Disclaimer: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: the Series characters
belong to Joss Wheadon and Mutant Enemy. Like so many others, I'm just
playing in his sandbox.
Author's Notes: After this chapter, only three others will be done. Two different endings, one will be my originally planned ending, the other a few of you have begged for, and then an epilogue to the original ending. My thanks to BloodyMiri, MadRog, Kantarya, Kallysten, Nautibitz, and all the other wonderful Buffy-fic writers who inspired this, I dearly hope I haven't offended any of you by utilizing your specific 'verses in this chapter.
Author's Notes (2): For those who want to keep track, there are technically 14 Buffy Summers' in the Magic box, not counting the main time- line Post Season 7 Buffy and the Early Season 5 Buffy. In order of appearance- 'Buffy the Vampire/Slayer'? Unfortunately, I've lost the website that stored that fic, so I've unfortunately forgotten. Not mine, though. Buffy 'Unhappily Married With Angelus', as I like to call her? Same story (but, not the same fic). Buffy 'I'm with Willow' could be from almost any fic found at With Her Always, but springs from 'Prisms', by Mad Hamlet. Anyone who's stopped over at Nautibitz' website can recognize Bunny Buffy, from the story she's taken over from another author. Once again, fully admitting she's not mine! The next Buffy in line is Days in the Sun Buffy, who I hope I haven't mangled more than her author, Kallysten, pointed out, when I asked her opinion. The Buffy who's Spike Sanshu-ed? That's the sole one I came up with, see 'Resurrection', if you have the stomach. 'Joan Giles' Buffy? She could be one of millions, but this one belongs to Danielle. And the last appearing Buffy is MadRog's, from her Who Is Who/Relentless Revenge fics.
Without Shrimp, ch. 9
"All right, let the multi-dimensional Slayer convention commence!" Dawn 1 and Power-of-the-Key Dawn yelled, smirking.
"Dawnie, I love you, but don't let the door hit you on the way out." Buffy 1 replied, shoo-ing the pair out of the magic box. "Younger Buffy and I need to be alone for this."
"Alone?" Dawn 1 laughed, "Buffy, just look at how many of YOU are in there? It's a total Buffy convention! Okay, okay, have fun!" Her and the Alternate Dawn laughed and stepped out, climbing into Joyce's crowded car.
"We should be out patrolling right now. Why are we having to do this?" Younger Buffy asked, looking around at the veritable gang of Buffy in the room.
"Because Dawn and our friends seem to think it will be a learning experience, apparently. And right now, we both know that Vampire activity in Sunnydale is at an all time low."
"Speak for yourself." One Buffy nearby snarled.
"Cranky much?" Younger Buffy asked.
That Buffy slipped from a human seeming guise into game-face. "Since the First Evil knew that me being back from the dead was throwing the Slayer bloodline out of whack, Willow and Faith had Angelus SIRE me, and Willow used Spike's soul to ensoul me. Funny, considering they didn't want Spike and me doing anything with each other, now he's dead, and I'm sort of spiritually married to him. So, yeah, I'm a bit cranky!" Both Buffy 1 and Younger Buffy recoiled from this alternate version of them.
"Hope she's the only one of us like that. Buffy, the Vampire/Slayer?" Buffy 1 nervously quipped.
"That was always my greatest fear, becoming one of THEM." Younger Buffy shuddered. "And what was with her saying she got Spike's soul? He's soulless, Angel has a soul.."
"You know Angel, he has a tendency to lose keys, socks, his soul. Right, not funny. Eventually, Spike goes out and wins a soul of his own, not as a curse, but as a reward."
"WHAT? That's SO not fair! Angel deserves to have his soul and keep it! Why should Spike be granted one that's NOT a curse?"
"I have a better question. Look, we both love Angel, right? He's our soul- mate, correct?"
"YES!" Younger Buffy seized the statement with an almost fanatical fervor.
'Oh, boy, have I got a lot to learn' Buffy 1 thought. "Okay, here's a test. ATTENTION! Excuse me, may I have your attention, please?" Buffy 1 asked the small crowd of alternate selves, many of whom had been gossiping or comparing notes and pictures. "Okay, I have a few questions we need to ask, in order to establish a few things. First off, how many of us here ended up with Angel, after Sunnydale?"
