psubrat | Reset - Prologue and Chapter 1

Some friends suggested that I start posting my fic here in my journal so that I could receive comments and feedback. I thought about it and mulled it over and decided that I would start doing just that. I guess you could say that my muse is looking for reasons to continue on since the only feedback I've received lately was from some demented person over on ffnet.

Some of you may have already read the Reset Series, but for those who haven't I would love to hear your thoughts.

Since "Reset" was my very first piece of fic, I decided to go back through and update it to reflect my style of writing now. It's still not perfect, but it's closer to the story that I originally wanted to tell. Plus, this is the version that was given to James Marsters...beautifully bound by my wonderful, frilly friend,

eeyore. For those who don't know that story, please refer to my Tampa Con Report on my website. :) (Or if there's enough interest, I could post it here as well)

Anyway...on with the show.

Author: PSUbrat
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to - I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is based upon all episodes up to and including the season 6 finale. Some dialogue borrowed from "Grave" written by David Fury
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: After Tara's death and Willow's subsequent rampage, a broken Willow says the one phrase that changes it all…
Timeframe: Immediately following the final scene from "Grave"

- Prologue -
In the Beginning...

Once Willow yelled at Xander to stop, she began beating on his chest with her small fists, the pain coursing through her as fresh as the day before. She hadn’t wanted him to stop her. She just wanted to end this pain that was consuming her. The loss of Tara was just too much to bear. Finally, slumping to her knees, she felt Xander place his arm around her comfortingly.

"I love you," Xander whispered to her, holding her tightly to his chest.

As she sobbed into his chest, she felt the dark magic recede from her body, the veins in her face returning to normal as well as her hair; the ebony color being replaced by her natural fiery red.

Across the hill in the cemetery, Buffy and Dawn watched as the monsters they had been fighting against stopped moving and crumbled to the ground. The sisters looked at each other in amazement and climbed from the chasm that had held their fate, looking towards the sunrise. It was not the most stunning sunrise, as sunrises go, but it took on a whole new meaning this morning. Things were going to be better from now on. They had each other. They were stronger. Willow would be fine, eventually; they would all make sure she was. Okay, so she had tried to destroy the world, but she was in pain and wanted it over, not that that made what she had done justifiable, but who was Buffy to place judgment? Ever since her friends pulled her out of heaven, all she had wanted to do was die, plus not so long ago she had tried to kill them and Dawn.

"Come on," Buffy said as she tugged on Dawn’s arm. "We should go check on the others." Slowly they made their way towards the Magic Box, hoping beyond hope that Anya, Giles and Xander were all right. At the moment, she didn’t much care about what had happened to Jonathan and Andrew but she knew that they had gotten away...at least she thought they had since there weren’t any bodies around to say otherwise.

Dawn gasped, bringing Buffy out of her thoughts. The two girls stood in stunned silence as Anya and a very battered Giles emerged from the ruins of the Magic Box. Buffy quickly ran to help her Watcher.

"Is everyone okay?" Buffy demanded as she reached Giles side and placed one of his arms around her shoulders, bracing the rest of his weight against her right hip.

"For the most part," Anya answered in a somewhat shaken voice. "I mean, we’re not dead or anything so I guess that’s always a plus."

Dawn looked around the debris and then turned to the others. "Where’s Xander? Is-Is he still in there?"

"No," Giles replied. "Xander is the one who stopped all of this."

"Xander?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"I said the same thing," Anya chimed in. "And in the same tone."

Giles smiled softly and looked down at his Slayer. "Yes, Xander saved the world. It is as much of a surprise to me as it is to everyone else." He paused a moment and then continued, trying to straighten up. "I suppose we should make our way over to check on the two of them. I expect that Xander will need our assistance with Willow."

Within a few minutes, the small group of bruised Scoobies reached the summit of the hill. Buffy glanced up towards where Xander had been holding a limp Willow as she sobbed. They were getting up now. He was holding Willow close to him as they walked down the slope towards their friends. Buffy turned back to Dawn and gave her a hug while stroking the young girl’s hair. Things were definitely going to be better now.

Anya quickly made her way up the hill and reached out to assist Xander with his broken friend; he gave her a slight smile and an appreciative look. Her hopes soared when he didn’t pull away from her touch. Maybe, just maybe, things would now be better between the two of them.

The three of them made their way towards where Buffy and Dawn were standing, still watching the sunrise. Meanwhile, behind them, Giles just surveyed the damage. "Bloody hell," he thought, taking off his glasses to clean them. How were they ever going to make this right?

Suddenly Willow began sobbing again. Her pain was like a sharp knife through all of them. It took most of Xander’s remaining strength to keep him and her from falling to the ground again. Buffy moved to help them, when suddenly Willow cried out, "I wish Tara had never died!!!!"

Before anyone could contemplate the consequences of her words, Anya morphed into her demon self and simply stated, "Done!"

Author: PSUbrat
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to - I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is based upon all episodes up to and including the season 6 finale. Some dialogue borrowed from "Grave" written by David Fury
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: After wishing that Tara was still alive, a bewildered Willow finds that all is not as it seemed…
Timeframe: Immediately following "In the Beginning..."

