Reset - Chapters 4 & 5
Sep. 21st, 2003 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psubratHere is some more of Reset if anyone is interested...
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: Buffy faces hard questions about that night in the bathroom with Spike; Xander reveals Anya's secret and Willow deals with the fallout...
Timeframe: Immediately following "Truths"
Dawn and Buffy continued their yelling while Clem stood at the back of the crypt watching. This was not what he had signed up for when he had agreed to housesit for the absent vampire.
"You are so going to get it when we get home!" Buffy shouted above Dawn’s screaming.
Clem had just about enough. His ears were hurting and the girls were giving him a headache. He put the lemonade pitcher and two full glasses on a slab of marble, and walked over to them. "Lemonade?"
That got their attention. They stopped yelling and looked at him strangely. "Look, I don’t wanna get into the middle of a family squabble or anything like that, but I have a lot of cleaning to do, and you’re both giving me a headache."
"Sorry," Dawn said hesitantly, taking one of the glasses off the makeshift tray. Buffy waved at the other one, passing it up.
Clem set the marble slab down on the table next to the love seat and started to clean, hoping that the girls would now settle down - or at least stop the screaming.
"Dawn, why exactly did you come here?" Buffy asked demandingly.
"I wanted to talk to Spike again..."
Buffy’s eyes widened. "Again? What do you mean again?"
Dawn shifted on her feet nervously and tried to move the focus away from her and onto her sister. "Why are you here? You said you wouldn’t stop by when I asked."
"So you just thought that since I wouldn’t come here that you would?" Buffy challenged.
"Buffy, Spike is my friend. He protected me while you were..." she glanced nervously over at Clem and then back at Buffy, “...away."
"Uhm," Clem said raising his hand. "I know she was dead so you don’t have to pretend she was out of town or anything."
"Does every demon know I was dead?" Buffy asked incredulously.
Clem shrugged. "Pretty much. Yeah."
Buffy rolled her eyes and looked over at her sister who was getting impatient with the exchange.
"Look Buffy, I know he hurt you but he didn’t mean to. He was hurt too. And he still loves you."
Buffy had heard enough from Dawn. "We’re leaving now. You have no idea what you’re talking about."
"Why is that? Because I’m a kid?"
"No! Because he tried to rape me! That’s why!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. All eyes were on her now. She just wanted to crawl into a hole.
Willow turned out the lights, locked the door and headed upstairs. She and Tara were getting ready to go to bed when they heard a knocking at the door. "Stay here," Willow said to Tara as she began to make her way back down the steps. "I’ll see who it is."
Willow looked out the door and saw Xander standing there. She quickly undid the locks and opened the door. "Xander, what are you doing here? I thought you and Anya would be making with the smoochies by now."
Xander slowly made his way into the Summers’ home. He looked like he’d been through hell and back. "Sorry to wake you guys up. But I needed to talk to someone."
"I’ll make some hot chocolate," Tara said from the bottom of the stairs. Neither one of them had heard her come down.
"Xander? What’s wrong? Is Anya okay? What happened?" Willow maneuvered him into the living room; she sat him down on the couch and then moved to her own seat on the other side of the coffee table.
He seemed to be in shock. He just sat there and didn’t say anything. After a few minutes, Tara came into the room with a tray of steaming coffee mugs. "You looked like you could use some chocolate," she said, setting the tray down next to Willow and giving Xander a little smile. Willow glanced at her lover with worry in her eyes.
Looking over at Willow, he asked in a whisper, "Buffy? Dawn?"
"Buffy’s on patrol yet and Dawn is upstairs sleeping," Willow said, putting her hand on his. "We can wait until Buffy gets back to talk about this if you want?"
Xander sighed, slumped back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. Tara and Willow looked at each other questioningly. Finally, Xander spoke. "It won’t change anything if we wait for Buffy. The result is still the same. Anya is a vengeance demon again."
"What?" Both girls said, shocked.
"Ya know, Vengeance Demon? Men bad. Hate men. Men hurt women. Do bad things to men."
"Xander are you sure?" Tara asked with a frown.
"Positive. Her little demon friend Halfrek spilled the beans and Anya didn’t deny it. In fact, she confirmed it but said we could still work things out."
Tara sat down next to Xander and put her arm around his shoulders. "I’m so sorry, Xander. I know how much you wanted to work things out with her. Maybe there’s still some hope..."
"No. No hope. It’s over. She’s a demon now. How could I possibly love someone who does bad things to people?" He was getting angry now.
"Has she done any vengeance spells yet?" Tara asked, still looking at him.
"Dunno. I just found out the whole secret identity thing just a few minutes ago. Dunno if she’s been all vengeancy yet or not. I don’t even know how long she’s been a demon again."
Neither of them had noticed the look on Willow’s face. She hadn’t said a thing since he had first said the words, "Anya is a demon again." She now played them over in her mind. Suddenly, she leapt to her feet. "I have to go."
Xander and Tara stopped their conversation and looked over at her. Tara asked first. "What do you mean you have to go?"
Willow just stood and stared at them. Xander cocked his head to the side and asked, "Will? Are you okay?"
"Uh. Yeah. I’m fine. I just need to go get some marshmallows," she said with a smile and trying to sound convincing. "Can’t have hot chocolaty goodness without marshmallows!"
Tara’s eyes narrowed. Something was off about Willow again. Had she had another vision and just didn’t want to share it yet? Tara decided not to push. "Sweetie, why don’t you stay with Xander...?" But Willow was already out the front door and into the night. "And I’ll go get the marshmallows." Shrugging, Tara gave Xander a puzzled look.
