If There Was No Buffy

Chapter Twelve

The End

"Okay, something weird's going on." Willow said as she hung up the phone.

"Weird how?" Tara asked.

"I just talked to Wesley. You know that freak blizzard that hit England? Well, the temperature jumped up forty degrees, and now there are torrential rains. And add that to the melting snow, and not only are roads being washed out, but power lines as well. No one has electricity, and no calls are getting in or out. You know, we really should be paying more attention to the weather reports."

"So we still don't know if Giles and the Slayers are – legitimate?"

"Nope."

"What should we do?"

"We need to talk to Giles again. And without you know who – who's, around. I sure wish we knew how to get in touch with him. But we don't even know where he's staying."

"Maybe a locator spell? I mean, we know his essence. Maybe we can, I don't know, blanket Sunnydale?"

"That's not a bad idea. With both of us, it might work."

"What might work?" Dawn just walked into the kitchen.

"Trying to find Giles' aura with both of us combining ours."

"Can I help?"

"I don't know how."

"You'd think that with all that green mystical energy I had in me, there would be some of it left over."

"I think it was all used up opening the portal."

"See? I don't understand that. If it was so powerful it could tear open dimensions, but all it took was a few drops of blood, shouldn't there be some – somewhere?"

Willow gave Dawn a helpless smile. "Well, if it's there, it's buried so deep…. You know?"

"I guess now I know how Xander feels. Everybody has super powers but us."

"Anya," Willow pointed out.

"Yeah, but she did. And she knows all about demons and dimensions and stuff."

"But you do know you're important to us, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess." Dawn sighed in resignation. "Can I watch? I'll be quiet."

"Sure you can, Dawny," Tara told her. "You can be our lookout."

Dawn nodded at the condescending attempt to make her feel included.

"The dining room?" Tara asked.

"How about the dining room table?"

"I'll clean it off!" Dawn volunteered, then rushed in to do it.

"So what do we do after we find him?"

Willow hesitated, then slowly shook her head. "Go to wherever he's staying, hope he's alone, talk to him, see what's really going on."

"Maybe you guys should wait until after dark," Dawn said, coming back into the kitchen. "Maybe the platinum twins will be patrolling."

"Great idea, Dawn." Tara smiled. "See? You can help."

Dawn shrugged and smiled.

The two witches sat in the middle of the table cross-legged, knees touching, holding hands.

"You guys don't need candles or incense or anything?"

"No," Willow replied. "Just concentration, and quiet."

"Quiet as a mouse."

Several minutes later they got off the table.

"So?" Dawn asked. "Anything?"

"Something," Willow answered. "As far as we can tell, they're at that rat infested Sunnydale Arms, of all places."

"I thought they closed it down because of all of the – rats, and roaches," Dawn said.

"Then what better place to hide out in?" Willow reasoned.

"They probably made it better," Tara said. "I would."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Okay, we have a location. So, right after dark, we'll go over there to see Giles."

"And Spike?" Tara asked. "Should we take Spike?"

"Couldn't hurt."

"What about me?" Dawn asked. "Can I go?"

"No, but how about if I call Xander? I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming over for a while."

"Sure. Xander's fine." Dawn was disappointed, but knew arguing would be pointless.

Right at sunset Willow and Tara left the house, assuring Dawn they would be back in a couple of hours, that Xander was on his way, and instructed her to lock the door, and not to let anyone in she didn't know.

While waiting for Xander, and probably Anya, Dawn went upstairs to see if the Buffy-bot was fully charged. Seeing she was only at 77%, she went back downstairs and decided to watch TV in the living room, and to keep an eye out for Willow and Tara to return. An hour later she got hungry and went into the kitchen to fix a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Finishing that, she took a quick shower and went back to the kitchen for a dessert of ice cream.

But before she could dish it from the carton she heard a loud banging on the back door and Willow yelling to her, "Dawn! Unlock the door! Hurry!"

Dawn raced to the door and quickly unlocked it. Spike and Willow were half-carrying a very beaten up Giles. Tara was behind them. Spike helped lay Giles on the kitchen counter as Tara put a folded dish towel under his head.

But just as soon as Dawn shut the door, it was kicked open and one of the twins ran inside.

"Dawn!" Willow screamed again. "Your necklace, it's charmed! You're protected!"

Dawn, understanding, ran at the Slayer, hitting her with both hands in the chest, and the twin was thrown backward out of the door, and into the other that was following behind. Dawn slammed the door and locked it.

"What just happened?" Dawn asked, confused. "How did I do that? You charmed my necklace?"

"I did," Willow replied as she started cleaning blood from Giles' face.

"But the Slayers – how did I…?"

"The protection spell isn't supernatural specific."

"I don't know what that means."

"It means that you are protected from anything, or anyone, who gets their powers supernaturally – demons, vampires, witches…."

"And Slayers?" Tara asked.

"Them too."

Suddenly, the back door was kicked open again and both Slayers ran inside, both carrying the tapered stakes they favored, one in each hand. Immediately one of them slammed hers down on Giles' throat, crushing his windpipe and cutting off his air. She then threw her other one at Dawn. The tip of it went completely through her just inside her shoulder, the impact slamming her head against the wall and pinning her there. Seconds later the weight of the unconscious Dawn broke off the narrow tip embedded in the wall and she fell to the floor.

The other Slayer was like a whirlwind, spinning with her stakes and striking both Tara and Spike repeatedly. Tara dropped to the floor, not even able to use her magic to save herself.

"Thicken!" Willow shouted, temporarily stopping the one who had killed Giles. At that moment, Xander and Anya ran into the kitchen. He grabbed a butcher knife from the counter and swung it at the frozen one, but her sister threw her spike, and Xander fell backward as it buried itself in his left eye socket all the way to the back of his skull.

Both Slayers turned to Willow, who had crossed her arms tightly to herself, then shouted as she flung her arms outward, "Arms wide! Make a wall!"

A circle of light left her, and the two Slayers smashed through the kitchen windows to land outside on the ground, dazed and damaged.

"Oh my god!" Willow cried as she ran to the unconscious Dawn. She pulled the spike from her shoulder and tried to stem the bleeding from the front and back at the same time.

Anya was on her knees, cradling Xander's head, begging him to wake up, but deep inside knowing he wouldn't come back to her.

Spike went to Willow. "What can I do?"

"I need bandages. Something to stop this bleeding."

"Will she make it?"

"I don't know. There' so much blood! I think an artery was hit. I don't know what to do."

"I could save her – if it wasn't for this bleeding chip!"

Willow looked up at Spike, horrified at the thought, but at the same time not wanting to lose Dawn as well.

There was a silent burst of light that lasted only a fraction of a second, but Willow knew her spell creating the barrier had been countered. The back door flew off its hinges as the door flew into the kitchen, and once more Mary and Marie Munn rushed in, armed again with spikes in both hands.

Anya looked up at them and was rewarded with a crack across the forehead with one of the spikes. The force of it snapped her head back, breaking her neck.

A second stake, flying so fast he couldn't move out of the way, impaled Spike in the heart, and a fraction of a second later there was only a collapsing outline of dust where he had stood.

Gritting her teeth, Willow steeled herself for the most powerful magical blast she could muster, but before she could unleash it, a shimmering wave of despair and futility washed over her. Realizing what was happening, she fought back against the anguish that had engulfed her. But then a second surge overwhelmed her, reinforcing the hopelessness of the situation.

The twins drew closer for the killing blows, and through the curtain of despondency, Willow was sure their eyes were black, yet glowed somehow.

And her last thought was that they failed! They lost, and the Slayers, the unquestionably evil Slayers had won.

To Be Continued