Title: Summers Requiem

Rated: PG-13

Summary: Buffy decides to go back and fix the future she and the Scoobies created.

Disclaimer: I own nothing; Joss, UPN, and the WB own everything. Please don’t sue me.

Spoilers: Major spoilers for ‘The Gift’ and a couple through the end of the series.

Special Thanks: To my beta, Kris. And also to my friend Haley.

AN: This is just basically a rewrite of ‘The Gift’. Don’t ask where the idea came from. Oh, and there is dialogue taken directly from the episode of “The Gift” and I don’t own that either. And I’ve been told the beginning is kind of dark, so consider this your warning on that too. Anyway, on with the story, and hopefully someone will enjoy.

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Chapter One

Summers ran down the hall of the old college building. At one time, it had housed professors’ offices and student service; now it was a highly guarded facility that men would kill to protect.

Why?

Well, for one, the offices of the International Organization for Humanity, or the I.O.H. as most called it, was based here. They ran things now that the old government had fallen into chaos. It was an organization dedicated to nothing more than destroying those that it thought ‘unclean’, which ranged from all demons to witches or those who practiced the craft to the slayers that had been a part of what was now known as the Great Calling. No one was safe from them, not even their own people.

If anyone in their family was found to have any sort of magical or mystical ties, even if it was generations back, that person would be put on ‘the List’; those that it was alright to treat as sub-humans because that was what they were considered.

She knew her name was at the top of that list, and would remain there until the day she died.

Another reason why the college was so closely guarded - it rested on top of the Hellmouth, and he who controlled the Hellmouth had the power. They might think that all magic was bad, but they were certainly bright enough to recognize they needed to control it if they wanted to rule.

Damn hypocrites.

All around her, the security system was screaming that an intruder was on the premise. Well, there were several actually, including herself. She had left Jason back at the front gate to lead the riot.

The thought of those people outside made her heart sink into her stomach. Lots of them were going to die because she ordered it, so she could have this one shot at making things right. She had learned five years ago how to be a general in an army and what it meant.

She hoped Giles was proud of her, wherever he was.

As she rounded a corner, Summers came to a full stop when she saw two heavily armed guards standing directly outside the door she needed to go through. They turned to her and raised their weapons.

“Freeze!” one of them yelled as they fired and, at the same time, she dove back into the attached hallway.

She rolled a few feet from the entrance before coming to rest while lying on her belly and covering her head. When the shooting stopped, her head shot up and she listened as the footsteps came running towards her. She needed to disappear.

The two guards rounded the corner, their weapons raised, ready to fire, but found the hallway empty. The corridor was still as the men slowly walked down it, ready to fire at anything that moved. The alarm was still blaring, but it sounded far away and was muffled by the sounds of their own boots clicking against the linoleum floor and their steady breaths.

When they came to the first set of office doors, the guard on the left carefully reached to open it while still holding his weapon up by his face. His hand had nearly touched the tarnished gold knob when the door suddenly slammed open. The plywood and glass exploded against the guard’s face and body, shattering the frosted window that still had the visible impression of the name of the professor that had once occupied the room.

The automatic fell heavily on the strap that held it as the guard stumbled backwards from the door with a concussion and a broken nose that bloodied his face. Just as the other man readied his own weapon to fire at the woman who had done the damage, Summers’ arm shot out, grabbed the disoriented guard in front of her, and jerked his body in front of her as his friend opened fire right into his back.

She gritted her teeth tightly together as the body of her human shield jerked and danced in a strange motion from the bullets being emptied into his back. The ordeal seemed to last a lifetime before the guard had emptied a whole cartridge into his former friend’s body and had to reload. She took the opportunity to let go of the man, but grabbed his sidearm as his body fell away from hers. The other guard looked up at her with a great deal of surprise before she fired twice, hitting him once in the chest and the other in the face. He made a grunting sound before falling backwards to the ground.

Giving no more mind to the men, Summers turned back down the hall and continued to the door they had been guarding, the pistol still swinging in her hand, ready for her to use at a moments notice.

Her eyes tilted up to the small camera mounted near the door, and a smirk crept onto her face. While she walked towards it, she lifted the firearm, and destroyed the camera with a single shot. With sparks flying down on her head, she forcefully opened the door and went inside.

The woman waiting inside turned quickly from the window that overlooked the riot below. The sounds of shots and painful screams could barely be heard from behind the glass, and the dull orange reflection of a far away fire danced and weaved against the window pane. The color made her hair seem redder than Summers remembered, and her pale skin reflected it nicely.

“Buffy,” Willow breathed, half from surprise, half from fear.

The name echoed in the room and caused the one time blonde woman to flinch.

She knew it was her name. The name her mother had given her. The name Angel had said before she sent him to hell. The name her friends called when they were in danger. The name that demons and vampires had feared for over a decade. The name that the I.O.H. wanted erased more than any other.

Still, it sounded foreign to her ears. No one called her that anymore. Not since the day Xander had been murdered.

The slayer’s face became hard as she looked at her old friend. Once more they found themselves on opposite sides of the fence, and, once again, it was because of a woman that Willow loved.

“It’s time, Willow,” she said, her voice void of any emotion.

The witch’s face relaxed a bit, but was no less concerned. Drawing a sharp breath, she gave a small nod and went to collect the items she needed from a shelf on the other side of the room.

“Do you really think this pathetic plan of yours is going to work?” she heard a voice say from behind her.

She didn’t turn around; she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. But she knew he was there, towering over her. The voice she recognized as belonging to her one time ‘soul mate’, but she knew it wasn’t him. Angel had died nearly three years ago after the government had raided Wolfram and Heart. No, the creature behind her was something else, something old and non-corporeal, something that had been hounding her since she helped stop his army five years ago from rising in Sunnydale. The always annoying First.

“This plan will go just about as well as your last big one did,” the First/Angel whispered with a small laugh. The slayer could almost feel an imaginary breath on her ear, and she had to fight to keep from shuttering. “Can’t wait to see how you screw this one up.”

“Screw yourself,” she bit out coldly.

