Wesley sighed as he tried to concentrate on the laptop screen in front of him. He was meant to be researching shapeshifters, a theory he had about Rath and his rather unpleasant twin. Not that he could take anything in with the noise coming from the room next door. If it wasn't for the incessent rhythmic thumping on the wall and the familiar, if intermittent cadence of the screams, he'd swear the woman was being murdered.
*Gryphoids are a unique example of the chameleonic form of demon...*
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
*... insiduously taking over the life of their obsession, before...*
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"Glad someone's enjoying themselves" Wes muttered. It was no use, he couldn't read this now. Standing up and stretching slightly, he made his way to the door. He was due for a break anyway. And maybe they'd be finished by the time he came back.
*If you aren't, we'll have to have words* Wes thought darkly.
The disturbance couldn't help but remind him how long it'd been since he'd had a little action of his own. A reminder he resented.
Nominated by Erin; Written by Nick
Cocooned in warmth, Cordelia didn't want to move. She felt so relaxed and replete. Moving, bad; sleep, good.
Next to her, she felt a movement. Instinctively, still mostly asleep, Cordelia snuggled up to the warm body. Xander. Of course it was he. It was always Xander in her dreams.
She caught a whiff of musky cologne and stiffened. When he bothered to wear the stuff, that wasn't Xander's brand. Cordelia opened her eyes just a crack, still feigning sleep.
The man next to her was lean and well-muscled for his stature. She knew that body now. She knew where to run her fingernails to make him squirm with delight. She knew where to kiss him to make him moan. And he knew simliar secrets about her. Secrets that even she had not known until today. Secrets that part of her longed to experiment with again, as soon as possible.
But it wasn't Xander. It was Lindsey.
Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids. Suddenly, instead of warm and safe, she felt sticky and hot pressed so close to this virtual stranger. She opened her eyes. He seemed to be asleep. His eyes were closed anyway.
Cordelia eased out of the bed, trying not to disturb him. Quietly, she gathered her scattered clothing and padded into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Unfortunately, the lock didn't work.
It wasn't a five-star hotel. Not even a one-star. But it had the basic equipment. A shower and a stack of clean towels. She turned on the water. Soon steam billowed out of the shower. She stepped in and let the warm water pelt her skin and drench her hair. Under the cover of the water noise, she quietly began to cry...
Nominated by Angela; Written by Erin
Buffy could hear Aidan's disappointment shine through his voice even though he tried to hide it. Buffy stood back up and tried to present herself as a nice clean cut American youth. She smiled a large smile and tried to look presentable.
"Yes as you can see I'm perfectly fine and dandy." She smiled again and then," So, if there is nothing else we can help you with, we are both kinda busy today. Lots of places to have innocent fun in. And a lot of nondestructive acts to perform."
Nominated by Erin; Written by James
A knot of anger began to grow in Aidan's stomach. Damn Max Evans straight to hell! He'd called ahead and warned her, and instead of sticking around for a fight, she'd vanished.
Max Evans was going to pay!
Nominated by Angela; Written by Erin
"I just want you to answer a question for me, don't lie to me or stand here blowing smoke up my ass. If I didn't have something you wanted would you have even bothered to call and ask for my help? Would you have called me to even tell me Amy was dead?"
Faith took one step closer, her eyes finally showcasing the anger inside her. "Or would you have said 'to hell with Faith' and gone on with your life? Actually I was going to lie to you and keep you here till the others showed up but I’d rather tell you what's going on. Xander called wanting the same thing from me, so I told him to meet me here. Jeffery, life is to too damn short to shun your friends, go ahead and treat me like crap, I'm used to it. But Xander is your friend, he's your pal, and because of some screwed up incident you want to up and play Lone Ranger, risking your own life because you have a vendetta? There are very few pleasant things in this world, for what it's worth you Scoobies are what's right in the world. A bunch of friends that no matter what stuck together fighting the good fight. Now I'm seeing lying, backstabbing and trying to beat out the other man. First of all, you and Xander are going to kiss and make up and you're going to do this together, actually I want you to go find B, Aidan and the others and you're all going to do this as a team. Not just you, not you and Xander, it'll be the whole gang, cuz that's the way it should be. I hate to give you the bad news but in a sick and twisted way...that's your family. Sometimes family and friends are what you need to get through times like this and right now you’re in desperate need of it. Those are my terms, this is a Get along Gang effort or the watch goes back home with me. You try to walk away from me I knock your ass out and I drag you to the others kicking and screaming."
Faith looked around quickly, her eyes looking for any signs of Aidea or Xander or anyone she knew. Once she realized that none of them were close, she grabbed Jeffery, hugging him, her lips close to his ear. "I'm so sorry man, but believe me when I tell you this ain't the way. Please let the others in on this, please don't let this hatred and anger you have drive you into doing something stupid."
