DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their other respective owners.

A/N ABOUT THIS STORY: As you can tell, I've taken several scenes directly from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Rings, word-for-word in the dialogue. This is not to rip off any of the real writers because I respect their work and I am not a plagiarist. This is an artistic ploy to put the reader in the mindset of where they are and is essential to the story. The Buffy episodes used were episodes (6.1-2) "Bargaining, 1 and 2" written by Marti Noxon & David Fury, (7.17) "Lies My Parents Told Me" written by David Fury & Drew Goddard, (7.18) "Dirty Girls" written by Drew Goddard, (7.19) "Empty Places" written by Drew Z. Greenberg, (7.20) "Touched" written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner, (7.21) "End of Days" written by Jane Espenson & Doug Petrie and (7.22) "Chosen" written by Joss Whedon. The Angel episode used was "Orpheus" written by Mere Smith. The movies used are, of course, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, written by Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien (if you didn't know that, you just suck).

9. Alone:

Arwen strolled through the great halls of her palace – now she was the one left in charge since her husband set forth on his journey. Everything in her world seemed darker, even on the brightest days. And she knew why – the scales in her world, and she could imagine Buffy's world, were beginning to tip. They had been gone too long already.

Arwen's blue eyes opened wide, realizing that now she was in a different place. She had been roaming the palace quite idly, trying to escape from the eyes of those who watched her with scrutiny, and found herself in the room where she had found Buffy so long ago.

With this memory in her mind, she stopped and turned towards the wall with fear in her heart. The painting of Luthien Tinuviel stared at her ominously.

"No," she whispered as tears began to well up in her eyes. "He is coming home." Luthien stared at her silently, her sad eyes doing all the talking. Arwen spun on her heel and ran away as fast as she could, rushing down the hallway from which she came. She threw open a door and raced down a stone staircase, not paying any mind where she was going until she reached the bottom.

As she ran off the staircase, she collapsed to the floor, nearly in tears. She covered her face with her hand and trembled slightly, trying to push her husband out of her mind. The sounds of a deep voice whispering frantically found her. Arwen turned and looked down the long, dark hallway to see the last door slightly open, light pouring out onto the floor. She stood up and silently stepped down the hall, moving towards the door where she caught glimpses of Gandalf the White, pacing back and forth inside the room.

She stuck her face in the door, making herself unknown, and watched the wizard race back and forth from book to book, flipping through pages, rushing around nervously. This scene cut Arwen down to her heart and terrified her mightily.

After finding her voice once again, she declared, "They would have returned by now with Buffy." Gandalf froze after hearing her soft, fleeting voice as it struck a chord inside of him.

With his back to her, he answered, "My dear queen, this is nothing for you to be concerned about."

Arwen pushed the door opened and rushed into the room after hearing this bold-faced lie as she declared, sounding more like a queen than a child, "It is my husband I am concerned about! Face me and dare to repeat the words you have just said." Slowly, Gandalf turned towards her and saw her desperate face.

"Please," Arwen begged, "tell me what has happened."

Gandalf turned around and faced the wall once more, his voice unusually shaky and indistinct. "Something has… happened," he began fearfully. "Something has… gone wrong. This problem must be corrected, or…" He let the words fade away.

"What has happened?" Arwen asked, shaking her head.

"I am not certain," Gandalf answered, "but everything and everyone must return to its place, or…" The words faded off once more.

"What is it?" Arwen pushed. "They will not return? The world will be destroyed? What?"

"Their world will be destroyed," Gandalf declared slowly, knowing there was no way around it. "Their world… and every other."

Xander Harris sat up in his hospital bed with Willow sitting on the end, a large white bandage covering his left eye socket. Willow tightly held his hand like a caring mother as Buffy Summers stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, still minding the invisible barrier in between her and her friends.

"The, uh, doctor said that despite everything," Buffy slowly announced, "that, uh, you seem to be healing well. You should expect to see some bruising when you remove the bandages…" Buffy's eyes left Xander once more, her friends noticing this move, "Bruising around the… area. The, uh, bone structure was hit pretty hard. The muscular tissue—"

"Okay," Xander declared deeply, cutting her off. It was painful for him to hear Buffy wishing that she wasn't here telling him these things. He could feel his trust for her slowly slipping away as he struggled and clawed to keep hold of it. "That's okay, Buff." he declared. "We saw Daredevil – apparently, the only thing I have to do is sew myself a costume. Or at least half of one."

Buffy pushed a smile. "Well, they say that they'll release you as early as tonight. We're just waiting for some tests to come back. They'll… probably be here in a few hours."

"That's great," Xander smiled, also having to force his own façade.

She nodded at him from the doorway, inching ever so slightly backwards out of the room. "Okay," she answered. "We're all set then." Buffy reached over and picked the files that Willow had retrieved from the police earlier that morning off the table near the door. "Thank you for these," she said to Willow, holding the files up. "I'll bring this back to the house, crack it open."

