AN: Sorry I haven't posted in a while - a lot of things are going on in my
life right now.especially me waiting to hear my results from an essay
contest I just recently wrote to.
Dedication: To the ever-fabulous Southern Belle - Will_ow2002 has been waiting so patiently for an update on Southern Belle's fic, but no. Will_ow can't get a reward for acting so polite and charming; waiting nicely like a young lady ( Where's my cookie!!!!!! Lol - please update girl, You have a real talent for writing, so show it off!
*_-_*
The redhead and the blonde made their way into "Strawberries," a local little shop filled with tons of clothes.
"This is where I usually go shopping. This place has everything," Willow announced.
Buffy looked down the huge aisles. She had no idea where to start. There were so many things she wanted to buy.
"Hey, is there anything that I can help you with," the brunette at the side of them said.
Buffy looked up. "You're Cordelia."
"Yeah. Hey, how'd you know that?"
"Your cousin and I are PI partners and I saw your picture in his room. Nice to meet you, I'm Buffy."
"What a dork. He actually has a picture of me in his room?" she started giggling. "Anyway, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yeah, I was actually looking for something dressy for a fancy dinner. Any suggestions?"
"Hmmm.." She looked at Buffy and the kind of clothes she was wearing, then she peered around the store. She picked up a blue dress and showed it to her. It had little frilly stuff hanging out from the side of it. Willow and Buffy looked at each other.
"How about this. It would look good on you, considering your body type."
Buffy scrunched her nose, "Not my kind of style."
Buffy peered down the aisles. 'Too long, too short, to revealing, not revealing enough."
Then she came to the dress at the end of the row. It just hung there waiting for someone to fall in love with it. She gasped then held it up so Willow could see. "Will, look at this!"
"Oh my Lord, you have to buy it!" The dress was absolutely stunning, a little bit too revealing but it was perfect.
"I think this is the one I want, Cordelia," she said while holding up the dress so Cordy could see.
"Woah! That's a hell of a dress! You can go over there and try it on," she pointed to the dressing room.
She went in, got dressed and came out. The gasps and the squeals made her smile.
'Angel's gonna lose it!'
*_-_*
The two partners were lying on the couch eating popcorn and watching a movie. They didn't seem interested.
"So what did you do today," he asked curiously.
"I went shopping with my new friend, Willow - You know, Gunn's doctor?"
"Oh yeah."
"And we went to 'Strawberries,' where I found out your cousin works. She's nice," she said grinning.
"You saw Cordy? That's cool. So what did you buy?"
"Uh-uh, I'm not gonna let you see until the dinner, which might happen to be the last night of my life," she said sadly.
"Don't say that."
"Whatever, let's just get off the subject. What did you do?"
"Went shopping for tuxes with Connor. I feel bad for the kid."
"Why?"
"He doesn't have a date to his senior prom.wish there was something I could do."
Buffy frowned, and seconds later she was smiling. "Maybe there is."
He was confused and looked at Buffy dialing the phone. "Hello, may I please speak to Dawn? Hey cuz! I was wondering if you remember the favor you owe me?"
*_-_*
It was the night of the senior prom, coincidentally, the night of the charity dinner party where Buffy and Angel would be risking their lives to save thousands of others. That day they went over procedures with Giles, checked their microphones and their headphones, trained a little, and worked on stopping fake TNT.
But now they were relaxing on the living room couch, amused by watching the teenager in front of them pace around and wait impatiently for his date.
The doorbell rang, suddenly moving Connor out of his dream world and into reality.
He scurried around moving left and right. He had no idea what to do. "What should I do," Connor asked hurriedly, looking at both of them for the answer.
"How about answering the door?" Buffy said smiling.
"Right."
"Good luck," they each whispered to the kid. He grinned and went to the door.
"Uh, hi." He was in love.
Dawn stood back in her pink dress, her hands behind her back. "Hey."
"Um, uh - w - w - we - do you want to go?"
She laughed and then smacked him playfully on the arm. "Come on, relax! I'm not gonna bite. Let's just have ourselves some fun."
