Beyond Death's Gifts Part 5/5
by Phoenixstitch

Usual disclaimers in Part 1. This is being finished up 11/4/01. Since I have seen "Bargaining" and up to "Buffy the Musical" I'm going to go ahead and end this. Maybe later I might continue in the wake of this ending, but right now I am blanking out since I am working on the new parts of "Hate and Love", and that's taking most of my energies. Feedback to vbmacky1@yahoo.com

Part 5

They headed towards the morgue. With each step the wind was stronger. Spike and Xander held on to Tara, helping her to walk against the powerful blasts. Surrounding the doors to the morgue green, and gold lights were streaming around the edges, and they could now hear chanting. Two voices joined together—Dawn's, and Willow's.

"We're too bloody late," Spike shouted over the howling winds looking in through the opened doors, his pale face looking paler in the unearthly light coming from inside the room.

Before them in the center of the room in a protective circle that had been drawn on the floor in red, were Willow and Dawn on opposite sides of Buffy's sheet clad body which was lying on a metal cart. From both young women energy was streaming from their hands, meeting together, merging into a rainbow colored white light that completely surrounded Buffy's body. The light was so bright, and intense it was painful to look at like a miniature sun had been captured. And Buffy's body was responding to it as it jerked, and twisted seemingly absorbing the energy. The chanting rose then ceased on a final note as did the wind, and all the energy as if it had never been. In the sudden quiet they could hear coughing, and someone gasping for breath. Then Buffy sat up, her eyes huge, and staring, frightened as she looked around trying to take in her surroundings.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled relieved, and happy, tears streaming from her eyes as she hugged her sister, and Buffy hugged her back.

Buffy released her and looked at her puzzled. "What? What has happened? Where am I?" Buffy asked her, shaking her head, confused by her lack of clothes, and beginning to realize where she was.

"Ohh, my god—she's alive," Giles said stunned, staggering in sheer shock of the sight of Buffy sitting on up breathing, and looked unharmed by her ordeal. Next to Giles Xander fainted before anyone could catch him. While Spike backed into the wall before he fell down himself, his eyes huge, and staring at the miracle before his tearful, happy eyes.

"Buffy, you're back," Willow said with tears in her eyes, holding on to the edge of the cart trying not to faint, but she did anyway, but Spike rushed to her side, and caught her before she hit the hard tiled floor.

"Bloody hell, Red, you did it," he said in complete astonishment looking down at the young witch, then back to his golden girl, that had wrapped the thin sheet around herself, looking them all over. "She's bloody back. Thank you, Red, thank you," he said giving the witch a quick kiss on the forehead.

He reached out and touched her bare shoulder feeling solid, warm flesh underneath his hand. She was real, was back. "Is it really you, luv, in there?" he asked, trying to believe.

"Yeah, I think so," she said turning her hazel eyes on him, just as frightened by this as they all were. I remember saying goodbye to Dawn, then jumping. Then there was searing pain, likes energy blasting me to bits then nothing. How did I get here. How can I be alive? The portal closed didn't it?" Buffy asked worriedly.

"It's closed. At least I hope it's still closed. You died Buffy. You jumped, and then your body fell down to the ground. Then they brought you here to the morgue," Spike told her, and she took it all in calmly.

"How long was I dead?" she asked nervously looking down at herself and flexing her legs under the sheets to see if they were working.

"Six hours or so."

"Ohh," was all she could say.

"How do you feel?" he asked, cautiously, looking at her, noticing the scars on her shoulder where Angel had bit her were now gone like she had been given a new body along with a new life.

"Alive, tired, glad Glory is gone, and the world is still here, especially Dawn. As to anything else…I really don't know yet. All I want to do is get dressed, and get out of here. This cart is like sitting on a ice cube," she told him shivering from the cool air and the cart, hinting that the guys should leave so she get up, and get dressed.

"Giles, I think the slayer wants us to leave so she can put some clothes on," Spike told the flustered older man as he gave his restored love a smile, drinking in her beauty and her aliveness wishing he had the right to wrap her in his arms, kiss her, and never let her go like he wanted to so badly. And I need to set Red down. She's had a busy day too," Spike said smiling down at Willow, glad that they hadn't been able to stop her after all.

"Right, sorry, Buffy. Not thinking yet. We'll wait outside while Dawn helps you," Giles said nervously, backing back and taking Spike with him.

Spike carried Willow outside, and set her on a cart outside. Tara came over, and looked her over worriedly. "I can't believe she did that," Tara fussed, frowning and putting a hand on Willow's forehead.

"Neither can anyone else, but she did, along with Dawn. It took both of them to do it. I'm sure how, but I am very grateful," Spike told her.

"But they shouldn't have—don't you understand. It was Buffy's time. They messed everything up," she exclaimed angrily.

"What Buffy was supposed to stay dead?" he questioned, angrily.

"No, no, she wasn't, Dawn was, but then Buffy took her place, and so the powers accepted her sacrifice. The balance was restored—now—I don't know, but her being back, and Dawn being here as the Key still is not a good thing. I'm sure of it, especially since Willow used dark magicks to do this," she explained nervously.