"Oh," Willow answered with surprised disappointment. "You're leaving?" She looked from Buffy over to Xander with a hurt face, then turned back, "I thought… you were going to stay… like, card games or something? Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are outside the door, right? Maybe they'd like to learn?"

"I just," Buffy nearly cut her off, closing her eyes. "Uh, I really need to get back." She searched frantically for an excuse until it came to her. "I want everyone to get started on these files," she added. "I think we may find something important."

"It's okay," Xander declared. "What can you do when it's got to be done? I'll… see you tonight, maybe."

Buffy nodded slowly as the last word rested on her tongue, "Maybe." She then quickly turned away and walked out of the room with the files underneath her arm. Willow and Xander watched her go with heartbroken faces as Willow turned to Xander.

Buffy walked down the hallway quickly, announcing to the others without even looking at them, "Let's go." Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, who had been standing in the hallway with Spike, looked at each other strangely, and then the three Fellowship members followed Buffy down the hall without another question. Spike watched them go with suspicion. While still in the shadows, he peeked back into Xander's hospital room.

"So…" Willow began, trying to clear the fog, "I guess you're stuck with me for another heart-stopping, breath-taking, death-defying game of Uno—"

"She's really going, isn't she?" Xander flatly said, staring at the wall. "She's going back to Middle Earth with the Fellowship."

Willow tried to think of something positive to say, but she couldn't. "Yeah," Willow said, tears welling up in her eyes. Her voice, full of despair, meekly stated, "Wouldn't you?"

From outside the door, Spike's eyes grew wide at this statement as everything seemed to fall into place. He swallowed hard, feeling as if he were swallowing fire.

Buffy walked into the foyer of her home as Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas walked in after her. She went into the dining room and laid the file down on the table as Dawn walked up to her. "How's Xander?"

Buffy turned towards her sister and had to push another positive expression on her face. "Um… good. Good. He's, uh, he's ready to come home."

"What'cha got?" Faith asked as she walked into the dining room, followed by Amanda and Kennedy. The rest of the Fellowship walked into the dining room as well and listened to the conversation.

"Giles and Willow were able to get this from the police," Buffy answered. "Caleb's definitely not new to the game. I want to find out where he's been, what he's done."

"How was Xander's mood," Dawn asked, sitting at the table, "you know... exactly?" Buffy turned away from her and continued to sift through the papers, ignoring her. "Did you talk to the doctor about the medication, because it seemed—"

"Hey, pipsqueak," Faith stepped in. "Why don't you go get some of the stuff you've already gotten from Giles?"

Dawn looked at Faith, then looked at her sister's back, taking the hint. "Okay." she nodded, hurt. "We can talk about this later."

"Okay," Buffy answered, still not facing her for a second. Dawn walked out of the room as Buffy swallowed hard and then ordered, "Try to find anything that looks like Caleb. His church, his ring—"

"His ability to render a Slayer useless with one punch," Kennedy announced idly. Buffy looked up at her with hurt eyes as Aragorn turned from Buffy to Kennedy and back again. Faith and the Fellowship frowned or shook their heads as Kennedy struggled to recover. "I… I didn't mean it," Kennedy began, "I-I don't know why I said that. That was stupid."

"No, um," Buffy answered, looking away and sounding as if she were holding back tears. "It's okay… I… I have to go to the school and get the rest of my things, now that I think of it. I'll leave this to you."

Buffy walked passed her friends out of the dining room and out of the house, closing the door loudly. The final slam rang in their ears as Kennedy continued to stand next to the table with the papers in her hands, feeling as stupid as ever.

"Aragorn," Frodo faintly whispered. He looked down at the hobbit as Frodo stared up at him with worry in his eyes. "You must go with her. Now." Aragorn could see the warning in his eyes, and then could feel it in his own heart. With a nod, he turned and left the house, following Buffy out.

Buffy Summers walked down the hallways of her old high school to see lockers and papers scattered throughout the darkened hallway. It was a nightmarish version of her already nightmarish school. She walked down the hallway until she approached her own office and stepped inside, feeling as if she were walking into a tomb – something not uncommon.

Everything about the room seemed empty. She realized then that everything about her life felt empty. Approaching her cubicle, she tiredly sat down in the chair at the desk, her mind awash in memories. Her eyes found a picture frame propped up on her desk, and she reached for it and gazed down at the picture.

It was of her, Willow and Xander outside of the old Sunnydale High School… her first year in Sunnydale, she could remember. Everything seemed so simple then. And since then everything had changed. She looked down at Xander's smiling face as sunlight poured over him and she could feel her eyes stinging with pain.

Weakly, she touched his face as her heart ached terribly. She could stand it no more; she couldn't bear to have him stare at her that way. She closed her eyes tightly and wished that everything would disappear.

