Cast: Buffy, Spike, Dawn, Faith
Guest Stars: Eric, Demon Guide
Buffy walked through the graveyard, patrolling, as always. She hadn't seen anything yet, another slow night. "God, I'm getting tired of this.
How about sending me something to fight?" she said out loud. She
stopped by a headstone, and hopped up onto it, seating herself. It
had been a week since Angel left. She missed him. She had wanted him
to stay there forever, but she knew he had his own problems to deal
with in L.A.
There was one thing she couldn't figure out. Why was she acting the
way she was? Forgetting things, latching onto Angel, being so crappy
to Dawn that one day, threatening her with going to Juvie Hall. It
was like she was a completely different person. A completely
different Buffy. Something similar had happened to her when she came
back from the dead, but she hadn't died this time, only gone into a
coma. Maybe that had something to do with it, though Buffy didn't
know what.
The next thing she knew, Buffy was on the ground. She turned her head
to see what was behind her. "Oh, of course, answer my prayer when I'm
least expecting it," Buffy said, lifting herself off the ground. She
punched the vampire in the face, sending it backwards a few steps,
and allowing Buffy to get a running start to spin-kick it in its
head. The vampire quickly hopped up, and swung at Buffy but she
dodged. Buffy went in for a punch, but the vampire kicked her in the
chest, sending her flying into a headstone, and then falling to the
ground.
"I'm gonna kill you Slayer," it growled while she was still down. It
started advancing on her.
"If I had a dime for everytime-" it picked her up by the throat as
she stood up, and held her high into the air.
"I wasn't lying," the vampire said, as Buffy squirmed to get
out of its grasp. This hadn't happened to her in a long time. Most of
the regular, everyday vamps were beneath her. Minute dusts, nothing
more. But this one. He was strong.
She started loosing air, and began to gasp. She dug at its hands
around her throat with her own hands, desperately trying to the vamp
to let go of her. In a last ditch effort, Buffy swung her legs up and
wrapped them around the vampire's arm, twisting its arm along with
her legs and breaking it, thus releasing its grasp on her neck, and
dropping her to the ground.
She kneeled momentarily, to catch her breath, before spinning on the
ground to trip the vampire, making it fall down. This gave her time
to get up. Once she was up, and the vamp was up, she punched it in
the face, then kicked it, and continued the combo until the vampire's
back was against the mausoleum, about 10 feet away. Buffy grabbed the
stake from her pocket and rammed it into the vampires chest. Looking
up from the stake to the vampires face before he turned to dust, a
look of shock came over her.
"Buffy......." it uttered, in a familiar voice.
"ANGEL NO!" Buffy yelled, recognizing the vampire. Despair, shock,
trauma, and every other emotion came flooding into her, in one big
lump. As the vampires body turned to dust, its face turned back to
look the way it once did. It was not Angel.
Dust fell to the ground, as did Buffy. She gasped for air. She felt
like she was suffocating. What was going on?
Faith knew Buffy was going to be patrolling, and she was bored, so
she went to go find her.
While she was walking through the graveyard she heard Buffy:
"ANGEL NO!"
Faith took off at a run. When she got to Buffy the vamp was dust and
Buffy was gasping.
"B? Are you ok?" Faith rushed over to her.
Buffy looked up to see Faith approaching. "Yea, I'm fine," Buffy
said, standing up. "Just had a little off moment there," she said,
brushing her pants off. She ran her hand over the side of her head,
brushing back the hair that had come loose from her bun. "So whatcha
doing? Get bored?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, and back where I was, there wasn't much demony action, so I'm a
little out of touch you could say." She looked at Buffy,
"But don't."
Faith walked with Buffy a little bit and then it came to her,
"What were you screaming about? Did I hear Angel?"
"Yea, you heard Angel. Something weird is going on. Someone's trying
to mess with me, and I've got to find out who it is," Buffy said,
confiding a little more than she would have originally liked
to. "Things have been happenings lately that I don't understand. But
hey, what else is new right?" Buffy walked along, waiting for the
next vampire to dust. "When we get back I'll have to go over the
prophecy with you."
There was a whirl of color. People came running from the hospital.
It was going up in flames, and fast. Some patients had been pulled
out, others were obviously more critical and couldn't walk. Like the
coma patients. Buffy's eyes flew open as flames surrounded her bed.
There was little chance of escape and she looked weak. Dawn ran in.
What could she do. "Dear, God." She murmured. As she tried to reach
Buffy, who was reaching as far as she could to Dawn, Someone pulled
Dawn away. "No!" She screamed. The figure carried her until she was
outside and far away from the hospital. Dawn glared up at Angel,
frustrated and hurt. "I knew you were up to something!" He went vamp
face and she screamed.
Dawn shot up on the couch, screaming and clutching her neck. She
pulled her hand away, checking for blood. "Dammit all." She moved to
turn on more lights. She also changed the television
channel. "America's Most Haunted Places" or some such. She rubbed at
her eyes where the tears seemed to be waiting to fall. "Stupid
child." She said to herself. "Scared of the dark. And talking to
yourself." She sighed.
