27 August 2015 - Inheritance
Title: Inheritance
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / A-Team
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of the A-Team belong to Universal Television, etc. All are used here without permission, no copyright infringement is intended.
Rating: Suitable for people over 13
Notes: strange connections from a tired mind
Summary: Her words still echoed in his mind - “It's all your fault.”
He watched his sister as she paced back an forth in front of him. It really wasn't the best action for her to take in this place, especially given how twitchy some of his fellow patients were. Seeing one of them becoming agitated, he reached out on her next pass and drew her down to the seat next to him. “What's got you so worked up Joycie?” he asked, using her childhood nickname.
Joyce looked at him, her face pinched with emotion, her struggle obvious. “It's all your fault!” she finally blurted out, looking horrified as soon as the words were out of her mouth.
It hurt. He couldn't deny it hurt, but he knew his little sister well enough to know that her words weren't what she intended to say. Pushing aside the pain, he asked, “Care to elaborate?”
His sister seemed to deflate and he wanted to draw her into a hug. Knowing that would only cause trouble, he reached out and took her hand.
“It's Buffy,” she finally admitted, sounding tired and defeated.
His eyebrows raised at that. His oldest niece had been the only one in the family who was never fooled by his act. He always figured that was because she lived an act of her own. That she would be causing this much distress in his little sister's life pointed to only one thing to him. “Who hurt her?”
Joyce shook her head. “She burned down the school gym at the dance. Or they say she did, but she said it was Vampires and then there was that Pike boy and that strange man I saw once and she started sneaking out of the house -”
“Joyce!” he called, instantly stopping her babbling. He reached next to him for a tissue and handed it to her since her eyes were watering. Giving her a minute to collect herself, he pushed ahead. “Where's Buffy now? She's got to be hurting and confused.” He did not like the look of guilt that crossed his sister's face.
Unable to meet his eyes, she stared at the floor. The silence dragged out before the weight of her guilt drew the words from her. “Hank and I had her committed,” she whispered, sounding small and lost.
The words sent him reeling. Setting aside the fact they had run into the occasional vampire themselves, the thought of his little sister committing anyone turned his world on its head. He instinctively drew back for a moment before placing his hand on hers again and waiting.
Eventually, Joyce looked up and met his eyes, her swimming in tears and guilt. “She's not... She doesn't belong there.” She gathered her resolve and thoughts as she faced him. “You don't belong here and we all know it. She doesn't either.”
“So, what will you do about it?”
Resolve firmed her face, straightened her spine and put a fire in her eye. “Whatever I have to to get her out.”
“Good for you,” he encouraged with a smile. Seeing the orderly coming over to lead him back to his room, he placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered, “Remember, you're not alone.”
Joyce smiled and rose, preparing to leave. “H. M.?” she called as he walked away with the orderly. She waited for him to turn before continuing. “Thank you.”
Murdoch winked. “Anything for my little Joycie,” he teased with a smile.
As he allowed the orderly to guide him back to his room, he was already making plans on how to contact Hannibal or Face in order to get them working on getting Buffy out of the asylum. He wouldn't leave his niece there, especially when he knew she didn't belong.
Looking around his room, he knew he would have to think about making some changes in his own life. Perhaps it was time to let the officials know that he'd found his sanity years ago. Perhaps it was time H. M. started standing for Howard Michael again instead of Howling Mad.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Eight years later
The four men stood at the edge of the crater alongside the group of young girls and young adults.
Eventually one of them broke away and walked over to the blonde woman standing at the edge of the crater looking out. “So, how does it feel to be free?”
Buffy turned and looked at her uncle. Unable to find the words, she eventually just beamed up at him.
“That's what I thought,” he laughed, his heart feeling lighter as her laughter joined his. It was a sound he despaired of ever hearing again back when Dawn called to say her sister was back from Heaven. Tat had been a dark time for him as well, reminding him of his own madness after the war.
The two of them had frequently joked that she inherited his tendency to go a little insane every now and then from him. That and their skewed views of the world and how to deal with it frequently left others shaking their heads. But the two of them always understood.
Knowing they needed to get moving in order to get medical attention for people, he teased, “Congratulations! You've beaten and ancient evil, destroyed thousands of ancient vampires and sunk a down into a crater. What are you going to do now?”
Buffy smiled, he could see she was finally going to answer the question the way he wanted to hear, had been waiting to hear.
