Destiny Lost
#1: In the Space of a Heartbeat
Authors: Sonya and Erin
E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Category: B/X, AU, action/adventure, romance
Summary: An accident seconds before being chosen causes the Slayer Essence to skip Buffy, leaving her a normal girl. Then, a year and a half later, her mom's new job and her parents' divorce brings Buffy and her mother to Sunnydale, where Buffy comes in contact with the world of the night and a young man dedicated to its destruction.
Disclaimer: We do not own Buffy or any of the original characters or ideas from the show. They all belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc. All we own is our own creative genius (unless that's too strong a word :) and any characters we make up.
Distribution: Sure, just let us know where it is!
Feedback: Love it! We want to know your likes AND dislikes. Flames are the only thing we do not accept.
Spoilers: Basic BtVS mythology and vampire/slayer lore
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 14
Sunnydale High School
Xander got to the library on time for once that morning. He walked through the doors saying, "7:30 a.m., right on the dot!" Giles and Sonya were waiting for him. The three evil-fighters settled around the reading table, and the two teenagers looked at Giles and his pile of papers.
"We have two things to talk about this morning," Giles said.
"Only two?" Xander questioned sarcastically. "You're losing your touch, old man."
Giles frowned at Xander and continued. "I have before me the results of Angel's trip to England, and we have to talk about the plan for tonight."
Sonya stared at the papers under the librarian's hand with a fearful expression. Part of her wanted very much to know what Angel had found out. If things had gone right, she might be whole again soon -- or at least that was the hope. But since Giles had had all that stuff for awhile without telling her about it, she began to suspect the worst.
"I'm going tonight," Sonya said firmly, avoiding the subject she wanted to know about the most.
Xander and Giles both jumped in to convince her otherwise in a heartwarming display of caring.
"It's not possible," Giles said.
"I won't let you," Xander said over the well-bred librarian. "I'll tie you up myself if you try it."
But the fact that they both cared about her, also meant that they doubted her ability to do anything, and that got on Sonya's nerves. "Sorry, boys, I'm going. I may be bound to this stupid chair, but I'm still a Slayer. You know what they say, half a Slayer is better than no Slayer at all..."
The men quieted down, but both still looked mutinous. Sonya knew she would have to do more convincing, or blackmailing, later.
"Well," Giles said, "we're going to need a plan of action."
Xander looked surprised. "I thought the plan was take all the weapons and mow all the vamps down. Call it the John Wayne approach to battle."
Giles rolled his eyes at the boy. "Yes, well, that may work in the movies, but what about all the innocent patrons. We need a way to get them out of there before the battle."
"I was thinking about that," Sonya said. "I figured you and I could get the sheep out the back way while Angel and Xander distract Spikey-poo and Willow-the-slut."
She couldn't keep her eyes off of the papers in front of Giles, and the Watcher noticed. He sighed. Now came the hard part. Abruptly, he changed the subject.
"Angel didn't find what we'd hoped while he was in England."
Xander's face was an expressionless mask, but Sonya paled and sat back. Giles had to keep going. If he stopped to comfort them, he wouldn't be able to go on.
"But he did find something. It's a long shot, but it might work." He paused, and then blurted the rest of it out. "He found a spell that the Council keeps under lock and key, and for good reason. It is a spell to forcibly tra nsfer the Slayer Essence from the current Slayer to another potential Slayer."
Sonya was deadly silent, but Xander had a question. "How come it's kept so secret? I mean, all this stuff we've been doing for the past year, it's almost all moot with this spell."
"Except for Sonya's life," Giles reminded him.
"That's the part I don't understand," Xander said. "I mean, why would the Council be willing to kill a Slayer who can't slay instead of just using this spell?"
Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead. "I've been thinking about that all night. You're right, it doesn't make much sense. But the Council doesn't always make much sense from a human perspective. I remember the filing cabinet where Angel said he found this. It is the only locked cabinet in the room. No one ever opens it. I always wondered what was inside, but no one would tell me. And it wasn't that they were keeping it a secret. Honestly, no one knew about it's contents."
