We, Who Are About to Die, Salute You: Part Seven
by Onua
Another stone splashed into the lake, scattering the ducks and fish. Buffy's mind was in turmoil.

This was how it was gonna end? All that blood and sweat just to end her life? And it wasn't just metaphorically speaking. Despite the sudden- departures- of her loved ones, Buffy had continued her Slayer duties knowing full well that no one deserved the crap she went through. This was too unfair! Why should she die and rely on a demon to do what she wanted? The demon wouldn't even resemble her that's for sure. And no way in hell was she gonna pull an Ascension to become one. She most certainly did not stop one of Sunnydale's mayors so that she could do the rituals herself.

Sometimes, I wish this were all a dream, she thought. Something that when I wake up, I would automatically forget and go on with my ignorant, blissful life.

Buffy savagely threw another rock into the lake. This time, the ducks took flight.


* * *
Wesley Wydaham-Pryce weaved his way through the crowd in the reception hall greeting his various colleagues and sampling the hors d'ouevres. He wondered what the issue this summer was. No matter. Oh, there was Mrs. Wilshire. Wesley glided over to give her his greetings.

"Good evening, Mrs. Wilshire." Wesley smiled warmly. "Last I heard, you were stationed in New Delhi."

"Oh, Mr. Price," Mrs. Wilshire returned with a smile of her own. "Indeed, India was quite an eye-opener, I must say. I encountered several potentials there during my visit and have managed to start their training. It is good to be back in England, however."

"Capital," Wesley replied grandly. "I must admit, however, that I've had no such luck in where I was stationed."

"Oh? And where were you stationed?"

"Estonia," Wesley sighed. "Boring atmosphere. I really don't recommend a second visit and the people there..." He shuddered. "Certainly not my taste."

Mrs. Wilshire laughed. "You were always one with namby-pamby taste, my dear Wesley."

Wesley stiffened at the playful insult. He smiled slyly. "And your taste, correct me if I'm wrong, is rather large." He gave a quick glance at her widening hips.

"Careful, sir, or I'll have my husband carve out your tripes," Mrs. Wilshire returned winsomely. She looked around and lowered her voice. "Ordinarily, I'm not one to succumb to gossip. You know me better than that. But of late, I've been hearing some rather strange news regarding the Slayer. I know you were in charge of her at one point and it's something I thought I would share."

Wesley crinkled his brow. "And what is that?"

"It seems that our current Slayer had been deceiving the Council for almost nearly a decade. There's rumors flying about that Rupert Giles had passed away."

Wesley's mouth dropped open. "When did he die? Do you know?"

"This is only a rumor, mind you. I really can't say. But if that is true, Mr. Giles must have died a couple of years after you left."

"That's practically eight years ago!" Wesley exclaimed quietly. Wesley's eyes unconsciously landed on the Director who was overlooking the Gathering from a balcony. "Does the Director know?"

"Why wouldn't he? He sent Arthur Travers on an errand to America a couple of days ago. If such is true, Arthur would have reported the news immediately."

"Arthur Liam Travers? Is he not Quentin's brother?"

"The very one."

Just then, the door banged open and a lovely couple swept into the room. The lady wore a beautiful rose colored gown and her gloved hands rested lightly on her partner's arm whose well-tailored tuxedo showed off a fine masculine figure. Out of the corner of his eye, Wesley saw the Director stiffen. An uneasy feeling settled into his stomach.

The entire room became silent as they watched the pair coolly swept their golden eyes across the room. Suddenly, the woman gave a lilting laugh. "Adequate, I suppose," she giggled. She held out her hand and made a sweeping motion. All the doors banged closed and the windows slammed shut.

That caused quite a stir. Wesley leapt up on a table and attempted to pry open the window. It refused to budge. Strange, he had seen the workers oil them only yesterday. Wesley turned around to see the man raise his hand also.

And Wesley found himself quite alone in a forest. Sourceless rays of sunlight streamed through the trees. In the distance, Wesley heard screams of terror. Then he heard a ghostly chuckle.

"No, really, you all shouldn't panic just for us." The man's voice sighed. "But just to be fair, I think Juniper and I ought to tell you what's going to happen. Someone made a deal and sold all of your souls to us so that he can become a demon. This forest is just an example of where you're going to end up. We, of course, are going to kill you so that you can get there. We'll see all of you at least a hundred more times in Hell."

Wesley bolted through the trees. If this whole forest was only an illusion, he should sooner or later run into a wall. He was startled by a looming figure who appeared suddenly before him. Wesley started to gibber.

