!fanfic! - BtVS - People I Knew for the Apocalyptothon
Once again AGAIN, this is VERY LATE as I believe I've explained to everyone whose ficathons I'm late for. I went to New Zealand, my memory stick didn't. *facepalm* Many apologies again.
Title: People I Knew
Rating: R for dead body-ness
Wordcount: 1, 062
Fandom: BTVS
Main Characters: Xander, Spike, Giles
Ficathon: The Apocalyptothon 2006
Ficathon Challenge:
For forcedmovement: I love me some Xander. Xander is always good. And Spike. I'd enjoy almost any combination of characters stuck somewhere together. Although...Dawn and Buffy getting killed off would make me happy. In a bittersweet way, if that makes any sense. Oh god, I don't want whoever gets this to CRY....just...follow it if you think it makes sense. If not, ignore me there.
Notes: Don't worry, I'm not crying :P I actually really enjoyed writing this for you.
Xander is the first to step out into the light, clambering to his feet. His body feels empty after all the action of the last few days, legs weak, stomach aching with hunger, head exploding within. And he knows this can’t be Heaven, or he wouldn’t feel so crushed. But it can’t be Hell either - the place of eternal torment could never be so serene.
He looks around, stumbling here and there amongst rubble, dirt and the ruins of days of fire and lightning. He’s alive then. Survived the end of the world. And this is what lies after the apocalypse, this is what he’s fought for. Xander turns bitterly in the dead silence of the ruined city, observing the barren landscape contrasted against the too-bright sky.
He knew one day they’d lose the fight - that some foe would be too strong for them to handle - but he’d never expected to be a survivor. He always thought that Buffy would stand tall after the end, that she would be the one to carry on. No way was he going to be here, where he is now, looking out on an empty world and an endless sky.
Xander begins to walk in the rubble, flashes of Buffy’s death running through his mind. It had happened two days ago - in the middle of the final battle. He’d seen the sword go slicing through her strong body, seen her flesh split, her blood spilt and her face as she fell to the ground. That dead face haunts him as he steps unsurely over the rubble.
He feels something uncommonly soft beneath his foot and steps back, looking down at a delicate hand half-buried in the debris. He crouches, tears in his eyes, as he recognises the loveheart ring on the little finger.
“Dawn,” he says, reaching out to touch the still-soft hand. He reaches under the wreckage to feel her wrist, an unreal hope lingering in the back of his mind.
He sighs deeply, holding the little hand for a moment in silence.
“Who is it?” Spike asks, coming to stand behind Xander. To the vampire’s surprise Xander doesn’t flinch or jump, like he’s seen so much in the last few days that nothing can ever surprise him again.
Xander stands and turns to Spike, who sees in the man’s face the same emotion he feels within. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Surviving the end of the world wasn’t worth the hassle.
“It’s Dawn.”
Spike feels a dagger shoot into his chest. He takes in a breath, closing his pained eyes. He too is feeling the repercussions of the fight, feeling the strain on his limbs. His muscles have started to spasm in a protective reaction, trying in vain to care for the various tears and rips deep beneath his skin.
“I’m gonna dig her out,” Xander decides after a moment, crouching back down beside the tiny hand sticking out of the rubble. “See if you can find the others.”
Spike nods in silence, glad to be away from Dawn. He doesn’t want to see her body - though finding anyone in this wreckage is going to tear him up. Finding Andrew, Willow or Faith might be easier, someone who he wasn’t so close to. Finding Wood might even give him a moment of sick pleasure amid all the grief.
The one he doesn’t want to find is Buffy, though he knows with his luck he probably will. If Xander had the misfortune to stumble upon Dawn, then the Slayer is his to uncover. It turns his stomach to think of her as he walks on around where Xander is digging. He kicks over rocks and rubble, lifting the hood of Willow’s car to see what lies beneath it.
A dead dog. He grimaces. It’s saddening, but relieving to find that’s all that’s there.
