Title: Only When You Dream
Author: Xanderschick AKA Sarah
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Joss owns the park; I'm just playing in the sandpit til my hands get dirty.
Rating: M rated action. Children avert your eyes!
Spoilers: BtVS seasons 1-3
Distribution: Take it; just make sure you let me know when you review (hint, hint!).
Plot: After Graduation Angel didn't leave. He's been visiting Buffy every night since then because he can't bear to be away from her. But now she's moved to college and his nightly visits aren't an option anymore, so after a visit to a local demon/warlock he's found a spell that allows him to enter and manipulate his girls dream to his every will. If only I could do that to David Boreanaz. All I can say is: WOW! Anyways, they've been dream 'getting it on' and after a snap decision to get married Angel finally let Buffy in to the little secret that he's still in SunnyD. He proposes that they give up on their miserable lives and dream forever. She agrees and they do the spell. The Scooby gang find out but they can't get her back and Buffy and Angel are left alone in their new world. Then along came someone new…
A/N: Yes, I got the whole dream walking idea from AtS S2 but I thought to myself, "Self, wouldn't this be much more fun if it was Buffy instead of the ex-vamp ho?" Answer: "Yup!" After borrowing the fab DVD's off my sister (AKA Xanderschicklet), I've just realised that they have kinda the same thing going on with Isabel in "Roswell" but I didn't know that when I started this.
A/N 2: This chapter is a Willow POV and hopefully it'll explain a few things. BTW, I forgot to mention, in my timeline Kathy only lived with Buffy for a couple of days before she got busted and Willow moved in. And the "Beer Bad" fire in the Grotto coffee shop didn't happen.
A/N 3: This story is 100 Blondie Bear free so don't even ask. Ever. I mean it.
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Chapter Fifteen - Secret Meetings"What the hell are you playing at!"
"It's good to see you too! Can I get you anything? Coffee? I'm more of a whisky man myself but…"
I slam my fist down on the table and he jumps. He knows what I could do to him.
"Come on sweetheart! There's no need to get violent, now! Sit down and we'll talk about this!"
"What's there to talk about! Do you realise what you've done! God, this was your idea in the first place!"
I slide into the booth and rub my temples, my head throbbing with anger. Buffy had tried to tell us about Maddy but she just broke down. Her mom tried to comfort her but she just screamed at us to get out. She lay down on the bed, stroking Angel's hair. She was whispering something - "I'll be home soon and then we can be happy again, just the four of us and Pedro."
Who the hell's Pedro?
"Let me explain." He reaches over pulling my hand across the table to get my attention.
This better be good.
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UC Sunnydale Campus, the 'Grotto', October 1999…The heat of the coffee warms me but the strong taste makes me wince a little. Buffy'll kill me if she finds out I'm having caffeine, especially before bed.
I settle myself into a booth, slipping off my jacket. I dig through my holdall for my psych book, taking a few seconds to open up to Chapter 23 - "Suicide and You" - A little bit of extra credit reading for Professor Walsh. I skim the first few lines as I break a bit off my chocolate-chip cookie.
"Statistics indicate that every American student will know at least six people that have contemplated suicide and 4 of American students will know someone who has attempted successfully or not, to take their own life. Most people are unaware of the suicidal tendencies of others…"
A loud crash grabs me away from my book and I glance towards the direction of the noise.
"I'm really sorry love, I tripped over my shoelaces." His accent…Irish, I think, sounds almost alien as he slurs at the male waiter. "I'm gonna sit down for a minute and then I'll be on my merry way."
He stumbles a few steps forward before stopping and turning back, bending down to pick up a bottle green trilby hat. He straightens himself back up and gently places the hat on his head. I notice what he's wearing - a faded red shirt over a stained off-white vest and…brown suit pants? Jinkies.
I slide myself along the seat and nearer to the wall as the guy gets closer to me. He seems to be watching me so I avert my eyes back to the book I'm reading.
"Willow."
I hesitantly look at him. "Do I know you?" For some reason he's giving me a case of the wiggins.
"Not yet." He drops into the seat opposite me in the booth. "But I get the feeling that we're gonna be great pals." He extends his hand across the table and I stare at it for a moment, unsure of what to do. After a moment I tentatively reach over and shake his hand.
"I'm Doyle."
"Well…Doyle. H-how can I help you?" I retract my hand and wipe it along the side of my jeans. I really don't like this. This guy smells like sewer.
"This is about how I can help you actually."
I blink at him, raising my eyebrows in question. "What do you mean?"
"I hear you're becoming quite a good little witch and I need your help with something. Big rewards if you do." He doesn't seem drunk anymore. In fact, he seems stone cold sober. He watches me as if waiting for an answer to something.
I bet he's a demon. I gotta get outta here now.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I try to casually brush him off, picking my textbook off the table and pushing it into my bag.
