“So, we get a break today…and I have an idea.” Cordelia said, smiling at Angel as she entered their hotel room.
“Really?” Angel asked, putting his arms around her as she took a lying position on the bed next to him.
“Yep. It involves kisses,” she kissed Angel softly and moved closer to him. “And a lot more kisses…plus the privacy sign.”
She got off the bed, holding it up to Angel.
“A big plus.” He commented as she opened the door and hung the sign up, closing the door and locking it behind her.
“It is. With more kisses…” she said, straddling his hips and leaning down to kiss him again.
“I think I like your plan.”
Cordelia was in heaven. Her life had been pure heaven. Having Angel, seeing her friends happy, nothing messing things up. It was wonderful, and great, and she doubted she’d have kissed Angel if not for Katherine.
“I love you,” Angel said into her skin and she stilled in shock.
Love. Angel loved her. Loved her, loved her. Like committed to her. And she wasn’t going to let him go. She wouldn’t let him go, because-
“I love you, too.”
Trixie walked down a dark street, humming a song she’d heard earlier in the club. A crashing sound stopped her train of thought. She slowly turned to face the noise and saw a man in a robe. She’d have thought him a priest, except for the markings and the lack of eyes.
“Déjà vu.” She muttered; she’d seen a man like that in a dream, killing a woman in an alley.
The figure lunged at her and she sidestepped the attack, moving to kick the figure in the gut. He caught her foot and lifted her in the air, tossing her into the wall. Her back hit with a thud and she fell to her knees.
She winced when she was yanked to her feet by her long jet-black hair. She desperately attempted to knock her attacker’s feet from under him. While he was down, she sprang to her feet and took off down the street, only to be blind-sided as another appeared and tackled her sideways into a wall.
She punched the robed man in the face twice and kicked him in the stomach before spinning in the air to use her other foot to kick him in the face. The figure stumbled back and she pressed her attack, double-kicking him in the chin and shoving him into a wall. Something came over her, maybe the need for survival, and she twisted his neck.
She stared at the dead body, unable to believe she’d just killed something with her bare hands. The other robed figure kicked her in the back and she fell on her stomach. He then kicked her in the side and she rolled on her back. She gasped in pain as he put his foot on her throat and pressed, harder with each passing second.
She grasped the ankle and tried to lift it off her neck, finding that she couldn’t and beginning to gasp for air. She felt herself becoming light-headed, the world dimming around her…and then she could breathe freely.
She sat up groggily and saw her attempted killer lying several feet away and a petite blonde woman standing there, arms raised.
Something settled inside Trixie and she finally felt okay, safe. That knowledge in mind, she promptly fell back, head hitting concrete. Only she’d blacked out before then.
Fred was jumping on the bed in the hotel as Wesley tried to read the book of Katherine’s. The bed was comfy and soft; it was really kind of fun. She stopped jumping and flopped down next to Wesley.
“Think Spike made the right decision? Choosing Buffy?”
Wesley looked at Fred over the top of the book. “Why? You don’t think he did?”
“No! I mean, I mean, Buffy’s nice and-and pretty and a good person, and I know it was more like Katherine chose for him, but it seems like he just dumped her to me.”
“Katherine said she was fine when I talked to her in Los Angeles-“
“That doesn’t make it true, and you know it.”
“No, it doesn’t. But you can’t control matters of the heart; neither can you tell yourself who to choose. If we could, Buffy wouldn’t have cared and Katherine would be happily married. No one would have problems.”
“And us?” Fred suddenly asked. “What about us?”
Fred was looking at Wesley, intensely waiting for his answer. She couldn’t describe it, or even understand it, but she was scared of his answer. At that moment, his answer meant everything. It meant the end…or a new beginning. And, damn it, she wanted a new beginning.
“I’d still be in love with you,” Wesley said without hesitation, oblivious to Fred’s plight.
“Love you too.” Fred smiled at him, pushing Katherine's book aside and leaning forward to steal a kiss. She felt something come over her. Turned out to be a song.
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You’ll never know how, how much I love you. So, please, don’t take my sunshine away.”
“So…there are vampires, demons, and in betweens. Apocalypses tend to happen every other week. The world is determined by The Powers That Be. Your sister is a supernatural hero called a Vampire Slayer. The one person in the entire world that can slay the vampires and demons. She’s also married to an ex-vampire-turned-agent for the Powers That Be.” Jess said skeptically.
Dawn nodded. “Yeah, but also-her best friend’s married to an ex-vengeance demon. Her other best friend is a witch, with a girlfriend. But Tara’s really cool. And Willow, the witchy best friend, her first boyfriend was a werewolf. And I’m a Key, which means I totally didn’t exist three years ago.”
“What have I gotten myself into?” Jess asked.
“Destiny.”
