Disclaimers in Chapter 1
Send feedback please to slayerbelle@go.com
The Abnormality of Free Will
by Slayerbelle
Chapter 3
"You Deserve Nothing"
"What?" Aurora gasped, trying to get as far away from him as the wall would allow. "What girl?"
"The Key," he said, shaking her, and the motion knocked her head painfully against the concrete several times. "You realize the longer we delay, the closer the end gets."
"Let go of me!" Aurora demanded. "There is no we. I don't know what you're talking about."
He stared at her, glassy eyes boring into hers. She had her breath in her throat, and didn't speak.
He shook his head. "Denying it does nothing but hasten the end."
Aurora coughed, finding her voice again. "You think I'm here for the girl. I'm not."
"If you don't fulfill your destiny, then I will finish mine."
"My destiny? What are you...?"
Aurora felt a pain in her gut, and it wasn't an attack, but an insight. It became clearer, all of a sudden. She jerked under his grip in protest. "That's not what the vision said."
"I fulfill my destiny in the event of your failure, child."
"What destiny are you talking about?"
"The Key belongs to no one. If you do not do your part in executing that truth, I lay claim to it."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Raphael. We shall meet again, Aurora Halley."
He dropped her to the ground and disappeared into the night.
====
"He literally disappeared. I mean, poof. Gone."
Giles handed her an ice pack, which she thankfully placed on her upper arm. He opened a bookmarked section of the old text he had been going over. "You said his name was Raphael."
"Yes. Is that enough? You won't be finding three of them with that name in the order of the monks, right?"
"I didn't find his name at all," Giles admitted. "But I did find documentation about a split in the order. Occurred over a hundred and fifty years ago. Factions within the order disagreed about what to do with the Key. They were protecting it all this time, but a small rogue group decided that the better thing to do was to channel the power of the Key for themselves."
"That's bad, isn't it?"
"Well yes, but they did claim that this was a more practical use of the Key, rather than how it was originally intended. The group delved into darker magics in order to steal the Key, but were thwarted, and their numbers dwindled over the years. Apparently, it was suspected that a few took steps to make themselves immortal, so they could be able to continue the attempt to steal the Key."
Aurora lifted her sleeve and winced at the pink mark left behind by Raphael's grip. "Vamp yourself, get the extra strength as well. Our Raphael seems a likely rogue monk then. He wants Dawn. Whatever her power is, he wants it for himself."
Giles leaned back against his chair, started cleaning his glasses. "This brings up something of great importance, Aurora."
"We need to up Dawn's protection?"
"We have to tell Buffy that there isn't just one entity out to get Dawn. Apparently there are many, and we don't know who they are."
"That's not going to reassure her," Aurora said.
"She needs the truth, Aurora, not our reassurance. And we'd better stop referring to the Key as, well, her name, because we don't know who can be listening." He paused to check his watch. "It's very late."
"Two am."
"You'd better rest."
"Well, we had important work to do."
"You have to lay off the patrolling, Aurora. You're not built for this. Buffy is."
Aurora sighed. "We already had this conversation, Mr. Giles."
"Well you could at least..." He lost the lecture train of thought. And got on another. "Would you like me to teach you how to fight?"
She was surprised at the suggestion. "What?"
"You might as well learn how to do it right."
Aurora let the moment hang in the air, and she was remembering Giles as he was in the three years she had stayed in Sunnydale. More than anything he was a mentor, and that was what made him a great Watcher. He was probably feeling that Buffy had outgrown him. She needed what he was offering, but he needed it as well.
She nodded. "Of course. Can we start after I've healed?"
He let her sleep on the small cot in the training room, because he wasn't going to let her walk back to the motel alone and injured. Aurora wrapped herself in the blanket and slept, dreamless, visionless.
====
It was deep in the night when Dawn stirred, and felt something heavy on her bed.
She instinctively gasped, because a Slayer's sister learned over the years that things that go bump in the night actually did end up grabbing you in your bed as you slept, but not so this time. The heavy thing was Buffy, she was curled up in a ball, still in her slaying outfit, asleep on the corner of Dawn's bed.
Her sister's gasp startled the Slayer awake as well, and soon enough they were both sitting up and giving each other the look of sisterly annoyance.
"What are you doing here?" Dawn hissed, not wanting to wake up their mom.
"Shut up! You're waking up the whole house," Buffy hissed back, yawning as she tugged the elastic holding up her hair.
Dawn took in this scene and did shut up. The last time Buffy was sweet to her as a sister was, well... too long ago. It was like Dawn hit an age and was suddenly not worth Buffy's time, and it had been like that for years. She mostly stayed out of Buffy's way, except when she thought she saw signs of... maybe...
