Chapter Three
Most of the group had once again gathered in the Magic Box, ready for the fight they were about to partake in. They were still waiting on Buffy and Spike's return from her house with more weapons, but Summers knew they would be here soon.
Time was closing in fast, and she knew what she had to do. One chance, she had one chance to fix everything that had gone so wrong.
She glanced over at Xander and Anya, who were currently giving each other last minute, pre-battle encouragement. Anya didn't have that same, nervous glow to her this time, nor was she fidgeting around like some small child who had a secret but couldn't share it with the others just yet.
Well, maybe Xander had taken her advice.
***
"Xander, wait," Summers called out, just as the young man and his girlfriend were heading down to the basement.
She had heard Anya tell the story enough times to know what was about to happen next. They would look for the orb for a few minutes before they start to fool around, and, once they were done, Xander would pop the question. At first, it had been a happy story, but it would soon enough turn sad if something was not done to stop them from hurting one another.
Xander said something to Anya, who looked disappointed and shot Summers a dirty glare, before she headed down the stairs and he came to answer the slayer's call.
"What's up, Buff-er, um, no offense, but it seems kinda strange calling you Buffy."
Summers smiled sweetly at her friend. "Feels weird being called that too," she confessed. "Just call me Summers. Everyone else does."
"Um, okay, Summers. What's up?"
"Don't ask Anya," she said bluntly.
Xander shrunk back like someone had struck him from surprise, before he realized exactly who he was talking to. 'Looks like she was telling the truth about who she was,' Xander thought.
"Why?" he asked.
Summers gave him a stern look. "Deep down, you know you're not ready. You're just doing this because you think you're going to die."
"What?! No! I love Anya. I'd never -"
"But you will," she cut him off. At seeing his horrified expression, she added sadly, "You don't mean too, but you will hurt her. And it's not because you two don't love each other, it's just you're not ready to get married…to anyone." She reached up, touched his shoulder, and offered him a smile. "I just don't want you two go though what you did before. Listen to me Xander, wait. When you're ready, really ready, you'll know."
He offered her his own timid smile, and nodded his head. The slayer then reached over and pulled him into a hug, pretty much saying the goodbye she never got to before. She felt her throat start to tighten and the tears build in her eyes as she held him for longer than she probably should have, but she just couldn't make herself let go.
God, she missed him. She missed all of them.
"Hey, Buff, it'll be okay," Xander said, patting her on the back. He pulled away and held her by the shoulders, his smile still large and almost laughing. "I'll see you when you get back to future, right?"
Summers forced a large, faux smile.
"Yeah, you will," she lied.
That satisfied him, and he left her in favor of his girlfriend.
***
He looked up from Anya and smiled at the brunette slayer, which she returned.
Okay, so maybe this wasn't part of the big plan, but she really did care about Anya and Xander's happiness, and she didn't want them to go through the pain they had before. If there was such a thing as fate and it decided that Anya was going to have to die in two years, she wanted them to enjoy every second they had until then, not spend a full year fighting because he left her at the alter. Neither one of them deserved that.
Summers then looked over and saw Giles standing near the shelves, preparing his weapon. He had wanted to find out exactly how she was there, but the brunette slayer wouldn't tell him too much. No need to know if everything goes as she hoped it would.
Like with her friend, she had finally gotten to say farewell to him as well.
***
Buffy came out from the back training room, an aggravated look on her face from the conversation she had just had. Summers was watching from the counter she had once again perched herself on, and frowned as she watched her former self walk by.
So, that's what she looked like when she was scolding. No wonder people were afraid of her.
She then glanced back at the training room door.
Giles was back there, still trying to think of a way to make young Buffy understand what needed to be done. Of course, he would be doing that until the day I.O.H. kills him, and she never seemed to really get it. Even now, there were things he told her, tried to teach her, that she didn't understand, but she knew there had been a reason.
It had been seven years since this night, a lot of time to look back over what he had said. It still angered a part of her, but she understood now. He had wanted to protect the world; she had simply wanted to protect her baby sister.
