Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters are copyright and trademarks of WB, David Greenwalt, Joss Whedon, 20th Century Fox, and others.
Chapter 5: Bye, the Bye
The lead singer: I'm going halfway to nowhere...out there without a care! I said, I'm going halfway to nowhere, out there without a care.
The band sung and the beat from the song echoed through the whole club! I danced beside Faith, Buffy, and Dawn. We danced by ourselves, the whole club danced around us and I had noticed guys line up to dance with us. Mostly them, but I had a few too. I danced as if I were the only one in the club, trying to get out all the emotion and uncertainty of my situation. I got lost somewhere in the music, but it felt right. It felt like me against the music. I stopped when I saw a girl walk out with an obvious vampire. I was about to go after them when I saw Doug follow them. I smiled and followed immediatetly. When I got outside, the girl had a shocked look on her face and Doug struggled with the vampire. I leaned against the side of the club and smirked, watching Dough get thrown here and there.
" You get thrown a lot, don't you?" I shouted, causing everyone to stop.
" HELP US!" the girl shouted.
I smirked, " Hey, it's not so bad. Little girl goes to the club, trying to be a grown up, but gets eaten. See how the news gets worse everyday?" I asked.
" Are you serious? I spent a lot of money on this outfit and if I get blood on it..." she said frantically.
" Gosh! Will you bite her already? Please?! If I was a worse person I'd think you were kin to Cordelia Chase." I said with a bored expression. The vampire turned to her and she screamed! He grabbed her and was about to bite her, but I threw my stake and it hit him right in the heart, " Too bad I have to do the good thing." I said, walking back to the club.
" My name is Kelly Chase." she shouted to me.
I stopped and looked at her, " Good to know...watch out, there's scary things out there." I said slowly.
" I know, I'm from Sunnydale." she said.
" Bummer. Nothing's left but a black hole now." I said, finally crossing the threshold of the club.
" You're sure?" angel asked Giles.
Giles nodded and went further with the explanation, " The ring we spoke of, while researching the first, I came across a location. It will take about a month to get there."
" A month?" Angel asked carefully.
" Yes, and as we are going back to Scotland in a few weeks, we shall not be able to accompany you." Giles said.
Connor frowned and looked up at them, " Wait, does that mean we'd be gone for a whole month?" he asked.
" Give or take a...nother month." Gile said, clearing his throat.
" But Buffy..." Angel said, looking away from them.
" Will get over it when she knows why you're leaving." Xander chimed in.
" Forget Buffy, what about Austin?" Connor sneered.
" Now that's gonna be a toughie." Xander joked.
Angel's eyebrow crumpled, " Connor, I know you're...bonding, that's the word, right? Bonding? But, this could mean that I'd be able to..." Angel said.
" Screw your girlfriend?" Connor finished, " And bonding? No, I lo..." Connor started, but he was interrupted by the door opening and Buffy, Faith, Dawn and I falling through it. Connor and I immediately met each other's eyes and I smiled. I felt something come from him, a kind of gentle frustration...I could just tell something was wrong.
" Hey, Giles, Angel, Xander, Connor, what's with the unhappy." Buffy asked.
" You picked up on that too?" I asked.
Giles removed his glasses and began to shine them, " I believe Angel should tell you." he said more british than ever.
" Something's definitely up, Giles used his british voice." Faith joked.
" How can you tell?" Xander asked.
" Where's Robin?" Faith asked, looking around.
" With Willow, Kennedy, and Xander, helping the potentials get settled." Giles said.
Dawn, Faith and Xander looked from Buffy and I to Connor and Angel, " Oh, um, maybe the potentials brought us back souvineers." Dawn said hopefully.
" God I hope not." Giles said, grabbing his coat and leaving with Dawn, Xander and Faith.
I looked at Buffy, then at Angel and Connor, " Something tells me this is not something I wanna hear." I said, sitting down next to Connor on the couch.
" Yep, reeks of bad news." Buffy said, looking to Angel, who sniffed himself.
Angel cleared his throat, " Well, Connor and I...we feel that we should... There is the...And the..." Angel muttered.
" Will you just say it?" Buffy sighed.
" Connor and I are going to get this ring that could, or could no make me human." he said slowly, trying to gauge Buffy's reaction.
" A ring?" I asked in disbelief.
Buffy looked to be out of breath, " So, you're leaving? You just go here..." she said, pausing to catch her breath.
" Buffy, I know, but I don't know how long it will take me to find it. There might be other vampires out there right now, trying to find it." Angel said softly.
Buffy put on a smiley face, " I mean, if it's something you need to do, then...go." she said, but anyone could see that she was lying. She hugged Angel and finally looked at me, " You okay?" she asked.