"That's probably a good idea, I've been here over a week and we
still haven't done that." They continued to walk when a vamp came
out of nowhere. Faith reacted instantly, she sent the vampire into a
tomb with one kick.
Then she realized she didn't even have a stake with her.
"Hey B, You got a pointy? I seem to be without one tonight."
Faith continued to hit, kick, and throw the vamp, hoping that Buffy
was a little more prepared then her.
'Dammit' she thought to herself. 'How could I let B think I slipped?'
Buffy reached into her back pocket and threw Faith the stake
nonchalantly. Faith made with the staking and tossed the stake back
to Buffy. "No problem," Buffy said, continuing to walk along. "You
know, that is probably the 5th vampire I've seen since you've been
here? You'd think that with me being in a coma that they'd all come
running to reek havoc on this town, but they didn't. Weird huh?"
Buffy reached another tombstone and sat on it. "I've been getting
bored actually having time to myself lately. I used to wish I didn't
have to do this job, but now I wish there was more to do."
Suddenly, Buffy heard a horribly loud scream. "What was that?" Buffy
said. She looked at Faith who was dumbfounded. Buffy heard it again,
only, not with her ears, in her head. She quickly recognized it as
Dawn, despite her forgetfulness lately, and whipped out her cell
phone. She pressed 1, and the phone quickly dialed her home number.
Buffy waited anxiously for Dawn to answer.
"Ah! God!" Dawn screamed again as the phone rang, scaring her out of
her skin. She shook it off, mentally smacked herself, and found the
phone. Maybe it was Willow. Dawn hadn't really talked to her lately
and she missed her. "Hello?" She answered. Though she tried to have
a stable voice, it sounded forced, even to her own ears. She took
deep breaths. Once she heard Buffy on the other end, so worried and
comforting, Dawn lost it. The tears rolled down her face as she
gasped, trying to control her emotions. There was no excuse to be
like this. It was that dream. Damn you stupid subconscious thoughts!
"Yeah that's a little strange, maybe they went some place else? Who just screamed?" Suddenly, Buffy's expression changed and she took out her cell phone and called someone. "You okay, B? You look a little flustered."
Buffy looked at Faith. She didn't reply to her questions yet. "Dawn,
are you okay?" Buffy said into the phone, worried about her sister.
She covered the phone with her hand and looked over to Faith. "You
heard it to?" Buffy whispered, wondering why Faith had heard it. As
she waited for Dawn's reply, Buffy figured that the Slayers were
linked mentally, so whatever Faith heard, Buffy heard, and vice versa.
That had to be the reason.
Faith looked at Buffy strangely, "Umm of course I heard it B."
But Faith was beginning to get worried about whoever was on the
phone, and her last line had been barely a whisper.
"Yea, I'm fine," Dawn forced through the phone. She didn't want to
stay at that house. She needed to go somewhere she knew she would be
safe. Somewhere she could get away. "Buffy, could I sleepover at a
friends house tonight?" Dawn asked.
Buffy paused. She didn't know whether or not to let Dawn stay over
somewhere. She could be going to one of the friends house that she
didn't need to be at. "Yea, I guess. But not a friend who will get
you into trouble. And leave a phone number on the kitchen table."
Dawn sighed. Would Buffy ever trust her? "Okay, will do. Bye," Dawn
said, hanging up. She did as Buffy instructed and quickly left.
Buffy hung her cell phone up. "Dawn. That's whose scream it was," Buffy
said. "She's fine." Buffy walked along with Faith. "There's not much
action here. Why don't we go back to the house and review that
prophecy?" Buffy suggested.
"Sure, B, it's your call. But everything is ok with the little one?
That was kinda spooky, where was she?" Faith said looking up ahead,
thinking they would see her soon, they had just heard her scream
after all.
Spike sauntered through the cemetery looking for a bit
of action. He was restless tonight for some reason and
needed to work it off with a good fight. Hearing
panicking voices up ahead he picked up his pace and
managed to catch the end of a conversation between
Faith and Buffy about Dawn. "What's up with niblett?
Is she ok?" he asked concerned.
"She's fine," Buffy said to Faith, and directed it to Spike as he
approached. "She was at the house. I'm not sure why I heard her.
That's over a mile away," Buffy said, continuing to walk
along. "She's staying at a friends house for tonight, perhaps for the
best," Buffy said.
She, Faith, and Spike arrived at her house, entering through the
front door. Buffy went into the kitchen to see if Dawn had done as
she had instructed, and she had. Walking into the dining room, Buffy
picked up the small piece of parchment that held the prophecy, if
that's what it could be called. She walked into the living room
and handed it to Faith.
"As near as we can figure out, it means that Cordelia will have a
vision that will kill her, and basically your end of the world kind
of thing," Buffy said calmly. "What else is new, right?"
"Yeah it does sound pretty standard. But what's this part at the end
mean?" Faith looked up from the prophecy and to Buffy.
