r***@aol.com
2006-07-12 20:42:31 UTC
"Heliophobia..." Part XXIII...Conclusion...
PG?13...
Archived at the 'normal' Buffyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca
verse, http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/buffyrebecca/index.html or direct
to story at
http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/buffyrebecca/helio1.html
Summary: Sidetracked once again, but I finally came up with a way to do
another of my favorite films, so...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon,
Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire
Slayer series...
With apologies to Alfred...
***
"Just what are you planning to do, Will?..." Buffy asked as their cab
made its way through London early morning traffic...Toward the address
she knew all too well...
Her voice calm...But a faint touch of accent back...Her hands restless
again...
"I'm going back into the past, one last time, Cicely...Visiting the
scene of the crime..."
She looked at his set face...
"Don't worry...As you said the last time we came..."
It's home...
***
At Giles' office Dawn continued to urge she be allowed to speak with
Buffy first...
"I left London only cause Buffy told me she was all right...That she
and Mother were working together...To get Father to come...And he'd
only come if he thought that Buffy was in danger and isolated from all
of us...She's not being forced..."
Giles put up a hand...
"Our only concern is that Buffy is safe, Dawn...If Cicely is fully
present now we must act...We can't risk assuming that Buffy is acting
of her own free will..."
Dru however now eyeing Willow and Giles...
They'd been preparing for this, somehow ready...Natural enough in two
friends of Ms. Summers well versed in occult knowledge...But...
"Why did you leave Buffy to William if you really thought Cicely's
spirit might be taking her?..." she asked Willow... "You could have
done an exorcism, it would have done no harm if it weren't true..."
"We weren't sure...An exorcism's not something you do
lightly...Especially without a subject's full cooperation" Willow
replied quickly...Avoiding her stare as she returned to Dawn...
"We can't be sure what Cicely or Henri are up to here, Dawn...I'm..."
"My mother's not evil, Willow...As for Henri...He did know Mother
briefly in her day, and when Buffy explained things to him and asked
him what he knew about her, he wanted to help, for Cicely's sake...If
he's concealed anything from you guys, it was because Buffy asked him
to..."
"We'll have to learn exactly what His Benevolence is up to..." Giles
frowned... "But that's one more reason..."
"You've been waiting for her, haven't you?..." Dru suddenly spoke,
quietly... "You called William in to bring her out...You...And
Buffy?..." she stared at Willow, then Giles... "You knew Cicely would
come forth in Buffy if William came to London...He's not Buffy's
rescuer here..."
"He's the bait..."
***
Outside Cicely's former townhouse...
"As close to that door as you can get, friend..." Will told the cab
driver as the man pulled his cab as instructed up a back alley to a
rear ground level door...
"I think we can get in here..." he noted to Buffy...Who hesitantly
followed him out...The alley well shaded from sun by the building
opposite...
He waited as the cab pulled out and then went to the door...
"Will?...Shouldn't we wait?...There must be an..."
He produced a set of keys...
"Afraid I grabbed this from old Knowles' desk the last time we
came...I'd thought if things didn't work out we might need to return at
off hours, though at the time..." he eyed her... "...Another of my
dreams of saving you, I guess...And about as ludicrous..." he shrugged
as she watched him...Putting the key in the lock...
"Luckily he didn't get the locks changed yet if he did notice them gone
missing..." he noted as the door opened... "I don't know how long we
may have before the alarm goes off..."
"But I imagine your people have already taken care of that..."
She stared at him...
"You were planning to come here after we picked up Giles...And Willow,
I suppose, right?...After all, it could only be properly done here..."
"Will...?"
"Lets go and have a gander at the scene of the crime, shall we?..." he
pulled at her arm...
***
Dawn had been blinking at the others following Dru's last remark...
Bait?...
"It's true, isn't it?..." Drusilla said softly... "You've lured Cicely
out to destroy her, haven't you?...On Buffy's orders...With William as
the lure..."
"We can't let Buffy be destroyed, Drusilla..." Giles said quietly...
"And she is...This has been destroying her ever since Sunnydale..."
"I see...She can't bear it, can she?...The memories of Cicely and Will
that have surfaced..."
"You..." Dawn looked at Willow who refused to look at her...Though she
replied to Dru...
"Not just the Cicely and Will thing, Drusilla...You of all people
oughta have some idea what Buffy's been through...How she blamed
herself...And us...For William until..."
"Until she found someone else to blame?...Cicely?..." Dru sighed...
"Dawn..." Giles turned to her... "Try to understand...You know how
Buffy was after..."
"She's used me...To help her kill my mother's soul?..." Dawn stared...
