Title: All
Author: Erykah
Email: erykah@hamadryad.com
Website: http://www.sweet-poison.net/
Summary: Buffy has a bit of an odd dream.
Spoilers: Set after Wrecked.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me.. not even most of the dialogue is mine.
Spot the references. ;-)
xxxxxxxxx
Buffy was fighting a vampire in a mist shrouded graveyard, not an unusual event in itself, but definitely made weird by the fact that the last thing she remembered was lying down in bed.
"Oh great!" She muttered as she stabbed at it's heart with her stake. It exploded into dust. "A dream." She pouted as she brushed the dust off her pink satin evening gown. "A very dusty dream." She looked around, wondering where to go. "Just as long as it isn't meant to be prophetic or anything.."
"Almost certain it is." A voice said from behind her.
Buffy turned around and found herself in Giles' old apartment. There was no furniture. It was empty, except for one thing. She sighed as she saw Whistler sitting on the stairs.
"Hey, long time.. really happy about NOT seeing." She joked with not a trace of real humour. "The Powers send you to me in a dream now?! Where were you before the whole getting dead then being pulled out of heaven thing happened..?"
"You didn't listen to me, did you?" He cut in, standing up and walking towards her. "You were looking the wrong way. You lost it."
"I don't understand." Buffy replied. "Was I supposed to protect something?" Her face lit up. "Do you mean Dawn? 'Cause I did that!"
"I don't mean the Keys." He said flatly.
"Huh?" Buffy frowned. "There's more than one?! Was there a sale on them at the celestial grocery store or something..?"
His grave face stopped her babbling.
"It's all on the line here, kid. " He stated. "Don't lose your Gift."
"I already lost that." Buffy sighed, remembering heaven. "I got nothing left to lose."
"Wrong, kid." He said sadly, pausing in front of her. "We both screwed up. Now we've gotta fix it. You've gotta fix it." He continued walking past her.
"What?" Buffy exclaimed. "I've got to do what..?" She turned to look at him..
.. and found herself standing in a sewer tunnel ankle deep in water, all alone.
What seemed like hours later, Buffy was still sloshing her way through the water. Her pajamas were soaked through. Thank god it was dark so she couldn't see what might be down there. The lack of light meant that all her other Slayer senses were heightened.. sadly that included smell.
"Ewwww gross." She muttered, trying to hold her sleeve over her nose as she carried on walking. "Why couldn't these dreams come a little LESS realistic!" She pouted. "I SO don't wanna be here."
Buffy blinked.
She was no longer in the sewer tunnel. Now she was standing in a peaceful garden. The air was filled with birdsong and a strange metallic creaking sound. Buffy inclined her head to gauge the direction of the noise and then followed it was a curious expression. It wasn't a long walk, but her long leather skirt was too awkward on her. As she rounded the corner she forgot all about her skirt.
Spike was sitting on a swing, merrily swinging back and forth in the sunlight.
"Hey Buff!" He called out. "D'you want a go..?"
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"What do you think I'm doing?" He countered snarkily. "I'm helping.. "
Spike gestured up at the top of swing and Buffy could see that the back and forth movement of the swing was powering a mechanism that made a small model of the Earth go round and round.
"But it's daylight.." Buffy frowned. "How are you out here?"
Spike didn't stop swinging.. he just held up his left hand. On the third finger was a ring.
"The Gem of Amara?" Buffy gasped. "I thought Angel destroyed that!"
"I can't believe you gave him MY ring!" Spike pouted petulantly. "It wasn't his to destroy.. That was mine!"
"Would you stop with the swinging already!" Buffy yelled suddenly, surprising herself, and everything around her melted away.
Buffy looked about in panic. The world around kept melting and reforming momentarily. There was no solid ground for her to stand on anywhere.
"What did I do?" She asked.
"You unlocked it." Dawn said as she stepped out of the morass of colours that now comprised the world.
"Unlocked what?"
"Everything." Dawn smiled broadly. Then she twirled around, her pink satin evening gown swirling around her tall, slim body. "Do you like my dress?" She asked.
Dawn spun and spun and Buffy looked at her with greater and greater concern but Dawn was laughing brightly. Finally she collapsed to the floor giggling. "We're all gonna be very best friends!" She laughed.
