Rising from the Wreckage

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, et al. No copyright infringement was intended.  The storyline, however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

Distribution: 

http://www.megawitches.net/Story/RoundRobin/mwrr.htm

http://mysticmuse.net

Feedback: Feedback welcome!

Grouping: Buffy/Willow/Tara

The rain that fell on Buffy as she walked through the relatively deserted streets seemed a proper penance for her tired soul. Right now her best friend, the one who she had fundamentally deserted was on a bus and the only destination Willow wanted was one far away from her.

Even though she was the slayer, all mighty and all-powerful right now she was just cold and lost and hungry. It was easy to realize now with the grumbling in her stomach that she hadn't taken the time to eat anything all day and it was starting to catch up with her.

Reaching out her hand she was about to go into the Expresso Pump and order at least something to warm her up when her Warren induced condition struck her again. Even if the money she had in her pocket wasn't invisible too, the waitress was unlikely to serve a mocha and a sandwich to a ghost.

'Okay, that's it this has to end.' She thought taking cover under the awning of the store so that the rain at least for the moment couldn't penetrate more through her invisible but very wet coat. 'If Warren did this to me then he better be able to fix it. The problem is where do I find the wiener?'

Stamping her foot into a puddle angrily she was almost flattened as the door to the Pump sprung open towards her. She looked up about to bark an insult at whoever it was when her vision came to rest on a familiar form who hugged a tray of coffees as he gauged when best to make the dash across the street.

"Xander?" She questioned wondering if he would answer.

"Hey Buffy, where have you…" Xander turned expecting the Slayer to be behind him but when he saw nothing he kept turning as a dog would after its own tail. "Buffy?"

"I'm right here, don't get dizzy looking for me." Buffy watched him a little amused as he stopped puzzled facing away from her.

"Buffy, I can hear you but I can't see you." He commented to the raindrops.

"You can't see me cause I'm invisible." She stepped closer and put her hand on his shoulder. "And I'm here not there." She let him jump and turn towards her.

"Whoa, how with the no seeing and…" He looked around not able to see anything still.

"Warren." Buffy summed up grabbing the tray of drinks from him to give him a focal point. "Come on I need your help." She grabbed his hand and urged him across the street to the Magic Box.

The shop was empty, other than Anya who was hunched over a small cardboard seating diagram. She moved little colored flags from one table to another, sighing over the large pile of flags that were still left without a seat.

"Xander, did you say your Aunt Rita and your cousin Doug got along? Or were those the two you said couldn't be put at the same table unless I stuck Satan in between them." Anya didn't turn to see the odd sight as Xander followed in a floating tray.

"We have other problems then my relatives killing each other and I told you the Lord of Darkness is not coming to the wedding, I don't care if he's not really the Satan and just a demon named Satan it freaks me out." Xander moved over and pointed to where the Slayer obviously was. "Buffy's invisible."

"What?" Anya turned distracted to look at the drinks that floated back and forth for her. "Oh well then she won't care what table she sits at will she?" She found the little flag with Buffy on it and pulled it out.

"Hey I'm invisible not deaf." The Slayer's voice showed her slight agitation.

"Oh sorry, I guess you want us to stop our planning and make you visible again." Anya twirled the small flag in between two fingers.

"I was hoping for some help." Buffy nodded though the motion was lost on them. "I think one of Warren's super technogeek contraptions must have gone haywire."

"You think Warren built an invisibility ray?" Xander reached out for the coffees and brought one to Anya.

"I went and got my hair cut and while I was walking out I saw him on the street for a split second then big flash of light and I'm invisible." Buffy tried to explain.

"You cut your hair?" Anya bounced up. "How short? Did you get it colored?"

"About to here." Buffy reached up to her shoulder and sighed. "Well if you could see me it's about at my shoulder and no I didn't get it colored."

"I've been thinking about getting my hair cut." Anya mused looking at Xander. "I mean something new for the wedding."

"An, bigger problems then the length of your hair right now. We need Buffy visible again." Xander pointed out looking to try and figure out where the Slayer was now.

"I need to find Warren and choke out of him how he did this to me so he can undo it." The Slayer formulated a vague plan as she paced by the front counter.

"But where are we going to find him?" He questioned not sure if knowing who had done this was getting them anywhere.

