Fic: Walltop Confessions - BtVS/Due South
Title: Walltop Confessions
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1000
Fandom: BtVS/Due South
Prompt: image
Challenge: picfor1000
Summary: Nothing about this conversation is going the way Buffy thought it would.
A/N: Continuation of my fic " A Delicate Balance
The sun had just started to set causing the horizon to turn glorious shades of gold and red with streaks into the darkening sky overhead. Buffy stood on the wall encircling the Chicago compound and stared out over the city and watched the lights slowly begin to switch on in sporadic clumps in the darkened buildings. In the beginning it had surprised her that the demons and vampires were putting forth the effort to keep the power plants running, but then she remembered how much Spike had loved watching television and guessed that he wasn't the only one out there.
Some days it was just hard for her to comprehend that this half life was all that was left for her. All those years she spent in Sunnydale wishing she could just be a normal girl to fit in with her peers were now wasted time. What she should have done was be thankful for what was her normal, no matter how different it was from everyone else. To appreciate the ignorance of the general public about the horrors that truly lurked in the dark and be proud of her part to protect them.
Nowadays she educated children about how to evade and hide from demons if the human compound was ever attacked. She taught teenagers who hadn't grown up on a hellmouth the best techniques for a quick kill to help protect the same children who she taught to hide. Parents were now concerned about how to keep their children safe from everything that went bump in the night rather than asking them about their grades or worried about what happened on prom night.
Innocence.
All that innocence was lost.
There were days that she spent time wondering if there wasn't something more she could do to fix these things she had broken. Then other days that she wondered if it was even worth fighting for this little bit of existence. But she also knew it wasn't in her to lay down arms and give up.
The sun was a bare sliver in the distance when Buffy turned to go in only to startle when she realized she wasn't alone on the wall as she had previously thought. “How do you do that?” She snapped.
“Do what?” He asked in legitimate confusion.
“Sneak up on me. I have like super hearing and you are always scaring me.”
“I do apologize, Buffy, that has never been my intention. I'm afraid that moving silently was part of my training as a Mountie and old habits die hard,” he said with a rueful smile as he ducked his head with embarrassment.
She sighed and waved her hand in dismissal. “It's okay, I'm just not used to it is all. Did you need something?” She asked, trying to ease the awkwardness.
“Not entirely. I do come up here occasionally to survey how many buildings are still occupied in the city and judge if we've made any headway.”
“How are you doing?” She asked, her gaze involuntarily drifting back to the city.
He shrugged. “There are days where it is truly hard to discern. But that wasn't my reason for joining you this particular evening.”
Buffy's eyes narrowed as she turned back to him. “It wasn't?”
“No. Ray wanted me to make sure you came in for dinner. I'm afraid he was rather insistent.”
“Ray does know that I can take care of myself, right? I mean, I'm not exactly helpless.”
“Oh, he is fully aware. I, myself, have reminded him of that same fact many times over,” he said, removing his hat and running his fingers absently over the brim. “However, when Ray decides that someone truly needs help, he will go overboard in taking care of them. He takes this role very seriously.”
Buffy could feel her jaw drop slightly. “I thought,” she began, only to falter to formulate her thoughts into anything coherent enough to speak.
“I know Ray seems rather rough on the outside, but inside he truly is quite a gentle soul,” he continued as if she hadn't tried to speak. “One could do worse than Ray Kowalski.”
“Are you trying...” Buffy attempted again, only to falter once more.
“But he would greatly appreciate your company for dinner this evening,” he concluded, doing his level best not to look at her.
The tiny blonde could only stare at him in amazement for several long awkward moments before she finally got the gears in her brain turning to form complete thoughts. “Ray wants to have dinner with me?”
“I thought I had made that quite clear.”
“Yeah, but I had always assumed that the two of you were together. I mean, you have always been so close and your body language has always suggested it,” she nearly stammered out.
One hand raised and his thumb rubbed at one eyebrow. “Well, yes, there is that. But don't let that stop you.”
“Wait! Just wait a minute!” Buffy said, throwing her hands up. “The two of you are together?”
“Yes.”
“But you were practically pitching him to me as a hook up!”
“Yes.”
It was too much and Buffy's legs wobbled once before giving out on her and dumping her on the ground. He rushed over and crouched in front of her, a bare outline in the dying strands of sunlight.
“I'm confused,” she whispered, staring at a point beyond his shoulder.
“Yes, well, Ray has that effect on people as well,” he said with a soft sound of laughter. “But I promise if you come down to dinner, he'll explain everything that I seem to be unable to get out. I warned him that I probably wasn't best suited for this.”
Buffy let out a hysterical shriek as he helped her up. “Probably not.”
“One day he'll finally figure that out,” he assured her, guiding her to the stairs.
“You know, I don't even know how you ended up in Chicago.”
