Flirting With Insanity
Summary: Joyce is having a hard time during the summer that Buffy ran away.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joyce walked slowly into the room, her brown eyes locked on to the letter that laid on Buffy's bed. She didn't want to read it, she didn't want to see it. A part of her screamed that this was some horrible dream, that this was not what she thought it was. It wasn't...
Joyce picked up the letter and started to read....
'Dear Mom,
As you can see, the world is still standing and I did my duty as the Chosen One again. When he comes around, tell Giles that he can rest easy now, Angel isn't coming back. Ever. And Alfred the Demon Vortex isn't going to be even sucking a lemon into Hell.
I hope by the time you read this, you're not angry with me anymore. And by this time, Principal Snyder should be telling you that I was kicked out of school. I’m sure he’s happy that I fulfilled every expectation he had. And I’m sorry that I was such a disappointment to you.
I'm sorry that I have to go, but I think that it's better, or at least safer, this way. For everybody. For you. This way I won't hurt you or anyone else anymore.
I'm sorry that I was never the daughter you wanted me to be. And I'm sorry that I'm such a big disappointment to you, I never meant to be. Be safe and be happy, Mom. I love you.
Buffy
Joyce's eyes filled with tears as she read the letter. A dull roar filled her ears, pain stabbed at her heart and she heard some animal screaming in the distance. Covering her head to not hear the animal screaming, Joyce fell to the ground and curled into a ball as blackness enveloped her mind.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Giles paced the library as OZ, Willow, Xander and Cordelia watched him. Finally, Willow spoke.”Maybe Buffy came to school a different way? Or she’s sleeping at home?”
“We’ve called there, Will,”Xander said gently.”She’s not home. No one’s answering.”
“Where could she be? Where could she have gone?”Cordelia demanded as she looked at everyone.”Is she dead? Or just gone into Hell?”
“Cordelia!” Giles snapped.”Buffy is not-“
“Ever coming back to grace the halls of Sunnydale High School,”came out a voice. Everyone swung their heads to look at the small man that terrorized the students and faculty of Sunnydale High School. Principal Snyder smiled as he commanded the attention of the small group that associated with Buffy Summers.”My this looks like a group that should stay away from her. I’m glad that we got rid of her.”
“Got rid of her?”Giles echoed.”What do you mean, ‘got rid of her’?”
Principal Snyder smirked at him.”By the power invested in me, she was expelled from the school due to her association with the gang members that attacked the students and faculty within this library. And because she is an alleged murderer for the death of that young girl. And, last, but not least, she’s wanted for resisting arrest.”
Stunned, the group stared at her. Principal Snyder looked at Giles and smirked.”I told you that Buffy Summers had the faintest whiff of jail around her. I’d refuse to be near her if she comes around the campus. Her influence with the students that associate with her will not be tolerated anymore.”
“You can’t do this,”Giles called out.”She had no association with the death of Kendra or that gang that attacked the library.”
Principal Snyder turned around and gave him a cold smile.”The police don’t think so. And they want her very badly. Have a good day.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Through the side window, Giles peered into the Summers home.”There doesn’t seem to be anyone home.”
“Maybe Mrs.Summers took Buffy and they both ran away,”Willow said as she looked at Giles worriedly.”Maybe they’re now like-like fugitives! Running away. Not knowing that Buffy’s gonna be cleared soon! Maybe-”
“Maybe you should take it easy before you blow a gasket in your wheelchair,”Cordelia said, not unkindly to the girl. At everyone’s look, she made a defensive gesture.”What? I’m trying with the tact thing, give me some credit.”
Giles smiled wanly at the girl.”Yes. Well, I had called the gallery, and they had said that Buffy’s mother could not be reached all day. And that Buffy nor her mother had not been around the gallery all day. It was, as Mrs.Summer’s assistant said, most unusual for that to happen.”
“But what did happen?”Xander demanded.”Buffy’s expelled by Principal Nazi, and as far as we know, she’s a fugitive from justice because the police think that she killed Kendra and she’s missing. Now her mother’s missing. And it’s now the happy hunting hour for the undead. Gotta tell you, not loving the scenario.”
