We arrived at Buffy's without running into any vampires, which surprised me because they're always on the prowl this time of night.
"Can you sense if anyone's home?" Xander asked me, looking at the house that stood before us.
"Yeah," I nodded, closing my eyes. "Buffy's asleep. She's the only one in there."
"Good, her mom's away." Xander replied, ringing the doorbell. He had to ring it quite a few times, before a tired-looking Slayer opened the door.
"What?" she asked groggily. Then, realizing who was standing before her, she smiled and hugged Xander. "Oh my God! You're okay! We were so worried!" she exclaimed.
"Ah! Watch the shoulder!" he hissed.
"Oh, sorry," she pulled away.
"It's okay. Buffy, this is Bryn. She - "
"Led us into a setup." Buffy growled, glaring at me.
"Let's go in, shall we?" Xander changed the subject, turning Buffy around and going into the house. I followed, then closed the door behind us.
"Start talking," Buffy ordered, sitting on the couch in the living room.
Xander sat beside her, and I sat in the armchair.
"Where should I start?" I asked.
"Feel free to start wherever," Buffy replied, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
I knew she didn't trust me. I gathered my thoughts before I started to explain everything. I wasn't sure how I could explain timelines and all that, so that she could understand. It's really something that you figure out on your own as you go along in the timelines, piecing them together in your own head. That's the explanation that I went with to start. Then, I tried to explain the different lines that every decision made branches off to.
I could tell that that was just confusing her. Xander was getting used to not understanding half the things I tried to explain.
I then skipped to the weapon I had warned her about - the Eye. At first, she pretended that she didn't know what I was talking about, that she'd never found any strange-looking rock, but I could read her thoughts easily and knew that she had it.
"Where is it, Buffy?" I asked.
"I don't have it," she shook her head.
"Don't lie to me," I replied calmly.
"What?"
"I know that you have it, Buffy. Upstairs, in your bedroom." I told her.
"How do you know that?"
I shook my head, not answering.
"C'mon, Buff. Just give her the rock." Xander cut in.
Buffy stared at Xander. She didn't trust me, and couldn't figure out why he did.
Xander stood up, and so did I. Reluctantly, Buffy led the way to her room, where she took the oval-shaped, black rock out of a drawer in her dresser.
"I don't see how this ugly thing could've killed me." she muttered, handing it to me.
As soon as it was in my hands it began to glow, looking more and more like an eye.
"The actual powers of the Eye are unknown, even to me." I told them. "I know a couple of them, but there are more than a couple. I - oh my God," I watched as the image inside the Eye changed.
It was Drusilla's room that I could see. She was pouring Holy water on Spike's chest while Angel sat on her bed, laughing. Tears stung my eyes. "We shouldn't have left him," I whispered.
Xander came closer, looking into the Eye. "What's wrong?" he asked me.
"It's Spike," I whispered, shaking my head slowly. "We shouldn't have left him behind."
He glanced up at Buffy. She was glaring at me angrily. I knew that she still didn't trust me, and mentioning Spike didn't help.
The image changed again, this time to the future. It showed the motel burning behind Angel and Drusilla, as they stood over Buffy's body. Dru held Buffy's head by its hair, watching the blood drip from its severed neck.
Voqtul lay dead, crushed under some burning boards from the motel.
A vampire let Willow's lifeless body fall to the ground, then wiped its mouth.
I didn't need - or want - to see anymore. I closed my fingers around the Eye, and put it in my pocket.
"We can't let that happen," Xander shook his head. He was obviously scared.
I shook my head. "No, we can't," I agreed.
"Yeah, but how?" Buffy asked.
"Tomorrow we can talk to Giles and - "
"Giles won't be able to help us too much. We'll have to do it ourselves." Buffy explained.
"What? Why?" Xander demanded, concerned.
"He's in the hospital. Spike beat him pretty bad." Buffy shook her head sadly.
"Damn it," Xander muttered under his breath.
"He had a good reason," I defended Spike, crossing my arm defiantly.
"A good reason? A good reason?!" Buffy exploded. "Giles could die!"
"It's his own fault! He should have known that Spike overreacts when it comes to Dru!" I told her angrily.
"Stop it, both of you!" Xander cut in. "You're both coming at this from different angles, but it won't change anything! Buffy, you can't the past by proving your point, and Bryn, you can't make Buffy see it from your perspective, so both of just stop!" he ordered.
I sighed. "He's right. We have to stop Angel, and that's all there is to it."
Buffy nodded. "Alright, so what do we do?"
"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm starved." Xander replied.
"You know where the fridge is. I'm going back to bed. An over-tired Slayer is a sloppy Slayer." she said, sitting on her bed.
Xander nodded, then looked at me, and together we went downstairs to the kitchen.
"Do you want anything?" Xander asked me, opening the fridge.
"No, thanks," I said.
"You sure?" he asked, looking at me.
I nodded reassuringly, and he shrugged, taking the carton of milk out. He shook it gently to estimate how much was left, closing the fridge. He opened the top and took a sip. Neither one of us spoke. I was waiting for him to collect his thoughts.
Finally, he asked me, "Do you think we can stop Angel?"
I took a deep breath, then answered, "I don't know. So many things could happen - I don't know how I can explain it, other than that there's more than one fork in the road." I replied grimly.
