Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2007 11:52:30 GMT 10
Title: Déjà Vu
Characters: All characters are those who originally appear in “Tabula Rasa.” They are not my creation and don’t belong to me. “Buffy: the Vampire Slayer” and its are the property of Joss Whedon.
Setting: Season 6, episode “Tabula Rasa”
Word Count: approx. 3,468 words (about 6 ½ pages)
Rating: G
Beta(s): Skitty
Author’s Notes: A note of clarification: I use their original names (created by Joss) in all the non-dialogue parts of the story. I use the names that they either found on identification or chose themselves only when necessary in dialogue. I started by looking at the transcript on TwizTV, but as I continued was able to leave that behind and just let my muse guide me.
A huddled mass lay on the floor of the Magic Box. To a regular shopper or a walker looking through the store’s front window, the scene would have been indescribable. No furniture or merchandise was disturbed, there was no blood or signs of foul play, but there lay the shop’s owner and clerk propped against each other on a bench, a young man and woman lying next to each other on the floor, and four more of the store’s regular visitors spread around what had become the group’s meeting area.
A young woman with blonde hair stirred, her eyes slowly focusing on the scene around her. “What happened?” Buffy asked. Although her eyes have focused, her mind is still foggy, unable to help her figure out what happened or where she was…or who she was. She slowly stood, unsure if she had been hurt or not, and looked for a light switch. As she flipped the switch, the others started waking up. Noticing the others, she lets out a cry of astonishment. “Who are you people?” She instinctively backs against the wall, ready to defend herself if needed.
“I…I don’t know,” a young girl responds. She looks around nervously, her eyes pleading for someone to help, but the others can provide no answers.
“Well, let’s try to figure this out like civilized people. I don’t see anyone carrying any weapons.” Dawn looks around, her eyes growing bigger as she realizes she may be wrong. “Right?” The others nod in consent, hurriedly reassuring each other that no harm will be done to them. “OK, so, let’s see here. I was here. Where were you?” she asks Buffy.
Buffy moves to where she had been lying on the floor. “Um, I think I was here.”
“OK,” Dawn continues. “So, you two were found together. And so were the two of you,” she says, pointing to Xander, Willow, Giles, and Anya. “I guess we were by ourselves,” she says, looking at the others and giving a slight shrug. She looks first at Willow and Xander. “Do you two know each other?”
“I…I don’t think so. I don’t know,” Willow answers hopelessly.
“Well, we were next to each other, so we must know each other, right? I mean…” Xander’s voice trails off, unable to provide the answers he so desperately longs for.
“Well,” Tara suggests, “maybe you’re brother and sister.”
“Yeah. That could be.” Willow and Xander look at each other hopefully, their bodies relaxing a little.
“And what about you two?” Buffy asks, pointing at Anya and Giles. “Who are you?”
“I don’t know,” Giles starts, but he stops abruptly when he hears his own voice.
“You’re British!” Anya shouts, pointing at him as if to accuse him of something.
“I guess I am. Perhaps I’m some British superstar,” he suggests hopefully.
“I don’t bloody well think that David Bowie would be seen wearing that!” Spike huffs, giving Giles’ outfit a repulsive look, unaware of what he’s dressed in.
“Well, I can’t see any proper Englishman wearing that,” Giles returns, looking at Spike’s out-of-style brown suit coat and bow tie.
“So, neither one of you are David Bowie.” That still doesn’t tell us who you are,” Anya interrupts.
“Yeah, well, what about you?” Willow asks.
“Why don’t we calm down,” Tara suggests quietly. “I don’t remember who I am anymore than the rest of you, and while I want answers, fighting won’t get us anywhere. They’re brother and sister,” she gestures toward Willow and Xander. “Perhaps you two are friends who came here on vacation?” she nods toward Giles and Spike. “And the rest of us…” she looks at the shelves around her, the counter and cash register, “We seem to be in some kind of a store. Perhaps we’re just customers who came in off the street?”
Dawn walks gingerly to the cash register and looks through the stack of papers next to it. “It says here a man and woman named Rupert and Anya own the shop. Anyone recognize those names?” Everyone shakes their heads.
“Hold on just a minute!” Xander slaps his hand to his forehead in an act of disgust. “Why haven’t we tried looking for some kind of identification on all of us? Surely some of us must have IDs or something.”
Xander, Giles, and Spike all search for wallets. Xander and Giles shout with joy at the discovery of their real names, while Spike starts looking inside his clothes for a label. “Randy. Randy? Well, I guess it’s better tha’ nothin’.”
Anya, Tara, Willow, Buffy, and Dawn all start looking through their clothes and pockets, many unable to find any form of identification. “My coat says ‘Harris’ in it. I must be your sister!” Willow looks happily at Xander.
