Author: LCA
Disclaimer: Does special Disclaim dance to the disclaiming God who shines down upon her and does not sue!
A/N: YAY LCA! I have successfully updated! GO ME!!!!! with in a month! And u thought it couldn't be done! I SCOFF AT U! j/k kidding, I don't scoff if u review! Er, almost a month, a little more.be quiet and read! But fiiiiiiirst. To the Reviewers:
Emmi Lou: No, YOU'RE CRAZY U CRAZY CAPTAIN! Thanx for reiviewing Emmi and we WILL read more of Harry Potter. W/ our crazy voices and all. O yeah, u know it!
Divamercury: idn't it the saddest thing ya ever read? J/k I'm not THAT good. But it is pretty good if I do say so meself!
Queen Boadicea: Thank you for feeling for my characters! Ya know, I always loved Oz, but that's just me and I know a lot of peeps didn't like him so it was kind of hard to write for him..eh, ignore the crazy author ramblings!
Sailor Earth: LOOK! I updated! : ^ )
* * *
They dragged her away from his cold body after giving her sometime to grieve. Willow tried to pull away and clawed at their hands but it was three against one and she was in no condition to fight. She ended up collapsing against Xander, unable to even stand up on her own. Racking with sobs, walking was not even a possibility.
Oz was gone.Oz was gone.the mantra kept repeating itself over
and over. Oz was
gone.Gone..GONE!!!!!!!
Another sob escaped her convulsing body and added no relief to the pressure that was growing inside her. She staggered away from Xander to a convenient garbage can and retched all of the pain out of her system. She turned back and saw their wary gaze on her as she swayed a little. She gave them what she hoped was a confident smile and took one shaky step before passing out.
* * *
"Shit!" Xander screamed as he ran to catch his best friend, nagging her right before she would have hit the hard pavement ground. He looked up frantically at his wife and Anya and they helped him heave Willow's passed out form over his shoulders. Willow was heavy when she was unconscious!
"Wait, what are we going to do with O-.with the body?" asked Anya in a quiet voice.
Xander remembered her once telling him that when she had been on a crazy killing spree, she had learned it was easier to stop thinking of the dead as a person and start thinking of them as merely dead. That's what he had to do now. He opened his mouth to speak but a voice cut in before his.
"We can't do anything for him right now. We need to get Willow to the hospital, we need to regroup. He's dead, may he rest in peace, but he was fighting for something and we need to protect it. I would rather honor Oz by protecting whatever he sacrificed himself for than honor his lifeless body."
It was Cordy, with tears running down her face. She turned resolutely and walked down the alley back to Oz.er, the body. Leaning down she planted a small kiss on his cheek and whispered something in his ear, then hoisted his body up and put him back in the dumpster (with Anya's help of course).
"We'll come back for him if we can." She said in a quiet voice that still seemed to fill the alley.
As they headed toward the alley Xander hung back and asked his wife what she had whispered to Oz. Cordy just looked at him with an unfathomable expression.
"I just said goodbye."
* * *
Angel looked up in surprise when Anya, a very pregnant looking Cordy, and Xander dragging an unconscious Willow came marching through the door. They were all tear stained and at first Angel thought that it was because they had heard Buffy had relapsed.
"I thought Sleeping Beauty had finally woken up." Anya said, which bluntly ended his train of thought.
"Yeah, well, you know." Angel fumbled for words. "What happened to you guys."
Willow chose that moment to wake up. She screamed incoherent words until she just repeated "gone.he's gone" over and over again.
"Oz had an accident." Anya said, clearly making an attempt to actually choose her words carefully. "Yeah that's right, he had an accident with many fists and hard blunt objects." She looked up, proud at her words, obviously feeling the right to be congratulated for her tactfulness.
Faith looked up sharply. Her eyes were clear for the first time today. "You mean he's dead?" She asked, her voice shaking.
"Yes, but you wouldn't know it from my cryptic yet meaningful declaration of sorrow." Anya answered.
Faith sank back into her chair, her eyes becoming, if anything, even cloudier. William got up and in a rage punched the wall, ripping a small hole through it. Xander's eyes closed at the pain of hearing what had happened again. Anya's smile faded as the memory took over, and Angel's eyes slid shut as a thousand memories of Oz flooded over him.
Cordy looked around and made a small noise in the back of her throat.
"Why was Faith already crying when we got in here? If my memory serves me right, she never even met Buffy." Cordy asked sharply.
Angel answered when he saw that no one else was going to. "They're child, Faith, was kidnapped last night."
