Title: Buffy and Angel On the ‘Titanic’
Author: Goldy
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: You have three guesses. Oh, and FYI WB is not one of the owners. Actually they have Ats right? Ah, well…
Synopsis: Buffy takes a trip on board a legendary ship called the ‘Titanic’ wanna take a guess to who she meets and falls in love with?
Category: AU, B/A
Spoilers: Not very many. Um, there’s characters named Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow, and Angel?
A/N: Well this is going to be my first big AU story. Although, it does have basically the same characters and Buffy is still the slayer and Angel is still a vampire. I’m sorry if I got a lot of historical information incorrect. I did do research, but I was never on board the ‘Titanic’ and I did have to alter some things to make the story line the way it is.
Dedication: My wonderful beta, Jennem. Though, I don’t think she started correcting until about part 4, so if it’s terrible up to that point… it’s my fault.

Feedback: Make me a happy little girl and give it!
Rating: PG


Part 1

"It’s not *that* big," Buffy said cocking her head.

Giles took off his glasses and squinted and the apparently not very big ship. "It would be 11 stories high if you stood it one end. Although, despite it’s great size it is deemed—"

"Unsinkable?" Buffy finished with raised eyebrows.

Giles glared at her, "Quite."

Buffy smiled and shrugged apologetically. "There’s only so many times I can hear you say that."

Giles made a clucking sound with his tongue, "Ahh, there’s your mother. I’ll go see if she needs assistance."

Buffy smiled fondly at her watcher’s retreating back. He could be so stuffy when he was annoyed with her. With a short bitter laugh, Buffy returned to studying the ‘Titanic.’ She had to admit that it was a rather impressive ship. Just not *too* impressive.

"I could sink it," she muttered under her breath before turning away.

When Buffy caught up to her mother and Giles she found Giles trying desperately to hold on to three very large suitcases and her mother openly gawking at the ship. Buffy grabbed two of the suitcases from Giles and held them easily. He narrowed his eyes disapprovingly at her.

Buffy smiled sweetly and shrugged. She knew that Giles hated it when she didn’t act like a proper lady. As a girl in the early nineteen hundreds she should not be carrying her own luggage. But she knew that there was no way Giles would be able to carry the heavy bags, and to Buffy, they were as light as a feather. Besides, Buffy was anything *but* a proper lady.

"Dear, I’m sure there are people hired to do that kind of thing for us," Joyce Summers said disapprovingly to her daughter. "After all, it was so kind of your father to buy us first class tickets. Especially on a ship as grand as the ‘Titanic."

"It’s a little late for that now mother," Buffy interjected quickly. "It’s time to get on the ship." She so did not want to hear another lecture on how kind her father was being, which would really only be for Buffy’s benefit. The only reason that he was in America to begin with was because him and Joyce had had a big argument before coming across seas. It was always like that with her parents—they fought and then made up when Hank did something nice for Joyce. Buffy thought that they should just get a divorce already, but her mother was afraid of what people would think of her. Society wasn’t particularly kind to divorced women. It didn’t matter how many times Buffy’s father cheated on her mother… they would always be together.

Buffy dreaded the fact that she would ever have to get married. Her mother had been bugging her about it for the past few months. She was seventeen now and should be finding a nice suitor. But Buffy knew that she would never marry. She couldn’t stand the idea of being tied down to a man. Plus, she didn’t even know if she would live to see the end of the week, not to mention a long life with the man of her dreams.

Buffy, her mother, and her watcher slowly made their way up the huge ramps to get on board the ‘Titanic’. Buffy, despite trying to seem as if the ship was nothing special, couldn’t help but drink it in with hungry eyes. While the ship looked huge from the docks, up close, it looked a lot more like its 11 stories. Buffy wondered how the ship would ever be able to move with its three bulkheads, and marveled at the fact that it was one of the fastest ships to have ever been built.

Inside, the ship was even more impressive. Buffy wasn’t sure if it looked like this for the third class passengers, but from where she was, the wood paneling and marble literally glistened. She had to hold her breath and bite her cheek to keep from gasping out loud like her mother. She turned to her right and saw Giles standing with his glasses off, frozen in the middle of cleaning them, and his mouth hanging open. She elbowed him in the side and was rewarded with a very annoyed, "hmmph."

