Starting Over Again

i know i haven't written anything for aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggeesss. i apologize very very very much. i just didn't feel like writing for some reason. everytime i started writing something i couldn't be bothered, that and i didn't really know what to write exactly. again, i'm very sorry. i hope you guys like the next part (if anybody is still bothered to read it....) anyway, i promise you, the next update wont take as long. i'm going on holiday next wednesday and wont have access to a computer for like 3 weeks. if i get to update something b4 i leave it'll be on monday or tuesday. if it's not then i'll have a very long chapter (maybe more) when i get back again. enjoy....

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Faith looked over at Buffy who was trying to decide which weapons to bring with her. She then looked over at the rest of the gang; Anya and Tara were doing double and triple checks of everything they had in their bag. Willow was reading through the background information about the spell again and Xander was reading a comic book. Giles had just finished packing a bag with weapons that they would probably have to use after the spell was done. Then he sat down slowly drinking his tea as he was watching the gang like Faith had been doing.

His eyes caught Faith’s, he smiled reassuringly and motioned for her to come to him. She got up and walked towards him. Then she sat down next to him and waited for the cup of tea she knew Giles was going to give her.

“You think this is going to work?”
“It isn’t the craziest we have done.” Giles replied
“That wasn’t what I asked though… do you think it’s gonna work?”
Giles looked at the gang again and was silent for a moment before replying.
“I have faith in us. Willow is becoming a powerful Wicca, she can handle the spell. Xander hates everything that is evil and will do anything he can to destroy it, Tara is powerful too and she will be able to handle herself. Anya is an ex-vengeance demon, she had knowledge and knows how to use weapons. We have Buffy who will become a ‘Super-Buffy’ so to speak. And then we have you; a wonderful Slayer who could have turned her back on her destiny but decided to change for the better. I am very proud of you, we all are. You just need to have a little faith, I’m sorry for the lack of original wording.” Giles smiled at Faith, obviously happy that she’s there and that he is indeed very proud of her.

Faith smiled at Giles but was obviously embarrassed by his praising.

“You forgot one person though Giles.” He looked at he questionably. “You. You’re the one who keeps us all together when things get tough. You make sure that we know what we’re doing and that we do it safely, or as safe as we can.” She looked at her hands and then up at him again, “things would have been a lot harder if you hadn’t been around. I don’t just mean with Adam but when I woke up again. You accepted me back and have helped me to stay on this path wherever it goes.”

She smiled at him again and then got up after checking her watch.

“OK, enough with the pre-apocalyptic sentimental crap. Time to motorvate.” The others heard the last part of what Faith said and got up too.

Buffy went to Faith and hugged her, then she took Faith’s hand and they all left to go to the Initiative caves to beat Adam once and for all.

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Giles, Willow and Xander sat down on the ground to prepare the spell. Tara and Anya immediately put up a protection spell to make sure that the others wouldn’t be disturbed.

Buffy and Faith were standing together not really knowing what to say to make the other to feel better and less nervous. They heard Giles saying that Buffy had to leave.

Faith kissed Buffy softly and then hugged her. While she was hugging Buffy she whispered to her, “You kill that motherfucker and get back here soon, ok?” she then gave Buffy the knife she had gotten from the mayor, “incase there are some baddies in the way.”

Buffy wanted to say something but didn’t get the chance ‘cause Faith turned around to fight a demon which had shown up already. She tore her eyes away from her girlfriend and friends, knowing that she had to go now to find Adam deeper in the caves.


The demon had its back towards Faith as it advanced to Giles, Willow and Xander, so she got a better hold of the ax she had in her hand. She knew that she’d have to kill the demon quickly and not waste too much energy. Faith called out to the demon which distracted it, it then turned around, before it had turned around completely Faith had already hit it in the chest with her ax. Faith pulled it out grinning, thinking that the demon would be dead or very close to its death.

She was unpleasantly surprised though when the saw the deep cut heal slowly in front of her. She was so phased that she didn’t even notice that the demon’s hand went up, to the side and then towards her. When she saw it coming it was already too late. The force was so great that she flew across the cave and landed on the ground close to the wall, while she had been ‘flying’ across the cave she’d dropped the ax. The demon picked up the ax while walking towards Faith, knowing that it would be an advantage to him. Now Faith was weaponless facing a demon which was obviously strong and in hold of her ax.

Tara saw that the demon had gotten a hold of the ax so quickly started a spell to get it away from him, “Instrumentum ultionis, telum fabuloso, surge, surge, terram pro voca. Vola cum viribus, dominum tuum nega. Vola!” The ax glowed green and flew out of the demon’s hand landing just a meter away from Faith.

Faith smiled up at Tara and grabbed the ax before the demon saw where it had landed.

