From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (buffyfic-digest) To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: buffyfic-digest V2 #353 Reply-To: $SENDER Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk buffyfic-digest Wednesday, October 14 1998 Volume 02 : Number 353 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: Full Disclosure (2b/3) by tj thwaites BUFFYFIC: Full Disclosure (3a/3) by tj thwaites See the end of the digest for information on (un)subscribing to the buffyfic or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 19:02:25 -0600 From: tthwaite@banff.net (tj thwaites) Subject: BUFFYFIC: Full Disclosure (2b/3) by tj thwaites ===== Consciousness slowly began to return to Joyce Summers. Mostly. The parts of her mind devoted to reason and logical explanations locked themselves behind a wall of denial, leaving the rest of her mind to process the evening's events on its own. Her ears reported hushed voices in an argument nearby. "....Can't believe you let her see your game face, Angel," Buffy's voice accused, "That was incredibly sloppy." "Heat of the battle," Angel said, "I didn't mean to. Sorry." "Well, that's just great," Buffy groused. "Buffy," Willow worried, "What are we going to do now? I mean, she *saw* you stake those vampires. And them turning to dust. What are we.....okay, what are *you* going to tell her?" "She staked a couple herself earlier," Angel interjected, "Outside the Gallery. That's why I was giving her a drive home. She was too shocked to be behind the wheel." "What?!?" Buffy shouted, quickly lowering her voice at Willow's shushing gesture, "What happened at the Gallery, Angel?" Angel briefly recounted the events in the Gallery's parking lot. "From the look on her face after," he concluded, "I though it best that she didn't drive, so I brought her home. Those vampires would have been bad enough without the instant replay on the lawn." "So what do we do now?" Willow asked. "I don't know," Buffy replied hesitantly, looking back around the edge of the opening into the living room, "I think I might just have to tell her everything, now. Damn! This is *so* not cool. I never wanted her involved....." The argument trailed off as the voices faded, moving further into the hall. Memories surfaced in Joyce's mind. Certain baffling episodes in the past now starting to make a weird sort of sense. Buffy's odd behaviour that morning last spring during Cheerleader tryouts: /// Buffy entered the kitchen wearing her cheerleader outfit, bouncing and singing. "Macho, macho, man! I want to be a macho man. Macho....Oh, hey, juice!" Buffy cut her serenade off, grabbing the glass and chugging down the juice, "Mmmm. Quality juice. Not from concentrate." Joyce glanced up from slicing another orange. "You're in a good mood," she remarked, placing another glass under the juicer's spout. "I am," Buffy replied, "I'm on the squad, which is great 'cause I feel like cheering. And leading others to cheer. Oooo, hey, juice!" Buffy grabbed the second glass and drank it quickly. Joyce wondered a moment about her daughter's unusual morning cheer. "Listen, honey, about yesterday. I really..." Joyce trailed off, not quite sure what she wanted to say. "Mmm! That is totally yester," Buffy quipped, "Besides, it's not like you were wrong, y'know. I did get kicked outta school. I'm just wacky that way!" "Still," Joyce said, unsure if Buffy really understood, "I just want you to know that, despite the problems you've had, I really..." Buffy cut her off, "Mom, you just don't get it. And believe me, you don't want it. Y'know, there are just some things about being a Vampire Slayer that the older generation..." "A *what*?" Joyce interrupted. "It's a......long story," Buffy prevaricated.///// "Vampire Slayer?" Joyce's confused mind wondered briefly before another memory surfaced. Parent Teacher Night: ////Joyce watched as Buffy grabbed the principal as he tried to force open a window. "You can't go outside," Buffy insisted, "They'll kill you!" "You don't tell me," Snyder retorted, practically snarling, "*I* tell *you*!" Buffy hauled Snyder down from the chair, away from the window. "They will kill everybody in this room," she persisted, deadly serious, "Nobody goes out, nobody comes in until *I* say so. Do you hear me?" "Who do you think you are?" Snyder did snarl this time. And he wasn't the only one surprised by Buffy's forceful tone of voice. "I'm the one that knows how to stop them," Buffy replied, not backing down an inch./// ///Later that evening, the people gathered in the science room stood away from the door as one of the 'gang' members tried to chop through it with an axe. He already had a hole made in the center of the door. Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the hallway. Joyce closed on the door and peered through the hole. She couldn't see much through the small opening. But she did see a small, delicate hand raised, clutching a wooden stake. The hand plunged downward. Then Buffy's face suddenly appeared.//// Then there was that bit at the mall last week: ///"Let me guess," Joyce said, a little annoyed with Buffy for forgetting about the dress, "You were distracted by a boy." "Technically," Buffy replied, fiddling with her hands and not meeting her mother's eyes. "A little responsibility is all I ask. Honestly, don't you think about anything besides clothes and boys?" Joyce demanded, exasperated. "Saving the world from vampires?" Buffy answered./// Joyce slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Her rational mind was still refusing to accept what the rest of it was trying to tell her. And the all too vivid memories of tonight's experiences. [Vampires?] she thought, [It's not possible. There can't be real vampires, can there?] ===== In the hall, Buffy came to a decision. "I'm calling Giles," she told Angel and Willow, "Get him to come over and bring that book on the Bazoar. Maybe something Watchery, too. I think it's time my Mom found out the truth." "The Bazoar?" Willow asked. "Yeah," Buffy replied, "What happened tonight is probably cause enough for nightmares, I don't want her having to deal with vague memories of the Bazoar, too. You said you haven't had one since Xander and I explained everything. Maybe Mom will stop having hers if we just tell her the truth about last week." "Are you sure about this, Buffy?" Angel asked, "Telling her the *whole* truth." "There is that," Buffy conceded, "I suppose we could leave out some of our past adventures. And Robot Ted is definitely off limits, Will. Let's just stick to the basics. It's bad enough that I'll have to tell her all about being the Slayer, I don't know how to explain that my boyfriend is a vampire on top of everything else. Especially since Giles will probably hit the 'vampires-are-demons-creatures-of- pure-evil' note fairly hard." "We could always use Cordelia's line," Willow offered. "Hunh?" Buffy wondered. "You remember," Willow said, "Halloween, when you told her he was one and she didn't really believe it at first. I know she was being sarcastic when she said it, but she was kind of right, wasn't she?" "What are you talking about?" Angel asked. "Oh, right, Will. I'd forgotten that," Buffy added, "The 'kind of like a Care Bear with fangs' line." "What?" Angel demanded, confused. "You explain it to him, Will," Buffy instructed, "I have to call Giles. Now" "Well, you see...." Buffy tuned out Willow's explanation to Angel. She picked up the phone and dialed Giles' number, again checking on her mother around the edge of the wall. Her eyes were still closed and she appeared to be resting comfortably. But Buffy was worried. Well, more like totally freaked by tonight's unwelcome complications. [Giles is *so* not gonna like this,] Buffy thought as she waited for him to answer. "Hello?" Giles' voice finally came over the line. "Giles?" Buffy began, "We have a situation. I need you to come over to my house right now. And I need you to bring that book with the stuff on the Bazoar. Bring something Watchery, too." "Buffy, what's going on?" Giles wanted to know. "It's confession time, Giles," Buffy explained, "We've had a couple of close encounters of the undead kind. One at the Gallery and one here at my house, on the front lawn. My Mom saw it all. And there's no way to explain it away. I'm gonna have to come clean this time, Giles. The truth. All of it." "You're quite certain, Buffy?" "Yeah, Giles. I'm certain. How soon can you get here? You're better in the explanation department than I am." "I'm on my way." Buffy hung up the phone and turned back to Willow and Angel. From the disgust and amusement warring for dominance on his face, Buffy guessed that Willow had had to explain what a Care Bear *was*, too. [We really have to bring Angel up to date on a few things,] Buffy thought, hiding a smile, [Maybe I should suggest he invest in cable. Give him something to do during the day. Or, maybe not. I don't know if I could handle a soaps-addicted vamp boyfriend, the vamp part is tough enough as it is.] The weak groan from