She rested on the couch, novel on her chest. She had grown bored of it and ended up staring at the ceiling for the greater part of an hour.
"You look a bit bored, An." Anya rolled to her side and smiled; her book fell to the floor. Anya was a little sleepy, but managed to not drool.
"Well, Hallie, I... Hallie?" Anya sat up sharply, realising who it was. "Hallie... how are..."
"I honestly don't know! I've just been wandering around aimlessly, ever since you had me killed, and I..." Hallie began.
"I didn't have you killed..." Anya started.
"Oh, Anya. I know the truth, don't worry. I don't blame you. If I were in that position, well... I probably wouldn't have sold YOU out, but you get my meaning..." Hallie smiled.
"Seriously, Hallie... I didn't have you killed... I expected... I wanted him to kill me..." Anya started. "I..."
"Anya, sweetheart. It's okay." Hallie stopped her.
"So... you believe that I didn't have you killed?"
"No."
"Why not?" Anya asked, visibly upset.
"Oh, Anyanka. Calm down." Hallie smiled and sat back.
"No! Tell me! Why don't you believe me?"
"Well... D'Hoffryn grants people's wishes, just like the rest of us. I believe... if you had wanted yourself killed, he would have followed your wishes..."
"Wh... what are you saying? Are you saying that I wished for YOU to die?" Anya asked angrily.
"Anya, I'm saying that you subconsciously wished to live so much that you would allow yuor best friend to be taken in your place. It's no biggie, really."
"It IS a big deal, Halfrek!" Anya stood and began to pace around before her. "I didn't want you dead! And I miss you, so much! I just want you back!" Anya stopped and looked at Hallie for a moment. "Why ARE you back."
"I got bored."
"Okay, then HOW are you back?" Anya repeated. Hallie shrugged.
"I guess I wished it."
"But you're dead."
"D'Hoffryn works in mysterious ways." Hallie smiled as Anya poked a finger directly through her friend.
"Damnit! You're the First!" Anya shrieked.
"Well... okay." Hallie agreed and stood. "But that doesn't mean we can't still be friends."
"Of course it does, Hallie. You're now the essence of everything that's evil!" Anya whined. "I can't be friends with you now! I'll feel all... dirty..."
"I thought you LIKED feeling dirty..."
"With XANDER! Did you NEVER listen to me when... okay... stop, Anya. This is not Hallie."
"Yes it is!" Hallie replied.
"NO! You are the First! The First Evil! And we're eventually going to defeat you!" Anya exclaimed. Hallie laughed.
"Honey, you can't defeat evil." Hallie giggled, "Defeating evil is like trying to rid the world of men!"
"Fun but fruitless..."
"Exactly!" Hallie laughed. "Ah... nothing's changed, has it?" Anya glared.
"Yeah... except you DIED!" she replied. Hallie rolled her eyes.
"Will you just get OVER that already? It's in the past! It's time we moved on and did something together! Let's go... let's go to nebraska!" Hallie exclaimed.
"I don't wanna go to Nebraska with PURE EVIL." Anya turned away from Hallie.
"Okay... why don't we go to Minsk?"
"Minsk?" Anya asked excitedly. "DAMN! No! You can't use Minsk against me! That's not fair! That's... that's..."
"Evil?" Hallie smiled. "It's what I am, baby. Pure and vengeful."
"You've become much more unpleasant since your death." Anya moaned.
"Well... you would too." Hallie smiled, sitting down. "And you will."
"What?" Anya asked, confused.
"You're going to die soon, sweetheart. I'm not going to let YOU make it through my battle." Anya sat, upset.
"But... why not? I'm... I'm so pretty!" Anya whined.
"Because you wouldn't come with me to Minsk."
"You can't take evil to Minsk!"
"Can too!" Hallie retorted.
"Can not!" Anya shrieked.
"Can too!"
"Can not!" Anya repeated.
"Spider-man did!"
"No he didn't!" Anya screamed.
