From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (buffyfic-digest) To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: buffyfic-digest V2 #249 Reply-To: $SENDER Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk buffyfic-digest Sunday, June 28 1998 Volume 02 : Number 249 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: "Fallen From Grace" (4/11) BUFFYFIC: Charlotte Sometimes (Part 40) BUFFYFIC: Charlotte Sometimes (Part 41) Re: BUFFYFIC:DISCUSS: Wet and Wild (1/1) BUFFYFIC: "Fallen From Grace" (5/11) 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: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 20:49:42 EDT From: Subject: BUFFYFIC: "Fallen From Grace" (4/11) Notes: Takes place the January or so of Angel's change. E-mail me for missing pieces. :) Disclaimers: Blake and the Coordinator, etc, are mine. The rest would appear to belong to High God Joss. Distribution: Not without my permission, please. Feedback: YES! To KylenRevik@aol.com, please, whether it be good or bad or something in-between. And now, on to the show! ~ Four Pike had lied to her. She had trusted him, and he'd lied to her. The thoughts had been repeating themselves in her mind since Giles had told Buffy what was going on, that the Network was going to try to kill her. There was a hole inside her that had been gone, or at least hidden, for close to two years. Pike's return had ripped it wide open, and now that she knew he hadn't been truthful with her, it was as if someone had splashed acid around the edges and left her to be eaten away. She knew she hadn't said a word all night, and she hadn't been much better the rest of the day, either. But now that they-- Buffy and Xander, because Cordelia was grounded for getting suspended from Pep Club, and Willow had to study-- were back at the Bronze, she was beginning to wish she'd stayed home as well. Xander was a wonderful friend, and lovely company, but he talked too much, and she was in the mood for silence. That, and she was dreading the inevitable moment when Pike would show up. Because somehow, she knew he would. "He just came in," Xander said quietly, nodding toward the door. Buffy didn't glance over her shoulder. She had positioned herself on this side of the table deliberately so that she wouldn't have to see him. Instead, she was going to sit and carry on inane conversation with Xander. Talk about stupid things. Or maybe dance. "You want to dance?" she said suddenly. Xander raised an eyebrow, then shook his head. "Not really," he said, "not after last time." Buffy felt a blush creeping into her cheeks, remembering how horribly she'd behaved toward him when she'd returned from LA last September. She nodded. "Point taken," she said. "What if we just went out on the dance floor and--" "Buff, you blew me off earlier-- if you weren't in school, what're you doing out now?" She took a sharp breath, then sighed, casting a desperately helpless look at Xander as she turned and shot a glare at Pike. "Trying to stay away from certain people," she snapped. He took a step back at the force of her voice, and swallowed. "Whoa," he said, his tone getting quieter. "Hold up. Did I do something wrong? Like deign to speak to you?" He shook his head. "You know, I thought you'd changed, but it's starting to look more and more like you stayed the same and the clubs you hang out in just got trashier." "Hey," Xander said, speaking up from across the table. "You want to watch the tone?" He glanced at Buffy, putting on a tough- guy look. "You want me to get rid of him?" he asked. "No need," said a new, fourth voice. All three of the arguing teens turned toward the voice's owner, and Buffy felt her breath catch in her throat. "Angel," she whispered, her gaze hardening. He shot her a sarcastic grin. "Hey there, lover," he said. Buffy felt her breath quicken, and she saw Xander take a step back from the corner of her eye. Her mind was racing as she tried to decide what she could do about this-- if there were anything she could use to defend either herself or the Bronze's other patrons, if Angelus tried to do anything to anyone. "Get lost," she snapped at him. "Aw, hey, Buffy, no need to be impolite," he said, taking a step toward her, almost menacingly. He flashed a smile toward Pike. "Come on, man," he said. "Don't bother with this rich bitch, she's too busy jerking you around to worry about anything you might have to say." Pike was glaring at Buffy now, and she swallowed. "Pike--" she started. But he cut her off. "Nah," he said, "that's okay. I think I'm gonna take his advice and book it." He shook his head. "Wish I could say it was good, Buff, but the fact is, aside from the first kiss-- well, it just wasn't." He took a step back. "If you didn't want to see me, you could have just said so when I first showed up." "Pike!" she called after