the front room announced Joyce's return to full consciousness. Or a reasonable facsimile thereof. "Will, call Xander," Buffy said over her shoulder as she hurried to the living room, "I may need someone who can remember the whole story to back me up when we tell my Mom about the Bazoar. I just hope she doesn't totally wig." ===== Xander's hormones were having the time of their lives. He was lying on the couch in his living room, with a very sexy girl lying on top of him. They were seemingly fused at the lips. And it wasn't a dream. Life was definitely very good right this moment. The phone rang. Xander reluctantly removed one hand from Cordelia's hair and reached blindly for the phone on the end table as it rang again. It took several tries before his hand hit the receiver. He had to take a few deep breaths before getting enough air to answer. "Hello," Xander said, still somewhat out of breath. "Xander?" Xander would have jerked upright at recognizing Willow's voice if he hadn't had Cordelia draped over his chest. He didn't get a chance to reply. Cordelia suddenly snatched the phone from his hand. "I'm sorry," she spoke into the receiver, "You'll have to call back later, Xander's kinda busy right now." Laughing, she reached out and hung up the phone. "Next time, turn on the machine, okay?" she told Xander, "Now, where were we?" She leaned in to resume kissing, but Xander put his hand on her shoulder. She was surprised by the worried expression on his face. "Um, Cordy?" he mumbled, "I think that was Willow. On the phone." "WHAT?!?" Cordelia practically shouted, "Why would Willow be calling you?" "She was going to come over and help me with math after Buffy's Mom got home, remember?" Xander said, "But that wasn't supposed to be until after eight, at least." Xander looked up, across the remains of the pizza and sodas lying on the coffee table, at the TV. The snow on the screen indicated that the movie they hadn't been watching had ended, and the clock on the VCR read 8:53. "It's almost *nine* o'clock?" Cordelia squeaked, "I was supposed to be home at eight. My Mom wanted to talk about something. I have to go. Now." Cordelia jumped off Xander and headed for the door, grabbing her car keys from the hall table. She turned briefly when she reached the front door. "Bye, Xander. See you tomorrow." Then she was gone. Xander's mind needed a few seconds to catch up. The sudden shift from groping on the couch to solitude left him spinning. And the memory of Willow's voice on the phone didn't help. His eyes kept returning to the phone as he began to clean up the debris from the pizza. Whatever Willow had wanted, she'd call back if it was important. ===== END PART 2 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Noel:"Disappointment doesn't kill." Abby:"Right. Rejection kills. Disappointment only maims." -- "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" An optimist sees the glass half full A pessimist sees the glass half empty And a realist understands that soon he's going to have to wash the glass In a world of shit you hold your nose and swim. Don't worry about the bullet with your name on it, worry about the one addressed "to whom it may concern". @-}-}-- tj thwaites @-}-}-- @-}-}-- tthwaite@banff.net @-}-}-- @-}-}-- Box 2890, Banff, AB, T0L 0C0 @-}-}-- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 19:02:37 -0600 From: tthwaite@banff.net (tj thwaites) Subject: BUFFYFIC: Full Disclosure (3a/3) by tj thwaites Title: Full Disclosure (3/3) Author: tj thwaites E-mail: tthwaite@banff.net Archive: Anya's of course. The mailing list archives, okay. All others please ask. I'll give you the go ahead, but I just like to know where my stories are going. Rating: PG-13, some violence but no worse than an episode. Spoilers: up to Bad Eggs Summary: In the aftermath of the incident with the Bazoar, Joyce is having nightmares. And things are about to get worse. Disclaimer: The characters we all know and love from BtVS belong to the Great God Joss. I'm just playing in his back yard for a bit. Also, you'll probably recognize the stuff from various episodes in the explanation phase. (muchos gracias to AleXander for his wonderful work on the Transcripts available on the Slayerfanfic Archive) Feedback: Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated at tthwaite@banff.net. I'll even read flames, but don't expect a reply to combustable messages. Now, on with the show--- Full Disclosure by tj thwaites (aka tj the dyslexic ferret) ===== Buffy re-entered the living