Something I got from a re-run of Supernatural and I remember Charmed also did something similar, so I want to try my run on this.
Takes place in Season 6 before the asylum episode, since don't get me started on how they shrugged off Buffy trying to kill her friends and Dawn and choose to stay in the illusion like nothing, at that point she was sane and she deliberately made a choice and I'm using the reaper Tessa and the Horseman of Death from Supernatural.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.
The last thing Buffy remembered was going back to sleep, but when she woke up a few moments later, she was in a restaurant, much to her own surprise as she looked around. "Hello? Hello?" She wondered whether it was a dream or a hallucination, when…
"Hello, Buffy."
Buffy turned to see an elderly man in black suit sitting at a chair, who gave her a cold, indifferent look and his presence unnerved her for some reason, sending chills down her spine, reminding her of the Master and Angelus and Glory for example.
"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.
Buffy had never seen the man before but the vibe she was getting from him, alongside the outfit he was wearing was making it clear, when she saw a scythe in his hand. "Death." She took several rapid breaths, looking nervous.
"If I was going to take you, we wouldn't be talking." Death said.
"What do you want?" Buffy said.
"Do you believe you were in Heaven?" Death asked and Buffy would have argued 'Yes' but for some inexplicable reason she couldn't, she had believed it up to this point but he wouldn't be asking her this if it wasn't true. "No. There was no Heaven waiting for you. You may have been in peace but that was because there were no angels or Devil or cleansing fire of Purgatory waiting for you. Where you were… was the void. Emptiness. Oblivion. Whatever you want to call it. No paradise or Hell… nothing to concern you."
Buffy had thought she was in peace but if it was because there was nothing… she wondered if she was doomed now, shuddering. "So, what, this is all a big reality check for me?"
"If you want to call this a lesson, then do so." Death said, amused. "And now you are about to look behind the curtain again."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy demanded.
"You were supposed to die but your friends brought you back. I could kill you very simply and easily but I've decided for something else. The Powers That Be have other plans for you." Death said and Buffy blinked. Willow, Giles, Angel and Cordelia had mentioned them a few times. "Your resurrection has upset the balance and now you will help tilt the scales. Reap for me."
Buffy paled, realizing what he wanted before she shook her head. "No. I won't kill anyone for you."
"You already have. Knights of Byzantium. Order of Taraka. And you attempted to kill the other Slayer too. You cannot escape it, Buffy." Death said and Buffy gulped, realizing he had her there.
"What if I refuse?" Buffy asked.
"Who said you had a choice in that matter?" Death said before he snapped his fingers and next thing Buffy knew, she vanished in a flash of light.
Next thing Buffy knew, she was in a small town in crossroads.
"Wow. They'll just let any slack-jawed pretty face be a reaper these days."
Buffy turned to see a young brunette. "Who are you?"
"I'm here to make sure you don't make bigger mess, Buffy. And I don't like being your babysitter any more than you do." The woman said as Buffy realized she was another reaper.
"This was your boss's idea, not mine." Buffy protested as they walked down the street but people seemed to ignore them.
"Yes. And in case you don't get it, you have to play by his rules, if you don't, well, you may get a glimpse in the Heaven you want but then you'll be back in the void." The woman said. "The name is Tessa, if you don't know what to call me."
Buffy sighed, knowing she had no choice but to play along. "So the rule is to kill any human that I see who's about to die?" She asked, disgusted.
"You're not killing anyone. You just reap the souls of those whose clock has run out. Whose number is up." Tessa said as she turned to Buffy.
"How am I supposed to know whose souls to collect?" Buffy asked.
"I have a list. You touch them, they die, I reap them. Simple rules. Understood?" Tessa asked and Buffy nodded reluctantly before she noticed the ring on her hand. "Ring of the Horseman of Death, which is what you are now. Take the ring off, slack off, skip someone…"
"I got it." Buffy nodded, annoyed.
"Don't mess this up. I'm not your babysitter." Tessa said.
