Flirting With Insanity
Part 2
Watching her carefully, Giles gave Joyce a cup of tea. She took it without really noticing that it was in her hands. He studied the woman sitting next to him on the couch. After the phone call from Buffy's god-parents, she seemed to be a bit more calmer, if distant. "Joyce? Are you-are you all right?"
Joyce looked at him blankly, as if she just noticed that he was there. Giles tried a small smile. "You-you, well, you seem to be a bit more calmer since-since Buffy's god-parents called."
"They always managed to do that to me, for me," Joyce said quietly as she sipped her tea. She shivered slightly and took another sip. [Why was it cold? Where's Buffy? Is she cold too? When did California get so cold? Is she safe? When will they get here?]
Joyce remained quiet as she cupped the mug in her hands, looking out the window. Waiting. [As if Buffy or her godparents would miraculously appear at her doors] thought Giles as he watched her. Concerned, Giles tried to pull her attention back at him, to keep her mind occupied. "Joyce? Who are Buffy's godparents?"
"Next to Buffy, they're most important people in the world to me," Joyce whispered as she looked at him, then returned her gaze to the window.
Giles waited patiently as Joyce seemed to be lost in her thoughts again. A ghost of a smile danced on Joyce's mouth. "Other than my nana...my Anne and Dante, they are the biggest influence of my life. And I think, on Buffy's life. They worship Buffy and Buffy just adores them. Buffy was supposed to visit them for the summer, as a surprise. Since she was so down, so sad for the past few months. It was because of Angel, wasn't it?"
Not wanting to talk about Angel, Giles nodded slightly. "And now they're both coming here."
Also not wanting to think about Angel just yet, Joyce nodded slightly as she took another sip of her tea. She stared at her tea for a minute, then spoke again. "They're coming to help find Buffy. They can find Buffy for me. I know they can. And they'll bring her home."
Startled by her faith in her friends, Giles stared at her. "They can? How?"
"Well, to be honest, I think that Anne will be able to find Buffy," Joyce amended. Giles watched as Joyce's brown eyes danced with a memory she was only privy to. "And Dante will go along to put Buffy over his metaphorical knee."
Giles smiled faintly at that. "A deed that we will all do once we get her back. What do they do?"
Visibly brightening at that thought of getting her daughter back, Joyce nodded. "If you can believe it, Dante is a semi-retired colonel, stationed in West Virginia. And Anne is an investigative reporter. She'll have connections. Or at least know where to start looking."
"A reporter?" Giles echoed, startled. "You really think that she could help-"
"I know that she can. She won't leave anything unturned," Joyce interrupted. Her eyes again strayed towards the window and she fell silent. "Anne'll find Buffy for me. I know she can."
That statement opened a new possible can of worms. Giles hesitated. "And if they find out that Buffy is the Slayer? What then? What will they do?"
"I'll deal with that if or when it happens," Joyce said as she looked at Giles defiantly. Then her brown eyes threw daggers at him. "And if you're worried about that precious little Slayer secret being let out, don't. They would rather die than hurt Buffy in anyway."
"That is not what I was trying to say," Giles protested as he became aware that he was talking in clipped tones. "I only meant to say that-"
A hard knock on the door interrupted the starting argument, then Xander burst into the house. Willow and Oz right behind him. "Giles! You're here! Hey, Mrs.S! Giles, we've been looking all over for you! Why are you still here?"
Giles immediately rose and made towards them, vaguely aware that Joyce rose to follow him. "Xander! What are the three of you doing here?"
"We have some info for you and I might have a bead on Buffy," Xander said as he looked at Giles. His eyebrows rose at Giles’s disheveled look, but restrained in making a comment. "I dropped by the bus station this morning after I was finished with my finals 'cause that's when the day shift comes in since the night sift turned out to be a bust, and let me tell you that you really don't meet as many weirdoes in the day like you-"
"Xander! Buffy? What did you find out? Where is she? Is she safe? Is she hurt?" Joyce interrupted harshly, her voice rising with each word as she stepped towards the boy and grabbed his arms. Xander winced in her tight grip. "Where is she?"
