|
Destiny
Author: Shona Russell
Summary: at the start of Season 6, a sort of Bargaining gone wrong. One character discovers his true
destiny, at a huge cost to the others.
Distribution: If you want it, email
me!
Disclaimer: I own nothing here - all
characters and locations belong to the wonderful Joss Whedon and Mutant
Enemy, I'm merely playing in a pretty big sand box.
Author's note: Huge thanks to Gil for her editing and suggestions and to Matt for causing me to hit my head off the wall at the obvious way past the block, and to Sam for reading this over and encouraging me to step back and really think about where it's going.
|
|
Monday
So that's it. Story over.
With the Slayer dead, there's no point going on anymore.
Of all the stupid things I've seen that girl do this one definitely tops the list. To die like that, to take such a leap of faith (pun most definitely intended), to believe that her death would make a difference.
Yeah, so Dawnie is alive and well, but let’s be honest about it, for how long? Buffy was the one thing that stood between the big bads out there and us. With her gone we basically haven't got a snowball's chance in hell of surviving the year!
Why the hell did she do it? Surely we need the Slayer more than we need Dawn?!
Stop it! Just stop thinking like that, Xander, it doesn't help anyone. Buffy did what she did for a reason. We have to go on without her now. And we can do it. We just need to stick together...
And that's pretty much how every day begins now. My best friend died a couple of months back. I won't go into details but someone was trying to kill her little sister and Buffy stepped up to the plate and took the fall... Okay, so I'm mixing metaphors there, I've never been that great with words to be honest.
In fact, the only reason I'm doing this at all is on the advice of a friend - Giles. He's a pretty cool guy for being old and English and all... He's kinda taken us all under his wing for the past few years now. When he first came to town it was to train Buffy, she was destined to be the Slayer, to kill vampires and demons. Giles was meant to be her Watcher (the guy assigned to the Slayer to help them do their job better). Guess he didn't expect to get the rest of us thrown into the mix really. Still ... he stuck by us even when Buffy did her disappearing act a few years back and he even stayed when he got fired by the Council.
I guess he isn't going anywhere now although he keeps saying he plans to.
What with his Slayer gone and all...
God! Just when I think I'm getting a handle on things something comes along to remind me that everything's different now! Someone has to keep us together now and I don't know who that's gonna be. G-Man keeps saying that there's no point him being in Sunnydale any more and that he's gonna head back "across the pond".
Will's pretty much lost now. She told me that she keeps expecting to wake up and find Buffy alive - she's living in Buffy's house right now, along with Tara, Dawn and that damn sex-bot Spike had built. I guess it's no wonder that she thinks Buffy's still around, what with the 'bot there all the time.
No one 'official' knows that Buffy's dead - not even her own father! We've been trying so hard to keep things together, mostly for Dawnie's sake. Willow's been trying her hardest to keep the bot functioning so that everything thinks she's Buffy, but she's just...not
Willow's been making noises about reviving Buffy ever since it happened. She keeps saying it's the only way to make things better and she's spent most of her time putting together the plans for it. I'm worried about her… but Tara and I both agree that we should go along with it for the time being. I don't think Ahn believes it can happen but after everything I've seen since Buffy came to town, I pretty much think she can pull this off. I just don't think that she should.
I miss Buffy so much it hurts. Nothing makes sense to me any more. But to bring her back? Who knows what could happen? This is the Hellmouth, for God's sake! Maybe it's just that I've seen one too many zombie flicks. Heck, I’ve even had a night out on the town with a bunch of ‘em! But I don't want Buffy to end up like that.
We shouldn't be able to play with life and death like this. There has to be a reason it isn't done all the time. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
Tuesday
No more Scoobies... Giles is gone. He up and left real sudden. Said he didn't like goodbyes so he just left us a note, by the time we got to the airport he was gone already. Will looks like she's gone ten rounds with Tyson, Dawnie's locked herself away crying again and me? Well, I'm pretty much numb, can't think straight right now.
Ahn's not being much help. She's trying to be all perky and helpful but it's just driving me nuts. I told her I needed some alone time so she's gone for a while. Dunno where - probably to Buffy's house...damn! Gotta get used to calling it Will's house now! Why the hell did Buffy do it?!!
And Giles leaving right now? It's such bad timing! Will told us she had all the stuff she needed to revive Buffy and I was counting on Giles to find out and put a stop to it. I tried, I really did. But nothing was getting through to Will. Not even when Tara left.
I guess Tara's not really been right since what happened with Glory last year. Sometimes she says something or does something that isn’t quite right, it isn’t quite her. And then that worthless hick of an excuse for her brother showed up to try again to take her home - and she went! God knows what she's thinking - or even if she was thinking at all - but the last chance we had to put a reign on Willow left with her.
Tuesday (Late)
That's it! No more!
Willow tried the spell but everything's gone just about as wrong as it possibly could! I guess she lost control without Tara there! She's been running wild ever since!
It started with Willow, Ahn and me at ... the grave. She said we weren't enough to make a circle but we'd have to do cos she wasn't going to involve anyone else. It started bad and it got worse, when she started chanting all these cuts appeared all over her. I wasn't gonna let my Will get hurt like that but when I tried to stop it I couldn't. Something had taken her over and she hurled me away. I think I hit my head or something cos everything went hazy then and I couldn't get to my feet. I remember shouting to Ahn, telling her to get out of there but Willow... oh God! Ahn tried, she really did, but Willow dragged her back and took what looked like a stake... Ahn.... Willow had Anya laid out over the top of the grave, she took the stake and held it out over Anya's heart like she was some kind of vampire...
I've seen some pretty scary things in my time, and I knew the only thing these girls had in common was me, but the rage and satisfaction I saw in my best friends eyes when she killed my girlfriend... that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
I… I don’t really know what happened next. One minute I was struggling to get to my feet and the next I was holding Anya as Willow just seemed to disappear into thin air.
Anya, God! She died in my arms. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done – to stay with her as the life went out of this beautiful, sensual woman. The woman I love. It was almost like something went out of me as well. Nothing is ever going to be the same again – Anya’s gone, and so is Willow.
He sat back in the rickety chair and sighed. No matter how much time had passed since then, all he needed to do was read the words he had written and he was right back in that moment. He remembered the tears streaming down his face, his hands trembling with pent up adrenalin, finally putting down his pen and staring blankly into space. With his whole life shattered around him this had been the crucial point. He could have gone one way or another and there was nothing his unseen watcher could have done to help him choose…
|