From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (buffyfic-digest) To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: buffyfic-digest V2 #169 Reply-To: $SENDER Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk buffyfic-digest Friday, May 8 1998 Volume 02 : Number 169 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: Chronicles (9/?) BUFFYFIC: Chronicles (8/?) BUFFYFIC: "Reunion" Interlude # 5: "Cement Rebirth," by Ingrid See the end of the digest for information on (un)subscribing to the buffyfic or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 16:47:30 -0700 From: taygeta@juno.com (Charity C. T.) Subject: BUFFYFIC: Chronicles (9/?) Name: The Chronicles of the White Knight #9 This Little Game I Play Author: Taygeta Address: taygeta@juno.com Feedback: Please send Uses in anything: Sure, but tell me first. Spoiler: Not really, might have mentioned a past episode. Description: Angel's intentions and Buffy/Xander tension Disclaimer: The Buffy characters portrayed in this story and any other references to Buffy the Vampire Slayer are the property of its creater Joss Whedon, and its owners Mutant Enemy productions, Kuzui Productions, Sandollar Productions, and 20th Century Fox. Warning: PG ******************************* The Chronicles of the White Knight #9 This Little Game I Play By: Taygeta The night was dark and cold and there was barely a star visible in the sky. Buffy and Xander were out on night patrol, and were wishing that they were home and warm. It had been two hours since Buffy had staked a vampire trying to get out of its grave and in those two hours, Xander thought he was going to die of cold. "Full moon's coming soon, Oz better lock himself in his house, again," thought Xander aloud, looking at the only visible object in the sky, the moon, as his teeth chattered a bit. Buffy, with her slayer abilities, wasn't as cold as Xander, who was shivering like a cute kitten in the storm. With a sigh, her breath was a swirl of cloud in the night, she glanced at him and asked, "Xander, if you're so cold, why did you volunteer to come and help me patrol? It's a Saturday night and you could be warm and cozy in the Bronze, and..." "And alone," finished Xander, "Buffy, I'd rather be out here with you freezing, then being stuck at the Bronze for another Saturday night, watching Cordelia groping with Colin." "Gee, Xander, you sure know how to make a girl feel special," said Buffy sarcastically with a smile. "You know what I mean, Buffy," said Xander giving her a look. "Yes, I know what you mean, Xander," said Buffy nodding her head, "But you've got to stop agonizing over Cordelia. I mean, the more pitiful you look the more she'll think you're suffering. Are you suffering, Xander?" "Suffering from what? Post Cordy Syndrome?" asked Xander raising his eyebrows. "No, I'm not suffering, Buffy. Maybe a little angry and I feel a little disappointed, but no, I'm not suffering." "Then, why all this agonizing over her, Xander?" asked Buffy, who still thought it a wonder that he had even been with her in the first place. "What is it that you find in her that's making you go totally maxi-wig over everything, lately?" "I don't know, I guess with Cordelia, I had, and I stress the word had, security," replied Xander, and Buffy frowned. "What do you mean, Xander? By security?" asked Buffy glancing at his face in confusion. "You wouldn't understand," said Xander shaking his head, and Buffy knew not to ask any further. It had been three weeks since Xander had broken up with Cordelia and in those three weeks, Xander was seemingly hanging out with her...a lot. Not that she minded, not in the least. She rather liked having him around more often it was...nice. It was just that she was so confused about everything, and about how she felt. She knew that her feelings for Xander were evolving, but to what it was evolving to was beyond her. Deep down inside, she knew that her answer could be found in something so simple and so powerful, but it was something that she knew she wouldn't be able to have, at least not from him. She needed to be kissed again. Buffy hadn't forgotten their first kiss, nor did she think she'd ever forget such a kiss. His warm lips pressed so gently against her own, sending a wave of electricity down her spine that jolted her entire self. With every racing heartbeat she felt something that succeeded passion and crushed the boundaries between two souls. Was what she felt...could it be...could she now after Angel have truly found...love? But how could she tell so much from just that one kiss and a planned kiss at that? That was why she needed to feel his lips against hers again...to feel that it wasn't just passion or the heat of the