Well people, here's something I found as I was going through all my disks the other day. It's a story I started writing way back in the day, inspired by the Tangled Web series right here at It was one of the first things I had ever written on at length. In fact I have over a hundred pages I'm going to begin posting here and I fully intend to finish it as I edit and post these chapters. It was a fun process to write and in retrospect, a fun read when I was sifting through my disks. Sort of a precursor to my other stories.
And don't worry if you enjoyed my other stories. This shouldn't take any precedence over any of them as the chapters in this one will generally be a lot shorter than my standard chapters (say five or pages for these, when I usually hit fifteen).
Anywho, just so we're clear on details this takes place during Buffy season 6/Angel season 3. Buffy and Spike are having their fling, Willow and Tara have split, Cordy has become part demon, and Holtz hasn't stolen Connor just yet. And without further ado….
The young blonde woman walked through the graveyard after what she had to admit had been a great night. She had been away with her boyfriend all night having a great deal of fun (which usually translated into S-E-X). Well actually he was more like a friend with benefits. Well actually he was like a benefit when he wasn't being a pain in the ass. At any rate, she was walking through the graveyard, while it was still dark and not very safe for a young lady to be walking.
This of course meant she was being followed by an evil creature. Said creature with a hunger; a hunger for human blood. It crept closer with her ever oblivious of its approach. Its claws were outstretched and its fangs bared ready to tear into her. She was a breath away. He moved to strike and was instantly attacked from behind. A wooden shaft was put through his un-beating heart. Within seconds he was nothing but dust. Behind him stood a tall man clad in black with slicked back blonde hair. The young blonde woman turned and looked at him.
"Knew he was there." she smirked
He looked at her and rolled his eyes.
"I'm well aware of THAT. Thing is I've been itchin' to do that. Fella always pissed me off. Works out the frustration when you kill 'em. You know that." the man said with a deep English accent.
"Then I bet you wanted to work off a little more frustration with me huh, Spike?" she practically hissed.
"While the thought of plowing into you like a stake in dust boy's heart there would be fun, I thought I'd give you back your damned Mr. Pointy." Spike said handing her a stake
"Left it back at your crypt huh? Damn, knew I forgot something." she said taking it and stuffing it in her purse.
"Must have been when you pulled it out on me and we played "Slayer and Big Evil Vampire". Getting forgetful since ya been back from the dead, baby." Spike smirked at her
"Don't tempt me to dust you here." she said waving the stake at him, then turning and walking away from her vampire lover, "And don't call me baby!"
Spike shrugged and followed her.
"So what now?" Spike asked
"I go home." she said bluntly
"No time for one more game?" Spike asked grabbing her from behind and smelling the Herbal Essences in her hair.
"One more game would keep me from walking. I have to walk to go home. Ergo no more games." She said breaking his grip
"Damn it Buffy! I'm getting so bloody sick and tired of this…this SEX!" Spike roared
Buffy turned and looked at him with wide eyes.
"You know what I mean! I feel like I'm a piece of meat ya know. While I might like to be meat once and while and make you a fair piece too, I need other things." Spike looked at her very frustrated.
Buffy just rolled her eyes and turned to walked away. Spike watched her and just turned in the opposite direction and walked away angrily. For a few moments there was silence.
Then after those blissful moments, Buffy and Spike were back on one another again. They rolled on the ground and tore into one another like two hungry wolves. They kept this up until she was on top riding him and slapping him. Spike grinned and looked up, and saw fire in the sky.
"Bloody Hell!" Spike said in total shock.
Buffy just kept going.
"Yeah say more things in British! Slap me bollocks!" Buffy said laughing not noticing.
Spike grabbed her and adjusted her vision and her jaw dropped.
"Magic Shop right?" Spike asked
"Damn straight." Buffy responded.
About an hour later, a small shop was lit up and various people were inside. There were Buffy and Spike of course. By the counter, stood Xander and his ex-demonic bride to be Anya. At a table sat a very attractive but shy young woman whose name was Tara. Near her was a teenager who looked absolutely tired. That would be Dawn, Buffy's younger sister. Well she was really energy in human form but we won't go into that. Near the back of the store was a young red haired and very nervous looking woman named Willow.
