Backstory & Episodes

Episode 8 – Memories of You-Part 1

Slayers Virtual Season 8

Episode 8 – Memories of You-Part 1

Guest Starring:
David Boreanez as Angel
James Marsters as Spike

Starring:

Matt Long as Alex Sanders
Lizzy Caplan as Eliza Sanders
Nanako Matsushima as Shina Taji
Jennifer Ehle as Jennifer Sanderson
And Johnny Depp as David, the Archangel
Navi Rawat as Dana Monroe
Christa B. Allen as Anna Monroe

Written by Kelley Hawkins
Edited by Melody Nation

Disclaimer: The major characters in these episodes/stories are the creations of Joss Whedon and any and all entities who have a share in them such as Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, Warner Bros or Mutant Enemy Productions. The stories are written by fans and are not intended for profit or to infringe upon or undermine the established copyright of those mentioned above. The situations depicted in these stories (sexual or otherwise) are not intended to harm the reputations of those actors associated with the characters involved. The only things that are ©2004 are those characters that are the creation of the Slayers VS8 staff and the original plotlines of the stories.

Teaser

Faith awoke in the basement along with her sister Jade. She found herself chained to the wall as well. Faith pulled hard on the chains locking her to the wall at her arms. The chains did not budge. She would have to keep pulling on them. Faith looked over at Jade. She still slept in the awkward standing up position, her head turned to one side.

“Jade,” Faith whispered. Jade continued to sleep.

“Jade!” Faith shouted this time.

Jade’s eyes opened and she looked over at Faith.

“Oh, God, Faithie, now he has you, too.”

“What happened, Jade?”

“He had one of his flunkies call me. Told me that you were hurt. He pretended to be your friend Xander. Told me to meet him here at the mansion to help you,” Jade told Faith.

Faith shook her head.

“Dammit!” Faith exclaimed loudly.

“I couldn’t let him kill you because of me!” Jade shouted.

“We should have kept in touch more,” Faith said.

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to get in your way if you were deep undercover trying to get at David.”

Faith nodded at Jade acknowledging that she understood why Jade did what she did. She knew that she would have done the same thing to save her sister.

“We just need to figure a way out,” Faith said as she looked up at the chain bolted to the brick above her head. She pulled her arms down very fast. Nothing. She tried to pull another arm down. Same thing. The chains would have secured a vampire and therefore can easily secure a Slayer.

Then Faith had an idea.

Act One

No one moved in the room while Buffy and Spike passionately kissed each other. Wesley and Dana looked on in utter astonishment. Meanwhile, Anna smiled but she was obviously embarrassed. Suddenly, Spike pushed Buffy roughly away from him. He had a hurt expression on his face and his lips and mouth were smeared with light pink lip-gloss.

“I can smell Xander all over you! Bloody hell!” Spike said angrily as he wiped at his lips.

Buffy looked down at her feet when she suddenly remembered Xander. He was the man whom she told she loved only hours earlier. Buffy knew she still felt the same way about Xander but seeing Spike alive was something she did not expect.

“And you! You’re alive, Spike! When did you plan on filling me in on that piece of news!”

Spike was silent for several seconds and then he looked over at Dana. “Psycho slayer. Dana, is it? You clean up very nicely, luv.”

Dana glared at him but did not move from her spot. Spike continued to look at Dana and as he gazed into her eyes, he realized that Dana was better.

“Shut up, Spike!” Buffy said.

Spike turned toward Buffy. “So, I guess the undead doesn’t do it for you anymore.”

Buffy angrily ran her hand through her hair and simply ignored Spike and turned toward Wesley.

“So, you found Anna? That is such good news!” Buffy told Wesley as she smiled at the young girl.

“No, actually Spike found her,” Wesley said, smiling briefly at Spike.

“Yeah, well. We are all grateful for you help,” Buffy said to Wesley and she did not look at Spike who continued to glare at her.

“It is very late for you both. I took the liberty of setting up some very comfortable accommodations upstairs,” Wesley told Buffy and Dana.

Dana smiled at Wesley and hugged Anna closer to her.

“Dana, Spike told me you were coming for me. I couldn’t believe it when I heard you were alive,” Anna said.

“I had a dream you were alive, Anna,” Dana whispered and tried not to cry.

Anna smiled up at Dana and looked down at her feet as the tears began to fall down her cheeks. Dana pulled her close to her side.

“I’m here to take care of you now, Anna,” Dana said.

“Well, once we get everything straightened out with Child Services,” Buffy told them both. “You ran away from the shelter. There are a lot of things we need to fix before you can go home with us.”

Anna frowned deeply. “They won’t take me away from her now, will they?”

“No,” Dana told Anna fiercely. “I will fight for you!”

Anna seemed to relax.