“I have no clue as to what to do now,”Giles admitted as he ran his fingers through his hair, and winced as he remembered that his fingers were still in splints, thanks to Angel.”Perhaps we should-”
“Look! There’s a car coming down the road!”Willow said as she tried to get up off her wheelchair. Oz gently pushed her back down.”Oz, I’m fine-”
“But I’m not, baby,”Oz said calmly.”Stay in the chair for me?”
Xander narrowed his eyes, then sighed with relief.”That looks like Mrs.Summer’s land rover.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joyce gripped the steering wheel as her thoughts ran wildly.”Buffy’s not here. Where is she? Is she all right? Check the house. Maybe Buffy came back. Buffy’s gone. Gone. Ran away. Safer for me. Safer for her. Why? What’s going on? Where’s my baby? Why is she gone? Check the house. What if she’s not there?”
“Joyce, stop it!”she ordered herself as she sped down the drive towards her house.”Check the house. Buffy’s probably at home. Mad at me. For trying to keep her from going out last night. Buffy couldn’t have run away. She wouldn’t. Buffy’s not gone. She’s at home. Under the covers. Sulking. Holding Mr.Gordo.”
As Joyce pulled into the driveway, she saw several figures waiting on her porch. Buffy’s friends. Relief ran through her as she practically jumped out of the car while it was still running. It was all right. Buffy ran to her friend’s house. They brought her back. She’s at home. She’s safe. “Buffy...”
“Buffy...”said Joyce eagerly as she searched the faces of the figures, all looking stunned, and felt despair fill her. Willow. Cordelia. Xander. Another boy....and that man. That man that was mentioned in Buffy’s letter. The librarian. Giles.
With a dull roar filling her ears, Joyce flew at the man.”WHERE IS SHE? WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER?!?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Eagerly, Giles came from behind the children as they met the Summers car parking in the driveway. When Buffy did not emerge, despair filled him.”Is Buffy-”
“WHERE IS SHE? WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER?!?”Joyce Summers screamed as she flew from the car towards him. In slow motion, he saw her mow through the children. Then he felt her fists strike at him.”Where is she, you bastard! Where’s my baby? Tell me where she is!”
Dodging her fists, Giles finally caught them in his hands, but then her heels introduced themselves to his knees. Wincing, Giles managed to roar,”I DON’T KNOW! I DON’T KNOW WHERE SHE IS!”
The surge of energy drained out of her, Joyce stood stock still as she looked at the man that held her wrists. And shook her head slowly.”You don’t know...no, you have to know. You have to know. She went to rescue you from the vampires. You have to know. Please, tell me where Buffy is. I’ll do anything you want. I’ll let you call her a Slayer. Just tell me where Buffy is...please.”
Giles stood still as the implications of her words hit him. He shook his head slowly. His hands let her wrists go.“No...I don’t know where Buffy is...I thought she was with you...”
“No...no...Buffy....Buffy,”Joyce whispered hoarsely as she staggered back. Grabbing her head, she looked at him, her brown eyes huge.”You have to know...you have to know where my baby is...please-”
Giles shook his head slowly. “I-don’t know where Buffy is...I thought she was with you....Mrs.Summers-”
Finally comprehending, Joyce stared at him as her knees gave way, and her world went black as the animal she heard before started screaming again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Giles dove towards Buffy’s mother as her knees gave way, and she started screaming as she grabbed her head. It was an inhuman sound, one that he had never heard before, and hoped that he would never hear again, it was animalistic... and it was filled with grief and despair. Then, as sudden as the scream was, she was blissfully silent.
Lifting her into his arms, Giles winced as pressure was applied to his fingers. He looked at the children, looking at him and Joyce Summers, all of them visibly disturbed.”Xander, grab her keys and open the door. Oz, if you would go to the kitchen with Willow to get make some hot tea and make some soup. Cordelia, please get several wet wash cloths for us.”
The children instantly did as the Watcher ordered. When he entered the house, he sat on the couch, with Joyce Summer on his lap and her head tucked under his chin. From his position, he could still hear animalistic sounds coming from her, but they were low. Murmurs. Something about something being all gone. And not looking. He blinked when Cordelia placed the wet cloths before him, and then looked at Xander and Cordelia blankly.
