Disclaimer: I dont own any charcters blah blah blah
"Wesley have you found anything else on the oracles yet?" Asked angel for the forth time that day. He had asked Wesley to learn more about the strange beings since Doyle had died before he had fully explained them, unfortunately the ex-watcher was not having much success and Angel was beginning to get annoyed.
"You know that I would tell you if I did and you also know that hassling me like this doesn't make me anymore likely to find anything so just wait!" Replied the Brit angrily
"Give it up you two you'll give me a headache." Interrupted Cordelia and almost poetically crashed to the floor with one of her visions.
"What is it, What did you see?" Asked Angel and Wesley almost simultaneously
"Sunnydale, someone's going to try and shoot Willow!" Mumbled Cordelia "Painkillers NOW!" and Angel rushed to the phone while Wesley got the painkillers.
"Damn" swore Angel, "They're not at the dorm."
"Try Giles'" suggested Cordelia
"I was going to." Replied Angel and he phoned Giles
"Hi Giles, its Angel. Is Willow there?"
"Where is she?"
"You have to go find and her, Cordelia had a vision, we think someone is going to shoot Willow."
"Bye Giles" and then he put the phone down.
"So what's happening?" asked Cordelia
"She's at the bronze with Buffy and Xander, Giles is going to try to get to her."
"She was with Xander and Buffy in the vision." Screamed Cordelia as she started to panic a little "What do we do?"
"Well there's nothing more we can do." Sighed Wesley
Giles had been sitting in his front room at home when the phone had rung, after the conversation he ran outside to his car. He drove off and he was just outside one of the cemeteries on the way back from the bronze when he heard a single gunshot ring out
"No, No I can't be too late" he mumbled to himself as he turned into the street where he had heard the gunshot.
Buffy, Willow and Xander had been at the Bronze for over an hour before they decided to leave. Xander was a bit annoyed because Anya hadn't turned up but besides that everyone was in relatively good spirits.
They had walked about halfway back when Buffy heard a noise behind them
"Someone's following us." She whispered to her two friends who didn't acknowledge and kept on talking. Then from behind came a loud voice saying
"So, you still mock me do you?" They turned to see an apparently human young man about their age who they didn't recognise.
"Do I know you?" asked Buffy
"Probably not" he replied "But I hope Willow remembers me." She stared at him for a few seconds before replying
"No, I don't think I do." She replied nervously "have we met?"
"Don't even think about it Blondie!" he yelled when Buffy started to move towards him slowly, he then pulled a pistol out of his pocket.
"OK calm down," said Buffy softly and she took a step back.
"I suppose you never even noticed me did you?" he asked sadly
"I loved you, did you know that?" he continued "Back in computer club, in sophomore year before you stopped going, but you never even noticed me, you were obsessed with him." He pointed the gun at Xander and waved it around before pointing it at Willow again.
"I wasn't worth a second glance to you was I?" he began shouting, "WAS I?"
"That was over three years ago," said Xander softly
"I know that, I'm not stupid you know!" he replied "In that three years, I've done everything I could think of to get you to notice me. I'm in all your college classes and I go to the Bronze every night to wait for you, but you never notice me and now I've had enough."
"You're scaring me" she said "put the gun away."
"NO!" he screamed back "while I have the gun you have to notice me." There was silence for a few seconds before he spoke again
"Don't you have anything to say?"
"Please put the gun away." She replied quietly
"Wrong answer!" he said and gave an evil smile and pulled the trigger. Willow felt something slam into her and just heard Buffy shouting "NO!" before her head hit the pavement and she lost consciousness.
Buffy watched in horror almost frozen in place as the gun fired. She turned to see Xander throw Willow out of the way of the shot and take the bullet through his back. As she saw her two friends fall to the ground she screamed and kicked out at the gunman, breaking his right arm and causing the gun to fall to the ground. The man turned and fled and Buffy turned back to her friends. She ran back to Xander, who was lying on his back on the ground, barely breathing with blood dripping from his mouth.