Buffy and Tessa walked down the street as Tessa started to explain the gig. "They will have questions, like, 'Why me?', 'What is the meaning in all this?'"
"And I'm just going to magically know?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
"No. I'm just explaining what should you prepare for. Now suck it up, here's your first person on the list." Tessa said as they entered a deli, where a mugger was aiming a gun at the cashier.
"Come on, give me the money, now!" The mugger yelled.
Buffy was about to intervene, when Tessa held her by her arm. "They can't hear you or see you. All you can do is let this play out."
Buffy looked uncomfortable as she shuddered. She would have called 911 or stopped the mugger herself and she was uncomfortable with the idea of… well, technically, she wasn't killing anyone, but the idea was disturbing to become a witness to death and then having to explain to the deceased one why them.
"Who am I going to take?" Buffy asked.
"Move your ass or I'm gonna blow your brains out!" The mugger yelled. The cashier nervously reached under the register before pushing over some candy as the mugger groaned, kneeling down. "You moron."
Next thing the mugger knew as he got up to his feet, the cashier took his shotgun from under the register and shot the mugger in the chest as he fell down. Buffy turned to Tessa, who nodded. Buffy looked at the man, staring as he was gagging and choking on his blood.
"What are you standing around for? Tick tock, Buffy." Tessa said as Buffy came to herself.
"Sorry. Just enjoying him getting what he deserved." Buffy said.
"So it's OK to kill whenever you feel like it?" Tessa asked and Buffy paled, realizing what was Tessa referring to. Knowing it would be unwise to waste more of Tessa's time, Buffy touched the mugger, who closed his eyes and tilted his head, going limp before his spirit appeared in front of Buffy and Tessa, looking confused before it hit him.
"Why?" The mugger asked, confused.
"You have brought this on yourself. I'm just doing my job. Can't say I feel sorry for you." Buffy shrugged before Tessa took the mugger's soul and they shimmered away.
In a park, a fat man was eating a cheese pizza before he started to choke and gag.
"Oh, my…" Buffy sighed, realizing he was about to have a heart attack. Well, gluttony was a deadly sin. She took a breath, suppressing the discomfort before she touched the fat man as he gagged one more time before collapsing to the ground.
The fat man's spirit appeared in front of Buffy, looking at her, confused. "Why?"
Buffy sighed, trying to imagine several answers to that question. "Life's a curvy road. Sometimes you crash too soon."
Tessa took the man's soul to take him away.
There were several occasions, when Buffy had to take others, such as a man in a car accident, a woman being mugged or some freak accidents and anytime Buffy had to reap their souls and explain that their time was up, it wasn't getting any easier for her, while realizing that her time was never up, if she had never met a reaper in her near death or death experiences, making her question further whether she was in Heaven. However, the next one on her list just hit her hard, when she entered a hospital with Tessa and saw a father, a nurse and a sick girl, younger than Dawn, around 12 years old, who was on the bed, hooked to the monitors and life support as they were looking at family photos.
"The father or the girl?" Buffy asked as she turned to Tessa.
"The girl." Tessa said.
"That's me and Mom?" The girl asked the father.
"You wouldn't remember that. You were too small. But you were so cute." The father explained.
Buffy's eyes were starting to get wet, remembering when she and Dawn had lost Joyce. "Does he have any other family?"
"The girl is all he has." Tessa explained.
Buffy breathed out and left the hospital room, unable to bring herself to do it. She wasn't going to kill an innocent little girl. "No. I won't do it."
"What, you thought it was all gonna be muggers and heart attacks waiting to happen?" Tessa questioned sarcastically.
"She's younger than Dawn!" Buffy protested, when she saw the nurse refill the drip with medication.
"She has a serious heart condition, untreatable. There is nothing anyone can do to save her. I'm sorry. But sometimes you have to claim someone's life, even if they deserve to live more than others." Tessa said.