him, but he was already walking away. "Crap," she heard Xander murmur. Angelus was just standing there, slightly off to one side, watching Pike walk away. "He could be tasty," he said. Buffy glared at him, then took a step to move past him and follow Pike. Angelus stepped in front of her, though, grabbing her wrist. "Not so fast, Buffy," he said, his smile turning cruel. "Who is he?" "None of your business," she snapped, jerking her wrist away from him. "Leave him the hell alone." "You wish," Angelus said. "Leave him _alone_!" she yelled, drawing stares from a few nearby clubbers. "What makes you think I'd ever listen to anything you had to say?" Angelus asked. Buffy glared at him, feeling Xander take a step closer to her. "What are you doing here, anyway?" "Scoping out the buffet," Angelus said with a smirk. "Nice, to be able to pick and choose around here, don't you think?" When she didn't answer, he shrugged. "Or not. See you around, Slayer," he tossed over his shoulder as he turned and walked away. Buffy took a full step to follow him when Xander put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Buffy," he said, "Is it just me, or would going after him when you're apparently in some kind of line of fire be an extremely _bad_ idea?" "But Pike--" "Is, according to what you told me Giles said, also out to get you." Xander shook his head. "But--" "You'd risk your neck for him anyway?" Xander shook his head and sighed. "Look, Buffy...it's a great sentiment, really it is, but it seems like you should be just _slightly_ more worried about keeping yourself alive." He smiled weakly. "For now, at least." They looked at each other for a long few seconds, and finally Buffy blinked with a sigh. "I guess." "Good!" Xander grinned, punching her arm affectionately. "Now, okay, if you really want to dance, that'd be okay with me, I guess." "No," she said quietly. "Never mind." Xander sighed, watching as Buffy turned and went back to the table to continue nursing her soda. * "She doesn't change, she just doesn't change," Pike murmured to himself as he walked along. What had he been thinking? To her, he was trash. A charity case. Oh, yeah, let's mess around with the scuz a little, let him think he's maybe worth something to a girl with class-- but when it comes down to it, no problems at all telling him he wasn't worth shit. Rich bitch. Benny had been right all along, Pike knew. Best friends, even if Benny was dead these days. Really dead, not living-dead. "But man, were you ever right." He'd peel outta town in the morning, then. Forget trying to get a good rate on a hotel room or anything, he'd camp out in the van and think about the best route to Phoenix in the morning. Maybe he'd go visit the Grand Canyon, first. This would be cool, then. Go on a trip to the Grand Canyon, camp out there a few days...Pike wondered if there were any vampires in the middle of the desert. And she'd seemed so _friendly_ the other night. Not all-over- him friendly like she'd been when they'd had their goodbyes, but...more let's-be-pals, you're-a-cool-guy sort of friends. Which was totally, completely okay with him. Because she'd been that kind of cool person the last time he'd seen her. Still getting over the whole thing about being a bimbo for most of her young-adult life, but hey, that was alright 'cause he'd been a loser for most of his. Now he went in to see her and her Watcher told him to get lost, and she went out that night and told him the same. Then that freaky guy he'd seen in the shadows his first night at the Bronze had come over and practically threatened to beat him up. Too damn creepy. No wonder this place was called a Hellmouth. Pike sighed, stepping up into his van, which he'd parked down the block a ways from the dance club. Then he pulled the door shut. "'Ello there," came a British-toned voice from the passenger seat. Pike looked up immediately, his eyes widening when he saw the guy who'd taken the passenger seat. "Nice clothes," he said, with a nod at the tweed suit the man was wearing. "Now get the hell out of my car." "Oh, I don't think so," the man said, turning his face toward the passenger window. "Drive, and we'll talk." Pike frowned. "Why should I do that?" he asked. The man drew a large pistol from his jacket, and aimed it directly at Pike's head. "Okay, good reason," Pike said as he turned the key in the ignition and pressed the gas pedal, shifting the car into gear and driving away. * "You're losing your touch," Xander said quietly, "'cause y'know, usually you'd have killed at least three of the guys who're leering at you by now. Not _this_ guy," he said quickly, "'cause I'm your friend so I'm _allowed_ to leer, 'cause it's in a joking, friendly, funny kind of way, but I mean those football types who've had their eyes glued to you the whole night." "Hm?" Buffy asked, looking up as she moved a little, half- leaning against Xander as the band played a slower song. She was exhausted, and yet somehow she didn't want to sleep. Xander sighed, then shook his head and adjusted his grip on her slightly. "Never mind," he said. "Look...you want to just go for a walk or something?" Buffy shrugged. "Whatever," she said. "Okay, then," he said. "Walk, it is." She nodded as he led her off the dance floor, and they left the club without further delay. ~ Comments to KylenRevik@aol.com, please! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 20:19:44 -0700 From: _-Sun-_ Subject: BUFFYFIC: Charlotte Sometimes (Part 40) Heh, once again - I'm sorry it's short. The next part should be out later tonight Charlotte Sometimes (Part 40) Drusilla awoke, never knowing she'd fallen asleep, to the sounds of screams. For an instant she thought it was her own voice echoing inside her head, then that of her sisters. And her fears were only worsened as she stood up lazily, to gaze over the stairs and look towards the large window on the first floor. She managed to get to the steps in time to see a large rock flying through the window, effectively shattering it. Drusilla gasped backing into the wall, as far as she could get from the stairs. And certainly from the window. Dropping down she crawled towards the railing looking out through the wooden bars. She listened to the chanting coming from outside the house, watching the large bright lights of torches sway back and forth, shacking her head in disbelief as she realized what they were saying. 'Burn the witch!' 'Child of Satan!' 'Go back from where you came'... A couple torches went flying though the broken window, immediately lighting the curtains and overstuffed chairs. Drusilla turned to run back into Lydia's room. Slamming the door and hefting the large wooden latch. She shook as she watched smoke come in through the cracks of the door, and looked towards the bed wondering if the sheets would keep the smoke out... "Demon," a voice hissed from behind her. Drusilla spun around, her hair flying in her face, and distorting her vision as she made out the shape of a man outside her sisters window. Her eyes widened in fear as he smashed open the window, tossing a torch inside the room, and began to enter through the window. "Go back from where you came, spawn of--" Drusilla watched in fascinated horror as his body was violently pulled backwards, she watched as her personal demon hissed, barring his fangs and killed the man - -- _-SuN-_ SD - Http://home.earthlink.net/~kbleyle/SD/index.html K - http://home.earthlink.net/~kbleyle/kinky/ Daylight licked me into shape, I must have been asleep for days. And moving lips to breathe her name, I opened up my eyes And found myself alone alone. Alone above a raging sea That stole the only girl I loved, And drowned her deep inside of me (The Cure) _ - _Spikette _ Dru's Dolly - Mercenary_ - _ _ - _ Head Dominatrix in the Evil _ - _ _ - _ Plan For World Domination, _ - _ _ - _ With Chains and Stuff _ - _ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 20:36:18 -0700 From: _-Sun-_ Subject: BUFFYFIC: Charlotte Sometimes (Part 41) What can I say? I was inspired Don't own them, don't want to (are you kidding? These characters are so much trouble!) Charlotte Sometimes (Part 41) "You," She whispered as the flames began their journey consuming the room. Within moments everything was on fire. All her possessions. All her memories. What was left of her tattered life was now being engulfed in huge flames. "You've killed..." She gasped as she realized what she was up against. He'd killed everyone nearer to her, everyone she'd loved and cared about... "My Angel.." Her brows furred together, as she realized she had one way out. Through God, though death. "...Why?" * He hissed at her when flames flew towards him. The sparks keeping them apart. "Drusilla. Let me in" He kept his voice soft, and well phrased. The whole house would be nothing more than ashes in less than an hour. Idiots, the lot of them. He would make sure to kill every single person in this town after the night... But for now he had bigger problems, like getting his love out of the flaming house before she was burned down with it. "Damnit Drusilla!" He screamed at her, as she fell backwards coughing. "Let me in!" "No" She shook her head the best she could, screaming as the bottom of her dress caught on fire. "I want to be pure!" she shrieked at him in a fury so unlike herself. She stomped on the flames, her vision rapidly blurring to the point that she couldn't open her eyes to mere slits without stinging sensation, the smoke tore apart her throat as she cried. * Alright. New approach "I know Drusilla" He said softly, hoping she could hear him. If anything happened to her, he was going to make sure this whole damned