So Damn Domestic

The Following Night. FPOV


Red got here about five seconds ago. She called about an hour ago sayin that she got most of this dream shit figured out. She wouldn’t give anything away over the phone, which is frustrating as hell. The only thing we could think of was that it was gonna be really bad news, but now she’s here, and she seems really…enthused, I guess is the right word. Whatever it is she has to tell us she’s excited about it, so it can’t be all bad news. Sky’s with her and looking a little anxious. The whole scene is pretty fuckin weird. Willow’s carrying this funky wooden box, with these weird symbols carved all over it. The thing reeks of power, and it’s making me a little nervous. I’m not the only one, the dogs are a little weary too. I’m sure if the kids were up they’d be able to feel it too, but they went to bed a couple hours ago.


“Before you start explain,” I say as we sit down at the kitchen table. “This shit doesn’t have to do with a prophecy, right?” Willow shakes her head no so I let out a little breath of relief. Prophecies are generally harder to deal with and take longer to stop, if they can be stopped. There are something you just can’t change. My leg is shakin a little bit ‘cause I’m pretty fuckin nervous. I want to hurry up and get this over with. I want to know what’s going on with my baby girl. She puts the box down on the table, and I look at it. The power feels almost magnetic. I want to open the box and see what’s inside. But I know better. You don’t mess around with weird, mystical boxes. I learned that from Pandora’s lesson. “So what the fuck is goin on?” Red looks like she’s gonna piss herself so she’s excited. So I wanna know why.


“Let me start by saying that Addison isn’t a Seer, or prophetic in any way. She doesn’t have the ability to see into the future, and I highly doubt she ever will.” Ok, so that’s good news, I guess. That means all of this shit is going to stop, and what she saw were really dreams. Right? “This is going to seem pointless.” She looks into my eyes when she says this. “But, please no interruptions.” I nod my head a little and she continues. “When I did the spell that called all of the slayers the essence of the slayer was split into thousands of little pieces. The other slayers in the world are real slayers, but it’s diluted, it isn’t pure.” And why do we need to know this shit? “The of you are pure because you were chosen by natural selection.” She pauses and I can tell she’s trying to find an easier way to explain it.


“Addison...is the true essence of the first slayer. It’s stronger in her then it is in anyone else in the world, even you two. Unless you two have another girl the essence will never be this strong again. Because of how powerful it is she’s connected to every slayer in the world. The dreams she’s been having really did happen. She saw them while they were happening, there’s nothing we could have done to stop the murders because we didn’t know.” Doesn’t stop me from feeling a little guilty, and even more pissed off. My baby girl saw real murders, and all of those girls were slayers? “Now she doesn’t see every death. The reason she’s been having these dreams is because of what happened right before the girls were killed.” Willow picks up her bag off the floor and pulls out a bunch of newspaper clippers. She hands them over and they’re articles about all of the bodies that have been found. According to this the crimes have been committed by a serial killer the media has dubbed ‘the C-Town strangler’.


“But you said you saw a man kill that girl, Will. No normal person can hurt a slayer unless she lets them, let alone kill her. Is he a god or something?” B asks and hands the clippings back to Willow. She doesn’t want to see the pictures. I got a good look at them, and now I feel sick to my stomach. All of the bodies had been found without their organs, and the girls had been strangled to death, other then that there seem to be no connections between the murders. Other then the fact that all of these girls were slayers. “Can you cut to the chase, Will. Not that I don’t how much effort you’ve obviously put into this, but I already have a headache.” Leave it up to Buffy to make me smile in the mist of all this grim bullshit.


