Author: Queen Boadicea
Email: queenboadiceaoftheiceni@yahoo.com
Spoiler Warning: Season seven for BtVS, episodes "Show Time" and "Get It Done" and season one of Angel: the Series, episode "I Will Remember You"
Disclaimer: This belongs to Joss Whedon and the usual gang of idi…uh, geniuses.
Feedback: Do your worst—it can't compare to my worst ;)
Note: Another author originally posted this story for me with my permission but has deleted it. Since I liked it too much to lose it, I'm re-posting it with my name.
[thoughts]
The shadow casters were spinning without any visible means of propulsion, the silhouettes cast by the single flame reaching higher on the walls as if trying to engulf everyone in the room. The drumbeats were thunderous at a volume that would have had the neighbors complaining—if they still had neighbors.
As the growling, screams and chanting that came from all corners rose to a crescendo, a blinding, whirling pillar of light appeared in the living room. The others murmured as they stared at it, rapt with wonder and fear. Xander was the first to speak. "But what does it mean?"
Buffy spoke with a calmness she was certainly far from feeling. "It means I have to go in there."
Willow started. "No, it doesn't! Where does it say that? It doesn't say that!" More and more, Willow thought that lately Buffy was operating without any kind of sense, guidance or roadmap. She suddenly wished Giles were here in his capacity as Watcher. Maybe he'd be able to talk some sense into the annoyingly impulsive blonde Slayer.
Robin Wood also had his doubts. There were parts of the passage that had him extremely nervous. "Buffy, you don't know if you're ready yet."
"That's the point." Buffy could feel the portal pulling gently but insistently at her. This was part of a Slayer's rite of passage; she just knew it. Okay, she would have been happy if Giles or Wesley, you know, actual Watchers, had given her some advance warning about this whole shadow puppet business. But as a Slayer for six years and counting, she knew you couldn't always go by the written word. Sometimes you just had to follow your gut.
Willow made a last-ditch attempt to appeal to her friend. "Buffy, we don't know where you're going or how we'll get you back."
"Find a way." Taking a deep breath as if she were going swimming, Buffy leapt into the lit portal.
Tumbling onto the hard surface, the blonde Slayer sprang up immediately, her eyes searching her surroundings. She had jumped through that mystical portal with barely a second thought. It was too late to regret it but maybe she should have taken a weapon with her—a sword, an axe or even Mr. Pointy.
Everywhere she looked was blackness with the rush of a mad wind howling around her. Catching a bit of light in the distance, she squinted and started walking towards it. Seeing two figures with their backs towards her, she halted. She was about to speak to them when she recognized Anya and Giles.
How could Anya be here? Hadn't she just left her with the others? They were talking to an unseen person and something told Buffy to keep quiet so she could overhear everything.
A deep, rumbling voice spoke in patient, bored tones. "It cannot be fought, it cannot be killed. The First Evil has been and always will be. Since before the universe was born, long after there is nothing else. It will go on."
[What is the First Evil, Celine Dion? Then again…] Buffy tried to peer over their heads.
Giles was desperate to find a solution. "I refuse to believe that. There must be some way to destroy it." So he was trying to KO the First. She felt a surge of pride at his stubborn refusal to give up on helping her.
The unseen person wasn't so impressed. When it spoke again, the voice was snippy. "What, am I talking to myself here? There's no way."
The ex-Watcher strove for details. "Are you saying that the First will succeed in—in wiping out the lines of Slayers?"
"The eye sees not the future only the truth of the now and before."
[An eye? Giles is talking to an eye? What gives?] Buffy edged around the two to try to catch a glimpse of the unknown speaker. The sight nearly caused her to burst out laughing. Evidently their mysterious seer-thingy was a bundle of eyes stuck in a globe. It looked like some cheesy effect out of a 50s science fiction movie. She couldn't see a mouth or a tongue anywhere and wondered how this thing could talk. Bizarre.
Anya was apparently less impressed than she was. "Yes, we got all that—it's called memory. Can you tell us something a little bit more demony?"
The Eye answered, "The mystical forces surrounding the chosen line have become irrevocably altered, become unstable, vulnerable."
Now they were getting somewhere. Anya probed, "Something the First did?"
"The First Evil did not cause the disruption, only seized upon it to extinguish the lives of the chosen forever."
