Chapter 3: Whodunit?

Early the next morning Buffy lie awake in the shelter. She was staring at Angel's sleeping back, and deep in thought. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night; the fact that she was laying on logs tied together was probably a factor. But it had given her the opportunity to think of what they were going to do next. She had more or less taken a leadership position in the dysfunctional group, and she was determined to find them a way off this island, which she was already coming to hate. So far her best idea was to have a few people, maybe herself and Angel, go out in the raft and look for signs of life. But the problem with that scenario was the fact that they had drifted a lot, so she didn't know which way to travel, and they could starve to death out there. Staying on the island was much safer, but she owed it to her sister and the others to find them a way home.

Deciding that this was their only option, she gently tapped Angel's shoulder. The sun was coming up, and it was best that they discussed this alone. He began to stir, and she motioned for him to follow her down to the beach. They tiptoed out of the shelter.

"Good morning," Angel said, rubbing his neck.

"Look, I came up with a plan. It's risky, but I think we should do it." Buffy quickly described her idea.

Angel shrugged. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea for me. I'm up for it." He looked around. "Where is the raft?"

Buffy felt her stomach drop through her feet. "Oh no, don't even tell me," she gasped.

Angel caught her drift, and his eyes widened. "No, we couldn't have been that stupid."

Buffy thought back, and realized that she didn't remember tying up the raft herself, or anyone else doing it. She just remembered coming ashore, and then arguing on the beach...

Buffy began to run, all the way down the beach and back. Angel followed. Finally, when she saw that the raft was really gone, she sank down into the sand and began to cry again.

"We are so screwed! We're all going to die out here, just because we called the stupid radio station and didn't tie up the freaking raft!" she sobbed.

Angel put an arm around her. "Yes, it sucks. Yes, we were incredibly stupid. But we are not going to die. I am not about to let that happen."

Buffy looked up, her face very close to his. He leaned in, and she closed her eyes...

"Hey Buffy! Whatcha doin?" Dawn strolled down the beach towards them, hand in hand with Connor.

Buffy and Angel jumped up quickly, avoiding each other's eyes. "Nothing," Buffy said, a little too quickly.

"Nope, nothing at all," Angel said quickly. He met Buffy's eyes, and they met an unspoken agreement not to tell them about the raft.

Dawn frowned slightly. "Well we're out of coconuts, and some of the others are going to go get some more. Wanna come?"

Buffy shook her head slightly. "No, I'll stay here. Man the fort," she joked.

Dawn nodded. "Okay. We'll be back soon." The two headed back to the shelter, where the others were waking up. Then Dawn, Connor, Willow, Tara, and Xander headed off into the trees.

Buffy looked at Angel. "What are we going to do?"

Angel shook his head. "Keep hoping that someone will find us."

"Here are the coconut trees. Try to grab as many as you can," Willow said. She, Tara, and Xander began gathering the lowest coconuts. Dawn started to join them until Connor pulled her back behind a tree.

"What are you doing?" Dawn squealed.

"This." He kissed her passionately. She relaxed instantly, putting her arms around his neck. Then they broke apart, smiling.

"One good thing about trees: good make out spots," Connor said with a smile. Dawn smiled and moved to kiss him again.

"Dawn? Connor? A little help?" Xander called. Reluctantly the two broke apart and joined the others in gathering coconuts. Xander was up in the tree, yanking off coconuts and tossing them down to Willow and Tara.

"I'm g-going to t-take these back. I'll c-come back," Tara said softly, juggling an armful of coconuts.

Willow smiled and touched her arm gently. "Okay. Be careful," she said. Tara smiled sweetly at her and set off back towards the camp.

Soon they had gathered as many coconuts as they could carry. "Tara should be back by now," Willow said, visibly worried.

Xander nodded. "It's alright, I'm sure she's just enjoying coconuts with the others. Let's head back, we'll probably run into her on the way."

Willow nodded, unconvinced. Then the foursome slowly made their way back to the beach.

Buffy and Angel joined the others at the shelter after a while. Giles, Spike, Anya, and Cordelia were sitting there, looking very depressed. "I had an audition today," Cordelia said. "For a tampon commercial. And my agent said I was a shoo-in, but now I'm out here on this hell-hole while they're off giving the part to some other bitch!"

Giles cleaned his glasses tiredly. "And I know that your missed opportunity is right at the top of our list of problems right now," he said sarcastically. She turned towards him, outraged.

"Excuse me, but this was an excellent opportunity. It's a shame that you missed your daily tea," she shot back.

Anya and Spike stood up quickly, eager to get away from the argument. They joined Buffy and Angel off to the side. "The rafts bloody gone isn't it?" Spike asked.

Buffy was slightly alarmed. "What? How did you..."

"It's pretty easy to figure out," Anya said. "I don't see it, do you? And besides, I have never seen one movie about people stranded on an island where they have such an easy means of escape."

Spike sighed. "Well this is bloody brilliant." Buffy looked at him. I don't really know what to make of Spike. But he's strong, and he might be able to help us survive out here. But I think he has a crush on me. I saw him checking me out yesterday before the boat sank.

