Fic Repost: Finding the Slayer 1-3

["ivygort" <ivygort@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm sorry for the repost.

Finding the Slayer



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Part One

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She took a shot to the head and felt blood spray from her mouth, thankful that none of her teeth seemed to have been shattered. Still, she was stunned, on her feet but reeling. Helpless to stop the next blow, she watched in fascination as Spike wound-up like they did in an old-time western, preparing to deliver what was sure to be the knockout punch.

She watched as it flew towards her, and then felt it connect with the side of her face, snapping her head back, and causing her to fall bonelessly to the ground. Any energy and the will to fight draining out of her like the blood pouring from the inside of her mouth onto the cold ground.  

"Finish her my Darling; we only need the blood from her still beating heart, not her!" Drucilla, it had to be her.   

She had the strength to move her head to the side, so she could watch Spike pull his leg back and kick her in the ribs, then stomach, and the back, surprisingly there was little pain.  

"Ignis Inciende!" She could hear the half-cry, half-command, but her eyes were becoming so swollen she could only make out the barest hint of a familiar figure suddenly being back lighted by two human size torches.

"Willow.."

"Hurry, Xander! That will only keep them busy for a few minutes.Achilles Elixir they took makes them nearly invincible!" The pain that had been remotely distant flared forth with fiery agony when two hands grabbed her and lifted her into two arms. A dagger felt like it had been thrust into her back and then pulled all the way down her spine, as the blood that had been conveniently pooling on the ground began to trickle down her throat causing her to choke. She felt a pop in her chest and then what felt like another dagger stab directly into her heart making it nearly impossible to breathe..

Pain burning its way through her.unable to open swollen eyes, she felt strange hands touching her, and she knew Spike had come back.

"Grab her hands, fast, if she pulls out that chest tube," The Hands trying to hold her down, trying to kill her! Fight! She didn't want to die; she didn't want to die like this..

Not before she had the chance to tell her, to tell her the truth! 

"God, she's too strong! No, no sedation, it could kill her!" 

Her foot connected with something soft and she heard the crunch of a bone breaking. "Damn it, hold her! Oh, Hell!" a shout, "Barbara, get John to a gurney! His arm looks broken.shattered."

"Alright, alright, damn it to Hell I wanted to save this one. Ten units of.."

"Somnus." The word reached into her mind. Willow. Trust, love, and something more.

Willow. She was safe.safe, now. She could stop fighting, she could sleep..

 

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"Miss Summers. Buffy?" She could hear a voice, but it seemed like it was from far away.

"Buffy, we need you to wake up now." Why do I have to wake up? She was hadbeen having such a nice dream. Something with Willow in it. They were they'd been sitting outside on a bench and just enjoying the hot sun beating down on them.  

"Buffy, you need to wake-up." Willow's voice. And Buffy was instantly jerked into consciousness, only to be thrust into a wheat thrasher--a scorchinghot wheat thrasher. She didn't know what a wheat thrasher was, but that'sthat was what it felt like.  

It was so hot that she couldn't breathe, couldn't catch her breath! No, something was blocking her throat. She tried to reach up to pull it out so she'd stop choking; only her hands were tied down.

Why were her hands tied.Spike!

Spike has Willow!

She pulled with all her strength and felt one of her arms break free and that's when she realized she couldn't see.

"Sedate her fast!" a strange voice yelled as her free hand was caught and restrained.

"Buffy, you're safe!" Willow? And then she felt a small hand touch her face, felt the calm love wash over her. "That's right Buffy, settle down, andlet the drugs work.."

The Slayer was free.  

Diana's moon was peeking at her from between the trees as she ran through them. The nighttime forest was her home. Soft winds brought the scent she craved as much as the hunt. as much as life.  

Tonight she would find her.

The Slayer opened her mouth to catch all the scents around her. She felt, rather than heard, the rabbit hiding in a thicket by Grandmother Oak. The Wild Woman sensed the snake ready to drop down on her from the Cypress Tree; she didn't have time tonight to play their game, so she detoured around Father Pine. She wave at Mr. Snake as she flew past, as fast as her feet would carry her.

The Slayer was free and she could feel everything. The way the trees breathed at night, the intake of their breath. just like hers. The Slayer paused in her search for her prey, only tonight it wasn't her normal prey. Tonight she would find her true mate.

Her love; they were already as old as the trees. Having lost each other time after time, they always found one another again. She and her mate took many forms, but they always found one another.the souls were always the same.


A small light appeared above her, weaving in and out of the trees, begging the Slayer to follow it. 