"It wasn't your fault," a familiar voice said. Buffy opened her eyes and turned to see Aragorn standing in front of her desk, staring down at her. She looked back down at the picture of them.

"No," Buffy shook her head, her voice quiet and weak. "I guess it's not. But I can't help but feel… like I'm responsible." She thought for a few moments, then answered darkly, "I am responsible."

"When one leads an army," Aragorn replied, "they can only hope to leave with their life."

Buffy shook her head and declared with bitterness, "More lessons on how to be a general." She stood up from her seat and demanded of him and the world with exclamation, "So is that what it is? One giant tally of who lived and who died?"

"Don't lessen me to that," Aragorn softly answered. "I, too, have had the misfortune of leading companions into battle." He stared down at the floor as he remembered, "Watching fear grasp them. Watching them suffer. Watching them die."

Both Buffy and Aragorn were silent, and each of them in their own ways was afraid. She gazed down at the picture on her desk, her eyes beginning to glaze over as she quietly asked, "How do we do it… and survive?"

Aragorn was quiet and still as he mused over the question and finally, after many seconds, gave an answer. "I am not sure." He shook his head.

"I don't think I can do it anymore," Buffy declared, her voice getting deeper and more waterlogged with emotion as she gazed at Xander's face. "The price is too high." She looked up at Aragorn, "I know no one sees it, but every time one of those girls dies – every time one of my friends gets hurt – a part of me dies with them. They don't deserve to be in this position. None of them deserves this."

"And you, Buffy?" Aragorn asked. "What do you deserve?" Buffy's eyes went wide and damp as she stared into the darkness across from her. Silence fell upon them like a drowning river, pushing them further apart. And yet, Aragorn could see in her eyes the same woman he saw in Middle Earth – the same vulnerability, the same tenderness.

"Aratoamin," Aragorn began, his words like the wind in her ears. As he spoke, she suddenly was not aware that he was speaking a language other than her native one, but the words poured into her ears and she could understand every single one.

"Return home," he said to her. "To your real home, where you are needed just as much. The affairs of this world are far too grave. I fear that it will not last, and you will perish with it. I do not want this to be your fate. Please return with us now and we shall retrieve the others—"

"Stop," Buffy whispered calmly.

Aragorn replied, "Buffy—"

"Just stop," Buffy declared with anger now in her voice. Aragorn was taken aback as she opened her eyes and glared up at him, "You don't understand anything, do you?"

"Perhaps I don't," he answered with surprise. "We are allies, Buffy. But you've been nothing but hostile." Buffy turned away from him and began to nervously pace across the office as Aragorn, not having any idea what to think anymore, shook his head and continued, "I-I mean, I could… understand your bitterness—"

"You understand nothing," she snapped, whipping around to face him. "You don't know me."

"That is becoming clear," he angrily answered. "I once knew who you were. Who you are is entirely different."

"It's called 'destiny,' Aragorn," Buffy spat at him. "I'm sure you know a thing or two about it."

"The difference between you and I," Aragorn began, calming himself once more, "is that I at least believed in my destiny… something that you no longer seem to have."

"You know what," Buffy icily stated, "you're right! I have changed! So don't think for a second that you really know a damn thing about me."

"This I do know," Aragorn got into her face and angrily countered, spitting out the last two words, "my lady. When I learned of Frodo and Sam's survival after the Destruction of the Ring and looked at all I had been blessed with – the survival of the entire Fellowship – I vowed that I would never lead them into danger again. Yet here I am. I've led them across time for you. I led them into peril—"

"Then go home," she boldly cut him off with a livid tone. Aragorn stared at her with a stunned expression that melted away into one of pain. Finally, his hurt expression transformed into one of anger as he turned his back on her and left the office without saying another word.

Buffy watched him go, then plopped down in her office chair and continued to stare at the picture, her heart breaking. "See, look at that," another voice said from inside the office. Buffy looked up to see Caleb approaching her desk. "Women just don't know how to treat a man nowadays."

Buffy's eyes were wide on him as he stared back at her with a lopsided smile. "What? You gonna cry? Scream? I'd sure like it if you did."

"Get out," Buffy ordered.

"Now, now." Caleb shook his finger at her. "You'll not be showing me the same kinda manners you showed your gentlemen friend a few minutes ago." He strolled idly around her office, gazing at certain things. "Now tell me, who are them folks that came down to see me today? They're not from around here. Not that I'm not friendly to foreigners, even though most haven't quite found the light of the Lord – how did they come about this forsaken town?"

"Dunno," Buffy answered. "Maybe Fed-Ex has extended their routes."

"I've no time for your curt little jokes, young lady," Caleb answered. "I asked a question and I expect you to answer it to the best of your knowledge."

