Title: The Assistant 23/?
Author: Sweetdoggie
Email: (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: B/G
Rating: G
Spoilers: Up to 4 (ish)
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
Merrick and Joyce spent the next week wrapping up as much of their business as they could. Buffy moped around the house looking like somebody had kicked her puppy. When Giles told them that she wasn’t sleeping well, Joyce looked very worried.
“Am I doing the right thing?” she asked her husband.
“We are doing the only decent thing we can do under these circumstances, Joyce. Buffy is hurting now, but think of this, under normal circumstances, she would have gone away for college in just a couple of months anyway,” he soothed her.
“If she weren’t the Slayer, you mean,” she said somewhat bitterly.
He acknowledged her words with a simple nod. “She is the Slayer and her life is hard. She has moments of happiness, but she will never be without cares and pain in her life. The best we can do for her, and for all the Slayers, is to take some of their burden onto ourselves. We smooth their path as much as possible, but ultimately, we can do very little.”
“I wish it weren’t so,” Joyce said fervently.
“As do I, and in fact, as do all the Watchers. It doesn’t help.” He didn’t sound all that happy himself.
“I know she’s an adult, but she’s my child as well. I don’t know if I feel right in leaving her.”
“I’m sure you feel very wrong about leaving her, love. But ultimately, Buffy has her husband to partner her. This separation from us will give them time to grow together as a couple.”
“I know it’s been hard on both of them starting their married life with so many other people in the house.” Joyce admitted. “I feel odd about it sometimes. It’s been really hard not for me to play the mom with her when I see her doing something I don’t like.”
He patted her shoulder without saying anything. Truthfully, it was hard for him not to correct her and Faith as well sometimes. He was so much older than they were and it was a natural thing for him to feel like they were just children learning to fumble around the edges of life.
As the day of departure drew ever closer, Buffy grew more and more quiet. She spent hours sitting with her mother, talking, touching and simply enjoying her presence. The day before they were due to leave, Buffy gave her mother a small box containing Holy Water, blessed herbs, several different protection charms, and a stake. “You never know when you’re going to need this stuff.”
Wesley had been released from the hospital that night and joined them for a family dinner. It was an odd, sad little meal without Faith, but they loved each other and that helped them through all the sadness of parting.
Next morning, it was time for the final goodbyes. Buffy had tears pouring down her face and held onto her mother for a good ten minutes before stepping back and then embracing Merrick for another ten.
It had been decided that Giles would drive Wesley, Joyce, and Merrick to LA. Wesley would begin his search for an apartment and Joyce and Merrick would board their flight to New York. Giles kissed his wife saying, “Tomorrow, love. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
When the car had finally driven out of sight, she slowly slumped onto the front porch and cried bitter tears of loss. Finally drying her eyes, she walked back into the house and realized that she was alone for the first time in a very long while. One of the others had always been available to her since she married Giles. It felt strange. The house echoed with her solitary footsteps. She walked into the training room and began to work out. If she were tired enough, she might be able to sleep later.
Willow and Xander came over for lunch. Xander made a lame comment about how it was like old times without any of the old folks around and Buffy began crying. Willow’s glance shot daggers at him for being so insensitive and he humbly begged Buffy’s pardon.
She wiped her eyes. “No, sorry. You guys shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it. I’m just bummed, but I’ll get over it. After all, there is a positive side to all this—I get to be alone with my husband for the first time since our marriage. That’s not bad. And the new Slayer is getting a great mom and dad substitute. I’m not a baby and I shouldn’t be acting like this.”
Willow spoke up. “Buffy, it’s perfectly OK to miss your mom and Merrick, and even Wes and Faith. They are your family and it’s normal to be sad. But you should focus on the positive as well. Wes is going to be with Faith and as soon as she is well, they’ll come home. Merrick and Joyce are going to help a little kid who desperately needs them and as soon as she’s strong enough, they’ll bring her home with them. In fact, you’ll get a whole new sister out of this deal. And you won’t be stuck with babysitting duty all the time after your mom has her baby.”
Buffy grinned. “Hey, that’s a whole aspect I hadn’t even thought of. By the time they come back, the poopy diaper thing should be over. I get the new brother or sister without the dirty work.” They all laughed and set about preparing a lunch that would have had the older members of their group quivering with outrage. It consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, brownies, ice cream, a jar of maraschino cherries, potato chips, soda pop and miniature marshmallows eaten straight from the bag. They gorged themselves like five year olds then spent the next hour feeling sluggish.