Dawn returned to the love seat with the glass of lemonade for Buffy. She tried to wrap her mind around what Buffy had blurted out about Spike. It just didn’t seem like something Spike would do. He would never intentionally hurt her sister. He loved Buffy. Of that part, she was sure. She tried to make sense of it all as she handed the glass to her shaken sister. "Buffy are you sure Spike was purposely trying to hurt you? Cause wouldn’t the chip have zapped him and given him a headache?"
Oh god! How was she supposed to talk about something like this with her little sister? "Dawn," she started uneasily. "He was trying to force himself on me. He might have if I hadn’t stopped him. Plus, something happened when I came back from...where ever I was. Spike could hurt me. And only me."
Dawn looked at her sister wide-eyed. Obviously, Buffy was upset about this and had every right to be if what she was saying was true. Still, something still didn’t feel right. "Why didn’t you stop him right away? You could have stopped him right away, right? Did he vamp out and become all mean vampire on you?"
"My back hurt from being knocked into a headstone after I staked a vampire, and I was tired..." Did that sound as lame to them as it did to her? "And no, he didn’t go all Mr. Bumpy on me."
"Well that’s a good thing, right?" Dawn asked, almost pleaded. She really didn’t want to think of Spike as something evil. After a second she continued, "Buffy, I’ve seen you fight off demons after being kicked around by Glory. So don’t even tell me you were too weak to kick him off. Why didn’t you stop him when he first started?"
Dawn was right. She had managed to fight Glory, getting the crap beat out of her in the process and then been able to get in a round of patrolling in the same night. And Glory had been a Hell God. So why hadn’t she stopped Spike? There was that question again: why? Why couldn’t she find the answer?
"Do you love him?"
Buffy looked at her sister like she had turned into an alien. "Are you serious?"
"It’s a simple question, really." It was Clem now.
Great, now he was involved in all of this! Buffy stood to face the two of them. "No! Are you people crazy?" She shouted. "Here I thought I was the one with the mental problems!"
"Buffy what would be so wrong if you did love him?" Dawn asked as she folded her arms against her chest.
"What would be so wrong if I did? You’re joking, right? Dawn, Spike has killed hundreds of people, maybe thousands and you ask what would be so wrong if I loved him?" She was shaking her head and practically in tears again. "He tried to rape me Dawn. He hurt me. He’s not even human!"
"Buffy," Dawn said looking at her sister. "Spike said to me once that it didn’t matter how you started out, it’s where you are now that counts. Spike hasn’t hurt a human since the chip. And I bet he still wouldn’t hurt anyone if the chip didn’t work."
"Dawn, I seriously hope we never have to find that out." She took a sip of her drink. Her throat had gone dry and she felt like her tongue was going to stick to the roof of her mouth. The next sentence came out in almost a whisper. "But the fact still remains that he hurt me."
Clem stood there looking at the Slayer. He understood why his friend was in love with her. What human or former human wouldn’t be? She was beautiful, even if she did have tight skin, ick; and she was stubborn as Hell. He also understood that Spike had hurt her, but how many times had she hurt him? How many times had Spike come to play cards looking like he’d been hit by a truck? His friend wasn’t here now to defend himself and the young girl that Spike cared for like a daughter was only getting one side of things. Someone had to stand up for Spike.
"Slayer," he started hesitantly, hoping not to incur her wrath. "I don’t know what was going through Spike’s head when he...hurt you, but have you stopped to think of all the times you’ve hurt him? Like the way you used him as a punching bag whenever you felt the need to hit something?"
That got her attention. She was staring at him now. Dawn was too. Good.
"Buffy, you beat up Spike for the fun of it?" Dawn demanded as she stood face to face with her sister.
"Well," Buffy stammered. "A couple of times. Maybe once, or twice. He deserved it! For just being, well...Spike."
Clem’s head was starting to hurt again. Why had he gotten into the middle of this? Too late now, he had to continue. "It was a lot of times and you know it. What about when he tried to stop you from turning yourself into the police for that murder? You beat him to a bloody pulp!"
Dawn glared at Buffy now. "You were the one that did that to him? He told me he got that way from fighting a demon when you guys were out on patrol. God Buffy, what did he do to you to deserve that?"
Anger was building in Buffy’s voice as she said, "How did this become about me? Spike is the one that tried to rape me."
Looking at his watch and then looking around the crypt, Clem decided that it was time to wrap up this little therapy session. "I’m not trying to make this about you. This is about the two of you, and the pain you brought to each other. Don’t you get that?" That said, he turned his back and started sweeping up the pieces of broken glass.
Willow looked in the window of the Magic Box to make sure Anya was there. The woman was, talking to a now human looking Halfrek. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say to her, but she had to know. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the busted door.
Anya looked at her friend and then at the door. "Maybe it’s Xander!" She rushed to the door and opened it. "Oh. It’s just you." She turned and walked back to the counter.
"Nice to see you too Anya," Willow said. "Hello Halfrek."
Halfrek nodded back. "Anyanka, I’m going. Will you be okay?"
"I’ll be fine Hali," Anya said without much conviction. "Thanks for being here."
Willow turned to say goodbye to the demon but she had already disappeared.
"What do you want, Willow, because I’m really not in the mood for any kind of lecture or anything. Least of all from you."
Noticing Anya’s tear streaked face, everything she had practiced saying on the way over was forgotten. She put her arm around Anya and asked, "When did things get so messed up?" Anya started to say something but she waved her off. "Rhetorical type question, Anya. No answer needed."
