-'And Justice for All.'-
Pairings: Okay, okay, some X/C in here for you.
A/N: This is the continuation of Enter Sandman, Sad But True, and Eye of the Beholder. Actions have consequences. Justice is served.
A/N 2: God knows you can't write more unless you get reviews. Sorry it's been a while, what can I say, things happen in real life that kinda take precedent. But I'm back, and to make up for it, this is a bit longer than usual, so here you go.
A/N 3: not a whole lot of action in this chapter, it sets more of the setting as well as plot and character development; at least that's what I hope it does.
Disclaimers: I don't own anything relating to Buffy, Angel, or Metallica.
Timeframe: S2 AU. Maybe I stole a little from S3 "The Wish." Kinda Sorta.
Dedicated to the ones you can't save, and to the ones you can.
////////////////////////////////////
Xander woke up to find a pillow over his head. A bright pink pillow. He grinned remembering the night before and slowly peeked his head out from underneath. The first rays of sunshine were beginning to pour through the shutters into the room. Lines of light refracted off of the wooden walls and furniture of the room.
Cordelia frowned in her sleep as her source of heat was taken from her. Xander heard a slightly muffled complaint next to him as his arm was taken prisoner. He grinned again before lightly kissing the top of her forehead. Cordelia's response to his romantic gesture was a slight smile and her soft murmur of "Dweeb-boy."
Xander raised an eyebrow as he slowly removed his arm from her grip. As he slowly sat up and got out of the bed, he heard a slightly teasing voice from behind him. "And where do you think you're going?"
Cordelia smiled as she stretched and yawned, trying to wake up. The covers on the bed had been flung off sometime during the night, save for a light blue comforter, which Cordelia held with one arm over her body.
Xander smiled and put on a pair of boxers that were sitting alone in the middle of the room. "Nowhere, I thought that I'd might make milady some breakfast."
Cordelia smiled. "And what were you planning on making me?"
He grinned as he crawled onto the bed next to her. He laid a soft kiss on her forehead and stroked her face. "Anything you want."
She smiled for a second before pushing him off the bed. "Scrambled eggs, light toast with strawberries."
She finished her order by burying herself in the comforter and wrapping herself up like a burrito.
Xander grinned and looked around the room for some more clothes.
///////////////////////////////////
Xander walked down the stairs in an old gray t-shirt and some baggy jeans. His huge grin had been calmed down to one resembling that of only mild insanity, but he didn't care. He rounded to corner to see Amy sitting at the kitchen table with several large books opened. "Good morning."
Amy raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of tea. "Afternoon."
Xander looked at her as he sat down across from her. "Really?"
Amy looked up briefly and grinned before she turned a page in one of her books. "Yep, it's probably about three or so the sun should be setting in about an hour."
Xander cocked his head to the side, thinking aloud. "The sun sets at four?"
Amy sighed. "Just another one of those fun changes the world went through. Day and night switched so it's about 8 hours of light a day."
Xander thought aloud. "Huh, I guess I missed breakfast."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "I guess that Cordelia 'slept late' too."
Xander coughed nervously and changed the subject. He pointed to the two pendants on the table. "Hey, isn't that one Cordy's?"
"They're both hers I guess. I'm trying to figure out what the other one is. It looks familiar. Anyway, this is probably the first time in a while that I had a chance to look at it. She never really takes them off. I thought I could look more into why the locket does...whatever it does...and I noticed the other one and I just wanted to research it a bit."
Xander's face grew into a grin. "Oh, _researching_ now are we? And I thought you just might want to try it on to see if you get the Hyena speed or strength."
Amy's face deepened into a playful frown before turning into a wicked smile. "I was actually thinking to myself that you must have done _something_ special to get her to take these off." Amy eyed the now blushing Alexander Harris. "You know?"
The color of Xander's face resembled that of a large tomato for several seconds as he tried to stammer his way out of the verbal trap Amy had set for him. "Ah...you know...just because we are...yeah."
Amy smiled before scribbling a note down. "Yeah, thought so."
She looked back up to see Xander still red as a balloon trying to figure out how to make a coherent sentence. She placed her pen down on the table and looked at him. "Xander, its okay. I think its great that you and Cordy are together. You _are_ together, right?"
Xander managed to nod.
Amy smiled. "Good, I'm glad for you. She was so upset by everything. I don't think she even knew how she really felt. And after everything happened, I guess she felt like her one chance had passed her by. But you know what life finds a way. In all of the chaos and insanity that was going on, you were under everyone's radar. And hell, this world isn't much, but there's still life."
