Feedback: Reviews and e-mails are always welcome

Feedback: Reviews and e-mails are always welcome. By the way if the person who reviewed Reconnecting is reading this then thank you for re-reading it and posting a review. No matter how long after I've posted a fic it's always fantastic to know people are still reading them and it made my day to know that.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the show, Joss Whedon and others do. The same goes for the film Wizard of Oz; I'm not altogether sure who owns it MGM? Any new characters are my own creation.

Distribution: If you would like to post this or any of my other fics' on your website please contact me first for permission.

Notes: Any views expressed are from my characters views points not my own. For example a drug addict prostitute is deemed worthless and beneath my bad guy. I don't share that belief; to me no one is worthless. Except for murders, rapist and paedophiles – they should all be strung up by their nether regions. Sorry, I don't know what came over me.

There's no place like Sunnydale

It was a cold and windy night, and at the outskirts of Sunnydale a group of weary warriors was emerging from a sewage drain. As the hard wind whipped at their faces they all winced and huddled tighter together, shielding themselves as best they could from the elements.

'Why can't demon's and monster's live someplace nice for a change? Why do they always have to live in scary caves, underground labyrinths and OH my favourite - sewage systems?' Xander moaned as he and his friends walked out of the dark and disgusting smelling tunnel.

'Yeah and if they explode why is it always sticky goo that always splatters you no matter where you stand' Willow joined in, removing a piece of demon flesh from her jacket while she talked. 'Why couldn't they explode into confetti or bubbles? Something nice.' She added wistfully.

'Because then I guess they wouldn't be that scary Will' Buffy said smiling at her bemoaning friends.

They all stood nonchalantly picking pieces of sticky flesh and wiping slime off themselves, cleaning up as best as they could. Xander finished checking himself over when he caught sight of a large part of an intestine draped over Cordelia's shoulder.

'I've heard of having a chip on your shoulder but that's ridiculous' Xander said as he gingerly removed the piece of intestine from Cordy's shoulder. The others all groaned at his comedic efforts and Xander gave them one of his wolfish grins, knowing it was lame but not caring. Cordelia who had up to then remained silent and still, shook as a tremor past through her body.

'No jokes Harris. Not now. I have blood, demon skin and parts of its organs all over me. I have human waste on my 150 dollar sneakers, on my trousers and. Even. On. My. Skin. So no jokes, no sarcasm, no witty banter, as I will never, ever, feel clean again. Now someone take me home so I can bleach myself clean.' Cordelia shoulders slumped and she looked physically and mentally exhausted.

'Damn I had five minutes of witty banter followed by a minute of sarcasm planned' Oz whispered to Willow, smiling. Willow gave him a little grin back, but on seeing the scything look Cordelia was directing their way they stopped smiling and Oz added quietly 'or maybe not'.

The group began to walk a long the muddy ditch that led to the steep slope that they had come down early. Buffy was in the lead and looked back over her shoulder at her friend's. Willow and Oz were murmuring to one another whilst holding hands and next came Cordy with her fists clenched and shoulders hunched. At the rear where Xander and Giles, walking closing together but not speaking, Buffy looked forward again. They all looked terrible, worn to the bone.

Buffy bit her lip, she knew that it was too much to ask of them, but they had already agreed. Plus she had been looking forward to this all week; she bounded up the inclined and awaited for the others to follow.

At the top of the slope was an open field of long grass and at the other end of the field there was the woods. This end of Sunnydale was untouched by man and here Mother Nature still ran the show. It was strange to think that on the other side of all those trees lay Malls, Suburbia, cars and people. And surrounding all of the nature and the Town was the almost endless barren desert. If she strained hard enough she could just make out the twinkling of lights that lit the main road that led back to Sunnydale. Buffy looked away from the lights and back towards the incline she had just climbed, from where she stood it looked as if the ground had suddenly disappeared and all that remained was a sharp drop off into the darkness beyond.