“Alright, cut to the chase. The serial killer isn’t a god, he’s a warlock. He casts a spell to strip the girl of her slayer powers and then he kills her.” Oh. So what the fuck does that have to do with Addy? “Addison is seeing all of this because she’s connected to the essence of the slayer in every girl around the world. He’s taking away the slayer, and she’s seeing it because of the sheer mystical force of it. If the warlock wasn’t taking away their power, then Addison wouldn’t be seeing it, we wouldn’t even know that it’s one person doing this, we all would’ve thought they were dieing in the line of duty.” She has a point, but I still hate that Addy had to go through all of this shit. I look at the box again and I’m about to ask what it’s for, but then I decide not to. I think I’d rather wait until she’s ready to explain it. Knowing Red she’ll wanna cast some spell on my baby, and I’m gonna be really reluctant.


“So who’s committing the murders?” B asks the million dollar question. He’s committing crimes against slayers, which makes this our territory. So yes Red, who is this fuckin prick that I’m gonna hunt down and kill with my bare hands? I guess Willow picked up on my thoughts ‘cause she went a little pale and she’s giving me a funny look. She also doesn’t wanna say who it is, but she’s going to. She knows who it is, and I know she knows who it is. And she knows, that I know that she knows who it is. So she’s going to say, even if I have to force it outta her. She licks her lips and shifts in her chair. She looks a little scared now, but she’s controlling it. Sky gets all protective of her, and puts a hand on Red’s lower back, and gives me a little glare that means ‘back the fuck off’. I guess she hear my mind babble too.


“A warlock named Ryder. His father used to work for the Council. He was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps, but then Caleb blew it up. What he destroyed was the Watcher’s Council, but they had people working for them, special operation, covert type people, and their headquarters aren’t anywhere near the Watcher’s Council HQ. His father was one of the men on the retrieval team that was sent to Sunnydale after you woke up from your coma.” Red looks at me, but I have no fuckin clue what she’s talking about. “He dealt with...what did Giles call it?...Oh, the ‘wet works’.” Oh, now I remember. Well, I remember being in Buffy’s body and glad that she was getting shipped off to England and not me. “I remember, Buffy, you telling me how one of the guys spit in your face, said that you had perverted the Watcher’s Council.” That really happened? That asshole would’ve spit in my face? Can’t say that I didn’t deserve it, but still.


“I guess his son thinks the same thing. I went back to my roots and hacked into his hard drive. He’s been talking back and forth through e-mails with some other people, other members of the special operations unit, for the last few years. They all moved on, and told him to do the same, but he said he couldn’t, that he had to continue his father’s work. He talked about trying to rebuild the Watcher’s Council to the way it used to be, and then he just disappeared. About three weeks later is when the first killing happened, over a year ago.” She pulls out a file out of her bag. It’s a personal file of one of the slayers that went to the slayer school. “Her name was Gina Cole. We thought it was some type of demon that killed her, because all the organs were gone, and her body was completely mutilated. Some species of demons will keep the organs for rituals and that sort of thing.” Gross.


“I have a team of girls out tracking him right now. The magic’s professor cast a protection spell over them so no magic can be cast on them. When they catch Ryder, they’re going to take him back to the school and he’ll be locked up in a magic free room until we can figure out what to do with him. Once he’s caught he won’t be able to cast that spell anymore, and the nightmares will go away. And don’t worry, I’ll make it so he can never cast a spell again.” I really don’t like that look she’s getting in her eyes right now, so I’m not gonna say anything. I really want to go to Ohio and beat the shit outta that guy, but at the same time I just want to get back to normal. He’s caused so much shit in our lives. I look back to the box on the table. Willow has her hand on top of it, like she’s expecting me to reach over and take it from her or something. Yeah right, like I’d ever do that...while she’s looking in my direction.


“So, what’s with the magic box?” B asks in a very curious voice. What’s that saying about curiosity and a cat? Curiosity helped the cat live a longer life? No, it’s the exact opposite of that. She better be careful or her snooping might get her hurt. I’m only saying that because the box is kinda freaking me out, and I’d rather just have it gone then find out what it does. Willow looks down at it for a few seconds and she’s deep in thought. Then she looks over at Sky and the younger slayer gets a little nervous. She tenses up and cast a glance at the box, and then back to Willow. Hmm, I wonder what that’s all about? I guess we’re gonna find out.


