Adult-FanFiction.org : Buffy

Violently Happy	By : marksandspence Category: BtVS Crossovers > Misc - Het - Male/Female Views: 3216 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Part1a
- 2-Part1b
- 3-Part1c
- 4-Part1d
- 5-Part1e
- 6-Part2a
- 7-Part2b
- 8-Part3a
- 9-Part3b
- 10-Part3c
- 11-Part4a
- 12-Part4b
- 13-Part4c
- 14-Part4d
- 15-Part5a
- 16-Part5b
- 17-Part5c
- 18-Part5d
- 19-Part5e
- 20-Part5f
- 21-Part5g
- 22-Part5h
- 23-Part6a
- 24-Part6b
- 25-Part6c
- 26-Part6d
- 27-Part6e
- 28-p.s. Flight of Fancy
- 7
- 8
- 9
Part 3
Scene 1
About a week or two later. The Bronze. We’re looking in from a back door (?), seeing the perspective of someone scanning the room—it’s crowded. We hear a familiar voice speaking.
Drusilla: “Don’t worry sweet. I’ll find her. It’ll be easy—like a needle in a haystack. Always loved that game.”
The perspective changes and we see her step through the doorway and walk slowly into the bar, but we don’t see who she’s talking to. Next we see Miranda sitting at a table near the bar, by herself. She’s just ordered a drink and is checking her watch. She’s dressed to go out and has a look of anticipation. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Dru is standing in front of her.
Drusilla: “You’re a pretty piece of flesh, aren’t you?”
Miranda: [a bit freaked out by loopy girl] “Do I know you?”
Drusilla: “What will he say when he can’t find you...will he know I’ve been a naughty girl?”
Miranda: “Can I help you with something? Perhaps a cup of coffee. Or a trip to the psych ward. And what the hell kind of accent IS that?”
Drusilla: “Thought he could hide it, he did. But he can’t hide anything from me. D’you know how I knew you? He smells like you from the inside.”
Miranda: [it’s suddenly dawning on her] “Drusilla?”
Drusilla: [crazy laugh] “He didn’t tell you, did he? Naughty Spike. Hiding things. [leaning in and whispering] I know your secret.”
Miranda: “Is this some sort of jealousy thing, because...”
Drusilla: “He’s a smart one, my Spike. He’ll be cross that I stole his gem. But he’ll forgive me. Always does.”
Miranda: “What do you want?”
Dru just smiles and starts to move away—seems to disappear into the crowd. Miranda is a bit freaked out. She scans the bar. She decides to call the house to see if Spike has left yet, but finds that she’s left her cell phone in the shop. She gets up to find a pay phone.
Fast forward an hour. We’re back in the bronze. Now we see Spike sitting at the bar with a beer, scanning the dance floor. He asks the bartender what time it is. He frowns and orders another drink.
Later that night—nearing sunrise. Buffy’s house.
Loud knocking on the door. The house stirs. Xander and Anya are asleep on the couch. Buffy rubs her eyes as she sleepily walks downstairs. As she does so, an alarm goes off near Xander’s head and he tumbles out off the couch as he jumps at the sound. More loud knocking.
Buffy: [bleary eyed] “I thought we weren’t getting up until 5:30; what’s with the knocking?”
Xander: “uh, I think that’s the door. And we have to get an early start if we’re going to make it to San Francisco by this afternoon.”
Buffy: “Whatever. I can sleep in the car, right?”
Xander: “What? No. It’s a road trip—it’s your job to keep me entertained.”
Anya: “But not in the way that I keep you entertained in the car, right Xander?”
Xander: “Uh, no; I’m thinking more witty conversation and maybe some showtunes. Aren’t you going to see who’s at the door?”
Buffy: “The door. Right. Who could be stopping by—just about everyone we know is either out-of-town or in this house.”
She opens the door. It’s Spike, looking a frazzled. He walks right in.
Spike: “Oh, so this is where you all are. Good. Miranda’s gone missing—it’s almost daylight, so I thought you could help out with the day shift.”
Buffy: “Woh. Slow down—it’s like far too early to process more than a couple of words at a time. Define ‘missing’.”
Spike: “We were supposed to meet at the Bronze at 11 and she never showed. She’s not at the house or the shop and I’ve poked my head in every bar in town.”
Xander: “Did it occur to you that she may have just suddenly come to her senses and decided to skip town to get away from you?”
Spike: [look with daggers directed to Xander, but he leaves it alone] “Her car is still parked behind the shop.”
Buffy: “Maybe there was just some emergency—something antique-y. She’s only been gone a few hours.”
Spike: [dead serious] “She’s missing. Let’s mobilize the powder-puff gang and go find her, right?”
Buffy: “Sorry Spike. We can’t help—we’re on our way out of town. Xander is driving me and Dawn to San Francisco to meet our dad—we’ll be gone a few days.”
Spike: “What about Giles and the birds?”
Buffy: “Giles is in England and Willow and Tara are at some witch thing in the desert.”
Spike: “So postpone your trip. I need your help to find her.”
