Chapter 2: Explanations
Xander quickly made his way back to the Summers residence. Willow was back from England. What would he say to her?
He stopped the car in front of the house. He looked up at it. Too many things happened there. He wondered what was going to happen this year. Hopefully they could stay away from death this year. Xander took a deep breath and made his way to the door, a little reluctant to knock, but he did. Buffy answered with a welcoming smile.
"Hi Xander," she greeted, a note of concern in her voice.
"Willow... she's still here?" he asked quietly.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, go ahead, talk to her. She's still feeling bad about everything. Be careful," she told him. Xander started to walk past Buffy. "She's in the kitchen," she told him as he was walking.
Xander found Willow sitting at the counter in the kitchen. She was looking out the door, which was wide open. She looked lost, or maybe just contemplating. The same somber look was still on her face from this morning.
"Hi Xander," she said, noting his presence in the room.
"Hi Will," he replied, slowly making his way to the counter. He took a seat next to her. An awkward silence followed. Xander broke it by saying, "You know, if you keep looking out that door, the next thing that comes through is going to scare the living daylights out of you."
She smirked. Same old Xander, the comic relief. "Nothing more can scare me," she told him. Then she added, "I can only scare myself."
"Talk to me, Will," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
Willow turned around slowly. "I never really got a chance to thank you for everything. You saved the world from me," she said to him. "You realized. It took guts to stand up to me, your best friend."
Xander shrugged and said, "Best friends. That's it. I wasn't about to leave you alone. I'd rather be with you than anyone else. Veiny, dark, and witchy Willow. I'd do anything for you, even if you were going to bring a whole apocalyptic chaos into the world. You're still my best friend."
"How can you say that? I changed, I'm not the same-"
"Don't give me that crap, Will," he said, cutting her off. "We've all changed. We've all done things that we all regret. But we all eventually get over it and move on. Look at us, we all live with the consequences..."
"My consequences should be much worse."
"If you were alone," Xander said matter-of-factly. "But you're not. You have me, you have Buffy, you have Dawn. We're here to be your friends. We're here to help you, if you ask us, and even if you don't."
Willow looked up at Xander, a flicker of life finally coming back to them. "Thank you."
Buffy stood at the entrance to the kitchen, arms folded, watching. She smiled at their reconciliation. Willow had a lot to work on, especially now. The Scoobies were back together... The *real* Scoobies.
Dawn came sneaking up behind her sister and whispered, "So is everything all cleared up and non-tense now?" She was so nosy.
"Dawn, you're a little snoop," Buffy whispered back.
"Me? You're the one standing at the door eavesdropping," she retorted, a little loudly. It made Willow and Xander finally notice the two bickering sisters at the kitchen door.
"Join the party guys, Willow's back," was Xander's reply.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Anya was walking around town, contemplating everything that happened the night before. Was it really the right thing to do? Turn that poor excuse for a boyfriend back? He got hurt, so was it really worth it? Vengeance demon here, he *was* supposed to suffer. He got hurt, so everything was fine. She still had it.
That was a lie. Trying to convince yourself of things that weren't true anymore. That was the worst, and it made you feel even more horrible if you knew you were. She didn't have it anymore. Being human changed her. She had a soft spot. She would always have a soft spot.
Speaking of soft spots, she wondered if anyone figured out that Spike got his soul back. Why he didn't want anyone to know? She saw it, so clear. His eyes weren't bottomless pits of darkness anymore. It was true, the eyes *were* the doorway to the soul. She wondered, how did he get it? It couldn't have been a curse, not like Angel. No, the only way he could have gotten it back was by his own doing. He wanted it.
Puzzling. A vampire who wanted their soul back. Why?
Anya shrugged the thought off and thought about other things. More important things. *That* thing. That thing that was coming. She could feel it, she knew it was there. It was lurking, waiting for the right time to come out. Good guy, bad guy, it didn't matter who you were. It was coming and it would destroy everything it its path. It was pure evil. It was power.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So... New Big Bad? No big deal. Buffy can take care of it," was Xander's reply to Willow's prediction of the thing that was coming. "I mean, you're talking about the Hellmouth here. She beat it before, why couldn't she beat it again? It's just a big, ugly worm."
Willow shook her head. "No, that's not the Hellmouth. The worm we saw, back in high school. It's just a tool. The Hellmouth is something bigger. Something incomprehensible, even for me. It's not good, something's brewing. Something is going to be unleashed, and we have no power to stop it. It's stronger than Buffy. It's not a God like Glory. I don't know when it's coming or what it is. It's waiting."
