Life is Short (revamped) Part 4b/7

["TheBear" <thebear@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

#^%@# Yahell! Truncating sons a @%@&*'s

Part 4b

========== BtVS ==========

Giles slowly descended the steps from the stacks into the library proper
as he lectured, "This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to
popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons
demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their... their Hell.
But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made
for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are
vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures..."

"And vampires," Buffy added from her seat at the table next to Willow.

They'd arrived at the library and Buffy told Giles everything that
happened, vampire-wise anyway. He had expressed surprise at her
revelation of the informant- 'tall, dark and annoying' she'd called him.
Xander had come in just at the end of it, and in time for Giles little
speech. 

Xander grabbed a chair and spun it around, sitting down and leaning
forward against the back of the chair. "Okay, this is where I have a
problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a
*talk* with vampires in it," he said, gesturing forcefully.

Willow asked, "Isn't that what we saw last night?"

'Poor Xander... there really are things that go bump in the night,'
Buffy thought sympathetically. She said, "No. No, th-that wasn't a
vampire, that was just a guy in dire need of a facial. Or maybe he had
rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and when he turned to dust? Just
a trick of light."

Xander gave her a dirty look.

"That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire," Buffy
explained. "Well, after I was done with the screaming part..."

Xander asked, "So vampires are demons?"

Giles said, "The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality
fed off a human... mixed their blood; he was a human form possessed or,
or infected, by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so
they walk the Earth, feeding... killing some, mixing their blood with
others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out,
and the old ones to return."

"And Buffy's the Slayer," Willow said.

Giles nodded his head.

"And that means... what exactly?" Xander asked.

"As long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer," Giles
explained. "The chosen one..."

Buffy leaned over to Willow and stage whispered, "He loves this part."

Giles frowned at Buffy and abbreviated his rendition. "Right. She's
the Slayer, it's a secret. Don't tell anyone."

"So, What can we do?" Xander asked.

Giles appeared taken aback. "Do?" he asked.

Xander suddenly got upset. "Hey! You can't come in to our town, our
school, and tell us the town's full of vampires... and then just say
'ok, have a nice life'!" 

Willow squeezed Buffy's hand and added, "Xander's right. We have to
help somehow. I can't know that this stuff is going on, that you're
risking your life, and just not do anything."

'Your eyes... that is just so adorable!' Buffy thought, seeing the
concern in Willow's eyes. Buffy smiled at her girlfriend and turned
back to Giles, saying, "Ok."

Giles was, again, taken aback. "Um, yes, well... The Slayer works
alone. That is the way it has always been..." he began.

Before Xander or Willow could interject, Buffy interrupted. "Not
anymore." Though she was looking at Giles, she squeezed Willow's hand
as she said it.

Giles floundered for a moment, and then said, "Um, well, I suppose you
could help me with research, on, on this 'Harvest' event."

========== BtVS ==========

"What's the matter Xander?" Willow asked as she and her best friend
walked down the hall together. "You wanted to get out of the library,
but you're awful quiet..." Silently she added, 'and you're never quiet
for very long...'

Xander appeared to be lost in thought. He took a moment before
responding, shaking his head and saying, "Nothing, just, you know,
trying to deal with this whole thing... I mean, Vampires! Like life
wasn't hard enough, now we have Vampires!?"

'Uh huh... you're hiding something Xander... of course, so am I- no, not
hiding, just, uh waiting. Yes, I'm waiting until the uh, right moment.
So maybe I'll just... just... uh... Oh! the list!' Willow's mind
wandered. 

Looking down at her yellow pad, on which she'd neatly written 'Signs of
the Impending Apocalypse: The Harvest' in bold black letters. "So, um,
Murder, Death, Disaster..." she began listing signs. "What else?"

"Huh? Oh, right... the list..." Xander said, apparently thinking of
something else. "Let's see, there's Paranormal, Unexplained, did you
get natural disasters?"

Willow nodded, adding, "Earthquake, Flood..."

Xander interjected, "Rain of Toads..."

Willow wrote it down as she nodded and said, "Right... Toads"

Xander exclaimed, "Rain of Toads! Do you think they'd have anything like
that in the paper?" 

