Title: The Portal Series (in 3 parts) 3/3
Author: Sweetdoggie (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: B/G
Rating: R
Summary: Buffy and Giles take an unexpected trip
Spoilers: Up to mid-season 7
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.
Notes: Gilligan’s Island, Star Trek and Gunsmoke are also owned by a multitude of other people and corporations. None of the characters belong to me. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
They felt the effects of the transporter leave them slowly. When the tingling stopped they looked around. They stood on a dusty road. In the distance they could see a small town surrounded by pens filled with cattle. The stench was staggering even at a distance of several miles. Buffy looked around noting the few trees and the general landscape. “This doesn’t look like Southern California to me.”
“Nor to me.” Giles said with a sinking feeling. He grabbed the valise that held a change of garments for himself and gestured to Buffy to pick up her smallish bag. They set off walking down the road toward the town.
“So, our story is that our horse died four days ago and we’ve been walking ever since?” Buffy said somewhat skeptically.
“Yes. “ He agreed.
“And the reason I’m totally hopeless at stuff most women could do back then, I mean, now, is because I was a companion to an elderly woman and my job was to read to her? People actually had jobs like that?”
“Oh yes. A gently bred girl who could read and take care of an elderly employer wasn’t all that unusual.” He pointed out.
“OK.” She shrugged. “And you’re a school teacher who fell in love with me and we ran away together.” She giggled. “It’s kind of romantic, really.”
“It will seem so to these people.” He told her. They had finally reached the edge of town. He saw a man sweeping the wooden sidewalk in front of what looked to be some sort of shop. “Excuse me, sir. Could you give me the direction of a decent hotel?”
The man looked up, mildly surprised to be addressed by a man with a British accent. “Sure thing, stranger. See that two-story building five doors down? That’s a decent hotel for a family man. You and your wife will be comfortable there.”
“Thank you. You’ve been most helpful. Come along, Elizabeth.” He told Buffy.
She walked head down, hand on his arm having been coached in proper behavior for a woman of this period before they left the Enterprise. It didn’t irritate her like she thought it might. Everything was so unreal that being made into a second-class citizen was the least of her worries.
They made it to the hotel and walked inside. Giles asked for a room for his wife and himself and was told that they could get a nice place for three dollars a week or fifty cents for one night. He paid for a week and they were given a room key. They had a room off the back of the hotel where the clerk said it would be quieter.
Trudging to the room, Giles unlocked it. Buffy walked in and dropped her suitcase on the floor. She collapsed into the wooden chair. “What a dump.” She said disgustedly. “I hope you get your spell ingredients right away because I am not having a good time.”
He ran a tired hand over his dusty face and agreed wholeheartedly with her. “In some ways, a boarding house would be better, but we would probably fall under closer scrutiny.”
She looked around the tiny room. It was only about six by ten feet and contained a narrow bed, a chair and a small table with a washbasin and a pitcher of water. The walls in the room only extended about three quarters of the way to the ceiling. Buffy saw something protruding from under the bed and was horrified to find a chamber pot.
“Oh. My. God!” She exclaimed. “You mean there’s no toilets?”
Giles shrugged. “I imagine there’s an outhouse behind the hotel. It wouldn’t be safe for you to go there by yourself.”
She stood up, suddenly energized. “Let’s go looking for ingredients. I’m not using that, that thing!” She indicated the china pot.
He pulled out the list they had made on board the starship. Its contents were odd, but he and Spock had worked out the chemical and mystical balances that would need to be accommodated to make the spell work. It was also important that all of the necessary ingredients could be purchased locally. They walked down to the General Mercantile Outfitters. Giles told the shopkeeper what he required: three quarts of kerosene, ten crackers, three carrots, a plug of chewing tobacco, a pocket knife, a yard of red silk and three hard-boiled pickled eggs. They looked around while the man filled their order. He gave Giles a flour sack filled with various items and tallied up the bill. It came to two dollars, a great deal of money in this time, Buffy knew.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what do you need all that stuff for?” The shopkeeper asked them.
“Just things we thought might come in handy.” Giles explained glibly. They started back to their hotel room.
