August 16, 2012 – I Forgot Day
Summary: **Part of the 2012 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts August Fic-A-Day** series, also known as the 'Wacky Holiday Series'. Buffy has to track a demon down before too much chaos happens.
Challenge: for the livejournal 2012 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline: post-series for BtVS; vague later season for NC, but change the dates so they line up.
A/N: Little lighter fic this time. It was going to use a different fandom, but I didn't want to remind myself of that fandom today.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Night Court characters belong to Reinhold Weege and Warner Bros. Television. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Manhattan Court House
At the time, Buffy never thought she'd be happy that Willow did that forgetting spell on the gang in an attempt to make Buffy forget heaven, but now? Now, it was a good thing because after the activation spell and Willow had a better grip on her magick, they remembered that spell and decided to protect against something similar happening to them again.
All Council personnel – Slayers, Watchers, witches and even the support staff – were amnesia-proofed…at least when magick was involved.
It had the added side effect in Buffy's case that she remembered a certain day from her freshman year of college, but that was a story for a different time…when she calmed down long enough to be rational in his presence.
Some 'genius' demon thought it was unfair that only humans got to create holidays that humans celebrated. Buffy was pretty sure that if demons took IQ tests, that demon would be in the low 50s or so. The other question she had was why did they care?
But they managed to create a holiday that included mandatory participation on the human side. The holiday in question – set just two days before the US Independence Day – was 'I Forgot Day'. In practical terms, it meant that all the humans in the area had amnesia. Buffy wasn't sure about the different types there were, but this kind included not remembering personal history stuff…like name, age, etc. They still could talk and knew what objects were – assuming they knew what they were before.
Willow and the Coven sent as many Slayers to the affected area as could be spared from other duties. The demon just had to choose this part of Manhattan to test his holiday. If Buffy or one of the other Slayers could find him and slay him, the spell would lift with hopefully few casualties.
And that's how Buffy ended up in the courtroom, watching a group of lawyers, bailiffs, defendants and miscellaneous people try to work out who they were. All but one person.
That was the person Buffy honed in on like a heat-seeking missile.
"Are you the demon responsible for all this?" she demanded, grabbing him by the lapels of his suit.
"Half-demon, but yes," the demon admitted, sounding distressed. "But it wasn't supposed to be like this!" he wailed. Buffy recognized the accent as being Russian, but couldn't think of any demons that came from Russia. The demon pointed to the judge and said, "My good friend, Harry, has been depressed the last few weeks about the anniversary of something, and I just wanted to help him forget it."
So Willy's sources had the story wrong. It wasn't a demon trying to create a holiday; it was a demon who screwed up like Willow did all those years ago.
She let go of the demon, took a breath to calm herself, then asked, "Do you have the crystal you used for the spell?" If she was lucky, this would be a similar spell and could be broken the same way.
He pulled out a small black crystal from his pocket and handed it over without any hesitation; it made Buffy think he really wasn't trying to hurt anyone. Setting the crystal on the ground, she crushed it under her boot and waited for the spell to lift.
Just like before, everyone started 'waking up' within seconds and glanced around in confusion.
The judge was the first one to speak up, "I'm not sure what's happened here, folks, but we'll figure it out. Mac? Why don't you call Art and have him check for a gas leak or something?"
"On it, sir!" the black clerk in a wild-colored cardigan sweater replied.
While the others talked amongst themselves to see who remembered what, Buffy pulled the Russian half-demon aside. "Okay…" she paused to prompt him for his name.
"Yakov," he supplied.
"Yakov…if you need to cheer him up in the future, give him candy or liquor or something. Please don't try something like this again, Okay?" Buffy pleaded. He seemed rather harmless, but she'd have the local Slayer team keep an eye on him until they could be sure.
A/N: Originally I was going to use Bob and June Wheeler for this crossover, but Yakov seemed more appropriate.