"The Harsh Light of Day"

Based on the Episode Written by Jane Espenson

The following story is copyright © 2023 by Mark Moore.

At the Bronze, Buffy and the Slayerettes were on the stage. It was just Buffy, Tara, and Amy. Amy was sitting behind her new drum set, an emerald green Tama Starclassic Performer, and banging with her drum sticks. Buffy and Tara were watching her, unimpressed. Harmony was sitting at a table near the stage, bored. Other than the four of them and a few Bronze employees, the place was empty.

Amy stopped playing, looked at her friends, and smiled. "Well?"

Buffy was hesitant. "It was...a good first attempt."

Tara smiled at Amy encouragingly, somewhat nervous.

"You suck!" Harmony told Amy.

Amy frowned at her and then looked at Buffy and Tara. "Why is she managing us?"

"Because she's Cordy's friend. That's..." Tara paused and thought about it. "That's really the only reason."

Buffy shrugged and sighed. "Hey, she got us the L.A. gig. We better keep our mouths shut."

Amy frowned. "That was Cordy's doing, and you know it."

Sandy walked into the Bronze. "Hello? Buffy?"

Buffy looked. "Sandy?"

Sandy pulled down her hood and walked up to the stage. She was holding a guitar case in her left hand. "I heard you guys were here. Are you holding auditions?"

"You're interested in joining the band?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"Well, I'd like to try. I've been practicing."

"Well, we were just rehearsing, and we've gotta clear out soon, but..." Buffy looked to the others.

Tara and Amy shrugged.

Harmony shrugged. "Camera's rolling."

Buffy smiled at Sandy. "Sure."

Sandy walked onto the stage, set down her case, and opened it. Inside was a 1999 black-and-white Fender Standard bass guitar.

Buffy smiled. "Sweet guitar."

"Thanks." Sandy took off her gloves, dropped them on the stage, took her bass guitar out of the case, and plugged it into the band's amplifier. "It took a lot of babysitting to make enough money to buy it."

Buffy made a face. "Yikes. You have far more patience than me. I speak from personal experience."

"Babysitting?"

"Baby sister."

"Ah." Sandy nodded. "Know what that's like."

"Do you have anything in mind that you wanna perform?" Buffy asked her.

"'Sorcerer'?" Sandy suggested.

Buffy nodded. "We know it."

"May I sing it as well?" Sandy asked her.

"Sure." Buffy picked up her guitar.

Tara turned on her keyboard. Amy picked up her drum sticks and started a beat. Buffy and Tara started playing, and so did Sandy. Sandy walked up to Buffy's microphone and looked out at Harmony's video camera.

"I'm tired.
I'm thirsty.
I'm wild-eyed
In my misery.
Timeless
In your finery.
A high price
For your luxury.

"Sorcerer,
Who is the master?
Man and woman on a star stream
In the middle of a snow dream.
Sorcerer,
Show me the high life.
Come over;
Let me put you on ice.

"I'm tired.
Well, I need you badly.
Wild-eyed
In the middle of your dreams.
Timeless.
Ooh, it's a mystery.
All the way.
Now, it's never what you see.

"Sorcerer,
Who is the master?
Man and woman on a star stream
In the middle of a snow dream.
Sorcerer,
Show me the high life.
Come over;
Let me put you on ice.

"All around,
Black ink darkness,
And who found
Lady from the mountain?
All around,
Black ink darkness,
And who found
Lady from the mountain?
The lady from the mountain,
The lady from the mountain,
The lady from the...
Mountain."

Everyone stopped playing gradually. They all looked at each other. Tara and Amy smiled.

Buffy looked at Sandy and smiled. "Congratulations, Sandy."

Sandy smiled warmly.

"Uh, yoohoo, important question!" Harmony yelled, waving at her.

Sandy looked at her.

"Can you play in L.A. later this week?" Harmony asked her.

"Sure."

Harmony grinned. "Great! You're in!"

Buffy, Tara, and Amy exchanged looks.

Soon, in the back parking lot at the Bronze, Buffy, Tara, and Amy were taking their gear out to Buffy's van. Harmony was with them, since Buffy was her ride, and Sandy was tagging along as well, since her car was parked nearby.

