And here, you wonderful cuddly kittens, is part 6.Title: Answering Darkness Part 6 – Consequences
Author: Sassette
Feedback: Can be sent to pink_overalls@yahoo.com
Summary: Buffy returns to the Summers home
Spoiler Warning: Up to and including “Tabula Rasa” in Season 6.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters. I’m just borrowing them because Season 6 angst is running high, and I want my happy ending now, dammit! So I’m writing it … but it’ll be awhile until I get to that part, so bear with me (or “bare” with me if you’re naughty).
Rating: PG-ish? Sorry.
Notes: For the purpose of this story, all events of Tabula Rasa took place exactly as shown in the series; however, no subsequent episodes will affect this piece. We’re splitting from canon here, because this seems the fastest way to get a reconciliation and because I feel this is one of the possible outcomes when taking the “addiction” metaphor into account. So, I should shut the heck up now, and just get to the story, right? Right.
Answering Darkness Part 6
Consequences
By Sassette
“Dawn!” Buffy called out, running up the walk and past the ambulance parked in front of her house. Fear and worry rose up within her, as she moved passed the dispersing crowd. “Dawn?” She remembered fear and worry from Before, but hadn’t actually felt them since she’d been back. Is this what she had been missing? It felt icky.
“Buffy?” Willow yelled from inside the house. The responding police units drove away, leaving only the ambulance behind.
“Willow? How is she – is she?” Buffy asked, making it to the door and standing aside as Willow and the paramedics hurried down the stairs, Dawn on a stretcher.
“They said she’ll be okay,” Willow reassured her.
“What happened?” Buffy asked, her eyes riveted to Dawn’s pale face as the stretcher passed. Visions of a different body, a different stretcher flashed across Buffy’s mind.
“I don’t know … I got home and I went up to check on her, and she was barely breathing,” Willow said, looking at Dawn anxiously. “I called an ambulance.”
“Are you the sister?” a paramedic asked as Buffy moved with the stretcher towards the waiting ambulance.
“Yes, I’m Dawn’s legal guardian,” Buffy confirmed, holding Dawn’s hand as they moved. “Is she going to be okay?”
“We think she’ll be fine. Her heartbeat and breathing are both steady right now. We just need to get her to the hospital. You coming?”
Buffy nodded, moving to climb into the ambulance after the man. “Will?” she said, turning back to look at her friend.
“I’ll make the calls,” Willow confirmed. Buffy nodded her thanks, then sat next to Dawn, taking her small hand in her own and watching her breathe.
“I love you, Dawn,” Buffy said softly, leaning over her sister and kissing her cheek gently. “You’re going to be okay.”
The doors closed and the ambulance took off, taking the Summers sisters to the hospital. Willow stood there a moment, her arms wrapped around her middle as she watched the vehicle depart, her face worried.
“What happened to the nibblet?” Spike asked, sliding out of the shadows where he had waited until the crowd had cleared.
“I – I don’t know,” Willow said numbly. “She wasn’t breathing, and her pulse was all over the place. I was out, and I went to check on her, and she was just lying there.”
“She get into anything? I dunno – Drain-o or something?” Spike asked, trying to deal with his own worry.
“She – I … it looked like she was casting a spell of some kind,” Willow said. “I didn’t really have a chance to look.” She tore her gaze from the street, her eyes filled with confusion and self-doubt. “Should I have looked? Do I need to look?”
“It’s all right, Red,” Spike said softly. “Let’s just go call the others, then head to the hospital. I’m sure Buffy will need us.”
Willow nodded, hurrying back into the house and dashing to the phone, Spike behind her entering more calmly.
“Where’s your bird?” he asked, looking around and just noticing that Tara was absent.
Willow almost dropped the phone at the question, turning away from Spike and squeezing her eyes shut tight. “She … uh … she’s not here,” Willow said evasively as she silently willed Xander to pick up the line.
“Not here? Then where is she?” Spike asked.
“She left me,” Willow said starkly as the answering machine picked up.