“My necklace says something. I just wish I could read it.”
Willow walks up to her, lifts her necklace, and says, “Dawn.”
“Dawn,” Buffy repeats. “I like that name.”
“What about you four? Do you have any ID?”
Anya, Willow, Tara, and Buffy shake their heads.
“Well, you must be Anya,” Giles says. “We were next to each other, and it says I own the shop with someone named Anya, so perhaps we were conducting some business?” He gives her a reassuring smile.
“Why don’t we name ourselves?” Tara suggests. “I mean, just until we figure out who we really are. That way we have something to call each other.”
“OK,” Willow turns to look at Xander. “You’re my brother. What do you think my name is?”
“I seem to remember knowing a girl named…Buffy?”
“Buffy!?! What kind of name is that? My memory isn’t that bad! Why don’t we try something else?”
“OK, how about Susan?”
“I can live with that, I guess. What about you guys?”
“I want to pick my own,” Tara says. “That way at least it will still be a part of me. How about Mary? I like Mary,” she says firmly with a nod of her head.
“Hold up. You two,” Spike starts, waving a finger at Buffy and Dawn. “There’s somethin’ familiar in you two. Look at ‘em,” he offers the others. “Do you see it?”
Giles walks closer, studying their faces. “There’s certainly a similar bone structure and very similar facial features. It’s possible you two could be related?”
“Like, sisters?” Dawn asks.
“I don’t think we look that much alike. Cousins, maybe?”
“Cousins is good,” Dawn answers, slowly feeling more comfortable in her strange surroundings.
“We still need names for you,” Anya says impatiently, looking at Buffy.
Buffy and Dawn look at each other. “How about Summer?” Dawn suggests.
“Summer?”
“Well, my parents obviously have a thing for times of the day. Maybe your parents have a thing for seasons?”
“Sure. Why not?” Buffy says, slightly deflated, with a shrug.
“Great. Now that that’s over…” Anya says.
“So,” Dawn continues, getting a glare from Anya for having interrupted, “if you’re the owners and we’re customers, what were we shopping for?”
“Well, I can’t imagine having any clue seeing as we can’t even remember who we are,” a rather frustrated Giles answered. The group walked through the store, slowly looking at the merchandise.
“This books is titled Essentials of Magic,” Dawn said, somewhat in shock.
“And this one’s called Modern Witchcraft,” Anya said, looking at a bookshelf on the other side of the room.
“Er, um, I have some Eye of Newt over here,” Xander said, clearly disgusted, backing away from the shelf he’d been inspecting.
“So, clearly we’re in a magic shop, right?” Willow asked.
“I thought something felt kind of…homey…about this place,” Tara added, blushing.
“Right, so, we’re a buncha strangers, in a magic shop, who don’ know who we are, or why we’re ‘ere. I think I’ll just be leavin’ the looney bin now,” Spike said, heading toward the door. The others looked at each other, perplexed, wondering whether or not they should leave, too, when they heard Spike scream and slam the door.
“Randy?” Tara rushed toward him. “What’s wrong?”
“Out there…there’s…they’re sharks. I mean, monsters. I mean…jus’…right outside the door.” He took a few minutes to calm his nerves while a few of the others looked nervously through the store window, jumping back in terror when the vampires and demons appeared in front of them.
“They’re hideous! What’s wrong with their faces? Why are they here?” They all started talking at once, letting Spike’s snide comment slip through the conversation unheard. “Well, guess I won’ be leavin’ now after all.”
Something, perhaps a distant memory, seemed to kick Xander into gear. “Everyone, shut up!” He looked around at the group of shocked faces, tried his best to put on a comforting smile, and continued. “We need to stay calm and work together. We’re much safer as a group. Now, I think the best thing to do would be to go to the police. They’d be much more equipped to handle this.” He turned to Giles and Anya. “Is there a back door? A basement window? Any other outside access to the building?”
Giles and Anya looked around uncertainly, clearly not gaining any knowledge of what appeared to be their store as the minutes ticked past. Anya entered a storage area and noticed a window. “It’s not real big, but it’ll work.”
“OK. Let’s try that. I suggest a guy goes first and last, to help the ladies.” He led the group to the window and started to open it, but was stopped by the voice of one of the shark demons.
“Slayer! Slayer, we know you’re in there!”
Xander quickly slammed the window closed. “OK, need a plan B.” He ushered the group back into the main area of the shop, giving orders along the way. “All entrances into the building need to be heavily blocked. All of them. While it’s possible they’re just the local neighborhood pranksters, I don’t think we can take that chance. They seem to be looking for someone, and until we figure out who, we shouldn’t take any chances.”