"Tara how do you know all this?" Giles asked, eyeing her suspiciously as did Spike, and Xander who were now awake again.

"I dunno, I just do. I seem to know more things now since I got my mind back," she explained. "Maybe because Willow used some of Glory's energies to fix me?" she offered.

"Well, in my opinion it is all good, even if Willow did use dark magicks to accomplish the task. I will have a very long talk with her when she has recovered. Sadly, I have not been paying attention to her as much as I should. I have been just letting do whatever she wants. Although she listens to you on most things, it is clear she is not really controlling her powers, they are controlling her instead to very dangerous levels. She's tasted what true power could be, and she's not going to be satisfied now with lesser magicks. I had similar problems in my youth as did Ethan, so I am aware of how much to extremes this can go before it comes to a possible deadly head," Giles told the now worried young lady.

"Yeah, I agree that Red is scary as hell now, but if she hadn't been able to use all those combined powers Buffy would still be dead. We can sort out all the ethics to this later. I figure if the Powers That Be didn't want her back then they wouldn't have let her come back no matter what Willow and Dawn did. So that's kind of clear she's still needed as is Dawn in this world. Glory's gone, Buffy's back, the World didn't End, so I'm happy, and I think we all should be," Xander said, looking around at the tired faces of the group. Soon as Buffy's ready, I'll all for getting out of here and going home." He added.

"What about Willow?" Tara asked looking down at her mate.

"Well, we can either check her in here or take care of her at home. The choice is up to you," Giles told her.

Tara looked around nervously. "Home, I think. There's not much they could do for her as mainly all she needs is sleep and rest," she answered.

"I'll put her in a wheelchair, then we can wheel her to the car," Spike volunteered. "Except where are the two of you staying? Didn't Glory do a bit of remolding on your dorm?"

"They're staying with Anya and me. And with Anya in the hospital for a while that shouldn't be too much of a problem. After that I'm not sure," Xander answered.

"What's not a problem?" Buffy asked as she came out of the morgue looking at the people waiting on her and Dawn.

"Where Willow and Tara are going to be living since Glory destroyed their dorm. Right now they're staying with Anya, and me. Anya's going to here for a couple of days, and will need help when she comes home. But once she and Willow recover it's going to get too crowded real fast," Xander explained, and they all understood.

"Well, I've got a simple solution—Willow, and Tara move in with me. I've got the room now with Mom gone. It's still close enough to campus to get back and forth easy, and maybe that way I won't feel so alone, same with Dawn. What do you think, dawn?" she asked her sister.

"Sounds cool to me. We could even take them home with us instead of them having to go over to Xander's," she suggested and seeing that Xander liked that idea too.

"Okay. Is this all cool with you, Tara?" Buffy asked, looking at the Wiccan.

"Fine with me, since I didn't know I didn't have a dorm to go back to. Glory destroyed our room?" she asked.

"Yeah, big time. You were out of it and she was still looking for Dawn, and was following your energy. She tore the outside wall of the dorm down to come after us. Willow held her off while Dawn and I escaped. Then Willow brought you over to Xander's to stay. Then there was the RV trip. Come to think about it you guys having been back there since. Hope your things are still all there," Buffy told her remembering.

Tara was rather alarmed over that news. "How long ago was this?" she asked.

"About a week ago," Xander replied. "Giles, can you take Buffy, Dawn, and I guess Willow, and Spike with you, while I go with Tara to check out what's happened to their stuff?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. Unless you have your own way home, Spike? It is still daylight outside," Giles reminded him.

"I'll do the tunnels. Sounds like your car is going to be a bit on the crowded side." he replied, and Giles nodded in understanding.

Spike had been watching Buffy ever since she had come into the hallway. His eyes never leaving her. He didn't know what was going to happening next with any of them. They had survived another apocalypse, just barely. He was trying to not think about how permanent Buffy's death, or any of theirs could have been—this time. He wasn't even going to hope that things might become better between the two of them. That the alliance they had forged since Glory had tortured him would last, and evolve into something deeper. Then there was his failure at the tower to stop Doc, so the demon had still been able to cut Dawn allowing the portal to open after all, and Buffy had had to jump to close it. He would have to live with the image of her broken body in the rubble forever burned into his mind to remind him of the price of failure. If Willow and Dawn hadn't been able to do what they did---- don't go there, he told himself. He would have stuck around for Dawn's sake as he had promised Buffy, but once Dawn was able to be on her own, he would have left either to go wander the earth, or to final death.

He watched her encircled by her friends, and family, and felt the outsider again. Maybe he should go now? Leave town since the crisis was over. If he stayed here he'd only get his heart stomped on, and nothing would change between them, he knew that now. He better get while the getting was good. They didn't need him. She was safe, and the kid was safe. His job was done. Hell, even the world was safe—he couldn't ask for more. Yeah, it was time to go.

While they were busily talking, the lonely vampire slunk off, rapidly going down the corridor heading for the basement access tunnels.

The End For Now of-- Beyond Death's Gifts 5/5

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