He looked from one teenager to the other. Xander looked angry. Sonya looked drained of emotion. Giles continued. "My hypothesis is that only the head of the Council even knows of this spell's existence, if even he does. Think about it. If it was widely known that the Slayer could get rid of her powers, there would be an anarchy of sorts. 'Chosen One' wouldn't mean anything. If a girl didn't like the life -- and very few of them do at first -- she could trade it in and the powers would go to someone else, then the new girl would have to be trained -- if she agreed not to transfer HER powers -- and it would be a never ending circle. And in the meantime, vampires would overrun the world without a seasoned Slayer to fight them. I know it sounds hard, and very inhumane -- but from my years in the Council, that's how I think the reasoning went. The Council is an old, stuffy organization -- I'll admit it. They aren't in touch with the human side of slaying or the Slayer, and I don't know how that can be changed. But, anyway, this spell is the only option we have because apparently there is no healing spell strong enough to cure paralysis." He looked at Sonya. "I'm sorry."
She held up a hand, which admirably was not shaking, signaling that she did not want to talk about that right now. Instead she bit out, "But how are we going to do it? I mean, do you know any potential Slayers? As far as I know everyone who was going to be a Slayer was called and is now dead, and I thought it took a big spell or prophecy or something to determine who the next one will be."
"That's the difficult part. I don't know how we're going to find the girl," Giles admitted. "But I'm sure that Angel has a plan. If he didn't have a plan, he would have stayed in England until he found out the name of the next Slayer. He was supposed to meet me last night to discuss it, but he got busy patrolling until sunup. After tonight's festivities, we will have another meeting, with him in attendance, and talk about the details."
The clock on the wall read 7:55. Xander stood up, still a bit pale. "Gotta get to class. We can talk about this more later." He laid a sympathetic hand on Sonya's shoulder, but she pushed it off. Xander sighed and left the library.
"Sonya..." Giles started.
"Shut up!" Sonya snapped. "I can't do this right now." Then she wheeled herself out of the library, letting the doors slam behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy walked into the school that morning with purpose. She kept her eyes open, and watched the world around her instead of staring down at her feet. This time when Cordelia crossed her path, Buffy saw her in time to stop before the collision. Cordelia looked at her with a puzzled expression. Buffy just smiled and kept walking.
English class was good. Ever since the accident, Buffy had found her hidden aptitude for schoolwork, but poetry was one thing that had always eluded her. But this morning, as Mrs. Jacobs went over the Shakespearean Sonnet ("What winds do shake the darling buds of May" and "How do I love Thee? Let me Count the Ways..."), the words made sense to her in a whole new way. But when the teacher asked for comments about Sonnets, Buffy didn't raise her hand. She figured saying, "They make me think of my boyfriend," wasn't quite what Mrs. Jacobs was looking for. A few sidelong glances with Xander behind her, though, showed identical feelings on his face -- though he looked more serious than usual this morning.
The hard part about sneaking around, Buffy figured out as she was leaving English class without actually talking to or touching Xander, was that there were times when the urge to go over and kiss him, or just smile at him and revel in their feelings was almost overwhelming, and she had to squelch the desires.
(This is harder than it looks) Buffy thought, bending over the water fountain to get a drink. She felt a light touch on her back and straightened up just in time to see Xander walk by her. He caught her eye for a brief moment, and she followed him, a few paces back. Xander checked out the hallway in both directions, saw nothing, and slipped through a door. Buffy looked at the sign on the door. Basement. She hesitated, scenes from all the horror movies she'd ever seen going through her head. Wasn't there a clause or something that said basements are bad? That would probably go double or nothing on the Hellmouth. But then she followed him inside anyway. One of the other clauses in those movies was that you usually only get killed when you're alone -- and she wasn't planning on being alone down there.
A couple of steps down, a pair of arms caught her around the waist. She squinted until her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she could make out the lines of Xander's face.
"This is so hard," he moaned, burying his face in her hair.
"I know," Buffy replied. "Why did we decide to do this again?"
"Saving the world," Xander muttered. "Saving the world. That's important, right?"
Buffy nodded. "That's important. And so is saving your best friend."
His smile drooped. "Yeah. That's going to be hard now. Giles found a way to save the world, but it may not save her. Or, it will save her life, but not her calling."
Looking up at him with concern, Buffy could see the sadness on his face, though she didn't quite understand what he was talking about -- only that it was bad for Sonya. "I'm so sorry." She didn't like Sonya, but Xander obviously cared about her, so Buffy couldn't find it in her heart to completely hate the girl. "Is there anything I can do?"
"I just need to forget about it for a few seconds."
They hugged fiercely, hoping for enough closeness to push away all the badness of the world, and to sustain them for the rest of the day -- or at least for a few class periods. They kissed too -- frantic, rushed kisses, but still sweet and new. Buffy couldn't get enough of him.