Buffy grinned. "That was, like, the best rehearsal ever. We'll do great in LA. We're gonna have them glued to their seats."

"You'd have to in order to get them to stick around."

They looked at the source of the voice. Sunday approached them.

"Sunday." Buffy paused. "What the fuck do you want?"

"To kill you."

Buffy nodded. "Ah. Many have tried. Only one has succeeded."

Sunday frowned. "Huh? You're dead? Or...undead?"

"No." Buffy paused and reconsidered her answer. "Partially? I don't fucking know. I'm a bit allergic to direct sunlight."

"Whatever. Do you wanna die first, or do you wanna watch me kill your friends?" Sunday asked her.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Bite me. Can you step aside? We need to stow our gear."

Sunday bared her fangs and hissed at Buffy. Sandy stepped forward, got in Sunday's face, bared her fangs, and hissed.

Sunday stepped back, surprised. She looked at Buffy. "You have a vampire in your band?"

Buffy shrugged. "She plays decent, and she sings Stevie Nicks by way of Laurie Sargent. What of it?"

Sunday looked at Sandy. "You're friends with a Slayer! You're a traitor to our kind!"

Buffy stared at Sunday. "You're one to talk."

Sunday looked at her.

"Yeah, I know you're a Slayer, or you were."

Suddenly, Sunday grabbed Harmony and was about to plunge her fangs into her tender neck. Harmony was helpless in Sunday's grasp. A fang nicked Harmony's throat, and a thin trickle of blood spilled out. Sunday growled in pleasure. Then Buffy slammed her microphone stand down between Sunday and Harmony, using it to catch Sunday by the throat and pull her off Harmony.

Sunday whirled, turning on Buffy, but Tara and Amy stepped between them, raising their free hands and freezing Sunday in place.

Amy didn't take her eyes off Sunday. "Stake her, Buffy."

Buffy hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" Tara asked her.

Sunday struggled, trying to break free.

"I..." Buffy stared into Sunday's eyes, searching.

Sunday managed to move one of her hands and touched Tara's palm. Suddenly, Tara got a flash of an image in her mind: a battle in some kind of large military facility; she saw Buffy and Sunday fighting side by side. Then the moment passed. Tara abruptly released her hold on Sunday, and Sunday broke free, knocking Tara and Amy backward.

"Okay, fine. Hide behind your girlfriends. But I have a boyfriend. And he's gonna be mad that you were mean to me." Sunday turned and ran off.

The others relaxed.

"Why did you let go?" Amy asked Tara.

"I had a vision. It might have been of the future - or - or a possible future." Tara shook her head. "I don't know." She looked at Buffy. "She was fighting with you in a big battle somewhere, like an Army base or something, but you were on the same side."

Buffy thought about that. "Can you be more specific?"

Tara shook her head. "No, sorry. But...I think she's important."

They were all silent for a moment.

Harmony had her hand pressed to her neck wound. "Uh, bleeding here."

Once they returned to campus, the gang went to Amy and Harmony's dorm room in Stevenson Hall. Buffy, Tara, and Sandy brought Amy's drum set into the room. Harmony sat on her bed, the one on the right, and Amy got the first aid kit from a kitchen drawer. She walked over to Harmony's bed, sat to her right, and cleaned Harmony's wound carefully.

"This totally sucks. Why do vampires always target me?" Harmony asked.

Amy put a neon green Band-Aid on Harmony's neck. "I don't know."

Buffy, Tara, and Sandy sat on Amy's bed.

Harmony felt the Band-Aid. "Thanks."

Amy smiled at her and nodded, then looked at the others. "Thanks for bringing the tubs in, guys."

Tara smiled. "No problem."

"Hey, there's a party at the Delta Zeta Kappa house. Bif Naked is performing. You guys wanna go?" Sandy asked.

Amy shrugged. "Sure."

Tara nodded. "Okay."

Harmony grinned. "Yay! Party!"

Buffy was hesitant. "Well, okay, but I better not get roofied again."

