Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Chapter Twenty-Five: Becoming:

For a few moments, the only thing Kennedy was aware of was darkness. But then she realized that her eyes were closed. Slowly, she became aware of her body. She was lying down. The sheets were soft against her skin and smelled like Willow. Her head hurt mildly and her muscles felt stiff, like she hadn't moved in days. The room seemed silent at first. She wondered where everyone was. Then she heard something by her bedside, nothing tangible, but the sound of something there but not really there, a rustle of air. She opened her eyes, but blinked rapidly, the sunlight pouring in through the window too bright.

"Kennedy," she heard someone say and she looked over to her left. Eli was kneeling next to her. He looked worried. She had the strangest sense of déjà-vu. For a moment, she thought she was in her Watcher's apartment and Eli was waking her up again to tell her that Bringers were breaking in to kill her. She wasn't too far off.

"Eli," she said. She sat up in the bed, moving slowly so as not to stress her fatigued body.

"You have to get up," Eli instructed.

"What's going on?" Kennedy asked. Before he could answer, she heard sounds of fighting drifting up from the living room.

"Caleb is here," Eli said gravely.

Kennedy paled. The last time she had seen the preacher, he hung her from a lamppost. "Here, like here here?" She asked in a panic.

"Yeah," Eli confirmed. "Get a weapon."

"Get a weapon?" Kennedy asked incredulously. "What are you talking about? That guy's like crazy strong. A weapon isn't gonna do anything."

"Willow's downstairs," Eli explained hurriedly. "Buffy and Faith left with a group of girls to explore the high school. They put Willow in charge, but the only person left who can really fight is Spike."

"Shit," Kenney said, her determination to protect her girlfriend over powering her own fear. Throwing the covers off of her body, she hastily rose to her feet. The room started spinning for a moment and she slowed down.

"What are you waiting for?" Eli admonished.

"I'm dizzy!" Kennedy shot back. "I just woke up. I've been running around like Mad Max for days and I feel like I'm gonna vomit." The visions she had seen while unconscious remained with her, but they seemed muted now. She was about of her own mind and back in reality. She wasn't certain how she had woken up, but she didn't care. Willow needed her help.

"Mad Max?" Eli questioned.

"I'll tell you later," Kennedy promised. Moving over to Willow's closet, she grabbed a knife and turned to face the dead man standing in front of her. "Okay," she said more confidently. "Let's go fight."

Eli moved out of her way, even though she would have passed through him, as she marched out of the room and into the upstairs hallway. Her headache was worse, but she knew that she had to help. For all intents and purposes, Willow was on her own downstairs and Kennedy knew how insecure Willow was about her ability to use her magic. Kennedy reached the top of the stairs and saw Dawn struggling with a Bringer at the base of the staircase. Rushing down, while ignoring the dizziness and wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm her, Kennedy grabbed the Bringer just as he was about to bury his knife in Dawn's shoulder. Using her own, Kennedy sliced open his arm and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled backwards, giving Dawn the chance to break a vase over his head.

Certain the Bringer was unconscious, Dawn turned to see who had miraculously saved her life. She hadn't expected to see Kennedy, though there wasn't anyone else who could have done it. No one had been upstairs when Caleb arrived. "Kennedy!" She said in surprise. "You're up and wielding a knife."

"I heard fighting," she said and shrugged.

"You're up and wielding a knife," Dawn replied incredulously.

"Don't remind me," Kennedy muttered, another wave of dizziness passing through her.

"You okay?" Dawn asked, steadying her.

"Oh, I'm great," Kennedy muttered. "What's going on?"

"Caleb," Dawn said gravely. "He attacked. Willow's trying to hold him at bay in the living room. Most of the girls are trapped in there with Willow behind the barrier."

"But you?" Kennedy asked as another Bringer rushed at them.

"I wasn't so lucky," Dawn explained. Kennedy handed her the knife.

"That might work better than a vase," she said, ducking when the Bringer swung his fist at her.

"Don't you need one?" Dawn asked, fending off another of the blind monks.

Kneeing the Bringer in the stomach, Kennedy grabbed his other wrist and broke it. His knife fell out of his hand and she grabbed it. "Got one of own now," she replied.

Beads of sweat were starting to form on Willow's head as she struggled to maintain the barrier. Caleb was fighting against it, as were most of his Bringers. Caleb had been endowed with the First's strength, Willow knew that now. She knew because every time Caleb touched her barrier, she felt a little bit of it fall away. No mortal man could accomplish that, not unless he was charged with mystical energy of his own. "Giles," she ground out between her teeth, "I don't think this is going to work."

"Keep trying," he said, muttering incantations under his breath. Giles knew powerful magics himself, but Willow held more power than he ever had. Though he was trying to help bolster the barrier, he knew it was up to her to keep it from collapsing.

Willow focused her energy on the barrier, trying to strength it. But she was worried. Most of the girls had gotten behind the barrier before she threw it up. But three hadn't. Dawn and two Potentials had been trapped on the other side. The two Potentials were dead and Dawn had disappeared into the foyer. Willow didn't know if she was alive or not. Further, Kennedy was unconscious upstairs in her bedroom, entirely alone and entirely vulnerable. If Caleb discovered where she was, Willow knew that he would kill her. She was certain the First hadn't let him forget that he had failed to do so once already.

