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(This is original creative material copyright Chris Kenworthy, based on characters that he has no right to owned by someone else blah blah biddy blah...) |
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Buffy groaned and sat up. Her eyes slid into focus, revealing a concerned Xander kneeling next to her. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
"I'm fine," Buffy said, but the mood of the statement was ruined by another pained moan. "What hit me?"
"Um, well, it was kinda a big, uh, nothing." At Buffy's quizzical look, he added, "I dunno - you were just talking with Amy and all of a sudden you went over..."
"Oh, sheesh," Buffy muttered. "The witches!" With a fierce groan, she stood up and headed out onto the porch.
Willow, Giles, and Jenny were talking to the witches. "I'm terribly sorry," the redhead witch was saying. "We didn't realize that anything like this might happen to Cordelia. I'd be glad to give the girl a thorough examination and see if we could do anything to help stabilize her, or even try to remove the powers permanently."
Buffy snorted to herself at that, and everybody turned to look at her. "Excuse me," Buffy announced. "Missed the start of this conversation on account of I was lying unconscious in the vestibule because someone," she glared malevolently at the warlock responsible, "hit me in the face with a spell. What the limbo is going on here?"
The redhead extended a hand towards Buffy. "Vanessa Bateman, Miss Summers. I'm pleased to finally meet you. As I had been explaining to your friends, we are very sorry for any trouble our," she shot a hard glance at Amy and the guy who had zapped her, "meddling caused you. We interefered with you and yours because of a regrettable misunderstanding, and it seems that we only made everything worse when we tried to make it right."
Buffy was feeling a little off-balance at all this helpfullness, as if Vanessa had just used the conversational equivalent of an aikido move - offering no resistance where Buffy had expected plenty. Suddenly she recognized the warlock who had attacked her to free Amy. He was Darrell Flatt, star quarterback of the Sunnydale High football team and general big man on campus. I wonder how much of that was thanks to witchcraft, Buffy wondered.
"Okay, let's say for the moment that I believe that," Buffy said suspiciously. "What do you want?"
"Well," Vanessa began, "I would like, as a matter of principle, a chance to examine Cordelia Chase and see if we can find some better way to deal with the powers we gave her, either dispersing them or giving her more rational control over them. Beyond that," her pretty face took on an expression of concerned nervousness, "would an alliance be too much to ask for? This... dimension is a harsh and dangerous place, and I'm sure we both have much to offer each other in the way of security."
"I don't ally with people whose motives I don't understand."
"Perhaps we should see what suggestions you have to offer about Cordelia," Giles interposed, "and leave the rest under consideration for now."
"Certainly," Vanessa agreed.
"Buffy, can you and Xander hold the fort here?" Willow asked her.
Buffy shared a meaningful look with Xander. "Yeah, I think so."
* * * *
Buffy moaned quietly with pleasure as Xander's lips pressed against hers. She ran her hands around to his back, caressing him softly, as one of Xander's hands moved down from her dark, curly hair and moved teasingly over the front of her shirt.
Buffy broke off the kiss just enough to talk. "Xander..."
Xander drew back a little with a jump. "What? Is it... am I rushing things?" A guilty flush spread over his face.
"No, no," Buffy said, smiling at him. "It's just... we're getting into a bit MORE..." she giggled as Xander leaned back towards her and started kissing her neck, "than, uh, than I thought we were going to," she finished with difficulty. "Not that I don't like it, it's just... we don't know how much time we have, Xander!"
"Oh, come on," Xander answered between kisses. "They're gonna be busy doing tests and witch thingees on Cordy for a while yet."
"You sure?"
For answer, Xander only nibbled playfully on her chin, and after that she forgot about the time...
* * * *
"Okay, Cordelia," Vanessa murmured, waving a scented stone a few centimeters beneath Cordelia's nose. "You can wake up now."
And after a few seconds, Cordy did, slowly opening her hazel eyes and shifting about in the richly padded chair.
"Thank you for your co-operation," Vanessa said to her.
"Co-operation? With what?" Cordelia babbled. "Who are you, anyways?" She peered critically at the stranger sitting before her.
"That's, well, that's a bit of a long story," Vanessa told the high-school girl. "Could you excuse us for a moment?"
"Um, okay," Cordelia said, still very confused. "Where's Xander? Down at Willow's house?"
"Yes," Giles answered her absently.
"Okay." Cordelia crossed over to the wardrobe, drew out a stylish black coat, and headed out the door. Willow noticed her just as she left, and a sudden panic spread into her mind. She was about to head out the door as well when Giles called to her. "Willow, could you come in here for a moment?"
Cordelia walked quickly over to the Rosenberg house, muttering as she went. "Why does such weird stuff keep happening to me? I'm lost in another world, waking up in front of strangers who know my name... Sheesh. Xander had better give me some decent, sincere concern today, after all I've been through." She walked up onto the porch, and opened the door with the spare key. "Xander?"
There was no immediate response. Cordelia headed up the stairs, down the hall to Xander's room. "You would not believe my day," she complained aloud, swinging the door open. Her jaw dropped.
Xander and Buffy were sprawled in a tangle over Xander's bed. Xander was frozen in the middle of kissing Buffy's neck, his left hand on her arm, the other caressing her left breast through her thin silk shirt and bra. Buffy's hands sprung back away from the buttons on Xander's shirt.
"Oh," Buffy muttered. "Oh, no. Oh, god. Cordelia, whatever you do, don't get... angry," she finished lamely.
But Cordelia's face was already set in a cast of absolute rage. As Buffy and Xander watched, an uneathly glow lit in her eyes, and that breeze blew from out of nowhere about her.
"Betrayal!" Cordelia spat. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she pointed one arm at each of Xander and Buffy and concentrated. A cloudy stream of intense red light billowed forth towards the two young lovers.
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