But things were never going to go back the way they were.
Like now. Buffy had obviously come from slaying, and went directly to her room. And snuggled up next to her, not even bothering to change her clothes.
"Why do you stink?" she said.
She got the Evil Eye. "I thought you were shutting up, Dawn."
"Oh come on. You've got your own bed. And you're here stinking up mine."
"Well excuse me, the evil undead don't really bother with the Chanel number five, you know."
Sisterly love.
Buffy shook out some dirt off her hair. "How's mom?"
"She went to bed early, but she's OK. Not a headache tonight, which is probably a record."
"And you? Homework and whatever it is that you do fine?"
"Why are you checking up on me?"
Buffy frowned defensively. "I'm not checking up on you. I was just making conversation."
"At two am you ask me about my homework."
"I just want to know about you is all."
Maybe Buffy really was trying. Dawn had to give her credit.
"At least take off your jacket," she said. "I'm going to bed. And don't snore."
Buffy smiled softly. "I won't bother you, I promise."
====
An almost normal night.
Snuggled next to Riley, Buffy listened to him breathe and realized she could actually go to sleep. Aurora was staying at home on Dawn patrol (Joyce was away on business again). Giles had reported to her a boatload of new research. She hadn't seen the permed blond bitch in weeks.
So now, date with the boyfriend. It was comforting, settling into something that seemed so normal. Because she was grasping now, treasuring what parts of her life didn't give her pain. Even school was starting to feel like a sanctuary, despite the literature exam she had looming on the horizon.
She knew Riley wanted to be more involved in her slaying. He didn't know about the whole trouble with Dawn, and she didn't plan to tell him. This was her refuge, and he might not understand that, might even get offended by it. It wasn't that she didn't think he was strong.
Buffy just didn't want any more battle scars.
Angel's bite on her neck, an unfortunate reminder of a relationship that intertwined her dual lives as Slayer and woman. Because the woman wanted to thrive, and the Slayer lived to destroy.
It occurred to her that Aurora had the same scar.
That Angel did get around, damn him.
Buffy held on to Riley's arm and closed her eyes.
====
Inside the red room with no windows or doors, she heard the music playing again.
Aurora felt the cold metal of the silver knife in her hand. Buffy in front of her, Raphael to her left, Dawn to her right. They were all looking at her with wide, expectant eyes.
A voice in her head.
"The choice is yours to make."
"It's not fair that I have the knife," Aurora said, aloud, to the voice in her head.
"But it's yours to make. Break the circle and let it be done."
"I thought I was already told what should be done."
"Break the circle and let it be done."
Before she realized it, Aurora braced the knife and plunged it into Dawn's stomach. The girl gasped but did not scream, the look of horror frozen on her face as she looked down at her body in disbelief. Blood flowed from her wound, thick and glowing, staining the front of her dress, flowing to the floor.
Aurora stepped back. Dawn was looking at her, and all she could see was the pain of betrayal in her eyes. She looked to her left. Raphael was gone.
Buffy blinked.
====
She was jolted awake. "What the hell was that?" she hissed.
Her only answer was Riley's even breathing.
Buffy hadn't even realized she had dozed off, but what else could that have been? She tried to close her eyes again, but a cold sweat had formed around her neck and she hated that. It was like she was bothered by a silly dream.
That was it. Silly. Her fear of failing to protect Dawn, and all that nonsense.
Or not.
In a heartbeat she was on her feet, and on the phone.
====
"Did you have a vision, Aurora?"
"What?"
"You tell me. I saw it."
"You saw it."
"The one you had now. You stuck that thing -- you killed Dawn. Was that a vision?"
Hesitation. "Yes, Buffy."
"You don't -- you don't have to do it. You don't -- Aurora, you can't."
"I do what I'm told, Buffy. It's just the way it is."
"You're not telling me you're in my home now talking to me and you're actually going to --"
====
She might have left the phone on the floor, but Riley would just have to find it in the morning.
Buffy was running now, running without her coat on in the cold autumn night. Aurora couldn't possibly. She couldn't possibly lift a finger to hurt Dawn. Not when she knew Buffy wouldn't let her. Not when --
*Not when I invited her into my own home.*
*Screw it. Screw intuition. I've lost it, I can't have it back, I can't trust anything, anyone, can't possibly make choices.*
Apparently she didn't only make bad choices, she was incapable of learning from them. Like inviting a stranger into a plan not even her best friends or lover knew about. Like asking a stranger to do what she was supposed to be doing -- protecting her sister.
