Title: Sing, Scoobies, Sing! 2/2
Author: Katy Hart
Disclaimer: Joss and a bunch of other people own them; I'm just
borrowing for fun.
"Ethan?" Anya read, her brow wrinkling. "Isn't that the man Xander was telling me about? He cursed your costumes and bespelled some chocolate?"
The four nodded their heads vigorously. Giles wrote another note for Anya to read aloud.
"I can do a locator spell. Take Xander to the magic shop for the ingredients listed below. Willow, get your laptop. If Ethan is hiding in a hotel, we'll need to know his room number. Buffy and I will stay here and gather weapons. We don't know if Ethan will have minions guarding him, vampires, demons or something else. "
"Okay, let's go Xander," she bounced to her feet, pulling her boyfriend after her.
"Goodbye to you," he yelped, waving sheepishly. Willow wandered after the two, list in hand. She just waved, not wanting to say anything.
Buffy smiled after her friends. She looked at Giles; thinking about what he'd said when he looked at her. `Pretty woman.' She tried to ignore her heartbeat increasing knowing that Giles thought she was pretty. She glanced at the weapons chest and back at him with a questioning look. He nodded and they both got up to scrounge up weapons for anything Ethan might put in their way.
They both knelt in front of the chest, opening it up. As he reached for a long sword, she grabbed for the crossbow next to it. Their hand brushed past each other, heat and electricity jolting up their arms. Pulling back they looked at each other in surprise. Buffy saw a glint of desire in his eyes. Giles saw curiosity in hers. She reached up to touch his cheek. He grabbed it, more heat coursing through them.
"American Woman," he whispered as he rubbed his thumb over the back over her hand.
She said nothing, just leaning forward to touch her lips to his.
At first it was gentle and soft, but emotions buried too deep for too long clicked into place. The kiss turned deeper, more passionate. Giles pulled her closer, molding her body to his. Buffy draped her arms around his neck, surrendering to her feelings. When oxygen became an issue they pulled apart slowly. Breathing hard they both knew there was no going back to the way things had been. There was so much to say.
"You've got me on my knees, begging darling please," he sang, his voice a soft baritone.
"Can't stop this thing we started," she answered.
Then she pointed to her message board. The name of the sorcerer caused a hard glint to appear in Giles' eye. He brushed a hand across her cheek.
"We can work it out," he promised before grabbing the sword.
"We will be invincible," she replied, kissing his cheek and getting the crossbow.
As they lay out stakes and holy water the other Scoobies returned. Xander dangled a bag from his hand; Willow held her laptop and Anya just rolled her eyes, already sick to death of this spell. They cleared off the coffee table, placing a Sunnydale map on the surface. Giles gathered all the ingredients, prepared to do the spell when he remembered. Cursing himself, he saw questioning looks from the others. He got his pad and wrote.
`I can't do the spell. I could only say lyrics. Anya will have to do it. Do you know Latin?'
Anya finished reading the note and replies. "Yes, quite well Giles. I was a demon for over eleven hundred years. I'm fluent in many languages. Just write out the instructions so we can find this Ethan person and I can get my non-singing Xander back."
Giles wrote out the words and the ingredients in order. Moving aside, he let Anya stand over the map. As she sprinkled herbs over the paper, she chanted softly. A blue mist formed over the map, coalescing over one of Sunnydale's lesser known motels. It was unsurprising that Ethan would choose a seedy place. It was, however; harder to believe that he still hadn't learned to cast the spell and leave. The gang gathered weapons and headed outside to pile into Giles' Citroen.
Reaching their destination, Giles handed out a note detailing their plan. Willow, Xander and Anya would stand guard while he and Buffy would confront Ethan. When everyone was in place, Buffy kicked down the door.
Ethan was in the middle of packing, ready to leave town. He looked up quickly when the door crashed open. In the doorway stood his oldest friend and a very angry Slayer.
"`Allo Ripper. Caught on quicker than I thought this time. Keep your Slayer in line, only I can break the spell," he warned, backing away.
