Night Falls
Notes: Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming. Sorry this update took a little longer than usual to post, but there was a lot that I wanted to write.
Previously"Are you okay?" Willow asked, eyeing the other girl suspiciously.
"Five by five," Faith replied. But the words that the First Evil had spoken were running through her mind in a constant loop. Kill her.
Chapter Ten:
Dawn sighed as the bathroom door slipped closed behind her. The fluorescent lights above her stung her eyes and she walked over to the sink, dropping her hall pass on it as she gazed at herself in the bank of mirrors in front of her. "Don't see why I have to go to school anyway," she muttered to herself, turning on the water. A splash of cold water shot out of the faucet. "None of the potentials have to go to school." Leaning over, she splashed her face, closing her eyes for a moment. The sudden impact of the cold water against her skin was a relief. Summer had changed to fall, but the warmth still remained. Ceiling fans and opened windows did little to relieve the oppressive heat that clung to the school.
She was supposed to be in math class, but she could not concentrate on anything knowing what she did about what was happening in Sunnydale. Her mind wandered back to the First Evil, to the battles that would come, and to all of the people that she knew who might fall victim to darkness. Buffy had already died twice; the third time was probably not the charm. She knew that everyone would not survive, but it pained her to think of those who would not. Equations and formulas bore little relevance for her now. She did not understand why Buffy insisted that she remain in school. She already knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. The Watcher's Council was gone, but people would be needed to rebuild it – to start over. She wanted to be one of those people.
Reaching for a paper towel, she blotted her face dry. Buffy underestimated her. Her sister was many things, but she was not the most observant person that Dawn had ever met. Dawn had clocked countless hours in research, helping the Scooby Gang with whatever big bad had come along, yet Buffy still treated her as if she were a child. Dawn scoffed. "I'm not a child," she said to the empty bathroom. "I've got thousands of years of energy boiling around inside of me." She often wondered about her mystical roots; wondered if she could access the power that was inside of her. Her musings were interrupted when the lights suddenly flickered, the bathroom falling completely dark for several long moments.
Dawn frowned. Something seemed wrong all of the sudden. Turning, she peered out into the darkness. "Hello?" She asked. A bright light exploded in front of her eyes. It transformed from a deep blue to a light green. Vaguely, Dawn could see a figure inside of the light. The green faded into white and a person stepped out. Dawn instantly recognized the woman standing in front of her. Gasping, she clamped a hand over her mouth, unable to believe her eyes. Finally, she spoke, "Mom?" She asked, her voice small and trembling.
Joyce smiled. She wore a flowing white dress, the light around her highlighting her golden hair. "Dawnie," she said lovingly. "Oh, how I've missed you."
"It can't be you," Dawn said, disbelievingly. "You…you're gone."
"I know things have been hard on you, but I need you to be strong right now and listen," Joyce said.
"You're not really here, are you?" Dawn asked. "You're not real?"
"I came here to give you a message, Dawnie," Joyce replied, smiling comfortingly. "Things are coming; things are already on their way. I love you and I love Buffy, but she won't be there for you."
"What?" Dawn asked in confusion. Tears were streaming down her face and she wanted nothing more than to run to her mother and bury herself in the older woman's arms, but Joyce remained at a distance. Her mother's words cut through her emotions like a knife and her mind instantly sharpened. "What did you say? Why would you say that?" Dawn demanded. Suddenly, the vision before her started to fade. Dawn stepped forward, reaching her arm out. "No! Don't go," she pleaded. "Don't leave me again."
"When it's bad," Joyce whispered, fading into darkness, "Buffy won't choose you." The vision disappeared and the lights flickered on, suddenly restored to life. Dawn stood in the middle of the bathroom, her arm still extended to where the vision of her mother had stood, with tears running down her cheeks. Joyce's words echoed through her mind.
"Buffy won't choose me," Dawn whispered. Dread filled her heart and, for a moment, she feared that her sister would abandon her. "I need to find her," she muttered, rushing from the bathroom.
…………………………
Buffy took a sip from her coffee, lazily searching the Internet for anything relating to the First Evil. Thus far, her searches had come up empty. She knew that she was not as good at research as the others, but she had been looking for several hours and had found nothing. "This sucks," she muttered to herself, sitting the coffee cup back down on her desk.
Someone knocked on her door and without looking up, she said, "Come in." The door slid open. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a male figure lower himself into one of the chairs in front of her desk. Buffy sighed. She was not cut out for counseling. She wanted to help people, but most days, the last thing she wanted to do was listen to a bunch of teenagers bitch out about their petty problems.
"What's up?" Buffy asked, turning her monitor off and looking over at the boy, who was patiently waiting. Buffy stared at the boy in shock, instantly recognizing him.