Willow said, "Well, I'll put it on the computer search. If it's in
there, it'll turn up. Anything that'll lead us to vampires."

"And I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot,"
Xander lamented, shoving his hands in his pockets and hunching his
shoulders.

Willow said, "Not like an idiot, just... standing."

They stopped in front of Willow's next class.

Xander said, "This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like,
'Uh-oh, pop quiz.' Today it's 'Rain of Toads'."

"I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day." Willow
commiserated, hugging her books and list to her chest tightly.

Xander nodded his head, "Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big
secret..."

Willow said, "We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something
other guys don't."

After another moment in which Xander sighed heavily and stared at the
floor, Willow sternly said, "Alexander Harris! Tell me what's wrong,
please?" she finished with a pout.

Xander grimaced and quietly said, "It's dumb, Will."

"I-if it's bothering you so much, it's not dumb!" she answered
earnestly. 'I may have finally stopped crushing on you Xander, but I
still love you and I hate to see you depressed!'

"It's just... Jesse. He wasn't at the Bronze last night, and I haven't
seen him around the lounge this morning either..."

"Oh, but that's..." Willow started.

"I know, it's not like it's the first time he's ditched or anything
but..." Xander trailed off as thought unable or unwilling to continue.

'I think I get it,' Willow realized after a moment. "You're worried
cause of the vampire thing, right?" she asked gently.

"It's dumb, I know. It's just... now that I know they're there... it's
kinda freaking me out!" Xander lamented, managing to sound both
embarrassed and worried at the same time.

Willow hastened to reassure her best friend. "Oh Xander. He probably
got turned down by the wicked witch of the west... again..."

"Willow Adena Rosenberg!" 

Willow smiled broadly at Xander's wide-eyed exclamation, and continued,
"...and went home to pout. You'll either see him after first period,
or, or he's just ditching again and you'll see him at the arcade after
school."

Xander sighed again, but he had a small grin on his face this time.
"You're probably right Will." He transitioned into a sly voice, adding,
"So, speaking of hooking up... How was your Ice Cream date last night?"

'Oh so busted!' Willow thought, feeling her face grow hot. Her voice
was breathy and high as she said, "Oh, look at the time, I'm gonna be
late to class!" just before bolting into the classroom.

Xander laughed and called after her, "You know you're going to tell me
all about it, Will. You never could keep a secret from me."

'That's no lie!' she thought ruefully. 'Well, Buffy was right, he
doesn't sound upset or anything... Now, if Jesse will just be ok with
it...'

========== BtVS ==========

'Wow, there's really a lot of wiggy stuff that happened in this town!'
Willow thought as she scrolled through old news stories.

She was sitting in the computer lab, doing her assignment. Her
Hellmouth assignment, not her class assignment. 'Please, how can this
be so difficult for everyone?' she wondered about the class assignment.
'I know I'm a computer nerd and all, but come on! That program's so
simple a monkey could do it...' The shy redhead couldn't keep the catty
grin off of her face as she thought, 'Explains why Cordelia is having
such a hard time!'

'I really shouldn't listen...' she thought. 'I should focus on what I'm
doing. I should, but it's too fun to listen to them struggle!' Willow
listened in on Cordelia and Harmony as they muddled through their
computer assignment.

Cordelia whined, "No! It's supposed to find the syntax and match it. Or
wait..."

Harmony asked, "Are we going to the Bronze tonight?" 

"No, we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale," Cordelia said,
derision clear in her voice.

After a pause, Cordelia continued, "Of course we're going to the Bronze.
Friday night? No cover? But you should have been there last night.
'Cause I ran into Buffy..."

Willow frowned, thinking, 'Buffy didn't mention anything about that...'

Cordelia continued, "...and can she be any weirder? She was in the
bathroom, Talking to herself about hitting on some *Girl!* Do you
believe it?"

Harmony sighed loudly and griped, "I think we did this part wrong."

Cordelia complained, "Why do we have to devise these programs, isn't
that what nerds are for?" She added in a whisper, "What'd she do?"

Willow had to restrain a chuckle as she thought, 'I can still hear you!
You wish you could copy off of me, you mindless cow!' Her humor turned
to a pout as she added, 'God, I wish I could say stuff like that to your
face!'

