Was It Always Like This?
folder
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
24
Views:
3,898
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
24
Views:
3,898
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Dawn sighed in as loud and dramatic a manner as possible. “I told you we had tried that one” she shook her head. “We’re not dummies you know”
Willow smiled while her head was still lowered to the book but looked quite serious by the time she raised her eyes to the others. “I’m not suggesting you are Dawn but I just need to work through all of the possibilities myself to get to the right one” she smiled a little and looked back to the book in her lap. “For instance, although this isn’t the same language it contains several similar cuniforms and may be a later version of the one we are looking for”
Anya leaned across the table and looked at the page Willow had her finger on “You may be right but I couldn’t identify where that text came from either so we were right back at square one” She returned to her coffee and slouched in her seat.
Dawn looked a little more disgruntled. “Giles would have this figured out by now and be buying us ice cream, why didn’t he come back?”
Willow suppressed a sigh and, without looking up, said “He was busy looking for a counter spell to a particularly nasty curse that turned up in one of the Watcher enclaves and he thought we would be able to deal with this ourselves”
Dawn was about to make her own suggestions about this arrangement when Buffy caught her eye and shook her head slightly. Willow was aware of the byplay but ignored it as she did actually think she was near to solving the puzzle and was glad of the quiet that descended.
Half an hour later she yawned and stretched to get the kinks out of her shoulders and neck. “We should be able to sort this mess out tomorrow” she managed around another yawn.
“You got it?” Buffy asked and put her own book onto the table.
“Yep, it just took a couple more steps from this one” she indicated the book they had discussed earlier. “You guys would have got it yourselves in a couple of days” she suggested and smiled at Anya and Dawn.
Anya shook her head and began clearing up the empty coffee mugs. “I doubt it, we were down to choosing the book with the prettiest cover to get as far as we did”
“Hey” Dawn started to protest then let out an almighty yawn of her own.
Anya efficiently moved all of the excess books to the other table. “So how do we get rid of the critters?” she asked and moved over to prod Xander, who had fallen asleep an hour earlier.
“I’ll need a few ingredients from your stock and then you’ll need to leave Buffy and I alone in here for an hour or so” Willow suggested with a straight face. Buffy was the only one who saw the slight twinkle in her eye and struggled to keep a smile from her own face.
Anya stopped trying to waken Xander and turned to stare at Willow. “Are you mad?” she asked incredulously. “The last time that happened you demolished my shop and seriously undermined my earning potential for several months”
The increasing volume of her voice finally stirred Xander who looked up a little blearily. “What’s up guys?”
“Xander, tell Willow that she can’t wreck the shop again” Anya pouted a little and put her hands on her hips.
“Willow you can’t wreck the shop again” Xander said in a mock serious tone and moved to hug his ex-fiancé. He looked over her shoulder at Buffy and was relieved to see a smile winning the struggle to remain on her face. “Buffy, now you tell Willow not to wreck the shop again” he nodded at her and gently rubbed Anya’s back.
Buffy crossed her arms and smiled at her best friend. “Willow, Anya says you’re not allowed to wreck the shop again”
Willow sighed and shook her head. “Anya” she said. “I need these ingredients and when I arrive with the extra stuff you will not want to be here, trust me on this”
Anya struggled from Xander’s arms “Trust you?” she pointed at the red head but looked at Buffy. “Have you all gone mad. She could be planning on taking over the world again and you’re all laughing and bonding and…”
Willow couldn’t keep a straight face any longer. “It’s rabbits” she giggled and stood back as Anya jumped up onto a chair.
“Where” she screeched and wrapped her arms round her body in self protection.
“The cure for the infestation is rabbits” Willow giggled and then took pity on the petrified shop-keeper. “Once I’d got the translation sorted out I realised the reason you were confused about the text was because it kept mentioning the bringers of doom but it meant the good guys, the ones who would bring doom to the bad guys.” Realising that the explanation wasn’t making anything much clearer to any of those around her she sat back down and waited until Dawn and Xander had helped Anya down from the chair. “The text was written in the wrong point of view – you have to read it as if you’re one of the bad guys and then the “bringers of doom” thing makes sense as the solution to the problem and not the cause”
Buffy struggled to follow this explanation. “You mean that we bring a few dozen rab..” she stopped as she saw the hysteria mount in Anya again. “A couple of those things in here and they will take care of the nasties in the basement?” she shook her head. “They may be small but those bugs really burrow under your skin and the paranoia toxin stuff hits pretty quickly”
Willow nodded. “I know, which is pretty clever if you think about it” she smiled at the genius of the cunning plan but realised that the others were less than impressed. “I mean in a really evil and dastardly way” she stood up to stretch a little and moved towards the counter. “The thing is they have been conditioned to activate themselves in the presence of humans and then to release the poison”
Xander raised his hand, as if back in class. “Doesn’t that mean that dead boy could go down there and use a giant can of Raid?” He looked around, as if expecting a round of applause at his insight.
