Dawn sat on the floor in the living room, Anna and Kennedy at her side. The other potentials were all gathered around the room, staring at Dawn as if expecting an order.
“She said that we had to stop her.” Dawn told them. “Which means we have to find Faith now.”
“Why now?” Molly asked. “We should wait until Xander or someone gets back.”
“Why? We can handle it. With all of us, we can…”
“Were you not here when Faith stabbed Buffy and sent all of us flying?” A brunette asked.
“We weren’t prepared then – we can be now.”
“It’s storming outside!” Rona cried. “We can’t just go out there, we don’t even know where she is.”
“Do now.” Came the all to familiar voice as the front door was kicked in. A bolt of lighting light up the sky and the blood on Faith’s clothes. “Let’s get started with the plan then, shall we?”
“What kind of problem?” Willow asked, her gaze leaving the Slayer’s body.
“The kind that involves killing Faith.” He huffed. “Look, I was in Willy’s when I heard some guys talking – guys who aren’t afraid of anything. They said that the Slayer had gone mad, that she had always been mad, and against the good team all along, she just always pretended to want to help. All she’s been doing is working us for her – getting rid of the things and demons that’ll get in her way when she means to destroy us all.”
“So Faith really is evil.” Willow said, slowly sinking down onto the bed next to Buffy. “Buffy, what do you think we should do?” Turning towards her friend, she noticed how pale her face had gotten, and the blood dripping from her raw lips. “Buffy?”
Buffy let out a low laugh. “We should have all died a long time ago, Will. Think about it – I should already be dead. The Master, Glory, Warren…I should be dead. I should just stop even caring now…everything is just…and look at you – all sad because of Tara still, and your already fucking Kennedy’s brains out. Xander and Anya should just…”
“Stop it!” Willow cried, jumping to her feet. She raised a hand and smacked Buffy across the face.
Vamp Willow had left the Master’s side long ago. The rain still down poured on her, but her dead body was already soaked. Still, she walked calmly through the empty streets, innocently looking for some easy fun. Just one kill would satisfy her – demon would do. She just needed to get her hands on something and crack it’s bones. Snap them in half like they were nothing but a twig. Just thinking about sinking her teeth into the soft delicate flesh of a human neck made her stomach rumble and her throat growl.
She vamped out, the hunger inside of her overpowering her body. A lone little boy running down the street caught her eye. He must have only been around five or six, so small, the flesh so delicate. It wouldn’t be much of a feed – but it was something. As the boy ran down the slick street, he fell. Morphing her face back into it’s human form, she ran to his side, and pulled him up by his arms.
“Where’s your mommy and daddy?” She asked like a kind mother.
“Not supposed to talk to strangers.”
A young woman’s voice was calling out in the distance, and Willow only heard it because of her extra sharp vamp hearing.
“Oh. Guess your not supposed to be eaten by them either then, huh?” Willow asked, her face vamping out. The boy screamed and tried to run away, but her grasp held fast, and she heard her fingers smashing his bones into dust. His screams were carried away by the high winds, the mothers voice was growing more frantic in the distance, closer. Willow quickly drew the boy close, the smell of peanut butter and chocolate on him disgusting her. Hugging him to her crouched body, she bit into his neck, snapping it in the process. As her razor sharp white teeth dug into the soft flesh on his neck, her craving was lessened and she smiled, pulling away. The fangs, ridges on her forehead, and yellow eyes disappeared as she gathered the boy up in her arms and ran towards the frantic calling of the mother. She could see the pathetic brunette before she could even see a stranger carrying her son. “Ma’am!” Willow called, her voice louder than the rain.
“Oh my baby!” The woman cried running near. “You found him!” She opened up her arms to retrieve her son, but Willow dropped his corpse onto the road.
“Oops.” And she went in for the kill.
Xander pulled Andrew to his feet. The blond was fussing about something, his words just mambles, some in different languages that Xander could not even begin the comprehend.
“Come on big guy…or little guy in your case anyway.” Xander said as Andrew stood on his own.
The last of the Nerd Squad rubbed his head. “Where’s the other you?”
“Dust.”
“Oh. Cool.” The geek’s face lit up to this, a small smile forming on his face. “It kind of reminds me of Nemesis, you know? Like how when they find Data’s double, who goes by Data’s original name, which is really…”
“Shut up.” Xander said placing a stake in Andrew’s palm. “I’ve already seen the movie – and we’ve got bigger problems.”
