The Grundy Affair Chapter 10

Buffy and Spike are recruited to protect an important gift for a high ranking official and discover there is more at stake.
13 chapters, complete, rated PG,  Drama and humor. Story begins here.

Chapter 10

The Grundy adjusts easily to travel and can be transported readily. Confine the immature Grundy to a small carrier or tote after first allowing it to become familiar with its temporary environment. The mature Grundy may be walked on leash or confined within a larger carrier. There are several wire mesh carriers available that are designed for this purpose. Having arrived at the destination, confine the immature Grundy to a small area until it has completely adjusted to its new surroundings. Note: Do not confine your Grundy within anything made of wood nor allow complete freedom until several hours after the initial confinement.

-The Complete Manual of Domestic Demon Care
2001 Edition
Chapter 3- The Grundy

 

“Hi Buffy.”

“Willow. Is everyone there?”

“Hold on, I’m going to put you on speaker phone.” The witch punched a button on the Magic Box phone. “There, that’s better.  We can all hear you now. Anya, Xander, Giles and I are all here.”

“Hang on while Spike and I get organized.”

She heard shuffling noises and then the Slayer returned to the line. “Okay, we’ve figured it out so we can both hear you.”

Willow nodded and realized Buffy couldn’t see her. “Uh, okay, so everyone’s ready. This is sorta cool, like a real conference call. We could be Scoobies, Incorporated.”

Buffy heard Giles clear his throat. I just know he’s got on his frowny-face and now he’s got Willow flustered.

Willow twisted her hands and continued. “I researched the Grundy like you asked. Boy, they’re really interesting demons.”

The witch’s voice grew faint as she moved slightly farther from the phone. Buffy heard a familiar noise and imagined Willow staring at her computer screen, tapping her pencil.

She had left space between the receiver and her ear so Spike could hear Willow, too. The vamp was listening intently, sitting near her on the bed with the Grundy next to him. The little demon had glued herself to the vampire again. Buffy looked down at Empress contentedly lying with her head in Spike’s lap. Huh. I’m good enough to take you out, but not good enough to sit with.

“So, Will, what did you find out about them?”

Someone adjusted the telephone at the other end and Willow’s voice came across the line a little louder. “They have enhanced night vision; as good as any vampire and they have very sensitive hearing, too. They’re born with these traits and they’re used extensively when the Grundy is purchased as a guard dog. They’re easily trained for almost any type of job as long as they’re taught while they’re still young. It becomes much harder to teach a Grundy once they’re older, especially if the owner waits until after they’re six weeks old, something to do with not accepting a pack leader. But otherwise, they’re really easy to take care of, but I guess we already knew that.”

Willow heard Giles mutter to Anya. “As long as you don’t own anything breakable.”

Anya whispered back. “Or anything made of wax or wood.” They shared a commiserate look.

Buffy’s voice came out of the speaker, sounding disappointed. “Is that it?”

Willow shook her head and then remembered about the phone. “No. Actually, a Grundy has a boatload of abilities, that’s why they’re so expensive. From what I’ve read, various traits continue to manifest as they mature, too.”

She looked at her screen and tapped her pencil. “The Grundy is empathic. It knows what the people around it are feeling, which makes them great for kids and the elderly. They’re also extremely smart; they can understand a vocabulary of over two hundred words and phrases. They’re also incredibly strong for their size and intensely loyal.” She grinned at Giles. “They’re also very active and require a lot of exercise, especially when young. Oh, and they eat wood.”

Startled, Buffy asked, “What did you just say about eating?”

“They eat hard wood. It’s a part of their natural diet. The book I read recommended a couple of easily available types.”

Anya narrowed her eyes. “I knew some of those teak Goddesses were missing.”

Spike glanced at the Grundy beside him, staring up at Buffy. She does understand me.  Cutting his eyes to the Slayer still talking on the phone, he whispered in the demon’s ear. “Everything we talked about during our walk and everything I told you at the crypt, that’s just between us.”

He swore the Grundy winked. Spike noticed Buffy looking at him curiously, so he quickly pointed at the collar on the nightstand. “Don’t forget to tell them about the collar, pet.”

Nodding, Buffy picked up the expensive collar, but before she could mention it, Giles interrupted Willow. “This is all very interesting, but there have been some developments that are rather more important.”

He’s using that Giles- problemo voice again. There’s no where left to move from here but the ghetto. A vision rose of Spike and the Grundy standing on a street corner wearing gang colors and throwing signs while trying to convince her to have their gang tat inked on her upper arm in a show of solidarity. There’s no way I’ll blend in, spray paint makes me sneeze.

Placing the collar back on the nightstand, she sighed. “What happened? What are you talking about?”

Giles explained about the email from Lydia and the newspaper article about the murdered breeder. “We must try and locate the Talisman.”

Buffy and Spike’s eyes met over the telephone. She pointed at the collar and he nodded. “Giles, I think Spike and I should come back to Sunnydale a.s.a.p.”

“I agree that you no longer need to be concerned with guarding the Grundy so closely. We made that assumption erroneously because of the breeder’s concerns and her subsequent murder.”

“No, it’s more than that.”

“Oh?”

“I think Spike and I have the Talisman here with us.”

“Buffy, what are you talking about?”

“Did Lydia give you a description of the Talisman?”

“Actually, no, although she included ritual instructions which will destroy it. Lydia must have assumed we would recognize it when we saw it. It’s quite possible that she did not know herself.”

Stupid Council. Buffy glanced at Spike and rolled her eyes.

He smirked in reply. Watchers, they only ever have half the bleedin’ story.  He scratched the Grundy’s ears and listened while the Slayer explained.

“The Grundy came with two collars, a nice normal leather one that matches her leash and then this other one. The second one has no place to attach a leash and it’s awfully fancy. It honestly doesn’t even look like a collar, more like an extremely expensive necklace or even a large bracelet.”

Anya nodded thoughtfully. “You know Giles, she might be right. A Talisman is made to be worn.”

“That’s true. Buffy, how soon could you and Spike return?”

“Spike? Any way we can leave for Sunnydale before tonight?” She looked at the vamp and waited. He was their driver; it was his decision to make.

Chuffed that the Slayer had left the decision to him, the vampire tried to find a way to make it work. He nodded slowly, thinking it through. “The sun will be behind us in a couple hours. I can drive in the daylight then; the Desoto’s windows are blacked out. We can probably be back in Sunnydale late this afternoon, depending on the traffic.”

“We’ll leave as soon as we can.” Buffy hung up the phone.

Disappointed, Willow turned off their phone. She hadn’t had the chance to tell Buffy the coolest stuff she’d discovered about the little demon. But the Talisman was the most important thing right now; she’d just have to fill her in later.  “Giles, I’m going home. I’ll come back when Buffy shows up.”

The Watcher nodded absentmindedly. “Fine, we’ll see you then. Oh, Willow, while you’re out, would you collect anything not available here that is listed on Lydia’s attachment? We’ll destroy the Talisman the moment Buffy arrives with it.”

“Sure. I’ll bring everything back with me.” She waved cheerily. “Bye.”

Anya poked Xander. “I think you should drive her home. Those men are still stationed outside.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Come on Willow, the Xander-mobile is at your disposal.”

“Okay- dokay.” She picked up her book bag and laptop and followed Xander out to the street.

Anya carefully locked the door behind them. “We’re going to need to set up some space in the basement to destroy the Talisman. A large circle drawn on the floor up here is not the image we want to project to potential customers.”

“Because you’d never want customers in a magic shop to think actual magicks might be practiced here,” Giles muttered, following her down the stairs to the basement.

Chapter 11  here.

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/242487.html