Fic: Strained (1/1)

["sochankitsune" <annelise@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This was going to be a snippet. But, when I started writing it, I 
forgot to stop. *embarrassed*
Comments and constructive criticisms are, as always, extremely 
welcome.

Anne-Lise,
Kooky Muse.
(Anne-Lise opens her purse (inscribed with the word 'Inspiration'), 
and a small moth flies out. And burps.)

--

"Look! Its almost noon and I've already bullied my first family 
member into helping out! I'm gonna be the best Principal ever!"

*

Daniel Cambridge ate alone. Not by choice, of course. Only fags and 
weirdoes enjoyed solitude in his opinion, but he was in that curious 
social group known as 'transfer student'. He was doomed to walk a 
lonely path until the shaken sieve of peer pressure assigned him to 
one of either the geeks or freaks contingent, of which he'd 
previously erred on the side of geekdom in his last educational 
institute.
Still, for the moment, he could enjoy social leprosy and be 
relatively unbullied out here on the back playing fields of Sunnydale 
High, where the cheerleaders practised their arts and the jocks ran 
perspiring laps under the watchful eye of Coach Rawlins.
It was relatively peaceful out here, he decided, and it would've 
been a whole lot better if the damn flies would leave him alone. He 
hated insects; couldn't stand them landing on his face and arms. 
Every so often he'd take a half-hearted swat at one of them.
They seemed to be increasing in number too. At first, only the odd 
one harried him, but now it seemed more like three or four. Probably 
after my sandwich, he sighed. He'd been brown-bagging it the last 
couple of days to prolong the painful integration into the school's 
regimented class strata.
And then, one of the little bastards bit him. He swatted at it, as 
it nipped his neck, and when he moved his hand away he saw blood. And 
then another bit him, and this time, as he arose to give up and go 
back into the (relative) safety of the school buildings, he felt a 
strange numbness creep over him. His legs buckled, and he fell to the 
floor. Paralysis crawled over him, and for awhile, he knew nothing 
more.

*

Buffy glanced at the thin dossier she'd been given by the 
Principal. Daniel Cambridge, transfer student and loner. See what you 
can do to ease his pain. Like something out of Field of Dreams.
She gazed at the relative emptiness of the dossier and sighed. She 
remembered her own first day as a transfer student at Sunnydale High. 
What would have happened to her if she hadn't found her Willow? She'd 
probably have ended up in the Cordelia Regiment, maybe as a hanger-
on. Designer clothes and vampire-slaying. What a combination! She 
wrinkled her nose at the thought.
Daniel had been found out on the back fields. He'd fainted from 
dehydration, possibly sunstroke. The only reason he was out there it 
was discovered, was because he'd been avoiding the student body. Do 
something about it, the Principal had suggested. She closed the 
dossier.
"See anything green?" Daniel asked. He was seated across from her 
and had watched her skim through his personal history.
"Wanna see?" Buffy asked with a smile. Although it was a gross 
breach of professional conduct, she didn't really give a damn. She 
turned his file around and let him read it. It was more-or-less 
empty, just a few notes on attendance (adequate) and attitude (also 
adequate).
Daniel nodded, surprised. "Pretty thin, huh?" Now that he was less 
guarded, he'd time to notice a few details about the new counsellor. 
She was pretty hot, for a start, and sported a small lapel-badge with 
a rainbow and the word 'Willow' written across it in red 
glitter. 'Must be gay,' he thought.
"Yeah, pretty thin." Buffy replied. "This is where I'm supposed to 
tell you crap to bolster your self-confidence. Me, I think that'd be 
a complete waste of time. What do you think?"
Daniel was caught completely off-guard. "Huh? Well..."
"Just bite the bullet," Buffy advised. "Go greet some peeps and see 
what happens. You may be surprised! Do you have any interests?"
"Well," Daniel thought quickly, "I like computers."
Buffy nodded. "Science nerd. Computer block is over by the new 
William-Morris foundation block, and that's just over by the staff 
car-park. The computer geeks all hang out outside there at lunch. Say 
you're looking for a 'net connection and you'll be accepted in no 
time!" She threw him a wide smile.
"Um, thanks."

