Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy & Co. Joss Whedon and the WB do. No copyright infringement intended.
Author’s Note: This takes place in the second season after “When She Was Bad” but before “Reptile Boy”. It also splits off here from Buffy’s brief drinking incident in that ep.
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Part Two
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Angel moved through the dark streets of Sunnydale, head down and hands in his pocket. He'd spent most of the time since sundown trying to find either Xander or Buffy. So far Buffy was a no-go. He'd finally found Xander back in his room, crying into his pillow with his arm wrapped around a stuffed animal. The decision to leave the boy to his pain had been simple. It wasn't his place and he wasn't the one Xander needed.
Buffy on the other hand was not so easy. If he didn't know better, he'd say she'd simply vanished off the face of the earth. That wasn't possible though.
He looked upwards and saw that he was standing outside of the wreckage of the warehouse. It's exterior was black and charred and what he could see of the interior was a maze of fallen wood and metal. Nothing could have survived that.
Nothing..right?
He smelled something. Rich and full and yet old like the smell of dried blood. He closed his eyes and focused. And to his surprise, he heard a heartbeat.
* * *
"Hank." Joyce said sharply as she strode purposefully into Buffy's room. Hank Summers sat on his daughters' bed, holding her teddy-bear in his hands. He looked up at his ex-wife curiously.
"Did she leave a message on the machine?" He asked, putting the bear back down.
Joyce shook her head forcefully. "No but she did leave something in the kitchen."
"What?" Hank asked, moving to his feet. Joyce grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hallway and stairs and into the kitchen. Dramatically she motioned towards an opened cupboard. Hank moved over to it and his eyes narrowed. "It's empty..what was here?"
"The alcohol, Hank. A full bottle of Jack Daniels." She shook her head. "Oh God...in her state, she could really hurt herself."
* * *
Buffy stumbled blindly through the cemetery, her arms swinging at her side and the half-empty bottle of JD hitting repeatedly against her leg. She frowned at it and once again ordered it to stop doing that.
At sometime just after she'd taken the first swig from the bottle, a voice in her head had pleaded with her to stop. "You've been through this before. You know it's a dangerous path to follow."
She'd told the voice that it could go to hell and took another swig. She didn't want to feel the pain or hear the voices anymore and with each sip, the world swam even more out of focus and reality became irrelevant. It'd always worked in the past, why not now when she really needed it?
She'd started out sitting next to Willow's grave with her back to the headstone. She'd wanted to say something profound, something to put it all in focus but what it all came down to was that Xander was right. She'd uncapped the bottle and pressed the glass tip to her lips. God, it'd been so long since those days back in Los Angeles when the drinking had been away to forgot that popularity didn't equal love. None of that mattered now. All that did was the pain and even that was quickly evaporating into a misty haze.
"What do we have here?" A voice called after her.
She tried to turn around but a wave of nausea crashed through her. It was more than the alcohol though. It was the malnourishment, it was the exhaustion and it was probably also the concussion she'd sustained in the accident. None of that mattered now. "You're a vampire." Buffy said, her words slurring together.
The vampire laughed at her, "And you're a drunk Slayer. I hadn't expected it to be this easy."
Buffy tried to reply, she wanted to be cool but everything sounded stupid even to her. Finally she settled on, "I'm not drunk. Yet."
"You're long past, Slayer." He growled at her, "You won't even know what hit you." He lunged at her and knocked her over. She hit the ground so hard that the vibration caused her to clench her fist with the bottle of JD in it and it broke into several long jagged pieces. Blood poured from her hand and sent her attacker into a frenzy. He grabbed at her collar and ripped the shirt away as he tried desperately to get at her jugular.
She kicked frantically and finally managed to push him off of her. Sluggishly she rose to her feet. "You want me? Is that what you want? You can have me..I don't care. I don't care anymore."
The vampire barred it's teeth and moved towards her.
"Come on," Buffy taunted as tears rolled down her cheeks, "How hard can I be to take? You're right..I'm drunk..I'm smashed..I don't care..nothing matters. He's right..I killed her..." her lip trembled fiercely and she fell to her knees. "I killed her."
The vampire was on her instantly and in some distant way she felt his fangs puncture her skin. It didn't matter though. Over and over she repeated, "I killed her."
The vampire growled as her blood flowed through him. He could taste it all. The iron, the alcohol, the pain, the sorrow, the anger and the self-hatred. He moved her neck over to get a better angle and that was when he felt the tap on his shoulder.
He moved his mouth away from the Slayers' jugular and let the girl drop semi-conscious to the ground. Even physically and emotionally decimated, her body was still resilient and strong. It refused to give in. He looked over his shoulder and stared in awe at the figure behind him.
"I'm sorry..I didn't mean to interrupt." The figure whispered hoarsely as it reached forward and sent a stake through the vampire's heart. "But I have a real problem with you hurting my friends."
