Part 11: Beneath the Surface
She felt like a puppet, with Willow pulling the strings. Her body only moving upon the witch’s command. She had no free will of her own to run even if she wished to do so. Now she knew how minions felt.
Dawn walked into the principal’s office behind the red head, faithfully following her mistress like a puppy on a leash. She couldn’t think of this…thing as Willow anymore because she couldn’t hate Willow, but she hated this woman with every fiber in her body. This witch hurt people, and did it with a song in her heart and a smile on her lips. She was easy to hate, even if she wore one of Dawn’s best friend’s bodies.
Dawn stopped just a few feet from the door by an invisible barrier as Willow continued on towards the large desk. The witch flicked her wrist, sending the desk crashing off to the side like it had been a beach ball some kid had decided to kick around. Dawn flinched from the impact, her mind momentarily wondering back to the wounded Connor downstairs beside the pool. He was so much stronger than Dawn and Willow took care of him like he had been nothing. How could the teen ever think that she would be able to do something to save her niece? She wouldn’t even be able to save herself.
Willow’s eyes were locked on something that had been behind the desk, and that was when Dawn noticed the play pen with the little child standing inside of it. The baby’s eyes were locked on the red-headed woman that was walking towards her, but the child didn’t seem afraid, just curious.
“Dylan?” Dawn whispered upon seeing her niece alive and well.
The baby looked past the woman before her and finally saw the teenager that had entered with her. The child’s face lit up when she saw that it was her aunt.
“Dawn!” she cried happily, holding out her arms to be picked up by the family member.
The teenager fruitlessly jerked at her body, trying to make it move, but finding that she still had no control over it. Willow laughed softly.
“Sorry, my little kitten,” she told the baby. “But Auntie Dawn is going to do a little something for me before I even let her think about coming near you.”
She reached over to touch the side of Dylan’s soft head, but the child drew back as if her hand were on fire. That just caused Willow to smirk even more. “Just goes to prove that babies aren’t as dumb as people think they are,” she snorted before turning away and heading over to a black bag that she had stashed in a corner.
Willow took the bag and went to the center of the room, then began to empty it on the floor. A large book fell to the ground with a loud bang, and Dawn recognized it as the one that had been responsible for sending Glory and Willow to that awful Shadow World. The teen felt her stomach drop as Willow picked it up, and began to flip through the pages.
“So many memories,” the witch said wistfully. “So few good ones.”
She sighed as she closed the book and put it over on top of the file cabinet. Willow then walked back over to the items the still laid on the ground, and picked up a much shinier object. The room’s artificial light danced off the blade of the odd dagger as the witch held it up high and close to her face to inspect it. The menacing looking weapon sent chills down Dawn’s spin from the knowledge of what her one-time friend intended to use it for.
“He had such great plans for this weapon. Did you know that?” Willow said as if Dawn understood what she was talking about. “He told me that he was going to use this to cut into your tender flesh and give the world a light show like it had never seen before. He really was a silly, arrogant little puppy. Only talked about wanting to be with the Beast, so I was more than happy to send him to hell with her. That was such great fun, Dawnie. You should have heard the way he screamed.”
“Willow, please, if you’re somewhere in there, don’t do this,” the teen begged.
The red head brought the blade away from her face and looked at the young girl strangely before she started to laugh.
“Oh, Dawnie, you really are good for a laugh.” The witch walked calmly over to the teen, the dagger swinging at her side before she locked her arms behind her back and leaned in close to the Key’s face. “I am Willow, the real Willow. That other one was a pathetic weakling that I needed to be rid of to embrace my real destiny. This is who I am meant to be. I knew that when I met the other me, the vampire me. I didn’t think so then, but now I know why she loved this so much.” Dawn shuttered slightly as her old friend moved in close to whisper in her ear, rubbing her cheek against the girl’s and pressing close. Willow whispered, “Because hate is so much fun.”
The teenager squeezed her eyes shut trying to hold in the tears that came from both knowing that her friend really was gone, and the fear that was building inside of her. This caused Willow’s mirth to grow as she turned away from the girl and began to play with the knife’s sharp edge.
“Now, let’s see,” she thought aloud. “Do I want to go ahead and send you to hell, or do I want to kill that little bastard niece of yours first? Hum? Which do I choose? On the one hand, I’ve been waiting to get rid of the Key since…well, forever. On the other, it would be kind of fun to make you watch my little kitten being skinned. What do you say, Dawn? Want to see me flay the little precious like an animal?”
Willow giggled when Dawn looked like she was going to be sick, making the decision for her. Yeah, the Key suffering like she did was just what she wanted.
“Flay it-“
A strange, powerful sensation came over her, causing the witch to stop in mid-sentence and look over her shoulder and out the window. They were coming; she could feel them as they approached. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice screamed in relief that she might actually be stopped, but she ignored that and latched onto another voice that was telling her that this might prove to be more interesting than she thought.
Rolling her head lazily back over to Dawn, she said, “Well, looks like there’s going to be more of a pre-show than I thought. But five against one doesn’t sound really that fair. Does it? Let’s just even up those odds, shall we.”
The witch’s eyes became jet black while she chanted. Oh, yes. This was going to be great fun.
**********
Xander and Cordy struggled to keep up with the group of determined parents as they marched towards the newly rebuilt high school. He noticed the three parents walk in-step with each other, and Xander could almost hear a drill sergeant yelling at him for not keeping formation with them. Clinching his teeth together a little tighter, he hurried to get in line and unconsciously went to keeping in step with them. So solider boy still lives after all.
