All the World's a Stage. But We're Going to England. [BtVS]
Title: All the World's a Stage. But We're Going to England.
Author: Jen - tinylegacies
Rating: PG13
Warnings: None
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Characters: Giles, Anya and Faith with a small appearance by Xander
Recipient: yviwriting
Prompt: AU where Anya survived. Anya, Faith and Giles go to England to search for Slayers.
Spoilers: Through the end of S7
Summary: Anya and Faith have different ideas on how to accomplish their goals than Giles.
Author's Notes: Love and thanks to kajivar for the beta! Any remaining mistakes are my own. Extra love and kisses to havocthecat for the title!
"I don't like this."
"Yes, Xander, you've made that quite clear," Giles said, cleaning his glasses again. "Unfortunately, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and right now, there are many young girls we need to find all over the globe. In order to do that most efficiently, we need to divide our resources. I need Anya and Faith with me in England."
The unspoken "so I can keep an eye on them" was heavily implied in his tone.
"So you're sending me off to Africa alone," Xander said.
"Xander, you won't be alone," Anya reminded him. "You'll have Andrew. And it's only temporary. We'll all be together in England in a few months."
Xander rolled his eyes and huffed.
*
"England has certainly changed since I was last here," Anya observed. She stood on the sidewalk outside of their hotel while Giles and Faith struggled with getting their bags out of the taxi cab that had brought them here from the airport. Cars were lining up behind the taxi; drivers impatiently honking their horns. "All the cars. All the noise. It wasn't like this when I was here last. Of course, that was sometime in the eighteen hundreds, so cars didn't exist."
"Anya," Giles said, his voice sharp. "Would you kindly help us with the bags? And refrain from discussing inappropriate topics in public?"
Anya snapped out of her reverie. "I'm not the one with Slayer strength."
"C'mon, A, don't give me that," Faith said. "You've got that whole ex-demon thing goin' on. I'm sure that's good for something."
Giles rubbed his temple. "Ladies. Please."
*
"This is boring as hell, G-man," Faith complained. The three were in a hotel room, surrounded by books, newspapers and empty take-out containers. Giles had a laptop set up on the tiny table in the corner of the room and was scouring the wire services for reports that might indicate the identity of new slayers.
"It does seem rather inefficient," Anya agreed. "Wouldn't it be better if we located these girls before they made the news?"
Giles sighed. It was obvious that being cooped up with Anya and Faith was trying his patience. "That would be ideal, yes," he agreed. "However, short of knocking on the door of every young woman in the appropriate age range and asking if anything unusual was happening, this is our best resource."
"Couldn't we, you know, go to places where those girls are likely to hang out?" Faith suggested. "Me and An are the right age to buddy up to some of them, maybe find out some local gossip."
Anya and Faith both looked far too excited about the prospect of actually going out and doing something. Giles realized that having them leave would also be beneficial for his sanity. "Very well," he agreed. "You two may go out this evening to some of the popular hangouts for the younger set."
*
"Giles looked awfully pale when we left," Anya remarked, as she and Faith joined the long queue of young women in short dresses and reeking of desperation. "I hope he's not coming down with something."
Faith laughed. "I think that was because of how we're dressed." She smoothed down the skirt of her very short, backless red dress. "Giles may be old, but he ain't dead. And it makes him all twitchy when he realizes how hot we are."
Anya considered that, admiring her own gold sheath dress in the mirrored side of the building. "Giles is hot, in that stuffy, British way of his."
"Ew," Faith said. "He's old enough to be my father."
"I'm over a thousand years old," Anya reminded her. "All humans are infants to me."
"But you almost married the Xan Man," Faith pointed out. "How can you go from liking that to thinking Giles is hot?"
Anya shrugged. "I'm not planning to bed or wed him. I merely pointed out that he is an attractive man."
*
The sea of scantily clad, half-drunk young women in the club, the young men plying them with drinks in hope of scoring later, and the pulsing techno music made it nearly impossible for Faith and Anya to learn anything useful. They stood at the bar and found themselves as the recipients of more than a few free drinks.
"This was a good idea," Anya shouted over the music.
Faith grinned and took another pull from her beer. "Hell yeah it was," she replied. "I was going to go up the wall if I hadn't gotten out of that room for a night."