Faith released her hug looking at him somberly, her expression still etched in a pleading manner.
Nominated by Erin; Written by Diana
Rath felt something raking through his brain, like clawed fingers tearing through his thoughts and memories with total disregard for any pain they might cause him. Clutching his head between his hands, he bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood, fighting not to scream.
F*ck. It was Zan.
Liz stared at Rath in concern. "Rath!" she exclaimed. "What's wrong?" Could he be having some sort of seizure? Had he drained his powers too much today? She cupped his face in her hands. "Rath. Tell me what's happening. Tell me what I can do to help..."
Opening his eyes, he concentrated on Liz's forehead for a second, trying to recover from Zan's mental probe. Taking a few deep breaths, he met her worried gaze. "It's Zan. He was diggin' through mah thoughts. An' now he knows wheah Ah am."
Then, suddenly, Ava felt a familiar, though faint, presence in her mind. Zan! He was trying to find her! Sh*t! She'd thought he couldn't do that mind-control tracing sh*t from the other side of the country!
But, the distance and her panic gave Ava power. She slammed her mind shut and put her barriers up at full strength. Maybe he hadn't seen enough... Maybe.
"F*ck, f*ck, F*CK!" Ava yelled. Color had drained out fo her face. She darted a panicked look at Kyle, and then ran for the kitchen. For Michael. At this point, she didn't care about Rath being there. She had to get to Michael!
Tears started to flow, and she felt like she couldn't breath. Michael had just hung up the phone, some part of her realized. She grabbed his shirt with her hands and tried to speak.
"Zan... f*ck! He... fingers. Traced... I can't... f*ckin' Zan. Powers... ah... Michael... Zan!"
Rath heard Ava shrieking like a f*cking banshee in the other room and winced. "Looks like Ah wasn't da only one he tried ta contact."
Sliding off the counter, he grabbed Liz's arm and led her out into the hallway, where Michael and Kyle were standing next to a very freaked out Ava.
Michael had her by the arms and was trying to calm her down, with very little success. "What's happening, Ava? What's wrong?"
Rath interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "It's Zan. He's found us."
"He was in my f*ckin' head!" Ava shouted, clutching tighter to Michael's shirt.
"You can do that?" Liz asked, mildly stunned. She'd never known of Max or any of the others to wander around in people's heads. Dreams, maybe, but not heads. Then again, there was that whole Mindwarp thing...
"Zan can do it 'cuz he's da sh*t!" Ava yelled at Liz. "He's da strongest f*ckin' alien on dis planet, an' he's gonna come here and get us!" The tears started again and she looked back at Michael. "Don' let him. Ya won' let him take me back, will ya?"
Michael shook his head. "No, we won't let him get anywhere near you. I promise."
Nominated by Angela; Written by Sonya and Erin
After a long pause, he asked softly, "Hey, Maria?"
She was about ready to hang up when she heard his voice on the line. The tone almost made her heart skip a beat. With almost equal softness, she replied. "Yeah?"
"We're... okay, right?"
They hadn't really defined exactly where things stood between them after he'd broken up with her right before summer break. Sure, they'd made out like rabbits in the Eraser Room on the first day back at school, but with Maria that didn't necessarily mean things were okay again. And then with his new kid sister showing up on his doorstep and a flock of evil clones making trouble and the news that vampires were real... well, needless to say, things were confusing right now.
Michael hated this feeling of being weak. Of not knowing where he stood. But when it came to Maria, that seemed to always be par for the course.
Maria closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about the past few days. They had been. confusing, to say the least. But it didn't take too long of a moment to answer Michael's question. She had missed him, that went without saying. She wanted another try at this relationship. A small smile graced the blonde's features. "Yeah, Michael... I think we are."
Michael couldn't help it. He smiled. Even if it was a very un- Michael-ish thing to do. "That's... good."
Maria nodded, mock-seriousness entering her voice. "Yes. Very good." She could just imagine the look on his face. That goofy Michael-smile that she loved so much, but rarely ever saw. Too bad she wasn't there to see it now.
Michael shook his head to clear away these distracting thoughts..... like Maria's full, candy-red lips and her newly long, blonde hair and......
Okay, *so* not helping.
"Um, yeah. Right. So...... emergency meeting?"
God, he sounded like an idiot. But it wasn't his fault! Who could form coherent sentences when he kept having MariaThoughts?
MariaLips...... MariaTouch..... MariaTaste......
'Hello, reality.' Maria groused internally. This was not fair. Alien business always seemed to get in the way of nice moments. And real nice moments between the two of them were few and far between. well, they had been. Hopefully that was going to change. She sighed softly. "Yeah. Meeting."
