*ducks various weapons and tomatoes being thrown at my head* I can't even say how sorry I am. I swear, I'll explain more at the bottom.
The hardest part of the next day isn't knowing that Angelus could torture me the minute the sun goes down. It's the way Buffy's looking at me, staring at me like she's seeing somebody else. I can't say that I blame her. It's not every day that you see your friend kissing your ex. Or maybe it is, but I'm not too familiar with this century. Either way, I'm pretty sure it doesn't with an epic love like Buffy and Angel. That has to be really hard. Not that it wasn't weird seeing him with Buffy. He tormented me for years. But now… things are different, I guess.
I walk into the library, stiffly nodding to Buffy. She's been crying, I can tell. Her eyes are red, and when she sees me, she winces slightly. "Hey, Buff." I greet her hesitantly.
"Hey." Her voice is scratchy as she replies to me. I just look down, the small exchange seeming to have taken all of our energy. We sit down at the table and look to Giles expectantly. He starts talking, but the words barely affect me. I know it's just another apocalypse pep talk, so what's really the point of listening?
As soon as he's finished, Buffy rushes out, not able to be in the same room as me. I sigh, staring at the table.
"Hey!" Xander shouts, shaking me. When I stare numbly at him, Cordelia stalks over, slapping me.
"Snap out of it!" She scolds, "Oh boo-hoo! Your ex is back. Well guess what! If you don't snap out of it, he wins, because Buffy's obviously out of the game, you're the MVP. So get your head back in the game or we're all screwed." She snaps at me.
We all stare at her in shock. She did snap me out of my daze, and I decide that the least I can do is nod.
"So, what are we going to do?" I ask them.
We all go into thought for a moment before Xander breaks the silence. "I've got something! It's an idea. I've got an idea! Now I've got a plan… now I have the Wiggins."
We all glance at each other suspiciously. If Xander has a plan… "Go on." I prod.
"Listen, meet at Will's tonight. And Cordelia, wear something slutty…er." Cordelia glares at him before leaving, adjourning the meeting.
That night, I walk to Willow's house ready to hear the our desperate attempt of a plan. I ring the doorbell, and Xander answers the door, leading me to the living room, where the others are already.
"Okay so here we go." Xander begins, passing around some chips. "Oz and Willow will drive us to the place, and then me and Cordy will get it."
Willow and I glance at each other. "What?" We both wonder.
Xander sighs like he knows he's going to get laughed at. "Okay, Willow, remember last Halloween?" He asks her tentatively.
"Yeah. We became our Halloween costumes." She replies, still trying to figure out what's going on.
"Well, I still remember a bunch of stuff from when I was a soldier." He tells us. My eyes widen. I nod, gesturing for him to continue. "So what if we got a better weapon than the one we already have?"
"Xander, the Judge can't be killed by any weapon forged by man." I remind him.
"Do you really think that means missile launchers, too?" He asks me.
I'm surprised. I didn't think Xander was actually capable of having a good idea, but he is. It's a chance, who knows if it's a good one, but it's still a plan. And I think that's what we need the most. The will to keep going.
"What do we have to do?" Oz asks.
Xander breathes out in relief, like he's happy to actually have permission to go forward. "We need to refine the plan tonight. Tomorrow night, we need to do it. Oz, you can drive, you have your bands van to carry it. Willow, I think that if we're in there too long, you can distract the guards or something. We can figure that out tonight. Cordy, you just have to look slutty." He tells them all.
"What about me?" I wonder.
He looks sad when he turns to me. "Angel is stalking us all. If he follows us, the plan is blown. You need to distract him."
My eyebrows shoot up. "What makes you think he'll follow me?" I ask him, more scared then I care to admit.
"Well, no offense Ivy, but he's kind of obsessed with you." Willow admits timidly. I clench my jaw, tightening my fists to keep myself calm. I look at all of them, knowing that this could be their only chance at this.
So I nod. "I'll do it."
