The Book of Days: Mythical Girl
by WordThief
THE BOOK OF DAYS

‘I had dismissed the possibility of the actual existence of such a creature as a myth.’
Mulder, ‘3’

Part Three: Mythical Girl

###

Suited up, about to start the autopsy, Dana Scully had a sudden feeling of foreboding. She stepped up to the table and looked more closely at the young woman laid out before her. The clothes had been removed from the body but a sheet pulled up to the armpits by the intern provided a last vestige of modesty. The face, eyes closed, full lips slightly parted gave the impression of someone simply asleep, but the ragged wound to the neck told the grim truth to anyone willing to look.
Scully shook herself abruptly, trying to rid herself of the feeling of evil that pervaded the space around the autopsy tray.

‘Test. Record.’

She played the tape back to herself to insure it was in good working order, then proceeded with the post mortem examination.

‘Date, Wednesday, May 13 1998. Time, 10.40a.m. Overseeing pathologist Special Agent Dana Scully, autopsy of suspected murder victim, Sunnydale, California. Records to be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, department, X-Files, authorisation 12003-X775.’

‘Victim is female, previously designated Jane Doe #33. Information received has allowed a change in designation to partial identification.’ She sighed, and carried on. ‘Subject is known as Kendra, aged nineteen years, born in Ghana, naturalised to the Bahamas, prior to death of no fixed abode. There are no official records of her existence.’

‘Presumed cause of death is blood loss due to a neck wound severing the carotid artery. I am starting the autopsy with the Y-incision....’

An hour and a half later, Scully laid down her scalpel and snapped off her gloves, utterly confused. The feeling of foreboding had only increased, setting her heart pounding, echoing in her ears in the unnatural quiet of the morgue. She picked up her cellphone and hit a button. The phone rang only once.

‘Mulder, it’s me. Look, you were right, this isn’t just a normal neck wound. I still stand by my assessment that it was made with a very blunt knife, but - there’s no blood. There is so little blood left in her body that what is left is oxidising at a very rapid rate - I just can’t explain the blood loss. Even if the site photos have been tampered with, somehow, there is no way the body could have pumped out this much blood before death.’

‘Exsanguination? Scully - we’ve seen this sort of thing before.’

‘Not at this level.’ She sounded very flustered. ‘There is no obvious portal, no mechanism for that to have been done. Only the one slitted wound. In and of itself fatal, but....’

‘What about the body itself? Any abnormalities?’

‘Nothing unprecedented. Densities in the striated muscle tissue, indicative of extreme strength - unusual in a female of this age, but not completely off the chart. Very low body fat percentage for a woman. There’s really nothing strange here, just indications that this girls was very fit, very strong and looked after herself extremely well. I can’t find anything about her that I would say was outside normal variation.’

‘Damn! I was hoping there was some sort of difference, perhaps a metabolic indicator. Something more than the simple mark.’

‘The mark?’

‘On her left arm. Buffy has it too. The mark of the Slayer.’

‘Yes, I recorded a mark - but that also, in and of itself, is not especially unusual.’

‘Scully,’ her partner sounded tired and strained. She could picture him perched on the edge of a chair at Giles’ apartment, the three girls gathered behind the table, silently watching. ‘This is for you. I’m trying to think of something - anything - concrete here because I know if we don’t have your full belief, we can’t get any further, and a binding will last for only so long.’

‘Mulder, I’m trying, it’s just...’

‘I know. Don’t you think I know, Scully? It’s part of you that you need proof. And I respect that, despite what I said yesterday morning. I thought proof might come through these girls being different. Scientifically, quantitatively different. That’s why I wanted you to do the autopsy in the first place. This isn’t just something I’m jumping into for the sake of it. For once.’

She sighed, the shiver passing once again down her back. ‘Look. I’ll give you what I’ve got so far. I believe that Buffy did not kill this girl I have in front of me. I accept she was killed in some strange way that we aren’t yet able to figure out. I accept that early yesterday morning I saw something that I couldn’t immediately explain. But Mulder - vampires? A chosen one to kill them who just happens to be a tiny, sarcastic, seventeen year old? There’s nothing here that can...oh...hell. Mulder, I don’t know...I just don’t know. What we saw before...’ She trailed off.

