Chapter 1 – Memories of the past

 

Giles felt old, hell he was old, at eighty-four he had lived longer then he had ever thought he would, especially with the way the world now stood.  Staring out the window of his hospital room his eyes took in the scene before him, dark heavy clouds rolled across the sky blocking the sun from view.   

He cast his mind back; the last time anyone had actually seen the sun had been just over thirty years ago.  Back in a time when people in general were naïve to the existence of demons and evil, happily living their lives in the sun.   Now they lived huddled in fortified townships, in a world of perpetual dusk.  The only barrier between them and the creatures that nightmares were made of were thick steel walls topped with sharpened silver crosses and wooden stakes.   Every living human was trained from birth to fight any manner of demon.  

In his mind he tried to pinpoint the moment that had changed the world.   Was it when years of pollution had finally blocked out the sun twenty years ago?  No it was earlier then that.   Was it when the council had tried to eliminate Faith thirty years ago, in a desperate attempt to bring forth a new slayer?  No not that either.   Perhaps it had been when Faith had been broken out of jail thirty-five years ago.  Taken by the very demon community that she was supposed to fight!   Taken and kept protected, cosseted by them, keeping her alive and safe thus preventing any new slayer from being called.   

Many believed it was a few years before that, when Angel had gone up against the Circle of the Black Thorn.  He had released a multitude of demons onto an unsuspecting LA, only to die moments into the battle.  With no slayer, and the loss of Angel, the hoards had overrun the city within weeks, spreading outwards from there.  The beginning of the end.  

Giles, however, believed that the end had begun three years earlier, on a night when a blonde warrior had faced a hell god and saved the world; paying the ultimate price to do so.  

A noise in the hall caught his attention. The others would be here soon, come to help an old man on his final journey, to help him remember better days. Days when he was surrounded by people he cared about.  There were only the three of them now, each having suffered immeasurable loss over the years. 

The first loss had been Buffy; the grief that had surrounded her death had overwhelmed them all.  The following six weeks had passed in a blur.   He remembered a snippet of a funeral at night, but after that he was lost in a haze of pain and alcohol.  It was only in a rare sober moment that he had remembered Dawn, he had gone to Willow first and then Xander in his attempts to find her.  It had not taken them long to realise that they had each thought the others were caring for her, and that none of them had been near her since the funeral.   

Guiltily they had made their way to Revello Drive , determined to atone for their neglect. Upon their arrival they had been shocked to find Clem inside, telling them that Spike had taken Dawn away.  They had been gone for over a month.  Clem had thrust a piece of paper at them, Giles had thought at first that it was a note, instead it was legal document declaring Clem to be the caretaker of the Summer’s residence until further notice.  

The next few years been spent in righteous anger, searching the globe for the missing girl and her ‘abductor’.  Tara had been only voice that rose in defence of Spike, desperately trying to assure them that he would care for Dawn, and protect her better than any of them could ever hope to.  

Eventually, however, their search was abandoned, their focus shifting to dealing with the forces released by a now-dusted Angel.  During this time they had lost Tara .   She and Willow had been working with a local coven, trying to place a barrier around LA.  The power needed for the barrier was immense, and hundreds had gathered at the coven to add their power to the barrier.   

Giles never really knew for sure what had happened the night the barrier fell—Willows incoherent ramblings afterwards, his only source of information.  From what he could surmise a demon, caught on the inside of the barrier, had crept into the coven, attacking and killing a young girl.  Willow and Tara had seen the attack and Willow had tried to defend the young girl magically, grasping tightly onto Tara’s hand as she did.  The battle had been fierce, and Willow had drawn on all her power to finally destroy the beast.  When she was finished Willow had turned to Tara, only to find her on the ground moments from death.   It was then that Willow realized that she had drained the life from her girlfriend in an unconscious need for more power.  

He believed that Willow had then tried to resurrect her fallen lover, calling on the power that pulsed around her from the other members of the coven.  By morning the barrier had fallen and all in the coven were dead, the only survivor, a much aged and broken Willow.  