"How?...Like Halfreck?...Like Angel's friend?..."
"Cicely's dead, Dawn..." Willow tried... "Buffy..."
"Her soul's as alive as yours...If either of you have one...So now we
kill innocent souls?...My true mother's soul?...If they get in the
Slayer's way..." Dawn said quietly...
"Why should I be surprised?..." she looked at Giles, her stare
hardening... "You tried to kill my father's soul..."
"Not his soul, Dawn...As for Cicely...Dru's told you about what we
learned at the archives...Cicely's not played a totally passive
role..."
"If you mean about Henri knowing Mother...He never concealed
that...from us..." Dawn eyed Giles coolly... "It was Buffy who didn't
trust you enough to let him tell you..." she sighed a little...
"Looks like she hasn't trusted any of us in this..."
"We're only going to block Cicely out...Permanently..." Willow
anxiously cut in... "I doubt a soul can truly be..."
"And let my father think...His wife was evil...My mother evil...Trying
to take Buffy when all the time..." Dawn glared..."She welcomed her in
‘cause she couldn't fight her any other way...Told me who I was so
I'd help in luring my mother out...Is that why she sent me off?...So I
wouldn't be around to see her kill my..."
"Dawn...I still don't know exactly what's happened here...." Willow
sighed... "But Buffy was
in danger...Those memories surfacing from Cicely...They were..."
Giles' intercom buzzed...He pressed a button...
"Mr. Harris and Count D'Vestigy are here..." his secretary's voice...
***
"Sorry for the hold up, Giles...Our friend was a bit more slippery than
I expected..." Xander frowned at Henri who simply smiled as the two
stood in Giles' office...The others, seated...
"Mr. Harris...I merely wished to delay our coming here...Had I truly
wished to avoid you, I would have..."
"Well, Your Benevolence..." Giles frowned... "It seems you've been
playing a part in Cicely's little drama...The romantic rival...Or
perhaps, the beard would be a better term, as your role has been more
of a con game..."
"Hardly a con game, Rupert...Nor entirely Cicely's drama...I will not
insult your intelligence by attempting to deny that I have been playing
a part...Though my affection and concern for Buffy has always been
real..."
"You knew Cicely before she died...You provided the link to her Buffy
needed...The jewelry, those details of the past not even the Council
had in its records...You led her into this while trying to make us
believe you were concerned for her and I want to..."
"I did nothing of the kind, sir..." Henri shook his head... "I had an
obligation to fulfill and I fulfilled it, despite my misgivings, as
Mrs. Walthrop wished...As she begged me a century ago, after she'd
helped my struggling essence to a chance to escape the inevitable fate
of the Undead...Given me the benefit of one of the spells she'd hoped
to try on Spike for pity of my lost soul...And as I honor her dear
memory and my debt to her, when Buffy came to me and voluntarily
revealed herself as the one I had awaited...I executed my
charge...Despite my quite sincere concerns for her and over how she
wished to proceed..."
He smiled briefly at Dawn, who nodded a little... "Miss Summers
here...Or should I say, Miss Walthrop...Can testify to some of the
facts of the matter...She was the witness to our efforts in bringing
William home to Cicely at last...And can confirm Buffy's willing and
voluntary participation...I'm sorry that Buffy felt it best not to..."
"Henri..." Dawn sighed... "I think Buffy's tricked us both...And
Mother..."
"No..." he shook his head... "That wouldn't be possible..."
Mother?... a now seated Xander eyed Willow...
"They've been waiting for her to come..." Dawn indicated Willow, Giles,
and Xander... "Buffy's lied to us...She's planning to destroy
Mother...Or at least drive her off from Father forever..."
Father?... Xander stared...
"That's not possible, Dawn...And you, my friend..." Henri turned to
Giles... "You still don't understand...As I see Buffy does not...Though
she will...Soon..."
"Our only intention has been to help Buffy through this..." Giles shook
his head... "We don't know Cicely...We've tried to be objective and
patient...We let you play your little game for Buffy's sake because it
was her wish and Willow and I did not want to lose all contact with her
in her state then...But now, especially since I learned about the crypt
at Cicely's home and the origins of Dawn's soul, I see that well
intentioned or selfish, she is too dangerous and powerful a presence to
be allowed to keep any hold on Buffy... She must be rooted out of
Buffy, forever...Her memories, on top of what Buffy went through in
losing William at Sunnydale, are destroying my poor girl..." he
paused...Staring at Dawn and Henri...
"That much of our concern was genuine...I can only say to you both that
as you played a role, so did we...Any deception was mutual..."