They slowed to a stop in front of the school and looked up at the large building. It didn’t matter what the school looked like in the light of day, seeing one after dark, when all life has deserted it, always gave the building a strange yet fascinating energy. It was true that he had spent more than his fair share of nights in the old school, researching in the library until dawn some days, or preparing with Buffy for a great battle when the Scoobies themselves were just trying to make it through high school; literally and figuratively. But he had never been in this school after dark, not even when he was helping in its construction at the beginning of this year. In all honesty, he had hoped he would never have to step foot on the grounds after dark ever again. Well, he had hoped to be a multibillionaire by the time he was twenty-one and be dating Kirsten Dunst who would always wear that sexy little cheerleading outfit from ‘Bring It On.’ Funny how things never turned out like he hoped.
Buffy, who was standing in the middle of the group, took a deep breath, then said, “Angel, you take Cordy and Xander and check out the south end. Me and Spike will go check out the north.”
“Wait, why do we get to baby-sit Zippo down there?” Cordy asked rather annoyed at the suggestion.
The slayer glared at the seer, having no patience for arguments this night. “Xander helped build the place, so he knows the layout better than you two. It just makes more sense for him to go with you.”
Angel nodded his head in agreement. He reached over and touched her arm, earning a glare from Spike which both the older vampire and the slayer ignored. “Just be careful, okay?”
Buffy gave weary smile. Maybe their friendship would be salvageable. “We will,” she assured him, before following Spike up the stairs and going inside.
“Hey!” Xander called. “How do we let them know if we find Willow?”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll be able to follow your manly screams of terror,” Cordy said sarcastically before charging up the stairs and heading into the school. Xander scolded at her as he heard Angel chuckle lightly before heading after Cordelia. Rolling his eyes, the carpenter did the same.
The three snuck along the dark hallway, cautiously checking each classroom they passed. So far, everything had turned up empty. Xander couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing. It would be good if he didn’t have to face off against Willow, but it was a bad thing if she had hurt the kids, or worse.
They reached the end of the corridor, and came to a large pair of doors. Angel studied it for a moment, then jerked his head over to Xander. “What’s in here?”
“The gym,” he answered after confirming it with the mental blue prints in his mind.
Cordy’s body tightened at that as she marched over to the door and jerked them open forcefully. An empty basketball court greeted her.
“Where’s the pool?” she demanded.
“Um, through there and down the stairs,” Xander answered, pointing to a door on the other end of the court.
The seer took off across the court, the two men following close behind. She jerked open the door that lead to the pool below, the overpowering sent of chlorine hitting Xander hard in the face as they raced behind Cordy down the stairs. With the way their footsteps where echoing up the stairwell, there would be no way they would get the element of surprise if Willow was waiting for them.
Cordelia jogged inside of the large room that held the indoor pool, and let her eyes scan over the eerily still room. The pool seemed to glow from the lights placed inside, which cast a pale blue shine onto the white walls and pillars. The room was also chilly from someone having left the large windows at the top of the walls open, letting the night air drop the room temperature about ten degrees.
“Connor?” she said lowly before running over to broken wall where a body laid.
“Connor!” Angel exclaimed, hurrying after her.
The boy groaned lowly from within as the two skidded to a stop next to him, Cordy gathering the boy into her arms as Angel looked him over. The kid was in pretty bad shape from what Xander could see, with a least a broken arm and a concussion from that glassy look in his eyes. Plus there was the fact that he looked like someone had decided to through his clothes in the washer with him still in them.
“Connor,” Cordy said gently while the teenager started to come to. “Connor, are you okay?”
“What happened?” Angel demanded.
“Willow,” he answered lowly. “She has Dawn. We got to help her.”
Connor tried to lift himself from the floor, only to fall back down with a loud thud. “Hey, you’re out of this,” Angel told him, moving to help the boy up. “We need to get him out of here.”
Cordy nodded her head in agreement, while Xander went to the kid’s side to help his father lift him. Connor groaned from being touched, and lifted his head to say something to Angel when he saw something behind his father. “Look out!”
Angel turned just as a large, slimy hand smacked him hard across the face. The force of the blow sent the Master vampire rolling away from the group. Cordy and Xander’s heads shot up at the move, and they found an ugly, green Swamp Thing look-a-like demon standing over them. Connor growled as the creature leapt after his father.
“Angel!” Cordy yelled, scrambling to her feet to try and help the vampire, only to have another one of the creatures plow into her and cause them to both go crashing into the pool.
“Cordelia!” Connor yelled as the young woman and creature disappeared into the deep end of the pool.
Xander wasn’t sure what was going through his mind, but what he did know was that he got to his feet, ran to the edge of the swimming pool, and dove in after his ex. Okay, that just confirms the fact that he has been hanging out with Buffy for way too long. It was odd, almost like he was watching a movie of himself while the action was going on; not even the bitterly cold water changed that. Everything about the night had just felt so surreal, and this was no different.
He swam as fast as he could towards the young woman who was floating just above the bottom the pool, her hair flowing out around her like a halo. Her eyes were closed, and Xander could detect a faint trickle of red coming from a small cut on her forehead. He had almost reached her when something swam into his side, knocking him hard to the pool’s bottom with a heavy weight on top of him. Though his vision that was blurry from the water, Xander could clearly see it was the demon that had knocked Cordelia into the pool.
The creature bent down close to him, and revealed its razor sharp teeth. Xander open his mouth to yelp, but ended up taking in a mouth full of pool water which was effectively choking him. He struggled with the demon, but the creature seemed to be at home in the water. Swinging his arm as fast as he could, Xander hit the demon across the face, but he knew it could only do minimal damage at best. The punch, however, did lift the creature up enough to where he could squirm out from under him, and the carpenter started to kick for the surface, his lungs begging for some air.