Jumping off the counter, Summers walked to the door that connected the front room and the back. Giles was still sitting on the couch, seemingly lost in his own thoughts until he noticed his audience. The middle-aged man then jumped to his feet, and Summers could hear the million questions he had for her echoing in her mind. She cut him off before he had a chance to ask.
"I just wanted to tell you…I get it now."
His face softened and she offered him a smile just as she had Xander. Like her friend, she wanted to go to him and hold him one last time, but, if she did, she really didn't think she would ever let go. Even with all of their differences over the coming years, he had always been there for her. No matter what, he would always be her dad.
***
Willow was with Tara, trying to calm the agitated young woman. The redhead sighed deeply as the blonde continued to fight, then looked up in the hope that maybe someone would come to her aid. She spotted Summers watching her, and her face paled a little. But after what the brunette slayer had told her, she wasn't surprised.
***
"Willow, can I talk to you a minute?" the future version of her friend asked.
This still innocent redhead said something to her girlfriend, then walked towards the slayer that had called her.
Buffy had gone with Spike to get the weapons and a change of clothes from her house, and Xander and Anya were still downstairs doing… Xander and Anya things. She had just left Giles in the training room, so Summers thought it best to take this opportunity to talk to her old friend alone.
She felt kind of bad for acting like Tara wasn't even there, but, the part of Tara that would have understood what was going on, wasn't, so she just had remember that.
"Buffy's Caster to her Pollex!" Tara shouted, pointing to Summers. The brunette was paying her little mind at this point, though; she had more important things to discuss with the other witch.
Summers looked up at the bubbly, yet worried, witch and felt her stomach sink a little. Even though they had somewhat made peace during her last few moments in 2008, she still could hardly look at her friend without feeling the betrayal. No, this Willow hadn't done that yet, and, with any luck, she never would.
"I need your word on something, Wills. I need you to make me the biggest promise that I have ever asked of you."
Willow balked for a minute. This was her friend's face, her friend's voice, but, at the same time, this wasn't her friend. She had seen the looks this slayer had been giving her, that mixture of disgust and uneasiness. Whatever happened between them must have been pretty bad, but Willow couldn't figure out what could have been so horrible that it would one day cause Buffy to look at her in such a way.
It must have been what also caused the major changes in her friend as well. She was colder in the future. But, then, maybe that was the fate of all slayers should they live that long. It would make sense. After years and years of seeing death, it would make any person…hard.
"What?" the witch asked in a small, unsure voice.
Summers frowned at the tone. Willow had always been the excepting one of the family, but she had to chose tonight of all nights to get all suspicious and careful. God, did she have great luck or what?
"No matter what, you won't bring her back."
Willow blinked at the request. "Huh? Bring who back?"
"You'll know who. If she dies, don't do the resurrection spell."
Dawn? Was she talking about Dawn?
"Buffy, I thought that if something happened and we had the chance-"
"Don't," Summers growled dangerously, her emotions getting the better of her. She took a step towards the witch, her eyes narrowing as she stared coldly at her. "If she dies, do not do the spell. Do you understand?"
The threat in her voice was clear, and all the young witch could do was nod her head dumbly at the woman her friend would become.
***
Summers had told her that no more than an hour ago, but she really didn't know whether to believe her old friend or not. That was her backup plan, to make Willow promise, but she wasn't sure if it would work or not. If it didn't, then she may have to look to the alternative…
No, she wouldn't even let herself think that. She and Willow may not get along any longer, but she couldn't even consider doing that to her friend, even if they weren't friends anymore. No, she refused to become that person; she refused to become no better than Kennedy.
The front door of the shop opened and the determined young blonde cut quickly across the showroom to the others, the bleached blond vampire trailing behind before heading towards Giles. Buffy quickly glanced around the store, making sure everyone was there and accounted for, then turned her attention to her watcher.
"We on schedule?"
Giles sighed deeply. The time he had been dreading had finally arrived. "Yes. It's time."
The blonde slayer glanced over to her friend, and softly said, "Wills."
