End of Days

Day 1

“Xander? Where...where are you? Willow? Please, don’t leave me...please...” Buffy whimpered softly and bucked against the covers, feeling like she was drowning. “Noooooooo....”

Willow frowned in her sleep and woke up slowly, struggling to sit up as she blearily noted that it was only 3:00 A.M. As she rubbed sleepily at her eyes, she wondered what had woken her up in the middle of the night.

“Willow, please... don’t...don’t leave me in the dark...” Willow blinked and stared at the other bed in the dorm room, noting the restless movement of the bed’s occupant.

“Buffy”, the redhead sighed, shoving the covers off her legs and climbing out of the warm cocoon of blankets. Standing over the blond, Willow tilted her head slightly and watched the other girl sleep. Experience had taught her that Buffy was a quiet roommate, except for the nightmares. And those lately were few and far between. Fortunate, since Willow wasn’t naive enough to think that she could shake the Slayer into consciousness without losing some teeth.

Under the Wiccan’s perusal, Buffy continued to whimper, turning her head restlessly against the pillow as if seeking something. Tears streaked her cheeks, shimmering in the pale moonlight. It hurt to just watch, but there was little that Willow could do besides be there to comfort her best friend when she woke up screaming.

Buffy stilled suddenly and whispered, ”Willow?”, in a voice so small and frightened that the redhead felt her stomach tighten in pity and a bit of fear. Then the blond convulsed, releasing a keening wail of loss and pain, and she sat up in bed, her eyes flying open and her fingers scrabbling madly over the covers to find purchase in the cloth. Instantly Willow was there, throwing her arms around the shaking Slayer and muttering comforting nonsense into her hair while Buffy sobbed brokenly.

“It’s okay, Buffy, it was just a dream”, Willow cooed, rubbing light circles in the other girl’s back. “Everything’s okay now. You’re not alone...”

But Buffy shuddered and shook her head against Willow’s shoulder, and babbled incoherently about dark houses until she slept.

Giles set the tea before Buffy and Willow pre-dosed with sugar and milk. As he sat back to sip his own drink, he watched the girls carefully. They had tumbled in his door just after dawn, fearful and worried, respectively. And Giles understood Willow’s perspective perfectly, since he was becoming more worried about his Slayer every moment that she sat shivering on his couch.

But he gave her time, knowing that she needed to calm herself before she could tell him what had shaken her. A ‘bad dream’? After everything that the children had been through, Rupert Giles seriously doubted that a mere nightmare could unnerve them so.

Draining her tea, Buffy set the cup on its saucer and drew her knees to her chest, trying unsuccessfully to get warm. Ever since the dream...she looked up at Giles with frightened eyes and took comfort in his gentle concern. Willow sat close enough to touch, offering moral support to her shaken friend, and slowly, the Slayer steadied herself.

Finally, she managed to tell Giles, in a voice that wobbled on the edge of tears, “I was on... a street. There were houses all around. All I could see was these...h-houses...” She stopped briefly, focusing on her breathing, and felt Willow’s hand slip into hers. “They scared me. I don’t know why. But all the lights started going out, one by one. And I wanted so much to just run away...b-but I couldn’t, because Xander was there, and he went into the dark, a-and I h-had to find Xander...” Breathe, Slayer, breathe... “But he was gone, and Willow was gone...” The redhead’s hand tightened on hers, and Buffy tried to smile. “And I turned to see Giles, but you were so far away, and I couldn’t get to you.”

Buffy shivered and stopped, a haunted look darkening her eyes further, and Giles asked, almost apprehensively, “And then?”

“I found Willow”, Buffy said quietly, focusing her gaze on the knees of her jeans. “And...and I woke up.”

“But that’s good, right?” Willow interceded. Then she paled and asked, “How did you find me? Was I...?”

A tear ran down Buffy’s cheek, and she murmured, “I don’t know.”

“Oh, Buffy”, Giles sighed, setting down his tea and standing slowly. Willow looked between the two and frowned, trying to decipher what Giles meant.

“You don’t know? But...you woke up screaming and that’s not good! Was I...?”, Willow paled further, her skin nearly white. “Was I a vampire?”

“I don’t know, Willow, I’m sorry”, Buffy insisted, drawing her hand away and holding herself protectively. “You weren’t...I don’t know if it was you, or me, or what... You had a gun.”

“A gun?”, Giles repeated incredulously, glancing between the two. “Are you sure?”

