Summary: William Jamison
Giles is the Slayer and
Buffy is a vampire with a death wish. When they meet the sparks fly and
things get really interesting in Sunnydale. Lots of familiar faces in
this ficcy, just not used in the same way as canon. Betaed by
Spikeslovebite.
"Was Anya able to find out which
vengeance demon granted William's
wish?" Joyce asked Rupert Giles. They were sitting in the Magic Box
having a well-deserved break.
"It was Halfrek," Giles replied. "I'm sure you remember her from my
wedding ceremony." He thought about the dark haired demon in the
pictures that Anya had shown him the night before.
"Yes, I remember her," Joyce said, "But I thought she was the patron of
wronged children? I really don't see Will as wronged."
"Apparently, the gypsy boy that was the catalyst for Angel receiving
his soul has been waiting for someone to make a wish against Angel. I
guess his tribes vengeance wasn't enough for the boy," Giles replied in
an informative voice. "His obsession with Slayers hasn't changed
despite Will's wish." He shrugged his shoulders. "Will says that
Angel's stalking Riley now."
Joyce laughed. She could just imagine how well that was going over with
Walsh. Maggie had been one of the staunchest of Travers' supporters.
The current head of the Council believed that the only good demon was a
dead demon, and now her prized little Slayer was involved with a
notorious vampire. Well, so was Joyce's, but there was a big difference
between Angel and Buffy. All of Will's friends and family actually
liked Buffy.
"Well, Riley's quite pleased with the attention." Giles took a sip of
his coffee. "Angel's managed to give the boy the impression that he's
taken something that Will desperately wants." He shook his head in
disbelief at the brooding vampire's words and actions.
"Is it just me, or does Riley seem quite receptive of Angel's
advances?" Joyce asked. She thought about the avidly glint of interest
in the other Slayer's eyes when he looked at the ensouled vampire. "Or
is it just part of the wish?"
"I'm sure it's not part of the wish, Joyce," Giles said mildly. "Will's
wish never said that the object of Angel's affection had to return his
advances."
Ethan Rayne stalked into the Magic Box with a disgusted look on his
face. He had a newspaper in one hand that he tossed on the table in
front of Giles. "You need to take a look at page five, Ripper. Phillip
Henry has escaped from that asylum that his parents forced him into."
Giles turned to the mentioned page. He grimaced when he read the small
article. He knew he only had a couple of days to get ready for
Phillip's arrival, if the damned man wasn't already in Sunnydale.
"What's this about?" Joyce asked. She pulled the newspaper out of
Giles' hands, and she scanned the article for herself.
Giles glanced at Ethan for a moment before he turned to the Watcher,
and he said grimly, "Will's mother, Deidre."
"There were five of us back in the day," Ethan informed Joyce. "Ripper,
myself, Diedre Page, Thomas Sutcliff, and Phillip Henry."
"Both Phillip and I competed for Deidre's affections," Giles smiled
sadly. "She chose me, and it drove old Phil off the deep end." He
remembered the earlier university days quite fondly.
"That's when he started his search for power," Ethan continued. "We
didn't know it at the time, but he'd turned to magic as his answer.
Phillip became quite secretive."
"It wasn't until after Tommy's death that we discovered how deeply
immersed Phil was in dark magic," Giles sighed. "Deidre and I were
engaged by then."
"He showed up at Ripper's engagement party, drunk to the gills,
shouting about how he was going to call forth the god of Chaos to rain
vengeance down on all of us." Ethan's sneer turned vile. "That's when
his parents had him committed to the asylum."
"He swore that someday he'd hunt me down and make me sorry for stealing
Deidre away from him." Giles sighed again. "I need to warn Will and
Anya. There's no telling what Phillip will do." He rose from the table
and hurried into the back room to speak to his wife.
"Ethan, tell me absolutely everything," Joyce said with a steely voice.
Then, she sat quietly listening to the Englishman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oshca Costumes," Xander read the sign. "Have you even decided what
you're going as yet, Giles?" He elbowed his friend in the ribs.
"Buffy said with my hair bleached I look like Billy Idol," Will said
dreamily. "So, 80's punk here I come! How about you, Harris?"
"I got some stuff really cheap at the army surplus store," Xander
muttered. "All I need is a gun."
The two teenagers entered the costume store. They poked around the
merchandise until Will found a studded leather collar and belt. He knew
he could pair them up with some old jeans and Doc Martin boots that he
had stuffed in the back of his closet. Now all he needed was a shirt.
As he continued to search, he found a plastic toy AK-47 machine gun for
Xander. By chance, Will came across the perfect punk vest at the bottom
of a pile of costumes. The two boys were pleased with their
acquisitions.
They left the shop without noticing the evil gleam in the owner's eye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will put the finishing touches on his punk make-up. He had to admit
that he did look a bit like the famous rock star. Not an exact copy,
but the bleached hair, now gelled to stand on end, and the lean
sardonic look went a long way to making the punk look work for him.
Will practiced Billy Idol's sarcastic sneer in the mirror a few times
before going downstairs.
Will stopped in front of the mirror in the foyer where he fussed with
his hair. Lookin' good, Giles.
When the doorbell rang, Will opened the door and was pleasantly
surprised to find Buffy waiting on the other side. She was dressed to
match him in a very sexy black and silver punk outfit. Will especially
liked the black and magenta streaks she had in her blond hair. He
leaned in to give her a small kiss on the lips.
"Someone told me this was your birthday party." Buffy handed Will a
small package wrapped in silver paper. "I wasn't sure what you'd like."