"So why are we---YAWN--- here?" asked the near asleep Dawn.
"Well I'd think it would have something to do with the hellfire and brimstone in the sky. Though I sincerely hope you guys just got lonely on patrol." Xander added
"Let's go with "A" there." Buffy said to Xander
"So, do we know anything about it?" Anya asked almost cheerfully
"Working on it. Though I don't really like the idea of going through all of Giles' books back there, but fire in the sky usually isn't in the good category." Buffy said to Anya
"Well, it's not been hurting anything yet has it?" Tara asked
"Not yet but as I said, fire in the sky? Not of the good." Buffy replied
"Research?" Dawn asked
"Feel free to." Buffy added again
"Good. I can go to sleep then." Dawn said laying her head down.
"Well what do we know? Big fire in the sky. Granted, after that, not much but maybe I can…no…I'd better not." Willow said sheepishly looking at Tara, who quickly turned away.
Willow and Tara had been lovers and witches. However due to Willow's addiction to using magic, they had basically split and weren't on good terms. While most of the group didn't really understand the plight of the two women, they were saddened by it. Well, not Anya. She didn't care. But Spike, jeez, you'd be surprised how much Passions could get to that guy, much less reality. Besides, star-crossed love was something he was well aware of.
"You know there's something really familiar about all this. I think I saw it in a movie." Xander chimed in trying to break the awkward silence.
"Oh great. That solved it right there. Let's just go to the projection booth and stop the reel. You and your stupid movies." Spike snarled, trying to make up for his feeling of lost machismo at the star-crossed plight of the witches.
"At least I didn't like Passions." Xander shot back.
"Touché." Spike sighed
"Okay, big fire in sky. Why are we not moving past that? Come on guys help me out here. I have a former demon, a vampire, two witches, a sci-fi geek and a sleeping sister here. Feel free to jump all over it." Buffy said
"Might be the end of the world." Anya said.
"Oh good! The Apocalypse. We've been there. Handled it. No big deal right?" Willow asked
"Yeah. Piece of cake. Hey, we can all get breakfast. Well except Spike." Xander added
"Oooh! Can I get waffles?" Anya asked
"Wait a tick, I want bloody waffles too! And some rare steak! Nice and bloody." Spike said.
"You ever get pancakes covered in syrup?" Willow asked
"Yeah with strawberries on top! Those are great!" Xander exclaimed
"Z Z Z Z Z ", Dawn snored with her head rested on the table.
Buffy and Tara just looked at one another. The phone started to ring but the discussion of breakfast went on. Tara simply got up to get the phone.
"Telemarketer." Tara thought.
"Guys! Back on subject okay?! Big fire in sky of undetermined origin. Us. End of world again maybe." Buffy yelled and spoke with her hands.
They all just looked at her.
"Jeez try to take this seriously!" Buffy preached
"Buffy?" Tara asked
"I mean come on. We've done the end of the world what? Four or five times?" Buffy continued.
"Buffy?" Tara asked again.
"I mean jeez you guys come out okay but I've died! Twice!" Buffy went on
"BUFFY!" Tara uncharacteristically yelled
"What?!" Buffy asked
"I think you should take this. It's for you." Tara said holding out the phone
Buffy just stomped over. She yanked the phone from Tara's hands.
"Look! If this is about switching my long distance rates then you've got the wrong girl, at the wrong time of day, in the worst mood, trying to prevent a possible Apocalypse, so basically unless you have some earth shattering news about my huge phone bill that has been added to my already overflowing list then in the words of a royal pain in the ass, YOU CAN SOD THE HELL OFF!" Buffy screamed into the phone.
Then her eyes got big.
"Oh. I'm sorry Giles." Buffy said
"Yes, yes it's all right, just please don't start quoting Spike more than you have to. People will talk." Giles said through the phone.
"So….how are you?" Buffy asked
"Splendid." Giles said to her
"How did you know I was here?" Buffy asked again
"Well in a situation of this magnitude and I'm sure you were all there at the shop." Giles said.
