Willow's Quarters, Sunnydale Army Base, 0650 hours.
Willow could hear the battle that was going around her quarters. She could hear the screams of the demons, the screams of the monsters, as well as the screams of the people who ere battling them... all battling to protect their future on this planet.
A battle that would spell the end of humanity on Erath if they failed. Willow closed the door behind her after Xander wished her good luck, and made a promise to the redhead that he will protect her, even if he had to die. Willow wanted to tell Xander that everything was going to be fine, but the truth was that even she wasn't so sure. Willow knew that she regained her memories of when she was Athena and she slowly remembered the training that Oma had given her so that she could ascend, but deep down inside, she was still scared of the power she wielded; the same power that she used to nearly destroy the world.
'But then again' thought Willow to herself as she walked to the center of the room while she heard the sounds of screaming from demons who, Willow assumed, were being cut down thanks to the Atanik armbands, 'back then I was angry, full of rage. Maybe what I need here is to remember what I almost did after Hera died. I was full of anger, full of anguish that I unleashed the darkest part of myself. I... no... stop thinking in terms of black and white. It's never like that. Oma once told me that there is no dark, and no light.'
"It is your actions that define if you are good or evil," Willow remembered Oma telling her all those years ago at Kheb.
'I used my powers... the same powers that Tara would warn me against using until I became dependent on it' thought Willow to herself as she looked at the Scythe, 'I became addicted to it, used it when it never was necessary. I made her forget, and now... now she'd dead and I tried vengeance. I killed, no... I murdered Warren and would have done the same to the other two if my friends hadn't stopped me. Giles sacrificed everything for me, and I nearly killed him. I nearly killed him and he still sent me to the Devon Coven for their version of Witch Rehab. Can't believe it; then I came back hoping that I had more control over my power, but I was still afraid.. afraid of what I could do if I lost control. So much power within me, was that why Kennedy was attracted to me? She told me I had power and that.. that made me feel good. She... no... ultimately Oma's right, I... what the..."
Willow felt the ground shake a few times when she suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked straight ahead.
"My God" whispered Willow to herself as she held on to the Scythe, "they did it, Amy and Miss Harkness they... oh God... I can feel their life force being stripped away and... AAAHH!"
Xander was outside Willow's quarters speeding past one demon after another as they kept on coming into the base, and towards his position. He and the other soldiers killed them all just before he heard the voice of the other Willow, and was excited to see the Puddle Jumpers that launched the drones into the mass of demons and took many of them out. While the Jumpers were conducting bombing runs, Xander had been using the Atanik Armbands to take out any demons that had gone through the soldiers around him who were using heavy weaponry to take the demons out. It was when he ripped the head off one demon that he saw the sky outside getting brighter as the red clouds started to dissipate. Xander looked up amazed before he looked at the Turok-Han that were coming towards him from a section of the fencing that had been taken down on the other side of the base. HE could see that there were more weapons fire on that side of the base, followed by screams from various demons that burned up in, or escaped from, the sunlight.
Including the Turok-han that was heading towards his position. All he did was stare at the ancient vampires as they got bathed in sunlight, and were then turned to dust. Xander gave them a small wave when he heard the sound of Willow's scream from inside her room. He then looked at Robin who sped by him before cutting six demons apart which a sword in each hand. Xander told him that he'll be right back after he checked up on Willow; it was by this time that Dawn had descended to the lower planes.. and Xander would later complain to Buffy in regards to why he was always the last to know about any good news.
For now, Xander had his own section to take care off, and that was Willow's quarters. HE was certain that the First knew what Willow planned to do, so he was worried that maybe the First had gotten to her. Concerned about the scream that Willow had given out, the one eyed man ran to her quarters and opened the door only to see the Scythe laying on the floor and Willow on her knees while clutching her chest.
"Will?" asked Xander as he sped to her and kneeled down while the soldiers outside continued to fire, keeping away the demons when Willow looked up at Xander with tears in her eyes, "Will, what happened?
"Kennedy" said Willow as her voice broke, "I felt Kennedy die."
"I'm sorry, Will" said Xander as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick hug while the other soldiers were calling out for him. Xander then looked into the redhead's eyes and told her that once they get rid off the First, they will mourn everyone who died, "we fight on for her memory, Will."
"I... I know" said Willow, "we... we fight on."
Xander helped Willow stand up before he wiped her eyes when they heard screams in the distance as Willow's eyes went wide open ad she looked at Xander in shock.
