Fic: Becoming Something More
Author: mkcrl120
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.
Summary: I'm writing some of these, as I've come up with ideas that I honestly don't know what I'll be doing when the Ultimate series gets that far. In the meantime, these won't go away from my brain unless I do something with them. Warning: It may be a standalone it may be spoilers for something later; only time will tell.
Rating: 15 probably… mainly for language.
Setting: End of season 2.
A/N: Sorry about the lame title - best I could come up with on short notice. At this point I'm unsure if it's going to be a standalone fic or the beginning of a series (depends on how much time I get to spend on it). To begin with this was going to be the beginning of another story I was considering dealing with Faith's early days... most of the story is set up to the point. Previously this got moved as I begun my Ultimate Slayer storyline and now I'm still not sure if it'd work there as I won't know where most of the characters are til I get there. If I decide to use it for the Ultimate Slayer fic, then this piece will probably get removed... in the mean time please enjoy...
Becoming Something More - 1/?
Willow's hospital room
Cordy and Oz were staring at each other as Willow finished her chant and then slumped to the hospital bed unconscious.
"What the hell was.." Cordy stopped her scream mid rant, and looked at Oz who was leaning over to check on Willow, "What happened then? I mean with the black eyes and everything?"
Oz replied without taking his eyes of his girlfriend, "Something not of the good." He quickly went back to stroking her hair and whispering softly to her, "Willow, Willow, are you okay?"
"But the eyes and the lights and the noise and the lights and... did I mention the whole black eyes thing, and not in a typically bad the-boyfriend-may-be-beating-her-up-way..." Cordy hesitated, "Which of course, you'd never do."
"Get a nurse." Oz interrupted before she could begin again.
"Are you sure that's a good thing to do? I mean what about the eyes, we need Giles."
"Giles isn't available." Oz snapped, "Sorry just look," Oz opened Willow's eyelids, "now fetch a nurse."
"Regular eyes, nurse, check." Cordy replied as the left the room.
Oz began tidying the remains of the tray and the now glowing Orb into his rucksack. "Its okay baby, you did real good," he said to his sleeping girlfriend, "just rest now and a nurse will be in here shortly to make you better just like you did for Angel." And once he'd hidden everything away, he simply held Willow's hand and waited for Cordy to return with help.
Simultaneously.
The Mansion
Buffy was about to deliver the killing blow, when Angelus suddenly doubled over in front of her. "No tricks Angelus." she spat, but watched as he tilted back, moaning as he did so, to stare at the ceiling, what she saw gave her quite the shock.
Angelus, had knelt on the floor, he could feel it burning him, he'd only felt pain like this once before, and with a final farewell "Nnoooooo!!" to the world Angelus was gone.
And in his place knelt Angel, eyes slowly losing their glow.
Angel hurt, every cell of his being felt on fire, it felt like his eyes were being burned from the inside. This was only the second time he'd awoke in this much pain and the previous time had been... 'No it couldn't be true, I was with' "Buffy?"
Buffy stared, watching the glow fade from his eyes as he mumbled her name. Still holding the sword between them, she wondered if even Angelus would be cruel enough to try this trick. Then with the glow finally gone, she got a good look into his eyes and saw only love there. It was enough to persuade her to lower the sword, not fully but enough to appear less threatening, "Angel?" she hesitatingly asked, needing to know but being afraid of the answer.
Angel finally managed to focus on something other than Buffy, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings, "What's going on? Where are we?" he asked.
Buffy dropped the sword, "Oh God Angel", and enveloped him in a hug.
Angel let himself be dragged into the hug feeling her arms around him again felt so good. "I feel like I haven't seen you in months."
"Shhh, I've missed you too." And as she wrapped her arms around him again, she notices that behind him Acathla face starts to move, not noticing Angel's body tense suddenly in her embrace.
As she said those last words, the memories of what his demon had done in his abscence decided to fill him in on all the details. He froze, Angelus had been loose again, and somehow it'd been his fault, "Buffy, I... hurt you, god I hurt you and..."