"Magic Man, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave," Giles growled.
Buffy just stood there glaring, trying not to kick Ethan's ass then and there. She was a little surprised at Giles' words. Was he threatening to kill Ethan?
"You couldn't kill me Ripper. You couldn't do it last time, why would you do it now?"
"Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?" Giles sang, starting to advance on his former friend.
"Now, now, if you hurt me I can't reverse the spell, now can I? And why would I do it when you'd just want to kill me or hand me over to the cops afterward. Where's my incentive?"
Rage burned through Giles. He wanted nothing more than to beat Ethan to a pulp. He saw Buffy out of the corner of his eye. She was rocking on the balls of her feet, ready to pounce. A quick glance to her and she sprung. A roundhouse kick had Ethan on the floor unconscious. Giles went outside and pantomimed the need for rope. After the mage was tied up and propped against the wall, the Scoobies searched the room for a spell book. After several minutes it was apparent there wasn't one. Giles reached into his pocket for his notepad.
`We should go back to my flat. Ethan obviously has the spell memorized. Buffy please help me carry him to the car.'
Buffy grabbed Ethan's legs whiles Giles grabbed him under the arms. The gang trooped back outside. It was fortunate the motel was in a bad part of town, no one to wonder what was going on. All of a sudden Willow started to giggle. Everyone stared at her. She just giggled more. Buffy put Ethan down and grabbed her friend by the shoulders. Giving her the Buffy version of the `resolve face', she tried to calm Willow down. As the giggles subsided, Buffy arched an eyebrow in question.
Willow just pointed to the Citroen, then to the group and then to Ethan. Everyone groaned. It had been a tight enough squeeze getting to the motel. There was no way to fit Ethan in as well.
"I've got it," Anya said thoughtfully. "Put Ethan in the back, then Giles and Xander go to the apartment. Xander can then drive back for us."
Giles nodded reluctantly. If Ethan were to regain consciousness, only he or Buffy could deal with him. The gang bundled their prisoner in the car and the men drove off. The girls just sat around quietly, not wanting to say anything. Buffy thought about the kiss and what would happen when Ethan was dealt with. Xander showed up less than fifteen minutes later.
When they got to the apartment, Ethan was tied to a chair and Giles was sprinkling something around it in a circle. When he saw them he motioned to Anya and pointed to his notepad on the table. She read the note and smiled.
"Goody, a protection circle," she chanted some words as Giles finished the shape.
The circle glowed just as Ethan was coming around.
"What was that all about mate? Thought I told you not to hurt me."
"Giles never said anything about not hurting you," Anya pointed out helpfully.
"Didn't say much of anything, luv. You're new. Do I know you?"
"It doesn't matter. Giles wants you to know that you are bound within that circle, unable to do magic until you promise to undo the spell."
Willow and Xander stood to one side of Ethan while Watcher and Slayer stood directly in front of him.
"And how do you know that? Aren't exactly the chatty bunch are they," he motioned to the four with a hand.
Anya held up the note. "We found a way around the spell."
"So why should I help you? The minute ol' Ripper can talk normally, I'm toast."
Anya looked at the note again. "Giles promises that if you undo the spell he will not harm you in any way, nor will Buffy.
Ethan looked at his old mate, eyes meeting. Ripper meant it, his eyes never lied. What did he have to lose?
"Well someone needs to break the circle so I can get on with it."
Giles leaned down and brushed away part of the circle. Ethan felt the magic lifting. He muttered several lines and a light breeze swirled around the room. Giles quickly restored the circle and everyone looked around. No one wanted to be the first to speak.
"Is it broken, are we okay?" Buffy asked. "Oh!"
"I think that's a yes," Xander replied.
"Good," Giles said, nearing the chair. "Now Ethan…"
"Ripper, you promised not to hurt me…" he sputtered.
"But I never promised anything," Willow spoke.
She closed her eyes and chanted softly. Smoke swirled around Ethan and the chair.
"What's this? Ripper, stop her. Ripper!" Ethan screamed as he vanished, leaving ropes and chair behind.
