Adult-FanFiction.org : Buffy

One Clear Shot	By : QueenB Category: AtS/BtVS Crossovers > Het - Male/Female > Angel(us)/Buffy > Angel(us)/Buffy Views: 11736 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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He was formulating a reply when he heard the front door bang open. The next moment the house was filled with the excited, high-pitched voices of hyperactive teenage girls. Buffy started up with something like fright in her eyes.
“That’s them, isn’t it? Giles, I don’t think I can face them. T-this is just way too much information for me to process and I don’t know who any of these people are! Can’t you hold them off until I get my bearings?”
There she was, relying on him to deal with her problems again. He well understood the dilemma she was in but she couldn’t leave the others out of the loop this time. They needed to know the state of mind of their chosen leader.
“Buffy, I won’t tell the girls or Faith about your memory lapse. But I think Willow and Xander at least deserve to know, especially after everything they’ve been through.” Mentioning Xander, he recalled the man’s injury and paled. He hadn’t managed to touch on the subject yet; it was simply too gruesome to spring on her at once. God, how was he going to let Buffy know about this?
Buffy was too unnerved at the idea of being inundated with strange faces to notice his sudden change in demeanor. “Okay. But where are we going to talk? You say the house is crawling with Slayer Mini Mes and Spike’s lurking in the basement doing his best imitation of the Phantom of the Opera. So where do we talk?”
There, this was the opening he was hoping for. “We can go to Xander’s apartment. He spends most of his time here but I believe we can persuade him to go to his apartment to recuperate.”
“Recuperate? From what? Is it from that stab wound?”
“Hey, B. You and the Watcher holding a little confab? The girls are kinda tired and they want the room…unless you two still need to use it.” Faith was standing in the doorway and Buffy had to restrain herself from attacking and punching the nasty leer right off her face.
Faith is one of the good guys. Giles said so and Giles can be trusted. So what if it seems like only last week that she tried taking my boyfriend with a magic spell and threatening me with sharp knives? She’s one of the white hats and I’m not going to kick her ass--even if I do think she’s got it coming.
Faith was becoming unnerved by Buffy’s grim stare. Things between her and her blonde sister Slayer hadn’t been entirely five by five but she thought B had been coming around. Now she looked almost as pissed as she had when Faith skewered her ex, Angel, with an arrow. “What’s the matter, B? What crawled up your ass and died?”
Buffy opened her mouth to retort when Giles hastily interjected. “Buffy was attacked at the school when she went to pick up her things. She’s suffered a small post-traumatic memory lapse and she can’t remember who her assailant was. She’s a trifle out of sorts.”
“Really? Think it was that Caleb guy?”
Caleb? Who the hell was that?
Giles shook his head imperceptibly at Buffy’s blank look and mouthed, “Later,” his back towards Faith.
The petite blond gave the brunette Slayer standing in the doorway a tight-lipped smile. “Sorry, Faith. I’m a little out of it. Like Giles said, I can’t remember who it was. I think I’ll just stay out of everybody’s way and wait for the old memory to make a comeback.”
“Whatever.” Faith figured she’d interrupted some bit of Watcher/Slayer bonding. Frankly, she was glad to see Buffy getting back together with Giles. Having the two of them at odds felt really weird. Of course, Buffy had been on the outs with all her friends. The old Faith would have loved it, seeing it as an opportunity to push Buffy out and wedge herself in.
But now Faith was genuinely hoping to make amends and do right by the family she’d tried so much to hurt once upon a time. Only it had been starting to look like there’d be no family to join. Maybe B’ll get her shit together and remember who her real friends are. And it ain’t Sir Dyes-a-Lot crashing in the basement.
__________
Buffy retreated to her bedroom as Giles went down the stairs to make a plausible excuse for her absence. Things were altered here as well though not beyond recognition. The old posters she’d had gracing the walls were gone. Mr. Gordo was also missing and she was distressed beyond all reason over his absence. It was dumb to miss a child’s toy when the loss of her mother and her one true love were more important but he had often provided comfort when there was none to be had elsewhere. She felt tears sting her eyes again and looked for something else to bolster her flagging spirits.
She looked at the pictures gracing the walls and pulled down one. She recognized Xander, Willow and even that Anya person. There was an unfamiliar face, though, and she struggled for her identity, trying to fit a name to a face from Giles’ descriptions.
The blond with her arm around Willow must be Tara. She had a sweet face and a gentle expression that made Buffy warm to her instantly. Gosh. Willow looks so happy, even more than she did with Oz. I wish I could remember her girlfriend.
She picked up another picture and frowned. It was really tacky and cheesy-looking, the frame covered in pasted on seashells. The whole thing reeked of some kid’s art’s project. Within the frame was a picture of her Mother, herself and a brunette teenager.
The girl’s hair was long, shiny and straight unlike her own blonde hair or her Mother’s wavy curls. Her face was too rounded with a pointy chin.
That must be the kid--my fake sister Dawn. Couldn’t those monks had made her more of a match? She doesn’t look anything like Mom or me. Buffy tried to summon up a speck of feeling for this imposed fake but nothing came to her. She shrugged mentally and put the picture back on the dresser.
