FIC: My Time in Sunnydale (3/3)

[Patrick Kelly <bandits@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: My Time in Sunnydale (3/3)
Author: Pat Kelly
Rating: PG-13
Summary: I've done it. I put myself in Sunnydale. It's weird for me to be writing myself.
Especially in the first person.
Disclaimer: Joss and Mutant Enemy only. I do not own..
No money is being made. But I do own myself, so don't even try to steal me!

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Part 3
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We got off the bus into pouring rain. It had started when we were halfway to Sunnydale,
and seemed to increase immensely the closer we got to town. It didnt rain much in
California, but when it did, Mother Nature apparently liked to pull out all the stops. We
ran, or walked quickly rather, for the cover of the terminal. There was no way we were
going to walk any further in this.

The last time I remember it raining on the Hellmouth was a few hours before Angel became
evil. I hoped this wasnt another form of eerie foreshadowing.

"At least theres no lightning." I yelled over the downpour.

Crackle. The sky lit up. The boom of thunder. I realized just exactly how stupid I was
when I saw their shaking heads. I promptly looked away. Willow spotted a payphone, and had
the brilliant idea of calling Giles and having him pick us up. As we were waiting for her,
it suddenly occurred to me that it was dark. I know what youre thinking. Im a moron.
Dont I know that the sun gets blocked out during a thunderstorm?

Yes I do. But here was my worry. It was only five past five in the afternoon, with no sun,
and the three of us could barely see. This was Sunnyhell. Vampires would thrive now, the
bad weather having little to no affect on their vision. They had us at a disadvantage. Let
me put it this way. I kept playing this image of me standing with a Come and Bite Me
sign in the middle of ten hungry vampires.

Buffy was an excellent slayer, I had no doubt of that, but she was still human. Rain was
blinding, especially the torrential kind that we were in now. Add to that having us as
baggage to protect, and them probably outnumbering us, there was going to be badness no
matter how I tried to paint it. But I was probably internally panicking for nothing. Giles
would be here in a few minutes to get us, and wed be safe in his invitation-only abode.

"Theres no answer." Willow said coming back to us.

The bomb dropped...and dropped&and dropped&and BLAMO! Guess I was going to be another
course on the vampiric buffet.

Was I being pessimistic, or what? These people, this town, didnt survive on sheer luck
for four years. They survived because they had a very resourceful, skillful, talented,
super-strong, slayer. She knew how to handle almost any type of situation. I should have
had more confidence in her and her abilities. This was Buffy Summers. The best slayer the
world had ever had.

"Who wants to make a break for it?" Buffy asked us. She turned to me. "Youre not that
heavy, right?"

And the second bomb dropped&maybe it did pay to be pessimistic after all. But the fact
that Buffy was offering to carry me was a little bit of an upside. That passed though, and
Buffy figured caution was better. Before we could move, a car screeched to a halt on the
street next to us. It was Giles and Xander, and they were flinging open the doors. We
piled in.

When we started driving, Xander filled us in.

"Powers out everywhere. And so are the vamps." Buffy remained silent. "There were ten at
the Bronze&well theyre scattered all over town."

"Weapons?" Buffy asked.

"The trunk." Giles said.

"Phone?" Giles handed her his cell phone. "Best purchase I ever made you make."

We all waited as she dialed.

"This isnt going to be fun." Willow said to me.

"Im getting that." I said in response.

"Angel, tell Faiths shes gonna get a chance to save my ass sooner than she thought."
Buffy said into the phone. "I need you two here. Quickly."

"Faith?" Xander asked.

She ignored his question as she hung up. "Okay, we need to "

Buffy cut herself off. She screamed 'Stop' before any of us knew why. Then we saw. A
vampire was standing on the road in front of us, and Giles reacted as anyone would if they
were going to hit something. He attempted to slam on his breaks, and stop the car from
colliding. There was a lot of spinning, but eventually, his vehicle no longer moved.

Thats when things got worse.

