Part 10(a):
{Nope. not a good day at all.} Emily Kujawa thought to herself as she stared down the barrel of a Baretta 96G Elite. She had woken up late earlier that morning. Compound that with the fact that her car could not start, and she was late for work. When she did arrive at work, she had found out that she was going to be laid off in a month's time. She had also ruined her favourite pair of shoes by stepping into a puddle of mud which she had not noticed.
She had thought that a late evening-early night stroll might clear her head a bit after the suckiness that was her day. But that was before she was attacked by a gang high on PCP. For some reason, they had let her go. {something about the thrill of the hunt.} Before they could hunt her down though, she was saved by a pair of strangers who somehow fought off the gang. The gang had magically disappeared, as if turning into dust. Glad that at least something had gone right for her, she went to thank her saviours. What she did not expect however, was one of her 'saviours' practically shoving a gun down her throat.
Emily closed her eyes. {This is it. I'm gonna die.}It was as if time had slowed down just for her. In an instant she relieved her 24 year existence. She thought she heard the companion of the man who would take her life from her say something, but it was drowned out by the deafening click of the weapon's trigger as it was pulled.
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*Click*
{No bang. Why is there no bang? Thank god, he's out of bullets!} Buffy knocked the gun out of Xander's hand. "She's human!"
Xander did not respond for a moment, just looking at Buffy with a blank expression. Suddenly, he blinked, as if coming out of a trance. He turned to look at the girl he nearly killed, a cold expression on his face.
"Run home. Don't look back. NOW!"
Too overcome with fright and shock, the girl did as she was told, and ran off into the night.
Xander sighed and squatted down to pick up his sidearm. He started turning the weapon from side to side, checking for any damage. Suddenly, however, Xander was face to face with a pair of angry looking slayer shaped knees.
He looked up slowly. {Yup. Just as I thought. Royally inflamed Buffy.}
Buffy was incensed. This was just too close to the situation involving a certain rogue slayer a few years back for Buffy's liking. She knew she had to handle this matter delicately to avoid another Faith fiasco. {When you kill someone, there's no turning back. Oh my god? HAS he already killed someone? Please don't let me be too late.}
"What the hell was that Xander?" Buffy snapped. {Ok. Not the best way to handle this.}
Xander stood up to face the slayer. "No biggie, Buff, no one kicked." He tossed out dismissively, a lopsided grin on his face.
"No biggie? Xander, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Xander could feel his own anger welling up now. "Why don't you tell me? You seem to know everything." He said sarcastically.
"Well, for one, you disappear for six months and you haven't told me what happened during that time. You show no regard for human life, evidenced by what just happened. And worst of all, you're with that. . . that. . . thing!"
"So that's what this is about isn't it? My relationship with Dru."
"Xander, she's a monster, a killer."
"And what was Angel, and what is Spike? I'll give you a clue, they're not fucking boyscouts."
"I know, Xander, I realized that being with the enemy is just plain stupid, with or without a soul or chip. I broke it off with Spike a long time ago. Please, don't make the same mistake I did. If you sleep with the dead, you'll become as dead as them." Buffy spoke with a softer tone.
Xander was not about to relent. "Why the hell would you care about what happens to me?"
"Xander, I'm your friend. Of course I care."
Xander let out a snort. "You care? If you care so much for me, Buff, then tell me where you were that night? Which twisted dictionary defines friendship as leaving your friend to kill another one? "
"I didn't ask you to kill Willow, Xander." Buffy's voice was quickly gaining an edge.
Xander winced at the mention of his childhood friend's name. "Oh of course. That wasn't your fault. Saint Buffy can do no wrong. Well let's look at the facts shall we? Willow started to go bad when she did the spell to resurrect you. Did I mention how grateful you were NOT to us? Your inability to confront Willow earlier gave her the opportunity to unleash that invincible demon. Your decision to bring the gang to face the demon on a suicide mission instead of facing Willow gave me no choice but to take care of her myself." Xander shuddered at the cold and clinical way he was talking about his deceased comrade. "For some reason, I actually cared about you people back then. How stupid I was."
Buffy was speechless. Hearing Xander say these hurtful things toward her was especially painful, since there was a small part of her that believed the things she heard. There was also another emotion overcoming her. Anger. Each word that came out of Xander's mouth was acting as fuel for her rage.
Seeing that Buffy had no comeback, Xander continued. "I blame YOU, Buffy. You have Willow's blood in your hands!"
Deep down, Buffy knew that what Xander did not mean what he was saying. She knew that he had a lot of pent up rage and guilt and he was just letting it all out. But hearing Xander verbally attack her brought out her primitive slayer self defence mechanism. As if on auto pilot her hand balled up into a fist and swung out, catching Xander in the jaw, flooring him.
She stood over him, hatred clearly visible in her eyes. {No, Buffy, don't say it. You don't really mean it!}"I don't want to ever see your face again."
With that, she turned around and started to walk calmly back to her car, trying to hold back the tears already forming in her eyes.
Xander looked on as Buffy walked out of his life, maybe for good this time. He had known that this was going to happen. {What made you think that there was any hope for you among the living, Harris? Screw this. Big bad or no big bad, she won't want your help anymore. Just go find Dru and get the hell out of this town.}
Short part, i know. Parts 9 and 10 were not supposed to have sub parts, but i ended up fleshing out the parts too much and had to break them up to maintain word count consistency. Anyway, expect Dante and Dru's plan to be unveiled in part 10(b). I'll also explore how Dru and Xander hooked up in that part. I promise!!!
And Bolo, responding to your query, Xander is the one thinking he isn't good enough for Buffy. Xander's character is like that. That doesn't mean that what he thinks is true.