“Not quite Xan” Willow said apologetically. “But good guess” she smiled at him and then turned to the others. “The bugs would still detect the remaining human host body of Spike and I don’t think having a paranoid vampire is the way we want to go”
“You still haven’t explained why you’re bringing the fluffy demon-spawn into my shop” Anya complained and moved to stand, protectively, next to the cash register.
Willow grinned and almost started to bounce in her excitement. “That’s the really cool part” she began, completely ignoring Anya’s continuing look of horror. “The text describes several of the animals used previously to destroy the bugs and, as far as I can make out, two of the species are extinct, one is very rare and only held in captivity and the other is.. ”
Buffy held up her hand to stoe yoe young witch. “We know what it is Will” she smiled and shook her head. “I’m sure Willow will make sure that all of the solution-bringers are cleared out of the premises once they’ve finished the job” she explained to Anya and saw the blonde relax a little. “So how do they get the job done?” she asked
“That’s why I need some ingredients” Willow nodded. “We have to magically fool the bugs into thinking that they are facing an all you can eat buffet of human-ness. Then we sit back and allow the naturally occurring antibodies in the” shesed sed and looked towards Anya “things” she said deliberately “to work their own magic and bring on the doom to the bad guys”
“Xander will have to check the building from top to bottom before I’ll come back in here” Anya sighed and then started to count the money from the day’s trading.
“Of course I will An” he suggested and shrugged his shoulders to the others. “We’ll all check the place out once Willow’s worked the mojo”
He motioned the others back to the large table. “She’ll calm down a bit now that she can count the money but I guess you guys should call it a night and I’ll see her home”
“At last” Dawn mumbled and grabbed her bag, heading for the door. “Now Willow’s solved this is she going to buy the ice cream?”
Willow looked a little surprised and glanced towards Buffy for guidance. The young girl had been a little frosty around Willow since her return a couple of days ago and Willow had feared that their relationship would never return to their previously easy going history. Buffy shrugged, as mystified as her friend at her sister’s sudden thawing towards her. “I guess so” Willow said a little hesitantly and followed the two sisters out of the door.
Dawn sighed in as loud and dramatic a manner as possible. “I told you we had tried that one” she shook her head. “We’re not dummies you know”
Willow smiled while her head was still lowered to the book but looked quite serious by the time she raised her eyes to the others. “I’m not suggesting you are Dawn but I just need to work through all of the possibilities myself to get to the right one” she smiled a little and looked back to the book in her lap. “For instance, although this isn’t the same language it contains several similar cuniforms and may be a later version of the one we are looking for”
Anya leaned across the table and looked at the page Willow had her finger on “You may be right but I couldn’t identify where that text came from either so we were right back at square one” She returned to her coffee and slouched in her seat.
Dawn looked a little more disgruntled. “Giles would have this figured out by now and be buying us ice cream, why didn’t he come back?”
Willow suppressed a sigh and, without looking up, said “He was busy looking for a counter spell to a particularly nasty curse that turned up in one of the Watcher enclaves and he thought we would be able to deal with this ourselves”
Dawn was about to make her own suggestions about this arrangement when Buffy caught her eye and shook her head slightly. Willow was aware of the byplay but ignored it as she did actually think she was near to solving the puzzle and was glad of the quiet that descended.
Half an hour later she yawned and stretched to get the kinks out of her shoulders and neck. “We should be able to sort this mess out tomorrow” she managed around another yawn.
“You got it?” Buffy asked and put her own book onto the table.
“Yep, it just took a couple more steps from this one” she indicated the book they had discussed earlier. “You guys would have got it yourselves in a couple of days” she suggested and smiled at Anya and Dawn.
Anya shook her head and began clearing up the empty coffee mugs. “I doubt it, we were down to choosing the book with the prettiest cover to get as far as we did”
“Hey” Dawn started to protest then let out an almighty yawn of her own.
Anya efficiently moved all of the excess books to the other table. “So how do we get rid of the critters?” she asked and moved over to prod Xander, who had fallen asleep an hour earlier.
“I’ll need a few ingredients from your stock and then you’ll need to leave Buffy and I alone in here for an hour or so” Willow suggested with a straight face. Buffy was the only one who saw the slight twinkle in her eye and struggled to keep a smile from her own face.