“You can attend the Slayer School along with Dana,” Buffy said.

“Slayer School?” Anna asked clearly confused.

“We have a lot to talk about,” Dana told her sister.

“Come, I will show you all to your accommodations,” Wesley said. They all began to walk out of Angel’s office just as Fred approached them.

“Wesley, Gunn has something important to discuss with you...o-once you’re finished with our guests.”

“Of course, Fred. I will be right there. I think it is time you met everyone.” Wesley introduced Buffy, Dana, and Anna to Fred. Buffy instantly liked this thin woman with the Texas drawl. Willow was right. Fred was wonderful. Buffy thought and then laughed to herself when she remembered how Willow could not stop talking about her once she returned to Sunnydale after restoring Angel’s soul.

Buffy reached out and hugged Fred. “We have heard so much about you from Willow, Fred,” Buffy told her. Fred blushed and Wesley smiled slyly.

As Wesley ushered the group to the elevators he noticed that Spike stayed in Angel’s office. He glanced at Buffy briefly. It was a shock to her that Spike was alive, well as alive as a vampire could get. She followed the group to the elevator. Before Wesley could press the up button, the elevator opened. Angel and Harmony stood there arguing with one another. Buffy found that she was shocked once more.

“Harmony!” Buffy exclaimed.

“Buffy,” Harmony said and then reached out as if to hug the small Slayer. Buffy quickly moved away from her in reflex.

“I’m good now, Buffy. I won’t hurt you. I drink pig’s blood now along with the boss man.”

Buffy looked at Harmony in amazement. “How keen!” She turned her attention then to Angel. He still stood frozen to the same spot in the elevator. He knew she would be here but finally seeing her again brought it all back.

“Buffy,” Angel whispered her name.

“Angel.”

Angel snapped out of his trance. “So, Wesley is taking you up to the penthouse?”

“Yes.”

“Cool. So you must be Anna?”

“Yes,” Anna whispered, looking down at her shoes.

“And Dana,” Angel said. “You are looking very good.”

“I feel good, Angel.”

Angel smiled at her.

Buffy continued to gaze at Angel in the same way she always looked at him as she remembered their time together. Suddenly, she snapped out of her memories.

“I will catch up with you guys later, okay. I need some...air,” Buffy said.

“Yeah, sure, Buffy. Take the other elevator down to the lobby,” Angel told her.

Buffy smiled up at him. Angel simply smiled back at her.

* * * * *

Buffy began to walk the streets of downtown Los Angeles. She remembered living here after she had to kill Angel. She walked by the diner she once worked during that time. She used her middle name then, Ann. She remembered how alone she felt when she was here. How ironic to be alone in a city of millions of people.

Buffy continued to walk and then suddenly stopped. She heard something behind her and quickly turned to see who or what it was. Spike stood behind her.

“Spike, I need to be alone right now.”

“You can be alone with me here, pet.”

“No, I can’t,” Buffy said.

“Do you think this is easy for me?” Spike asked her. “Smelling him all over you.”

“Well, did you forget that I thought you were dead, burned alive for all of humanity?”

“Yes, well, the Powers that Be decided that I needed to be here. They need me for the fight.”

“What fight?” Buffy asked clearly confused.

“The next fight, I suppose.”

Buffy smiled at him in spite of herself. “Spike, you could always make me smile,” Buffy told him. “Well not always when all I wanted to do was put a stake through your heart.”

Spike laughed then. “Look how far we’ve come.”

“Yep and we have both died and now here we both stand.”

They turned into an alley to continue their conversation. Suddenly, a very large demon attacked them. Buffy immediately began to fight the demon. She punched him in the chest and then kicked him hard at the knees. The demon continued to stand. He raised his sword and easily cut her open palm. She winced from the pain but continued the fight. Spike approached the demon from behind and tried to twist its neck but the demon swatted him down like a bothersome fly. Buffy ducked from the next blow of his sword and she managed to disarm the demon. She moved toward the demon and simply stabbed the demon in the heart. The demon seemed more energized and punched Buffy in the chest. Instead of falling back, she fell forward into the demon and she reached out with her hands to catch her fall against the demon’s chest. When she did this her bloodied palm brushed against the demon’s injury.

Buffy looked up into the demon’s face and saw the jewel in his forehead. Then she remembered. It was a Mohra demon. She looked behind her and saw a rock lying near a garbage can. She did a quick back flip and grabbed the rock. She quickly rose to her feet and then smashed the rock against the jewel. The Mohra demon screamed in agony and then vanished as if into another dimension. Buffy smiled. She looked toward the back of the alley and saw Spike lying unconscious against the wall. As she moved toward him, she doubled over as if in pain. She held her injured palm and then collapsed to her knees. Her hands then moved up to her head and she held it in agony.

