When In Rome
This chapter was really hard to title, 'cause they're NOT in Rome. :-) Anyway, sorry it took me so long to update: English paper. Here ya go.
5 Sight Seeing
The mourners had moved underneath an awning of a closed shop to wait for that cars to return. It had started drizzling, though not until Cordelia was safely underground. Safely. The word had bitter humor when talking about a dead person, and it was not lost on Buffy.
Suddenly Angel was standing beside her. "She picked out that dress, you know." He said looking out at the graveyard, almost as if he were talking to himself. "Me and Wes, we took her shopping after she woke up. She got two outfits, just two. The one she would wear that day, and..." Angel seemed like he was about to choke up, but then he recovered and continued "the one she would wear for the funeral. She knew. She knew her end was coming, but it shouldn't have. It should've been me. I've lived enough lifetimes one person, let alone 10, and ended so much more. But Cordelia? She was a hero. She would've made the world so much better, and I don't understand why the Powers would do this. She's supposed to be here."
Buffy looked at Angel, she didn't know quite what to say. Than she realized, there was nothing she *could* say, nothing that would matter anyway. She knew that from experience. So instead she simply reached out and gave his hand a squeeze.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel and Wes's car had come, along with the Cordettes (two separate vehicles for the dead and the alive former members), and Fred, Gunn, Lorne and the Scoobies were all still waiting.
Xander's eye was finally clear (not as invisible, just as in "the tears were gone and he could see again"). And with that new found seeing power he spotted a shiny platinum head amidst all the gray of the rainy evening.
"I'm going insane." Xander said to himself.
"Well, talking to yourself definitely is not a good sign." Willow said coming up behind him.
"It's just, wellÐ oh sheesh am I overreacting!" Xander suddenly 'realized' "There are tons of people in the world who dye there hair."
"That's true." Willow agreed, not understanding what on earth Xander was talking about.
"Yeah," but looking at the figure in the distance he was becoming less and less sure. "Look, Will, I gotta do something real quick, if our car comes, stall it."
"Sure, but where are yÐ" but it was too late, Xander was already running off towards the bleach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike spotted Xander heading his way, so he ducked back behind some potted plants that lined the outdoor shopping center he was standing in. He had figured Xander was coming for some mysterious reason, but it somehow did not occur to him that Xander might have spotted him, so it came as a surprise when Xander was standing right next to him.
"So it is you." Xander said astounded. "What the hell."
Spike was frozen, he didn't know what to do. He looked around in all directions "What you mean me?" he asked feigning cluelessness.
"No, I'm talking to the other supposedly dead vampire." Xander said, impatient.
"Well, that I'm dead is no surprise, I've always been dead... well, since 1880 that is." Spike said, this time feigning cockiness.
Xander looked like he didn't want to deal with Spike's games. "Do I look like I want to deal with your games?"
"No, I don't supposed you do look like you want to deal with my games."
"Do you want to tell me what's really going on?"
Spike didn't want to tell Xander what was really going on "No, I don't supposed I do really want to tell you what's really going on."
Xander was bored of this "Well, shucks! 'Cause your gonna."
Spike sighed and took a deep breath (not that he really needed one). "There was the amulet."
"The Elizabeth Taylor-slash-Mr. T costume jewelry castoff, right. The one that Buffy said killed you." Xander confirmed.
"Right, let's remember I was already dead..." Spike off-topic-ed again.
"So, you're saying it didn't kill you?" Xander wondered.
"No, it did. It just killed me *more*, more being the operative word, mate."
Xander shook his head and sighed. "Continue," he requested.
"Right, so, I'm dusting, and the next thing I know, I'm undusting... but in Wolfram & Hart. It was all very weird. Angel and Harmony both there: I thought I was in hell. Turns out I wasn't that far off the mark. I was a ghost, couldn't touch or feel anything. Trapped with the guy who gets everything I get, only first and better (that's Angel). And some Pavayne guy is trying to pull me in to hell."
"After saving the world? I'd of thought you'd get a choir of chubby babies with wings and harps." Xander questioned.
Spike had to stop for a moment. He was surprised in Xander... he actually thought Spike didn't deserve to go to hell? He wanted to thank Xander, or tell him what that meant to him. But he wasn't good at the mushy stuff, and besides, he didn't *want* that to matter to him. So instead he continued with his story. "Right, so, I didn't go to hell, obviously. And then one day I just, poof, became corporeal."
"So are you human now?" Xander asked.
"Nope, still a souled vampire. Two in the world, and two in L.A. Anyway, some guy DoyleÐ uh Lindsey... a guy Lindsey pretending to be Doyle comes and tells me all the places where people need saving, says he has visions. Turns out he was just Angel's old enemy, trying to get back at him or something. The real Doyle was some guy who gave Angel the mission, and Cordy the visions. He gave them purpose, and that's what I wanted, so I let myself be tricked." Spike said, still disgusted by the whole chain of events.
