Chapter 6
A/N Some of the lines from here were cribbed from the episode Restless (season 4 btvs)
-Buffy-
When we finally crawl out of the Initiative headquarters, literally, we're all bloody bruised and worse for the wear, but we're all alive which is more then I would have bet on a week ago. I feel oddly psyched. I can tell Xander, Willow, Giles and Angel are burning with jittery energy too. Riley on the other hand looks like he could sleep for a week. I catch Angel's arm.
"Hey, I kind of need to talk to him. Give us a little space?" I say.
Angel glances up at Riley. I swear his brown eyes flash gold for a moment before he nods. "I'll be near though."
I walk over to Riley, my hands folded in front of me. He smiles down at me and I don't want to break his heart. I know I'm going to though.
"Thanks for the help in there. A lot of men made it out alive because of you." Riley says.
I shrug. "No problem, that's sort of my job." I look down at my hands. The right one still has Angel's blood on it. "Riley, I-"I stop and take a breath.
"You're going with him, aren't you?" Riley says glancing up at Angel who is leaning against a tree looking threatening. I've explained to him that Riley wouldn't hurt me. Somehow it didn't soak into that thick skull of his.
"I am. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Don't." Riley interrupts, "he's a vampire, Buffy. You kill vampires, you don't date them."
I sigh. I'm not going to let him bait me into a fight. He's hurting. "He's Angel, that's the only excuse I have. I belong to him. Sometimes I think I've belonged to him since before I was born."
Riley shakes his head. "Did you ever love me?"
Tears rush to my eyes. I struggle to find the right words, words that won't hurt but that won't be a lie either. "I thought I did. I wanted to love you. I couldn't. It's not like I set out to love Angel. I told myself from the very beginning that I couldn't love him, he was a vampire. I can't help it. I'm sorry, Riley."
He nods. "For the record, I was lucky to have you in my life while I did, Buffy." He turned and begins to walk back to his dorm room. I start to call after him. I feel like I should say something else, vilify myself, or something. I take a deep breath. Angel's arms slip around my waist. He kisses the top of my head. "You okay?" he asks.
I nod. "Yeah, I just didn't want to hurt him."
Angel smiles at me. "There was no way around it. It hurts losing you."
"How would you know? You never lost me." I say.
*
-Angel-
I sit on the couch in Buffy's living room. The gunshot wound on my shoulder is freshly bandaged and has already begun to heal. Buffy is in the kitchen talking to her mom. I can overhear most of the conversation, even though they are trying to keep quiet.
"Buffy, what is Angel doing back here in Sunnydale?" Joyce asks.
"He came to help me stop the latest big baddy. I might have died without him here, Mom. Most days I think I did die without him here." Buffy says.
I nod to myself. I know exactly what she means. I've spent the last year away from her struggling to keep from dying every day without her.
"Buffy, I want you to be happy, I do, but Angel- he can't give you anything." Joyce says.
"Angel gives me everything, Mom." Buffy says.
The kitchen is quiet for a moment. The only sounds are the ones of Joyce and Buffy gathering up snack food for the upcoming vid fest. Finally Joyce speaks.
"Buffy, he can't give you children or anything resembling a normal life." Joyce says.
"Mom I saved the world from a Frankenstein demon made out various human and demon parts tonight. My life is never going to resemble anything normal no matter what or who I spend it with. At least Angel can take care of himself. He knows the slayer deal. He knows what he's getting into." Buffy says.
"Now, you do that now, but one day-"Joyce starts.
"One day what? Hell's going to freeze over, all the demons walking on earth are going to decide to give peace a chance and there will be no more evil left to fight? Get real, Mom. That's never going to happen. It never ends, it's never over. I'm going to be the slayer until the day I die and when that happens another slayer will be called because there will still be demons to fight and evil to drive back." Buffy says.
