“Rupert Giles.” The old man froze, eyes wide as he looked at the suited man standing before him. “The Council needs to speak to you.”
“So speak.” Giles stated, shoving his hands into the pockets of his own suit.
“You can not continue this search,” the man in the black suit stated and Giles rolled his eyes. “Not only is it an unnecessary strain on yourself, and your girls, but it is futile! You have a job to do, Rupert.”
Giles took a step closer to the man. “My job,” he began in a low voice, “was to guard all the girls you put into my protection. To train them, to watch them, to protect them. To guide them when their lost. To find them.”
“She’s not lost.” Gile’s heart tightened and he turned around to face Xander. “It hurts, Giles,” Xander continued, “But she’s dead.” The boy before him took a step closer and shook his head. “You’ve got to stop this.”
“How did you find me?” Giles demanded, frowning at Xander.
“You mentioned a Hellmouth was in Cleveland. I knew you’d come here.”
“Because she would.” Giles answered back.
“She’s not alive! It’s been two years. She’s not coming back this time.” Giles lowered his eyes and shook his head. “Come back with me, G-man.”
“Give me a week,” he turned back to the man in the suit as he spoke. “One week here. If I can’t find her by next Wednesday, I’ll give up the search completely.”
The man considered this for a moment, and then nodded. “But Wednesday you, and your team, are flying back to London.”
“That’s perfectly fine.” Giles responded and the man turned and headed back down the alley. Giles turned to Xander and sighed.
“I suppose the rest of them are here, too?”
“Just me and Dawn and Willow. The rest stayed in London.”
“Might as well stay in your hotel. I’m sure it’s much nicer than the one I could afford with what little cash I had on me.” Xander patted Giles back as he walked by, and couldn’t help glancing up and around him as they headed back down the alley.
It had been two years since they had buried Buffy for the second time. A vampire had gotten her. A vampire who was now dust in the air. But nevertheless, she was dead. And this time, she wasn’t coming back. Immediately, Dawnie had begged to have Willow resurrect her sister once more. But they had all eventually agreed that maybe, just maybe, she was supposed to be dead. Perhaps she had been destined to die the first time, in that pool of water before Xander had revived her. Or she had been destined to stay dead after she sacrificed her life to save the world. Either way, this finally time, death had won.
hh
The being shook it’s head as it watched the young man gently guiding the Watcher into his vehicle and then driving off. Such sadness. “It’s not supposed to be this way.”
“Death won, Yenoda.” A deep voice answered. “We couldn’t prevent this. Just as we could not prevent the others.”
“But,” Yenonda turned to the man standing behind her, the logic to her emotion, the other half of the Powers That Be. “Buffy is different. She was special.”
“We did all we could,” Benonde stated. “She still exists. Death eventually had to claim the Slayer.”
Yenonda knew he was right. That’s why when Death came after Buffy for the third time, the only way they could save her was to have her come back as a vampire, a soulless being. The Slayer was dead, but this new creature, Elizabeth the Bloody as she called herself, was nearly unstoppable.
Of course, Death had been beyond pissed at not being able to finally have Buffy. But no matter what he threw at her now, she was unstoppable. Her powers as the Slayer still remained, but her drive to do good was completely gone. As a vampire, she felt no remorse, felt no pity, no guilt, no emotions whatsoever, save a constant pain and hate. A hate that she took out on her victims.
“I almost wish we’d given her to him,” Yenonda whispered, now looking down upon the sleeping form of Buffy. Even in her sleep she wore a scowl, her jaw locked, and her hands fisted. She never truly relaxed anymore. Yenonda waved her hand over the image and what Buffy was dreaming appeared.
Instantly Yenonda felt her heart tighten. She was dreaming of her lost champion. She always did. But in the morning, she never remembered. In her dream, she was Buffy the Vampire Slayer again, and she and her champion were patrolling, playfully bantering. If Buffy had had a soul left, Yenonda would have heard it crying out in tortured agony.
“There are other things for us to attend to, Yenonda,” Benonde warned and Yenonda sighed, “Leave your favorite alone for now. There is nothing we can do.” She didn’t believe that, but for now, she’d obey.
