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



Chapter 28- The Yellow Crayon Speech (or Now Known as the Live for Love One)



They walked at a fast pace. Buffy led them, Spike right behind her. The others fought to keep up.



“This can’t be happening,” Anya whined. She looked over at Xander. “You still haven’t married me. Did you know this was going to happen? Is that why you postponed it?”



Xander blinked in surprise. “What? No. Of course not!”



She grabbed his arm and clung to it. “I’m sorry, I’m being silly. But you can’t blame me. We’re all going to die.”



“We’re not going to die,” Xander assured her.



“You can’t know that.”



Buffy glanced back. “We’re not going to die. All Xander has to do is give his yellow crayon speech.”



“My what?” Xander asked.



“Oh, you know,” Buffy said. “Willow broke the yellow crayon in kindergarten and cried.”



“I’m still with the huh here. That’s going to save the world?”



Buffy turned back around. “You bragged about it enough in the future. It’ll come to you.”



“If you say so.”



The group slowed their pace as they grew nearer. Storm clouds had formed over Kingsman’s Bluff. A small figure could be seen standing on the platform of land. Lightning sparked in the air.



“Dear lord,” Giles remarked. He tore the glasses from his face.



“Holy,” Xander said. He took a step closer.



Spike stared, his face hard.



Dawn took a breath and ventured forth. Buffy followed.



“Willow!” Dawn called.



Willow didn’t respond.



Buffy halted Dawn just before she reached the chaos. “Willow!?”



Xander came running. He gasped at the sight of his best friend. Her hair had turned raven and blew around her face wildly. Blue veins ran across her flesh like spider webs.



“Willow, think about what you’re doing!” Buffy yelled.



Willow made no sign of acknowledgment.



“Can she even hear us?” Dawn questioned.



“Talk to her, Xander. If anyone can reach her it is you,” Buffy told Xander.



He hesitated a moment before trying just that. “Willow? It’s Xander. You know, that guy you’ve known since we were one inch tall. Uh . . .” He nervously glanced at Buffy for reassurance. She motioned him to continue. “We’ve always been close. Uh . . . Uh . . .The yellow crayon!”



This was a disaster. She should have sent Xander up here by himself.



There was a span of silence. Xander searched for how to continue. “The yellow crayon, yeah, uh . . . First day of kindergarten. You cried because you broke the yellow crayon, and you were too afraid to tell anyone.”



“This is getting us nowhere.”



Buffy snapped her head to the side. She hadn’t even sensed Spike come up.



Xander turned toward Buffy. “Look, did I ever tell you exactly how this yellow crayon speech went?”



She frowned. “Not the details, no.”



“Well, it isn’t coming to me like you promised.”



Spike pointed at the witch. “She can’t even hear a bloody thing. That thing has her under his mojo. Too far gone.” The ground gave a heavy shake. Buffy would have lost her balance but he caught her before she fell. He steadied her. “Whatever you do, better do it fast.”



Buffy shut her eyes. Think, damn it, think.



“If only I had my books,” Giles commented. “We could have found a way to expel the shifter.”



Buffy clung to Spike as the earth trembled once more. She feared this was it. She opened her eyes again and let them drown in his pools of blue. His expression was soft.



“I love you,” she whispered. “You believe me, right?”



If the world was going to end she had to be sure.



“Yeah. But I can’t understand why,” Spike said. “After . . .”



“Shhh.”



She kissed him hard. She meshed herself to him, begging to become one. He was uncertain at first but then surrendered to her. They would have continued the dance, but they were suddenly knocked apart. Spike slammed to the ground on his back. Buffy hit on her rear.



“The shifter travels through dimensions, right?” Dawn asked as she picked herself up.



Giles nodded. “Yes.”



“So, if there was a portal into one it would leave?”



“In theory.”



“Good enough.”



The teen stalked over to Spike. She rolled up her sweater and held her arm out to him. He stood up and raised an eyebrow at her.



“Bite me,” she commanded.



He took a step back. “What are you on about?”



“I need blood for it to work. Please. I trust you.”



A light bulb went off. Spike gingerly took Dawn’s wrist.



“Are you sure you can do this, Dawnie?” Buffy asked.



“No. But I have to try.” Dawn addressed Spike again. “Do it.”



Fluidly, Spike’s beautiful face shifted into that of a demon. He studied her with golden eyes. Then he slowly brought his elongated teeth to her wrist. They sunk down into her skin and she hissed from the sting. He sucked briefly before letting her go. Red was smeared across his lips and he licked it off.



Dawn wavered on her feet.



“You all right, bit? I didn’t think I took much.”



“You didn’t,” Buffy agreed.



“I’m ok, guys,” Dawn said. She stared down at her arm. Red trickled down it. She inhaled deeply.



“Step back,” commanded Buffy.



Giles, Xander, and Anya obeyed.



Green burst out. It swirled around Dawn with madness. Willow dropped to her knees and cried out. A black mist tore from the redhead. The green sucked it into its midst.



Dawn wrapped her left hand around her wound. “I can’t stop it!” she yelled.



“We have to stop the blood,” Buffy said.



“Come here, nibblet. Vamp saliva has healing properties,” Spike said.



Dawn allowed the vampire to lick up the blood, sealing the puncture wounds. The green portal gradually faded. Dawn leaned against Spike for support.



“Eww,” she said to the stickiness of her wrist.



“You did good, Dawn,” he commended.



She grinned tiredly.



Their attention shifted back to the risen temple. Willow got to her feet. She turned toward the gang, her black eyes full of fury.



“You may have stopped him but you are no match for me,” she declared.



“Think about what you are doing,” Buffy said. “There’s no reason for it. Tara isn’t dead.”



“You lie. I felt her myself.”



“The shifter clouded reality. She’s in the hospital. Warren’s gone. Everything is all right now.”



“No, it is not all right!” Willow spat. “I’ve seen what this world has to offer. I can’t stand it. All there is, is pain. It just keeps coming. How can you stand it?”



“I fight,” Buffy said.



“But the fight never ends. There’s only one way to stop it. Stop it all.” Willow turned around to continue unleashing her wrath on the world. “You may not see it now but I’m saving us all.”



Xander came in front of Willow. “Then start with me.”



“Xander!” Anya shouted in protest.



“Stay where you are, Ahn.”



“What are you doing?” Willow spat.



He held his arms out to the side. “If the world’s going to end I wanna be the first to go.”



“Step aside!”



“There’s nowhere else for me to go. You've been my best friend my whole life. World gonna end ... where else would I want to be?”



She glared.



“I know you're in pain. The world knows how to dish that out. But it also knows how to give love. Don’t you remember love? Tara isn’t dead, Willow. Don’t you want to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up?”



“Shut up!” Willow’s hands sparked.



“And if that isn’t enough, remember us, your friends. Buffy died for us. Live, she said. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Live, for her. Remember? And me. . . I’ve never had the opportunity to sacrifice my life for yours but I’d do it in a heartbeat. I love you, Willow.”



Willow dished out a bolt of electricity. Xander fell to his knees.



“Xander!” Anya called. She would have ran to him but Giles stopped her.



“I love you,” Xander repeated to Willow. Tears formed in her eyes. “I love you.”



She collapsed. Xander gathered her up in his arms. He rocked her back and forth. Her crying turned to deep sobs. Her hair flickered from black to red, back to black, and then stayed red. Buffy came over to hug her as well.



The cloud over Kingman’s Bluff disintegrated and the sun came out to shine down on the trio. Buffy’s head shot over, fear squeezing on her heart. Her worry was not necessary, however, because Spike was gone.



_______________________________________________________



One more part, peoples. Yay!