“Do you think they’re looking for one of us?” Buffy asked.
“I don’t know, but right now I think it’s more important that we worry about our safety. Everyone needs to find a weapon. Do the best you can,” he added dismally after looking at the collection of objects displayed on the store’s shelves.
Everyone ran frantically through the store, opening cupboards and drawers and entering closed rooms. Buffy and Anya were lucky enough to stumble on a chest of weapons in the basement, while others were left to their own creativity.
“OK, does everyone have something?” Xander asked, looking around at the assortment of objects in his companions’ hands. His eyes stopped when they came to Dawn. “Bubble wrap?”
“Well,” Dawn stuttered, “I thought we could maybe wrap them up in it.”
“And then what, ship them to Timbuktu?”
“Well…she has a pair of scissors!” she blurted, pointing to Tara.
“At least those are sharp,” Xander said with a disapproving glance. “OK, now we need to figure out who – or what – those things are.”
“Yeah, but how are we going to do that?” Buffy asked.
“Well, we’re in a magic shop, so surely we carry information on a variety of creatures,” Giles said.
“Bugger. Could you sound any more stuffy?” Spike asked. “Loosen up an’ ‘ave a bit o’ fun. I can’ possibly imagine befriending you after listenin’ to all tha’ jabber.”
“Well, I’m certain there are qualities about you I find rather disconcerting as well.”
“Wh –”
“Guys, stop it!” Dawn cried. “This isn’t helping anything.”
“She’s right,” Willow stepped in. “Right now we need to focus on finding a way out of here.”
“OK, why don’t we start looking through some of these books, then?” Tara suggested, hastily grabbing a stack from the nearest shelf and setting them on the table. Spike and Giles took one last opportunity to glare at each other and sat down on opposite sides of the table in a huff. The others quickly found a seat, opened a book, and anxiously looked through the pages, hoping to find anything that could be of help.
“I think I…Wait, never mind, false alarm, sorry.”
“Here’s a pic-no, sorry.”
“Well, this book’s titled…Oh, it’s called Ages of Magic. Guess that one won’t help us much.”
After several minutes of hearing such comments and flipping through books that were unable to provide any information, Buffy cried out with desperation, “How are we ever going to figure out who these guys are?”
“Wait! I think I found it!” Xander cried with excitement. “Here’s a picture. It says they’re called,” he hesitated a moment, surprised, “vampires.”
“Vampires? You mean these classic subjects of children’s tales and legend are in fact real and living among us today? Quite fascinating,” Giles replied, his mind wandering into a realm of imagination and fiction that he had until now, at least to the best of his memory, believed to be merely children’s fairy tales. “Hmm. I wonder what other creatures exist that we’d have never thought possible?”
“OK, so, we’ve got vampires, but who are the other guys?”
“Well, if vampires exist, perhaps the others are simply what they seem – shark-faced mythological creatures of some sort.”
“You mean, like demons?” Buffy asked, her eyes growing wide with fear.
“Well, if vampires exist, surely we can’t be surprised to find that other supernatural creatures do, too.”
“You mean you actually believe all this stuff?” Anya asked Giles.
“Why, certainly. After all, we have the information right in front of us. And I do own the shop. Why wouldn’t I believe in it?”
“It’s simply fantastical. No one in their right mind would believe this,” she replied with a scoff.
“Then why do you work here?”
“Maybe I simply needed the job and you were the only one who would hire me.”
“Well, I certainly don’t see why I’d hire someone who didn’t believe in what we were selling.”
“Anya! Mr. Giles! Stop it!” Xander shouted. “We don’t need to argue right now. We need to figure out how to either get rid of the creatures, or how to leave the building without them following us.”
At that moment, the vampires started pounding on the door, attempting to break it, shouting, “Spike! Spike!”
“OK,” Xander said quickly, “you ladies stay here and see if you can find out how to stop these guys – how to kill them if necessary. Randy, Mr. Giles, bring your weapons and come with me.” He led them to within a few feet of the door and each took a defensive stance, waiting for the attack. The girls huddled more closely together around the table, frantically grabbing books and flipping pages, but unable to keep their scared faces turned away from the door.
“Spike! Spike, we know you’re in there!” the vampires kept shouting. “Our boss wants to talk to you. You’d better come out now.”
“So, they seem to want someone called…Spike?” Giles flinched at the name. “Who would name their child Spike?”
“Better question: who is this Spike,” Randy cut in, “and what do these vampires want with 'im? Surely it’s none o' us?”
“They mentioned a boss. Perhaps that’s the shark guy we saw earlier?” Xander mused, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
“We found it!” Buffy cried out, interrupting the men’s thoughts. “Stakes, sunlight, holy water, crosses, they’ll pretty much do the job.”
