Birth RightBy Alecca
Reign of fireLos Angeles
2053
Just outside a graveyardFred 2 walked down the sidewalk deep in thought. What was she suppose to do now? Lonny wasn’t there and the mere thought that at the moment she had disappeared the vampire had found a solution to their temporal displacement only made her angry. Trying to figure out what had happened to her made her head hurt. As she continued to walk she didn’t notice the black limousine following her at a very slow pace. She only realized it was there when the driver honked twice, startling her. She looked back at the dark windows. She couldn't see anything through them. The side door of the backseat opened, inviting her in. She neared the car hesitantly and peaked through the open door to see who it was. She sighed relieved when she saw Willow.
“Get in,” the redhead told her and the teenager obeyed her without a second thought. “You’re not Anne.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Fred 2 said staring at her.
“Oh god,” the witch seemed to suddenly realize something. “He sent you here, didn’t he? Cause I doubt you could take down the big fella by yourself.”
“You mean...the blue guy?” Fred 2 guessed.
“The Hur’dha,” she nodded. “Where are you from?” she asked and suddenly got a very strange vibe. “Los Angeles. Wolfram & Hart. I remember you.”
“I...never met you. Actually I don’t think I’m even born yet,” Fred 2 said letting out a nervous laughter.
“I...it’s rather complicated, Fred,” Willow said taking the teenager by surprise.
“What...I...how can you...,” Fred 2 stuttered.
“Let’s just say it’s a long story, but if you hang around for another 10 minutes I’ll probably know why you’re here,” the witch told her.
“Can you see into the future?” it was the only plausible excuse she could find. Willow laughed.
“No, nothing like that. I took a little trip a while ago and it kind of changed a few things for me,” she kept being vague.
“So you think you can help me?” Fred 2 asked hopeful.
“I’ll do my best,” Willow promised her.
Los Angeles
2083
Wolfram & Hart Demon Hunting Inc.
A few days agoRupert just couldn’t believe it. Willow’s lifeless body was slumped over Angel’s desk. It had been easy - too easy and to top it all, nothing was happening. Time wasn’t altering itself. It was like she wasn’t dead. He checked her pulse again. She was definitely dead. A thought suddenly crossed his mind: what if she had been dead before he had killed her? What if she had been some sort of bizarre immortal like vampires were? What if she’d suddenly wake up? He pulled away from the body feeling uneasy. If she did wake up she was bound to be pretty pissed off about what he had done.
“Willow?” he asked the body, but it didn’t answer him. “Willow...” he tried again with no result. It suddenly seemed very quiet to him. He looked around. Time - he felt this - had somehow stopped. There was no sound coming from the busy hallways of Wolfram & Hart, just a deaf silence. He startled at the sound of hands clapping. He turned around to find Willow smiling at him. “What the hell?!” he looked back at the dead redhead still laying on the desk.
“I’m not sure that’s the right question,” the witch said as she walked over to the dead Willow. “Nice job. Not too sloppy either,” she stared at the sword sticking out of the body amused. “One blow. The blood is probably gonna ruin Angel’s paperwork, but hey, sacrifices have to be made.”
“Why aren’t you dead?” Rupert asked angrily.
“Don’t pout, Rupert, it doesn’t work for guys,” she didn’t answer him.
“Tell me!” he yelled at her, grabbing her arm violently.
“No need to get rough,” her eyes shined black and Rupert flew across the office hitting the wall. “Haven’t you asked yourself why it’s been so easy? Killing me?”
“Now that you mention it,” he said getting up from the floor.
“Well, technically that’s not me. She’s me, but not me me,” she said confusing the boy even further.
“Oh, thank you for illuminating me,” he rolled his eyes. ”You’re not gonna tell me what’s really going on, are you?”
“Do I look stupid?” the witch smiled.
“Oh, then I’ll just have to kill you a lot more times,” Rupert said coldly.
“I’d have to say good luck with that, but I’m not sure I can let you continue at this pace,” Willow warned him.
“Are you gonna try and stop me?” he smirked.