He smiled at her and she put her hand through his arm. "Shall we?"
"We shall."
"Goodnight you two lovebirds!"
*_-_*
Immediately after Connor and Dawn had left, Buffy and Angel were getting dressed, placing their equipment on themselves. Buffy attached her gun to her upper thigh and sighed when she slid the silky material of the dress over her head.
"Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"You ready?"
"Almost." She pulled her earpiece on and hid the microphone in the corner of her dress. She sprayed some of her perfume on, attached the diamond necklace around her neck and put her black high-heeled sandals on. She walked out of the room in her silky dress. She smiled at the look of his face.
He gasped at the sight of her and forgot how to breathe. The sight of her was breath taking. He looked at the front of her dress. It had a plunge v- neck front. A slit ran up and down her leg. She turned around for him revealing her low-cut halter dress and the jewel detailing in the lower back. It reminded him of his encounter in the bathroom, which he blamed himself for. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. Her smile turned to a frown as she went over to him. He was turning blue.
"Okay, breathe. Breathe in.breathe out," she said while showing him how.
He finally got himself together and spoke. "I-I-y-y-you look so beautiful."
She smiled at him and cleaned off the lint on his tux. "You don't look so bad, yourself there."
He grinned. "Let's go."
*_-_*
Once Buffy had stepped into the Hyperion Hotel, her heart started racing. She could feel the trouble, she could feel it. "Angel, something's gonna happen. I feel it."
He looked over at her; "I feel it, too."
They gave each other a nod and split up. They looked around.
Buffy started to talk to random people who looked suspicious. But nothing came up, everyone seemed to be sane and they were just here for the party.
Angel did the same; he looked around and talked.
"Mr. Davenport!" a guy in glasses said. "How lovely to see you again," he said loudly shaking his wrists roughly.
"Hi, nice to see you." He walked away, meeting other random people. He didn't want to have a conversation with the man. He dealt with one of his cases and wanted nothing to have to do with the man anymore. He looked over the other people in the area.
Little did he know that Darla was standing in the far corner of the building just looking at the thousands of people she'd be killing. She stood there in her diamond blue dress, sipped her drink, then turned away.
"Angel," Angel heard Buffy's voice whisper into the microphone.
"What is it, did you see anyone?"
"Yeah, I'm going over there now."
"You'll need backup, let me come with you."
"No, I can handle it. Just stay down there. I'm not even sure if I have something."
"Fine," he agreed reluctantly.
*_-_*
Jonathan was preparing the bomb on the secluded balcony of the Hyperion. It was like he was sitting in a theater. The balcony resembled the seats where the rich had sat. He was close to the amount of people below, but would be unseen to anyone. He uncovered a small box with a red button. 'Don't touch it yet, Jon. Don't touch it.'
Buffy glanced up towards the balcony where she saw a figure move. "No one's partying up there, how come there's someone there then?"
She made her way up the stairs, unnoticed by any of the guests of the party. She opened the door quietly and peeked in. She saw the small bomb and grew scared. 'This is it Summers. It's do or die.' She opened the door fully and the figure that Buffy had seen turned around.
She was shocked. "Jonathan Levinson?"
"Buffy.Summers?"
She waited there and looked toward the bomb. He noticed and grabbed the box with the button.
"No! Stay back. Get away from me!" He pointed a gun at her.
"Okay Jonathan, you want to point that somewhere else?" He put the gun down slightly, but still held his guard.
"Don't try and stop me," he yelled. He was sweating like a maniac.
"No, no stopping. Just here for the view, hey there's the mayor!"
"Go away," he shrieked.
"Not gonna happen," she said calmly.
"What, you don't think I'll use this," he raised the box slightly and lowered the gun, finally dropping it to the ground.
"I don't know, Jonathan, I just."
"Stop! Stop doing that; stop saying my name like we're friends. No one is my friend. The only friend I have is my partner. I got out of LA because everyone looked down to me; no one listened to me, no one cared for me, all because of how I looked. And when I came to this town, it was all the same. Everyone was beautiful, and tall and handsome. And everyone was picking on dorky little Jonathan. They thought they knew me. They didn't, all they saw was me and they assumed that I was dorky and nerdy because I was short. But it's time to teach the world a lesson. Looks mean nothing; I'll just have to prove it." He raised the box higher.