"Damn," Buffy frowned, "and I've really been striving to make a good impression…"

"Speakin' of which," Caleb responded, "how's dear Xander?" She glared up at him as he smiled down at her, "Now you tell him he's in my prayers, and when he feels ready, I'm more than willing to poke out the other one."

"Come near Xander again," Buffy darkly threatened, "and I will end you."

"Now what'd I just say about manners?" Caleb answered. "Do they know what's eatin' away at you? They probably don't." Buffy was deeply unsettled as he spoke to her about her life, taking the utmost pleasure in all of it. "Now tell me once more, I've heard it before… what was that boy's name? Sad story his was. But that's what happens when you're mixed up in the dealings of a harlot." Caleb searched through his mind, playing with Buffy's in the process. "Now, dad gum it, what was his name?"

Buffy leapt out of her seat before he could finish and punched Caleb in the face. He laughed as she tried to kick him, but he simply grabbed her leg and grinned at her. "I'm gonna take pleasure in taming you," he laughed and threw her through the window of her office. She flew across the hallway and smacked into the lockers, knocking her unconscious.

"Oh," Caleb laughed, "now I remember his name. Sad, sad story his was… Such a shame to have ended so soon."

Aragorn marched into the house and slammed the door behind him. He walked through the foyer and reached the living room when suddenly two hands grabbed him from behind and slammed him against the wall. Spike grabbed him by the collar and glared into his eyes.

"Unhand me!" Aragorn ordered.

"Not 'til we have a little talk," Spike spat. Legolas, Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry rushed into the living hearing the racket as Legolas tried to pull Spike away. Spike shoved the elf back and then grabbed a hold of Aragorn once more. "Where do you get off tryin' to take her away from us, you bloody ponce?"

Legolas ripped out his bow and arrow as Spike turned to him and challenged, "Shoot me, if you want to, Goldilocks! It's not gonna scare me—"

Aragorn pushed Spike away and grabbed him by the collar declaring to him, "I know that you love her." Spike stared at him with confusion in his eyes. "And for that reason I know what you would think of me." Aragorn nearly hissed, "But know that she is yours to keep!" He shoved Spike away into the other wall as the vampire stared at him blankly. "We are allies no more," Aragorn declared.

"What?" Merry asked. "I don't understand—"

"There is nothing to explain," Aragorn snapped. "She has her crystal if she decides to return. This place is none of our concern. We're leaving as soon as night falls." Legolas turned to Aragorn in shock, but said nothing as he put away his arrow.

"You're right, Aragorn," Gimli announced with finality. "If she wishes to stay, who are we to break that? Let us be on our way!" Merry looked down at the floor with sad eyes as Pippin turned to him, for once knowing not to say anything to him.

"If we leave then our mission has failed," Frodo announced strongly. Aragorn turned towards him in confusion. "We cannot leave her behind."

"It is done, Frodo," Aragorn declared.

"Wait a second, Mr. Frodo's right," Sam added. "If we're just going to leave her behind, what've we come for?"

Aragorn shook his head. "There is no use for us being here!"

"Then I suggest you make yourselves useful," Giles declared as he stepped into the living room. "Spike, I have a mission for you."

"Oh, really?" Spike asked. "Is this one where you try to kill me? Because I don't enjoy those so much."

"This is bona fide," Giles answered, handing him a picture from the police file, "with real ramifications."

"What are we to do?" Aragorn asked.

"I'd like you to accompany Spike to this church," Giles answered. "Unfortunately, it is not near. We've found several imprints of Caleb's ring in photographs of the church."

"Think our boy's got something there for us?" Spike asked.

"Possibly," Giles answered. "I need people who can handle themselves in hostile situations." He turned to Aragorn, "One last mission before your departure."

Aragorn stared at him hesitantly, then he looked at Spike, then back to the rest of the Fellowship. "Very well," he finally said. "One last time."

Andrew walked into the living room wearing oven mitts and an apron as he crossed his arms and whined, "Mr. Giles, Faith stole the last pizza-and-mozzarella-flavored Hot Pocket even though I called dibs on it."

"Take Andrew," Giles declared.

"What?" Spike and Aragorn both exclaimed.

Pippin gazed at Andrew and rolled his eyes, sighing to himself, "Oh brother…"

Minutes before the sun set in Sunnydale, Buffy Summers lightly limped her way in through the front door of her home, bruises covering most of her back and left side. She looked up and gazed around the living room to find it eerily vacant of anyone. "Hello?" she whispered, anxiety pulling at her.

"Buffy," a soft voice called from the kitchen. She turned around to see Giles walk out of the dining room and come towards her with deep concern in his grey eyes. "Buffy, are you hurt?"

Her eyes found his. "I… I'm fine. Caleb came back for another round."