“Yes”, the Slayer answered quietly, looking away. Willow stared, wide-eyed, and gasped, “I shot you...” Leaping off the couch to stand as far away from Buffy as possible, Willow accused, “I shot you! That’s why you screamed!”

“Dear Lord”, Giles mused. “Buffy, do you think that this dream...?”

“Yes.” She said it quickly, and surely, though her voice trembled slightly. Giles appeared to be mulling over the possibilities, but Willow was horrified and angry.

“You think that I’m going to shoot you? With a gun?”, Willow shook her head in denial, never taking her eyes off her friend. “Buffy, how could you?”

Buffy curled deeper into the couch, but refused to answer or look at Willow.

And then the redhead sucked in a breath, realizing just what Buffy’s Slayer powers meant to her dreams. “I am going to shoot you... I’m going to kill you! I would never do that!” Stricken, Willow turned to Giles, looking for an escape. He appeared bewildered, but even as he opened his mouth to reassure her, Buffy uncurled and spoke up.

Calmly, without a trace of emotion in her voice, Buffy affirmed, “You will. We all know you’re a good shot, Willow. But I forgive you, okay? Whatever happens...”

“Don’t say that! Don’t ever say that!” Willow demanded. “I won’t do it! I don’t care what happens, I. Won’t. Do. It.”

“Of course not”, Giles interceded neatly. “But we do need to prepare for the situation, should something unforeseen occur to bring it about. Agreed?”

Buffy and Willow nodded, and the Wiccan sat again, refusing to look at her friend. Giles smiled slightly and walked into the kitchen, returned quickly with a slip of paper in his hand.

“I received a message last night from the Council. A rather nicely worded request to investigate a large number of disappearances in a nearby town...ah... Kerrigan, I believe. Ah, yes. Here we are. Kerrigan. Apparently, roughly fifty percent of the population has vanished in the last three weeks.”

“Fifty percent?” Willow squeaked nervously. “Do they know why?”

“Not yet, although the Council suspects some sort of demon. Since it’s nearby, they suggest that we might wish to stop the effect before it moves to Sunnydale.”

“All those people”, Buffy mused aloud. “All those empty...dark...houses...”

“Well, you’ve been quiet today, Buff”, Xander pointed out, leaning into the front seat and smiling at the Slayer. “What’s the matter? Vamp got your tongue?” Buffy smiled weakly at him, but didn’t respond before she turned to stare out the window.

“Stop it, Xander”, Willow snapped, reaching out to pull him into the backseat by his shirt. “It’s not a good time.” She lay her head on Oz’s shoulder, watching the back of Buffy’s head unhappily.

“It’s never a good time”, Xander griped under his breath, quietly enough that only Oz and Buffy, with their supernatural hearing, understood. “Drag us off in the middle of the night to spend the weekend chasing demons, welcome to depression central. And since when is a three-hour drive ‘nearby’?” Oz rolled his eyes slightly and kissed the top of Willow’s head, watching the road in the headlights. Giles was steadfastly ignoring all the teenagers as he drove his Citroen toward the small town of Kerrigan.

“We’re just tired, Xander”, Buffy said soothingly, trying to make the peace so that the trip would be quiet. “It’s been a long day. Please just relax.” A grumpy acknowledgement drifted out of the back seat, and Buffy sighed in relief, resting her head against the seat and trying to get in a little sleep. She drifted...

“Buffy, wake up.” Giles’ large hand gently shaking her by the shoulder roused Buffy from the depths of sleep, and she blinked at him drowsily, somewhat surprised to find herself curled into a ball in the back seat. Unfolding, the Slayer looked around, noting that Giles stood outside the vehicle in the driveway of someone’s home. The car was empty, and she distantly noticed the Slayerettes standing around, waiting expectantly.

“I’m in the back”, Buffy yawned, stretching out slowly and levering herself out of the car.

“Yes”, Giles agreed, “You are. Have you been feeling all right? You never stirred when we moved you at the rest stop.”

“Sure”, Buffy said, shrugging carelessly. “Never better. Probably just making up for last night. This is it?”

“Yes...this is the place we’ll be staying. The owner of the house is a former Watcher. She’ll allow us the freedom we need to work.” Giles deftly closed the door behind Buffy and handed her Duffel to her. “Shall we?”

The Slayer hesitated, looking around as a feeling of unease flowed over her. “Giles? We need...” And then it was gone, and Buffy shook her head to clear it. Smiling at her Watcher’s searching look, she mumbled, “Forget it. Lead the way.”