Chapter Twenty-Four – Beast of Burden

"How does a town of almost two thousand people just disappear? Poof. Gone." Faith asked, picking up a stuffed bear from a little girl's bed.

"I don't know," Sam admitted, "I wanna know why we've had to ask ourselves the same question twice recently."

It was the most she had said since they had been left alone, and if it had been up to her, it was all she was going to say. She preferred the silence, to be honest, but her curiosity had become too much. Faith had been wondering the same thing as Sam since they had pulled into town. It was impossible not to link the two events together. Other than the fire that obliterated anything left behind, Pinedale and that school in Texas had a lot of similarities. People disappearing without a trace wasn't something that often happened, especially not en masse like this, so it would be hard not to draw parallels. It was more than that, though. There was something inherent that connected the two cases – something in the way the air felt. That eerie, almost haunted, feeling was all too familiar. It was a feeling that Faith hadn't been terribly excited to experience again and she couldn't wait to get the hell out of here.

With a deep breath, Faith carefully placed the teddy bear back down on the bed. She was oddly concerned with making sure that it was exactly how it had been when she found it. There was something about the ghostly state of the town that begged to be left alone – like a museum or memorial to those who once lived here. It was like she didn't want to disturb anything. Not because she thought the people would come back, but it was almost as though Faith wanted to give them the opportunity to pick up right where they left off if they did, in fact, return. Faith knew that it didn't make a lot of sense, but it seemed like Sam had the same feelings about it all as he, too, had been gentle and careful about returning items to where they belonged. They left nothing disturbed as they continued to search through the remnants of the lives lived here. Faith continued to pick through bits and pieces knowing full-well that she wasn't going to find anything of any sort of value or worth to their investigation. Sam, on the other hand, had been using some sort of scanner to try and find something that could explain how Eve was doing this. A soft-squeal would emit from the handheld device, changing in pitch as it passed through the air and picked up on some sort of supernatural signal. The equipment looked to be a modified walkie-talkie, something that both confused and amused Faith.

"What exactly is that thing?" She asked.

"What this? It scans for various signs of demons, ghosts, magic, and whatever else. Kind of like an EMF scanner."

"An old walkie-talkie can do that? Gee, I knew you were a nerd, didn't take you for a techy nerd," Faith chuckled.

Sam shook his head "actually, this is Dean's gadget. I was surprised, too."

Faith had to admit she was impressed. Having spent weeks upon weeks with the two brothers, Faith was pretty sure they had them pegged: Sam as the brains and Dean as the brawn. Sam had surprised her a few times now: he was just as capable in the field as his big brother, he was strong and clever and could handle himself. Now she was finding out that Dean was a hell of a lot smarter than he let on. It was almost as if he was hiding that fact. It made people underestimate him, just like she had underestimated Sam in battle. Those Winchester boys were just full of surprises; they were definitely more than eye candy.

"Well, is that thing finding anything?" Faith asked as she continued to look for whatever she thought she'd find.

"No," Sam sighed, "nothing useful anyway. I'm not really sure what I was hoping for with this thing, but it was worth a try I guess."

Even still, they continued to search. There seemed to be no sense of hope or reason to continue to pick through the abandoned houses, the empty shops, the ghostly streets, but what else could they do? At least this way they were doing something that felt productive – felt useful. Really, though, neither of them were relishing in their time being spent here. Being surrounded by evidence of all the lives that were lived here, all the happiness and normality that was experienced here, and knowing that had all come to an abrupt halt was hard to take. Knowing that, wherever these people all were now, they were suffering; they didn't go to a better place, of that they were sure. This entire town was now inhabited by the ghosts of these people – the ghost of the lives denied to them due to Eve's intervention. It was true that, no matter what they did, there was no way to save everyone all the time. Both Faith and Sam had long come to that conclusion and, in their own way, learned to cope with it. Somehow it didn't make this moment any easier.

With every artifact found, with every house searched, questions and thoughts tumbled through the brunette Slayer's mind. Faith couldn't help but wonder what the hell the point of the HQ was if shit like this could keep happening over and over, again and again, without them ever knowing? Were there other towns that had suffered this same fate and they just didn't know about it yet? How many people did Eve need for her army? How many more losses would they suffer before they put this bitch down? Would they even be able to stop her? Was this all in vain? Of all the things that Faith had seen in her time – all of the terrifying, awful, gruesome, evil things – somehow this discovery, right here in Pinedale, seemed so much worse. Hell, she herself had done some pretty terrible things, but the lives of about 2,000 people being completely wiped out without any warning was beyond anything she could have comprehended. The feeling of hate and disdain she held for Eve was deeper than she could have ever imagined.