"Dragons, Xander" said Willow, "Dragons."
"We'll mourn Kennedy, Will" said Xander, "and.. and I also want to hear your stories.. you know… about Atlantis.. and stuff. So we are going to survive this. Now, you need to contact the First Slayer. You can do it."
Willow nodded her head before Xander ran off, and closed the door behind her. Willow looked at the Scythe and took in a deep breath before she held her arms out in front of her. The redhead started to say a spell as the Scythe slowly rose up until the blade was touching the finger tips of both her hands.
Closing her eyes, Willow reached out into the Earth and felt the dark energy that had been already released from all the Hellmouths at once continuing to poison the Earth. The redhead felt sick to her stomach as she started a spell.
"I call on Sineya" said Willow as she felt a warmth go through her body as she recalled the young woman, "I call on the First of many… the First of the Ones… I call on her to request an audience."
Willow felt the ground around her rumbling as she continued to chant.
"I…." said Willow when the door to her quarters suddenly swung open and there stood three horned demons. Willow took her hands off the Scythe's blade and then pointed them at the demons and told them to leave her alone. A gust of wind then pushed the demons back out just as Xander cut their heads off all at once. Once he was done, the one eyed man leaned on the door frame panting as he reached for a protein bar, and smiled.
"Hungry" said Xander before he scoffed down the three protein bars that were in his vest pocket. He then locked the door behind him and ran to the crowd of demons that were charging into the base. Xander grabbed the swords in his hands and ran around killing ten at one go, and then he saw a few of the new Slayers that Major Willow beamed in struggling so he ran there and killed the demons before heading back to his sector panting.
The Slayers he helped saw what he did, and it was then that Buffy's voice came through all of their radios; and this time her voice was different.
It was more confident.
"Fight, and kill as many as you can" said Buffy over the radio before she and Dawn, two sisters fighting back to back, ducked and then one fired energy bolts through the face of three demons, and the blonde Slayer kicked out at the demons she was facing before she ducked, swerved and then punched with one hand, and then turned and beheaded the demon… followed by another one, and another one.
"Buffy, down" said Dawn who as face to face with Buffy whose eyes went wide when Dawn raised her arms at her.
"Step to your left" said Buffy as Dawn stepped to her left and she first a blast of energy through the demon that was coming from behind Buffy, and at the same time.. the blonde Slayer threw the axe she was carrying straight between the eyes of the demon that was behind Dawn.
"Watch your backs, protect each other" said Buffy as she spoke into the radio when there was another large tremor that made everyone fall back onto the ground, including Willow.
"The Hellmouth" said Willow with a smile as she closed her eyes, "the…. The energy released is much lower than before… but.. but the Earth'sstill poisoned. Too much was released earlier. I… I don't know if… if I can do this…"
"No" continued Willow as she slowly stood up, "I have to do this, the others are depending on me."
"My name is Willow Rosenberg" said Willow as she placed her finger tips on the blade of the Scythe again after it floated up to her chest level, and closed her eyes, "I was once called Athena… the one whom Sineya called mother, the one who loved Sineya… I call on the First of the Ones, the First of the lines of Slayers… I call on the guardian of the Chosen. Hear me, I do not seek an audience with the great power. I seek an audience with the one who thought me to hunt, to fish, to take care of myself…. I seek the audience of the little girl I met all those years ago, I seek Sineya of the Plains."
Willow heard a distant rumpling before she saw light from behind her closed eyelids.
Opening her eyes, Willow found herself on the plains of Nairobi. She could see her old home just standing there as a light breeze brushed past the grass land close by. Willow then noticed the Gateship before she sensed a presence behind her. Turning around, Willow smiled when she saw the same ten year old girl she met all those years ago for the first time.
"Sineya" said Willow as she took a step forward while smiling, the smile then vanishing when she saw Sineya talking a step back, "Sineya? It's me, Athena."
Sineya then started to giggle as she called out to Willow before she ran to a mouth of a cave that appeared out of nowhere. Confused, Willow turned around and saw that she wasn't near her home anymore, she was at the entrance to the cave she entered where she later saw the dead clones, the same place where Sineya was forcefully possessed by the Shadow Demon to become the First Slayer. Willow walked to the mouth of the cave, and could hear Sineya's laughter from inside it.
"I… I don't understand" said Willow as she looked at the mouth of the cave while her hands shook in fear. She noticed that her forehead was already sweating while the mouth of the cave getting further and further away from her, while at the same time… Sineya's laughter also seemed to be getting further and further away.