"You think you're the only one that has problems Jonathan? G-d, I can't even imagine what it would be anyone but me. All of them, they all worry about what other people assume. They all are worried about being pretty. I'm speaking from experience when I say that people can surprise you. Not everyone judges you by your looks, and if I do say so myself, you're lookin' spiffy tonight," she smiled at him and he grinned. Then he started screaming again.
"No, no! I won't let you trick me. I'm gonna show them, show all of them what kind of pain I've been through." He reached for the button, but stumbled back on the chair and landed against the edge of the balcony. The box was like soap in his hands; he tried to keep a hold of it but it just kept slipping in the air. The distraction was more than enough time for Buffy to pull out her gun and shoot Jonathan in the stomach. The box dropped on the floor. Jonathan slowly put a hand over his stomach, blood spilling onto the floor. "I'm sorry," he said. He fell over the edge of the balcony.
The people who had heard the gun started moving towards the door, not wanting to get shot. Buffy grabbed the box and the explosive itself and headed downstairs.
"Buffy! Buffy!"
"Angel, I'm right here," she said exasperated, while running down the stairs.
"Bomb?'
"Right here," she said lifting her hand. "I'll get it to Giles in the car, you have to go find his partner."
"He had a partner?"
"Yeah. Go find him and hurry," she made her way down the steps, into the street and into Giles' car, where she gave him the box and the explosive.
Meanwhile, Angel looked at the crowd that was getting out of the hotel. He glanced at the people. Then he saw a blonde staring at him and made eye contact. She turned away and ran outside to the alley. He ran after her.
When he came out the door, he was the only one there. He looked to the left and right, in front of him and back, but no one was in sight. He turned around to the sudden sound of someone cocking a gun. He turned around and she was there, her gun pointed to his head.
"Darla," he announced.
"That's right Angel. Long time no see. Haven't you missed me," she asked innocently.
"Put the gun down," he said calmly.
"No can do, Angel. See, you and your partner got in our way and I just have to make it up to you," she said getting closer. "You've got a beautiful bitch, there Angel."
"Why are you doing this?"
"This town is fucked up. I come here for a new life and they shoo me away like I'm some kind of dumb dog. I couldn't take their attitudes anymore. I had to teach them a lesson. But you got in my way. And now I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson." She slowly put pressure on the trigger.
"No!" someone screamed. Darla turned around and pulled the trigger.
A single gunshot was heard. To Angel it was in slow motion. He blinked as if it had taken a half a minute. The shot was ringing in his ears, vibrating his brain, his thoughts. He still heard it. She collapsed onto the floor.
"No. No, this can't be happening." He slid onto the floor, looking over her body.
Even though only one shot was heard, two shots were made at the same time. One to Darla's heart, and one to Buffy's side.
She was bleeding profusely and he was looming over, putting pressure on the wound.
"No, please don't die, please don't baby," he sniffed and took a breath, "I need you to live, the world needs you to live. Don't die, I can't live without you. I love you," he said, holding her head in his lap. He was crying and she held up her hand to wipe the tears.
"Don't cry," she whispered. "I love you."
He kissed her; everything that had meaning to him went into that kiss. Love, passion, want, desire, anger, trust, devotion, desperation had all gone into a single kiss, which Angel had hoped to keep her alive.
"Angel," she said looking up at the stars, "I see a light."
"No baby, don't say that, please don't say that," he cried as if he was pleading.
Her eyes closed.
"No, no. You can't leave me here! Who's gonna call me an asshole now? And who's gonna complain about me not doing the dishes. Who's gonna kick my ass and who's gonna knock some sense into me! Who's gonna love me! Please, G-d. Please don't die, please!" He looked up at her peaceful form, his cheeks red and teary. He sat there, just looking at her, and in the distance away he could hear the blaring horns of an ambulance.
