Title: Slayer Central chapter 21
Author: Gileswench
Contact: gileswench@yahoo.com
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. Praise abjectly sought.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc., etc., etc. I just let them have all the fun Joss won't. I own nothing except my twisted mind which you really don't want. Please don't sue.



As breakfast progressed, Buffy learned of the plan to take Crystal shopping for maternity clothes. After a silent exchange with Giles, Buffy asked to come along. Just as the girls were getting ready to leave, Giles pulled Buffy aside for a moment.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I'm a bit concerned about Crystal. Do make sure Cordelia and Anya don't intimidate her too much, luv."

"Not to worry, sweetie. Got it covered. Besides, I don't think Crystal's quite the china doll everyone thinks she is."

"Well, that's as may be." He pulled out his wallet.

"Ooh, money for actual spendage! Goody!"

Giles smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Actually, it's this."

He handed her a slip of plastic. Buffy stared at it a few seconds before the reality sank in.

"Your credit card?"

"No, your credit card. I thought it was about time you had one of your own, so I had the company send another for you to use."

Buffy lunged at him in a bear hug that would put a grizzly to shame.

"I love you so much!"

"Then perhaps you'd be so kind as to let me breathe again, luv," he squeezed out.

*****

The mall was filled with frantic holiday shoppers by the time the girls arrived. After spending two weeks in bed by herself, Buffy found the crowding almost intolerable. She heaved a sigh of relief when they entered the maternity wear shop. Clothes she could handle.

Anya and Cordelia, on the other hand, she wasn't sure the world could deal with. As soon as they entered the shop, Cordelia went to the designer section, while Anya began madly pulling items from the clearance rack for Crystal to try on.

"Here. This is very inexpensive," she told the girl as she dumped an orange and chartreuse striped dress into Crystal's arms.

"And there's a good reason for that, too," Cordelia countered as she pulled the dress away again. "Now this," she indicated the navy blue ensemble in her arms, "is a good investment. Just look at the stitching. It'll last forever."

"But I'm only gonna be pregnant another five months."

Anya grabbed the outfit from Cordelia.

"Oh my God! Look at the pricetag! Now I know what you're doing; you want me to be poor. You think it will make Xander want you again. Well he won't. You can't have him!"

"How many times do I have to say it? I don't want Xander Harris! You're welcome to him with my blessings. And you sounded all generous when you offered to buy stuff for Crystal, but the first thing you pick is in hideous colors with horizontal stripes! Horizontal stripes? On a pregnant woman?"

"It's on sale. She could buy lots of things if they're on sale."

"And there's a reason they're on sale! They're terrible clothes! What? Do you think if Crystal looks nice Xander will want her too? Is that why you're picking out ugly stuff? So Xander won't notice she's prettier than you?"

"Um, guys," Buffy interjected.

She was ignored by the battling women.

"Crystal is no way prettier than me! Is she?"

"Will you both just shut the hell up, already!"

The other three stared at Crystal. They had never heard her yell before. Once she had silence, the girl continued.

"Look, I don't know what your guys' problem is, but I'm just here to get some clothes. Anya, I don't want to wear something totally disgusting just because it's cheap. Cordelia, I'm not buying something to see me through another fifteen pregnancies. And Xander's a nice guy and all, but he's not my type. I don't want him. Got it?"

Anya and Cordelia both nodded a bit sullenly.

"Good. Now, Anya, why don't you tell me how much you're willing to spend so I won't be all naked and scorned for the next few months and then I'll pick what I like within that price range. Deal?"

With that, Crystal and Anya went into a corner to discuss budgetary concerns while Buffy and Cordelia looked after her with raised eyebrows.

"Wow. Didn't know she had it in her," Cordelia observed.

"I thought she had a backbone hidden in there somewhere, but that sounded almost like my Mom talking."

With a shrug, the girls returned to their shopping. Buffy held up a pair of green overalls.

"These aren't too bad."

"Yeah, Buffy, if you want to look like a fat zucchini."

*****

"Thank you for shopping the Magic Box. Please do come again."

Giles smiled as he handed over the bag to a sullen young goth girl with purple hair and black lips. As soon as she was gone, the smile faded into a scowl.

"I suppose it would have killed her to be polite for five minutes. Bloody nuisance."

With a sigh, he turned to the telephone and began to dial. On the third ring, there was an answer.

"Hullo, yes, Katie? Is that you? Ah, yes. Rupert Giles here; you may remember me from...yes that's right. Lakewood Cottage. We're doing quite well, thank you. And you? I'm very glad to hear it. I was, um, I was wondering if I might speak with Riley for a moment? Ah, I see. Yes, yes of course. Well, when he returns, could you possibly ask him to give me a call? It's a matter of some urgency. No, there's a new number, actually."

He gave the girl his new phone number, thanked her for her help, and hung up. He turned as the bell above the door announced a new customer.

"How may I...Quentin."

"You're a hard man to find these days, Giles. So this is what you've been doing, is it?"

"This is the shop, yes."

Travers gave a brief, dismissive glance to his surroundings. He looked more closely at Giles himself.

The last time they'd met, Travers had seen a tweed-clad stutterer. There was no hint of that man before him now. Giles wore a pinstriped suit, but with an air that suggested jeans and a leather jacket. There was no tie, and his shirt was open at the neck, exposing a small tuft of chest hair. The glasses he wore had smaller, lighter frames as well. No longer was his hair relentlessly shorn. In fact, it now curled slightly over the collar of his dark red shirt. A discreet silver hoop dangled from his left earlobe.

The biggest change, however, wasn't physical, but attitudinal. This Giles met Travers' eye coolly. He didn't stutter or fidget. No, he stood calmly with his hands in his pockets and regarded his former employer with a mild, yet disdainful, curiosity.

Travers didn't like this new Giles.

"What do you want with me, Quentin?"

"With you?" Travers' eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I want nothing with you, Rupert. I've come to talk to the Slayer. I assume you know where I can find her."

*****

"Oof. My feet are killing me. And so's my back."

Buffy slumped into a seat at the mall foodcourt and dropped her bags to the ground beside her.

"You think it's bad now, wait a couple months," Crystal grumbled. "This kid is bouncing off the walls."

"But on the upside, we got to buy a whole lot of new clothes. Clothes shopping is always a good."

"Even when you're buying them so you can turn into a pumpkin?" Cordelia asked.

"Even then," Buffy assured her. "And just think of all the cute mini- stuff we'll have excuses to buy now. Itty-bitty shoes and teeny-tiny outfits..."

"And baby monitors, and car seats, and diapers in bulk, not to mention the air freshener you'll go through."

"I'm trying to accentuate the positive here, Cordy. You're not helping."

"Hey, I'm not the one who thought up the whole baby-having process. I'm not the one who made them all squirmy and helpless and unable to wipe their own tushies for years."

"Even with all that, I'm still looking forward to meeting little Junior...or Juniorette as the case may be. And Rupert's way excited about it. He gets all glowy when we talk about baby stuff."

"So do you," Anya pointed out. "Have either of you decided what to name your children?"

"Not yet. Of course, we can't do much worse than our parents did. I mean, Rupert and Buffy? What sort of names are those?"

"Hank wanted us to have a boy so we could name it after him."

"Rupert really seems to have his heart set on a girl."

"If Crystal has a girl and Buffy has a boy, maybe you could switch."

"Not helping, An," the other three chorused.


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