***

Worse how, you ask? The vampire we had almost hit, was joined by several of his pals (from
what I could see through the rain-soaked windows), and began swarming the car. While my
fellow occupants were panicking because they were inside the shaking car, because
supernatural fists were smashing through the windows and both windshields, I was once
again overcome with the same feelings I had when I arrived in town.

Death looked to be imminent, and what a great discovery it would be. I always had a habit
of thinking that in dangerous situations. I wouldn't be afraid of dying, it happens to
everybody, so why worry about it? The people you leave behind, your possessions, the
things you never got to do&but I always rationalized that, once you're dead, you'll cease
to care about anything. It won't eat away at you. You'll be in a blissful oblivion in
"Heaven", or condemned to "Hell" where the pain is stronger than any other possible
memory. If you do remember your previous life, that is.

Plus, I didn't want to give these vampires the satisfaction of seeing my fear. Of course,
that's all bull. A tough shell that was easily cracked once I saw the demons faces. My
thoughts changed completely then.

I wasn't, and still aren't, tied to any religion. There's something out there, I'm sure,
but I'm not going to put a label on it. I use "Heaven" and "Hell" to describe good and bad
only because they're familiar terms. If I ever thought of more fitting words, I'd use
them. I say "Oh my God" simply as an expression. I don't pray, I only have the vaguest
notions of what the Bible says, and I've only been in church for weddings and funerals.

But with that in mind, I had no idea "where" I'd end up if my blood was drained from my
body. Limbo? Wandering the earth as some sort of spirit? Were "sins" real? Did you pay for
the bad things you did in life? How big did they have to be to get sent to "Hell"?
Everyone "sins" at some point, right? Maybe the real "Hell" was gaining the knowledge
that living, life, was pointless, and you simply vanish. What if there's a lesson you have
to learn and you're reincarnated into another body until you get it? What if I had wasted
my life? Eighteen years. What if I threw them away? Or, what if I was wrong, and God did
exist?

This was what was running through my head, and just like before, the intense desire not to
die. I also had an intense feeling of being pulled out the broken window by cold hands,
and hearing people call my name. I had been holding onto the crutches, and they came with
me. I felt asphalt underneath me, felt rain stinging me relentlessly, and over the booming
of thunder, I heard Willow scream. My vision wasn't that clear, but I could make out two
vampires standing over me.

It was all happening so fast, and I apologize for not being more descriptive. Like I said,
I heard Willow scream, and from the sound of things she was across the street. Then I was
being kicked on the ground. Just being toyed with. The next thing I knew, I was being
lifted, and I was crying, yelling for home. My crutches fell out of my hand. Death was a
mystery I didn't want to unravel yet. Scared, terrified, those words don't seem good
enough to describe what I was feeling.

I did turn my head though, and I saw Buffy, Giles, and Xander scrambling to battle the few
vampires still by the car, and get out to me and Willow. As much as I cared for those
people, I wasn't really thinking much about them at the time. I turned my head back
around, and realized that the vampire holding me had been looking at my neck rather
intently. I could see the hunger. I kicked my legs, twisted my body, doing anything to get
free. Of course, it didn't work. It was then that Willow did enter my mind, and I hoped
she was faring better than I was.

I make it seem like I was in this predicament for hours, but in reality, it was mere
seconds. The vampire bent his head down, and I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the
pain. And then, I was falling, hitting the ground. I grimaced, and I may have cried out
because my arm hit the street the wrong way. And my crutches were on the ground, which my
lower back hit with pretty good force. To boil it down, I was really hurting. But a hand
pulled me up.

"Hurry up, mate!" It was Spike's voice. "Take your sticks and get the hell out of here."

"Willow&the others&" I said softly, pain evident in my voice, as I took the crutches from
him.

I looked over, and the trunk was open, and Buffy, Giles and Xander were armed with
weapons, destroying the rest of the vampires who had attacked us. They appeared to be in
control, but there were still more around, and I had no idea where they were. And then it
hit me. Willow. I didn't see Willow.

