Round 4.1 of the Circle of Friends Remix is now open for reading at cof_remix
So, go check it out!
Title: Normal Days (The ‘Hello Operator, Give Me Number Nine’ Remix)
Author: evil_little_dog
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: Teenish
Disclaimer: Joss never writes, he never calls; I’m still going to play with his toys, even if they’re not mine.
Original Story: Phone Call, by sroni.
X X X
It seemed like a normal day. A regular, average, completely normal day. They woke up, ate breakfast, went for a run, took showers, and squabbled over the newspaper and who got to do the crossword puzzle (Sam won, which meant Riley got to do the jumble).
“Another earthquake in California,” Sam said.
“Really?” Riley discovered ‘NRBAEN’ was ‘banner’. “It’s going to slide off into the ocean one of these days.”
“Mmhm.” Sam turned the newspaper page. The paper ripped.
“Hey, I haven’t even had a chance to read that yet!” Riley whined.
She shrugged. “I don’t know my own strength?”
The telephone rang and Riley pushed his chair back, snagging the cordless receiver. He blinked, waving at Sam. “Turn on the television.” She frowned, rising from the table. Riley followed her into the living room. “She’s turning it on now. Any news station, hon,” he added to Sam.
With a nod, Sam clicked on the television. The screen popped on immediately, showing a pretty woman with very red lipstick, a microphone close to her face. She artfully brushed a strand of hair off her face, turning slightly to indicate something huge and gaping behind her.
“What is that?” Sam asked, folding her left knee and sitting on the couch. She leaned forward, tapping the remote to bring up the sound.
“Oh, damn,” Riley said, reading the banner running at the bottom of the screen. “That’s Sunnydale.” He barely heard the voice on the other end of the telephone receiver, that something strange was being noticed all over the world. “I’ll talk to you later,” he said, pushing the button to terminate the call. Sitting - dropping - onto the couch next to Sam, they listened to the news reporter talking about the giant crater, a sink hole that took out the entire town of Sunnydale, California.
“What happened?” Sam asked, after listening to two different reporters explain how they didn’t know anything about what happened, but it was a tragedy that an entire city had been swallowed up overnight.
Over one of the reporters talking about some strange occurrence involving a young woman lifting a car off of her cat, Riley said, “I don’t know, but maybe I can find out.” With Sunnydale gone, it would be harder to track Buffy and her friends, but Riley was persistent, not to mention, he had some help. Calling and requesting aid in a situation like this was a necessity. After making a few calls to various sources - one of them demonic - he settled on the couch again, wrapping an arm around Sam’s shoulders. She snuggled against him, a pillow clutched to her chest. Riley kissed her temple.
“If Sunnydale can vanish like that, what about other hellmouths?” she asked.
“Losing a hellmouth isn’t exactly a bad thing, is it?”
The corner of Sam’s mouth pulled down. “Doesn’t that mean another one will pop up?”
Before Riley could answer, the telephone rang, and Riley grabbed the receiver off the coffee table. “Tell me something good.”
“Agent Finn.” The curt voice made his spine stiffen automatically. “You are both required to report to Sunnydale, California, immediately. A helicopter is waiting for you at the airport.”
“Sir,” Riley said, nodding at Sam as she sat up. “How long will this operation last?”
“You should pack for a weekend stay, Finn.”
“Thank you, sir.” Watching as Sam’s expression settled into one of battle readiness.
“Report to Commander Cabbot when you arrive.”
“Yes, sir. We’re on our way.”
The chopper flew fast and high. They still had time to read over what little notes had come in from various reports. Something like an earthquake, people warned to get out of town, and then, a giant crater. Refugees pouring into neighboring cities, looking for help. They’d lost everything - homes; cars. Jobs were swallowed up, too, as well as bank accounts. Understandably, people were panicked. Was this going to actually be the Big One, the one that actually sent California careening out into the Pacific? Scientists postulated while politicians tried to blame the opposing party for the crater. Religions agreed the end time was nearing. And, oddly, some young women seem to be affected in a peculiar way - with an abnormal strength - even if they weren’t anywhere near proximity of the crater that used to be Sunnydale. Riley and Sam exchanged glances over their folders.
“This is rough.”
“Not as bad as some things we’ve been in.” Sam laid her gloved hand on his wrist. “You know she’s okay.”
Riley nodded. Buffy landed on her feet. Whatever had happened in Sunnydale, she and her friends and family were safe, somewhere. Unfortunately, until he located them, he was going into this as blind as any other soldier on the ground.
