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Here you are, presents all around.
Buffy felt absolutely horrible. Everything hurt. She felt like she’d just gone ten rounds with a world champion martial artist. Or maybe Chuck Norris in his heyday. Except she was pretty sure could kick his ass without breaking a sweat. Her mouth was filled with cotton. She opened her eyes and immediately felt her stomach roll. She took a deep, calming breath and tried again. The rolling wasn’t as bad, but her stomach still felt really unhappy.

“You OK?” a concerned voice asked. Buffy’s eyes snapped to the face hovering over her, and immediately closed when she realized how foolish that had been. A cold cloth was laid on her brow, and a cup pressed to her lips. She could smell the cool water and gratefully took a sip. When she felt up to it, Buffy cracked one eye open.

A young girl, no more than sixteen, hovered anxiously over her. She had long brown hair and blue eyes that reminded her of Spike and Will. She was dressed in the same plain blue dress as Buffy.

“Don’t try to sit up,” the girl cautioned. “They gave you a pretty strong hallucinogen, and from what I’ve seen, the day after is pretty shitty.” Buffy gratefully accepted another sip of water, feeling her clenching stomach calm down a bit.

“I’m Buffy,” she managed, giving the girl a weak smile.

“Hi. I’m Dawn. We’re roommates.” Buffy raised her head as far as she dared, taking in her surrounding. She was in a small room that barely had enough space for a door way and the bunk beds in it. There were four beds in all, neatly made. Large brown eyes looked down from the top bunk opposite Buffy.

“That’s Amy. She doesn’t really speak.” There was a deep sadness lacing the young girl’s words. “The other bed’s Christa’s, but she’s not here right now. I’ll get you more water.”

Dawn rose, and Buffy got her first good look at the teen. She was pregnant. Judging by the size of her waist, about five or six months. Buffy’s wide eyes traveled up to Dawn’s sad ones. She was too young to have a look like that.

“Five and a half,” the girl said, sitting carefully on a corner of Buffy’s bed, fresh water in hand. “It’s why I’m here. My boyfriend…well, he ran. And my parents didn’t agree with my decision to keep her. So they…shipped me off. Somewhere none of their friends would see.” Buffy wanted to take the girl in her arms, to hug her and chase the demons of the world away from her. Buffy ran a soothing hand up the girl’s arm, her eyes commiserating. The girl laughed and brushed away a tear.

“I tried to get an abortion, but I couldn’t. I just…it wasn’t really my choice, you know? It was all my parents, and I…I’m rambling. Sorry.”

“It’s OK. Really,” Buffy said earnestly. It was obvious the girl was in desperate need of a friend right now, and judging by her own welcome, there were few to spare. “Do you know what day it is?”

“They don’t want us to know that,” Dawn said apologetically. “They don’t let us have any contact with the outside world. This place is like a bubble. I only know time because of her.” Dawn caressed her distended belly with a mother’s touch. Buffy gingerly sat up, ignoring the way the room spun and her stomach rolled. Memories that she’d forced into the back of her mind tried to fight there way forward, but she repressed them.

“Whatever you thought you saw…it’s not true. They give you drugs and make you see things to try and brainwash you or something. I just—just thought you should know. People get a little messed up in here.”

“Did they do that to you?” Buffy asked, frowning at the child growing in Dawn’s womb.

“Oh, no! Even they know that would harm the baby. And they wouldn’t want that they…” Buffy heard the catch in Dawn’s voice and saw new tears in her eyes. “They’ve promised her to…to someone else.”

In that moment, Buffy wanted nothing more to storm out and kill every single person she could find. Dawn’s pain did what her own ordeal had not: it made her mad, and Buffy welcomed the hot rage that flowed through her. She would use it, use it to battle with everything she had not to let these people get to her. Starting with letting the rage overcome the fear and panic the dark room had left her with. She needed to be strong; there would be time after for her to break down and heal. Because Spike and Will were coming.

“They can’t do that. It’s not right. I won’t let it happen!” Dawn gave her a startled look, and then laughed. It wasn’t quite genuine, but it held a hint of true amusement.

“You don’t really have much of a choice. I don’t either. They have guns. And you’ve experienced some of their…tactics. They torture people, but they don’t call it that. Here, it’s saving. A lot of the people here, they’re too shell-shocked to do anything. A lot of them are zombies. Just keep your head down, and try to avoid notice. It’ll be better for you that way.” Dawn spoke with frightened earnestness, which chilled Buffy to the bone.

“What…what IS here?” Buffy asked. Dawn sighed and settled on Buffy’s bed again, contemplating her answer.

“It’s pretty much a deprogramming center. Or, a Reprogramming center. They’re all crazy. That one guy, Caleb, keeps the ‘believers’ in his thrall. They call themselves the ‘shepherds.’ They’re supposed to bring all of us nonbelievers who have strayed from the path of righteousness back to the Word and the fold.” She blushed under Buffy’s incredulous, assessing gaze. “I’ve been her for a few months. Trust me, you’ll be able to recite half the Bible in under a week, much less the shit they feed you to get you to covert and see the errors of your former path.”

“Sounds like fun,” Buffy said with a humorless smile.

“Oh, it gets better. They think physical labor is the path to redemption. We toil under the sun to atone for our sins, as God directed. Idle hands are the Devil’s playground; we work the land to the service and glory of God.”

