Deciding
The whole group sat in silence after Max had finished her story. They contemplated all the information she’d related. Turning it over slowly in their minds. Seeing how it related to their own. For Buffy, she could empathize with Max. She was the Chosen One, destined to die, death was her gift. And she’d proved it many times. She’d also sacrificed herself to save the people she loved. And she knew what it had been like to be forced to be away from the one person she loved most. And like Max, she had a family that she loved and would do anything to protect.
Spike centered mostly on one thing. The Initiative. They’d captured him as a vampire and performed experiments on him. Ultimately, they’d leashed him and all his abilities. Turning him into a vestige of his former self, until he was forced to rely on others to save him. He’d been caged. And that’s what Max was. Caged in physical terms as a child, and caged as an adult. He could easily see how she’d have to hide herself from the world, never able to reveal what she was, lest she was thrown back in the cage, or worse, killed.
Angel was hurting worst of all, having a connection with Max as he did. He knew what it was like to be a danger to someone he loved. At least he’d been able to touch Buffy. To hold her in his arms, even if it was heartbreaking to stop. It was endurable. That was what bothered him most for Max’s sake. The utter aloneness in her. He recognized it immediately. He’d suffered it as well. Finally, Buffy spoke, breaking the silence with an important question.
"So, do you think you were sent back in time to prevent something from happening?" she asked the other woman. Max sighed and shook her head. She addressed Angel.
"Do you remember that little trip I went on?" she asked. He nodded. "Well, I went to Wyoming. Back to where Manticore should have been. It wasn’t there. It’s all farmland. I did a lot of searching, for various things. I was able to find out that Lydecker was dead; there’s no Cale family business. Hannah Sukova is in Europe and she’s not even a doctor. That’s why I believe that I jumped a dimension, or something." They all nodded. They’d seen it before.
"So that begs the question," Spike mused. "Why are you here?"
"It must have something to do with Angel," Buffy thoughtfully spoke. "I mean, obviously, since it’s his curse on your back. We just need to figure out what that extra part means."
"You know," Angel leaned back, staring thoughtfully at Max. "You didn’t know who your parents were. Maybe you were part of the Gypsy family that originally cursed me."
"With my DNA mix," Max sighed, flopping back into the couch, "I could be related to all of you and not know it."
"We need to call Giles," Buffy decided forcefully. She stood and made her way to the phone. "Do you mind Angel?"
"Go ahead," he allowed. As Buffy dug her address book out of her purse, she elaborated.
"Even though the Watcher’s council is gone, Giles has been routing out their resources," she explained. "He’s got the most extensive library. And if he can’t translate for us, he’ll probably know someone who can." She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.
Giles was busy packing for his trip when the phone rang. He was ready to return to America for a brief trip to scout out locations for a Slayer training school. He’d already checked out areas in Europe and contacted some useful people to help him try to repair the damage. He threw down a carefully folded shirt, as the shrill sound of the telephone penetrated his concentration. He lifted the receiver, wondering who could be calling.
"Hello?" he asked in his clipped British accent.
"Hey Giles, it’s me," came the lovely young voice that he knew so well.
"Buffy!" he smiled. "It’s good to hear from you. How are you?"
"I’m doing good Giles," she smiled as well. "The reason that I’m calling is that we’ve found another prophecy, of sorts, and we were wondering if you’d be able to help translate it."
"Well, I, I suppose I could see what I could do," he stammered.
"Well, we have copies of it on a digital camera, and can send you a picture of it over email-!" she started to say before he cursed.
"Damn, I’ll not use that dread machine," he swore. "Look, Buffy, I have a business trip planned to America. So why don’t I take some time and stop in wherever you are and have a look?"
"You were coming over and you weren’t going to tell me?" she teased. She’d long gotten over their separate lives.
"Well, I wasn’t sure where you were at, so I didn’t want to disappoint you."
"Well, we’re in LA, Spike and I," Buffy told him.
"Excellent," Giles cried. "That’s my first stop. I’ll be leaving for the airport in an hour. Is there any books I should bring?"
"Knowing you Giles, you’ve already packed half your library," she teased again. "We’re staying at Angel’s. Actually, it looks like the prophecy has to do with that Romanian curse of his. So anything relevant you might have. It seems that something has been added that we weren’t aware of."
"All r-right," Giles thought for a moment. "I’ve managed to get my hands on some old Romanian texts that were partially translated. Why don’t you call Willow as well? She may be able to create the translation program like Jenny used." He choked a little on that name, even though her death had been so long ago. "And then we can go from there."
"All right Giles, I’ll do that," Buffy assured him. "I can’t wait to see you."
"You too Buffy, goodbye."
"Bye." The phone clicked and went dead. Giles hung up and turned his attention back to packing. It was odd, but when Buffy had mentioned Angel’s curse, he’d felt a strange little surge run through his system. He paused for a moment as he recalled a picture he kept in his nightstand drawer. He sat on the bedside and slowly pulled out the framed picture. It was of Jenny, smiling benignly up at the camera. He brushed a soft finger over her familiar face. He sighed and removed his glasses. "Oh Jenny, what now?"
Plan Of Attack
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