The Magic Box
The light shone in through the door as Buffy walked in. She was surprised to see the shop empty, and looked in the bookshelves and under the counter for anyone. The door to her training room opened and Faith leaned against the doorjamb. "Hey," she said quietly, with a small smile.
"Hey," Buffy replied. "Where are the others?"
"They're waiting. They need you, B. He needs you."
"What about you?" Buffy asked worriedly.
Faith shook her head and smiled. "I'll be alright. Go."
Buffy reached out across the space of the shop and was caught in a hug. "Thank you."
June 10, 2:23 a.m., Sunnydale Hospital
"Okay move it up to 350! Clear!"
"Hold it, we have a pulse!"
"BP up and climbing!"
Buffy opened her eyes and wondered what had happened. One second she was with her old friend, the next, she was pulled, unwilling to the hospital. Her mother's face loomed over hers. "Buffy are you ok?"
"She's going to be fine, Mrs. Summers. Just give her a little time to adjust. You can call in the others in a minute."
Buffy closed her eyes and ran her hands over her stomach. Her babies! Where were they? She sat up quickly and some errant tubes fell out of her arms. There, at the foot of her bed, Spike and Angel each held an infant. The doctors had given up on the question as to who was the father, and as Joyce had called them in first, they just gave one infant to each man. They were entranced. "A-hem," Buffy cleared her throat and held out her arms.
The two looked at each other, and moved again to opposite sides of the bed. In the minute that Buffy had been dead, they had come close to destroying the hallway outside her room and each other. .
Spike knelt down beside her and asked, "What are you going to call them?"
Buffy rolled to her side to accept the child from Angel. "This little girl will be Angela." She looked up at Angel and he nodded.
Turning her back on Angel, she took the baby from Spike. "And this baby boy will be William."
Spike looked at her, astonished, and stroked her face gently. Behind her, took in the sight and the filigree heart that hung down nearly touching the little boy's head.
The doctor came through the door, with a nurse in tow. The babies had to be taken to the neo natal ward. They were big for premature twins, but, they still needed to be observed. The doctor threw everyone out again so he could perform routine tests on Buffy. Considering that she had been dead for a minute and fifteen seconds, she was just fine, but the tests still needed to be done. Procedure.
The others in the hall had been shaken by the turn that Buffy had taken. They tried in vain to prevent the two vampires from killing each other. Now, after everything, they were just exhausted. Happy that everything had worked out, but exhausted. They watched as the babies emerged in the arms of the nurse and moved quickly down the hall. Next came Joyce with a tired smile that reflected their own. She moved out to Giles and he stood to accept her hug. Last, came Angel and Spike. Spike looked at the gang and seemed to want to say something, but moved on and out of the ward. Angel gave them a nod and followed the younger vampire.
June 10, 3 a.m., The Mansion
"Faith? Dawn?" Wesley called out as he walked through the dark hallways of the mansion, with nothing to guide him but a flashlight.
He hoped that they had done it, banished Glory and survived. Barring that, he hoped they had just made it out alive. Faith didn't show another passage to Dawn. In order for Glory to be banished, a Slayer's life must be relinquished. Wesley had protested. He argued. He pleaded. He was met with the same answer each time. She had to do it. It was for everyone's good.
The doppelganger that had taken Faith's place in jail would make it look as though she died in her sleep and be released. Glory would be gone and Dawn would no longer be in danger from her. Buffy's children didn't have to lose their mother. Most importantly, a new Slayer would be called, one that he could be proud of and that could really help Buffy.
Wesley only kept his contrary look and wished her luck. He would see her later that night he called after them as they left Giles' house.
Now in the darkened hallways, he heard nothing. Nothing at all. They had either defeated Glory and gotten out or defeated Glory and died in the process. He trained his flashlight around in front of him and saw a door that was open. He walked towards it and as he entered, he heard the muffled sobs of a child.
Light illuminated the room as he moved through it, where it came from he didn't know and didn't care. Dawn was crouched over Faith and crying. Seeing Wesley, she got up and threw her arms around him and continued to weep. He held her and looked over her shoulder at Faith. Her head and neck were at impossible angles, but on her face was a beautiful smile. Wesley turned from her, making a note to begin funeral arrangements, and guided Dawn out of the room.
Once outside, they climbed on his motorcycle and headed towards the hospital.
June 10, 3:30 a.m. Outside Sunnydale Hospital
Angel had walked around the entire perimeter of the hospital at least twice and finally found Spike by the orange glow of the end of his cigarette. The sky was beginning to take on the pre dawn violets and reds as the earth spun to greet the sun once again.
"You love her, don't you," It was more a statement than a question as Angel moved into Spike's sight.
Spike exhaled and looked at Angel. Placing the cigarette in lips, he readjusted the collar of his long coat and took the cigarette out again. "What's it to you?"
"What about Buffy? How does she feel?"
Spike placed the still lit cigarette filter end first between the black nails of his thumb and forefinger and watched as it sailed across the parking lot with a high arc. He looked down again and said, "I don't know."
Angel recalled the many times he had told Buffy to find someone who could love her back, show her how much he loved her. But Spike? How could he love her? He didn't even have a soul.
