Chapter 4
Giles stared at the blank faced young man sitting in front of him. When he got the phone call from Buffy reporting Xander's words, the Watcher got a sick feeling in his gut. He didn't want to believe that one of his own 'children' could be so twisted, but the proof was right in front of him.
"Xander, tell me what you feel about Buffy," Giles said with a sigh.
"When I'm done with Buffy she'll be a good little Slayer," Xander uttered in monotone. "She'll do exactly what I say, when I say, and with whomever I say. Bitch needs to know ‘who's the boss’."
"And Dawn?"
"Almost as nice as her sister." Xander stared straight ahead, not even acknowledging Giles. "Don't you just love those sweet young thighs? Can't wait to see them smeared with blood, and her belly big with my babies. I’ll show her what a little slut she really is."
Giles grimaced in distaste. The girls had a blind spot when it came to the only other male in the group besides himself. It made him wonder what had brought about the change. Maybe it was time to call in reinforcements, and the Watcher made a mental note to call Oz and Wesley in Los Angeles. Giles knew he needed to ask Xander about his thoughts on Anya, but he almost dreaded what he was going to hear. The Watcher was fond of the ex-vengeance demon who now worked as a clerk at the Magic Box.
"Tell me about Anya."
"Scooby wannabe." Xander intoned flatly. "She'll never amount to anything. She's just an easy fuck."
"And you told the girls all of this?"
"Oh yes," Xander nodded automatically. "But they'll be easy to manipulate, almost as easy as you. Just give Anya some orgasms and tell Buffy that I don't remember what I said. You'll fall for the old 'the girls are weird-ing out' routine."
"When you awaken, you will forget everything you've said to me." Giles blew some dust into Xander's face, and then he schooled his features to hide his repugnance; he needed to get the boy out of his apartment…and quickly.
~*~*~
Spike let his hand softly brush against the picture of the beauty that had wormed her way into his imagination. He wondered just what it would take to capture her heart.
He took a few moments to wonder what it would be like to have her in his life and in his bed. The way she’d been dancing, all grace and fire, had made his cock stand up and take notice. He pondered his chances on getting the girl to fight him; his demon was near salivating at the mere thought.
With a sharp shake of his head, Spike quashed the thought; best let the girl get to know him before they explored that possibility. Given the file Lawson had prepared, the blond vampire reasoned he had more important things to worry about. The little slayer seemed to come with emotional baggage that might take a bit of time to repair before she was ready to commit to being mated. There was no way in bloody Hell he was going to mate with someone that wasn’t ready for it. He’d heard too many stories about rushed matings and the tragedy they turned in to. No way was he planning on playing Romeo to her Juliet. He might be love’s bitch, but that didn’t make him an idiot.
With steel control he forced his thoughts away from the blonde slayer and focused on the meeting he’d had with his minions. He’d ordered them to follow the usual routine. If he was going to solidify his position in Sunnydale he had to make sure every demon in the area knew who had the biggest balls. He knew his people, and they would not let him down. He was confident that within twenty four hours he’d know just who he had to get rid of, who needed his protection and every legend and myth that the area had to offer. He needed to know without a shadow of a doubt that the protected ones would be safe. He couldn’t chance calling them in if he had any doubts at all. The one thing he was absolutely sure about was that he needed their input. He had a slayer to woo, and he was shit out of ideas.
~*~*~
Buffy gave a very deeply put upon sigh as she saw the blood covered man leave the alley way. The way he mumbled and rubbed his hands in agitation, coupled with the hospital gown, told her that another one of the rash of crazy people had escaped the poor security of Sunnydale General. Knowing she could do nothing about the damaged human, she slipped into the alley hoping that at least she could help the victim before the town’s vampire population was drawn to the blood.
Her eyes focused on the wound before anything else. ’EW…God he’s been gutted!’ She scrunched her nose up in disgust as she realised that the blood had stopped flowing indicating the man was dead.
Lifting her gaze to the victim’s face she gasped.
At her feet lay Ben, the intern she remembered from the hospital. It seemed impossible, but he was more than just the face of someone she knew. It looked like he had died in the process of morphing.
Half of Glory’s face appeared to merge with half of Ben’s. The top of its hair was permed as the bottom lay flat. His hands showed long painted fingernails which stood out bizarrely against the heavy and hairy arms that the hands were attached to.
Relief and disgust hit her in equal waves; relief that the threat to her sister was gone, but she was disgust at the thought of disposing of the body. She knew she couldn’t take any chances. The body needed to be cremated then the ashes scattered on running water. The Slayer reasoned that if it worked with the Master it should work with a Hell God. There was NO WAY that she was taking any chances that this bitch could come back. This was definitely something she didn’t want to leave in the hands of Sunnydale’s finest.
~*~*~
After the exhausted, soot covered, Slayer informed her watcher of the latest news Giles took the opportunity to relate his own.
“I spoke to Wesley on the matter of Xander at great length, Buffy,” he began hesitantly. “The conclusion we have come to is not encouraging.”
Buffy lifted a tired hand to halt him. “We need the others here for this, Giles. It affects us all.”
With a sad nod of agreement, the watcher walked over to the phone to begin summoning the troops.
