"New Moon Rising"
Based on the Episode Written by Marti Noxon
The following story is copyright © 2024 by Mark Moore.
Buffy and Tara were walking across campus.
"Do you like cats?" Tara asked her.
"Yeah. Why?" Buffy asked her.
"'Cause I was thinking we could get one."
"Can you have one in the dorms?"
Tara smiled mischievously. "No, but this would be a sneaky cat."
"That would be cool. You mean it'd be sort of like a familiar?" Buffy asked.
"Actually, I-I was thinking it would be sort of like a pet. You know, we could...we could name her Trixie or Miss Kitty Fantastico or something."
Buffy got excited. "And we could make kitty go bonkers with string and catnip and stuff?"
"Absolutely."
"Fun! I'm in."
They held hands and kept walking.
"So what do you think the meeting is about?" Tara asked her.
"I'm not sure. Probably just your garden-variety disaster."
Buffy was sitting on Giles' desk. "Zippo. Patrol's been totally uneventful. My kill count's way down."
Riley was standing in the living room. Harmony, Sandy, Julie, Amy, and Tara were sitting on stools against the kitchen counter. Jenny and Giles were in the kitchen.
Giles was holding a bag of snacks. "Well, we know what that often indicates."
"Buffy didn't make her quota?" Harmony shook her index finger at Buffy. "Bad Slayer!"
"Well, I wish it were that innocuous, but, with Adam around, I feel he's involved somehow." Giles poured snacks into a bowl.
Riley looked at him. "Except the weird thing is...we've been busy at the Initiative. Our squads are pulling a lot more captures. We got demons coming out our ears."
Giles came out of the kitchen with the bowl. "So the activity's shifted but not stopped." He offered the bowl to Amy, but she didn't take it. "That's fascinating." He sat at his desk and put the bowl down.
Harmony rolled her eyes. "To an extremely bored person, maybe."
Giles was annoyed.
Jenny walked out of the kitchen, carrying a tray filled with brownies. "Brownies, anyone?"
"Ooh!" Amy took a brownie off the tray. "Thanks!"
"Well, that was a thrilling hour." Harmony looked to the others for agreement.
Everyone started to get up. Buffy helped herself to some Starbursts.
Giles rose. "You know, I really don't appreciate your snide remarks, Harmony."
Harmony looked at him in surprise.
"Now, I have a great deal of experience in these matters..."
The door opened. Everyone except Giles looked toward it and saw Veruca and Sunday. Sandy was shocked. Julie was confused.
"...and, if I say there is a matter of some import brewing, I-I-" Giles noticed everyone looking behind him. He turned.
Veruca looked at Sandy. "Hey."
Sandy stared at her. "Veruca."
Veruca looked around, uncomfortable.
Julie understood, upset. "Veruca."
Sandy looked at Julie, then looked back at Veruca.
Buffy looked at Sandy, concerned, then looked at Veruca. "You brought Sunday back?"
Veruca nodded. "Yeah, Faith had to straighten some shit out with the cops. They totally went after her."
"After Faith?" Buffy asked, confused.
Sunday shook her head. "After me."
Everyone stood in awkward silence for a while. Veruca eventually kicked Sunday in the leg.
Sunday gave Veruca a death stare but then barely made eye contact with Buffy. "Sorry."
"So are you here here, or are you just dropping her off?" Amy asked Veruca.
"Well, um, let's not, uh, bombard the poor lady with, uh, questions right off. Can I get you something, um, tea?" Giles took off his glasses and moved toward the kitchen.
"I'll pass, thanks." Veruca walked forward to Sandy. She dug in her jeans pocket and pulled out the Gem of Amarra. She offered it to Sandy.
"Omigoddess, thank you." Sandy took the ring and put it on her left ring finger.
"Can we talk?" Veruca asked her.
"I guess so."
"I'll come by your place?"
"Okay."
Veruca looked at all of them. "It's great to see you guys again. Really." She left.
Sandy was still shocked.
Buffy went to Sandy and touched her arm. "You okay?"
"I-"
"I just, um, I realized, um, I'm - I'm late for study group." Julie started to walk away.
"Julie, wait."
"No, no, it's okay. You - You should be with your friends, and - and I-I should go." Julie left.
"Wait..." Sandy looked down, upset.
Buffy and Riley walked through the graveyard. He wore his battle fatigues. Buffy wore a long leather coat and a white cap. Riley carried a bag.
"So, um, I was missing something earlier, wasn't I?" Riley asked. "I mean...breakups are tough, but, when Veruca walked in, it seemed like emotions were running extra high."
"Veruca and Sandy are in a weird state right now."
Riley nodded. A demon arrived and growled.
"Hold that thought."