"Oh."
Silence fell on the shop. Willow wondered how she was going to ask what needed to be asked. Did she really want to know the answer? She had to know. Slowly she moved to face Anya who looked like she had lost her world. This certainly didn’t look like a vengeance demon. Weren’t they supposed to be all veiny and menacing? "Anya?" She asked, trying to get her friend’s attention.
The former demon, then human and now demon again looked at Willow. Tears welled up in here eyes. "Yes, it’s true. Xander told you, didn’t he?"
Willow nodded. "But that’s not why I’m here, Anya. I was wondering. Did you? I mean. Have you?" This was harder than she thought it would be. "Uhm. Have you granted any wishes since being...again, specifically...mine?"
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: Warren's visit to Rack gave him much more than just a new playmate; it gave him power, ultimate power...
Timeframe: Two weeks after "Questions"
Warren stretched and yawned. The girl next to him whimpered a little and rolled over. He got out of bed, trying not to disturb her sleep, and made his way to the kitchen to make them some breakfast. Today was the day. He could feel it. For the past two weeks, he had felt the power coursing through him, making him stronger, more powerful. It was all he could do to keep himself from finding Buffy and using that power against her, torturing her. The girl in the bedroom had kept him in control. Finding her was the best thing that ever happened to him. Wait. That would be second best thing. Or maybe it was even third. He couldn’t decide because the first best thing hadn’t happened yet. But it was going to, very soon.
He busied himself around the kitchen. The coffee pot was gurgling and the toaster was toasting. He wasn’t much of a chef, but eggs, coffee and toast he could do. He smiled to himself as he buttered the toast. There was anything in the world that could ruin this day. He looked up from the toast to grab a couple of plates and she was standing there. Her hair was tousled but she looked amazing. "Good morning, beautiful," he said with a grin.
"What time is it?" she asked, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.
"Time for the Slayer and her friends to die," he said nonchalantly.
"Warren," she said with a sigh. "We’ve been through this. We can’t rush things and we don’t want to play our hand before we have to." She looked at him and she could tell that he was getting angry with her again. His eyes were turning red and the toast in his hands had gone up in flames. She quickly grabbed a towel and put the fire out, checking to make sure that he wasn’t burning too. His powers were still growing.
"I thought you wanted this as much as I did?" He growled at her.
"I-I do," she stammered. "But we have to do it right. I don’t want anything to go wrong because if it does, if she finds out before we can do anything, it could get bad for us. Really, really bad."
He leaned his back on the counter, folded his arms across his chest and stared at her. She looked down at her feet and pulled her robe tighter around herself. She felt like he was looking right into her. Most of the time that was exhilarating but then other times, like the one right now, it was disturbing. Sensing her thoughts, he walked over to her and pulled her into an embrace. She could feel him relax in her arms. "I’m sorry," he started. "I just want to kill the bitch. Now."
"I know you do. So do I, but we have to go over the plan first. So," she said trying to placate him, "why don’t we do that now and see what we can do about making her dead sooner?"
Warren pulled back and looked at her. Grinning from ear to ear he said, "That’s more like it."
Some time later that day, Willow sat deep in thought while waiting for Tara at the student lounge on campus. Despite how wonderful the last three weeks with Tara had been, she was starting to feel guilty about the wish. She also felt guilty about keeping it from her friends. Everyday she woke up, she felt like she was living a lie. The things she had done before making the wish haunted her memory. She remembered everything now, including how she had killed Warren and tried to hurt her friends. Even worse was that she had done it without any kind of remorse. She shivered a little. Her thoughts then turned to the conversation she’d had with Anya almost two weeks ago at the Magic Box:
"Yes, Willow. I granted your wish. That’s what I do. It’s my job," Anya had said.
"But, that means that all of this," Willow said gesturing around the store, "isn’t real. It’s all a lie."
"No. It’s all real. Just on a different plane of reality. There are many alternate universes, each one just as real as the next. Either way though, Xander hates me." She had said this with such sadness, that Willow couldn’t even look her in the eye.
"I’m sorry, Anya. I guess I’ve messed things up for everyone. Even before the wish. I guess I can’t wish it back, huh?"
"No. All sales are final," she had said, trying to make a joke of it.
"Oh! I know! We could destroy your power center! That would take us back and make you human again! Just like before!"
"Willow. Think about what you’re saying."
"What?" Slowly the gravity of the situation hit her and she deflated. "Oh. Right..."
"Willow, you made a wish and a good one too. Don’t second guess yourself."
Suddenly the sound of glass breaking snapped her out of her thoughts and back to the present. Someone had dropped a Snapple bottle next to her and the crash it made had startled her. She looked around the lounge and checked her watch. Tara should be here soon. The student who had dropped the Snapple was cleaning it up now. She, sat back in her chair and tried to relax by watching the clean up show, but her feeling of guilt wouldn’t stop nagging her. She closed her eyes and sighed. It was time to snap out of this. Which world did she really want to live in? One where Tara was dead and she was all black magic Willowy or one where she had a second chance to make things right?
"Willow?" a familiar voice asked from in front of her.
Slowly Willow opened her eyes. Standing in front of her was Amy.
Warren stood across the street from Buffy’s house, hiding in the afternoon shadows. Buffy’s little sister had just gone inside. That meant the only one still missing from the equation was Xander. Warren checked his watch again. Xander’s shift was over half an hour ago. He should be there by now.