"Maybe Willow can do the hackety hack thing and get us a location on him." Anya offered the easy solution.

"Willow's gone." Buffy was relieved again for a moment that she was invisible so that no one could see the pain the words caused her. "She left on a bus for L.A." She filled in to the stunned faces.

They all stood in relative silence for a few moments before Anya walked back to her seating chart.

"Typical, I work to get her at the prime table one and she skips town without even a retraction of her R.S.V.P." The ex-demon pulled the Willow flag from its spot.

"Okay, lets think… If I was Warren and I was able to make myself invisible what would I do?" Xander tried not to think of the Willow issue right now, if he did he'd probably have to admit that he'd known she was going. He couldn't see Buffy right now but he was damn sure she wouldn't be happy about that fact.

"He's not at the bus terminal and he's not at social services." Buffy commented dryly.

"Why would he go to those places?" Anya questioned as a skull picked up off the counter and gave her a focal point.

"Because I did, I had brain meltdown when the Child Welfare Officer came by this morning so I went and borrowed Dawn's file. At least this way they have to start our case over and I might not come across as a total waste of space." The Slayer frowned hoping she'd done the right thing. Of course stealing government property and destroying it couldn't possibly on the side of good, but she hoped it was more of a misdemeanor on the side of bad rather than outright evil.

"No, Warren isn't going to care about any of those things Buffy." Xander shook his head. "He's invisible, he's a guy…" He snapped his fingers. "He's probably looting the comic books from the mall or hanging out in the lingerie store."

"Wherever he is you're going to help me find him." Buffy walked over and opened the door to the shop. "Come on I don't have all day."

With Xander there to do the necessary visible questioning, the mall security guard had confirmed some odd occurrences over the past few hours. The last one having come from the movie theatre just a few minutes before.

"Buffy they could be anywhere." Xander tucked his wallet back into his pants as he walked through the turnstile into the main hallway of the theatre.

"What's playing?" She went over to the board listing. "What would you see if you were invisible?"

"Mmmm…" Xander looked over the list. "Star Wars for the fifth time or the new one where that hot model chick gets topless." He pointed to the second film.

"Maybe you should check that one…" Buffy was about to divide up so they could cover more space when she heard a giggle behind her in the concession stand.

She turned observing as a popcorn container floated off the rack and over to be filled.

"God could these guys get any stupider." Buffy poked Xander for him to catch onto the fact that their search was over.

"Hey don't put so much butter on it." Jonathan's voice whined and the bucket spilled a little as if the person holding it was shoved.

"I like lots of butter." Andrew whined back. "Now you made me spill it."

"Come on boys, we can all have our own popcorn our own way." Warren's voice called over as a pop poured itself out.

"Oh yeah right." Jonathan acknowledged as another container floated over to be filled.

"That's them alright, but where's the gun?" Xander questioned looking around.

"There." Buffy pointed towards a dark duffel bag propped up near the corner. "I bet they're too afraid to go anywhere without it."

"I'll go distract you go for the gun." Xander nodded as he moved towards the counter. "Hey can I get some service?" He yelled towards the back as if he was ignoring the strange happenings at the butter dispenser.

"Warren!" Andrew's voice yelped as they realized it was one of the Slayer's friends at the counter.

"Chill out." Warren moved over towards his cohort. "He can't see us."

"Hey is that…" Xander looked around as he saw that Buffy was already to the bag. "Warren the sad guy who has to make his girlfriends?"

"At least he doesn't date demons." Andrew snapped back at Xander.

"Enough." Buffy's voice was easily pinpointed as she hopped up onto the counter the large silver invisibility gun in her hands. "Now unless you boys want me to break this and condemn you all to a lifetime of being as invisible to the rest of the world as you are to girls, you better tell me how to turn us all back."

"Not so fast Slayer." Xander's body bent back a bit as he was put into a headlock. "You might have the gun but we have your friend."

"What are you going to do bore him to death?" Buffy hopped back down laughing a little.

"Even trade." Warren explained. "You give us back the gun, you get your friend and I'll even turn you visible again."

"Let's see first." Buffy aimed it at a plant in the corner and within a few moments it was gone. Looking down at the complicated weapon it was obviously not something she or Xander could figure out. There was only one Scooby who would know exactly what to make of the blinking lights and knobs and that was Willow.