Willow looked up from drawing the circle on the ground at the comment. Her green eyes were wide and innocent, reminding Summers of how her friend had looked back in high school and their first year of college.

“Not you,” the slayer told her.

Willow made a perfect ‘o’ with her mouth before returning to her work. The redhead had just completed the circle when the now brunette glanced towards the window.

“Hurry, Wills, we don’t have much time,” she warned.

“You’ll never make it,” the First/Anya informed her with a flip of her hair as she trotted over to the nearby rosewood desk.

The ghost figure of her friend seemed to consider the piece of furniture for a moment, then turned around to face the slayer and leaned back, almost like she was resting on the desk.

“Your little rebel gang out there is being slaughtered as we speak, ‘cause, remember,” Anya morphed into Vi, “you taught us everything you know. And none of us paid as close attention as Kennedy. She always wanted to be the best. I guess now, she is.”

As if to illustrate the point, a faint, bloodcurdling scream carried on the wind to the building. The First/Vi smiled at the sound, like she was savoring every second.

“Looks like another one of your friends bites the dust,” she mocked.

“I’m ready,” Willow announced, drawing Summers’ attention away from the creature. The witch took a seat just outside the drawn circle.

The redhead began to chant in a language that the slayer didn’t recognize, but could remember Giles speaking the last time they had tried this. Her stomach sunk as she thought about it, and how they had come so close only to have the I.O.H. storm in and screw everything up. Somehow she had managed to escape with some others, but Giles had been caught. The next day, he had been executed for practicing banned black magic.

Summers felt the energy start to build in the room, while the First morphed into her old Watcher. He looked just like she had last seen him, a concerned manner on his much older face while he watched the door. Looking back over at Summers, he announced, “They’re coming, you know. They have already killed the rioters and are heading back this way. You and Willow will be next.”

Said redhead’s head jerked back at that exact moment, her chest lifting slightly upward from the power she was calling from the Hellmouth. A bright line of light illuminated from the center of the circle then exploded outwards until it reached the drawn perimeter of sand. The witch then slumped to the floor and a smile grew on the slayer’s lips.

“Not this time,” Summers grinned to the surprised Giles.

She then looked down at her friend, who raised her eyes to meet the brunette’s. An understanding passed between them, and Willow sighed before a peaceful look passed over her face. Summers laid the handgun on the desk, gave a rue smirk to the form of her old mentor, and darted for the light.

“No!” he screamed, his arms grabbing at her. But since he had no true form, they passed right through her body. The slayer then disappeared into the light, which vanished a moment later.

**********

Slowly, Willow pushed herself off the floor. That had taken a lot out of her, but she had expected that. Magic of that magnitude always wore out the one who practiced it; she had done enough spells like them to know that.

She stumbled to the desk and leaned against it while she fought for some strength. She had done the right thing; even if she felt like a traitor, she knew in her heart that it had been right.

The door swung open, nearly pulling the piece of plywood off its hinges.

Willow forced herself to stand up straight, but found herself still leaning against the desk as she turned to face the dark-haired woman. Kennedy stood there with several men behind her, looking about the office with a mixture of confusion and disgust. The redhead stood her ground, telling her lover that she indeed knew what had happened there and was not ashamed of it.

Kennedy frowned, her face betraying the anger, contempt, and sadness she felt. She was the one and only slayer that Willow was supposed to be helping; the one that had been granted sanction by the I.O.H. so long as she did as they asked. She was the Chosen One now, she was the law. And she knew that Willow had betrayed her.

“Where is she, goddess?” the brunette asked, using her pet name for the witch.

“Somewhere you’ll never find her, slayer,” Willow answered, bringing the pistol Summers had laid on the desk to her own mouth.

The shot that was fired could be heard throughout the compound and echoed out into the cold, dark night.

**********

Chapter Two

The burned out school was a dark place where people could easily get lost if they did not know where they were going. It looked nothing like the place of higher education that it once had been, but, when a bomb goes off in the middle of it, that could be understood. All that was left now was the shell of a building, and a large hole that had once been the school library.

A warm breeze from the late spring night blew through the crater, pushing along a burnt piece of paper that had been resting on the ground. It danced along in the wind, swirling and twirling in large circles with pieces of dirt and soot that had been collected along with it in a strange ballet that only nature could fully appreciate. But the show was disturbed when small lightening bolts began to rise and build in the middle of the room and a bright flash of light followed.

Summers grunted as she fell from within the light to the ground with a loud thud. She hit her shoulder hard, and had been momentarily blinded. A second after she had exited, the light drew in on itself and left her alone in the dark.

The brunette groaned as she lay there, unable to move. Her whole body hurt from the trip and was screaming at her to rest for just a moment on the cool ground, but she knew she couldn’t. She wasn’t exactly sure how much time she had to stop all this. A few minutes? Days maybe? All she did know was that she had to find the others.

Slowly, and with some difficulty, she pushed herself up onto her knees and felt her heart stop when she realized exactly where she was. Her old alma mater, the one she had blown up on graduation day to save her town: Sunnydale High.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she recalled Giles telling her that performing the spell over the Hellmouth would take her to the old active one, but she never really believed him. Part of her had been sure she would wake up and find herself back at the college in Cleveland with some professor screaming his head off about this mysterious girl that had suddenly appeared in his office. Instead, she found herself in the one place she thought she would never see again, and really hoped she wouldn’t.

Summers glanced around the room until her eyes came to rest on the place she knew well. She could feel it; that was where the seal was buried. That would be the place she would lead those girls and Spike. Down to the very belly of hell itself to take on the First and its army. That was where lots of them would die… where he would die.

She drew in a sharp breath, not wanting to think about it any more. Still, she had to wonder, were they already down there? Were they already waiting? No, forget about that, Summers. That’s not what you’re here for.

Swallowing hard, she turned away from the still buried seal and began to climb out of the crater. She needed to find the others. The very thought of seeing them again made her heart soar and sink at the same time, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. If she had any chance of stopping the hell of a future she helped create, she needed the Scoobies… and her old self.