I didn't say a word, I just stood and walked to the other side of the room. In an instant, Connor was beside me, " You know I don't want to go. I have to." he said quickly.
" I know. You have to go, I get it. It was just fun." I said as if he meant nothing to me.
Connor looked angry, " What?" he asked angrily.
I sighed, " It meant more than that to you?" I asked.
" Yeah." he said, the anger fuming from him, " And I thought it did to you too. I know it did. It had to be." he said, grabbed my hand. I smiled and let go.
" Did you expect me to say that I love you? Or don't go and save your father?" I asked.
" Something like that." he said, " I..."
" what?" I asked.
" I...guess it was just fun." he mumbled.
" That's what I thought." I said, walking to the door and exiting, slamming the door behind myself.
" Slayers." Angel said, patting Connor's shoulder.
" What?" Buffy said, crossing her arms.
" Slayers...who aren't Buffy." Angel smiled. Buffy sighed and left.
I slammed the door to the training room they'd built out of the original apartment's gym. I sighed and turned around to see Giles, Willow, Xnader, Dawn, Kennedy, and the potentials staring at me.
" Hi." I said, avoiding their eyes.
Giles looked at me, trying to read me, " Um, brilliant timing. Austin, these are a fraction of the potentials. Potentials, this is Austin." he said, introducing us.
I noticed that they stared at me, " What? I know, Girls only, right?" I asked.
" No." A black girl with long dreads said. I'm thinking her name is Rona, " It's just that I expected you to be...more muscular. Cute, but kinda lacking the muscle." Rona said.
" Ditto." I smirked, " But you're so barking up the wrong tree. Why do they call you potentials? You're more kinetic." I said nervously.
" Kinetic?" A red-headed woman said. I think she's Vi.
" As in kinetic energy." Andrew said quickly.
" Kinetic...potential...nevermind." I sighed.
" I got it." Willow smiled, " We're nerds."
" Nerds rock." I smirked.
Giles cleared his throat, " So I'm assuming Angel and Connor have informed you of..." he started.
I nodded, " Yeah. Not stellar about it. The more I think about it, the more I need something to punch. I just threw an incredible hissy fit." I said coldly.
" Yes, well, tis to be expected." Giles said softly.
" Tis?" I chuckled, " Yeah, you could have warned us." I half smiled.
Xander moved towards me and hugged me, " Aww, lil buddy, it'll be okay.." he smiled, " In a way, you're like a miniature Buffy."
"Comforting" I said less than jovially, " Where'd that come from, Xand?"
" A place of love." Xander joked.
" What's wrong with Buffy?" Dawn asked in a surly voice.
I sighed, " Nothing. I just don't imagine 'sending my honey to hell'. It's been done." I said with an awkward stillness creeping through the room," Any minute now either Buffy, Angel, or Connor'll come shooting through the door and ask what happened back there." I said, gesturing to the door.
" That's entirely on point." Giles said, turning to the door to see Buffy glide through and stand in front of us.
Buffy shut the door and walked to me. She looked like her body was there but her mind was somewhere else, " Hey." She said.
" You're not gonna tell me I was wrong for running out?" i asked.
" No. That performance was reminiscent of teen Buffy, though." Buffy said, still somewhere else, " Hey girls."
I smiled, " Anything to do you justice." I joked, " I'm sorry your time with Angel was cut short by the whole 'male slayer' thing." I apologized.
" It's alright. We got time." she said, " Hey guys, what's going on?" she asked.
" Well, the thing is that we ran into some gossip about a certain person on the journey." the one Dawn decribed as 'Caridad' said.
" Who?" Buffy asked with a renewed interest.
" Spike." Rona said quickly, " He was looking for something called the stone of...shahiie?" Vi said, gettin the name completely wrong.
" Shanshu?" Angel said behind us. The girls stopped and stared at Angel and Connor. There were whispers and giggles and I even turned to look at them. Connor and I met eyes, then I looked away, " If Spike gets to it first, we're screwed." Angel frowned.
" We?" Xander asked.
" Buffy and I." Angel answered.
" Oh...right, good thing I've got my sexy body...and my one eye...go on." Xander joked.
" Well, then you should be gone already." I snapped.
Connor sighed, " Look, I know you're angry. I am too, but it has to be done. I owe him my life, more than twice, and..." he pleaded.
" Then go." I said simply, " We told you to go. Don't be guilty, just go." I said, becoming even more angry.
" I don't want you to be mad when I leave." Connor pleaded.
I sighed, " Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. I'm angry. It's what I do, I'm seventeen, I emote." I said calmly.
Rona coughed, " Did we miss something?" she asked.
