Welcome to Your Alternity: Three
by slayerfest
Spike woke up a couple of hours before dawn. He got up and noticed that his head was better, but still hurting a bit. Deciding that he was hungry, he took out the ball of money that Buffy had given him and counted out enough bills for a pint or two of blood. He donned his duster stepped out of his crypt.
“BLOODY HELL!”
Then he stepped back into his crypt.
As far as Spike could see, the land was completely replaced by boiling, churning magma. Fireballs were jumping around all over the place and having a grand old time; it took Spike a moment to realize that they were demons. The sky had turned quite permanently dark, with the exception of the vast flashes of lightening quickly proceeded by deafening thunder.
Spike realized that his shocked exclamation of “bloody hell” was really quite accurate indeed.
***
Riley awoke with a start just after three in the morning, but he didn’t realize that it was a noise that woke him up. Mostly, he just assumed that it was Buffy that was driving him insane and causing him sleep deprivation. Buffy, the girl of his dreams, the first girl he’d ever fallen in love with. But she was also the Slayer. And there he was, totally dismissing the fact that she had just gone on her merry way without saying word one that she was leaving to investigate. Here he was, just lying in bed and feeling as though it was totally natural.
Except for the part where it was tearing him up inside.
He decided he needed to see her, despite the ungodly time. He got up and dressed quickly, creeping out of his room and donning a light jacket. He walked out onto the street and headed towards Buffy’s house, still deep in thought. However, he stopped in minor terror as a familiar person spoke behind him:
“Oh, Riley?”
Riley recognized the deep voice instantly. He turned around to greet the miserable half-man, half-robot called Adam standing right behind him. The very same Adam who had been created by his mentor and professor Maggie Walsh before her experiment went awry and killed her. The very same Adam who had begun to take over Riley’s free will only a few months ago. The very same Adam who had been essentially undefeatable, even by his Buffy, until they brought magic into the works. …But was it really the very same Adam?
He was grinning. It wasn’t an evil grin; it was perfectly genuine. He held up a paper bag in one demon-infested hand. “You forgot your lunch,” Adam said.
Riley blinked. “Huh?”
***
Xander awoke to sunlight streaming through the window. He smiled and opened his eyes a little so he could watch Anya sleep for a while in the lovely morning light. He liked to do that; it made her look like an angel. Not that she ever didn’t look like an angel.
He turned around so he could see her and got more startled than was perhaps normal when he saw she wasn’t there. He looked at a clock and saw that it was just after six in the morning; Anya hated to wake up early unless she had to. Xander scrambled out of bed and wandered around his new apartment, calling her name. When he couldn’t find her, Xander just assumed that she’d left to go do some Anya-like thing. Considering and dismissing the idea of going back to sleep, Xander dressed and decided he’d go to the University and buy some coffee, wait until Willow was awake so he could tell her about the Scooby meeting later.
Xander opened the door into the hallway and started as he nearly ran right into Faith, who was standing right there. “Ho!” He commented in astonishment.
“Well, most people wait until they’ve spoken to me for five minutes before calling me that, but hey, you’ve had experience,” Faith responded, flipping back her hair.
“You’re in jail!” Xander said accusingly for lack of other things to say.
“Am I?” Faith asked as she waltzed in. “Pretty luxurious jail you’ve got here, Xand. I assume you’ve got the shackles and everything, hmm? Care to find out?” Faith pushed Xander backwards slowly and seductively. He backed up until he found himself leaning against a kitchen chair. He grabbed it from behind him and brandished it as a weapon.
“Back! Back, you!” he said in a rather desperate attempt to get her to leave. She only laughed.
“Or what, you’ll stake me? Well, if that’s what’s turning you on these days, I’ll go for it.” She broke the wooden chair and pushed Xander onto the table. She bent down to pick up one of the splinters from the floor and Xander, in an attempt to sit up, hit Faith rather hard in the back of her head with his steel-toed boot. She sprawled on the ground and didn’t move. Xander stared at Faith for a moment, chuckled nervously, and left the apartment to find Buffy.