Act Two

Dawn lay on her stomach on her bed with her diary spread out before her. She wrote furiously.

“Dear Diary,

How can I possibly have feelings for Willow? Willow? She has been like a sister to me for so long. Now when I see her with Liz I get all jealous. What is that about anyway? Was it a jealousy because her friend Liz was getting a long with Willow or was it the other kind of jealous?”

Dawn stared down at the page in utter confusion. Suddenly, she felt a tingling in her head. She dismissed that feeling and just as she put her pen back down on the paper to enter another one of her thoughts, she heard talking in her head.

“Dawn, I need you!”

Dawn quickly sat up on her bed and looked around the room. No one was there.

“It’s Faith and I need you!”

Dawn realized that Faith’s voice was in her head. Dawn concentrated and sent out a reply to Faith.

“Where are you?”

“Thank God! I’ve got her Jade!” Faith said. “Dawn, my sister and I are chained up in David’s dungeon. I need you, Willow and Xander to get us out. It won’t hurt to bring some Slayer power.”

“We will be there right away, Faith. I promise.”

“I tried to contact Willow but there was no answer,” Dawn could hear Faith laughing.

“We will get you out, don’t worry. I’m going to get reinforcements right now!”

“Cool, Dawn. Thanks!”

Dawn opened her eyes and then quickly ran out of her room. She first ran to Giles’ study and was disappointed that he was not there. Next, she ran to the kitchen and saw a note hanging on the refrigerator.

“Went to lunch with Jennifer, back soon.—Giles”

Dawn quickly moved to the phone hanging on the kitchen wall and dialed Willow’s number. She answered on the second ring. She quickly explained what was happening and Willow promised she was on her way. Next, she dialed Xander’s number. Xander cursed and then told Dawn that he suspected something was wrong with Faith but he did not know what. He too promised he was on his way. Now all Dawn could do was wait for them. Then a plan began to form in her mind. Dawn smiled to herself. Willow and Xander would be so proud.

* * * * *

Buffy still knelt in the alley holding her head. There was no pain in her head only flashing pictures. The pictures filled her with a joy that she could not explain. There was joy and then deep sadness.

She was seeing a conversation that she and Angel had when she visited him in Los Angeles after he saved her and the gang from the Chumash Indians.

Buffy closed the door behind Cordy and Doyle and then turned back to Angel, who was having trouble meeting her eyes.

"Well, umm, it's good to.. Can I get you anything?" Angel asked.

"How about - an explanation? Who do you think you are coming to my town and following me around behind my back?"

"I'm sorry."

"What is this? Some new torment you cooked up just for me?" Buffy asked.

"No, I don't want to torment.."

"What is it? You can see me, but I can't see you? What are we playing here?"

"We're not. I'm not playing anything. I wrestled with this decision.."

"Which you made without me." Buffy told him, anger clear in her voice.

"I tried to do what I thought was right. It's complicated how this all happened, Buffy, you know? It's kind of a long story."

"You're new sidekick had a vision, I was in it, you came to Sunnydale?"

"Okay, maybe not that long."

"You didn't feel that I was important enough to even tell me that you were there."

Angel looked at her. "I'm trying to explain. It's because I felt that you're important that I didn't tell you."

"I'm a big girl now, Angel. I'm not in High School anymore. A lot has happened in my life since you left."

"I know. I respect that," Angel said.

"And I don't need you skulking around, trying to protect me.”

Angel looked away, and Buffy looked down.

“Unless, of course, I'm in some gigantic fight to the death, which - I was last night. That was you, helping me, wasn't it?"

"I was in the neighborhood - skulking. I'm sorry if I handled this wrong. I mean, what else was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. I just know that when you're around, whether I see you or not, I feel you - inside - and it throws me."

"Throws me, too."

"So let's just stick to the plan. We keep our distance until a lot of time has passed. Given enough time we should be able to.."

"Forget?'

"Yeah. - So, I'm gonna go - start forgetting."

As Buffy turned to go, a green-skinned Samurai demon with a curved sword and a red jewel in his forehead crashed through the window behind Angel and attacked him. Angel barely avoided the first stroke of his sword by rolling across his desk.

"Angel!"

Buffy kicked the demon back against the wall, Angel came up and threw an ax at it.

Buffy and Angel continued to fight the Samurai. Angel slid across the floor, picked up the demon's sword and stabbed it in the gut while it is still wrestling with Buffy. Some of its fluorescent green blood ran down the sword onto Angel's hand. The demon jumped back causing Buffy to land on top of Angel, pulled the sword out and jumped out of the window. Angel and Buffy stared at each other as they slowly untangled themselves to stand up.

"Friend of yours?" Buffy asked.

"Never saw it before."

"It was rude. We should go kill it."

"I'm free."

