"Yeah , Buffy. What are we gonna do now?"
I don't know how to answer. Everyone continues to chatter around me and I can't take my eyes off of what doesn't remain of my home. Sunnydale is just… gone. The entire city just caved in and fell on top of… I knew this fight was going to be a game changer, but somehow I never considered this as the outcome. I can't help but smile a bit at my own lack of foresight. Everything is gone. So many memories… Spike took it right off the map. I know it will be written off as a major earthquake or something and the world will never know what happened here. But I can't help but think that the total destruction of Sunnydale is a fitting monument to Spike. Nothing less than a city wide crater to memorialize my guy. I join the rest of my friends before I start crying. Giles meets my eyes as I walk over to the group and reaches out, placing his hand on my shoulder.
"Buffy, we have several wounded. I suggest that we move on to the nearest hospital and bunk in a hotel for the night."
"Yeah. We need to get somewhere to rest before we plan. I don't know how the other girls are holding up, but I know I was hurt pretty badly. It's just adrenaline keeping me on my feet at this point."
Giles takes a step back and moves his hands down my arms, surveying me for I injury. I see his eyes go wide and he lifts up my shirt a bit to see where I was stabbed during the fight. It doesn't hurt right now, but I know if I look it will start, so I direct my gaze to his face. He has constipated face so I know he doesn't like what he sees.
"Don't tell me how bad it is until we're somewhere that we can deal with it, ok?"
"Is this your blood?" That's a strange question. Who else's blood would be coming from my wounds?
"Yeah... It'd have to be."
"Buffy, you aren't bleeding."
"What?" I look down at my stomach and see… Nothing. There's no wound. Like it never happened. I twist my arm behind me to feel for the entry wound of the sword that skewered me and all I feel is smooth skin. Giles spins me around and pulls my jacket up. I can feel the thin material of my blood soaked shirt as he peels it off my skin and I know it's got to be bad. He's being awfully quiet.
"What, Giles? Tell me!"
"Buffy...eh… There is a great amount of blood on your shirt back here. Were you run through?"
"Duh, Giles! Just tell me… How bad?"
"There is no wound. It's already healed." I feel a curl of dread creep around my heart.
"So, like, I picked up a 'Slayer One Up?' It must have been when I bumped that box."
Giles circles around me. He's got the arm of his glasses in his mouth as he looks intently at the ground. Never a good sign. I glance around me to look for a distraction but everyone is headed back onto the bus. I look back at Giles and he is staring at me with an expression I've never seen before.
"Look, it must not have been as bad as I thought. Maybe it didn't make it all the way through."
Giles opens his mouth to speak and then closes it again. When he finally starts talking the creeping dread starts to put down roots.
"From what I can tell from the location of the blood, you were run straight through where several vital organs are located. There is simply no way that some weren't punctured. The liver, gallbladder, the large intestine. We know from past experience that you heal from inside out. That means that from the time you were stabbed until now, you healed a mortal wound completely."
I'm not sure what Giles thinks is going on, but I know my suspicions and somewhere deep inside I know they are true. I glance back at the Sunnydale and think that everything worth keeping forever is gone.
Panic. Full on heart stopping, world spinning panic. When I reach five I take a deep breath and meet Giles' eyes.
"Let's get everyone to safety." I say. I turn and start heading toward the bus, Giles close behind me.
"Buffy. Buffy. Are you asleep?"
Am I? No, just deep in thought. I realize that Dawn has her hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, Dawnie. Where did we wind up?"
"I'm not sure, exactly. We dropped everyone that needed medical attention at the hospital and Giles is getting us rooms at the nearest motel. We're just waiting for him to come back and start handing out keys."
"OK. We're together, right?"
"Duh!"
I place my hand over hers on my shoulder.
"I'm glad you made it out. I don't think I told you that yet. Thanks for going in with me."
"Of course, Buffy. I know that world save-age is top priority." I can't believe how my sister turned out. She's clever, funny, brave. I wish I could trust her.
"Where's Faith? Did she stay with Robin?"
"No. She and Giles had a big confab and she decided to stay with us."
"Ugh. I wish I hadn't fallen asleep. Then again, maybe I'm glad I did."
"Don't worry about it, Buffy. Everything's under control. Battle's over."
"Yeah… Is Faith close? I'd feel better if I talked to her." Dawn looks a little disappointed but she smiles and nods.
"Yeah, I'll grab her." Dawn takes off down the aisle to the front of the bus. I look out the bus window and see Giles waiting in line at the hotel counter. I hope they have enough rooms for everybody.
"Yo, B. You doin' ok?"
"Yeah, Faith. Turns out I'm immortal and I just sacrificed the man I love, again, on the altar of the world. I need some answers, and I need them now. Can you get me a car?"
To her credit, Faith only looks shocked for a split second before her cocky façade is back in place.
"That's mighty presumptuous of you, B. What makes you think I can get you a car?"
"Because I know you and I know you picked up more than a dictionary while you were in the slammer. Can you do it? I honestly don't care if we take one right out of the parking lot."
Faith gives me one of those looks, clearly measuring me up. I look her dead and the eye and lift a brow. She laughs under her breath.
"Yeah, girl. I'll get you outta here. Grab what you need. I'll go tell Giles we're going to patrol the area just in case."
"Thanks, Faith. I'm right behind you." Everyone else is off the bus and I head to the back to see if my pack is there. My heart breaks I look toward where I left it and see Spike's small duffel next to mine. Over a century's old legend and this is all that remains of William the Bloody. I can't help but think that the legend of today alone could last for another century or more. The dread is fully blossomed now and is seeping into my thoughts. What if I can't do this? What if, for all my posturing, I am really not the One? I shake those thoughts off and believe what he told me. I'll believe in him like he believed in me. I know it means something and I intend to ask the source. I snag both our packs and head off the bus and on to my way to LA, and, hopefully, answers.