AUTHOR: Goddess Isa
EMAIL: [email protected]
SUMMARY: A conversation among....."friends"........
SPOILER: The I In Team
DISTRIBUTION: Sure, just email me & lmk where it's going - I like seeing my name in print =)
FEEDBACK: Please, I'd hate to have to Slay for it. =P
RATING: TV-PG
DISCLAIMER: Joss the stupid mother you-know-what owns the characters. I wanna take them away and make them bend to my will. It infuriates me that I have no control. Joss can keep Fish Boy though. ICK.
"Do I bloody have to be here?" Spike asked.
"You're part of the Scooby Gang now," Xander said. "You have to hang out with us now. All the time."
"And you have to earn your keep, too." Willow said. "Errands to the magick shop and so forth."
The vampire snorted. "Anything else?"
Anya smiled. "Yes. I want a new skirt so you have to buy a case of those crappy health bars from Xander."
"Bloody hell," Spike said. "I'll--"
He noted the glare he was getting from Willow, Anya and Xander and fished a few bills out of his pocket. Anya intercepted them and giggled. Xander pouted.
"I think we should discuss this new development Buffy has had." Giles said, handing her a lemonade. She sipped it and sighed.
"There's so much. And, when I crushed my pager, I got a burn mark on the bottom of my shoe."
"How very interesting," Giles said sarcastically. "About the Initiative--"
A knock on the door made them all jump. Anya did a quick head count. "Either it's Giles' orgasm friend again--"
"She's not my--" he started to protest but Anya kept talking.
"Or it's a demon."
Buffy was closest so she stood up and opened the door. "Riley."
"I think we should talk." he said, refusing to meet her eyes.
Buffy made a mental notation that she should never, ever have sex again. Everytime she does it, everything falls apart. The guy goes evil or never calls or is the head commando guy in an organization that wants her dead.
"I don't." she slammed the door in his face and shrugged at the others. "Like I said, it's a long story."
"We have time," Willow said helpfully. She was a much better friend to Buffy than the other way around and they both knew it but neither did anything about it.
"I'm glad you told that stupid oaf where to go." Anya said.
"Oaf?!?!" Buffy demanded. "Riley is not an oaf!"
"Xander started it," Willow tattled.
"What do you guys have against Riley?" Buffy asked.
"Don't go defending him." Xander said. "You slammed the door in his face and if you would've seen your expression when you entered this apartment ten minutes ago, you would've thought you'd spent the night with Parker again."
Everyone was silent as those words began to ring true in their minds. Xander instantly felt terrible and Buffy felt her cheeks redden. Though Giles had gotten the story third-hand from Anya and Spike, he knew enough to know what was going on with Riley in that respect and felt bad for her, even if she wasn't being responsible when it came to sex.
"I don't have the best taste in men," Buffy finally admitted. "But this isn't about me. It's about us. All of us. I should've have trusted Walsh."
"I could've told you that," Giles muttered.
"She tried to kill me. Set me up in a cage with two demons she'd trained to kill. Demons I helped capture!"
"Why would she--"
"She's evil," Buffy cut Willow off. "Not evil in the sense that Faith was evil or something, but she's seriously got problems. I don't think she likes me being so close to Riley. The other guys were a bit hostile towards me too, but this is getting ridiculous. I should've known right from the start." she went into the kitchen to look for some vodka to put in her lemonade. "I guess when I first walked into the building I was..." she noticed the bloody gloves and clothes in the garbage. "Giles, what the Hell happened here?"
"Pardon?" he asked.
"The blood and guts in your trash."
"Oh, yes, that." he didn't even notice as Buffy poured a generous amount of liquor into her drink and returned it to the cupboard. "Spike showed up this morning with some sort of tracker these friends--"
"They're *not* my friends!" she said defensively. "They were sort of my coworkers for awhile, but not anymore. They're just.....I don't even know anymore. I don't know if I know anyone anymore, least of all myself."
"I'll second that," Willow mumbled and both Xander and Spike nodded.
"They bloody had to get me drunk to get the bleedin' thing out." Spike said. "I'll bet I've got a scar."
"They did that to you?" Buffy demanded, almost caring. "Oh, you're the HST they were talking about."
"HST?" Giles questioned.
Buffy made a face at herself. "Great, I'm starting to talk like them now."
"Buffy, maybe you should completely distance yourself from the Initiative for awhile," Willow suggested. "Just until things cool off and you can figure out what to do about the Professor and all."
"I would especially keep away from Huckleberry out there." Xander advised. "I never trusted him and I doubt I will anytime in the near future."
"Huckleberry?" Buffy said. "What is with you guys?"
"I gotta have nicknames for your guys," he said playfully. "Though I never get a happy outta taunting Fish Boy. Dead Boy was another story. The way he would squirm in his duster--"
"Xander," Willow said. "Topic. We've gotta figure out why they wanted to kill Buffy."
"I know why," Buffy said. "I just have to figure out how to stop them from going after you guys."
Someone knocked again, and Buffy screamed.
"Get lost, Huck!" Xander yelled.
"My name isn't Huck," a small voice said.
Willow immediately perked up. "Tara?" She walked over to the door and opened it, smiling at her friend.
"Hey. I know you come here sometimes, so I figured you might be here."
"And I am. Come in." she closed the door behind Tara and then introduced her to the gang.
"Tara's a Witch, too." she explained. "Third generation."
"How interesting," Giles said. "Your mother must be--"
"Hello? Me! In danger!" Buffy whined.
"Um, do you wanna go work on that peace spell?" Willow asked her. "I think I do much better when I work with people."
"Sure," Tara nodded. "Nice to meet all of you."
Xander observed Willow putting an arm around Tara for a second as they left and stared at the door once they were gone. "What the Hell was that about?"
"I don't know," Buffy said. "But I'm sure we're going to find out." she shrugged, any thoughts not pertaining to herself instantly out of her mind. "Now, about the attempt on my life..."