Just a warning... this chapter is a little intense. I think I almost shocked my beta when I turned it over to her a few days ago. Again, be warned. I'm not going to change the rating or anything, but there is some violence and bloodshed and some pretty heavy themes in this chapter. I am so excited about the end of this story, which seems like it's in sight now. Seven chapters to go... and so much left to do!
The last chapter was a bit intense too. It was meant to be. So far you know that Kennedy is the one that is being blackmailed by Anya while her girlfriend and her girlfriend's ex are sort of chummy behind her back. And Anya... she's about to get hers once Faith gets through with her. Not to forget Buffy, who has her own say. Dawn has disappeared with Draco en route to the American Ministry, or at least one of their locations, to get their daughter back.
I think that's all I have to say for now. I'm still planning a major character death. Don't be thrown by the hints... they should basically lead you into the assumption that not all things are what they seem to be...
added June 7
I am not going to change the story rating. But I am going to set a rating for this chapter at PG-15 for violence and language.
end edit
- - - - -
Chapter 24
Mind Games
- - - - -
"Did you have a good day today, baby?"
"It was okay," Kennedy said, stirring her spoon in repetitive circles in her tea.
"How was the active training?"
"Okay."
"Kennedy?"
"Yeah?"
A frown creased Willow's face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Kennedy said softly, setting the spoon on the edge of the cup and glancing up at her girlfriend. "I'm just fine."
"You've been kind of quiet all evening," Willow observed, closing her laptop and studying Kennedy's face. "I usually take that as a sign since you never shut up."
"Hey," Kennedy teased, wrapping her cold hands around her tea mug, "just because I can't get in two words when my girl's in research mode..."
Willow shrugged and glanced down at her notebook. "I'm sorry."
Kennedy immediately felt guilty. "No... you don't have to be. I'm the one who's sorry."
Willow winced. "Doesn't matter, does it?" she asked softly. "I think we've both been busy the past few days. You've been keeping watch on our newest arrival, not to mention training day and night." She stood up and walked behind Kennedy, wrapping her arms lovingly around the younger girl's shoulders. "I love you, you know that?"
Kennedy's eyes held pain which Willow couldn't see. "I know." Willow straightened up, stretching.
"I'm going to bed," she yawned. "You coming?"
"In a bit," Kennedy said, standing up. For a moment, she hesitated. "Wil?"
Willow turned around behind her. "Yeah?"
"I love you too," Kennedy said with a shaky smile.
"Oh, Kennedy," Willow said with a quiet smile as Kennedy rushed into Willow's arms. "I know you do."
Kennedy glanced up at her. "I always will, no matter what happens."
Willow tucked a lock of Kennedy's dark hair behind her ear. "You're my girl now... you know that?"
Kennedy smiled again, but her smile faltered as Willow swept into her bedroom and closed the door. Kennedy glanced longingly at the door leading back out into the hallway. She knew the other Slayers would be waiting for her. She took her tea and pushed open the door, stepping out into the hall.
She turned and ran into a wall. Literally a wall.
She cried out as Faith lifted her off the ground and pinned her to the opposite wall. The tea mug fell from her trembling hand and shattered on the tile.
"Whatever game it is you're playing, stop it," Faith ordered in her cold, emotionless voice. "Or you'll have more than just me on your back."
Kennedy gasped as Faith let go and walked away.
Across the hall, Willow opened the door and stepped out, wrapping herself in a bathrobe. "Kennedy? Is everything all right? I heard something break."
"M-My glass," Kennedy said in a shaking voice, pointing a trembling hand toward the shattered mug. "I'll take care of it... j-just go back to bed..."
"Honey, you're all clammy... and you're shaking..." Willow said, stepping over the glass and reaching out to her. "Baby..."
"Don't touch me," Kennedy said shrilly, backing away. "I... I can't... I'm sorry... I just can't..."
Without so much as another glance at Willow, Kennedy took off down the hall. By the time she had reached the dormitory, she was in tears and even more shaky than she was during the encounter with Faith. "What am I going to do?" she asked the quiet night. "What the hell am I going to do?"
