PART 2 - "A whole new world."
Buffy and Angel returned to the library to find Willow and Oz snuggled together in a chair, a book of Wiccan lore open in Willow's lap. With the swinging of the door being opened, Willow and Oz looked up with a start, and were even more shocked with Buffy's demeanor.
Buffy was leaning against Angel, as if he were the only thing holding her up. Her eyes looked hollow, like all the life had been taken out of her. Willow leaped off her perch on Oz's lap and came over to help Angel get Buffy into a seat.
Once Angel and Willow were sure that she was secure in the seat, they let go of her. She immediately began to rock back and forth, mumbling something over and over. Willow bent over to listen to what Buffy was saying. What she heard both confused and frightened her.
"They're gone... Oh God... They're gone... It's all my fault... They're gone..."
*****
The first thing that Xander saw after jumping through that blue vortex was the ground rushing rapidly toward his face. "Oomph!" A few seconds later, another body landed next to him, and judging by the plethora of British sounding curse words, he figured it was Giles. Another few seconds later, the man who had opened the vortex helped him to his feet. "Are you all right?"
Xander stretched a little and rubbed his face. "Yeah, I think so. So you guys do this often?"
Quinn chuckled. "Yeah, for about the last three years now. But don't worry, my landing was even more graceful than yours was! I'm Quinn Mallory."
Xander took his hand and shook it. "I'm Alexander Harris. But my friends and the people that save my ass, call me Xander." Xander nodded his head toward Giles. "That serious looking British guy all decked out in tweed is Rupert Giles. We just call him Giles."
Remmy was still tending to Collin when he spoke up. "I'm Rembrandt 'Crying Man' Brown. Q-Ball over there and the gang just call me Remmy. This here with the vampire bite is Quinn's brother Collin."
Maggie looked around once to check for possible threats, when she decided that it was safe enough for an introduction. "I'm Maggie Becket. I used to be a Marine before I joined these guys and became a Slider."
After hearing that Collin had a vampire bite, Giles rushed over to aid Remmy in his care. After a few moments inspection he sighed in relief. "Your brother should be fine Mr. Mallory, the vampire wasn't able to fully drain him. Nor apparently was it able to make him drink any of its blood either. He just needs a little time to recover. Now, where are we? And just what was that thing we jumped through?"
"Well, as for the where we are. That's really hard to determine, if you can at all. All I can tell you with certainty is that this is a parallel Earth. "
Xander scratched his head and looked around. "A parallel Earth? But, this looks EXACTLY like the place we just left." Giles looked up at the moon, and chimed in. "And judging by the position of the moon, it appears to be the same time."
Quinn nodded at the two. "Most of the time, a parallel world is completely different from the world that you are familiar with. But every once in a while, you'll come across a world that is almost exactly like your home world, but with a few minor exceptions. It seems that there are quite a few parallel Earth, perhaps numbering in the thousands."
Xander looked like his head was about to explode. "So how do you get from Earth to Earth?"
Remmy chuckled and looked at Xander. "I'll field this one Q-Ball, I know how the kid feels, I was exactly the same way the first time I slid. It's like this Xander. Q-Ball over there invented this gadget that, in a lot of big science words, opens a gate between two Earths. We call it 'Sliding'. The only problem is, you have to wait until the timer on that do-dad there reaches zero to open another gate."
Xander still looked a bit confused, but accepted everything that was said. "So how long until we can 'slide'? And can you get up back home?"
Quinn smiled and nodded again at Xander. "Absolutely, I have your home world coordinates stored here. All we have to do is wait for the timer to count down to zero, just like Remmy said." He looked down at the timer. "Which should be in about twelve days."
Little did anyone realize that at that very moment a figure dressed in all black was silently advancing on the group, nearing close enough that it could now listen in on the conversation.
Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them, something he did when he felt things spinning out of his control. "So Mr. Mallory, what happens if the counter reaches zero and we don't 'slide'?"
Quinn was about to answer when the figure jumped out of the shadows. "Giles? What are you doing out here?"
Everyone was startled by the appearance of the newcomer. Only Giles and Xander relaxed once they realized who it was. However, Giles didn't have an explanation handy so he decided to wing it. "Well, Um... B- Buffy... You see..." He, of course, wasn't doing a very good job at winging it, which didn't matter anymore as Buffy had shifted her attention elsewhere.
Her eyes grew wide as she walked towards Xander. He smiled at her, and saw something in her eyes that he never thought he'd see there. At least, not directed towards him. Before he could react to that, however, Buffy reached her hand up to his face, and began to caress it lovingly. She spoke in a barely audible whisper. "You're alive." Xander didn't have time to reply, because she leaned up and wrapped her arms around his head and began to kiss him slowly and passionately.