The rest of the night, I force myself to pay attention. Oz and Willow will drive the getaway car, while Xander takes Cordelia, giving some excuse about how guns turn girls on. Then they steal the rocket launcher, toss it out the window to Willow and Oz, and leave. Meanwhile, I wear something short to the Bronze and wait. Because they all agree that where I go, Angelus will follow. So I keep up a conversation, and by midnight, I should be free to leave.
Sounds fun.
"Damn." I muttered to myself before running to the woods. He might have been a vampire, but I knew those woods better than anyone. If I could make it…
Angelus watched me for a minute before appearing in front of me. I stumbled backwards in surprise, enough time for him to grip my arms and have me pinned to a tree.
"Language, language." He taunted me. I spat in his face, making his amusement turn to annoyance. "Now, now. Can't have you causing too much trouble, love." He hissed, fingers bruising my arms. I head butted his, actually causing him to loosen grip on my arms, giving me time to twist away. Despite my spinning vision, I ran into the woods, and even though he didn't find me, I knew he could've if he had wanted to.
When I finally stumbled into town, I rushed to the inn, paying for a room. I plopped down on the bed, changing out of my torn dress and into a clean, travel worthy one. I rushed to my Watcher… ex Watcher's house. When he opened the door, he looked flustered, and his hair was thinner and grayer.
"Who are you?" He asked me tiredly.
"Listen to me, I need your help." I begged him. After staring at me for a moment, he began to close the door. I stuck my foot into the door, wincing as it closed on it. "Please. Your name is Thomas Smith. My name is Evangeline Pratt. Something happened." I heard him sigh resignedly before he opened it again.
"Go on." He muttered.
"I was in the woods by my house, and I wished that I was never the Slayer," His eyes widened in confusion, "There was somebody that said 'done.' And then I couldn't feel my strength anymore. Now Angelus and my brother are after me." I pleaded with him, "Please, help me."
He stared at me. "Was it better?" He asked curiously.
"Excuse me?" I responded.
"Your universe. Was it better?" He wondered hopelessly.
I nodded slowly. "You were happier." I told him.
He nodded, letting me in.
As soon as Willow calls, saying it's time, I resignedly make my way to the Bronze. Instead of following my instincts and sitting down, I make my way to the dance floor. After a few songs of dancing with strangers, I decide to rest as a slow song starts. I turn around, only to find Angelus smirking at me.
"Nice moves." He comments, moving forward.
"How long have you been watching me?" I question him coldly. I didn't feel the usual sensation I get when a vampire's near.
"Long enough." He looks me up and down. "I gotta say, never saw you dance like that back then."
I glare at him. I can't believe I agreed to this. I turn away from him to stalk over to a table, but he catches my wrist. "Let go of me." I growl.
"Aw, come on, Ivy," He taunts me, knowing how much I hate it when he calls me that, "Just one dance." He pleads playfully. Without giving me much option, he twirls me into his arms. I stiffen immediately, which only makes him smirk. I won't give him that pleasure, so I force myself to relax. "See, this isn't so bad." He smirks.
"Screw you." I mutter bitterly. He chuckles at my choice of words.
"You're really fitting into this century. It's like you were made for it." He remarks.
"Maybe I was." I reply.
He looks down at me smugly. "You were always my favorite slayer." He tells me.
"I was the first slayer you met." I remind him.
"Maybe, but you definitely weren't the last." He tells me, probably thinking back on the other ones. "They never really put up as much of a fight."
I glare at him, but force myself to smile. "I guess you think I'm stupid, then?"
He grins. "No, I always thought of you as my favorite toy. Having you back is just double the fun." He looks me over again, and a shiver of revoltion shoots down my back. "Wind you up, and off you go." He murmurs.
I roll my eyes. "Who says I'm the one that's a toy?" I ask him. His eyebrows raise and he smiles down at me, laughing.
"See, that's what I mean." He replies. "You refuse to admit anything."
