FIC; Who Wants To Live Forever?

[Jim_D_Means@xxxxxxxxxxx]

This is just a snippet for now. We'll see how far this sucker wants to go. This is a response to the Buffy/Highlander challenge. Here we go.


Disclaimer; Anything associated with Highlander is owned by Rysher and Panzer/Davis. The Buffy stuff is owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Got that? Good.

Author's note; This is my answer to the Buffy/Highlander challenge that someone posted recently.

Rating; PG-13(for now! BG)

Pairing; Buffy/Willow

Archives; Want, Take, Have.

Feedback; like mochas, Yes please. Jim_D_Means@xxxxxxxxxxx

Spoilers; Prophecy Girl, Becoming II.

Summary; Can two immortals be true soulmates when "in the end, there can be only one"? Crank up the 'Queen' soundtrack and hold on!



Who Wants To Live Forever?
By Kirayoshi


Prelude;

May, 1997

"Oh look, bad guy!" 

The Slayer calmly and efficiently staked the vampire without even a preamble. Xander, Willow and Angel watched in amazement as she took point, leading them into their final battle with the Master. Especially since she had seemingly died at the hands of the Master only a few scant minutes ago.

Soon, she faced the greatest challenge of her young life, the Master Vampire. The Master was, to say the least, unprepared to face the enemy he had so readily dispatched so recently. He refused to believe what he was witnessing. "You're dead!" he declared.

"I may be dead," Buffy smiled, "but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you."

"You were destined to die!" he raved. "It is written!"

"What can I say?" Buffy asked innocently. "I flunked the written."

With those words, Buffy fought the Master one last time. The Master attemtped to hypnotize his prey, but the only reaction that Buffy was willing to give was the observation, "You have fruit punch mouth!" before flattening him with a well-placed fist in his face. "Save the hypnosis crap for the tourists!" she shouted.

While her friends fought various demons in the library, Buffy sought a quick finish to her battle with the Master on the roof above them. She saw her window of opportunity when the Master faced her over the skylight, when he seemed to have the upper hand. "Where are your jibes now?" he hissed at her. "You laugh when my Hell is on Earth!"

"You're that amped about Hell..." she growled as she grabbed him and threw him through the skylight and onto an upended table leg, "Go there!"

As the Master decomposed into ash, Buffy could swear that she could feel something, some unholy power eminating from his remains and suffusing her. Like she had somehow taken on the power of her enemy when she defeated him.

But that was a speculation for another day. She had quickly reunited with her friends, who were now safe from the monsters that attacked them; without the Master, the Hellmouth had closed and all its creatures simply vanished. Now was not the time to speculate on how the Master had affected her, now was the time to celebrate a hard-won victory. "Hey," she declared to her friends, "we saved the world, I say we party. I mean, I got all pretty."

========

June, 1998

A knock at the door brought Giles from his unpleasant reverie. It had been nearly a month since anyone had seen Buffy, since Joyce waved Buffy's goodbye letter in his face, blaming him for her running away. Not that Joyce needed to blame Giles for losing her daughter, Giles blamed himself plenty. After repeated and failed attepmts to locate his foster-daughter, any interruption was welcome.

He answered the door, and was pleasantly surprised to see Willow on the other side. "Please, Willow," he offered, stepping aside, "come in." The novice witch entered Giles' house, looking like someone with something on her mind. "I wish I had better news regarding Buffy," he added. "I'm still trying to contact some friends of mine in Los Angeles and San Fransisco..."

"Hey, thanks," Willow answered quietly as she sat down. "I know you're doing your best, and I do appreciate it. And if you do find her, I know you'll let me know. It's just that..." she hesitated, looking around the living room as Giles emerged from the kitchen with a teapot and two china cups. She nodded, accepting the offered tea, as Giles poured. She took the cup with thanks, and sipped gently. "Actually, Giles, I wanted to talk about something else. Something wierd happened to me."

Giles sat down in a chair opposite of the couch where Willow was sitting. "Willow, you know that you can talk to me about nearly anything. I may stutter slightly, but you know I'll always want to help."

"Thanks," she smiled slightly. She swallowed a little more tea for courage, then continued; "When we were doing that spell with the Orb of Thessula, to rebond Angel's soul, something happened."

"Yes," Giles muttered thoughtfully. "You explained that you felt the orb's power when you used it."

"Yeah, Giles," Willow answered slowly, twisting a lock of red hair around her finger nervously. "But it was something more. Like some kind of life essence. I don't know where it came from, but it seemed to strengthen me." She hesitated again, as though hunting for a word that wasn't there. "It was like," she stammered, "like my body was somehow more powerful, stronger, like my heart was racing, my pulse quickening, oh, like a quickening. That's the only word for it. Quickening."




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