Willow just stood there transfixed as fear gripped her heart. She couldn't step forward… no matter how much she willed her legs. Standing still Willow closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths.
'Accept your fears' thought Willow as she remembered what Oma told her, 'accept that darkness will always exist within yourself, as it does in all lower beings. Some try to deny it, some fear it.. but everyone must accept it… and then let it go. Let go of that burden that weighs down your soul. What you did has already happened, it cannot be changed. What you can change is the future.'
Willow opened her eyes and saw that the cave entrance was right there once again. With her hands rolled into fists, and her face etched with determination… Willow walked through the dark entrance of the cave.
Sunnydale Army base, few minutes later.
Back in the army base, among the fighting that was going on all around her, Violet was still propped up against a wall after getting up after having fell from the last huge tremor that brought everyone down. She was so exhausted after the Atanik armband dropped off that she was being fed one protein bar after another by one of the soldiers while being protected by more of his fellow soldiers, and three Slayers. However, it wasn't too long before the number of demons increased in their area. Violet saw the soldier who was helping her get pulled away while looking on in horror as two demons pulled his body apart while the other Soldiers fired on nearly thirty who were coming their way.
'What am I doing?' thought Violet to herself as, despite her exhaustion, picked up the sword she was holding on to earlier as she saw one of the Slayers get gutted while fours of the demons went down under weapons fire. She panted as she ran towards the small battle as another solder fell. Screaming, Violet swung her sword having found reserves of strength within her as she cut of the head of the demon that just killed the soldier. She then fought alongside the surviving Slayer as they dodged, kicked, punched and stabbed three of the demons while the remaining soldiers in their group shouted that more were coming.
'We're surrounded' said one of the soldiers. Violet looked behind her and saw the soldiers backing up towards them as seven more demons joined while more were pouring into the base. She saw them get immediately gunned down by weapons fire from the roof while the ships in the air took down five of the twenty dragons using those yellow pellets of light. But Violet shook her head and got back to the situation at hand as she and the other Slayer s back up towards the backing soldiers as more demons were coming at them. Violet soon felt the soldiers and her back to back as they watched the demons prepare to make their move while the red haired Slayer spoke into her radio.
"If… if anyone can hear" said Violet, "we… we…"
One of the demons then snarled before giving off a roar.
Violet knew that she was going to die as she and the Slayer, along with the soldiers who had already gone onto their last magazines prepared to fire their weapons. The Soldiers started to fire, while Violet and the other new Slayer who was just deposited to the Sunnydale Army base by Willow yesterday prepared to fight when suddenly the demons stopped moving, and then were pushed back. Looking surprised at the other Slayer, and then at the soldiers behind her, Violet noticed a ball of light next to her that was pulsing as it slowly grew larger until the light had what seemed to be tendrils floating at the edges. The light then dimmed to reveal someone she thought she would never see again. Violet heard the soldiers behind her raise their weapons at the new figure, and she immediately turned around and told them not to fire.. that she was an ally.
Violet then turned back and saw the girl in a red shirt, black jeans and a blue jacket grin at her before she turned and fired a white energy blast at one of the demons that was getting up, before she turned and punched the second demon and then broke its neck as it doubled over. Violet watched as the girl went on to the other demons that surrounded them and killed them ruthlessly before telling the red haired Slayer what she were waiting for, that there was a fight still going on. The soldiers then continued to fire their weapons while the girl fired blue electric blasts from the palm of her hands to protect the Slayers and soldiers she was fighting alongside, while at the same up she used her other hand to break the legs of those remaining demons before stamping on their necks with her foot.
The jacket wearing girl cracked her knuckles after the last demon that used to be surrounding them fell, before she backtracked towards Violet and the others.
"Faith?" asked Violet as she stood next to the Slayer who she knew was killed the day they stormed the High School seven months ago.
"Vi" said Faith as more demons came towards them before they were pushed back mentally by her. She then looked back and told the soldiers to get more ammo before looking at Violet, and the other new Slayer, "Come on kiddo's, we still got more coming in."
"New powers?" asked Violet as she saw Faith fire another white blast of energy from her palm.
"Yea" said Faith, "I'll explain later, you take the new girl and fight these demons, I'll help the soldier boys behind us."
