Chapter Ten
A time meaningless to mortal minds – a place where nothing needs be what it seems:
Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne frowned as he gazed at the shattered remains of his old high school. He had the feeling that something wasn't right as he said to himself, "Hrmm."
"Hello, Oz."
The werewolf turned around to see Amy Madison standing a few feet away from him. "Amy. Thought you were a rat."
"I was. I got better."
Oz actually frowned, before turning around to look at the remains of Sunnydale High. "This isn't real, is it? Not sure how I know it, but... you're not really here, are you? I'm just dreaming or something. Well, pretty sure, anyway."
"Wow. We're actually having a civilized conversation, instead of you doing that annoying, noncommittal, monosyllable act!" Amy replied rather nastily, crossing her arms. "And you're half-right; you are dreaming, but I'm actually here. Well, more or less. My astral self is projecting itself into your dreams, that is."
"You're angry," Oz said simply, before turning back to stare at her.
"Damn right I am."
"Mind if I ask why?"
Amy glared at him. "You mean, apart from hitting rock bottom with my magic addiction after Willow finally de-ratted me? Truth is, I have issues with just about all of the people in that so-called Scooby Gang, even the castoffs like you. Plus there's stuff happening. Stuff I'm involved with that relates to Xander and his ex-girlfriend, actually."
"Cordy? Is she all right?"
"In a manner of speaking, yeah," Amy said, shrugging. "But in another manner of speaking, no – she's not."
"Meaning that Cordelia isn't OK," Oz said meaningfully.
"True." Amy paused, looking thoughtful, and then she added, "She's getting better, I guess – but she's hardly OK in any sense of the word."
"And that means?" Oz asked.
"Something that you'll need to go back to Sunnydale to discover for yourself."
"Not planning on doing any such thing," Oz said, shrugging almost imperceptibly. "Nothing there for me anymore."
"Not even Willow?" Amy almost spat out his ex-girlfriend's name.
Oz stiffened, and his features suddenly took on a more... lupine look. "Left Willow for really good reasons," he said calmly. There was a hint of a growl to the way that it came out, though.
"Which no longer apply, at least not completely," Amy replied, briefly looking exasperated. A raised eyebrow was his only response, and so Amy added, "That Tara girl, she died last spring."
"Huh. What happened, exactly?"
Looking annoyed, Amy explained about the bullet that had ended Tara's life – before her features grew angry. OK, angrier. "So, you wanna hear the funny part? Willow lost it completely afterwards. Your sweet little ex went all black-eyed badass, and skinned a guy alive – not to mention, she almost destroyed the entire frickin' world! And yet, everyone just immediately forgave Willow for doing that? Hell, if it hadn't been for Xander pulling off a last-minute miracle, she'd have willingly murdered over six billion people – and all she got for it was a slap on the wrist? That Giles guy took her to England for the summer and pulled a Dumbledore on her, instead of binding her magic and throwing her into the deepest, darkest dungeon imaginable. What the hell was he thinking?!"
"Hrmm. That everyone deserves a second chance?"
Amy exhaled loudly, the anger visibly draining away. "Yeah, I suppose. I got my second chance thanks to Whistler, after all. Don't like to imagine where I'd be right now, if he hadn't found me in that basement last spring."
"Whistler? I remember that name. Guy who showed up during that Acathla mess, gave Buffy some pointers on what to do?" Oz frowned.
"Yeah," Amy nodded. "He's a Messenger for the Powers That Be. Helps maintain the balance between good and evil in this dimension, apparently."
"Good for him. But question, Amy – why are you here? Seriously. Why are we having this conversation?"
"Well, according to Whistler's bosses, Willow needs a solid anchor from someone with the right connection to her," Amy shrugged. "And even though she left Boys Town a long time ago, you two still have that sort of connection."
He shrugged back. "Maybe we do, maybe we don't. Still, the Cordy issue?"
"She has her own anchor, and her own champions on their way to help," Amy replied, shrugging again. "Oh, almost forgot. Your old buddies, Devon McLeish and Jace Derrick? They're dust now, after attacking Cordelia outside the Bronze. Xander staked those two vampires in order to save her life. Lucky for Willow how she doesn't have to worry about them attacking her at any point in the future, huh? What with all the First Evil's minions wanting to do it as well... "
The universe abruptly went black, and Oz quickly woke up in his bed somewhere in Bhaktapur – feeling more than slightly freaked out.
