Title: Happy Birthday… It’s The End Of The World
Author: Crazy_Girl_Mary
Email: crazy_girl_mary@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I don’t own them, but I made the hole… that counts for something right?
Summary: It’s the end of the world, and Faith and Lindsey are stuck in a hole together.
Pairing: foreshadowing of Faith/Lindsey
Spoilers: AtS Present Season. Forgive, I don’t know the eps, the seasons, nothing. If you know about the Shanshu then you’re good.
Rating: PG-13
Author’s Comments: This was an answer to an inspiring challenge I found at Ragna’s award site The Potential Awards. You can find the full challenge at the end of the fic.
Dedication: To Ragna for the great challenge. Happy Birthday sweetheart! I hope all your wishes come true.

It was official; it was now January 23rd, her twenty-first birthday. She hadn’t even realized it until an hour ago when she was looking through her beaten brown leather wallet and found her license. She had never had a chance to really use it because it got suspended within a week. She had only kept it to get into clubs and because she liked the picture, and after that she had just forgotten about it. When you were stuck in a hole waiting for the end of the world you had to do something to pass the time and sometimes the something you found forced you to remember things that were better left forgotten.

She had emptied out her wallet on the ground between her spread legs and looked through the old artifacts, which seemed to come from a past life. When you were in jail for as long as she was, it was easy to forget the items you had in your wallet and their sentiment. And it was equally easy to forget what a watch felt like around your wrist. That thought brought her to look and in turn notice the date and time. She was so close to having forgotten, and in a way she had wished she had.

“It’s January 23rd,” Faith said lightly to her companion.

“Made it through another day,” Lindsey answered dryly.

“Not just any day,” Faith replied staring down at the remnants of her life before prison. “My twenty first birthday, I should be out there getting smashed legally and regretting loads of meaningless sex.”

“You could still do the latter,” the ex-lawyer answered with a smirk.

She smiled back. He looked completely different but just as confident and even just as evil in his tight jeans and flannel shirt. He was a little too country for her style, but if they were going to spend the last hours of the world in a dark damn hole in the world then she assumed sex with him would be better than most… but it hadn’t come to that, not yet. This was the part where they both got to continue feeling sorry for themselves. It would need to be an even darker place before they got to the freakiness.

“One year, the first year that I watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas, you know that old animated one on TV, my mom got me the book for my birthday.” She paused in her story, looking out years into the past. “I guess she wanted to get me to read instead of watch TV all the time, we didn’t always have TV anyway, but it worked, and I read that thing until the pages wouldn’t stay together.”

She looked up at Lindsey, back from her visual memory. “After that I always wished for a white birthday. I don’t really know why. Most kids want a white Christmas… It’s January, so you’d think it wouldn’t be so difficult, but no matter where I’ve been or how cold, I never get that damn snow.”

Lindsey wondered if maybe they weren’t all that different after all. He had grown up in a similar fashion, despite what Faith thought of him, and how much he didn’t tell her different. He had also wished for simple things. Differently, he had also wished for much bigger things, and he had received, with hard work, a lot of them.

“A few years ago Lilah sent me an exploding package for my birthday,” he said lightly, and Faith looked at him in surprise. “Luckily it blew the delivery guy up in the hallway outside my office.”

Faith laughed out loud. It was funny that he could be so cold and uncaring, she remembered when she had been that way, or at least she remembered when she had tried to be. Was Lindsey really all that callous inside?

Lindsey felt awkward, and open for evaluation in the silence, and he looked up into the patch of clear dark Los Angeles sky at the top of their hole to avoid her gazes. “You could still have a snowy birthday,” he said sarcastically, eager to break the silence, and unexplainably drawn to form any kind of bond with the woman he was going to die with. The hole was deep and dark and cold and despite their mutual lack of trust they sat with their arms touching and warming each other.

“I guess so, it snowed once for Angel and Buffy.” She tried to stay positive and remember if the shiny little couple always got what they wanted then the world couldn’t end. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t die in this hole with Lindsey. Besides it wasn’t fair to resent Buffy’s luck, it wasn’t like she didn’t have her fair share of shitty ass birthdays. Faith didn’t fancy spending her birthday turning Angel into a soulless killing machine. Although, she had to admit the leading up to had its appeal.

