From: buffyfic-owner@xmission.com (buffyfic Digest) To: buffyfic-digest@xmission.com Subject: buffyfic Digest V1 #7 Reply-To: buffyfic@xmission.com Sender: buffyfic-owner@xmission.com Errors-To: buffyfic-owner@xmission.com Precedence: buffyfic Digest Friday, August 1 1997 Volume 01 : Number 007 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: "Synchronicity" (9b/11) BUFFYFIC: Off topic: Fanfic Archive BUFFYFIC: Off topic: Fanfic Archive BUFFYFIC: "Synchronicity" (10/11) BUFFYFIC: "Synchronicity" (11a/11) BUFFYFIC: "Synchronicity" (11b/11) See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the buffyfic or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 11:39:17 -0400 From: GILBERTK@MTC.MID.TEC.SC.US Subject: BUFFYFIC: "Synchronicity" (9b/11) Arrgh! They got separated on the digest again! Sorry about that. :) Please see Introduction for warnings, etc. No infringement of any sort is intended with the following. Please send any comments or requests to: Gilbertk@mtc.mid.tec.sc.us. Synchronicity, Part 9b By Katherine Gilbert "No!" Sydney cried, as she came out, pulling off her VR glasses. "That was fast," Buffy said. It had only been a few seconds since Sydney had put the glasses on. Oliver, Duncan, and Sam all rushed to Sydney. "Syd! Are you okay? Did he do . . . did anything go wrong?" Duncan asked. "No . . . no," Sydney shook her head, still a little stunned. "What did you find out?" Oliver asked, looking at her with concern. "Not what I expected to," she said softly. "He's having a little trouble staying in the present," she clarified, looking up at them. "What did you see?" Sam pressed. "Nothing about Crater," Sydney shook her head, "but I did see something about Boothe." Her three friends exchanged looks. "Jackson Boothe?" Oliver asked. "The man who killed Morgan?" "Um, excuse me," Willow said, "but could you footnote this for the clueless?" The four Committee escapees took in their new friends' presence again. "Sorry," Oliver said. "Boothe killed a friend of mine on orders from the Committee," Sydney explained. "Lovely," Buffy grimaced. "So, what happened to this guy?" Xander asked. Oliver looked down. "I shot him." "Good," Buffy decided. Sydney and Oliver looked at each other. "Or . . . not," Willow noted. Oliver shook his head. "It's a long story." "So, what did you find out about him?" Samantha asked. Sydney looked into the distance. "That his family's had a lot of experience at being assassins . . . and a lot of experience with the Committee." She refocused on them. "I'll explain it later." "So, how did this guy you took into VR know this?" Willow asked. "He . . . his family has a . . . colorful history," Sydney replied. "I think they've seen a lot." Giles nodded. "I'm sure," he said to himself. "But you still didn't find anything about Crater?" Oliver returned to their original goal. "No," Sydney shook her head, looking away. "He kept getting pulled into the past. I think we need something to," she shrugged, looking back at them, "anchor him here." From behind Buffy, Willow and Xander looked at their friend uncomfortably. Giles looked horrified and came forward slightly, about to protest. "How about if we take in both you and Buffy?" Oliver asked Giles. "Maybe between the two of you, you can show him enough of Sunnydale to keep him locked in the present." Giles looked angry. "How dangerous is this--this computer thing?" "So long as I take you in, you should be okay," Sydney assured him. Giles was still horrified. His fear of computers was meeting head-on with his fear for Buffy's safety and sanity. "It doesn't sound so bad," Buffy shrugged, a little nervous but determined not to show it. "I mean, they took us in once already this morning." "Um, Buffy," Giles began, "as well as dancing through heaven-only- knows-what in the subconscious of this informant, we would also be walking through each other's minds. We'd be privileged to every secret desire and fear. It's a rather unheard-of level of intimacy for a Watcher and a Slayer." ("Or anyone else," he finished silently.) "Giles," Buffy said, giving him a look. "We're going to be sharing computer space, not underwear." Giles looked a bit patronizing. "Besides," Buffy went on, "it's not like you haven't seen some of my worst fears already. Remember Billy?" "Vividly," Giles replied. "What?" Sam asked, confused. "Kid--coma--nightmares becoming reality--very Twilight Zone," Xander informed her, cryptically. Willow rolled her eyes. "It was really unpleasant," she confirmed. "Whatever you say," Sam replied, still clueless. "Buffy," Giles began. "Giles, we need to find out more about Crater's link to the Master, if we can, right?" Buffy asked. "Well, yes," Giles agreed. "And you'll be there to watch over me, also right?" Buffy continued. "True," Giles nodded, unhappily, sensing he was losing. "So, let's get on with it," Buffy concluded. "How do you plug us in?" she asked Sydney. Sydney looked at her companions. "Sam--why don't you take Buffy to your room, and I'll call there." "Okay," her sister agreed. "I think there was a phone booth outside," Giles noted. "I'll bring you back the number and keep a watch on him," Oliver told Sydney. "Will I need to be watched?" Giles asked, worriedly. "Probably