Brave New World
Chapter Fifteen

The night was beautiful above them. Warm and welcoming. There was no moon, no stars and Dawn felt the same way her sister had earlier that night. Like the heavenly bodies were hiding from some future horror. Dawn shuddered and Tara glanced at her.

"Are you ok, sweetie?" she asked.

"Yeah," Dawn answered. "Just… I can't get it out of my mind… And it'll be worse tomorrow."

"Don't," Andrew said, his voice tight. "I don't want to think about it."

"Are we going to stay up here all night?" Dawn asked, changing the subjects.

"Well, it's the night before a war and all that sexual tension's about to explode down there," Andrew shrugged. "I don't think I want to walk in on any of it."

"Who do you think's with who?" Dawn asked conversationally.

"I think Doyle and Anya," Tara suggested.

"Really?" Dawn raised her eyebrows. "See, I couldn't decide on Wes and Anya or Doyle and Anya."

"Oh, Wes and Anya just fight," Tara said, "Anya looks at Doyle like he's the only guy in the room."

"Huh," Dawn nodded. "And I suppose it's pretty obvious that Willow and Spike are together."

"Yeah," Andrew agreed. "Don't you think they make the cutest couple?"

Tara declined to answer, tilting her head back to gaze at the empty heavens. She knew as well as the other two what was going on below them and while she thought it was a good thing for most of them, the idea of Willow and Spike did not fill her with joy. Especially when she realised she had helped them get together.

She thought Dawn might have noticed her discomfort, because the conversation swung quickly away from Willow and Spike.

"What about Wesley?" Dawn asked. "You think he's on his own?"

"Nah," Andrew shook his head. "He's with Buffy."

"Oh, Andrew, ewww!"

Tara laughed gently.

"I thought you liked Wes, Dawn?" she asked.

"It's not that. It's just I remember how she used to complain about him when he first showed up. That's the main reason I liked him. I suppose they work, but…"

"Have you got a crush on him?" Andrew accused.

"No!" Dawn protested. "Please! That is so - so... stupid," she sighed, ignoring Andrew's smirk. "Can you believe we're stuck up here while everyone else is enjoying romantic stuff?"

There were murmurs of agreement and in the silence, they heard a distant thump and the sound of a window swinging open.

"Think we'll be ok?" Andrew whispered.

"What?" Tara glanced across at him.

"Tomorrow," he elaborated. "You think we'll get out of it ok."

"Yeah," Tara nodded. "Willow and I talked about doing to do this spell Wes told us about that will increase everyone's strength. We're going to be backing you guys up with magick and it'll be fine."

"What about Spike?" Dawn asked suddenly. "How are we going to know if he's ok at the Mayor's?"

"He's stronger than any of the Mayor's vampires," Tara said firmly. "Don't worry. We're all going to be fine."

"Ok, so say we win," Andrew started. "What then? Are we going to stick around here?"

"No," Tara shook her head. "What's to stay for? There's nothing here. I guess we'll move on."

"I hope we stick together," Dawn said in a low voice. "I couldn't stand it if after all this time we all went to different places."

"We'll have to see, Dawnie," Tara said, slipping an arm around her shoulders and giving a squeeze. "We'll just have to see."

The three of them fell silent, huddling together on the roof and staring across Sunnydale. Not one of them heard the people jump from the balcony below.

Willow shifted slightly, tucking her hand around Spike's waist and lifting her head so she could look up at him. He looked down at her from where he was leaning back in the pillows, arms hugging her around the waist.

"What's up, pet?" he asked in a low voice. "You should sleep, y'know."

"Are you scared?" she whispered. "About tomorrow. Are you scared?"

"No more than usual," he replied. "I know I can handle myself. Slayer's got me taking out the vamps at the Mayor's place. I won't be in the thick of it what with the sunshine and all. If anything, I'm worried about you."

"Don't be," she grinned. "Tara and I are going to get the mojo working. We've decided that if everyone's ok with it, we're going to pump up their strength. Then we'll be backing up the fight. We're like the heavy artillery."

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Now there's something I'd like to see," he said.

"I guess I'll have to give you a display sometime."

"I guess you will," he frowned suddenly. "Red…?"

"Mmmm?"

"After this battle. What you going to do?"

"Do?" she wrinkled her nose. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it. Leave here, obviously. I suppose I'll go wherever Buffy and Dawn go. They're all I've got left now. Mom and Dad are gone. I wouldn't want to lose them too. And you'll come with us, won't you?"

He raised an eyebrow at that.

"You want me to tag along with you, the Slayer and Bit?"

"Well, why not?" she asked. "I mean, you and I could… be together. Y'know?"

"Yeah," he mused. "I guess there's a plus side to it. So, you inviting me along, Red?"

"Yes, I am," she smiled.

He grinned back and bent forward a little to kiss her gently. He smoothed her hair with one hand, the other remaining around her waist. When they pulled apart, he leaned back, shifting down the bed, drawing her with him.

"Now, go to sleep," he told her firmly. "We've got an early start."

