Shadow of the
S L A Y E R
The Slayer's allies must deal with the side-effects of the resurrection…starting with Buffy dealing with Dawn.

The Fallen

Written and Created by Jawanza Barial

© A copyright of Doomed Productions 2002. Started August 11th, 2002. Completed ----.

An original mini-series based on the hit TV series created by Joss Whedon. Based upon Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon's work on the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And an expert from Tom Fassbender and Jim Pascoe's "The Death of Buffy."

Starring…

Buffy Summers

Xander Harris

Anya Jenkins

Dawn Summers

Tara Maclay

Spike

and Willow Rosenberg

Guest Starring…

The Buffybot

The Demon

Co-Starring…

Biker Demons

This is basically a darker rewrite of Season Six. In this episode, events take place at the very end of Bargaining Part II and the start of After Life. Everything else from Bargaining Part I and II have already occurred, and it begins with Dawn and Buffy's encounter. Contains spoilers for throughout Season Six.

Prologue

INTO EVERY GENERATION, A SLAYER IS BORN. One girl, in all the world, a chosen one. One born with the strength and skills to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil. Throughout the ages, she has always been there. Forsaking friends and family. Protecting the innocent. Facing the darkness, wherever she might find it. This is the way it has always been, and always must be. In the face of such evil, the life of one girl is such a small price to pay…

But this Slayer is different. She did not face the darkness alone. And her friends will not let her go. And it is because of family and friends, that this Vampire Slayer shall never truly be at rest…

Her name had been Buffy Summers. She had once been a normal girl, living up her life just like every other normal L.A. freshmen girl at Hemery High. That was until that day that she met Merrick, the man that would forever change her life, even though he would soon die. Death. It had surrounded her everywhere she had gone: Merrick, Ford, Kendra, Ms. Calendar, her mom…and of course her deaths. One death at the hands of the Master—only to have been brought back with the help of Xander and Dawn—and the other protecting and saving the world, and her sister.

Death had been her release from the chaotic world and life of Buffy Summers.

But now, the girl stared at that looming and monstrous tower that she had leapt from to save her sister. She wasn't supposed to be here, Buffy's time was finished. The Slayer of Vampires had sacrificed herself and moved on from the living…so what was this all? The fire, the pain, the agony? Was this hell? Why was this all happening to her? Were her memories of her afterlife all a lie?

She tried to think and focus, going back to that night.

The portal began to open right beneath them. Rapidly ripping space and reality to pieces, dimensions pouring into each other creating unbelievable chaos. The sisters could only watch the horrid sight, unable to believe it had come this far. But Buffy knew what she would have to do…

…Buffy had done what she was supposed to do. She closed her eyes, trying remember seeing the last sunrise, the dawn of a new life, trying to hear her final words to Dawn, before she leapt off the tower and into the portal. Before the dreadful and displeasing light, became something else all together.

"Buffy," whimpered Dawn, as they watched their eve begin to fade, "no."

"Dawnie, I have to." Buffy could hear the words escaping her lips.

"Buffy?" called her sister's voice. "Buffy."

The Slayer turned around and there she stood. Dawn. Buffy couldn't help but quiver—where was she? This couldn't possibly be real; the pain, the angry, and hatred that surrounded, it couldn't possibly be the place she had once lived in. It definitely wasn't the place that she had left behind. It couldn't be real. This image in front of her—nearly as scared and confused as she—it couldn't be Dawn.

"Buffy?" called the girl. "Is it really you? I mean…really?"

The tower—she remembered the tower, built by crazy people that had worshipped the hell-god Glory—shifted and trembled, nearly caused both Buffy and Dawn to fall off the tower, down to the earth below.

Back to death.

Buffy began to turn around, facing back towards the edge of the plank, looking down at her only escape.

"No!"

* * * *

Together, they had managed to fend off the leader of the biker demons—even without the help of the Slayer, though the gang wouldn't have mind if their friend had chosen to stick around. And they knew their friend—Buffy—was in fact alive, their resurrection spell had worked…though they weren't entirely sure if it had successfully worked.

Willow didn't want Xander, Anya, or especially Tara to know that even before she had come forward to the group with the idea of bringing Buffy back, that there was a chance that she could come back like this. Come back wrong. She had forced herself to push her doubts away in order to do the spell herself, but when the biker demons appeared on site there was nothing that she could have possibly done.

It wasn't her fault.

Whatever was wrong with Buffy, it could be fixed. It would blow over. Whatever was happening to her could be reversed…

…without reversing the spell.

Walking down the back ally, moving away from the Magic Box and staying hidden from the ravished streets of Sunnydale, Xander lead Tara, Willow, and Anya towards Buffy's house, trying to find the fastest route their without running into the wild bunch. They were trying to figure out what their next move would be, which obviously was focused on finding Buffy. What the Scooby Gang would do to her when they found her was a whole different story.

