From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (buffyfic-digest) To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: buffyfic-digest V2 #340 Reply-To: $SENDER Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk buffyfic-digest Sunday, September 27 1998 Volume 02 : Number 340 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: The Chosen One (2/?) BUFFYFIC: Cursed #4 BUFFYFIC: My Past, Your Future (1/?) 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, 26 Sep 1998 15:46:53 PDT From: "Toni Walker" Subject: BUFFYFIC: The Chosen One (2/?) The Chosen One part 2 by Bradygirl An emerald glow penetrated every inch of the landscape above some nameless city they couldn't identify. Giles knew they had passed through the portal, but no one could really see where they were headed. They just knew they were falling toward a blip on a live map that flew at them at a break-neck speed. The group landed in awkward positions on a grassy area near an enclosure of buildings. Buffy was the first to regain consciousness. She brushed a colorful leaf from her face and gazed at the sky. It wasn't exactly blue, but it wasn't other worldly either. That was a relief, but to her dismay darkness came swiftly as twilight descended on the city. Buffy knew that twilight meant vampires. "Oh, my backside," moaned Buffy as her pain became apparent. Xander got up from behind Buffy and couldn't help but look at her assets. "And may I say, what a nice backside it is." He couldn't wipe the smile that spread across his face. "Xander!" the girls yelled in sync. "Hey, I'm just stating a fact. So sue me!" He threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "Giles, aren't there easier ways to pass through rips in reality?" Buffy really wasn't looking forward to the trip home if she had to fall that far again. It must have been over fifty feet. Who could fall fifty feet and live? "From what I've researched, yes. Angel must have wanted us to suffer." Giles groaned as he rose to his feet. "I don't think my back will ever be the same." "Thanks for sharing, watch-meister." Xander patted Giles on the back and he flinched a little. Suddenly, Xander realized something. The chorus of voices yelling at him wasn't limited to only Buffy and Willow. He could have sworn he'd heard Cordelia's voice, but that was impossible. Cordelia wasn't there when Angel zapped them to this place. The sound of twigs snapping made him turn on his heel. Cordelia was about ten feet from the rest of the group lying in a hay bale. Leaves and hay stuck this way and that out of her wet hair and clothing. She was a shambled mess. "You have some nerve Xander Harris!" she lamented brushing the dirt from her knees. "Looking at other girl's behi...well... looking at OTHER GIRLS, PERIOD! "My Cordelia, you have never looked worse. Mighty unbecoming. And may I ask-- pray tell, why is your hair wet? Did you hit a rain cloud on the way down?" "You sure know how to sweet talk a girl, dork breath!" "Are you going to tell us? Or are you going to keep us in suspense?" asked Xander nicely. "What?" Cordelia really had no idea what the lame brain was talking about. Maybe he just liked to hear himself speak. She knew so many people who were self involved like that. "Your hair?" "Oh, that. I was at the salon getting my nails and hair done." Xander watched Cordy take a deep breath and then waited for the selfish little witch to get her let-me-tell-you-what-happened-to-ME party started. "Phillip, you know Phillip, my hairdresser? Well, he wasn't there. That's just my luck, isn't it? So I had to settle for this frumpy old woman named Doris. I thought, God, what a horrid name. Couldn't her parents have picked something better? Sheesh. Anyway, she was going to cut my hair. Then I looked at her split ends and about died. Why was I letting her work on my hair when she looked like that? She had split ends from hell." "Cut to the chase Cordelia. We don't have all day," muttered Buffy. "LIKE I was saying before I was so *rudely* interrupted," Cordelia made sure to put emphasis on rudely. "I was getting my hair washed... Did you know there is still conditioner in here?" she said as she pulled at her black locks. "It better be the leave in kind." They had all gathered in a group around Cordelia once they realized she had been transported along with the rest of them. "Oh, my God!" cried Cordelia once she spied her reflection in the store window. "Why didn't you tell me I looked like this." She left them all and tromped into a place named Ballistixs. She poked her head out the door for a fraction of a second. "You don't happen to have a hair dryer, do you?" "No, sorry, not on me," mocked Xander. "Does that girl think of anyone besides herself?" asked Buffy. "Well... once. I think. But she didn't do it consciously. I think it was an accident," added Willow. "Now to the issue at hand," Giles took control since he was the only adult. Not to mention the fact that he was the watcher. "It appears Angel has vanished." "That's a *good* thing, right?" Xander and Angel had never gotten along