"Who's going to run?" She looked from Buffy to Spike.
"That's the part we-- I mean that I'm not clear on," Buffy said,
quickly getting rid of the 'we' reference since Angel was no longer
there. "I'm not sure who's going to run. It could be me, it could be
you, Spike, or anyone else who has saved the world at one time or
another. Even Angel," Buffy mentioned. "So there's four
possibilities, and there is no eliminating any of them. I know we can
all sit here and say that we would never run from something that we
had to fight, we don't know what the circumstances that this prophecy
is referring to, so we can't accurately answer anything just yet."
Buffy sat down in a chair. "I'm so tired of stupid prophecies that I
could puke. Did the old prophets have nothing better to do with their
lives than to sit home and plan our doom?"
"Angel knew about this right? Before he left? Maybe that counts?
They can be very vague. Has anyone tried to do any research on it?"
Faith looked at Buffy and then
"What about Giles?"
"Yes, Angel knew about this before he left, but I doubt that is what
it is referring to. This is talking about someone fleeing from the
enormous fight that we are to face, whatever that fight may be."
Buffy paused when Faith mentioned Giles. She hadn't heard from him in
a while. "We've done research. We have already deciphered what you
read in English there. The actual prophecy is in some ancient
language, predating the universe, if that is at all possible. As for
Giles, he's in Europe at the moment, dealing with the Watcher's
crisis." Buffy noted Faith's puzzled look. "The Watchers Council
Headquarters was destroyed, along with all the Watchers. Giles said,
the last time he called, that he had be notified of two other
Watchers who were not at the Headquarters, and he is going to locate
them and bring them here."
"Oh well that's good. I can't believe I didn't think of him until now.
Anyway, what can I do to help with this prophecy thing? I'm not too
good with the researching but I can try. I much prefer to just crack
some skulls."
Faith waited for Buffy to tell her what to do.
Spike had been standing off to the side, listening
intently to Buffy and Faith. "So what do we have to do
Buffy? Is there anyone who knows about this that we
can pummel for info?" he said with a smirk as he
winked at Faith. "Nice to have you back slayer. Feel
good to be back on the side of good?" he asked.
"Oh but of course, Spike, I like your attitude to, I guess we are
the 'mean muscle' of the group huh? Have you seen the prophecy yet?"
Faith asked, she looked at Spike trying to think of how Buffy could
have dated two vampires. 'But when you look at both of them mmmm
they are very hot' Faith thought to herself while looking at Spike.
Buffy listened to the both of them questioning her. "Well, to be
honest I don't really know what to do at this point. I guess we'll
just have to play things out, take them as they come to us, like
usual. Other than that, there's not much we can do. There are no
leads as to who threw this thing at my front door, so I wouldn't even
know how to start looking for them, and maybe its better not to."
Buffy walked into the dining room and sat down in one of the chairs.
The other two followed. "The only thing I can be completely sure
about is this," she said, holding up the pendant. "Angel told me that
the only thing he knew about it was that it would protect you if you
put it on, but that you couldn't put it on unless you needed it
because if you did, whatever form it made you take would become your
form forever, and there would be no changing back."
Buffy suddenly pinched her eyes shut, and slammed the palm of her hand
to her forehead, wincing in pain.
Faith walked toward Buffy and put her arm under hers to keep her
from falling.
"B, what's going on? Are you ok?" Faith said to Buffy while looking
toward Spike.
"Hey Spike find a place where we can sit her down." Faith said
to Spike, concerned about Buffy.
Buffy could hear neither Faith nor Spike speaking. She was in a sort
of pre-cognitive state. She was conscious, but she couldn't
communicate, or hear anything. The only sense that was working was
her sight. She remained still, limp, as Faith held her up. She had no
idea what was happening to her. She tried to scream, but it was no
use. A demon entered the dining room behind Spike, and passed right
through him as if it were a ghost. Neither Faith nor Spike could see
the demon.
It was rather ugly, to be honest. Yellow in color, with huge claw-
like hands, and humongous spikes sticking out of the top part of its
back and head. It walked toward Buffy, coming for her, but she
couldn't move. Faith couldn't see it. Spike couldn't see it. What was
its purpose there?
Dawn had forgotten some things for her sleepover. She had called the
one "friend" she still talked to that she had before she went "bad."
The girls decided to go to the mall. Dawn realized that she had
forgotten her purse which contained her money and much of her make-
up. She entered the front door. "Buffy?" She called out as she began
to ascend the stairs. Then she heard the commotion in the
kitchen. "Faith?" Dawn entered the kitchen to see Buffy in Faith's
arms. She ran in. In a rather panicked state. This could not happen.
She couldn't lose Buffy...Not again. "Dear God! Spike! What's wrong
with her?" She stared at her sister with all the concern she
possessed.
Buffy saw Dawn enter, though her eyes were still closed. She wanted
to tell her to leave, to get out of the house, away from the demon,
but she couldn't move. The demon she had seen entered the room behind
Spike, approached her, and took her hand. Buffy's spirit was lifted
from her still limp body, and the demon and Buffy walked out of the
room.
