Angel took an involuntary step back when Stacy Lynn told Gunn that the world was ending. As did everyone else, but Gunn. Gunn helped her to her feet after she seemed to regain her senses.
“An apocalypse?” Fred asked in a timid voice. They really should’ve expected one.
“If there is, we’ll stop it.” Gunn said in answer.
“Oh, there is most definitely an apocalypse. I can’t even-“ Stacy Lynn paused and Gunn turned from his friends to look at her. “Charles?”
“Yeah?” Gunn drew out the word watching as Stacy Lynn shook her head, before looking at him.
That spell, warning, whatever, did more than she thought possible. “I think I’m gonna pass out.”
Seconds after the warning, Gunn was lifting her into his arms, moments before she hit the floor. He was more concerned about her than the world ending. “Maybe we should continue this later,” he suggested.
“What happened to her?” Fred asked. She couldn’t help being concerned. Maybe it was that Stacy Lynn knew Katherine and Spike.
Gunn paused in his trek up the stairs with his girlfriend in his arms. “She had a vision...or somethin’. Never actually seen her have a bad one awake.”
“She gonna be okay?” Fred then asked.
“Yeah.” Gunn reassured. I think so.
“There’s gotta be a few things they have in common,” Fred said as the group sat in the lobby minutes later.
“Like…” Gunn trailed off.
“They’re seers.” Wesley stated.
“Well, thank you, Captain Obvious.” Cordelia retorted.
“There has to be more than that.” Gunn said as if Cordelia hadn’t spoken. She rolled her eyes.
“What did you do for eight months?” Angel asked curiously, only to receive a look from Gunn. “…’Cause, eight months is a long time.”
“Africa. A few nights ago, she freaked out after a dream and we got on the first flight here.”
Wesley still sat deep in thought. “She did call you a warrior. Specifically, her warrior. Is it possible that she meant for the Powers That Be?” Wesley asked.
“She did compare herself to me,” Cordelia added, resigning herself to helping with the puzzle that was Gunn’s girlfriend.
“And Cordy’s my link to the Powers.” Angel added.
“Guess that makes me a warrior.” Gunn said, leaning back on the counter.
“So…we have the end of the world coming.” Angel announced, looking at the other four. “All we have to do is stop it.”
Unintentionally, Cordelia yawned. “That’s great everything, but all in favor of sleep now, research later, say ‘aye.’” Cordelia piped in. She really was tired. She figured she’d be all ready to tackle the end of the world tomorrow, after she got in a bit of sleep.
It was a unanimous decision.
“Aye.”
Buffy and Faith were the only ones up at six that morning. Maybe it was insomnia. The talk had been prolonged later than expected and sleeping arrangements had been made for that night.
Buffy had taken a seat on the back porch and watched the sun rise slowly. She felt more than saw Faith sit next to her.
Almost immediately, the brunette pulled out a cigarette and lit it. She took a drag before saying anything. “So…you’re married?”
Buffy didn’t want to talk to her. Not really. Not after what she did. Not when she kept having thoughts of putting the younger slayer six feet under and calling the next one. Maybe a better one.
“Yeah.” Buffy answered. “Never actually saw it happening. Not with Spike…not with anyone. Always thought I’d die first.”
“You did. Twice.” Faith retorted smartly, blowing out a cloud of smoke. It curled around and disappeared into the coming dawn.
“It’s foggy.” Buffy said, squinting her eyes up as the sky remained a grayish-blue color instead off turning orange and pink with the rising sun.
“Yeah.” Faith took another drag off her cigarette before throwing the half-gone stick in the grass. “Let’s get down to it.”
When Faith stood, Buffy did also, looking the other slayer in the eyes. “Get down to what?”
“You hate me. For everything I did. So…hit me.” Faith said, holding her arms out and readying herself for Buffy’s tiny fist to fly into her face.
Only it didn’t come.
“I don’t hate you,” Buffy said, “and I won’t hit you.”
Faith’s arms dropped and she stepped back. “Why?” Her face was scrunched up in confusion of why Buffy wouldn’t.
“Because he doesn’t. And he wouldn’t want me to.” Buffy replied.
Before Faith could respond, the phone rang. Buffy raced inside to answer the phone and Faith followed at a sedate pace.
“Hello?”
“Buffy, I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No. Katherine came back to town…with a few friends.” Buffy glanced at Faith, who sat on the island counter, smirking a bit.
