Title: Three Left
Author: Mera
Rating: PG13
Summary/Author's Notes: [1] (cringe sorry for the extensive babble!): Some things I wanted to happen in S7 BtVS during Conversations With Dead People. Why was it that only Willow, Dawn and Buffy had scenes in that? Even Spike didn't have any lines in that episode. What really irked me was that Xander, Giles and Anya had no appearance at all. Willow had a visit from the First imprisoning 'Tara' I SO am not going into the silliness that is not using the right actress. Dawn from her Mom/The First. And Buffy got to chat with an old friend/shrink wanna be turned vampire. Of course I can't expect to see both Buffy and Dawn getting a visit from Joyce, so that's ok. And Willow got a visit from her 'special person'. Spike, well, poor guy already had enough visits from The First and was under his hold at the time. Hell even Andrew got Warren! But what about the other three cast members? Didn't they have special dead people The First can bring back to haunt them?! Well I sure am not claiming to be in any level near the writers of the show but I'm going to rectify that here... isn't that the whole point of
fanfic? Unfortunately you nice people reading this have to endure it... sheepish grin sorry! [2] Okay so Farah and I have been talking and decided to do a Missing Scene series sometimes separately sometimes together, unfortunately for you guys hides from flying fruits - waves white flag it's only some ficlets! Just some scenes that we thought should have happened in the shows. [3] This is not technically a series since each ficlet is independent from the other it's just a name to join them. Mostly they will represent scenes that either Farah or I thought that the show didn't give us and we wanted... some were actually written and deliberately left out in the show, others (which might just be the most) we thought out ourselves. With any luck this won't be much of a bother crosses fingers. Hope you all enjoy and tell us when you do!

Anya

The again ex-vengeance demon sighed as she tried to clean blood out of yet another blouse. She was attacked earlier that night and was saved yet again by Buffy. She bit back a sob as she threw the ruined shirt into the trash. Anya hated this. Hated feeling so helpless. And worse, this time round she had to go through it alone. She knew she still had friends in the Scoobies but it wasn't like before. They were Xander's friends and hers by default when she and the brunet were together. But they weren't together anymore. She knew she was still welcomed with them, but it wasn't the same anymore.

"Hmm, now that's a shame."

She stopped in her track. Holding her breath she turned around.

"Halfrek!" Anya screeched when she saw the owner of the voice. "But... but D'Hoffryn... I saw...."

"Me dying?" Halfrek cocked her head and blinked. "Oh! You mean burning up and dying in agony because Daddy wanted to punish his 'precious' Anyanka and I was caught in the cross fire? Is that it Anyanka?" The demon tilted her head to the other side.

Anya blinked as tears had formed in her eyes causing her vision to become bleary. The sight of her long time friend burning up from the inside blinded her and the sound of her screams still rang in her ears. And smell. God the smell. She had been waking up during the quite nights with cold sweat all over her body panting for fresh air, one that didn't have the smell of burning flesh in it.

"I didn't want that to happen!" Anya said pleading to her dead friend wanting to distract her mind from that even if it meant talking to the object of her guilt filled nightmares. She didn't stop to wonder how could that happen since they were in Sunnydale.

"Heh," Halfrek shrugged. "But it did, didn't it? That's all that matters. I'm dead because you succumbed to pitiful human emotions... I'm disappointed in you Anyanka."

Anya shook her head denying the accusation or trying to. "No," she choked. "I didn't want that to happen... not to you, honest! It was suppose to be me!!" She clutched her hands to her chest. Her yell shook her body indicating how much this exchange was affecting her. She lowered her head and silently wept.

Anya's sobs stopped when she heard laughter. She looked up to see the vengeance-justice demon's body shaking from laughter. "Truly, Anyanka, these few years as a human had truly taken their toll on you."