A pretty red-haired stewardess approached them. She had a narrow face positively sprinkled with freckles. Buffy was sure that she couldn’t be any older than her. The girl smiled nervously at Buffy and Buffy grinned back trying to put her at ease.

"Hi. I’m Willow," the red-haired said, and for some unknown reason Buffy immediately like her. "I’m here to escort you to your rooms and get you anything you may want."

The girl seemed nervous, and though Buffy was holding on to two bulging suitcases, she linked arms with her. "Great," Buffy exclaimed with another friendly smile, "I was hoping that I’d meet someone interesting on this trip."

"Buffy!" Her mother protested loudly, "I’m sure that poor Willow’s job is hard enough. She doesn’t need you taking up her time.

Willow blushed. "No, it’s okay. It’s nice to meet you Ms. Summers."

Buffy raised her eyebrows at the formality of the name. "Call me Buffy, please."

Willow gave her a real smile and nodded her head still blushing furiously. She held on to the arm that Buffy had thrust upon her and led the way through the B deck. Buffy’s, Joyce’s, and Giles’s rooms were all in a row. When Buffy saw her room she couldn’t help but let a small squeal escape her lips. She gave Willow an impulsive hug as she bounded about exclaiming at the fact that she got her own bathroom equipped with towels and running water.

Willow grinned at the girl. Gone, was the shyness of before. Willow, having only known Buffy for an hour, already liked the girl immensely. Willow had never meant anyone with the amount of boundless energy that Buffy possessed. She didn’t feel at all taken aback by Buffy’s blunt ways.

Buffy sat Willow down on the bed and without even realizing they started having a regular conversation as if they had been friends forever. "I can’t believe that you’re only 17! Here you are waiting on a girl your own age still living at home." Buffy exclaimed.

Willow shrugged. "Well, my family doesn’t have all that much money. I wanted so badly to go to college, but that was mostly out of the question. Besides, my father didn’t think it was appropriate for a girl to be as smart as I was. When, my best friend, Xander, got hired working on this grand ship he managed to get one for me, too. Which, is nice because I haven’t been in America since my dad moved across seas eight years ago."

Buffy noticed the way the girl’s eyes lit up at the mention of her friend Xander. "So, Xander… just a friend…?"

Willow’s face turned crimson. "Um… he… I," Willow squeaked and Buffy looked at her patiently. "Xander is amazing as far as I’m concerned, but to him I’m just his "good friend Willow"."

Buffy frowned at her sympathetically, "Men!" she muttered under her breath. "Have you tried telling him how you feel?"

Willow gave a pathetic sigh, "I can’t! What if he’s so freaked out that he never talks to me again?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows. " I think that you’re a tad paranoid there, Will."

"No… I just… never mind, "Willow shrugged. "What about you? Who exactly is Mr. Giles?"

Buffy blanched visibly. "GILES? ARE YOU KIDDING???" Buffy took a deep breath and reminded herself that Willow didn’t know that she was the slayer, and the reason that Giles had to come with her everywhere was because he was her watcher. Although, having only spent ten minutes in the room with the young women, Buffy felt that she should know everything about her.

Willow paled, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…"

Buffy shook her head. It seemed obvious to her now why people would think that she was with Giles. He certainly wasn’t with her mother, and there wasn’t any reason as to why he was making the trip with the Summer’s women. "No, I’m sorry. That wasn’t very fair of me. It’s just that… Giles is more like a father to me. Or maybe a mentor. I just never thought of him… that way… and I was a little surprised."

"Oh," Willow muttered, "do you want me to leave?"

"WHAT??? Why would I want you to leave?"

"Because, I’m really just your maid and it isn’t very appropriate for me to be in here taking up your time like this."

Buffy sighed. "Willow, look, I know that I haven’t known you for very long, but it isn’t very often that I get to meet someone that is as interesting as you are. Most of my so-called friends only care about marriage… and marriage. But you… I don’t know… this just feels right. I know that I’m not making much sense, but even though we’ve only known each other for a few hours I feel like you’re my best friend. Like it’s destiny or something. Do you believe in destiny?"