"Rupert...Miss Rosenberg...You cannot drive Cicely from Buffy...You
can't destroy her as an independent spirit...Willow..." Henri looked to
her... "You know you've never clearly seen a sign of possession or
spectral presence..."
"I've seen aural changes...But no, nothing so solid as a fully distinct
presence ...That doesn't mean I can't pull her from wherever deep she's
lurking now that Buffy's drawn her out..."
"Young lady..." he sighed... "You are powerful but you lack a deal of
learning and experience...Rupert...You two are gravely mistaken
here...In no small part due to Cicely's strength of will and desire to
live free...Fear and shame have been the true enemies here..."
"Will's fear of the sun..." Dru said, suddenly...
"Not of the sun I think..." Henri smiled gently... "Of what it
represents...All those pure things our gentle poet worshiped and
loved...And felt he had betrayed and failed...The shame that still kept
him from his poor Cicely whatever form she took..."
"And Buffy, poor child..." he sighed... "I could see it in the last
weeks, and I was concerned, but I should have realized immediately on
meeting her...At last, in the flesh, after watching her for so many
years...There would be problems..." He looked at Giles... "You trained
her well, Rupert...But you must have realized she was exceptional, even
for a Slayer and even granted the memories and skills passed on
normally..."
"Are you saying?..." Giles...
"For my part I should have seen the problem was even more complex than
the fear and shame for Will Cicely felt...That mighty life force of
hers...Her drive to live and triumph that made her both greatest of the
Slayers and one of the few to win her freedom, made her full rebirth
especially difficult...Though these things are usually hard, with the
Buffy personality so strong, it was no wonder she came to perceive
Cicely as an different individual entirely...And a rival...One who
could be made to take on all the guilt and pain of failing William more
than a century ago...It's largely my fault for following Buffy's lead
so blindly, assuming Cicely was returning without difficulty, guiding
her...As well as for leaving them alone...I'm afraid you are right
Dawn, she, to an extent, deceived me as well..."
"My friend Buffy?..." Willow stared...
"Is suffering from what appears to be a case of multiple personality
disorder as a result of problems in her reincarnation only magnified by
her relationship to our poor William...You see, my friends, as I told
Will when he first came to me, I have indeed been consulting therapists
carefully for our Buffy...Our friend, Ms. Rosenberg, is not inhabited
by Cicely Walthrop's spirit, voluntarily or otherwise...She is
Cicely...Always was..."
***
They stood on the first steps of what had been the grand staircase of
the Addams home...Preserved or restored in its elegant beauty...He
looked up to the second floor...
"Will?...You shouldn't have brought me here again..." Buffy
tried...Looking round nervously... "I want to go..."
"No, I have to tell you the story, Buffy..." Will held her arm...She
somehow drained by his grip, unable to break free... "You should hear
it from someone who was there, not vague memories and what you found in
the archives...This is where we came together...And where I saw her for
the last time..."
"William, please...Don't...We should go...Look, you're right...They are
going to come..."
"That night I stopped there for a moment, after Halfreck'd told me I
was beneath her...Cicely didn't want me...I'd half expected it,
really...Even though we'd secretly married just the day before...I was
ready to believe...No..."
She stared at him, still unable to pull away... "Please...Don't" she
whispered
"...I knew what she'd said was true...Just as Spike knew it when you
said it..."
"No..." she hissed...Her face distorted... "I didn't know...William, I
love you...It was her fault, she was weak...Cowardly"
"You, don't you mean?...Or haven't you made up your minds yet?...But
odd how one little piece of a memory out of place sticks in the
mind...You see, just as I left...Not even consciously recognizing as I
saw...I saw her, up there..." he pointed... "I didn't fully realize
that it was a genuine memory until Giles took me to the archives, or
what it meant, seeing her there...She was hiding up there,
watching...And it was Halfreck who came down to me..."
"She was a fool!...She couldn't handle it...I know everything that
happened, Will...I've remembered it...So many times..."
"She'd loved me so much she'd tried to let me go..." he sighed... "And
I repaid her by not believing in her, betraying her...Even if I allow
that I did sense her memories in you..."
"You wanted me to tell you who I was..." she tried... He put up a
hand...Please...
"I know who you are..." he shook his head... "Come on, play the
part...You wanted it, you have it...Lets go up..." he pushed her to the
stairs... "No..." she grabbed the railing...
He stepped past her... "Fine, then...I'll go alone..."
"Wait, you can't..." she looked at him, a frightened, haunted look in
her eyes...But not fear for herself as her eyes darted up... "I'll
come...Will, wait..." she went up to him as he climbed the wide marble
stairs...