Anya looked confused which caused the other woman to look at her with something akin to disgust. "You actually expected D'Hoffryn to let you go that easily? You should've known the price of betraying him." She glared at her looking at her up and down before scrunching her nose. "Should've known that staying friends with you would kill me... I mean what was I thinking?! I must've spent too much time around humans. I was becoming as pathetic as you. No wonder you don't have any friends."

Anya felt the tears begin to run down her face but she was too lost in her misery to care. That or she was too busy holding her hands over her ears trying to silence the voice. Her head was shaking in denial. Her eyes widened, tears continued to stream as the woman's body right in front her began developing scabs of red and black and skin looked as if it was melting off. That didn't stop it from talking.

"They will leave you... you're not one of them." The figure approached her and she started inching back body shaking in fear horrified, at both the sight and the words. "You're a killer, you'll never be one of them, he knew that, that's why he left you." She was cornered. She felt her back hit the wall. "They won't protect you when the time comes. He will leave you to rot!"

The recently turned brunet felt her knees buck as she fell boneless to the ground eyes unseeing.

Giles

The middle aged man tiredly opened the door to his grungy hotel room in London. He had a long day breaking and entering into one of the Watcher's Council hidden archives.

He clicked the light open and stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened when he saw the figure reclining in the wooden chair. Giles distinctly remembered avoiding that chair thinking it looked like it wouldn't hold a fly mind it a middle aged man. Not unlike the one getting up off the still intact chair and taking a few steps to the centre of the small room. The visitor smirked.

"'ello Ripper," Ethan said calmly. "How long has it been this time old boy?"

"Four years," Giles replied distantly still not believing that this man was standing right in front of him. His eyes hardened. "What are you doing here Ethan? How did you get into my room?"

The Chaos worshipper donned a sad face. "Are you saying you aren't glad to see me?"

Giles' face was cold. "I'm never glad to see you."

Ethan blinked surprised. "Really? Not even before?" His faced turned mischievous.

There was a visible twitch in the ex-watcher's face but that was all there was that indicating that the other man had affected him.

Ethan sighed reminiscing. "I seem to recall how good those times were... what happened to us mate?"

Giles closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them. He looked straight at his old friend and now enemy. "You know why... you started worshipping Eyghon."

"So its jealousy." Ethan nodded as if he had received an explanation.

Giles started. "What?! Bloody hell Ethan you took it too far... I couldn't stay after that."

"So you scampered off to repent and became a bleedin' watcher." The mage huffed. "Pansy always listens to daddy."

"Shut up!"

Giles watched in amazement as his hand went though the other man's body. Realization that resulted from years of experience and knowledge hit him. "Oh God."

Ethan's smile turned evil. "Oh don't bring him into this."

"You-"Giles backed away shaking his head in denial. "The First... but... but that means..."

The First still in Ethan's form nodded. "Yeah, lost one of the best mischief makers I know, pity that."

Giles reclined against the shabby bed. "How?" he let out in a whisper.

"Oh old boy don't tell me you haven't figured it out?" It shook its head before pointing at him. "You killed him," it simply said.

Giles opened his mouth to deny but was interrupted. "Don't tell me you haven't thought what they would do to him. I bet you haven't given poor Ethan a second thought after you gave him to them. How they experimented on him. Cut him open to see how he... ticks."

Giles' face looked stricken and not a little green.

The First continued in its conversational tone. "'Course they had to do it while he was aware to test that whole magic thing they didn't believe in." It made quotations with its fingers as it nodded. "Sure hurt if his screams meant anything..."

"Stop," Giles said weakly but the other kept talking.

"They'd lock the poor chap up in a white room, stripped, freezing, they used to watch as he rocked mutterin'... and they'd laugh." It shook its head before it got an interested look on its face. "Oi! Do you know what he was saying?"

Giles shook his head too tired to form a reply.

"Actually it was a lone word he kept sayin' over..." It smirked if possible more evilly. "Ripper."

That did it and Giles ran to the small bathroom and threw up.

