Re: Anne-Lise's Snippets (Edition 14)

[buffythebushkangaroo@xxxxxxxxxxx]

> More of either, more of both! 

You're so sweet. :>

Anne-Lise.

--

"Oh great," Willow mumbled as she looked around the various shops 
with Kathryn. "Cordelia."
"Who?" Kathryn looked away from the window.
"Willow! Buffy!" Cordelia gushed. "Oh wow, what a new look for you!" 
Cordelia stared at Kathryn's hair. "It so goes with your... Well, 
nothing at all! Good for you for being brave enough to go against all 
staples of fashion and common sense!"
Willow smiled. "Kathryn, this is Cordelia. Cordelia, this is 
Buffy's cousin, Kathryn."
"Pleased to meet you," Cordelia said, flustered but recovering 
well. "Well, must run!" She span on the spot and skittled away.
Willow shrugged, then giggled. She was having fun!
"Who was that?" Kathryn asked nonplussed.
"Oh... nobody."

*

"What's wrong?" Amelia demanded as Buffy stormed the streets of 
Sunnydale. "I thought we were going out to have a quiet night on the 
town?" She looked around at the amazing lack of town.
"Kathryn!" Buffy hissed. "She's got her skanky evil claws into 
Willow. I can't let her get away with it!"
"You really like her, don't you?" Amelia asked with her usual self-
effacing tact.
Buffy gave her a sharp glance. "She's my best friend," she said.
Amelia nodded. "It shows. They'll be at the Bronze tonight. We'll 
catch up with them there. Why don't we just relax and have a coffee?" 
Amelia indicated the Espresso Pump.
"Tonight may be too late," Buffy replied dourly. "But I could use a 
drink."

*

Kathryn sat opposite Willow in a small mall cafe. Willow was 
telling her about how she'd met Buffy. The story was compellingly 
sweet.
"And then I ask if she wants to go meet Mr. Giles our new 
librarian," Willow rolled her eyes. "And she just wigged out 
completely. It was really funny. I thought she was scared of the 
library or something. I didn't find out until later that she was 
afraid of nothing... Except maybe a lack of control."
Kathryn reached out with her hand and took Willow's as she talked. 
Willow immediately grew silent, focussing completely on Kathryn's 
hand stroking hers... And everything that meant.
"I can't," Willow said quietly. "I'm not... I can't."
Kathryn let tears seep from her eyes. She was very good at showing 
facetious emotions.
"Please, Willow," she said.
"I can't!" Willow scrambled out of her chair and fled.

*

"Where's Willow?" Buffy demanded when she saw Kathryn sitting by 
herself in the Bronze.
Kathryn glanced up from her drink. Her eyes were red-rimmed, as 
though she'd been crying.
"She left," Kathryn replied. "We had an argument and she ran away."
Buffy frowned. "She ran away? In the dark?"
"Yeah." Kathryn reached for her drink but Buffy was quicker. She 
grabbed Kathryn's hand and pulled her up close. "What did you say to 
her? What did you do?"
"Nothing!" Kathryn's eyes widened as Buffy gripped her harder. "Stop 
it! You're hurting me!"
Buffy snarled. "I'll hurt you more unless you tell me what you 
did!" Around her, the sounds of the Bronze died away as everyone 
stopped what they were doing to stare. In a smallish town like 
Sunnydale, street theatre was always appreciated.
"I didn't do anything!" Kathryn whined. "Just..."
"Just what?"
Kathryn sighed. "I just came onto her... A little."
Buffy let go and sank into a chair. "Why? Why would you do that?" 
No response. "I mean... Do you even like her... that way?"
"No," Kathryn mumbled.
Buffy stared into her cousin's eyes, her own eyes seemed haunted, 
miserable. "Then why would you hurt her like that?"
Kathryn thought about admitting the truth, how she'd thought of 
using Willow to get back at her cousin for that Summer Camp, but it 
sounded so petty. Stupid.
Before she could answer, screams from outside broke the silence. 
Amelia's screams.

*

It was everything Buffy expected, and feared. She shot out of the 
doors to the Bronze to confront a small group of vampires. Amelia was 
held at arm's length by one of them. Her neck was bloody, and she 
seemed to be either unconscious or dead.
"I told you," one hissed. "This wasn't the Slayer!"
Buffy joined the dance of death. Anger lent her strength, but her 
skills were her own. The vampires never had a chance.
"What the hell?" Kathryn asked as the vampires drifted to the floor 
as dust.
"Vampires," Buffy replied simply.
Kathryn bent down to Amelia. "She's breathing," she said. "We'd 
better get her to a hospital."
Buffy nodded, so much unsaid.

*

"Will she be okay?" Buffy asked the taciturn doctor.
"She should be. Whatever the animal was that attacked her... It had 
very sharp claws. Your cousin is very lucky to be alive. I've given 
her a rabies shot, and 80 grams of di-morphine. She'll be asleep for 
a good few hours, and my advice to you is that you should do the 
same. You can see her in the morning, after she's rested."
"I will, thank you doctor."
A tear dripped from Buffy's eyes and she hugged Kathryn tight for 
support.
The doctor moved on to his other charges, stepping into a quiet 
room where a young, red-haired Jane Doe lay comatose, hooked up to a 
machine that monitored her vital signs.