RoundRobin - Chapter 1

["amberbensonfan" <AmberBensonFan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The first chapter to the RoundRobin is now available.

Story Title: Rising From The Wreckage
Chapter 1

Disclaimer: None of us claim any rights to the characters or any of 
the dialog used in this story. No infringement is intended. We're 
just playing and will put everyone back later.

Feedback: Each person would love to hear feedback on this story so 
please share your thoughts with us.

Pairing: It's kind of complicated. Whatever pairing you see in the 
show up to Wrecked is there, but it will change to a W/T/B main 'ship.

Rating: Chapter 1 is rated PG-13. The story as a whole will probably 
be an R, possibly and NC-17 (Watch each chapter for specific notes 
regarding this)

Summary: Starts with "Wrecked" and plays into "Gone," possibly some 
other episodes as well, but we're starting to rip the eps apart and 
rewrite our own branching off into a whole new line. A new big bad 
(not the nerds) is worse than anyone every expected and is the last 
one you'd ever expect. But only one force can fight it and Buffy 
can't do it alone. She needs to follow a prophecy that will mean her 
melding with two other persons.

CHAPTER ONE - Written by: AmberBensonFan

Dialog from Psyche Transcripts

For only a moment the quiet night was broken with the sound of a hiss 
of steam as it billowed from the crunched and mangled hood of the 
car. The wreckage laid pressed up against a strong, stone pillar, 
which effectively stopped any further retreat the witch and key tried 
to make. With a grunt and groan of pain Dawn slowly started to come 
too as her blurry eyes took in the scene around her. Exhausted, she 
managed to call up some reserve strength to push the door open and 
heard the metal click and pop as it finally gave way. She stumbled 
and clutched her left arm close to her chest in a vain attempt to 
lessen the pain, she made her away around the vehicle that now looked 
like an accordion and noticed Willow's unconscious form slumped 
forward, head resting on the steering wheel.

Before she could even react a demon lunged forward, if she had a 
moment to really think about it, Dawn wouldn't have been surprised to 
find that the demon wouldn't give them a break long enough to get 
their minds back in order, but, as it were, she didn't have much time 
to think about anything other than to survive. It managed to catch up 
to them while they both laid unconscious and now Dawn was left to 
fend for herself. The teen couldn't help the scream that forced 
itself from her lips; her instincts kicked in and she pushed as hard 
as she could and ignored the pain that shot up her injured arm. Dawn 
knew she stood no chance to really fight the demon and did the next 
best thing. She dropped to the ground and frantically clawed her way 
under it, a move that was severely hindered by the uselessness of her 
arm. Before she could get all the way underneath the demon recovered 
his footing, grabbed Dawn's legs, and pulled her roughly across the 
cement ground.

Dawn managed to quickly flip herself over onto her back and kicked 
with all her might; the adrenaline that raced through her system gave 
her extra strength. She needed another distraction, but there was 
nothing around to aid her in her plight until she began to clutch at 
the ground once more. She pulled up a handful of dirt and threw it 
into the demon's eyes and used the time it took to clear his vision 
to run. He was too fast and easily recovered and grabbed Dawn once 
more. The teen struggled hard and pounded exhausted limbs against his 
bare chest.

He lashed out, sending the back of his clawed hand to crash into her 
face and it sent Dawn down the alley to land with a thud. With the 
last ounce of reserve, Dawn once again tried to crawl away and yet 
the demon persisted, as it snarled at her and drew near.

"Dawn!" Buffy cried out as her trained eyes quickly took in the 
scene. Her instincts immediately kicked into high gear and Buffy 
attacked with vicious punches and kicks. She clearly had the 
advantage, but the demon got some hard shots in as well. Spike, who 
followed quickly behind Buffy, knew the demon was taken care of and 
brought his attention to the injured teenager who rested up against a 
pillar.

Almost as suddenly as it began the demon started to tremble and 
shake, added snarles and screeches of pain to its lament, only to 
just vanish before everyone's eyes. What stood behind him, however, 
was a sight even worse. Willow, blood dripping down her forehead from 
a cut along her hairline, leaned weakly against another pillar, 
purple sparks of electricity jumped wildly from her fingertips and 
eyes completely black.

"No, no!" Dawn cried out and it broke the intense moment between 
Witch and Slayer.

"Dawn." Buffy stated simply and rushed to her sister where Spike 
tried his best to assess the severity of her injuries. 

"What happened? Are you okay?" Buffy asked almost frantically.