"Yes he did!" Hallia crossed her legs, looking away from Anya.
"Damnit, where's Xander when you need him?" Anya whined.
"Probably leaving you at the alter!" Hallie laughed uncontrollably. Anya stood.
"See, Hallie. This is why I don't go to Minsk with you. You're a horrible bitch!" Anya screamed. Hallie stood, shocked expression on her face.
"Anyanka!" Hallie began to cry.
"Oh, Hallie! I didn't mean..." Anya went to hug her, but merely fell through her essence. Anya hit the floor, and glared back at Hallie. "Damnit, first evil! That was SO mean!"
"Well, I am EVIL." Hallie rolled her eyes. "You Sunnydale people really are morons."
"Get out, Hallie. I'm tired of you now." Anya sat on the couch, ignoring Hallie.
"Oh, Anya, I..."
"What's that? Did Anya hear something? Nope. She certainly didn't!"
"Anya..."
"NOPE! QUIET AS A MOUSE AROUND HERE!" Andrew stormed into the room.
"I'm cooking! That's Andrew's quiet time! YOU KNOW THAT!" Andrew stormed out of the room.
"Well, that was interesting." Hallie said, sitting behind Anya. Anya turned around.
"Well, Hallie, that was..." Anya started. She noticed that no longer was the first evil in the form of Hallie, but a man. "Oh... oh my God..."
"Hello, Anyanka." he smiled.
"A... Avery?" Anya asked timidly.
"Yes, Anyanka. It's me. Avery." he smiled and she stared into his eyes.
"My... my husband, I..." she began. He shushed her.
"It's alright, my beloved. It wasn't your fault. You weren't to blame for my death." he smiled, "Of course, you are to blame for the battle that resulted in my death..."
"That was NOT my fault. You see, I was just talking to that man, and he asked my opinion, and I told him that he looked a little bit... feminine..." Anya smiled.
"You told him that it looked like he was going to marry a giant talking penis." Avery replied.
"Well... he didn't seem to take it very well..." Anya started.
"Anyanka, I'm so sorry I was unable to save you from that battle..." he began.
"Oh, Avery! You were a little busy at that point... I don't know how I ever expected you to dodge those seven cannonballs... forty flying bullets... and three flaming arrows... all at once..." Anya started.
"Yes... that fire you started around me didn't help much."
"Well... I was mad. And you provoked that fire."
"How did I provoke THAT?" Avery asked angrily.
"You said I looked PREGNANT!" Anya screamed.
"Anyanka! I asked if you would consider having my child!" Avery exclaimed.
"I would NEVER eat a baby!" Avery sighed and looked at the floor a moment. He looked back at Anya again.
"That's all behind us now. Why can't we be together?"
"Well... because you've been dead for quite some time... and I'm not really into pirates anymore... I mean, you WERE quite the swash-buckler for your time, but..."
"There's someone else, isn't there?" Avery asked. "You said I was the only one you could ever love! You said you would never marry ANYONE but me!"
"Well, I was in love at the time! And you were a FANTASTIC second husband, but..."
"Second husband? There was a husband before me?"
"Yes. Olaf." Anya replied. "He's a Troll God."
"You married a Troll?" Avery asked.
"He wasn't a Troll at the time. And that's not the point! You're the stupid first evil! And you can't get to me! Never! No!" Anya screamed, stood and left the room.
"...what is it with this house?" Avery asked himself. "One week they're afraid of you, the next you can't make them flinch..."
Xander lifted the beam over his shoulder and began to walk toward the correct area. In highschool he hadn't dreamed that construction would be his profession. He had never imagined, when he took the job, that he would have such a passion for it, either. Xander turned the corner, noticing a young woman on the site. He placed the beam on the ground and quickly rushed over to her.
"Excuse me, miss... you can't be here." He told her. She turned to him, smiling.
"I'm sorry... I... I became lost." she replied.