Buffy watched Acathla's eyes turn red and as the mouth opened revealing a growing vortex within his throat, she slowly reached down with her right arm towards where she knew it would be. "Jenny..." a small cry was heard from her shoulder.
Buffy realised he was starting to remember, and staring at the vortex she knew what she would have to do. "I love you." she paused to fight back tears that she knew would come, "always remember that I love you."
"I love you Buffy."
"Now close your eyes" she said as she clenched her fist around the handle, getting a stronger grip on the weapon, and as he did so she did two things, the first was the sweetest kiss on his lips that she could manage, the second was to plunge the sword through his torso.
Angel felt the pain the second her lips left his. 'A sword' was his only thought, 'it hurts but you can't kill a vampire with a sword' then he saw her step back away from him and mouth three words "I love you" then he felt what seemed like claws striking his back dragging him away from her. With his last energy he raised his hand to her and shouted out her name.
Buffy watched as his arm raised stretching out to her, wanting, needing to grab onto his hand like a lifeline, and just when she thought she wouldn't be able to resist the urge to reach out herself any more, the vortex seemed to change colour slightly then a split second after that it was gone, taking Angel away from her.
A Few Minutes Later
Xander had managed to carry Giles about a block before he gave up. Giles had refused an ambulance to be called, requesting that they get back to his place, so he could rest and await Buffy's safe return.
Xander had placed Giles on a bench near the park and ran to a phone box to call the hospital. The staff had managed to locate Oz, and after a brief conversation Cordy had agreed to pick them up. Now all they had to do was wait for Cordy to show, which seemed to be taking far too long in Xanders opinion.
"Where is she?"
Giles sighed, apparently it was time for Xander to start ranting again.
"I mean come on, it's like two miles from the hospital, I've run it faster than this before. She's probably lost, I wouldn't be surprised if she's lost. You're bleeding to death, which we ARE going to the hospital to sort out, no matter what you think." Giles sighed again, he was having to admit the injuries may have been worse than he initially figured, and his First Aid kit might not be adequate, he was about to give in to Xander's requests to go the hospital when Xander began again, Giles managed to groan. "So lets recap, Cordy's lost, you're at death's door, Willow's just come out of a coma, Buffy's fighting to the death though the lack of flames probably means we haven't been sucked into hell quite yet, I'm possibly having a fit, Oz is still a werewolf, can't you do anything about by the way..."
Giles was trying to find anything interesting to distract himself from this tirade, when Oz's van came around the corner "I thought you said Cordy was picking us up?"
"...llow's probably never going to speak to me again, and Buffy's gonna be a prison gal, and I figured that I'd be the first of our gang with a record and.... what?"
"Oz"
"Oz is here? Why is Oz here, how can Cordy make him leave the hospital when Willow's in... well whatever state she's in now, admittedly she didn't look too bad when I left considering all thats happened," Xander opens the van door and helps Giles inside, then turns to the drivers seat "So where's.... Cordy?"
"Glad to see you too."
"Cord, what are you doing in Oz's van?" Xander questioned as he helped Giles into the seat.
"You said Giles was injured, injuries normally involved bleeding... sometimes heavily. Blood stains leather, you know." Cordy waited for Xander to climb over the front seat before she started to move.
"Apparently he isn't injured enough to go the hospital."
"Xander, I was going to.." came a tired voice from the back seat.
"Don't start you're going the hospital."
"I was about to agr..."
"Giles," Cordy began, "we are going to the hospital to visit Willow, this car is going to Willow, you are going to Willow with the car. Should any of the cute doctors feel the need to examine you while you are there, then you will go along with it."
"Sweetie."
"Yeah?"
"Its a van."
"Don't start. Now how's Buffy?"
"We don't know yet, I had to get Giles out while she fought Angelus." Xander guiltily looked towards Giles as they stopped at the lights.