Harmony's tone clearly displayed her cluelessness as she answered, "Uh,
she's doing something else."

Cordelia made a grumbling sound and said, "Okay, and then pattern run,
right? Or go to end? That's it!"

Harmony, apparently trying for 'helpfully supportive' said, "Maybe!"

Cordelia continued her story, saying, "So anyway, I walk into the
bathroom, and she's all 'ok just go talk to her, she doesn't need to
know you're a sex maniac...' I swear!"

Suddenly another voice joined the audioplay and Willow heard a
surfer-dude voice question, "Who?"

Cordelia exclaimed, "Buffy!"

"The new girl..." Harmony added in her best 'duh' voice.

Surfer-dude asked, "What's her deal?"

Cordelia said, "Well, she's a crazed lezbo."

'Hey, that's my girlfriend you're talking about!' Willow thought
angrily. 'I should say something! Yeah right, cause I'm brave like
that...' she added glumly.

"Did you hear about her old school?" Harmony asked with a dramatic
pause. "Booted!" she crowed. 

Cordelia haughtily stated, "Well, I exhibit *no* surprise."

'You wouldn't talk like that if Buffy was here!' Willow fantasized,
'God I'd love to see her take you down a peg or two. I wonder what that
means? How much is a peg?' 

Long-hair asked, "Why was she kicked out?"

Cordelia said, "Uh, because she's a psycho loony!"

"No, she's not!" Willow exclaimed suddenly. 'Oh God! Did I say that?'

Cordelia said, "What?"

Willow finished sending what she was working on to the printer as she
thought, 'Come on Willow, this is your girlfriend, you can't just not
say anything! Feeling incredibly nervous, she turned around and said,
"She's not a psycho. You don't even know her."

Cordelia's expression was spiteful, and her voice dripped with scorn as
she said, "Excuse me? Who gave you permission to exist?"

Willow dropped her eyes. 'You are so mean! I hate the way you make me
feel so bad about myself... Jeeze! Why do I let you get to me?'

Cordelia continued, "Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why?
Because you're boring."

Still unable to meet Cordelia's eyes, Willow stood up and walked over to
the printer. 'And, once again, pathetic little Willow retreats from the
big bad Cordy,' Willow thought, humiliated and angry with herself as she
gathered her printouts.

Harmony acted like Willow hadn't ever interrupted, saying, "Okay, I
think the program's done."

Cordelia melodramatically gushed, "Finally the nightmare ends! Okay, so
how do we save it?"

"Deliver." 'Oh God, I did it again!' Willow thought, quickly walking
out of the classroom.

"Deliver? Where's that?" Cordelia asked as Willow left the room.

The last thing Willow heard was Cordy's "Oh!" as she apparently found
the key; followed by silence.

========== BtVS ==========

"Oh gosh! That was so bad of me!" Willow whispered with a giggle as she
entered the restroom. 'Oh but it felt so *good*!' she thought. 

Willow considered herself in the restroom mirror as she washed her
hands. 'I should feel bad about that, it was kinda mean...' she
thought. The broad smile on her face lost not a bit of its wide glow
however. 'I *so* don't though! I've cried myself to sleep way too many
times and this is like the first time I've ever done anything back!' 

She suddenly felt a cold tendril of anxiety run down her back as she
thought, 'Oh she's gonna be furious!' Willow saw her smile dim at the
realization. Then it grew again a little as she added, 'Eventually. If
she ever figures out what just happened.'

Despite her humor, Willow's stomach felt unsettled. 'I'll splash a
little cold water, that'll help.'

A few moments later she opened her eyes from wiping her face with a
paper towel and squeaked out a startled "Eeep!" when she saw the
cheerleader walk in.

Cordelia wasted no time and immediately began to lay into the redhead.
"Ha ha! Very funny. Look, loser, a social retard such as yourself might
have so much free time on their hands that they could spend a Friday
night making up a computer project!"

'I'm not going to let her do it again!' Willow initially thought,
wanting to stand up to her, or at least to maintain eye contact. 