**********

Summers stood in front of the Magic Box, staring at the sign and front entrance that read closed. The lights were burning brightly from inside, and she could see they had gathered already. Each bore a different expression of worry and dread, like they had just been given the worse news of their lives.

Just wait a few years, she thought with a humorless snort.

Then she saw herself march across the room, all high and mighty, like the Magic Box was her kingdom and the Scoobies were her troops. Well, they are…were, she supposed.

The brunette took a step closer, straining to hear what was being said. Maybe, if she could recognize what they were talking about, she’d know exactly how much time she had left.

“Dawn’s blood,” she heard herself say.

“Yes,” her old mentor answered. “Once the blood is shed at a certain time and place… the fabric which separates all realities will… be ripped apart. Dimensions will… pour into one another, uh, with no barriers to stop them. Reality as we know it will be destroyed, and… chaos will reign on earth.”

“So, how do we stop it?” her younger self asked, not letting the news she had been given get to her.

“The portal will only close once the blood is stopped… and the only way for that to happen is, um…” There was a long pause as the room held a tense silence, waiting for the watcher to deliver the answer. “Buffy, the only way is to kill Dawn.”

Summers leaned back away from the door and frowned.

She remembered this night well, when Giles had told her she was going to have to kill her sister. That didn’t give her much time, but she supposed it was better than being dropped off in the middle of the battle field. Two Buffys were confusing enough, let alone adding a sudden, unexplainable third. Well, she might as well go in and introduce her-

A scream for help caught her off guard. She turned just in time to see a young man being chased by a vamp run down the neighboring alley.

Damn it, I don’t have time for this, she thought with a frown, but took off after the pair.

She ran down the alley and found that the vamp had the young man cornered. The boy looked terrified, and was continuing to scream for help, never noticing the young woman that had come to his aid.

She glanced around the alley for anything she could use, since she had long ago given up carrying stakes and Holy Water. Wasn’t much point to it after the I.O.H. had rounded up nearly every single vamp and either had them chipped or exterminated, leaning heavily toward the latter. In fact, she hadn’t dusted a vamp for almost two and half years, so this should be a fun. Well, it could have been, if she didn’t have more important things to do.

Summers spotted an old wooden crate resting near a wall. She grabbed a hold of one of the boards, then kicked it in the middle to form a crude stake that was too large and bulky for her to hold correctly. Still, it would do the job alright.

The vamp, who was in full game face, swirled around at the noise and growled at the young woman.

“Slayer,” he hissed.

Summers just stood there, her eyes narrow as she waited for him. He lunged, his arm raised to throw a punch at her. Ducking as he swung over her head, the brunette then jammed the piece of plywood upward into his heart. When she stood up straight, he was starting to dust and looked at her with wide, surprised eyes. She grinned then watched him explode and disappear into the wind.

The young man stood there, staring at the place the vampire had just been, before slowly lifting his eyes to woman who had saved him.

“But…you’re just a girl.”

“No, I’m not,” she told him sadly. “But thanks for saying so. Now get out of here.”

He stood in place, as if trying to process what she had said to him, before hobbling slightly towards the opposite wall of the alley. He moved like he was afraid that she might attack him at any moment. Of course, that might have something to do with the even, almost angry, look on her face as she watched him inch by. When he felt he was far enough away from her, he took off into the warm, spring night.

She sighed silently to herself. Seven years into the past, with no I.O.H., and people were still afraid of her. She guessed some things really never do change.

“Faith?”

Summers froze at the voice that came from behind her at the alley entrance of the Magic Box. Damn, she had forgotten her younger self had come to investigate all the noise.

“What are you doing here?” she heard Buffy ask in an annoyed tone like she had just caught Spike going through her underwear drawer.

A smile crept onto Summers’ face.

In her mind’s eye, she could see the blonde standing there, her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. She would tilt her head slightly, a move that she did unconsciously and mimicked her former enemy with bleached hair a little too much for comfort.

“Faith?” Summers called back, a certain amount of amusement to the tone as she dropped the plywood to the ground. The board echoed loudly in the alleyway, the sound bouncing off the walls. The brunette slowly turned around and came face to face with the girl she had once been. “I think it’s safe to say, I’m not her.”

***********

The group sat around the Magic Box, their faces mirroring each others in a mixture of worry and dread from what they had just been told about their youngest member.

Giles seemed to be the most troubled by this, understanding exactly what it meant if the ritual did start. Dawn would have to die if the portal was open, there was no other way. He wished Buffy understood that he himself did not want to hurt Dawn, but, sometimes, we have to do things that we don’t want to for the greater good.

Buffy was still young and didn’t understand that sacrifices had to be made at times. She didn’t understand about causalities of war, despite the fact that she had been fighting in the middle of one for the better part of six years. Only age and wisdom would teach her that, and unfortunately for Giles, even with a hundred-something-year-old vampire and a thousand-year-old ex-demon, he was the aged, wise one.

The beads hanging in the small hallway that connected the back and front of the store swished together, telling the group that the slayer had returned. They all seemed to look up at the same time towards her, grateful for the momentary distraction from the reality they were not yet ready to face.

Yet they found themselves worrying about something new by the look the young woman’s face carried. Her brow was knit together in confusion, and she seemed deeply lost in her own thoughts as she came into the show area. Whatever she had seen, or had realized, had troubled her.

The Scoobies that took noticed stiffened slightly at the sight. General rule of thumb, when the slayer is freaked, everyone is going to be freaked.

“Something going on out back?” Xander asked nervously. God, he hoped those Knights of Backtine or whatever hadn’t re-gathered or regrouped or whatever knights did before attacking again.

“Hum? What?”

Buffy looked up from the question, coming back to reality for a moment before slipping away into her own little world with a shake of her head.

“Um, no, just a vampire.” She had made it out into the middle of the room before she turned back to the table where most of the Scoobies sat and asked, “None of you guys have, I don’t know…reactivated the, um, BuffyBot. Have you?”

There was a long pause as the group stared at her.

“Um, no,” Willow said carefully, checking the faces of everyone present to be sure she was correct. “We haven’t even had time to think about it since…”

The redhead glanced over her shoulder to the blonde girl wearing pajamas with her knees curled up to her body. Tara looked like a small, frightened child, which broke Willow’s heart a little bit more. The Scooby ducked her head from sight, leaving the rest of the sentence unsaid.

