SPOILERS: Some Becoming II
RATING: PG
CONTENT: Talking, action, you name it!
SUMMARY: A story about Buffy's post-Becoming adventures, on the road
with Whistler
DISCLAIMER: I have no ownership whatsoever to anything Buffy, ect. That
good stuff belongs to Joss.
NOTE: Dedicated to those great people at the Cafe posting board. Thanks so much for your love and support.
"Now Leaving Sunnydale - Come Back Soon!" the cheerful sign begged. Buffy turned her eyes away. She couldn't take that right now. That one stupid sign was going to crack her, break her when hundereds of vampires and demons couldn't. Instead of facing her pain, she turned away from the long, lonely stretch of highway ahead of her and closed her eyes. She slept.
**************************
"Hey, c'mon, wake up!" a very annoying voice demanded. Buffy opened her eyes imediately.
"W-what?" she asked, looking around. The face, floating above her in the darkness was that of Whistler. She vaugly remembered the man (or demon) from her brief meetings with him at Giles' house.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, wanting only to be alone with her pain and rage. Night had fallen while she slept, passengers had departed, and now it seemed as if she and Whistler were alone, hurtling through blackness on the bus.
"You can't do this alone." he said in answer.
"You told me I had to." she replied, fluffing her pillow and flipping over, facing away from him. She sat up suddenly, and turned around. "Didn't you? Didn't you say that all I have is myself? Didn't you?!" she asked, wanting to beat on him, wanting to hurt someone or something, to make it hurt as badly as her heart hurt.
"Yeah, I said that." Whistler replied, removing his hat and sinking down into the seat next to her. "But what's past is past. You can't do this alone."
"What am I doing, huh? I'd be interested." Buffy replied bitterly.
"Running away."
Buffy only looked at him then. He was a demon, she knew that much. And his earlier words of advice had caused her enormous pain. Why should I listen to him? she asked herself. Why should I trust him?
"Because you do." Whistler said, in answer to the questions she hadn't voiced aloud.
"How did you..." Buffy met his eyes. "Nevermind. But please, I need time to think, to heal. I..."
"He's not gone forever, you know." Whistler said. The bus rushed past a few streetlights, and the inside of the Greyhound was illuminated suddenly. Forty or fifty seats in the bus were empty. She and Whistler were alone.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"He'll be back. Where there's love, there's hope." he reminded her. Buffy sat back a little and allowed his words to sink in. "And you'll be going back to Sunnydale." Whistler told her. Buffy opened her mouth in protest. "You've got unfinished business." he said, interrupting her denial.
"When?" she asked.
"Oh, not today. And maybe not tommorow. But someday, you'll go back. And when you do, you'll be ready." He smiled. "You'll be healed."
"But-"
"No buts. You've got things to do, in the meantime, and it's my job to make sure you can handle what you've got to handle. Got it?" Whistler asked sternly.
"Got it." Buffy replied, subdued. He was right, she relized. She would return to Sunnydale, to her mother and friends, someday. 'Someday', however, was a long time away, and she got the feeling it was going to be a very long road home.
"You're not wrong." Whistler said as the Slayer fell asleep. The bus passed over a rain-washed road, and little drops of water streamed off the windows of the bus. "It's gonna be a very long road home. But you're not alone, kid. You've still got that one thing. And that is what's gonna save you." he said as the bus headed into the night.