The demon wrapped its arms around his waist halfway up, and Xander began to kick for all he was worth. He nailed the creature in the stomach, but it still held on tight; almost as tight as his lungs were filling at the moment. Xander began to pound the creature in the head the best he could, but the punches were slowed by the water. He had to get air, he couldn’t live without, and that was his only concern at the moment. The creature loosened its grip a little, and Xander kicked it in the head on his way up, then used it as a springboard to shoot upwards towards the surface.
He gasped desperately for air when his head broke through, and he began to cough up water. His mind had barely registered that Angel was still trying to battle the other creature, and that the injured Connor was trying to help the best he could, before Xander felt a hand around his ankle and pull him back under.
Xander fought the creature the best he could, but the demon had learned from the last time and chose to hang back, but keep him pulled down until simple biology took over and he would die from suffocation. The carpenter struggled in the grip as he was pulled farther below towards Cordy’s body that still hung suspended in the water.
A cold realization washed over him as he realized that he was going to die there in that pool. Well, he always knew he would die in high school. No, he couldn’t die now. Anya needed him! Jessie needed him!
He began to fight even harder, but with the creature so far away from him, there was little he could do. His lungs were hurting again, and he was vaguely aware that small air bubbles were escaping from his mouth. The pool was growing darker and his head was hurting so badly. Oh, God, he was about to die.
He was barely aware that something else had jumped into the pool. Probably the other demon joining his friend to make sure that the job was done. Xander’s tired body began to still and he would swear that the demon smiled when it saw this. The Scooby’s head dropped as he felt the darkness coming on strong, and then the demon did something strange. Its grip on his ankle loosened and then completely let go. The carpenter managed to open his eyes and saw that it had been Angel who had joined them in the pool, and had broken the demon’s neck.
A smaller, weaker arm began to drag him to the surface as Angel dove deeper for Cordelia. When his head broke the surface for the second time, Xander was literally sick with water. He would have sworn that he coughed up a couple of gallons before the weak arm laid him to rest against concrete side. Xander continued to cough before he turned his head weakly and saw Connor bobbing beside him, looking a bit stronger than he had a moment before. Still, the arm Xander thought the kid had broken hung useless at his side and the boy stared down into the water where his father and seer still were.
The two bobbed there in the water for a moment, waiting for the other two to come up. Cordy had to have drowned. He had almost drowned and he hadn’t been under as long as she had.
The vampire broke the surface a moment later, dragging the seer up with him. She hung loosely in his grip as he swam over to the two at the side of the pool. Xander managed to push himself up onto the side, helped Connor up, then the two of them dragged Cordelia up with them. Her lips were blue and Xander had a sudden flash back to his sophomore year with Buffy and the Master.
Temporarily forgetting his own brush with death, he found that she did have a heartbeat, though a faint one, but what she needed was air. Xander went to work. He pinched her nose before blowing his precious oxygen into her water-filled lungs. When he had done this several times, and she had not started to breath on her own, he mumbled, “Come on, Cordy. You have to breathe if you’re going to yell at us for not saving you sooner.”
Angel was kneeling at her other side, holding her hand in his as Connor stood over the group, watching in an odd fascination at what the dark-haired man was doing to his friend.
“Cordy, you have to wake up,” Angel told her, as if that would make her do it. “You can’t die on me now. I won’t let you.”
Xander blew into her mouth again and felt her body tense under him. That awful gurgling sound he had made himself a few minutes ago rose from throat before she began to spit out water. Xander moved away to allow her room to get rid of the liquid, but Angel leaned in closer as she coughed.
“Cordelia?” he said.
“Angel?” the seer said as she rolled her head towards the vampire, and blinked in confusion. “Did we win?”
Angel smiled; Xander winced. Since when did he smile like that? Angel pulled Cordy close and kissed her. Connor smiled at the action, but Xander felt his face scrunch up.
“Oh, man. I didn’t want to see you macking on Buffy in high school, and I really don’t want to see you macking on my ex-girlfriend!”
Cordy broke the kiss and turned to her old flame. “Emphasis on the ex part, Xander.”
“Are we going to have to worry about him going all Angelus on us?” he demanded, crossing his arms.
She turned back Angel, who just smiled and shrugged. “Maybe,” she grinned, knowing full well that neither one of them would let that happen, but it was fun to watch Xander sweat.
“Oh, this just great,” the young man said; throwing his arms in the air before he stood up and looked up at the ceiling. “Could my night get any better?”
“Um, guys,” Connor broke in, looking at the emergency exit door that was now opened. The rest of the group turned to see what he was looking at and found several different demons were standing there, ready for a fight.
Cordy and Angel scrambled to their feet before the group took off for the door they had come in through. “It was a rhetorical question!” Xander exclaimed, cursing himself for jinxing them like that as the demons began to chase them.
The group charged up the stairs and back into the gym, slamming the metal door behind them as they exited. Angel leaned against the door while the others went in search of something to barricade the door that was threatening to open at any second. The other three found the crate that held the basketballs nearby and began to push it towards Angel.
“You just had to say that, didn’t you?!” Cordy spat at him angrily as they placed the bin in front of the door. “God, you really are Zippo!”
“Hey, you better be glad this Zippo came along with you or you’d be annoying the hell out of some angel instead of us!” He bit back as they started to the main entrance once they were satisfied that the crate would hold back the demons for the time being.
