From: ingrid29@juno.com (Ingrid E Stanton) Subject: BUFFYFIC: "One Vampire's Headache..." (14/?) by Ingrid Date: 01 Feb 1998 00:11:52 -0500 First things First… DISCLAIMER: To my great despair, I don’t own Buffy or any of her friends. They belong to an evil coalition known as the Joss/WB compact. Just don’t sue me, okay guys? SUMMARY: We resume where we left off, with Buffy and Angel in the library, but now they have some uninvited guests… If you don’t get this, that’s ‘cause you haven’t read the other parts. If you want to get this, mail me (Ingrid29@juno.com) and ask me for them. If you don’t…well I don’t need *you* either. Here it is! Enjoy! WARNING: I’m not great with rating things, but this probably deserves a PG-13 for violence. Let the games begin… *** "One Vampire’s Headache…" (14/?) by Ingrid *** "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." --Martin Luther *** Buffy ran her hand along his jaw, closing her eyes and simply feeling the bones underneath the skin. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that now his were closed as he leaned into her touch. Buffy heard and felt a loud crash as Drusilla and Spike broke through the library window. Buffy and Angel stood and backed away from where they had landed. Spike stood up first. "Oh drats! Did we come at a bad time?" Drusilla rose to her feet brushing the glass fragments from her hair and clothes. A little laugh escaped her throat. "It’s never a bad time to play, silly!" She kissed his cheek. A crimson liquid dripped from her hairline. She touched the blood, smearing it across her face. "Sp-ii-ke! Now I’m all dirty!" "Sorry love, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry." "Angel?" She watched him acutely. He was trying to bluff and he had no idea if it was working. "What’s wrong with you Angel?" She turned to Spike. "I can’t feel him there." "Pity. Then I guess it won’t matter if we kill him!" Spike whipped a stake from his jacket and looked at Drusilla. "You take the slayer, baby. Angel is reserved for me." His eyes bored holes into Angel, even as the demon consumed his face with a growl. Buffy swallowed hard. Angel. What would they do when they found out he wasn’t a vampire? He had to get out of here, let him get out of here, she prayed, grabbing two stakes from her bag and tossing one to Angel. How could he even begin to equal Spike’s strength with the doubly strong demon multiplying the power in each blow. Drusilla wasted little time, hopping down from the balcony easily. She quickly latched on to Buffy, who was struggling hard against her. She felt Drusilla strain towards her neck and planted a swift kick to the vampire’s stomach. Momentarily dazed, Drusilla flew backwards and hit the rail. Buffy turned around to see Angel attempting to hold off Spike who was clearly the stronger despite his injuries. Before she could get her bearings, Drusilla was on her again, tearing at the flesh of her shoulders. Drusilla was stronger than she’d ever been, and Buffy was having trouble fending her off. "Aaaaarrrrggghhh!" Buffy heard Angel’s scream and whipped around to see the stake in his shoulder, red blood flowing from the wound. Spike was grinning as he yanked the steak from Angel’s body, and re-aimed for the heart. The horrific bloody scene, and Angel’s gasping for breath sent Buffy into an irrational rage. She pinned Drusilla to the floor with the strength of the fire that burned in her heart, and viciously impaled the body of the young vampiress on the steak. She could hear the beginnings of a shrill scream as Drusilla disintegrated before her. Bloody and acting solely on base instinct, she ripped Spike from Angel’s motionless body. Spike grew livid with anger when he saw the pile of dust Buffy had transformed his love into. Blind fury drove them to viciously rip at one another’s skin, taking whatever advantage there was to have from sheer pain. There was no longer good or bad. They fought like two animals, clawing and beating one another with rage in their hearts. She could hear the sound of the blood pumping through her, and her head throbbed with urgency. She proved the stronger, finally plunging the splintered wood through Spike’s chest. She collapsed and hit her head on the floor. Now her head felt like a balloon, swelling to extremes. She crawled to where Angel lay, touched his neck. She felt a faint pulse, but at last, there was nothing she could do. She collapsed beside him, hand on his heart. *** END, PART 14. Hey…maybe this should have been part thirteen. Oh well. I’m not superstitious anyway. (Comments to Ingrid29@juno.com). _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TreyCash@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: I Will Survive 1/3 Date: 01 Feb 1998 06:34:40 EST Title: I Will Survive 1/3 By: Alex Queirolo Genre: Typical Buffy/ Angst Spoilers: Surprises & Innocence Distribution:Anya's and mine. Eventually. Mine is: http://members.aol.com/treycash/ff3.html Feedback: Yes, please! Summary: Buffy deals with the fact that Angel plans to destroy her mind before he kills her. *** I WILL SURVIVE ---------------------- BY: Alex Queirolo *** AUTHOR's NOTE: This takes place after "Phases" but relates to "Suprise" and "Innocence". It steps outside of the time-stream after that in a desperate attempt to save itelf from getting "Jossed" by the next upcoming episode. God save us all. ADDITIONAL NOTES: The Joshua I make reference to is of the Watchers' Society. He was in my previous piece "Where Do the Children Play" and has a more active part as a Guardian in another that I am working on. His job is to ensure that time and life don't mess with the Slayer too badly and to make sure that some punches go her way. He has the ability to alter time and change the past and future. DISCLAIMER: Time to jump on the band-wagon. All the great characters seen on BUFFY belong to Joss "Da Man" Whedon. Any you've never seen on the show belong to me. I wouldn't dream of infringing on Joss. *** "Oh, you're a hard one but I know that you've got your reasons these things that are pleasing can hurt you somehow" She felt the calm of sleep sweep over her, comforting, gentle and then it fell around her like a warm blanket. Hands out-stretched and welcoming, she grasped at it and pulled it to her, tucking it under her chin as if it could protect her. "Buffy." She turned into her bed, pressing her face against her pillow, not caring if it suffocated her. She moaned slightly in pain from soreness in her ribs caused by being hit by one of the vampires she had killed earlier in the night. The pain was an irritating reminder of the waking world so she tried to block it out. She could deal with it later. "Buffy." Dreams. Images. She didn't want them. She didn't care if they warned her that she had only twenty-four hours to save the world. Let it save itself. She was so tired. So very tired. She wanted the black velvet of dreamless sleep to overtake her and hold her like she were a small child. "Buffy." Something brushed gently over her cheek and she stirred unwillingly, her body wanting to believe but her mind screaming for her to remain still and embrace the exhaustion that ran rampant in her. Without meaning to, she moved a hand to cover the one that brushed at her face like the caress of a lover. "Buffy, open your eyes." She moaned and tried to curl into a ball, ignoring the sensations and warning sirens going off in her head. She wanted to sleep, to rest..surely that wasn't too much to ask for. It was so little, so very little. One night's peace. A hand on her stomache, on the soreness of her bruised ribs prevented her from curling into herself. Without opening her eyes she murmured, "If you're gonna kill me, why don't you just do it." The voices in her head began to scream at her, telling her to take it more seriously, insisting that he just might take her up on it. Right now she didn't care. "And ruin my fun, not likely." He moved a hand behind her back and brought her up and forward so that she had little option but to open her eyes and face him. As soon as her weary blue eyes opened and she regarded him with a gaze that showed little more than exhaustion, he smiled. "Saw you dust Jerod tonight. Impressive. Nice spin kick." "Thanks. I'll remember to use it on you," Buffy Summers replied dryly as she stared at him. He was so handsome, so beautiful and so evil. She wondered idly how she could have missed it back at his apartment the night..well..the night after all hell had broken loose in the time it took for her to give herself to him body and soul. He ignored her comment,"You oughta protect your ribs better though..you're getting sloppy. You're gonna have one helluva bruise in the morning." "Your concern makes my heart flutter. What do you want? To torture me? Haven't you done enough?" Buffy asked wearily. This was so odd, just talking to him in calm tones as if they were old friends instead of bitter enemies. In truth however, she doubted that she had the energy to yell and scream and demand answers. He grinned and his eyes glittered as he leaned forward and stroked her cheek. A flash of warmth ripped through her body but was quickly numbed by her brain's insistence that it was just another game, another way to hurt her. He knew what his touch did to her and he knew that she couldn't control it. She still loved him with every bit of her heart and soul and he was well aware of it. Another way to hurt her. "I've just begun, Buffy." Then he laughed, "I just don't want you dying on me 'fore I've had my fun. It's important you know." "Go to hell," she replied mildly and without real animosity. She was too tired to muster the hatred the was beginning to boil in her soul. In a flash of an eye, he reached forward and grabbing her shoulder roughly pulled him to her. She stared up at him without fear, knowing that he wasn't through with her and not really caring. Then he turned her head towards his and kissed her savagely on the mouth. Breaking away, he laughed, "You are a sweet child. No, Buffy, I'm already in hell and it's a wonderful place. I think you'll love it. You all will." And with that, he kissed her again and jumped up from the bed and strode like a cocky cowboy back over to her window. He put one leg out and then turned to her, "Oh..one more thing." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a white and green piece of clothing. "Got a present for you." He laughed and then tossed it over to her. "Love ya babe." She caught it and looked down at it. When she looked up again, he was gone. She unfolded the cloth and gazed at it. As she did, she felt her eyes flood with tears which was quickly followed by a shudder ripping it's way through her body. Terror overwhelmed her as she realized that she was holding one of Willow's tee-shirts. Barely able to breathe, she reached over and picked up the phone. "I hope you got your things together I hope you are quite prepared to die Looks like we're in for nasty weather." "Good morning, good morning, good morning," Xander Harris chirped as he all but skipped through the library with a large grin on his face. He jumped up on the check-out counter and turned to look at the other three occupants of the room. Frowning slightly he said, "Okay..not a good morning?" "No, I'm afraid not," Rupert Giles said softly. "We've got a problem." "Like that's new, I mean..hey...where's Buffy?" Xander asked, his eyes widening as he glanced from his best friend Willow Rosenberg to his girlfriend Cordelia Chase. Nope, the Slayer was most positively not in attendance. Only it wasn't a positive thing. Nope, nope. "She's in there," Giles said, pointing towards his office. "I'm afraid she didn't sleep very well last night." "She got a visit from Angel." Willow explained, not looking all that well herself. In fact, she looked kinda scared. "And it involved clothing. But not in a good way." Cordelia added somberly. She acutually seemed upset too. This couldn't be good. "Did..did he hurt her?" Xander asked in alarm. He knew what his mind was thinking but he couldn't put it into words. Giles understood though and he quickly shook his head,"Angel brought Buffy one of Willow's shirts." "He was in my room last night,"Willow said quietly, a small shiver working it's way up her spine. "He left it a mess even though what he took was from the clean clothes pile on my bed. He wanted me to know he'd been there." "And he wanted Buffy to know that he could go there," Giles said. "I'm uh, already looking into ways to uninvite a vampire but it's a tricky matter that involves ultimate ownership and such. It's a great deal more difficult to uninvite a vampire than it is to.." "Right, gotcha..bad...Giles, what do we do? I mean, we got to protect them." Xander exclaimed as he moved over to do a quick examination of Willow despite the fact that she hadn't come into contact with Angel. "I watch him," Buffy murmured, stepping into the doorway between Giles' office and the library. She rubbed sleep from her eyes. "Buffy, you can't watch him around the clock. You may be super-chick, but you're not a god," Cordelia said. Buffy smiled weakly," No, I guess not..a god would have taken care of business and dealt with him by now." She looked down at her shoes and chuckled without humor, "I can't and you guys are paying the price for it." "It's okay, Buffy..we can deal.." Willow said quickly. Buffy cut her off just as quickly, "Can you? Will, he was in your room, going through your things. I don't know how far he's willing to go..how long he's gonna play before.." she shook her head and found that she was unable to finish the sentence. For a moment no one dared to move or speak. Nothing anyone said would have made a difference. They all knew the score and it wasn't pretty. Finally Giles spoke, his voice heavy and full of unchecked emotion, "You four had best get to class. I'll see what I can come up with." They all nodded and began to move towards the door, Buffy only in the lead because she'd been closest to the door. Just before she left, Giles caught Willow's arm and whispered, "Watch her. She's not well." "I know." Willow replied sadly. She wanted to reassure him that it would all be okay. Everything always turned out for the best but one look at Buffy made all the confidence seep away. "All the vampires walking through the valley move west down Ventura Boulevard All the Bad boys are standing in the shadows and the good girls are home with broken hearts" "I wish I knew what to do," Xander said softly, his eyes never leaving her. The lights in the physiology room were off, a movie about something too weird to think about playing on a white projection screen. She had her head in her arms, sleep once again claiming her. "She's the Slayer, she'll be alright." Cordelia replied, the words a lot more certain than she really was. But she needed that. She could tell that Xander was freaking out. Not like he didn't have reason but just the same. Xander turned to her,"That's cold." "Why are you jumping on me?" she hissed, a flash of irritation moving through her. "I wasn't trying to make light of it." "Look, she needs our help right now.." "I know that. All I'm saying is that she's survived before. She's a fighter, right? She'll be okay. I think the last thing she needs is all of us stopping our lives for her. I know.." "Oh don't even say that you wouldn't. You love it when the world stops for you," Xander retorted. He shook his head. "You know, I don't get you..." "And I don't get you..." she whispered back at him. She wanted to yell but in a full class that wouldn't be a good idea. So strike that. "She's the Slayer..she's a survivor but everytime there's trouble, she's suddenly poor little Buffy who needs big bad Xander to rescue her." Wow, she thought, that really sounds bad. She took a deep breath and then reached out and