From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (buffyfic-digest) To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: buffyfic-digest V2 #218 Reply-To: $SENDER Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk buffyfic-digest Wednesday, June 3 1998 Volume 02 : Number 218 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: Unravelling the Depths (3/7) BUFFYFIC: Unravelling the Depths (4/7) 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: Tue, 02 Jun 1998 23:39:02 From: LDS Subject: BUFFYFIC: Unravelling the Depths (3/7) Title: Unravelling the Depths (3/7) Author: Dawn Steele e-mail: steele@lillonet.org Summary: Giles' POV in Nightmares (1st season spoilers) Feedback: Yes please. Good or bad. ;-) Distribution: SunS page Disclaimers: Not mine! Dialogue recognized is from Nightmares, and written by someone else who did a good job and got paid for it. Anything you don't recognize is mine. Random babbling explanation: Written in response to the SunS Chaos POV challenge (http://www.enteract.com/~perridox/SunS/). Previously published in the "An Alternate Viewpoint" fanzine (see http://members.tripod.com/~natmerc/avzine.html) which is currently out of print, but will probably do a second run in September. Ok? Unravelling the Depths By Dawn Steele (steele@lillonet.org) Part 3/7 The remainder of lunch was uneventful. I managed to get Buffy back well before the bell rang for her afternoon classes, and finished eating my own packed lunch in a hurry. The school had the local newspaper, The Sunnydale Press, delivered to the library each day for the rare cases in which students needed it for research purposes. If some monster or demon was terrorising the town, there was a chance it had started earlier on non-human victims, gradually building up in both scale and viciousness. The attacks would have been reported. As far as newspapers go, it was a fairly mediocre one, but all that could be expected in a relatively small town like Sunnydale. It usually ran to two thin sections, and managed to pack most world events onto the second page. The remainder was filled with local "news", and a large sports section. Normally, my research material was far older, and far more interesting. I spread out the newspapers onto one of the student tables, ready to skim through them for anything that would relate to Laura's attack. The headline blurred before me, the letters wavering and turning into squiggles before my eyes. Blinking, I found my eyes filled with tears, as if dust had gotten into them. Perhaps my glasses were dirty. A quick trip to my desk, and I carefully wiped my glasses off. Slipping them back on, I picked up my notepad. While here, I wanted to write down ideas for later perusal in the stacks. There was still a chance we were dealing with some sort of mischief demon, or perhaps an ogre had attacked Laura. Although there was no indication that, whatever it was, had tried to eat Laura, there was the chance it had been scared away before it had the time. My own handwriting... writhed. There really is no other way to describe it. Twisting in front of me, the words appeared to be in a foreign language. I grabbed a pen, and tried to write. I couldn't. I couldn't remember how to form the letters.... Sweat gathered underneath my arms, and my palms grew damp. Something was wrong, something was dreadfully, impossibly wrong. Books were my life, my main tool as a Watcher. How could I function without them? In desperation, I started thumbing through the books on my desk. English, Latin, German... none of them made sense! I threw one of the books onto the floor. I... I cannot say which one, because I could not read the cover to identify it. A ridiculous state of affairs, but... I sighed and rubbed my eyes again, before slipping my glasses firmly back on. The Sunnydale Press, rag though it was, was written in plain English. I would try again with that. I spent the next five, perhaps ten minutes peering at the newspapers, and stayed glued to them despite the urge to get as far away as possible. Trying to focus on the captions, and even determining the print date had turned into an impossible task. The only thing I succeeded in doing was scattering them across the table into a jumbled mess, and to give myself a dreadful headache. "This can't be!" Desperate thoughts turned to who might have cursed me, and spells that might reverse whatever the problem was -- but how would I read the spellbook? Who could I get to help me? Ms. Calendar? Behind me, I heard the library doors open, and the click of heels against the tile floors. "What's the word?" It was Buffy. Coming to check on my research. Expecting answers I couldn't give her. "Oh... I've got back issues of the paper." I lifted up the one in front of me and peered at the front page. As if it