- - - - -
Buffy put down the phone into its cradle with a sigh. "That's all there is for it," she said softly to the vampire sitting across from her.
"We'll find her," Spike promised gently. "I promise."
"I still can't believe it," Buffy said with a sigh. "Dawn's disappeared... reminds me of the good old days."
"She'll turn up," Spike said with a resigned sigh. "She always does before the end."
Buffy stood up and turned away, trying to gather her thoughts. "What bugs me is... what if Faith is right? What if someone convinced Dawn to get off campus and to do something stupid?"
"Are you thinking of a certain former demon who just happened to show up a mere three days ago?" Spike asked curiously from behind her.
"I'm definitely suspicious," Buffy replied.
"Just suspicions?" a voice asked from the doorway.
"Faith?" Buffy asked, turning around. "What is it?"
"A hell of a lot more trouble than you think," she replied, stepping into Buffy's office and taking the spare black leather armchair next to Spike. "Remember what Robin and I told you about that Warren guy and Anya? And remember last night when you and I nearly got blown up by the van of geekdom? We know Anya's involved. And we know that Lupin guy tried to warn you of someone deceiving us."
"Your point being..."
"The point is," Faith replied, kicking her feet up on the desk, "Anya may have gotten someone else involved in her dirty work. You said that this Warren was a master at spells and stuff. Really handy when you need a mixed bag of goodies. Anya's good at the whole selling gig. Who's the pitchfork?"
"You seriously have to stop watching those horrid films," Spike said, shaking his head in awe.
"No," Buffy said, shaking her head, "I think she's on to something."
"Kennedy," Faith said with a firm nod.
"Now thinking she's not," Buffy said, her brows furrowing in confusion. "What?"
"I think Kennedy is involved," Faith admitted. "She and Anya were talking about Dawn earlier. And I think Kennedy isn't the wronged party here... Anya's definitely pulling the strings."
"So now we have to find Kennedy," Buffy said, thinking, "that's easy enough."
Faith bit her lip and glanced away. "I think we need to deal with Anya first... when I was... eavesdropping... she said something about the final phase. And it dealt with Dawn."
Buffy sighed. "Okay. Let's try this. Find Anya. Bring Anya here. Throttle Anya for information. Find Kennedy. Find out what the hell Kennedy was thinking by listening to someone who has been dead for four years. And then I'll call Angel again and see if we can do anything about finding Dawn. So much to deal with and so little time."
"I'll take care of Anya," Faith offered, standing up. "I think I could really use an outlet."
"Just make sure she's conscious enough to talk," Buffy ordered. "Spike... I want you to find Giles and the other Watchers. Tell them what has been going on. They need to know. Also, wake up Tara and Willow. I'm going to go and pay Kennedy a little visit. And then I'm going to contact the Ministry." She clapped her hands together. "We all have our work cut out for us... so let's hop to it."
- - - - -
Dawn awoke from a sudden noise. She gasped, looking around. She was relieved to see she was sitting in a car, driving above the speed limit on the Interstate heading east. Next to her, Draco was still dozing quietly.
In the driver's seat, Warren kept his eyes on the road, but Dawn noticed his hands twitching on the steering wheel.
"How much farther do we have to go?" Dawn asked, squinting to see the time on the dashboard clock.
Warren gasped and jerked the wheel, stunned that someone had spoken. "Geez! Don't do that!"
"I'm sorry," Dawn said quietly, and she meant it. "I was just asking how much further we have to go..."
"Vegas," Warren replied quickly. "We're about an hour out. We're hitching a sky ride all the way from there. It'll take less time that way."
"Considering it took us almost five hours just to walk to your location?" she asked coldly.
"We had to take precautions," Warren said in the same jerky voice. "We didn't want to disappoint the buyers before we damaged the goods."
Dawn's eyes clouded with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Look," Warren said, cutting off her thoughts, "my orders were to deliver you to her. I'm not the one you should be asking questions to."
