Heaven Tagged (BtVS/SPN)
4 Mar 2010 15:31![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skylar0graceTitle: Heaven Tagged.
Author: SkylarGrace.
Status: Complete.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Buffy has been brought back from Heaven and she has more than one hitch-hiker. One of them goes by the name of Mary Winchester and she needs to speak to her family. Can Buffy help her?
Spoilers: Pre ‘Supernatural’ and Season 1-6 of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’.
Disclaimer: ‘Supernatural’ and all related characters are copyright Eric Kripke, Kripke Enterprises & The CW Network. No infringement intended. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. No infringement intended.
Notes: Based on a challenge issued by Phoenix.
“What was that?”
Willow gave a small smile as Dean and Sam walked into the room. John sat up painfully and as Sam raced over to him and helped him to stand, Dean lifted Buffy off the ground and placed her on the closest bed. Her breathing was shallow and as the others came to stand around them, Dean looked back at Willow.
“Well?”
“A complicated exorcism. I had to bind it to Buffy's body first before exorcising it. Unfortunately, I'm not used to doing that, so wherever that demon is, it's hurting but not gone.”
Sam gave a short laugh. “Beats salting and burning.”
“You salt and burn demons?”
“No, but we do with spirits. We have to find out who they are first and then dig up what's left. Salt and burning usually does the job.”
“Huh. I wonder if that will work with the one we've got.”
“Got a spirit problem back home?” Dean asked as he uncapped the bottle of water on the bedside table.
“No, with Buffy. When I brought her back, we picked up a hitchhiker and a spirit. Managed to send the hitchhiker back but I can't get rid of this spirit.”
“Back from where?”
“We were fighting a big bad a little while ago and Buffy died.”
Dean choked on his water. “And you brought her back from the dead?”
Willow grinned. “It took a little while to figure out exactly how to do it but I managed it.”
John turned toward them. “She's supposed to be dead. What's dead should stay dead! You don't know what your dealing with!”
Buffy's eyes opened quickly and she sucked in a short, sharp breath. She saw several pairs of eyes looking at her and only relaxed when she met John's angry ones. At least they were no longer yellow. Dean helped Buffy sit up and offered her the bottle in his hand as Willow bristled and stood abruptly, stabbing a finger in John's direction. John, however, did not react.
“You don't know what you're talking about! I saved her from Hell. Literally. If I hadn't brought her back, she'd still be there and I was more than willing to have a couple of hitchhikers along for the ride if it meant getting her back. I didn't count on your wife being one of them but given the choice, I'd do the same thing over again. You don't know us, you don't know Buffy, and you have no idea what we've done for this world.”
Willow stormed out of the motel room and slammed the door behind her. The door frame rattled slightly before standing still and Buffy lifted her eyes to look at the three men in front of her. She saw the anger and confusion in John's and she cringed. She hadn't wanted to have this conversation now – in fact, she hadn't wanted to have it at all.
“Mary was in Hell?” John looked angrily to Buffy for answers. “I don't believe it! It's not possible!”
Buffy let out a breath, her voice not coming out much louder. “She wasn't.”
Sam leant forward. “What do you mean, 'she wasn't'?”
“Mary wasn't in Hell, she was in Heaven.”
“But you were in Hell, right?”
Buffy glanced down at her hands again and John sat forward on the edge of the bed.
“How did my wife get dragged out of Heaven if you were in Hell? You're lying about something and if it's about her being here...”
Dean watched her flinch. He couldn't imagine what Hell would have been like and to think that someone who looked as fragile as she did had been there...
“What was Hell like?”
The words slipped out of his mouth before he realised they'd even been there and he wasn't at all surprised to see the expressions he was getting. Buffy looked up to her left and he frowned. He wasn't really sure he believed that his mother was there with her but she did seem to be communicating with someone.
“Tell them Buffy, they'll understand.”
Buffy looked back down at her hands as Mary's words poured over her. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her heart rate down so that she wouldn't start crying. She wasn't sure she'd be able to stop if she did. When she finally started speaking, Buffy heard a silence fall over the room, one that felt even more suffocating than seemed possible.
“I was happy. Wherever I... was... I was happy. At peace. I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time,” she paused as she searched for the right description, “...didn't mean anything, nothing had form. But I was still me, you know?” Buffy glanced up and noticed the three pairs of eyes still watching her.
“And I was warm... and I was loved... and I was finished. Complete. I don't understand about theology or dimensions, or any of it, really. But I think I was in Heaven.” The small, sad smile on her face was replaced with a look of heartbreak as she looked back at her hands and stifled a sob. “And now I'm not. I was torn out of there, pulled out... by my friends. Everything here is hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch...”
Buffy looked up at them and found herself answering the question Dean had asked moments before. Her eyes found his and she watched him look at her searchingly.
“This is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that...” Her voice broke. “Knowing what I've lost...”
Buffy stood and walked over to the window, looking out at the carpark but not really seeing it. She took a deep breath and turned her head to the side. She couldn't face them but she needed them to know. To understand.
“If they knew where I was, what they had done... They can never know. Never.”
A silence filled the room and Buffy saw Mary put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into her face and knew that the look Mary was giving her was the same look her own mother would have given her if she'd still been alive.
“So, I guess you really did fall from Heaven.”
Buffy turned around in time to see John slap the back of Dean's head. Sam rolled his eyes and a small smile crept onto Buffy's face, easing the hurt in her chest as Mary began walking toward John and scolding him. Her amusement, however, was cut short as Sam looked around the room.
“Where's Willow?”