Buffy considered, wondering if she could at least buy the girl more time. "Who's next on the list?"
"It doesn't work that way, Buffy. You can't skip her or leave her for later. Nothing you do will save her." Tessa said.
"Says who?" Buffy snapped.
"The natural order. God. The Powers That Be. Destiny. Whatever higher power you believe exists. Her time is up and there is nothing you can do to stop it." Tessa said.
Buffy seethed before she gave Tessa a firm look. "My time wasn't up. And it's not hers either. Not today. Not if I can help it. I'm not gonna let her die."
She expected Tessa to kill Buffy but Tessa just stared with a cold indifferent look for a whole minute, which unnerved Buffy, wondering what she might do. "There is a natural order to everything, cosmic balance. Your resurrection has already upset it and you're facing the consequences now. Saving the girl also has its consequences. Remember that."
Reluctantly, they skipped the girl and about two hours later, after reaping more souls, who were mostly victims of accidents or murders, they returned to the hospital, where they saw the doctor talking to the father.
"Medically I can't explain it." The doctor explained.
"Her heart just healed?" The father asked, confused and happy at the same time.
"In my line of work, you see something you just get to call 'a miracle.' All I know is that another surgery isn't necessary anymore." The doctor said, smiling at the girl, who was now on a wheelchair.
Buffy then turned to see the nurse who had been treating the girl now wearing a coat and leaving the hospital. "Hey, honey, my shift ended early. The surgery was canceled."
"We still have work to do." Tessa said to Buffy, who surprisingly expected an 'I told you so' lecture or something like that.
"There are always consequences." Tessa said.
"Nothing bad has happened." Buffy noted, since she did not have to reap another soul for two hours before they returned to the hospital. "Why are we back here?"
"Because of what you did." Tessa said.
"What I did?" Buffy asked, confused before they heard commotion at the entrance.
"Code 500. We need to get her to the ER."
"Fractured spine, internal bleeding."
"Where's Dr. Owens?"
"He left early. I told him to turn around."
"Damn it. I knew it." Tessa said as they saw the paramedics enter with a woman on the stretcher and it shocked Buffy to see the nurse, who now had a self inflating bag mask on her face.
"Oh, my God, that's…"
"…the nurse who was with the girl earlier." Tessa said. "You saved the girl, she left early and got into a car crash she wouldn't have had otherwise and she needs the heart surgeon and where is he now?"
"You knew this would happen?" Buffy demanded, turning to Tessa.
"I knew something would happen, this, no. But I told you, saving the girl had its consequences and you just toppled the dominoes." Tessa explained.
"She's in cardiac arrest." The doctor said as the heart monitor flatlined, while the nurse charged the defibrillator.
"Take her." Tessa ordered to Buffy.
"What? She's not even on the list!" Buffy protested.
"She is now, because of you. If you don't take her, you'll set off another chain reaction." Tessa said.
"But she has nothing to do with—"
"She does now, what happened to her is on you and if you falter again, someone else will be on your head too!" Tessa snapped.
Buffy took deep breaths as her eyes got wet before she held the nurse's hand as the heart monitor flatlined.
"We're losing her!"
"Charging!"
"Clear!"
The nurse's soul appeared in front of Buffy and Tessa as she looked in horror at her dying body. "Is that… am I…"
Tessa nodded. "Yes."
"But I'm…"
"…so young. I know." Buffy said as she looked at the nurse with remorse. "Actually, you're almost as old as I am."
"Then why?" The nurse asked, with her eyes getting wet and Buffy could also feel her eyes get wet.
"Because of me. I'm sorry." Buffy said with sincere remorse before Tessa took the nurse's soul away and a few moments later, Buffy heard screams as she saw a man held back by the guards and doctors, obviously being the nurse's husband before he saw the nurse's dead body as he broke down in tears and fell on his knees and Buffy felt more guilt flooding her. "I'm so sorry…"
"A real vacation?" The girl asked as she and the father were looking at a magazine with vacation offers.
