Duty Or Destiny - (15) Secrets Revealed - Part 2

by Tasha

Chapter Summary: Buffy, Spike and Giles deal with the aftermath of the two phone calls that were received earlier in the morning. Buffy left Giles' house to get back to her house to let her Mom know she was okay. Giles and Spike had a brief chat to settle themselves about each other for now. Giles works to gather the Scoobies to his house, but a revelation from Willow has him rushing out to her house. Buffy and Joyce have a chat about current events and some past events in Los Angeles.

Disclaimer and Distribution notes are listed on the Index page of this story.

"Hello, Harris residence. If you bring em, we'll drink em," Xander's voice chirped over the phone with latent sarcasm.

"Xander, it's Rupert Giles."

"What's up, G-Man?"

Giles seethed on his end of the phone call. He hated the blasted nicknames that Xander came up with for him. "Nothing good, I'm afraid."

"What's the what?"

"I need you to come to my house for a meeting in one hour. Do you still have the address I gave to you before?"

"Sure do. I'll pick up snacks on the way. Bad meetings always lead to munchie cravings."

"That's fine. Oh, and if you happen to see Angel, don't invite him into your house for any reason."

"It's the middle of the morning, man. Last time I checked that was beddy bye time for vamps."

Giles rolled his eyes. "Thank you for that obvious statement concerning vampire sleeping habits. Not all vampires are traditionalists." He didn't look at the vampire on his couch, even though he was partially referring to him. He was beginning to wonder just how much of an exception to the general vampire rule Spike was.

"Sheesh, don't get all grumpy on me, G-Man. Chill out. What side of the bed did you get up on anyways?"

"Please just be here in an hour." Giles already wanted to cuff Xander in the back of the head. Maybe he shouldn't have invited him. Better yet, maybe he shouldn't have warned Xander about Angelus. Perhaps the unsouled vampire would enjoy a nice Xander sized snack for a treat. The moment he thought that, he chastised himself for being so heartless.

"All right man. I'll be there." Xander hung up the phone unaware of Giles' thoughts and annoyances. He stared at the phone. "He sure was grumpy today, but if the badness is Angel related I am going to have my 'I told you so' all set and ready to go."

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"That sounded enjoyable." Spike snarked sarcastically.

"As much as having my wisdom teeth pulled out again," Giles replied. While Giles' fingers dialed another set of numbers, the semi-paralyzed vampire snickered in the background.

"You are enjoying my discomfort far too much, Spike."

"Hello?" Willow answered the phone with a shaky voice a couple seconds after Giles spoke to Spike. The caller ID said R G, and she was pretty sure that stood for Rupert Giles. Ever since her mom told her about Mrs. Summers' call, she'd been worried about Buffy. She'd been standing by the phone and contemplating calling Giles for the last hour.

"Hello, Willow."

"Hello Giles. Something's wrong with Buffy, isn't there?"

"Why do you think that?" Giles wondered what had already happened to Willow with Angelus on the loose.

"Buffy's mom called here a little while ago. She was looking for Buffy. Buffy isn't here or at her home, and now you are calling me on a Saturday."

"Buffy is doing fine right now, but I need you to be at my house in an hour for a meeting."

"Oh. Okay." Willow was confused, but she was glad Buffy was all right.

"If you see Angel before then, don't invite him in. Make sure to carry a cross with you as well."

Giles knew vampires weren't likely to travel during the day, but he wanted to do his best to keep Willow on her guard. If he didn't say something, and she was killed by Angelus on the way, he would feel terribly guilty.

"But … But he already has an invite," Willow stuttered in a panic.

"Stay there. I'll be right over to take care of it." Giles wondered why Willow invited Angel into her house. "Will your mother be at home?" He started working on what kind of excuse he could come up with for his presence.

"She's already left with my father for a conference trip. She was on her way out the door when Buffy's mom called."

"That's perfect." Giles was already gathering the book and supplies needed for the spell. "I should be there in 15 minutes with a spell to disinvite him."

"You're scaring me, Giles. You make it sound so bad."

"It is, Willow. Lock the doors and windows until I arrive."

"Okay, Giles." Willow hung up the phone on her end with a trembling hand.

On Giles' end, he bustled about to gather the rest of the ingredients he needed for the spell.

"Problem?" Spike tried to ask nonchalantly. "It sounded like Angelus had an invite into one of the Slayer's friend's houses."

"That would be correct, Spike." Giles tied off two different pouches of herbs. "At some point Willow invited Angel into her home. I feel it is best to take care of the disinvite spell right away."

"Are you going to take enough to swing by the Slayer's house on the way back?"

"Buffy needs the time with her mother. I don't want to interrupt that." Giles stowed the spell book in his satchel, in a different section from the herbs.