Buffy looked back out the window and noticed, for the first time, her missing 4WD. “The car is gone. I don't know – “ Buffy stopped as she turned quickly around to the waiting Winchesters. “You said you salt and burn the bodies, right?”
There was a second of confusion before John realised the implications of what Buffy was saying and he instantly grabbed the car keys. As he and Buffy headed for the door, a dark look fell over Dean's face and he and Sam quickly followed, the motel door standing open behind them.
~
John ran quickly through the cemetery with the expertise of a man who knew the layout intimately. He could see Dean running beside him as he dodged headstones and could hear Sam and Buffy running behind them. He cast another look at his son and noticed the dark look on Dean’s face; a look that worried him. Mary’s grave was just that to him – her grave. It’s where her body was buried but it wasn’t where she was, evidently.
Before now John had always believed that Mary was in Heaven, where she belonged, and apparently she had been. If Willow exorcised her from Buffy she would undoubtedly return and keeping her from pain now was the only reason he was trying to get to Willow as quickly as possible.
Mary’s headstone came into view and John saw a large pile of dirt beside it. The sinking feeling that they were too late began to settle until Dean put on an extra burst of speed and reached the hole first. He pulled out his gun and held it on the woman inside.
“Dean!” he yelled.
Dean ignored John as he drew up beside him and glared at Willow. Her expression was a mixture of surprise and determination and Dean could see the salt already haphazardly thrown on what was left of Mary’s corpse. The sight of his mother in the condition she was nearly made him throw up and he didn’t notice John still beside him as his gaze fell upon the same sight.
“Get out,” Dean warned.
Buffy came to a halt and her eyes quickly darted to Dean and John before she reached out a hand to Willow. Willow glanced up at her friend and then back at her hand before reaching out her own and allowing Buffy to almost effortlessly pull her from the grave. Dean’s gun remained trained on Willow and Buffy frowned in confusion.
“How dare you!” he spat out.
Willow glared back. “This isn’t right! A spirit shouldn’t have this much hold on someone without it being bad!”
“You’re defiling my mother’s grave!” he yelled.
Buffy watched as Mary stood beside her son. She reached out a hand to touch his face and almost as if he could feel her touch, Dean turned his face slightly, effectively pulling away from her. Mary’s shoulders slumped and she looked over at John.
“John, I’m not there anymore. Please!”
But her pleas were unheard by everyone except Buffy and Willow’s fists bunched defensively at her side.
“I’m looking out for my best friend! Her grip on Buffy is wrong!”
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong--” Dean began and Buffy looked at him in horror.
She wasn’t ready for Willow to know where she’d been, the peace she’d known. The way she’d look at her… But Dean was oblivious to her, his eyes focused on Willow only.
“Dean put the gun down!” John cut in, “What’s done is done.”
He looked over at Buffy and she gave him the smallest of smiles in gratitude. John seemed more clear-headed than his son at this moment and was willing to keep her confession a secret from Willow just as she’d requested. The silence of the cemetery at that moment seemed deafening and Buffy acutely noticed the absence of any animal sounds as the wind softly blew at the leaves in the trees around her. It was as though everything was watching the scene at the foot of the grave with great interest; as if they knew something was going to happen.
Buffy felt her stomach clench and she looked over at Willow. Her eyes travelled down her form and she noticed how tense she looked. Her hands were still balled and as she looked at the ground around Willow’s feet, she noticed for the first time all of the books on the ground. There was one open and three poking out from her backpack. Various items were scattered around the book including a candle and a jar of herbs. Buffy could only assume that Willow had intended to do another ritual if the salt and burning had not done the job.
Willow’s gaze remained steeled as she stared at Dean. “She’s a hitchhiker. She shouldn’t be here and she doesn’t belong here. She’s connected to Buffy like a parasite—”
As if the world was moving in slow motion, Buffy saw the look of horror on Dean’s face before his finger pulled on the trigger. Buffy moved instinctively in front of her friend and she felt a searing pain in her chest before her body twisted of its own accord.
And then she was falling.
She had time to register the dirt walls surrounding her before she stopped and the searing pain was replaced with a sharper pain, one in a more specific location in her chest. Her heart felt like it was going to explode and she sucked in one painful breath before the pain stopped all together.
~
Four pairs of eyes looked into Mary’s grave with varying degrees of disbelief on their faces, their minds alerting them to the broken bone that had pierced Buffy’s chest, its tip barely visible, and the stillness of her body. A small trickle of blood had escaped her mouth and Dean looked back at the gun filled with rock salt in his hand. Any thoughts that were running through his head were halted by the short scream that came from across the grave.
Willow jumped down into the hole and stared at her friend. “Buffy?” She lightly shook her. “Buffy!”
The Winchester men watched as she pulled Buffy toward her, pulling the bone out of her back. Tears started falling down her face and as she wept, Dean noticed John step closer to him. It wasn’t menacing, nor was it comforting but Dean found himself turning his face toward his father’s searchingly. John simply held out his hand and Dean placed the gun carefully in it.
“No!” Willow screamed from the grave and all three men turned to see her looking up into the sky, her eyes turning black before a deep red settled.
Dark blue clouds formed above her in the sky and a single bolt of lightning shot out from them. John pushed Dean behind him as his other hand pulled Sam closer to his back. John had seen dark magic in action before and if anything was coming after his sons, it had to go through him first.
“By Osiris, I command you, bring her back!” Willow screamed at the clouds. More lightning shot out and the clouds continued to build. “Hear me! Keeper of darkness!”
John watched in horror as the clouds began to form into a face, the burst of lightning making it appear more human though John could clearly see that it was some form of demon. It looked down at Willow angrily though she appeared unafraid.
“Witch! How dare you invoke Osiris in this task!”