"Right we're going to drop Giles off at the hospital," she turned around, "so that he can visit Willow," she continued sarcastically, "and then we'll go see where Buffy is. Got it?"
"Got it." replied Giles, as he leant back and tried to ignore the continued bickering from the front.
"Now about the car. Your car is faster than this surely some blood would be worth the saving in time?"
"I didn't know how bad he was injured," she retorted, "anyway its a two seater, you'd have had to walk."
"Since when as it been a two-seater?" Xander asked as the lights changed to green.
"Since my mother borrowed the car to take some friends to the Hills and left me with her Porsche. There's no way in hell I'm getting her precious Porsche all bloody. I might never get to borrow it again."
"You've got the Porsche?"
"Yes." Cordy's grin was as wide as he'd ever seen it.
"Can we go fetch Buffy in it?"
"It's still only a two-seater Xan."
"Buff can sit on my knee.... Owww"
"There is no way you're getting in the Porsche."
"Not even later tonight once we're alone." He leered with an overexagerated wink.
"Okay maybe then." She returned the wink.
The car rumbled to a stop outside the hospital. "I'll just dump Giles on some medical types and tell Oz where we're going and be right back." With that he gave her a kiss and then half-carried Giles through the doorway.
Cordy watched him go and couldn't stop the smile as she heard the shouts from inside the building.
"Oi, Doctor! Doctor! Look I'm not starting a joke people I want a stretcher now, this British guy's getting heavy!!"
The next day
Giles walked up to the group. Oz was pushing Willow in a wheelchair, and Xander and Cordy were walking infront holding hands. "So..." he queried.
"Nothing at the Mansion." Cordy glumly responded.
"Her house?"
Willow shoke her head, "We were just discussing it, Xander went round after checking the mansion, and he said Buffy's mum just looked really upset. I tried calling a few hours later but nothing she said made sense... or rather it did. But.."
"But?"
"I think Joyce knows about vampires Giles... and she may know about Buffy being the Slayer."
"Why wouldn't that make sense?"
"I don't know if she's got the full story, she kept babbling about vampires and slayers and Buffy being in a band with her friend Spike."
"Spike?"
"That's what she said. I think you should go talk to her."
"Yes...erm quiet. Well keep your eyes and ears out people. I'll go talk to Ms Summers tonight." and headed off towards the library, concerned over what he was going to do next.
"School's gonna be weird with no Buffy." Willow attempted a conversation. "Wonder where she is?"
Oz grabbed her shoulder for support.
Willow perked up a little, "But maybe this is a good missing, maybe she's off with Angel somewhere."
"We don't know the spell worked Will."
"You weren't there, I felt something powerful go through me."
"The Orb did glow as well." Cordy tried to be helpful.
"Still glowing." Was Oz's only contribution.
"And the eye thing did you tell her about the eye thing?"
Xander resisted responding. Everything was trying to be upbeat and he really didn't want to bring them down with his thoughts that maybe they were both dead. That maybe Buffy had realised she'd have to sacrifice Angel and chosen to die with him. 'They'd always had that Romeo and Juliet forbidden romance thing going, maybe this was just the way they'd chosen to end it.'
But he mentioned none of this as they all walked into the school, he forced a cheery face on and rejoined the conversation.
"So Wills, just how scary was this eye thing?"
Elsewhere. Un-named town.
A run-down apartment, the general look is that it is occupied by squatters, or at very best is of the lowest-possible rentable type place.
A blonde in her mid-twenties is crouching down on the floor rifling through the cupboards looking for anything that looked remotely edible, "Hey girlfriend, you feeling better babe?" The voice seems worn, like it's trying to tell untold tales of having lived a hard life.
A low groan came from the other room.
"Fuck Jake, if he's still pissed at you then he ain't worth shit." the girl waited for a response but none seemed to be coming, so she continued to search everywhere she could think of. "So you got a little over enthusiastic the other night and gave him a painful squeeze. You're not the first girl to do that and you won't be the last."