grabbed his arm, "Look..Xander..don't get me wrong..although I hate admitting it, I care about her too. I mean, she's like a friend and I'm worried too but we've got to give her credit for what she has been able to do. And we can't stop our lives because hers is in crisis. She's the Slayer..her live is always in crisis. We do what we can..we're the back-up team. It's her fight. We're there if she needs us." He stared at her for a long moment and then sighed, "Cordy, I'm not sure that even she can deal with this. I mean..." Before he could finish the sentence, the reasonable calm of the room was pierced by a loud scream. From Buffy. Both Xander and Cordelia jerked around causing him to fall off of his chair. He hit the floor with both feet and was at her side within seconds. "Buffy.." She reached up from the floor and grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to her, "He's gonna kill us all." "Lean on Me When you're not strong and I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on, for it won't be long Til I'm gonna need Somebody to Lean on" "Hey, what happened?" Willow asked as she practically ran up to Cordelia in the courtyard. The taller girl was sitting on a bench, sipping a diet pepsi and watching her boyfriend converse in a hushed tone with a frightened and animated Slayer who didn't look well at all. Xander was trying to calm her but failing miserably. "Buffy freaked out in physio. Complete panic attack." Cordelia murmured without turning to look at Willow. "How was French 4?" Willow gave Cordelia an irritated look, "Is she alright?" "I guess..Xander told me it wasn't my place so I'm here and he's there," she replied with a trace of bitterness. "Right," Willow said softly, not really wanting to deal with this problem too. It was like Xander trusted Cordy only half of the time and that was crazy and problematic. Not something any of them really needed. "I'm gonna go..see..if I can help." She gave Cordelia a quick smile and them moved quickly across the grass to where Xander was now gripping Buffy's shoulders in an effort to calm and quiet her. "Sure..I'm sure Xander won't snap at you," Cordelia muttered. Then she laughed bitterly, "I can't believe this..here I am letting him get the best of me. Like I'm some puppy that needs to be told when I can come in and go out. Whatever." She stood up and shaking her head indignantly decided to go to the library and see if maybe she could help out there. She really did want to help Buffy but playing by Xander's rules were really beginning to irk her. "What happened?" Willow asked, touching Buffy's arm as she approached the pair. "Are you okay?" Buffy looked up at her wild-eyed, "I don't know..I think I'm losing it, Will. I keep freaking out, but when he shows up in front of me..I'm perfectly calm. What's wrong with me?" Tears formed in her eyes. Willow looked at Xander and they both realized that they had no answer for her question so she simply moved forward and pulled her friend into a hug. "If there's a load you have to bear that you can't carry I'm right up the road I'll share your load if You just call me call me..call me" Within an hour, word of her panic attack in physio was all over school. And as Willow and Xander walked her down the hallway towards the library, each hovering by her side protectively, people watched and whispered and Willow heard the words "drugs" and "psychotic" mentioned more than once. She clasped Buffy's hand and looked at Xander who wore a matching expression of worry. If the Slayer was indeed having an emotional breakdown, they were all screwed. "Giles." Willow called out as they stepped into the library. From the table in the center of the room, both Oz and Cordelia glanced upwards from books. Oz smiled at her in greeting. "About time you guys showed up," Cordelia said. "Sorry, we had a friend to take care of," Xander replied as he led a still dazed Buffy to a seat. "Not now, guys." Willow said authortively. "We need answers, not fighting. You guys are gonna have to put aside whatever stupid immature things you two are bickering about today and concentrate on figuring out how to keep Angel out of mine and Buffy's houses." "She's right and I'm glad you're here," Giles said as he exited his office. He knelt down beside Buffy. "How are you feeling?" She smiled down at him weakly "Tired. Like I didn't just take a nap." She chuckled but it sounded more like a sob, "I had a dream. Suprise of the year, huh? Buffy has a bad dream..wow..concept." "Why don't you tell me..er..us about it," Giles suggested as he handed Cordelia a book. She had proven to be suprisingly good at research. She was quick and thorough and had a good eye for catching small detail that might escape someone else...like Xander. She accepted it wordlessly and then looked at Xander as if to say, "see I am trying to help Buffy. I do care." "It was just scary, Giles." Buffy replied, looking down at her hands. She took a deep breath. "We fought..Angel and I...for what seemed like forever..neither of us making any ground. Then you guys arrived and he started laughing and he said...he said that the entertainment had arrived and that I oughta sit back and I enjoy it." She swallowed hard but refused to make eye contact with anyone, "Then he hit me and I fell down and I couldn't get up. All I could do was watch as...watch..." she shook her head. Giles closed his eyes to focus himself. Her dream scared him but he didn't want her to know that. "It was only a dream. A nightmare. We're all here. All of us. It's okay." Buffy looked up and nodded but her eyes remained clouded with fear and her lip continued to tremble. "You look in her eyes the music begins to play hopeless romance here we go again" She felt his hand slide against the cool skin of her neck and instinctively she moved against it, prompting him onwards. He continued to kiss her, leaving a trail of fire up her neck and across her face. She moaned and wrapped an arm around him. Then he pulled away. "This is wrong," Xander said shaking his head. "I can't believe we're.." "No..please, let me guess...you're shocked that we could be making out while Buffy's freaking out." Cordelia groaned. "Why am I not suprised? Look, if you don't want to do this..that's one thing but stop hiding behind Buffy. This isn't about her." Then she laughed, "Or is it?" "What?" Xander exclaimed. Shaking his head in indignation he said, "Yeah, it is about her but not in the way you think." "Oh? Then tell me why it is that everytime we're together, it's only minutes before Buffy is either brought into the conversation or thinking of her stops you from kissing me. I mean what is it with her? Why are you always obsessing?" "She's my friend..I'm sorry you don't get that..maybe it's as foreign of a concept to you as doing your own laundry but the fact is that I owe her my life.." "And I do also, Xander. And I'll fight for her. I can't believe I'm saying that but it's true. The point you're oh so conviently missing though is that right now there is nothing we can do for her. She and Willow are together at her house. Buffy can protect the both of them. Why can't this be our time? Unless the truth is that you'd rather be with her." "No," Xander said firmly. "I want to be with you. God help me but it's true. I'm just..I'm worried..about her..about all of us." He looked up at her. "You want the truth?" "It'd be nice." "I'm scared. Before it wasn't close to us..it was something we knew and fought and we could defeat and go home and party. This is Angel and either way we lose. If he kills one of us..that destroys us. If Buffy kills him, we're just as screwed because I don't think she can recover from it. Either way, all we are now is stuck in a holding pattern and it's driving her crazy and.." "And it's pulling us all apart. I know." Cordelia replied, settling against his chest on the couch. They were in his house. His parents were out of town for a couple of days..something about a large family reunion. In any case Xander wasn't with them..he was with her. He sighed loudly and wrapped his arms around her tightly, almost afraid to let go. "Rolling and burning blinded by thirst they didn't see the stop sign took a turn for the worst" Willow glanced over at the bed and wasn't all that suprised to discover that her friend had dozed off, the trig book perched cautiously on her hip. Leaning over, she took it off of Buffy and closed it. They'd been studying or at least attempting to for hours. It hadn't gone so well. Buffy was jumpy and easily distracted, her mind a million places at once. But always on Angel. Everytime the Slayer would daze off, Willow would see her turning the ring on her finger as if it could make it all better. She would turn it and gaze up at the window with hope shining in her eyes. A moment later they would go dull and she would refocus herself on the trig. Or attempt to. It wasn't long before she would fade again. Twice she had pulled herself together enough to say, "I need to get a grip. I can't keep letting him do this to me." But she couldn't stop him. He had her heart and he had no plans of relinquishing it. They had thrown caution to the wind and become lovers and it had come back to haunt her as he had become Angelus once again..the demon intent on conquering her. And yet he'd been unable to break her. Willow had gone with Buffy on her sweep of the graveyard, against the Slayer's strong protests. She'd watched Buffy dispatch three burly vampires with her usual strength and style. And the irony of it all was that it was only then, while fighting the undead, that her mind stubbornly refused to settle on Angel. She had created a sort of separation between Angel and the rest of the vampires even though she knew that he was the same as any of them. He was the one she couldn't defeat. And they both knew it. He held the upper hand and she knew it but she refused to allow it to interfere with what had to be done. If anything, she used it to fuel her hatred towards the other vampires. It was acutually a comfort watching her go postal on one of them. It showed that she wasn't letting herself go soft and that she was still the Slayer even if she as Buffy was an emotional mess. Willow took off her shoes and socks and moved to sit in the chair next to Buffy's bed. She knew that she should sleep in the bed but for some reason, she felt a protective need to watch the window for any sign of the demon that could very possibly destroy them all. Whispering softly she said, "Sleep well, Buffy. We'll get through this." - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TreyCash@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: I Will Survive 2/3 Date: 01 Feb 1998 06:38:37 EST Title: I Will Survive 2/3 By: Alex Queirolo Genre: Typical Buffy/ Angst Spoilers: Surprises & Innocence Distribution:Anya's and mine. Eventually. Mine is: http://members.aol.com/treycash/ff3.html Feedback: Yes, please! Summary: Buffy deals with the fact that Angel plans to destroy her mind before he kills her. AUTHOR's NOTE: This takes place after "Phases" but relates to "Suprise" and "Innocence". It steps outside of the time-stream after that in a desperate attempt to save itelf from getting "Jossed" by the next upcoming episode. God save us all. ADDITIONAL NOTES: The Joshua I make reference to is of the Watchers' Society. He was in my previous piece "Where Do the Children Play" and has a more active part as a Guardian in another that I am working on. His job is to ensure that time and life don't mess with the Slayer too badly and to make sure that some punches go her way. He has the ability to alter time and change the past and future. DISCLAIMER: Time to jump on the band-wagon. All the great characters seen on BUFFY belong to Joss "Da Man" Whedon. Any you've never seen on the show belong to me. I wouldn't dream of infringing on Joss. *** "Last thing I remember I was running for the door had to find the passage back to the place I was before 'Relax,' said the nightman 'We are programmed to receive You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave" She jerked forward in her bed, her eyes staring forward, glazed and frightened. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to control the tremors. The darkness of her room folded itself around her but it wasn't comforting. "Buffy?" Her thoughts jumbled in circles. She recognized the voice and knew that it belonged to a friend, but her body reacted instantly upon being touched by the speaker and she shoved Willow to the ground and jumping from her bed, leapt on her friend, fist raised. "No more!" "Buffy...Buffy...it's me," Willow cried. Buffy blinked and her attack posture eased a bit allowing Will to reach up and pull down Buffy's fist. "It's okay, it was a dream. Nothing more. See." She put her other hand up and turned Buffy's cheek towards the window that was still shut and locked. "He hasn't been here. It's okay." Buffy nodded and moved away from Willow. She fell to the ground and again wrapped her arms around herself. "It was so real, Will. He's in my head. He's everywhere in me. I try but I can't stop thinking about him." Willow gave her a sympathetic smile, "Tell me." She put a hand on her friend's shoulder. Buffy nodded but didn't look up,"It was..I mean we were..it was Angel and I and we were at his apartment..it was that night and it was him and me and then everything went dark and it was him the next day and then there was this bright light and Angel walked towards me. He held my hand and told me he loved me and that it would be okay and that I needed to stay strong." She looked up at Willow with tears gleaming in her eyes and with a breaking voice said,"And then Angelus came out of the shadows and killed him. He said that he would kill all of you one by one and then he'd make me like him. Oh God..." "Sh..it was a dream. Nothing more. You haven't slept well in awhile..your mind is playing games with you..working off of your fears." Willow told her softly. And to her suprise, it earned her a smile from the Slayer who then laughed, "Freud much, Will? Great, now I'm a mental case?" "Weren't you always?" Willow teased gently. Buffy moved across and tackled Willow, hitting her with a pillow. There was a brief fight and then Buffy groaned as her ribs said it was time to quit. Willow checked her out to make sure she was okay and then they both settled on the floor with their backs to the bed. There was a long moment of silence and then Buffy whispered,"You're a good friend, Will. You know that right? I won't let you down." Willow smiled,"I know you won't, Buffy. You never have." "Well I know that you're in love with him Cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym You both kicked off your shoes And I dig those rythimic blues" "Hey, did you hear?" Harmony asked as she and her man of the week Colt Harper walked up next to Cordelia at her locker. Harmony moved next to Cordy as if they were sharing a deep secret. "Hear what?" Cordelia asked, frowning as she tried to remember what book she needed for her next class. The night before had been long and rather draining in an emotional way. "Buffy not only totally freaked out in physiology yesterday but this morning she flipped Kevin Willis in the gym." Harmony said, her tone making her sound like she couldn't believe it. "Buffy doesn't have gym until 4th period and I was there for the thing in physio. She fell asleep and had a bad dream is all," Cordelia replied, not looking at Harmony. A part of her wanted to defend Buffy more strongly but the other part knew that her status quo and reputation were already in extreme jeopardy. "Well she was in the gym last period and Kevin just touched her..I mean barely and she totally tripped out. Aura heard that she's on LSD. I mean, like, no doubt." "She's not on LSD," Cordelia said tersely, shutting her locker. She straightened up and looked at Harmony. "You can't believe everything you hear. Maybe she's just going through a hard time." "Uh huh, for sure...when did you become her biggest fan? I mean, hello? She's crazed...remember? You said that and you were so right." Harmony said, looking at Colt and nodding. Then she looked down the hallway, "I mean..just look at her..she looks like something that crawled out of the sub-low tax bracket." Cordelia followed Harmonys' gaze to where Buffy was leaning against her locker about thirty feet away. Willow was standing next to her and it looked like she was doing all the talking. Well, Harmony was right in one aspect; the Slayer didn't look exactly peachy-keen. "Excuse me," Cordelia murmured as she started to break away from them. Colt caught her arm. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Colt asked, shaking his head, "I mean, I know you're getting it on with one of her weirdo friends but you're acting so strange." Harmony nodded solemnly,"This isn't you." "Maybe it is," she muttered as she strode across the hallway to Buffy and Willow. Harmony turned to Colt, "I just don't get it." Then she sighed, "Come on, let's go meet the gang.' Cordelia turned and watched Harmony and Colt depart and then she turned back to her new friends. "What's up?" she asked as casually as she could. She did a quick inspection of Buffy who looked not only tired but a bit wild. Her blonde hair, though clean and shiny, jutted out at odd angles and her blue eyes seemed slightly glazed. "Buffy had an incident in the gym," Willow informed her. Buffy looked up at her and offered an almost apologetic smile. "He touched my neck and I wigged. I guess I'm a little jumpy," Buffy said with a laugh. She was trying to make light of it but the other two knew better. She was just as bothered by her lack of control as they were. "I know, Harmony just told me. What were you doing in the gym?" Cordelia asked. "I went to tell McCathers that I wouldn't be there for class today." She frowned, "My mom is making me go to the doctor..she thinks I'm sick. Just what I need. By tonight I'll be in a damn straight-jacket." "Well, physically you're alright..right?" Cordelia asked. She glanced up when she saw Xander and Oz walking down the hall towards them. They seemed to be deep in discussion. "Yeah, my ribs are still a little sore but no use telling him that. Then there are questions followed by psychiatrists followed by little white padded rooms." She looked up at their curious looks, "So I've heard.. that is. Nah, I'll just say I'm fine...just tired from school. He'll tell me to rest and that'll satisfy my mom who will then procede to cut me a bit of slack for about a week..two at most. Xand..Oz..heya!" Xander and Oz looked up and almost instantly both of their faces lit up. Oz crossed over to Willow and gave her a quick peck that made her beam. Buffy couldn't help but smile. Xander grinned at Cordelia but neither of them were that big on public displays of affection. Especially her..she still had something of a reputation to uphold. For whatever that was worth. "Ladies...how are we?" Xander chirped. Willow smiled back at him,"Buffy flipped Kevin Willis." Xander lifted an eyebrow,"Buffy, what did we tell you, no playing with your food. Animals like Willis should get the stake..quick and simple." "Not funny, Xander." Cordelia said. Then she turned to Buffy, "This could be serious. People are saying you're on LSD." "Like that's news. It's actually a better answer than the truth. I can just see me explaining this. So Buffy, why are you acting like such a head-case? Oh..maybe it's because my first time was with a vampire and because of it he lost his soul and now he wants to torture me and I can't stop him because I still love him. Yeah, that'll work. They're coming to take me away, he he." "Well if you wanna look at the bright side," Xander said shaking his head. Then he waved his hand. "Screw 'em, Buff. They don't know any better and they don't matter." "Don't they? Think about it..Snyder's already got it out for me. He doesn't need much more. God...I feel like I've been so crazed lately, but it's like I can't get a grip. I keep trying and I feel like I'm making progress but then he does something and it all spins out again." "Buffy?" A voice called out from the hallway. The entire group looked up and saw Giles approaching. "Oh great," she muttered, "This is so not what I need. Hey guys, cover me." And with that she turned and faded into the sea of students heading to their next class. The Slayerettes all exchanged confused gazes and then moved quickly to fill in the space Buffy had vacated. "Hey G-Man." Xander called out. "Top of the morning to you." Giles gave him a look and then said, "Um, yes, right. Have you seen Buffy? I could have sworn I just saw her." "Saw Buffy?" Willow chirped. Cordelia put a hand over her eyes and shook her head. So much for playing stupid. "Uh no..we haven't seen her..Buffy that is. We're Buffy-less as you can see. No Buffy." Cordelia quickly reached out and covered her mouth, "What she means to say...at least I think so...is that Buffy has gone to class already. We'll tell her that you're looking for her, okay?" "Um, right..uh, thank you. When you see her, tell her to try to avoid Principal Snyder. He's looking for her...something about an incident in the gym this morning. Do any of you know anything about that?" A kid walking by stopped and leaned in, "You're talking about Summers, right? Major LSD freak. Isn't that cool?" And with that he walked away, talking to his companions. Xander glared after the kid, "I oughta..." "You oughta nothing. Chances are that Snyder is not only looking for Buffy but for all of you. He already sees you as her accomplices. It's best to be on your best behavior for now." "Well that sucks," Oz muttered. A bell rung behind them. "So does that mean we have to go to every class?" "Hey, I was just gonna ask that." Xander exclaimed. "Oh that's scary, two minds with the same thought and one of them Xander's." Cordelia teased. He gave her a look but all she did was grin back at him. "If we get to see tommorow I hope it's worth all the pain." "I thought you'd show up eventually," she said softly, not lifting her eyes to look at him. "Oh?" he questioned, laughter in his voice. The game had already begun anew. "You can't resist a chance to hurt me. I knew you'd show." "You're smarter than I gave you credit for, kiddo. Well maybe not, you came alone. That's not very bright." "I'm not going to bring them to you, Angel." She looked up at him. "I want to know what you want from me. How much you plan on taking from me?" Unwanted tears glittered in her eyes so she closed them to push the tears back..she had to stay strong. Had to. He laughed, "You really want me to spell it out, Buffy? You really want that? Because I have no problem with it. You want to know that I plan to kill them all...one by one. And maybe I'll make Willow a vampire. I mean, Spike kinda allowed the Judge to kill the only other one with brains so we could use some intelligence." "Leave her alone." "Oh yeah, that's likely. Come on, Buffy..you've got to realize that this is all your fault. Their lives are on your shoulders and each time I drain the blood out of them, their dying word will be your name. You've got to know that." "I will kill you." "No, you won't. You don't have it in you. You've got this whole love thing happening. Like I ever loved you. You were a challenge, Slayer. Not much of one albeit but a fun one." "I won't let you do this." "Theresa..she was sweet. Not as sweet as you..." Buffy jumped to her feet, grabbed him by the collar and smashed him up against a tree. "You're right, Angel..I love you. I love you so much it makes me want to die but if you hurt any of them, I will destroy you." Her eyes blazed fire and for the sheerest of moments, she thought that she could acutually do it. His eyes softened and for a moment she saw her Angel. And then he growled and flipped her to the ground and stradled her. "Your promises are weak. If you killed me, you'd be killing yourself." She turned her face away from him,"Then the results are the same. Why don't you just do it now. No games." He growled at her and pulled her up by the shirt,"Because that's not how it goes. When I'm ready to kill you, I will." "Or maybe you can't. Maybe there's still part of my Angel in there," she said softly, vaguely aware of the fact that she was taunting him and he was getting angrier. "No," he howled, his fist flying against her already sore ribs. She grunted in pain but refused to look away from him. Trembling slightly, she reached up and touched his face. He flinched backwards and caught her hand, twisting her wrist so hard that she was certain he'd broken it. "You want the truth, Buffy? Alright, we're both here..that little coward Angel and me. Except we're both Angel and we both agree that you were a sweet treat. A lot of fun but you'll be funner when we make you like Dru." "I'll never let you do that," she said with a certainty that she knew was false. She couldn't let him think he was winning..even if it was true. She needed to have some type of platform to fight from..even if it was flimsy. He smashed her up against the ground and laughed as she struggled underneath him. She was strong but he had managed to pin her leverage points. He curled his legs around hers and forced her to quit moving and then he pressed his mouth up against hers and whispered, "You're mine, Buffy. You always will be." "I was never yours, Angelus." Buffy retorted, falling back on the mentality of a separation between Angel and Angelus. It was all she had left to maintain her sanity. "Oh yes, you are." He kissed her hard, his sharp teeth cutting through her lip and causing it to bleed. She struggled as she felt him suck the blood from her lip. "You're turning me on," he whispered. A moment later he howled in pain when she bit him. Lurching backwards he lashed out and hit her across the face. "Bitch!" She used his positioning to unpin her legs and then to shove him off of her. Moving her hand up to her lip, she dabbed at it and then touched the cut that he had caused on her cheek from hitting her with the hand that was wearing the Claddagh ring. How ironic. Another way to hurt her, no doubt. She took a few clumsy steps backwards, still watching him kneeling on the ground. He looked up at her and his face changed from his vampiric visage to his human one. "You can say it all you want, Buffy but you know the truth..I'm going to take your soul...but first I'm gonna take theirs." He laughed then, "With a song in my heart." Her eyes narrowed, "And I'll say it again, if you hurt any of them, I won't think twice about killing you." She closed her eyes, "I love you, Angel and if you want me, that's one thing but keep it between us." Angel laughed again. Cruel and dark. "Keep praying, Slayer. It's all you've got left. And keep looking behind your shoulder because babe, I'm right there." And with that he was on his feet, walking away from her. Again. As soon as he was gone, she collapsed to the dirt and cried. "And they say that he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun and he lost a friend but kept his memory" She sat on her back porch staring up at the sky. The stars glittered brightly above her but they gave her little comfort. The darkness now meant loneliness without reprieve. Her greatest love was now her worst enemy. "Hey, Buff..I figured you'd be out here," Xander murmured, stepping away from the screen-door and moving to sit next to her. He slung an arm around her and pulled her against him. She smiled up at him weakly but said nothing. For a long moment they sat in silence and then he saw the cut on both her lip and cheek. The one on her cheek also had a darkening bruise around it. "You're hurt." "I met up with Angel. We had a talk," Buffy replied dully. She glanced down at her wrist which although unbroken sure did feel like it was. "Are you okay?" Xander asked although he knew it was a stupid question. For a moment she said nothing and then finally she looked up at him,"He's gonna take everything from me." "We won't let him," Xander vowed, turning her so that she was looking at him. She shook her head, "We can't stop him. I can't stop him. And he won't kill me until he's destroyed me." Buffy laughed but it sounded strange, strangled. "He could have, Xander. He had every opportunity but he was just playing. It's all a game. One we're gonna lose." "We're not. He's not Angel, Buffy. He can't defeat you if you realize that. He's Angelus. He's who he was before he loved you." "But he is who I love." She threw up her hands. "God, why didn't I listen. When I first found out that he was a vampire, you told me that I had a duty..I should have done it then. I should have walked away then..now I can't." "Buffy..." She turned to Xander, "You guys have given me nothing but friendship and support and this is what I have to offer you..certain death and pain because I can't..I can't..." "Buffy...we're here for you. We'll get through this. I'm here for you." She pushed herself away from his shoulder and looked up into his dark eyes, "You always have been," she murmured. She laughed bitterly. "You were always there for me no matter what..you brought me back after I hurt you...you've backed me up after all the times..oh God.." "It's okay, Buff...that's who I am..your Xander shaped friend." He smiled down at her and then leaned over and kissed her forehead. In that moment something snapped in Buffy and she wasn't able to stop herself from moving her mouth upwards towards his and kissing him. He let out a small moan and then accepted the passionate embrace. It was what he'd always wanted, wasn't it? And then, just like that, he broke away. "Buffy, we can't do this," Xander breathed, only half-believing that it was he that wanted to stop the kiss. She stumbled to her feet and nearly tripped over a chair sitting on the porch. "Oh God, I'm sorry..I...I'm sorry..." She moved backwards and then turned and fled into the house and towards her room. "Buffy!" Xander called after her. He started to move after her but hadn't taken more than a few steps before he collided with a solid form. "Cordy!" he gasped, wide-eyed. He opened his mouth to explain but then shook his head, "It's not what you probably think..." Cordelia stared back at him with sadness in her eyes. "I don't know what I'm thinking, Xander." She sighed. "Go to her. We'll talk about this later." She'd seen the whole conversation and she thought she understood why it'd happened but that only partly eased the pain. However, now was not the time. He regarded her somber face for a moment and then nodded and raced up the stairs towards Buffy's bedroom, calling her name. A moment later, he came back down the stairs, fear and concern on his face. "She's gone." "What?" Cordelia exclaimed. "She just went up there." "Well she's not there anymore and it looks like while she was there, she had a fit." "Huh?" Xander grabbed her arm and pulled her upstairs and into Buffy's room. Sure enough, it'd been trashed and the picture of the Xander, Willow and Buffy lay shattered on the ground. "She's snapped." Cordelia whispered. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TreyCash@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: I Will Survive 3/3 Date: 01 Feb 1998 06:43:09 EST Title: I Will Survive 3/3 By: Alex Queirolo Genre: Typical Buffy/ Angst Spoilers: Surprises & Innocence Distribution:Anya's and mine. Eventually. Mine is: http://members.aol.com/treycash/ff3.html Feedback: Yes, please! Summary: Buffy deals with the fact that Angel plans to destroy her mind before he kills her. AUTHOR's NOTE: This takes place after "Phases" but relates to "Suprise" and "Innocence". It steps outside of the time-stream after that in a desperate attempt to save itelf from getting "Jossed" by the next upcoming episode. God save us all. ADDITIONAL NOTES: The Joshua I make reference to is of the Watchers' Society. He was in my previous piece "Where Do the Children Play" and has a more active part as a Guardian in another that I am working on. His job is to ensure that time and life don't mess with the Slayer too badly and to make sure that some punches go her way. He has the ability to alter time and change the past and future. DISCLAIMER: Time to jump on the band-wagon. All the great characters seen on BUFFY belong to Joss "Da Man" Whedon. Any you've never seen on the show belong to me. I wouldn't dream of infringing on Joss. *** "Don't your feet get cold in the winter time sky won't snow and the sun won't shine it's hard to tell the night-time from the day You're losing all your highs and lows ain't it funny how the feeling goes away." "We gotta split up." Xander said finally as he moved into the circle formed by Cordelia, Oz and Willow. The latter couple had been hanging out at the Bronze when Xander had run in with the news about Buffy's disappearence. "That's not safe. We're easy pickings for Angel." Willow replied. "We need to stay together." "We're not covering any ground." Xander exclaimed. "How about we go me and Xander and you and Oz?" Cordelia said to Willow. The hacker considered it and then nodded. "That sounds reasonably okay. Oz has a cordless so we can keep in touch," Willow murmured. "Okay..if we find nothing, we meet back here in an hour. If we find anything, we call immediately." "Okay. Good. Great." Xander said, grabbing Cordelia's hand and pulling her towards the cemetary. They walked for what seemed like forever in silence and then she finally spoke, quiet and unusually uncertain, "Did you enjoy it?" "What?" Xander asked, turning to look at her with bewilderment in his eyes. "When you kissed Buffy..was it everything you ever dreamed about? Was it your fantasy come true?" Xander stopped and looked down at his hands, "You want the truth? It was amazing but you wanna know something else? It was wrong. I could feel it. She could feel it. We both wanted to be with other people. That simple, Cordy." "You kissed her. You can't tell me that didn't mean anything. You've been jonesing for her..well...since she came to Sunnydale. Are you saying you're over her?" "I dunno. I guess so. I mean, it was great..it really was but there was no passion behind it so no, it wasn't everything I'd ever dreamed of. She wanted me to be Angel." "And you?" He chuckled, "God help me, Cordy...I wanted her to be you." He shook his head. "Are we done? Because Buffy needs us." "Yeah," she murmured. "Let's go save the Slayers' butt..." "You're too late," a voice growled from above them. They both looked up to see Angel crouched in a tree wearing his game face and grinning wildly. "What did you do to her?" Xander yelled. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you, I swear." Angel laughed, "Poor deluded bastard, aren't you, Harris?" He stretched his arms and leaned back against the tree. "Oh don't worry..I didn't kill her. I won't let her take all the fun out of my game. It's not allowed." Then he smirked, "You two on the other-hand are un-neccesary playing pieces." Xander was barely listening to him. He'd spotted Buffy lying face-down in the dirt about fifteen feet away. He looked up at Cordelia and swallowed hard. She gave him a wild-eyed look and then grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the unconsious Slayer. Xander fell to his knees, pressing his ear to her chest, begging with any divine entity willing to listen that he hear a heartbeat. Unable to do anything else but watch in desperation and with a growing sense of dread, Cordelia called for back-up. "Will you tell us when to live Will you tell us when to die?" "Are you okay?" Oz asked quietly as he folded up his phone and placed it into his backpack. He moved forward a couple steps so that he could look into Willow's eyes. She tried to smile. Tried to be brave. He knew better. And she knew better. Finally she shook her head in the negative and whispered, "I'm scared. I...I can't lose any of you.." "No one is dying tonight, okay. The monkey men from Mars are protecting us." He looked at her with such mock seriousness that try as she might, she couldn't keep a straight face. "Good," he said softly. "Because I'll kill anyone who makes you stop smiling myself." And then he reached out and took her hand. "These foolish games are tearing me apart Your thoughtless words are breaking my heart You're breaking my heart" Angel watched, the grin never fading from his face. He'd let them check Buffy out and try to rouse her and then when they failed, he'd kill them and leave their corpses for the Slayer to discover when she did come around. It'd been all planned so perfectly. Well kinda..acutually luck had just been on his side that night. So damn many lucky things. The Slayer was mentality weak from his game and she'd made herself even more-so by kissing Xander..which had messed with her head. Such fun although he hadn't been all that fond of the flash of well..what the hell was it..jealousy? that had twisted its' way through him when he'd watched them kiss. It was alright though because she'd freaked out and thrown a fit in her room, breaking pictures and throwing furniture and then she'd run out into the woods to face him. Surely she'd known that in her state, she didn't stand a chance. But that wasn't the only lucky thing. While he'd been watching Buffy's house, he'd seen a home doctor go the lady next door and give her sedatives. A hunch had told him that the good doctor's medical bag could come in useful and he had been powerfully hungry. So the good doctor was no more and Buffy was tanked on tranks. Well okay it hadn't been that easy. She'd put up a better fight then he'd expected but the damage he'd done earlier had taken it's toll on her and she wasn't fighting with adrenlyn to ease the pain, she was fighting out of raw emotion which only made everything worse. She'd been on a hysterical high and it hadn't taken much to make her crumble to her knees, holding herself. She'd been hurting and yet she'd known that he had no intention of killing her so she hadn't reacted when he'd wrapped an arm around her torso and ran a hand over her face. Well she had flinched away then but that was okay. When she was one of the undead, he reasoned, she wouldn't want to flinch away. When he'd put the needle into her neck, she'd barely moved. She'd glanced up at him with tears in her eyes and then collapsed..perhaps even welcoming the darkness. Now he watched as Xander and Cordelia turned her over and did a quick cursory examination of her body. Physically speaking, she was bruised up but no more than she usually was. "Buffy? Wake up..come on?" Xander pleaded, slapping her face. He looked up at Angel with hatred in his eyes and then looked back down at Buffy. "Come on." Angel jumped down from the tree and started to walk towards them. He growled and then grinned. "This will be a good dinner. I've always wanted to kill you, Xander. Now I can." "Over my dead body," Cordelia yelled. Xander looked at her with wide eyes, "What the hell are you doing?" "I don't know," she squeaked, grabbing his arm and pushing him in front. "Momentary insanity?" "Right," Xander replied, trying to joke away the fear that was gripping up. He dropped Buffy to the ground and stood to face Angel. "I'm gonna die like a man you son of a bitch. You'll get no pleasure from me." "Oh yeah..I will. If not from you..then from Buffy. Her screams when she wakes up to find your blood splattered all over the ground will make me laugh until hell freezes over, little boy." "Not tonight you won't, Angel." Buffy murmured, standing up on shaky legs. She shuddered and tried to build herself up but she looked like the small, scared child she was instead of the strong, powerful Slayer she had the capacity to be. She could feel the drugs working through her body, making everything numb and sluggish. If she'd been a normal girl, she'd still be unconsious but she wasn't normal by any stretch of any imagination. Angel chuckled, "You really think you could fight me, Buffy?" "No, I know I can't. I just need to fight you long enough to get them away from you. After that I don't care," she replied wearily. She looked at Xander and Cordelia. "Go. Get out of here." "We're not leaving you," Cordelia said. She looked at Xander, "We're not." "No, we're not. We're in this together." Xander added. "Aw..ain't that sweet..it's the damn Walton family. Your friends are as stupid as you, Buffy.. you acutually look vaguely bright next to them." Buffy looked at her friends, "This isn't a request, guys..go!" "And we weren't asking for your permission. We're not leaving you." Xander shot back, his hand reaching out and grasping Cordelia's. He noted with some degree of shock that it was shaking so he squeezed it harder. She tried to look at them with stone in her expression but upon seeing the determination in their faces, hers' softened and she said quietly, "Please..I don't want to lose you. I can't fight him...you need to go while I can still hold him off." Angel laughed. He seemed to be finding the whole scene amusing. "As if you can. Don't fool yourself, Buffy..if I want them..they're mine." "I'll make you kill me first." She shot back knowing full well that it would enrage him. He growled at her and barred his fangs. She didn't react. "Please..Xander..get her out of here." "Um, hello..I can walk myself and I'm not going anywhere." Cordelia replied, shaking her head in irritation. "Buffy!" Willow's voice called out from the sidewalk behind the bushes. Buffy looked up in horrified shock and shook her head. "No, Will...get the hell out of here.." "Buffy, watch out!" Xander screamed as Angel lunged and knocked the distracted Slayer to the ground. Xander looked around desperately for anything to use as a weapon. "You're breaking the rules, Buffy." Angel growled, slamming her to dirt and wrapping a hand around her throat in a vise like grip. She gasped for air and looked up at her former lover in panic. There was no hatred there, just fear. "I oughta kill you for that." "Not today you won't," Xander growled, thrusting a metal hair-clip into Angels' side. The vampire howled in pain and fell away from Buffy, grasping at the bloody wound. He looked at Xander with pure animal lust and absoloute hatred. "What the hell was that?" Oz asked, eyes fixed to the blood gushing out of Angel's side. "My three hundred dollar hair-clip," Cordelia muttered. The others all threw her looks of dismay so she quickly added, "Not that I mind, I mean but daddy's gonna go postal. He already thinks that..never mind." Her eyes widened in shock as Angel stood up to his full height looking really, really pissed off and staring right at Xander. "Your life is forfeit, boy." Angel growled. He stared at each of the faces watching him and then he grinned. "But that will be another day. Today, I make you all suffer." In what couldn't have amounted to more than second, he lunged forward and grabbed Cordelia by the collar of her jacket and slammed the stunned girl to the ground. He wasted no time in barring his teeth and shoving them up against her throat. She screamed and kicked but he swallowed the pain. And then he pressed his fangs into her jugular. She saw swirling darkness rush towards her and a tear found it's way down her cheek. And then all she saw was dust. "Oh my God.." Xander breathed, his eyes moving over to where the gasping Slayer stood shakily above Cordelia, a cloud of dust raining around her. Buffy locked eyes with him and then she fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for the air that he had deprived her. Willow jerked forward, followed by Oz. She fell to her knees next to Buffy, "Are you okay?" "I..killed..oh God it...hurts..." Buffy gasped out. She looked up at Xander, "What..what..did..." "You saved my life," Cordelia whispered, taking Xander's offered hand and standing up. Xander looked at her with worry in his eyes so she smiled reassuringly even though all she wanted to do was curl up and collapse. Almost absently, she touched her neck where Angel had just pierced her skin. Still bothered but reasonably sure that she was okay, Xander dropped down beside Buffy. "It's okay, Buffy...it's gonna be okay." Xander promised. "We need to get you into bed. We can all shack up at my place for the night..my folks are in Vegas.Your mom would flip if she saw you in this condition." "Xander.." "No objections." "Right," she murmured, her head falling backwards and the drugs catching up. "Okay..not now." And with that her eyes slid shut and she fell into a dead faint in Willow's arms. Xander looked at Oz,"If you'll be so kind as to help me.." "Age to age You're still the same by the power of the name" "I can't believe I'm taking Buffy to bed," Xander muttered as he carried Buffy in his arms up the stairs in his house to his room. Cordelia rolled her eyes and bit back on the retort that had rushed to the surface. They had already dealt with that. Chances were that his comment was no more than just an annoying guy thing. Oz held the door open and watched as Xander and Willow patted and poked the pillows and sheets of the bed to make it just right for Buffy. Xander placed her on it and pulled the covers over her. Then he jerked his head to the others and they left the room with Cordelia flipping off the light. They descended the stairs slowly, each wrapped in their own thoughts. It was Willow who broke the silence, "This is gonna be bad." "We'll be here for her," Xander insisted. He laughed bitterly, "I'm not sure it'll be enough but we'll give her what we got and do what we can." "She'll make it through this," Cordelia said softly. "She's the Slayer." "No," Willow said, "She's Buffy and that's what will help us all through this. She won't give up." "And neither will we," Oz added in, still wondering how the hell he'd managed to get wrapped up in the middle of all the insanity. "Now the Valley cried with anger, mount your horses, draw your swords And they killed the mountain people so they won their just reward" "Hi. How ya feeling?" Xander asked, moving to sit next to her. He offered her a hand and helped her prop herself up on the overstuffed pillows. "Like I got hit by a truck with ACME written on the side of it. My head is ringing." Buffy moaned. "Here," he chuckled, offering her two white aspirin and a glass of water. "This should help somewhat." "Thanks." She took them, swallowed, drank and then gazed down at her hands. Then she looked up at him and he saw tears in her eyes, "Xander.." "Hey..don't..it's okay..." "No..it's not. Xander, I'm sorry...I don't know what happened. It was like I snapped. I thought I could make it all better..that if I could feel like I did with him..with you...then I could make all the pain go away." "It's okay," he insisted. "But it just made it worse. I made it worse." "You love him." Xander said softly. "It's that simple." "I..I..." He smiled, "Listen to me..no hard feelings. I won't allow it. Not while you're under my roof and eating my microwaved cooking. While you're here, you're cheery Buffy and we'll play all sorts of games and always smile..you understand?" "You're so good to me." "That wasn't the reply I was looking for. I wanted 'yes...how about Twister?'