March Amnesty, Part -..
Title: The Best of Us
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/HP
Challenge: #004 - Character:Xander
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
“There is one thing I don’t get,” George said, stroking his girlfriend’s hair as she leaned back against his chest.
“There’s only one thing?” Dawn replied, surprised. Granted, George being a wizard meant he could take the whole concept of the supernatural a little easier than most people she’d let in on the secret over the years.
“Yeah. Your mate Xander.”
“What’s not to get about Xander?” Dawn asked, puzzled.
“He’s a Muggle. Completely and totally. No magic, no special powers. Just your everyday Bob the Builder.”
“Yeah…”
“But he fights alongside Slayers and witches and holds his own. How? And why?”
“Because he’s Xander,” Dawn said. “He’s the strongest of all, really. Every one of us would have given up at some point if it wasn’t for him.”
“Why though?” George asked. “What makes him special?”
“Because he’s the only one who’s a volunteer,” Dawn said softly. “Everyone else was chosen, one way or another. Most of us can’t walk away even if we want to. Xander’s the only one who chose this entirely of his own free will. He could walk away at any time, but he never has.”
George hugged her tightly.
“So about that shovel thing…?”
Title: Yes, Virginia, There Are Vampires In Italy
Word Count: 100
Fandom: BtVS/HP
Challenge: #005 - Superstitious
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
Hermione regarded Willow thoughtfully.
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight… vampires can be killed by a wooden stake to the heart or decapitation. Sunlight and holy water will work too, but are fatal only with prolonged exposure.”
Willow nodded.
“Yep, that’s the major points. Oh, and lighting them on fire works, too. Almost forgot that one, although if you’ve got a wand, it’s probably the easiest method.”
Hermione wrinkled her nose.
“What about garlic?”
Willow shook her head.
“Fraid not. That’s just a Muggle superstition. No factual basis whatsoever. Unless you find a vamp who really hates garlic.”
Title: Sometimes You Remind Me
Word Count: 100
Fandom: BtVS/HP
Challenge: #009 - Call of the Wild
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
Dawn sighed. She didn’t like to say it to her sister or Willow, but sometimes she missed Oz. She got why he couldn’t stay, but still…
He’d been her favorite babysitter. He’d been the cool one with the band who didn’t treat her like a useless little kid. So what if all those memories were fake? Some of those fake feelings and memories were the most real things in her life.
Maybe those fond memories were why she got on so well with Remus Lupin. He had the same calm air as Oz, hiding the same call of the wild.
Title: True or False
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/CSI
Challenge: #031 - Fortune Cookie Fortunes
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
Nick pushed the takeout container away.
“I don’t know about y’all, but I’m stuffed. Cath, thank your sisters. This was awesome.”
Sara and Greg seconded that- Dawn had dropped off food for the whole shift after Cath had called Buffy to say they’d be pulling a double. At Catherine’s worried look, Dawn had assured her (and everyone else) that she had no part in cooking it- that was all Buffy.
Not that the whole shift hadn’t come to appreciate Dawn, but her strange culinary experiments had fast become legend. The only food anyone in their right mind would accept from her was the kind she hadn’t made herself. Dawn had promised them dessert was special, though.
“Fortune cookies?” Sara asked. She wasn’t the only one disappointed. Dawn might not be a cook, but she was something of a goddess when it came to finding treats.
“Yeah,” Catherine said. “Apparently they’re true fortunes.”
“What, a fortune that’s for real?” Greg asked lightly.
“So Dawn says,” Catherine replied. “But it shouldn’t be morbid- no death omens or anything.”
“I call bullshit,” Sara said, holding a slip of paper in her hand. “Mine says ‘Smiling often can make you look and feel younger.’ “
Title: Wake Up And Smell The...
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/Firefly
Challenge: #041 - Coffee
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
“Wake up, sleepyhead!”
Kaylee sounded far, far too cheerful for this ungodly hour. Not that he was sure what hour it was, but it felt way too early. He heard an impish giggle from his Slayer.
