A/N: Lyrics: View from Heaven sung by Yellowcard. Mucho thanks to Basilio_the_cat and slaymesoftly for taking the time to beta this for me. And also a big thanks to everyone who took the time to review!

Chapter Three

Prophecy Girl

I'm just so tired
wont you sing me to sleep
and fly through my dreams
so I can hitch a ride with you tonight
and get away from this place
have a new name and face
I just ain't the same without you in my life
View From Heaven - Yellow Card

Tomorrow night Buffy will face the Master, and she will die.


Over and over, those words repeated in her head. Tomorrow night she would die. She had no choice. It was her duty and she was supposed to be a good little Slayer and take it with a smile and a nod. It was bad enough knowing that any fight could be her last, but to know which fight it would be and when, was just that much worse. How was she just supposed to walk into it, and not be scared?


She was terrified, and she didn’t even have a choice. That had been taken from her a long time ago. She had to go in and act like she didn’t have a care in the world. Accept her sacred duty for what it was and die for it, allowing the new Slayer to be called and take her place.


How could they possibly ask that of her?


She needed William. She hoped he wasn’t late. Not tonight. They didn’t have time to waste. Seconds ticked by faster and faster as she stared at her alarm clock until finally she had to turn it face down. There would never be enough time.


It had been three months and she still allowed herself to enter the grove each night. And just like her, he, or as he told her to call him, William, eventually came through the thick pile of trees. Some nights they spent in complete silence, just enjoying the other’s company. And other nights they talked about anything and everything. She had told William things she had never told anyone else. Things she could never imagine telling anyone else. She told him everything.


He was her rock, her foundation, and she clung to him like he was the last thing on earth. She needed him. He was one of the few good things she had left in the world.


She knew that these dreams were more than just, well, dreams. She had figured that out when the really cute guy named Owen, who was a total hottie and absolute sweetheart, had asked her out. She didn’t even take the time to think about it, didn’t take the time to soften the blow, she just blurted out a short no and stormed out of the library. Just the thought had disgusted her. Talk about over-reacting. She apologized the next day, but it still had been incredibly rude; something that, at the time, had been really hard for her to admit.


After that she realized, after close examination, that she found no other guys attractive. She didn’t even like the souled vampire named Angel. No desire - she wasn’t even in like with another guy besides the vampire named William who resided only in her dreams. She even felt a tiny twinge of guilt for thinking about trying to like another guy.


That right there had to mean something of the supernatural. You shouldn’t feel guilty for contemplating cheating on some guy you only ever saw in your dreams. In fact she shouldn’t even feel like she was cheating - it wasn’t like he was her boyfriend or anything.


Totally weird.


She had contemplated telling Giles. She thought perhaps it was some Slayer gift thing. We’ll give you a full nights sleep and in return you focus totally and completely on slaying. You know, because then you won’t be distracted by the boys.


Totally bizarre theory, she figured, but with the things she saw every night, Buffy had come to expect the impossible. So really, it was as good a theory as anything else.


Just like the fact that she knew her dreams were more than dreams, but she still pretended they weren’t just so her perfect illusion wouldn’t be ruined. More than a dream meant making it more complicated. The dreams were supposed to be her getaway peace type thing, and there would be no way she would be ruining that any time soon. So she would just continue to pretend. It was easier that way, her life was already complicated enough, let’s not make it more so. That was her motto.


Plus, the simple thought of telling Giles freaked her out. Really freaked her out, borderline panic attacks, at just the thought of all his possible reactions.


He would think that she was a horrible person for crushing on a vampire. Which made her mad, because what right did he have to possess such an opinion? He could call her a bad Slayer. Which he already kind of did. He could even have her killed. Okay that last thought was on the small side of extreme, especially seeing as she was dying tomorrow anyway, but who knew what those creepy Council guys were capable of.


She climbed into bed. Tomorrow she would save the world, she had no choice. But tonight, tonight, she needed William. There was no reason to even think of anything else, it’s not like it even mattered anymore. After all, she was going to die tomorrow, and as Giles told it, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to change that fact.


***


The feeling had been building within him all day. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it in his bones that something horrible was about to happen. He stepped into the grove that night with a feeling of apprehension. He had no idea what to expect.


She was in his arms, hugging him, before he could even process the fact that she was there. The feeling got worse.


