The Two
by acs
Smoothing the Edges
[reviews]
TITLE: The Two (7/24)
AUTHOR: -Andy- (see2go4me@yahoo.com)
RATING: R (For future violence and Adult situations) - (though Parts 1 thru 12 just barely make it to a PG-13)
DISCLAIMER: This is a derivative work. All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. I don't own any of this, just the words and plot.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
[1] Feedback is always welcome, preferably the kind that improves my writing.
[1] [Revised:11-Dec-2005][Minor Revision: 24-Jan-2006]
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Chapter VII: "Smoothing the Edges"
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Two weeks into her stay in Sunnydale and Buffy's days had settled down into a simple routine. After her morning run, she would spend at least an hour taking advantage of her open invitation to use the coven's smaller training room. When she'd finished there she would take a few minutes to browse through the books in the coven's small public library, hunting for some clue that would tell her how far from home she really was and looking for some idea on how to get back.
So far she'd found nothing solid, just very vague references to inter-dimensional travel. It was an amazing library, containing information about many unusual occult topics but it just didn't have the depth of even the Council's small research library in Cleveland.
Afternoons were spent working at the bookshop where she manned the counter and did odd jobs; the musty smell of the used books oddly soothing. Madeline had given her free reign to browse through the small collection of occult books she kept in the back for special customers. But so far she'd found nothing there either. She'd always had help in the past and it was starting to look like she just wasn't familiar enough with the things she needed to know to figure it out on her own. She wasn't quite ready to ask anyone for help but it was starting to feel like she would have to eventually if she ever planned to get home.
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With only a radio to keep her company in the evenings, Buffy found herself spending several hours a night at Tony's Blues Pub, the bar she'd discovered when she'd first arrived. The music and the presence of other people filled a need she hadn't known she'd had.
And even though the music wasn't something you could really dance to and the energy in the room was a lot more subtle than what she'd become familiar with when she'd been younger, she found herself spending a lot of time there just basking in the calmness it made her feel.
Her brief interactions with the slayer and her Guide, and the bookshop's occasional customer weren't enough to make her really feel part of the world she was now living in. There were still times when she felt like she was observing things from a distance. But more often than not, the sounds of people talking over the backdrop of music that seemed to echo in her heart, sometimes raw and other times soft and soothing, gave Buffy a faint feeling of being grounded.
She still felt the same desire to burn as much energy as possible that had driven her when she first became a slayer, but there was something about the bar that smoothed the tattered edges of her control over it.
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It was becoming a regular part of her day; Dawn spending lunch in her office complaining about Buffy Summers. First it had been about her use of Dawn's training room, now she was upset at being followed around while patrolling. Willow wasn't sure why the woman was taking a personal interest in her slayer when she'd claimed to have no desire to get involved but it was swiftly becoming an annoying situation.
"I know she's following me around!" Dawn said. "I can feel her. It's freaky!"
"Why don't you ask her to stop if it bothers you?" Willow asked curiously.
"Because I never see her! If I could I would!" she whined. "I don't want a babysitter. I can take care of myself."
"She isn't doing it just to annoy you." Willow said lightly.
"How do you know? She isn't stalking you!"
"No she isn't." Willow frowned. "There must be a reason. Why don't you ask her how she's doing it? Maybe you could learn something from her?"
"How do I do that? She's using my training room when I'm in school. In fact she's probably there right now!" Dawn grumbled. "And then she disappears until I go patrolling."
"She isn't disappearing." Willow tried to reassure her. "She must have found a job somewhere."
"You don't know that. She's probably rich and spends her days shopping while she waits until she can follow me around."
"No, I don't really know what she spends her days doing." Willow agreed. "But I'm sure it's something harmless."
"There's nothing harmless about that woman!" Dawn said. "Harmless people don't stalk slayers!"
Any further discussion was interrupted by the school bell.
"Why don't you head to your next class. We can talk about this more tonight." Willow said. "And Dawn..."
"Yes, Ms. Rosenberg?"
"I'll be late getting to the house after school today. I have to run a few errands. You can get started without me."
"Okay." Dawn answered. "See you later."
Willow watched her bounce out of the room, once more an almost normal teenager, relieved that all it took most days for Dawn to calm down was a sympathetic ear. At least her slayer didn't require physical activity to do that like some other slayers, the Boston slayer she'd met a few years ago being one rather extreme example.
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Tony's was quickly becoming her preferred place to spend her evenings. She could just sit there and listen to the music and think about her day and contemplate the future as she sipped a glass of whatever was on tap that night.
It was the color that first caught her eye. She didn't much like beer and she was looking for something new to drink that didn't remind her of her past. Gazing at the top shelf she saw a bottle of some yellow liquid, almost amber like. Catching the bartender's eye she pointed it out, asking for a shot. He brought the bottle over, set a small glass filled with ice in front over her, and poured a shot into it while she watched. She raised an eyebrow at this and asked the simple "Why?"