‘Scully, will you give me one last thing? There’s one thing left that may convince you - it’s a long shot but - will you just hang on for a minute.’ She heard a soft click and then muffled background voices mixed with his, young and female.

Thirty seconds later he was back. ‘Buffy has consented to you performing a medical exam on her, after lunch. We can pull the Sunnydale P.D. facilities for it ostensibly as a forensics rule-out, and you can be as thorough as you want. You may find something. Especially check for quick healing. That’s the only sign that I can remember from the little I have read about Slayers.’

‘I don’t know, Mulder. But I...I guess it can’t hurt. I should really check her out anyway after that fight. I’ll need someone else there - preferably her mother..’

‘Miss Rosenburg has offered to be there. She says she has something to show you.’

###

Scully looked warily at her young patient. ‘A full medical, Buffy. It’ll take about an hour. Are you sure you want me to proceed.’

‘Anything to convince you we’re telling the truth. We need your help. I really don’t need to be in jail.’

‘Alright then. Miss Rosenburg? Willow? Can you please hold this for me?’

‘Yeah, um, before you start, would you watch this? Ready Buffy?’ The redhead lashed out with her right hand. Scully caught a glimpse of something shiny in her grip, and then Buffy was clutching her forearm.

‘Willow!’ Scully was shocked. The girl had slashed a four inch long cut in her friend’s arm. Although the cut was not extremely deep, it did reach the muscle and Buffy was in obvious pain. Not going nearer, Scully watched the two girls. Buffy stopped wincing and flashed a devilish smile at her attacker. ‘Ow!’ she protested.

‘Sorry Buffy. But that’s what you said...’

‘No big. It looked good, so I won’t try and get you back.’

‘Good..Oh! No, don’t. No slayage on me, Buffy. I have a pulse - see!’

Turning to the bemused doctor, Buffy held out her arm, allowing Scully a closer look. ‘How long will this take to heal?’

‘It should be well closed over in about a week, maybe a bit longer. Should be fully healed in about six weeks, although there might be a scar. You were lucky she didn’t cut through a tendon.’

‘It’s not a problem. I’ll be fine. It’s not bleeding much, so you don’t need to bandage it or anything. Now on with the exam?’ she turned to Willow. ‘Think I can manage to fail this one?’ Willow’s broad grin set her to laughing. Scully rolled her eyes and set to work.

She proceeded with a routine medical examination, questioning her patient on aspects of her health. From time to time she found something to comment on.

‘Your resting pulse is very slow, Buffy. Forty-six, that time. That is abnormally low, it would be even for an Olympic athlete.’

Willow grinned ‘Oh..oh I know. She used to give coach the wiggins in gym class. Miss Freemont gave up taking it - she said Buffy was a freak. Which ah, of course, she isn’t, but it’s weird, y’know and oh, well, anyway.’ The embarrassed girl looked down at her hands.

‘Thanks Will. I’m glad to see you don’t think the aspects of my freakishness make me...freakish.’ She looked at Scully. ‘Giles says the slow pulse rate is a defence mechanism. It means I don’t bleed as quickly if I’m injured and it makes it more difficult for the vampires to - feed. On me.’ She smiled. ‘And I’m also really fit. Giles makes sure of that.’

Scully looked away. ‘Okay, Miss Summers, Can you stand up, top off, I want to do some percussions to check for internal injuries.’

The girl quickly complied, and Scully began routine percussions. ‘Liver, kidneys, fine, stomach, ok, next....’ she stopped and felt a cool chill of unreality pass over her. Repeated the percussion. ‘Miss Summers, lie down.’ Her words came out strangled and strange.

Buffy caught her tone. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ She made her way to the plinth and lay down, still looking worriedly at the F.B.I agent.

Scully continued her abdominal exam, contemplating the implications of what she found there. At last, sure of herself, she pulled back. ‘Miss Summers, you can get dressed now, then, please have a seat. You too, Miss Rosenburg, please sit down.’

The two girls passed a worried glance. It had definitely not been an hour.’ Did you find something? Something to show she’s the Slayer?’ Willow asked hopefully, sliding into one of the rounded plastic stacker-chairs that had been provided.

Scully sat down opposite the two girls, the look on her face betraying her feelings. ‘Buffy, I’m going to have to ask you some more personal questions. I’d appreciate if you answered them truthfully, because I’m sensing we don’t have too much time.’

