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punch_kicker15Author: punch_kicker15
Rating: R
Characters/Relationships: Willow/Giles
Summary: A prophecy leads Giles to practice dark magic once again. This sets him down a dark path, and Willow may be the only one who can help. AU in which Willow’s magic training started earlier than in canon.
Word count: 47,533
Notes: Thanks to
scratchingpost1 for generously offering a plot bunny that ate my brain, gilescandy and dragonyphoenix for looking over a very rough first draft and offering helpful suggestions and encouragement. Thanks also to the mods (red_b_rackham and traycer_ and other participants at 
het_bigbang for all of the help and hand-holding throughout. And special thanks to 
Chapter Eleven
Giles
Willow had called a meeting to discuss financial issues. Giles glanced over at Buffy, who had the same listless expression on her face she’d had since she came back. He told himself she just needed more time to recover.
Willow had the floor. "Your mom had life insurance, but there are a bunch of huge medical bills that are coming in. Tara and I had been chipping in the money we'd be paying for the dorm room, but we don't have enough to pay both the bills and the mortgage."
Spike said, "Don't pay the medical bills. What are they going to do, repossess Joyce's shoddy medical care?"
Anya asked, "Aren't doctors paid to keep her alive? Why should they get money if they didn't do their jobs?"
Tara chimed in. "I'm sure the doctors did their best, and they deserve to be paid for their hard work."
"But lots of people work hard and don't get paid. I mean, Buffy and Dawn didn't pay their mother for taking care of them. And nobody pays Buffy for being the Slayer." A look of sudden inspiration shone in her eyes, and she turned to Buffy. "Maybe that's what you need to do--you could send bills to people you save."
Anya looked around the room, seeming to sense that something was wrong, but as usual, failing to identify what that was. “Well, you're providing a valuable service to the whole community. I say cash in.”
Buffy said, “Well, that's an idea ... you would have. Any other suggestions?”
Anya crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I mean, it's, it's not so crazy.”
Dawn said, “Yes it is! You can't charge innocent people for saving their lives.”
Giles pinched the bridge of his nose as the conversation devolved into a fight about Spiderman that sent Anya storming out of the house, Xander following her out.
Giles tried to get the discussion back on track. “I think it’s fair to say that charging people for Slaying is not a practical option right now.”
"Fine." Spike said. "Then don't pay the mortgage."
Willow seemed intrigued. "I hadn't thought of that, but, you could probably save a lot of money that way. I read somewhere that the housing market in Sunnydale is so bad that they don't foreclose for years, so we could probably stay in the house rent-free until Dawnie goes to college."
Willow caught Tara's disapproving look, and added, "But maybe not?”
Dawn asked, "Couldn't Willow and Tara conjure up some money? I know I've seen you pull stuff out of thin air, why not cash?"
Tara said, "That's not what magic is for. Wiccans believe--"
"--that it's better to let little girls starve than violate their precious moral code. Fat lot of good they are."
"Spike, I'm not a little girl!"
Giles wondered why they kept calling for group meetings, when they all devolved into petty arguments like this. “The reality is that Social Services will be evaluating Buffy’s fitness to care for Dawn. They’ll want to know that Buffy is capable of paying the bills. If Buffy has a lot of money coming in and no visible means of employment, that will attract a lot of scrutiny from Social Services. Buffy will need to find a job. I’ll make contributions to help out, and anyone else who wants to can do the same.”
“Giles, you don’t have to do that,” Buffy said.
“Consider it a debt repaid." He wouldn’t have had a salary for the last three years if Buffy hadn’t demanded it from the Council.
Tara said, "About the job--I worked for a temp agency a few summers ago. If you're not sure what you want to do, they have a lot of options. And if one job doesn't work out, they have lots of others."
Giles had been about to suggest that Buffy work at The Magic Box, but the temp agency was probably a better idea, given that Social Services would be looking into Buffy's employment. He had never thought much about Buffy's financial situation. When Joyce was alive, there had always seemed to be enough money to keep Buffy and Dawn well cared for.
He hoped this was the only issue he'd overlooked when he brought Buffy back.
***
Life Serial
Buffy
Temp Agency Lady said, "You did a great job on our written exam. Do you have any preferences for work environment?"
Buffy thought about that summer she spent waiting tables. It wasn't exactly fun, but it seemed more interesting than sitting at a desk in an office. But she didn't particularly want to deal with people at the moment. "I think I'd like something active. Something that keeps me on my feet all day. But quiet."