Giles spoke up. “Why do you ask?”

“Cause of me,” a new, yet strikingly familiar voice answered.

The middle-aged man found himself leaping to his feet by what he saw. There, leaning against the wall in the small hall Buffy had just exited from was… well, Buffy. She was different though.

Her blonde locks had been changed to a deep brown that came to her shoulders. She was dressed in a white shirt, but the rest of the outfit she had was black and leather. From the opened jacket, the short gloves, the tight fitting pants that left little to the imagination, down to the platform heeled boots that disappeared up her leg and under her pants. A gothic looking cross hung around her neck, resting perfectly against her collar bone thanks to the length of the chain, completing the look.

Even her makeup was darker than the blonde Buffy standing a few feet away, with her lips the darkest shade of crimson Giles had ever seen before in his life. The whole outfit really reminded him a little too much of the currently imprisoned slayer; this was nothing like what his Buffy would wear.

“Check out Matrix Style Buffy,” Xander muttered, not believing what he was seeing.

“Who are you?” Buffy asked carefully, ignoring her friend and focusing in on her identical twin.

Summers drew in a deep breath and let it out in a loud, quick puff before pushing off from against the wall and started to sashay slowly toward the counter.

“I’m you,” she answered, perching herself on the sales counter and crossing her legs. “In about seven years.”

The whole group was taken aback by this. This was Buffy?! It couldn’t be! Buffy would never let herself become someone like…that! Would she?

“Did you just say you are future me?” Buffy asked in a disbelieving and rather aggravated tone.

When the brunette shook her head yes, Xander asked, “Okay, who are you really and what have you been smoking?”

“She’s tellin’ the truth,” Spike offered, studying the future form of his love with a great deal of curiosity.

Summers glanced over at him and met his eyes, which caused her to catch her breath. Part of her wanted break down and cry at seeing him alive - um, unalive - and sitting no more than ten feet away from her. She wanted to kiss him and hug him and never let go, but she was stubborn to the last.

Not now, not with the others watching or her past self. They’d never understand. So, she did the only thing she could at the moment, she smiled at him.

He was surprised by this, she could see it in his face, so she quickly let it drop and turned to the others.

“Well, um, she’s right in that she’s Buffy anyway,” Spike added.

“How do you know?” Willow asked, oblivious to the moment that had just passed between the two.

Spike blinked several more times before stuttering, “Uh, the smell…She and Buffy have the same scent.”

“Oh,” the witch said, looking to Giles as if he would be able to confirm what Spike had said. But the Watcher was still too fascinated by the woman to notice, and apparently hadn’t heard what had just been said to offer his opinion on it.

A frustrated growl came from the blonde slayer as she dramatically rolled her eyes to the ceiling and stated, “Great, with everything else going on, now I get to deal with future me. Well, I don’t have the time right now, so, whatever it is that you want, spit it out.”

“I don’t want anything. Well, maybe a nice, hot bubble bath and a slice of strawberry cheesecake…” Summers trailed off dreamily, leaning back a little on the counter before bringing herself back into reality. Her tone was soft as she said, “I’m just here to make sure things go as they’re supposed to.”

Buffy eyes harden on her twin, then spat, “If you’re here to tell me Giles was right and we have to kill Dawn-.”

“I need to be somewhere!” Tara cried out suddenly. The Scoobies turned their attention to the crazed blonde momentarily, then went back to the brunette perched on the counter as Willow went to tend to her girlfriend.

“I’m here to make sure what needs to be done is done,” Summers told them. Once again, her younger self looked like she was about ready to pounce on the older, so the brunette quickly offered, “But I know how to stop her. After all, I’ve done it before.”

The group looked at one another again. Well, if she really was Buffy from the future, she did have a point. The only problem was, could they trust her? The decision fell to their blonde leader, and she didn’t look as if she trusted this supposed version of herself anymore than she trusted Glory. Still, if it was really her…

Buffy drew in a breath with a slight nod, silently telling Summers she could help. The brunette smiled at this and then slipped into the take charge person she always was.

“Okay, this is how we’ll beat Glory.”

***********

Chapter Three

Most of the group had once again gathered in the Magic Box, ready for the fight they were about to partake in. They were still waiting on Buffy and Spike’s return from her house with more weapons, but Summers knew they would be here soon.

Time was closing in fast, and she knew what she had to do. One chance, she had one chance to fix everything that had gone so wrong.

She glanced over at Xander and Anya, who were currently giving each other last minute, pre-battle encouragement. Anya didn’t have that same, nervous glow to her this time, nor was she fidgeting around like some small child who had a secret but couldn’t share it with the others just yet.

Well, maybe Xander had taken her advice.

***

***

He looked up from Anya and smiled at the brunette slayer, which she returned.

Okay, so maybe this wasn’t part of the big plan, but she really did care about Anya and Xander’s happiness, and she didn’t want them to go through the pain they had before. If there was such a thing as fate and it decided that Anya was going to have to die in two years, she wanted them to enjoy every second they had until then, not spend a full year fighting because he left her at the alter. Neither one of them deserved that.

Summers then looked over and saw Giles standing near the shelves, preparing his weapon. He had wanted to find out exactly how she was there, but the brunette slayer wouldn’t tell him too much. No need to know if everything goes as she hoped it would.

Like with her friend, she had finally gotten to say farewell to him as well.

***

***

Willow was with Tara, trying to calm the agitated young woman. The redhead sighed deeply as the blonde continued to fight, then looked up in the hope that maybe someone would come to her aid. She spotted Summers watching her, and her face paled a little. But after what the brunette slayer had told her, she wasn’t surprised.

***

“Willow, can I talk to you a minute?” the future version of her friend asked.

“Buffy’s Caster to her Pollex!” Tara shouted, pointing to Summers. The brunette was paying her little mind at this point, though; she had more important things to discuss with the other witch.