“Well, it all started with the death of my father...”
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1000
Fandom: BtVS/Due South
Prompt: image
Challenge: picfor1000
Summary: Nothing about this conversation is going the way Buffy thought it would.
A/N: Continuation of my fic " A Delicate Balance
The sun had just started to set causing the horizon to turn glorious shades of gold and red with streaks into the darkening sky overhead. Buffy stood on the wall encircling the Chicago compound and stared out over the city and watched the lights slowly begin to switch on in sporadic clumps in the darkened buildings. In the beginning it had surprised her that the demons and vampires were putting forth the effort to keep the power plants running, but then she remembered how much Spike had loved watching television and guessed that he wasn't the only one out there.
Some days it was just hard for her to comprehend that this half life was all that was left for her. All those years she spent in Sunnydale wishing she could just be a normal girl to fit in with her peers were now wasted time. What she should have done was be thankful for what was her normal, no matter how different it was from everyone else. To appreciate the ignorance of the general public about the horrors that truly lurked in the dark and be proud of her part to protect them.
Nowadays she educated children about how to evade and hide from demons if the human compound was ever attacked. She taught teenagers who hadn't grown up on a hellmouth the best techniques for a quick kill to help protect the same children who she taught to hide. Parents were now concerned about how to keep their children safe from everything that went bump in the night rather than asking them about their grades or worried about what happened on prom night.
Innocence.
All that innocence was lost.
There were days that she spent time wondering if there wasn't something more she could do to fix these things she had broken. Then other days that she wondered if it was even worth fighting for this little bit of existence. But she also knew it wasn't in her to lay down arms and give up.
The sun was a bare sliver in the distance when Buffy turned to go in only to startle when she realized she wasn't alone on the wall as she had previously thought. “How do you do that?” She snapped.
“Do what?” He asked in legitimate confusion.
“Sneak up on me. I have like super hearing and you are always scaring me.”
“I do apologize, Buffy, that has never been my intention. I'm afraid that moving silently was part of my training as a Mountie and old habits die hard,” he said with a rueful smile as he ducked his head with embarrassment.
She sighed and waved her hand in dismissal. “It's okay, I'm just not used to it is all. Did you need something?” She asked, trying to ease the awkwardness.
“Not entirely. I do come up here occasionally to survey how many buildings are still occupied in the city and judge if we've made any headway.”
“How are you doing?” She asked, her gaze involuntarily drifting back to the city.
He shrugged. “There are days where it is truly hard to discern. But that wasn't my reason for joining you this particular evening.”
Buffy's eyes narrowed as she turned back to him. “It wasn't?”
“No. Ray wanted me to make sure you came in for dinner. I'm afraid he was rather insistent.”
“Ray does know that I can take care of myself, right? I mean, I'm not exactly helpless.”
“Oh, he is fully aware. I, myself, have reminded him of that same fact many times over,” he said, removing his hat and running his fingers absently over the brim. “However, when Ray decides that someone truly needs help, he will go overboard in taking care of them. He takes this role very seriously.”
Buffy could feel her jaw drop slightly. “I thought,” she began, only to falter to formulate her thoughts into anything coherent enough to speak.
“I know Ray seems rather rough on the outside, but inside he truly is quite a gentle soul,” he continued as if she hadn't tried to speak. “One could do worse than Ray Kowalski.”
“Are you trying...” Buffy attempted again, only to falter once more.
“But he would greatly appreciate your company for dinner this evening,” he concluded, doing his level best not to look at her.
The tiny blonde could only stare at him in amazement for several long awkward moments before she finally got the gears in her brain turning to form complete thoughts. “Ray wants to have dinner with me?”
“I thought I had made that quite clear.”
“Yeah, but I had always assumed that the two of you were together. I mean, you have always been so close and your body language has always suggested it,” she nearly stammered out.
One hand raised and his thumb rubbed at one eyebrow. “Well, yes, there is that. But don't let that stop you.”
“Wait! Just wait a minute!” Buffy said, throwing her hands up. “The two of you are together?”
“Yes.”
“But you were practically pitching him to me as a hook up!”
“Yes.”
It was too much and Buffy's legs wobbled once before giving out on her and dumping her on the ground. He rushed over and crouched in front of her, a bare outline in the dying strands of sunlight.
“I'm confused,” she whispered, staring at a point beyond his shoulder.
“Yes, well, Ray has that effect on people as well,” he said with a soft sound of laughter. “But I promise if you come down to dinner, he'll explain everything that I seem to be unable to get out. I warned him that I probably wasn't best suited for this.”
Buffy let out a hysterical shriek as he helped her up. “Probably not.”
“One day he'll finally figure that out,” he assured her, guiding her to the stairs.
“You know, I don't even know how you ended up in Chicago.”
“Well, it all started with the death of my father...”