Exchange Rate
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: BTVS season 5 and AtS season 2.
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, just borrow them. They belong to Joss and I slip them back into the vault when I'm done with them.
Description: Presto-Switcho, Angel and Buffy trade for a day. Much funniness ensues.
Distribution: Take it if you want it, just tell me where you put it.
**********
Buffy was sitting at the bar. The Bronze was pretty packed even for a Thursday. The scoobs had insisted that she come out and enjoy an evening of dancing and fun. She had been pretty down since Riley had left. After trying to get her to join in the dancing all evening Willow, Tara, Xander, and Anya had finally given up and were all crowded onto the dance floor. She couldn't blame them for being all couplish. That's what couples did, and right now she was decidedly un-couplish. Nope, no couple here. Just single old solitary Buffy.
"Hey, you're Buffy right?" said a fairly cute guy as he sat next to her at the bar. Of coarse, that could be the liberal amounts of alcohol she was consuming when the others weren't watching. Didn't want to remind them of cave-Buffy.
"Um, yeah. and you are....?" she asked.
"Max. We had a class together, but I haven't seen you on campus in a while." He supplied. "So, you..here with someone tonight?" He asked, with a fairly hopeful look to his face.
"Just some friends. They decided I was being too boring since my last boyfriend dumped me." Buffy nervously added, "and that's probably more information than you wanted."
"No, no, that's ok. I mean...not OK, ok, but...well, you know what I mean. You do know what I mean?" He asked.
"At the moment I'm not sure," Buffy truthfully answered. This guy seemed nice, maybe she could squeeze a few drinks out of him, her cash was getting a little low. "But maybe after a few more of these I'll understand perfectly." Buffy said holding up her mixed drink with a smile.
"I think that can be arranged." He smiled. It was a big goofy kind of smile. Not unlike Riley's, Buffy thought to herself.
A few drinks and some dancing later. Buffy and Max were both fairly intoxicated and talking non stop. Max shared that he too had just come off a bad break up and the two seemed to be commiserating well.
"You know, they all think they know whasss best for me. Be NORMAL Buffy. Open UP Buffy. Be TOUGH Buffy. Be NEEEEEDY Buffy. Why can't I just be Buffy, Buffy....Buffy?" she slurred out with a slight frown.
"You are 100% right" Max agreed. " You ssshould just be you. Ifff they can't deal, mmmove on!" He too slurred.
"Oh, they m..move on all right. Last one by helicopter no less. The one before moved on to SEVERAL others, and 'fore that, the guy moved right on to LA. HA!" Buffy blurted out, "Angel....he decided I needed normal. pppffft...normal. I wish for one..one week he knew what it was to be me. Then we'd sssee about normal." Buffy said, with no small amount of contempt.
Max smiled. This was what he had been waiting for. He didn't even think this one would go for it. It was no small secret she was the slayer. And he was certain he had seen Anyanka with the girl earlier. Well, no matter. She had said the magic words.
"Wish granted." Max said.
**********
Angel fell off the bar stool he was sitting on. Ok, that was strange. And he felt...drunk? That can't be right. He hadn't had anything with alcohol tonight. He had simply shown up at Caritas to sing for Lorne and maybe find out where Dru and Darla had skipped off to. He wanted to make sure they were well away from LA.
"Hey, you OK there?" some guy was staring down at him and giving him a hand up.
"Who the hell are you?" Angel asked. That was when Willow came running up. The strange guy simply walked off after helping him stand. "Willow? What are you doing here?"
"Um, we came together remember? You OK Buffy? I mean, you didn't hit your head or anything did you?" She asked him.
"No..why'd you call me..." Angel paused. He suddenly realized this wasn't Caritas, this was "the Bronze."
"I didn't, I called you Buffy. That being your name and all. You should probably sit down." Willow said rather worriedly
"No, I'm...I'm fine. A little confused maybe. How did I get here?" he asked.
"OK, no more drinks for you. Apparently slayer power doesn't protect you from inebriation." Willow teasingly shook her finger.
"Willow, why do you keep calling me Buffy. I mean, Angel isn't that hard a name and it's not like we look anything alike. Now Spike and Buffy maybe." Angel laughed at his little joke and decided Willow was right, he was drunk. Not so nice a drunk either, Angel frowned.