Violet nodded her head while suddenly fell a confidence grow within her as soon as she saw Faith again. She knew that every Slayer that stayed in the Summers house before the Fall respected Faith, and many were in awe of her. Including Violet, who then looked back at the new Slayer and told her to follow her lead as they started to fight the demons.
"We have more Slayer's incoming" said Faith as two more new Slayers joined the fight as one of the Cylindrical ships flew overhead and headed to the far side of the base, near the main entrance.
"How did you know?" asked Violet as the two Slayers took down four more demons.
"I called them" said Faith while she blocked one of the demons attack with her arm while mentally twisting the head of another one while at the same time kicking the knee cap of the demon that was attacking her, and then when it stumbled backwards, Faith saw a sword of a dead Slayer lying on the ground covered in blood. She telekinetically grabbed it and pulled it towards her before she swung around and chopped the top of the demon's head right off. She went on to the next few demons while two soldiers ran back with more magazines before they too opened fire on the demons.
At that same time, Willow was in the Jumper that had just rescued Riley, General Hammond and the others as they watched the battle in the Army base from above. She saw that Buffy, and someone who looked a whole lot like Dawn, General Landry and the others were being attacked by demons. Willow told everyone to hold on as she sped down and mowed down the demons who were attacking Buffy and the others before she had an idea.
Activating her HUD, she opened communications to all Jumpers while at the same time she brought up a plan of the base on another HUD.
"Attention, all Gateships" said Willow as she ploughed through more demons, while some of them had already entered the deeper parts of the base and were slowly being attacked by the soldiers, especially those who had the Atanik armbands, Xander, Robin, and Slayers. Willow knew that the interior would have to be taken care of by them, that the Jumper couldn't fire into the base since the blast from the resulting explosion of the drones would kill humans too… and they needed everyone. Willow landed the ship once it was clear before she opened another HUD to extend the Jumpers force field as far as it would go, "I need all ships that have expended their drones. Land at the coordinates I'm sending you, and then extend shield coverage to their maximum range. We should be able to cover ninety percent of the base if I can get ten ships."
"Understood" said one of the Lantean pilots after he used the last of his drones to take down another dragon before he and ten others came about and headed back to the base where they landed their Jumpers and extended their shields to cover nearly the entire base.
Willow then ran a scanned and could see that the danger still wasn't over, that while the other demons were unable to come in from the outside, the ones that were inside the shield were still a danger to others.
'At least they're not getting reinforcements' thought Willow to herself as she opened the rear ramp and waited for everyone to get out before leaving the ship. Walking down the ramp, she could hear weapons fire in the distance. Shaking her head she saw General Landry, Giles ad some of the other soldiers helping General Hammond to the wall of the building where he leaned with his back. To it, as did the other soldiers. However, it was Riley who first noticed the newest arrival who was standing next to Buffy.
"Dawn?" said Riley as he zipped towards her and gave the young woman a hug.
"Hi, Riley" said Dawn who looked over her shoulder at Willow who was walking towards her while eating a protein bar she took out from her vest.
"Willow" said Dawn as she pulled back from Riley and walked towards the redhead who was in a short-sleeve black t-shirt with a grey vest covering it and black BDU trousers.
"Hi, Dawnie" said Willow as she hugged the brunette, "or should I say Hera?"
Dawn laughed as she pulled back and took Willow's hand in hers and then walked towards Buffy and the others.
"Everything this Willow told you was the truth" said Dawn who sensed that they had some breathing room when suddenly the console inside Willow's Jumper beeped. Willow and Dawn asked them to hold on before the both of them headed to the Jumper, and they were soon followed by Buffy, General Landry and Giles who were surprised at the inside of the Jumper, especially when Willow put her hands on the console and a holographic HUD popped up.
"Sweet" said Buffy.
"Indeed" replied Giles as a video of a pilot appeared.
"Athena" said the pilot who was a part of the Blue team, "we have used all our drones to atomise the body of one of those large creatures, and we have severely injured the other two… we managed to destroy parts of their body… but with the other ships are required to battle these dragons…."
"Return to base" said Willow, "extend your shields once you get here and…"
"You don't understand Athena" said the Pilot, "the other two may be badly injured, but they are still running to your location."
"Understood" said Willow, "get back immediately."
"Major" said Colonel Carter who listened in to that conversation while she was being chased by one of the larger dragons, "let me take care of this guy after me and then…."
