Superhero4

Before Anya could respond a passing car screeched to a sudden halt, a second later it backed up and she caught a glimpse of Xander’s face just before the car slammed into Glory. The impact drove the other woman several feet into a nearby brick wall.

Xander flung open the door, screaming “Get in!” He peeled out before Anya could shut the door. “What the hell were you thinking? I told you, you do not go out at night alone. That’s why I bought the damned car!!!”

She gaped at him in surprise before saying, “Oh, Xander you rescued me. Is this the part where I swoon, or do I start extolling your virtues?” Hopefully her usual tactless commentary would distract him from being angry. He didn’t respond, just kept on driving, reaching his apartment in what felt like record time.

He still didn’t speak, just parked the car and got out. “Xander?” He paused next to her door, not offering anything like a response, standing there until she got out of the car. “Aren’t you going to ask if I’m okay?”

She asked as they walked into the foyer of his building.

He unlocked his front door and said, “Are you all right?” His attitude suggested that was the least of his concerns.

“Yes, thank you. I’m sorry I left like that, I just got angry when you wouldn’t talk to me. I hate being ignored.”

“You risked your life because I was ignoring you?” He moved past her further into the apartment, his tone curt and...angry

“I...it wasn’t like I was trying to risk it. I just wanted to make a point.”

“Ah-ha, a point. So, when Glory dumped what was left of you, after she tortured for information about the Key of course...when she left your remains on say, Buffy’s doorstep, or at the Magic Box, would that have made your point? Better yet, when I made the arrangements for your burial would that have been enough attention for you?!” He grabbed her shoulders dragging her up to eye level, “See, I’ll admit I wasn’t paying you that much attention today. I was too busy worrying about my injured friend, and feeling guilty for thinking just for a second ‘I’m glad it wasn’t Anya. I couldn’t stand it if she got hurt.’ Now meanwhile, you’re bored and feeling jealous.” She opened her mouth and he shook her slightly, “Don’t lie, I know you and I know how your little mind works. This wasn’t cause I ignored you, it was because once again your jealousy got the better of your common sense!” He let go of her shoulders, trying to get himself under control.

“I...I’m sorry, I just wanted you to pay attention to me. I don’t understand a lot of what you mortals do, you should have explained it to me!” She stumbled backwards, shocked by the anger in his face.

“Oh, I’m going to explain it to you all right. Right after I make sure you understand the first lesson of the night.” He flopped into a nearby chair, “Come here.”

“Why? Are we going to have orgasms now?” She smiled, thinking their argument was over.

“No. Now, come here.” She approached him slowly, confused by his behavior. “You know I forget sometimes that deep down you’re still technically a child. A spoiled child at that, used to getting her own way. Well this is a relationship, and you went outside the boundaries of it tonight. Ordinarily, with an adult mortal woman I’d discuss it, try to reach some sort of compromise. I think you need a more immediate lesson.” He grabbed her hands, dragging her down across his lap, trapping her legs neatly between his before she could wriggle free.

“Xander, what are you doing?!” She tried to push herself up, only to feel him grabbing the hem of her skirt. She relaxed briefly thinking it was some new sexual game. It wasn’t until his hand slammed down for the first time that she understood. “OW! That hurts, stop it. Xander!” She tried to block the blows with her hands, only to have them grabbed.

He hit her harder saying, “I told you I was going to teach you a lesson, you were willing to get killed to prove a point. Well my point is just as important, you will not do anything that foolish ever again!” She thrashed around, trying to get away but he just kept raining blows onto her backside. “I love you and you mean the world to me, but this behavior stops now. You are not the center of the universe, but you are mine and I refuse to be scared like that again.” He finally stopped, his legs parting to allow her to rise.

She was sobbing, her legs trembling a little from the pain. “You bastard! I didn’t do anything to deserve that! I apologized for scaring you, besides you never get angry when we go help on PATROLS!”

He rolled his eyes, “Well, do you go patrol alone? NO! As a matter of fact, you rarely go anywhere alone. In case you haven’t noticed I’m out with you every night. On the rare occasion we’re not together, I make sure you get home safe!” He stood and pulled off his belt, “Are you going out alone at night again? Planning on proving any more points? Because if you are, we need to finish the discussion we just started.”

“You wouldn’t. I’d end our relationship first!” She screeched, backing away again.

“Okay, I can understand that.” He strolled forward, backing her into a wall. “See I’d rather have you alive and angry at me, than dead and pleased you got your way.”

“I...I’ll be good. I promise. Just...don’t ignore me anymore, the only way I know I’m doing things right is if you tell me. I’m sorry I made you so upset, please no more lessons.” She rubbed her behind gently, “They hurt.”

“Sorry about that, I just...”