"You see, I have this problem," the boy began, but Buffy cut him off.
"Jesse?" She asked, not quite believing her eyes. "Is that you?"
"Yeah," Jesse said, flashing her his patented goofy grin. "Didn't think you'd see me again, did you? Well, here I am…in the flesh, so to speak. But like I was saying, I have this problem."
Buffy swallowed hard and closed her eyes. Shaking her head a little, she pried one of her eyes open a little, swiftly shutting it again when she saw Jesse still sitting in the plastic chair. "Problem?" Buffy asked, but her voice came out a squeak.
"Yeah, a problem. You see, I had this wonderful life – well, okay, maybe not so wonderful. But I was alive anyway, and let me tell you something, being alive is a hell out of a lot better than being dead," Jesse said chuckling to himself, oblivious to Buffy's distress. "I had friends. I was in school. I had my whole future laid out before me. But I got eaten by a vampire because someone couldn't save me. Someone didn't get there in time – someone wasn't strong enough. Now, I'm not naming any names here, but I think we both know who I'm talking about, Jesse said accusingly.
"Me?" Buffy asked meekly. She had opened her eyes again and was staring at the boy in a mixture of wonder and shock. "You're a ghost right? We had some ghost problems here earlier. Need to find your way to the light and all of that?" Buffy asked jokingly.
"You think you're so great at what you do. Buffy, the big, bad vampire Slayer. Well guess what, Buffy; you're not really all that great at your job. Let's face it, you haven't saved nearly as many people as you've let die. Me, Jenny Calendar, Theresa, Tara, your mother…the list just goes on and on. Everything you touch dies," Jesse said sneering. "Maybe you should just quit."
"Quit?" Buffy asked, her eyes narrowing angrily. "What do you mean?"
"Isn't that what you've wanted? A normal life? You can have it, a nine to five, two story house with a white picket fence, a dog and a cat, and two screaming brats if that's what you want. It's there for you. Just walk away. Those girls don't need you. They have Faith," Jesse said, smiling.
His words hit home more than Buffy cared to admit. "Like I would leave them with Faith," she spat, though she knew the words were a lie even as she spoke them.
"You would," Jesses said, snapping his fingers. "Just like that. You would leave all of them. And you should. You deserve a break. All of the battles you fought, Buffy, I think you've earned a vacation. Let everyone else deal with the shit now. It's their turn."
"Buffy!" Dawn said, suddenly running into the office. Jesse instantly disappeared. Buffy looked up at her sister, startled. She could see the tear tracks running down Dawn's cheeks and she leapt to her feet, rushing over to her sister's side.
"Dawn? What happened?" She asked, as Dawn launched herself into Buffy's arms.
"I saw mom," she whispered, hanging tightly onto the Slayer.
"What?" Buffy asked, struggling to disentangle herself from the younger girl.
"I saw mom in the bathroom," Dawn repeated.
Buffy's eyes narrowed as several pieces in a rather large and complicated puzzle suddenly fell together. "Get your stuff, we're going home."
"Now?" Dawn asked, wiping her eyes.
Buffy nodded, her face a mask of severity, "Now."
……………………………………..
The sun was starting to set as Willow sat at one of the library tables in the back of the U.C. Sunnydale library. She could see the orange light filtering in through the windows. Books littered the table. She was furiously scribbling notes on a pad of paper. She had been researching the First for the better part of the day. Though she usually set up shop on the dining room table, she needed to get out of the house. Her feelings for Hailey and Kennedy were jumbled about in her head and she could not figure out what to do. She did not know if she was ready to let go of Tara and take that final plunge into a relationship with another woman. But she found herself increasingly attracted to both potentials.
Kennedy had come upon Willow suddenly, like a storm, while Hailey had slipped in under Willow's radars, quietly and secretly. Sighing, she banged her head in frustration on the table. Her research had gotten her nowhere and her mind was plagued with too many thoughts. "Bad day?" Someone asked. Willow looked up, only to see Cassie, a young girl Buffy had tried to save. Buffy had saved her from being sacrificed by some of her classmates, but the girl had died shortly after from a fatal heart condition.
"I know you," Willow said. "I saw your picture in the paper."
"Yeah, I know. It's kinda weird because we never really met," Cassie said, walking around the table.
"Or because you're really dead," Willow deadpanned. Cassie smiled and joined Willow at the table. "Did I fall asleep?" Willow asked, looking around. "Am I dreaming?"
"No," Cassie said, laughing a little. "I'm here. Well, not here here, because…you know. It's complicated. Kind of ironic too," she added, "I wrote all this intense poetry about the end and when it finally comes, here I am, chatting you up."
