Twenty Minutes with Anya Challenge.
By Rose Williams.
While She Was Gone.
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon et al. Not me.
Rating: G.
Summary: Anya ran away at the end of season three. But she came back. What happened in between?
* * *
Anya stared at the glass of coke on the bar in front of her. She didn't like it here. Something wasn't right. The clothes were pretty nice, but the stretch cotton was tight across her shoulder. And she couldn't get comfortable on the stool.
"You know what I wish…" she began. But she gave up. Either no one was listening, or her wish would actually be granted by someone who wanted to get back at her.
She took another sip of coke and frowned. Maybe this is what bring human felt like, she thought. It seemed lonely and annoying, mostly, no wonder they spent a lot of time trying to kill each other.
There was a familiar popping, whooshing sound. She sighed.
"What do you want, Hallie?"
"Not keen to see me?" her friend cooed. "We used to have such fun."
Russia was fun, Anya remembered. But she'd never really understood people. And she wasn't in the mood to go through it again.
"What are you doing here, and human?" Hallie asked.
Anya growled. "My amulet was smashed. I was stuck in Sunnydale. There's going to be an Ascension there. Maybe it's already happened."
"Don't you watch the news, honey? They blew up the high school."
"Really? What happened to the students?" Anya demanded.
"Do you want me to check? What's wrong with you?"
"I feel unwell. There is a strange cold feeling in my gut."
Hallie scoffed. There was another whoosh as she disappeared. Anya managed to drink one more sip of coke in the minutes Hallie was gone. Her once fellow-demon reappeared with a smug grin.
"He's fine," she said. "He's stuck in Oxnard."
"Who?" Anya asked. "Oxnard?"
"He's in Oxnard. That dark haired fellow."
"Xander?" Anya asked. He was the only dark haired man whose name she actually knew.
"Must be," Hallie said. "You seem pretty stuck on him."
"Please," was the response.
Anya downed the rest of her coke with a grimace. She felt slightly light headed.
"We went to the prom together."
"Little Anya at the prom," Hallie sang.
"Hey, I taught you most of what you know. You're like a fifth my age."
"Yeah, but you've got no idea what's happening. I, on the other hand, was once wooed by a poet. You're in love."
Anya shook her head. She didn't like this life. She didn't the way she was feeling. The bar was uncomfortable, and no one was as funny as Xander. They all looked at her strangely when she asked questions. At least he answered them. And maybe he was kind of cute.
"That's the light feeling in your upper arms," Hallie said. "The cold, sinking feeling in you stomach is guilt."
"Guilt?!" Anya chocked.
Of all the… she was a Vengeance Demon, she relished in pain and destruction.
"You left them to face an Ascension. My skill is picking up worries, Anya, yours was hurt."
"I don't want this."
"It's what you've got. He looks like a good bloke, well equipped. I say go for it. But you might not have the strength for it."