would magically make sense now that she had arrived. "Trying to do some research." She moved up next to me. "Did you find anything?" I coughed, clearing my throat. "I don't know." "You don't know if you didn't find anything?" "Having a problem." This was impossible. I wouldn't believe it except it was happening to me -- right now. "What is it?" Buffy's voice was questioning, but not worried. Why should she be? I had never had this problem before. "I... I can't read." He turned to look at her. Having admitted it seemed to solidify the problem; make it real in a sense that it wasn't before. "What do you mean?" Incredulous now. "You can read like, three languages." "Five actually." I smiled briefly. Five working on twenty-seven if you counted the grammatical variations through the centuries. "On a normal day." I looked closely at the newspaper in front of me. Even the pictures... "The words here don't many any sense." I threw down the paper in disgust, and walked away from the table. Closing my eyes, I focussed on trying to relax, and think the matter through. Behind me, I heard the rustle of papers as Buffy looked at them. "That's him..." "Who?" Did I care? "The kid I've been seeing around school." Buffy's voice changed, acquiring a different cadence as she started reading from the paper. " '12 year-old Billy Palmer was found beaten and unconscious after his kiddy league game Saturday. Doctors describe his condition as critical.' When was this published?" I watched her eyes turn towards the corner where the paper held the date. Why could she read it and not me? At the moment, the world seemed perverse and unfair. "... last week. Says he's in a coma in... intensive care." Stepping up behind her, I looked at the paper she was reading. It was still a mess of letters that made no sense... at least to me, but what Buffy was reading sounded familiar... a connection to the boy they'd seen in the hospital? "The first victim? You've seen him around the school?" "Yeah. First when the spiders got Wendell, and then when I didn't know anything on the history test. I thought it was weird seeing this kid around, but I... forgot about it." My mind raced, and I raised a hand to stop her talking for a moment. "The... the boy's been in a coma for a week. How could this be possible?" "What am I? Knowledge girl now? Explanations are your terrain." Yes, they were. Kind of her to point that out. I took off my glasses, and turned my mind away from the disquieting newspapers. I looked at the few clues we had as a whole, and was relieved to discover that my knowledge, unlike my ability to read, appeared to be in working order. "Well, um... there's astral projection. The theory that while one sleeps, one has another body -- an astral body -- that can travel through time and space." "Billy's in a coma, and that's like sleep, right?" "In a manner of speaking." I cleared my throat again. "Only one doesn't always awake from a coma." "Could I be seeing Billy's asteroid body?" Asteroid body? Surely growing up in LA, she had heard the term before? Apparently not. "Astral body, and I..." She gave me one of those exasperated "what does it matter" looks. Ignoring it, I continued on. "... I don't know. As usual one doesn't have... an inordinate amount of information to work with." Standing back up, I looked at the books surrounding me. There were plenty of "New Age" books I could study, but not many that were reliable. "Lucky 19..." Turning around, I saw Buffy was looking at the newspaper again. Suddenly, I heard the library doors being pushed open, and a rather tall, stocky man walked through. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere..." He appeared to be addressing Buffy... I slipped on my glasses in order to get a better look. "Why aren't you in class?" The man was smiling, but his tone.... Buffy rushed over to meet him. "Dad. What are you doing here?" was Buffy's father? Unexpectedly, I felt a wave of... an emotion I didn't want to identify, pass through me. I had never expected to meet the man, Buffy's father. The one who had raised her in her formative years, when she should have been under the safe care and strict tutelage of a Watcher. "You're not supposed to pick me up till after school." Barely pausing for a breath, Buffy quickly added, "is something wrong?" Buffy appeared worried, hesitant almost. I wasn't used to seeing her this... fragile. I realized that despite the long hours we spent together, she had never really spoken of her father. I didn't know how well their relationship was. She had told me he would be picking her up for the weekend, but.... "Well... I had to talk to you." The man was smiling. It was a familiar smile, and its confidence looked out of place next to Buffy's worried visage. "Something is wrong... Is it Mom?" "No, no -- it's not your mother. She's fine." He leaned forward until his face was next to Buffy's and lowered his voice until I could barely hear him. "Can I speak with you for a moment? Privately? "Uh, sure. Yeah." She turned towards me, and her face lit up. There really is no other way to describe it. A bit bewildered at the abrupt transition, I was unprepared for her to grab her father's arm, and drag him forward. "Oh! I'm sorry. Dad, this is Mr. Giles -- the librarian." Her voice sounded proud to make the introduction, and he reached forward to shake my hand. The librarian? Oh... yes. I suppose I would be "the librarian" to her father. Just another one of her teachers... I smiled a bit idiotically, and found myself in a minor tussle of grips as we tested each other's strength. "My pleasure." I managed to utter it while the smile was still on my face, and my fingers were being squeezed together into a pulp. "Likewise." Buffy reached forward and grabbed her jacket. "I'll be back." I watched as they headed briskly towards the doorway. Side by side, they appeared very dissimilar, the only resemblance in the colour of their hair, and their confident smiles. Except... Buffy's smile during most of the conversation had been noticeably absent. Still -- he was her father, and with Buffy living with her mother instead of in my care, I had no real "right" to question her relationship with her parents unless it affected her duties as the Slayer. No right at all. Turning back to the newspapers, I picked one up and peered at the spot where the headline should have been. Squinting, I saw the letters swim, and then... reassemble into normal New York Times lettering. Closing my eyes in relief, I felt a deep shudder pass through my body. That experience, whatever had caused it, had been more than I cared to think about. With the newspaper clenched in my fist, I walked back into my office, and sat down in my chair. I let the newspaper drop onto the table, and spent a minute running my fingers through my hair, and concentrating on taking deep, calming breaths. Feeling more myself again, I lifted up the front of the newspaper, and identified the article that Buffy had been looking at -- reading the sparse details over and over again with a thoroughness that had nothing to do with a desire for knowing all the reported facts. Perhaps it the boy's astral body that Buffy was seeing. The boy may have been nominally psychic before the accident, and the energy of the Hellmouth was allowing his astral body to roam free. It still didn't explain the incident with the spiders, or Laura's attack. Letting the paper fall again, I reached over to thumb through the books I had tossed aside earlier. After reassuring myself that my eyes were functioning normally, and that I hadn't suddenly gone mad, I decided to take a break before continuing on. A nice pot of soothing tea, my second of the day and my home country's general "cure all", would be a pleasant reward to myself for not falling apart -- before I tried to delve into "New Age" pulp written by idiots with no real credentials or actual experience. (end of part 3/7) steele@lillonet.org "I wouldn't be caught dead with a necrophiliac." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Jun 1998 23:45:36 From: LDS Subject: BUFFYFIC: Unravelling the Depths (4/7) Title: Unravelling the Depths (4/7) Author: Dawn Steele e-mail: steele@lillonet.org Summary: Giles' POV in Nightmares (1st season spoilers) Feedback: Yes please. Good or bad. ;-) Distribution: SunS page Disclaimers: Not mine! Dialogue recognized is from Nightmares, and written by someone else who did a good job and got paid for it. Anything you don't recognize is mine. Random babbling explanation: Written in response to the SunS Chaos POV challenge (http://www.enteract.com/~perridox/SunS/). Previously published in the "An Alternate Viewpoint" fanzine (see http://members.tripod.com/~natmerc/avzine.html) which is currently out of print, but will probably do a second run in September. Ok? Unravelling the Depths By Dawn Steele (steele@lillonet.org) Part 4/7 I was finished my first cup of tea, and just about to pour a second when Willow and Xander barged their way into the library -- noisily. "Red alert! Where's Buffy?" Xander said. Glancing over, I saw Xander finish pulling on one of the maroon Sunnydale High t-shirts. "She... she just stepped out. Her... her father came by." Whatever had happened to that awful printed monstrosity Xander was wearing earlier? "He... he needed to talk with her. Where are your other clothes?" "Oh! Don't I wish I had the answer to that question!" Xander appeared to be in quite an exited state. Even more exited than usual. I stirred my tea, and let them continue with their explanation. This sounded interesting. Willow, appearing more amused