Suddenly the redhead's words from the night of the accident came back to haunt her.

"I'll go and let you all try to find a way to get through your problems without me to cry to. Without me to run to when you need something hacked into or when you need a heads up to tell you that you're about to get jumped or worse!"

This time it wasn't even about the magic, it was just about her needing Willow to be here and be her brains, be the one she could trust to help her make all this right again. But Willow was gone and she was going to have to find a way to deal with this herself.

"What's to keep me from just snapping your little gun in half?" She questioned him bluntly trusting Xander's fighting skills enough to know he could get away from the timid grip he was held in.

"If you snap it in half you'll die." Jonathan's slightly scared voice came from the corner over near Xander now. "We'll all die. If you stay invisible for too long your molecular structure starts to break down."

"Shut up Jonathan." Warren snapped not liking that his upper hand was gone again.

"I never signed up to kill anyone, including myself." He snapped back.

"Then maybe we should all get visible again Jonathan." Buffy nodded and held the gun out a little keeping a keen eye on Xander.

"Just flip the switch back a half turn then Slayer." Warren's voice seethed in defeat. "Andrew hold up something so she can test it on you."

"No!" Jonathan objected instantly as obediently the third member of the group held up his popcorn. "That's the wrong setting you have to turn it forward a half turn."

Buffy held the gun stupidly in her hand with her fingers around the switch. If she turned it back and it turned out Warren was lying then whoever was the first guinea pig was either back to visible or dead. If she turned it forward and it turned out Jonathan wasn't telling the truth then the same scenario.

"What do you think Xander?" Buffy asked her friend toying the switch back and forth.

"I'm telling you half turn back." Warren let go of Xander and invisibly moved closer. "Would I really risk one of my friends? You wouldn't."

"Buffy, we didn't want to hurt anyone just have some fun. Get some money and maybe be cool so girls would like us." Jonathan disagreed with his theory again. "Warren's lying to you."

Buffy knew she was hesitating too long, being too indecisive but without Willow here to back her up on the ins and outs of this she didn't know which way to go with the switch. After all they both could be lying.

"Should have made your decision." Warren's voice warned as he grabbed the front of the gun trying to surprise her and wrench it away. The struggle between them mostly made even by the fact that Buffy didn't want to break the gun.

Twirling away she kicked into the space where Warren should be and the gun skidded away only to be picked up by what she could guess was Andrew.

"Where is she?" He questioned aiming it immediately.

"Coming at you." Warren's voice announced as Buffy felt herself shoved from behind and her body was struck hard by the beam of light that came out of the gun. She held her breath waiting to see how much being blown to bits was going to hurt but as she caught her free fall forward and righted herself she realized that she wasn't dead.

"Hey Buffy cute hair." Xander smiled at his now visible best friend.

"Warren, you… you were going to let her blow me up." Andrew looked down to the gun that he'd put on Jonathan's suggested setting foolishly believing Warren had been telling the truth and this was the way to kill the Slayer.

Buffy was on him in a flash and took the gun out of his hands. With one shot she had him visible, another shot towards the moving turnstile made Warren visible as he attempted to run away and lastly a shot at a floating cup brought Jonathan back to the real world.

"You think you've seen the last of us." Warren defiantly moved over to where his partners in crime were standing. "This is just the beginning. We're your arch nemisis… es." He correctly lamely.

"What you've banned together to be pains in my ass?" Buffy slung the gun up onto her shoulder and looked them over.

"We'll be back." Warren warned and poked Jonathan to set off the magic disappearing trick they had rigged up for just such an emergency.

"Disappear yourself, I'm going home." Jonathan glared at Warren and walked off towards the exit.

"You can't go home, you're one of the evil trio." Andrew quickly followed him and stopped the smaller man's departure.

"Evil trio?" Xander sniggered as they watched the two of them bickering for a few moments.

"Let them go, I don't think my arch nemisis-es…" Buffy screwed up her face. "Are going to be much of a problem now that they know Warren's insane." She turned back to find that in the drama the ringleader had ran away. "Typical." She sighed not feeling any better about her victory.

Continued in Chapter 4...

Send Feedback to Author

Back to the Round Robin's Stories...