Time is a Thief 1 - #417 - Fireworks
Title: Time is a Thief
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 417 - Fireworks
Words: 1227
Warnings: Character Death
Rating: Teen
Summary: The Scoobies all die at the hands of Angelus and Xander flees town.
TS Eliot once wrote, "This is the way the world ends, This is the way the world ends, This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper."
That one stanza was stuck on repeat in Xander's head as he drove out of Sunnydale, hands clenched white on the steering wheel of his stolen car. A week ago Willow had been trying with futile enthusiasm to get him to memorize those lines from 'The Hollow Men' for their English assignment and now she was dead, Buffy was dead and Giles certainly wasn't going to be able to report the theft of his car, seeing as he was dead.
He relaxed his death grip on the steering wheel as he flew past the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign posted at the town limits. He had made it out before full dark, he was safe. Safe and alone. He had lost everything in the course of a week. A week since Buffy's birthday and Angelus's release. The souled vampire had returned to his roots and destroyed them so quickly, it was almost effortless.
Why wouldn't it be, for all his complaints, even Xander had trusted the demon to a certain degree. Not to hold a decent conversation with or even be trusted with Buffy's heart, but Xander had trusted him to keep Buffy safe in a fight and trusted his guilt to keep him on the side of the angels. Turns out Giles' books had it right when they said he had the face of an angel but the heart of a demon. Angelus had used Angel's face to trick and trap them all.
Giles had been killed first, as an example and proof that Angelus wasn't fooling around. Xander could see a sick sort of sense in it. Giles was the oldest and most likely to be looked to for leadership. No matter how much Buffy liked to think of herself as independent and alone in her fight, she relied heavily on Giles's wisdom and guidance. Snapping his neck was an act of pure demoralization, killing their hope and innocence in one wrenched movement. Buffy's scream and Willow's sobs broke Xander just as thoroughly as the sight of the closest thing he'd ever had to a father figure crumpling to the ground.
Buffy had unleashed her fury on Angelus as he thanked her for releasing him and taunted her for succumbing to foolish teenage hormones that ended up being the direct cause of her Watcher's death. He wore her down slow and easy, battering her around the library, their home ground. It was a public space without any protection from vampires, but it had been theirs. Their inner sanctum, where they had stood victorious over the Master and other threats.
Spike and Drusilla were there, holding Xander and Willow hostage as Angelus played with the Slayer. When Buffy started tiring, Angelus threatened their lives to keep her going. She had to win or her best friends would die. It had worked, giving her a second wind, but even desperation can only get someone so far when they are completely outmatched. Xander had seen the defeat in her eyes as her movements slowed and grew sloppy. Eventually, she stumbled and fell, sliding to the floor and unable to get up.
Xander saw her tears fall as fangs ripped into his throat and pain engulfed him. His physical pain was secondary to the horror of seeing that shattered look on Buffy's face and knowing that Willow was suffering alongside him. He could feel his blood flooding out of him and the cold creeping in as his pulse fluttered in distress. The world faded away as he felt death waiting to take him.
He had woken up in the hospital, gushed over by nurses and doctors who kept using words like 'miraculous recovery' and 'lucky to be alive'. Xander didn't feel lucky, especially after they asked him to identify the DOA bodies he had been found with. Giles was dead, Willow was dead and according to the doctors Buffy had lived another scant few hours of brutality before she also succumbed. They told him that the police were coming to take his statement, but he had nothing to say to them. The Sunnydale PD were worse than useless. They'd probably try to pin the whole thing on him.
So, he'd checked out against medical advice, and without the checking out part. It was more of an unobserved escape. Xander made his slow stumbling exodus into the harsh sunshine, knowing that he only had a few hours before the sun set and Angelus had a chance to correct the oversight of his life.
He had gone to Giles' apartment, knowing that the older man had no need for his belongings anymore and wouldn't begrudge him his survival. He ransacked the apartment, taking the weapons and books and anything valuable he could find. He loaded Giles' car down with his scavenged goods, settling Giles' guitar in the passenger seat. He had never even heard the man play. Xander wondered if he could sing as well, and what he might have sounded like. A painful lump blocked his throat at the realization that he would never know. Never get to pester and tease the Englishman into playing for him.
Xander stopped briefly at the girl's houses as well, walking right in with the creeping sense of survivor's guilt that their homes were empty because their parents had been called to the hospital to claim their bodies. He cleared out Buffy's weapons, doing his friend one last favor by removing any proof that she was anything but a normal teenage girl. Her mother would never know that she had been a hero, and she didn't need to stumble upon the unexplainable stash as she set her daughter's worldly affairs to order. The only personal item he took was the picture of the three of them, Willow, Xander and Buffy huddled together in a tangle of arms and grinning into the camera, placed in the position of honor on her bedside table.
Willow's room nearly broke him. Her bedroom had been his second home since second grade and it felt so empty and cold without her there. He fed her fish one last time and gathered together everything that had sentimental value in a pillowcase that still smelled like her shampoo. He also stripped her room of computers and electronics. Computers had always been her passion and she had the top of the line in everything. He hated to steal from her, but he would need the money they would bring in.
He was furious with himself for the fear that filled him as he realized that the sun streaming into Willow's room had faded into late afternoon. He was far too old to be afraid of the dark, but he'd recently had a refresher in why humans feared the monsters of the night. He quickly loaded up Giles' ugly old Citroen and fled town. He would drive as long as the gas tank held and then he would sell the car, he couldn't afford to keep it fueled. He was on his own now.
That's how the Scoobies ended, not with the burst of fireworks or flare of rockets, but with a sudden betrayal and complete annihilation of everything Xander cared about.