"Got somewhere I can change?"

Suddenly Buffy’s memory switched to a time when she was standing on a dock looking out into the ocean. She felt something and turned around to see Angel as he stepped through a shadowed arch in a hedge. She watched as he walked out into the sun toward her, he gathered her into his arms, and they kissed passionately.

Buffy continued to hold her head as she saw before her another vision. Angel got up from a table and with a sigh moved to the chair next to her.

"I'm not saying I don't want you. You know how much.. I'm just saying it's worth the wait to be sure this is right. I need to be sure you won't get hurt again."

Buffy stood up. "You know it's a good thing I didn't fantasize about you turning human only about 10 zillion times, because today would have been a real let down. So how does the mature plan go? You call me? I call you? What?"

Angel moved toward her. "We stay in touch - just not.."

"Literally. - Funny.” They stared at each other, then Buffy walked past him. “Okay, I'd better.."

Angel turned to look after her. "Right. Remove the temptation."

Buffy turned back toward him. "So, we'll - talk soon."

Buffy placed her hand on top of his on the counter. They both stared down at their hands. Angel turned his hand to grab hers then reached out and pulled her into a kiss. They stumbled up against the refrigerator and Buffy jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist. Still kissing, Angel carried her over to the kitchen table, swept the stuff on it on the floor and laid her down on it.

Later Buffy laid her head on Angel's chest.

"It's a good sound. Thump-thump. Thump-thump."

Angel smiled. "It feels pretty amazing."

"I'm so glad we didn't logic ourselves out of this. We'll make it work, right?"

"We will."

"Oh, I'm so sleepy, - but I still want.."

"What? You couldn't possibly.. Not that I wouldn't.."

"No, no. I'm spent. Pleasantly numb even. You?"

Angel smiled. "For now."

"No, I - want to stay awake - so this day can keep happening."

Angel kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep. We'll make another one like it tomorrow."

“Angel? This is the first time I ever really felt this way," Buffy said sleepily.

"What way?"

"Just like I've always wanted to. Like a normal girl, falling asleep in the arms of her normal boyfriend. It's perfect."

Angel kissed the top of her head as she fell into a deep sleep.

Buffy still knelt on the asphalt in the same alleyway as more memories filled her head. She could barely stand to see them.

It was 8:56 on the clock in Angel’s apartment.

Buffy was wearing a long flowery dress and was pacing Angel's apartment. Angel came down the steps to his apartment.

"I'm guessing that expression isn't because they were all out of fresh OJ at the deli. - What happened?"

"Nothing happened. - I just.."

"Where have you been?"

"I went to see the Oracles. I asked them to turn me back."

"What? - Why?"

"Because more then ever I know how much I love you."

Buffy backed away from him: "No. No, you didn't."

Angel followed her. "And if I stayed mortal one of us would wind up dead, maybe both of us. You heard what Mohra said."

"Mohra is dead. We killed him."

"He said others would come."

"They always come. And they always will. But that's my problem now, not yours, remember?"

"No, I won't just stand by and let you fight, maybe die, alone."

“Then we fight together."

"You saw what happened last night. If anything I'm a liability to you. You take chances to protect me, and that's not just bad for you, it's bad for the people we were meant to help."

"So what? You just took a whole 24 hours to weigh the ups and downs of being a regular Joe and decided it was more fun being a superhero?"

"You know that's not it. How can we be together if the cost is your life, or the lives of others?” Buffy stared at him and after a moment, he took her into his arms. “I know. I couldn't tell you. I wasn't sure - if I could do it if I woke up with you one more morning."

"I understand. - So, what happens now?'

"The Oracles are giving us back the day, turning back time, so I can kill Mohra before his blood makes me mortal."

"When?"

Angel looked over at the clock. It was 9:00. "Another minute."

Buffy was crying. "A minute? No. No, it's not enough time!"

"We don't have a choice. It's done."

"How am I supposed to go on with my life knowing what we had? What we could have had?"

"You won't. No one will know but me."

"Everything we did."

"It never happened."

Buffy shook her head: "It did. It did. I know it did!” She put her hand on his heart. “I felt your heart beat."

"Buffy.."

They kissed then. Buffy looked over at the clock. The minute was almost up.

"No! Oh God. It's not enough time."

Angel was crying now, too. "Shh, please. Please."

They hold each other tightly and their both crying.

"Please, please." Angel moaned.

"No. I'll never forget. I'll never forget. I'll never forget. I'll never forget." Buffy wept as she felt her heart breaking.

Suddenly, Buffy felt Spike behind her in the alley. Buffy was crying openly. Spike touched her on the shoulder.

“What’s wrong, pet?”

“I remember it all!” Buffy told Spike through her tears. “I remember it all!”

TO BE CONTINUED