town paid. "And you will be pure," Angelus pushed himself to the window sill, trying to get up so he could see her "pure as god himself." Without luck, he gazed at the flames. His body begging him run. Drusilla blinked as she lay on the floor. "You just, need to let me in" He said putting his hand up against the invisible barrier that kept his unnatural presence out. "Drusilla." He asked, shocking himself by the amount of emotion his words carried. * "Angel?" Drusilla asked, now startling herself as her voice echoed back to her. Smaller, childish, lost perhaps. She opened her eyes to the stinging pain. She needed proof. Wanted him to say it! That he was her Angel! Not the demon. She couldn't face the demon again... Her body began to shake without her real consent as the images of her families bodies lined up in her mind, after that demon, had hurt them. Hurt them to hurt her! * "I'm here" Angelus pushed himself past the window's sill leaning on the barrier if nothing more, trying to get as close to her as was possible, his mind ignored the flames and sparks, he managed to still the nerves in his body that screamed for him to leave... But not for much longer, as fire came all around his absent mind. "Help me" She whispered. Angelus's body fell through the barrier, landing him on the floor of the child's room, at first he couldn't see Drusilla and he took a couple steps back, but before his instincts completely took over his eyes caught a flicker of her beautiful hair as it began to blaze. - -- _-SuN-_ SD - Http://home.earthlink.net/~kbleyle/SD/index.html K - http://home.earthlink.net/~kbleyle/kinky/ Daylight licked me into shape, I must have been asleep for days. And moving lips to breathe her name, I opened up my eyes And found myself alone alone. Alone above a raging sea That stole the only girl I loved, And drowned her deep inside of me (The Cure) _ - _Spikette _ Dru's Dolly - Mercenary_ - _ _ - _ Head Dominatrix in the Evil _ - _ _ - _ Plan For World Domination, _ - _ _ - _ With Chains and Stuff _ - _ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 20:24:41 -0800 From: groovy@snowline.net (Ivy) Subject: Re: BUFFYFIC:DISCUSS: Wet and Wild (1/1) ROFLMAO!!!! THis was the funniest fan fiction I've ever read! It was funny at the beginning, but the last line caused me to laugh for like 5 minutes straight!!! This was really good. More like this, it was so funny!!! Great job! - -Ivy ^ ^ - --------uUUu--| .| |. |--uUUu--------- IVY!!! | | (aka-Rachel) Lover of this ( ) cool stuff: SCREAM, TITANIC, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, South Park, vampires, poetry, JOSHUA JACKSON!, Jeremy London,David Duchovny, Nicholas Brendan, and Leo DiCaprio! +++++ "I'm the best sex you'll never have." - -Pacey, Dawson's Creek - -------| |------------| |----------- ( ) ( ) ooooO Ooooo Visit ODD-Obsessed with David Duchovny: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/4440/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 11:34:10 EDT From: Subject: BUFFYFIC: "Fallen From Grace" (5/11) Notes: Takes place the January or so of Angel's change. E-mail me for missing pieces. :) Disclaimers: Blake and the Coordinator, etc, are mine. The rest would appear to belong to High God Joss. Distribution: Not without my permission, please. Feedback: YES! To KylenRevik@aol.com, please, whether it be good or bad or something in-between. And now, on to the show! ~ Five Growing up with a dad who had a fetish about organized crime, Pike was not in a good way after driving for two hours. They-- he and the nutcase in the suit-- were on their way out of town, and the nutcase still had a gun pointed at him. The man hadn't spoken, except to tell Pike which way to turn and where to drive them. Nothing about what was going on, or why he was being kidnapped like this. Because that's what it was, even if the guy wasn't going to admit it, and Pike somehow doubted he would. "Stop here," the man said quietly. Pike touched the brakes lightly, and the van slowed to a stop as he pulled over. They were in the middle of nowhere, on a deserted two-lane highway. No lights, anywhere around them. Prime vampoid territory, Pike thought with an inward shiver. The man, however, didn't look to be phased. "My name is Alistair Blake," he said, his voice showing only a hint of emotion. "I am with the Watcher Network. We need your help." Pike raised an eyebrow. Talk about freaky. If this Alistair guy wasn't dressed in khaki, Pike would have been tempted to think he'd been abducted by MIBs. "Uh-huh." "You were once close with Buffy Summers." *Yeah, what of it?