"You make my knees go all wobbly," she whispered, breathless.
Xander opened his eyes and looked down on her in surprise. "I do that?"
Buffy smiled. "Yeah, you do."
"No one's ever said that to me before." His smile took on a mischievous air. "I think that deserves another kiss."
But they couldn't stay there forever. The bell would ring soon, and they both had to get to class -- on opposite sides of the school. Finally, they pulled apart.
"Are you coming over to my house after school?" Buffy asked hopefully.
Xander shook his head sadly. "Can't. Battle conference for tonight."
Buffy nodded. "I understand. Well, don't worry. I'll see you at the Bronze at 7 or so."
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Positive." She kissed him on the cheek. "I've sat around at home and wondered what was going on in the real world for too long. I'm not going to do it again."
Xander gave her a quick hug. Then they helped each other fix their hair until they looked like responsible students again.
"Any lipstick on my face?" he asked with a grin.
Buffy made a big show of inspecting him, then she smacked her head with her hand. "Silly me. I forgot. I don't wear lipstick."
"Really, why not?"
Buffy remembered how hard it had been just to comb her hair or get clean in traction -- no time for cosmetics. And since then it had just become habit not to wear them. She wanted to tell Xander about that. She's told him a little about her accident, but not very much. But the ringing of the bell told them there was no time.
"You go out first," Xander said. "Kick the door or something if Sonya or Giles is out there. If you don't, then I'll come out in a minute or so, and hopefully no one will notice."
"Except our teachers when they mark us tardy," Buffy answered, but she did what he said. The hall was almost empty -- no librarians and no wheelchairs. She ran off to class, which happened to be the one class she actually shared with Sonya. Still angry about the lengths Sonya and Giles had forced her and Xander to, Buffy wanted to give the girl a dirty glare, but she also remembered what Xander had said and felt a spurt of pity for Sonya, so she refrained. Buffy apologized prettily to the teacher, and made up some excuse about getting lost, it only being her third day and all. The teacher bought it, and didn't give Buffy a tardy. Buffy slid down into her seat gratefully, not noticing the dirty look Sonya was shooting HER from across the room.
When the class was over, Buffy was one of the last people out of the room. Time for the morning break, she realized with a smile. A few precious minutes of freedom before it was back to the grind. The halls cleared out quickly as students rushed to the lounge and the vending machines. Buffy was pondering getting a soda when suddenly Sonya was there in her path.
"Excuse me," Buffy said, trying not to sound rude but not succeeding very well.
"I need to talk to you," Sonya said, her voice cold.
"What about?" Buffy demanded. "We don't have anything to talk about that I can think of. You made sure of that when you and Mr. Giles made Xander stop seeing me. I'm not a part of your inner circle now, so what in the world could you possibly have to say to me? Did you want to rub it in?"
"You don't deserve Xander!" Sonya spat. "He needs somebody real, not some girl with nothing better to do than go to the mall."
Buffy stared at Sonya. The girl didn't know what the heck she was talking about. But the insult hurt anyway -- it brought back to mind the shallow person she used to be. "For your information, I haven't been to the mall in several months. And who do you think does deserve Xander? You?" Buffy thought about adding something about the wheelchair, but that would hit too close to home for her, too, so she didn't.
"He needs someone who understands him, and what he's up against," Sonya said, avoiding Buffy's last question.
"I understand him!" Buffy cried. "I'm not one of those fluff-for-brains people that can't see the truth of the evil. I think you're just jealous." Sonya didn't say anything for a minute, and the truth started to dawn on Buffy. Her tone went from defensive to accusatory. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"
"No!" Sonya stumbled over her words. "How could I love him that way? He's my friend, he's the guy that picks me up when I can't get my chair up the stairs. He's not a romantic leading man."
Buffy just looked at her. The anger in her eyes softened. "I'm sorry if I got in your way, Sonya. I didn't mean to hurt you, but Xander and I really care about each other. You may be able to force him not to see me, but you can't force him not to care. If that's the way you love him, then I feel sorry for Xander because your love isn't real, it's selfish."
Sonya stared at Buffy for a few seconds, searching for words that weren't there. Then the girl turned her chair around and wheeled herself away, leaving Buffy alone in the hallway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lunchtime couldn't come fast enough for Buffy. When the bell rang signaling the end of fourth period, she scampered down the hall to the cafeteria. After looking over her disgusting options, she selected an apple and a Coke, and then went over to her usual table. A few minutes later, and there was Oz, book in hand.
