Chapter 7
Author's Notes: Reviews ALWAYS appreciated! Seriously, I really have no self-confidence in my writing, and it's hard to remember to update, so let me know if you want me to continue the story! I just realized I made a bit of a boo boo, if you will. I've been calling Cecily D'Hoffryn, when in fact Cecily's demon name is Halfrek. Sorry about that : p
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Finally, the group was settled back in the shambles that was the Magic Box. Anya looked about mournfully at the shattered glass and crushed bookcases. "Well," she said brightly "At least that bitch didn't take any money!" She grinned falsely, but her fake smile faltered, and soon fell, as she hung her head and sniffled. Xander pulled her into his lap and smoothed her hair soothingly.
"It's alright Anya. We'll just have to..." Willow looked around "remodel..." She bit her lip and fell silent. The others looked about, and each slowly fell into their own thoughts. Glory was really tougher than anything they had faced before. They had always bounced back before and beaten the Big Bad, but this was a new level of defeat. The silence grew and grew until Buffy couldn't take it anymore.
"Okay." She said, jumping to her feet and startling the others out of their own separate gloom. "What we know. Dawn has some kind of power that is connected to the fact that she is the key, and Spike is in Glory's clutches, so we have to rescue him too..."
"Why?" Xander interrupted, and everyone turned to look at him. "I'm sorry, but personally I don't give a rat's ass what happens to the bleached undead. For all I care, Glory can have him as a pincushion for her minions to make her new clothes. So Buffy, why should we care?" Xander finished his tiny rant, and everyone turned back to look at Buffy as if it was a tennis match. People knew that Buffy and Xander were very close, but sometimes Xander's protective nature was overbearing on the Slayer, and they could have very different viewpoints.
"Xander makes a good statement Buffy." Giles said, worrying the bridge of his nose. "Why should we put ourselves in danger for someone who wouldn't return the favor to us?"
"But he has!" Buffy cried out suddenly. Blushing, she brought her voice down. "He has put his life on the line for us. Well, for Dawn anyway." Buffy sighed and looked at her sister, who seemed so frail and young compared to the rest of the group even though they only had a few years on her, with the exception of Giles and Anya. "You guys weren't there, but Glory had Dawn in her hands. Spike offered a trade, himself for Dawn, and Glory took it." Willow's eyes grew wide as realized what had passed before she and Tara had come into the Magic Box.
"Well, that's all and good but he was doing it to impress you! And –" Buffy cut him off.
"He knows who the Key is. If nothing else, with enough torture he could betray us." Buffy sighed in her mind to have a legitimate excuse for why she wanted Spike to be safe, though her heart whispered truths to her unwilling, conscious thoughts. Finally, Giles and Xander nodded their approval. "And also, we need to talk about Dawn."
Dawn looked about nervously as all eyes went to her. Like she was an experiment now, a curiosity. Hadn't they used to look at her as so many different things before? A pest sometimes, maybe a friend at others. Someone to be protected, someone to be love. But she had become an object now, and she needed to avoid that at all costs, to become human to them again. Because they were her family.
"Didn't Glory say something about a prophecy?" Dawn said suddenly, looking at Buffy hopefully with her big eyes. "She said she was surprised we didn't know about it."
"You're right." Buffy said, biting her lip as she began pacing. She knew well what Dawn was trying to pull, with changing the subject. They were sisters after all, weren't they? Not really, a vicious little voice in the back of Buffy's mind chimed in, but she quickly silenced it. No, she thought confidently, I don't care how long we've been sisters, I just know that we ARE. "And there's also the dreams that me and Spike both have been having.
"Both of you?" Giles asked, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them worriedly, as he so often did nowadays. "That's...bizarre to say the least. You wouldn't mind describing the dream to me, would you Buffy? And tell me what you know of Spikes dreams?" Buffy nodded her consent, and for peace and quiet they went into the training room. Giles pulled a notebook out of his pocket, causing Buffy to raise an eyebrow. "We'll, you-you never know when you'll need a notebook!" Giles explained hurriedly. "So, the dream." He said hurriedly.
"Yes. The dream." Buffy sighed, and began. "Well, it starts while I'm in this nice apartment. I mean, REALLY nice. So I'm wandering around, kinda wondering where I am. Like, I know I'm in the nice apartment and everything but I don't know where that is and yeah..." Buffy trailed off when she realized she was babbling, and took a deep breath. "So I'm wandering the apartment when I walk into this room, full of dead flowers. They're just strewn everywhere. I see a door across from me, on the other side of the room, and I open it. Xander is in the next room." Buffy hesitated, and her eyes began to well up with tears. "He wasn't whole. He was in separate parts around the room, his arms and legs all in separate corners of the room. And his head, he head was just sitting, in the middle, staring at me. Except he couldn't, stare at me, because he had no eyes. And this creepy smile, oh god. And it was like he was asking me why I couldn't stop this from happening to him..." Buffy sniffed, and smiled gratefully when Giles offered her a handkerchief. "And then there was another door." Buffy said, gathering herself up to continue.
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Author's note: I really really really like reviews, and I haven't been getting a lot. :'( Hence my hesitation to post. I'm hoping for 15 reviews before I post the 8th chapter. SO REVIEW!