Willow sobbed as she looked momentarily back at her friend. “Please. Please, bring her back.”
“You may not violate the laws of natural passing.”
“How? How is this natural?” she asked as she pointed to the Slayer’s body.
“It is a human death, by human means.”
John felt Dean stiffen and he felt for his son. It was unintentional but Dean would carry the responsibility of this death around with him for the rest of his life. There were a few times when John had been responsible for the death of those he was supposed to protect, of friends, and he’d carried the weight around with him everywhere he went. He didn’t want that weight for his son but it was too late now.
“But I--”
“You raised her once when she was killed by mystical forces. This is not the same. She is taken by natural order. It is done.”
Willow let out a sob. “No. There has to be a way.”
“It is done,” the demon reiterated without remorse.
“No!” Willow screamed at him.
As she screamed, a shimmery column of energy shot out of her mouth and toward the demon. The demon screamed and disappeared in a final flash of lightning, the clouds dissipating as if they never were. Willow got to her feet and John felt the air around him change. It was as if it were electrified, small crackles popping in random spots. Willow reached for the top of the grave and hauled herself out. John noticed the blank expression on her face and he moved forward to grasp her arm softly.
“Willow, I’m sorry for what has happened but you need to understand that it was an accid--”
Willow looked up at him sharply, the blank expression unnerving him. “I need power.”
“Willow--”
Willow raised a hand and a purple bolt shot out from it rendering John immobile a metre off the ground. He looked down in alarm as he struggled against the magic, a feeling a dread settling on him as he realised that he was now incapable of protecting his sons. He looked over at Dean and Sam, only to find them transfixed with Willow. As he turned back to her, he noticed her kneeling on the ground beside her bag.
The books were opening themselves and John’s horror grew as she put her hands on the books before they started to sink into them as if they were made of water. The text from the books seemed to crawl off the pages and up her arms, moving underneath her sleeves before reappearing at her chest and crawling over her face and into her hair. Her head fell back and her hair slowly turned black and as her head slowly tilted back down, John noticed the pages were blank.
Her black orbs turned to him and her newly-black hair appeared to move in a non-existent breeze. “That’s better.”
Willow moved over to the foot of the grave and stared down at Buffy. There was a small movement before a bone floated up into view. It stopped at Willow’s eye level and she tilted her head appraisingly, looking the bone up and down. She turned.
“Isn’t it amazing how something that is part of a foundation for one person can be the death of another? Two hundred and six down there but it only took one… and a broken one at that.”
Willow looked back at the bone before turning around and John was surprised to see anger. He wasn’t surprised she was angry; no, he was just surprised to see emotion on her emotionless face. Her hair and eyes remained black but it was the expression on her face that made her truly terrifying. John struggled once more in a panic and Sam reached forward to pick up the gun his father had dropped. Willow gave a wry grin.
“Oh, no, little boys shouldn’t be playing with Daddy’s gun,” Willow said as another purple bolt shot from her hand and wrapped around Sam, the force of the blow pushing him slightly back before Willow turned to Dean. “Should they?”
Dean remained stoic and silent. As both John and Sam struggled to get free, Willow walked slowly toward Dean; stopping just before him and looking him up and down.
“You know, you were her type,” she said softly as she looked emptily into his eyes. He momentarily looked surprised before his expression fell blank. “A Hunter - strong, courageous; someone who could have fought side by side with her and known why she did it… someone who would have eventually broken her heart, just like the rest.” She turned her head to look toward the grave before looking back at him. “Though I guess you did do that, huh?”
She held up a hand and Dean was flung back between two trees. Vines wrapped around his wrists and ankles, holding him in place and Willow grinned as she watched him struggling in his bonds like a fly caught in a spider's web.
“Sometimes you just cannot get justice from the system. Sometimes it lets you down. But Buffy didn't deserve to die. Do you even know how much she has sacrificed for this world? How much she has given up so that this world is still here? The people she's lost, the weight of knowing that she can't save everybody.
“Why is your life any more important than hers? Why is mine? There needs to be justice... I demand justice!”
Willow took a step toward Dean and watched as he closed his eyes. The screams from John and Sam fell on deaf ears as she reached forward.
~
“You can't go back Buffy, not yet anyway.”
Buffy looked at Mary before looking back at her body lying in the grave. She took a deep breath and turned to Mary.
“I'm ready to move on.”
Mary shook her head. “No, you don't understand. You can't go back there yet. It's not your time.”
“But I'm not supposed to be alive now! I didn't ask to be brought back!”
“Buffy, everything happens for a reason. You won't understand everything at once but it all balances out in the end. Something big is coming-”
“No! I've had enough! Something big is always coming, but I don't need to be the one to prevent it. There were Slayers before me and there'll be others after. Please, just let me be at peace.”
Buffy eyes shone with unshed tears and Mary pulled her closer, enveloping her in a hug.
“Buffy, peace will come. One day very soon you will understand the reason why you were called. It's not going to be easy, Buffy, but something big is coming, something that could end this world and you are the only one who can stop it, the only one who will know how.”
“Please... I don't want to go back again.”
“I don't want to go back yet either. You gave me my family back Buffy, you gave me an amazing gift but everything has to balance out and that gift will be taken from me. What you are destined for, the things you will give this world, are more than you could possibly imagine. Tell my family I love them.”
Buffy took a deep breath as a bright, white light surrounded Mary and as she closed her eyes against it, Mary disappeared. The darkness that had been eating her soul, the torment of the things she was suffering slowly melted away and she felt a release that she hadn't known she'd get again. Everything had a balance and as Buffy tossed the phrase around in her mind, she felt a strange pull backwards.
