By Regina Halliwell

Story Summary: post Not Fade Away

Chapter Summary: After the battle is over, the reality of the losses sets in. How will everyone cope? And will they ever find Gunn?

Pairings: Buffy/Angel, Dawn/Connor, Willow/Oz, Giles/Olivia, Faith/Spike, Xander/Anya, Illyria/Gunn, Cordelia/Doyle

Chapter Rating: PG for some brief profanity and graphic violence

Chapter 2:

Repose At the Summers Home

As Buffy helped Angel into the house, Faith did the same for Spike. Kennedy and Willow linked arms and strolled in while the other ten or so slayers grabbed their bags from the bus and placed them inside.

"What should we do with Angel and Spike," Faith asked Buffy.

"Well, they're both injured so maybe we could put them both in Dad's bed..." Buffy answered, but Spike interrupted.

"Luv, I am not sleeping with that bloody poof." Spike exclaimed, before sinking back into unconsciousness. Angel was already out of it. He was hurt worse than Spike, but the difference was infinitesimal, as the vampires would both be off their game for a while.

Buffy and Faith sighed together, and Faith queried, "B, what are we gonna do with 'em now?"

Buffy, resigned, answered, "Well, Spike can go in Dad's room, and I'll just put Angel in the room I use when I stay here. Then Willow and Kennedy can have Dawn's room and all the slayers can sleep in the living room."

Faith grinned and told Buffy, "That's all great, B, but there's one small problem. Where are you and me going to sleep?"

"Oh...right. Us. Hmm, well, I guess I can sleep with Angel and you can sleep with Spike. I mean, it's not like they'll be awake enough to do anything, so we have nothing to worry about." Buffy said unsurely.

"Right." Faith stated mockingly. Buffy scowled and walked into the kitchen. Faith checked to see if she had any money and when she was assured that she did, walked out the front door.

"Willow, what exactly did you do earlier? In the alley, I mean. I was standing right next to you but I have no idea what happened." Kennedy asked her lover.

"Oh," the witch replied, "I made the rest of the demons kill each other. Just a little mind mojo, made their sense of reality a bit different."

"Isn't that kind of weird, "Kennedy asked, "Being in other people's minds, I mean?"

"Oh, no sweetie, I wasn't in their minds, I just changed them. I made them think that the other demons were enemies, and so they just whacked each other till they all died."

Kennedy, still a bit confused, played with her socks.

"But I was in someone's mind once. It was really odd. When Dawn was kidnapped by Glory, this hellgoddess, a couple years back, she went all catatonic and I had to go into her mind and bring her back." Willow continued, making Kennedy look a bit uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Kennedy?" Willow asked.

"Um, it's just... I don't know how I feel about all this magic, I mean, going into a mind you could control what someone does. You could control me!" Kennedy screeched, looking very scared.

Willow's eyebrows furrowed. She felt a need to prove her love for the brunette. She struggled to explain, "No, Kennedy, never. I would never do that. Especially not to you. Please, here, let me go inside your head, okay."

Kennedy shook her head furiously, backing away from Willow on the bed they sat on. "You might make me do something. It's not right."

"No honey, I mean... hmm, you could hold my hands and then I could show you it doesn't hurt and I won't control your mind. I promise. If you let go of my hands, I'll come out right away."

Kennedy asked wearily, "How do I know I'll be able to let go of your hands?"

Willow sighed, "You'll just have to trust me. Will you let me prove that I won't hurt you? Please?"

Kennedy looked down and slowly nodded. Willow took hold of her lover's hands and entered her mind.

Buffy, after fixing herself a snack, walked into her father's living room to find a dozen girls in pajama pants and camisoles lounging around on sleeping bags. A few were resting on the couch, and one was already asleep. She cleared her throat, getting the attention of all the girls except the sleeping one.

"So, um, listen girls. Get some sleep. Don't break anything. If the phone rings, don't answer it. Don't bother Willow and Kennedy, and if there's an emergency, then see either Faith or myself. I'm in the room farther down the hall, and when Faith gets back she'll be in the room closest on the left. Be quiet if you come to see either of us though, there's a couple of sleeping vamps that are trying to recover." Buffy finished.

"Okay," Buffy asked. The girls nodded their consent, so Buffy turned and went into the kitchen again. Through the kitchen was the laundry room and the door in that room quickly opened to admit Faith.

Scared out of her wits, Buffy cursed. Faith grinned and said, "Aww, did ya miss me that much, B?"

"Very funny," Buffy replied. "Did you get some?"

"Of course. They had plenty. I think the butcher was a little confused, though," Faith answered. "I mean, wouldn't you think it's odd for some girl in leather pants and a halter to ask for a gallon of fresh pig's blood at 8:30 at night?"

"Definitely." Buffy stated, also smiling.

Faith wasn't done, though. "If you thought that was interesting, wait till I tell you what happened at the Red Cross..."

Buffy's eyes widened considerably, and she asked, stuttering, "You mean, you got... human blood?" Faith nodded, puzzled.

"I don't get it B; I mean they're cut up really good. They need this stuff right now, to heal faster. I thought you would get that." Faith said.