She experienced the perverse desire to go down and confront the strangers living under her roof. She was certainly too antsy to stay in her room. It wasn’t as if there was anybody to fill in the blanks…
Suddenly she started and rushed to unlock her chest. Of course! Her diary would hold all the answers. It had been her constant confidante when she couldn’t talk to anybody else. All those battles against various demons, her affair with Angel…everything and anything she couldn’t spill to her friends lay nestled within those pages. Whatever Giles had omitted from his carefully worded story would be in there, she was sure of it.
Buffy sat back on her heels and looked at the opened container. She’d obviously had a lot to say in the last three years. There was no longer one diary but thirteen, all neatly lined up and dated in her looping script. Picking out one around the date of her trip to telepathic la-la land, she opened a page at random and began reading.
She heard footsteps racing up the stairs and barely managed to throw the book back into the chest, shut it and scramble onto the bed before the door flew open. A lanky brunette stood in the doorway and began chattering non-stop.
“Buffy, Faith took us to the Bronze! It was totally cool; you should have been there. We were dancing and there was this great band. Oh! I think the Hellmouth is making the cops all crazy, though. They took Faith out into the alley and tried to kill her. We kicked the ass of the guy inside and we came out to help. But Faith had already finished stomping on the bad cops so it was okay.”
Buffy blinked mutely at this teenage spillage and the girl plopped down on her bed. “So how was your day? Giles said something happened at the school. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine except for a little head bump. It’s nothing to worry about--Dawn.” Even saying the girl’s name felt alien.
Fortunately the chatterbox didn’t seem to notice. “Well, maybe a good night’s sleep will help. I know I need it. Dibs on the shower!” With that she jumped up and ran out of the room as abruptly as she entered it.
Wow. Talky much? And what’s with crashing into my room like that? Totally rude. I’ve so got to get out of here. Opening the chest again, she yanked out all the books from 1999 onward and began packing a bag. If she was going to be with Xander tonight, she wanted to take as much of the important stuff as she could.
__________
Buffy hefted the bag over her shoulder and came down the stairs, pausing to survey the scene in the living room. It was practically wall to wall with teenage girls, many of who looked kinda the worse for wear. There was a black girl with her arm in a sling and others sporting various injuries. Giles was right; they were clearly in the middle of a war.
The feverish babbling from the females stopped when she appeared and she was cowed by the wary, shuttered looks on their faces. None of them looked happy to see her and she guessed that her friends hadn’t been the only ones feeling the Buffy chill.
I am NOT everybody’s most popular person, am I? “Hey, guys, what’s up? Dawn told me you had a little visit from our boys in bl--” She froze, her throat closing up, as she saw Xander’s face. A large bandage completely covered his left eye and a sinking in the pit of her stomach told her there was worse than a black eye under it. “Xander?”
Blast. Giles had been hoping to break the news to her gently but, as usual, his Slayer had charged in without giving him a chance to prepare. “Right. Well, Xander, you should get back to your home. You’ll need peace and quiet. That would be better for you than staying here.” The Englishman did his best to sound noncommittal but the dark-haired man instantly protested.
“No way, Giles! I should stay here. Buffy might need…”
“Need what? For you to lose another eye? Giles is right. You need rest and quiet and you’re not going to get it here in a house full of loud, talkative females.” This comment came from a sharp-nosed woman who bore an extremely aggrieved expression on her face.
Oh no. Xander had lost an eye? Buffy blanched and her eyes drifted helplessly over Xander’s face. How could that have happened? How could she have let it happen? Her lips quivered and she rushed over and hugged Xander as hard as she could.
“Hey, Buffster. It’s good to see you, too. Although I’m gonna have to look twice as hard in the future to get all of you. Man, if I’d known this is what it took for you to get all touchy-feely, I’d have lost an eye a long time ago.”
Buffy bit back a sob. God, how could Xander make jokes over something like this? She was responsible for his injury; she was certain of that. A feeling of sheer hatred against whoever had done this welled up inside her. Silently she vowed to make them pay.
“Gosh, Buffy, it’s nice of you to give a crap now that it’s too late. We’ve got dead girls, banged up Potentials and Xander’s been permanently maimed. Maybe now you’ll listen to advice instead of charging in like an idiot.”
Willow glared at the woman who’d spoken before and Buffy squinted at the tactless female. This was Anya, Xander’s on-again, off-again, now-you’ve-got-demon, now-you-don’t ex-fiancée? Do we have to take her with us? She sighed at the idea that they probably did. Then she turned to Willow.
“I’m ready to go here. Giles thought it would be a good idea for me to get away, too. How about it, Wills? You want to take a night off?”
Willow was startled as if she’d never expected Buffy to say something like that. She glanced at the brunette woman sitting next to her on the couch. “I-I don’t know. Kennedy, would you be okay if I spent the night with Xander? He and I…well…”
“It’s okay, Willow. I understand. Don’t sweat it. Hey, this way I get the bed all to myself for a night.” Buffy smiled and hoped her annoyance at the other woman didn’t show. Maybe it was the way Willow got all stammery and uncertain around her as if she couldn’t make a decision without consulting this person first. Maybe it was the possessive way Kennedy put her hand on Willow’s thigh. Buffy didn’t know what it was; she just knew that she didn’t like her.