The helicopter dropped them off about a half-mile from the crater, in what had once been plotted to become a subdivision. The billboard still announced the coming of Sunnydale Acres! A Green Community! Sticks with ends painted in pink, orange, and green marked off plots on the ground, or had, prior to the sink hole. Now, the markers lay scattered like so much flotsam. A couple of large tents had been set up, with men and women streaming out of them. Smaller tents were set a short ways apart from the larger tents, with guards on the perimeter. Riley and Sam made their way past the guards and into the command center.
The next few hours were nothing but meetings and patrols and more meetings. When the day ended, far into the wee hours of the morning, with no sightings of vampires nor other demons, the commander told them to get some sleep.
As they walked away from the main tents, heading toward the barracks that had been set up sometime during the day, Riley muttered, “I don’t know about sleeping.”
Sam rolled her eyes, muttering, “Men.”
“You usually like my ideas.”
“Sex, Finn? Really?” Sam slapped his ribs with the back of her hand.
The blow sent Riley flying He crashed into a tent support pole, hearing someone yell as the canvas flopped around him, sending him straight to the ground.
“Riley!” Sam dropped next to him, her hands hovering over him. “Are you all right?”
He wheezed, trying to catch his breath. “Wh-what happened?” His rib cage felt stove in, and he prodded at it carefully, wincing hard. Kevlar didn’t exactly protect against punches. Even when they shouldn’t have been. Especially when they shouldn’t have been. “How’d you do that?”
Even in the dim light, he could tell Sam’s face was pale. “I hurt you.”
“No, no, I’m,” Riley coughed a couple of times, trying to catch his breath. His cell phone rang, and Riley fished it out of his pocket, gasping out, “H’lo?”
A sibilant hiss came through, giving him a telephone number. He didn’t have time to say ‘thanks’ when the connection was broken.
Sam gave him a quizzical look as Riley punched in a series of numbers, and waited while, somewhere in Los Angeles, a telephone rang. A vaguely familiar voice said, “Angel Investigations, we help the…somebody help me out here.”
Riley stared at the cell phone for a second. “Xander?”
“Yeah?”
“Sunnydale. Giant hole. Sam just knocked me twelve feet across the compound. Explanation.” He took a deep breath. “Now.”
So much for normal days.
X X X
Title: Normal Days (The ‘Hello Operator, Give Me Number Nine’ Remix)
Author: evil_little_dog
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: Teenish
Disclaimer: Joss never writes, he never calls; I’m still going to play with his toys, even if they’re not mine.
Original Story: Phone Call, by sroni.
X X X
It seemed like a normal day. A regular, average, completely normal day. They woke up, ate breakfast, went for a run, took showers, and squabbled over the newspaper and who got to do the crossword puzzle (Sam won, which meant Riley got to do the jumble).
“Another earthquake in California,” Sam said.
“Really?” Riley discovered ‘NRBAEN’ was ‘banner’. “It’s going to slide off into the ocean one of these days.”
“Mmhm.” Sam turned the newspaper page. The paper ripped.
“Hey, I haven’t even had a chance to read that yet!” Riley whined.
She shrugged. “I don’t know my own strength?”
The telephone rang and Riley pushed his chair back, snagging the cordless receiver. He blinked, waving at Sam. “Turn on the television.” She frowned, rising from the table. Riley followed her into the living room. “She’s turning it on now. Any news station, hon,” he added to Sam.
With a nod, Sam clicked on the television. The screen popped on immediately, showing a pretty woman with very red lipstick, a microphone close to her face. She artfully brushed a strand of hair off her face, turning slightly to indicate something huge and gaping behind her.
“What is that?” Sam asked, folding her left knee and sitting on the couch. She leaned forward, tapping the remote to bring up the sound.
“Oh, damn,” Riley said, reading the banner running at the bottom of the screen. “That’s Sunnydale.” He barely heard the voice on the other end of the telephone receiver, that something strange was being noticed all over the world. “I’ll talk to you later,” he said, pushing the button to terminate the call. Sitting - dropping - onto the couch next to Sam, they listened to the news reporter talking about the giant crater, a sink hole that took out the entire town of Sunnydale, California.
“What happened?” Sam asked, after listening to two different reporters explain how they didn’t know anything about what happened, but it was a tragedy that an entire city had been swallowed up overnight.