"Bollocks," Spike snorted. "You don't want to face her fury yet."

Giles frowned. "Be that as it may, everyone from Buffy's house will be here for the meeting. We can safely wait until afterwards to do the spell."

"Make sure the Slayer does a sweep of her house before the spell is cast."

"Why?"

"Because any vampires in the house when the spell is performed keep their access."

"How inconvenient!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "It would be mighty interesting to watch what happened otherwise."

"Do you enjoy being contrary, Spike?"

"It's all part of my charm, Watcher."

Giles didn't dignify Spike with a retort. "I should be back before the hour is up. Xander's always late anyways, but I'll leave the door unlocked for Buffy and Mrs. Summers."

"All right. I think I'll try to catch a bit of kip before I'm overrun with White Hatters."

Giles shut the door behind him with a laugh and the parting comment, "Protecting Buffy's friends and family puts you on the road to white hat hood, Spike."

"Bugger." Spike realized that there were some truths in Giles' observation. It stuck under his craw at the thought of being called a goody goody. He smirked. 'Helpful or not, they'll never take all the naughty out of the Big Bad.'

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Joyce couldn't decide if she was going into the gallery for a while or not. She had a couple new shipments to inventory, but she didn't want to leave the house in case Buffy got home or Giles called. 'Or if I'm wrong about Rupert Giles, the police might show up on my doorstep.' She mentally debated back and forth with herself before she reached a decision. She needed to stay home. Buffy was much more important than anything else.

Joyce called the gallery to let her employees know she was taking the day off. The employees were shocked, but they agreed to keep her informed of any problems. She hung up the phone, walked into the kitchen to retrieve her cup of coffee, and sat down on the couch in the living room to gather her thoughts.

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Buffy raced along the streets of Sunnydale between Giles' place and her house on Revello Drive. Her Slayer speed was slowed down by the number of citizens up and about that morning. She sighed in frustration and thought, 'I swear everyone decided to loiter in the streets today.' She ducked around another corner with a burst of Slayer speed when the coast was clear of observers.

Buffy rushed into the Summers' house. She pushed the door open with more force than she'd intended, and the front door bounced off the wall and back closed behind Buffy. "MOM!" She called out.

Joyce screamed, and her coffee cup went flying in the air. The noise startled her out of her quiet misery of contemplation.

Buffy caught the coffee mug mid-air. Hot coffee sloshed over the edges, but she managed to save a good portion of the coffee from spilling onto her mother. She barely managed to set the mug on the table before Joyce Summers pounced.

"Buffy!" Joyce jumped up. She wrapped her arms around Buffy tightly enough that breathing would have been an issue for a normal girl.

"I'm okay, Mommy. I'm so sorry." Buffy buried her face in her mother's shoulder.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to wake up without you here again?" Joyce cried softly and rocked Buffy back and forth in her arms.

"I heard your message on Giles' machine." Buffy looked up at her mother with her own tears shining in her eyes. "How did you know? How long?"

"Since Parent-Teacher night." Joyce ran trembling hands down the back of Buffy's head. "I suspected something then, and I tried to figure it all out on my own."

"Why didn't you ask me, Mom?" Buffy felt a huge weight lift off her very soul.

"I was trying to wait for you to tell me." Joyce looked lovingly down at her daughter. "It broke my heart when I heard you talking about career day in your room, but I hoped you would come to me when you were ready."

"It was supposed to be a secret. Spike told me that I should tell you, but I was scared of what you would think."

"Nothing could be worse than not knowing where to call to try and find out if you were alive or dead today." Joyce mentally wondered who Spike was, but she reserved that question for another time.

"How did you figure out Giles?"

"You've brought his name up a few times as an excuse for staying after school." Joyce led Buffy over to the couch. "I hoped that I was right about him being a part of this. I know that one of the books I read said that every Slayer was assigned a Watcher from something called the Council. You are the Slayer, right?"

"Yes, I am the Slayer." Buffy smiled warmly.

"Good. Well, not good that you are out there having to fight all the time, but good that Mr. Giles won't think that I'm crazy."

"He definitely doesn't think you're crazy, but I still think he's scared to meet you."

"As he should be. He's responsible for sending you out night after night knowing that each fight could be your last." Some of Joyce's initial fear and worries over Buffy's absence that morning had passed. Now she was getting worked up for a good vent.

"Giles didn't choose me, and he does try to protect me when he can. He doesn't just stand there and give orders like some of the Watchers I've read about."

"That's a good thing dear, but it doesn't change the fact that his job is to send my daughter to her death on a daily basis."