“Right, besides it’s just another birthday. It’s just another year. It’s not like it’s your last… I hope.” Lindsey drew out each word slowly and carefully, trying to keep them both in positive spirits, and well away from dire panic. He knew if she panicked, he would panic, and if she stayed calm, he would too.

“Yeah,” Faith answered lightly.

“No,” Lindsey corrected. “You know those two can’t fail a damn thing. They’ll come in all flipping fury, get us out of this hole, and we’ll all be in time to save the world.”

Faith smiled, feeling the unreality of it all tingling her nose and lightly threatening tears she hadn’t let fall in the last nine of her twenty-one years. “Then I can be the maid of honor at their wedding and you can be the best man.”

Lindsey let out a sharp laugh, “That would be interesting. A beautiful sunny beach Shanshu wedding with little old us thrown into the mix could be very interesting… I wonder when they’ll get married.”

“Probably Halloween,” Faith answered quickly.

Lindsey let out a snort of laughter. “Now now, what happened to being positive Faith?”

“No,” Faith answered with a smile. “It’s true. Halloween is the most un-demon day of the year. It’s like they don’t wanna live up to the stereotype. Besides, it’s not like anyone’s scared of them.”

“Never heard that working for WH,” he said. “We dealt with a lot of demons every holiday.” After a few more moments of silence he asked, “Where do you think Angel will propose? I mean he comes off as the romantic type but he’s really always messing those things up.”

Faith smiled, “Probably something classic and romantic like on a rooftop at dinner time or on a sunny beach, or maybe at The Staples Center, on that big screen with the hearts floating all around and the whole world watching, all TV, romance, vanilla and tears of joy about it. Although it’s a little hard to imagine him staying for the game.”

“What about a nightclub, like the Bronze?” Lindsey added in dark humor. “You don’t think he would want to propose where they first made love?”

Faith glared lightly at his comment and he smiled delicately evil and perfect and continued to keep her mind off of darker things. “I’ll probably propose on a sunny beach and get married in The Staples Center.”

Faith laughed fully. He didn’t seem like the type to do anything backwards, especially the things that count. “What? I love the Lakers!” Lindsey defended, “If I still had the money I would propose there and get married there.”

“It doesn’t suit you,” she said lightly.

“Oh yeah?” he asked with a smile, “What suits me then babe?” He looked her over, the questioning word “you” on his lips but never making the sound.

“Maybe we’ll find out,” she answered. She was brass on a regular basis, why should the end of the world make any difference. She saw he was getting big headed so quickly added, “but for now, you can tell all about your Lakers.”

He thought for a moment, looking at her, then told her a story, still desperate to keep both their minds off the all-encompassing tragedy coming their way. “One time someone sabotaged me, probably Lilah, the evil whore. She took the batteries out of the TV remote, the DVD remote, the Satellite remote, and any other thing that held a battery in my house. It was playoff night and I couldn’t turn the damned TV on without the remotes because it was so damn big it didn’t even have buttons. I ran around the house for an hour before the game searching for the a single damn battery- not finding one.”

“How tragic,” she interjected sarcastically.

He continued, “So I had to go to this smelly bar with all these smelly guys and watch through the cigarette smoke on this crappy little TV and I could barely hear it through the fights and music.” He smiled and seemed to return from the moment. “It was a great game though.”

It suddenly made perfect sense to her that he should like something so normal. Like people all over the world he was using the game to escape from his world if only for a couple minutes just as she had with The Grinch. It had been a long time since she was able to use something so clean and innocent to escape. Nowadays the only things that could take her away were sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. She didn’t have to worry about any of that anymore now did she?

She smiled softly at him, the new respect heating a welcome fire inside her, and he didn’t flinch under her glance but returned her with the same smile, coated with a new understanding and only slightly filled with their intent. She pulled her shirt recklessly and fluidly over her shoulders and met the chilly air. They weren’t going to get out of the hole. They weren’t going to get the box to Angel and Buffy. Angel wasn’t going to Shanshu and the world was not going to be saved. But they were going to have a damn good time. They were going to meet the end with screams of joy.

Their bodies were melted into each other quickly, and they spoke to each other, saying things words could never speak. Her flesh was so heated she didn’t feel the small snowflakes land on her bareback and melt away.