A few moments later, a car pulled into the driveway. Good. It was Xander. Finally.
Warren’s pocket began to vibrate. He took out his cell phone. "Yeah?"
"I’ve got them," the voice on the other end said.
"Good," he said, smiling wickedly.
He pushed the end button on his cell and started to cross the street.
Xander let himself in. Buffy and Dawn were waiting for him in the living room. Dawn was watching TV and absently twirling a strand of hair around her finger while Buffy sat in the chair with a look of consternation on her face. Dawn greeted him with a small smile and went back to her show. Buffy just sat there, looking lost in thought. Something was up. She had called at the site earlier, and asked if he could come by for a Scooby meeting as soon as he could. He had told her he couldn’t get to her place until after his shift was over. She had sounded fine with that. Now, being here in front of her, he could tell that something was bothering her.
"Hey," she said distracted with her thoughts. "Thanks for coming. Willow and Tara should be here soon."
"Buff," Xander said, after taking a seat on the couch. "I know something is bothering you. Is your spidey sense tingling?"
She’d had this feeling of dread all day. At first she had thought that it was just her not wanting to go to work, but the feeling had stayed with her all day, intensifying. Something was definitely off. "I don’t know what’s wrong...just something inside of me saying to be alert."
"Danger Will Robinson, Danger," joked Xander. Buffy hadn’t even smiled at that one and Dawn wasn’t paying attention. "Okay. Me shut up now."
"Dawn," Buffy said looking at her sister. "I want you to get your stuff. I’m going to drop you off at Clem’s."
"Don’t you mean Spike’s?" Dawn stated emphatically, enough so that even Xander winced.
Buffy sighed. She didn’t want to fight with Dawn again. That’s all they seemed to do since that day in the crypt where she had blurted out her secret. They fought about everything again. It was like taking two giant steps back in their relationship. Yes, Dawn had been understanding and supportive about Buffy’s pain, but she also held her responsible for the ‘Spike beatings’, and for him leaving town.
"Dawn," Xander said harshly, putting his arm around the young girl. "I know you like Spike, but Spike has done some...pretty awful things. Especially, to your sister. That whole bad Vampire thing he has going on..."
"Spike is not bad!" Dawn shouted, as she leapt off the couch. Before Xander could say any more, she blurted out, "I know what he did to Buffy!"
Xander’s eyes widened and he looked sharply over at Buffy. She nodded to him and turned her head. He looked back over at Dawn who was standing there daring him with her body language, to say anything more about Spike.
Before things could get out of hand, there was a knock at the door.
Warren had just crossed the street and was making his way to the Summers’ home when he saw a familiar face hurriedly walk up the sidewalk to the house. He slipped behind a tree to watch. A look of rage crossed his face. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Not now. She wasn’t part of the plan! He needed to calm down and work this to his advantage.
He fished his cell phone out of his pocket again. After punching in the right numbers, he pressed send and waited for his accomplice to answer. "Come on. Come on," he shouted into the phone. "Pick up!!!"
"Hello?"
"It’s me. We’ve got another one for dinner. Set another place at the table."
He snapped his cell shut. His eyes followed the girl as she knocked on the door. Yeah, he was sure he could modify his original plans. No problem.
"Anya? What are you doing here?" Dawn asked as she opened the door.
"Is Buffy here?" Anya was nervous about talking to Buffy, and it showed. She was biting the side of her lip and looking extremely anxious. The fact that Xander’s car was in the driveway wasn’t helping, but this was something she needed to do. She had to.
Dawn glanced over at Buffy who was standing now. Buffy nodded at Dawn to let the demon in. "Uhm. Yeah. She’s in the living room."
Anya walked into the living room and felt Xander’s eyes on her. She tried to ignore him by telling her self to be strong. She was there to warn them, all of them.
Xander sat on the couch staring at Anya with disgust. Buffy folded her arms across her chest and waited for an explanation.
"Buffy, I know you’d rather I wasn’t here, but I had to come...to warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
Xander spoke before Anya could say another word. "Tact, Anya. Remember we used to talk about that and how you had none of it," he said hurtfully.
Anya looked down at her feet still biting the side of her lip.
"Xander," Buffy said admonishingly. "Let her speak."
She was grateful that Buffy had told him to stop. This was hard enough as it was. "Buffy. I’m sorry. I know what I did with Spike was wrong. But that’s not why I’m here."
"Why are you here An? To throw it in my face some more that we can’t be together? To show off your demony ways? What?" Xander demanded.
"Xander, I’m not here to talk to you. You’ve made it perfectly clear that we have nothing to talk about." Looking at Buffy, she continued. "Something bad is about to happen. I can feel it."
"I can feel it too," Buffy almost whispered.
"It’s very strong and very powerful; and it’s directed at you and at everyone you love." Anya’s eyes glanced at Xander making sure he knew that she was including him in this warning. "It’s against the rules, me coming here, but I couldn’t just do nothing and see you all hurt. I couldn’t stand it if..."
As Xander started to say something, there was an explosion, knocking them all to the ground. The door flew off its hinges and the front of the house disappeared in an avalanche of wood and cement. The four of them scrambled to get up, wondering what had just happened. A figure in the front yard caught their attention.
"Whoops. I guess I don’t know my own strength," Warren said laughing.
Buffy flew at him hoping to catch him off guard. He raised his hand up and she found herself unable to move. She was frozen; powerless.
Horror crept over the others as they realized they were powerless against him as well. Warren turned to look at them. He mumbled something to himself and clapped his hands together.
Everyone disappeared.