“Oh, uh, good. I called to tell you that I’m coming to Sunnydale, hopefully sometime this week. I’ll call you later when something exact is arranged.”
“Giles, what’s wrong?”
“Buffy, the book I’m looking for just arrived. I have to go.” The watcher said before hanging up.
Buffy cursed, listening to the dial tone for a moment before hanging up. She turned towards Faith and said, “That was Giles. I’m getting the feeling that the-“
Katherine burst into the kitchen, her short blonde hair a mess. “It’s coming.”
Katherine looked around her. She seemed to be in a white void of nothingness. A very unfamiliar place.
“Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas any-bloody-more.” She muttered to herself, looking around for clues.
Her wariness eased away slowly, snail pace slowly, as others that she knew appeared, followed by a woman she was sure she’d never met before, but felt connected to. There was something there.
“You’re all here. Good.” She had an Australian accent and her hair was blonde, pulled back into a bun. “I’m a…friend.” She looked at each and everyone present, pausing at the ever doubtful Stacy Lynn.
“Feel the connection.” The connection between them all became stronger. They felt it for theses few moments when it became acknowledged before it faded away, under the surface, where it belonged. “My name is Tracy. This isn’t some joke. Messing with you all it the last thing on my mind. Believe that more serious matters are at hand.”
Cordelia raised a hand, feeling weirdly submissive as power rolled off Tracy in waves. She didn’t know why, but this place, and this ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach was giving her the heebie-jeebies. Whatever was coming wasn’t good. And she wasn’t even sure if she meant the upcoming apocalypse, or things that would come years, centuries in the future. She just had this feeling that at the very end, they had lost. They had backed themselves into some kind of hole, almost like with a maze where you have to get to the end using the right path…and this just seemed like one of the dead ends.
Tracy raised an eyebrow, but no one commented on it. “Yes, Cordelia?”
“Um, yeah…what kind of serious matters if you’re not just yanking our chains?” The seer questioned, anxious to wake up and get out of this weird place. Connection her ass.
“The end of the world.” Tracy replied. It was such a simple answer. The end of the world. And Tracy didn’t know which one she meant; the world would always be in danger in ending. And, it had occurred to her many times, in the privacy of her own mind, to set things right herself. Do what need be done to save the world before it met its end.
“What; is it Tuesday?” Dawn snapped, exasperated. She was tired of the world ending. Just last week, they had to search the caves in the woods for a cult out to raise some ultimate evil. Now that Dawn thought about it, one minion had said the great power would rise even without them. And then Buffy had made a snappy comment about them not minding being dust in that case before staking the vampires…which was also weird. She didn’t like the way this was adding up.
“No. I died.” Tracy said calmly. Her death had been the signal; she had known that much. But, if she had not learned anything else from watching this group over the years, death was never permanent. And she was no exception.
“Oh.” Dawn’s eyes widened, her voice lower. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. It’s been a few hours; I’m dealing.” A silence lapsed after this and she let them think. About her, the situation, what was coming.
Tara had already decided to believe in this, what the older woman was saying. She’d been having a bad feeling, swirling in the pit of her stomach since the moment Xander and Anya said, “I do,” and it hadn’t disappeared. If anything, it actually deepened when Buffy took her walk down the aisle to Spike. She didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but she had a feeling…she didn’t really think things should have worked out the way they had. Not even herself and Willow.
“There’s something coming…and…it’s beneath us. I can feel it on the edges of my senses, crawling, scratching to get to the surface. I may have an idea, of what, who, it is, but I won’t say until I’m sure. I don’t want to be wrong.” Tracy said suddenly.
Stacy Lynn figured that no one was really optimistic. There was a reason that only they were there, a reason for why Xander, Buffy, Angel, Willow, others that had played bigger parts than them weren’t there. “We’re the second string. You’ve got the bigger players: Angel, Buffy, Charles…and then, you’ve got us. The guides. The ones that are supposed to point them in a right direction, because as much as they’ll pretend, they don’t remember anymore.”
“I thought y’stopped the philosophy stuff in 1933.” Katherine replied from her more relaxed position across the vast of nothingness.
“I did. Around you.” Stacy Lynn shot back without a second thought.
“It may be degrading, but you’re right, Stacia. The Powers That Be think we’re less important, that we’re expendable; I’m not lying in an alley for my health. But they’re wrong. The first thing this evil will go after is our warriors, the ones we’re destined to find, guide and train. Without them, there’s no point to us.”