Cordelia continued her tirade, "Those of us who matter, who have, oh,
say... *A Life* have better things to do with their time. And where do
you get off even speaking to me?"

'Dang it,' Willow thought with bitter shame as her body betrayed her,
bowing her head beneath the withering invective the tall brunette was
hurling at her.

"...You are a computer geek. You exist to do school work and stuff, not
mix with your betters, and certainly not to rudely sabotage my hard
work."

'No, please!' Willow thought; feeling humiliated as she felt her eyes
well up. 'No, God, please don't let me cry in front of her! 

Cordelia kept on, "...Who told you to defend little lesbo Buffy anyway?
What's the matter Willow? Got tired of being rejected by every guy in
the school, so now you thought you'd try your luck with the girls?"

'God, of all the days to wear my hair up! I can't even hide,' she
thought miserably, wrapping her arms around her torso and hugging
herself tightly. 'Oh Buffy! I wish you were here right now!'

========== BtVS ==========

Buffy was walking down the hall briskly. 'I hope she hasn't left class
already! We can walk together... Mmm, more Willow time!' she thought
happily as she went. 

As she rounded the corner and started down the hall toward the computer
lab, Buffy noticed a group of five girls clustered together, blocking
the entrance to the girl's restroom.

'Huh, that's interesting,' she thought as she noticed other girls trying
to go into the restroom and being turned away by the group. 'Hey, they
look... I've seen them before... with Cordy! Last night at the bronze!'

As Buffy approached the group, they all turned their glares on her. 

'Oh please! If vamps don't scare me, you sure won't' she thought
derisively. 'Now... why would they be guarding Cordy in the bathroom?
Unless, she's doing something she's not supposed to...' 

Treating them just like vamps, she walked right up to them, smiled
brightly, and asked, "Hey Guys, What's going on?" 

They all snorted or scoffed at her, apparently deferring to one
vapid-looking blond in particular to respond, as she was the only one
who spoke. "Well, if it isn't little miss dyke..."

Just then Cordelia's voice carried out of the restroom loudly enough for
Buffy to hear. 'She's really letting someone have it...' the Slayer
thought, becoming angry at the thought of the mean-spirited cheerleader
verbally abusing someone.

"...What's the matter Willow?..." Cordelia's spiteful voice drifted out.

'No way!" Buffy thought. Icy chill flowed through her veins and she
looked up at the airhead who had just called her a dyke with the same
look she reserved for vampires who really pissed her off.

"Is Willow in there?" Buffy asked in clipped tones, trying not to
explode.

Obviously the blond socialite wasn't too bright, because she chose to
display an attitude. "None of your business, lesbo. Run along and go
find some other girls to stare at, we aren't interested," she finished
with a haughty air.

'It's not worth it, it's not worth it,' Buffy repeated to herself,
trying not to give in to her desire to lash out. Her voice was a low
growl as she spoke, "You can get the hell out of my way, or I can move
you!"

Some latent self-preservation instinct must have kicked in, because the
airhead suddenly lost her smug attitude and flinched away from Buffy.
Her parting shot of, "Jeeze, PMS much?" lacked the confidence she'd been
displaying to that point.

Buffy left Cordy's clique behind her without a thought. She rushed into
the restroom with every muscle tensed for battle. As she pushed through
the second door, the scene was laid out for her. Cordelia, facing away
from Buffy, hands on her hips and body leaning forward aggressively; and
Willow standing in front of the cheerleader, head down and arms tightly
crossed in front of her.

"...going to fix my program for me, and then you're going to do all my
work for the rest of..." Cordy's voice was harshly instructing the
redhead.

"Hey!" Buffy snapped, not yelling, but projecting her voice loudly
enough that both of the other girls jumped in shock.

Cordelia wheeled around to face the Slayer, a cruel, predatory smile
gracing her face. "Well if it isn't little miss dyke herself," she
decried.

Buffy snapped, "Shut up Cordy!" and walked over to get a better look at
her girlfriend.

"Are you ok, Will?" Buffy's voice was soft, belying the angry stiffness
of her gait.

Willow barely nodded her head, to Buffy's question- not looking up.