*

"How was your day?" Willow asked. She seemed much happier now than 
when she'd returned from England. Less serious, and less grieved. She 
was wearing a light blouse and a small badge with a carrot on it, and 
the word 'Buffy' written over it in blue glitter.
'Whatever keeps her busy', Buffy guessed. "Not too bad," she 
replied. "I helped a computer nerd find his place in the world."
"Behind a keyboard?" Willow suggested with a quirky grin.
"Yep." Buffy smiled. "Okay, now its bugging me. Why's my name 
written over a carrot?"
Willow's puzzled look disappeared into a frown. "Its not a carrot," 
she pouted. "Its Mr. Pointy! Only, I ran out of brown."
Buffy giggled, and leaned over to kiss Willow's forehead. Willow 
leaned up, and Buffy's kiss landed on the bridge of her nose instead. 
Willow's arms raised, and Buffy found herself in a Willow-scented 
embrace.
"Bewitching me?" Buffy asked, her smile still on her lips but with a 
trace of uncertainty in her eyes that Willow noticed. Willow relaxed 
her hug and Buffy wriggled free.
"Only if you'll let me," Willow breathed, the words unbidden.
Buffy opened her mouth, but closed it again as the door opened and 
Dawn came in.
"Hi Willow!" She greeted, and came over to give Willow a welcome 
hug. Buffy used the moment to recover her breathing, using exercises 
Giles had once taught her, and had once amusingly failed to 
accurately teach the Buffybot.
"Dawn!" Buffy exclaimed. "Do you have a new guy in your class? 
Daniel Somebody-or-other?" Buffy, of course, knew that she did, but 
wanted to edge into the conversation sideways.
"Yeah," Dawn replied. "He's a bit weird. Keeps to himself. Marcy 
reckons he's probably a geek."
Buffy nodded. Maybe this integration thing would be easier than 
she'd reckoned.

*

Later that night, Buffy walked alone through the dimly-lit playing 
field at the centre of Sunnydale Park. Wind whistled over the monkey 
bars, and the chains that held the swings rattled in the 
discomforting breeze. Buffy felt a deep unease; concern over her 
twisted emotions. Willow's face played upon her mind, and the touch 
of Willow's arms, and lips, dominated her thoughts.
She was therefore surprised when she came upon another midnight 
intruder within the park's domain; Her Slayer senses had given her no 
warning. But then, the silent individual sitting alone upon the bench 
was neither demon nor vampire. Just a kid from school.
"Daniel?" On hearing his name, he looked up.
"Miss Summers?" He asked. "What are you doing out here?"
Buffy shrugged. "Just out for a walk," she suggested. "How about 
you? What are you doing out here, all alone, in the dark?" She 
glanced about. She didn't like the look of the park's shadows; the 
breeze made them move threateningly. A light rain broke out then, not 
enough to get wet, but as an indicator of heavier rain to come. "Want 
some company?" Buffy continued. "I'm heading over to the Espresso 
Pump; It stays open late on Tuesdays, something to do with the New 
Bronze crowd." A flash of lightning in the distance heralded a sudden 
roll of thunder. "Hey, that was quite close," Buffy sighed. "Its 
going to be a wet night. What do you say?"
Daniel looked up at her, his eyes unfocused. "I can't," he 
said. "I've been summoned here." He got up from the bench and walked 
to the centre of the play area. Buffy stood there a moment, her mouth 
open.
"What?" She said at last. A sudden fork of lightning lanced down and 
enveloped Daniel in a corona of electricity. Buffy was thrown 
backwards, and rolled under the bench as thunder exploded loud in her 
ears.
When she finally stood up, and her eyes had cleared, Daniel was 
gone.

*

"Where'd he go?" Willow asked as Buffy recounted the night's events.
Buffy shrugged. "I've no idea. He may have run off while I was 
still on the floor, but I didn't see him anywhere."
"Weird," Willow agreed. "I'll go hit the books in the morning while 
you're at school."
Buffy smiled her gratitude. "Will you? That'd be great."
"No problem," Willow replied, disappointed that this was all Buffy 
had wanted of her in this early hour. 

*

"You wanted to see me?" Buffy asked as she entered the Principal's 
office.
He nodded. "Daniel Cambridge," he said. "His mother rang the school 
this morning, said he was ill; that he wouldn't leave his room. I 
figured that since you saw him yesterday, you might know something 
about this?"
Buffy shook her head in surprise. "I... No."
"Would you," the Principal asked, "if you don't mind, that is, go 
over and check in on him? I want to give the image that this is a 
caring school, and since you were his counsellor, he might respond 
better to you. I know its kind of an unusual request..."
"I'd be happy to," Buffy responded, nonplussed.