Willow just stared at Angel with a very perplexed look on her face.
"Buffy, you're not Angel, you're....Buffy." Willow reached into her pocket and pulled out her compact, opening the mirror and turning it to Buffy's face. "See...blond, beautiful, Buffy."
Angel just stared into the mirror. He hadn't seen a reflection in well over two centuries and the one he vaguely remembered didn't look anything like this one. The one looking back at him was....Buffy? Angel brought his hands up and traced the contours of the face, watching in the mirror all the while. He brushed the blond hair that framed the face and brought a strand up to look at. That was when he noticed them. Two small round globes looking back at him from his chest. Angel pulled the neckline back a little and glanced to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Buffy!!!" Willow shouted and grabbed his arm, pulling him off to the side of the stairs.
"Oh my god." Angel suddenly felt very sober, he grabbed Willow by the arms, "Willow, you have to believe me. I am NOT Buffy, I'm Angel. I don't know how this happened, but somehow I have been put into Buffy's body. We need to find out where she is and put me back in MY body."
"That's it Buffy, I'm taking you to the hospital. I'm going to get Tara and the others. Stay right here and DON'T Move." Willow commanded as she moved toward the dance floor.
Angel quickly decided that going to the hospital was not a great idea at the moment. Maybe he could get Giles to understand. Or maybe he would think he had a head injury too. At the moment neither his head or his stomach was feeling really great, but if he let Willow take him to the hospital.....no, he couldn't take that chance. With the decision made, Angel slipped out the front door of the Bronze. Maybe a walk would help him figure out what to do.
**********
"mooooooooooon" Buffy trailed off. She looked down to find a microphone in her hand. Huh, that was strange. She looked to her left and saw a screen with words scrolling across it. Kareoke......she was singing kareoke. She was so going to strangle that Max guy for getting her drunk..er...and taking her to a kareoke bar. That was when she noticed that this wasn't your typical bar. Somehow, she had managed to end up in a DEMON kareoke bar. She didn't even know those existed, much less in Sunnydale.
Suddenly a glass shattered and there was a tall green demon, in a white suite, staring at Buffy. He suddenly started coming towards her and Buffy shot off the bar stool she was sitting on and took up a defensive position, with the microphone still in her hand. She figured that she could use it to brain him with maybe, or tie up at least. Of coarse, she wasn't sure what to do about the other 2 dozen demons in the bar.
"Hey folks, that song just gets better every time huh?" The green demon said. "You all just give me and the big guy here a few moments." He continued as he reached around and pulled the microphone cord out of the box. He then put his hands up in a non threatening pose as he strolled up to Buffy.
"Not every day I get a, um...person..like you in my club. It would tend to scare off my clientele. Now, I'm strictly a non-fighting kind of guy, so lets move this off stage and I think I can clear things up a bit for you. By the way, the names Lorne." He said as he held one hand out for her to take. Buffy glanced around a moment and was getting more confused by the moment. None of the demons seemed to even notice her, and this big green guy was being fairly nice to her. Deciding to take the least likely route to end up with her sudden death, Buffy took the offered hand and let the demon usher her off the stage. She could always kill him later she though.
"So pumpkin, you want to tell me how you ended up in the bug lug's body?" He asked, once he had drawn her to a more private area of the bar.
"Huh?" Buffy managed.
"Angel's body, how'd you end up in it? And, if you don't mind me asking, who are you? I mean, I know you're a..." he glanced around before whispering, "slayer" he continued in a normal voice, "kind of hard to miss that, but a name would be nice."
Buffy simply stared dumbfounded at the demon. She wasn't sure she was hearing him right. Must have been all those drinks. Funny she didn't really feel that buzzed anymore though.
"Hello?!? Lorne to Houston, come in Houston. Anyone there?" He said, waving a hand in front of her.
"Um, yeah. Did you just say I had Angel's body?" She asked.
"You got it sweet cheeks. Not that I could show you in the mirror or anything, but yeah." He said
Buffy brought her hands up and looked at them. They definitely weren't hers. Decidedly masculine, big, and familiar. She knew these hands. They were Angel's hands. She glanced down at her body. Black pants, shoes, black silk shirt. She was wearing Angel's clothes...on HIS body. That was when the rest of the world turned black as the floor came up to meet her.
