Title: Visions Cause Trouble
Author: BunnyKat
Rating: PG-13, to chicken to go any higher
Feedback: Pretty Please?
Disclaimer: We do not own ANY Angel or Buffy characters (*tear*).
A/N: We are SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry! (Kat is crying in the corner). High School is so much harder than we anticipated, being freshmen and all. We've gotten to the point where we can update once or twice a week. Try not to hold that to us, because mid- terms are coming up and Kat tends to panic, and my mom won't let me near the computer. So basically we're saying. . . we're really sorry!
Chapter Title: Bronzing
--------------------------------------------------------------
Buffy's first sense that went into play was her nose. She smelled Marlboro's and the faint smell of cologne. 'Oh, no,' she thought. 'I did it again.' She did it again and remembered nothing. How would she explain it to him? Fighting back tears, Buffy tried to sit up, but had a bad pain in her stomach. Gasping, she laid back down and opened her eyes. Her eyes met with harsh bright lights that bounced off white walls.
She was in a hospital. She hated hospitals. She hated the smell that hung around the hospital. The strange aroma of disinfectants, sickness, and death hung around, especially after her cousin died. Glancing at her side, she saw Spike sitting in a chair sleeping. Buffy thought how sweet he looked sleeping. The wave of relief was quickly taken over by confusion. Then she hit him to wake up. "Spike, what's going on?"
"Buffy! Thank God you're awake! I've got to callz Bit to let her know you're awake." He picked up the phone and dialed.
"Spike what happened? Why am I in a hospital?"
"You were stabbed, Buffy. By Doc."
***
Connor answered the call from Spike and, in a figure of speaking, explained that Dawn would be right over. Willow left the house early to make up a few classes leaving Dawn and him alone, which Spike had definitely pointed out that he didn't like. Connor climbed the stairs to her room. He smiled when he walked in. She had fallen asleep without changing her clothes. As he walked in, he realized that Dawn was having a nightmare. Connor touched her and began shaking the frail looking girl. She jerked up, looking terrified. "Dawn. It was just a nightmare. You're okay." She hugged him and began to cry on his shoulder.
When she was done, Dawn drew back and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry. I don't usually do that."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No.not now. I.Why did you wake me up?"
"It's about Buffy, she's."
"Oh my God. Did she die?" asked Dawn near tears again.
He gripped her hand, "No, no, no. She woke up." Dawn looked up and jumped up and down in excitement. "Change and I'll meet you downstairs." He just sat down on the couch when Dawn came bounding down the stairs. "I also think that Spike said something about bringing blood."
"What do you mean think?"
"I think that it was in-between all the British slang and cussing. One of the times." Dawn giggled and headed for the refrigerator. Connor like this side of her much better. It was like she was glowing. When she came back, she had two blood packets and put them in her coat pocket.
"Let's go." After a while of walking, Dawn said, "It was the night that my sister died." At his confused look she added. "My dream, it was about the night Buffy died." She proceeded to tell the story of Glory, Doc, and how she had offered to go. When she was done, Dawn was near tears. "Has something like that ever happened to you?"
"I saw my step-father get killed." Dawn starred at him. "I overheard Fred and Gunn at the beach saying that Angel was going to kill Holtz, that's my step-dad. So I ran there in time to see Justine, that's someone who took care of me when I was little, shove and knife into his throat twice. When I ran up, she explained that Angelus had done it and how he deserved payback. That's.when I beat her up pretty bad. I went to the hotel and haven't left there since. That was about three or four weeks ago."
"Sorry," she said after awhile. "Do you miss him?"
"Everyday."
After getting signed in, Dawn walked in, signaling for Connor to wait.
"Buffy?" she asked.
"Dawnie! Get over here!" After hugging her sister, she handed Spike the blood packets.
"Buffy, I want you to meet someone," said Dawn walking towards the door.
"You're boyfriend?" she asked hopeful.
"No. This is Connor." They both walked in. "Connor, Buffy. Buffy, Connor. And Spike."
"Hey, mate."
"You're the guy on the other end of the line," said Connor in recognition.