There is another bout of silence. I try to push thoughts of the day Buffy will die out of my head. In my world, Buffy's death is an unacceptable event. I struggle against the urge to rush into the kitchen, sink my fangs into her neck and feed her my blood, to make her as immortal and eternal as I am.
"Mom, deal with Angel being here. I'm not letting him leave this time."
"What about that nice boy you were dating from college?" Joyce says.
"Riley? I broke Riley's heart tonight, because I love Angel."
I can hear Buffy's light footsteps before I actually see her. I stand up as she walks in the room. She gravitates into my embrace as if pulled there by a mysterious force. My arms surround her slight body with the same instinctual feel. She rests her cheek on my chest. I can feel the warmth from her skin radiate throughout my body. We stand there a few moments and then as if by some unspoken agreement break apart and rejoin on the couch.
"Xander, Willow and Giles should be here pretty soon." She says.
I nod. "They were stopping to get videos?"
She nods. "Yah Xander wanted Apocalypse Now like we don't get that enough around here but Willow promised to make him get something less heart- of-darkness-y with a girl and an English guy."
I quirk an eyebrow at her, "an English guy?"
She shrugs. "It's the accent."
I grin at her and waggle my eyebrows. "So ye like a man with a wee bit o' an accent do ye?" I turn on the Irish brogue I left behind a century or so ago.
Buffy gasps and whacks me on the arm "Why didn't you tell me you could do that?"
I chuckle and shrug. "I spent the better part of a century losing it besides it never occurred to me that you would like it."
"Duh, men with accents are sexy, except Giles and ewww old factor there." She says.
"Buffy, in a few years I'll celebrate a bi-centennial. You're going to make me self conscious with the old comments." I tease her.
"Yeah but you don't look like your going to celebrate a bi- centennial." She says.
We're interrupted by the clatter and accompanying noise of Xander, Willow and Giles walking into the house. Joyce peeks out of the kitchen and smiles.
"Hello, Xander, Willow, Rupert." She says
There is a chorus of "Hey Mrs. Summers" and one "Hello Joyce."
Willow joins us in the living room. Xander, not surprisingly, goes into the kitchen to retrieve the snack food Buffy and her mom pulled out. Giles stands in the dining room talking with Joyce. I don't mention it to Buffy but there is a definite vibe coming off those two. I guess dating doesn't get easier as you get older for humans either.
Xander walks into the living room carrying one of the largest bowls of popcorn I've seen.
"Dinner is served per Chef Xander." He says with a flourish that resembles a bow of sorts.
Willow smirks. "What you pushed the popcorn button on the microwave?"
"No, actually I pushed the defrost button, but Mrs. Summers was there in a clinch." Xander says flopping onto the couch next to Willow. I start to comment about the couch not being big enough and there is another chair in the room but Buffy scoots closer to me, giving Willow and Xander more room. Hey, who am I to complain?
"Come on, G-man, the annual post apocalyptic vid-fest is about to begin." Xander shouts.
Giles and Joyce walk into the room. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to join us?" Giles asks Joyce. His voice carries a desperate tone and I hide my smirk. It reeks of Please don't leave me alone with these children and their insipid videos.
"No, thank you. I'm tired and the gallery is opening early tomorrow. "Joyce bows out gracefully "Goodnight everyone, Buffy lock up after everyone has gone." Joyce's eyes land on me and I get her hint about not staying the night, even if Buffy doesn't. I nod slightly.
"I am putting in a preemptive bid for Apocalypse Now." Xander says holding up the video tape.
Willow wrinkles her nose. "Anything less heart-of-darkness-y?" I smile as she echoes Buffy's words exactly.
"And less familiar," Buffy chimes.
"What say you, Angel and Giles? Come on the men have to stick together." Xander tries to rally support.
"Don't look at me. I wanted Hamlet." Giles says.
"Giles, a foreign language film?" Buffy says.
I chuckle. "It's English, Shakespearian English."
"Hence, foreign language." Buffy says. "Sorry Xander but it's a no go."