"Yeah, ironic," Willow said, discreetly searching out an exit path. Cassie saw her eyes shifting around the room and she sighed.
"I knew this would totally freak you out. But she asked that I come talk to you," she said earnestly.
"She?" Willow asked, curious despite herself.
"She says she still sings," Cassie said, smiling sadly when a light went off in Willow's eyes.
"What?" Willow demanded.
"Remember that time on the bridge when you sang to each other? She still sings to you, even though you can't hear it," Cassie said.
Tears stung at Willow's eyes as she said, "Tara?" Her voice broke and Cassie nodded reassuringly.
"She's sorry that she couldn't come here herself," Cassie replied.
"Why couldn't she?" Willow demanded to know.
"Because of what you did," Cassie answered. Willow looked down at the table, trying vainly to keep her emotions in check.
"What I did?" She finally asked, looking back up at Cassie with heart broken eyes.
"You killed people. So you can't see her. That's just how it is. I'm sorry," Cassie replied matter-of-factly.
"But she's talking to you? And she can hear me? Tara? Baby, if you're there, I miss you so much. It hurts. It's like a big hole. I can't take it anymore," Willow cried.
"She misses you too," Cassie said, and then sat silently.
"Did she go away?" Willow asked desperately.
"No," Cassie replied. "She's crying."
"Don't cry, baby," Willow said gently. "Please don't."
"She wishes she could touch you," Cassie replied.
"It's all too much," Willow whispered.
"It will get better. It can," Cassie said, leaning forward.
"How? Tara's gone," Willow said.
"But you're not. You've gotta be strong, strong like an Amazon, remember?" Cassie said smiling sweetly.
Willow laughed and nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. "I remember," she said. She frowned, her thoughts running in several different directions at once. There was so much that she wanted to say to her lover, but she could not find the words. Finally, she decided to explain herself. "Do you know what happened? After Warren shot you, I mean?" Willow asked. Cassie nodded. "It was horrible. I lost myself."
"You were grieving," Cassie rationalized.
"Lots of people grieve, they don't kill other people," Willow corrected her.
"It was the power," Cassie said with a certain definitiveness.
"I am the power," Willow muttered. "It's in me."
"But it's so much bigger than you," Cassie replied. "Things are much clearer where I am, where Tara is. That's why I came here. You have to stop."
"Stop?" Willow asked in confusion.
"You have to stop using magics," Cassie insisted. "You can't use them again ever. We've seen your path."
"Black magics, I know," Willow answered.
"No, all magics," Cassie replied heatedly. "You can't take the chance that you'll lose control."
"I don't want to hurt people," Willow said fearfully. "I'll be okay."
"But you're not going to be okay. You're going to kill everybody," Cassie said glumly. "But there's one thing you can do that will stop it," she said, a strange light shining in her eyes.
Willow gazed at her with a mixture of desperation, fear, and sadness. "What?" She asked resignedly. She knew that she was dangerous, but she never imagined that she would lose control again. But Cassie said that she and Tara had seen her path. Tara would not lie to her.
"You could see her again. You wouldn't have to talk to her through me anymore. Go, Willow. Go to her and everyone will be safe," Cassie insisted.
Something clicked in Willow's mind and she slowly stood, backing away from the girl. She recalled her conversation with Faith that morning. Faith had seen her dead Watcher in the kitchen - a woman who Faith had loved much like a mother. Though Faith had not disclosed what the woman told her, Willow knew that it had been distressing to the Slayer. "You're not really her," Willow accused. "You're the First."
Cassie laughed, leaning back in her chair. "What gave me away? Was it the suicide thing? I thought that might be going too far."
"Leave," Willow demanded angrily.
"Oh, baby, it hurts so bad. You left such a big hole," Cassie mocked. "You don't know hurt. This last year's going to seem like cake after what I put you and your friends through. Believe me, I'm going for the big finish."
"From beneath you it devours," Willow muttered, her eyes wide.
"Not it," Cassie said, grinning widely. "Me."
……………………………….
Hailey awoke with a start, breathing heavily, with sweat dotting her forehead. "Ow," she muttered, as a wave of pain crashed through her mind. Though her wounds were still causing her a great deal of discomfort, she knew that she was healing. The headaches were occurring less frequently and her scars were starting to fade. The rest of the potentials were training in the basement with Giles. Hailey decided to sneak an afternoon nap to rest up for that evening. Willow had offered her bed for whenever Hailey needed it. She had taken her up on the offer, mostly because she needed the rest, but also because she could not resist the opportunity to sleep where the red haired witch had, before Kennedy arrived anyway.
"You okay, baby?" A voice asked from across the room.