***
Anya awoke to sunlight streaming through the window. She smiled and opened her eyes a little so she could watch Xander sleep for a while in the lovely morning light. She liked to do that; it made him look like a sex god. Not that he ever didn’t look like a sex god.
She ended up opening her eyes quite wide when she noticed that Xander simply wasn’t there. She rolled over and looked at the clock; it was a little after six in the morning. Xander hated waking up early unless he had to. She rolled lazily out of bed and wandered around Xander’s new apartment, calling his name. When she couldn’t find him, she just assumed that he’d left early to go to some heroic demon-fighting thing. Considering and dismissing the idea of going back to sleep, Anya dressed and decided she’d go to Buffy’s house and make herself at home until Xander made his inevitable appearance there.
Anya opened the door into the hallway and screamed as she nearly ran right into a six-foot-tall rabbit on its hind legs. It looked similar to the outfit she had worn for Hallowe’en about a year ago, but somehow she could tell it wasn’t a suit. She screamed again and turned back into the apartment, waving her arms around and panicking. The rabbit stood just inside the door and laughed in such a way that reminded Anya strongly of someone extremely insane. She collected her wits and pushed past the rabbit, running as quickly as she could in the general direction of Buffy’s house, the giant rabbit hopping close behind her and still laughing hysterically.
***
Giles awoke surrounded by books and realized he had fallen asleep researching that dreadful music-like substance that caught the town by deafening storm the previous night. He pushed his glasses back onto his face and drained the bit of tea that was sitting beside him. Grimacing at the taste, he walked over to his kitchen sink and rinsed out the cup.
He walked into his room and decided to take a shower before Buffy and the others arrived, undoubtably to discuss everything that Giles didn’t know yet.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the sleeping figure in his bed.
He crept toward the bed, his stomach dropping further with each passing step. He recognized the person in his bed, but it was thoroughly impossible that she was there.
She was dead, after all.
Still, Giles couldn’t help but feel the most glorious feeling of hope as he reached Jenny Calendar’s sleeping form. She wasn’t dead; her shoulders rose and fell with her light breathing. Giles reached out and brushed Jenny’s short black hair away from her face so he could see her more clearly.
It was her. No mistakes. No exceptions.
“Jenny…” he whispered.
She stirred and opened her eyes. Her mouth pulled back into a content smile. “’Morning, Ripper,” she said quietly, and pulled his face toward hers. She kissed him gently as though no time at all had passed since she died, as though it was still three years ago. She studied his face as she pulled away and her voice took on a light note of concern. “Did you stay up all night researching again, Rupert? You look absolutely…” she noticed Giles’ eyes filling up with tears. “Oh God. What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
Giles took a moment before answering. “The most extraordinary thing,” he said, and kissed the woman he had once loved with passion as he gathered her up into an embrace.
***
Willow returned from her study group and put her bag down in her dorm room. She stopped and stared at herself in the mirror and wondered for the millionth time in the past few months if she had done things right: if she had fallen for the right person, if she had chosen the right person. She hated to think about this. She hated to. It made her feel so sad and… as though things were wrong. And she so didn’t want to feel that. The whole thing between Tara and Oz was just… intense. And Oz coming back after all that time, her having fallen for Tara… it was so hard.
She wondered if she’d be wondering this if she’d chosen differently.
Then she wondered if maybe she could get a little more ungrateful. She’d made the right decision, she’d done what was best. She loved whom she was with, wholly and without question, no matter what.
Catching her reflection smiling genuinely at her, she moved away from the mirror and checked her phone messages. “No new messages,” the machine stated mechanically. Willow furrowed her brow at the machine as she took the books out of her bag. She hadn’t heard from Buffy or Giles since last night. She wondered if maybe they were angry with her for taking off like that. Oh, well. She’d check in with them now. She scribbled a note to Oz to tell him where she’d be for probably most of the night and left.
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