Spike looked pissed with me because I wasn't moving. "You need a hospital, don't you? The
one time I get to have any bloody fun&come on!"

He was dragging me away, and the last thing I saw were the three members of the gang,
having dusted the vampires, crouching down over something. But what I didn't know at the
time was, that it wasn't something. It was someone.

***

Getting to the hospital, getting in the hospital, was&a chore. I'm seriously doing an
injustice to that night. It was worse than an episode, any drama on the show I had ever
seen. I probably think that way, because I was in the middle of all the insanity. Never
before had a witnessed so many vampires out and in town. They were everywhere, feeding on
anyone who had the misfortune of still being on the street. It was horrible.

And when there weren't any people to kill, they destroyed property. Of course, our journey
was slower than it could have been, but Spike had to stop and fight every couple minutes.
He was just drawing attention to us. I didn't even know why he was helping me. I had
always wondered that since he had that chip in his head, could it have possibly triggered
some goodness buried deep within him? Which he disguised as loving to pummel other demons?

Sure, it doesn't seem possible, but he was saving my ass, and I wasn't going to look a
gift vampire in the fangs.

As I mentioned, it was hard making our way to the hospital, and even harder getting
inside. Someone in the building was intelligent, because the automatic doors that were the
only entrance we could see, were shut off, and barricaded.

"The morons choose tonight to grow a few brain cells?" Spike asked, making it sound like a
curse.

Quickly, I thought of the Emergency Room. They had to let people in there. As he went to
that side, I saw Giles' very wrecked car, still running, parked out front of the ER
entrance. Uh oh, I thought to myself. They must have passed us and I didn't see them.

Now I had an even more urgent need to get in there. There was another sat of automatic
doors, but this time a security guard was standing there. He looked at us through the
glass, and then around. Assuming it was safe I guess, he got his key and activated the
doors. We got inside, and were trying to will the doors to shut again. But as I should
have known, a vampire had been waiting, and rushed in with us.

The security guard panicked, firing his gun wildly. He nearly hit both of us, which wasn't
pleasant. And then when he ran out of bullets, he ran into the ER through the second set
of doors, leaving us there. Spike shifted to his more ridged-looking, vampire face, and
let go of me. I backed up into a corner, and sat on the floor, watching him fight with the
other vampire.

He definitely had the upper hand, but I noticed a slight problem. Spike wasn't strong
enough to rip his head off, so he would need a stake. But he didn't have one. I really
don't think he cared, though. He was enjoying pulverizing the demon. I looked the other
direction and saw Giles, Xander, and Buffy amongst several doctors. They didn't look
happy. I knew who was on that bed.

The security guard was frantic, and everyone was so engrossed that they didn't appear to
hear him. He finally got Buffy's attention though, and as she looked in my direction, she
finally snapped out of her brooding, and started hurrying over. But before she could make
it, I heard another voice. I turned my head, and saw Spike holding the vampire against the
wall. I also so Faith, Angel&and Tara.

"Need help?" She asked Spike, holding out a stake to him.

"Thanks." Spike said, taking it from her and driving it home.

Sire and child then stood staring at one another. You know that saying "If looks could
kill"? Well&

I didn't even notice that Faith and Tara had made her way over to me.

"You don't look so good." Faith observed.

"Thanks for pointing that out." I said.

She helped me up, grabbed my waist, and we started going to where everyone else was. I
looked at Tara, and finally saw how drenched she was. Faith noticed that I was looking at
the blonde with some confusion. Which I was. What had she been doing?

"We picked her up. She was walking the streets."

"Willow's hurt, isn't she?" Tara asked me.

As we got closer and looked at the gang's faces, she got her answer.

***

"It's too crowded in here. This woman needs blood, and she needs it fast." What I assumed
was the doctor in charge said. "Take these people out."