“You know, maybe I should have stopped at four sandwiches,” Buffy groaned.
“Well, I could have skipped that last bowl of ice cream,” Xander mentioned, looking slightly green.
“Good thing Giles isn’t here,” Willow chimed in. “At least we won’t get a nutritional lecture.”
“I love him, but it gets old having to act grown up all the time,” Buffy said soberly.
“He treats you like a queen,” Willow pointed out.
“I know, but sometimes I just want to be a teen age girl. Do you realize I pretty much missed out on all the stuff that normal girls get to do? I mean, we went on dates, but only sophisticated grown up stuff.”
“I know he took you ice skating,” Willow defended.
“I skated, he watched.”
Even Willow had to admit that was less than satisfactory.
“Uh, you guys go to movies,” Xander offered. “That’s date-like.”
“But we don’t make out or anything,” Buffy said. “We don’t eat popcorn and drink sodas. I mean, he’d buy them if I asked, but you can tell he thinks it’s barbaric.”
“You’re off the leash for a while. Why don’t we do some fun stuff today? Let’s act like kids who don’t know they live on a Hellmouth. We could, we could bowl.” Xander offered his treat with all the enthusiasm he was capable of. His body quivered in excitement like a puppy. “We could take in the double-feature at the movie house and eat popcorn till we puke. We could even go ice-skating if you want to give it a shot.”
Buffy smiled and let her friends take her out to play and was pleasantly surprised when she ended up having a great time. They bowled, they watched movies, they played miniature golf, and by the end of the day, they were all so worn out that they fell asleep on Buffy’s bed.
Giles had been concerned over leaving Buffy totally alone and had left very early the next morning to get back to her. He and Wesley had found a nice apartment not very far from the hospital. Giles had helped him move in and promised to bring a carload of his stuff down on the weekend. “Buffy can help,” he volunteered. “There is a great deal to be said for having super strength, especially when you help someone move.” Both men chuckled.
He arrived at his own home just after nine and wasn’t surprised that Buffy wasn’t up yet. Left to herself, she tended to sleep late. He went up the stairs quietly intending to look in on her. He was shocked when he opened the door to their room and saw a masculine arm draped over her sleeping form. He looked more closely and noticed that there was another female body in the their bed as well and it had red hair. His heart let out a sigh of relief. Willow and Xander had spent the night. They were all three sprawled on his bed like a litter of puppies. He smiled to see them lying there. Buffy, he knew, sometimes missed the childish things of life that she was denied because of her heritage as the Slayer, though she never said so to him. These two children helped give that back to her. He looked at the small group of young people and chuckled, then, because he was a Watcher born and bred, he wondered about the dynamics of their sprawl. Buffy was centered between the two of them, cradled between their bodies, their arms wrapping around her both possessively and protectively, Willow every bit as much as Xander.
He backed out of the room knowing that she was loved and cared for by her friends and went down to prepare them breakfast. They ate like the growing youngsters they were and it never failed to amaze him how much food three teenagers could pack away. He fried eggs and potatoes and, in deference to Willow’s dietary prohibitions about eating pork, corned beef hash. He didn’t have to call them when breakfast was ready. The smell of the cooking food had drawn them downstairs like magnets.
Xander had the worst case of bed hair that Giles had ever seen. He looked like a whirlwind had settled momentarily on his head. Buffy and Willow had fared better or, at least, had taken the time to straighten themselves somewhat before appearing at the breakfast table. Buffy flew into his arms and kissed him repeatedly on the face and chin. “I missed you so much!”
“You did?” He smiled down at her. “I can’t imagine why with these two young rapscallions to keep you company.”
“They’re good cuddlers,” the tiny blonde admitted. “I needed some cuddling last night.”
He chucked her under the chin. “I can resume my cuddling duties a bit later on if you wish.”
She made no verbal reply but her grin was suggestive.
Xander rolled his eyes. “Geez, at least wait till we leave before the smoochies commence.”
“That wasn’t smoochies, you doof,” Buffy exclaimed. “That was just warm ups.”
They all laughed and ate breakfast. The phone rang as they were finishing up and Buffy went to answer it. It was Joyce and Merrick calling from London to say they had arrived safely but were terribly jet-lagged. They hadn’t met their young charge yet, but would do so that afternoon. The Council met them at the airport and got them settled into their new quarters—a spacious older home about fifty miles from London. Joyce claimed her hair would turn gray from riding on the wrong side of the road.