As he replaces the hood he looks at his own pale hand, realising he’s bathed in sunlight. But there’s no smoke, no combustion, no nothing. He’s still a vampire - his heart’s still not beating - yet the sunlight’s pouring down on him.
“Hey,” he says, waiting for Xander to look up. “I’m out in the sun… and I’m not on fire.”
Xander ponders this, looking the vampire up and down.
“Maybe the rules have changed,” he reasons.
“That’s not the sun.”
A strained, English voice catches them both as Giles pulls himself out of a pit not too far away. Spike goes to his aid, lifting the aged Watcher to his feet and helping him over to where Xander is digging in some ruins.
“What are you-” Giles begins, stopping in shock at the torso being revealed under the rocks and dirt.
“Dawn,” he says aloud, his voice broken.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Xander says, taking a moment to smile at Giles before he goes back to work.
Giles looks to the boy, his young face pale and concentrated as he continues to dig. With a tear in his green eyes, Giles wonders how on earth Xander’s keeping it together. With everything they’ve been through, everything they’ve lived with, how can he still be so focused?
“Do you think anyone else got out alive?” Spike asks, looking up at the puzzling light that isn’t the sun after all.
“I saw Willow go,” Xander says in an even, emotionless voice. “And Faith went down with that big spiky-thing into the fire.”
“Andrew’s neck snapped, poor bleeder,” Spike continues in the same matter-of-fact tone, “And Wood and Kennedy - I saw them bite it.”
Giles nods, listening to them both with care. He realises now how much shock they’re all in, that the events of the last few days with hit them eventually. But Giles isn’t willing to play along with this image of strength, when he knows what they all need is to let out some rage. He wants nothing more than to release the pain inside, to vent the rage that helped him survive the final apocalypse.
“Buffy’s in the pit,” he says in a careful tone. “The one I just climbed out of.”
And the memories flood back to them all, everything they’ve ever been through with the people they lived alongside every day. The fact that the place they lived, the memories they shared, are no more. The fact that they’re gone. Their world is over in one fell swoop.
Title: People I Knew
Rating: R for dead body-ness
Wordcount: 1, 062
Fandom: BTVS
Main Characters: Xander, Spike, Giles
Ficathon: The Apocalyptothon 2006
Ficathon Challenge:
For forcedmovement: I love me some Xander. Xander is always good. And Spike. I'd enjoy almost any combination of characters stuck somewhere together. Although...Dawn and Buffy getting killed off would make me happy. In a bittersweet way, if that makes any sense. Oh god, I don't want whoever gets this to CRY....just...follow it if you think it makes sense. If not, ignore me there.
Notes: Don't worry, I'm not crying :P I actually really enjoyed writing this for you.
Xander is the first to step out into the light, clambering to his feet. His body feels empty after all the action of the last few days, legs weak, stomach aching with hunger, head exploding within. And he knows this can’t be Heaven, or he wouldn’t feel so crushed. But it can’t be Hell either - the place of eternal torment could never be so serene.
He looks around, stumbling here and there amongst rubble, dirt and the ruins of days of fire and lightning. He’s alive then. Survived the end of the world. And this is what lies after the apocalypse, this is what he’s fought for. Xander turns bitterly in the dead silence of the ruined city, observing the barren landscape contrasted against the too-bright sky.
He knew one day they’d lose the fight - that some foe would be too strong for them to handle - but he’d never expected to be a survivor. He always thought that Buffy would stand tall after the end, that she would be the one to carry on. No way was he going to be here, where he is now, looking out on an empty world and an endless sky.
Xander begins to walk in the rubble, flashes of Buffy’s death running through his mind. It had happened two days ago - in the middle of the final battle. He’d seen the sword go slicing through her strong body, seen her flesh split, her blood spilt and her face as she fell to the ground. That dead face haunts him as he steps unsurely over the rubble.
