Long Island, New York City, October 2015

It was a bit of a miracle that Teresa and Sebastian were able to make it to New York to meet their friends for New York Comic Con. They pulled up to a large blue and gray Victorian style house over in Long Island. Teresa rang the doorbell and smiled as Lauren opened the door to greet them, dressed in a fluffy bunny costume.

"Lauren!" Teresa said.

"You look awesome!" Lauren said.

Sebastian grinned at Lauren, showing off his Spike cosplay.

"Thanks!" Teresa said, showing off her white lab coat and glasses. "I'm gonna blow the socks off everyone Saturday, though, when I become Illyria!"

"Come on in!"

Teresa's smile was wider as she saw everyone else dressed up as different characters. Jodie was dressed in the Drusilla cosplay she wore for the London Comic Con. Dani was dressed as Tara while Meg was dressed as Willow. Claire pulled off a majorly awesome Cordelia cosplay while Diana looked every bit like Faith. Jenny bounced around the room, showing off her favorite blue and gray striped cardigan.

Everyone gathered around the TV, some with large bowls of popcorn and others with equally large boxes of tissues. After much discussion, it was decided that everyone was going to watch the season finales, starting with Prophecy Girl.

###

They say that when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes, Buffy thought as she kept punching the bag in the training room. She had a sense of impending doom on her shoulders, the kind that she felt when she went to face the Master a mere five years ago. It feels like a lifetime ago.

She smiled with tired eyes as Giles came in.

"How long have you been training?" Giles asked.

"About an hour," Buffy said. "More or less."

She and Giles fell into a discussion about how many apocalypses they lived through and that Buffy was not willing to sacrifice her sister to stop this one.

"I sacrificed Angel to save the world. I loved him so much... but I knew. What was right. I don't have that anymore."

As Buffy flashed back to when she faced Angelus in the graveyard, she heard a faint cry. It was almost like an echo of voices, yelling at her to stake him, that he was tricking her. Maybe that was her Slayer instincts at the time or the all-too-harsh voice of hindsight.

"I don't understand.I don't know how to live in this world, if these are the choices, if everything's just stripped away then I don't see the point. I just wish... I wish my mom was here."

She flashed back to when her mother kicked her out of the house. Again, she heard that same faint echo, a soft choir of cheers and words of encouragement that she never heard when she walked out of the house the first time.

"We're here for you Buffy!"

"Joyce don't say that! She's going to leave you!"

"Where's Spike when you need him?! He should be there with her!"

Buffy shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"The spirit guide told me that Death was my gift. I guess that means a Slayer really is just a killer after all."

Her mind quickly flashed to when she fought Faith in order to save Angel. How she was willing to kill her sister Slayer to save the man she loved only for him to end up leaving her. As she recalled the battle and offering herself up to Angel, that same faint echo resonated in her mind.

"Kick her ass! Kick her ass!"

"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD DON'T DO THIS ANGEL!"

"He's going to leave you! Don't feed yourself to him!"

"I think you're wrong about that," Giles said.

"It doesn't matter. If Dawn dies, then I'm done with it. I'm quitting."

###

"Alright, everyone, we're coming up to The Gift," Lauren said.

Teresa sighed and held on tightly to Sebastian.

The episode started with the very long montage of flashbacks that showcased the entire series in under a minute. Everyone took a long breath as they watched the opening. Although they danced to the theme song in the previous finales, nobody decided to do so this time. They laughed at Buffy's witty banter as she rescued the teenage boy from a vampire. Some of them yelled at Giles for even considering sacrificing Dawn. They laughed at Spike when he said "When you say you love us all," knowing his feelings for the Slayer. They cringed as they watch Ben turn into Glory and insult Dawn, making her cry. Then as they watched Buffy break down in front of Giles, they cried out their encouragements.

"I wish she knew," Teresa said. "I wish she knew what her real gift was."

"What do you mean?" Dani asked.

"I don't think death was really Buffy's gift. It may have been the gift of every other Slayer, but Buffy is different. We always knew that, but they never did."

"You got that right," Diana said. "As much as we yell at the screen, she'll never hear us."

"She'll never know how much she actually changed our lives," Jodie said. "How she saved our world as well as hers."

"Let's just hope Sarah Michelle Gellar won't get tired of hearing these kinds of things from us," Claire said.