Willow and Tara were the first to arrive. Anya arrived next and then finally, Faith.
Giles waited until they were all seated before he began.
“On the matter of Xander, I have consulted with Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I fear that my news is not good,” he began ominously.
“What did Wes have to say, Giles?” Willow urged, her voice filled with fear.
“The theory that we have reached has taken into account a number of factors,” he hedged, clearly distressed over the subject matter.
“We have to know, Giles,” Buffy gently prodded.
With a deep sigh, Giles replied, “I know, dear. The subject is a difficult one for us all.”
Removing his glasses to clean them while he gathered his thoughts, the watcher took a moment. “In truth, this behaviour has always been a possibility. When Xander was possessed by the hyena spirit, those of us that witnessed it were introduced to the, er, darker side of his nature.”
“But that was just the hyena, Giles. Xander wasn’t like that then,” Willow interrupted urgently, unwilling for her long time friend to be judged over things that were out of his control.
“Unfortunately, Willow, we were all under that impression. However, had we researched further into the matter we would have made some rather unsettling discoveries. All the possession did was free the victim from their inhibitions and call to their most base instincts. It allowed the darkest part of the psyche to immerge. While I would most heartily agree that the Xander Harris we knew at the time would never have acted on those urgings, the fact that they existed in the first place can not be denied. The possession awoke, if you will, Xander’s darker side.”
“But he was back to his old self after we exorcised the spirit,” Willow begged, her voice tinged with desperation. “He didn’t even remember what he’d done.”
Giles looked sadly at the distressed redhead. His guilt for his own actions at that time ate away at him. “He told you he did not remember his behaviour because I advised him to,” the Brit admitted in shame.
“What?” Buffy gasped in shock. “Why would you do that? You know what he tried to do to me!”
“Because I believed that if you thought he did not remember your friendship would be more likely to survive. I was trying to protect you, Buffy. I thought you needed your association with him. I am dreadfully sorry, my dear.”
Buffy blinked blankly as her mind processed his words. She knew Giles loved her, of that she was in no doubt. She offered him a brief but forgiving smile and urged him to continue. She sensed that the possession was not the end of it.
“When Dracula and Drusilla came to town in your junior year, Xander was placed under Dracula’s thrall. We believe it gave the darkness within Xander the opportunity to expand and fester. Wesley and I also believe that even though the thrall was lost when Angelus vanquished Dracula over Drusilla, that side of Xander’s personality did not retreat as before. He has simply hidden that side of himself from the rest of us.”
Buffy turned to Willow as a memory came, unbidden, to her. “Wills, what exactly was the message you wanted Xander to pass on when Kendra and I had to face Angelus and Dru?”
“I told him to tell you to stall,” the redhead answered with a shrug. “Why?”
Buffy’s expression turned hard. “Because he told me your message was to kick Angelus’ ass.”
Willow’s face expressed her horror at the realisation that her long time friend was not who she thought he was. Blindly, she reached for Tara’s hand.
Anya and Faith had both stayed uncharacteristically quiet during Giles’ exposition. Neither was willing to expose their fragile façade over the man they had both loved in their own ways. Xander’s betrayal hit them both equally hard, and with the guidance of their internal knowledge of shared heartbreak they gravitated towards one another for support and understanding. Inwardly they both wept.
Giles inwardly cringed at the next piece of advice he needed to give. With stoic strength the
watcher soldiered on. He first informed the group of Buffy’s discovery of Ben and Glory’s demise and the destruction of her body. “As to the matter of your family, Buffy; while I am sure that the removal of the treat of Glorificus is a great relief to you, I do not feel that it would be prudent to have your mother and sister return to Sunnydale at this time.”
Buffy’s confused expression urged the watcher on.
“Buffy, I have no doubt that you are highly capable of dealing with anything that Xander were to try, but Dawn is not. Given what he has said about her, I would be remiss in my duty were I not to advise you to encourage your mother to keep Dawn safely away from here until we can find a solution to this problem.”
Buffy nodded in understanding. She was upset over losing her friend, but it seemed she had her own internal battle going on. The Slayer within demanded a hasty solution to the situation with the carpenter. She had more important and blonder matters to deal with.
~*~*~
As Buffy rang her mother to fill her in on the latest developments, Spike rang the protected ones. He let them know all that was happening, asked them to be prepared to come to Sunnydale as soon as he had the town secured. Then he asked them for a suggestion for what to do about his Slayer.
~*~*~
Buffy opened the envelope that had accompanied the gorgeous bouquet of white roses she had just taken delivery of. She pulled out a letter written in the most beautiful script.
‘Do I greet you as Slayer or Buffy? You are both.
I was advised to tell you the truth. I don’t have a bleeding clue as to what I’m doing. All I do know is that I want the chance to get to find out who you are and if we can dance together better than we can apart.
I saw you dancing at The Bronze, and you stole the breath I don’t have to breathe from me.
If you’re game, I propose an evening where we can get to know one another.
Unless you call me to cancel, I’ll pick you up for dinner and dancing, at dusk.
I look forward to getting to know you, pet.
Spike.’
Buffy grinned when she realised the cheeky bastard hadn’t left her his phone number. So, cancelling didn’t seem to be an option.
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