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: Buffy faces hard questions about that night in the bathroom with Spike; Xander reveals Anya's secret and Willow deals with the fallout...
Timeframe: Immediately following "Truths"
- 4 -
Questions
Questions
Dawn and Buffy continued their yelling while Clem stood at the back of the crypt watching. This was not what he had signed up for when he had agreed to housesit for the absent vampire.
"You are so going to get it when we get home!" Buffy shouted above Dawn’s screaming.
Clem had just about enough. His ears were hurting and the girls were giving him a headache. He put the lemonade pitcher and two full glasses on a slab of marble, and walked over to them. "Lemonade?"
That got their attention. They stopped yelling and looked at him strangely. "Look, I don’t wanna get into the middle of a family squabble or anything like that, but I have a lot of cleaning to do, and you’re both giving me a headache."
"Sorry," Dawn said hesitantly, taking one of the glasses off the makeshift tray. Buffy waved at the other one, passing it up.
Clem set the marble slab down on the table next to the love seat and started to clean, hoping that the girls would now settle down - or at least stop the screaming.
"Dawn, why exactly did you come here?" Buffy asked demandingly.
"I wanted to talk to Spike again..."
Buffy’s eyes widened. "Again? What do you mean again?"
Dawn shifted on her feet nervously and tried to move the focus away from her and onto her sister. "Why are you here? You said you wouldn’t stop by when I asked."
"So you just thought that since I wouldn’t come here that you would?" Buffy challenged.
"Buffy, Spike is my friend. He protected me while you were..." she glanced nervously over at Clem and then back at Buffy, “...away."
"Uhm," Clem said raising his hand. "I know she was dead so you don’t have to pretend she was out of town or anything."
"Does every demon know I was dead?" Buffy asked incredulously.
Clem shrugged. "Pretty much. Yeah."
Buffy rolled her eyes and looked over at her sister who was getting impatient with the exchange.
"Look Buffy, I know he hurt you but he didn’t mean to. He was hurt too. And he still loves you."
Buffy had heard enough from Dawn. "We’re leaving now. You have no idea what you’re talking about."
"Why is that? Because I’m a kid?"
"No! Because he tried to rape me! That’s why!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. All eyes were on her now. She just wanted to crawl into a hole.
******
Willow turned out the lights, locked the door and headed upstairs. She and Tara were getting ready to go to bed when they heard a knocking at the door. "Stay here," Willow said to Tara as she began to make her way back down the steps. "I’ll see who it is."
Willow looked out the door and saw Xander standing there. She quickly undid the locks and opened the door. "Xander, what are you doing here? I thought you and Anya would be making with the smoochies by now."
Xander slowly made his way into the Summers’ home. He looked like he’d been through hell and back. "Sorry to wake you guys up. But I needed to talk to someone."
"I’ll make some hot chocolate," Tara said from the bottom of the stairs. Neither one of them had heard her come down.
"Xander? What’s wrong? Is Anya okay? What happened?" Willow maneuvered him into the living room; she sat him down on the couch and then moved to her own seat on the other side of the coffee table.
He seemed to be in shock. He just sat there and didn’t say anything. After a few minutes, Tara came into the room with a tray of steaming coffee mugs. "You looked like you could use some chocolate," she said, setting the tray down next to Willow and giving Xander a little smile. Willow glanced at her lover with worry in her eyes.
Looking over at Willow, he asked in a whisper, "Buffy? Dawn?"
"Buffy’s on patrol yet and Dawn is upstairs sleeping," Willow said, putting her hand on his. "We can wait until Buffy gets back to talk about this if you want?"
Xander sighed, slumped back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. Tara and Willow looked at each other questioningly. Finally, Xander spoke. "It won’t change anything if we wait for Buffy. The result is still the same. Anya is a vengeance demon again."
"What?" Both girls said, shocked.
"Ya know, Vengeance Demon? Men bad. Hate men. Men hurt women. Do bad things to men."
"Xander are you sure?" Tara asked with a frown.
"Positive. Her little demon friend Halfrek spilled the beans and Anya didn’t deny it. In fact, she confirmed it but said we could still work things out."
Tara sat down next to Xander and put her arm around his shoulders. "I’m so sorry, Xander. I know how much you wanted to work things out with her. Maybe there’s still some hope..."
"No. No hope. It’s over. She’s a demon now. How could I possibly love someone who does bad things to people?" He was getting angry now.
"Has she done any vengeance spells yet?" Tara asked, still looking at him.
"Dunno. I just found out the whole secret identity thing just a few minutes ago. Dunno if she’s been all vengeancy yet or not. I don’t even know how long she’s been a demon again."
Neither of them had noticed the look on Willow’s face. She hadn’t said a thing since he had first said the words, "Anya is a demon again." She now played them over in her mind. Suddenly, she leapt to her feet. "I have to go."
Xander and Tara stopped their conversation and looked over at her. Tara asked first. "What do you mean you have to go?"
Willow just stood and stared at them. Xander cocked his head to the side and asked, "Will? Are you okay?"
"Uh. Yeah. I’m fine. I just need to go get some marshmallows," she said with a smile and trying to sound convincing. "Can’t have hot chocolaty goodness without marshmallows!"
Tara’s eyes narrowed. Something was off about Willow again. Had she had another vision and just didn’t want to share it yet? Tara decided not to push. "Sweetie, why don’t you stay with Xander...?" But Willow was already out the front door and into the night. "And I’ll go get the marshmallows." Shrugging, Tara gave Xander a puzzled look.