They were accosted by a group of drunk and rowdy cowboys before they reached the hotel. They made fun of Giles’ city clothes and made a couple of mildly suggestive remarks to Buffy. She ignored them and pulled Giles along. “Ignore them, Rupert. We aren’t here to beat up idiots.”
He sighed and followed her, doing his best to ignore the catcalls behind him. He would have enjoyed breaking a few noses, but Buffy was right. They got back to their room and dropped off the spell ingredients. “I’ve got to eat something.” Buffy told him.
“Yes, I too.” He stretched. “I believe there is a restaurant next door.”
They locked the room again and headed down to the lobby. “Is there a good place to eat around town?” Giles asked the manager.
“You can get a good meal next door for two bits. It gets a little rough after dark but you and the missus should be all right till then.” The man offered helpfully.
Giles thanked him and they made their way next door. He ordered for both of them and got steaks, potatoes, sliced tomatoes, and pie. The waitress brought them cups of coffee. The portions were large and they were satisfied when they finished. Giles paid for the meal and they walked back to their hotel room. Another or perhaps the same group of drunken cowboys was loitering by the door as they walked past. One of them deliberately tried to trip Giles as he went by.
He caught himself and turned to the man who was looking belligerent. “What ya lookin’ at , ya big sissy?” Asked the cowboy.
“I rather thought I was looking at a bumbling idiot who was seeking a fight.” Giles said pushed beyond what he was prepared to tolerate.
“Oooo. Lookit, boys. The city man thinks he can take me in a fight.” He staggered drunkenly. “’Zat right, city man?”
Giles sighed mightily. “Do you want to go upstairs, love? You don’t need to witness this.”
“Oh, please. Like I’m so worried. Beat him up and let’s get going.” Buffy instructed.
The cowboys goggled at Buffy. They were used to women objecting to fights and running screaming at the first sight of trouble. For one to tell her husband to hurry up and beat a man was highly unusual. In fact, if you looked closely, she seemed almost bored.
Giles stepped up to the cowboy and looked directly into his eyes. “You have one chance of leaving uninjured and that is if you simply walk away right now.”
“Why you…” The man swung the first punch.
Giles grinned and let it slide past him. He broke the cowboy’s nose in the first blow. The second and third knocked the wind out of him, and the fourth, delivered on the point of his chin made him lose consciousness. It was over before any of the others could react. Giles took Buffy’s hand and they stepped over the cowboy and into the hotel.
“Did you hurt your hands?” Buffy asked him.
“No, not really.” He showed her the slightly reddened knuckles.
She took his hands in hers and examined them carefully. “You’re right. Not too bad. But you have to be careful. If you get injured here they probably cut your arm off or something.” They went up to their room unaware that the hotel manager had seen the entire fight.
He watched them walk quietly to their room before calling to a boy passing down the street. “Boy, there’s a nickel for you if you fetch the Marshal.”
The boy grinned and spun off to the Marshal’s office. Five minutes later he was back with Marshal Dillon in tow. Matt walked into the hotel and the manager paid the boy his fee. The child ran off with a whoop of joy. He was heading straight for the Outfitters store and the penny candy display.
“The boy said you wanted me, Tom. What’s going on?” The tall lawman asked quietly.
“We’ve got a strange couple upstairs, Matt. I didn’t think much about it at first, but they walked into town earlier today. Said their horse had died four days ago. She’s an American, near as I can tell, but has a pretty strange accent. He’s English and a lot older than her. He got razzed by some drunken cowboys a little while ago. I was just getting ready to send for you, when he took matters into his own hands. He looks like a dude, but he took down Brady Pratt in about two shakes while his wife stood by looking bored. It just struck me as odd, Matt. Something’s up with those two. I thought you might want to keep an eye on them.”
“Did they sign your register?” The marshal asked curiously.
“Yep.” The hotelkeeper pulled out the logbook and pointed to the signature. “Mr. and Mrs. Rupert Giles.”
“Hmmm. You catch her name?” The big man wondered.
“She didn’t sign it, but I heard him call her Elizabeth once and then a couple of times he’s called her Buffy. Must be a pet name.” The hotelkeeper speculated.
