Title: Runaway
Chapter 6: Birthdays and Vaccations
Disclaimer: They're not mine. Can't remember who American Pie belongs to, but it's not mine either
Author's Notes: This is going to be an all B/A story. Don't get me wrong, I adore Spike but this is going to be totally B/A. With my required happy ending.
Author's Notes 2: I've made a tiny change to this chapter (as mentioned in Chapter 10).
Author's Rant: I've gotta admit that I don't really watch Angel (except IWRY) and now I know why! Can you believe that the producers have him 'fighting his feelings for Cordelia'?! He shouldn't be HAVING feelings for Cordelia. Plus there's the fact that Buffy slept with Spike. At this rate when Riley 'Fishboy' Finn arrives in Sunnydale she'll take him back with open arms. Oh yeah, one place I went to said that Angel's rates had plummeted and another said that in the 3rd season the series 'had really fitted together'. The first is much more believable. Okay, I'm done.
Feedback: Please, more feedback.
As soon as she got home that night Buffy turned on the dim light, up righted the fallen chair and dragged it over to a flat surface, then she rummaged around for a pen and paper. For long minutes Buffy stared at the paper in front of her, it was totally blank, it didn't even have lines. Then – after making sure that the cheap biro worked – she moved her pen to the top of the sheet and in her big, loopy handwriting, carefully wrote 'Welcome to the Hellmouth'.
Over the many months that followed Buffy wrote at every spare opportunity. She ate and slept even less than ever, all of her spare money going towards notepads and pens. Her apartment was littered with loose paper, some of it crumpled and discarded, but most covered with writing. She wrote on absolutely everything she could get her hands on, the order forms at work, bits of newspaper, and the things she managed to buy with her meagre wages.
Now she had almost finished. In the novel she had written about all the things that had happened since she first left The City of Angels for Sunnydale. When she had finally gotten round to putting it all together she had realised just how thick the book would be if it was printed. It covered the Harvest, the time she had stopped Amy's mom from trying to kill cheerleaders, when their supply teacher Natalie French had been a human sized Preying Mantis, the time she had gone out with Owen and when Xander had been taken over by a hyena.
She was already planning to start her second book. Even though nobody except her would ever read the work she had poured everything into she found that it helped a little. Not much, but enough to get her through the torturous days when she had to pretend everything was fine, to smile and laugh and make sure that nobody started to ask awkward questions. Who knew, maybe eventually it would lead to the closure that Spike had talked about, but for now she was just happy to write.
Buffy grabbed another handful of popcorn from the bowl on the table. She and her friends were sprawled around the living room in Sam and Alex's house. Their parents were out so they had invited everyone round to watch movies.
It was now almost four years since Buffy had left Sunnydale. Just a few weeks ago the five of them had celebrated her birthday. Publicly she celebrated her 'twenty second' birthday, but inside she had felt another piece of her die. Three years ago everything had been perfect. She had a wonderful boyfriend who loved her unconditionally, and on that fateful night of her seventeenth birthday, they had made love. She sometimes wondered when she had lost Angel, the morning after her birthday, or the night she had sent him to hell? She had never really come up with an answer.
"I love this movie," Liam said, round a mouthful of chocolate.
Alex nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, it's definitely the best."
It was an action/adventure type with lots of explosions, gunfights and car chases. The girls had complained when it was put on, but as Liam and Alex had pointed out, they'd already watched one of their movies.
Buffy snorted as the hero through yet another massive guy right across the room, making him smash into the wall. "Oh, please. There is no way that would happen. I mean, even Angel, Spike or me couldn't do that."
Sam, Jean, Alex and Liam all turned to stare at her. She quickly realised her mistake.
"Something from your mysterious past?" asked Jean gently.
Buffy managed to conjure up a lopsided grin. "Just some old friends."
They settled back down again and when the movie finished Sam put in another video. "I cannot wait until next week," she said, sounding pretty excited.
"Why?" asked Buffy idly, watching the trailers before American Pie.
"You mean we didn't tell you?"
