From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (buffyfic-digest) To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: buffyfic-digest V2 #164 Reply-To: $SENDER Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk buffyfic-digest Wednesday, May 6 1998 Volume 02 : Number 164 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: "The Path Of Least Resistance" (1/3) BUFFYFIC: The Path Of Least Resistance (3/3) BUFFYFIC: ACK! READ ASAP! Re: The Path Of Least Resistance" READ FIRST! BUFFYFIC: TPoLR. Real vers, read this one please! (1/3) See the end of the digest for information on (un)subscribing to the buffyfic or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 20:56:29 EDT From: KylenRevik Subject: BUFFYFIC: "The Path Of Least Resistance" (1/3) Feedback: Yes, please, to KylenRevik@aol.com. Distribution: Not without my express permission, please. Notes: This one takes place after Angel turns evil, before Spike walks, in around thataway. Before the ep where Oz is a werewolf. Standard disclaimers apply. Comments deeply desired, thankee! :) ~ "The Path of Least Resistance" "So, Xander Harris. How do you feel?" The voice asking the question was low, cruel, controlled. From where he'd been shoved, in the corner of a small, dark room, Xander glared up at his captor. Angelus' eyes met his prey's, and the smile he'd been wearing widened a bit. "Well?" he asked again, "How do you feel?" Xander shrugged, feigning a nonchalance he didn't feel, deep in the pit of his stomach. "How am I supposed to feel?" he asked. "You've got me locked up in the middle of nowhere, and it's three in the morning." He was exhausted, he knew, and he thought he might be scared, but there was no way he was going to tell that to _Angelus_. He shook his head. "If you were a hot _woman_, I might be feeling something, but you're not. So I'm not." Angelus laughed. "You know," he said, crouching across the room, "you're a funny guy, Xander." He shook his head, chuckling again and resting his chin in his hand. "A really...funny...guy." The two watched each other for a silent moment before Angelus spoke again. "I could keep you around for a laugh, I suppose," he said quietly, standing without using his hands for leverage. Slowly, almost cautiously, the predator walked in a wide arc around Xander-- and the high schooler watched his every move as one stalked would watch the one stalking him. Only then did Xander really realize how close he was to panic. Then again, he supposed, he was completely defenseless, and locked in a room with the most powerful vampire he knew of. Why shouldn't he be panicking? "Look," he finally said. "Is there some reason I'm here?" With yet another eerie chuckle, Angelus nodded. The dark, almost bitter laugh scared Xander almost more than the silence that had preceeded it. "Of course there's a reason," he snapped when the laughter died off. The way he was looking at Xander seemed to add a "you stupid, petty mortal" to the end of the statement, but that might have been Xander's imagination and paranoia speaking, and not what was implied in Angelus expression at all. "And..." Xander finally ventured to say, albeit uneasily, "um, what would that reason _be_? " "Simple," Angelus said, his arcing path closing in by about half a foot. "You're in love with Buffy." Xander's jaw dropped. "Of all the-- I-- that--!" He hadn't been expecting that at _all_. In fact, he'd been thinking more along the lines of Angelus not liking his hair, or Angelus wanting to dine on a nice, tasty high school student. His reaction had obviously been the one Angelus had intended to get, because the vampire smiled. "She's good in bed, you know that?" Xander's eyes widened slightly. "Excuse me, but I didn't want to--" "--Know that? Do you take me for an idiot, Harris?" Angelus shook his head. "You hated me from the day I walked into her life." A fang-baring smile. "Because you knew I'd be the one who got into her pants first." Xander winced, not wanting to acknowledge the small amount of truth in the statement. Small amount. Very, very small amount. Because even if he did like Buffy-- hell, even if he loved her-- he didn't think it was quite fair to ascribe him such ignoble intentions. Besides. Unlike Angelus, apparently, he had never _acted_ on the attraction. Though not for lack of trying. He sighed. "If you're gonna try and psyche me out or something, I can tell you right now it won't--" He broke off in a choke as Angelus darted forward and grabbed him by the throat, pinning him to the wall. He gasped, struggling like a helpless kitten in the vampire's grasp. "Don't try to bullshit me, Harris," Angelus snapped. "You should know, there's no real way to win this argument." Xander clawed, futilly, at the fingers that were wrapped around his neck, his eyes bulging slightly as the air in his lungs was quickly being used up. "What's the matter?" Angelus asked, his voice showing a sympathy Xander knew was false. "Little boy needs a breath of air?" His lips twisted into a cruel smile. "Maybe, if you