“Live.”
End
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / A-Team
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of the A-Team belong to Universal Television, etc. All are used here without permission, no copyright infringement is intended.
Rating: Suitable for people over 13
Notes: strange connections from a tired mind
Summary: Her words still echoed in his mind - “It's all your fault.”
He watched his sister as she paced back an forth in front of him. It really wasn't the best action for her to take in this place, especially given how twitchy some of his fellow patients were. Seeing one of them becoming agitated, he reached out on her next pass and drew her down to the seat next to him. “What's got you so worked up Joycie?” he asked, using her childhood nickname.
Joyce looked at him, her face pinched with emotion, her struggle obvious. “It's all your fault!” she finally blurted out, looking horrified as soon as the words were out of her mouth.
It hurt. He couldn't deny it hurt, but he knew his little sister well enough to know that her words weren't what she intended to say. Pushing aside the pain, he asked, “Care to elaborate?”
His sister seemed to deflate and he wanted to draw her into a hug. Knowing that would only cause trouble, he reached out and took her hand.
“It's Buffy,” she finally admitted, sounding tired and defeated.
His eyebrows raised at that. His oldest niece had been the only one in the family who was never fooled by his act. He always figured that was because she lived an act of her own. That she would be causing this much distress in his little sister's life pointed to only one thing to him. “Who hurt her?”
Joyce shook her head. “She burned down the school gym at the dance. Or they say she did, but she said it was Vampires and then there was that Pike boy and that strange man I saw once and she started sneaking out of the house -”
“Joyce!” he called, instantly stopping her babbling. He reached next to him for a tissue and handed it to her since her eyes were watering. Giving her a minute to collect herself, he pushed ahead. “Where's Buffy now? She's got to be hurting and confused.” He did not like the look of guilt that crossed his sister's face.
Unable to meet his eyes, she stared at the floor. The silence dragged out before the weight of her guilt drew the words from her. “Hank and I had her committed,” she whispered, sounding small and lost.
The words sent him reeling. Setting aside the fact they had run into the occasional vampire themselves, the thought of his little sister committing anyone turned his world on its head. He instinctively drew back for a moment before placing his hand on hers again and waiting.
Eventually, Joyce looked up and met his eyes, her swimming in tears and guilt. “She's not... She doesn't belong there.” She gathered her resolve and thoughts as she faced him. “You don't belong here and we all know it. She doesn't either.”
“So, what will you do about it?”
Resolve firmed her face, straightened her spine and put a fire in her eye. “Whatever I have to to get her out.”
“Good for you,” he encouraged with a smile. Seeing the orderly coming over to lead him back to his room, he placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered, “Remember, you're not alone.”
Joyce smiled and rose, preparing to leave. “H. M.?” she called as he walked away with the orderly. She waited for him to turn before continuing. “Thank you.”
Murdoch winked. “Anything for my little Joycie,” he teased with a smile.
As he allowed the orderly to guide him back to his room, he was already making plans on how to contact Hannibal or Face in order to get them working on getting Buffy out of the asylum. He wouldn't leave his niece there, especially when he knew she didn't belong.
Looking around his room, he knew he would have to think about making some changes in his own life. Perhaps it was time to let the officials know that he'd found his sanity years ago. Perhaps it was time H. M. started standing for Howard Michael again instead of Howling Mad.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Eight years later
The four men stood at the edge of the crater alongside the group of young girls and young adults.
Eventually one of them broke away and walked over to the blonde woman standing at the edge of the crater looking out. “So, how does it feel to be free?”
Buffy turned and looked at her uncle. Unable to find the words, she eventually just beamed up at him.
“That's what I thought,” he laughed, his heart feeling lighter as her laughter joined his. It was a sound he despaired of ever hearing again back when Dawn called to say her sister was back from Heaven. Tat had been a dark time for him as well, reminding him of his own madness after the war.
The two of them had frequently joked that she inherited his tendency to go a little insane every now and then from him. That and their skewed views of the world and how to deal with it frequently left others shaking their heads. But the two of them always understood.
Knowing they needed to get moving in order to get medical attention for people, he teased, “Congratulations! You've beaten and ancient evil, destroyed thousands of ancient vampires and sunk a down into a crater. What are you going to do now?”
Buffy smiled, he could see she was finally going to answer the question the way he wanted to hear, had been waiting to hear.
“Live.”
End