Into the Breach - V
'We make war that we may live in peace' - Aristotle
Los Angeles border
The display of military strength surrounding the border of the city was truly awe inspiring. Buffy had never seen such a cache of modern weapons or armoury up close before, and Dawn had spent several minutes teasing her sister over the fact that she was almost salivating. Around forty men and women patrolled the area, each clad in full body armour and cradling rifles. Various other pieces of equipment ranging all the way from small knives to actual grenades were dotted about their persons, making Buffy one extremely jealous Slayer indeed. She did not, however, envy the camouflage combats the group sported, which seemed to do little to flatter the figures of the female wearers. Buffy may have been about to embark on one of the most epic battles of her life as the Slayer, but she had come equipped with her vanity as always.
Giles had parked the minivan several miles down the freeway and instructed the four potentials who had accompanied them to stand guard there. Willow, Buffy, Giles, and a protesting Dawn had walked the distance to the border, and were now concealed behind a very convenient copse of trees in order to gauge a point of entry.
A makeshift guard station had been established by the presence of an enormous tent a few feet outside the borderline, and several jeeps as well as a minibus were parked nearby. Buffy watched intently as the figures walked to and fro, all clearly bored and wishing they were elsewhere. Some of their faces seemed incredibly young and Buffy felt a pang of sadness as she thought about the horrors these soldiers had doubtlessly already witnessed in their lives. She could easily identify with the warriors before her.
During the two hour drive from the airport at San Diego, Willow had regularly checked in with Xander, who had stayed back at the motel in New Mexico to supervise the remaining girls. Xander had spent much of the day with his one eye glued to the national news stations, awaiting information regarding L.A. However, every channel seemed able to only rehash the same story; yesterday evening, twelve U.S. marines had parachuted into Los Angeles to determine the state of the environment. Giles assumed that this was a precautionary enforcement by the government, which unfortunately did little to forewarn the group as to what sights would greet them when they eventually arrived in L.A.
"So, the plan?" Dawn pressed, glancing at her sister, who had snagged Giles' binoculars and was chewing her bottom lip as she gazed through them into the distance.
"We go back to the van, round up the girls, and then we all skip across the border using Willow's cloaking spell," Buffy replied, her gaze never wavering from the troops that patrolled the perimeter.
"Good plan," Dawn replied, nodding and brushing her jeans off as she stood. Giles rose to his feet at her side and groaned as he both felt and heard his knees simultaneously crack.
"You're getting too old for this, hey G-man?" Dawn teased, her giggles abruptly ceasing at a single look from the Watcher. Dawn made a mental note to at least endeavour to behave in Giles' company for the remainder of the trip. She was unsure of how strong her resolve would be, however, as lately she had found herself more and more prone to unpredictable bursts of Xander-esque sarcasm. She rather hoped it was a temporary condition, much like the flu or salmonella.
"I suggest we wait for the cover of darkness before returning, Buffy," Giles began, strolling ahead with some difficulty. Dawn trotted along behind, as ever rather preoccupied by the condition of her nails.
"Buffy?" Giles repeated when several moments elapsed without a response. Giles paused, turning on his heel to face the slayer, and finding her gone.
"Dear God… surely not…" Giles hissed, his eyes narrowing to slits as he gazed into the distance towards the border. The atmosphere seemed almost to be shimmering, and Giles could just about discern the faint outline of two bodies moving towards the city at great speed. The soldiers around seemed oblivious to the disturbance, continuing with their duties without concern.
Dawn stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to face the city.
"Where'd Buffy and Willow go?" she demanded. In her own heart, she already knew the answer. She too could just about make out the outlines of the witch and her sister as they stepped across the borderline, and into L.A. Dawn watched them vanish into the horizon, her anger mounting with every passing second.
Dawn felt the blood rush to the tips of her ears as it always did when she was infuriated, but just as she opened her mouth to launch her tirade at her one remaining companion, there was a gruff shout from one of the soldiers in the distance.
"Stop! U.S. army!" barked the man, who had already cocked and raised his rifle. "If you do not stop, we will shoot."
Dawn scooted closer to Giles, who laid a protective hand on the young girl's shoulder, all the while his eyes affixed on the scene ahead. Seconds later, a figure darted across the city limit, a black leather duster swathing it's head and body. Upon making contact with the daylight, plumes of smoke began to rise from the man, and he screamed in evident pain. The figure barrelled towards the soldiers, who had begun to fire their weapons almost immediately.
Something in the way he carried himself, even in his current predicament, was all too familiar to Dawn. But no, it couldn't be, could it? No. After all, his body had imploded into ash and been consumed by the Hellmouth over a year ago.
Dawn had suffered her sister's account of the vampire's fate over and over again, until even the most vain of her hopes for his survival had been quashed. Then, in the rare moments that she had found herself alone since moving to the draughty old castle in Rome with the Scoobies and over a hundred potential slayers, Dawn had wept for him.
"Spike?" Dawn called, her voice barely audible above the sound of rifles, the vampire's guttural roars, and the bemused cries of the infantry, who had yet to encounter a foe that did not fall under a shower of gunfire.
As the vampire started in their direction, followed by a spray of bullets, Giles seized Dawn's arm and uttered a single word.
"Run."