Hi again! Sorry about the long wait but Hurricane Ivan decided to visit where I live!! I didn't have power for seven days!! Here is my new chapter! Hope you enjoy and don't forget to send reviews!! On this chapter I want everyone to know that I love Xander but I think it's unfair how he lost Anya! So please no hate reviews because of what happens to him!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except my story!! All my idea..... except for the characters of course! I wish I could own one of the characters but nope. Like Spike or Xander, but no.....they all belong to Joss!
Aftermath: Life After Sunnydale
Chapter 3- Vulnerable Xander
"Anya! Anya! Where are you?" Xander started shaking in his bed as if he was looking around. "Xander? Xander wake up!" Xander shook out of his nightmare. It was a dream about Anya, so why call it a nightmare? "Xander, are you okay?" Xander quickly put on a fake smile in front of his best friend's face so she wouldn't worry him. "I'm fine Willow." Willow had a look of sadness on her face. "Willow, I'm fine. I'm just regular old Xander. Nothing's wrong." Willow tried to tell herself that was the truth but knew he was still hurting. "Willow try to go back to sleep, I'm fine." "Okay Xander. I'm in the next room if you need me." "Hey, that's my line." Willow let out a small snicker. Willow started to walk toward his door when an idea came to her mind. "Can I stay in here with you Xander?" "You mean you want to sleep with me Willow? What about Kennedy? She won't think you've gone straight will she?" "No, you and I go way back. She'll understand." On that final statement Willow pulled the covers down on the bed and got in next to Xander. Xander moved over to make room for his best friend. "Comfortable?" he asked her. "Very. Now, let's sleep. It's two in the morning. Okay Xander? Xander?" She turned to look at him but found her best friend already passed out. "He wasted no time."
Willow woke up early the next morning. She sat up to stretch out. She looked at the bedside table next to her to see what time the digital clock read. "Six o' clock? I really need to readjust my body clock." Inevitably she got out of Xander's blue covered bed. She was wearing light pink pajama pants that fit loosely on her. She was wearing a light pink tank top to match her pants. "It's way to early in the morning." Willow stretched her arms in the air once again. She walked over toward the window to see how bright it was outside. "What a beautiful day." She thought to herself. "Anya? Anya?" Willow turned around so fast she almost got whiplash. "Xander? Why is he saying Anya?" "ANYA!" Xander screamed at the top of his lungs. Willow knew she had to do something. She rushed to the bed and started to shake Xander. "Xander? Xander! Wake up!" Xander's eyes quickly opened. He looked up to see Willow hovering over him. "Oh, good morning Willow." Xander wiped his face with his sweaty hand. "Xander are you okay?" Willow looked at Xander with concern. "I'm fine. Why ask?" Willow knew he was trying to make-believe that he didn't have the same reoccurring dream. Xander saw the look in her eye. "Willow, I'm fine. What time is it?" "Six o'clock." Xander abruptly sat up in his bed. "Six o' clock? I'm going back to bed!" Xander tried to quickly lay back down in his blue covered bed but unfortunately Willow stopped him. "Nice try! If I have to stay awake, so do you!" "Aw!! Come on Willow!!!" Xander wined. He was going to poke his lip out but Willow was determined not to go back to sleep. Willow knew she had to keep him awake so he wouldn't have to dream that dream once again. Inevitably, Xander got out of his bed. Willow opened his bedroom door and headed toward the one Kennedy and herself shared. "I'll remember this when I sleep in your bed!" Xander yelled.
"I love you. You know I do." Buffy was once again dreaming. This was unlike any other dream she's already had in the past. She was standing in her basement of her old house. She saw the chains on the wall and the bed. There was a man standing behind her. He was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. The man approached Buffy and put his soft hand on her face. She looked up to see who the man was. Unfortunately someone was calling her name. The man's face was fading away. "No, stop fading! Who are you? Sp-" "Buffy? Are you awake?" The man's face turned black. He turned and started walking away from Buffy. "Wait! Come back!! Stop!! Sp-" "Buffy? Are you awake?" Buffy awoke. Once again Buffy was sweating and breathing heavy. "Buffy are you okay?" "Peachy Dawn." Buffy wondered if Dawn heard Buffy yelling or if she was just late waking up. "Well, I was just waking you up because you are suppose to enroll me in school today. "Oh. That's right. Well, call Xander and Faith and ask them how many are going with us. I'll be ready in ten minutes." Dawn nodded her head at her sister and walked out of Buffy's red room. Buffy sat up in her bed. "Fading people, that's nothing new. Just another hellmouth dream, I guess."
