In which, at long last, Buffy is back.
"I'm sorry, but Ms Summers isn't taking any visitors. Especially after the news story this morning. You'll just have to wait for the next press conference."
"But we're not reporters, we're her friends... we've been waiting for her to wake up for years." Willow hadn't expected the nurse to simply take them to Buffy, but she had no idea how to break into a mental hospital and so they'd decided to try it the correct way first. Even if she had to make it up as she went along, and she had never been a good liar.
"Look, we just want to talk to her for a few minutes, we've missed her so much... we were best friends all the way through high school, um, junior high, I mean. If she's really feeling better, surely she'll want to see her friends, right? I mean, that can only help getting her to feel better and adjust and... you're not going to let us in, are you?"
The nurse shook her head, though not unkindly. "I'm sorry. Doctor's orders. If you really are her friends, I'm sure you'll appreciate that Buffy still needs a lot of therapy before she's ready to come back into the world. She's much better, but still very disoriented. If you want to see her, I suggest you take it up with her parents. If they say it's OK, maybe we can set something up."
"OK, thanks anyway." Willow and Tara walked back into the waiting area. "Now what?"
"Now what?"
"Now I rest for a few minutes." Xander sat down heavily and looked at Dawn. He'd been running on caffeine and adrenaline for 36 hours, his entire body still hurt from the fall he'd taken, Willow was still missing, a demon wearing her face was running free, and Buffy was missing presumed having gone Night Of The Living Dead - and that was the best case scenario. Toll was definitely being taken. They'd been driving around all day, not finding so much as a trace of either Willow or Buffy. "Then, as soon as the sun sets, me, Angel and Giles go back out and keep searching."
"And then what?"
"Then we keep doing that until we find her. Even if it takes years. Dawn, I promise you we'll find her. Everyone here loves Buffy, we owe her our lives, and even if we've f... messed this up, we're not going to give up until we know for sure where she is."
"Look! There she is!"
Tara pointed to Buffy, who was walking back towards the building they were in after apparently spending some time in the garden. A male nurse had been walking with her, dwarfing her completely, but left her as she stepped inside. She looked so small and weak, walking with hear head down, as if she had to carry the weight of the world and could barely take one more step. When she came into the lobby and passed Willow and Tara, she looked up briefly. And flinched. For a second it looked like she was going to faint, or possibly scream, then she swallowed and forced a very thin smile. "Hey, guys. Good to see you."
"Hey, Buffy." Tara was the one to respond; Willow's mind was still in freewheel mode, cogwheels spinning but nothing clicking. I know her... I've never seen her before... she knows me... What is going on here?
Buffy looked to the nurse behind the desk, apparently choosing her words very carefully. "Miss Kramer... they're my best friends, and I haven't seen them in five years. I know I'm not supposed to have visitors, but could we just have five minutes? Please?"
The nurse checked around for the doctor; she'd worked here for three years and always felt sorry for Buffy, and she knew the girl still had a lot to go through before she would be healthy. She couldn't see how this could do any harm. "OK, five minutes, but not a second more. Take the exam room to your left."
They'd barely gotten inside and closed the door before Buffy jumped on Willow and hugged her, literally weeping with joy. "God, Willow... it's you... it's really you... they told me you weren't real, that you were just me being sick and delirious, making up fantasies and stories... but you're real, you're here, you came for me, I'm not crazy, I love you..."
Willow felt incredibly awkward, even though part of her wanted to hug this strange girl right back. She glanced at Tara, who managed to look amused and spooked at the same time. "Um... Buffy... oxygen?"
Buffy took a step back, and Willow moved closer to Tara and took her hand. "Would this be a bad time to tell you that we have no idea who you are or if we've ever met before or why we're here or where we're from or why it feels like I've known you since forever even though I've never seen you before, but only as a friend" (that comment was more towards Tara) "because, you know, I'm all with the love between friends and so on, but... what?"
Buffy was actually laughing, a little too shrilly. "Nothing, it's just... Willowbabble. You have no idea how I've missed that."
"Missed? But how..."
"Don't worry, I can explain, but we have to get out of here. We need to get back to Sunnydale... everything's going wrong there, but we can fix it, we can make it right, we just need to... how did you get here anyway?"
"We... drove?"
"No, I don't mean here here, I mean..." Buffy waved her arms, as if trying to indicate the entire world. "You know... here here? Not-just-in-my-head here?"
Tara looked at the strange girl in the hospital gown, frowned, and whispered to Willow. "Um, are you really sure about this?" Willow hesitated, then nodded. She didn't want to debate this in front of Buffy, but yes, some part of her that had nothing to do with logic and hospitals and common sense knew that Buffy was right. Explanations could wait. She squeezed Tara's hand. Just trust me on this, please. "Fine, then. Will that nurse outside let us go?"
"No. No way. She's nice and all, but..."
Tara nodded. "OK. Get ready to run." She opened the door and ran outside. "Mi-miss Kramer? There's... oh God, Buffy... so much b-b-blood..." The nurse turned white as her blouse and came running right away. As she stormed inside the exam room, Tara gave her a shove just hard enough so she tumbled on top of the bed at the far end. Then she pulled a very proud Willow and a giggling Buffy outside and locked the door.
"Let's go."
Buffy woke up with a gasp. All around her was dark, yet she could see perfectly. For a fraction of a second she thought she was back inside her casket, then she recognized what was left of the library. She remembered what had happened... and felt power and hunger surging through her, like nothing she'd ever known.
All those years of fighting without this... how on Earth did I survive?
Then:
WHY did I do it? I risked my life for... WHAT? A bunch of sniveling do-gooders?
She sat up, suddenly filled with revulsion at what she'd been.
"How you feeling, baby?" Willow moved up next to her, a wicked smile on her face. Buffy didn't move as her sire tenderly wiped her still wet hair out of her face – she'd made sure Buffy was clean for her rebirth, washed every inch of her from dirt and blood and gotten her some fresh clothes, white as death. She thought they must make a gorgeous couple; black and white, red and yellow... and oh, the mayhem they'd make of this place. Willow leaned in and kissed her deeply, letting her hands wander downwards, exhilarated at the thought of having made such a beautiful monster... then pulled back, a bit confused, as she got no response at all. Oh well, her baby girl was kinda new at this, she'd come around.
"You wanna have some fun, sweetheart?"
"Fun?" Buffy frowned. The word had no meaning to her. "No. I want them to pay."
"Works for me. Let's go."
Trooper Wilkins was just waiting for his shift to end when the Mustang sped by, doing at least 100. He switched on the siren and gave chase, but the other car didn't slow down.
"Dispatch, I'm in pursuit of a green late 60s Mustang, registration number..."
The response was quick. "Car is reported stolen, and last seen driven by two young women wanted in connection with a motel robbery... wait a second, there's something just coming in. They're also wanted for the kidnapping of a patient from Napa State. They're to be considered dangerous and possibly armed."
Wilkins acknowledged, requested backup and put his foot down, closing the distance between the two cars.