"Who?" Dawn asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
"You'll find out soon enough," he promised.
They kept driving on in silence.
- - - - -
Bang.
The door to Anya's single room flew open. Faith stood in the doorway, her eyes adjusting to the dim light inside. She took a step inside, her eyes scanning the room. "Anya!" she called.
Silence.
Faith took another step in.
Suddenly, the door slammed shut and a heavy object collided with the side of Faith's head. Faith groaned as she was thrown, both by the light disappearing and the blunt object. As she hit the ground, she kicked out, tripping Anya, who cried out as she flew to the side and landed with a crash, shattering something.
Faith leapt to her feet. "Don't make me do this."
"Oh, come on," Anya's teasing voice sounded around her. "You know you want to."
"All right then," Faith agreed. "Let's get it over with."
"What does Buffy the goddess-saver want now?" Anya spat out.
"Your head," Faith said angrily. "All the little pretty tendons above your neck included."
Anya laughed, a sharp sound in the dark room. "Bring it on, Slay-bitch. I can't wait to bring your worthless self down."
Faith kicked out, easily making contact with the other woman. Anya let out a cry before pummeling into Faith, the two women slamming against the wall. Faith pushed out, trying to get the other woman off of her, but Anya's hands found their way in the darkness to Faith's neck and were closing in. Summoning her own powers, Faith slammed her head against Anya's, sending the former demon reeling backwards. With a second kick, Anya was on the ground.
Faith went in for the final blow when Anya rolled to the side, kicking out herself as Faith landed hard on an old table, smashing it into boards. As she got up again, a sharp blow came to her face, spinning her back down onto the rubble.
Faith took Anya's gloating sighs as fuel as she snapped back to her feet, her eyes making out Anya's shady figure in the darkness. Taking a deep breath, she ran forward, latching onto Anya before the two pummeled through the suite door and into the hallway.
There were gasps and cries from outside. A door at the end of the hall opened and both Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger came out. Both were dressed in robes and both were stunned to see one of the Slayers and a guest fighting in the hallway.
Anya jumped up, using a swift uppercut to get past Faith, who bent down and used her own legs to kick Anya's feet from underneath her.
Hermione was on guard the instant Anya approached them. Drawing out her wand, she cried out "Stupify!"
And it was all over.
Faith stood up, touching a small cut on her lip that Anya had broken open when she'd punched her. "Thanks for that," she said crisply, bending over Anya, who was still conscious but unable to move. "I better get her to Buffy. You guys can go back to bed."
That said, she lifted Anya up. "You're gonna pay for what you've done," Faith hissed in her ear. "When Buffy gets through with you, you'll wish you were still buried under all that rubble in Sunnydale."
"Wow," Ginny said quietly as she and Hermione went back inside their room.
"Wow is right," Hermione said quietly, glancing at the closed door before settling back down on her bed.
Earlier that day, she and Ginny as well as Harry and Ron had been called to a meeting by the Slayer and the group of Watchers. Draco had disappeared and Dawn was the confirmed reason of that. Harry had contacted the Ministry, which hadn't been a happy moment. Especially since Lucius Malfoy had been arraigned that day for his activities during Dawn's disappearance.
Hermione shook her head as she put her head on the pillow. She knew there was something going on, something much deeper than she thought. There would be time for all of it in the morning.
- - - - -
"You summoned me?"
Buffy glanced up from the soft fire in the library and turned to see Kennedy standing at the double doors. "Yeah, I did. Come on in."
Kennedy stepped into the room, her eyes on the fireplace.
"Have a seat," Buffy offered, gesturing toward a stiff, winged back chair. "We need to talk."
"I thought we might," Kennedy said quietly. "When did you find out?"
"I didn't," Buffy replied, taking the chair on the other side of Kennedy's. "Faith did."
Kennedy chuckled, shaking her head, feeling all of her resolve giving up. "She came to me. She kept telling me that Willow... that Willow would hurt me. Now that Tara's alive, nothing could keep them apart. She played me."