That got her attention. "Tell me what?"
Alex stretched. "The four of us are going on vacation next week. Our parents have been friends forever so they planned this big vacation for everyone."
Buffy had funny images of Xander, Willow, Cordy and families going to a beach together, before she firmly pushed them away. "Where are you going?"
"A little town about two hours away. It's called Sunnydale."
Buffy barely managed to keep the shock of her face. "Sunnydale?! You're going to Sunnydale?"
"Yep. For a bit of relaxation. Do you know it?"
"I've been there a couple of times," she said finally. "My only advice is, don't go out after dark if you're alone."
"How come?" Liam asked her.
"The town's okay in daylight, but after dark they get a pretty nasty crime problem. There are enough unsolved murders to rival some of the big cities."
"Don't worry. We'll be really careful."
Buffy hadn't had much to do over the last couple of days, with her friends gone to Sunnydale. She had finished 'Welcome to the Hellmouth' and had started to check it over. To her surprise she found that it was actually quite good, though she did find herself wishing that she had her old journals.
She flexed her hand experimentally, it had started to cramp with all the editing she had been doing. She stretched her arms, and glanced at the cheap TV in the corner. She had had it on while she wrote, finding the background noise helpful. Some cartoons had just come on and, not bothering to switch off the set, she went to bathroom, deciding to have a shower, even though at this time of the day the water was almost certainly going to be cold.
After her shower she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, using another one to dry her hair.
"The world is in shock today after a small town two hours away from LA was almost wiped off the map. Witnesses of the huge explosion in Sunnydale claimed that the mass destruction was caused by demons."
Buffy stopped towelling her hair and rushed over to the TV. It was showing arial pictures of Sunnydale. Most of the buildings were black and destroyed, there was no sign of life anywhere. The picture changed back to a female reporter. She seemed to be standing at a road block, with other reporters, the police and even the army rushing about.
"Even after being treated for concussion the witnesses continued to make these extraordinary claims, and now, after extensive research, we can reveal the truth to you. We are not alone on this planet. I understand how unbelievable this statement is but we have exclusive footage to prove it."
This time when the picture changed a huge creature came up. Even though she had never seen it before to Buffy it was unmistakeably a demon. Ragged breathing could be heard above the explosions, and roar of flames, as the camera rushed away from the destruction.
"Just half an hour earlier the President made this statement. People of America, do not be alarmed. While it is true that we have discovered a demon infestation in the town of Sunnydale, California, measures have already been taken to ensure that this problem is dealt with quickly and surely. I have, just like you, only now found out about these creatures but it has brought to my attention that the US government has a demon hunting programme called 'the Initiative' who are highly trained in the destruction of demons."
Once again the image changed, this time from the President back to the reporter.
"There is also a British organization called 'the Council of Watchers' who have fought these monsters for hundreds of years. They have a unique weapon called the Slayer, a girl given supernatural powers to fight the forces of darkness."
Buffy's mind had totally shut down. Sunnydale. Mass Desturction. That meant that her friends, old and new, were in danger. Either that or they were already dead. Almost before she knew what she was doing Buffy switched of the TV, and starting throwing everything she owned into a bag. Quickly kneeling on the floor she pulled up the loose floorboard and took out her old clothes and jewellery. She hesitated a moment before slipping the claddargh ring on a silver chain and putting it round her neck, under the t-shirt she was wearing.
After she had packed everything, something that only took minutes (after all the biggest thing she owned was probably 'Welcome to the Hellmouth') she locked the door and ran down the stairs. When she was outside her landlady's door she pushed the keys and enough money to cover last months rent through the letterbox. Then she jogged outside, intent on getting to Sunnydale as soon as possible.
~
um . . . okay . . . I had no idea that was going to happen. I'm watching the story unfold just like you are. I almost scrapped this and just wrote it again. Never mind, I guess it's different.
Oh, yeah, could someone tell me whether at the end of season 2 the gang had met Oz or whether Xander and Cordelia had started going out? I can't rememeber.