Angel rolled his eyes. It was like being with two small children who didn’t like each other. He might love Cordy, but this really was getting on his nerves. “Guys, would you please just-“
The group froze when they walked into the main entrance where they had split up with Buffy and Spike and found that more demons were making their way towards the school. What? Did someone ring the dinner bell or something? Calling all demons, we have an injured miracle child of two vamps, a seer who almost drown, a carpenter who almost drown, and a vampire who saved them from the frying pan only to lead them into the fire.
Connor fell back into a fighting stance along with his father, and both Cordy and Xander instinctively lifted their fists. Yeah, this was going to be fun.
**********
Part 12:
Part 12: The Light
Oz watched as Tara and Giles prepare for the spell, and his mind momentarily wondered back to poor Marie. This was what she had been doing moments before Willow came. This had been what the witch was doing before the red-head killed her. His heart dropped at the thought of the young women. Marie might have died physically, but he knew that once Willow was Willow again, she would die from the knowledge of what she had done.
“I think that’s everything,” Tara said softly, looking around at the changed surroundings.
Giles nodded his head in agreement as he looked down at the circle they had drawn on the floor with the black pot that rested in the middle. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before handing her the ingredients, which included some of Willow’s hair that they had found in Tara’s brush in her purse.
Anya was watching from the counter she was leaning on, and Oz could already see her trying to think up a way to clean up that circle on the ground before they opened on Monday.
Van was still at the table, but his head was down on his crossed arms and he had eventually drifted off to sleep. The ball that he had been playing with earlier that evening was resting gently beside his feet as the boy slept. Though he had wanted his own toys earlier, he had pretty much claimed the ball as his own. Oz couldn’t help but wonder if Buffy or Anya would be able to tear their child’s toy away from the kid.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to do this?” Giles asked as Tara stepped into the circle, sat down, and he handed her the book Marie had been using earlier.
“I’ll do it,” she said with a strange confidence for Tara. “For Willow.”
“Besides, if you can’t bind her magic, I’m sure Buffy and the others will be able to destroy her before she does any real damage,” Anya offered, which earned her a glare from Giles. “What?”
Oz shook his head and looked around the store once more. That was funny, he didn’t see Eric anywhere. The werewolf walked over to the back entrance, and glanced into the training room as Tara and Giles began to mix the ingredients. He wasn’t there either.
Growing more worried by the moment as to where his friend could have gone, Oz went over to the sleeping boy, and gently shook his shoulder. Van drew in a deep breath as his sleepy eyes opened and looked at the young man before him.
“Hey, Van. Where’s your dad?”
The boy’s eyes fell closed again while he made a showing of shrugging his shoulders before he made himself more comfortable. “Don’t know,” the boy mumbled into his arms. “Told me to give you this.”
The kid sat up a little, and produced a folded piece of paper that he had been hiding under his arms. Oz took it and the kid was asleep before he had a chance to even open it. He frowned when he saw what it said.
Oz,
Take care of Van for me.
Eric
The werewolf crumpled the piece of paper in his hand, knowing full well that his friend indeed had gone off after Buffy and the others. As Tara prepared to read from the book, Oz thought to himself, Damn it, Eric. I hope you know what you’re doing.
**********
Buffy and Spike crept along the hallway towards the new principal’s office. Spike had made a good point about how, if Willow was holed up in the school, she’d probably want to be near the Hellmouth. No place closer than the room that was built directly over it. This all had been way too easy so far. She hadn’t set any traps for them or tried to stop them in anyway. It was almost as if she wanted them to come. That scared Buffy more than anything. Traps she could handle, direct invitations meant that Willow wasn’t worried about them being able to stop her.
The two stood on either side of the door, silently waiting for the other to give the singal to go. This was why she always liked working with Spike. He could just look at her and know what had to be done. Their priorities were Dawn and Dylan and keeping them safe until Tara could do the spell. They didn’t want to hurt Willow, but, if it came down to her or their family, they would.
Buffy paused at the thought. Since when had it become their family? As in belonging to both of them together. Yeah, Dylan was theirs, she understood that, but she had included Dawn in that last thought. Did that mean that he had become a member of her family?
Who are you kidding, Buffy? He’s been a member of the family since before Dylan was born, she thought.
He smiled at her wearily, silently reassuring her that it was going to be alright. There was no mistaking the concern and love in those eyes. When this was over, they really were going to have a very long talk.
She sighed deeply, looked towards the door, then nodded her head. He copied her movement, reached for the door, and the two walked in ready for a fight.
The room was rather dark, even with the artificial overhead light, but Buffy could make out the broken desk off to the side. The oak furniture had been basically broken in half with sharp ends sticking out, waiting like long knives that wished to stab anyone unfortunate enough wonder to close. She would have to remember to keep Spike away from that side of the room.
But a small movement from the middle of the floor was what drew Buffy’s attention. Sitting there quietly was Dylan, smiling at her parents as if they had just showed up to pick her up from Giles’ apartment or Xander and Anya’s, instead of saving her from mortal danger.
“Daddy! Swayer!” she smiled happily, holding her arms out for them.
Buffy rushed forward to her daughter, only to be thrown back hard by some sort of barrier. She hit the ground hard and slid back a few feet to Spike, who bent down to help her.
“You alright, love?” he asked, helping her up, all the while scanning the room.
Before she could answer, a small voice whimpered, “Buffy.”
The slayer and vampire turned and saw Dawn standing off in a dark corner, her body stiff as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” the teenager said. “I thought if she got what she wanted, then she would let Dylan go. I didn’t mean to make things worse.”
“Funny how people who never mean to make things worse always manage too,” another woman’s voice answered from their other side.
