OUTCAST
Legal stuff: I have never owned, operated, or created Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters (except Shawn Wolff) or places from the series. I give credit to the television Genius, Joss Whedon (I loved Alien Resurrection).
I borrowed the term "Day-stalker" and the general description from the movie "Blade", since it sounds cool. So I don't claim that term either. I also make reference to the Film 'Men in Black' Everything else that is not listed, or is not recognizable from a movie or TV show is mine.
This is set before the group graduates.
Rated: PG-13 Violence, Language.
"Buffy?" Giles asked as he scanned the Sunnydale Cemetery.
"Ah, sorry Giles, zoned out there. Worried about Graduation and the Ascension." The Eighteen-year-old answered, "What's up? See anything?"
"No, but I need to stand up. This ground is cold." The Englishman grumbled
As he stood, a powerful set of hands grabbed him. "I knew you living types couldn't take the cold." The vampire snarled, tossing Giles across several burial plots. The librarian landed in an unmoving heap.
"You must be in a hurry to die." Buffy cracked, as she pulled out "Mr. Pointy"
The undead assailant didn't reply before he launched a series of punches and kicks at the slayer. Buffy managed to block or deflect most of the blows.
This guy is fast Buffy thought as she ducked a Roundhouse kick, right into a viscous left cross to her jaw. Momentarily stunned, Buffy didn't see the kick to her unprotected Mid-section.
"Looks like you're gonna retire tonight." The vampire gloated. As he leaned over to finish the kill, a stranger delivered a flying drop kick, saving the slayer. The two men rose, staring at each other. They circled, like two wild animals sizing the other up.
"I don't know who you are, but I'm gonna enjoy killing you." The vampire bellowed as he threw a right-handed hay maker.
The new comer dropped into the splits to avoid the punch. Then with a palm thrust, he drove a stake through the vampire's heart.
"You okay?" The man asked as he helped Buffy to her feet.
After a quick once over, she nodded. "Where's Giles?" She asked, beginning the search for the missing watcher.
"Over here." The Stranger called.
"You alright, Rudy." The man asked as he helped Giles to his feet.
"Who's Rudy? And, not to sound ungrateful, who are you?" Buffy asked
Giles spoke up first, "I'm Rudy and he's my brother."
"Your brother?!" Buffy asked, more than a hint of surprise in her voice. She noticed that he was just over six feet tall, had close-cropped black hair, and a thickly muscled frame. He looked to be in his mid twenties, but so did Angel.
"Adopted brother, and the name's Shawn, Shawn Wolff." The younger man clarified. "I couldn't say Rupert as a child, so I called him Rudy. Is there a deli or something open in this town? The food on the boat was horrible."
Pointing towards the all-night café, Giles asked, "What are you doing in Sunnydale?"
"I heard that there was a major vamp-fest going down and I hadn't seen you since the Funeral. So I thought I'd drop in. You don't mind do you?"
"No, of course not. It's just that I'm not part of the Watchers Counsel anymore." Giles explained, "And with your problems with the counsel, the new watcher may feel the need to turn you in. It's Wesley."
"WESLEY, 'Little Weasel' made watcher? I can't believe that! I can handle him, but what's this bullshit about you not being on the counsel?" Shawn asked as he held the door open for Buffy.
Buffy chimed in, "I turned Eighteen; passed some test the counsel has, but they said he failed. Try the works Burger."
The waitress came over and took their drink orders, Shawn said he would pay for it. "I still have a lot of the money left from dad's insurance settlement." Turning to the younger women, "You been the slayer long? The last one I knew died when I was about five." A single tear welled up in his hazel eyes.
It took Buffy a long second to find he voice, "About three years now. How did you know a slayer when you were that young?"
"Hi there." A forth voice interrupted
Without turning Buffy greeted the arriver, "Hi Angel, what's shaking?"
"Not much, just stopped by for dinner." He turned to Shawn, "I'm Angel, you are?"
"Shawn, Giles brother." He stated, "As to your question Buffy; She was my mother. Giles' father was her watcher. She fell in love with a vampire who had a soul." Buffy turned to Angel, "Not him. They got together one night and I was born five months later."