Buffy completely didn’t expect it when Spike grabbed her from behind as she entered their bedroom. She pressed her lips against his, a giddy feeling in the pit of her stomach as he carried her over to their bed.
“Told you to count on it.”
“I remember,” Buffy replied, smiling softly. “They’re home though.”
“Don’t see why that’s stopping you today.” Spike said. His mouth drifted to her neck. “Especially when I can tell that you don’t really want to stop.”
Buffy grinned slyly. “I bet you can.”
Imagine if you’d told her a few years ago, that she’d find complete happiness being married to Spike. She’d have denied it with a fiery passion, and would’ve threatened the person who said so with a very large stake. But there she was, with him, and loving every moment of it. And no one was going to tell her she couldn’t and they were able to just be together. Katherine was an eye opener, and she was grateful for this chance…
But something about it still didn’t feel right.
Trixie placed her card down on the try and watched as Jess placed a higher card and then collected her book.
Across from them, Dawn and Katherine were reading magazines and gossiping about celebrities. They were on a plane back to Sunnydale, much to Buffy’s relief.
“I believe Katherine. I don’t know why, but something about her tells me to.” She told Jess in a slight whisper. “I saw the assassins with my own eyes…if I didn’t believe the dream. They tried to kill me. And she was there. She saved my life.”
Jess looked at her questioningly, allowing Trixie the next book. “Are you ready for a war?”
“No. And I don’t think I ever will be. But I will try my damnedest to make it work.”
Katherine waited for the group to settle down, taking a seat on the counter, even as Anya sent a death glare her way. There’d been greeting, introducing Jess and Trixie to everyone, and an hour of nothing had gone by as Xander left to get Giles.
“I think I might know what we’re fighting,” the blonde announced, finally receiving everyone’s attention as she moved to stand in front of the table, her back to the door.
“I bet they’re shamans.” Buffy said, remembering Trixie’s stories about robed figures, and thinking back on her own experience four years ago.
“They’re not shamans, B.” Faith replied without taking a look in the other slayer’s direction.
“Before we went to France, I didn’t know. But then when Trixie was attacked by a man in a robe-“
“Shamans!” Buffy jumped in.
“They’renot shamans, Buffy.” Dawn said this time, not looking at her sister or the slayer beside her. She was still annoyed at Faith’s presence. No trip to France could make her forget how much she hated the other brunette.
“-With no eyes.” Katherine continued as if they hadn’t spoken. “I automatically realized just what we’re dealing with here.”
Behind her, Giles and Xander entered the shop, the bell attached to the door ringing. Everyone looked at them as Giles said, “I believe we may be fighting the First Evil.”
There was a silence after as everyone digested the news of the big evil of the year having a name. Then Katherine turned to the watcher and said, “I was going to say that!”
“Katherine,” Giles said shortly, noticing the demi-god.
“The First Evil?” Trixie spoke up, reminding them what the real topic up for discussion was.
“I kicked its butt four years ago.” Buffy paused, looking at Giles from her seat next to Spike, their hands entwined. She could see him trying to notice and pushed it out of her mind. “Are there shamans in a cave again?”
What is it with you and shamans? Spike only received a glare in response.
“No there aren’t. It’s not the same, Buffy.”
Cordelia spoke up then. “Tracy was killed a week ago. Trixie was almost killed three days ago. The First isn’t only trying to end the world; it’s trying to kill us.”
The blonde stood on what looked like a stage. She was surrounded by a dozen eyeless robed figures, her minions. Her green eyes scanned them impatiently as she tapped her petite feet on the surface beneath her. An illusion all too real.
“This…is it.” Her voice sounded exactly like Buffy’s. “I don’t want anyone to survive. Go for the weakest. That doesn’t men the youngest, or the oldest. Not Katherine or Dawn. Go for the missing ones and the unsure ones. They are the ones too unstable to stick for long. They lose their nerves, they lose their lives. And if I lose, you will all know my wrath.”
The female became a taller blonde. Her hair lengthened, becoming lighter, her eyes changing from green to a deep blue. Her clothes became the drab rags of a time nearly eight centuries ago. She smiled, not at all of the good nature of the soul that once inhabited the form. No, it was a sinister and malicious smile.
“Won’t Kat be happy to see me?”
“So…you’re Stacy Lynn?”
The vampire turned from pounding the punching bag in Buffy’s training room to see Dawn standing in the doorway. “Last I checked, yeah.” She answered. “So…you’re the slayer’s sister.”
“I have a name. It’s Dawn.” She stated.
“That’s nice, but I didn’t actually ask.” Stacy Lynn sized Dawn up. “You fight, right, Dawn?”
“Yeah.” Dawn said, almost glaring at Stacy Lynn. It might’ve been the vampire’s total disregard for her name.
“Feel like having a go?”