“Watcher thinks it’s still time to sleep. He does not know.”
“Unless you come bearing coffee or the news of the imminent apocalypse, River, I don’t want to know. I want to sleep.”
“Silly, you know there’s no coffee on board. Hasn’t been for weeks now.”
It was a crime against nature that Kaylee could be so upbeat. The only graver crime was that she was conspiring with River to wake him this early.
“No coffee on board. On Belleraphon, however…”
Xander sat up so quickly he almost cracked his head against Kaylee’s chin- she’d been leaning over him. River’s quicker reflexes pulled both girls out of the line of fire.
“We’re stopping at Belleraphon?”
A sound of disgust from the door drew everyone’s attention.
“You girls oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Said tell the man when he woke up, didn’t say wake him to tell him!”
The grin on Mal’s face said he had known how it would go and hadn’t interfered, though.
Title: Fallout
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/BSG
Challenge: #043 - Thirteen
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
“This is really confusing, Wills. Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” Willow said. She looked stressed. Everyone did. Dawn accidentally opening up a portal and then tripping over Andrew’s ferret and falling through it had made for a long day. Andrew was hiding out somewhere in the castle, having been yelled at by Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Faith, and pretty much every Slayer who was in the lab at the time- so roughly half the girls in residence.
“It’s a fascinating dimension. It’s kind of related to our own, there’s an Earth there, but it’s one of 13 human colonies.”
“Colonies? Where are humans originally from?”
“The homeworld is apparently called Kobol. Not too clear on where it is, or where the other twelve colonies are, either. Anyway, Dawn’s lucky- she should have ended up in the same location on this alternate Earth. Only problem is there may be a lot of radiation there- they had a nuclear war. It’s going to make it a little trickier than I thought to hold a large enough portal open to extract her.”
The look in Buffy’s eye boded no good for Andrew or the ferret if Dawn suffered any effects from nuclear fallout.
Title: Sugar and Spice
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/CSI
Challenge: #044 - Marshmellows
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
Sara glared at her coffee. Stupid suspect. Stupid undersheriff. Stupid Catherine!
A noise from the doorway made her look up. One of Catherine’s sisters- the bratty one- was standing there, grocery bag in hand.
“Catherine’s not here,” Sara snapped, not bothering to hide her foul mood. “Which means you shouldn’t be either.”
The kid didn’t look at all bothered.
“Who spit in your coffee?” she asked in a conversational tone. “Whatever. I’m just dropping stuff off for Cath anyway.”
Sara maintained her stony silence as the girl put some stuff in the fridge and a few things on the shelf.
Dawn smirked. Did Sara seriously think that her little hissy fit would upset someone who dealt with both Buffy and Catherine’s bad moods on a regular basis? Speaking of which…
“Three things before I go. Number one, that face makes you look retirement age cranky, so you might wanna quit it. Two, if I find out you screwed with my sister’s food because you’re pissed off at her, you will regret it. Three, I left you a hot chocolate packet on the counter. It’s best with milk, but it’ll work with water. You should try it- marshmallows make everything better.”
Title: In Memoriam
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/Firefly
Challenge: #056 - Proverbs
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t have practice at this. Being immortal had the definite downside of outliving most everyone you knew. Only a few remained. Giving eulogies never got easier, though. If anything, it got harder over the years.
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning
Buffy’s voice was steady, though her hands shook slightly. Not that it mattered- there was no one to hear this reading.
and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels
They all started to run together after a while. All the names, all the faces, all the years. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair. But no one had asked.
to understand a proverb, and the interpretation
She’d given back her gift- or someone had returned it for her. No one had realized it wouldn’t be offered again.
the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
She’d first read that verse for Giles. She’d read it for eighteen other Watchers since. She had left Haven to investigate a rumor the Alliance was experimenting on demons. She had returned to desolation.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper
That verse she’d added just for Shephard Book- as a promise.