"You re-ensouled Angelus. I know who you are." I grab my jacket and try to step out of the booth but he thrusts his leg across the space under the table, his foot blocking my only way out.
"You're drunk. You don't know what you're talking about." I try to push his leg out of the way but it holds still.
"I'm not drunk. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was last night. Explains the smell. But I've come to realise that if you put a stagger in your step people don't take you seriously. Leave you alone."
I pretend to ignore him, pushing his leg again.
"Sit down, kid!" I attempt to glare at him aggressively but I must look like I'm gonna be sick. To make it worse, he's smiling. Kinda laughing at me.
"Don't worry. I work for The Powers That Be. The good guys. I know all about you and your friends." His matter of fact attitude seems kinda charming. The accent doesn't hurt much either.
"Who are you?" I can't help but sit back down, curious at what he has to say. Anyway, there's at least a dozen other people in this coffee shop and Buffy's meeting me here soon. He takes a deep breath, pulling his foot away from me and back under the table.
"I'm a seer. Usually I get visions from the PTB's. You know, visions of people that I have to help." He does that thing again where he waits for me to answer a non-question.
"W-well what are you doing in Sunnydale?"
"There was this guy I was supposed to help. Angel. You know him."
I feel my heartbeat speed up. How could I forget?
"He was my best friends boyfriend. They broke up."
"Mmm." He nods his head vigorously to indicate that he already knew this. "Little miss puppy eyes. He had one serious soft spot for her. Could have been the perfect happiness thing. Not often you find many women who can…"
He must notice my glare because he trails off, his eyes glued to my cookie.
"Anyway, I was supposed to help Angel with some stuff. Y'know, help him get his act together when him and the slayer split. When the PTB's told me this I had a grand plan about babe hunting in the LA nightspots but they had other ideas. Something a little bit more serious." His casual demeanour calms me down a little but I feel worry build up inside me at the mention of my best friends ex.
"So where is Angel now?"
"He's safe and well and getting on with his life. Well, technically, his death. He's doin fine and that's all you need to know for now. Anyway, I'm not here about him. I've already given him all the help I can. I just thought that you might trust me if you knew we had a mutual friend."
Huh! How dumb does this guy think I am?
"I don't trust you. I don't know you! You might be involved in some sneaky plot to kill Buffy! There always seems to be one of those going on! Yeah, that's it! You're gonna try to get me to…" He cuts me off, his hand digging into the breast pocket of his shirt.
"Well, maybe this will change your mind."
He holds out his hand and drops something onto the table. I pick it up, examining it for a moment. The inside reads "I will remember you".
Buffy's claddagh ring looks just like it did the last time I saw it. I didn't recognise the message on it but she had told me that she had left it in the mansion just before he came back from hell. She was trying to gain a little peace over losing him so she had it inscribed, leaving it in the place where she killed him on what she intended to be her last visit there.
I knew it was hers from the little "A" she had scratched on the back of the heart. I'd seen it a couple of times before.
"How did you get this?" I gaze up at him questioningly. He could only have got this from Angel and he would never give up something that had meant so much to Buffy.
"He gave it to me so that you would know that I'm not here to hurt her."
Angel would never trust anyone that would wanna harm Buffy. Maybe this guy's telling the truth.
I sigh a little, feeling put out over the fact that he's came to me for help. Why not just go directly to Buffy? I place the ring back on the table and he picks it up, dropping it back into his pocket.
"You gonna help me?"
"I'll think about it." I pause for a moment until curiosity gets the better of me. "So what's the problem?"
"It's your little friend Buffy. She's got some decisions to make soon. Big life changing decisions. And you're gonna help her."
"Help her do what?"
"Live the dream."
He smiles at me cheekily, picking up my cookie and taking a huge bite out of it. He stands up, winking at me as he tilts his hat.
"Don't tell anyone what we've been talking about. It's not time for any of them to know yet. Especially not her."
I watch as he puts back on his drunken persona, staggering towards the exit stairs. He climbs up them slowly, stumbling into someone at the top of the stairs.
Buffy.
I watch them exchange a few words and he vanishes around the corner.
"Hey Will! What's up?"
She seems happy. Should I tell her about what just happened? No, not right now. If She'll just freak out about the ring and she's doing so well with the Angel thing now. I can't risk it. But I can't lie to her either. There's only one solution.
Run.
As Buffy walks towards me I quickly hop of my seat, pulling on my jacket at warp speed.
"Everything okay?" She looks at me funnily and then eyes the coffee cup.
"Willow! We've talked about coffee at this time of night. We've only been living together for a week and I've already lost out on a good few hours of sleep coz of your caffeine ragers." She stares at me anxiously, waiting for a response.
"I know. I'm s-sorry" I stutter nervously. "I'm gonna go see Oz. I'll be home in a while. Bye" I glance over my shoulder and catch the very confused look on Buffy's face before I turn the corner.