Over one of the reporters talking about some strange occurrence involving a young woman lifting a car off of her cat, Riley said, “I don’t know, but maybe I can find out.” With Sunnydale gone, it would be harder to track Buffy and her friends, but Riley was persistent, not to mention, he had some help. Calling and requesting aid in a situation like this was a necessity. After making a few calls to various sources - one of them demonic - he settled on the couch again, wrapping an arm around Sam’s shoulders. She snuggled against him, a pillow clutched to her chest. Riley kissed her temple.
“If Sunnydale can vanish like that, what about other hellmouths?” she asked.
“Losing a hellmouth isn’t exactly a bad thing, is it?”
The corner of Sam’s mouth pulled down. “Doesn’t that mean another one will pop up?”
Before Riley could answer, the telephone rang, and Riley grabbed the receiver off the coffee table. “Tell me something good.”
“Agent Finn.” The curt voice made his spine stiffen automatically. “You are both required to report to Sunnydale, California, immediately. A helicopter is waiting for you at the airport.”
“Sir,” Riley said, nodding at Sam as she sat up. “How long will this operation last?”
“You should pack for a weekend stay, Finn.”
“Thank you, sir.” Watching as Sam’s expression settled into one of battle readiness.
“Report to Commander Cabbot when you arrive.”
“Yes, sir. We’re on our way.”
The chopper flew fast and high. They still had time to read over what little notes had come in from various reports. Something like an earthquake, people warned to get out of town, and then, a giant crater. Refugees pouring into neighboring cities, looking for help. They’d lost everything - homes; cars. Jobs were swallowed up, too, as well as bank accounts. Understandably, people were panicked. Was this going to actually be the Big One, the one that actually sent California careening out into the Pacific? Scientists postulated while politicians tried to blame the opposing party for the crater. Religions agreed the end time was nearing. And, oddly, some young women seem to be affected in a peculiar way - with an abnormal strength - even if they weren’t anywhere near proximity of the crater that used to be Sunnydale. Riley and Sam exchanged glances over their folders.
“This is rough.”
“Not as bad as some things we’ve been in.” Sam laid her gloved hand on his wrist. “You know she’s okay.”
Riley nodded. Buffy landed on her feet. Whatever had happened in Sunnydale, she and her friends and family were safe, somewhere. Unfortunately, until he located them, he was going into this as blind as any other soldier on the ground.
The helicopter dropped them off about a half-mile from the crater, in what had once been plotted to become a subdivision. The billboard still announced the coming of Sunnydale Acres! A Green Community! Sticks with ends painted in pink, orange, and green marked off plots on the ground, or had, prior to the sink hole. Now, the markers lay scattered like so much flotsam. A couple of large tents had been set up, with men and women streaming out of them. Smaller tents were set a short ways apart from the larger tents, with guards on the perimeter. Riley and Sam made their way past the guards and into the command center.
The next few hours were nothing but meetings and patrols and more meetings. When the day ended, far into the wee hours of the morning, with no sightings of vampires nor other demons, the commander told them to get some sleep.
As they walked away from the main tents, heading toward the barracks that had been set up sometime during the day, Riley muttered, “I don’t know about sleeping.”
Sam rolled her eyes, muttering, “Men.”
“You usually like my ideas.”
“Sex, Finn? Really?” Sam slapped his ribs with the back of her hand.
The blow sent Riley flying He crashed into a tent support pole, hearing someone yell as the canvas flopped around him, sending him straight to the ground.
“Riley!” Sam dropped next to him, her hands hovering over him. “Are you all right?”
He wheezed, trying to catch his breath. “Wh-what happened?” His rib cage felt stove in, and he prodded at it carefully, wincing hard. Kevlar didn’t exactly protect against punches. Even when they shouldn’t have been. Especially when they shouldn’t have been. “How’d you do that?”
Even in the dim light, he could tell Sam’s face was pale. “I hurt you.”
“No, no, I’m,” Riley coughed a couple of times, trying to catch his breath. His cell phone rang, and Riley fished it out of his pocket, gasping out, “H’lo?”
A sibilant hiss came through, giving him a telephone number. He didn’t have time to say ‘thanks’ when the connection was broken.
Sam gave him a quizzical look as Riley punched in a series of numbers, and waited while, somewhere in Los Angeles, a telephone rang. A vaguely familiar voice said, “Angel Investigations, we help the…somebody help me out here.”
Riley stared at the cell phone for a second. “Xander?”
“Yeah?”
“Sunnydale. Giant hole. Sam just knocked me twelve feet across the compound. Explanation.” He took a deep breath. “Now.”
So much for normal days.
X X X