"No time, Ma'am" said Willow, "use your drones against those dragons sparingly… and that goes for the other Gateships in the air. Use the drones as bombs… pierce the dragon through the softer part of their body to preserve the drone's energy, and then once inside.. blow it up. Major, once you've blown yours up, please scan the area where you'll see an explosion for my life sign. I may need a pick up."
"Major?" said the Colonel, and the General Landry together.
"Trust me" said Willow as she looked at the Colonel who nodded her head as the five ships of the Blue Team landed around the base and extended their shields, reinforcing the shields that were already there as more demons gathered outside the shields which flared as they began pounding on it. Willow told them that the two remaining of the original Three had to be taken down, that with physical bodies, they could be killed, or badly injured enough that they would never be able to move. And then she could ask the Asgard to take care of them.
"How?" asked Giles.
"I was thinking using a force of nature itself" said Willow as she looked at Giles, and then at Dawn.
"No way" said Dawn excitedly, "the super massive black hole in the center of the galaxy?"
"If Thor says his ship can't make it" said Willow, "then any old black hole with do, don't you think?"
"Something they'll never be able to escape" said Giles as Willow nodded her head.
"But I need to take these guys now" said Willow before turning to teh other who were in her ship, "everyone out."
"But" said Buffy, "you said you don't have any more weapons."
"Trust me" said Willow, "I got this. Dawnie?"
Dawn looked at the green crystal on Willow's chest, and then at the Atanik armband she was wearing and nodded her head. Dawn told everyone to leave the ship; that Willow knew exactly what she was doing.
"We don't have time, move" said Dawn as she looked at the others and then at Buffy, "we need to help the others. Faith is taking care of one section and… that's weird.. we're still missing one… oh.. she's coming."
"Faith?" asked Riley and Buffy as Dawn smiled.
"I'll tell you guys after this thing's done?"
Dawn and the others then rushed out before the ramp slowly rose up. Just before it closed, Dawn looked back at Willow as she sat down on the pilot's seat as a HUD popped up with two words flashing in Ancient, 'Overload Commencing.'
'Be careful' thought Dawn to herself as she watched the ship take off and then head towards the remaining members of the Three who were coming towards them.
Willow took off in the Puddle Jumpers and flew towards the severely injured Wolf, and the Hart. She sped towards them at full speed as a visual meter on the HUD showed that the overload was at thirty percent. Willow got closer to them and saw that they were bleeding black blood and both of the eight foot demons had lost an arm, and several parts of their body. Willow buzzed them at high speed as they tried to swat her away. At the same time, she looked at her HUD which showed that she was nearing eighty percent overload, and would be at critical mass in a few seconds.
"Tata" said Willow as she flew towards the base for a few seconds before coming about. She then set the autopilot while she accelerated towards the two demons who were running towards her. She was buzzing over the mass of demons as the two of the Three that were still living rushed her. Willow then pressed a button that ejected the rear door before she let go of the controls as the ship continued to fly on automatic pilot. The redhead then ran out towards the rear exit as the console started to beep, indicating that the ship was about to explode. She could feel the sheep slowly descending as she ran and just jumped out of the ship while it was still in the air, her personal shield flared green due to the massive explosion behind her. That was soon followed by the screams of various demons and the two eight feet tall demons. Willow felt the shockwave hit her as she rammed through one demon after another, her body protected by the personal force-field she was wearing.
Back at the base, Buffy and the others saw the explosion as Dawn took a step forward and smiled.
"Willow's alright" said Dawn as she looked over at Buffy, "she was wearing a personal force-field. She's safe, she'll use the Atanik armbands to protect herself, while we prepare for another wave."
The others then looked at the demons as they stopped at the shield while snarled at the people on the inside. They could see the mass of demons outside the shield growing and pounding on the shield as they heard a scream from the sky as two ships shot three drones into the heads of two three headed dragons whose streams of fire the pilots were avoiding. Dawn, Buffy and some of the others who weren't fighting watched as the drones entered the dragons' heads, and then the heads exploded before the bodies just fell onto the ground, crushing some of the demons. However, Buffy knew that while they could keep on fighting, they weren't making that much of a dent in the demon army.
"Buff" said Dawn as she walked back to her sister, "I know what you're thinking."
"You do?" asked Buffy.
"I descended with all the powers, and the physical body of a near ascended Ancient" said Dawn, "it's the same as the military Willow. So I know what you're thinking cause of my telepathy."
"And telekinesis?" asked Giles as Dawn nodded, "energy projection?"