"We should dance," Anya suggested.
Before they got a chance to move to the dance floor, a scuffle broke out at the other end of the bar. Exchanging a glance, they pushed through the crowd to find a young, blonde in black jeans and a pink halter top holding a guy's wrist. Said guy was about a foot taller than her, had at least one hundred pounds on her and was whimpering in agony.
"I told you not to touch me," the girl said.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the guy repeated. "Just... let me go. I think you broke my wrist."
Anya noticed a couple of burly men wearing shirts emblazoned with "Security" making their way over to the bar. "We should get her out of here," Anya said, leaning close so only Faith would hear her words.
Faith nodded and grabbed the girl's arm, leaning in to whisper furiously in her ear. A myriad of expressions played over her face, but within moments, she was wending her way through the crowd between Faith and Anya.
The trio slipped out a back door and down the alley to join the bar-hopping crowds on the street.
*
Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes after listening to the story the three girls shared with him.
"Well, I suppose all's well that ends well," he said. "Melissa, it's a good thing that Faith and Anya were there and able to remove you from the situation before it escalated to include the authorities."
"So now what?" Melissa asked. She was sitting on a chair and looked wary, even after listening to all of Giles and Faith's explanations and seeing Faith demonstrate her Slayer abilities. "Am I supposed to go out and start killing vampires and demons? I didn't even know they existed until twenty minutes ago."
"Now you'll undergo Slayer training," Giles explained. "You are not alone. There are hundreds of other young girls like you, dealing with these new-found abilities and destiny. We'll be here to help you."
Melissa nodded. "Can I go home at least?"
"Of course," Giles said. "Pack a bag and come back to join us. You can assist us with finding the others in this area and then we'll all meet up so Slayer training can begin."
After the girl left, Faith sprawled out on the bed she was sharing with Anya. "Good work, G," she said. "You explained the whole Slayer thing without completely freaking her out."
"I do have some experience with these matters, Faith," Giles reminded her, his tone dry.
Anya exited the bathroom in a short nightgown, toweling her hair dry. "Can we go out again tomorrow night, Giles?"
"We shall see."
~fin~
Author: Jen - tinylegacies
Rating: PG13
Warnings: None
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Characters: Giles, Anya and Faith with a small appearance by Xander
Recipient: yviwriting
Prompt: AU where Anya survived. Anya, Faith and Giles go to England to search for Slayers.
Spoilers: Through the end of S7
Summary: Anya and Faith have different ideas on how to accomplish their goals than Giles.
Author's Notes: Love and thanks to kajivar for the beta! Any remaining mistakes are my own. Extra love and kisses to havocthecat for the title!
"I don't like this."
"Yes, Xander, you've made that quite clear," Giles said, cleaning his glasses again. "Unfortunately, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and right now, there are many young girls we need to find all over the globe. In order to do that most efficiently, we need to divide our resources. I need Anya and Faith with me in England."
The unspoken "so I can keep an eye on them" was heavily implied in his tone.
"So you're sending me off to Africa alone," Xander said.
"Xander, you won't be alone," Anya reminded him. "You'll have Andrew. And it's only temporary. We'll all be together in England in a few months."
Xander rolled his eyes and huffed.
*
"England has certainly changed since I was last here," Anya observed. She stood on the sidewalk outside of their hotel while Giles and Faith struggled with getting their bags out of the taxi cab that had brought them here from the airport. Cars were lining up behind the taxi; drivers impatiently honking their horns. "All the cars. All the noise. It wasn't like this when I was here last. Of course, that was sometime in the eighteen hundreds, so cars didn't exist."
"Anya," Giles said, his voice sharp. "Would you kindly help us with the bags? And refrain from discussing inappropriate topics in public?"
Anya snapped out of her reverie. "I'm not the one with Slayer strength."
"C'mon, A, don't give me that," Faith said. "You've got that whole ex-demon thing goin' on. I'm sure that's good for something."
Giles rubbed his temple. "Ladies. Please."
*
"This is boring as hell, G-man," Faith complained. The three were in a hotel room, surrounded by books, newspapers and empty take-out containers. Giles had a laptop set up on the tiny table in the corner of the room and was scouring the wire services for reports that might indicate the identity of new slayers.