“Well, sunlight’s out,” Anya said. “There’s hours left before sunrise. Maybe we carry some of the other stuff here, though?” she asked Giles.
“Surely we’d recognize their usefulness. Take a look around and see if you can find any,” he responded.
At that moment the vampires finished kicking down the door, causing Giles’ attention to snap back to the impending fight. Armed with a variety of swords and axes, the men lunged toward the vampires, not quite sure how to handle their weapons, while the girls ran into the adjoining rooms, hoping to find a more permanent solution. They guys had been successful in dodging their attackers’ blows, but it was becoming more difficult to do so. Spike quickly showed a natural ability to use weapons, and was easily fighting back his attackers.
“Spike!” one of the vampires called, running toward him and engaging him in a one-on-one fight, leaving Xander and Giles to fend for themselves. Spike was able to easily match his opponent blow by blow, but was caught off guard by a low kick that sent him toppling to the floor. As he stood up his face instinctively changed to match that of his attacker, causing Giles and Xander to gasp. Unsure of what had happened to scare the others, Spike stood there perplexed, unaware that their attackers were closing in on him until his hands were bound.
“Spike, you’re coming with us.” Still confused by what had happened, Spike let himself be taken away by the vampires, giving Giles and Xander a helpless look before he disappeared around the corner.
“Look!” Dawn cried excitedly, coming from one of the back rooms. “We found the…” she stopped, her jaw hanging open, staring at the scene in front of her. “What happened?”
“They took Randy. I mean Spike,” Xander said, turning toward her and laying down his weapons.
“So, Randy was Spike?” Tara asked. “What do they want with him?”
“I don’t know,” Giles answered, “but it seems he’s one of them. His appearance changed during the fight. His face looked just like theirs.”
“You mean there was one of them here with us this whole time?” Buffy asked, her knees starting to fail her.
“It’s all right, Summer. He’s gone now,” Dawn said, coming to her aid.
“Yeah, but how do we know the rest of us are who we really say we are?” Tara asked. “I mean, I’m sorry, but who’s to say we’re really safer together? What’s keeping us here?”
“Nothing,” Xander said, his voice strong. “There’s nothing keeping any of you here now that the threat seems to be gone. But this is the only clue we have about who any of us are. I intend to stay here and find out as much as I can. You’re all welcome to stay with me. If not, then there’s the, well, there’s what used to be the door,” he said, pointing to the large pile of rubble blocking the entrance to the store.
“I’ll stay,” Giles offered, putting his hand on Xander’s shoulder. “This is my store, so maybe my memories are here, waiting for me.”
“Same goes for me, I guess,” Anya said. “Even if I don’t believe in this stuff, I must spend quite a bit of time working here. Maybe I’ll figure out who I am,” she added with a soft whisper.
“OK, so, where to start?” Xander asked.
“Well, if Randy is really Spike, perhaps we should try to find out who he is. If he’s a vampire, perhaps there’s some mention of him in one of the books? Like a Who’s Who of Vampires?” Giles responded, motioning for them to sit down as he pulled more books from the shelves. “I guess we can start with these.”
As the trio started flipping through the pages, the others slowly sat down at the table with mumblings of consent, uncertainty, and cautious looks at those around them.
“You know,” Tara said, after having looked through three books and finding nothing, “I have the feeling we’ve done this before.”
“There is a certain familiarity to it,” Giles turned toward her with a smile. “I’ve found it has something of a calming effect.”
“This one’s in Latin. Anyone speak Latin?” Xander asked, sarcastically, although a part of him was hoping someone really did know.
“Well, I seem to have been able to figure out the basics of what was meant in these other books,” Giles said, pointing to a stack of books written in a variety of languages. “I’m sure I’d be able to figure this one out, too. What does it say?”
Xander started speaking slowly, sounding out each word carefully, “Laxo quis eram perfectus, permissum tendo quod preteritus fio unus.”
“Well, let’s see, it seems to be a restoration spell of some sort, though I’m not sure what it’s meant to restore.” Giles was unable to finish his thoughts, because at that moment a haze settled over the room. When it lifted, the group’s memories were restored, resulting in a variety of reactions. Noticing the jacket around her shoulders was Xander’s, she quickly shrugged it off with a sheepish grin. Tara, sitting across the table from her, gave her a disappointed look and turned to leave. Dawn, Xander, Anya, and Giles were still trying to figure out exactly what had happened when Buffy rushed out the store’s entrance, suddenly realizing what had happened to Spike.
Characters: All characters are those who originally appear in “Tabula Rasa.” They are not my creation and don’t belong to me. “Buffy: the Vampire Slayer” and its are the property of Joss Whedon.