Giles asked his next question event though he dreaded to hear the answer. "Then what has caused the disruption? What—what is responsible for letting this happen?"
This time the reply was laced with unmistakable malice. "The Slayer."
The First was here because of her? No way, this thing had to be off. It was lying or some sort of demon trickster. There was no way Giles could trust it. But her former Watcher didn't answer, didn't attempt to deny what the thing had said. Stunned by his silence and the grave horror she could see etched on his face, Buffy watched as he and Anya turned and disappeared into the void.
"Well, look who it is. The source of all the trouble. You heard?"
She swung, startled, at the globe. The eyes all appeared to be oriented on her and it was obviously waiting for her to speak. "Uh, yeah. I did. And I don't believe you," she finished defiantly.
"Then why are you here, Slayer?"
"I, um, well, there was this magical Muppet show and then this portal thingy appeared and I jumped through it looking for answers."
"Congratulations! You've found me." The creature's voice was dripping with irony and Buffy scowled.
"How can I trust you after what you said? You might be trying to trick me—or them into getting rid of me."
The globe sounded bored again as if it couldn't be bothered with her personal drama. "Anyanka's been around a bit longer than you and has been with more demons and seen more of mankind than you've had hot dinners. Does she look like the kind of person who'd let herself be fooled so easily? Now you came here looking for answers. Ask your questions or get out."
Squelching the urge to reach up and shake that jar like a snow globe, Buffy considered another mystery. "I just left Anya back at my house. How can she be here?"
"You went back in time, obviously. The portal brought you to a place and time so you could seek knowledge. Your friends were here so you could accept the truth as you would not from a mere demon like myself."
"How do I know those were my friends? They could be shape shifters or, or, pranksters!" Buffy realized she was grasping at straws but she simply couldn't take this creature's words at face value—especially since it didn't have a face.
Her hope was dispelled when the creature spoke again. "That Anyanka has always been a chatterbox. I'm surprised she didn't spill the beans. But, when you get back, ask her what has transpired here. Now, unless you've got something of real importance to ask…" A small hole started opening behind her. Through the aperture, Buffy recognized her living room and her friends' anxious faces as they made a desperate attempt to retrieve her.
She cast about in her mind for a relevant question. "Y-you told them the Slayer was the reason the First was here. But there's more than one Slayer. Couldn't it—?"
"It isn't Faith. Abandon that hope. You're definitely the root of the problem." The hole behind her got wider and Buffy felt the wind pick up as if preparing to hurtle her back.
She waved her hands to attract the thing's attention. "Wait! If this portal brought me back in time to see you, can it send me back in time for me to stop myself from dying?"
"That would create an alternate reality and I hate those things. They give me headaches. You know how hard it is to see the past in this world AND those?"
Buffy wasn't about to give up even the slenderest of hopes. "But it can be done, right?"
The thing spoke again and this time Buffy detected worry in its voice. "I wouldn't advise it. What is it with you mortals always trying to change things? Your friends weren't satisfied to leave you dead because they feared you lost in a hell dimension even though they were perfectly content to let Angelus—" The Eye cut itself off as if it had said too much.
"Angel? What about Angel?"
"It matters not. Forget about him. I think we're done here."
"Oh no, you don't!" Leaping up, Buffy grabbed the globe from its hanging point in mid-air and began shaking it. Hard.
"Ow! Shit, quit that!" The ball lost its sonorous overtones and wailed in whiny accents as it crashed around the inside of the globe. Behind her the window winked out of existence.
"Sure. Just as soon as you tell me what Angel's got to do with the First."
"Nothing!"
"You're lying, thing." She shook it again and it cried out in agony.
"The name is Beljoxa's Eye and I cannot lie." The voice turned sullen and Buffy waited for it to go on.
When nothing more was forthcoming, she realized the nature of the game. "Oh, I get it. This is like 20 Questions. I ask you a question and you have to answer truthfully. Right?"
"Correct." The Eye bit off the word.
"Angel doesn't have anything to do with the First. But the First brought him back. Didn't it?"
"It did not."
"Something else brought Angel back then. Who was it?"
"The Powers that Be."
"The Powers that Be what? Who are they?"
"They are the ones you serve."
"Hey, I don't serve anybody, pal. The Watchers Council doesn't even give me a paycheck." A thought struck her. "Does Angel serve these Powers?"
"He does. They chose him as one of their champions."
"How'd they do that?"