"Hey," he said, sitting down with a tray of something Buffy couldn't identify. "How's the balance?"
For her plan to work, Buffy had to tell Oz everything -- well, everything except the slaying and vampire parts. She hesitated for a minute and then plunged into the story.
"Better," she said, "but not perfect. I need your help."
"How?"
"You see, no one can know that Xander and I are still seeing each other. If it gets back to the wrong people, he will get in big trouble with his ... job. But he's got too many responsibilities to just give it up, so we're in a bind."
"Yeah saving the world from vampires and stuff can be time consuming, or so I've heard."
Buffy's eyes opened wide and she dropped her apple down onto the table. Oz caught it before it could roll away and handed it back to her.
"Thanks," she said, and then added, "but how do you know all that?"
"I have eyes," Oz said, "and a brain. There was this one night when this dude with a weird symbol on his forehead came into the Bronze before the Dingoes were going to go on. He started to eat Cordelia Chase up there on the stage. Sonya came in and busted the place up. For some reason, the next day, everyone thought it had been gang members on PCP, but I knew the truth. And then Sonya had her accident, and suddenly she and Xander are together like peanut butter and jelly. And then there was the Halloween Incident... It all adds up."
"Wow," Buffy said. "You're pretty good."
Oz inclined his head modestly. "So, you needed help?"
She swallowed nervously, and then just said it. "I need you to be my beard."
"Huh?"
"You know, a beard." She tried to explain. "When a guy is gay he will take a date to something as a cover, and she is his beard. I need you to be my beard tonight. Well, in a non-gay way, of course."
"Of course." Oz waited for more.
Buffy hesitated, and then decided to tell him most of the truth. After all, if she was going to take him to the Bronze, he had a right to know so he could be prepared, right?
"There's going to be vampire trouble at the Bronze tonight. Xander and the others are going to be there, and I want to go, too, but if I go alone..."
"They'll catch on," Oz finished for her.
"So, what do you think?"
"I'd be honored to be your fake date," Oz said. Then he stood up. "Gotta jet. Pick you up at 6:30?"
Buffy smiled, telling him where she lived. "See ya then."
#1: In the Space of a Heartbeat
Authors: Sonya and Erin
E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Category: B/X, AU, action/adventure, romance
Summary: An accident seconds before being chosen causes the Slayer Essence to skip Buffy, leaving her a normal girl. Then, a year and a half later, her mom's new job and her parents' divorce brings Buffy and her mother to Sunnydale, where Buffy comes in contact with the world of the night and a young man dedicated to its destruction.
Disclaimer: We do not own Buffy or any of the original characters or ideas from the show. They all belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc. All we own is our own creative genius (unless that's too strong a word :) and any characters we make up.
Distribution: Sure, just let us know where it is!
Feedback: Love it! We want to know your likes AND dislikes. Flames are the only thing we do not accept.
Spoilers: Basic BtVS mythology and vampire/slayer lore
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 14
Sunnydale High School
Xander got to the library on time for once that morning. He walked through the doors saying, "7:30 a.m., right on the dot!" Giles and Sonya were waiting for him. The three evil-fighters settled around the reading table, and the two teenagers looked at Giles and his pile of papers.
"We have two things to talk about this morning," Giles said.
"Only two?" Xander questioned sarcastically. "You're losing your touch, old man."
Giles frowned at Xander and continued. "I have before me the results of Angel's trip to England, and we have to talk about the plan for tonight."
Sonya stared at the papers under the librarian's hand with a fearful expression. Part of her wanted very much to know what Angel had found out. If things had gone right, she might be whole again soon -- or at least that was the hope. But since Giles had had all that stuff for awhile without telling her about it, she began to suspect the worst.
"I'm going tonight," Sonya said firmly, avoiding the subject she wanted to know about the most.
Xander and Giles both jumped in to convince her otherwise in a heartwarming display of caring.
"It's not possible," Giles said.
"I won't let you," Xander said over the well-bred librarian. "I'll tie you up myself if you try it."
But the fact that they both cared about her, also meant that they doubted her ability to do anything, and that got on Sonya's nerves. "Sorry, boys, I'm going. I may be bound to this stupid chair, but I'm still a Slayer. You know what they say, half a Slayer is better than no Slayer at all..."
The men quieted down, but both still looked mutinous. Sonya knew she would have to do more convincing, or blackmailing, later.