Not long after the loss of Tara the government had officially recognized the existence of demons, setting up Special forces to deal with the ‘other worldly menace’, they urged normal citizens to be vigilant and report any unusual activity.  It was through this that the home that Anya and Xander shared was raided one night, an hour later Anya lay dead, Xander had lost an eye and Riley Finn had gained himself a promotion for removing the ‘deadly threat’ that Anya had posed.  It had taken five years but eventually Giles and Xander had tracked him down, exacting their vengeance in ways that would have made Anya proud.  

“Hey G-man,” Xander strode into the room; grey peppered his once dark hair, his face lined from years of struggle and grief.  

“Honestly Xander you sound like a teenager,” Giles coughed as he struggled to sit up further in his bed.   

Xander moved to his side, gentle hands helping the fragile man before him. “Just reliving old memories for a moment.” He gave the former watcher a weary smile, “promise it won’t happen again.”  

Giles smiled patting his shoulder softly, “Actually I don’t really think I mind.  It seems the old memories are the best ones these days.”  

The two men shared a moment before pulling themselves from their reverie, “Willow will be along shortly, you know it always takes longer for her to get places these days.”  A part of the protective measures in place in the fortified cities was the close monitoring of any human citizens with ‘special’ abilities.  Whenever she travelled Willow was subjected to numerous ‘interrogations’ by those in authority.   Since Tara’s death she seldom went outside her home, however, she had made a special effort in order to be at his bedside.  

Willow shuffled into the room as if on cue, a loose knit cardigan pulled lightly over her shoulders, dwarfing her tiny frame, her grey hair hung lank around her thin face as she smiled wanly at the two men.  “Hey, Giles, how are you feeling?” She eased herself into a chair clutching his hand softly in her own.  

“Much better now that you and Xander are here.” Giles grasped at Xander’s hand, “You both mean so much to me, you know that don’t you?”   

The three fell momentarily into a companionable silence, each wondering what they could possibly say at a time like this.  

“We saw Clem.” Willow offered after a few moments, “we stayed at the house during our trip here.”  

Giles pulled himself forcibly from the edge of the sleep that seemed his almost constant companion these days, “Oh, is he well?”   

Clem and the house on Revello Drive were the one small part of the world which had remained strangely untouched in this new world.  Humans were loath to approach the dwelling as it stood in the middle of land held firm by the demon population.  Demons, however, also seemed to avoid the place, whether it was because of Clem’s habitation, some weird form of homage to the fallen slayer whose death had inadvertently helped bring around the new world, or perhaps some perverse way for them to torment the remaining Scoobies, Giles didn’t know.  

“Yes, he says hello by the way,” a wistful look crossed her face, “It’s still exactly the same, like stepping back in time.  It even looks as though he’s given it a fresh coat of paint recently.” Willow frowned, “I wonder where he gets the paint from?”  

Clem’s ability to scavenge long forgotten items was legendary and over time the Scoobies had formed a lasting friendship with the baggy skinned demon.  It had been odd at first, arriving at the Summers’ home and finding Clem puttering around.  The house remained exactly as it was the night Spike and Dawn had left, the only concession to Clem’s presence was the room he had made himself in the basement, and the strange assortment of snacks that were now housed in the kitchen.  

“Heard some strange news while we were there too,” Xander eased himself slowly into a chair, his body protesting as he slid down, he felt so old and worn out.  “Seems someone sent out a message in the demon world.  How did it go again Will?” He cast Willow a knowing look before turning back to Giles, “An old friend wants to see the DAWN while he WATCHES the end.  I think that’s how it went.”  

Willow held on to Giles’ hand fiercely, tears welling in her eyes, “Giles you have to let go, she’s gone, the same as the others.” She paused for a moment while she tried to press down the emotions rising inside her, “If she was alive and in one of the cities, we would have found her by now.”  

Xander turned to stare out at the darkened sky, “And if she’s been out there this whole time…” He closed his eyes tightly, “then she’s not our Dawn anymore.”  

“Oh I wouldn’t say that Xander,” a voice from the doorway cut through the room causing the occupants to gasp loudly at the figure before them.