"End of the world?" Buffy asked quietly
"Quite possibly." Giles responded
"So, what's the deal?" Buffy asked
"Well about an hour ago, news stations all over England began to report strange phenomena. Patches of burning skies. Then I turned on CNN. More of the same. Headline News, FOX News, and it goes on and on. I wasn't sure what was going on but it has a supernatural bent to it. I did some thinking and reasoned it could be anything from a major fire demon to a small dimensional breach. Usually things of this magnitude happen briefly, anywhere from a few hours to a day at most and in more confined areas. However, they were spaced fairly far apart. I almost didn't notice it at first. But then when I heard one was appearing in Southern California, I naturally assumed the worst. And when I saw one was over Cleveland that's when the puzzle pieces all fit together. All of these patches are over Hellmouths." Giles explained
"I knew it couldn't be good" Buffy replied
"It will probably get worse. Frankly, I have no idea as to what is going on and have no clue as to how to prevent it. I'm not even sure what IT is to be honest. But I know it isn't good." Giles added
"Yeah, I've hammered that point home on this side of the pond. Look, I know you want me to stand on my own and all, but what do I do? I mean this is a little out of my league." Buffy said
"I honestly do not know Buffy. I'm going to try and get a flight out to California and see what can be done. Until then I suggest that you and the others prepare to leave town at a moment's notice and go to Los Angeles and try to find Angel. If I can't contact you once I land, I'll have to assume you all made it there." Giles said though he was afraid deep inside, "If anything seems to change at all, get out of town. I don't care how minute it may seem, but if anything seems to change about it, get out."
"Okay, I don't like it but I know what you're getting at." Buffy replied
"I'm going to go to the airport now. I hope I see you soon." Giles said
"Yeah. Same here." Buffy smiled at the thought of Giles coming back. An Apocalypse does have an upside.
"Buffy, please be careful." Giles said one last time.
"I will. I promise." Buffy replied.
The phone then clicked off.
"Okay, so what did he have to say?" asked Spike
"We sit tight, but just in case that anything could go wrong, we have things ready to get the hell out of dodge." Buffy said
"Right. I'll go get my car. It's not an RV but it'll do." Spike said walking out the door before looking back at Buffy and thinking his feelings, "I love you Slayer. God knows I love you."
"Maybe the rest of you should go get your things too. Call your families." Buffy suggested.
"Right. Hey, I'll get coffee too. And donuts." Xander added, "And also make sure the bleached wonder isn't skipping town without us."
"He won't." Buffy said.
"Damn. I wanted waffles." Anya pouted
"I'm going to go get some things." Willow said
"Non-magical things?" Tara asked, looking at Willow.
Willow looked at Tara's big beautiful eyes and felt a feeling of love for her and yet shame for how she had lost her. She looked at Tara and put on her bravest face and mustered up her bravest voice. This was the first time Tara had really spoken to her.
"Yeah. Non-magical." Willow said before rushing out nearly in tears.
It wasn't long before the sun was up and Spike was back cursing at it. Thankfully, Dawn's virgin ears were still asleep with the rest of her on the table. Spike walked in and sat down looking at Buffy with, as Xander would have said, "a get a roomy-ness sort of look". He stopped when she didn't return it. She did that partially out of the fact that a possible Armageddon might be going down, and partially because Dawn and Tara were in the room.
Suddenly, Anya burst into the room.
"He was right! He was right! Xander was right!" She exclaimed
The others looked at her oddly. Xander……right? How could it be? Anya observed their look of disbelief.
"I know! I know! I didn't believe him either but just go and look!"
Buffy and Tara went running out the doors of the Magic Shop. Xander stood in the middle of a crowd of people. Some were running and some were just staring in awe. Some were screaming, others laughing. Xander just looked up in awe. Tara looked up and her jaw dropped. Buffy's eyes did their trademark enlarging. She walked to Xander.
"Xander?" Buffy asked
"Yuh huh?" Xander said not even looking at her
"I think this constitutes a change in the burning skies." Buffy said looking up in the sky.
"Yep. I knew I had seen this in a movie. You tell me that that's not a ship from Independence Day.", Xander simply stated
Buffy couldn't tell him that it wasn't, because it was.