“Is she-is she gonna be all right?”Xander asked hesitantly, his eyes never leaving the huddled form of Buffy’s mother lying in Giles’s arms.
Giles tried to look down at Buffy’s mother, but couldn’t.”I don’t know.”
“She mentioned vampires, Giles,”Cordelia said bluntly. Her hazel eyes looked at Giles.”She knows about the vampires. And Buffy being a Slayer.”
“Buffy’s not here,”Willow said as she entered the room with Oz pushing her chair. She looked at Giles.”She thought Buffy was with you. You thought that Buffy was with her. She’s not. Where’s Buffy?”
“I don’t know,”Giles said wearily as he shifted Joyce to be more comfortable, then stopped as Joyce made a larger sound of distress. He looked at the children.”The four of you should go home. Now. You all still have testing tomorrow.”
Xander started.”Giles-”
“Xander, go,”Giles ordered in a voice that brooked no arguement.”Willow needs her rest. You need your rest. Oz needs to make sure Willow’s all right, and Cordelia needs her beauty rest.”
Cordelia narrowed her eyes at him.”Was that a dig?”
“No, merely a fact you like repeating,”Giles said honestly.”I want you all to leave and let me deal with Buffy’s mother. She knows something, and it’s obviously Buffy’s secret.”
Xander started to argue again.“We can’t just leave her. Buffy-”
“From the sounds of things, might have run away,”Giles said bluntly. He looked at the stunned teens.”But I won’t know for sure until the four of you leave. Now go.”
As the teens started to file out the door, Willow motioned for Oz to stop. She turned to look at Giles.“I’ve-I’ve never seen anyone break down like that. Is she-will she be all right?”
“I’ll do my best, Willow,”Giles said gently as he cradled Joyce closer to him. Willow hesitated, then nodded. Oz started pushing her out the door.
After a few minutes, everything was silent. And he was alone, with Joyce Summers. He looked up at the ceiling and whispered.”Buffy, where are you?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Darkness was surrounding her as she closed her eyes tighter, and buried her face into something warm. She didn’t want to look, she didn’t want to see, but the images still came flooding back. The newer images mixing in with the older ones.
The police speaking softly about Mummy and Daddy. That detective asking her about daughter as he looked at her with hard eyes.
Great-grandmother O’Conner saying that she shouldn’t have seen what she did. Asking if she was sure that her baby had no part in killing that other girl.
The horrible doubt that ran through out her mind as she searched all night for her child. Fear running through her as she hid in the darkness with Sir Gordon.
A man with an evil face that exploded in front of her. The woman in white wailing her song about the fires in the sky and earth.
Buffy looking sad as she told her who she was. Nana Bethie silently crying as she held her and Sir Gordon in her lap.
Buffy’s empty room in the daylight. Nothing but empty rooms and hollow halls where she used to live with Mummy and Daddy. It was gone. All gone.
She shook her head at the memories as they flooded her mind.”Noooo....go away! Go away! Don’t look! Don’t see! Gone! All gone!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Giles didn’t know how it happened, one second she was still in his arms, the next she was shaking violently, burying her face deeper into the crook of his neck. From what he could hear of her mutters, Joyce Summers was having a hard time either dealing with the disappearance of her daughter or the fact that her daughter was a Vampire Slayer. Without thinking, he lifted his hurt hand to stroke the soft golden hair.”Shhh...Joyce. It’s not gone. It’s all right. It’ll be all right.”
He winced as Joyce started to burrow into his bruised chest. Giles had never seen such an extreme reaction in a person before. Normally when a person was confronted with the fact of vampires, shock would settle in. Then either acceptance or denial. And from the other Watcher diaries, in the rare occasion should the parents of a Slayer find out that their daughter was a Vampire Slayer, there was a common reaction of acceptance, resignation, anguish, desperation or love. Sometimes all five. [But then again, how many parents had their child disappear without a trace after finding out their child was a Vampire Slayer? Not many. But still, her reaction was an oddity. Another oddity to add to the long list of oddities that made up the life of one Buffy Summers.]