Xander's face returned to his normal color as he looked at Amy. "What are you talking about?"
Amy took one loose strand of her hair and placed it behind her ear. "Look around. Its _light_ out right now. Isn't the world supposed to be in a dark scary place with total darkness and no hope? Cordy and I survived. Just barely, but we survived. You survived too. And there has got to be more people out there. People that no one took into account. People that are still fighting and people that the fighting just passed by. There are others."
Xander leaned closer. "What makes you say that?"
Amy's face grew serious. "There has to be."
The sound of someone walking down the stairs interrupted their conversation. "Well, oh mighty and great cook, I thought you were trying to make me scrambled eggs."
Xander tried to hide his smile as best he could. "Sorry Cor, but Amy said that it's a little late for breakfast."
Cordelia pulled another jacket over her white t-shirt and stuck her hands in her black pants and walked up to Xander, with an emotionless face she held out her left hand. "Eggs."
Xander shook his head. "Where the hell am I supposed to get eggs? I didn't see any Kwik-E-Marts on the drive here."
Cordelia raised an impatient eyebrow. "Eggs."
Xander smiled sweetly. "But Cordy honey..."
"Eggs."
"What eggs?"
"Eggs."
"How am I supposed to get any eggs?"
Amy spoke up. "We found a couple of chickens a couple of days ago, they're in a pen behind the house, and you can grab a few for me also. I like them scrambled too. Oh and there's a well back there too, we're gonna need some more water to drink."
Xander turned back to Cordelia who smiled sweetly and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.
Xander groaned and walked out the door.
Cordelia turned and sat down opposite Amy and took a book from one of the stacks. "So Aims, what are we researching today?"
//////////////////////////////////////
It had taken him about four minutes to find the damned chickens and another twenty to get anything done. When he finished he looked over his work. The sun was setting and he wanted to get back inside. The basket housed only four eggs, but that should be enough for the girls. Only one chicken had escaped, and after a good fifteen minutes of chasing the damned thing he was able to put it back into the pen. He sighed and picked up the basket before going back inside.
As he neared the door, he heard shouting and screaming he dropped the eggs and ran in a mad dash. He burst through the kitchen doorway to see the table against the wall and Cordelia and Amy at each other's throats.
///////////////////////////////////
Cordelia screamed as tears streamed down her face. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
Amy shouted while hitting her, "What the hell are you talking about? This is all YOUR GODDAMNED FAULT!"
Xander pried the two apart. "What the hell is going on here?"
Cordelia grabbed the necklaces and started out the door. "Just leave me alone."
Xander put his hand on her shoulder. "Cordy, wait..."
Cordelia shoved his arm off and screamed at him before running towards the car. "JUST FUCKING LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Amy grabbed Xander's arm gently. "Xander, let her go."
/////////////////////
Cordelia ran to the car and got in. She sat there for a second, just crying. She put her arms over the steering wheel and buried her face in them.
/////////////////////////////
Amy sighed as she began to explain. "You might want to sit down."
Xander nodded, not knowing what else to say. "Okay"
Amy pulled up one of the overturned chairs across from him as Xander put the table upright. "After we did the spell. I was a little more than pissed at you."
Xander nodded as he sat down. "Yeah, I can understand that."
Amy felt the corners of her mouth tug into a small frown. "I'm being serious Xander. After the spell, I looked at some of my books. I was hurt. Everything that I felt during that time...it felt real. I wanted you to know what it was like."
"Did you try the spell on me?"
Amy gave Xander a look. Xander realized that he should be quiet. "Sorry."
"Anyway, I came across a spell. It was supposed to invoke the Patron Saint of Scorned Women, Anyanka. When she came forward and told me some of the things that she could do to you, I lost my nerve."
Xander shifted in his seat. "What do you mean?"
Amy shook her head and sighed. "She had all sorts of ideas, evisceration, decapitation, castration, you get the idea, lots of 'ations.'"
She looked down at her hands. "I told her that I didn't want that, but she was insistent. She told me that you had to be taught a lesson. I told her that she couldn't make me. Her only power was granting the wish of the person who granted it."
She stiffened in her seat and stared him in the eye. "She said that its only right for you to feel pain after you caused pain in so many. It wasn't vengeance. It was justice."
Xander shook his head. "But if you didn't go through with the wish, what does all this have to do with it?"
"I didn't make a wish, Cordelia did."
////////////////////////
Cordelia put the keys in the ignition and looked up. The headlights illuminated the outline of the forest surrounding the lawn. In the forest she saw hundreds of dark yellow eyes staring back at her.