Buffy hit him. "I told you! You'd freak him out."
"That was the point luv."
They talked for awhile longer before Dawn saying that they were going to stop by the coffee house since they missed breakfast. "Dawn," said Buffy. "Remember what I told you not to order." After she left, Buffy muttered, "She'll order it."
***
"I'll take an orange mocha frappichino," said Dawn. The clerk and Connor both starred at her. "Aren't you going to order?"
"Uh, I'll just have a normal black." When they got their orders, they walked back to the hospital and talked about their secretive lives. The things they faced, what happened, Dawn even explained what she was. "I'm going to head back to LA," said Connor. "Everything is okay now."
She just nodded. She was sure that she would show more disappointment if she didn't have the orange mocha frappichino. By the time they got back Dawn was a hyper mess. Buffy was ready to be released from the hospital, but the doctor warned her to keep it easy.
***
The Summers sister's were going to the Bronze. It was about two days after Buffy was released and they were ready to party! She called Xander to see if he wanted to go, but said Anya and him were going to have desert, to which Buffy didn't press. They tried to get Willow to go, but she would stay home and hit the net and books about the diamond.
"Dawn!" yelled Buffy from the bottom of the stairwell. "Are you almost done?"
"Give me a minute!" she yelled from the bathroom.
Buffy patted herself down quickly. "Wallet," she muttered before bounding upstairs. Willow was sitting at the coffee table typing on her iBook. There was a book across the room that she needed. She stretched her hand and the book shuddered before lifting. Willow gasped breaking her concentration making the book fall of the table. The red-head bit her lip, taking out a notepad and putting a tally on it. She looked at the pad in disgust.
She had done magic unintentionally thirty-five times in the past two weeks.
The doorbell rang and Willow went to answer.
Tara.
"Hey," she said shyly. "C-can I come in?" Willow nodded confused. After she had sat down and set her books down, she talked. "I heard about you quitting magic and I came to h-help."
"How?"
"By helping you control it." Tara took a picture of a woman with long brown hair and piercing green eyes. "This is my first cousin. W-we used to be really, really close. She was just like you. For the power and thrill. She mentored me for a little bit; t-teaching charms and such and I went into my own study after that. Then she went crazy with the magic and dark stuff. My family moved away to escape it. Later she tried to stop completely, like you. But the power in her took over, making her crazy with d-dark magic. After about three days of insanity, she blew up. Literally. A-and I felt it." Willow sank into the chair at the last three sentences.
"It felt like m-my body was increasing in temperature quickly and everything inside me was tearing apart. When it stopped, I knew she died." Tara looked up at her ex, tear streaked. "I don't want to go through that again, especially not with you."
"Tara," said Willow crawling over. "You won't have to." Tara stopped crying and nodded.
"Let me help you," she pleaded. Willow agreed vigorously. After a second of quiet she asked, "Can I-I wash off my face."
Willow stood up. "Yeah. I think that Dawn's still in the bathroom, so will the kitchen sink work." Tara smiled and went while Willow smiled greatly and began cleaning. Buffy jumped down the stairs as Tara came back.
"Are you two going Bronzing?" the Slayer asked.
"No," the witches answered. That's when the sister came downstairs. She had her hair spiral curled to make her look three years older and shirt didn't hurt either. After a similar exchange between them, the girls were gone.
***
Dawn and Buffy talked for and hour, sharing old and new stories and watched people dance. Then Buffy felt a tap on her shoulder. Spike. "Care to dance?"
She glanced at Dawn. "Go. Have fun."
"Are you going to be."
Dawn held up her cast. "I'm invincible." Buffy grinned and kissed her sister before going with the vampire. At that precise moment the song changed.
*I was lost and you were found.*
Spike took Buffy's left hand and she wrapped the other around his waist.
*You see me stand on solid ground I week and you were strong. And me and my guitar we strummed along*
He gently rubbed her hand, felt that the ring was still on her finger, and smiled.
