Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow

Note: I want to be able to extend this fic, so I'm deviating off course with all of the First stuff a bit. So, once again, I'm going to put aside season seven and go from there. Thanks for all the reviews. As ever, keep 'em coming.

Previously:

"What're we gonna do?" Buffy said, walking over to Kara. Kara looked over at her mother. Kara's eyes glinted in the dark.

"Wait for the sun to rise," Kara responded.

"And after that?" Faith asked, coming up behind Buffy.

"After that," Kara said sighing, "we see who's left."

Chapter Forty-Five:

The first light of dawn flittered in through the half-covered window of Buffy's basement in myriad of shades of pale yellow. Kara's eyes fluttered open and she raised herself up on her elbows. The fog of sleep still held her mind captive and she glanced around the room. Thankfully, she noted, they were all still alive. She had expected the injured demon to return in the night with more fighters. Fortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, the group sat huddled in the basement all night listening to the demons wreak havoc on the world outside.

At some point, the sounds dwindled until there was silence. It sounded so strange, so foreign. When the silence took hold of the night, they were the most nervous of attack. Every little sound had them clawing for weapons. Then, eventually, they caved into the desire to sleep. One by one, they dropped like flies until they all had drifted away into pleasanter dreams. Kara smiled grimly, looking at the faces of her friends and family.

Willow was laying half on top of Tara in the corner. She had been muttering mystical incantations to protect the house all night. Hopefully, her efforts paid off. Xander and Anya were sitting upright, leaning against each other. Xander was clutching a baseball bat in his hand. Kara remembered looking over at him at one point during the night and his knuckles were blazing white from the tension of his grip. Kara smirked when she saw Joyce and Giles huddled together, yet, maintaining a small distance between them. Apparently, the awkwardness of the band candy incident had yet to wear off.

Dawn and Spike were lying at the bottom of the stairs. Spike had his arms wrapped protectively around her and she was nestled back into his chest, her face hidden in a wave of silky, brown hair. Finally, her eyes rested on Buffy and Faith. They had an arsenal lying around their feet. All night they had sat tensely, the slayer in them wanting to burst out of the house running and fight the demons pillaging the town. Instead, they fought against their very nature and hid. Kara knew it was difficult for them to do. Perhaps, it should have been more difficult for her. Had she not spent most of her life denying the slayer within, she might have been more in tune with the mystical aspect of her calling. However, as it was, she barely felt it tugging at the back of her mind. She suspected the only reason she even felt that was the power the Powers that Be gave to her. She had yet to tell the others about their secret weapon. If the First were to find out what she had waiting, she would never be able to pull it off when they needed it. Even in the midst of chaos and turmoil, she still felt the lingering grace of hope touching her heart.

Buffy stirred, rolled over, and draped her arm across Faith's stomach. Faith turned into the touch and her legs brushed against Buffy's. The movements seemed so natural. Kara sighed internally. Seeing them together made her miss Callum all the more. She missed the companionship of having someone hold her as she drifted away and wake up to in the morning. Yawning, she finally shook the fog clear in her mind and realized that someone was practically lying across her. Looking down, she smiled when she saw Kennedy sprawled out on top of her.

Kennedy had spent most of the night pacing back and forth in front of the broken window, glancing up at it warily, muttering under her breath. Despite the gravity of the situation, Kara had found it rather humorous. Kennedy wasn't a slayer yet and she didn't feel the pull to battle like Faith and Buffy did. Perhaps for that reason, she had been more willing to go along with the hiding and waiting plan than Spike had the night before. For whatever reason, Kara was grateful for the support.

Lying back down, she propped her head up with her arm and closed her eyes. She could hear the sounds of the earth waking up. The birds were stirring in the trees and a light breeze rustled the leaves. She imagined it would be refreshingly cool out. The one thing she loved about Sunnydale was the weather. She had spent most of the latter part of her time in the future world on the East coast. She hated the harsh winters of New York and Boston, or at least, what was left of them. The snow had been pretty at first, but there was no mode of transportation other than walking and they could rarely hunt anything in the winter.

She felt Kennedy stir and nearly burst out laughing when the girl's hair brushed against a ticklish spot on her stomach. Yawning, Kennedy's eyes flew open and she sat up. "Hey," she muttered, her voice thick and raspy from sleep. "Sorry about using you as a pillow," she said, smiling slightly.

