TITLE: Afterthoughts - Fear, Itself
AUTHOR: Goddess Isa
EMAIL: goddessisa@aol.com
SUMMARY: Anya takes care of her man, and Buffy & Oz have the convo we all know they had
SPOILER: Fear, Itself
DISTRIBUTION: Sure, just email me & lmk where it's going - I like seeing my name in print =) It'll also be at my Buffy site, http://planetslaythis.homestead.com
FEEDBACK: Please, I'd hate to have to Slay for it. =P
RATING: TV-PG
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, Joss Whedon does. I want them though, I want them bad, and I want them that way.



"So," Xander finished a 100 Grand. "You got anymore chocolate?" They'd been at Giles' for an hour, chowing down.

Giles looked up from his journal. "You ate all of it?"

"Of course not. I was just hoping you'd let me take it home so I could eat for the next few weeks."

Buffy glanced at him. "You don't look like you haven't been eating."

"Ha ha ha." he made a face.

Anya was suddenly at his side, stroking his hands. "You're not eating?" she demanded. "Why? I don't understand."

"Well, there's this thing called money. I need it to buy food, and I don't have any."

"What about your parents?" she asked.

"They put a combination lock on our fridge."

"You poor baby!" Anya hugged his body tightly. He glanced at Buffy and Willow who were smirking. "I'm gonna feed you ever night, I promise. Wonderful meals."

"You can cook?" Oz asked.

"No!" she said defensively. "I'll learn."

"I could help," Willow offered. "I've got this book--."

"Not a spell book, I should hope." Giles interrupted.

"A cookbook," Willow rolled her eyes. "You can learn all sorts of things. There's this section on little cookies with--"

"Buffy, are you bleeding?" Giles asked suddenly.

She glanced at her shoulder. Her dress was soaked through. "Oh yeah, a plastic skeleton stabbed me."

"Are you all right?"

She shrugged. "I'll live."

"I could clean it up for you." he offered.

Buffy's mind flashed back to the last time she got stabbed in the back, the last time someone cleaned it off for her. Angel took care of her, kissed her, made love to her.

"No," she told Giles. "I'm fine. But thanks."


*****


"So...." Buffy said as Oz drove her home. It was the following morning and he'd taken Willow straight to her first class before dropping Buffy off at the dorms so she could get an hour or two of sleep before English. "You went to LA."

"Yep."

"Have a good time?"

"It was all right."

"Did you see Angel?" she finally asked.

Oz pulled over and smiled. "You are the nosy one."

"How is he, Oz? Really, I wanna know."

"He's dealing. Was pretty amazed by the simplicity of sunlight."

She smiled. "He's always liked the simple things."

"And he has a nice business going, too."

"Friends?" she asked, almost hopefully, just so he wouldn't be alone.

"A few."

"Is there....does he..." she didn't know how to get the words out.

"Your picture's on his desk, Buffy."

She smiled. "Thanks Oz."

He nodded and started the car up again. They both knew that was the one detail she needed for reassurance.