Her mate was impatient! But so was she! It had been so long, so long since the hunter had lain with her love. The light circled her once and flew off, the Slayer started to pursue, and before Diana's moon could move more than an inch in the sky above, her love was found.

Her guide light happily joined the other Fairy lights dancing with her naked soul mate in a small protected glade. The Slayer knew this was a glade out of time, in another place; this was the only safe place for them to meet.  

Her love's alabaster skin seemed to glow from within, as her fiery hair danced around her with a life of its own. The sight was so strikingly beautiful that the Slayer's breath was sundered from her body and she thought she would die. No person alive had the right to view this woman; she should bestruck down for daring to love her.

The guide light seemed to sense her reluctance and separated itself from the dizzying dance to come back to her. The light buzzed around her head, and then, when she didn't move, it dashed to the vision in the glade.

As the light neared her, the woman turned opening her arms in welcome..

"Miss Summers? Can you open your eyes?" Buffy struggled to open her eyes as she heard the strange voice. The heat was gone, but she was so terribly weak. "That's right, some of the swelling is down, try to open them."

"Willow?" Buffy managed croak out, though her voice was the barest whisper. 

"She had to leave to get some rest; she'd been here for the entire time." When she was finally able to open her eyes, she could barely keep them open. Everything was a white blur, and the light hurt. She was immediately assaulted by the smells of blood and urine. 
A hospital.

Not the fragrant glade.

A nurse.

Not her love waiting for her.

 
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They were in a desert, driven from their beautiful forest by the blood eaters. Her people, now her charges, were stretched out over the barren landscape. The Elders thought the relentless sun would give them some safety fromthe monsters. And it did work, the blood eaters were left behind.

But, they hadn't known of the other kind, the ones that stalked them both day and night. They never let them rest, kept them moving.always searching for a weakness... The new kind of monsters were strong, far stronger than her; she had only been able to fend them off so far because she was quicker than they, and wise in the use of weapons. 

Still, the monsters had been able to wound her, and the lack of rest was wearing her down. She dreaded the next attack, for if she fell in battle thenext girl would have to fight, and the young one had neither skill nor experience to fight these monsters.

Her only hope was the vision her wife had the second moon after leaving their homes. In it, her wife said a land to the north would have caves and cliffs near springs. The people could live in the caves, where they could defend themselves.  

The Slayer craved sleep, but she couldn't close her eyes until they found the caves from her lover's vision. They would be safe there; the people could carve stone houses, plant crops on the table-top hills. If only she could sleep! She knew with rest to renew herself, refreshed she could keep them alive.

She stumbled in the soft sand and her legs lacked the strength to keep herfrom falling. She lay on the ground, unable even to lift her head from thegrit and sand scraping her face and filling her mouth.


Then she heard the sound she had dreaded, the screams from her people as the monsters attacked and there was nothing she could do to stop it.except todie so the next Slayer could ascend. The girl wasn't wise in weapons, butshe would at least be able to fight. She pulled her knife, intending to plunge it deeply into her chest, when a hand grabbed her wrist. Lifting her head, she looked into the deep eyes of her wife.

"We're here, we're home. The monsters aren't attacking, they can't.We're safe." 

"Willow?" Buffy asked as she woke again. Her sight was cloudy and unfocused. Half-way between dream and consciousness, her throat was dry and she thought she could still taste sand in her mouth.

"No, Buffy." It was Giles' voice, not that of her wife's. The dreamscape was beginning to fade into the back of her mind. She wanted to go back to sleep, she was so tired. It was just too difficult to stay awake.

"Buffy! Stay awake, we need to make some decisions." Giles demanded when her eyes started to drift shut again. "Buffy, the council wants to take you to England to heal, and protect you."

She heard him, but she was just so very, very, tired..

"Your father is wrong to want to do this to you!" Her wife shouted at her from across the table, their dinner forgotten. "You are recovering, slowly for you, I know, but you were so wounded and worn down from protecting us on our journey, it is no wonder..."

The Slayer sighed; she was conflicted about the Elders' plans. The Slayer's power was a gift directly from the creator and they wanted to tamper withit. Still it only took her a moment to remember how she had almost failed her people.  

"More power can only help me protect you all. That is what I am, that is what my life is for, and nothing else." The Slayer told her wife, resolute.

"That's what they tell you, the Elders will not let me join their meetings on the matter," her wife stated calmly. And the Slayer had to concede the Elder's silence on the ritual worried her.

"I am the strongest magic worker our people have seen, and yet, those old men will not let me in on this secret of theirs? Why?" Her wife asked, pulling herself up to her full height. "Please don't go, or, if you insist, take me with you."  