"I think that you're hurting him, Joyce. Let him go and mayhap he'll be able to answer," Giles said gently and he covered his hands over hers. She looked up at him, then saw Xander look at her fearfully. Shocked by her actions, she pulled her hands away from his arms, murmuring her apologies. "I'm sorry, Xander. It's just that-I-"
When Giles placed his hands on her shoulders, she looked up at him. Her face crumpled, and she buried her face into his chest. Giles made a soothing noise as his arms came around her.
Xander, taken aback by Mrs.Summers's harshness, stopped his babbling. Then was further disturbed at the sight of Buffy's mother, quietly sobbing in Giles's chest. He looked up at Giles's face as he held Mrs.Summers protectively, it was filled with concern and worry. Then Giles looked at him. "Xander, if you please, relevant information only. Joyce? Would you like to sit down again?"
Taking a deep breath, Joyce shook her head slightly as she dried her eyes. She pulled herself away from him. Nevertheless, Giles remained close to her. "No. No, I'm fine. Xander, please-"
"I-uh-right, relevant information only," Xander said with a nod. He took a deep breath. "I, uh, I took a pic of Buffy with me to the bus station. Some girl in the morning shift ticket office recognized her. Said that she bought two tickets. One going to San Diego and the other to Sacramento. With three stops while going to San Diego and six along the way to Sacramento."
"So she knew that we were going to be looking for her," Giles murmured as he closed his eyes. "She deliberately bought tickets going opposite directions. Go on, what happened then?"
"Then a couple of Sunnydale's finest came in, still looking for her," Oz added. His normally stoic face looked at Mrs.Summers apologetically, then he looked at Giles. "There's still an APB on her. About Kendra. They still want her for questioning."
Closing her eyes, Joyce wrapped her arms around her torso and shivered. When Giles automatically put his arm around her waist, she immediately leaned into him. Ignoring the collective looks of inquiry, he looked at the trio. "Anything else that happened?"
"Well," Willow hesitated. Then she rushed out her words. "I hacked into the police files again. Since there's no info about Kendra and no missing person report about her, they're planning to list her as a Jane Doe. And as soon as the coronary report's done, they're going to-to well, you know, at Cloverfield. Giles, we can't let that happen. I mean, it's Kendra..."
Bemused for a moment, the two adults stared at the young hacker. Then Giles stood still at Willow's implications. "No, no. Of course not. I'll-I'll call Mr.Zabuto in Jamaica immediately and confer with him an appropriate cover story for Kendra's appearance in Sunnydale."
"Jamaica?" Joyce asked suddenly, her face pale. She looked at Giles. "Kendra-the girl in the library, she was from Jamaica?"
He nodded slightly. "Yes. She was, why? Joyce?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Mom? Can I make a telephone call? To a friend of mine?"
Putting the pen and checkbook down on the table, Joyce looked at her daughter, puzzled and slightly amused. "Honey, unless there's been a major amnesia attack or you're really not my daughter, you already know how to use the phone."
"Oh, ha ha," Buffy retorted. Then her hazel eyes widened innocently and she gave her mother her best ‘I’ll never ask for anything else in the whole world if you get me just this one thing I really, really want’ look. "I just want to make a long distance call, Mom. Can I?"
The second Buffy’s eyes widened, Joyce narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "To whom?"
"A friend. A real good friend. She's an international student, like Ampata was, only better," Buffy said eagerly. "We met during International Week and exchanged numbers. You remember, when all those foreign kids were around loose in Sunnydale."
"What I remember is that you were giving me all heck at having to share your room," Joyce commented dryly. "That was in September, why are you calling her in November?"
"Well, I've been, uh, keeping in contact with her using email and now it's sorta her birthday and I just wanted to call," Buffy said as she rolled her eyes. Joyce watched, with some amount of parental amusement and indulgence, as her daughter grew indignant. "I mean her Watch-I mean, guardian, Mr.Zabuto, is like Mr. Giles but without dates! He’s like a huge dateless Hitler! He doesn't let her go off on dates, makes her study all the time, doesn't even get her a decent wardrobe and all that. She can't even watch TV! And I'm like the only friend she has! And he's into history and that thing with people studies! Ant-something-ology or Ape-something-ology like that! And she's a growing girl! She really needs fun activities! Like clothes and dating! And friends, so can I call her, Mom?"