*Sweet Misery it has me that's what you call me. Sweet misery is has me.*
***
As soon as they left, was smiling at the thought of them together. It also reminded her that she wanted a boyfriend. "Hey," said a voice behind her. She whirled around to see Connor.
"Hey. I thought you said you were going back to LA."
"Change of plans," he sighed. "And don't take this the wrong way, but can I stay at your place again?"
Dawn grinned. "I'm sure the couch would work, if that's okay. So why didn't you go back?"
"Um, I came with Angel and Cordy and they aren't back at the hotel, so they're missing here."
"Do you want me to." she asked gesturing to the content couple.
"No, let them dance," said Connor. "This is my problem and I should deal with it. I've been searching all day with nothing. I need a break." She nodded showing understanding, making a mental note to bug him about it later. "Do you want to dance?" She grinned and shook her head.
"Let's talk instead."
***
The song ended with a final chord and Buffy pulled away smiling. "I-I'm going to go and get a drink. Coke." While she moved to the bar, Spike stared at her in wonder and was astounded by her beauty even still. A brief movement moving towards her caught his eye.
Buffy walked to the bar and ordered the coke. "Cordy?" someone asked behind her. It was Angel. He had a cut over his left eye and his shirt was torn. "Oh, Buffy, um can I talk to you outside?"
She nodded. "I just have to do something real fast. I'll meet you in the alley. Are you okay?"
He nodded. With that, she turned and headed back to where Spike was, but he had disappeared. Sighing, Buffy went to the table making sure she put a mental note in her head to talk to him later. She found Connor there. "I thought Dawn said you were leaving."
"Change of plans," he put simply. "Do you think it would be fine if I was at your house again."
"Yeah, sure no problem. Listen, Dawn. I need to go and do something, so do you think that maybe, you'll be okay going home alone. With Connor there obviously. I'll be there shortly after." Dawn nodded, tugging at his arm, dragging him out of the Bronze. Buffy shook her head at the couple's acts. She really wished that he was the boyfriend that Faith told her about in her dream. Buffy left the Bronze out the back door, preparing for her talk with Angel.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TBC. . .
Look for the next chapter sometime this week. ;-)
Author: BunnyKat
Rating: PG-13, to chicken to go any higher
Feedback: Pretty Please?
Disclaimer: We do not own ANY Angel or Buffy characters (*tear*).
A/N: We are SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry! (Kat is crying in the corner). High School is so much harder than we anticipated, being freshmen and all. We've gotten to the point where we can update once or twice a week. Try not to hold that to us, because mid- terms are coming up and Kat tends to panic, and my mom won't let me near the computer. So basically we're saying. . . we're really sorry!
Chapter Title: Bronzing
--------------------------------------------------------------
Buffy's first sense that went into play was her nose. She smelled Marlboro's and the faint smell of cologne. 'Oh, no,' she thought. 'I did it again.' She did it again and remembered nothing. How would she explain it to him? Fighting back tears, Buffy tried to sit up, but had a bad pain in her stomach. Gasping, she laid back down and opened her eyes. Her eyes met with harsh bright lights that bounced off white walls.
She was in a hospital. She hated hospitals. She hated the smell that hung around the hospital. The strange aroma of disinfectants, sickness, and death hung around, especially after her cousin died. Glancing at her side, she saw Spike sitting in a chair sleeping. Buffy thought how sweet he looked sleeping. The wave of relief was quickly taken over by confusion. Then she hit him to wake up. "Spike, what's going on?"
"Buffy! Thank God you're awake! I've got to callz Bit to let her know you're awake." He picked up the phone and dialed.
"Spike what happened? Why am I in a hospital?"
"You were stabbed, Buffy. By Doc."
***
Connor answered the call from Spike and, in a figure of speaking, explained that Dawn would be right over. Willow left the house early to make up a few classes leaving Dawn and him alone, which Spike had definitely pointed out that he didn't like. Connor climbed the stairs to her room. He smiled when he walked in. She had fallen asleep without changing her clothes. As he walked in, he realized that Dawn was having a nightmare. Connor touched her and began shaking the frail looking girl. She jerked up, looking terrified. "Dawn. It was just a nightmare. You're okay." She hugged him and began to cry on his shoulder.
