Dawn stood there and watched as her sister walked away from her, again. It hurt, even more than watching her dive off Glory's tower. Was everyone going to leave her?
Xander Harris was tired, tired of having to fight for his life constantly, tired of Sunnydale and tired of evil things trying to end the world, but there was always that niggling voice in the back of his mind saying 'You chose this, so stop man bitching about it'
He wondered if the bad things would ever stop. Not just the demons and vampires but everything else that they had put up with in this life. Would life ever get any easier? He didn't think so. As a kid he'd always been afraid of the monsters under his bed and then when he met Buffy they became real, he could blame it all on her if he wanted to but if hadn't have been for her he'd be a vampire. So really it evened out.
Anya Jenkins was confused, they'd wanted her out of the house, they'd kicked her out of the house, they said it was all her fault but now she was gone they wanted her back. Even though she was one now, she would never understand human beings.
Xander had been thinking about that a lot lately, Buffy and himself, where they fit into each other's life and the more he thought about it the more he saw that she was drifting away from them. When had it started? Why had it started? The easy answers would be when they pulled her out of Heaven, but if he was really honest with himself it had started long before then. If he really thought about it, it had started the summer she ran away. He'd never really forgiven her for leaving them like that and she… well she had started to hold back. He knew now it was partly him lying to her about Willow trying to do the spell again, but there was something else… something he had never been able to quite put his finger on, until Willow came back from England last summer.
Guilt. It was all about guilt. She was the Slayer and they got hurt, she wasn't supposed to let that happen. Somewhere deep in the brain of Buffy Summers she was telling herself 'don't get to close they'll get hurt'.
And now he felt guilty for letting it get this far. He claimed he saw things, then how come he had never seen this before.
He didn't know much, but this he did know, it would be a very long time before Buffy Summers once again saw him as a friend and confidant.
Buffy came storming back up the street her face black as thunder, brushing past everyone she looked at Sam "Get Giles now" she growled "We go in an hour before sun set"
Not giving anyone a chance to reply she grabbed Mac by the arm and dragged her inside.
"What the…" Jack started to head inside after her when Faith walked up.
"Don't, just leave her she's got some things she needs to sort out with Mac."
Sam looked at her questioningly
"Dawn" Faith said simply
Sam nodded knowing the implications of Faith's words after her discussion with Buffy the night before.
"Ok" Faith continued "Here's what's going to happen. Sam and I are going to get Giles, we'll bring him back here and let him in on the plan…"
"Which is?" Jack interrupted
"Just a minute" Faith tried to placate him "As soon as they're out of town we hit the vineyard"
"Faith, some of those girls didn't look in to hot a condition, I want to take Janet with us to have a look at them"
Faith eyed the petite woman "You a doctor?" she asked
"Yes I am, from the sounds of it those girls need a lot more medical attention than their getting. Are many of them injured?"
Faith thought back to the last time she had seen the girls. "I think just about everyone has a minor injury or two, and there may have been more last night in the scuffle with Bringers. The worst that I know of is a broken arm, stab wounds and an eye gouged out. Xander'll defiantly need that checked"
" So you kids really are fighting a war in California" Jack mused, this disturbed him greatly, the brunette in front of him couldn't have been more than 19 or 20 and here she was battle hardened, but it was the resignation in her voice that really got to him. It was that of someone who had seen to much fighting, pain and death, and knew that their would be up soon. But there was something in her eye's that told him she wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Yeah" Faith smirked "Its been going for thousands of years and will keep going long after I kick it. Look at B, she's been goin since she was 15, I was 16 when I was roped into the fight, and it'll never stop. Not for us"
"Why would you think that" Jonas was curious about this girl, she was physically young but her mind and spirit were older through sheer experience.
"That's the way it is when you're a Slayer. Your born, you fight, you die fighting, and then you get peace. I'm kinda looking forward to it"
The members of the SGC didn't know what to say to this, anything they would have replied was interrupted by a smoking huddle sprinting towards them.
"Oy, killer find me some shade would ya. I don't fancy barbeque Spike is on the breaky menu today" The unmistakable shout of a platinum blond vampire sliced the tension into shreds.
The others jumped back shocked as Faith just laughed and opened the door to the house letting Spike go past her.
"Where in the hell have you been? We we're worried" Spike threw her a look that plainly said 'don't bullshit me I know you weren't worried'
"Ok" Faith Conceded "B was worried and I'm out of smokes"
Spike smirked at her and looked around at the others who had followed them inside "Next go down the shop, they're all abandoned and still stocked. Who's the cavalry?"
"The tall chic's Sam and the Short one's Janet." Faith looked at the three men and shrugged "Gramps, Tank and Beddable"
Jack glared
Teal'c raised an eyebrow
Jonas grinned