"It's pretty unsettling, isn't it? Disturbing, even," Sam said, as he noticed Faith's rather morose expression as she stood there, lost in thought.

The sound of Sam's voice snapped Faith back to reality. "What?" She shook her head, "whatever. Another day, right?"

Sam furrowed his brows, "C'mon, Faith. This is pretty…this is hard to take. I can't be the only one with a pit forming in my stomach."

"No sense in getting all torn up about something that we can't do anything about. We're here to do a job, nothing else."

"I can tell you're upset, you know," he insisted.

Faith sighed, exasperated, "I'm frustrated because we're not finding anything here. We have no idea how Eve is doing this. We haven't found anything we can use against her."

Sam was also getting frustrated, but not for the same reason. It was obvious that Faith was lying to him right now, which wasn't really that surprising. What was getting to him was how distant she was being in the process. She had been weird since the night before she headed into Purgatory, but he didn't understand why. He wished he could blame it on Purgatory, on the damage that place could cause and the trauma of traveling between their own world and the world of monsters. He wished it was as simple as that, but he knew better. He also knew better than to press her on it. This was neither the time nor the place, and there were more important things to worry about than whatever the hell was going on between the two of them. It was better just to drop it for now and deal with it all after they dealt with Eve. So instead, Sam focused back on the matter in front of them.

"Honestly, I don't think there's anything to find," Sam said. "She's probably perfected this by now. Maybe that's why she burned the school down? To hide whatever clues she may have accidently left behind?"

"What?" Faith asked, anger tainting her voice. "You think I missed something? That I didn't look hard enough?"

If Faith knew that she was over-reacting, that she was being unreasonable and taking Sam's words the wrong way, she showed no sign of it. There was a fire in her eyes and her face had all but turned to stone as she stared expectantly at Sam, waiting for some sort of response or explanation. Sam stared blankly back, unsure of exactly what he had said or done wrong. It seemed obvious to him that the reason for burning the school was to hide her tracks – he meant nothing about her skill in searching for clues. It seemed like something relatively safe to say – he hadn't even thought twice about it. He had dropped the personal talk as it had been obvious that he wasn't going to succeed in anything but irritating her, but she reacted the same way as he shifted gears to focus on the case they now had. It seemed like no matter what he said, he just couldn't win. Rather than saying anything else and digging his hole any deeper, Sam remained silent.

"Or is it that you think some Slayer couldn't possibly be smart enough to know what to look for? Why don't I just get out of your way then? I'm sure you'll do a much better job than me."

Faith pushed past Sam, knocking him slightly off balance yet again, as she stormed out of the house they had been searching through. Unreasonably or not, Faith had enough of being in this house. She had enough of searching and feeling as though she was being useless. More than anything, Faith just needed to get away from the desperate feeling of Pinedale. She wasn't mad at Sam, not really, and she probably hadn't really taken offense to what he had said; she just needed an excuse to get the hell out of there. She didn't know where she was going, but 'anywhere-but-here' seemed like a great place to her. She didn't even toss a glance back.

With a heavy sigh, Sam returned to the task of searching for any sign of Eve.

ӁӁӁ

"C'mon, Buff, just slow down," Dean called out, breathing heavily.

Dean had ran after Buffy shortly after she had stormed out of the house and was impressed with the amount of distance she had been able to cover in that small bit of time. Even now, after catching up to her, he was still trailing just behind and she showed no sign of slowing or stopping. It wasn't until she reached the Impala that Buffy relented, allowing Dean to catch a breather as he joined her.

"You, uh, you alright?" Dean asked.

"Fine."

"You know I'm not actually stupid enough to buy that, right?" Dean said, crossing his arms.

Buffy sighed as she rummaged through the front seat, looking for the map they'd brought from Cleveland. "I just wanna get this shit done so we can get the hell out of here."

"This is a lot to take, Buff. It's okay to admit that what happened here is bothering you."

