Strange Place to Live:
Holy Matrimony
by Cynamin

"Listen as your day unfolds,
challenge what the future holds,
try to keep your head up to the sky."
~You Gotta Be
Des’ree

When Giles saw Buffy, Angel, and Joyce at his door early in the morning, he was surprised. When he opened the door and let Buffy- still limping - inside, he was astonished. He ushered the three of them into his house, and, when he discovered they had not eaten, was quick to offer them tea. All three of them quickly agreed.

Once they were seated with mugs of tea, Giles waited for an explanation. Buffy took a sip, then spoke. "We’ve got a problem, Giles," she said, "and I only want to explain it once. This is going to need the whole gang."

Giles looked at her curiously, but did not ask anything. He simply called Willow, Oz, and Xander in turn, who responded quickly to the summons.

By the time everyone arrived Buffy had almost completely recovered from her fall. They all waited patiently for her to explain what they were doing here and what had happened. To their surprise, she turned to speak, not to Giles, but to Willow.

"Do you remember last week at the Espresso Pump?" Buffy asked. "The girl with the coffee?"

Willow nodded. "I couldn’t stop thinking about it," she said. At everyone else’s looks of confusion, she explained, "A girl tripped and complained somebody pushed her, but no one was there."

"I didn’t believe her," Buffy said. "I thought she was imagining things, but then, this morning . . . . I was coming down the stairs when the same thing happened to me. I felt someone push me down the stairs." Giles looked at her in surprise. "And no one else saw anything?"

"Oh, no," Willow said suddenly, "do you think we’re dealing with another invisible girl?"

Mrs. Summers looked at her curiously. "Invisible girl?"

"Several years ago –" Giles began to explain, then faltered. "Um, it’s not important. You didn’t see anyone?"

Joyce shook her head, and Angel spoke up. "We didn’t see anyone," he said.

Giles nodded thoughtfully, while Xander cast Angel an odd, amused look. "Weren’t you wearing the same thing yesterday?" ha asked.

Angel merely shot him a cross look, then smiled and continued to speak to Giles. "I don’t think it was an invisible person, though, he con"tinued. "Not in the sense you mean, at least."

"Why do you think that?" Giles asked.

Angel looked thoughtful. "First, it would have had to have been in the house for quite a while and I don’t think it would have waited so long to do something. But, more importantly, right before Buffy yelled, there was this unusual . . . cold in the house."

Giles looked thoughtful. "Unexplained cold spots have often been associated with haunting phenomenon," he said. "This could be a ghost or a poltergeist, though such things are usually confined to a specific location. It is very odd that two separate entities would exhibit the same behavior in such a manner."

Willow looked at Giles oddly. "What if it’s not two

entities?"Everyone stared at Willow, then looked expectantly at Giles. Giles shook his head. "In order for it to be one entity there would need to be something tying the two events together."

"There is," Buffy said softly. "Me."

Silence greeted her statement.

"I was at both places," Buffy continued. "The girl at the Espresso Pump was standing right next to me. And, well, today . . . maybe I’m the target. It wouldn’t be the first time."

Oz spoke up. "Why would something be haunting Buffy?" he asked.

Giles looked a bit flustered. "Well, if you’re right, Buffy, and you are indeed the focus of this . . . creature’s malice, then . . . we need to find out why. I shall need to do some research. If you would all assist me . . . ." The entire group of them started talking at one.

"Everyone? I’m no good at research!"

"Why does something want to hurt my baby?"

"Man, it’s summer vacation! I thought that meant freedom from school work."

"Great, Giles, but how do we defend against this in the meantime?"

"You know, I kinda had plans . . . ."

Only Willow held her peace. As everyone wound down, she spoke softly, just loud enough to be heard. "Why do we need to know why this ghost’s after Buffy?"

