The Gathering

Summary: What could cause The Scoobies to not speak to each other for 5 years? Will the return of The First reunite them or divide them? Many characters return in this post-season 7 fanfic, as well as some new faces. This fanfic will include multiple couple, the primary being Willow and Tara. But have a look at the list of characters below and see if you can figure out who the other couples might be. This fanfic is based on the lyrics from the song The Gathering by Delain.

Character Information Page

The Coven

Willow Rosenburg:
·27 years old.
·Left Cleveland in late 2003.
·Moved to England and joined the Mother coven.
·In 2006, she was asked to leave the Mother coven. This prompted her to begin her own coven in Scotland.

Ellie Kerezsi
·15 years old.
·She was born in Italy, but traveled the world with her American mother.
·Her mother, Miranda, died 3 years prior, in 2005.
·Ellie has lived with Willow since that day.
·She has been kicked out of two British private schools and she is often in trouble with the headmaster of her current school in Scotland.

Celeste Legaults:
·22 years old.
·Born in France but raised in England.
·Wealthy Socialite.
·Joined the mother-coven at the age of 16 as a form of rebellion against her parents.

Hope Thomas:
·47 years old.
·Born and raised in England, within the coven walls.
·She was considered an Elder within the Mother coven until she decided to follow Willow to Scotland.

The Slayers

Buffy Summers:
·28 years old.
·She has spent the last 5 years, training new slayers and patrolling.
·Giles remains her watcher.
·There are 6 slayer squads in Cleveland, one of them being Buffy's special team. The team consists of 3 young slayers who are the best at their individual skills.

April Nash:
·23 years old.
·She was born and raised in Canada.
·She was the first new slayer to be trained by Buffy, after the collapse of Sunnydale.
·One third of Buffy's special squad, her strength is her ability with most long-range weapons.
·½ of the "Duo of Doom" and also Buffy's second-in-command.

Kerry Sullivan:
·18 years old.
·She is from Ireland.
·She is a senior at Cleveland High.
·She is the second member of Buffy's squad, her strengths being her intensive training in the martial arts and her abilities with the katana.
·Second-half of the "Duo of Doom".

Paige Taylor:
·15 years old.
·She is both a freshman and a cheerleader at Cleveland High.
·Has only been a slayer for 6 months, yet is already the third and final member of Buffy's special team.
·Born and raised in Australia.
·She is a cheerleader.

Hunters

Xander Harris:
·28 years old.
·He is the co-leader of a group of human demon hunters, along with Gage.
·He has been married to Lucy for 2 years.

Gage Dukes:
·25 years old.
·He has lived in Cleveland his whole life.
·He has been a hunter since the age of 18, after watching his girlfriend die at the hands of the Bringers. Which opened his eyes to the world of the supernatural.

Nolan Ryan:
·20 years old and from Alaska.
·He has a twin sister, Lucy.
·Their parents were killed by unknown demons, 4 years prior, while the family vacationed in Cleveland.
·Best friends with Gage.
·Despite the fact that he is human, both he and Lucy share a telepathic ability.

Lucy Ryan-Harris
·20 years old and also from Alaska.
·She is the polar opposite of her twin brother, Nolan.
·Even though she knows how to fight, she could most often be found creating and building the latest demon-killing weapons.

Others

Andrew Wells:
·26 years old.
·He has spent fours of the last 5 years, touring the world with Vi, Rona, Faith and Robin.
·He is about to begin his second year of Watcher's training.

Spike:
·After his "death" in the collapse of Sunnydale, he was sent to both Heaven and Hell. Neither were willing to accept him, therefore he was sent back to earth in the way in which he left it, as a vampire with a soul.
·For four years, he roamed the earth in his attempt to get over Buffy, until one night when in Scotland, he ran into Willow.

Tara MacLay:
·Died at the age of 23, a year before the collapse of Sunnydale.

Dawn Summers:
·21 years old.
·In training to be a watcher.
·She lives with Buffy, Giles, Andrew and around 20 slayers.

Rupert Giles:
·56 years old.
·Now the head of the watcher's council.
·He remains Buffy's watcher, as well as trains new watchers.

Prologue

The moon was almost full, low, shining bright in a sky black as pitch. There were hardly any clouds. Or at least, none that Buffy could see, save for those highlighted slightly by moonlight. There were stars too but the night sky was the last thing on the slayer's mind as she ran through the cemetery. Head stones jutted from the frozen ground, glistening under a fine layer of snow and ice. Silhouettes of gnarled trees without leaves loomed against the old stone walls of the cemetery. As Buffy vaulted over a small marble angel, she slipped on a patch of ice but fortunately she was able to catch her footing at the last minute. She knew that she couldn't waste any time, one second could be the difference between life and death.