"So, I'll see you soon, then? With Max and Isabel?" And now he was being repetitive. How did Maria manage to turn him into a babbling idiot whenever she was near. Even over the phone, for godsakes!
Maria leaned her head against the wall. "Yup. Soon." She didn't want to hang up. Pretty much the only thing consoling her was that the sooner they said goodbye, the sooner she would be seeing him. She let the pause stretch out before saying the dreaded words. "Bye Michael."
"Bye," he replied, before finally hanging up the phone with a soft click.
Maria slowly hung up the phone, pausing for a long minute before picking it up again and dialing Isabel's cell.
Nominated by Angela; Written by Kay and Sonya
Zan stumbled out of the filthy mattress and into the sad excuse for a bathroom. Turning on the flickering light bulb that hung in the middle of the room, he watched unabashed as a few cockroaches scurried out of the sink. Finding his way to the mirror he stared at his reflection. God, he looked like a junkie. His face had gotten paler, his hair dirtier, his body skinnier. He ran the water for a moment, watching to go from a murky brown to a vaguely clear color. Splashing some on his face, he looked for a towel. Ha ha ha. Rubbing his face with his t-shirt, he released that there should probably be some more noise happening. Somewhere.
"Ava! Ava!" He called roughly, his voice not quiet broken in yet, not that it ever had been. What the f*ck? Where the hell was she? She knew better than this. Somehow making his way back into the one room sh*thole. It suddenly dawned on Zan that he was the only one there. "Rath! Loni! AVA!" Not that there was anywhere they could exactly go.
What the f*ck?
Crumpling back into the bed, he sat there for a moment and stared at the ceiling. "Coffee stains... on the ceiling.... There be... coffee stains... on the ceiling," he muttered to himself, in a sing-song voice. God, he was really out of it.
And where the f*ck was everyone?
Clearing his mind, he reached out with cosmic fingers and tried to tap into Ava's mind. And he felt and felt and felt and --
*snap*
That was the sound of her mind shutting him off. O-kay. He shook his head and tried to clear his head enough to ponder that response. First of all, it had taken her a much longer time to shut him out than made sense. Where the hell was she? In California? And second of all, the whole shutting out business was such a bad plan. She was going to get it whenever she came back.
Oooh. The light slowly dawned in Zan's muddled mind again. Ava and Rath had gone off. To do something... important sounding. Oh, no. Wait a f*cking moment. It was starting to come back to him, albeit slowly. Ava had run off because she was a stupid little c*nt. Found him in bed with some chick and off she ran. Stupid bitch. And he had sent Rath after her.
So they were in California?
What the f*ck?
What were they trying to pull? But that didn't explain Loni. Where had see disappeared too? Probably Rath pulled her with him, but Zan didn't have a f*cking clue. Clearing his mind, again, he tried to reach out.
Cosmic fingers, cosmic fingers, cosmic fingers... Holy SH*T! Zan pulled back his cosmic fingers and felt himself be suddenly transfixed by a crack in the ceiling. Holy f*ck. Holy motherf*cker. What the hell had happened to Loni? She was roughly where Ava was but not exactly and something was deeply wrong with her. Deeply, deeply wrong.
What the hell was it? It hadn't been with Ava. Would it be with Rath? What the F*CK had happened to Loni?
He was now actually ... nervous to try Rath. Not that that useless motherf*cker was ever going to know that. But he needed to know what the hell was up with Loni and hopefully not Rath too. Not that he ever cared about the f*cker.
But, back to cosmic fingers. Rath was actually vaguely permeable. He pressed his cosmic fingers in and for one brief second caught a glimpse of a rather innocent looking girl and a rather normal looking house. And it was the same area as Ava was in. But, what the f*ck was Rath into? And right where Ava was too? There were at that f*cking house together?
What the f*ck?
This whole thing was not looking that it was going to be ending with Rath bring home Ava. And not after whatever the f*ck happened to Loni.
Zan stayed pressed against the mattress for a few moments. His f*cking posse had deserted him in New York, okay on his orders but still, for some place apparently across the country. What the hell did they think they were doing? What the hell were they doing? If Rath had found Ava, they should have been f*cking back already.
As Zan sat there, he realized one thing. Whatever the f*ck they were screwing around doing, he was going to have to join them. See what the f*ck had happened to Loni, give Ava and Rath a good "talking" too. Rolling further on to the mattress, he smiled to himself. And they were going to pay. Just on pure principle, you see.
And it was going to be beautiful.