"You have to come back down...The windows upstairs..."
"They're closed now...And that didn't stop you before..." he continue
up, she following nervously... They reached the second floor, staring
down the hall to Cicely's old room...
"Come on...It's your own room...Anyway, Buffy's been there..." he
headed down the hall, all rooms closed...Pausing at the entrance...
"Will?...Why don't we go?...It's not good for me, she..."
"Oh?..." he'd halted and turned on her... "What will ‘she' do,
Cicely?...You certainly have nothing to fear from yourself..." He
turned the doorknob and opened it with a hard push...The heavy door
swung open...He stumbled over a box of files in the dark, nearly empty
room...Found a switch and a light clicked on...
She hurried to the window...Closed, thank... "Will?!...Don't open
that!..." she grabbed at him as he pulled the ladder to the roof
down...
Staring up at the sunlight beaming down on him...
"Will...?" she gasped...
"I'm not guilty...And the light is not judging me...As Cicely's never
judged me..." he breathed hard, feeling the sun... “Just shining down
on me, caring for me...As she did...And wanted to...”
He looked at her evenly...
"And here I had to stop...But you went on, Buffy..."
"Well..." she nervously smiled... "At least you believe..."
“It was Cicely...Last night...” Will said...Looking at Buffy...
“It was her...I wasn’t lying, Will...” Buffy nervously pleaded...
“But it was with your permission...You in control...She never
possessed you...It was only my being here that lead her, poor sweet
soul, to consider accepting your oh, so generous offer...” he
paused...
"It was brave of you to risk that jump...It could have killed even
you...Your way of dying for me?...But it was cruel of you, terribly
cruel, to let me think my Cicely had any hand in driving you to it..."
"Will?..."
"My gentle Cicely...Who only wanted a life and a love...Like you,
Buffy...And she was every bit as worthy in her time...Though nothing
prepared her to face you..." he sighed...
"There is an evil act...A murder...Planned here..." he eyed her... "But
I was totally wrong...God and my poor, poor Cicely forgive me..."
"Will...Listen to me..."
"How can a memory be killed?...It can't be done unless you either kill
the bearer of that memory...Or turn that memory into something
physical...Hateful...Malevolent...And force the bearer to destroy
it...And that's what you planned to do to my Cicely, Buffy..."
"Will...I let..."
"Yeah, the key word...Let...You, the greatest Slayer...Let Cicely
in...Offered to share, didn't you?...My God, you?... You who let Angel
be sent to Hell rather than mar your perfect score?...You consent to a
draw?...Oh, please...You hated Cicely from the moment your memories
drove you to find her in the archives and you realized she was the
woman Spike had described that night years ago...And that she wasn't
the bitch he claimed, but in fact...Your competition...And you guessed,
perhaps rightly, that she was the real reason I wouldn't come arunning
after you...But you couldn't get at her, there's the rub...What a pity
you'd missed your chance at facing off with her in Heaven..."
"I love you, damn you...I would have, would die for you..." she said
quietly... "But all you ever saw, could ever see, in me...Was her..."
"So you set out to make me hate her...Have me kill the memory and then
let Willow destroy the soul of the evil bitch possessing her poor
misguided by love and guilt friend...You knew it could be done after
Halfreck...But I wonder if even that would have been enough..." he eyed
her...She faced him calmly, though her hands were clenching tensely...
"She had her chance...She failed you...I wanted mine...But you'd never
give it to me unless..."
"Unless I'd come to see her as evil...Trying to steal your body...Poor
Buffy the victim...But you knew I never did quite buy that even with
Giles backing you up...Though you were clever enough to try to convince
me you'd let yourself be tricked into it...For love of poor ole William
...But Cicely is no body thief, desperate as she was to be with me
again...Willing as she was to accept your kind offer to share
existence...An offer you made to bring her out where you could finally
put her notch on your belt...With the usual unmentioned assist from
your friends..."
He paused, shaking his head… “Kudos for a beautiful job,
Slayer…You did have me going with that jump in the lake by crazy
mourning Cicely…”
"She guided me there and she did want to mourn you and what happened
there…If I pushed it a little …It was all for love of William..."
Buffy stared at him coolly...And put up a hand... "And it can still
be...If I have to go though with it, for you...I will...It was her with
you yesterday...I have to help her but she can be with you if I allow
it...And she knows enough about me to fool even the guys now...We can
still share, for you..."
"We'll never know, now...Perhaps, if you had been dealing honestly with
my poor wife...Maybe I would have been weak enough to agree..." he said
coldly... "But lucky for me, we'll never know..."