Buffy: “I can’t do that. We have to go—Dawn needs this.”
Spike: [sarcasm] “I’m sorry, I thought Miranda was your friend. And, I don’t know, usually when one of you lot disappears, you come bursting through my front door insisting on my help within seconds.”
Buffy: “Miranda IS our friend. But she’s also Immortal—I don’t know why you’re so worried. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
Xander: “He’s just worried he’s lost his meal ticket.”
[Spike takes a glass and throws it hard against the wall right next to Xander’s head]
Buffy: “I think you should leave now.”
Spike: [complete frustration] “You BITCH. I can’t believe you won’t help me with this.”
Buffy:[sincere] “I really am sorry—if we weren’t leaving town...”
Spike: “ah, sod off. Find her myself.” [He starts to walk out the door]
Anya: “Spike, wait. I’ll help. I’m watching the magic shop while Giles is away, so I’ve got nothing better to do.”
Spike just gives her a nod and continues to scowl at the rest of them.
Xander: “You don’t have to do that, honey—won’t you be busy making money at the shop?”
Buffy: “I think it’s a great idea. And if you haven’t found her by the time we get back, we’ll mobilize the troops.”
Spike: “Yeah, whatever. [to Anya] Let’s go then—sun’ll be up soon”
Anya: “I can’t go now. I have to get dressed and say goodbye to Xander. Come by the magic shop in an hour.”
Spike: “Fine.” He storms out, very pissed and slams the door.
Scene 2
At the Magic Shop. The sun’s up. Anya unlocks the front door and walks in. Spike is already inside, sitting on the counter smoking.
Anya: “You can’t smoke in here. It smells. And you might start a fire. Not to mention, how did you get in? If you can get in, robbers can get in and I can’t have anyone walking off with my money.”
Spike: “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. No one else will get in the way I did.”
Anya crosses her arms and glares at him until he puts out his cigarette.
Spike: “So what’s the plan?”
Anya: “You’re asking me?”
Spike: “Well you’re usually around when the scoobies do their detective thing—they only call me in for the muscle bits.”
Anya: “I rarely pay attention to all that—it can be very boring.”
Spike: “Great.”
Anya: “Maybe we should just try to pretend we’re them—think like they do—you be Giles and I’ll be Buffy.”
Spike: “Oh god. I flat out refuse to be Giles.”
Anya: “Fine. I’ll be Giles. [she scrunches up her face trying to imitate G] We must cease all fun and banter and do lots and lots of research and it must be boring and take lots of time that could be spent doing other more interesting things.”
Spike: “Oh that really helps.”
Anya: [continuing] “Buffy, you should go check out the scene to look for clues.”
Spike: “Whoa, I’m not Buffy.”
Anya: “If I’m Giles, you’re Buffy.”
Spike: “This is ridiculous”
Anya: “No it’s not. I think you should go to the Bronze and look for clues.”
Spike: “It’s daylight, I can’t. You go. When it gets dark, I’ll hit the demon bars to see if they’ve heard or seen anything.”
Anya: “I can’t leave the shop, so whatever we do, we’ll have to do from here.”
Spike: “Come on! [seeing by her expression that she won’t budge, he relents] Any ideas?”
Just then, the phone rings. She picks it up and deals with it. After she hangs up, she looks back at the phone and says definitively.
Anya: “We could make some calls. [thinking hard] Maybe she had an accident—maybe she was run over by a truck or hit by a bus or had a piano dropped on her head. Then they took her to a hospital—maybe she was unconscious or temporarily dead and so couldn’t call. So we could call all the hospitals and ask if anyone has been brought in. Ooh, I’m getting the hang of this—that was really good!”
Spike: “You make the calls. I can’t sit around until dark, so I’m going to search the tunnels. Meet back here?”
Anya: “Or maybe she ran into an Immortal. [very casually/chirpy—she’s very pleased with her newly found reasoning ability] There’d be something left, right? Not like a vampire who’d be dust. When she killed that Immortal guy—there was a body. And a head. Just not together. So I’ll be sure to ask about headless bodies...or body-less heads when I call.”
Spike: “What? I guess...”
It’s obvious that he had never considered the possibility that she could be dead. The expression on his face is pained shock. He bends over slightly, putting his hands on the top of his knees for a moment as he thinks about it.
Anya: [suddenly noticing his changed demeanor/pained expression] “Are you OK? Maybe you should sit down.”
Spike: “Not one for the kid gloves, then.”
Anya: [understanding] “Oh, right. I shouldn’t have mentioned that she could ACTUALLY be dead. That was insensitive. [trying to make up for it, she says confidently] I’m sure there’ll be no headless bodies. [beat] Or bodyless heads.”
Spike: [standing up; getting a hold of himself] “Make the calls.”
**
Anya calls all the hospitals & morgues in the city and outlying areas. Spike searches the scene and asks a lot of questions. He finds her cross necklace in the alley behind the Bronze—the chain is broken. No one else appears to have seen anything. He and Anya try a number of different things, but they don’t learn anything. They search for two solid days and are now back at the Magic Box.