“What did she do while he was fighting?” Matt questioned.
“Just stood there looking bored. Had her arms crossed and was practically tapping her foot. She looked at his knuckles when he was done and said he wasn’t hurt.”
“Sounds as if she’s used to him fighting, don’t it?” The marshal speculated.
“That’s what I thought, too.”
“I’ll go have a word with him.” The lawman decided.
He got the room number from the hotelier and started up the stairs. He got to the doorway of the couple’s room and heard them murmuring inside. He couldn’t hear what was being said so he knocked.
The door was thrown open and a tall, older-looking man with a towel thrown over his shoulder stood in the doorway. “Yes?”
“I’m Marshal Matt Dillon and I heard that you were involved in a fracas outside the hotel. I thought I’d come up and talk to you about it.”
The man raised an eyebrow expressively and turned back toward the inside of the room. “Buffy? There’s a marshal here who’d like to talk to us about the fight.”
The young woman who came to the door was beautiful. She wore a simple silver cross around her neck and had let her blond-streaked hair down around her shoulders. She stepped up to the other side of the doorway and stood next to her husband. “Is there some problem, marshal?”
“I’d just like to hear your side of what happened is all, ma’am.” He reassured her.
She looked at her husband and some sort of silent communication was exchanged. She pulled the towel off her husband’s shoulders and tossed it back into the room. “Let’s go downstairs where we can talk.” She suggested as she closed the door. The husband locked it behind him.
They followed the marshal to the parlor. Giles took a moment and introduced them both, shaking the lawman’s hand. Buffy extended her hand briefly and the marshal bowed over it. She looked slightly taken aback and he couldn’t figure out why.
“So, can I have the story in your own words?” Marshal Dillon asked.
“Drunken cowboys, man in suit.” Buffy shrugged her shoulders expressively. “It was a fight waiting to happen.”
Giles smiled down at her fondly. “As my wife says. They accosted us when we came out of the store and again when we were trying to make our way back to the hotel. They were clearly drunk and spoiling for a fight. I only obliged when they became rude about my wife.”
“I see.” Matt nodded. “Well, Brady Pratt is always a handful and worse when he’s been drinking. I’m sorry he insulted you, ma’am. I’ll make sure he apologizes when he’s sober.”
Buffy wondered what sort of a response she should make to that. “Well, thank you, Marshal. I’d be very upset if my husband had split his knuckle on that brute.”
Matt hid a grin. “You don’t seem very upset about the fight, ma’am. If Brady hadn’t been quite so drunk, things might have gone badly.”
Buffy laughed. “Yes, he’s very lucky my husband was feeling so tolerant.”
Matt wondered if he should explain that her husband had been lucky, but decided not to. Every woman should look up to her man like this girl did. It would make many more happy marriages.
“So, um, you’re English?” The marshal speculated.
“Yes. I am.” Giles admitted.
“Long way from England.”
“Longer than you might imagine.” Giles told him with a sigh. “My wife and I are attempting to get back home after a long and adventure-filled trip. We are hoping that this place will be our last stop for a while.”
Buffy spoke up. “We just want to rest for a few days then we’ll be on our way. We have responsibilities that we need to attend to. Giles has to get back to teaching.” She thought it might be a good idea if the marshal associated them with a respectable profession.
“Ah, you’re a teacher?” Matt asked.
“Among other things.” Giles admitted with a fond look at his wife.
“So, where do you folks live when you’re at home?” Matt asked good-naturedly.
Buffy looked at him blankly. Giles cleared his throat. “Buffy comes from Los Angeles. We will be heading back there as soon as we have rested up a bit.”
“That’s in California, isn’t it?” Asked the lawman.
“Yes.” Giles replied.
“Long way from Dodge City, Kansas.” He commented.
Buffy put her hands on her hips. Matt could tell she was bursting to comment on something, but held herself back.
“A very long way.” She said, voice grim.
Her husband patted her back. “It’s all right, love. We’ll get home again, I promise.”