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, man." Xander comforted "I realized something, after Sunnydale caved in and Anya diedÐ"
"Sunnydale caved in!? Anya died!?" Spike asked, shocked.
"Oh, Jesus, I though you knew." Xander said, feeling sorry for dropping it on him like that.
"So, Anya's dead? The fight?" Spike asked sadly, she truly was his favorite Scooby member.
"Yeah, she died fighting."
"It doesn't make sense to me. Cordy, Anya... the honest ones are gone. Now who's gonna tell you you look like a poof with that eye patch?" Spike asked.
"Well, I guess you." Xander answered.
"Or maybe I'm next. I keep thinking... things don't go like I want them to. I try, my best. Believe me, but thing just don't work out." Spike confessed. He was a little shocked he did, it wasn't something he was admitting to himself, let alone XANDER! of all people?
"That brings me back to what I was saying before. You have to find something in yourself first, Spike, before you can find it in other places. And not *all* things go wrong. Example: Buffy." Xander informed Spike, who was staring at him unconvinced.
"What about Buffy?" he asked skeptically.
"Well, more specifically: you and Buffy." Xander elaborated.
Spike snickered. "Oh yeah, the prospects looked great from over here. Especially with her holding Angel's hand. Oh, and that pesky part where I'm dead to her, literally."
"Well that can be fixed easy!" Xander said jubilantly. "Let's go tell her." and he started to turn away.
"No!" Spike nearly shouted, grabbing Xander's arm and stopping him from continuing back towards the awning.
A shocked Xander turned to face Spike "What's the deal?"
Realizing his drama-queen-ness he lowered his voice and admitted "I'm not ready for that."
"Well, get ready. 'Cause I'm not letting her leave town without knowing you're back. I owe her more than that, and so do you." Xander informed, and in that moment they made a silent contract. Xander wouldn't tell her yet, but no matter what, by the end of the trip, she would know.
Xander began to walk back to the congregation of Cordy fans, but Spike called out to him.
"You know that girl Fred. The little yet terribly perky Texan?"
"Yeah..." Xander answered questioningly.
"She has a whole genius with a crazy science lab thing going on. Ask her about your eye."
"Ask her what about my eye?" Xander asked still incredibly lost.
"To give you a new one. I get a paycheck now, so if she's going to make you pay, just give it to me... the bill not the eye, you got that, right?"
Xander smiled "Yeah, I get it."
TBC
This chapter was really hard to title, 'cause they're NOT in Rome. :-) Anyway, sorry it took me so long to update: English paper. Here ya go.
5 Sight Seeing
The mourners had moved underneath an awning of a closed shop to wait for that cars to return. It had started drizzling, though not until Cordelia was safely underground. Safely. The word had bitter humor when talking about a dead person, and it was not lost on Buffy.
Suddenly Angel was standing beside her. "She picked out that dress, you know." He said looking out at the graveyard, almost as if he were talking to himself. "Me and Wes, we took her shopping after she woke up. She got two outfits, just two. The one she would wear that day, and..." Angel seemed like he was about to choke up, but then he recovered and continued "the one she would wear for the funeral. She knew. She knew her end was coming, but it shouldn't have. It should've been me. I've lived enough lifetimes one person, let alone 10, and ended so much more. But Cordelia? She was a hero. She would've made the world so much better, and I don't understand why the Powers would do this. She's supposed to be here."
Buffy looked at Angel, she didn't know quite what to say. Than she realized, there was nothing she *could* say, nothing that would matter anyway. She knew that from experience. So instead she simply reached out and gave his hand a squeeze.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel and Wes's car had come, along with the Cordettes (two separate vehicles for the dead and the alive former members), and Fred, Gunn, Lorne and the Scoobies were all still waiting.
Xander's eye was finally clear (not as invisible, just as in "the tears were gone and he could see again"). And with that new found seeing power he spotted a shiny platinum head amidst all the gray of the rainy evening.
"I'm going insane." Xander said to himself.
"Well, talking to yourself definitely is not a good sign." Willow said coming up behind him.
"It's just, wellÐ oh sheesh am I overreacting!" Xander suddenly 'realized' "There are tons of people in the world who dye there hair."
"That's true." Willow agreed, not understanding what on earth Xander was talking about.
"Yeah," but looking at the figure in the distance he was becoming less and less sure. "Look, Will, I gotta do something real quick, if our car comes, stall it."
"Sure, but where are yÐ" but it was too late, Xander was already running off towards the bleach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike spotted Xander heading his way, so he ducked back behind some potted plants that lined the outdoor shopping center he was standing in. He had figured Xander was coming for some mysterious reason, but it somehow did not occur to him that Xander might have spotted him, so it came as a surprise when Xander was standing right next to him.
"So it is you." Xander said astounded. "What the hell."