Author's Notes: Reviews ALWAYS appreciated! Seriously, I really have no self-confidence in my writing, and it's hard to remember to update, so let me know if you want me to continue the story! I just realized I made a bit of a boo boo, if you will. I've been calling Cecily D'Hoffryn, when in fact Cecily's demon name is Halfrek. Sorry about that : p
)()()()(
Finally, the group was settled back in the shambles that was the Magic Box. Anya looked about mournfully at the shattered glass and crushed bookcases. "Well," she said brightly "At least that bitch didn't take any money!" She grinned falsely, but her fake smile faltered, and soon fell, as she hung her head and sniffled. Xander pulled her into his lap and smoothed her hair soothingly.
"It's alright Anya. We'll just have to..." Willow looked around "remodel..." She bit her lip and fell silent. The others looked about, and each slowly fell into their own thoughts. Glory was really tougher than anything they had faced before. They had always bounced back before and beaten the Big Bad, but this was a new level of defeat. The silence grew and grew until Buffy couldn't take it anymore.
"Okay." She said, jumping to her feet and startling the others out of their own separate gloom. "What we know. Dawn has some kind of power that is connected to the fact that she is the key, and Spike is in Glory's clutches, so we have to rescue him too..."
"Why?" Xander interrupted, and everyone turned to look at him. "I'm sorry, but personally I don't give a rat's ass what happens to the bleached undead. For all I care, Glory can have him as a pincushion for her minions to make her new clothes. So Buffy, why should we care?" Xander finished his tiny rant, and everyone turned back to look at Buffy as if it was a tennis match. People knew that Buffy and Xander were very close, but sometimes Xander's protective nature was overbearing on the Slayer, and they could have very different viewpoints.
"Xander makes a good statement Buffy." Giles said, worrying the bridge of his nose. "Why should we put ourselves in danger for someone who wouldn't return the favor to us?"
"But he has!" Buffy cried out suddenly. Blushing, she brought her voice down. "He has put his life on the line for us. Well, for Dawn anyway." Buffy sighed and looked at her sister, who seemed so frail and young compared to the rest of the group even though they only had a few years on her, with the exception of Giles and Anya. "You guys weren't there, but Glory had Dawn in her hands. Spike offered a trade, himself for Dawn, and Glory took it." Willow's eyes grew wide as realized what had passed before she and Tara had come into the Magic Box.
"Well, that's all and good but he was doing it to impress you! And –" Buffy cut him off.
"He knows who the Key is. If nothing else, with enough torture he could betray us." Buffy sighed in her mind to have a legitimate excuse for why she wanted Spike to be safe, though her heart whispered truths to her unwilling, conscious thoughts. Finally, Giles and Xander nodded their approval. "And also, we need to talk about Dawn."
Dawn looked about nervously as all eyes went to her. Like she was an experiment now, a curiosity. Hadn't they used to look at her as so many different things before? A pest sometimes, maybe a friend at others. Someone to be protected, someone to be love. But she had become an object now, and she needed to avoid that at all costs, to become human to them again. Because they were her family.
"Didn't Glory say something about a prophecy?" Dawn said suddenly, looking at Buffy hopefully with her big eyes. "She said she was surprised we didn't know about it."
"You're right." Buffy said, biting her lip as she began pacing. She knew well what Dawn was trying to pull, with changing the subject. They were sisters after all, weren't they? Not really, a vicious little voice in the back of Buffy's mind chimed in, but she quickly silenced it. No, she thought confidently, I don't care how long we've been sisters, I just know that we ARE. "And there's also the dreams that me and Spike both have been having.
"Both of you?" Giles asked, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them worriedly, as he so often did nowadays. "That's...bizarre to say the least. You wouldn't mind describing the dream to me, would you Buffy? And tell me what you know of Spikes dreams?" Buffy nodded her consent, and for peace and quiet they went into the training room. Giles pulled a notebook out of his pocket, causing Buffy to raise an eyebrow. "We'll, you-you never know when you'll need a notebook!" Giles explained hurriedly. "So, the dream." He said hurriedly.
"Yes. The dream." Buffy sighed, and began. "Well, it starts while I'm in this nice apartment. I mean, REALLY nice. So I'm wandering around, kinda wondering where I am. Like, I know I'm in the nice apartment and everything but I don't know where that is and yeah..." Buffy trailed off when she realized she was babbling, and took a deep breath. "So I'm wandering the apartment when I walk into this room, full of dead flowers. They're just strewn everywhere. I see a door across from me, on the other side of the room, and I open it. Xander is in the next room." Buffy hesitated, and her eyes began to well up with tears. "He wasn't whole. He was in separate parts around the room, his arms and legs all in separate corners of the room. And his head, he head was just sitting, in the middle, staring at me. Except he couldn't, stare at me, because he had no eyes. And this creepy smile, oh god. And it was like he was asking me why I couldn't stop this from happening to him..." Buffy sniffed, and smiled gratefully when Giles offered her a handkerchief. "And then there was another door." Buffy said, gathering herself up to continue.
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Author's note: I really really really like reviews, and I haven't been getting a lot. :'( Hence my hesitation to post. I'm hoping for 15 reviews before I post the 8th chapter. SO REVIEW!