‘What? What is it?’

Scully took a deep breath. ‘Buffy, have you...have you engaged in unprotected intercourse in the last few months, say three to four months?’

She watched the two faces. First confusion, then an almost simultaneous dawning of understanding of the implications of her question. Willow let out a breath. ‘Oh boy, oh boy, oh...Buffy.’ she turned to her friend who was shell shocked, immobile. ‘Buffy? ...Angel? Oh boy.’

‘Angel...’ she breathed. ‘But, that’s, that’s not possible. Am I?’ She turned her pleading eyes on the older woman. ‘Miss Scully..I’m not....’

‘I will need to do a blood test to be certain, but I think, yes, I’m pretty sure you are pregnant.’

‘Oh God...’ Willow reached for her as the Slayer’s face crumbled into silent tears.

###

Rupert Giles sat, head bent, the small piece of white paper that carried the results of Buffy’s blood test in his lap. Scully had run a battery of tests on the Slayer, from the initial urine test, to a blood test, and finally an ultrasound. That had been finished hurriedly, without developing the pictures, to enable the girls to return to Giles house in time for nightfall. Now Scully had returned, alone despite Buffy’s warnings. She had driven door to door and had not encountered any trouble. The assembled group was silent, struck dumb by Scully’s pronouncement, and waiting for Giles’s reaction.

Mulder stood off to one side of the room, watching the tableau. Willow had finally quieted and was standing by the counter, Oz behind her with his arms wrapped around her. Giles sat at his table, apparently oblivious to the fact that all eyes were on him. Xander and Cordelia sat side by side on the couch, Cordelia with her arm draped around her boyfriend’s shoulders. The young man was white with shock and Mulder could perceive a slight tremble in the hands that lay in his lap.

Scully was standing, arms half folded, in the raised entryway, barring the passage to the door. Mulder recognised this stance as both protective and defensive - defending against the news she had brought, protecting the group from the evil that she did not acknowledge yet but still felt in her bones lurked outside. She had not yet removed her coat, and the knuckles of the hand that clutched Buffy’s medical file were white.

And the small girl-Slayer, standing behind her Watcher, seemed the picture of innocence but her clenched fists and fighting stance gave her away. Although unable to fight the new circumstance that had arisen in her life in her usual way, she still remained alert, her muscles tense. Mulder could see the outline of a stake hidden in her waistband as she finally moved, reached out, placed her hand on her Watcher’s shoulder.

‘Giles...Giles. I have to go now. I have to go and patrol.’ Her face was streaked with tears, but her voice was steady and strong.

‘No.’ The librarian’s voice was barely audible.

‘Giles - it’s after ten. I’m late. They’re going to be out killing, the three of them, they will be so..totalled about the binding. They’re gonna kill tonight, I have to go..’

‘NO!’ The librarian pushed back his chair and stood up in one swift motion. He turned on Buffy, grabbing her by the shoulders, shaking her like a leaf. ‘NO!’ She was so shocked she did not respond.

‘No, I can’t have you go out there. Not now. We have to decide what to do. We have to...we need to get your mother here.. I need to call the council...we can’t just..’

Xander stood and moved towards the pair. ‘Giles, Giles, it’s okay. Buffy, Giles is right. You can’t go now.’ He caught his friend’s eye over the top of Buffy’s head and gave him a significant look. Oz nodded. ‘Oz and I will go. Not to dust, just to - watch. Do the manly man thing. Sir?’ he turned to Mulder ‘Do you have a cellphone?’ Mulder nodded. ‘Right, then we programme speed dial for this number, we see any trouble and we’re straight on the phone and Buffy can come and beat the bastard to within an inch of his death. Bastards.’ he corrected himself.

‘Xander, you don’t have to...Oz....’ Buffy looked distressed but was making an obvious effort not to cry.

Oz freed Willow and leaned down on the back of the couch. ‘I think we do. We’ll be careful. We’ll make sure we come back....very not dead - not undead.’

The room was quiet again. Xander reached for Cordelia’s hand, and she grasped it, looking up into his face. ‘Be careful.’