It whispered behind him but didn't startle him. It only caused cold shivers to run down his back. "You betrayed him... left him to die... did he deserve that? He trusted you. But you see she's smart, she won't make the same mistake as poor Ethan. She won't trust you... she's beyond you... doesn't need you anymore... never did."

Giles refused to raise his head and look in the small over hanging mirror knowing whose face was staring at the back of his. He knew it wasn't Ethan. His old friend was dead. The First Evil was impersonating the dead man trying to break him and doing a fine job at that.

Distinct British words continued to drift into his ear. "A disgrace and a waste... you'll always be a killer."

Reserved Giles raised his head and looked into dead green eyes. "I'll protect her."

Xander

He was sleeping. That was when he heard it. Someone was calling out his name.

Xander pushed up on his elbows and blinked sleepily. He strained his ears to hear... nothing. He yawned before falling heavily back on his pillow. Not a second later it was back, a choked whisper, scratching at the edge of his hearing.

Sighing tiredly, Xander sat back up. "Leave it to Hellmouth creepiness to gang up on my beauty sleep."

"Always with the stupid jokes," the tone was louder now, disapproving.

The young man rubbed his face. "Great, I'm being haunted by a comic critique!"

"Hi there Buddy!" A grinning boy came into the soft light from the window.

Xander gasped, "Jesse." He frowned, squinted his eyes then pinched himself, hard. "Ow! Okay that hurt... and you're still here even though you're dead."

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, who knew you had the guts."

"Wha...?" Xander started confused.

"Xander you killed me!"

"No..." Xander shook his head. "It wasn't you. A-and I didn't... it was an accident..." He had had this conversion before, several times in fact, after that fateful night. In his dreams it would be like this. He would try and explain. Say that he had meant to help his friend, that he knew he was there somewhere, a part of him, in that body. The stake wasn't for him. He never had a chance. Always his friend would turn to ash in before his eyes and he would wake up screaming the scream of anguish he wanted to release that night. He never looked at a vampire the same after that, always looking at them and seeing the chance his friend never got.

"Have you ever told yourself why you hate vampires and yet you hang out with one? You fought by his side and now by another in his place... even though it's all for nothing... they need him not you... you're worthless... weak... just a burden." Xander shied his eyes to the other side of his bed where two pictures came into view, a bitter sweet picture of him with his two best friends. And another, again, of him with his two best friends this time one replaced another.

"You're not him. That wasn't him," Xander said under his breath refusing to allow any indication show that he was affected by this aberration as he gazed at the photos.

Jesse's face blocked his vision. "You're a nothing and that's all you'll ever be. A kid hiding from his father... hiding from the world behind meaningless jokes... you are a joke. What do they need you for? Even a new kid will have more talent than you could ever have."

Xander's face twisted but he refused to relent, to give any response or indication that he was affected by the face and voice of his dead friend spewing hurtful to the core words.

He, however, turned his face to the other side where the curtains were still letting in some of the street light into the room. Xander wanted to get up. To close the only source of light so he wouldn't be forced to see that face. That same face that was creeping into his vision that very moment. He hated being weak. He never dreamed he would shut his friend off like that but he reminded himself that his friend, Jessie, died. His eyelids closed as he tried to lock the intruder out of his mind.

"All you could manage is staking your ex-friends. I was turned so that made me evil. You sentenced me to death. Doesn't matter if it was an accident... you carried the stake that meant you intended to use it. And here you are associating with vampires, falling in love with demon... wasn't poor Jesse up to your quota??" The boy's whispers breezed into Xander's ears and yet he refused to look. To open his eyes. He knew that wasn't his friend. That it was something taking his form, his voice, like before yet different. He didn't wish his memory of his friend to be dented more than it already was.

"She won't protect you... sure as hell when the end comes they won't need you. She'll send you away so you won't get in the way... all for nothing." Xander's eyes opened in time to see the last words, words he never dreamed would be uttered from that mouth, be spoken on ashen dead skin and broken lips, "Just like you will always be... nothing."

Then Xander's vision was filled with gray.