“C’mon you ugly shit.” She taunted it. The demon was strong but it wasn’t exactly smart, it ran towards Faith pissed off. This gave her the opportunity to position herself to her advantage. Just as the demon was going to hit her, she side-stepped causing the demon to stumble, not expecting that maneuver. As the demon was regaining its balance Faith swung her ax behind her and with a huge force swung it down again, beheading it.

She just looked at it as it fell to the ground with a loud thud. Once it was down she walked towards Tara and Anya, sat down next to them waiting for the next demon to show up. “Thanks Tara, nice spell.” The girls smiled at each other and then leaned back against the wall.

*****

While Faith had been fighting the demon, Giles, Xander and Willow had started the spell.

Willow was the one who was performing the biggest part of the spell which meant that she had to start.
“The power of the Slayer and all who yield it. Last to ancient first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us in the power we possess. Make us mind and heart and spirit joy. Let the hand encompass us. Do thy will.” She then got out her card, read what was on it and put it down in front of her, “Spiritus: Spirit.”

Willow then passed an other card to Xander who read what it said (“Animus: Heart”) and put it down in front of him like Willow had done. She then handed an other card to Giles who did the same as Xander and Willow had done, “Sophus: Mind”. Willow then got out an other card which she read out loud, “And Manus: the Hand. We enjoin that we may inhabit the vessel--- the hand… daughter of Sineya… first of the Ones.”

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Buffy finally found Adam and called out his name to get his attention. He turned around surprised, not expecting her to have been there already. “Game’s over Adam. Whatever master plan you had, it’s not gonna happen. I can’t let it happen. We’re going to finish this today, no more waiting.”

Buffy tried to run towards him, but he punched her, sending her backwards. She rolled, got up and kicked him. She began punching him in the face, Adam grabbed her hand and threw her into the wall. His skewer came out of his arm. Adam tried to grab Buffy but she snapped the skewer with her knee and punched him in the face again.

“Broke your arm.”
“Got an other.” His arm turned into a mini-gun, he looks at it while moving it around and the at Buffy again. “I’ve been upgrading.” He started shooting at Buffy who jumped behind a few stalagmites to protect herself.

*************

Willow continued the spell, “We implore thee, admit us. Bring us to the vessel. Take us now.” After she said the last words, all three of them snapped into a trance.

*************


Adam stopped shooting, Buffy looked up from her hiding place seeing Adam looking for her. He blew up a few stalagmites close to her but not the ones she was behind.

Buffy then stood up, her eyes glowing orange.

Adam finally saw her, “you can’t last much longer.”

“We can. We are forever.” she then spoke in Sumerian.

Adam looked at her a bit funny, “interesting.” shot at her again but the bullets were blocked by an invisible force. Buffy continued speaking in Sumerian. “Very interesting.”

He then fired a rocket at her. Buffy just held up her hand, still in Sumerian, “Kur”. The rocket turned into 3 white doves. She then moved her hand through various motions which caused the gun to go back and change into Adam’s arm again. They walked towards each other, Adam tried to hit Buffy but missed every time. Buffy stopped one hit and started beating on Adam. He stumbled down to the ground while Buffy was still hitting him. She then held Adam’s throat.

“How…can you---” He started but was interrupted by Buffy.

“You could never hope to grasp the source of our power.” She punched him in the face, which send him flying to the ground a few meters away. She picked him up and kicked him against the wall. She then reached into him and pulled out the uranium. “But yours is right here.”

While Buffy was looking at the power source which was floating in the air above her hand, Adam collapsed on the ground beside her. She spoke more Sumerian which caused the power source to disappear. Her eyes went back to normal and she collapsed.

*******

Willow, Giles and Xander snapped out of the trance they were in. The other three saw this and got up. No demons had attacked anymore since the first one had been killed. Faith saw that Buffy wasn’t with them yet so decided to go find her girlfriend.

********


Faith saw that Buffy had collapsed so ran towards where Buffy was on the ground. She looked for a pulse, found one so relaxed a bit more. She then picked Buffy up and carried her back to where the others were.

While Faith was carrying Buffy she woke up. “Hey” she said softly. Faith looked at Buffy and smiled, “Hey baby.”
“How did it go with you guys?”
“Just the one demon. You ok? What happened there?”
“I’ll explain it all later, just want to relax now.” As Buffy said that she snuggled closer to Faith. She couldn’t stay that way long though, because as soon as Faith came closer to the other scoobs they all came towards them. When they got closer she just stayed in Faith’s arms, feeling perfectly comfortable there.

“Buffy wasn’t it amazing?” Buffy heard her best friend say.
“You were amazing!” She heard Xander praise. She didn’t agree with him though, “no, WE were amazing.” She smiled at them and then snuggled closer to Faith again, showing that she just wanted to rest.

********************************************

Buffy and Faith lie on the couch together, cuddling. Willow is on the floor with her back against it with a bowl of chips on her lap. Giles is sitting on a chair to the left of the couch with a glass of scotch in his hand and his feet placed on a cushion.

