i own none of these characters. joss whedons you're man for that. starting from the next chapter i'm gonna include a summary of whats preceded the chapter with each new entry. it'll just make it easier for you guys to know whats going on. um, this chapter was my attempt at "slowing" the story down. let me know if this sits better with you guys or not, after all this is my story, but whats the point in telling it if you guys don't like the way it's written. i got the next chapter almost ready as well, so it should be up later this evening. peace out...

Chapter Seven: Mirages and Diss-allusions

Reilly Finn had been with the army for as long as he could remember. He was a leader, and more importantly he was a fighter.

He had heard from Buffy about a half a day before, although it was obvious to everyone that something was going on. It was the apocalypse. Not the first Reilly had faced, but Buffy had sounded different. Not afraid. She could never sound afraid, not as far as Reilly had seen. But she till sounded different. Nervous maybe. Reilly tried to shake the thought. Buffy nervous? Never.

They had arrived in L.A. half an hour before, and had just reached the rubble of Wolfram and Hart. Buffy had asked him to check it out on the way to the hotel they were hauled at. The building looked in bad shape.

He had seen it once before, when he had been debriefed by the army after the Adam incident. On the way back to Sunnydale, the Iowa boy had stopped by the city of Angels.

And the building was in no way as impressive as he had once seen it. Soldiers walked around him, looking at various debris, trying to see if there was something to inside.

He looked over to Sam. His wife. Life after Buffy. She was a rock for him. Kept him from going crazy in this demon filled world. At times he had thought that he would go insane, end up no better than those he killed. It was the whole vampire thing that had made him feel this way. If he was ok with letting vampires feed off him, what else would he be ok with? Letting them feed of no-hopers? It made him shudder to think of it now.

He cracked a smile. He loved his life now. He loved his wife.

"Sam, anything on the scanner?" he asked.

Sam looked up to her husband. "Nothing solid. We get flickers of something beneath us, but we haven't been able to find a way down yet,"

"Ok, we better get looking. I don't want anything to come up and bite our asses later on," Riley sighed.

He loved his life now, but sometimes he got the sucky jobs.

Deep under the ground, Draven sat on a throne. It was made of what would look like electrical energy to the naked eye, but was obviously far more mystical in nature.

He was watching an orb. It showed him the commandos up stairs.

He smiled. The slayer obviously had a lot of friends, but she didn't know what she was getting into.

By now his son had probably done what he had sent him out to do.

Spike was the main threat in his plan. If he was allowed to survive, then humanity had a chance.

The demon sighed. He reached down to the side of his chair and picked up a fillet burger, and a pack of fries. It was going to be a while yet until he would have to face anyone.

He had the time to waste.

And the time to build.

In a split second the food was gone, working its way through the demons stomach. He stood up, and moved towards the control consol, which had kept Fear imprisoned while Angel had been in charge.

He flicked a switch. A door behind him opened, revealing an empty room. Draven walked into the room, allowing the door to close behind him.

"I'm going to need some resources," he muttered to himself.

Suddenly the demon clicked his fingers in realisation. He raised his hands so he was standing in a y like shape. He quietly muttered some words, so quiet so that only a vampire would have been able to hear them. A portal opened in front of him.

Draven smiled and walked through the red rip in reality.

Willow had been back a matter of seconds before an axe was flying at her head. It was disconcerting to her that she was comfortable enough with this situation to respond on instinct.

She raised her hand, and the axe stopped, reversed its spinning motion from anti-clockwise to clockwise, striking its owner in the throat.

The demon fell like a sack of potatoes. Willow didn't smile, didn't celebrate as others would.

She hated taking life. Any life. But it was kill or be killed, and as Spike had told her too years prior, she had picked.

Willow quickly looked around and saw Buffy's apartment building, surrounded by boards, cars and anything else that could act as a barrier. She could see movement inside. She ran towards the house, ignoring the battle scene around her.

Rome didn't look good. It wasn't how she had left it.

When her, Buffy and Giles had left to pick up Xander it was quiet, not abandoned or home to the battles around her, but quiet. The buildings were still in one piece.

But now, now it was decimated.

The buildings looked to be crumbling, and demons were on the streets.

Willow dodged the flames and debris and made it to the building. The door was busted open. Willow slowly moved inside the old structure. The lights were out, and everything looked trashed.

Willow had only spoken with Kennedy about a half hour ago. The incantation had a delay affect, which resulted in the transportee being deposited around half an hour later. Willow didn't understand how things could have gotten so bad in such a short time. The doors to the lift were broken open. She looked into the elevator shaft. The lift was crashed at the bottom. The witch sighed and climbed the stairs.

Reilly wanted to know what he was looking at.

The huge green monster in front of him looked more than the standard demon. They had found it buried in some of the buildings rubble. It was out cold. They hadn't been able to move it, as it was too big.

Reilly and Sam stood over the creature.

"What is it?" Reilly asked. "I mean, do we got an id on the species?"