Summers looked up at the bubbly, yet worried, witch and felt her stomach sink a little. Even though they had somewhat made peace during her last few moments in 2008, she still could hardly look at her friend without feeling the betrayal. No, this Willow hadn’t done that yet, and, with any luck, she never would.

Willow balked for a minute. This was her friend’s face, her friend’s voice, but, at the same time, this wasn’t her friend. She had seen the looks this slayer had been giving her, that mixture of disgust and uneasiness. Whatever happened between them must have been pretty bad, but Willow couldn’t figure out what could have been so horrible that it would one day cause Buffy to look at her in such a way.

Willow blinked at the request. “Huh? Bring who back?”

“Don’t,” Summers growled dangerously, her emotions getting the better of her. She took a step towards the witch, her eyes narrowing as she stared coldly at her. “If she dies, do not do the spell. Do you understand?”

***

Summers had told her that no more than an hour ago, but she really didn’t know whether to believe her old friend or not. That was her backup plan, to make Willow promise, but she wasn’t sure if it would work or not. If it didn’t, then she may have to look to the alternative…

No, she wouldn’t even let herself think that. She and Willow may not get along any longer, but she couldn’t even consider doing that to her friend, even if they weren’t friends anymore. No, she refused to become that person; she refused to become no better than Kennedy.

The front door of the shop opened and the determined young blonde cut quickly across the showroom to the others, the bleached blond vampire trailing behind before heading towards Giles. Buffy quickly glanced around the store, making sure everyone was there and accounted for, then turned her attention to her watcher.

“We on schedule?”

Giles sighed deeply. The time he had been dreading had finally arrived. “Yes. It’s time.”

The blonde slayer glanced over to her friend, and softly said, “Wills.”

The witch gave a short nod of understanding, and walked over to Tara, who had gone to admire the items in the display case. Summers frowned a little, wishing that, once again, she didn’t have to put the wicca in danger like she was, but this was the only way to get their Tara back and she knew it. It all worked out. Still, with all the things she already changed, she couldn’t be so sure that everything would go according to plan. She would just have to have faith.

“Tara, baby, is there somewhere you need to be?” Willow asked, trying her best not to set the blonde off.

It took a few minutes for Tara’s response to come, but finally she said, “They held me down.”

Willow looked up to Buffy, unsure of how she should answer that. Carefully, the redhead said, “No one’s holding you. It’s the big day, right? Do you want to go?”

Tara stared at her, like a small child who had just been given permission by a usual strict parent to go to the park by themselves. She then looked over her shoulder, glanced one last time to Willow, then started to shuffle towards the door quickly. She stopped when she passed Giles and Spike, and looked directly at the Watcher as she spoke.

“You’re a killer!” she accused out of the blue, drawing several bewildered looks. Then, just as suddenly, she started back towards the door, but muttered under her breath, “This is all set down.”

Buffy watched the blonde as she passed, then turned her attention to the redhead that was starting follow. Willow paused when she reached her friend, and the slayer gave out some last minute instructions.

“Stay close, but don’t crowd her. We’ll follow in a minute.”

The Scooby nodded her understanding, starting behind her girlfriend once more as Buffy turned back to her other friends.

“Okay, everybody knows their jobs.” She glanced around the room at them once again, but didn’t give them the chance to say anything. “Remember, the ritual starts, we all die.” The young slayer then gave a hard look to her mentor, then turned it on her older self and warned, “I’ll kill anyone who comes near Dawn.”

Summers frowned at the girl, but Buffy turned away and headed after Willow.

“Well, not exactly the Saint Crispian’s Day speech. Was it?” Spike said sarcastically, watching as the Scoobies headed out to the fight.

Giles grabbed a spear, and said as he passed the bleach blond, “We few. We happy few.”

“We band of buggered,” the vampire groaned out, following behind.

Summers trailed behind him, making them the last to leave the shop. After Giles had disappeared outside with the others, the brunette hurried forward and grabbed for Spike’s free hand, causing him to stop and look back.

“Spike,” she said softly, but the second his eyes meet hers, the always sharp tongued slayer found herself at a loss for words.

They stood there for a long moment with him just staring at her, trying to figure her out. There was something there, something in her past, possible in his future. But what? What could Buffy ever possibly have to say to him?

The brunette slayer dropped her gaze from his, and noticed she still had her hand in his. The glove she wore covered the scars, the ones she got that day when they had locked hands and he had burned. She hadn’t even felt it at the time, and didn’t afterwards either. Dawn was the one who had noticed the injury about forty-five minutes after they left the crater that had been Sunnydale. If she hadn’t, there was no telling when Buffy would have, if ever.

His eyes traveled downward to see what she was looking at. He tried to draw his hand away from hers, but she held firm, only adding to his confusion. When he looked back up, he found a very sad face staring back at him.

“She won’t love you,” she told him sadly, finally having found her voice. “Not without… the spark. She won’t let herself.”

Her eyes dropped away from his again, and he could see tears starting to prick at the corner of her eyes.

“Buffy, love?” he said softly, as he reached up and gently touched her cheek.

Her hazel eyes sparked as they rose again to meet his, a single tear rolling down her cheek as a weary smile came to rest on her face. A final moment. She was grateful to have one last one.

She sniffled loudly, then laughed softly at how disgusting it sounded. Of course, he didn’t seem to mind too much.

“Go to Africa, do what you have to do,” she told him, knowing he had no idea what she was going on about but listening to her all the same. “But when you do, let her know where you’re going. I hated worrying about your sorry, chipped ass.”

Spike still didn’t understand, but he smiled all the same. “Alright, love. I’ll do that.”

“Good.”

She moved forward and lightly brushed her lips against his for a soft kiss. It didn’t last long before Summers felt him tense up from surprise, nearly as much surprise as he felt that day he had realized that it was the real Buffy and not the bot, but she just smiled into the kiss then pulled away. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the expression on his face, then trotted out of the shop after the others with a baffled vampire right behind her.

*********

Chapter Four

The battle raged on underneath the shifty tower that had been made by the local crazies. The whole thing didn’t appear to have been made for long term use, just to last long enough to let the hell goddess do her thing, then collapse onto whoever was unfortunate enough to be below. Really, whatever happened to craftsmanship when it came to evil platforms over a vortex to hell? Well, that’s what happens when you don’t hire union.