moment or just the spell, itself, and most of all, to see if she could discover her heart again. She needed all this to find what Xander had known ever since he first saw her. There was so much confusion within her mind and her heart that they both had begun to crash into something that was slowly, but surely becoming more than she thought she could handle. It wasn't as if Xander was in his normal-frame of mind, whatever that may be, either, for he was in a state of confusion himself. He was free from his bondage with Cordelia, and free to love Buffy, but was Buffy unbound, too? Or was she still clinging onto a hope and a love that was in the lost Angel...her lost Angel? Every time Xander looked at Buffy, he just wanted to kiss her again, and hold her close...and never let go. But he couldn't hold her and he couldn't kiss her. All he could do was love her. As Buffy and Xander became immersed in their thoughts, a silence had grown between them. When they came back to reality, it was rather awkward, but it wasn't awkward for long. Suddenly a vampire crawled out of its grave in a dirty black suit and grabbed Buffy's leg. Buffy kicked the vampire off of her leg and then punched it squarely in its fanged face. "Bye," said Buffy before she staked it, causing it to fall into ashes on the dewy grass beside the empty grave. "I wonder how many of these graves are really empty," said Xander as Buffy stood up. "Too many to count, Xander, too many to count," said Buffy with a sigh as she and Xander began walking to another section of the graveyard. In the distance, a pair of evil eyes watched them intently them. A smile of evil contempt fell on Angelus's lips, as he read their minds through their actions. As they walked away from his viewpoint, a mental picture began to become twisted in his wicked thoughts. "So my lover's gotten over me already? And for who else but the White Knight that hates me so greatly?" whispered Angelus in the night, "She has fallen, but she'll fall even harder. After all, this is all part of this little game I play, in which I'm bound to win, especially when she sees her gallant white knight, dead and in the ground..." *********************** End of Part 9! Feed back Please? _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 16:40:21 -0700 From: taygeta@juno.com (Charity C. T.) Subject: BUFFYFIC: Chronicles (8/?) Name: The Chronicles of the White Knight #8 No Turning Back Author: Taygeta Address: taygeta@juno.com Feedback: Please send Uses in anything: Sure, but tell me first. Spoiler: Not really, might have mentioned a past episode. Description: A Xander and Cordelia aspect of the series Disclaimer: The Buffy characters portrayed in this story and any other references to Buffy the Vampire Slayer are the property of its creater Joss Whedon, and its owners Mutant Enemy productions, Kuzui Productions, Sandollar Productions, and 20th Century Fox. Warning: Not really, just kissing, and no major violence or foul language. So, PG Author's Note: I know I haven't sent my Chronicles to the list in a long time, but now that I have some free time, I thought I'd send them. Meaning, 8-11(I just finished this one), so watch the numbers carefully ************************* The Chronicles of the White Knight #8 No Turning Back By: Taygeta Cordelia peered into the classroom and noticed that her science teacher, Mr. Barb, had left, but there was still one more person left in the room. She recognized him and realized that he was one of the college students that she had seen at a party once. It was on that day that she and buffy were almost sacrificed to that huge ugly giant worm or whatever it was. He hadn't been one of the fraternity brothers, but as she noted his Armani ensemble, she could see that he was definitely of the well-off kind. He looked up at her when he heard the door creak loudly and saw her eyes scanning the classroom, and scanning him. His frosted blue eyes met hers and his charming smile made Cordelia blush. "Yes, how may I help you?" he asked, his smile becoming even more refine by each passing second. "Um, I was looking for Mr. Barb, but I guess he isn't here," said Cordelia with a hesitant smile. "No, but he'll be back shortly. He just stepped out to run an errand, so please come in," he said with a welcoming motion. "Oh, okay," said Cordelia as she walked in and sat down on a desk near him. 