Buffy jerked her head over and watched as Willow shimmered - yeah, that’s a good word for it - in from the shadows. A childish, insane grin played on her lips as she looked at the parents before her. Buffy heard Spike growl lowly as his body tensed; that was when she noticed the rather large dagger that her friend was holding in her crossed arms.
“Now, come, come, Spikey,” Willow laughed. “Is that anyway to greet an old friend?”
“No,” he bit back, Buffy feeling his body coil up like a cat does before it pounces on its prey. “But you’re no friend of mine. Are you, Red?”
“Oh, looks and a brain,” Willow said, jerking her eyebrows up before turning to Buffy. “Look’s like you got a smart one this time.”
Spike leapt at the red head. Buffy watched as the witch’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, then jerked her arm around like she was swatting away a pesky fly. Spike was knocked off course by the motion, and sent crashing into an opposite wall. The slayer jumped to her feet while her friend was temporarily distracted, but Willow just jerked her head towards her old friend. It felt like someone had knocked her in the head with a sledgehammer and sent the blonde flying back. Buffy landed with a hard thud back on the ground, and slid across the floor until she hit the bookcase set up beside the door.
An evil grin grew on the witch’s face as she slowly started to walk towards a dazed Buffy. The slayer blinked several times, trying to clear her slightly blurred vision. Willow bent down in front of her old friend, and said, “Now you want to see what I can really do?”
Willow spread her hands wide and a black fog engulfed Buffy, an electrical current causing her whole body to tense in pain. When Buffy refused to scream, the witch increased the voltage, knowing if it went up much more it would kill her.
A cold growl was let out, distracting the witch from what she was doing for a moment. Spike was coming after her again, but Willow rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“Down, boy,” Willow said. The witch once again swung her free hand, and sent him sailing directly at the sharp ends of the desk before he crashed into it.
“NO!!”
**********
Tara sat in the middle of the circle, concentrating on the picture of Willow in her mind. She was helping her, that’s all. She was trying to take Willow’s magic for good reason. Willow would understand once she got back to normal.
Giles held the book open, and she began to read from it and do as it said.
“Child of light, cannot be dead.
The darkness within, has been fed.”
*********
Buffy looked in horror as he hung there mid-air, her own pain temporally forgotten, as the sharp end of the desk began to dig into his skin. Spike’s face contorted in pain as he groaned lowly. The slayer tried to get to her feet to help him, but found that some invisible force held her in place. She couldn’t even move her arms that rested on the ground. It felt like she was glued there.
Willow grinned as she stood, forgetting about the slayer in favor of her new toy. She walked across the room slowly, switching the dagger from hand to hand until she reached him. He was leaning forward on the desk. If he took in a breath, he would be dust. She bent down low to his face, and studied him for a moment.
“Does it hurt?” Willow asked like a small child. “I bet it does.”
“Go to hell,” he bit at her coldly through his teeth.
“Been there, done that, looks a lot like Jersey,” she said. “But maybe you’ll like it better than me.”
“NO!” Dawn screamed as Willow moved her hand over to his back to push him down.
Buffy struggled for all she was worth, but whatever Willow had done to her was holding fast. Her eyes were wet as she looked up and found that he was looking back at her with apologetic eyes. She couldn’t lose him! Not now! Not when she finally realized that she-
Buffy felt something move past her, brushing her slightly while it leapt through the air with a loud growl. Willow turned at the sound, temporarily forgetting about Spike and what she was about to do, when the thing rammed into her and knocked her to the ground.
**********
Tara crumpled up the maple root and let it fall into the pot.
“Her spirit is strong, her flesh is weak.
A demon control, through her it does speak.”
*********
Buffy watched as Willow and the half transformed werewolf struggled on the ground; the sandy blond on top of the witch, snapping at her viciously. The red-heads eyes became jet black as she fought with him, and a build up of energy exploded around her, sending him flying in the opposite direction of her. He crashed hard into the wall, breaking it upon impact.
Willow pushed herself up, wiped the side of her mouth that had a thin trickle of blood running down it, and locked her insane eyes on the panting creature.
“Oh, another puppy to play with,” she laughed, bringing the dagger up and slowly walking towards him.
*********
Tara held up the few red hairs they had gathered and looked at them for a long moment. This was it, the moment of truth. Willow, please forgive me for what I am about to do, but you’re more then your magic, Tara thought. She just hoped Willow realized that.
“Bind her magic, so she may do no harm,
So that the demon cannot be armed.”
She dropped the hair into the pot, and the room exploded with a blinding white light.
*********
Willow was halfway to her destination when Buffy saw her stop dead in her tracks with a jerk. Her eyes were wide as if in pain, and she dropped the dagger to grab her head.
“No,” Willow said lowly, stumbling backwards. “No! Not now!!”
A white light began to build around Buffy’s friend, very dim at first, but soon it was almost blinding. The slayer pulled at her arms to try and cover her eyes, but the magic held, so she squeezed her eyes into thin slits when it became over-powering. She could barely make out the figure that was standing in the middle of the room, near Buffy’s strangely quiet daughter, as Willow turned her head up towards the sky and began to scream an ungodly scream.
The light seemed to stop for a split second before exploding like a firework and spreading throughout the whole school. For all Buffy knew, it could have been through all of Sunnydale.
The slayer shut her eyes tight for a moment, but opened them just enough to watch as Willow’s body began to spasm before an entire separate entity was pulled forward from her. The ugly beast continued to scream as Willow began to quiet, before the creature was engulfed in the white light. A second later, the light was gone, its only memory the spots that where before Buffy’s eyes.