"Oh, I get it Faith, I'm just surprised that you thought of it." She said jokingly. Hearing this, Faith slapped Buffy on the arm.

"Bitch," Faith cried.

Buffy just laughed and took a bag of the human blood from Faith, then started walking down the hallway towards the room that held Angel.

Opening the door slightly, the blonde slayer looked in. The lights were off, and a bulky object that she knew was Angel lay under the covers on the far side of her bed in the exact spot she had left him minutes ago. When Buffy closed the door, it let out an almost imperceptible creak, waking Angel.

The injured vampires eyes fluttered opened, and he asked softly, "Buffy?"

"Shh, it's just me." She told him, moving slowly over to the bed. He struggled to turn towards her, and when she heard a crack and saw him wince, Buffy rushed over to him, falling to her knees on his side of the bed.

"Angel, don't do that. You're injured, and shouldn't be moving."

He smiled sadly, protesting his condition. "Really I'm fine. Fit enough to fight another dragon..."

"You shouldn't have even fought the first one. I mean, a few years ago I died to keep a dragon from being set loose on Sunnydale, remember. To fight and slay one, Angel, you should be dead. I mean, you should be... well you know what I mean." Buffy said.

"Do you mean, when you," his voice broke, "jumped?"

"Yeah, Angel, unless you know of any other time when I've died..." Thinking about what she had said, Buffy amended, "Recently, anyway."

"Oh," he responded.

"You know, that was pretty heroic what you did back there. With the demons, I mean." Buffy complimented.

"No more heroic than everything you've ever done, like, I don't know, destroying the First Evil," Angel retorted. This silenced Buffy, and she changed the subject, saying "I brought you some blood. It's human, so you'll heal faster." When she saw him object, she continued, saying "Angel, you need to be in fighting condition. We don't want the Senior Partners to regroup faster than we do and come here to find you and Spike sitting on your asses because you refused to drink some human blood."

Angel tried to argue his point, but knew she was right too. He reached up and took the bag from her, and at the last minute looked up to her questioningly.

"Don't worry," she answered, seeming to know what he was asking, "It was in the blood bank's reserve stock. Most common blood type, so it won't be missed."

He sighed, resigned, and shifted his face into that of his vampiric self. Glancing up at her, he asked her with his eyes, pleading with her to leave him to eat alone. Shaking her head, Buffy walked out of the room. Her muttering was heard across the room by the super sensitive hearing of Angel. "Damn vampire still has issues. He makes love to me, drinks my blood from my neck, dies at my hand and is still shifty about letting me see him drink blood. It's incredible."

She shut the door on the way out, leaving the vampire to get well in peace.

Meanwhile, Faith had brought a similar bag of blood to the blond vampire. Spike, too, had awoken with a creak of the door. "Buffy," he began, only to turn and find instead of Buffy a very angry brunette slayer. Faith slammed the door and walked to the bed where Spike struggled, but succeeded, in sitting up. He leaned on the headboard and studied Faith.

She sat down next to him. "Are you kidding me? I have only been taking care of you for the past few hours, when I could have left you to die, and I come in here and you think that I'm Buffy?! It's always her, isn't it. I mean, what is it with you vampires always attracted to her? God, I'm a Slayer too, you know!"

Spike sighed. "It's not that, luv–"

"Don't call me 'luv'," Faith interrupted. Spike frowned and then continued, "I shouldn't have assumed. I just thought, maybe it might be her. But it's you, and that's never bad either."

She smirked at him, and was about to speak when he interrupted her smugly, "Say, why have you been taking care of little old me? What happened to your sweet Principal Wood?"

Faith immediately stood up and turned around. She was about to walk out of the room when Spike sighed deeply, and said, "Wait, pet. I didn't mean to upset you. I got this soul, but that hasn't yet stopped me from being rude."

She turned slowly around. His tone had sounded sincere, but then again this was Spike. She sighed resignedly, and told him, "I just saved your sorry ass, so you had better not do that again. That son of a bitch left me for some Italian woman the week before he was gonna marry me. Said that he couldn't handle being around all the supernatural stuff anymore." More quietly she added, "But he really just couldn't handle being around me anymore." Then, in a sudden crescendo, she exploded. "If you say one thing about what I just told you, I'll do things to you that would make you wish you were dead."

Not seeing his quick nod, she went on to describe exactly what she would do to him. "I'll break all of your fingers and toes one at a time. Then I'll break your arms and legs, then I'll castrate you, and then just to make sure it sinks in, I'll drip holy water onto your torn, broken body one drop at a time until I get so mad that I–"

"Faith," Spike interrupted softly, "I won't bring it up again. I swear."

The brunette looked him over, making sure he was serious. Satisfied that he was, Faith walked over to him and dropped the bag of blood onto his lap. "It'll help you heal faster," she commented.

She began to walk away, but Spike stopped her, and asked jokingly, "You don't think there's any way I could get this in a coffee mug, warmed up, with a bit of wheetabix sprinkled on the top, do you?" He gestured to the blood.

Faith shook her head. "You're impossible, you big baby. I'm not your maid." With that Faith turned and walked out of the room. When she turned to close the door, she stated, "I'll be back in a while, I just need to check on the girls."