"Oh." Xander remained silent for awhile, before asking, "How do you stay sane? I mean - you see the future, you're immortal, you've watched friends die. How do you cope?"
I had to smile at that. "I don't know, actually. I guess I'm not a nutcase because I've learned to accept things. For awile, though, I thought it was my duty to stop mortals from destroying themselves, but after living through more crusades than I can count and two world wars, it kinda sinks in that sometimes there's just nothing you can do." I shrugged. "It is hard sometimes."
"I would crack if I knew half the things you do." he said, shaking his head.
"Most people would," I nodded in agreement.
"I would," he repeated. Another silence followed. "If you had a choice, would you rather be mortal?"
"I had a choice," was my only reply.
"Oh, well, care to elaborate?" Xander asked, trying not to sound pushy.
I shook my head slowly. "No, not really."
"Okay," he assured me, but I knew what he was thinking: that I'd tell him eventually.
"Where are we going to sleep?" I asked, changing the subject.
"You can sleep on the couch, and I'll sleep in the chair." he told me.
I nodded, and wandered into the livingroom. Xander came in a few minutes later, and handed me a blanket.
"Thanks," I said. He shrugged. "Are you sure you'll be okay on the chair?" I asked.
"Yeah, don't worry. I've slept in weirder, less comfortable places." he assured me.
"Alright," I yawned, not completely convinced.
"Good night, Bryn," he whispered, kissing me on the cheek.
"'Night," I whispered back, knowing that he wasn't going to sleep much tonight.
And it was a good thing he didn't.
I awoke to someone shouting my name, and I knew what was happening before they told me.
No, Angel hadn't sent a legion of vampires to lay seige on Buffy's house - no, it was much worse.
I saw Dahle in my mind, before I saw him with my eyes.
"No!" I screamed at him, seconds before he crashed the lamp over Xander's head.
Dahle stopped in mid-swing. "Keth?" he exclaimed, puzzled. "What are you - " he stopped in mid-sentence, and glanced down at Xander. Dahle backed away from Xander, and replaced the lamp on the corner table.
Xander got to his feet, but said nothing. I knew he had a million questions running through his brain.
Dahle crossed his arms across his chest, awaiting my explanation.
I wasn't going to give him one yet. "What are you doing here? Who sent you?" I demanded angrily, wanting to hear the truth from his own lips.
Xander moved the chair away from the closet door, and Buffy jumped out, ready to attack. Xander shook his head at her, and she relaxed a little.
"Well?"
"Angelus sent me."
"Why?"
"To kill the Slayer, and anyone with her. I wasn't actually going to kill the Slayer this morning, but I was going to kill anyone with her." he replied frankly. "Of course, I can't now," he added, letting his arms drop to his sides. "Sometimes I wonder if maybe I'm in the wrong line of work." he sighed, flopping down in a chair.
I didn't know what to say to him except, "But you're a good assassin - most of the time."
"How did you get in?" Buffy demanded, trying to sound angry, but I knew what she was thinking about and it wasn't about revenge or anything of that sort. Not all assassins are ugly...
"Basement window wasn't hooked properly." he replied. "I have to go now." He got up. "I'll see you around, Keth." and he walked out the front door as if nothing had happened.
"But the basement window's been stuck like that for years!" Buffy told us, after Dahle was gone.
"Will he come back?" Xander asked me.
"Yes," I nodded. He had to come back, he had no choice but to finish the job.
"He will?" Buffy repeated.
"Yes. He has to. His beliefs and oaths bind him to finish the job he is given. Nothing's changed for him." I explained.
"Could we go down to the basement for a minute?" Buffy asked. "I want to see how your friend got in." She was glaring at me.
I shrugged, and Buffy led the way downstairs. She approached the window, then stopped to pick up the frame. The glass was still intact, without even a scratch.
"Well," Buffy sighed. "It was stuck there for years." She fitted the frame to the hole in the wall. "We'll have to find a way to make it stick, or else he'll come through here again."
"His name is Dahle, and no, he won't. He never uses the same place of entry twice. Don't worry, I know." I stopped to think. "And he's not going to attack you here anyway."
"What do you mean 'you'? What about you?" Buffy demanded.
"He'll try to kill you and Xander, but he can't kill me."
"Why not?" Buffy was getting angry. "Why would he spare you?"
"Look, he's not going to succeed, if that's what you're worried about." I lied.
"I don't care. How long have you known Dolly?"
"Dahle," I corrected.
"Whatever," she retorted.
"I've known him for over seven hundred years, but I haven't seen him in at least eighty." I explained. "And he's always been an assassin - and an excellant one at that. Unfortunately, for him, with age comes wisdom - believe it or not - and he's beginning to get bouts of conscience."
"Unfortunately? My God you've got a warped sense of values." Buffy shook her head.
"Depends on how you look at it, I suppose." I told her.
Buffy arched her eyebrow, then knitted them together. "I suppose," she muttered, then turned, and went back upstairs.
I turned to follow her, but Xander grabbed my arm. "Are you sure he's not going to succeed?" he asked me.
I sighed. I couldn't lie to him. "I don't know," I shrugged. "More outcomes point to no, though, if that helps."
"Are there any that show him locking you up in a dungeon for the rest of time?" he asked, trying to be humourous.
"No," I replied. "He'd never do that." Xander just looked at me quizzically. "It's a long story." I said.
He nodded, and we went upstairs.