than anything else, started giving me the actual details of what had happened. "Xander kinda found himself in front of our class... not wearing much of anything." "Except my underwear!" Xander pointed out, now looking quite disgusted. "Yeah! It was really... " She glanced at Xander who was frowning at her amused tone, "... bad. It was a thing." "Bad thing? I was naked! Bad thing doesn't cover it!" Taking the spoon out of the glass, I set the tea cup on a coaster. With any luck, this explanation would only take a few minutes, and I would still be able to enjoy it. "Everyone staring... I would hate to have everyone pay attention to like that." Willow's voice had grown softer. "With nudity! It was a total nightmare!" I watched as Willow's face started to show... realization. She had thought of something. "Well yeah, Xander. It... It's your nightmare." Nightmare? Xander's nightmare, Wendell's nightmare... Perhaps...? " 'Cept the part with me waking up going 'it's all a dream' " He looked at me pointedly. "It happened!" "Like it happened to Wendell! That thing with the spiders? Wendell had a recurring dream about that." "I... I dreamt that I... I got lost in the stacks." In a daze, I walked through the short corridor from my office and into the main library area. This was important... and as the truth became stunningly obvious, I felt so incredibly . "... and I... I couldn't." In aggravation, I slammed a fist down onto the table beside me. "Of course!" Turning, I looked down at the newspapers. Both incidents, the one in the stacks and the problem with reading, were now explained. Even the fear, the worry, and the inability to think coherently that had consumed me -- were just part and parcel of a nightmare becoming reality. "Uh... our dreams are coming true?" I could always count on Xander being two steps behind. "Dreams? That would be a musical comedy version of this... Nightmares -- our nightmares are coming true!" My eyes unfocussed as I thought of the possibilities... people's darkest dreams taking shape, and intruding onto the streets of Sunnydale. "So why is this happening?" Still lost in thought, I answered Xander's question absently. "Billy." "Well. That explanation was shorter than usual." Xander turned to look down at Willow and said sarcastically, "it's Billy." Turning back to me, his tone became demanding. "Who's Billy?" "He's a boy in the local hospital. He was beaten. He's in a coma." Without thinking, I stepped towards them, eyes looking past them and into my office. There was a volume somewhere in there dealing with the psychic effect of trauma on reality... "Uh... Somehow, I think he's crossed over from the nightmare world he's trapped in." "And he brought the nightmare world with him. Thanks a bunch, Billy." Willow's eyes were puzzled. "How could he that?" How indeed? Rather, how to explain in less than three hours? "Things like that are easy when you live on a Hellmouth." "Well, uh..." Xander picked pointedly at the front of his new t-shirt, "we have to stop it." "And soon... or else everyone in Sunnydale is going to be facing their own... nightmares." I suddenly remembered a few that I didn't want to repeat. Or rather... more than a few. Up till now, I had only experienced relatively minor nightmares. What would happen when people's darker, more intangible fears, started surfacing? "Any of our nightmares?" Willow said softly. I glanced at her. She appeared a bit dazed, and... worried. "The Hellmouth must be amplifying whatever psychic powers Billy has." My mind sorted through the possibilities, connecting bits and pieces of knowledge gleaned through years of study. "It... it's quite possible, from the fact that these episodes are occurring more frequently, that they are now in resonance. As time passes...." "Uh! Resonance?" At my words, Willow's face had changed from worry, to fear. "Resonance. Fine." Xander placed his hands on his hips. "And I should care, because...?" "You know, Xander -- that film with the bridge?" Willow jabbed him in the ribs. "They showed it in science class last week." "What does an old film with a bridge falling down have to do with Billy turning everyone's insides to the outsides?" I interrupted. This was no time for a long explanation. "They could be in sync, with the effects growing faster and stronger every second that passes. Eventually, powered by a direct link to Hell, all of reality and the Astral plane could merge, and... Billy. Of course!" Another link in the puzzle finally became clear. "Billy? All of reality could Billy?" Ignoring Xander, I continued musing out loud. "As the Slayer, Buffy must have a considerably forceful presence on the Astral plane. why she's been seeing Billy. He would have been drawn to her." Buffy should have been back by now. Surely her meeting with her