Buffy finally took a step forward towards her sister.. and found herself falling. She was caught in a pair of strong arms.
"Woah, Buffster.. it's a little late to fall into my arms now!" Her saviour said as he put her down.
"Xander!" Buffy cried as she rushed to hug him. "Thank god, you're here. This has been such a bad dream."
"Buffy, you should have learnt by now. If you're gonna play with fire, you gotta expect sooner or later... " Xander paused and frowned, adjusting his toolbelt more centrally across his pink satin-clad hips. "Now, how does that finish again..?"
"Gonna get burnt?" Buffy asked and the world fell away. "Great! Not again!"
A pair of arms grabbed her around the waist and took her down to the floor in a forceful tackle. There was a strangely familiar pressure on her for a moment, then it was gone. Buffy looked up the see a puffed out looking Spike standing over her glancing around as if he were being chased.
"Sorry Slayer.." He began. "Just wanted to stop the bunnies from getting you."
And he ran off, very quickly, into the distance.
"Spike? Spike?! Where are you going?" She called after him. "Do you know the way out of this lousy dream?"
"What are you asking me for?" Spike asked from behind her.
"Wah!" Buffy jumped and clutched her heart. She thumped him. "You nearly killed me."
"No, love." He replied seriously. "That wasn't me. I'm the other one."
"I'm starting to think you're the key to all this." Buffy commented bitterly.
"I'm not the key to anything, Slayer."
Spike reached out and pushed her backwards. Buffy hit the water with a splash.
Buffy forced her way to the surface, hoping against hope that they dream would end soon and that she could just wake up. A hand appeared in front of her face and Buffy gratefully took it. She was helped onto a small wooden jetty, jutting out from a sandy deserted beach. The sun was going down over the ocean. Buffy paused to admire it for a moment.
"You're still not seeing the big picture, B." Faith said from behind her. Buffy turned to her calmly.
"What am I not seeing? I see the sun set. I'll see it rise again later. That's what happens. Simple. Clear."
"And day is day and night is night." Faith said.
"Right." Buffy replied, then frowned at the rhyme.
"You've lost it again, haven't you, Slayer?" Faith smirked and rested her hands on her pink satin-clad hips. "I found it right away but you walked right past it. Something made us different, little bit. We're warriors. We're built to kill."
Faith leant in closer and kissed Buffy on the mouth before she could move away, then danced back with a wide grin.
"Nothing's wrong.. go get your Gift and get back on the damn path!" She finished off with a wave of her hand and Buffy found herself flying backwards through the air.
She landed in a heap in the center of a circle of light. A shadow loomed over her.
"Buffy?" Willow said above her and Buffy looked up at her friend. Pink satin didn't suit Willow at all. "What are you doing here? It's not right."
Buffy scrambled to her feet and found she was standing in the center of a large arena. A spotlight was on the two of them and just beyond the light Buffy could almost make out thousands of people sitting on tiered stands.. watching, for the most part, silently.. occasionally they would mutter amongst themselves. And were those small fights breaking out in the far distance..?
"It's just a show." She said flatly, as she tried to make out the faces of the audience.
"It's a sad song." Willow replied. "A lament for all that's lost."
"Life's not a song." Buffy told her with a frown. "Where did I hear that..?" She frowned some more.
"Does it matter?" Tara asked, appearing from behind Willow. "Alternate realities are neat."
Anya ran into the light.
"Is the lesson over?" She demanded, out of breath. "Did I miss it?"
"Almost." Tara told her. "The sun's already come up.." She smiled. "But there's still a little time left."
"Where are the kittens?" Willow asked, sounding very concerned. "Have you seen the kittens, Buffy?"
"They're all grown up now." Dawn said, stepping into the light. "Bats and rats and alleycats."
"Not all." Buffy interrupted firmly.. then frowned. "I let one get by me. I lost one."
"I would love to take you on." Spike said mockingly behind her and she span around to face him, automatically throwing a punch at his head. He grinned, getting out of the way before the blow connected. "A Slayer with family and friends." He grinned some more. "That wasn't in the brochure."
Buffy sat up in bed, clutching a cross and panting heavily.
"Huh?" She questionned, frowning into the darkness. Then screwed her nose up as the stench of garlic hit her. "Ewwww gross." She said as she put down the cross.