"Well," Giles said, "we're going to need a plan of action."
Xander looked surprised. "I thought the plan was take all the weapons and mow all the vamps down. Call it the John Wayne approach to battle."
Giles rolled his eyes at the boy. "Yes, well, that may work in the movies, but what about all the innocent patrons. We need a way to get them out of there before the battle."
"I was thinking about that," Sonya said. "I figured you and I could get the sheep out the back way while Angel and Xander distract Spikey-poo and Willow-the-slut."
She couldn't keep her eyes off of the papers in front of Giles, and the Watcher noticed. He sighed. Now came the hard part. Abruptly, he changed the subject.
"Angel didn't find what we'd hoped while he was in England."
Xander's face was an expressionless mask, but Sonya paled and sat back. Giles had to keep going. If he stopped to comfort them, he wouldn't be able to go on.
"But he did find something. It's a long shot, but it might work." He paused, and then blurted the rest of it out. "He found a spell that the Council keeps under lock and key, and for good reason. It is a spell to forcibly tra nsfer the Slayer Essence from the current Slayer to another potential Slayer."
Sonya was deadly silent, but Xander had a question. "How come it's kept so secret? I mean, all this stuff we've been doing for the past year, it's almost all moot with this spell."
"Except for Sonya's life," Giles reminded him.
"That's the part I don't understand," Xander said. "I mean, why would the Council be willing to kill a Slayer who can't slay instead of just using this spell?"
Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead. "I've been thinking about that all night. You're right, it doesn't make much sense. But the Council doesn't always make much sense from a human perspective. I remember the filing cabinet where Angel said he found this. It is the only locked cabinet in the room. No one ever opens it. I always wondered what was inside, but no one would tell me. And it wasn't that they were keeping it a secret. Honestly, no one knew about it's contents."
He looked from one teenager to the other. Xander looked angry. Sonya looked drained of emotion. Giles continued. "My hypothesis is that only the head of the Council even knows of this spell's existence, if even he does. Think about it. If it was widely known that the Slayer could get rid of her powers, there would be an anarchy of sorts. 'Chosen One' wouldn't mean anything. If a girl didn't like the life -- and very few of them do at first -- she could trade it in and the powers would go to someone else, then the new girl would have to be trained -- if she agreed not to transfer HER powers -- and it would be a never ending circle. And in the meantime, vampires would overrun the world without a seasoned Slayer to fight them. I know it sounds hard, and very inhumane -- but from my years in the Council, that's how I think the reasoning went. The Council is an old, stuffy organization -- I'll admit it. They aren't in touch with the human side of slaying or the Slayer, and I don't know how that can be changed. But, anyway, this spell is the only option we have because apparently there is no healing spell strong enough to cure paralysis." He looked at Sonya. "I'm sorry."
She held up a hand, which admirably was not shaking, signaling that she did not want to talk about that right now. Instead she bit out, "But how are we going to do it? I mean, do you know any potential Slayers? As far as I know everyone who was going to be a Slayer was called and is now dead, and I thought it took a big spell or prophecy or something to determine who the next one will be."
"That's the difficult part. I don't know how we're going to find the girl," Giles admitted. "But I'm sure that Angel has a plan. If he didn't have a plan, he would have stayed in England until he found out the name of the next Slayer. He was supposed to meet me last night to discuss it, but he got busy patrolling until sunup. After tonight's festivities, we will have another meeting, with him in attendance, and talk about the details."
The clock on the wall read 7:55. Xander stood up, still a bit pale. "Gotta get to class. We can talk about this more later." He laid a sympathetic hand on Sonya's shoulder, but she pushed it off. Xander sighed and left the library.
"Sonya..." Giles started.
"Shut up!" Sonya snapped. "I can't do this right now." Then she wheeled herself out of the library, letting the doors slam behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy walked into the school that morning with purpose. She kept her eyes open, and watched the world around her instead of staring down at her feet. This time when Cordelia crossed her path, Buffy saw her in time to stop before the collision. Cordelia looked at her with a puzzled expression. Buffy just smiled and kept walking.
English class was good. Ever since the accident, Buffy had found her hidden aptitude for schoolwork, but poetry was one thing that had always eluded her. But this morning, as Mrs. Jacobs went over the Shakespearean Sonnet ("What winds do shake the darling buds of May" and "How do I love Thee? Let me Count the Ways..."), the words made sense to her in a whole new way. But when the teacher asked for comments about Sonnets, Buffy didn't raise her hand. She figured saying, "They make me think of my boyfriend," wasn't quite what Mrs. Jacobs was looking for. A few sidelong glances with Xander behind her, though, showed identical feelings on his face -- though he looked more serious than usual this morning.
