Xander stood there, staring at the tree limb that had killed Angel, completely still. His boy and face were as rigid as stone, and cold, hard eyes like marble continued to glare at the limb. He was wounded so tight, in fact, that he began to shiver and shake with fury, and then just collapsed to the floor.
Buffy, who had been standing there stock-still like an idiot, ran towards her friend. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him tight into a hug. She could feel the spreading wetness of his tears on the sleeve of her shoulders as she shed tears of her own.
"God, Xander, I'm so sorry..." she whispered to him, the tone in her voice begging her to forgive him for the all the pain she had wrought. For all the pain *he* had wrought. For everything...
The other Slayerette's caught up with them, Cordelia dropping to her knees besides her boyfriend and hugging him tight. "Oh Xander," she whispered, crying herself. "I can't believe... I can't believe..." she didn't try to go on, just rocked herself and Xander together, as he abandoned the comfort of Buffy's arms for her.
As Willow got her turn and Oz came to say whatever he was gonna say, Buffy turned around to the oak tree
*The oak'll win in the end*
to the spot where Angel had died. She reached out to touch the limb, her fingers twining around the thick bark, tightening to that pieces flaked off and dug into her hand. Her eyes teared up, mourning for a lover and enemy lost. It had been unbearable to watcher Xander practically annihilate Angelus, but it needed to be done and never in the world could she have done it. It was inevitable... Angel's fate.
"Hey." Buffy turned around, startled, at the sound of the voice and the hand on her shoulder. It was just Xander, standing there with the strangest expression on his face, one completely unreadable. His eyes were so deep now, so very deep... and his whole meaner was saddened by the weight-
"Of being lost," Xander finished her thought. "I now. I don't think I'll ever lose this look."
Buffy gave him a confused expression. How had she known what she was thinking. "Empathy, I think," Xander answered. "I think it's pretty common with vampires."
Buffy let out a little half smile as a twinkle in Xander's eye appeared. "Where are the others?" she asked, suddenly realizing they were alone.
"I asked... to be with you. To talk with you. So they went to the library, and Cordelia... I think she went with them or, or maybe upstairs. I'm not sure."
"Oh," Buffy said. She must've been thinking for awhile now. How time flies by. She was going to say something else when Xander extended his hand.
"Grab it," he told her. When she gave him a confused look again, he continued to hold out his hand. "*Grab* it. It'll be cool."
"Um, ok." Buffy grabbed on to the hand-tightly-not knowing exactly what he was gonna do.
Xander grinned, look up at the tree, and Buffy looked to where his gaze rested. And then, with a sudden whoosh of air, they were there.
"I jumped," Xander enthused, his manner a bit light and teasing, and Buffy took amoment to catch her breath once they were in the higher levels of the oak tree. "I just found out I could do that... and I guess I wanted to show you."
Buffy smiled weakly. "Yeah, that was something." Then a silence fell between them, uncomfortable and long.
Xander looked up at the sky, which had changed from it's dark black to a beautiful deep blue, knowing that in seven minutes or so he would have to run for cover. "It's twilight," he whispered, thinking of the passage from Reginald's Watcher Diary. "The darkness after sunset."
Buffy blinked back sentimental tears and joined her arm with Xander's. "Twilight is also the time before the sunrise," she told him, a tear escaping and sliding down her cheek. "A time to let go of the old, and new beginnings... and stuff, ya know?"
Xander smiled at her little try at poetry, and reached out to wipe the tear from her face. He did it slowly, sensually, looking deep into Buffy's eyes all the while. He let his finger trace from her cheek down to her neck, where he traced it off to just the top of her breasts and then let go.
"Just one kiss," he breathed, leaning in.
Buffy didn't objected. She closed her eyes and felt the soft, satiny touch of Xander's lips on hers. His kiss... he was a wonderful kisser. She was enthralled, caught up in the sensuality of the kiss, and she kissed back harder, pressing her body against his. He wrapped his arm around her, leaning in, and for a moment they traded tongues.
It was heaven. It felt like heaven to her. Nothing with Angel... expect perhaps the sex... had ever been this good. She didn't know that Xander was capable of making her feel this way. But oh, now that he was... it was heaven.
Xander let go of the kiss and Buffy took a deep breath. She closed her eyes in contentment as Xander's mouth moved down her chin and by her ear. "Xander, don't... stop, please. I need this. I need this so much." She wrapped her arms around him, entwining her hands into his thick black curls. Her leg inched up his, utterly caught up in the moment...
And then she felt the cool, cold fangs sliding into her neck, and fuzzy sensation created around the area that Xander had pierced. And icy shock ran through her entire body as he began to drink, and with all her might, Buffy tried to push him away. Kick him away. Anything. But she was frozen to the spot, unable to move as her fragile life was taken from her.
Xander let go of her and watched her dried husk of a body fall to his feet and then continued to fall from the tree like the different layers of the branches were macabre stairs. His mouth was covered in blood, but that was not unusual to see on a vampire who had made their first kill. The lukewarm blood was slowly chilled as it was exposed to the air, and Xander's tongue darted out to lick the remains of the blood that was once so bittersweet, and now so crisp and fresh unlike anything he had ever tasted.
But still... the blood of the Slayer wasn't really what it was hyped up to be.
Xander dropped from the tree, landing gracefully on to legs. This alone thrilled him, beyond the fact that pure energy and power was now pumping through his veins. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. It was lighter now, and twilight was fading. He would have to go inside soon.
He could hear the whine of cop cars in the near distance. Some neighbor had heard the ruckus and reported it. Now he really had to move.
