Title: Misunderstandings - Part 11
Author: Michelle
Rating: FRAO (Adults Only)
Pairing: Buffy/Giles (eventually)
Summary: Another birthday has tragic consequences for Buffy
Setting: set after season seven
Warnings: contains non-consensual sex
Disclaimer: These are not my characters. They belong to Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy. This is purely for fun.
Previous parts are here: http://bripper.drakeleather.com/Misunderstandings01.shtml
Willow turned to Wesley. “Short version? Giles was under a spell that masks his soul. It’s set off by a trigger.” She grabbed Giles’ phone and turned it off.
“I take it the phone is the trigger?” Wesley asked.
“Part of it,” she said, pulling out her own phone and dialing. She let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding when Xander answered. “Xander. It’s Willow. I need your help.”
“Trouble?” Xander asked.
“No time to explain. We need some muscle. Can you come to Giles’ office right away?” she asked, hoping he wasn’t too far away.
“Sure thing, Will,” Xander said. “I’m pretty close. I can be there in a couple minutes.”
“Thanks.” She started to end the call but stopped suddenly. “Xander, do you know where Robin is? We could use his help, too.”
“He’s here with me,” Xander answered. “He was worried when Faith missed their lunch date and didn’t answer her phone. I’ve been bringing him up to speed on things.”
Willow sighed in relief. “Good. Bring him with you and, Xander, hurry.”
“Be there in a flash,” she heard him say before she ended the call.
Willow turned to Wesley and Gunn. “We need to tie them up.”
“Both of them?” Wesley asked.
“She may be responsible for everything that’s happened.” She gestured to Merissa. “If I’m wrong, we’ll apologize later, but if I’m not . . .”
“Not taking any chances,” Gunn said. “Got it.”
Willow stepped into Giles office to find something to use that would hold them. The smell of scotch and vomit still lingered in the room. She gagged as her hand flew to cover her mouth and nose. She thought of leaving right away, knowing they could find something else to use, but something shiny caught her attention. She saw a leather belt on the floor close to a set of handcuffs. She grabbed both and ran from the room.
Once in the hall again, gulping in the fresh air, she noticed that Xander and Robin had arrived.
“You okay?” Xander asked.
“I’ll be fine.” She handed the belt and cuffs to Wesley. Risking a glance at Giles, she noticed that he was no longer exposed. She didn’t want to know who had tucked him back into his pants.
Once Giles and Merissa were securely tied and cuffed, she began to explain everything she knew. As she talked, they followed. Wesley and Robin carried Giles while Xander and Gunn carried Merissa.
“Where are we going?” Gunn asked after they’d been walking a while.
“Detention area,” Willow said. “It’s not much farther.”
“See? I knew this area would come in handy some day,” Xander joked as they reached their destination. “I just never thought we’d put Giles in here.”
“Hey, Will,” Faith said as she caught up with them. “Look what I found under Merissa’s bed.” She handed a laptop computer to Willow. “I kept wondering what Merissa would want with Rachel. Then I remembered that Rachel is really good with computers. That’s the only reason for them to hassle her to join their group. I guess they found someone else to do the computer work.”
Willow helped secure Merissa and Giles in two separate locked rooms before turning back to Faith. “Let’s take this back to my office to look at it,” she suggested. When everyone started to follow, she stopped them. “We need someone to stay and keep an eye on them. Maybe even two of you. We don’t know who we can trust at this point.”
“Xander and I will stay,” Robin said.
“I’ll stay as well,” Wesley said. “I want to talk to Mr. Giles when he wakes up.”
“Be careful,” Faith told them, giving Robin a small kiss. “They’re both dangerous.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Once in her office, Willow set up the computer and turned it on. In no time, she had bypassed the computer’s security and could view the files. “Piece of cake,” she said. When she opened the first few files, she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh my god ”
Faith and Gunn were by her side in an instant. “What—?” Faith was speechless once she saw the screen.
“Is that what I think it is?” Gunn asked. “Home movies?” He gaped at the video of two girls and two guys. One of the girls appeared to have passed out, but the other three acted like she wasn’t even there.
Willow fast-forwarded through the video, watching as the three tried out various sexual positions. “No,” Willow whispered, stopping the video. She pointed to each of the girls in turn. “That’s Buffy and Merissa. I don’t know who the guys are.”
“Giles was right?” Faith asked. “Buffy cheated on him? I don’t believe it. She’d never.”
Willow closed the window containing the video. “No,” she said. “She never knew it happened.” She opened more files. There was one of Giles catching them sleeping in the bed together. Another showed Buffy finding Giles downstairs. Willow stopped that one when they saw Giles start to unzip his pants. “I can’t watch that.”
“He really did it,” Faith whispered. “I know he said he remembered doing it, but it’s different when you see it.”
“Merissa got everything on video,” Gunn said. “She’s either really stupid—”
“Or really smart,” Faith said as a video of their conversation with Rachel popped onto the screen. “Come on,” Faith said, grabbing Gunn. “We have to find her before they do.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Willow stared at the computer screen. She couldn’t believe Merissa had videos of everything, even video of them putting the spell on Giles. She watched the video several times, copying down the words of the spell and checking to make sure it was all correct. There might be a possibility of reversing it now that she knew what they did.
In another video, Merissa tested the spell, triggering Giles. After she spoke a few words in Latin, Giles stopped and collapsed. Willow watched as several of the girls did this. “They have a way to protect themselves,” Willow mumbled. “She’s smarter than I thought. They put the spell on him, then tested it before sending him back.” She turned off the computer and rubbed her eyes. “But why? Why go to all that trouble? It doesn’t make any sense. I must have missed something.”
Willow opened the laptop once more and began searching for clues, ignoring the videos this time. Everything looked normal. Other than the videos, nothing was suspicious. Just as she began to close the lid, a folder on the desktop caught her attention. It was labeled “school work”. When Willow opened it, she knew this was what she’d been searching for.