Then she heard a noise and the top of Willow and Oz heads appeared, with them standing there it was obvious that it wasn't a sheer drop but gradual, the pair helped each other up the remaining way and up on the grassy field above. Cordelia, Xander and Giles were behind them and reached the top at the same time, all five had found the dirt slope difficult to climb and Buffy felt herself flush. Her abilities were beyond second nature now, they had years ago become the norm and so she often forgot that things that came easily to her didn't to the others. Like how when running up the incline she hadn't even broken her stride but it had taken her friends twice as long and left them catching their breath.

'Guys I hope you haven't forgotten your promise' Buffy said, twirling the axe she had sliced and diced the demon with like it was a baton.

'What promise?' Xander asked looking confused as he searched his memory.

'You all promised to come back to my place and watch Wizard of Oz with me.' Buffy said cheerily trying to ignore the open mouth look of alarm plastered on all their faces.

'Did we promise you that…really?' Willow asked nervously.

'Yep, look my mom's outta town and I'm all a lone. The Oz' is on cable tonight and you know it won't be on again until…next year…and you did promise' Buffy explained beseechingly hoping no one would bring up the existence of DVD's. Willow had already given in mentally and when she looked over at Oz, who could tell by is girlfriends' face that he would be going too, Cordelia gave a sigh of frustration.

'I'm sorry to ruin your sleepover plans but I have crap on me! So count me out.' Cordy said, folding her arms in front of her chest.

'I'm going. You guys have pillow fights at slumber parties right? It's like a rule or a sleepover law?' Xander asked grinning from Buffy to Willow, all excited as the countless sleepover fantasies he had had throughout his life replayed in his mind.

'Yeah, we also wear short silk negligees whilst we bounce up and down on a bed and hit each other with pillows that burst open and shower us in feathers' said Buffy.

'And we suddenly for no apparent reason decide to make out, you know the usual standard slumber party stuff.' Willow said casually. The three girls smiled at one another and suddenly realised that the men had all gone quiet. Cordelia looked at Xander's daydreaming expression and rolled her eye's, the right corner of Oz's mouth was pulled up in a smile and he looked slightly wistful, Willow nudged him playfully and he ducked his head looking abashed. Even Giles had been affected; he seemed to be staring at something off in the distance.

'Giles!' Buffy exclaimed surprised. Giles blinked and looked at the teenager's faces that were all turned towards him, he gave a small cough to clear his throat and said 'Ah Yes. Sorry just remembering a rather…enlightening night in my University dorm. So Wizard of Oz hmm?'

'Go G-man' Xander told Giles with pride.

Buffy raised her eyebrows at Giles before turning towards the others, trying to erase the image of a teen Giles getting his freak on.

'Come on guys. I have hot water, junk food and a movie…it'll be fun and we can all unwind together.' Buffy pleaded, whilst absentmindedly swinging the axe about, the nearest to her took a few steps back.

'Of course we'll come' Willow agreed, feeling to guilty after picturing Buffy sat home alone OD-ing on Oreos.

'I guess since we're all sharing a ride I'll come too, if I can be first in the shower!' Cordelia said exasperated, at this point just wanting to get into any one's shower; as long as she could get clean she was pass caring.

'Sure Cordy, I'll even lend you some steel wire cleaning pads and some detergent'. Answered back Buffy sweetly, she turned to face Giles and said 'Well?'

'As much as I would love to watch Wizard of Oz with you all, I regretfully must decline'

'Why?' She asked him.

'Because I'm a middle aged man who doesn't want to spend the rest of the night watching 'Wizard of Oz' at a slumber party'. Giles told her wearily, pushing the bridge of his glasses, so they sat higher on his nose.

'Well your lost' She said pretending to be haughty 'more popcorn for the rest of us' She said directing this to the others and smiling. Giles shook his head and rolled his eyes, mentally asking himself why he never got round to making friends his own age.

-

On the other side of town in a dark alley, and this being Sunnydale there were a few to go around, a man stood over the body of a young woman. She had been nothing more then crack addict whore; she was so far beneath him she hardly registered on his radar, yet, she had served a purpose. A missing whore wouldn't be missed for days…if ever and he doubted the police would care. With her blood he would be able to achieve his goal. A wide smile spread across his face, he pocketed the vile of blood he had collected from the corpse and then looked down at the lifeless body below him. The smile vanished as he thought of the Slayer, a stupid little girl just like the one below him, running the town. By the end of the night things would be different.