"Yep" said Dawn nodding her head before they heard a few screams, followed by the sound of cracks in the distance. Turning towards the sounds, they saw Liam, John and Jane finish off some demons before they headed towards Buffy and the others. At the far end of the base, Buffy saw six Slayers and four soldiers being led in killing some of the demons that remained in the base after the shields were put up by a dark haired figure who was wearing a blue jacket.
"Faith" said Buffy as she ran towards the Slayer who had died protecting some of the new Slayers, the one who sacrificed herself so that they could live. She saw Faith fire off an energy blast before turning around and swinging her bloodied sword at another demon, gutting it, "Faith!"
"Hey, B" said Faith as she turned around and mentally twisted the head of another demon that tried to attack her from the back. The dark haired Slayer stepped back as Buffy ran and hugged her tightly, "miss me?"
"You're alive" said Buffy as she pulled back before taking the sword from Faith, and while looking at the second longest serving Slayer, threw the sword towards a demon that was attacking one of the newer potentials who were now being led by Violet.
"Tell you the whole story later, B" said Faith, "gotta thank Lil'D and her mom for doing what she did."
"Her mom?"
"You'll meet her one day, she's a nice lady."
It was then that the ground started to shake again.
Willow felt the ground shake as she slowly got back up on her feet after having been thrown through various demons because of the massive explosion from the Puddle Jumper's reactor overloading. She looked back behind her and sped off to a small crater where she found the scattered remains of hundred of demons. She was about to turn back to the base when she heard laughter behind her. Turning around again, Willow saw two torso's without arms and legs lying on the ground. She then saw the heads turn and look at her.
"You believe you have defeated us" said both of them together as the rest of the puddle jumpers returned to the base after expending all their drones. Willow looked up at the ten dragons that were still flying about. And then she head even more screams from the sky as twelve more large dragons entered the battle zone. Frowning, Willow then looked back down at the two torso's, "you believe that you will emerge victorious against us… against the First. You have run out of weapons…. The most you have been able to kill is thousands, out of over forty thousand of our kind in this place alone. There are hundreds of thousands more of our kind in the world, and we will kill all of you... this world will be ours. The Human race is finished."
"No" said Willow as hundreds of demons surrounded the redhead, "this isn't your world. This is mine… this is the home of my ancestors… the home of the decedents of two of the greatest races this galaxy has ever seen. Not yours, and we will take it back by force."
"You have lost" said the two large demons.
"I am human" said Willow, "and I am Lantean… the technology of my people took you down. And rest assured the others will join you."
"You have no hope" said the First as she appeared at the edge of the crater in front of Willow who zipped back a few steps. At the same time she felt a small gust of wind from above her; glancing upwards, Willow knew that it was the Colonel in a cloaked Jumper who was waiting to rescue her. Willow knew that rescue would be difficult, especially since she was surrounded by demons… and she was facing the First Evil.
"Colonel Carter" shouted Willow as she looked up, "meet me right outside the main entrance to the base… pick me up from there."
Willow then looked back at the First and grinned.
"Hope's coming" said Willow as she ran at super-speed the other way towards the base, but not before heading to a demon that was wielding an axe. From her perspective, Willow saw that everyone was standing still as she took the axe, and killed one demon after another as she ran in a circle before she took off towards the base; all the while leave a trail of hundreds of dead demons in her wake.
"Hope" said the First as it saw Willow head to the base, "there is no hope."
Willow ran towards the main entrance where there were a baying crowd of demons that were hitting the reinforced shielding. The redhead killed hundreds of them at super speed, enough for the Colonel's jumper to land, and then run inside before collapsing on the floor of the Jumper after having dropped the bloody axe while the ship took off again.
"Major!" said the Colonel as she looked back while she headed into the base past the shields which were configured to allow only the Jumpers to fly through. She then landed the ship while Willow reached into her vest with shaking hands. She took out a protein bar, but her hands were shaking so much because of her exertion that she couldn't open the wrapper.
"Willow!" shouted Dawn as she was the first to run into the ship after the ramp was opened. The brunette saw the blonde officer jump off her seat, take the wrapper, open it and then break off a piece and bring it to Willow's mouth for her to eat. However, the shield was now preventing her from eating anything. Dawn kneeled next to Willow as the Colonel tried again while the two General's, Buffy, Liam, and Faith were watching the green shield come around Willow's mouth while her arms were shaking. Dawn then placed a hand gently on Willow who was now panting due to the extreme exertion outside the shield, and due to not having been continuously eating as Colonel Carter and the others were doing, "Willow, I need you to relax. You're no longer in danger… you're safe."