"Whoo, be kind, rewind, I didn't think that a vampire could have kids. Isn't a pregnancy nine months?" Buffy asked
Angel cut in again, "You're the Day-Stalker?" more of a statement than a question.
Shawn merely nodded. After the waitress returned with their soda's and took the food orders Shawn explained.
"Normal pregnancies are, but I'm half vampire, so not in my case. I have all the powers of a vampire, but none of their weaknesses."
"This is deep." Buffy tried to digest the new information. "Giles what did you mean by his problems with the counsel?"
"After his mother died; my father took him in and the counsel, seeing the potential benefits, trained him as a slayer. They wanted a pure killing machine, nothing more." Giles started to explain
"Like Faith?" Buffy interrupted
"Only much worse. Our father tried to persuade them to allow Shawn to grow up first then go into training." Giles concluded
"They tried to suppress my humanity, they didn't want me to think; just kill. Before I hit puberty, I had learned several languages, sixteen styles of hand to hand combat, torture methodologies, and how to handle most weapons that kill a vampire." Shawn finished the gloomy picture. "My problem with the counsel is that the wanted me to scare a five year old girl to get her mother to talk. I was ordered to put a crossbow bolt into her left knee, and work my way up from there. They thought that the mother knew where there was a nest. I refused, and helped them escape. The counsel tried to kill me, I escaped and have been on the run since then; I was fifteen. They put me on the rouge slayers list and there is a bounty out on me, how much is it now Giles?"
"Fifty Thousand dollars, U.S." Giles replied dryly.
"That's quit a price tag on you." Buffy tried to joke. "I could use fifty grand."
"Buffy, not to scare you, but you would have to catch me first. The counsel has been after me for over ten years; I've evaded them for this long, so good luck." Shawn pointed out before taking a bite out of his burger.
Next Day, The School
"Hey Buffy, what's new?" Willow asked as she and Oz walked up.
Continuing to pull text books out of her locker, "I found out that Giles has a brother, who is wanted by the watchers counsel. He also has some major skills."
While Oz just grunted another non-committal sound; Willow tried to hide her shock. "A brother! I didn't think her had any parents."
"Shawn was adopted" Buffy clarified.
As Buffy closed her locker, Xander Harris walked up. "Have any of you seen the new guy. He's been hanging around the student lounge and asking about you Buffy."
Looking unconcerned, Buffy asked "Is he about six foot two, short black hair, and is wearing more black than Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones put together?"
"Uh, ya." Xander hesitated
"He's cool. Come on guys, I'll intro you." Buffy walked toward the grouping of couches and vending machines.
"Shawn, hold up." Buffy called, "I want you to meet some friends of mine. Shawn, this is Xander, Willow, and Oz. Guys this is Shawn." Buffy pointed to each person.
"This High school isn't what I thought it would be like." Shawn commented. "My school setting was either a Dojo or an empty room with one chair, a book, and a man who would rather put a stake in me than teach me. Do teachers here slap you if you get a question wrong?"
"No, but they do get frustrated. One time, in second grade… I'll stop now." Willow began.
"That sounds kind of harsh, where'd you go." Oz asked
Another voice interjected itself into the conversation, "Yes, where did you transfer from?" Principal Snyder
"Private School in Europe. I graduated about seven years ago. I've here to visit my brother, Mr. Giles, your librarian." Shawn replied in a perfect mimic of Giles' accent.
"You know you are required to sign in when you entered the building." Snyder tried to flaunt his authority.
"Sorry, I shan't be long I just wanted to stop in and say hello. I'll be gone before you know it." Shawn ignored the taunt, "Which way is the library?"
"Down that hall, all the way at the end. The rest of you get to class." Snyder barked
"Thank you." Shawn said as he turned toward the library.
"Did you see him?" Willow asked Buffy.
Pausing from her lunch, "Ya he is so muscled." She swooned. "And did you notice how he switched to that accent? He is like so cool, and you should see him fight."
"How good is he?" Oz asked as he settled down next to Willow.
"I only saw him fight for about five seconds. He finished the vamp off that fast." Buffy stated.
