Title: A Fall into Darkness Part 2/?
Author: Lora Darcy
Email: lora_darcy@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Buffy Summers finds herself pulled out of Heaven and into…. Victorian England?
Disclaimer: Again, I own absolutely nothing. Alas.
Author Note: Well, yes, you guys have correctly guessed one of my crossovers. I have indeed worked in Daniel Deronda a bit, just because I like Hugh Dancy's portrayal of him so much. This will be the most obscure crossover in the fic and it does not matter at all if people are familiar with Daniel Deronda or not. The rest of the fic will make perfect sense without any knowledge of George Eliot's story. A BIG thank you to all of you who have submitted reviews! I really appreciate it. Hope this chapter, set in present (well close to it, anyway) makes ya happy.
Chapter Two: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Sunnydale, 2001
Willow Rosenberg sat at the Summers' kitchen table, staring at the broken urn of Osiris. She couldn't explain why she had gone back to pick it up. The ritual had failed. She'd failed. Buffy was really gone. Gone-gone. As in, no more Buffy jokes, no more best friend, never-coming-back, stuck in eternal-hell forever, kind of gone. And it was all her fault. If only she'd been more careful. Prevented the urn's destruction, at least until she'd properly completed the ritual. Damn it!
The Scooby Gang was destroyed. It wouldn't be the same again. Buffy was dead. Giles was gone. And, judging from her complete incapability of resurrecting Buffy, Willow doubted her title as boss. Sure, Xander had made her a sparkly plaque. But somehow Willow didn't think she was really deserving of her plaque-ness. Not right now. Right now she needed a new one, one that said "Bad Person: Completely Incapable of Rescuing Best Friend from Horrible Hell Dimension." Or something like that.
It didn't help that Willow had an icky sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. With Spike's help, the BuffyBot had managed to stop the scary biker vamps from taking over Sunnydale. But that wasn't what was bothering Willow. She knew the vamps were catching on. It was only a matter of time before another demon caught wind of the BuffyBot's unusual behavior and came to stir up trouble in the 'Dale. But she and her friends could cope. They always did. "Just another Tuesday night," Willow muttered aloud, trying to lift her spirits. Her attempts at humor weren't working.
Xander walked into the room, a small smile on his face. "Come on Wills. We're all watching the good ol' bube tube. A little Passions, a little Hindi TV, bit of the Discovery Channel, later we can mock those guys over at Dawson's Creek. Good times had by all." He nodded, trying to prove his point. "See? Funness."
"No," Willow said shortly, still gazing at the urn. "I'm good here."
"Come on Will!" Xander exclaimed. He wanted his favorite gal pal to get out of her self-induced funk. It wasn't her fault that Buffy was still dead. Maybe it was for the best that the spell had failed. Maybe Buffy was meant to stay dead. "We can even see if Trading Spaces is on….."
"I'm good here," Willow insisted. "Here. In the kitchen. Which is full of good… kitchen-y things." She forced a smile on her face. "Good," She repeated, lamely.
"Will…." Xander said tentatively. "You're being all avoidy with us. Think we haven't noticed?"
"I am not being avoidy!" Willow hotly replied.
"Uh-huh," Xander responded, dubiously.
"I'm not! I'm just making with the thinking and the worrying and…." She raised her hands, exasperated. "I just can't get over how badly I've failed Her. I should've been able to do more. And now…." Sorrowful green eyes looked up at Xander. "I just think…. I think that there's something coming. Something bad. And the BuffyBot's not gonna be able to handle it. We won't be able to handle it." She shrugged. "Maybe I'm being all wrong about this. Never claimed to be the one with the super spidery sense."
"We'll take it, Wills." Xander stood behind Willow, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Evil! Hah. We may only be a bunch of slayerettes, but it's going down! Demons of the world, beware. We've got the Hellmouth under control!" He just hoped Willow wouldn't notice that he was afraid. Willow wasn't the only one getting scary "impending doom" vibes from the future. But hey! Two witches, a vampire, an ex-demon, a robot, and a construction worker. They could save the world, right? Right….. Xander just wished he had more confidence in his own thoughts.
****
Rupert Giles frowned, looking down at his watch. He'd been waiting for his luggage for nearly 40 minutes. Why did Heathrow's baggage claim have to always take so bloody long?
Waiting had Giles far from pleased. It allowed him too much time to dwell on the past. He needed to keep himself busy. That was why he had decided to move back to England in the first place. He'd done his sodding job as a watcher and seen his slayer die in the line of duty. The BuffyBot had been correct. There wasn't any need for him in Sunnydale any longer. At least back in London, he could get work done. Keep his mind occupied and all that. So far, he just wasn't doing a very good job of it.
At long last, his luggage carousal beeped. His flight's baggage was finally coming around. Giles spotted his large suitcases, complete with the bright purple ribbons Buffy had insisted he put on them years ago. "Otherwise, how can you tell them apart from everyone else's? Hmm…. Black, black, black. Oh look! Here's another black one. Must be mine." Buffy's words ringed in his head. He found himself smiling slightly at the memory. His slayer had been good. The best.
As he crossed over to claim his bags, Giles nearly tripped on a crumpled up newspaper. In his haste to snatch his belongings, Giles didn't bother to do more than glance at the wrinkled paper. His eyes only caught one word of the Daily Prophet headline: "Missing."
****
In the dark, laughter could be heard. He couldn't have planned things better himself. Things were going well. Very well indeed.
End Part 2/Chapter 2