Dark and Bright: Burning
by Seralis
Chapter Two - Burning
Buffy awoke, the faint rays of the coming dawn filtering through a window. Cool arms held her in a place of sanctuary, but even these could not protect her from the thought of the coming day. She rose slowly, wrapping Spike’s long forgotten shirt around her, his duster on top of that. Taking comfort in his scent in the leather, she gazed at the rising sun, for the first time feeling the force of what they were about to do hitting her hard.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
“You’re not him.” Even the knowledge that Caleb was dead could not quell the cautiousness she felt around his image.
“No. You may have killed my right arm, but I have an army.”
“An army of vampires……however will I fight?”
“And yours? A bunch of pimply faced teenagers.”
“You know, you need a cool name. Like The Taunter, ‘cause you can’t do much being all non-corporeal and all.”
“Oh, I won’t be like this forever little girl. As soon as my army outnumbers the humans on this filthy planet, I’ll be all nice and corporeal. Then nothing will stop me, not you, not the other Slayer, and certainly not those little Slayers in training. They’re powerless until you die anyway. I know the drill.”
From Caleb’s body, the First morphed into a mirror image of Buffy herself. She would never stop wigging out when she stared at herself like this. First that stupid doll, then Faith’s little let’s-switch-bodies game, and now this? Her annoyance was interrupted by the First’s conversation, once again. “Into every generation, a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world. She alone will have the strength to…..there’s that word again……what you are, how you’ll die. Alone.” Silence greeted this non-revelation. “What, no snappy comeback?”
“You’re wrong.”
“Hmm,” she watched as her own brow wrinkled slightly, “not your best.”
A new power that comes with knowledge strengthened her voice. “I’m not alone.” She glanced at the sleeping vampire, smiling at his complete obliviousness. “I have him.”
********
Her troops were in place, Willow was setting up to do her mojo, and she was as ready as she was going to get. Spike had made it halfway down the hall before he heard the quiet call he’d been hopefully waiting for. She wouldn’t send him off into battle with the few brisk words she had for the others? “Spike.”
It took all the willpower he had to stop from sprinting back to her, that and a healthy dose of well-nurtured pride. She kissed him softly when he reached her, letting him deepen it, his fingers brushing through her hair. This time, it was him that pulled away, gazing into those hazel depths he adored. She whispered, the first time her voice had betrayed any emotion other than fierce bravery. “Don’t die.”
He smiled at her, the expression quite different from his usual smirk, “As long as you don’t either luv.”
His kissed once more, quickly on the lips, before smirking at the group. “ G‘Luck to you mates.” A moment later, he was gone, striding down to the basement, away from peering eyes that might see the glimmer of tears in his eyes. Big Bads don’t cry, Big Bads don’t cry.
Buffy turned around to face the disbelieving faces of her friends. Willow stayed silent as both Giles and Xander burst with questions and reprimands and downright confusion. She watched, unsure of whether she should be amused or intimidated by their incomprehensible rambling. Finally, when Giles took a breath, Xander got his word in.
“What the hell was that?! Spike?! I can understand if you need comfort Buffy, but it’s SPIKE! The evil undead?! Hello? Remember how he tried to-”
“Stop.” Rambling and concern she could take, albeit overbearing, stifling, downright annoying concern. But she would not hear...that brought up again.
“Why do I have to keep on telling people this? Spike’s different now.”
Willow spoke up for the first time, her quiet inquisitive voice bringing silence to the two hell mongers. “Because of the soul? Buffy, a soul doesn’t change everything, I mean, just look at Angel.”
She shook her head slightly at her best friends, “It’s not just the soul. It’s him. Don’t you see how much he’s done, how much he’s changed? Just for us.”
“You mean for you, Buffster. ‘Cause he wants to get into your pants.”
“Well, he’s already done that, hasn’t he Xander? But that’s not the point! He’s different, whether you guys see it or not.”
Freshly cleaned glasses back on, Giles piped up again, “I don’t think we do Buffy. But we have an apocalypse to avert, and discussions of Spike can wait until later.”
“If there is a later...ow, Will!”
Smiling gratefully at her Watcher, she turned to Willow, who gave her trademark bubbly grin, “So, feel like shopping tomorrow?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve got a wicked shoe craving.”
Laughing, the four friends went their separate ways, each fundamental in their own right. They would live to see another day.
********
“You first B.” She took the knife, sliding it down her palm, watching the line of red follow in its wake. One by one, each girl made the cut, and joining hand, let the blood run down to the seal, to watch the light shine, opening the gate. It’s always about blood.