She watched as Willow gave out a sigh, then slumped to her knees and fell forward completely unconscious.
**********
Xander brought his arm away from his face as the light died and blinked several times to get his sight back. The others were doing the same while the carpenter tried to decided exactly what happened. He glanced towards the entrance where all the demons were coming, and felt his face jerk in surprise when he saw that they were all gone. There was nothing out there except the cloudy sky that was starting to welcome sunrise.
“Okay, now that was just cool.”
**********
Tara slumped backward from the circle, giving out a deep sigh of exhaustion. Giles dropped the book he had been holding for her to read, and went to her side, cradling the weakened girl. That spell had taken a lot out of her. Hell, it had taken a lot out of him and he hadn’t even done it. He couldn’t imagine what it must be doing to her.
Anya and Oz walked over to the two, concern on their faces as Oz bent down next to her.
“So, you think it worked?” Anya asked.
*********
The first thing Dawn was aware of once the light was gone was that Willow was lying on the ground. The second thing she realized was that she could move again. True, it was stiff movements, like when she had ridden to long in the car, but she could move nonetheless.
Buffy pushed herself up off the ground as Dawn ran across the room and scooped her niece up into her arms. The two women quickly checked the child over, and were pleasantly surprised to find her unharmed. Buffy let out a sigh of relief, before giving her sister a quick once over. Dawn too was unharmed for the most part.
Spike groaned loudly as the invisible force that held him against the broken desk let go and allowed him to fall away from it. He landed hard on the ground, and Dawn watched her sister hurry to his side. The baby clung to her aunt as she slowly approached the couple.
“You okay?” Buffy asked gently touching the wound on his chest.
“Nothin’ a few pints of the ‘red stuff’ won’t cure,” he told her with a weak smile, that she returned. He rolled his head slightly, and looked up at Dawn. “What about the poppet? She alright?”
“Yeah,” Dawn said, swaying with the little girl. “She’s…sleeping?”
The parents exchanged a confused look before getting up off the ground and inspecting the child for themselves. As her aunt had said, the eleven-month-old was fast asleep in her arms, her little fist near her mouth that was hanging slightly open. Buffy smiled sweetly at the little girl, touched the side of her head, and then placed a small kiss on her forehead.
“So, can we go home now?” the teenager asked wearily.
Buffy smiled and nodded her head. “Yeah. Demon gone, you and Dylan are safe. I say we get the others to help with Willow and Eric and get-“
“Wait,” Spike spoke up. He moved between Buffy and Dawn, and began to study the slayer.
“Spike, what are you doing?” Buffy asked.
“Wolf Boy said that thing will jump into a supernatural host, right?”
“Yeah,” she answered, still not following his line of thought.
“Well, slayers aren’t exactly normal, now are they, love?” he asked.
Her eyes widened at the suggestion. “You think it could be in me?!”
“I don’t think it just disappeared.”
“Spike, you idiot. I would never hurt Dylan or Dawn!”
“No, I don’t think you would. But you wouldn’t know if you were infected,” he pointed out.
“I’m not!” she bit back.
“How do you know, pet?”
“Because I do!”
Dawn pulled Dylan closer to her as the parents continued to argue. There was a demon that could jump into a different host? That wasn’t good. And if it did jump into Buffy, that would be even worse.
“Just want to be sure the poppet’s safe here, slayer,” he told her.
“She is! It’s gone!”
“Buffy-“
A blood curdling scream rang through the room and Dawn turned just in time to see the werewolf charging at her and Dylan, the knife that Willow had planned on using in hand. Dawn screamed as the knife cut through the air, and pierced through soft skin.
**********
Buffy didn’t think, she reacted. She saw Eric coming after her baby and her sister, and she moved. That simple step would change everything - she knew that - but she had to protect them. They were hers, and she wouldn’t let them be harmed.
Her body moved in front of the other two just as Eric prepared to slam it into Dawn’s stomach. Buffy’s face jerked from the sharp pain that came with the impact, and the two beings stood there looking at one another, connected by the weapon in his hand and in her stomach.
Eric smiled a toothy grin at her, his eyes yellow from halfway being changed, and his blond hair covering more then half his face. “You might have saved the angel from this fate, but you sealed yours,” he told her lowly, a glint of insanity behind his eyes; the same insanity that Willow had possessed moments before. Looks like Oz had been right about that demon.
Buffy heard a roar and then watched as Spike wrapped his hands around Eric’s head and popped his neck, killing both the demon and the man. As the werewolf’s body fell to the ground, the knife slipped out of her stomach, and Buffy was quick to cover the wound. She looked up and saw Spike growl once more at the body at his feet, then look up at her, his eyes wide when he saw what had been done to her. She managed to shake her head to not alarm Dawn who she had her back to.
“Dawn,” she pushed, barely turning her head back to her sister. “Get Dylan out of here.”
“Buffy? Are you okay?” Dawn asked, moving closer to her sister.
The slayer forced a smile and nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied. “Now, please, get Dylan out of here.”
Dawn didn’t believe her, she could feel she didn’t. The teenager looked to Spike, but the vampire simply agreed with her sister. “Please, Niblet. We’ll take care of Red.”
The young girl bit down onto her lip, not liking that they were obviously hiding something from her, but turned and left like she was asked. Buffy was barely managing to stand by the time the door shut, and she slumped to the ground in pain. Spike went down with her, holding her to him as he sat on the ground and kept her elevated slightly on his bent up knees.
He reached down and gently pushed her hand away to survey the injury. She watched as his eyes grew wide and scared, but he tried to mask it when he looked at her again when she yawned. She was so tired.