ask very, _very_ nicely..." Already pleading with his eyes, Xander choked something out that might have, in some foreign dialect, meant "LET ME GO!" It came out sounding more like a helpless gurgle. Still, Angelus let him go. Xander fell several inches to the floor-- then he crumpled down the rest of the way, so he was sitting, staring up all however many feet it was into Angelus cold, calculating expression. "So, Xander," Angelus said. "How do you think Buffy would feel if I left your body on her doorstep?" There was no answer. "Or if I turned you into a ghoul? Or better yet, a vampire?" Suppressing a shiver, Xander snapped, "I hope she'd have the sense to kill me." *You know,* he thought, *I wish I could have half the conviction _feeling_ that as I do saying it to this jerk.* Inwardly, he sighed. "Oh yes," Angelus replied. "There is that. Our Buffy _is_ notoriously soft-hearted, isn't she." "Something you'll never have to worry about being." "And thank the devil for _that_." Xander gave him a sharp glare, but Angelus wasn't phased. There were a few moments of silence, then Angelus reached up and patted Xander on the cheek. "Poor, misguided boy," he sighed. "You know, I'm tempted. I'm really tempted." He grinned. "But...no." "What are you--" "Don't interrupt," Angelus said, cutting him off. His tone was just angry enough to keep Xander from snapping a sharp reply. Instead, he froze-- until Angelus moved away and Xander could start breathing again. Angelus sighed, looking at him for a few seconds, then shook his head. "See," he said, "I just don't _get_ this. What do you think she'd ever see in you?" Xander's forehead creased in confusion. "Why are you fixating on it?" he asked quickly. Too quickly. He tried covering himself with an additional few lines. "I mean, unless you've still got a thing for her, which we both know isn't true, what's it matter to you?" Angelus shrugged. "No reason. I just wasn't sure what you thought the Slayer would want to have that a loser like you has to offer." Xander looked at Angelus for a moment. "You're kidding about all this. Right?" Angelus shrugged, then shook his head. "Not really." "What is the _point_ to this?!" Xander blurted out. "Why does it even _matter_, if I'm in love with her or not, and how long are you planning on keeping me here?!" Angelus looked amused. "Oh...it matters. You'll have _so_ much more fun with this if you feel for her." Xander felt another spark of fear at the expression that came across Angelus's face as he spoke the words. "Th-this?" he stammered. "What's 'this'?" "This." Before Xander had the chance to dodge him, Angelus took a few quick steps toward him, then grabbed and forced Xander to the wall. Despite his best efforts, Xander found himself securely pinned, his struggles ineffective. Then, the vampire tilted Xander's head to one side, keeping him against the wall, and leaned in to lock his jaws over Xander's jugular. Later, Xander wouldn't know if he had passed out from lack of blood, or from fear. ~ Comments to KylenRevik@aol.com, please. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 20:57:07 EDT From: KylenRevik Subject: BUFFYFIC: The Path Of Least Resistance (3/3) Willow watched him patiently as he continued trying to muddle things out in his mind, but after a few seconds even that began to get to be just a tad freakish. "How long till sunrise?" he finally asked. Willow glanced at her clock. "An hour and a half." "Sun's rising early these days." "Yeah." There were another few moments of silence before Xander thought of something new to say. "Will?" "Yeah?" "Can I stay in your basement?" "Sure." "Can you sneak me past your parents' bedroom?" "I, um, I think so." "Can we do that now?" "You've got a whole hour and, and a half. And what if you, if you're not a vampire, then what?" "Then," Xander said, "I am going to stay down there and get very, very pale." He did his best to stay straight-faced, but it didn't work out so well. Before he knew what was going on, he had let a short chuckle out. It was catching-- soon, both he and Willow were doubled over and laughing harder than either of them would have thought possible, under the circumstances. The laughter slowly faded, though, leaving them much more sober than they had been before. "Xander?" Willow said quietly. "Do you really think, you know, that you...?" She trailed off, not asking the question. He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I'm...kind of not sure. I'd think I'd feel different, you know, but then I think and I do feel slightly different, but maybe that's just because I'm _looking_ for differences." "Like a hypochondriac?" "But with vampires and urges to bite necks and drink blood." Willow's eyes widened. "You've got a craving for blood?" she asked. "I don't think so, no. But I mean...what if it's just like..." He shook his head. "Okay. Say I do have a craving for blood, but I don't recognize it." "How could you not recognize it?" "Because maybe it's just like having a craving for...chocolate." He