"I.. I know" said a panting Willow as she looked at Dawn, "one… one sec."
It was a few seconds later that Willow got control of her breathing and she mentally took control of the shield as it opened around her mouth. The Colonel gave a piece of the bar to the redhead who chewed it. It was then that they heard loud screams in the distance. While the others rushed out of the Jumper, the Colonel helped Willow off the floor of the Jumper and then helped her sit on one of the seats while opening another bar for her. Meanwhile, everyone outside the Jumper saw nearly twenty demons being thrown to the ground away from the other Willow's quarters one after another, followed by shouting from a familiar voice.
"You stay away from my fiancée!" shouted a young woman with short blonde hair as Dawn, and Faith smiled.. while Buffy, and Giles looked on slacked jawed while she continued to scream at the demons while breaking their necks one by one using telekinesis "I wish you were all Bringers! I have a bone to pick with them since they killed me! ME! From behind! Cowards! Bastards! And since they're not here, then you lot will do!".
Buffy and the others saw the last demon fall before Anya turned around and headed the way the demons came from. She was then seen with Xander, who had his arm around her shoulder and heading towards them.
They then heard from Soledad, one of the Slayers who used to live with Buffy, over the radio that the soldiers protecting Willow's quarters were killed by those demons… and Xander was already exhausted due to not having eaten to fuel his metabolism.
"We've killed our demons" she said over the radio, "we'll be here protecting Willow… Xander needs food fast and… well, I think Anya just came back from the dead."
"Yeah" said Buffy as she looked at Xander, who was looking at Anya with shock in his one eye. He was even more shocked when he saw the brunette that was running towards him.
"Xander!" shouted Dawn as she gave him a hug.
"Hey, xan-man" said faith as she gave him a little wave.
"Da… Dawn? Faith?" said Xander surprised, "Ho.. how?"
"Explanations later" said Anya as she sat him down against a wall while they started to receive reports from the Slayers and the soldiers on base that the demons that invaded the base earlier were dead, "you eat, save your strength… cause I'm telling you that once this nonsense with the ending of the world is over and done with, we are having some crazy monkey sex."
"Ok" said Buffy as she put her hands up and headed back inside the puddle jumper to help Willow, "Anya's definitely back."
"Yes" said Giles as he, and then Liam looked nervously around and walked away, as did the others. As Liam was walking away, he saw Buffy, and then Dawn sit next to Willow while the Colonel opened another bar and helped the redhead eat before she finally gained control of her shaking hand and could eat for herself. Liam wanted to talk to Buffy but he decided to wait until the battle was over. In the meantime, he looked at the smile on the blonde's face as she talked to her sister, and to Willow. He looked at her smile, and her shoulder length hair that curled at her shoulders before he walked to where General Landry was talking to General Hammond when a few of the Lantean pilots walked towards them.
"Greetings, I am Karas" said one of the pilots as he looked at General Hammond, General Landry and Liam as Faith walked over to them.
"I am General Landry, and this is General Hammond… we're in command of this base."
"Karas" said Willow while Colonel Carter and Buffy helped Willow walked out of the Puddle Jumper, and were soon followed by Dawn.
"Athena" said Karas before he noticed the other familiar face next to her, "Hera?"
"Hi" said Dawn as she nodded her head.
"Shield strength?" asked Willow.
"As you know, Athena" said Karas, "the shields were never meant to be activated for this long, we are draining the reactor core off power."
"I know" said Willow.
"It's supposed to be a stop gap until Atlantis gets here" said Dawn as she looked at Willow's confused looked, "I was there when you talked to Thor… and even saw… you know…"
"Oh" said Willow nodding at Dawn before she turned towards Karas, "how long do we have before the shield gives out?"
"Eight minutes" said Karas, "then the shields shield will fail."
"And Atlantis gets here in ten minutes" said Willow as Karas nodded his head.
"We better hope that our Willow does her stuff before then" said Buffy.
Unknown Location, a few minutes later.
Willow had no idea how long she had been walking down the tunnel. She entered the cave what seemed only hours ago, and she was still walking in the darkness. She could feel the wetness on the walls, and smell the stale air with carried a hint of decayed flesh.
'The bodies of the clones' thought Willow to herself, 'but I never walked this deep before, I remember so clearly that it was never this deep.'
Willow then leaned her back on the cave wall and closed her eyes, before taking a deep breath.