..okay? So let's hear it?" Instead she began to cry. His eyes widened in alarm. "No, don't...I'm sorry..I didn't mean..I just..." "I miss him..." she said between wracking sobs. "I'm never..oh God..." He wanted to tell her that she still had her memories but he doubted that it would do her any good. He too felt like he'd buried a friend that night. He watched her shake for a moment and then he moved forward and pulled her into his arms. He tucked her under his chin and pulled her against his chest and began to rock her, closing his eyes as he did so. "There's so many things you should have told her but night after night you're willing to hold her just hold her tears on your shoulder" Cordelia entered the room, holding the cordless phone in her hand. She stopped when she saw the way Xander rocked Buffy. Lifting the phone to her ear she said, "I'll have him call you when he gets out of the shower." She clicked the power button and then settled against the door frame to watch. "Talk to me- tell me your dreams Am I in them? Tell me your fears Are you scared? Tell me your stories I'm not afraid of who you are" She could hear her mother talking to Doctor Jacobs in the hallway. Asking if she'd be okay and begging to know why her daughter was so sick. She couldn't possibly understand. Buffy settled back against her pillows, her eyes as always focused on the window as if he might climb through it at any minute and lay next to her. As if he might press his lips to her feverish forehead and make it hot with passion instead. But that wasn't going to happen. By her hand he had fallen. Not the greatest and possibly only love of her live but as a vampire. Savage and blood-thirsty and in a rain of damning dust that had scattered in the wind. He remained in her dreams. Always there. In slow motion and colorless..like a nightmare from the days before movies had color. His expression of suprise and horror trapped in her mind forever. She had killed him. To hell with the reality that in doing so she'd saved Cordelia's life. She'd had no choice and that was true too and she knew she'd do it again but all of those were just bitter reminders of the fact that he would never again hold her. When he'd been stabbed by Xander in the side, his blood had quickly seeped down the edges of his shirt and on to hers and now that shirt was the only tangible proof of the past. All she had left was the liquid that had condemned him to hell..a vampires' blood. She laughed at herself, angry at her own inability to make it all make sense. She wanted it to stop hurting but it wouldn't. Couldn't. She closed her eyes and tried to find the light where sometimes he existed before the nightmares began. He would smile at her from there and she would try to make it mean something but clarity never came before the horror. "I love you," he whispered. She reached out to him and felt nothing but the air of a fading dream and yet his voice echoed strongly in her head. "Angel." "I'm here," his calm, soothing voice whispered. "I need you." "Open your eyes, Buffy." "I don't want to leave you. Don't make me. I can't live without you. I don't want to." "You don't have to." Buffy blinked and allowed her eyes to open, not wanting to see the harsh light that was reality. What she saw instead shoved her back into the whirling darkness that was unconsiousness. He waited for her, hand cupping her cheek. He knew he should have run as far as he could. Been grateful for the renewed life that had been granted him but he also knew that without her..it wasn't life. "Angel?" she whispered, stirring, certain that it was a dream that would shake her to tears within moments. "Right here. Always here." She opened her eyes wide and stared up at him, "It can't be..I know better..I..I know..I saw...why are you doing this?" "It is me, Buffy...you gave me another chance. You set me free," Angel told her softly, leaning forward to hold her. She tried to resist initially but found that she lacked the strength. "It's all a game.." she whispered. "I don't want to play anymore." He winced at the mention of the torment his body had caused her. His voice, his touch..they had all tainted the love they shared for each other. "No game, Buffy...I am here. Me..Angel...Angelus is no more. You killed him." Scared to believe but unable to stop herself from hoping, she looked up at him with wide eyes full of pain, "How..I don't..." "The Guardians made me live." "The Guardians?" Buffy repeated. "Joshua?" "Yeah..he's got a special affection for you, Buffy. When you gave up our love..your soul.. in order to save a friend...you bought back my soul. I watched you kill Angelus and destroy the demon. None of it makes sense..not even to me but what does is that I'm here. I'm here." "Are you human?" He gave her a sad smile, "Only in heart and soul. My body would have been destroyed if it were human. But the curse that binds my soul is permanent...I can't lose it. I can't lose you." Buffy lowered her head. She wanted to say something...nothing made sense..even in her head. Finally she looked up at him with tears glinting in her eyes, "Hold me." -FIN........FEEDBACK PLEASE!!! I don't know who wrote the song that the title of this story is taken from. My apologies to the artist. Lyrics taken from: 1. Desperado...Eagles 2. Bad Moon Rising...Creedence Clearwater Revival 3. Free Fallin'...Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 4. Lean On Me...Bill Withers 5. Lean On Me...Bill Withers 6. New Kid in Town...Eagles 7. Life in the Fast Lane...Eagles 8. Hotel California...Eagles 9. American Pie...Don McLean 10.It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday...Boyz II Men 11.Rocky Mountain High...John Denver 12.Desperado...Eagles 13.Where Do the Children Play?...Cat Stevens 14.Foolish Games...Jewel 15.El Shaddai...Amy Grant 16.One Tin Soldier...Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter 17.New Kid in Town...Eagles 18.Justify My Love...Madonna - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TreyCash@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: That Was The Day 1/2 Date: 01 Feb 1998 06:50:32 EST Title: That Was The Day 1/2 By: Alex Queirolo Genre: Typical Buffy/humor Spoilers: Surprises & Innocence, Phases Distribution:Anya's and mine. Eventually. Mine is: http://members.aol.com/treycash/ff3.html Feedback: Yes, please! Summary: Um...Buffy, Cordelia, Xander,Willow, Oz, rabbits and bets. *** THAT WAS THE DAY BY: Alex Queirolo *** AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place after my story "I Will Survive" and therefore adheres to the events of that piece. In the Buffy scheme of things, it takes place after "Phases" but then promptly procedes to split off from the time- stream that is Joss Whedon's. It makes the assumptions that Cordelia and Xander are still together as are Oz and Willow and that through time, Buffy and Angel can begin to rebuild their relationship. Time-wise, it takes place around Easter which would be a couple months after the events of the previously mentioned story. CONTENT WARNING: This should contain nothing that is too objectionable except for the fact that I'm trying humor instead of angst. That could be traumatic for all involved. Actual contents include brief sexual situations, a tad bit of language, a slight smidgen of angst(I tried..honestly I did but I couldn't get away from it completely) and a whole lot of insanity. So damn the man and rock and roll. DISCLAIMER: The characters seen on the show BUFFY belong to Joss "Da Man" Whedon. He is my yoda and such. Any that I create belong to me and I am their god. Ya dig? I mean no infringement, just pointless lunacy. The title of this piece is taken off of the THREESOME album and is by THE THE. The musical quote is by BIRDBRAIN and is lifted from the original SCREAM album. Have fun. *** "Say a prayer for the youth of America God bless our youth America" "Okay, everyone look at me like I'm in a bunny-suit 'cause that's how stupid I feel saying this..." -Buffy to Giles, Xander and Willow in "The Puppet Show" *** Her eyes widened in un-natural horror and she stumbled backwards several feet before slamming up against a wall. She grunted in slight discomfort and found that she was unable to tear herself away from him. "No," she whispered with tears forming in her eyes. "I don't believe it." He lifted his hands towards her, trying desperately to indicate the good nature of his intentions and then he sighed dejectedly, "It's not that bad." "Um, no..it's not *that* bad." Willow Rosenberg said weakly, looking up at her blonde haired friend who was still pinned to the wall in wide-eyed shock. Willow covered her mouth with one hand to stifle a laugh that seeped through the cracks and came out as a cackle. He turned to glare at her and she lifted her other hand towards the Slayer, "She made me laugh." Alexander "Xander" Harris turned and looked at Buffy Summers with such a pained puppy-dog look that when he asked, "Is it that bad, Buffy?", she almost lied. Almost. "It's pretty hideous, Xand. Well, I guess the upside..if you can find one through all that hair...is that now you know better than to make a bet with Cordelia." Then she shook her head and grinned as she pushed herself away from her bedroom wall. "Wow, Xander..that's bad." She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "But don't worry..we still...love ...you...whatever you are." He gave her a mock thankful look and turned to Willow for encouragement. She stiffled back a laugh and said, "Yeah and you can still hang with us at the Bronze." "You're not going to the Bronze tonight," Xander replied with a sigh. "Wow," Buffy said with a laugh, "He's right." Then she stuck out her lower lip at him. Only she wasn't trying to get anything from him; she was attempting to assure him of the sincerity of her sympathy for him. The giggles that kept creeping through weren't helping her case. "You know this is your fault," he told them accusingly. "I wouldn't be..like this...if it weren't for you two." The two girls looked at each other wearing matching expressions of innocent denial and then proceded to ruin it by cracking up. Buffy fell to her bed clutching her sides as she laughed and everytime Willow looked up at Xander, another peel of mirth escaped between her fingers as she tried desperately to cover her mouth. "Yeah, yeah..laugh it up but I'm blaming the two of you for any psychological damage this..this...does to me." He pointed down at himself and then shook his head in disgust. Buffy crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him,"Aw..it's okay..we'll visit you in loony bin..." "Yeah," Willow chirped, "We'll bring carrots." That was all it took for Buffy to lose it again and have to bury her head against Xanders' shoulder as she held on to him for fear of falling over from laughing. Then she looked up at him and said, "Hey..you did this to yourself, Xand..you're the one who was stupid enough to make a bet with Cordelia. You had to know she'd hold you to it." "Whatever," he grumped, sitting on her bed. "You got a brush I can borrow? My fur is getting all tangled up." Buffy pursed her lips and then reached over and removed a brush from the desk. Xander took it and moaned as he started to brush himself out, "Oh man..how did I get myself into this mess?" *** "Ow! Dammit! Ow!" Xander cried, slumping back into the drivers' seat of the Lincoln. He growled and stared at the steering wheel. "Damn, damn, damn." "What's wrong now?" she asked, sighing in annoyance. "Is your shoe untied?" She shook her head. "No," he replied tersely,"The steering wheel was biting into my hip because you move too much." "I move too much. Oh that's great. Last time it was your nails are too sharp. I don't think you wanna..." He leaned forward and kissed her before she could finish the sentence. Then he gave her a look that said "see" and grinned. "We gotta go meet Buffy and Willow at the Bronze." "They can wait," she smiled, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pushing him back against the seat. "I promised her..we'd...meet..Buffy..that..is...I promised...Buffy.." Xander protested between kisses. She pushed herself away from him,a look of pure anger on her face, "You can't do it, can you?" "Do it?" Xander exclaimed, wide-eyed. "I didn't know we were doing 'it'..I mean.." "No! No! No! You can't not say their names!" Cordelia cried out, desperately wanting to smack him upside the head. "They have names now? Wow.." "Shut up..shut up..I'm talking about Willow and Buffy!" Xander gave her a confused look, "You named them Buffy and Willow...oh no..oh..oh..I get it..." "Wow...I'm only pushing 80." She blew out a gust of air between her teeth in disgust. "What's with you and them? I know they're your friends.." "And yours," Xander reminded her. "Whatever but hello, I'm your girlfriend...you know..car, kissing...not telling daddy? Ring a bell or are you still only seeing Buffy's name up in lights?" "Hey...that's not fair...you're the one bringing her up now." Xander replied. Then he sighed, "Come on..I don't wanna fight." He leaned forward and kissed her. She pushed him back. "No, uh uh. You're not getting out of it this time, Xander." "Man! Why are you wiggin' so hard on this? Look, I'm sorry..can we kiss now?" Xander exclaimed, leaning forward again. She placed a hand flat on his chest, "No..I'm sick of this...if your mind is on them then it's not on me and if it's not on me then I don't want to be here because this is about me. You understand? Me." "You. Right. Got it. Kiss?" "Not yet, hormones boy. You wanna kiss me, we make a deal." "What kind of deal?" Xander asked wearily. "It's actually more of a..well it's a bet." "A bet? What are the stakes?" She narrowed her eyes at him, "I bet that you can't go an hour without saying Buffy or Willow's names." "You're on." Xander replied with a grin. "Down boy..you may not like the stakes," Cordelia replied with a grin. She traced a hand up his chest to his jawline and then looked him in the eye. "If I win...you have to take my place at the Easter event that daddy's sponsoring at the mall." Xander swallowed hard, "Your place?" "Uh huh. Scared? Don't think you can do it?" Cordelia taunted, the grin becoming predatory. He narrowed his eyes at the challenge, "Okay..alright and if I win..." "Name it," she all but sung. "Hmm...okay...if I win, you have to dress up like Laura Bosley and.." "Ew..she looks like a hobo and her hair..it's disgusting..all ratty..yuck!" Cordelia squeaked indignantly. "I'm not done." He replied with a smirk. "You have to dress and look like Laura plus you have to carry *my* books for me...to *every* class." "Fine," she groaned, sticking out her hand. "Wait a minute..one more thing...you have to walk around school yelling 'Xander is so sexy' as loud as you can for an entire day. Got it?" She looked at him for a long moment, thinking over the odds in her head and then she smiled, "What am I worried about? I don't think you've gone five minutes without saying their names. You are so on." "Yeah." He thrust out his hand and shook hers vigorously. And then he leaned forward and kissed her. The way he worked it, if he kissed her for an entire hour then he won. No talking. Just kissing. Helluva plan. "Xander!" Someone yelled from outside the car. The two of them jerked apart and Xander looked up in shock. And then realization hit him. "Buffy! She's in trouble! Buffy!" He opened the door and was about to get out to look around when Buffy and Willow came racing up to the door, decidely out of breath. "God, we've been looking everywhere for you two." Then she frowned, "Oh, sorry about interrupting and all.." Buffy said quickly. "Not at all. What can we do for you, Buffy?" Cordelia chirped. Buffy gave her a strange look and then blew it off. "We wanted to tell you guys that we wouldn't be meeting you at the Bronze. We're gonna go catch Grease down at the park. You wanna come with?" "We'd love to. After all, I've got to celebrate winning a bet." Cordelia said with a smile. Xanders' eyes widened, "Oh no...that doesn't..oh man...oh man.." He looked up at Buffy and then whimpered, "I'm gonna kill you." *** "Stop crying so much, Xander...you're gonna cause your fur to tangle even more than it is," Willow ordered as she ran the brush through the bright pink hair. Buffy laughed and turned away from them. "I'm gonna..go..get something to drink..and a camera." Buffy said with a grin as she retreated out of the room. Five steps out, she practically collapsed against the wall, hysterical with laughter. "Something funny, honey?" Joyce Summers asked as she stepped into the hallway, an oversized suitcase under her arm. "Oh, just the big pink guy on my bed." Buffy replied, trying desperately to keep a straight face and failing miserably. Joyce lifted an eyebrow, "Buffy..be nice to Xander. He's a boy and has a fragile ego." "Mom, he's a big rabbit. If that were me..