'The name's Colin, Colin Williams, how do you do?" he asked extending his hand to shake hers. "Fine, thank you," she said, as she too, extended his hand, "My name's Cordelia." "Cordelia, hmm. A very pretty name for an even more beautiful young woman," complimented Colin with a smile. "I'm going to be Mr. Barb's teacher's aide for this semester. It's part of my pre-teacher experience." "Oh, really? You want to be a teacher?" asked Cordelia thinking that that had to be the most hardest and least paying jobs in the world. "That's gotta be pretty tough work, and well, Armani suits aren't that easy to come by on that type of salary." "You noticed the Armani, huh? One of the many advantages of being pampered and stuffed for all my 19 years," said Colin. "And I guess it's because of all of that indulgence that I wanted to give back to society and do something for the good of mankind, and not just for myself. You are right though, it is a pretty tough job." The door to the classroom opened up quickly and shut just as promptly. Cordelia and Colin turned to see Xander walking into the room and Mr. Barb had walked in before him. Xander noticed how closely Colin and Cordelia were standing next to each other, but he was silent. Cordelia eyed her boyfriend and felt uneasy that his usually blatant attitude was noticeably absent. "Cordelia, I see you've met Colin," said Mr. Barb with a smile as he sat down at his desk. "Now, I hear you and Xander wanted to ask me more about the project I just assigned you..." After Xander and Cordelia had left Mr. Barb's room, they had begun to walk home. The sun was on its way to setting and both walked in silence, which anyone could vouch was very odd. Ever since that spell, their relationship hadn't quite returned to normal. Cordelia didn't suspect that Xander remembered anything, and Xander wasn't about to tell her he knew everything. That lack of trust or information had caused things to be a little rocky between them, but Xander hoped that everything would turn out for the better, soon. "Well, Xander, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," said Cordelia, giving him a kiss on the cheek once they were at her house. "Yeah, Cordelia, tomorrow,' Xander said with a trying smile, and as he noticed that it was getting dark, and thought that the creatures of the night were probably stirring in their coffins. Xander walked to his house, which was only a few blocks away, considering the small size of Sunnydale, the rich and the average were in one section. He heard the crickets stop chirping once he walked up the porch steps to his house, and he had uneasy feeling. As he nervously reached for his keys, he dropped them, but before he could pick them up, someone already had. "Hello, Xander," said a voice in the dark, "Nice night, isn't it?" "Yeah," said Xander glancing into the shadows as he recognized the voice instantly, "A very nice night, considering that I have a vampire on my front porch. What do you want, Angel?" "It's not Angel, Xander, it's Angelus,' he said as he stepped out from the shadows. "Angel's gone, remember? Now, you've only got Angelus to fight." "What are you talking about?" Xander asked looking at Angel with cold eyes. "I've never fought Angel, and I've hit you, but as it seems, that's not considered fighting, especially if it didn't hurt." "On the contrary, Xander, I seem to recall that you weren't very happy when our precious Slayer chose Angel over you," said Angelus with an evil grin. "I mean, Angel knew what you were thinking, and so do I." "And what's that, Angelus?" asked Xander stiffly. "That the slayer would rather be with someone she was born to kill than to be you," said Angelus as he continuously threw and caught Xander's keys. "Well, Angelus, you're wrong," replied Xander eyeing the keys that fell and rose, "I didn't think like that. Buffy made her choice, and it was Angel. It was her choice to make and hers alone. It didn't make me love her any less and my opinion of Angel didn't change. Sure, I admit, I never liked Angel, but there's one thing I've realized now that you've arrived." "What's that?" asked Angelus with a smirk, who couldn't' believe how sappy Xander sounded. "That I hate you," said Xander calmly. "Ditto," said a familiar voice, which caused Xander and Angelus to turn to see Buffy. "Buffy, it's nice of you to join the party," said Angelus, "But you weren't invited." "I didn't know I had to RSVP, but since I'm here, do you mind?" asked Buffy glancing at the keys in Angelus' hand. "I don't know, Buffy, I'm kind of partial to these keys," said Angelus glancing at the glinting metal in his hand. Buffy smiled at his joke before she kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fall and drop the keys. Angelus groaned as he tried to stand up, but Buffy kicked him again and tossed the keys to Xander. Xander fiddled with the keys and was able to open the door. "Buffy, come on," said Xander hurriedly, and Buffy turned to look at Xander, giving him the expression that she wasn't going to runaway from a good fight, but when she