*_-_*
hmmm...what'll happen..? Please review, and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please make sure it's constructive!
Dedication: To the ever-fabulous Southern Belle - Will_ow2002 has been waiting so patiently for an update on Southern Belle's fic, but no. Will_ow can't get a reward for acting so polite and charming; waiting nicely like a young lady ( Where's my cookie!!!!!! Lol - please update girl, You have a real talent for writing, so show it off!
*_-_*
The redhead and the blonde made their way into "Strawberries," a local little shop filled with tons of clothes.
"This is where I usually go shopping. This place has everything," Willow announced.
Buffy looked down the huge aisles. She had no idea where to start. There were so many things she wanted to buy.
"Hey, is there anything that I can help you with," the brunette at the side of them said.
Buffy looked up. "You're Cordelia."
"Yeah. Hey, how'd you know that?"
"Your cousin and I are PI partners and I saw your picture in his room. Nice to meet you, I'm Buffy."
"What a dork. He actually has a picture of me in his room?" she started giggling. "Anyway, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yeah, I was actually looking for something dressy for a fancy dinner. Any suggestions?"
"Hmmm.." She looked at Buffy and the kind of clothes she was wearing, then she peered around the store. She picked up a blue dress and showed it to her. It had little frilly stuff hanging out from the side of it. Willow and Buffy looked at each other.
"How about this. It would look good on you, considering your body type."
Buffy scrunched her nose, "Not my kind of style."
Buffy peered down the aisles. 'Too long, too short, to revealing, not revealing enough."
Then she came to the dress at the end of the row. It just hung there waiting for someone to fall in love with it. She gasped then held it up so Willow could see. "Will, look at this!"
"Oh my Lord, you have to buy it!" The dress was absolutely stunning, a little bit too revealing but it was perfect.
"I think this is the one I want, Cordelia," she said while holding up the dress so Cordy could see.
"Woah! That's a hell of a dress! You can go over there and try it on," she pointed to the dressing room.
She went in, got dressed and came out. The gasps and the squeals made her smile.
'Angel's gonna lose it!'
*_-_*
The two partners were lying on the couch eating popcorn and watching a movie. They didn't seem interested.
"So what did you do today," he asked curiously.
"I went shopping with my new friend, Willow - You know, Gunn's doctor?"
"Oh yeah."
"And we went to 'Strawberries,' where I found out your cousin works. She's nice," she said grinning.
"You saw Cordy? That's cool. So what did you buy?"
"Uh-uh, I'm not gonna let you see until the dinner, which might happen to be the last night of my life," she said sadly.
"Don't say that."
"Whatever, let's just get off the subject. What did you do?"
"Went shopping for tuxes with Connor. I feel bad for the kid."
"Why?"
"He doesn't have a date to his senior prom.wish there was something I could do."
Buffy frowned, and seconds later she was smiling. "Maybe there is."
He was confused and looked at Buffy dialing the phone. "Hello, may I please speak to Dawn? Hey cuz! I was wondering if you remember the favor you owe me?"
*_-_*
It was the night of the senior prom, coincidentally, the night of the charity dinner party where Buffy and Angel would be risking their lives to save thousands of others. That day they went over procedures with Giles, checked their microphones and their headphones, trained a little, and worked on stopping fake TNT.
But now they were relaxing on the living room couch, amused by watching the teenager in front of them pace around and wait impatiently for his date.
The doorbell rang, suddenly moving Connor out of his dream world and into reality.
He scurried around moving left and right. He had no idea what to do. "What should I do," Connor asked hurriedly, looking at both of them for the answer.
"How about answering the door?" Buffy said smiling.
"Right."
"Good luck," they each whispered to the kid. He grinned and went to the door.
"Uh, hi." He was in love.
Dawn stood back in her pink dress, her hands behind her back. "Hey."
"Um, uh - w - w - we - do you want to go?"
She laughed and then smacked him playfully on the arm. "Come on, relax! I'm not gonna bite. Let's just have ourselves some fun."
He smiled at her and she put her hand through his arm. "Shall we?"
"We shall."
