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Chapter 23
Somewhere in Las Vegas
Xander Harris, he was trying the name out, watched as the two wiccans set up candles in a circle. He was weary about the spell they were planning on doing. Mostly because, frankly, all this scared him. The first spell, a mind renewal one, had been bad enough. He had passed out from it when all his memories returned. His brain couldn’t handle the overload. And now, here they were, trying to locate any other reincarnated Sunnydale buddies.
And what then? Were they supposed to get together and throw fireworks and get drunk in reunion? He had a generally good life as David and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to be Alexander again.
“We’re ready,” Heather, no Willow, he reminded himself, announced.
Xander nodded.
The witches sat in the circle of the mystic glow, holding hands. They called upon the elements and goddess. A map of the United States lay between them. Xander wanted to ask about what if someone was in another country, but he knew it would be bad to interrupt.
Willow and Tara began to chant.
“We call upon the ones we knew
Another night, another day
Come what will, come what may
Draw us to the ones we knew
Bind us for our current day”
Tara let go of Willow’s hands and grabbed a bag of some kind of gold dust. She sprinkled a hand-full over the map. Most of the particles disappeared as soon as they hit the paper. A couple, however, remained. A few dots had collected in California. Xander squinted down. 3 were in Nevada. Hey, is that us? he wondered.
He suddenly noticed one spec that was on the carpet instead of the map. He bet that one belonged to someone over seas.
A wind from nowhere began to blow around the witches. Xander stepped backwards. Was this supposed to happen? When they had described the process to him this hadn’t been mentioned.
The gust of air slowed and then stopped completely. Willow looking around. A giant grin spread across her face.
“Buffy!?” Willow asked in amazement.
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Buffy rested her head on her hand. This wasn’t much of a business meeting without Dawn. The key was the one who knew all about the upcoming battle. Instead of making a plan they were listening to Cordy talk about her new and improved life.
“He said I was great in the detergent commercial. And then there was the offer for the soap opera. I could have been this really classy girl who somehow ended up with two husbands. But then I started to have my visions and had to decline. I’m sure that I’ll be able to get an acting job when this is all over. Cuz this war’ll end all the icky demons, right?”
Buffy raised her head. “Uh, I think Ask Dawn when she gets here.”
“How does she know so much? I work for the powers too and don’t know all the stuff she does,” Cordelia complained.
“She’s the key, Cordy,” Buffy replied.
“That gives her some extra advantages then, huh?”
Buffy frowned. “Uh . . . yeah .”
Cordelia may have outgrown her cheer-leader attitude, but she was still tiresome. Truth was, Cordelia was only talking away because they weren’t doing anything constructive. Everyone had sort of broken up into different parts of the store. Buffy, Cordy, and Angel were at the table. Wesley was browsing through the library. Gunn was in the training room checking out the weapons, and Fred had tagged along. No one knew quite what else to do without Dawn.
Angel shifted in his seat. “So, Buffy, when do you open to customers?”
“Nine in the morning tomorrow,” she answered. “I hope.”
“That’s good.”
There was a pause where no one spoke. It ended quickly with Cordelia starting up again. “Have you thought of lightening your hair, Buffy? It was lighter before. I think . . .”
A gasp came from the slayer. Abruptly, she stood up. She looked around, searchingly.
“Buffy?” Angel asked, concerned.
“Willow,” she whispered.
“Willow?” Cordelia echoed with confusion.
“Shhh,” Buffy hissed. “I can’t hear what she’s saying.”
Cordy turned toward the vamp next to her. “Was her new body dropped on its head at birth? She’s listening to invisible people.”
“Please, Cord, be quiet,” Angel urged. He put his total attention on Buffy with interest.
“Fine, shutting up now,” Cordy said. She too focused on Buffy.
|} - - -> <- - - {|
“What is going on?” Xander asked.
Willow beamed at her mate and best friend. “I made contact with Buffy!” she exclaimed.
“What! Wasn’t this only supposed to be a location spell?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
Tara gazed over at Xander. “Sometimes the forces of magic will grant us with more than we ask. That is, if we are worthy of it.”
“Ah, I see.” Xander motioned around the room. “So the tornado like wind was a good thing.”
“R-Right.”
The chatter stopped when they noticed that Willow was preoccupied. She was in the middle of a conversation. To the other occupants of the room it appeared to be one-sided, but in reality the red-head was indeed speaking across miles to the slayer.
“Willow, is that really you?” Buffy asked.
“Yeah, it’s me, your big gun,” the witch answered.
Crying could be heard through the link. Tears formed in Willow’s eyes as well. When she had been only Heather, without her past memories, she hadn’t know what she was missing. Now she did. Buffy was so important to her and she wanted the slayer back in her life.
“Where are you?” Buffy inquired.
“Las Vegas.”
“Vegas. Do any gambling?”
Willow laughed. “No, but I’ve met some people here.” She looked up at Tara and Xander. “Buffy, Tara and Xander are with me.”