Finally the blonde Slayer managed to find the map that Willow had marked the shop's location on. Without another word, pointedly ignoring what Dean had just said, she sprawled the town map out on the hood of the Impala and started to scan for just where the hell they were on this map. Dean tried a few more times to talk with Buffy, to offer some sort of comfort as he could clearly see that she was hurting. Buffy was having none of it though, and offered very little in return other than glares and the occasional scowl. It wasn't an exaggeration or a lie when she insisted that she just wanted to get this little errand out of the way so they could put this all to bed. Eventually he gave up, realizing that this was one of those times where he had to pick his battles – and this was not a battle he could win. Briefly he had considered making a joke about using a map when they both had smart phones with maps and gps, but thought better of it upon looking at the tension on Buffy's face.

"We're right here," he said, pointing to a spot on the map, "if we head north onto Magnolia and hang a left just after Fremont, we'll stumble upon it somewhere around there."

"Great, let's go get this thing," Buffy said, rolling the map up to bring with them.

The last thing she did before heading off into the distance was to sling her scythe across her back – giving her something between a sense of comfort and strength. Even though there was nothing really to fight here, no foe to vanquish, it felt important to have a blade at her reach. Dutifully, Dean followed Buffy down the block. He was just as ready to put this whole thing to bed, but he was surprised at just how focused she was on that goal. In a way, it almost reminded him of the Buffy he had met in Purgatory. It was like she had put up blinders to all that was around her – tunnel vision for finding the needed gem and nothing else. In Purgatory, Dean had admired that quality in the Slayer. He had recognized it as a powerful tool for survival in a hostile world that made every effort to not only kill its inhabitants but break them down to nothing but a shell of what they once were. At the time, Dean wasn't able to fully grasp that the tunnel vision Buffy had was actually Purgatory winning – breaking her down to hardly resemble the incredible woman she truly was. It was because he now knew who she really was that the admiration turned to concern. The weeks, the months, that had passed by had certainly taken a toll on everyone involved, but he could see that Buffy had reached a breaking point. Another trip to Purgatory. The loss of Giles. An entire town abducted and abandoned right in her own backyard. He could see Eve winning just as Purgatory had, and it scared him. But what could he say?

"So what's the plan once we get back?"

"Right now I don't know. This is kind of all Willow's show now, I'm just following her lead," Buffy answered, not shifting her gaze from the road ahead.

"Do you think this gem will really make a difference?" He asked, trying to keep some kind of conversation alive.

Buffy shrugged, "it might. It might not. Throwing a lock on the door is worth a shot though."

The walk down Magnolia Street was shorter than they had expected, and soon enough they were at the mouth of a totally normal alley. Buffy had been expecting a back alley reminiscent of the type that had hidden Willie's bar or Rack's place, not an alley with plants and antique signs and lights lining the walls. She had to wonder if Willow had gotten it wrong. That was, until she saw the small sign that Willow had assured them they would find – an upside-down triangle with three dots surrounding it. It seemed a poor choice to have something so obviously different from everything around it, but at least it made it easy to find where they needed to be. Unfortunately for them, it appeared as though no one had opened shop before the mass abduction took place. The door was firmly locked with an industrial sized padlock and bars that came down across the entrance way. Just above the door, there was a keyhole and a switch clearly visible – obviously the control for the bars across the door. There were no windows that led to the secret shop, and likely no other door, either. Their options were limited.

"I could probably break that padlock, but those bars are a little much even for me. I never did pick up Faith's skill in lock-picking, either."

Dean gave a half shrug, "I could probably get through it. I've got a penknife, just need something small like a – "

Buffy handed over a small pin pulled from her hair.

" – a bobby pin. Exactly."

Dean set to work, twisting and moving the bobby pin to try and find the sweet spot that would let him pop the lock. He was careful in his manipulations of the flimsy piece of metal, anything to try and prevent breaking the hair pin. Even if she had others, their supply was finite and they couldn't exactly let something like a stupid lock stop them from finishing what they came here to do. Finally he could feel the tumblers shifting as he fiddled with the lock, and quickly after that he heard the tell-tale clicking sound. With a victorious smirk, Dean flipped the switch to move the security bars from out of their way. The bars receded slowly, with a clanging sound that echoed through the long alleyway, finally coming to rest at the top of the doorway. Buffy wasted no time in grabbing onto the hefty padlock and reefing downwards on it in an effort to break it apart. The lock groaned under the strain, slowly bending and until the mechanism inside gave up. The lock finally broke apart in Buffy's hand before crumbling to the ground. Buffy pushed the door open with a squeak before stepping into the darkened shop.