Nominated by Sonya; Written by Angela
And now Isabel couldn't even see why he wasn't telling Aidan they were aliens. Sure, they were normally just as fictional as vampires but ... there was something romantic about the notion of a vampire. Something sensual, something almost erotic. And what was the stigma with aliens? Anal probes. Crop circles. Stealing weirdos from the middle of the country and taking them away in the middle of the night. Little green men. The X-Files. None of which were rather romantic ideas.
How would Aidan and all the rest react if they found out their new found buddies in Roswell *were* aliens? How could he know they weren't going to flip? Vampires - sexual. Aliens - anal probes. Thank you, American culture. And even then, Aidan didn't need to know. At least not yet. If Tess was right, she was half way to Belize right now. How many super vampires could be running around? There weren't that many aliens running around, period. This information was on a need to know basis and Aidan, honestly, truly, did not need to know. And frankly, he could not understand why Isabel didn't agree.
Nominated by Sonya; Written by Angela
With uncharacteristic gentleness Spike put a hand on her shoulder and pushed Loni back so that her head was resting on the back of the couch.
"It'll only hurt for a minute, Pet," Spike told her.
Loni only nodded when he mentioned pain. She had dealt with hordes of pain all of her life and it wasn't anything new. Besides...all of this was somehow erotic as hell.
She seemed relaxed and that was fine with him. Usually he was all for the screaming and agony but not with this. He repositioned himself so that he was straddling her legs, giving him complete access to her neck. His hand reached forward and stroked her face as his own morphed into its true form.
As Spike touched her and took his form of a vampire, shivers of anticipation, fear, want and desire raced through Loni like electrical waves...it felt really good. She knew that she wasn't going to regret this. Even Khivar would be no match to an Alien Vampire... Loni's lips curled into a smile thinking of the domination she would someday achieve. Both on Earth... and on Antar...
Without hesitation he sunk his fangs into the delicate flesh of her neck and tore in as he consumed her blood. The power that pulsated within it was immense and quickly felt himself being lost in it. He hardly noticed as her heartbeat began to fade but as her breathing slowed to nearly nothing he reluctantly removed his teeth from her neck and bit into his own wrist.
As Spike continued to drink what was left of her he put his wrist up to her mouth and tilted her head back a little farther so that his blood could easily flow into her. The surge of energy became even stronger and he fell to the couch as he felt Loni's life slip away.
At his shifting in position Loni's body slipped down on top of his. He'd stay there holding her until she awoke then Loni would get her really get her chance to hunt.
Loni felt the life draining out of her and it freaked her out a little bit. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she felt herself slipping into nothingness. It was serene and quiet, and peaceful. She could feel herself slow breathing, and on the verge of death. She was floating in a sea of void, but somewhere in the far reaches of her mind, she was aware of accepting thick moisture from Spike's wrist into her cold mouth. She had little energy so she accepted what he offered of himself without being greedy. She felt him cradle her in his arms after it was finished, and she remembered that she liked the feeling.
After a time that seemed to go on forever, Loni felt life flowing back into her. It was different, and indescribable, but it was amazing. She felt powerful, strong. And hungry.
With a growl of her stomach, Loni sat up. Her face twisted into a new form, and she looked at Spike.
"I'm hungry." she said simply, with an evil twinkle in her eyes...
Nominated by Erin; Written by Court and Amanda
Xander looked down at Buffy and felt like screaming. God, why did fate have it out for him?!?! He needed to hit something. He needed to make something bleed and hurt as much as he did right now. Something inside him... a faint voice... reminded him that Buffy was his friend. With the sole exception of Willow, the Slayer was his very best friend on the entire planet. He should be worried about her. He should feel *something* aside from anger and the need to get violent. But he didn't. He felt cold, empty... like all he had left was the hate.
In a cold voice, not because he wanted it to be emotionless, but because he just couldn't seem to find the energy needed to fake any worry or concern right now, he said to Cordelia, "You'd better get her inside. Tell Aidan what happened. He'll know what to do." Looking down at his hands, clenched in fists at his side, he felt the anger getting stronger. "I have a Billy Idol wannabe vampire to kill."
He took two steps away, intending to go find Faith and see about getting that watch so he could locate Spike, but something made him stop. Turning around, he met Cordelia's gaze. And he knew that something he'd done had hurt her. Just like he was always hurting her. Just being who he was... the freak that he was... had hurt her. And he really wanted to care. More than anything, he wanted to forget about Spike and take Cordelia in his arms and be *normal* again. Be happy.
His gaze flickered over to Isabel, who was crying. Her brother and Aidan both with her, Max being comforting and Aidan being... well... Aidan. And his heart twisted in his chest. It took an almost physical act of restraint to stop himself from running to her side and trying to help her. Trying to make the tears stop.
And then he felt guilty. And sad. And angry.
[Wow, and we're back to the anger again. Go us.]
