Title: Morning After part 2
Author: Michelle
Rating: FRT
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Summary: What happened in the morning? Sequel to Counterpoint
Setting: Season five, "Checkpoint"
Warning: Character death - not a major character and not graphic
Disclaimer: These are not my characters. They belong to Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy. This is purely for fun.
Part 1 can be found here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/mrsdrake/tag/morning+after
Wesley helped Willow bring her laptop and scanner inside. "What's up?" Willow asked.
"I need you to help me verify that this note is a forgery." He showed her the note from Giles and his journals. "I thought you could scan them in and compare them."
Willow's head snapped up after reading the note. "Oh God. Buffy. This could kill her." She looked around. "Is she here?"
"She's asleep." He walked to the couch to check on Buffy as Willow set up her computer. "She was quite upset when I arrived."
"What happened?" Willow asked as she began scanning the note and journal.
"From what I gather, they came here after patrolling last night. They made love, and he proposed marriage, suggesting they elope this morning. He was gone when she awoke. All she found was the note."
Willow typed something into the computer before turning her attention back to Wesley. "Wesley, this could literally kill her. Every guy she's ever dated has left her. All but one of the guys she's slept with left her after one night. The other guy left after she found him paying money to be bitten by vampires. If she thinks Giles left her, I don't know what she might do."
It took a moment for Wesley to sort out everything Willow said. "You think she might kill herself?"
"It's a definite possibility."
The computer beeped, preventing further comment from Wesley. Willow studied the screen for a moment. "Well, it's a fake. No doubt about it." She looked to make sure Wesley was paying attention before explaining. "There were enough words from the journal to complete the note the way Giles would have written it. When you lay one note over the other you can see that they don't lean the same direction. One was written by a left-handed person, and the other was written by a right-handed person." She pointed out the differences on the screen. "There are other differences, but that's the biggie."
Anything Wesley might have said was forgotten when they heard Buffy cry out, "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me."
Willow was by her side in an instant, shaking her gently to wake her. "Buffy, wake up."
*********************
After Buffy got dressed and freshened up, Willow told her about the forged note, showing her the evidence on the computer.
"So he didn't leave me?" Buffy asked.
"No," Willow and Wesley answered together.
Buffy paced as she thought about the implications. "Then where is he? Who took him? How did they get in here?" Buffy asked, her voice getting louder with each question. "How did they know what happened last night?"
"We don't know," Wesley answered calmly.
Buffy stopped and glared at him. "Well, find out!" she snapped.
Willow flashed an apologetic smile at Wesley before turning to Buffy. "Wesley didn't do anything, Buffy. Don't yell at him."
"Sorry," Buffy mumbled and started to pace again.
"It's understandable that you're angry," Wesley said. "I'll do everything I can to find out what happened."
"Buffy, we can find him and bring him back," Willow told her. "I'm sure he's trying to find a way home."
Buffy stopped again. "Oh God. I'm supposed to meet Travers and the others at the Magic Box tonight. I can't face them. If they know what happened, one of them must have seen us last night."
"You've stood up to them before," Willow said. "You can do it again. Don't let them get to you. That's what they want."
"Willow is right," Wesley agreed. "We can devise a plan for handling Mr. Travers. You don't have to face him unprepared."
*********************
The plan was set. Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, and Wesley would be at the Magic Box to meet Travers and the other Council members. Buffy would join them later. She wanted to make them wait, giving them time to worry and possibly slip and give them some information on Giles. Buffy waited almost an hour after Willow and Wesley left before leaving herself.
She was a block from the store when she heard a familiar voice calling for help. She ran into a nearby alley and stopped when she saw what was happening. A young man was surrounded by a group of demons. Spike stood nearby, watching them beat him. If the man wasn't dead yet, he would be soon.
"Spike! What's going on here?" Buffy yelled. She walked toward them, intending to save the victim. Spike blocked her path.
"It's not what it looks like," Spike said, casually.
"It looks like you're letting them kill an innocent man." She shoved him aside and ran toward the group of demons.
"He's not as innocent as he looks," Spiked told her.
When she reached the demons, they were scattering. She stared at the person lying on the ground for a moment before checking for a pulse. "He's dead." She turned to look at Spike. "You let them kill him."
"I didn't let them kill him. I asked them to do it."
Buffy stood and pulled a stake out of her coat pocket. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't stake you right now."
He gestured to the man lying on the ground. "Look at his clothes. Recognize anything?"
For the first time, she took a close look at them man and at what he was wearing. "That's Glory's dress. Why would Ben be wearing Glory's dress?"
"Ben and Glory were the same person. There's some magic that's supposed to keep people from knowing, but it only works on humans. I saw him change from Glory to Ben and back again a couple times. I figured the way to stop them would be to kill Ben. Course, I couldn't do it, so I got some demon friends to do it for me."
"You think it's that easy?" Buffy yelled.
"Seems to be," he answered. "Look. I knew you wouldn't believe me if I told you, and you wouldn't kill him even if you did know."
"How long have you known?"
"What's it matter?"
"How long, Spike?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"Just figured it out today."
"Oh," Buffy said. "If I known yesterday. . ."
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said as she continued to stare at the body. "You'll take care of this?"
"No one will find him," Spike answered. "I'll see to it personally."
"Thanks." She turned and headed for the Magic Box.