‘Hello, you’ve reached Anya. Please leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Oh, and Xander lives here, too. How was that, baby? BEEP’
“Xander, Anya … this is Willow. Dawn’s in the hospital. Buffy’s there, and Spike and I are on our way. Last we heard she’s going to be fine, but we don’t know what’s wrong with her. I gotta’ go,” Willow said, hanging up the phone then moving to the door, grabbing a jacket on the way.
Spike followed, carefully closing and locking the door behind him, then jogging to catch up with Willow. “That’s really too bad. I liked your girl. Pretty thing,” Spike said reflectively. “Well-mannered, which is more than I can say for the rest of you lot.”
Willow kept walking, ignoring Spike’s words.
“So why’d she leave you? She got a pretty little bird on the side? You going to cast a spell, make her come back?” Spike asked, grinning wickedly. If he remembered correctly – and he might not, because he was thoroughly knackered at the time – when Drusilla had left him, Willow had been less than sympathetic. Really, only Joyce had lent an understanding ear.
“This is none of your business, Spike,” Willow ground out.
“Or, you could call up D’Hoffryn, right? Get changed into a vengeance demon, then give her a pox,” Spike suggested amicably.
“Shut up, Spike.”
“Or you could just try that ‘Forget’ spell again,” Spike went on cheerfully.
Willow stopped, spinning around to stare daggers into the vampire. “I said to shut up,” she growled.
“Or what?” Spike taunted. “You going to kill the pathetic defenseless vampire? Go right ahead, Red. I’m quite willing and able to die.”
Willow turned again, continuing the walk and Spike fell silent. He wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of having his head handed to him on a silver platter, right before he and it turned into dust.
Still silent, they got to the hospital quickly, easily finding the pacing slayer.
“How is she?” Spike asked.
“They think she’s going to be all right, but she won’t wake up,” Buffy said, her face pale and drawn. “Why won’t she wake up?”
“She’ll wake up,” Willow said, trying to inject as much confidence into her voice as she could. “She’ll be okay.”
Buffy took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes and composing herself. “You call Xander and Anya?” she asked.
“Yeah, but I got the machine,” Willow said.
“That’s okay,” Buffy said slowly. “There’s really nothing they can do but wait and worry with us.”
“Can I get you anything?” Spike asked suddenly. “Bad coffee? Old moldy sandwich from a vending machine? Snickers bar?”
“No, thank you, Spike,” Buffy said. “As yummy as that sounds, I think I’ll pass. Where’s Tara?”
Willow stopped, that question knocking the wind right out of her. She couldn’t worry about Dawn and Tara at the same time – it was too much. Her gaze dropped to the floor as a lump formed in her throat and she found she was having a hard time forming an answer.
“Red’s bird left her,” Spike said, seeing that Willow wasn’t going to speak anytime soon.
“Well, she’s here now,” Buffy said, nodding over Willow’s shoulder. Xander, Anya and Tara hustled into the room, spotting the group easily and hurrying over.
When Xander and Anya had felt the shaking, they had rushed into the living room to see Tara standing and chanting, before they had to cover their eyes and look away from the brilliant white light. When the light had stopped, it had taken them a few moments to find Tara’s slumped form on the floor.
They had made their way over to the Summers home, Anya and Xander supporting Tara as her legs were still shaky and weak.
They arrived to find the house quiet and empty. Tara still had her key and they had gone in, Anya helping Tara up the stairs to Dawn’s room as Xander called to check for messages on their answering machine.
When Anya and Tara had seen Dawn’s room, their eyes had met, equally worried expressions on their faces. A rough circle of powdered chalk was ground into the carpet by footsteps, and a bowl in the center was tipped over, its contents spilled onto the floor.
Shakily kneeling down, Tara had checked the items, seeing a feather wrapped in two strands of hair – one red and one blonde – and a doll’s eye crystal on a simple chain she had immediately recognized as the one she had given Willow so long ago that they had both thought was lost in the move.
