Ch. 6: This Mortal Coil
"Darla?" Angel dropped his arms from around Buffy and rose to his feet. The Slayer, recognizing the former vampire also stood, her scythe gripped tightly in her hand.
"It's good to see you again, Angelus," she remarked, smiling.
"You found your redemption, huh?" Angel gestured to her clothing and heavenly glow. Darla just smiled in response. Buffy's eyes went back and forth between the two.
"I'm here as your contact to the Powers That Be. It was because of them that you've been brought back, three centuries from your time."
"Wh-What?" Buffy blinked in astonishment. "No. I mean, why? I mean...we did the whole save-the-world routine. ...What the hell?"
"No, you didn't," Darla replied sadly, sensing the Slayer's frustration at being brought back.
"Didn't what?" Angel asked suspiciously.
"You didn't save the world. In fact, you plunged it into chaos."
"Come again?"
"The magick you envoked when you sacrificed yourselves, it sealed the Senior Partners out of this world, yes. But at that point, it didn't matter. The Senior Partners had already set their plans into motion, and whether or not they were in this dimension, they had seen it through just enough."
"Wh-what're you talking about?" Buffy was trying to wrap her mind around all of this.
"The fear and confusion created when the demons invaded Los Angeles, it spread worldwide. Countries declared war on each other, there was death everywhere."
"The Apocalypse was never a supernatural thing," Angel broke in quietly. "It was a mortal thing."
"But...that still doesn't explain why we're back, why, after so long?"
"A while after your demise," Darla continued, "one of the Powers sealed away all the magick in this world, lest it be used for evil. But recently, magick was re-discovered, and through the magick, vampires and demons were able to enter this world once more."
"But...why us?" Buffy asked in anguish. "We did our thing, we did our time!"
"The Powers felt that you two were the best people for the job."
"Couldn't they have gotten other lackeys to do their work for them?"
"The Powers are relatively new, I doubt they thought of that."
"Pshh, 'relatively new'," Buffy scoffed. "Yeah, I supposed being around since the beginning of time does kinda make you a new kid on the block."
"No, the Powers from your time, they've moved on. They've chosen another group of heavenly spirits to take over. A group more...experienced with fighting the good fight." Darla looked at Angel, wondering if he'd pick it up.
"Damn, even the Powers get a rest," Buffy muttered. "But noooooo, not us. ...I swear, I meet these Powers, I'm gonna kick their asses."
"Bring it, B." It was Darla who had spoken, but it wasn't her voice.
"...Faith?" Angel studied Darla quizzically.
"In the flesh, so to speak."
"Hey, who're you talkin' to?" Angel and Buffy heard a familiar voice, seeming to come from everywhere.
"Angel and B," Darla/Faith replied.
"Oooh, I wanna say hi!"
"Xander?" Buffy laughed.
"Buffy!...Dead Boy," Darla/Xander nodded in Angel's direction.
"Not a vampire anymore...moron," Angel added under his breath.
"Ah, I hear all, see all and know all."
"The 'know all' part's debatable," Darla/Spike grinned.
"Spike? What the-? You three are the Powers?"
"Not just us, Pet. Red's up here, too. So're your Watchers, Cordelia, and Gunn. ...Oh, and Doyle," Darla/Spike added to Angel.
"Wow, the whole gang," Buffy mused. "Well, that definitely answers the 'why us' question."
"If it's any consolation, B, I wanted to take your place, but there's that whole 'universal balance' crap."
"Hey, I wanna talk," Darla/Xander whined.
"You are, you git," Darla/Spike replied. "All you've gotta do is stick your bleedin' finger in the water and talk. S'not like you need a mic."
"Oh."
"Honestly, Xander," Darla/Faith laughed. "You've been up here, for what? Three hundred years, and you still don't know the basics?"
"Oh, this is very confusing," Buffy murmured.
"I second that," Angel agreed.
"Wish we could chat some more, B, but we can't. Already keepin' watch over this world too much. Other worlds are feelin' a bit neglected."
"Bye?" Buffy asked, looking from Darla to the sky.
"I hate it when they do that," Darla muttered. "It's all echo-y in there. ...Anyway, I've got to be going, too."
"Wait," Angel began, "you can't just dump all this on us and leave! What do we do now?"
"Your guide will fill you in on the specifics."
"'Guide'?" Buffy echoed.
"Yes," Darla replied. "A warrior we can spare. She'll keep watch over you and be your liason to the Powers That Be. ...It was nice to see you again, Angelus. Take care of him, Slayer," she added, before shimmering out.
"Jeez, this morning I woke up anxious about my first day at school. And now with the unfulfilled destiny. ...Yeesh." Buffy sank back onto the blanket. "I will say this: It's nice to be sixteen again. Suddenly the world looks shiny and new."
"Yeah, I'd forgotten how nice it felt to be alive. I mean, alive alive, not undead life, 'cause with the whole aversion-to-sunlight thing, and the curse..."