"What's with the whole mysteriouso-vibe?" Dawn asked. "Willow comes back, and warns us about something... some *thing* that's coming to get us. And then she goes and says that we can't stop it? Willow, we love you, but you can really put a damper on things."
Buffy gave her sister an admonishing look. She was about to start going commando on Dawn when Willow said, "No, she's right. I'm sorry I can't tell you any more. I want to warn you. It's not going to be good."
"You told me that... 'From beneath you, it devours.' What does that mean? I know it's got to do with the Hellmouth," Buffy asked. "I've been hearing that phrase all too much lately. I've been having these dreams... Girls, they're getting murdered. I don't know who they are. People, in robes, with blades. They stab the girls." She appeared to be going into a trance- like state, remembering her dreams.
"You never told me," Xander said, a look of shock in his eyes.
"I didn't think... Dawn heard me screaming in my sleep. I thought it was the girls. At least, they *were* the girls, in my dream," Buffy explained. "I knew something had to be going on, for me to be having dreams like that. Then, everyone keeps saying to me, 'From beneath you, it devours' and I'm pretty much certain they're talking about what's coming now."
There was an unsettling silence in the room. Everyone was looking at Buffy.
"What does this all mean?" Dawn asked. She was confused.
Just as well, everyone else in the room was confused too. It was a big puzzle. Buffy was having dreams and Willow could feel something coming. Spike warned Buffy too, but she didn't want to say anything about it. Buffy didn't know how to tell them that he had a soul that was making him go insane. Something was going to happen, and no one knew how to approach it.
"Giles knows it too. He knows something is up," Willow said. "I think this is why he said that you guys needed me here."
"So what do we do now? We have no library to consult. We have no Magic Box to look for resources. So... what do we do?" Xander asked.
Puzzled looks from everyone. No one knew what to do.
Buffy finally spoke up and said with a sigh, "We wait. We get more pieces to this puzzle and we put it together. Piece by piece. More clues. Maybe some of the demons know something. For now, I guess we get info."
Willow looked at Buffy with a concerned look. "We have to be careful. I can feel that whatever's coming, it's big."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To be continued...
What do you think? R&R please! I know, there's nothing spectacular yet, but it's coming, I promise!
Xander quickly made his way back to the Summers residence. Willow was back from England. What would he say to her?
He stopped the car in front of the house. He looked up at it. Too many things happened there. He wondered what was going to happen this year. Hopefully they could stay away from death this year. Xander took a deep breath and made his way to the door, a little reluctant to knock, but he did. Buffy answered with a welcoming smile.
"Hi Xander," she greeted, a note of concern in her voice.
"Willow... she's still here?" he asked quietly.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, go ahead, talk to her. She's still feeling bad about everything. Be careful," she told him. Xander started to walk past Buffy. "She's in the kitchen," she told him as he was walking.
Xander found Willow sitting at the counter in the kitchen. She was looking out the door, which was wide open. She looked lost, or maybe just contemplating. The same somber look was still on her face from this morning.
"Hi Xander," she said, noting his presence in the room.
"Hi Will," he replied, slowly making his way to the counter. He took a seat next to her. An awkward silence followed. Xander broke it by saying, "You know, if you keep looking out that door, the next thing that comes through is going to scare the living daylights out of you."
She smirked. Same old Xander, the comic relief. "Nothing more can scare me," she told him. Then she added, "I can only scare myself."
"Talk to me, Will," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
Willow turned around slowly. "I never really got a chance to thank you for everything. You saved the world from me," she said to him. "You realized. It took guts to stand up to me, your best friend."
Xander shrugged and said, "Best friends. That's it. I wasn't about to leave you alone. I'd rather be with you than anyone else. Veiny, dark, and witchy Willow. I'd do anything for you, even if you were going to bring a whole apocalyptic chaos into the world. You're still my best friend."
"How can you say that? I changed, I'm not the same-"
"Don't give me that crap, Will," he said, cutting her off. "We've all changed. We've all done things that we all regret. But we all eventually get over it and move on. Look at us, we all live with the consequences..."
"My consequences should be much worse."
"If you were alone," Xander said matter-of-factly. "But you're not. You have me, you have Buffy, you have Dawn. We're here to be your friends. We're here to help you, if you ask us, and even if you don't."
Willow looked up at Xander, a flicker of life finally coming back to them. "Thank you."