"Goodnight you two lovebirds!"
*_-_*
Immediately after Connor and Dawn had left, Buffy and Angel were getting dressed, placing their equipment on themselves. Buffy attached her gun to her upper thigh and sighed when she slid the silky material of the dress over her head.
"Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"You ready?"
"Almost." She pulled her earpiece on and hid the microphone in the corner of her dress. She sprayed some of her perfume on, attached the diamond necklace around her neck and put her black high-heeled sandals on. She walked out of the room in her silky dress. She smiled at the look of his face.
He gasped at the sight of her and forgot how to breathe. The sight of her was breath taking. He looked at the front of her dress. It had a plunge v- neck front. A slit ran up and down her leg. She turned around for him revealing her low-cut halter dress and the jewel detailing in the lower back. It reminded him of his encounter in the bathroom, which he blamed himself for. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. Her smile turned to a frown as she went over to him. He was turning blue.
"Okay, breathe. Breathe in.breathe out," she said while showing him how.
He finally got himself together and spoke. "I-I-y-y-you look so beautiful."
She smiled at him and cleaned off the lint on his tux. "You don't look so bad, yourself there."
He grinned. "Let's go."
*_-_*
Once Buffy had stepped into the Hyperion Hotel, her heart started racing. She could feel the trouble, she could feel it. "Angel, something's gonna happen. I feel it."
He looked over at her; "I feel it, too."
They gave each other a nod and split up. They looked around.
Buffy started to talk to random people who looked suspicious. But nothing came up, everyone seemed to be sane and they were just here for the party.
Angel did the same; he looked around and talked.
"Mr. Davenport!" a guy in glasses said. "How lovely to see you again," he said loudly shaking his wrists roughly.
"Hi, nice to see you." He walked away, meeting other random people. He didn't want to have a conversation with the man. He dealt with one of his cases and wanted nothing to have to do with the man anymore. He looked over the other people in the area.
Little did he know that Darla was standing in the far corner of the building just looking at the thousands of people she'd be killing. She stood there in her diamond blue dress, sipped her drink, then turned away.
"Angel," Angel heard Buffy's voice whisper into the microphone.
"What is it, did you see anyone?"
"Yeah, I'm going over there now."
"You'll need backup, let me come with you."
"No, I can handle it. Just stay down there. I'm not even sure if I have something."
"Fine," he agreed reluctantly.
*_-_*
Jonathan was preparing the bomb on the secluded balcony of the Hyperion. It was like he was sitting in a theater. The balcony resembled the seats where the rich had sat. He was close to the amount of people below, but would be unseen to anyone. He uncovered a small box with a red button. 'Don't touch it yet, Jon. Don't touch it.'
Buffy glanced up towards the balcony where she saw a figure move. "No one's partying up there, how come there's someone there then?"
She made her way up the stairs, unnoticed by any of the guests of the party. She opened the door quietly and peeked in. She saw the small bomb and grew scared. 'This is it Summers. It's do or die.' She opened the door fully and the figure that Buffy had seen turned around.
She was shocked. "Jonathan Levinson?"
"Buffy.Summers?"
She waited there and looked toward the bomb. He noticed and grabbed the box with the button.
"No! Stay back. Get away from me!" He pointed a gun at her.
"Okay Jonathan, you want to point that somewhere else?" He put the gun down slightly, but still held his guard.
"Don't try and stop me," he yelled. He was sweating like a maniac.
"No, no stopping. Just here for the view, hey there's the mayor!"
"Go away," he shrieked.
"Not gonna happen," she said calmly.
"What, you don't think I'll use this," he raised the box slightly and lowered the gun, finally dropping it to the ground.
"I don't know, Jonathan, I just."
"Stop! Stop doing that; stop saying my name like we're friends. No one is my friend. The only friend I have is my partner. I got out of LA because everyone looked down to me; no one listened to me, no one cared for me, all because of how I looked. And when I came to this town, it was all the same. Everyone was beautiful, and tall and handsome. And everyone was picking on dorky little Jonathan. They thought they knew me. They didn't, all they saw was me and they assumed that I was dorky and nerdy because I was short. But it's time to teach the world a lesson. Looks mean nothing; I'll just have to prove it." He raised the box higher.