grinned. "You're a woman, that should be the right analogy." "On behalf of the women of the world, I..." But Willow couldn't finish, and both started laughing again, albeit quietly so as to keep from awaking her parents. "You veel _agree_," Xander said, "Be-koss you are a _vomen_ and I haf _seen_ your kind with zee chocolate barz." At the badly hammed up transylvanian accent, Willow's laughter got even more intense, and soon the girl was hugging herself tightly and curled up on the bed, shaking Xander let a slight grin slip over his lips, but it lasted only a moment-- because then he realized...Willow was crying. He swallowed. "Will?" he asked, unsure of what had just happened to change her mood. She didn't answer-- so he leaned forward slightly, placing a cautious hand on her shoulder. "Willow," he said, "you okay?" She shook her head slightly, but didn't answer for a long time. When she did finally speak, there were still tears in her voice. "I...I don't want you to be a-- a vampire..." she said softly. He sighed and squeezed her shoulder a little. "I know," he said. "Me neither." Slowly, she moved to sit up a little more, and brushed her eyes with the back of her hand. They looked at each other for a long moment. She was biting her lip, and Xander felt a sudden wrenching feeling deep in his chest, realizing a split second before she leaned forward, what she was about to do. He backed up quickly, his hands moving to her shoulders to keep her away. "Will," he said, "let's not do that just yet, okay?" She looked at him, and he thought he might have seen something snap in her eyes at that moment, but he had no idea what it was or where it had come from, and all he could do was hate himself for being the one who had most likely caused it. Finally, she nodded, ever so slightly. "Okay," she said, her voice no more than a whisper. "I just..." She curled up a little smaller. "Don't-- don't leave me." Xander nodded, pulling her into a bear hug with a sigh. "No worries," he said. "No plans to leave here. No plans here at all." He smiled slightly. "I am somewhat flattered, Will, that you would think me capable of having such a thing as a plan." She shook a little in his arms, and as he was unsure of whether it was in laughter or tears, Xander didn't move. Just sat there, holding her, the thought of whether or not the sun was coming up somehow the furthest thing from his mind. * "_Xander_?!" Xander jerked awake, his hand moving to his neck and then further up to where the sun was streaming in through the window. He wondered why he wasn't ashes yet. Or burning alive. Burning undead. Whichever. Either way. He squinted at the doorway. "Mrs. Rosenberg?" he asked. He turned and looked at Willow, who was standing in the doorway to the bathroom and had been brushing her teeth until her mother had appeared in the doorway. "Xander?" she said again. Then Willow's mother walked a little further into the room. "Willow," she asked, "what is Xander doing over this early in the morning? Not," she added, glancing back at Xander, "that we have any problem with you coming over, it just seems that you would want to be getting ready for school right now." Willow shook her head, smiling slightly. "He kind of stayed out past his curfew last night," she said, "so he woke me up in the middle of the night and wanted to spend the night because his parents would kill him if he came in so early. And we were really quiet." "Yeah," Xander interjected. "No blowing up tanks and Barbie Paradise Castles this time." He flashed Mrs. Rosenberg with a smile. And she bought it. Smiling weakly back at him, she nodded slowly. "Alright, kids," she said. "But hurry up, kids, because Willow's dad can drive you to school in about twenty minutes." Both teens nodded, and Willow's mom left. Xander glanced over at the girl, and shook his head. "Your parents are _so cool_," he said. "You know, my mom would kill me if I had a girl in my room." Willow smiled slightly. "I bet," she said. "You gonna wear that to school?" Xander shrugged, looking down at his outfit. "Eh, sure," he said. Then he looked at her. "Will...about last night..." "It's okay," she said. "If you had turned out to be a vampire, you know, I would have wanted to know that you were comfortable enough with me to, to just drop in and say so. And I really don't mind. And I don't have any tests today so I don't even have to worry about having gotten enough sleep!" "And I didn't bring my books home with me anyway, so _I_ don't even have to worry about not having them in classes today." Willow nodded and smiled. "Perfect, then. Mom'll make us pancakes if we get downstairs soon enough." "Sounds good," Xander said, getting up off the bed and moving toward the door. "I'm just gonna finish getting ready to go," Willow said. "Cool," Xander said, rubbing his neck absently as he walked out of the room and downstairs, thanking his lucky stars that he had apparently only been a snack-- and not a potential convert-- to whoever it was who had attacked him the night before. If only