What A Girl Wants

Chapter 9—Hazy Shade Of Criminal

Buffy had one thing left she felt she had to set right, before it all blew up in their faces.

She trembled under the thrall of the memories. She didn’t want Tara, lovely Tara, to die. If she didn’t stop the Evil Trio, no matter what happened between now and whenever wouldn’t matter. Tara would be dead, and she would feel responsible again. She knew that to change this, she would have to be menacing and convincing, and she was hoping that it would work.

She walked boldly up to the door, and banged on it loudly. Shrill screams came from the basement windows of the house, loud bangs following it, and she knew she was in the right place.

“Warren! Jonathan! Andrew! Get your bony asses out here, right now.”

Jonathan came out first, closely followed by Andrew. “Uh, Buffy—haven’t seen you since the senior prom. And that bad spell.”

“Yeah, Jonathan. That bad spell. You’ve been doing other bad spells, haven’t you? And Andrew—calling up demons to do your dirty work. Where is that jerk Warren?”

“Behind you, Slayer.” He actually tried to put his hands on her, but a couple of well-placed kicks and an elbow to the nose put him on the ground instead.

“Okay, boys, now that we’re all together. I have something I want you to watch.”

She held a glowing ball in her hand, and it shot three beams of light to the trio’s foreheads. To them, this would be real. She stood, and watched the horror on their faces, the fear in their eyes, and finally the dawning realization that their plans failed. Miserably.

When the time loop finished, they stood there panting. Andrew had a huge wet spot on his jeans. Jonathan was still sniffing.

“So, you see what path you have created for yourself? Warren, you die. Horribly. Your skin stripped from you. Jonathan, you die, sacrificed to open a dimensional portal that should remain closed forever. Andrew, you don’t die—you just become my hostage.”

“But the invisible ray—” Jonathan started.

“Is a bust. It disintegrates everything it makes invisible, a complete molecular degeneration. Guys, there is no easy way to do this. If you don’t stop on your own, I will have to. And when the time comes, I will help Willow hunt you down and make you her own little black magic toys. Got it?” She moved closer to them, and said, “You really don’t think that I would show you this and let you continue? You destroyed other lives beside your own. Productive happy lives. Your families. Your friends. Everyone around you. In the end, Sunnydale itself is destroyed. Because you messed with the wrong things.”

She could feel Warren tensing, and pivoted smartly, avoiding his grabby hands. “I wouldn’t. Not if you know what’s good for you.”

“You’re just a girl,” Warren sneered.

“No, I wish I was just a girl. I’m the Slayer. I will be the Slayer until I die. You will be dust, long before I’m even close.” She turned to Jonathan and Andrew. “Boys, as for you, I have an idea….”

Later, when she returned to the house on Revello, she met Spike and Willow in the living room, discussing the trip. Spike was giving Willow tips on places to visit in London, and she was jotting notes in one of her multitude of notebooks.

“Hey. I have two more passengers for the trip to England.”

Spike quirked an eyebrow at her expectantly.

“Jonathan needs to be properly trained in magic, before it blows up in his face. Andrew is going with Giles to the Watcher Council for training to be a Watcher.”

“Who are they, pet?”

“Just the little nerds that have been making my life, and everyone else’s miserable. Warren—he won’t follow any of my suggestions. I expect he’ll be leaving town, though.”

“Warren? The robot guy?”

“Yeah.” She shot a dirty look at Spike. “He’s gone beyond robots though. I suggested he get a government job, in research, but he snarled at me and told me to get fucked. So here I am, ready for it.” She turned to Spike, and smiled, her face sunny once again. “So, how are the plans for the barbecue going?”

“Food will be delivered tomorrow morning. Liquor tomorrow afternoon. We’ll decorate the yard tonight, and then it will all be done and ready for the festivities.”

Willow looked at Spike, a strange look in her eyes. “Spike, uh, can I ask you something?”

“Anything, Red. No secrets here.”

“Is your accent changing? Because, I could swear that you’re sounding more like Giles every day.”

He ducked his head, avoiding the scrutiny of the two, but finally decided to be forthright and give them what they needed to hear. “’M not the Big Bad anymore, don’t need the accent.”

“Well, you’re right about not needing the accent, but you’ll always be my Big Bad, Spike.” Buffy grinned widely. “You can always slip into it, when we’re, uh….”

Willow slipped her fingers in her ears, not wanting the details.