Title: The Surrogate 9/19
Author: Jacqui
Rating: I really want to get off this G kick, damned bond, I’ll get around it, you just watch!
Disclaimer: Buffy, Giles and all other assorted Buffy candies belong to Joss Whedon, WB and ME. Elizabeth, and everything from her world, belongs to me (the real me, not the ‘grr aargh’ ME .
Notes: I’ll at least try and give them one happy part. After the depression of last time, I tried to up the mood. And you might notice the introduction of a few familiar faces.

Feedback: Give me a happy. wily_one24@yahoo.com.au

"It is only when this dyadic relationship with the mother is broken that the child begins to form what we know as a separate identity."

Maggie Walsh’s words echoed throughout the lecture hall. Students were busy scribbling their notes as they looked up from their books to her and the screen and back again. It was one student, in particular, that she was watching that day as she recited the lesson without having to think about it.

Her eyes followed Buffy Summers from the door as she crept back into her seat. It was becoming a regular habit of Buffy’s, this coming and going during lecture hours. The blonde seemed unconcerned as she leaned over and read the notes of her friend, Willow Rosenberg. They were always together and they always sat nearest the door.

Professor Walsh continued speaking as she watched Buffy take hold of Willow’s hand and hold it to her stomach. The two shared a secret smile. It made Maggie’s brain tick over and little things that had been niggling at her mind began to make sense.

After class, she called Riley over.

"Riley, you’ve talked to Buffy Summers, right?"

"A little, I guess." Riley furrowed his brows in confusion.

"I think there’s something going on with her. I want you to find out what it is."

"I’ll agree, she’s a little flaky, but aren’t you overreacting? She gets good grades."

"Good, but not great. She has a good mind. If something’s going on that’s affecting her work, I want to know about it."

"What exactly am I looking for?"

"You’ll know it when you see it."

* * * *

When he finally caught up with Buffy that afternoon, it was in the last place Riley expected. Seated at a library desk, Buffy was taking copious notes from three books spread open before her. She was so absorbed in the task, that she didn’t notice him walk up to her. For the first time, he noticed the line of her neck as she leaned over the desk, the shape of her face.

"What are you reading?"

Buffy jumped at the sound, but recovered quickly. Without thinking, she closed the cover of the first book so that he could read the title. Riley’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline, he gave a nervous little laugh.

"Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting that."

She looked down at ‘What To Expect When You’re Expecting’ and let out a little "Eeeep". Standing up, Buffy shook her head in denial.

"Oh no. Heh. It’s not… I’m not… Just some personal research. I’m interested. That’s all. Certainly nothing to announce, at all, ever."

"So, you’re not…?"

"Me? Oh, gods no. Not me."

They stood like that for several seconds, neither knowing just what to say, when they were interrupted by someone who strode right up to them. Xander held an object up to Buffy’s face. It was a large paper bag, already several grease spots had seeped through from the other side. Buffy had to keep from drooling.

"That’s it!" Xander ignored the frantic look Buffy sent him. "I can’t believe you made me drive half an hour each way to pick up a specific brand of donut. No more! Next time, Giles is on Slayer craving duty. Call him. I quit."

He stormed off without waiting for a reply. Buffy turned back to look at Riley, nervous laughter escaping her lips.

"It’s not what it looks like, really."

"Really?"

* * * *

Elizabeth let one foot fall in front of the other. One step and then another. Her eyes watched her toes as they fell and rose with her pacing. In her ears was the steady noise of the stereo. It had long since ceased to be music, her ears tuned to the sounds below instead. A long, steady rhythm of sound devoid of notes and keys. Her throat buzzed with the tuneless hum that droned out of it.

"Can I get you some tea?" Giles stood nervously in the doorway.

"No thank you." Her words were short and clipped.

"Maybe a small meal, something to eat?"

"No. Thank you."

"Would you like to do something? A game of scrabble, perhaps?"

She closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe in deeply. Her hand shook as she held it out to him, palm outwards.

"No. Thank you. Please, just leave me alone."