not," Oliver assured him. "It's only a failsafe." "I hate computers," Giles muttered. "What about us?" Willow asked. "Why don't you and Xander stay here with Duncan and me?" Sydney smiled. Willow and Xander nodded and went to sit on the bed. When Buffy, Sam, Giles, and Oliver had left, Xander looked over at Willow. "Let's hope this works." Willow let out a big breath and nodded in response. A minute or so later, Sydney took the others in. After the vortex, Giles, Buffy, Angel, and Sydney were in a strange version of the Sunnydale High library; much of it was in sepia tone, and it had a rather film noir feel overall. The three Sunnydale residents were in oddly half-colored versions of their own clothes. Buffy and Angel (who looked human again) seemed surprised to see each other. "Angel," Buffy said, taking him in. "What are you doing here?" Angel looked at her with incredible pain in his eyes. Then, he turned to Giles. "I thought you said you were going to help protect her from me," he said, slightly angrily. "I wanted to," Giles told him. "This wasn't my idea." Angel looked back at Buffy, confused, but Buffy was obviously just as bewildered. "It was mine," Sydney informed him. She was dressed in a Committee- like man's grey suit. "Why?" Angel asked, looking at her. "Because you need to stay focused on this place--on Crater," Sydney explained. "I thought seeing Buffy might help you stay in the here-and- now." "*You're* the informant?" Buffy asked. "By accident," Angel shrugged, looking back at her. "This room looks different," Sydney noted. "Yes," Giles agreed. "There's usually a wall there." He motioned with his head to one side of the library, where scaffolding covered a partially-constructed wall. Buffy, finally, stopped looking, with pain and longing, at Angel and turned to Giles. "Why didn't you tell me about this--about him?" she challenged Giles, angrily. "Did you think I was just so fragile I'd fall to pieces at the mention of his name?" She shook her head. "How many other big secrets are you keeping from me?" "Buffy, I . . .," Giles began. "I just wanted to protect you." "I guess good little Slayers don't fall for vampires, huh?" Buffy said, sarcastically. "Buffy, it wasn't him," Angel tried to interrupt. Buffy wasn't listening, though. "Can't get the right results if your Slayer goes soft on you, right?" Buffy threw at Giles. Giles didn't know how to answer. He had never been very good at talking about his feelings; in fact, he had been trained to avoid it. Now, faced with the pain and confusion of a 16-year-old girl he had come to respect and love deeply, he was silent in the face of her verbal assault. Buffy, though, took his silence as agreement--and a sort of betrayal. She shook her head, turned around, and stormed out the door of the library. When she did, however, she found herself in her old Hemery High cheerleading uniform, standing in the middle of a parade float storage area. "Oh no," she muttered. "Buffy," Lothos smiled at her. Buffy was paralyzed. All she could do was relive the events of that night, watch as--caught in the spell of the vampire's eyes--she dropped her stake, and Lothos killed Merrick when he tried to break the cycle, giving his life for hers. Too soon, she found herself cradling the dead Merrick, crying. She kissed the top of his head. "No," she said quietly and looked at his face. When she did, however, her world fell apart again. "Giles," she whispered, as she saw that it was now his body she was holding instead of her former Watcher's. "Oh God, no." She brushed Giles' hair with her fingers and stared closely at the finely-wrought features of his face. "Not again. I promised myself it wouldn't happen again." She was crying harder now, almost inconsolably, and her tears fell on the Englishman's face. "Buffy," a soft, British man's voice said from behind her, as the real Giles' VR.5 image put his hand on her shoulder. "Buffy, it's alright." Buffy looked up at him. "Giles?" she asked, through the tears. "You're alive?" Giles smiled tenderly at her. "Yes," he said. Buffy realized that the man she had been holding had disappeared. She looked back up at her Watcher. "It's this computer thing," Giles shrugged, motioning toward the sky. "VR.5," Buffy nodded, as Giles helped her to her feet. "It's making the Hellmouth look like Mayberry." "I'm afraid so," Giles agreed, looking deeply at her. "Buffy, why didn't you ever tell me about Merrick?" "I figured you knew already," Buffy looked away. "I did, but . . .," Giles paused. "I want to show you something you missed, when Billy's nightmare realm took over. It's a . . . a worst fear of my own." He led Buffy away from the storage yard. Sydney and Angel, who had watched the preceding silently, exchanged looks and followed them. "Oh, not the graveyard again," Buffy moaned, as she saw where Giles was leading her. She had gone back to a VR.5 version of her normal clothes. Giles, with a look of great pain, silently walked up to a new grave. Buffy smiled ironically. "You're afraid I'll kill you too?" she asked. "No," Giles said quietly. "Look at the headstone." Buffy did and saw the inscription: BUFFY SUMMERS 1980-1997 Beloved Daughter and Friend Rest in Peace