“All right, Giles. I know you’ll get us home.” She smiled up at the big man and the marshal was astonished to see how her face lit up as she looked at her husband.
“Well,” Matt said, standing. “Let me know if you have any more problems. I try to run a safe town, but with so many cattle outfits coming in every day, it isn’t easy.”
Giles nodded. “No harm done, marshal. My wife and I plan to stay indoors as much as possible anyway, so hopefully, we won’t encounter any more rowdies.”
The marshal nodded and shook hands with Giles. He tipped his hat at Buffy and left the room.
Buffy turned to her husband. “Dodge City, Kansas? We’re in the middle of the freakin’ Great Plains?”
“I’m rather surprised.” Giles admitted. “Are we in another TV universe?”
“Not so far as I can tell.” Buffy said. “I know there really was a Marshal Matt Dillon and he lived in Dodge City. I don’t remember all that much else though.” She thought for a few minutes. “I think Dodge was some sort of important place for cattle drives. Hence the cowboys and all the cow poop.” She said with a grimace.
“It does seem to be rather, ah, fragrant, doesn’t it?” He said with a chuckle.
She just gave him ‘the look’ and said they should go back to their room and work on the spell. “I want out of here so bad I can’t begin to tell you.” They walked upstairs. “Do you know how much this stupid dress weighs? I must have fifteen layers of skirts and petticoats on.” She complained.
“Well, at least you’re not having to wear these bloody wool trousers. They’re hot and they itch.” He told her.
“Are you too tired to do the spell tonight?” She asked him.
“I’m afraid so. This is going to be rather debilitating as it is. I need to be well rested.” He sighed. “Believe me, I want out of here at least as much as you do.”
They undressed and hung their garments up to air. Buffy crawled onto the narrow bed and listened to it squeak. “God, I hate this place.” She said softly.
Giles sat down on the bed rather gingerly. It was small and not really made for a man of his stature. He lay back and wondered what his back was going to feel like in the morning. The bed sagged alarmingly in the middle and he and Buffy rolled together more by gravity than choice.
“I wonder if in some alternate universe this whole thing is another TV show.” She speculated softly.
“I can see that.” Giles said with a grin. “It would be about the adventures of the marshal and his friends as they fight for law and order in the Wild West. Not a bad premise.” He mused.
“Yeah. Bad guys could come to town every week and the marshal could have gun fights and stuff, which he would always win because he’s clearly the good guy.” She yawned. “I’ve never liked westerns.”
He chuckled sleepily and pulled her closer. They drifted off to sleep restlessly on the hot, lumpy mattress. The constant sound of cattle lowing and the occasional gunshot didn’t bother them as much as missing the noise of traffic and normal sounds of life in a city.
They both awoke before dawn and groaned. “We have so got to get home before our backs are totally destroyed by bad beds.” Buffy complained.
“At least you’re young!” Giles said snappishly. “I feel like somebody has pounded on my kidneys all night.”
Buffy said nothing but put her arm around him and rubbed his back. He was tense and she could feel his muscles tighten. She massaged him gently and felt him loosen up. “It’ll be OK, Giles. We’ll get home today or maybe tomorrow or whenever. And just think how much fun we can have telling the gang about us.” She giggled.
“Oh, you’re right! That will be fun.” He smiled down at her. “Sorry I was so cross.”
“Hey, I understand. You’re stiff and sore and dirty. You didn’t sleep worth a damn and you probably have to go to the bathroom and are really dreading a trip to the outhouse, right?”
“Er, right!” He told her. “You too?”
“Oh yeah.” She agreed.
They got dressed and marched downstairs. They took turns guarding the door to the outhouse for each other. Buffy emerged looking displeased. “That might not be the absolute grossest experience of my life, but it’s got to be in the top ten.”
Giles agreed with her. They went back to their room for a quick wash before wandering over to the restaurant for breakfast. It was already doing a thriving business and the sun had barely come up. They stepped over the sodden bodies of drunken cowboys as they walked into the large dining area. At one of the long tables near the back wall, they spotted the marshal, another scruffy-looking man wearing a badge, a man in a worn suit, and a woman who was dressed somewhat flamboyantly, especially considering the time of day. The marshal, of course, saw them and waved them over.
