Writer's Note: So I finally got the courage to write a Buffy fic. Hope it's likeable lol. Planning to make this an ongoing story.


Head Locked


Frozen

Why, why, why do I have a sister? It's not like I asked for one. Poof! There she was, destined to ruin my life. And oh look! here she is wearing my jacket.

"Dawn." Buffy drew out her name as long as she could until she finally earned her sister's predictable eye roll and an imp like stare of annoyance. "What are you doing?" she asked using a motherly tone and for a second enjoyed the fact she had a little sister to use it on.

"You have like, a thousand jackets? What's the big deal?" The clothes hanger in Dawn's hand shook at every syllable. She drew back unexpectedly and tightened her lips. "You know what? Fine," she snapped. She shook off the black leather like a wild animal and threw it on the bed, "it smells anyway." Wearing a haughty expression, she stormed past her big sister in the doorway and continued down the hall where she entered an adjacent room and slammed the door.

Buffy stared after her in bemused disgust. "I want my hanger back!" She would have gone in there herself, but it wasn't worth the headache. She wasn't about to let anything, especially her lunatic sister, ruin her mood. Giles had called a meeting and Buffy was looking forward to what news the demon world was brewing. Heck, she was more than looking forward to it; she was excited like a giddy kindergartener waiting for her favourite show to come on. Anything was better than staying here with her. You know, come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if she was possessed by a demon. Buffy's eyes popped with intrigue at the thought and she smiled deviously.

. . .

Buffy stepped through the doorway and immediately smelt the makings of English tea and other mellow sensations of the sort. It was always a refreshing atmosphere to enter and it suddenly felt like walking into a second home. She glanced around the room seeing familiar bodies and faces, but there was something very wrong. She brushed some bangs from her face, her expression completely puzzled trying to comprehend the bizarre scene she was witnessing.

Willow was sitting on a kitchen stool apparently in the middle of throwing a peanut into Zander's gaping mouth. His expression was extremely goofy and, in normal circumstances, would be a laughable moment, but that was the problem. It was the moment—that exact moment completely stopped in time. Buffy drew closer, her lips parted in wonder. She turned her head sideways to look at the peanut that was floating in mid air. Her eyes widened and she looked at Zander, then at Willow. She fluttered her hand in front of their faces, but to no avail as they remained in their frozen expressions. She darted her eyes sideways to scan the rest of the room, her head still fixed towards the floating peanut. Anya was on the sofa in the middle of turning a magazine page, and Giles was standing with a hand in his pant pocket while holding a teacup to his lips.

"Well this is new," she said quite fascinated.

A strange power came over Buffy and she felt a tingling sensation pass through her body. She could see a blue wave moving quickly across the floor and walls and around the bodies in the room. It suddenly faded and she heard something crash to the floor shattering the eerie silence that beset the house just a moment ago. She looked down to see the teacup in a few dozen pieces. Giles was in complete shock with his mouth half open. Anya looked up from her magazine plainly annoyed, and Zander looked sideways to the commotion letting the peanut bounce off his forehead. He saw Buffy and made a loud "gah" sound, jumping with hands flailing in the air. Willow had a similar reaction only somewhat more reserved. Buffy's heart jumped at the sudden uproar. She nervously shifted her eyes side to side seeing everyone else completely fixed on her.

"B—Buffy, where did you come from?" Giles said. He stood as if everything but his mouth was still frozen.

Zander recovered from his shocked pose and grinned widely, "Buffy! Nice of you to drop in!" His face reverted to an angry little boy's, "you could at least warn us first before you do ... whatever it is you just did."

"I don't know, what did I do?" Buffy responded completely confused.

Willow cut in, "Buffy you—you appeared out of thin air." Her face had that usual worry all over it, "wa—was it magic?" She looked around the room for a response from anyone.

A quaint voice came from the sofa, "not just any magic." Once again, she had to knock these silly humans back in the right direction. Oh, but they're so cute when they're stupid. "That was the work of your Tempest Demon," Anya said smiling, her head bobbed side to side merrily. "Hello Buffy," she said dryly and returned to her magazine article on hair colour.

Buffy wanted answers. Now. "Tempest Demon?" The question was directed at Giles.

"Yes, well, that's why I called this meeting." He looked down at the shattered teacup and mentally kicked himself for foolishly dropping it like a scared little girl. "It uh ..." He paused and scratched his head, "it's power consists of warping the fabric of time around itself. In most cases, as a defence to freeze enemies in their tracks, leaving the demon time to flee or accomplish whatever task it was doing. But this demon, it seems, isn't in control of his powers and is freezing time in random areas all over town."

The thought of using the demon's powers on Dawn made Buffy smile. Oops, you're not supposed to smile on the outside!

"Do you find this amusing?" Giles said in his Watcher's tone.

"Maybe," she said slyly hiding away the smile, "ahem, so! How do I kill it?"

A shadowy figure loomed around the kitchen corner and leaned a forearm against the wall. Suddenly the air wasn't so welcoming anymore.

"With my help love." Spike grinned darkly, his piercing eyes gazing at a frozen Buffy. They always spoke to her louder than his words those eyes. Dark thoughts, they were always dark.