"They started by enlisting his services to aid you."
"Is that why the First wanted Angel to commit suicide?"
"It did not."
Impatient, Buffy shook the globe again, hardening her heart to the creature's unhappy cries. "It didn't what? It didn't try to get Angel to commit suicide? Then what was it doing with him?"
"It-it wanted the souled vampire to kill you."
THAT had been its plan? Angel had never mentioned that to her. But Angel hadn't murdered anyone when the First came after him. She recalled how wiggy he'd been acting when he'd come to see her that Christmas, begging her to stay away from him. The evil must have been pushing him to kill her but he had been prepared to walk into the sun rather than hurt her. Bringing her attention back to the jar, she looked down to see all the eyes glaring hatefully at her. "Why was the First trying to kill me back then?"
"Duh! You're the Slayer! If it could have eliminated you, your friends would have been defenseless, easy prey for demonic forces, and the souled vampire would have lost his will to exist and destroyed himself. That, too, would have served the First's purpose for Armageddon would have been unleashed on the world that much sooner."
"Armageddon? So we're facing the end of the world again, huh? And Angel is the key," she mused.
"No."
"Angel isn't the key? Who is?" Dread seized her. "It-it isn't Dawn, is it?"
"No."
She rattled the jar again. "I'm getting tired of the short answers, Eyeballs. Spill it."
"Argggh!! Enough with the shaking already! The answer lies with you and Angel."
"What answer? The answer to saving the world?"
"Yes." When she lifted the globe menacingly, it babbled, "You and he were meant to be together. With the two of you apart, the world faces destruction on two fronts—yours and his."
Two fronts? Was something going on in Los Angeles that she didn't know about? She wished she had kept in touch with Angel before all this happened. "What's happening in Los Angeles? What is Angel up against?"
"Betrayal in the ranks. One of Angel's trusted allies has been corrupted by another agent of the First."
"Which one of his allies?"
"His seer."
That would be Cordelia. She'd been really surprised to hear that bit of news when Angel had met her that one time after she died. So Cordelia was batting for team evil now, was she? Well, she could have told Angel that a long time ago. "So Cordelia's got her evil on. Why doesn't Angel stop her?"
"The wickedness hides itself deep within her so he cannot see it. It waits and lays its plans to destroy the world."
"What are these plans and be real specific 'cause I'm getting tired of the one-word answers."
"The seer slept with Angel's son…"
"Angel's son?" Buffy yelped. "You're kidding me, right?"
"I'm Beljoxa's Eye! I DON'T KID!!" the globe roared and Buffy winced. For an item stuck in a jar, it certainly was touchy.
"Fine. Whatever. Angel had a kid. How did he do that?"
"The souled one slept with Darla and she conceived his magical child, a child known as the Destroyer and so he is for the First uses the foolish boy as an unwitting pawn to bring about the world's destruction."
"Darla? How does Darla—?" Buffy shook her head, confused and tired with all the new information coming her way. "You know what? I don't need to hear details. Darla gets into the picture somehow, Angel sleeps with her, knocks her up contrary to everything I've ever heard about vampires and she gives birth to Destructo Boy. Then what happened?"
"The Destroyer had carnal knowledge of the seer and now she carries the instrument of the world's destruction."
Man, she was really out of the loop. Angel should have called her, told her what the hell was going on in L.A. Keeping this kind of information from her was stupid and dangerous. Not that she'd been Share Girl. Here she was in the midst of an apocalypse and did she bother calling the powerful vampire who'd fought by her side for three years? Nope. She relied on Spike who was fighting his own demons.
She brought her attention back to the globe. "So Cordelia's carrying the Anti-Christ. Then here's the six-million-dollar question. How do Angel and I together stop the apocalypse from coming?"
"That is the future. The Eye sees only what is now and past. Geez, weren't you listening before?" The petulance had returned and Buffy tapped on the enclosure with her knuckles, causing the eyes to jiggle in all directions.
"Cut the 'tude, dude. This Slayer ain't impressed. You said he and I were meant to be together. What happened to change that?"
"A forgotten day the souled one decreed should be wiped from all memories save his alone."
Buffy was outraged when she realized what the Eye meant. "Angel wiped something out of my memories?" she fumed. "He and Willow should set up a website together. This is so up her alley. So what is it I'm forgetting?"
"A day of humanity. His Shanshu."