"Yeah," Buffy replied, practically sitting in his lap, her arms draped around his neck, "you're human now, just like me-" She realized what she'd just said. Angel began to smile.
"I'm not a vampire."
"You're not a vampire."
"I'm not cursed anymore."
"You're not cursed anymore," Buffy grinned.
"Oh, for God's sake," Faith muttered. "Haven't even gotten their memories back for ten minutes, and they've already got sex on their minds."
"Well, they do have the forbidden love of all time," Xander pointed out.
Buffy titled Angel's head up, and they began to kiss passionately. He moved her onto the blanket, and moved himself on top of her.
"Sorry, went to the loo," Spike said as he came up behind Faith. "What've I missed?"
"Angel and Buffy are gettin' X-rated," Xander quipped. Spike scowled and disappeared into the cloudy mist that always seemed to surround the Higher Plain.
"There goes the shirt," Faith remarked, as Angel hurriedly pulled of his shirt.
"Change the channel, please," Xander protested, as Angel's hands reached Buffy's waist and continued to go lower.
"With pleasure," Faith muttered. She waved her hand, and the water reflected a dark, cloudy sky, with lightning crackling every so often. "Well, we're supposed to keep an eye on them, but I kind of not want to be scarred for the rest of my afterlife, so what d'you wanna do?"
"Twister?"
"Please. I'd so win. It's not even a challenge, what with the whole Slayer-flexibility thing."
"Well, no," Xander corrected. "I meant we'd cause twisters down on Earth. Willow made a couple of notes that Florida's due for some big hurricanes soon."
"It's always work for you, isn't it?" Faith smirked.
"It's never work for you," Xander countered.
"Please. I've done my share for this great wonderful world of ours. In fact, I've done more than my share."
"Yeah, yeah, we always like to be reminded of how you outlived us all."
"Well, no one told you to come to L.A. In fact, if memory serves, Buffy told you to stay in Rome with Dawn."
"Yeah, well, I never was big on the whole be-a-coward-and-leave-your-friends-to-die outlook on life."
"Gotta say, didn't figure on you outlivin' Red, that's for sure."
"Yeah, well, I didn't go long after..."
Xander held the limp form of Willow, and watched her eyes close peacefully. And just like that, it was over. She was gone. He laid her gently on the ground, tears clouding his vision. He picked up a sword that lay next to her body, and took a deep breath. His Willow was gone, his best friend in the world. She was dead, and soon he would be, too, he knew it. "Damn, Willow. ...I'll go out fighting, like you did," he promised, and turned from her body.
"Aw, lookit. Poor Xander's feelin' sad. I gotta say, I'm wonderin' if you felt that bad after you killed me." Xander looked to the source of the voice, and his eyes widened. No, it couldn't be. He looked exactly the same as he had eight years ago. Then Xander's eyebrows narrowed as common sense kicked in. "No, I killed you. You're just the First, tryin' to screw with my mind."
"Nope, sorry, bud," Jesse replied, backhanding Xander and sent him sliding across the wet concrete. "Very much undead and very much corporeal. See, all us baddies, we got a reprieve from the Big Bad. And see, well, I'm feelin' kinda hurt, betrayed even. You guys." Kick. "Didn't." Kick. "Save me." Kick. "You didn't try hard enough."
"Bull," Xander replied, coughing up blood. He struggled to his feet and took a swipe at his former friend with the sword. "Buffy, she tried, she really did."
"Ah, yes, the infamous Slayer. All this trouble started with her, didn't it? I mean, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't-a gotten vamped, and we mighta had better lives."
"No, we wouldn't've," Xander replied, swiping at Jesse again with the sword.
"Doesn't matter. Point is, I'm gonna kill you -and well, that crazy hellgod chick already saved me the trouble of killing Willow- then I'm gonna go and find the Slayer and kill her. Then I'll do some random killing just for fun."
"Kill the Slayer, huh? You've gotta specify which one." Off Jesse's confused looks, he continued. "See, Buffy, she fixed it so that all Potentials Slayers would become real Slayers. So you've really gotta be a bit more elaborate here."
"Fine. I'll kill you, then I'll kill Buffy."
"Right. Like some two-bit amateur vampire is gonna kill Buffy," Xander scoffed.
"I'm not an amateur!" Jesse replied, outraged.
"I'd say you are if I could kill you."
"That was a fluke, Harris. I'd snap your neck before you could even so much as whip out your stake."
"Don't need a stake," Xander replied, succeeding in distracting Jesse. "Got a sword." With those final words, Xander decapitated Jesse, and watched with a small twinge of sadness as the vampire collapsed into ashes. So preoccupied was he, that he didn't see the Bringer from behind him. Didn't feel the blade cut through him only until it was too late. Felt the pain only for an instant. Before he saw the light.
"Whoa, intense," Faith muttered.
"You went pretty quietly," Xander recalled.
"You saw?"
"Pshh, yeah. All of us up here, we're crowdin' 'round the Well, tryin'-a see what was goin' on."