Sunday, November 10, 2002 – Northern California Women's Facility, Stockton, California; night:
Faith sat on the bunk in her cell, alone. She was deep in thought, going over all the events of the day.
First off, the visit from her former boy-toy. The heads-up on that First Evil thing, and the briefing on the whole Sunnydale situation. Then the conversation with Rhodes, as she was escorted away from the visiting area. Damn, but the stud's visit really had stirred up memories...
Then later that afternoon, in the prison yard. She'd been doing pull-ups before gazing towards the fence and main gates leading to the outside world. Despite her words to Xander earlier today, Faith hadn't been able to prevent herself from thinking how easy it would be to simply kick some ass, escape and head back to the Hellmouth – and then help put the wrong things right. Tempting, so tempting...
Then Deb had walked towards her, before reaching inside her shirt for a knife. But before the woman could get in a swing at her, she'd turned around on the bar and kicked her directly in the face, knocking the bitch down. She'd then flipped forward, dismounting from the bar and landing on her feet like a cat. The woman who'd been planning to stab her in the back had been lying on the ground, still reaching for her knife.
"OK, you got my attention. What's your beef, Deb?" she'd asked, as the other prisoner got up and came at her again. The knife had been somewhat attention-worthy; no simple prison shank, but rather a silver curved blade that must have been smuggled in recently. Otherwise, the guards tossing Deb's cell – which happened at unpredictable intervals, for all the inmates here – would have discovered it before now.
"It's nothing personal. I need the money," Deb had replied, the assassin trying to knife her in the heart.
"For what, a nose job?" she'd asked, before knocking out the killer for hire with a bell bar to the face.
Luckily, Rhodes had shown up at that point along with the other guards, telling them that Deb was the aggressor, she'd just defended herself. Good thing, too, during the following investigation...
The Warden had wanted to know what the hell was going on, and so Faith had told him the truth – or at least part of it. Deb had done it for the money, apparently someone wanted her dead – she didn't know who or why, and given all the people she'd pissed off in the past, she couldn't even make an educated guess. Annoyed, the jail boss had told her to get out of his office, and to stay out of trouble from now on. Shrugging, she'd said, "Sure thing."
Even if, deep down, Faith suspected that that was one promise she wasn't going to be able to keep...
"Hello, firecracker."
Faith's eyes went wide, and she swung her legs down and out, landing on the floor of her cell. She then saw an impossible sight – Mayor Richard Wilkins III, standing not three feet away. { What – oh. }
Quickly figuring out the situation, she said coldly, "Get lost."
The First Evil, in the guise of Richard Wilkins, laughed. "Well, gosh." He/it smiled before saying, "I think, you know, a 'hello' or a 'nice to see you' might be a little more appropriate. A little bit of courtesy never goes astray, Faith."
Faith shook her head. "Screw courtesy, guy. I know who you are, not to mention what you are."
The Mayor/First nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that you do. Young Mr. Harris, his little visit today was pretty fortunate for you, in terms of timing. That high school slacker always was something of a thorn in my side, wasn't he? I probably should have ordered you to kill him, before my Ascension... "
The First Evil looked at Faith and added, "But he didn't explain to you how this really works, did he? Of course not. How could he?" He started pacing. "You see... I am the First, as he calls it, but I'm also me. Richard Wilkins, late mayor and founder of Sunnydale. What the heck, I'll prove it to you. Ask me any question that only I would know the answer to. Something like... " He chuckled briefly, once. "Where did I hide the moon pies in my office? Or... who was my favorite character in Little Women? Like I told you back then, it's Meg." He laughed again, adding, "I know. I know. Most people would guess Beth, but Meg, she's such a proper young lady. Remember when Jo burned her hair?"
