A Slayer's greatest weapon- Book One- BTVS

The Witch- 2

Lucy's POV

We were all in the library discussing what had happened to Amber.

"I've been slaying vampires for more than a year now. I've seen some pretty cringe worthy stuff, but nobody's hands ever got toasted." Buffy said.

"I imagine not." Giles replied.

"So this is not a vampire problem."

"No."

"But it is funky, right? Not of the norm?"

"Definitely not of the... norm?" Buffy nodded indicating that I said the right word. "Spontaneous human combustion is rare, and scientifically unexplainable.

"But there have been cases reported for years. Usually all that's left is a pile of ashes." Giles continued.

"That's all that would have been left of Amber if it hadn't been for Buffy." said Willow.

"So we have no idea what caused this? That's a comfort." Xander said sarcastically.

"Well, that is the thrill of living on the Hellmouth- one has a veritable cornucopia of fiends, devils and ghouls to engage-" Giles said, but stopped once he saw the blank looks we were giving him.

"Pardon me for finding the glass half full."

"Pardon me, but I'm not exactly seeing puppies and rainbows after this event." I countered.

"Any common denominator in cases of spontaneous combustion?" Buffy asked.

"Rage." I told her. "In most cases the person who combusted was terribly angry or upset."

"So maybe Amber's got this power. To make herself be on fire. Like the Human Torch, only it hurts." Xander said.

"Leave it to you to mention a pop culture reference in the middle of a possibly serious situation." I told him teasingly.

"Hey that's what I'm here for, right?"

"So I should get the skinny on Amber. See if she's had any colourful episodes before." Buffy said, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"That means hacking illegally into the school's computer system- at last something I can do." Willow said.

"Me and Luce can ask around about her." Xander added.

"Guys, you don't have to get involved." Buffy told us.

"What do you mean? We're a team! Aren't we a team?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, you're the Slayer and we're like the slayerettes."

"And in case you don't remember, I've been involved in this since the beginning." I reminded her.

"I don't want you putting yourselves in danger."

"I laugh in the face of danger... Then I hide until it goes away." The ever fearless Xander said.

"Okay, well, I'm psyched for the help." Buffy replied, turning to Giles. "And what if we find out Amber didn't cause this herself?"

"Then we will have to determine who or what did. And deal with it accordingly."

"Hey, we've fought vampires! Anything else'll be a walk in the park." Xander tried to encourage us.

"Sure, a walk in a park from a horror movie where it's dark and the swings and roundabout are creaking from being moved by the wind and you think you're all alone before you turn around and the serial killer is standing behind you with a crazed look in his eyes and a bloody knife in his hand..."