"And I'll be with my Cicely in Heaven, soon, please God..."
"No!...No!!..." she grabbed at him, pulling him back from the ladder,
both stumbling over the various storage boxes and scattered files
dumped about in the otherwise empty room... "Will...I only wanted you
to love me!...Me...And forget her and the past...Why is that so
hard?!...I..."
"William!!...Buffy!!!..." Giles' voice from the front...She held Will's
arm tightly now...
"William, please...I...If you like, she can stay...We'll be one...I'll
convince them she's gone or never was here…That it was all just to
get you to come...I'll tell them anything, everything...Just...You said
you'd be with me to the end of the world...You loved me, you died for
me...Me...And I was ready to die for you...Look, we'll run, if we have
to...I won't let Willow get her...Will, I can't bear it if you go..."
she was absently fumbling with the necklace now...
As she used to when she was nervous...Will suddenly remembered...That's
why it stuck in my head in the National Galley...The artist got it
wrong...Cicely never let that necklace lay still...
"Buffy...If I am William...Lover, husband of Cicely...How can I betray
her, knowing her soul lives and waits for me?...Maybe you modern people
can't understand this sort of thing but you know I can't do it dear
heart...Even if all that's left of Cicely is in you..."
"Sometimes...Sometimes...I don't know anymore..." she eyed him... "We
only know we love you, Will...Please, lets go...I'll never drive her
away...I..."
"Because you can't my poor dear..." Giles had come up behind them,
stepping through the doorway, Henri beside him...
"Giles!...No...I'm all right!...Don't let Willow..." Buffy twisted
back...
"No, Willow won't..." he sighed... "Oh, my poor tormented dear...I've
failed you...I should have realized, not let my fears of the past’s
crimes prevent me from learning the truth ...Forgive me, Cicely..."
"Giles...You mustn't..." Will began... "Cicely is not..."
"No...We couldn't without destroying or demonizing her, Will...One
can't live without one's soul...Thank God Henri was able to prevent us
from trying..."
Buffy and Will looked at him...
"It is my fault, my friend..." Henri came forward... "I was worried,
sincerely...But I thought when you came to London all would be well
shortly...I'd no idea Buffy had grown so strongly as a personality that
she could block her own self's natural return..."
"I..." Buffy stared...
"You are Cicely, my dearest friend..." Henri smiled... "There is no
spirit to contend with, and no enemy to fight...And I have fulfilled
the pledge I made to you in your last days when you spared me and gave
me my hope of salvation...You have found William again...And saved him,
at last..."
"It's a common thing in reincarnation and I am a fool to have failed to
see it..." Giles sighed... "Though in Buffy's case what with her
constant battles for survival and her mighty will to live...Cicely's
will of course but she was not open to that knowledge...The situation
was exceptional...You see, when the reborn personality is strong, it's
frequently slow to or will not accept the past life without much
struggle, often abetted by well meaning friends and family who fail to
realize they are seeking to thwart a natural process..."
"You've been chasing your own spirit shadow, my dear..." he smiled...
"Though Henri might have alerted us..."
"I was pledged to remain silent, by you, Cicely...You still feared the
Council would try to prevent even your reborn form from seeking
William...Which is why I think you came up with the scheme of having me
join the Council and appear as an eminently suitable future mate until
you ‘contacted' Cicely and we could persuade him to come...For over a
century I've been waiting for your return, trying to protect this
husband of yours from the consequences of his demon's escapades..."
"Hmmn?..." Will stared...
"You were quite a handful, my dear sir...Though thankfully your own
prowess was considerable enough to prevent my and my people's services
from being too often required over the years...By the way Angelus meant
to kill you when you reached Italy in 1894, Will...Fortunately I
suspected from my surveillance of your pride that he might be planning
it...He not being one to long tolerate a two man show...And Darla
confirmed it when I...Met with her and Drusilla while holding the two
of you for your safety...He naturally thought better of it when I
proved to be a formidable opponent and later his curse removed him as a
major threat..."
"I...Am Cicely?..." Buffy gasped... "But why didn't..."
"The process of recovering the past life must be a natural one,
Cicely...I'd hoped it would all proceed easily when you found me out
from the archives and you asked of Cicely and requested my help in
learning all I knew of her...I went along with your scheme of summoning
Cicely's spirit while feigning distress and fear in order to stay as
close to you as possible...I was sure once William came to England you
would complete the process without trouble...I'd no idea just how
strong and independent a force Buffy, the modern self, had become...Or
how much she'd come to love William even without the full restoration
of her memories..."
