TITLE: WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME, BUFFY?
AUTHOR: Rick
DISCLAIMER: They all belong to Joss Whedon but, if he doesn't get Xander and Buffy together soon we need to plan a friendly take over.
SUMMARY\ PLOT: Buffy is gone. She gave her life for the planet. But, the Hell mouth is still wide open. Someone still has to carry on with the day- to-day slaying. Xander is reluctantly left with the job. Is Buffy coming back?
PART SUBMITTED: 1\? My Prayer Is Your Ashes Blowing In The Wind, Pal!
The three of them stood there totally oblivious of their surroundings. After all, the slayer was dead, the people of Sunnydale are still in denial and everyone said that feeding should be a pleasant nighttime activity again. They talked of searching out and overcoming their prey. Macho tales of terrifying young women and sucking their veins as the blood rushed from their body. They were enjoying themselves immensely. They didn't notice a single person getting closer, a person neither terrified by their presence nor concerned with their number. He approached them with confidence and disgust.
"Well, what the hell do you know, three stupid ass vampires!"
They turn toward the figure. One speaks for the others.
"Say your prayers, boy!"
Before any of the three can react the boy grabs one from behind staking it furiously in the back.
"My prayer is..."
He pushes the staked one into the others. As the ashes burst in their face he kicks one in the groin.
"My prayer is that all the vamps..."
As he is staking the second one the last vampire comes down hard on his shoulder with his fist.
He shakes it off while pushing the third to the ground. He puts his foot on its throat and places the stake to its heart.
"My prayer is that all the vampires are as stupid as you three. Go to all the dark places in this hell hole and tell them a new slayer is on the prowl and he is after them!"
He stares at the petrified vamp for a minute then thrusts the stake to its heart.
"Ah, never mind I'll tell them myself!"
With that Xander heads home wincing at his blood soaked shoulder. All in a night's work
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xander strains as he slams the post with his staff. He has a very painful welt on his right shoulder, courtesy of last night's encounter with last night's creatures of the night. Buffy is gone, gave herself for the world. Xander has to keep repeating this last thought to himself over and over again. He cried for two weeks after she dove into the evil abyss to close it. Nothing has ever affected him as much. No one could reach him, not even Anya. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. He took to hunting at night. No more laughs, no more messing around. He was going to make the creatures of the night suffer for the loss of the woman who had been his life for five years. He gradually left the others back into his life but he was not the same. Anya still loved him, dearly. He has tried to find comfort in that. Dawn has been clinging to him. Willow and Tara tried to take over for Buffy but neither could do it, not every night. Xander didn't want to do it either, not officially anyway but Giles talked him into it. Nobody could understand why another slayer was not called. The council told Giles some gibberish about there only being one slayer and Faith was still alive. He guessed that the whole business of multiple slayers proved to be most embarrassing to them. So, despite the obvious consequences, none would be called while Faith still breathed. They did authorize Giles to use Xander when the tweed man insisted somebody must fill the void in Sunnydale. They gave him an allowance so that Xander could quit his carpentry job. Being only human he trained twice as hard as a normal slayer. None of it sat too well with him but he did enjoy making the predators of the night pay for his pain. He loved it when they looked at him like he was lunch then cowered in fear as they realized he was actually hunting them. Something obviously died inside him when Buffy did her deed. The boy knows Buffy had to do what she did. But, a part of him was very angry with her. She left him, again. And, maybe this time for good. Left him with the daily chores of her calling, left him Dawn who was thoroughly devastated. Even when Xander was not talking to anyone he still did not ignore Dawn. He tried to put her life back together piece by piece. She stayed with Giles but Xander was her rock. Anya was very jealous because Dawn was obviously in love with him but Xander never wavered as her protector. He didn't lead her on romantically but never denied her attention.
With a burst of adrenaline Xander moved his staff with blinding speed, rocking and denting the training post in furious motion. Giles had begun to watch him train. He is duly impressed. Xander stops when he sees him.
"I'm glad to see you are so enthusiastic. Don't stop on my account."
"Just getting out my frustrations, Giles. Where's Dawn?"
"She is finishing her homework. Xander, I want to thank you for handling her problem the other night."
"It was nothing, just a teenage thing."
Giles watches, as Xander gets ready to resume his training. He has wanted to ask him something.
"Xander?"
"Yea?"
"Do you miss her...Buffy, I mean?"
"Every time one of the big nasties hits me."
That is not what Giles meant so he continues to look at the boy to see if he has anything else to say. Xander sighs.
"Giles, I can't help it, sometimes I hate her for leaving me...us."
"Xander you know why she made the decision to sacrifice herself."
"I don't know Giles, sometimes I think there could have been another way. She could have talked it over more with us. Somewhere along the line she got this idea of her against the world. Like we haven't been working with her for the past five years."