Anya: “You should really get some sleep. You look like death. More than usual.”
Spike: [ignoring her; he does look ragged] “We must have missed something. People don’t just disappear into thin air.”
Anya: “Buffy and the others will be back the day after tomorrow. Maybe we should just wait for them—they’ll have more ideas.”
Spike: “It’s already been two and half days.”
Anya: “Does she have any friends besides us? Maybe back at the house she has an address book.”
Spike: [suddenly getting an idea] “That’s it...other Immortals. They have a thing that they can sense each other—even keep track of battles and other goings on. They might know something.”
Anya: “See, you can be Giles, too—and you didn’t even have to frown. Do you know how to get in touch with any of them?”
Spike: “Sure as hell not going to pay a visit to ‘the Wankers’—not exactly on good terms with those blokes. [thinking] She did mention one or two that she was friendly with at the antique show. Don’t know how I’d track ‘em d...[stops in mid-sentence. He’s thought of something. He puts his hands to his face and rubs his eyes] Oh FUCK. I have to go to L.A.”
Anya: “I can’t go to L.A.”
Spike: “S’alright. Better for me to go alone anyway. [pause. To himself] Balls.”
Scene 3
L.A.: Angel Investigations the next day (well, night). Spike paces outside the front door, periodically glancing at it; he obviously is having trouble deciding whether or not to go in.
Spike: “Fuck Fuck FUUUUCK. [he rests his forehead against the door in frustration] I can’t believe I’m bloody going to do this. FUCK.”
He takes a deep breath, opens the door and walks in. Cordelia is alone behind the desk.
Cordelia: “Spike. [under her breath “oh my god”; she fumbles under the counter for a stake, trying to look casual]. [loudly] Spike’s here. All the way from Sunnydale. Great to see you again, SPIKE. Can I get you a cup of coffee, I’ll just nip into the next room...”
Spike: “Cordelia. Still working for Mr. Sunshine? Can’t imagine why your acting career hasn’t taken off. Speaking of which, is he in?”
By this time, Wes, Gunn and Angel have arrived and a multitude of weapons are pointed in Spike’s direction.
Wesley: “What are you doing here, Spike?”
Spike: “Wesley. It’s been such a long time. I’m liking the stubble—makes you look less like an accountant. I’m shaking. Really.”
Just then, an arrow flies through the air toward Spike—he bats it away.
Spike: “Now that wasn’t very nice.”
Gunn: “Sorry, must have slipped.”
Spike: “Call your dogs off, Angel. I’m not here to make any trouble.”
Angel: “Have you ever made anything but?”
Spike: [at this, Spike smirks and lights a cigarette] “You got me there. [trying to reel in the attitude] Honestly, if I were up to something, would I seriously just walk through the front door like this? [Angel kind of shrugs in the affirmative] Ok, Ok, I probably would [this reasoning with them isn’t working very well.] This time, I just want to talk.”
Wesley: “Well then gentleman, he says he wants to talk. Perhaps we should lay down our weapons and fix some tea. What do you say?”
Angel: “And why should we believe you? Personally, I don’t have the tiniest bit of inclination to trust you and since it’s always better to be safe than sorry...” [he gives a ‘lets get him’ look to the rest and they start to move towards him]
Spike: “Hang on a minute. Don’t you EVER talk to your ex-girlfriend? Remember—blond girl, about this tall, attitude problem. If you had, you’d know that I couldn’t actually hurt your precious friends here if I wanted to.”
Angel: “Your lying.”
Spike: “Call her up if you like.”
Angel: “Cordy, get Buffy on the phone.”
Spike: [oh balls.] “She’s not home. Nobody’s home up there. Call the Magic Shop—Anya can give you the score.”
Angel: “Whose Anya?”
Spike: “You know, ex-vengeance demon. Dates Xander. Boy, you have missed a lot.”
Cordelia: “Xander is dating a...[corrects herself] Xander’s dating?”
Angel: “I’ve seen her. Let’s hear what she has to say.”
Spike rolls his eyes—do we really have to do this? They make the call. Angel talks to her. As soon as he hangs up, he starts laughing.
Angel: “It’s ok, he’s telling the truth.” [he can’t stop cracking up]
Spike: “Laugh it up, gel boy. I can still kick YOUR ass, if I were so inclined.”
Angel: “Yeah, she mentioned that, too. Sorry, I just find it very amusing that you of all people have been forceably de-fanged.”
Spike: “Pathetic, isn’t it? Guess now we have something in common.”
Wesley: “So what do you want?”
Spike: “I...uh...[takes a drag from his cigarette]...need your help with something.”
Angel: “This should be good. Let’s step into my office.”
He wants to keep Spike in close proximity—still doesn’t trust him. Angel sits behind his desk. Spike sprawls in the chair in front. Cordy comes in, but the others watch from just outside.
Cordelia: “So you want to hire us? Because even though we on occasion will ‘help the helpless’ for free, you certainly don’t qualify for that kind of treatment, so I hope you brought some cash.”