"Wow." Oz remarked.
Willow looked at her hands for a moment, "I get the feeling that he's hiding something. Not a bad something, but something."
"Well, he did have a rough childhood." Buffy reminded them.
"I think I'll invite him to dinner." Willow piped in.
In mock anger, Oz quipped, "It took you three weeks and some bad mojo before you invited me over."
"My mother wanted to interrogate you." Willow retorted, "I was protecting you."
Oz nodded and began to eat his sub.
"You don't mind, do you Oz?" Willow asked, "I won't invite him over if you don't want me to."
"No, it's cool." Oz mumble past his cold cuts.
Buffy changed gears, "So what's up with the Dingoes?"
"Got a gig down in San Francisco, some Frat house." Oz replied, "We leave tonight and play two houses this weekend. Willow, could you take notes in my classes tomorrow?"
"Sure thing. Wow, a real college gig." Willow chipped.
"I'm going to check on Giles and Shawn." Buffy said as she rose from her seat.
"You're sure there's no mistakes on the translation. Shawn if you're right then we could be in a spot of trouble." Giles stated.
Shaking his head, "No. I did the translation myself, twice. The reason the vampire action is down is because they're getting ready for an all out assault on the town. We need to prepare, how are you stocked?" Shawn asked, referring to the weapons status.
"We have a few crossbows and a sword, but we don't have anything big enough for this." Giles lamented.
"I got you guys covered there, how about recon and intelligence information. Where and how many?" Shawn asked
"Buffy could answer that better than I can." Giles answered
"I could answer what better." Buffy asked as she walked into the Library
Turning, Shawn responded, "I need to know the local population and the major nests. We are facing a possible all out assault by the vampires."
"Ah, between 30 and 40, but that could be low. I haven't seen as many lately."
"That's because they're hiding and waiting." Shawn cleared up the picture, "The time table is sometime this weekend. I'll go into the sewers tonight and try to whittle the baddies down some, but we need to plan on me only getting no more than ten. So Saturday we'll go in and slug it out."
"How? We don't have the weapons or manpower to fight a nest that big." Buffy noted
"I'll supply you guys with weapons and we'll pick the battle ground." Shawn answered. "Do you have a map of the sewers?"
"Over in that draw." Giles said
"Okay, here we go. Buffy, do you know anywhere that has a gate or door or anything that can close once the vampires get into a section of tunnel?" Shawn asked
"Ya, right here there's a storm grate that filers out the trash." Buffy pointed to a spot on the Blueprints
"Good, so here's what I'm thinking….
"Hi guys. What's the 411." Willow asked as she entered the Library
"Willow, shouldn't you be in class?" Buffy asked as she looked up from the maps.
"School's out for the day. What's the blueprints for?" She asked
"We were just planning for Armageddon. The forces of evil, that's the vamps, have been laying low, building their numbers for a winner takes all battle. The forces of good, that's us, are planning to stop them." Shawn tried to lighten the mood.
"Cool, I just learned a new spell, air gelling." Willow blurted out.
Trying to hide his shock, "No one told me she was Wiccan."
"Sorry, I'm a first year witch." Willow apologized.
"That's pretty good. I never cared much for the Wiccan arts." Shawn replied.
"Shawn, I was wondering if you would like to have a home cooked meal? Say tomorrow night my house, around 6:30." Willow asked
"I don't want to impose. Besides I hate being the other guy." Shawn answered
"Oz is cool with it, and my mom is always saying I should bring home more of my friends." Willow explained.
"Sure, I'll bring the drinks. Red or white?" Shawn accepted
"White, Fridays my mom makes seafood."
"Giles, you fill in the others about the plan, I'm going to get ready for the hunt." Shawn headed for the door.
"What hunt?" Willow asked
Stopping at the door, Shawn turned his head, "I'm going into the lions den."
Ten minutes later Shawn returned. He was dressed in black form head to toe. He wore a form-fitting one piece body suit, shin protectors, two bandoleers of stakes crisscrossed over his chest, Rambo-style. The handles of throwing knives could be seen sticking out of his boots. His long coat flapped behind him . Buffy noted his entrance back into the room, "What is it with vampires and black."