"But if you knew...If Cicely charged you..." Will spoke quietly... "Why
didn't you simply kill me?...How could she have wanted me to survive as
Spike?..."
"You'd intruded on the Prophecy of the Slayer, Will...She'd learned in
trying to save you that the Council held the knowledge she was doomed
to be called to return to fight the great battles of this time as she
has been called back in the past...But you were an unplanned
feature...A distraction that might hold her soul back...A problem..."
"So we killed you in the way most guaranteed to keep you from Cicely's
soul..." Giles sighed...
Henri nodded... "She knew your soul hadn't left Earth, was clinging to
Spike in some vague hope...But release your soul to the void and there
was no guaranteed she could find you again...Cicely no longer trusted
in her faith or any vague hopes of future bliss and
reconciliation...She knew what Council prophecy decreed and determined
that if she must be forced one final time to return to Earth, she would
find you there and keep you with her always...She knew you still loved
her, stayed on for love of her...So, she left Humanity’s protection
against Spike to the Council, its Slayers, and God...And your soul’s
protection, at least from non-human enemies, to Spike...and me...”
“Yes...” Giles sighed... “I’m afraid in no small part thanks to
me and my efforts you, Buffy and your original self have come to odds
with each other...But you are truly one, however much two distinct
personalities have emerged in you...”
“Mother...” Dawn had come up behind Henri with Xander, Dru and
Willow close behind... “It’s all right, now...You’re home,
Father’s home...You’ve saved him, Mother...It’s over...”
“Father...” Will breathed...”Father..” .Xander smiled at him...
“I’m Cicely?...” Buffy whispered, looking to Will who stared at
her...
“Am I?...” she asked him, brokenly... “Tell me...I don’t
know...”
“...Buffy...It’s true...” Dru began, gently...Stepping into the
light of the room...
“No...” Buffy hissed...Accent pronounced again...Necklace tightly
gripped...Backing... “No, not now!...Not you!!...” she raised
clenched fists...
“No, Cicely!...” Will grabbed her, Henri and Xander moving to
help...She tossed the Immortal aside, against a wall, threw Xander back
toward Giles, and broke away from Will... “You shan’t have
him!!...No!!!...” she screamed at Dru, feeling...
For a stake, Dawn realized... “Giles!...”
“Willow!...” Giles called...Willow tensed...
Then Buffy stopped, staring at a Dru who remained quiet before her....
“I’m not here to take him from either of you, Cicely...Just to help
get him back to you...And to hope, someday...You can forgive me...”
she looked at her...Will moved in front of her as Xander helped Henri
to his feet...
Buffy staring at Will a moment...And suddenly, knelt...
“Oh, please...Have mercy...Don’t...” she said to Dru, tears
running, hands twisting... “Kill me...Don’t...Take him...”
“No, Cics...” Will moved to her, knelt, taking a hand... “No one
is taking me from you again...”
“Wait, Willow...” Giles told her, waving her back...As Dru went to
the kneeling, sobbing Buffy...
“Don’t...Please...” she whispered as Dru knelt by her...
“I won’t, Cicely...See, the light?...On him?...He’s safe
now...” she waved to indicate the sunlight now streaming down on the
spot where Will knelt by them... “He’s here and he’s safe with
you...”
“And see where your daughter is waiting for you?...Dawn?...” she
called...
“It’s all right, now...It’s all right...” she whispered,
rocking the sobbing Buffy in her embrace...
***
PG?13...
Archived at the 'normal' Buffyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca
verse, http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/buffyrebecca/index.html or direct
to story at
http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/buffyrebecca/helio1.html
Summary: Sidetracked once again, but I finally came up with a way to do
another of my favorite films, so...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon,
Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire
Slayer series...
With apologies to Alfred...
***
"Just what are you planning to do, Will?..." Buffy asked as their cab
made its way through London early morning traffic...Toward the address
she knew all too well...
Her voice calm...But a faint touch of accent back...Her hands restless
again...
"I'm going back into the past, one last time, Cicely...Visiting the
scene of the crime..."
She looked at his set face...
"Don't worry...As you said the last time we came..."
It's home...
***
At Giles' office Dawn continued to urge she be allowed to speak with
Buffy first...
"I left London only cause Buffy told me she was all right...That she
and Mother were working together...To get Father to come...And he'd
only come if he thought that Buffy was in danger and isolated from all
of us...She's not being forced..."
Giles put up a hand...
"Our only concern is that Buffy is safe, Dawn...If Cicely is fully
present now we must act...We can't risk assuming that Buffy is acting
of her own free will..."
Dru however now eyeing Willow and Giles...