And then she fell.
~
“Why is your life any more important than hers? Why is mine? There needs to be justice... I demand justice!”
Buffy sucked in a deep breath as the breath from her lungs came back full force. Her body arched off the ground and as the sound of screams filled her ears, she jumped up, her legs propelling her forward as she grabbed onto the edge of the grave and hauled herself up. The first thing she saw was the stunned and somewhat fearful expression on Sam's face before she noticed his bonds.
She stood. And as she did, a black-haired Willow came into view, the air crackling around her like bad static. Buffy saw Dean restrained and the pieces fell into place. She ran as fast as her body would allow and as she reached Willow, she lay a hand on her friend's shoulder. Black, empty eyes looked back at her and Buffy's heart broke.
“Will?” Willow blinked in disbelief before looking back toward the open grave. “Don't do this Will.”
“You're not real. Buffy is dead.”
Willow turned away and faced Dean but Buffy stepped between them, forcing Willow to look her in the eye.
“You don't understand. I didn't want to be here, I wanted to die. When I closed that portal, I didn't end up in a hell dimension. I... I think I was in Heaven.” Willow hard expression cracked and her eyes softened. “I wanted to go back there so badly. I wanted that peace again. But Mary explained something to me and now I understand.
“I might be just one grain of sand on a beach, just one Slayer in a long line of them, but I've been given a job to do that no one else can. Look at all of the things I've done since I was called. Sure, I messed up more times than I could count but I've also saved this world, saved the people in it and given them another chance. If I give up now, how many are gonna suffer because of me? How many will die?
“You're amazing Will. You've given me so many things from the first moment we met and we've come so far together. But I need you now. Something big is coming, something end-of-the-world big, and I was sent back to stop it. Mary sacrificed herself for me so that I could help this world but I don't think I'm gonna be able to do it without you. Please Will.”
Buffy held out a hand and watched as Willow lowered her head. She looked up at Buffy with her piercing back eyes and Buffy suppressed a shudder. A lone tear fell into the dirt on the ground and the black in her hair slowly receded until it was once again red. Willow opened her eyes as more tears fell and Buffy wrapped her arms around her, allowing Willow to draw comfort from her. They sank slowly to the ground together and neither noticed the Winchesters unite a short distance away.
Willow pulled back as a short, shrill ring sounded. Buffy took her mobile from her pocket and answered. “Hello?”
“Buffy! Something h-h-happened and-” Tara's voice was cut off suddenly and replaced with a more panicked Xander. “Dawn's gone. We were about to drive her to school a few minutes ago when this green light just appeared out of nowhere and poof! Dawn was gone.”
Buffy looked up at Willow as she tried to suppress the fear that was creeping up. Everything did have to have balance and Buffy shook her head at the idea that Glory had re-emerged. Buffy stood stiffly and looked out toward the sun. She knew she should head home, try to get as much information as possible but instinct was telling her otherwise. Dawn wasn't in Sunnydale anymore.
“Buffy?”
“Buffy, what's wrong?”
“Dawn's gone. Something took her...”
Willow stood quickly. “We need to get back quickly.”
Buffy shook her head. “No, she's not there.”
“Buff-”
“She's not there Will. I just... I need to get a hold of the powers.”
“Cleveland?”
Buffy frowned. “Huh?”
“There's a portal there. There's a lot of mystical energy there actually. It's probably your best bet.”
“Xand, Will's on her way. Get her anything she needs and see what you can find out.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“What I have to.”
Buffy closed her phone and looked up at Willow. “Grab your stuff and head back. Find out as much as you can and call me and let me know. I'm gonna head out to Cleveland and see if I can't get some answers.”
“How are you getting out there Buffy? It's a long drive.”
“However I can. That's not important. Just make sure you keep me posted on what's happening.”
Willow nodded and turned back toward the grave. She averted her eyes as she neared it and packed her things as quickly as possible. Buffy turned around to head toward the 4WD to get her bag and ran into three Winchesters.
“I'll take you out there.”
Everyone looked at Dean and he merely shrugged. “We'll get you out there faster than you can walk. Besides, I kinda owe you for saving my life and all.”
“Let us help you Buffy. We may not fight the same sorts of things but we're on the same side and we have our own connections that just might come in handy.”
Buffy nodded. “Alright. Head back with Willow and see what you can come up with.”
Willow helped Buffy unload her bag from the 4WD and gave her friend a hug. “Call if you need anything.”
Buffy nodded. “Make sure you spring Faith if you need a Slayer. Patrolling's gonna get a lot harder without me there and we don't want another repeat like before.”
Willow nodded. As she climbed into the car, she looked back at Dean. “Look after her.”
Dean merely looked back blankly at her and Willow gave a soft sigh. Within minutes, both the 4WD and the Ute had driven out of sight and Buffy turned expectantly to Dean.
“Are we gonna go?”
“Sure.”
As they climbed into the sleek, black Impala together, Dean looked at Buffy out of the corner of his eye.
“Dawn your little sis?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“I know the signs. They drive you crazy and make you want to scream but the minute they get into trouble, you can't think straight. All you want to do is get them out, even if it means that you have to sacrifice something.”
Buffy looked across quizzically as the trees swept by the Impala. “You have a sister?”
“He may as well be.”
Buffy gave a short laugh and leant her head against the window. It was going to be a long drive but as it stood, she didn't think she was gonna mind the company. And if she did have to prevent the end of the world sometime in the near future, she knew the Winchesters were going to be valuable allies. Mary was right; she didn't understand everything when she came back but as it unfolded around her, it began to make sense.