Kara just shook her head. "No problem," she murmured. "Not like there's a whole lot of room down here anyway." Glancing up at Kennedy, she saw something briefly pass through her eyes, but fade away. She wondered what it was, but didn't have time to dwell on it.

"So do we know the damage?" Kennedy asked, motioning upstairs. Kara shook her head.

"Wanna go check it out?" She asked, pulling herself to her feet. Kennedy smiled and jumped up.

"Absolutely. They won't freak out if they wake up and we're gone will they?"

Kara smirked. "Probably. We won't be gone long though."

Carefully, they stepped around their sleeping friends and plodded up the stairs. Opening the door leading into Buffy's foyer, they glanced around before stepping out. "I don't feel anything," Kara muttered. "I don't think anyone's here."

"Yeah, me neither," Kennedy said. The front window of the living room was smashed in and some of the furniture had been wrecked. The front door was hanging off its hinges and broken glass littered the floor. Moving into the kitchen, they noted that the back door was still firmly intact. The kitchen window was broken, but there was little other damage. Creeping over to the stairs, they slowly ascended. They checked all of the upstairs rooms, pleasantly surprised to find little damage. Kara imagined that the demons didn't want to bother themselves with destroying anything above eye level.

"Should we go check on Jack and the others?" Kennedy asked, suddenly nervous about the status of her watcher. Kara smiled over at her, sensing her apprehension.

"Yeah, come on. I doubt anyone else will wake up for a while. It's still kinda early," Kara said as they went back down the stairs. Stepping around the broken front door, they wandered out into the front yard.

"Jesus," Kennedy muttered under her breath. The entire street was wrecked. It looked as if the demons had tried to rip the very concrete up out of the road. They had very nearly succeeded. Smoke curled in the sky from the fires they had set to various buildings and houses in town. The cars on the side of the road were smashed and smoldered in their own ruin. Kennedy had seen pictures of town and villages destroyed by wars. Sunnydale looked like one of those towns.

"Come on," Kara said, unconsciously grabbing Kennedy's hand in her own and leading her across the street. She was fully aware that Kennedy could take care of herself, but as a senior slayer, she still felt some responsibility to protect her.

Walking up to the blown out front door of the house across the street, Kara and Kennedy stepped inside. It smelled like smoke and blood. "Jack!" Kennedy called, hoping for some sign of life within.

"They might not even be here," Kara said. "He could have had them out slaying."

"Yeah, but then where would they be?"

"Holed up in a warehouse? Mausoleum? Who knows," Kara said, stepping further into the house. "Let's check the basement."

The basement door was locked, but Kara remedied that problem with a swift kick. The door flew off its hinges and rattled down the stairs. "Hello?" Kara called, peering into the dark.

"I hope you intend to pay for that," Jack said from behind them. Spinning around, the girls both breathed sighs of relief.

"Hey," Kennedy said, launching herself at him. After a brief embrace, she pulled away and returned to her spot standing next to Kara.

"You okay?" Jack asked them both. He looked as if he had spent most of the night pacing restlessly like Kennedy had.

"Yeah, we're all good. Hid out in the basement," Kara responded.

"Yes, we would have done the same, but we had a little incident," Jack reported.

"Is everyone okay?" Kennedy asked, referring to the dozen or so potentials that were living in the house. They had become like family to her and she dreaded to think anyone had gotten hurt, or worse.

"Yes, actually, we're all quite well. One of the demons ventured into the house and the girls fought it off. Killed it, actually. It's in the backyard. We dragged it out there last night; stunk to high heaven really," Jack said, smiling brightly. Kara laughed.

"Well I'll be damned. Here we were all hiding out, trembling in our boots, and Jack had his girls crusading against the forces of darkness," she teased, though incredibly proud of the girls. They had made amazing progress under Jack's guidance and she knew she had made the right choice in picking him to lead the new Council.

"Someone had to do it," Jack joked back. "We spent the rest of the night hiding out in the upstairs bedroom. Figured if we had any more trouble we could just escape to the roof. So how's the outside world?" Jack asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Looks like an army of tanks rolled down the street," Kennedy muttered.

"Yeah, it's not too pleasant. It's gonna take a lot to fix up the town and I have a feeling this wasn't the only attack the First has planned. It wants to keep us down, oppress us into giving up," Kara said.

"If it just keeps hammering us with attacks, we won't have time to formulate a plan to fight back," Kennedy reasoned. Kara smiled to herself. The First thought it was being incredibly wily. Little did it know what they had in store.

"We've already got plans," Kara said. "And I think it's about time we start putting some into action."