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Future Sins Past by DreamsofSpike
 
Alone
 
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A/N: Thanks to my wonderful beta, Eowyn315!!! :)



Chapter 43
Alone



Buffy heard the ominous thundering from inside the apartment, where she was hurriedly gathering weapons for the imminent confrontation with Willow.

She couldn’t really help hearing it; it was the sort of powerful sound that echoes through a person, causing a deep rumbling within her and seeming to shake the house around her. Her heart sank with an instinctive feeling of dread, as she turned toward the door, swallowing hard.

It didn’t feel like any natural thunder she had ever heard.

“Giles?” she called out, suddenly afraid for her Watcher and Miss Calendar, who were still outside performing the location spell. “Miss Calendar?”

She rushed through the small apartment to the front door, throwing it open with urgency…to find the porch empty. Not even the leftover supplies from the spell remained to indicate that they had been there at all. Buffy felt her stomach drop with the sick realization that they could literally be anywhere.

The strange thunder had no doubt been a sign of Willow’s magic, and there was no telling where she might have taken them. She could have done it in an instant, and Buffy had no idea how or where to find her.

Two simultaneous conflicting thoughts filled Buffy’s mind.

*What in the world made me think I was prepared to take her on right now?*

And…

*I’ve got to find her, *now*, before she hurts them!*

Buffy rushed down the porch steps onto the sidewalk, before suddenly stopping again, a panicked sensation rising in the pit of her stomach, making her heart pound with fear as she simply stood there, looking helplessly around her in every direction.

She had no idea where to even begin to look.

Her mind raced as she desperately tried to think of *something*, some clue she was missing, or some way of discovering what the young vampiress might be planning, without the benefit of her Watcher’s knowledge, or any kind of magical aid. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes for a moment, drawing in a deep breath as she tried to deny the frustrated tears she was holding back with that gesture.

She had never felt so completely alone.

“Wait,” she muttered aloud, looking up suddenly, a wary hope in her eyes. “I’m…I’m *not* alone…not completely.” She frowned, drawing in another deep, shaky breath as she added in a whisper, “At least I hope not.”

If anyone could anticipate the moves, the reactions, of the young redhead, it would be the only person on earth who had been closer to her and known her better in life than Buffy had herself. But at this point, she was pretty sure that person wasn’t talking to her at all. However, once he knew what was at stake, Buffy was confident that he would be willing to help, if only for Willow’s sake.

Steeling herself for what would likely be a very unpleasant conversation, Buffy took off in the direction of Xander’s house.

********************************

“Is this some kind of sick joke?”

Buffy blinked in surprise at the venomous look Mrs. Harris gave her from around her mostly closed front door, confused by the anger and outrage in the older woman’s bleary, bloodshot eyes as she spat the question at her.

“I…I’m sorry…?”

“You *know* he’s not here! You were just here last week; for God’s sake, Buffy, you’re the one who *told* us, and now you have the *gall* to show up here like this, asking where Xander is?”

The door came open then, and Mrs. Harris stepped out on the porch, dressed in old, ragged pajamas under an open bathrobe. She didn’t look as if she had washed or combed her hair in…well, at least a week…and she was barefoot, her face blotchy, red, and puffy, as if she had just spent a very long time crying.

A horrible feeling of knowing dread settled in the pit of Buffy’s stomach, as an unthinkable possibility occurred to her. Although the timing did not make sense, she knew that Willow *had* targeted Xander first upon becoming a vampire. If she had taken Giles and Jenny Calendar, then wasn’t it possible that she had also….

“Mrs. Harris…I’m sorry,” Buffy said in a soft, shaking voice. “I didn’t mean to…I mean…I guess I’m just a little…confused…I mean, I just *talked* to…”

“Well, let me un-confuse you, little girl!” the woman snarled, fresh tears streaming down her face as she took a menacing step forward, and despite herself Buffy backed up off the porch, intimidated by the sheer force of the woman’s grief and anger. “Xander’s *not* here, and he won’t ever be here again, because of hanging out with you and your group of freaks! He’s *dead*, Buffy! That mousy little psycho you two hang around with killed him, more than a week ago…right in front of this house!”

Buffy was struck speechless by her incomprehensible words, and could do nothing but shake her head and back up further as the furious woman advanced on her.

“How dare you show up here, asking for him, when you *know*…just get out of here! You’re not welcome here, Buffy Summers! You get off my property!”

Mrs. Harris was nearly screaming by the time she finished her little speech, and Buffy was so thoroughly shaken by the whole affair that she did not know what to do. There was nothing she could do but to respect the woman’s request and leave.

Tears in her eyes, she shook her head and whispered, “I…I’m sorry…”

As she turned and fled, not sure where she was going, blinded by her tears, she only knew that she had to get far away from the grieving woman whose pain she had just unintentionally increased. She ran through Sunnydale, not caring where she ended up, until she reached the park, where her steps slowed to a stop as her weariness began to catch up with her. She found herself stumbling to sit down on a park bench, her head in her hands, while deep, wrenching sobs tore from her throat as her shattered heart tried to come to terms with the loss of her friends.

It was true, then. She *was* truly alone.

*But…*how*?* Buffy wondered desperately.

Looking up through tear-filled eyes, she registered with vague surprise that the storm she had heard and seen rising seemed to have vanished completely. The sky was still grey and overcast, but the wind had died down, and there was no sign of any thunder or lightning.

Her heart was heavy with doubt and fear as she tried to figure out what had happened, and how on earth she was going to be able to fix it.