After nominating this at The Bedtime Story Awards and getting some feedback from the judge I figured maybe some explaining was in order. Here's the feedback...

Working within the context of a challenge (especially for a short fic with so many challenge requirements) can be tough. I thought the author did a pretty good job incorporating them --- though some seemed to just be there because they HAD to be, not because they made sense.

I agree that I could've done a better job incorporating some of the challenge requirements but I still stand by the finished product and am happy with the outcome.

For a story about Faith and Lindsey, there was WAY too much Buffy/Angel talk. Also, I didn’t really understand what brought Faith and Lindsey together (and were they actually in a hole???)

I left the details of the hole and the situation up to the imagination but perhaps a lot more things need to be explained. In my opinion, which I guess counts for something, the hole is an acutal hole in the ground. Wherever they are, they are trapped there, which is really the essence of the story. These two people are trapped in a hole. They have a box that needs to be delivered to Angel and Buffy, to help Angel Shanshu and save the world from being destroyed. Being stuck in a hole is not going to get the box delivered but it sure makes for interesting contemplation of one's life.

The reason Buffy/Angel are referred to so often is because they are waiting for the end of the world, the end of a life, which in both of their cases hasn't been filled with light and goodness. They are thinking so much about Buffy/Angel because they are both envious. They discuss what will happen in the future with Buffy/Angel, marriage and so forth, to keep a positive mood, and because they have no reason to expect such a positive future for themselves. Whats more is neither of them expect to get out of this hole, nor do I expect them to get out. They were sent on a mission to get the box, why and how doesn't really matter, but they failed. Being in a hole and sharing such a common past is what brought them together. I don't think I could possibly go on anymore.

I know I'm being a little snippy but I like the fic how it is and I didn't really think that most of this judges comments were very intelligent. It had to be said, despite the fact that I think this whole posting and reply says it enough. I also don't want it to be thought that I can not take criticism, construction of not. Keep in mind, I started the Flame Appreciation Banner Exchange. I would love to get flames, but this is the first time I've ever even gotten close and it wasn't really as though out and educated as I thought it would be, especially coming from a judge.

The word “lightly” is used too much and started to become distracting.

The word lightly is used six times, which may be a lot for such a short fic but I don't think it is distracting and am leaving the word whether it's used too often or not.

I would have liked to know how Faith and Lindsey ended up in a hole together. I liked the parts of the story that had the characters talking about themselves (or each other). The part where they were talking all sweet-like about Buffy and Angel seemed out of character for both Faith and Lindsey. Maybe if some detail was given as to why they were working with Buffy and Angel (they were, right?), it might have been more believable.

I pretty much answered most of this already. It's not important to the storyline why they are in the hole, it's just that they are. If I explained all the back story it would be endless and that's not what I wanted for this fic.

Anyway, I think that's about it and I would really truly love to hear what you guys think, and I do want honesty, and if you guys read it and you feel the same way the judge does then please tell me because then I'll realize that maybe it's me and maybe I do need to make some changes afterall.

Ragna’s Challenge

Requirements

- It has to be a fic about any BtVS or A:tS character's birthday EXCEPT Buffy's, since we saw what happened to her birthday's on the show. The only exception is for the vampires; for them, writing about the anniversary they were turned will be fine.
-You can choose any character, provided they have an actual name. So you could choose Andrew, Mr. Trick, Scott Hope, Gavin, Jhiera or any other minor character.

You must include all of the following (how they are used is up to you):
* a brown leather wallet
* a Dr. Seuss book
* a DVD player remote with no batteries
* an old children's movie (the harder to find, the better; must have been made before 1990)
* an explosive present (this, I leave up to your imagination)
* the quote "It's only another year. It's not like it's your last...I hope."
* a reference to winter
* an unexpected weather condition (ie, snow in LA, a tsunami off the coast of New York, etc)

- You must choose at least five of the following people, places or events:
* Lindsey
* Connor
* Larry
* Jonathan
* Faith
* a beach
* The Staples Center
* a nightclub
* a rooftop
* a reference to one of Buffy's birthdays shown on the show
* a wedding
* Halloween

- Finally, all the fics must mention either January, 23 or 1981 in the title or the first line of the fic.