"That's alright; we have plenty of chick-and-British-guy flicks. Giles can sound out the words we don't understand. Like Pouf, what exactly is a pouf?" Xander says.
"It's a guttersnipe insult, an effeminate man, a fairy." I say.
Xander looks confused for a moment. "Ok, does Spike know what it means, because he uses it in conjunction with you and effeminate doesn't exactly apply, big-forehead guy maybe."
I grumble and choose to allow the subject of Spike and my forehead to drop. Xander picks a video from the pile and puts it in the VCR. Buffy snuggles up closer to me. This vid-fest wasn't such a bad idea after all.
*
"Come on, Angel, everyone is waiting for us!" Buffy yells at me from the mansion courtyard. Its still daylight outside. I can feel it.
"Buffy, go on. I'll catch up when it's dark." I yell back.
"Okay, but hurry. I've got an appointment to keep." She yells.
"You've got some nerve, making her wait like that." A voice says from behind me. I turn around and Riley is sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table, the coffee table Buffy broke last year.
I feel my game face slide into place and I stalk toward him.
He yawns. "You know you don't scare me. Spike told me the truth about you. You're just a big fluffy puppy with bad teeth." I growl. He yawns again. "Save the theatrics. She's been waiting for you her entire life. You really want to make her wait longer?"
"I can't go outside, Moron. There's this thing with vampires where they explode in daylight." I spit the words out around fangs.
"Daylight? It's been dark for hours, Big Guy. Better hurry, it might be too late. She's already started falling you know." Riley says.
I step outside into the courtyard, but it's not the courtyard. It's an expanse of chilly night time desert. I turn around and the mansion, Riley, everything has disappeared. There's nothing but desert behind me. I start walking forward, only because there seems nothing else to do. I come upon a little girl with brown hair sitting in the sand. I crouch down beside her. She's playing with dolls. She looks up at me and smiles brightly.
"Hi," I say.
"You really shouldn't stop here. You've got to make sure she's ready." The little girl says in a voice much too old for her age.
"Ready for what?" I ask.
"The fall silly." The little girl says.
"What fall?" I ask.
"Don't worry. I'll be there but I won't be able to stop her. Hurry, you're going to be late." The little girl says.
I stand up and begin to run. There is something running behind me. I catch glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye but when I turn my head it's gone. The elevator from my office is directly ahead of me. If I can get to it I'll be safe. I jump into the elevator and slam the gate closed behind me. Something dark and feral hits the gate with a growl but I can't make out any features to tell what it is. I push the button going down and the elevator rattles to life.
Instead of going down the elevator goes up. When it shudders to a stop it's in my office in LA. I open the metal gate and step out into it. Everything here is covered in a fine layer of dust. There is a man sitting behind the desk with a plate of cheese slices. He holds it out to me.
"Cheese?" he offers.
"No, thanks, vampire, I don't really eat." I say.
"Oh come on. That's just an excuse and you know it." The man says.
The answering machine comes to life.
"Angel Investigations we don't help the hopeless anymore because well, our vampire took off to Sunnydale. You see poor little Buffy needed her Angel and so of course he just takes off at a moment's notice without even considering that he's needed here. I mean why would he be? I get these mind numbing skull shattering visions because it's fun. Leave a message if Angel ever comes back we'll give it to him." Cordelia's voice rambles out of the machine.
The front door swings open and daylight pours in. I jump back just in time to avoid being scorched. Angelus is standing out there in broad daylight. He leers at me.
The man with the cheese shakes his head. "They won't save her this time." He looks mournfully at the cheese.
Tsk, tsk tsk, you're too late to save her again. Don't feel bad. Pursuit of fame and glory have bested better men, or women, then Buffy. Of course, I was there when she fell which is more then I can say for you." Angelus says.