Buffy stood at the entrance to the kitchen, arms folded, watching. She smiled at their reconciliation. Willow had a lot to work on, especially now. The Scoobies were back together... The *real* Scoobies.
Dawn came sneaking up behind her sister and whispered, "So is everything all cleared up and non-tense now?" She was so nosy.
"Dawn, you're a little snoop," Buffy whispered back.
"Me? You're the one standing at the door eavesdropping," she retorted, a little loudly. It made Willow and Xander finally notice the two bickering sisters at the kitchen door.
"Join the party guys, Willow's back," was Xander's reply.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Anya was walking around town, contemplating everything that happened the night before. Was it really the right thing to do? Turn that poor excuse for a boyfriend back? He got hurt, so was it really worth it? Vengeance demon here, he *was* supposed to suffer. He got hurt, so everything was fine. She still had it.
That was a lie. Trying to convince yourself of things that weren't true anymore. That was the worst, and it made you feel even more horrible if you knew you were. She didn't have it anymore. Being human changed her. She had a soft spot. She would always have a soft spot.
Speaking of soft spots, she wondered if anyone figured out that Spike got his soul back. Why he didn't want anyone to know? She saw it, so clear. His eyes weren't bottomless pits of darkness anymore. It was true, the eyes *were* the doorway to the soul. She wondered, how did he get it? It couldn't have been a curse, not like Angel. No, the only way he could have gotten it back was by his own doing. He wanted it.
Puzzling. A vampire who wanted their soul back. Why?
Anya shrugged the thought off and thought about other things. More important things. *That* thing. That thing that was coming. She could feel it, she knew it was there. It was lurking, waiting for the right time to come out. Good guy, bad guy, it didn't matter who you were. It was coming and it would destroy everything it its path. It was pure evil. It was power.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So... New Big Bad? No big deal. Buffy can take care of it," was Xander's reply to Willow's prediction of the thing that was coming. "I mean, you're talking about the Hellmouth here. She beat it before, why couldn't she beat it again? It's just a big, ugly worm."
Willow shook her head. "No, that's not the Hellmouth. The worm we saw, back in high school. It's just a tool. The Hellmouth is something bigger. Something incomprehensible, even for me. It's not good, something's brewing. Something is going to be unleashed, and we have no power to stop it. It's stronger than Buffy. It's not a God like Glory. I don't know when it's coming or what it is. It's waiting."
"What's with the whole mysteriouso-vibe?" Dawn asked. "Willow comes back, and warns us about something... some *thing* that's coming to get us. And then she goes and says that we can't stop it? Willow, we love you, but you can really put a damper on things."
Buffy gave her sister an admonishing look. She was about to start going commando on Dawn when Willow said, "No, she's right. I'm sorry I can't tell you any more. I want to warn you. It's not going to be good."
"You told me that... 'From beneath you, it devours.' What does that mean? I know it's got to do with the Hellmouth," Buffy asked. "I've been hearing that phrase all too much lately. I've been having these dreams... Girls, they're getting murdered. I don't know who they are. People, in robes, with blades. They stab the girls." She appeared to be going into a trance- like state, remembering her dreams.
"You never told me," Xander said, a look of shock in his eyes.
"I didn't think... Dawn heard me screaming in my sleep. I thought it was the girls. At least, they *were* the girls, in my dream," Buffy explained. "I knew something had to be going on, for me to be having dreams like that. Then, everyone keeps saying to me, 'From beneath you, it devours' and I'm pretty much certain they're talking about what's coming now."
There was an unsettling silence in the room. Everyone was looking at Buffy.
"What does this all mean?" Dawn asked. She was confused.
Just as well, everyone else in the room was confused too. It was a big puzzle. Buffy was having dreams and Willow could feel something coming. Spike warned Buffy too, but she didn't want to say anything about it. Buffy didn't know how to tell them that he had a soul that was making him go insane. Something was going to happen, and no one knew how to approach it.
"Giles knows it too. He knows something is up," Willow said. "I think this is why he said that you guys needed me here."
"So what do we do now? We have no library to consult. We have no Magic Box to look for resources. So... what do we do?" Xander asked.
Puzzled looks from everyone. No one knew what to do.
Buffy finally spoke up and said with a sigh, "We wait. We get more pieces to this puzzle and we put it together. Piece by piece. More clues. Maybe some of the demons know something. For now, I guess we get info."
Willow looked at Buffy with a concerned look. "We have to be careful. I can feel that whatever's coming, it's big."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To be continued...
What do you think? R&R please! I know, there's nothing spectacular yet, but it's coming, I promise!