Buffy walked into the library. She had come here looking for something, that much she was sure of. She tried to think of what exactly it was, but somewhere outside a fire alarm or something was wailing weeeeoooo-weeeeoooo-weeeeoooo and she wasn't sure how much time she had. "Um... hello? Is anybody here?" A voice she'd never heard before answered – only the words made no sense.
-sian female-
She turned around to see where the voice had come from. There was no one around that she could see, and she supposed it must have come from somewhere in the back. Could someone be hiding in the stacks? "Hellooo? Come out, come out wherever you are..."
-nshot wound to the chest, she's losing bl-
Nope, it definitely wasn't coming from there. Kinda hard to tell, it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, fading in and then quickly fading out again. Buffy tried to pinpoint the source of the voice, but the fire alarm outside was getting louder and she couldn't concentrate. She frowned; there was something she was supposed to be doing, and it probably didn't involve standing around all alone in the high school library. There was something about finding... what? There was a picture of Angel sitting on the librarian's desk, the glass in the frame shattered, was that it? Why was she alone here anyway, wasn't there supposed to be someone else in the library?
She'd barely finished the thought when she heard steps behind her. "Hello, Buffy."
"GILES!" She turned around, ran to her watcher and threw her arms around him. "Giles, I thought I'd lost you..." He hugged her back and said something, but she couldn't hear him over... "GOD, I wish someone would shut off that fire alarm."
"That's not a fire alarm, Buffy."
Just as he said that, the
(siren)
noise cut abruptly
and she could finally talk to him. If she didn't get interrupted by
that voice again, that is.
-ake her up to Intensive Care immediat-
"Will you shut UP? Talking to my watcher here!" She turned back to Giles. "I'm sorry, I don't know who that is that keeps interrrupting. I don't think it's important anymore."
"It might be. Buffy, I don't think we have much time."
-er pulse is dropping quickl-
"What do you mean, there's plenty of-" She felt something sticky against her chest and looked down. There was a big red splotch on both hers and Giles' shirts, and suddenly she thought she remembered something. "Oh, Giles, I'm so sorry..."
"Don't be."
"But I... I let Angel... Giles, I should have been there. I couldn't save you, I couldn't save Jenny, I-"
-no pulse-
Suddenly the fire alarm was back, only the
weeeeoooo-weeeeoooo-weeeeoooo had now turned into a very annoying
beeeeeeep. She wondered if that meant everything had been taken care
of. Somehow it felt like she could finally let go of all the crap of
the last two
(years)
weeks when Giles smiled at her and ran
his hand over her head. "I know this feels awful, but you need
to know this: you never failed me, Buffy. We all make our own
choices, and you can't hold yourself responsible for that. This is a
dangerous business, and no one can protect everyone."
"But if I had stopped him when I had the chance... or if me and him had never..."
-re losing her-
Giles shook his head. "Or if Jenny had told us about the curse, or if I hadn't gone off half-cocked on a suicide mission... Buffy, you cannot second-guess everything. Bad things are always going to happen, it's how you act on them that matters."
"NOW you tell me", Buffy pouted, looking down at the blood dripping from the hole in her chest. Less of it now, as if there wasn't much left. Funny, a wound like that really ought to hurt, instead it just made her feel... tired. The beeping signal was getting louder, and that wasn't helping any.
"Are you coming, Rupert?" Jenny was standing in the open doors of the library. Beyond her, Buffy could see two more people – a woman and a young man – and beyond them was something... bright. A warm and inviting light, and there was music coming from it as well... she understood why people called it harps, but somehow that seemed like calling the Grand Canyon a ditch. She'd never heard anything that beautiful before.
"Yes." Giles smiled to Jenny, then he turned back to his Slayer. "Goodbye, Buffy. I'm proud of you, remember that. I love you."
"Wait, what do you mean goodbye? Aren't I supposed to come with you?"
-Do we call it?-
Giles had started moving towards the door, and when he looked back at her the peaceful look his face had moments earlier was replaced by one of almost pleading sadness. "I really wish you wouldn't."
"But I don't know how to do this without you!"
"You'll learn. You didn't make it this far just because of me, Buffy, you've got tremendous strength in you. You just have to trust yourself. Let other people help you, but don't let them control you." The alarm was growing louder all the time, the beeeeep had turned to a piercing shriek, and he had to shout to be heard as he put his arm around Jenny and stepped into the bright doorway.
"But..." She wanted to gesture at the bullet hole that had torn her open, but found she could barely lift her arms anymore. "Giles, what if I don't make it? What if I'm stuck here, between..." Her voice was just a croak and he couldn't hear her over the noise. She ran towards the closing door, but Giles turned to her one last time and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Buffy. I can't let you." He shut the door in her face and she stumbled, falling -
-CLEAR!-
Energy surged through her chest and suddenly the pain was back. The library blinked out of existence and everything went dark. Somewhere far off the continuous signal skipped a beat and then settled into a rhythm.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.