"Whoa. What's with the magics Will?" Xander asked.
"Yes, where did you send him Willow?" Giles said, picking up the ropes and brushing away the circle.
"Oh, it's a teleportation spell I've been working on for when we meet demons or other non vampire type creatures. I think I sent him to one of the demon dimensions, but I'm not sure. The spell isn't perfected yet. Sorry?" she smiled sheepishly.
"Willow, you do need to be careful. That was powerful magic you were wielding. Maybe I should start meeting with you. Give you a few pointers," Giles offered.
"Really? Cool," she bounced. She glanced at her watch. "Classes are over for the day, guess I should go and find someone to copy notes from. Catch you later," she grabbed her laptop and was out the door.
"Then we can leave too. Xander you need to explain some of those lyrics to me," Anya pulled him along, again.
"Sure Ahn, bye guys," he waved.
The door closed, leaving Watcher and Slayer alone again. Giles started to move the chair when Buffy came up to him.
"We need to talk," she said softly.
"Um, yes, well, we were both under a spell and…"
She stopped his sputtering by grabbing his shirt and pulling him down for another kiss. As first he hesitated, but as she stood on tip toe and pressed her body against his, he relented. It started soft and gentle, turning deep and passionate, much like the first kiss. When they broke apart he looked at her, unsure of what to do or say.
"Buffy, I…"
"It's okay Giles. I love you. It just took a while to admit it to myself and to you. I may have to thank Ethan, if he ever turns up again."
At first he was stunned, she loved him, through what blessed intervention he couldn't say. Then his heart kicked his brain into gear and he kissed her again before replying.
"I love you too, Buffy, I have for a long time. I just never believed you could feel the same way…and I have no doubt that Ethan will find a way back."
"Yeah I'm sure he will. So I guess this means we're dating, huh?"
"If that's what you want, dearest."
"Actually, I was kinda thinking of a forever thing," she replied nuzzling his neck.
"I like the sound of that," he said, before kissing her senseless.
Ethan surveyed his surroundings. Wherever the witch had sent him looked similar to Sunnydale, but there was no sign of human life. The sun finished setting as he stated walking down the street. Two people wearing black appeared on the horizon. Maybe they could direct him to a shop where he could get ingredients to perform a spell to get home. As they approached he thought they looked familiar.
"Do you know the way to San Jose?" he shouted. `What was that?' he thought. `That wasn't what I was going to say. The spell! That blasted witch cursed me with my own spell.'
He started mentally swearing at the red headed witch when the couple finally reached him.
"What do we have here, an early snack," the voice was familiar.
Ethan looked into the faces of the boy and the witch. But it wasn't possible, he wasn't in Sunnydale, was he? They were both dressed in leather, the witch looking especially hot. "I am the Eggman, I am the Walrus," he stammered.
"This human is making no sense at all," the boy said.
"Bored now," the witch replied.
They vamped out and lunged at Ethan. He screamed in agony as their fangs sank into his neck.
END
Beautiful Day-U2, Gonna Wash that Man-South Pacific, Smooth Operator- Sade, Give Me One Reason-Tracy Chapman, What's Going on?-4 Non Blondes, Help- The Beatles, It's a Kind of Magic-Queen, End of the World-REM, Help, Still haven't found (what I'm looking for)-U2, Elvis, Wizard of Oz, Witchy Woman-Eagles, Pretty Woman-Roy Orbison, Secret Agent Man- Johnny Rivers, Wizard of Oz, Werewolves of London- Warren Zevon, Macho Men-Village People, Barracuda- Heart, Crazy-Patsy Cline, Always on My Mind-Willie Nelson, Goodbye to You-Michelle Branch, American Woman-The Guess Who, Layla-Eric Clapton, Can't Stop This Thing We Started-Bryan Adams, We Can Work it Out-Beatles, Invincible-Pat Benetar, Magic Man-Heart, Hotel California-Eagles, Desperado-Eagles. Do You know the Way to San Jose-Dionne Warwick; I am the Walrus-Beatles.