Aug 22, 2022 - In the Afterlife, Ch 3 (FR-13)
Aug 22, 2022 - In the Afterlife, Ch 3 (FR-13)
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **Part of the 2022 August Fic-a-Day Challenge** Certain things feel too coincidental for Buffy and company.
Crossover: MCU, Avengers
Rating: FR-13
Word count: 972
Challenge: for the livejournal 2022 August Fic-a-Day Challenge
Timeline: post season 5 for BtVS, post EG for MCU
A/N: I don’t know the dates of Gulmira, but using writer’s prerogative for the story’s purposes.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. MCU characters belong to Marvel, Disney et al. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Summers’ home
As they walked back to the house, Buffy found out just how long she had been dead, which was a total mindblower.
“So, what’s today’s date?” Tony asked, still trying to figure out how he had the arc reactor back in his chest.
“October 2nd,” Dawn answered.
“The day I went to Gulmira to destroy the SI weapons the terrorist had there,” he murmured softly.
“Depending on the spell Red used and your closeness to the Slayer, that’s probably not a coincidence,” Spike offered, annoyed at the friendship - or possibly more - between the two. “When did you die?”
“2023, about fifteen years from now,” Tony said, hoping the reactor was at least the newer version, palladium-free, but highly doubting it.
Dawn looked at him strangely and corrected him, “Umm, 2023 is twenty-two years away, not fifteen.”
“But I didn’t have the reactor in 2001,” he argued.
“Spike’s probably right about Willow’s spell. If she worded it a certain way, you might have been brought here at the time you became a superhero in your dimension, even if the years don’t match up. The fact that today matches the date of your first action as Iron Man is too perfect for the Powers to ignore. Which means they think you’re needed here for some reason,” Buffy added in a bitter tone. “Just like they think I needed to be brought back and either planted the idea in the gang’s mind or allowed it to happen.”
“You didn’t want to come back?” Dawn asked tearfully.
“The only reason I’m not totally pissed is you’re here, Dawnie. But I have to be honest; I was at peace up there. It might not have been heaven - no offense, Tony, but my mom wasn’t there, and she rates higher than a guy I just met - but it was nice not having the world’s safety on my shoulders anymore. Having to come back and be the Slayer…again, sucks beyond the telling of it,” she admitted.
“No offense taken, Buffy,” Tony replied with an understanding expression. “I would have preferred seeing my loved ones as well. But in a way, it’s better that we didn’t because if I had to leave them behind to return to a life of fighting…” he trailed off.
“Would be too depressing for words,” Buffy finished, nodding in agreement. At least they were spared that heartache.
“This is getting a little to Dr. Phil for me, so I’m going to go find you some food,” Spike said as they got to the house. “Glad you’re back, Slayer! Be back soon!” he called out over his shoulder.
“Old boyfriend?” Tony asked.
“Old enemy,” Buffy retorted. “Spike’s a vampire, but got chipped by the government in an idiotic attempt to control vampires.”
“Sounds like something SHIELD or HYDRA would do, which means of course it’s a horrible idea,” Tony snarked.
“Just how close did you two get in pre-heaven?” Dawn asked curiously.
Buffy shrugged, “I don’t know about Tony, but I view him as somewhere between a brother and uncle…brother in this body.”
“I can deal with brother; my ego couldn’t have handled you saying father, so thank you for that,” he said with a grin.
The gang still hadn’t arrived by the time they got cleaned up and Spike brought back dinner, so Tony borrowed a pair of Buffy’s looser sweats, and they talked about the little day-to-day things that occurred while Buffy was dead.
“Oh, and Giles went back to England, but I bet he’ll come back when he hears you’re alive again!” Dawn exclaimed.
“When did he leave?” Buffy inquired between bites.
“This afternoon, actually,” Dawn said, sounding a little confused by her answer. “Why would they let him leave if they were doing the spell?”
“Because, Bit, he’d stop them if he knew,” Spike snarled, unsure if he was angry at the idea of the Watcher stopping the spell or the gang for doing it without telling him…them.
“I’m guessing this whole resurrection thing is as big of a deal as I’m imagining it to be. Is there going to be some blowback, especially this long after Buffy died?” Tony wondered aloud.
Buffy snorted, “If Giles were here, we could ask him. Did he leave a number where you could reach him?”
Dawn got up and grabbed their mom’s address book, then handed it to her sister. “His fight won’t get in until about 7 am our time.”
“I’ll wait until morning to call then. This doesn’t feel like an answering machine message,” Buffy decided before yawning. “Besides, now that I’m full-ish, I’m getting kind of tired. Wanna sleep with me so Tony can take your bed, Dawn?”
“Like I’m going to let you out of my sight anytime soon,” Dawn snarked. “Except for bathroom stuff, I mean.”
Buffy turned to Spike and said, “Thanks for everything…dinner and sticking around to protect Dawn. If you want, you can crash on the couch tonight.”
“Made you a promise,” Spike reminded her. “Gonna make sure the demons are all gone first, then I’ll be back.”
“I’ll leave a note for the others, so they don’t wake us up tonight. We’ll talk about the spell tomorrow when I feel more like myself,” Buffy told them. Hopefully she’d be less likely to yell at them after some sleep.
“I have to make some plans pretty quick myself if this is my 2008 body. This reactor is poisoning me, and if I don’t reinvent Howardium soon, my resurrection will be pointless. Back home I had the money to build my own particle accelerator, but since I doubt I exist here, I’ll have to figure something else out,” Tony remarked, not wanting to leave things until the last minute here.
“It’ll be on our list of things to research tomorrow,” Buffy promised. “First, sleep is calling.”
A/N: Didn’t get quite as far as I wanted, but figured this was a good stopping point for tonight. Some of this ‘drama’ is because they don’t know the whole story about the spell’s timing and Giles’ departure.
