Chapter Six

* * * * * * *


That morning, Joyce returned with a paper and a package for Buffy Summers.

“I haven’t been to the post office in a while, but this has been waiting for you for ages.”

“Ages?” Buffy asked quickly, and opened it to find a note. “Not ages, only since last week.”

“Who is it from?” Giles questioned. Buffy snorted.

“Ben. It’s for the vampires. It’s a tracking device. Electric collars that I ordered weeks ago. I sent it to his office, because I thought he would get it before we got into town and so he could mark the books.” Buffy rolled her eyes, “and of course, every single collar has been opened and closed. Isn’t it wonderful how suspicious he is?”

“Are those the collars that keep them under control?” Joyce asked with a curious note in her voice.

“Yeah they are.” Buffy took the rest of the paper off the sloppily re-wrapped item and twirled it around her finger. It was a thick silver chain that would lay against the collar, and a single dog tag weighing down the end. The chain came with spells on how to meld the link together so that it would be a permanent placement around the neck. “I had to get these made specially. Normally they are dog collars for dangerous animals, so when they get loose, they are stunned. But these are meant to kill.”

“Is that real silver?” Giles picked one up and examined it. “It must have cost a small fortune.”

“It was a lot, but Willow told me that silver is a conductor for magic. She and Tara are going to do some spells on them so that they stay on forever, work forever, and never tarnish. That and it looks better on the stage. Having something shiny around their necks.”

“Good idea. Are you going to put them on today?” Joyce asked.

“I thought that I would help you around the house, then after dinner, I would get these on the vamps.” Buffy turned to Giles. “Do you want to tranquilize them or see if they’ll cooperate?” Giles took off his glasses.

“It’s your decision, but it depends on how much tranquilizer we have. The last time Drusilla was out, you used up how many darts?”

“One, for her. And then two empty ones for Spike and Darla.” Buffy saw that Giles was calculating the possible probabilities in his mind, which would take a while. “Tell you what, I’ll check the supplies, and we’ll see. I don’t want to do any performances in the near future without at least eight for safety.”

“Good idea. I’ll help you tonight, but right now, your mother has a pile of work for us.”

“Should I start whistling?”


* * * * * * * * * *



The tiny blond girl was fixing the outdoor fence, when she saw a familiar figure walking towards her mother’s house. His broad shoulders, and tanned skin, glowed brightly in the sun, like a creature of the nature and light. Throwing down her tools, and in dust and overalls, she threw her arms around her bronze boy.

“Buffy.” He whispered, and took a deep breath of her scent.

“I was going to meet you in Los Angeles,” she replied softly, letting her arms fall around his torso, snuggling into his chest.

“I couldn’t wait.”

“But you can’t miss work.” She replied, but he silenced her with a sweet kiss.

“I couldn’t wait.”

“I believe you,” she smiled, with a small grin, and kissed him warmly for a lengthy amount of time.

Joyce Summers looked out the window, and saw a tall man, embracing her daughter. She smiled, and accepted that chores were not going to be finished today.

* * *


He could only stay one day before he had to go back into the vineyard.

Buffy lay on Riley’s shoulder, and in the middle of the corn fields, they held one another tightly, neither willing to accept that in three hours, Riley would take the next train back to the grape fields, and Buffy would return to her nomadic lifestyle. Waiting in anticipation for their next meeting, thinking of every possibility, and remembering every reason why they couldn’t stay together.

“Riley,” Buffy said softly, feeling his fingers through her hair. “Something is different. I can’t explain it.”

“What do you mean?” He asked lazily, happy to think about anything except that he would be leaving in a few hours time. “Like between us? Or in general.”

“A little bit of both,” she admitted, turning over to stare at him. She leaned on her elbows, and peered over his stomach, to map his muscles. He reached forward and touched her hair lovingly, but it seemed that she didn’t want love anymore.

“I’ve been having these weird dreams, sometimes,” she said quietly, “They are about my father. They aren’t always good.”

“What happens?” He asked.

“I dream that he wasn’t in the army, or traveling to Africa where the demons are, and that he didn’t die saving his team. I dream that he was a normal man, a sales man, who… oh god. Who left my mom and sister for his—” Buffy shook her head, “For his secretary. And that he doesn’t want to spend any time with us.”

Riley reached out and kissed her forehead. Buffy fell into his embrace easily, and felt horribly guilty for the words, but overall, she couldn’t stop thinking that maybe they were true.

“It’s healthy to think thoughts of what if, and the numerous other possibilities, but Buffy,” he looked at her with his trusting blue eyes. “Know that they are just fantasies, and not visions or prophecies. We’ve gotten rid of those. All evil has been cast away and into the other side of the world. We have nothing to worry about but ourselves. Maybe you are worrying just for the sake of worrying?”

“I know. I think that I have it so good, that there has to be something wrong.”

“If you want to concentrate on something, think about me,” he jested, “I’m leaving in two and a half hours, and every time I go, I feel that another piece of me has left.”

“Oh Riley,” she whispered, “How are we going to make this thing work?”

“Marry me,” he said, with complete honesty in his expression. Buffy sighed.

“You know the answer to that.” She watched his face fall. “I can’t step away from my responsibilities.”

“You would spend time with those… monsters over starting a family with me?” He said defensively. Buffy’s brows furrowed sadly.

“It’s not that. It’s that I’m the only one in the world, and don’t you see? I am happy doing what I do. And I know that you wouldn’t give up your love of the land to travel with me.” She pulled his face forward, so that he couldn’t avoid her gaze. “If I could make things work, I would. But right now, they don’t fit together. We’ll find a way, and maybe time will help us out.”

“Sometimes I think about kissing other girls,” he whispered guiltily. Buffy nodded.

“I would understand. You can’t wait for me forever.”

“But why won’t you fight for me?” His face contorted with pain, “I think of my future, and I think of you, and it tears me up inside that you aren’t in it.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Assurance that you are mine. I wish I could carry you around in my pocket forever, and never let you go.” Buffy laughed at his ridiculous statement. It was so care free, that he smiled sheepishly at her joy. “It’s true.”

“I don’t doubt it.” She giggled. “But it would be hell on our sex lives. What time is it?”

“Two hours till.”

“Good, I have just enough time to prove to you that I’m better non-pocket size.”