"Helps hide us in the night. Plus, it makes us look like even bigger bad-asses." Shawn Joked "Willow, what type of flower do you like?"
"Black Orchids, why"
"I was curious. Wish me luck." Shawn replied. "Buffy, could you drive my truck to Giles' after you drop me off at the sewer grate."
"Sure, which grate." She asked
Looking at the map one last time, "The one at 5Th and Carter. It's the closest on to the gate, I'm gonna rig it so that once we get all the vampires into this section of the tunnel, we can shut the gate and fry 'em." Shawn told her.
"How?" Willow asked
"We're going to coat the walls with a mixture of gasoline and lard. The lard causes the gas to gel and stick to the walls. We also dose the floor with gas, then throw a flare into that mess." Shawn informed her.
"How do we get the vampires to that section?" Xander asked as he took a chair.
"Shawn and I act like we're going to fight and then run. They chase. We barbecue." Buffy answered.
"Well, I hate to leave, but it's almost sunset. Giles, I'll meet at your place around 12:00 or 1:00. Hopefully I'll know more about their numbers and plans by then." Shawn motioned for Buffy as he walked out the door.
As they drove towards the manhole cover, Buffy Looked over at Shawn. "Were you and your mom close?"
"Very. I still remember the last time I saw her alive. She told me that the next day, we'd go get a puppy. The neighbor down the road had this black lab, she had a litter, and I fell in love with the runt. I always go with the underdog. I never got that dog." Shawn lowered his head and wiped a few stray tears from his face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know it still hurt you talk about it. What happened after that?"
"I was trained by the counsel and the first vampire I dusted was the one that killed my mother. Here's my stop." Shawn paused before her got out. "Buffy, When you get to Giles' house," He pulled an envelope from his coat, " Give this to him, please."
"Sure, what is it?"
"My will, just in case."
In the Sewers
Man I HATE this place Shawn thought to himself, as he quietly stalked through the underground maze.
"Why can't the vampires live in some nice castle or something the doesn't smell?" Shawn quipped
As he rounded the corner, two guards came into view.
Shawn silently drew two stakes from his belt.
"You ready for the hunt?" One of the guards asked his companion.
Before he could answer, one of those stakes buried itself in his chest.
"What the hell?" was all the first one managed to say, before he joined his friend.
Two more vampires saw the kills and rushed to defend the nest. Shawn ducked the first few punches and trade kicks with the undead. After a few minutes of fighting, Shawn had subdued both vampires. Fearing more would come, Shawn gathered his tools and the two unconscious vampires.
"Giles, it's almost two am Shawn should of been back by now." Buffy paced the living room nervously.
"Relax Buffy, you want some more tea?" Willow asked from the kitchen.
"Yes, please." Buffy held up an oversized mug. "What's in this, it's good?"
"Mandrake root, Indian ginseng, various herbs, and soothing spices. I found it at an online Wiccan book store."
"I'll take a cup too." Shawn said as he entered the apartment.
Noticing the two vampires, "Shawn, I hate it when you bring your work home." Buffy joked.
"Sorry. The master of the nest has these guys patrolling in pairs. I couldn't get close enough to get any good recon, but I got these two. I bet they have all sorts of things to say." Shawn explained.
The gang quickly tied the vampires to some chairs. Giles put some coffee on; while, Shawn went out to his truck for more equipment. He returned with one duffel bag. Setting the bag down near the chairs, he removed a syringe and vile of violet liquid.
Gesturing with the bottle, "Sodium Pentathal has no effect on vampires, but silver nitrate does. Willow, do you like geology?"
"Ya, one time I found this piece of Muscovite Mica near my house. There was a diamond in the middle of it and I broke it open to get it. It took forever. What does this have to do with vampires?" She responded.
"Nothing, except both involve time and pressure. Given enough of both you can break anything or anyone." Shawn answered as her injected both vampires with the solution.
"You see, counsel researchers found that silver nitrate shuts down the higher brain functions of a vampire. Eventually they will tell everything." Giles concluded the history lesson.
Shawn walked into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. "Hey, Giles where do you keep the sugar?"