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/HP
Challenge: #004 - Character:Xander
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
“There is one thing I don’t get,” George said, stroking his girlfriend’s hair as she leaned back against his chest.
“There’s only one thing?” Dawn replied, surprised. Granted, George being a wizard meant he could take the whole concept of the supernatural a little easier than most people she’d let in on the secret over the years.
“Yeah. Your mate Xander.”
“What’s not to get about Xander?” Dawn asked, puzzled.
“He’s a Muggle. Completely and totally. No magic, no special powers. Just your everyday Bob the Builder.”
“Yeah…”
“But he fights alongside Slayers and witches and holds his own. How? And why?”
“Because he’s Xander,” Dawn said. “He’s the strongest of all, really. Every one of us would have given up at some point if it wasn’t for him.”
“Why though?” George asked. “What makes him special?”
“Because he’s the only one who’s a volunteer,” Dawn said softly. “Everyone else was chosen, one way or another. Most of us can’t walk away even if we want to. Xander’s the only one who chose this entirely of his own free will. He could walk away at any time, but he never has.”
George hugged her tightly.
“So about that shovel thing…?”
Title: Yes, Virginia, There Are Vampires In Italy
Word Count: 100
Fandom: BtVS/HP
Challenge: #005 - Superstitious
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
Hermione regarded Willow thoughtfully.
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight… vampires can be killed by a wooden stake to the heart or decapitation. Sunlight and holy water will work too, but are fatal only with prolonged exposure.”
Willow nodded.
“Yep, that’s the major points. Oh, and lighting them on fire works, too. Almost forgot that one, although if you’ve got a wand, it’s probably the easiest method.”
Hermione wrinkled her nose.
“What about garlic?”
Willow shook her head.
“Fraid not. That’s just a Muggle superstition. No factual basis whatsoever. Unless you find a vamp who really hates garlic.”
Title: Sometimes You Remind Me
Word Count: 100
Fandom: BtVS/HP
Challenge: #009 - Call of the Wild
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
Dawn sighed. She didn’t like to say it to her sister or Willow, but sometimes she missed Oz. She got why he couldn’t stay, but still…
He’d been her favorite babysitter. He’d been the cool one with the band who didn’t treat her like a useless little kid. So what if all those memories were fake? Some of those fake feelings and memories were the most real things in her life.
Maybe those fond memories were why she got on so well with Remus Lupin. He had the same calm air as Oz, hiding the same call of the wild.
Title: True or False
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/CSI
Challenge: #031 - Fortune Cookie Fortunes
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
Nick pushed the takeout container away.
“I don’t know about y’all, but I’m stuffed. Cath, thank your sisters. This was awesome.”
Sara and Greg seconded that- Dawn had dropped off food for the whole shift after Cath had called Buffy to say they’d be pulling a double. At Catherine’s worried look, Dawn had assured her (and everyone else) that she had no part in cooking it- that was all Buffy.
Not that the whole shift hadn’t come to appreciate Dawn, but her strange culinary experiments had fast become legend. The only food anyone in their right mind would accept from her was the kind she hadn’t made herself. Dawn had promised them dessert was special, though.
“Fortune cookies?” Sara asked. She wasn’t the only one disappointed. Dawn might not be a cook, but she was something of a goddess when it came to finding treats.
“Yeah,” Catherine said. “Apparently they’re true fortunes.”
“What, a fortune that’s for real?” Greg asked lightly.
“So Dawn says,” Catherine replied. “But it shouldn’t be morbid- no death omens or anything.”
“I call bullshit,” Sara said, holding a slip of paper in her hand. “Mine says ‘Smiling often can make you look and feel younger.’ “
Title: Wake Up And Smell The...
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/Firefly
Challenge: #041 - Coffee
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
“Wake up, sleepyhead!”
Kaylee sounded far, far too cheerful for this ungodly hour. Not that he was sure what hour it was, but it felt way too early. He heard an impish giggle from his Slayer.