" You know how me and Kennedy are..." Willow began.
" ...So, he's gay?" Caridad asked. Willow nodded, " All the good ones...and the hot ones...oh hell, just the ones are gay."
" Be honest, breaks over here start like next week. You have to go back." I said realizing my foolishness, " I'll be here." I frowned.
' maybe I could get work study or something and come here." he said, ignoring everyone else, " I will find a way." he said, taking my face in his hands and putting his forehead to mine, " I promise."
" Now's not the time or place. You should be gone already." I said, turning to Giles and the girls, " Tell me there's big evil somewhere near here." I said anxiously.
" As a matter of fact, yes, but Faith and Robin ar..." Giles began.
" Good." I said, running out.
" Nice guy. More like Buffy than I like, but nice." Kennedy smirked.
Buffy turned to her, " What's wrong with Buffy?" she asked.
" We missed a lot, didn't we?" Rona sighed.
Faith and Robin were fighting some big, green demon roughly and losing. Robin got knocked over by the slow, yet powerful punch of the demon, though. I couldn't help notice that Faith was very distracted by Robin. Faith tried to help by pummeling it and it worked for a good five minutes before it had her on the ground and was about to smash her with it's fist. As it's fist came down, I stopped it!
" can I play?" I smirked, punching it in the chest! It staggered back and looked at me in shock, " It's no fun if you run!" I said, hopping he'd try to hit me, which he did. I blocked his fist and whirled him around, into a crypt. I went in for the kill, but he hit me and knocked me backwards onto my back! I rolled out of the way as he brought his foot my chest, but Buffy flip-kicked him, causing him to fall over a grave.
" What is with you and looking for fights?" Buffy asked, looking over at Faith and Robin.
" He was doing wicked awesome." Faith smiled.
" Yeah, but..." Buffy started, but the demon had gotten up and had a spike-like doo-hickey hanging from his hands. I got up quickly and pushed Buffy out of the way, catching a spike-like doo-hickey in the chest! Faith quickly used an axe to chop off it's head and they ran to me.
Buffy checked my wound, " Are you okay?" she asked.
I stood up slowly, poking my wound, " Why can't I ever get the dancing demon?" I asked, laying back on the ground.
I sat on the bed, still feeling the affects of the Motfieait. Demon names suck, Motfieait. He was just supposed to be a filler demon, a demon I could take out my aggressions on, but he almost killed me. The Bastard! I felt like I had the flu...or that I was getting kicked by a mega vampire. I had never faced a Turok-Han, but I could imagine what it felt like. This. I smiled with a particular brightness as I saw Connor at the door, wearing a leather jacket and carrying a bag.
" I do not remember a bag or a leather jacket." I smiled.
He leaned against the doorway, " Well, it was either this or the trenchcoat. Look, about before...when I had something to say...I love you." he said, walking to the bed.
" Stay back, you could catch it." I said nervously.
He stopped and smiled, " Don't worry, Giles says it's not contagious." he said, sitting on the bed.
" Truth is, I love you too." I said fearfully, " It's scary. My first love...What a hell of a love." I said, causing us both to laugh.
" I never really had one either. There was the girl who o.d.ed, Cordelia...or Jasmine and...you." he smiled, " You're my favorite." he chuckled.
" I trump Cordy? She'd turn in her grave." I said slowly.
" Do you really dislike her that bad?" he asked.
" You never met Cordelia. She made people's life a living hell. You didn't know "Cordelia", you knew Cordy." I said softly, " I loved Cordy. You missed out on meeting the pre-Jasmine Cordy. I met her in L.A. for lunch. We were friends by family and when her family got poor, we lost contact. Plus she graduated and left Sunnydale. I felt bad for her until I found out who she really was." I said softly.
" Be worse if I never knew you." he said, kissing me.
Angel showed up at the door and cleared his throat, " Ready?" he asked.
" Yeah." Connor said impatiently, then he got up and walked to the door, " I love you." he said from the door.
" I love you too." I smiled, watching him leave. I looked back up at Angel, who was smirking at me, " What?" I asked.
" Flashback of me and Buffy." he chuckled.
" Probably isn't the ideal relationship you wanted for him, I know..." I said carefully.
" I'm glad it was you." Angel said, hugging me, " See ya around, kid." he said walking back to the door.
I smiled and looked down, " Thanks." i said, making him stop.
" Why?" he asked.
" For making him." I smiled, and he continued to walk out of the room. I laid back in the bed and looked out the window.
" Hey." Dawn said, walking in, " Wanna talk." she asked.
" No." I said, making her frown, " But it'd be nice if you'd just stay with me right now." I smiled. She smiled too and came to sit with me, hugging me.