Tara had fingered the chain carefully, looking around in a daze, wondering what had happened to Dawn. She pocketed the crystal and stood shakily as Xander came bounding up the steps to tell them that everyone was down at the hospital.
They had immediately set out, somewhat relieved that it seemed Dawn would be all right, but worried nonetheless.
Willow’s head shot up, her eyes landing on Tara with a look of such hope and longing that Tara couldn’t meet her gaze. Willow’s stomach dropped.
“How’s Dawn?” she asked, her heart clenching with worry over Dawn and the sight of Willow’s stricken face.
“They … they think she’ll be fine,” Buffy said slowly. “How did you know?”
“She tried to cast a spell on me,” Tara said simply.
“She – what?” Willow asked, sitting heavily in a nearby chair.
“She tried to cast a spell on me, so I wouldn’t leave. It was too advanced, though, and she couldn’t contain it,” Tara explained, her voice clear, but weak.
“Why would she - ?” Willow asked. “Baby, are you all right?” she asked, noticing how unsteady Tara seemed.
“I’m just tired,” Tara said, waving off her concern. “I felt the spell, and I felt it start to go wrong. I tried to keep it from blowing up completely.”
“Wait a minute – she was casting a spell?” Buffy asked. “She was casting a spell on you,” she stated flatly.
Tara nodded as Buffy’s face grew dark.
“If she was casting a spell, we can fix it, right?” Willow asked, looking around the room.
“No!” Tara said loudly, her voice echoing in the mostly empty room.
“If magic caused it, magic can fix it,” Willow insisted again.
“Right now, I trust Tara’s judgement a lot more than yours, Willow,” Buffy said pointedly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Willow asked, her face clouding.
“Dawn looks up to you. She idolizes you, and she sees you throwing magic around like it’s candy on Halloween. What did you think I meant?” Buffy demanded.
“But I’m just trying to make things better. Fix things. Help people,” Willow protested.
“You can’t fix this,” Tara broke in. “Not with magic.”
“What does that mean, exactly?” Buffy asked, the color leaving her face. “And why the hell wasn’t anyone home?”
“That’s my fault,” Tara said, her eyes downcast as she swayed slightly where she stood. Xander grabbed her elbow, helping her stay upright.
“Easy there,” Xander said gently.
“Willow left, then I did, too. I thought Dawn was asleep, that she’d be okay,” Tara said simply, her voice filled with misery.
“It’s not your fault, Tara,” Buffy said, closing her eyes. “It’s … it’s not your fault.”
“N-no. I-I, umm… I should have been there,” Tara insisted.
“So what, exactly, is wrong with Dawn?” Willow asked.
“She’s depleted. Her energy scattered with the spell when she couldn’t control it anymore,” Tara said swaying again, only to have Xander catch her and Willow rush to her side. “I’m okay, I just need to sit,” she said softly.
Xander and Willow helped her into a chair, Willow cradling her hand in her own.
“Then that’s easy,” Willow said encouragingly. “We just collect the energy, then bind it back into Dawn’s body.”
“No,” Tara said, a world of heartbreak in that one word. Her gaze drifted, as the whole world seemed to shift in and out of focus, like it was real one moment, but not the next. “Don’t you think I tried that? Don’t you think I tried? I thought if I could just keep her energy in her body, that she’d be okay. But she wasn’t okay. She was in there, bound in there, but she couldn’t control the body,” Tara mumbled, her soft voice echoing strangely in the completely quiet room as everyone held their breath, trying to figure out what Tara was talking about.
“Who, baby? Who’d you try to save?” Willow asked gently, brushing a strand of hair back from her face, hoping her comforting gestures wouldn’t be unwelcome to this woman she loved so dearly.
“Mommy was in there, but she couldn’t control it. She couldn’t make her lungs move, or her heart beat. She was on life support, and Daddy wanted to pull the plug. It didn’t work – it didn’t work, and I had to unbind her so she could cross over. It didn’t work,” she finished, her words full of a child’s pain.