They reached the front door, and Buffy let go of the demon's
hand. "Wait. What the hell is going on? Where are we going?" she
asked, but it did not answer. It only beckoned for her to follow, and
for some reason she couldn't object.
Opening the front door and stepping through, Buffy found herself
standing in mid-air, next to the demon. The sight she saw was
unparalleled to any she had beheld before. A world of flames,
everything within her sight was on fire and smoke filled the very
thick air. Everything was reduced to ashes, and the few things left
burning were nothing more than a few trees. She looked down to the
ground, and noticed a black strip lacing the dirt. Was it a road?
Where was she?
"Where--" she started to ask, but instantly knew. The voice of the
demon spoke inside her head, while the demon standing beside her made
no movement. Yes, she was in her own world. "But what--" she started
again. 2004. Buffy's jaw dropped. She was in her own present time,
but in the future. How many months in the future? 4. 4 months was all
she had to stop whatever caused this.
"Take me away," Buffy said. The demon took her hand, and they
disappeared.
Faith wasn't sure what was going on and she didn't think that Dawn
needed to see what was happening, she had already been through so
much and plus she actually liked the girl.
"Spike, she's gone completely limp, we need to get her to a couch or
to a bed, quick. Dawn, call an ambulance, I am not to sure what's
going on." Faith told each of them, trying to take control.
She carried Buffy to the couch in her living room. She laid her down
very carefully and kneeled next to the body.
"B? B? Gimme some reason to know your there, Come on B."
Dawn looked at Faith. "This cannot be happening." She muttered in a
distressed voice as she reached for the phone. She dialed 911
immediately. As soon as an operator answered, she began to lose
it. "Umm, my sister she's unconscious. We don't know what it is. She
just fell." Dawn gave her address and as soon as the operator
mentioned someone being on the way, she hung up. She may not have
been supposed to, but she had to get back to Buffy. She ran into the
living room with Faith. Buffy was looking worse than Dawn felt even
resembled healthy. She looked up at Spike. "I can't deal with this
again." Her eyes again fell to Buffy's face.
Faith felt bad for Dawn she didn't want her watching this.
"Dawn go get a blanket for Buffy she feels a little cold," which was
a lie but a blanket could help.
"Spike," when Dawn was out of the room. "Is this how she looked when
she was in the coma?"
Faith was really scared and waited for the paramedics to get there.
Buffy's face was discolored, however, not in a way that one would
assume she had fought. The discoloration, rather, was that of an
extreme pale, as if she had been dead for a few days, but she was
still breathing. She was still very much alive, however unaware of
the events happening around her. The demon had lifted her spirit from
her body, so there was nothing to answer to them, nothing in Buffy's
body that would make her wake up. And for that reason, it was a sheer
miracle that Buffy somehow managed to answer Faith, in her calls to
the limp, and seemingly lifeless body. She muttered only one
word "Okay," which escaped with extreme coldness from between her
thin lips. She hoped that it would let them know she was all right.
In the world that the demon had taken her to, Buffy still held the
oversized and extremely revolting hand of the demon. It had never
offered her a name, so she was still unsure of how to address, or if
to address it at all.
They stopped in a place Buffy had never seen before, though it was
still somewhat familiar. White halls, and white tile floors. Doctors
and nurses scurrying about, tending to each one of their different
patients. She was in a hospital. The demon led her down the hall, and
a nurse ran right through her, causing Buffy to stop for a moment and
catch her proverbial breath, as she couldn't breath in this state,
there was no need to. The demon beckoned for her to follow quickly,
and she received the sense that they hadn't much time in which to
complete whatever mission the demon had set out for her.
The both of them stopped at a door, and the demon simply pointed at
it. Buffy was hesitant at first to look at it, but she felt she had
to. "Okay Mr. Marley's ghost, I'll look," she said, stepping up to
the door and looking into the small square window. Her jaw dropped.
Blinking at Faith, Dawn nodded and walked upstairs. She opened the
spare closet and pulled out a blanket. Once she shut the door, she
leaned against it and closed her eyes. The pain was too real for her
to hide it with sarcasm. She straightened up and wiped at the few
tears that had fallen from her eyes. She walked back downstairs,
stopping at the bottom. She heard Faith question Spike. He hated to
talk about this stuff, she knew him that well. Dawn waited for him
to answer Faith. He had to get it out of his system some time. At
least, that's what Dawn told herself. In all honesty, she just
didn't want to see Buffy all pale, looking like death warmed over.
She wiped at the tears again.
As she looked through the window, Buffy couldn't believe what she
saw. Inside the room, were white padded walls. There was no window to
look out from inside the room, save for the one Buffy was currently
looking through. Inside sat a young girl, no older than 18, with
brown hair down to her shoulders that was terribly knotted. As far as
Buffy could tell, her skin was rather pale, and she was thin framed.