Buffy continued to ignore Cordelia as she walked to her girlfriend.
"Willow, look at me," she pleaded. 'Come on baby, let me see you!' Buffy
mentally willed the redhead to meet her gaze. 

Cordelia apparently put two and two together because she suddenly
quipped, "Why Buffy, that's so sweet! Did you make the little nerd-girl
your puppy?" 

'If you've hurt her...' Buffy thought, furious at Cordelia; more for
browbeating Willow than for her taunts now.

When Willow finally looked up, and Buffy saw the hot tears running down
her face and the look of shame in her eyes; the burning ball of fury in
her chest collapsed in on itself and shrank down to a leaden ball of icy
wrath- sunk deep into her stomach. 'You are so dead, bitch' Buffy
thought, turning to the source of her anger.

"That is just *soo* cute..." Cordelia said, continuing her attack.

Famous last words.

========== BtVS ==========

'I hate her, I hate her!' Willow thought as Cordelia made her puppy
comment. 'God, I'm so ashamed... I can't even look at you, Buffy!'
Willow was mortified. 'Why do I let her do this to me?'

"Willow, look at me." Buffy's voice rolled out once more.

'I'm sorry Buffy! I'm sorry I'm so weak,' Willow cried silently as she
fulfilled her girlfriend's request. 'Oh Buffy!' Willow thought, her
tears flowing even faster at the concern and caring she saw in the
Slayer's eyes.

The blonde blinked one time and just like that, the soft emotions in
Buffy's green eyes were hidden behind a glittering, flat hardness. 'uh
oh!' Willow thought, feeling a chill at the violence she saw written on
the Slayer's face. 'She's gonna kill her!' Willow suddenly realized,
unsure of how she knew that.

Time suddenly seemed to warp oddly. Buffy appeared to be moving in slow
motion as she turned to the malevolent brunette, yet Willow never even
saw the Slayer's hand move.

*CRACK*

Willow flinched violently at the gunshot-like sound of Buffy's hand
against Cordelia's cheek. As she dragged her eyes to the brunette's
face, Willow was startled to see the back of her head, and her hair
flying out from her scalp. Cordy's head whipped around so hard that she
actually stumbled, and would have fallen if it weren't for Buffy's hand
grasping the front of her blouse.

Willow's eyes widened at the sight of her petite girlfriend using just
her left arm to lift the much larger girl into the air, as though she
weighed nothing at all.

'Oh God, Buffy No!' Willow thought, suddenly shaking off her paralysis
and rushing toward her girlfriend.

The impact against the wall seemed to bring Cordelia around and her eyes
blinked and then widened in fear as she apparently realized her
situation. 

Buffy's right arm cocked back and her hand clenched into a fist.

Grasping Buffy's free arm in both her hands, Willow pled, "Don't kill
her Buffy! Please, she's not worth it!"

Buffy didn't seem at all fatigued by holding Cordy in the air against
the wall, or by Willow practically hanging off of her free arm. 'She-
she's like a living statue or something!' Willow thought. 'Oh my God,
she's so sexy right now! Oh, and I'm so bad for thinking that!'

"Buffy, please?" Willow begged.

The glittering madness in Buffy's eyes softened once again into warm
emotion. "She hurt you baby!" Buffy argued softly.

Willow nodded her head, agreeing, "She did. She's a bad person."
Looking up at the brunette, finally able to meet her eyes, Willow went
on, "She's been constantly mean and hurtful to me my whole life... and
she deserves a horrible, painful death..."

Willow looked back at her girlfriend and saw her once again shooting a
death-glare at the malicious bully. Letting go of her arm with one
hand, Willow cupped the Slayer's cheek and turned her face back to meet
her own. "But, if you kill her then they'll take you away from me! I-
I can't lose you... Buffy, please... I just found you!" she whispered
earnestly, tears again falling from her eyes.

Willow let go and stepped back from Buffy. 'Oh please do the right
thing Buffy!' she thought. 'Dammit! Quit thinking how amazing she
looks!' she raged at herself. 'this is so not the time to get all...
warm and tingly...'

Buffy once more shot a hard-eyed glare at the frightened girl in her
grasp before lowering her cocked fist.

Cordelia opened her mouth and inhaled, as if to say something, when
Buffy again moved faster than the eye could see.