"It does seem rather inefficient," Anya agreed. "Wouldn't it be better if we located these girls before they made the news?"
Giles sighed. It was obvious that being cooped up with Anya and Faith was trying his patience. "That would be ideal, yes," he agreed. "However, short of knocking on the door of every young woman in the appropriate age range and asking if anything unusual was happening, this is our best resource."
"Couldn't we, you know, go to places where those girls are likely to hang out?" Faith suggested. "Me and An are the right age to buddy up to some of them, maybe find out some local gossip."
Anya and Faith both looked far too excited about the prospect of actually going out and doing something. Giles realized that having them leave would also be beneficial for his sanity. "Very well," he agreed. "You two may go out this evening to some of the popular hangouts for the younger set."
*
"Giles looked awfully pale when we left," Anya remarked, as she and Faith joined the long queue of young women in short dresses and reeking of desperation. "I hope he's not coming down with something."
Faith laughed. "I think that was because of how we're dressed." She smoothed down the skirt of her very short, backless red dress. "Giles may be old, but he ain't dead. And it makes him all twitchy when he realizes how hot we are."
Anya considered that, admiring her own gold sheath dress in the mirrored side of the building. "Giles is hot, in that stuffy, British way of his."
"Ew," Faith said. "He's old enough to be my father."
"I'm over a thousand years old," Anya reminded her. "All humans are infants to me."
"But you almost married the Xan Man," Faith pointed out. "How can you go from liking that to thinking Giles is hot?"
Anya shrugged. "I'm not planning to bed or wed him. I merely pointed out that he is an attractive man."
*
The sea of scantily clad, half-drunk young women in the club, the young men plying them with drinks in hope of scoring later, and the pulsing techno music made it nearly impossible for Faith and Anya to learn anything useful. They stood at the bar and found themselves as the recipients of more than a few free drinks.
"This was a good idea," Anya shouted over the music.
Faith grinned and took another pull from her beer. "Hell yeah it was," she replied. "I was going to go up the wall if I hadn't gotten out of that room for a night."
"We should dance," Anya suggested.
Before they got a chance to move to the dance floor, a scuffle broke out at the other end of the bar. Exchanging a glance, they pushed through the crowd to find a young, blonde in black jeans and a pink halter top holding a guy's wrist. Said guy was about a foot taller than her, had at least one hundred pounds on her and was whimpering in agony.
"I told you not to touch me," the girl said.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the guy repeated. "Just... let me go. I think you broke my wrist."
Anya noticed a couple of burly men wearing shirts emblazoned with "Security" making their way over to the bar. "We should get her out of here," Anya said, leaning close so only Faith would hear her words.
Faith nodded and grabbed the girl's arm, leaning in to whisper furiously in her ear. A myriad of expressions played over her face, but within moments, she was wending her way through the crowd between Faith and Anya.
The trio slipped out a back door and down the alley to join the bar-hopping crowds on the street.
*
Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes after listening to the story the three girls shared with him.
"Well, I suppose all's well that ends well," he said. "Melissa, it's a good thing that Faith and Anya were there and able to remove you from the situation before it escalated to include the authorities."
"So now what?" Melissa asked. She was sitting on a chair and looked wary, even after listening to all of Giles and Faith's explanations and seeing Faith demonstrate her Slayer abilities. "Am I supposed to go out and start killing vampires and demons? I didn't even know they existed until twenty minutes ago."
"Now you'll undergo Slayer training," Giles explained. "You are not alone. There are hundreds of other young girls like you, dealing with these new-found abilities and destiny. We'll be here to help you."
Melissa nodded. "Can I go home at least?"
"Of course," Giles said. "Pack a bag and come back to join us. You can assist us with finding the others in this area and then we'll all meet up so Slayer training can begin."
After the girl left, Faith sprawled out on the bed she was sharing with Anya. "Good work, G," she said. "You explained the whole Slayer thing without completely freaking her out."
"I do have some experience with these matters, Faith," Giles reminded her, his tone dry.
Anya exited the bathroom in a short nightgown, toweling her hair dry. "Can we go out again tomorrow night, Giles?"
"We shall see."
~fin~