What am I gonna do?
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The Grotto, December 1999…
"Leave them alone. They're where they need to be."
"How…I mean why?"
I'd been out walking, trying to think of spells to help Buffy out of her funky new coma when he had cornered me, leading me across campus and into the Grotto. Now, as we sit in the same seats as last time, he's trying to explain it all to me.
"If they were to stay here it would only end in death. Where they are now…they're happy. They're finally happy. They're gonna have a baby soon. A girl. I saw her in my vision. She's beautiful."
Every time this guy speaks he seems to say something that stuns me. A baby. Buffy once told me that she would love to have a family with Angel "…y'know, in the future." We had spent a couple of conversations musing over baby Angels. It wasn't long after that she realised that vampires couldn't have kids. She shrugged it off as if she didn't care but I know it hurt her a lot.
His voice breaks through my thoughts.
"The vampires and the demons will leave Sunnydale alone if you let them be. The Powers have promised. They'll help you with your magick too. Give you a supernatural push towards being a better witch."
"My reward." I state soberly.
"No. Your reward is the knowledge that you're letting your friend have the life she always wanted."
I nod my head a little, slowly getting out of the booth. As I walk away I hear him call out to me.
"You're doing the right thing, you know."
I know.
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The Grotto, July 2004…
"I made a mistake. They made a mistake. They thought that locking them in another dimension would somehow stop the end of days. That if all the events that led the First to go after them were stopped then somehow it would stay in its place, hidden under the earth."
"All what events?" What the Hecate is this guy talking about? He's gone nuts!
"Adam, Darla, Dawn, Glory, Connor. The trio, the Beast and Jasmine." He speaks eagerly if expecting me to understand."
"Who are these people?"
The ones who should have been here. The ones that have somehow failed to exist because, technically, so have Buffy and Angel."
"What do you mean?" He's really starting to confuse me now.
"These guys didn't show up because Buffy and Angel weren't here to fight them or help them, whatever the cause. But now we know that they should have been here. They should have been here to prepare them for the final fight." He glances down at the polished table nervously.
"The final fight." He can't seriously mean…
"The end of the hellmouth. Buffy needed her battles to get her ready and Angel needed his to lead him into the Wolfram and Hart boardroom. To lead him to the talisman that will destroy an army."
"What about Aisha? She's the slayer now, can't she deal with this?" I'm getting annoyed at him. Why did he have to give me that spell in front of Xander? Couldn't he have explained this to me first!
"The new girl…it wasn't meant for her. It was meant for Buffy, Faith, Kennedy, Vi, Rona, all of them. But they're not here because of some bad judgement on the PTB's part."
I take a moment to digest all the information that's been thrown at me. Kennedy, Vi and Rona had all came and gone quickly after Buffy left. A trail of dead girls. Dead slayers.
"So what happens now?"
"We're running out of time. In another reality the First would have attacked months ago. Since she's not here it's taken its time. Now she's back we've only got a matter of weeks before all hell breaks loose on Earth. And your precious Sunnydale's the first to go. We need them to get the amulet. At least then we'll have a chance." He doesn't sound so sure.
"When you say them do you mean…them? As in Buffy AND Angel?"
"No, as in Laurel and Hardy! Of course Buffy and Angel, who else?" He snaps at me, his voice echoing off the walls. A few people turn round to look at us and he glares at me.
"It's just…if I wake him up…their daughter…"
"Doesn't exist. They made her up. It's all in their heads." I wish this guy would stop interrupting me. Especially when he's wrong. Buffy believes she exists.
"I don't know if I can…" I try to plead with him but his stern look doesn't waver.
"If you don't they'll all die. Believe me when I say you don't have any choice."
He gets up quickly, not giving me time to reply. I watch as he walks up the stairs, leaving the coffee shop.
I don't know what to do.
I'm gonna have to wake him up.
Buffy's gonna kill me.
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Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update but I've just finished the last of my mid-semester tests. I thought they'd never end! Anyway, as promised, a big YOU ROCK! To Angel sumoritos, the only person who reviewed Chapter 13! I've learned my lesson there - never post two chapters at once or practically no one will review the first of the two! And deadbeatsoul - if they don't do it when the kids asleep then when are they supposed to do it!
Oh, and if you have the DVD's or videos, watch the Buffy Season One episode "Angel" sometime soon. Before Monday. Trust me.
If I get more than 6 reviews (please) for this chapter by Saturday night I'll post the next Chapter on Tuesday. Otherwise, it'll be up on Thursday or Friday. Bribery! Hey, it's fair. If I'm takin all the time to write this for you lovely peeps to read then can you please take a couple of minutes to review? Please? If you've got any new BA fanfics up let me know and I'll review them back!
Thanks for reading! X