turned to look at Angelus, he was gone. "Wimp," muttered Buffy under her breath as she reluctantly walked into the Harris' house. "Buffy, better to be a wimp than to be dead," said Xander jokingly as he closed the door behind her. "I speak from experience." "That Angelus makes me so mad, I can't believe that he was ever Angel," said Buffy with a sigh. "But Buffy, he was never Angel. I mean granted they look alike and have that whole vampire soul and no soul bond thing going on, but even Angelus makes out that they're two different people," pointed out Xander as he and Buffy sat down on the couch and he turned on the television set. "I'm sick and tired of Angelus, let's not talk about him, anymore, okay?" asked Buffy glancing at Xander. "Sure, Buffy," said Xander and he turned back to channel surfing, and then disgustingly turned it off. "There is nothing to watch, tonight! What are we going to do?" "Well, we have two options," said Buffy, "One we could stay home and be responsible, young adults by beginning our science project for Mr. Barb or two, we could slack off and hang at the Bronze." "The Bronze it is," said Xander standing up abruptly. Buffy and Xander walked into the Bronze, which was its usually crowded self. They found Oz and Willow sitting in their usual table and decided to interrupt the cute lovebirds. "Hi," said Buffy smiling at Oz and Willow, "What's up?" "I thought you had patrol tonight, Buffy," said Willow, her eyes widened with urgency as she looked at Buffy and darted to the dance floor. "Oh, really?" said Buffy, who looked at the dance floor in the corner of her eye, and once she saw what Willow had showed her, she was in a mad rush to get Xander out of there. "I guess I forgot. Xander, come on, we don't want to interrupt Willow and Oz's date." "Willow, I am shocked at you for forgetting our patrol schedules. Tonight, Giles is taking over shift with Cordelia," said Xander, and then his mouth opened a little once he saw noticed the couple in the center of the dance floor, who were none other than, Colin and Cordelia. They were dancing rather close and tight and Xander held his composure as he continued, "Or not." He stood watching them intently as they danced. They were dancing so closely that they were almost one whole, instead of two. It bothered Xander that they were dancing like that because he had never danced like that with Cordy before and there she was dancing like that with a practical stranger. But that didn't even compare to what happen to next that made Xander officially stunned and steamed. Colin, who was a five inches taller than Cordelia when she was in heels, bent his head down and kissed a very surprised dance partner. Of course, this very surprised dance partner didn't seem as if she wanted the kiss to end, and it lingered even when the music stopped Xander made sure that he was going to meet with Cordelia when she came from the dance floor. Colin separated with Cordelia and went to get them drinks and Xander walked towards a surprised Cordelia. She was taken back by his appearance there. "Xander, what are you doing here?" asked Cordelia with wide eyes. "I'd like to ask you the same question," said Xander. "Let's sit down, we have to talk," she said as she and Xander sat down at a table a few feet away from where their friends sat. "Who was that guy, anyway? That Colin guy?" asked Xander glancing at Colin who had kept his distance once he saw Xander. "He's Mr. Barb's teacher's aide," said Cordelia with a smile, "He's really nice and sweet and smart." "Everything, I'm not, right?" said Xander with a sigh. "No, Xander, you're all that and more, but this thing between us isn't working out, and you know the reason why," said Cordelia as she quickly glanced at the staring eyes of Oz, Willow, and who else, Buffy. "No, Cordy, I don't know what you're talking about," said Xander, "Enlighten me." "How do you expect us to be a couple if you are in love with Buffy? I mean, don't get me wrong Xander, I like you, but you don't like me, at least not that strongly," said Cordelia thinking of all the conflicts Buffy had caused in their relationship. "Cordelia, you're coming off as if Buffy is the main factor of our problems," said Xander. "I'm with you, so I'm not about to go and try to woo her, or whatever you want to call it. I'm not like that, I know what commitment is, but apparently you don't." "What?" asked Cordelia in amazement. "You heard me, Cordelia, whatever that was, whatever we had, it was good for awhile," said Xander bitterly. "But I would never have pulled that kind of a stunt even if Buffy were my soulmate okay? Not like you have. It was good, Cordelia. Up until now, it was good, but now, it's gone." Xander stood