‘Here.’ Scully crossed the room, holding out her phone. ‘You can have mine.’ She turned so both Buffy and Mulder were in her line of sight, and spoke to both of them. ‘I believe you. God knows why, but I believe you. Anything I can do, I will. No, don’t touch me.’ This last statement was to Mulder, who was stepping toward her, one arm outstretched. ‘I do this against advisement. But I’m doing it. I saw - and it’s not proof, and I don’t know how, but..’ she pointed with her free hand to Buffy’s arm. Where the livid red cut Willow had given her only four hours ago had been, there was only a thin white line, a ghost scar.

Buffy was the only one to answer her. ‘Thank you.’ She dropped her head and wrapped her arms around Giles, finally breaking down and sobbing into his tweed waistcoat.

###

Prepped, wired and ready, Oz and Xander had gone off into the night with all the weaponry Willow could press upon them. The six people remaining were seated around the large oak table, telephone close at hand. Scully had called a meeting, and despite her grim expression, Mulder thought he sensed a lightening of her mood, a letting go.

‘I just don’t see how.’ Willow was saying. ‘I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, Buff, but Angel is....dead..and that’s a big, um, handicap to passing on genes, right? How could he...’

‘He told me he couldn’t, and I know he was telling the truth..back then. He must have not known.’

Giles interrupted the girl’s conversation. ‘Just remember, that Angel, as a vampire with a soul, is ... was an unprecedented creature. There is no rulebook for him. Normal vampires cannot reproduce. Maybe with a-a soul, Angel was capable.’

‘I don’t think his capability is in question here.’ Cordelia muttered, having the decency to blush when everyone else at the table looked at her.

‘Unless, of course - forgive me Buffy, but I must ask - unless the child isn’t Angel’s.’

Buffy drew her lips together in a tight line. ‘It’s not. It’s mine. My baby. But I haven’t slept with anyone else, so the fathering issue is closed. I’m not the Virgin Mary and I doubt that this was an Immaculate conception. Angel did the deed.’

He nodded briefly. ‘And they didn’t say anything at the hospital?’

‘Huh? Oh, yeah, the hospital! Dr Scully, I was in hospital in the beginning of March. Surely they would have noticed....’

‘Not necessarily. I read in your file that you were being treated for a very virulent form of influenza combined with exhaustion. They would have no reason to test your blood hormone levels, not for pregnancy. I’m actually quite surprised that you didn’t lose the baby at that stage. It is not uncommon for the flu to cause miscarriage in the first trimester.’

Giles addressed Scully. ‘Is it possible the tests are wrong? I..I don’t want to get Buffy’s mother involved until we know for sure. I know you won’t want to Buffy, but I don’t think we have any choice now but to tell her everything.’

Buffy looked down at the table, accepting, as Scully answered him. ‘There’s no question, Mr Giles...’

‘Uh, Rupert, please.’

‘Okay, Rupert. I did three blood tests. Consistently positive. Then there’s all this.’ She turned to Buffy. ‘Are you ready for this? The details?’ The girl nodded mutely. Mulder shifted in his chair, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

‘Okay, the facts. You are between 14 and 16 weeks pregnant. Does that pan out?’ Another mute nod. ‘You are due in mid-October, your first trimester is passed, and the baby is well developed and healthy. In about three weeks we will be able to tell the sex of the baby by ultrasound. Abortion is an option, but...’

‘No. No abortion.’ Buffy looked sharply at the agent, her face set in a mask of determination. ‘No way.’

Scully nodded understandingly at the girl. ‘Okay. I wanted your views on that before I showed you this.’ She opened the file and passed a single sheet of paper to the girl. Willow craned to look over her friend’s shoulder, and Cordelia left her seat for a better view.

The paper was a black and white ultrasound image. Buffy held her breath as she took in the picture.

‘Oh..oh it’s a baby!’ Willow stared at the scan in amazement. Scully smiled at her. ‘Yes. You can see the head here, both legs, the closer arm there, the other is away behind the body.’

‘And the baby’s okay? It’s normal?’ Buffy looked quickly at Giles, testing the emotional weather in his face, then her gaze returned in wonderment to the ultrasound.

‘Perfectly normal. Very healthy, with a strong heartbeat. Rupert? Would you like to see? I have another.’

She passed him another photo from the file and the three teenagers watched him carefully. He was quiet for a minute.

Buffy turned to Scully. Her eyes were full of unshed tears. ‘How could I not know? I had no idea. Surely..more than three months, I would have noticed something.’