room to find her mother sitting up on the couch. Extremely pale. Joyce hugged herself, staring down into her lap, still trying to grapple with the possibility that vampires might actually exist. And the more alarming revelation that Buffy (and from the looks of things, Willow and maybe others, also) *knew* about it. And had known for some time. "Mom?" Buffy asked hesitantly as she stepped up to the couch. Joyce suddenly couldn't sit still. She rose and began to pace nervously. Trying to rub away the goosebumps on her arms, Joyce finally noticed a fine coating of some kind of grit on her arms, blouse and skirt. "What...?" she murmured, brushing at the grit. A small puff of dust rose from her clothing and hung in the still air of the living room. "Vamp dust from earlier?" Buffy asked Angel, who stood leaning against the edge of the wall separating the hall and the living room. "I think so," he replied. "Vamp....dust," Joyce stammered, her voice quavering, "From....earlier....those things....on *me*?" Buffy stood motionless, undecided on how to proceed, as her mother stared down at herself. Joyce's breathing speeded up. Suddenly, Joyce bolted for the hallway. "I have to shower," she added, rushing to the stairs. Buffy followed her to the hallway. Angel stayed where he was, keeping his back turned because of his suspicion of what came next. And he was right. Joyce was barely halfway up the stairs when her blouse fell from her shoulders, landing on the steps. She disappeared down the upstairs hallway toward the bathroom already working on her skirt's zipper. Buffy stood at the bottom of the stairs, her face twisted with worry. When Angel stepped up beside her and put his arm around her shoulder, Buffy leaned into his comforting embrace. She waited until she heard the water come on upstairs before stepping out from Angel's arm. And noticed Willow standing motionless by the hall table, staring at the receiver in her hand as if it were some strange experiment gone awry. "Will?" Buffy asked, "Did you get through to Xander? I think we're gonna need backup testimony for some of this." "Hunh?" Willow replied slowly, not quite in the here and now, "What?" "Willow?" Buffy prodded, "Telephone? Xander? Did you get through?" "Um, yeah," Willow sighed, finally hanging up the receiver. "Well?" Buffy prompted, "Is he coming or not?" "You know how we've been wondering why Cordelia and Xander have been acting so weird this past month?" Willow asked. "Yeah?" Buffy replied, confused by the non sequitur. "I think I know what's causing it." "What do you mean?" "They're together." "Will, you're not making any sense." "Cordelia was there. *At Xander's house*!" "What?!?" Buffy was as shocked as Willow looked, "Are you certain?" "Yes," Willow whispered disconsolately, "When Xander answered the phone, he was out of breath. Then there was *Cordelia's* voice saying 'call back later, Xander's busy'. I think I interrupted them." Buffy's mouth dropped open in shock. Xander and Cordelia? Together? *Xander* and *Cordelia*?!? There had to be some weird Hellmouth thing behind *that*. She walked over and picked up the phone, punching the numbers harder than necessary. "Hello?" Xander's voice sounded normal to Buffy's ears. "Xander," she replied, "It's Buffy." "Hey Buffster," Xander declared, "I was just going to call you. Is Willow still there? She was going to come over and help with the math tonight when you two got finished doing the girl thing." "Sorry, Xand," Buffy answered, listening closely to see if she could hear anything incriminating in the background, "You're on your own mathwise tonight. Something's come up here." "What's up, Buff?" Xander asked, "Anything I can help with?" "Not right now," Buffy sighed. If there was something going on between him and Cordelia, tonight was not the time for that revelation. There was already enough on everyone's minds. She would just have to do her best telling her mother about the Bazoar without Xander's backup testimony. "It's just that....," she continued, pausing to take a deep breath, "The Crime Club is about to induct a new member." "*What*?" Xander's voice took on a slightly hysterical edge, "Buffy, what's going on? What happened? Who is it?" "Xander!" Buffy interrupted him before he could ask any more questions, "My Mom found out. She was attacked by a couple of vamps outside the Gallery. Angel rescued her. But when she got home we had a repeat performance on the front lawn. I staked Lyle Gorch and another vamp right in front of her. And Willow bagged