She looked across at Dean and he grinned back at her. Yeah, everything was gonna be alright – she could feel it.
~Fin.
Author: SkylarGrace.
Status: Complete.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Buffy has been brought back from Heaven and she has more than one hitch-hiker. One of them goes by the name of Mary Winchester and she needs to speak to her family. Can Buffy help her?
Spoilers: Pre ‘Supernatural’ and Season 1-6 of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’.
Disclaimer: ‘Supernatural’ and all related characters are copyright Eric Kripke, Kripke Enterprises & The CW Network. No infringement intended. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. No infringement intended.
Notes: Based on a challenge issued by Phoenix.
“What was that?”
Willow gave a small smile as Dean and Sam walked into the room. John sat up painfully and as Sam raced over to him and helped him to stand, Dean lifted Buffy off the ground and placed her on the closest bed. Her breathing was shallow and as the others came to stand around them, Dean looked back at Willow.
“Well?”
“A complicated exorcism. I had to bind it to Buffy's body first before exorcising it. Unfortunately, I'm not used to doing that, so wherever that demon is, it's hurting but not gone.”
Sam gave a short laugh. “Beats salting and burning.”
“You salt and burn demons?”
“No, but we do with spirits. We have to find out who they are first and then dig up what's left. Salt and burning usually does the job.”
“Huh. I wonder if that will work with the one we've got.”
“Got a spirit problem back home?” Dean asked as he uncapped the bottle of water on the bedside table.
“No, with Buffy. When I brought her back, we picked up a hitchhiker and a spirit. Managed to send the hitchhiker back but I can't get rid of this spirit.”
“Back from where?”
“We were fighting a big bad a little while ago and Buffy died.”
Dean choked on his water. “And you brought her back from the dead?”
Willow grinned. “It took a little while to figure out exactly how to do it but I managed it.”
John turned toward them. “She's supposed to be dead. What's dead should stay dead! You don't know what your dealing with!”
Buffy's eyes opened quickly and she sucked in a short, sharp breath. She saw several pairs of eyes looking at her and only relaxed when she met John's angry ones. At least they were no longer yellow. Dean helped Buffy sit up and offered her the bottle in his hand as Willow bristled and stood abruptly, stabbing a finger in John's direction. John, however, did not react.
“You don't know what you're talking about! I saved her from Hell. Literally. If I hadn't brought her back, she'd still be there and I was more than willing to have a couple of hitchhikers along for the ride if it meant getting her back. I didn't count on your wife being one of them but given the choice, I'd do the same thing over again. You don't know us, you don't know Buffy, and you have no idea what we've done for this world.”
Willow stormed out of the motel room and slammed the door behind her. The door frame rattled slightly before standing still and Buffy lifted her eyes to look at the three men in front of her. She saw the anger and confusion in John's and she cringed. She hadn't wanted to have this conversation now – in fact, she hadn't wanted to have it at all.
“Mary was in Hell?” John looked angrily to Buffy for answers. “I don't believe it! It's not possible!”
Buffy let out a breath, her voice not coming out much louder. “She wasn't.”
Sam leant forward. “What do you mean, 'she wasn't'?”
“Mary wasn't in Hell, she was in Heaven.”
“But you were in Hell, right?”
Buffy glanced down at her hands again and John sat forward on the edge of the bed.
“How did my wife get dragged out of Heaven if you were in Hell? You're lying about something and if it's about her being here...”
Dean watched her flinch. He couldn't imagine what Hell would have been like and to think that someone who looked as fragile as she did had been there...
“What was Hell like?”
The words slipped out of his mouth before he realised they'd even been there and he wasn't at all surprised to see the expressions he was getting. Buffy looked up to her left and he frowned. He wasn't really sure he believed that his mother was there with her but she did seem to be communicating with someone.
“Tell them Buffy, they'll understand.”
Buffy looked back down at her hands as Mary's words poured over her. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her heart rate down so that she wouldn't start crying. She wasn't sure she'd be able to stop if she did. When she finally started speaking, Buffy heard a silence fall over the room, one that felt even more suffocating than seemed possible.
“I was happy. Wherever I... was... I was happy. At peace. I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time,” she paused as she searched for the right description, “...didn't mean anything, nothing had form. But I was still me, you know?” Buffy glanced up and noticed the three pairs of eyes still watching her.
“And I was warm... and I was loved... and I was finished. Complete. I don't understand about theology or dimensions, or any of it, really. But I think I was in Heaven.” The small, sad smile on her face was replaced with a look of heartbreak as she looked back at her hands and stifled a sob. “And now I'm not. I was torn out of there, pulled out... by my friends. Everything here is hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch...”
Buffy looked up at them and found herself answering the question Dean had asked moments before. Her eyes found his and she watched him look at her searchingly.
“This is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that...” Her voice broke. “Knowing what I've lost...”
Buffy stood and walked over to the window, looking out at the carpark but not really seeing it. She took a deep breath and turned her head to the side. She couldn't face them but she needed them to know. To understand.
“If they knew where I was, what they had done... They can never know. Never.”
A silence filled the room and Buffy saw Mary put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into her face and knew that the look Mary was giving her was the same look her own mother would have given her if she'd still been alive.
“So, I guess you really did fall from Heaven.”
Buffy turned around in time to see John slap the back of Dean's head. Sam rolled his eyes and a small smile crept onto Buffy's face, easing the hurt in her chest as Mary began walking toward John and scolding him. Her amusement, however, was cut short as Sam looked around the room.
“Where's Willow?”
Buffy looked back out the window and noticed, for the first time, her missing 4WD. “The car is gone. I don't know – “ Buffy stopped as she turned quickly around to the waiting Winchesters. “You said you salt and burn the bodies, right?”