“Don’t tempt me, Rupert,” Willow smiled. “The only reason you’re still alive is because I loved and respected your great-grandfather a great deal and I’d hate to see his bloodline stop because of a spoiled little ingrate like you.”
“Lucky me then. You on the other hand, not so fortunate,” Rupert said cockily.
“You just don’t get it,” she shook her head. “Fine, have it your way,” she turned on her heels.
“Where are you going?” he asked, but by the time he did, time had already taken its natural course again and Willow was gone. He turned back towards the body, but found that it had mysteriously disappeared as well. Even the blood was gone. “I guess it’s time to get to work,” he said sighing and rose the ring of Batt-Hura into the air. The Hur’dha had made this second ring in such a way that the young watcher did not have to enter the realm of the Hollow Crossroads to venture into the past. He could enter directly in it. The Guardian had taken this precaution out of fear of what Rupert might do once he knew of it. The SA had no idea of the existence of the Hollow Crossroads and the Hur’dha preferred it remained like that.
Sunnydale
2003Angel went down into the basement right after speaking to the slayer on the porch. It was time to find out what Spike was up to. As he descended the last few stairs he was immediately struck by the smell of blood, dried by now, and rattled earth. He looked around trying to locate the origin of the smell. His eyes stopped on the carpet. He walked over to it and lifted it. Something had been recently buried underneath it. He turned his head and frowned scanning the room. He spotted the disregarded shovel somewhere in a corner. Picking it up he began digging and quickly came across the bloody sheets. Pulling them off he was surprised to find Spike under them, still unconscious. For a moment he didn’t know what to make of it, but then realized what had happened: Spike had taken out his counterpart in order to be able to get close to the slayer again.
He suddenly heard someone whistling happily as he came down the stairs. It was Spike. Without a second thought, Angel morphed into game face and grabbing the other vampire by the front of his shirt he threw him on the ground hard and growled at him.
“What the hell are you doing here?!”
“Sod off!” he told Angel yanking his shirt out of his grip. “Has anyone told you you have some serious anger management issues?”
“What are you doing here, Spike?” the vampire asked angrily again.
“Here to save the day, mate, just like you,” he was still playing the role of his past self. His eyes wondered towards the other side of the room and saw the uncovered body in the bloody sheets and realized it was time to drop the act: “Okay, so it is me. You weren’t seriously expecting me to stay out of it, were you?” he tried to get up, but Angel threw him back down.
“Do you even realize that you’re putting the whole past in danger? Threatening the destruction of the hellmouth?”
“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” Spike asked confused. Angel rose him off the floor in one quick motion and threw him down next to the body of his past self.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Angel pointed at the bloody form of the unconscious vampire.
“I didn’t do that,” Spike said finally understanding what he was so angry about. He stood up and dusted himself off: “That was our darling little slayer. Mina, I believe that’s her name.”
“Mina,” Angel frowned. “But why?”
“Very good question,” Spike smiled. “Unfortunately I’m not the one you should be asking. Okay, so I thought about doing pretty much the same thing, but hopefully in a less bloody manner. I mean look at the poor bloke, she did him in good.”
“At least now we have a reason to get Mina thrown out of the house,” Angel said lost in thoughts for a moment.
“I suppose it’s about time. I wish we could stay a little more though. See the fireworks. See the girl,” he smiled.
“Yeah, but apparently we already screwed up once. For her sake at least, if the world’s not good enough, we need to put an end to Mina’s threat,” Angel said, not realizing that the very person he had been referring to had been listening in on their conversation through the cracked door of the basement. Mina grasped the ring of Batt-Hura in her hand tighter.
“It’s now or never,” she whispered to herself as she slowly closed the door and got up.
