Vengeance Pig

Chapters 1-4

DATE: 11/05/02-11/17/02
SUMMARY: Even stuffed animals have wishes
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: Up to CWDP and the corresponding AtS episode.

A taller girl with brown hair appeared at the covering to the tiny world with walls. With the sudden flooding of light, a small fluff of pink was finally able to see again. 'What happened?' he wondered. One minute, he was basking in the glow of light from on top of Girl's bed, and the next minute, he was thrown into the shadows of this new world. He had called out for days, but no one ever came to his rescue.

He was about to ask Brown Fur for help, when, suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something that would change his little piggy life forever. An SA bear, with a red ribbon around his neck, sat upon Girl's bed. There was a huge smile on his face. Sure. Why wouldn't he be happy? He had the place of Honor. He had Girl's bed with a plump pillow to keep him comfy. He had taken the place of one Mr. Gordo.

Before our pig had a chance to escape, the covering closed again and drowned his new world back in darkness. And in that darkness, a pig cried.

************

"What's the matter, Mr. Gordo?" It was Bunnyanka, the bunny. Oh, dear. Now she was trapped in here too?! What was the world coming to when a Girl so willingly replaced her best friends with newer, flashier SA's?

"Bunnyanka? How can you ask me that? She did the same thing to you. Threw you away. Left you here in this SA cemetery to live out the rest of your bunny life. It's not right, I tell you. It's just not right." Mr. Gordo began to weep in earnest. His little body shook as he tried his best to cover his face and snout with his front hooves.

Bunnyanka put her paw on his shoulder. "I understand, Mr. Gordo." She then gave him a bunny nose kiss on his ear. "It's so very dark and lonely in here. Don't you wish Girl would never have another friend again?"

Mr. Gordo sat up in astonishment. "Oh, no! I could never wish bad things on Girl. As badly as she may treat me…us, she's still our Girl." He sighed, then hiccupped.

"You don't, huh?" Bunnyanka scratched her head with her front paw, in contemplation. "But, aren't you angry with her for ignoring you?" Gordo nodded his head slowly. "Don't you just wish that Girl could know how angry you are with her?"

"Bunnyanka! No! I do not want my Girl to hurt, like I do." Mr. Gordo sidled up to her and whispered in her ear. "Are you one of those evil SA bunnies that Multi Colored One is always talking about?"

Bunnyanka smiled big. "Oh, no. Not me, Gordo! I just thought, you know, you'd like to get back at her for…"

"I am an SA pig. I do not wish bad things like that." Mr. Gordo thought a bit more, then sighed. "But it is awfully lonely in here."

Bunnyanka smirked.

"And I sure would like for Girl to remember me again."

Bunnyanka grinned.

"Perhaps…"

Bunnyanka smiled. "Yes…"

"I wish that Girl and all her friends were little again. I would like them to remember how important and special we SA's are!"

Bunnyanka the bunny's smooth, white fur melted away, leaving an ugly SA with green wrinkles and a terrifying snarl on her face. "Wish granted."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Mr. Gordo screamed at the sight of her.

**********

"So, what you're saying, is that because you can't drive, that I can't drive."

"Exactly, Dawnie."

Dawn stared daggers at her sister.

"Do you have any idea how incredibly lame that theory is?"

"To you, yes."

Both sisters' attention shifted to the front door as it opened. "Well, I found one."

Buffy noticed the small metal object in Xander's hand. "Thanks, Xander. What would I ever do without you?"

"Pay someone to fix all these things the demons break, and then be penniless for the rest of your life?"

"Exactly."

Dawn jumped up from her seat, happy to have a human with more common sense than Buffy in the house. "So! Xander..."

"Yes, that's me." He looked at Buffy and pointed at Dawn. "What's up with her?"

Buffy just shrugged her shoulders, very much aware of what the coming conversation would entail.

"You have a car. And you're an adult. Right?"

Xander's eyes flew open in terror. His mind quickly recounted the conversation he had overheard last week about Dawn getting her blue slip. "Me? A car? Um, no. No. It, um got totaled last night. Yup. Bad, um, demon accident. Goo in the engine, slime in the head lights. Sorry. Xander is now car-less. And as for the adult thing…I don't think anyone in their right mind would call me an adult. Right, Buff?"

Buffy simply smirked as she waltzed off into the kitchen, dirty dishes in hand. "Try and convince her of that."