Jenny shushed everyone else. "Buffy's taking Spike to her house!"

Everyone turned their attention to the screen as Buffy said, "Spike. Shut your mouth. Come with me."

"He'd definitely like to come with her, alright!" Diana said.

Dani and Jodie giggled while Teresa and Jenny blushed.

###

As Buffy walked into her house, she wondered why she couldn't get that quiet legion of voices out of her head. She winced as she heard collective gasp as she let Spike into her house. She went up the stairs to get some more things, when she heard Spike say:

"I know you'll never love me."

She turned around silently.

"I know that I'm a monster," Spike said. "But you treat me like a man, and that's...

Time seemed to stop as Buffy looked at Spike with understanding. The chorus of voices started getting louder.

That's enough for you to kiss him! Buffy heard someone say.

Kiss him you idiot! You're gonna die in half an hour!

How can she not see the way he is looking at her?!

Then she heard a collective (and if she was hearing that right romantic) sigh.

"Get your stuff. I'll be here."

Little did Buffy know that the Hellmouth's magic was all over the town of Sunnydale. Dawn closed her eyes and felt the wind blowing against her face as Glory's minions tied her up at the top of the tower. She could feel the energy inside her already starting to stir.

Maybe that's just my guts churning, Dawn thought.

An hour or so later, the Scooby Gang arrived at the construction site. Buffy could hear the voices getting louder as she got closer to her sister. She was surprised that she was able to concentrate. She heard laughter as she watched Spike offer Willow his flask. When did my life become a sitcom? Buffy asked. She waited in the shadows as the Buffybot battled Glory.

When Glory punched the Buffybot's head off and said "Did everybody else know the Slayer was a robot?" she could hear Glory's words echoing in her head, followed by a roar of laughter. Buffy had no idea how she was able to fight Glory with the voices in her head. She heard them telling her to hurry up, yelling at Spike for being easily defeated by the Doc. As Glory turned back to Ben, she headed up the tower. The roars quieted down only to unify with Dawn's piercing scream as blood dripped from her.

As Buffy untied Dawn, her sister pleaded at her. The portal began to open. Dawn ran to make the jump, but Buffy stopped her. As she looked at her sister and then at the portal, the voices gave way to flashbacks. She turned to Dawn as a look of realization appeared in her little sister's eyes.

"Dawnie, I have to," Buffy said.

"NO!" Dawn yelled. A legion of voices echoed Dawn's dissent.

"Listen to me! There's no time, Dawn, please listen. I love you. I'll always love you. But this is the work I have to do. Tell Giles I... I figured it out. And I'm okay. Give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now - you have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

The words she said echoed in her mind. For a brief moment, she saw a room filled with people. They looked as if they were waiting for her.

She turned towards the portal and ran off the platform, jumping into it with open arms. As she fell in the portal, she cried out in pain, letting the energy take over her.

###

Lauren's House

Everyone took a step back as the screen began to glow white. A white light burst from the screen, causing those sitting closest to cover their faces.

"Lauren, what's going on?!" Teresa asked.

"I don't know!" Lauren said. "This has never happened before!"

Everyone either jumped to hide behind the furniture or ran to the kitchen as the white light emanating from the television grew brighter

###

Buffy took out one last breath, welcoming death and watched as her body fell down to the ground. As the portal closed up and the sun rose, she saw a bright white light and heard that same legion of voices…

###

"It's a good thing some of us brought weapons!" Sebastian said, grabbing the prop sword that he brought with him.

"I thought I left that poltergeist at my parents' house!" Lauren said.

Diana grabbed some holy water from her pocket. "Call up a priest, Teresa! We're gonna need an exorcist!"

Teresa was about to pull out a crucifix from her pocket but Jenny stopped her.

"Wait!" Jenny said.

Everyone gasped as Buffy fell out of the screen and into the room. She stood in front of them with her arms at her sides, looking down at the floor.

Silence. For the first time in hours, there was finally silence in Buffy's mind. She looked up at the people in front of her, all dressed in strange clothes. Some of them even looked like...her friends. She recognized Anya's bunny costume, Willow's overalls, the green dress Cordelia wore, and Jenny Calendar's cardigan. But the people who wore them looked completely unfamiliar.

"Okay. Who are you and what kind of hell dimension did I end up in?" Buffy asked.

Everyone stood speechless.