The man laughed good-naturedly. "Come now, be brave, man."

Wesley saw claws above him that brutally raked down his whole front, tearing his throat and shredding his chest. He screamed silently as something else slashed him from behind.


* * *
The sun had just set. Arthur looked worriedly out the window wondering where Buffy might have gone. As soon as Whistler pointed out that particular course of action, the Slayer had grimly walked out the apartment… and had not come back yet. The Watcher hoped that she was still in Sunnydale. Given her strength and stamina, Arthur figured that she could've walked to Los Angeles with no trouble at all.

He jumped as he felt a hand touch his shoulder from behind him. "Good God, Whistler, don't scare me like that. My nerves are a tad strung right now."

"Sorry," the demon apologized. "Sometimes I forget you humans can't take some things in stride." He looked out the window. "Still no sign of Buffy?"

"No. I hope she's still in Sunnydale."

"She is. I guess she's still trying to swallow everything I told her."

"You should've broke it to her more gently."

Whistler gave a look. "Next time you tell someone that he has to die in order to save the world, you show me a more graceful way to do it."

"I suppose I couldn't," Arthur sighed. He turned back to the living room and switched on the television. A news logo popped onto the screen.

Whistler sat on the sofa near Arthur. "Look, we haven't got much time. It'll only be a matter of time until Remington and Juniper think of the same thing. They're not dumb. Buffy's going to have to make her decision soon." Arthur, however was barely listening to the demon. Instead, he stared at the screen in transfixed horror.

Whistler looked at the television to hear the anchorman say, "…over four hundred bodies were discovered at a local convention center in Manchester, England, where, apparently, banquets and business meetings were to take place for three days. Allegedly, all the company employees were present during the time of the massacre and none had survived. Among those dead and confirmed was the CEO of the company, Watchers Incorporated. The majority of the bodies were torn and mutilated beyond recognition…"

"Oh, my God." Arthur fell back in shock. He could have been there. Of all years to miss a Gathering… In that kind of carnage, the possibilities of survivors were practically nonexistent. His brother, Quentin, was there. Arthur was dimly aware that the last time he had spoken to Quentin was a month ago.

Whistler, on the other hand, was frowning in thought. "So this was the *celebration* she was talking about," he muttered.

"What?"

"Sorry, Arthur. I really can't give you my condolences since I don't have any. Being a demon includes complete emotional removal." Whistler paused. "On the other hand, it allows me to think more clearly than you. I'd imagine that your mind is pretty fogged up now."

Arthur looked closely at Whistler, his mind still reeling in shock from the news. "You know what did this to them." He said it almost accusingly.

"I have strong suspicions. But let's make something clear, even if I knew exactly who did it, and knew exactly where and when it was gonna happen, I wouldn't have been allowed to interfere."

Arthur steeled himself. "Who do you think did this?"

"Our adversary," Whistler said simply. "Remington and Juniper. I talked to them not too long ago. Juniper invited me to a *party* with lots of blood and body parts." His waved towards the TV screen. "This sort of thing could've been their handiwork. Unfortunately, it doesn't wash. Unless there's some sort of pact, we demons are not allowed a massacre of that proportion. It's not allowed."

Arthur let out a shaky breath. "Remington and Juniper? Those two don't quit, ever, do they?"

"You've met them, I take it."

"More than that," Arthur said between clenched teeth. "They killed my wife and son… and Yuan-Li."

Whistler gave the Watcher a long searching look. "You're a fraud, you know that? You act all reserved and proper but deep down, you're as human as that girl you found this morning asleep at her desk."

Arthur remained silent.


* * *
Vengefully, Buffy leapt and kicked an offending vampire full in the chest. Staggering back, the vampire snarled hatefully and advanced towards her.

"You want more, is that it? Well, here ya go." Buffy slammed the vampire in the chest again, whirled around on her left foot and let her right heel connect the vampire's head solidly. With the vampire off balance, Buffy kicked it again and this time, the vampire laid on the ground, stunned.

"Oh, you're no fun," Buffy said sourly. "I was hoping for more of a fight." With that, she turned the vampire to dust. Looking up, she saw two vampires behind a gravestone. They turned and started to run.

With dead accuracy, Buffy chucked her stake and it imbedded itself in one of the running vampires' back. Then, she started to run after the remaining one. Given the powerful need to burn energy, running was just as good as fighting.