Summers was pinned down on the opposite side of the site from the other Scoobies. Every time she even barely lifted her head, one of the local loonies would fling something at her, which usually happened to be some pretty nasty rocks. She already had a knot forming on the side of her head from one hit she took, and she wasn’t exactly looking to get another one anytime soon.

The slayer felt a shiver crawl up her spine as she glanced over to see the head of the bot staring blankly at her from nearby. It had rolled that way when Glory had knocked it off, and was now resting silently with that stupid look on its face. God, she always hated that thing, but it had served a purpose. Maybe the saying was true. Maybe everything that happens does have a reason, but, hell, that thing was disturbing to look at, even now.

From nearby, she could hear her younger self and the hell goddess battling it out, just like they were supposed too. The catfight of the century was going on no more than thirty feet away from her, and she knew the outcome. Too bad they didn’t have odds out in Vegas, else she might have made herself a tidy little sum that night.

The brunette heard some commotion from the guarding group of psychos, and turned just in time to see them part like the Red Sea before a streak of black shot through them.

There goes Spike, off to try and save the day. He would fail, of course, but a part of her had hoped that perhaps he would win this time. That he would get the better of that creepy little man at the top of the tower, and stop everything from happening. It was a dim hope, but hope nonetheless.

Minutes seemed to draw out into hours as she watched the battle around her. The Scoobies were continuing to fight with the minions, her younger self was fighting Glory, and Spike was high above trying to fight off Doc. They were all doing their parts, and she was waiting to do hers.

A scream pierced through the night, one that Summers didn’t remember hearing before. She turned slightly and looked up, just in time to see a body falling towards the ground. The leather duster pillowed up behind him, slapping in the rushing wind like a torn sail. Summers quickly turned her head away and covered her ears. Even if it wouldn’t kill him, she didn’t want to see or hear him hit the pavement.

When she was satisfied that he had already hit, she raised her head again and glanced around to see where they were in the battle. Giles was heading towards Buffy and Glory to play cleanup. Yeah, she knew what he had done that night to Ben. It would be years before she found out, but she had. Part of her had wanted to be disgusted at what the Watcher had done, but, as she had told him, she understood now. Ben, unfortunately, was about to become the newest causality of war. It was a cold thing to say, but that didn’t make it any less true.

That also meant that Summers’ time had finally come. Her whole mission depended on the next several minutes, and they were starting right now as Buffy was heading to climb the tower.

Jumping to her feet, the future slayer charged after the blonde. The dirt and rocks scratched under her boots as she ran as quickly as she could, ready for the fight she was about to encounter. Locking her hands together to make one big fist, Summers yelled slightly to get Buffy’s attention. The blonde slayer turned just as her future self slammed her fist into her head, knocking Buffy to the side.

“What the hell are you doing!?” her younger self demanded.

“What I have to,” Summers growled back, lunging once more at the blonde.

Buffy ducked and dodged as the brunette’s fist flew at her. She was faster than the younger slayer, stronger too, but Buffy wasn’t about to let her win. Dawn was not going to die! Not even if she thought it was right in the future.

When the blonde countered, and countered well, Summers grinned. She knew her weaknesses, knew when she’d be open, she just wondered when Buffy would realize that.

The younger slayer knocked the older across the face hard then came up with a round house to try and knock the woman to ground. Summers caught the leg in midair, and threw it back with such force that it caused Buffy to loose her footing and stumble. The brunette then jumped in the air, bending up one knee before kicking upward with the other leg, knocking Buffy right under the chin. The force of the hit was so hard, that it literally lifted the slayer off the ground and threw her backwards.

Rolling back onto her shoulders, Buffy leapt back to her feet, raising both fists close to her face and staring coldly at her twin. She looked like she was ready to kill Summers, but the brunette wasn’t afraid because she knew something Buffy didn’t. She had bought enough time for the blood to drip, which meant…

There was an explosion overhead, which caused everything and everyone to shake, as if an earthquake was going on. Buffy, being unprepared for it, stumbled a little, barely catching herself before turning her head upward to see what had caused it. Her mouth hung open at the angry energy that hung in midair, then turned back to Summers who had not moved.

“What did you do?” Buffy asked, not believing that her own self would help open the portal.

“If I’m right, I saved the world,” Summers sighed, taking her attention away from the light and turning back to Buffy. “If I’m wrong, I just damned us all.”

The older slayer’s arm suddenly struck out and grabbed Buffy by the shirt. The blonde had been so surprised, she hadn’t been able to fight it off before Summers used her strength to lift the younger woman, spin, and throw her as hard and far as she could. The brunette watched as the tiny blonde flew across the battle field, before slamming into the nearby building, breaking the wall upon impact. Summers held her breath, watching Buffy carefully as the blonde groaned, tried to push herself up, then fell to ground unconscious.

Good, Buffy wouldn’t be the one jumping. There would be no break in the slayer line because of her resurrection, and the First would never have his loophole chance to destroy the world. They would never have the Great Calling, so the knowledge of demons wouldn’t be made a publicly known fact because of the girls. The government wouldn’t fall because of the terror the knowledge caused, and the I.O.H. would never be formed. And lots of people, including her family and friends, wouldn’t have to die fighting a war that there was no way they could win.

Her mission was almost completed. There was just one more thing to take care of. Glancing up the tower, Summers took off for the top.

**********

Tears ran down Dawn’s cheeks as she stared at the white ball of light below her. Oh, God, what had she done?

The tower shook violently, and, reflexively, the fourteen-year-old screamed in terror, hanging onto the straps that held her tightly. Doc shifted with the tower, never loosing his balance as he watched the portal below him with a giant smile.

“Oh, her greatness will be pleased,” he said in a chipper voice before turning his gaze toward the teenager. “Don’t you think?”

Dawn sobbed a little more, dropping her eyes from his. The world was going to end, and it was her fault. And the only way she knew how to stop it was to die. She didn’t want to die. She was just a kid. It wasn’t fair to ask her to.