When Joyce started to settle down again, Giles looked down at the woman in his lap. Her eyes were tightly closed, so he saw the blue veins streaking through her eyelids. There were bags of blue underneath her eyes, her nose red, her mouth pinched, her face was a pasty white, her skin , clammy. If Buffy comes home and sees her in this condition, she would be extremely angry with him for not taking care of her mother.[Not ‘if’, old man. ‘when’. When Buffy comes back, she would be very angry at you for not taking care of her mother.] He cleared his throat as he spoke softly,“Joyce...Joyce....”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joyce closed her eyes tighter as she borrowed deeper into the warmth. She was so cold, and she felt so empty. So alone. She had never felt so alone for a long time. Then she heard it. Someone calling her. Someone was saying her name. Someone was calling her name. Who was trying to call her name?
It was the banshee a voice whispered in her ear. The great O’Conner banshee that Great-grandmother O’Conner told her about. The one that came to announce the dead and to take the bastards of the English away with them. It was the banshee that was singing her song, the voice whispered. It was the banshee that was trying to make her listen. Trying to make her hear her song about Buffy. It was trying to make her look, and see that Buffy was gone.
Joyce wailed as she covered her ears, trying to drown the banshee’s song. Trying to not listen to the words of Buffy’s death song.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Giles held Joyce tighter as she started to curl into herself on his lap, trying to borrow deeper into his chest, her hands covering her head. Wailing as if her daughter were dead. His chest heaved as he grabbed her shoulders and started to shake her.”Joyce! Joyce! Joyce! JOYCE!”
With another hard shake, Giles roared into her ear.”JOYCE!”
As suddenly as she began, Joyce stopped. And opened her brown eyes to look at him.”Buffy?”
Giles shook his head slowly.”No. Buffy’s not here, Joyce.”
“Gone.”Joyce started to shake violently again.”Or dead.”
“No. Not dead,”Giles said firmly. He shook her shoulders slightly.”Listen to me, Joyce. Buffy is not dead. She’s run away. She’s not here.”
“How do you know?”Tears started to form in her eyes.”How could you know?”
“Because I do,”said Giles as he cupped her face. He took in the frantic look in her eyes, the shaking of her body. He brought her closer to him, and laid her head against his shoulder.”Because I do.”
As he stroked Joyce’s golden head, Giles realized that he had another duty added to his many duties as Watcher. He had to keep Joyce Summer sane for Buffy.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Do you want some more soup? Joyce?”
Startled, Joyce looked away from the window to the man sitting across from her, then looked down at the bowl in front of her. It was still three quarters full. She shook her head.”No, thank you.”
Giles held back a growl of frustration. “You must have something, Joyce. When was the last time you ate?”
Joyce frowned as she tried to remember.”Last-last night I think. I came home early and I was going to make supper for Buffy. But then the policemen came-”
Giles came around the island to hold her as she started to shake.”Shhh...it’s all right, Joyce. It’s all right...”
“How can you say that?”Joyce cried as she shoved him away. Tears filled her eyes.”Buffy’s not here. She’s gone. And I’m here eating soup! Buffy’s gone!”
“I know she’s gone,”Giles said sharply as he looked at her. Joyce stared at him.
“Then how can you sit there, telling me to eat soup,”Joyce hollered as she pointed at him and the bowl. Then pointed at the window.”While she’s out there, in the night-night-It’s night...”
Alarmed, Giles started towards her as Joyce started to sway dangerously. As if seeing it for the first time, Joyce stared at the window that showed the half moon’s light.”It’s night. It’s dark...and vampires are real.”
Giles remained quiet as Joyce whispered.”It’s night...and vampires are real....BUFFY!!!”
As Joyce started towards the kitchen door, Giles grabbed her from behind. He let out a strangled sound of pain when her heels kicked the same bruises on his shins and the pressure on his fractured fingers sent sharp spears up his nerves.“Joyce! JOYCE!”