Biting her lip, Joyce nodded wisely. "I see. And you plan to corrupt the poor child. All starting with a phone call. Wow. I'm glad that you warned me what you were planning to do. At least you're not planning to bring her here to totally corrupt her."
When Buffy gave her mother a sheepish grin, Joyce's laughing brown eyes narrowed. "Let me guess, that was the second part of the plan, wasn't it?"
Joyce smothered a chuckle when Buffy nodded virtuously. "She really needs help, and I think that it's my duty as her friend to show her the joys of life. Don't you think?"
"I think I'm happy to know that you asked to use the phone first before you called on your own," Joyce said ruefully. "Or invited her here without me knowing it."
Buffy grinned at her mother, sensing capitulation. "I just wanted to warn you before you got the phone bill. Or saw the suitcases."
Shaking her head, Joyce handed Buffy the phone. "Keep it short and sweet, about fifteen minutes. You can call her twice a week, and we'll figure out a payment plan."
"Thanks, Mom. You're the best," Buffy said as she kissed her mother and gave her a huge hug. Then she immediately grabbed the phone and started to punch in Kendra's phone number. "Hello? May I please speak to Kendra? This is Buffy Summers. Sure, I'll wait. Hey Kendra? It's me, Buffy! Guess what? My mom's thinking that you may sorta be able to come over for a visit! Maybe over the spring break?"
"Buffy! I said I haven't decided yet!" Joyce protested with a laugh. Buffy smiled sweetly at her mother. Shaking her head, Joyce sighed, "Will you at least give me the afternoon to pretend to think about it before I say yes?"
"Okay, Mom," Buffy said cheerfully. "And Mom? Thanks, but this is a private call."
Before turning to leave the kitchen, Joyce rolled her eyes dramatically, then left smiling as her daughter's cheerful voice filled the air. "Guess what Kendra, you would not believe the things that are going on around here! But, I'll get to that later! How are things on your end?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Joyce? Are you all right?" Giles asked her, concerned. Slowly, Joyce looked up at him, her pale face paler. He grew alarmed. "Joyce?"
"Kendra was from Jamaica and I was trying to get her here…to visit over spring break or maybe for the summer," Joyce said slowly as she pulled away from him. She turned away, then looked back at him. "I didn’t know-I didn’t make the connection that it was the-the same Kendra…”
Alarmed that she was starting to sway, Giles reached over to her. But Joyce shied away from his touch, her hands warding him away. Herhead tilted as if she was trying to remember something elusive. “But she- but she couldn't come. Her guardian wouldn't let her. He said Kendra had more important things to do than to spend her time having...fun. Was the more important thing she had to do was slay vampires?"
Giles winced. He remembered the confession Buffy told him. Without his knowledge, Buffy had started calling Kendra, at least once a week. Even after Angel had turned, she still found time and called her friend, the only girl in the world that was like her. A Vampire Slayer.
He only found out about it because Buffy's mother had started calling Mr.Zabuto on the sly, trying to get him to allow Kendra to come back to America for another visit. She wanted Kendra over for a secret visit, one that would surprise Buffy. In defense, to stop the onslaught otherwise known as Buffy Summers and her mother, Mr.Zabuto was insisting that he should become involved in trying to stop Joyce's interest in getting Kendra to America for a vacation. What was it he said? "Slayers do not have vacations, Mr.Giles, they have a sacred duty."
"Yes, Mr.Zabuto was, that is, he believes that a Slayer's primary duty is to study, train and slay," Giles said slowly. He watched Joyce blanch even further. "And to not have...fun."
"He’s like Giles except he’s a huge dateless Hitler," Joyce whispered as she closed her eyes, remembering what Buffy said about Kendra’s guardian and Giles. "No clothes, no friends, no dates. No fun."
"Pardon?" Giles asked, he glanced at the children. They were becoming concerned about her themselves. She was murmuring to herself, that did not seem to be a good sign. "Joyce?"
