Getting Ahead of Myself
by sailor80
Thirty
[reviews]
Author's note: Thanks to everyone for reading, and extra thanks to everyone who takes time to comment.
Dawn ended the silence between the adults with enthusiastic applause, as if Giles had just finished a particularly exciting story.
"What else did the Council tell you?" Tara asked.
"Nothing. They are trying to find out exactly what happened then. Willow, one of the younger Watchers wants to get in touch with you." Giles pulled a small piece of paper from his shirt pocket. "This is his information."
"How bad is this, really? Like on a scale of one to ten, with 10 being the end of the world," Faith asked.
"This would be a 12 or so, the end of many worlds in addition to ours."
"Why do the knights think we know anything about the Key to Everything or whatever it is?" Faith asked.
"Apparently, they have a prophecy that is quite similar to the one we discussed earlier."
"No way," Willow said softly.
Everyone turned to look at her. Willow stood up. "There is no freakin' way." She turned toward Giles and stabbed her finger emphatically. "No. Way."
"Will?" Buffy said.
"You don't get it, do you, Buffy?" Willow demanded. "Dawn is the Key to All Worlds. So the Knights of Byzantium are right. We guard the Key the Beast is looking for. It's just a matter of who kills her first, and I'm not playing the game. Not with Dawn."
Buffy looked to Giles for confirmation. "Willow is correct."
Buffy got to her feet immediately, and put her hands on Willow's shoulders. She waited for Willow to meet her eyes. "We're not going to let anything happen."
"No. Let them find some other supernatural love child to play with." Willow's tone was angry, and Dawn looked curiously at them.
"We will protect her. I promise. And you know how prophecies are. I mean, they said I would die, but they left out the part about me coming back," Buffy said reassuringly. "And who can protect her better? Look around. We're down two and we still have enough firepower to handle almost anything."
"There's an army camped outside of town ready to try that theory, Buffy," Willow answered. "An army that has a history of destroying towns. This is not good."
"We're fine right now. We'll figure out what we need to do, and we'll do it," Buffy said, and looked to Giles. "There's something we can do, right?"
"If we can find it," Giles agreed.
"See? We can research," Buffy said.
"I don't believe this," Willow said.
"Where will she be safer?" Faith asked. "This way, the battle stays on our turf. Gives us the first advantage."
Willow glared at Faith and bit her tongue. She glared next at Buffy. "This is your plan? Just sit here and wait for something to happen."
Buffy lowered her voice. "Willow, sweetheart, we both know that running leads to being chased. Here, we know where to duck down for cover."
"This is insane. You know that, right?" Willow asked desperately, and Buffy stepped forward and pulled Willow toward her.
"It's going to be all right," Buffy said quietly.
The others looked away, except for Dawn, who asked uncertainly, "Mommy?"
Buffy dropped one hand toward her daughter, and repeated, "It's going to be all right."
After a few moments, both of them realized what Dawn had said and looked at her. "Say it again," Willow demanded.
Dawn happily complied while reaching up. "Mommy."
Buffy let Willow go so she could kneel beside the stroller. While she unfastened the safety belt, she asked Dawn, "Who's Mommy?"
"Mommy," Dawn repeated, and grabbed a handful of Willow's hair. She didn't pull, just held on, while Willow lifted her from the stroller and stood up. Dawn looked at Buffy and announced, "Mom."
Buffy smiled hugely. "You're a smart girl, aren't you?" She reached for her daughter, but Willow backed away.
"No," Willow said stubbornly. "We're not doing this, Buffy."
"We don't have a choice."
"Mom?" Dawn asked uncertainly, and looked from one mother to the other. The others remained absolutely still.
Buffy looked from Dawn to Willow, and waited for Willow to look back. "I swear we will keep her safe. I'll die to protect both of you."
Willow didn't answer. She sank to her knees, her heart falling at twice the speed of her knees. She buried her face in Dawn's hair, and shook. Buffy had cursed them, had offered her life for their daughter's, and someone was always listening when those promises were made.
Dawn patted her awkwardly. She was getting overloaded by the emotions of all of the adults around her, Willow's panicked rage, Buffy's stoic resolve, Giles' mixture of sorrow and determination, Faith's anger, Tara's calm curiosity, Joyce's confusion as she tried to make sense of what the others said. They always seemed to talk in shorthand about whatever was happening, and Joyce honestly preferred not to know more. Things were always far, far worse than she imagined.
Buffy wrapped herself around Willow and Dawn. While she waited for the storm to pass, she kept her eyes closed. Willow and Dawn were everything to her. It was hard to believe all that happened in the past months, not even a year since the first time she dreamed of Dawn. Buffy summoned that joy, and all the other moments she had with Willow and infused her voice with emotion. She said, "I love you. We will beat this thing."
They stayed on the floor for several minutes while the others remained silent. The bell over the door alerted them to Anya and Xander's arrival. Xander took one quick look across the room, and reached behind himself to turn the lock.
"Xander, something's wrong," Anya said with a frown. She looked from the table to Xander.
"Yup," he agreed, and moved them forward after Giles' slight nod.