When she was done, Dawn drew back and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry. I don't usually do that."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No.not now. I.Why did you wake me up?"
"It's about Buffy, she's."
"Oh my God. Did she die?" asked Dawn near tears again.
He gripped her hand, "No, no, no. She woke up." Dawn looked up and jumped up and down in excitement. "Change and I'll meet you downstairs." He just sat down on the couch when Dawn came bounding down the stairs. "I also think that Spike said something about bringing blood."
"What do you mean think?"
"I think that it was in-between all the British slang and cussing. One of the times." Dawn giggled and headed for the refrigerator. Connor like this side of her much better. It was like she was glowing. When she came back, she had two blood packets and put them in her coat pocket.
"Let's go." After a while of walking, Dawn said, "It was the night that my sister died." At his confused look she added. "My dream, it was about the night Buffy died." She proceeded to tell the story of Glory, Doc, and how she had offered to go. When she was done, Dawn was near tears. "Has something like that ever happened to you?"
"I saw my step-father get killed." Dawn starred at him. "I overheard Fred and Gunn at the beach saying that Angel was going to kill Holtz, that's my step-dad. So I ran there in time to see Justine, that's someone who took care of me when I was little, shove and knife into his throat twice. When I ran up, she explained that Angelus had done it and how he deserved payback. That's.when I beat her up pretty bad. I went to the hotel and haven't left there since. That was about three or four weeks ago."
"Sorry," she said after awhile. "Do you miss him?"
"Everyday."
After getting signed in, Dawn walked in, signaling for Connor to wait.
"Buffy?" she asked.
"Dawnie! Get over here!" After hugging her sister, she handed Spike the blood packets.
"Buffy, I want you to meet someone," said Dawn walking towards the door.
"You're boyfriend?" she asked hopeful.
"No. This is Connor." They both walked in. "Connor, Buffy. Buffy, Connor. And Spike."
"Hey, mate."
"You're the guy on the other end of the line," said Connor in recognition.
Buffy hit him. "I told you! You'd freak him out."
"That was the point luv."
They talked for awhile longer before Dawn saying that they were going to stop by the coffee house since they missed breakfast. "Dawn," said Buffy. "Remember what I told you not to order." After she left, Buffy muttered, "She'll order it."
***
"I'll take an orange mocha frappichino," said Dawn. The clerk and Connor both starred at her. "Aren't you going to order?"
"Uh, I'll just have a normal black." When they got their orders, they walked back to the hospital and talked about their secretive lives. The things they faced, what happened, Dawn even explained what she was. "I'm going to head back to LA," said Connor. "Everything is okay now."
She just nodded. She was sure that she would show more disappointment if she didn't have the orange mocha frappichino. By the time they got back Dawn was a hyper mess. Buffy was ready to be released from the hospital, but the doctor warned her to keep it easy.
***
The Summers sister's were going to the Bronze. It was about two days after Buffy was released and they were ready to party! She called Xander to see if he wanted to go, but said Anya and him were going to have desert, to which Buffy didn't press. They tried to get Willow to go, but she would stay home and hit the net and books about the diamond.
"Dawn!" yelled Buffy from the bottom of the stairwell. "Are you almost done?"
"Give me a minute!" she yelled from the bathroom.
Buffy patted herself down quickly. "Wallet," she muttered before bounding upstairs. Willow was sitting at the coffee table typing on her iBook. There was a book across the room that she needed. She stretched her hand and the book shuddered before lifting. Willow gasped breaking her concentration making the book fall of the table. The red-head bit her lip, taking out a notepad and putting a tally on it. She looked at the pad in disgust.
She had done magic unintentionally thirty-five times in the past two weeks.
The doorbell rang and Willow went to answer.
Tara.
"Hey," she said shyly. "C-can I come in?" Willow nodded confused. After she had sat down and set her books down, she talked. "I heard about you quitting magic and I came to h-help."
"How?"