Her left arm lay on the white tile floor, while her right arm was
raised, so she could twirl her hair in-between her fingers. She stared
absentmindedly at the wall, and her face was turned away so that Buffy
couldn't identify her.
Buffy looked to the demon, wanting to ask who it was, and wanting to
know why she somehow recognized her, but couldn't tell who she was
because her face was hidden. A bright idea then came to her. Make
some noise. Buffy tried to knock on the door, but her hand went right
through. "Of course, spirit form and all. Thank you scary demony
thing," she said. So, instead of making noise, she decided instead,
to enter the room. She walked right through the door.
Advancing slowly, unsure of whether or not the demented girl would
notice her, as insane ones always notice things that the sane people do
not, Buffy took only a few steps until she was standing in the middle
of the white room. She squatted down slowly, pressing the palms of
her hands against the floor. She did a kind of hop/crawl towards the
girl. "Hey," she said softly, trying to be comforting without knowing
what she was appeasing.
The girl looked up quickly, and her eyes darted around the
room. "What?!? Who's there?!?!" she said, extremely startled.
Buffy couldn't believe who it was. "Dawn....." she said lowly. "Dawn,
what's wrong? What's the matter? Why are you here?" Buffy fired off
questions as soon as they came to her mind.
The fragile girl started laughing. "Hehehehe.......people talk to me
you know, but they don't know that I'm saying...........They think I'm
crazy, but I'm not. They're the crazy ones........"
"Dawn, oh god," Buffy said, going over to her and hugging her, trying
not to put her arms through Dawn's body.
Dawn moved quickly, sliding herself to the other side of the room,
not wanting to be near Buffy, or so she thought. "Stay away from me!
I don't believe in ghosts! They aren't real! You bitch! You bitch!
Stay away!"
Buffy stood, slowly, and walked over to Dawn. "Shhhh, it's okay,"
Buffy said. If she could have cried she would have. Another
inconvenience? Or was it more of a convenience?
"No no no! Stay away! Stay away you mangy beast!" Dawn screamed, and
then started barking at the floor as if there were really a dog
there. "We don't have a dog, there is no dog! Dogs don't exist!" Her
eyes shot up at Buffy, as if she had just noticed she was there. "You
again. You left me, and you should stay gone. You're nothing more
than a deserter, nothing for me you have. GO AWAY!" Dawn turned
towards the wall. She started flopping against it, as if the wall
where the ground, and Dawn a fish out of water. Her body dropped to
the floor, her eyes nothing but white as they had rolled up into her
eye sockets.
A nurse opened the door and quickly walked in with a male technician,
who held Dawn down to the floor as the nurse stuck a needle into the
elbow-pit on her arm. Then they both carried her over to a bed, that
Buffy had just noticed was inside the room, and strapped her wrists
and ankles to it. As they both left, Buffy glanced one last time at
Dawn. She then walked over to the door, through it, and looked at the
demon. "Take me back now."
Spike was frozen as he watched Faith and Dawn fuss over Buffy's still
form. He could still smell her, but he couldn't sense her anymore and
that scared him more than anything. Faith's voice finally penetrated
his fear and he snapped to attention. "She's not here luv," he
whispered as he knelt next to Buffy's pale still form and took her
hand in his as he blinked back tears. "I can sense her when she is
near me and I can't sense a thing from her now." he looked up at
Faith. "I don't know what to do." he hung his head over their
intertwined hands and tried not to break down.
Faith realized what Spike was saying, Buffy wasn't there.
She put her arm on Spikes shoulder.
"Spike, she'll come back though right? Last time did you sense her?"
Faiths voice dropped off, she decided to go look for Dawn she was so
confused and all over the place so she went to go find her.
She saw her leaning against the closet she went and hugged Dawn.
"Dawn I don't know what your feelings are for me, but I am here right
now, if you want to hug me, punch me what have you, I'm here. Want
me to go and call the paramedics? Whatever you want me to do hun,
I'll do, your in charge ok?" Faith stammered on and on not sure of
how to make the young Summers feel better.
Buffy's spirit returned to her body, though she still had many
questions for her demon guide. Somehow she knew though, that they'd
be answered sometime. Buffy's spirit walked across the living room of
her house, and she laid back down into her own body. Her eyes shot
open, and she took in a great gasp of air, but remained as still as
stone. She lay there, her eyes open, unable to move or speak. She was
back, but would she stay like this?
Dawn shoved at Faith. "Don't touch me. I've no need to be consoled
by the likes of you." She glared into the dark haired Slayer's
eyes. "If I need anyone it's-" Dawn shot to her feet at the moment
that Buffy returned to her body. "Buffy! I can...feel her." She
puzzled over the oddity of the comment for the trip down the stairs.
She stopped at her sister's side looking down at her opened eyes.
Spike jumped when Buffy's spirit returned to her body. "Buffy?" he
whispered and saw her eyes opened. He heard Dawn come in and smiled up
at her. "I think she is coming out of it!" he exclaimed. "She's back I
can feel it!" he smiled and touched Buffy's cheek. "Come back to us
Buffy, we need you luv." he whispered.