Willow shrugged.

Buffy smiled but Willow noticed that her eyes seemed sad and she wondered why someone with so much money and security could look so happy and miserable at the same time. "I believe in destiny," Buffy said softly, "sometimes there are things in a person’s life that happen. And you have to deal with them because you don’t have any other choice."

"I don’t know about the destiny part, but I know what you mean about the friends part. It just feels… right. So, I don’t know, maybe some things are destined to be."

Buffy took Willow’s hand and gave it a squeeze. "Good answer."




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"Mother, do you have enough clothes?" Buffy muttered in disbelief as her mother unpacked yet another dress from her still bulging suitcase. Buffy was pretty much regretting ever having the bright idea to come help her unpack.

"Don’t be silly, honey. Compared to many other woman my age I don’t have very many clothes at all."

Buffy raised her eyebrows; "I’m going to keep you to that."

Joyce let out a small chuckle, "You wait until your forty five and then we’ll talk."

"You’re not forty five, mom," Buffy smirked.

Joyce frowned at her daughter trying to look angry but Buffy could see that she was struggling not to laugh, "You’d be surprised."

Buffy flopped down on her mother’s king sized bed and closed her eyes, "Well, if this is the kind of treatment you get at forty five then I’m not going to complain."

Joyce hit her with the now empty suitcase, "That’s it! OUT!"

"Hey!" Buffy protested, "What did I do?"

"You made fun of your mother’s old age."

"I did not such thing! You made fun of your old age. I, on the other hand, stuck up for your age."

"A proper daughter would listen to her mother when she was sent from the room, rather than arguing."

"Yeah, well, a proper lady would never bring up her age."

Joyce collapsed next to her on the bed, "Well, I was never a proper lady."

Buffy took her mother’s hand, "Oh, so that’s who I get it from."

Joyce shook her head, "*What* am I going to do with you?"

"Love me forever and ever."

Joyce smoothed back a piece of blond hair that had come undone from Buffy’s unfashionable ponytail, "Forever and ever," she repeated.

"It’s a long time," Buffy said.

"I think I can manage," Joyce confirmed with a loving smile. "What I still want to know is why Mr. Giles had to come with us."

Buffy sighed. ‘Good-bye happy moment hello arguing,’ she thought tiredly. Buffy’s mother didn’t understand her relationship to Giles at all. It was just that Buffy didn’t think that her mother was quite ready to hear that her darling daughter slayed vampires and demons for a living and that Giles was a key part of her survival. Not to mention the fact that it probably wasn’t by chance that they were going to America. Giles hadn’t told her anything yet, but Buffy had learned that things in life weren’t what they always seemed to be

"Giles is one of my best friends, mother. And he is paying his own way, so I don’t know what the big deal is," Buffy offered nonchalantly not giving anything away. It was actually the watcher’s council that was paying for Giles to come across seas with his slayer, but Buffy conveniently left that fact out.

"I know that, Buffy," her mother said crossly, "I’ve heard that explanation more than enough times. I just… I don’t know… are you sure that there isn’t anything going on between you and Mr. Giles?"

Buffy sighed. This was the second time today that someone had asked her this question and Buffy was getting very tired of it. "No, mother, there isn’t anything going on with me and Giles."

Joyce looked pained, "I know that’s what you say, but sometimes I feel like there is a lot in your life that I don’t know about. I love you, Buffy honey, but I wish that you talked to me."

Buffy bit her lip. She did feel bad about lying to her mother. She knew that she hadn’t been lying exactly, but it certainly felt like. But Buffy knew that Joyce wouldn’t be able to handle the truth. "I do to talk to you!" Buffy cried indignantly forcing a smile. "I talk about lots of stuff! See I’m talking right now!"

Joyce gave a soft chuckle and punched Buffy on the arm. "Get out of here."

Buffy got up grinning. "I thought you loved me!"

"OUT," Joyce said pointing towards the door.

Buffy let out one last laugh before leaving the room shutting the door quietly behind her.