"I can't believe that little bitch of a traitor," Faith seethed.
"Faith, it's been three hundred years. Move on."
"Hey, you wouldn't be so quick to say that if you were betrayed by one of your own..."
Faith sat behind the desk and sighed. It had been nearly a year since Buffy and Angel had sacrificed themselves. Nearly a year since Willow had died in taking out Glory. A year since she took over Buffy's role as Head Slayer. Giles helped her a lot, though he wasn't how he used to be. His charge had been killed -again- and so had the two others he'd come to regard as his own. As far as they knew, Faith and Giles were the only ones of the gang who survived the fight. If there were others, they didn't want to be known.
Faith leaned back against the chair, and a single solitary tear trickled down her cheek. That was the most she allowed herself to cry in months. After the battle was over, she'd spent weeks mourning the loss of her friends, the loss of her fellow sister-Slayer...the loss of Robin.
"Damn, this is no time to fall apart," she muttered to herself. She'd assumed Buffy's role, and now she had several worldwide schools to run. Most of the Slayers they'd found during their first year after defeating Sunnydale had been killed in the battle, and Faith and Giles, along with Kennedy, Rona and Vi, worked tirelessly to find more Slayers and train them. They'd based one school in each continent, each school reporting to the one in Europe, which was the one Faith oversaw personally.
Her eyes drifted over the room. It had been Buffy's, and though it was a beautiful room, it wasn't to Faith's taste. But she couldn't bear to change it, and had left everything the exact same as it had been. The only thing she'd added was a display case for the scythe. She felt it was too special an item to be in the Heroes Memorial Hall. The Memorial Hall was a wing in the Europe school, dedicated to Buffy, Angel, Willow, Xander, and the rest of the Slayers and Scoobies and people who had died in fighting the good fight.
They'd managed to recover Willow and Xander's bodies, but Buffy's and Angel's had been declared missing. The Hall had been Faith's pet project, and she'd poured so much time and energy into every aspect of it: the construction, the layout, and most importantly, the lives of the people it honoured. She and Vi had spent months finding out as much as they could about all the people who'd died -not just in L.A., but everyone who'd died in trying to stop evil.
Of course, Angel and Buffy's bios were the most extensive. The Scoobies shared one room, Team Angel shared another, and the rest of the Hall was devoted to everyone else. But Buffy and Angel were rewarded with a room of their very own. Faith had been proud of what she and her team had accomplished. Dawn had also played a big part in constructing the Hall, particularly when it came to her sister's place in it all. Andrew had had to take demanding orders from the nineteen-year-old, but the results were worth it.
"Knock knock," Kennedy smiled, coming into the doorway.
"Hey," Faith smiled, quickly wiping her eyes. "How's the sitch in Cleveland?"
"Hellmouth's contained. Energy levels are fairly low, when you compare them to Sunnydale. But still, it's monitored every day, though I don't think it's gonna blow in our lifetime."
"You never know."
"Yeah. ...Listen, Faith, there was something I wanted to ask you. Rumour is, is that you're gonna be headin' down to Cleveland for awhile."
"Yeah," Faith replied slowly, "just to make sure the girls down there are alright."
"Well, I wanted to know...who's gonna run the school while you're gone? Dawn's down in Australia, Giles is in Africa, Melana's in North America, Leah's in South America-"
"Yeah, I know where everyone is," Faith interjected curtly. Not one to be particularly tactful, she added bluntly, "Vi and Rona are gonna co-supervise the school."
"Well. ...D'you really think it's in your best judgment to leave them in charge?"
"I think it's in your best judgement not to contradict my decisions," Faith countered.
"B-but I've done more patrolling, more training, more-"
"Save it for someone who cares." Kennedy always got on Faith's last nerve. Kid was annoying when Buffy was in charge, and she was a hell of a lot more annoying when Faith was in charge. She wouldn't stop until she was in charge. Kennedy glared at her, then walked out of the room in a huff. "Brat," Faith muttered.
"She didn't even had the guts to take me on face-to-face," Faith murmured, stirring the water in the Well absentmindedly. "Had to drug me when I was asleep."
"Maybe she knew she couldn't take you in a fight," Xander suggested.
"That's the bright side of looking at it. ...At least she got what she deserved." For turning on and killing a fellow Slayer, Kennedy had been stripped of her powers and her memory of being a Chosen One was gone. "Hey, think the lust bunnies got their fill?"
"I'm not checking!" Xander replied in horror.
"Me neither! ...But I know someone who can," she grinned.
"Hey, what's up, how ya doin'? I'm Charisma and I'll be your heavenly guide for today," the brunette spoke up.
"What the hell?" Angel sat up, as did Buffy, who promptly drew the blanket around them.
"Shit," Charisma muttered, her dark eyes widening. She clamped a hand over her eyes and tilted her head up to the lightening sky. "You guys suck, you know that?"
"Well, they're done now," Xander observed."
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