As Xander walked away, he took a mental picture of Buffy's body, dried and dead. "Yes, Buffy, that's right," he whispered, reveling in all of it. "A time to let go of the old. A time for new beginnings."
Buffy, who had been standing there stock-still like an idiot, ran towards her friend. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him tight into a hug. She could feel the spreading wetness of his tears on the sleeve of her shoulders as she shed tears of her own.
"God, Xander, I'm so sorry..." she whispered to him, the tone in her voice begging her to forgive him for the all the pain she had wrought. For all the pain *he* had wrought. For everything...
The other Slayerette's caught up with them, Cordelia dropping to her knees besides her boyfriend and hugging him tight. "Oh Xander," she whispered, crying herself. "I can't believe... I can't believe..." she didn't try to go on, just rocked herself and Xander together, as he abandoned the comfort of Buffy's arms for her.
As Willow got her turn and Oz came to say whatever he was gonna say, Buffy turned around to the oak tree
*The oak'll win in the end*
to the spot where Angel had died. She reached out to touch the limb, her fingers twining around the thick bark, tightening to that pieces flaked off and dug into her hand. Her eyes teared up, mourning for a lover and enemy lost. It had been unbearable to watcher Xander practically annihilate Angelus, but it needed to be done and never in the world could she have done it. It was inevitable... Angel's fate.
"Hey." Buffy turned around, startled, at the sound of the voice and the hand on her shoulder. It was just Xander, standing there with the strangest expression on his face, one completely unreadable. His eyes were so deep now, so very deep... and his whole meaner was saddened by the weight-
"Of being lost," Xander finished her thought. "I now. I don't think I'll ever lose this look."
Buffy gave him a confused expression. How had she known what she was thinking. "Empathy, I think," Xander answered. "I think it's pretty common with vampires."
Buffy let out a little half smile as a twinkle in Xander's eye appeared. "Where are the others?" she asked, suddenly realizing they were alone.
"I asked... to be with you. To talk with you. So they went to the library, and Cordelia... I think she went with them or, or maybe upstairs. I'm not sure."
"Oh," Buffy said. She must've been thinking for awhile now. How time flies by. She was going to say something else when Xander extended his hand.
"Grab it," he told her. When she gave him a confused look again, he continued to hold out his hand. "*Grab* it. It'll be cool."
"Um, ok." Buffy grabbed on to the hand-tightly-not knowing exactly what he was gonna do.
Xander grinned, look up at the tree, and Buffy looked to where his gaze rested. And then, with a sudden whoosh of air, they were there.
"I jumped," Xander enthused, his manner a bit light and teasing, and Buffy took amoment to catch her breath once they were in the higher levels of the oak tree. "I just found out I could do that... and I guess I wanted to show you."
Buffy smiled weakly. "Yeah, that was something." Then a silence fell between them, uncomfortable and long.
Xander looked up at the sky, which had changed from it's dark black to a beautiful deep blue, knowing that in seven minutes or so he would have to run for cover. "It's twilight," he whispered, thinking of the passage from Reginald's Watcher Diary. "The darkness after sunset."
Buffy blinked back sentimental tears and joined her arm with Xander's. "Twilight is also the time before the sunrise," she told him, a tear escaping and sliding down her cheek. "A time to let go of the old, and new beginnings... and stuff, ya know?"
Xander smiled at her little try at poetry, and reached out to wipe the tear from her face. He did it slowly, sensually, looking deep into Buffy's eyes all the while. He let his finger trace from her cheek down to her neck, where he traced it off to just the top of her breasts and then let go.
"Just one kiss," he breathed, leaning in.
Buffy didn't objected. She closed her eyes and felt the soft, satiny touch of Xander's lips on hers. His kiss... he was a wonderful kisser. She was enthralled, caught up in the sensuality of the kiss, and she kissed back harder, pressing her body against his. He wrapped his arm around her, leaning in, and for a moment they traded tongues.
It was heaven. It felt like heaven to her. Nothing with Angel... expect perhaps the sex... had ever been this good. She didn't know that Xander was capable of making her feel this way. But oh, now that he was... it was heaven.
Xander let go of the kiss and Buffy took a deep breath. She closed her eyes in contentment as Xander's mouth moved down her chin and by her ear. "Xander, don't... stop, please. I need this. I need this so much." She wrapped her arms around him, entwining her hands into his thick black curls. Her leg inched up his, utterly caught up in the moment...
And then she felt the cool, cold fangs sliding into her neck, and fuzzy sensation created around the area that Xander had pierced. And icy shock ran through her entire body as he began to drink, and with all her might, Buffy tried to push him away. Kick him away. Anything. But she was frozen to the spot, unable to move as her fragile life was taken from her.
Xander let go of her and watched her dried husk of a body fall to his feet and then continued to fall from the tree like the different layers of the branches were macabre stairs. His mouth was covered in blood, but that was not unusual to see on a vampire who had made their first kill. The lukewarm blood was slowly chilled as it was exposed to the air, and Xander's tongue darted out to lick the remains of the blood that was once so bittersweet, and now so crisp and fresh unlike anything he had ever tasted.
But still... the blood of the Slayer wasn't really what it was hyped up to be.
Xander dropped from the tree, landing gracefully on to legs. This alone thrilled him, beyond the fact that pure energy and power was now pumping through his veins. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. It was lighter now, and twilight was fading. He would have to go inside soon.
He could hear the whine of cop cars in the near distance. Some neighbor had heard the ruckus and reported it. Now he really had to move.
As Xander walked away, he took a mental picture of Buffy's body, dried and dead. "Yes, Buffy, that's right," he whispered, reveling in all of it. "A time to let go of the old. A time for new beginnings."