“Well, if Xander’s going, I’m going, too.”
“That’s not necessary, Anya. I’m not really up for entertaining and I’ll totally suck at darts and pool until I get this depth perception problem licked. I’ll check in with you guys tomorrow.” Xander heaved himself up and waved goodbye to the others. Anya did her best to hide her obvious disappointment but it was clear her exclusion bothered her more than a little.
Faith waited until they all left and then caught Buffy outside the house. “B, what’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on, Faith. Xander’s on the injured list and we’re taking him home.”
“Since when does he need you to hold his hand? Since when do you care?”
Buffy choked down her temper and gritted out, “I care, Faith. These are MY friends and I’ll thank you not to get high-and-mighty about them. Just stay here and guard the others, all right?” She cast about in her mind for something to put Faith off the track. “Giles and I have been talking and he says…you’re one of the good guys and I should start treating you like it. So you’re in charge until I get back.”
The other woman eyed her uncertainly. There was something else going on here; she could practically smell it. But B wasn’t giving anything away and Faith decided to let it go. “Sure, B. Don’t do anybody I wouldn’t do. And tell Willow not to worry. I’ll take real good care of Kennedy while she’s gone.” She winked at Willow’s outraged expression.
But Buffy wasn’t about to let anybody take potshots at her friends. “Well, don’t molest the children, Faith. You wouldn’t want to land in prison again.” Buffy threw her a saccharine smile and got into the car without a backward look.
__________
Wow. Xander’s really done well for himself. The apartment was large and airy, tastefully furnished with well-lined shelves holding small bric-a-brac on the right and bookshelves on the left. Plump beige couches in an L-configuration lined up flush with the windows. The place looked comfortable and homey…a far cry from the Harris basement. Buffy was glad to see that Xander had managed to get something good out of his life.
However, she watched with concern as he blundered around the space. He wasn’t clumsy exactly; he just kept misjudging the distance between himself and objects and bumping into them. Finally she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Xander, just sit down and take it easy. Willow and I will take of things, won’t we, Wills?”
“Oh, sure, absolutely. We’ll make coffee and Giles can have tea. Do you have tea in the place, Xander?” she asked with a nervous look at her tired friend.
“Only the bagged kind. Tetley’s--the lazy man’s alternative. Heat water, throw in bag.” Xander sank onto the couch and leaned his head back, closing his eye.
Buffy was beginning to think this was a bad idea. Her friends had been through so much; did she have any right to burden them with her latest problem? Maybe she could just go through the diaries and get all she needed from them. So I forgot the last four years. Big whoop. From what Giles tells me, they were pretty sucky, what with me getting a bratty little sister and having my mom die. And let’s not forget the whole Buffy-bites-the-big-one show I put on again. Not something I want to reminisce about.
She stood in the kitchen door and called out. “Giles? Could you come here? I want you to help me with the tea. I don’t know how you like it.”
Xander couldn’t believe it. “Buffy, are you kidding? You used to fix tea all the time Giles was gone. You said it reminded you…” Too late, he realized he was probably giving away a secret. Buffy had been pissed as hell about Giles’s desertion and refused even to speak to him when he called on the phone. She probably didn’t want him to know how much she’d really missed him.
“It’s quite all right, Xander. Buffy probably doesn’t know where everything is.” Giles confronted the small blonde woman while she scrambled for the tea things. “Willow, why don’t you go out and see to Xander? He might want something from his room.”
“Gotcha.” Willow was too worried about Xander to notice Buffy and Giles’s queer behavior and being away from Xander in his wounded condition for even a moment was too much for her to take.
When she’d gone, Buffy whispered, “Giles, I don’t think Xander and Willow are up for this. Maybe we should save it for another time.”
“What other time? As you said before, we are in the fight of our lives. They should know everything that might influence or endanger their lives. Besides, Willow is a very powerful wiccan. If anyone can figure out what’s wrong, it’s she.”
“I thought you said this was ordinary head whackage going on here.”
“I said that it might be. It could also be the result of a spell. If such is the case, Willow will be able to assess the situation. We can decide what needs to be done when we’re sure of what we’re up against.”
“I guess.” So she was putting her fate in the hands of a woman who’d tried to end the world? Buffy shivered and peeked out the doorway. She saw Xander’s head leaning against Willow’s shoulder and the redheaded woman’s free arm snaked around his back. Her supersensitive Slayer’s hearing picked up on the goofy, nonsensical jokes and memories the two shared from a time before Buffy’s entry into their lives.
On Willow’s face lay all the tenderness and gentle concern Buffy remembered. These were her good friends, all of them, under the same roof. Maybe the Buffy of this time was too much of a dimwit to appreciate her pals but she wasn’t. She spoke to Giles without taking her eyes off them. “Right. Let’s do this.”
She stepped into Xander’s living room and smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner at the two. “Guys. I’ve got something to tell you.”

TBC
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One Clear Shot