"This isn't something you can drink quickly. It needs to be savored. To be enjoyed slowly. Like the Blues and all other good things in life."
"Is there really ever time to savor life?" She asked, not expecting an answer.
"Of course." He smiled at her. "And you must think so also or you would be down the street at one of those places where the music doesn't have a heart."
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes. The people who come in here need something they can't get 'out there'" He gestured towards the door. "Even if they don't know it." After saying this he wandered away, leaving her to her thoughts.
That was her introduction to both Tony Denova, Blues fanatic and bar owner; and Yukon Jack, a liqueur that temporarily smoothed the aches in her heart, giving her a brief warm inner feeling without reminding her of the past.
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She'd been waiting for the books for almost two months. While they weren't exactly rare they also weren't something she could get from her usual sources. Books of this type almost never showed up on any of the online auction sites like eBay, even the ones that specialized in hard to find mystical objects.
Willow wasn't sure why she was hurrying. Madeline had found the books specifically for her so it wasn't as if she would turn around and sell them to someone else.
She rushed into the bookshop. Finding the counter empty, she called out loudly "Madeline?"
"She's not here this afternoon." an almost familiar female voice quietly answered. "Can I help you?"
Turning around towards the voice, Willow found herself facing one of the last people she would have expected to see in a bookstore. Standing between several shelves, illuminated by the fading sun and holding several large books, was Buffy Summers, gazing at her curiously.
"Yes..." she said hesitantly. "Madeline left me a message this morning about some books I'd ordered."
"She didn't say anything before she left." Buffy told her. "Let me check in the back."
"Thanks." Willow watched her closely as she went around the counter into the back. The way Buffy seemed to move with silent precision reminded her of something but she couldn't quite place it.
After a few minutes she returned, carrying three books and reading a note. Placing the books on the counter, Buffy asked her "I just need to know if this is a personal purchase or if you wanted to put them on the coven's account? Madeline said it's your choice." she said waving the note.
"They can go on the account." Willow said, nodding at her. "Thanks."
"Great." She gave Willow a quick smile.
Willow watched her look at the titles and write something in a small book she'd taken out of a small drawer. Now that she'd gotten over her surprise at seeing Buffy in the shop, her appearance there seemed somehow appropriate, her dust smudged cheek adding to the image.
"Does the coven have a private library?" Buffy asked curiously. "These aren't the kinds of books I've seen in the coven's public library."
"No. Not really. I have a small collection of books in my apartment that Dawn uses." she shrugged. "Other than that, what you see is what we have."
"Oh."
"Have you been working for Madeline for long?"
"Just over a week." Buffy answer with a shrug. "She needed help in the afternoon and I needed a job."
"So you know a lot about books?" Willow asked curiously, trying to watch her without appearing to stare.
"I spent a lot of time around old books when I was growing up. But mostly just reading them. This is a completely different thing but I'm learning." She smiled at Willow.
"Oh." she said, watching Buffy wrap up the books in the brown paper Madeline preferred to plastic bags, insisting they were better for the books.
"Here you go." Buffy smiled at Willow again as she handed her the books.
"Thanks." Willow hesitated for a moment before continuing. "When do you finish for the day?"
"Usually around seven? Why?"
"Would you be interested in joining me for a drink some evening?" Willow asked nervously. "Not a date or anything. Just to talk?"
"Sure. Though if you want to talk you don't have to do anything special. I usually grab something to eat right after work and then most nights I'm at Tony's down on Wilson Street." She shrugged indifferently. "You're welcome to join me any time."
"Oh... okay. I might do that." Not sure what else to say, Willow looked at her watch, staring in surprise at the time. "Yikes! I've got to go. Bye!"
Buffy called out a goodbye to her as she hurried out the door.
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Several days after their encounter in the bookshop, Buffy was mildly surprised at the sight of an obviously nervous Willow in the mirror behind the bar as she walked into Tony's. She really hadn't expected her to show up. Especially on a Friday evening. While Tony's clientele never seemed to change, no matter what the day, she was sure Willow would rather spend a Friday night somewhere else. Somewhere with dancing or other people her age. Not the mostly older crowd that congregated at Tony's.
"Shouldn't you be out dancing or something?" Buffy asked her as Willow slipped quietly onto the empty bar stool next to her. "There must be dozens of people who aren't having fun because you are here and not there." The dim light in the bar did little to hide Willow's slight blush at the comment from her enhanced eyesight.
"I can't sit here and enjoy the live music on a Friday night?" Willow asked her after a minute of silence.
"Sure." Buffy replied. "I'm just surprised. Let me get you something to drink." She raised an eyebrow in question.
"Thanks. A glass of whatever chablis Tony has this week."
"You know Tony?" Buffy asked her before waving him over.
"Not real well, but his sister is one of the original members of the coven." she shrugged. "I think he came to Sunnydale when she did."
"Really? Are there a lot of families in Sunnydale related to someone in the coven?"