“Wanted to make a point. I understand, and it’s okay, this time. In other circumstances I might have found pleasure that way. We’ll have to explore that.”

“Umm...okay.” He let out a sigh of relief, the events of the day having worn him out. “I’m glad you’re not dumping me. I love you.”

“I love you too.” A wicked little smile crept across Anya’s face, “Speaking of which...” She stroked his crotch firmly, “I thought so. You liked that, didn’t you?” She unbuttoned his pants, slipping her hand into his boxers. “A lot, that’s interesting....” She smiled at his groans of pleasure, “You like being dominant...” She tugged his pants down, sinking to her knees as she did so.

He glanced down, watching Anya take him into her mouth. The sight of her kneeling, lips wrapped around the head of his dick her hands caressing his balls, the marks from the spanking still on her ass, was one of the most erotic experiences he’d ever had. He realized suddenly that he wanted to see those marks, his marks. He pulled her head away gently, “Take your clothes off. “ He stepped back, “Then I want your ass over the arm of the couch.”

“Yes sir.” She got to her feet, stripping quickly. “I’m sorry I didn’t pleasure you correctly. Please let me try again?” She scampered over to couch, positioning herself as he instructed.

He stood there for a second enjoying the sight of her naked and submissive, “You will, but first I want to make sure you understand who’s in charge.” He finished undressing, picking up the belt again. “We’ve already had one discussion, so I’ll go easy on you. Matter of fact, I’ll let you pick your punishment.” He stroked her inner thigh, letting his fingers trail up to her cleft. His fingers moving in gentle circles, he whispered, “You’re wet.” She moaned as he slid a finger into her heat, “I’ll give a choice, ten with the belt,” He grinned as he felt her tense around a second finger, “Or ten with my dick, what’ll it be?”

“Your...unhh.” She moaned when his hand sped up. “Fuck me. Please?!”

He groaned as fit himself to her, thinking dimly *I’m so glad someone invented the pill.* The next few minutes passed in a haze, Anya kept bucking her hips back to meet his thrusts, and Xander already primed by the earlier blowjob, fumbled a hand under her to rub her clit.

Anya squealed as wave after wave of pleasure assaulted her senses, with a loud wail she tumbled into ecstasy. Xander followed a few seconds later, the rhythmic clenching of her internal muscles driving him over the edge.

“You planning on telling them you’re back anytime soon?” Spike asked, leaning over Faith’s half awake form. He was still in a foul mood from his confrontation with his Sire, and had every intention of taking it out on Ligeia. As she was currently huddled in a ball on the floor, he opted for trying to get the rogue Slayer out of his hair.

“Not really, there’s no love lost between us, and I could live without the going back to jail part.” She stretched, pulling her body back to wakefulness.

“I’m pretty sure that won’t happen, right now she could use the back-up. Besides, it’s just a matter of time before they figure out you’re here.” Spike flicked a cigarette butt at Ligeia.

“What makes you think she can rely me?” She ducked her head in shame, “I’ve never done anything but fuck with her life, now I’m just trying to get my shit straight.”

“Un-Hunh...that would be why you broke out of jail, hitchhiked all the way here, and have been beating on the toy. Look, you said the poof is on your side, the two of you came to some sort of agreement right?” At Faith’s nod of assent he said, “He’s been asking about that,“ pointing to Ligeia “so how about I bring him by tomorrow night? If he tells her you’re okay, she’ll at least give you a chance.”

“Look, she’s in bad shape, most of the physical crap will heal, but not if that psycho-bitch Glory gets antsy again.”

“Glory? I take it she’s the latest Big Bad the Hellmouth has to offer?” Faith rolled her eyes, “The fun never stops here in good old Sunnyhell.”

“This one’s a god, and you know the rest of them are completely useless in a battle. Well, at least Chubs is, the witch isn’t half bad, but all of them depend on the Slayer to cover their ass.”

“Yeah, they figure she’s a superhero, or some dumb shit like that. Never a moment of weakness allowed.” She rolled her eyes again, “I’m sure she’s going to do her best to live up to those expectations.”

He took a seat on the couch, gesturing at Ligeia to kneel at his feet. She scrambled to obey. “I don’t know about that, she’s been going through a rough patch for a while now. This is the worst of it, at least I hope so. He’s there, but he’s not going to be able to listen to everything, and the rest of them...”

“Will make it all about them, I know, they expect her to be perfect. It used to really piss me off, We’d come in and I’d hear them singing her praises and she’d be coming in behind me, covered in blood. I was too, but none of them cared, it was all about her. I used to be so jealous, until I realized that she’s gotta stand on one foot and hop to stay balanced on that pedestal of theirs. I still think it sucks to be me, but it sucks to be her pretty fucking bad too.” She rolled out of bed, her naked flesh jiggling a little with her movements. “Fuck it, bring him by. I’m going to have to face the music sometime, might as well get it over with.”