*you'd* be harassing *me* mercilessly. Admit it." Joyce smiled. "Just remember, he won't be in that suit forever." "I know. Twenty-four hours is long enough." Buffy replied with an evil gleam in her eye. "Buffy, be good. I'll be out of town tonight and tommorow night. I don't want to come home to find pink bunny hair all over my house because you drove Xander to..bunny-a-cide." "Funny, mom." Buffy quipped. She leaned forward and kissed her mom on the cheek. "Have a good time and be careful. You never know what kind of blood- suckers there might be out there." Then she smiled as if she'd just remembered something, "I mean art collectors..you know..bad men with stupid..I'm shutting up now..I love you, mom." "I love you too, Buffy." Joyce replied. "But you are a strange girl." Buffy nodded, "That's me, mom...weirdness girl." Then she rolled her eyes, grabbed the camera off of the table in the hallway and retreated back into her bedroom where Willow was trying to help Xander put on his costumes' head. "Wow, Xand..you are...so hot. Can I sit on your lap?" Buffy asked with a grin. He shot her a dirty look. "That's Santa Claus, Buffy." Willow reminded her. "Hold still, Xander..this is tricky..your ears are too big." "Oh that's great..first I have to wear this ridiculous costume because I tried to be savior boy for the two of you.." "Whatever." Both the girls said at once. Then they looked at each other and giggled. Xander rolled his eyes, "And now I'm taking friendly fire. All I can say is that pay-back is a bitch." "Just as long as you believe that," Buffy replied. Then she broke out into a giant smile, "Hey Xand, do your folks know that their little boy is a cute little bunny rabbit." "That's it, Slayer..you're going down!" Xander yelled as he jumped at her. Had she not been laughing so hard, she would have been able to easily avoid him. As it were, he tackled her to the floor and they began to wrestle. Willow watched with amusement until she saw Xander manage to pin Buffy with one of his rabbit paws. Buffy struggled to push him off but her laughter was causing quite a problem and it didn't help that his costume was difficult to manipulate. With a wicked gleam in her eye, Willow jumped on his back and pulled him off while he cried foul. Buffy rolled out from under him and grabbed at the camera sitting on the chair. "Smile," she chirped as she snapped the picture. Xander howled in indignation and Willow dismounted, grinning cheek to cheek. "Wow, Will..I already know the perfect place at school to put this pic." Xanders' face flushed bright red, "You wouldn't dare..." "Bet me," Buffy said with a laugh. "You be good or I'll tell Giles that you're the one that had him summoned to the faculty room two nights ago because you wanted to come party with us." Xander shot back. Buffy narrowed her eyes at him,"It's not over yet, Thumper" Willow giggled and then cleared her thraot, "Uh guys, I hate to interrupt your little black-mail party but Xander is due at the mall in ten minutes." "Yup, yup," Buffy said, "So ya better hop to it." "You're killing me," he replied dryly. "Really, truly. You're killing me here." *** "Where is he?" Willow asked as she tried to gaze out the doorway towards Cordelia's car. She knew Xander was around there but she sure couldn't see him. "He's hunched down in the seat so that the little kids don't see him. I guess I could have told him that there's a changing room at the mall but that would have taken all the fun out of it." "And it would have been the nice thing to do." "He lost the right to me being nice.. whatever that means..when he lost the bet. He's in my world now." Cordelia grinned. "Oh hey, are you and Buffy gonna meet us down at the mall? I don't think this is something you should miss." "We'll be there. Buffy is up to something. He should be afraid. Very afraid. I don't trust her when she gets that look in her eye and she's still wanting to get him back for giving her that trick ink pen." Cordelia grinned wickedly, "Oh I know what she's up to and it's evil. And I like it. Speaking of Buffy...where is she?" "Oh," Willow said, sombering up, "She's in the bedroom talking to Angel." *** "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly, her fingers intertwining with the phone cord. "Better," he replied. "My head's clearer. I..I feel better." "Does that mean you're coming home soon?" Buffy asked with hope slipping into her voice. She hadn't wanted to let him know how much she missed him but that was only slightly impossible. "Buffy.." "Please." She said quickly. There was a long beat of silence and then she added softly, "I want you here." "I know...I know..I just...I don't think we can go back." "I don't want to go back, Angel..I want to go forward..I just want it to be with you." She could almost see him smile and it caused her too. "We'll talk." Angel replied. "Yeah..when you come back...maybe tonight. Afterall...you wouldn't want to miss Xander the Easter Bunny." "Excuse me?" Angel laughed. Buffy smiled, happy to hear his joy, "Oh, it's a pretty funny story." *** "Hey, hey, hey." Buffy called out as she and Willow approached Oz in the mall. He was standing with his back to the glass display window of the music shop on the bottom floor watching the Easter display. Willow and Oz greeted each other with a kiss and Buffy beamed at her friend's apparent joy. It was good to see Will getting what she wanted. Both of her best buds deserved happiness and now they were getting it. "Hey ladies, you're missing all the festivities. Some little kid just asked Xander if the Easter bunny has sex with Mrs. Easter bunny." Oz said with a grin. "What did he say?" Willow asked, laughing as she saw Xander kneel down and talk with some rudy faced little kid who insisted on pulling on Xanders' rabbit whiskers. ""Only when she unlocks him," Oz replied. "Cordelia just about had a fit. It was pretty funny. I was amused." "I would have been." Buffy put in, looking at Willow. The hacker nodded her agreement. "It would have been mirth-worthy." "So, what's this big scheme you got up your sleeve?" Oz asked. "Oh...you'll see," Buffy grinned. Then she looked at Willow, "Hey Will, did you bring the carrots? Xander-Rabbit looks hungry." TBC.......FEEDBACK PLEASE - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TreyCash@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: That Was The Day 2/2 Date: 01 Feb 1998 06:54:10 EST Title: That Was The Day 2/2 By: Alex Queirolo Genre: Typical Buffy/humor Spoilers: Surprises & Innocence, Phases Distribution:Anya's and mine. Eventually. Mine is: http://members.aol.com/treycash/ff3.html Feedback: Yes, please! Summary: Um...Buffy, Cordelia, Xander,Willow, Oz, rabbits and bets. *** AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place after my story "I Will Survive" and therefore adheres to the events of that piece. In the Buffy scheme of things, it takes place after "Phases" but then promptly procedes to split off from the time- stream that is Joss Whedon's. It makes the assumptions that Cordelia and Xander are still together as are Oz and Willow and that through time, Buffy and Angel can begin to rebuild their relationship. Time-wise, it takes place around Easter which would be a couple months after the events of the previously mentioned story. CONTENT WARNING: This should contain nothing that is too objectionable except for the fact that I'm trying humor instead of angst. That could be traumatic for all involved. Actual contents include brief sexual situations, a tad bit of language, a slight smidgen of angst(I tried..honestly I did but I couldn't get away from it completely) and a whole lot of insanity. So damn the man and rock and roll. DISCLAIMER: The characters seen on the show BUFFY belong to Joss "Da Man" Whedon. He is my yoda and such. Any that I create belong to me and I am their god. Ya dig? I mean no infringement, just pointless lunacy. The title of this piece is taken off of the THREESOME album and is by THE THE. The musical quote is by BIRDBRAIN and is lifted from the original SCREAM album. Have fun. *** Xander peered out through the screened eyes of the costume and to his horror he saw them there. Willow. Oz. And Buffy. And oh God, she was up to something. He saw her take a plastic bag from Willow and start to approach and his heart began to pound. He didn't have long to contemplate it however before he felt a savage tugging on his whiskers. Looking down he saw a little boy searching through the pocket of his rabbit overalls. Well at least he was a bunny with dignity. "Can I help you little boy?" Xander asked into the voice changer. Appparenty Mr.Chase didn't think his voice sounded very bunnyish. Talk about adding insult to injury. "Eggs," the kid growled, grabbing the front of the overalls. "Where are my damn eggs? Didn't get none last year. Mom said ya screwed me over. Want my damn eggs, Mr. Bunny." Xanders' eyes widened. Oh this was great. Insult. Injury. Buffy. Cordelia. Willow. Oz. Psycho kid. Go team go. "How about a nice carrot?" A voice asked from above the kid. Xander looked up and saw Buffy standing there with a bag full of carrots. His first instinct was to groan at the obvious pun. "Get real, lady...I want my damn eggs." "How about I give you five bucks and you go buy your own eggs," Buffy replied in a sweet tone that told Xander if the kid didn't take the money, she was gonna go Slayer on the tike. Xander sighed and decided that it was a good thing that it wasn't Buffy who'd lost the bet. On the other hand..Buffy in a bunny suit woulda been priceless no matter what the attitude. "I guess so. Let's see the fundage, lady." The kid replied through narrowed eyes. Buffy rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket and pulled out a five. The kid snatched it from her, examined it carefully while she watched in awe and then turned to Xander, "Your mistress got you off the hook this time, rabbit-boy but you'd better deliver next time or I'm telling the Mrs. about her." And then he stalked off. Xander turned to Buffy, "You see what I've been putting up with all day. Little kids who use my whiskers..my poor precious whiskers for tissue paper. Try to grab my tail and eat my ears...it's hell, Buffy...hell.." "Yeah..Xand..I think you're becoming way too attached to that costume. Maybe you should take off the head and let some air get to your brain." "Oh no, no, no. I know what you're up to...you and Cordelia both. Wherever she is. You're planning bad things for me. I think I'm safer in here." "Whatever you say, Xander." Buffy said with a grin. Then she reached into the plastic bag and pulled out a carrot, "Hungry?" He groaned and grabbed the carrot and jabbed it at his heart. "Buffy, the bunny-rabbit Slayer..ack..." "Oh my God, mommy! Mr. Rabbit is commiting suicide!" A little girl walking by yelled. Xander swiveled his head and let the carrot drop to the ground. He looked at Buffy for help but she was leaning against the wall of his "rabbit-house" laughing so hard that she was practically crying. "Oh God," she managed between giggles, "What I wouldn't give for a video camera." *** "Is that Alexander Harris? Betsy, is that Xander Harris?" a teenaged girl asked her friend as they approached the area where the Easter display Mr. Chase was sponsoring was set up. "Oh my God...it is...Paula...look..Xander Harris is the Easter bunny." Betsy cried out as she grabbed another friend. Xander felt his face flush deep red beneath the mask. How the hell did they know? And then as he watched the crowd of high-schoolers grow, his eyes settled on the culprits; Buffy and Cordelia leaning against the display wall of the music store watching with matching grins. Oh..they were so going to die. And then, almost as if they knew he was looking at them, they both lifted their hands and waved. And then Cordelia blew him a kiss. He scanned to the left and saw Willow and Oz watching with large grins on their faces and suddenly he realized what was going on. He'd been set up. From the beginning. Buffy and Cordelia had planned it all out and Willow had at least known about it. Ambushed. They'd played the ultimate prank on him from start to finish. Well so they thought, he vowed. It ain't over yet. And then Buffy winked at him and raised a carrot up to eye level so that he could see her wave it around. And then she lowered it and took a bite. That was the last thing he saw before the sea of high-schoolers descended upon him, demanding to get their pictures taken with Mr. Easter Bunny. Ooh...they were so going to die. *** "I think pink is a good color for you," Cordelia assured him as she helped him lift off the rabbit head. He groaned as the head stuck coming over his head. "Right," he muttered. "One of them peed on me. Another one clipped my whiskers.I'm whisker-less. Mr.Bunny has no whiskers and how am I supposed to know if I can fit through a door..if I get trapped it's gonna be all your guys' fault." "But you're so cute..so kissably cute. And it's not like he peed on you..he got your overalls. We can just strip those off and throw them in the washer." Cordelis reminded him as she leaned forward and kissed his nose. "Oh wonderful, now I'm a naked pink rabbit without whiskers," Xander replied. "Actually it's kinda sexy...in a barbaric strange kinda way. Okay, its not but you were such a good sport that I'll humor you and say you're sexy." "Oh I'm touched," Xander responded sarcastically. "Oh hey, let's make this evening complete, we can finish chewing off my bunny ears. Sure, they're not chocolate but those little kids sure liked them anyways." "Oh cheer up, it's over and you survived." "No thanks to you and Buffy. The whole school is gonna knoew about this. My reputation is shot. I'm gonna forever be known as Xander the Pink Bunny." "I know this is hard to believe but this is actually an improvement over your old reputation," Cordelia replied. "Good to know I always have your support. When did you and Buffy become chummy enough to plot against me? I kinda liked it when you weren't..it was less painful for me." She shrugged,"I don't know what your complaining about..you were a hit with the kids. Daddy wants you to work the next two weeks up until Easter." "Uh uh..hell no..no way..Tarakan bugs couldn't make me...no way...I don't even want to know what evil things you and Buffy could do to me in two weeks worth of time. As of tonight, I am this demented rabbit no more. I'm just fine with being plain Xander." Cordelia grinned,"I think I could convince you." And then she wrapped her arms around him and pushed him back against the inside wall of the rabbit-house. *** "Ugh..I got to still do a sweep of the cemetary," Buffy groaned as she munched on the remaining carrots. She'd bought about twelve and then handed out all but three to high-schoolers who had used them to torment poor Xander. At one point Buffy had almost felt bad enought to step in and save him but then she'd gotten a mental flash of the white shirt he'd ruined with that damn trick ink pen. That'd been enough for her to decide that his pain