Friday Fanfic

"The Final Meeting"

(A story inspired by an alternative version of Season 5. This may or may not be the last story posted on this site, depending on what changes get made on this site without my knowledge.)

It began with a knock on the bedroom window pane.

It started so softly that Xander had been certain that it was part of a dream. Then it grew louder to the point that he could no longer ignore it.

So he went to the bedroom window and pulled the curtain aside, only to see --

"Buffy!"

It was his old friend Buffy Summers and she looked so lost and all alone. She wore a big black coat and a red scarf that she had never worn before.

"Let me in, Xander," she said. "Please let me in."

"Let you in?" asked Xander. "Let you in? I can't let you in. What would Anya say?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, really, Xander? Do you really think I care what Anya thinks at a time like this? Besides, she's not here right now. So go ahead and open the window and let me in."

"Anya's not here right now?" asked Xander.

Then he looked around and realized that Buffy was right. Anya was not in the bedroom sleeping besides him like she normally would be. In fact, she seemed to be nowhere around as far as he could tell. But how did Buffy know that?

"Come on, Xander," said Buffy. "I thought we were friends. In fact, the two of us were friends long before Anya came along. So why don't you just let me in for old times' sake?"

"I got a better idea," said Xander. "Why don't you come to my front door and I'll let you in that way. It would look less suspicious."

"Okay," said Buffy, rolling her eyes again. "If you say so."

A few minutes later, Xander was opening the front door of his apartment and greeting Buffy face to face. But then Buffy seemed reluctant to come in.

"You need to invite me in," said Buffy, looking more than a bit embarrassed. "It's not going to work if you don't invite me in."

"Why do I need to invite you in?" asked Xander. "You and Riley have been here dozens of times."

"Oh, please don't mention Riley right now," said Buffy. "Just let me in."

"Okay, Buffy," said Xander, sensing something serious going on. "Come on in."

"Thank you, Xander," said Buffy.

And with that, she ran into the apartment and embraced Xander as if he were a long-lost relative, an embrace that was only marred by the fact that it felt just a tad colder than one of Anya's hugs.

"Whoa, Buffster!" cried Xander. "It's only me. You've never hugged me like this before. What's wrong?"

"Everything," said Buffy. "Everything's wrong."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Xander.

"I broke up with Riley today," said Buffy, still hugging Xander. "We had a fight. He accused me of all sorts of stuff. He even tried to hit me. Tried, anyway."

"He tried to hit you?" asked Xander.

"Yes," said Buffy. "But don't worry. He'll never do that again."

"Who's worried?" asked Xander. "If I ever see him again, he should be the one who should be worried. All this time I thought he was a stand-up guy and then he goes and tries to hit my best friend. I don't care how long he's been in the military. There's no way he's getting away with that."

"It's okay, Xander," said Buffy. "It's been handled. I handled it. Riley will never hurt anyone else again. I swear."

"But still..." Xander started to say.

But Buffy just smiled and put a finger to his lips. "It's okay, Xander. I know what you're trying to say. And I've been thinking the same thing. Ever since I last saw Dracula."

"Wait a minute," said Xander. "You saw Dracula again?"

"Of course," said Buffy. "That's what the fight was about. Riley found out I was seeing Dracula again and he got angry about it. Apparently he didn't trust me to handle myself around him. Well, I showed him."

"Er, okay," said Xander. "By 'showed him,' do you mean --"

"Does it matter, Xander?" asked Buffy. "Does it really matter? Look, I know you consider the two of us to be friends but we both know that you in particular always wanted us to be more than friends. And now that's Riley's out of the picture, now's your chance."

"My chance?" asked Xander, wanting to be smarter right then but not quite managing it.

Then he thought of something. "Hey, what about Anya?"

"What about her?" asked Buffy.

"Well, I'm with her now," said Xander. "And after what I went through with Cordelia and Willow, why, I can't turn my back on her too!"

"Oh, it's so sweet that you can talk like you really believe that," said Buffy. "But we both know whom you really love and anything Anya has done during the last year is not likely to have changed that."

"You're wrong, Buffy," said Xander. "I love Anya. I really do. Maybe not as much as you loved Angel but --"

"Please don't bring up Angel right now, Xander," said Buffy. "If I wanted to see Angel, I'd be on my way to LA right now. But I'm not. I'm here. To see you."

"To see me?" asked Xander. "Why?"

"Really, Xander?" asked Buffy, rolling her eyes again. "Do I really have to keep repeating myself? Perhaps I should put it this way: Xander? Did I ever thank you... for saving my life?"

"Oh," said Xander. "This again. Er, oh, no, Buffy. You didn't."

Buffy smiled again. "Don't you wish I would?"

"Well, that boat sailed a long time ago, Buffy," Xander replied. "So if you don't mind..."

"Oh, stop making such a fuss, Xander," said Buffy. "Tonight's the night I finally pay you back for saving me from the Master. You should appreciate it."

"I should appreciate -- " Xander started to say.

Then a thought occured to him. "Hey, wait a minute! Why tonight in particular? What happened tonight that suddenly made paying me back so important? Surely your breakup with Riley was not that bad, was it?"

"Oh, Xander," said Buffy in an increasingly gruff voice. "Willow was right. Sometimes you really don't know when to shut up."

And then as Xander watched in horror, Buffy's face suddenly transformed into the face of a killer vampire.

Only to immediately dissolve into dust upon being pierced from behind by a crossbow bolt.

And of course, when the dust that used to be Buffy Summers cleared, Xander could see his girlfriend Anya standing in the doorway with a crossbow in her hand.

"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner, Xander," said Anya. "I always suspected something would happen some day. I just didn't expect it to be tonight. But fortunately, I had all the right ingredients for an invisibility spell and of course, I do know something about crossbows though I must admit I'm a bit out of practice... Hey, why are you looking at me like that? I just saved your life. I realize that you might be feeling a little odd right now but if it weren't for me, Buffy would have ripped your throat out just now. And I believe the correct response to me preventing that is 'Thank you!'"