The five friends arrived at the frat party. Bif Naked was performing on stage. It was crowded, dark, smoky, and loud. One guy was doing a funnel. A couple was propped up next to the door, making out vigorously. Buffy tried not to stare. They walked through the living room, past groups of students laughing and talking. Buffy took it all in. A guy was showing off for his friends by drunkenly juggling beer bottles. A passed-out girl slumped on one of the sofas. They each picked up a red Solo cup off a table, got in line, waited, and took turns dispensing beer into them from a keg.

Buffy, Tara, and Amy sat on a sofa. Harmony and Sandy sat in chairs facing the sofa. They enjoyed the music while drinking their beer. Somewhere, they heard the sound of beer bottles crashing to the floor. The live band played, and couples danced wildly.

Buffy sipped her beer and looked at Sandy. "Sandy, can I ask you a question?"

Sandy sipped her beer. "Sure."

"When Sunday called you a traitor, how did that make you feel?"

"I dunno. Irritated, I guess."

"Did you get angry?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I dunno. I've always been pretty chill."

Buffy was confused. "But I thought the demon would...y'know..."

"Oh, the demon's annoying; don't get me wrong. But I can manage it."

"Even without a soul?"

Sandy nodded. "Even without."

Buffy nodded. "As someone that's lost my own soul recently, or at least most of it, I can't say I could tell anything was different. I still felt like myself. But...looking back on it...I was more..."

"Psycho?" Harmony suggested.

Buffy gave her a look.

Amy looked at Buffy. "I think what Harmony meant was...singularly focused."

Buffy looked at her and nodded. "Right. I was lacking in nuance and subtlety. I had one goal, one desire, and I went for it."

Tara looked at Buffy. "You were...reckless, but you were still fundamentally good."

Buffy smiled at her and sipped her beer. "I just wonder what would have happened if the rest of my soul vapor-matter was sucked out." She frowned. "And that sounds so fucking weird when I say it out loud. Anyway, I didn't have a sense that I was elsewhere; as far as I knew, I was in my body the entire time. If the rest of my soul had left my body, would I even notice? Would I feel any different?"

Tara shrugged. "I don't know, sweetie."

Buffy looked at Sandy. "I was once a vampire...sort of. I still felt like myself. I felt...pangs, though. Hunger pangs. A thirst for blood. Do you have a desire to feed?"

Sandy nodded. "All the fucking time."

"How do you not give in to the temptation?"

"I substitute another goal, another...desire. Be smart. Make friends. Don't piss people off. Don't make myself a target. Stay alive." Sandy paused, reconsidered her choice of words, and shrugged. "Well...you know."

Buffy nodded and finished her beer. "Anyone wanna dance?"

The others all nodded and finished their beers. They stood up and walked over to a trash can, where they dumped their cups. As they headed onto the dance floor, Buffy and Tara collided with a couple supporting a drunken friend between them.

Buffy looked closer. It was Sunday and Spike, and the "drunken friend" was a stunned and lacerated victim. Buffy and Spike froze, then looked at each other and their dates, sizing up the situation.

"Spike." Buffy paused and smiled in amusement. "And Sunday."

Sunday awkwardly stared at her. "Buffy. Hi. What a cute outfit. Last year."

Spike smiled. "Well, this is interesting. Sort of a double date."

Tara stared directly at Spike. "Looks like your friend started the party a little early, huh?"

Spike stared back at her for a moment, then looked away.

Buffy was still smiling. "And you with Sunday. What'd you do? Lose a bet?"

Sunday was irritated. "Hey."

"Actually, how we met, it's a funny story-" Trying for surprise, Spike dumped the victim onto Tara and ran into the crowd.

Buffy ran after him. "Stay here."

Buffy burst out the door, onto the front porch of the party house. It was a little quieter here. Students clustered around, smoking and talking. She stepped off the porch warily. She pulled out a stake and walked around to the side of the house. It was dark and deserted here.

She passed a dark shadow along the side of the house, then she whirled and punched into the shadow. Spike punched back and stepped out into the dim light. Sunday ran up, out of breath.

"What's the matter, Spike? Dru dump you again?" Buffy asked him.

She threw a punch, then another, both of which he blocked. Then she hit him dead-on in the face.

