Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its characters were created by Joss Whedon and other people at Mutant Enemy, and Press Gang was based on an idea by Bill Moffat and written by Steven Moffat.
Acknowledgements: I'm incredibly indebted to Matthew Newton's Press Gang site where I obtained the quotes I'll use to open each chapter, along with any chronological information I use herein.
Author's Notes: This story follows on from the events in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode "Once More, With Feeling".
The History Trip
Chapter One - Where Do We Go From Here?
All the best stories start dull. This is just too interesting to be interesting. - Lynda Day, Junior Gazette Editor
Warren, Jonathan and Andrew made their way stealthily to The Bronze. They stuck to the shadows, maintaining complete silence (apart from the evil song that they were singing with great bravado). Arriving at their destination, they completed their final verse, and positioned themselves in an alley - somewhere where they wouldn't be seen, but somewhere with a good view of The Bronze's entrance. Warren placed his finger on the trigger of the weapon that they'd spent all day creating: the Time Twister 2000 (as Andrew had insisted on christening it). This was the weapon that would remove the Slayer from their lives for good.
After what seemed like a long while, the door to the Bronze finally opened. Warren's trigger finger tensed, but it wasn't her. Spike left the building, causing Warren's finger to relax, and then The Slayer appeared, and his finger tensed once more. Warren waited patiently until Spike and Buffy had stopped walking. Then they briefly sang to each other, before embracing in a passionate kiss. Seizing the opportunity, Warren took aim and fired. They hadn't been able to test the weapon properly beforehand and even Warren was surprised by the dramatic results. A huge swirling vortex ripped a hole in the sky and was attempting, and succeeding, to draw anyone and anything in the vicinity into it. The evil trio activated their gravity boots (christened by Warren) to keep them anchored to the ground, whilst everything around them was caught up in the resulting maelstrom and swept inexorably up towards the vortex. Spike and Buffy, being directly under the vortex, were the first to be sucked in.
Inside the Bronze the singing had finished. It was time to leave, and wordlessly they started to go. Dawn went through the door first, followed by Anya and Willow. Xander hung back - he was still feeling guilty about summoning the singing demon and the look Anya had given him just before she left made him think it would be wise to lay low for a while. Similarly, Tara refused Willow's hand for the second time that day, still disgusted with Willow for messing with her mind. Willow didn't know the reasons for Tara's actions, but left The Bronze alone that night, leaving Tara standing next to Xander inside the building. With them was Giles, deep in contemplation as he fiddled with his glasses.
Thus it was that Xander and Tara, as they left The Bronze, were just in time to see Buffy, Spike, Dawn, Willow and Anya spinning round and round in the vortex they'd been sucked into. They rushed towards the vortex to try to reach their friends, but it was too late. The vortex was closing.
By the time Giles came out, the vortex had disappeared, and Xander and Tara were left, standing there, watching the sky where it had been.
Their friends had gone, maybe for good.
Warren, Jonathan and Andrew sneaked away, without any musical accompaniment, as Xander tried to console a sobbing Tara, whilst also having to explain what had just happened to Giles.
Xander, Tara and Giles stood there, waiting, in the vain hope that the others would return as suddenly and mysteriously as they left. The three of them were silent. All of the music had gone away.