Title: The Lost
Author: Isis Blue
Feedback: Always appreciated. Please, no flames, don't blame me if you read a story you don't like because of the ship, or general storyline. Constructive criticism, however, or endless words of praise are very welcome ;)
Disclaimer: If I were Joss, people would be happy, not indulging in puke worthy infatuations and lame storylines. Does that answer your question???
Rating: R, for adult themes (drugs, sex, etc)
Pairing: B/A (major pair), but also W/O, X/C
Summary: This is basically my own take on post-Becoming BTVS, how I would have done things. Its not a rewrite of Season 3, just what happened to get everyone back together, and since it's my story I can have it end up however I please :)
Warnings: if you don't like the Buffy/Angel pairing, DON'T READ...this also deals with a major character being, uhhh, majorly f**ked up, I guess that's sums it up. So don't read if you hate that idea, or tell me that something like that is completely absurd, its my fic, I write what I want.
Author's note: Sometimes I like this fic when I reread it, sometimes I don't
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Part 1
Inside the dark, dusty mansion all was still as it had been for the past 4 months. Ever since the epic battle that had sent the re-ensouled vampire to the realm of darkness and emotionally crimpled the once brilliant slayer. Nothing had been the same since that terrible day. But no one really knew what had happened. The day after, the remnants of the battle were clearly visible but the combatants were not. The Slayer and her Angel had vanished from the face of the earth leaving their friends and loved ones behind. They did not know what to think or if they would ever see their beloved Buffy again, but they hoped that one day she might return to them.
*********
The music inside the club pounded loudly as a myriad of teens, young adults, and wishful older ones slithered back and forth across the checkered floor. Bright colored lights flashed on and off and fog machines created an opaque haze the tangled itself amongst the writhing, sweaty bodies. In the center of the room a young girl danced voraciously to the relentless beat of the music. Her chin length, bleach blonde hair bobbed with every movement of her scantily clad body. Several young men were vying for her attention their hands roaming over her abundant bare skin. Occasionally a hand slid up under her turqouise halter top or down over her purple leather mini-skirt. She did not mind, however, and seemed to only grind herself harder into the offending male. Just as she has done almost every night since she arrived in the City of Angels...Los Angeles.
***********
Inside the noisy lobby of the high school, the young red-headed wannabe witch sat staring at her biology book. Life just hadn't been the same. The excitement, the danger, the fun that had driver her life, up until a few months ago, for the last year and half had vanished. In its place there was only somber reminders that she was gone. Giles missed her the most, though. He'd never said it but she could tell. And Xander, even though he was still going out with Cordelia, he was crushed by Buffy's disappearance. None of them knew whether to be worried, or scared, or angry that she had just left them like this, that is of course assuming she wasn't...
"Hey Will, how's the studying going?" questioned the dark haired male now sitting next to her.
"Huh? Oh, its going good. I just love those paramecium," Willow replied half heartedly.
"Dull much?" exclaimed the dark haired beauty sitting next to Xander.
"Yup, that's me, I'm just the life of the party," mocked Willow.
"Good morning all, I wonder if we might have a meeting sometime today to discuss, uh, business," stated the ever proper librarian.
"Sure G-man. Anything life threatening or just your run of the mill vicious killer?" asked Xander.
"I don't think its anything terribly important but worth looking into none the less...and please refrain from calling me that," responded the Brit in mock anger.
"Ok, we'll be by 6th period. Catch ya later Giles," said Willow as the 3 teens got up and headed to class.
*********
As mid-day approached the once bright day began to dull as dark clouds inched their way across the sky. A warm westerly wind menaced its way down toward the oft-afflicted town. The light drizzle that fell was quickly turned into a dreary fog that hung in the air like a deflating balloon. Outside the mansion the wind blew fiercly attempting to gain entry into the boarded up relic. A stale smell, a mixture of dust, decaying leaves....and something else, eminated from every gust of wind. The weak doors of the old building bulged inwards as the winds pounded relentlessly. Then, as if punched open by two large fists, the doors swung inwards giving entry to the storm that raged outside. The main room of the mansion was soon encased in the thick fog, seemingly untouched by the winds that blew around it. In the center of the room the fog began to swirl in upon itself. Within minutes a whirlpool of misty haze had engulfed the entire room and at the center of the whirlpool a speck of blue light shone brightly. A loud clap of thunder rattled the few remaining artifacts in the room as the whirlpool began to spin faster. Another loud rumble followed. The blue light began to shift colors and slowly grow in size. A flash of light dashed down into the room as a bolt of lightning struck the gleaming light. The room glowed intensely so that if anyone had been present they would have been temporarily blinded. But just as quickly as the bolt had struck it was gone taking with it the whirlpool of mist and the stale stench. The room appeared as if nothing had happened. Except in the center of the room, just below where the light had been, lay a broken, and bruised naked body.