“Well, I want to make one hundred percent sure that I’m right about this. Addison hasn’t had any dreams about any other slayers dieing, so I’m pretty sure I’m right. But I want to rule out any doubt. So I was going to take the slayer essence away from Sky, temporarily, and see if Addison dreams it.” So she wants to use Sky as a guinea pig, and she actually agreed to it? Fuck, Willow must be dynamite in the sack to get someone to agree to that shit. “Hey!” Both Red and Sky yell out at the same time. “And yes I am.” She smiles that little smile where the tip of her tongue sticks out between her teeth, and Sky gives me a little nod and wink. Buffy looks thoroughly confused but I think she’d rather stay in the dark on this one. “Anyway, if you two don’t mine we’d like to try it out.” All I do is nod. I really need a cigarette.


“If it’s the only way to know one hundred percent,” Buffy says and then goes quiet. She’s feeling uneasy about this too. It isn’t just the spell that bugging me or the powerful, magnetic feel from that damn box. It’s what Willow’s about to do. She’s about to take away what Sky really is. Or at least a huge chunk of her. It isn’t right, and I’d rather her not do it but if it’s the only way to find out for sure if this is why my baby keeps seeing horrible murders then I’ll let her do it. She picks up the box and we head into the living room. She and Sky sit down on the floor across from each other Indian style, and Sky looks wicked nervous. Willow is the definition of calm, and I guess seein her calm is helpin Sky relax, ‘cause she doesn’t look as nervous now. She reaches over and opens up the box. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?


BPOV


Everything that Willow said was a big shock, and I’m still not totally over it. I mean, my daughter is connected to every slayer in the world, that’s pretty huge. From what Willow said I’m guessing Addison can be trained or whatever to use the connection to feel the other slayers’ emotions and stuff like that. The reason why the murders are happening was another huge surprise. Someone is trying to restore the old Council, so he’s killing off innocent girls while they’re completely helpless? I feel all sorts of emotions right now that it’s all a little overwhelming. Guilt is a big one. I can’t help but think that if we were there in Ohio, if we hadn’t abandoned the girls after the school was first set up, then maybe these deaths wouldn’t have happened. Maybe a lot of other deaths wouldn’t have happened. I know that it’s not our fault, I know that us being there wouldn’t have made a difference but I can’t help but feel that way.


But I need to stay focused on what’s happening right now. Faith I sit down on the couch and watch the little exchange going on with the witches. Well, the witch and the witch-slayer hybrid. I can tell just by their facial expressions that they’re communicating telepathically. I’m sure if I concentrated hard enough I’d be able to intercept the conversation, but I think it would be best if I gave them their privacy. And by the look on Willow’s face I don’t think I want to know what they’re talking about. Probably something dirty. Anyway, when they’re done with the little exchange of silent words, Willow reaches over and slowly opens the box. The almost magnetic pull that the box has on me doubles and I hold onto Faith’s hand because it’s making me nervous, and I need to feel her to stay calm. She gently squeezes my hand so I know that not only is she here for me, but she’s feeling it too.


Willow starts to chant in a language I’ve never heard before. A lot of things happen at once that kind of freak me out, and put me even more on edge. The first thing to happen is the dogs are freaking out. Tucker is running in circles and barking, and snarling. The only time I’ve ever seen him act this way was in Ohio when Angel came to visit me. Then the lights start flickering which just adds to the whole creepy aspect of what’s happening. I feel Faith wrap her arm around my lower back, and her hand rests on my hip. Aww, she’s being protective. Even with all this weird, and stressful stuff happening I still think that’s adorable. Anyway, getting back to the point. Now the room is filling with tension. It’s coming mostly from me and Faith, but it’s almost palpable. The air feels thick, and I’m having a difficult time breathing.