Again came the steps, the repetitive movements of her feet, the unchanging patterns of the carpet and the shape of the room as she paced back and forth. Eventually she was sure that he’d left. A small part of her felt guilty for talking to him like that. The majority of her, however, was screaming. She needed to get out, she needed to move.

The apartment was like a cage.

* * * *

"Did you know?"

"Well, there were signs."

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"And if I was wrong? I’m not out to ruin the girl’s reputation, Riley."

Maggie Walsh and Riley Finn waited for the little beep to tell them that they’d been cleared. When it came, they opened the door and stepped through. The sounds that suddenly assaulted their ears didn’t even make them flinch. Below them trucks whizzed by and a team of young trainee soldiers were being put through their exercises. To their left a group of scientists were operating on a green being.

"You’re absolutely sure?"

"Well, the books fairly cemented it, she tried to back track, but then that guy started talking to her about donuts and slayer cravings." Riley shrugged. "Seemed pretty sus if you ask me."

"What? What did you say?"

"That guy came up to her and gave her some donuts for her cravings…"

"No. That’s not… That boy called her the Slayer? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I guess." He paused to punch in a security code for another door and then looked at her. "Why? What’s a Slayer?"

"Nothing, don’t worry about it." Maggie looked down at her clip board. "Let’s just keep an eye on her, shall we?"

* * * *

"So he’s still following you around, huh?" Willow sipped her soda through a straw.

"And getting more suspicious by the moment. By the way," Buffy turned her head to the left and lightly punched Xander in the arm as they walked. "can I just say thank you one more time for that? I don’t believe you understand exactly how grateful I am to you for letting the Psychology TA think I’m pregnant."

"I’m sorry, okay? Sheesh!" He rubbed the sore spot on his arm, which had received several hits that night. "Ya know, Buff, sarcasm, not your most attractive feature."

He wisely stopped talking when he saw the glare she sent him.

"It’s going to be fun, you know," Buffy continued. "months from now, trying to explain why I’m still the same size and why nothing’s popping out of my stomach like a bad prop from an Alien movie. Or, you know what’s going to be great? I won’t have to take notes in psych any more. No, I’ll be the subject at the front of the class. Professor Walsh can give lectures on students who think and act like they’re pregnant but really aren’t. It’ll be so much fun."

"Come on, Buff," Xander tried, once again, to get on her good side. "It’s not that bad. It could be worse…"

"Shut up Xander."

"Hey." Willow broke in. "That’s a little harsh. Sure, he said something extremely stupid, but…"

"No really," Buffy held up a hand. "I mean be quiet, I think I hear something."

"Oh." Willow and Xander looked at the ground.

"Wait here." Buffy ran off into the bushes to their right. Xander nudged Willow.

"Extremely stupid, huh?"

"Well, ya gotta admit…"

* * * *

The leaves rustled. Buffy crept toward them. A large figure erupted and began to run towards her. Buffy leapt into fighting action and ran towards the figure. She stopped a moment before it did. Her breath came in large, deep pants.

"Riley!"

He looked at her, confusion evident, as he controlled his breathing.

"Buffy! Are you sure it’s safe for you to be out here, alone, this late at night? In your condition?"

Buffy threw her arms down to her side.

"How many times do I have to say it? There is no condition!"

"If you say so."

"Yes, I do say so. And it’s no business of yours what I’m doing here. It’s a free country. I can look after myself. What are you doing here, for that matter?"

"Me? I’m just… out… walking."

"Well, me too, then."

"Fine." He nodded.

"Yes, fine." She nodded back. "I’ll see you later, then."

"Ok then." Riley watched as she turned and hurried away. Why did she leave him so flustered?

* * * *

"You didn’t slay anything!" Elizabeth rushed up to her as soon as she entered the apartment.

"No. And hello to you, too." Buffy smiled sarcastically as she shrugged her coat off. "Gee, it’s so nice to be home."

She watched as Elizabeth shook her arms out and carried the motion through her shoulders and down her spine. In her own muscles, the tensions grew, tightening and constricting painfully. There was a desperateness to the way with which Elizabeth nodded.

"Sorry, I just… I need to move."

Buffy reached out and curled her finger into a stray lock of Elizabeth’s hair, she tucked it behind the girl’s ear and gave her a small, knowing smile. Elizabeth smiled back and leaned her head forward until they were leaning against each other.