"In the big canister." He replied.
Shawn sipped the warm beverage, savoring the strong, slightly bitter taste. "I still haven't figured out how you and dad made this coffee. This is great coffee."
"Pinch of salt in the filter." Giles informed him.
"When I get out of these ropes, I'm going make you suffer." One of the vampires yelled.
Shawn slowly sipped the coffee, he appeared to be in no hurry. Finishing the cup, "Okay, I can interrogate them now, I've had my coffee." Checking their eyes, "Gentlemen, how many are there?"
"98 are left, counting us." The first one said.
"Where's the main nest? Who's in charge?"
"Under the school, near the Hellmouth. Spikes' in charge."
The questioning went on for almost an hour. "Anything else we need to know?" Shawn asked the group.
"No, but we should keep them until tomorrow. They can stay in the storeroom at the library." Giles said.
"Alright, We'll see everyone tomorrow. Meet at the library at 1900 for final debriefing." Shawn said as he unrolled his sleeping bag on the floor.
"When?" Xander asked
"7:00 P.M., You don't know international time; after noon it's 1300, 1400, 1500, etc." Shawn explained.
Willow's House
Shawn adjusted the knot of his tie, he hated wearing them. He pressed the doorbell and waited for it to open.
"You must be Shawn, I'm Shelly Rosenburg. Come in." A woman in her late forties said. Shawn looked around the rooms as he was led to the dining room. It had that feeling of home that he hadn't felt in years. It looked like people lived here and were expected to be here for a long time.
"Willow said to bring white, to go with the seafood." Shawn handed over a bottle of wine. "It's from my father's cellar. He had a rather well stocked collection."
"Had?" She asked, placing the bottle in the fridge to chill.
"He passed away about two years ago." Shawn told her.
"I'm sorry to hear that." She said. "Willow and her father are in the family room. Down the hall, second room on the left."
"Thank you, should I tell them what time we will eat." Shawn inquired.
"About 10 minutes."
Shawn walked down the hall and introduced himself to Willow's dad. "You seem a little old for high school, how did you meet Willow?" He asked.
"Mr. Giles, the librarian, is my brother. I stopped in the other day and Willow was nice enough to invite me over for dinner." Shawn replied.
"Will you be staying long?" Shelly asked.
"Just a few days. I have business to finish here then I'm off to who knows where." Shawn answered.
"What sort of work do you do?" Jonas Rosenburg asked.
Shawn didn't even blink, "I do freelance consulting. I handle all sorts of situations: computer systems, labor management, utilities, you name it."
The rest of the dinner went without incident.
The Library, 1900 hours
"Now then, Let's get started. Shawn." Giles stepped out of the way.
Leaning over the model of the sewer pipes, Shawn began the briefing. "Now we enter the tunnels here and prep this section of the tunnel. Buffy and I will head this way, engage the vampires, and then fall back to this position." He pointed to certain areas of the model, "We will then seal off the escape route and incinerate the vampires. So, everyone understand the plan?" He looked around the room.
"I have a question." Willow interjected. "What-if you or Buffy can't get out of there?"
"Buffy will make it out." Shawn answered.
Looking slightly confused, Buffy asked "What about you?"
Shawn didn't answer with words; the look in his eyes told them everything. He turned and walked of library, before anybody could see the tears in his eyes. Buffy moved to follow, but Giles stopped her.
"Giles, let go of me before I hurt you. Did you see the look in his eyes? It was look of a man really to die." Buffy pulled free of the watcher.
"Buffy, you have to understand; Shawn didn't grow up like you. He didn't have friends or a loving family; all he had was orders. He never let anybody get close enough, not after his mother died. He didn't want to lose someone else." Giles explained, "He also feels the need to redeem himself. The only problem is, he also feels the what he's done can never be redeemed; no matter how much good he does, it'll never be enough."
Willow spoke up at this time, "What did he do that was so bad?"
"He was born." Giles informed them.
"I'm going to talk to him." Willow said.
Walking into the next room, Willow saw Shawn preparing his weapons. She carefully walked toward the large man, he sensed her approach anyway.