The Slayer was almost swayed, but she heard a baby cry out for its dinner and remembered her helplessness on the day they found their new home.

"My father would never hurt me." She declared, and it was true. She trustedher father.

Her mind made up, she left her wife's cave and walked along the path to theElders'. As soon as she walked through the entrance she knew this was a mistake, that once again, her love was right..

"No!" Buffy screamed, coming awake again. Now that she knew what to look for, she could feel it inside her. Coiling around her soul, it was darkening it with its corruption.

"Get it out!" Buffy screamed again, ignoring the sounds of running feet, the blaring of some monitor, as she began to claw at her stomach trying to grab what couldn't be seen, but was only felt. The panicked teenager looked down at the tubes connected to her body and started to pull them out hopingthat the darkness she hadn't known was there would flow out through the holes.

Buffy felt rather than saw the people dash into the room, as hands grabbed at her trying to hold her down. She was so weak from fighting the desert monsters, and the Elders had the help of magic, weakening her further..

"Damn it, what was she doing out of restraints?" She heard the male voice speak in slight southern accent, as the hands began to overpower her, forcing her to lie back in the bed. 

"She'd been fine the last few days." The nurse to her right answered.

Buffy's vision was confused. The brightly lit, modern, Sunnydale hospital room was overlaid with the elders in the dirty musty cave and she couldn't tell which was real.. Until her love ran into the hospital room, no, not her love, Willow.

"Willow," she screamed and could taste the tears streaming down her face asshe tried to reach out to her best friend.

"Where's that sedation?" The doctor yelled as he, too, joined the nurses intrying hold Buffy still.

"It's on board. It's the first thing I did." The nurse who was keeping her from reaching for Willow answered. But none of it made sense as her muscles began to lose their strength. As she relaxed, melting down into the mattress, the nurses loosened their hold, and Willow was able to come forward.

"Wills, please don't let them do it." The Slayer begged, her love. No, nother love, and she didn't know what she was begging for, as the drug foggedher mind, confusing her. The only thing Buffy knew, as she could feel consciousness slipping away was that she didn't want Willow to leave.

 

"Please don't leave me, Will," she begged.

The whispered words "I won't," reached her ears as blackness smothered her.

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Buffy could feel at least three people in her room. The one holding her hand she knew instinctively was Willow. And she could tell that Willow wasn't happy about something.

"No, Giles, Mr. Travers. You may not take her," she heard her best friend say. "Mrs. Summers listens to me, and I will not try to help you convince her."

"Willow," that was Giles' voice. "Need I remind you that all Spike and Drucilla need to finish their potion is the blood from the still beating heart of a Slayer?" 

"Miss Rosenberg," that was from another man. "This hospital has already proven it cannot control nor protect her. Surely you see the reason in takingMiss Summers to the council headquarters until she regains full use of herlegs?"

"I don't care! Buffy doesn't want to go with you, she told me herself." Buffy could feel Willow's fierceness through their clasped hands.

She could also feel something else, something deeper. Willow was afraid ofsomething.she didn't trust the man in the room. Buffy let the Slayer takeover all her senses to try and pin down what exactly it what it was just that the situation felt familiar like it had happened before..

The Slayer struggled to open her eyes, to move, but it was like she was being held prisoner in her own body.  

"We have already had to enspell her, lest she damage herself further. You must see reason." It was the man again, and the Slayer could hear a smirk in his voice. He thought he would be able to roll over her Willow.  

"No," and Buffy could see Willow's resolve face in her mind's eye as she heard the word.

Nothing could defeat the 'Resolve Face', Buffy thought and the Slayer agreed. She had lost her lover so long ago; she had been so lonely all these years without her.  

That confused Buffy, the thought that Willow was her lover, no, it couldn'tbe, they were best friends. It was all too confusing.so she let the darkness close over her again.

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Willow sat at Buffy's bedside, drifting, not quite asleep, yet not quite awake either. Buffy had been in and out of consciousness for the pass five days. And Willow had been here almost the entire time Giles had made her go home for a few hours the second night then called her to "come back to the hospital at her earliest convenience."

It seemed that Buffy was calmer when she was around, something Willow really didn't want to look at too closely. She was just happy that the doctors were able to start to slowly lowering the doses of the drugs they were giving her. 

 

Willow still didn't know what Mr. Travers meant about enspelling the Slayer"for her own good." What, exactly, did that mean? And why had he tried tobacktrack after he said it?

A few months ago, Willow would never have thought to challenge an adult, but ever since she started working with Mrs. Calendar, she had started trusting her instincts. And her instincts were screaming that the councilman didn't have Buffy's best interests at heart.