Dawn, now that the immediate threat was gone and she could allow her 
mind to process the events that just took place and allow her body to 
feel the pain it was in, cried. "Uh... he was after Willow. She made 
the car drive... don't!" Dawn was cut off when Buffy tried to look at 
the teen's arm that she continued to hug close to her body. "No, 
don't!"

"I need to see, okay? Let me see your arm." Buffy tried to coax her 
sister. She knew Dawn was hurt and in considerable pain but the 
stubborn streak in the teen refused to let Buffy in to handle the 
situation.

Willow, who finally managed to get some strength back into her body, 
rushed up to the scene as Buffy started to pull Dawn to her feet with 
Spike on the other side.

"Dawn? Oh god, there's blood." Willow called out as she drew closer.

Buffy ignored Willow's concern as she fought to control the anger she 
felt towards her best friend. Not just anger; disappointment, fear, 
and concern, all boiled just below the surface, but the strongest 
emotion was anger for how Willow not only allowed Dawn to get hurt 
but was the main facilitator in it. "Okay, we need to get her to a 
doctor," Buffy announced as she refused to look at Willow.

"Is she okay? Is she okay?" Willow became frantic as she tried to 
find out Dawn's condition. She wanted to help but Buffy quickly 
shooed her away. 

"Back off, Will, I got her."

Willow didn't know what to do with herself. Through her panic she 
knew she'd crossed a line, especially when Buffy was so aloof to her, 
but she needed to know Dawn was okay. "No, Dawnie!" she cried out as 
they tried to get Dawn out of the alley.

"I mean it, stay away from her!" Buffy warned, her patience grew thin 
quickly as Willow kept rushing around the small group. 

Willow ran in front of them and stopped their slow progress out of 
the area. Willow clearly lost any semblance of control she had and 
broke down, "Dawnie! Dawnie, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, it was an 
accident! I didn't see, I'm so, so sorry."

Dawn didn't have the same reservations about keeping her cool around 
the way-ward witch and let her anger clearly show on her face as she 
glared at Willow. Before anyone could react Dawn lashed out and 
slapped Willow hard across the face, though, in their overcharged 
states, Willow barely registered any pain and was in shock more than 
anything.

"Dawnie! Dawnie, don't!"

The three began to walk again, Buffy couldn't hold the slap against 
her sister because even she wanted to smack some sense into Willow at 
this point. Willow was beside herself with guilt and grief and 
collapsed to the ground in hysterical tears.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Spike looked to Buffy and gave a slight nod to let her know that he 
could handle Dawn on his own and the Slayer turned to the crumpled 
mess that was once her strong, proud, best friend.

"Get up," Buffy's voice was harsh and cold.

Spike guided Dawn out of the way to allow them their privacy.

"I screwed it up, everything! Tara..." Willow started to spiral into 
a fit of uncontrollable self-pity.

Buffy grabbed Willow's arm and pulled her to her feet without care if 
she held on too tightly. To see how her sister was hurt and to have 
Willow turn it into a self-loathing escape pushed Buffy over the 
edge. This all had to stop and it was going to stop this 
instant. "Yeah, you know what, you did screw up. You could have 
killed her! You almost did!"

"I know! I know! I'm sorry, I..." Willow tried again.

Buffy shook Willow and cut her off, "No, I don't want to hear it. 
This isn't about you now, Willow. This is about Dawn. About how she 
trusted you! Looked up to you! And now there is a young girl whose 
heart is crushed and probably has a broken arm and concussion on top 
of it. I don't want to hear 'oh woe is me' from you right now." 
Buffy's voice quickly edged to cruel and she caught herself. Buffy 
had to force herself to take a deep breath before she tried again 
with slightly less venom. "This is going to stop now, do you 
understand? It will stop now or you will have to leave the house. I 
love you, Will, I do, but I have to think of Dawn first."

Willow's tears slowly dried up and left streaks along her face, which 
were made more prominent from the dust and dirt that laid on her 
cheeks. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the intense words that came at 
her from the person who was supposed to be her best friend. The one 
who now acted all high and mighty. The one who could barely spend a 
moment with anyone other than herself. The one who spent most of her 
time wallowing in her own self pity.

Willow's eyes narrowed at the challenge Buffy presented and she took 
a step back to face her friend completely. "How dare you?" Willow 
shot back.

Buffy expected anything really, anything but the returned 
indignation. She knew this would quickly move towards a fight and 
wasn't sure it was the best thing to do at the moment. "That's where 
I stand, Willow, now if you don't mind I'd like to make sure my 
sister is okay," Buffy spat out the words.