was justified. Willow had been harder to convince. At one point she'd had to physically restrain Willow from running to Xanders' aide. At another time she'd had to convince Oz to take Willow on a tour of the malls' computer shop. A few minutes in cyber- nerd land had cured Will of her desire to help Xander. "But we'll meet you at the Bronze afterwards, right?" Willow asked, taking a carrot from Buffy. "Yup. I am so the party girl tonight,"Buffy replied cheerfully. "And I'm not gonna wait out here forever for them. Ten minutes, no show, no stake. No bad. That's the way I see it anyways. And if Giles ask, then I can answer truthfully that I did run a sweep." "Argue semantics, that's good." "No, no, Will...I'm just giving Giles a slight misrepresentation of the acknowledged facts. Not semantics at all, just a different way of saying it." "That's semantics." "Well okay, if you have to be stubborn about it," Buffy pouted. Then she grinned, "Angel might come home tonight. I'm hoping." Willow smiled, "I hope so..that would be so neat..it'd be like couples night." She squealed and reached forward and grabbed her friends' hands. "Uh guys," Oz said from behind them."There's um, uh...bad men who haven't seen a dentist in awhile behind you. Could you, uh..do that cool dusting thing you do, Buffy?" Buffy spun and scowled at the three approaching vamps,"Oh you just had to be jerks about it. Oh well, might as well do my job..feel happy about myself and raise my average." "You're funny, Slayer." One of the vamps growled. "But did you hear the one about Arkanasas? Turns out they found a new use for sheep...wool." Buffy's eyebrow jumped upwards, "Oh great..a comedian. Figures. You, my friend, will be stand-up funny to kill. Oh hey..I made a joke. I da chick." And with that she spun around and kicked the comedian vampire in the chest. Oz looked over at Willow and pointed to the bushed. "There are more." "Oh shit!" she yelled. She gave him an apologetic and shy smile when she saw his stunned expression, "We need back-up. I'll go for Xander and Cordelia." "I get to fight." He nodded his head and grinned. "Right on." "Be careful." She warned as she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on mouth. He watched her go and then he jumped at one of the vampires. *** "Okay, this pink thing really has to go," Cordelia muttered between kisses as she worked desperately on the zipper of the costume. Xander growled and looked at her. "I've been trying for only the last ten minutes. The damn thing is jammed. Maybe if we turned on the light.." "No," she said quickly, "Kissing's okay..it's just weird feeling fur under my fingers." "It's your fault," he shot back as he kissed her again. "Uh huh," she whispered. Of course that was when the door flew open. Both Xander and Cordelia jumped upwards and stared. "Will?" Xander exlaimed. "What the?" "Buffy's in trouble...she needs our help." Willow said quickly. She gave Xander a once over and then said, "You don't have time to change. You're gonna have to fight as Mr.Easter Rabbit." "Oh great," Xander muttered, "Now I'm gonna have to take abuse from vampires. This is so not my day." And then he followed the two girls out of the rabbit- house muttering something about whiskers and nude pink bunnies. *** His hand collided with her face and she stumbled back a few steps before spinning around into a kick that knocked him to his back. She jumped atop him and reached for something to stake him with. What she came up with suprisingly orange. "You're gonna kill me with a carrot, Slayer? Now look who's the comedian!" the funny vamp laughed as he reached out and grabbed her hair and pulled it. "Hello! I just conditioned that today!" She cried angrily as she pulled back and smashed him in the nose. He howled in pain. "You brokt my nowse, now how da hewl am I gunna tewl jokes?" He complained, putting his hand over the bloody cartilage. She gave him a dry look and then reached back and grabbed a piece of wood off of the ground, "Don't worry,I'll pick up the slack. Sweet dreams, laughing boy." She thrust it into him. To her horror she heard a loud noise that resembled what Xander sounded like after eating too much Taco Bell. Wide-eyed, Buffy watched as the vampire dusted and a whoopee cushion fell to the ground. She shook her head and then jumped up to assist Oz who was actually handling himself quite well. Giles had surmised that Oz had gained a few of his werewolf like traits. Just the same, he was no Slayer. "I got him..oof!" Buffy cried as another one kicked her from behind. She fell forward stake extended and took out the vamp that Oz had been fighting. Oz nodded. "Cool." "Why thank you," she grinned, spinning to deal with the last remaining vamp. Of course he was the one that had to be the pain in the ass about becoming dust. "Would you just..oof...die...already?" she asked in exasperation as she dodged his Jackie Chan like kicks. He spoke in some foreign language, hurling a whole line of dialogue at her that just flew past her head. Hell, maybe he was Jackie Chan. "Buffy!" Xander cried as he, Cordelia and Willow came into the clearing. Buffy turned ever-so-slightly to see her new arrivals and instantly knew she shouldn't have. Kung-fu boy was just too good. She hit the dirt with a thump and groaned as he placed his foot on her chest, pointed and yelled a bunch of unintelligible things at her. Great, she thought, I'm gonna die without even knowing what the hell my killer is saying to me. He pushed his foot harder against her chest and she felt the air seeping from her lungs. Then she heard Xander scream "No!" and Kung-Fu boy glanced at him. And then he stopped dead in place. Staring at Xander in his bright pink bunny suit. Buffy would have laughed if she had the oxygen to.Instead she used Kung-Fu boys' dazed state to flip him and change positions. She climbed on his chest and placed the stake to his heart, "Didn't your mom ever tell you? It's not nice to stare. Even if he is a naked pink rabbit without a head." And then with a predatory grin, she dusted him. She stood up and coughed a couple times to get the air circulating again and then she reached over and gave Xander a hug. "You are so the man..er..rabbit. Whatever." "It's cool, Buff..just doing my job and making the world safe for poor saps like me who get ambushed by their best friends..." "Okay, we get it Put-Upon-Boy. You're abused." Cordelia muttered. "Can we please get out of these woods..leaves are sticking to me and that is so...ewww." "Yeah..wouldn't want to have to make you actually wash your clothes yourself," Buffy teased with a smile from ear to ear. Then she sighed, "Let's blow the Bronze tonight and tank it at my place. I got lotsa food..mom stocked up." Then she smirked at Xander. "And lotsa carrots for the cute little rabbit who saved my life." *** "It's not coming off,"Willow finally said, looking up at him and trying hard not to laugh. She wasn't doing so well. "Then rip it off. Come on..I gotta get outta this thing!" Xander cried out desperately. "I mean I got a zipper..you know...but come on...just rip it..who cares.." "Don't rip it!" Cordelia yelled, coming into the room with Buffy at her heels. Buffy was carrying a tray filled with two pints of ice-cream and soda cans. "Come on..it's a rabbit..it's not alive. It's not even real fur and frankly it's chaffing my butt." "You're not wearing clothes under there?" Buffy asked in amazement. And then she held up her hands, "You know what? Nevermind...I don't actually want to know the answer to that..it just kinda popped out." "Well I do. You..are...wearing clothes under there, right?" Cordelia asked. "Boxers. My jeans wouldn't fit. Now Buffy would you please use your almighty Slayer powers and rip this damn thing off of me." "Sounds kinda kinky." Buffy replied, lifting an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know why you're asking Buffy to rip a pink rabbit suit off of you?" a soft voice said from Buffy's window. They all turned at once and Buffy's eyes went wide. "Angel!" Buffy all but squealed as she propelled herself into his arms. He grinned as he wrapped his arms around her and accepted her fiery kisses. "Aw," Willow said excitedly, "Big smoochies." "Yeah, yeah," Xander growled. "Great. Hello, Buffy..me..bunny suit..you..Slayer...come on?" "Oh, she can't." Cordelia told him, staying away from making eye contact with him. "Uh, what? When you say she can't..you mean because she's super-glued to Angel at the moment, right?" "No, I mean that costume is worth over five hundred dollars. You can't rip it. You'll have to wait until morning when we can take it into the shop to have it removed." Cordelia replied. Xanders' eyes went wide, "Oh no...no no...I am not wearing this...this..rabbit all night long." He looked at Buffy. "Please..I'm begging you." She looked at Cordelia and her face contorted as she tried desperately not to laugh. Unable to stop, she turned back to Angel and pushed her face against his chest until the giggles subsided. "I can't help you, Xand. Sorry." "This is wrong." Angel laughed, "I feel for you, man." Then he shook his head and looked at Buffy. Softening his voice he murmured, "I just wanted to stop by and see you. This is your time with them. We'll talk later." "Are you sure? I mean.." "I'm sure." He leaned forward and kissed her and then he whispered into her ear, "I love you." He started to back away and then he leaned forward again and said, "Don't keep him in that outfit too long..he looks like an idiot." "I know," she replied wickedly. And then just like that he was gone. She sighed and turned back to the others. "Lets us..party?" "Please?" Xander protested again. This time he didn't miss the look that passed between all of the girls. Oz, of course, looked utterly lost and out of the loop. Will was wearing a sympathetic look...she'd be his champion.And then she shook her head and Cordelia and Buffy nodded. They were discreet, subtle movements but Xander already knew something was up. "Sorry, Xand." Buffy replied. "Wanna bowl of ice-cream? It's carrot flavored." "I'm gonna get you for this, Buffy. Gonna get all of you." Xander promised. then he looked down at himself. "Just as soon as I'm not...pink...anymore." Cordelia started laughing then and couldn't seem to stop. Buffy and Willow watched her in amusement knowing full well that the game was up. "Um, am I missing something?"Oz asked. That got Willow rolling and Buffy began to cackle. Cordelia crossed over to Xander and reached down to his leg. He jumped as she moved her hand to his inner thigh and found the zipper for his crotch. Eyes wide, he tried to say something but all that came out were sounds of disbelief. And then she pulled a hidden zipper up and the outfit split in two. "Nice boxers," she said with a smile. Buffy nodded, trying to be serious, "Very manly..those...rabbits." That was all it took for all three of the girls to lose it again. Xander and Oz exchanged confused looks and then sat on Buffy's bed at the same time. Oz offered Xander a bowl of ice-cream which he took and then they sat back to watch. All the while not having a clue about what was going on. And when they finally managed to calm for a few seconds to catch a breath, it was Cordelia who moved forward and whispered, "Happy April Fools' Day, Xander." -FIN..........FEEDBACK PLEASE!!! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ingrid29@juno.com (Ingrid E Stanton) Subject: BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS: I Will Survive Date: 01 Feb 1998 11:46:50 -0500 Alex- Extremely well done! Expressive writing, unbelievable angst, and (yeah!) a happy ending!!!! =) Made me smile! -Ingrid _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ingrid29@juno.com (Ingrid E Stanton) Subject: BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS: Volume 2, #23 Date: 01 Feb 1998 11:50:05 -0500 Anyone out there who can help- I got digest number 24, but for some reason i didn't get number 23. Can anyone forward me a copy? It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! -Ingrid _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Vapthorne Subject: BUFFYFIC: Proofreaders needed. Date: 01 Feb 1998 15:15:00 -0500 Hi, I looking for people willing to proofread my upcoming chapters for grammar mistakes. If any are interested, e-mail me off-list. :) Vapthorne ---------- NuRPG: Jasper and Aria Cardea: Mercury Author of "Sins of the Mother" -BtVS Fanfic ffff,0000,ffff Keeper of the following: Buffy's first day in Sunnydale Buffy's Vampire form (from Nightmares) Ethan's broken statue of Janus ***** "Only in a mad world, are the mad sane." -Akira Kurosawa - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ingrid29@juno.com (Ingrid E Stanton) Subject: BUFFYFIC: "One Vampire's Headache..." (15/?) by Ingrid Date: 01 Feb 1998 16:41:03 -0500 First things First… DISCLAIMER: To my great despair, I don’t own Buffy or any of her friends. They belong to an evil man named Joss, and an evil network known as The WB. Just don’t sue me, okay guys? SUMMARY: Where we left off with Buffy and Angel… the "cliffhanger," if you will. This one's pretty sad. If you don’t get this, that’s ‘cause you haven’t read the other parts. If you want to get this, mail me (Ingrid29@juno.com) and ask me for them. If you don’t…well I don’t need *you* either. Here it is! Enjoy! WARNING: Fairly graphic description of blood & guts. I try to be tasteful. Et je commence… *** "One Vampire’s Headache…" (15/?) by Ingrid *** "Forgive my grief for one removed, thy creature whom I found so fair. I trust he lives in thee, and there I find him worthier to be loved." -In Memoriam, Alfred Lord Tennyson *** Willow sauntered into the library, hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything too steamy, but she had to get that book for her history assignment. She froze when she caught sight of the scene in the library. Pale ashes covered the blood stained floor, and broken glass lay all about. Splintered remains left the banister looking like a hideous weapon. There, in the center of it all, a blood- soaked Buffy lay next to a motionless Angel. Her pale hair was dyed crimson and Angel’s shoulder had all but been ripped off. Her screams were so loud that her own ears seemed to shatter, phantom blood flowing from her brain. Xander, Giles and Cordelia came rushing into the room, only to halt in horror at the vision before them. Giles was the first to run to Buffy’s side, and Willow was quick after him. Xander and Cordelia looked on from afar, holding each other in what little comfort they could offer. Giles looked at them and dropped his head. Certainly they would have wanted to die this way, together. Through the bloody mess, Giles could almost make out a peaceful expression on Buffy’s face, with her arm wrapped loosely around the only hope in her hellish world. He too, wore a calm face, almost as if he were smiling at her. Giles began to shake. He sat down hard, and stared listlessly ahead. This meant another slayer had- "NO!" The thunderous sound scared even Giles. Cordelia jumped and buried her head in Xander’s shoulder. Ever practical Willow just watched, completely stunned as he fled from the room. *But wait. Had he even-* She touched Buffy’s neck. Something was coursing through the veins, and strongly, too. "Giles!" she screamed, and seconds later he was racing back into the room. "Buffy’s Alive!" She touched Angel. "And he is too!" we’ve got to get an ambulance! Xander didn’t hesitate is racing for Giles’ office. In moments, he came back out. "They’re coming," he informed them, and flew out the door. Willow had no concept of time or space as she sat huddled in the corner watching the paramedics lift the two unconscious bodies onto stretchers and carry them out. It wasn’t fair, screamed the voice inside her. After all they’d been through, for it to end like this. She twisted her long hair around her finger, unconscious of the pain she might have felt. Buffy… what had she ever done to- Xander appeared behind her, patting her back gently. "Will? You wanna go home now?" His question was little more than a breath in her ear. She nodded, but said nothing, standing up numbly and following him to his car. Giles waited in the hospital lobby, pacing hurriedly, as if he was attempting to go somewhere. He said silent prayers for them even as he dammed himself for giving up. For abandoning her, whom he was supposed to protect. But now, he couldn’t protect her. He could only wait and helplessly, foolishly hope. *** END, PART 15. "We have but faith: we cannot know; For knowledge is of things we see; And yet we trust it comes from thee, A beam in darkness: let it grow." -Tennyson, *I.M.