Choose
by sailor80
Twelve
[reviews]
Buffy pretended to ignore the watchers trailing her. She worked her way systematically away from the manor, interrogating and killing each demon she came across. After an hour, she put on a burst of speed and left the watchers behind.
She followed the directions she had memorized, glad that they were precise. She hadn't wanted to do this. Buffy distrusted everyone except her family. She came because she wanted to believe that Giles had been duped.
The Slayer knocked on the door. The woman who opened it was gorgeous. The phrase "black Irish" popped into Buffy's head, and she knew it applied to the woman asking, "Miss Summers?"
"Yes."
"Come in."
Buffy looked at her again before crossing the threshold. Inside, with the door closed, she felt immediately at ease. She looked around, thinking, 'Tara would love this.'
"Who is Tara?"
"Who are you?" Buffy fired back.
"I thought Rupert explained that to you."
"We're not so much with the talking right now."
The woman nodded slowly. She gestured for Buffy to follow her into the house.
They sat at a table in the middle of the room. Dining room, Buffy guessed. Each time her eyes moved, something else caught her attention.
"I'm Aislin Erskine." She offered a hand to Buffy.
Buffy accepted. "Buffy Summers." Buffy dropped her hand and reached into a pocket on her jacket. She pulled out folded papers and handed them to Aislin.
Aislin unfolded the packet. There were three sheets of paper. The first was a note to her from Giles. The second was a copy of the prophecy and the text surrounding it. The third was a summary of what had happened. While Aislin read, Buffy examined the walls. They were painted dark red. Bundles of plants hung from the open rafters. The walls were covered with photos, paintings and textiles. The longer she sat at the table, the more relaxed she became.
When Aislin finished reading, she looked at Buffy speculatively. "Tell me what happened."
"We were sitting in the garden. Willow got this funny look on her face, so I asked her what was wrong. She said she didn't know, so I looked around. When I looked back, Will was floating. Her hair was black and her eyes were black and she was screaming and then she disappeared."
"Before that."
Buffy frowned. "How much before?"
"Before you died."
Buffy decided to play along. "Which time?"
Aislin was unperturbed. "The last time."
"It's a really long story, and I'm kind of in a hurry."
"It's important. And there's time. You talk, I'll fix tea."
Buffy sighed as Aislin rose from her seat. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Wherever you feel appropriate."
Buffy drew a deep breath. "There was this hell god who was banished and wanted to go home. She was convinced I had the key to the dimension she wanted to open. Turns out, the key is my sister, who was a ball of energy a bunch of monks conjured and put in our lives. While we're figuring this out, we're being harassed by a bunch of monks in chain mail and the skanky hell god is going around scrambling people's brains. She thought Tara was the key, and when she found out she wasn't, she scrambled her brains, too.
"So the hell god figures out that Dawn's the key, and busts down Willow's barrier and snatches Dawn and disappears. Dawn's gonna die and the world's gonna end if Glory gets her way, so we stopped her. But the ritual had started, and the only way to stop it was for me or Dawn to die. It couldn't be Dawn, so I jumped through the portal."
"And died." Aislin set a mug in front of Buffy.
Buffy sniffed the tea before sipping it. It tasted good. "What kind of tea is this? Nothing Giles drinks is this good."
"What happened after you died?"
"My friends brought me back. Willow went on a magick bender, and here we are."
"Tell me about your family."
Buffy sipped more tea. "My mom died while all that stuff was going on with Glory. Everybody's really good about helping with Dawn." She sipped again. "This is really good."
"Thank you. Go on."
"Dawn's like five years younger than I am. She's grown up a lot this year. It's been really hard for everybody. There's all that teenage angst and all the stuff with being the Key, and then Mom died."
"Where's your father?"
Buffy snorted. "He bailed on us a long time ago." She sipped at the now half-empty mug. "Let's see. There's Xander, we've been friends since high school. Anya's his fiancée. She was a vengeance demon but now she's mortal." Buffy waved her hand. "Another long story we can get into another time." She sipped from the mug again. "You obviously know Giles."
Aislin nodded. "Tell me about the witches."
Buffy smiled. "Tara was Willow's girlfriend, but they broke up because of Willow's magick problem. She's probably the strongest person I know." Buffy emptied the mug.
"And Willow?" Aislin prodded.
Buffy's smile got bigger, then faded. "She has a problem. That's why we came here." She frowned. "Giles said everything would be okay, but it isn't.