“Do they ever run out of clichés?” Buffy asked dryly. She got a giggle from Dawn, which was worth the effort.

“Nope. They love them. Wait until you meet your own personal shepherd, though. She’s a treat. She’s got this huge God-complex; she acts all pure a virtuous, but she’s a hell-bitch underneath it all. So what are you here for?”

“Well. If I had to hazard a guess, it’s because of my boyfriends.”

“You’re a player?” Dawn said with a sly grin. Buffy laughed, a sound that was decidedly out of place in the barren, palin room.

“Well, I did land the hottest twins in town, so I guess you could say that.” Buffy watched as Dawn’s face changed from confused to enlightened, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping.

“T-t-twins?” Buffy nodded smugly, the images of two pairs of naughty eyes flashing in front of her. “Wow. I think you’re going to need a lot of shepherding.” Buffy threw her head back an laughed. She was glad Dawn had managed to keep a sense of humor; they both might need it before help arrived.

The door opened violently, crashing into one of the beds. Dawn jumped up, her head bowed and hands folded meekly in front of her, all signs of the surviving, witty girl gone. A blonde woman, dressed in a severe black dress and one hell of a bad perm walked in. She smiled at Dawn, and Buffy wondered how someone could make an expression of joy and happiness look so malicious.

“Speak of the Devil,” Buffy murmured for Dawn’s ears alone. She saw a smile tug at the girl’s lips.

“Elizabeth. I’m glad to see you up. I’m Glory. Remember that God is glorious and all Glory is God’s alone!” For the first time, Buffy understood what hell actually was.

***

Buffy and Glory took an immediate, blinding, extremely un-Christianly hatred to one another. Actually, Buffy was pretty sure she hated the badly permed woman before they had actually met.

Yeah, predestination can be a bitch, Buffy thought to herself. Right now, she was sitting in what amounted to Sunday school, with Glorificus the Pontificus as her Sunday School teacher. Whoa, pontificate had come out of left field. Buffy scrunched her eyes, trying to figure out how the hell she’d pulled that word out of thin air, because while she didn’t really know what it meant…she thought she was actually using it in a weirdly correct way. The image of Will berating someone on the phone sprang to mind. Right, THAT’s where she’d heard it. The thought of Will, and subsequently Spike, made her eyes water and her chest ache. She missed them. So much.

“Elizabeth, since you can’t be bothered to listen to the Word in small group, I’d like you to give up tonight’s dinner as penance. Spend the hour thinking upon your obligations to God in this life, and the wrongs you must atone for.” Buffy glared at the smirking blonde woman. Glory had better watch out, because Buffy was gonna have herself one good day, and when she did…

***

Buffy lay rigidly on her bed, fighting back the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. They’d been locked in their room and the lights turned off from the outside…and all of it reminded Buffy a little too much of the room she’d spent unnumbered days in.

“Buffy?” a voice whispered out of the darkness. Buffy tensed, wondering if this was another one of her elaborate hallucinations. She felt a presence at her side and saw Dawn’s outline crouched over her bed. A small packet was nestled to her chest. “I saved this for you; I get extra rations because of the baby, so I figured I’d help you out.”

A wave of gratitude swept through Buffy at Dawn’s thoughtfulness. She grabbed the girl and gave her a giant bear hug before she could escape back to her cot.

“Thank you.” The words were for more than just the food, and Dawn knew it. Sniffling, the girl nodded and headed back to her bunk, feeling that for the first time in many months, she’d actually found a friend.

***

The next morning was quite possibly one of the worst of Buffy’s life. Nothing, not even her most rigorous martial arts training, had prepared her for this. Buffy pushed and tugged and sweated her heart out under the blazing sun trying to get the fucking plough to move. Wasn’t this the job of some huge, stinky animal? Gritting her teeth, and ignoring the annoyingly pleased expression on Glory’s face, Buffy tried to get the fucking piece of shit to move.

Everyone of the compound’s ‘students,’ which here translated into prisoners, were out in the fields, planting, ploughing, gardening, washing clothes, or doing something equivalently mundane and horrid. Buffy spied darn hanging sheets out to dry with several other pregnant women. The ‘shepherds,’ aka the psychotic kidnappers and prison guards, pitched in as well, though Buffy thought it was mostly and excuse to keep an eye on the people in blue.

According to the ever-smiling Glory, she could look forward to this hard forced labor for the duration of her stay. A sudden twinge in her lower stomach made Buffy groan again.

On top of all this…she had to deal with her freakin’ period too?

When the bell rang, signaling the preparatory hour before chapel, Buffy was almost grateful to go and listen the Caleb the lunatic preacher. She flopped down on the bed and rubbed her aching stomach; the pain had only grown worse.

“I don’t suppose these people believe in Midol,” Buffy said miserably. Dawn laughed softly.

“Nope. But they do believe you’re impure, and have to atone for Eve’s original sin. They probably make you do a dozen Hail Marys or something,” she answered.

“They want me to do a football pass?” Buffy asked incredulously. Seeing Dawn doubled up with laughter, a rare sight inside these walls, made everything OK. They just need to keep the faith until help arrived. Because it would arrive. It was the only thing Buffy was sure of anymore.

A/N: Just a couple more chapters until the Rescue begins. Just givin' you something to look forward to! I'm trying to keep you fed until after the 25th, when I'm finally going to have time to start working on my stories again. Let me tell you, finals suck. Luckily, I only have one more semester of them...





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