**********
TBC
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: BTVS season 5 and AtS season 2.
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, just borrow them. They belong to Joss and I slip them back into the vault when I'm done with them.
Description: Presto-Switcho, Angel and Buffy trade for a day. Much funniness ensues.
Distribution: Take it if you want it, just tell me where you put it.
**********
Buffy was sitting at the bar. The Bronze was pretty packed even for a Thursday. The scoobs had insisted that she come out and enjoy an evening of dancing and fun. She had been pretty down since Riley had left. After trying to get her to join in the dancing all evening Willow, Tara, Xander, and Anya had finally given up and were all crowded onto the dance floor. She couldn't blame them for being all couplish. That's what couples did, and right now she was decidedly un-couplish. Nope, no couple here. Just single old solitary Buffy.
"Hey, you're Buffy right?" said a fairly cute guy as he sat next to her at the bar. Of coarse, that could be the liberal amounts of alcohol she was consuming when the others weren't watching. Didn't want to remind them of cave-Buffy.
"Um, yeah. and you are....?" she asked.
"Max. We had a class together, but I haven't seen you on campus in a while." He supplied. "So, you..here with someone tonight?" He asked, with a fairly hopeful look to his face.
"Just some friends. They decided I was being too boring since my last boyfriend dumped me." Buffy nervously added, "and that's probably more information than you wanted."
"No, no, that's ok. I mean...not OK, ok, but...well, you know what I mean. You do know what I mean?" He asked.
"At the moment I'm not sure," Buffy truthfully answered. This guy seemed nice, maybe she could squeeze a few drinks out of him, her cash was getting a little low. "But maybe after a few more of these I'll understand perfectly." Buffy said holding up her mixed drink with a smile.
"I think that can be arranged." He smiled. It was a big goofy kind of smile. Not unlike Riley's, Buffy thought to herself.
A few drinks and some dancing later. Buffy and Max were both fairly intoxicated and talking non stop. Max shared that he too had just come off a bad break up and the two seemed to be commiserating well.
"You know, they all think they know whasss best for me. Be NORMAL Buffy. Open UP Buffy. Be TOUGH Buffy. Be NEEEEEDY Buffy. Why can't I just be Buffy, Buffy....Buffy?" she slurred out with a slight frown.
"You are 100% right" Max agreed. " You ssshould just be you. Ifff they can't deal, mmmove on!" He too slurred.
"Oh, they m..move on all right. Last one by helicopter no less. The one before moved on to SEVERAL others, and 'fore that, the guy moved right on to LA. HA!" Buffy blurted out, "Angel....he decided I needed normal. pppffft...normal. I wish for one..one week he knew what it was to be me. Then we'd sssee about normal." Buffy said, with no small amount of contempt.
Max smiled. This was what he had been waiting for. He didn't even think this one would go for it. It was no small secret she was the slayer. And he was certain he had seen Anyanka with the girl earlier. Well, no matter. She had said the magic words.
"Wish granted." Max said.
**********
Angel fell off the bar stool he was sitting on. Ok, that was strange. And he felt...drunk? That can't be right. He hadn't had anything with alcohol tonight. He had simply shown up at Caritas to sing for Lorne and maybe find out where Dru and Darla had skipped off to. He wanted to make sure they were well away from LA.
"Hey, you OK there?" some guy was staring down at him and giving him a hand up.
"Who the hell are you?" Angel asked. That was when Willow came running up. The strange guy simply walked off after helping him stand. "Willow? What are you doing here?"
"Um, we came together remember? You OK Buffy? I mean, you didn't hit your head or anything did you?" She asked him.
"No..why'd you call me..." Angel paused. He suddenly realized this wasn't Caritas, this was "the Bronze."
"I didn't, I called you Buffy. That being your name and all. You should probably sit down." Willow said rather worriedly
"No, I'm...I'm fine. A little confused maybe. How did I get here?" he asked.
"OK, no more drinks for you. Apparently slayer power doesn't protect you from inebriation." Willow teasingly shook her finger.
"Willow, why do you keep calling me Buffy. I mean, Angel isn't that hard a name and it's not like we look anything alike. Now Spike and Buffy maybe." Angel laughed at his little joke and decided Willow was right, he was drunk. Not so nice a drunk either, Angel frowned.