"I'm not going to pretend to know what you're going through, but I just can't stand by and watch you kill yourself." Willow's voice was starting to crack from the emotional strain.
Shawn turned to say something to her, he noticed movement of the corner of his eye. "Look out!" Was all he had time to say before the vampire struck. Shawn pulled a throwing knife from his boot, and hurled it at the undead assailant. The blade buried itself in the side of his neck; Shawn fell upon the vampire an instant later. Spinning, Shawn grabbed the knife in his left hand, ripped it out; almost decapitating the vampire. He then plunged a stake into the vampire's heart with his right. "Buffy!" He yelled as he pressed his hand to the bleeding wound on Willows neck.
Buffy ran into the room, followed by the rest of the gang. "Willow!" she yelled, seeing her best friend injured.
Buffy looked at Shawn, "What happened?"
"Vampire attack. Spike must have sent someone to stop these two from talking." Shawn filled her in.
"I'm so cold, am I dying?" Willow began to shiver. Buffy quickly covered her with her jacket.
"The good news is she's not dying," Shawn hung his head, "The bad news is, she's becoming a vampire."
"There's got to be something we can do." Xander said.
"There is." Shawn said, "The cure has only been tried a few times before, and it's never been successful."
"All right, let's try it, what do we need?" Buffy began to take charge.
Shawn told them the list of ingredients, then paused. "The last ingredient, is the blood of a Day Stalker." Shawn pulled Buffy to the side, "This may not be the appropriate time to mention this, but if this doesn't work, we're going to have to put her down."
"You mean kill Willow?" Shawn nodded.
"If we have to do that, then the Willow you knew will be dead." He informed the slayer, "If you want, I'll handle it."
Buffy nodded, "Only as a last resort."
Buffy paced the floor nervously; Giles polished his glasses, and Xander just sat there in disbelief. They all heard Shawn bellow in rage. He walked into the library, hand covering his eyes. "I'm sorry. It didn't work."
"Willow's gone?" Buffy couldn't believe what she heard.
One of the vampires tried to gloat, "You see! Spike wouldn't leave…" Shawn cut him off by punching into the chest cavity. He crushed the vampire's heart in his hand.
Shawn then walked over to the second vampire still secured to the chair. He leaned in until he was 2 inches from the vampire's face. "I want you to take a message to Spike. Tell him that I'm going to rip his heart from his chest, with my bare hands, just like that." He held the crushed organ up. "Now get out of a here before I decide to deliver it myself." Shawn said as he cut the vampire's bonds.
Two hours later"I still can't believe Willow's gone." Buffy said, she couldn't feel anything.
Shawn sat on the counter, sharpening his swords. "I'm going to honor Willow's last request; She asked us to stop this from happening to someone else."
"How could you kill her? Don't you have a heart?" Xander grabbed Shawn by the coat, pulling him off the counter. He was ready to fight with anyone.
Shaking the angry teen off him Shawn answered, "It was because I have a heart that I ended her suffering." Turing to his older brother, "Giles, don't you find it ironic; The watchers counsel couldn't kill my humanity, but the vampires could." He pulled a bottle from his duffel bag; set up five shots, and handed them out.
Raising his glass, "I didn't know her very well, but I will miss Willow." The four drank the thirty year old whiskey. "I left one for Willow." Motioning to the untouched shot.
"What time do we go in?" Buffy asked.
"Dusk, If we're lucky we can catch them before they're organized." Shawn stated
Saturday Night, dusk"Are you ready?" Shawn asked; noting the puffy, red eyes Buffy was sporting.
"Ya." Buffy nodded, but her voice betrayed her.
"If you're not, We're going to be drinking to you." Shawn wanted to get Buffy angered enough to fight. "Xander, you and Giles cover the on the walls with the gasoline. Buffy and I will go into the nest. We'll give you five minutes to coat the walls than we attack. Any questions?"
"Who brought matches?" Xander asked.
Shawn pulled out a flare gun and handed it to Xander. "We'll use this." He then set two small timers for 5 minutes. He activated them, and handed one to Giles.
"Be careful you two." Giles said as he pocketed the timer.
"Ready?" Shawn asked.