"Here, let me take you off of the site... or at least get you a hard hat." Xander escorted her toward a safer area. "So... what's your name?"
"My name is Ampada." she replied.
"That's a pretty name." Xander replied as they reached a small office and he reached for a hard hat to put on her.
"Thank you. You WERE the only man I ever loved. Now I can see why." she replied. He gave a puzzled look.
"Who the..." Xander examined her a moment, then shock became his expression. "Ampada... you're kinda... dead..." Xander finally noticed that the hard hat had fallen directly through her.
"Twice, actually." she replied.
"I heard THAT before." Xander looked around. "I didn't realise that the First Evil would follow me to a construction site."
"So you know."
"Yeah. I'm also kinda wondering why you chose Ampada... I mean... she didn't impact heavily on my life. Sure, we dated for, what, a week? Then she tried to kill me..."
"I DIED for you, Xander!" Ampada exclaimed. "I loved you enough to give up my life, and that means nothing to you?"
"Well, maybe a little tingle." he smiled. "Now, why don't just go away, and I'll call you never?" Xander began to walk away.
"Xander! Dude, don't leave me like this!" Xander turned, completely shocked now.
"J... Jesse..." Xander started.
"Amazing! The wonderful Xander remembers my name, after ALL these years..."
"Well... you were my best friend, man..."
"Until Buffy came to town. Then I suddenly died and did anyone care?" Jesse asked. Xander threw his hard hat to the ground.
"We ALL cared, Jesse! Me, Willow, even Buffy!" Xander exclaimed.
"No you didn't! After I died, you immediately replaced me with HER and a librarian! A freaking librarian, man! Come on!" Jesse screamed. "And none of you have even spoken my name since the night you killed me!"
"You were a vampire! You were already dead!" Xander retorted.
"And you didn't try to put my soul back in, now did ya?"
"I staked you by accident! I wanted to save you, remember?" Xander asked.
"But you didn't seem to mind that you had to be the one to kill me. And then, you went after Cordelia Chase?" Jesse asked angrily.
"You know about that, do ya?"
"Of course, Xander! I wanted Cordelia since fifth grade, and she never gave me the light of day! Then you swoop in and have her no problem? Not fair." Jesse whined. "Was it too much for you guys to have some sort of mourning for me?"
"We mourned." Xander replied.
"No! You didn't! You didn't even tell my parents what happened to me. You just let them think I ran away, or disappeared. If you had ACTUALLY cared, you might've actually spoken about me sometime later on. I'd be surprised if any of you even remember my last name!" Jesse waited for a response. "Yeah. That's what I thought."
"This isn't fair, Jesse. We had a completely new world just opened up to us, you can't expect us to remember every little detail, and..."
"Little detail? Xander! You, and me, and Willow were all BEST FRIENDS since KINDERGARTEN! And until grade TEN we never seperated! How can I be just a LITTLE DETAIL of your LIFE?" Jesse asked. Xander wiped his brow.
"Jesse... we cared for you, but when someone turns into a vampire... it..."
"It deserves both a little tenderness and CARING." Jesse responded.
"This isn't fair!" Xander shrieked. He turned, noticing the other men on the site staring at him, noticing he was speaking to nobody. "Jesse, our lives had just been turned upside down, Willow and I were trying to deal as best we could..."
"By cutting every memory of ME out of your lives? Real nice, Xan." Jesse replied. "I always wondered what would've happened if I just left, but I had hoped it would involve people missing and/or remembering me."
"Jesse. I'm sorry you had to die. We've lost a lot of our people over the years, and I'm sorry that you had to be one of them." Xander picked up his hard hat, replacing it on his head. "Goodbye, Jesse." Xander walked away, leaving Jesse floating just slightly above the ground. He smiled.
"I feel that one cause psychological warfare for our favourite scoobie..." Jesse disappeared.
"What're you doing?" someone asked. Willow didn't bother looking up from her book.
"I'm reading." she replied simply.
"What're you reading?" they asked.
