[identity profile] dedra.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] tamingthemuse
Title: Betrayal Is Easy
Author: [livejournal.com profile] spikespetslayer
Fandom: BtVS
Pairing: None
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: It's hard to forget the betrayal from those you thought your friends.

Author's Notes: This comes from an unfinished idea that I started before I left the Buffyverse. Written for this comm, but most of the feelings and ideas remain intact. There is nothing that starts the muse better than unexpressed emotions of your own.



Betrayal Is Easy

Buffy sat in the back of the bus, oblivious to the infectious good mood of the Potentials and Scoobies filling the other seats. She glanced out of the back window intermittently, a sad, lost look on her face.

Giles looked back to where she sat, wondering what was on her mind. He made his way back to her seat and sat down across from her. “Buffy, are you all right?”

Her voice was flat. “Fine, Giles. Where are we going?”

“I believe that we’ll go to LA. Angel can put us up at the Hyperion—“

She interrupted him. “I don’t want to see Angel.”

“Where do you want to go?” Giles asked, and she shrugged.

“I don’t have to go with you to the Hyperion. You can drop me off.”

Giles looked at her closely. There were tight lines around her mouth that seemed new, as well as an angry look in her eyes that he didn’t remember from that morning. “Buffy, is there something wrong?”

She looked at him, and the anger seemed to intensify. “Why would you think that there was anything wrong, Giles? My home is gone, my friends are traitors, my Watcher stabbed me in the back, and my boyfriend is dust. No, there’s nothing wrong, nothing whatsoever.”

Giles flinched at the sarcasm dripping from her words as well as the words themselves. “Buffy, we did what we thought was best.”

“Yeah, I got that. Too bad you were all wrong, huh?” She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, effectively shutting him out. “I’m tired, Giles. Tired and frustrated and grieving. I would appreciate some time alone, if it isn’t too much to ask.”

With one last look at her tight features, Giles stood and made his way to the front of the bus to sit next to Dawn and across from Willow. He motioned for Willow to lean in, and keeping his voice low, began to speak to the two girls who had been closest to his Slayer.

“I believe that we have made a grave error in judgement, girls. Buffy is feeling betrayed by the decisions that we were forced to make the other night, and she is still harboring a great deal of anger toward us.” He pulled his glasses off, noticing for the first time the crack in the lens and the skewed earpiece as he polished them with a grimy handkerchief that did more harm than good. “She doesn’t want to go to the Hyperion with us. In fact, she has asked that we drop her off somewhere else.”

Dawn's eyes grew wide. “We can’t! Angel will want to see her.”

Giles shot Dawn a look and she had the grace to become embarrassed. “Sorry, Giles. Didn’t mean to talk so loud. Still, Angel is gonna be majorly pissed if we show up without her.”

“I’m fully aware of that, Dawn. I also know Buffy. If she thinks that she can, she’ll slip away from us. I want the two of you to shadow her, unobtrusively if possible, and keep her with us.”

Willow shook her head. “If she wants to get away from us, Giles, then she will. You’d be better off having Faith shadow her instead, in case something physical goes down.”

Giles replaced his glasses and said, “No. She trusts Faith even less, I believe. She wouldn’t hurt Dawn or you, however. Just…keep her in your sight.”

Willow and Dawn sighed simultaneously. “All right. We’ll do what we can,” Willow said, then leaned back into her own seat and put her head on Kennedy’s shoulder.

~*~

An hour away from Sunnydale, they finally had to stop for gas and bathroom breaks for all the Potentials.

Giles and Xander filled the bus with gasoline as the girls took turns in the restroom. They watched as Buffy filed inside with the rest, then Giles turned to Xander and gave him a quick run-down of what was going through the Slayer's mind. Both men kept their eyes open and trained on the door of the truckstop as they waited for the girls to return.

When they did, it was in force as a group. “Buffy's gone! She was in the bathroom with Willow, but now she’s disappeared!”

It came as no surprise to Giles or Xander either one.