Two Buffy's raised their hands.
"Two, okay. How many of you are TRULY happily married to him, or otherwise happy, regardless of your marital status?"
The one on the left hesitated, then lowered her hand. "I-" she whispered "I love him, but he won't let me be the Slayer, anymore, now that he's human, and we're married."
"How many of you are totally single, I mean completely unattached?"
Five hands went up, including Buffy 1's, Buffy the Vampire/Slayer, and Younger Buffy.
"How many are with Reilly Finn?"
Not a hand raised.
"With some other human?"
One hand raised. "I'm with.." she looked around nervously at the other Buffy's, "I'm with Willow."
'Okay,' thought Buffy 1, "now for the question we're both dreading, but for different reasons.'
"How many of me here are with Spike?"
All the remaining eight Buffy's raised their hands. Two of whom were quite obviously expecting.
"Willow accidentally turned us both into rabbits, then Xander made the mistake of putting us into the same cage. No bunny jokes, please?" She asked her fellow Buffy's.
"Well, at least that was an honest accident. The Watchers Council kidnapped me and Spike, in order to produce a new Slayer bloodline they thought they could control from birth." At the other Buffy's aghast reactions, she assured the others, "We got away, and we got revenge, too. Spike, " This Buffy paused, "Spike HAS changed. He proved it to me as he took care of us, hiding out in London. He really does love us. We even got married." She held up her left hand, to proudly display the wedding band. "This makes our third, it's a girl. Got the sonogram to prove it!"
"Er, vamp, dead, ergo shooting blanks, HOW?" One Buffy asked.
"PROPHECY" Three other Buffy's added in response. Multiple pairs of eyes rolled. 'Why was it that EVERYTHING in our life/lives has some kind of prophecy attached to it?' More than one Buffy thought.
"Okay, timeline check. How many of me are here from 2003?" Four hands raised. Buffy one arched an eyebrow. "How many have had to face the First Evil, in that year?" Three.
"How many of you are from 2002?" One. "2001?" The I'm-With-Willow Buffy raised her hand. "2000?" Three, counting Younger Buffy and Bunny Buffy. "Later than 2003?" Three more.
Younger Buffy sat down, a despondent look on her face. "All these different me's, and only two of them are with Angel? WHY? Are we just plain doomed?"
"Hey. This is just a few of the various us's from across the multiverse, Buffy. Personally, I think I'd be much more weirded out by seeing a Buffy from a universe where we ended up with Oz or Tara than the whole lack of Angel thing."
"HOW can you be so COLD about that? You're me, from MY future, right? Why aren't you freaking out about this?!?"
"Okay, first, I've had a bit of time to distance myself from the whole Angel angst thing. As much as a part of me will always love Angel, the fact is, HE LEFT. He decided all on his own, what would be the best thing for BOTH of us, as if MY feelings on the issue didn't matter."
"And seeing so many of us with Spike doesn't freak you out? WHY N-" Younger Buffy blanched as the realization hit her. "Oh, no. You and he-" she blinked, "He and I.. HOW COULD YOU? He's a monster! A KILLER! The only thing holding him back is the chip! If that were gone, he'd be a rampaging killing machine, again!"
"Spike.. look, after something.. bad happens, Spike is the only one of our friends who didn't want me to just go back to being Same Old Buffy. He actually cares. When I actually found out about the - about Mom's tumor, he and I had a fight, before. He came to our house, with a shotgun. He could've killed me, but when he saw me sitting on the porch, just this side of being in tears, he stopped. He asked what was wrong, and he kept me company, all night. When I was at my lowest, he was my strength. He always stood at my side, even when no one else would. Not Xander, not Willow, not even Dawn." she nudged her younger self. "What I told Angel was true. Spike, well, he's in my heart. I just wish I'd told him, before-"
At that point, Buffy 1 began to tear up, and turned away. Maternity Buffy put away the miniature photo album she'd been showing some of the other Slayers, and came over. She put her arm around Buffy 1, and asked "You wish you'd told him before what?"