Immediately upon entering, Buffy and Dean were both struck with an overwhelming smell of dust and mold. It was an assault on their senses, but worse than that was the smell that was wafting from somewhere in the back. It was an odour that they both, unfortunately, knew all too well. Somewhere inside the occult store was a dead body. Buffy and Dean shared a grim look before pressing further inside. Dean popped the safety off on his handgun – just in case – as he wandered towards the back in search of the grisly source of the odour. Next to him, Buffy fumbled against the wall to find the switch and bring some sort of light into the dark space. If there had been any doubt if they were in the right place, it was quickly assuaged as soon as they could see their surroundings. All around them were shelves filled to bursting with books and tomes and artifacts. Buffy recognized some of the magical compounds, but most of the items around her were completely foreign to her. There were a few weapon racks strewn about the shop as well as a few mannequins wearing what she could only assume were items that held some sort of magical properties. Near the back was a small room, presumably an office of some sort, where Dean had been moving towards.

"Found our friend," Dean called out from the back room.

Buffy abandoned the mystical doo-dads she had been investigating and headed back to where Dean had called from. As soon as she entered the room, Buffy too saw the unfortunate victim that they had smelled when they came into the shop. It didn't seem like there were many employees in this kind of store, so they made the assumption that this was Sneak – the man Willow had sent them to meet. Buffy wasn't entirely sure what she had been expecting of the only person left in a town that had been ghosted, but finding that person with a gunshot wound to the gut certainly wasn't that high on her list of expectations. It was obvious that he had been like that for quite a while now – probably even before Eve made her grand entrance to Pinedale. More than likely he had pissed off the wrong someone, which meant that it didn't mean a damn thing to them. Whatever happened made no difference to them at all. It felt a little callous and cruel to shrug it off so quickly, to not even care a bit, but that was just the way it was when a war was on. Then again, Buffy couldn't ever imagine shedding a tear for a man called 'Sneak.' The only regret was that they had needed him in this endeavour.

"Think we were lucky enough that he set aside that gem before he got snuffed out?" Dean asked, still picking through Sneak's pockets.

Buffy shook her head, "doesn't look like it. I was looking through some of the shelves out there, but then I realized that, besides 'something shiney,' I have no clue what I'm actually looking for. What did Willow say it would look like?"

"She didn't," he sighed, "we weren't expecting to have to hunt for it ourselves."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to keep looking. We're bound to find something eventually, right?" Buffy said, not quite convincing herself.

When they had first entered the shop, Buffy had taken note of the counter at the front. It had been crowded with papers, boxes, various trinkets, and a computer that looked like it had come right out of the 90's. Something there had to be helpful somehow, right? Maybe Sneak was the type to leave himself notes about upcoming pick-ups? While Dean continued to rummage through the backroom and the various shelves, Buffy started picking through the disaster zone of the desk. It quickly became clear that Sneak was likely an ironic name – he left a paper trail a mile long. It looked like he had taken notes on every phone call he had, every meeting, every sale. It at least looked like he had the sense to use codenames and the like, but still, for someone who worked in the dark market, he left a lot of clues behind.

"He was either really paranoid or really forgetful," Dean said, coming up behind Buffy.

"I'm gonna go with paranoid. It looks like anything marked for pick-up was kept in…a floor safe? Where the hell would you hide a floor safe in here?"

With all the clutter that filled the little shop almost to bursting, there really wasn't much by way of floor space left available to install a safe below. There were shelves and racks and displays covering almost every inch of the floor, leaving only small passageways for people to navigate their way through the shop. Then again, the shopfront seemed a poor choice for installing a floor safe anyway – especially for someone as paranoid as Sneak appeared to be. With that in mind, Buffy and Dean picked their way back to the backroom, the only logical place for a floor safe to be hidden away. The room itself was small and cramped but relatively uncluttered, leaving very little space for anything to hide. That made it all the more perplexing when neither Buffy nor Dean were able to find anything that even looked like a floor safe. There were no hollow tiles and there was nothing hiding underneath the small desk that was stashed back there, either. The searching was getting not only tiring but frustratingly so. Between the dust that flew through the air every time someone moved and the smell of death, the small space was getting to be suffocatingly small feeling.

"There is one spot we haven't checked yet," Dean grimaced, nodding his head towards where Sneak lie motionless on the ground.