~*~

Buffy waited until the last of the Potentials had left the restroom before she made her move. Willow stood in front of the mirror, chatting casually with Buffy as Buffy stood on the toilet seat, casing the windows for accessibility. “This could be a good thing, Buffy. A chance for all of us to have a fresh start, away from the Hellmouth.”

“Yeah,” Buffy replied half-heartedly. “A fresh start. Just what we all need.”

She reached down and dug into her backpack to grab her toothbrush. Thankfully, she had grabbed it on her way out of the bus with the excuse of needing to clean up and treat her wounds and nobody had given it a second thought. They saw the blood staining her shirt; they had no idea the wound itself had already healed. “I so need to brush my teeth.”

She stood next to Willow for a moment, wondering at what point their friendship had changed. Their eyes met in the mirror and Willow noticed the anger that Giles had spoke of simmering in the depths of the hazel eyes looking back at her, and started stammering an apology. “Buffy, you know that we thought you…we…I’m sorry! We didn’t mean….”

Buffy turned to her, the anger at a full rolling boil now. “I know. You didn’t trust me anymore. That’s okay, Will. I don’t trust any of you anymore either.”

Her voice became quiet and menacing. “You know, I owe you something. Ever since you brought me back.” She placed one hand gently on the redhead’s shoulder, and brought her closer. “I owe you a lot, actually, but this I can give you now.”

Willow saw her fist flying toward her, then blackness as she was knocked unconscious.

Buffy looked at her ex-friend lying on the ground of the dirty bathroom and thought about poetic justice. She gathered the small items she’d collected from the Magic Box after its destruction—a charm, a talisman, and a candle—and drew a quick if lopsided circle on the floor, away from the unconscious woman. “Please work,” she whispered, and her prayer was answered when D’Hoffryn appeared in a puff of blue smoke and fire.

“Ah, Slayer. So nice to see you again. What can I do for you?” he said smoothly.

“I have a protection talisman. I demand your protection.” Her voice was hard and cold, and D’Hoffryn flinched at the emotionless delivery of her request.

“There was no need to go to such lengths, Slayer,” he said, waving his hand. A portal appeared in front of them, and he waved her in, entering behind her. “I would gladly have offered you sanctuary in Arashmahar, especially after you did so much for my Anyanka.”

“Anya's dead.”

“Nice way to say hello, Buffy,” came a voice from behind her, and Buffy turned to see Anya standing there, alive and intact.

The events of the day overwhelmed her, and she collapsed in her friend’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably as they moved via portal to Arashmahar.

She finished crying quickly as the memory of Anya's betrayal seeped slowly into her mind. Buffy dragged herself out of the comforting arms and stared at the vengeance demon, then turned back to face D'Hoffryn. “I want to watch them. A window, if you please?” she said, and he nodded his assent.

He opened the window before her as they watched the frantic search that had begun almost the minute Buffy had left. There were Potentials looking outside and inside the truckstop, searching in every truck and trailer that were parked around the lot. Buffy smiled, glad for her foresight in smudging the circle on the floor before leaving, and D'Hoffryn looked down at her smug face speculatively.

“What shall I do with you now, Slayer, since I have you here in Arashmahar?” he asked, rubbing his bearded chin.

Buffy tossed a dismissive glance over her shoulder. “Well, unless you want problems with the Powers, you’ll do exactly what you’re supposed to. Feed me, house me, and provide me with sanctuary as long as I need it. At least, that’s what Giles' book said. ‘The Slayer has the power to demand sanctuary in any demon dimension, as long as she harms none of the occupants.’ Isn’t that right?”

D'Hoffryn sighed. “Yes. How annoying to have someone who actually reads the small print.”

Anyanka made a noise from behind him. “I always said she was annoying. You didn’t believe me, did you?”

D'Hoffryn ignored his favorite, instead focusing on Buffy. “You understand, you cannot interfere in any of the workings of our dimension. If you try, or you harm anyone, you become hunted in your own right.”