“Like?”
“Like the fact that there’s still an evil Willow running out on the loose out there, and not to mention the Master, and oh ya, Faith.”
“Well, jeeze. You don’t have to be so…”
A scream from outside made both their heads turn.
“At least the rains letting up a little…” Andrew told Xander as they made their way to the front door. “I mean, you can at least hear everyone screaming now.”
“F-f-faith.” Dawn stuttered, hopping to her feet in sync with the other potentials. She backed up a little, Kennedy and Anna at her side.
“D-d-dawn.” Faith mimicked, twirling a stake in her hand. “Now I know this won’t exactly kill you right away, but we could give it a damn good shot.”
“Don’t.”
“Whoa! Grow a pair, Dawnie? Grow at all? I mean, you never really even existed, so technically speaking, I don’t think that you would…”
“What do you want?”
“To stop all the bad, lil’ sis.”
“I’m not your little sis.” Dawn said, emphasizing her nick name. “I’m not even related to you at all.”
“Really? Cause uhh…I would take that over being related to B, now wouldn’t you?”
“Why should I?”
“Cause she’s the bad one after all, inn’t she? I mean, look at the big picture Dawnie. Don’t tell me none of you saw it. Sending the First back into the ground took what, two minutes? Doesn’t that seem a little too…I don’t know, quick? Heartless, careless? She’s the bad one here Dawn, not me.”
“Really? Then why did…why would fight to save us all so much? Why fight evil and demons, and things like you if she just wanted to kill us all?”
“Why not? Get you on her side, turn around and sucker punch you when you ain’t looking. You know that something isn’t right here, Dawn. I mean, look around you. Why are the potentials still here? For the after party? I don’t think so. She’s going to kill them all.”
“Why? What would she get out of it? You’re the psychotic murderer, you’re the one who kills random people at will, not Buffy. She’s not like that, she not like you, and she couldn’t do that.”
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t, Dawn? She’s the one you’re out to get here, not me.”
“Then why not try and tell us that before you go and gut her?” Kennedy asked.
Faith looked at her. “Would you have listened? Would you have believed me, or would you react like how you are now?” There was a moment of silence in which no one spoke, all lost in thought, trying to figure out who was right and who was wrong.
“Why come in threaten us if you’re good then?” Molly hesitantly asked.
“Thought you were with her. Didn’t know. Thought I’d see how you reacted. If you stood up for her straight up, figured you didn’t know yet. If you didn’t, I expected hugs and puppies.”
“If you thought that we were with her, wouldn’t we stand up for her right away, bitch?” Kennedy asked.
“Wouldn’t I be able to tell if you were lying? Now watch your mouth or I’ll rip out your pink squirmy tongue, little girl.” Faith stepped forward, her boots thumping on the wooden floor, and that was when a sleek body came flying in through the window, parting the potentials forever.
“Oh my God!” Andrew cried as Xander pulled him behind back inside the Magic Box’s front door and slammed the door shut. “That was Willow! She’s evil again!”
“No – that was vampire Willow. Now shut up and stop freaking out, or she’ll find us. Vampires can smell fear you know.”
“I wanna be home, I wanna be home, I wanna be home, I wanna be home…” He tapped his shoes together, squinting his eyes work. “Damn. It only works for Dorthy.”
“Will you just shut up?” Xander hissed through clenched teeth, pressing his back against the wall.
“Why? It’s not like she can…”
Xander clasped his hand over Andrew’s mouth and glowered at him. “I just killed the other me, my best friend’s evil twin is right outside, I just went to the funeral home to pick out a coffin for my ex-girlfriend, and I need to think, so shut the hell up!” A black rage burned in his eyes, and Andrew shut his mouth, sitting down on the ground, his arms wrapped around his legs. Xander slid down next to him, his eyes softening, the image of Anya’s dead body still in his mind.
In the Summers’ living room, the potentials parted, their screams ringing out in the air and quieting once the body rolled over and the face of the victim was visible. She had shoulder length slicked back brown hair, fair skin, her body dressed in all black. Blood leaked from her skull, glass in her perfect all to familiar face. All eyes went to Faith.