It was through sheer determination that Buffy stayed upright as she charged from one end of the cemetery to the other, her lungs burning as the freezing air tore down her throat. 'I have to keep going.' She thought to herself as she kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, locked not on the group of vampires but on Kennedy. It was clear to Buffy that the young slayer was fighting a losing battle and that her strength was fading fast. She stood surrounded by four vampires, each of them twice as large, strong and deadly as her.

Kennedy yelped as the first vampire whose heart she aimed for, intercepted her lunge. He caught her wrist and twisted, a loud snap announcing the break seconds before her pained scream filled the air. Buffy couldn't stand to watch as her second-in-command fell to her knees at the vampire's mercy. Her slayer instincts told her that something bad was about to happen but yet Buffy continued to push forward, knowing that she was Kennedy's only hope.

The vampires seized the opportunity of a wounded slayer. Kennedy struggled, screaming and sobbing, as the vampires pinned her to the ground. And despite her cries, the vampires' gleeful snarls were the only thing that Buffy heard as she watched them sink their fangs into her fellow slayer's flesh, tearing at the veins in her arms and neck.

"No!" Buffy yelled as she threw herself at the feeding vampires, hoping to distract them before they managed to kill Kennedy. Blood, hot and sticky, sprayed her face, however it was the least of her worries, her eyes falling on Kennedy's still body. Too still. Her chest didn't rise or fall and her eyes, wide and glazed, appeared to look straight through her.

Blood continued to leak from the bites left by the now dazed vampires. Their attention was now on Buffy as they each began to regain their footing. Her anguish turned to hate and rage as Kennedy's life trickled down their chins, adding to their vile appearance. Buffy knew that she had to avenge the young slayer's death, a death that she was partially responsible for.

Through her rage, Buffy knew she needed to climb to her feet, as laying on the ground left her prone to attack. A swift crack to the face of the largest vampire she crouched over, left him stunned, allowing the slayer to spring to her feet without him halting her. She instantly adopted a fighting stance, stake gripped in her right hand. It took mere seconds for the remaining three vampires to realize that they had another slayer on their hands. Their sickly yellow eyes glowed in the dark night and their fangs gleamed, wet with blood and saliva. Buffy easily dodged to one side, kicking one of the vampires in the kidney as all three pounced, arms outstretched in an attempt to bring her down.

The mix of snow, blood and loosened mud melted into slush, making the fighting more difficult. Another powerful kick from Buffy, this time to the gut of another vampire, sent him flying back. His hulking form smashed into a headstone, sending pieces of marble and white stone flying into the air. The other vampires hung back and started to circle as the first vampire picked himself up from the snow and turned to her.

Buffy knew that vampires weren't ones for fair fighting and that the odds were stacked greatly in their favor. Her mind worked in hyper speed to find a suitable solution to fighting them, knowing that they would likely continue in their attempt to rush her as one. She needed to scatter them and fight each of them separately. Her eyes quickly examined her surroundings in search for anything that she could use. 'Tombstones and trees. Tombstones, trees and icy ground. Tombstones, trees, icy ground and fire?'

The slayer's jaw dropped as blistering heat and a loud roar swept across to the vampires, from behind a large tombstone on her right. Her attention was drawn back to the vampires as they began to scream, the searing heat from the flames ate into their clothes and skin. Before any of them could dive into the little snow piled against the graves, the flames engulfed them. Within seconds, the only thing remaining where four individual piles of ash.

The sound of ice breaking beneath someone's foot reminded Buffy that she no longer was the only one in the cemetery; no longer the only person in the cemetery, alive. She turned to see yet another one of her second-generation slayers rise from behind a tombstone, holding a long pipe with a tiny flame dancing at the end, a thick length of rubber tube connecting the pipe to a small gas tank strapped to her back. "You okay?" April asked her as she continued to approach the slayer.

Still unsure as to what exactly had just happened, Buffy stepped between April's view of Kennedy. It was apparent to her that the newest slayer hadn't yet seen the gruesome murder. "I need you to go get Willow." Buffy ordered, knowing that she needed to protect April from seeing her mentor's lifeless body.

But instead of moving, April's jaw dropped as something behind Buffy caught her attention. Slowly, Buffy turned around, not knowing what waited behind her.

