“So this is party central,” Faith said, unimpressed, as she, Xander and Cordelia entered the Bronze. “Kinda lame.”
“Aw, you’ll get used to it,” Xander promised. “It’s Wednesday. Kind of a slow night anyway.”
“Well, may as well make the best of it.” She walked up to some miscellaneous guy wearing leather and dragged him onto the dance floor. Xander watched in fascination as Faith danced before Cordelia dragged him off to get her a drink.
“What is it with you and Slayers?” she asked in annoyance.
“Do you need to ask?”
“No, not really. Well, yes. Tell me.”
“Cordy…”
“Don’t you Cordy me, Xander Harris. I’m no less attractive than Faith. I’m certainly more attractive than Buffy will ever hope to be. What is it about…”
“Energy.”
“…What?”
“I’ve chalked it up to energy. Faith and Buffy both exuded this amazing power and energy that no one else has because no one else is a Slayer. Kendra had it, too, but she was different.”
“That’s stupid. You’re stupid.” Cordelia hit Xander on the shoulder and went off to two of the few people who still speak to her since they found out about she and Xander. He rubbed his shoulder and watched after her in disbelief, jumping when Faith came up behind him.
“What’s her problem?” she asked, following Xander’s line of vision.
“I told her the truth.”
“Oh. Then I guess you are pretty stupid.”
“Ha, ha. Drole.” Xander paused. “So, you seem to be having an okay time after all.”
“Yeah. Not half-bad. That Spike guy’s a pretty radical dancer, even if he is completely tanked. I’m kinda thinking he’s a radical dancer because he’s tanked, actually.”
The fear and shock drowned out the noise in the Bronze as Xander’s eyes widened. “Spike?” he whispered.
“Uh, yeah… he went to get some coffee or something. I told him his drunkeness was throwing off my vibe. I’m getting something kinda weird off him.”
“That’s because he’s a vampire!” Xander yelled. Several people around him whipped their heads around to look at him like he was insane. “…said the guy in the movie. And then everyone ran away except for this one poor kid who got his jugular torn out by that vampire I just mentioned just now.”
“Nice save,” Faith said.
“Yeah. Thanks. Let’s go put a nice, extra-pointy stake through that bastard’s chest, okay?”
“Hold your horses, Xand,” Faith said. “I’m not done with him yet.”
“What? What do you mean, ‘not done with him yet’? Oh, you mean not done with him yet in the sense that he won’t fit in an ashtray yet! Okay, let’s go be done with him, then.”
Faith laughed and grabbed Xander’s arm to pull him back. “I think you know what I mean, Xand.”
“Or possibly I’m just choosing not to believe it.”
“Well, that works out. You can believe what you want, and I’ll go get what I want. Everybody’s happy.” She shoved her drink into Xander’s hand and rejoined the platinum blonde bloodsucker on the dance floor. He watched them for a second in disbelief and regret that he hadn’t recognized him sooner.
Cordelia was beside him. “That’s Spike.”
“Yes, it is,” Xander said dimly.
“Now why didn’t you just tell me that that was why you were watching Faith dance?”
“Because I didn’t notice it was him at the time. WHOA, I mean, because I didn’t want to lie to you. I want our relationship to be very open and… and loving. There could be open loving.”
“Nice save,” she said sarcastically, sounding very similar to the way Faith had minutes earlier.
“Yeah. I’m on a roll with saves tonight. Let’s go find Giles.”
“Giles is on another pointless mission, remember?”
Xander looked over at his girlfriend. “You’re not an optimist, are you?”
“I’m too smart to delusion myself.”
Xander suppressed a snort of laughter. “Oh-ho, kay. Let’s find Willow, then.”
“Well, shouldn’t we keep an eye… on…” Cordelia’s face crumpled in disgust as Faith and Spike started a round of full-contact tonsil hockey.
“Actually, I’m hoping to get my eyes removed at this point,” Xander said, throwing off shivers and guiding Cordelia out of the Bronze.
***
Buffy had lost track of time. She could only stare at Giles and wait for him to disappear in a puff of smoke or a shimmer of glitter or something.
“…Buffy?”
“It’s Anne now,” was all she could bring herself to say. Then she turned around and delivered the food to customers sitting behind her, resuming her mindless routine.
“B… Anne. Can we… er… talk?” Giles asked as he followed her around the restaurant.
“I don’t really think talking is either of our strong points right now,” she said offhandedly, delivering a muffin to a homeless-looking person.
“I want you to come back. We’re losing without you. Last week, Snyder gave the whole town chocolate bars that made all the adults turn into teenagers. It was chaos.”
Buffy went back and grabbed more trays. “Last year, I got expelled, kicked out of the house, accused of murder, and I then sent the man I love to hell. It was torture.”
Giles chuckled nervously. “Yes, well. I’ve discussed it with your mother. She wants you home, too. You’re not wanted for murder anymore, and I’m sure we can renegotiate the terms of your readmission into school.”
Buffy finally stopped and whirled around. “Giles, you just don’t get it, do you? I can’t go back. Even if everything you just said is true, it…”
“What? It isn’t worth it because Angel isn’t around? You never should have left. We’re barely scraping by with the basic Slaying and if anything big comes, we will all die.”
“Even if everything you said is true, there is no way I’ll get anyone’s forgiveness,” Buffy shouted over Giles’ voice. “Don’t you think I’ve considered coming home? Do you think that a single minute ever passes without me questioning my decision to stay here? I can’t come back because even if people think they want me back, they don’t really. Things would be too awkward. You’ve all moved on with your lives.”
“I think my presence here proves quite emphatically otherwise,” Giles said quietly but with extraordinary anger Buffy hadn’t seen since Ethan Rayne had appeared in Sunnydale.
“Your presence here proves nothing but your inability to let things go,” Buffy said, unable to hold back the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She bowed her head at a loss of anything else to say and, despite herself, allowed herself to dissolve in Giles’ arms.
“SUMMERS!” Yelled Buffy’s boss as he came around the counter brandishing a spatula at her. “What in the blazes do you think you’re doing? Slacking at your job, disrupting the customers… tell your father to leave or you can kiss this job goodbye.”
Buffy looked up with puffy eyes, stepped away from Giles, and punched her boss in the face. He fell to the ground and Buffy tore her apron off and threw it on top of his unconscious form. Then she looked up at the door of the diner. “I think someone stole your suitcase,” she said quietly and in a stuffy voice. She turned around to see tears forming in Giles’ eyes as well.
“Damn,” he whispered, obviously not really caring.
Buffy laughed. “I’ll go home and change. Then we can go someplace and talk.”
Giles nodded and put a hand on Buffy’s shoulder. Together, he and Buffy walked out of the dingy diner for the last time.
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