the last one with my crossbow. My Mom saw it all. Giles is on his way over right now to help me and Willow explain things." "You sure you don't want me to come over?" Xander asked, his voice betraying his unease at Buffy's revelation, "I know Giles is the Answerman and everything, but you don't need my help?" "It's all right, Xander," Buffy insisted, "We can handle it. I'll see you tomorrow." "If you're sure?" Xander added. "I'm sure, Xand. Bye." "Bye." Buffy hung up. She glanced up the stairs as she moved to join Willow and Angel in the livingroom. An uneasy silence descended. ===== After several minutes the tense quiet, broken only by the steady drone of the shower running upstairs, began to grate on Buffy's nerves. She rose from the couch and began to pace restlessly. Back and forth between the foot of the stairs and the front window. Back and forth, pausing briefly at the end of each leg to check for either the appearance of her mother or Giles' arrival. "I'm gonna check on my Mom," Buffy suddenly announced, starting for the stairs, "Keep an eye out for Giles, he should be here any second." Buffy ran up the stairs, not waiting for either Angel or Willow to acknowledge her. She knocked, somewhat hesitantly, on the bathroom door. "Mom?" No answer. "Mom?" Buffy called again, a little louder. Still no reply. Buffy opened the door and tentatively stuck her head into the steam-filled room. "Mom?" she called for the third time. The faint sounds of sobs brought her completely into the room and up to the tub. Pulling aside the shower curtain, Buffy's heart leapt into her throat. Her mother sat, huddled on the bottom of the tub in a fetal position, shivering despite the scalding water raining down on her. Her eyes were clenched tightly shut and her shoulders shook. Buffy reached out and turned off the water. She grabbed a towel from the bar on the wall beside the shower and drew it around Joyce's shoulders. Or, attempted to. Joyce flinched away from the slight contact with a shriek. "Mom!" Buffy cried, hopping into the tub, "Mom, it's me. You're safe." [Whoa, deja vu,] Buffy thought as she firmly wrapped the towel around her mother's shoulders, [Except for the wet part.] "I've got you, Mom," she continued soothingly, "Nothing can hurt you here. Everything will be all right." Joyce slowly began to relax and allowed her daughter to help her from the tub. She dried herself off, leaning heavily on Buffy's shoulder. The shock and hysteria were starting to wear off. As she let Buffy lead her to her room for some clothes, Joyce mustered as much calm and control as possible to face the memories of tonight's events. She was going to want some damned good answers from Buffy and the others about all this. ===== Willow nearly bolted from the couch when the doorbell rang. Finally. The silence that had permeated the house since the water upstairs was shut off had been practically unbearable. But Angel had gone into Silent Brood Mode in the corner and she refused to show her anxiety by babbling. Relieved that something was happening, Willow rushed to the door and threw it open. "Giles!," she shouted, "What took you so long?" "I had to stop by the library," Giles explained, "For the volume with the information on the Bazoar. Is everyone all right? No one was harmed?" "I think Buffy's Mom is pretty wigged," Willow told Giles as she virtually dragged him by the sleeve into the living room, "But nobody got hurt. This is *not* good, Giles. Mrs. Summers *saw* Buffy stake a couple of vampires. And she saw Angel's game face." "She also staked a pair herself," Angel added from his position in the shadowy corner. Giles stopped dead in his tracks. His mind had almost come to grips with tonight's surprises on the way over, but Angel's revelation derailed his train of thought again. He almost didn't even notice a pair of stakes and Buffy's crossbow sitting openly on the coffee table when he sat down, his mind still reeling with the implications of Joyce Summers discovering her daughter's "hobby". Giles dropped the books on the table next to the crossbow and stakes. "Very well," he said, "I'm still a little in the dark here. Will someone please explain what happened?" Willow and Angel exchanged a look before she motioned for him to start. ===== Joyce and Buffy entered the living room to find a tense silence hanging over its occupants. Joyce was surprised by the presence of the school's librarian, Mr. Giles. Then she remembered something from last week, when Buffy hadn't been in the library when she'd gone to pick her up. ///Joyce glanced down at the books lying on the top of the card catalogue. "'Bristol's Demon Index'?" Joyce asked, "'Hell's Offspring'?" "A hobby of mine," Giles replied, picking up the books and placing them on a shelf inside the cage, "But...uh...having nothing to do with Buffy in any way."