"She's good at that," Buffy replied. "She's Anya."
"At first, she asked me to get her a few things... a photograph, a necklace... they were all Willow's."
Buffy's brow furrowed. "Did she tell you why?"
"All she said was that they were some part of a final phase," Kennedy sighed. "They needed to gather Willow's things for a spell."
"A spell..." Buffy gasped. Things were suddenly clicking into place. "Did you see Dawn?"
"Anya told her how to get to her daughter," Kennedy replied. "I was just doing this to protect her... but now you know."
Buffy could feel the anger underneath the surface. "What you did to Willow and to me... you betrayed us. Willow loves you, Kennedy, she trusted you! How could you do... I'm not even going to justify my own anger. What about Dawn? You were asked to protect her. You might as well have just killed her."
"I love Dawn," Kennedy said forcefully. "I would never hurt her."
"And yet you sent her to the American Ministry?" Buffy asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "You know what they did to her there. You know they tortured her. They violated her!"
"I...I..."
"You let her play with your mind," Buffy said in a low voice, slowly gaining fire, "you let her play you. And she did, beautifully. You betrayed all of us because she blackmailed you, I get that. Why didn't you come to me? You can trust me, Kennedy. I didn't want to think I would ever have a reason why I couldn't trust you. But now I know. I can't trust you. If you sway at the simplest twinge of words... when will you betray me to the point where I die? Where the others Slayers die? Slayers aren't killers."
"I know that..."
"So do I."
"Willow?" Kennedy gasped, jumping up and turning around.
Willow and Tara, along with Giles and a few of the other Watchers were all gathered behind them.
"Oh, my God," Kennedy moaned.
"What have you done?" Willow asked, stopping just shy of Kennedy and facing her. "The necklace... the pictures? Kennedy... why?"
"I had to," Kennedy whispered, feeling her eyes fill with tears. "I was so afraid I was going to lose you... to her."
"Do you not know what you gave them?" Tara asked harshly, stepping in front of Willow. "You gave them ingredients for a spell. If they can play Willow, they might as well be playing God."
"I... I..."
"You know what they're going to do with the spell," Willow said, realization dawning on her face.
"Th-They plan to restore Dawn's key energy," Kennedy admitted, wiping her eyes.
There was a collective gasp in the room.
"Why?" Willow asked in a tiny voice. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
"I didn't know how," Kennedy sighed.
"What is this about restoring Dawn?" Tara demanded.
"I...I..."
"Why ask her?" a cold voice cut in from the corner. "Why not just ask the gift horse herself?"
"Anya," Buffy concluded, standing up. "Why don't you come in?"
Anya let out a gasp of pain as Faith dragged her into the room. "Glad to oblige."
Faith let go of her roughly and Anya stumbled forward. "You know you can't break me. You don't have the time. Your precious Dawn is about to become history. The world as you know it is about to fall... and if she creates the new order... none of you today will survive. And the world will be ours."
"You're delusional," Buffy said coldly, stepping right in front of Anya. "You should have stayed dead."
"Shouldn't you be telling that to yourself?" Anya asked in a sugar-coated voice. "Oh, I know how much you love being alive. It's all fantastic and yet... you once told me all Slayers have a death wish. If you're all here when they're brought forth... no more Slayers can be called. Willow decided to end the line at the last battle. It's her mistake. And it's her power that's about to bring the world to it's knees." She turned to Willow. "You wanted to destroy the world... congratulations. You did it."
Willow stepped behind her. "You're a bitch, Anya."
"At least I'll be alive after you abandoned me," Anya taunted.
Buffy choked out a sharp laugh. "You want to see the world end?" she asked, stepping forward and grabbing Anya by the shoulders. "You're not going to see the light of day."
"You played me!" Kennedy accused, pointing at her.
"Did I?" Anya asked in her cold voice. "I thought you were playing her... you were so eager to watch her die..."
"What?" Willow gasped, turning to Kennedy.
"That's not true," Kennedy snapped.