Joyce opened her eyes. They were cold as angry tears started to form around them. "Will he come for her? Do Watchers come and claim their Slayers' dead bodies if they die?"
When Xander made a strangled sound, Giles didn’t even bother to shoot him a look. At her steady gaze, he hesitated in answering. "I-I have to call him. To let him know what happened to Kendra."
After studying him intensely for a moment, Joyce nodded her head slightly. "You do that and let me know. If he doesn't-I'll call tomorrow to have her released in my care. I'll take care of her."
Startled, Giles blinked at her fierce tone. "Joyce, you don't-"
"Yes, I do. That girl is a Slayer, just like Buffy," Joyce said fiercely, her hands clenched. "She died defending the world when she should have been doing what a normal girl her age should be doing. Making friends, buying clothes, going out on dates, and having...fun. But she didn't have any of that, all because she had a sacred duty. She gave her life just as Buffy risked hers when she went off to fight Angel."
"A duty she was given. One that her mother was not aware of," choked Joyce as her fists clenched. Giles was about to say something, but she cut him off savagely. "But that's for me to deal with. And that doesn't matter right now, right now, all that matters is Kendra. Who is dead. In the town morgue."
Fury built in her chest, words coming out like harsh bullets. "Whose guardian might not even want to claim her body. Well, to hell with him. I want her. I want Kendra. You arrange to have her released in my care, and I'll make sure that she gets something-beautiful and-and nice. And if I can, I'll get her something she never had. Whatever it was she didn't have in life, I'll get it and put in her funeral."
Joyce glared at him defiantly, her jaw set. Giles was about to say something when Willow interrupted. "A teddy bear."
Both adults pinned their hard gazes on her, and Willow grew red and looked at the floor. Then looked back up and spoke to Buffy's mother in a soft voice. "Before Buffy left to face off with Angel... and everything happened… I overheard-I mean, I didn't mean to, but, Kendra gave Buffy her lucky stake. She named it 'Mr.Pointy'. And Buffy said, she said that she was going to get Kendra a teddy bear."
Tears filling her eyes, Joyce smiled at he daughter's best friend. "A teddy bear. I'll get Kendra a huge teddy bear. The silliest and sweetest looking bear I can find."
Willow nodded, then looked back down at her hands. Oz put his arm around Willow's shoulders. Joyce looked at her daughter's friend, then at her daughter's Watcher. Her voice became softer, and infinitely more tired. "Just get Kendra released into my care. Please."
After a moment, Giles nodded slowly. "I'll see what I can do. For Kendra. But if Mr. Zabuto-"
"Then I'll let her go," Joyce said, her voice catching. "With the biggest and silliest teddy bear that Mr.Zabuto can carry. And he'd better put that bear with Kendra-"
"I'll make sure of it. Now go sit, Joyce, you're looking slightly peaked," Giles said softly. A lump growing in her throat, Joyce nodded and then turned towards the window again, and sat on the couch. Giles turned to look at his young friends. "Let me have a word with you three, please."
As Giles lead the three over towards the foyer, he kept a watchful eye on Joyce Summers. Xander made a sound. "Giles? What should we do now?"
"Someone must stay here with Buffy's mother, I think that we need to keep an eye on her for now, Buffy's secret identity and disappearance has hit her very hard," Giles whispered to them. "I must go to the library to make several phone calls and go to the police station to get Kendra's body released. And we still must find out which bus was the one that Buffy took, or if she had changed en route. And we must determine the amount of money that Buffy has, and what she would do in case she ran out. And perhaps whom she would run to, if anyone."
Willow nodded. "I can stay with Mrs.Summers and search Buffy's room, see what she took. And I can ask her who Buffy might be able to go to."
"I guess I'm hitting the bus station again," Xander said as he rolled his shoulders. "I'll need some help. Oz, want to meet exciting homeless people that'll offer to as your hair?"
Oz nodded. Then deadpanned, "As long as they let me color it the way I want."
