Holding Out for a Hero Chapter 1: Holding Out for a Hero Buffy, a buffy: the vampire slayer fanfic

Title: Holding Out for a Hero
Author: Kristy Marie
Rating: PG
Pairing: BX
Genre: one shot Song Fic
Disclaimer: Of course Joss has the BtVS stuff and Bonnie Tyler has the song. I just own my nice little iMac computer....
Distribution: TTH, FF.net, let me know where else it travels to...
Author's Notes: Xander didn't go to Africa, he actually traveled with Buffy and Dawn to Rome, he didn't want to leave his Summers girls... This is my first song fic so hopefully it will go okay. I had to download this song (legally from iTunes!!) for a relative and got to thinking about the lyrics and they wouldn't let me sleep.... Feedback is greatly desired as it boosted my day from mediocre to a 'oh happy day' feeling.

Holding Out for a Hero

Buffy lay awake on her bed with some of Dawn's mp3's playing lightly in the background. It had been months since the First. She was suppose to be living it up in Rome and doing some sisterly bonding with Dawn, but instead she was in her secluded room pondering her future love life, or lack there of. Her past had contained Angel, Riley and Spike. All three had loved her and left her. Of course there were a few extenuating circumstances surrounding the two vampires, but in the end they had left. Even her two father figures had left; her dad when he ran off with the secretary, and Giles when he returned to England... Then she heard a familiar song come on..

**
Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
**

'Yeah, ' she snorted, 'all the good men are gone, they all left little old me, well, all except Xander..' Where had that thought come from?

**
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
**

'Hmm, what about Xander? He's been there for seven years now, and he never left...'

**
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night toss and turn and dream of what I need
**

'I never even thanked him properly for saving my life all those years ago... He came to my rescue and I just used him to make Angel jealous... How many other times did he save me?'

**
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
**

'He called me his hero once. I wonder if anyone ever told him that he is as much of a hero as the rest of us?'

**
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
**

'He's fought beside us for seven years.. He always survived even when he stumbled his way through the fight.' Something inside Buffy was stirring. 'Not to mention that eye-patch does give him a sexy look.'

**
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
**

'He's in the daylight and in the darkness, he picked me up so many times, why didn't I ever see my Xander-shaped friend?'

**
Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
**

'I was always looking for the danger factor, I needed someone I could share my Slayer part with. Why didn't I ever see Xander, he knew all my secrets, he knew me.'

**
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet
**

'Anya always said he was good. I mean he has to have something if he could please a thousand year old vengeance demon. Right?'

**
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
**

'Who has he been with? Anya of course, and she still loved him after he left her. Hmm... Cordelia was his other girlfriend. There has to be something, Cordelia had even told me she loved him, I know, even though he hurt her deeply, she still cared for him. Willow loved him since the day they met. Even Dawn loves him in her own way. And lets not even think about the slew of demon women who come after him. Why did I never think about why all these women love him, why do I love him?'

**
Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I would swear that there's someone somewhere
Watching me
**

'Even when he was with his other girls, he's always watched out for me. I've hurt him, turned him down, only used him when I needed him, but he's always watched over me, been there for me, protected me. And I don't need protecting. Do I?'

'I'm a hero, I don't need one, do I? "When I'm all alone who do I turn to?" Wasn't that what he said to me? He turns to me, his hero. But who can I turn to? Would he let me turn to him?'

**
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach
Like the fire in my blood
**

"Maybe I never turned to him because I was afraid he would leave me too..." Her voice was barely a whisper, but she sighed as she had finally spoken one of her greatest fears.

'Could I risk it all, could I have it all with him? Or would I ruin it like everything else? A hero needs someone to turn to too. He's there, maybe, just maybe, I could make it work. I've got to try, if I don't, I will lose him with time. If I catch him and hold on tight, my White Knight can't escape on his fiery steed!'

Buffy jumped off her bed and began her plotting to ensnare an unsuspecting Xander into her life. 'Just hope he is ready for me...because I need a hero!'

The End