I scoff. "I don't refuse to admit that you're an evil, self-serving bastard." I quip.
He grins wolfishly, chuckling. "I was never going to deny that." He leans down, and I manage to pull away.
"Fun's over." I tell him harshly before stalking over to a table. I quickly order a coke, which I wish was alcohol, and glare at the wall, violently wishing I could ignore the stare boring into my back. I wait until I finish my drink, which I have very slowly, staring longingly at the clock the whole time, before I turn around, meeting the amused gaze of Angelus.
"What are you still doing here?" I growl, wishing I knew if they were done by now. But for all I know, they're only getting started. And so the show goes on.
"Well, you gave me the cold shoulder, I thought it might mean you wanted the rest of you to be cold, too." He replies.
I let out a humorless laugh. "You mean become a vampire."
"Naturally." He says, moving closer to me. "It's not bad. A lot better than running around with a soul. Trust me, I'd know." He chuckles. He leans down, whispering in my ear. "Don't you want to know what the shadows feel like?" He murmurs.
I can't help it. I slap him. "No, I don't. I don't want you to torment me. I don't want you to stalk me. I don't want you to make me like you. I don't want you." Somehow, nobody's staring, so I take advantage of that and spit at his feet. "I want you to stay the hell away from me and my friends." I turn and for once actually manage to get away.
"You need to summon the demon that granted your wish." He told me. "If you can't convince them to undo the wish, you must break the demon's amulet. It will undo all wishes they have granted." I thought what he said over. Undoing all the wishes could drastically alter my world.
"How do we do that?" I asked him. He gave me a look that hadn't changed, the look that tells me I'm about to do something incredibly stupid. He turned back to his musty old book, reciting the ingredients needed. Seeing as I happened to be on three vampire's most wanted lists, he went to get them while I prepared the candles. He got back three hours later, looking flustered.
"Miss Pratt, are you sure you want to go through with this? The life of a Slayer is a hard one. Staying out of-"
"You think I don't know that?" I exclaimed. "My father died because of it! My brother was turned into a vampire by my suitor. Then he went on to turn and kill my mother. I burned down my childhood home because it was infested with vampires. I know how hard it is, because my life has been ruined by it. And you know what is so horrible? In this universe, everything is exactly the same. All of that still happened, except now I'm weak. I need that back, I need to be able to protect myself."
He blinked in surprise, like he wasn't expecting somebody, let alone a girl to speak up to him. He hesitantly nodded, turning back to his books. He instructed me to grind up the ingredients or mix to essences. After another hour, the spell was ready. He handed me the book, telling me to read the incantation. I followed his instructions, and a blinding flash of light exploded through the small room.
11:30
I have half an hour left. How do I force myself to keep Angelus engaged, but I've made it clear already that if he tries to talk to me, I'll stake him, Buffy or not. Not that that will stop him for long, but I can't exactly start a conversation with him. Idiot! I'm such an imbecile for snapping, but he made it impossible not to.
Sadly, I can only think of one way to distract him, and it doesn't end well for me. Still, if this is our one chance to stop the Judge, I have to do it.
So I get up from my seat and head over to the lady's room, conveniently passing by the spot where Angelus is trying to lure out his next meal. His eyes meet mine, and he smirks, leaving the girl to follow me.
"Hey, gorgeous." He flirts. I glare at him coldly.
"I'm not afraid to stake you in public." I mutter, about to shove past him. He leans casually against the wall, grinning cockily.
"I don't think you've got it in you. You're too scared." He tells me matter-of-factly.
I scoff. "Right, because you know me so well." I quip. I roll my eyes, ready to walk off, but he grabs my arms tightly.
"Don't I?" I responds, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "I know your fears, your friends, your past. I know how you think and what you feel. And what I haven't learned from you I've learned from your brother. He's told me every little detail about you." He grins down at me. "I think I know you better than everybody else, even yourself."
"You think. You say what you think, and you don't do much else, do you? You aren't really threatening if all you do is talk." I tell him snidely, about to rip my arms from his, but he cuts me off.