Buffy nodded, her eyes still trained on the window into her dimension. Giles and Xander were assisting Willow to her feet and had noticed the circle of power, however smudged. “I know. I also know that the only one who could truly find me doesn’t have a clue as to how. And all the denizens of this dimension are prohibited from revealing my presence, so that takes care of being outed by Anya.”

“That’s Anyanka, thank you very much, and like I want to go back to that anyway,” Anyanka said, waving her hand at the window. “The only good thing about being human was the orgasms. Oh, and shopping.”

She kept an eye on the search until it was judged futile, then watched as they loaded back onto the bus and left. The window followed them, focusing on the teary-eyed Dawn and infuriated Willow being comforted by Kennedy, then panning to Giles' worried visage. Faith was behind Giles, whispering in his ear as she cradled Robin Woods’ head in her lap, and Xander stared stonily out of the front window, driving illegally.

“They won’t miss me now. There’s hundreds of slayers,” Buffy said quietly, and D’Hoffryn gave her a frightening smile.

“There may be hundreds of slayers, Slayer, but there is only one you. Only you could have thought of the plan that you did. Only you could have defeated the First Evil. Only you would have shared your Chosen status with all those who betrayed you. They will feel your loss, but not for a while yet.” He looked at his nails and said, “What are your plans, anyway? Arashmahar is not set up for long term visitors.”

She turned to face him. “I’m done watching. You can close the window. My plans? I really don’t know right now. I just need rest. I need to regroup and see what comes next. After that, I have no idea.”

~*~

Willow brushed Kennedy off, missing her black look as she reached across the aisle of the bus to speak to Giles. “I can do a locator spell,” she offered.

Giles shook his head negatively. “I don’t know if it would do any good, Willow. She obviously does not want to be found, at least not at this time. It may be better to leave her be.”

Faith leaned forward again, wrapping her arm around the seat to keep her balance. “We don’t need her anyway. We have all these girls to train and get into slay mode.”

“Yeah. What did Buffy do for us anyway? Got a bunch of us killed,” Kennedy said, and Willow turned to look aghast at her girlfriend.

“She also shared her power with you, Kennedy. Doesn’t that count for anything?” Willow drew away from Kennedy and gave her a look of disgust. “She’s got more slaying experience, more demon knowledge, and more imagination than anyone else on this bus.”

“Hey! I take offense to that,” Faith said, forgetting about Robin’s head until his moan reminded her. She sat back in the seat and continued. “I’m the Slayer too, remember Red? Or did you conveniently forget that like you did when I was in the pen?”

“No, I didn’t forget it. I remember who was the good Slayer and who was the bad one.” Willow's eyes were cold and her tone matched it in briskness as she eyed the rogue Slayer back in the fold. “I don’t think that we need to be teaching any of these girls how to stab a man in the chest.”

“I don’t think they need to know how to skin one alive either,” Faith snapped, and Giles held up his hands.

“And I think that’s enough from both of you.” When they fell silent, he continued. “Buffy is missing, that is undeniable. We will concern ourselves with her whereabouts after we reach the Hyperion. Angel will be able to assist us with his contacts, I’m sure.”

“You know, that’s another thing. Why are we going to stay with another vampire? I thought that was the Slayer's job, to kill vampires,” Rona said, looking pointedly at Giles. “I don’t understand how come we end up trusting them and letting them live in the basement, and now staying with them. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Although I’ve been through this with you, I will attempt to clarify again. Angel has a soul, therefore works for the side of good and not evil.” Giles removed his glasses and scrubbed at them.

Xander's voice drifted back from the driver’s seat. “Angel's a good guy, no matter how much we hate him,” he said. Giles shot him a dirty look that Xander saw in the mirror.