"What's a Shanshu and what does it have to do with memories?"
With much prompting (and jiggling), the Eye outlined the precious day a human Angel had shared with her including his decision to give it up. At the close of his story, Buffy sat hard on the ground, nevertheless maintaining a firm grip on the globe cradled in her arms. "I can't believe Angel would do that," she whispered, tears standing in her eyes. "I would have kept fighting by his side, humanity or not. Why would he just throw away our chance to be together?"
She didn't know how but the eyes somehow gave the impression of a shrug. "The Eye reads the past not hearts. Now are we done because I feel a wicked migraine coming on…"
"Not just yet. Say I go back to my friends and Angel and I can get together now. Would that solve everything?"
"AGAIN, that's the future. Try to keep up, will you?" Now the thing sounded weary as though all this talking was just too much of a strain.
"Then send me to that past when Angel was human—the forgotten day," she added hastily. "I don't want to find myself trapped in olde Ireland."
The panic returned to its voice. "If I do that, the world will be altered in ways you cannot imagine nor I foresee. I cannot tell you the changes for they will be of the future. You may lose the lives of your friends, all your loved ones," the Eye warned her.
"As opposed to the friends and family I've already lost? The lives I'm losing now? Not a convincing argument, Globe Boy."
The Eye hissed, "I will not do this. You cannot force me."
"Beg to differ," Buffy replied sweetly, echoing the determined words of one long-scrapped robot. She held up the globe and shook it vigorously for several seconds.
"All right, all right! I'll send you! Nasty bitch!" it snarled.
"Flattery will get you nowhere. I need to know something else."
"Sure. Treat me like a Magic 8 Ball, why don't you?" the Eye muttered waspishly.
"If I get there, will I be inside my old self? The me that was? Or will it be this me and the other me will be separate?"
"You will be separate from your previous self. You can interact with her, let her know of future events. As I said, this is a dangerous and crazy thing to do, Slayer."
Buffy ignored the warning. "And how will I get back? Back to this time, I mean?"
"This timeline will cease to exist if you manage to change the past. You will not return to this here and now. It will be irrevocably altered."
"But I can't keep staying there with that me!" She thought frantically as she tried to figure out just what might happen. The Eye couldn't tell her; it couldn't predict the future. Then she realized. "I got it." She stood up, the Eye tucked under her arm.
The Eye sounded hopeful. "You do? You've changed your mind about this?"
"I'm the Buffy that exists here—because I died. If I can prevent that from happening, then I'll wink out of existence."
"Nope. Can't do that. If you cease to exist, then you never go back into the past. If you never go back into the past, then that past remains unaltered bringing about this reality where you go back in time. It will create a temporal loop. Didn't you ever watch those science fiction shows?"
She peered into the depths of the bubble. "You watch science fiction?"
"Hey, I can see everything in the past, remember? Besides, it gets boring in here and I don't get cable."
Great. She was chatting with a sci-fi groupie. Too bad Andrew wasn't here; he would have had a ball. "I've got to do it, temporal loop or not."
"Fine. Say you're right. You'll disappear. Do you really want to vanish from existence? You're a warrior, Slayer. You won't simply throw your life away."
"Why not? I did it twice already. It's kinda in the job description. One girl in every generation born to save the world blah blah blippity blah." She peered down at the jar. "Don't you have a portal to be opening?"
Muttering under its breath, Buffy felt another eddy as the air began to twist and howling winds picked up. As the portal began to re-open, she squinted at the scene. She recognized Angel's old offices. She saw herself through the glass, her arms crossed, her back straight as she braced herself against the familiar pain. Cordelia and Doyle came hurrying out to avoid getting caught in the Buffy-and-Angel crossfire.
"Now's your chance, girly. Good luck convincing yourself of the truth! You know how stubborn you are," the globe sneered.
"Yes, I do," Buffy muttered. Releasing the globe so it floated up and beyond her reach, she took a deep breath and stepped through the portal. Easing open the door, she was just in time to hear herself speak.
The woman in the black sweater tried to remain cool. She wasn't going to let Angel hurt her again. "So let's just stick to the plan. Keep our distance until a lot of time has passed…"
She pushed the door open. "No. Bad plan. Very bad plan."
The two people stared at her. God, she wished she'd brought a camera; that look on Angel's face was priceless. "Hi, Angel. Hi, me. Look, I'd really love to explain but any minute now a great, big green demon is going to come crashing through that window and we have to be prepared."
