PENULTIMATE CHAPTER! I am very excited… and a little sad. Also, I have no more GCSEs – ever! Sadly that means my social life will be improving, so I might not have quite as much time to write.
Thankyou to all my reviewers, I love you as always. I fee like doing individual thankyous, being free from exams 'n' all.
Ksue: I'm sorry for the shortness! This one's a little longer, I think.
redrider6612: of course I'm going to write more stories! I have a few ideas lurking in my brain.
rocks and glass: thankyou so much, I hope I keep Angel's 3D-ness up.
flyersfan3588: hell yeah the chaos is coming!
uskohakuchan: Bridezilla! Haha, that would be hilarious, but it's a leeetle different.
alBBie: I've totally messed with canon. Just forget all of season 4, that should help, haha.
BlackbAngel: yep, Angel is gonna be more central again, especially as he's getting married!
I'm sorry if I got anything wrong with the marriage bit – I looked it up on the Internet and everything. So please, please don't tell me I missed out something important. The last wedding I went to was when I was eleven. I have never been a bridesmaid – sob.
Can you have a nighttime wedding? I presume so… but if not, artistic licence!
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The wedding was beautiful. Cordy was a vision in the white dress, and Buffy prayed that she'd look just as good in hers. She still felt a certain amount of competition with the brunette, even if they were out of highschool now. As Buffy walked up the eisle, trailing Cordy with Harmony and Willow, she felt as though this was how a wedding should be. It was traditional, in a huge, ornate church. The stained-glass windows kept out any ray of sun – this would be a good church to get married in if it didn't make her feel so uncomfortable. Harmony was fidgeting even more next to her, constantly glancing at the crucifixes everywhere. Buffy felt a prickling at the back of her neck, and a deep, primal fear. It was as though she was a child again, afraid that there was something under the bed. It was a stupid fear, but it gnawed away at her, and threatened to spoil her enjoyment of the wedding.
She shook the feeling off and kept smiling all the way up the eisle, where Cordy stepped up to meet Doyle. The priest shot both Buffy and Harmony an extremely nervous look, which made Buffy smile. He shivered and turned back to the couple, who were oblivious to the priest's nervousness.
"Do you, Allen Frances Doyle, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richeror for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do you part."
"I do." He smiled at Cordelia, who smiled nervously back.
"And do you, Cordelia Chase, take this man to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for betteror for worse, for richeror for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do you part."
"I do," said Cordy firmly, as Harmony squealed with joy.
"I now pronouce you man and wife," continued the priest. "You may kiss the bride." They leant in to kiss each other, and at the moment their lips met, one of the stained glass windows shattered.
Soldiers, clearly from the Initiative, burst through the windows and doors. The wedding guests screamed as they were shattered with broken glass. Buffy had never seen Cordy look so angry – her fists and teeth were clenched and she was shaking with fury.
"What are you doing here?" Cordy screamed at the masked soldiers. They didn't reply, but pointed weapons at Buffy, who nodded slowly, understanding what was happening.
"Hostile 18." The voice of the speaker was muffled by their mask, but Buffy recognised it immediately.
"Riley Finn." Her voice sounded cold – even to her. "Let's take this outside. This is a wedding, and there are civilians. People could get hurt." The men did not put their guns down.
"Please," begged Buffy, relieved to see emotion returning to her voice. "This isn't fair." She walked slowly forwards, her hands up and her face set in a grim expression.
"No!" Angel was beside her, gripping her hand in his. "You can't take her." The soldiers looked at each other – or turned their heads at least, their eyes were covered.
"Another vampire." One of the soldiers stepped forward, brandishing a small scanning device. "Same bloodline. Did you release Hostiles 17 and 18 from the facility?"
"They matter to me. You wouldn't understand." At Angel's words, Buffy glanced around for Spike. He was nowhere to be seen. Angel cares about Spike, she realised. He really did want to save him. This confused her – at many times she thought the two vampires hated each other, but she realised their bickering, and the fact that they had known each other so long, showed that deep down they really did care. Your family are the ones that piss you off the most.
"The relationships between vampires are of little concern to us."
"Really?" asked Buffy. "I thought you were studying us, testing us." The use of the word 'us' disturbed her slightly, but she embraced it and continued. "If you want to understand us, you need to look at interraction, family, love." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cordelia smiling slightly. "We'll come with you. Leave these people alone, they haven't done anything wrong – and for that matter neither have I." Buffy thought she saw Angel wince on 'I', but she chose not to look at him directly. Riley nodded and gave a small signal to the other soldiers. Buffy and Angel walked slowly outside.
It felt surreal, standing there in their wedding clothes. Angel's suit and Buffy's bridesmaid dress looked so wrong teamed with the stern uniforms of the soldiers. Both of them looked somehow more human. The soldiers were like a faceless entity. Riley turned back to them, about to speak or shoot.
Suddenly, impossibly, Spike appeared, a grenade in hand. It was hurled at the soldiers, who were unable to do anything. Buffy and Angel flew backwards from the force of the explosion, catapulted once more through the church doors. They landed on their feet, their clothes singed. The smoke was clearing, and Buffy could hear screams.
"Spike!" She yelled. She didn't know if she was angry with him for what he'd done, or concerned for his safety. Somewhere in between, she supposed.
"Oi Slayer!" He looked a little burnt, his face covered in soot, but he was grinning all over his face. "I can still throw things at people!" He rubbed his head. "Hurts a bit… but still!" He turned to inspect the chaos. "A few down."
"Spike!" yelled Buffy again. "You can't do that! You can't just kill people!" Spike sighed.
"Evil, luv," he said mildly as he lit a cigarette with a piece of burning church door.
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The wedding continued after this incident. Any soldiers who had not been knocked unconscious (or worse – but Spike had dealt with any bodies, so that none of the guests would find out) had scarpered.
The guests were in surprisingly good spirits considering they had all nearly been killed. Willow stood watching the wedding from her position next to Harmony and Buffy – who was looking a little scorched, but alive and fairly chirpy. The rest of the wedding passed by in a blur.
The throwing of the bouqeat was pretty chaotic, although it paled in comparison to earlier events. There was a considerable bit of scrabbling, and when it was over, Buffy stood in the centre in her burnt blue dress, holding up the bouqeat with a smile on her face.
"I'm getting married next," she said. Angel wove through the crowd to kiss her, Buffy clasping the flowers behind his back. Cordy stepped forward.
"My God, Buffy. You somehow managed to make my wedding all about you."
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Holy shit, I killed the Initiative! Well… some of them. Perhaps. They could still be alive, you never know. Think what you want to think. Ah, silliness.
Is it just me, or did that get a little Spangely? Hahahahahaha, totally unintentional.
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