"Is Wills alright?" he whispered, his voice barely audible
"She's unconscious, but she'll be fine" Buffy replied hoping it was true
"Look after her Buffs" he said and after a pause he continued "and tell her I loved her"
"You'll be able to tell her yourself, you're going to be ok. You have to be." She answered as she began to cry.
"No" he replied "I'm dying, anyone can see that. But if I had the same choice again, I'd do it the same way." And with those final words his eyes closed and his body went limp.
Xander felt like he was floating and he opened his eyes to see his body lying below him, with Buffy sitting next to it openly weeping, then from behind him he heard an ominous deep voice
"I am Death, against whom no lock shall hold, nor guarded portal bar. I have come for thee."
Xander turned to see a seven-foot tall skeleton in a long black robe, holding a scythe. He was about to speak when Death spoke again
"Oh dear"
"What?" replied Xander quite confused by this turn of events.
"I don't suppose there's any chance you happen to be Willow Rosenburg is there?" asked Death almost hopefully
"No, I'm Alexander Harris, but people call me Xander, well they did anyway." He replied
"Alexander Harris, Willow Rosenburg." Death declared and a simple old-fashioned egg timer appeared in each of his hands. "Oh dear" he repeated.
"What's wrong?" asked Xander "Apart from me being dead that is."
"That's exactly the problem." Answered Death "look at the life timers." Xander did as he was told. The two life timers were identical in external appearance apart from the one with "Alexander Harris" engraved on a small brass plate on it had sand in both the top and bottom bulb and while it was slowly draining from the top, no more was entering the bottom bulb. However the one with "Willow Rosenburg" on the small plate was empty in the top, but still had sand falling into the bottom bulb.
"So what does that mean?" asked Xander
"She should have died today, it was not your time." Replied Death
"And this means what exactly?"
"I cannot take you to the afterlife, you must remain here as a restless spirit until she dies."
"Oh"
"There is one other thing, since she runs from your life energy, if you are more than 500 meters away from her she will lose consciousness." Said Death, and then it faded away
"Oh great" muttered Xander to himself "This really sucks, I wonder if they can hear me"
"Hello!" he shouted "Can anyone hear me?" but he got no reply
"Wesley have you found anything else on the oracles yet?" Asked angel for the forth time that day. He had asked Wesley to learn more about the strange beings since Doyle had died before he had fully explained them, unfortunately the ex-watcher was not having much success and Angel was beginning to get annoyed.
"You know that I would tell you if I did and you also know that hassling me like this doesn't make me anymore likely to find anything so just wait!" Replied the Brit angrily
"Give it up you two you'll give me a headache." Interrupted Cordelia and almost poetically crashed to the floor with one of her visions.
"What is it, What did you see?" Asked Angel and Wesley almost simultaneously
"Sunnydale, someone's going to try and shoot Willow!" Mumbled Cordelia "Painkillers NOW!" and Angel rushed to the phone while Wesley got the painkillers.
"Damn" swore Angel, "They're not at the dorm."
"Try Giles'" suggested Cordelia
"I was going to." Replied Angel and he phoned Giles
"Hi Giles, its Angel. Is Willow there?"
"Where is she?"
"You have to go find and her, Cordelia had a vision, we think someone is going to shoot Willow."
"Bye Giles" and then he put the phone down.
"So what's happening?" asked Cordelia
"She's at the bronze with Buffy and Xander, Giles is going to try to get to her."
"She was with Xander and Buffy in the vision." Screamed Cordelia as she started to panic a little "What do we do?"
"Well there's nothing more we can do." Sighed Wesley
Giles had been sitting in his front room at home when the phone had rung, after the conversation he ran outside to his car. He drove off and he was just outside one of the cemeteries on the way back from the bronze when he heard a single gunshot ring out
"No, No I can't be too late" he mumbled to himself as he turned into the street where he had heard the gunshot.
Buffy, Willow and Xander had been at the Bronze for over an hour before they decided to leave. Xander was a bit annoyed because Anya hadn't turned up but besides that everyone was in relatively good spirits.
They had walked about halfway back when Buffy heard a noise behind them
"Someone's following us." She whispered to her two friends who didn't acknowledge and kept on talking. Then from behind came a loud voice saying
"So, you still mock me do you?" They turned to see an apparently human young man about their age who they didn't recognise.
