Impact

Bunny was not at O’Malley’s Bar. Bunny was not even Bunny at the moment. She was all demon, in her lair under the morgue, beneath the hospital. A plan was forming. Now that she knew where the book was, she had to retrieve it.

The Blimey demon took the shape of Bunny in order to negotiate with humans. She had thought about completely consuming the nurse, Lilly, but decided to lay dormant when Lilly was her true self. Bunny was her cover. That had been her client’s wish, so as not to be too noticeable. She was to be a strange face, a new face, and not a memorable face that would stick out. Lilly had many friends and family, so her face would not always be useful for the deeds that needed to be done. The Blimey needed to blend in, so “Bunny” was born.

It had been easy enough for the demon to inhabit a human. It was a shape changer, and waited under a sheet in the embalming room. It appeared to be a body lying in wait. The nurse, Lilly, had been sent to the morgue to sign a death certificate. When she arrived, she found it empty. Where was Tom with the death certificate? She called out his name, but there was no answer. She turned to leave the room, and that is when the Blimey demon struck. Lilly never knew what hit her, except for the raging migraine that shook her to the core. The Blimey had shot into Lilly’s left ear, as if a breeze or a gas, encasing her brain. When the Blimey was at rest, Lilly was herself. However, when the demon needed to take it’s human form, it changed Lilly’s facial shape into Bunny. Lilly would never remember anything, except for a blinding headache. Bunny used Lilly’s connections, but found that it would be easier for her plan to succeed if she wasn’t as recognizable as Lilly was. Besides, when the Blimey’s work was done, it would return to it’s dimension. Lilly would never know what had occurred. And the Blimey had been doing this for a millennia now, traveling in human form when needed, or animal, or whatever. It’s natural shape came out when highly provoked, but there were seldom witnesses to attest. The Blimey was indestructible.

The Blimey was not here on itwn awn accord. It never was. It was a mercenary species, following out another’s plan. Sometimes it worked to assassinate a great leader,led led upon by the region’s black sorcerer. Other times the Blimey sought revenge for a wronged party. The instructions given this time had seemed so simple. The client wanted a book, a prophecy book, that contained the Shanshu Prophecy. In the book was a ritual that would set Shanshu into effect, but the ritual could only be revealed by another vampire. Thus far, no vampire had researched the ritual passage at length, and in this case, if Angel had, he hadn’t realized what he was reading.

But the Blimey did not know all of this. She had only been told to retrieve the book by her client. So now the demon put on it’s “Bunny” face, and escaped through the sewers to call upon the client. Her client would be thrilled to know that the book’s location had been revealed. She had been very upset when “Bunny” had failed to locate it at Wolfram and Hart, so had instructed her to stay by the Watcher’s side as much as possible, hoping that one of his visitors would reveal some sort of clue to it’s whereabouts. It hadn’t just been luck when that delivery truck struck the Watcher. The Blimey had temporarily changed it’s shape into that of the driver, creating the accident to occur. The driver blacked out, never seeing the Watcher impact with his truck. When he came back to himself, sitting on the sidewalk, he didn’t remember any of those moments. And the Blimey had shed itself as tears from the driver’s eyes, escaping down through the manhole into the sewers.

The Slayer had told her Watcher about reading the book, right in front of Bunny. The Slayer had the book in her room. Now it was just a matter of time before her client had the prophecy ritual she craved so much. The demon now only wondered who would get to retrieve the book, hoping for some action. But perhaps the client, who yearned for that book so much, would want to do the deed herself?

“Bunny” found her client at their meeting place in the sewers beneath the city. She still felt awkward around the lady. She was obviously short a few cards in her deck, but as long as she could pay, who cared?

The client was already there and waiting. “You have news for me?”

“Yes, Drusilla. I do.”