Buffy tried to move, it was so difficult. Her arms felt like 100
pound rocks were tied to them. She wanted to speak, but it was as if
she were frozen forever. 'Great, just great,' she thought to
herself. 'I am finally back in my own body, with all this knowledge,
all these things to tell, and I can't even tell them.' But maybe that
was the way it was supposed to be. Maybe she wasn't supposed to tell
everyone just yet. But what purpose would it serve to tell her only?
To help her notice things before they happened? Did the Powers think
she was that incompetent? Sheesh.
So, in hopes of waking up, she resolved that she wouldn't say a word
to anyone, as much as she wanted to. A few minutes passed. Buffy then
tried to move, and her finger flicked. Slowly, she was able to move
her arm, and then her neck. She turned to look at Dawn and Spike.
Where was Faith? She knew she had been there earlier. As Buffy gained more movement, she attempted to sit up, but to no
avail. "Dawn........Spike...." she muttered.
'Dammi't Faith thought to herself, 'How can I be so stupid?' She was
angry she had let her guard down and freaked out when something had
happened to Buffy. She had just been good for so long, and Eric (her
boyfriend back home) had taught her to care so well that she felt
bad. She decided she didn't want to stay there right then, she needed
to clear her head. She left Buffy a note, she didn't want it to seem
like she was the one the prophecy was talking about, She wasn't
going anywhere if a good fight was a brewin'. She walked down the
stairs to the bottom and listened to Dawn and Spike talk to
Buffy, she peeked in and saw that Buffy was awake, so she went into
the kitchen and wrote the note.
"B, I need to take care of some stuff back home. But continue to
research that prophecy, cuz I WILL be back. I just need to check on
a few things back home. Faith"
She left her cell number at the bottom just in case.
She went out the back door and got in her car. She was so upset that
she had let this happen. She fumbled with her keys, and when the car
turned on she drove straight forward not knowing nor caring where she
was going. When she realized where she was she spoke out loud.
"Boss why is it that you were the only one to accept me for me?" She
said to the Mayors building she was parked in front of.
"I'm good now Boss, but they still don't see it. Why is it that I
miss you so much?" Faith smiled to herself and thought about Mayor
Wilkins, he was like a father to her.
She turned the car back on and drove away.
"Bye Boss."
And she started on the way back to Burbank. When she was a few
minutes from Eric's house she got out her cell and called him.
"Hello"
"Eric? It's me." Faith said after he answered.
"Faith? How are you? Where are you?"
She smiled, happy to know that he was happy to hear from her.
"I'm ok, I'm a few minutes from your house. Can I come by?"
He was hesitant. "Umm Sure."
"I don't have to" she said into the phone. She didn't want to mess up
two times today.
"NO no come by, Ill see ya in a bit."
Faith hung up the phone and drove the rest of the way to his place.
She went up to the door and walked right in, he was in the kitchen.
When she walked in she gasped, she couldn't believe what she was
seeing.
Dawn stared at Spike as he spoke to her. She heard him. She could
feel Buffy there. She just wanted her sister to speak. She stepped
cautiously into the room farther. As Buffy spoke, Dawn practically
ran to the couch. She sank to her knees beside it to look at
Buffy. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." She completely forgot
about Faith. The blonde Slayer held more importance to Dawn.
Faith smiled at Eric, she just couldn't believe her eyes. She ran
over to him and hugged him and kissed him.
"Honey, thank you! I even forgot what today was!" She was so happy
to be home, somewhere where she was accepted. This was exactly what
she needed.
He looked down at her and said, "Are you gonna blow out your candle?
Sorry all you have is the Twinkie, but that's all I had on such short
notice."
Faith bent down and made a wish, then blew out the candles.
"Thank you Eric. I appreciate this so much. It's so good to be home.
I missed you, I love you." Faith said all in one breath.
"Wow what happened to you over there? I usually have to pull an "I
love you" outta yeah!" He picked her up and brought her to the
couch, she sat down and began to tell her what had happened, he knew
everything, other then Angel, he was the only one who knew it all
and was sympathetic, to an extent.
Spike put his arm around Dawn as she sank down next to him and Buffy.
"See Nibblet, she's ok, and she will be fine," he turned back to Buffy
and kissed her forehead lightly. "Gave us a scare luv, can you try not
to do that again?" he joked, but still very serious. If his heart had
been beating he would have had a heart attack when she left this time.
He couldn't lose her again. "I can't do this again Buffy, I can't lose
you. Dawnie can't lose you either. We both need you so much." he
whispered into her ear as he laid his head down next to hers, their
hands still intertwined.
Dawn welcomed Spike's arm. She trusted him more than she wanted to
realize and liked him a lot more than she wanted to let on. She tore
her eyes away long enough to watch Spike talk to Buffy. "She knows."
Dawn muttered. "I hope she knows." She returned her gaze to Buffy's
silent, unmoving form.