"By helping you control it." Tara took a picture of a woman with long brown hair and piercing green eyes. "This is my first cousin. W-we used to be really, really close. She was just like you. For the power and thrill. She mentored me for a little bit; t-teaching charms and such and I went into my own study after that. Then she went crazy with the magic and dark stuff. My family moved away to escape it. Later she tried to stop completely, like you. But the power in her took over, making her crazy with d-dark magic. After about three days of insanity, she blew up. Literally. A-and I felt it." Willow sank into the chair at the last three sentences.
"It felt like m-my body was increasing in temperature quickly and everything inside me was tearing apart. When it stopped, I knew she died." Tara looked up at her ex, tear streaked. "I don't want to go through that again, especially not with you."
"Tara," said Willow crawling over. "You won't have to." Tara stopped crying and nodded.
"Let me help you," she pleaded. Willow agreed vigorously. After a second of quiet she asked, "Can I-I wash off my face."
Willow stood up. "Yeah. I think that Dawn's still in the bathroom, so will the kitchen sink work." Tara smiled and went while Willow smiled greatly and began cleaning. Buffy jumped down the stairs as Tara came back.
"Are you two going Bronzing?" the Slayer asked.
"No," the witches answered. That's when the sister came downstairs. She had her hair spiral curled to make her look three years older and shirt didn't hurt either. After a similar exchange between them, the girls were gone.
***
Dawn and Buffy talked for and hour, sharing old and new stories and watched people dance. Then Buffy felt a tap on her shoulder. Spike. "Care to dance?"
She glanced at Dawn. "Go. Have fun."
"Are you going to be."
Dawn held up her cast. "I'm invincible." Buffy grinned and kissed her sister before going with the vampire. At that precise moment the song changed.
*I was lost and you were found.*
Spike took Buffy's left hand and she wrapped the other around his waist.
*You see me stand on solid ground I week and you were strong. And me and my guitar we strummed along*
He gently rubbed her hand, felt that the ring was still on her finger, and smiled.
*Sweet Misery it has me that's what you call me. Sweet misery is has me.*
***
As soon as they left, was smiling at the thought of them together. It also reminded her that she wanted a boyfriend. "Hey," said a voice behind her. She whirled around to see Connor.
"Hey. I thought you said you were going back to LA."
"Change of plans," he sighed. "And don't take this the wrong way, but can I stay at your place again?"
Dawn grinned. "I'm sure the couch would work, if that's okay. So why didn't you go back?"
"Um, I came with Angel and Cordy and they aren't back at the hotel, so they're missing here."
"Do you want me to." she asked gesturing to the content couple.
"No, let them dance," said Connor. "This is my problem and I should deal with it. I've been searching all day with nothing. I need a break." She nodded showing understanding, making a mental note to bug him about it later. "Do you want to dance?" She grinned and shook her head.
"Let's talk instead."
***
The song ended with a final chord and Buffy pulled away smiling. "I-I'm going to go and get a drink. Coke." While she moved to the bar, Spike stared at her in wonder and was astounded by her beauty even still. A brief movement moving towards her caught his eye.
Buffy walked to the bar and ordered the coke. "Cordy?" someone asked behind her. It was Angel. He had a cut over his left eye and his shirt was torn. "Oh, Buffy, um can I talk to you outside?"
She nodded. "I just have to do something real fast. I'll meet you in the alley. Are you okay?"
He nodded. With that, she turned and headed back to where Spike was, but he had disappeared. Sighing, Buffy went to the table making sure she put a mental note in her head to talk to him later. She found Connor there. "I thought Dawn said you were leaving."
"Change of plans," he put simply. "Do you think it would be fine if I was at your house again."
"Yeah, sure no problem. Listen, Dawn. I need to go and do something, so do you think that maybe, you'll be okay going home alone. With Connor there obviously. I'll be there shortly after." Dawn nodded, tugging at his arm, dragging him out of the Bronze. Buffy shook her head at the couple's acts. She really wished that he was the boyfriend that Faith told her about in her dream. Buffy left the Bronze out the back door, preparing for her talk with Angel.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TBC. . .
Look for the next chapter sometime this week. ;-)