"I can’t do that for you, you know."

"Pity."

Both girls laughed softly. At a joke that no one else shared. Elizabeth already felt the worst of her nerves being pulled out of her, not totally, but enough so that she no longer felt the need to crawl out of her skin.

From the stairs, Giles watched the scene with a sense of isolation he couldn’t identify. They looked so close, so complete, so unaware of the world outside of themselves, that it scared him. He felt the slightest tinge of jealousy that Buffy could so easily soothe when he’d tried so hard.

All of this, he knew, was illogical, but he felt it anyway.

"Hello Buffy."

An extremely selfish part of him, that he hadn’t realized was there before, wanted her to react, to break apart from Elizabeth and turn to him. It was this part that burned when she barely lifted her forehead as she turned to look at him, her hand raised a little in a wave.

"Hey Giles."

"I just boiled the kettle, would you like some tea?"

Buffy barely moved, but Elizabeth had to struggle to keep her smile down. He would never know what had passed between them. She followed him into the kitchen and watched as he filled the kettle took cups out of the cupboard, began to measure out the tea into the pot, anything to avoid looking at her.

She waited.

Eventually he turned to look at her.

"We need to talk."

"No shit Sherlock. What’s your problem?" Buffy folded her arms over her waist and leaned against the bench. "You’re acting all jealous on me."

"That’s not," He took in her raised eyebrows and ceded, "Ok, not entirely what I was getting at. You haven’t talked about the other night. Buffy, those aren’t the sorts of feeling that go away. I wish you’d talk about it with someone, if not me, then someone."

"Giles," Buffy stepped forward and rested one hand on his chest, she loved the warmth that she felt there, the life that radiated under her skin. "If I was going to talk, it would be to you, but I can’t. I just… I don’t know what I feel."

He closed his eyes, letting himself melt under her touch, feeling his skin tingle and itch under his shirt. It was spreading over him, this vulnerability in her that he’d never seen before. It was in every part of her, the small voice that shook when she spoke, the way she reached out to him.

"You do know what’s at stake, don’t you? If you don’t stop it…"

"No, Giles," She rushed to place her hand over his mouth, trying to stop his words as fast as possible, as if she could prevent the future by preventing him from telling it. "don’t speak. I know what the deal is. And I’m willing to risk it, but I don’t want to think about it."

"Why not?" He reached up and took her hand from his mouth, he didn’t let it go, but held it to his lips.

"Because…" She blinked. "Because I’m scared that if I think about it too much, I’ll change my mind."

He pulled her close to him and let his arms wind around her back.

* * * *

Willow tapped her fingers on the table as she waited for Oz to come back with their drinks. The music was beginning to make her uncomfortable. She didn’t know why. It crawled over her skin, inching into her veins and poisoning her blood.

One look to the stage just made it worse. The dark, needy singer crooning to the crowd, her eyes rimmed with too much makeup, her hair lank and greasy hanging by her face. Willow wanted to leave. She turned, instead, to scan the crowd, looking for Oz.

Her eyes found him quickly, drawn to him like a beacon. He was standing still, a drink held forgotten in each hand, his lower lip hanging open just a little and his eyes staring disbelieving at the same singer that made her wince.

For several moments, Willow watched Oz watch her. She saw the way he studied her, could not take his eyes off of her, it was too much like the way he used to look at her. Willow’s eyes traveled back to the stage, to roam over this new rival, just in time to see the woman give Oz a sultry little half grin.

* * * *

She stood in front of the door, nervous and edgy. She didn’t know why she was nervous. There was certainly no reason to be. All she had to do was ask him a question. The answer to which she really didn’t care about. Not in the slightest. No way. It didn’t matter to her. Not one iota.

Her hand shook as she knocked.

The door opened and Buffy answered, she looked confused.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

"I…" She hesitated, her nervousness not helped by Buffy’s unwillingness to recognize her. "I’m looking for Xander."

"And you are?"

Suddenly the door was opened wider and Buffy pushed in front of herself.

"Anya! Hi… um… this is a surprise! Come in."