Something blurred her vision as she ran, and she realized she was crying. Eyes filling with tears that didn't stream down her cheeks fast enough. This was her fault, always was, and she was going to fix it. So Aurora had, what, half an hour's head start actually being in her home where the kitchen had all sorts of knives, but she was going to fix it.
Aurora couldn't possibly do what that vision said. No one would do that to an innocent girl.
Around the block, and she saw her house was in total darkness. She wasn't comforted. She made it to the front door, and found that it was locked. Of course. With the lack of discipline much associated with being Buffy, and knowing she probably left her house key in the pocket of her coat back at Riley's, she kicked down the door, breaking it at its lock. It swung back into a dark house.
"Dawn!" Buffy called. The silence troubled her. She yelled to fill it. "Dawn!" She ran up the stairs, to the bedroom, and saw that it was empty. The sheets had been rumpled, been slept on very recently, but was empty.
Not good.
Buffy did a quick check of the bathroom before stepping out into the hall. "Dawn!" she yelled again, distressed that it was echoing around the house. She didn't smell blood, there didn't seem to be signs of a struggle. She made her way up the corridor to check the other rooms of the house. Her room was empty, the bed still made.
The door to her mom's room was closed. Buffy grabbed the doorknob to check on it, and it wouldn't budge. She didn't remember it being locked.
She banged on it. "Dawn! Aurora! Open up!" Her hand came down hard on the wood repeatedly, but it still wouldn't budge. She braced herself again, ready to kick down the door if she had to, when it suddenly opened and a hand pulled her inside.
Aurora threw her inside the room.
"Shut up, Buffy!" she hissed as she bolted the door.
"Where's Dawn?"
"Ssh!" Aurora lifted a finger, her voice barely above a whisper. "Dawn's fine." She pointed in the direction of Joyce Summers' bathroom, door closed and locked. "But he's here."
"Who?"
"Raphael."
"Who?"
"The Italian vampire. He had a spell to get into your home, I tried to counteract it like last time but he had another... he's inside now."
Now that Buffy could see that Aurora wasn't running after Dawn with a knife, her thoughts took a second to adjust. "The Italian vampire is here. Inside my house."
Aurora was looking around wild-eyed, cautious, still hissing. "Yes. He got in through the kitchen door. We hid in here until --"
At this point Joyce's bedroom door blew right out of its hinges. Buffy was able to jump out of the way, but Aurora was not so lucky. The flying block of wood hit her squarely on the side and threw her across the room.
Raphael stood at the doorway.
"I didn't invite you in," Buffy said.
He sneered at her. "What you keep here is mine."
"I can't believe you ruined my mom's door."
She jumped at him, but not enough to knock him off his feet. He didn't attack her, even, there was just this serenity with which he fought her, threw punches and blocked them...
He used to be a monk. A man of God.
Who now wanted to kill her sister.
Buffy threw her fist at him and marveled at the strength with which she attacked. She hated this, hated having to fear for the lives of the ones closest to her. It never seemed to end... one death after another, one demon after another...
Like now, who was she fighting now? One of possibly many forces out to get Dawn. Defeating him would not be the end of it. It would just be the beginning of a really long road.
Unless he wins, and of course it will be the end.
He was able to grab her by the neck and bang her head against the wall. Buffy gasped, grabbed a fistful of his coat and swung herself into a more advantageous position with it. She balled her hand into a fist and struck, but he caught it.
Caught her fist, lifted her up with her arms, and started walking.
"What, are you done?" Buffy taunted, trying to remember if she had a stake on her person at all. No, she had none.
Again, that strange serenity. He almost smiled at her as he lifted her, walked down the hallway. Buffy didn't have to crane her neck to see where he was taking her. She struggled, trying not to look like she was panicking. But she didn't have a weapon, and she wasn't going to overwhelm him with her strength.
He carried her over to the stairs.
Just as he let her go, she hooked her arm around around his neck and pulled.
"Not without you, honey," she said. On the strength of his own momentum they tumbled down the staircase together. Buffy gasped at each fall, reaching out to grab the banister before she rolled all the way down, but her fingers were slippery, they wouldn't hold. Fingernails scraped against wood, stairs poked her ribs as she rolled down, gravity and the weight of the vampire dragging her.
Buffy hit the floor with a hard thud, pain shooting up her side. When she pushed herself upright, she saw that she was alone on the floor.
She must have been out for a second, maybe more.
Only the beginning, she groaned, as she lifted herself up and started running up the stairs. Still unarmed, but she'd worry about that later. She heard sounds of a scuffle, coming from her mom's bedroom, and she was there in a flash.