“I’ll bring him by tonight.” Arching an eyebrow at the sight of pale rose-tipped breasts, he couldn’t resist commenting, “Though if you give him the same show you just gave me, he’ll be eating out of your hand.” *Nice, I wonder if all of them come built like that.*

“What...Oh, sorry I got blood on my clothes, didn’t think you’d get home before I woke up.” She moved back towards the bed, “I just need to borrow a shirt, ‘til my clothes are dry.”

“They’re in that chest in the corner, I’d offer you one of Harmony’s but she took the last of her crap the other night.” Watching her struggle with the sheet trying to cover herself while opening the chest, forced a small chuckle from him. “Next time remind me to bring a camera, I’d like to get this little routine on tape.” He managed to duck before the pillow struck.

“Why do you have a Wallace & Grommet t-shirt? I always figured you for more of a bad-ass image.” She burrowed through a small pile of clothes.

“It was a present from Red, she thought my wardrobe could use a little humor or as she put it ‘None of your clothes smile, clothes should smile.’ Strangest girl I’ve ever seen.” He shook his head at the memory.

“Yeah, you’ve got to wonder what color the sky is in her world. ‘S a good thing she’s from here, anywhere else they’d eat her alive.” She pulled on the cartoon t-shirt, grinning a little at the sight of it reaching her knees. “Course, someone here still could...you still can’t bite, right?”

He decided not to let her in on the little secret he’d discovered while rescuing Buffy, opting to reply only to her comments about Willow. “Purple.”

“The sky in her world, it’s purple. I know, I asked after she gave me that shirt.” Grinning merrily at the sight of Faith clad in his shirt, *Nice legs.* He rose to his feet, “I’m all irritable right now, I had a little set to with the Poof earlier, so I’m going to take Toy downstairs and beat her for breathing. I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I got a bunch of stuff. Enjoy.” He could hear the dark-haired Slayer’s exclamations of pleasure as shoved Ligeia into the rooms underneath his crypt.

“I’ll get it!” Dawn flew down the stairs, flinging the door open to find Cordelia and Gunn ignoring each other. “Oh, hey Cordelia.” She hugged the older girl. “Angel’s asleep, and Buffy’s on the couch in the living room.”

“Hey Dawn, how are you holding up?” Cordelia gave the girl a big smile, still trying to understand how this girl she had such clear memories of wasn’t...real.

“I’m fine, when will you people stop asking me that?! Buffy’s the one that got hurt, not me.” She shut the door behind Gunn, “And if you’re here to tell her something bad is gonna happen, forget it. Angel too!”

“We just came by to see how she was feeling. I brought the rest of Angel’s stuff, and Wesley who’ll be here in a little while, is bringing Bethany by...any particular problems with that plan?”

“Nope, just don’t upset her.” Her voice was tight, and Gunn who had years of experience with his own little sister pulled her into a hug.

“Hey kiddo, she’s home and she’s going to be just fine.” He rubbed her back soothingly, “And trust me, we’re pretty good at handling vamps, demons, and whatever other weirdness this place comes up with.”

The deep rumble of his voice and the level of confidence he displayed broke through the last of Dawn’s barriers. “Promise?” she choked out before bursting into tears.

“Yeah, I promise.” He held her until she was all cried out, “Now, I’m hungry. You got any ice cream?!”

“Of course! A house with three women? Are you crazy? Pick a flavor, any flavor.” Dawn led Gunn away.

“Hey Cordelia, I’m in here.” Buffy’s quiet voice drifted in from the living room.

“Hey, I just wanted to see how things were going.” She paused in the doorway, taking in the pile of pillows and blankets. “Sorry we woke you.”

“It’s cool, I feel like I’ve been asleep for days.” She stretched, wincing a little. “Remind me to thank your friend, Dawn’s been bouncing off the walls all day.”

“Yeah, Gunn’s good with kids. Too bad he sucks at everything else.” She sniffed, and examined her nails.

“Problems in paradise?” Buffy smirked at the murderous expression on Cordelia’s face. “Please, remember I was there for the Xander chronicles. He drove you nuts for years.”

“Angel driving you nuts yet?” She took a seat next to Buffy, tucking her feet under her on the couch.

“A little, he actually insisted on carrying me down here, but he’s not the worst one, he at least shuts up occasionally. My mom on the other hand...”

“ Saw some shit that freaked her beyond all rational thought, now she’s going nuts trying to protect you?”

“She’s scared. For about five seconds she thought you were dead. We all...look you and I, we’ve never been close, but you saved my life a bunch of times. I was the one having the visions that proved you were alive, and I still...”