Angelus reaches just out of sight and jerks something to him. It's Buffy. He sinks his fangs into her creamy white throat as I make a leap for her. My fingers fall just short of reaching her and I can feel myself start to burn as I crawl toward her over an ever widening gap. Angelus drops Buffy's body and crouches down in front of me. As the flames engulf me I catch a glimpse of feral eyes set in a gray face and surrounded by dark stringy hair.
*
I jump and blink. I'm not on fire. I'm sitting on Buffy's couch. Willow, Xander, Giles and Buffy all look at each other confused, blinking sleep from their eyes.
"The first slayer, wow." Willow says.
"First slayer?" I ask.
Buffy nods. "Very unsocial, not big on the hygenine but onboard with the killing of me and my friends."
"Ah, I thought she seemed somehow familiar." I say.
"Some how our joining with Buffy and our evoking the power of the slayer was an affront to that source of power." Giles attempts to explain.
"So she goes all wonky and tries to kill us all in our sleep?" Willow says.
"You know, Giles, you could have warned us of these consequences before we did the spell." Buffy says.
"I did. I said there could be dire consequences." Giles defends himself.
"Yes, but you say that about chewing to fast." Buffy says.
Joyce walks down the stairs and glances into the living room. "I'm guessing I missed some fun?"
"It's okay you didn't miss much, only the spirit of the first slayer trying to kill us in our dreams." Willow quips.
"Oh, well in that case who's up for hot chocolate?" Joyce says.
There is a chorus of "yeah" and "sure." I add my own "yes, please," to it. It's hot chocolate, what can it hurt?
"Xander, be my kitchen buddy and help me carry?" Joyce asks.
Xander gulps. "Uhm, sure, Buffy's Mom." He stands and wipes his palms nervously on his pants legs before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Buffy, are you alright?" Giles asks.
Buffy nods. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean the First Slayer. I never really thought that much about her. She's sorta intense. I guess you guys got that though."
"We did. And I prefer it when the only slayer in my dreams is you." I smile at Buffy and pull her back into my embrace.
A/N Some of the lines from here were cribbed from the episode Restless (season 4 btvs)
-Buffy-
When we finally crawl out of the Initiative headquarters, literally, we're all bloody bruised and worse for the wear, but we're all alive which is more then I would have bet on a week ago. I feel oddly psyched. I can tell Xander, Willow, Giles and Angel are burning with jittery energy too. Riley on the other hand looks like he could sleep for a week. I catch Angel's arm.
"Hey, I kind of need to talk to him. Give us a little space?" I say.
Angel glances up at Riley. I swear his brown eyes flash gold for a moment before he nods. "I'll be near though."
I walk over to Riley, my hands folded in front of me. He smiles down at me and I don't want to break his heart. I know I'm going to though.
"Thanks for the help in there. A lot of men made it out alive because of you." Riley says.
I shrug. "No problem, that's sort of my job." I look down at my hands. The right one still has Angel's blood on it. "Riley, I-"I stop and take a breath.
"You're going with him, aren't you?" Riley says glancing up at Angel who is leaning against a tree looking threatening. I've explained to him that Riley wouldn't hurt me. Somehow it didn't soak into that thick skull of his.
"I am. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Don't." Riley interrupts, "he's a vampire, Buffy. You kill vampires, you don't date them."
I sigh. I'm not going to let him bait me into a fight. He's hurting. "He's Angel, that's the only excuse I have. I belong to him. Sometimes I think I've belonged to him since before I was born."
Riley shakes his head. "Did you ever love me?"
Tears rush to my eyes. I struggle to find the right words, words that won't hurt but that won't be a lie either. "I thought I did. I wanted to love you. I couldn't. It's not like I set out to love Angel. I told myself from the very beginning that I couldn't love him, he was a vampire. I can't help it. I'm sorry, Riley."
He nods. "For the record, I was lucky to have you in my life while I did, Buffy." He turned and begins to walk back to his dorm room. I start to call after him. I feel like I should say something else, vilify myself, or something. I take a deep breath. Angel's arms slip around my waist. He kisses the top of my head. "You okay?" he asks.