"Down inside the Hellmouth, we were facing the Turak-Han along with the other Slayers Willow had activated. The amulet Angel brought, the Champion Amulet, I gave it to Spike. He used it to destroy them, the army the First was creating." She sniffled. "He looked so, I dunno, the only other time I'd ever seen him in daylight, was when he wore the Gem of Amarra. He looked so radiant. When the cavern started to collapse, I tried to get him to leave, but he was determined to stop the Bringers and the Uber-vamps, even if it killed him. And we both knew, right then, that it was going to." She looked at the other Buffy and gave a sad, wan, smile. "I knew, right then, it was the last chance I ever had. So, I told him. I told him I loved him. AND HE DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!"
Suddenly, Buffy 1 was being held in a group hug, as Younger Buffy looked on, not knowing how to feel, and the two Married-To-Angel Buffy's looked nervously at each other.
"Shh. He knew, Buffy, he knew. Think. If he'd said anything else, would you have left?" A whisper in her ear asked her.
"NO!"
"Do you think he wouldn't do anything, ANYTHING to keep you, or Mom, or Dawn from harm?" Muffled, sniffling agreement-like noise. "Okay. So. What would Spike say in order to save your life, in that situation?"
Buffy 1 closed her eyes, and whispered: "No you don't, Pet. But thanks for saying it, anyway. Now, go."
Another Buffy said, hesitantly, to another, just out of Buffy 1's earshot, "He may have survived. Or, should I say, been resurrected. She should check with Angel and his crew, he may have Sanshu-ed. My Spike did. He's sort of a living vampire, now."
Buffy 1 sniffled and thanked the pregnant Buffy. "Thank you. You're pretty lucky, you know."
"I didn't think so at first, but I do, now. My Spike and I , we may not have our days in the sun, but we have our days, anyway."
"Hey, at least you knew who you were and who you were marrying when you and Spike hitched. I went to the alter with him as Joan and Randy Giles." Another laughed. "We spent a year and a half under Willow's Tabula Rasa spell, before Alex, I mean Xander, broke the crystal moving a dresser in their apartment."
"Hey, since we're mostly together with Spike, here, I have a question?" Another Buffy asked. "Is MY Spike the only one with a soul?"
"No," Buffy 1 replied, "Mine has one, too. How did Your Spike get his?"
"Well, at first we thought he'd died there, but he got it from a demon in Africa."
Buffy 1's blood ran cold. "You said you THOUGHT he died?"
"Anya and Giles ran into him in London. Didn't tell ME, of course. THEN Dawn found out, THEN Willow! Except for Xander, I was last to know!"
Four hours later, after more tears and laughter, the Trans-dimensional Slayer Convention of 2000, began to break up. Various Buffy's found the portals back to their own universes, and slowly dispersed. Maternity Buffy smiled at Buffy 1 and said, "Too bad we're going to forget what we all learned here after we go back. I'd like to keep in touch with you, I mean me, I mean, you."
"Well, that's the way D'Hoffrynn set this up. I'm the only Buffy who gets to remember what I learned here. Unless, you get YOUR Willow to do sort of a reverse Tabula Rasa on you when you get back.."
"If I forget all this, how would I remember to get her to do that?"
"Point. Okay, scratch that idea. Maybe if we write ourselves notes?"
"Only if the ink doesn't erase upon going home."
Buffy 1 sighed and threw her hands up in the air. "Fine! Maybe if I got Willow to try it from MY home dimension, then?" Maternity Buffy shook her head and laughed, then stepped through the portal.
Younger Buffy looked on at her older self. "All fine and dandy for you, how do I deal with all this?"
"That's up to you. I'd suggest you do it the same way we always have. Look at all the facts, think about all the variables, then throw all that careful thought out the window, and go from the gut. It hasn't failed us so far." Except with Spike, she thought. "Just one thing I'd suggest."
"Yes?"
"If you ever DO start to have feelings for someone you think you shouldn't, and the only reason you think you shouldn't is fear of what Giles and the rest of the Scoobies might say, " Buffy said, looking her younger self in the eye, "remember that if you don't get to decide who THEY should be with, they don't get to decide who YOU should be with. You may be the Slayer, but you're not a doll for them to put on a shelf, and pose for displays. It's your life, not theirs. Remember that."
