| Mazzy & Prebuffy present |
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| *****Prebuffy****** As the group of semi-friends headed towards their longtime hangout and favorite place within the confines of the horror that was Sunnydale, Cordelia half-listened to the excited chatter of the rest of the car�s occupants. Her mind was currently busy searching the outside of the car, making mental notes and trying in vain to remember something, anything about the contents of her life, pre-higher-being. But she was still getting nothing. Xander pulled up in front of the Bronze and turned to her with a hopeful look. �And this would be the Bronze, club extraordinaire. Closed down frequently for demon damage and fire hazards. I�m sure it�s not quite as nice as the clubs in LA, but it�s all we have here. Look vaguely familiar?� Cordelia smiled at his expression, and the identical ones on the faces of the girls around him, all staring at her quizzically, looking for any degree of recognition. She tried to brighten her smile. �No, but it�s perfect. Maybe sitting in my high-school haunt will jolt my memory. Does anyone remember what my favorite drink is?� Xander smiled at her and took her arm. �You�re a Cosmo girl if there ever was one!� She allowed her hand to drop from his arm and slip into his. �Aw, how sweet of you to remember.� Xander, although a mite surprised by the contact, kept his cool. �It�d be hard to forget how many times I had to actually be nice to Angel so he�d buy us drinks. You know, us being underage and all.� Cordelia stopped in her tracks and smacked her palm against her forehead. Everyone else stopped to and stared at her with eyebrows raised. �That�s his name.� �That�s whose name?� Xander asked. �Angel�s? You don�t remember him either? Well, doesn�t my night just keep getting better!� Buffy smacked Xander�s arm as they continued into the Bronze, all concentrating intensely, as if their memories of the club would somehow trigger Cordelia�s own. When the mismatched group entered the club, all eyes immediately drifted towards them. Granted, it usually did. Whether it was just to ogle at the procession of beautiful girls as they shuffled in, one at a time, or simply to wonder why they usually surrounded the rather average-looking boy. One set of eyes in particular was glaring daggers at them from a table occupied by two. How dare her ex-almost-husband come strolling in to THEIR club right during THEIR song, holding hands with his ex-girlfriend, who was supposed to be living in LA. Anya nearly fell off of her barstool. At the break in her attention, the girl who was citing the woes of her relationship-gone-bad stopped talking and jumped off of her own stool. This strange woman had come up to her, pretending to have some heartache of her own, and was now just acting weird. She decided it would be in her interest to just leave here and call her boyfriend. Maybe they could reconcile. Anya called after her charge, but to no avail. She was already halfway out the door and reeked of the sad lack of determination that usually signaled a drunkenly dialed phone call to the ex she was supposed to be eviscerating. �Damn,� Anya whispered silently. �Now D�Hoffryn�s really gonna be pissed.� Since her night had gone to hell already, she figured she might as well deal with the pending situation in front of her. She marched over to the band of once-upon-a-time-friends and steeled the �Death Stare� on her face. �Well, well, if it isn�t Cordelia Chase. The very reason I�m in this Hellmouth-hole to begin with. So, you�re back. I guess the question of the hour would be, WHY??� Cordelia stared at the pretty woman in front of her, a little scared, and shrank back behind Xander for manly protection. Buffy took over the space, standing arms akimbo between the two, and sighed with exasperation through gritted teeth. �Anya, now is not the time. Cordelia doesn�t even remember you, OR Xander, OR any of us. She�s here to remember some important details about her life, like all of them.� Anya refused to be bullied. �Riiiiight. She just happens to show up right after the dissolution of my almost-marriage. Like I�m going to believe that.� She walked around Buffy and shoved Xander out of the way. �I should warn you, he�s even worse of a boyfriend now than he was before. Except this time, when he sticks it to you again, feel free to come and see me. Then, I�ll be able to wreck vengeance for the both of us!� Cordelia still looked a little frightened, and Xander had no intention whatsoever of entertaining the anger of a �Justice Demon� during a rage like this one. Except just as it looked as though Anya was about to cause a scene, she reared back on her heels and squinted her eyes at Cordelia. �Hmmmmmm. Maybe I should just let you deal with it yourself. You have more powers than I do anyway." All heads, blond, brunette, red, and Xander looked between Cordy and Anya like it was a tennis match, waiting for an explanation. Before they had time to decipher what was going on, a loud noise from the stage shocked them out of their reverie and made Buffy jump into action. Anya turned back around and poked CeCe with one finger. �Well, Miss Demony Powers, aren�t you going to help?