‘Again, not necessarily,’ she answered sympathetically. ‘Many women, especially young women, don’t notice the subtle changes at first. And you have been highly stressed, physically very active, and on top of that, suffered quite a serious bout of illness. All these things go towards ‘hiding’ the evidence, so to speak. But had you not found out now, it wouldn’t have been long before you realised something was happening. Maybe two weeks, three.’

‘And we would have noticed.’ Willow said, tearing her eyes from the ultrasound. ‘You aren’t very big, so you’d get fat faster.’

‘Thanks, Will. But I think...my Mom would have noticed first...she watches my weight like a hawk, dreams of saving me from anorexia.’ The Slayer stood, hands flat on the table. She turned to Giles.

‘Well, now or never. Let’s get Mom here. I...will tell her about the baby, but can you do the Slayer stuff, y’know, your ‘there is one in every generation’ blah blah.’ He swallowed hard and nodded.

‘I have to call my mother.’ Buffy looked at Mulder. ‘Can I borrow your phone?’

###

‘Nothing so far..okay..I’ll tell Giles and Buffy...okay, okay, that’s good..you too...no, be careful. Bye.’ Willow hung up the phone. Buffy had tensed up when it rang, but when Willow had telegraphed her a ‘no problem’ she relaxed back down, exhausted, her head in her mother’s lap. Now she was asleep. Joyce was staring out into space, her hand running through her daughter’s hair. Mulder suspected that she was in shock - it was very few parents that have to come to terms with what Joyce Summers had learnt over the last two hours. Buffy had sat quietly, holding her mother, as Giles explained Buffy’s calling to her in his precise, lilting way. Backed up by Willow, and the tall agent, they had finally succeeded in making her believe they were not all crazy. They tied in what she knew of the things that had happened over the years, sparing her nothing. Buffy remained silent. When Joyce had finally turned to her for confirmation, she had simply said ‘It’s true, Mom. If you think about it, you’ll know it’s true.’

Joyce had wandered alone upstairs to think, and on her return, had gone to her daughter and looked her full in the face. ‘Okay. I accept what you say. It sounds like a whole lot of crazy, but I believe you. And Buffy, no matter what, I love you. You know that.’

At that point Giles had let out a large breath. He looked significantly at his Slayer. Scully looked down at her feet. Willow, beside Buffy, had taken her friend’s hand. Cordelia excused herself to go upstairs to call her parents. Mulder caught Scully’s eye and motioned towards the stairs, and the agents followed the teenager up the plush carpeting and down the hallway.

As they left, they heard Buffy say, ‘Mom, there’s something else you need to know...’

On their return, half an hour later, Joyce had been crying quietly, one arm wrapped around her daughter, the other hand clutching the ultrasound photo, its elfin image caught in mid-kick.

Mulder roused himself from the armchair he had been trying to doze in, and looked at Willow.

‘That was Oz,’ she said. ‘It’s after one, the bars and clubs will all be closed ‘cos it’s only Thursday, and they didn’t see a thing. They’re gonna come back now.’

Mulder stood, stretching. ‘Mrs Summers?’ He had to say it twice before he caught her attention. ‘Would you like a hot drink? Tea? Coffee?’

She gave him a lopsided smile. ‘Coffee please. Black, two sugars.’

‘Let me guess, Rupert - tea?’ The Englishman got up to help, stepping over the sleeping form of Cordelia who had hunkered down on a mattress on the floor.

‘No, I do believe I’ll have coffee, just this once. I need something with a bit more aggression than tea.’

###

The kettle boiled, Mulder carried a cup of decaf up the stairs to where Scully had retired to go over Giles’ ancient copy of ‘The Slayer’s Handbook.’ He found her asleep, the book open in her lap. She awoke at the sound of his footsteps on the polished wood floor, and looked around confusedly.

‘Coffee, Scully, you look like you could use it. Or sleep. Coffee is quicker.’

‘I thought it was ‘Liquor is quicker.’

‘I don’t really recommend that right now, all things considered. Buffy’s mother has finished the quarter bottle of scotch that Rupert had hidden away somewhere. And unless you want to venture out to get some more...here. This is decaf, you should be able to get some more sleep.’