"okay."
TBC.
Author's Notes: After this chapter, only three others will be done. Two different endings, one will be my originally planned ending, the other a few of you have begged for, and then an epilogue to the original ending. My thanks to BloodyMiri, MadRog, Kantarya, Kallysten, Nautibitz, and all the other wonderful Buffy-fic writers who inspired this, I dearly hope I haven't offended any of you by utilizing your specific 'verses in this chapter.
Author's Notes (2): For those who want to keep track, there are technically 14 Buffy Summers' in the Magic box, not counting the main time- line Post Season 7 Buffy and the Early Season 5 Buffy. In order of appearance- 'Buffy the Vampire/Slayer'? Unfortunately, I've lost the website that stored that fic, so I've unfortunately forgotten. Not mine, though. Buffy 'Unhappily Married With Angelus', as I like to call her? Same story (but, not the same fic). Buffy 'I'm with Willow' could be from almost any fic found at With Her Always, but springs from 'Prisms', by Mad Hamlet. Anyone who's stopped over at Nautibitz' website can recognize Bunny Buffy, from the story she's taken over from another author. Once again, fully admitting she's not mine! The next Buffy in line is Days in the Sun Buffy, who I hope I haven't mangled more than her author, Kallysten, pointed out, when I asked her opinion. The Buffy who's Spike Sanshu-ed? That's the sole one I came up with, see 'Resurrection', if you have the stomach. 'Joan Giles' Buffy? She could be one of millions, but this one belongs to Danielle. And the last appearing Buffy is MadRog's, from her Who Is Who/Relentless Revenge fics.
Without Shrimp, ch. 9
"All right, let the multi-dimensional Slayer convention commence!" Dawn 1 and Power-of-the-Key Dawn yelled, smirking.
"Dawnie, I love you, but don't let the door hit you on the way out." Buffy 1 replied, shoo-ing the pair out of the magic box. "Younger Buffy and I need to be alone for this."
"Alone?" Dawn 1 laughed, "Buffy, just look at how many of YOU are in there? It's a total Buffy convention! Okay, okay, have fun!" Her and the Alternate Dawn laughed and stepped out, climbing into Joyce's crowded car.
"We should be out patrolling right now. Why are we having to do this?" Younger Buffy asked, looking around at the veritable gang of Buffy in the room.
"Because Dawn and our friends seem to think it will be a learning experience, apparently. And right now, we both know that Vampire activity in Sunnydale is at an all time low."
"Speak for yourself." One Buffy nearby snarled.
"Cranky much?" Younger Buffy asked.
That Buffy slipped from a human seeming guise into game-face. "Since the First Evil knew that me being back from the dead was throwing the Slayer bloodline out of whack, Willow and Faith had Angelus SIRE me, and Willow used Spike's soul to ensoul me. Funny, considering they didn't want Spike and me doing anything with each other, now he's dead, and I'm sort of spiritually married to him. So, yeah, I'm a bit cranky!" Both Buffy 1 and Younger Buffy recoiled from this alternate version of them.
"Hope she's the only one of us like that. Buffy, the Vampire/Slayer?" Buffy 1 nervously quipped.
"That was always my greatest fear, becoming one of THEM." Younger Buffy shuddered. "And what was with her saying she got Spike's soul? He's soulless, Angel has a soul.."
"You know Angel, he has a tendency to lose keys, socks, his soul. Right, not funny. Eventually, Spike goes out and wins a soul of his own, not as a curse, but as a reward."
"WHAT? That's SO not fair! Angel deserves to have his soul and keep it! Why should Spike be granted one that's NOT a curse?"
"I have a better question. Look, we both love Angel, right? He's our soul- mate, correct?"
"YES!" Younger Buffy seized the statement with an almost fanatical fervor.
'Oh, boy, have I got a lot to learn' Buffy 1 thought. "Okay, here's a test. ATTENTION! Excuse me, may I have your attention, please?" Buffy 1 asked the small crowd of alternate selves, many of whom had been gossiping or comparing notes and pictures. "Okay, I have a few questions we need to ask, in order to establish a few things. First off, how many of us here ended up with Angel, after Sunnydale?"
