Ain't destiny's grand?: Chapter 11
by i_hate_mornings
Disclaimer: Not mine

I again want to apologise for my treatment of Cordelia. I really didn't mean to write her like that. I promise I will redeem her.

Chapter 11

Buffy sat quietly in the backseat of Giles’ old Citroen as they sped- well, not sped, more like crawled- along the highway. Willow and Giles were still chatting animatedly. Buffy had given up participating when they subject had turned to witchcraft. Witchcraft gave the Slayer the wiggin’s. It wasn’t something she was comfortable with and by the sounds of things, Giles thought Willow may have a natural talent to the craft. Willow seemed a little buoyed at the thought.

She leant her forehead against the window and stared out into the inky blankness. They’d left a lot later than Giles had wanted. The sky and the air around them were pitch black- it was a new moon night- and Giles headlights cut a bright path through the dust and dark. The dark night seemed to be an omen for Buffy. Maybe she should expect her life in Sunnydale to be like the night outside; dark cold and empty.

A light cough from Giles had her lifting her head from the glass. ‘Yeah?’ she asked wearily. She was a little worn out from the long day and saying goodbye to their new friends had also taken a toll on her.

‘We’re almost there. Is there anything you wish to stop off for?’ Giles replied in a I-may-be-asking-but-it’s-just-to-be-polite tone.

Buffy shook her head and settled more comfortably in her seat. She’d have to call Angel when they finally arrived. He’d requested she ring so he knew they got there safely. That made Buffy want to know why he’d need to check they got here safely. Was she missing something? Was he expecting an attack? He’d brushed her questions off though then kissed her cheek.

After the kiss in the office, their only contact had been a brief kiss as they left. Buffy couldn’t believe how far they gone with that first kiss. She’d never done that with a boy before but with Angel, she hadn’t wanted to stop. She had no idea how much further they would have gone if Wesley hadn’t interrupted. Hopefully, Angel would have had the willpower to say no.

Willow seemed excited to be going home but Buffy knew she would also miss the folks in L.A. They had made real friends with those people over the past couple of days and it was sad to say goodbye. Angel had promised they’d all come visit soon after they were settled in.

Willow squealed as the car passed the Welcome to Sunnydale sign and Buffy smiled slightly. The redhead was still so much like a child, so innocent,. So sweet and understanding that she was saddened to think about how she would change. She couldn’t stay that way forever, not in this line of work. That’s what slaying was to Buffy; not a calling or a privilege, no, it was work. A work she was never paid to do and died because of. No wonder some people chose to deliver pizza’s. Less danger. Unless, of course, a vamp orders it and you become lunch.

She pulled out the small cell phone and the piece of paper with the hotels number on it. She dialled and Angel picked up almost instantly. ’Hey,’ she said softly. ‘We’re here and we’re not dead.’

‘Good,’ he replied in the same tone. ‘What’s you next move?’

Buffy rolled her eyes. He knew exactly what they were doing because he’d made Giles tell him everything before they’d left. ‘We’re going to drop Willow off at her house then head over to your place and settle in. Tomorrow I’ll take a look around the town and get familiar with it.’

‘Good plan,’ he approved and Buffy smiled. ‘So, is this just a business call?’

‘Is there any other kind?’ she replied playfully and she brightened at Angel’s chuckle.

‘Buffy,’ his voice lowered as though he were afraid of being overheard. ‘About what happened earlier…’

‘Yeah?’ Buffy’s heart beat kicked up a little.

‘I’m sorry about that.’

‘Oh,’ Buffy slumped in her seat feeling dejected. He was sorry he kissed her. Maybe she was a bad kisser. The fault didn’t lie with him, she knew. He had over two hundred years experience.

He must have sensed what she was thinking. ’Not for the kiss its self,’ he hastily assured her and she let out a sigh of relief.

‘Good ‘cause as far as kisses go that one was pretty spectacular,’ Buffy said before she could stop herself. She blushed and covered her face, even though Angel couldn’t see her. It was then that she realised, with horror, how quiet it was in the car. Giles and Willow were listening to everything she said. She ducked her head, mortified beyond belief.

‘Yeah, it was,’ Angel continued, oblivious to Buffy’s predicament. ‘It was also something I’d… ah… like to repeat, maybe, if you wanted.’

Buffy almost collapsed sideways in shock. He wanted to keep seeing her? Did this mean she wasn’t a bad kisser? She was too afraid to ask, especially with Willow and Giles in the front listening in.

‘Yeah, that’d be great,’ she managed to squeak out and she sank down further in her seat as Willow turned around to look at her. The redhead grinned and Buffy groaned.

‘Look, Angel. I have to go. Willow’s being a-’ but Angel didn’t get to find out what Willow was being as Giles had slammed on the breaks and Buffy had stopped speaking. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked the Watcher irritably.

The Watcher continued to stare out the front windows. ‘Demon,’ he replied mildly and Buffy’s leant forward to get a better view.

From over Willow’s shoulder, her gaze scanned the area in front of them. She located the demon almost instantly. It was bent over something in the shadows of a tall building.

‘Meet me at Will’s,’ she told them as she reached for the door handle. ‘I’ll take care of him and be there soon.’

‘There is a problem with that, Buffy,’ Giles broke in. For maybe the fiftieth time, Buffy was thankful that Giles had given up calling her Miss Summers. He really needed to chill and she knew she was the person to remove that stick up his butt. ‘You don’t know where Miss Rosenberg lives. You won’t be able to meet us there.’