"My God," Giles gasped, "is he—"

"Still able to make me see cartoon birdies fly around my head?" Buffy replied. "You betcha." She sighed tiredly as she replied, forgetting for a few moments the bad blood between her and her former watcher. "The short lack of consciousness was nice while it lasted. I feel rested." She looked up at him, "Um, those police files… did we find anything?"

"Uh, yes," Giles said, lifting his cup of coffee. "There's evidence Caleb may have established a foothold up north." Buffy nodded as Giles nervously and subtly submitted, "I, uh, sent Spike to look into it."

Buffy's eyes met his in a flash as she suddenly dropped her yester years tone and got back on the defensive. "Spike?" she repeated, her green eyes narrowing on him with a sarcastic tone. "Is this a mission that you intend for him to come back alive?"

"Yes," Giles answered, finishing his sip as he set his coffee mug down. "I sent Andrew with him."

"Again I ask the question," Buffy responded.

"And Aragorn," Giles answered. "I assure you, Spike is backed up by the entire Fellowship—"

"You sent them?" Buffy cut him off with an icy tone. Giles was thrown off his guard as he gazed down at her in confusion. "What the hell were you thinking," she demanded, "letting them go off like this!" Her stomach turned over and she couldn't finish her sentence as she gripped the doorframe of the living room entrance.

"I was thinking," Giles explained, "that decisions have to be made in your absence."

"Yeah," Buffy shot back, "it's those that scare me the most."

Giles' head tilted as he stared at her, feeling her words were completely uncalled for. "Buffy," he tried to reason with her, "we are all trying to help—"

"Really?" she answered sarcastically, then added. "That's not exactly how I see it."

Giles asked, "What, are you saying that you don't trust us?"

"Where did everyone go?" Buffy asked suddenly.

"What," Giles shook his head, "why?"

"Where did they go?" she demanded from him.

"Oh, uh, well," Giles stuttered his response, "F-Faith… thought that t-the girls could use some time from their studies… so… she…" Buffy crossed her arms, not amused with his attempts to water down her anger as he sighed and answered simply, "She took them to the Bronze."

Buffy glared at him coldly as she marched out of the house, heeding the pain in her body no more. She ripped open the front door and slammed it behind her. Giles jumped at the sound as suddenly the light bulb in the living room lamp exploded, leaving him in the dark.

Faith and the Potentials were outside of the Bronze, battling seven police officers at once. Faith flipped off of her back onto her feet and kicked one of the officers in the stomach as Kennedy and Amanda punched an officer to the ground. Faith served a mighty punch to one and knocked him out, then threw another into the brick wall of the side of the building.

She ducked underneath the billy club swing of one, then jumped up and punched him in the abdomen. He sunk down to the ground in pain as she caught the club of another young officer and kicked him against the wall. She grabbed the stick and banged it across his throat, knocking him unconscious as he sunk slowly to the ground.

Faith, Kennedy, Amanda, Dawn and the rest of the Potentials looked around at the unconscious officers as the fight ended. The sound of rapid, steel-heeled boots marching down the alleyway towards them caught their attention. Faith turned to see Buffy walked up to her with a fierce glare.

"Faith!" she demanded as she viewed the scene. "What are you doing?"

"Just blowing off steam," she answered, staring down Buffy defiantly. "Well, at least, it started out that way. Cops went all evil on us."

Kennedy swaggered up to her with an angry pout, "Buffy, lay off. It was the cops—"

"Shut up," Buffy bit off as she kept her stare on Faith. "Girls, go home. I need to talk to Faith alone."

Dawn meagerly replied, "Buffy, we weren't—"

"Dawn, you too," Buffy answered, again without looking at her. The girls slowly walked away down the alley, the entire group moving at the same, bummed speed as Buffy and Faith stood still staring at each other. When most of them left back down the alley towards home, Buffy finally said, "What is this?"

"They needed a break, all right?" Faith answered.

"No," Buffy shook her head, her face burning with heat. "A break is one thing – I get blowing off steam… but this? Going out and starting fights!"

"We didn't start—"

"And some of those girls were drunk!" Buffy snapped. "What the hell were you thinking? What if someone had gotten hurt?"

"They didn't," Faith shrugged, rolling her eyes.

"This is just like you!" she accused. "Five by five and livin' large. Too 'bad' to bother figuring out the meaning of the word 'responsibility.'"

"Nobody got hurt, B," Faith shouted back, then calmed herself as she explained. "You don't even know these girls. They're just as scared as you and me in the exact same place as us. So why don't you have a little more faith in them? Show a little confidence, let them screw up every once in a while—"

"Don't try and explain learning from your mistakes to me," Buffy declared with a dark bitterness inside her voice. "You just don't throw children into—"

"They're not children," Faith cut her off, loosing her patience.

Buffy stared at her wide eyed for several seconds before she said matter-of-factly, "That really isn't the point." She turned around and began to march away from Faith, walking back down the alleyway.