Two Buffy's raised their hands.
"Two, okay. How many of you are TRULY happily married to him, or otherwise happy, regardless of your marital status?"
The one on the left hesitated, then lowered her hand. "I-" she whispered "I love him, but he won't let me be the Slayer, anymore, now that he's human, and we're married."
"How many of you are totally single, I mean completely unattached?"
Five hands went up, including Buffy 1's, Buffy the Vampire/Slayer, and Younger Buffy.
"How many are with Reilly Finn?"
Not a hand raised.
"With some other human?"
One hand raised. "I'm with.." she looked around nervously at the other Buffy's, "I'm with Willow."
'Okay,' thought Buffy 1, "now for the question we're both dreading, but for different reasons.'
"How many of me here are with Spike?"
All the remaining eight Buffy's raised their hands. Two of whom were quite obviously expecting.
"Willow accidentally turned us both into rabbits, then Xander made the mistake of putting us into the same cage. No bunny jokes, please?" She asked her fellow Buffy's.
"Well, at least that was an honest accident. The Watchers Council kidnapped me and Spike, in order to produce a new Slayer bloodline they thought they could control from birth." At the other Buffy's aghast reactions, she assured the others, "We got away, and we got revenge, too. Spike, " This Buffy paused, "Spike HAS changed. He proved it to me as he took care of us, hiding out in London. He really does love us. We even got married." She held up her left hand, to proudly display the wedding band. "This makes our third, it's a girl. Got the sonogram to prove it!"
"Er, vamp, dead, ergo shooting blanks, HOW?" One Buffy asked.
"PROPHECY" Three other Buffy's added in response. Multiple pairs of eyes rolled. 'Why was it that EVERYTHING in our life/lives has some kind of prophecy attached to it?' More than one Buffy thought.
"Okay, timeline check. How many of me are here from 2003?" Four hands raised. Buffy one arched an eyebrow. "How many have had to face the First Evil, in that year?" Three.
"How many of you are from 2002?" One. "2001?" The I'm-With-Willow Buffy raised her hand. "2000?" Three, counting Younger Buffy and Bunny Buffy. "Later than 2003?" Three more.
Younger Buffy sat down, a despondent look on her face. "All these different me's, and only two of them are with Angel? WHY? Are we just plain doomed?"
"Hey. This is just a few of the various us's from across the multiverse, Buffy. Personally, I think I'd be much more weirded out by seeing a Buffy from a universe where we ended up with Oz or Tara than the whole lack of Angel thing."
"HOW can you be so COLD about that? You're me, from MY future, right? Why aren't you freaking out about this?!?"
"Okay, first, I've had a bit of time to distance myself from the whole Angel angst thing. As much as a part of me will always love Angel, the fact is, HE LEFT. He decided all on his own, what would be the best thing for BOTH of us, as if MY feelings on the issue didn't matter."
"And seeing so many of us with Spike doesn't freak you out? WHY N-" Younger Buffy blanched as the realization hit her. "Oh, no. You and he-" she blinked, "He and I.. HOW COULD YOU? He's a monster! A KILLER! The only thing holding him back is the chip! If that were gone, he'd be a rampaging killing machine, again!"
"Spike.. look, after something.. bad happens, Spike is the only one of our friends who didn't want me to just go back to being Same Old Buffy. He actually cares. When I actually found out about the - about Mom's tumor, he and I had a fight, before. He came to our house, with a shotgun. He could've killed me, but when he saw me sitting on the porch, just this side of being in tears, he stopped. He asked what was wrong, and he kept me company, all night. When I was at my lowest, he was my strength. He always stood at my side, even when no one else would. Not Xander, not Willow, not even Dawn." she nudged her younger self. "What I told Angel was true. Spike, well, he's in my heart. I just wish I'd told him, before-"
At that point, Buffy 1 began to tear up, and turned away. Maternity Buffy put away the miniature photo album she'd been showing some of the other Slayers, and came over. She put her arm around Buffy 1, and asked "You wish you'd told him before what?"