Spike: “Not a problem” [He pulls out a roll of bills and shows it to her. She looks pleased.]
Angel: “Just to start: there is no one on this earth that I would be less interested in helping than you, Spike. The only reason I’m even listening to you because I am fascinated by what could possibly possess you to even ask.”
Spike: “It’s about Miranda”
That got Angel’s attention.
Angel: “What about her?”
Spike: “She’s gone missing.”
Angel: “How long?”
Spike: “Three and a half days.”
Angel: “How do you know she didn’t just leave you?”
Spike: [trying so hard to contain his anger] “We’re living together now—she’s building me a bloody game room in her house. She didn’t LEAVE. Something happened.”
Angel: “What kind of game room?”
Spike: “You know, pool table, darts, video games and the like.”
Angel: “huh”
Spike: “That what you consider cutting edge detective work?”
Angel: “So why come to me?”
Spike: “She’s not in Sunnydale, I’m sure of it. When we were in town a few weeks ago, she mentioned a couple of Immortals—friendly types. Can’t remember their names or how to find ‘em. Thought since your group was doing the whole surveillance thing, you might have a record of who was there.”
Angel: “Why do you think they would know something?”
Spike: “Don’t know what she told you about her kind, but they’re not a very friendly lot—mostly run about trying to kill each other. It’s like some ongoing tournament—last one standing takes all. So they just pay attention, is all. Figure they might know something.”
Angel: “Cordy, pull the records from the Antique show—flag any of the dealers named Joseph or Samuel. See if you can track down an address or phone number.”
Spike: “There’s something else. Maybe.”
Angel: “I’m listening.”
Spike: “Dru came to see me. ‘bout a week ago. She mentioned she was back in L.A.”
Angel: “And you think she might have something to do with Miranda’s disappearance.”
Spike: [shrugs] “Have you seen her around? She’s been hanging out with one of those bone-marrow sucking demons...a rotten sort.”
Angel: “I don’t know, Spike. I mean, last I heard Dru was pretty much over you, so going out of her way to kidnap your girlfriend may be giving yourself a little too much credit. [noticing something in Spike’s demeanor] Unless there’s something else you’re not telling me.”
Spike: [Spike shrugs. It’s obvious there is something else—something he’s a bit uncomfortable saying] “Maybe. Have you seen her?”
Angel: “Not lately. But it’s a big city. Maybe you should explain why it is you think Dru might be involved, ‘cause otherwise, I don’t think it’s worth following up on.”
Spike: [thinking about this for a bit] “Yeah...uh...well you know she lets me bite her. [uncomfortable acknowledging look from Angel] Well we’ve noticed something recently—maybe to do with that—a change.”
Angel: “I’m not following you”
Spike: “Cordy. You got a compact in your purse?”
Cordelia: “Why, you want to check your make-up? Oh and why assume that I will have a mirror on me at all times?! [he turns to look at her] Ok, I do”
She fishes in her purse, pulls out a compact and passes it to Spike. She’s in the room now, standing behind Spike. He opens the case and holds it in front of his face.
Spike: “Why don’t you tell your boss what you see?”
Cordelia: [not thinking about it] “Not much. Just a pasty white vamp with peroxide hair. Big deal. [realizing, she grabs the mirror and looks more closely.] Holy crap. It’s kind of ghostly, but it’s definitely a reflection [she then takes the mirror and points it at Angel—nothing there] Wow, how’d you manage that?”
Spike: [shrugs] “Other things to. I can take the sun in small doses [he shows the difference between his two hands—one of them has a hint of color] We haven’t mentioned it to anyone. I mean, I know it’s nothing—just some physical apparition. No big deal. [leans in; lowering his voice] But, uh, maybe another Vamp might get ideas—jump to conclusions.”
Angel: [floored by this information, he doesn’t know how to react. This angers him, but he can’t exactly say why. Finally he says] “So that’s your game?”
Spike: [defensive] “Yeah, that’s it. I started shagging Miranda so I can hang out on the beach on Sundays—always wanted to learn to surf. No. Had no idea this would happen and I didn’t go pressuring her, if that’s what you’re thinking—she brought it up in the first place. I assumed she’d be just like everyone else—unbiteable because of this bloody chip. But she wasn’t. Tastes the same. [thinking for a moment] Well, actually a bit more dense or something—with just a hint of sweetness.”
Angel: “You’re sick, Spike”
Spike: “Can we just quickly move through this bloody self-righteousness crap—unless you’ve managed to completely castrate your inner demon, you’d do the same. Like I was saying, tastes like human blood but it obviously isn’t exactly.”
Angel: “And how would Dru have learned about this little bonus—I thought you didn’t mention it to anyone.”
Spike: “You know Dru—not exactly easy to hide things from her. I didn’t say anything, but she sometimes just knows things”
Angel: “Did you tell Miranda about Dru’s visit?”