"Look, Xander, I know you have been left with the slaying...and with Dawn but..."
Xander interrupts him. "Its water under the bridge, g-man. I want to finish this, Anya is coming over in an hour or so."
Xander goes back to training. Giles has no choice but to forget it for now. He has noticed the change in Xander, as has everyone else. The boy is fast getting a very hard edge to himself. An edge that is pushing everyone away from him. And he'll never talk about Buffy. Giles can see that Xander obviously loves her. He can also see that he is very angry with her for leaving him...again as he says.
After about an hour Anya comes in to see him. He greets her warmly.
"Hi, honey, how are you?"
"I'm fine, Xander, but how is your wound?"
She touches it and Xander winces. "Xander, you were moaning last night and...you said her name again."
"Honey, I'm sorry. I told you I can't help it She should not have done what she did."
"Xander, I love you but, even I can see that is was either her or Dawn. I mean do you love her that much, Xander?"
"Stop it Anya, would you please?"
Anya softens up. "Okay, sweetie, all I wanted to know is how is your wound?"
"It will be fine, Anya. What did you do today?"
"Well, I went to the doctors."
"And?"
"Well I got an answer to one of my questions?"
"Which one?"
"Well, it appears that ex-vengeance daemons can reproduce."
"Oh, cool.....ah...what?"
"I'm pregnant, Xander!"
"Wh...what, you're...pregnant, as in having a child?"
Anya goes to him very lovingly.
"Your child, Xander...our child."
"Oh, wow...wow...honey, I don't know what t say."
"Just tell me you love me Xander."
As they are embracing. "Yes, Anya, I do."
But, in the midst of their celebration Xander gets a cold chill down his spine. The thought of raising a child in the midst of this evil scared him more than anything else. But he doesn't share his apprehension with Anya. He just looks deep into her eyes.
"Anya, would you promise me you will stay out of all danger and never take any chances. And, that you'll never go anywhere at night without me?"
Anya notices the seriousness in his eyes. "Wow, yes Xander, I promise."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The news of Anya being pregnant has a sobering effect on every member of the gang. Tara notices that Willow is very quiet.
"Are you okay, honey?"
"Yea..It's just..."
"What...you can tell me?"
"Tara, I always thought...you know...Xander..."
"That you would have Xander's children?"
Willow looks at her lover to see if she is sad.
"I'm sorry, Tara."
"It's okay, Willow, really. I mean you loved him your whole life."
And before Willow can say anything else. "And, you still do."
Willow just looks at her fellow witch as she continues.
"And, it's killing you to see him get all hard and tough the way he is getting."
"I know he has to do it, Tara. That he wouldn't survive without doing it but, ..."
"But, you don't want to lose your warm and fuzzy friend."
Willow stares at her partner for a minute before embracing her. "Thank you, Tara. Thank you for understanding."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The monster hid in the shadows, waiting for his prey to come to him. As she got closer his mouth began to water with sickening anticipation. He could smell her blood as she approached. He flew from the bushes to surprise her. She started to scream but froze when the night creature showed his true colors. His low guttural growl terrorized her as he moved to the kill. She barely caught the sudden jerk of his body forward and the full opening of his eyes. When his body burst to ashes in front of her she caught the cold expression of her savior. He was almost as scary as the monster. Without changing his expression he talks to her.
"Don't ever go outside alone at night again! Do you understand?"
"Who...who are you?"
He grabs her by the arms. "Do you understand?"
The girl reluctantly nods. "Now, go home! I'll make sure no one else is following you."
With this he melts back to the shadows to look for more evil. The girl hurries her way home. She got the message. She swears to herself she will never set foot outside again after dark. The stranger won his point.
Xander makes one last visit to the graveyard before heading back to Giles's place for report. He is very angry at the stupidity of the residents of this town. They make it easy for the monsters to find quick feed. When will they ever get the message?
Willow s waiting for him at Giles.Xander has said very few words to the witch since Buffy died.
"Xander, can I talk to you?"
"It was a long night, Will."
"Why are you avoiding me?"
"Will, please, I want to report and then get some sleep."?
"Do you still miss her, Xander?"
"No."
"Come on, Xander, you know you do."
"She made her choice, Willow, and now..."
He doesn't finish. "And now what, Xander? She saved the world."
"Yea, no shit, did she? And now we're left to do her work."
"You mean you're left. You know, you can fool everyone else but not me, Xander. You loved her. You still do love her. You can't believe she left you. And you're mad at yourself too. You never told her. You let her go from one mistake to the next without telling her. You even helped her try to keep Riley. And now it's driving you nuts!"
"Are you finished, Willow?"
"No I'm not, Xander, I'm not going to let you stay all hard and distant."
"Just be quiet, Willow, you said enough. Tell Giles nothing out of the ordinary happened. I'm going to bed."