Looking back at Cordelia again, he knew that she knew. Maybe she didn't know everything, but she knew that he wasn't the same Xander that she'd fallen in love with. She knew that he wasn't completely *there* when he was with her. And, hell, she was a smart girl. She had to see how he looked at Isabel. It's not like he was doing a very good job of hiding it, after all. If she hadn't put two and two together yet, she would soon.
"I'm sorry," he said, finding real emotion for her at last. Just not the emotion he knew she wanted from him. He reached out, his fingers lightly caressing her cheek.
"I wish..." He didn't know what he wished for. Just that things could've been different somehow. That he could figure out what the hell was wrong with him and fix it. That he could love her the way she deserved to be loved.
"I'm sorry."
[God, instant replay much?]
"I have to go. Spike's still out there."
And then he turned around and walked away. And he didn't allow himself the luxury of looking back.
[God, when I get my hands on that asshole of a vampire... he is dust!]
That thought firmly in place in his mind, Xander began to walk faster. And finally he wasn't walking anymore.
He was running.
Nominated by Angela; Written by Sonya
Aidan turned to Jeffery and Xander. "Before you leave, explain to me what you meant about Isabel Evans. If I'm about to go get in the car with her, be at her mercy, perhaps, then I need to be fully armed with complete knowledge."
"She did something to Amy," Jeffery said, grinding out each word in a monotone. "Some kind of sorcerer mojo. There was no brain activity beforehand, but the machines were keeping her body alive... just in case. The doctors told me I had to make a choice. Keep her alive in case she ever woke up, or turn them off and let her slip away peacefully. Instead, Xander lets Isabel in the room while I was talking to Doyle about everything, and suddenly machines are blaring. Amy died! All the way died! No peace. No slipping away calmly and quietly like she deserved. She was ripped away from life to the blaring of alarms and whistles."
Hot tears welled in his eyes and ran down his cheeks, no matter how he tried to hold them in. His voice broke in a ragged sob, but he continued anyway, addressing his words to Xander. "I don't know what Isabel did, but it was wrong. You shouldn't have let her in there. Not without at least asking me. Whatever was wrong with her, doing magic on Spike caused it. More magic, and a different kind of magic no less... she didn't need that. If you had just asked me, her brother, the one who knew the most about what had happened and about our magics, I would have told you that."
But, underneath his grief, Jeffery did have an honest heart, and that heart knew that Xander would never have wanted what happened. "Xander, I know you just wanted to help, but it was wrong. You shouldn't have done it that way. If you'd just come to me, maybe we could have found a way for for Isabel to help, but by going off on your own... my baby sister went from just a tiny bit of hope, to angry, painful death."
Nominated by James; Written by Erin
Jim looked sideways at Michael and then Liz as they both tried to reassure the clone. Rath looked like a deer trapped in the headlights of a car. He was tense, his body in fight-or-flight mode. But what was Jim expected to do here? This was serious, they couldn't let the double get away with this.
Sighing slightly, Jim started to lower his weapon, but still kept a tight grip on it. "If Liz doesn't want to go for prosecution, I guess there's not much I can do about it" he says out loud.
"Quite right" Wesley said more confidently, smoothing out his jacket and looking a little smug in victory. "Now Sheriff. As you shot out my wheel, I'd appreciate it if you would assist with its replacement before we set off once more."
"I didn't..." Jim starts irritatedly, before he realises that he can't very well tell him that Ava thinkstriked it. He looks over to Michael and Liz, to see what they want to do next.
Wesley walked over to Rath. "See, nothing to be worried about my young friend" he said smiling. "Oh, and don't be so embarassed by your name. We have much more unusual names back in England."
Nominated by Sonya; Written by Nick
Xander's mind was a whirl. Even after everything that had been going on.... Amy, Isabel, The Wolf, clones, aliens, getting engaged... he could still get lost in Cordelia's dark eyes. The curve of her cheek, the heavy softness of her hair as he ran his fingers through it, the sweet, familiar taste of her lips... these were things that he remembered. These were things that made sense in an otherwise crazy world.
He touched her face with the fingers of a blind man, as if he was trying to memorize her beauty by touch alone. "I've missed you, too," he whispered, meaning every word. He wished everything could go back to being simple again. When his world consisted of Cordelia, his friends, school and vampires. When there hadn't been aliens with honey-blonde hair and eyes that seemed to see into his very soul with just one glance. When he hadn't just lost three friends.... one to death and the other two to secrets, guilt and anger.
He was thinking too much. Thinking wasn't what he wanted to be doing right now. Ever since he came to this town, it seemed like that was *all* he'd been doing. For once, Xander just wanted to feel. So he lowered his face to hers, capturing her lips in a searing kiss that left them both breathless, and tried to forget for a little while...