“Angel has resources that we currently are lacking. Any resources that we had were swallowed up in the Hellmouth, including research materials, monetary funds, and personal belongings. I plan on contacting the remnants of the Watcher’s Council to investigate what strides they have made in recreating a Council house, but I haven’t been able to look any further than that.” Giles paused for a breath, then continued on, aware of the uproar that his next statement could cause. “Since our most experienced Slayer decided to absent herself, we can only work with what we have on hand. It is my belief that what we have on hand is sadly lacking, not only in experience, but also in discipline and willingness to follow orders. Therefore, our first order of business when we reach the Hyperion will be to start training.”

There was a collective groan and a couple of grumbling replies, but nothing like he expected, even from Faith. He turned to face the front of the bus and prayed that Xander got them there in one piece. At the very least, the Powers That Be owed him that.

Date: 2007-02-10 08:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] authoressnebula.livejournal.com
Good. Very good. I always hated what they did for Buffy, and in the end, it wound up with her being right: they don't want her. And they don't need her. And she certainly doesn't need them.

Well done sweetie.

~Nebula

Date: 2007-02-11 03:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] maryperk73703.livejournal.com
Wow. Love it. I'd say MORE, but I know that's not possible. Although, I myself have played with the idea that Buffy leaves the Scoobs after Spike is gone. Maybe I'll keep this story in my memories to motivate me into writing that idea (as soon as I finish some of my WIP!!!!!) LOL.

Date: 2007-02-12 02:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] smwright.livejournal.com
I'm so glad I wandered down your path again this week. I've been so busy lately that a lot of my TtM reading has fallen off. Huge apologies.

This was lovely and sad and well rendered. I for one am glad you spread your wings! (You should do it more often!)

Really loved: D'Hoffryn sighed. “Yes. How annoying to have someone who actually reads the small print.”
Brilliant. *g*

Date: 2007-02-18 10:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thismaz.livejournal.com
Very interesting start. So how did everybody betray Buffy? Is it true (in this AU) or in her head? I look forward to finding out more. This is an interesting world. The future could go so many places. *sits back and waits expectantly* Well done.

Date: 2007-03-12 08:14 pm (UTC)
northernwalker: (Default)
From: [personal profile] northernwalker
I'm a really new Ljer who ran across your fics awhile ago and enjoy them immensely. Sorry to hear you're leaving Buffy. Please feel free to keep posting bits like this!

I liked that you didn't plaster over the "let's toss Buffy out when things go wrong" betrayal. That really frosted me. It was a war, people. Casualties happen in war. You've seen people die. You've seen Buffy die, for Pete's sake! None of you are invunerable- twits.

She looked at him, and the anger seemed to intensify. “Why would you think that there was anything wrong, Giles? My home is gone, my friends are traitors, my Watcher stabbed me in the back, and my boyfriend is dust. No, there’s nothing wrong, nothing whatsoever.”

Gee, why should she be unhappy? /eyeroll

Date: 2007-05-02 12:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gotkona.livejournal.com
So glad I found this. Life is been crazy for me too but I so enjoy your writings and glad I caught this.

Date: 2007-05-02 01:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vampkiss.livejournal.com
Lovely reading some new Buffy fic from you! (not that I don't adore your HP fic, but Buffy=OTP for me!)

This was great! I like the idea that Buffy has finally just had enough. Thanks for sharing!

Date: 2007-05-02 03:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] raemcn.livejournal.com
I love it! I also love getting to read buffy fic from you! You've always written great btvs. Thank you so much for sharing it.

The one thing I never understood about the show was all the times Buffy was betrayed in one way or another by her friends and watcher, including them kicking her out of her house, why did the writers never allow Buffy to confront them? I mean really they basically had Buff ignoring all the things these ppl did to her.

Date: 2007-05-02 03:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bambu345.livejournal.com
Great underlying tension between former friends, and I liked that your Buffy has a brain; I don't think I ever came away from the series (the three episodes I've seen) with that impression.

My favorite aspect of this, though, has to be Willow's reactions in the latter half. She's furious with Buffy and hurt by her actions, but she has to recognized some underlying truth to Buffy's accusations and anger. What a terrible tangle for her to have to muddle through.

As always, thoroughly engaging writing.
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