The vampire was straddling Aurora, and she was threatening his unlife with what seemed like a piece of Joyce Summers' bed. Buffy hesitated. The vampire had his hands around the girl's neck; she was coughing. The Slayer took a step forward, but Aurora lifted a hand and gestured her to stop.
Buffy could see what she was doing.
Aurora coughed again, coughed more laboriously as the air left her reach. And then, there it was. Aurora's eyes widened as something inside her -- that power again -- radiated from inside her, called upon by the threat to her life. The vampire felt it, and he paused.
Aurora's fist tightened against her weapon. "Yes, that's right," she said spitefully, aiming for the heart with renewed strength. Raphael dusted with not a scream, no fanfare.
The two girls were silent for a second. Buffy didn't help her up.
Aurora cleared her throat. "It had to have been me," she said. "I had to kill him."
Maybe it was because the danger was over, but Buffy's body began to ache. "Where's Dawn?" she demanded.
"Still in there. She's fine."
The Slayer lowered her voice. "You were supposed to kill her?"
Aurora shook her head. "But I didn't."
"But you were supposed to kill her."
"Yes. There was another vision, one you didn't see. That's what happened tonight."
She was so tired of this. Just so tired. She dropped to the floor, finding the hard wood not as comfortable, but at least she didn't have to stand. "Aurora, I know you helped today, and thank you. But I can't allow you to do this anymore."
So there they both were now, sitting exhausted on the floor of her mother's ruined bedroom. Aurora was too tired to argue, but she stirred. "What--?"
"I can't allow you near Dawn again."
"Dawn is not in danger from me, Buffy."
"I don't believe that." Buffy said softly. "I appreciate your help, what you've been doing for Giles. But you're not to approach Dawn alone ever again."
Buffy waited for Aurora to pick herself up and walk out. She would call Giles, make sure Aurora got medical help. The girl was sure to clock a few more broken ribs than Buffy did. But, unfortunately, that was not her concern. Of course Dawn would be in danger from Aurora. Aurora would be able to justify Dawn's death with righteous cause.
She heard the downstairs door swing shut. Slowly, she crawled to her mother's bathroom and knocked on the door. "Dawnie?" she said. "Open up, it's OK."
====
If she had been smarter, she would have gotten a job at Caritas, and wouldn't have had to leave LA. Of course, the last time she was there, her vengeful relatives broke every bit of glass in the room, so maybe Lorne wouldn't be so kind as to let her tend the bar.
The Bronze, however, was a different matter.
She was learning how to mix drinks on the spot, but they didn't care. Apparently the mortality rate kept unemployment down and establishments were just happy to hire someone who was still breathing.
Aurora wiped the counter for the nth time and sighed. But she shouldn't complain. The job provided her the means to stay there. Giles was only too happy to let her stay, despite the vision. He wanted her help with the research, and he still hadn't given up on using her magic to channel it into something useful. She almost refused his offer, because she couldn't afford to stay even in the ratty motel. He had asked her to rent out his guest room instead, but couldn't offer her a job at the Magic Box. (Anya pretty much had that place down.)
So, The Bronze. And here her life in Sunnydale begins anew.
"Root beer," Buffy said, sliding into a barstool right in front of her.
"Hey," Aurora said.
"I hear you're rooming with Giles," she said.
Aurora cleared her throat. Buffy's reaction to her was harder and harder to judge in the days after the incident at her home. The only thing she could determine was that it was cold. Buffy was making an effort to be on speaking terms because of Giles, but Aurora got the feeling Buffy was watching her. If she would make a move.
Damn it, she didn't like not being trusted. Of course she wouldn't kill Dawn.
*Unless I had to.*
Buffy was probably right.
Aurora brought the girl a root beer. "Well, paying him to at least," she said. "Everything's fine?"
Buffy nodded. "Yes, everything's fine. You talked to Cordelia recently?"
"I'm not going to tell her, Buffy."
"I didn't mean that."
"Then never mind."
Buffy sipped her drink. "OK then. See you around."
As she left, Aurora felt the urge to drink. Surely she didn't deserve this. Surely she didn't work so hard all her life...
*And exactly the point. Learn your lesson. You're not to be thanked. You deserve nothing.*
Aurora poured herself a vodka shot and gulped it down quick.
"How about one of those for me too, love?"
She turned. Spike, the vampire. Chipped now, incapable of harming humans, if she got her facts right. Maybe it was the depression, maybe the alcohol, but she lost her grip on her cover for a second, and allowed her face to register recognition. Spike had never seen her when she was in Sunnydale.
Or had he? The same flicker of familiarity passed his face as well.
"Alana?" he said.
Aurora shook her head. "You must be mistaken. But I get that a lot." She poured him a vodka and stayed out of his way the rest of the night.