"Why don't we let the newbie have a shot at killing a vampire the old fashioned way?" Kennedy sneered, her pretty face changing smoothly into that a vampire's, eyes glowing yellow in the gloom.

"April?" Buffy stern voice brought the young slayer's attention back to her. "Go get Willow now!" She ordered, never taking her eyes off of Kennedy. For a brief moment, it appeared to her that April was hesitating in her decision to leave. But Buffy figured that the young slayer knew enough to not question her. The 17 years old brunette nodded as she turned and dashed away.

"She couldn't have beaten me anyways." She smirked, rocking from foot to foot as her boots crunched loudly in the snow. "But you probably want to try and dust me yourself. I don't think that you can do it, not if you want to keep Willow from going over the deep end again. But maybe she'll let me turn her, before she destroys the world. I know that you've already met vampire-Willow, tell me, is she hotter as a vampire?"

"I'm sorry, Kennedy." The slayer apologized softly, all the while rigid in her fighting stance. 'This is my fault. All my fault.' She thought to herself as she tightened her grip on the wooden stake and raised her hand.

Kennedy raised a hand to her neck and wiped her fingers through the rapidly cooling blood. Her eyes were on Buffy as she did this, a slight smirk curling the corners of her mouth. It was then that she flew at Buffy with lightning speed. The slayer only just managed to escape harm by twisting out of the way and leaning back when Kennedy's arm lashed out, fingers hooked like claws. The vampire's momentum kept her going a couple of paces before she turned and leaped again. This time Buffy was ready. She knocked aside Kennedy's outstretched arms, and swiftly brought her knee up into the vampire's gut. Kennedy grunted but responded instantly by cracking her head against Buffy's and slamming her fist into the slayer's chest. The sheer power from the punch sent Buffy flying into a tree, the rough bark cutting the back of her head.

As Kennedy swung a second time, Buffy ducked under it and stood, placing the knuckles of her weapon hand against Kennedy's shoulder and pushed lightly to over balance her before she shoved her with her other hand. This sent Kennedy sprawling onto the ground. She rolled instantly and rocked back on her shoulders, before throwing her feet forward and bringing herself back up, only to be greeted with a fist to the face. Her head snapped back and blood flowed from her nose. She hissed through her fangs and began to swing wildly at Buffy, who easily dodged and blocked, waiting patiently for the ideal opening.

Buffy didn't have to wait long as Kennedy lunged for her throat. The slayer simply side-stepped, grabbing Kennedy's wrist and using the vampire's own force, slammed her onto a tombstone. Her knees struck the icy marble and due to the forward motion, carried her over the top. Buffy was instantly upon the dazed vampire, rolling her onto her back and straddling her waist, pinning the former slayer's arm under her knees as her stake hand rose and her free hand closed over the vampire's throat, holding her down. Kennedy struggled beneath her, snarling and gnashing her fangs. Just as Buffy brought the stake down towards the vampire's chest, Kennedy's face changed back to its human form. For a brief moment, she looked sadly into Buffy's eyes before turning to the side, something else had caught her attention.

"No!" Buffy heard Willow's cries the moment that her stake embedded itself deeply into Kennedy's chest. The next couple of minutes seemed to blur itself in Buffy's mind as Willow began to scream in horror, having just witnessed her girlfriend turned to ash. Unable to look her friends in the eye, Buffy stood up, never taking her eyes off of the pile of dust that had only hours ago been her friend, her second-in-command and the one person who had been holding The Scoobies together. But now Kennedy was dead and it was her fault.

*** End of dream ***

Buffy jerked awake, her body covered in sweat and the sheet sticking to her skin. As she sat up, she realized that she was shaking. She wasn't shaking because of the light cool breeze that drifted in through the open window but due to the nightmare that she had just experienced. Only it wasn't merely a nightmare, it was also a memory. It happened five years ago, on a cold December night, a week before Christmas, only months after they had defeated The First and moved to Cleveland. There was another anniversary that fell on that day, it was also the last time that she had spoken to her friends, Willow and Xander.

Authors' Notes: This fanfic is co-written by Nightwish. Thank you so much for listening to me rant and rave for hours about this story.
I know that the Prologue mentions pretty much only Buffy but there is a reason that I chose to start with her. Who better to explain Kennedy's death. The next chapter is also primarily Buffy but don't worry that all changes with Chapter 2.
Please take the time to post a review, letting us know what you think about this new fanfic and whether or not anyone is interested in reading more.