Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow
Notes: Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming. Midterms went well so there's a happy writer in the building.
Previously:
Kara smiled, tearing up slightly. Wiping her eyes, she turned to them both and said, "Thanks you guys. You're the best."
Chapter Fifty-Two:
Faith, Spike, and Kara sat on Buffy's living room sofa watching the rest of the Scoobies scurry about hanging up Christmas decorations. "I don't get it," Spike said, an expression akin to confused amusement on his face.
"Neither do I," Faith said, shrugging. "The most I ever did for Christmas was hang a pathetic string of half-burned out lights in my motel room."
"Yeah, we didn't really celebrate Christmas up in the future, what with the world ending and all. No one really seemed to be in the shopping mood," Kara commented, as Xander and Jack dragged a rather large and very much alive Christmas tree in through the front door.
"That's gonna make such a mess," Faith said, noting the overwhelming pine scent.
"Well, it's not like Spike or I will have to clean it up," Kara said, smiling over at the vampire.
"Yeah, we don't live here," Spike added. "But you do," he said, looking over at Faith.
"Shut up," Faith grumbled.
"Would you guys get up off your asses and help us out please?" Buffy said, walking up to them and folding her arms across her chest, looking rather irritated.
"Uh oh," Faith whispered. "That's not good."
"We were just saying how well the lot of you was doing without us," Spike said, trying his best to charm his way out of hanging garland.
"I don't think so," Dawn said, coming up behind her sister. "Spike," she said sweetly, "If you know what's good for you, you'll help." With that, she spun on her heel and stalked off. Spike looked after her for a moment, rather alarmed, before jumping to his feet. Looking back at his partners in crime apologetically, he mumbled something and sheepishly followed his girlfriend.
"He's so whipped," Kara commented, watching the vampire leave.
"And unfortunately, so am I," Faith said, rising to her feet. "Come on, we better go help them before they kill someone," Faith said, motioning to Xander and Jack. The tree was leaning at a rather odd angle and she could easily see someone being crushed by it. Kara reluctantly followed her mother.
She never did understand the purpose behind the holidays. Though she imagined her complete lack of knowledge about anything festive was due entirely to the situation in which she lived in the future. She knew Xander was trying to make a big deal out of everything since she hadn't had a family Christmas for as long as she could remember. However, she thought perhaps they were going a bit overboard with it all. It seemed as if there wasn't an inch of the house that didn't have something red or green on it.
"So we never did any of this when you were little?" Faith asked, looking over at Kara as they steadied the tree.
"I don't really remember. Everyone died so early and then when shit hit the fan, the past didn't matter anymore. The longer you lived in my world, the more you forgot what it as like to be human – what it was like to actually live," Kara said, her voice detached, distant. She clearly remembered sitting on the edge of the world, incapable of feeling anything but an unflagging hopelessness that gnawed away at the very core of her being until there was nothing left.
"Well, that's all gonna change," Xander said, stepping back to admire their work.
"It's kinda big, Xander," Anya said, walking up to the group.
"I hear that all the time," Xander quipped, earning a smack on the arm from his wife. Kara and Faith desperately tried to restrain themselves, but couldn't help the laughter that rolled out of them in waves.
Xander rolled his eyes and looked over at Jack. "Let's go get the decorations," he said.
"I think we bruised his poor, male ego," Kara said, once she had managed to calm her laughter.
"He'll get over it," Anya said dismissively. Christmas Eve was only a day away and fortunately, for the Scoobies, the First seemed to be keeping a low profile. Ever since Buffy and Faith had decapitated Caleb, the First's primary warrior, it hadn't resurfaced. Though the rest of them seemed to think the First's disappearance was a welcome event, Anya, Kara, and Faith were more on edge than ever. The three women found themselves constantly trying to stay busy to keep from thinking about what the First was planning.
"Think we should patrol tonight?" Kara said, looking over at Faith. Faith nodded.
"Definitely. Something's going on," Faith said, sighing wearily.
"I talked to my old demon contacts," Anya said, turning to them. "There's no news of anything even remotely evil going down anytime soon. It's like the First just disappeared."
"Which we know isn't true," Kara added.
"That's what it wants us to think," Faith said, absently playing with some pine needles.
"So it can sneak up on us and catch us unaware," Anya finished. The three women suddenly shivered, feeling entirely uncomfortable.
"Well aren't we a pessimistic bunch?" Faith said, chuckling slightly. Anya and Kara smiled.
Anya looked over at Xander and Jack, who were lugging in some boxes. "We do live on the Hellmouth."
.................................
"Things are going exactly as planned," the First said, as it walked along the edge of the Hellmouth, peering down at the mass of uber vampires gathered below. Hell was about to burst open and it was going to be beautiful. There were still some vampires and demons waiting to be brought up from the lower realms. Once the army was complete, they would attack. "And they all believe that you died trying to find the potentials?"
"Yes," Robson said, walking along next to the First.
"When you show up, they'll be most happy to see you then," the First said, grinning wildly.
"I imagine they will be," Robson answered, grinning over at his master.
"Good. Find out as much as you can about what they have planned. Kara has something up her sleeve. I know it," the First said, pausing as it morphed from Faith's face into Buffy's face.
"I'll report back as soon as I can," Robson said, nodding cordially before turning and walking back the way they had come.
"Robson?" The First called. "Don't disappoint me like Caleb did."
Robson paused, but didn't look back. He had arrived the night the slayers decapitated his predecessor. The First had contacted him a long time ago, tempting him until he could no longer resist. Robson had been a watcher for a long time. Though he watched slayer after slayer fight valiantly against the forces of darkness, evil never died. It could never be vanquished. Warriors of light could beat it back, hold it off, but no one could ever stop the spread of darkness in the world. Though he understood that his choice wasn't morally sound, he was tired of being on the losing side.
"I won't," he silently swore. When the cold, night air hit his face, he looked up at the moon and sighed. Things weren't going to end well for the world, but that wasn't something he would have to worry about anymore. He was beyond it now. The world was going to fall apart, crash into darkness and fire, and he would watch it all. But in the end, he wasn't going to be burn with it.