Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters do not belong to me. This story does.
A/N: Ok, so, this is just a short little oneshot. My friend gave me the prompt 'candles' and I automatically thought "blackout" and thus this fic was born. It's set somewhere in the late first season of Buffy. Read and review, please! Reviews make my muse do a happy dance. :)
"Ok, what the hell is going on?" Buffy shouted after she landed at the bottom of the staircase with a particularly loud thud. She was completely submerged in darkness. The house was so pitch-black she couldn't see more than an inch in front of her face.
The slayer pressed her hand against the wall, using it to guide her upwards. Her legs were still tingling from her fall and she was fairly certain a decent sized bruise would be the penalty for her clumsiness. Keeping a steady hand on the wall, Buffy moved into the living room. The light of the full moon was filtered through the curtains, offering a sliver of dim, gray light down the center of the room. Buffy glanced around, sure that someone- or something- was hiding in the shadows. She stepped further into the room, maneuvering her way towards the couch.
The wind flowed gently through the window, hitting her skin so suddenly she jumped. Instinctively wanted a weapon, Buffy grabbed a throw pillow as she passed by the couch and came into the darkness again. She heard the scuff of feet against the floor and held the pillow up to her chest.
"Who's there?" she called. Scuff, scuff, shuffle… She heard the legs of a chair screech against the floor and raised the pillow over her head. "I can hear you."
Step, step, step… Whatever was there stopped. She didn't hear any breathing, but she felt someone near her. She took a step closer. Step, step. The slayer stepped forward again.
Creeeaaak…
"Buffy?" a voice called. The slayer whipped around, throwing the pillow as hard she could in the direction of the front door. She heard a surprised gasp. "What… Buffy? Where are you?"
The voice was suddenly familiar in Buffy's mind. She stepped into the dim light the moon offered.
"H-Hi, Mom," she said sheepishly. Her mother walked into the stream of light as well, holding the pillow Buffy had used as a makeshift weapon.
"Hi, Honey," Joyce said calmly. She held the pillow up. "What were you doing with this?"
"Well, um," Buffy ran her right hand along her opposite arm, biting her lower lip. "I-I heard something downstairs, and when I came down to see what it was the lights went off. I came in here, and I thought I heard… whatever it was… again, so I grabbed the pillow…"
"You wanted to fend off intruders with a pillow?" Buffy gave her mother a small smile, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well, there isn't really anything else around," she explained. "Or, nothing I could see, at least, so…It seemed like a good idea at the time?"
"I'm sure," Joyce replied. She set the pillow back on the couch and then peeked out the window, glancing up and down the street. "Looks like everyone's power went out. I'm going to go find some flashlights and candles."
"Okay," Buffy said. She sat down on the couch, grabbing another throw pillow and hugging it to her chest. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her. "Um… Just in case," she explained.
"You have got to stop watching those old slasher movies," Joyce said before turning and venturing off in the dark to find her stash of power-outage supplies. Buffy shifted where she sat, glancing over the shadowy corner where she'd heard movement before her mother walked in. She sighed deeply, her gaze falling to the floor.
"Don't I know it." In the next few minutes, Buffy could hear Joyce in the kitchen, fumbling through drawers. Something fell, her mother said something Buffy was sure was obscene under breath. More fumbling and rifling through drawers, attempting to fish through the dark to find what she needed. She heard a few drawers slam shut. She heard cabinets open and close. Then she heard the squeak of the basement door, the light footsteps of her mother as she descended the stairs. Joyce was quickly out of earshot, and that was left for Buffy to listen to was the distinct buzz of silence.
Step, step. Or that. Buffy rose to her feet, a million things running through her mind, each footprint of a thought more terrifying than the last. Ghostface, Chuckie, Freddy, Jason, the clown from IT. Witches, vampires, demons. Evil curses, biology homework. Apocalypse, Hannibal Lector, her angry French teacher.
Step, step, step. Buffy's heart was pounding in her ears. She swallowed past her fears, slowly bringing the pillow up over her head. Step, step. By the sound of the footsteps, just a few more and whoever it was would be revealed in the moon's light with her.
"Who's there?" Buffy asked, her voice shaking. Step… step… step.
She wasn't alone in the moonlight anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut, throwing the pillow full force at this intruder. She heard the soft thud of the pillow hitting something- someone- solid. She heard feet stumbling backwards, loud and clunking, like the person was wearing boots.