“Oh, don’t look so sad,” Doc cooed at the teen. “You’re helping a great cause.”

“Funny, I don’t see it that way,” Dawn bit back with her last bit of defiance.

“Neither do I,” a familiar voice added from the other side of the platform.

The teenager’s head shot up at the voice, hope filling her face upon seeing her sister standing there. Well, she thought it was her sister. But since when did Buffy go brunette and all dominatrixy?

One thing was for sure, the slayer was pissed. She had that same look on her face that she had whenever Dawn would steal something from her room or read her diary or something like that.

“Well,” Doc said, smiling as he headed toward the slayer and she towards him. “This ought to be-.”

With little effort or thought, Buffy easily pushed him out of the way and off the tower, much in the same fashion as he had done to Spike minutes before. Her eyes were locked on her little sister, and that angry expression still on her face. Dawn trembled a little as her sister reached for her. God, she looked like she was going to kill her.

She was surprised when Buffy undid the straps without a word and pulled her forward, away from the edge of the tower.

The slayer began to push the teenager towards the safe end of the structure, following behind her to make sure she got there.

“Buffy, the portal,” Dawn said softly, glancing down to the light below as her sister ushered her to safety.

“I know,” the new brunette answered before stopping them both at the top of the stairs. She turned the teenager to face her and her angered expression softened. “I don’t have the time this go around to tell you everything, but just remember this. I do love you, no matter what. Tell the others… tell them, they’ve got a fresh start. Don’t screw it up.”

Dawn blinked at the message, not understanding a word of it. But Buffy just smiled, and kissed her little sister one last time on the cheek. There, she had said goodbye to everyone.

The teenager’s eyes widened when realized what her sister had in mind. “Buffy, no! It’s my blood it wants!”

Summers smiled kindly at the child.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be okay,” the brunette slayer told her, gently running her fingers against the girl’s cheek.

Then, for the second time in her life, Summers turned and ran the length of the platform. As she leapt off in a perfect swan dive, a content smile rose to her lips as she thought of her friends and loved ones she would soon be seeing.

**********

Buffy groaned as she slowly began to regain consciousness. She found herself laying face first in a pile of dirt as a headache began to throb.

What happened? Did they win? Did they loose and this was hell? If so, hell needed to be dusted more often.

“Buffy, are you alright?” she heard Giles ask before she felt his hand wrap around her arm.

“Yeah,” she groaned, letting the Watcher help her to her feet. “I’m fine.”

It took a few seconds for her eyes to regain their focus and for her to actually see where she was. They were still at the construction sight, but things were different. There was a large crack in the foundation, along with huge piles of debris scattered about the place. Overhead, the sky began to brighten with morning light, making everything look cool, yet warm.

“What happened?” the slayer asked, clutching her side. She was pretty sure she had broken a rib or…ten.

“We’re not sure,” Giles answered truthfully, looking over their surroundings.

The local loonies seemed to be getting their wits back, staring at one another and at the Scoobies with a great deal of confusion. Apparently, with Glory’s defeat, their minds went back to the way they were supposed to work. That was good to know.

The Scoobies themselves looked worse for wear. Anya had apparently taken a pretty hard hit, and Xander was now carrying her across the site. Tara and Willow were clinging onto one another, stumbling towards their blonde leader as if to be sure that it was over. Buffy wasn’t sure what had happened to Spike, but he to seemed to be undead and well… except for the whole limping and looking as if he was about to pass out any moment, that is. Giles looked the best out of all of them, with maybe just a bruise or two, and some cuts. And Dawn-.

“Oh, God! Where’s Dawn?!”

“I’m here,” a teenage voice called from the tower stairs entrance.

Her blue eyes widened when she saw her sister standing next to Giles, sharing much the same look as her sibling. Though she was injured, the slayer ran across the site, wrapped her little sister in her arms, and hugged her. Dawn stood there awkwardly in shock for several seconds, then relaxed a bit and joined the embrace.

When Buffy pulled away, she quickly began to check the girl over to be sure she was alright. “Oh, God, Dawn. You’re bleeding!”

“I don’t understand,” Dawn said, looking at her sister, then back at the others to be sure she wasn’t a figment of her imagination. She stopped her sister’s hands, and held them in her own, forcing the twenty-year-old to look up at her. “I saw you jump.”

“What?”

“From the tower. You jumped a-and stopped it. How can you not be, you know…?”

“Dead,” Giles said, drawing the group’s attention to him.

They turned from the sisters and found the Watcher looking off to the side. There was a quiet sadness in face as he slowly made his way towards his find, the others following behind.

Lying on top of a pile of debris was Buffy’s future self, Summers. She looked almost like she was sleeping, like she had just decided she was far too tired to make it any further and had lied down to take a nap. But she wasn’t breathing, and, if she had jumped like Dawn had thought, she had to be dead.

Yet, on her lips, rested the most peaceful smile Buffy had ever seen in her life. It was like someone who had been fighting for years had been told it was okay for them to stop… to finally rest.

“Buffy, who is she?” Dawn asked, holding a little tighter onto her sister’s hand. When she hadn’t answered after several long seconds, Dawn pushed, “Buffy.”

The older Summers then turned to the younger, studying her worried face. She wanted to know, but Dawn had just answered her own question even if she didn’t realize it.

Buffy… Summers, had indeed died to save the world and her sister, yet here she still remained. Maybe, this time around, whatever had been so horrible that she had actually been willing to go back in time and stop it, wouldn’t happen. Maybe, this time, she could enjoy her life. Maybe, this time, there actually was some hope.

With that thought, Buffy smiled.

**********

“They’re going to be late.”

“They’re not going to be late, Xand.”

“They are so going to be late,” the carpenter reaffirmed, leaning back uncomfortably in his seat. He winced a little, since there was no back and he couldn’t rest it against anything. Stupid stadium seating. “They’re going to be late and Dawn’s going to be pissed.”

Willow sighed deeply, turning her attention away from the man that sat behind her and briefly to the proceedings below. The place was packed with relatives and friends who had traveled from all over the country to watch the big event. Excitement and anticipation was in the air as names of different people were called out, which was generally followed by some polite clapping and one cheering section of the crowd.