Los Angeles
The Underground of Wolfram & Hart Demon Hunting Inc
Static Time - no precise date“Help,” he said into the walkie-talkie weakly. Then gathering his powers he said louder than before: “Help!” He breathed heavily. He had lost a lot of blood. He looked down the corridor at the bloody trail he had left behind. “Angel? Are you there?” he asked into the device, but got no answer. It was exaggeratedly quiet. He couldn’t hear footsteps anymore or Mary 7’s diabolical laughter far away. But at least, he thought to himself, there weren’t any screams. Harmony wasn’t calling out in agony. She couldn’t be dead, because if she was, Mary 7 would have already returned for him. He closed his eyes tiredly. He was slipping away. A voice coming from the walkie-talkie startled him awake:
“This is base, Alpha 1, can you hear me?”
“I...,” he didn’t know what to say. “Alpha 1 has been taken out. If Alpha 1 is five people.”
“Who is this?” the voice at the other end of the line asked.
“I’m...it’s a long story and since I think I’m bleeding to death you’ll excuse me if I don’t start telling you the story of my life. I got here by accident,” he explained forcing himself to continue to speak.
“Where are you? Can you give us an exact location?” the man asked.
“I...I sort of got lost,” Wes 2 confessed.
“Are you anywhere near a door?” he asked.
“As a matter of fact,” the teenager stared at the open door next to the dead bodies of the special ops team. “I think it was her cell. It’s open.”
“Corridor J440/193 then,” he recognized it immediately. “Just hold on, I’ll send another team down there right away.”
“Get Angel!” he told the man remembering what Harmony had told him.
“I’ll see if he’s available,” he promised him and closed the walkie-talkie. Now that the man had stopped talking Wes 2 suddenly realized someone was running towards him. He tried to pull himself up horrified, but fell back down almost instantly. He sighed relieved when he saw it was only Harmony. She had a few bruises and her clothes were dustier, but she was fine. “Did you kill her?”
“That crazy bitch? I’m no superhero, kid,” Harmony said and when she saw the state he was in, she asked: “Eew, what did she do to you?”
“She broke my leg in the most horrendous way possible,” he told her.
“You’re making me hungry,” she grimaced.
“Well, you’re welcome to lick the floor,” he gestured towards the bloody trail he had left on the hallway’s floor.
“Suddenly feeling less hungry,” Harmony said and suddenly froze. “Did you hear that?”
“Again, no superhearing, Harmony,” he reminded her.
“She’s coming,” she said a bit alarmed.
“A rescue team’s being sent down to help. Angel might come too,” he told her holding up the walkie- talkie.
“Good, you’re going to need someone to carry out your corpse and sweep up my dust,” Harmony said panicking. Wes 2 could hear the footsteps now too.
“What do we do? What do we do?” Harmony was tempted to run again, but knew that if she did Wes 2 would surely be doomed. The teenager suddenly got an idea.
“Help me up,” he told the vampire and she pulled him, sustaining him by the shoulders. “We have to get inside the cell.”
“So we can be more trapped than now?” she was skeptical.
“Trust me. I think I know what I’m doing,” he was a bit unsure of his plan as well.
“Okay, but only because you sound like Wes when you say that,” she said as she guided him towards the open cell that had once belonged to Mary 7. The hallways echoed with the slayer’s maniacal laughter as she neared her target, all the way singing:
“7-7, lucky 7...coming to get you, my lucky lucky seven....”
Sunnydale
2003“Can’t sleep?” Mina asked Buffy, who was still out on the front porch, as she neared her.
“On a night like this? Who could?” the slayer was surprised to see her there. Some of the other potentials were awake as well, but none of them had bothered her. Not even Xander, Giles, Willow, Faith or Dawn had disturbed her, understanding she needed a little time alone. Only Spike and Angel had come to see her, but they were a whole different story.
“Yeah, that’s some fight we’ll be in tomorrow,” Mina said staring into the horizon.
“Biggest one yet for me. And I’ve seen enough, believe me,” the slayer said thinking that perhaps, as she was the most recently arrived potential, Mina was frightened. After all she had had only a day to digest everything the other girls had had weeks to get used to. “I can’t guarantee you’ll make it alive out of this if that’s why you’re here. I don’t even know if I’ll survive. But you’re in good shape. You have the right moves. You might just be one of the lucky ones.”