* * *
"Oh my God," Giles breathed. He blinked but she remained in front of him. He started to say her name but his voice failed him.
"Help me," she said, pulling the Slayer beside her. "We need to get her fixed up."
"Fixed..right..you're.."
"Not now." She replied, her eyes serious and focused. She helped Giles pull Buffy into his office and they both lifted her up onto the couch. Giles leaned forward to check her neck wound and was immediately repelled by the strong stench of alcohol.
"She's drunk,"Giles said astonished.
"Understatement," she replied. "Make sure the wound is not too serious and then I'll go give her a shower. Maybe that and some coffee will help sober her up."
Giles lifted up Buffys' hand and checked the cuts. Still holding it, he reached over to the desk and picked up the first aide kit. He'd long ago learned that it was wise to keep such a thing around. He looked up at his companion, "How did you.."
"I'll explain later."
* * *
"Don't make me drag you," Angel growled, his frustration becoming apparent.
Xander stared back at him defiantly, "You'll have to excuse me but I'm not much in the mood to be one of the Slayerettes right now. As far as I care, they're dead."
"Giles needs you. Believe me, this is important."
"What" Lemme guess, he's going to read me the riot act just like you did?" Xander sighed, "Well if it makes you feel better..I was going to talk to her today but she disappeared before I could."
"Fine, you can talk to her later. Right now, this is something you need to see. Now come with me."
"And if I refuse..you gonna bite me?"
"Don't tempt me."
* * *
"Okay, Giles..what's the bat-signal up for? Because to be honest, I'm pretty much thinking of hanging up the cape," Xander said bitterly as he crossed the library floor towards Giles office. He pushed the door open.
The first thing he saw was Buffy lying on the couch. Giles had put a blanket over her but Xander could still see her trembling. Her color was bad and she was just barely lucid. Immediately the tough guy act fell away and his eyes flooded with concern, "What happened? Is she okay?" He put his hand out towards the Slayer.
"She's tanked and I'm sure there will be an ick factor somewhere along the way but she'll be fine. She's Buffy," came the reply. Xander blinked. He knew that voice.
Slowly he allowed his eyes to drift downwards towards the ground where a young girl was hunched in front of the couch. Xander blinked again but the girl and all of her red hair were still there.
"Will?" he gasped, taking a step backwards. She stood up quickly and grasped his arm. It was a good thing too because he would have fallen over. "Willow..you're.."
"I'm not dead," she chirped. "Although I could use a shower." Willow said, a twinkle in her eye. Sure enough, she was covered in dirt and grime and she looked frightfully pale and yet somehow she seemed to have far more life in her than either he or Buffy.
"No..they said..you died."
Willow took his arm and helped him sit down next to her on the floor. Angel moved over to the bed and sat next to Buffy. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the strong smell of alcohol made even stronger by his vampiric senses.
"I don't understand.." Xander said, still shaking his head.
"Well if you'd be quiet I could help you," Willow grinned. She took his hand between hers. "Listen."
* * *
"Will, we gotta go now!" The Slayer screamed as she came screeching around the corner. She put her hands out in front of her to help her stop. "This place is burning fast..we gotta book."
"Just another second," Willow muttered, her fingers flying over her laptop. "I want to make sure Lord Dathon is completely shut down."
"He is, let's go." Buffy cried. It hadn't been the game-plan to burn the building down but fire just seemed to follow Buffy around like a faithful pup.
With a loud sigh, Willow nodded. She folded up her laptop and put it into the carrier and swung it over her shoulder. Buffy grabbed her arm and they started to run towards the exit.
The flames leapt towards the two girls but they continued to move swiftly through the burning warehouse. "We're almost there," Willow said as she saw Giles standing in the doorway, motioning for them to hurry.
"Come on, come on.." Buffy muttered. And then she cried out. Willow felt the sudden change in Buffy's hold before she saw it. She looked down and saw Buffy lying on the floor, holding her ankle. Next to her foot was a broken high-heel. Willow offered her arm and started to pull her up when she heard a loud creaking noise. She looked up just in time to see a part of the ceiling falling towards them. Buffy saw it also.
She spun her body around and covered Willow's with it."Hold on, Will." She gasped, biting her lip in an effort to hold back the pain. It only got worse. The plank from the ceiling crashed down on her back so hard that she had to move her body to make sure she didn't break anything. It was a bad decision. A much smaller piece of wood had also come loose and this one hit her in the head. She moaned and fell away from Willow, the world fast becoming a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes.
"Buffy?" Willow cried out, seeing the unfocused nature of the Slayers' expression. She moved to Buffys' side and gently slapped her cheeks.
"I'm here, Will.." Buffy murmured as she tried to sit up. Almost immediately she felt nauseous and had to fall back. "It's no good..I can't make it. Go."
"You've been around Xander too much..you're becoming as much of a comedian as he is," Willow replied, a fierceness in her tone. "What's that line from 'Backdraft?', oh yeah..'you go, we go.' We're in this together."