“Howdy, folks. I’d like you to meet my deputy Festus Haggen, Doc Adams, and Miss Kitty Russell. Miss Kitty owns the Long Branch Saloon.” He added the last with a look at Giles that Buffy couldn’t interpret. She greeted them all with a smile as the marshal introduced them.
Giles also smiled, put his arm around Buffy’s shoulder and agreed to join them for breakfast. They chatted for several minutes before the waitress brought large plates of pancakes, bacon, eggs, fried potatoes and steak. Everyone dug in and helped themselves.
“So, you own the saloon. That must be interesting.” Buffy said to Kitty.
Kitty Russell was unused to being addressed by a woman of unassailable virtue. The girls who worked for her, of course, were considered ‘soiled doves’ and quite unfit for decent company, so it took her aback to have this sweet young girl address her as if there was nothing morally reprehensible in owning a drinking establishment. “Um, yes. It is interesting. We have all sorts of people come through town and most of them stop at the Long Branch for a drink before they move on.”
Buffy leaned forward. “I’ve never really seen cowboys, real ones, I mean. Or this many cattle before either. It really is interesting.”
“You must be from a city then.” Kitty said kindly.
“Oh, yes. Giles knows more about this sort of thing than I do.” She grinned engagingly. “Of course, Giles pretty much knows more about everything than I do.”
Giles looked mildly embarrassed. “Buffy insists on seeing me as a font of knowledge. She has a perfectly good mind of her own and, while her education isn’t all I would wish it to be, time will take care of that.”
“Giles, I could have the next fifty years and I still wouldn’t know what you know.” She shook her head. “Not that I’d want to, but there you go.”
“What did you study in school, Mr. Giles?” Doc Adams asked curiously.
“I am a scholar of ancient civilizations and dead languages.” He told them. “Not a great deal of use for that sort of thing, really.”
“Don’t let him fool you.” Buffy said happily. “He speaks plenty of living languages too.”
He picked up her hand and gave it a soft smack on the back. “Anybody can pick up a new language.” He stated firmly. “It’s nothing important.”
“Do you teach?” Festus asked plaintively.
“On occasion.” Giles said. “I was Buffy’s teacher for a few years.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, how do you come to be called Buffy?” Matt wondered
Buffy blushed a bit. “My given name is Elizabeth Anne. When I was a little girl, Elizabeth was hard for me to say. My mother said I called myself Wizabuff. They shortened that to Buffy. I’ve always felt it could have been worse.” She said darkly as Giles chuckled.
There were smiles all around the table. Festus spoke admiringly. “I always wanted to get me some book learnin’. I cain’t read nary a word, no, nor write neither.”
“I’m sure you could learn if you have an interest.” Giles said. “While it’s true that it’s generally easier to learn to read as a child, it’s also true that adults tend to work harder at it. Besides, I’m sure that you know many things of value—reading and writing is not the only way to gain knowledge.”
Matt was amazed that a man who had devoted his life to scholarship would take this point of view. He knew Festus was a good man, sharp as a tack about many things, but not gifted with a good education. Most men with Giles’ background would have looked down on him as an idiot or a fool, when in truth the deputy was neither.
“Well, that’s mighty nice of you to say so, Mr. Giles.” Festus said.
Just then the door of the restaurant opened and a man in a blue army uniform stepped into the room. He cast his gaze around the dining hall till it fell on the marshal. Walking briskly, he approached their table.
“Sorry to bother you at your breakfast, Marshal, but I wanted to give you a warning. We have some Comanche on the warpath. We’ll check the surrounding farms, but you ought to warn the townsfolk in case of an attack.” He tipped his hat to Buffy, ignored Kitty and walked away. The men immediately began conferring, ignoring the two women.
“Wow, rude much?” Buffy murmured. Kitty overheard and had a hard time not laughing out loud. “Who was that man?”
“Major John Chulney. He thinks he’s the most wonderful military commander in the entire west.” Kitty said with a wry look.
“Why was he so rude?” Buffy asked.