******
Dawn returned to the love seat with the glass of lemonade for Buffy. She tried to wrap her mind around what Buffy had blurted out about Spike. It just didn’t seem like something Spike would do. He would never intentionally hurt her sister. He loved Buffy. Of that part, she was sure. She tried to make sense of it all as she handed the glass to her shaken sister. "Buffy are you sure Spike was purposely trying to hurt you? Cause wouldn’t the chip have zapped him and given him a headache?"
Oh god! How was she supposed to talk about something like this with her little sister? "Dawn," she started uneasily. "He was trying to force himself on me. He might have if I hadn’t stopped him. Plus, something happened when I came back from...where ever I was. Spike could hurt me. And only me."
Dawn looked at her sister wide-eyed. Obviously, Buffy was upset about this and had every right to be if what she was saying was true. Still, something still didn’t feel right. "Why didn’t you stop him right away? You could have stopped him right away, right? Did he vamp out and become all mean vampire on you?"
"My back hurt from being knocked into a headstone after I staked a vampire, and I was tired..." Did that sound as lame to them as it did to her? "And no, he didn’t go all Mr. Bumpy on me."
"Well that’s a good thing, right?" Dawn asked, almost pleaded. She really didn’t want to think of Spike as something evil. After a second she continued, "Buffy, I’ve seen you fight off demons after being kicked around by Glory. So don’t even tell me you were too weak to kick him off. Why didn’t you stop him when he first started?"
Dawn was right. She had managed to fight Glory, getting the crap beat out of her in the process and then been able to get in a round of patrolling in the same night. And Glory had been a Hell God. So why hadn’t she stopped Spike? There was that question again: why? Why couldn’t she find the answer?
"Do you love him?"
Buffy looked at her sister like she had turned into an alien. "Are you serious?"
"It’s a simple question, really." It was Clem now.
Great, now he was involved in all of this! Buffy stood to face the two of them. "No! Are you people crazy?" She shouted. "Here I thought I was the one with the mental problems!"
"Buffy what would be so wrong if you did love him?" Dawn asked as she folded her arms against her chest.
"What would be so wrong if I did? You’re joking, right? Dawn, Spike has killed hundreds of people, maybe thousands and you ask what would be so wrong if I loved him?" She was shaking her head and practically in tears again. "He tried to rape me Dawn. He hurt me. He’s not even human!"
"Buffy," Dawn said looking at her sister. "Spike said to me once that it didn’t matter how you started out, it’s where you are now that counts. Spike hasn’t hurt a human since the chip. And I bet he still wouldn’t hurt anyone if the chip didn’t work."
"Dawn, I seriously hope we never have to find that out." She took a sip of her drink. Her throat had gone dry and she felt like her tongue was going to stick to the roof of her mouth. The next sentence came out in almost a whisper. "But the fact still remains that he hurt me."
Clem stood there looking at the Slayer. He understood why his friend was in love with her. What human or former human wouldn’t be? She was beautiful, even if she did have tight skin, ick; and she was stubborn as Hell. He also understood that Spike had hurt her, but how many times had she hurt him? How many times had Spike come to play cards looking like he’d been hit by a truck? His friend wasn’t here now to defend himself and the young girl that Spike cared for like a daughter was only getting one side of things. Someone had to stand up for Spike.
"Slayer," he started hesitantly, hoping not to incur her wrath. "I don’t know what was going through Spike’s head when he...hurt you, but have you stopped to think of all the times you’ve hurt him? Like the way you used him as a punching bag whenever you felt the need to hit something?"
That got her attention. She was staring at him now. Dawn was too. Good.
"Buffy, you beat up Spike for the fun of it?" Dawn demanded as she stood face to face with her sister.
"Well," Buffy stammered. "A couple of times. Maybe once, or twice. He deserved it! For just being, well...Spike."
Clem’s head was starting to hurt again. Why had he gotten into the middle of this? Too late now, he had to continue. "It was a lot of times and you know it. What about when he tried to stop you from turning yourself into the police for that murder? You beat him to a bloody pulp!"
Dawn glared at Buffy now. "You were the one that did that to him? He told me he got that way from fighting a demon when you guys were out on patrol. God Buffy, what did he do to you to deserve that?"
Anger was building in Buffy’s voice as she said, "How did this become about me? Spike is the one that tried to rape me."
Looking at his watch and then looking around the crypt, Clem decided that it was time to wrap up this little therapy session. "I’m not trying to make this about you. This is about the two of you, and the pain you brought to each other. Don’t you get that?" That said, he turned his back and started sweeping up the pieces of broken glass.
******
Willow looked in the window of the Magic Box to make sure Anya was there. The woman was, talking to a now human looking Halfrek. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say to her, but she had to know. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the busted door.
Anya looked at her friend and then at the door. "Maybe it’s Xander!" She rushed to the door and opened it. "Oh. It’s just you." She turned and walked back to the counter.
"Nice to see you too Anya," Willow said. "Hello Halfrek."
Halfrek nodded back. "Anyanka, I’m going. Will you be okay?"
"I’ll be fine Hali," Anya said without much conviction. "Thanks for being here."
Willow turned to say goodbye to the demon but she had already disappeared.
"What do you want, Willow, because I’m really not in the mood for any kind of lecture or anything. Least of all from you."
Noticing Anya’s tear streaked face, everything she had practiced saying on the way over was forgotten. She put her arm around Anya and asked, "When did things get so messed up?" Anya started to say something but she waved her off. "Rhetorical type question, Anya. No answer needed."
