REPLAY



Author: Heather Martin (SinisterChic)

Rating: PG13

Spoilers: Season 6, Season 7, Angel season 5

Summary: S/B, Learning of Spike’s resurrection Dawn and she venture to LA in search of him. But they are too late. . . Or are they? Is there a way to fix things before they began to get dark?

Archive: Just let me know where





All I can say is just hang in there, guys.



Chapter 27- As the Cloud Darkens



“Tara, move!” Buffy shouted. It was the only thing she could do. She didn’t have enough time for anything else.



Warren aimed, his finger over the trigger. He grinned wickedly as he prepared to fire. Xander threw himself forward. The Scooby knocked himself into Warren and grappled for the gun. The weapon lost its target on Buffy. Somehow during the fight Warren managed to shoot. There was a loud bang as the bullet flew.



All Buffy could think was ‘oh God’. Her gaze traveled to the second story window.



+ + +



Warren got the upper hand and tossed Xander off him. He got a better grip on the gun. Laughing he said, “I’m better, stronger. You can’t stop me.”



He started to bring the gun up. His arm shook. What was happening?



Bring the gun to your head.



No. Why would he want to do that?



You are no longer necessary. I found another host.



“No!” Warren screamed aloud.



Bring the gun to your head.



Against his own accord, his hand went up. He pressed the gun to his temple. Warren never got scared. He got angry as hell, but never frightened. Until that moment, because he knew he was going to die. By his own hand.



Something was inside him. He had felt something different before. He had felt stronger somehow, although he had no notion of the cause.



“Warren, what are you doing?”



Hah, that was Buffy. She was trying to save him despite all the evil things he had done. Ever the hero.



Warren closed his eyes and blew his brains out.





+ + +



Buffy gawked in horror. Warren lay on the ground, blood pooling from his head. The gun was still in his grasp. She brought her hand up to cover her mouth. She had seen a lot of horrible things. Nothing had ever seemed this gruesome, this realistic. This was death from a front row seat.



Xander hugged Buffy, while turning her head away. Oh, Xander. She was the slayer and yet he knew that there was still a girl inside. She inwardly thanked him, wishing she could do it outright. But she couldn’t. The slayer had to be strong, couldn’t show her weakness.



“Something made him do that,” Buffy said.



“Buffy, he was crazed. Are you sure he didn’t all of a sudden realize what he was doing and end it all?” Xander replied.



She shook her head. “I’m sure. Something was messing with him. Didn’t you see his hesitation?” Her eyes enlarged.



“The time shifter?” Xander said.



Just then Willow exited the house. She stopped in front of her friends. Her eyes were blank.



“Willow, God, are you okay?” Xander asked.



“How did this happen?” Willow asked softly.



“Warren. He had a gun.”



“Warren.”



“I tried to stop him but . . . He pulled the trigger anyway.”



Willow walked off. She stepped over Warren’s corpse as if she didn’t even notice it was there.



“Hey!” Buffy protested. “Where are you going?”



“Will!” Xander called. He turned to Buffy. “Should we go after her?”



Buffy glanced up at the house. “Tara.” She burst into the house and raced upstairs. The door to the master bedroom was cracked open, beckoning her to enter. She stepped inside. The room was still and calm, completely contrary to her mood.



A beam of light cascaded over Tara, as if it were a spotlight. Buffy knelt by her side. Her honey hair spilled around her face. Buffy brushed it aside.



“Tara?”



Tara’s blue eyes stared up at the ceiling.



“Tara?” Buffy fought the impulse to shake her.



And then the miracle happened. Tara blinked. Buffy laughed in relief. Blood had formed on the witch’s top. Buffy searched for the wound. She pressed down on it with pressure.



“Willow?” Tara whispered.



“Shhh,” Buffy hushed. “Don’t talk.”



Xander bounded into the room. He paled at the sight.



“Call 911!” Buffy shrieked.



+ + +



The house was empty when Dawn arrived home from school. Dread washed over her at the quiet.



“Buffy!” she called.



She dropped her bag to the floor. This was the day Tara had been shot, she realized, going stiff. How could she have forgotten? She had traveled a whole year through time and forgotten this earth shattering event? How could Buffy have sent her off to school? How could she have gone as if nothing was wrong? What if Tara lay cold upstairs?



Dawn braced herself before she ascended to the next level. Deja vu took over. She pushed open the door. She took a deep breath and looked past the bed. There was nothing there except a blood stain on the carpet. That fact didn’t appease her any bit.



“Dawn?”



The teen turned. Giles stood in the doorway. His expression was grim.



“Is she . . .?”



He sighed. “No. Buffy and Xander managed to get her to the hospital but things are still uncertain.”



Dawn nodded. She threw herself at him. He awkwardly held her, offering fatherly comfort.