"Will, this place is falling do..down around us..go..you'll never ma.. make it with me." Buffy gasped out between ragged breaths. Blood gushed down her face from the slicing wound above her eye.
"I'm not leaving you," came the firm reply. Willow looped an arm around the Slayer and pulled her upwards. Half-dragging, half-carrying, she pulled Buffy towards the entrance. She could see Giles still swinging his arms frantically. "Giles, Buffy's hurt!"
"Hurry!" he cried out, not hearing her over the sound of sirens approaching.
She carried Buffy into his line of vision and his eyes widened in shock. "Take her," Willow yelled to him, handing the semi-conscious Slayer off to him. He pulled Buffy into his arms and dragged her outside and away from the flames. It was then, with his back to the doorway that he heard the deafening crash of wood and metal collapsing as the building fell. He turned around in horror and his heart fell to his knees.
But it was Buffy who cried out.
"Willow!"
* * *
"I don't understand how you could have survived that?" Xander exclaimed. "How did you survive that?"
"That's a good..very..question.." Buffy murmured from behind Angel. She tried to sit up but found she could barely move. She lifted her hand up and circled it around in the air. Angel caught her hand and enclosed it in his. "And if I knew what a was of a question..I think is a question..was..I'd ask what a question is."
Willow made a shushing noise. "I'll tell you everything."
* * *
She could recall hearing Buffy scream her name and then everything had gone dark. When she'd awoken, somehow or another, she'd found her way under a layer of debris. Presumably it had protected her from the fire. And by some miracle, nothing had been broken. Sure there was a lot of pain and surely some nasty bruising but nothing an ice pack and a long hot shower couldn't help. The crazy part was that the debris had formed some strange little room where she could move perhaps a couple of feet on either side but not much more than that. And by the sheerest of luck, someone's lunch box had been trapped in her debris hut with her. It didn't have much in it. A sandwich. A thing of yogurt. A bottle of water and an apple. Just the same, she'd managed to make it last by carefully controlling the exact amount she ate. It left her hungry but not completely weak.
The questions that had rolled around in her head for hours had mashed together as the hours turned into days. Her fear had changed into so many different emotions so many times that she wasn't even sure of what it was anymore. She'd wondered if she's ever see her parents again or Jake. And what about Xander? And was Buffy okay?
It must have been day three or maybe four when she'd heard the crashing around her. It'd taken every ounce of strength left in her body to lift her voice loud enough to whisper, "Help..please help me. I don't want to die."
"You're not going to die," A voice from above her had growled. And just like that she'd felt the debris being lifted away from her. She tried to curl her battered body into a ball but her savior pulled her into his arms and rocked her.
"Angel?"
"Yeah, I'm right here and you don't know how happy I am to see you." Angel said softly as he pulled the girl to his chest.
* * *
"I wanted to take her to a hospital but she asked how you all were and when I told her everyone thought she was dead, she wanted to see you guys immediately. She's a hell of a lot stronger than I would have thought possible. Especially considering the circumstances." Angel added in, his eyes still focused on the bizarre hand motions that Buffy was making. Every now and then it would appear that she was listening but then she'd zone. He didn't know for sure whether it was the influence of the JD that was making her act so nutball-ish or if the loss of blood had looped her.
"And this is what I find..Buffy drunk and begging to die in a cemetery and you sulking at home." Willow shook her head, "Why didn't you help each other throught this?"
Xander looked over at Buffy who was making weird shadow puppets with Angels' fingers and then he bowed his head,"Because I blamed her for your death."
"You what?" Willow cried, leaping to her feet. Giles grabbed her shoulders to steady her but she shrugged him off, "Why? She saved my life, Xander.."
"I didn't know that.."
"How could you not..she's saved both of our lives numerous times. Dammit, Xander." She hit him squarely in the chest and almost immediately a look of shock came over her. "I'm sorry..I..didn't..I.." it was stunning how quickly she reverted back to her normal self.
Xander quickly grabbed her hand, "I know I was wrong..please, Will..don't hate me.." All it took was one look into his pleading, puppy-dog like eyes to melt her anger away.
"I don't hate you but Xander, I'm scared..I've never seen her like this. She practically begged that vampire to kill her. He was sloppy..she could have taken him easily. She had to know she'd be a sitting duck as smashed as she is."
"I'm not smashed..I'm drunk." Buffy giggled, Her words slurred together and her focus quickly fell away from her friends and back to Angel's hand. Normally he would have enjoyed the attention but right now her typically sensual grasp was awkward and sometimes painful.
"We need to take you to the hospital," Giles said softly.
Willow shook her head forcefully and then muttered something about not doing that again. "No, I want Buffy to see that I'm alive."
"We'll tell her." Xander replied.
"And she'd believe you." Willow said. "No. Seeing is believing. Besides, I want to make sure she's okay. I'll wait. " She took Xanders' hand in hers and squeezed.
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