Title:  A Day On The Job (1/1)
Author:  Elixie
Rating:  PG-13 (for some language)
Spoilers:  Season Six of Buffy. But it's actually AU.
Contact:  Elixie@bronzeshelter.com
Disclaimer:  You know the drill. Joss, the WB, UPN, and the rest...own our boy.  
             I just gave him some new friends. And it's all for free. Darn it.
Distribution: If you're crazy enough to want it, feel free.  
              Just let me know the particulars.
Feedback: ohpleaseohpleaseohplease
Note:  This is just my little version of what I think the series "Ripper" might be like.  
       Ain't insanity wonderful?
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"We have to go Giles" Wendy said for the third time in as many minutes.
Giles looked up from the book he was studying at the blonde who was standing by the
open door.  "What. Oh yes. Sorry. Just trying to finish reading this.  After last night's 
patrol, I want to make sure there aren't any other nasty surprises waiting for us."
Giles put down the book and looked over at Sarah and Ian. "You can finish without me, can't 
you?" 
Sarah smiled "Go Giles. Get the interview done so you can have all that nice info that 
you won't share with me. Besides, I think Wendy just wants to get you alone in the 
car. Not that you mind."  
Giles flushed and quickly left, with Wendy close behind. 
"Ye just love doing that, don't ye lass." 
Sarah just grinned as she went back to her research.
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They had quickly settled into a routine for their investigations. Giles and Wendy would
interview the client to get the basic facts of a case, and then, with Ian and Sarah, would 
set up a vigil that night to get what evidence they could and see if they could lay the ghost to 
rest.  He made it a point not to tell Sarah anything about where they were 
going, usually just letting her work on her instincts, which included the 
unfortunate side affect of her feeling ill.  Most of the time, Sarah could sense 
where the best places to set up equipment were, and going by how green she 
turned, they usually knew how strong a spirit they were dealing with. 
Giles felt that the case they were on now would yield a lot of information, because when Sarah 
and Ian had gotten to the house, she had promptly thrown up. Although 
Giles was starting to have suspicions that it was the haggis Ian had convinced her 
to try that had caused that, since there had been no activity since they had 
arrived four hours ago.  Giles was going over the notes he had taken that 
afternoon yet again, and had just reached the part about several witnesses 
seeing a thunderstorm roll through the cellar, when Sarah jumped up and ran for the bathroom.  
"Ian, never feed her haggis before an investigation again, please." Giles said. Then quickly 
forgot it as several of the sensors began showing that things were 
starting to happen.  On one of the video screens Giles saw the 
thunderstorm for himself as a rolling sound went across the floor under their feet.  
Sarah wobbled her way back into the room and sat down. The sound of doors locking echoed 
through the house and the chair Sarah sat in slid across the room, throwing 
her to the floor. Then Wendy's did the same and both women yelped as if they had been shocked.   
"Something pinched me!" Wendy exclaimed as she looked around to see if she 
could spot the culprit. "Ian..." she started to say, then stopped when 
she realized he was too far away to have done it.  
Giles tried to pinpoint the source of the sudden activity when he realized that 
he could see his breath. Looking at the thermometer he saw that the temperature
had dropped about 30 degrees.  The girls continued to jump around trying to 
dodge unseen hands as the rolling sound increased. Then as suddenly as 
it started, everything stopped.   
"Is it over?" Wendy asked as she rubbed her rump. 
"No" Sarah answered miserably from the floor.  "They just don't know why we 
haven't run screaming yet." Giles, seeing that Sarah still looked 
rather ill, quickly pushed a wastebasket in her direction and went back 
to the readings Ian was printing out on the computer.  
"Have they said why they're here?" he asked. 
"They were called by someone." Her voice echoed from the can for a moment.  "They said 
they 
had a deal with Charley. They get free reign and all they have to do is 
keep people from 
living here. He wants the house and it has to stay vacant for a year to be able to
buy it." 
Suddenly she groaned, "Here we go again." and heaved into the little trashcan. As
soon as she said it, the rolling noise started to move around the room again. This 
time, 
however, instead of being pinched, Wendy and Sarah started grabbing at their 
heads as their hair stood on end. 
"Who ever it is doesn't seem to like women." Giles commented to Ian when he 
realized they 
hadn't been assaulted in any way.  He considered asking Sarah about that, but 
saw she wasn't 
able to answer. 
"Rupert do something" Wendy wailed. "They're trying to rip my hair out." 
Giles and Ian looked at each other. 
"Without Sarah, ye'll nay be able to talk to em." As if Ian had spoken 
the magic words, 
everything ceased again.
Sarah sat back and whispered a 'thank you', but if it was to Ian or the
ghosts they couldn't tell. 
"What will it take to get them to move on." Giles asked her.  Sarah started 
leaning towards 
the wastebasket again. 