"Maybe I left her."

Buffy went to attack, but Spike diverted her to the left.

Sunday walked over to Buffy. "She left him for a fungus demon. That's all he talks about most days."

Spike strode up to her. "Sunny! We are going. It isn't time yet."

"Yeah, but as soon as we have the Gem of Amarra, you're gonna be sorr-Ow!"

Spike had grabbed Sunday to shut her up, then dragged her off by the arm. Buffy started after them, but they were back around the front of the house, pushing through a group of party arrivals. Buffy got tangled in the crowd. Spike and Sunday got away.

Buffy stood with her stake, then lowered it, thinking about what Sunday just let out.

Buffy found a pay phone and called Jenny.

"Yeah, Spike with Sunday. If you can believe it. I couldn't figure out why he ran away, but Sunday said something. Why they were here. They were looking for the Gem of something." Buffy paused and thought for a moment. "Amarra."

"The Gem of Amarra. Are you sure?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"It's just, uh, it's not real. It's, uh, the vampire equivalent of the Holy Grail. The source of some enormous power, which was conveniently vague. Oh, here it is. There was a great deal of vampiric interest in locating it during the, uh, the tenth century. Questing vampires combed the Earth, but no one ever found anything. It was concluded that it never existed."

"Well, Spike seems to think it exists. And he's looking in Sunnydale."

"Well, I'll research it as best as I can and ask around. I'll get back to you."

"Thanks. Bye."

Buffy returned to the party and found Amy and Harmony dancing together.

Buffy smiled. "Well, well."

They looked at her.

Amy smiled, a bit embarrassed. "Buffy, hey. Uh, you kill anyone?"

"Nah, they got away. Sunday mentioned a trinket that they're looking for. I called Jenny. She's on it. Is the guy okay?" Buffy asked.

Harmony frowned. "He lost a lot of blood, but Tara and Sandy took him to the medical center."

Buffy nodded.

The next morning, Buffy and Tara walked into the computer lab.

Jenny was sitting at her desk, reading something on her work computer. "'Bout time you two showed up."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Sor-ry."

Jenny didn't look at them. "Bow-chicka-wow-wow."

Tara looked down, nearly blushing.

Buffy was getting irritated. "You found something?"

"Yeah. Now that you're here, can we discuss the impending disaster? Check it out."

Buffy and Tara walked behind the desk and stood to either side of Jenny. They looked at the screen.

"A text. It refers to the Gem of Amarra as residing in the valley of the sun." Jenny looked at Buffy. "Demon fancy talk for Sunnydale." She looked back at the screen. "It seems that Spike may know what it's about. The gem may exist after all - in Sunnydale in a sealed underground crypt."

"Why don't you guys try and locate the crypt, and I'll try to find Spike before he gets there?" Buffy suggested.

Jenny nodded. "I'll get started."

Tara looked at Buffy. "Be careful."

Buffy kissed Tara on the lips. "Always." She turned and left the lab.

Later, Jenny was reading on the computer while streaming a local radio station. Tara was looking over her shoulder.

"-near the UC Sunnydale campus. Officials attribute the unusual occurrence to weakening of the supporting topsoil nearby. City work crews denied any tunneling has been done in the area."

Jenny's ears perked up. "Tunneling. Spike. Tara, find Buffy and meet me there."

Jenny stood up. She and Tara headed out the door.

Harmony walked by. "Jenny, about yesterday's assignment-"

"Later, Harm. You're with me."

Harmony followed her. "Uh, okay."

Buffy was walking along the campus.

Spike punched her in the face.

Buffy fell to the ground and looked up.

Spike stood above her in a beam of sunlight. "Birds singing, squirrels making lots of rotten little squirrels. Sun beaming down in a nice, non-fatal way. It's very exciting; I can't wait to see if I freckle."

Buffy grabbed her stake and jumped up. She landed a punch, then he punched her back, and she hit the ground. He went to jump on her, and she kicked him back. He staggered but jumped forward again, right into her stake.

"Oh, do it again. It tickles. You know, in a good way."

Buffy withdrew the stake, and he healed. She stared at him, surprised.

