Summer In Neptune (7.5/?)
Title: Summer In Neptune (7.5/?)
Author: Pat Kelly
Pairing: Veronica/Buffy
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1578
Summary: A crossover with BtVS. Buffy runs away from Sunnydale and goes to the first place she called home.
Timeline: Between S2 and S3 for BtVS. Between S1 and S2 of VM, so there be possible spoilers. Fudged with the years, so Buffy is 17 in 2005, not 1998, like in the show.
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"Is there?" Veronica asked her friend sincerely, upon hearing her father's question.
"I dunno...are you ready?" Buffy returned. "I mean, that looked pretty intense--a lamp was sacrificed. Do you really wanna plunge in right away?" Was *she* ready?
Her mind went to her conversation with Willow. Willow had thought that speaking Angel's name brought back that familiar pang for her. And it hadn't. Not even a pinch. For the first time, Angel hadn't been hovering. Well, he hadn't been hovering during the two kisses either, but she didn't count those, because kissing shut off a person's brain, no matter what might weigh down on them.
Veronica was her sole thought, and she knew that meant she'd moved on. Like everything else, it was coming to her in hindsight, but at least this time the hindsight only took about forty minutes to arrive instead of nine years...if their timeframe was correct. She would never stop feeling horrible about what she did to Angel--there wasn't a way to ever "get over" that--but neither of them had known what would happen when they slept together. They loved each other, so they expressed it.
Angel would want her happy and not blaming herself for what eventually had to be done--Weevil was right. Those were the choices a slayer had to make so someone else wouldn't have to. She'd kissed him and told him goodbye, and only now was she ready to mean it. Goodbye to before, and hello to what was ahead. She was starting over, like her mother intended to do. When she got home, she'd start over with her, school (hopefully), and the night job, which she'd do better.
But currently, she was starting her love life over. With Veronica Mars. If Keith Mars didn't kill her, of course.
"I know it was intense; I was there." Veronica remarked, in her smart-alecky manner. "But I went through it to be ready. So...I am if you are."
"I'm very 'are.'" Buffy confirmed with a half-grin.
Then Veronica grinned, and then Buffy grinned some more, and then Keith "ahem'd."
"This feels like stalling to me." He observed.
"No, it's not. Honest." His daughter assured him.
"Really not." Buffy nodded, backing her up. "We just weren't officially--"
"--a couple before--" Veronica took the middle part of that sentence.
"--and now we are." While Buffy brought it home.
"Do I wanna know what you were unofficially?" He asked them.
They looked at each other, trying to decide. After a moment or two, Veronica volunteered, "Friends with benefits?" That look Veronica usually got when he implied things about him and Alicia to mess with her? He donned it now, and as he gestured for her to go no farther, she realized her error. "*Oh*. No. Not *those* benefits."
She didn't do it intentionally, but now he knew how it felt.
Buffy looked at her, face wondering, "Are you crazy?" "That was a wrong phrase; she picked a wrong phrase." She tried to recover ground. "We were just, discovering. Discovering where a thing we were feeling...might come from. Through talking." She went on. "And some kissing. *Just* kissing. 'PG' kissing. Twice."
"PG-13 at the most." Veronica added in the name of full disclosure. "And one kind of lasted--"
Buffy couldn't understand it. "Why are you being not helpful?"
"He's gonna know we're lying." Veronica defended herself. "He was a cop, remember? If we give him the whole truth, that earns us brownie points come sentencing."
"In theory." Buffy amended to the logic.
Keith wasn't saying anything--in fact, he looked lost in thought.
"You're not getting ready to tell us you saw this coming, are you?" His daughter asked him.
It threw him a bit. "Wouldn't it be easier if I told you I had?"
"Maybe," Veronica said, "but so far? Almost everyone else has seen it but us, and I dunno about Buffy, but my craw's had just about enough of having that info repeatedly stuck in it."
Buffy nodded in agreement. "It would just be refreshing if you didn't."
"Then allow me to make your day...I didn't. Looking back though, maybe I should have." He went over to the chair, sat in it, and gestured to the couch. "Sit. And watch the shards." Talking about the lamp.
They complied, waiting patiently for him to say what he was going to say.