"Make them a better deal."  
Giles stared at her stunned for a moment. "W-w-what do they want?" 
Sarah took a few minutes to answer. When she did speak, it was to the ghosts. 
"One at a time and you have to back off or I can't tell him." She began to 
look more distressed and turned to Giles. "Please ask them to back off Giles, 
they won't listen to me." 
"I can't help you if she can't answer." Giles said to the room.
Sarah took a deep breath "Thank you.  They say they want justice. Ow. It 
wasn't me! Giles!"  
She started to slide across the floor towards the wall.   At the same time, 
Wendy started to yell as she appeared to be pushed and pulled as well. 
"I didn't do anything either!" she yelled.
"Leave them alone!" Giles roared and suddenly it was still again. Wendy 
slumped against a 
wall and Sarah lay on the floor panting. "Why are they attacking you and 
Wendy."  
"They say it was women that killed them. And they want justice. A-and since 
we're here, they want it from us. That's the deal they're demanding." 
Giles felt a moment of fear that quickly turned to anger. "Well you bloody well 
can't have 
them. They're not the ones who snuffed you. If this is how you were when you 
were alive, you probably deserved it." Then he heard Ian mutter under his breath. 
"Ye were probably nothin' but a lot of sheep shaggers tae begin with" 
Sarah crawled back towards Giles. "You've got them stunned. If you're gonna
get rid of them, now would be the time to do it." she croaked. 
Giles quickly pulled out the spell he had prepared in case Sarah couldn't get 
the spirits to leave voluntarily.  As he started to read the Latin text, it was 
as if all hell broke loose. The thunderstorm had relocated to the room they were 
in, and scratches appeared on the two women as they were once again battered by 
unseen hands. Ian did what he could to keep the equipment from getting wet while
Giles tried to finish the spell. As he spoke the last word, there was one final 
roar of thunder, then a deafening silence.  
Wendy lay on the floor sobbing. "I can't take much more of this, Rupert. Please 
tell me they left."  
Giles went to Sarah and knelt by her. "Have they left?"  
Sarah closed her eyes for a moment. "I can't tell yet. There's too much left
over energy. There is one way to find out without having to wait. I suggest 
you have something ready in case they're not. Ian you might want to get Wendy 
outside if the doors will open now." 
"Lass are ye sure you want to try it? They worked ye both over pretty good 
already." 
Said the little man as he helped Wendy to her feet.
"That's why I want Wendy out of here." 
Giles was confused. "What are the two of you talking about?" 
"If I tell you it might not work."  
They waited until Ian and Wendy were out of the house, the doors having 
unlocked after the 
last bout had ended.  Once they were clear, Giles helped Sarah stand.  
"Get ready." She 
warned him  "Here goes. Ok, if you assholes are still here, I'm all yours." 
"Sarah I'm not sure..." Sarah held up her hand and silenced him. 
"I'm waiting" they stood there for a few minutes in the quiet. When nothing happened,
Sarah closed her eyes again. "It would appear that the they're gone.  If not, 
then they're 
just a bunch of cowards that are afraid to come out while you're still here." As 
soon as the words left her mouth, there was a sudden flash and the two of 
them were thrown back. Sarah barely had time to move as a chair flew at her.  
Giles saw this and decided he had put up with enough. Recalling a spell he hadn't 
used since his 'Ripper' days, he changed a few words and turned it from a demon
banishing spell to one that would get rid of ghosts. Realizing that this 
off-the-cuff change might not be enough, he tapped into power he hadn't used 
in years to give it the force it needed. The rush of adrenaline that produced 
caused him to shout the words and it wasn't until he was done and the last 
howls of the departing ghosts had faded that he saw Sarah huddled in the corner 
staring at him wide eyed.  
"If they're not gone now, can you wait until I'm outside before you do that again." 
She said in a small voice. 
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They had to wait until the next evening to go over the data they had collected, 
as Ian was the only one who wasn't totally exhausted by what had happened.  
Even after 
getting some rest, Giles still found himself yawning and had nodded off a few
times. Wendy wasn't much better. But he was worried about Sarah the most. She
merely lay on the couch and while she answered any questions put to her, 
they were as short as possible and sometimes she drifted off in the middle of 
what she was saying. 
"Have ye eaten anything yet lass?" Ian asked as he offered her some of the 
biscuits he had brought. 
"Not yet. My stomach still isn't feeling too good. Now I have an idea of 
how Cordelia feels." 
"What do you mean?" Giles asked. 
"Well..." She fell silent for a moment. "While it's great that I can help, 
I don't know how long I can survive the...helping." She looked at Giles. 
"I do have a request though." 
"What's that." Giles cringed a little, expecting her to mention his little 
step into the past. 
"Don't let Ian ever talk me into eating haggis again. It doesn't seem to 
agree with me."
End