"It's about a girl accused of murder." Willow replied, again without looking up from the book. The person laughed a little. "What's so funny about..."
"Well, being a murderer yourself, I just find it... odd..." Warren started. Willow's eyes widened.
"What do you want?"
"I just want to talk." Warren replied. "So. How was your trip inside my body?"
"Kinda hairy. What do you want?"
"I just want to talk. Sheesh. Can't a guy get a break around here?"
"Not when he's pure evil and non-coporeal." Willow replied.
"Touché, dear Willow. So, how ARE you mystical urges? Still inclined to go power hungry and flay things?" Warren asked, smiling.
"...no. I'm good. I just like the quiet now." Willow replied, closing her book.
"Wow. Done already. How was it?"
"A little too violent for me." Willow replied. Warren stood behind her.
"Mmm. Your hair smells so pretty." He smiled as she turned and walked through him. "Oh, come on. Not even a laugh?"
"You're not particularily funny." Willow responded, glaring at the first evil. "I'm asking one more time: what do you want?" Warren shrugged his shoulders.
"I want vengeance. I want you to go black-eyed girl and kill all of your friends! I want you to become a sleeper agent like Spike was and kill all of the potentials in their sleep. I want to see blood on your hands the same colour as your hair."
"Hmm. Creepy."
"I try."
"Well, it's not going to happen." Willow told him. "I have my urges under control and I'm not going to kill anything. I don't even have to use magic anymore. I can control myself, and therefore cannot control the paths of others."
"Well, when you and your Buffy friends are fighting me to the end, you know you're going to have to use magic." Warren told her.
"I know."
"It's going to be the biggest, hardest spell of your life, and you might not even make it. You might go insane, but most likely you'll just have your insides ripped out by one of your ever-so-loyal friends in order to keep themselves from dying. I can't see you surviving past the battle. Of course, I can't see you all ending the battle in victory." Warren smiled. "That was like a cheery Buffy speech, wasn't it?"
"You're not going to win. You will never win. If you really observed Buffy's habits, you would realise that good always conquers evil." Willow glared. "It worked on me. It worked on Buffy. It even worked on Spike. You will not win the battle; you will not be heard from again."
"And how do you expect to win, little girl?" Warren asked.
"By being the best that I can be." Willow turned away.
"By being strong? Like an Amazon?" Willow turned to see Tara behind her.
"Tara..."
"You won't win, sweetheart. I've seen your path, and you're going to kill them all." Tara smiled. "Every last one of them. Even Dawn."
"Shut up. You aren't Tara."
"Oh, come now, Willow. You never really thought that I loved you, did you? You had to put spells on me in order to keep me. I tried to escape at the first sign of boys, but you wouldn't allow it. You're power hungry, you're evil, and you will never again feel love." Tara laughed.
"I already have love. Her name is Kennedy." Willow said snottily.
"Ooh. Potential!" Tara mocked. "It'll never be what we have. The first chance I get to, I'm going to rip Kennedy's face off and feed it to Noodles." Willow stood in confusion a moment.
"Did you say... 'feed it to Noodles'?" Willow asked.
"Noodles... I named my Turak-Han..."
"Very nice. Noodles the Uber-vamp." Willow mocked. "You can't touch me, you can't touch my friends, and you can't touch my lover." Willow walked through Tara. "You're not Tara, and you never could be. Tara had a pure soul, and I loved her very much. You disgust me."
"Well. When you're going to sleep tonight, I just hope you think of me. Tara. Watching you. Waiting for the perfect moment to have you killed."
"Tara would never..." Willow began.
"It's funny. Because now... this is going to be your last memory of dear, sweet Tara." she smiled. "Mocking you, threatening you..."
"No..."
"I know that you picture me when you kiss Kennedy. You don't really love her..."
"Yet."
"Is she just a replacement?" Tara asked. "Or might it turn into something?"
"It might."
"Well. Do it before I kill her. Then I can watch you cry." Tara disappeared into nothing, leaving Willow to cry to herself.