Buffy looked at him. "You were afraid I'd die?" "I was . . . I am still," Giles replied slowly, "afraid that I'll fail to protect you--that you'll be killed because of me." Buffy smiled slightly. "I'm not *that* fragile, Giles." Giles returned the smile. "Neither am I," he assured her. Buffy thought for a moment. "So, I mean that much to you?" she asked more brightly. Giles looked down, still smiling. "*Sometimes*," he replied before looking up at her again. She smiled back at him and put her hand on his arm. He placed his other hand over it gently and patted it. "Can we leave this graveyard now?" Angel asked from behind them. "I can't say I like it here much." Giles and Buffy pulled away from each other, and Buffy turned to Angel. "And it was my idea to keep from seeing you," Angel told her. "I know--I understand," she nodded. "Sorry," she shrugged at Giles. He nodded understandingly back at her. "It's been a rather long year." Buffy looked back at Angel. Angel closed his eyes. "Sydney, how do we get out of here?" "Buffy," Sydney answered him, "that cross you're wearing--it's the key; touch it." "Helpful for all occassions," she shrugged, exchanging one last glance with Angel before returning them all to their lives. A minute later, Buffy, Sam, Giles, and Oliver had rejoined the others in Sydney and Oliver's motel room. "So, what just happened?" Buffy asked. Sydney swallowed. "Um, nothing much," she lied, deciding that Buffy and Giles were better left with impressions than complete memories. Giles looked pensive, as he was trying to process something he couldn't quite remember. "Did you learn anything about Crater?" Sydney tried to focus on something other than the details she had learned about Giles and Buffy. "I'm not sure," she said finally. "I think we need to go back to the library." "Why? What's there?" Xander asked. Sydney shook her head. "If we're lucky? Nothing," she answered cryptically. The others exchanged confused looks but prepared to leave. [End of Part 9] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 19:20:24 -0400 From: Anya Subject: BUFFYFIC: Off topic: Fanfic Archive Hi to everyone! I apologize for this off-topic post, but wished to let all know before I'm overwhemled with emails. I'd answer each one of you, but find this to be a faster medium! The Slayer's Fanfic Archive is temporarily DOWN! The T-1 connection has been..um..lost I guess is the best word, and we are trying to rectify the situation. If the problem cannot be quickly fixed, as in the next day or so, I will establish a temporary site. Until then, cross your fingers, and wish Alex the best of luck in fixing the problem! And..just so I'm Buffy related: My area didn't get a Buffy covered T.V. guide. Lucky us, we got Jerry Springer. *Grrr* And was there any Buffy'ness inside that cover..oh no! We couldn't have that. I think I'll write TV Guide a pleading letter. Cheers! Anya anya@interlinks.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 19:34:30 -0400 From: Anya Subject: BUFFYFIC: Off topic: Fanfic Archive Hi to everyone! I apologize for this off-topic post, but wished to let all know before I'm overwhemled with emails. I'd answer each one of you, but find this to be a faster medium! I also apologize to our list mommies, in my delusional state, I accidentally sent a copy of this message to the Fanfic list! I didn't MEAN to do that..I hit the wrong button! I'm sorry! The Slayer's Fanfic Archive is temporarily DOWN! The T-1 connection has been..um..lost I guess is the best word, and we are trying to rectify the situation. If the problem cannot be quickly fixed, as in the next day or so, I will establish a temporary site. Until then, cross your fingers, and wish Alex the best of luck in fixing the problem! And..just so I'm Buffy related: My area didn't get a Buffy covered T.V. guide. Lucky us, we got Jerry Springer. *Grrr* And was there any Buffy'ness inside that cover..oh no! We couldn't have that. I think I'll write TV Guide a pleading letter. Cheers! Anya anya@interlinks.net ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 13:54:39 -0400 From: GILBERTK@MTC.MID.TEC.SC.US Subject: BUFFYFIC: "Synchronicity" (10/11) We're almost done! Please see Introduction for warnings, etc. No infringement of any sort is intended with the following. Please send any comments or requests to: Gilbertk@mtc.mid.tec.sc.us. Synchronicity, Part 10 by Katherine Gilbert "What exactly are we here to see?" Giles inquired, once they had returned to the library. Sydney studied the room. "When we were in VR," she said finally, "those bookcases along the wall weren't there. The wall itself was missing." She pointed up to part of the stacks. "Is that significant?" Giles questioned. Willow thought for a second. "Xander, isn't that the area those workmen were tearing up last year?" "What, you're asking me?" Xander replied. "The first time I set foot in this place was a few months ago." Oliver looked at the wall and then walked up to Willow, looking closely at her. "That was where the construction workers were when Crater disappeared?" "I think so," Willow nodded. Oliver exchanged a look with Samantha and then started up the small set of stairs toward the wall. "Duncan, help me move these