Nominated by Erin; Written by Sonya
Isabel put the picture down and closed her eyes. She floated into the place where all of the orbs of dreamers were. Even though it was the middle of the day in Roswell, the place was full of singing orbs of people's dreams. It was night other places, Isabel knew, and she heard many unfamiliar notes. Isabel began to walk, something was drawing her near. She saw a beautiful crystal archway at the other side of the area she was in... something she had never seen before. Isabel cautiously pproached the arch, and after a moment's contemplation, went through.
Here, Isabel was surprised to see even more orbs, but this time, she heard familiar notes. One in particular happened to be right beside her, and she couldn't just not look in. She grabbed the orb she knew was Xander's and made it big enough that she could see inside. What she saw was Xander and Cordelia, making out in Xander's apartment. Is nearly threw the orb across the room when she saw that, she was so furious, but she made herself calm down. There would be ways of dealing with her later.
Xander's orb neither confirmed nor denied Is' suspicions about this place, so, she hummed the not of her brother that perfectly harmonized with her own. When it floared into her palm, she enlarged it and looked inside to a familiar scene: Max and Maria in the front room of Michael's apartment, the door broken off of it's hinges and sitting to the side of the door frame. Is shrunk and replaced Max's orb. Somehow, she had found the place where the orbs of waking beings were. Isabel was astounded, it was always a big thing for her to make an advance in her ability.
Now, Isabel hummed the note that she knew was Michael's. She waited for the orb to come to her, but something was delaying it. Isabel looked around, confused. "Where could Michael's orb be?" She muttered to herself. After a few minutes, it came to her finally. She peered inside and saw Michael, Ava and Kyle driving along a road that looked vaguely familiar to her, and they were driving dangerously close to another car that seemed to be holding Liz and the other Michael. Isabel tried to catch a glimpse of a street sign so that she could pinpoint their location.
Nominated by Erin; Written by Court
"So," Faith uttered in a sing-songy voice, "Zeke ditched you so you decide to wander the streets looking pitiful. Word of advice, GQ, get over it and get over her. Zeke is a leech; she uses you and then ditches you. So before you start trying to spend your cash on her to win her back, don't. Hop back on your yacht and head to one of those out of the way countries and hook up with a busty blonde named Inga."
Nominated by Sonya; Written by Diana
"You wanna eat? Now?" Nikki said disbelievingly. She was amazed at how nonchalent he seemed. Maybe he'd been around it so long that it was blase for him, but this was still pretty new to her. And to tell the truth, it was driving her half nuts.
"C'mon Oz. Wizards, doubles... what are they, good, bad? You can't say y' don't want t' know. What if their next move is t' try an' freeze you t' the spot an' suck yer brains out though a friggin' straw or somethin'? Let's do 'em some friggin' damage."
Nikki was very animated now. It was obvious this whole deal had got her pretty wired. She thought she'd left this shit behind, only to find that it was everywhere? That's it, she was pissed off. Well and truly pissed off. How dare they drag her into this? Was this how the world was going to be for her now. Looking over her shoulder every time the sun went down? F*** that! Time for the hunted to become the hunter.
Nominated by Erin; Written by Nick
Cordelia put her hands on her hips and gave Xander her sternest gaze -- somewhat muted by a flicker of panic in the back of her big, brown eyes.
"Xander Harris, stop it. You love me. I love you. I loved you enough to follow you to this stupid town and move in with my Aunt Shirley! I gave up California, and fashion, and good cappuchinos to live in a place that had nothing to offer, but... well... you. That's pretty much all the screwing up of my life that you could accomplish."
She took a deep breath and continued her tirade, gaining strength with each word. If she talked long enough, she could convince him. She was Cordelia Chase, soon to be Cordelia Harris. And he knew it. He would listen, if she just said the right words...
And, if there was one thing Cordelia was good at, it was talking!
"Self pity is just as dumb as... as... telling people lies to bolster their self-esteme. If your shirt choice looks like iguanas threw up on you, I'm going to tell you." She glanced pointedly at the shirt he was wearing right now, which wasn't a good color for him, despite the sexy chest that filled it out.
"And if you're acting stupid, I'm going to tell you that, too. So, crush your inner Dawson Leery, put the blame on the correct target -- i.e., not yourself, but Isabel Evans, for one, and whatever evil fiend or spell that put Amy in the hospital in the first place, and I'm guessing it had something to do with that Spike thing that you never called me after, by the way, but we won't talk about that right now -- suck it up and let's get going. You're not going to do Amy or Jeffery or Buffy or anyone else, namely me, any good by sitting around pitying yourself. We need to go do stuff. We could... clean Jeffery's house or bake... buy some food and stuff. We could try to find out what happened to Spike. We could do lots more productive things than moping around the hospital."