There was a stretch of silence. Finally, Buffy choked, “Xander?”
“Uh huh. He’s standing right in front of me.”
“Oh my God.” The slayer’s voice was full of emotion. “I love you guys so much.”
Willow addressed Xander. “She says she loves us.”
Xander wanted to reciprocate those words. He really did. But something in him couldn’t. This other life. This Sunnydale, the hellmouth, seemed like a distant nightmare that had occurred in his dreams.
Willow answered for him. “We love you too, Buffy. How are you?”
“Oh, you know us slayers, all with the fighting and apocalypses.” She let out a humorless laugh. “Besides that, I’m great.”
A frown marred Willow’s face. “Apocalypse?”
Xander stiffened. He didn’t feel comfortable with the mention of the end of the world.
“Yeah, but supposedly this will be the last one. At lease, that’s what Dawn says.”
“Dawnie,” Willow said softly.
“Uh huh. She’s all with the keyness and powers now. She’s come to help us win the final battle.”
“Buffy, do you need us there?”
A gasp was heard. “Spike!?”
“Spike? Buffy, what is going on?” Willow could feel the magic waning. “I think the connection’s fading.”
“Oh my God! Are you sure it was Glory?”
“Buffy!” Willow called in desperation. It was no use, the bond had disintegrated.
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“Yeah, but supposedly this will be the last one. At lease, that’s what Dawn says,” Buffy explained.
She was sitting down again, chatting away. Angel and Cordelia were watching, trying to figure out what was going on. Occasionally, one would lean over to whisper something to the other.
Buffy couldn’t believe it. She was actually talking to Willow. She had been told that her friends would come back to her, but it hadn’t felt real. Not until now. Willow was alive and well. And according to the witch, so was Xander.
“Dawnie,” Willow sent.
A smile formed on Buffy’s lips. She proudly said, “Uh huh. She’s all with the keyness and powers now. She’s come to help us win the final battle.”
“Buffy, do you need us there?”
The slayer opened her mouth to respond, but that was when the cellar door burst open. Spike and Dawn came rushing in. A sword was in Spike’s grasp, which made sense since they came from the sewers. Who knew what lurked down there.
The grave expression Spike wore didn’t settle well in her stomach. “Spike!?”
He came near, as well as her sister.
“Glory. She’s back, Buffy.”
Willow said something, but Buffy didn’t catch it. She was still recovering from the hit Spike’s words had caused. She blinked, struggling to make her brain work again.
“Oh my God! Are you sure it was Glory?” she managed to get out.
“I didn’t see ‘er, but Dawn here did.”
Dawn nodded. “It was her, Buffy, wanting to suck my brain and everything. She knows I’m was the key, but she isn‘t after my power. She wants me dead because I‘m your guide in saving the world.”
This was too much. They had enough to handle without this. Unless . . . Glory was connected to this final battle. Maybe she was the one who would start it.
“Willow!” Buffy called.
Silence was her reply.
“Will?”
“Luv, why are you callin Red?” Spike questioned.
“I was talking to her. She contacted me through a spell.”
Spike came over to her. He pulled her close. “She’ll contact you again,” he assured her.
Buffy fell against her chest. She shut her eyes, struggling to deal with the loss of Willow and the return of Glory.
|} - - -> <- - - {|
Willow sat there, unmoving. She had tried to regain contact, but it was unsuccessful. She had used up too much energy the first time.
“Honey, it’ll be okay,” Tara guaranteed her.
Willow nodded. She picked herself up off the floor. She looked at Tara and then Xander. “We have to go to Sunnydale.”
“Sure, sweetie.” Tara ran a hand through her lover’s hair.
“Wait a second,” Xander protested. “Just like that? We rush off to SunnyD because of our previous life?”
Surprised, Willow said, “Xander, this is Buffy.”
“Yeah, and I remember her staking vamps and killing demons. Look, I have a nice job here as a carpenter. I got a family.”
“What are you saying, Xan?”
He gestured to Willow. “See, that’s just it, I’m ‘not’ Xander Harris anymore. My name is David.”
Anger filled Willow. “So, you’re just going to abandon our best friend!?” Her voice expressed how incredulous she thought that was.
He was silent for a moment. Then he replied calmly, “I don’t even know this Buffy Summers. She doesn’t seem real to me.”
“How can you say that!? Remember the time we all had the Christmas party? You tried to teach us the Snoopy dance and I . . .”
“Leave.”
Tears formed in her eyes. “Xander?”
“Please, leave.”
She nodded. “Bye, Xander. I hope you have a good life.”
Tara gave her a sympathetic look. She took the red-head’s hand and they both exited the apartment together.
|} - - -> <- - - {|
Somewhere in England
“Sorry, uh . . . Christina?” Clark said.
The black-haired woman nodded in confirmation.
“Yes. Sorry, but I cannot take your words as fact. You must understand.”
“Yes, yes I do.”
“We at the council have been taught to be cautious of trickery.”
If only he had questioned the council themselves more. They had dealt with many devious matters that he was not aware of.