� A little affronted, Cordelia stepped out from behind Xander and put on her bravado face. �Of course I am.� She walked unsuredly towards the front of the club where Buffy was quickly dispatching a few naughty vampires and stood close to the rumble. The closer she got, the more she seemed lighter on her feet and started to glow, like a sunrise over the horizon. Just as she approached the brouhaha and one of the vampires saw her as an easy target for a hostage, she began to glow even brighter. As Buffy turned to her, seemingly in slow motion and yelled for her to get out of the way, Cordelia�s glow shot out from her and enveloped the entire room. When everyone�s vision had been returned to them, all of the offending vampires were dust, and Buffy was standing in the middle of nothing. She started at Cordelia with shock and amazement and could only see fit to utter one word. �Cool.� ************** Spike was intent on keeping his cool amongst the crew of his sire and former mentor. But it was hard to disguise the small thrill he felt riding in the back of Gunn�s truck with the wind in his hair. It was a little freeing to be in LA, a big city where nobody knows your name and the fact that you were the Slayer�s little lapdog. Although previous visits had not boded well for the blond vampire, in the company of the demon-hunters, he was almost starting to feel relaxed. It didn�t even matter that the whelp and the girl were currently deeply engaged in an argument over exactly HOW much they could trust ANOTHER vampire with a supposed soul. He was here to learn to be a better man for Buffy, not to coddle yet another stupid do-gooder, whom he was beginning to dislike almost as much as Harris. Luckily before he could fully enjoy his newly encompassing freedom, the truck jolted to a stop and mercilessly shocked him out of his thoughts. �C�mon Willie,� Gunn shot at him through gritted teeth as he exited the cab. �Let�s see if you�re as good as your sire.� He tossed him an axe, then stood for a moment, wondering whether to regret that decision. Spike rolled his eyes and caught Fred�s admiring glance. He spoke to her, figuring her to be the more reasonable of the two. �I fight bad guys now. I�m not one of �em anymore.� �I know,� she replied. �Don�t worry about Charles. It�s just hard for him to break old habits.� She smiled a gloriously crooked smile and grabbed her own axe from her seat. Spike smiled back and jumped out of the bed of the truck. Gunn had already taken the point position and was motioning for Spike to go around to the other side while Fred brought up the rear. Spike, with his usual poise, appeared on the other side of the truck like magic and prepared himself for a battle. After all this time, he felt it could be good to fight something solid, that wasn�t intent on spontaneously combusting him for kicks. He turned his nose to the air and caught the smell of fear coming from another direction. Not keen on having to deal with the boy and his power struggle issues, Spike took off in the other direction, figuring he�d deal with the stragglers while the others took out the nest. He followed his nose, jumping gracefully into a sewer vent, and nearly landing atop someone who immediately put a stake to his chest. �Hey,� he yelled. �I�m on your side, Watcher!� �And I�m to believe you just happened upon this particular demon nest?� Wesley snarled at Spike. Being well aware of his past doings, and having been updated by Giles several times via their separate hackings into the Council�s computers, Wesley was not about to let the vampire�s smooth talking get in the way of staking him once and for all. But the fact that he had not moved a muscle in retaliation was causing Wesley to reevaluate his plan. �What do you mean, �You�re on my side'?� �I came here with your cronies, mate, the Rough-and-Tumble and the girl with the pretty smile. They can vouch for me.� Wesley stood up at the mention of his old friends. �Fred�s here? With Gunn? Just them?� Spike didn�t even have to look him in the eye to detect the note of hope mixed with love and exasperation when he said the girl�s name. He had had the same feelings emit from him at the mere promise of the sight of Buffy. He felt bad for the guy, and decided to give him a break. �Yep, present and accounted for. Should I run up and tell them you�re about?� �Uh, no,� Wesley replied, �We�re not exactly the best of friends anymore. I can handle this myself. Get Fred out of here before she gets hurt.� Unfortunately, Spike didn�t feel that gracious. �Not thinking that�s the best plan of action. So far, the boy and I are not bonding.� Wesley laughed out loud and stopped himself as quickly as he started. Struggling to maintain a straight face, he beckoned to Spike to follow him and whispered, �Then I guess it�s just you and me. Good thing you brought an axe. These things are NOT easy to kill.� �I know,� Spike replied jovially, following him down the tunnel. �Once, in Africa�.� |
| Note: The following story takes place prior to Buffy season 7 "Selfless" and prior to Angel season 4 "Spin the Bottle". This commences an AU B7/A4 |
| PART IV |
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