Title: Season of Change 3/?
Author: Katy Hart
Disclaimer: Joss and company own them. I’m just
changing things for the better.
A/N: Part 3 Spoilers for Beauty and the Beast
From Buffy’s Diary Oct 20, 98
So Faith’s moved in with us. I was a little wigged at first, but it’s all good now. Or as Faith would put it ‘five by five’. What the hell does that mean anyway? So we patrol together, talk about Slayer stuff and occasionally our lives. I’m trying to get her to go shopping with me, but she keeps resisting. I keep reminding her Homecoming is next week, but she’s not falling for it. Scott asked her out, which is of the good, she’s pretty psyched about it. She keeps trying to ask me about Angel, but I think she’s finally getting the message that Angel is off limits.
After patrol tonight we swung by the Bronze. I got to meet Scott’s friends, Debbie and Pete. Cute couple, but I felt a little like a fifth wheel. Scott kept trying to get Faith to get back into school. Giles has been doing that too. All the better to keep an eye on his Slayers I guess. She’s almost ready to give in. I’ve got her holding out for a week in the pool, twenty bucks. Don’t let me down Faith.
From the Personal Journal of Rupert Giles October 20, 1998
After much grumbling on Buffy’s part, Faith has moved into the Summers’ home. A stable home environment will do her a world of good. She will need time to mourn the loss of her Watcher, but I do sincerely hope she will accept my help in all things Slayer related.
She has started dating a young man, Scott I believe his name is. He seems to be another good influence on her, something to tie her to Sunnydale. Perhaps he will be an ally in the fight to persuade Faith to restart her education. She’s as stubborn as Buffy. I have two weeks in the pool.
Buffy’s Diary Oct 21 98
So this morning Giles found out Xander was not all there for Oz watch. I hear it wasn’t a pretty sight. A student turned up missing, mutilated. Could have been Oz, cause the library window was open. Will was seriously freaking. Didn’t have time to calm her down though, class. And then my visit to the school shrink, Mr. Platt. Nice enough guy. Told him the cliff notes version of me and Angel. He says I haven’t stopped loving him. I think part of that is true, he was my first love. You never forget your first love, at least that’s what the movies and romance novels would have you believe. I don’t think I want to forget Angel. I just want to learn from it. Love shouldn’t be like that. Love isn’t obsessive or painful. Love doesn’t come with a happiness clause. I just want to find that, is that too much to ask?
From the Personal Journal of Rupert Giles October 21, 1998
Of all the irresponsible, foolish…there are no words to express my anger at Xander. How simple is it to keep an eye on a werewolf? One whom you claim is your friend? One who is dating your best friend? And now there is the distinct possibility that Oz may have killed a student.
He has no memory of his actions while in lupine form. He seems to be handling it well, but one can never tell. He keeps his emotions well hidden. Willow is devastated. I have asked Faith to keep watch over Oz tonight. The student who was killed was a friend of young Scott, so she is willing to prove that Oz is innocent. Buffy will patrol as the death could have been the result of something else. We must explore that option and hope for the best.
Buffy’s Diary
Oh my god! Angel….Angel…he’s...no. Can’t be…can’t write…. God…no…not now. Giles. Must go to Giles. Now.
From the Personal Journal of Rupert Giles
Buffy has come to me with disturbing news. She believes she saw Angel while out on patrol. Or at least that’s what I could surmise from her incoherent babbling. She was in shock. I gave her some tea, calmed her down. She’s resting on my sofa now. If she did indeed see Angel, then I must start conducting research and warn the other children.
Tomorrow I will keep an eye on Oz myself and send Faith out with Buffy. If he has indeed returned, I cannot say it isn’t as Angelus. Any time spent in a hell dimension, which is where he likely was, will change a person. Who can know how it would affect a vampire. Willow, Xander and Cordelia have gone to the morgue to find more evidence. Although I do hope Oz is cleared, would Angel have done this much damage rather than just drain the person? I cannot begin to speculate.
Buffy’s Diary
So after a little nap, I feel better. I almost want to say Giles slipped me something in the tea, but I don’t think so. Will’s trip to the morgue turned up a big ol’ goose egg. So it could have been Oz, could have been Angel. Faith and I are going on patrol tomorrow; see if maybe we can catch Angel. It can’t be him, I sent him to hell. Didn’t I?
