RENEE

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer, BtVS: Season Eight', it's characters or it's stories do not in any way belong to me, nor do I seek or am I making any monetary profit from this fanfiction. It is © Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB, Dark Horse Comics, plus various other people and business entities. I also don't own any of the other copywrited series' mentioned in this fic. So there.

Notes: This is a little outside my usual genre. Anime is more my normal forte, along with the odd side trip into Harry Potter. Plus, it's somewhat more experimental than my other stuff. And about ninety percent of it is in the First Person Perspective. So if that annoys you, it's best if you turn back now.

Set after Issue 15 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight. So if you haven't read the comic, this will make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Be prepared, Character Death Inside.

CHAPTER 5

My turn at sentry duty came up again. I'd really hoped it would not suck as much as the last time.

To my surprise, Xander joined me. At first I thought he was out there to keep an eye on me. Y'know, after my last screw up.

But when he kept talking about everyday stuff, things that we usually talked about over a coffee, some light yet slightly nervous bantering from him, I finally got it.

He was out here on a cold night, spending time with me. Alone. Just the two of us. Privately. With no-one else around. Him, me, and the mysterious pack of wolves/panthers watching us from the tree line. So, once again I got swept up in the moment and spoke before thinking.

I asked him out. Or rather, asked him to ask me out.

...

Holy crap, it worked! He asked me out!!

Now we just have to deal with the wolves. Or panthers. Or whatever they were.

SINCE WHEN DO VAMPIRES TURN INTO WOLVES! OR MIST! OR BEES!

SERIOUSLY! SINCE WHEN?

Oh yeah, The Scythe, the one that all our powers came from, was stolen by these…things.

And Buffy was sleeping with Satsu.

I didn't know Xander could fly a helicopter.

When I asked him, all he said was something about being taught by the guy we were going to see now. Then he got weird, spouting stuff about how I should be on my guard, and that he would probably start acting 'wonky' around the person we were flying to meet.

…

Oh boy, he wasn't kidding.

What the hell did this guy do to Xander to have him acting so…whipped? The creep sounded like an old drama queen, the way he was carrying on with Xander. And where does the freak get off calling me a moor, an' all that other crap. Honestly, I was about two seconds away from kicking his ass when I found out his name.

Dracula.

Double crap. I thought this guy was a myth?

So, after a lot of dramatic gesturing, the vamp told us a sob story about getting tricked out of his powers by a bunch of Asian Vamps.

Boo.

Hoo.

Then came a melodramatic speech about how we slayers are the scum of the universe, yadda yadda yadda, and how he was only coming along to avenge himself 'cause they stole his powers. Cry me a river.

I am never getting into any form of transport with those two ever again. Between Dracula's moaning and blatant sympathy-seeking, and Xander's simpering, it was the flight from hell. In fact, I think they send people from hell here, just so's they know not to complain about their good fortune.

…I can't believe I'm in Japan. Wish it was under better circumstances. I wonder if Xander and I could wangle some leave after the mission?

Who knew Xander was a closet perv. I mean really, getting me to dress up as a school girl so I could play at being bait to capture one of these vamps. The look on his face when I twirled the skirt almost too high was worth it, though.

You have got to be fucking kidding me! Those bastard vamps want to reverse the slayer spell? This is so far from not good. What if they succeed? Will Xander still want me when I'm not so special?

I felt a little stupid later on, as well as pissed off.

Here I am, worried over whether Xander would drop me if I wasn't a slayer, and he's babbling about second dates. I get where he's coming from, with the awkwardness of first dates an' all. But calling the biggest mission the councils ever done, with hundreds of slayers involved, our first date was a bit much.

I was so looking forward to holding this over his head for the rest of time.

However, I did make use of the opening he gave me. Time for some Xander-smooches.

….damn, but he's good at kissing. I wonder who I have to thank for that?

I can't believe they transported Dawn over to Japan to act as a distraction.

Still, the looks on those vamps faces when she'd started rampaging around Tokyo was priceless.

With Dawnie doing her thing, our little group snuck in the back door. A lot of stairs later, and we burst out into the room containing our bad guy. It was weird. All he was doing was watching the street with the Scythe over his shoulder.