Damn Giles; the voice of reason. ‘Right,’ Buffy grinned. ‘That would help.’

‘You won’t find it,’ Willow reasoned. ‘We’ll wait for you.’

Buffy nodded her agreement and opened the door. She stepped out and went to close the door. ‘Uh, Buffy?’

‘Yeah, Will?’

She pointed to Buffy’s hand and Buffy looked down. She still held the cell phone. ‘Oops,’ Buffy lifted it to her ear, ‘Angel?’

‘I’m still here,’ he replied anxiously. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘Yeah, there’s just a demon I need to take care of. Sorry for forgetting about you. I have to go okay?’

‘That’s fine. Be careful,’ he cautioned and Buffy smiled at his concern. Not many people had ever worried about her. It felt good to know there was someone who cared.

She hung up and handed the phone to Willow. Giles popped the boot and Buffy looked at him askance.

‘Weapons,’ he said simply and Buffy nodded.

She took a short sword from the collection and swung it, testing its manoeuvrability and weight. It seemed okay for a quick beheading. She closed the boot and walked past Giles’ side of the car.

‘I’ll be quick,’ she said as she passed his open window.

The demon hadn’t moved far from where it’d been when Buffy looked earlier. As she got closer she realised it seemed to be searching for something. She stood in the shadows and watched it for a few minutes It didn’t seem to be a hostile demon but she knew never to judge it without first engaging it; Merrick speak. He was very up with military commands, even though the only contact he’d had was through the Council.

After another thirty seconds Buffy got bored. A bored Slayer is a bad Slayer and not in the I-missed-the-heart kind of way. The demon looked up as the Slayer stepped out of the shadows. That was the first thing that tipped Buffy off. It stepped back from what it was handling. Recognition hit Buffy with a force so hard it almost threw her off her feet. Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh God.’

Buffy had assumed it was searching for something, assumed, as she got closer, that it was rummaging through a large duffel bag. The truth almost made Buffy sick. It wasn’t a duffel bag. It was what was left of a human body. Tears filled her vision as she stood there, frozen in horror.

The demon took a step forward and Buffy reacted instantly. She drew back the sword and lunged towards the demon, burying the blade in its gut. The sword slid cleanly through before Buffy wrenched it back out. A bright green goo covered the cold metal.

Buffy swung round and delivered a debilitating roundhouse to the demons chest. It staggered back and she kicked it again. Tears still blurred her vision and she angrily brushed them away with her spare hand. The demon began to turn- trying to escape, knowing its death was imminent- but Buffy fell into a crouch and swung her leg around, sweeping the demon off feet. She jumped back up and stood over the demon. It made a grab for her leg but she stamped on its wrist, shattering the bones. A high pitched keening came from it but Buffy didn’t falter.

She stared coldly at it as she brought her sword up. She felt detached, set apart from the girl she was and she knew why. She glanced over to the hollowed out corpse the demon had dropped and denied the tears that threatened to fall. She wasn’t Buffy the Slayer any more. Seeing that horrific attack- the worst thing she’d ever seen in her three years as a Slayer- had completely brought out the Slayer. The teenage girl was gone.

The demon made a last ditch attempt to escape but Buffy kicked it back to the ground and brought the sword down severing its heart in two. She turned the sword violently and the demon jerked. She pulled out the sword and twirled it around before plunging it back down. The demons head came cleanly off and rolled a few feet away.

She stood back and coldly assessed the situation. There were no quips she could use, no smart ass remarks she could spout in passing. There was nothing to say. Nothing that could make any of this situation better. Dropping the sword, she grabbed the demons ankles and dragged it into a nearby alley. She took out the box of matches she always carried with her- for just this occasion- and lit the carcass on fire.

The fire burned brightly while she stood there, staring through the flames. She reached down and picked up the discarded sword. Turning her back on the fiery remains, she calmly strode back to the car. Willow saw her face but didn’t say anything for which Buffy was grateful. Buffy didn’t actually think she could talk about it right now.

She got into the battered car and was immediately bombarded by Giles’ questions. She shook her head, still unable to answer and Giles stopped. No doubt he wouldn’t let it go though. Giles started the car and they headed to Willow’s in silence.

****************************

Once Willow had been dropped off, Buffy and Giles continued on to Crawford St. Buffy’s eyes widened when the building came into view and she momentarily forgot the previous events of the night. Willow had been right when she’d described this place as huge.

The mansion loomed before them, a dark symbol and Buffy almost laughed at the pure rightness of the place. It had Angel written all over it.

Giles parked and they got out of the car. The gardens were over grown and a lot of the outside had fallen into disrepair but beneath that, Buffy could see the building used to be beautiful.

They took their bags in and Buffy almost dropped at the sheer size of the living room. The fireplace was huge and she knew she was going to have to use it soon. The place was clean and all the rooms had been cleared up. Angel must have had a crew come through because there was no way the place would have remained like that.

Buffy chose her room and let Giles know she was going for a shower. She removed her clothes and stepped into the warm water, sighing in satisfaction as the pressure pounded away the terrible day. The tears she’d held at bay for the last hour or so returned with a vengeance. This time she allowed them to fall. She collapsed onto the tile floor of the shower as the water continued to fall, sobs wracked her body.

Welcome to Sunnydale, Buffy.




Coming up next: We finally meet Xander.

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