Buffy scrunched her face up, obviously not thrilled by that suggestion. Dean was right, though. It was the only place left in that backroom that could be hiding the safe they were looking for. She had never wanted to be used to dealing with corpses, but at least it was a useful skill in her line of work. After taking a deep breath, Buffy bent down and carefully rolled the corpse out of the way, revealing a floor tile that was slightly askew compared to the others around it. Sliding that tile out of the way revealed exactly what they were looking for – the front of a small metal safe. It looked as though Sneak had been fiddling with the safe, either stashing something, removing something, or trying to hide the safe back below its tile. Regardless of what he had been trying to do, he had obviously been interrupted as they fortuitously found the key still in the lock. Buffy opened the safe and, by the guiding light of Dean's cellphone flashlight, peered in to see the contents. What she found inside was a great deal of money that had been stashed away from prying eyes and possible thieves as well as a small handgun and several bullets waiting to be loaded. She also found a few small pouches and wooden boxes of unknown gems, jewels, stones, jewelry, and crystals. There were other items as well: various scrolls, an ornate dagger, a set of finger bones, a baggy of what looked like sand, and a gold coin of some sort.

"Did Willow happen to say if it was a literal gem – or is it just a confusing name of like, a dagger or something?" Buffy asked.

Dean shrugged, "No clue. Let's just take it all. Not like he's using 'em anymore."

It seemed a fair plan, even if it was technically stealing. Plus a lot of what had been stashed away here looked like it could be useful in some way, especially in the hands of the right people rather than whatever scum may stumble upon it if it was left in the shop unattended. Really, they were doing the world a favour by taking these potentially dangerous artifacts with them, right? It was a public service. She just hoped that no one would be looking to come and collect these items any time soon.

"While we're at it, we may as well grab a few of the books off the shelves too," Dean suggested. "Ya know, build up that collection." He knew Giles would have appreciated that.

"Shame we didn't bring the two vehicles after all. We could really clean this place out," she said.

"I'll go grab the Impala. It's worth loading up all we can."

Dean gave Buffy a quick kiss, the tension between the two of them forgotten by now, before heading out of the shop to go and collect the car, leaving Buffy alone in the small shop. It had been easy to ignore the foreboding, haunting feeling that hung in the air of the shop while the two of them had been there, searching and working. Now, while she was all alone, the feeling from the ghost town floated in and sat heavily, like a weight on her chest. To say that there was something very wrong about this town would be not only completely obvious, but a total understatement as well. It wasn't even just that every single person that lived here had been taken – probably forced into Eve's twisted army – or that every life had been interrupted so suddenly that they didn't even have time to finish making toast. It wasn't even that creepy, haunted feeling that was getting to Buffy, but another feeling that was somewhere below all the obvious layers of eeriness. It was loneliness. Somehow, in the middle of everything that was happening, Buffy couldn't help but be overcome with a deep sense of loneliness and isolation. She was one of four people left alive and free in this town of Pinedale. No one else knew what had happened here. There was no one left to see the emptiness that now filled this town. There was no one left to mourn all the lives interrupted. Buffy wondered how long it would be before Pinedale came alive again. Or if it ever would. Would Pinedale, like Sunnydale, be swept under the rug and forgotten like nothing more than a footnote in the history books? Just a page or two in some historian's journal? Buffy knew, deep in her heart, that the name 'Pinedale' would likely hold as much meaning to the world as the names of all the lost Slayers. The lost hunters. The lost Watchers. Lost in the past, forgotten and abandoned except to the few who knew the truth. Just like Kendra. Just like Amanda, Chloe, Molly, Eve. Just like Giles.

Buffy took a deep breath and rubbed at her eyes that were threatening to well up and spill over. The time for self-pity was long over now, and there was no time to get caught up in the tragedy of it all. There was work to be done, books to collect, and objects to be packed up. Using some of the empty boxes in the back corner of the shop, Buffy started packing items up to be taken back to Cleveland. Dean was absolutely right – they could make good use of the stuff that Sneak used to sell. As she packed away the contents of the floor safe, Buffy's eye caught Sneak's, or at least what was left of him.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Buffy smirked, continuing to pack up the items.