“Okay.” Dawn took off her shoes and sweater before standing across from the older female. Stacy Lynn waited as she stretched a bit. “Read-“
Stacy Lynn attacked, moving to punch an in the face. Dawn ducked and rolled. Stacy Lynn nodded at that, impressed by the teenager. “Good move.”
“Thanks.” Dawn ducked a fist, using the vampire’s momentum to flip her and watched her land on her feet, entirely cat-like. “Who trained you?” she asked, figuring every vampire didn’t craw out of the grave with an extensive knowledge of the martial arts.
“Katherine and Spike.” Stacy Lynn took a kick to the stomach and blocked an uppercut punch. “She and Spike were inseparable when I was first turned. The few times I saw them together, Kat and Darla were like sisters.”
Dawn stepped out of her fighting stance. “What were they like back then?”
“In the twenties and thirties, nothing could get between them for long. Not even Dru.” Stacy Lynn tossed a lazy punch and Dawn ducked, spinning to kick at her. She caught her leg and shoved her back.
Dawn regained her balance. “Sounds like they were really close.”
“They were. In forty-six, I noticed that Katherine was acting weirdly around Spike. Found out she was in love with him.”
“It’s been fifty-eight years.” She lashed out with a punch.
“Not that long to us, Dawn.” Stacy Lynn caught her wrist and swung her around, watching her stumble back from dizziness. “I kept it to myself, though. No good would have come of me blabbing. Up until a year or so ago, Spike would choose Dru over anyone else, including me.”
“So Spike doesn’t know?” Dawn blocked an uppercut punch.
“By now, he has to. He’d be an idiot not to have. And I’m sure Katherine hasn’t refrained from telling him in this past year.” Stacy Lynn waved Dawn off, not having the heart for a match anymore. She sat down on the mats. “I always thought that no one deserved Spike more than Kat. And then-“
“Then you met Buffy?” Dawn guessed, taking a seat across from Stacy Lynn.
“Something to that extent. I mean, Spike has found something truly great with Buffy…but Katherine and Spike have a spark. And I’m sorry to say it, but a spark like that doesn’t just go away. A spark like that will still be there centuries from now, a passion that will ignite every so often. It’ll dim for a while, but never be gone.”
Buffy backed away from the door to the training room, having been seconds away from calling Dawn so that they could go home from the night. This knot was twisting in her gut from Stacy Lynn’s words, and just like the passion that Stacy Lynn claimed Spike and Katherine would always have, it wouldn’t go away.
“When Giles said, ‘First Evil,’ he meant…?” Fred trailed off.
“The ultimate evil. Nothing came before.” Wesley answered.
“Does that mean there’s a First Good or somethin’ like that? Y’know, so we can call on it to kick the First Evil’s butt?” She was nervous. And she had every right to be so. When things were the first, they were the original. The best. “Pure” in that sense. The first Evil had to be the epitome.
“I think the guides and their warriors are all we’ll get.” Wesley replied.
Katherine watched Buffy vanish through the door, looking as if someone had stolen her best friend and then neared Fred and Wesley. “Hey, love birds. What’s the topic?”
“The First.” Fred said as Cordelia and Angel joined them at the table.
“Oh. It can only take the form of a dead person. So, when you see anyone you knew, you should know it’s not really them.”
“Wait…dead people?” Cordelia jumped in.
“Like a restriction. That means you have to watch out for Stace, Angel, Spike and Buffy too.” Katherine answered.
“Okay, that’s too ‘Sixth Sense’ for me.” Cordelia muttered.
“That’s some information you kept to yourself, Kat.” Angel commented.
“Yeah, well…” Katherine suggested.
Giles came out of what he’d still like to call his office as Spike entered the shop, pulling Buffy behind him, Stacy Lynn and Dawn also entering from the training room.
“Where is everyone else?” the watcher asked, only to receive shrugs from the ones present.
Trixie closed the book in front of her and drummed on it as Gunn and Jess came inside with pizza. She’d read it, trying to understand more about this world she’d thrown herself into, this world of the supernatural.
“We’ve got food,” the French brunette announced as Gunn placed the boxes on the table. Right behind them were Willow and Tara, both holding the drinks and placing them on the table.
Just then, Anya, Xander, and Jonathan came from the basement, the men carrying a box each. Jonathan was struggling as he came up last, Anya first as she hummed happily.
“I’d have done it myself, but I’m pregnant. Pregnancy is a valid excuse.” Anya paused. “Actually, I’d have you do it either way.”
Margaret and Faith came up the stairs, each carrying another box. “You’re just lazy,” Margaret commented.
“Maybe. But still-pregnant.”
“Well, it’s everyone.” Giles sighed as no one paid him any mind. “And, apparently, I’m talking to myself.”