"Oh."
Silence fell on the shop. Willow wondered how she was going to ask what needed to be asked. Did she really want to know the answer? She had to know. Slowly she moved to face Anya who looked like she had lost her world. This certainly didn’t look like a vengeance demon. Weren’t they supposed to be all veiny and menacing? "Anya?" She asked, trying to get her friend’s attention.
The former demon, then human and now demon again looked at Willow. Tears welled up in here eyes. "Yes, it’s true. Xander told you, didn’t he?"
Willow nodded. "But that’s not why I’m here, Anya. I was wondering. Did you? I mean. Have you?" This was harder than she thought it would be. "Uhm. Have you granted any wishes since being...again, specifically...mine?"
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: Warren's visit to Rack gave him much more than just a new playmate; it gave him power, ultimate power...
Timeframe: Two weeks after "Questions"
- 5 -
Power
Power
Warren stretched and yawned. The girl next to him whimpered a little and rolled over. He got out of bed, trying not to disturb her sleep, and made his way to the kitchen to make them some breakfast. Today was the day. He could feel it. For the past two weeks, he had felt the power coursing through him, making him stronger, more powerful. It was all he could do to keep himself from finding Buffy and using that power against her, torturing her. The girl in the bedroom had kept him in control. Finding her was the best thing that ever happened to him. Wait. That would be second best thing. Or maybe it was even third. He couldn’t decide because the first best thing hadn’t happened yet. But it was going to, very soon.
He busied himself around the kitchen. The coffee pot was gurgling and the toaster was toasting. He wasn’t much of a chef, but eggs, coffee and toast he could do. He smiled to himself as he buttered the toast. There was anything in the world that could ruin this day. He looked up from the toast to grab a couple of plates and she was standing there. Her hair was tousled but she looked amazing. "Good morning, beautiful," he said with a grin.
"What time is it?" she asked, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.
"Time for the Slayer and her friends to die," he said nonchalantly.
"Warren," she said with a sigh. "We’ve been through this. We can’t rush things and we don’t want to play our hand before we have to." She looked at him and she could tell that he was getting angry with her again. His eyes were turning red and the toast in his hands had gone up in flames. She quickly grabbed a towel and put the fire out, checking to make sure that he wasn’t burning too. His powers were still growing.
"I thought you wanted this as much as I did?" He growled at her.
"I-I do," she stammered. "But we have to do it right. I don’t want anything to go wrong because if it does, if she finds out before we can do anything, it could get bad for us. Really, really bad."
He leaned his back on the counter, folded his arms across his chest and stared at her. She looked down at her feet and pulled her robe tighter around herself. She felt like he was looking right into her. Most of the time that was exhilarating but then other times, like the one right now, it was disturbing. Sensing her thoughts, he walked over to her and pulled her into an embrace. She could feel him relax in her arms. "I’m sorry," he started. "I just want to kill the bitch. Now."
"I know you do. So do I, but we have to go over the plan first. So," she said trying to placate him, "why don’t we do that now and see what we can do about making her dead sooner?"
Warren pulled back and looked at her. Grinning from ear to ear he said, "That’s more like it."
******
Some time later that day, Willow sat deep in thought while waiting for Tara at the student lounge on campus. Despite how wonderful the last three weeks with Tara had been, she was starting to feel guilty about the wish. She also felt guilty about keeping it from her friends. Everyday she woke up, she felt like she was living a lie. The things she had done before making the wish haunted her memory. She remembered everything now, including how she had killed Warren and tried to hurt her friends. Even worse was that she had done it without any kind of remorse. She shivered a little. Her thoughts then turned to the conversation she’d had with Anya almost two weeks ago at the Magic Box:
"Yes, Willow. I granted your wish. That’s what I do. It’s my job," Anya had said.
"But, that means that all of this," Willow said gesturing around the store, "isn’t real. It’s all a lie."
"No. It’s all real. Just on a different plane of reality. There are many alternate universes, each one just as real as the next. Either way though, Xander hates me." She had said this with such sadness, that Willow couldn’t even look her in the eye.
"I’m sorry, Anya. I guess I’ve messed things up for everyone. Even before the wish. I guess I can’t wish it back, huh?"
"No. All sales are final," she had said, trying to make a joke of it.
"Oh! I know! We could destroy your power center! That would take us back and make you human again! Just like before!"
"Willow. Think about what you’re saying."
"What?" Slowly the gravity of the situation hit her and she deflated. "Oh. Right..."
"Willow, you made a wish and a good one too. Don’t second guess yourself."
Suddenly the sound of glass breaking snapped her out of her thoughts and back to the present. Someone had dropped a Snapple bottle next to her and the crash it made had startled her. She looked around the lounge and checked her watch. Tara should be here soon. The student who had dropped the Snapple was cleaning it up now. She, sat back in her chair and tried to relax by watching the clean up show, but her feeling of guilt wouldn’t stop nagging her. She closed her eyes and sighed. It was time to snap out of this. Which world did she really want to live in? One where Tara was dead and she was all black magic Willowy or one where she had a second chance to make things right?
"Willow?" a familiar voice asked from in front of her.
Slowly Willow opened her eyes. Standing in front of her was Amy.
******
Warren stood across the street from Buffy’s house, hiding in the afternoon shadows. Buffy’s little sister had just gone inside. That meant the only one still missing from the equation was Xander. Warren checked his watch again. Xander’s shift was over half an hour ago. He should be there by now.
A few moments later, a car pulled into the driveway. Good. It was Xander. Finally.