"You look a bit bored, An." Anya rolled to her side and smiled; her book fell to the floor. Anya was a little sleepy, but managed to not drool.
"Well, Hallie, I... Hallie?" Anya sat up sharply, realising who it was. "Hallie... how are..."
"I honestly don't know! I've just been wandering around aimlessly, ever since you had me killed, and I..." Hallie began.
"I didn't have you killed..." Anya started.
"Oh, Anya. I know the truth, don't worry. I don't blame you. If I were in that position, well... I probably wouldn't have sold YOU out, but you get my meaning..." Hallie smiled.
"Seriously, Hallie... I didn't have you killed... I expected... I wanted him to kill me..." Anya started. "I..."
"Anya, sweetheart. It's okay." Hallie stopped her.
"So... you believe that I didn't have you killed?"
"No."
"Why not?" Anya asked, visibly upset.
"Oh, Anyanka. Calm down." Hallie smiled and sat back.
"No! Tell me! Why don't you believe me?"
"Well... D'Hoffryn grants people's wishes, just like the rest of us. I believe... if you had wanted yourself killed, he would have followed your wishes..."
"Wh... what are you saying? Are you saying that I wished for YOU to die?" Anya asked angrily.
"Anya, I'm saying that you subconsciously wished to live so much that you would allow yuor best friend to be taken in your place. It's no biggie, really."
"It IS a big deal, Halfrek!" Anya stood and began to pace around before her. "I didn't want you dead! And I miss you, so much! I just want you back!" Anya stopped and looked at Hallie for a moment. "Why ARE you back."
"I got bored."
"Okay, then HOW are you back?" Anya repeated. Hallie shrugged.
"I guess I wished it."
"But you're dead."
"D'Hoffryn works in mysterious ways." Hallie smiled as Anya poked a finger directly through her friend.
"Damnit! You're the First!" Anya shrieked.
"Well... okay." Hallie agreed and stood. "But that doesn't mean we can't still be friends."
"Of course it does, Hallie. You're now the essence of everything that's evil!" Anya whined. "I can't be friends with you now! I'll feel all... dirty..."
"I thought you LIKED feeling dirty..."
"With XANDER! Did you NEVER listen to me when... okay... stop, Anya. This is not Hallie."
"Yes it is!" Hallie replied.
"NO! You are the First! The First Evil! And we're eventually going to defeat you!" Anya exclaimed. Hallie laughed.
"Honey, you can't defeat evil." Hallie giggled, "Defeating evil is like trying to rid the world of men!"
"Fun but fruitless..."
"Exactly!" Hallie laughed. "Ah... nothing's changed, has it?" Anya glared.
"Yeah... except you DIED!" she replied. Hallie rolled her eyes.
"Will you just get OVER that already? It's in the past! It's time we moved on and did something together! Let's go... let's go to nebraska!" Hallie exclaimed.
"I don't wanna go to Nebraska with PURE EVIL." Anya turned away from Hallie.
"Okay... why don't we go to Minsk?"
"Minsk?" Anya asked excitedly. "DAMN! No! You can't use Minsk against me! That's not fair! That's... that's..."
"Evil?" Hallie smiled. "It's what I am, baby. Pure and vengeful."
"You've become much more unpleasant since your death." Anya moaned.
"Well... you would too." Hallie smiled, sitting down. "And you will."
"What?" Anya asked, confused.
"You're going to die soon, sweetheart. I'm not going to let YOU make it through my battle." Anya sat, upset.
"But... why not? I'm... I'm so pretty!" Anya whined.
"Because you wouldn't come with me to Minsk."
"You can't take evil to Minsk!"
"Can too!" Hallie retorted.
"Can not!" Anya shrieked.
"Can too!"
"Can not!" Anya repeated.
"Spider-man did!"
"No he didn't!" Anya screamed.
"Yes he did!" Hallia crossed her legs, looking away from Anya.