The cowardly security guard was asking us as forcefully and as politely as possible to
leave the ER. Angel approached the guard and doctor, with that intimidating walk he was so
good at. It was fun to watch when you weren't on the receiving end. Once he had their
attention, he looked in Spike's direction. The bleached vampire was still standing by the
doors.

"Unless you want any more interruptions," He gave the guard a look; "I suggest letting him
stay to keep watch."

"Fine." The doctor said. "But he better not get in my way."

As she said that, I looked around at all the other victims in the room. Doctors, nurses,
all rushing with blood packets around to people. It appeared that Willow wasn't the only
one nearly drained. I hoped they had enough to go around. We started to follow our
instructions and go, but Buffy wasn't moving. She wasn't doing anything. Just standing
there.

Tara looked at her, and she knew everything in that moment. I could tell. Sadness
flickered across her face, but was quickly replaced with concern. Willow was the only
thing that mattered to any of us, and she went up to Buffy. Gripping her shoulders, Tara
guided her towards us. The blonde slayer looked at the blonde witch, and they found
something in common finally.

We went to a room with couches and chairs, and there were children's drawings on the
walls. There was a TV, magazines, they tried to make it feel homey, but it was still cold,
unfeeling. All we could think of was the redhead a few halls away, and none of this was
helping. Buffy seemed to realize we were there with her, and that Angel and Faith had
arrived. I could see the slayer coming out, remembering the danger still in town.

The lights flickered. And the storm. We prayed that the power didn't go out.

Faith spoke. "Vamps are trashing the place, huh?"

The history with her was forgotten, at least for now.

"Yeah." Buffy said in confirmation.

"Not to mention Giles' car." Xander added. "And I'm still trying to figure out how that's
a bad thing."

We had a chuckle at that. Even Giles. At least it broke the tension some.

"What do you need us to do?" Angel asked.

"Go kill em." Buffy said, hating vampires with a passion she never had before. "And I'll
join you."

"No. Stay. We'll handle it."

"She needs you here." Tara said.

"I'm not going to let them -"

I could see anger in Buffy's eyes. The need for revenge, the hatred. Wanting to kill. I
saw Faith in those eyes. The brunette must have seen herself reflected in them too,
because she flinched a little, and interrupted Buffy.

"It's not your fault, B. They're right. Red needs you to stay. We'll get 'em. Promise."

Faith waited for Buffy to challenge her, but her fellow slayer simply sighed, and sank
into a chair.

"Where do you think most of them are?" Faith asked.

"The Bronze." Xander supplied.

"Let's go." Angel said.

The two of them left in silence. At least they had something to do to keep their minds off
of Willow. And that's when I remembered all the pain I was in. But there was no way that I
was going to go lay in a room now. It was a little bruising, maybe a cut or two&and then I
tried to stand on my own. "Ouch" doesn't cover it. I had adrenaline before. The kind that
blocks out all pain while you're trying to escape mortal danger, and it was wearing off
now.

Something had been bothering me during this whole thing.

"Where the heck is Anya?"

"I told her to stay in my house before Giles and I left. She's safe." Xander said.

"Lucky her."

I shifted in the seat, and winced some.

Giles noticed my pain, but then a nurse came rushing in, getting everyone's attention.

"What's wrong?" Tara asked before anyone else could.

"You're all friends of Miss Rosenberg, right?" The nurse asked.

"Yes." Giles said.

"She has a blood type of B positive, and," She was young, and exhausted, "we've run out.
Do any -?"

"I'm B positive." Buffy said.

Poor Tara. The look on her face was heartbreaking to me. She couldn't help the one she
loved, but the person who wanted to take her away, could.

"Then come on."

"This young man is injured." Giles said quickly, referring to me.

"Go." The nurse said to Buffy. "ER. Tell Dr. Emerson -"

"I got it." Buffy said, running.

The young nurse looked me over, asked me where the pain was, all of that.

"These don't appear to be fatal, you aren't losing blood,"

"So you're saying I'll live." I said to her.