His name was Bartas he was a sorcerer who had come to the Hellmouth to drain and harness some of its power but within ten minutes of stepping foot in Sunnydale he had heard stories. It appeared that Sunnydale was already being run, by a Vampire Slayer called Buffy, what a name he thought with a sneer. But she did have power and he had learnt from sources that the Slayer and her friends always came out on top. That was why he had chosen his plan, in a one to one battle with the Slayer he knew that he would probably lose and defeat was unpleasant at the best of times let alone losing to a teenager girl called Buffy. So he would take her and her friends out of the equation and then he would be the King of Sunnydale. All would bow to the one who managed to defeat the Slayer.

He threw back his head and gave a deep throaty laugh, each Ha getting louder and more farfetched then the last, when he suddenly stopped.

'I will have to see about getting a Igor-like minion, the kind that are excellent at joining in at wild evil genius style laughter. Laughing like that alone, people will think I'm crazy. But then again I am talking to myself…no your only truly crazy when you except someone to answer back' At this he gave a chuckle that turned into a deep throaty laugh, he tipped his head back and the laugh grew, echoing down the alley. Then remembering why he stopped laughing in the first place his laughter died down and he cleaned his throat and was done. He tapped the vile of blood again and then without a backwards glance he stepped over the body of the dead girl, leaving the alley at a quick pace.

-

A few hours later at the Summer's residence the teenagers were all clean, warm and cosy. Buffy, Willow and Cordy were sat on the couch sharing a bowl of popcorn, the two guys were sat on the floor by their feet, reaching up every now and then for a handful of popcorn. It was nearly one am and they were all waiting patiently for the film to start on cable. Willow was sat in the middle of the other girls and was feeling slightly strange, it was like a tingling sensation in her stomach. Blinking the feeling was gone but the memory of it tugged at the corners of her mind. Cordy was to the left of Willow, the pj's she had borrowed belonged to Buffy and were a little on the small side, so she kept absentmindedly pulling the cuffs of her sleeves down. She too felt something odd but was unable to name the feeling that passed over her so quickly, she shrugged and reached over to the popcorn bowl on Willow's lap and grabbed a hand full.

An intro for the film was on and all five teenagers began to quieten down, as the film started Xander like out a whoop and they all laughed softly. The film began and they watched whilst nibbling on popcorn, every now and again one of them would say something to make the others laugh. They were all tired but suddenly they all felt dead tired, like the feeling you get when your just on the edge of sleep, a almost drugged feeling. Although the sensation was sudden in their minds they all put it down to being out late and being physically exhausted.

In his lair Bartas smiled into his mirror as he watched the five teenagers begin to fall under his spell. He had been watching them through his mirror for a few days now and knew of the slayers desire to watch the film tonight. Using the blood he had gotten early and other ingredients from other 'donors' he would soon show them a side of the film they had never seen before, a side they would never leave. He whispered ancient words in a forgotten tongue and let his fingertips graze the mirror's surface. Unseen by the teenagers a grey hazy smoke drifted in between them, and as they breathed it flowed into their mouths.

As Dorothy's house whirled around inside the tornado on the television the five friends found themselves so tired they could barely keep their eye's open. Suddenly the air around them felt heavy and thick, they each tried to take a deep breath and all of the unseen smoke entered their bodies and as one they all fell asleep.

Bartas watched through his mirror as the Slayer and her friends fell asleep, slowly the smoke engulfed them and became a large dark cloud. Bartas grinned triumphantly and whispered one word, so low it was almost as if he hadn't said anything at all. All of their mouths opened and the thick smoke emerged, it began to float to the television screen and when it reached the screen the television glowed white eerily as the smoke pasted into the television. Then the room was empty except for the five bodies, all unmoving and seemingly dead.

Bartas grinned grew wilder. Soon it would all be over, and Sunnydale would be his.