“Joyce!Listen to me! Joyce!”Giles shouted as he swung her around, then doubled over when her knee connected with his groin. Taking deep breaths and holding himself as he staggered after her, Giles hollered for her.”Joyce!”
Loping towards the front of the house, Giles finally caught her and swung her around to face him as he pinned her against the jeep door.”JOYCE! JOYCE! LISTEN TO ME! Buffy is safe! She’s safe! Do you hear me? She safe!”
Joyce stopped her struggling as his words penetrated her mind. She stared at him.”Safe? How do you know she’s safe? How can she be safe? It’s night! And vamp-”
“I KNOW!”Giles shouted forcefully as he shook her shoulders. Then in a more gentle voice, he cupped her pale face as he tried to soothe her fears.”I know about the vampires... About the night...about Buffy. I know what she can do. She can handle the night. She knows the night. She’ll be safe...”
Tears running down her cheeks, Joyce shook her head frantically at him.“But-”
“Listen to me,”Giles said forcefully.”Buffy is the Slayer. She will be safe. But I cannot say that for the both of us, Joyce. Look at us. You. Me.”
Joyce looked at him with confusion. Giles pointed at her.”You have not eaten since last night. You’re weak from lack of nutrition and rest, and hysterical. I was just released from the hospital this morning. We’re not well, Joyce. When Buffy comes back, she will not be pleased with us if we are not well.”
Joyce looked at him stubbornly as she shook her head vehemently .”I’m not hysterical. I want to go look for Buffy. Now!”
Giles shook her gently by the shoulders.”And we will, Joyce. But you’re not well. And to be perfectly frank, you’re not strong enough to go look for Buffy right now. And you’re not prepared to look for her in the night. Not yet.”
”I want to go look for Buffy. I want her home. Where it’s safe.” Joyce’s mouth trembled. Then a thought hit her.”It is safe? My home is safe?”
Giles brought her closer to him as he held her, and started to lead her gently to the house.”It’s safe. Your home is safe. And so is Buffy...”
Leaning against him and hiding her face into his shoulder, Joyce murmured.”I want her home. Safe. I want her back...”
“And we’ll get her back,”Giles soothed as he lead her back towards the house.”I promise...”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
[The sun was shining so very bright in the meadow. She had her best dolly with her, the one that was going to be her baby when she grew up. Her name was going to be Elizabeth. And she was there with her very best friend in all the world, Sir Gordon. She hugged her dolly and toy pig to her chest. It was going to be a wonderful day. It really was.
Mummy and Daddy were going to come home soon, and they were going to visit Nana Bethie and Daddy’s brothers who lived so very far away. In the castle that Daddy used to live when he was a boy. And they were going to have a great time because they were going to live in England, Daddy said. And it was going to be wonderful there. And she was going to have lots of cousins. Boy cousins. She wrinkled her nose at the thought. What good were boy cousins? They only knew how to run around, climb trees, and catch bugs and to get tea and cakes from. Oh well, Daddy said that they were going to adore her, just like Andrew and Daniel. And she was going to be spoiled like a princess.”Princess Joycelyn.”
She liked the sound of that. She looked at her toy pig. “I, Princess Joycelyn Carruthers dabble you, Sir Gordon. The Most Ferocious and Fierce Protector of All Pigs and Princesses in the Royal Realm of –of Princess Joyelyn’s realm of Fairyland. How do like that title, Sir Gordon?”
Then she looked at her dolly and grinned.”And you’re going to be the Royal Princess Elizabeth. The Most Beautiful and Perfect and Prettiest Baby in the Whole World. And I’ll call you…Bethie after Nana. How do you like that, baby?”
“Why should they like that title, English?”called out a voice. Suddenly, she was very cold and the meadow wasn’t there anymore. She was near the woods of Gram’s and Grandda’s estate. She turned to see the nasty woman that Mummy called Great-grandmother O’Connor and Daddy called her an Old Spiteful Bitch, though she didn’t really know what that was. She just knew that Great-grandmother O’Connor always made her feel bad ‘cause the nasty woman always tried to make everybody feel bad. Especially Mummy. She tried making Daddy and Nana Bethie feel bad once, but couldn’t ‘cause Nana Bethie yelled back at her and Great-grandmother O’Connor turned white. She clutched Sir Gordon and Elizabeth tighter as Great-grandmother O’Connor came closer to her.
