Buffy woke feeling better. She stretched a bit, but found her shoulder to be in too much pain to finish the stretch, so she propped herself up on her good elbow and noticed Angel in a corner of the office, watching her evenly. Buffy couldn’t help but smile at him. It was impossible to tell how long he’d been watching her… he just sat still, probably not moving at all, making sure no harm came to her while she rested.
“Hey,” she said, and was surprised to find her voice very groggy-sounding. Her throat didn’t feel gravelly, but she guessed the lack of use made it rough.
“Hey back. How are you feeling?” Angel asked her, watching her every move.
“I’m okay, I think. My shoulder doesn’t really want to be used at all, but other than that, I think I’ll be fine. It doesn’t seem like it’s really healed… that’s unlike me. What time it is?”
Angel smiled internally with gladness. “It’s just after nine at night. I found you in the graveyard last night; you were out for a long time.”
A look of shock came over Buffy’s face. “I’ve been out for twenty-four hours. Does mom know? Where are Xander and Willow? I was supposed to meet them at the Bronze and then I was supposed to go home… not good…”
“Willow, Xander and Oz called me when you didn’t show up at the Bronze.” Buffy looked up to see Giles at the door, smiling slightly. “They know what happened, and along with Angel and Cordelia, they’ve been helping me research the demon that attacked you based on Angel’s description.”
Comprehension dawned on Buffy and she smiled warmly. Angel was the one who saved her. Then the thankfulness was quickly taken over by embarrassment as she remembered the feeble-looking demon that had attacked her. She hadn't been able to fight that?
“Your mother, on the other hand, was incredibly difficult to convince. I told her that you escaped the demon and that you wanted to stay at my place and research. Then, as she understands it, on your way to school you went into round two with the demon and it injured your shoulder. You came to me and I advised that you stay in the library all through school hours to ensure that there was nothing suspicious about the wound. You stayed after school to continue research. I think she’s put out that you didn’t want to speak with her, but otherwise convinced.”
Buffy was able to breathe a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Giles. It’s a challenge at best to make sure mom knows that I’m not going to get slaughtered on the job. Even if she thinks I’m fine, it’ll be a task to convince her to let me go out tonight.”
“Tonight?” Giles and Angel said in unison. “Buffy, you’re not going out tonight,” Angel continued. “You’re still weak, and if this thing pinned you down when you were at full strength, he could easily take you down now.”
Buffy blinked several times at Angel. “Guess what, Angel? Whatever that thing is, it’s not going to rest. It’s going to attack several other people. I’m the slayer. It’s my job to kill it, and the sooner we do that, the better.” She pushed the blanket off of her and sat up. “Now, I’m going. Alone. And there’s nothing either of you can do to stop me.” She stood and started to walk out the door, only to fall flat on her face halfway there.
“Ow,” came Buffy’s muffled voice. Both Angel and Giles came to help her up. “Okay, fine, you win. Giles, will you take me home? I’d ask Angel to walk me, but walking doesn’t seem to be my strong suit at the moment.”
“Of course,” was Giles’ response.
“Listen, Buffy, get some rest. We’re gathering back here tomorrow morning. I’m going to stay here tonight so I can help you tomorrow”—Angel looked at Giles to confirm, who nodded—“and we’ll research until we find something out about this guy. That’s the only way to go about this. You going out on one of your heroic escapades and getting yourself killed is not going to help anyone. Just rest,” he said again, and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. Then he walked away and let Giles help her to his vehicle.
***
Joyce sat curled up in a chair in the living room trying to read her book. She kept looking out the window, expecting to see Buffy coming up the walk. After about two hours of looking and not seeing, she decided her daughter wouldn’t be home until late and gave up her post. When she got about halfway up the stairs to go to bed, she heard a car door slam, followed by Buffy opening the door. “Mom?” she said, and Joyce was never happier to see her daughter in her life.
“Buffy, are you all right?” was naturally the first thing that came to Joyce’s mind.
“Yeah, mom. I’m still a little jumpy… it was so creepy to see such a weird-looking demon in broad daylight. I can’t really use my left shoulder, but I’m otherwise fine.” She gave her mom a half-hug and tried to look confident with her walking skills as she headed towards the kitchen. “So, is it too late for dinner?” she said.
Buffy looked a little weird to Joyce. Maybe it was just the way she held her arm so limply at her side… oh well. Now that she knew Buffy was okay, Joyce found herself famished. “Not at all. How about some soup? Chicken and stars sound good?”
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