*CRUNCH*

Willow again flinched hard as the silence was shattered. 'Oh my God!'
she had to blink several times. 'But, but... that's impossible!' she
thought, needing another few moments to resolve the sight before her.

Cordelia's face was squinched up, as thought anticipating the blow. A
moment later she must have realized she hadn't been pummeled, and she
opened her eyes hesitantly.

'Oh, wow!' Willow thought as she finally realized her eyes weren't
playing tricks on her. "Buffy... your hand..." she whispered in awe at
the sight of her girlfriend's hand, buried to the wrist in the wall.
'In the concrete block wall!'

'This isn't funny. I shouldn't be enjoying this! Oh, I am so bad!' the
redhead thought as she couldn't help grinning at the abject terror that
returned to Cordelia's eyes when she looked to her left and saw what
Buffy had done.

"Holy Cow!" Willow heard the shocked gasp from behind her. Whirling
around, she saw that Harmony and the rest of Cordy's little clique had
come into the restroom in time to witness Buffy's feat.

"You, Cordelia, are a real bitch. I probably can't change that, short
of killing you. However; If I *ever* see you treating Willow badly, if
I ever even hear about it, if I even think it might be happening...
That's gonna be your face." Buffy growled in a low, threatening voice.

Willow turned back to see Cordelia nodding frantically. 'Oh, oh my...'
Willow thought as she looked down and saw a rapidly widening yellow
stain appear in the crotch of Cordelia's white Capri pants.

"I'd make you apologize, but Willow's right. You aren't worth it."
Buffy dropped Cordelia, causing her to stumble and nearly fall. If she
hadn't been braced against the wall, she would have.

The slayer turned her back on the brunette bitch and walked over to
Willow. The redhead melted at the feel of Buffy wrapping her in her
strong arms. "I'm sorry Willow," she cried.

Willow stiffened when Buffy move to kiss her.

"Willow? What's wrong?" the blond asked, sounding confused.

"They're staring at us!" Willow whispered. 'God, Buffy. I want you so
much... but she's starting to creep me out!' she thought uneasily.

Buffy didn't loosen her embrace, but she whispered back, "Is she still
here?"

Willow nodded, not trusting her voice yet.

"When I turn around, the only people in this room had better be me and
Willow!" Buffy said loud enough for Cordelia and her flock to hear. The
sound of scrambling feet put a smile on her face.

"Now, where were we?" Buffy asked as Willow pulled her tight.

"I'm so sorry..." Willow started to say.

"Don't you dare apologize for this Willow!" Buffy said, not angry- but
definitely sternly.

Ashamed, Willow dropped her eyes and whispered, "I'm so weak, Buffy. I
know I shouldn't let her get to me, but I do; every single time!"

Buffy dropped her arms from around Willow and cupped the redhead's face,
gently lifting it to meet the Slayer's eyes. "Willow, that... that is
not your fault!"

The deep affection in the Slayer's eyes caused a burning sensation in
Willow's chest as her heart swelled with emotion.

"...she's a mean, spiteful bitch," Buffy continued. "And you... Baby,
you don't have a mean bone in your body."

'Oh... I think I love you Buffy!' Willow thought, afraid to say it out
loud. Instead, she just kissed her girlfriend with all the passion she
was feeling.

When Buffy broke the kiss a minute later, Willow licked her lips and
quietly said, "I think I like being your Baby..."

A smile slowly grew on Buffy's face until it lit up her features. She
rapidly blinked her shiny eyes and then said, "You are just *so*
adorable!"

Willow grinned widely and ducked her head in embarrassment from the
compliment. 'Oh, Buffy... this is so nice.' As she enjoyed both the
emotional and physical support from her girlfriend, she wondered, 'Is it
wrong to think about having sex in the girl's restroom?'

========== BtVS ========== 

My fic goes first to my list, then everyone else the next day.

If you want to join my list, send an email to, 

BearCave_BtVS-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



or go to the site- 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BearCave_BtVS 



As always, please *do* feed The Bear!

Pretty Please? Come on, how long could it possibly take?

TheBear!

thebear@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

http://www.papa-bear.com