Willow sighed and laid her head down onto hand she was holding, her mind becoming more and busy with what ifs, what should be's, when all she really wanted to do was make sure that Buffy recovered.

Something she was beginning to suspect Councilman Travers' didn't want. Hejust seemed too cold and calculating for her. It was clear to her that heviewed Buffy as a thing or possession and not a person.  

 

There was something else too; it was almost like he was afraid of her of Willow not Buffy. It was like he wanted to take Buffy away from her, Willow Rosenberg--not Sunnydale, and not to protect the Slayer--but only to keep Buffy away from her.

She felt the limp hand she was holding tighten gently around her fingers. When she raised her head and looked up, she met bruised dark eyes and a small smile. She couldn't help the broad grin she could feel forming.

"Oh, oh, you're awake!" she said excitedly, as she stood up, intent on calling a nurse. Only to be held in place by a suddenly tight grip on her hand, Buffy's strength surprising her.

"No," the Slayer said in a breathy whisper. "Not yet." her voice trailed off as her eyes drifted shut. If not for the grip still holding her hand, Willow would have thought Buffy had gone back to sleep.  

"The dreams, Will, the dreams." Buffy's eyes snapped open and the Slayer pulled the Willow close to her "don't let them do it. Please promise me!" The Slayer nearly shouted, as her clear green eyes pinned Willow in place.

"Do what Buffy?" Willow asked, trying to keep the pain from her hand being squeezed from showing in her face or voice.

But, something must have shown because the Buffy instantly released her hand with a mumbled, "I'm sorry." And Willow could actually see her friend's shuttering retreat as Buffy gave up her struggle to stay conscious.

Willow settled back in the reclining chair the nurse had rolled in earlier that evening. As she settled the exhaustion caught up to her and forced her to rest. She didn't realize that her hand was picked-up and lovingly held for safe keeping by Buffy. 
 
The Priestess waited, in the cave that had become their home in this life, for her lover. The Slayer was the hero of her people, the power a gift directly from the creator, and those paranoid old men didn't think it was enough.

"People died," they had cried. Their words wounded her wife to the core of her being.  

Well they wouldn't have died if the Elders had listened to The Slayer and stayed in their forest. The plague of demons were terrorizing their villagecould have been defeated with a little help. Her wife shouldn't have to fight alone; that was crazy!

"Your connection to the Slayer is blinding you!" They had shouted at her during the meeting as they tried to convince the villagers to leave the forest 

"Why, yes, my connection is strong, but Slayers were sent down to the earthto help us fight, not to fight alone!" She had shouted back at the old men. "This is the way since time began, each Slayer would lead, and each Slayer and her Chosen love of her Soul would help in the fight. Not do all the fighting! This was how the Creator designed it!"

Out of nowhere something gripped the magical cord between her and her beloved. As the Witch doubled over in pain, she could feel the shock and betrayal singing between the bond they shared. She could feel her soul being sundered apart as she could literally see the glowing thread pulled out of her.

"No! No! You old fools!" The Witch shouted as she stumbled out of her home and along the narrow rocky edge. She grabbed the gossamer cord before it could escape. It was the tiniest of threads, but she had to keep hold of it... She couldn't lose her connection for if she did she would never be able to find her love again!

"You don't understand.." She coughed out as she fell, the hard unforgiving rocks dug into her knees...but it was nothing compared the panic that was trying to rush up and crush her. 

Several of the villagers were coming out of their caves to find out what was wrong, and were blocking her path to the Elders' dwelling. She felt a change in the air, like the charge of a gathering storm.a roar of the wind, only there was no sound.and she knew that the old men were working the darkest of the dark magicks.  

She knew there would be no coming back once the spell was completed.  

The Witch pulled her strength, her resolve, her will, around her like armorshe saw once at a fair. Because Will was truly magic. Love, Hate and thepower of Will was the definition of magic.

"Stand aside!" the Witch shouted at the villagers as she stood on steady and strong legs. She wrapped the gossamer thread around her hand and yanked on it, knowing it connected with the other half of her soul. That it was imbedded so deeply that her mate would be compelled to come to her.

"Stand aside!" She shouted again and started marching towards the Elders' cave as the villagers opened a path for her. She would teach those imposters of the power what was real..

Something struck her in the chest, causing her to lurch forward. At first she thought it another attack on her love's connection, but when she lookeddown she saw the head of a single arrow sticking out of her heart. And she knew that the Elders had planned their deceit well. An overwhelming sense of sadness drove the witch to her knees.  

She looked down at the thread that held her love, her life.and watched it as it slipped through her fingers.gone forever.