Warren’s pocket began to vibrate. He took out his cell phone. "Yeah?"
"I’ve got them," the voice on the other end said.
"Good," he said, smiling wickedly.
He pushed the end button on his cell and started to cross the street.
******
Xander let himself in. Buffy and Dawn were waiting for him in the living room. Dawn was watching TV and absently twirling a strand of hair around her finger while Buffy sat in the chair with a look of consternation on her face. Dawn greeted him with a small smile and went back to her show. Buffy just sat there, looking lost in thought. Something was up. She had called at the site earlier, and asked if he could come by for a Scooby meeting as soon as he could. He had told her he couldn’t get to her place until after his shift was over. She had sounded fine with that. Now, being here in front of her, he could tell that something was bothering her.
"Hey," she said distracted with her thoughts. "Thanks for coming. Willow and Tara should be here soon."
"Buff," Xander said, after taking a seat on the couch. "I know something is bothering you. Is your spidey sense tingling?"
She’d had this feeling of dread all day. At first she had thought that it was just her not wanting to go to work, but the feeling had stayed with her all day, intensifying. Something was definitely off. "I don’t know what’s wrong...just something inside of me saying to be alert."
"Danger Will Robinson, Danger," joked Xander. Buffy hadn’t even smiled at that one and Dawn wasn’t paying attention. "Okay. Me shut up now."
"Dawn," Buffy said looking at her sister. "I want you to get your stuff. I’m going to drop you off at Clem’s."
"Don’t you mean Spike’s?" Dawn stated emphatically, enough so that even Xander winced.
Buffy sighed. She didn’t want to fight with Dawn again. That’s all they seemed to do since that day in the crypt where she had blurted out her secret. They fought about everything again. It was like taking two giant steps back in their relationship. Yes, Dawn had been understanding and supportive about Buffy’s pain, but she also held her responsible for the ‘Spike beatings’, and for him leaving town.
"Dawn," Xander said harshly, putting his arm around the young girl. "I know you like Spike, but Spike has done some...pretty awful things. Especially, to your sister. That whole bad Vampire thing he has going on..."
"Spike is not bad!" Dawn shouted, as she leapt off the couch. Before Xander could say any more, she blurted out, "I know what he did to Buffy!"
Xander’s eyes widened and he looked sharply over at Buffy. She nodded to him and turned her head. He looked back over at Dawn who was standing there daring him with her body language, to say anything more about Spike.
Before things could get out of hand, there was a knock at the door.
******
Warren had just crossed the street and was making his way to the Summers’ home when he saw a familiar face hurriedly walk up the sidewalk to the house. He slipped behind a tree to watch. A look of rage crossed his face. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Not now. She wasn’t part of the plan! He needed to calm down and work this to his advantage.
He fished his cell phone out of his pocket again. After punching in the right numbers, he pressed send and waited for his accomplice to answer. "Come on. Come on," he shouted into the phone. "Pick up!!!"
"Hello?"
"It’s me. We’ve got another one for dinner. Set another place at the table."
He snapped his cell shut. His eyes followed the girl as she knocked on the door. Yeah, he was sure he could modify his original plans. No problem.
******
"Anya? What are you doing here?" Dawn asked as she opened the door.
"Is Buffy here?" Anya was nervous about talking to Buffy, and it showed. She was biting the side of her lip and looking extremely anxious. The fact that Xander’s car was in the driveway wasn’t helping, but this was something she needed to do. She had to.
Dawn glanced over at Buffy who was standing now. Buffy nodded at Dawn to let the demon in. "Uhm. Yeah. She’s in the living room."
Anya walked into the living room and felt Xander’s eyes on her. She tried to ignore him by telling her self to be strong. She was there to warn them, all of them.
Xander sat on the couch staring at Anya with disgust. Buffy folded her arms across her chest and waited for an explanation.
"Buffy, I know you’d rather I wasn’t here, but I had to come...to warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
Xander spoke before Anya could say another word. "Tact, Anya. Remember we used to talk about that and how you had none of it," he said hurtfully.
Anya looked down at her feet still biting the side of her lip.
"Xander," Buffy said admonishingly. "Let her speak."
She was grateful that Buffy had told him to stop. This was hard enough as it was. "Buffy. I’m sorry. I know what I did with Spike was wrong. But that’s not why I’m here."
"Why are you here An? To throw it in my face some more that we can’t be together? To show off your demony ways? What?" Xander demanded.
"Xander, I’m not here to talk to you. You’ve made it perfectly clear that we have nothing to talk about." Looking at Buffy, she continued. "Something bad is about to happen. I can feel it."
"I can feel it too," Buffy almost whispered.
"It’s very strong and very powerful; and it’s directed at you and at everyone you love." Anya’s eyes glanced at Xander making sure he knew that she was including him in this warning. "It’s against the rules, me coming here, but I couldn’t just do nothing and see you all hurt. I couldn’t stand it if..."
As Xander started to say something, there was an explosion, knocking them all to the ground. The door flew off its hinges and the front of the house disappeared in an avalanche of wood and cement. The four of them scrambled to get up, wondering what had just happened. A figure in the front yard caught their attention.
"Whoops. I guess I don’t know my own strength," Warren said laughing.
Buffy flew at him hoping to catch him off guard. He raised his hand up and she found herself unable to move. She was frozen; powerless.
Horror crept over the others as they realized they were powerless against him as well. Warren turned to look at them. He mumbled something to himself and clapped his hands together.
Everyone disappeared.