She had learned from the elder Giles that despite Will's looks before
Cordelia got hold of him, that the Slayer had an eclectic taste in
music. Buffy had hit the music store in the mall for some CDs.
"Thanks, luv," Will said. "Why don't you come in? Willow and Oz are
already here and Harris and Cordy should be here in a bit." He ushered
Buffy inside the house, where they joined the others in the living room.
The front door banged open, and Xander's voice echoed through the
house. "Hey, Giles! Where's the birthday boy?"
"Get your sorry arse in here, Harris," Will answered. He slung his arm
around Buffy's shoulders. "Where the heck have you two been?" Will
caught sight of Cordy's cat costume, and he let out a small whistle.
"Never mind, I know right where you two have been."
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Giles," Xander replied. He tossed the
other boy an envelope before he headed for the snack table.
"I had to do a meet and greet for Father." Cordelia watched her
boyfriend stuff a cheese covered nacho into his mouth, and she rolled
her eyes. "Where's your dad and Anya, Will?"
"They took Ethan and Ms. Calendar out for dinner," Will answered. "They
wanted to talk to her about Angel and the cursed soul. Joyce and Wes
will join them later." He rolled his eyes. "Guess they don't want to
overwhelm her."
"Wes and Joyce make the cutest couple, don't they?" Willow piped up.
She leaned against Oz. "I think it's time for the birthday boy to open
his presents."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MEANWHILE AT THE COSTUME SHOP
Phillip Henry knelt in front of the statue of Janus, which had a
woman's face on one side and a man's face on the other. He pressed his
hands together, and then he grimaced in pain. When he pulled them
apart, his palms had bleeding wounds on them. "The world that denies
thee, thou inhabit," Phillip chanted.
Phillip used his right middle finger to smear blood from his left hand
over his right eyelid. "The peace that ignores thee." He stopped long
enough to repeat the procedure with his other hand and eyelid. "Thou
corrupt," he continued to chant.
Phillip smeared blood from his left hand across his forehead. For this
he once again used the middle finger of his right hand. "Chaos. I
remain, as ever, thy faithful degenerate son." He continued to chant in
Latin.
Phillip spread his arms, threw back his head, and laughed. "Showtime."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow, guys, this is nice," Will said. He stared down at the gift
certificate for Chez Roberto, the most expensive restaurant in
Sunnydale. "I mean, you shouldn't have."
"Yeah, well, we figured you could take Buffy out and paint the town
red," Xander replied. He shook a finger at the vampiress when she
raised her eyebrow at him. "I didn't mean it in that way."
Will and Xander stiffened before their eyes flashed greenish-yellow.
"Hey, baby." Will curled his tongue behind his front teeth as he looked
at the young woman leaning into his side. "M'name's Spike. What's
yours?"
"Private Harris, here," Xander announced. "Someone tell me what's going
on around here. Now!"
Buffy's eyes widened before she glanced at Cordelia, Willow, and Oz.
Thinking quickly, she leaped to her feet. "You're on leave, soldier."
She grabbed Cordelia's arm and brought her to Xander's side. "This is
your date for the evening."
"You're not my date?" Xander leered at the petite blond female.
"Nope, I'm Wi... I mean, Spike's date." Buffy hurried back to Will's
side. "Willow and Oz were about to go find some other friends to join
us for the party." She gave the witch and the werewolf a pointed look
before she nodded her head towards the front door, and she mouthed
'find Joyce' to them. After Oz and Willow hurried out of the Giles'
house, Cordelia and Buffy turned their attention to their magically
altered boyfriends.
"So, you wanna watch a movie?" Buffy asked. This new version of her
Slayer was nice, but she already missed Will. "We have Die Hard and one
of the Living Dead movies. Oh, and the first season of Faulty Towers.
You know, after all these years, you'd think I'd understand British
humor better, but it still eludes me."
"Why don't you pop that in, luv," Spike said. "'ll explain it all to
you." He patted the cushion next to him. Spike felt connected to the
blond girl in a way he'd never experienced before.
Buffy nodded her agreement as she popped the DVD out of its case and
placed it inside the machine. She grabbed the remote on her way over to
the couch where she sat down beside the more confident version of Will.
She leaned into his side again as she smiled warily at Cordelia, who
had cuddled up to her more militant version of Xander. Together the
four of them started to watch the British television series while Spike
explained the jokes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel reclined against the pillows with one arm thrown above his head
while the other encircled his love. He stroked Riley's sweaty back
while he thought about the pleasure that the two of them had just
participated in. Nothing in his two hundred-plus years had felt as good
as this Slayer's body writhing beneath him. The dark-haired vampire
felt the happiness seeping into his psyche.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oz and Willow hurried into the restaurant where they knew Joyce and Wes
were having dinner before they joined Giles, Anya, Ethan, and Jenny at
the other restaurant for dessert. The strange situation back at the
Giles house was quickly explained. After Wes paid the check, the four
of them hurried to join the others.
"Xander and Will got part of their costumes from Oshca Costumes,"
Willow told Joyce. "Cordelia got her costume from Partytown. Oz and I
raided the drama department for ours." The redhead indicated their
Roman soldier costumes.
"Right, then," Wes replied. "We'll get the others and go over there
first." He grabbed Joyce's hand to pull her out of the way of a small,
red faced devil, who barreled down the sidewalk cackling evilly. "We'd
better hurry. No telling how many people bought costumes at Oshca."