"So you wanna...go out. As something other than friends." He stated.
"Something other than *just* friends, yeah. That's the idea." Veronica spoke, nodding with Buffy.
"And you're both absolutely sure this is what you want?" He continued. "Even though you're going to have to put up with a lot of...unkind talk, from what you can bet'll be a healthy number of your peers? Daily? It could you wear you down; better be prepared for that."
"Most of our peers already aren't kind, Mr. Mars." Buffy explained to him. "They think we're freaks, and don't want anything to do with us."
Veronica smirked. "They're also afraid, so all the biting comments are mostly behind our backs." Her next words were plain and straightforward. "Anyway, the only peers we care about, don't care."
"Except Xander and Wallace. But that's only 'cause they haven't found out yet."
"We're blond, what some may describe as 'hot,' and we like to make out with each other...they should fall in line no problem."
"Well," Keith took a deep breath, "I appreciate not being the last to know." Pause. "But what happens when Buffy has to go back to Sunnydale?"
"Phone calls?" Veronica suggested. "That stay well within the monthly-minute limit?"
"Visits?" Buffy put in the second option.
"Elope to Nevada and become snake-handlers? A skill which we could then transfer over into a Vegas show with subtle, phallic subtext? But not *too* subtle, because we'll wanna make dang sure the audience walks away understanding that we're independent, empowered women, who won't let themselves be dominated or controlled by men and their subtexts. No matter how much they...slither."
Keith and Buffy just stared at her for Veronica for a beat, then looked at each other. "We know it's something we'll have to deal with; but this is only the first, official day so...we haven't quite gotten there yet." Buffy answered less oddly.
"Just want you to be aware of it. And back home, you also have a dangerous line of work waiting for you." Keith said, and let that settle into their brains a minute. "Here's what I know--I like how my daughter is when you're around."
"Oh, so you don't like me usually?" Veronica joked.
"What I mean, is Buffy seems to help you forget how cynical and jaded you've been. And I know it's my fault you became that way." He clarified. "After Lilly died and you bore the brunt of the fallout from decisions *I* made, I watched you grow up way too fast. I hated that you couldn't simply be that happy, teenaged kid whose biggest problems were pop-quizzes." Smile. "I've seen hints of that kid again, and I'm glad. I was worried she wasn't coming back."
"My happiness level has been above average lately." She supported her father's assessment. "Was that a stamp of approval?"
"You happy has always been my main goal as your parent, so...yes. I can't say no to this." They sighed in relief, but he wasn't finished yet. He looked at Buffy. "I know you just as well as I do her, and you've looked out for her since your first day of kindergarten, all of which exempts you from interrogation. But if there ever comes a day when you *don't* make her happy anymore, and you hurt her? We will have words that there'll be no possible escape from--superhero or not. Are we clear?"
"Yes, sir." Buffy sat up straighter, fearful and respectful.
"Guess that means we're done." He got up, patting his pocket to make sure his keys were there. "I have to go to the office. There's paperwork I've been...putting off. I'll be back in a little while." He opened the door. "Oh, two more things...Buffy has to call her mother and tell her the good news, and she's not sleeping in your bedroom anymore."
He left them alone. And he didn't say so, but they had a feeling it was on purpose. Buffy was kind of blindsided by the fact that she'd have to drop another bombshell on her mom, but she worked her way back. "Uh, Weevil...didn't know anything about the gunshot. He's gonna try to get to the bottom of it; I believed him." Then she grinned. "And Lamb's never going to be able to have children."
Veronica laughed. "You didn't."
"I did." Buffy promised. "He shouldn'ta grabbed me. And after what he said when you went to tell him about--?" Veronica's lips cut her off. "Shutting up now."
Veronica wound up backed against the arm of the couch, and Buffy positioned herself over her now girlfriend--in every sense of the word--to appropriately maximize the goodness of "Kiss Session #3." They were quite skilled at this part. Yes, there were things that needed discussing, and they still hadn't had a first date technically, but they didn't really give a damn at this precise--
"How did he...?" Willow walked in with her caffeine-free Coke, because her and caffeine didn't mix, and then she saw. "Wow. I mean, um...wow." Blink. "I'll just...take Backup for a...bye!"