"Damnit, where's Xander when you need him?" Anya whined.
"Probably leaving you at the alter!" Hallie laughed uncontrollably. Anya stood.
"See, Hallie. This is why I don't go to Minsk with you. You're a horrible bitch!" Anya screamed. Hallie stood, shocked expression on her face.
"Anyanka!" Hallie began to cry.
"Oh, Hallie! I didn't mean..." Anya went to hug her, but merely fell through her essence. Anya hit the floor, and glared back at Hallie. "Damnit, first evil! That was SO mean!"
"Well, I am EVIL." Hallie rolled her eyes. "You Sunnydale people really are morons."
"Get out, Hallie. I'm tired of you now." Anya sat on the couch, ignoring Hallie.
"Oh, Anya, I..."
"What's that? Did Anya hear something? Nope. She certainly didn't!"
"Anya..."
"NOPE! QUIET AS A MOUSE AROUND HERE!" Andrew stormed into the room.
"I'm cooking! That's Andrew's quiet time! YOU KNOW THAT!" Andrew stormed out of the room.
"Well, that was interesting." Hallie said, sitting behind Anya. Anya turned around.
"Well, Hallie, that was..." Anya started. She noticed that no longer was the first evil in the form of Hallie, but a man. "Oh... oh my God..."
"Hello, Anyanka." he smiled.
"A... Avery?" Anya asked timidly.
"Yes, Anyanka. It's me. Avery." he smiled and she stared into his eyes.
"My... my husband, I..." she began. He shushed her.
"It's alright, my beloved. It wasn't your fault. You weren't to blame for my death." he smiled, "Of course, you are to blame for the battle that resulted in my death..."
"That was NOT my fault. You see, I was just talking to that man, and he asked my opinion, and I told him that he looked a little bit... feminine..." Anya smiled.
"You told him that it looked like he was going to marry a giant talking penis." Avery replied.
"Well... he didn't seem to take it very well..." Anya started.
"Anyanka, I'm so sorry I was unable to save you from that battle..." he began.
"Oh, Avery! You were a little busy at that point... I don't know how I ever expected you to dodge those seven cannonballs... forty flying bullets... and three flaming arrows... all at once..." Anya started.
"Yes... that fire you started around me didn't help much."
"Well... I was mad. And you provoked that fire."
"How did I provoke THAT?" Avery asked angrily.
"You said I looked PREGNANT!" Anya screamed.
"Anyanka! I asked if you would consider having my child!" Avery exclaimed.
"I would NEVER eat a baby!" Avery sighed and looked at the floor a moment. He looked back at Anya again.
"That's all behind us now. Why can't we be together?"
"Well... because you've been dead for quite some time... and I'm not really into pirates anymore... I mean, you WERE quite the swash-buckler for your time, but..."
"There's someone else, isn't there?" Avery asked. "You said I was the only one you could ever love! You said you would never marry ANYONE but me!"
"Well, I was in love at the time! And you were a FANTASTIC second husband, but..."
"Second husband? There was a husband before me?"
"Yes. Olaf." Anya replied. "He's a Troll God."
"You married a Troll?" Avery asked.
"He wasn't a Troll at the time. And that's not the point! You're the stupid first evil! And you can't get to me! Never! No!" Anya screamed, stood and left the room.
"...what is it with this house?" Avery asked himself. "One week they're afraid of you, the next you can't make them flinch..."
Xander lifted the beam over his shoulder and began to walk toward the correct area. In highschool he hadn't dreamed that construction would be his profession. He had never imagined, when he took the job, that he would have such a passion for it, either. Xander turned the corner, noticing a young woman on the site. He placed the beam on the ground and quickly rushed over to her.
"Excuse me, miss... you can't be here." He told her. She turned to him, smiling.
"I'm sorry... I... I became lost." she replied.
"Here, let me take you off of the site... or at least get you a hard hat." Xander escorted her toward a safer area. "So... what's your name?"