Faith looked into the First's false face, and said coldly, "Nice try, but you're not him; I can tell. Plus, I can guess what you're up to, and it's not going to work. Any mind games you wanna play, any more assassins you send my way, I'll deal. So why don't you stop wasting both my time and yours, and just go?" She reached forward, and poked a finger through the First's incorporeal form. "You personally can't do shit to me, dude, and we both know it."
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Language!" the Mayor/First scolded her, moving back. "Honestly, Faith, I thought I'd taught you better than that... "
"You gonna keep yapping away like an annoying dog, or was there actually a point to this little visit?" Faith asked, visibly shifting gears.
"Oh, come on. You may as well ask, what's the point of anything? And I have to say, I'm surprised by some of the choices you've made since Buffy and her friends killed me. I've come to suspect that deep down, you always wanted Buffy to accept you, to love you even. Why do you think that is?" the Mayor/First asked.
Faith sounded flippant as she replied, "Seriously? You plannin' to get me to off myself, by playing head shrinker?"
The Mayor/First continued pacing, not answering the question. "You were looking for love and acceptance from her, from all those so-called friends of yours, right from the start – but you never got it. And even if you decide to play your own role in a prison movie and go back to the Hellmouth, you're never going to get it. Not even from your... boy-toy, I believe you referred to him as? The truth is, nobody will ever love you. Not the way I love you."
The Slayer instantly said, "Get the fuck outta here."
"Like I said before, language!" The Mayor/First then added, "They'll forever see you as a killer, you know that. Even him. Mr. Harris does tend to have quite the black and white viewpoint on such things."
The Chosen One simply replied, "I told you to get the fuck out. We're done here." She stuck her fingers in her ears, to emphasize the point. "La la la... "
And just before it disappeared in a flash of light, the Mayor/First said lovingly, "I'll always be with you, firecracker, in everything you do."
A while later – Xander's apartment building, Sunnydale; night:
Buffy was very annoyed.
Well, it wasn't like she didn't have good reason to be! After Willow had found her at that cemetery, she and her best friend had arrived at the Magic Box; only for Anya to act like a complete butt-pain upon their arrival, and do everything she could to be contrary and unhelpful. The international phone call with Giles hadn't helped matters, either; not after learning that he would eventually be arriving back in Sunnydale with whatever Potential Slayers he could find, depending on how quickly the Council got its ass in gear, and that she should start preparing for them to show up in town soon.
But the real kicker was learning what had happened with Spike, after he'd showed up at the Magic Box and told her that Xander had just thrown him out of the apartment!
"XANDER! YOU OPEN THIS DOOR, RIGHT NOW!" she shouted, banging loudly. Not as hard as she could – even as annoyed as she was, Buffy knew not to use full Slayer strength because otherwise, the apartment door would go flying off its hinges – but she knocked hard enough to make sure the summons would not be ignored by he who dwelled within the domicile.
"C'mon, luv – you're making one helluva racket," Spike told her as calmingly as he could, looking around the corridor. It looked like her former lover was definitely regretting coming here as he said to her, "Don't want the neighbors callin' the bloody landlord, do you? I mean, that's just askin' fer trouble... "
Buffy stared at him in confusion. "Since when did you start caring about Xander getting in trouble with his landlord?"
William the Bloody shrugged. "I dunno, pet. Maybe it's the soul, or maybe it's just temporary insanity... "
Buffy opened her mouth to reply, before a scowling Xander opened the door and she immediately focused her attention back on him. He was dressed for bed, it looked like...
"Buffy? What the hell do you think you're doing, banging and yelling like that? It's almost midnight – the neighbors are gonna complain to the landlord!" Xander growled at her.
"Oh my God, but is that all guys can think about?" Buffy rolled her eyes, before staring back at him angrily. "And I'll tell you what I'm upset about – you actually kicked Spike out of the apartment? Even though I told you I needed you to keep an eye on him!"
"Oh, now I get it! This couldn't be about something important – like the First Evil being back, or a new master vampire setting up shop, or even Dawn getting kidnapped again. You're upset because this undead waste of space is currently homeless. Good to see you've got your priorities straight, Buff," Xander nodded sarcastically. "Really is."