Spike: “No, why would I? [it’s now occurring to him why he should have said something to M, but he won’t give Angel the satisfaction of seeing his guilt] It’s probably nothing—I mean Dru’s never been one for the ‘big plan’ type things—usually leaves that up to m...whoever she’s with.”
Angel: “True. But what works for blood may work for marrow and the prospect of invulnerability is a serious motivator.”
Spike gets a very worried look on his face.
Angel agrees to help and everyone gets to work. Over the next day and a half, they contact the Immortals, who don’t seem to know anything—at least she isn’t dead as far as they know. They eventually are able to locate Dru and her new boyfriend, who are running with a decent sized ‘gang’ of vampires and marrow demons holed up in the usual type cave/wharehouse kind of place. From talking to various sources, they also establish that Dru et al. do have Miranda captive. They work out a rescue plan, which essentially involves Spike going in the front to talk to Dru (and distract them), while Angel finds Miranda.
Scene 4
Cave/abandoned building/usual ‘bad guy’ set.
We see Miranda chained (horizontally) to a stone slab of some kind. Her eyes are closed. She is unbelievably pale and covered with bite marks on her arms and neck. We see small holes in her pants along her thigh—these are the points of entry for the marrow demon’s marrow sucking fingernails that are able to pierce the bone to get to the marrow inside. Her left arm is hanging off the edge of the slab—you can see that her wrist is slit and there is a bowl underneath to catch any blood that drains from the wound. It’s not bleeding now. Drusilla, her boyfriend and another vampire come into the room. The vamp kneels down and checks the bowl.
Vampire: [whiney] “There’s hardly anything in here and I’m hungry. Can’t I just go out for a snack until there’s more?”
Drusilla: “The piglet must be pure [turning to her boyfriend] I think it might be time for supper.”
MarrowDemon: “It is time, my pretty. Let’s see if this is even worth our trouble now that the beast is drying up.”
Drusilla: “Goody goody. Can I try? [nod from MD]
Vampire: [in response to D’s moving towards him] “Not another dousing with the holy water—I told you before, it still stings a bit...in certain places.”
Drusilla: “No water. Just wood.” [she suddenly pulls a stake out from her dress and jabs it into the chest of the vamp. He’s shocked, but doesn’t turn to dust. She turns to MD and smiles.]
Vampire: [Suddenly relieved] It worked. I’m still here. I am SO going to the beach tomorrow...”
He goes on and on about planning his day while D & MD exchange triumphant looks. Then, after about a minute, the vamp turns to dust.
Drusilla: [pouty] “That’s not fair. They closed the park early. And I didn’t have time to ride the big wheel.”
MD: “It’s only been a few days. It’s obviously working. We just need more. She can’t be the only one. I’ll leave it to you to find out where the rest of her kind hide.” [he leaves]
Drusilla: [she walks over to Miranda and pokes her on the cheek] “Time to wake up little cow. All the others have already gone to the market.”
M doesn’t stir; D finds a pitcher of water, brings it over and starts to pour it on M’s face. M slowly opens her eyes and tries to catch some of the water, but then D takes it away.
Miranda: [weakly/slightly delirious] “Sorry, fresh out. I told you—takes more than water to make blood. I don’t know when you last took a biology class, you crazy bitch, but you can’t take the marrow AND the blood. So you’d better work something out with ‘Captain Fingernail’.”
Drusilla: “We just need more cows for the barn. Where do you keep your little friends? Big friends are better.” [Miranda doesn’t say anything.] How should I make you talk? There are so many ways. It’ll be fun. [Miranda closes her eyes] Hm what is the cow afraid of? What does she want?”
Miranda: “Again, I'll have to go with ‘sod off, you crazy bitch’.”
Drusilla: “All I see is your head—your head in my head—or is it your face? Is it vanity? Or is it death? Let’s start with vanity [she finds a knife and moves it slowly across M’s face, scanning her eyes as she does so. Suddenly, she cuts into M’s cheek with the knife—M winces] That mark won’t go away like the others, will it? But that’s not what you fear...must be death then [she continues to move the knife around and then as she moves it downward towards her neck, Dru’s eyes light up] That’s it, that’s it. I win the prize.”
Just then there is a commotion outside and one of the minions comes to bring Dru to the front room. She puts down the knife and then runs her finger across the wound that she made, picking up the few drops of blood and then licking her finger.
Drusilla: “Yummie candy. If you’re a good girl, you can have some more”.
Before she leaves, she re-opens the wound on Miranda’s wrist with the knife and carefully places the bowl under it as it starts to bleed again. Miranda’s eyelids start to flutter and she’s out. A few minutes go by—we can hear angry voices from the next room, but nothing clear enough to understand. From another entrance into the room, we see Angel back in quietly. He turns and sees Miranda—the site of her stops him briefly—a fleeting look of pity crosses his face. In a moment he is next to her, assessing how to get her out of the chains. As he is prying open the chain on her right arm, she stirs.
Miranda: [barely audible] “none left. all gone.”
Angel: [whisper] “I’m going to get you out of here—it’s Ok.”