“Hey, come on, Slayer,” Spike said nervously as she lay there, all anger gone from the argument they were having just moments before. “Can’t let you get too comfortable here. Got to get back to the others and all.”
She smiled weakly at him, her own hostility forgotten. “That good, huh?”
He laughed, but it didn’t reach his frightened eyes, as he shook his head. “Na, just a scratch. You’ll be up and about, threatenin’ to kick my sorry ass before you know it.”
Buffy laughed softly at him. “Don’t lie to me, Spike,” she warned. “You’re not any good at it anymore.”
It was funny, the wound suddenly didn’t hurt so bad anymore. In fact, she didn’t feel it at all. Something in the back of her mind screamed that this was a bad thing, but it didn’t feel like it. It felt…right, like this was how it was supposed to work out. She had saved her daughter and her sister, but it was going to cost her. Strange thing was, she didn’t mind. Still, there were things to be taken care of.
“Spike, do you remember your promise?” she asked him, her voice sounding soft even to her. He blinked, and she could clearly see how shiny his eyes were. “Keep her safe. Raise her right.”
“We’ll raise her right,” he told her firmly.
Buffy shook her head. “No, but you will.”
She felt her strength leaving her. It wouldn’t be long now. She was actually looking forward to it.
He pulled her a little closer to him, and pressed his forehead against hers. “I love you,” he said, as if that simple statement would make her stay.
It was getting darker fast, and she felt as weak as she ever had. Still, a small smile crossed her face and she managed to push herself up and kiss him lightly.
“I love you,” she told him in a hushed voice before falling into that eternal slumber she had always dreamed of, leaving him there to cry for her.
**********
AN: Okay, going to tell you know, this is not the end of the series, so don’t be too upset with me. More to come soon, I promise.
Part 13: Tuesday
Lindsey sat back in the chair in the waiting room. What was taking them so long? Surely they would know something by now.
Across from her, Mrs. Travers sat with Mr. Jefferson on one side of her and Mr. Blare on the other. The old woman looked more annoyed then concerned about her husband’s current condition as the two Watchers assured her that everything would be alright. If Lindsey were to guess, the woman was probably more concerned about being pulled from her weekly bridge game and what the girls would say when she returned, than what the doctor would tell her about her husband’s condition.
Lindsey had been the one to find him. She heard him shouting, then that awful crashing sound as he fell to the ground. By the time she made it into his office, he was already convulsing, and she had called for an ambulance right away. From what the paramedics told her, it sounded as if he had had a stroke, a massive one. That was very peculiar. Mr. Travers was always in such good health for his age. For him to just have a stroke like this was just plan…odd.
“Mrs. Travers?” an older doctor said, coming into the waiting room.
The old crone got to her feet, along with Lindsey and the Watchers as the doctor approached them. He had a grim look on his face as he held tightly onto a clip board and pulled off his glasses.
A moment of panic washed over the woman’s eyes. Probably worried that she would lose her social standing if something should happen to Quentin.
“Your husband has suffered a severe stoke to the brain-stem. It was touch and go there for awhile, but I am glad to inform you that he has stabilized. However, the attack was so brutal, that I am afraid he will need extensive physical and speech therapy, but he should fully recover in time.”
“Will he be able to return to work?” the woman asked.
Lindsey frowned. Yeah, she had a lot of concern for him.
The doctor shook his head. “With the severity of the attack, and his age, that doesn’t look like a possibility.”
The secretary sighed deeply. So much for her job at the Council.
**********
They buried her on a Tuesday, a week before Dylan’s first birthday. Like the day she had died, the sky was gray and thick with clouds and rained on the group that stood around and listened to the preacher give those final passing words for the dead. He hadn’t known her, and spoke of her only in that generic way some preachers do when they are called to do a stranger’s funeral. They were pretty words, ones he had probably practiced a lot in his time in Sunnydale; too many times in fact.
Giles and Joyce had been tucked under one black umbrella, Dylan resting comfortably in her grandmother’s arms. The baby didn’t understand why all the grown-ups were so sad, but she did her best to comfort the older woman by holding tightly onto her.
Dawn and Connor had occupied another umbrella. Connor had held it between them with his good arm as Dawn cried beside him. He hadn’t known her that well, but he had liked Buffy well enough. He wished he could shed tears for her, but it’s hard to mourn for someone you don’t know. He thought he would have really liked her had he been given the chance.
Cordy and Angel were next to the kids. Cordelia had her arms snaked around the older vampire’s waist, trying to offer her comfort to him while trying to get some from him at the same time. He hadn’t been in love with Buffy any longer when they had arrived; his heart now belonged to woman at his side. Still, this was painful. One of the most painful things that he had ever had to do.
Xander and Anya had clung onto one another. They had left Jessie with a babysitter that day, but they wished she would have come. It wasn’t that they felt she would have understood any better then Dylan what was happening, but they needed her. They needed to hold her, and make sure that everything was alright.
Oz and Tara stood on either side of Willow, who had been out of it ever since she woke up. Oz had been true to his word, she hadn’t remembered anything that had happened, but she had demanded to know. The ugly truth wasn’t something easy to handle, and she hadn’t. The poor witch had hardly said two words since the revelation of her actions while she was under the demon’s power.
Oz was going to do what Eric had asked him; he was going to take care of Van. The boy was going to need someone who would be able to help him with his ‘little problem’. Oz was qualified for that. He would make sure that the kid would be alright.
Spike had stood off by himself during the service, watching numbly as she was lowered below while he stood in the pouring rain. He had been the only one who hadn’t used an umbrella, and thus had gotten thoroughly soaked, but no one said anything.