*

It was while Buffy was making her way over to the Cambridge 
residence, grumbling something about Ferris Bueller syndrome, that 
Marcy Davies (she who had labelled Daniel 'a complete geek') was 
heading over to the spot where she normally met her friends each 
lunch-time. She stopped off at the drinking fountain, wiping at the 
faucet with her fingers (to scrub away evil men-germs), and leaned 
down to take a sip. A fly landed on her neck, and she squealed in 
surprise.
"It bit me!" she cried out.
A group of 'freaks' pointed and laughed. "She said that the 
drinking fountain bit her!" one grinned. Their laughs trickled away 
as Marcy collapsed on the floor in a dead faint.

*

"Your... counsellor is here to see you," a distraught Mrs. Cambridge 
quavered through Daniel's closed (and presumably locked) bedroom door.
"Miss Summers?" Daniel asked from the other side of the wooden 
divide.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yes, its me. Look, can I come in?"
"Give me a moment!"
Several moments actually passed, in which the shifting of furniture 
and the odd remark from Mrs. Cambridge (Call me Laura!) on the lines 
of 'He's normally a very neat boy' were heard. Buffy nodded, and 
smiled, and hoped that the day would end. Finally the door opened, 
and Buffy pushed her way in. Then shut the door in Laura Cambridge's 
face.
"Hi!" She began, and stopped. This was not a normal boy's bedroom; 
For one thing, it was nearly empty. There were no posters, just a 
wardrobe, a computer desk, and a small, single bed. She sat on the 
end of it. The bed, she noticed, also served as the chair for the 
computer. It was a really small room.
Daniel sat beside her, and it was obvious that no student could 
possibly be more nervous unless he was suddenly stripped naked.
"Your mother rang the school," Buffy began. "She said you weren't 
feeling too hot. Me, if I'd been hit by lightning, I'd be feeling 
fairly crappy too."
Daniel groaned. "Then it wasn't a dream last night."
"Nope." Buffy considered. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"
Daniel shrugged. "I've got no idea. Only..."
"Yes?"
"Well..." Daniel broke off and pushed the wardrobe back into the 
corner of the room. Buffy only now realised it had been shifted a 
foot away from the wall, away from its normal position, to hide... 
the electrical outlets.
Buffy stared. It was a standard double-outlet, but one of the 
sockets was slightly charred, as though someone had lit a match next 
to it. "What happened?" She asked.
"Watch," Daniel said. He flicked the 'on' switch of the unblemished 
socket. A sudden line of brilliant white electricity arced from the 
socket to his left hand. Buffy shot backwards, stumbling in her need 
to back away. Daniel managed to flick the switch to 'off' with his 
right hand.
"That," Buffy gasped, "is not normal."
Daniel laughed; a bitter chuckle. Behind him, a small wisp of smoke 
issued from the socket which now joined its brother in looking 
charred. An acrid burning smell hung in the air. "Oh, it gets 
better." He moved over to the window (while Buffy edged away, keeping 
her distance), and placed a pencil from a small box onto the sill. 
Buffy noted the sill under the pencil had a charred look similar to 
the electrical outlet, which was still worryingly smoking.
Daniel lifted his right hand, turned his head away sideways, and an 
arc of electricity jumped from his right palm and smashed into the 
pencil, burning away the wood, and leaving behind only the graphite 
core and a heavier, more palpable smell. The graphite core, almost as 
an anticlimax, disintegrated into an ashy compound. "Neat, huh?"
"Well," Buffy searched for a suitable reply and failed, "that's one 
way of looking at it."
Daniel nodded. "I'm scared to go outside! Last night, after the 
lightning hit, I destroyed a tree. That could just as easily been a 
person!"
"Look, I think you'd better stay here. I have a friend who can help. 
I think!"
"You do?" Daniel breathed a sigh. "I was getting worried that I'd be 
labelled a freak and taken away by government scientists to be 
studied, or something.
Buffy laughed. "You watch way too much TV," she said. "And 
according to my sister, you're most definitely in the geek camp. Just 
stay here, and... don't touch anything. I'll be back with Willow."
"Is she your girlfriend?" Daniel asked, and Buffy completely lost 
her train of thought. 
"What?"
"Only," Daniel shrugged. "I saw her name on that badge you wore to 
school yesterday."
Buffy blinked. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

*

Buffy arrived home at pretty much the same time as Dawn.
"What're you doing here?" Buffy asked.
Dawn dropped hey day-sack on the floor. "School closed early. There 
was a health scare; Marcy collapsed during lunch, and they've sent 
everyone home while its looked into."
"Willow?" Buffy called up the stairs.
"Uhuh?" Willow descended and joined them. Buffy explained what'd 
happened at Daniel's house, and Willow climbed the stairs to go pack 
some things.
"Wow," was Dawn's reaction. "I guess he was a freak after all."
Buffy rounded on her sister. "Hey," she admonished. "Don't get 
saying that to anyone. My job's hard enough as it is!"

