control he possessed.

Buffy looked shell-shocked. She tried desperately to wrap her mind around the implications of what she had just heard. Angel had been sent here to save her? But…he had agreed with Giles. He had said the prophecy couldn’t be stopped, that there was nothing he could do. She would have willingly given her life for him, and she had believed that he would do the same for her. ‘Spike would have done it’, the traitorous voice in her head spoke up. “There had to have been a misunderstanding,” she pleaded with the group.

Spike restrained himself. Oh, he knew he didn’t have all the details, but he was smart enough to work out the story; his useless wanker of a grandsire has been meant to take out ol’ Batface and because he’d failed to do his job, the slayer had paid the ultimate price. He wanted to add his condemnation to the watcher’s, but the little voice he never listened to was screaming to be heard. ‘Don’t say a bloody word, you moron. She has to work this out for herself. You add your two bobs worth now and she’ll turn stubborn on you.’ This once, he listened to the voice.

“Clearly, there must be a misunderstanding. Perhaps there have been changes to his redemptive journey that I was not aware of.” Turning to Giles, Brother Luther made his request. “If you would be so kind, sir, may I borrow your telephone?”

“Of course,” Giles readily agreed.

~*~*~

“Willow, I just found a note from my mom.” Buffy propped the phone on her shoulder and picked up the note. “She said that she’s taken Dawn out, but I heard her earlier on the phone and they’re going to Giles’. You don’t think that Giles and my mom…ewww,” Buffy cringed at the thought. Oh, she loved Giles like a dad, but like her dad…away from her mom.

“Oh, no, Buffy, I’m sure it’s nothing like that. Giles likes Miss Calendar remember? At least I think he does. It’s kinda hard to tell, what with that whole keep-everything-to-yourself-cause-I’m-British thing he has going on. Ooh, ooh! Unless he wants them both and then that would be just plain wrong as well as ewww.” While attempting to cheer up her best friend, Willow often found that she’d managed to do the complete opposite.

“He cancelled training last night and told us to go out, and then when I got home, my mom was going out too, and she didn’t tell me where she was going and I’m thinking…do you think…Giles?” she almost whispered his name, as if afraid if she said it any louder it might make it true.

Willow didn’t really think Giles was like that, although the little crush she had on him might be influencing her opinion. She hesitated over her suggestion, “Do you want to go over to Giles’ and check it out?”

“Check what out?” Xander asked as he breezed into Willow’s bedroom unannounced.

“Who’s that?” Buffy asked from the other end of the phone.

“Xander just got here,” Willow answered Buffy first then, turning to her oldest friend, she filled him in on their suspicions. “Buffy thinks there might be something going on between Giles and her mom.”

“Have we ewwwed?” Xander snarked.

Willow waved her free hand dismissively. “Past the ewww’s and on to suggestions.”

“I’m on my way over, Wills. I think it’s time for a group meeting,” Buffy declared before she hung up the phone.

“Hurricane Buffy’s on her way over, huh?” Xander asked as he made himself comfortable on Willows bed and opened the bag of Doritos he had brought with him, shoving a handful into his mouth before he thought to offer any to Willow.

~*~*~

Angel smiled down at the picture of the beautiful sleeping girl he had drawn. He much preferred to use pencils or charcoal, but the pen had been the only thing available to him, so he’d made do. He’d had to go through all of Giles’ drawers just to find the pen and some paper, but the end result was worth the trouble. At least his skills had not been diminished by the use of the unfamiliar tool. Her face came so easily to him and at the rate he was going, he’d soon have another dozen pictures to add to his collection.

It was always easier to draw her when she was sleeping. Angel found it difficult to capture the right combination of expressions on her face when she was awake. It was also harder to hide that unattractive little bump on her nose. He wondered if she’d considered plastic surgery to fix the object that marred her perfection. Maybe he should mention it to her?





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