The Mercy Seat (part 14)
Mm. Twas a good enough day, specially for a Monday. Wouldn't mind if the rest of my two weeks went like this one. Busy enough to not be too mind-boggingly bored at work, actual funny on the radio, good conversation for the evening, and I might even be tired enough to get to sleep at a decent hour. Ahhhh.
Quote of the day, surprisingly enough, comes from a radio ad: "I have cable. I know everything."
But on to what you're all here for:
Previous parts may be found here
"That's crazy." Buffy crossed her arms over her chest, staring at Giles.
"I am aware."
"I've known Xander for years. YOU'VE known Xander for years. He couldn't just . . . he wouldn't kill slayers. He wouldn't kill anybody!"
"I disagree."
"Demons, okay, he'd kill demons. He has killed demons. Slayers aren't demons. Xander loves slayers. He'd die for them!"
Giles placed a hand on her shoulder, pausing her in her pacing. "Xander loves you, Buffy. He cared for the slayers he found, yes, but he didn't love all of them, not unconditionally. He could barely even speak to Faith."
"Giles, explain this to me." Buffy didn't start pacing again, instead choosing to tap her foot. She wanted to be looking Giles in the face for this. "Because right now? This is making a whole lot of the kind of sense that doesn't."
Giles removed his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose. "You remember Xander's behavior, after Kelebeletse died?"
Buffy nodded. He'd grown distant, very distant. But that was why he'd taken a vacation.
"It was shortly after her death, approximately two months, that the slayers started dying."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"By itself, no." Giles replaced his glasses. "When Xander returned to work, he continued looking for slayers in Africa. As you'll recall, he was unable to find a single, surviving slayer."
"Africa is a dangerous place."
"Yes." Giles leaned back on the couch. "He found more slayers, albeit dead ones, than any of the other scouts combined. Do you think that is a coincidence?"
Buffy sighed. "The Immortal was hunting slayers then, Giles, and Italy's just across the Mediterranean from Africa. Xander was just really good at locating slayers, and really bad at timing."
"All those things are also true."
"Then why are you jumping to these weird conclusions?" Buffy spun and started pacing again. "Xander was wrecked by those girls! It tore him apart, each time he found another one too late! You saw that, just as well as I did. You sent him back on vacation!"
"And it was at that time that rumors started coming in from the council's contacts in the demon world. Rumors of a one-eyed, dark haired man contracting demons specifically to hunt down and eliminate slayers, all over the world."
"The Immortal was trying to tear us apart, remember? He kept telling me things about the slayers and about the watchers, that they were working against me." Buffy whirled and started toward the desk. "Okay, so he was usually more subtle than ‘hey, a guy who looks just like one of your best friends is ordering the assassination of slayers', but I certainly wouldn't put it past him." She paused, then slammed her fist into the desktop, leaving a visible dent. Her shoulders slumped. "I screwed up with him, Giles. I let the Immortal walk all over me. And now you're bringing up more ways that he did it. You're telling me he was walking all over you, too."
"That is one possibility, Buffy, but I have looked over the Immortal's surviving records in great detail. He makes no mention of such a plan, though he rambled on for pages about his other manipulations. He did not mention at least half the slayer deaths that we are aware of." Giles stood, moving to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Buffy shrugged him off a little more violently than she should have. "I've mentioned Xander's behavior, the way he was pulling away from us for those two years. Did you happen to notice how morose he'd become, how much more morbid his sense of humor was? How he came to refuse to even mention the slayers? We were barely able to contact him, when we learned of the Immortal's plans. He was cutting himself off from us."
Buffy did not turn from the desk. She stared down at the almost perfect mark of her hand on the wood. "I understood that, Giles. When the gang pulled me out of heaven, I was the same way. He had so many things piling on top of each other, the loss of Anya, of his home, of Malia and Kelly, and all those other slayers . . . when his aunt died, I think that did him in. He wasn't well, I know that. But he didn't turn into a killer."
"And Jude and Amelia?"
"You didn't see Angel when he came back, Giles, not like I did. Hell does that. It makes you crazy, and it makes you kill. He might not even have known he was back. Willow said he was terrified. He probably didn't even know they WERE slayers."
"That's all a possibility." She could hear Giles' footsteps moving away from her, towards the door. "I merely bring all of this up to warn you. Xander may well not be the man we remember. The possibility exists, is even likely, if what Willow tells me of his family history is true, that he has lost his ability to reason. I only want you to be careful."
"You're saying Xander's gone crazy."