But we both stay quiet and we keep watching. I can’t take my eyes off of Sky, and it’s not because I think she’s hot. She looks ill, like someone is draining the life out of her. She has sweat slowly dripping from her hairline, and she’s shaking. As the tension in the room grows Willow’s voice gets louder. The volume seems to have an effect on Sky, and her entire body is tensing up. Then a black cloud starts to snake its way out of her chest. It swirls around in small circles and makes its way over to the box sitting next to Willow. I don’t know how long it takes, but the more of the black smoke that comes out of Sky the weaker she looks. Until it’s finally over, and she collapses onto her back. She’s breathing hard, and sweating like she ran a marathon. Willow seems to come out of a trance and she’s instantly at Sky’s side.


So this is what that man has been doing to the girls. Casting a spell, making them weak and helpless, and then killing them in cold blood because he has an agenda? He honestly thinks that his way is better? That a slayer needs to be controlled by a group of people, then used mercilessly until she dies? I feel a little nauseous now but I bite it back. I watch as Willow gently caresses Sky’s cheek and helps her to her feet. They walk over to the loveseat and sit down. Sky still looks really weak, but she’s getting a little better. The color in her face is starting to come back. I know just by the way she’s touching me that Faith’s upset, and I mean really upset by this. I am too, but for some reason it’s effecting her more. Maybe it’s because what the Council wanted to do to her. They were willing to just kill her like an animal. Of course she didn’t know any of it until I told her because of the body switch.


I get up and check on Addison. The whole point of doing that was to see if my baby girl would dream about it. I slowly open her bedroom door and step inside. I sit down on the edge of her bed and just watch her. I know it seems a little creepy, but I feel like I need to just watch. She’s laying on her side facing me. Her hair is an awful mess and I’m going to have a hell of a time brushing it out in the morning. Her eyebrows are furrowed, and she has a little frown on her face. She whines a little in her sleep, and moves around. Now she’s laying on her back, one little hand is resting on her stomach, the other is on her forehead and it makes me smile because she does that whenever she wants to be really dramatic about something. I reach over and gently shake her shoulder so I can wake her up. It takes a few minutes, but then she slowly opens her eyes and looks at me.


“Hi baby,” I whisper and gently caress her forehead and stroke her hair. She feels a little warm, but she always does after she has one of those dreams. Before I thought it was just her body’s reactions to the nightmares, but now I think it’s because of the magic involved. She shifts around a little bit and gets a little more comfortable. She’s laying on her side again, still looking up at me and I feel bad for waking her up. “Did you have another dream?” She nods her head a little bit but she doesn’t say anything. She yawns very widely and rubs her eyes. I hope she’ll be able to go back to sleep after this. “Did you see the bad man?” She shakes her head no and I sigh a small breath of relief. “Did you see aunt Willow, and Sky?” She nods her head yes and yawns again. I lean forward and give her a kiss on the forehead. “Go back to sleep, angel girl.” I get up to leave, but stop at the door. When I turn around to tell her I love her, she’s already asleep again.


It’s going to be over soon. The nightmares, the bedwetting, the screaming, the waking up at two in the morning in complete terror, all of it. As soon as this monster is caught Addison won’t have to deal with any of this anymore. She can go back to dreaming of pony filled meadows, with rivers of chocolate, and purple bunnies hopping around without a care in the world. Or whatever it is four-year-old girls usually dream about. The benefits about all this ending isn’t just for Addison, me and Faith have some too. We won’t feel helpless that someone is hurting our baby girl and we can’t stop it. We won’t have to stress about waking up at two in the morning to a screaming, panicking kid, or have to wash off her dirty bed sheets everyday. We’ll finally be able to get some sleep, and relax, and not feel like we failed as parents. Parents are supposed to protect their children, and with this guy hurting her without us knowing how to stop it we felt like we weren’t doing our jobs.