Willow's head snapped up. "That was the night he left. Yesterday, he was here yesterday. How could he go away so fast?"
She went back to mumbling to herself. Everyone receded into their own black thoughts, except for Cordy. She started pacing.
"So if Oz AND the baby were kidnapped the night the slayer wakes up, I think it's safe to say that it wasn't a coincidence. Normally, now would be the time that I'd suggest we go for help. But Giles and Jenny are raising Dawn in England, Gunn and Wesley are in Minnesota on Demon Hunter business, Lorne went back to.wherever he came from."
"What's your bloody point?" Spike spat out. "We don't need reminding on how hopeless the situation is."
"Hopeless? What the hell are you talking about?" Cordy snapped. "O.K. so we have a slayer, two highly trained vampire hunters, an ex-demon, the happy sidekick guy, and a pregnant lady with permanent PMS. I'd say our chances are pretty damn good! Hopeless? It's safe to assume from the marks on his body that Oz put up QUITE a fight. He must have taken out at least some of the force we're up against. So not only will they be weak but they'll be shaken from such a near attack. HOPELESS? The only time you would ever say it was hopeless when Buffy was around was when the day came that we were all laying in our coffins and some of us probably rising out of them at night. Just because she's not exactly here doesn't mean that we are hopeless!"
She turned to Spike, a fire burning in her eyes.
"Your child is lost! Do something about it!" She turned to Willow.
"Your fiancée is dead. Fight for his cause!"
She turned to Angel.
"Your girlfriend is taking her beauty rest. Give her a world of beauty when she wakes up!'
"The fight between good and evil isn't a hopeful situation. Evil will always be stronger, evil will always have the upper hand. That's why we fight. Yes, you know what Spike? It is hopeless. I say, all the better. We fight now not because that's what you do, but because we all have reasons. We have lost something or have something on the line. I don't know a dang thing about whatever we're fighting, but I do know that we will win! Why? Because it's 7 in the morning, my back is killing me, and I'm ready to KICK SOME ASS!!!!"
Faith looked up slowly, than started to smile. Anya jumped to her feet and started clapping. Xander gave Cordy a hug. Spike nodded. Angel sighed.
Beside him, he could have sworn he heard Buffy breath one word, "Fight."
It was decided, the war was on.
Disclaimer: Does special Disclaim dance to the disclaiming God who shines down upon her and does not sue!
A/N: YAY LCA! I have successfully updated! GO ME!!!!! with in a month! And u thought it couldn't be done! I SCOFF AT U! j/k kidding, I don't scoff if u review! Er, almost a month, a little more.be quiet and read! But fiiiiiiirst. To the Reviewers:
Emmi Lou: No, YOU'RE CRAZY U CRAZY CAPTAIN! Thanx for reiviewing Emmi and we WILL read more of Harry Potter. W/ our crazy voices and all. O yeah, u know it!
Divamercury: idn't it the saddest thing ya ever read? J/k I'm not THAT good. But it is pretty good if I do say so meself!
Queen Boadicea: Thank you for feeling for my characters! Ya know, I always loved Oz, but that's just me and I know a lot of peeps didn't like him so it was kind of hard to write for him..eh, ignore the crazy author ramblings!
Sailor Earth: LOOK! I updated! : ^ )
* * *
They dragged her away from his cold body after giving her sometime to grieve. Willow tried to pull away and clawed at their hands but it was three against one and she was in no condition to fight. She ended up collapsing against Xander, unable to even stand up on her own. Racking with sobs, walking was not even a possibility.
Oz was gone.Oz was gone.the mantra kept repeating itself over
and over. Oz was
gone.Gone..GONE!!!!!!!
Another sob escaped her convulsing body and added no relief to the pressure that was growing inside her. She staggered away from Xander to a convenient garbage can and retched all of the pain out of her system. She turned back and saw their wary gaze on her as she swayed a little. She gave them what she hoped was a confident smile and took one shaky step before passing out.
* * *
"Shit!" Xander screamed as he ran to catch his best friend, nagging her right before she would have hit the hard pavement ground. He looked up frantically at his wife and Anya and they helped him heave Willow's passed out form over his shoulders. Willow was heavy when she was unconscious!
"Wait, what are we going to do with O-.with the body?" asked Anya in a quiet voice.
Xander remembered her once telling him that when she had been on a crazy killing spree, she had learned it was easier to stop thinking of the dead as a person and start thinking of them as merely dead. That's what he had to do now. He opened his mouth to speak but a voice cut in before his.