Miranda: [after a moment] “Spike? I knew you’d come...”
Angel: “Miranda, it’s Angel. I’m going to have to use a sword to break through the chain. Don’t move.”
Miranda: [trying to open her eyes] “oh.”
[Angel successfully breaks the chains—he lifts her up and carries her limp body out of the room]
**
Next we see Angel carrying Miranda into the hotel where everyone is waiting. He immediately starts taking her upstairs to one of the rooms.
Angel: “Get some bandages and anti-septic—she’s covered in holes. And extra blankets.” [He continues to walk toward the room.]
Cordelia: “She’s bleeding from somewhere.”
After Angel sets her down on the bed, they find the slit wrist and wrap it up. Gun comes back with supplies.
Gunn: “She’s still alive, right? I mean, she looks...”
Angel: “Like death, I know. She was conscious a few minutes ago. Let’s try to clean her up a bit.”
When they put the anti-septic on her wrist, she stirs, writhing in pain.
Wesley: “It’s Ok. It’s Ok. We need to clean out your wounds.”
Miranda: [delirious] “Spike?”
Angel: “He’s not here. He’s with Dru. You need to rest now.”
Miranda: [She tries to open her eyes. And after a moment] “Pain—something for the pain.”
She grabs hold of Gunn’s arm and looks at him hard.
Gunn: “I know what she needs. I’ll need to make a couple of calls.” [he leaves]
Angel pulls back the blanket he carried her in and Cordy gasps at the sight of her.
Cordelia: “She looks like a pin cushion.”
Wesley: “Lets just try to keep her warm until Gunn gets back—once she’s sedated, we can take a closer look at her wounds.”
Just then Spike comes running up the stairs and is stopped briefly by Angel.
Spike: “You got her out, then? I wanted to give you as much time as possible, so I had to put on quite a show. [trying to peek past Angel] Is she alright?”
Angel: “It’s pretty bad, Spike.”
Spike brushes past him into the room. Cordy and Wes step back and move to the door to talk to Angel, giving Spike & Miranda some privacy. Before he came in, they pulled the blanket back over her. Spike kneels by the bed and a very pained look crosses his face as he looks at her—he wets his thumb and tries to wash the dried blood off her cheek. When he touches her, he’s surprised and leans in closer to her face. He then tilts his head and lays it on her chest. After a moment, he sits back, dumbstruck. He pulls out her cross necklace from his pocket and puts it carefully on the bedside table. He slowly stands up and walks with a sort of shell-shocked look to where the others are standing.
Spike: [calmly & quietly to Angel] “When you found her—her heart was beating, yeah?”
Angel: [nodding] “She’s been in and out of consciousness. Why?”
Spike: “It’s not now.”
They all look at her and Wes goes over to check—he confirms.
Cordelia: “I don’t understand—I thought she was immortal.”
Spike: [actually more to himself than in answer to the question] It’ll start again—that’s what happens with them. It’ll start again—maybe in a few hours. I think that’s what she told me once—sometimes longer, sometimes less. Was like that when I met her. [beat] Now it seems so wrong for her to be like that—like us [pause. Fighting back tears, he suddenly switches to anger] I think I need to pay Dru another visit." [He turns to leave]
Cordelia: [to Angel] “Should we really let him go? Didn’t you say there were like 30 of them?”
Angel: [shrugs] “At least he’ll distract them for a bit—I don’t think they’re the type to just let it go—they’ll come looking for her and this may buy us some time. And who knows, maybe he’ll actually kill her.”
Cordelia: “Yeah, because you guys have been so successful in the past when it comes to dusting ex-girlfriends.”
Spike: [after a couple of steps, he stops himself and walks back to the room; he didn’t pay any attention to their conversation, but came back because he remembered something] “You can’t leave her alone. Promise you won’t leave her alone—and keep a light on. She’s afraid of waking up alone and in the dark after...Says she sometimes comes back confused, and if I’m not back... Promise.”
Angel: “Ok.”
Spike: “And, uh. There are some things you should get for when she wakes up. [voice cracking] She’s immortal, but she feels pain—[to Angel] more than us. She’ll need something for that—something strong.”
Wesley: “Gunn’s gone to get something.”
Spike: [nodding] And lots of Gatorade and spinach—are you writing this down? Because it’s important that you get it right in case I’m not back—and meat, like steak or burgers and uh...ice cream.”
Cordelia: “Ice cream?”
Spike: “She likes the kind with the chocolate bits and the cherries.”
Cordelia: “Got it.”
After a moment, he leaves.
Cordelia: “He wasn’t actually cr...I mean, it looked kind of like he...[shaking her head] Nevermind. I’ll hit the all-night supermarket. [to Wes] You want the first shift?”
Angel: “Someone should be downstairs in case Dru and her cronies show up. I’ll be in the lobby.”
