Author's Notes: Set four years after 'Becoming' part two. Buffy ran away, and didn't come back. Now, four years later, she's about to be reminded of who and what she really is.
Rating: R. Language and strong themes. Sorry, kiddies.
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognise is mine. Don't sue, please.
Feedback: Very welcome. Constructive criticism is welcome; flames will be used to help me toast marshmallows.
Chapter Notes: Thanks for all the positive feedback, people. This chapter, enter the Scoobies.
Chapter Four: Dialogue
Xander rubbed at his eyes wearily. "We're not gonna find anything," he complained. "It's late. We should all crash."
"You go," Willow said distractedly. "I think I'm on to something. She was biting her thumbnail in agitation. Tara rubbed her shoulders gently.
"No, Xander's right," Faith put in. "We should hit the sack." She looked over at Angel. "Come on, Angel. You're not finding anything, and Giles isn't gonna call this late."
The vampire shrugged. "He might. You never know." He gave a tight smile to the slayer. "But you go to bed," he told them. "There's no point wearing yourselves out."
Anya gave a loud sigh. "At last," she muttered. Willow looked up briefly to roll her eyes at the ex-demon. "Well, I'm only saying."
The retort that Faith had been about to give was cut off by the tremor that ran through the earth, shaking the house. It wasn't enough to be called an earthquake, but a picture fell from the wall, and Tara stumbled a little.
Dawn came tripping down the stairs. "What is it? Is it Glory?" Her eyes and voice were filled with fear.
"No, no," Faith assured her, going to sling an arm around the girl. "Just an earthquake. Southern California, remember?" But she looked worriedly at Angel nonetheless.
When the doorbell rang, they all jumped. Angel motioned Dawn out of sight, into the kitchen, before he went to answer it. The person waiting on the doorstep was the last person he'd expected to see.
He didn't even recognise her at first. The woman in front of him had blonde hair down to the middle of her back, and cold hazel eyes that looked almost lifeless. A scar ran from her eyebrow, around her eye, down across her cheek. She was unhealthily thin. But she smelled like Buffy, and if he looked carefully, he could see the teen he had known four years ago.
"Buffy?" he demanded incredulously.
She stared at him, slightly perplexed. She remembered him, a little, from her disjointed old memories. Things slid into place and she frowned. "Angel? I thought you were in a hell dimension. Did I forget something?"
"Buffy?" Xander and Willow both raced to the door and stared at their old friend, eyes wide. "Buffy, you're back!" Xander added unnecessarily.
"No," Buffy said quietly. "I'm just visiting. Thought I'd see what all the fuss is about." She didn't make a move to step into the house even when Angel stepped aside. "You'll have to invite me in," she said quietly. "A side effect of...things."
"You're not a vampire," Angel said suspiciously.
"No. I can stand here if you want."
"Buffy?"
Buffy looked past the three she knew at the girl she didn't. "You would be Dawn?" she inquired.
Dawn's breath caught in her throat. "You don't know me? You don't remember me?" Buffy shook her head. in."
Buffy stepped over the threshold and looked around impassively at the place that had once been her home. "Looks different," she commented. "But then I don't remember much of it." She glanced at the three women she didn't know, and looked enquiringly at Xander. He was the only one she remembered with much clarity, of those here.
"Buffy, this is, uh, Anya, my girlfriend," he introduced, picking up her hint. "And Tara, Willow's girlfriend, and –"
"I'm Faith," Faith said with a quick, slightly crooked smile. "So you're the infamous Buffy."
Buffy stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. "Guess so," she said. "Although I go by Annie now." She looked back at Dawn. "So you're supposed to be my sister."
Dawn stared at her, tears welling up in her eyes. "Buffy, don't you know me at all?" Buffy shrugged.
"Guess the monks left me out of their little spell," she said nonchalantly. "Maybe because I'm so far away."
"Buffy, are you –"
Buffy cut Willow off. "I'm not here to stay. Just to have a look at what I'm supposed to protect with my life." She stared at Dawn, and frowned a little. "You look like my daughter."
"You have a daughter?" Angel asked, slightly pained.
"What, was I not supposed to?" she returned glibly. She frowned as a memory drifted to the surface of her mind. "Oh. I was in love with you, wasn't I?"
"Buffy, don't you remember any of us?" Willow demanded, voice shrill. "It was only four years ago!"
"It was a lot longer," Buffy said quietly. "I have to go." She turned and started for the door; Angel stopped her, and she shook him off. "Touch me again, and you're dust," she warned him in a low voice.
"Hey, back off, girlfriend," Faith said in alarm, stepping between the two former lovers. "What's the big deal here? What, you just stopped by for a chat?"
"Yes," Buffy nodded. "I have to get back. It took a lot of energy getting here." She looked at Dawn again, uncertainty etched on her features, then turned her attention to Angel. "I don't remember you much," she said quietly. "I don't remember anyone much. You – we were lovers, right?" He nodded, silent. "And...and something happened..." She shook her head confusedly. "Phtygiktha messed my head around a lot," she told him, knowing he'd know what she meant. How she knew, she wasn't sure, but she knew. "I've lost a lot of memories. Maybe...maybe that's why I don't know Dawn. I can't...I can't just leave my life."
"Well, your life's gonna be over if Glory gets her way," Faith said. "Everything's gonna go to hell, Blondie." A moment later her eyes widened as she was held in a strong choke hold by...nothing.
"Watch your words, Slayer," Buffy said disinterestedly. "I've already been to hell. You think I care what happens to people I don't know?" She released the magic she'd been using, and Faith collapsed against Angel, breathing harshly.
"And w-what about the people you d-do know?" Tara spoke up for the first time. "Your – your daughter, her father?"
Buffy gave a short bark of laughter. "Him I should have left in hell," she told the witch. "That's where my men all end up. But Hattie..." Agony twisted her face for a moment. "I don't know. It's not my business. Not my problem."
"It's everyone's problem," Dawn said in a tight, choked voice. "You may not know me or remember me, but I remember you. Please, Buffy. Help us. Help me."
Buffy closed her eyes. Those words...
"Please, help us. Help me."
Buffy stared at the woman in front of her in anguish. "I can't, Sarah. They'll – their punishments...I'm sorry. But I can't fight them. Not even for you."
Sarah's skeletal frame shook with tears. "Please, Annie, you're strong, stronger than any of us in here. You have to do something. We can't live like this."
"I'm not strong, Sarah. I'm seven months pregnant, I can't do anything like this."
"If you don't, no one will." Buffy turned to see Michelle staring down at her from the upper level of the sleeping cells. "If you don't, no one will," she repeated. "I'll – we'll do anything, Annie. We'll swear an oath, if that's what it'll take."
Phtygikthans took oaths very seriously, and Buffy was shaken by the sheer emotion of those words.
"Yes," Marta reinforced from nearby. "We'll swear an oath."
"Blood and sweat and tears," Michelle nodded. "A proper oath. They won't be able to break it, Annie. Not even if they kill us all."
Buffy looked around at them all. So many hopeful faces turned to her. Praying for her to help them, give them strength and support and hope. She didn't deserve it, didn't deserve any of it.
"How can you pick me?" she asked, voice choked with tears. "I've killed – I've killed people I care about, people you knew and loved."
"Not your choice," Alex reminded her gently. "it wasn't your choice to kill them, and it's not your choice who we pick. Yes or no, Annie?"
"Yes," she whispered finally. "Yes."
"Yes," she whispered, coming out of her memory. "Yes, I'll help."
Then she disappeared.
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Coming next chapter:
Ethan yells at Buffy.
Buffy talks to Spike.