Pairings: Okay, okay, some X/C in here for you.
A/N: This is the continuation of Enter Sandman, Sad But True, and Eye of the Beholder. Actions have consequences. Justice is served.
A/N 2: God knows you can't write more unless you get reviews. Sorry it's been a while, what can I say, things happen in real life that kinda take precedent. But I'm back, and to make up for it, this is a bit longer than usual, so here you go.
A/N 3: not a whole lot of action in this chapter, it sets more of the setting as well as plot and character development; at least that's what I hope it does.
Disclaimers: I don't own anything relating to Buffy, Angel, or Metallica.
Timeframe: S2 AU. Maybe I stole a little from S3 "The Wish." Kinda Sorta.
Dedicated to the ones you can't save, and to the ones you can.
////////////////////////////////////
Xander woke up to find a pillow over his head. A bright pink pillow. He grinned remembering the night before and slowly peeked his head out from underneath. The first rays of sunshine were beginning to pour through the shutters into the room. Lines of light refracted off of the wooden walls and furniture of the room.
Cordelia frowned in her sleep as her source of heat was taken from her. Xander heard a slightly muffled complaint next to him as his arm was taken prisoner. He grinned again before lightly kissing the top of her forehead. Cordelia's response to his romantic gesture was a slight smile and her soft murmur of "Dweeb-boy."
Xander raised an eyebrow as he slowly removed his arm from her grip. As he slowly sat up and got out of the bed, he heard a slightly teasing voice from behind him. "And where do you think you're going?"
Cordelia smiled as she stretched and yawned, trying to wake up. The covers on the bed had been flung off sometime during the night, save for a light blue comforter, which Cordelia held with one arm over her body.
Xander smiled and put on a pair of boxers that were sitting alone in the middle of the room. "Nowhere, I thought that I'd might make milady some breakfast."
Cordelia smiled. "And what were you planning on making me?"
He grinned as he crawled onto the bed next to her. He laid a soft kiss on her forehead and stroked her face. "Anything you want."
She smiled for a second before pushing him off the bed. "Scrambled eggs, light toast with strawberries."
She finished her order by burying herself in the comforter and wrapping herself up like a burrito.
Xander grinned and looked around the room for some more clothes.
///////////////////////////////////
Xander walked down the stairs in an old gray t-shirt and some baggy jeans. His huge grin had been calmed down to one resembling that of only mild insanity, but he didn't care. He rounded to corner to see Amy sitting at the kitchen table with several large books opened. "Good morning."
Amy raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of tea. "Afternoon."
Xander looked at her as he sat down across from her. "Really?"
Amy looked up briefly and grinned before she turned a page in one of her books. "Yep, it's probably about three or so the sun should be setting in about an hour."
Xander cocked his head to the side, thinking aloud. "The sun sets at four?"
Amy sighed. "Just another one of those fun changes the world went through. Day and night switched so it's about 8 hours of light a day."
Xander thought aloud. "Huh, I guess I missed breakfast."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "I guess that Cordelia 'slept late' too."
Xander coughed nervously and changed the subject. He pointed to the two pendants on the table. "Hey, isn't that one Cordy's?"
"They're both hers I guess. I'm trying to figure out what the other one is. It looks familiar. Anyway, this is probably the first time in a while that I had a chance to look at it. She never really takes them off. I thought I could look more into why the locket does...whatever it does...and I noticed the other one and I just wanted to research it a bit."
Xander's face grew into a grin. "Oh, _researching_ now are we? And I thought you just might want to try it on to see if you get the Hyena speed or strength."
Amy's face deepened into a playful frown before turning into a wicked smile. "I was actually thinking to myself that you must have done _something_ special to get her to take these off." Amy eyed the now blushing Alexander Harris. "You know?"
The color of Xander's face resembled that of a large tomato for several seconds as he tried to stammer his way out of the verbal trap Amy had set for him. "Ah...you know...just because we are...yeah."
Amy smiled before scribbling a note down. "Yeah, thought so."
She looked back up to see Xander still red as a balloon trying to figure out how to make a coherent sentence. She placed her pen down on the table and looked at him. "Xander, its okay. I think its great that you and Cordy are together. You _are_ together, right?"
Xander managed to nod.
Amy smiled. "Good, I'm glad for you. She was so upset by everything. I don't think she even knew how she really felt. And after everything happened, I guess she felt like her one chance had passed her by. But you know what life finds a way. In all of the chaos and insanity that was going on, you were under everyone's radar. And hell, this world isn't much, but there's still life."