I nod. "Yeah, I just didn't want to hurt him."
Angel smiles at me. "There was no way around it. It hurts losing you."
"How would you know? You never lost me." I say.
*
-Angel-
I sit on the couch in Buffy's living room. The gunshot wound on my shoulder is freshly bandaged and has already begun to heal. Buffy is in the kitchen talking to her mom. I can overhear most of the conversation, even though they are trying to keep quiet.
"Buffy, what is Angel doing back here in Sunnydale?" Joyce asks.
"He came to help me stop the latest big baddy. I might have died without him here, Mom. Most days I think I did die without him here." Buffy says.
I nod to myself. I know exactly what she means. I've spent the last year away from her struggling to keep from dying every day without her.
"Buffy, I want you to be happy, I do, but Angel- he can't give you anything." Joyce says.
"Angel gives me everything, Mom." Buffy says.
The kitchen is quiet for a moment. The only sounds are the ones of Joyce and Buffy gathering up snack food for the upcoming vid fest. Finally Joyce speaks.
"Buffy, he can't give you children or anything resembling a normal life." Joyce says.
"Mom I saved the world from a Frankenstein demon made out various human and demon parts tonight. My life is never going to resemble anything normal no matter what or who I spend it with. At least Angel can take care of himself. He knows the slayer deal. He knows what he's getting into." Buffy says.
"Now, you do that now, but one day-"Joyce starts.
"One day what? Hell's going to freeze over, all the demons walking on earth are going to decide to give peace a chance and there will be no more evil left to fight? Get real, Mom. That's never going to happen. It never ends, it's never over. I'm going to be the slayer until the day I die and when that happens another slayer will be called because there will still be demons to fight and evil to drive back." Buffy says.
There is another bout of silence. I try to push thoughts of the day Buffy will die out of my head. In my world, Buffy's death is an unacceptable event. I struggle against the urge to rush into the kitchen, sink my fangs into her neck and feed her my blood, to make her as immortal and eternal as I am.
"Mom, deal with Angel being here. I'm not letting him leave this time."
"What about that nice boy you were dating from college?" Joyce says.
"Riley? I broke Riley's heart tonight, because I love Angel."
I can hear Buffy's light footsteps before I actually see her. I stand up as she walks in the room. She gravitates into my embrace as if pulled there by a mysterious force. My arms surround her slight body with the same instinctual feel. She rests her cheek on my chest. I can feel the warmth from her skin radiate throughout my body. We stand there a few moments and then as if by some unspoken agreement break apart and rejoin on the couch.
"Xander, Willow and Giles should be here pretty soon." She says.
I nod. "They were stopping to get videos?"
She nods. "Yah Xander wanted Apocalypse Now like we don't get that enough around here but Willow promised to make him get something less heart- of-darkness-y with a girl and an English guy."
I quirk an eyebrow at her, "an English guy?"
She shrugs. "It's the accent."
I grin at her and waggle my eyebrows. "So ye like a man with a wee bit o' an accent do ye?" I turn on the Irish brogue I left behind a century or so ago.
Buffy gasps and whacks me on the arm "Why didn't you tell me you could do that?"
I chuckle and shrug. "I spent the better part of a century losing it besides it never occurred to me that you would like it."
"Duh, men with accents are sexy, except Giles and ewww old factor there." She says.
"Buffy, in a few years I'll celebrate a bi-centennial. You're going to make me self conscious with the old comments." I tease her.
"Yeah but you don't look like your going to celebrate a bi- centennial." She says.
We're interrupted by the clatter and accompanying noise of Xander, Willow and Giles walking into the house. Joyce peeks out of the kitchen and smiles.
"Hello, Xander, Willow, Rupert." She says
There is a chorus of "Hey Mrs. Summers" and one "Hello Joyce."
