Strip Snap


Chapter: The long journey

It was dark now in the basement. The bulb in the overhead lamp had flickered and gone out. Buffy let the shadows flow up and over her body, welcoming them as fore-runners of the night she knew must come for them all very soon. It was a long time now since Xander and Willow had left, since Anya had secretly handed Buffy the dividing rod. A long time since her friends had betrayed her. And there was no sign of Dawn. Was that another betrayal? Somehow she didn’t believe that, but Dawn was just a child. The others were bigger, stronger, adults. What was more, Dawn thought they were her friends.

‘Dawn is not a child. She is of our blood. She is near.’ Spike’s voice echoed inside her head, but it was fainter now and she hadn’t heard William speak for some minutes. Demon was still alive; Buffy could feel him pulsing in her veins, a heat, a passion for life that caught in her throat with its power.

‘But not here,’ she replied sadly. She reached out with every nerve in her body, trying to sense her sister, feeling the link to the shared blood that coupled them together. ‘Spike – ’

‘Sweetheart?’

‘Is William - ?’

‘Sleeping, pet. Very tired. We need – ’

‘I know what we need! Oh God, I can’t stand this. Dawn!’ She flung the name out into the dark but there was no reply.

Sighing, she sank down again onto the floor, cradling Spike’s cold body in her arms. She reached out and pulled William and Demon closer as well. So, this was it. The day, hour and minute she’d been waiting for since she was fifteen. She found herself smiling. It wasn’t how she’d imagined the end would be. She’d died twice already but, if she was honest, she couldn’t remember much about it.

There had been water the first time, of course. And fire and falling the second. This time –

“You’re not dying, Slayer!” Spike’s voice cracked through the mists that were beginning to gather inside her brain. “We might be, but you’ll still be alive!”

Buffy ignored him. She refused to go on alone; go on without him and William and Demon.

“Buffy! Bloody hell, woman. Listen to me. You can’t just die because we do! Think, pet. We want you to live!” Spike sounded frantic and from somewhere far away, she could feel William waken, weakly questioning, adding his pleas to Spike’s. She simply shut out their voices. She was going with them! Refused to be parted. She’d spent her whole life putting other people first. This time she was going to be with those she loved. Through death and beyond. She’d decided.

“Buffy! Buffy!”

No, she wouldn’t listen! She screwed up her eyes as tightly as she could, twined her fingers around Spike’s hands and waited.

“Buffy! Wake up! Please! Jeez, how can you go to sleep at a time like this?”

With a moan, she flicked open her eyes. She knew that voice, had to reply to it, even though she didn’t want to. “Dawn! I wasn’t so much asleep – I was - thinking! You came. You heard us!”

“If you count nasty squeaky things in my head voices, then yes, I did. How did you do that? There was you, and Spike and William and Mr-I-Haven’t-Washed-for-a-Century, all talking to me at once.”

“Why are you whispering?”

Dawn glanced over her shoulder, her eyes wide and scared in the gloom. “Xander and Willow – they didn’t want me to come down here. They took me to get pizza. I said I needed the bathroom, then wriggled out of the window and ran all the way back! But I don’t – ” she hesitated, “I don’t understand, Buffy. Is it because of Demon? Why are they trying to stop me talking to you?”

Buffy gently laid Spike’s slack body onto the floor and stood up. “Dawn – listen – I’ll explain later. It’s – complicated.”

Dawn rolled her eyes at her sister. “You mean it’s about sex!”

“What? No! I don’t mean that at all! Well, it’s a bit about sex. It’s about how Willow and Xander feel about me and – listen, Dawn! We can’t do this now. You’ve got to help me get the boys back into their bodies.”

Dawn reached through the bars and gently touched William’s pale, still face. It felt like ice. “I thought they’d be back by now. It’s too long, Buffy, isn’t it? They can’t just – live – in you like this.”

Buffy nodded. “I wanted Willow and Xander to help, but they wouldn’t. No! – ” She flung up a hand as Dawn’s face turned ugly. “We can’t get into it now, Dawn. They’ll have to wait. They’re not important. Spike, William and Demon are.”

“Okay. But Buffy, don’t forget what they’ve done when everything’s back to normal because I won’t! Now, what do you want me to do?” Dawn stood up very straight and with a flick of her wrist, tied her long hair back in a tight knot. Buffy found herself smiling; her little sister looked so grown up, so ready to fight any battle put in front of her.

“I think the dividing rod thingy should take them out of me and put them back in their bodies. At least, Anya gave it to me, so she obviously thinks that’s what will happen.”

Dawn’s eyes got larger and larger. “But Buffy, you didn’t use the rod when it first happened; you just – sort of took them! Can’t you just – sort of give them back?”

Buffy shook her head, wishing she could find the strength she needed. The boys’ voices had fallen silent now. Were they alive? She was sure they were because she knew, without knowing how, that the pain she would feel if they went would overwhelm her.