Personal Journal of Rupert Giles October 22, 1998
Buffy and Faith’s patrol turned up nothing and Oz was kept in the cage. But he may still be the prime suspect in the murder. This is something I truly hope is not true. I have delved into research, but there is nothing in the texts to indicate why Angel may have returned. Or which hell dimension he may have been in. Either Angel has survived relatively sane, which I’m sure Buffy would prefer, or he will bear no resemblance to the…person he once was. This is the option I fear is the more likely. If Angle has indeed returned and is a feral monster, there is not choice. Buffy will have to face the truth and Angel will have to be put to death, staked. This is not a job I would give to her, I would do it myself. Killing Angel once led her to run away, killing him a second time could send her over the edge and I could not live with myself should that happen.
Buffy’s Diary Oct 23 98
Okay, so the killer can’t be Angel or Oz. How do I know this? Mr. Platt’s death in the middle of the day kinda rules them both out. Before I went to see him, I stopped by Faith’s table in the cafeteria. Pete and Debbie were there. I get this really weird vibe from Pete, but I’m not sure what to do about it. Maybe be I’m just paranoid cause of the whole Angel thing. Anyway we talked Homecoming for a bit and then I was off to Platt’s office. When I get there, I talk and talk before I notice his cigarette. So he’s dead, and it can’t have been Angel or Oz cause someone saw Platt alive before lunch. Willow’s over the moon that Oz has been cleared; he just did his Oz thing and under reacted.
I’m kinda glad it’s not Angel, but we still have to catch him. Having a wild vampire loose, not exactly good. Giles told me that he’ll eventually be okay or he won’t. If we can’t help him, that means death and well I don’t know if I can do that again. I don’t even know if I can write about it anymore. I’m gonna start patrol early I think.
From the Personal Journal of Rupert Giles October 23, 1998
Although the death of Mr. Platt had absolved Oz and Angel from blame, this still leaves us with a mystery. And quite possibly a feral vampire on our hands. I want to wrap this up before next week; a monster on the loose during this Homecoming would heighten the potential for massive casualties. I am glad that Oz was not involved, Willow even more so. That girl needs to drink less caffeine. While Buffy was also happy Angel was not involved, she was not pleased to be reminded he still needed to be caught.
I’m sending Faith with her on patrol again. Should Angel be unable to respond to any sort of stimuli, Faith is under orders to stake him. She understands and will bear the brunt of Buffy’s anger should this situation present itself. I am unsure of what I would do should Angel be able to be saved. Could I do this for Buffy? Could I ignore everything that monster did to me just to avoid causing her more pain? I believe the expression is I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Buffy’s Diary Oct 24, 1998
So it turns out the killer is Pete. See, I should listen to my spidey senses or at least that what Giles says. On patrol we found Angel, but he led us on a chase to the school where we ran into Debbie sporting a shiny black eye courtesy of Pete. He came up with some thing that made him all Jekyll and Hyde. He went after Platt because he suggested that Debbie try to get away from Pete. The student was killed cause he flirted with Debbie. Pete tried to go after me for standing up to him.
That’s when Angel showed up again, knocking Pete out. Then he looked at me and said my name. That wigged me. Faith and I took him to the mansion, chained him up. I’m gonna ask Giles to help me. I know it’s a big thing, but Angel was sent back for a reason. Only Giles can help me figure out why. It’s gonna be hard but I’ve got to do this, I just know it’s important. I don’t know why, but it is. And I’ve got to do this all while trying to find a dress for Homecoming.
From the Personal Journal of Rupert Giles October 24, 1998
The killer has been caught, a case of Jekyll and Hyde combined with jealousy. Buffy handled it rather well and the girl, Debbie, is getting help. The only bad aspect to this obvious happy ending is Angel. He was found and apparently recognized Buffy. She believes he may have returned for a reason. I do not disagree. She has him chained up at the mansion and has asked for my help.
I am unsure if I am prepared to enter the site of my torture and face my torturer. It features prominently in many of my nightmares. But for her I will do this. Buffy has been made to understand that if I cannot help Angel, he will have to die. There are weapons always at the ready. To see her struggle with this breaks my heart. But her maturity astounds me. The next few weeks will be hard, but I don’t know which of us will feel the effects more, me or Buffy.