"Holy shit," Spike suddenly said, staring at something beyond the barrier and Caleb.

"What?" Willow asked warily. "And please don't tell me it's more bad guys. I don't know if I could take more bad guys."

"It's Kennedy," Spike said. Giles looked up.

"What?" The Watcher asked in surprise.

Willow followed Spike's eyes and saw Kennedy and Dawn fighting side by side against three Bringers. Both girls were brandishing knives and they seemed to be winning. However, once Caleb noticed that the witch was distracted, he too shifted his attention from the barrier to whatever had so captivated her attention behind him. Once he saw Kennedy, his plans changed. Looking back at Willow and the barrier, he smiled cruelly. "Now we come to it, don't we, little girl?" He taunted. "Your girlfriend's over there, on my side of the barrier. She may be strong, but I'm stronger. I know you want to help her," he said, sneering into Willow's face. "But you can't, can you? Even though you care about her, you can't drop that barrier. Not even to save her. Because if you do," he said, motioning to the Bringers clustering around him, holding up their knives, "my boys'll rip you apart. All of you," he said, looking into the faces of each person behind the barrier. "So," he said, grabbing a knife from one of the Bringers and stepping back. "I'm gonna go kill her now and you're gonna watch."

"No!" Willow shouted as he moved away through the crowd, striding purposefully to where Kennedy was just snapping the neck of a Bringer. Kennedy hadn't noticed Caleb yet. Willow was torn. She wanted to drop the barrier and shoot a ball of energy into Caleb's back, but if she did, the Bringers would overwhelm them. Giles's life depended on her keeping the barrier up, Spike's life, for all it was worth, depended on her, and so did the lives of the twenty Potentials standing fearfully behind her. She was going to have to watch Kennedy die and Caleb was right; there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Kennedy felt a shadow loom over her and she turned just as Caleb swung the knife down. She moved just in time. Had she lingered a second longer, it would have sliced through her shoulder. Grabbing his arm, she kicked him in the chest, but the blow yielded little damage. Caleb was too strong. Kennedy knew immediately that she was overpowered. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Dawn grappling with a Bringer. Caleb hadn't noticed Buffy's sister yet, a small blessing. "So, you again," Kennedy said as she and Caleb circled each other.

"Last time we met, I hung you," Caleb reminded her.

"Last time we met, you didn't quite get the job done," Kennedy shot back. "I'm sure the First was so disappointed in you. Did it ground you for a week? Take away your telephone privileges?" She taunted. She knew she shouldn't mock him. But if she was going to die, she wasn't going to go meekly.

"This time, bitch," Caleb said darkly, "I'll get the job done." Rushing at her, he swung the knife. She ducked and elbowed him in the back. But he turned quicker than she expected and slammed his fist into the side of her head. Kennedy felt like a cartoon character for a moment; stars exploded in front of her eyes and the world started spinning again. But she didn't have time to focus on her head because a sudden, hot pain flared through her stomach. Looking down, she saw Caleb bury a knife into her gut. Vaguely, she heard Willow scream in the background. She heard Dawn shout something and try to tackle Caleb, but he flicked her away as though she was gnat.

Kennedy couldn't believe her eyes as she stared down at the knife in her stomach. Caleb was still holding it, a grin plastered on his face. He started to twist the blade and the pain tripled. Kennedy's eyes widened and she grabbed his hand to try to stop him. She wanted to scream, but she felt paralyzed. As soon as she touched his hand, images flashed before her. She saw a vineyard, barrels of wine, and a tunnel leading to a room lit with torches. Just before the images faded, she saw a weapon. It looked like something out of a fantasy movie. She couldn't describe it, but it was beautiful. She could feel the life starting to slip from her. Caleb stepped back, releasing the knife as he glared triumphantly over at Willow.

But then something happened. Caleb didn't see it. Dawn did. For a split second, Kennedy's eyes glowed yellow. "What the hell…," Dawn muttered. Caleb heard her and frowned. He looked down at the girl on the floor, wondering what was she staring at with such astonishment, and then he looked back at Kennedy. He had expected to see her crumpled to the floor by now. She wasn't; she was still standing.

Further, she looked stronger. Kennedy instinctively knew that something inside of her had changed. She glanced down at the knife sticking from her stomach and pulled it out. It hurt, but not as bad as it would have moments before. Behind the barrier, Willow, Spike, Giles, and the other girls watched in wonder as Kennedy lifted up the knife and stared at it. Her blood was dripping from it. She should have been dying. But she wasn't. In fact, she could feel her wound already starting to heal. "Well," she said, "that's a hell of a thing."

"You should be dead," Caleb said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Kennedy replied, looking up at him. "I really should." Before he knew what was happening, she lashed out with the knife, driving it deep into his throat. She moved so much faster than she had only moments ago. Her arm seemed like a blur to him. Blood started gushing from his neck. He couldn't breathe. He feel to his knees in front of her and, the moment before he died, he knew exactly what had changed. She had become a Slayer.