Then both Buffy and Willow shouted something at the same time. It was really confusing.

All of a sudden, blood splashed across Xander's face. I was so worried, I thought he'd been hurt for a moment. Then he wiped it away and I was so relieved. It wasn't his.

So whose was it? And where did it come from?

About then, I felt a tugging sensation coming from my chest. So I looked down. And saw something poking out, like out of that 'Alien' movie Xander showed us one night.

Holy shit! What the fuck is that!

Is-is that the Scythe? How'd it get there? What's it doing there? Who's holding on to it?

Unh! Where'd it go?

oh no

One of them had gotten behind me.

ELSEWHERE...

"The last thing I remember seeing is Xander's crying face running towards me as I tumbled to the floor. Then I died. And then I was here."

Running out of words, Renee slumped forward and put her head in her hands while letting some fresh tears escape. Sobbing softly, she barely felt the two arms that snaked over her shoulders and squeezed lightly.They stayed that way for a long time.

"There there. This will pass." The blonde offered in her usual blunt manner. "The faster you get over it, the easier it will be for you up here."

The brunette looked across the weeping slayer sandwiched between them and glowered at her friend. "Are you ever likely to learn the meaning of the word tact?" She snapped.

"I will if you will." Came the reply.

"No time soon, then."

Despite herself, Renee let out the smallest of chuckles at her newfound friends behaviour. "Are you guys always like this?"

They both shrugged. "Most of the time."

"You still haven't told me why you're listening to me." She asked, wiping away her tears as best she could.

The brunette sighed. "We meant it when we said that we know what you're going through right now."

The blonde nodded in agreement. "She dated Xander when she was in high school. He was her first love. In fact, he was pretty much her only love, before she died."

The brunette nodded sadly when Renee turned to her to confirm this. "Come to think of it, he was your only love as well while you were down there, wasn't he."

"Yeah." The blonde's eyes glazed over at the memory of some of that lovin'.

Renee's eyes flew wide open at that. "Oh my God! You two are Cordelia and Anya, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged." Anya grinned, snapping out of her trip down past orgasms.

"Present." Cordelia smirked. "Took ya long enough, though."

"Yeah well, still a bit traumatised here." She answered with the ghost of a smile. "So, is this like a meeting of Xanders anonymous?"

"Could be." Anya thought aloud. "I've definitely been suffering Xander withdrawal since I've been up here." She sighed as her eyes once again lost focus.

Cordelia reached over and smacked the former vengeance demon over the back of the head. "Don't you dare!" She demanded sternly. Noticing Renee's confused look, Cordelia explained, "Anya is the only one of us currently up here to have actually taken Xander for a ride in the sack. Unless you derail her early, she'll go on and on, in graphic detail, about what he could and would do for her in the bedroom. And wherever else she could con him into."

"Your just jealous that you never found out what a Viking in the sack he was when you had the chance." Anya sniffed. "I'll bet if you had, he wouldn't have ever considered chasing after that red-headed hussy and her pouty lips." She growled, even now a little envious of the hold Willow Rosenberg could exert over her Xander.

"Yeah yeah, water under the bridge." Cordelia admitted, having healed that scar on her heart long ago.

"Um…" The two women refocused their attention on the third woman still between them. "Could…could you tell me what he was like back then." Renee asked shyly. "He never really talked about what he was like when he was younger, and I didn't really get the chance to find out much from Buffy and Willow." She shrugged.

Anya and Cordelia looked at each other, smiling devilishly.

"Sure." The blonde stood and extended an hand to Renee.

"Why not." The brunette did the same. "After all, he won't be up here for a while. So we've got all the time in the world."

Lifting her to her feet, they led her away from the pond, and on into the future.

"Lemme tell you about this one time, when he went undercover on the school swim team…" Cordelia winked.

Anya bounced up and down excitedly. "Oohhhh, the Xander-in-the-red-speedo's story! I love that one…"

THE END

Notes: Well, that's it. My first foray into the Buffy-verse. Pretty pathetic, I know. (And the review count is baring this notion out solidly.) Nor is it an example of my best writing. But, once the idea had settled in my head, I had to get it out. Hope it didn't suck too much.

Read & Review kids! T