The hard part about sneaking around, Buffy figured out as she was leaving English class without actually talking to or touching Xander, was that there were times when the urge to go over and kiss him, or just smile at him and revel in their feelings was almost overwhelming, and she had to squelch the desires.
(This is harder than it looks) Buffy thought, bending over the water fountain to get a drink. She felt a light touch on her back and straightened up just in time to see Xander walk by her. He caught her eye for a brief moment, and she followed him, a few paces back. Xander checked out the hallway in both directions, saw nothing, and slipped through a door. Buffy looked at the sign on the door. Basement. She hesitated, scenes from all the horror movies she'd ever seen going through her head. Wasn't there a clause or something that said basements are bad? That would probably go double or nothing on the Hellmouth. But then she followed him inside anyway. One of the other clauses in those movies was that you usually only get killed when you're alone -- and she wasn't planning on being alone down there.
A couple of steps down, a pair of arms caught her around the waist. She squinted until her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she could make out the lines of Xander's face.
"This is so hard," he moaned, burying his face in her hair.
"I know," Buffy replied. "Why did we decide to do this again?"
"Saving the world," Xander muttered. "Saving the world. That's important, right?"
Buffy nodded. "That's important. And so is saving your best friend."
His smile drooped. "Yeah. That's going to be hard now. Giles found a way to save the world, but it may not save her. Or, it will save her life, but not her calling."
Looking up at him with concern, Buffy could see the sadness on his face, though she didn't quite understand what he was talking about -- only that it was bad for Sonya. "I'm so sorry." She didn't like Sonya, but Xander obviously cared about her, so Buffy couldn't find it in her heart to completely hate the girl. "Is there anything I can do?"
"I just need to forget about it for a few seconds."
They hugged fiercely, hoping for enough closeness to push away all the badness of the world, and to sustain them for the rest of the day -- or at least for a few class periods. They kissed too -- frantic, rushed kisses, but still sweet and new. Buffy couldn't get enough of him.
"You make my knees go all wobbly," she whispered, breathless.
Xander opened his eyes and looked down on her in surprise. "I do that?"
Buffy smiled. "Yeah, you do."
"No one's ever said that to me before." His smile took on a mischievous air. "I think that deserves another kiss."
But they couldn't stay there forever. The bell would ring soon, and they both had to get to class -- on opposite sides of the school. Finally, they pulled apart.
"Are you coming over to my house after school?" Buffy asked hopefully.
Xander shook his head sadly. "Can't. Battle conference for tonight."
Buffy nodded. "I understand. Well, don't worry. I'll see you at the Bronze at 7 or so."
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Positive." She kissed him on the cheek. "I've sat around at home and wondered what was going on in the real world for too long. I'm not going to do it again."
Xander gave her a quick hug. Then they helped each other fix their hair until they looked like responsible students again.
"Any lipstick on my face?" he asked with a grin.
Buffy made a big show of inspecting him, then she smacked her head with her hand. "Silly me. I forgot. I don't wear lipstick."
"Really, why not?"
Buffy remembered how hard it had been just to comb her hair or get clean in traction -- no time for cosmetics. And since then it had just become habit not to wear them. She wanted to tell Xander about that. She's told him a little about her accident, but not very much. But the ringing of the bell told them there was no time.
"You go out first," Xander said. "Kick the door or something if Sonya or Giles is out there. If you don't, then I'll come out in a minute or so, and hopefully no one will notice."
"Except our teachers when they mark us tardy," Buffy answered, but she did what he said. The hall was almost empty -- no librarians and no wheelchairs. She ran off to class, which happened to be the one class she actually shared with Sonya. Still angry about the lengths Sonya and Giles had forced her and Xander to, Buffy wanted to give the girl a dirty glare, but she also remembered what Xander had said and felt a spurt of pity for Sonya, so she refrained. Buffy apologized prettily to the teacher, and made up some excuse about getting lost, it only being her third day and all. The teacher bought it, and didn't give Buffy a tardy. Buffy slid down into her seat gratefully, not noticing the dirty look Sonya was shooting HER from across the room.