Willow just stared at Angel with a very perplexed look on her face.
"Buffy, you're not Angel, you're....Buffy." Willow reached into her pocket and pulled out her compact, opening the mirror and turning it to Buffy's face. "See...blond, beautiful, Buffy."
Angel just stared into the mirror. He hadn't seen a reflection in well over two centuries and the one he vaguely remembered didn't look anything like this one. The one looking back at him was....Buffy? Angel brought his hands up and traced the contours of the face, watching in the mirror all the while. He brushed the blond hair that framed the face and brought a strand up to look at. That was when he noticed them. Two small round globes looking back at him from his chest. Angel pulled the neckline back a little and glanced to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Buffy!!!" Willow shouted and grabbed his arm, pulling him off to the side of the stairs.
"Oh my god." Angel suddenly felt very sober, he grabbed Willow by the arms, "Willow, you have to believe me. I am NOT Buffy, I'm Angel. I don't know how this happened, but somehow I have been put into Buffy's body. We need to find out where she is and put me back in MY body."
"That's it Buffy, I'm taking you to the hospital. I'm going to get Tara and the others. Stay right here and DON'T Move." Willow commanded as she moved toward the dance floor.
Angel quickly decided that going to the hospital was not a great idea at the moment. Maybe he could get Giles to understand. Or maybe he would think he had a head injury too. At the moment neither his head or his stomach was feeling really great, but if he let Willow take him to the hospital.....no, he couldn't take that chance. With the decision made, Angel slipped out the front door of the Bronze. Maybe a walk would help him figure out what to do.
**********
"mooooooooooon" Buffy trailed off. She looked down to find a microphone in her hand. Huh, that was strange. She looked to her left and saw a screen with words scrolling across it. Kareoke......she was singing kareoke. She was so going to strangle that Max guy for getting her drunk..er...and taking her to a kareoke bar. That was when she noticed that this wasn't your typical bar. Somehow, she had managed to end up in a DEMON kareoke bar. She didn't even know those existed, much less in Sunnydale.
Suddenly a glass shattered and there was a tall green demon, in a white suite, staring at Buffy. He suddenly started coming towards her and Buffy shot off the bar stool she was sitting on and took up a defensive position, with the microphone still in her hand. She figured that she could use it to brain him with maybe, or tie up at least. Of coarse, she wasn't sure what to do about the other 2 dozen demons in the bar.
"Hey folks, that song just gets better every time huh?" The green demon said. "You all just give me and the big guy here a few moments." He continued as he reached around and pulled the microphone cord out of the box. He then put his hands up in a non threatening pose as he strolled up to Buffy.
"Not every day I get a, um...person..like you in my club. It would tend to scare off my clientele. Now, I'm strictly a non-fighting kind of guy, so lets move this off stage and I think I can clear things up a bit for you. By the way, the names Lorne." He said as he held one hand out for her to take. Buffy glanced around a moment and was getting more confused by the moment. None of the demons seemed to even notice her, and this big green guy was being fairly nice to her. Deciding to take the least likely route to end up with her sudden death, Buffy took the offered hand and let the demon usher her off the stage. She could always kill him later she though.
"So pumpkin, you want to tell me how you ended up in the bug lug's body?" He asked, once he had drawn her to a more private area of the bar.
"Huh?" Buffy managed.
"Angel's body, how'd you end up in it? And, if you don't mind me asking, who are you? I mean, I know you're a..." he glanced around before whispering, "slayer" he continued in a normal voice, "kind of hard to miss that, but a name would be nice."
Buffy simply stared dumbfounded at the demon. She wasn't sure she was hearing him right. Must have been all those drinks. Funny she didn't really feel that buzzed anymore though.
"Hello?!? Lorne to Houston, come in Houston. Anyone there?" He said, waving a hand in front of her.
"Um, yeah. Did you just say I had Angel's body?" She asked.
"You got it sweet cheeks. Not that I could show you in the mirror or anything, but yeah." He said
Buffy brought her hands up and looked at them. They definitely weren't hers. Decidedly masculine, big, and familiar. She knew these hands. They were Angel's hands. She glanced down at her body. Black pants, shoes, black silk shirt. She was wearing Angel's clothes...on HIS body. That was when the rest of the world turned black as the floor came up to meet her.
**********
TBC