Date With A Warlock

Night came and so did Buffy's date with Rafe at The Bronze Buffy walked into the Bronze dressed in a baby-t and shorts. She wore a jacket over her shirt armed with stakes and water gun filled with holy water. After her date with Rafe she planned to patrol around. After all in Hellmouth you never know when a bad ugly evil demon rears it's head.

Rafe was sitting at a table near the bar, his jet black hair was slicked back, and his white dress shirt and black slacks were neatly pressed. It took him all of two seconds to get dressed and meet Buffy here, but he was really looking forward to this date. He saw Buffy walk in and got up to greet her. "Hello, pardon me for being forward, but you look beautiful."

Buffy smiled at Rafe. He really was a charmer. "You're one to talk. You look like you should be a poster boy for GQ" she said.

Rafe blushed, "Is this to formal?"

Buffy was quick to reassure him. "No, no you look great. I'll bet half the guys here are after your blood since I know most of the girls here are drooling over you right now."

Rafe laughed and sat down. "I took the liberty of ordering for you," He said gesturing to the sodas. "It's diet, I hope you don't mind."

Buffy sat down as well. "No I don't mind." she said as she took a soda. She turned to look to see if any of the Scooby Gang was here. She spotted Xander with Willow and Oz. She waved them over. "I hope you don't mind if my friends join us." she said with a charming smile.

Rafe gave her his heart stopping grin, "Of course not."

Willow bounced over with Oz, "Hi-Hi!" she said smiling at Rafe. "WOW," she whispered to Buffy.

Xander approached them and heard just in time Willow whisper of Wow to Buffy. Buffy grinned at Will and whispered back. "Why does it seem like your vocabulary shrinks to simply Wow around Rafe?" Buffy smiled at Rafe. "Well I'm sure you've met our gang. You know Oz and Willow of course and the Goofy clone over there is Xander." Buffy said. "Uh, double WOW," Willow said dreamily.

Buffy stifled a giggle at Willow's reaction. She gently tapped her friend on the arm. "Will remember to breathe there girl." she advised sagely. Oz and Xander glowered at Rafe with similar looks of jealousy.

"Yes, breathe Willow." He looked at Buffy, "Don't worry, no ones died of my charm, though a few have fainted. Does that sound conceited?" He pulled out Willow chair, and gestured for Oz and Xander to sit down. Then he sat in the chair next to Buffy.

"Oh you noticed?" Buffy said with a slight grin. "So tell me Rafe where did you come from before this? And why are you in Sunnydale?" she continued.

"Um..." Rafe looked around nervously as if he was afraid to reveal where he was from. "I came from Paris, but I was raised in San Francisco, I don't really know why I came to Sunnydale, it looked fun?"

Buffy exchanged looks with Xander. If someone thought that Sunnydale was 'fun' and has supernatural skills then something was definitely up. 'What am I thinking here's a perfectly nice guy who likes me and here I am thinking he's a part of the natural phenomenon that gave Sunnydale it's special name, Boca Del Inferno I gotta stop. And Angel thinks he's bad news...' her thoughts trailed off and she decided to rebel against her ex-boo's advice. 'I can investigate him and still have fun.' she thought.

She gave Rafe a warm smile. "I'm from L.A. originally. San Fran huh? Must be great there."

Rafe picked up on her thoughts. Great move there Casanova, make the slayer suspect you. "Buffy, I was joking when I said fun, I came here because I needed a change in my life, and as for Angelus, well, let's just say we meet in an unfavorable situation. But enough talking lets dance." And with that Rafe stood up and pulled her to the dance floor. *It was a slow song* He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her so close no light could be seen between them.

Buffy accepted the explanation and moved with Rafe. Slayer or not she could appreciate a cute guy. She leaned in close half-conscious of the strange feeling screaming at her. But she for some reason ignored it. It was like she was falling under a spell......

Rafe hummed softly while he and Buffy danced, he tried to make her feel like they were the only two there. A picture of another girl crept in to his mind. "Morgraine..."he whispered softly. He remembered dancing with her like this, that night, the worst night of his life. The first night anyone knew he was a warlock... Rafe shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. He looked down at Buffy, her blond hair falling over his shoulder, as she rested her head on his shoulder, she smelled sweet, like flowers and rain.