Relieved that everything was settled, more or less, Giles then nodded. "Good. Now-"
“You never told her,” Xander said quietly. Giles looked at him, bemused. He repeated, ”You never told her about how a Slayer is called.”
Giles looked at Joyce’s still form on the couch. She had returned to her vigilance by the window, her sad brown eyes watching for Buffy to come walking up those porch steps. He looked at Xander, Willow and Oz. They, too, were studying Joyce’s forlorn posture. “Seeing how she is now, would you tell her?”
Xander shook his head slowly. Then he looked at Giles with resignation. “But she has to know, sooner or later, Giles, she has to know. She’s like this because she never knew that Buffy was the Slayer, and it hit her hard, Giles.”
“I know, but she doesn’t have to know right now,” Giles said as he looked at the man-boy. There was something old about him, something that wasn’t there before. Perhaps these few days, with Angel, Acathla and Kendra’s death…”And when we do find Buffy, she’ll know. Just not now.”
"Giles? Why do you think Buffy ran away?" Willow interrupted, her voice hurt. "Why didn't she come to us? Doesn't she know that we could help her? Why did she leave?"
Pain filled Giles's eyes. "I don't know why she left, Willow. But that doesn't matter. We'll deal with it later. Let us all just concentrate on getting her back."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Willow watched Buffy's mother as she sat quietly by the window, staring at it. She nibbled her lip. This was not good. If she hadn't known that Buffy's mother was a living person, she'd think that Mrs.Summers was a statue. "Mrs.Summers? Mrs. Summers?"
Buffy's mother turned from the window and looked at her blankly, and Willow swallowed nervously. "I need to know- I need to know who Buffy might go to when she's hurt."
"Obviously not here," Joyce said, her shoulders slumping and suddenly turning old in front of Willow's eyes. She returned her brimming eyes to the window. "She didn't feel that she could come back to me."
[And why should she, Joyce? You kicked your daughter out of the house with that last argument] said the nasty little voice in her mind. Joyce brought her arms around herself defensively.
Willow grew alarmed as she watched Buffy’s mother start to curl up into herself. Like she did last night. When she started to scream. ”Mrs. Summers?”
Joyce closed her eyes and shivered. [But I didn't mean it! What she said-what she does-it couldn't have been real! I couldn't have known she meant it! Vampires are real. Angel was a vampire. Angel loved her. He wasn't stable.]
“Mrs. Summers?” Willow asked again, hesitantly reaching out to touch her. She started talking, hoping that she was listening. “I need your help to find Buffy. I need to know who she might go…maybe her dad’s? Mrs. Summers? I need your help to get Buffy back. Please? ”
[Sure he wasn’t stable. You knew that. You also bought the story that he was her History tutor. And the story about gangs on PCP attacking the school. You didn’t want to see what was going on in her life, so you didn’t. Now Buffy’s gone and it’s all your fault] the nasty voice whispered. Joyce whimpered as the voice hissed even more. [And now the banshee’s going to get her and she’s never ever coming back and poor little bastard will cry and cry until she’s dead.]
“MRS. SUMMERS!” shouted Willow as she grabbed Buffy’s mother by her shoulders. Mrs. Summers froze, her eyes dilated as they stared at her blankly. Willow started talking slowly again. ”I need your help. I need to know who Buffy would go to. Who would she call for help, other than you. Please. Would she go to her dad?”
Focusing on Willow, Joyce shook her head. ”No…no. Hank is travelling this summer, for business so his schedule is hectic. Mainly France, Portugal and South East Asia, I think. She’d need a radar to find him.”
“Anyone else? Her aunts and uncles? Her godparents maybe?” Willow persisted, trying to make Buffy’s mother talk. If only to stop her from having a complete melt down. “Maybe her Nana?”
“Nana? No, Nana’s in India and travelling to Peru this summer with my uncle, they’re-they’re supposed to be doing something there,” Joyce said as she tried to remember. [Why was it still so cold? It’s summer, it’s supposed to be warm.] ”And Buffy wouldn’t be able to get on the base at West Virginia where Anne and Dante are. She knows that.”