"Mom, even if I didn't have a Watcher, the demons would still come after me." Buffy tried to help her mom understand that her calling wasn't Giles' fault. She really wanted her mom to like Giles, not hate him. "If the Council really got to choose who came next, I doubt I would have been on their list. Even Giles gets frustrated with my moods and tactics, and he's been pretty understanding overall."

"That's another thing I don't like." Joyce was on a roll now. With Buffy's Slayer status confirmed and out in the open, the floodgates to Joyce's questions and thoughts were flowing freely. "What right does that group called the Council have to dictate just what beings are worthy of living or dying? Do they even realize that some of the beings they kill are harmless?"

"Whoa there, Mom." Buffy shivered. The fiery look in her mother's eyes was a little bit scary. She wondered if it was the same look her mom gave Spike when she'd clobbered him with the axe in the back of the head. If it was, then she knew why Spike was a bit worried to meet her mom again. "I totally agree with you about the Council not being all right, but where did you find out about all of this in the first place? You seem to know an awful lot about something pretty secretive."

"There is a lot out there that the Council probably hopes their Slayers never notice or find out about." Joyce rose from the couch. At some point during the hugfest, the two women had managed to sit down. "I have something in my room that I need to get to show you."

"No!" Buffy's hand gripped Joyce's wrist tightly. "I'm not crazy. Please don't call them again." She was afraid to let her mother leave her side. Memories she'd been able to repress for 2 years threatened to resurface. Memories of a similar time when her mother and father had placated her during a similar discussion, only to leave the room and call a mental institution to have her admitted.

"Oh baby, I'd never … not again …" Joyce dropped to her knees next to the couch to comfort Buffy. "We were so wrong, and I can never apologize enough for doing that to you." She hung her head and shook it back and forth. "I hate to think that if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes that I would still be so wrong about you."

"I don't completely blame you, Mom. Vampires and demons being real does sound like something out of a crazy science fiction B movie." Buffy sighed. "I was a good kid before I burnt down the gym. I don't know why you and dad thought that all of a sudden I would go from popular cheerleader to arsonist in one week."

"Looking back on those last months in Los Angeles, I don't know how we missed all of the changes." Joyce squeezed Buffy's hand in comfort. "When we saw you with Pike we assumed that he was the reason you went into rebel mode."

A dawning realization came over Buffy. "You sent Pike away, didn't you?" She sniffled.

"Yes, honey, we did. Your father threatened to call the police if he came around anymore." Joyce was ashamed of her ignorance, but she also knew that at the time she was just trying to protect her daughter. "We caught him sneaking into the hospital to see you when he thought we weren't there."

Buffy cried, more out of relief than grief. "He didn't leave me because of my calling. A vampire didn't kill him?"

"No, your father followed him out of town to be sure that he left."

"I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that."

"Will you be all right for a couple minutes? I really should get those books from my bedroom." Joyce wanted to reassure her daughter that she'd be back, but she wanted to fetch the books that she'd been reading. She needed to show Buffy where her knowledge came from.

"Yeah, I'm good. Go ahead." Buffy wiped her damp cheek with the back of her hand. "After that, we really need to get to Giles' place. Some bad and good stuff has happened that all of us need to talk about."

"All right, dear." Joyce stood up. "Let me pack the books into a bag, and we can leave."

"I need to stop off to pick something up for a … well the simplest term would be boyfriend, but I need you to promise not to ask me questions about him until we get to Giles."

Joyce's hands rested on her hips, a look every bit like her daughter when standing firm on something, and raised her brow. "You honestly expect me not to ask questions after a statement like that?"

"Please, Mom," Buffy's voice held a begging note to it. "A lot of things won't make sense unless you see us together and hear the whole story at once with the gang."

"Don't think that you are always going to get away with statements like that, Buffy, but this time I'll let it go." Joyce headed up the stairs to her bedroom. 10 minutes later, the books were packed into a leather satchel, and she was ready to leave.

Buffy made sure all of the windows and doors were locked before they left. She knew Giles needed to perform the disinvite spell later, but she wasn't leaving her house wide open for even easier access. With the front door secure, the two Summers' women stepped into the sun and finally into Joyce's car.

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Xander hummed a quirky tune. The paper bag of various teenage favorite snacks was full to the brim. He knocked on the door to Giles' place. After a couple minutes without an answer, he wiggled the doorknob. He shrugged when the door opened with ease. 'He must be upstairs or something.' He walked through the main room to the breakfast nook counter.

While Xander unloaded the various munchies and sugary treats from his bag, a deep growling moan from behind him caught his attention. He slowly turned around and crept back across the room to the living room couch. The closer he got to the couch the more he could see of the creature lying on it.

The shock of seeing a full head of bleach blonde hair had Xander squealing in fright. "Spike!" He jumped back from the couch and frantically searched the room for a stake.

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