too well, even when he was a decent vampire. Now that he was soul-less, Xander hated him even more. "No, Xander. It's not a good thing," said Giles as he cleaned his glasses. "We have to bring the vampires back to our own reality before they hurt anyone else in this place." The watcher motioned to the buildings around them. They were in the middle of some Halloween-ish display in the center of the enclosure. "Giles, it's called a mall. We have them back in our world too. You know, you *shop* there." Buffy couldn't resist the temptation to taunt her watcher. A slayer had so little fun these days. "You should try it sometime." Giles glared at Buffy, but she only smiled. He hated when she didn't take his assignments seriously. Today there were more lives at stake than her own. "Does anyone have a clue where we are?" asked Xander. "Oh, I do, I know," chimed in Willow raising her hand. She slowly brought it down self consciously. "We're in Salem." "How did you deduce that Sherlock?" said Xander in a snide tone. "It says right there on the wall, Salem Place. If this is Salem Place, then it's only logical to assume that this is Salem. Right? Or not right?" Willow's voice started out confident but the statement ended in a timid question. "Nice work, Willow," complimented Giles. "At least we know where we are. That's a start." A few minutes later Cordelia came out of Ballistixs wearing an entirely new outfit complete with new shoes and matching purse. Her hair was shining and appearance, flawless. "Well, don't you look nice. Doesn't feel good to get dressed up once in a while?" mocked Xander to Cordelia. "The shoes weren't exactly what I was looking for, but I guess they'll have to do," she said turning her foot this way and then that examining the loafer . "Cordelia, how did you pay for that," asked Giles. Out of her small purse she pulled a credit card. "I never leave home without it." "Well, that is promising. Very promising indeed. At least we know we're still in our own reality where we can use our own money." Giles took a deep breath and continued. "Now, let's find the vampires and get back to Sunnydale." "Yeah, team!" yelled Xander. "Giles, once we find Spike, Drucilla and Angel.... how do we get back home?" Buffy knew that the slaying was the easy part. The hard part would be finding the way home... if there was one. "Click your heels together three times and say..." Xander did his best impression of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. "There's no place like home. There's no place like home." Willow cast Xander a troubled expression. This was no time for fun and games. This was real life. Real life where real people could die. Real people like them. "Why don't we split up into teams," Willow suggested. "Giles and I will go this way. Xander and Cordelia will go that way...." "Hey, why do I get stuck with the ice princess? Can't I go with Buffy?" complained Xander. "...and Buffy will go this way. We'll all meet back here in an hour. How's that sound?" "Fine with me," said Buffy. "In an hour then." The three groups split off in different directions. Buffy didn't mind being alone. She slayed alone all the time. But this was a new and unfamiliar territory. She had a wiggy feeling about it already. Everything about this place was wiggy. No one was walking around. Where was everyone? Before she knew it she was down on the waterfront. "Hey, where did this pier come from?" she said to to no one. The pier had practically materialized in front of her. One minute she was in the mall and now she was on the waterfront. This was very weird. "Oh, this is definitely wiggin' me out." To her right was a small establishment called Brady's Pub. Maybe someone in there knew something. As she approached a blond man appeared at the door as if by magic. "Woah, where did he come from? This is definitely not reality. People and places just don't appear and disappear like this," whispered Buffy to herself. The blond man was about to enter the pub when a man ambushed him. It wasn't a man. That was a vampire. She'd recognize his ugly demon-like face anywhere. Buffy flew into action, literally. She performed a flying kick into the vampire's back, but he still held onto the blond man who seemed utterly shocked by the vampire's appearance. "What do you want?" he asked the vampire. "Here, take my wallet." "Buddy, I don't want your wallet. I want your blood." The vampire started to descend to the man's throat revealing his sharp razor-like teeth. "Let him go," spit out Buffy through clinched teeth. She hated seeing the innocent tormented by vampires. It really ticked her off. "Get out of here," the man yelled. "I think he's gonna kill me." "Not if I have anything to say about it, he won't." Buffy slammed her fist into a picket fence.Where it came from she didn't know, and at the moment, she didn't care either. The white wooden slats became very useful stakes. Probably not sharp enough, but they'd do in a pinch, and this was a pinch. She ran at them both, and bounded through the air piercing the vampire through the