Buffy was finally able to sit up, and she did so. She almost said
that it wasn't her fault for collapsing like that, but she stopped
herself before any words left her mouth. 'I can't do that. I can't
tell them anything,' she thought to herself. "Where's Faith?" Buffy
asked first, seeming to ignore Spike's comments, without really
meaning to. He was becoming clingy, and Buffy didn't know why. She
knew he loved her, but she was unsure if she could return the feeling.
Blinking at Buffy, Dawn answered her. "I don't know. Faith was just
here." She didn't want to leave her sister, but figured if Buffy
wanted to know where Faith was, it would be best not to argue about
it. "I'll check." She first went upstairs, checking the rooms. When
she found no sign, she returned downstairs, checking the rooms. In
the kitchen, she noticed a note beside a pen. "That's strange." She
commented blankly. She retrieved it, reading it briefly. She
reentered the living room and sat beside Buffy. "Here. It's from
Faith. She ran." Maybe Faith didn't see it that way. Maybe it wasn't
really the prophecy, but to Dawn it was running. Faith had seemed
all ready and willing to set up camp for a while. Dawn mentally
shrugged. She didn't need Faith. She needed Buffy. As long as Buffy
was okay, Dawn was okay. She watched her sister through worried
eyes. She tried to hide her feelings; fear, stress, loss,
loneliness, utter worry. Unfortunately, she was an open book.
Buffy scanned Dawn's face as she leaned against the side of the couch
and read Faith's note. "And she said she wouldn't be the one to run,"
Buffy says quietly. "I guess the second thing in the prophecy has
happened. Now all we've got to do is wait for the world to end,"
Buffy said flatly. "Dawn, why don't you go to a friends house or
something? Enjoy yourself while the world is still operating."
Dawn blinked at Buffy. Her eyes went blank. "Hm. Here I thought you
needed me." She stood and began to head into the kitchen. "I don't
want to stay at a friend's. Honestly, Buffy. You scare the shit out
of me then expect me to leave? Okay, I thought you were
intelligent." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You want me
gone, say it. Tell me and I'll be out of here. Out of your way and
your life." She glared so cold she could freeze LA in July. That was
it then? Buffy just wanted her gone. Figures. She 'hmph'ed out loud.
While waiting on her sister's reply, she mentally ran a list of who
she could call and what they could get into.
Eric looked at Faith he couldn't believe what she was saying.
"So this prophecy said you were going to run, and you did? That
doesn't sound like you Faith." He said to her while placing some hair
that was loose, behind her ear.
"I know, but I couldn't take the way Dawn was looking at me. I mean I
know I have screwed up and I deserved that, but I felt horrible.
Like, I was still working for the Mayor, and all." Faith said to
him, slowly getting quieter after each word she said.
Eric looked at her and pulled her chin so she could look him in the
eyes.
"Honey, you need to go back there. Now, so they will know that you
didn't leave and it's not you in the prophecy. If we start now, we
could get there in an hour or so."
She looked at him with a quizzical look.
"Well if I drove and I sped the whole way there."
Faith laughed out loud about that one.
"But would you come with me? We could get a hotel and everything."
Faith said to him hoping he would say yes.
"Well..........." she looked at him with her big brown eyes, "Of
course, I was wondering when you would ask me. Let me go get some
clothes and we can go, we'll get there in a half hour ok?"
Faith smiled at him and kissed him.
"I am so glad that when I decided to trust you, you never let me
down." She kissed him again.
He went upstairs while she turned on the TV and watched the last
episode of 'Friends'.
When he came back about 15 minutes later, they set out for Sunnydale.
Spike stood up, pulling away from Buffy as she seemed to be doing to
him. 'Damn it I didn't mean to cling, but I almost lost her again!' he
thought to himself then went to Dawn and put his arms around her.
"Shhh Nibblet, big sis just wants you to have fun before this end of
the world stuff happens." he looked down at her and smiled, knowing
she was hurting as he was at Buffy's rejection. "Why don't we go out
and stir up some trouble? Leave big sis here to rest up. What do ya
say luv?" he asked and smiled.
Buffy stood up. She was tired. She needed sleep, but she knew she'd
never be able to get it. 'Just muddle through it Buff,' she told
herself, as she looked at Dawn's icy cold stare. "Look, Dawn. I don't
want you gone, it's just that this whole end of the world thing is
going to happen again, and sooner than I thought. I want you to have
a good time before it all happens and everything has to get serious.
It's like Spike said, that's what I meant, not that I didn't want you
here. Although I half-expected you to think that."
Dawn leaned into Spike when he put his arms around her, speaking to
her. He was one of the few who made her feel welcome anywhere,
needed at all. She guessed he understood her. She glanced at Bufy,
her gaze a little less blank, flashing pain before she
smiled. "We've seen the end of the world, Buffy. What's new about
this one?" Her voice was low but her meaning made its punch. She
looked up at Spike. "Let's go. Buffy could use the alone time. And
she did want me to have some fun." Smiled at her sister and headed
for the door.