There was a second of confusion before John realised the implications of what Buffy was saying and he instantly grabbed the car keys. As he and Buffy headed for the door, a dark look fell over Dean's face and he and Sam quickly followed, the motel door standing open behind them.
~
John ran quickly through the cemetery with the expertise of a man who knew the layout intimately. He could see Dean running beside him as he dodged headstones and could hear Sam and Buffy running behind them. He cast another look at his son and noticed the dark look on Dean’s face; a look that worried him. Mary’s grave was just that to him – her grave. It’s where her body was buried but it wasn’t where she was, evidently.
Before now John had always believed that Mary was in Heaven, where she belonged, and apparently she had been. If Willow exorcised her from Buffy she would undoubtedly return and keeping her from pain now was the only reason he was trying to get to Willow as quickly as possible.
Mary’s headstone came into view and John saw a large pile of dirt beside it. The sinking feeling that they were too late began to settle until Dean put on an extra burst of speed and reached the hole first. He pulled out his gun and held it on the woman inside.
“Dean!” he yelled.
Dean ignored John as he drew up beside him and glared at Willow. Her expression was a mixture of surprise and determination and Dean could see the salt already haphazardly thrown on what was left of Mary’s corpse. The sight of his mother in the condition she was nearly made him throw up and he didn’t notice John still beside him as his gaze fell upon the same sight.
“Get out,” Dean warned.
Buffy came to a halt and her eyes quickly darted to Dean and John before she reached out a hand to Willow. Willow glanced up at her friend and then back at her hand before reaching out her own and allowing Buffy to almost effortlessly pull her from the grave. Dean’s gun remained trained on Willow and Buffy frowned in confusion.
“How dare you!” he spat out.
Willow glared back. “This isn’t right! A spirit shouldn’t have this much hold on someone without it being bad!”
“You’re defiling my mother’s grave!” he yelled.
Buffy watched as Mary stood beside her son. She reached out a hand to touch his face and almost as if he could feel her touch, Dean turned his face slightly, effectively pulling away from her. Mary’s shoulders slumped and she looked over at John.
“John, I’m not there anymore. Please!”
But her pleas were unheard by everyone except Buffy and Willow’s fists bunched defensively at her side.
“I’m looking out for my best friend! Her grip on Buffy is wrong!”
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong--” Dean began and Buffy looked at him in horror.
She wasn’t ready for Willow to know where she’d been, the peace she’d known. The way she’d look at her… But Dean was oblivious to her, his eyes focused on Willow only.
“Dean put the gun down!” John cut in, “What’s done is done.”
He looked over at Buffy and she gave him the smallest of smiles in gratitude. John seemed more clear-headed than his son at this moment and was willing to keep her confession a secret from Willow just as she’d requested. The silence of the cemetery at that moment seemed deafening and Buffy acutely noticed the absence of any animal sounds as the wind softly blew at the leaves in the trees around her. It was as though everything was watching the scene at the foot of the grave with great interest; as if they knew something was going to happen.
Buffy felt her stomach clench and she looked over at Willow. Her eyes travelled down her form and she noticed how tense she looked. Her hands were still balled and as she looked at the ground around Willow’s feet, she noticed for the first time all of the books on the ground. There was one open and three poking out from her backpack. Various items were scattered around the book including a candle and a jar of herbs. Buffy could only assume that Willow had intended to do another ritual if the salt and burning had not done the job.
Willow’s gaze remained steeled as she stared at Dean. “She’s a hitchhiker. She shouldn’t be here and she doesn’t belong here. She’s connected to Buffy like a parasite—”
As if the world was moving in slow motion, Buffy saw the look of horror on Dean’s face before his finger pulled on the trigger. Buffy moved instinctively in front of her friend and she felt a searing pain in her chest before her body twisted of its own accord.
And then she was falling.
She had time to register the dirt walls surrounding her before she stopped and the searing pain was replaced with a sharper pain, one in a more specific location in her chest. Her heart felt like it was going to explode and she sucked in one painful breath before the pain stopped all together.
~
Four pairs of eyes looked into Mary’s grave with varying degrees of disbelief on their faces, their minds alerting them to the broken bone that had pierced Buffy’s chest, its tip barely visible, and the stillness of her body. A small trickle of blood had escaped her mouth and Dean looked back at the gun filled with rock salt in his hand. Any thoughts that were running through his head were halted by the short scream that came from across the grave.
Willow jumped down into the hole and stared at her friend. “Buffy?” She lightly shook her. “Buffy!”
The Winchester men watched as she pulled Buffy toward her, pulling the bone out of her back. Tears started falling down her face and as she wept, Dean noticed John step closer to him. It wasn’t menacing, nor was it comforting but Dean found himself turning his face toward his father’s searchingly. John simply held out his hand and Dean placed the gun carefully in it.
“No!” Willow screamed from the grave and all three men turned to see her looking up into the sky, her eyes turning black before a deep red settled.
Dark blue clouds formed above her in the sky and a single bolt of lightning shot out from them. John pushed Dean behind him as his other hand pulled Sam closer to his back. John had seen dark magic in action before and if anything was coming after his sons, it had to go through him first.
“By Osiris, I command you, bring her back!” Willow screamed at the clouds. More lightning shot out and the clouds continued to build. “Hear me! Keeper of darkness!”
John watched in horror as the clouds began to form into a face, the burst of lightning making it appear more human though John could clearly see that it was some form of demon. It looked down at Willow angrily though she appeared unafraid.
“Witch! How dare you invoke Osiris in this task!”
Willow sobbed as she looked momentarily back at her friend. “Please. Please, bring her back.”