Faith looked up from the ground and called after her, "What about the vineyard?" Buffy froze in her steps. "How safe were they then?" Faith demanded as she slowly approached Buffy from behind. "How safe was Amanda or Rona? How safe was Molly?"

The last word skewered her so deeply she could feel herself flinch. But her heart was no longer attached to the rest of her body. As if on reflex, she spun around on her heel and punched Faith hard in the jaw. A coldness rested on Faith's chin as if she'd been knocked to the ground with a block of ice. Faith knuckled her bruised jaw as she looked up and saw Buffy stomping away in a painful rage.

The door to the Mission of Saint Jude burst open and was reduced to splinters as Aragorn entered with his sword drawn, Legolas at his side with his arrow tightly held at bay. "Good work, Batman," Spike announced, striding into the empty room freely. "You killed the unlocked door."

Aragorn looked down at the shattered door pieces on the floor as he sighed and placed his sword back in its sheath. "The idiosyncrasies of this world are beginning to wear off on me."

"We are alone here," Legolas announced as he intensely scanned the candlelit, stone walls of the mission.

Spike looked at Aragorn, "Now think about those last two statements, mate, then get back to me."

"Is the coast clear?" Andrew whispered fearfully as he peeked his head in through the doorway.

"It's all right," Aragorn announced, turning towards him. Andrew remained in the doorway, still frozen with anxiety.

"That means move it," Merry declared behind him, giving him an impatient shove.

"Ow," Andrew whined as he moved out of the way and let Gimli and the hobbits into the room. "Sorry," he began, rubbing the small of his back, "it's just that places like this give me the creeps."

"Ha!" Gimli let out a hearty laugh. "Whether it be the Gates of Mordor or the Elfish stronghold of Lorién – no place strikes fear into the heart of me!"

"That's good to hear," Spike idly answered, scanning the area.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Sam asked, with his short sword still in his hand.

"Anything," Spike sighed. "Preferably anyone that can lead us to the good preacher."

Legolas turned towards a dark hallway with a start and stared down into the darkness intently. "What is it, Legolas?" Aragorn asked.

Legolas' eyes narrowed as he explained gravely, "Blood has been spilled in this place."

Spike joined him, the smell striking his nostrils. "Tell me something I don't know."

"We are not alone," he answered.

Spike turned towards him, surprised. In a flash, Legolas ripped out his bow and arrow once more and spun around, facing a bloodied and beaten monk. "Wow," Spike remarked. "Spot on."

"Don't shoot!" the monk begged as he collapsed on the floor. Aragorn reached down and sat the beaten man upright as something caught his eye. He pulled back the man's hood to reveal a symbol burned into his cheek.

"This mark…" Aragorn began, "I've seen it before. On the stabbed girl's neck." He looked back towards the monk, "The priest – Caleb – he did this to you?"

The shivering monk did not answer. "Come on, speak up," Spike demanded. "Or are you one of his boys, too?"

"My soul is not his…" the fading man whispered.

"What happened here?" Frodo asked softly.

"I-I can't…" the teary-eyed monk shook his head. "I'm sorry… I can't…"

"Do not be afraid," Gimli declared. "We're here to fight this… Caleb. But we cannot succeed without your word."

"You can't fight him…" the monk shook his head, his tears streaking through the blood on his face. "No one can. You can only run."

"Sorry, padre," Spike shook his head. "That's not exactly how we run things. Now talk."

"I'll do better," the monk declared, swallowing hard. "I'll show you." Aragorn helped the monk to his feet as he reached for a candelabra nearby and the monk limped down the dark hallway, leading them to a chapel. "Several nights ago, a man came to our doorstep, tired and hungry."

"And you welcomed him?" Pippin asked.

"We are a benevolent order," the monk explained painfully. "And yes, we offered him food and shelter. But he had other intentions." They arrived in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary as the monk pulled out a stone in the wall, triggering the statue to shift out of the way, revealing a stone plaque placed into the stone of the wall.

"He found this lever and revealed something that we did not even know existed," the monk continued. "He was ecstatic – ranting on about destiny and whatnot, but then once he read the plaque, he was overcome with anger." Spike took the candelabra from the monk's hand as he walked towards the plaque and the monk continued. "His temper," he said, clearly chiller to the bone. "He was the purest evil I've ever seen. The words enraged him and… he burned me. I ran and hid, and… listened to the others die."

"This language," Aragorn shook his head, staring at the inscription, "it is not any that I have ever seen."

"It's Latin," Spike answered, slowly reading it.

"Well," Merry asked inquisitively, "what does it say?"

"'It is not for thee,'" Spike read, "'it is for her alone to wield.'"

"What is for thee?" Frodo asked.

Spike read the next part, confusion settling into him, "'The Choice… the Weapon… and the Power."