**********

Light surrounded the Summers' house, shining out the windows and blinding a stray cat wandering by. Inside, a metal object fell to the floor and a set of dishes broke in the kitchen.

**********

The red head sat on a pile of books, close, but not inside his personal space. He didn't like it when she got that close. He didn't like it when anyone got that close.

"I get that, Spike. I really do."

He peered up at her, an amused expression on his face. "I doubt you do, Red."

She shook her head, then smiled apologetically. "You're right. Of course I don't. But I'm closer to understanding it than anyone else in this room, right?"

They both looked around at the empty room. Noting the distinct lack of personnel, Spike released a small smile. Willow slapped him on the shoulder. "I knew you could do that."

"Do what?"

"Smile."

Spike sighed, then stood to stretch his legs. He absently paced the floor, as if trying to decide something. Finally, he had made up his mind. "I hallucinate, you know."

Willow found herself struck silent. Okay, this she had never expected.

"The Master. Dru. Warren. Glory..." Then, more quietly, "…Buffy."

Let's see. One semester of Psychology before the Bitch From Hell prof turned into, well, a Bitch From Hell. Countless hours listening to one Buffy Summers and her messed up psyche. Even more hours with one Alexander Harris and his beyond screwed up psyche. Yup. She was officially…NOT qualified for this conversation.

"In fact, I don't even know if you're real, Willow. I've had this exact conversation with Buffy. Only, she wasn't really there." He closed his eyes in pain.

"Oh, boy." She thought for a second, then continued. "Well, if I were an hallucination, why would you be hallucinating a crazy person in a stupid bird sweater who once tried to suck the world into hell?"

"I do see Dru, you know."

"Oh, yeah. Right." Willow took another moment. "Oh! Okay. How about this? Giles wears hot pepper boxer shorts to bed."

Spike's face screwed up. "What?!"

"Yeah. And dress socks pulled up to his knees. Then, when the weather's cooler…"

"Stop!" Spike put his hands up to his ears. "No more! I've faced fire wielding demons, a bitch of a Goddess, my own demons and many worse terrors…but that is just too much."

"See? You can safely say that you would never hallucinate me telling you what Giles wears to bed, right?"

Spike closed his eyes as his first full, genuine smile crept across his face. It had been a long time since he felt humour. As he let the feeling flow through him, a bright light took his attention and he opened his eyes to a small child with red hair and over sized clothes.

"What the bloody hell?!" Spike jumped to his feet, ready to punch the walls. It had all been another hallucination all along. Damn soul! Damn demon! Damn basement!

"Hey, mister." The little imp yanked at his shirt. "You wanna play wit me?"

"No, kid. Now beat it before I…un-imagine you."

The child plopped herself down onto the floor and cried. But she didn't just cry…she wailed…a high pitched, whining cry that pierced Spike's delicate vampire ears.

"Mamma's gonna be so mad at you! You're a meany greeny!"

He looked in disbelief at the flailing child.

"I want…I want…I want…my mommy! Wahhhhh!"

He looked closer at the child, noting the red hair and silly sweater with…

Spike pulled the sweater taught in order to see the front. Brandished on the front was a fuzzy, yellow chick. A yellow chick! That was the same silly shirt Willow had been wearing not 2 minutes ago. Could this still be her? Could this being be really real?

He knelt down to address the screamer. "Willow?"

The little red headed girl stopped crying and wiped her little eyes. "Yeah?"

***********

"Rupert? Are you still in here?"

The woman looked in on her dear friend, but only found a small child, covered in herbs. "You wanna play in the sand wit me?"

************

"Oh, shit. Oh, shit."

"Those are bad words, mister." Willow's grin filled her entire face.

Spike scooped her into his arms and started toward the stairs. "What did you do this time, witch?"

************

"Angel? I'm back. Are you here?"

Cordelia looked down at a small child holding the Knife of Trajhia. "Angel? I like the angels. Are you an angel, pretty woman?"

She lunged for the knife and confiscated it from the little tyke. "Never, never play with knives, okay? They could hurt you."

The boy stared wide-eyed at his angel. "O-tay."

Cordelia gave herself a second to catch her breath, then looked around the lobby, calling out again. "Angel! Fred?!"

When there was no answer, she sat down with the 5 year old, resigning herself to waiting. "No one told me about you, little guy. Don't tell me you're another one of Angel's sons." She looked at him skeptically, and he gave her the same look back. "What's your name?"