Setting: Season 6, episode “Tabula Rasa”
Word Count: approx. 3,468 words (about 6 ½ pages)
Rating: G
Beta(s): Skitty
Author’s Notes: A note of clarification: I use their original names (created by Joss) in all the non-dialogue parts of the story. I use the names that they either found on identification or chose themselves only when necessary in dialogue. I started by looking at the transcript on TwizTV, but as I continued was able to leave that behind and just let my muse guide me.
A huddled mass lay on the floor of the Magic Box. To a regular shopper or a walker looking through the store’s front window, the scene would have been indescribable. No furniture or merchandise was disturbed, there was no blood or signs of foul play, but there lay the shop’s owner and clerk propped against each other on a bench, a young man and woman lying next to each other on the floor, and four more of the store’s regular visitors spread around what had become the group’s meeting area.
A young woman with blonde hair stirred, her eyes slowly focusing on the scene around her. “What happened?” Buffy asked. Although her eyes have focused, her mind is still foggy, unable to help her figure out what happened or where she was…or who she was. She slowly stood, unsure if she had been hurt or not, and looked for a light switch. As she flipped the switch, the others started waking up. Noticing the others, she lets out a cry of astonishment. “Who are you people?” She instinctively backs against the wall, ready to defend herself if needed.
“I…I don’t know,” a young girl responds. She looks around nervously, her eyes pleading for someone to help, but the others can provide no answers.
“Well, let’s try to figure this out like civilized people. I don’t see anyone carrying any weapons.” Dawn looks around, her eyes growing bigger as she realizes she may be wrong. “Right?” The others nod in consent, hurriedly reassuring each other that no harm will be done to them. “OK, so, let’s see here. I was here. Where were you?” she asks Buffy.
Buffy moves to where she had been lying on the floor. “Um, I think I was here.”
“OK,” Dawn continues. “So, you two were found together. And so were the two of you,” she says, pointing to Xander, Willow, Giles, and Anya. “I guess we were by ourselves,” she says, looking at the others and giving a slight shrug. She looks first at Willow and Xander. “Do you two know each other?”
“I…I don’t think so. I don’t know,” Willow answers hopelessly.
“Well, we were next to each other, so we must know each other, right? I mean…” Xander’s voice trails off, unable to provide the answers he so desperately longs for.
“Well,” Tara suggests, “maybe you’re brother and sister.”
“Yeah. That could be.” Willow and Xander look at each other hopefully, their bodies relaxing a little.
“And what about you two?” Buffy asks, pointing at Anya and Giles. “Who are you?”
“I don’t know,” Giles starts, but he stops abruptly when he hears his own voice.
“You’re British!” Anya shouts, pointing at him as if to accuse him of something.
“I guess I am. Perhaps I’m some British superstar,” he suggests hopefully.
“I don’t bloody well think that David Bowie would be seen wearing that!” Spike huffs, giving Giles’ outfit a repulsive look, unaware of what he’s dressed in.
“Well, I can’t see any proper Englishman wearing that,” Giles returns, looking at Spike’s out-of-style brown suit coat and bow tie.
“So, neither one of you are David Bowie.” That still doesn’t tell us who you are,” Anya interrupts.
“Yeah, well, what about you?” Willow asks.
“Why don’t we calm down,” Tara suggests quietly. “I don’t remember who I am anymore than the rest of you, and while I want answers, fighting won’t get us anywhere. They’re brother and sister,” she gestures toward Willow and Xander. “Perhaps you two are friends who came here on vacation?” she nods toward Giles and Spike. “And the rest of us…” she looks at the shelves around her, the counter and cash register, “We seem to be in some kind of a store. Perhaps we’re just customers who came in off the street?”
Dawn walks gingerly to the cash register and looks through the stack of papers next to it. “It says here a man and woman named Rupert and Anya own the shop. Anyone recognize those names?” Everyone shakes their heads.
“Hold on just a minute!” Xander slaps his hand to his forehead in an act of disgust. “Why haven’t we tried looking for some kind of identification on all of us? Surely some of us must have IDs or something.”
Xander, Giles, and Spike all search for wallets. Xander and Giles shout with joy at the discovery of their real names, while Spike starts looking inside his clothes for a label. “Randy. Randy? Well, I guess it’s better tha’ nothin’.”
Anya, Tara, Willow, Buffy, and Dawn all start looking through their clothes and pockets, many unable to find any form of identification. “My coat says ‘Harris’ in it. I must be your sister!” Willow looks happily at Xander.
“My necklace says something. I just wish I could read it.”
Willow walks up to her, lifts her necklace, and says, “Dawn.”