Temp Agency Lady beamed at her. "I think I have the perfect job for you. It's with the Sunnydale Insurance Records Department. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes."
Buffy showed up the next day. The "perfect job" wasn't actually that bad. The records department had a huge room with really old computers that ran backup tapes. The numbers of the tapes would flash on a screen, and she'd find the tape, run down the hallway to find the computer to put the tape in, and take it out when it was done. Easy enough. It kept her body occupied, and occasionally she had a small moment of satisfaction when she’d found all the tapes before anyone could request more. And she was the only one in the computer room working the dayshift. She didn't have to smile at anyone or pretend to be happy. It was such a relief.
***
Ethan
Ethan sipped his coffee, watching Buffy walk to work, curious about the results of Ripper's spell. His glamour made him appear to be an average-looking middle-aged woman; he’d found that it was the best way to become all but invisible to just about everyone.
A dark-haired boy bumped into Buffy and planted something on the back of her sweater. Ethan's curiosity was piqued. As the boy walked away, Ethan came over to Buffy and offered his hand to help her up. “Are you all right?”
Buffy pulled herself up and said, “I’m fine, thanks.”
Ethan said, “You’ve got a leaf on your sweater, I’ll get it off.” He brushed the back of her sweater, palming the tiny item the boy had planted there.
“Thanks,” Buffy said, and walked away.
Ethan glanced at the chip in his hand. Suddenly the chip exploded in a tiny puff of smoke.
***
Ethan tried looking online for tiny computer chips, but didn't find anything that looked like the one he'd plucked from Buffy's sweater. His curiosity about it would have to go unsated.
He got a second chance to figure out what was going on when he spotted the dark-haired boy a few days later, hanging around a beige van. There were two shorter boys with him, one dark-haired, and one with red hair, who immediately pinged "closet case" to Ethan.
The red-haired boy took out a pan flute; it was the same kind that Ethan had used once when summoning demons on a lark back in the old days. Oh, shit. If these kids summoned demons to attack Buffy, Ripper would surely blame Ethan for it.
Ethan murmured an incantation under his breath, a small sonic distortion spell, just enough to throw off the demons. The boy tried the flute again a few times, then finally threw it to the ground in frustration and got back into the van.
***
The van showed up again the next morning. The small, dark-haired, wannabe sorcerer attempted a time loop spell. Ethan murmured, "Ricochet," and the boy found himself trying to cast the spell over and over in vain. Ethan could have simply cast a counter-spell, but then he'd have missed the entertaining spectacle of the boy's mounting nervousness and frustration.
Ethan considered telling Ripper about these boys. But he’d always had a soft spot for fellow pranksters. As long as their pranks weren’t interfering with Ethan’s plans, what was the harm? What Ripper didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
***
Giles
If he hadn’t known Willow so well, Giles wouldn’t have noticed the change in her dynamic with Tara. They were talking quietly about telepathy spells; although Willow was smiling, Giles could see a slight tremor in her jaw, a subtle hint of strain. She looked as though she expected Tara to lash out at her at any moment. That seemed highly unlikely, given Tara’s gentle temperament, but Willow could be tremendously sensitive to even the mildest criticism--
Someone waved a hand in front of his face. It was Buffy.
“Giles, zoned out much? I've been trying to get your attention for like five minutes.”
"Sorry. I was just lost in thought about--" Must think of something so boring no one will ask any questions about it "--the grammar of the Hindu Kush demons." It always pained him to lie to Buffy. But his concern about Willow might be misconstrued.
"Oh," was all that Buffy said in return.
He waited for a joke about how boring his interests were, but it didn't come. That was worrisome. She'd had weeks to adjust to the world of the living, and she still didn't seem quite herself. “What’s the matter?”
"Something's wrong at work. I keep getting a wiggins, like someone's watching me," Buffy said.
This was all rather vague. "Have you seen any demons?" he asked.
“Nope,” she said. "Really can't say more than the 'being watched' feeling."
Willow called across the room, “Maybe we could do a demon-locator spell outside the building. Or I could start looking up invisible demons.”
He hadn’t realized that Willow's attention had shifted from her conversation with Tara to his conversation with Buffy. “Thank you, Willow. That would be helpful.”
A few hours later, Willow reported that there was no sign of demonic activity around Buffy’s workplace.
Perhaps Buffy’s Slayer instincts were on the blink at the moment.
Chapter 12