“But that’s not true.” Dawn protested. “Just the other day, I saved Buffy from a vamp. How can I be any less important?”
“Think of it this way, Bit. To the big ones playing chess, we’re just pieces; they get to move us around and do whatever they want. Good versus evil is their game.” Spike said, thinking about all the trials he’d seen Katherine go through when she messed up, to prove her worth to them. “They’re not really interested in our say about their strategy.”
“Well…that sucks.” Cordelia muttered darkly.
“Yes, it does.” Tracy said with a small smile. She turned to the only one there that rivaled her age. “Katherine.”
She looked up when her name was called, the conversation of their insignificance striking a chord deep within her. “Yeah?”
“You have to find the others. There are warriors in danger, and there are potential guides. The first two I’m most concerned about, are the charges belonging to yourself…and Dawn.” Tracy said, back down to business.
There was no more of a discussion. With all the relevant information passed on, Katherine found herself waking up on the Summers’ couch. It was uncomfortable as hell, but she’d deal. Later. Right now she had to make sure Dawn was ready so they could get this over with as fast as possible. She didn’t like the idea of being away from Sunnydale during a potential apocalypse.
Katherine, I’m already packing, Dawn said telepathically. Katherine filed that away for later.
Grateful that Dawn was doing her part so far, and not too enthusiastic about explaining what was going on to Buffy, Katherine got up and hurried into the kitchen.
“That was Giles. I’m getting the feeling that the-“
“It’s coming.” Katherine said breathlessly.
“What’s coming?” Buffy asked the demi-god, tired of being in the dark about the entire situation.
“Headache, headache, headache,” Willow called out as she and Tara entered the kitchen, both clad in nightwear. She saw Katherine. “Hey, Katherine. When did you get back?”
“Willow, hey. Last night.” Katherine replied. “Hi, Tara.”
The blonde witch waved and Buffy gave Katherine a knowing look. “You’re stalling.”
“I know.” Katherine countered.
“It’s the end of the world, B; what else?” Faith said as Dawn came downstairs, followed by Spike. She looked up at the newcomers for a second before turning her attention towards the conversation, nervously wondering if everyone else knew what she’d done, if they’d all treat her like Dawn was.
Willow frowned. “The end of the world?” She asked, looking at Katherine.
Dawn spoke up instead. “Pretty much, yeah.”
Katherine turned around to face the teenager. “You’re ready?”
Dawn nodded. “Yeah. Packed and everything.” She held up her small suitcase.
“Where are you going?” Buffy asked, following Dawn and Katherine out the front door and down the porch steps. Ever since Katherine had showed up, the weird just kept on coming. This weird leaving-with-no-answers thing was the last straw.
Dawn turned to face her sister, saying, “Buffy, I have to do this. Trust me?” She looked at Buffy imploringly as Katherine pulled up in a blue convertible. When she’d left was pretty much up for debate.
Dawn didn’t wait for a reply, heading towards the car. Buffy grabbed her arm and she turned back, imploring. Buffy only had two words. “Be careful.”
Dawn smiled, hugging her sister. “I will.” She skipped to the car, throwing her bag in the back and climbing into the passenger’s seat.
Buffy took a step forward, looking as if she really wanted to chase the care down, because she really did. Willow touched her arm, looking at Tara, who now stood at Buffy’s other side.
“There’s this thing…she has to go, Buffy.” Tara said, her face sympathetic.
The three watched as the little blue car disappeared around the corner and Buffy felt like her heart was breaking.
Of course she did. First, her little sister can fight. Then she can do magic. Now she had to take mysterious apocalyptic trips? Why was Buffy even surprised that she was losing grip on the tight reign she’d kept on her little family for five whole months? Every time Katherine came, things got weird. It was like a rule.
Buffy sighed, deflated. “I know.”
Cordelia sat up in her and Angel’s bed, slowly. That dream had been something else altogether. Bordering on unbelievable. Seeing the others, that little conversation about being virtually expendable…she really didn’t want to believe it. But she did.
She stepped out into the hall, immediately coming face to face with Stacy Lynn. And she felt this conversation with her. They stood there for a few silent moments, acknowledging that their destinies were intertwined for the moment and that they were forced to work together.