"I'm fine," Hailey replied. "Just a headache." She lifted her hands to rub her temples when she suddenly realized that she was having a conversation with her dead lover. Lifting her eyes, she chuckled a little when she saw Tanya sitting in a chair in front of the bed. "This is interesting," Hailey muttered.
"You look so sick," Tanya said worriedly, rising to her feet. She walked to the edge of the bed and perched just out of reach. "Aren't you taking anything?"
"Aspirin," Hailey instantly replied, then checked herself. "Why am I talking to you?" She asked herself. "You're a figment of my imagination. My consciousness has created you, probably, because a small part of me feels guilty for having feelings for Willow. That's all it is."
"You know that's not true," Tanya said, smiling patiently. "You never were able to figure things out, not really."
"If you're really here," Hailey said, "then you obviously want something. What is it?"
"You," Tanya whispered. Chills ran up and down Hailey's spine and she closed her eyes for a moment to hide her sudden arousal. "It's okay, baby. I know you want me too. And you can have me. But you have to take care of yourself."
"How's that?" Hailey asked, opening her eyes again. She felt the bed shift and Tanya stood, walking over to the nightstand. Hailey's bag sat next to it, half open. Tanya reached in and pulled out a little bottle of pills.
"You have to take these. You're getting worse," Tanya said, tossing the pills onto the bed. They landed next to Hailey and she looked down at them in suspicion.
"You know I can't take those," Hailey replied.
"Yes, you can. You're stronger than they are. You won't succumb again. But if you don't take them, you're going to fade away. What help can you be to the others if you can't fight?" Tanya wondered. Hailey hesitated. Tanya sighed. "I love you, Hails. I only want what's best for you."
Hailey looked up at her for several long moments before she reached down and picked up the bottle of pills. Opening it, she poured several out into her palm. "Okay, but I'm only doing this for you," she said.
"Doing what?" Faith asked, standing in the doorway. She had heard Hailey talking to someone, but when she opened the door, there was no one in the room except the wounded potential. Faith's eyes landed on the pills in Hailey's hand and she rushed forward. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Faith asked, knocking them away.
Hailey blinked several times, looking around the room as if she were seeing it for the first time. "Where did she go?" Hailey asked.
"Who?" Faith asked, glancing around. "There's no one here."
"She was right there," Hailey said, standing. She was still gripping the bottle of pills in her hand as she gestured toward the empty space where Tanya had been standing.
"I think I know what's going on," Faith said softly.
"Care to clue me in because I'm a little lost here," Hailey replied.
"The First Evil," Faith answered. "It appeared to me this morning. Willow thinks it's a new strategy. Psychological warfare, or some shit like that."
"Oh," Hailey said disappointedly. "So she wasn't really here then."
"No," Faith replied as reassuringly as she could. "What're you going to do with those?" Faith asked, motioning to the bottle.
Hailey looked down at it, knowing in her heart what she had to do. As long as she had them, they were a danger to her, especially if the First was going to try to use her past addictions against her. Marching out of the room, she flipped on the bathroom lights and lifted the toilet lid. She poured the pills out of the bottle, watching with satisfaction until there were none left. Tossing the bottle in the trashcan, she rest her fingers on the toilet flusher. Faith saw her hesitation and stepped forward. "Want some help?" She offered.
"No," Hailey said determinedly. "I have to do this myself." Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. Then she opened her eyes and pressed down, watching as the pills disappeared.
"I'm proud of you, sheriff," Faith said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Didn't think you had it in you."
"Neither did I," Hailey admitted. The front door suddenly banged open and they heard Buffy enter, shouting for a group meeting. "The general's back," Hailey said grimly.
"She's not that bad," Faith said. "Well, I mean, she is, but someone's got to be the leader and it ain't gonna be me." Faith walked out of the bathroom, sauntering down the hallway to join Buffy downstairs. Hailey sighed and flipped off the bathroom lights. She felt lighter now that the pills were gone. Her heart was not so heavy.
"Maybe everything will be okay," Hailey muttered to herself, though she knew her words were lies.
…………………………..
Spike sauntered down Main Street with a pretty, young blonde girl hanging off his arm. He knew that she wanted him, just like he knew that she was more than a little drunk. Glancing around, he quickly pulled her into a dark, secluded alley. The girl laughed and plastered herself on him. "Right here, baby?" She asked. Spike smiled cockily as his face shifted into its demon form. The girl tried to scream and run away, but he clamped his hand over her mouth and held her close. She struggled against him, but her whimpered cries only fueled his desire.
"Yeah, baby," he replied. "Right here." Growling, he sunk his fangs into her throat. The demon took control once her blood began pouring into his mouth. He drank until he had bled her dry. Then he let her body slip to the ground. Laughing heartily, he looked up into the sky. "God it feels good to be back," he roared.