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"I’m bored," Buffy pouted watching Giles unpack. "Please tell me you packed something besides tweed in there."

"Buffy," Giles said shortly, "do go away."

Buffy groaned. Why was it that people kept kicking her out? "Isn’t there some demon that’s going to take over the ship that I have to stop? Or even a small measly vampire I have to slay? It’s a really big ship. Just waiting to suck the world in to hell."

Giles turned around and faced her, "Buffy, you have some time off. Enjoy it."

Buffy made a face, "Someone’s a little grumpy."

"Yes, well, you would be too, if someone was standing behind you critiquing your choice in apparel."

"Giles," Buffy whined, "I’m bored."

"Go explore the ship," Giles suggested.

"Don’t feel like it."

"Well, then, go bug your mother."

"She kicked me out," Buffy sighed.

Giles looked at her kindly taking some pity on his slayer. "Go dress for dinner. It will take you at least an hour and I want you to make sure there aren’t any vampires that sneak on the ship after dark from Cherbourg."

"Fine," Buffy muttered, "and I thought this was supposed to be my time off."

Giles gave Buffy a fond look as she made her way out of his room. She was quite frankly one of the most stubborn people he had ever met. Her approach to slaying and to being the slayer in general was somewhat disconcerting, but Giles learned to admire her for her different ways. Although sometimes he wondered exactly what kind of reaction he would get from the watcher’s council if they found out that he actually let her go to school.

Giles cared for Buffy the way that any father would care for a daughter, which was also frowned upon by the watcher’s council. But he figured that the council wouldn’t be able to do much if he was across seas. What he hadn’t told Buffy yet and didn’t really want to tell her was that their moving across seas wasn’t by chance. A new master vampire had risen and Buffy was needed to stop it. The only thing that Giles was happy about was that Buffy got the time to be normal girl on one of the grandest ships ever built before going back to fighting the war.


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Buffy gave a deep agonizing sigh as she attached a wooden stake to her leg under her dress. She was probably the only lady on the whole ship that didn’t look for the newest fashion when she was picking out a new dress. Instead, Buffy got to look for the best dress suitable for concealing weapons. Willow had offered to help her get into her dress. Buffy had politely but firmly turned her down. She knew that her mother had someone to help her get into her clothes, but ever since Buffy had turned 15 she had realized that she had better learn how to dress herself.

Although she was glad that Giles was allowing her to do some patrolling, even if it was fairly certain that no vampire would come aboard the ship. Still, some passengers from Cherbourg would be getting on after dark and it was better to be safe than sorry. Buffy liked to gripe to Giles about how bad her life was, but slaying for her was a release. She was happy to have a couple of days off, but the tension in her muscles was going to drive her crazy. She needed to kill something.

Buffy shoved a bottle of holy water in her high boots and went in search of her mother. If she wanted to survey the people coming in from Cherbourg she had better hop to it. They had already started loading and there was another hour or so before the sun set and Buffy planned to have finished her dinner by then.

Buffy knocked rather loudly on her mother’s stateroom. "WHAT?" Joyce snapped from inside.

Buffy flinched at the angry note in her mother’s voice. She wasn’t going to like the fact that her daughter wouldn’t be eating with her that evening, "I’m going down to the dinning hall."

"Buffy, can’t you wait another 30 minutes?" Joyce said in a barely controlled voice.

"I’m really hungry. I’ll meet you there," Buffy said quickly and took off before her mother could argue.

She stopped at Giles’s stateroom and banged on the door feeling an urge to rip it off its hinges. Giles opened the wood door and Buffy’s fist nearly connected with his face. She pulled her hand back blushing sheepishly, "Ready for dinner?" she mumbled.

Giles gave her a disapproving look, "Yes."

"Okay, so how do we get there again?"

"I suggest we take the Grand Staircase, I read quite a lot about it actually. It is supposedly one of the finest—"

Buffy held up her hand, "Finest things ever built on the finest ship ever built yadda yadda yadda. Let’s just go already."

Giles sighed and looked at her worriedly as they set off down the hall, "Buffy, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing," Buffy exclaimed with a large smile, "Why would anything be wrong?"