Great-grandmother O’Connor had that nasty look in her eyes that the witches and monsters in her picture books had. Great-grandmother O’Connor pointed at her. ”You’re only a bastard. And an English one at that. You’re no princess. And your brat isn’t one either. English bastards can’t have princesses.”
Joycelyn looked down and saw Elizabeth change into Buffy with Mr.Gordo in her arms. And she wasn’t a little girl anymore. She forced Buffy behind her and looked at her Great-grandmother. ”Get away. You stay away from my baby.”
Ignoring her words, Great-grandmother O’Connor then smiled.”And do you know what the O’Connor banshee does to little English bastards and everything that theirs?”
She stepped back from Great-grandmother O’Connor as she came closer and her face transformed into the face of a vampire.”They will take away little English bastards like you. But best of all they’ll take away everything you have! Look!”
Joycelyn looked and saw a woman with flowing gold hair, dressed in white singing as she walked away with Mummy, Daddy, Mr. Gordo and…”Buffy!]
Gasping, Joyce’s body jerked awake.”Buffy!”
His hands automatically tightening around her waist, Giles jerked awake as Joyce started in his lap.”Wha? Buffy?”
Disoriented, Joyce swung her head at stare at the school librarian at the sound of his voice. She blinked, then she realized several things. First, her arms were around his neck. Second, she was on his lap. Third, his hands were wrapped around her waist. She dropped her arms, and nervously ran a hand through her hair.“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-What happened? What are you-“
Then it all came crashing into her. Buffy was a vampire Slayer and she had run away from home. Since yesterday morning. ”Oh, my God. I wasn’t dreaming. Buffy…”
Giles watched as embarrassment turned into horror as Joyce Summers started to remember what happened yesterday. He grabbed her shoulders, wincing as he put pressure on his fractured fingers.”Joyce listen to me. We’ll find her. We’ll find Buffy and bring her home.”
“But we don’t even know where she is or where to start looking for her,” Joyce whispered as her mouth began to wobble. ”We don’t even know if she’s alive. If she survived the night…”
“Joyce,” Giles said sharply as he shook her a bit. ”We cannot have that type of thinking. Buffy is alive and she will be home soon. Buffy can handle the night, she can survive the night. But we will not survive if we continue to think that she is dead. Understand?”
Joyce held his gaze and then nodded. ”Yes. But what if-“
”I will find Buffy. I promise you that, Joyce,” said Giles as he placed a finger gently on her lips. He gave her a small smile. ”But I think that we should start as soon as we get some breakfast and the feeling gets back into my legs.”
Giles watched with some amusement as Joyce’s face turned a bright red, then he winced as she scrambled to get off his lap. He grimaced as the blood rushing back into his legs. ”Ow.”
“Do you-do you need any help?” Joyce asked hesitantly as she saw him struggle to rise from the couch.
Giving up rising from the couch for the moment, Giles shook his head.”No, thank you. I think I should simply wait until the feeling gets back into my legs. How about a spot of tea before we get started?”
“A spot of tea?” Joyce repeated blankly. Then it hit her and she was painfully grateful for something to do. ”Oh. Right. Breakfast. You want breakfast. I’ll-I’ll see what we have.”
Wearily, Giles shook his head as Joyce practically ran into the kitchen. ”Bloody hell, man. What the hell are you going to do if you can’t find Buffy? No, Rupert. None of that thinking. Like you told Joyce, you will find Buffy and bring her home. Now get off your bloody arse and start looking.”
With that, Giles started to rise from the couch and pain shot through his legs again. He sat back down with a gasp. ”As soon as the needles and pins will let me.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Automatically, Joyce took out the necessary ingredients for breakfast and started cooking them. When she heard Mr.Giles come into the kitchen, she started talking. ”I started on the kippers and I’m sorry, but, we have oatmeal, not porridge. I’m also out of loose tea. We also don’t have any bacon. But I do have some bangers. And toast. I hope you like your eggs fried or I can make the shirred-“
“Fried eggs are fine,” Giles said bemusedly as he looked at her. ”And oatmeal is fine. Tea bags will do. You have kippers? And you know what bangers are?”