They keep hurting her." Buffy looked at Aislin. "There was something in the tea," she said with a loopy grin.
"There was. I'm sorry."
"What is it with you English people drugging Slayers all the time?" Buffy demanded.
Aislin smiled. "Tell me about Willow."
Buffy's grin returned. "She's perfect," she said, and then her smile disappeared. "I can't feel her."
"Can't feel her how?"
"I dunno, her energy. Her Willowness. She disappeared and it's gone." She focused carefully on Aislin. "I can't feel her, and it hurts worse than anything, ever."
"Do you know where she is?"
"Kinda, but not really. Cause if I did, she'd be right here. And when I get her back, somebody's gonna pay. They can't hurt my Willow and get away with it."
Aislin nodded. "You know she's not your mage."
"Who cares? She's my Willow. That's all she ever needs to be."
"Do you know why Rupert sent you here?"
Buffy shrugged. "Could be a wild goose chase. Something to keep me busy while the Council dreams up some new way to annoy me."
"Rupert isn't part of the Council."
"He brought us here."
"He did," Aislin agreed. "But what happened distresses him greatly. He fears that it will destroy your relationship with him."
"If he doesn't have anything to do with it, he doesn't have to worry."
"Tell me about Willow," Aislin asked again.
Buffy's smile returned when she heard the redhead's name. She passed out, falling face first into the table.
Buffy opened her eyes and looked around. It was dark except in the circle of kaleidoscope light thrown by the fire. "Crap," she said quietly, and settled back on her heels to wait. It didn't take long.
When she saw the First Slayer step out of the shadows across from her, Buffy nodded. "I knew it," she said. "What this time? Death still my gift?"
The First Slayer stared at her, then squatted on her side of the fire. They watched each other.
Buffy, impatient, asked, "What?"
"You touch darkness but it does not touch you."
"Can we skip the cryptic stuff this time? If you know how I can get Willow back, just tell me." When there was no reply, Buffy stood. "I don't need this right now." She turned her back on the fire and strode away.
She walked through the darkness. There was nothing to differentiate anything, no stars, no light. Nothing. But she felt something near.
* * *
Tara stopped reading and frowned. She rubbed her forehead. She was missing something. It was right there, but she couldn't see it or reach it. Something simple. She looked around the library at her friends — family, she corrected herself. Minus a blond Slayer and a redheaded witch. She stood and stretched. "I need a break," she said softly.
Everyone except Dawn acknowledged her silently. "Me, too." She looked at Tara. "Ice cream."
"Okay, but then you finish your homework."
"Deal."
They went to the kitchen. It was empty, and the small noises they made - the spoons chattering against each other in the drawer, the bowls sliding across the counter, the hum of the freezer from the open door — grated on her nerves. Willow's absence worried her. Buffy's rage at it worried her more. The Slayer was uncontrolled and wild. Tara had never seen her like that.
Dawn dished out ice cream for both of them and returned the carton to the freezer. They sat at the counter and ate. Neither of them felt like talking, and whenever Dawn looked at Tara, she knew the blonde was thinking hard. Dawn wanted to say something to make it easier, but didn't know what that might be. The prophecy distressed her, too. Chaos was bad, and Buffy bleeding was bad. Whatever would happen to her would happen, and didn't trouble her much. She had resigned herself to dying once before, and that feeling lingered. She was more concerned that Tara and Buffy and Willow would refuse to do what might be necessary because it would harm her. "Tara?"
"What Dawnie?"
"I don't know how to say this, exactly."
"S-s-s-say what?"
"I want you guys do what you have to to save Willow."
"We will," Tara answered absently. Her brain was still trying to figure out what she couldn't see.
"Even if it means that I" her voice dropped. "Die. Even then."
"It won't come to that." Tara brought her focus to Dawn.
"If it does, I want you to promise you'll do whatever has to be done."
"We won't hurt you, Dawn. An-and we won't let you be hurt."
"I heard the prophecy, too."
"It w-w-w-won't be l-l-like that."
"Promise me, Tara."
"No." Tara got up and came around the counter. She stood beside Dawn and put her arm around the teenager. "We haven't come through everything to just give up. We'll find Willow and everyone," Tara stressed, "will be safe."
Dawn turned on her stool and leaned into Tara. Tara put her other arm around the girl. Dawn returned the hug. "If you have to choose between them, either one of them, and me, I want you to choose them."
"No," Tara repeated. "I don't know how we'll do it, but everyone is coming home."