He feels something uncommonly soft beneath his foot and steps back, looking down at a delicate hand half-buried in the debris. He crouches, tears in his eyes, as he recognises the loveheart ring on the little finger.
“Dawn,” he says, reaching out to touch the still-soft hand. He reaches under the wreckage to feel her wrist, an unreal hope lingering in the back of his mind.
He sighs deeply, holding the little hand for a moment in silence.
“Who is it?” Spike asks, coming to stand behind Xander. To the vampire’s surprise Xander doesn’t flinch or jump, like he’s seen so much in the last few days that nothing can ever surprise him again.
Xander stands and turns to Spike, who sees in the man’s face the same emotion he feels within. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Surviving the end of the world wasn’t worth the hassle.
“It’s Dawn.”
Spike feels a dagger shoot into his chest. He takes in a breath, closing his pained eyes. He too is feeling the repercussions of the fight, feeling the strain on his limbs. His muscles have started to spasm in a protective reaction, trying in vain to care for the various tears and rips deep beneath his skin.
“I’m gonna dig her out,” Xander decides after a moment, crouching back down beside the tiny hand sticking out of the rubble. “See if you can find the others.”
Spike nods in silence, glad to be away from Dawn. He doesn’t want to see her body - though finding anyone in this wreckage is going to tear him up. Finding Andrew, Willow or Faith might be easier, someone who he wasn’t so close to. Finding Wood might even give him a moment of sick pleasure amid all the grief.
The one he doesn’t want to find is Buffy, though he knows with his luck he probably will. If Xander had the misfortune to stumble upon Dawn, then the Slayer is his to uncover. It turns his stomach to think of her as he walks on around where Xander is digging. He kicks over rocks and rubble, lifting the hood of Willow’s car to see what lies beneath it.
A dead dog. He grimaces. It’s saddening, but relieving to find that’s all that’s there.
As he replaces the hood he looks at his own pale hand, realising he’s bathed in sunlight. But there’s no smoke, no combustion, no nothing. He’s still a vampire - his heart’s still not beating - yet the sunlight’s pouring down on him.
“Hey,” he says, waiting for Xander to look up. “I’m out in the sun… and I’m not on fire.”
Xander ponders this, looking the vampire up and down.
“Maybe the rules have changed,” he reasons.
“That’s not the sun.”
A strained, English voice catches them both as Giles pulls himself out of a pit not too far away. Spike goes to his aid, lifting the aged Watcher to his feet and helping him over to where Xander is digging in some ruins.
“What are you-” Giles begins, stopping in shock at the torso being revealed under the rocks and dirt.
“Dawn,” he says aloud, his voice broken.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Xander says, taking a moment to smile at Giles before he goes back to work.
Giles looks to the boy, his young face pale and concentrated as he continues to dig. With a tear in his green eyes, Giles wonders how on earth Xander’s keeping it together. With everything they’ve been through, everything they’ve lived with, how can he still be so focused?
“Do you think anyone else got out alive?” Spike asks, looking up at the puzzling light that isn’t the sun after all.
“I saw Willow go,” Xander says in an even, emotionless voice. “And Faith went down with that big spiky-thing into the fire.”
“Andrew’s neck snapped, poor bleeder,” Spike continues in the same matter-of-fact tone, “And Wood and Kennedy - I saw them bite it.”
Giles nods, listening to them both with care. He realises now how much shock they’re all in, that the events of the last few days with hit them eventually. But Giles isn’t willing to play along with this image of strength, when he knows what they all need is to let out some rage. He wants nothing more than to release the pain inside, to vent the rage that helped him survive the final apocalypse.
“Buffy’s in the pit,” he says in a careful tone. “The one I just climbed out of.”
And the memories flood back to them all, everything they’ve ever been through with the people they lived alongside every day. The fact that the place they lived, the memories they shared, are no more. The fact that they’re gone. Their world is over in one fell swoop.