“Dawn,” Buffy repeats. “I like that name.”
“What about you four? Do you have any ID?”
Anya, Willow, Tara, and Buffy shake their heads.
“Well, you must be Anya,” Giles says. “We were next to each other, and it says I own the shop with someone named Anya, so perhaps we were conducting some business?” He gives her a reassuring smile.
“Why don’t we name ourselves?” Tara suggests. “I mean, just until we figure out who we really are. That way we have something to call each other.”
“OK,” Willow turns to look at Xander. “You’re my brother. What do you think my name is?”
“I seem to remember knowing a girl named…Buffy?”
“Buffy!?! What kind of name is that? My memory isn’t that bad! Why don’t we try something else?”
“OK, how about Susan?”
“I can live with that, I guess. What about you guys?”
“I want to pick my own,” Tara says. “That way at least it will still be a part of me. How about Mary? I like Mary,” she says firmly with a nod of her head.
“Hold up. You two,” Spike starts, waving a finger at Buffy and Dawn. “There’s somethin’ familiar in you two. Look at ‘em,” he offers the others. “Do you see it?”
Giles walks closer, studying their faces. “There’s certainly a similar bone structure and very similar facial features. It’s possible you two could be related?”
“Like, sisters?” Dawn asks.
“I don’t think we look that much alike. Cousins, maybe?”
“Cousins is good,” Dawn answers, slowly feeling more comfortable in her strange surroundings.
“We still need names for you,” Anya says impatiently, looking at Buffy.
Buffy and Dawn look at each other. “How about Summer?” Dawn suggests.
“Summer?”
“Well, my parents obviously have a thing for times of the day. Maybe your parents have a thing for seasons?”
“Sure. Why not?” Buffy says, slightly deflated, with a shrug.
“Great. Now that that’s over…” Anya says.
“So,” Dawn continues, getting a glare from Anya for having interrupted, “if you’re the owners and we’re customers, what were we shopping for?”
“Well, I can’t imagine having any clue seeing as we can’t even remember who we are,” a rather frustrated Giles answered. The group walked through the store, slowly looking at the merchandise.
“This books is titled Essentials of Magic,” Dawn said, somewhat in shock.
“And this one’s called Modern Witchcraft,” Anya said, looking at a bookshelf on the other side of the room.
“Er, um, I have some Eye of Newt over here,” Xander said, clearly disgusted, backing away from the shelf he’d been inspecting.
“So, clearly we’re in a magic shop, right?” Willow asked.
“I thought something felt kind of…homey…about this place,” Tara added, blushing.
“Right, so, we’re a buncha strangers, in a magic shop, who don’ know who we are, or why we’re ‘ere. I think I’ll just be leavin’ the looney bin now,” Spike said, heading toward the door. The others looked at each other, perplexed, wondering whether or not they should leave, too, when they heard Spike scream and slam the door.
“Randy?” Tara rushed toward him. “What’s wrong?”
“Out there…there’s…they’re sharks. I mean, monsters. I mean…jus’…right outside the door.” He took a few minutes to calm his nerves while a few of the others looked nervously through the store window, jumping back in terror when the vampires and demons appeared in front of them.
“They’re hideous! What’s wrong with their faces? Why are they here?” They all started talking at once, letting Spike’s snide comment slip through the conversation unheard. “Well, guess I won’ be leavin’ now after all.”
Something, perhaps a distant memory, seemed to kick Xander into gear. “Everyone, shut up!” He looked around at the group of shocked faces, tried his best to put on a comforting smile, and continued. “We need to stay calm and work together. We’re much safer as a group. Now, I think the best thing to do would be to go to the police. They’d be much more equipped to handle this.” He turned to Giles and Anya. “Is there a back door? A basement window? Any other outside access to the building?”
Giles and Anya looked around uncertainly, clearly not gaining any knowledge of what appeared to be their store as the minutes ticked past. Anya entered a storage area and noticed a window. “It’s not real big, but it’ll work.”
“OK. Let’s try that. I suggest a guy goes first and last, to help the ladies.” He led the group to the window and started to open it, but was stopped by the voice of one of the shark demons.
“Slayer! Slayer, we know you’re in there!”
Xander quickly slammed the window closed. “OK, need a plan B.” He ushered the group back into the main area of the shop, giving orders along the way. “All entrances into the building need to be heavily blocked. All of them. While it’s possible they’re just the local neighborhood pranksters, I don’t think we can take that chance. They seem to be looking for someone, and until we figure out who, we shouldn’t take any chances.”
“Do you think they’re looking for one of us?” Buffy asked.
“I don’t know, but right now I think it’s more important that we worry about our safety. Everyone needs to find a weapon. Do the best you can,” he added dismally after looking at the collection of objects displayed on the store’s shelves.