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 417 - Fireworks
Words: 1227
Warnings: Character Death
Rating: Teen
Summary: The Scoobies all die at the hands of Angelus and Xander flees town.
TS Eliot once wrote, "This is the way the world ends, This is the way the world ends, This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper."
That one stanza was stuck on repeat in Xander's head as he drove out of Sunnydale, hands clenched white on the steering wheel of his stolen car. A week ago Willow had been trying with futile enthusiasm to get him to memorize those lines from 'The Hollow Men' for their English assignment and now she was dead, Buffy was dead and Giles certainly wasn't going to be able to report the theft of his car, seeing as he was dead.
He relaxed his death grip on the steering wheel as he flew past the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign posted at the town limits. He had made it out before full dark, he was safe. Safe and alone. He had lost everything in the course of a week. A week since Buffy's birthday and Angelus's release. The souled vampire had returned to his roots and destroyed them so quickly, it was almost effortless.
Why wouldn't it be, for all his complaints, even Xander had trusted the demon to a certain degree. Not to hold a decent conversation with or even be trusted with Buffy's heart, but Xander had trusted him to keep Buffy safe in a fight and trusted his guilt to keep him on the side of the angels. Turns out Giles' books had it right when they said he had the face of an angel but the heart of a demon. Angelus had used Angel's face to trick and trap them all.
Giles had been killed first, as an example and proof that Angelus wasn't fooling around. Xander could see a sick sort of sense in it. Giles was the oldest and most likely to be looked to for leadership. No matter how much Buffy liked to think of herself as independent and alone in her fight, she relied heavily on Giles's wisdom and guidance. Snapping his neck was an act of pure demoralization, killing their hope and innocence in one wrenched movement. Buffy's scream and Willow's sobs broke Xander just as thoroughly as the sight of the closest thing he'd ever had to a father figure crumpling to the ground.
Buffy had unleashed her fury on Angelus as he thanked her for releasing him and taunted her for succumbing to foolish teenage hormones that ended up being the direct cause of her Watcher's death. He wore her down slow and easy, battering her around the library, their home ground. It was a public space without any protection from vampires, but it had been theirs. Their inner sanctum, where they had stood victorious over the Master and other threats.
Spike and Drusilla were there, holding Xander and Willow hostage as Angelus played with the Slayer. When Buffy started tiring, Angelus threatened their lives to keep her going. She had to win or her best friends would die. It had worked, giving her a second wind, but even desperation can only get someone so far when they are completely outmatched. Xander had seen the defeat in her eyes as her movements slowed and grew sloppy. Eventually, she stumbled and fell, sliding to the floor and unable to get up.
Xander saw her tears fall as fangs ripped into his throat and pain engulfed him. His physical pain was secondary to the horror of seeing that shattered look on Buffy's face and knowing that Willow was suffering alongside him. He could feel his blood flooding out of him and the cold creeping in as his pulse fluttered in distress. The world faded away as he felt death waiting to take him.
He had woken up in the hospital, gushed over by nurses and doctors who kept using words like 'miraculous recovery' and 'lucky to be alive'. Xander didn't feel lucky, especially after they asked him to identify the DOA bodies he had been found with. Giles was dead, Willow was dead and according to the doctors Buffy had lived another scant few hours of brutality before she also succumbed. They told him that the police were coming to take his statement, but he had nothing to say to them. The Sunnydale PD were worse than useless. They'd probably try to pin the whole thing on him.
So, he'd checked out against medical advice, and without the checking out part. It was more of an unobserved escape. Xander made his slow stumbling exodus into the harsh sunshine, knowing that he only had a few hours before the sun set and Angelus had a chance to correct the oversight of his life.
He had gone to Giles' apartment, knowing that the older man had no need for his belongings anymore and wouldn't begrudge him his survival. He ransacked the apartment, taking the weapons and books and anything valuable he could find. He loaded Giles' car down with his scavenged goods, settling Giles' guitar in the passenger seat. He had never even heard the man play. Xander wondered if he could sing as well, and what he might have sounded like. A painful lump blocked his throat at the realization that he would never know. Never get to pester and tease the Englishman into playing for him.
Xander stopped briefly at the girl's houses as well, walking right in with the creeping sense of survivor's guilt that their homes were empty because their parents had been called to the hospital to claim their bodies. He cleared out Buffy's weapons, doing his friend one last favor by removing any proof that she was anything but a normal teenage girl. Her mother would never know that she had been a hero, and she didn't need to stumble upon the unexplainable stash as she set her daughter's worldly affairs to order. The only personal item he took was the picture of the three of them, Willow, Xander and Buffy huddled together in a tangle of arms and grinning into the camera, placed in the position of honor on her bedside table.
Willow's room nearly broke him. Her bedroom had been his second home since second grade and it felt so empty and cold without her there. He fed her fish one last time and gathered together everything that had sentimental value in a pillowcase that still smelled like her shampoo. He also stripped her room of computers and electronics. Computers had always been her passion and she had the top of the line in everything. He hated to steal from her, but he would need the money they would bring in.
He was furious with himself for the fear that filled him as he realized that the sun streaming into Willow's room had faded into late afternoon. He was far too old to be afraid of the dark, but he'd recently had a refresher in why humans feared the monsters of the night. He quickly loaded up Giles' ugly old Citroen and fled town. He would drive as long as the gas tank held and then he would sell the car, he couldn't afford to keep it fueled. He was on his own now.
That's how the Scoobies ended, not with the burst of fireworks or flare of rockets, but with a sudden betrayal and complete annihilation of everything Xander cared about.