“You tried, baby,” Willow said softly, her chin quivering and her eyes filling up as she leaned in and kissed her forehead gently. “You tried everything you could.”
“Does that mean … that Dawn … ?” Buffy asked haltingly, breaking the ensuing silence. Buffy’s question seemed to bring Tara back to the present from where she had drifted and she shook her head.
“No, Dawn will be all right. She just needs time and rest,” Tara reassured Buffy.
“But she’s still asleep. She won’t wake up,” Buffy went on.
“She’ll be fine, Buffy,” Tara reiterated.
“How do you know?” Buffy asked, not doubting the words, but needing the reassurance.
Tara smiled understandingly. “Because I felt the spell, I felt it when it lost control, and I felt Dawn before she blacked out. She’s got enough energy to recover.” Tara stiffened when she realized her hand was in Willow’s, the sweet familiarity of that hand warming her even as it tore at her heart. Slowly, she pulled back, folding her hands in her lap and missing the hurt look on Willow’s face.
Willow stood, pacing around the room and trying to calm her breathing and stop her guts from escaping through her throat.
Buffy took in a shaky, relieved breath, sitting down next to Tara. “Thank you,” she said simply.
“I’m sorry,” Tara said so softly, Buffy almost didn’t catch it.
“What for?” she asked.
“I really should have been there,” Tara said, the strength of her voice returning. “I could have stopped her, or she wouldn’t have wanted to in the first place, or –“
“Tara, stop it. This isn’t your fault.”
“Why don’t you just say it? Just say it, Buffy!” Willow exploded from across the room. “It’s all my fault, because I’m a bad, bad person,” Willow said, kicking a chair viciously.
“You’re not a bad person, Willow,” Buffy said flatly. “Just an idiot.”
“A what?” Willow asked incredulously.
“Where do you think Dawn got the idea that it was okay to cast spells on your friends, Willow? Where do you think she got the idea that magic is for fixing all the little things you don’t like about life?” Buffy pressed.
“I never taught her –“ Willow started to protest.
“You didn’t have to. She’s a fifteen-year-old girl. She learns from example,” Buffy said.
“Like you’ve been such a great example in your decision-making?” Willow asked, her voice bitter and ruthless.
“Can I say something?” Spike asked slowly.
“No!” Buffy and Willow shouted in unison.
“Right then,” he said, settling back to watch.
“What do you mean by that, exactly?” Buffy asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she stood up toe to toe with Willow.
“What the hell were you thinking, dying like that?” Willow demanded.
“It was me, Dawn, or all of reality,” Buffy said flatly. “I chose me.”
“Yeah, well, goody for you! You get to take off to a nice happy place and leave Dawn and the rest of us here to fight all the vampires and demons and hell gods and worrying about you and what kind of torture you’re going through. You get this nice warm vacation and we’re trying to hold it all together and keep any baddies from finding out you’re dead, because if they knew, they’d just destroy the whole town and we don’t have super strength or slayer healing or kung-fu fighting. And the only thing that kept Dawn from being sent off to live with your father was the BuffyBot who kept malfunctioning, but looked so much like you that Dawn started treating it like you, and that just isn’t healthy for a fifteen-year-old girl, and the only thing we could think of was to try to bring you back, and we do, and we’re happy to have you back, only we find out that everything was great for you before, and it sucks now. Well it sucked here the whole time, Buffy … and if it’s so great over there, why don’t we just all go join a cult and drink the Kool-Aid?”
“You finished?” Buffy asked quietly.
Willow nodded once, the wind leaving her sails.
“New house rule: no magic on Summers property unless it’s cleared through me first. And for you, that means none at all,” Buffy said simply.
“But Buffy, you can’t just –“ Willow said.
“No, Willow. No magic for you. If you don’t want to agree to that, then you can leave.”
Willow looked around uncertainly, wondering when everything had gone so wrong. “Fine,” she said, nodding again, resolve-face firmly in place. “When you change your mind, I’ll be at my parents house.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at Tara as she walked out of the hospital.