It took several loads between Buffy and Dean, but eventually they filled the Impala near to bursting with boxes of various useful looking books and artifacts. The drive back to house was going to be incredibly cramped, but it was more than worth it to be able to expand their arsenal. It was only a matter of time before another apocalypse would rear its ugly head, and hopefully this haul would better prepare them for the next battle. The last items to be loaded into the Impala were those found in the floor safe. They weren't exactly sure which of those were the gem that Willow had sent them to collect, and they weren't taking any chances that this important object would be misplaced or lost. It was safely tucked away in the trunk, guarded by the sigils and wards that had been painted there years and years ago. No matter what happened, that gem needed to be protected. Kept safe until they could place it in Willow's hand.

"Well, that's our mission accomplished. Now what?" Dean asked, locking his trunk tightly.

"We should go grab the other two. I really want to put as much distance between us and this place as we can before we crash for the night."

Dean nodded in agreement. He too had enough of this place – the darkness that permeated every bit of the air here. He couldn't imagine how much harder it would have been to cope with if he had Slayer senses on top of his own instincts. He figured it wouldn't take much convincing to get Faith and Sam to leave this place too. Besides, the sooner they left here, the sooner they could get back home and wash every trace of this place from them. But first, they needed some sleep.

ӁӁӁ

Without much want or desire, Willow picked at the grilled cheese in front of her. It had long gone cold, a testament to her lack of appetite, and yet she still tried. She knew that she needed to eat, hence why she had made the effort in the first place, but every bite turned to nothing but a lump in her stomach. It tasted of nothing but cardboard. Her head was still throbbing, the last remnants of the headache that had ended her chances of doing any further reading up on the spells that she was expected to perform within the next couple of days. All she wanted to do now was go to bed, much like everyone else in the house had done, but she already knew that it would be nothing more than a waste of time. Sleep would not come for her tonight. Even on the brink of total system failure, she knew there was no chance of any sort of rest right now. The combination of stress and fear and uncertainty were too much. And grief. The grief was an unbearable noose around her neck, tightening with every passing hour.

Willow was just starting to think that maybe it would be worth it to try and get some sleep after all; anything to escape reality, even just for a little while. She may have actually made it to bed, too, if her phone hadn't rang first. With the time zone difference in mind, Willow found herself slightly confused as to why Tavia was calling so early in the morning for her. If it was just about 1am here, that meant it was almost 8am in Oxford – time for Tavia to be teaching her first class of the day. In all the time they had spent talking, it had always been after classes had ended for the day. Concern turned to dread as she answered the call and heard sobbing on the other end.

"Tavia?"

"Sh-she found us. I, uh, I don't know how, but she found us," Tavia said, her voice weak and quiet.

Willow felt a chill run up her spine as the colour drained from her face. A wave of nausea hit her, all but drowning her as she stood, frozen, in the small kitchen. The room around her fell away until it felt like she was standing in the black abyss. She could hear her heart beating in her ears as she spoke, her voice shaky and foreign to her in that moment.

"What happened?"

There was a heavy pause while Tavia tried to find the words to describe the horror she had lived through. It felt like there were no words to properly convey what had just happened. She wasn't even sure where to start. Once she found the words, though, they tumbled out of her mouth so fast she wasn't even sure she was making any sense. Tavia told the story of how she and the rest of the coven had been sleeping at the coven's den the last few weeks, which was probably what had put all of this into motion. It had started slowly at first, only those who were caught up in the research would spend the night, but as time went on more and more of the coven members found themselves staying at the den. Once they had lost the ability to track Eve, they had opted to all remain in the den for safety – or at least they thought it would make them safer. The den was impossible to find, completely obscured from the real world and only traceable to those within the coven. No one had ever discovered the location of the den - at least not until last night. Tavia had been woken in the dead of the night to the feeling of her arm burning, like someone had placed a hot iron to it. She had been so blinded by pain that she hadn't even been able to muster a scream. When she looked at it, there was a mark all but carved into her flesh, a snake burned into her arm, winding up from her wrist almost right to her shoulder. Before she had any time to comprehend what she was looking at, she felt her room shake right down to the foundation. It was immediately followed by screams of terror and agony.

