No Hero

Author's Notes: I was suffering from a very severe case of writer's block, so this chapter is kind of choppy. Beware.


The Beginning

“It’s started.”

All eyes focused on Rupert Giles as the Englishman stood at the center of the conference room, wiping his glasses frantically as though he could wash away the problems of the world with a sweep of a cleansing cloth.

“H-he’s right,” stammered Willow as she held up a print out of the police investigator and coroner’s report. “A man in Paradise, California dropped dead suddenly, and one of the eye-witnesses, who was dismissed as being crazy, stayed that she saw a shadow form in front of the man and… suck something blue out of him.”

“His soul?” inquired Angel.

“Yes,” confirmed Giles. “It appears that, um, this woman, Amelia Markham, sees auras. She saw the Eater draw the life-force out of Henry, uh, Willow, what was his name, again?”

“Service.”

“Right, Henry Service.”

“What do you make of it?” Spike asked as he shoved a bowlful of Chex Mix in Buffy’s direction. “For God’s sake, Slayer, you’ve got to eat something; you’re as thin as a rail.”

“Aha!” Giles exclaimed. “He agrees with me. Perhaps you’ll listen to him.”

“I’m not too thin!” the slayer protested, “And you’re getting off track.”

“Buffy,” Angel said gently, “if you turned to the side and stuck out your tongue, you would look like a zipper.”

Willow giggled. Giles looked taken aback, Xander bit his lower lip to stifle his laughter, and Spike smirked.

Buffy, however, looked none too amused. “Fine,” she snapped as she consented to eat some of the evil snack food. It would go straight to her thighs, it was horrible, it was… really, really good. “It’s just… I haven’t been very hungry for the past few years.”

“I’m back now, pet, and I intend to make sure you’re eatin’ properly. Now, ‘bout this Markham bird, how do we know she sees auras and what-not?”

“She’s, ah, listed as an aura seer,” answered Giles.

“Listed?” Angel asked before his childe could even open his mouth.

It was Willow, though, who answered, “When Giles reformed the Watcher’s Council, he thought it would be a good idea to get listings of known psychics, witches, seers in particular areas… that sort of thing.”

“Clever,” Spike complimented.

“Yes, um, anyway,” the former watcher continued, “seeing as how Themis informed us that the Eater was in the form of one dear to us, I believe were her exact words, we now have to-to figure out who it is.”

“Fred!” the blonde vampire exclaimed, cupped his forehead in dismay. “She’s the only one who’s dear to us who isn’t bloody here.”

Her green eyes widening, Willow inquired, “Where is Fred?”

“Chico,” Angel replied bleakly. “That’s not far from Paradise. I sent her there to look for an artifact that might be of use in binding the Eater to its mortal form.”

“Is it an amulet?” Spike asked in a vain attempt to lighten the mood. “I’ve had enough of your soddin’ jewelry.”

“Cut the crap, William,” Angel snapped.

“Hey, we’re all stressed out right now. Everybody just sit back and chill, okay?” Xander intervened. In spite of his dislike for vampires, namely Angel and Spike, he tended to side with the latter. Spike, at least, hadn’t left Buffy willingly.

To Buffy, it was obvious that Spike’s banter was a cover for his pain. She knew that he genuinely cared about Fred, that the woman had worked to re-corporealize him. She had stayed and cared for Angel after all that she had seen. “Fred’s a good woman,” she said finally. “Maybe… maybe she doesn’t even know what she’s doing.”

“Correct, Slayer.” Themis’ voice, husky and lilting, had replaced Willow’s soft stammer. “When the Eater takes control of her body, she is unaware of what she is doing. She cannot control it.”

“Is there a way we can force the soul of the Eater out of her and bind it in an orb or an amulet… something?” Angel asked desperately, stunned by Willow’s suddenly pallid hair.

“If the host is strong enough to survive the loss of the soul, anything is possible.”

“The host? That’s Fred you’re talkin’ about! She’s not just so bloody host, she’s a person!” Spike protested heatedly.

“That is all I can tell you for now, I am sorry. I told you, I will give you whatever information I am permitted to share… when you are prepared to hear it.” With that, Willow’s hair returned to its normal fiery shade, and she gasped shakily.

“Will?” Xander and Buffy questioned simultaneously, both rushing to their friend’s side. Xander vaguely remembered his time as Dracula’s ‘butt-monkey’ and wondered if Willow felt as violated as he had.

“I’m fine, just tired… again.”

“Well,” Giles muttered, “that was rather interesting. Willow, you need to take a rest. Angel, did Fred say when she would return?”

“She’s scheduled to be back tomorrow. I think it would be best if… if we waited for her. We can’t let her know, at least not right away, not until we know more.”

Spike immediately leapt to his feet. “That’s not fair, Liam. If you were bein’ used like that, wouldn’t you want to know?”

“Angel’s right, Spike,” Buffy said gently. “We don’t know what Fred would do if she found out right now.”

“Sh-she might kill herself, and then the Eater’s soul would just inhabit another body,” Willow elaborated.

“In which case, we’d be back and square one,” Xander added.

“We’ve never gotten off of square-bloody-one!”

“Yeah,” Angel agreed. “I think that’s obvious by now.”

“Bugger.”

Everyone had to agree with Spike’s synopsis.