"No, just a few. Families that have had something to do with one of the covens in the past do seem to gravitate to one of the towns they are in but it's nothing intentional."
"You've checked into it." Buffy smiled as she stated this, amused at finding something shared by her old friend and this Willow. Curiosity was apparently a multi-dimensional Willow trait. And a willingness to share what she'd learned was another.
Before she could answer, Tony was standing there looking at Buffy expectantly. "What can I get you and Miss Rosenberg?"
"Tony, if you could get me another," she gestured to her glass, "and Willow would like a glass of chablis. Thanks." She then motioned for Willow to continue.
"I was curious. When I first began working with Dawn I checked the coven records. I knew that her family had some connection to the covens, her mother mentioned it once." Buffy nodded. "I just had to dig for it. But I was surprised at what I found."
Tony once again interrupted their conversation. "Here you go Buffy, Miss Rosenberg."
"How'd you do that?" Willow asked her in surprise.
"Do what?"
"Get him to call you by your first name? I've known him for almost ten years and he still won't do that." Willow sighed.
"Oh, that." She grinned. "He's been trying to convince me to work for him. Someone told him he'd attract more business if he had young women tending bar and I'm the only person to come in here on a regular basis who fits that qualification. So he asked me. I said I would think about it."
"Oh." Willow took a sip of her drink. "Where was I?"
"You were going to tell me something about Dawn's family tree and the coven." Buffy encouraged her. She wasn't sure how long Willow would be so free with such information but she was willing to take advantage of it.
"Well," she took another sip from her glass, "a long time ago someone decided to start keeping track of not just slayers but their families as well. Magical ability is usually hereditary so the covens have kept track of coven families for as long as anyone can remember. If you look at both sets of records... there have been a dozen slayers in the last five hundred years from families with ties to the covens. It seems to skip a generation or two but there is a connection."
"How does that relate to Dawn?" Buffy asked curiously, wondering if the Council in her world had ever noticed such a connection.
"She's one of the rare ones. I haven't figured out what it is but there's something special about her family. She's the fourth known slayer in her family since we started keeping records. And there have been a half dozen slayer Guides from her family also, something none of the other slayers with coven ties have."
"Does she know this?"
"No. She's still adjusting to being a slayer." Willow stared at her glass for a minute in thought. "I don't think she's ready to know something like that. I'll tell her when she's settled down a bit."
"What about the other thing you mentioned." Buffy thought for a moment. "People in the town having ties to the coven?"
"That? That was the curious part. I wondered how Dawn's family ended up in Sunnydale and I also noticed a few uncommon surnames in coven records that matched the names of a few families in the area. Ones that had no direct ties to the coven." Noticing Buffy's obvious interest she continued. "So I started tracking them down and noticed that there are seven families that seem to end up in the same towns as covens with active slayers. And someone from one of those families usually ends up joining the coven once it has settled in a town."
"Do you think it is intentional?" Buffy asked. "Are they following the covens around?"
"I think something is influencing these families to move around like that. But as far as I can tell they aren't aware of it."
"How did you reach that conclusion?"
"Well..." she shifted nervously. "The families normally move to one of these towns a decade or so before the coven. And one of those families is mine. If it was intentional I think someone in my family would have mentioned it."
"Oh." Buffy looked at her in surprise. "Does the coven know about this?"
"They know I'm working on a more reliable way to find potential slayers." Willow told her. "They don't know the details yet."
"Really? How do you find them now?" Buffy asked. She'd always wondered how the Council had done it before her Willow's spell changed everything.
"There's a spell used by the oldest coven that they do every year the day after the Summer Solstice. But it doesn't tell us exactly where to find the person who will become the slayer." Willow frowned. "We can narrow it down to three places where there's a potential slayer."
"What happens then?"
"If there isn't a coven already nearby the closest established covens get together and select people to start a coven in the town nearest to where the spells say there is a potential slayer. It doesn't happen very often. There never seems to be more than three out there at a time."
"Huh." Buffy thought about this for a moment. "Probably because your slayers live so long. You don't need to replace them that often."
"It's a thought. But the whole thing is still a mystery." She noticed she'd finished her glass of wine while they'd been talking. "I should probably get going. I have to get up early tomorrow."
"Just a minute. I'll walk you home." Buffy waved at Tony and put some money down next to her glass before getting down off of her bar stool.
"You don't have to do that." Willow protested.
"I'll walk you home." Buffy insisted with a smile and guided her out of the door.
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Willow noticed that Buffy seemed to be really deep in thought as they stopped in front of the coven house. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing much. I really enjoyed talking with you tonight."
"So did I. Talking with you I mean." Willow blushed. "We should do it again."
"Great!" Buffy smiled at her. She looked at her watch. "I'll let you get inside."
From the porch Willow watched her stroll away until she was out of sight, wishing she'd had the courage to invite her in, before heading up to her apartment.
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Continued in "Training Day"
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