"I don’t know," Giles admitted, "you just seem upset about something."

Buffy shrugged, "I guess I’m lonely. I mean, before I was called I had all these friends. But now they all seem frivolous. They only care about whom they’re going to marry and when they marry and how rich their future husband is. I want friends, Giles, real friends."

"Buffy you know that whoever comes into your life is immediately in danger. You’re the slayer," Giles said gently.

Buffy threw her hands up in the air. "I know. I know! But it doesn’t make me feel any less lonely." Giles gave her a hurt look and Buffy sighed wanting him to understand what she was saying. "I know I have you Giles and believe me I am thankful for that but I want someone else. Someone my own age. Today talking to Willow brought a lot of that back."

Giles smiled grimly at her, "Make friends Buffy, but I hope I don’t have to tell you to be careful."

Buffy smiled thankfully, "No, you don’t."

The two walked in comfortable silence until they reached the Grand Staircase and Giles couldn’t help but gasp out loud. Buffy laughed slightly at his expression trying not to seem too impressed with it herself. She had seen enough of wood in her lifetime thanks to highly effective pointy stakes. So, generally, things made of wood didn’t impress her, but the Grand Staircase was truly grand and the wood shone as if it wasn’t wood at all.

"Imagine the detail that must have gone into making the ship the masterpiece it is," Giles mumbled and Buffy wasn’t really sure if he was talking to himself or to her.

Buffy rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. "Come on. We have to eat. I have to slay. Let’s get to it!" Buffy dragged her gaping watcher down the exquisite staircase and into the dining hall where Giles promptly stopped and started gaping again.

Not wanting to take the time to stare at the elegant china and small round tables with chairs rather than one long table with benches, Buffy groaned and stomped off in search of a waiter. When she found the waiter, they both had to go in search of Giles who had wandered of somewhere to admire some grand thing or another. When she finally found him and managed to steer him to a table *and* get menus Buffy realized that she had five minutes until sundown.

"Great," she muttered under her breath even as she stood up causing a Giles to look at her in surprise.

"Where are you going now?" he asked.

"Slaying," Buffy said with false humor as she rushed out of the dining hall and back up the staircase.

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Buffy tapped her stake impatiently against her right hand impatiently. She had been out here for more than an hour and so far there hadn’t been a demon of any kind. She was bored, tired, cold and hungry. Four things which did not make for a very good slayer.

Buffy stifled a yawn and wondered whether she should just go in get something to eat and retire. There couldn’t possibly be any more boats coming in at this point. Of course, then she would have to deal with a Giles lecture, but a warm bed was a little more enticing at the moment. Buffy sighed and looked at her wristwatch. "Okay, demons you have five minutes," she muttered under he breath, squinting at the dark ocean.

Five minutes later Buffy was all ready to go inside when she heard a noise coming from behind her. ‘Right on schedule,’ she thought tiredly to herself. She waited a little longer for the unspeakable creature to get a little closer and then SWOOSH Buffy turned around sharply ready to execute a flying kick when she found herself face to face with a very scared steward.

"Oh no! I’m so sorry… I didn’t know… I mean you never know who could be out here at this time of night," Buffy smiled apologetically preying to the god’s that the steward wouldn’t bother to ask what she was doing out at this time of night in the first place.

The steward recovered quickly and managed to give her a shaky smile, "Oh you shouldn’t worry about that. This ship is quite safe, I assure you."

Buffy stuck out her hand, "Buffy Summers. And I’m sure that this is a very safe ship. You just surprised me, that’s all."

The steward took the proffered hand with a sweaty grip, "Alexander Harris. It’s nice to meet you Ms. Summers."

"Call me Buffy," Buffy said with a wave of her hand.

The steward smiled encouragingly not the least bit put off by her forwardness. "Well then I’m Xander."

Buffy nodded her head, "Xander…. Hey! Do you know anyone named Willow?"

Xander nodded looking a little shocked, "Wow, your good."

Buffy gave a little laugh, "She’s a stewardess in my hall. We had a little talk earlier."

"That would explain it," Xander confirmed, "Wills and I have been friends forever."