Author: Pat Kelly
Pairing: Veronica/Buffy
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1578
Summary: A crossover with BtVS. Buffy runs away from Sunnydale and goes to the first place she called home.
Timeline: Between S2 and S3 for BtVS. Between S1 and S2 of VM, so there be possible spoilers. Fudged with the years, so Buffy is 17 in 2005, not 1998, like in the show.
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"Is there?" Veronica asked her friend sincerely, upon hearing her father's question.
"I dunno...are you ready?" Buffy returned. "I mean, that looked pretty intense--a lamp was sacrificed. Do you really wanna plunge in right away?" Was *she* ready?
Her mind went to her conversation with Willow. Willow had thought that speaking Angel's name brought back that familiar pang for her. And it hadn't. Not even a pinch. For the first time, Angel hadn't been hovering. Well, he hadn't been hovering during the two kisses either, but she didn't count those, because kissing shut off a person's brain, no matter what might weigh down on them.
Veronica was her sole thought, and she knew that meant she'd moved on. Like everything else, it was coming to her in hindsight, but at least this time the hindsight only took about forty minutes to arrive instead of nine years...if their timeframe was correct. She would never stop feeling horrible about what she did to Angel--there wasn't a way to ever "get over" that--but neither of them had known what would happen when they slept together. They loved each other, so they expressed it.
Angel would want her happy and not blaming herself for what eventually had to be done--Weevil was right. Those were the choices a slayer had to make so someone else wouldn't have to. She'd kissed him and told him goodbye, and only now was she ready to mean it. Goodbye to before, and hello to what was ahead. She was starting over, like her mother intended to do. When she got home, she'd start over with her, school (hopefully), and the night job, which she'd do better.
But currently, she was starting her love life over. With Veronica Mars. If Keith Mars didn't kill her, of course.
"I know it was intense; I was there." Veronica remarked, in her smart-alecky manner. "But I went through it to be ready. So...I am if you are."
"I'm very 'are.'" Buffy confirmed with a half-grin.
Then Veronica grinned, and then Buffy grinned some more, and then Keith "ahem'd."
"This feels like stalling to me." He observed.
"No, it's not. Honest." His daughter assured him.
"Really not." Buffy nodded, backing her up. "We just weren't officially--"
"--a couple before--" Veronica took the middle part of that sentence.
"--and now we are." While Buffy brought it home.
"Do I wanna know what you were unofficially?" He asked them.
They looked at each other, trying to decide. After a moment or two, Veronica volunteered, "Friends with benefits?" That look Veronica usually got when he implied things about him and Alicia to mess with her? He donned it now, and as he gestured for her to go no farther, she realized her error. "*Oh*. No. Not *those* benefits."
She didn't do it intentionally, but now he knew how it felt.
Buffy looked at her, face wondering, "Are you crazy?" "That was a wrong phrase; she picked a wrong phrase." She tried to recover ground. "We were just, discovering. Discovering where a thing we were feeling...might come from. Through talking." She went on. "And some kissing. *Just* kissing. 'PG' kissing. Twice."
"PG-13 at the most." Veronica added in the name of full disclosure. "And one kind of lasted--"
Buffy couldn't understand it. "Why are you being not helpful?"
"He's gonna know we're lying." Veronica defended herself. "He was a cop, remember? If we give him the whole truth, that earns us brownie points come sentencing."
"In theory." Buffy amended to the logic.
Keith wasn't saying anything--in fact, he looked lost in thought.
"You're not getting ready to tell us you saw this coming, are you?" His daughter asked him.
It threw him a bit. "Wouldn't it be easier if I told you I had?"
"Maybe," Veronica said, "but so far? Almost everyone else has seen it but us, and I dunno about Buffy, but my craw's had just about enough of having that info repeatedly stuck in it."
Buffy nodded in agreement. "It would just be refreshing if you didn't."
"Then allow me to make your day...I didn't. Looking back though, maybe I should have." He went over to the chair, sat in it, and gestured to the couch. "Sit. And watch the shards." Talking about the lamp.
They complied, waiting patiently for him to say what he was going to say.
"So you wanna...go out. As something other than friends." He stated.