“Can you make a list of all the people you know and how I can get in contact with them?” Willow asked gently. Then she asked hesitantly, “I also need you to go through Buffy’s room and see what she took and if you can remember how much money she had. Anything that’d give us an idea of where Buffy would go.”
Shivering less, Joyce nodded, grateful for something to do. [Concentrate on this, Joyce. Don’t just sit there. Do this. You can do this.] ”I’ll make up a list right now. And I’ll start making phone calls…to see if she’s with-with whomever she’s with.”
Relieved that Buffy’s mother wasn’t going to have another breakdown, Willow nodded brightly as she placed a piece of paper and pen in front of her. “That sounds good, Mrs. Summers. I’ll- I’ll start calling the people I know. To see if they saw her.”
When Willow left, Joyce’s eye drifted to the window again. [The banshee’s got your daughter! The banshee’s got your daughter! Can you hear her sing?]
[Shut up! Shut up!] thought Joyce as she grabbed her head. Blissfully, the nasty voice went silent. Staring at the table, Joyce picked up her pen and started the numbers of all the people that she knew. All the while, praying that her daughter was safe.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Yes, if you hear of anything-thank you,” Giles said then hung up the phone. He closed his eyes and sat back in his chair. Behind his eyes was a heavy dullness, his fingers were throbbing and his ribs ached. And the least of all, his Slayer was gone. [Buffy? Where are you? Why did you run away?]
Giles opened his eyes when he heard a knock on the door. He looked at the two boys standing at the doorway, hopefully. ”Anything?”
Oz shook his head. “Not unless you’re counting the homeless guy that offered to spit shine my sneakers.”
“Or the guy that kept on insisting that Buffy was really an actress on ‘All My Children’, except she was a brunette,” Xander said wearily as he sat on the stool next to Giles. ”How are the phone calls? And who are you calling? Any luck?”
Twisting his neck to get the stiffness out, Giles sighed. ”That depends on how you look at it. I’ve called most of the hospitals and morgues en route to Sacramento and San Diego, and not a girl matching Buffy’s description was-was there. I didn’t call the police stations, and I’m not sure that I should.”
Xander gave Giles a puzzled look. Oz looked at the other boy, ”The A.P.B. If the Sunnydale Police gets wind that Giles is looking for Buffy, they’ll think that he’s an accomplice to Kendra or aiding and abetting a criminal, I think. Right?”
“Something like that, ”sighed Giles as he rubbed his eyes. ”And I can’t help Buffy if I am called in for questioning myself.”
Xander nodded. ”So when do you think that this A.P.B. on Buffy will be over? I mean, we gave them our statements. She was innocent. It was Drucilla that killed Kendra. Or as the police like to say, a ‘big bad psycho mama high on PCP’ was the one that killed her after the whole gang came in and started fighting in the library.”
“As soon as the police find out that the coroner’s report matches with what we said,” Giles replied quietly. He looked at the next number he had to dial, then picked up the phone. “From the notes that Willow left, the officers in question said that they found Buffy over Kendra’s body. To their way of thinking, that necessarily doesn’t prove that she murdered Kendra, but with Snyder’s statements and Buffy’s reputation as a ‘problem student’. It does make her a main suspect in their eyes even though we know she did not kill Kendra. Xander? Please start calling the hospitals listed under ‘I’ and Oz, can you get on the dreaded machine and surf it for anything that might lead up to Buffy?”
Oz nodded. ”I’ll start with the half-way houses for runaways. Youth hostels and things like that.”
“Wonderful. Just wonderful,,” Xander grumbled as he grabbed Giles’s list. “You think that the Sunnydale police would not stoop to listening to gossip by an impotent Nazi with a emu up his ass.”
“Thank you for the apt description,” Giles said with a shake of his head. “The image was not needed. Have you seen Willow and Joyce after you left?”
Oz shook his head. ”Not yet, and when I tried calling her, the line was busy. I think that they’re calling everyone Buffy’s mother knows. Hopefully, she’s with them.”
“Hopefully,” Giles agreed as he dialed the next number. ”Hello? Mr. Sanchez? Rupert Giles here. How are things at the San Diego museum? That’s wonderful. Good, good. Yes, I need your help.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