She gave me a weary smile. "I'll send another nurse here, and she'll bandage you. We're
saving the rooms for most seriously injured and recovering patients. And there've been a
lot tonight. I'm sorry, but we're short-staffed, and&just don't move very much, okay? I
have to get back."

"Help her."

"She'll be fine." I was promised, and I intended to hold the nurse to that. "I'll ask the
nurse that I get to tend to you to try and get you some new clothes too."

Damn Xander.

***


A few hours later, I was wheeling myself through the hallways of the hospital. I had
bandages in places I didn't realize were injured. I didn't like wheelchairs, especially
the large hospital ones. Independence was a big part of that. With my crutches I was able
to get in places so much easier, they didn't take up much room, and it made me feel lazy.
Because I had gotten rid of my personal chair years ago. I wanted to use my crutches, but
the doctors wouldn't let me.

So, I followed their orders, and I was currently on my way to the room they said Willow
was in. She got all the blood she needed, and she was apparently resting now. The storm
was dying down, and the night was almost over. I had been there, what? Two days? It felt
like forever. Would I really be there forever? Could I get home? I didn't know, but Angel
and Faith were back home by now. From what I understood, the vampire that started the
uprising was at the Bronze.

Once they got rid of him, the rest backed off. All I have to say is that I was glad I
wasn't there. And now I was also glad that I was wearing normal shorts and a normal
T-shirt. I thought of Xander and Giles. They were getting coffee in the cafeteria, giving
Buffy time to sit with Willow alone.

I reached the redhead's room, and when I saw what I saw, I stayed quiet, and stopped just
inside the doorway. She was sleeping, and Buffy was sitting at the side of the bed,
looking at her. The room was bare for the most part, but I knew when the two men came
back, it would be filled with balloons and flowers. It was so quiet, but&how do I describe
this? How can I make you understand the relief, the emotion, the peacefulness, and the
love, on Buffy's face?

I don't think I can. Nor could I ever hope to describe how innocent, how beautiful, she
looked in sleep. I know Buffy blamed herself for what happened to her friend, to me, but
it was insanity out there. I didn't blame her for anything, and I knew Willow didn't
either. People may say that Willow was lucky. She wasn't. I was lucky. She's got somebody
watching her. Whatever's out there would never let her die that way. She was too special.
Correction, she *is* too special.

Buffy didn't have to worry about losing her. Not unnaturally anyway. The wicca/hacker had
a long life to live. I was sure of it. And she and Buffy became partners in every sense of
the word, I knew it would happy life for both of them.

After a few minutes, Buffy happened to look up and see me. I blushed and pretended I had
been looking at my hands.

"You can come in." She said to me softly.

I accepted her invitation, and came in, trying to make as little noise as possible. I
pulled up beside her chair.

"What a night, huh?" I asked with a smile.

She returned it. "Yeah, it sure was. I'm just glad you're both okay."

"Me too."

"I'm sorry, I should've -"

I knew this was coming. "Forget it. Willow's fine, I'm fine. Just let it go." She thanked
me by squeezing my hand. "So the vampires just stopped?"

"Yeah. Faith said he was just a newbie. Guess he heard that I was out of town, and then
got his buddies riled up. As soon as he realized Faith was a slayer, he crumbled."

Buffy looked at Willow again. After a few seconds, I heard her say the word 'beautiful' so
quietly, she probably wasn't even aware that she said it.

"I'm gonna tell her, you know. When she wakes up."

I was hoping she'd say that. Did she realize yet what she did for her? Her blood was
flowing through Willow's veins. She saved her life in the most intimate way possible.

"That's good to hear." I still didn't tell her yet. I had to. I sighed. "Speaking of
telling people things&um&"

"You're not from this dimension. I know."

She was grinning, and I did a double take. "Uh&how?"

"Remember Willow said that that night we met you, there was a weird lightning storm?" I
nodded. "What she didn't tell you, was that she and Tara caused it. They were messing with
some sort of dimensional hole spell or something. Though they weren't supposed to be. I
promised not to tell Giles."

Okay. "And you knew where I was?"

