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Coercion 29 If We Knew
A
couple of days later, Giles called them all to his house for a meeting. Willow,
Tara, and Oz were there when Spike and Xander arrived. They sat side-by side on
the couch, not quite touching. Buffy came in soon after, Initiative beeper on
her hip. She greeted everyone and even made an effort to smile at Spike. “Would
anyone like some tea?” Giles counted nods. “Spike, there’s some blood for
you.” “That’s
very nice of you, Watcher.” “Oh,
I was looking through a box and found some pictures of my family home. Have I
ever shown them to you?” Giles said, picking up a small stack of pictures. Heads
were shaken all around. He handed the pictures to Xander and Spike leaned over
to see them, too. The first two were of a pretty country house and gardens. The
third picture was actually an index card. On it was written, “Play along. Say
nothing. Ignore Willow.” Spike
saw Xander’s mouth open and jumped in, shifting to the next photo. “Is this
you in short pants?” “My
cousin, actually. Spike, would you like to heat your blood?” He arched a brow
at the vampire. “Oh,
yeah, sure.” The
photos made their way to Buffy, Oz, then to Tara. Even though they were in on
the plan, they had not seen the pictures. Willow was quietly reading something
under her breath. “It looks like a peaceful place,” Tara said. “It
is lovely in the spring, I quite miss it,” Giles said through the opening
between kitchen and living room. He turned and bumped into Spike who was getting
down a mug. “Not that one,” Giles said, taking the rounded mug with a
British flag on it from Spike. Spike
sighed and took down the garish yellow mug with “Kiss the Librarian” on it.
“Where did this ugly thing come from, anyway?” “Principal
Flutie. All the teachers got some variation of it one Christmas. The man was
nice, but didn’t think things through. No wonder he got eaten.” Spike
snickered and poured blood into what he thought of as the yellow mug of
humiliation. “You
sure it’s not the spell makes my skin crawl?” Giles
glared at him as the kettle whistled. “I’m sure. Now about those
charges…” “Very
well. Look, I wanted to do something nice for Xander and I couldn’t leave the
basement of doom during daylight hours.” “That’s
nice. About Xander…” “You
want me to back off, Watcher?” “I
want you to not play with him. Xander’s got the biggest heart in the world,
and he hurts easily. He thinks he hides it with humor, but I’ve seen
the pain.” Spike
met the Watcher’s eyes and nodded. “See the risk taker there, Ripper?
Don’t worry, the boy’s safe with me.” “Good,
then I don’t have to make repeated threats about staking you if you hurt him.
What sort of payment plan works for you?” Spike
sighed. “It’s poker night next Wednesday. Get it for you then.” He snuck a
peek out into the living room as the microwave whirred. Everyone
was chatting about Oz’s travels as Willow cast a handful of dust into the air
and clapped her hands twice. The lights flickered and everyone’s skin crawled
with static. “There. That should do it. No Initiative bugs should be able to
hear through the static.” Giles
came in with a tray of cups and Spike cupped the hot mug in his hands.
“How long should it last?” “Maybe
half an hour.” “Good.
Let’s get right to it.” Tara opened her book bag and handed out packets of
neatly clipped papers. Xander recognized Willow’s work right away. “There
are some disturbing statistics about the number of people vanishing vs. demons
in the area.” “That’s
chart one,” Willow put in. “Thank
you, Willow. There are more vanishings lately despite the Initiative taking out
so many… HST’s.” “The
chart shows the numbers from the past two months and from the same months last
year.” Willow explained. “I
like how you color coded it,” Xander smiled, knowing Willow would stop
elaborating once she got praise. “This
isn’t right. Maybe… maybe more people are moving away. I hear land is cheap
farther east.” Buffy said. “That’s
because it’s desert,” Giles said patiently. “No, these are disappearances.
By your own reports, there’ve been fewer and fewer demons found by you.” “It’s
true.” “What
about by the Initiative, Buffy?” She
bit her lip. “I can’t tell you.” Giles
sighed. “Buffy, if what we suspect is true, this so-called government
installation is taking innocent humans into their… lair. And God only knows
what is happening to them.” “I
don’t know.” She crossed her arms stubbornly, which told them all she did
know, but wouldn’t tell. Giles
knelt down before her. “Buffy, please. These people have proven themselves to
be cruel and uncaring. Remember they wanted to take Willow because Spike may
have turned her?” Buffy’s lip trembled. “You may not care for Spike, but
you’ve not heard everything he witnessed.” “That’s
right,” Spike put in. “I saw them drag a number of folks in who never hurt
anyone. Well, demon folks, but nice enough. Jerry who ran the Quick Stop for
one. Fujkle demon. Worked the night shift. They got him right where he
worked.” “Buffy.
What if they decided I may be contaminated because a vampire is… my
roommate?” Xander asked. “They may just disappear me and make me one of
those numbers.” “I’m
a werewolf. I bet they’d love to study me,” Oz put in quietly. “But
I promised,” Buffy said. “I can’t tell.” Giles
got up and walked away from her, turning his back. “Very well. It is your
Slayer’s duty to protect the innocent. All I can ask is that you keep your
eyes open.” “I
don’t know what I can learn. They don’t let me down below anymore.” “Oh?
Why is that?’ “I
don’t know, Giles. Lately Riley is… he’s been pushing me away. I think
maybe they’ve learned all they can about me and don’t need me anymore.” “Don’t
you see, Buffy? That puts you at risk. Maybe greater risk than anyone.” They
watched Buffy’s eyes grow wide as she thought this through. “My God,
you’re right.” Buffy’s
pager suddenly beeped, making them
all jump. “It’s gone,” Willow said miming tossing dust. “No,
I think the school where I went as a child is still there.” Giles picked up.
“Did you see it in your travels, Oz?” “I
didn’t go that far south.” Buffy
stared at her pager. It showed six missed calls. “I… I’ve got to go. It
was great catching up with you. Let’s do this again soon.” She looked again
at the chart, her brow furrowed as she handed it back. “Be
careful on patrol, Buffy,” Giles said, which was echoed by the others. “I
will. Thanks guys.” She looked them all in the eye, even Spike, and left. The
rest of them sat about for a while, enjoying one another’s company and
catching up. Xander and Spike left after the vampire got bored and almost
molested Xander on his way out of the bathroom, embarrassing Giles and Xander,
and causing the girls to giggle.
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