When the class was over, Buffy was one of the last people out of the room. Time for the morning break, she realized with a smile. A few precious minutes of freedom before it was back to the grind. The halls cleared out quickly as students rushed to the lounge and the vending machines. Buffy was pondering getting a soda when suddenly Sonya was there in her path.
"Excuse me," Buffy said, trying not to sound rude but not succeeding very well.
"I need to talk to you," Sonya said, her voice cold.
"What about?" Buffy demanded. "We don't have anything to talk about that I can think of. You made sure of that when you and Mr. Giles made Xander stop seeing me. I'm not a part of your inner circle now, so what in the world could you possibly have to say to me? Did you want to rub it in?"
"You don't deserve Xander!" Sonya spat. "He needs somebody real, not some girl with nothing better to do than go to the mall."
Buffy stared at Sonya. The girl didn't know what the heck she was talking about. But the insult hurt anyway -- it brought back to mind the shallow person she used to be. "For your information, I haven't been to the mall in several months. And who do you think does deserve Xander? You?" Buffy thought about adding something about the wheelchair, but that would hit too close to home for her, too, so she didn't.
"He needs someone who understands him, and what he's up against," Sonya said, avoiding Buffy's last question.
"I understand him!" Buffy cried. "I'm not one of those fluff-for-brains people that can't see the truth of the evil. I think you're just jealous." Sonya didn't say anything for a minute, and the truth started to dawn on Buffy. Her tone went from defensive to accusatory. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"
"No!" Sonya stumbled over her words. "How could I love him that way? He's my friend, he's the guy that picks me up when I can't get my chair up the stairs. He's not a romantic leading man."
Buffy just looked at her. The anger in her eyes softened. "I'm sorry if I got in your way, Sonya. I didn't mean to hurt you, but Xander and I really care about each other. You may be able to force him not to see me, but you can't force him not to care. If that's the way you love him, then I feel sorry for Xander because your love isn't real, it's selfish."
Sonya stared at Buffy for a few seconds, searching for words that weren't there. Then the girl turned her chair around and wheeled herself away, leaving Buffy alone in the hallway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lunchtime couldn't come fast enough for Buffy. When the bell rang signaling the end of fourth period, she scampered down the hall to the cafeteria. After looking over her disgusting options, she selected an apple and a Coke, and then went over to her usual table. A few minutes later, and there was Oz, book in hand.
"Hey," he said, sitting down with a tray of something Buffy couldn't identify. "How's the balance?"
For her plan to work, Buffy had to tell Oz everything -- well, everything except the slaying and vampire parts. She hesitated for a minute and then plunged into the story.
"Better," she said, "but not perfect. I need your help."
"How?"
"You see, no one can know that Xander and I are still seeing each other. If it gets back to the wrong people, he will get in big trouble with his ... job. But he's got too many responsibilities to just give it up, so we're in a bind."
"Yeah saving the world from vampires and stuff can be time consuming, or so I've heard."
Buffy's eyes opened wide and she dropped her apple down onto the table. Oz caught it before it could roll away and handed it back to her.
"Thanks," she said, and then added, "but how do you know all that?"
"I have eyes," Oz said, "and a brain. There was this one night when this dude with a weird symbol on his forehead came into the Bronze before the Dingoes were going to go on. He started to eat Cordelia Chase up there on the stage. Sonya came in and busted the place up. For some reason, the next day, everyone thought it had been gang members on PCP, but I knew the truth. And then Sonya had her accident, and suddenly she and Xander are together like peanut butter and jelly. And then there was the Halloween Incident... It all adds up."
"Wow," Buffy said. "You're pretty good."
Oz inclined his head modestly. "So, you needed help?"
She swallowed nervously, and then just said it. "I need you to be my beard."
"Huh?"
"You know, a beard." She tried to explain. "When a guy is gay he will take a date to something as a cover, and she is his beard. I need you to be my beard tonight. Well, in a non-gay way, of course."
"Of course." Oz waited for more.
Buffy hesitated, and then decided to tell him most of the truth. After all, if she was going to take him to the Bronze, he had a right to know so he could be prepared, right?
"There's going to be vampire trouble at the Bronze tonight. Xander and the others are going to be there, and I want to go, too, but if I go alone..."
"They'll catch on," Oz finished for her.
"So, what do you think?"
"I'd be honored to be your fake date," Oz said. Then he stood up. "Gotta jet. Pick you up at 6:30?"
Buffy smiled, telling him where she lived. "See ya then."