Kitty looked at her. Was it possible this girl didn’t know what she did for a living: how she had earned enough money to buy the saloon? “He doesn’t like my line of work.” She ended up murmuring.
“What? Women don’t have a right to support themselves?” Buffy snapped.
“He doesn’t think women like me should be seen in decent company.” Kitty said sadly. “Most people feel like that. I knew that when I took up the trade, but I didn’t really have a choice.”
Buffy looked at her closely. She put her hand on top of the other woman’s. “I think he’s an idiot. You’ve managed to survive and more than that, you’ve managed to prosper. Most people, even men with all their advantages, can’t do that. Look at him. Sure, he’s a big shot major but he won’t be in the military forever. What happens then? The military doesn’t pay all that well and he’ll be old and have nothing except a uniform that probably won’t fit him anymore. That’s sad.”
Kitty looked at her admiringly. “You’re very understanding for such a young woman.”
Buffy shrugged. “Everybody has hardships in their life. It’s what you do with them that matters.” She didn’t realize her eyes looked old and very, very sad. “You can’t fight your destiny.”
“What is your destiny, Buffy?” Kitty asked her softly.
“Women in my…family die very young. I’ve already outlived seven of my…sisters.” Buffy explained softly.
“Oh, you poor dear. Is it your heart?” Kitty looked sympathetic.
“No, we are cursed.” Buffy told her. “We all get murdered.” She looked over at Giles who was deeply buried in conversation. “My younger sister, Kendra, had her throat cut in our library at school. I came in to get a book and she was lying dead on the floor.”
“Did they ever catch her killer?” Miss Kitty asked aghast.
“No. But I know who did it.” Buffy looked grim. “Someday she’ll pay.”
“It was a woman?” She asked astonished.
“Yes. If you want to call her that.” Buffy said.
“How, how did your other sisters die?” Kitty asked in a horrified whisper.
Buffy shrugged. “Broken neck, stabbed, disemboweled, blown up, drowned, burned, crushed.”
“Did the murderer get caught?” The saloon owner asked.
“Oh, it was all different people, not just one man. Some have paid, some haven’t.” Buffy was grim. “In the end, somebody stronger or faster or luckier will take them down. Justice may be slow, but it does come.”
The men had finally finished their discussion and had turned back to the women that they just realized they had ignored. “Oh, dear. I’m terribly sorry Buffy. I didn’t mean to neglect you.” Giles said apologetically.
“No problem, Rupert. I was just chatting with Kitty.” He patted her hand. “That’s my good girl.”
Buffy rolled her eyes at his words. She had to get him out of this awful century before he completely reverted and started doing stupid stuff like putting his coat over mud puddles so she wouldn’t have to get her feet dirty. If he tried to go all white knight on her she might have to remind him just exactly whom he was dealing with.
They had nearly finished with breakfast when a pair of very grubby-looking men in dusters walked into the room. They looked around and finally took a table as far from the marshal and deputy as possible. Buffy had only glanced at them momentarily but then had to do a double take. She leaned over and nudged her husband. “Gorch brothers.”
“What? Are you sure?” He asked her.
“Yes. I’m sure.” Buffy said grimly.
Giles turned to Marshal Dillon. “You see those men who just came in? Buffy says she recognizes them. They are hardened killers, the Gorch Brothers.”
Festus looked at them closely. Their faces did resemble the ones on a wanted poster in the marshal’s office. “What did they do?” He asked.
“Murder, robbery, general badness.” Buffy said. “I read wanted posters.” She improvised when they looked like they were wondering how she knew. “Don’t worry, they’re as stupid as they are ugly.”
“Then they must be powerful stupid.” Festus commented.
Buffy grinned at him. “I like a man who has a fine turn of phrase.” Everyone chuckled.
The breakfast group broke up. Kitty said she needed to do some book-keeping, while the marshal was going to go home and get a little sleep. He sent Festus looking for the wanted poster of the Gorch brothers. “Don’t approach them by yourself.” He instructed. “Keep an eye on them and we’ll see what’s going on later.”