"Down inside the Hellmouth, we were facing the Turak-Han along with the other Slayers Willow had activated. The amulet Angel brought, the Champion Amulet, I gave it to Spike. He used it to destroy them, the army the First was creating." She sniffled. "He looked so, I dunno, the only other time I'd ever seen him in daylight, was when he wore the Gem of Amarra. He looked so radiant. When the cavern started to collapse, I tried to get him to leave, but he was determined to stop the Bringers and the Uber-vamps, even if it killed him. And we both knew, right then, that it was going to." She looked at the other Buffy and gave a sad, wan, smile. "I knew, right then, it was the last chance I ever had. So, I told him. I told him I loved him. AND HE DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!"
Suddenly, Buffy 1 was being held in a group hug, as Younger Buffy looked on, not knowing how to feel, and the two Married-To-Angel Buffy's looked nervously at each other.
"Shh. He knew, Buffy, he knew. Think. If he'd said anything else, would you have left?" A whisper in her ear asked her.
"NO!"
"Do you think he wouldn't do anything, ANYTHING to keep you, or Mom, or Dawn from harm?" Muffled, sniffling agreement-like noise. "Okay. So. What would Spike say in order to save your life, in that situation?"
Buffy 1 closed her eyes, and whispered: "No you don't, Pet. But thanks for saying it, anyway. Now, go."
Another Buffy said, hesitantly, to another, just out of Buffy 1's earshot, "He may have survived. Or, should I say, been resurrected. She should check with Angel and his crew, he may have Sanshu-ed. My Spike did. He's sort of a living vampire, now."
Buffy 1 sniffled and thanked the pregnant Buffy. "Thank you. You're pretty lucky, you know."
"I didn't think so at first, but I do, now. My Spike and I , we may not have our days in the sun, but we have our days, anyway."
"Hey, at least you knew who you were and who you were marrying when you and Spike hitched. I went to the alter with him as Joan and Randy Giles." Another laughed. "We spent a year and a half under Willow's Tabula Rasa spell, before Alex, I mean Xander, broke the crystal moving a dresser in their apartment."
"Hey, since we're mostly together with Spike, here, I have a question?" Another Buffy asked. "Is MY Spike the only one with a soul?"
"No," Buffy 1 replied, "Mine has one, too. How did Your Spike get his?"
"Well, at first we thought he'd died there, but he got it from a demon in Africa."
Buffy 1's blood ran cold. "You said you THOUGHT he died?"
"Anya and Giles ran into him in London. Didn't tell ME, of course. THEN Dawn found out, THEN Willow! Except for Xander, I was last to know!"
Four hours later, after more tears and laughter, the Trans-dimensional Slayer Convention of 2000, began to break up. Various Buffy's found the portals back to their own universes, and slowly dispersed. Maternity Buffy smiled at Buffy 1 and said, "Too bad we're going to forget what we all learned here after we go back. I'd like to keep in touch with you, I mean me, I mean, you."
"Well, that's the way D'Hoffrynn set this up. I'm the only Buffy who gets to remember what I learned here. Unless, you get YOUR Willow to do sort of a reverse Tabula Rasa on you when you get back.."
"If I forget all this, how would I remember to get her to do that?"
"Point. Okay, scratch that idea. Maybe if we write ourselves notes?"
"Only if the ink doesn't erase upon going home."
Buffy 1 sighed and threw her hands up in the air. "Fine! Maybe if I got Willow to try it from MY home dimension, then?" Maternity Buffy shook her head and laughed, then stepped through the portal.
Younger Buffy looked on at her older self. "All fine and dandy for you, how do I deal with all this?"
"That's up to you. I'd suggest you do it the same way we always have. Look at all the facts, think about all the variables, then throw all that careful thought out the window, and go from the gut. It hasn't failed us so far." Except with Spike, she thought. "Just one thing I'd suggest."
"Yes?"
"If you ever DO start to have feelings for someone you think you shouldn't, and the only reason you think you shouldn't is fear of what Giles and the rest of the Scoobies might say, " Buffy said, looking her younger self in the eye, "remember that if you don't get to decide who THEY should be with, they don't get to decide who YOU should be with. You may be the Slayer, but you're not a doll for them to put on a shelf, and pose for displays. It's your life, not theirs. Remember that."
"okay."
TBC.