Angel looked back to the early days. Back when Spike was newly reborn. Wasn't it he who felt things the most? The most exhilarated, the most thrilled, the most everything when they, the four of them had gone out and killed. As Drusilla's health had declined, wasn't it Spike who had orchestrated everything, just so she wouldn't die? Never mind that she was mad as a hatter, he still loved her. It was Spike who had been with Buffy all this time when he wished he could have been with her. Spike who had been her ally, her protector. Guilt rushed over Angel and was replaced with resolve.
Angel turned to leave. "Take good care of her for me, Spike. I'll be back."
As he walked away, again, he wished fervently for the end of the world to come sooner.
June 10, 4 a.m., Sunnydale Hospital
Buffy had her hand in the crook of Spike's arm as she walked over to the baby room. She couldn't walk just yet on her own, but no one else needed to know that. Everyone was staring through the window at the twins. Buffy saw her sister there and gave her a hug. Xander moved aside and pushed Buffy to the front so she, too, could see. They were placed in the same glass crib where they slept curled around each other
Angela Faith Conover William Ken Conover
5 lb 3 oz 5lb 2 oz
Mother: Elizabeth Anne Summers Father: Liam Angel Conover
Buffy looked around and didn't see who she was looking for. Spike held her shoulders and turned her away from the children. "He left, love."
Buffy's face twisted angrily and she collapsed against Spike's chest and began to cry. He pulled her close and when everyone turned to see what was going on, he just closed his eyes and held her.
June 10, 4:30 a.m., Outside the Delivery Room
The two English gentleman leaned against the wall, the night at last behind them, facing each other. Over Wesley's shoulder, he could see Xander, Anya, Tara and Willow still staring through the glass at the children who were not to be, but were. Joyce was leading Dawn away and at the far end of the hallway, Spike held Buffy. He smiled, despite his dislike of the vampire.
"Faith's dead." Wesley said flatly.
"What? How?" Giles stammered.
"Glory. She took Dawn to go fight Glory. They won, Glory has been banished, but Faith fulfilled her part. She's dead. Dawn doesn't remember very much, but she's still in shock."
"Wesley, Buffy died in the delivery room. The doctors revived her, but you know what this means." Giles said grimly.
Wesley nodded and spoke. "Two slayers have been called."
They looked at each other gravely and sipped their tea from the paper cups in silence.
June 10, 7 a.m., Sunnydale Hospital
Buffy had cried herself out and went back to her room with Spike's help. He had been watching her sleep for almost two hours. Before dawn arrived, he closed the divider in her room. She was on the side without a window. Even as she slept peacefully, he couldn't forget the anguish on her face as he told her that Angel had left her yet again. She had choked out the words before she fell asleep, that she knew that it was for the best, that he told her to move on, that they couldn't be together.
Spike resisted the urge to make the wall look like Swiss cheese when she finally fell asleep and sat by her bed. People came and went. They weren't important right now. Her friends had come to say goodbye for now, that they would be back later. He nodded and they left too.
Her eyes fluttered open, darted over to the clock on the wall on the other side of the room and turned to see who was with her. "Spike," she said with a smile. "What would I do without you?"
He smiled at her and said lightly, "I don't know, love. Shrivel up and die?"
Buffy smiled ruefully and said. "Faith's gone."
Spike pulled her into an embrace, which she returned, thankfully. "Shhh…love. I know. Giles told me everything before."
He pulled away from her and just stared deeply into her eyes. She ran her hand down the right side of his face from the scar on his eyebrow down to his chin and thought about what Faith had told her. She remembered the end of the prophesy. He closed his eyes as he felt her warm touch. "Buffy -"
"Shhh. I know." She used her hand that was still on his face to pull him closer to her and her other hand on the bed to push herself up.
Their lips met. It was so different from each of their dreams. It wasn't fire and passion as Spike had imagined. It wasn't the romantic hero like Buffy had imagined. It was something, like everything else, that couldn't be explained and wouldn't be discussed. It was like coming home at last.
Later that week
The priest closed the book. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. May you rest in peace, child." He turned to go. It was late and it had begun to rain.
The casket was lowered into the ground of one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries. Buffy knelt down at the edge of the grave and threw in a dark red rose. "Goodbye, Faith. Thank you."
Flowers surrounded the open grave. As soon as the undertaker filled the space with dirt, they would be placed on top. The biggest bunch had been from Angel, with smaller bunches from the others. The only ones who attended the service were Buffy, Spike, Giles and Wesley. Her family and the gang had stayed back at home to take care of William and Angela. Angel remained in LA.
Buffy turned in on Spike in grief. He looked at the Watchers and they all turned in the opposite direction the priest had taken. Time to go home.
Epilogue
The two vampires crouched over the holy man and laughed as they fed. He had been leaving the cemetery when they found him. One had swung a metal bar and the back of the priest's head caved in. Amazingly, he was still alive, and prayed out loud the entire time they were dragging him behind a mausoleum.
They laughed again as the priest finally died. Each of them looked at the other in warning and stood to turn and fight when they each collapsed into a pile of brown ash.
The girls in their identical silk dusters stood over the dead man and slapped hands in congratulations.
The woman stepped out from the shadows and looked at the two of them. Never before in the histories have there ever been three slayers at once. To have two be identical twins was unreal.
"Very good girls, but don't celebrate yet." The Watcher called to them.
End Oracle Saga. Look for the "End of the World" series, coming soon. -HD *_*