Buffy walked to her dresser and picked out some clothes to wear. She started to undress out of her yellow monkey pajamas when she heard the phone ring. She walked to her red wooden night stand and picked up the phone. "Hello?" Buffy said to her orange cordless phone to the person on the other side. "Hey Buffy." Buffy recognized the cheery voice immediately. "Hey Will. Are the potentials ready to go?" "Yeah. I've got to talk to you for a second. Xander isn't doing to good. He keeps having dreams about losing Anya. Every night he calls her name." Buffy couldn't believe what Willow was saying. Xander is going through the same thing she was. Instead of having somewhat happy dreams, he keeps losing her, over and over. "Is this happening every night Will?" "Ever since we've been in Cleveland." "I'll talk to you more about it later. I have to get ready. I'll come over later." "Okay Buffy. See ya in a minute." Buffy hung up the phone. Buffy thought for a minute how terrible this must be for Xander while she continued to get dressed. She started to tear up, but quickly brushed the feeling away.
"So are you the father of all these children?" "Excuse me?" Giles looked at the woman in frustration. He and Buffy were having a very hard time trying to put five of the potential in Samson G. High School. The principal was being harsh. He couldn't understand why he couldn't just say they were his friends, or even cousins. Even though none of them were British. "Sir? Are you there father? I need to know what relationship you have with these young ladies." He knew that if said they were his friends she would ask tons of question. Like why weren't their parents doing this and why are you enrolling them Mr. Giles. Then they would try and put the girls up for adoption. Giles and Buffy couldn't deal with all the mess. He finally came to the conclusion that he had to say they were his kids and that their mother died. "Yes, Mrs. Morgan. They are my children. All except for Dawn. Who is Buffy's sister." He tried to put a smile on his face but he was so frustrated with this woman. Giles took off his glasses and took out a napkin out of his left corner pocket of his jacket. He did the usual thing, cleaned his glasses. He quickly put them back on and put the napkin back into his brown coat. "Ms. Summers tell me a little about Dawn and the girls." Mrs. Morgan said. Mrs. Morgan was an unusual character. She was a older, about forty-five, black lady with curly black hair. She wore a dress suit, ones that women who go to a business meeting wear. It was a light turquoise. She looked at Giles and Buffy in confusion. She wondered why Giles was British and the girls weren't and what kind of relationship he has with the young Buffy. "Well, we lived in Sunnydale, California," Buffy paused for a minute. She wondered if Mrs. Morgan heard that Sunnydale was nothing but a huge crater in the ground now. She then thought of Spike. How he sacrificed his self to save her and the world. "Ms. Summers?" Buffy looked up and realized she spaced out. "Oh, sorry. After my mother died, Dawn and I wanted to move on and start over. So, we came here." Buffy's heart was racing. She hoped Mrs. Morgan believed her lame excuse. "Mrs. Summers. I must inform you that I know that Sunnydale California is nothing but a hole in the ground."
Buffy was shocked at what Mrs. Morgan just said. Giles couldn't help but look up at her in amazement also. "The incident was more than two months ago. Don't you think word could have maybe spread?" Buffy didn't like the sarcasm in her voice. She wanted to take out a knife and use her slayer strength and take her out. She tried to hold back as best she could. "Mr. Giles. What is your relationship to this young woman?" Giles thought for a moment of an excuse. "She's my.....I was......Her mother was my very good friend. She asked me to look over young Buffy here before she passed." Buffy put a smirk on her face. She knew he was telling the truth. After all they did have sex on a police car. Twice! "Well, the six girls can start school Monday. Here is a list of materials they need and classes they will attend. "Wow, that was fast." "My secretary has been listening to the conversation and she enrolled them while we were talking. She even asked the girls what they were interested in taking." Buffy's wanting to kill Mrs. Morgan quickly changed. Giles attitude toward the woman changed also. Buffy stood up out of her chair. She reached her hand out for Mrs. Morgan's. "Thank you Mrs. Morgan." Buffy shook hands with her and walked out of the small office. Mrs. Morgan quickly yanked her hand back. "You've got a strong grip there, Ms. Summers. Buffy forgot about her slayer strength. She was just so happy everything went smoothly in the end. Giles also shook hands with the woman and walked out. Mrs. Morgan watched Giles walk out of her brightly lit office. "Strange people."