bookcases," he instructed. Giles looked at them both quickly. "N-now hold on a minute," he said, gesturing. "You can't just go disarranging my whole library." "Isn't it *the school's* library?" Buffy asked. Giles looked at her with his hands on his hips. "Well, then, they'll be thrilled when they find it torn apart, won't they?" Oliver and Duncan, with some difficulty, had managed to move one bookshelf partway. Oliver stopped before trying to move it further and looked at Giles. "We'll undo any damage we cause. Right now, however, our best hint of Crater may be back here." He looked closely at Giles. "Do you want to give up a possible clue about the Master's plans because of an obsession about neatness?" Giles didn't look very pleased. "Very well," he relented, "but be sure you restore its order before you leave." Oliver nodded and returned to moving shelves. Giles sighed and looked briefly at Xander. "Let's go help them, shall we?" he said, heading toward the stairs. The women watched their progress. Buffy perched herself on a table. "Not going to help them?" Sam asked Buffy. "Nah," she replied, smiling slightly. "Let them do the work for once." Once the shelves were moved out, Oliver began to closely examine the wall. "The plaster here is newer than the rest of the wall," he observed. He looked at Giles. "Do you have an axe?" Willow laughed. "Does he ever." "Axes, swords, staffs, crossbows, you name it," Buffy agreed. "Giles is like your helpful weaponry man." "You want to tear out the wall?" Giles asked, incredulously. "Do you know of any other way of finding out what's behind it?" Oliver responded. Duncan pondered. "Know any diviners?" he asked Giles. Giles looked at him. "Not right offhand," he replied, raising an eyebrow. Oliver rolled his eyes. "We'll replaster it when we're done." Giles relented. "I'll go find something to get in it," he agreed, turning to go back down to his weaponry cabinet. "I'll get it," Buffy shrugged, hopping off the table. "Wanna see a really cool crossbow?" she turned around to ask Sam. "Uh, no, that's alright," Giles broke in, trying to prevent Buffy from looking too closely anywhere in the direction of his office, the direction Buffy had just turned in. He wasn't sure if Angel was still around, but he didn't want to take any chances. "I'll get it." "Don't be weird," Buffy replied. "I know where they are." As she turned toward Samantha again, something caught her eye. "Giles, didn't you turn the light off in your office when we left?" She began to approach the room, weapons forgotten. "Buffy, don't," Giles whispered, but Buffy had already reached the office's door. "Angel," she whispered, as she opened it. "Buffy." He gave her a half-smile. "What are you doing in here?" she asked him, then turned back to Giles. "Angel is our . . . informant," Giles admitted. Buffy looked back at Angel briefly before returning her attention to Giles. "You mean I was crawling around in *his* head? He was in mine?" "Yes," Giles replied unhappily. Buffy looked at the rest of the group. "You all knew, didn't you?" She thought for a second. "That's what you were hiding from me here earlier." "Don't blame them," Angel told her softly. "I asked them to." Buffy sighed. She didn't feel particularly angry, although she thought she should. She almost felt that she had been through this before. "So, what'd you learn about us?" Buffy asked Sydney. "Nothing much," Sydney lied to them again. There were some things, she decided, which were better not brought into the light of reality. "So, how'd you know Crater?" Buffy asked Angel. "Could we save this for another time?" Oliver broke in after having looked at his watch. "It's getting late, and, assuming you children actually have parents, they'll probably be worrying about you soon. We need to see what's behind this wall." "You're right," Giles nodded, going to procure the axe, while Angel filled Buffy in on his background with Crater. "So, did this wall thing they're searching come out of your head?" Buffy asked, when Angel had finished. "I suppose so," Angel replied, looking at the wall. "I came here once, after I'd tried to scare Crater off, to see if he'd gone, but they were redecorating, and no one was here. They had that whole side of the room torn up." He looked back at Buffy. "I don't actually remember anything from that computer trip we got taken on, though." Buffy smiled. "I know how you feel." Oliver, who was oblivious to this conversation, tapped on the wall and listened. "It's hollow," he noted. Giles returned with the axe, and Oliver prepared to attack the wall. "Hold on," Buffy said, coming up the stairs toward them. "It took you guys, like, 15 minutes to get those shelves out of the way. Let me handle this." She took the axe. "You think you can do this more quickly?" Oliver asked. "I'm the Slayer, remember?" Buffy replied. "I eat walls for lunch." Oliver shook his head. He wasn't sure he could ever really get used to exposing someone this young to the kind of danger and strain Buffy faced regularly. He sighed. "Start around the edges," he instructed, pointing to the line where the older and newer plaster met. "Sure," Buffy shrugged and began chopping. Sydney, Sam, and Willow joined