Rafe leaned his face down and gave her a soft kiss on her ear, "Buffy Summers I think I'm falling in serious like with you," He whispered to her. Buffy lifted her head, her dreamy eyes met his. She couldn't understand what she was feeling. It was like entering a silk-lined tunnel, a velvety darkness enveloping her. She heard the word Morgraine and a flash of curiosity went through her but soon it was pushed away.

Xander eyed them with more than simple curiosity. "I'm not sure I like this." he murmured to himself. He turned to Willow to share his feeling when he saw that she and Oz were wrapped in an embrace kissing. He felt a sharp pang of jealousy. He turned again and caught sight of Cordelia looking at him her eyes filled with tears. He couldn't bear it. He was torn between Willow and Cordelia. If only he could be with them both.....

Rafe leaned down and kissed Buffy's rose peach lips, catching her by surprise, while he did this he pointed behind him at Xander making his fantasy come true.

Xander suddenly felt so drowsy. He was half-aware of the fact that The Bronze was suddenly emptying out. Suddenly he fell into a deep sleep. Oz broke away from Will to observe Xander and commented. "Wow I didn't know he was that wiped out. I don't know how he could sleep with all this....racket." he said as he turned to gaze at the surrounding Bronzers. It was empty. "What?" he murmured to himself in confusion. He shrugged and turned back to Will and kissed her. If only it could be like this just me and Will.....

Buffy shook her head. "No you didn't do anything wrong." she said in a soft melting voice. She forced herself to snap out of it. Something nagged at her memory and she spoke, "Rafe...I have a question. You mentioned the name Morgraine a while ago. Who is that?"

Cordy looked at Xander, Willow and Oz. "Why are they sleeping." she asked to Harmony. Her eyes had been trained on Xander for so long that she hadn't noticed that the Bronze was empty. When she received no response she turned to her friend who was no longer there with an exasperated expression and a typical Cordelia remark. She cut herself off as she saw that aside from Buffy and Rafe and the sleeping troika she was all alone. Cordy left to brood to herself thought about Xander. "Who does he love?" she thought. If only I could be with him again. If only we could be together like we used to before I found him with Willow. If only.... her thoughts stopped as she slowly yawned. "Funny. I didn't think I was sleepy. In fact I never feel tired during a night at The Bronze." she thought sleepily. Then she dropped off.....

A look of pain crossed over Rafe's gentle features...He thought back to a night almost a year ago though it seemed like decades more... "Rafe!! You little devil!" A voice called out in the clearing over looking the lake. "Where are you!" "Over here Morgraine!" Rafe called putting the a log on the fire. A girl entered the clearing, she was about seventeen, but being only about 5'3'' people often thought she was much younger. She was wearing a dark velvet dress that hung down to her ankles and a dark black velvet cape, her long, waist length black hair hung down her back in curly ringlets, held back by silver combs. "Rafe this has to be our most romantic date yet." She said giggling through plum purple lips. "Well, I wanted something special, on this very special night." Rafe said gently taking a hold over her waist. They swayed together under the Paris moonlight to the music that only lovers can hear. Rafe leaned down and kissed her softly, not knowing that there would never be another night like that one. "Come here Morgraine, I want to show you something." Rafe said, pulling her towards the campfire. They sat down on the blanket he'd laid out, and looked at the stars. "Tell me Morgraine, if you could have anything you wanted, right now, what would it be?" "For you to kiss me again." She said, giggling. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "No, seriously, what would you wish for?" "Well, I'd wish for...a diamond necklace." "As you wish my love," Rafe said snapping his fingers, in his hand lay a black velvet jewelers case. He opened it up and showed the diamond necklace to Morgraine. It glittered in the night like a thousand stars. Morgraine looked at him alarmed. "How did you do that?" She demanded. Rafe set the box down between them, and looked into her dark blue eyes. "I'm a warlock Morgraine, I have been for six years," Morgraine looked at him in fear, not seeing the man she loved but a monster, consumed by power and greed. She saw some one who used magic to get to corrupt an already corrupted world. She saw him towering over her like a giant, laughing at her silly mortal being. She yelled in fear, and ran into the forest that surrounded the lake. "Morgraine!!!" Rafe called chasing after her.