/// Later that night, while frantically searching for Buffy in the wake of the gas leak, Joyce had forgotten Giles' odd comment. But now, it was another piece to a puzzle Joyce had never even known existed. All those times Giles had called, or come to the house, looking for Buffy because of something going on at the library now seemed to have a sinister edge. [He knows,] Joyce thought, [He's known all along and kept it from me!] "You!!" Joyce snarled at Giles, advancing menacingly on the tweed clad man, "How *DARE* you! How could get my daughter involved in this nonsense?" Willow brought her knees up to her chest on the end of the couch. Even though this example of parental wrath wasn't aimed in her direction, Willow made herself as small and inconspicuous as possible. She knew she could find herself under Mrs. Summers baleful glare at any point. And she dreaded it, knowing that it was inevitable. Mrs. Summers would undoubtably realize that Willow was deeply involved with Buffy's secret. Angel stayed in his corner. He had no desire to step in. Joyce needed to get the anger out of her system if there was any chance of getting her to listen to the truth. Right now she seemed to be in pure overprotective lioness mode and Giles would just have to deal with Joyce's ire. He probably had the best shot at making her listen, anyway. Giles pressed himself deep into the chair. Joyce's white terrycloth robe covering her pale blue pyjamas did nothing to lessen the fire in her eyes or the set of her jaw. He blinked, suddenly seeing Buffy as she might look if she survives Slaying for twenty years. Giles opened his mouth to say something, anything, which might calm the raging Valkyrie in front of him. But Buffy got there first. "Mom!" Buffy cried, grabbing Joyce's arm, "Giles didn't start anything! Just let us explain!" "Buffy. Sit. Down. And. Be. Quiet," Joyce said through clenched teeth before rounding on Giles again, "You *bastard*! Buffy's a teenager, I expect a certain amount of rebelliousness and evasiveness from *her*. I can still remember what it was like to be one. But *you*, you are supposed to be an adult. Responsible. How dare you involve my daughter in your delusions? I want some answers and I want them *now*. Just what the Hell is going on? And when did it start?" "It started back in LA before I got expelled from Hemery," Buffy stated from behind Joyce's shoulder, "And there's nothing delusional about all this. This is the dark side of reality, Mom." "What?" Joyce asked, whirling on her daughter in shock. "It started back in LA," Buffy repeated, "All those fights. That 'bad crowd' you always talk about. That was all about vampires. I had to burn down the gym because it was full of vampires and that was the only way I could stop them." Joyce's eyes darted from Buffy's set face around the other occupants. They all looked deadly serious. Joyce didn't resist when Buffy took her arm and led her to the couch. She practically collapsed onto it, shaking her head. end part 3a - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Noel:"Disappointment doesn't kill." Abby:"Right. Rejection kills. Disappointment only maims." -- "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" An optimist sees the glass half full A pessimist sees the glass half empty And a realist understands that soon he's going to have to wash the glass In a world of shit you hold your nose and swim. Don't worry about the bullet with your name on it, worry about the one addressed "to whom it may concern". @-}-}-- tj thwaites @-}-}-- @-}-}-- tthwaite@banff.net @-}-}-- @-}-}-- Box 2890, Banff, AB, T0L 0C0 @-}-}-- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of buffyfic-digest V2 #353 ****************************** To subscribe to buffyfic or buffyfic-digest, send the command subscribe buffyfic-digest or subscribe buffy to majordomo@xmission.com. You will need to go through a confirmation process, and the listowners have to manually approve your subscription request, so it may take some time. To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@xmission.com with unsubscribe buffyfic-digest or unsubscribe buffyfic in the body. 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