LIFE'S A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION: Part Five
by Pen Horwitz
Disclaimer: Buffy, Willow, Angel, Xander, Giles, and the rest of the Sunnydale gang aren't mine. They belong to Joss and the nice people at Mutant Enemy. I'm not making any money off this so please don't sue. And please don't repost this without asking me first.
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Part Five
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The Coming Storm
Diana sat in her chambers. The house had been purchased by her mortal agents in preparation for her coming. It had once belonged to a college fraternity which had fallen on hard times after their dark patron was murdered by the Slayer, but the scent of murder, death, and evil still lingered. It was enough to make even the most unaware mortal shiver with fear, but the new mistress of the vampires of Sunnydale felt at home. Two of her servants walked down the stairs into the cavernerous chamber with bowed heads.
"Let me guess, you failed." Diana's tone was flat as she combed out her midnight hair.
"She took Derek, Mistress." said one of the pair as if it would explain everything.
"You are vampires, the greatest predators ever to grace this forsaken world, yet you whimper like cowards in the face of a mortal!"
"Mistress, is it possible that she is the Slayer?" ask her minion. "She knows us, and it would explain why Angelus is helping her."
"You've seen Angelus?!?" She was on top of him before he could move. With the strength of an elder of her kind, she lifted her servant from the ground by his throat. "Why was I not informed of this!"
"A-a-apologies, Mistress, but in the midst of preparing for your coming Ericson forgot that detail." The vampire glanced at his companion hesitantly.
Diana had little tolerance for failure and tossed the worm into the wall, then grabbed Ericson. "Failure is death," she hissed as the demon etched itself on her face, and her fangs sung into his flesh. A moment later, dust fell to the floor, and Diana looked up at the simpering vampire. "Send both Angelus and his mortal to the grave!" The fool bolted back upstairs before his mistress could express any more displeasure.
The vampire queen cursed her sister's child. Angelus had been a thorn in her side since the day Darla had created him. She knew he would lead her sister of both life and death to ruin, but Darla was impulsive and brought the beautiful Irish boy into the darkness, only to have him become a sheep in wolves' clothing. It was thrice damn Angelus who had killed her sister, aided their mortal enemy in the death of their master, and stole the Manifesto from her keeping. For all these sins she would see him burn in the light of day! And then she'd dine on the power of the Hellmouth.
* * *
Xander and Brigid crossed the threshold of the apartment, followed by Angel. Willow, looking heartsick, hugged her husband, all the while checking to see if he was all right. Brigid, too, found herself on the receiving end of a bear hug from her worried father.
"Uhh, Dad?", she gasped, "Air!"
Giles let go of her and held her at arms length. "What did you think you were doing?" he demanded with a soul deep terror in his voice.
"Who told?" She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Angel grin in wry apology. "Oh, great," she muttered, "Stick a fork in me. I'm done."
"What in heaven's name made you think you should go out and kill vampires?" He father fumed. Brigid could see the concern in his eyes, and the horror... But of what?
"Because there isn't anybody else. I mean Kendra isn't here..." She thought back to the phone call from Kenya. "She's dead, isn't she?"
"Yes."
"There that's even more reason for me to pick up the slack. Have you guys found the next Slayer?"
"Angel thinks we have." The tone in his voice left no doubt as to what he thought of Angel's opinion, and now Brigid understood the consuming fear in his eyes.
"Me?" Her voice was foreign sounding to her own ears. "Wouldn't you have known?"
"I should have. According to the Codex the new Slayer we seek is 'born of the death of a Slayer.' The year you were born a young woman named Danille was the Slayer, and she didn't die until two years later. So it would be impossible for you to be her reincarnation." He began to pace. "I was there when you were born. You were the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen, but there was nothing to indicate you were the Slayer." He looked pleadingly at Angel. "Are you sure about this?"
"I'm positive, Giles. I wouldn't have mentioned it if I wasn't."
"Rupert," said the dark haired woman Brigid had seen in the library, "It might not be reincarnation at all. We might be dealing with a transmigration here. If Brigid is willing, we could do a hypnotic regression. It might be able to help us figure out exactly what we're dealing with."
"No, Jenny! I absolutely forbid it!"
"Do it." Brigid's quiet soprano cut through her father's diatribe. She looked at him. "Don't you understand? The nightmares, all of it is probably tied up in this. I want to stop waking up in the morning wondering who I am. Please, Dad, I know you love me, now show me you trust me." She smiled reassuringly at him and then turned to Jenny. "What do I need to do?"
The older woman looked to her father, who wore a resigned look on his face. "Just sit down and relax."
* * *
Giles watched helplessly as Jenny performed the induction. He wanted to stop it, but couldn't without Brigid losing all faith in him, but he didn't want it to be true. How could he have missed it? He was a Watcher! He should have known. Had familial obligations blinded him to his duty? He heard Jenny finish. The moment of truth was at hand.
"Brigid, It's..." She looked at Giles who paused a moment then, in defeat, mouthed the girl's birth date, "May 1, 1993. What do you remember?"
Giles eyes widened as she replied, "It's the last day of ice skating class. I'm going through my routine, but only Mom's there. They had another fight..."
Rupert heard Angel whisper, "Oh my God." He turned to face the vampire, who's lips formed one word, "Buffy."
The Watcher sat down next to Jenny on the couch, "Brigid, it's March 18, 1998. Where are you?"
"A big warehouse, they have me tied in the middle of a circle."
"Who are they?"
"Vampires, they slit both my wrists, and the dark woman said something about a ceremony. I'm bleeding, I'm dying." The soprano voice was flat.
"Brigid, this is important. Do you remember what else happened that night?"