**********
Inside room 12 of the sleazy Home Sweet Home motel slept the once proud Slayer. It was just about noon so it was not unusual for her to still be sleeping considering she partied hard night after night. As the second hand of the clock reached the twelve signaling the arrival of the 12:00 hour the sleeping girl suddenly jerked awake in her bed. She sat up rubbing her throbbing head, a reminder of all that she had done the night before. A blank look was painted across her face. A queasy feeling had set over her, different than the typical ones she received from coming down. Something felt weird. Something she couldn't quite figure out. And it had been a while since she'd been woken out of a dead sleep by tormenting dreams. Turning toward the nightstand she grabbed a small container and tapped a white pill into the palm of her hand. With a glance to the soundly sleeping male next to her she told herself it was probably just a side effect of whatever the guy, her latest conquest, had given her last night and popped the pill into her mouth.
************
The darkened hallways of Sunnydale High were littered with giddy students. The sudden storm had knocked the power out causing the school officials to cancel the rest of the school day. Students wandered around chatting happily about missing the rest of the day. Xander, Willow, Cordelia and Oz slowly made their way to the library. The place where they seemed to spend and obscene amount of time. The four friends chatted somberly about various things going on, not really caring about the words being spoken just that they were doing something to keep themselves occupied. They arrived at the library to find Giles sitting at the wooden table trying to read a book by candlelight.
"Gee, not even a power outage can stop the book man," quipped Xander.
"Very funny Xander, but there's work to be done regardless of out current lack of illumination," Giles replied sardonically.
"So what's up Giles?" questioned Willow.
"Well, since Jenny's, Miss Calendar's, uh...well, since then I've been keeping an eye on her email. She had a lot of sources around the world who passed on information to her. One of them, a Brother Luca, had given her information regarding the Master's rise so I felt it imperative to keep an eye open for pertinent information. He recently send out and email that said 'The mouth will open in a roaring rage. Darkness will follow and the balance will be restored.' That's why you find me sitting here going through the books. I have no idea what this message means or if it means anything important at all, but I feel it bears worth looking into," explained Giles as he took off his glasses in order to clean them.
"So many words. Couldn't you just say 'I got this message, we need to find out what it means'?" Xander asked.
"It was a perfectly good explanation. I don't see anything wrong with it. Do any of you?" Giles questioned.
"I have to go with Xander on this one. It was a bit to British," said Oz stoically.
"Fine, fine...Here's the message, let's get started," said Giles, defeated.
************
"This is boring. I'm tired. Are we done yet?" asked Cordelia obnoxiously.
"Cordelia, we haven't even found anything yet," remarked Willow.
"What is there to figure out? Some mouth is going to open, something bad is going to come out, but in the end it's all good because balance will be back to normal or whatever," explained the cheerleader.
"Yes, Cordelia, that's what will happen, but it would be immensely helpful to know what mouth was opening, what demon was coming out, and how the balance is restored. We have yet to decipher the answer to any of these questions," responded Giles.
"I think Cordelia's right. Well half right. We're all tired, I think we should go home and get some sleep," stated Oz noticing the surprised looks around him at his rare interjection.
"Very well, I'll see you all tomorrow then. Goodnight and be careful," sighed Giles.
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"Do you want me to come in?" asked Oz with a stroke down the back of his girlfriend's hair.
"No, I'll only be a minute," answered Willow sadly.
Oz watched the red head, his heart breaking, as she entered the old mansion. He'd been bringing here every so often since it happened. She always said it was because she just wanted to check on the place, make sure Acathla hadn't been disturbed or that any new vamps had taken up in the place. But he knew better. He knew that she was hoping one day to walk in there and find Buffy waiting. The silently hopeful look on her face gave it all away. She didn't talk about it much but Oz knew that she missed her female companion terribly. Even more so with all the new things going on in her life. He was one of those things. She'd never had a boyfriend before and he knew that it scared her and that having Buffy there to comfort her was what she needed. So he continued to bring her to the old house. He didn't have the heart to tell her that she'd probably never find Buffy there.