Title: Clean-up
Fandom: BtVS
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Buffy, Xander, Giles, Willow.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 400
Setting: Middle of Season Three.
Summary: The Scoobies help with post-Slayage clean-up.
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 375: Amnesty 62, using Challenge 347: Bury.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.



“Xander Harris reporting for burial detail!” Xander gives Buffy a jaunty salute, which is so bizarre under the circumstances.

She looks at him. “Really? Sounding kinda cheery there, aren’t you?”

“What’s not to cheer about? We tracked it, you fought it, you killed it… No more demon!”

“Yeah, about that…” Buffy gestures around the clearing with a sweep of her arm; there’s a body in the middle, one head half under a bush, the second nestled among some rocks, an arm, mace still gripped in its hand, dangling from a tree… Swords are extremely effective against most demon species, but the results can be a tad messy. “Maybe I should keep the mace,” she muses, then she pulls a face. “Sorry about the mess. Slice and dice.”

“Nah, it’s all good. Big demon, manageable chunks. It’ll be easier to deal with this way.”

“You sound entirely too blasé about all this,” Buffy grumbles, dusting leaves and twigs off her clothes.

“Not my first demon burial. Where d’you want it?”

“Um…” Buffy turns a slow circle. “How about over there, near those rocks? We can pile some of them on top of the grave, make it less noticeable.”

“Your wish is my command.” Xander salutes again and commences digging in the chosen spot.

“You started without us!” Giles stumbles into the clearing, bag slung over his shoulder, shovel in one hand, pickaxe in the other, Willow trailing behind with another shovel.

“You weren’t here,” Xander points out, plunging his shovel into the ground again.

“Giles got his pickaxe caught on a bush,” Willow explains, slipping past the Watcher to join Xander. “Oh, good work; you’ve even dismembered it for us.”

“I aim to please.” Buffy’s smile is wry. “I’ll just go get the arm, shall I?”

“Arm?” Giles looks around. “Ah, yes, arm. I’m taller, better leave that to me. You couldn’t perhaps take the legs off as well, could you? The grave can be shorter that way, easier to conceal.”

“No problem.” Buffy hefts her sword.

“I brought a picnic,” Giles adds. “I thought we’d probably all be hungry after this.”

“I packed wet wipes.” Willow smiles cheerily. “You know, to get the demon ick off our fingers.”

“Good thinking, Will.” Buffy swings her sword, slicing through demon flesh.

“Hygiene is important.”

“Most teenagers hang out with their friends at the mall,” Buffy muses.

Xander shrugs. “We’re not most teenagers.”


The End