AUTHOR: Goddess Isa
EMAIL: goddessisa@aol.com
SUMMARY: Anya had never met any of the Scooby Gang until Xander cheated on Cordelia and she came to grant her the power of the Wish, right?
SPOILER: Innocence and The Wish
DISTRIBUTION: Butterfly and Crystal, if they want it. Anyone else, sure, just email me & lmk where it's going - I like seeing my name in print =)
FEEDBACK: Please, I'd hate to have to Slay for it. =P
RATING: TV-14
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, Joss Whedon does. If he ever decides to give them to me, that would be nice. =)
January 31st, 1998
Buffy woke up and screamed. A pretty blonde was standing before her, scanning the stacks.
"What?" she asked. "Aren't students allowed to use the library?"
"Yes, but...."
"But what?" she snarled.
"Nothing." Buffy sat up and rubbed her eyes. She pushed her stringy hair behind her ears and sighed. She'd been at the library all night trying to find a way to turn Angelus back into Angel. Her mother had fallen asleep while they were watching their movie, and it had been easy to sneak out, leaving a note about studying with Willow. The library had been surprisingly empty when she'd arrived, but she'd enjoyed the peace. It had given her a chance to cry.
"Um, Buffy?" she ran down the stairs and met up with Buffy where she was stretching in the center of the room.
"How do you know my name?"
"Oh...I'm Anya. I know Cordelia. From French."
"Lucky you. I don't work here, so if this is about books--"
"It's not. I just thought you might want to talk."
She kicked her leg in the air, letting out frustration. "About?"
"Angel."
Buffy immediately lost her form and stumbled. "How do you know about Angel?"
"Like I said, I know Cordelia. She's got a big mouth."
"Now there's a surprise. Why would you want to talk to me about Angel?"
"I didn't mean Angel, I meant Angelus." Anya watched Buffy's face for a reaction.
"I think you should go." Buffy refused to meet her eyes.
"I know everything Buffy. How Angel's changed--"
"No, you don't." Buffy threw her sweatshirt on in a hurry and left the library, wanting to get home as soon as possible.
"You'll be back!" Anya called. "You know you're going to need me."
*****
It had been hours since Buffy had read the journal of Sylvia Platt, a Watcher in the late 1800's, but she still remembered every word as though it were right before her. She stalked through the woods to Angel's lair, wanting to get there as soon as possible. It was morning, the sun was out and he would no doubt be inside. She knew what she had to do. Or what the book said to do.
Sylvia's Slayer had studied a vampire couple before killing them. Once they'd had sex, the male lost his urge to feed and it ultimately destroyed them. With her fingers crossed, Buffy prayed somehow that sleeping with Angelus might restore his soul, or at least tone down the demon a bit.
He was asleep when she entered, lying on the sheets completely naked. She ran a hand lightly over his shoulder, his back, remembering. Then his eyes snapped open.
"I knew you'd come," he grinned at her.
*****
Hours later, Buffy limped back to her house. Her mother was out of town again, and it would be easier for her to just crawl into bed and talk to everyone later. The morning with Angelus hadn't gone as she'd planned it. As much as she loved him, demon and all, she didn't appreciate being forced into anything and he would've been dust had she had a stake on her.
She headed up the stairs to her room and heard a voice.
"Mom?" she called, a bit scared.
"It's me," Anya walked into sight.
"How in the Hell--"
"Don't ask questions." she stared at her, watching her. "You want to erase what just happened, don't you?"
"How do you--"
"I know everything Buffy. I've got a gift."
"Like Ms. Calender."
"Something like that." she smiled at her. "Don't you wish Angel had never turned back?"
"What kind of question is that?"
Anya tried again. "Don't you wish you'd never slept with him?"
"I don't regret that, and I just...God, how do you know all of this?"
"I told you Buffy, I--"
Anya didn't get a chance to finish. Buffy started to cry and fell to her knees. Anya saw her opening and put an arm around her, comforting her.
"You know you can wish it all away," she said it with a wicked grin. "Here," she took her necklace off and put it around Buffy's neck. "Sometimes you need a little luck. This has been in my family for years."
Buffy sniffled. "I don't need luck, I need a genie." Anya snorted.
"You know, sometimes I wish I'd never gone to the library last night."
Anya turned into a vein-covered, gross looking demon. "Done."
*****
Buffy woke up to find a blue screen on the television and her mother sacked out next to her. She yawned and went upstairs
From a distance, Anya watched on her crystal ball and wondered when the turmoil was going to start.