"Welcome home, Xander," Buffy announced as he broke away from Dawn's embrace. Xander, Willow, Anya, Dawn, Giles, Faith, Robin and the Potentials were all gathered in the Summers' living room and present for Xander's welcome home sorta-party. Buffy had just joined them as Xander sat down on the couch with a bandage still over his left eye as Buffy added, "I wanted you to be here for this. I think you'll be interested in what I found out."

"W-what did you find out?" Willow asked with a confused frown.

"I did some thinking on the way back home tonight," Buffy began, pacing through her foyer and into her living room as her army listened. "It's… about the cellar. I know that night wasn't fun for any of us, but I figured out some things tonight and now I realize what we have to do." She turned towards her friends with her arms crossed and a determined glare in her eye. "We're going back in."

The words came out and fell upon them like a ton of bricks. Willow looked down at Xander nervously as Giles gave Buffy a concerned look. She caught it immediately and began, "Look, I know what you're all thinking, but I had a visit at the school today from Caleb."

"Buffy," Dawn began with deep concern, "why didn't you—"

"I'm fine," Buffy cut her off, not allowing her that. "I-I mean it wasn't fun, but I'm fine. Anyway, I couldn't figure out what he doing at the school."

"Do you think it's the Seal?" Robin asked.

"Should we try shutting it down again?" Willow asked.

"That's just the problem," Buffy answered. "We've spent all our time worrying about the Seal and the Hellmouth. If that's the sore spot, then why isn't Caleb there all the time protecting it? Why instead is he camped out at the vineyard ten miles away? The bad guys always go to their power, so if the Seal was that important to Caleb and the First, they should be there right now guarding it. They're protecting the vineyard… or something at the vineyard. I say it's their power and we should go right now to take it back from them."

Xander and Willow both looked away from her as Giles uncrossed his arms and sighed. "Or the alternative," Faith declared, "how 'bout we don't?" Buffy turned towards her as she explained, "Look, it's a neat idea, B, but I'm not going back in there without proof. Neither should you and neither should anyone else."

Buffy shook her head slowly and said with a little sympathy, "I'm not saying this is going to be easy—"

"I think Faith had the floor," Robin boldly and coldly cut her off. Buffy looked up at him with surprise, stunned into silence.

"Maybe this all works out," Faith continued, "maybe we beat the bad guys and give a toast to the times. But there's too big a chance that it won't for us to be gambling like this."

"Did you come here to fight?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Of course I did," Faith declared strongly with irritation. "But I came here to fight something real, not—"

"Windmills," Giles sighed, removing his glasses.

Buffy turned towards him with wide eyes and finally declared, "There is something there."

"Maybe," Giles answered, "but we can't be sure. It-it's a hell of a lot to ask."

Robin crossed his arms and sat back. "Maybe too much."

Buffy stared at them as if she'd just been pushed off a horse. "I don't understand this," she declared with jaw agape. "For seven years I've kept us safe by doing this… exactly this. And now it's like you can't trust me?"

"Weren't you the one who said that you couldn't trust us?" Giles asked. "I seriously think there's something there that needs to be addressed."

"Is that why you send Spike and the Fellowship away?" Buffy asked, feeling the sense of betrayal grip her yet again. "So you could all gang up on me?"

"Just shut up!" Rona declared, irritated, as Buffy's eyes snapped towards her. "Look, I am sick of hearing about this Spike guy… and the Fellowship of the Crusade… or… whatever. Why are they even here? What good are—?"

"Don't!" Buffy hissed with a deep, painful darkness in her tone. "Say… another word." Rona reeled back, at once afraid of the Slayer who was supposed to protect her.

"Don't even try," Kennedy said to Rona. "God forbid you say anything about her heroes."

"What did you say?" Buffy declared, turning towards her.

"Exactly what everyone's thinking," Kennedy declared. "You don't really care who lives or who dies, you'll jump into any plan you can think of." Buffy stood still and staggered as she continued, "I mean, does it really matter to you? Should it matter? No matter what happens here you've got a free ticket out."

"Kennedy," Willow declared, horrified. "I told you that was a secret."

"Why are you always defending her?" Kennedy snapped.

"I'm not!" Willow answered, standing up, despair coming over her.

Buffy's tired eyes rested upon her best friend, her heart ripping open inside her chest. "You're not?" she softly whispered.

"Look, Buffy," Willow's frown dipped even further as she turned towards her. "I-I get it. I… I guess in a lot of ways… I made a mistake bringing you back." Buffy breathed hard as Willow meekly continued, "I-I mean, the-the First wouldn't have the power to take over if we didn't bring you back. And I know you're unhappy…"

Dawn's eyes fell to the floor as she swallowed toughly. Xander continued his motionless gaze, his eyesight glued to the ground. Willow continued, "But lately… I'm… concerned about your judgment."