‘I wasn’t asleep. I was reading this.’ She indicated the handbook. ‘It’s...crazy. It’s against anything I’ve ever....My instincts are all telling me to get the hell out of here, away from all you crazy people. Except......’ She took the coffee from him and took a long sip.

‘That the evidence supports it? What you’ve seen and what you have found out supports it, even without empirical proof?’

She dropped her head ‘Yeah. Yeah. My God, Mulder. This is unreal. And now we’ve got a pregnant _child_ down there whose day to day job is the saving of the world? And the whole ‘Angel’ thing? It’s almost too much.’

‘I think Mrs Summers is feeling the same way. At least you have had reason to think about the paranormal sometimes. Look..’ He crouched down beside her overstuffed armchair. ‘Before we arrived here, this was just a myth to me too. Possibly carrying some truth, but not enough that I’d purposely go after proof, or even details. When I saw that mark on Kendra’s arm, the reality hit me like a tonne of bricks. Buffy, to me, is literally a legend bought to life - a mythical girl.’

‘Yes, but she’s flesh and blood, pregnant, at the centre of a murder enquiry and in danger of her life.’

‘Right. Which means she needs our help.’

‘Which I said I’d give! Look - just let me concentrate on what we need to do next.’ She put her hand on his knee. ‘Mulder, I promise you, we will have this conversation. One day. You’ll get your chance to say I told you so. Take that as a given. It’s just not going to be tonight, okay? Surely you can respect the journey enough to grant me that? Just leave me feeling that the world has changed for me - ripped right open - and let us get on with things. When I’m ready, I’ll come to you. I promise.’

‘Okay. Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll leave you to get some rest.’ He stood up and brushed her hair out of her forehead with his hand, placing a light kiss on her brow. ‘I’ll set the alarm on my cell phone for seven thirty and we can head down to the station. Try and get some sleep.’

She nodded, although she knew that sleep would not visit her tonight.

###

When Buffy awoke, the sun was streaming through the high window. Her mother was curled up beside her on the couch, her blonde hair reflecting the light, her sleeping face peaceful and serene. The Slayer stood, stretching and yawning. She stayed still for a moment, listening, then began to look around the room. Her gaze fell on the old oak table, where the papers spilled out of her medical file. The ultrasound lay on top of the pile. Buffy’s eyes and hands strayed to her stomach, resting there. Flat to the eye, she nevertheless felt she could feel a tiny arc of belly that she hadn’t noticed before. A wave of feeling - love and protectiveness - passed over her, surprising her with its strength. ‘Hello baby,’ she whispered, and tested her feelings once more. The shock was gone, but there was still fear. It had been joined by an irrational glimmer of hope, strengthened by her mother’s acceptance. For a moment she found herself hoping the baby would be a girl.

The room revealed another sleeping figure, Xander, who had gone to sleep on Cordelia’s mattress fully clothed, a stake still stuffed in his hip pocket. Cordelia was nowhere to be seen, and Buffy stiffened for a second until she caught sight of the note pinned to the wall-clock, out of sight of anyone looking in through the window. It was in Giles neat, precise hand.

Buffy,

I hope you have had a decent amount of sleep. There is currently nothing to worry about, at least until nightfall, but we must make some plans. From the report that Xander and Oz gave me when they returned, there was an alarming _lack_ of vampiric activity last night, which leads me to believe Angelus and Drusilla are planning something.

As for everyone’s whereabouts, I thought you would like to know. Everyone is safe. Agents Mulder and Scully are checking in at the police station. Cordelia left to go home as soon as it was light this morning, and she and I are going to make an appearance at school to cover you all. We should manage to get away by lunchtime. Oz and Willow are asleep upstairs.

There really isn’t much for you to do just yet, and I would like you and your mother to relax and take the time to rest. Our proposed plan of action involves everyone meeting at your house at 2pm, if you could please inform the others.

Yours,

Giles

She smiled at her Watcher’s formality. Even after almost two years he was still as English as ever. Checking the clock, which read 9.30, she pulled off her sweatshirt and stretched again, cramped and stiff from sleeping on the couch. She moved quietly into the kitchen and poured herself an orange juice, then tiptoed up the stairs, poking her head into the spare bedroom where Willow and Oz were spooned together fast asleep on the single bad, a blanket between them. Willow’s hair burnt like fire in the morning sunshine. Buffy smiled and pulled the door closed.

###

End of Part Three.

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