Taking the frying pan off the stove, Joyce turned to look at him quizzically. ”I have kippers, And why shouldn’t I know what a banger is?”
“It’s just…Buffy never mentioned-never said that you were from England,” Giles blurted out. At her blank look, he looked at her apologetically. ”Buffy would once in a while talk about you to Willow, and I would occasionally overhear tidbits.”
Joyce nodded, then she turned to place the eggs on a plate. ”I see. Anyway, I’m from Iowa. Not England. Please sit. Do you want some salt and pepper?”
“Yes, please,” Giles said politely as he sat at the kitchen island. Joyce was silent as she brought the kettle and two mugs with teabags over. He watched as she poured the water into the mugs. ”So how is it that you have kippers?”
“My father’s side of the family is English,” Joyce answered shortly as she buttered some toast and handed it to him. ”Would you like some orange juice? Milk? Water?”
“I see,” Giles said as he took in Joyce’s curt answers and her defensive posture.” And no, thank you. Tea will be just fine.”
Joyce nodded as she went to get a fresh cup for orange juice. As she sat, she shook her head wearily. ”I’m sorry. That was a bit rude. It’s just-it’s just that I don’t know you, I don’t know anything about you except that you’re involved with something about Buffy and that you’re a school librarian who’s not really just a librarian. And you know me-“
“No, I don’t know you,” Giles said quickly. Joyce looked at him sharply. And he amended his words. ”Well, not a lot about you. Just what Buffy mentions once in a while during training or when she’s studying with Willow and Xander. Ah, things such as you two going shopping together or if you plan to stay home late or leave work early. Or if you’ll stop making her clean her room. Normal things.”
“I see,” Joyce said quietly as she played with her eggs. “There wasn’t a day that Buffy didn’t have some sort of comment about you or-or a quote from you. But that still doesn’t make us friends.”
Giles looked at her. ”No. I suppose it doesn’t. But it does make us two people that care about her.”
“I suppose that it does,” Joyce allowed. She looked at him in the eye. ”So where do we go from here? What do we do first?”
“I think that we should start by eating our breakfast first,” Giles said honestly. ”I’m a bit famished.”
Joyce nodded. ”Fine. Do you want some more kippers while you tell me what a vampire slayer is?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Giles sat awkwardly as Joyce covered her face. “Joyce-“
Joyce’s head shot up as she looked at him with hot eyes. “You knew about Buffy. You knew about her being a-a-a vampire slayer.”
“Yes. I did.”
“And you never told me.”
Giles shifted uncomfortably. “No…we had decided not to.”
“Define ‘we’,” Joyce demanded, her voice rising with every word. ”How can the two of you ‘decide’ not to tell me that my daughter is a-a ‘defender of the forces of darkness’? How can the two of you decide not to tell me that Buffy is supposed to do this when she’s barely seventeen?”
“Tradition has it that the Slayer is often without a family, so there is usually no need to tell the parents about the Slayer’s vocation,” Giles said in a controlled voice. ”And those that do, are not usually told for fear that they will be used as a lure to harm the Slayer.”
When Joyce let out a strangled noise, Giles immediately tried to soften his words. ”Not that they are often a target for demons. Most demons work on a demonic instinct, and cannot plan a way to harm a Slayer.”
“Demonic instinct? So they only attack when attacked?” Joyce asked carefully. Giles quickly nodded, praying that she would ask no more questions about the other creatures that roamed the night. ”So then vampires will only attack Buffy when she attacks them, right? So if she leaves them alone, they won’t attack her-”
“No!” Giles shouted loudly, then lowered it when he realized that he had shouted. ”Vampires-vampires are different from other demons. They are horrid creatures that need to be destroyed. Monsters that have no redeeming qualities. They are not at all the ‘romantic creatures of the night’ as the modern writers like to depict them as. Forget every word of vampire fiction you have read. It’s nothing is true. They have no conscience, no morals to speak of. They are monsters of the worst kind. They hurt people for the sadistic pleasure of it. They must be destroyed at all costs. No matter how charming or kind or cursed they seem to be. They are rabid animals that need to be destroyed.”