Buffy from the past said sharply, "Who are—?"
Angel asked, "How do you know about—?"
That moment the Mohra flew through the window. [Attacking in broad daylight. Smart when you're up against a vampire but kinda lacking in finesse.] She saw Angel reach for the clock and leapt across the desk. "No! Don't!"
The Mohra was confused at seeing two similar-looking blonde women, Angel was startled by the unexpected attack and the Buffy in the black sweater thought Angel was being betrayed. All three warriors of light went down in a heap.
The Mohra was the first to recover from its shock and slashed at Angel with its sword. For a moment, all was confusion as the various combatants tried to defeat the monster and deal with each other. Finally the Mohra retreated from the battle, clutching its chest from a wound Angel gave it.
"Damn. I hate it when they get away," Black Sweater Buffy muttered.
"Me too," Angel said. He glared at the other Buffy. "Do you mind telling me what you thought you were doing? I had that creature."
"Yeah, you did. You were going to destroy it before it could make you human, right?"
The look of guilt was fleeting but Black Sweater Buffy caught it. "Human? What's she talking about? And how are you here anyway? Are you some kind of shape shifter?"
Buffy from the future rolled her eyes. Her act didn't change much, did it? "I'm you from the future. A really heinous future. Before we go running after Mr. Mean Green, we need to straighten out a few things." She outlined as much as she could about the future, leaving out some things and pointing up some others.
"So Angel stays away and I bang hips with Spike? That's got to be a joke. I would never do that," Black Sweater Buffy stated.
"No, but I do," Buffy from the future muttered. "I'm sorry but it's the truth."
Angel was equally disbelieving. "And me and Darla…"
"Yeah. I'm not quite sure what the circumstances were about that, but they must have been pretty awful." Buffy noted with sympathy the hurt and disbelief on her former lover's face. He was spun and who could blame him?
"You say a giant eye told you all this?" This time the skepticism was laced with a definite amusement.
"Giant ball of eyes. But yeah. Sounds mundo unbelievable."
"I'll say," Angel replied.
Black Sweater Buffy had had enough talk. "Okay. We can hash out the Buffy-and-Angel Hall of Shame later. We've got a Mohra to catch." She turned to Angel. "Got a place I can change?"
"Sure. Buffy?"
Both women answered at once. "Yes?"
"Uh, I meant you." He pointed at Buffy from the future. "What happens after I become human again? I mean, what happens to you?"
"I'm not sure," she lied. No need to worry him about that. They had enough on their plates as it was. Angel may have known she wasn't being entirely forthcoming. But there wasn't time to worry about it.
The two Buffys separated, the one from the past heading towards the beach and the other descending into the tunnels with Angel. The two warriors proceeded in an unnerving silence until Buffy couldn't stand it any longer. "You want to know how it happened, don't you? You know, the deal with Spike."
His face remained impassive but she could sense his inner turmoil. "Not really. I don't think I even want to know what happened to send me into Darla's arms again."
"Well, I don't know that part of the story. Let's just say my second resurrection went a lot less smoothly than the first."
He didn't speak again for several minutes. Then, "I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"No big. Water under the bridge. 'Sides, if we clean things up here now, that won't ever happen. So let's just stick to the present." She stiffened and lifted her head slightly. "Angel."
He nodded and his voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "He's close." A flash of movement came from behind and both warriors pivoted as one to meet the charging demon.
Buffy hesitated as her lover battled the Mohra. If she helped, then the creature would definitely lose. She wasn't certain exactly how Angel had been altered and any help now might stop it from happening. Angel was too caught up in the fight to notice immediately that Buffy was no longer by his side. When he risked a glance to look for her, the Mohra got in a vicious swipe at his hand.
Inflamed by the pain, the battle was over in moments, the Mohra blood seeping into his wound. Even though he had experienced it before, the wrenching agony as it circulated through his system still brought him to his knees.
He looked up to see Buffy staring anxiously at him. "Are, are you—?"
He smiled, a genuine smile such as she had rarely seen on his face. "Yes. Feel." He clasped her tiny hand in his and drew it to his chest.
She was unearthly still as she felt the muscle throb under her fingers. Finally, after an endless pause, she whispered, "You should give this guy a good solid whack on the head before you leave. Then I think you have an appointment at the beach."