* All he said was "So?" "You've also been in communication with her in the past few days." Blake shook his head. "You know, Mister Pike, she doesn't seem to be the nicest of young ladies." "She's the Slayer," Pike snapped. "I get the feeling that doesn't leave time for the social graces." "Perhaps not," Blake said with a slight chuckle. "At any rate, my friend--" "I'm not your friend," Pike snapped. "Look, buddy, you want to put away the gun, we can talk. Unless you do that, though, I'm perfectly okay with sitting here and getting my brains blown out over the highway. If you're man enough to do it." 'Cause he had to admit, life was a lot less worth living if the girl he'd thought he had something going on with, possibly, might have been willing to put up with him a little more than it seemed she was. Aw, hell, who was he kidding? Deep inside, he knew he'd been entertaining thoughts of convincing Buffy-- who he had thought he would find a freshman in college-- to come with him to Phoenix. He sighed. Woulda been nice...but it was just one of those stupid dreams you got when you were too drunk to think straight. "Well," Blake said, "that's certainly not an unreasonable request." He slipped the gun away. "Mister Pike," he said. "Just Pike is fine," Pike said. "Never been much for titles." Blake nodded. "You read Watcher Merrick's literature, I understand?" "Yeah, so?" "Did it not occur to you that it would be in the best interests of the network to recover the materials of any Watchers who pass on?" "Yeah, so?" he repeated. "Perhaps you should have asked yourself at the time, Pike, why we wouldn't have picked the books up in your case, before you had the chance to see them." A slight smile. "You realize, of course, that we normally do not allow the books to remain where they might be found for more than a few days." Pike shrugged. "So?" "Just wanted to make a point." "You've made it. Make another one." Now, with the gun no longer an immediate threat to his life, Pike was willing to toe the line a little more aggressively. "In your reading, you doubtlessly came across the fact that there can be only one Slayer, correct?" "Yeah." And he had. Which had sucked, he'd decided, because it meant there was no way out for Buffy. "Well," Blake said slowly, "Recently, we've learned that may not be the case." Pike's eyes jerked up, and he was now paying complete attention. "Huhwha?" "Last year," Blake began, "there was an incident where Miss Summers lost her life. She was resuscitated," he said quickly when Pike opened his mouth to object, "but she had still been technically dead for a time." "And...what does this have to do with me?" "When she died, a new Slayer was called. This Slayer has remained active, despite Miss Summers' current living state." The corners of Blake's lips curled into something resembling a smile. "And we think this may be the key to destroying the Dark Threat." Pike felt his jaw drop slightly. "Excuse me?" "What we need from you," Blake said, ignoring the question, "is to arrange for Miss Summers to ingest a small amount of...this." He pulled a small vial out of his pocket. "It's a chemical that will, effectively, kill her for a length of time long enough to activate a new Slayer, and yet short enough so that she will be revived by another compound in the chemical before cellular decay has become irreparable." Pike frowned. "Whoa," he said. "You saying you want me to _kill_ her?" "Temporarily," Blake said with a slight nod. Then the smile widened slightly. "If all goes as planned," he said, watching Pike's expression carefully, "then we should be able to create enough Slayers so that your Miss Summers would no longer have to battle the Darkness, if she so chose." "I thought it was something she couldn't escape." "My boy," Blake said as he leaned forward, though he didn't appear that much older than Pike himself, "Up until last year, it was thought impossible that there would be more than one Slayer. Progress, dear Pike, soon proves every so-called impossibility to be merely another challenge for the human race to overcome." He pressed the vial into Pike's palm, then leaned back and opened the door of the van, stepping out. "Make whatever choice your heart tells you," he said, "but remember: this was never a legacy Miss Summers asked for." Pike glanced down at the vial in his hands, contemplating that fact-- and when he looked up, Alistair Blake was gone. * "Merrick was my first Watcher," Buffy said softly. Xander glanced up at the swing next to him, where she was sitting and absentmindedly pushing herself back and forth, digging her heels into the dirt beneath her own swing to keep moving. She hadn't said anything since they had arrived there, and he was surprised to hear that those would be the first words out of her mouth. He had sort of been anticipating that her first words would have been more to the effect of mentioning Angelus' appearance at the Bronze. "Really?" he asked. "What was he like?" Buffy shrugged. "Nice," she said quietly. "We got along." She shook her head. "I mean...it's not