"Something other than *just* friends, yeah. That's the idea." Veronica spoke, nodding with Buffy.
"And you're both absolutely sure this is what you want?" He continued. "Even though you're going to have to put up with a lot of...unkind talk, from what you can bet'll be a healthy number of your peers? Daily? It could you wear you down; better be prepared for that."
"Most of our peers already aren't kind, Mr. Mars." Buffy explained to him. "They think we're freaks, and don't want anything to do with us."
Veronica smirked. "They're also afraid, so all the biting comments are mostly behind our backs." Her next words were plain and straightforward. "Anyway, the only peers we care about, don't care."
"Except Xander and Wallace. But that's only 'cause they haven't found out yet."
"We're blond, what some may describe as 'hot,' and we like to make out with each other...they should fall in line no problem."
"Well," Keith took a deep breath, "I appreciate not being the last to know." Pause. "But what happens when Buffy has to go back to Sunnydale?"
"Phone calls?" Veronica suggested. "That stay well within the monthly-minute limit?"
"Visits?" Buffy put in the second option.
"Elope to Nevada and become snake-handlers? A skill which we could then transfer over into a Vegas show with subtle, phallic subtext? But not *too* subtle, because we'll wanna make dang sure the audience walks away understanding that we're independent, empowered women, who won't let themselves be dominated or controlled by men and their subtexts. No matter how much they...slither."
Keith and Buffy just stared at her for Veronica for a beat, then looked at each other. "We know it's something we'll have to deal with; but this is only the first, official day so...we haven't quite gotten there yet." Buffy answered less oddly.
"Just want you to be aware of it. And back home, you also have a dangerous line of work waiting for you." Keith said, and let that settle into their brains a minute. "Here's what I know--I like how my daughter is when you're around."
"Oh, so you don't like me usually?" Veronica joked.
"What I mean, is Buffy seems to help you forget how cynical and jaded you've been. And I know it's my fault you became that way." He clarified. "After Lilly died and you bore the brunt of the fallout from decisions *I* made, I watched you grow up way too fast. I hated that you couldn't simply be that happy, teenaged kid whose biggest problems were pop-quizzes." Smile. "I've seen hints of that kid again, and I'm glad. I was worried she wasn't coming back."
"My happiness level has been above average lately." She supported her father's assessment. "Was that a stamp of approval?"
"You happy has always been my main goal as your parent, so...yes. I can't say no to this." They sighed in relief, but he wasn't finished yet. He looked at Buffy. "I know you just as well as I do her, and you've looked out for her since your first day of kindergarten, all of which exempts you from interrogation. But if there ever comes a day when you *don't* make her happy anymore, and you hurt her? We will have words that there'll be no possible escape from--superhero or not. Are we clear?"
"Yes, sir." Buffy sat up straighter, fearful and respectful.
"Guess that means we're done." He got up, patting his pocket to make sure his keys were there. "I have to go to the office. There's paperwork I've been...putting off. I'll be back in a little while." He opened the door. "Oh, two more things...Buffy has to call her mother and tell her the good news, and she's not sleeping in your bedroom anymore."
He left them alone. And he didn't say so, but they had a feeling it was on purpose. Buffy was kind of blindsided by the fact that she'd have to drop another bombshell on her mom, but she worked her way back. "Uh, Weevil...didn't know anything about the gunshot. He's gonna try to get to the bottom of it; I believed him." Then she grinned. "And Lamb's never going to be able to have children."
Veronica laughed. "You didn't."
"I did." Buffy promised. "He shouldn'ta grabbed me. And after what he said when you went to tell him about--?" Veronica's lips cut her off. "Shutting up now."
Veronica wound up backed against the arm of the couch, and Buffy positioned herself over her now girlfriend--in every sense of the word--to appropriately maximize the goodness of "Kiss Session #3." They were quite skilled at this part. Yes, there were things that needed discussing, and they still hadn't had a first date technically, but they didn't really give a damn at this precise--
"How did he...?" Willow walked in with her caffeine-free Coke, because her and caffeine didn't mix, and then she saw. "Wow. I mean, um...wow." Blink. "I'll just...take Backup for a...bye!"