Spike was frozen, he didn't know what to do. He looked around in all directions "What you mean me?" he asked feigning cluelessness.
"No, I'm talking to the other supposedly dead vampire." Xander said, impatient.
"Well, that I'm dead is no surprise, I've always been dead... well, since 1880 that is." Spike said, this time feigning cockiness.
Xander looked like he didn't want to deal with Spike's games. "Do I look like I want to deal with your games?"
"No, I don't supposed you do look like you want to deal with my games."
"Do you want to tell me what's really going on?"
Spike didn't want to tell Xander what was really going on "No, I don't supposed I do really want to tell you what's really going on."
Xander was bored of this "Well, shucks! 'Cause your gonna."
Spike sighed and took a deep breath (not that he really needed one). "There was the amulet."
"The Elizabeth Taylor-slash-Mr. T costume jewelry castoff, right. The one that Buffy said killed you." Xander confirmed.
"Right, let's remember I was already dead..." Spike off-topic-ed again.
"So, you're saying it didn't kill you?" Xander wondered.
"No, it did. It just killed me *more*, more being the operative word, mate."
Xander shook his head and sighed. "Continue," he requested.
"Right, so, I'm dusting, and the next thing I know, I'm undusting... but in Wolfram & Hart. It was all very weird. Angel and Harmony both there: I thought I was in hell. Turns out I wasn't that far off the mark. I was a ghost, couldn't touch or feel anything. Trapped with the guy who gets everything I get, only first and better (that's Angel). And some Pavayne guy is trying to pull me in to hell."
"After saving the world? I'd of thought you'd get a choir of chubby babies with wings and harps." Xander questioned.
Spike had to stop for a moment. He was surprised in Xander... he actually thought Spike didn't deserve to go to hell? He wanted to thank Xander, or tell him what that meant to him. But he wasn't good at the mushy stuff, and besides, he didn't *want* that to matter to him. So instead he continued with his story. "Right, so, I didn't go to hell, obviously. And then one day I just, poof, became corporeal."
"So are you human now?" Xander asked.
"Nope, still a souled vampire. Two in the world, and two in L.A. Anyway, some guy DoyleÐ uh Lindsey... a guy Lindsey pretending to be Doyle comes and tells me all the places where people need saving, says he has visions. Turns out he was just Angel's old enemy, trying to get back at him or something. The real Doyle was some guy who gave Angel the mission, and Cordy the visions. He gave them purpose, and that's what I wanted, so I let myself be tricked." Spike said, still disgusted by the whole chain of events.
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, man." Xander comforted "I realized something, after Sunnydale caved in and Anya diedÐ"
"Sunnydale caved in!? Anya died!?" Spike asked, shocked.
"Oh, Jesus, I though you knew." Xander said, feeling sorry for dropping it on him like that.
"So, Anya's dead? The fight?" Spike asked sadly, she truly was his favorite Scooby member.
"Yeah, she died fighting."
"It doesn't make sense to me. Cordy, Anya... the honest ones are gone. Now who's gonna tell you you look like a poof with that eye patch?" Spike asked.
"Well, I guess you." Xander answered.
"Or maybe I'm next. I keep thinking... things don't go like I want them to. I try, my best. Believe me, but thing just don't work out." Spike confessed. He was a little shocked he did, it wasn't something he was admitting to himself, let alone XANDER! of all people?
"That brings me back to what I was saying before. You have to find something in yourself first, Spike, before you can find it in other places. And not *all* things go wrong. Example: Buffy." Xander informed Spike, who was staring at him unconvinced.
"What about Buffy?" he asked skeptically.
"Well, more specifically: you and Buffy." Xander elaborated.
Spike snickered. "Oh yeah, the prospects looked great from over here. Especially with her holding Angel's hand. Oh, and that pesky part where I'm dead to her, literally."
"Well that can be fixed easy!" Xander said jubilantly. "Let's go tell her." and he started to turn away.
"No!" Spike nearly shouted, grabbing Xander's arm and stopping him from continuing back towards the awning.
A shocked Xander turned to face Spike "What's the deal?"
Realizing his drama-queen-ness he lowered his voice and admitted "I'm not ready for that."
"Well, get ready. 'Cause I'm not letting her leave town without knowing you're back. I owe her more than that, and so do you." Xander informed, and in that moment they made a silent contract. Xander wouldn't tell her yet, but no matter what, by the end of the trip, she would know.
Xander began to walk back to the congregation of Cordy fans, but Spike called out to him.
"You know that girl Fred. The little yet terribly perky Texan?"
"Yeah..." Xander answered questioningly.
"She has a whole genius with a crazy science lab thing going on. Ask her about your eye."
"Ask her what about my eye?" Xander asked still incredibly lost.
"To give you a new one. I get a paycheck now, so if she's going to make you pay, just give it to me... the bill not the eye, you got that, right?"
Xander smiled "Yeah, I get it."
TBC