* * *

Giles was in a lot of pain that evening, but he refused to take any more pain pills. Buffy was frustrated with him, but she couldn’t just shove pills down his throat. Earlier that evening Willow had found her old white board from the Gentleman’s visit and gave it to Giles so he could use it to communicate. His hand writing using his right hand wasn’t the best, but it was better than playing charades all the time. Everyone kept on a happy face around him however. They couldn’t stand the thought of Giles not being able to ever speak again. He was research guy, and answer guy. Buffy especially yearned to hear his voice supporting her or coaching her, or even yelling at her. Any words coming from him now would be welcomed. Giles was getting nervous too, and frustrated, and impatient. All of thn con combination was beginning to get on Buffy’s nerves, but she didn’t want to leave his side. She knew he needed her now more than ever, and she vowed to never let him down again.

He had the white board resting beside him, and he picked it up now with the black felt pen thas aas attached to it’s back with Velcro. GET BOOK, he wrote on it’s surface.

Buffy was sitting at the foot of the bed doing her nails, and had been teasing him that she was going to paint his as well. He had blanched slightly at that idea, and decided to distract her with something else since they were both too restless to sleep. The hotel was quiet with everyone else asleep, or at least appearing to be so. That’s when he remembered she had the Shanshu Prophecy book upstairs in her room. Her room? He smiled at that thought. She kept her things upstairs, her clothes and toiletries, but she slept tucked up under his arm now. This room that he was healing in was her room as much as it was his.

He held up the white board so she could read it. She crinkled her nose in concentration. “What book?” she asked. He took a tissue and wiped off the words and wrote, SHANSHU in it’s place, holding it up for her again. “Oh, okay.” She looked down at her toes. “They aren’t quite dry yet, so if they smear, you’re in trouble mister!” Then she laughed at him and hurried out of the room to fetch the book. He smiled as she ran on her heels, her toes curled up in the air. He fervently hoped he could be a whole man for her soon. The first words he’d say to her would be, “I love you.”

Besides the goal of speaking again, Giles also had decided to do whatever he could to decipher the Shanshu prophecy. He owed her that much. Eve it it meant he would lose her to Spike, he would risk it. Ultimately, he just wanted her to be happy. That is why he had run before, back to England. He couldn’t bear to see her so unhappy. She said that she loved him, and he believed her. He finally believed that Buffy believed in herself, and liked herself. She could never love anyone if she didn’t love herself first. That was the lesson he had tried to teach her, but instead she had turned to Spike. Giles blamed himself for that, and now he wanted to try and make it right. He just had to trust her in her love for him. If it was half of what he felt for her, it was enough.

Buffy carefully walked down the stairs to return to Giles room, book in hand. She was at the bottom of the staircase when Angel walked in the front door. He had been drinking. She could smell the alcohol on him. That had always been Spike’s habit, but she couldn’t remember Angel ever drinking before.

Angel was startled to see her there. He figured she’d be asleep by now, and he could just sneak in to his own room. He looked guiltily at her face, and then down at his shoes. He tried to keep walking, mumbling under his breath to her. “Goodnight Buffy.”

“Wait.” She commanded, stepping down the last step and placing her hand on his arm holding him there. She sniffed him, and made a face. “Ew, you’re drunk.” But she wouldn't let go of his arm.

“So?” He tried to pull his arm away from her, but her slayer strength held him in check, and he really didn’t feel like fighting her. “I’m fine. Let me go.”

“Yea, sure, you’re fine. You’re just five by five, aren’t you?”

He had to chuckle at her use of Faith’s terminology, and he quirked his eyebrow at her. That’s when he noticed the book in her hand. “Doing some research are you?” He again chuckled at her, knowing that reading wasn’t exactly her forte.

“Giles wants it. If it works for him like it did for me, he’ll be asleep in no time.”

“How is he?” Angel truly was concerned about the Watcher. It was evident on his face and in his eyes, and Buffy dropped her hand from his arm, freeing him. “He’s being stubborn and won’t take his pain pills, hence the wakefulness. I better get back to him, or he’ll wonder what’s keeping me.”

“Yes, I don’t want to keep you.” Angel turned away from her, and Buffy truly noticed for the first time how sad Angel was. “Angel?” She now placed a comforting hand on his back. He waited, but didn’t turn back around, nor did he answer her. She struggled with what she wanted to say, and finally settled on, “Have a goodnight.” He nodded his head, “You too.” And then they strode their separate ways.

TBC