HH
“Give me something to kill.” Elizabeth didn’t even pause as she marched into George’s office and then moved to bend over his desk, placing her hands on the cool polished wood. She could feel that the sun was just going down outside the tinted windows of the office and she was itching to hunt.
George snatched a file from the shelf behind him and slammed it down on the table. “The client is a Polgera demon from London. Wants us to take out a woman whose apparently become a nuisance to his territory. He would have done it himself but he’s just learned that she flew out of town. She’s staying here in a local hotel, sight seeing apparently.”
“I want to hunt something useful. Not another lousy human.”
George smirked. “She’s not human.” He handed her the file and Elizabeth snatched it from his hands. She straightened as she read the papers and a sick grin spread across her features. “She’s the former key.”
Elizabeth nodded, laid down the folder and crossed her arms over her leather clad chest. “Who is here with her?”
“The Watcher, the Witch and a young man.”
“Xander.”
George nodded. “The Witch will be a problem. The Watcher will just be too shocked to see you, and the young man…well, he is just a human.”
Elizabeth nodded. “She’ll be dead by the end of the week.”
George laughed. “Good. You’ll like this pay, Elizabeth. A million dollars each.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and turned on her heel. “I don’t want the money,” she stated, “I just want the kill.”
HH
Benonde was busy with a war, so Yenonda had been able to tune back into Buffy’s world for a moment. Her eyes widened as she watched Buffy happily agree to kill the sister Benonde and Yenonda had given her. Well, if that wasn’t a sign that it was time the Powers that Be intervened, Yenonda wasn’t a power that be!
“Benonde,” she called and immediately he materialized before her. “Henondi.” A moment later the other being appeared, not man, not woman, but a majestic lion who cocked his head at the two. “I seek to intervene in the lives of Buffy and Dawn Summers.”
“Again?” the lion spoke, those its jaws never opened. “What reason do you have now? The Slayer is dead, yet your Buffy is alive. And her sister is no longer in any harm of ever becoming the key again.”
“Because Buffy has just agreed to kill Dawn.”
Henondi’s brown eyes shifted to Benonde who looked down at his feet. “You believe you can stop this?” he asked Yenonda instead and Yenonda nodded. “How? She’s undefeatable. Anyone you send to guard the sister will simply be killed. The only way to stop Buffy is to kill her. If that’s the case, I’ll notify Death that he can finally have his favorite victim.”
“I’m going to send the champion to protect Dawn.”
Benonde’s eyes widened and he looked to Henondi, who looked as if he were pondering this. “She won’t kill him. She still loves him. And maybe, he can save Dawn, and Buffy. He got his soul for her, why shouldn’t he be able to convince her to get a soul for him?”
“And what do you put on the line?” A deep voice asked and a moment later black smoke swarmed around them and a black robed man appeared. “If I were to release the champion back to earth, with his soul intact, I want something in return.”
“Anything.”
Death pointed to Yenonda. “If the champion can not save the sisters, I receive all three of them, body, mind, and soul.”
“And if he does?”
“Then they go free, and I will give up my attempts on their lives.”
Yenonda turned to Henondi who sighed and then began to disappear. The last thought that entered their minds from him was, “Take the offer.”
“I agree.”
“It’s settled then,” Death laughed. “Which champion am I sending back?”
HH
The scream echoed in the empty alleyway as the wind picked up and began to swirl. A moment later bits and pieces of human bone and flesh began to pick itself out of the air and connect back together again until what remained was a vampire, fully clothed and bent over in agony.
Another moment passed and slowly, he lifted himself until he was standing straight, panting, though he didn’t need the breath, but standing. He looked around him, brown eyebrows coming down into a look of confusion as he took in his surroundings.
He sniffed the air and immediately recognized a scent. He took off at a run, thankful that it was dark out, and a moment later he was standing in the middle of a very busy city. His eyes widened as he looked up at the skyscrapers and around at all the people hurrying to and from the still open building. A nightlife? He never got to finish that thought because a moment later he heard a gasp and turned to see a woman standing before him.
“Spike?” Her eyes were wide as she stared at him and he stared back.
“Niblit?” he blinked in confusion and then cried, “What the bleeding hell is going on?”
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!