Chapter 16
Dashing to her mother’s side, Buffy frantically dropped to her knees and began attempting to resuscitate her. Lightly patting her mother’s cheeks and whispering for her to wake up, Joyce began to stir. Moaning softly, her eyes began to focus. Seeing Buffy’s face, Joyce knew that something was very wrong.
“Buffy...what...who are all these people? And that man, he just, appeared out of thin air!” With more force and a firm glare, she continued, “I want answers, NOW.”
Resignedly, Buffy began to speak. “I guess I should start at the beginning. You remember when I what I told you and Dad after the fire at Hemery?”
“Oh Buffy, not this again,” Joyce interjected. “I thought we were past all that. You know that none of it is real!” Joyce responded, exasperated.
Sighing audibly, Buffy looked to the three vampires in the room. “Guys?” she said, “I hate to ask with all we’ve been through tonight, but can you all show Mom that vampires are real?”
Rising from her primly-seated position in a chair not too far from Ellie, Drusilla was the first to respond. “I will assist, Buffy. She needn’t be terrified by all three of us.”
With Buffy’s assistance, Joyce was raised to a seated position at the bottom of the stairs. Drusilla moved slowly towards the Summers women so as not to frighten. Once she had reached them, Dru kneeled down daintily. Making sure that she had Joyce’s attention, she brought her vampiric features to the fore. The transformation was quick.
Gasping sharply, Joyce shook her head violently side to side, as if to clear the image of angular features and haunting yellow eyes from her vision. She muttered softly to herself, “It’s not real...It’s not real...Just a trick...”
Realizing that Joyce was very possibly in shock, Giles hoped a friendly face would help. Cautiously moving over to Drusilla, still not sure of vampiress’ amicable nature, he softly stated, “Ms. Summers, I assure you that vampires and demons of all sorts are real. I am Buffy’s Watcher. More specifically, I am her guide and mentor, here to aid her in her role as the Slayer.” Droning on, he began to speak of Buffy’s exploits, the Council, and the various species of demons present on the Hellmouth.
Groaning, the new arrival cut Giles off. “That’s all well and good Watcher, but I’m on a schedule here. I need to talk to the Slayer, privately.”
“I’m a little busy here, buddy,” Buffy retorted. “Who are you, anyway?”
“Name’s Whistler, messenger to the Powers That Be. I have a friend of yours in limbo, and I need to talk to you about a choice. The Powers left his fate up to you, kid.”
Her mother momentarily forgotten her eyes rolled heavenward and she thought, ‘Why ME?’ Pressing on, she fixed her gaze onto Whistler saying simply, “It’s Angel, isn’t it?”
This time, no one missed the soft growl emanating from Spike. While most were shocked, Ellie merely chided, “None of that now, Spike.”
“’S no bloody secret I hate Peaches, Ellie,” he said. Then more sheepishly, “Can’ help it.”
Having been silently taking in the goings on, at that, Willow giggled softly. Glad some of the tension had left the air, Buffy turned back to her mother, who was waiting expectantly for her daughter to FINALLY introduce the newcomers.
“Can you PLEASE tell me who all these people are Buffy? I seem to recall that I did raise you better than this,” Joyce said.
Embarrassed, Buffy motioned to each member of the room in turn. Beginning with those closest to her mother, she began quickly spouting a few lines each along with the requisite introductions. She wasn’t so quick, however, that she glossed it over. She paid a bit of special attention to each vampire in question, especially to Ellie, explaining how she got hurt. Once Joyce was satisfied and had greeted each member of the strange party, she placed her focus back on Drusilla, who was still in game face, waiting patiently.
Joyce raised a hand and lowered it several times, Dru eventually giggling softly and encouraging her to touch if she liked. Joyce was taken aback to find that the delicate ridges and bumps were real, as were the extremely sharp fangs.
“I can’t believe that this is all real...but I guess I’ll have to. It’s obvious that this isn’t some trick. I’ll just need some time to process this information.”
“If you’d like, Ms. Summers,” Giles began, “I can bring some literature over that you are welcome to read. It may provide answers to some of your questions.”
“That would be appreciated, Mr. Giles. If I am to accept all of this, I would like to know all I can. I guess this explains why Buffy’s clothes are always bloodied and she sneaks in and out so late, hmm?” Joyce pondered, eyes on her daughter.
Blushing under her mother’s scrutiny, Buffy nodded and subsequently turned back to Whistler.
“Now that that’s all cleared up, what are my options on this...mysterious choice I have to make?”
“You sure you wanna do this in front of the class, kiddo? I can tell you most of them won’t like it,” Whistler responded.
“I’m sure,” she said, “If it involved Angel, it involves all of us, especially after what happened tonight.”
Nodding, Whistler got down to business. “Okay, here’s the deal. The Powers still have a plan for Angel, so when he was dusted, he was sent into limbo. He’s there chained up, snarling, as we speak. The options are pretty simple. Either you can choose to send Angel to hell for eternity and another protector will be chosen, or, you can bring him back to Earth, where we’ll make sure that the gypsy can re-curse him with the soul.”
Startled, Buffy was silent. Spike, on the other hand, immediately spoke up.
“Mate, Angelus deserves to rot in hell after what he’s done to ma girls.”
“Not your choice bucko. Powers left it completely up to the Slayer,” Whistler replied.
“That’s bollocks and you know it!” Spike shouted.
The two demons continued to argue for several minutes. Finally, Buffy’s voice cut through the chatter.
“How much time do I have to make my decision? And can I get the opinions of my friends?” she asked.
“I think we can spare about an hour. The PTB are really annoyed with all the racket. And sure, so long as the ultimate decision is yours.” Whistler answered.
Eyes rolling, Buffy nodded in agreement. With that, Whistler tipped his fedora, saying “Cya in an hour,” and winked back to whence he came.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Not so sure about this one. I think it came out ok, but please let me know. I'm going to be busy this week with several appointments, so I'll get as much written as I can.
In this chapter, we let Joyce in on Buffy's secret life, and we see what Whistler has to say.
In this chapter, we let Joyce in on Buffy's secret life, and we see what Whistler has to say.
Chapter End Notes:
Ty again for reading, and expect at least one more chapter tomorrow. I would love to see what you all think the decision should be!