“Damn. Guess that charades up.” She said, staring back at her own dead body. “And here I’d hoped that the boys wouldn’t toss it in until after I got to kill all of you. Guess we’ll just have to start on that now then.” Her face curled into an unpleasant expression, and she licked her lips as she whipped out a knife from her back pocket. “Could be fun. What do you think? Who shall we start with? How about you?” She grabbed Rona by the wrists and slid the knifes cool sharp silver blade across her neck.
Willow’s hand never connected with flesh – instead, it went right through the Slayer, who just laughed. The red head stepped back, as did the vampire and two commando’s. That hadn’t been right. Buffy had substance – a shape – form. The Buffy on the bed stood up and laughed. She walked towards Riley, a smile on her face.
“Now I’m sure I’ve always wanted to ask you this, but I’ve just been to much of a sissy to do it: Did getting sucked by those vamps really get you hot and bothered?”
Riley swung out at her, his fist going right through the air. Buffy gawked at him in disgust.
“Rude much? I mean, God. You don’t have to go and try to kill me just because Willow’s hand went right through me.”
Dawn wheeled herself backwards, Kennedy, Anna, and Molly at her side. The one with red hair who had irritated Dawn earlier ran to her side, along with two other brunettes and a blonde. Faith now stood in between them and the other potentials. Rona’s body fell to the floor with a thud as Faith released her. The dead potential hadn’t even put up a fight, she didn’t have the chance to. Eight potentials stood on the opposite side of Dawn and the others, Chao-ann among them. The real Faith’s dead body lay on the ground, broken glass shards on the ground around her. Wind howled through the broken window, rain began to path its way into the house.
“Who’s next?” Faith asked as she stepped towards Chao-ann.
The girl turned to run but Faith caught her and stuck the knife in her stomach, leaving it there as she pushed the girl to the ground. Faith turned and jumped over the couch, her feet landing on the window ledge. She turned to the potentials and Dawn, a creepy smile on her face.
“See ya’ll real soon.” She said, a southern accent drowning her tone. She was gone in the next second, the darkness of the storm consuming her.
It took a few moments for anyone to move, for them to realize that they could move. Molly dropped down next to Rona and felt for a pulse that she knew she wouldn’t find. Another girl rested on her knees next to Chao-ann and smoothed back the dead girls hair, tears in her eyes. She looked at Dawn.
“How could you let her let this happen?” She asked getting to her feet.
“Let who let what happen?” Dawn pleaded back.
“Buffy – you let her get stabbed and now look what’s going on!”
“I didn’t let anything happen to Buffy!”
“She’s the evil one isn’t she?” The potential countered. “Faith is obviously dead, probably has been. The First was probably the one who stabbed your sister, and she’s who Annabelle was talking about!”
“That’s not true!” Dawn screamed at her. “How could the First have been Faith when she stabbed Buffy? The First can’t hold anything, touch anything, so how’d she stab Buffy?”
“Does it really matter? The First has a lot of power – what if it cast a spell to be able to not only take physical form of something, but to be able to hold stuff and do things too?”
“Buffy can’t be evil.” Kennedy told her. “Otherwise, why would she have helped us?”
“To make us think we’re on her side!” The potential dragged on. “We aren’t safe here – not anymore. I’m leaving, whoever thinks I’m right, come with me.”
The girl walked towards the back door, potentials hesitated on whether or not to follow her. The one’s who stood opposite of Dawn turned and followed her. No one said anything to hold them back, there was no need. Sides had just been picked, one was right and one was wrong. Dawn just hoped that she had picked the right one.
“What do we do now?” The red asked, her arms wrapping around themselves.
“Go upstairs and…” Molly started, “And I guess learn who each other are.”
Vamp-Willow sniffed the air, and turned towards the Magic Box. She smelled Xander – but not her Xander. It was a human Xander. Glancing through her eyelashes, she noticed the rain was beginning to slow down. The leather outfit she wore tightened around her body, the leather quenching together because of the rain. She paused before the Magic Box door, noting that Xander was to her right, along with another human. Both were full of fear, disgusting her. With one leg she kicked the door open, and the two boys inside jumped to their feet.
Xander and Andrew jumped when they heard the door being kicked open. Xander saw vamp-Willow clearly as lighting lit up the sky beyond her. Her face vamped out, two shiny white fangs threatening the humans lives with just a smile.
“I was hoping there would be some dessert.” Willow told them.