THE END.
Send feedback please to slayerbelle@go.com
The Abnormality of Free Will
by Slayerbelle
Chapter 3
"You Deserve Nothing"
"What?" Aurora gasped, trying to get as far away from him as the wall would allow. "What girl?"
"The Key," he said, shaking her, and the motion knocked her head painfully against the concrete several times. "You realize the longer we delay, the closer the end gets."
"Let go of me!" Aurora demanded. "There is no we. I don't know what you're talking about."
He stared at her, glassy eyes boring into hers. She had her breath in her throat, and didn't speak.
He shook his head. "Denying it does nothing but hasten the end."
Aurora coughed, finding her voice again. "You think I'm here for the girl. I'm not."
"If you don't fulfill your destiny, then I will finish mine."
"My destiny? What are you...?"
Aurora felt a pain in her gut, and it wasn't an attack, but an insight. It became clearer, all of a sudden. She jerked under his grip in protest. "That's not what the vision said."
"I fulfill my destiny in the event of your failure, child."
"What destiny are you talking about?"
"The Key belongs to no one. If you do not do your part in executing that truth, I lay claim to it."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Raphael. We shall meet again, Aurora Halley."
He dropped her to the ground and disappeared into the night.
====
"He literally disappeared. I mean, poof. Gone."
Giles handed her an ice pack, which she thankfully placed on her upper arm. He opened a bookmarked section of the old text he had been going over. "You said his name was Raphael."
"Yes. Is that enough? You won't be finding three of them with that name in the order of the monks, right?"
"I didn't find his name at all," Giles admitted. "But I did find documentation about a split in the order. Occurred over a hundred and fifty years ago. Factions within the order disagreed about what to do with the Key. They were protecting it all this time, but a small rogue group decided that the better thing to do was to channel the power of the Key for themselves."
"That's bad, isn't it?"
"Well yes, but they did claim that this was a more practical use of the Key, rather than how it was originally intended. The group delved into darker magics in order to steal the Key, but were thwarted, and their numbers dwindled over the years. Apparently, it was suspected that a few took steps to make themselves immortal, so they could be able to continue the attempt to steal the Key."
Aurora lifted her sleeve and winced at the pink mark left behind by Raphael's grip. "Vamp yourself, get the extra strength as well. Our Raphael seems a likely rogue monk then. He wants Dawn. Whatever her power is, he wants it for himself."
Giles leaned back against his chair, started cleaning his glasses. "This brings up something of great importance, Aurora."
"We need to up Dawn's protection?"
"We have to tell Buffy that there isn't just one entity out to get Dawn. Apparently there are many, and we don't know who they are."
"That's not going to reassure her," Aurora said.
"She needs the truth, Aurora, not our reassurance. And we'd better stop referring to the Key as, well, her name, because we don't know who can be listening." He paused to check his watch. "It's very late."
"Two am."
"You'd better rest."
"Well, we had important work to do."
"You have to lay off the patrolling, Aurora. You're not built for this. Buffy is."
Aurora sighed. "We already had this conversation, Mr. Giles."
"Well you could at least..." He lost the lecture train of thought. And got on another. "Would you like me to teach you how to fight?"
She was surprised at the suggestion. "What?"
"You might as well learn how to do it right."
Aurora let the moment hang in the air, and she was remembering Giles as he was in the three years she had stayed in Sunnydale. More than anything he was a mentor, and that was what made him a great Watcher. He was probably feeling that Buffy had outgrown him. She needed what he was offering, but he needed it as well.
She nodded. "Of course. Can we start after I've healed?"
He let her sleep on the small cot in the training room, because he wasn't going to let her walk back to the motel alone and injured. Aurora wrapped herself in the blanket and slept, dreamless, visionless.
====
It was deep in the night when Dawn stirred, and felt something heavy on her bed.
She instinctively gasped, because a Slayer's sister learned over the years that things that go bump in the night actually did end up grabbing you in your bed as you slept, but not so this time. The heavy thing was Buffy, she was curled up in a ball, still in her slaying outfit, asleep on the corner of Dawn's bed.
Her sister's gasp startled the Slayer awake as well, and soon enough they were both sitting up and giving each other the look of sisterly annoyance.
"What are you doing here?" Dawn hissed, not wanting to wake up their mom.
"Shut up! You're waking up the whole house," Buffy hissed back, yawning as she tugged the elastic holding up her hair.
Dawn took in this scene and did shut up. The last time Buffy was sweet to her as a sister was, well... too long ago. It was like Dawn hit an age and was suddenly not worth Buffy's time, and it had been like that for years. She mostly stayed out of Buffy's way, except when she thought she saw signs of... maybe...