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "So, let's go already. And, I'll drive. If we're going to be married, you need to know that I like to be behind the wheel."
Nominated by Sonya;Written by Erin
"Keep watch, keep me safe. I trust you, Xander." Isabel brushed a kiss over his smooth lips before turning toward the door of the hospital room. She bravely walked over to the girl and stood at her bedside for a moment before touching her. It was hard to know where to touch the girl, with all of the tubes running this way and that.
Isabel placed her hands on either side of Amy's head after sitting precariously on the edge of the bed. She closed her eyes and breathed evenly, calmly, trying to make a connection. Max needed the person to be conscious, but Isabel was pretty sure that she could get in by dreamwalking standards. In an instant, she was inside of Amy's subconscious. It was all black, all dark. Isabel couldn't see anything around her. She panicked, and started running and screaming out Amy's name.
Suddenly, Is spotted a bright light to her left. She ran full out toward it. When she neared the light, she could see a silouhette standing in a tunnel of sorts. It had the form of the girl whom she had just seen in the hospital bed. The Amy inside of Amy's head looked forlornly at Isabel.
"Amy! I can heal you. They love you. Please, let me save you." Isabel was breathing heavy after the running and the initial panic.
Amy looked down the tunnel and smiled. She then looked back at Isabel with a sadness in her eyes that made Is cry. Amy forced a small smile at Isabel and turned to disappear down the white tunnel. As soon as Is started toward it, the tunnel was gone. Amy was gone. And Isabel had failed.
The connection broke then, as abruptly as it had begun. Isabel gasped and hoarsely said 'NO!' as she was forced out of Amy's now blank mind. Tears streamed down her face and her body shook with sobs. She had failed Xander, and Jeffrey and Doyle. But most of all, she had failed Amy. If Max were there... Isabel wasn't good enough. Xander should have never trusted her. And now it was too late. It was all her fault, the thread of Amy that held on before was now gone. And it was all Isabel's fault. Her body continued to convulse as she continued her weeping...
Nominated by Erin; Written by Court
Sheriff Jim Valenti was oblivious to the world as his head hung back over his seat. Then a shrill sound exploded through his senses. He jerked up, momentarily disorientated, before realising he was still in his office... and the phone was ringing.
One glance at his desk revealed layers of paperwork. The murders at UFOnics had kept him up most of the night. And the M.O. was damn peculiar. Most of the bodies had their throats ripped right out, but on one or two, small inflamed holes could be seen on the neck. The dance floor looked like an abattoir, slick with blood. It was certainly the worst set of murders Jim had ever investigated. And happening on the back of the Kendall girl's death made it all mighty suspicious.
Jim picked up the phone. "Sheriff Valenti's office. Can I help you?" he said, stifling a short yawn and rubbing the back of his neck. That seat wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep in.
Nominated by Court; Written by Nick
Doyle didn't hear the rest. Everyone's mouths continued to move, but no sound was coming out. All he could hear was his own ragged breathing. And a strange, grief-stricken, keening noise coming from somewhere nearby. It took him a few moments to realize that the noise was coming from him.
He took a step backwards, as if he could distance himself from the truth if he just got far enough away from it, and his back bumped up against the cold, sterile hospital wall behind him. His legs finally gave out and he slid down the wall, crumpling into a heap on the floor.
Nothing else even registered. Not Xander waking up and asking what was wrong. Not Jeffery freaking out and taking off down the hallway. Not the departure of the doctor, his face full of sympathy for these people who were losing someone they loved.
There was nothing.
Just Doyle. And the cold tile floor. And the hard wall against his back. And the salty taste of his own tears. And the realization that he would never see Amy, his Dannan, alive again.
All he could do was try to keep breathing. In. Out. In. Out. He had to keep breathing.
It became his mantra. In. Out. In. Out. Keep breathing. Can't forget to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Gotta keep breathing.
Though he had no clue why. With Amy gone, did any of it even matter any more?
Nominated by Erin; Written by Sonya
Jeffery slumped back in the hard, plastic chair and stared at nothing. His sister was dying. Silent tears began to flow down his cheeks. Amy... his little Aim... Dying.
"No!" he yelled suddenly. In a liquid motion, he stood and flung his chair down the hallway. It hit two walls and carreened into a cart, sending it rolling several yards.
His craving for violence unsated, Jeffery turned and rammed his fist into the wall, hot tears still flowing down his cheeks.
The wall didn't move. It was made of cement blocks. His fist buckled and the pain blocked everything else out for a second. But only a second.
The tears got louder, and Jeffery slumped down against the wall, unable to do anything but give into his grief. Amy was dying! And he was responsible. And he couldn't do anything to fix it. He couldn't save her.
