Chapter Fifteen

AN: This is super late and stuff. I have excuses, but... my bad. Oh, and I don't own.




Chapter 15


Buffy was unsure of exactly where to take the dazed and freaked out Willow after she staked her new boyfriend. After walking out of the graveyard and onto the street she decided that Paige would have a better idea of what to do, and she suspected that she had a slightly freaked teen on her hands as well. She would have said two, but Xander seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing. Well, not the part where his friends were going to be dinner, but he was ok with the vampire part. And, oh, she was gonna have questions about that.

Once she was convinced that they were fairly safe, Buffy pulled her cell phone out and dialed her sister.

/Hello/

“Hey, I assume you found Jesse. A blonde vamp was all wiggy and pissed when I ran into her.”

/Yeah, bag and beam. I think she was so surprised that she didn’t even see us./

Buffy had to forcibly keep from grinning. That was a technique they had worked out together. She didn’t have time to get all giggly about it though.

“Good. I got Willow too. She’s a bit… upset. Do you want to come get us and maybe find some place to talk?”

/Yeah, we’re outside The Bronze right now and Jesse isn’t taking things that well either. Where do you wanna go?/

Buffy though for a moment. “No idea. Just get them over here and we can figure it out together.”

She gave her the street corner and the major features, to jog her memory of the place, and waited for acknowledgement.

/Ok, be there in 5./

“K, bye.”

After she hung up, Buffy gently pulled Willow aside and waited. Sure enough, about five seconds later, a sparkle of blue and white lights heralded the arrival of the others. Unfortunately this caused Willow to babble even more. The good thing was that Xander knew how to deal with her and took care of it with a hand over her mouth. Once she was a bit calmer he turned to the sisters, who were watching them uncomfortably, and smiled at them.

“We might want to move out of the street soon. I don’t feel too safe, and someone has to explain or these two will lose their minds.”

Buffy sighed and raised an eyebrow at Paige. “Well?”

Paige snapped her fingers a few times before shrugging and pulling out her phone. When the person on the other end of the line picked up she asked without preamble, “What should we do with the very curious and persistent people we rescued tonight?”

After a pause she smiled. “Cool, be there soon.”

A moment later, the teens joined hands and disappeared into the night.


“The library? Why?”, asked Xander as he got his bearings again.

“Oh,” said Paige, “just leaving a note for Giles about what happened.”

She was already scratching pen over paper.

“Ah,” came a familiar voice, “no need, Miss Summers, I’m here.”

The group turned as one and stared at him. He just stood there for a moment, before rubbing his forehead and letting out an exasperated breath. “Was there something you wanted to tell me?”

Buffy stepped forward. “Um, yeah. We fought some vamps in the cemetery. They were trying to take the victims with them, which was odd. Usually they just eat and run. One of them disappeared down some hidden tunnel in the crypt we were fighting in. Oh, and now we’re gonna explain things to Xander’s friends, who were the victims I mentioned before.”

“Now, well, that is, I don’t think – “ he sputtered. What could these silly girls be thinking? It was one thing to involve people who could help, and who’s lives would, and had, been directly affected by her calling. But random teenagers? Really, that was too much.

Jesse spoke up, finally. “I don’t think she was asking. And I’m gonna get some kind of answer, one way or another.”

Willow nodded mutely.

Buffy sighed. “Not my idea of fun either Giles, but in this case, it can’t be avoided. Just, look, mom is expecting us, so…”

He pulled off his glasses and started cleaning them with the handkerchief he had in his pocket. “Your mother knows what you are planning?”

“Yeah” answered Paige with a definite ‘duh’ undercurrent, “our parents know almost everything we do. Plus they’re extra special anal about patrols and stuff. We’re taking them to our house to talk and then I’m driving them home, since I left my car at home tonight.”

Giles just nodded. There wasn’t really anything else he COULD do. The idea of saying ‘Oh no, don’t obey your parents’ didn’t exactly sit well.

A moment later Paige was handing him a post-it note with their address and general directions to their house.

“I can only take 4 passengers at a time. I’m not sure if it’s a limitation of my power, or if I just need to practice and work my way up to more, but since I’ve never needed to…” She trailed off, slightly embarrassed to be admitting a limit to her abilities.

Giles just cleared his throat and smiled at her. “Quite alright. I found a few things that we need to discuss as well. I’ll gather my research and meet you there. I’m sure your parents would appreciate a meeting of some kind before we go forward. I do believe Merrick made a less than pleasant impression on them."

In a moment the teens were gone and Giles was reaching into his desk drawer for his bottle of scotch. This evening called for a drink.


By the time Giles had collected himself and made his way to the Summers home, the basic explanations had been made and the group was sitting around the dining room table with hot chocolate.

After a hushed and slightly heated discussion with Hank and Joyce Summers about who, exactly, decided what about Buffy’s duties and safety, he joined the children. Hank and Joyce retired to the living room and kitchen, deciding that details would only upset them, and wouldn’t change what needed to be done.

Dawn and Paige were discussing some of their magical knowledge when he joined them. Buffy and Jesse were talking about television and Willow and Xander were flitting back and forth between the two groups.

Giles cleared his throat to get their attention. “I have some information about the Harvest. If anyone is interested.”

All eyes turned to him, expectantly. He was a bit unnerved by that. “Well, yes, it appears as though the Harvest is a ritual meant to free a master vampire from his imprisonment in a church that sank underground about 60 years ago.”

“Huh.” said the sisters, while the others just stared.

“And this is happening, like, now, right?” asked Dawn after a moment.

“Tomorrow night, actually. One of the Master’s minions will be marked as the Vessel and they will feed off of 10 victims, transferring that energy to him. Then he will be able to break free of the mystical prison.”

“The mark will be visible? We’ll know when we see them?” asked Paige.

“Ah, yes.” Giles answered with a slight nod.

Dawn looked pensive before she stood suddenly. “I think I might have something that will help.” Then she ran up the stairs.