*Maybe you can’t this time…*

Buffy immediately silenced that treacherous thought, shaking her head emphatically as she tried to refocus her mind on the situation at hand. If Willow was capable of taking three of her friends in a matter of minutes – without even being present, to all appearances – and…and…

“Xander,” Buffy whimpered, lowering her head as the tears came again, but valiantly fighting them back, aware that she had to focus at the moment, and could not afford to let her emotions get the better of her.

She frowned as she thought of Mrs. Harris’ words. “She said Xander died…a week ago,” she spoke aloud to herself. “But…I saw him yesterday. I *saved* him. And Willow’s only been a vampire at all for…days. Not anywhere near…but…then how…?”

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sounds of a struggle coming from deeper within the park. Buffy’s Slayer instinct went into action, despite her own personal struggle, and she rose immediately to her feet and headed toward the sound, clutching her stake in her fist with a grip that was almost painful.

*Willow…* was of course her first thought, and her stomach clenched painfully at the thought that the confrontation she had wanted to avoid was likely at hand, although she knew that in some ways it would be a relief when Willow was dust, and it was over.

However, when she reached the source of the commotion, she was both relieved and disappointed to find that it was just three random female vampires, surrounding a young man who was now pinned against a tree by the one who appeared to be the leader of the group.

She glanced dubiously up at the cloudy sky, wondering at the nerve of these vampires who not only traveled by day, but actually dared to stage an attack in broad daylight, if not sunlight. The clouds *did* seem fairly solid; it didn’t appear as if the sun would be coming out any time soon.

Still…it was an audacity Buffy had never seen in any vampire before.

“Please,” the man whimpered, his eyes wide and terrified at the sight of the lead vampire’s game face. “D-don’t hurt me…”

Buffy let her stake fly, already reaching for another as the body of the female pinning him crumbled to dust.

“You know,” the Slayer quipped, one hand resting on her hip, the other holding her stake down at her side in a deceptively idle way. “That almost never works.”

The man just blinked back at her in surprise, as did the remaining two vampires. Buffy rolled her eyes, shaking her head before returning her gaze to the man again and taking a more direct approach. As if she was talking to a very slow child to whom it was necessary to spell everything out – and apparently, she was – Buffy nodded slowly and ordered,

“*Run*.”

The man needed no further encouragement to take off down the nearest jogging path, toward the park exit.

“Slayer,” one of the vampires hissed, a cruel sneer twisting her deadly features as she added, “Stupid bitch.”

Buffy turned her attention on her with a cheerful smile. “You know,” she remarked softly, “I’m *really* going to enjoy this.”

And then, of course – because that’s what arrogant, over-confident vampires *do* -- they rushed her; but Buffy was more than ready for a good fight. She was actually relieved when she found that they were reasonably skilled fighters, because what she really longed for at the moment, more than anything, was a chance to release the tension of the past horrible, confusing, terrifying hours.

One of those routine easy slays that was over in less than a minute would really not have served that purpose.

But this fight was clearly not going to be one of those.

Buffy quickly found herself struggling just to keep from going under as the two vampires lashed out at her with fangs and claws, snarling and hissing as they tried to throw her off balance and find a vulnerable spot to strike and bring her down.

Buffy had to admit that it was nothing more than a lucky shot as she flung her stake out wildly, spinning around toward the vampire behind her, and found that she had plunged it directly through the demon’s heart. The vampire looked no less surprised than her, wide golden eyes locking onto hers for an instant before she vanished in a cloud of ash.

Before Buffy could turn to face the other one, however, she heard a loud, electric crackling sound, and found herself suddenly frozen in the position of the deadly blow she had just administered. She struggled frantically to free herself from the magical power that bound her, her eyes wildly searching for Willow.

Her head wouldn’t turn, and she couldn’t move an inch, couldn’t even draw breath, as she heard the slow footsteps of the vampire behind her, accompanied by a low, malicious giggle. She wondered at the fact that Willow still had not shown herself, as the unfamiliar vampiress came to stand in front of her, a satisified smirk twisting her lips.

Buffy’s eyes widened as the vampire raised her hands in front of her, tapping her fingertips together, magical sparks flying between them as they touched, and she realized that this strange vampire apparently had some power of her own to work with.

*So…not Willow. Okay…this complicates things a little.*

“Still think you can beat us, don’t you?” the female vampire sneered, tossing her blonde hair back over her shoulder in a contemptuous gesture. “When are you going to get it through your head that things have changed around here, Slayer? You’re not at the top of the food chain anymore, sweetie. When are you going to get that?”

Of course, Buffy could not answer, since the muscles of her face were as frozen as the rest of her.

“I’m guessing right about now, huh?” the vampire continued her gloating. “Right about the time I blast you to your long overdue death with this sweet little gift my mistress gave me…”

Fortunately for Buffy…the stay-and-gloat never seemed to work out well for arrogant villains.

Just as the vampire drew back her hand in preparation to strike, that hand as well as the rest of her disintegrated into dust before Buffy’s eyes; and as the vampire’s body crumbled, so did the magical force that was binding the Slayer, allowing her muscles to relax as she collapsed to the ground on shaking knees, gasping for breath.

A few seconds longer with her entire body frozen like that, and she might have suffocated, even if the vampire had never touched her.

Buffy just stayed like that for a few moments, catching her breath and allowing her body and mind to adjust to the return of their full function, before finally thinking to look up and see the face of her rescuer.

The breath she had just regained was stolen from her in an instant, as a familiar form came into view beyond the swiftly dissipating dust.

Relief greater than she had anticipated filled her, and she was surprised at the tears that flooded her eyes as she drank in the sight of him, and realized that she was *not* completely alone, after all.

She still had Spike.
 
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