every day you find out you're the one destined to fight the forces of darkness, but...he was okay." She sighed, gripping the chains on the swing and pushing herself up till she was almost standing, only her toes touching the dirt. Then she picked her feet up and let herself swing forward. Xander sighed inwardly, not upping the rate at which he was swinging back and forth, but just staying quiet and listening to her speak. "What happened to him?" he finally asked. "You never talk about it." "Because it sucked," she said, her voice quiet but forceful. "It seriously, seriously sucked." She shook her head. "I mean, you know about how I killed Lothos, right?" Xander nodded. "Yeah," he said. "The seriously old vampire guy. The Master before the Master." Buffy nodded. "Yeah..." She trailed off a moment. "I was so confused about that, you know. Because he and his second in command were so _old_." She shook her head. "Giles explained it to me, though. He says Lothos killed off any vampires who got to be too much older than about three hundred. To make sure he stayed the most powerful. And his second in command was blood-bound to him, to ensure loyalty..." She trailed off. "Sorry. Rambling." Xander shrugged. Not as if it mattered to him. It was only nine-thirty, though it felt like it was later. And it wasn't as though he was planning on going to school the next day, anyway. "S'okay," he said. "But, okay, so if this Merrick guy died, and you left, where'd your friend find out so much about the Wiggmasters?" "He read Merrick's library, he says," Buffy murmured with a slight wince. Xander bit his lips. Whoops, bad question, he figured. So bringing up the jerk from the Bronze wasn't a good idea. Okay, that was fine. "Giles says he couldn't have, though." She sighed. "So he was lying?" So he knew he shouldn't ask, but he did anyway. *Great, Xander,* he told himself. *Way to be seriously sensitive.* But Buffy didn't seem to really mind. She just shrugged. "Seems like," she said quietly. "S'rough," he said. "But hey...you've still got me, and you know I'd never lie to you." He gave her a goofy grin, glad when she rewarded him with a slight smile. "'Cause, you know, I'm not really smart enough to keep up with a big web've stuff I'd hafta remember." He shook his head. "Which is why I will never be a political science major." That actually earned him a stilted laugh. Which, he supposed, was better than much of anything else Buffy had given him so far tonight, so it was a definite step in the right direction. She slowed her swing slightly, kicking her heels in the dirt, and when she'd slowed down enough she reached over and touched his arm. "Thanks," she said with a warm smile. "A lot." He shrugged. "No prob," he said as he returned the smile. They sat like that for a few seconds' time, neither moving until Xander broke the gaze, shifting his attention to his feet as he began to push himself back and forth a bit more. "So this Merrick guy was pretty cool?" he asked. "Better than Giles?" "Different than Giles," Buffy said. "But not better." "Cool." "Yeah," she said, with a smile of fond remembrance on her lips. "He's the one who told me to play this game my way." Xander grinned slightly. "So Giles can blame him, huh?" "Yeah, me being impossible is all Merrick's fault." She grinned and shook her head. "Bet he'd love to hear that." "Bet he would." Another silent lull took over them, and the only sound was that of the chains for the swings needing oil and trying to make that fact known to anyone who'd listen. Then Buffy sighed. "You know," she said quietly, "I miss him." "Giles?" "No...Merrick." She sighed. "Not that I don't love Giles to death, but..." She shook her head slowly. "I never...I don't know." She looked up. "Merrick..." She trailed off, then shook her head. "He knew stuff. Not like, book-knowing stuff, like Giles. I never saw Merrick touch a book the whole time I was there, but he was only around when we'd be training or other stuff..." She looked up. "Giles is more, you know, involved in the day-to-day stuff. There's not that kind of distance." Her gaze fell back to her lap. "I know stuff about Giles. Not much, but stuff, you know what I mean?" Xander nodded silently. "Yeah." "All I know about Merrick is his name. And that he wanted to be a bootmaker." Much as he wanted to pursue the conversation, something in Buffy's voice told Xander this wasn't a case where talking made things easier. So he sighed, reaching across the space between them to take her hand in his own. He gave it a quick squeeze, then...just held it. And the sound of swings creaking in the darkness filled the night air. ~ Comments to KylenRevik@aol.com, please! ------------------------------ End of buffyfic-digest V2 #249 ****************************** 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)