"They said the spell showed them a vision of someone appearing on Main. I went there,
found you, and saved you."

"And why didn't you tell me you knew?"

"I liked you. I wanted to get to know you first. Wanted to see what a person from another
dimension was like. But you were pretty normal. I was a little disappointed."

"Hey!" And then I put hand over my mouth. I didn't want to wake Willow up.

"Just kidding. Besides, I didn't think it was important to make a big deal out of it.
Quick thinking with that uncle story, by the way."

"In my world, I do really live in Pennsylvania." Not that big of a deal? "Huh. Angel
seemed to think it was important that I tell you."

"Angel should just mind his own business." Buffy said with an edge to her voice. I shook
my head. "He did me a huge favor, I know."

My next question was pretty obvious. "Since you know it was a spell and all, how do I get
home?"

"When the sun comes up." Tara said quietly, entering the room.

***

As soon as I saw Tara, I knew it was time to go. No one enters a room and says something
as ominous as "when the sun comes up", without intending to drastically change things.
Buffy picked up on it too. It was time to say good-bye.

"I'll take you to where&you need to be." Tara stuttered a little. "I'll just www&wait in
the hall."

Buffy looked at me guiltily as soon as the other blonde was out of sight.

"I feel so bad. Maybe I shouldn't&"

I shook my head. "You should. Tara will probably be hurt, yeah, but you can't get around
that."

"You're talking like Willow loves me too."

"She does."

Buffy hugged me then. "Thank you for pushing me. I don't think I'd be telling her, if you
didn't." She sat back. "You better hurry. Get home safe."

"Thank you. These are two days I'll never forget." I reached for the wheels. "And give
Willow a kiss for me when she wakes up."

She grinned like an idiot, and blushed. I turned around and started to leave.

"Good luck, you two."

That was the last thing I said to them, and then Tara was sneaking me out of the hospital.

***

We went to Main Street in silence. There were no cars on the road, and the sun was getting
ready to show. We stopped for some reason, and I was tired of being in the chair, so I got
my crutches off the back, and shakily forced myself to stand. Tara finally spoke once I
was up, and she was sure I wasn't going to fall. It was then that I realized that we were
at the same spot at which I had arrived.

"Uh&I had to do some&researching, but the spell said that another hole would open up two
moons after the casting."

Two days. It all made sense. "What if I didn't make it?"

"Then the hole would close&and you'd be stuck here. I mean&we could've done the spell
again&but it might not have been&"

"My world." Great I'd go from BUFFY to doing a bad version of a SLIDERS episode, trying to
find my way home. I was no Jerry O'Connell.

So I guess I just had to wait.

"They really love each other." She said to me.

It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yeah. They do. Are you gonna be okay?"

She nodded with a sad smile. "I told Willow she should be with the person she loves. To do
whatever made her&happy."

"But what about you?"

She was quiet, and before I could get an answer out of her, the hole was opening in front
of us. It was a bright blue light, and it didn't look very stable.

"I'll be okay&if we can be friends, I'll be lll&lucky. You better go."

I looked at her, before I moved further toward the light. My only regret of the whole trip
was not getting to know her better. But I went in, and I found myself in what I can only
describe as limbo. I glanced around me. There was nothing that spectacular. It was
nothingness, really.

Though, I could've sworn I saw someone passing by me, who had a remarkable resemblance to
Joss Whedon.

Before I could check, I was going what seemed like lightspeed, and then I found myself
here. In front of my computer, just like I had left it two days before. Had no time
passed? I checked my computer's date, and learned that here, it hadn't. Smiling, I started
to write this thing you're reading now.

And this is the end of the tale of my time in Sunnydale.


--
"I wanna set the record straight. I thought the cop was a prostitute." (Homer J. Simpson)

"You think you know? What's to come? What you are? You haven't even begun."
(Tara to Buffy, BTVS)


"Since when is there a cowboy in 'Death of a Salesman' anyway?" (Willow, BTVS)