“I see,” Joyce whispered as she looked at him. Shaken from his memories, Giles looked at her sharply. He was about to say something when the telephone rang. The both of them started, then their eyes were glued to the phone. On the second ring, Joyce jumped to grab the phone. ”Buffy? Buffy? Is that you?”
Giles saw Joyce’s shoulders slump, and knew immediately that it wasn’t Buffy on the other end of the telephone line. [Dear God, Buffy where are you?]
Joyce held the phone close to her ear as she sobbed into it. It wasn’t Buffy, but it was one of the people she wanted to hear from the most. ”Dante? Dante, please come. I need you and Annie. Buffy’s run away-and I-I don’t know where she is and she’s been missing since yesterday and I’m so scared that she’s dead and-I don’t know where she is or-Oh, god Dante, please come!”
Giles caught her as she crumpled against the wall, sobbing uncontrollably. He sat her on his lap again and made soothing noise to her as the voice on the phone loudly demanded for someone called ‘Jack’. He held her as he gently pried the phone from her hands, and placed it against his ear. “Hello? Are you still there?”
“HELLO? WHO THE HELL IS THIS? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” bellowed the masculine voice on the phone. Giles winced as he replaced the phone to his ear.
“I am Rupert Giles, the school librarian,” Giles said as smoothly as he could, given the fact that the man on the other side of the phone line seemed ready to do violence. His hand made a soothing circular motion against Joyce’s back as she buried her face into his chest, muffling her sobs against his chest. ”And if you will just calm down, I will tell you what we know.”
“You’re telling me to calm down, you little prick? Who the hell are you? I want to know what the _hell_ is going on there in California and I want to know it now,” the voice bellowed even louder. ”Where’s Buffy? Where’s Jack? What the fuck is-“
Giles was startled by the sudden silence on the phone. ”Hello? Hello? Are you still there?”
“Hello, sorry about that,” said a woman’s voice. ”My husband is a bit distressed at the moment. Can you please tell us what is wrong with Jack and Buffy?”
Confused, Giles looked down at the phone. ”Sorry, I don’t know who Jack is-“
“I apologize. Jack is Joyce Summers, so could you please tell us what is going on?” the woman asked him urgently. Giles heard the man bellowing about airplanes, packing and duties in the background. She then continued. ”Do be quiet, Dante. We’re old friends of the family and happen to be Buffy’s god-parents, Anne and D.J. Smith. Please. Where is Joyce and Buffy?”
Giles quickly related a heavily edited version of what had happened. ”There was a-a homicide at the school. And Buffy was found leaning over the body, the police charged her with the alleged murder. And she was expelled. So it seems that she ran away.”
The other end was silent. ”Hello? Are you still there? Hello?”
The woman’s voice became so cold, Giles nearly shivered. “We’ll be there within the next forty-eight hours. Is Joyce able to talk? Can you put her on the phone?”
Giles looked down at the woman in his lap. She had stopped sobbing, but was occasionally shuddering as she held him tightly. A little too tightly. He stroked her hair as he spoke gently, ”Joyce? Joyce? Are you able to speak the woman on the phone? Buffy’s-ah-godmother? Joyce?”
Joyce lifted her head from his chest and nodded. He gave her the phone, ready to pull it away from her if she became hysterical again. No ore than a whisper, and sounding more like Buffy when she’s hurt, Joyce whispered into the phone. ”Annie? Annie, are you and Dante-Thank you.”
Joyce remained silent as the phone fell from her ear. Giles heard the dial tone as he took the phone from her hand. And she looked at him with hollow eyes and a glimmer of hope, something that wasn’t in her eyes last night or this morning. ”They’re coming. And they’re going to find Buffy for me. Oh, please God. Let them find Buffy for me.”
Giles remained silent as he wrapped his arms around Joyce as she started to sob. After a second, she buried her face in his chest again. Her cries muffled against his shirt.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*