Doc decided that he might as well go keep his office hours. He invited Giles over to play some chess when he had an opportunity. The former librarian thanked him and said that he would certainly make time for a game or two before they left.
Buffy simply stood, smiled at all of them and let her husband lead her away. They got as far as the Gorch’s table when Lyle, the elder brother noticed Buffy. He leered at her and winked suggestively. She averted her eyes, not wanting to have to beat him up in public. “Hey, sweet thang, you can do better than that old man.” He yelled at her. “I got a whole dollar for you if you come over here and sit on my lap.”
The Slayer shuddered. The imagery was too horrific. The marshal and Festus started to go to her aid. Giles frowned at the brothers repressively. Buffy ignored them. She stepped past them without a glance or a comment. The elder Gorch, who truly was as stupid as he was ugly, reached out a paw and grabbed her. Giles started to go to her aid, but was held back when the younger brother pulled out a pistol and aimed it at him.
Buffy sighed and realized that getting free was up to her. She reached around and grabbed the man by the arm. With her Slayer strength, she crushed the wrist that grasped her. When he howled and screamed the younger brother took his eyes off Giles long enough for the Watcher to step forward and plant a blow to his chin that knocked him unconscious. Giles grabbed the gun as the man slid bonelessly to the floor. Buffy yanked on the arm in her hand till she had it pulled up behind the bully’s back. He was whimpering and trying to go for his gun with his left hand. With a quick pull she snapped his shoulder out of the socket and grabbed his gun out of its holster with her free hand. She forced him to his knees. “I think you had better apologize. Right now.” She hinted when he was slow in forming the words.
“Sorry, ma’am. Very sorry. Didn’t mean anything by it.” He whimpered.
The marshal and his deputy had made their way over to the fallen men and hauled them up onto their feel. “We’ll take care of this, Mr. Giles, Mrs. Giles.” Matt said in an astonished voice. He looked at the dislocated shoulder. “Doc, looks like you have your first customer of the day.”
Buffy looked angry and disgusted as the men were led off. “I want to wash my hands.” She complained to Giles. “That guy was so dirty my hand slid on his skin. Eeeeuw!”
He nodded and they headed back to their room. Buffy spent a good five minutes washing her hands. “Please tell me we have enough ingredients for the spell, Giles. I want to go home right now!”
He agreed with her. The Wild West wasn’t as interesting as he had supposed it to be as a young boy. It was dirty, smelly, primitive, uncomfortable and dangerous. Plus, if the marshal were any kind of detective, he would be paying them another visit very shortly. That was something they wanted to avoid at all costs. It would be extremely difficult to explain Buffy’s fighting abilities without revealing her nature as the Slayer, a risk they couldn’t take in their own universe. They spent fifteen minutes moving the small bed against the wall and drawing a circle on the floor. Before he completed his preparations, Buffy wrote a note telling the Marshal and the others that they were fine but had decided it was time to leave. She thanked them all for their kindness and pinned the note to the pillow.
Giles indicated that everything was ready and began to chant the words he had worked out for the spell. He and Buffy joined hands and as he finished the chant, there was a flash of light. They opened their eyes cautiously and looked around. They were in one of Sunnydale’s numerous cemeteries. It was dawn. They were about ten feet from where they had left several months earlier.
“I wonder how long it’s been on this side of the universe?” Buffy asked him quietly.
“I’ve no idea, really.” Giles said looking around happily. “This is clearly Sunnydale, however. I think we have gotten home.”
“Next time, let’s not take the scenic route, OK?” She grinned.
He put his arm over her shoulder and they exited the grounds. They were walking down the street when a car pulled up along side them. Xander and Willow piled out of the car. “Where have you guys been? We were getting worried. Next time you stay out all night, you need to let us know. We thought the First had gotten you or something.” Xander said in one breath. “And why are you guys dressed like you came from a Halloween party?”
Buffy laughed and put her arm around Giles’ waist. “Well, guys, it’s a long story.” She looked up at Giles only to find him looking down at her. They both started laughing as they walked to the car.
Willow and Xander looked at each other. “What’s going on with those two?” He asked her.
“Beats me, but at least they’re talking again.” Willow responded.
END