End Scene
Scene 5
Five or 6 hours later—middle of the night. It’s Angel’s ‘shift’—he is in the room with Miranda, sitting in a chair toward the base of the bed reading a book. Periodically, he glances over to her to see if she’s woken up. He tries to stay awake, but eventually succumbs and nods off. He wakes with a start—he was dreaming about her—about the time when she kissed him. He knows she did it out of spite, so why can’t he stop thinking about it?? Within an instant of his waking up, Miranda takes a loud breath. After a minute or two of regular breathing, she begins to stir. He crouches down near the bed as she tries to open her eyes—the minute her eyelids open, she bolts up in bed and looks around frantically, wide eyed—this sudden movement makes her dizzy and she quickly falls back. She’s blinking hard.
Angel: “Miranda—it’s Ok. You’re in the hotel, remember. I brought you here—away from Drusilla. You’re Ok.”
She looks at him, confused. After a moment she nods to indicate that she understands.
Miranda: “Angel”
Angel: “Right. I’m here. God, you’re heart is beating so fast.”
Miranda: [after a moment, weakly] “Water”
Angel: “Here” [he pours water from a pitcher by the bed] “And there’s Gatorade in the fridge downstairs if you want it”
Miranda: “Don’t go. Yet.”
Angel: [He brings the glass to her lips—first she takes some small swallows, and then quickly finishes the glass. He pours her another.] “Do you want something for the pain? [indicating some pills on the bedside table] Gunn say’s they’re likely to knock you out for a while.”
Miranda: [She nods, indicating that she wants them. Then her eyes see her cross pendent lying next to the pitcher on the bedside table] “Spike? Is he here?”
Angel: [He thinks about it for just a moment] “He’s with Dru. Don’t worry—just rest now.” [He knows how this might sound, but he decides not to explain.]
You can tell by her eyes that she’s disappointed, but she simply doesn’t have the strength to ask any more questions. Angel gives her the pills and she takes them. She is soon off to sleep. He brushes the hair back from her face, enthralled by the sudden return of color to her cheeks.
**
It’s almost morning when she wakes again. Angel is sleeping on the chair. She looks around, sleepily and tries to sit up—she winces in pain and then stays down.
Miranda: “Angel. Are you awake? [no response; a bit louder] Angel.”
Angel: [waking up with a start] “Yeah, awake. Now. Are you OK?”
Miranda: “I suppose that’s rather relative. I’d like that Gatorade now—and could you prop me up a bit with some pillows?”
Angel: “Sure”
[He does this first and then leaves the room. He’s back in a few minutes with the Gatorade.]
Miranda: [she drinks a bit] “Thank you. [pause] Were you here—the whole time?”
Angel: “We actually took it in shifts; First Wes and then Cordy. I was here most of the night.”
Miranda: “Did anything happen?—before I woke up?”
Angel: “What do you mean?”
Miranda: “No one’s actually been there when I’ve come back before—I’ve always wondered...”
Angel: “I was asleep—I’m sorry.”
Miranda: “hm. Probably nothing, then.”
Angel: “What’s it like for you? Where do you...go?
Miranda: “I never remember anything. There is a sense of lost time, but nothing concrete.”
Cordy knocks on the door and comes in.
Cordelia: “Good morning. How’s—oh, she’s awake. You’re awake! That is SO WEIRD.”
Miranda just smiles slightly in greeting.
Cordelia: “I brought donuts.”
Miranda: “I don’t think I’m quite ready for solid food just yet, but I appreciate the thought.”
Cordelia: [to Angel] “Donut?”
He just gives her a blank look.
Miranda: “I’d quite like to take a bath—along with the beating heart comes more bleeding. Cordelia, do you think you could help me?”
Cordelia: “Sure. There’s a bath in this room. I’ll just start it going and when you’re ready...”
Angel: “I need to go downstairs for a minute—you two okay up here alone?”
Cordelia: “I think we can handle it. We’ll try not to drown.”
Cordelia helps Miranda get undressed and into the bath—she can’t even stand up by herself. Cordy tries and fails to hide her reaction to M’s copious wounds, but stays to help her clean them and wash her hair.
Miranda: “I’d like to just sit a while, if that’s alright.”
Cordelia: “Ok. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”
She leaves. After a while, Angel pops his head into the room, careful not to look into the bathroom.
Angel: “Everything OK? Cordy went out for coffee—she’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Miranda: “Would you mind helping me out of the bath? I’m starting to prune.”
Angel: “Cordy will be back soon—I’ll send her up.”
Miranda: “For goodness sakes, Angel. You’re hundreds of years old—surely you’ve seen a naked woman before. Come help me out.”
He reluctantly helps Miranda out of the bath and wraps her in a towel, being careful to avert his eyes. He then helps her to the bed and she gets back under the covers, naked.
Miranda: “Do you have a shirt or something I can wear?”
He goes into another room and gets something for her. She slips it on under the covers. She is a bit more animated, but still very weak.
Angel: “It’s likely they’ll look for you. You’re welcome to stay here until you’re feeling better—you’ll be safe.”
Miranda: “From the antiques event—do you have any records on other Immortals—others like me?”
Angel: “Yeah. We managed to track down Joseph and Samuel when you disappeared—Spike thought they might know something.”