Faith closed the door, not seeing Spike's trademark smirk pointed at her.

Kennedy's mind was different than any place Willow had ever been before. With Buffy, it had almost been like a play day at a friend's house. Inside the minds of the demons, all the witch had seen was fire, burning a desire in the monsters to kill the enemy. Willow had played with that fire, turning the demons on each other and twisting their senses of right and wrong.

With Kennedy, Willow felt as if she was inside a maze. The redhead stood in the thick of it, with endless passageways trailing of in every direction. Her sense of up and down was distorted as well, and Willow kept feeling as if she was going in circles. Willow closed her mind's eyes for a moment to regroup and sort through her confusion. She thought for a moment about how people's minds were the manifestation of their feelings. With the way Kennedy's mind looked, Willow wondered how she had not noticed her lover's frantic desperation and uncertainty before.

Willow opened her eyes slowly and turned a corner. If everything went well, she would eventually conquer the maze by finding Kennedy. Willow saw colors spiraling, and took a passageway to her upper right. It led her down a series of twisting channels, all of which looked remarkably similar. Frustrated, the witch called out with her magic, Lead me. Help me. Show me the way.

Feeling a slight tug coming from the hallway directly to Willow's left, the redhead followed it. Almost as soon as she stepped into the passage, the feeling weakened. She followed it again down a hallway to her right, and again the tug lessened. After a few more times, Willow became exhausted with trying to follow the pull, and so she used her magic to make herself into an amorphous sort of shape. This form would allow her more freedom, agility, and speed.

Inside Kennedy's maze of a mind, Willow's fluid shape sped through countless corridors, following the minor pull. At last, the tug dragged her into a large chamber. Willow slowed, retaking her normal form. She had expected to see Kennedy there, waiting for her. Instead, she saw something else...

"AHHHH!" Kennedy's scream as she was brought awake sounded throughout the whole house.

Angel, who had fallen asleep after his late night meal, immediately sprang out of bed in surprise. His ribs had instantaneously felt as though they had been dislodged from his body and were now protruding from his chest, and the wounds on his stomach had opened, and now bled excessively from the meal Angel had just consumed. He cried out, but his voice was lost under that of the screeching girl.

Spike had still been awake when Kennedy had begun screaming, but he was as surprised as any. He knocked his head violently against the headboard in shock, carving a crack in the aged, fine, wood.

All the slayers, including the one who had been asleep, immediately woke up and shrieked as well. They gathered around each other in fear and puzzlement, piling onto the couch.

Buffy and Faith, who had met up in kitchen, heard the scream, and came running towards Willow and Kennedy's room. They pulled open the door to find Willow sitting almost wonderingly into nothingness, seemingly catatonic, and Kennedy, still whimpering in fear, though her screaming had ceased, wandering aimlessly around the room grabbing her belongings and shoving them into a sack she held slung on her left arm. When she had gathered everything of hers in sight, she found her shoes and ran past Buffy and Faith.

Buffy stayed with Willow, still staring, but Faith followed Kennedy. The girl ran through the living room, running past the frightened girls, and fumbled to unlock the front door. "Kennedy, Wait!" Faith called, but the girl didn't stop. "Leave me alone," Kennedy called back.

When she had succeeded, she dashed through it and out into the dark L.A. night. The last thing Faith saw as she stood in Hank Summers' doorway was a girl shaped object sprinting down the sidewalk, and before long, faded from sight.

A/N: Let's see how you guys like the cliffhanger... Next chapter will be up probably next weekend. Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed my first chapter. That would include...

Michael- I don't agree with your opinions but I do respect them, and I hope that instead of prejudging my story you will continue reading it to see what you think.

Me-Spike-4eva-Thank you for your support, and I am glad you like the couple I ship. I hope that they live up to your expectations.

Angelfirenze- I can't wait until you read the chapter about Andrew. It's going to be great, I hope. Thanks for the compliments. I hope you keep reading!

Urangel- I know, there are a lot of similar plots to mine, but I plan on making mine different, and I hope that you like the way it goes. There will be plenty more BA goodness, I promise.

beth-angel-I am happy that you like my story, and I am glad that you support me. It is very difficult to like your work and then have someone (Michael) come and review it degradingly. In that matter, I appreciate your support.

Scary Vampiress- Don't worry, I plan on updating regularly. I have some fresh ideas for this story, and I am not going to give up on it. Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope that you continue to do so. Also, I did not mean to "blackmail" my readers by holding this chapter over people's heads until they reviewed. I just don't like to continue a story unless people will read it. I worded that author's note incorrectly, and for that I am sorry.

Freedra Kyes- I am glad that you like my first chapter. Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you keep reading!

Koos- Thank you for reviewing my 1st chapter. I am sorry that you don't like the Spike/Faith pairing, but as of yet I don't think that anything Xander/Faith will show up. Maybe I can work something in a bit later... However, I am not sure how you will feel about how I portray the Xander/Anya pairing, seeing as this story is set a year after Anya's death. I hope that you like how it all turns out... Thanks again!

Thank you everyone, for your reviews. Please keep reading!