Buffy nodded. She noticed how the bodysuit accented his muscles; he had not worn his coat tonight. She was jerked back to the present by the timer's beeping.
"CHARGE!!!" Shawn yelled as he rushed the nest, stakes in hand.
Buffy followed behind him. The two slayers began to fight anyone they could find. After about two minutes of fighting, Shawn ordered them to fall back to the tunnels. The vampires followed, not wanting the prey to get away.
As the pair retreated to the prepared section, the smell of gasoline grew stronger. Turning the corner, Giles and Xander joined the battle. The vampire population was slowly dwindling, but for everyone that was knocked down, three took its place. Shawn saw several knives thrown toward the slayer, and managed to shout a warning. Buffy saw them and knew she couldn't avoid all of the blades. She leaned backwards in an attempt to minimize the damage. As they approached, Buffy noticed that they seemed to slow, giving her the time she needed to dodge the knives.
"Either I'm getting faster, or…" She looked towards the entrance. A red haired woman was standing there.
"Willow!!!" Buffy ran over to her best friend. "I thought you were dead!"
"I'll explain later, the gang needs help." The two women rejoined the fray. By using Willow's Wiccan powers, they managed to close off the grate and prevent the vampires from retreating. However, they began to overrun the humans.
"How are we doing?" Buffy asked, after finding the men regrouping in a doorway.
"Not good. I think Xander has a concussion and my arm's broken." Giles informed them.
"Get out of here! I'll hold them back. Use the flare." Shawn told the ladies. He quickly looked up, "Mom, I'm coming home." He then drew both swords and began a one man counter-attack on the remaining vampires. As Giles turned to fire the flare the sight chilled him to his very core. Shawn was killing vampires with a zeal and bloodlust that was beyond savage. He knew that he had to stop everyone.
"Goodbye, little brother." Giles whispered as he pulled the flare gun from Xander's belt, turned, and fired. The flare bounced off the wall and landed in a pool of gas. Flames exploded, sucking all the oxygen out of the tunnel.
"Shawn!" Willow coughed out, but she knew it was useless.
Putting an arm around her, Buffy tried to comfort the distraught redhead. "He gave his life so that we could live. Maybe he saw that as his act of redemption. We have to believe that he's in a better place."
Giles lowered his head, "In pace requiescat." Noting the questioning looks, "Latin, 'May he rest in peace.'"
at the Hospital
The girls were sitting in the waiting room; recovering from the battle. Xander was in an observation room; while Giles was in urgent care getting his arm casted. Buffy listened as Willow told her the story of why Shawn faked her death. "You see, Shawn wanted to have a trump card, as he put it. That was me. I agreed to the plan and hid in the storeroom until you guys left yesterday. Sorry about putting you through all the pain, but we needed it to look real."
Buffy was about to answer, a flower delivery man showed up. Looking at his clipboard he asked, "Is there a Willow Rosenburg here?"
"That's me." She said, "What is it? Who sent it?"
"One dozen Black Orchids. Some guy walked into the shop and paid cash for them and tipped one hundred more if we would deliver them to the hospital."
"Did he have dark brown hair and was about this tall?" She held her hand just above her own head.
"No, he had black hair and was about 6' 2". He looked like the guest of honor at a barbecue." The florist walked out.
Pulling out the card Willow read it to herself:
Willow,
I can't thank you enough for your kindness these last few days. You've help restore my faith in the human heart. May the Spirits watch over you.
Shawn
One Year Later
"Buffy, I got a letter from Shawn yesterday." Willow was waving a few sheets of paper, as she ran into the dorm room.
"How's he doing? Where is he? What's he been doing?" Buffy was rambling.
"He's fine, San Francisco, and he took a vacation." Willow answered. "He said that he jumped into a pool of stagnate water and just drove east after the battle. He hasn't fought anything in the last year, and just lived like a normal person."
"You still miss him?" Buffy asked as she folded her laundry.
"Ya, I do. Is that wrong?" Willow was lonely since Oz left. "He said that he met a nice woman in San Francisco. Her sister owns a nightclub."
"Maybe he'll finally find that normal live he deserves." Buffy said.
The End.