up and walked away, and although he had done this countless of times to so many other things, he meant it this time. He wasn't going to turn back, especially since there wasn't anything important there to go back to. ********************* End Part 8, feedback please!!!! _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 19:59:21 -0400 From: ingrid29@juno.com (Ingrid E Stanton) Subject: BUFFYFIC: "Reunion" Interlude # 5: "Cement Rebirth," by Ingrid DISCLAIMER: The characters of Buffy, Giles, Cordelia, Spike, Xander, Drusilla, Willow, Angel & co. are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Productions, and The Warner Brothers Network, and are used without permission. The author claims no rights to these characters. SUMMARY: I’ve decided to help explain the past through a series of interludes that will be interspersed throughout the story as it goes on. This series is meant as a companion to "Reunion." (The flashbacks take place about 9 years beforehand.) If you haven’t read "Reunion," this won’t make much sense to you. If you don’t have parts 1-13 of it, you can write to me and request them. THANKS go to Michelle, Rachel, Clare, Mike, and Andrea for their assistance with the Buffy/Angel reaction scenarios. *Very* helpful in getting through writer’s block, guys! Also, to everyone here on the list who’s been putting up with my..uh.. lack of stories! =) Enjoy! "Reunion" Interlude # 5: "Cement Rebirth" by Ingrid Light gray. A wall. Soft pattering outside. Where was outside? Angel’s place. She was in his bed. What kind of sick joke could he possibly…. She moved to turn over, but she hit something solid and nearly screamed. He was facing away from her. Frantically, she grabbed her neck. Smooth. She exhaled sharply. It was him, but he was facing the other way. Then, with that corporeal assurance, it all came back at her, permeating her consciousness: a flash of Giles; squeal of the car; screams; and blood- So much blood. She convulsed as Willow’s death played out in her head. She wanted to change the dream, but no matter how fast she ran, it was never enough. A low groan diffracted off the wall: he was turning over. The accompanying terror she should have felt didn’t exist. She didn’t have a stake. Death was abstract; an unreal threat that she was incapable of comprehending. She didn’t have a stake. She regarded him lethargically, unmoving. *He looks like a disaster.* No stake. No way to kill… Her thoughts came unbidden; absent surface statements to describe something that was so much deeper. She took a moment to observe. A gash on his forehead, dried and messy. Deeply cut circles under the eyes. The bruise on his cheek, round as an apple, purple edged with blue. He was still asleep. "Angel?" Another label. He would kill her. She saw the eyes flutter, once, twice. Then they remained open, looking at her like she was something out of a nightmare. He didn’t say anything, but the horrific expression grew as his mind worked. He was incapable of movement. Nonetheless, he was shrinking from her. Her tears seemed to clarify her dim vision, instead of blurring it. How long had she waited… She grabbed his face and covered his mouth with hers. He barely had time to react. He felt her tears on his face. He opened his eyes and looked her over. And gasped as pointed anger rose from out of nowhere inside him. He broke the kiss; shoved himself backwards. Her eyes went wide in shock. "Why didn’t you kill me?" He barely recognized the wail as his own voice. She didn’t react for a minute- his words seemed to completely disconcert her. Slowly, her face crinkled up, and she shot him a look of intense pain before burying her face in a pillow. He wanted to take it back. No, he didn’t. He was angry. He was so angry. He pulled her to him and held her to his chest. Again, she was disconnected, scared, surprised, but she didn’t resist, or stop crying. She couldn’t seem to do anything else. He stroked her back with one hand, not knowing what else to do. Unbidden, images of the last night they’d spent here played before him. How different it had been. But not that different. She’d been crying. Was this closure? That was when he noticed his face was sopping wet. And when he realized… *My God, I’m crying.* *** END, Interlude # 5 _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ End of buffyfic-digest V2 #169 ****************************** To subscribe to buffyfic or buffyfic-digest, send the command subscribe buffyfic-digest or subscribe buffy to majordomo@xmission.com. You will need to go through a confirmation process, and the listowners have to manually approve your subscription request, so it may take some time. 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