Willow just shakes her head as her once best friend fades into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR: Rick
DISCLAIMER: They all belong to Joss Whedon but, if he doesn't get Xander and Buffy together soon we need to plan a friendly take over.
SUMMARY\ PLOT: Buffy is gone. She gave her life for the planet. But, the Hell mouth is still wide open. Someone still has to carry on with the day- to-day slaying. Xander is reluctantly left with the job. Is Buffy coming back?
PART SUBMITTED: 1\? My Prayer Is Your Ashes Blowing In The Wind, Pal!
The three of them stood there totally oblivious of their surroundings. After all, the slayer was dead, the people of Sunnydale are still in denial and everyone said that feeding should be a pleasant nighttime activity again. They talked of searching out and overcoming their prey. Macho tales of terrifying young women and sucking their veins as the blood rushed from their body. They were enjoying themselves immensely. They didn't notice a single person getting closer, a person neither terrified by their presence nor concerned with their number. He approached them with confidence and disgust.
"Well, what the hell do you know, three stupid ass vampires!"
They turn toward the figure. One speaks for the others.
"Say your prayers, boy!"
Before any of the three can react the boy grabs one from behind staking it furiously in the back.
"My prayer is..."
He pushes the staked one into the others. As the ashes burst in their face he kicks one in the groin.
"My prayer is that all the vamps..."
As he is staking the second one the last vampire comes down hard on his shoulder with his fist.
He shakes it off while pushing the third to the ground. He puts his foot on its throat and places the stake to its heart.
"My prayer is that all the vampires are as stupid as you three. Go to all the dark places in this hell hole and tell them a new slayer is on the prowl and he is after them!"
He stares at the petrified vamp for a minute then thrusts the stake to its heart.
"Ah, never mind I'll tell them myself!"
With that Xander heads home wincing at his blood soaked shoulder. All in a night's work
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xander strains as he slams the post with his staff. He has a very painful welt on his right shoulder, courtesy of last night's encounter with last night's creatures of the night. Buffy is gone, gave herself for the world. Xander has to keep repeating this last thought to himself over and over again. He cried for two weeks after she dove into the evil abyss to close it. Nothing has ever affected him as much. No one could reach him, not even Anya. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. He took to hunting at night. No more laughs, no more messing around. He was going to make the creatures of the night suffer for the loss of the woman who had been his life for five years. He gradually left the others back into his life but he was not the same. Anya still loved him, dearly. He has tried to find comfort in that. Dawn has been clinging to him. Willow and Tara tried to take over for Buffy but neither could do it, not every night. Xander didn't want to do it either, not officially anyway but Giles talked him into it. Nobody could understand why another slayer was not called. The council told Giles some gibberish about there only being one slayer and Faith was still alive. He guessed that the whole business of multiple slayers proved to be most embarrassing to them. So, despite the obvious consequences, none would be called while Faith still breathed. They did authorize Giles to use Xander when the tweed man insisted somebody must fill the void in Sunnydale. They gave him an allowance so that Xander could quit his carpentry job. Being only human he trained twice as hard as a normal slayer. None of it sat too well with him but he did enjoy making the predators of the night pay for his pain. He loved it when they looked at him like he was lunch then cowered in fear as they realized he was actually hunting them. Something obviously died inside him when Buffy did her deed. The boy knows Buffy had to do what she did. But, a part of him was very angry with her. She left him, again. And, maybe this time for good. Left him with the daily chores of her calling, left him Dawn who was thoroughly devastated. Even when Xander was not talking to anyone he still did not ignore Dawn. He tried to put her life back together piece by piece. She stayed with Giles but Xander was her rock. Anya was very jealous because Dawn was obviously in love with him but Xander never wavered as her protector. He didn't lead her on romantically but never denied her attention.
With a burst of adrenaline Xander moved his staff with blinding speed, rocking and denting the training post in furious motion. Giles had begun to watch him train. He is duly impressed. Xander stops when he sees him.
"I'm glad to see you are so enthusiastic. Don't stop on my account."
"Just getting out my frustrations, Giles. Where's Dawn?"
"She is finishing her homework. Xander, I want to thank you for handling her problem the other night."
"It was nothing, just a teenage thing."
Giles watches, as Xander gets ready to resume his training. He has wanted to ask him something.
"Xander?"
"Yea?"
"Do you miss her...Buffy, I mean?"
"Every time one of the big nasties hits me."
That is not what Giles meant so he continues to look at the boy to see if he has anything else to say. Xander sighs.
"Giles, I can't help it, sometimes I hate her for leaving me...us."
"Xander you know why she made the decision to sacrifice herself."
"I don't know Giles, sometimes I think there could have been another way. She could have talked it over more with us. Somewhere along the line she got this idea of her against the world. Like we haven't been working with her for the past five years."
"Look, Xander, I know you have been left with the slaying...and with Dawn but..."