*

Buffy and Willow were just about to leave when a sudden thought 
occurred to Buffy. "Dawn?" she called. Dawn sauntered into the 
kitchen holding a small tub of Cookies 'n' Cream. Buffy asked 
her, "Was Marcy taken off to hospital in an ambulance, or just looked 
at by the nurse and sent home?"
"Oh, no, she was taken away in an ambulance." Dawn grinned. "The new 
Principal was really cool about it all, said he'd make every effort 
to prove the school was sanitary, and most definitely not a health 
risk."
Willow rolled her eyes. "Its sitting on the Hellmouth," she pointed 
out. "The place is a health risk by definition!"

*

"What's wrong?" Willow asked as Buffy drove the station-wagon.
Buffy tried to censor her thoughts. How could she tell Willow that 
she was obsessing over her? "I'm worried about Marcy... If she's 
showing the same symptoms as Daniel, well, perhaps being in a 
hospital's not the best place for her."
Willow considered this and nodded. "Or for any of the other 
patients," she pointed out.

*

Night came, and Willow worked and studied blood and tissue samples. 
There'd been no news from the hospital (such as its sudden 
destruction) for which she and Buffy were extremely relieved. 
Finally, she came to her conclusion.
"A demon virus," Buffy said in the tone she used when trying to 
hammer the idiotic or incomprehensible into her head. 
Willow nodded. "Bacteria's a form of life too, you know."
"Kind of like an infected infection!" Buffy suggested, to prove that 
she was understanding everything.
"Er, yeah."
"So," Buffy said, and asked the question Willow knew she'd ask. "How 
do we kill it?"

*

"Its not like I can use a tiny wooden stake or anything," Buffy 
sighed, while Willow studied books. "Unless I could, you know, use a 
sacred splinter or something?" She caught Willow's eye and her face 
turned red.
"I think we're going to have to call Giles," Willow replied.
Buffy pouted. "That's our answer to everything." She rolled her 
eyes heavenwards. "Please god, just give me a simple demon to kill."
Her prayers were answered by a shrill cry from Dawn.
"Marcy's on TV!" she squealed.
Buffy came running, while Willow dug Giles' new number out from the 
pile of miscellaneous detritus lying beside the phone.
"What's happening?" Buffy asked.
Dawn pointed. A local newscast, anchored by a dowdy female in an 
uncomplimentary blue Chiffon, was enthusiastically reporting the 
rampage of schoolgirl Marcy Davies. Apparently she'd come down with 
some unknown viral strain and gone insane, ripping out the plugs from 
life-support systems and generally smashing the place up. Exciting 
stuff in a town where people regularly go missing, and then get 
eaten. Or mauled.
"Must be a slow news night," Buffy commented. She trudged back to 
find Willow in an animated discussion on the phone. "What's Giles got 
to say?" she asked.

*

"Fascinating!" Giles remarked, then reality kicked in. "In a tragic 
way, of course." Willow's remonstrations issued from the phone, and 
he held it a little further away from his ear. "Yes, its happened 
before, if I remember, yes... I think I have just the right tome 
lying around in a trunk under the stairs. I'll call you back as soon 
as I know something!" Absently, he hung up.

*

"Good old Giles," Buffy smiled. She felt better already. Large 
weights fell off her shoulders, and she straightened up and stretched.
Willow got an eyeful of cleavage. Buffy noticed.
"We have to talk," Buffy sighed. "Let's go upstairs." A pause. "And 
discuss what we're going to do about this demon virus!" she exclaimed 
in a too-loud voice for Dawn's behalf.

*

"What's there to discuss?" Willow asked. "Giles is on the case, 
and..."
Willow broke off. "What's wrong?" Buffy's intense gaze unnerved 
her. "Have I said or done something wrong...?"
"No," Buffy sighed, and her eyes cast downwards. "I... just can't 
seem to get you out of my mind."
Willow's stifled gasp was everything Buffy could have hoped for 
and, as she raised her head, it was joy she saw reflected in Willow's 
eyes.
"I'm in love with you," Buffy whispered.

*

The End.

(teehee)