"You think you're the only one that has problems Jonathan? G-d, I can't even imagine what it would be anyone but me. All of them, they all worry about what other people assume. They all are worried about being pretty. I'm speaking from experience when I say that people can surprise you. Not everyone judges you by your looks, and if I do say so myself, you're lookin' spiffy tonight," she smiled at him and he grinned. Then he started screaming again.
"No, no! I won't let you trick me. I'm gonna show them, show all of them what kind of pain I've been through." He reached for the button, but stumbled back on the chair and landed against the edge of the balcony. The box was like soap in his hands; he tried to keep a hold of it but it just kept slipping in the air. The distraction was more than enough time for Buffy to pull out her gun and shoot Jonathan in the stomach. The box dropped on the floor. Jonathan slowly put a hand over his stomach, blood spilling onto the floor. "I'm sorry," he said. He fell over the edge of the balcony.
The people who had heard the gun started moving towards the door, not wanting to get shot. Buffy grabbed the box and the explosive itself and headed downstairs.
"Buffy! Buffy!"
"Angel, I'm right here," she said exasperated, while running down the stairs.
"Bomb?'
"Right here," she said lifting her hand. "I'll get it to Giles in the car, you have to go find his partner."
"He had a partner?"
"Yeah. Go find him and hurry," she made her way down the steps, into the street and into Giles' car, where she gave him the box and the explosive.
Meanwhile, Angel looked at the crowd that was getting out of the hotel. He glanced at the people. Then he saw a blonde staring at him and made eye contact. She turned away and ran outside to the alley. He ran after her.
When he came out the door, he was the only one there. He looked to the left and right, in front of him and back, but no one was in sight. He turned around to the sudden sound of someone cocking a gun. He turned around and she was there, her gun pointed to his head.
"Darla," he announced.
"That's right Angel. Long time no see. Haven't you missed me," she asked innocently.
"Put the gun down," he said calmly.
"No can do, Angel. See, you and your partner got in our way and I just have to make it up to you," she said getting closer. "You've got a beautiful bitch, there Angel."
"Why are you doing this?"
"This town is fucked up. I come here for a new life and they shoo me away like I'm some kind of dumb dog. I couldn't take their attitudes anymore. I had to teach them a lesson. But you got in my way. And now I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson." She slowly put pressure on the trigger.
"No!" someone screamed. Darla turned around and pulled the trigger.
A single gunshot was heard. To Angel it was in slow motion. He blinked as if it had taken a half a minute. The shot was ringing in his ears, vibrating his brain, his thoughts. He still heard it. She collapsed onto the floor.
"No. No, this can't be happening." He slid onto the floor, looking over her body.
Even though only one shot was heard, two shots were made at the same time. One to Darla's heart, and one to Buffy's side.
She was bleeding profusely and he was looming over, putting pressure on the wound.
"No, please don't die, please don't baby," he sniffed and took a breath, "I need you to live, the world needs you to live. Don't die, I can't live without you. I love you," he said, holding her head in his lap. He was crying and she held up her hand to wipe the tears.
"Don't cry," she whispered. "I love you."
He kissed her; everything that had meaning to him went into that kiss. Love, passion, want, desire, anger, trust, devotion, desperation had all gone into a single kiss, which Angel had hoped to keep her alive.
"Angel," she said looking up at the stars, "I see a light."
"No baby, don't say that, please don't say that," he cried as if he was pleading.
Her eyes closed.
"No, no. You can't leave me here! Who's gonna call me an asshole now? And who's gonna complain about me not doing the dishes. Who's gonna kick my ass and who's gonna knock some sense into me! Who's gonna love me! Please, G-d. Please don't die, please!" He looked up at her peaceful form, his cheeks red and teary. He sat there, just looking at her, and in the distance away he could hear the blaring horns of an ambulance.
*_-_*
hmmm...what'll happen..? Please review, and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please make sure it's constructive!