"We can't do anything for him right now. We need to get Willow to the hospital, we need to regroup. He's dead, may he rest in peace, but he was fighting for something and we need to protect it. I would rather honor Oz by protecting whatever he sacrificed himself for than honor his lifeless body."
It was Cordy, with tears running down her face. She turned resolutely and walked down the alley back to Oz.er, the body. Leaning down she planted a small kiss on his cheek and whispered something in his ear, then hoisted his body up and put him back in the dumpster (with Anya's help of course).
"We'll come back for him if we can." She said in a quiet voice that still seemed to fill the alley.
As they headed toward the alley Xander hung back and asked his wife what she had whispered to Oz. Cordy just looked at him with an unfathomable expression.
"I just said goodbye."
* * *
Angel looked up in surprise when Anya, a very pregnant looking Cordy, and Xander dragging an unconscious Willow came marching through the door. They were all tear stained and at first Angel thought that it was because they had heard Buffy had relapsed.
"I thought Sleeping Beauty had finally woken up." Anya said, which bluntly ended his train of thought.
"Yeah, well, you know." Angel fumbled for words. "What happened to you guys."
Willow chose that moment to wake up. She screamed incoherent words until she just repeated "gone.he's gone" over and over again.
"Oz had an accident." Anya said, clearly making an attempt to actually choose her words carefully. "Yeah that's right, he had an accident with many fists and hard blunt objects." She looked up, proud at her words, obviously feeling the right to be congratulated for her tactfulness.
Faith looked up sharply. Her eyes were clear for the first time today. "You mean he's dead?" She asked, her voice shaking.
"Yes, but you wouldn't know it from my cryptic yet meaningful declaration of sorrow." Anya answered.
Faith sank back into her chair, her eyes becoming, if anything, even cloudier. William got up and in a rage punched the wall, ripping a small hole through it. Xander's eyes closed at the pain of hearing what had happened again. Anya's smile faded as the memory took over, and Angel's eyes slid shut as a thousand memories of Oz flooded over him.
Cordy looked around and made a small noise in the back of her throat.
"Why was Faith already crying when we got in here? If my memory serves me right, she never even met Buffy." Cordy asked sharply.
Angel answered when he saw that no one else was going to. "They're child, Faith, was kidnapped last night."
Willow's head snapped up. "That was the night he left. Yesterday, he was here yesterday. How could he go away so fast?"
She went back to mumbling to herself. Everyone receded into their own black thoughts, except for Cordy. She started pacing.
"So if Oz AND the baby were kidnapped the night the slayer wakes up, I think it's safe to say that it wasn't a coincidence. Normally, now would be the time that I'd suggest we go for help. But Giles and Jenny are raising Dawn in England, Gunn and Wesley are in Minnesota on Demon Hunter business, Lorne went back to.wherever he came from."
"What's your bloody point?" Spike spat out. "We don't need reminding on how hopeless the situation is."
"Hopeless? What the hell are you talking about?" Cordy snapped. "O.K. so we have a slayer, two highly trained vampire hunters, an ex-demon, the happy sidekick guy, and a pregnant lady with permanent PMS. I'd say our chances are pretty damn good! Hopeless? It's safe to assume from the marks on his body that Oz put up QUITE a fight. He must have taken out at least some of the force we're up against. So not only will they be weak but they'll be shaken from such a near attack. HOPELESS? The only time you would ever say it was hopeless when Buffy was around was when the day came that we were all laying in our coffins and some of us probably rising out of them at night. Just because she's not exactly here doesn't mean that we are hopeless!"
She turned to Spike, a fire burning in her eyes.
"Your child is lost! Do something about it!" She turned to Willow.
"Your fiancée is dead. Fight for his cause!"
She turned to Angel.
"Your girlfriend is taking her beauty rest. Give her a world of beauty when she wakes up!'
"The fight between good and evil isn't a hopeful situation. Evil will always be stronger, evil will always have the upper hand. That's why we fight. Yes, you know what Spike? It is hopeless. I say, all the better. We fight now not because that's what you do, but because we all have reasons. We have lost something or have something on the line. I don't know a dang thing about whatever we're fighting, but I do know that we will win! Why? Because it's 7 in the morning, my back is killing me, and I'm ready to KICK SOME ASS!!!!"
Faith looked up slowly, than started to smile. Anya jumped to her feet and started clapping. Xander gave Cordy a hug. Spike nodded. Angel sighed.
Beside him, he could have sworn he heard Buffy breath one word, "Fight."
It was decided, the war was on.