"You told them about the prophecy," Anya guessed.
"They've known about the prophecy for weeks," Giles protested.
"Uh huh," Anya said skeptically. She looked at Tara.
"It got specific," Tara said.
"Great," Anya answered unenthusiastically, and joined the silence while they waited for Buffy and Willow to rejoin them.
"And Dawn said Mommy," Faith added.
Willow's face was dry and her eyes clear when she returned to her seat. Buffy followed her with Dawn seconds later. To turn attention from Willow, Buffy asked, "Giles, what's with the table?"
"Beg pardon?"
"The carvings. What do they mean?"
"You get a buzz from them, B?"
"Yeah, nothing specific, just more than static." Buffy brushed one hand over them en route to Willow's leg. The tension in the redhead's thigh told Buffy that they were far from finished with their discussion.
"I'll look into when I get an opportunity," Giles answered distractedly. He looked around the table and sighed as he removed his glasses. They had been lucky so many times, and he knew he should be more confident in their ability, but he couldn't stop the low voice in the back of his mind that said this time was different. "You should stay in tonight, all of you. Do not go anywhere alone, and do not, under any circumstances, leave Dawn without a Slayer to guard her."
Willow threw Giles another filthy look, and he felt it, even though he was looking at Faith. He couldn't meet Willow's eyes right now, not while he despaired of their survival.
"Mr. Giles, is there anything else we can do?" Tara asked.
"Reinforce the spells around the places we spend the most time, I suppose. Continue to research."
"We got nothin', in other words," Xander said.
"We'll find something," Buffy answered evenly. "Mom, can you take us home, please?"
"Certainly, honey."
Buffy stood up and maneuvered away from the table. She pushed the stroller with the other hand, and followed her mother from the shop. As soon as they were gone, Willow pushed away from the table. She made her exit silently, all eyes following as she walked away.
There was no more discussion after that. Giles directed the others toward various chores, and after an hour of work, sent Xander and Anya on their way. He gave Faith and Tara a ride to Revello Drive before going to his own home.
Joyce was playing with Dawn, and Tara was immediately aware that Willow had invoked the silence spell. She and Faith exchanged a look that said both doubted the other couple was making up.
"I don't expect to see them tonight," Joyce said.
"Didja have dinner?" Faith asked.
"Dawn did, but I was waiting for you. Yummy Spaghetti-Os."
"Getti ohs," Dawn yelled gleefully.
"Ooo, I love the ones with meatballs," Faith said. "Those are even good cold."
Both Tara and Joyce shuddered. "I think we can do a little better than that," Tara said.
Faith rolled her eyes and held her hands out toward Dawn, who squirmed toward her. Faith picked Dawn up. "Getti ohs!" Dawn shouted again.
"Tell 'em, Dawnie."
Upstairs, Buffy paced beside the bed. Willow stared at the wall, her jaw set to resolve. "We can't run. They will find us. You think they don't have big magic at their disposal? You think they can't track us? They can. They found us right here, and they'll find us no matter where we go," Buffy explained again.
"I'm not doing this, Buffy. I'm not going to sit here and wait for people or things to come and get her."
Buffy clenched and unclenched her hands. Willow was being as stubborn as she had ever been. This time, she wasn't even being logical. Buffy took a deep breath and knelt in front of Willow. "I love you. I love Dawn. I won't let anything happen to either of you."
"You can't promise that."
"I can. I do."
"Stop it."
"I can't stop it. I don't want to stop. I want our family to be happy and safe and well, and that's my job, to make sure we are. Especially the safe part. Especially you and Dawn."
"Stop it," Willow repeated in a lower tone.
"No." Buffy covered Willow's hand and refused to let her pull away. "Do you love me, Willow?"
Willow, surprised, met Buffy's eyes for the first time. "You know I do."
"Do you trust me?"
Willow nodded.
"Will you trust me about this for a little while, so we can figure out what to do?"
Willow blinked slowly while she weighed Buffy's request. She wanted to scream again, to break something, to beat on Buffy until she changed her mind. "You don't decide on your own what to do," Willow said firmly.
Buffy nodded without answering. She leaned forward and slid her arms around Willow's waist, then breathed a huge sigh of relief. Buffy knew how close Willow had been to bolting, taking Dawn and trying to disappear. She relaxed a little more when she felt Willow's fingers moving over her hair.
"Look at me, Buffy."
Buffy raised her head.
"If the Knights aren't gone by the end of the week, we are taking Dawn and we are leaving Sunnydale."
"Will," Buffy started.
"It's not a question, Buffy. We can't live like this, and we don't have to. Let Faith take care of the damn Hellmouth for a while. I cannot sit here and wait for one of you or both of you to die because you're pigheaded."
Buffy hesitated a moment before answering. "All right."
"You promise?"
Buffy raised her right hand. "I promise."
She and Willow watched each other for nearly a minute before Willow tugged Buffy up. Buffy ignored the pins and needles in her legs while Willow stood. They wrapped their arms around each other and stood there silently for several minutes, each lost in her thoughts.