Title-The Final Hour
Disclaimer-Don’t own em
Summary-Dawn reflects and goes hunting
Season-some reference to early B6 and A3, but mostly set about 5 years later.
I loved him. I never said anything of course. He would have laughed at me, told me I was cute, and called me his little bit, his bitty Buffy, and then he would have walked off to find her. Now he's dead. Xander staked him. The demon that had taken over my first crushes body when Drusilla turned him must have remembered Xander's hatred for the vampire and decided to get the revenge the human Xander never could. So he killed him, took his light from us all. But Spike wasn't the first to die though. No, that honor was given to Anya. She had been so happy that Drusilla hadn't killed her lover that she hadn't realized the terrible change. He kissed her, then he snapped her neck. She died with a smile on her face.
Andrew, Jonathan, and Warren had witnessed it all. Witnessed Xander kill everyone I loved. The troika of dorks had been secretly taping the Scooby Gang and the rest of Sunnydale for weeks. Jonathan had brought the tape to me, because I was the only one left, and he knew that even though I was the Slayer now I wouldn't kill or hurt him. I'd be too grateful to know who killed my family. Last I heard, he left town after Warren shot and killed Andrew. He might come back though, now that Warrens behind bars where he belongs.
But back to Xander. After Anya died he went after Tara. He killed her in the room she shared with Willow after they moved out. Tara had invited him in unknowingly. He turned her, then sat and waited for Willow to return and for Tara to wake up. When they did Tara fed on and turned Willow. Buffy was forced to stake them both. After that they sent me to dads, and called Angel and his gang up from LA. Her, Spike, and Giles, the only Scooby’s left in Sunnydale thought Drusilla was the one doing the killing. They had no idea that Xander had staked Dru and taken her place as leader of Sunnydales vampires. They didn't know until it was too late.
The next to go was Cordelia. Xander turned her as well, and as far as I know she's still ruling the vamps along side him as his queen. She was the one to kill Angel’s son Conner. He was just a little baby, but she killed him, and Angel, in a rage, and blaming Wesley for not protecting his son killed the ex-watcher. Buffy was forced to stake Angel after that. She gave herself to him in a moment of blind rage and passion, then staked him before Angelus could be loosed on the unsuspecting world. She didn't want to risk him teaming up with Drusilla.
Lorne was the next to die. A gang of Xander's men kidnapped him, and tying him up, set fire to him and the Magick Box. They hadn't known Fred, Gunn, and Giles were in there researching. It must have been a big day for Xander and Cordy, killing 4 birds with one stone. Buffy and Spike were the last too go of course and Faith with them. They had broken her out of jail, and taken her with them. They had still thought they were fighting just Drusilla and some of her best vamps. Xander and Cordy had used the element of surprise and attacked them outside our house. They hadn't stood a chance and now everyone’s dead but me.
I like to think all of my family’s souls are connected. That all their souls are hanging out together in heavens Bronze, waiting for me to join them. And I will as soon as I kill the demons that destroyed my family, that are violating and contaminating my friends bodies. After that there will be no reason for me to live.
The sun sets and I pick up my crossbow, the same one that Buffy had always used, then one that had been clutched in her hand when I found her body. I have a few extra stakes, some holy water, and crosses tucked in the pockets of Spikes duster. I flinch inwardly at the thought of Spike and at the smells radiating off of the duster. Both the scents of Spike and Buffy linger, and hot tears burn behind my eyelids. But now is not the time for crying. I'll grieve when I finish my business.
"I was wondering when you'd come." Xander says. I don't say anything; but then again, I don't say much of all these days. I've been hunting Xander and Cordelia for 4 years, and all traces of the sweet, innocent girl I was at 16 are gone. "Hey, Cordy, look at this, our sweet, fancy Dawn's found us." I flinch at the affectionate term he had once used regularly, but I stand my ground. We would all die tonight. I'd be able to kill Xander and Cordelia but there was no way I'd be able to defeat the army of vamps outside, at least not alone, and I have no one left. But I don't fear death anymore, I welcome it. Four years fighting vampires, with no one but myself for company, and I realize now why Buffy hadn't wanted to come back. I load my crossbow and point it at Xanders heart; the final hour has begun.
I was trained well by Riley. He had been the one to find me, on my knees, clutching Buffys crossbow and crying so hard I couldn't breathe as I watched the tapes of the people I loved being decimated. He tried to pick me up off the ground and I punched him, sending him flying. That's when we realized I had been chosen to be the next slayer. I spent a year training with Buffys ex non-stop. Then I left him and traced Xander and Cordelias movements all over the world only for them to lead me back here, to the hellmouth, where it all began.
I aim the crossbow at Xanders heart, Cordelias standing next to him now, and as I pull the trigger I know they’ll be too distracted to see the stake I throw at Cordy. She lets out a scream, then turns to dust. A part of me, whatever’s left of the Dawnie from 5 years ago grieves, but I know that the Cordelia I loved is long dead, as is the Xander. That was the big difference between me and Buffy as slayers. I knew that when the demon took over your body, there wasn't really anything left of the person you loved but their memories. She never could understand that.
He turns to me now, fury in his eyes. He had loved Cordelia for as long as I'd known him, even after she had left him, and I know that demons can love. Look how much Spike had loved Buffy, even without a soul. Our fight begins in earnest now, and I fight with everything I have, knowing it will be my last.
I kick Xander in the face; he staggers back but retaliates with a series of punches to the face and gut. I duck most of them, but a few still connect. I go to punch him back, but he grabs my arm and yanks it out of the socket. I welcome the pain, letting it fuel my fire. I sweep-kick him, and he lands on his back, but jumps right back up and backhands me. I grab his shoulders and kick him in the stomach, then use him as leverage to do a flip and land so that I' behind him. Now I use the wall as leverage to deliver a double-kick to his face. He kicks me in the head, and punches me in the gut. I allow him to pull me into his arms, and I don't put up a fight as he drinks enough so that I know I'll be dead by the end of the hour if he doesn't turn me before I can stop him. He steps back and cuts his wrist, and holds it out to me, giving me the perfect opportunity to finish him off. I pretend like I'm going to drink, and he doesn't see me reach into the duster and pull out a stake until its too late. He turns to dust a look of utter shock on his face. I crawl into Xanders bed, breathing in his still comforting scent. As my body relaxes and my breathing slows I see the faces of my family, of mom and Buffy, Spike and Xander. I die smiling for the first time in five years.
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