They were back at Joyce’s now, the few that had said goodbye to their friend. News of her death had become a closely guarded secret for the time being until they could decide exactly what to do. It wouldn’t be long until word got out among the beasties that the Slayer was dead again and the Hellmouth was once more left unguarded. Prehaps they could get that Faith girl to come back and stay until they got things in order.
Spike sighed as he leaned against the railing on the back porch. She loved him. She had actually told him she loved him. He thought he would have never heard her say such a thing, but she had. And instead of celebrating, he had to put her in the ground?! It wasn’t bloody fair!!
His face morphed as an animalistic growl escaped from deep with his throat. He grabbed the first thing he could reach, which happened to be one of Joyce’s plants, and smashed it against the wall. It did little to help his anger, though.
“Never liked that plant anyway.”
Spike spun towards the door and found the middle-age blonde standing there, a cup of something steaming liquid clasped in her hands. She looked old - never thought of describing the feisty woman that way - and the cuts and bruises on her face did nothing to help.
“Sorry,” he said morphing back to his human face, a bit ashamed of her catching him like that.
“Don’t be,” Joyce said coming over to stand by him. “Like I said, never liked that plant anyway.”
She gave him a smile, but her eyes told him that she felt very much the same as him. Her daughter had been taken away from her for a second time in as many years. Only this time, there was no way she could come back.
“How do you do it?” he asked quietly. “How do you keep from just breakin’ down?”
“You’re a hundred and twenty-year-old vampire and you’re asking me how to get over death?” she smiled. When she saw he found no humor in the statement, she sighed.
“Spike…William, this is the second time I have had to grieve for my daughter. After the first time, I was a complete mess. I don’t think that I got out of bed for a week after the funeral. But I had Dawn, and I knew she needed me to take care of her and protect her, just like Buffy would have wanted. I knew that those monks had created her, had just made up my memories of finding out I was pregnant with her, carrying her, giving birth to her, watching her first steps, her first words - which, by the way, was brownie.” He chuckled, and so did she. She went on, “Her first day of school, her first crush, when she and I both found out about Buffy being the slayer.”
“Remember that,” he said. “Niblet didn’t buy the whole band thing for minute.”
“Neither one of us did,” Joyce informed him. “I love my daughter, but musically talented she is not.” A loud pause passed between them as something silently corrected her with ‘was’. After a moment, she continued on softly, “The point is Buffy had given me something to help me go on. She gave me another daughter. I would have never made it without Dawn. And she left someone else who’s going to need us.”
“Dylan,” he supplied.
Joyce gave a small nod of agreement. “I’m her grandmother, and I love her more than life itself; but you’re her father, she needs you to take care of her since Buffy can’t. You know that.”
He didn’t say anything, but they both knew she was right. Dylan did need him because she surely didn’t understand what was going on. Speaking of the little one…
“Where is the poppet anyway?”
She gave him a weary smile. “Dawn put her down for her nap a little while ago. I guess I should go get her, she’s probably up and hungry by now.”
“No,” he said, pushing away from the railing. “I’ll get her.”
Spike moved quietly through the house that was still filled with Scoobies, most of which that had gathered in the living room and where softly speaking to one another. None of them noticed him, save the vampire that was leaning against the wall next to the foyer entrance.
“Will,” Angel said in a small voice that would have been missed by anyone who didn’t have enhanced hearing.
Spike paused at his the use of his real name. Blue eyes met brown in an intense stare that most would have mistaken for an open show of hostility towards one another. It was a knowing look, telling Spike that Angel somehow knew everything. Not that it was an easy thing to miss, though most of the Scoobies had turned a blind eye towards it. Spike didn’t know if the Poof knew that Buffy had loved him back, but frankly he didn’t care. He knew; that was enough for him.
“Angelus,” he answered before continuing on up the stairs.
Her bedroom door slid open quietly, the only sound being the slight scraping against the carpet. A filtered light bled in through the window as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He glanced towards the crib, but the child inside was still laying on her back, sleeping that peaceful slumber that only innocent children enjoy.
With a sigh, Spike turned his attention back to the room. Everything was still just as she had left it, down to the book that was resting peacefully on the bed. He walked over and took it from the spot she had laid it, and found that she had been reading Wuthering Heights. Now that he thought about it, he did remember her saying something about her having to read it for school. A Two of Hearts stuck out the top of the paper back copy, marking the place where she had stopped the night before…marking the place where she stopped. Sighing, he tossed the book back on the comforter and watched as it bounced softly once before coming to a peaceful rest.
“Daddy,” a small voice said, drawing his attention upward from the book.
Dylan was standing up in her crib, looking at him strangely, like he didn’t belong there. Guess it did seem strange to her, since the only time he ever came up there was with Buffy to put Dylan to bed.
“Hey, pip,” he said, walking over to the crib and scooping her up into his arms.
The little girl snuggled in close to him, tucking her head under his chin. He smiled, unconsciously falling into a rocking motion.
“Want Mommy,” she declared, causing him to stop dead cold. Dylan finally called her Mommy, and she wasn’t there to hear it.
Spike moved his head and placed a soft kiss on the child’s forehead. “I know, baby,” he told her. “I want her here too.”
**********
The End of Part Two
**********
AN: Okay, the next in the series, called ‘Again’, probably won’t come out until after Thanksgiving. I know, it seems like a long time, but I need to take a little break. Also, I want to thank everyone who reviews (I got over a hundred for this story *happy dance*) I love hearing from you guys and I thank you for taking the time to review. Well, have a great holiday!