Sam frowned. "No. Not in the data base."

Graham moved over to the couple.

He had been with Reilly since the initiative days. Now they were working outside the net officially, but they were like family. And where one went so to the other did. He looked down at the demon.

"I say we shoot it now," Graham said, not breaking his eye away from the creature.

"Go ahead Graham, try it..." Sam's voice had a hint of sarcasm about it.

Graham looked up at his friend's wife, then back at the demon. He pulled his pistol and fired off a round. The bullet went flying off the creatures hide and pinged against several pillars of rubble before leaving the vicinity.

Graham put his pistol away, a little shaken. "You coulda warned me..." He trailed off.

Sam sighed as she knelt down to examine the creature's hide. "But Graham, you know I love watch you mess up,"

Reilly smiled. He enjoyed this part of the job. The friendly banter. He loved seeing his wife and his friend hanging together. It made him remember what he was fighting for.

"O.k. children, we have a job to do here," Reilly stepped in.

"Children? You didn't just refer to your wife as a child did you?" Sam asked teasingly.

Reilly's eyes rolled. He knew what this meant.

"Cos you know you're not getting any of this now sweetie..." Sam pointed towards her ass as she said this.

Reilly reached out to encircle his wife with his arms.

"You know I was only joking." He told her.

She smiled. "Fine Mr. Finn, I'll let you off this time."

Reilly leaned in and gave his wife a kiss.

Graham turned away.

The demon on the ground opened his eyes.

Draven emerged from the room seemingly bigger.

He wasn't, but the energy around him gave the impression he was.

He was smiling.

He had got what he needed.

He moulded a figure with his hands. He gave it a humanoid body, with long nails. A skeletal face and armour made it look like some sort of children's cartoon villain.

The cloak, which Draven had draped over him, left no imagination as to what this creature was. The scythe confirmed it.

"Death..." The creature muttered.

Draven smiled.

Rome.

Willow reached the door.

There was nothing in hallways. Apart from debris and what looked like body parts. With the lights out Willow couldn't identify if they were human or demon. Until she found Kennedy she didn't want to.

The witch snapped her fingers and a tiny ball of light appeared. Willow raised her free hand and a force broke the lock, leaving Willow free to enter the flat where Dawn and Buffy lived.

Willow walked into the apartment. The reception area was reletivley undamaged. There were scorch marks on the walls, but nothing to suggest any real damage. It suddenly became very disconcerting that Willow didn't think of scorch marks as evidence of damage.

Willow noticed a blade on the floor. It was like the one the Mayor had given Faith.

Willow knelt down to pick it up.

And as a figure came from behind, Willow didn't hear a thing.

But as the axe the figure was wielding came flying toward her head, she swiftly turned and stabbed the man.

And it was a man.

Willow's eyes widened. She quickly disarmed the man with a incantation.

"Oh god, oh god, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." Willow panicked as the man began to shudder.

She waved her hands, and out of the air created a bed, lifting the man up onto it with the power of her mind.

Willow again raised her hands, but this time she began the healing spell she had used the year before. S

he wouldn't be responsible for another death. "

Who are you?" the witch asked. "C'mon keep talking, stay with me!" Willow ordered.

"Wilkins..." he managed to reply.

It was Willow's contact. The initiative guy that Reilly had sent.

She had to save him now. If he was here, it proberly meant he knew where Kennedy was.

Willow looked down to him and smiled. "Ok, now this may hurt, but you're going to be ok..."

Sam saw what she feared most in the world.

It her wasn't death.

It wasn't Reilly's death.

It wasn't the destruction of humanity or anything as obvious.

It was a kiss.

A single kiss.

She could see Reilly and Buffy in each other's arms, sharing a passionate but tender kiss.

The perfect kiss.

The perfect moment.

And Reilly wasn't hers anymore.

As the tears spilled from her eyes, Reilly was seeing a different scenario.

It was Sam, but she different.

She was lonely.

Quiet.

She had lost her energy.

She was a walking corpse.

And seeing her like this was Reilly's worst fear.

Grahams worst fear was dieing.

Because of this he saw nothing. He didn't see his funeral, or his death.

As he was about to live it.

Fear raised its arm and punched Graham square in the jaw. He was dead instantly, and his corpse went flying into several other soldiers, knocking them down.

Reilly tried to fight his fear, tried to rally against it, bit it just boar down on him, holding him in place.

His vision cleared, as he could see Sam as she really was.

On her knees.

Crying.

"Sam..." he whispered.

From behind came the creature. It pulled back its arm and released a blow that cleanly carved off Sam's head.

Reilly's eyes went wide.

He wanted to be sick, he wanted to cry, but most of all he wanted to kill the creature in front of him.

And suddenly his fear was broken.

It was realised.

He could stand.

And he could fight.

And he could think.

And as he turned to run, ordering his men to do so as well, he did with a simple thought in his mind. '

I'll get the bastard Sam, I'll get him...'