Buffy ducked, and Riley punched the demon over her head. Then he lifted Buffy by the waist, and she kicked the demon. It spun away, punching. Buffy ducked. Riley punched. Buffy kicked. Riley grabbed the demon and hurled it over a gravestone. It fell unconscious.
"Man, that was record time."
Buffy pouted. "It's no fun when they're that easy."
Riley grinned. "Speak for yourself." He took out his radio. "Base, this is Agent Finn. We've an HST down. Please send a retrieval team to sector 72."
"Copy that, Finn. We'll get there as soon as we can."
Riley put the radio away and picked up his bag. They walked on.
"So, anyway, some shit came up, and Ruc had to leave." Buffy looked at Riley. "They've barely had any contact since. And Sandy recently started dating Julie."
"What kind of shit?" Riley asked.
"It's really not my place to say."
Sandy opened the front door.
Veruca was standing there. "Hey."
Sandy was nervous. "Hey."
They didn't say anything for a while.
"So...you wanna come inside?" Sandy finally offered.
Veruca walked inside. Sandy closed and locked the door.
They walked into the kitchen.
"We've got leftover pizza. You want any?" Sandy offered.
"God, yes."
Sandy opened the fridge, took out the cardboard box, closed the fridge, walked over to the table, set the box down, opened it, and sat down. Veruca sat to Sandy's right. They ate in silence for a while.
"So you've learned to control the wolf, huh?" Sandy asked.
Veruca nodded. "Yeah, that meditation shit that Angel taught me actually ain't so shitty."
Sandy nodded. "Good. Good."
Veruca stared at her. "Is something wrong, babe?"
"I dunno, Ruc, you tell me. Other than a few progress updates, I barely heard anything from you. You haven't returned my calls. I thought..." Sandy paused, uncomfortable. "I thought we were over."
Veruca looked down at the pizza box. "I've just been so busy."
"Right." Sandy stared at Veruca. "I'm seeing someone."
Veruca looked up at her in shock.
"Oh, don't look so surprised. What the fuck was I supposed to do?" Sandy asked her. "Wait for you to come around?"
Veruca stared at her. Sandy waited. Neither of them said anything for a while.
"I missed you, Ruc."
Veruca sighed. "It was stupid to think that you'd just be...waiting."
"I was waiting. I feel like some part of me will always be waiting for you."
"Are you happy?" Veruca asked her.
"With Julie? I am."
Veruca sat in silence, stone-faced.
Sandy stared into Veruca's eyes. "I guess that's it, then."
Veruca didn't say anything. She just got up and walked into the living room. Sandy got up and followed her.
There was a knock at the front door. Veruca unlocked and opened it.
Julie was standing there. She was surprised to see Veruca. "Oh, sorry, I-I-I'll come back."
"Don't worry, I'm just leaving." Veruca shoved past her.
Sandy watched her go.
"Is this a bad time?" Julie asked.
"No. I could use the company. Come in."
Julie walked inside and closed and locked the door.
"Do you want some pizza?" Sandy offered.
Julie smiled and nodded. "I'd love some."
Buffy, laying in her bed in her dorm room and cuddling with Tara, was on the phone. She waited while it rang.
"Hello?" Cordelia finally answered.
"Cordy, it's me."
"Hey, Buffy, I just got home. I was at this fabulous Hollywood party-"
"Yeah, cool, I look forward to hearing about it, but I wanted to let you know Veruca just left here, and she's not happy. She and Sandy broke up."
"I exhibit no surprise."
"Anyway, Ruc's pretty pissed, so could you please let me know when she gets back?" Buffy requested.
"You think she'll take off somewhere?"
"I dunno."
"Okay."
"Cool. So tell me all about this party."
"Ooh, I'll save that for last. Guess what Anne, Faith, and I are gonna be doing."
"What?"
Tara slipped out of Buffy's embrace and repositioned herself between Buffy's legs. She slowly started licking Buffy's pussy.
"We're gonna be opening a shelter for homeless teens."
"Really?" Buffy asked, surprised.
Tara inserted her left index finger into Buffy's pussy and started eating her out.
"Yeah, I figured...it's just so damn good to help the less fortunate, y'know?" Cordelia asked.
"You figured?" Buffy asked skeptically.
"Well, it was a...shared idea. Anyway, we're going in on the building together, and we're all gonna volunteer there. We're gonna have to keep our current jobs to make rent, but there will always be at least one of us at the shelter."
Buffy felt waves of delight at each movement of Tara's finger and lips. "Oh, fuck yes! Oh! I-I look forward to visiting the place!"
Cordelia was surprised. "Wow, I didn't know helping the needy got you so excited."
"I, um, well, I'm wacky that way." Buffy laughed forcefully.
"Okaaay. So, anyway, about the party. You'll never guess who I met."