"What was that for?" Buffy opened her eyes, finding herself looking straight at none other than Angel. She sighed in frustration, rushing forward and slapping him across the face. "Ow! And that! What was that for?"
"What's with the horror movie, hiding-in-the-shadows, sneaking-up-on-the-blonde-girl routine?" she asked. "I mean, I get that you've got this dark, mysterious… vampire-y image to live up to and all, but really? I almost had a heart attack!"
"It isn't like I was expecting the lights to go out," Angel replied, holding his hands up in defense. Buffy stared at him, her eyes narrowed dangerously, and a moment later she simply huffed and fell onto the couch.
"You could've said something," she grumbled. "I thought there was some big, evil… thing hiding over there!"
Angel bent over, picking the throw pillow up off the floor. He examined it for a moment before passing it to her.
"A big, evil thing that you were going to challenge to a pillow fight?" The slayer snatched the pillow from him and clutched it tight in her grasp.
"Shut up." She tucked the pillow behind her back and leaned against it, watching Angel as he slowly lowered himself onto the seat beside her. "So what are you here for anyway?"
Angel clasped his hands in front of him, resting his elbows on his knees and giving her a sideways glance. "I had something to tell you."
Buffy folded her legs Indian-style and shifted so she could see the vampire better. "Shoot."
"There's some new demons in town. I've already stopped by to tell Giles. He said he'd start up some research and let you know what he has next time he sees you. Other than that, I don't much other than that the demons are big, scale-y, and have some vendetta against the slayer."
"What demon doesn't these days?" Buffy asked, earning a light laugh from her vampiric companion.
"Buffy!" Joyce's voice floated up from the basement as she climbed up the stairs. Buffy and Angel heard the basement door close as the sound of the footsteps changed as they came closer to the pair. She was holding a bunch of candles in one hand and had a lighter clasped in the other. "I couldn't find any flashlights, but I think these candles should do the trick- oh…"
She trailed off when she saw Angel seated on her couch, beside her daughter. The two looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes.
"Mom," Buffy said.
"Buffy," her mother replied. "What's going on here?"
"Um, well, uh, you see, I… he… um," Buffy stammered as she tried to grasp an explanation out of the air. She looked at Angel, a little frustrated to find that was not nearly as flustered as she was.
"I just came by to talk to Buffy," he stated simply. Buffy looked back to Joyce, watching as her mother nodded her head. Buffy pushed some of her hair behind her hear, nodding eagerly and continuing with Angel's story for him.
"Yes," she said. "Angel just had a quick little something to say. And now he's said it. So, um, he'll… he'll… be leaving. Now."
Angel's eyes quickly turned the slayer, confused. Her face said it all- she was pleading for him to agree with her. Buffy's mother's arms were crossed over chest now as she looked between the two.
"Right," Angel said after a pause. He pretended not to notice Buffy's sigh of relief. Buffy rose from her seat, grabbing Angel's arm and pulling him up with her.
"So I'll just walk him out and we get on with the whole…lighting the house thing. Be right back!" Buffy hurried towards the door without giving her mother a chance to respond. She dragged Angel with her and when they came to the front door she swung it open and gently pushed him outside.
"You know I didn't finish telling you about those demons," Angel said.
"Gah! Shh, shhh!" Buffy hissed, pressing her finger against his lips. "Keep it down with the demon-talk."
"Sorry," Angel whispered. "But you really should know about these things."
"Come by tomorrow. Without the stalker-in-the-shadows vibe. We'll talk then," she said quickly. "Now go."
"Right," Angel murmured, turning and beginning his trek home. He would have kept walking interrupted, too, if the young slayer's home hadn't been suddenly illuminated. He turned around, alerted by the light, to see Buffy was still in the doorway. She was about to close the door when she caught his eyes in the dark.
"What?" she asked. Angel shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing," he said. She eyed him curiously. "It's just… you look nice."
"Nice?" she questioned. He nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "Pretty. In the light."
Buffy was still for a moment, and then a small smile spread across her face.
"Thanks," she said. "You… you look nice, too."
He smiled at her. "Thanks."
A moment was spent in which the two- slayer and vampire- simply looked at each other. Then Buffy's mother called for her daughter from inside, causing the slayer to jump. She gave Angel a small wave before quickly shutting the door and hurrying back into the house. She found Joyce sitting on the couch, the candles and lighter spread on the coffee table in front of her.
"Looks like we won't be needing these anymore," she said. Buffy flopped on the couch beside her, still smiling.
"I guess not," she laughed.