Xander interrupts him. "Its water under the bridge, g-man. I want to finish this, Anya is coming over in an hour or so."
Xander goes back to training. Giles has no choice but to forget it for now. He has noticed the change in Xander, as has everyone else. The boy is fast getting a very hard edge to himself. An edge that is pushing everyone away from him. And he'll never talk about Buffy. Giles can see that Xander obviously loves her. He can also see that he is very angry with her for leaving him...again as he says.
After about an hour Anya comes in to see him. He greets her warmly.
"Hi, honey, how are you?"
"I'm fine, Xander, but how is your wound?"
She touches it and Xander winces. "Xander, you were moaning last night and...you said her name again."
"Honey, I'm sorry. I told you I can't help it She should not have done what she did."
"Xander, I love you but, even I can see that is was either her or Dawn. I mean do you love her that much, Xander?"
"Stop it Anya, would you please?"
Anya softens up. "Okay, sweetie, all I wanted to know is how is your wound?"
"It will be fine, Anya. What did you do today?"
"Well, I went to the doctors."
"And?"
"Well I got an answer to one of my questions?"
"Which one?"
"Well, it appears that ex-vengeance daemons can reproduce."
"Oh, cool.....ah...what?"
"I'm pregnant, Xander!"
"Wh...what, you're...pregnant, as in having a child?"
Anya goes to him very lovingly.
"Your child, Xander...our child."
"Oh, wow...wow...honey, I don't know what t say."
"Just tell me you love me Xander."
As they are embracing. "Yes, Anya, I do."
But, in the midst of their celebration Xander gets a cold chill down his spine. The thought of raising a child in the midst of this evil scared him more than anything else. But he doesn't share his apprehension with Anya. He just looks deep into her eyes.
"Anya, would you promise me you will stay out of all danger and never take any chances. And, that you'll never go anywhere at night without me?"
Anya notices the seriousness in his eyes. "Wow, yes Xander, I promise."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The news of Anya being pregnant has a sobering effect on every member of the gang. Tara notices that Willow is very quiet.
"Are you okay, honey?"
"Yea..It's just..."
"What...you can tell me?"
"Tara, I always thought...you know...Xander..."
"That you would have Xander's children?"
Willow looks at her lover to see if she is sad.
"I'm sorry, Tara."
"It's okay, Willow, really. I mean you loved him your whole life."
And before Willow can say anything else. "And, you still do."
Willow just looks at her fellow witch as she continues.
"And, it's killing you to see him get all hard and tough the way he is getting."
"I know he has to do it, Tara. That he wouldn't survive without doing it but, ..."
"But, you don't want to lose your warm and fuzzy friend."
Willow stares at her partner for a minute before embracing her. "Thank you, Tara. Thank you for understanding."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The monster hid in the shadows, waiting for his prey to come to him. As she got closer his mouth began to water with sickening anticipation. He could smell her blood as she approached. He flew from the bushes to surprise her. She started to scream but froze when the night creature showed his true colors. His low guttural growl terrorized her as he moved to the kill. She barely caught the sudden jerk of his body forward and the full opening of his eyes. When his body burst to ashes in front of her she caught the cold expression of her savior. He was almost as scary as the monster. Without changing his expression he talks to her.
"Don't ever go outside alone at night again! Do you understand?"
"Who...who are you?"
He grabs her by the arms. "Do you understand?"
The girl reluctantly nods. "Now, go home! I'll make sure no one else is following you."
With this he melts back to the shadows to look for more evil. The girl hurries her way home. She got the message. She swears to herself she will never set foot outside again after dark. The stranger won his point.
Xander makes one last visit to the graveyard before heading back to Giles's place for report. He is very angry at the stupidity of the residents of this town. They make it easy for the monsters to find quick feed. When will they ever get the message?
Willow s waiting for him at Giles.Xander has said very few words to the witch since Buffy died.
"Xander, can I talk to you?"
"It was a long night, Will."
"Why are you avoiding me?"
"Will, please, I want to report and then get some sleep."?
"Do you still miss her, Xander?"
"No."
"Come on, Xander, you know you do."
"She made her choice, Willow, and now..."
He doesn't finish. "And now what, Xander? She saved the world."
"Yea, no shit, did she? And now we're left to do her work."
"You mean you're left. You know, you can fool everyone else but not me, Xander. You loved her. You still do love her. You can't believe she left you. And you're mad at yourself too. You never told her. You let her go from one mistake to the next without telling her. You even helped her try to keep Riley. And now it's driving you nuts!"
"Are you finished, Willow?"
"No I'm not, Xander, I'm not going to let you stay all hard and distant."
"Just be quiet, Willow, you said enough. Tell Giles nothing out of the ordinary happened. I'm going to bed."
Willow just shakes her head as her once best friend fades into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~