"My name is Ampada." she replied.
"That's a pretty name." Xander replied as they reached a small office and he reached for a hard hat to put on her.
"Thank you. You WERE the only man I ever loved. Now I can see why." she replied. He gave a puzzled look.
"Who the..." Xander examined her a moment, then shock became his expression. "Ampada... you're kinda... dead..." Xander finally noticed that the hard hat had fallen directly through her.
"Twice, actually." she replied.
"I heard THAT before." Xander looked around. "I didn't realise that the First Evil would follow me to a construction site."
"So you know."
"Yeah. I'm also kinda wondering why you chose Ampada... I mean... she didn't impact heavily on my life. Sure, we dated for, what, a week? Then she tried to kill me..."
"I DIED for you, Xander!" Ampada exclaimed. "I loved you enough to give up my life, and that means nothing to you?"
"Well, maybe a little tingle." he smiled. "Now, why don't just go away, and I'll call you never?" Xander began to walk away.
"Xander! Dude, don't leave me like this!" Xander turned, completely shocked now.
"J... Jesse..." Xander started.
"Amazing! The wonderful Xander remembers my name, after ALL these years..."
"Well... you were my best friend, man..."
"Until Buffy came to town. Then I suddenly died and did anyone care?" Jesse asked. Xander threw his hard hat to the ground.
"We ALL cared, Jesse! Me, Willow, even Buffy!" Xander exclaimed.
"No you didn't! After I died, you immediately replaced me with HER and a librarian! A freaking librarian, man! Come on!" Jesse screamed. "And none of you have even spoken my name since the night you killed me!"
"You were a vampire! You were already dead!" Xander retorted.
"And you didn't try to put my soul back in, now did ya?"
"I staked you by accident! I wanted to save you, remember?" Xander asked.
"But you didn't seem to mind that you had to be the one to kill me. And then, you went after Cordelia Chase?" Jesse asked angrily.
"You know about that, do ya?"
"Of course, Xander! I wanted Cordelia since fifth grade, and she never gave me the light of day! Then you swoop in and have her no problem? Not fair." Jesse whined. "Was it too much for you guys to have some sort of mourning for me?"
"We mourned." Xander replied.
"No! You didn't! You didn't even tell my parents what happened to me. You just let them think I ran away, or disappeared. If you had ACTUALLY cared, you might've actually spoken about me sometime later on. I'd be surprised if any of you even remember my last name!" Jesse waited for a response. "Yeah. That's what I thought."
"This isn't fair, Jesse. We had a completely new world just opened up to us, you can't expect us to remember every little detail, and..."
"Little detail? Xander! You, and me, and Willow were all BEST FRIENDS since KINDERGARTEN! And until grade TEN we never seperated! How can I be just a LITTLE DETAIL of your LIFE?" Jesse asked. Xander wiped his brow.
"Jesse... we cared for you, but when someone turns into a vampire... it..."
"It deserves both a little tenderness and CARING." Jesse responded.
"This isn't fair!" Xander shrieked. He turned, noticing the other men on the site staring at him, noticing he was speaking to nobody. "Jesse, our lives had just been turned upside down, Willow and I were trying to deal as best we could..."
"By cutting every memory of ME out of your lives? Real nice, Xan." Jesse replied. "I always wondered what would've happened if I just left, but I had hoped it would involve people missing and/or remembering me."
"Jesse. I'm sorry you had to die. We've lost a lot of our people over the years, and I'm sorry that you had to be one of them." Xander picked up his hard hat, replacing it on his head. "Goodbye, Jesse." Xander walked away, leaving Jesse floating just slightly above the ground. He smiled.
"I feel that one cause psychological warfare for our favourite scoobie..." Jesse disappeared.
"What're you doing?" someone asked. Willow didn't bother looking up from her book.
"I'm reading." she replied simply.
"What're you reading?" they asked.
"It's about a girl accused of murder." Willow replied, again without looking up from the book. The person laughed a little. "What's so funny about..."