Buffy asked about the baby and Joyce said so far, she felt fine but darned tired. Merrick promised he would keep a strict eye on her for Buffy. She then passed the phone over to Giles who talked Council business for a few minutes before saying goodbye. Buffy said her goodbyes and they rang off.
“They sounded OK,” she commented.
“Buffy, going to England is not like trekking into the heart of the jungle. Really, we British are considered quite civilized now.” Giles teased her slightly.
“Yeah? Tell that to the Romans,” she quipped.
“That was nearly two thousand years ago. Really! Raise a few armies, burn a few people alive as sacrifices and you’re tarred with a bad reputation forever.” He shook his head sadly.
“Isn’t England where they find all those bog people bodies?” Willow asked interestedly. “You know, the ones where the person has been garroted, bashed on the head, and had their throat slashed?”
“Mostly those are found in Denmark,” Giles protested. “Besides, those date from the Iron age.”
“And I guess it wasn’t England that fought the rest of Europe to a standstill three times in the last two hundred or so years?” Xander mentioned casually.
“We had allies!” Giles defended stoutly.
Buffy shook her head sadly. “Face it, Giles. You come from a race of conquering warriors.”
“I knew the tweed thing was just a façade!” Willow said triumphantly.
“Tweed is very serviceable,” Giles announced.
“So’s armor plating, but most people only put it on ships,” Buffy quipped.
“Oooo. I can just see the Queen Mary covered in tweed,” Xander replied.
That gave them a pause while they contemplated that image.
“I heard a joke the other day when I was listening to the BBC7 radio,” Buffy mentioned. “It was something like, ‘What did the submarine say when it was under water?’
“What?” Willow wondered.
“ It said, ‘I see Queen Mary’s bottom.” Buffy finished the joke. There was a horrible silence as the group absorbed the impact of the anecdote. “Hey! Nobody ever said the British were funny!”
Xander looked up. “Monty Python’s funny!”
“No, it’s just weirdly amusing,” Willow stipulated.
Buffy shook her head. “I’m going with Willow on that one, but I did think a Fish Called Wanda was funny and so was that other one about the Zoo—Fierce Creatures, yeah. And some of the comedy shows on the radio have me in tears they’re so funny, even though lots of the time, I don’t get all the references.”
Giles looked deeply amused by this entire conversation. Sometimes the children were terribly annoying, but at other times, times like this, they were unconsciously entertaining. “What radio shows do you like, love?”
“Well, there’s one called Just a Minute. They have a panel of four people who have to speak for sixty seconds on a randomly assigned topic without hesitating, deviating or repeating. Those guys are brilliant. I couldn’t do it.” She thought for a moment. “My other favorite is one called ‘I’m Sorry, I haven’t a Clue.’ It’s another panel game and they make the people do funny stuff like sing one song to the tune of another. I laugh right through that every time it’s on.”
“I didn’t know you could receive the BBC in the States.” Giles commented.
“It’s on the Internet radio. You have to use the Media Player to receive it. They also do readings from books and all kinds of other shows like mysteries and stuff. The only bad part is the time difference makes it off by about nine hours, so we hear their mid-afternoon shows at like six in the morning.” When all of them looked at her strangely, she defended herself. “What, like I’m never up at dawn after a hard night fighting the forces of darkness? Before I was married, I used to listen for a half hour or so every night to help calm me down so I could sleep.” She looked at her husband. “Of course, now Giles helps me sleep so I haven’t listened as much as I used to.”
Xander cringed. “W.T.M.I., Buffy!”
She looked at him guilelessly. “I just meant he’s so warm and cuddly, just like a big teddy bear, that I don’t have any trouble snuggling up and going right to sleep! Get your mind out of the gutter, Xand-man.”
The group laughed good-naturedly and Willow asked about Wesley. “How did the hunt for an apartment go?”
“We found a nice little place. He doesn’t own much and it won’t be forever,” Giles explained. “As soon as Faith is well, they will come home again.”
“Do you think Mom and Merrick will bring the new baby Slayer home with them?” Buffy wondered.
“That would be so strange. Three Slayers, no waiting.” She contemplated her hands for a moment before looking up at him very seriously. “Something bad is coming. I don’t know what it is and neither does Faith, but it’s going to take all of us to fight it.”
Giles nodded and Xander and Willow put their hands on her shoulders. “We’ll be here, Buffy,” the boy said solemnly.