"Oh, sure, walk away! Walk away just like you've done all year, 
Buffy! Ohhhhh, the big, bad slayer has to run away whenever things 
get too close." Willow taunted. She didn't know why she felt the need 
to push her friend. In fact, she knew it was probably the most 
outrageous thing to do; egg on a pissed off slayer whose sister she 
just hurt. Not the wisest move she'd ever made considering her sudden 
track record, but just as Buffy felt the need to draw the line, 
Willow needed to get certain issues out as well.

Buffy spun on her heels to face the redhead, her eyes narrowed to 
near slits and she let her anger release. "Who do you think you are?" 
She asked, her voice low and dangerous. "You're wacked out on 
magicks, you take my sister to some dealer and nearly get her killed 
because of some stupid demon *you* conjured up and you have the 
audacity to question me?"

"Bwah!" Willow scoffed. "I'm not the one with the problem here, 
Slayer," Willow drew out Buffy's title, mocking it. "I'm not the one 
who's been moping around here like some puppy that's just been 
kicked. Well boo hoo! I'll tell you what, Buffy. I'll go. I'll go and 
let you all try to find a way to get through your problems without me 
to cry to. Without me to run to when you need something hacked into 
or when you need a heads up to tell you that you're about to get 
jumped or worse! I'm tired of you telling me one minute to do a spell 
for you and the next minute have everyone jump down my throat that 
I'm out of control. Maybe while I'm gone you might actually figure 
out that living life isn't as bad as you make it out to be. Yeah, I'm 
sorry you're hurting, but you know what, so are the rest of us."

Buffy took in the words and knew that there was some level of truth 
and felt a pang of hurt when she heard that Willow planned to leave. 
She went to step in and end this before it got completely of control 
but Willow was to have none of that. 

"No! You always get to have your say, now it's my turn." Willow saw 
that Buffy was ready to jump in and wanted her moment to get this all 
out. "Did you even notice when Tara left? No!" Willow took a deep 
breath. "The one person in all the world who I love more than life 
itself left me and moved out and you barely even noticed. Were you 
just too wrapped up in yourself to care or did you not even realize 
how important Tara was to me in the first place?"

"Nice way to treat someone you claim to love so much!" Buffy shot 
back before she could censor herself.

Willow's mouth snapped shut before she could respond. Her body 
stiffened, almost as though Buffy's words were a physical blow. 
Willow slowly shook her head and ended the conversation. She walked 
past her friend but stopped and faced her, their noses practically 
touched. "Screw you!" she whispered, her voice harsh and she slapped 
the Slayer hard across the face.

Buffy's slayer instincts would have stopped the strike if she ever 
thought Willow would have done anything like that in her life. Still, 
it was a surprise as her face snapped sideways and when she looked 
back Willow already stormed away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, just try to get some rest," Buffy urged as she helped Dawn 
into her bed after their long night at the hospital. The teen nodded 
and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Buffy went to her room, pulled out a pair of boxers and a shirt and 
made her way into the bathroom. She allowed the steaming water to 
splash and hammer into her skin, and her muscles finally relaxed, 
albeit only slightly. She was too tired to even enjoy the sensation 
and opted to hurry up and just get to bed.

By the time she stepped from the shower the room was a mass of fog. 
She quickly toweled off, dressed, and brushed her hair through. As 
she stepped into the hall her eyes drifted to the room that was once 
her mother's. She noted that, though it was closed, it was slightly 
ajar and figured she'd at least check on Willow. She didn't know if 
they'd get past this, but her friend had also been injured in the 
accident and no one took the time to see just how badly she was hurt. 
She quietly pushed the door open a little further, her plan was to 
just peak in and make sure things were okay. Problem was, things were 
far from okay.

Willow, true to her word, made sure she was gone, and opted to leave 
before they even got back from the hospital. She pushed the door open 
quickly and flicked on the light by the bedside. Closet and dresser 
drawers were left open, empty hangers clear evidence that the Witch 
was really gone. Vacant slots on bookshelves told the tale that 
Willow had taken the most immediate needs that she could get out of 
the house in time and left. Her eyes went to a note that rested on 
the bed.

"Xander will get the rest later."

That was is. All Willow would say. Not even a 'Dear Buffy' or 'Love 
Willow.' Sure Buffy was still angry that her friend had gone so far 
over the edge but she couldn't stop loving the redhead. She'd done 
plenty of stupid things in her own life that to simply destroy their 
friendship over this one issue would be insane at best. They just 
needed time to work through it, but apparently Willow had other 
ideas. Buffy decided that it was probably for the best. It would give 
them all time to calm down and get their thoughts in order.

With a heart-aching sigh, Buffy turned off the light, clung to the 
small note, and closed the door behind her before she threw her 
drained body onto the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

END CHAPTER 1