Red on Red
By: Empire of the Words
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, Angel, or the following Neil Gaiman quote.
Trigger Warnings (for the whole fic): Major Character Death, Referenced Attempted Rape, and Canon Typical Violence.
Posting Schedule: I currently have 14 full chapters pre-written, and am planning on posting one chapter a week, but I can't guarantee that'll continue once I'm out of pre-written chapters.
Chapter 1: Butterflies and Bullets
"It used to be thought that the events that changed the world were things like big bombs, maniac politicians, huge earthquakes, or vast population movements, but it has now been realized that this is a very old-fashioned view held by people totally out of touch with modern thought. The things that really change the world, according to Chaos theory, are the tiny things. A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe."
– Neil Gaiman
The day started out great.
Waking up next to Willow again… Well, Tara couldn't think of a better way to start the day. They had figured out what the Trio's plan's had been, and afterwards… that had been pretty great, too.
Tara entered back into the bedroom, hair still wet from her shower, to find Willow also fully dressed.
"Hey," Willow said, "Clothes."
"Better not get used to them," Tara responded, feeling unusually flirtatious.
"Yes, ma'am," Willow replied, pulling her into a kiss. Tara threw her towel towards the back of the room to free both her hands before the kiss ended as a hug and Tara relaxed in her girlfriend's hold.
"Xander!" Willow said suddenly.
Tara pulled back. "Xander?"
"He's here, with Buffy." Tara turned towards the window to see Xander walking up towards Buffy.
"Think they're making up?" Willow asked, heading over towards the window to peek.
"I hope so," Tara responded, going to pick up her towel. "That's the best part."
She smiled as she heard her girlfriend's squeals of delight, telling her all was going well between her girlfriend's best friends. Tara started folding the towel, still looking over at Willow.
"Everything's going great?" she asked.
Willow smiled. "Yep."
No matter how hard she tried later, she could never exactly remember what happened before she heard the window shattering, and the towel caught most of the drops of blood.
"Willow?" she said, panicking at the sight of the red spot growing on her white shirt.
"Tara?"
Willow slipped forward. "Willow!" Tara rushed forward and grabbed her. "Come on, baby! You're okay. Willow!" Tara let out a sob. "Come on…" she said desperately, though she knew it was useless.
Willow was dead.
†
It was only when Tara stopped pleading that she heard Xander down in the lawn, through the broken window.
"Buffy!"
Buffy. She must have been shot, too. Tears still falling from her eyes, Tara gently moved Willow's dead body to the ground before racing to the backyard.
"Tara!" Xander cried.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Warren."
Tara raced over to Buffy. She had been shot in the chest, but she was still breathing.
"Did you call an ambulance?" she said. Xander nodded. "Good."
Tara took a deep breath. Buffy. She had to save Buffy. She focused on the bullet and remembered back to when her mother had first started teaching her magic, when she learned to move objects just by thinking hard enough. She had to remove the bullet, and safely. She ignored the sound of Xander's frantic pacing and focused on the bullet. She put her hand out and opened her eyes to find it resting in her palm, the light blue of her magic fading into air. At that second, she heard the ambulance pull up.
"Over here!" Xander yelled, making his way over. He quickly came back, followed by two paramedics.
"She was shot?" one of them asked.
"In the chest," Tara put in, holding up the bullet.
"Accidental?" the other one asked.
"No, no, it was…" Xander started, "He was trying to kill her."
As the paramedics started working, Tara pulled Xander back to let them do their job. That was when he noticed the drops of blood on her shirt.
"Those… Those are from Buffy, right?" One look at her face told him the answer he needed. "Oh, God."
"She's dead, Xander," she said, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "She… She's gone…"
Xander quickly pulled Tara into a hug as she sobbed and led them towards the ambulance Buffy was being loaded onto.
"I'm sorry," the first paramedic said. "Only one person can come."
Tara looked at Xander. "You go. I… I need to call the coroner."
Xander nodded before getting into the ambulance. Tara watched as it quickly drove away. She slowly turned back towards the house.
†
Tara had managed to deflect Dawn's questions as she picked her up from school early and they got into the car. After turning it on, Tara took a moment to try and center herself before turning to the now worried teenager.
"Earlier today, Buffy… Buffy was shot."
A look of horror grew on Dawn's face. "But… But she's okay, right? She's not…"
"She's going to be fine," Tara responded, trying to give her a smile.
"Then… what else happened? You wouldn't pull me out of school if she was fine."
Tara felt her eyes start to water and she looked downwards.
"Tara?"
"Wi-Willow."
"Bu–But she's fine, right? She's not… She can't be…"
"I'm so sorry, Dawn."
They both started crying at the same time, Dawn burying her face in Tara's chest, while the older woman stroked the hair of the girl who felt like she couldn't stop losing people.
†
"How is she?"
Xander stood up when he saw Dawn and Tara come rushing in.
"I don't know," he told them. "Nobody's said anything."
"What about Warren?" she asked him.
"He…" Xander took a breath before continuing. "I've talked to the cops, and they're on the lookout."
"Warren?" Dawn asked. "He's the one who did this?"
"Don't worry about it, Dawn," Tara said, gently.
"How can I not worry about it!" Dawn exclaimed. "He shot my sister! He shot Willow! Now, she's dead and Buffy… Buffy might join her! I can't…" She started crying again. "I can't do this again…"
Tara wrapped her in a hug. "Shh… It's okay, Dawnie. It'll all be okay."
"I can't do this," Dawn sobbed into Tara's chest.
"Yes, you can," she told her. "You survived last year. You've gotten through more than most girls your age ever will."
"It hurts," she said.
"I know."
†
It was late evening before Xander, Tara and Dawn were able to visit Buffy, but all were wide awake when the nurse finally let them in.
"Hey, Buffy," Dawn said as they entered.
"Hey Dawnie! How are you feeling?"
"How am I feeling?" Dawn asked. "You're the one that got shot."
"And knowing me, I'll be ready to go in a couple of days." Buffy tried to look around Xander and Tara. "Where's Willow?"
The group collectively flinched, and Buffy's eyes widened in worry.
"What happened?" she asked, feeling almost frantic. "Is she alright?"
"Willow's…" Tara closed her eyes. "Willow's dead."
Buffy felt the cold feeling of dread slide down her spine. "What?" she rasped.
"There was a stray bullet," Xander told her, but she barely heard it. The words she and Xander had shared right before she had gotten shot kept ringing in her mind.
I don't know what I'd do without you and Will.
Let's not find out.
They would have to now.
It may take a few chapters, but I promise the rest of the fic won't be quite so depressing as this one. If you'd like to, please leave a review and let me know what you think!