Rafe shook his head to chase away the memories, he looked up and saw Buffy staring at him. "I'm sorry, it's just...S-She's a girl I used to know, I loved her with all my heart and..." Rafe started to cry, but tried to hold it back. "When I told her I was a warlock, she couldn't handle it, she didn't think I was the boy she fell in love with and she left me, left Paris, left the country..." Rafe trailed off and put his head on her shoulder sobbing.

Buffy felt a wave of sympathy come over her. She held Rafe as he cried. She then felt an eerie sense that she was being watched. She looked around but could see no one else except for the foursome sleeping. She turned her attention back to Rafe. Her heart broke for him. She knew what it was like to love and lose.

Angel stayed in the shadows watching her. He loved her so much. He had been watching her since she came in. He had fought his jealousy as he looked at her dancing with Rafe. He longed for the time when it had been him who held her. If only he could be with her again.....

Rafe looked up, sensing the vampires thoughts, his eyes stared to glow and evil shade of red, no way was this vampire ever going to take what was his. Rafe knew it was Angel, the only vampire he had ever hated the sight of.

Buffy lowered her head again, she still had the feeling of being watched. She tried to turn to see but something prevented her.

Angel willed Buffy to look at him. To see him and see how much he still loved her. He didn't like Rafe and he knew what Rafe had once done and could do. He wondered whether he should show himself. Suddenly he began to get very tired. His eyes drifted to a close and even as he started to fall into a deep sleep he knew that it was Rafe's doing. Before he fell asleep he murmured one word, her name. "Buffy."

Rafe looked at Buffy again, the glow gone from his eyes, "I'm sorry Buffy, I shouldn't have done that, my emotions get the better of me these days," Rafe leaned over and kissed her again, hard and passionately, trying to wipe Angel from her mind, as he did so he wondered if he could really pull this spell of, if he could let Buffy get hurt again. Suddenly he found him self surrendering to his own kiss, he wrapped his arms around Buffy holding her close, so that he wouldn't lose her too. God, could I really be falling in LOVE with her? He asked himself.

Buffy kissed him back. She was losing herself in the kiss but a sudden memory intruded in her mind. A memory of Angel holding her, kissing her, asking her out for coffee. She tried to push it away but there it stayed insistently in her mind. Her heart wept for the vampire she loved and she was disgusted with herself for thinking of Angel while she was kissing Rafe.

Rafe pulled away, sensing her lack of enthusiasm for the kiss, "I'm sorry Buffy, I shouldn't have done that, your still hurt over Angelus..." He trailed off, realizing he said something she had never told him.

Buffy looked at Rafe her eyes narrowed. "How did you know about Angel?" she said. She heard a sudden slam behind her and turned to the source of the sound but saw nothing. Angel had fallen asleep and he fell heavily to the floor though still in the shadows.

In the library Giles began to get a strange premonition. 'I have to get to Buffy now!' he thought as he grabbed his glasses and pushed it on. He walked out the door of the library putting his tweed jacket on. He got into his car and drove quickly to the Bronze the premonition getting stronger.

Rafe looked down into her suspicious eyes, "I can read you thoughts, or at least some of them. I can read all they thoughts to" He gestured to the rest of the Scooby gang lying asleep around them. "I don’t' mean to Buffy, it just happens. It's part of who I am." He leaned his face close to Buffy's and whispered, "Tell me Buffy, what is your fantasy?"

Buffy's eyes slowly glazed over. "My fantasy is... my fantasy is...." she shook her head her eyes were clear again. "Why do you do that?" she asked.

Giles sped to The Bronze where he knew Buffy spent her nights before patrolling. He screeched to a stop before the popular nightclub bothered only slightly by the fact that it was eerily quiet and not blasting with noise and music as a club should. He walked into the Bronze and saw Buffy with Rafe. He started to call out but stopped himself. 'She's with Rafe. She'll be alright. I do not want to ruin a beautiful moment for her.' he thought. To his surprise the other Scoobies were fast asleep and he could barely make out the outline of Angel's still form in the shadows. He began to get the strange premonition again. Normally he would have listened to it but some strange force was at work. He knew Buffy would probably get angry at him if he interrupted and he only had other children to talk to. At times like this he felt so lonely and he longed for Jenny. Jenny Calendar, the woman he'd lost when Angel returned to being the evil Angelus. He still loved her and missed her terribly. If only he could be with her again. If only she had never died......

Fantasys-Part IV