With a large grin, the child answered, "Liam."

***********

"Wheee! Where are we going?"

Spike ignored her, assuming the best way to keep her quiet was to pretend she wasn't talking. He focused instead on his path to the slayer's house. She might know what happened. And if she didn't, one of her little friends would know.

"Huh?! Where are you taking me?"

What a ridiculous circumstance. The witch was now a child - about four or five years of age from what he could tell.

"Huh? My daddy says not to go anywhere with strangers. Are you a stranger?"

'No, but this is pretty strange.' Spike mused silently.

"Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

That last 'huh' drove the vampire over the edge. Soul or no, he had negative patience for this child. "Oh, would you shut your bleedin' gob, girl?!"

Willow's face scrunched up in prelude to a good, loud cry.

With a roll of his eyes, Spike covered her face with the extra amount of sweater hanging from her petite body.

**********

"Oh, Cordelia! You're back." The skinny woman ran down the stairs, excited beyond belief at seeing her old friend. She pulled the former into a deep hug.

"Yes, I, um, didn't feel right staying with Connor."

Fred pulled away and looked into her saddened face. "Did something happen?"

"Oh, no. Nothing." If Cordelia was ever good at anything, subject changing was it. "So, is this another of Angel's children? You seem to be running your own daycare center here." She smiled brightly.

Fred's face registered confusion as she followed Cordelia's gaze down to the strange boy on the floor. "Um, hi there." She addressed the child, then turned back to her friend. "Who is this?"

Cordelia shrugged her shoulders. "You're asking me? The queen of amnesia?"

They both slowly looked away from each other and back to the little one. "I want my Boo Boo."

Little Liam sucked his thumb into his mouth and stared at the adults with large, brown eyes.

Picking him up, Cordelia asked sweetly, "What's a 'Boo Boo'?"

"My bear. I need Boo Boo."

***********

"Hello, little one. What are you doing here?"

Rupert just smiled evilly.

"And in such a mess, I might add."

Her voice was a bit harsh, but Rupert continued to smile evilly.

The woman extended her gaze beyond him and noted something strange behind the boy. It was some sort of plush animal. She ventured closer until she could finally see that it was a stuffed frog.

The frog had definitely seen better days. An athame protruded from its head while white stuffing spilled out and onto the floor.

************

Footsteps. Small ones. And they were approaching the world with walls.

"Girl! Brown Fur! You have to let me out of here. Bunnyanka the bunny has gone crazy. HELP!!!!" Mr. Gordo took up banging on the wall.

Thankfully, the covering moved aside. Mr. Gordo sprang out of the little world, tumbling head over tail several times. Once his movement stopped, he could hear a tiny voice laughing. It sounded so familiar. He looked over in the vicinity of the laughter and saw…

"Girl!"

"Mr. Gordo!"

Buffy ran to her pig and swooped him into a grand embrace. Sure, she hugged a bit too tight, but then again, she always did.

Wait a minute. Girl was a girl. Not a big girl. A little girl. Like she used to be.

The pig squeaked out what he could. "Giiirll? Whyyy arrr yyyy…ssmmmlll?"

"Oh, Mr. Gordo. We will have so much fun now. Wanna play kitchen? I'll make pancakes! You be the taste tester." Buffy released him from the death grip, then ran out of the room, dragging him by his back leg.

On the way down the stairs, his head bounced on each step.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

*********

Spike considered knocking, but decided he really didn't care. He was in too much of a hurry to unload his burden. With a swift kick, the door opened to a decidedly odd scene. A dark haired girl was chasing a dark haired boy. The boy was screaming at the top of his lungs. "Ahh! Cooties! Cooties!" They obviously had knocked over several knickknacks and one lamp, plus there was food all over the floor…which they were grounding into the carpet with their feet.

Spike set the girl down and rubbed his hand through his hair. "Bloody hell."

**********

Fred and Cordelia simply stared at each other as the boy cried and screamed over and over, "I want, I want, I want!"

The two women tore the Hyperion's inhabited rooms apart in search of a toy – any toy that would stop the incessant whining. It was Cordelia who finally managed to uncover a well loved stuffed bear from the deep recesses of Angel's closet.

Just as planned, Liam took the bear and stopped his annoying noises. He almost seemed to recognize it.

**********