Dawn and the others were sitting in her room on the floor in a circle. Anna was to her left, Kennedy to her right. Molly sat next to Kennedy, the red head next to her, followed by the two brunets, and the blonde next to Anna, completing the circle.
“I’m Anna.”
“Ariel.” The blonde told them.
“Julia.” The brunet next to her said.
“Maggie.”
“Selena; and Dawn, I’m sorry about being snappy earlier, it’s just that…”
“It’s okay, I understand.”
“I’m Molly, and I’m guessing that we all already know Kennedy and Dawn.” She smiled.
“So…what do we do now?” Selena asked. “I mean, we’ve all been separated. Christina’s leading the rest of the girls to God knows where, and we’re just sitting here like open targets.”
“The girl who walked off and made the big deal with Dawn about Buffy being good or evil is Christina?” Molly asked her.
“Yes.” Selena responded. “The other girls who followed her were Kelly, Melissa, Gabriela, Beth and Laura.”
“Seven against six.” Dawn said. “Better than the other way around I guess.”
“It is.” Kennedy told her. “And now we should all be going to the hospital. We have to get to Buffy and Willow, tell them what’s going on.”
“We should wait here.” Molly told her. “Spike, Xander, and Andrew should be back soon. Who knows what they’ll think when they find Faith.”
“I forgot about her.” Dawn said, her voice softening at the thought of the dead Slayer. “But I agree with Kennedy – we should go and find Buffy. She needs to know about Faith and the other potentials.”
“What if half of us stay here, and half of us go?” Molly suggested. “That way we can find Buffy, and wait for Xander, Spike and Andrew.”
“Okay.” Dawn agreed. “Me, Kennedy, Selena, and Ariel will go find Buffy. You, Maggie, and Julia stay here and wait for the others. Make sure you have plenty of weapons and wait for them up here – you don’t want to be out in the open if the First shows up again.”
“Not to mention that the Master is still out and about.” Molly said. “It’s a good thing vamps can’t get in without an invite.”
“Just make sure that you don’t invite anyone in.” Kennedy told them.
“We can’t – we don’t live here, remember?” Maggie asked her.
“Still, I wouldn’t say it. Things have been haywire lately anyway.” Kennedy told her, just as the whole house shook, and the floor from beneath them gave way.
The Buffy at the hospital, collapsed on the bed, her eyes fluttering, her body twitching. Willow automatically went to her side, she remembered then that it wasn’t the real Buffy, but her hand had already reached the girls forehead. Flesh connected to flesh, and Willow jumped back at the clammy feeling of her friends skin. She was there again, she was real.
“Buffy?” Willow asked as Riley, Spike and Sam inched closer.
Buffy moaned and sat up with Willow’s help. Spike was at her side in a moment, his cold hands holding her arms, his piercing blue eyes starring into hers. Buffy’s breath grew short, and her heart skipped a beat. She hated it when he looked at her like that, with so much love and compassion. The machine beside her bed, beeped steadily, ridding the room of silence.
“Buffy?” Willow asked again, this time sitting down next to the Slayer as Spike moved back.
“Huh?”
“What happened, I mean…”
“I know…I felt something. It was weird. I wanted to tell you, let you know that something was wrong, but then I was caught inside of myself, looking out at you guys, and saying stuff that I didn’t want to. I couldn’t even feel it when you went to slap me…” Buffy said, looking sadly at her friend.
“It’s okay – it wasn’t you.”
“Wasn’t it?”
“How could the First transform into you?” Riley asked her. “I get the whole looking like dead people thing, but not that.”
“I was…when I died, I allowed it to come back, and so it was able to take my form – I was what it looked like when it came here I guess.”
“We’ve got bigger things to worry about yet again.” Spike said, trying to get to back the point of why he was here. “Faith being evil and all from the beginning. Why would the council even instate her as a Slayer if they knew she was evil?”
“How could they have?” Willow asked him.
“How could they not have, Will?” Buffy asked her. “We’ve seen what bad these Council guys have done in the past. They’re gone now though, so they obviously aren’t a player in this game. It’s the First, Faith, the Master, Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander.”
“Vamp whose?” Riley asked.
“Our doubles – that are evil.” Willow said. “Don’t ask.”
“That’s five baddies to deal with.” Buffy continued. “I can’t spend my time looking for them in here.”
“We’ve dealt with four of them before – and I’m guessing that since we haven’t dealt with Vamp Xander, that he’s not any worse to deal with than the Vamp me.”