"I don't do much? How's this for doing something?" He kisses me, and even though I want to scream, melt into a puddle, and stake him all at the same time, I force myself to let Buffy do the honors. So I just shove him away. I notice the stares we're attracting and decide to play along with their expectations.
"What is your problem?" I exclaim loudly. "I told you, stay away from me, you freak!" Almost immediately, a crowd of people surround me, glaring at Angelus. "Just stay away from me!" I shout at him again, fake tears welling in my eyes. He smirks and stares me down. When he takes a step forward, the mob pushes him back.
"She said back off." One of them says firmly. I smile smugly and then turn to the crowd.
"Thank you so much." I simper, smiling like a classic damsel in distress. They all nod firmly and kindly. I smile shyly again before a few escort me to Buffy's house.
I glance at the clock. 12:00. Mission accomplished.
"Who summons me?" The familiar raspy voice demanded menacingly. I stared her down and her eyes widened in recognition. "The girl who wished she wasn't the Slayer." She greeted. "Are you happy with your wish?"
"No. That's why I called you here." I told her. She raised an eyebrow. "I want you to undo the wish."
"Now, now, Evangeline." She chided sternly. "If I want to keep my job, there has to be a price." A smile played on her veiny lips.
"What do you mean? What kind of price?" I wondered. At this point, I'd have done about anything.
"You won't just be the Slayer again." She dragged on. "There will be something else."
"Wait," Poor Tom interrupted, "That's not how it works," He insisted, "You can just undo the wish without consequences. It's happened before!"
"Yes, for wishes like turning an unfaithful man into a cockroach, or an abusive father into a slug." She informed us. "When we have to create a whole new universe, the only ones that dare undo the wish become mortal." She shakes her head in disgust at the thought. "I don't intend for that to happen to me, so let's just add something on. I'd love to have a Slayer indebted to me."
"I wouldn't be indebted!" I insisted. "You would be fixing a mistake."
"Not a mistake!" She scoffed. "Not on my part at least." She shook her head. "Look, do you want to get out of this universe, or not?"
I nodded. "What do I have to do?" I asked resignedly.
She grinned. "Nothing. Once you're a Slayer again, though, something will be different. You won't just be a Slayer." She let that hang in the air for a moment before continuing. "You'll be stronger than any Slayer before you or after. You'll be faster and stronger."
"I thought you said there would be consequences?" I asked, confused. She was a vengeance demon, after all.
"There are. I just thought you'd want to have a bright side." She chuckled darkly. "You will never be able to escape your destiny as a Slayer." I raised my eyebrows. Wasn't that the point? "Do you still want this?" I nodded. "Then it is done."
It all flashed before my eyes, time rewinding. I saw myself running to town, being taunted by Angelus, realizing I was to weak to fight Spike. It all came again, but then it was gone, forgotten like breath on a window.
"I wish I'd never become the Slayer." I muttered bitterly, rubbing tears from my eyes as I ran from my past, not looking back.
I hope that makes up for my too-long absence. I know I say this every time, but I promise I'll try to update more often. It's going to be hard, especially since I finally got the inspiration to keep writing a week before school. There's other stories that I love working on, and I seem to work more on them when they're not published. I wanted to keep writing, but I also had major writers block. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and followed, it keeps me from forgetting about this. But now, I actually know where I want this to go. I promise, I'll never abandon without letting you know.
Now that that's out of the way, I have some questions. Any ideas? Should this go through the whole show? Also, should I keep loner chapters with a longer time difference or shorter chapters closer together?
One last piece of exciting news. I MET JAMES MARSTERS! HE WAS SO NICE AND HE SAID THAT I WAS EXACTLY SARAH-MICHELLE GELLAR SIZE! (I also met Karen Gillan and Matt Smith, but I don't know how many of you guys are whovians too, so...)
Thanks again to everybody! And review, follow, and favorite! It won't hurt you!