But things were never going to go back the way they were.
Like now. Buffy had obviously come from slaying, and went directly to her room. And snuggled up next to her, not even bothering to change her clothes.
"Why do you stink?" she said.
She got the Evil Eye. "I thought you were shutting up, Dawn."
"Oh come on. You've got your own bed. And you're here stinking up mine."
"Well excuse me, the evil undead don't really bother with the Chanel number five, you know."
Sisterly love.
Buffy shook out some dirt off her hair. "How's mom?"
"She went to bed early, but she's OK. Not a headache tonight, which is probably a record."
"And you? Homework and whatever it is that you do fine?"
"Why are you checking up on me?"
Buffy frowned defensively. "I'm not checking up on you. I was just making conversation."
"At two am you ask me about my homework."
"I just want to know about you is all."
Maybe Buffy really was trying. Dawn had to give her credit.
"At least take off your jacket," she said. "I'm going to bed. And don't snore."
Buffy smiled softly. "I won't bother you, I promise."
====
An almost normal night.
Snuggled next to Riley, Buffy listened to him breathe and realized she could actually go to sleep. Aurora was staying at home on Dawn patrol (Joyce was away on business again). Giles had reported to her a boatload of new research. She hadn't seen the permed blond bitch in weeks.
So now, date with the boyfriend. It was comforting, settling into something that seemed so normal. Because she was grasping now, treasuring what parts of her life didn't give her pain. Even school was starting to feel like a sanctuary, despite the literature exam she had looming on the horizon.
She knew Riley wanted to be more involved in her slaying. He didn't know about the whole trouble with Dawn, and she didn't plan to tell him. This was her refuge, and he might not understand that, might even get offended by it. It wasn't that she didn't think he was strong.
Buffy just didn't want any more battle scars.
Angel's bite on her neck, an unfortunate reminder of a relationship that intertwined her dual lives as Slayer and woman. Because the woman wanted to thrive, and the Slayer lived to destroy.
It occurred to her that Aurora had the same scar.
That Angel did get around, damn him.
Buffy held on to Riley's arm and closed her eyes.
====
Inside the red room with no windows or doors, she heard the music playing again.
Aurora felt the cold metal of the silver knife in her hand. Buffy in front of her, Raphael to her left, Dawn to her right. They were all looking at her with wide, expectant eyes.
A voice in her head.
"The choice is yours to make."
"It's not fair that I have the knife," Aurora said, aloud, to the voice in her head.
"But it's yours to make. Break the circle and let it be done."
"I thought I was already told what should be done."
"Break the circle and let it be done."
Before she realized it, Aurora braced the knife and plunged it into Dawn's stomach. The girl gasped but did not scream, the look of horror frozen on her face as she looked down at her body in disbelief. Blood flowed from her wound, thick and glowing, staining the front of her dress, flowing to the floor.
Aurora stepped back. Dawn was looking at her, and all she could see was the pain of betrayal in her eyes. She looked to her left. Raphael was gone.
Buffy blinked.
====
She was jolted awake. "What the hell was that?" she hissed.
Her only answer was Riley's even breathing.
Buffy hadn't even realized she had dozed off, but what else could that have been? She tried to close her eyes again, but a cold sweat had formed around her neck and she hated that. It was like she was bothered by a silly dream.
That was it. Silly. Her fear of failing to protect Dawn, and all that nonsense.
Or not.
In a heartbeat she was on her feet, and on the phone.
====
"Did you have a vision, Aurora?"
"What?"
"You tell me. I saw it."
"You saw it."
"The one you had now. You stuck that thing -- you killed Dawn. Was that a vision?"
Hesitation. "Yes, Buffy."
"You don't -- you don't have to do it. You don't -- Aurora, you can't."
"I do what I'm told, Buffy. It's just the way it is."
"You're not telling me you're in my home now talking to me and you're actually going to --"
====
She might have left the phone on the floor, but Riley would just have to find it in the morning.
Buffy was running now, running without her coat on in the cold autumn night. Aurora couldn't possibly. She couldn't possibly lift a finger to hurt Dawn. Not when she knew Buffy wouldn't let her. Not when --
*Not when I invited her into my own home.*
*Screw it. Screw intuition. I've lost it, I can't have it back, I can't trust anything, anyone, can't possibly make choices.*
Apparently she didn't only make bad choices, she was incapable of learning from them. Like inviting a stranger into a plan not even her best friends or lover knew about. Like asking a stranger to do what she was supposed to be doing -- protecting her sister.