"How did the meeting go, Buffy?" Dawn asked her older sister. Dawn has an orange piece of paper in her hands. Buffy figured it was her schedule. Buffy just gave Dawn a smile. Buffy looked to her left and saw Robin looking around the school. She could tell he missed being in the school. He looked up and walked toward Buffy and Dawn. "How did it go?" Buffy just gave him a nod. "I thought about looking to see if they needed a worker. Then I remembered all my records are kinda in the ground." Robin and Buffy both let out a small snicker. Giles rounded up the girls. "Come on Buffy! and you too Robin." Robin and Buffy walked side-by-side to the exit of the school.
Xander sat on his bed in his room looking at his personal pictures. Pictures of the Scooby gang and of his life. The next page he turned to was a picture of Anya. Tears started to fill his eyes. "I'm sorry for not protecting you." He touched the picture as if he were touching Anya's face. "I wish you were here." He felt a tear run down his cheek. "Wow, she's pretty! She looks like----me!!" Xander abruptly looked up to see Anya standing in his doorway. "Anya? Is it really you?" Xander stood up and slowly walked toward Anya. He reached out his hand for her face. "Fooled ya!! Ha ha!" The figure of Anya turned and started running down the hallway. "Anya?" Xander quickly followed. As he stepped into the hall he suddenly saw the figure of Anya sliced from the shoulder down lying on the floor. The beige carpet was starting to stain because of the blood. Xander looked at the figure's killer. "Finally that bitch will stop playing with me." Xander looked up in horror to see himself standing behind the figure of Anya. Xander couldn't believe his eyes. His palms started to sweat. His heart was beating faster and faster. He finally put words together. "How could you do that to her?" Xander asked himself. "That bitch keeps messing with me. Don't you hear her? Xander I hate you, Xander let's sleep together, Xander, Xander, Xander!!!" The evil Xander started walking toward the real Xander stepping over the figure of Anya. "Don't you agree? Are you happy I killed her? Come on! Lighten up! You should be happy! Now, you don't have her stalking you in your dreams. Aren't you glad? Now you can have happy dreams. The ones you had in Sunnydale. Like with Willow and Buffy in them or Cordelia. Now, doesn't that give you nice memories?" Xander started breathing heavy. He couldn't help but move back whenever the evil Xander took another step forward. The evil Xander had a look of anger in his eyes. He held the bloody knife in his hand. The knife looked familiar to the real Xander. He thought to himself, "That's the same knife that the bringers had before---" Xander tried to swallow but he swallowed nothing but air. His eyes widen as he looked up at his evil self.
"The Bringers killed Anya. Andrew never told me the real story, but now I know." "Yeah, now you know. Are you at peace now Xander? Now can you really kill Anya?" "Yeah, kill me Xander!" Xander couldn't believe his eyes. The figure of Anya rose up like she was only knocked out. Her wound healed instantly. "Wanna see where I was when I was killed? Do you want to see my dead body, lying there motionless, waiting for you to find?" The figure of Anya walked toward Xander. She touched his hand. Suddenly Xander received a vision. He was running down the halls of Sunnydale High. He saw himself calling a name. He knew immediately it was Anya's. His vision moved somewhere else. It was earlier before the Scoobies had to run for there lives. He saw Anya. She was being so brave. She killed a bringer, then another, she looked so beautiful. Xander started to smile. Suddenly a bringer crept up behind Anya. "Watch out!" Xander cried out forgetting it was a vision. The bringer sliced Anya from her left shoulder to her right waist. The knife cut through her so easily. Xander felt a tear run down his face. Anya fell to the ground hard. The vision went back to Xander when he was running through the halls. Xander then realized he was so close to seeing Anya but he knew his life was in danger. The figure of Anya let go of Xander's hand and walked back toward the evil Xander.