Miranda: “The last thing I remember before you showed up—when was that? Yesterday?—was Drusilla and her lovely beau talking about finding others like me. I can’t let that happen. This—this is my doing. Can I ask that you destroy any record you have of how to find them?”
Angel: “No problem. Except...”
Miranda: “What?”
Angel: “Spike was with us when we talked to them—he’s got their addresses on him.”
Miranda: “And now he’s with Drusilla.”
Angel: [pondering this for a moment] “I wonder if it was all a ruse—the talk of getting their help to find you—maybe he was in on it all along and this was the only way he could think of to find them. [He’s just about convinced himself of this] I can’t believe I fell for it.”
Miranda: [venomous] “Bite your tongue. He would never...”
Her voice gets weak as she starts to tear up slightly—not quite in a stable frame of mind after the blood loss and pain killers—could he be right? No, surely not. Still, she’s too emotional to think clearly about anything.
Angel: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you—you should rest—try to sleep. [He decides to add because he thinks it might make her feel better:] You shouldn't feel too bad about it—he was with Dru for more than a century. What they had was intense. She definitely had a power over him, so...”
Miranda: [interrupting; very serious] “Stop talking, Angel.”
Angel: “Right. I’ll make sure Cordy deletes the files.”
She nods, but her eyes are still wet and she looks confused. The day passes—Miranda sleeps through most of it. Angel and Wesley go out to conduct some business. Cordy and Gunn are in the hotel with Miranda. At one point, Miranda asks to use a phone privately. She talks for a while. About an hour later, Joseph shows up in the lobby to pay her a visit. They speak privately behind closed doors. Gunn and Cordy hear/see something upstairs (flash of light) and a few minutes later, see Joseph walk slowly down the stairs and leave. Cordy and Gunn go upstairs to check on M—when they get to the room, they don’t see her right away. Suddenly, in a whirl, Miranda overpowers them and before they knew what hit them, she has handcuffed them both to something unmovable.]
Miranda: “Sorry about that, but I can’t let you interfere—no one gets hurt that way. Tell Angel this has been my doing and I’ll take care of it.”
After she’s finished securing them, she stands up, appearing to be in full strength. They’re both utterly flabbergasted.
Gunn: “What? How? Just a few hours ago, you couldn’t stand up and now you’re pulling this?”
Miranda is rummaging around for more clothes, ignoring them. She leaves and then comes back into the room for a moment to pick up her necklace. She then walks boldly out of the room.
Cordelia: “So you’re just going to leave us here? Angel might not be back for hours and I’ve got to pee.”
Gunn: “Oh, this isn’t going to be fun, is it?”
She’s just about gone, when something catches her eye and she peeks back into the room.
Miranda: “What size shoe do you wear?”
Gunn: “About a nine wide.”
Miranda: “Not you.”
Cordelia: “Oh no. Not the boots. These are $500 designer cowboy boots. They are practically the only part of my pre-poverty wardrobe that I have left. [whiney] Not the boots!”
Ignoring her, Miranda puts her foot next to Cordy’s and smiling, she pulls off Cordy’s boots as she says:
Miranda: “Sorry—I’ll replace them. You may have just given me a theme for tonight’s party. It’s going to be bloody brilliant.” [She puts them on her feet and leaves.]
We see her enter a shop—antiques, of course. She gets a nod from a man behind the counter—he’s dark and handsome in a rugged kind of way. She leaves sometime later with a cloth bag, stuffed full. Next we see her in a room somewhere—not clear where. She’s sitting on the floor—meditating? Around her, we see an assortment of weapons, most of which have been modified, i.e., regular daggers with wooden covers. Now, flash to Angel Investigations where Angel and Wesley are just returning.
Angel: “Hello? Guys? Where is everyone?”
He and Wes look at each other and then run up the stairs. They find C&G tied up in the bedroom. Angel glances at the empty bed
Angel: “Dammit, they found her. [angry] Spike.”
Gunn: “Uh, didn’t exactly go down like that.”
Cordelia: “Yeah, somehow little helpless Miranda was able to kick our asses and run off with my boots.”
Gunn: [defensive] “She surprised me—I wasn’t ready—how many times do we have to go through this?”
Angel: “Miranda? As in the woman who just a few hours ago I had to help out of the bath did this?”
Gunn: “You helped her out of the bath? How come I never get those kind of jobs?”
Cordelia: [eye roll] “That guy Joseph came by and a few minutes later, she turned into Xena, warrior princess. Can you please unlock these things? I really have to pee.”
They find the key after searching the room and unlock the cuffs.
Gunn: “She said to tell you that ‘she’ll take care of it’”
Angel: “She’s going back to the caves—what is she crazy?”
Wesley: “It’s suicide.”
Cordelia: “She’s going to RUIN those boots! [glares from everyone.] And get herself killed.”
Angel: “How long ago did she leave?”
Gunn: “About 4 hours.”
Angel: “Let’s hope we’re not too late.”
- 7
- 8
- 9
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Violently Happy