Angel stared at Spike, dislike boiling within. I don't like him. He thinks he's all manly, but I have muscles that I'm sure he's never even heard of. And I don't like the way he looks at Buffy.

"I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to scare Dawn," Buffy said. "But I suppose we should tell the others. Maybe if we all put our heads together we can come up with a plan."

"Yes, a plan that doesn't involve tools or flotation devices of any kind," Anya stated.

Buffy ignored her. "Let's go talk to Giles and Cordelia. If they've stopped bickering."

The four headed over to the shelter, but they were interrupted when Dawn, Connor, Willow, and Xander came through the trees, arms full of coconuts.

"Breakfast is served. So is lunch, dinner, and snacks," Xander said, setting down the coconuts next to the shelter.

Willow dropped her coconuts and looked around, alarmed. "Tara's not here?" she asked Buffy, panic in her eyes.

Buffy shook her head, frowning. "I thought she went with you."

"She did, but she was coming back here, and that was a really long time ago!" Willow cried.

"Maybe the cannibals got her," Anya said. "That's a shame."

Buffy put her arm around Willow, glaring at Anya. "I'm sure she's fine. She probably just got lost in the woods."

Willow set off for the trees at a run. "We need to find her!" She stopped suddenly when Tara emerged from the trees, grinning.

"Y-you guys, you won't b-believe what I found!" she said excitedly. "C-come here!"

Willow, extremely relieved to see Tara, gave her a quick hug before following. Everyone jumped up and followed the two, excited to see what Tara had found.

"I g-got lost on my way b-back," Tara said, coming to a stop. "And I found t-this!" She pointed upwards.

Buffy looked up and gasped. There, growing from the tree, were hundreds of bananas.

"Oh my God, Tara this is awesome!" Dawn shrieked, hugging Connor.

Extremely excited, the group gathered as many bananas as they could carry before heading back to camp. Once they got there, they began to eat.

"Mmmm!" Cordelia said, suddenly much happier. "Nice and ripe!"

Buffy sat in the sand happily eating a banana. Tara's find had lifted her spirits considerably, and things were now looking much more hopeful. At least they weren't going to starve to death!

After everyone had eaten a few bananas, they carefully placed the remaining 5 bananas in the shelter. "Anyone want to go for a swim?" Buffy asked.

Everyone jumped up, smiling. "That sounds great!" Willow said. Happily, the eleven headed off to the water, all in much better spirits than they had been in when they woke up.

About an hour later the group returned to the beach. "That was fun," Dawn said. They shook the water off themselves. Most of the guys had stripped down to their boxers, and some of the girls down to their underwear. But Dawn had remained happily clothed, because she was still a little self conscious around Connor. But he had looked totally hot in his underwear.

"I need another banana," Anya said, heading over to the shelter. She got there and stopped dead in her tracks. She looked up at the others, frowning.

"What happened to the fifth banana?" she asked angrily.

Buffy hurried over to her side. Sure enough, only four bananas remained in the spot where she was sure there had been five an hour ago.

"That's strange. I know there was five there," Buffy said, turning to Angel.

Angel shrugged. "Maybe an animal got it."

Anya shook her head, looking angrier by the minute. "I haven't seen one animal the whole time we've been here. And cannibals eat flesh, not bananas!"

The others began to slowly join the group. Anya glared at Spike. "You! You have been looking shifty ever since we got here! You probably snuck out of the water and stole a banana!"

Connor frowned. "Why would we steal a banana? We can get a banana from the tree whenever we want."

Anya glared at him. "Is that a confession?"

Dawn jumped in front of Connor. "Don't you dare accuse him of stealing a stupid banana!" she yelled.

Spike chuckled. "A little protective, are we? Personally nibblet I think you can do much better. This one's scrawny," he said, looking Connor up and down.

Angel was in Spike's face a millisecond later. "That's my son you're talking about. If you know what's good for you, you'll back off."

Spike smirked. "Make me."

Angel threw a punch at Spike, but Buffy jumped in the middle and stopped him. "This isn't helping!" she pleaded.

Meanwhile, Cordelia and Giles were going at it again. "You probably took it because you're bitter about missing your bloody tampon commercial!" Giles yelled.

"Hello, what's your childhood trauma? You probably took it, because of course old folks need more nourishment. How old are you anyway?" Cordelia demanded.

Meanwhile Willow and Tara were cowering behind the shelter. "An awful lot of drama over a silly banana," Willow muttered. Unfortunately Anya overheard.

"That sounds like the words of a BANANA THIEF!" Anya yelled. Willow stood up straight and began yelling back, while Tara tried to defend Willow.

"Woah, Anya let's take a moment to calm down," Xander said, attempting to intervene. Anya just ignored him and continued fighting with Willow.

Meanwhile Buffy and Connor were restraining Angel and Spike, Dawn was yelling at Spike, and Cordelia and Giles were still arguing. One could say it was chaos.

Throughout the entire scene a little monkey sat up in a tree, munching on a banana.