“You think so?” Mina smiled and then asked: “Tell me something... doesn’t the thought of spreading your powers to all these girls bother you in any way?”
“Why should it?” she was surprised by her question. “Actually, I think it’s the best idea I’ve ever had. I’m happy thinking that starting tomorrow no slayer will ever have to go through what I went by herself. Don’t get me wrong, there were some great things along the way, great friends, but I wouldn’t wish it to anyone. Slayers will never be alone again. Starting tomorrow,” she said smiling, staring into the horizon, lost. “The easiest way to stop thinking about a battle is to think about what you’ll be doing after it. I thought I could go...” her words were cut short by a whimper of pain. She looked down at her body and saw the shining tip of a knife sticking out of the left side of her chest, right from the place where her heart was. She fell on her knees, convulsing in pain. She looked back at Mina horrified.
“I’m sorry, Buffy, this is just how it was meant to be,” she told her not really feeling any sympathy for the woman dying before her eyes. She had struck only once, with all her slayer strength, while Buffy had been distracted the most.
“W-why?...” Buffy only managed to whimper one last time before collapsing on the porch in a pool of her own blood. Mina watched her disturbed for a moment until the high pitched screams of Dawn shook her out of it:
“Buffy! Bufy!!!!!!!!” Dawn ran to her sister’s side, tears falling her eyes. The Scoobies quickly appeared along with the many potentials and in the end, Spike and Angel.
“Oh, no,” Spike fell to his knees and tears formed in Angel’s eyes. They had failed again.
“YOU!” Lonny marched towards Mina, but at the very moment she touched her arm, Mina turned into a statue of ash and withered away and along with her, the ring of Batt-Hura.
“What the...,” Spike began saying horrified, but he didn’t manage to finish his sentence as he turned to ashes as well. Angel shortly followed. The crowd of potentials as well as the Scoobies looked on horrified as Lonny vanished in a flash of white light.
Los Angeles
2053
Willow Rosenburg’s penthouse apartment“Are you sure you don’t want a drink?” Willow asked the teenager gesturing towards the bottle of whiskey she had opened.
“Oh, no. I’m not allowed,” Fred 2 said feeling rather uncomfortable in Willow’s gigantic Los Angeles apartment.
“Because you’re underage?” she asked amused. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“It’s not that, but this one time at my cousin Diana’s wedding I had a little too much to drink and let’s just say karaoke will never be the same again,” Fred 2 confessed embarrassed. “My brother will never stop teasing me about it.”
“Buffy made a funny drunk,” the witch remembered smiling.
“I wish I had met her,” Fred 2 said returning the smile. “I heard she was quite the amazing person.”
“She was. But you’ve never met her?” she seemed surprised by this.
“Well isn’t she...,” she didn’t want to pronounce the word dead.
“Angel probably didn’t have a chance to tell you yet,” Willow realized taking a sip from her glass.
“Tell me what?” Fred 2 asked curious.
“That she’s still alive,” she said looking into her glass.
“Really?!” she was shocked. “That makes her really...old.”
“Yes, it does,” she laughed amused by her reaction. “Now, let’s see how I can help you out of this mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“I don’t exactly know how I got here, but the last place I was in I got there through the crossroads. I wasn’t alone, there was a vampire with me. Lonny, if you met her. She’s Charles Gunn’s daughter. She’s also a slayer. Vampire slayer, pretty weird, huh?” she looked over at the witch and saw a look of horror in her eyes. “Is something wrong?” she asked concerned.
“Take my hand,” Willow told her hurriedly.
“What’s wrong?” Fred 2 asked, but got her answer when she saw her left hand turning into ashes. She let out a scream, but Willow grabbed her by her other hand and a bright yellow glow surrounded the teenager. After a few moments, Fred 2 fell to the floor, weakened. “What’s happening?” she asked the witch, but not even she had an answer.
“I don’t know, but you have to get out of here. Now,” Willow told her. “Something bad is happening to everything.”
“But where am I suppose to go?” Fred 2 asked staring at her absent left hand. When she rose her eyes, Willow was a statue of ash. “Oh, god!” she let out.