Everyone ran frantically through the store, opening cupboards and drawers and entering closed rooms. Buffy and Anya were lucky enough to stumble on a chest of weapons in the basement, while others were left to their own creativity.
“OK, does everyone have something?” Xander asked, looking around at the assortment of objects in his companions’ hands. His eyes stopped when they came to Dawn. “Bubble wrap?”
“Well,” Dawn stuttered, “I thought we could maybe wrap them up in it.”
“And then what, ship them to Timbuktu?”
“Well…she has a pair of scissors!” she blurted, pointing to Tara.
“At least those are sharp,” Xander said with a disapproving glance. “OK, now we need to figure out who – or what – those things are.”
“Yeah, but how are we going to do that?” Buffy asked.
“Well, we’re in a magic shop, so surely we carry information on a variety of creatures,” Giles said.
“Bugger. Could you sound any more stuffy?” Spike asked. “Loosen up an’ ‘ave a bit o’ fun. I can’ possibly imagine befriending you after listenin’ to all tha’ jabber.”
“Well, I’m certain there are qualities about you I find rather disconcerting as well.”
“Wh –”
“Guys, stop it!” Dawn cried. “This isn’t helping anything.”
“She’s right,” Willow stepped in. “Right now we need to focus on finding a way out of here.”
“OK, why don’t we start looking through some of these books, then?” Tara suggested, hastily grabbing a stack from the nearest shelf and setting them on the table. Spike and Giles took one last opportunity to glare at each other and sat down on opposite sides of the table in a huff. The others quickly found a seat, opened a book, and anxiously looked through the pages, hoping to find anything that could be of help.
“I think I…Wait, never mind, false alarm, sorry.”
“Here’s a pic-no, sorry.”
“Well, this book’s titled…Oh, it’s called Ages of Magic. Guess that one won’t help us much.”
After several minutes of hearing such comments and flipping through books that were unable to provide any information, Buffy cried out with desperation, “How are we ever going to figure out who these guys are?”
“Wait! I think I found it!” Xander cried with excitement. “Here’s a picture. It says they’re called,” he hesitated a moment, surprised, “vampires.”
“Vampires? You mean these classic subjects of children’s tales and legend are in fact real and living among us today? Quite fascinating,” Giles replied, his mind wandering into a realm of imagination and fiction that he had until now, at least to the best of his memory, believed to be merely children’s fairy tales. “Hmm. I wonder what other creatures exist that we’d have never thought possible?”
“OK, so, we’ve got vampires, but who are the other guys?”
“Well, if vampires exist, perhaps the others are simply what they seem – shark-faced mythological creatures of some sort.”
“You mean, like demons?” Buffy asked, her eyes growing wide with fear.
“Well, if vampires exist, surely we can’t be surprised to find that other supernatural creatures do, too.”
“You mean you actually believe all this stuff?” Anya asked Giles.
“Why, certainly. After all, we have the information right in front of us. And I do own the shop. Why wouldn’t I believe in it?”
“It’s simply fantastical. No one in their right mind would believe this,” she replied with a scoff.
“Then why do you work here?”
“Maybe I simply needed the job and you were the only one who would hire me.”
“Well, I certainly don’t see why I’d hire someone who didn’t believe in what we were selling.”
“Anya! Mr. Giles! Stop it!” Xander shouted. “We don’t need to argue right now. We need to figure out how to either get rid of the creatures, or how to leave the building without them following us.”
At that moment, the vampires started pounding on the door, attempting to break it, shouting, “Spike! Spike!”
“OK,” Xander said quickly, “you ladies stay here and see if you can find out how to stop these guys – how to kill them if necessary. Randy, Mr. Giles, bring your weapons and come with me.” He led them to within a few feet of the door and each took a defensive stance, waiting for the attack. The girls huddled more closely together around the table, frantically grabbing books and flipping pages, but unable to keep their scared faces turned away from the door.
“Spike! Spike, we know you’re in there!” the vampires kept shouting. “Our boss wants to talk to you. You’d better come out now.”
“So, they seem to want someone called…Spike?” Giles flinched at the name. “Who would name their child Spike?”
“Better question: who is this Spike,” Randy cut in, “and what do these vampires want with 'im? Surely it’s none o' us?”
“They mentioned a boss. Perhaps that’s the shark guy we saw earlier?” Xander mused, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
“We found it!” Buffy cried out, interrupting the men’s thoughts. “Stakes, sunlight, holy water, crosses, they’ll pretty much do the job.”
“Well, sunlight’s out,” Anya said. “There’s hours left before sunrise. Maybe we carry some of the other stuff here, though?” she asked Giles.