{Nope. not a good day at all.} Emily Kujawa thought to herself as she stared down the barrel of a Baretta 96G Elite. She had woken up late earlier that morning. Compound that with the fact that her car could not start, and she was late for work. When she did arrive at work, she had found out that she was going to be laid off in a month's time. She had also ruined her favourite pair of shoes by stepping into a puddle of mud which she had not noticed.
She had thought that a late evening-early night stroll might clear her head a bit after the suckiness that was her day. But that was before she was attacked by a gang high on PCP. For some reason, they had let her go. {something about the thrill of the hunt.} Before they could hunt her down though, she was saved by a pair of strangers who somehow fought off the gang. The gang had magically disappeared, as if turning into dust. Glad that at least something had gone right for her, she went to thank her saviours. What she did not expect however, was one of her 'saviours' practically shoving a gun down her throat.
Emily closed her eyes. {This is it. I'm gonna die.}It was as if time had slowed down just for her. In an instant she relieved her 24 year existence. She thought she heard the companion of the man who would take her life from her say something, but it was drowned out by the deafening click of the weapon's trigger as it was pulled.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
*Click*
{No bang. Why is there no bang? Thank god, he's out of bullets!} Buffy knocked the gun out of Xander's hand. "She's human!"
Xander did not respond for a moment, just looking at Buffy with a blank expression. Suddenly, he blinked, as if coming out of a trance. He turned to look at the girl he nearly killed, a cold expression on his face.
"Run home. Don't look back. NOW!"
Too overcome with fright and shock, the girl did as she was told, and ran off into the night.
Xander sighed and squatted down to pick up his sidearm. He started turning the weapon from side to side, checking for any damage. Suddenly, however, Xander was face to face with a pair of angry looking slayer shaped knees.
He looked up slowly. {Yup. Just as I thought. Royally inflamed Buffy.}
Buffy was incensed. This was just too close to the situation involving a certain rogue slayer a few years back for Buffy's liking. She knew she had to handle this matter delicately to avoid another Faith fiasco. {When you kill someone, there's no turning back. Oh my god? HAS he already killed someone? Please don't let me be too late.}
"What the hell was that Xander?" Buffy snapped. {Ok. Not the best way to handle this.}
Xander stood up to face the slayer. "No biggie, Buff, no one kicked." He tossed out dismissively, a lopsided grin on his face.
"No biggie? Xander, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Xander could feel his own anger welling up now. "Why don't you tell me? You seem to know everything." He said sarcastically.
"Well, for one, you disappear for six months and you haven't told me what happened during that time. You show no regard for human life, evidenced by what just happened. And worst of all, you're with that. . . that. . . thing!"
"So that's what this is about isn't it? My relationship with Dru."
"Xander, she's a monster, a killer."
"And what was Angel, and what is Spike? I'll give you a clue, they're not fucking boyscouts."
"I know, Xander, I realized that being with the enemy is just plain stupid, with or without a soul or chip. I broke it off with Spike a long time ago. Please, don't make the same mistake I did. If you sleep with the dead, you'll become as dead as them." Buffy spoke with a softer tone.
Xander was not about to relent. "Why the hell would you care about what happens to me?"
"Xander, I'm your friend. Of course I care."
Xander let out a snort. "You care? If you care so much for me, Buff, then tell me where you were that night? Which twisted dictionary defines friendship as leaving your friend to kill another one? "
"I didn't ask you to kill Willow, Xander." Buffy's voice was quickly gaining an edge.
Xander winced at the mention of his childhood friend's name. "Oh of course. That wasn't your fault. Saint Buffy can do no wrong. Well let's look at the facts shall we? Willow started to go bad when she did the spell to resurrect you. Did I mention how grateful you were NOT to us? Your inability to confront Willow earlier gave her the opportunity to unleash that invincible demon. Your decision to bring the gang to face the demon on a suicide mission instead of facing Willow gave me no choice but to take care of her myself." Xander shuddered at the cold and clinical way he was talking about his deceased comrade. "For some reason, I actually cared about you people back then. How stupid I was."
Buffy was speechless. Hearing Xander say these hurtful things toward her was especially painful, since there was a small part of her that believed the things she heard. There was also another emotion overcoming her. Anger. Each word that came out of Xander's mouth was acting as fuel for her rage.
Seeing that Buffy had no comeback, Xander continued. "I blame YOU, Buffy. You have Willow's blood in your hands!"
Deep down, Buffy knew that what Xander did not mean what he was saying. She knew that he had a lot of pent up rage and guilt and he was just letting it all out. But hearing Xander verbally attack her brought out her primitive slayer self defence mechanism. As if on auto pilot her hand balled up into a fist and swung out, catching Xander in the jaw, flooring him.
She stood over him, hatred clearly visible in her eyes. {No, Buffy, don't say it. You don't really mean it!}"I don't want to ever see your face again."
With that, she turned around and started to walk calmly back to her car, trying to hold back the tears already forming in her eyes.
Xander looked on as Buffy walked out of his life, maybe for good this time. He had known that this was going to happen. {What made you think that there was any hope for you among the living, Harris? Screw this. Big bad or no big bad, she won't want your help anymore. Just go find Dru and get the hell out of this town.}
Short part, i know. Parts 9 and 10 were not supposed to have sub parts, but i ended up fleshing out the parts too much and had to break them up to maintain word count consistency. Anyway, expect Dante and Dru's plan to be unveiled in part 10(b). I'll also explore how Dru and Xander hooked up in that part. I promise!!!
And Bolo, responding to your query, Xander is the one thinking he isn't good enough for Buffy. Xander's character is like that. That doesn't mean that what he thinks is true.