back. The stake stabbed him through the soft flesh of his back. The momentum of her falling forward pushed the wooden instrument straight into his heart. The vampire dissolved in a cloud of smoke. Buffy forward momentum hadn't stopped after killing the vamp. She ended up tackling the man and they both landed in a heap on the ground. He on his back and she on top of him. Finally she got a good look at his face. I know him, she said to herself. She stared at him with a sense of wonderment. "I know you. You're Mike, right?" "Have we met?" grunted Mike. Buffy got off him and he stood again. "I'm sure I would have remembered such a beautiful girl." "Ah, what a sweet thing to say. No wonder all the girls are crazy about you. No, we've never met." She searched her brain for a reasonable answer. "Someone... someone... pointed you out to me once." Whew! Well, at least she wasn't lying. It was sort of true. "And you remembered me? I'm flattered," said Mike as he brushed the dust off his jacket. "Are you new to Salem?" "Yeah, really new. I just... dropped in." Mike put his hand on the side of Buffy's face, and she thought she'd faint. She'd always heard that teenagers had raging hormones. Well, hers were raging right now. "That's quite a nasty cut you have there. Why don't you come over to the hospital with me and I'll patch that right up." "Sure," she said dreamily. "Anything you say. Are we going to University Hospital?" "That's right. I'm Chief of Staff there now." "I know," she said without thinking. "Can I ask you something?" Buffy nodded. "What happened to that guy?" "He ran off," she improvised. "I thought maybe he did. But for a minute, it looked like he dissolved into dust." Buffy laughed. "That's ridiculous. Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you." ***************** Carrie Reed stood a few feet away from Mike watching him and the cute blond girl talking. What was he doing with her, she wondered. Carrie hadn't been able to get Mike off her mind for weeks. Or had it been years? Why had it taken her so long to realize her feelings for him. Sometimes she felt so clueless. Like someone who knew it all was holding something back from her. She ducked back into the shadows as the two of them walked down the street and faded into the fog wafting off the pier. From behind her a hand came out from the darkness and closed over her mouth. "Hello, luv," cooed Spike. "Has Buffy stolen your boyfriend? Well, he is your boyfriend, isn't he? Even if you won't acknowledge it or accept it. I know all about you Carrie Brady Reed. I wonder what your husband would say if he knew that his Carrie-warrie was lusting after her best friend. I have an idea. Why don't we find out." Spike drug Carrie into the shadows and they both disappeared into the night. To be continued...... ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 01:40:27 -0700 From: taygeta@juno.com (C. Catherine) Subject: BUFFYFIC: Cursed #4 TITLE: Cursed #4 The Hope of Possibilities AUTHOR: Taygeta E-MAIL: taygeta@juno.com FEEDBACK: Yes, whatever the complaint. DISTRIBUTION: Sure, just tell me first. RATING: PG-13 DESCRIPTION: Someone's out to kill Angel...they're cursed...it's a whole curse concept. PRE-"Surprise" and "Innocence," so Buffy and Angel are still together. DISCLAIMER: The characters any such reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series belong to their creator, Joss Whedon, and their owners, Mutant Enemy productions, Kuzui Productions, Sanddollar Productions, and 20th Century Fox. In other words, they do not belong to me. Copyright infringement not intended. ***************************** Cursed #4 The Hope of Possibilities Idea by: Slayer01 Written by: Taygeta "Can't we just uncurse her?" Xander inquired when Buffy came back into the room, Angeless, "I mean, there's gotta be a spell, right, to counter the other spell?" "Giles?" the slayer asked as they all looked at the Watcher hopefully. "I - I'll check my books, but I have to admit, I haven't heard much about the Tidier curse. I didn't even know that Angel was the vampire involved. I thought the deed to kill had occurred and the Tidiers had been set free from their hex, but I suppose my initial thoughts are wrong," he said as he pulled volumes from the shelves. Willow sat in front of the computer and typed in Tidier. Her face scrunched in thought as she scrolled down, "Oh my God…oh my God…" They turned to her and behind her, surrounded the small screen. Buffy glanced at her red-headed friend, "What? What's wrong?" "This site has excerpts from the actual diaries of some of the hexed," she replied, "Listen to this…" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I am the first of the Tidiers to face this, I suppose, but as the first to be cursed, it is not a privileged rite. I am but human and cannot kill that which is innocent…I do not even believe I could kill that which is guilty. Soul-encumbered he is now and thus he shall remain for I cannot even begin to try to destroy that which no longer bows under the control of the heartless and cruel Angelus. Though it maybe the same body, 'tis not the same spirit inhabited. How does one live their life with the knowledge that doom is looming overhead? How does one live their life knowing destiny is falling into the world of the gone and the mad? Moreover, can that state even be considered as even the slightest portion of the living realm? I think not, although I wish not to think, as I wish not to be mad, as I wish to live and dream as others do, but sadly 'tis not my choice to make. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "William Tidier was found with a gunshot bullet to the head a few days after his last entry," sighed Xander and he shook his head, "I guess, he found the control he wanted with his life." "Yeah, the control to make that life go away. I mean, imagine the choice they had to go through. Either they killed someone that they didn't believe was at fault or go mad trying," Buffy said and she turned to Giles, "I can't let that girl do that…either or, there has to be a cure." The Watcher took a deep breath and nodded, "If there is, we shall find it. Now, you take those books over there, Willow, fiddle with that god-awful machinery if you wish, and Xander - " "Just call me Book Guy," he said sitting beside a stack of books and opened the first one on top. "All right," Giles said as he sat down and began to read the tiny print of the dusty leather-bound volume. Buffy turned the first few pages and stopped as she glanced at her Watcher, "Giles?" "Yes?" he asked looking up. "Y-you don't think she'd do anything…do you?" Buffy asked worriedly, "Y'know, like take on the ancestral act of being non-living?" He blinked and thought, "Oh, God…s-she must highly unstable if she knows…um…Go." "Consider me gone," she said as she grabbed her bag and headed out of the library like a fury. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Leifa roamed the dark streets of Sunnydale, it was still a few hours until sunup, and she could feel a certain evil atmosphere about, stronger than it had been when she come during the day. This place was obviously not your average quiet neighborhood. "Hey little girl," a voice said in the dark alley of one of the buildings. "Speak of the devil," she muttered under her breath as she walked passed the alley. "Hey, I was talking to you," the gruff voice announced as she felt her arm being grasped by a slimy, dirty hand. "Yeah…well, talk this," she replied as she elbowed his stomach and kicked him to the floor. He glared at her before he stood up and walked away muttering, "What a crazy bitch…" "I see you handled that pretty well," Buffy said coming from behind her. "Slayer," Leifa said in surprise as she saw the blonde come behind her. "I have a name, you know," she immediately prompted blinkingly. Leifa nodded and said with raised eyebrows, "Buffy…right…" Buffy frowned, "Well, don't wear it out…" "Sorry, it hasn't exactly been the best of days," she replied, "I, uh, had a mission and was about to proceed with it without much of a conscience, and that failed when I gained the necessary conscience." "So, you know?" she said looked at her softly. "Yes, your boyfriend's cursed, I'm cursed, it's a cursed world," she replied, "but as I see it, your soulidified boyfriend got the better end of the stick." "Well, I'm not here to debate who's got the better curse," Buffy said, "I'm here to tell you that whatever happens, I don't want you to go about ending anything." Leifa looked at her carefully, "You think I'm going to kill myself?" "Yeah, I think you're very capable of it," she said straighforwardly, "It's either that or killing my guy and I can't really let you do that." "You'd rather have me go mad than to see your boyfriend dead?" "No, I'd rather that *neither* happen. I'd rather have you be a normal teenager doing without the whole 'killing because of my curse' concept *and* have my boyfriend keep his soul-bearing undeadness." "I'm sorry, Buffy, but it's one or the other, there's never going to be a both," Leifa replied and began to walk away. "Hey," the slayer said as she pulled her back with a jerk, "That's it?! You're going to give up?! Kill yourself or go mad?" "What makes you think I'm not going to kill him?" "Because you would have done it already! You would have trailed us to find his apartment and probably attack him during the day!" "So I'm not going to kill him - I can't kill him - but I can't kill myself and I don't want to go mad, but it's not like I have much of an alternative, what do you expect from me?! You don't even know me!" "Maybe not, Leifa," she replied, "but I don't want you to die or go mad. I know what it's like to have death looming over your head all the time, okay? It's not pretty. As strong as you may be, as much as you are a fighter, it's still there. So, maybe I don't know you, so maybe I can't really understand what's going in your head right now, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let your nightmares become reality." ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 16:58:43 EDT From: Aglx@aol.com Subject: BUFFYFIC: My Past, Your Future (1/?) Title: My Past, Your Future (1/?) Author: AnGeL X (Aglx@aol.com) Distrbution: Just Ask! Spoilers: Takes place after Becoming Rating: PG-13, language Description: I'm not giving anything away. Deal with it! Disclaimer: Catherine and some of the story ideas are mine. I own nothing that's really Buffy, never will, don't sue. Feedback: I live for it. This is a new story for me, while I wait for Love's Revival to go through the finished editing stages. ~ ~ ~ ~ Step by step, her long black hair swayed back and forth. Glistening at times in the light from the few street lamps in the area. Her short black skirt constantly riding up to a height even she knew was too short for the neighborhood she was walking in, but it was too late. Half way to her destination, and already late, she didn't have time to go back and change. Hoping no one would spot her alone on the street, she continued on, walking as fast as she could without standing out. A hand shot out of the alley on her right and wrapped itself around her mouth, pulling her into the pitch black area. He head smacked up against the brick wall and her eyes flew wide open, catching just the slightest bit of her attacker's face. The street lamps didn't hit this area any better than they did the actual street and his face was, for the most part, shadowed. "Don't you move. Just do what I say, and maybe I'll let you live." Tears streaming down her cheeks and obstructing her vision, she managed a whimper agreeing to his terms. Like she had much of a choice. A car started down the street but her back was to the direction it was coming from. The man peeked around the corner and cursed under his breath. Grabbing the woman's arm tightly and ripping her from the wall and down the alley way, the man tried to escape the police car starting down the street. The woman struggled to keep up with him as he dragged her behind him. She didn't want to think about what he'd do if she fell. The stiletto heels she was wearing weren't helping any either. Pretty sure she already twisted both ankles, she continued to struggle behind him, unable to scream behind the hand that stayed clamped around her mouth. After safely making it to another alley, at least three blocks away, the man slowed down and threw her up against another brick wall. "Now, where were we?" He said, with a smile that covered his face. "Is this the best you could do?" A tall woman with short dark hair walked over, gracefully stumbling on each step. Her face too, was shadowed by the non-existent light in the alley. Only the moon gave the effect of their silhouettes. "She's perfect. Young, beautiful, everything he wants." "Whatever. Just don't hurt her. If we bring in damaged property, we'll be dusted by dawn." The woman stayed back, leaning up against the adjacent building. "Relax. I'm just going to...break her in." "You do that, and I'll kill you myself." "Oh yeah, that's right. Your sole purpose is ruining all my fun." "A girl's gotta get her kicks somehow." The woman still pinned against the wall with the man's hand across her mouth just watched the two in their discussion. She tried to focus on their faces through the tears in her eyes. The woman with short hair looked like her face was deformed somehow but neither could make eye contact or focus on eachother's faces in the light. "Well, little lady. Looks like you get to go to the boss, brand new. It's a shame, but I'd actually like to live to at least a hundred and well, I don't think that'll happen otherwise." He grabbed her neck with his free hand and pulled her towards the street. The woman with the short brown hair took a look around the area and then threw open the sewer drain in the middle of the street. The man followed closely behind and tossed the girl down first. She was startled by it and landed face down in the disgusting water. Her captors followed in after and quickly picked her up as to avoid her escape. "Move!" The man ordered and pushed the girl forward through the ankle high water. After walking for about ten minutes, the stopped at a staircase leading up. The brunette woman went up first and lifted the grate covering the hole. The girl was pushed up after. Once at the top, the brunette caught her and dragged her towards another room. The man following after putting the grate back in it's rightful place. After a glance at the young girl's face the woman suddenly burst out laughing. "What?" The guy asked as he walked up to the two women in front of him. "Damn, Jason, what the hell is the matter with you? You caught a Slayer! And you didn't even know it!" She grabbed the arm of the girl and spun her around for him to see. Grabbing the long black hair of their capture, she pulled the wig off revealing the short blond hair of the Slayer. ~ ~ ~ ~ What will happen next? You'll just have to wait and see. But I won't send anything more until I get some feedback! - -Michelle ------------------------------ End of buffyfic-digest V2 #340 ****************************** 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)