“No offense, but if you dealt with the others so well before, why are they here now?” Sam asked, just as the whole building shook and a flock of ravens rushed through the window to Buffy’s hospital room.
The birds beaks shredded the glass into square shards, and they flew in above the Scoobies, their blood dripping down on them.
Dawn threw her hands over her head as she felt herself begin the fall with the room. Reaching out to grab anything around her had been hopeless, everything was crumbling. She heard the other girls screaming, but she found she couldn’t. Dust was thick in the air as she fell, making her chock, blocking her windpipe. Her eyes watered and her stomach flip flopped as she felt herself falling faster and faster. Her body turned in the air, colliding with other falling things, people, desks, pillows, broken floor boards. They smashed into her from above, making her fall faster, and then she hit the ground on her stomach. Wrapping her arms around her neck, she felt someone fall on top of her. She recognized the voice of someone in the distance screaming, Anna. Something fell on her then, something hard sharp and blunt. It made her world tip and turn, and then everything turned black.
Dawn whimpered as she opened her eyes to blackness. It took her a moment to realize that she could move, and she pushed herself up, her arms burning at the effort. She clonked her head on something as she knelt, and moved backwards, finally able to stand up.
“Hello?” She called out. “Kennedy? Anna? Molly?”
She didn’t know where she was in her house, but she was guessing that she was in the dinning room, because her room used to be directly above it. Now it was directly on it. The dust was still thick in the air, hazing her vision like a fog would.
“Dawn?”
“Kennedy? Where are you?” Dawn asked, her voice rising in panic.
“Over here – to your left I think. Or…I just got into the living room.”
“Okay – wait for me there – I’m coming over.”
“Be careful, I think there’s an axe or something on the floor somewhere over here. It must have been in your room and fallen in here.”
“Kennedy?”
“Ya?”
“I don’t know where I am – which way do I go?”
“Walk towards my voice. I’m over here…Do you see any of the other girls?”
“Keep talking.” Dawn slowly made her way towards Kennedy, the dust thinning out as she walked through it. “I see you.”
“Ditto.” Kennedy held out her hand, and Dawn took it, allowing herself to be helped out of the rubble.
Dawn coughed as she brushed the dust off of her black tank top and jeans. Shaking her head to get the dust and debris out of her hair, she winced.
“You okay?” Kennedy asked her, gently turning the young Key around to look at the back of her head.
Kennedy gently parted Dawn’s hair, a dark crimson was beginning to stop it’s flow, and she touched it tenderly. Dawn winced again, and Kennedy let her apologies be known.
“Sorry. You’ve got a cut back here. It’s not to bad though.” She ran her fingers next to the spaghetti strap of her tank top and frowned. “You’ve got a cut that’s at least an inch here. It’s still bleeding.”
Dawn turned to her, dispiritedness in her eyes. “We can’t worry about that now, we have to find the others. Besides, you don’t look to good either.” With a single finger, Dawn traced along Kennedy’s eye brow, the potential shying away.
“It’s just a mirror image of you.” Kennedy told her sadly. “I suppose we both look like we just fell from your bedroom.” She smiled, but Dawn couldn’t smile back.
Instead, the young brunette turned back towards the rubble. “Anna? Selena, Molly, Ariel, Maggie, Julie? Are you guys okay?”
“Dawn?” Came a weakened voice was ruins.
“Uh…ya. Over here. In the living room. Where are you? Can you follow my voice out of there?” Dawn asked, not recognizing the voice.
“Selena?” Kennedy asked. “Is that you?”
“Yes. I’m coming…keep talking though…I think I’m almost there.”
“I can see you!” Dawn told her. “Here.” She walked over a fallen floor board and grabbed Selena’s hand. “Did you see anyone else? We all should have fallen in the same spot.”
“Maggie…gone. I saw her in the corner. Her body was…she didn’t make it.”
“It’s okay.” Kennedy told leading her from the darkness.
“Is anyone else alive?” Dawn cried out, cupping her hands over her mouth.
“Dawn!” A voice called. “It’s Ariel. Me, Julie and Molly are in the kitchen. Molly doesn’t look so great. Is Maggie with you?”
“Meet us outside in the front yard.” Kennedy interrupted. “We’ll wait for you there.”
No one noticed that Faith’s body was gone, and that where it had once laid, was now only an empty space.
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