She lurched to one side as she felt a twinge of pain in her right arm. She looked behind and found a pair of golden eyes looking at her. She turned again to see the vampire she was chasing turn into dust. Looking carefully at her wound, she found some wooden splinters that had lodged into her arm. She glared at the couple who was nonchalantly walking in her direction. "I didn't ask for your help."

"Spirited, isn't she?" the man observed to the woman.

Buffy was a Slayer long enough to separate demons from humans. Besides, she had never seen eyes so golden. They almost glowed in the dark. "Who are you?" she asked warily.

The woman gave a disarming smile. She smoothed the front of her rose colored gown. "Ah, I almost forgot. Introduction is standard practice in courtesy, right? My name is Juniper," she said pleasantly. "And this is the love of my life, Remington." Juniper looked up at the man at her side wickedly.

Remington returned her mischievous grin and then turned to the Slayer who instantly tensed. "Oh, calm down. We aren't here to kill you. If that was allowed, you would've been dead a long time ago."

"Somehow, I really doubt that," Buffy replied coolly.

"Definitely spirited," Juniper said, leaning her head against Remington's shoulder. "We're just here so that you can relay a message to your Watcher. Travers is here, right?"

"He isn't my Watcher," Buffy said coldly. "And if you're just here to waste my time, I'll be leaving now. There are vampires out there who're hoping against hope that I might not show." Buffy turned around only to stare at those golden eyes again. Now she was afraid but she didn't show it. Instead, she glared. "Get out of my way."

Remington reached out and put his hands on her shoulders as if to make the Slayer listen to what he had to say. That proved to be a mistake.

Instantly, Buffy knocked both his hands off of her and kneed him in the gut. Remington doubled over in shock but was then violently straightened when Buffy's knee struck him in the face. Roaring, Remington lunged at the Slayer.

Buffy tumbled to the ground but managed to tuck her knee and lean it against Remington's chest. Using the momentum of her fall, she held onto the demon and rolled until Remington was flat on his back with Buffy straddling him. She punched him full in the face. Then Buffy felt a hand roughly pull her away from him.

Growling, Juniper's hand morphed into claws and raised her hand, fully intent on raking the Slayer's face. Buffy blocked its descent and side kicked the demon away from her. Juniper stumbled back and fell unceremoniously on her rump.

To Buffy's surprise, Juniper laughed ruefully as she got up. "Now look what you did," she said. "You ruined my dress. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get rid of the grass stains?"

Buffy stood warily as she watched Remington get up, rubbing his jaw. "Not bad, Slayer," he said. "Nevertheless, it's a good thing those higher beings we all don't know and love explicitly told us not to kill each other. We still could've killed you."

Deep down, Buffy figured that Remington was right. Even if she herself had the chance to kill him, something would have stopped her. "Yeah, too bad," Buffy said sarcastically. "So what are you doing here?" Buffy turned and started to walk down a lane of graves. She heard Juniper and Remington start to follow.

"We wanted to meet you," Remington replied with aplomb. "June and I were interested with what we were up against."

"I hope you're impressed," Buffy said absently, her eyes intent on looking for vampires.

"Behind that mausoleum," Juniper said, pointing. "To the left."

Buffy glared at the golden-eyed woman before stalking towards the small building. The couple waited patiently as the heard sounds of a small struggle and then a dying scream. Buffy appeared from behind the mausoleum, brushing the dust off her clothes. She looked distrustfully at the couple. "I don't need your help. Why don't you just give me that message and go away before I kill you?"

Remingtone rolled his eyes. "That's not allowed, Slayer. What are you, deaf?" All of a sudden, Remington found himself pinned to a tree with the Slayer's hand wrapped around his throat. The girl was pretty quick, he'd give her that. Juniper looked on in bored interest.

"I'm having a bad day," Buffy gritted. "If you're not going to tell me crap, how about I kick your ass all the way back to Hell?"

"Now, now," Juniper chided. "That's no way to talk to my Rem."

"Shut up," Buffy told her.

"Grow up, Buffy," Juniper said with an edge in her voice. "You will let him go now."

Buffy hesitated. Remington took that opportunity to knock the Slayer's hand away from his throat. Buffy remained where she was, staring hatefully into Remington's eyes. Abruptly, Buffy continued to walk down the lane.

"Tell your Watcher that we missed him at our party tonight. It's too bad he missed it. The Director made wonderful arrangements for our entertainment."

Buffy turned around to speak but was greeted by no one. Remington and Juniper had vanished into thin air.


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