The witch gave a short nod of understanding, and walked over to Tara, who had gone to admire the items in the display case. Summers frowned a little, wishing that, once again, she didn't have to put the wicca in danger like she was, but this was the only way to get their Tara back and she knew it. It all worked out. Still, with all the things she already changed, she couldn't be so sure that everything would go according to plan. She would just have to have faith.
"Tara, baby, is there somewhere you need to be?" Willow asked, trying her best not to set the blonde off.
It took a few minutes for Tara's response to come, but finally she said, "They held me down."
Willow looked up to Buffy, unsure of how she should answer that. Carefully, the redhead said, "No one's holding you. It's the big day, right? Do you want to go?"
Tara stared at her, like a small child who had just been given permission by a usual strict parent to go to the park by themselves. She then looked over her shoulder, glanced one last time to Willow, then started to shuffle towards the door quickly. She stopped when she passed Giles and Spike, and looked directly at the Watcher as she spoke.
"You're a killer!" she accused out of the blue, drawing several bewildered looks. Then, just as suddenly, she started back towards the door, but muttered under her breath, "This is all set down."
Buffy watched the blonde as she passed, then turned her attention to the redhead that was starting follow. Willow paused when she reached her friend, and the slayer gave out some last minute instructions.
"Stay close, but don't crowd her. We'll follow in a minute."
The Scooby nodded her understanding, starting behind her girlfriend once more as Buffy turned back to her other friends.
"Okay, everybody knows their jobs." She glanced around the room at them once again, but didn't give them the chance to say anything. "Remember, the ritual starts, we all die." The young slayer then gave a hard look to her mentor, then turned it on her older self and warned, "I'll kill anyone who comes near Dawn."
Summers frowned at the girl, but Buffy turned away and headed after Willow.
"Well, not exactly the Saint Crispian's Day speech. Was it?" Spike said sarcastically, watching as the Scoobies headed out to the fight.
Giles grabbed a spear, and said as he passed the bleach blond, "We few. We happy few."
"We band of buggered," the vampire groaned out, following behind.
Summers trailed behind him, making them the last to leave the shop. After Giles had disappeared outside with the others, the brunette hurried forward and grabbed for Spike's free hand, causing him to stop and look back.
"Spike," she said softly, but the second his eyes meet hers, the always sharp tongued slayer found herself at a loss for words.
They stood there for a long moment with him just staring at her, trying to figure her out. There was something there, something in her past, possible in his future. But what? What could Buffy ever possibly have to say to him?
The brunette slayer dropped her gaze from his, and noticed she still had her hand in his. The glove she wore covered the scars, the ones she got that day when they had locked hands and he had burned. She hadn't even felt it at the time, and didn't afterwards either. Dawn was the one who had noticed the injury about forty-five minutes after they left the crater that had been Sunnydale. If she hadn't, there was no telling when Buffy would have, if ever.
His eyes traveled downward to see what she was looking at. He tried to draw his hand away from hers, but she held firm, only adding to his confusion. When he looked back up, he found a very sad face staring back at him.
"She won't love you," she told him sadly, finally having found her voice. "Not without… the spark. She won't let herself."
Her eyes dropped away from his again, and he could see tears starting to prick at the corner of her eyes.
"Buffy, love?" he said softly, as he reached up and gently touched her cheek.
Her hazel eyes sparked as they rose again to meet his, a single tear rolling down her cheek as a weary smile came to rest on her face. A final moment. She was grateful to have one last one.
She sniffled loudly, then laughed softly at how disgusting it sounded. Of course, he didn't seem to mind too much.
"Go to Africa, do what you have to do," she told him, knowing he had no idea what she was going on about but listening to her all the same. "But when you do, let her know where you're going. I hated worrying about your sorry, chipped ass."
Spike still didn't understand, but he smiled all the same. "Alright, love. I'll do that."
"Good."
She moved forward and lightly brushed her lips against his for a soft kiss. It didn't last long before Summers felt him tense up from surprise, nearly as much surprise as he felt that day he had realized that it was the real Buffy and not the bot, but she just smiled into the kiss then pulled away. She couldn't help but chuckle at the expression on his face, then trotted out of the shop after the others with a baffled vampire right behind her.
*********