Willow joins us in the living room. Xander, not surprisingly, goes into the kitchen to retrieve the snack food Buffy and her mom pulled out. Giles stands in the dining room talking with Joyce. I don't mention it to Buffy but there is a definite vibe coming off those two. I guess dating doesn't get easier as you get older for humans either.
Xander walks into the living room carrying one of the largest bowls of popcorn I've seen.
"Dinner is served per Chef Xander." He says with a flourish that resembles a bow of sorts.
Willow smirks. "What you pushed the popcorn button on the microwave?"
"No, actually I pushed the defrost button, but Mrs. Summers was there in a clinch." Xander says flopping onto the couch next to Willow. I start to comment about the couch not being big enough and there is another chair in the room but Buffy scoots closer to me, giving Willow and Xander more room. Hey, who am I to complain?
"Come on, G-man, the annual post apocalyptic vid-fest is about to begin." Xander shouts.
Giles and Joyce walk into the room. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to join us?" Giles asks Joyce. His voice carries a desperate tone and I hide my smirk. It reeks of Please don't leave me alone with these children and their insipid videos.
"No, thank you. I'm tired and the gallery is opening early tomorrow. "Joyce bows out gracefully "Goodnight everyone, Buffy lock up after everyone has gone." Joyce's eyes land on me and I get her hint about not staying the night, even if Buffy doesn't. I nod slightly.
"I am putting in a preemptive bid for Apocalypse Now." Xander says holding up the video tape.
Willow wrinkles her nose. "Anything less heart-of-darkness-y?" I smile as she echoes Buffy's words exactly.
"And less familiar," Buffy chimes.
"What say you, Angel and Giles? Come on the men have to stick together." Xander tries to rally support.
"Don't look at me. I wanted Hamlet." Giles says.
"Giles, a foreign language film?" Buffy says.
I chuckle. "It's English, Shakespearian English."
"Hence, foreign language." Buffy says. "Sorry Xander but it's a no go."
"That's alright; we have plenty of chick-and-British-guy flicks. Giles can sound out the words we don't understand. Like Pouf, what exactly is a pouf?" Xander says.
"It's a guttersnipe insult, an effeminate man, a fairy." I say.
Xander looks confused for a moment. "Ok, does Spike know what it means, because he uses it in conjunction with you and effeminate doesn't exactly apply, big-forehead guy maybe."
I grumble and choose to allow the subject of Spike and my forehead to drop. Xander picks a video from the pile and puts it in the VCR. Buffy snuggles up closer to me. This vid-fest wasn't such a bad idea after all.
*
"Come on, Angel, everyone is waiting for us!" Buffy yells at me from the mansion courtyard. Its still daylight outside. I can feel it.
"Buffy, go on. I'll catch up when it's dark." I yell back.
"Okay, but hurry. I've got an appointment to keep." She yells.
"You've got some nerve, making her wait like that." A voice says from behind me. I turn around and Riley is sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table, the coffee table Buffy broke last year.
I feel my game face slide into place and I stalk toward him.
He yawns. "You know you don't scare me. Spike told me the truth about you. You're just a big fluffy puppy with bad teeth." I growl. He yawns again. "Save the theatrics. She's been waiting for you her entire life. You really want to make her wait longer?"
"I can't go outside, Moron. There's this thing with vampires where they explode in daylight." I spit the words out around fangs.
"Daylight? It's been dark for hours, Big Guy. Better hurry, it might be too late. She's already started falling you know." Riley says.
I step outside into the courtyard, but it's not the courtyard. It's an expanse of chilly night time desert. I turn around and the mansion, Riley, everything has disappeared. There's nothing but desert behind me. I start walking forward, only because there seems nothing else to do. I come upon a little girl with brown hair sitting in the sand. I crouch down beside her. She's playing with dolls. She looks up at me and smiles brightly.
"Hi," I say.