Later.
Jeffery didn't know how much later.
Seconds?
Minutes?
Years?
Centuries?
Later, he stood up. The tears didn't stop, but he pushed himself to his feet anyway. He didn't know what had happened to Doyle. They guy could have been two feet away, and Jeffery wouldn't have noticed.
Room 205.
Hands grabbed his arm.
"Sir, are you.... can I help?"
She was a nurse. Pretty. Blonde hair. Blue eyes.
Like Amy.
"Could I get you something? A drink of water?"
He pulled his arm away. "Just leave me alone." His words grated through a voice harsh from sobbing.
The nurse backed away.
He wanted to say he was sorry. That he knew she was only doing her job, only trying to help. But he couldn't form the words.
Brushing past some other bystanders, Jeffery walked down the hall.
213.
212.
His steps sped up.
210.
209.
He began to run.
207.
206.
205...
He stopped in front of the door. It was one of those swinging hospital doors. The kind they have in most hospital rooms. It had a window. He looked through. All he could see was the end of a bed surrounded by machines.
Jeffery lay his palm against the door. "Amy."
His heart thundered in his ears. He took several deep breaths. One of them caught in a ragged sob.
Then he heard them. The beeps. The clicks. The sounds of the machines holding his sister's life in their mechanized, electronic, soul-less forms.
His hand slid down and tightened around the door handle.
"Amy."
Fear swelled inside, freezing him. He couldn't open the door. If he opened it and saw his her laying there, his baby sister... that would make all this real.
Once he knew. Really knew. Once he saw it. He could never go back to not knowing...
Nominated by James, Sonya and Court; Written by Erin
John woke up, as usual, before Kathryne did. He looked over and saw her asleep and looking so innocent, and yet just as guilty as John for killing, but they killed in combat.
John lightly shook her until she woke up.
"Hey sunshine." John said with a grin.
"Morning already?" She said.
"Well, unless the sun is up early for some reason, ya."
They got up and dressed. Kathryne wore a shirt that said "USAF" on it. were as John wore a shirt that said "U.S. Marines" on it. They came from two different branches of the service, but they never argued over who was better. They walked out the front door, and John locked it as they headed to John's mustang.
"Where we headed?" Kathryne asked.
"That little cafe I told you about last night. The Crashdown. I have a little unfinished buisness to handle."
Kathryne just nodded. John started the car and pulled out and drove off.
Nominated by Erin; Written by Chris
She was in a field of daisies. White flowers dotted tufts of brilliant green grass. Petals flowed around here in the sweet-smelling breeze. The sky above her was blue, aside from the occasional, perfect, puffy, white cloud.
Liz smiled, basking in the warm sunlight. A voice in the back of her mind told her this was way too cliche and she could do better, but the rest of her gave way to enjoyment of the moment.
Flinging her arms out, Liz began to spin. The grass felt silky under her bare feet, and her blue and white sundress floated around her as she spun.
Laughter poured out of her as she spun and spun.
"Liz!"
Spinning blurred her vision, but she recognized that voice from somewhere.
"I'm here!" she called, still spinning. She caught a glimpse of a tall man coming toward her.
She stopped spinning and collapsed to the ground. The grass was cool. A daisy tickled her cheek. She closed her eyes and stretched langouriously. Everything was perfect.
Then he was next to her. She could smell his musky scent. She smiled. And he kissed her. At first the kiss was gentle, questioning. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him down to her. He kissed her harder. He nibbled her earlobe and her neck, drawing little gasps of pleasure from her.
"Who are you?" she whispered, breathlessly.
"You know who I am." He kissed her mouth again. Even harder. Passions flared. He lay against her, and that side of her body felt warm through her sundress.
"Max?" she asked.
His hand grazed her bare leg, just above the knee.
"Nuh-uh."
She opened her eyes, but the sunlight behind him cast his face into permanent shadow. He leaned in for another kiss and her eyes closed automatically. It felt so right, so perfect.
"Kyle?" she whispered, a knot forming in her stomach. She wanted it to be Kyle. Kyle was safe. Kyle was human.
"You know who I am, Liz," he replied next to her ear. His voice sent chills down her spine. "And it's not Kyle."
Liz reached out and pushed. He flopped down on the ground, next to her, but no longer touching her.
She rose up on one arm and looked into his face. A face she knew so well. A face she'd argued about everything with, from Smurfs to Scooby Doo. Then his eyes opened and he grinned cockily at her.
"Hey, babe."
A tear formed in the corner of one wide, brown eye. "Rath."
"You know it." He smiled at her and sat up. Then he leaned forward, until their lips met.
Liz sat motionless for a moment, and then... she kissed him back.
Nominated by Sonya; Written by Erin