“You may not violate the laws of natural passing.”
“How? How is this natural?” she asked as she pointed to the Slayer’s body.
“It is a human death, by human means.”
John felt Dean stiffen and he felt for his son. It was unintentional but Dean would carry the responsibility of this death around with him for the rest of his life. There were a few times when John had been responsible for the death of those he was supposed to protect, of friends, and he’d carried the weight around with him everywhere he went. He didn’t want that weight for his son but it was too late now.
“But I--”
“You raised her once when she was killed by mystical forces. This is not the same. She is taken by natural order. It is done.”
Willow let out a sob. “No. There has to be a way.”
“It is done,” the demon reiterated without remorse.
“No!” Willow screamed at him.
As she screamed, a shimmery column of energy shot out of her mouth and toward the demon. The demon screamed and disappeared in a final flash of lightning, the clouds dissipating as if they never were. Willow got to her feet and John felt the air around him change. It was as if it were electrified, small crackles popping in random spots. Willow reached for the top of the grave and hauled herself out. John noticed the blank expression on her face and he moved forward to grasp her arm softly.
“Willow, I’m sorry for what has happened but you need to understand that it was an accid--”
Willow looked up at him sharply, the blank expression unnerving him. “I need power.”
“Willow--”
Willow raised a hand and a purple bolt shot out from it rendering John immobile a metre off the ground. He looked down in alarm as he struggled against the magic, a feeling a dread settling on him as he realised that he was now incapable of protecting his sons. He looked over at Dean and Sam, only to find them transfixed with Willow. As he turned back to her, he noticed her kneeling on the ground beside her bag.
The books were opening themselves and John’s horror grew as she put her hands on the books before they started to sink into them as if they were made of water. The text from the books seemed to crawl off the pages and up her arms, moving underneath her sleeves before reappearing at her chest and crawling over her face and into her hair. Her head fell back and her hair slowly turned black and as her head slowly tilted back down, John noticed the pages were blank.
Her black orbs turned to him and her newly-black hair appeared to move in a non-existent breeze. “That’s better.”
Willow moved over to the foot of the grave and stared down at Buffy. There was a small movement before a bone floated up into view. It stopped at Willow’s eye level and she tilted her head appraisingly, looking the bone up and down. She turned.
“Isn’t it amazing how something that is part of a foundation for one person can be the death of another? Two hundred and six down there but it only took one… and a broken one at that.”
Willow looked back at the bone before turning around and John was surprised to see anger. He wasn’t surprised she was angry; no, he was just surprised to see emotion on her emotionless face. Her hair and eyes remained black but it was the expression on her face that made her truly terrifying. John struggled once more in a panic and Sam reached forward to pick up the gun his father had dropped. Willow gave a wry grin.
“Oh, no, little boys shouldn’t be playing with Daddy’s gun,” Willow said as another purple bolt shot from her hand and wrapped around Sam, the force of the blow pushing him slightly back before Willow turned to Dean. “Should they?”
Dean remained stoic and silent. As both John and Sam struggled to get free, Willow walked slowly toward Dean; stopping just before him and looking him up and down.
“You know, you were her type,” she said softly as she looked emptily into his eyes. He momentarily looked surprised before his expression fell blank. “A Hunter - strong, courageous; someone who could have fought side by side with her and known why she did it… someone who would have eventually broken her heart, just like the rest.” She turned her head to look toward the grave before looking back at him. “Though I guess you did do that, huh?”
She held up a hand and Dean was flung back between two trees. Vines wrapped around his wrists and ankles, holding him in place and Willow grinned as she watched him struggling in his bonds like a fly caught in a spider's web.
“Sometimes you just cannot get justice from the system. Sometimes it lets you down. But Buffy didn't deserve to die. Do you even know how much she has sacrificed for this world? How much she has given up so that this world is still here? The people she's lost, the weight of knowing that she can't save everybody.
“Why is your life any more important than hers? Why is mine? There needs to be justice... I demand justice!”
Willow took a step toward Dean and watched as he closed his eyes. The screams from John and Sam fell on deaf ears as she reached forward.
~
“You can't go back Buffy, not yet anyway.”
Buffy looked at Mary before looking back at her body lying in the grave. She took a deep breath and turned to Mary.
“I'm ready to move on.”
Mary shook her head. “No, you don't understand. You can't go back there yet. It's not your time.”
“But I'm not supposed to be alive now! I didn't ask to be brought back!”
“Buffy, everything happens for a reason. You won't understand everything at once but it all balances out in the end. Something big is coming-”
“No! I've had enough! Something big is always coming, but I don't need to be the one to prevent it. There were Slayers before me and there'll be others after. Please, just let me be at peace.”
Buffy eyes shone with unshed tears and Mary pulled her closer, enveloping her in a hug.
“Buffy, peace will come. One day very soon you will understand the reason why you were called. It's not going to be easy, Buffy, but something big is coming, something that could end this world and you are the only one who can stop it, the only one who will know how.”
“Please... I don't want to go back again.”
“I don't want to go back yet either. You gave me my family back Buffy, you gave me an amazing gift but everything has to balance out and that gift will be taken from me. What you are destined for, the things you will give this world, are more than you could possibly imagine. Tell my family I love them.”
Buffy took a deep breath as a bright, white light surrounded Mary and as she closed her eyes against it, Mary disappeared. The darkness that had been eating her soul, the torment of the things she was suffering slowly melted away and she felt a release that she hadn't known she'd get again. Everything had a balance and as Buffy tossed the phrase around in her mind, she felt a strange pull backwards.
And then she fell.