Something blurred her vision as she ran, and she realized she was crying. Eyes filling with tears that didn't stream down her cheeks fast enough. This was her fault, always was, and she was going to fix it. So Aurora had, what, half an hour's head start actually being in her home where the kitchen had all sorts of knives, but she was going to fix it.
Aurora couldn't possibly do what that vision said. No one would do that to an innocent girl.
Around the block, and she saw her house was in total darkness. She wasn't comforted. She made it to the front door, and found that it was locked. Of course. With the lack of discipline much associated with being Buffy, and knowing she probably left her house key in the pocket of her coat back at Riley's, she kicked down the door, breaking it at its lock. It swung back into a dark house.
"Dawn!" Buffy called. The silence troubled her. She yelled to fill it. "Dawn!" She ran up the stairs, to the bedroom, and saw that it was empty. The sheets had been rumpled, been slept on very recently, but was empty.
Not good.
Buffy did a quick check of the bathroom before stepping out into the hall. "Dawn!" she yelled again, distressed that it was echoing around the house. She didn't smell blood, there didn't seem to be signs of a struggle. She made her way up the corridor to check the other rooms of the house. Her room was empty, the bed still made.
The door to her mom's room was closed. Buffy grabbed the doorknob to check on it, and it wouldn't budge. She didn't remember it being locked.
She banged on it. "Dawn! Aurora! Open up!" Her hand came down hard on the wood repeatedly, but it still wouldn't budge. She braced herself again, ready to kick down the door if she had to, when it suddenly opened and a hand pulled her inside.
Aurora threw her inside the room.
"Shut up, Buffy!" she hissed as she bolted the door.
"Where's Dawn?"
"Ssh!" Aurora lifted a finger, her voice barely above a whisper. "Dawn's fine." She pointed in the direction of Joyce Summers' bathroom, door closed and locked. "But he's here."
"Who?"
"Raphael."
"Who?"
"The Italian vampire. He had a spell to get into your home, I tried to counteract it like last time but he had another... he's inside now."
Now that Buffy could see that Aurora wasn't running after Dawn with a knife, her thoughts took a second to adjust. "The Italian vampire is here. Inside my house."
Aurora was looking around wild-eyed, cautious, still hissing. "Yes. He got in through the kitchen door. We hid in here until --"
At this point Joyce's bedroom door blew right out of its hinges. Buffy was able to jump out of the way, but Aurora was not so lucky. The flying block of wood hit her squarely on the side and threw her across the room.
Raphael stood at the doorway.
"I didn't invite you in," Buffy said.
He sneered at her. "What you keep here is mine."
"I can't believe you ruined my mom's door."
She jumped at him, but not enough to knock him off his feet. He didn't attack her, even, there was just this serenity with which he fought her, threw punches and blocked them...
He used to be a monk. A man of God.
Who now wanted to kill her sister.
Buffy threw her fist at him and marveled at the strength with which she attacked. She hated this, hated having to fear for the lives of the ones closest to her. It never seemed to end... one death after another, one demon after another...
Like now, who was she fighting now? One of possibly many forces out to get Dawn. Defeating him would not be the end of it. It would just be the beginning of a really long road.
Unless he wins, and of course it will be the end.
He was able to grab her by the neck and bang her head against the wall. Buffy gasped, grabbed a fistful of his coat and swung herself into a more advantageous position with it. She balled her hand into a fist and struck, but he caught it.
Caught her fist, lifted her up with her arms, and started walking.
"What, are you done?" Buffy taunted, trying to remember if she had a stake on her person at all. No, she had none.
Again, that strange serenity. He almost smiled at her as he lifted her, walked down the hallway. Buffy didn't have to crane her neck to see where he was taking her. She struggled, trying not to look like she was panicking. But she didn't have a weapon, and she wasn't going to overwhelm him with her strength.
He carried her over to the stairs.
Just as he let her go, she hooked her arm around around his neck and pulled.
"Not without you, honey," she said. On the strength of his own momentum they tumbled down the staircase together. Buffy gasped at each fall, reaching out to grab the banister before she rolled all the way down, but her fingers were slippery, they wouldn't hold. Fingernails scraped against wood, stairs poked her ribs as she rolled down, gravity and the weight of the vampire dragging her.
Buffy hit the floor with a hard thud, pain shooting up her side. When she pushed herself upright, she saw that she was alone on the floor.
She must have been out for a second, maybe more.
Only the beginning, she groaned, as she lifted herself up and started running up the stairs. Still unarmed, but she'd worry about that later. She heard sounds of a scuffle, coming from her mom's bedroom, and she was there in a flash.
The vampire was straddling Aurora, and she was threatening his unlife with what seemed like a piece of Joyce Summers' bed. Buffy hesitated. The vampire had his hands around the girl's neck; she was coughing. The Slayer took a step forward, but Aurora lifted a hand and gestured her to stop.