- 1 -
Reset

Willow blinked and looked around. Suddenly she was very confused and disoriented. This certainly didn’t look like the place where she was just sobbing about losing the love of her life. Where was everybody?? Out of the corner of her eye she caught motion. It was Tara!! But how?!?

"Better not get used to them," Tara said with a knowing grin.

Willow wasn’t sure what to say simply because she had no idea what Tara was talking about. Something was so wrong. Was she dreaming? She had a sense of déjà vu but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She stood gaping, feeling unable to move even if she wanted to.

Her surroundings started to make a little sense. She was in her bedroom at Buffy’s house, it was midday, and the sun was shining brightly. How could this be? She was supposed to be at what was left of the Magic Box, being comforted by her friends, yet she was here. From the look of things, she and Tara had definitely enjoyed each other’s company not too long ago. That thought brought a smile to her face. She looked down at her clothing, jeans and a white button blouse. Definitely not the black ensemble that she’d just had on while trying to destroy the...

"Sweetie?" Tara was next to her now, staring at her.

God, Willow thought as she slowly came out of her thoughts. She’s so beautiful.

"Sweetie? Willow? Are you okay?" Tara was gently shaking her now.

"I’m, uhm...I’m fine. Now. That you’re here." She said, giving Tara a sheepish smile. It had to be a dream, how else could all of this be explained? Tara pulled her into a tight embrace and Willow thought she would melt right there, whether it was a dream or not.

"Xander?" Tara asked hopefully, looking out the window into the backyard below.

"Xander??? I’m not Xander..." Willow said, not being able to hide her confusion.

"No, he’s here." Tara replied.

"Why would Xander be here?" Willow asked, still thinking this was some type of dream. She didn’t think she’d be including Xander in any 'Tara’s alive I’m so happy' type dream. She wanted to concentrate on one thing, but Tara was talking again.

"You know," Tara shrugged. "Probably to make up with Buffy."

"Make up with Buffy? I don’t understand. Did they fight?" Why should she even care? This was her dream!

Tara tilted her head slightly to the side and looked at her lover, trying to figure out if she was as okay as she had said. Other than being slightly flushed, Willow looked fine. "Yeah. You know. The whole not telling about sleeping with Spike thing..." She paused smiling to herself. "I hope they make up. Making up is the best..."

The rest of Tara’s sentence was lost as Willow realized where she was and what was about to happen. It wasn’t déjà vu at all. She was back to the minutes prior to Tara’s death. How did this happen? What was she going to do? Willow froze with panic as her thoughts consumed her mind.

Before she knew what she was doing she lunged at Tara, screaming, "Get away from the window!"

"Willow what is wrong with you?" A visibly shaken Tara demanded.

"Just stay away from the window! Don’t go near the window! I have to get downstairs and warn Buffy!" Willow shouted as she got up and bounded down the steps.

"Stay away from the window? Warn Buffy? What are you talking about?" Tara pulled herself into a sitting position, away from the window. She was thoroughly confused and wondered if they had spent too much time making up and not enough time eating or something. She shook her head and grinned. Concerned, she got up and started to follow Willow down the steps...being careful, of course, to avoid the window.

******

Buffy and Xander had just sat down on the bench to talk when Willow came bursting through the backdoor. She was visibly upset and highly agitated. Buffy and Xander shared a quick, but worried glance.

"Will? What’s wrong?" Xander asked as he started to get up off the bench and go towards his oldest and dearest friend.

"Buffy! Xander! Get out of here! Warren’s coming! He has a gun! He’s going to shoot you, Buffy, and I don’t know if I can save you again!" She said breathlessly.

Xander and Buffy stared at her and then looked at each other. Both were thinking that Willow had hit her head one too many times on the headboard while making up with Tara, but from the look on Willow’s face, both knew that something much worse had happened.

"What do you mean save me again?" Buffy asked incredulously.

Willow didn’t answer and instead started herding them towards the back door. Tara appeared in the doorway looking troubled. Willow screamed, "Tara! Get back inside! It’s not safe!" Tara wasn’t sure what was happening, but knew it was serious because of the way Willow was looking at her.

"Will...you’re really starting to scare me now," Xander stated as he tripped up the steps.

Willow was beside herself with panic as she kept pushing them towards the door. "Please, you don’t understand what’s about to happen. We need to get out of here!"

As the three of them were trying to understand Willow’s fears, a voice came from behind them. "You think you could do that to me? You think I’d let you get away with that?"

They all turned to see Warren standing there pointing a gun at them and laughing as though he’d lost his mind.

"Think again!" he shouted and aimed the gun at Buffy.

Without a second thought, Willow and Tara grabbed each other’s hand and intertwined their fingers together. Tara softly uttered an incantation and then, in an instant, the gun in Warren’s hand turned into a dove and flew away.

The shock on Warren’s face was quickly replaced with anger. He turned and started to run back towards the alley knowing that he was helpless against them right now. "Don’t think this is the last you’ll see of me Slayer!" He shouted. "This is far from over!"