Without a second thought, she had rushed out of her room to find that the den had exploded into flames. The heat had been unbearable and the fire had quickly laid claim to every available space in their den. Through the smoke she could see several of the members – her friends – on the ground. Not moving. The smell of burning hair and flesh filled the room, making her stomach turn. To her right she saw the rest of the coven members battling the blaze – using all the strength and power they had to hold back the inferno and douse the flames. Tavia ran to join them, but was halted as pain exploded from the mark on her arm. She fell to her knees as she clutched at her skin and struggled to breathe. At the same time a woman appeared at the centre of the blaze – or maybe she had been standing there all along, Tavia wasn't sure. She simply stood there with an inhuman grin on her face, the flames bowing out around her as if they were afraid to touch her, afraid to even get close. She raised her hand outwards towards Tavia and clenched her fist. She laughed as Tavia felt her throat constrict and her lungs burn for oxygen. The more Tavia fought to breathe, the harder the woman in the flames laughed. She pushed to try and get back on her feet, but was slammed back down to the ground with ferocious force. Her vision darkened and her head lightened; she was running out of oxygen.

Suddenly the grip on her throat released and Tavia was able to gasp for air. She coughed and choked on the smoke, only a mild improvement. Looking up she realized that there was a translucent wall separating her from her assailant – a shield, a barricade. She looked over and saw two of the Coven members fighting desperately to save her, letting the fire burn further out of control. With an appreciative nod of her head, Tavia threw her power in with the rest and worked on not only pushing the flames back, but preventing the woman in front of her from causing any further damage. Then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, the woman vanished. The only trace of her visit was the inferno that raged around them. It had taken the remaining members of the Coven hours and a great deal of power to douse the flames. It was no ordinary fire, that much was obvious, and no amount of water would have made any difference. The den was lost, that much was sure, but that was the least of their losses.

"MK and Elizabeth didn't make it. Neither did Lysie or Reema. We haven't been able to find Dayna yet…" Tavia sobbed.

Willow was sure that Tavia had said more, but she heard not a word of it. She had already heard enough.

Witches will burn.

Willow felt hot tears roll down her cheeks. She didn't need a description of the woman that had attacked the Coven. She didn't need to hear Tavia say who it had been. She knew. Eve had found the Coven and it was her fault that this had happened. Those deaths were on her hands. That pain, that suffering, was because of her. It was her, after all, that had gotten them involved in this in the first place. Willow understood now that she should have known that Eve would recognize the threat the Coven could pose to her. She should have known that she would strike out against them just as she had the headquarters. How could she have been so damn stupid? Giles had been right, she was nothing but a rank, arrogant amateur. A foolish girl. There was nothing she could say, nothing she could do, that could ever make up for the damage she had caused to Tavia and her Coven. No apology could ever be enough. How many times was she going to leave nothing but destruction and devastation in her wake? How much pain and suffering was she going to inflict on people before she learned? Giles had warned her time and time again. He had warned her not to dabble in the dark magics. He had warned her not to get in over her head. He had warned her not to involve the Coven because he knew that it would put them at great risk. He had warned her, he had warned her, he had warned her. And she never listened. Why didn't she listen? She still needed him. And she needed him now.

Her mind was reeling. Her heart was racing. Willow knew that she was spiralling – losing control. She didn't care. Any sense that she had left was shattered and abandoned. Later, she wouldn't even remember walking to Giles' room. Everything was a blur as she made her way to where the old Watcher was currently being kept, her chest heavy and her lungs tight. Anger welled in her gut as she thought about the pain and suffering she had caused Tavia and her Coven. As she thought about Giles, lying on that bed, lost to them forever. She was mad at him for leaving them. She was mad at the world for snatching him away. For punishing those who chose to spend their life to fighting back the evil of the world. Even as she entered the small room, dark and cold, Willow could feel the anger spilling over. How could the world allow something like this to happen? After all the good that they had done, how the world could let them suffer the fates that they had was beyond her. Giles didn't deserve this.

"How could you leave us?" Willow asked of Giles, her voice strained and breaking.

She wanted an answer. Didn't the powers-that-be owe her that? Didn't they see how much she still needed him? How much they all still needed him? Fear reared its ugly head as Willow thought about, truly thought about, for the first time, what a world without Giles was going to be like. Ever since she had met him, Willow had looked up to Giles. She remembered excitedly rushing to the library to talk with and learn from him. She remembered how proud he looked when she helped solve whatever mystery they were working on. She remembered how quickly and effortlessly he had accepted both Tara and herself when she'd first discovered who she really was. She remembered how deeply she had felt the loss when Giles had left for England and how happy she had been at his return. She remembered how much he had taught her. Supported her. Led her. There was still so much to learn. She wasn't ready. They weren't ready.