Christina’s eyes lit up. “What if there was a way to prove myself? Would you be willing to let me try?”
“It depends on your method,” he answered.
“I can show you that I’m sent by the powers. Please, give me your hand,” she indicated.
Hesitantly, he let her take his hand. Her touch was gentle and light. Warmth flooded into his palm.
“Your name is Alden Gary Clark. You were born in London. You’re forty-two years old. You’ve never been married, but you were once in love.” Christina concentrated, her eyebrows drawing together. “She died. I- I’m sorry.” And she was, he could feel it in her tone.
She took a deep breath. “You want to believe me, but you are afraid. If I speak the truth then this war is really coming, the council is lying, Buffy Summers has returned, and . . . “ She met his eyes. “Your suspicions of being Rupert Giles are correct.”
He snatched his hand away. “Oh, dear Lord.”
|} - - -> <- - - {|
They agreed to meet again the next day. Buffy just couldn’t handle all this and needed time to recuperate. At least, that is what Spike said. Buffy had insisted on discussing a course of action, but had been shot down. She was clearly not dealing well. Everyone could see it since she was even shaking. Spike was determined to take her home, which to her dismay, everyone agreed on.
Spike dragged Buffy to their bedroom against her protest. He tried to sit her on the bed, but she refused.
“This is ridiculous! We need to be making up a plan, not here . . . doing other things,” she declared.
“I didn’t bring you here to shag, luv. You need to calm down. Clear your head,” he explained.
She glared. “I am clear-headed! I’m the slayer, I have to be.”
Spike went to stand in front of her. He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to gaze straight at him. “Buffy, a slayer is still a person. They’re allowed to break down and cry. They’re allowed to be scared.”
She violently shook her head. “No. No, Spike. I can’t! This isn’t about me, this is about the whole world!”
“And you can’t take on the bloody world till ya take care of yourself. Buffy, luv, this is how you ended up in that coma before. Admit you aren’t alone. We’re all here to help. We’re all afraid, but we’ll get through it together, the whole lot of us. And, cor, I know I’ll regret sayin this, Peaches and his lil band included.”
Buffy began to hit his chest. “You don’t know anything about being the slayer!”
He watched her with loving eyes, letting her beat on him. “There, luv, let it all out.”
After a while, her fists lost their impact. Her hits slowed and finally they stopped. A sob escaped her, being the catalyst of her totally letting go. She collapsed in his arms, becoming a regular girl for that brief time. He was allowing her to be weak and dependent in their seclusion. It wouldn’t last, they both knew, but hopefully it would give her breing a break before going into over drive.
“It’s gonna be all right. I gotcha, pet,” he soothed.
She held onto him. “I don’t know if I can do this again. It’s Glory. I died from Glory.”
He tightened his embrace. “You’re not gonna die. We’ve fought her before, we know we’re up against.” His words were trying to assure himself as much as her.
“I’m not entirely immortal. I talked to Dawn the other day. I will heal from fatal wounds and illnesses may not be as severe. But, Spike, I’m not invincible. There are still ways to kill me, as well as there are for you.”
“I know I’m selfish, Spike, but I don’t want to sacrifice myself again.” Her watery eyes met his. “I want to stay here, with you. I don’t want to live forever, even if I could. But I want a little while. I want to be happy, live, and love. Just for a little while.”
Spike swallowed. A distant conversation with Fredrick filled his mind.
‘They deserve to find love, start a family, and have children. They should be able to watch their kiddies grow big and strong.’
‘Spike, these are warriors. Their only purpose is to eliminate demons so the human race isn’t wiped out.’
‘I swear that the next slayer will have a chance to do it. I’m going to see that she has the proper opportunity to find a mate and have youngins of her own.’
Spike glanced down at the fragile creature that had buried her face in his chest. This was wrong. She couldn’t fully live with him, a dead thing. His heart twisted in a thousand nots. He couldn’t give her babies. He couldn’t walk with her in the light. And the worst part was that he was an entity that demanded eternity. It was in his nature to struggle for existence.
And she didn’t want forever. Which in all honesty made sense. People get tired of going from day to day and long for more. A release. It was a natural human response. If he kept her chained to him she’d never get that heaven he knew she longed for.
At that moment a truth was born. Someday he would have to let her go. When this was all over and a peace fell over the land . . . he would have to set her free. Into the sun.
Until then . . . he would hold her and have his little while.
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Oh my God, 12 freaking pages! Usually, I only have 7 for a chapter. AHHH!
Okay, yeah this chapter was full of the angst. You guys are probably not too happy about the Xander and Spike issues. But, just remember that I am not much of a sad ending type of gal, so it will probably have a good ending. *wink*
So, I hope you guys are ready for the big climax chapters coming up. It’s gonna be pretty intense. Let’s just say that season 7 has given me some ideas. Hint= It involves Glory and Spike. And, no, not like that! Dirty minds! *L* Anyways, hope you are enjoying and want more.