The prickly, antsy feeling from earlier tonight suddenly returned full force. "I thought we agreed that you'd let Spike stay here, so that he wouldn't have to live in the high school basement! That place was driving him completely crazy – "
"Newsflash, but I only agreed to that because you practically twisted my arm about it, and I never promised you that Spike could stay here forever! And hey, in case you haven't bothered looking lately – is the walking corpse here acting crazy any longer?" Xander demanded, causing Buffy to stare at him in shocked dismay. "Bottom line, my apartment isn't a free ride for Willy Wannabite to mooch off for as long as he can. Been there, done that, and twice is more than enough! And besides, I've got someone else staying with me right now. I don't have any room for Spike to live here anymore, even if I wanted him to – which I don't."
"Someone else is staying here?" Buffy looked around at Spike in surprise. "You never mentioned that to me!"
"Never gave me a chance to, luv," Spike shrugged, before scowling in Xander's direction. "And bloody typical, if you ask me – it's all over with Anya, so you go running after the one that got away... "
"Huh?" Buffy asked, looking confused.
"You didn't tell her?" Xander asked Spike, looking surprised.
"Tell me what?" the Slayer demanded.
"Like I said, never got the chance. 'Sides, why would I wanna describe what happened with that fishwife screamin' almost directly in my face?" Spike replied to Xander.
"Fishwife? Huh? What?" Buffy demanded again, looking annoyed as the two males continued to pay no attention to her.
"Don't call her that, Billy boy. Or else we might just pick up where we left off outside the Magic Box – that night when you did the nasty with Ahn," Xander glared at Spike.
"Wait, this has something to do with Anya?" Buffy now looked hopelessly lost.
"Still pissed off 'bout that, are you?" Spike asked, his lips curling slightly. "Bloody hell, mate, the woman said it herself... that was just drunken solace, not – "
"Can we please change the subject?" Buffy asked, cutting him off. She did not enjoy recalling what had happened that evening, and what had been revealed at the worst possible time.
"I don't care," Xander said icily to Spike, continuing to ignore her. "Drunk or not, comfort sex or not – what you did back then crossed a line, Spike, hell... it was so far past the line it ended up in another freakin' state! Sure, I had no say in what Ahn did anymore by that point, 'cause broken up is broken up and I abandoned her at the worst possible moment – but after everything you and I went through together, that summer Buffy was dead? And even before that, with Glory and that demon asshole named Doc? In my book, you pissed all over the good you did back then. And before you mention the soul thing – I don't see you looking all that sorry about that night nowadays, either!"
"What – am I talking to myself, here?" Buffy felt tempted to jump up and down and start waving her hands in order to get the two most exasperating men in her life to pay attention to her. "Helloooo? This is Buffy Summers calling! Will someone pick up, already?"
"What's all the racket out here? Oh, God – if you two are gonna argue like this, will you at least not do it in public?" a somewhat familiar and exasperated-sounding female voice said from within the apartment. "Buffy, come inside, already!"
Buffy frowned, confused by who that voice belonged to. { Damn it, I know it, I know that I know it; I just don't know who it is! } she thought to herself. But then she grabbed Spike by the wrist, and proceeded to drag him forward.
Boing!
Spike bounced off the invisible invitation barrier so hard he went stumbling backwards, and with her hand still clamped around his wrist, Buffy was yanked back along with him – and after losing their balance completely, both of them fell into a tangled heap on the floor.
"Seriously, Buffy? I mean, Xander told me all about you and Spike – but do you think this is the most appropriate time and place for that sort of thing?" the familiar-sounding female voice asked – as Buffy looked up to see an older version of Cordelia Chase standing alongside Xander, with both eyebrows raised and unfashionably short blond hair.
Buffy suddenly had the horrible, sinking feeling that her night was going to get a whole lot worse...
TBC…
A/N: Sorry how this part of the fic was a bit short, and that we didn't manage to get on to the Angel show characters as promised, but - well, circumstances, and let's leave it at that. Anyway, muchísimas gracias to all of you still reading and reviewing the story - FE, thank you for your guest review, and for the record... we honestly didn't know that San Pedro & Montgomery was a corner in Albuquerque, New Mexico! If anyone has a list of legitimate Sunnydale street names, we'd love to receive it. Anyway, as always, please leave a review and tell us what you think!