"There's this place in countryside, where I met your mom. We could go see it, once they discharge you." The father said.
Buffy and Tessa stared at the father and daughter, with Buffy feeling more guilty than ever.
"You saw what happened to the nurse. You have to kill the girl, Buffy." Tessa said but Buffy looked hesitant. "I tried to tell you what you already know, she's disrupting the natural order by being alive, just like you and you are already facing the consequences. Chaos and sadness will follow her for the rest of her life. It's a ripple effect. One crack in the glass that will form more cracks until it shatters into countless pieces. We tried it your way."
Buffy wasn't listening to Tessa however. She saw the husband of the deceased nurse entering the car, clearly depressed before it hit her.
"I'll be right back. Just give me five minutes." Buffy said.
"Buffy—" Tessa started, when Buffy teleported herself.
Buffy was in the passenger seat next to the husband, who was in tears and driving down the road, while practically drowning on a bottle of whiskey.
"Don't do this. Stop the car. Pull over or you're gonna die." Buffy begged before the man hit the gas on the floor as on the crossroads a bus was about to pass by from the side road. "Don't!" She screamed but the man couldn't hear her. Buffy tried to touch him but she couldn't without killing him before she realized she still had the ring on her before she took it off, turning herself corporeal and visible. "Stop the car now!"
The husband screamed in shock as the car swerved, while Buffy grabbed the wheel, causing for the car to crash to a lamp as the airbag burst out from the wheel onto the husband's face but Buffy hit her head on the dashboard. Dazed, Buffy came to a moment later before she went out.
"Tessa!" Buffy shouted into the sky. "Tessa!" She sighed in frustration before putting the ring on again as Tessa appeared in front of her. "I lost. Are you satisfied? So if you're going to take me, do it."
"It's not your time yet, Buffy. There's still some unfinished business." Tessa said, looking almost amused as Buffy realized what was she referring to.
They returned to the hospital as Buffy looked at the daughter and father in remorse. Buffy neared the father, who was sleeping on the chair before she neared her lips to his ear, whispering. "It's time to say goodbye."
The father came to, looking at the daughter in remorse. "Hey, sweetie. I must've dozed off." Next thing the father knew, the monitors bleeped and flatlined, waking him completely and freaking him out as he held his daughter. "Honey? No, no, no." He turned to the door. "Help! Someone out there? Help!"
The girl's spirit stared at her dead body, confused. "Is this… am I dead?"
"I'm sorry." Buffy said.
"But my Dad… what about him?" The girl asked, while the father was in tears from seeing her father helplessly staring at the doctors trying to revive her, with no result. "I can't just leave him. It's not fair!"
"I know." Buffy said.
"Then why?" The girl asked, turning to Buffy.
"Honestly, there's no easy answer to that question. But… there is a natural order to everything. And whether we like it or not, our time comes one day. It is sometimes too soon… sometimes, it's too late. I don't like this any more than you do but that's just how it is." Buffy said gently.
"Natural order sucks." The girl said bitterly, turning to her dead body.
"Tell me about it." Buffy sighed.
"Come on, sweetie. It's time to go." Tessa said, holding the girl's hand before they teleported away.
Buffy had returned to her house before she saw Death sitting at the table, eating pizza, surprisingly.
"Buffy. I'm glad you're here. I was afraid I might have to eat it alone. Want a taste? Have a seat." Death offered politely.
"Forgive me if I'm not in a mood to eat." Buffy said bitterly as she sat across him and took off the ring as Death smiled at her.
"Heavier than it looks, isn't it? Sometimes you just want to take that thing off. But you know that." He noticed how Buffy just stared blankly at the table.
"If you're gonna take me, just get it over with already." Buffy said, not bitterly but beaten, submitting herself to her destiny. "You must know by now that I lost. By the way, being a reaper, being you, it sucked. I really have talent for screwing the natural order up, do I?"