“Watcher thinks it’s still time to sleep. He does not know.”
“Unless you come bearing coffee or the news of the imminent apocalypse, River, I don’t want to know. I want to sleep.”
“Silly, you know there’s no coffee on board. Hasn’t been for weeks now.”
It was a crime against nature that Kaylee could be so upbeat. The only graver crime was that she was conspiring with River to wake him this early.
“No coffee on board. On Belleraphon, however…”
Xander sat up so quickly he almost cracked his head against Kaylee’s chin- she’d been leaning over him. River’s quicker reflexes pulled both girls out of the line of fire.
“We’re stopping at Belleraphon?”
A sound of disgust from the door drew everyone’s attention.
“You girls oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Said tell the man when he woke up, didn’t say wake him to tell him!”
The grin on Mal’s face said he had known how it would go and hadn’t interfered, though.
Title: Fallout
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/BSG
Challenge: #043 - Thirteen
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
“This is really confusing, Wills. Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” Willow said. She looked stressed. Everyone did. Dawn accidentally opening up a portal and then tripping over Andrew’s ferret and falling through it had made for a long day. Andrew was hiding out somewhere in the castle, having been yelled at by Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Faith, and pretty much every Slayer who was in the lab at the time- so roughly half the girls in residence.
“It’s a fascinating dimension. It’s kind of related to our own, there’s an Earth there, but it’s one of 13 human colonies.”
“Colonies? Where are humans originally from?”
“The homeworld is apparently called Kobol. Not too clear on where it is, or where the other twelve colonies are, either. Anyway, Dawn’s lucky- she should have ended up in the same location on this alternate Earth. Only problem is there may be a lot of radiation there- they had a nuclear war. It’s going to make it a little trickier than I thought to hold a large enough portal open to extract her.”
The look in Buffy’s eye boded no good for Andrew or the ferret if Dawn suffered any effects from nuclear fallout.
Title: Sugar and Spice
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/CSI
Challenge: #044 - Marshmellows
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
Sara glared at her coffee. Stupid suspect. Stupid undersheriff. Stupid Catherine!
A noise from the doorway made her look up. One of Catherine’s sisters- the bratty one- was standing there, grocery bag in hand.
“Catherine’s not here,” Sara snapped, not bothering to hide her foul mood. “Which means you shouldn’t be either.”
The kid didn’t look at all bothered.
“Who spit in your coffee?” she asked in a conversational tone. “Whatever. I’m just dropping stuff off for Cath anyway.”
Sara maintained her stony silence as the girl put some stuff in the fridge and a few things on the shelf.
Dawn smirked. Did Sara seriously think that her little hissy fit would upset someone who dealt with both Buffy and Catherine’s bad moods on a regular basis? Speaking of which…
“Three things before I go. Number one, that face makes you look retirement age cranky, so you might wanna quit it. Two, if I find out you screwed with my sister’s food because you’re pissed off at her, you will regret it. Three, I left you a hot chocolate packet on the counter. It’s best with milk, but it’ll work with water. You should try it- marshmallows make everything better.”
Title: In Memoriam
Word Count: 200
Fandom: BtVS/Firefly
Challenge: #056 - Proverbs
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these characters.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t have practice at this. Being immortal had the definite downside of outliving most everyone you knew. Only a few remained. Giving eulogies never got easier, though. If anything, it got harder over the years.
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning
Buffy’s voice was steady, though her hands shook slightly. Not that it mattered- there was no one to hear this reading.
and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels
They all started to run together after a while. All the names, all the faces, all the years. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair. But no one had asked.
to understand a proverb, and the interpretation
She’d given back her gift- or someone had returned it for her. No one had realized it wouldn’t be offered again.
the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
She’d first read that verse for Giles. She’d read it for eighteen other Watchers since. She had left Haven to investigate a rumor the Alliance was experimenting on demons. She had returned to desolation.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper
That verse she’d added just for Shephard Book- as a promise.