A/N: I know, I know. I'm REALLY late, and I'm planning to be very busy for the next two weeks. That means no updates, or if I do, they will be short. I'm telling you this beforehand so you can understand if I don't update for a while. I kinda hurried this chapter because I wanted to pump out one more for you guys before I might have to stop production briefly. So, here's a Easter/non-denominational-holiday-based-on-a-God-you-may-or-may-not-believe-in treat with this update!
Saying hey to:
spockisright : Isn't he always? ;) Sorry. I love Spock. "I've be doing the Vulcan death grip since I was three!" And in pops Cordy. Sorry again. Anyway, as for an Angel cameo…you'll just have to wait and see.
Leanne8582: Yeah, she is, isn't she? Hmm. Must have been PMSing or something of the like. Or the fact that I find Buffy one of the harder characters to write for. Maybe I should stick to Dawn. I think I've almost got her down to a formula.
Queen Boadicea: Trust me for weaving the most incredulous story. sighs There goes my future in cult TV. At least it's well-written. That counts for a lot in the "There's such a thing as a paragraph?" fan fic community. And finally a fellow anti-Spuffy believer! At least we (if spoilers are right) get to see Buffy and Angel kiss, fully ending the Buffy/Spike plotline once and for all cheers at the end of the sniff series.
AnGeL GiRl: Thank you. Despite what others say, I'm thinking resolution is in the future.
Buffy Fan: First, his name is Alexander Lavelle Harris. Second, I consider myself a Buffy fan. I do believe that's what one calls oneself when there's a poster on your wall, books on your shelf, con tickets on your credit card, and memories of eating ice cream at many a Buffy-watching party in your brain. Not to mentions hours spent writing fan fics, reading spoilers, and the like. Maybe you don't like Xander. I consider him an essential part of Buffy lore. Maybe he's a jerk at times, and maybe he can annoy the heck out of you, but in the end he always proves himself true. He's the average person thrust into this situation, with no magical powers other than just an uncanny ability to fix windows within a week's time. I don't understand where your bias comes from. Are you some vexed B/Ser? Or do you just loathe Xander? I respect your opinions, but I am a true Buffy fan. In that definition, I want what's best for the characters. And since Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a series about the power of friendship (yes, that is the message of the show), even in supernatural circumstances, I don't expect complete dissonance between Buffy and Xander forever. For now, yes. But I can almost promise you that Buffy stabbing Xander is one of the more improbable endings.
Chapter Six: Comfort Food
Buffy and Willow looked at Xander in the doorway, shock on their faces. As they silently held each others' eye contact, they heard a voice coming up to the house, growing louder.
"…And so I said, 'No way!' and Kristy told me, straight in the face, 'Uh huh, I saw them in the hallway totally making out' and, if you know John and Sarah, then you know that makes NO sense whatsoev…" Dawn's gossiping rampage ended at her sight of her stoic sister. "Uh, hi guys. Um, I got Xander to drive me home from Janie's because Willow was complaining about how much Physics homework she had and I knew you were going to be late, Buffy, so I didn't want to disturb you."
Buffy searched Dawn's face, wondering what could compel her sister to forcibly get her to talk to Xander. However, with Dawn's excuse falling flat, she'd given a little wave, said, "Bye!" and had raced upstairs to her room before Buffy could chide her.
"So, what do you need to tell me?" Xander stepped fully in from the doorway and closed the door behind him, as if separating them all from the world's judging eyes. Ha. The walls had ears; the windows had eyes. The world always judged you; even in the surrealistic Sunnydale, the morals of good and evil held judgment over that fine line. Close the door; you will still lose.
Or you can grasp at the hopeful straws remaining. Xander reached out for one. "Buffy, I'm sorry. I've told you this. I'm sorry I lied. I'm sorry you didn't get the summer of your dreams. But what's done is done. Why can't you forgive me? I can't stand this, Buff; this whole situation is tearing me apart."
Buffy stared at him, incredulous. She threw the straw away. "You're sorry. Everybody's so damn sorry. You think sorry is going to bring Angel back?!"
"Angel is back! Where have you been? He's in L.A. doing his 'help the helpless' gig. Why can't you understand this?!"
Buffy held her head in her hands, a migraine coming on strong. "You don't understand. You can't understand. Just leave me alone! Both of you!" Her eyes looked up, pained fire consuming their depths. "Just leave me alone."
Xander turned to stop her from running up the stairs to her room, but Willow grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Don't. She needs to figure some things out by herself now. Us pressing it is probably not going to help."
Xander looked up, watching Buffy's figure slip away. He sighed and turned to Willow, who let go her hold on his arm. "Yeah, but she's got to face her demons sometime." He inhaled deeply, letting everything wash over him. He sat down on the lower steps of the staircase. "And so do I."
Willow looked at him, biting her lip. "Hey," she murmured, sitting next to him. "Buffy just needs some time to think. No matter how much you deserve to be beating yourself about this, you don't have to."
He looked up and gave a small chuckle. Willow smiled and reached out, taking his hand. "Buffy'll come around. If she doesn't, we should probably be hiding her weapons chest."
"I'll grab the ax," Xander joked bitterly, cocking his head slightly. "I shouldn't be forgiven. I have no right."
