If There Was No Buffy

Prologue:

Buffy sacrifices herself to save the world by diving off the platform to close the opening portal into Glory's hell dimension.

The Scooby's - Willow, Xander, Anya, Spike and the Buffy-bot, spend the entire summer trying to contain the vampires and demons. But as successful as they are, there is a toll taken on all of them. Xander's stamina slowly dwindles as he patrols at night then goes to his construction job during the day. Anya would rather be in bed at night with Xander, and not spending every night patrolling the many cemeteries in Sunnydale. Willow constantly has to assure Tara she is being careful and there is nothing for her to worry about. Spike is losing interest and would just as soon spend his time in his crypt and away from rest of them. Almost daily Willow has to make repairs on the Buffy-bot.

Chapter One
Bad News

It was almost nine p.m. As usual, Xander, Spike, Anya, Tara and Dawn were in the kitchen as two of them were getting ready to begin the night's patrol; Anya had opted not to go with them, again. Checking and double checking their supply of stakes and holy water, they were waiting for Willow to get off the phone. The Buffy-bot was standing patiently by the kitchen door, waiting to be told when to leave. But when Willow entered the kitchen it was obvious something was wrong. So wrong she was barely able to hold herself together.

"Will," Tara said, the first to see her. "What's the matter? Are you all right?"

"No," she said softly, shaking her head. "Oh, god. No!"

"What?" Xander exclaimed. "What is it?"

"It was Angel…." she started to say.

"He's dead?" Xander interrupted, hope in his voice.

"No!" Willow replied. "He called! He said—" Her voice faltered, then swallowing the lump in her throat, she continued.

He said Faith is dead. She's been killed…in prison!"

"My sweet lord," Xander said, stunned. "What happened?"

"Did some Big Bertha finally do her in?" Dawn asked.

"Was it a prison vamp, or demon? I hear they can be mighty ferocious," Anya said

"No. NO!" Willow countered. "It was none of that!"

"Sweetie," Tara said in a quiet voice, touching Willow's shoulder. "What was it?"

Willow shook her head sadly, then said, "Angel said she was shot. Shot through the head by a sniper. He said that goddamned Council had her killed!"

"What?" Xander exclaimed. "Had her killed? But why?"

"Because they found out that Buffy is dead. And with Faith in prison, they need a Slayer."

"But why not just break her out?" Anya asked simply. "They do stuff like that all the time."

"Because they want a Slayer they can trust," Willow replied angrily. "One they can control."

"But how did they find out Buffy was..." Xander all but choked on his words. "…that Buffy's gone?"

Now the tears trickled down Willow's cheeks. "Because Giles told them. He thought the Council should know. I guess he thought they would get Faith out of prison somehow."

"Are you sure it was Giles who told them?" Spike spoke up at last.

Willow nodded. "Wesley talked to Quinton Travers himself. That's how Angel found out it was Giles. After the warden called Angel, he had Wesley call to tell the Council she'd been killed. But they already knew."

"Are you SURE it was the Council that had her killed?" Spike asked again.

"Who else?"

"But how could they do that?" Xander asked. "I thought in prison you were away from anyone looking, or shooting, into the place."

"Angel thinks it was done from a helicopter," Willow answered. "She was in the prison exercise yard when it happened."

"Now THAT just doesn't make any sense," he argued. "Nobody can shoot that good from a helicopter!"

"Angel said he thought there was some kind of mojo involved. He thinks somehow, somebody got hold of her hair, smuggled it out of the prison, and used it to enchant the bullet. So then it wouldn't matter how far away she was. They wouldn't even need see her. The bullet would go straight to her, and kill her. He said if they had used her blood or sweat, then she could have been hit anywhere – chest, arm, leg. So that's why he thinks they got her hair." Willow began to sob.

"Why are you crying?" Anya asked. "You hate Faith."

"I don't know. I guess it's because she was the last link - Slayer link, to Buffy." Willow shrugged her shoulders, then buried her face into Tara's shoulder, who tenderly put her hand behind Willow's head, her fingers buried in her hair.

"So now what?" Dawn asked no one in particular. "You guys still going to patrol?"

"Of course we are, Little Bit," Spike replied. "The night's still full of nasties that need a good killin'."

"I wonder who the new Slayer will be," Anya said. "Do you think she'll come here?"

"I don't know, I guess she will," Willow replied, now having her emotions better under control.

"You know there's a Hellmouth underneath Cleveland," Tara said. "Maybe they will send her there. I mean, we – you guys, aren't doing so badly here."

"There are more than two of them, Love," Spike informed them. "Dozens of 'em. But just those two are active, for now."

"It's impossible to say where they will send her," Willow told them. "Here, there, who knows?"

"If she comes here, will we know who she is?" Dawn asked.

"Will she look like me?" the Buffy-bot asked. "I'm very pretty."

"Probably not," Willow replied, answering both questions.

"It's getting very late," the Buffy-bot continued. "We need to patrol. The vampires need to be staked!"

"Gather up your goodies, children," Spike told them. "The bad guys are waiting for us."

Without another word, everyone but Tara, Anya and Dawn left through the back door for another night of trying to make the night just a little bit safer for the residents of Sunnydale.

To Be Continued