Los Angeles
The Underground of Wolfram & Hart Demon Hunting Inc
Static Time - no precise date“So this was your big plan? Groveling in a corner?” Harmony asked looking around the empty cell. “This place is creepy.”
“That’s precisely what I’m counting on,” Wes 2 said closing his eyes tiredly.
“What, that she’ll be too crept out to come in here?” she asked confused. “Oh, I guess that could work.”
“Actually I was thinking about something else,” Wes 2 said as Mary 7’s voice was heard outside saying:
“There’s my 7, 7 went down the rabbit hole, down into the evil place...but it’s still my lucky-lucky 7.”
The next moment, the slayer appeared in the doorframe of the cell, smiling wildly at them.
“There’s my seven,” she repeated staring at Harmony.
“Okay, she’s coming towards me! This would be a good time for your plan to start working. Like, now!” Harmony yelled as Mary 7 stalked towards her. The slayer suddenly stopped and simply leaped towards the vampire. Harmony let out a scream, closed her eyes and put her hands in front of her face. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes hesitantly and saw that Mary 7 was still standing in front of her where she had last stopped before her leap. “What’s...” the slayer leaped towards her again and Harmony screamed once more, but then saw Mary 7 was standing still a feet away from her again. She kept repeating the motion over and over again. “What’s happening?”
“Static time. This cell was made especially for her,” Wes 2 smiled.
“But how did she get out then?” Harmony asked confused.
“The accountant must’ve taken care of that too. Magic, I suppose. She probably killed him after she got out,” Wes 2 guessed. He suddenly felt very strange. “Did you feel that? Maybe the static time is affecting us too,” he said, but when he looked at Harmony she was gone and a pile of ashes was laying where she had been before. “Harm?” he looked at Mary 7 still stuck in her routine. She hadn’t moved. He suddenly realized he couldn’t feel the pain in his leg anymore. Looking down at it, he saw it had turned to ash. After another moment, he was entirely turned to ash.
Los Angeles
2083
Wolfram & Hart Demon Hunting Inc.
(A few days ago)“I don’t believe this!” Rupert said as he stared at Willow’s dead body exasperated. He had transported himself only five minutes into the future - the future of the past he had initially entered - about four times, and he had still found Willow there. She just could not die.
“Bored yet?” Willow asked appearing behind him out of nowhere.
“You’re driving me crazy!” Rupert spat at her.
“You’re driving yourself crazy. Don’t blame me for your idiotic ideas,” Willow said smiling.
“You! You’re the one I’m suppose to kill!” he said pointing towards her.
“Dear boy, do you really think you could? You can kill all these little puppets,” she made a gesture towards the dead body that rose off the floor and started dancing in the room as if a puppeteer was playing with it, “but do you stand a chance against me?”
“Well, I’m sure gonna try,” Rupert said menacingly. Willow laughed. He had no idea that even if he did manage to kill her, she’d still be alive. A sudden jolt of pain crossed her body and she leaned over. The watcher smiled. This was the sort of opportunity he had been waiting for. Taking the sword he had used to kill the other Willows he neared her, but the witch looked up at him, with her eyes black and yelled:
“You fool!” a beam of energy shot from her hand throwing him into the nearest wall. Breathing hard, Willow crouched down on the floor. Looking back at the young watcher she saw that he had turned to ash.
The Hollow Crossroads
Absolutely nowhen“What’s happening?” Willow asked appearing next to the Hur’dha who was contemplating the crossroads in front of him, looking as calm as he usually did. The witch looked around herself. The direction in which the Hur’dha was staring was unchanged, but behind him, a dark spot grew threatening in the horizon. “Hur’dha, look!” she drew his attention towards the black cloud, still far away, but nearing them with every second that went by. “I don’t understand. What’s happening?” The Hur’dha looked at the dark spot and frowned:
“Oh, my, I do believe the world is coming to an end. I guess your heroes failed. Again.”
"I suppose this proves that if you want to do something right you've gotta do it yourself," Willow sighed.