"You have a right. You all forgave me when I didn't deserve forgiveness. I didn't have the right, so you gave me the privilege." She made eye contact. "Consider my forgiveness my thank you."
"Then you're welcome." Xander said. "But how do I get Buffy to forgive me?"
Willow shook her head. "It's the Angel factor."
"Don't I know it. Dead Boy strikes again." Xander exhaled slowly. "It's not that I don't want Buffy to be happy. God, her being unhappy is the last thing that I want. I just don't trust Angel. He's the thing we're supposed to kill."
"Wasn't Anya? I mean, what if Buffy had really killed her, just like she blames you for Angel's death? How would you feel? Would you be able to forgive her?"
"Of course—"
"You couldn't, Xand. You know that deep down you'd never be able to forgive her for killing your lover. Maybe Buffy seems over Angel at times, but he was her soul mate. Losing him and finding out that her best friend might have aided his death is a bit much. You remember how she was last year, so pained about being torn away from heaven. It took her a while to get back into the swing of things. Give her time. She might never be able to completely forgive you, but I know she values your companionship. Sure you've screwed us all over time and time again—"
"Will!" Xander groaned. "Great confidence boost."
She gave him a sincere smile. "Just let me finish, will you? Xander, you're…Remember a few years back, fighting Adam? When we were all fighting and everything was completely falling apart? We would've died if we all hadn't bound together like that. Remember who you are? You're the Loyal, the Heart. Maybe you aren't macho fighter-y or speaking Latin-y. But you help us keep a foot in reality and in our friendship. We've all done things we're not proud of. At least I can still keep my friends, as well as my guilty conscience."
"The key question is if Buffy feels the same," Xander said, looking up the stairs.
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The stars shone so brightly, almost blindingly so. Blinding to the pain, blinding to life. Just happily dancing light years away, caught in the millennia-long waltz. Buffy let her skin glow under their luminescence, as if the light would bring some sort of clarity. But they just winked nonchalantly eons away, not caring about the hell she had to live on earth.
She felt like crying, but her eyes were dry. She felt like killing something, and wrapped her fingers around her stake. Patrol should loosen her tension. She tossed on something more fight-y and wrapped her hair up in a quick, looped pony-tail. Slipping on her denim jacket, she opened the window, just like olden times. Time for some Slayer comfort food.
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Xander had gone home a half hour ago. Willow laid back in her bed, troubling thoughts hanging in her brain. Buffy was being stubborn, and she didn't want to disturb her at the moment. Let her cool down. Let the whole situation cool down.
But maybe making the problem even more distant was the worst thing that could happen. Sometime facing the problem made it go away faster. Or it was like throwing your best friend off a plane without a parachute, before she's ready. Salt in the wound, knife in the heart. Or a sword. Damn, everything was getting so complicated.
Willow sat up. Why was it that she could hack into the Department of Defense's computers and use black magick to destroy the world, but she couldn't solve a stupid feud between her friends? She ran her fingers slowly through her messy red hair, thinking. She had to do something. She wasn't going to let Buffy destroy one relationship that sustained her in this supposed hell. Sure, Xander had betrayed her. But friendships had a cost. And even when Xander could be the biggest son of a bitch…
Willow remembered him on the bluff with her, telling her he loved her. Telling her that they were going to be best friends to the end, ending their lives together, just like they were when they practically started. True friendship. Idiocy, sure, but true friendship. When it really mattered, Xander was there. Buffy just needed to remember that.
Either that or she just needed to move on. And to move on, she needed….Willow's brain clicked, her thoughts weaving together into a finally coherent order. "That's it!"
She leaned over to her desk and picked up the phone.
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Back flips were so overrated.
Of course, since a good punch dealt the same blow without as much vulnerability, she had abandoned the technique quite early. But this vampire was so stupid (as if the underworld felt no need to fuel her lust for the kill) that she threw in the move. Bad idea on all accounts.
The vampire, not as stupid as it turned out, swiftly dodged her flinging legs and hit her square in the back, knocking her against a tombstone. She got up, back pained, and limp-ran to attack the vampire again. She didn't see the others.
Ten on all sides. She's fallen into a nest. Great. She punched the one she'd originally focused on, pulling out her stake and jamming it through his heart with an ease like knife in butter. The dust sprayed, cloaking her, but she ignored it, bracing for an attack.
That's what everything was now. An attack. Xander, vampires. It was all the same. And her shields were failing. Everything was turning up like roses that wilted and stood like twigs, half-dead.
At the harsh blow to her gut, she'd counter-maneuvered fast, but her mind had been too preoccupied to effectively block. She was knocked back on the ground and was tackled by three of the vampires, all of who pinned her down. Kicking and biting did no good; a fourth vampire was coming, teeth bared. Buffy's breath quickened as the teeth pricked her neck, the tongue touching her skin sensually in a sadistic way. Just as she was ready to feel her life drain from two holes in her neck, the weight was lifted off her body.
In an instinctual rush, she flipped back onto her feet, throwing the vampires around like old TV Guides. She staked two in a fluid motion, watching their dust spray with a primal joy. And then the dust subsided.
Buffy stood in shock. "Angel?"
And so ends this adventure…so far. R&R. Have a nice day!