Buffy and Angel returned to the library to find Willow and Oz snuggled together in a chair, a book of Wiccan lore open in Willow's lap. With the swinging of the door being opened, Willow and Oz looked up with a start, and were even more shocked with Buffy's demeanor.
Buffy was leaning against Angel, as if he were the only thing holding her up. Her eyes looked hollow, like all the life had been taken out of her. Willow leaped off her perch on Oz's lap and came over to help Angel get Buffy into a seat.
Once Angel and Willow were sure that she was secure in the seat, they let go of her. She immediately began to rock back and forth, mumbling something over and over. Willow bent over to listen to what Buffy was saying. What she heard both confused and frightened her.
"They're gone... Oh God... They're gone... It's all my fault... They're gone..."
*****
The first thing that Xander saw after jumping through that blue vortex was the ground rushing rapidly toward his face. "Oomph!" A few seconds later, another body landed next to him, and judging by the plethora of British sounding curse words, he figured it was Giles. Another few seconds later, the man who had opened the vortex helped him to his feet. "Are you all right?"
Xander stretched a little and rubbed his face. "Yeah, I think so. So you guys do this often?"
Quinn chuckled. "Yeah, for about the last three years now. But don't worry, my landing was even more graceful than yours was! I'm Quinn Mallory."
Xander took his hand and shook it. "I'm Alexander Harris. But my friends and the people that save my ass, call me Xander." Xander nodded his head toward Giles. "That serious looking British guy all decked out in tweed is Rupert Giles. We just call him Giles."
Remmy was still tending to Collin when he spoke up. "I'm Rembrandt 'Crying Man' Brown. Q-Ball over there and the gang just call me Remmy. This here with the vampire bite is Quinn's brother Collin."
Maggie looked around once to check for possible threats, when she decided that it was safe enough for an introduction. "I'm Maggie Becket. I used to be a Marine before I joined these guys and became a Slider."
After hearing that Collin had a vampire bite, Giles rushed over to aid Remmy in his care. After a few moments inspection he sighed in relief. "Your brother should be fine Mr. Mallory, the vampire wasn't able to fully drain him. Nor apparently was it able to make him drink any of its blood either. He just needs a little time to recover. Now, where are we? And just what was that thing we jumped through?"
"Well, as for the where we are. That's really hard to determine, if you can at all. All I can tell you with certainty is that this is a parallel Earth. "
Xander scratched his head and looked around. "A parallel Earth? But, this looks EXACTLY like the place we just left." Giles looked up at the moon, and chimed in. "And judging by the position of the moon, it appears to be the same time."
Quinn nodded at the two. "Most of the time, a parallel world is completely different from the world that you are familiar with. But every once in a while, you'll come across a world that is almost exactly like your home world, but with a few minor exceptions. It seems that there are quite a few parallel Earth, perhaps numbering in the thousands."
Xander looked like his head was about to explode. "So how do you get from Earth to Earth?"
Remmy chuckled and looked at Xander. "I'll field this one Q-Ball, I know how the kid feels, I was exactly the same way the first time I slid. It's like this Xander. Q-Ball over there invented this gadget that, in a lot of big science words, opens a gate between two Earths. We call it 'Sliding'. The only problem is, you have to wait until the timer on that do-dad there reaches zero to open another gate."
Xander still looked a bit confused, but accepted everything that was said. "So how long until we can 'slide'? And can you get up back home?"
Quinn smiled and nodded again at Xander. "Absolutely, I have your home world coordinates stored here. All we have to do is wait for the timer to count down to zero, just like Remmy said." He looked down at the timer. "Which should be in about twelve days."
Little did anyone realize that at that very moment a figure dressed in all black was silently advancing on the group, nearing close enough that it could now listen in on the conversation.
Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them, something he did when he felt things spinning out of his control. "So Mr. Mallory, what happens if the counter reaches zero and we don't 'slide'?"
Quinn was about to answer when the figure jumped out of the shadows. "Giles? What are you doing out here?"
Everyone was startled by the appearance of the newcomer. Only Giles and Xander relaxed once they realized who it was. However, Giles didn't have an explanation handy so he decided to wing it. "Well, Um... B- Buffy... You see..." He, of course, wasn't doing a very good job at winging it, which didn't matter anymore as Buffy had shifted her attention elsewhere.
Her eyes grew wide as she walked towards Xander. He smiled at her, and saw something in her eyes that he never thought he'd see there. At least, not directed towards him. Before he could react to that, however, Buffy reached her hand up to his face, and began to caress it lovingly. She spoke in a barely audible whisper. "You're alive." Xander didn't have time to reply, because she leaned up and wrapped her arms around his head and began to kiss him slowly and passionately.