“Yeah, God listen to me, I’m supposed to be comforting you, not the other way around. Sorry, I didn’t mean to push you into being super-Buffy.”

“Don’t be, that was the least pushing I’ve gotten from anyone other than Angel. Giles tries, but he feels guilty so I spent a lot of time telling him it’s not his fault, and my mom...”

“I was here pretty late last night, I heard you screaming just before I left.” She focused on a silver ring on her right hand, twisting it nervously, “When I tried to go upstairs to check on you Angel growled at me.”

“I’m sure he didn’t really mean to.” She patted Cordelia’s hand gently, “It’s just really hard for him, and he’s on the guilt train like always.”

Cordelia shook her head in sympathy, “Well tell Brood-boy I’m not upset about that, it’s just that I’ve never heard you scream like that, of course I’ve never heard anyone scream like that. I saw a lot of what happened in that place, I don’t know how you can still function.” At the look on Buffy’s face she said, “I just put my foot in my mouth again, I’m sorry I just meant...”

Buffy waved her hand in dismissal, “It’s okay, it happened. Kai insists I need to talk to somebody, get stuff off my chest. But the question is who? I can’t exactly explain my life to a regular therapist, they’d have me put away in about five seconds. Willow’s the one I usually unload on and she hasn’t got the faintest idea where I’m coming from.”

“I don’t want the Council stepping in. They claim to be on my side, but they have this nasty tendency of referring to me as a tool. I’m also not really feeling the whole secure doctor-patient confidentiality vibe. Every time I talked to her I’d worry that she’s taking notes so she can report back to them. It doesn’t inspire confidence.”

“I can see that. I know how you feel, I never have anyone to talk to anymore. Harmony and the others, they weren’t exactly the type of people you could confide in.”

“True.” Buffy wrinkled her nose, thinking of Cordelia’s old friends. “What about Wes and Angel? I figured you guys were close, especially with the working together to save souls 24-7.“

“Yeah, we are...but they’re guys. Wes gets all flustered about the oddest things, Angel is like depressed if you mention a problem he can’t fix, and Gunn, he’s well...”

“The guy you think is a hottie? Who for obvious reasons you can’t confide in, after all you’re still supposed to be mysterious?”

“There is that. But I thought you guys were past the whole mystery bit, you’ve got that whole soul-mate thing going.”

“Yeah well, ordinarily I could tell Angel anything. I’m not worried about his feelings for me so much as I am his reaction to this. Ordinarily, he’s the strong one about stuff but...this is prime King of Pain material. I mean we’re talking weeks of anguished silence, and lots of old sad poetry. Then there’s the part where he starts blaming himself, I’m usually the one that smacks him out of it, but other than the obvious I don’t have the faintest clue what to say.” She sighed softly, “This is so far beyond anything I ever expected.”

“No offense, but Angel’s ego is the least of your concerns. So is your mom’s, Giles’, or Willow’s. This is one of those times where your pain is the important part. The rest of us, we didn’t go through it, you did. And we’re all going to be helpful and supportive. Period. So, no more worrying about how your talking about it affects everyone else. You need to get better, by any means necessary.”

“Well, how about you use me as a sounding board? I promise not to have a single self-centered reaction. We can even treat it like therapy, keep it confidential and everything.”

“Yeah, here you get comfortable and just say the first thing that comes to mind.” She rose and pulled a chair over, allowing Buffy to stretch out again.

“The beginning seems like a good place.” Cordelia had a momentary flash of all the therapy sessions her parents dragged her to every time their marriage was on the rocks. “How did you feel when you were captured?” She felt stupid as soon as she said it, but it seemed to work. Words poured out of Buffy in a torrent.

“I thought I was going to die, and that was okay...It’s part of the deal, the whole ‘One girl in all the world, with the power to fight the forces of Evil’. I was kind of pissed. I’d managed to survive so much else, only to get taken out by a Druscilla clone. But, I made my peace with it. You know? It was painful and horrible, but I was ready to let go. Then you guys came, and suddenly there wasn’t any peace after all, I was glad to be home for about a minute. But everyone’s creeping around on eggshells, and I’m lost. I could have dealt with the dying, it’s the living I don’t know how to do.” She buried her face in her hands.

Cordelia moved to hug her, “I’ll make you a deal. You call me whenever you need somebody to talk to, about anything, anything at all. We’ll figure out a way to get you through the day, or night...Whatever it takes.” She waited, letting Buffy finish crying, “I mean it, you get upset you call me. Deal?”

“You call me, whenever there’s stuff you can’t or won’t talk to the guys about. I listen to you, you listen to me. Deal?”

“Deal.” She eyed Buffy critically, “You need food, the Calista Flockhart look is so out!”

She contemplated responding in kind, but settled for letting the crack slide, “Yes Cordelia.”