They'd been preparing for this, somehow ready...Natural enough in two
friends of Ms. Summers well versed in occult knowledge...But...
"Why did you leave Buffy to William if you really thought Cicely's
spirit might be taking her?..." she asked Willow... "You could have
done an exorcism, it would have done no harm if it weren't true..."
"We weren't sure...An exorcism's not something you do
lightly...Especially without a subject's full cooperation" Willow
replied quickly...Avoiding her stare as she returned to Dawn...
"We can't be sure what Cicely or Henri are up to here, Dawn...I'm..."
"My mother's not evil, Willow...As for Henri...He did know Mother
briefly in her day, and when Buffy explained things to him and asked
him what he knew about her, he wanted to help, for Cicely's sake...If
he's concealed anything from you guys, it was because Buffy asked him
to..."
"We'll have to learn exactly what His Benevolence is up to..." Giles
frowned... "But that's one more reason..."
"You've been waiting for her, haven't you?..." Dru suddenly spoke,
quietly... "You called William in to bring her out...You...And
Buffy?..." she stared at Willow, then Giles... "You knew Cicely would
come forth in Buffy if William came to London...He's not Buffy's
rescuer here..."
"He's the bait..."
***
Outside Cicely's former townhouse...
"As close to that door as you can get, friend..." Will told the cab
driver as the man pulled his cab as instructed up a back alley to a
rear ground level door...
"I think we can get in here..." he noted to Buffy...Who hesitantly
followed him out...The alley well shaded from sun by the building
opposite...
He waited as the cab pulled out and then went to the door...
"Will?...Shouldn't we wait?...There must be an..."
He produced a set of keys...
"Afraid I grabbed this from old Knowles' desk the last time we
came...I'd thought if things didn't work out we might need to return at
off hours, though at the time..." he eyed her... "...Another of my
dreams of saving you, I guess...And about as ludicrous..." he shrugged
as she watched him...Putting the key in the lock...
"Luckily he didn't get the locks changed yet if he did notice them gone
missing..." he noted as the door opened... "I don't know how long we
may have before the alarm goes off..."
"But I imagine your people have already taken care of that..."
She stared at him...
"You were planning to come here after we picked up Giles...And Willow,
I suppose, right?...After all, it could only be properly done here..."
"Will...?"
"Lets go and have a gander at the scene of the crime, shall we?..." he
pulled at her arm...
***
Dawn had been blinking at the others following Dru's last remark...
Bait?...
"It's true, isn't it?..." Drusilla said softly... "You've lured Cicely
out to destroy her, haven't you?...On Buffy's orders...With William as
the lure..."
"We can't let Buffy be destroyed, Drusilla..." Giles said quietly...
"And she is...This has been destroying her ever since Sunnydale..."
"I see...She can't bear it, can she?...The memories of Cicely and Will
that have surfaced..."
"You..." Dawn looked at Willow who refused to look at her...Though she
replied to Dru...
"Not just the Cicely and Will thing, Drusilla...You of all people
oughta have some idea what Buffy's been through...How she blamed
herself...And us...For William until..."
"Until she found someone else to blame?...Cicely?..." Dru sighed...
"Dawn..." Giles turned to her... "Try to understand...You know how
Buffy was after..."
"She's used me...To help her kill my mother's soul?..." Dawn stared...
"How?...Like Halfreck?...Like Angel's friend?..."
"Cicely's dead, Dawn..." Willow tried... "Buffy..."
"Her soul's as alive as yours...If either of you have one...So now we
kill innocent souls?...My true mother's soul?...If they get in the
Slayer's way..." Dawn said quietly...
"Why should I be surprised?..." she looked at Giles, her stare
hardening... "You tried to kill my father's soul..."
"Not his soul, Dawn...As for Cicely...Dru's told you about what we
learned at the archives...Cicely's not played a totally passive
role..."
"If you mean about Henri knowing Mother...He never concealed
that...from us..." Dawn eyed Giles coolly... "It was Buffy who didn't
trust you enough to let him tell you..." she sighed a little...
"Looks like she hasn't trusted any of us in this..."
"We're only going to block Cicely out...Permanently..." Willow
anxiously cut in... "I doubt a soul can truly be..."
"And let my father think...His wife was evil...My mother evil...Trying
to take Buffy when all the time..." Dawn glared..."She welcomed her in
‘cause she couldn't fight her any other way...Told me who I was so
I'd help in luring my mother out...Is that why she sent me off?...So I
wouldn't be around to see her kill my..."