Buffy smiled longingly, "Yeah, I know."

Xander looked at Buffy amicably and then he frowned as if suddenly realizing something. "You should probably get inside. It’s chilly out on the Atlantic oceans. I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold."

"You’re right," Buffy lied, "I should go inside." She gave Xander a little curtsy and said, "Nice meeting you," before walking away not preparing in the least on going inside until she had scoured the whole deck.

Xander watched Buffy with a transfixed gaze. He didn’t think that he had ever seen anyone so beautiful in his entire life. He longed to touch her soft white skin and run his fingers through her golden hair framing her face. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. He was a steward, a lower-class man, with barely enough money to put food on the table. With this thought in mind, Xander forced his eyes away from the pretty young women when something caught his eye. He bent down and picked up a wooden object that Buffy had dropped on the ground after their near collision.

"Hey!" he yelled knowing she was too far away but figuring it was worth a chance. "You forgot your…. STAKE???"


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Buffy sighed looking out over the deck into the ocean. The wind rushed by her face tousling her unkempt hair. She knew that she should be keeping it up, but she figured that it didn’t really matter at this point. The only people still strolling around the promenade were young couples and slayers. Or slayer in her case. She probably should have gone in like she told Xander she would, but Buffy knew that there was no way she could sleep. She was too strung out and too frustrated to get any rest. She wanted to beat something to a bloody pulp very badly.

She turned away from the side knowing that it was dangerous to turn her back on the enemy. Even though at this point Buffy was fairly certain that there was no enemy, years of practice made her jumpy, no matter how unlikely it was that she was going to run into a bloodsucking demon. She did a quick sweep of the deck with her eyes and let her senses go on high alert.

Buffy almost did a double take when she saw something lurking in the shadows. A big dark hulking figure almost totally concealed to the human eye. All human eyes that is, that weren’t Buffy’s. The demon didn’t appear to notice the slayer, and Buffy began to creep her way towards it being as stealthy as possible.

When she came within 10 feet of the creature she stopped and considered her position. Her eyes ticked from left to right trying to look for anything she could use to her advantage. Not finding anything, Buffy decided to go with the next approach, sneaking in behind and staking it without the vampire even knowing.

Buffy crept closer taking a stake out from under her dress at the same time. She raised the sharp piece of wood when the vampire spun around. Her eyes widened and Buffy was suddenly frozen with the eyes that were pierced on hers. Deep chocolate brown eyes that seemed to freeze time and everything around her.

"Is there a problem ma’am?" the creature—the man asked.

Buffy’s eyes widened and she tried to get some words out, but somehow her tongue was stuck to the roof of her *very* dry mouth. She couldn’t help but notice how handsome this man was. He had a fine chiseled face and beautiful full lips. But his best feature were his eyes. Buffy felt almost like she could drown in those eyes. "Who… who are you?" she finally choked out.

"Excuse me ma’am I don’t mean to sound crude, but aren’t you the one who was about to attack me?" he answered politely with a glance at her stake.

Buffy looked at her still raised hand gripping on to her stake. She blinked feeling slightly embarrassed. Then, she got annoyed because this stranger that she didn’t even know made her feel ashamed. "You shouldn’t go skulking around in the dark like that," Buffy snapped trying not to show the effect that he was having on her.

The man gave a short laugh, "Fair enough. Why don’t we just say I’m a friend and leave it at that?"

Buffy was about to argue when he handed her a small black box and turned away. Frowning she opened the box with trembling fingers—instantly mad that this stranger could make her tremble like that after only knowing him a few seconds—to find a small polished cross hanging on a chain. Buffy gaped at it and then looked back up to see that the very handsome *annoying* man was just walking away.

"Wait!" she yelled after him not really sure on what she wanted to say but needing to stop him anyway.

He turned back looking at her expectantly.

"What’s your name?" Buffy asked not knowing why it was so important but needing to know it anyway.

The man looked as if he was debating on whether or not he should answer. "Angel," he finally said. And then he was gone.

Buffy stared at the spot where he had just been. ‘Angel,’ she thought ironically, ‘why does that sound so fitting?’

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