Xander dropped the box, ignoring Anya’s noise of indignation. It was followed by everyone trying to get a box of pizza to themselves. Yelling and screaming then ensued, mostly about who had the bigger slices. Only a few predictable ones stayed removed from the battle; Angel, Giles and Anya. Wesley had managed to get a slice before the war began and ate his quietly, an air of disbelief floating around him as he watched the sudden childishness.
“Everyone settle down!” Giles exclaimed. “We have less than two months until the end of the world; for all we know, less than two hours!”
Satisfied that even Fred and Xander paused mid-chew to listen to him, he continued. “I managed to borrow-“
“He means nick.” Spike cut in from his seat on the stairs, Buffy beside him. She nudged him slightly.
“Borrow.” Giles continued, emphasizing the fact that he didn’t, under any circumstances, steal them. He had originally planned on returning them later…
Katherine looked ready to comment and Giles beat her to it. “Don’t even think of it.” Addressing the group, he said, “I managed to…get…a few texts from the Council before leaving. According to them, the First is-“
“Not corporeal. Only able to take the form of a dead person…yeah, some of us already know.” Katherine smiled at him innocently. It was kind of her way of getting him back for messing up her announcement the other day. Childish, but so very worth it.
Giles decided to ignore Katherine. “I, from what Katherine and Dawn told me, and from the book that Cordelia brought, have made a few assumptions as to how it is paired off. First off, there are three seers, of three kinds, if that makes sense. Cordelia is a seer of the Powers That Be, seeing people in need of help for Angel to save. Stacia sees everything that is of importance to her, a pure seer, if you will. I’m assuming that you are to guide Gunn. Margaret, from what Katherine has said, sees only the upcoming evils. I figured that your charge is not present.”
“So, basically, we’re just paired off with the perfect match?” Trixie asked incredulously.
“Essentially.” Giles responded. “Now, there are two agents for the Powers That Be. That would be Spike and Katherine. As far as I can tell, Katherine is Trixie’s guide, and I am sure that Spike and Buffy have already chosen each other. There are two witches-Willow and Tara. Willow, I believe that you will be a guide to…Xander…and Tara to Faith. Lastly, Dawn and another guide. It’s been established that Dawn is to guide Jess, leaving an unknown pairing.”
“So, do we know where those three are?” Dawn asked.
“The guide…he’s in Sunnydale. Somewhere.” Katherine started.
“A warrior is in New Hampshire, another in a hell dimension, if Tara’s locator spells are accurate.” Wesley finished.
“Which they completely are.” Willow didn’t hesitate to say. Tara smiled at her and she smiled back.
“Um, which one?” Katherine asked.
“Which one what?” Fred looked up.
“Which one is in a hell dimension?”
“Margaret’s,” she answered, looking down at her notes once more.
“What dimension?” Margaret asked.
“Quortoth.” Fred replied.
“First Pylea, now Quortoth. I swear they hate me.” Katherine muttered.
“Is Quortoth like Pylea?” Fred asked.
“No.” The demi-god looked up at her. “It’s worse.”
“Is this the dream thingy again?” Cordelia asked, looking around the complete void she found herself in almost nightly.
“Would think so.” Spike said, watching as everyone else appeared.
“When they said everyone, I didn’t think they actually meant it,” Tracy said as she noticed Buffy, Angel, Gunn and other warriors.
“You’re Tracy?” Buffy asked upon sighting the woman.
“One and only.” She responded. “Jessica, and Zhen. Nice of you to join us,” she smiled amiably, despite the weirdness of the entire situation.
“Um, nice to be here?” Trixie asked in a questioning voice.
Jess gave Tracy a weird look, not knowing how to feel about the other woman. “Right. Thanks.”
Tracy decided it best to keep up her cheerful air and therefore ignored the animosity that seemed to smother the French newcomer. She turned to the others. “I called you here because of another mission-for Willow.”
“No offense…” Jess started and Tracy mentally prepared herself to be offended anyway. “But why can’t you go?”
“None taken, Jessica.” Tracy lied though she barely raised an eyebrow, detecting attitude from Jess. “I would get my own warrior, but I seem to have caught a case of chronic deadness.”
She gave away no emotion in her voice as she uttered the words, but she had obviously intended to seem just a bit sarcastic, all the while making Jess uneasy for asking, and, by extension, Dawn.
Spike couldn’t help it and let out a bit of a snicker. Both Katherine and Buffy glared at him. He let out a sigh and rolled his eyes.
“Sorry,” Jess winced, taken down a peg or two.
“It’s a hindrance, but I’ve been okay with it for the past few days. I’m over it for the most part.” Tracy turned her attention to Willow. “Don’t get personal, Willow; take Alexander.”
Author’s Note: I know. Xander?! You know, there’s only six more chapters to go, actually. Of course, there’s a sequel, but not the point.