"Why don't you try and get me in the exact spot the Bringers did?" "Go on Xander, give it a slice!" The evil Xander threw the knife toward the real Xander. "Wanna see for sure where I was cut Xander? So you can make sure you get it right?" Saying that the figure of Anya started to take off her pink shirt to reveal her scar. "Now Xander! Do it!! Do it now!" yelled the evil Xander. Xander dropped the knife and dropped to his knees. "I can't. I can't do it! I love you Anya, and I miss you so much! Why did you have to fight with Andrew? Why couldn't he protect you?" The figure of Anya slowly walked toward Xander. He face was in his hands. He kept sobbing. "Now, you're free." Xander looked up at Anya with tears in his eyes. "Free?" The figure of Anya smiled and nodded.
Xander found himself lying on his blue bed. He jolted up quickly. "Anya? Xander?" He felt stupid calling his own name. He got off of his bed and walked into the hallway. He looked for the stain from Anya's blood, but there was no stain. "Was it a dream? Am I really free of her not coming in my dreams." Xander walked back into his room and sat on his bed. He looked at his blue carpet in disbelief. He hoped it was real but then he hoped it wasn't.
"Hi Xander." Xander looked up to see a beautiful blonde girl standing in his doorway. She looked about twenty years old. She had a slim figure, after all she is a slayer. She had the most beautiful blue eyes Xander had ever seen. "Hey Hope. What are you up to?" "Nothing much. Feel like going somewhere? Like into town?" Xander thought for a minute. "Maybe it could cheer me up a little bit. Having fun, with a friend, a beautiful friend." Xander kept thinking in his mind. He looked up at Hope. "Sure it sounds like fun. I could use a little fun. Why don't you see if anyone else would want to go." Xander looked up and smiled at the blonde woman. "I already checked with everyone else, no one wanted to go. I think they just want to be home." Hope smiled back at Xander. She was quick to answer his statement. "Okay, I'll get my coat and the keys to our ride and off we go." Xander stood up off of his blue bed. He walked toward his door. Hope walked out before him so she could also get her coat. Xander put his door to so he could grab his coat. He put on the leather coat and walked toward the front door where Hope was waiting. Hope heard Xander coming down the wooden spiral stairs. She looked up and they both made eye contact with each other. Xander for the first time in a while felt, well, okay.
"Well, Xander I guess you are a demon magnet." Hope said while letting out small snickers every now and then. "Well, let's just say I have been out with a human in six years." Xander said to Hope with a smile. "What about you Hope. Do you or did you have a boyfriend where you lived?" "There was a guy I liked. We went on a date, but during that date a vampire attacked us and I did the usual slayer or potential slayer thing and he totally freaked. He didn't talk to me ever again. He told his friends and I was branded a freak. I went home and almost balled my eyes out but I realized he was a jerk anyway. That's about it." Hope took another sip of her orange soda. Xander and Hope were at Sabrehagan's Burger Palace enjoying a double cheeseburger. It was one of those little restaurants that is in the Cleveland mall. Thankfully it wasn't too expensive. It was around six when they arrived at the burger joint. The day consisted of shopping mostly. For Xander it was for whatever he really wanted, but for Hope, new clothes, and new shoes. Plus, the new Ghost of the Robot CD. "Hope." Xander said to the young blonde woman. She looked up at Xander and they made eye contact. He looked in her soft blue eyes. He again, felt at peace. "I want to let you know, I've had a really great day. I needed this. What I really want to say is-" Xander was stopped by someone touching his shoulder.