"Well, being a murderer yourself, I just find it... odd..." Warren started. Willow's eyes widened.
"What do you want?"
"I just want to talk." Warren replied. "So. How was your trip inside my body?"
"Kinda hairy. What do you want?"
"I just want to talk. Sheesh. Can't a guy get a break around here?"
"Not when he's pure evil and non-coporeal." Willow replied.
"Touché, dear Willow. So, how ARE you mystical urges? Still inclined to go power hungry and flay things?" Warren asked, smiling.
"...no. I'm good. I just like the quiet now." Willow replied, closing her book.
"Wow. Done already. How was it?"
"A little too violent for me." Willow replied. Warren stood behind her.
"Mmm. Your hair smells so pretty." He smiled as she turned and walked through him. "Oh, come on. Not even a laugh?"
"You're not particularily funny." Willow responded, glaring at the first evil. "I'm asking one more time: what do you want?" Warren shrugged his shoulders.
"I want vengeance. I want you to go black-eyed girl and kill all of your friends! I want you to become a sleeper agent like Spike was and kill all of the potentials in their sleep. I want to see blood on your hands the same colour as your hair."
"Hmm. Creepy."
"I try."
"Well, it's not going to happen." Willow told him. "I have my urges under control and I'm not going to kill anything. I don't even have to use magic anymore. I can control myself, and therefore cannot control the paths of others."
"Well, when you and your Buffy friends are fighting me to the end, you know you're going to have to use magic." Warren told her.
"I know."
"It's going to be the biggest, hardest spell of your life, and you might not even make it. You might go insane, but most likely you'll just have your insides ripped out by one of your ever-so-loyal friends in order to keep themselves from dying. I can't see you surviving past the battle. Of course, I can't see you all ending the battle in victory." Warren smiled. "That was like a cheery Buffy speech, wasn't it?"
"You're not going to win. You will never win. If you really observed Buffy's habits, you would realise that good always conquers evil." Willow glared. "It worked on me. It worked on Buffy. It even worked on Spike. You will not win the battle; you will not be heard from again."
"And how do you expect to win, little girl?" Warren asked.
"By being the best that I can be." Willow turned away.
"By being strong? Like an Amazon?" Willow turned to see Tara behind her.
"Tara..."
"You won't win, sweetheart. I've seen your path, and you're going to kill them all." Tara smiled. "Every last one of them. Even Dawn."
"Shut up. You aren't Tara."
"Oh, come now, Willow. You never really thought that I loved you, did you? You had to put spells on me in order to keep me. I tried to escape at the first sign of boys, but you wouldn't allow it. You're power hungry, you're evil, and you will never again feel love." Tara laughed.
"I already have love. Her name is Kennedy." Willow said snottily.
"Ooh. Potential!" Tara mocked. "It'll never be what we have. The first chance I get to, I'm going to rip Kennedy's face off and feed it to Noodles." Willow stood in confusion a moment.
"Did you say... 'feed it to Noodles'?" Willow asked.
"Noodles... I named my Turak-Han..."
"Very nice. Noodles the Uber-vamp." Willow mocked. "You can't touch me, you can't touch my friends, and you can't touch my lover." Willow walked through Tara. "You're not Tara, and you never could be. Tara had a pure soul, and I loved her very much. You disgust me."
"Well. When you're going to sleep tonight, I just hope you think of me. Tara. Watching you. Waiting for the perfect moment to have you killed."
"Tara would never..." Willow began.
"It's funny. Because now... this is going to be your last memory of dear, sweet Tara." she smiled. "Mocking you, threatening you..."
"No..."
"I know that you picture me when you kiss Kennedy. You don't really love her..."
"Yet."
"Is she just a replacement?" Tara asked. "Or might it turn into something?"
"It might."
"Well. Do it before I kill her. Then I can watch you cry." Tara disappeared into nothing, leaving Willow to cry to herself.