"Yes, I died."
"You died?" Giles' expression was stunned, but he continued. "Can you explain?"
"I'm trying to get the girl out of the warehouse... We're both dying. Damn, Drucilla for what she did! The Hellmouth is draining kid's soul. I don't know how I can feel it, but I can. I've got to stop it. I stumble out, still carrying her in my arms. The paramedics are trying to revive her. I'm seeing everything outside my body. I watch myself collapse as Giles pries himself away from his cousin to check on me. An EMT rushed over and gives me mouth to mouth, but it's not going to work this time. I walk over to Brigid, and I can _see_ what Drucilla did to her. There's a line connecting her to the Hellmouth, and it's draining her soul away. I can't force it closed from the outside so I step into her body and close it. It was almost to late, half her soul is gone. If she's going to survive I have to stay here..."
Giles bit his lip and looked away. He felt the tears sting his eyes. "Jenny, that's enough." He whispered.
Jenny nodded and brought her out of the hypnotic state. "Brigid, on the count of three you're going to wake up, and remember everything you just told us. All right?" The young woman nodded. "One... Two.. Three."
Brigid's eyes flew open and she sobbed, "Oh my gods!" Rupert knelt next to her chair and held her as she cried herself out.
Willow's stunned voice cut through the silence as she recited the prophecy from the Codex, "A Slayer born of A Slayer's death, one who stands at the bridge to Hell and allows no one to pass."
* * *
As soon as Brigid finished crying, she excused herself and fled to her bedroom. Both Giles and Angel watched her go with similar worried expressions on their faces.
"I should go talk to her." Giles thought aloud, but Angel stopped him.
"Let me."
The Watcher looked at him curiously, "Why you?"
"I know what it's like waking up with memories that don't belong to you, so maybe I can help."
"You're right." Giles conceded. "But remember, she isn't Buffy... At least not totally. She not going to react the same way to you."
"I know." Angel nodded and walked down the hall to a door decorated with calligraphy quotes from the Romantic poets, Shakespeare, and a few others Angel didn't recognize. He knocked lightly on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Angel, can I come in?"
The door opened, and as he stepped inside he felt as if a ton of bricks hit him. The vampire staggered slightly as Brigid looked at him in surprise, then she realized what had happened. She grabbed the pentacle that hung around her neck, out from under her shirt, and murmured a few words. The pain stopped allowing Angel to sighed in relief. "Nice wards," he commented with a smile.
"Considering what goes on in this town, it's better to be safe than sorry." She shrugged. "It's not as if I expected to be inviting a vampire into my room."
"So you remember that, huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, after all, the strongest connections are usually emotional ones." He sat down on the bed and studied her. "How are you dealing with this?"
"The only way I can, I guess. It's hard to believe the last ten years of my life have been a lie."
"What makes you say that?"
"I'm Buffy Summers in a different body. Nice of her to take over my life like that!" She pummeled a pillow in frustration.
"No, you're not. You have a few things in common, but the Buffy Summers I knew didn't read Blake or Tennyson." He pointed to the three tall bookcases that lined the wall. "I don't think Buffy liked reading much at all, but you..." He started naming off books. "_Le Morte De Arthur_, _The Fairie Queene_, _The Hero With A Thousand Faces_. I doubt she'd even heard of these, let alone read them."
"So, I like to read. Big deal." Brigid fell back onto her bed.
"It is! It says that you're intelligent, and patient. You'll do things differently than Buffy did. She had a tendency to feel first, ask questions later, and it got her into a lot of trouble at times. You, on the other hand, know when to think, and when to feel." Angel hoped he was getting through to her. Finally he took her hands, pull her up from the bed and lead her over to the full length mirror on her closet door. He made her stand right in front of the mirror and asked, "What do you see?"
"I see me."
"Exactly! Buffy made a choice to save your life. And it's yours, not Willow's or Giles' or whatever Watcher they assign you. Or Buffy's for that matter. Your life belongs to Brigid Giles, and believe me, that's what Buffy would have wanted for you. She was never very big on the 'Glorious Destiny' thing."
She studied herself in the mirror for long moments, then turned to Angel with a self-mocking smile. "You really know how to ruin a self-pity riff, don't you?"
"Years of practice," he agreed, and danced out of the way as she playfully swatted at him.
"I forgot how much of a pain in the ass you could be..." She stopped as she realized exactly what she was saying, and all the humor left her eyes. "Angel, I have to ask you a question. Why didn't you ever tell Buffy you loved her?"
That took him off guard, but he saw where she was going and answered. "I was afraid. I destroyed everything I loved in my life when I became a vampire. It was dangerous to admit to loving anyone or anything, even after I got my soul back. I figured as long as I didn't say it, she was safe." He dug his nails into his palm to ward against old memories.
"I'm sorry." Her voice was soft as she moved to his side. "She knew, if that's any consolation to you."
He managed a smile through the pain. "Thanks, Brigid. It does help, a little."
"I'm glad, but it seems I still have a lot to work out. I'm having trouble finding where my feelings end and hers begin." She grinned at him. "Especially concerning an annoying, cryptic, gorgeous, cradle-robbing creature of the night, who just happens to be standing in my bedroom."
"I get the hint, Brig."
"Good. Seriously though, I got school tomorrow, it's late, and as much as the idea of you being stuck here all day appeals to me, it's probably not a good thing." To his amazement, her cheeks took on a rose coloring. She was blushing! "Go on! Get!" She started pushing him out the door. Right before she could get him past the threshold he impulsively hugged her.
"Good night, Brigid. Sleep well."
"I'll try. Night, Angel," she murmured as he let go and closed the door behind him.
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