Anya looked between the two forms of Buffy and her false smile faded altogether.

"I didn’t do it!"

* * * *

Oz’s skin sizzled and he didn’t know why. All his senses were running on overdrive, all tuned to this woman in front of him and Willow. He smiled and she smiled back. She didn’t bother to hide the hungry way her eyes roamed over him, didn’t even try to disguise her fascination with him. He didn’t want to admit it, but it excited him, just a little.

"So, Veruca, how long have you been singing?"

"Not long." She gave a careless shrug.

Beside him, Oz felt Willow bristle. For the first time ever, that he could remember, he suddenly wished that she wasn’t here with him. A puzzled frown crossed over his face, before disappearing. As if she’d sensed his thoughts, Willow tightened her hand around his. He wanted to wrench it free.

"We’ve got another set in half and hour. Do you want to grab a drink and stay?"

"We’d love to," Willow jumped in before Oz could say anything and it annoyed him. "but we have that thing. Right, Oz?"

"That thing?" He didn’t even bother to make it sound probable. "Oh, that thing. You can do that thing without me. I might stay."

Willow’s mouth gaped open, once, twice, then she shut it firmly, resolutely, spun on her heels and strode away. Oz’s eyes followed her, even as Veruca’s arm linked with his and began to drag him to a nearby table. Deep down he knew this wasn’t what he should want, but he couldn’t help himself.

* * * *

Dr Engelman looked down at the table, at the bumped flesh that lay there waiting for him to slice it open. A knock sounded at the door behind him. Without blinking he reached over and picked up the scalpel delicately in his right hand, drawing the blade through the starchy skin, his left hand wiping a gauze over the path to soak up the clear liquid that oozed from it.

Only was he satisfied with this cut did he raise his head and speak.

"Come in, Agent Finn."

Riley took a few tentative steps forward, opened his mouth and closed it, as if he were suddenly rethinking his motives. Then he blinked and stepped forward again, looking straight at the doctor. His eyes avoided all contact with the body on the table. He caught the demons, he didn’t need to know what happened after that.

"Can I ask you something?"

"I don’t know, Agent, can you?"

He watched as Riley gave a breathless almost laugh as acknowledgement. Already his interest was piqued, the boy had come to him and not Professor Walsh. This alone told him the question would be more than the standard query, but when added to Riley’s intense nervousness that was displayed through his edgy movements, his attention was captured.

"Fair enough," Riley relaxed a little more, the slight rebuke giving him a perverse sense of comfort. "May I ask you something?"

The doctor turned back to the corpse and began to stretch the wound gently. It was a silent assent, the gentle art of silent speaking. Riley kept avoiding the action on the table, he didn’t want to see what was inside.

"What’s a Slayer?"

Dr Engelman nearly choked, but he hid it well.

"A Slayer? Do you mean ‘the’ Slayer? Well, according to eighty five percent of the people who have ever heard of her, she’s a myth."

Riley’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

"And the other fifteen percent?"

"Look," Dr Engelman wasn’t sure how to handle this, how to explain it. "You know what’s out there, you’ve seen it, you fight it. Do you honestly think that whatever released them into our world would leave us helpless, without any defenses?"

"I don’t…" Riley stopped and thought for a second. Confused didn’t even begin to describe what he was feeling at the sudden shift of topic. "I’m not sure. I’ve never really thought about it, I guess."

"What do you think kept the demons and hostiles from taking over before we came along?"

Again, Riley shrugged, but he didn’t speak, waiting for the doctor to explain himself.

"There’s a theory, a belief, that out there is a Slayer. One girl who is born with the strength, the power, the ability to fight the dark forces. Most people don’t believe, they scoff at the stories, but I think that’s because it’s easier to believe she doesn’t exist, than to face the reality."

"The reality?" Riley’s mind was screaming with little images: meeting Buffy alone in the middle of the night as she walked the campus, seeing her break random things without really trying, her evasiveness, things began to add up.

"Well, it’s not really a nice story. These girls, these Slayers, they’re called pretty young and they don’t last long. It’s hard for people to admit that they owe their lives to a girl who will probably die soon, to keep them alive. It’s easier to say she’s not real."