"You really shouldn't stop here. You've got to make sure she's ready." The little girl says in a voice much too old for her age.
"Ready for what?" I ask.
"The fall silly." The little girl says.
"What fall?" I ask.
"Don't worry. I'll be there but I won't be able to stop her. Hurry, you're going to be late." The little girl says.
I stand up and begin to run. There is something running behind me. I catch glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye but when I turn my head it's gone. The elevator from my office is directly ahead of me. If I can get to it I'll be safe. I jump into the elevator and slam the gate closed behind me. Something dark and feral hits the gate with a growl but I can't make out any features to tell what it is. I push the button going down and the elevator rattles to life.
Instead of going down the elevator goes up. When it shudders to a stop it's in my office in LA. I open the metal gate and step out into it. Everything here is covered in a fine layer of dust. There is a man sitting behind the desk with a plate of cheese slices. He holds it out to me.
"Cheese?" he offers.
"No, thanks, vampire, I don't really eat." I say.
"Oh come on. That's just an excuse and you know it." The man says.
The answering machine comes to life.
"Angel Investigations we don't help the hopeless anymore because well, our vampire took off to Sunnydale. You see poor little Buffy needed her Angel and so of course he just takes off at a moment's notice without even considering that he's needed here. I mean why would he be? I get these mind numbing skull shattering visions because it's fun. Leave a message if Angel ever comes back we'll give it to him." Cordelia's voice rambles out of the machine.
The front door swings open and daylight pours in. I jump back just in time to avoid being scorched. Angelus is standing out there in broad daylight. He leers at me.
The man with the cheese shakes his head. "They won't save her this time." He looks mournfully at the cheese.
Tsk, tsk tsk, you're too late to save her again. Don't feel bad. Pursuit of fame and glory have bested better men, or women, then Buffy. Of course, I was there when she fell which is more then I can say for you." Angelus says.
Angelus reaches just out of sight and jerks something to him. It's Buffy. He sinks his fangs into her creamy white throat as I make a leap for her. My fingers fall just short of reaching her and I can feel myself start to burn as I crawl toward her over an ever widening gap. Angelus drops Buffy's body and crouches down in front of me. As the flames engulf me I catch a glimpse of feral eyes set in a gray face and surrounded by dark stringy hair.
*
I jump and blink. I'm not on fire. I'm sitting on Buffy's couch. Willow, Xander, Giles and Buffy all look at each other confused, blinking sleep from their eyes.
"The first slayer, wow." Willow says.
"First slayer?" I ask.
Buffy nods. "Very unsocial, not big on the hygenine but onboard with the killing of me and my friends."
"Ah, I thought she seemed somehow familiar." I say.
"Some how our joining with Buffy and our evoking the power of the slayer was an affront to that source of power." Giles attempts to explain.
"So she goes all wonky and tries to kill us all in our sleep?" Willow says.
"You know, Giles, you could have warned us of these consequences before we did the spell." Buffy says.
"I did. I said there could be dire consequences." Giles defends himself.
"Yes, but you say that about chewing to fast." Buffy says.
Joyce walks down the stairs and glances into the living room. "I'm guessing I missed some fun?"
"It's okay you didn't miss much, only the spirit of the first slayer trying to kill us in our dreams." Willow quips.
"Oh, well in that case who's up for hot chocolate?" Joyce says.
There is a chorus of "yeah" and "sure." I add my own "yes, please," to it. It's hot chocolate, what can it hurt?
"Xander, be my kitchen buddy and help me carry?" Joyce asks.
Xander gulps. "Uhm, sure, Buffy's Mom." He stands and wipes his palms nervously on his pants legs before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Buffy, are you alright?" Giles asks.
Buffy nods. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean the First Slayer. I never really thought that much about her. She's sorta intense. I guess you guys got that though."
"We did. And I prefer it when the only slayer in my dreams is you." I smile at Buffy and pull her back into my embrace.