Caught in the Fire (PG: Musical Scenes)

[Altoz]

THE DIMENSION OF SONORE: TIME MEANINGLESS:

As Amy Madison gathered tendrils of darkness and power around her, she caught sight of an apparently scarlet faced demon:
"Sweet, I assume? You are the impressario demon that got the assorted human denizens of Sunnydale cavorting around in existential angst last year?"
"What can I do for you. Ms, Madison?"
"I quite liked the existential torture angle of it all. Particularly what it did to Willow and Tara's relationship and Willow's self-confidence after Buffy told them all that Willow had torn here away from one of the heavenly dimensions and the disclosure of Buffy's self-doubt. Incidentally, was that talisman only good for one effort, even given that they'll know about it?"
"But wouldn't that be pointless?"
"No, there have been...changes in the cast, you'd probably put it. I want revenge on the bastards. Would you mind an encore performance?"
"If you have enough darkmagick to recharge the talisman, Ms. Madison, feel free to bring up the curtain."

SUNNYDALE: FEBRUARY 2003: RAVELLO DRIVE

LINDSEY: (looking at the sleeping Buffy as he gets up from bed)
Will we ever have enough time?
Will I be at your deathbed?
Or will you die in my arms on the battlefield?

Yes, I may be immortal
But that's an eternity of broken hearts
and years and centuries without you

It's hard loving this slayer
Because she won't live forever
Like I will live forever
And one day she'll die

I wanted this
I wanted power
and triumph over Angel
But she captured my heart
and from darkness I was swayed
I'm hers for the rest of her life
But how long will that be anyway?

BUFFY (gets up):
I fell over the edge last year
And a lot of people died
Including almost a man I thought I loved,
one of my best friends and a father figure

Now Lindsey stands alongside me
and we'll save this day
But one day
Will I run out of time?

I caught on fire
and people were burnt
Xander was shot and killed in the long grass
and Willow tried to stop me
Spike was staked
Giles was murdered

And then along came a new friend
A man to guide and stand alongside me
Actually, two, but this is about my gay Watcher guy
No suits for Doug
He's like a brother to me
Equality and valour
He's a hard hitter
the way Xander could never be
but he's vulnerable inside
and I wish I could take away those doubts
And tell him how much he's respected and he's loved

WILLOW"S PLACE:

TARA:
My life is so much better
As the Sun shines from within me
Now new life grows within me
A mother I'm about to be
I've come into my own
Burgeoning with life,
hope and unity
Born of our sweet love
I've come into my power
And I've been set free
Alongside my Willow tree
We're Sun and Moon
nourishing the earth
Centre of the universe
I once more believe
I once more believe
We are in unity
We are in unity
And soon we shall be three.

WILLOW:
I almost lost it, over the edge
And I narrowly avoided the abyss
I wish I'd seen it earlier
But Tara transformed me
and instead it was Buffy that fell
It was Tara that caught me
I owe her so much
And look at her now
Mother to be
Carrying the seed of her and me
Fulfilled and assured of her grace and her power
We are two and one and soon
We will be three
Her and me and our baby.

DOUG AND OZ's FLAT:

OZ:
Why does he think he can't feel
When his heart's plain to see
Why can't he love himself
the way that he loves me?
Is he wounded too deep inside?
And one day, will he take one blow too many?
I wish I could be sure
He wouldn't give up his life
Because he's the pinion point right now for me
I still think of the night
When that sorcerous bullet blazed
And nearly took him from me.
And the next time, will it be for real?

DOUG:
I really hate this show tune crap
I've got two left feet
And my Danny's got the voice
He's the best thing that happened to me
He's small and perfectly formed
And he's the core of the universe for me
The magnificent hunting wolf
The axeman, and the man who loves me
I could lose myself forever in those emerald eyes.
All right, I know I'm singing about who I love
And it avoids the subject of me
But I'm there
for my Danny
and my best friend Buffy
And what more else is there to sing?

OZ:
Why can't he see what others see in him?
One day, will I lose him?
And when will that day be?

RAVELLO DRIVE:

LINDSEY:
One day, will I lose her
Can I live the rest of eternity without her?
Because right now I can't stand
the thought of life without her.

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Altoz]

PART TWO

BUFFY:
One day will l lose him?
Can I live the rest of my life without him?
Because a rival immortal's blade might fell him
Because right now I can't stand
the thought of life without him.

LINDSEY:
What you say is true.
But we can't give into fear
Because right now we have each other.

BUFFY:
And we'll fight at each others side.

LINDSEY:
Just not forever.
I wish it could be forever.

BUFFY:
For as long as we've got
We will face it together.

DOUG AND OZ's FLAT:

DOUG:
Alessandra?

ALESSANDRA:
Doug, I've debated for the last
few months whether I should
show this to you.

DOUG:
A blood transfusion form?

ALESSANDRA"
My friend, you're a very rare type
in more ways than one.

DOUG:
So you somehow got blood from
my no-good parents? Talk about
blood from a stone.

ALESSANDRA:
In a way, that's true. But Doug...
read the second page.

DOUG:
Hang on- you got it from...Rupert?
I don't understand. What does
this mean? Unless...

ALESSANDRA:
I should have told you
much sooner than this.
I'm sorry.

DOUG:
Rupert Giles was my father?

ALESSANDRA:
He was rebounding from what
happened with Neargal. And one evening,
there was a one night stand with a young
woman named Sandy MacGivin...

DOUG:
My mother. And Rupert knew?
Why did he never tell me?
Why... did you never tell me?

ALESSANDRA:
He was ashamed of what he'd done.
That you might have died back there in Wellington.
But he was proud of the man you became.
and he loved you so much.

DOUG:
Somehow I think I always knew.

OZ:
Loverman, are you okay?

DOUG:
Danny, I won't throw my life away.
I will stay here with you.
I don't have my father any more
but I will always have you
I will spend the rest of my life
with you
And I promise it'll be long
And I will stay alongside you.

(DOUG and OZ kiss)

SONORE:

Amy Madison looked up from the scrying crystal:
"Well, that was a waste of time and effort. How nauseating, All of that inamorata. I'm tired of hearing them soldier on, their unwarranted hope."
"Now, let's not be too hasty about all this..."
"Sweet. you're good for nothing. Except...this..." Madison produced a sword and swung it, separating the demon's head from his body. As black ichor spread from his corpse, she kicked his decapitated head into a cornet, dashed the crystal to the ground and walked away.

In Dawn's bedroom, the crystalline link to Sonore and where Sweet's sprawled corpse now lay shattered into a million microscopic fragments. No-one noticed. They were relieved that the impromptu performance was over and that despite the unexpected disclosures and the avowals of enduring love, things got back to something approximating normal.

EPILOGUE:

There were large folio-sized envelopes in Lindsey and Doug's post office boxes. As they opened them, they smiled grimly. The California Securities Commission was finally holding an inquiry into Wolfram and Hart and they were summoned to provide evidence in Los Angeles during the following fortnight.

THE END.