Buffy could see what she was doing.
Aurora coughed again, coughed more laboriously as the air left her reach. And then, there it was. Aurora's eyes widened as something inside her -- that power again -- radiated from inside her, called upon by the threat to her life. The vampire felt it, and he paused.
Aurora's fist tightened against her weapon. "Yes, that's right," she said spitefully, aiming for the heart with renewed strength. Raphael dusted with not a scream, no fanfare.
The two girls were silent for a second. Buffy didn't help her up.
Aurora cleared her throat. "It had to have been me," she said. "I had to kill him."
Maybe it was because the danger was over, but Buffy's body began to ache. "Where's Dawn?" she demanded.
"Still in there. She's fine."
The Slayer lowered her voice. "You were supposed to kill her?"
Aurora shook her head. "But I didn't."
"But you were supposed to kill her."
"Yes. There was another vision, one you didn't see. That's what happened tonight."
She was so tired of this. Just so tired. She dropped to the floor, finding the hard wood not as comfortable, but at least she didn't have to stand. "Aurora, I know you helped today, and thank you. But I can't allow you to do this anymore."
So there they both were now, sitting exhausted on the floor of her mother's ruined bedroom. Aurora was too tired to argue, but she stirred. "What--?"
"I can't allow you near Dawn again."
"Dawn is not in danger from me, Buffy."
"I don't believe that." Buffy said softly. "I appreciate your help, what you've been doing for Giles. But you're not to approach Dawn alone ever again."
Buffy waited for Aurora to pick herself up and walk out. She would call Giles, make sure Aurora got medical help. The girl was sure to clock a few more broken ribs than Buffy did. But, unfortunately, that was not her concern. Of course Dawn would be in danger from Aurora. Aurora would be able to justify Dawn's death with righteous cause.
She heard the downstairs door swing shut. Slowly, she crawled to her mother's bathroom and knocked on the door. "Dawnie?" she said. "Open up, it's OK."
====
If she had been smarter, she would have gotten a job at Caritas, and wouldn't have had to leave LA. Of course, the last time she was there, her vengeful relatives broke every bit of glass in the room, so maybe Lorne wouldn't be so kind as to let her tend the bar.
The Bronze, however, was a different matter.
She was learning how to mix drinks on the spot, but they didn't care. Apparently the mortality rate kept unemployment down and establishments were just happy to hire someone who was still breathing.
Aurora wiped the counter for the nth time and sighed. But she shouldn't complain. The job provided her the means to stay there. Giles was only too happy to let her stay, despite the vision. He wanted her help with the research, and he still hadn't given up on using her magic to channel it into something useful. She almost refused his offer, because she couldn't afford to stay even in the ratty motel. He had asked her to rent out his guest room instead, but couldn't offer her a job at the Magic Box. (Anya pretty much had that place down.)
So, The Bronze. And here her life in Sunnydale begins anew.
"Root beer," Buffy said, sliding into a barstool right in front of her.
"Hey," Aurora said.
"I hear you're rooming with Giles," she said.
Aurora cleared her throat. Buffy's reaction to her was harder and harder to judge in the days after the incident at her home. The only thing she could determine was that it was cold. Buffy was making an effort to be on speaking terms because of Giles, but Aurora got the feeling Buffy was watching her. If she would make a move.
Damn it, she didn't like not being trusted. Of course she wouldn't kill Dawn.
*Unless I had to.*
Buffy was probably right.
Aurora brought the girl a root beer. "Well, paying him to at least," she said. "Everything's fine?"
Buffy nodded. "Yes, everything's fine. You talked to Cordelia recently?"
"I'm not going to tell her, Buffy."
"I didn't mean that."
"Then never mind."
Buffy sipped her drink. "OK then. See you around."
As she left, Aurora felt the urge to drink. Surely she didn't deserve this. Surely she didn't work so hard all her life...
*And exactly the point. Learn your lesson. You're not to be thanked. You deserve nothing.*
Aurora poured herself a vodka shot and gulped it down quick.
"How about one of those for me too, love?"
She turned. Spike, the vampire. Chipped now, incapable of harming humans, if she got her facts right. Maybe it was the depression, maybe the alcohol, but she lost her grip on her cover for a second, and allowed her face to register recognition. Spike had never seen her when she was in Sunnydale.
Or had he? The same flicker of familiarity passed his face as well.
"Alana?" he said.
Aurora shook her head. "You must be mistaken. But I get that a lot." She poured him a vodka and stayed out of his way the rest of the night.
THE END.