Buffy looked down into the depths of the tunnel in the floor, wondering if the uncertainty showed on her face. Glancing at her fellow Slayer, she stepped closer, down the tunnel, into the darkness.
The cavern was huge, populated by an equally huge army. Spike piped up at her side, “I don’t think this amulet thing’s working luv. I’m not feeling anything.”
“I’m not worried.”
It was then she looked over the edge to take in the view. Confronted by thousands of yelling ubervamps, her voice seemed to be stuck on repeat. “I’m not worried.”
He wasn’t sure if he wanted to slap some concern into her, or wrap her up in his arms and take her underlying fear away. Amanda, that was her name, wasn’t it?, spoke for the silence of the rest of the Potentials. “Really? ‘Cause I’m flashing back to Xander’s whole bathroom speech.”
“I’m not worried. As long as Willow can work her spell before they-”, total silence cut her off, accompanied by the stare of thousands of pairs of eyes, “see us.”
In a moment they came at them like a swarm of bees, rushing towards them with a death wish for the Slayers, both current, and wanna-be.
“Willow?”
********
“These guys are dust.” The words would have made her laugh if she wasn’t fighting for her own life against the onslaught of the First’s army. The battle raged on, and she couldn’t tell if they were winning, if they were losing, anything. She was vaguely aware of a few vamps escaping them, flooding up to the school, where she knew her friends would take care of them.
Her head jerked from the battle scene, hearing a muffled cry, “Buffy! Whatever this thing does, I think it's…..” The rest of what he meant to say was cut off by his howl of pain. She twisted towards him, unheeding of the danger around her. The next moment, she felt a burning pain in her abdomen, looking down to see the blade that impaled her. Gasping, she fell, her face lying on the cool stone floor.
He saw it all. The pain, blinding as it was, could not hide her fall from him, the gasp of shock that drowned out the noises of battle all around him. He watched, silent as Faith rushed to her side, helping her up. His heart twisted as she handed the scythe to the Slayer. “Hold the line.” That’s his girl.
********
She looked up to see her own face smiling down at her. The First. “Ow. Oh no...Mommy...this mortal wound is all...itchy.” She smirked, “You came pretty close to smacking me down. What more do you want?”
“I want you...to get out of my FACE!” She dragged herself to her feet, slicing left and right, scythe again in hand, dust falling unheeded to the ground.
As if empowered by their leader’s rise, the new slayers fought back another wave, and another after that.
********
He tried to help. Really he did. But the pain washed over him again, that strange brand of amulet-generated pain. He found himself positioned directly beneath the open seal, light pouring down onto his seriously light-intolerant body. “Oh bollocks.”
“Buffy!”
********
She heard his call for her, and she turned to him, only to be blinded by golden sunlight. She saw his upturned face, heard the sounds of the vamps all around her dusting as they were each hit by rays of light. She felt the walls of cavern shake, heard Faith order the girls out, into the light.
Rushing to his side, he spoke to her, his voice tinged with wonder, “I can feel it Buffy...my soul. It’s really there...it kinda stings.”
The last of the new slayers were gone, and it was just her and Spike left in the collapsing cavern. “Go on then.”
She stared at him, wondering if he was insane. “We can still get out.”
“I gotta do this.”
Faith’s call for her to follow her up the seal went unheeded. She would not leave him, stubborn vamp he was. Taking his hand in hers, she blinked back tears. Flames already engulfing their clasped hands, she stepped closer to him, her body pressing to his. “I love you.”
“I love you too pet. But you have to go. Nibblet’s going to need you.”
She realized she would leave Dawn if she stayed here. Again.
“She can take care of herself. She’s almost grown up.” She looked into his eyes before she spoke again, “I died for her once. I came back for her. It’s time for me to let go. Time to think about me, who I need.” She wrapped her arms around him, comforted by his embrace.
The cavern was falling apart, havoc all around them. They were both oblivious. They could both feel the burning start to spread, the amulet’s power engulfing them both. She tilted her head towards him, their lips meeting for a final time.
“I love you.”
********
Standing on the edge of the crater that used to be Sunnydale, tears brimmed in the eyes of the small clustered group. Giles laid a gentle hand on the youngest, the only Summers daughter left. She wiped her tears away savagely. “It will be all right Dawn. It will take time, but it will be all right again.”
Sobbing now, she buried her head into the shoulder of her surrogate father. He had lost his daughter, she her sister.
He could not describe the pain he felt at losing his Slayer. His friend. His daughter. Nor could he find the words necessary to comfort those who too were in pain. There were no words. The only solace he could find in her third and final passing was that she had been with someone she loved.
She was happy. That was all he could ask for.
********
19 days later……
“Spike?”
“Spike.”
“Blondie Bear?!”
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