"The Gem of Amarra." Spike held up his hand, then backhanded her.

She hit the ground again.

"Official sponsor of my killing you." Spike lunged at her.

Jenny finished pulling Harmony into the underground crypt. They looked around to find Sunday pacing on the floor, stewing in anger. Jenny and Harmony exchanged glances, trying to decide what to do. They each took out a stake. Sunday saw them. Harmony took a step forward, her stake at her side. Suddenly, Sunday lunged at Harmony. Jenny jumped to get between them, and she got in a good punch, but Sunday was barely shaken. Jenny hit her again. She snarled and threw Jenny across the room. Harmony tried to sweep Sunday's feet from under her, but she was fast. She knocked Harmony across to where Jenny was trying to get to her feet, sending both women down in a tangle.

"Sunday, where's Spike? Does he have the Gem?" Jenny asked.

Sunday nodded. "He staked me, then he took it. He tried to take it right off my finger. Like I wouldn't have just given it to him. Asshole. To think I loved him."

Harmony shook her head. "You have strange taste in men. Where did Spike go?"

But Sunday left, descending through the hole.

Buffy was on her knees, blocking a punch from Spike. He redirected her into a pole, then kicked her in the stomach. She got up and tried to kick him, but he blocked her and threw her into the pole again. He pressed her against it, then she grabbed him by the throat and began to choke him, then threw him off her. Buffy kicked him in the stomach, which sent him spinning to the ground. He leaped back up and tried a spinning kick, which she blocked, then kicked him with a roundhouse, then another, followed by redirecting him over a bench, sending him rolling. She jumped up on the bench and tried to kick him in the chest, but he blocked her, grabbed her arm, and threw her into a metal frame table. The glass top shattered under her. She rolled off.

Spike strolled after her. "Getting tired, Slayer?"

Buffy got up, only to be hit with a series of punches and floored again. Tara ran up.

Buffy looked at her. "Tara, get out of here."

Spike jumped from the few stairs that he was above Buffy, then kicked her full on. Tara flew up and delivered a roundhouse, followed by a series of bicycle kicks like Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat; however, Spike followed it with an equally vicious hit that sent her flying forward.

Buffy was up in an instant. She tried a roundhouse, then a punch, then another and another. She redirected him over the edge of a planter, jumped on it, and, while coming down, kicked him, sending him flying into another planter, knocking over a earthenware pot. She grabbed him, punching him twice in the face, then grabbed the arm with the ring on it.

"Take it off me this way, we both burn."

"Really?" Buffy asked. "Let's see."

She jerked the ring off his finger, and his face instantly contorted into a visage of pain. He started to smoke, then ran off, crying out in agony.

Buffy, exhausted, sat down, inspecting the ring. Tara walked over to her.

Later, in Buffy and Tara's dorm room, Buffy and Tara were sitting on their bed, and Amy, Harmony, and Sandy were sitting on the other bed. The ring was sitting on the table between the beds. Jenny was standing between the beds.

Buffy was on the phone. "Yeah, Cordy, we're gonna leave soon."

"Cool. Do any of you need a place to crash?" Cordelia asked. "Because Anne and Faith are totally willing, I'm sure."

Buffy made a face. "How generous of you. Nah, we'll be staying at my dad's."

"Okay. Well, maybe swing by and check out the office or something."

"We will. Later."

"Bye."

Buffy set the handset back in its cradle. "Everybody ready to leave?"

Tara nodded. "Yeah."

"Hang on. What do we do with the ring?" Amy asked.

Jenny looked at her. "It's very dangerous. We're destroying it."

Buffy looked at Jenny. "We don't destroy it."

Jenny looked at her. "Well, Buffy, any vampire that gets their hands on this is going to be essentially unkillable."

Buffy looked at Sandy.

Sandy looked at Buffy and then shook her head. "I appreciate it, Buffy, but no."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked her.

Sandy nodded. "I'm not a good fighter. Not yet. You should give the ring to Angel. He should have it."

Buffy thought about it and then nodded. "Okay." She stood up. "Let's hit the road."

Harmony grinned and stood up. "Yay! L.A., here we come!"