“Red, I don’t have time to talk this out, just take me there,” I hear Faith say in a very irritated voice when I walk back into the living room. All three of them are standing up, Sky still looks weak but she’s trying to hide it and not doing a very good job. Faith is irritated as hell, and Willow looks a little annoyed. I ask what’s going on and Faith turns to look at me. Her dark eyes are burning with anger, and determination and just by looking into those chocolate browns I know exactly what’s going on. “I need to get to Ohio, but your friend won’t teleport me there.” Whenever Faith gets really irritated with someone she disassociates herself from them. Like whenever Addison argues with Faith and she doesn’t want to deal with it she’ll tell me ‘your daughter is being a pain in the ass’.


“Faith, you’re not listening to what I’m saying. It’s too dangerous, you’re not used to teleporting, or having that much magic in your body. As soon as we get there you could collapse, your heart could stop, or you could just die. It’s not a good idea.” She’s concerned for Faith, that’s why she’s arguing. She knows exactly why my stubborn wife wants to go to Cleveland, and she’s not ignoring that fact. “I know you want to be there. I know you want to catch this guy, but I have a team of the best slayers on it. They’re protected from the magics so they can hunt this guy without him turning the tables around on them. You should stay here, with your family, and help Addison move on from this.” Faith shakes her head a little bit, and I know she’s going to argue some more. She doesn’t just want to be there, she needs to be there. She needs to see the monster who’s killed who knows how many girl, and who hurt our baby. I know, because I feel the need too.


“Will you should take her.” My best friend looks at me with wide eyes. I guess she thought I was going to be on her side. “I know it’s dangerous, but if I can survive it, and Dawn can survive it, then so can Faith.” She nods her head a little bit and looks away from me. She doesn’t like to remember that horrible time in Sunnydale when Tara was shot, and she tried to kill all of us. But I know I’m right about this. Willow’s just coming up with excuses because she doesn’t think it’s a good idea for Faith to be near this guy. She might kill him, we’re all aware, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same. He needs to be taken to the police after Willow does a binding spell. She can do one powerful enough to last two lifetimes, and her magic is strong enough that only she can undo the spell.


“Ok. But you’re only going to catch this guy. I’m going to do a biding spell, then we’re going to turn him in.” She sounds very stern, and I have to bite back a smile. She’s going to make a good mom one day. Faith nods her head a little bit, but I know she doesn’t mean it. She won’t kill him, but she’ll hurt him bad enough that he’ll probably beg for death. I ask Willow if she’s going to put the slayer back in Sky and she gets a little sheepish. “Not right now. That’s a little more painful then taking it out.” I nod my head a little bit, and look over at Sky. She doesn’t look weak anymore. She’s recovered from the spell, but she looks nervous, and I know exactly how she feels. When Giles gave me those drugs to suppress my slayer powers I felt weak, and helpless, and I was on edge because I couldn’t protect myself.


“Be careful, ok?” I tell Faith and she wraps her arms around me. I nuzzle her neck a little bit and she just holds me. I feel so safe in her arms, I always have. “Don’t do anything stupid. I want this guy to pay as much as you do, but don’t you dare do anything that’ll take you away from us.” I feel her nod her head and she knows I mean it. We pull away from the hug at the same time and she kisses me. I don’t know how long she’s going to be gone. They don’t know where he lives, and they don’t know when he’s going to try and kill another girl. She could be gone for a few hours, or a few days, maybe even a couple of weeks. I hope she’s back soon though because I’ll miss her too much. Now that this is finally going to be over I just want to spend time with my entire family.


“I love you,” I whisper and gently caress her face. She says it back and gives me another little kiss. Then she walks over to Willow and they hold hands. The air in the room gets thick again, and white light starts to spark in between them. Then with a little puff of smoke they’re both gone. I look over at Sky and she gives me a small smile, but I can tell she’s worried. We go into the kitchen and make some coffee. We sit down at the table and we’re both quiet. It isn’t awkward like I thought it was going to be. We’re both lost in our own thoughts, and I guess we’re too preoccupied to worry about an awkward silence. I just hope Faith is going to be ok. She can get reckless when she lets her emotions get the best of her. She’s very…passionate about almost everything she does, and I think this time she might be a little too passionate. God, please let her be ok.