"Get out of here," Buffy said in an icy tone. "Just get out of my sight."
Kennedy glared at her a moment before complying.
"The rest of you... go. I'll deal with this myself."
Buffy glanced up as Faith nodded and the others bowed out. She met Anya's eyes with what she hoped was intimidation but found a sharp look of defiance bouncing back. Obviously Anya wasn't going to play by the rules. "I almost killed you once, I can do it again."
"I'm already dead," Anya chided. "You can't do anything to me."
"Wanna bet?" Buffy asked icily, walking over to her desk and lifting up a sterling letter opener. With her other hand, she brushed her fingers over the smooth surface and a soft blue light. "I'm going to give you to the count of ten to start telling me something damned relevant before I use this."
"You think I'm afraid of you?" Anya asked softly.
In the blink of an eye, Buffy launched herself across the room, holding the sharp opener at Anya's heart. "Just give me a reason... give me one reason..."
"You can't take a human life," Anya said, a smirk fluttering on her lips. "You don't have the guts."
A darkness flashed in her eyes. "You have no idea how many lives I've had to take these past few years... I have no right to kill anyone... but I did. It saved the world. And I know that this world is a lot better without you in it... again."
"Such a nice thing to say to someone who used to be one of your friends," Anya spat out, the cool, sarcastic exterior disappearing. Her eyes turned hard, her face like stone. "But you said it yourself... a Slayer isn't a killer."
"And you said it yourself, a few minutes ago I believe, that you are already dead."
"So are you!" Anya pointed out.
"I'm counting," Buffy said, pushing the edge of the blade onto Anya's skin. "I'm not afraid to use this."
Anya's cold exterior melded back into her nonchalant cool. "You forget... I'm not tied down," she spat, using the opportunity to backhand the Slayer across the face and kick her weapon away. "You're all so predicta-- aaaah!"
Buffy slowly got to her knees, her fingers touching the trace of blood left behind from Anya's blow. "Good timing," she said, greeting the figure who now held Anya by the neck several inches off the ground.
"What do we do with her?" Angel asked, watching as Anya twisted and clawed at his face and hands. "She's so cute and little."
"I summoned Irina," Buffy replied, setting the sterling letter opener back in its holder. She will be here soon. But before she comes... I want to know one thing." She stood up and walked over to Anya, who looked perilously close to passing out. "Where do I find my sister?"
Anya gazed at her with eyes lacking warmth and humanity. "Go to hell."
Angel tightened his grip. "I'd tell her if I were you, dead girl... or I'll make you very, very sorry you ever came back."
The light began to die in her eyes. "You're all going to die... and if we're really lucky... so will the wizard and the witch..." Her eyes opened, but they were glassy and unfocused. "All of you... are about to die... and if the line is broken... it'll never exist again... and nothing that happened here today... will be... remembered."
Angel dropped her unconscious form unceremoniously at Buffy's feet as the portal with Irina arrived.
"Bring me Kennedy," Buffy ordered coldly. "Now."
- - - - -
The helicopter was already waiting for them in a large field outside of Las Vegas. Dawn and Draco ran toward the large black egg-shaped machine.
Once inside, the aircraft lifted off and flew quickly due east.
There was someone sitting next to the pilot. She didn't speak until Warren and the black car were far away from them. Finally, she turned around, removing the headpiece. "Dawn Summers, we meet at last."
"Who are you?" Dawn yelled over the sound of the blades above them.
"My name is Lilah," she introduced herself. "I'll be your liasion to the Ministry. We'll be arriving within a few hours, if you want to rest up." For the first time, her eyes flickered over to Draco. "Who's your friend?"
"Joy's father," Dawn said roughly.
Lilah's eyebrows lifted in surprise. As she turned to settle back in her seat and replaced the headpiece, she noticed the pilot wore the same look of concern as she probably did.
"Well now," she muttered under her breath, "this certainly complicates things."
- - - - -
To be continued...
Chapter 25: A breakup, a shakeup, a reunion and a death.