Chapter Eight: Revelation

(This one's a little short. Please critique this one.)


Giles thumbed through a thick, musty book. This research was getting them nowhere. Anya was tapping a pencil impatiently, she kept looking towards the living room where her ex-fiancée was bleeding to death. The rat-tat-tat of her pencil was slowly beginning to irk Giles.

"Anya!" he snapped. She looked up at him wide-eyed, obviously unaware of her irritating action.

"Yes, Giles?"

"Please, desist your pencil tapping." She shrugged and he went back to his book.

Anya sighed. She closed her own book and went on to another. Suddenly, a light bulb went off. "What if when Willow was using meditation to help Buffy sleep, Buffy fell asleep and created all of this."

Giles looked at Anya's excited expression. "Of course," he said. "There had to be a direct correlation with Buffy's state of suspended animation and the strange occurrences. She must be dreaming all of this and it's coming true."

Anya nodded excitedly. "Yeah, and the First could be doing this."

"No," Giles shook his head. "The First can not take corporeal form. It must be using Buffy's mind against herself, much like it did too Spike. But now it's taken on a new power."

"Well, we have to stop it," Anya said plainly.

"Yes, yes. We must try the connection ritual again. Willow can't do it, obviously. We'll need someone else who's close to her." Giles said knowing full well who they needed. He just didn't want to admit it out loud.

Anya stood up. "Spike, let's get him." They hurried into the living room, where Willow was still tied up and Xander still bleeding. Dawn was flickering nervously around the room.

"Where's Spike?" Giles asked Dawn.

"He's uh, upstairs, trying to wake Buffy up," Dawn said.

"Oh, no," Giles started to run upstairs. "Anya, stay here."

"What's (cough) happening? (cough cough) Where's Spike?" Xander mumbled weakly.

"Shh, Xander," Anya comforted him. Tears started to well in her eyes. He was bleeding profusely now, he was shaking with every breath and coughed up blood. 'Spike, you'd better do something or I'm going to stake you if Xander dies,' she thought.

"Thanks," Xander coughed. "Nice to know you'll (cough cough) still go all vengeancey on him for (cough) me."

"Shut up, Xander," Anya said the tears in her eyes falling.


Buffy curled against the wall of the school. She covered her face. She had just finished sobbing. It wasn't a pity sob, it was those gasping sobs, where she wanted to throw up afterwards. Her head throbbed and her eyes hurt from the crying. She killed Spike. She killed Spike the first time they met. Of course, she's have felt no remorse back then. So why was she crying now? It wasn't real.

"Can I go now?" She asked Tara.

Tara looked at her. "Why?"

"Because, I need to wake up and make sure everyone is all right."

Tara crossed her arms. "They're okay. They're happy now."

"What?"

"They're happy now. You've done everything you needed to do," she explained.

"W-what? Tara, you're scaring me." Buffy straightened up. An eerie wave of awareness washed over Buffy. "Stop! Stop it!" Buffy hissed.

"Stop what, Buffy?" Tara asked moving closer to the crumpled blond on the floor. "You wanted this.

"I can't take it anymore!" She cried.

"Do you realize it now? Do you realize you didn't save everybody," Tara said to her, her voice low.

Buffy looked up at Tara, whose face was oddly calm. "What are you talking about? I never said anything about saving anyone."

"Didn't you? That's your worst fear and your worst regret. That you didn't just kill them all when you had the chance, that you didn't just let them die, so they wouldn't have to go through all this." She clucked her tongue her head, her green eyes becoming dark. She gave her a venomous smile. "Oh, Buffy, You should just give up now, save yourself the mess." Buffy stared at Tara incredulously. This wasn't Tara.

"Who are you?" Buffy growled.

Tara laughed wickedly, "Don't you recognize me, luv?" She morphed into Spike, Cassie, Eve the dead potential, Glory, Angel, then into Buffy. "I'm you."

Buffy struggled to get to her feet. "No." She said. "I'm not a killer." She ran into the First, but of course, went right through.

Buffy the First laughed again. "Sure you are, Buffy. You would've killed all your friends. You already killed your lover, Angel. You drove everyone away. You've killed everyone's faith in you. Soon, they'll turn on you." Then she disappeared leaving Buffy shaking on the floor.


Giles burst into Buffy's room. Buffy was still asleep on her bed, but a pile of dust attracted Giles. "Oh, no," he whispered. He ran downstairs. Anya was weeping next to Xander.

"Xander's dead," she cried. Quiet whimpers came from Dawn. Suddenly, Willow broke free of her restraints and attacked Giles. Anya switched into demon mode. "Get Back!" She snarled.

Willow laughed. "Right. Anya the big bad, make an appearance." She switched into vamp mode. "Let's go, then."

Dawn flew around helplessly. There wasn't anything she knew she could do. Then she let out a flash a bright light at the fighting girls, sending Willow cowering for the dark. "Hurry!" She cried as Giles and Anya grabbed Willow and forced her down.

'Oh, Buffy, wake up!" Dawn thought.