"I'm saying that we will not know until we have Xander back here. Until then, we must be prepared for every possibility."
<--{14}-->
I think I'll go "thud" now.
Quote of the day, surprisingly enough, comes from a radio ad: "I have cable. I know everything."
But on to what you're all here for:
Previous parts may be found here
"That's crazy." Buffy crossed her arms over her chest, staring at Giles.
"I am aware."
"I've known Xander for years. YOU'VE known Xander for years. He couldn't just . . . he wouldn't kill slayers. He wouldn't kill anybody!"
"I disagree."
"Demons, okay, he'd kill demons. He has killed demons. Slayers aren't demons. Xander loves slayers. He'd die for them!"
Giles placed a hand on her shoulder, pausing her in her pacing. "Xander loves you, Buffy. He cared for the slayers he found, yes, but he didn't love all of them, not unconditionally. He could barely even speak to Faith."
"Giles, explain this to me." Buffy didn't start pacing again, instead choosing to tap her foot. She wanted to be looking Giles in the face for this. "Because right now? This is making a whole lot of the kind of sense that doesn't."
Giles removed his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose. "You remember Xander's behavior, after Kelebeletse died?"
Buffy nodded. He'd grown distant, very distant. But that was why he'd taken a vacation.
"It was shortly after her death, approximately two months, that the slayers started dying."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"By itself, no." Giles replaced his glasses. "When Xander returned to work, he continued looking for slayers in Africa. As you'll recall, he was unable to find a single, surviving slayer."
"Africa is a dangerous place."
"Yes." Giles leaned back on the couch. "He found more slayers, albeit dead ones, than any of the other scouts combined. Do you think that is a coincidence?"
Buffy sighed. "The Immortal was hunting slayers then, Giles, and Italy's just across the Mediterranean from Africa. Xander was just really good at locating slayers, and really bad at timing."
"All those things are also true."
"Then why are you jumping to these weird conclusions?" Buffy spun and started pacing again. "Xander was wrecked by those girls! It tore him apart, each time he found another one too late! You saw that, just as well as I did. You sent him back on vacation!"
"And it was at that time that rumors started coming in from the council's contacts in the demon world. Rumors of a one-eyed, dark haired man contracting demons specifically to hunt down and eliminate slayers, all over the world."
"The Immortal was trying to tear us apart, remember? He kept telling me things about the slayers and about the watchers, that they were working against me." Buffy whirled and started toward the desk. "Okay, so he was usually more subtle than ‘hey, a guy who looks just like one of your best friends is ordering the assassination of slayers', but I certainly wouldn't put it past him." She paused, then slammed her fist into the desktop, leaving a visible dent. Her shoulders slumped. "I screwed up with him, Giles. I let the Immortal walk all over me. And now you're bringing up more ways that he did it. You're telling me he was walking all over you, too."
"That is one possibility, Buffy, but I have looked over the Immortal's surviving records in great detail. He makes no mention of such a plan, though he rambled on for pages about his other manipulations. He did not mention at least half the slayer deaths that we are aware of." Giles stood, moving to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Buffy shrugged him off a little more violently than she should have. "I've mentioned Xander's behavior, the way he was pulling away from us for those two years. Did you happen to notice how morose he'd become, how much more morbid his sense of humor was? How he came to refuse to even mention the slayers? We were barely able to contact him, when we learned of the Immortal's plans. He was cutting himself off from us."
Buffy did not turn from the desk. She stared down at the almost perfect mark of her hand on the wood. "I understood that, Giles. When the gang pulled me out of heaven, I was the same way. He had so many things piling on top of each other, the loss of Anya, of his home, of Malia and Kelly, and all those other slayers . . . when his aunt died, I think that did him in. He wasn't well, I know that. But he didn't turn into a killer."
"And Jude and Amelia?"
"You didn't see Angel when he came back, Giles, not like I did. Hell does that. It makes you crazy, and it makes you kill. He might not even have known he was back. Willow said he was terrified. He probably didn't even know they WERE slayers."
"That's all a possibility." She could hear Giles' footsteps moving away from her, towards the door. "I merely bring all of this up to warn you. Xander may well not be the man we remember. The possibility exists, is even likely, if what Willow tells me of his family history is true, that he has lost his ability to reason. I only want you to be careful."
"You're saying Xander's gone crazy."
"I'm saying that we will not know until we have Xander back here. Until then, we must be prepared for every possibility."
<--{14}-->
I think I'll go "thud" now.