Xander turned around to see Faith standing behind him. "Hey Xander. Oops, I hope I'm not interrupt anything." Faith said with her usual smirk. Xander shook his head. "What's up Faith? Is there a big bad or something?" Faith over at Hope. "Nah, I just saw you two here and felt like saying hey. Robin and I are hanging out here." Faith looked up to see Robin signaling at her. "Well, that's my sign. Got to go." Faith walked toward Robin and grabbed his hand and they walked off. "You were saying something Xander?" Xander looked at Hope. A smile grew upon her face. She was the most beautiful girl he has seen since Anya. Maybe that's what Anya meant in his 'dream'. He was free of loving her, or maybe dreaming of her. He would see tonight when he went to sleep. "Xander?" Xander was sort of daydreaming. Thinking about what Anya meant. "Um....yeah......are you ready to go home?" Hope had a look of disappointment on her face. She wanted to stay so bad. To hang out with Xander more would have been so much fun. She wanted to try and delay the inevitable by starting up a whole new conversation. She knew she had to go on patrol tonight. It was her night along with three other potentials and 'The Chosen One', Buffy. She put up her best smile she could so Xander wouldn't suspect she was unhappy. "Sure. I have to patrol tonight anyways." "Alrighty then! Let's go."
Patrolling that night was uneventful. No demons, hardly a vamp to stake, and no unusual creatures that go bump in the night. Hope couldn't wait to get home and see Xander. Xander came up with the idea for them to watch movies, if she wasn't too tired. He wanted to pay her back for hanging out with him after what happened to him that afternoon. "Okay guys, I think we can call it a night. We haven't seen any action for the past hour." Buffy said. She and the girls walked toward the yellow bus where Giles was waiting with Xander. The guys ran a few errands while they waited for the girls at the cemetery to finish patrolling. All the girls started to run to the bus when suddenly six vampires jumped out of the oak trees. Each vampire took one of the potential slayers and Buffy down. Seeing this, Xander and Giles quickly unloaded out of the bus and ran toward them. Buffy jumped up quickly and got out trusty Mr. Pointy. Buffy immediately staked the vampire who knocked her down.
Hope tried to punch the vamp but the vamp instead knocked her down. She jumped up quickly to get nothing but fist in her face. The vampire punched her in the face two or three more times. Enough to make her forget what she was doing. Her jaw was hurting by this time. She quickly jumped up and threw out her leg toward the vamp. The vamp ducked quickly, grabbed her leg and made her spin. Instead of falling again, Hope landed upright and quickly looked for an opening of the vamps heart. She reached out for his arm and flipped him around to where his back was against her chest. She quickly gave the vamp a jab in the heart and he was dust. Chloe, on the other hand, wasn't doing too good. Instead of one vamp, she had two on her tail. Buffy saw the she was being stalked by two vamps and decided to help. Chloe threw a quick punch at the first boy vamp. He quickly grabbed her arm and spun her around to where her back was on his chest. "Let's see how potential slayer tastes." The vamp did the usual opening of the mouth before heading in for the feast. Buffy quickly ran to where Chloe was and jabbed him in the back with trusty Mr. Pointy. The vamp turned to dust and Chloe gasped for air. "Thanks." "Don't get yourself stuck like that. Have lots of openings Chloe." "Buffy, the vamp called me a potential slayer." This statement puzzled Buffy.
Buffy and the girls all took care of the vamps. It only took a couple of minutes. "Now, that's what patrolling is all about." Victoria said. Giles and Xander finally got to the girls to see they already took care of the pests. Hope was glad to see Xander. "Hey Xander." Hope said in a sweet voice and with a smile. Xander looked over at her and smiled. "Are you okay?" He noticed she had a bruise on her jaw. He reached out his hand for her face but quickly stopped. He didn't want anyone to suspect anything. Hope saw this and felt a little disappointed. "I'll recover." She quickly said. "All right girls, let's go home." Buffy said walking toward the yellow bus. She was still puzzled by Chloe's statement and wanted to further pursue this new news.
Like? No like? The only way I'll know is from ur reviews! Don't forget to review! Chapter 4 will be up as soon as I get a certain number of reviews! Tell ur friends! Just to let u know, if u got confused during the fight scenes, I'm not to good at writing them so I apologize now! R&R!!
-Spike-n-Buffy4-eva