Xander walked into the living room with Joyce right behind him. “Dinner is served.” He holds a bowl of popcorn in his hand. “And my very own recipe.” Faith reached for the bowl and then took a handful. “Ooh, you pushed the button on the microwave that says ‘popcorn’?” Xander shook his head, “actually I pushed ‘defrost, but, um, Joyce was there in the clinch.

Joyce was holding a bowl of peanuts which she handed to Buffy. Xander sat down on the other chair which was on the right side of the couch. “Let the vid-fest begin.”

Giles looked over at Joyce, “You sure you don’t want to join us?”
“No, you guys have your fun. I‘m tired. I can’t believe you’re not exhausted. Have you even slept since…” “Still feel a little too wired.” Giles replied. Willow nodded, clearly agreeing, “mm. Yeah, that spell, that was, that was powerful.”

Buffy nodded, “I don’t think I could sleep even if I wanted to.” Faith just smiled at her girlfriend knowingly, she was so sure that Buffy would fall asleep as soon as Joyce left the room and the movie started.

“Well, we got plenty of vids. And I'm putting in a preemptive bid for "Apocalypse Now," huh?” Xander held up the video. “Did you get anything less heart-of-darkness-y?” Willow scolded. Joyce smiled at the playful banter between the teenagers. “ ‘Apocalypse Now’ is a gay romp!” Turned to Faith and Buffy, and then to Willow, “gay as in happy. Not the lesbian gay-type loving.” he smiled widely, obviously imagining them all having sex. He snapped out of it when three small pillows hit him. “Anyway, it's the feel-good movie of whatever year it was.” Buffy wasn‘t buying it, “what else you got?” Joyce and Giles exchanged a smile and then she headed for the stairs.

“Don't worry. Got plenty of chick-and-British-guy flicks too. These puppies should last us all night.” “I hope you got something I‘ll like too x-man. Don‘t dig chick flicks.” Buffy was about to say something, knowing that it actually was one of Faith‘s guilty pleasures but when she saw the look Faith was giving her she kept her mouth shut.

Xander put in ‘Apocalypse Now’ and pressed play. He then sat back down in his chair. Even before the movie started Faith saw that Giles, Willow, Xander and Buffy had all fallen asleep already. She quietly laughed to herself and decided that she’d just sleep as well, there was no point in watching the movie. She’d just had a big fight, she couldn’t be bothered to watch an other one. She put her head down, held Buffy a little bit closer to herself and slowly dozed off like the other with a small smile on her face.

***************

Tara was lying on her stomach, resting her chin on crossed arms. “I think it’s strange. I mean, I think I should worry that we haven’t found her a name.” She looked up at Willow, who was writing on her back, for confirmation. “Who, Miss Kitty?” “You’d think she’d let us know her name by now.” Willow smiled at her girlfriend, “she will. She’s not all grown yet.”

“Aren’t you worried?” Willow continued writing on Tara’s back, “I never worry here. I’m safe here.”
“You don’t know everything about me though.” “Have you told me your real name?” Tara smiled, “Oh, you know that.” Willow smiled again and reached for some more paint. “They will find out, you know. About you.”

“Don’t have time to think about that.” She frowned and then continued , “you know I have all this homework to finish.” “Are you gonna finish in time for class?” Tara asked. “I can be late.” “But you’ve never taken drama before” Tara reminded her, “might miss something important.” They kept silent for a few moments while Willow continued writing Greek symbols on Tara’s back. “I don’t wanna leave here.”

Tara turned around to look at her. “Why not?”. Willow stood up, looking down at Tara. She then turned away toward a dark red curtain. She walked over to it, “It's so bright.” Willow pulled back the curtain to reveal a brightly sunlit desert. The light fell on Tara, who looked over at what Willow was talking about. Willow looked back at Tara, still keeping the curtain open, “and there's something out there.”

Willow kept her eyes on the desert, the straggly plants and rocks. Something or someone moved quickly through the desert but disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Willow then found herself in Sunnydale High, she looked anxious. She walked up to Xander and Oz.

“Hey Willow.” “Hey guys.” She replied casually and kept walking. “Heard you’re taking drama.” Oz said as he followed her. “Uh-huh.” “It’s a tough course.” Willow stopped walking to open up her locker and then looked at Oz, “you took it?” “Oh, I’ve been here forever.” Xander smiled at the both of them and addressed Willow, “So watcha been doin’? Doing spells?” He looked over at Oz, “She does spells with Tara.” “Yeh, I heard about that.”

She was still trying to open up her locker but not succeeding, the bell went, “I’m gonna be late.” she said and walked off. “Sometimes I think about two women doing a spell…and then I do a spell by myself.” Oz looked at Xander weirdly, Xander looked at Oz and then quickly looked the other way.