Another unintelligible string from the other room.
She continued voicing her opinions to the apartment itself, "What I'm saying is he should be on his hands and knees begging you to take him back. Though why you'd want the fucker is beyond me. Girls like us don't have time to deal with boyfriends, remember my theory?" The blonde girl finally digs her head out from the cupboard pulling out a can of food. She puts it on the counter looking around, seemingly trying to locate something simply by staring at the doors of each cupboard.
A semi-intelligible moan came from the other room.
To herself, "Where the fuck is the rest of that pizza?" then in a louder voice "That's right babe you listen to your good friend 'Manda, 'Get Some, Get Done and Get Gone'. You know I'm right, you don't need his kind of shit, and you definitely don't need his brother trying to get you to 'earn' for'im. Fuck, thinking about it I don't need that shit either. Dump his ass so we can stay away from the pair of the fuckers!"
Sounds of footsteps moving about the other room.
"Okay, for tonights cullinary delight we have spaghetti... and spaghetti apparently. I'm sure we did have some pizza remains but I am unable to find them. So we're stuck with spaghetti," she began to turn around "that alright with you? Holy Fuck Girl."
In the doorway stood a brunette; quite a bit younger, probably seventeen maximum, she's wearing sweatpants and t-shirt with Hands-Off written across the chest, her hairs very long and seems to be uncontrollably curly. She's stunning and her attitude seems to display that she's fully aware of it, the only thing ruining this picture of beauty is a nasty looking half-healed bruise beneath her left eye, "Spaghetti and spaghetti's cool with me." she responded in a naturally husky voice with a grin.
Amanda just couldn't stop staring. "That looks like its been healing for a fortnight, I was expecting you to need like surgery or summat, ya know."
"Doesn't hurt any more." and with that the brunette.
"I'd say he'd had a pussy punch but he knocked you clear across the room, you broke the fucking table when you hit it."
The brunette waves of the concern as she strides into the room. "I'll live. Now where's my spaghetti."
Amanda rolls her eyes in disbelief. "It's coming."
Finally the brunette's eyes fall to the unopened can on the counter, "You haven't even fucking started making it yet."
"Well sorry if I was worried about my roomie cos I thought she might still be in pain, and wasn't aware she had a fucking mutant healing factor." Amanda replied in the most sarcastic voice she could.
The brunette simply flipped her the finger.
The girls started preparing the food, which took all of thirty seconds, then they put it in the pan and moved to the sofa.
"Seriously though, he fucking hit you, I know he complained that he'd thought you'd cracked his ribs, which if you did is some fucking grip your thighs have, but come on F. The guy hit you, dump his ass."
The brunette looked like she was going to say something but hesitated. "He was just angry."
Amanda turned to face her friend, her eyes trying to portray exactly how serious this situation could have gotten, "It was almost 2 days ago, he just strolled in here like he does every day and hit you. No warning, nothing, just came in and belted you across the fucking room. That is not heat of the fucking moment or any other shit excuse you can come up with for him, that was planned, he came over here with the sole intention of beating the shit out of you."
Shrugging her shoulders the brunette replies, "It was only one punch."
"It wouldn't have been if you hadn't got up, I've seen that look before, fuck I've lived the life that that look has. If you hadn't got up he would have continued beating you til his hands were covered in your blood. I've been there, learn from my mistakes, don't fucking give him another chance you hear me."
"Not all men are like that."
"He is... and most are. There's no such thing as a white knight."
A small frown appears on the brunettes face, possibly the first sign of concern she's allowed herself since the conversation began. "Yeah... I guess."
"And next time we seem him we dump his ass agreed."
"Sure."
Amanda took her hand, "You okay with this?"
A smile returned to the brunettes face, "Five by Five."
"So how the fuck did you get up from that punch anyway?"
"Dunno. Maybe he does hit like a pussy." she giggled, and then Amanda put the television on and they settled down to some good old comedy hour.
end of part 1.