the others near the wall. "I'll help," Angel said, coming to stand at the opposite end of the newer plaster. He looked at his fist for a second, sighed, and then punched a hole in the wall. Willow, Sydney, and Duncan looked surprised. Angel shrugged. "I'm useful for some things," he noted. Between the two of them, Buffy and Angel had the wall down in about a minute. What was behind it was rather gruesome. Willow turned away, while Sydney looked at the floor; Giles looked horrified. The rest looked sickened. "Is that Crater?" Buffy asked, looking at the decaying body stuffed in the wall. "It looks like him," Sam noted. "As much as I can tell." "It's him," Angel nodded. The others looked at him. "I've had a bit of experience with the dead," he shrugged. "Why would they do that to him?" Sydney asked, not able to look up. "It's very Poe," Duncan noted. Oliver, Sam, and Buffy looked at him. "But I guess it wasn't meant as a macabre literary tribute," he cocked his head. "Why kill him?" Sam asked. "Did he fail in reaching the Master?" Oliver shook his head. "Maybe he knew too much?" he theorized. Giles, with disgust, held a handkerchief over his face and looked more closely at the body. "It almost looks like a sacrifice of some kind," he noted. "But why leave it in the library?" Everyone shook their heads. "Maybe they figured no one would find it here," Buffy suggested. "That doesn't make sense," Oliver contended. "If the Committee wants to hide or bury a body, it can do it with far less expense and trouble than this." He motioned toward the wall. Willow, who had been studying the opposite side of the library to avoid turning around, looked over at Giles. "What are we going to do about him?" she asked, her back still to the body. "I mean, we can't just leave him there." Giles looked confused. "I don't know. I don't really have much experience of disposing of bodies." "Should we call the police?" Willow continued. "No," Oliver answered her quickly. When she looked over at him, he explained. "At best, they'd have a hundred questions we couldn't possibly answer. They might suspect us, as well." "And at worst?" she asked, incredulously. "At worst, they might know the answers already," Oliver continued. "The Committee has extensive roots." "So, we just dig a hole and dump him in?" Buffy grimaced. Oliver sighed. He had never enjoyed this sort of thing. "No, you go home . . . We'll take care of it." He looked back at the body. "That's not neccessary," Angel suggested. He looked at Oliver. "I'll get rid of him. I'm in a lot less danger doing it than any of you would be." Everyone else looked at each other. They couldn't really argue. "And you'll take care of the plaster?" Giles asked. Angel smiled. "I'll move the shelves back in front of it. I'm not really much of a mason." Giles nodded and tried to fight his desire for order. As Angel was doing so much for them, he couldn't see asking him to decorate as well. Angel looked at Crater again for a second and then back at Giles. "Do you think he got to the Master?" "I hope not," Giles replied. The rest of the group left Angel to his morbid task and emerged into the night air. "Would you like a ride back to your motel?" Giles asked. "No," Oliver replied. "It's fairly close. We can walk." "So, you're leaving now?" Willow wondered. "There's not much left we can do here," Sydney told her. "Crater's dead," Sam continued. "The trail's cold," Buffy nodded. "Yeah," Sydney agreed. "And, unless this Master has a phone for us to dial up, we can't get much more from him." "You're probably better off," Giles opined. The others nodded. Oliver sighed and looked at the ground. "We appreciate your help," he began, "but I'm afraid there might be a price to pay for it." "What do you mean?" Willow inquired. Oliver looked up at her. "The Committee's been tracking us. Sometimes, they've come into a place where we've been very close behind us." He looked at them all. "All they'll have are rumors and vague reports to go by. If they honestly believe that you're ignorant, they'll leave you alone to keep from causing a scene. If they suspect, though, for even a single second, that you have some knowledge which could help them, they won't hesitate in . . ." He paused, not wanting to frighten them unneccessarily. " . . . in doing whatever it takes to get that information." He looked deeply at the teenagers. "You *must* act as completely ignorant as possible, if they come." "Hey, that's not a problem," Xander assured him. Buffy smiled. "We'll manage." "Yeah," Willow threw in, "clueless we can do." "Good," Oliver nodded. He allowed the teenagers to say goodbye to their new friends, while he motioned with his eyes to have a private word with Giles. When they were a bit away, he said, "You'll probably have the hardest time. You'll *have* to convince them not only that you don't know me but that you *aren't* me." Giles nodded. "I'll handle it." He smiled slightly. Oliver smiled slightly as well and held out his hand. "Goodbye, Rupert." He shook Giles' hand and then looked over at the teenagers. "Look after them." He assessed the group for a second. "They care a great deal about you, you know." Giles smiled and looked over at Oliver's companions. "As