Buffy strode along the boardwalk, rubbing her arms against the unexpected chill as the wind picked up from the ocean. She shouldn't have let that other Buffy go with Angel. She wasn't quite sure she trusted her. Angel was sure it was her—that is, the her from the future. He said he could sense it, the way he could always sense when she was around. But that story she told was sickening. There was simply no way she'd sleep with Spike. That was too crazy to swallow.
But, if all went well, then the next time she saw Angel he would be human. A human Angel… She shivered and rubbed her arms harder. She was sensing something, too. It was that tingling, gut-wrenching feeling she always got when he was near.
Her heart began hammering. Buffy turned and, as if in slow motion, saw Angel striding out from under an archway. She wasn't sure if she moved to cross the intervening space or he did. She only knew he was holding her close and kissing her until she couldn't breathe.
Buffy from the future watched them both, safely hidden under the archway from their eyes. She had never been given to prayer; her stint as a Slayer had made her incapable of believing in the mercy of higher powers. But as she disappeared she found herself chanting. "Please. Please let us be happy. Let us be happy…"
She staggered and looked around. Where the hell was she? It looked like the lobby of a really nice grand hotel and she wondered what had just happened. [I was fading out, wasn't it? Just vanishing from existence like a soap bubble. So why am I here? And where's here?]
A little boy came running at her. "Mommy!" he shrieked. "Did Mommy get the monsters? Did Daddy? Where's my ice cream?"
"Mommy?" Buffy was baffled even as she opened her arms automatically to the small child reaching up towards her. The sword she was holding went clattering to the floor while the youngster clung to her and began babbling a mile a minute.
Her eyes only inches away from this boy, Buffy could see it—Angel's hair, his eyes, and a hint of his forehead on this chattering child. [This is Angel's kid. His kid and mine. Oh my god!] And with a jolt all the memories came flooding back.
The wild sex when he'd regained his humanity. The wedding. The pregnancy. The baby. This was Connor!
"CONNOR!" she squealed and began spinning him around, her face crushed against his cheek.
"Mommy!" the boy cried, equally pleased. Usually it was his daddy who gave him airplane rides but his mommy was just as good at them although she never threw him as high as his large father.
"Buffy? What's going on? I thought you were going upstairs to wash." The quizzical voice came from behind her and she stopped spinning to confront the speaker.
It was Angel, standing in the sunlight beaming through the hotel windows. Yellowish ichor from an unknown source spattered his coat and hair. He stank, his coat was torn, ooze was dripping onto the floor from his sword and he was a filthy mess. He had never looked handsomer.
"Angel," she whispered. She ran towards him and hugged him hard, feeling the breath whoosh out of him.
The little boy protested the unexpected PDA. "Mommy, you're squishing me."
"Sorry, sweetie. Why don't you run along while Mommy and Daddy get cleaned up?" She set him down and he nodded.
"'Kay."
When he left, Angel peered worriedly into her face. "Buffy, what is it?"
"I just remembered seeing you kiss me at the beach when you turned human and that other timeline when I was fighting the First with those other girls."
Angel didn't understand at first. "Oh. You mean after we fought in the tunnels and that you from the future disappeared." He mused on that. "You know, I'd almost forgotten about that. That was one strange Tuesday."
"Yes, it was." She lifted her head and peered at him. "I know there's been a lot of good for us in this reality. But I was wondering. Do you have any regrets?"
He raised his eyebrows. "Regrets? I have you, my love, and my son. You have Dawn, Willow, Tara and Giles."
"Don't forget Xander," she teased.
The grimace on his face spoke volumes. "By no means let us forget Xander. Sometimes I think Connor must have gotten his appetite from him, they both eat so much. Speaking of eating…" he set her back on her feet. "It's your turn to feed Spike."
Spike? Right, she remembered him, too. Hearing his name, the dog came trotting out to meet them. The white-haired, blue-eyed mutt sat down and wagged his tail. He barked once at both of them and Buffy sighed. "Fine. But first I'm washing because I so do not want this stuff hardening in my hair." She ran upstairs and called back. "Last one to the shower has to walk the dog!"
"Oh, no. You're not getting me again, missy!" Angel charged up after her, taking the steps two at a time, and Buffy increased her speed, shrieking with laughter as he caught her up and threw her over his shoulder.
Oh yeah. Life was good.
Finis