“Surely we’d recognize their usefulness. Take a look around and see if you can find any,” he responded.
At that moment the vampires finished kicking down the door, causing Giles’ attention to snap back to the impending fight. Armed with a variety of swords and axes, the men lunged toward the vampires, not quite sure how to handle their weapons, while the girls ran into the adjoining rooms, hoping to find a more permanent solution. They guys had been successful in dodging their attackers’ blows, but it was becoming more difficult to do so. Spike quickly showed a natural ability to use weapons, and was easily fighting back his attackers.
“Spike!” one of the vampires called, running toward him and engaging him in a one-on-one fight, leaving Xander and Giles to fend for themselves. Spike was able to easily match his opponent blow by blow, but was caught off guard by a low kick that sent him toppling to the floor. As he stood up his face instinctively changed to match that of his attacker, causing Giles and Xander to gasp. Unsure of what had happened to scare the others, Spike stood there perplexed, unaware that their attackers were closing in on him until his hands were bound.
“Spike, you’re coming with us.” Still confused by what had happened, Spike let himself be taken away by the vampires, giving Giles and Xander a helpless look before he disappeared around the corner.
“Look!” Dawn cried excitedly, coming from one of the back rooms. “We found the…” she stopped, her jaw hanging open, staring at the scene in front of her. “What happened?”
“They took Randy. I mean Spike,” Xander said, turning toward her and laying down his weapons.
“So, Randy was Spike?” Tara asked. “What do they want with him?”
“I don’t know,” Giles answered, “but it seems he’s one of them. His appearance changed during the fight. His face looked just like theirs.”
“You mean there was one of them here with us this whole time?” Buffy asked, her knees starting to fail her.
“It’s all right, Summer. He’s gone now,” Dawn said, coming to her aid.
“Yeah, but how do we know the rest of us are who we really say we are?” Tara asked. “I mean, I’m sorry, but who’s to say we’re really safer together? What’s keeping us here?”
“Nothing,” Xander said, his voice strong. “There’s nothing keeping any of you here now that the threat seems to be gone. But this is the only clue we have about who any of us are. I intend to stay here and find out as much as I can. You’re all welcome to stay with me. If not, then there’s the, well, there’s what used to be the door,” he said, pointing to the large pile of rubble blocking the entrance to the store.
“I’ll stay,” Giles offered, putting his hand on Xander’s shoulder. “This is my store, so maybe my memories are here, waiting for me.”
“Same goes for me, I guess,” Anya said. “Even if I don’t believe in this stuff, I must spend quite a bit of time working here. Maybe I’ll figure out who I am,” she added with a soft whisper.
“OK, so, where to start?” Xander asked.
“Well, if Randy is really Spike, perhaps we should try to find out who he is. If he’s a vampire, perhaps there’s some mention of him in one of the books? Like a Who’s Who of Vampires?” Giles responded, motioning for them to sit down as he pulled more books from the shelves. “I guess we can start with these.”
As the trio started flipping through the pages, the others slowly sat down at the table with mumblings of consent, uncertainty, and cautious looks at those around them.
“You know,” Tara said, after having looked through three books and finding nothing, “I have the feeling we’ve done this before.”
“There is a certain familiarity to it,” Giles turned toward her with a smile. “I’ve found it has something of a calming effect.”
“This one’s in Latin. Anyone speak Latin?” Xander asked, sarcastically, although a part of him was hoping someone really did know.
“Well, I seem to have been able to figure out the basics of what was meant in these other books,” Giles said, pointing to a stack of books written in a variety of languages. “I’m sure I’d be able to figure this one out, too. What does it say?”
Xander started speaking slowly, sounding out each word carefully, “Laxo quis eram perfectus, permissum tendo quod preteritus fio unus.”
“Well, let’s see, it seems to be a restoration spell of some sort, though I’m not sure what it’s meant to restore.” Giles was unable to finish his thoughts, because at that moment a haze settled over the room. When it lifted, the group’s memories were restored, resulting in a variety of reactions. Noticing the jacket around her shoulders was Xander’s, she quickly shrugged it off with a sheepish grin. Tara, sitting across the table from her, gave her a disappointed look and turned to leave. Dawn, Xander, Anya, and Giles were still trying to figure out exactly what had happened when Buffy rushed out the store’s entrance, suddenly realizing what had happened to Spike.
Like, I gave Xander the "in charge" role because of his time as an army guy on Halloween. (Buffy being the damsel in distress is kind of based off that episode as well. In reality, though, I just didn't want her saving the day. I wanted to give someone else the chance to do that.)
(And a short one to beta, if you're willing.)
Shoot me an email with it, and I'll let you know my thoughts.