Buffy turned and began to follow him but then she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. "Willow?" She asked, turning to look at her friend. "Just how is it you knew he was coming??"

Willow, not quite understanding how she knew, stammered, "I...uh...don’t know."

******

A little while later, the four of them sat around Buffy’s dining room table. At first no one was speaking and then they were all speaking, at once, and not in an understandable fashion. Finally, Willow stood up, not being able to take the loud buzzing around her, and went to the window. Everyone stopped and looked towards her hoping for an explanation. The silence was deafening. She glanced at Tara, lingering just long enough on her lover’s face to take in every contour, every detail. Everything was as it should be. Nothing was out of place. Tara was alive and the all was well with the world.

"Uh. Hey. Will?" It was Xander. "Earth to Willow."

"Huh?" Willow asked, giving Xander a blank look.

"What’s with the smileage? Wanna kinda let us in on the joke thing?"

Without even thinking, Willow took a deep breath and said quickly, with a sense of relief, "I’m just so glad you’re not hurt, Buffy. And Tara! Oh my god. I’m just so happy you’re not dead!"

Buffy looked at her friend questioningly. She was sure that Willow had hit her head somehow. She’d have to ask Tara about it when she had a chance to be alone with the other witch.

"Willow, I’m definitely not dead. Am I supposed to be?" Tara asked as that look of concern crept back into her face.

"Well yeah. Warren shot you in the back and he shot Buffy and you died and I had your blood all over my shirt (she looked down at her shirt and absently tugged on it with her hands) and Buffy was really hurt..."

"Yeah we’ve got that so far, Will..." Xander broke in.

"Then I went to the Magic Box and got all of the black magic books, but that was after I froze Anya and became really evil but I saved Buffy’s life before I tried to destroy the world and Sunnydale was this big mess and Giles came back and..."

"Giles? Haven’t heard his name in like, forever..." said Xander breaking in again.

"And...I think I better sit down." Her knees started to give out but Buffy was there in a flash helping her to a chair.

"And let me guess, I was the Tin Man and Buffy was the Lion and Tara was the Scarecrow. Who was Toto?" Xander asked with a wink.

Tara was now kneeling in front of Willow holding her hand while Buffy had her arm around Willow’s shoulders. Dawn would be home from Janice’s house soon and Buffy wanted to have this thing settled before that. She just didn’t want Dawn to have to see Willow coming unglued like this. After seeing to Willow, she then gave Xander a scowl, which told him he should shut up or at least not be making light of the situation when their friend was obviously not well.

So many thoughts were swirling through Willow’s head. She wasn’t sure how she had gotten here and she certainly couldn’t explain why Tara was alive and well. Not that she was upset with this outcome. Not in the least. She just didn’t understand it. She tried desperately to think back to what could have happened. Did she do a spell? No…she couldn’t have. She had been drained of all her powers. There was something tugging at the back of her brain, as if she knew the answer to this question but just couldn’t reach it. One by one, she looked at her friends. Each had a look of desperate concern for her well being on their face. She especially hated the pained look in Tara’s eyes. She wanted that face to be smiling forever.

Shaking her head, she slowly stood up. She needed to say something, anything to allay their fears. "I’m sorry. I don’t mean to worry you. I guess maybe I’m just dehydrated or hungry or something. Oh! Maybe I had a bad dream and like, I couldn’t tell the difference between being awake and being asleep because I’m so hungry!"

Buffy looked at her friend thoughtfully and slowly said, "Maybe you’re right Will, but that doesn’t explain how you knew about Warren coming here with a gun to threaten me."

Willow knew she had to think fast. She really didn’t want them worrying about her. She just wanted to be in Tara’s arms. Sweet, loving Tara. She needed to think of a good explanation until she could work this out on her own. Besides, she was beginning to think that maybe she had dreamed all of that stuff about trying to destroy the world. "You’re right," she said to Buffy finally. "I think maybe I had a vision about that."

Tara put her arm around Willow’s waist and asked, "Sweetie, was that when you went all spacey on me upstairs while we were getting dressed?"

Willow, seeing the out, took it and ran, "Yes! That’s it! It must have been a vision type thing!" She wasn’t exactly lying, right? When she figured this all out for herself, she would let the others know. Until then, there was really no reason to continue worrying them.

Buffy thought Willow’s explanation was a bit forced seeing as how her friend had never had visions before this, but for now she would take her word. There were bigger things to worry about, namely Warren. He had proven dangerous, even without any special powers. He had to be stopped. God only knew what else he might have up his sleeve. She longed for a good old monster of the week or even a big bad. Where was a vampire when you really needed one? Those she could handle, she was born to handle them; but humans...humans were another thing entirely.

Nodding his head and rubbing his hands together, Xander looked at the girls and grinned. "Great. Problem solved. Now. What are we going to do about Warren?"

"Good question." Buffy said, mostly to herself, as she looked out the window. The others continued their conversation around her as she slipped deep into thought.

"And when can we eat?"

"Xander, do you only think about food?" Willow asked while in Tara’s embrace.

"No I think about other things too but usually they involve big breasted women and..."