Xander's face returned to his normal color as he looked at Amy. "What are you talking about?"
Amy took one loose strand of her hair and placed it behind her ear. "Look around. Its _light_ out right now. Isn't the world supposed to be in a dark scary place with total darkness and no hope? Cordy and I survived. Just barely, but we survived. You survived too. And there has got to be more people out there. People that no one took into account. People that are still fighting and people that the fighting just passed by. There are others."
Xander leaned closer. "What makes you say that?"
Amy's face grew serious. "There has to be."
The sound of someone walking down the stairs interrupted their conversation. "Well, oh mighty and great cook, I thought you were trying to make me scrambled eggs."
Xander tried to hide his smile as best he could. "Sorry Cor, but Amy said that it's a little late for breakfast."
Cordelia pulled another jacket over her white t-shirt and stuck her hands in her black pants and walked up to Xander, with an emotionless face she held out her left hand. "Eggs."
Xander shook his head. "Where the hell am I supposed to get eggs? I didn't see any Kwik-E-Marts on the drive here."
Cordelia raised an impatient eyebrow. "Eggs."
Xander smiled sweetly. "But Cordy honey..."
"Eggs."
"What eggs?"
"Eggs."
"How am I supposed to get any eggs?"
Amy spoke up. "We found a couple of chickens a couple of days ago, they're in a pen behind the house, and you can grab a few for me also. I like them scrambled too. Oh and there's a well back there too, we're gonna need some more water to drink."
Xander turned back to Cordelia who smiled sweetly and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.
Xander groaned and walked out the door.
Cordelia turned and sat down opposite Amy and took a book from one of the stacks. "So Aims, what are we researching today?"
//////////////////////////////////////
It had taken him about four minutes to find the damned chickens and another twenty to get anything done. When he finished he looked over his work. The sun was setting and he wanted to get back inside. The basket housed only four eggs, but that should be enough for the girls. Only one chicken had escaped, and after a good fifteen minutes of chasing the damned thing he was able to put it back into the pen. He sighed and picked up the basket before going back inside.
As he neared the door, he heard shouting and screaming he dropped the eggs and ran in a mad dash. He burst through the kitchen doorway to see the table against the wall and Cordelia and Amy at each other's throats.
///////////////////////////////////
Cordelia screamed as tears streamed down her face. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
Amy shouted while hitting her, "What the hell are you talking about? This is all YOUR GODDAMNED FAULT!"
Xander pried the two apart. "What the hell is going on here?"
Cordelia grabbed the necklaces and started out the door. "Just leave me alone."
Xander put his hand on her shoulder. "Cordy, wait..."
Cordelia shoved his arm off and screamed at him before running towards the car. "JUST FUCKING LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Amy grabbed Xander's arm gently. "Xander, let her go."
/////////////////////
Cordelia ran to the car and got in. She sat there for a second, just crying. She put her arms over the steering wheel and buried her face in them.
/////////////////////////////
Amy sighed as she began to explain. "You might want to sit down."
Xander nodded, not knowing what else to say. "Okay"
Amy pulled up one of the overturned chairs across from him as Xander put the table upright. "After we did the spell. I was a little more than pissed at you."
Xander nodded as he sat down. "Yeah, I can understand that."
Amy felt the corners of her mouth tug into a small frown. "I'm being serious Xander. After the spell, I looked at some of my books. I was hurt. Everything that I felt during that time...it felt real. I wanted you to know what it was like."
"Did you try the spell on me?"
Amy gave Xander a look. Xander realized that he should be quiet. "Sorry."
"Anyway, I came across a spell. It was supposed to invoke the Patron Saint of Scorned Women, Anyanka. When she came forward and told me some of the things that she could do to you, I lost my nerve."
Xander shifted in his seat. "What do you mean?"
Amy shook her head and sighed. "She had all sorts of ideas, evisceration, decapitation, castration, you get the idea, lots of 'ations.'"
She looked down at her hands. "I told her that I didn't want that, but she was insistent. She told me that you had to be taught a lesson. I told her that she couldn't make me. Her only power was granting the wish of the person who granted it."
She stiffened in her seat and stared him in the eye. "She said that its only right for you to feel pain after you caused pain in so many. It wasn't vengeance. It was justice."
Xander shook his head. "But if you didn't go through with the wish, what does all this have to do with it?"
"I didn't make a wish, Cordelia did."
////////////////////////
Cordelia put the keys in the ignition and looked up. The headlights illuminated the outline of the forest surrounding the lawn. In the forest she saw hundreds of dark yellow eyes staring back at her.