"I wish this could be a democracy," Buffy announced, finding her voice once more. "I really do. But democracies don't win battles. There has to be a single voice. You have to have someone to lead you—"

"And it's automatically you," Anya declared as Buffy turned to her. Anya's expression was both cold and incredulous as she observed, "You really do think you're better than us?"

"What?" Buffy answered fleetingly, as if the breath had been removed from her lungs. "No, I—"

"But we don't know," Anya continued, much to Buffy's discontent. "We don't know if you're actually better. I mean you came into this world with certain… advantages. That's the whole legacy. But you didn't earn it. You didn't work for it, you've never had anyone come up to you and say that you deserved these things more than anyone else. They were just handed to you. That doesn't make you better than us. That makes you luckier than us."

Like the little boy who stuck his thumb in the duck, she remembered the strange random thought of her and Angel sitting on a bench in a graveyard four years ago, before he explained that story was about a dam. Buffy could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at Anya, but she tried holding them back as if she were standing in front of a tidal wave.

"I've gotten us this far," Buffy whispered, loosing her ground figuratively and emotionally.

"But not without a price," Xander declared. She turned towards him with wide eyes, begging, pleading him not to deliver the final damning blow. "I'm sorry, Buff," Xander whispered, pushing beyond his own guilt with the justification for hers. "I'm trying to see your point of view." He swallowed and answered with enough pain for the both of them to share, "Must be a little more to my left."

She looked away from him quickly, not being able to stare at him another moment. "Look," she began wearily, "I'm willing to talk strategy. I'll hear suggestions on how to break this down… but-but this is the plan…" Buffy took another deep breath, "We have to be together on this—"

"We are clearly demonstrating that we are not together on this!" Giles roared with discontent.

"Which is why you have to fall in line!" Buffy barked, glaring at all of them. "I am in charge here."

"Why is that, exactly?" Rona asked.

Buffy turned to her, shocked she would even ask the question, but quickly remembered the default answer. "Because I'm the Slayer—"

"And isn't Faith a Slayer, too?" Rona asked.

"What?" Faith declared, caught completely off guard. "Whoa, whoa, whoa… I'm not in charge here, chick. I think B just needs to… chill out a while, take a siesta or something, I don't know. But I'm not the one you want."

"Maybe we need a vote," Kennedy suggested. "To see who wants Faith to be in charge from now on."

"No," Buffy sternly declared.

"No, what?" Kennedy challenged, all fired up with courage now.

"No…" Buffy repeated with bitter coldness. "You don't get to vote until I've had my chance to… pal around with you, take you out drinking, braid your hair, bake you cookies—"

"Learn their names?" Faith added.

Buffy shot a deep glare as the acid hit her old wounds, "Oh, you're just lovin' this, aren't you?"

"Hey, you know what," Faith shot back, "you've got no idea what I'm feeling right now—"

"Come in here," Buffy added with a blatant meanness, "take everything from me. You've done it before! Did you tell them that? Hey, guys, did ya know Faith used to kill people for fun? You guys think that's nifty?"

"Buffy, enough!" Giles reprimanded her as he used to do in high school.

"I didn't come here to take anything from you," Faith spat, now fully offended. "I came here to join the team – however that works. I don't know if I can lead, Buffy. But the real question is: Can you follow?"

Buffy was stunned into silence once more. For that question, there was no default answer she could think of. "So we vote," Robin smoothly replied, solving the problem right away.

"Wait," Buffy looked up, for a second sounding like she was begging mercy. "Guys…" She let the woods fade away as she searched each of their faces, looking, struggling to find anything that could give her strength. Anything that proved they still believed in her. "I just can't watch… I just need…" She couldn't pick one sentence until she zeroed in on one, "I won't just stay here and watch her lead you into some disaster!"

"Then you can't stay here," a quiet, reserved voice announced.

The simple truth was that at that moment, everything she knew, believed, held on to… vanished like torn paper in a blaze. Dawn quietly stood up, standing taller than her sister – her blood, her hero and champion – and looked tearfully into her eyes. "I love you, but you were right," she sighed. "We have to be together on this. You can't be a part of that…" Buffy stared at her in disbelief, this being the unkindest cut of all. "So I need you to leave," Dawn condemned. "I'm sorry, but this is my house, too."

Buffy stood several seconds in front of her sister, motionless with her mind cut off to the world. She finally turned away and walked to the door without looking at another face, but they all saw hers. Her eyes were deader than they had ever been – even as a corpse.

She grabbed her jacket off of the rack in the foyer, her body being controlled by some force, random thoughts that didn't make sense to her. Buffy opened the door to her house and stepped outside, walking into the hot air of the mid-May night. Tears rolled down her numb cheeks as she wrapped her arms around her and stepped down the stairs off her porch and into the lonely night. She walked away from what used to be her home as a terrible realization came over her. She had finally fulfilled her destiny as a Slayer:

She was alone.