yours do for you," he agreed. The teenagers began to part from their friends and walked toward Giles' car. Oliver and Giles gave each other one final, assessing look, nodded, and left with their respective friends. [End of Part 10] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 13:58:33 -0400 From: GILBERTK@MTC.MID.TEC.SC.US Subject: BUFFYFIC: "Synchronicity" (11a/11) Please see Introduction for warnings, etc. No infringement of any sort is intended with the following. Please send any comments or requests to: Gilbertk@mtc.mid.tec.sc.us. Please note, as well, that I'll be out of town for a couple of weeks after Monday, so, if you write, and I don't respond, that's why. Synchronicity, Part 11a by Katherine Gilbert The next day at school, Buffy was dumping some books in her locker, preparing to go home, when Xander caught up with her. "Hey," he said, running his hand through his hair to block his face from a portion of the hallway. "Have you checked out the new, uh, students?" He motioned down the hall with his eyes. "You mean the suit patrol?" Buffy asked, pretending to be concerned with which books to take home. "Yeah, . . . they seem familiar." "Do you think it's *them*?" Xander pressed, a bit nervous. "Probably," Buffy agreed, "but--don't they look familiar?" She held up a mirror as though she were examining her reflection but angled it instead to give Xander a view of the men lurking at the other end of the hall. The corridor was beginning to clear out, as students packed up and went home. "Cordelia's `bodyguards'?" he pondered. "The ones who led away Marcie?" "Looks like their friends, at least," Buffy half-smiled, returning the mirror to her locker. "Is there anything these guys *aren't* into?" Xander questioned. "World peace?" Buffy shrugged, as one of the men began to approach them. She sighed. "Here goes," she whispered. "May I have a word with you?" the man in the suit asked them. Buffy turned around. She was sucking on a lollipop she had just pulled out. "Oh God--you're not another guidance counselor, are you?" she asked in a confused tone. "No," the man smiled. "This isn't about that library book I've had overdue for a couple of months, is it?" Xander looked startled. "Because, if it is, I can take it back." "I just want to ask you a few questions," the man smiled at them, not very reassuringly. "Okay," Buffy shrugged. The man took out pictures of Sydney, Samantha, Oliver, and Duncan. "Have you seen any of these people before?" Xander and Buffy looked bemused. "Nope," Xander said. "Uh uh," Buffy concurred. "You've never seen them around here?" the man asked. "What--are they, like, teachers or something?" Xander inquired. "No," the man answered. "Well, they aren't students," Buffy observed. "I mean," she pointed her lollipop at the picture of Oliver, "this guy's ancient." She looked at the other pictures. "And they aren't exactly prom queen material either." Her lollipop grazed the pictures, as she pointed at them, leaving a sticky residue. "Oops, sorry," Buffy said sheepishly. The man was beginning to become a bit annoyed. He singled out the picture of Oliver and thrust it at them. "And this man doesn't look familiar to you?" Buffy and Xander stared at it blankly. "He doesn't remind you of Mr. Giles?" the man inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Who?" Buffy asked. "You know," Xander threw in, "the librarian." "The creepy guy with the books?" Buffy wondered. The man in the suit sighed. "I think," Xander nodded. He looked back at the man. "Unless you mean that weird physics teacher who got fired for building his own prototype nuclear bomb." "What?" the man asked, getting confused himself. "No--the librarian - --does he look like the librarian to you?" Buffy looked at the picture again and started pointing at it with her lollipop. The man drew it out of the candy's reach. "I guess he looks a bit like him," Buffy agreed, "but this guy," she was pointing at the picture the besuited man was holding well away from her, "actually knows how to dress. That creepy guy," she pointed down the hall with her lollipop, and, seemingly obliviously, almost hit Xander in the head with it, "well, his fashion sense is from, like, another century." Xander nodded. The man was growing increasingly frustrated. "So, you've never seen these people before?" Buffy and Xander shook their heads. The man tried a new technique. "What do you know about computers?" "I can turn one on pretty well," Xander said proudly. The man shook his head and looked at Buffy. "And you?" She pondered, sucking her lollipop. "I might be able to, if you showed me where the switch was," she said finally, waving her candy carelessly. The man sighed. "Aren't you curious why I'm asking you these things?" he asked them, exasperated. "Why? Are we in trouble?" Xander questioned, worriedly. "Is there gonna be, like, a quiz or something?" Buffy asked. "`Cause, if so, I want to see the pictures again." She pointed her candy at the man's chest and watched it stick to his suit. "Oops," she said, unsticking it. "Sorry." The man made a noise under his breath which sounded a bit like "grr-arrgh" and abandoned the two annoying teenagers. Buffy smiled just slightly, as the man