"Do I know you?" asked Buffy
"Probably not" he replied "But I hope Willow remembers me." She stared at him for a few seconds before replying
"No, I don't think I do." She replied nervously "have we met?"
"Don't even think about it Blondie!" he yelled when Buffy started to move towards him slowly, he then pulled a pistol out of his pocket.
"OK calm down," said Buffy softly and she took a step back.
"I suppose you never even noticed me did you?" he asked sadly
"I loved you, did you know that?" he continued "Back in computer club, in sophomore year before you stopped going, but you never even noticed me, you were obsessed with him." He pointed the gun at Xander and waved it around before pointing it at Willow again.
"I wasn't worth a second glance to you was I?" he began shouting, "WAS I?"
"That was over three years ago," said Xander softly
"I know that, I'm not stupid you know!" he replied "In that three years, I've done everything I could think of to get you to notice me. I'm in all your college classes and I go to the Bronze every night to wait for you, but you never notice me and now I've had enough."
"You're scaring me" she said "put the gun away."
"NO!" he screamed back "while I have the gun you have to notice me." There was silence for a few seconds before he spoke again
"Don't you have anything to say?"
"Please put the gun away." She replied quietly
"Wrong answer!" he said and gave an evil smile and pulled the trigger. Willow felt something slam into her and just heard Buffy shouting "NO!" before her head hit the pavement and she lost consciousness.
Buffy watched in horror almost frozen in place as the gun fired. She turned to see Xander throw Willow out of the way of the shot and take the bullet through his back. As she saw her two friends fall to the ground she screamed and kicked out at the gunman, breaking his right arm and causing the gun to fall to the ground. The man turned and fled and Buffy turned back to her friends. She ran back to Xander, who was lying on his back on the ground, barely breathing with blood dripping from his mouth.
"Is Wills alright?" he whispered, his voice barely audible
"She's unconscious, but she'll be fine" Buffy replied hoping it was true
"Look after her Buffs" he said and after a pause he continued "and tell her I loved her"
"You'll be able to tell her yourself, you're going to be ok. You have to be." She answered as she began to cry.
"No" he replied "I'm dying, anyone can see that. But if I had the same choice again, I'd do it the same way." And with those final words his eyes closed and his body went limp.
Xander felt like he was floating and he opened his eyes to see his body lying below him, with Buffy sitting next to it openly weeping, then from behind him he heard an ominous deep voice
"I am Death, against whom no lock shall hold, nor guarded portal bar. I have come for thee."
Xander turned to see a seven-foot tall skeleton in a long black robe, holding a scythe. He was about to speak when Death spoke again
"Oh dear"
"What?" replied Xander quite confused by this turn of events.
"I don't suppose there's any chance you happen to be Willow Rosenburg is there?" asked Death almost hopefully
"No, I'm Alexander Harris, but people call me Xander, well they did anyway." He replied
"Alexander Harris, Willow Rosenburg." Death declared and a simple old-fashioned egg timer appeared in each of his hands. "Oh dear" he repeated.
"What's wrong?" asked Xander "Apart from me being dead that is."
"That's exactly the problem." Answered Death "look at the life timers." Xander did as he was told. The two life timers were identical in external appearance apart from the one with "Alexander Harris" engraved on a small brass plate on it had sand in both the top and bottom bulb and while it was slowly draining from the top, no more was entering the bottom bulb. However the one with "Willow Rosenburg" on the small plate was empty in the top, but still had sand falling into the bottom bulb.
"So what does that mean?" asked Xander
"She should have died today, it was not your time." Replied Death
"And this means what exactly?"
"I cannot take you to the afterlife, you must remain here as a restless spirit until she dies."
"Oh"
"There is one other thing, since she runs from your life energy, if you are more than 500 meters away from her she will lose consciousness." Said Death, and then it faded away
"Oh great" muttered Xander to himself "This really sucks, I wonder if they can hear me"
"Hello!" he shouted "Can anyone hear me?" but he got no reply