Chapter 6

There were dead bodies everywhere. Buffy saw her mother's lifeless form staring back at her. Faith glared, telling her that it was all her fault. Spike was there, giving her a sad look before he was turned to dust. She screamed for what felt like an eternity, not knowing what else to do. Shutting her eyes of the images before her, only to open them again to see that she was now at the Bronze, at school, and then her empty house. Buffy was getting so dizzy and just wanted it all to end.

"Stop!" she yelled, then fell to the floor. Buffy glanced around at her new surroundings, sighing in relief at the comforting vision of Spike's crypt. A crypt that was now charred because of her. The tears wouldn't stop; she laid her head back down, crying her heart out. Eventually she cried herself into exhaustion, as the world around her faded to black.


* * * * *


"Buffy, love, can you hear me?"

She was gently picked up and placed on a bed, her eyes hazily opening to stare into the concerned blue orbs of her vampire. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "You tell me. I came home to find you passed out on the ground. When did you get here?"

"I don't remember. I was floating, and then it all stopped. I was thinking of where I felt safe, the next thing I knew I was here."

It sounded like teleportation to him, which meant she was more powerful than he thought, but she came to him. That had to count for something. "We were working on a way to get you out of there, but I guess you did the hard part for us. I'm sorry, sweetheart. I wish there was another way, but this is for your own good."

Buffy didn't know what he was talking about, gasping as a force field surrounded her, her hands suddenly strapped to the bed. "What's going on?" she wondered, trying to pull at her restraints, but it was no use.

Spike moved out of the way as two women entered the room, a young brunette and red head. "This won't hurt her, will it?"

"No, the magic was hurting her. She'll be safe now," the brunette responded.

Spike nodded, giving her a look. "Thanks for getting here so soon, Tara. I didn't know who else to call."

She smiled at him. "You did the right thing. The shield will drain her of all dark magic. It'll probably take a couple days and won't be comfortable, but she'll be back to her regular self in no time. Towards the end she'll start to resent you and say hurtful things, but you can't let it get to you. It's only her anger talking."

Spike hated the thought of doing this to her, but didn't have much of a choice. "I'll call her sister; tell her what's going on."

Tara nodded as well, turning back to the other woman in the room. "If this holds bad memories for you, Willow, you don't have to be here."

She shook her head. "It's okay, I need to do this. I know what this girl is going through more than anyone else; she'll need someone who understands. I'll be here for her when it's all over."

Tara put an arm around her girlfriend. "If I don't say it enough, I'm very proud of you."

Willow smiled. "You say it plenty."


* * * * *


Faith paced the crypt back and forth, losing what little patience she had left.

"Would you quit it already? You're making me dizzy," Spike stated.

She stopped to glare at him. "What if this doesn't work? What if it makes her worse and she ends up hating us forever?"

Spike let out a sigh. "It's a risk we'll have to take."

"How well do you know those two? Are you sure we can trust them?"

He nodded. "I would trust Willow and Tara with my unlife. I don't know Willow as well, but I've known Tara for years. I saved her life once, and she's been a good friend to me ever since. She met Willow in college, they fell in love, and then Willow fell in with the wrong crowd, got hooked on dark magic just like Buffy. It was the love she had for Tara that broke her out of it. She changed her ways, decided to devote her life to helping young witches with their addictions. If anyone can get Buffy through this, it would be them."

That gave Faith some reassurance, but she still couldn't help feeling worried.


* * * * *


"What do you mean she isn't here?"

Amy exchanged a look with Michael, hating to anger her father even more. "She was in the dark room. I know you said we're not allowed to be in there without you, but figured it couldn't hurt to give her some time alone. I heard her scream, but when I went in there, she was gone."

Rack glared at his insolent children. "She is a novice at this. Not to be left alone at any time, you foolish girl. Get out of my sight, both of you. I want you to bring her back; don't even think of returning here without her. Is that understood? I finally have the Slayer right where I want her; I won't let my plans be ruined now."

Amy nodded, quickly pulling her brother out of there. They wouldn't rest until they found Buffy, there was no telling what would happen if they didn't.


* * * * *


Spike came alert when Buffy screamed, heading down to the lower level to see her thrashing around in bed, still trying to break free.

"What's going on?" he asked the witches.

"I told you this might happen. The power is too much a part of her now, it's going to be agonizing to leave her, but this is the only way."

Spike ran to Buffy's side, seeing the obvious pain that she was in. "Don't fight it, pet. You'll only hurt yourself more."

She gave him a look that could kill. "I hate you for this. You hear me?! You're nothing but a pathetic excuse for a demon! Soulless monster, I'll fucking kill you when I get out of here! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" she yelled, her voice rising with every word.

Spike pulled away, feeling the tears sting his eyes. It broke his heart to see her like this, and to hear her say that she hated him. "I'm so sorry, love."

"Oh, you'll be sorry. I'll cut your head off if you ever call me that again. I'll never be your love. The only chance you had with me was when I was unconscious, you fucking bastard," Buffy spat, her voice not even sounding like her own anymore.

Tara placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, leading him away from the bound girl. "You can't listen to her, Spike. She's going to try and tear you down, just keep in mind that it's not Buffy talking."

He shook his head. "I don't know if I can."

"You can, you're stronger than this. She's going to need you if she has any chance of beating this thing."

Spike nodded, turning away from her and making his way back to Faith, who he noticed looked just as bad as he felt.

"I hate this, hearing her scream in agony like that. God, this is all my fault. I had no idea Buffy felt so left out, that she wanted to be anything other than normal. I've always wanted a normal life; I would have given anything to have that. I just wanted so much for her, to not have to deal with everything I do. This life is lonely, dangerous, she deserves more than that. I just wanted to keep her safe. What am I going to tell my mom? After all the hell my father put her through, this would break her heart. It's already breaking mine." Faith was openly crying now, which wasn't something she did often.

Spike wrapped his arms around the distraught girl, giving her a shoulder to cry on. "You can't blame yourself, Faith. You did the best you could; it's up to Buffy now. I know that she'll make the right choice in the end. She's not one to give up, that's something you both have in common."

Faith wished she could believe that, wiping at her eyes. She gazed up at the vampire, for the first time seeing exactly what her sister did. He may be a demon, but he wasn't a monster. It was about time she realized that.