One could always tell where the family was.

Next to Xander, Giles began to fidget in his seat, glancing toward the entrance nervously. “They really should have been here by now,” the ex-Watcher agreed before turning back to the witch. “They’ve already reached the M’s.”

“They’ll be here,” Willow repeated with just as much resolve. Even if the others didn’t have faith in their friends, she did.

“Well, there’s no answer at the house,” Anya spoke up from next to Xander, clicking off the cell with quite a bit of annoyance.

“She’s not answering her cell, either,” Tara sighed, turning her phone off too. She turned her worried eyes to Willow, and squeezed her hand, as if preparing the redhead that they might not make it in time.

“W-well, maybe they, you know, got held up in traffic and-and she forgot to turn her cell phone on,” she tried to defend, but she too was starting to falter in her belief that they would make it in time. Her green eyes sparkled as another idea rose. “Or they’ve run across some bad guys and are having to fight them off. And-and her cell dropped out of her pocket and she doesn’t know it’s gone, so she can’t answer it.”

“Yeah, that or they’re going at it like a couple of horny teenagers in the backseat of daddy’s Camero,” Anya offered plainly.

Both Tara and Willow blushed at the statement, having thought the very same thing but not said it. Giles himself made a face, half from the truth the ex-demon had spoke, half from the lack of tack she had used to say it. And Xander, being Xander, balked at his wife.

“Anya,” he said in a warning tone, much like a parent does when a child says something they are not supposed too.

“What? All I’m saying is that they’re like a pair of hamsters. You put the male and female together and, no matter what, they’re going to go at it until they’re both exhausted or they are forcibly separated.”

From the seat next to her came a swooshing sound as a mother pulled her wide eyed son closer to her side, apparently not wanting him to hear anymore of the shopkeeper’s analogies or comments. Xander smiled and laughed nervously in the woman’s direction, giving a sort of weary apology, then turned back to his bride.

“Anya, we talked about saying things like that in public, remember?” he said carefully.

“I was just saying what everyone was thinking.”

“I know, honey. But I don’t think the people beside us want to hear you talk about-.”

“Buffy!” Willow yelped excitedly upon seeing her friend nearby. The redhead rose to her feet and waved, letting the blondes know where they were and that they had saved some seats for them. Once they were spotted, the two quickly hurried over to join the Scoobies.

“Buffy! You made it,” Xander said happily, as Willow and Tara scooted over to make room. Once the blonde smiled at him, the carpenter turned a much harder look to the man who was accompanying her, and said evenly, “Soul Man.”

Spike’s eyes narrowed a bit at the boy as a frown found its way to his lips. God, he hated that nickname.

“Harris,” he practically hissed, taking his seat next to the slayer.

“We didn’t miss it, did we?” Buffy asked a touch of worry to her tone.

“Just made it,” Willow informed her happily as the S’s began to be called out.

Seeing that they still had a little time, Tara leaned over her longtime girlfriend’s body and asked, “Where were you guys?”

“Oh, um-we were busy with, ah…car trouble-.” “Demon,” Spike said at the same time.

The pair looked at one another, desperately trying to get their story straight. Of course, generally the vampire wouldn’t care, but he did, after all, have the ever-armed-with-a-stake Watcher sitting behind him.

“Demon.” “Car trouble,” they tried to amend their statements at the same time.

Buffy gave him a pointed look, then turned a nervous smile towards her friends again. “Um, there was a demon and then we, you know, had car trouble, and-Oh, look, Dawn’s turn!”

The slayer gratefully turned towards the platform as her sister came onto the stage with a large smile on her face. The person ahead of her was handed their degree and the onetime Key drew in a deep breath.

“Dawn Summers,” a voice announced, causing the young, smiling woman to head towards the professor that held her diploma. That was it. She was a college graduate with a B.A. in Folk History. What she was going to do with a degree in that, Buffy still didn’t know, but she had done it nonetheless.

The polite cheer followed, along with the much more excited ones by the Scoobies, led by Xander.

“Way to go, Dawnie!” the carpenter yelled out loudly, the message echoing in the balcony and carrying around the stadium that had been relatively quiet. The people around him winced from the suddenly scream. God, who knew Xander’s voice could boom like that?

The young brunette’s face turned a few shades of red as she quickly hurried off the stage and back to her seat.

“Bloody hell, Harris. I think you busted an eardrum,” Spike complained.

“Yes, Xander, you could warn us next time you plan to scream like that,” Giles agreed.

“Sorry, G-Man.”

“Damn,” Spike went on, hitting the side of his ear as if he had actually lost the ability to hear. “Good to see all those years of screamin’ like a girl finally paid off.”

“Shut up, Captain Peroxide!”

“What? I’m sorry. I can’t hear you!”

Buffy rolled her eyes as they got into it, and turned her attention back to the graduation going on. God, she never thought she’d live to see this day. Especially when she thought… when she thought of her, of who she was supposed to become. She had been the age Buffy was now when she arrived, when she jumped that night to save Dawn.

None of them ever did fully understand what happened in her life that would cause her to come and do such a thing. They each had little pieces of the puzzle, things that she had said to them in their own time, but never enough to make a whole picture. The only thing they knew for sure was that it had something to do with a resurrection, but whose they didn’t know.

Dawn? It would have made sense, considering the ritual had started. But then how had she been able to stop it? Would Buffy have made it up there and realized that her blood would stop it too? Was it her own resurrection that had caused the horror Summers had come back to stop? Was that why she fought to keep her off the tower?

Willow looked over at her friend, studying her while she seemed lost in her own thoughts.

“Hey,” the redhead said, leaning in close to the blonde. “You okay?”

Buffy quickly pulled back to reality, and smiled at her friend. “Yeah. Just thinking is all.”

“Oh,” Willow said, forming a perfect ‘O’ with her mouth before turning her attention back to the graduation. After several seconds, she spoke again, “Buffy.”

“Yeah?”

“You have your shirt on inside-out.”

***********

The End