Chapter Two

"Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles ... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

~

Dr. Kessler looked down at the tiny infant with a fuzz of blond hair. Even after years of being a doctor, he still marveled when a new life was begun. And this new life was especially important. The first test tube baby, if you will. He was amazed that they had managed it. Soon, they would start testing to see if the child had the strength and reflexes of a Slayer, but he was fairly sure that she would. He had done his homework, obtaining a blood sample from Buffy Summers from before she became the Slayer and comparing it to the one the Initiative had, and there were differences in the DNA. Not a lot, not big ones—but then, it was only one small thing that separated man from chimpanzee. The child would carry the Slayer abilities, he was sure. But for now he could smile and coo over the infant. She certainly was cute.

"Sir?"

Dr. Kessler looked at one of his assistants with eyebrows raised.

"What are you going to call her?"

Dr. Kessler surveyed the infant in the crib, thinking. When finding a name for the project, he had delved into the occult and found one that would suit. It was a legend really, the animal was not supposed to actually exist, but the shadowhound was supposed to be the only predator that no other predator could defeat. He thought it fitting. But what to call the girl?

************

"Hey, black-eyed girl. Whatcha doin'?"

"Get out of here."

"Ah, no. You're not the only one with powers, you know. You may be a hopped-up uber-witch, but this carpenter can dry-wall you into the next century."

"I'm not joking, Xander. Get out of my way. Now. You can't stop this."

"Yeah, I get that. It's just, where else am I gonna go? You've been my best friend my whole life. World gonna end, where else would I want to be?"

"Is this the master plan? You're going to stop me by telling me you love me?"

"Well, I was going to walk you off a cliff and hand you an anvil, but it seemed kinda cartoony."

"Still making jokes."

"I'm not joking. I know you're in pain. I can't imagine the pain you're in. And I know you're about to do something apocalyptically evil and stupid, and hey. I still want to hang. You're Willow."

"Don't call me that."

"First day of kindergarten. You cried because you broke the yellow crayon, and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far. Ending the world, not a terrific notion. But the thing is? Yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love ... scary veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. If you wanna kill the world? Well, then start with me. I've earned that."


~

Dr. Kessler smiled faintly, watching the baby through the two way mirror. She was currently busy playing with one of those 'push the button, hear a sound' toys. She would push a button and her face would light up with delight as the sound came out.

She had started crawling a few months ago and was pulling herself up at just a year old. Kessler was pretty sure she would start walking soon. One of the things that startled him as he watched her grow was her muscle control. She had a lot of it. He probably should not have been surprised, but as an infant he had expected her to follow along the lines of most infants.

"Dr. Kessler?"

Kessler turned to look at one of his assistants. "Yes?"

"They wish to see her."

Kessler gave a brief scowl which turned into a smile as the people that had funded the project entered. "General, Major, glad you could come."

General Wallace and Major Burns, the people he answered to returned the greeting.

"Kessler," Wallace said, glancing in the window. "That's her, is it?"

"Yes," Kessler said. "That would be her."

"How old is she?"

"She turns one in two weeks," Kessler said. "Would you like to see her?"

"No, no," Wallace said, still watching the child play. "I don't want to disturb her. Why don't we go talk about the progress of the project, shall we?"

***********

"Let me tell you something about Buffy. In fact, you should all listen to this."

"Uh, we kinda were."

"I've been through more battles with Buffy than you all can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her. She's laid down her life - literally - to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times, and she's still standing. You're scared? That's smart. You got questions? You should. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy's all about the kill, then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart, and this time not literally. And I'm telling you, right now, she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it."

"Damn, B. I never knew you were that cool."

***

"Looks like the Hellmouth is officially closed for business."

"There's another one in Cleveland. Not to spoil the moment."

"We saved the world."

"We changed the world. I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere."

"We'll have to find them."

"We will."

"Yes, because the mall was actually in Sunnydale so there's no hope of going there tomorrow."

"We destroyed the mall? I fought on the wrong side."

"All those shops, gone. The Gap, Starbucks, Toy R Us…who will remember all those landmarks unless we tell the world of them?"

"We have a lot of work ahead of us."

"Can I push him in?"

"You've got my vote."

"I just want to sleep, yo. For like a week!"

"I guess we all could, if we wanted to."

"Yeah, The First is scrunched so… what do you think we should do, Buffy?"

"Yeah, you're not the one and only Chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?"

"Yeah, Buffy. What are we going to do now?"

~

Kessler called, "Rhian."

The toddler looked up from her picture she was drawing and grinned. "Hi Unca Kess."

Kessler crooked his finger. "Come here."

Rhian toddled over, looking at the men standing beside Kessler curiously. General Wallace chuckled. "Kessler, she is adorable. Are you sure she's a warrior?"

Kessler rolled his eyes, still looking at Rhian as he picked her up. "She's a toddler right now. Rhian, say hello to General Wallace and Major Burns."

"'Lo Gen'ral Wall'ce, Major Burn," Rhian said obediently, and grinned at them. "Why are you here?"

"To see you," General Wallace said, smiling. "Seriously Kessler, she is adorable." He looked at the doctor. "Just make sure she's a warrior."

A/N: I know, I promised longer chapters. They're coming!