"And you?" Riley didn’t want to think about what the doctor was saying, he didn’t want to think about Buffy dead. "Where do you stand?"

Doctor Engelman turned to face Riley, his face was sad.

"I think she’s real. I wish I didn’t, but I do."

* * * *

Giles took the screaming kettle from the stove, turning the flame down and off as he did so. Four cups waited on the bench, tea for himself and Elizabeth, and cocoa for Buffy and Anya. With the little marshmallows, god forbid he forgot the little marshmallows, Buffy would kill him. He smiled as he listened to their voices in the other room.

"And that’s the whole sordid story. Elizabeth is here for the duration."

Buffy finished speaking and smiled up at Giles as he bought their drinks in. Anya kept looking between Buffy and Elizabeth. Not that she was totally freaked, in her tenure as a vengeance demon, she’d seen many things and took the doubles in her stride. It was just a feeling she was getting. Every now and again she got a small sense of the mystical, a throw back to her power, and this inkling made her aware.

"Hey guys! I’m back!" Xander stopped dead in his tracks as he burst through the door, his hands full of plastic bags. "Anya! Anya? You’re here. Here as in here. Back. Why are you back? Guys? Help?"

Giles smiled into his tea, but kept quiet. It was Buffy who answered.

"She needs to talk to you. What videos did you get?"

He looked between Buffy and Anya, trying to decide on a course of action. On one hand, he had a serious talk that he wasn’t sure he wanted in on, by the look on Anya’s face. On the other he had superficial explanations. Xander shrugged.

"I thought, seeing as how you were doing the research thing, Buff, that we could all learn something tonight." He held up a few video covers.

"Three Men and a Baby?" Buffy grinned. "Look Who’s Talking? Look Who’s Talking, Too? Xander, exactly what did you think we’d learn from them?"

"Well," He scrambled through the bag. "this one has to be helpful, right?"

"Bringing Up Baby?" Giles couldn’t help but join in. "That’s about a leopard, Xander."

Elizabeth walked up to him and pulled out the last video, her eyes glared at him.

"Rosemary’s Baby?!?"

He gave a little laugh and then looked to Anya.

"You wanted to talk, huh?"

* * * *

Willow knew she should go back to Giles’. Certainly she was in no state to be alone, but alone she wanted to be. Walking into her dorm room, she was glad that her roommate was not there. Not that her roommate was ever there. She seemed to have lucked out when it came to Katie.

The woman practically lived at her boyfriend’s off campus housing. The nights she was in, she usually lay face down on the bed, dead to the world, silent and eerily still. Willow might have lived there alone.

Tonight, that was a good thing. She let herself fall onto the bed and drew her kneed up to her chest. Something didn’t feel right. Something was making the pit of her stomach expand painfully. As if it were stretching wide enough to swallow her whole from the inside.

She couldn’t help but think of the way Oz had looked at that woman, at the way he had looked at her, the way he had so easily brushed her off. Willow felt like crying, but her eyes were dry. Instead she lay there, staring at the window, outside of which she could see the branches of a tree swaying in the wind.

* * * *

Ethan waited. He raised his head from the table, gestured with his hands for another beer and waited some more. He’d been there for three hours already, consumed many beers, but was still alert and awake. Sadly, he was still within the reaches of sobriety.

His, somewhat shaky but still trustworthy, eyesight picked up on Willy frowning at him as he reached to pull the shining amber liquid from the tap. Ethan watched it glisten as it ran down the sides of the glass, sparkling with the bubbles and frothing nicely at the top. His mouth watered in anticipation. He returned his eyes to the door.

Just as Willy thudded the glass down on the table in front of him, Ethan saw a person walk into the bar and stand at the counter, unconcerned about any of the other customers, some who watched him, some who didn’t.

This was who he had been waiting for. Indeed. Ethan took a deep mouthful of the beer, letting it wash over the back of his throat, then stood up and approached. He stood to the side and slightly behind this figure in, what he hoped, was a rather intimidating manner.

"I’ve been waiting for you."

The figure turned around slowly, unconcerned, and raised one blonde eyebrow.

"Yeah, mate, what of it?"

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