Silence descended on the group again. When no one responded, she continued more forcefully. "Well, we’ve already said that this sounds like a ghost or a poltergeist. Not that this would do any harm if it was something else, like an invisible girl . . . but if it’s not an invisible girl, if it’s a ghost –"

Buffy was impatient. "What is it? What’s your idea?"

Willow nodded. "If it’s a ghost, then we can get rid of it. Exorcism. Right, Giles?"

Giles was about to answer, but Xander spoke instead. "I don’t think so. That didn’t go so well last time we tried. Remember the wasps?"

Giles managed to reply to that. "That was a different sort of case, Xander. Those were two powerful, angry spirits. This spirit, thus far, has shown no strength aside from this. . . pushing. There have been none of the potentially deadly manifestations we faced then."

Buffy frowned. "It’s ‘potentially deadly’ enough for me. That ‘pushing’ nearly sent me down the stairs head first."

"Yes," Giles acknowledged, "but no one has been shot yet."

"Excuse me, but I’m confused . . . again," said Mrs. Summers, a touch annoyed. "What exactly are we talking about here?"

"It’s not important –" Giles began.

"Oh, I think it is. If you’re talking about a ghost attacking Buffy, then ghosts with guns, it’s very important, at least to me."

Buffy sighed slightly and tried to explain as quickly as she could. "There were two ghosts haunting the school," she said. "It was a student who killed a teacher and then himself. They were possessing students to reenact their deaths."

"Oh, dear," murmured Joyce. "You stopped them, right?"

"Yeah, we stopped them," Buffy said softly, and volunteered no more information. Sitting next to her, Angel gave her hand a quick squeeze, understanding. He clearly didn’t want to think about it too much either.

"Well," Giles said finally, "the important thing is that this situation does not compare. If we’re correct, a traditional exorcism should work."

"And I’m much better at magic than I was then," Willow added enthusiastically.

Xander was not reassured.

It did not take long to prepare. Though they were trying to get rid of a spirit that was not linked to a place, they decided to gather at the Summers’ house. That was the site of the last manifestation, after all. Besides, this ghost did seem to be following Buffy, and this was Buffy’s house.

They all arrived at her house around six. Those that needed an excuse for their parents said they had been invited for dinner. Not that they’d made that up Mrs. Summers did indeed have a meal ready for them when they arrived. She had not cooked breakfast like she’d planned, and she’d used the late afternoon cooking to distract herself from the danger to her daughter.

Willow arrived last, having stopped at Uncle Bob’s Magic Cabinet to pick up the necessary supplies on her way over. She found the mood in the house generally light. Xander was pigging out on the snack food Mrs. Summers had taken out. Giles was speaking to Oz about something, and Oz nodded every once in a while but said nothing. A quick look around showed the unexpected sight of Angel helping Mrs. Summers prepare dinner, while Buffy sat nearby, smiling and chatting.

Even knowing they were about to be attempting something that could be dangerous, the dinner was a cheerful affair. Smiling, they ate dinner together, then cast some small magic together. In the end, the ritual was anticlimactic. The ghost was banished without a disturbance.

"They’ve defeated your pet spirit," the voice scolded.

The man relaxed in his chair. "I know."

"You know?! Not only did that little witch get rid of it, it barely had them worried! Is this the best you can do?"

The anger was palpable. "You mistake me, my lord," the man said. "I had no intention for this attempt to succeed to destroy the Slayer."

A long silence. "You didn’t," the voice said, disbelieving.

"Not at all. This was a test."

Another silence. "Go on."

"I saw how she dealt with a direct threat. Those friends of hers will be a problem, but they are no concern of mine. No, I will continue to throw small threats at her and around her. Already my vampires have her stretched to her limits. I have more powerful, dangerous beings under my control. All your servants will do your bidding when faced with prophecy. They will overwhelm her before she even realizes the threat."

The silence was longer this time, then a low, dark chuckle like a roll of thunder built in the shadows. The darkness laughed. "Good."

Part Four

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