Because I really need some distraction...

I am going to offer to write people a drabble/ficlet. What I need from each of you is a bit of inspiration. Give me a pairing from the Buffyverse, canon or noncanon, and a title. The only person I am asking you not to ask me for is Spike. I am not good at writing him. I can try but I'd rather not. And if you're not good at titles, give me a word or a quote to work with. Nothing fluffy or silly please.

Go on challenge me. You know you want to.


Cross-posted at aaronlisa

Ficlet: Wrong Sort of Paradise

Title: Wrong Sort of Paradise
Author: Sweetness (ficathon@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Connor/Faith
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss Whedon and Co.
Distribution: My site (http://fanfiction.angel-buffy.com), if you already have permission, just let me know. Otherwise, ask.
Notes: Written for cornerofmadness. Who wanted to see the line “you don’t remember me but…” Set post-Not Fade Away.
Feedback: Yes please :)

Five years ago their lives had been torn apart, but they had managed to rebuild them to a degree. His father was dead, and the only survivor of the final battle was a former goddess. Alone and bereft, she had sought him out. And with her at his side, he had picked up the battle where his father had left off. It wasn’t something he could have imagined doing before but he did it now. He couldn’t look his fake family in the eye knowing what he did and not fight to protect them.

He had gone down to Mexico on the trail of a demon, while Lorne had stayed with Illyria. He was glad to be relieved of the burden of the goddess. She had not accepted the fact that she was no longer powerful and locked to her physical shell. He sometimes wondered if the final battle and the loss of her comrades had made her insane. To watch each of them fall had to have been horrific. She was his last link to his father, besides Lorne, so he took care of her. At one time, he had despised all demons, but now he recognized a part of himself in them.

Mexico was different for him; he could go about during the day while he hunted the demon he was after. He wasn’t tied to the nocturnal hours of Angel Investigations. It was almost as if he had found a paradise. Then he saw her and all thoughts of his hunt left his mind. He remembered her from the time Wesley had brought her in to track down Angelus. She had treated him like a child and sent him home. He had often wondered what had happened to the dark Slayer. He decided to follow her for a few days; he didn’t care that he should be hunting some demon down. It was by the end of the first day that he gave up stalking her; he could tell that she knew that he was following her. Rather than drag out another day and possibly face her anger, he decided to drop the pretext and introduce himself.
“Hi, it’s Faith, right?”
”Yeah, what do you want?”
”Well you don’t remember me, but…” Connor began to introduce himself.

**END**

FICLET: Driving

Title: Driving
Author: Sweetness (ficathon@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Spike/Angel
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss Whedon and Co.
Distribution: My site (http://fanfiction.angel-buffy.com), if you already have permission, just let me know. Otherwise, ask.
Notes: written for claudia6913. Set early ATS Season Five, just after “Hellbound.”
Feedback: Yes please :)

Angel needed to get away from Wolfram and Hart, especially after the last few weeks. He had known that joining Wolfram and Hart wouldn’t be smooth but lately it seemed to be one crisis after another. And Spike only aggravated things, it wasn’t that he hated Spike, but they had never gotten along. First there had been Drusilla between them, then his soul had divided the two of them, and finally Buffy had come between them. He had to wonder if he had had been the one to sire Spike, instead of Drusilla, how things would have turned out. Perhaps they might not have been rivals all the time.

However as Angel got into the Viper, he knew that there was no point in focusing on the “what ifs.” There were too many of them and they would never change things. His life was full of them and he could waste a lifetime just thinking about them. At least, he could escape Wolfram and Hart for a few hours by driving really fast in the Viper. Angel lost himself in the speed of the car and his mad drive to get himself away from Wolfram and Hart.
“Is there a reason why you’re driving like a lunatic?”
”Spike what are you doing here?”
“Not fair, I asked first.”
”I am not driving like a lunatic.” Angel ground out.
“Perhaps not, but you seem to be driving as if the hounds of Hell were on your heels.”
“What are you doing here?”
”I don’t know, I seem to be connected to you still. It seems the farther away you get from Wolfram and Hart, the stronger the pull to be near you.”
”Great just what I needed.” Angel muttered.
“Look Peaches, I don’t really like the idea either of being glued to you until you die, but that’s the way it is.”
“Spike, just shut up.”

Spike for once listened to Angel and the two were quiet as Angel sped along the highways of LA. Both got lost in their thoughts of the past. Neither would ever understand that in many ways they were very similar, with the same regrets and the same goals. There were far too many years of being rivals between them to admit now that they were the same. Finally, Angel pointed the car in the direction of Wolfram and Hart and eventually, they were pulling into the garage.
“That’s quite a bump.” Spike commented.
”What the hell are you talking about?” Angel snarled.
“The speed bump that you just drove over. You know sometimes I miss the old Angelus, the one who wasn’t obsessed with the Slayer. He wasn’t so uptight as you are, Peaches.” Spike commented and then disappeared before Angel could respond.”

**END**

FICLET : Goodbye.

I am really sorry but this is very angsty.

Title: Goodbye
Author: Sweetness (ficathon@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Doyle/Cordelia
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss Whedon and Co.
Distribution: My site (http://fanfiction.angel-buffy.com), if you already have permission, just let me know. Otherwise, ask.
Notes: Written for settai. Set early ATS Season Two.
Feedback: Yes please :)

She was sitting on Angel’s couch in his room at the Hyperion, their new base of operations. She couldn’t help but hate the fact that the their old offices had been destroyed, it had been her last link to Doyle. There had been nothing to bury so the cost of having an empty grave for him had seemed pointless. But she sometimes wished they had gotten one anyhow. She missed him every day; the hurt never seemed to get any better. She turned on the video and started watching Doyle trying to convince people to use Angel Investigations. Her face twisted into a sad smile when he said that their rats were low. She missed him more than she had ever thought possible.
She stifled a yawn and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, Doyle was standing in front of her. She jumped off of the couch and ran into his arms. She started crying at the feel of his warm arms around her body.
”Doyle, I’ve missed you so much.”
”I know, Princess,” Doyle said as he guided her back towards the couch.
“I can’t believe you’re back.”
”I’m not.”
”But you’re here, I can feel you and touch you.”
“I know, Princess, the Powers that Be gave me a chance to say goodbye to you properly.
”No, you can’t leave me again.”
”I have to Princess, you know that.”
Cordy started to cry onto his shoulder as he held her tightly. Suddenly her tears turned into anger and she started to hit him.
“How dare you do that?”
“I had to, it was me or Angel. And you know that people need Angel more than they need me.”
”But we needed you, I need you.”
“I know, but Angel is far more important in the greater scheme of things, than me.”
”No he’s not.”
”Princess, he’s a champion and I was his reluctant Seer.”
“But I need you.”
”Princess, you’re doing fine. And it’s not forever.”
”What do you mean?”
”Well unless you become a vampire, one day we will be reunited. Well even if you do become a vampire, I am sure that one day you will get staked. Everything dies, you know that. And one day, you and I will find one another again.”
”But who knows how long one day will be. I need you now.”
”Princess, you’ve got Angel and Wesley, and even Gunn. You don’t need me. Don’t think I don’t like hearing it, but you’re doing fine on your own. Now dry your tears, you’ve got things to do. Big things to do.”
”You’re going again aren’t you?”
”Yeah, Princess, my time’s up. I love you.”
”Please stay,” Cordelia asked.
”I wish I could, but I will find you again Cordelia Chase.”
And with that, he was gone. Cordelia stood up and made her way to Angel’s bathroom and washed her face. She looked up in the mirror and smiled weakly at herself. At least she had got to say goodbye to him. Not many people got that chance.

**END**