he could remember who it was. He sighed. He had the feeling it would make a difference, too. Oh well. No matter. He smiled slightly. He wasn't undead, he hadn't burned to death in the sun, and he was now going to be served some of the best pancakes he'd ever tasted, in his entire life, from the time he was six up till now. His own mom wasn't much of a cook, but Mrs. Rosenberg was, in short, amazing. The scent of cooking pancakes was already wafting up the stairs. Xander tossed a glance back at the door to Willow's room, then took the steps two at a time to get downstairs, wondering if he could flatter Mrs. Rosenberg into possibly not telling his parents where he had been all night long. The End Copyright 1998 Rachel Brody ~ Feedback to KylenRevik@aol.com, please. :) Rachel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 21:20:02 EDT From: KylenRevik Subject: BUFFYFIC: ACK! READ ASAP! Re: The Path Of Least Resistance" READ FIRST! ::shrieks:: AAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE! I mailed the wrong version! Oh _god_... ::sighs:: Crapola. I keep drafts of everyting on my puter and sent the wrong _one_...I'll send the fixed one ASAP, oh my _god_ I can't believe I did this... ::deepsigh:: Crapola, like I said, please nobody read the version I sent out just a few minutes ago please... Rach Bright Red And Getting Redder... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 21:48:05 EDT From: KylenRevik Subject: BUFFYFIC: TPoLR. Real vers, read this one please! (1/3) :blushing soooo furiously:: Okay. Found the real version. I'm soooo sorry. And REALLY embarassed. Anyway. Please excuse me for my sheer idiocy. ::sigh:: Here's the real one, tho! :) Oh, and spelling errors are my own because my spellchecker is broken until my dad brings me the new disks so I can re-install word-perfect. ::sigh:: I've done my best to catch things, but if there is anything and anyone spots it, please let me know because I can't run a spellcheck until I get my wordperfect program fixed. ::sigh:: ~ Feedback: Yes, please, to KylenRevik@aol.com. Time: Takes place between Angel turning evil and the Oz-is-a-werewolf ep. Distribution: Not without my express permission, please. ~ "The Path of Least Resistance" "So, Xander Harris. How do you feel?" The voice asking the question was low, cruel, controlled. From where he'd been shoved, in the corner of a small, dark room, Xander glared up at his captor. Angelus' eyes met his prey's, and the smile he'd been wearing widened a bit. "Well?" he asked again, "How do you feel?" Xander shrugged, feigning a nonchalance he didn't feel, deep in the pit of his stomach. "How am I supposed to feel?" he asked. "You've got me locked up in the middle of nowhere, and it's three in the morning." He was exhausted, he knew, and he thought he might be scared, but there was no way he was going to tell that to _Angelus_. He shook his head. "If you were a hot _woman_, I might be feeling something, but you're not. So I'm not." Angelus laughed. "You know," he said, crouching across the room, "you're a funny guy, Xander." He shook his head, chuckling again and resting his chin in his hand. "A really...funny...guy." The two watched each other for a silent moment before Angelus spoke again. "I could keep you around for a laugh, I suppose," he said quietly, standing without using his hands for leverage. Slowly, almost cautiously, the predator walked in a wide arc around Xander-- and the high schooler watched his every move as one stalked would watch the one stalking him. Only then did Xander really realize how close he was to panic. Then again, he supposed, he was completely defenseless, and locked in a room with the most powerful vampire he knew of. Why shouldn't he be panicking? "Look," he finally said. "Is there some reason I'm here?" With yet another eerie chuckle, Angelus nodded. The dark, almost bitter laugh scared Xander almost more than the silence that had preceeded it. "Of course there's a reason," he snapped when the laughter died off. The way he was looking at Xander seemed to add a "you stupid, petty mortal" to the end of the statement, but that might have been Xander's imagination and paranoia speaking, and not what was implied in Angelus expression at all. "And..." Xander finally ventured to say, albeit uneasily, "um, what would that reason _be_? " "Simple," Angelus said, his arcing path closing in by about half a foot. "You're in love with Buffy." Xander's jaw dropped. "Of all the-- I-- that--!" He hadn't been expecting that at _all_. In fact, he'd been thinking more along the lines of Angelus not liking his hair, or Angelus wanting to dine on a nice, tasty high school student. His reaction had obviously been the one Angelus had intended to get, because the vampire smiled. "She's good in bed, you know that?" Xander's eyes widened slightly. "Excuse me, but I didn't want to--" "--Know that? Do you take me for an idiot, Harris?" Angelus shook his head. "You hated me from the day I walked into her life." A fang-baring smile. "Because you knew