father wouldn't have gone on this long? "We need to act ." I headed for the doorway, knowing Xander and Willow would follow. When Xander passed me my scarf, I grabbed it automatically. "Buffy doesn't know this is happening, and given the sort of thing she tends to dream about -- it's that we find her" We were through the doors, and standing just outside the hallway. Students were milling about, and for whatever reason, the bells had not yet rung again to signal the start of classes. "It'll be faster if we split up to look for her." Wondering where Buffy would have gone to talk with her father, I slipped on my scarf, lost in thought. "Good idea." Perhaps the cafeteria? Time was of the essence. Walking away, I almost didn't hear Willow's final words. "Faster, but... not really safer." * * * The hallways were... strange. While no one was screaming, there seemed to be too many people milling about. Whispering to each other, and giggling secretively at hidden jokes. Pushing my way through one small-packed group that was blocking my way, I concentrated on reaching the cafeteria. Many of the students used it as a general gathering place to talk and get food from the vending machines between classes when they didn't want to go outside. There really seemed to be an inordinate amount of students in the hallway. Why hadn't the bell rung? The sun must have been blazing outside, because the temperature had gone from uncomfortably warm in my tweed suit, to almost unbearable. Why couldn't Buffy have lived in a more climate? It was too hot here. Suddenly, a fight between two students broke out, and I was pushed roughly against the metal lockers. They were oblivious to my adult presence, and the implied authority I possessed. Jostled hard, It took a minute for me to catch my breath. "Excuse me?" Perhaps Principal Snyder would enjoy interrogating them. "Stop this fight immediately!" The students around me... turned and looked right through me; whispering and laughing. I still couldn't make out what they were saying. It was... frustrating. The two combatants meanwhile, had been joined by others and now the numbers involved were increasing. Arms flailed about, and it was all that I could do to escape the rapidly widening area of conflict without receiving more than a few punches. Annoyed, hot, and very aware of time passing, I continued on. I couldn't deal with this now, I had to concentrate on finding Buffy. I looked past my shoulder, and noticed that the fight continued. Students stood all around me, talking and whispering, oblivious to the conflict that was heading towards them until they had been consumed by the fray. The fight seemed to be increasing faster now, heading towards me rapidly. I found myself forced to physically move students aside as they ignored me, and my requests for clear passage, barely keeping ahead of the fight. Along the way, someone had started playing loud, annoying music, and I felt the beat of the bass rattle my bones. I tried to walk faster, but the hallways were getting more crowded even if that would have seemed impossible moments earlier. It was almost jammed packed now. Bodies pressed against me, hands touching me, and that music making it impossible to think. With relief, I saw the door for the teacher's lounge ahead, and pushed my way to it. The door represented escape from the people intruding all around me. Escape, quiet and the comfort of adult conversation. Except when I got there... it was locked. I took hold of the door handle, and tried to turn it forcibly. Locked shut. I banged on the door repeatedly, shouting desperated, but there was no response from anyone inside. Turning around, there were students as far as I could see, and the fight was almost at me again. A mass of young flesh all set on their own paths, and oblivious to me. Oblivious. Billy. Fighting, and music, and bodies trespassing on my personal space. Billy. Nightmares.... I had to get out of this nightmare. Had to find the way, the key to the dream that would let me control it. Key... Of course! I forced myself to calmly turn around, and straighten my jacket. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled my ring of keys out, and inserted the correct one into the lock. The sound of the tumblers falling was audible even over the rock music that was blasting my through my body. When I went through the door... I found myself in an empty cafeteria. Buffy was nowhere to be seen. (end of part 4/7) steele@lillonet.org "I wouldn't be caught dead with a necrophiliac." ------------------------------ End of buffyfic-digest V2 #218 ****************************** To subscribe to buffyfic or buffyfic-digest, send the command subscribe buffyfic-digest or subscribe buffy to majordomo@xmission.com. 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