She realised Dawn was still waiting for a reply. How long had the silence lasted? With an enormous effort, she dragged her brain into action, forced her tongue and lips to move. “I can’t do it, Dawn. I don’t know why. But I can’t unclaim them. All I can do is use magic to get them back inside their bodies. But I can’t turn the rod on myself. It has to be done by someone else. And the only person who can help is you.”

She handed Dawn the rod, then frowned and snatched at her sister’s wrists. They were bleeding from a myriad of cuts. “What the heck?”

“Told you – had to climb through the bathroom window at the pizza hut. What I didn’t tell you was that I had to break the glass first! Don’t fuss, Buffy. It’s only a little blood! You’ve seen far worse.”

Buffy’s lips thinned and she had to fight down the surging questions that rose inside her as the boys sensed her distress and Dawn’s pain. Perhaps they weren’t quite so close to death as she’d imagined!

Dawn clutched the rod in both hands, her knuckles white with pressure and anxiety. “I’ve just realised, I don’t know the spell!” she whispered.

“We do. We’ll say it, you repeat it and keep the rod pointing at me. And Dawn, don’t drop it! No matter what happens, no matter if Willow or Xander arrive, or I scream, or fall down or start singing nursery rhymes, keep the rod pointing at me until I tell you to stop!”

“OK – Buffy – ”

“Yes?”

“What about Demon? If – when he goes back in his body – will he be all demony again? Will you be safe in there with them?”

Buffy felt a smile curve her lips. “That’s why I’m staying inside the bars, Dawnie. But I’ll be OK. He won’t hurt me. We’re – we’re together. All of us.”

Dawn felt a shiver of envy run through her. Buffy’s face looked, jeez, the only words she could find were ‘peaceful’, ‘serene’. As if she’d come to the end of a very long journey and was basking in the warmth and comfort of her own home. She couldn’t imagine ever feeling that happy, that secure. All those feelings had been shattered on the night she discovered her true identity.

Oh, she’d got used to telling people that she understood, that it was what you were now that counted, not what you came from, but she knew deep inside that what she’d once taken for granted had vanished. That rock solid foundation of family, parents and unconditional love had turned into bright green shifting energy. There was nothing to rely on, no real support in her world.

So yes, she envied Buffy now but threaded through the envy was a skein of joy because she was the one they had called for, the one they needed. In some weird way, she was part of them as well. The blood link between them would not be denied.

“Are you ready, Dawn? We need to hurry.”

She nodded, her gaze never leaving Buffy’s face.

Buffy turned her mind inwards, searching for the boys, asking for the spell she knew William would remember.

“William!”

“Miss Buffy!” The reply was faint; he’d almost gone.

“I need the spell to put you back in your body. I know you have it.”

“So tired…”

“William! Try – please! For Spike and Demon. For yourself. You have to tell me the spell.”

She let herself go slack and slowly at first and then faster and faster, the words came pouring from her lips. Dawn repeated them, louder and louder as she fired the dividing rod and the air crackled and broke.

Buffy felt a surge of pain flood through her and she gasped, swayed and sank to her knees, her hands spreading to touch all three bodies. She moaned and twisted – there had been no pain when she claimed them. Why did it hurt so much now?

Dawn grasped the rod tighter and repeated the spell over and over again. The agony on her sister’s face was dreadful to look at. “Buffy!”

“Don’t…stop….don’t…you….dare….stop!”

Dawn was crying now; tears rolling down her cheeks unheeded as Buffy screamed and collapsed on top of Spike’s body. Somehow – and Dawn would never be able to explain how even to herself – she managed to hold the rod pointing at her sister for another minute before she flung it aside and sank to her knees, clasping the bars of the cage Xander had built what seemed a lifetime ago.

Buffy felt the agony ease slightly. Under her face she could feel the smooth cotton of Spike’s t-shirt. It smelt of him. She could feel the buckle of his belt digging in her stomach, the rasp of his jeans against her legs. If she didn’t open her eyes, she could have been in his crypt, teasing him, flirting with him, eager to let him do whatever he wanted to her.

If she didn’t open her eyes, everything would be OK.

Gently, slowly, she turned her mind inwards and listened. There was only silence. The boys had gone. She felt bereft, abandoned, which was ridiculous because that meant they were back inside their bodies – didn’t it?

“Buffy! Did it work? Are you OK? Are they – back?”

Buffy eased herself off of Spike and just then, William stirred, rolled over and sat up.

“William!” Dawn’s shriek pierced the gloom of the basement. “You’re back!”

“I think…Miss Buffy….yes.”

Buffy smiled in relief. If William was back, then surely Spike and Demon had to be as well. But they were still lying there, not moving. A chill scuttered over her skin. Frantically she called for them inside her head, but no one answered.


To be continued.
















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