Willow reached out a shaking hand and placed it on the side of his cheek. It was so clear to her now, what she needed to do. She knew she could do it – she had more than enough power and strength and what was the point of having it if she couldn't use it to help and protect those who mattered? She had already failed him once, failed the Coven and her friends, but she wasn't about to do so again. Somewhere, deep within her, Willow knew better. She knew that this wasn't right, but for now she just didn't care. For now, all she cared about was the man that was lying in front of her – desperate for help. Willow was beyond tired of feeling so helpless as the world tried to rip those who mattered away from her. She was tired of feeling so useless when she knew she could do more. For even just a moment, she was ready to ignore all that Giles had taught her. All that the Coven had taught her. For just a moment, she no longer cared.

Willow moved her hand to rest in Giles' chest, directly above his heart. With a deep breath and immense focus, she began to recite the words that she knew so well. Her voice was low, trembling with power and emotion as she spoke. With every word uttered, Willow remembered something more. She remembered the late nights at the library. She remembered Giles visiting her in the hospital. She remembered the sorrow and sympathy in his eyes when he spoke of Tara now. She remembered how gentle he had been with her after all the terrible things she had done. How he had forgiven her without a second though. Without hesitation. He was always forgiving her. Even when she didn't deserve it. A faint glow emanated from her hand. From his chest. She kept reciting the incantation. A wind whipped through the room, rustling her hair as it darkened once more. She felt the blood coursing through her veins as they too darkened. She didn't care. With determination, Willow reached deeper, imploring the Earth to restart his heart. Below her hand, Willow felt his chest move as his lungs began to fill. The room faded into blackness as Willow sunk further and further into the magic she was using. She could feel the Earth fighting back – desperately trying to refuse her – but it made no difference. She was in control – she was in command. It would bend to her will, and her will was to let this man continue his fight. The noise surrounded her, the protest, but she was louder than anything the Earth could scream at her. Then, from somewhere in the din, Willow heard a chorus of voices.

No.

It was Tavia. It was Tara. It was Giles. They screamed out in tandem, begging her to stop. She could hear their voices clear and strong. She could see their faces, pleading with her. Tara's sad eyes from somewhere beyond the veil. Giles' face, desperate the stop her. Tavia, trying to sever her grasp on the power she was drawing.

No.

With a sharp pain in her heart, Willow finally obeyed. Her power faltered. She could not continue. He wouldn't want this and she knew it. She didn't want this. Pulling her hand back, Willow collapsed to the floor without any strength to remain standing. She broke down into a mess of tears, finally succumbing to all the emotions that had been stirring in her heart.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Still weak, Willow pulled herself to her feet. She had to use this, this pain and anger, and aim it to where she could do the most good. She needed to use it to put a stop to Eve. That was what Giles would want. He would want her to lead, strong and stalwart, just as he had. The world without Giles was going to be scary and lonely and she was not at all prepared, but that didn't matter now. It was time, and she knew one thing to be true: he had taught them all how to carry on. Even if she didn't like it, they were going to be fine. She whispered another apology and hoped that he heard her. She promised him that he would get the proper send-off he deserved – a hero's burial – but first they had to send that bitch back. And there was no room for weakness if they were going to succeed. The cold of the room returned as Willow shut the door behind her, and left any trace of her weakness behind her. It was time to be strong.

A/N: A little later today than normal - been a hectic day of appointments and stuff. Also, this chapter wasn't "done" until about 10 minutes ago. I'm still not thrilled with one passage, but hopefully that's just me being over critical! I'm now diligently working away on the last couple of chapters for this little story I've pulled together, so I can't wait to share those with you all!

Kathy - Oh man. You literally broke my heart for about ten seconds - until I read the rest of your comment aha. I'm so glad you've enjoyed this story thus far! I always feel bad when I'm inconsistent in posting - no one likes those authors ;-) Oh man, that's literally the best compliment ever - I try so hard to style my stories in the same way as a season would unfold, so that means the world to me! Thank you so much! I'm sorry about those grammatical errors. I try so hard to catch them all, but it gets tough. I don't use a beta and I spend SO much time on each chapter that it become almost impossible to catch them all (I know, excuses, excuses...). I'm glad all the characters come across well too! Thank you so much for reading! Hope the rest of the chapters are enjoyable too!

Bobisnotmyrealname - I love that comparison! I had toyed a lot with doing a Croatoan-type thing, and I think I kinda abandoned it in favour of doing this instead - but I'm glad there was some sort of parallel there =) Buffy's worth worrying about, for sure. But she's a toughie ;-)