Anya stopped trying to waken Xander and turned to stare at Willow. “Are you mad?” she asked incredulously. “The last time that happened you demolished my shop and seriously undermined my earning potential for several months”
The increasing volume of her voice finally stirred Xander who looked up a little blearily. “What’s up guys?”
“Xander, tell Willow that she can’t wreck the shop again” Anya pouted a little and put her hands on her hips.
“Willow you can’t wreck the shop again” Xander said in a mock serious tone and moved to hug his ex-fiancé. He looked over her shoulder at Buffy and was relieved to see a smile winning the struggle to remain on her face. “Buffy, now you tell Willow not to wreck the shop again” he nodded at her and gently rubbed Anya’s back.
Buffy crossed her arms and smiled at her best friend. “Willow, Anya says you’re not allowed to wreck the shop again”
Willow sighed and shook her head. “Anya” she said. “I need these ingredients and when I arrive with the extra stuff you will not want to be here, trust me on this”
Anya struggled from Xander’s arms “Trust you?” she pointed at the red head but looked at Buffy. “Have you all gone mad. She could be planning on taking over the world again and you’re all laughing and bonding and…”
Willow couldn’t keep a straight face any longer. “It’s rabbits” she giggled and stood back as Anya jumped up onto a chair.
“Where” she screeched and wrapped her arms round her body in self protection.
“The cure for the infestation is rabbits” Willow giggled and then took pity on the petrified shop-keeper. “Once I’d got the translation sorted out I realised the reason you were confused about the text was because it kept mentioning the bringers of doom but it meant the good guys, the ones who would bring doom to the bad guys.” Realising that the explanation wasn’t making anything much clearer to any of those around her she sat back down and waited until Dawn and Xander had helped Anya down from the chair. “The text was written in the wrong point of view – you have to read it as if you’re one of the bad guys and then the “bringers of doom” thing makes sense as the solution to the problem and not the cause”
Buffy struggled to follow this explanation. “You mean that we bring a few dozen rab..” she stopped as she saw the hysteria mount in Anya again. “A couple of those things in here and they will take care of the nasties in the basement?” she shook her head. “They may be small but those bugs really burrow under your skin and the paranoia toxin stuff hits pretty quickly”
Willow nodded. “I know, which is pretty clever if you think about it” she smiled at the genius of the cunning plan but realised that the others were less than impressed. “I mean in a really evil and dastardly way” she stood up to stretch a little and moved towards the counter. “The thing is they have been conditioned to activate themselves in the presence of humans and then to release the poison”
Xander raised his hand, as if back in class. “Doesn’t that mean that dead boy could go down there and use a giant can of Raid?” He looked around, as if expecting a round of applause at his insight.
“Not quite Xan” Willow said apologetically. “But good guess” she smiled at him and then turned to the others. “The bugs would still detect the remaining human host body of Spike and I don’t think having a paranoid vampire is the way we want to go”
“You still haven’t explained why you’re bringing the fluffy demon-spawn into my shop” Anya complained and moved to stand, protectively, next to the cash register.
Willow grinned and almost started to bounce in her excitement. “That’s the really cool part” she began, completely ignoring Anya’s continuing look of horror. “The text describes several of the animals used previously to destroy the bugs and, as far as I can make out, two of the species are extinct, one is very rare and only held in captivity and the other is.. ”
Buffy held up her hand to stoe yoe young witch. “We know what it is Will” she smiled and shook her head. “I’m sure Willow will make sure that all of the solution-bringers are cleared out of the premises once they’ve finished the job” she explained to Anya and saw the blonde relax a little. “So how do they get the job done?” she asked
“That’s why I need some ingredients” Willow nodded. “We have to magically fool the bugs into thinking that they are facing an all you can eat buffet of human-ness. Then we sit back and allow the naturally occurring antibodies in the” shesed sed and looked towards Anya “things” she said deliberately “to work their own magic and bring on the doom to the bad guys”
“Xander will have to check the building from top to bottom before I’ll come back in here” Anya sighed and then started to count the money from the day’s trading.
“Of course I will An” he suggested and shrugged his shoulders to the others. “We’ll all check the place out once Willow’s worked the mojo”
He motioned the others back to the large table. “She’ll calm down a bit now that she can count the money but I guess you guys should call it a night and I’ll see her home”
“At last” Dawn mumbled and grabbed her bag, heading for the door. “Now Willow’s solved this is she going to buy the ice cream?”
Willow looked a little surprised and glanced towards Buffy for guidance. The young girl had been a little frosty around Willow since her return a couple of days ago and Willow had feared that their relationship would never return to their previously easy going history. Buffy shrugged, as mystified as her friend at her sister’s sudden thawing towards her. “I guess so” Willow said a little hesitantly and followed the two sisters out of the door.