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Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters, I’m just borrowing them for a while. They all belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, WB, 20th Century Fox, and whoever else I didn’t mention. I have no money and I’m not getting anything for writing this story, so please don’t sue me. Ariak, Draven and the story line itself are mine, so please don’t steal.
Author's Notes: This story takes place in the summer after “Graduation”. The school is rebuilt, and the library is still the headquarters of the Scooby Gang. Cordelia and Angel have already left for LA, and Cordy and Xander are back together and trying a long distance relationship (‘cause I like them together!) Um, Amy’s not a rat anymore and Faith... well, she’s elsewhere ( It’s possible she’s still in a coma. ). Special thanks to Akasha, for helping me break through my writer’s block about a million times and writing some of the sappy moments, and to Sonya (the world’s greatest Beta-reader!) for her questions, encouragement, and not yelling at me for taking so long. :)
Prologue
It was chaos.
People were everywhere, shouting and screaming, trying desperately to be heard among the loud roar of madness that surrounded them. Standing in the middle of it all was a young girl. She inhaled the thick white smoke that bellowed in from vents below her, then coughed, choking on it. Her eyes stung as she searched the masses of people for familiar faces. There were none. In a moment of panic, she spun towards the door. Then she saw them.
Slowly the girl walked, making her way through the crush of bodies that stood in her way. Her green eyes caught a pair of brown ones. Those brown eyes widened in fear as their owner observed the anger and frustration of the girl approaching him. She smiled.
“Hey Xander,” the girl began, “wasn’t it your idea to meet at the Bronze tonight?”
Alexander Harris was rubbing on a sore spot hidden within his mess of dark hair. He stopped when she spoke, then grimaced at the floor. “Yes it was,” he admitted. His head then swiveled to face her. “And there’ll be no physical violence from you tonight.”
The blond girl seated beside him smiled cheerfully at the conversing pair. “Yeah, but that’s ‘cause I already hit him.” Then a note of mischief entered Buffy’s voice as she said only to Willow, “You should try it, Will, it’s really fun.”
Willow was tempted, and she let Xander know it. She ran a hand through her copper colored hair, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. She looked at his pleading face, wanting to wipe off the sardonic grin that usually lived there. Instead, she sighed and plopped on a nearby stool in mock disappointment. “Oh, fine. It’s probably not a good idea to cause additional brain damage anyway.”
Xander smiled triumphantly at Buffy, then paused thoughtfully and turned back to Willow. “What do you mean, additional brain damage?”
The girls giggled, and then the trio sat silently and watched the scene around them. The Bronze, Sunnydale’s one and only teenage hangout, was exceptionally busy for a school night. The patrons were crushed together on the dimly lit dance floor, but no one seemed to mind. They continued to dance and talk above the pulsating beat of music, and were undisturbed by the smoke machines. Willow was amazed.
“So what’s with the crowd, anyway?” she asked.
“Someone seemed to have forgotten that Tuesday is ‘No Cover’ night,” said Buffy, looking pointedly at Xander. He pretended not to hear them. “Oh well, more fun for them, less fun for me. Giles wants me on patrol, so it’s just another night of fun-filled slayage for the Buffster.” She explained with a complete lack of enthusiasm, then hopped off her stool and turned towards the exit.
Patrol for Buffy usually meant a lonely stroll through the town’s many cemeteries in search of monsters. To most teenagers, it wasn’t an ideal night. But to Willow, it sounded better than staying at the overcrowded Bronze. She really hated big crowds. “Can we go with?” Willow asked hopefully. Without speaking, Buffy handed her a sharp wooden stake. Then the trio made their way into the night.
As they stepped out the door, a cool breeze blew past them. It was good compared to the stuffiness of the club. “I vaguely remember a time when patrol wasn’t looked on as worse than a night of research. Whatever happened to those days?” Buffy asked lightly.
Willow replied, “Um, I think that ended when Cordy and Angel left. After that, everything sort of went pfft.”
“Oh. Right.”
Willow smiled brightly, hoping to cheer up the deflating Slayer. “But hey, I got an e-mail from Angel. He and Cordelia are coming to visit tomorrow instead of Friday.”
Xander nodded in agreement. “Cordy said the same.”
“Oh, joy,” Buffy said unenthusiastically.
Willow furrowed her brow. “Aren’t you excited? You get to see--”
“--My ex-boyfriend and a girl who sees me as the bane of her existence,” Buffy cut in. “I repeat: oh, joy.”
Willow looked at her for a moment, then nodded. She could relate. It was hard for Buffy to see Angel and know that they couldn’t be together. The redhead went through that once, and wasn’t eager to suffer through it again. They had walked around the outside of the building to the back when Buffy stopped them.
“So are we looking to kill anything specific?” Xander asked conversationally, trying to break the silence.
The Slayer pointed past his right shoulder at the trio of vampires behind him, simultaneously retrieving a wooden stake from her pant leg. “A couple of those would be nice.” She gestured for her friends to step behind her and threw the stake into one of the vampires. It immediately turned to dust, angering the other two. But instead of attacking her, they ran past. She chased after them, leaving Willow and Xander alone.
Well, not completely alone. Buffy’s absence invited two more vampires to come and attack the teens. They had experience in slaying before, so they knew escape was not an option. Instead, Xander took the stake from Willow’s panicked grasp and stepped in front of her.
“Go get Buffy,” he urged softly. She looked at him, hesitated, then ran as fast as she could in Buffy’s direction.
“Buffy!” she called out. She had this horrible feeling in her stomach as she searched the graveyard. There was no sign of the Slayer. Her head tilted to the side as she tried to listen for her friend’s voice. Instead, she heard Xander cry out in pain. “No!” Willow knew she shouldn’t have left him alone. She didn’t want to, and now he was getting hurt. The redhead gave up her mission and ran back towards his cries.
When Willow arrived back at the scene, she saw a panicked Xander lying on the ground unsuccessfully trying to dodge the harsh kicks to his ribs. She froze in an instant, looking into her friend’s eyes and seeing the pain he couldn’t escape. She almost ran back towards Buffy for help until his eyes caught hers. He was trying to say something, but he couldn’t get it out between his cries of pain. She could barely make out the word finally croaked from within his bleeding lips; “Run.”
He still thought of her safety above his own, even as the life was being beat out of him. Willow felt love for the friend she had since birth, but high and above that, she felt intense rage for the ones who were beating him. Without thinking, Willow came up behind one of the vampires and grabbed at his shoulder in an attempt to pull him away. To her surprise, the vampire was thrown clear and slammed into a tree branch, stabbing him through the heart and dusting him.
She felt herself instinctively take a stance that she had seen Buffy take when fighting. The vampire growled and rushed in her direction. Willow kicked her left leg up towards his face and felt the connection with his jaw. She then spun around dropped to the ground, tripping him with her right leg by kicking him behind his knees. When he landed on his back, she took the opportunity to grab the stake Xander had dropped, and plunge it into the heart of the fallen vampire. In an instant, a familiar cloud of dust took the place of her victim.
The third vampire watched her first action in awe, and began to back away when she finished off the second of his cohorts. Willow looked up at him from her position and he turned to dust. Buffy stood behind him, holding a stake where his heart once was. Behind her stood an injured Xander. Their shocked gazes were fixed on Willow.
She smiled weakly and shrugged.