I know that he can't hurt me anymore. He's dead. But the vampires come back after being people. What's stopping him from coming back? If he does, you separate the head from the body and stake the heart.
Willow touched the broken stone wall of the castle. She concentrated in the hopes that it was temporary, but it was the same. Her magical abilities were still gone. Willow didn't even know where to begin to determine where Dana went. Although Willow loved her friend, Buffy's actions had crystal-clear consequences. When she destroyed the Seed of Wonder, Buffy did more harm than she realized.
I don't know why we haven't done this before. Can you believe we're all out here finally in the open? Who asked you to talk for us? Hey, I'm just saying. I would greatly appreciate it if you did not use common language. We are a civilized bunch. Why don't you just chill and hold your horses? You are doing it again. Why do I even bother? You also go by Edward when you're obviously a woman with full hips. Who's the confused one here? I did the same thing when I captained a ship, so leave Edward alone.
It was always the same thing. The past Slayers would talk, and Dana would carry on like a vessel. She let them argue in her mind while she explored the forest.
Was Buffy the only guilty party? When Willow used her powers on the scythe, it was to give all the Potential Slayers the ability to become the Slayer. The objective was clear, and Willow had a personal stake in the matter. She activated all the Slayers to give them the edge in the final battle against the First Evil and the Turok-Hans. How was she to know about the others scattered throughout the world? How was Willow to know that there were girls like Dana?
Months earlier, when Dana was brought to Slayer Headquarters, Buffy gave Willow specific instructions: try to save Dana's mind.
"Buffy, I don't know if I can do that. They pretty much locked her up and threw away the key. If they couldn't do it with science, maybe magic isn't the best route," said Willow.
"Will, you're my best hope right now. We can't have a Slayer running around with a million other girls whispering in her head. I just recalled the memories of the past Slayers in my dreams. This girl has them 24/7," said Buffy.
"I understand. But her mind is very fragile, Buff. If I start poking around in there, I might be doing more harm than good," said Willow.
"You were able to do it before," said Buffy.
Willow flinched at the memory of Tara. She was able to free Tara from the insanity that Glory inflicted upon her. Willow thought Buffy and she had an understanding that the topic of Tara would be treaded lightly. Buffy may have sensed Willow's discomfort, as she tried to rectify her words.
"There were casualties, Will. The girl…Dana…encountered several men while she wandered around. She killed most of them. She also tortured and dismembered Spike when she confused him with the man that tortured and kidnapped her as a child…"
Willow gasped. "Is…?
"Angel's team was able to heal him," said Buffy. It was now Buffy's past that was the center of the conversation, and it didn't feel nice. "We just need to make sure that Dana doesn't pose a threat to anyone else. I wouldn't ask this of you, Will, but my back is against the wall. Slayers need to take care of their own now."
Willow nodded to Buffy's statement. Despite her reservations, Willow was going to try her best.
Upon seeing Dana for the first time, Willow was taken aback by the girl's stringy black hair and empty eyes. She wondered if she would be playing Dr. Loomis to Dana's Michael Myers.
The sessions were simple. Willow would ask one of the Slayers to position Dana to sit like an Indian. Willow did the same and faced Dana. She was careful not to make any physical contact with Dana. Willow would whisper an incantation, and enter into Dana's mind. She saw what little memories Dana had of her past. They were locked deep in the recesses of her subconscious. She could see the happiest memory that Dana had—when her parents took her to see the kite event at Berkeley, California. Daddy, can we fly it again? The colors look so pretty.
But the flying kites gave way to darkness. And Willow was seeing the night that Dana's parents were murdered by Walter Kindel. She saw the months of torture and abuse that Dana suffered at the hands of that maniac. She saw a battered and naked Dana running for help on a rainy Los Angeles night. She saw that the authorities didn't know how to handle an incoherent victim, so they institutionalized her.
And that is where Dana's recollections stopped. There were so many Slayer memories swimming in Dana's head. Eventually Willow figured out that, with her fractured mind, the Slayer memories were the only thing that kept Dana going. Whenever she thought of Walter Kindel, she just had to call upon her "sisters" and they were there to push back the memory.
Each time she entered Dana's head, a booming voice would repeat words like a heartbeat: "Can't hurt me anymore."
After several sessions, Willow delivered the news to Buffy. "There's nothing that I can do, Buff. Besides, I think the Slayer memories are the only thing that keeps Dana in check. They've been pushing out the memories of the creep that hurt her."
"I'm worried that she might harm someone else during her vision quest," said Buffy.
"I can use magic to keep her in a calm state…steady the endorphins and all. I got to be honest with you, Buffy. You're going to have to get her some real help soon. She's not a full person anymore. She's an echo of all other Slayers. Some of them mightn't have been Girl Scouts, if you know what I mean."
Willow wondered what it was like for Dana when the magic wore off. Did Dana have a rage so explosive that she punched through the wall without thinking? The only thing that they could do was notify the Scotland police and wait. Willow sighed. They had spent so much time making sure that Dana wouldn't be a threat to anyone. Did they ever stop to think who could be a threat to Dana?
Dana reached a summit after walking for hours. In all that time, they still kept talking:
I don't know why that witch separated you from us, Dana. We like you and want to protect you. We should burn her at the stake. Not cool. Not cool. You offended the lady in white. Don't you remember what her town did to her? She is not the only one with a tragic story. Did we all not have unsavory demises? You're missing the point, Miss Non-Congeniality.
She sat like an Indian—just as she did when Willow would visit her. But no matter how much she tried to emulate Willow's breathing techniques, the other Slayers kept talking in her mind. For a moment, Dana looked over the rocky hill beneath the summit, and her head swooned. Despite all the confusion in her head, Dana knew that it would be wrong to do it. Deep down, she still carried what Walter did to her, and if she gave up now, it would mean that he succeeded in breaking her.
Dana had no clue how to get back. So she waited at the summit for rescue. If there's anything she's learned since Los Angeles, it was that her "sisters" would always find her.