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **Part of the 2022 August Fic-a-Day Challenge** Certain things feel too coincidental for Buffy and company.
Crossover: MCU, Avengers
Rating: FR-13
Word count: 972
Challenge: for the livejournal 2022 August Fic-a-Day Challenge
Timeline: post season 5 for BtVS, post EG for MCU
A/N: I don’t know the dates of Gulmira, but using writer’s prerogative for the story’s purposes.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. MCU characters belong to Marvel, Disney et al. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Summers’ home
As they walked back to the house, Buffy found out just how long she had been dead, which was a total mindblower.
“So, what’s today’s date?” Tony asked, still trying to figure out how he had the arc reactor back in his chest.
“October 2nd,” Dawn answered.
“The day I went to Gulmira to destroy the SI weapons the terrorist had there,” he murmured softly.
“Depending on the spell Red used and your closeness to the Slayer, that’s probably not a coincidence,” Spike offered, annoyed at the friendship - or possibly more - between the two. “When did you die?”
“2023, about fifteen years from now,” Tony said, hoping the reactor was at least the newer version, palladium-free, but highly doubting it.
Dawn looked at him strangely and corrected him, “Umm, 2023 is twenty-two years away, not fifteen.”
“But I didn’t have the reactor in 2001,” he argued.
“Spike’s probably right about Willow’s spell. If she worded it a certain way, you might have been brought here at the time you became a superhero in your dimension, even if the years don’t match up. The fact that today matches the date of your first action as Iron Man is too perfect for the Powers to ignore. Which means they think you’re needed here for some reason,” Buffy added in a bitter tone. “Just like they think I needed to be brought back and either planted the idea in the gang’s mind or allowed it to happen.”
“You didn’t want to come back?” Dawn asked tearfully.
“The only reason I’m not totally pissed is you’re here, Dawnie. But I have to be honest; I was at peace up there. It might not have been heaven - no offense, Tony, but my mom wasn’t there, and she rates higher than a guy I just met - but it was nice not having the world’s safety on my shoulders anymore. Having to come back and be the Slayer…again, sucks beyond the telling of it,” she admitted.
“No offense taken, Buffy,” Tony replied with an understanding expression. “I would have preferred seeing my loved ones as well. But in a way, it’s better that we didn’t because if I had to leave them behind to return to a life of fighting…” he trailed off.
“Would be too depressing for words,” Buffy finished, nodding in agreement. At least they were spared that heartache.
“This is getting a little to Dr. Phil for me, so I’m going to go find you some food,” Spike said as they got to the house. “Glad you’re back, Slayer! Be back soon!” he called out over his shoulder.
“Old boyfriend?” Tony asked.
“Old enemy,” Buffy retorted. “Spike’s a vampire, but got chipped by the government in an idiotic attempt to control vampires.”
“Sounds like something SHIELD or HYDRA would do, which means of course it’s a horrible idea,” Tony snarked.
“Just how close did you two get in pre-heaven?” Dawn asked curiously.
Buffy shrugged, “I don’t know about Tony, but I view him as somewhere between a brother and uncle…brother in this body.”
“I can deal with brother; my ego couldn’t have handled you saying father, so thank you for that,” he said with a grin.
The gang still hadn’t arrived by the time they got cleaned up and Spike brought back dinner, so Tony borrowed a pair of Buffy’s looser sweats, and they talked about the little day-to-day things that occurred while Buffy was dead.
“Oh, and Giles went back to England, but I bet he’ll come back when he hears you’re alive again!” Dawn exclaimed.
“When did he leave?” Buffy inquired between bites.
“This afternoon, actually,” Dawn said, sounding a little confused by her answer. “Why would they let him leave if they were doing the spell?”
“Because, Bit, he’d stop them if he knew,” Spike snarled, unsure if he was angry at the idea of the Watcher stopping the spell or the gang for doing it without telling him…them.
“I’m guessing this whole resurrection thing is as big of a deal as I’m imagining it to be. Is there going to be some blowback, especially this long after Buffy died?” Tony wondered aloud.
Buffy snorted, “If Giles were here, we could ask him. Did he leave a number where you could reach him?”
Dawn got up and grabbed their mom’s address book, then handed it to her sister. “His fight won’t get in until about 7 am our time.”
“I’ll wait until morning to call then. This doesn’t feel like an answering machine message,” Buffy decided before yawning. “Besides, now that I’m full-ish, I’m getting kind of tired. Wanna sleep with me so Tony can take your bed, Dawn?”
“Like I’m going to let you out of my sight anytime soon,” Dawn snarked. “Except for bathroom stuff, I mean.”
Buffy turned to Spike and said, “Thanks for everything…dinner and sticking around to protect Dawn. If you want, you can crash on the couch tonight.”
“Made you a promise,” Spike reminded her. “Gonna make sure the demons are all gone first, then I’ll be back.”
“I’ll leave a note for the others, so they don’t wake us up tonight. We’ll talk about the spell tomorrow when I feel more like myself,” Buffy told them. Hopefully she’d be less likely to yell at them after some sleep.
“I have to make some plans pretty quick myself if this is my 2008 body. This reactor is poisoning me, and if I don’t reinvent Howardium soon, my resurrection will be pointless. Back home I had the money to build my own particle accelerator, but since I doubt I exist here, I’ll have to figure something else out,” Tony remarked, not wanting to leave things until the last minute here.
“It’ll be on our list of things to research tomorrow,” Buffy promised. “First, sleep is calling.”
A/N: Didn’t get quite as far as I wanted, but figured this was a good stopping point for tonight. Some of this ‘drama’ is because they don’t know the whole story about the spell’s timing and Giles’ departure.