"Yes, Mr The Bloody," she answered, smirking a little as she closed her eyes and fell asleep to the feel of his chest beneath her cheek and the steady rhythm of his hand on her hair.

Anya pulled away from Doyle breathlessly. She gasped a little and he chuckled, straightening her shirt.

"We should stop," she said, her hand running along his jaw.

"I know," he replied, dropping one kiss on her lips. "Why's that again?"

She hummed in delight as he ran his thumb across her stomach and moved from her lips to kiss her neck.

"Because," she started, then slipped a hand around his neck, sliding up to his hair. She gripped a few locks of his dark hair and pulled him away. "Because this could go further."

"Stop me whenever you want, Princess," he answered, leaning in to kiss her again.

She pressed a finger to his lips, but he only grinned and licked it. She shuddered and whimpered, before fixing the frown back on her face.

"I can't sleep with you," she stated. "Because the world might end tomorrow. And while that's a good case for sleeping with you, I don't want to. If only one of us walks out of this town -"

"Hey," he protested, suddenly focusing on something outside of his need for her. "Don't be talking like that, Anya."

"Well, it's true. Right now, I don't want to do this."

"Ok," he made a concentrated effort to remove his hand from her waist and his other hand from the side of her face. She took hold of his hands and gripped them tightly. He took a long, steadying breath. "So, what do you wanna do instead?"

She moved a little, turning to plump up her pillow.

"Sleep," she said.

He nodded, pulling his hands from hers and going to stand up. She grabbed his ankle, but her touch was so light, he didn't realise she had caught hold of him. He tried to swing his leg off the bed, but her grip tightened and he stumbled forward, hanging off the bed with her hand still around his ankle.

He glared at her giggling face from where he hung, hair brushing the floor.

"If you had listened," she gasped out between giggles. "I meant sleep with you. Here, just sleeping. I don't want you to go."

He pushed his hands against the floor, wiggled his foot until she let go and fell to the ground. He stood up, blinking as the blood rushed out of his head. She took advantage of his gentle swaying to take his hands and pull him onto the bed. She tugged the ever present leather jacket from his shoulders and leaned him back.

By time he realised what had happened, he was stretched out, with Anya cuddled into his side, steady breathing telling him she was asleep.

"Ah, well," he whispered, kissing her head. "I could get used to this."

Buffy put on a final burst of speed and grabbed Faith's shoulder, digging her fingers in and forcing the other Slayer to stop.

"Didn't you hear me calling?" Buffy demanded, as Faith turned around.

"I did," Faith replied defiantly. "I just didn't want another argument."

"I'm not here to argue with you," Buffy said, forcing the hostility out of her voice.

"That makes a change. What do you want?"

"To talk," Buffy said and pushed her onto a wall that had once surrounded a family home. "What are you going to do know."

"No idea," Faith shrugged. "I'll figure it out. Don't worry yourself."

"I'm not," Buffy snapped, then exhaled hard. "Look. You've found out what the Mayor's really like, you can't go back."

"Why not?" Faith asked. "It's the only place I've got."

"You'll go back to a - a thing like that? Because you've got no where else to go?" Buffy said, stunned.

"You haven't lost that edge, B. You can still state the obvious with the best of them."

"I just… Faith, you're a Slayer."

"Yeah. But you're the Slayer. I just got the muscle; you've got the whole duty thing and that. Not me. That's your gig."

"It was ours."

"'Til I screwed up," Faith shrugged. "Why are you even here?"

"Because I think you could help us."

"Help you?" Faith laughed, standing up. "What makes you think I'd want to help you and your little buds, Summers?"

"I think that because there are two sides in this war and you're rethinking your place on Team Evil."

"You have no idea," Faith growled. "You always thought you got me. Understood what made me tick. Looked down that perfect little nose of yours because I had the guts to do all the things you couldn't. I lived and you hated it."

"You lived?" Buffy asked. "Faith, you never lived. You fought, you killed, you screwed. That's no life."

"Try it and see."

"Don't fight me," Buffy warned. "I'm trying to help you."

"Help me?" Faith rolled her eyes. "You should've helped me when I threw myself off a building to get away from you. But I'll bet it never occurred to you to find me and call an ambulance. Get outta my face, B. Better yet, get outta my life."

"What life?" Buffy grabbed Faith's elbow as she pushed past her. "You've got a chance here, Faith. A chance to be a Slayer. To do good, to make amends. Don't walk away from that because if you do… If you do, you'll never be able to come back and you'll wake up one day and wonder how you got in so deep."

"Shut up," Faith whispered.

"Not when there's a chance to get through to you. You came to the mansion for more than answers. I shouldn't have pushed you away when you needed someone. But I'm here now. We used to be friends. The Chosen Two, remember?"

"I remember."

"Don't you want that back? I don't want to fight you tomorrow. I want to fight with you."

Faith looked up, eyes wide. She took a step away from Buffy, shaking her head. She knew what Buffy was asking and she couldn't… The Mayor had done so much for her; she couldn't let him down now.