“Miss me, pet?” He said with a small smirk as he returned the hug, holding her tightly to him. Maybe, just maybe, he was overreacting. What bad could possibly come from a hug?


He breathed in her scent. She smelled like home. She hugged him tighter, and it wasn’t hard for him to pick up on her fear. It was everywhere. Something was most definitely wrong.


“What’s wrong?” She just shook her head and clung to him, if possible, even harder. “What’s wrong, luv?” Spike repeated.


“It’s over,” she said.


Over? What the hell. What was she doing? Breaking up with him, or breaking up whatever messed up definition of a relationship they had? Not quite sure how it works there.


She was giving up. The way she stood, the way she was clinging to him so desperately, her fear. It all meant the same thing. She was giving up, giving in, what the fuck ever. But when it came down to it, she was the shell of a defeated Slayer. And he should know, he fought and killed enough of ‘em to understand that look. But sod everything if he was going to let her get away with that. She had done it once and gotten off scot free last time. He wasn’t going to let it go that way again. No bloody way. Spike remembered how much it hurt, and he refused to let him, or her go through that again. Not gonna happen.


Spike shook his head. “No,” he said firmly.


“I don’t have a choice.”


Choice? This girl really was thick. Did she really lack that much hope, or had she given up her free will? Of course she had a choice.


“There’s a prophecy,” she added a second later.


Prophecy. Now there was a mood killer. Fucking piece of paper with cryptic words that tell you what may or may not come to pass. In his years he had seen many a prophecy thwarted. And many more follow through word for word. There was always hope though, always a way around if you looked hard enough. Destiny and fate were a load of crock in Spike’s opinion. You make your own path in life, plain and simple. He would make sure she did the same.


But was she right? She didn’t choose to be the Slayer, she was hand picked. Did that make her just a target of the Fates to do with her what they will? They better hope not; they would have Spike, William the Bloody to answer to then.


“Tomorrow night,” she started, her voice low and shaky. “Tomorrow night, I die.”


The feeling of impending doom hit full force. If he had been alive and possessed the ability to breathe, Spike would have suddenly found himself without the necessary oxygen. He had felt it all day, felt the coming danger, and now that he knew what it meant, it was that much worse.


It wasn’t a dream any longer. It was his worst nightmare.


He felt it, felt it in his bones that the end was coming. She had given in. Accepted her fate, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He wasn’t there. He couldn’t stop her. He couldn’t even help her. For the first time in a long time he felt helpless.


“William?” She was looking at him, and Spike knew she was expecting him to make it better for her. But how could he? He was helpless against the forces. There was no time. It was all happening so fast and crumbling down around him. Eventually they would have to wake up, and then there would be nothing. He didn’t know how to help her.


“What? How?”


“The Master. It’s a pretty lame prophecy, on many levels might I add. But it’s pretty clear on the fact that I get to visit the land of the dead.”


She was joking, making light out of something dark. It annoyed him, but he also knew that she was doing it because she was terrified. Scared of what was about to come, but she wanted to put on a brave face because either way it wouldn’t make a difference. She needed to make it easier.


She had given up. He couldn’t help her; he couldn’t even make it better.


“Don’t go,” hissed Spike, his hands clutching her arms tightly. He was desperate and just as scared as her.


“No choice. Gave that power up the day whoever it was decided to choose me as their little pawn,” she said, the pain clear in her eyes.


“Then. . .” Straws. He was grabbing at straws.


She cut him off. “I don’t want to talk about it. The what ifs - it won’t help. The fact of the matter is, I knew that eventually it would happen. Dying young is part of the package; I just didn’t realize it would be this soon.” Her voice was bitter, but then it softened as she continued. “I just want one last night with you, William. Like it was before. Please.”


What the lady wants, the lady gets.


“Alright.” He sighed, defeated. He could have fought it, made up some crazy plan to save her, but they both knew it wouldn’t help. And it wouldn’t do for her to see him in pain like that, desperate to help her. She was scared enough for herself, and she needed the support. She expected him to be that support. And so that’s what he would be for her. He could do nothing else.


Leading her to the middle of the grove, they laid down just like they always did, in each other’s arms. Their laughs and smiles were forced despite the fact that they each promised to pretend nothing was amiss. But it was, and neither could stop thinking about what might happen the next day - what would happen.


Paradise was over. Paradise didn’t exist.