Xander and I walked along in silence for a long time. I can't believe he's talking to me. Part of me is still waiting for it, waiting for this to be a joke, a trick of some kind. The other part of me really wants to believe that he's here to make nice.
"Willow's working on a spell to bring back Buffy," he says quietly and I stop in the middle of the road.
"What? She can do that?"
"I dunno. I don't think it's recommended. But…like I said. She's a little frantic these days. It's all she can do to pull herself together around us. Dropped out of summer classes even."
Knowing what a brain Willow is, this is huge. "Xander, I wish it was me. I wish I could have taken her place," I tell him.
He looks at me sideways. "It wouldn't have mattered. It had to be Summers blood. Nothing you've done would have changed what happened. It was either Dawn or Buffy. You know Buffy. She wasn't going to let her sister die."
"But Dawn's not really even her sister!" I cry. Angel filled me in on everything, hard as it is to believe it. I mean, Dawn's always been here…at least in my mind.
He nods. "Yeah, I get that, too. But, to Buffy…she is. She's blood…they actually do share blood. Kinda like the rib from Adam to make Eve thing."
"It's not fair," I say weakly.
Xander sighs. "No, it's not."
"I didn't mean what I said about Dawn…she's a good kid."
"I know. You may not believe this, but before we went out that night, to fight Glory, Buffy had to threaten all of us with very painful deaths…so none of us would try to take out Dawn to stop the apocalypse."
I stare at him. I hadn't heard this. "Whaddya mean? Why would you guys want to kill Dawn?"
He looks uncomfortable. "Dawn's blood could open the portal, break down the barriers between all the dimensions and ours, but it also closes them. If all her blood had been drained…"
That's intense. "Wow. Did anyone try?"
He shakes his head. Looks a little guilty. "No. No one tried. And no one probably would have either, but I'll bet it crosses all of our minds. I know it crossed mine."
"B would have really killed someone if they tried?" I'm amazed. B really had changed.
He nods. "I think she would have, and I don't know if she would have hesitated. Spike…he probably would have had something to say about it too."
That reminds me. "Spike…I met him tonight. What's his deal? He says he's harmless…says he's watching over Dawn. This true?"
Xander rolls his eyes. "As much as I hate to admit it, yes, it's true. He's a vampire, but he's harmless, thanks to a military chip in his head. He can't bite…he can only hurt demons now. And he's not a friend. Let's get that very clear. But…he was a big help with Dawn when…Buffy trusted him to watch her, and…he liked Joyce, so…we put up with him." He pauses for a moment. "You saw him tonight? Out?"
I nod. "Yeah, why? Vamps were wicked rowdy tonight, staked three before I headed to the Bronze. He helped me, so I didn't dust 'im. Figured I'd have Sloan check it with Giles."
"You can ask Giles yourself, you know," he says quietly.
I shrug. "I dunno. Better let Sloan handle it."
"New Watcher?"
I nod. "Yeah. He's cool. American, actually. Wild Southern accent. Kinda cute too."
"Nice," Xander says, rolling his eyes. "I didn't know they let us Yanks become Watchers," he said, imitating Giles' accent. He drops the accent and says, "So Spike was back out, huh? He's been…low-key lately. Haven't really seen him since…although I know Dawn has."
"Yeah, Angel mentioned that. He watches Dawn every night, all night, then goes home."
"Hmm," Xander says, when we hear a rustle in the bushes.
"I'm on," I say, pulling out a stake. The bushes rustle some more and out pops Spike himself.
"Not so fast, little lady," he drawls. "Friends, remember?"
"Spike…how not nice to see you," Xander says, but his words really don't have any feeling.
"Harris…it's old, okay?" the blond vampire says wearily. "Just thought you might want to know, Angel's holed up with four or five nasty looking boys. Taking a pretty serious beating right about now, I'd expect."
"Why are you here then?" I shout at him. "Take me there."
He starts jogging and I pass him up, "Come on!" I scream, terror in my voice. I can't lose him. Angel's like the only friend I've got.
Spike takes the lead, I'm trailing him slightly and Xander's a little ways behind us. We turn some corners and head into an old building. "Why didn't you stay to help him?" I hiss.
Spike raises his eyebrows. "Now now…and we were just gettin' to be good friends…let's not go have a tantrum. I was coming to get you. I saw you walking earlier with Captain Out-of-Shape over there, so I figured it was easier than me playing hero by myself. Four of us…better odds.
"One of me, best odds," I tell him, and burst through the glass window we've been kneeling in front of.
I land on my feet and face five surprised looking vamps. "That's my friend," I tell them.
One of them, dressed in a blue flannel, snarls. "Not for long."
I raise my eyebrows. "Let him go now and I promise it'll be quick for ya."
Angel smirks. "Aw, Faith. I was just getting them where I wanted."
"Yeah, I can see you have it all under control."
Spike and Xander hop down behind me. "What a party!" Spike cries, he and Xander sauntering up next to me. "Crappy music." We stand, arms crossed, the three of us together.
Angel shrugs out of the hold of the two vamps holding him against a wall. He glances at me. "Ladies first?" he asks, casually.
I move my arm out, a slight bow. "Oh, please, be my guest."
He morphs into game face, god I love when he does that, and swings at the vamp to his left. Blue Shirt rushes me but I move out of the way, bullfighter style. "Ole!" I cry out, as Spike grabs him and pummels his fists into Blue Shirt's stomach.
Xander, God love 'im, dives right into the fight. "What the hell happened?" he shouts to Angel, who is busy with his own vamp.
"They jumped me…five on one…maybe not my best performance," he admits, kicking his vamp back into the wall. "Faith!" he shouts, turning quickly. "Stake!"
I spin kick my vamp, grabbing a stake from my waistband and tossing it to him as I spin. "Catch!"
He does, dusts his vamp, tosses the stake back to me and I dust mine. We grin at each other, then Angel rushes to help Xander, who surprisingly doesn't need that much help anymore. Huh.
Spike's done with his guy, grabs Xander's vamp, I toss him the stake and poof, we're done. Almost.
"There was one more," I say, looking around. He's nowhere to be seen…until I look up to see a scared vampire hanging by the bars across the warehouse ceiling. "Looky what we got here, guys! An acrobat!"
Xander laughs. "Remember that game at carnivals…the one where you had all these balloons pinned up and you threw darts at them? If you popped one, you got a prize…"
"Interesting…" Spike says, a grin on his face. I think I'm gonna like him, vampire and all. He breaks off the wooden leg to a nearby table and hands the guys a piece each.
"Allyoop!" Xander says, tossing his stake up in the air. It misses, sticks in the ceiling.
Spike's next. He hits the vamp in the back. "Close, but no stuffed tiger, sorry sir," Xander says.
Angel tosses, impales the vamps hand. "Wasn't trying. I just know that hurts like hell."
My turn. I toss…success. "Give the girl her stuffed Snoopy," Spike says.
"I like Scooby Doo better," I tell them.
"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…" Angel says. "These guys jumped me for a reason. They said they had to stop us from bringing her back."
"Who her?" Spike asks, lighting a cigarette.
"Buffy."
Spike drops his cigarette.