But the Slayer inside her rebelled, screaming that she couldn't work with someone who was a killer. She herself was a killer, a murderer, but she could change. Here was her chance. It wasn't completely her fault she had descended to this. She got pulled in by something she didn't understand. She thought she could kill and walk away.

It wasn't true.

She didn't tell anyone, not Buffy, not the Mayor about the nightmares. Reliving killing Finch and the professor nearly every night was killing her. Finch had been an accident and she had figured there was no going back. So she plunged into murder and mayhem. And she lost a little bit of herself each time.

She wanted to go back. To the way it was when she first got to Sunnydale, when she thought things could be better. She'd had a taste in Boston, with her Watcher, of what a good life with friends was and she thought she could have it in Sunnydale. It was just a cruel twist of fate that it was her that staked Finch and not Buffy.

And she wanted to make amends for it. For it all.

"What do you want me to do?" Faith whispered.

"Go back to the Mayor," Buffy told her quickly. "Pretend like nothing's changed -"

"Buffy, I can't."

"Yes. You can. Tomorrow, at dawn, we're leaving the mansion. Spike's leaving earlier to kill the vampires working for the Mayor. He was going to the Mayor's place and was going to fight them when the rest of you left. Will that work?"

"I…" Faith frowned. "Yeah. But he'd have to stay in the basement until we left. If he doesn't, he'll be found. The vamps aren't up to much. They've had it too easy for two years. The vampires sleep in the back rooms of the house. He'll find them there. They're not going out to fight, the Mayor wants them to protect his place."

"Good," Buffy nodded. "I'll tell him that. Faith, I want you to just go on like everything's fine. But when the battle starts, that's when I want you with me. Like old times, ok?"

"I - I guess. But, Buffy, what about the Mayor?"

"I'm gonna kill him," Buffy stated.

"How?"

"I've got a plan," Buffy hedged, wary of telling her too much. "Don't worry, I won't ask you to do it. I just want you to watch my back and my friends."

"Yeah," Faith nodded. "I can do that."

"Ok," Buffy took a step back. "Then I'll see you at dawn."

"I'll unlock the basement door," Faith said.

"Thanks," Buffy backed away, turning her back slowly on Faith.

"Hey. B."

Buffy glanced over her shoulder and Faith smiled, a tiny, hesitant smile.

"What?" Buffy asked.

Faith lowered her eyes a little and for a moment, Buffy trusted her whole-heartedly. Faith looked up and met her eyes.

"Thanks."

Wes rubbed his eyes and yawned. He wasn't going to sleep until Buffy returned. He had to be sure she was all right. By now, he was practically certain he had been wrong. That Buffy had been right, that Faith was trying to trick them.

The mansion was quiet and he glanced at his watch. Spike would have to be up in two hours time to give him chance to get to the Mayor's and inside before daybreak. He was only aware of Spike's duty and that Willow and Tara would be using magick. He didn't know the rest of the plan, Buffy would tell them later. All Wes knew was that Spike was to kill all the vampires at the Mayor's, in case the battle went on into the evening. They couldn't risk the numbers of the Mayor's army swelling towards the end of the fight. He doubted the fight would last that long, but getting rid of the vampires was one way of depleting the Mayor's ranks if they lost and making sure the vamps didn't move on if they won.

Wes wondered if the plan would change when Buffy returned from seeing Faith. He sighed. This was so like Graduation Day. No real plan beyond the fight and he was wary of asking Buffy what she would do to the Mayor. But he trusted her, knew that she would handle it. And she would tell them tomorrow. He had faith in her.

He jumped when the French window creaked open. He turned, seeing Buffy enter and close the windrow behind her.

"You're still here," she said, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Yes. I wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Just peachy," she answered, sitting down beside him, "Faith's going to help us."

"What do you mean?"

"She's unlocking the basement for Spike in the morning. She's sticking with the Mayor until the fight starts. Then she'll be fighting against him."

"I see," Wes nodded. "And the Mayor, what do you intend to do about him?"

"Blow him up," she answered. "Yeah, I know that didn't work last time, but now I've got three rocket launchers."

"Ah," he nodded. "I'm beginning to look forward to tomorrow," he glanced at his watch again. "We've got two hours until we need to get up. That gives us an hour before dawn for you fill us in on the plan and Spike to leave. Do you think he'll be all right? One of him, God knows how many vampires?"

"Faith said they're not so hot, two years not fighting. He'll be fine. We'll all be fine."

"Good enough for me," Wes yawned.

Buffy stretched and lay down on the bed. She tugged on the sleeve of his shirt and he shot her a quizzical look.

"Stay here," she said. "I think Andrew, Dawn and Tara will have taken over your room. And everyone's in couples in the other rooms."

"Yes, I think they are," he answered and leaned back awkwardly. Buffy yawned, swung an arm across his chest and cushioned her head on his shoulder.

They fell asleep with happy and hopeful expressions. Though tiny voices whispered to them through their dreams of normality.

But what if this is just a trick…?