I'd be the one who got into her pants first." Xander winced, not wanting to acknowledge the small amount of truth in the statement. Small amount. Very, very small amount. Because even if he did like Buffy-- hell, even if he loved her-- he didn't think it was quite fair to ascribe him such ignoble intentions. Besides. Unlike Angelus, apparently, he had never _acted_ on the attraction. Though not for lack of trying. He sighed. "If you're gonna try and psyche me out or something, I can tell you right now it won't--" He broke off in a choke as Angelus darted forward and grabbed him by the throat, pinning him to the wall. He gasped, struggling like a helpless kitten in the vampire's grasp. "Don't try to bullshit me, Harris," Angelus snapped. "You should know, there's no real way to win this argument." Xander clawed, futilly, at the fingers that were wrapped around his neck, his eyes bulging slightly as the air in his lungs was quickly being used up. "What's the matter?" Angelus asked, his voice showing a sympathy Xander knew was false. "Little boy needs a breath of air?" His lips twisted into a cruel smile. "Maybe, if you ask very, _very_ nicely..." Already pleading with his eyes, Xander choked something out that might have, in some foreign dialect, meant "LET ME GO!" It came out sounding more like a helpless gurgle. Still, Angelus let him go. Xander fell several inches to the floor-- then he crumpled down the rest of the way, so he was sitting, staring up all however many feet it was into Angelus cold, calculating expression. "So, Xander," Angelus said. "How do you think Buffy would feel if I left your body on her doorstep?" There was no answer. "Or if I turned you into a ghoul? Or better yet, a vampire?" Suppressing a shiver, Xander snapped, "I hope she'd have the sense to kill me." *You know,* he thought, *I wish I could have half the conviction _feeling_ that as I do saying it to this jerk.* Inwardly, he sighed. "Oh yes," Angelus replied. "There is that. Our Buffy _is_ notoriously soft-hearted, isn't she." "Something you'll never have to worry about being." "And thank the devil for _that_." Xander gave him a sharp glare, but Angelus wasn't phased. There were a few moments of silence, then Angelus reached up and patted Xander on the cheek. "Poor, misguided boy," he sighed. "You know, I'm tempted. I'm really tempted." He grinned. "But...no." "What are you--" "Don't interrupt," Angelus said, cutting him off. His tone was just angry enough to keep Xander from snapping a sharp reply. Instead, he froze-- until Angelus moved away and Xander could start breathing again. Angelus sighed, looking at him for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Still," he sighed, "I just don't _get_ this. What do you think she'd ever see in you?" Xander's forehead creased in confusion. "Why are you fixating on it?" he asked quickly. Too quickly. He tried covering himself with an additional few lines. "I mean, unless you've still got a thing for her, which we both know isn't true, what's it matter to you?" Angelus shrugged. "No reason. I just wasn't sure what you thought the Slayer would want to have that a loser like you has to offer." Xander looked at Angelus for a moment. "You're kidding about all this. Right?" Angelus shrugged, then shook his head. "Not really." "What is the _point_ to this?!" Xander blurted out. "Why does it even _matter_, if I'm in love with her or not, and how long are you planning on keeping me here?!" Angelus looked amused. "No point," he said. "Except that I like playing with my victims before I eat 'em." Xander felt another spark of fear at the expression that came across Angelus's face as he spoke the words. "T-take them?" he stammered. "What, um, exactly would you mean by, by that?" "This." Before Xander had the chance to dodge him, Angelus took a few quick steps toward him, then grabbed and forced Xander to the wall. Despite his best efforts, Xander found himself securely pinned, his struggles ineffective. Then, the vampire tilted Xander's head to one side, keeping him against the wall, and leaned in to lock his jaws over Xander's jugular. Later, Xander wouldn't know if he had passed out from lack of blood, or from fear. ~ Comments to KylenRevik@aol.com, please. ------------------------------ End of buffyfic-digest V2 #164 ****************************** To subscribe to buffyfic or buffyfic-digest, send the command subscribe buffyfic-digest or subscribe buffy to majordomo@xmission.com. You will need to go through a confirmation process, and the listowners have to manually approve your subscription request, so it may take some time. To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@xmission.com with unsubscribe buffyfic-digest or unsubscribe buffyfic in the body. Back issues of this digest can be found at: ftp://ftp.xmission.com/pub/lists/buffyfic/archive/ Dalton Spence has also provided an index of the buffyfic archive at: http://www.hwcn.org/~ag775/BUFFYFIC.HTM For help, contact Jill Kirby (jtkirby@mcs.com) or sah (romana@mindspring.com)