“Buffy sent me here to fetch you.”



She nodded.



+ + +



Buffy hunched over in her chair, her face in her hands. Xander reached over and placed a hand on her back. It didn’t really offer any comfort but she was grateful just the same.



Just then Dawn’s voice penetrated her ears. “Buffy!”



Buffy’s head shot up. She jumped to her feet. Her sister hurled into her arms. They clung together, emotion swallowing them both. Buffy looked over Dawn to Giles. He met her gaze gloomily.



“Any news?” the man asked.



The girls separated but continued to hold hands.



“She’s in surgery,” Buffy replied. “The doctors said it could be awhile.”



He nodded. “Any sign of Willow?”



Darkness washed over her. She felt ice cover her chest. “No. We need to find her. I-I don’t understand . . . Why would she leave Tara? It doesn’t make any sense.”



“Unless she thought Tara was dead,” Xander said.



Buffy’s eyes grew large. “Or someone ‘made’ it appear that way.”



Dawn seemed stricken. “You mean . . .?”



“The time shifter.” Buffy let go of Dawn. “Xander, you check the Magic Box. Giles, make sure Andrew and Jonathan are unharmed. Dawn and I’ll search out Rack. Willow went there last time.”



“This all happened before?” Xander asked.



“Not completely,” Buffy said. She sighed. “I don’t have time to get into it all. After this is all done I’ll give you the time travel 101. But now –“



“Right. Got you.”



+ + +



Xander helped Anya up. She staggered a little. He led her over to a chair near the research table. He knelt down before her.



“Do you feel any change? Can you talk?” he asked.



Anya leaned her head against him. “It’s wearing off. Willow was here earlier. She put the whammy on me and went straight to the dark arts books. Sucked them dry.”



He rubbed her back. “Look, Ahn, something bad happened earlier.”



“I know.” She paused. “Tara.”



Xander nodded. “Yes, but not the way you think. She’s not dead, but at the hospital. Willow’s been caught in a delusion that Tara didn’t make it.”



Anya met his eyes. “She’s okay?”



“Hopefully she will be. The doctors are working on her. But right now we have to worry about Willow. She’s not in her right mind. Did she say anything to you?”



Shaking her head, she said,” No, not a thing. She seemed out of it. Just went to the books and stripped them.”



“Is there a locator spell you could do?”



“There aren’t any books left,” Anya stated matter of factly.



Feeling like an idiot, Xander said, “Oh. Right.”



+ + +



Giles hesitated before ringing the doorbell. Afterward he stuffed his hands into his long coat and waited. He heard muttered voices before the door opened.



“Give that back! Asura Priest is extremely rare!”



Giles stared dumbfounded as he witnessed the two boys battle over a card. Finally the blond snatched it away triumphantly. He hugged it to him protectively as if it were precious gold. Jonathan glared at him. Giles cleared his throat.



Andrew looked over. “Oh. What are you doing here?”



“Have you seen Willow recently?”



“-No.”



Jonathan looked interested. “Why?”



“I would suggest you take cover,” Giles told them. “It seems that magic has consumed her. She is out for vengeance.”



“What did we do?” Andrew asked with panic.



“Nothing really. Except that you were once friends with Warren.”



“But we’re good now!” the boy protested. “We’re like Darth Vader in the last Star Wars.”



“Willow? Willow-Willow? The Willow that used to pack her school lunches?” Jonathan questioned.



“The very one. Extraordinary, I know. She is under the influence of a powerful demon and the darkest magics imaginable,” Giles said.



Andrew glanced at Jonathan. “Dude, we gotta get out of here. Mexico, we can go to Mexico!”



“Mexico?” Jonathan asked dubiously.



“That’s the best hide out ever.”



Giles frowned. “Buffy thought you deserved a warning.”



The watcher turned. He could hear them bicker as he walked away. He shook his head. His duty was done. They could decide what to do about the news he offered.



+ + +



Buffy and Dawn burst into the Magic Box. They halted at the sight of the dispersed books. Buffy took one and flipped through the blank pages.



“Damn,” the slayer muttered.



“Every last one,” Anya said.



Buffy shut the book. “She did the same thing to Rack.”



Xander stepped forward. “What do you mean by that?”



“Drained him,” she clarified.



Xander turned white. “This is so not good.”



“Where could she be?”



The bell to the shop sounded. All heads turned toward the front of the shop. Spike stood there. He scanned them all. His eyes landed on Buffy.



“There’s speak of another apocalypse,” he said.



+ + +



Power. The time shifter had never felt so much. He was humming with it. There was so much he didn’t know what to do with it. He wondered why he had even bothered with the boy.



Willow came to a stop on the bluff. She rose her hands. They crackled with life. The time shifter chuckled as the ground rumbled.



___________________________________________