She figured she'd give Spike and Buffy a little time. If he needed
to say something, Dawn wanted to give him the chance. She owed him
that. She retrieved the cordless phone dialing a cell phone
number. "Hey. Amanda? Yea, it's me. Sorry about tonight, I have to
cancel. Buffy passed out...sort of. She's okay now. Yea, I just need
some time. Sure, call you tomorrow? Later." She waited by the front
door for Spike.
Spike smiled at Dawn and watched her walk outside. He turned to
Buffy. "Are you ok?" he asked, worried about her. "I'll take care of
the Nibblet, you know that. I think you should rest, because you
never know when the end of the world will strike." he said with a
ghost of a smile. "And I don't think Faith ran, I think after the
confrontation with Dawnie, she just wanted to get out for a bit.
Otherwise she wouldn't have left a note."
Buffy looked at the two of them. She wanted to tell them what she
knew, but couldn't. That was the one catch, she couldn't tell anyone.
She had to live with the turmoil, try to grit her teeth and get
through it. "Take care of her," Buffy said to Spike, looking over to
Dawn. Buffy knew she was on the verge of going back to her old ways,
and Buffy didn't need that to happen, despite what Dawn thought.
Spike sighed, realizing that she wasn't going to tell him anything.
"Sure will," he muttered and walked outside and smiled at the
patiently waiting Dawn. "So what will it be Nibblet?" he smiled and
tried to forget about Buffy for the time being and focus on making
sure Dawn had a great time out tonight.
Faith and Eric were in the car about an hour from Sunnydale.
"Do you think I should call Buffy's house now? Since we are so
close?" Faith asked Eric.
"Yeah, but tell her you are going to be getting a hotel, but you'll
see her in the morning. That way you won't have to worry about having
to see Dawn." Eric said from behind the wheel of his car, Faith was
glad they had brought his car, that way he did the majority of the
driving.
"Yeah, thanks, I'll call her right now" Faith said while turning down
the music in the car.
She dialed Buffy's number and waited for her to answer. She was
hoping it was Spike to answer, Buffy even just not Dawn.
Ring . . . Ring . . .
Dawn glanced at Spike. She had thought about the entire situation.
Buffy was pushing her too far, intentionally or not. Dawn silently
refused to let Spike baby-sit her. She smirked. "Actually, there's
been a slight change of plans." She turned to re-enter the house. "Go
talk to Buffy. I'll be back." She stomped up the stairs. She entered
her room, staring in the mirror. "Well, this won't do." She threw
open her closet. Not 10 minutes later, Dawn stepped down the stairs.
a smirk firmly in place as she entered the living room.
She was wearing a tight, black leather skirt that "short" doesn't
even begin to describe. A strapless, red belly-shirt and black boots
with a stiletto heel that came up to her knees and laced in the back
completed the outfit. Her make-up was also shocking. Thick black
eyeliner, black mascara, and black eye shadow accented her eyes. She
wore bright red lip stick covered by a clear gloss to give them a
shine.
"Buffy," Dawn shifted her purse, a small black one that looked like a
coffin, to her left shoulder. "I'm going out. Alone." She glanced at
Spike then back to her sister. "Don't wait up." She waited, watching
her sister's reaction. Dawn was baiting confrontation.
Spike looked up and his jaw dropped. "Dawnie get some clothes on you
look like a tramp!" he snapped and glared at her. "Buffy do
something!" he said as he sprang up and pulled Dawn into the living
room and blocked her from leaving.
"Oh, please!' Dawn rolled her eyes at Spike. "Maybe I want to be a
tramp." She smirked. "Can someone get that damn phone?" She was
waiting for Spike to move before she left. She leaned toward the
vampire. "Your lover can't do anything. Can ya' Buf?"
Buffy eyed Dawn. "Hey Dawnie, you look great. Fit for the corner!
Just one thing, can I get a picture before you go?" Buffy quickly ran
into the dining room and grabbed the camera out of a drawer, turned
it on, and snapped a picture before Dawn could think twice. "Go,
party, have wild sex, get pregnant, whatever." Buffy moved from in
front of the door and went into the living room.
Buffy picked up the phone. "Faith......hotel.....okay....great....see
you then.....Bye-bye."
Dawn rolled her eyes. She let Buffy take the picture. "You're not
going to need too many, sister dear. I think I'll go with this look
permanently." She smiled. She made it obvious that she had every
intention of listening in on Buffy's phone conversation until she
realized who it was. "Give my regards to Faith. Tell her she's my
inspiration. Only she's watered down." She muttered 'bitch' under
her breath and moved for the door. "Oh, and Buffy, You forgot
drunken rampage on my list of activities. I always have liked
tequila." She flung open the door and before stepping out, called
over her shoulder, "Good luck with the end of the world. I think
you'll need it." She snickered. "Don't wait up." She slammed the
door and was gone.
Buffy Summers and the Demon Guide written by.................Brandon Collins
Dawn Summers written by.............Christi Weasley
Faith and Eric written by.............Sami
and Spike written by...........Heather Rae