~
“Why is your life any more important than hers? Why is mine? There needs to be justice... I demand justice!”
Buffy sucked in a deep breath as the breath from her lungs came back full force. Her body arched off the ground and as the sound of screams filled her ears, she jumped up, her legs propelling her forward as she grabbed onto the edge of the grave and hauled herself up. The first thing she saw was the stunned and somewhat fearful expression on Sam's face before she noticed his bonds.
She stood. And as she did, a black-haired Willow came into view, the air crackling around her like bad static. Buffy saw Dean restrained and the pieces fell into place. She ran as fast as her body would allow and as she reached Willow, she lay a hand on her friend's shoulder. Black, empty eyes looked back at her and Buffy's heart broke.
“Will?” Willow blinked in disbelief before looking back toward the open grave. “Don't do this Will.”
“You're not real. Buffy is dead.”
Willow turned away and faced Dean but Buffy stepped between them, forcing Willow to look her in the eye.
“You don't understand. I didn't want to be here, I wanted to die. When I closed that portal, I didn't end up in a hell dimension. I... I think I was in Heaven.” Willow hard expression cracked and her eyes softened. “I wanted to go back there so badly. I wanted that peace again. But Mary explained something to me and now I understand.
“I might be just one grain of sand on a beach, just one Slayer in a long line of them, but I've been given a job to do that no one else can. Look at all of the things I've done since I was called. Sure, I messed up more times than I could count but I've also saved this world, saved the people in it and given them another chance. If I give up now, how many are gonna suffer because of me? How many will die?
“You're amazing Will. You've given me so many things from the first moment we met and we've come so far together. But I need you now. Something big is coming, something end-of-the-world big, and I was sent back to stop it. Mary sacrificed herself for me so that I could help this world but I don't think I'm gonna be able to do it without you. Please Will.”
Buffy held out a hand and watched as Willow lowered her head. She looked up at Buffy with her piercing back eyes and Buffy suppressed a shudder. A lone tear fell into the dirt on the ground and the black in her hair slowly receded until it was once again red. Willow opened her eyes as more tears fell and Buffy wrapped her arms around her, allowing Willow to draw comfort from her. They sank slowly to the ground together and neither noticed the Winchesters unite a short distance away.
Willow pulled back as a short, shrill ring sounded. Buffy took her mobile from her pocket and answered. “Hello?”
“Buffy! Something h-h-happened and-” Tara's voice was cut off suddenly and replaced with a more panicked Xander. “Dawn's gone. We were about to drive her to school a few minutes ago when this green light just appeared out of nowhere and poof! Dawn was gone.”
Buffy looked up at Willow as she tried to suppress the fear that was creeping up. Everything did have to have balance and Buffy shook her head at the idea that Glory had re-emerged. Buffy stood stiffly and looked out toward the sun. She knew she should head home, try to get as much information as possible but instinct was telling her otherwise. Dawn wasn't in Sunnydale anymore.
“Buffy?”
“Buffy, what's wrong?”
“Dawn's gone. Something took her...”
Willow stood quickly. “We need to get back quickly.”
Buffy shook her head. “No, she's not there.”
“Buff-”
“She's not there Will. I just... I need to get a hold of the powers.”
“Cleveland?”
Buffy frowned. “Huh?”
“There's a portal there. There's a lot of mystical energy there actually. It's probably your best bet.”
“Xand, Will's on her way. Get her anything she needs and see what you can find out.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“What I have to.”
Buffy closed her phone and looked up at Willow. “Grab your stuff and head back. Find out as much as you can and call me and let me know. I'm gonna head out to Cleveland and see if I can't get some answers.”
“How are you getting out there Buffy? It's a long drive.”
“However I can. That's not important. Just make sure you keep me posted on what's happening.”
Willow nodded and turned back toward the grave. She averted her eyes as she neared it and packed her things as quickly as possible. Buffy turned around to head toward the 4WD to get her bag and ran into three Winchesters.
“I'll take you out there.”
Everyone looked at Dean and he merely shrugged. “We'll get you out there faster than you can walk. Besides, I kinda owe you for saving my life and all.”
“Let us help you Buffy. We may not fight the same sorts of things but we're on the same side and we have our own connections that just might come in handy.”
Buffy nodded. “Alright. Head back with Willow and see what you can come up with.”
Willow helped Buffy unload her bag from the 4WD and gave her friend a hug. “Call if you need anything.”
Buffy nodded. “Make sure you spring Faith if you need a Slayer. Patrolling's gonna get a lot harder without me there and we don't want another repeat like before.”
Willow nodded. As she climbed into the car, she looked back at Dean. “Look after her.”
Dean merely looked back blankly at her and Willow gave a soft sigh. Within minutes, both the 4WD and the Ute had driven out of sight and Buffy turned expectantly to Dean.
“Are we gonna go?”
“Sure.”
As they climbed into the sleek, black Impala together, Dean looked at Buffy out of the corner of his eye.
“Dawn your little sis?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“I know the signs. They drive you crazy and make you want to scream but the minute they get into trouble, you can't think straight. All you want to do is get them out, even if it means that you have to sacrifice something.”
Buffy looked across quizzically as the trees swept by the Impala. “You have a sister?”
“He may as well be.”
Buffy gave a short laugh and leant her head against the window. It was going to be a long drive but as it stood, she didn't think she was gonna mind the company. And if she did have to prevent the end of the world sometime in the near future, she knew the Winchesters were going to be valuable allies. Mary was right; she didn't understand everything when she came back but as it unfolded around her, it began to make sense.
She looked across at Dean and he grinned back at her. Yeah, everything was gonna be alright – she could feel it.
~Fin.
