No Hero

The Shorter Story

It was after nine pm when Rupert Giles pulled his rental car into Willow’s unpaved driveway. With a heavy sigh, the Englishman grabbed his suitcase from the backseat and slowly stepped through the broken door onto the screen porch. For a moment, he merely studied Willow and Buffy, but then he let his suitcase fall and opened his arms to the women as though they were his daughters.

In unison, the women stood and raced to hug Giles. Willow kissed his cheek warmly while Buffy toyed with a lock of his white hair as he stroked her golden locks. Rather than making him look ancient as it should have, it provided a sharp contrast to his relatively unlined face. After all he had endured, he looked more youthful than he had a right to.

Buffy was the first to break the silence, and she whispered, “I’m glad you came.”

“I told you, Buffy,” said Giles, his voice thick with emotion, “I’ll always come when you need me.”

Willow released him first and smiled in such a kindly manner than the former watcher was immediately reminded of Tara. “I’ve missed you, too,” the witch said.

“And I you,” Giles answered, gathering his suitcase when Buffy finally deigned to let go of him.

“Come on in,” Buffy invited, having made herself completely at home in the twenty-some-odd hours she had been there. She settled one hand on Willow’s back momentarily before stepping inside to remove the whistling kettle from the stove.

“N-now what is this you said about a spell?” Giles inquired of the witch as he followed her inside.

“That’s just it, Giles, I can’t find a trace of one, but Buffy seemed so convinced, and I believed her, I just didn’t feel any magic at work.”

“Yes, well, a-as sensitive as you are t-to magic, there are some spells not even you could… could trace,” the Englishman stammered in his comforting way.

“The tea’s ready!” Buffy called from inside the kitchen. “You two sit down and I’ll be right out!”

“Okay!” Willow answered before turning her attention back to Giles. “Why are you so convinced that there’s magic at work?”

“Be-because I’ve been forgetting things as well. I thought it was o-old age at first, but when you called me yesterday and explained things…” He followed Willow into the living room and gratefully took a seat on the leather couch.

“You, too?” Buffy asked worriedly from the doorway. Carrying the tray of tea and cookies, she set it down on the table and settled herself on the couch beside her former watcher.

“Y-yes, and it’s quite disturbing.”

“It hurts,” Willow added, her voice barely above a whisper.

“What of Xander?” questioned Giles.

“We don’t know yet,” Buffy replied. “Willow’s been trying to reach him, but she just keeps getting his voice mail.”

“I don’t know where Xander is,” the redhead stated.

Taking the cup of tea Buffy offered, Giles sighed heavily. “I suppose we’ll need to organize one of those… research parties we were so famous for.”

“Oh! Research party!” Willow squealed in delight. “We haven’t had one of those in ages!”

Buffy laughed softly, and she voiced what they were all thinking. “It won’t be the same without Xander here.”

The moment the words left Buffy’s lips, the man in question burst into the living room, crossbow in hand, patch firmly over his eye. “What happened with Buffy and… Oh, hey, Buffster.”

“Xander?!” the small group cried in tandem. Buffy and Willow leapt to their feet and launched themselves at the dark-haired man.

“Oh, my God!” Willow said excitedly. “I’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday afternoon! How did you get here so fast? Where were you?”

“It’s so good to see you!”

Setting the crossbow aside, Xander locked his arms around the two women in a fierce embrace. “I know, I got the messages, but then my cell stopped getting a signal. I was in Canada, so it didn’t take me long to get here,” he replied.

When the two women ushered Xander toward the loveseat, Giles rose and hugged him briefly. “It’s good to see you,” he said, feeling the clenching of his heart again. His children, his chosen ones, were all alive and well, and he was as proud as any father.

“You, too,” Xander agreed, finally sitting down between Willow and Buffy. The latter reached out for one of Giles’ hands, loath to lose contact with any of them. “Now, will someone please tell me what the heck’s going on?”

“W-we have all been experiencing some, ah, some memory loss in direct relation t-to those we…”

“To those we love the most,” Willow finished.

“Y-yes,” Giles stammered.

“I’ve been forgetting things about… about Spike,” Buffy confessed, waiting for a swift rebuttal from Xander. She was surprised when it never came.

Instead, the man’s eyes saddened, and he nodded, “I’ve been forgetting things about Anya, just little things, but I just feel like there’s a huge, gaping hole in my gut.”

“I can’t remember Tara’s hands or the cute little sound she made while she was asleep,” Willow volunteered.

“I can’t remember the sound of Jenny’s laugh,” whispered Giles.

“I can’t remember the way Spike kissed,” Buffy admitted.

“I can’t remember her skin… the way it felt,” said Xander finally. “On a scale of one to ten, this sucks.”

“I agree wholeheartedly,” the Englishman agreed.

“So… when are we gonna have the research party?” Willow asked eagerly.

“Shouldn’t we let Xander and Giles rest first?” Buffy inquired.

“Oh! Just forget about me,” Willow said self-deprecatingly. “I think my brain is all wonky.”

“That’s the other thing,” declared Buffy. “I remember some of the weirdest things so vividly and –”

“As do we all, I’m sure,” Giles interrupted, “and I’m certain that it’s our way of trying to regain the memories we have lost. We’re clinging to the ones we have desperately.”

“And they’re not all of Anya,” Xander stated. “I remember… The other day, I could hear Spike’s voice, just boom!”

“I was thinking about Miss Calendar yesterday,” Willow said nervously.

“I kept wondering if Anya would actually call Dawn’s boyfriend an orgasm friend,” said Buffy with a small smile.

“A-and I was just marveling at how much Willow’s smile resembles Tara’s.”

The quartet exchanged apprehensive glances, and Willow retrieved her laptop as Giles unzipped his suitcase and removed several large books. The research party had officially begun.