left, and whispered, "Slayer and slayerettes--87, Committee goons--0." Around the same time that Buffy and Xander were being questioned, Willow was tucked away in the computer lab, searching a couple of supernatural web pages for Giles. "Pardon me," a man's voice said from behind her, "are you Miss Willow Rosenberg?" Willow jumped slightly and turned around. "Uh, yes," she admitted. "I'd like to have a word with you," a man in a suit, a different one than Buffy and Xander had encountered, said, as he sat in a chair he had pulled up close to her. "Uh, okay," she said. "Is something wrong? Is somebody hurt or something?" "It's nothing like that," he assured her. "Am I in trouble?" she asked. "I mean, if it's about the computer changing the lunch schedules around last week, I can explain that." The man smiled. "No," he said. "I simply need information." He took out four pictures--the same shots her friends had been shown. "Do you recognize these people?" "No," she said, looking over the pictures but lingering on Oliver's. "Even this one?" the man pointed to the picture she was staring at. "He doesn't remind you of anyone?" "Well, he looks a bit like our librarian," Willow pondered. "Wait a minute," she looked up at the man brightly. "Are you one of those researchers from shows where they reunite long-lost families or something?" "No," the man shook his head. He held up Oliver's picture. "Do you think this could be the librarian--in a different outfit, perhaps?" Willow shook her head. "No," she pondered. "The eyes are wrong." "They're the same color, aren't they?" the man looked back at the picture himself, suddenly confused. "Yeah, but they aren't the same eyes," Willow explained. "I mean, does that guy," she pointed at the picture, "look like he'd spend a lot of time hanging out in libraries?" The man in the suit shook his head, still examining the picture. "Not really," he agreed. He looked up again--over at Willow's computer. "What are you working on?" he asked. "Oh," Willow looked very excited but a little embarrassed. "I'm doing research for this horror novel I want to write. It's got all these monsters and stuff." "So, you've met up with monsters before?" the man asked her, curiously. "You mean, other than the weird women from the cafeteria?" she answered. "No." She shook her head. The man in the suit leaned forward. "Don't you think they could be real?" Willow rolled her eyes. "Please," she said, "if they were real, we'd know about them by now, right? We wouldn't need to read about them." She was looking at him as though he were slightly insane. At that point, a message appeared on her screen, indicating new mail. "Can I see your email?" the man smiled at her. "Why do you want to?" she asked. "Just curious," he answered. Willow shook her head. "It'll all be pretty dull to you." The man's smile widened. "Indulge me." Willow shrugged. She opened up the letter to reveal a lengthy chat about "that cute boy in geometry." The man's eyes began to glaze. "Do you want to see any others?" Willow asked. "No, that's fine," the man agreed, sighing and getting up. "Thank you for your time," he said, before he left. Willow smiled and turned back to the computer. She looked again at the rambling letter and then began deleting everything except the first letter of every third word. When she had finished, she smiled at the screen: W-- Thanks. Away safely. Take care, :D S. B. [End of Part 11a; 11b (the final part) is coming!] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 14:00:38 -0400 From: GILBERTK@MTC.MID.TEC.SC.US Subject: BUFFYFIC: "Synchronicity" (11b/11) The final part! Please see Introduction for warnings, etc. No infringement of any sort is intended with the following. Please send any comments to: Gilbertk@mtc.mid.tec.sc.us. If this part seems to have a rather downbeat ending, as well, remember that it ends just a few hours before the events of "Prophecy Girl" begin, so everything works out in the end. :) Synchronicity, Part 11b by Katherine Gilbert At around this same time, Giles was reshelving a few books, when two men in suits came into the library. "May I help you?" Giles asked inoffensively. The two men looked at each other, used a bar one of them was carrying to bar the doors, and then came up to Giles. One of them put a gun to his head. "Is this what your life has become, Sampson?" one of them asked. "Shelving books for high schoolers?" Giles closed his eyes tightly and tried to breathe. He didn't have to fake his fear. "Does lack of courage go with this position?" the other man asked. "Lose your nerve on the road?" "Please," Giles said softly. "If you want my money, you can have it." The men looked at each other, a little confused. "What?" one asked. "I said, `if you want my money, you can have it,'" Giles repeated. The men exchanged another look before one of them instructed, "Open your eyes, Sampson." Giles did so, reluctantly. "May I ask a question?" he said quietly. "Alright," one agreed. "W-why are you callilng me `Sampson'?" he inquired. "That's your name," one informed him. "N-no," Giles disagreed. The man holding the gun cocked the hammer. "O-of course, if you'd rather I be called Sampson, I'll do my best," Giles stammered quickly. "Just *please* tell me what you want." The men exchanged looks once more, and then the man with the guy uncocked it and took it down, although he didn't put it away. "Sit down," he instructed. Giles did. "Let me see your wallet," the other man ordered. Giles, shaking slightly, retrieved his wallet and gave it to him. The man looked through it. "Where are your passport and visa?" "I-is that what this is about?" Giles asked. "They're in order, I assure you." He looked at the two men. "I didn't realize I was supposed to come show them to immigration on a regular basis." The men rolled their eyes at each other, and then the man threw Giles' wallet back to him. Giles fumbled and dropped it before picking it up and returning it to his pocket. One of the men got another idea. He took out a gun, unloaded the cartridges, and handed it to Giles. "Shoot it," he said. Giles was holding the gun as though it were a dead rat. "I might hurt someone!" Giles objected, looking up at the man. "I took the bullets out," the man replied disgustedly. "Oh," Giles said, looking at the weapon again. Then, he examined the gun and tried, very awkwardly, to aim it. When he tried to pull the trigger, nothing happened. The man who had given him the gun sighed loudly. "You have to take the safety off first," he informed him. "The what?" Giles inquired, looking at him. The man shook his head and grabbed back the gun. "Never mind." The first man put away his gun as well and then pulled out four pictures. "Do you know any of these people?" Giles shook his head but took the picture of Oliver to look at it more closely. "What a terrible hairstyle," he noted. "Appalling taste in clothes, as well." He looked up at the two men. "I've never dressed like this," he informed them. "Obviously," one said, retrieving the picture from him, deciding that Giles had a curious definition of "appalling." "What do you know about computers?" the other asked. "What--that dread machine over there?" Giles pointed. "I refuse to touch them." The two men looked at each other again. "Go turn it on," one said menacingly. Giles got up and went over to it. After looking around it tentatively, he looked up and said, "All I see is a switch with a line on one side and an `O' on the other." "Try it," one of the men suggested disgustedly. Giles did, timidly. It made a noise. He pressed a letter key. "Nothing seems to be happening." "Try turning on the screen," one suggested. Giles looked at him, genuinely confused. "That isn't what I just did?" The men in suits looked at each other, shook their heads, and turned toward the door. "By the way," one said, turning back toward Giles, "we were never here." Giles swallowed. "Whatever you say." The men removed the bar from the door and left. Giles sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a second. Then, slightly pleased with himself for getting rid of the men but still trying to regain his composure, he walked slowly to his office and made himself a cup of tea. He had had the Codex for two days now, without yet getting a chance to study it. "Maybe now," he thought, "things will slow down enough to let me examine it." EPILOGUE Later that same day, one of the men in suits worked his way down into the tunnels underneath Sunnydale. "He's here," a little boy's voice echoed eeriely, as the Committee man entered the Master's lair. "What news do you have for me?" the Master asked. "We thought we had a problem--that some . . . renegade members might be warning the townspeople," the Committee man said, "but it was a false alarm." "So, they're still unaware of our plan?" the Master inquired. "The library has been cleansed for your arrival with a sacrifice-- one of our own," the Committee man smiled. "Good," the Master smiled in return and rubbed his hands. "My rise to the surface is fast approaching." The Committee man looked at the little boy, who was sitting on a pile of rubble, watching him. "So, how is the Anointed One doing?" The Master smiled back at the child. "Colin was an excellent choice," he observed. "You were right--the Committee bloodline was just what was needed." The Master looked back at the man. "Did his mother ever wonder why they came here?" The Committee man shook his head. "Her company transferred her; that's all she needed to know." "I assume that you're satisfied with our service so far?" the Master smiled at the man. "Your . . . converts have served admirably," the man agreed. "Along with some . . . less visible assassins we've added of late, yours have been very successful. Did Colin `convert' the men I sent earlier?" "Yes," the Master agreed. "They've gone out for their first hunt." "Our groups work well together," the Committee man observed, looking over at Colin, who smiled malevolently. "Then, I will see you again when I rise," the Master agreed, turning back to return to his chair. The Committee man almost turned to go but looked back again. "By the way, I've always wanted to ask. Just what is that leather you wear made out of?" The Master smiled back at him. "Well," he responded, "I don't wear cow." The Committee man smiled and then left The Master to wait for the prophecy to take hold. 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