Willow entered the backstage area, costumes hung upon a rack. People were getting into costume and there was a makeup table with mirrors. The sound of an orchestra tuning up could be heard. People were wearing all kinds of different costumes and walking around. Willow walked around through the people looking lost. Harmony ran up to her, dressed as a Swedish Milkmaid with two braids. “Isn't this exciting? Our first production! I can't wait till our scene! I love you! Oh!” She hugged Willow. Then she suddenly dropped the fake friendly act. “Don't step on my cues.” Willow looked confused, “Production?”

Buffy peeked out through the curtain at the audience. She then also ran over to Willow and Harmony. She was dressed as the lead character in "Chicago", “Ohmigod. The place is packed. Everybody's here! Your whole family's in the front row,” she’s very cheerful, “and they look really angry.” Willow was still confused, “There's a production?” Harmony rubbed Willow‘s shoulders trying to make her fell better, “oh, someone’s got stage fright.” “Isn't this the first class?”

Faith approached, dressed as a cowgirl. “Well, you showed up late, or you'd have a better part.” she smiled at all of them, obviously happy that she got a good part, “I'm Cowgirl Chick.” Buffy turned to Willow after checking out Faith’s costume, “Your costume is perfect,” then whispered, “nobody's gonna know the truth. You know, about you.” Willow, bemused by Buffy’s remark, “costume?” “You're already in character! Oh, I shoulda done that!” She then stomped her foot and turned away.

“But how come there's - I mean, I was given to understand that a drama class would have, you know ... drama class. I mean, we haven't even rehearsed!” Harmony snorted, “Well, maybe some people haven't.” Smiled up at Faith, “I showed up on time, so I got to be Cowgirl Chick.” She said proudly. Harmony nodded.

Buffy returned with Giles, so Willow took her chance to say how she felt, “ I just think it's really early to be putting on a play. I, I don't even know what…” suddenly very scared, “this isn't Madame Butterfly, is it, because I have a whole problem with opera.”

Willow saw something hairy behind a prop. She continued staring at it, “did anyone see that?”

Willow walked through the crowd looking confused. To the side, in the darkness, she saw a bald man wearing glasses. “I've made a little space for the cheese slices.” He showed her a table with slices of cheese laid neatly in a row. Willow frowned and walked past a curtain. She walked through a narrow tunnel made of red stage curtain on both sides. It was dark all around but she suddenly walked into a beam of light.

Tara was standing there, “Things aren't going very well.” “ No! This drama class is just ... I think they're really not doing things in the proper way, and now I'm in a play and my whole family's out there, and ... why is there a cowboy in "Death of a Salesman" anyway?” Tara frowned, “you don't understand yet, do you?” Willow looked around and then whispered to Tara, “is there something following me?” Tara nodded in reply. “Well, what, uh, what should I do? The, the play's gonna start soon, and I don't even know my lines.” “The play's already started. That's not the point.”

Willow heard something behind her causing her to turn around, there was nothing there. She turned around again to face Tara but she had left. Willow looked scared, “Tara? Tara, okay, this really isn't fu-” She’s interrupted by a stake or dagger which slashed through the curtain right by her face. She gasped and turned away. A hand covered in rags reaches out of the other curtain and tried to grab her. Willow got knocked to the floor. She screamed and covered her head with her hands. Another hand reached for her.

“Will!”
“Buffy! Oh god.”
“Come on.” Buffy pulled Willow through the curtain and they're in a Sunnydale High classroom. “Stay low. What did it look like?”
“I don't know. I-I don't know what's after me.”
“Well, you must have done something.” Buffy frowned in disapproval.
“No. I never do anything. I'm very seldom naughty. I, I just came to class, and, and the play was starting.”
“Play is long over. Why are you still in costume?”
“Okay, still having to explain wherein this is just my outfit.”
“Willow, everybody already knows. Take it off.”
“No. No.” Looked around nervously. “I need it.”
Buffy rolled her eyes, “Oh, for god's sake, just take it off.” She ripped off Willow’s clothes. “That's better. It's much more realistic.” Suddenly they weren’t the only ones in the class room anymore. Buffy sat down in the only seat left.

“See? Isn't everybody very clear on this now?” Harmony said to Anya who was giggling beside her. Willow looked exactly like she had when she first met Buffy almost 4 years ago now.
“My god, it's like a tragedy.”
Oz turned towards Tara, “I tried to warn you.” Anya was still giggling, “it's exactly like a Greek tragedy. There should only be Greeks.”
“My book report. This summer I, I read ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.’ This book ha-has many themes…” Something burst onto Willow, which knocked her over causing Willow to screamed. “Help! Help me!” Xander looked bored, Buffy was about to fall asleep with her head on the table. Oz and Tara gave each other conspiratorial smiles, flirting with each other. Everyone ignored Willow’s cries for help.


TBC