Then, for a brief instant, Willow felt something in the air. She could sense something coming at her in waves. It was almost like residue from a magick spell—her spell. It was Buffy. And she was definitely close by somewhere. But where would Buffy have possibly gone if not back to her house—

All four froze in a single step as they heard the whining and creaking of the shambled tower.

The tower. The place where Buffy had… That's where Buffy would be, Willow just knew it.

She glanced back at the others and nodded. "Follow me."

* * * *

"Don't!"

Buffy slowly glanced away at her only means to escape and towards the thing that would inevitably force her and that reality.

"Don't jump Buffy, don't move! Just walk to me," Dawn—or at least the girl that stood before her—called and cried out to her. Trying to calm Buffy and soothe her, making her step away from the edge of the plank. But that was her only way to be calmed and soothed. To jump. To leave whatever placed she had been sucked down into, and return where everything seemed good and at peace.

Buffy didn't understand why her sister would want that from her. For Buffy to give up everything she had earned throughout the hardship and fighting and death—for Buffy to be in a place that she could truly be at peace. So she turned away from her anchor, and stared back over the edge.

"I'm your sister, Dawn," the small voice insisted slowly. "We were up here…together…and then, you went away. And you don't want to do that again. I don't know how you're back, but you are. And please, just stay still—" And that's when the tower began to tremble again, piecing falling apart and the structure beginning to fail.

Slowly getting closer to her release.

"—o-or move! B-but towards me. Because the tower was made by crazy people and I don't think it's holding up very well."

And for the slightest moment, Buffy thought that maybe she might be real. But how could she gamble the reward she had forged through these many years, over something that might be her sister. She stared over the edge—her chance to escape—but then turned her attention back towards her sister's call.

"Talk to me," pleaded the girl. "Say something."

Answer her. Buffy realized that she at least owed her that. So, she said that only thing that was plaguing her mind.

"Is this hell?" Buffy whispered under the cries and creaking of the tower.

"What?"

The Slayer gave in, turning away from her way to escape and towards her sister. "Is this hell?" Broken, lost, seemingly alone and confused, the Slayer stared into her sister's eyes, seeking answers and truth.

"No. Buffy, no. You're here, with me. Whatever happened to you, whatever you've been through, it's over now."

Yes, it truly was over. Wherever she was now—earth or hell—it was truly over. Even if Dawn was real, she was the thing that stood between Buffy and her afterlife. The tower gave an agreeing shake, throwing Dawn off balance and brining the Slayer closer towards her reward, as she turned back towards the edge.

"We have to get off of this tower!"

Dawn only clouded the little sense Buffy had left—jump off of the tower, just as before, and she would return to the place of peace and light.

"It was so…clear," Buffy thought aloud, as she looked down the tower that continued shake and fall apart, "on this spot. I remember how…shiny and clear everything was. But, now…now…" Buffy knew what she had to do, to set it all right.

And then, she spoke again.

"Buffy, please listen to me." And so she did. "You told me I had to be strong, and I tried. But it's been so hard without you. I'm sorry."

Buffy clinched her eyes shut and tried to push away the words as Dawn clouded Buffy with false hopes and promises, about everything would change. If it had been anyone else, she might have been able to resist…but Dawn, her sister. Her only real family left. And then, those words drew her back. The last words she had said to her sister.

"I need you to live. Live, for—" Before she could finish her words, Dawn let out terrified screech as the tower started to totter. It was now that Buffy would have to choice: save her escape or let the tower take her back. And even if she wanted to go, she knew what she had to do. "Buffy!" she cried.

She had finally come to her senses. "Dawn." Buffy spun around and there was Dawn, on the other end of the plank, clinging on for dear life as that structure of the tower quickly depleted. "Dawn!" Buffy sped towards the younger Summers, grabbing her sister and helping her towards the stairs of the tower. Before Buffy could even think of another way to escape down the stairs in time, the peak of the tower became unstable and frames and beams started raining down—colliding into Buffy and Dawn and pushing both over the edge.

Confused and terrified, the Slayer couldn't comprehend what was happening. The two plummeted down from the tower, and in the moment, Buffy hoped that things would be over. Even if it was only seconds, these moments were the hardest she had ever dealt.

But pain was her only reward. The Slayer had stopped moving, slowly piecing together what had occurred. Beneath Buffy was the shattered body of her sister—the reason why the fall hadn't killed her. The only reason why she had chosen to stay…it was gone. She'd been played.

And as the tower continued to collapse, the anger, hate, loss, and confusion that boiled throughout Buffy, dissipating the remaining sanity within the Slayer. And the thing that had anchored Buffy here—her sister—was gone. She was truly, and now forever, alone…