* _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: NuPhalanx@aol.com Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: "One Vampire's Headache..." (15/?) by Ingrid Date: 01 Feb 1998 20:14:37 EST Hi! Can you send me parts 1-14 of this, please? Thanks! cordially, Mike Z. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Lml1996@aol.com Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: Proofreaders needed. Date: 01 Feb 1998 21:45:48 EST In a message dated 98-02-01 15:28:11 EST, you write: << rorhoad@ibm.net >> - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TreyCash@aol.com Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS: I Will Survive Date: 01 Feb 1998 22:52:12 EST Ingrid, Glad to be of service. Did you like the other one That Was the Day? Thanks again, Alex - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Guttilla Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: I Will Survive Date: 01 Feb 1998 22:23:27 -0600 Hey! I loved both of your stories! I have a small fanfiction site and was wondering if you'd mind if I'd post them? If you want to check it out before you decide its here: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/3586/fanfic.html And check out the rest of my site too. Jen(AngelsSoul):} reply to angelssoul@hotmail.com - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ingrid29@juno.com (Ingrid E Stanton) Subject: BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS: #23 Date: 01 Feb 1998 23:24:41 -0500 Anyone- Please, please tell me if you got issue number 23. If no one got it, I'll have to repost part of my story! If you did get it, and you're willing to help, please forward me a copy. Thank you. =) -Ingrid _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Guttilla Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC: I Will Survive Date: 01 Feb 1998 22:24:30 -0600 Sorry I didn't mean to send it the list! Jen - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Pndora17@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: question Date: 02 Feb 1998 08:57:10 EST how do I unsubscribe? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Isis212@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: Even the Score (1/1) Date: 02 Feb 1998 09:48:55 EST Hi Guys! I was reading yet another story where Angelus wreaks havoc on Buffy's mental state and I said no more! It's time Buffy shook up Angelus' world a bit. Here's my take on it. Now keep in mind, I wrote this in 20 minutes and where I am, it's really late. It's rough and I think it may need work. So help me out. And if you like it, I may write a second part. TITLE: Even The Score AUTHOR: Aramat EMAIL: Aramat330@aol.com SPOILERS: Innocence RATING: PG SUMMARY: Buffy evens the score DIST: Ask and you'll recieve. After I edit. DISC: The characters are property of Joss Whedon and the WB. FEEDBACK: Please, I beg you. I need it. Even the Score She smiled when she saw him. As he strolled across the room to her she felt a spark of desire for who he used to be, a spark of love for the one he'd replaced. She didn't try to ignore it. Turning her back was how she'd gotten to this point to begin with. She was not ignoring her feelings anymore. And she was going to make sure he didn't ignore his. She waited patiently as he took his time meeting her. She knew it was all part of the game. Keep her waiting, make her sweat. All designed to break her down. It wasn't working this time. This time she had a plan of her own. "You're prompt," she said when he reached her finally. "I like that." He smiled, amused at her words. "I'm glad I could make you happy," he replied his voice deep and smooth. He took a step toward her. "So, why the meeting?" "I wanted to see you," she answered matter-of-factly. She smiled when he raised an eyebrow in quesiton. "Is that so hard to believe?" He nodded. "A little," he answered with a shrug. "But who am I to question how you feel?" "True." She took a step toward him. "Take my hand." He was confused. She saw it in his eyes. It pleased her. He wasn't the only one who could be unpredictable. But along with confusion there was curiousity. He wanted to know what was going on. He obeyed her command, taking her hand in his. He pulled her closer and their bodies were touching. He leaned down, his mouth only inches from hers. "Are we entering the game now, Buffy?" he asked softly. With her hand still in his, he wrapped his arms around her body, trapping her arm behind her back. Buffy felt a moments pain, but she ignored it. She had him where she wanted him. Looking deep into his eyes she shook her head. "Not yet," she answered. "Just taking what I want. And learning a few things along the way." Then slowly, she stretched up and placed her lips on his. There was a pause, and his surprise was clear, but after a second he responded to her lips. Gently he kissed her and she opened up to him. He deepened the kiss, his tongue delving into her mouth engaging hers in battle. But Buffy fought strong. Without taking her mouth from his she slammed Angelus into a wall, pinning him hard against it. He groaned softly, as the pain registered, but he didn't stop kissing her. And she didn't stop kissing him. It was only when it was obvious she had to breath did they seperate. She took a moment to catch her breath before she pulled away from him. They stood there watching and waiting to see who would make the first move. It was Buffy who spoke first. "I called you here because I had something to tell you." One second she was standing there looking up at him, the next she was pinned to the wall exactly the way he'd been moments before. "So tell," he said, his voice cold and lethal. He was angry. She liked that. "I just wanted to let you know, you and Angel have two things in common." "Do we really?" he asked in amusement. "Mind filling me in." She nodded. "One, you both want me," she said boldly. "And while they may be for different reasons, the song is still the same. You want me. You need me." His eyes darkened with anger but he didn't bother to deny it, he couldn't. "What's the other thing?" he asked impatiently, suddenly eager for this to be over. Buffy smiled broadly, her eyes reflecting nothing as she looked at him. With a speed that surprised him, Buffy pushed Angelus away from her. While he was still off balance her foot connected with his abdomen and he fell to his knees. She grabbed him by the collar, forcing him to look into her eyes. "The other thing is I'll be the downfall of you both." She leaned forward, placing one more kiss to his lips before punching him, knocking him unconcious. Pushing him away from her, she watched as his body fell to the ground. She picked up her leather jacket from the arm of the chair and slipped it on. With one last look at Angelus' body she walked to the door. Just before she left she whispered two more words. "Game's tied." The End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, let me know what you think. If it made absolutely no sense to you at all, tell me. That's why I begged for feedback. I know what's going on, and I want to know if you don't. So, everyone, send those emails! Fill my inbox with feedback. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Black Fire" Subject: DISCUSS: BUFFYFIC: Even the Score (1/1) Date: 02 Feb 1998 08:51:41 PST >Okay, let me know what you think. If it made absolutely no sense to you >at all, tell me. That's why I begged for feedback. I know what's going on, >and I want to know if you don't. So, everyone, send those emails! Fill my >inbox with feedback. Whoa... The Black Fire ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ingrid29@juno.com (Ingrid E Stanton) Subject: BUFFYFIC: "One Vampire's Headache..." (16/?) by Ingrid Date: 02 Feb 1998 20:07:44 -0500 First is the worst… DISCLAIMER: The characters of Buffy, Giles, Angel, Xander, Willow, Cordy, Spike and Dru, and anyone else I forgot to mention belong to Joss Whedon and the WB. SUMMARY: Takes place day and a half after the last part. If you don’t get this, that’s ‘cause you haven’t read the other parts. If you want to get this, ask me for them. Here’s Johnny! *** "One Vampire’s Headache…" Part the Sixteenth *** "When we are born, we cry that we are come To this great stage of fools." --King Lear *** Pale starchy sheets scratched at Buffy’s cheeks as she turned her face up to the light. She was lying in a hospital bed, she realized as she got her bearings. It all came rushing back, and her head throbbed with the memory of it. Wounds near her face and neck were nearly healed- being the slayer, she had that ability, but there was someone who didn’t. The aching emptiness of the room scared her. There was nothing- no word of him, no sign, not even a feeling inside her that told her. There was only a gut-wrenching knot in her stomach that nothing could allay except the knowledge that *he* had survived. *And what if he hadn’t,* her mind railed, almost driving her to the edge. But no. She wouldn’t even go there until she knew. Giles- Giles could tell her. But where was he? A nurse entered the room, perfunctorily checking the stats on the monitor next to Buffy’s bed. When she realized that Buffy was awake, she did a double take. "How could- So soon after- My! How are you feeling?" "Not so bad. But if I’m allowed visitors…" "Oh! Of course! That teacher who’s been waiting around here for so long. Sure. I’ll go get him. You’re sure you feel aright?" "Yeah. Do you know anything about the man they brought in with me? He was attacked too." The nurse raised her eyebrows. "I haven’t seen anyone who’s been attacked here but you. But I have only been on watch today." The knot tightened. "Okay, thanks." A few moments later Giles came rushing into the room. The supposedly unemotional Brit. gathered her up into a warm hug. Buffy was surprised, but Giles’ presence alone was reassuring enough to help her focus reality. Giles Pulled up a chair next to the bed eagerly, and begin a little monologue. "Buffy, I was so worried. The way we found you… I’m just so glad you’re aright-" Buffy smiled, but the tension in the pit of her stomach seemed to rise and fall as if she were on a roller coaster, her fragile soul being jerked about violently. "Giles?" She interrupted him. The words were pathetic. Pleading. Like a child asking a question that could only kill her. But she had to know. "Angel. Is he-" Giles sighed and pulled at his suit jacket. "Buffy, he’s in critical condition. Not only was he mauled by one of the strongest existing vampires in the world, but he was weak from becoming human." "But he’s gonna be okay, right?" Buffy almost wanted a lie. Almost. "They don’t know Buffy. He lost a lot of blood." Before she knew where it was coming from, a sob wracked her body and she buried her face in the uncomfortable pillow. She could almost feel her heart break in that moment. All she could think was *I can’t go on if-* Friendly tears were quick to offer their comfort, but the wetness that slid down her cheeks only cemented the reality she now faced. Giles stood and walked out uncomfortably, knowing she had to be alone, yet unwilling to leave her. Buffy breathed deeply, strength growing with the air in her lungs. She swallowed her grief and resolved to wait. It was all she could do. All there was left to do. She slept. *** END, PART 16 Comments? Questions? Write to me at Ingrid29@juno.com. _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: NuPhalanx@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: All Alone in the Night Part 3/5 Date: 03 Feb 1998 10:45:45 EST TITLE: All Alone in the Night AUTHOR: NuPhalanx (Mike Z.) EMAIL ADDRESS: NuPhalanx@aol.com DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: Anya and Zandarah. Others please ask. FEEDBACK: All comments/CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is greatly appreciated RATING: PG-13 DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of this. The story is my idea; I'm just borrowing certain characters and situations from Joss Whedon's BtVS. All Alone in the Night Part 3 By NuPhalanx (Mike Z.) The fog had thinned somewhat, but visibility was still poor in some areas. Angel took his time as he patrolled the streets, not finding anyone or anything. He was grateful that he had not run in to any vampires. Angel had helped Buffy slay several vampires, but it was something he really didn’t like to do. The Bronze had closed down early tonight since most of the kids had stayed home, and out of the weather. Angel made several sweeps near the warehouses adjacent to the club. The large buildings were a prime hiding place for vampires looking for unwary prey. Finding nothing, he decided to make a run out to the outlying areas of Sunnydale. Usually the vampires preferred to remain near the city, as the suburbs had fewer hiding places. However, with the heavy fog a hungry vamp might range quite far looking for a meal. Angel glanced at his watch. 11PM. With any luck, he would be finished in an hour or so, and he could resume his post outside of Buffy’s bedroom window. He would watch her through the night; to make sure no one would come along and try to fight her in her weakened state. *** Cordelia screamed as she wriggled in the man’s grasp. He winced, then used one of his hands to cover her mouth until he could get through to her. Cordelia kept squealing through his hand. "Miss, I’m not trying to hurt you! What’s wrong?" he asked, in a low, calm voice. Cordelia stopped trying to scream and looked up at him. He slowly removed the hand from her mouth. "Okay, now, tell me what’s wrong?" He was looking around, but couldn’t see anything. Cordelia sagged against him. "There’s two people chasing me. I can’t see them. Help me!" she wailed. She was trying to look over her shoulder. She couldn’t see anything moving through the fog and trees behind her. Had Marci given up? Or was she still waiting for her out there? "Okay, who’s chasing you? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" he asked, holding her at arms length while peering at some nearby trees. "I don’t see anyone," he muttered, keeping his voice low. Cordelia took the chance to look at her rescuer. The man was Caucasian, about five foot nine, with a totally bald head. He had a large, bushy mustache that hung over the corners of his mouth. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit, and was wearing hiking boots and an army field jacket. A strange looking pair of glasses was hanging off his belt. ‘Who is this guy?" she wondered. "A nature boy? Or maybe a vampire?" That thought sent a wave of panic up her body. "Could you let me go now?" she asked meekly, watching him closely. He released her and she backed off a step. She felt the back of her head where Marci had struck her. Her fingers came away sticky with half-dried blood. Grimacing, Cordelia wiped her hand off on some wet leaves. "My name is André. That’s a nasty looking cut you have on your head," he observed, carefully brushing some of her hair away