Disclaimer: All things Buffy are the creation and property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy Productions, the WB Network, etc.
Author's Notes: There was an Archive Fic posted on BBETA asking "Why do we call these things Archive Fics? Who would want them for their archive?" I just *had* to answer.
Buffy wandered back toward Stevenson Hall, lost in thought. Ever
since Angel had gone off with Mace to the Espresso Pump, she couldn't
stop wondering where the name "Archive Fic" had come from. She
felt like she should know, but for some reason the truth was eluding
her.
She was still pondering the mystery of the day when she got back to
her room. Willow and Tara were sitting there on Willow's bed as she
entered, with several stacks of manila folders in front of them. The
folders were thick with sheets of paper, some of which appeared singed
around the edges.
Despite the great volume of paper they had in front of them, though,
the two witches appeared to be much more interested in each other than
in doing any reading. Buffy cleared her throat loudly, glad that she had
walked in before things had progressed beyond a PG rating level.
"Buffy!" Willow cried, jumping suddenly. "You're...
you're home early!"
"Yeah," Buffy replied, looking as apologetic as she could.
"Sorry about that. I'm only staying for a minute, though. Just have
to pick up supplies for patrolling. I promise I won't be a bother."
"No, no! It's no bother!" Willow insisted. The bright red
color of Tara's face screamed otherwise, but Willow pressed on. "I
was just showing Tara some of the stories people used to write about us,
back in the early days of the Slayer's Fanfic Archive. Giles, uh, had a
stash that managed to survive the school blowing up."
"The Slayer's Fanfic Archive?" Buffy repeated. She hadn't
thought about that in months. It had fallen on hard times lately -
server trouble or something. Buffy didn't know computers well enough to
understand completely, and between Riley, the Initiative, Adam... well,
she just hadn't been paying attention. But now the name rang in her head
and connected with the very riddle she had been contemplating.
"W-w-wwwillow's been showing me all the stories about you and
Angel," said Tara. "Sh-sh-she says you really liked reading
them."
"Yeah, that's right!" said Buffy, remembering fondly. She
crouched down on the floor and picked up one of the folders, opening it
to a random page. For a moment she lost herself in memories, but then
she remembered the question that had been on her mind.
"Say, Will," Buffy asked, "do you remember what an
Archive Fic was? Did it have something to do with this website?"
"Of course!" said Willow, sounding a bit impatient.
"Don't you remember? Back when the Archive was brand new, Anya
would write little stories that were really announcements about how the
site had been updated, and then she'd post them to all the fanfic
mailing lists."
"Xander's girlfriend used to run a website?" said Tara.
"I thought she used to be a vengeance demon."
"No, no, this is a different Anya," said Buffy.
"Although it is a pretty strange coincidence, them having the same
name."
"Anyway," Willow was continuing, "the stories got to
be so popular that other people started writing them, too. Now I guess
they call any story that's not really about us an 'Archive Fic.' I
wonder if anybody remembers why."
"I wonder whatever happened to all those old stories,"
Buffy mused.
"Oh, they're still online," Willow replied. "Just go
to http://slayerfanfic.com/archfic.html
and you'll find the complete original set."
"Great!" said Buffy. "We'll have to do that!"
"Sure," said Willow, again sounding a bit impatient.
"How about tomorrow, after you're done patrolling?"
"Patrolling?" Buffy repeated. "Oh, right!" In her
excitement over rediscovering the old stories from the Archive, she had
momentarily forgotten where she was supposed to be at the moment. She
started to get up and gather her weapons, but as she did a particularly
interesting paragraph caught her eye. She settled back down to read...
just a little bit more...
"Uh... Buffy?"
Buffy looked up again, and her eyes met Willow's glare. Beside
Willow, Tara had stopped blushing, but her ears were still bright pink.
"You can take those with you if you want," Willow said
calmly.
Buffy's eyes widened as realization hit her. "Ohhhh!
Right!" she exclaimed. "I'll... I'll do that..." She was
on her feet in an instant, taking only long enough to grab a pair of
stakes and a cross and stuff them into her jacket pocket.
"Happy hunting, Buffy," said Tara.
"Thanks," said Buffy. "Happy... uh... reading..."
"Goodnight, Buffy."
Buffy hurried out, closing the door behind her. As she walked down
the hallway, she looked at the thick folder of old stories she had
brought with her, and her fond memories returned. There was plenty of
good reading ahead of her after patrol. Which was fortunate, considering
she would probably need it.
The End