"So if you could go back, would you simply kill the little girl? No fuss, no stomping your feet?" Death asked.
"I wouldn't do it with a smile on my face but knowing what I know now, yeah." Buffy said.
"I'm surprised to hear you say that." Death said.
"Don't get so smug, the only reason I'd do it would be to save the nurse." Buffy said.
"I think it's more than that." Death noted. "Today you got a good look behind the curtain. Wrecking the natural order isn't such fun when you have to mop up the mess, is it?" Buffy could tell. "It's hard for you, isn't it, Buffy? Now you see how your friends and family must feel. You thought you were in peace, when in fact, you were in nothingness, leaving your friends and family behind and now the only person you can relate to is probably the one you hate the most."
Buffy felt herself disgusted with how close she had gotten with Spike.
"Can I at least say 'goodbye' to Dawn?" Buffy asked.
"Who said anything about 'goodbye'?" Death asked. "I'm not going to take you, Buffy." He said, much to her shock.
"What?" Buffy's eyes widened.
"Don't misunderstand my motives, I'm not doing this for you." Death said as he got up as he neared her. "You keep coming back and you are an affront to the balance of the universe and you and your friends, this Scooby Gang, are capable of causing disruption on cosmic scale."
"Sorry about that." Buffy said dryly.
"But you have use. There's a war coming. An evil is rising. Much stronger than you can imagine. And the war needs a Slayer and her allies." Death said.
"What evil?" Buffy inquired but Death shimmered itself away as Buffy sighed in exasperation.
The next morning, Willow and Tara were making breakfast with Dawn, when Buffy entered the kitchen as they noticed she was looking bothered.
"Hey, Buffy." Willow said.
"Is everything OK?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, I just…" Buffy took a breath, trying to find the strength to say it. "I'm sorry for how crappy I've been to all of you." Dawn, Willow and Tara raised their eyebrows. "It's just that… it hasn't been easy for me, being back and I'm not sure what I'm doing. I didn't even know if you could help me out but now I understand that shutting you out wasn't an answer." She admitted, much to their surprise. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm just… I want a chance to earn it. Honestly, looking back, I guess I have no idea anymore why was I shutting you out, especially that I see now that you needed me. I wasn't even sure I needed you, since I wasn't sure you could help me but after what we've been through… I guess what I'm trying to say is… can we start over?"
"Buffy…" Willow trailed off as they approached Buffy and hugged her.
"We're always here for you." Tara assured.
"You know you don't have to go through this alone." Dawn said, happy that her sister had acknowledged that she needed them as much as they needed her. Buffy wrapped her arms around all of them as she could feel her eyes get wet.
Not sure about this but I hope I did OK. It's obvious what Death was talking about.
Honestly, Buffy in Season 6 was Buffy at her worst. Repeatedly she whines that she had been in Heaven, only to be ripped away from it by her friends, who needed her and Buffy neglects and pushes the Scoobies away, especially Dawn and gets into hate sex and toxic relationship with Spike, often treating him like shit too and how serious it was was shown in 6x17, when Glarghk Guhl Kashmas'nik demon conjured by Andrew poisoned her mind and Buffy deliberately chose to stay in the hallucination where the Slayers weren't real over her friends and when she came to her senses, she instead chose the demon to kill her own friends. Don't justify that Buffy wasn't in her right mind, she made the choice out of her own volition and everyone shrugged it off like nothing. I'm not gonna write a sequel but I'm imagining that Buffy isn't gonna try to kill her friends in 6x17.
I like Buffy but she's behind Tara, Willow, Cordelia, Faith, Dawn and Fred as my favorite female character in Buffyverse and what infuriates me is how often are her mistakes ignored and shrugged off like nothing, like her hypocrisy with 'no killing humans', when she was going to kill Faith to save Angel, she also killed an assassin from Order of Taraka and she also killed Knights of Byzantium to protect Dawn.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed this one-shot.
With regards
Bl4ckHunter