'What's going on?'
"You're afraid of seeing her" said a familiar voice as Willow snapped her eyes wide, as tears almost immediately formed when she laid her eyes on the owner of that voice. A voice that she thought she would never hear again.
"Ta... Tara?" said Willow as she walked towards the image of Tara surrounded by blue light, "no... you.. you're a figment of my imagination."
"Can a figment do this?" asked Tara as she reached for, and then held Willow's hands in hers.
"Technically" said Willow as Tara smirked, "yea, you can if I'm imagining all this."
"Well, you know about ascension?"
"Uh uh" said Willow when she finally made the connection and nodded her head, "The Powers."
"They ascended me" said Tara, "I watched everything that happened,, including what happened to Kennedy. I'm so sorry, Willow."
"I... I... I can mourn her after we're done" said Willow as she looked into the darkness, and then back at Tara who was glowing blue, "I thought there was no interference by the Powers. I know that the Others wont.."
"Seems some don't agree" said Tara smiling, "Dawn, Anya and Faith have descended."
Willow could only smile as she thought about Dawn, and her memories of who she really was thousands of years ago. She then smiled on hearing that Anya and Faith returned, and she made a mental note to get to apologize to them for how she had treated them over the years.
'But first" thought Willow to herself, 'I need to go through this darkness.'
"I.. I can walk with you" said Tara as Willow looked back at the blonde witch, "I.. I mean if you'd rather go alone, then you need to know that you have nothing to be sorry for with Sineya. I know the truth about what happened, the Powers have records of everything. They.. They wanted the one who would become the First Slayer to be willing. The... the truth is that there were ten girls born under that falling star, and... and those Shadow Men..."
"Furlings" said Willow.
"Furlings" nodded Tara, "they focussed on the first girl they came across, which happened to be Sineya. They could've gone to any of the other girls... but they ignored that part of the prophesy that spoke of ten candidates. They didn't want to search for the others, so they fixated on Sineya."
"They took away someone I loved, Tara" said Willow as she walked towards Tara, "they took her away, then used me to power the demon. I was there when they forced that thing inside her... and that was my fault. I trusted the Furlings, and she paid the price. I should have taken her away through the Stargate... away from the Shadow Men, away from her grandmother. Her death is on me, and yes... I know that I need to look to the future, and I am.. I did.. I mean I will look to the future. But she's going to be in my mind now, and I know it's my fault that... that she s taken. It's my fault that I went all dark and killed Warren, it's my fault that you died, it's my fault that Kennedy died, it's my fault..."
"Willow" said Tara as she caressed the redhead's cheeks, and wiped the tears that were falling on them, "what happened, happened. My death is not your fault."
"It's my fault because I introduced you to the life that Buffy, Xander, Giles and I had" said Willow as she looked at Tara, "if I hadn't introduced you to them... if I had kept you away from that part of my life then you would be alive right now. That was the biggest mistake I made, as Willow... I... then I... the things I did to you. Oh God, Tara.. I changed your memories, I... I even raped you... Oh no.. what.. what did I do..."
"Willow" said Tara as she put her hands on the hysterical redhead's shoulders, "I saw what happened. I saw you learning to respect and control your magic because of what happened after I died. Yes, it sucked... but you were strong enough to move on with Xander's help.. with the help of your friends. I was by your side, willing for you to succeed... to move on. And you did, you found Kennedy, and..."
"But I never loved her as much as I loved you" said Willow as she cried, "I... I... was alone and... she was pushing me into a relationship and.. and I wanted to be with someone. Tara, I wanted to be with anyone.. and.. and instead of pushing her away, I started a relationship with her because I didn't want to be alone. What kind of a person does that make me?"
"Human" said Tara as Willow wiped her tears and looked at the blonde, "you're human, Willow."
"Forgive me, Kennedy" said Willow as she looked back into the darkness in front of her and then back at Tara, "forgive me.. I did so many bad things to you that... that I'm surprised you came back to me. And..."
"I forgive you" said Tara as she tightened her hold on the redhead's hands, and then looked back at the darkness before them, and then at Willow again, "but you have to go on. You need to talk to Sineya."
"Will you come with me?" asked Willow as she looked at Tara as the blue light around her faded, and she stood in the same clothes she had on the day she died.
"I'm already here" said Tara, "I'm standing with you, in your room."
"Thank you" said Willow as she looked at Tara, "Thank you."
TBC.