Guess we should go down, Cordelia said, not actually speaking to Stacy Lynn, though the vampire didn’t notice.
Probably,, the other brunette agreed, also not speaking.
They made their way downstairs, perfectly connected. They moved the same, wore the same facial expression, and had the same thoughts. The world was going to end if they didn’t find a way to stop it. Did that include the ones from Sunnydale? Pretty likely.
Is there a list? Stacy Lynn asked silently. Of us?
I think Wesley has a copy, Cordelia said as they bypassed the ex-watcher still not having spoken a word. At this point the others were looking at them in confusion. Their camaraderie, their unified moment was peculiar considering that they had a great moment of distrust the night before.
Katherine probably left it behind. She does that a lot. Stacy Lynn replied as they began searching the inner office for the book that was suddenly burned in the back of their minds. The others followed them inside, even more worried by their behavior.
Cordelia found the text, pulling the large tome off the shelf and dropping it on the desk. It hit with a loud thud, making Fred jump in surprise. “What is it?”
“The champions recorded over the years. Warriors that devoted their lives to working for the Powers that Be, against evil. And died for it.” Wesley said, recognizing the binding. “Katherine left that here.”
And at the voices, the connection between Stacy Lynn and Cordelia sank below the surface, always ready for later use.
“Yeah. We were just talking about it a moment ago.” Stacy Lynn said.
No one knew what to say to that, not having heard a conversation between Stacy Lynn and Cordelia. Something had most definitely happened during the night.
“Stacy Lynn said she does that a lot, leave things lying around.” Cordelia commented.
“Okay; what’s in it?” Gunn asked, taking a step next to Stacy Lynn and unconsciously linking hands with her. She smiled at him and he returned it.
“Not what,” Wesley replied, taking the book off the table and opening it. “Who. Who would be The Slayers, like Buffy and even Faith-“
“Or the more unconventional heroes, like her friends-” Stacy Lynn added.
“Or just the vampire with a soul himself.” Cordelia raised her eyes to Angel’s.
Dawn buckled herself into the seat on the plane, ready for the adventure she was about to embark on. She was actually going somewhere. To do something. And Buffy couldn’t keep her from doing it, because it wasn’t Buffy’s choice. It was hers.
“So…France?” The brunette asked as the plane took off.
“Yeah, there’s a future champion there, an’ then we ‘ave to do a locator spell for the other.” Katherine answered.
Dawn nodded in understanding. She looked at Katherine. Like her sister; a less pushy, less bossy sister that didn’t treat her like a baby most of the time. The perfect contrast to Buffy. It was nice to think of Katherine that way.
“Who are we looking for?”
“Jess. Short f’ Jessica. Then, Trixie. Real name’s Zhen. I guess she didn’t like ‘er real name.”
“And she thought ‘Trixie’ was just so much better?” The teenager replied dryly.
“Yeah, I know. Anyway, Jess hangs out in this fight club. She’s the champion, so it shouldn’t be too hard t’find her.”
“Great.” Dawn said. She thought about what Katherine had done during vacation and only one thing stuck out to her. “Kat?”
“Yep?” Katherine asked looking up from her magazine.
“You mentioned nearly getting Angel chained to the bottom of the sea earlier.”
“Oh. That.” Katherine raised the magazine to cover her face as she thought of the events that lead to her underwater adventure. He hadn’t really been chained, more like...almost stuffed in a coffin and sunk to the bottom.
“Yeah…”Dawn pulled it down. “That. What happened?”
“What happened was…the demons in Pylea weren’t too fond of the fact that I killed their warrior. They also didn’t like whatever Angel did when he was there. Put the two of us in the city and they figure it’s a piece of cake…only I got there in like…seconds. That’s it.” Katherine said the last bit too cheerfully and then turned to look out the window.
Dawn cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. “Okay, let’s try that again, without all the lying.”
Katherine rolled her eyes. “Okay…” she turned to face Dawn. “I kinda took the future king’s virtue.” It came out as a big rush and Katherine was really hoping Dawn didn’t catch a bit of that sentence. Unfortunately for her, Dawn caught all of it.
“You had sex with their future leader?!”
“Could y’get any louder?”
“Explain.” Dawn said, dismissing the criticism.
“Oh. Well…uh, yeah…he was human-first off. He was also hot.” Katherine shrugged as Dawn let out an exasperated sigh. “Who knew they were so big on celibacy?”