"Dawn...I still don't know exactly what's happened here...." Willow
sighed... "But Buffy was
in danger...Those memories surfacing from Cicely...They were..."
Giles' intercom buzzed...He pressed a button...
"Mr. Harris and Count D'Vestigy are here..." his secretary's voice...
***
"Sorry for the hold up, Giles...Our friend was a bit more slippery than
I expected..." Xander frowned at Henri who simply smiled as the two
stood in Giles' office...The others, seated...
"Mr. Harris...I merely wished to delay our coming here...Had I truly
wished to avoid you, I would have..."
"Well, Your Benevolence..." Giles frowned... "It seems you've been
playing a part in Cicely's little drama...The romantic rival...Or
perhaps, the beard would be a better term, as your role has been more
of a con game..."
"Hardly a con game, Rupert...Nor entirely Cicely's drama...I will not
insult your intelligence by attempting to deny that I have been playing
a part...Though my affection and concern for Buffy has always been
real..."
"You knew Cicely before she died...You provided the link to her Buffy
needed...The jewelry, those details of the past not even the Council
had in its records...You led her into this while trying to make us
believe you were concerned for her and I want to..."
"I did nothing of the kind, sir..." Henri shook his head... "I had an
obligation to fulfill and I fulfilled it, despite my misgivings, as
Mrs. Walthrop wished...As she begged me a century ago, after she'd
helped my struggling essence to a chance to escape the inevitable fate
of the Undead...Given me the benefit of one of the spells she'd hoped
to try on Spike for pity of my lost soul...And as I honor her dear
memory and my debt to her, when Buffy came to me and voluntarily
revealed herself as the one I had awaited...I executed my
charge...Despite my quite sincere concerns for her and over how she
wished to proceed..."
He smiled briefly at Dawn, who nodded a little... "Miss Summers
here...Or should I say, Miss Walthrop...Can testify to some of the
facts of the matter...She was the witness to our efforts in bringing
William home to Cicely at last...And can confirm Buffy's willing and
voluntary participation...I'm sorry that Buffy felt it best not to..."
"Henri..." Dawn sighed... "I think Buffy's tricked us both...And
Mother..."
"No..." he shook his head... "That wouldn't be possible..."
Mother?... a now seated Xander eyed Willow...
"They've been waiting for her to come..." Dawn indicated Willow, Giles,
and Xander... "Buffy's lied to us...She's planning to destroy
Mother...Or at least drive her off from Father forever..."
Father?... Xander stared...
"That's not possible, Dawn...And you, my friend..." Henri turned to
Giles... "You still don't understand...As I see Buffy does not...Though
she will...Soon..."
"Our only intention has been to help Buffy through this..." Giles shook
his head... "We don't know Cicely...We've tried to be objective and
patient...We let you play your little game for Buffy's sake because it
was her wish and Willow and I did not want to lose all contact with her
in her state then...But now, especially since I learned about the crypt
at Cicely's home and the origins of Dawn's soul, I see that well
intentioned or selfish, she is too dangerous and powerful a presence to
be allowed to keep any hold on Buffy... She must be rooted out of
Buffy, forever...Her memories, on top of what Buffy went through in
losing William at Sunnydale, are destroying my poor girl..." he
paused...Staring at Dawn and Henri...
"That much of our concern was genuine...I can only say to you both that
as you played a role, so did we...Any deception was mutual..."
"Rupert...Miss Rosenberg...You cannot drive Cicely from Buffy...You
can't destroy her as an independent spirit...Willow..." Henri looked to
her... "You know you've never clearly seen a sign of possession or
spectral presence..."
"I've seen aural changes...But no, nothing so solid as a fully distinct
presence ...That doesn't mean I can't pull her from wherever deep she's
lurking now that Buffy's drawn her out..."
"Young lady..." he sighed... "You are powerful but you lack a deal of
learning and experience...Rupert...You two are gravely mistaken
here...In no small part due to Cicely's strength of will and desire to
live free...Fear and shame have been the true enemies here..."
"Will's fear of the sun..." Dru said, suddenly...
"Not of the sun I think..." Henri smiled gently... "Of what it
represents...All those pure things our gentle poet worshiped and
loved...And felt he had betrayed and failed...The shame that still kept
him from his poor Cicely whatever form she took..."
"And Buffy, poor child..." he sighed... "I could see it in the last
weeks, and I was concerned, but I should have realized immediately on
meeting her...At last, in the flesh, after watching her for so many
years...There would be problems..." He looked at Giles... "You trained
her well, Rupert...But you must have realized she was exceptional, even
for a Slayer and even granted the memories and skills passed on
normally..."
"Are you saying?..." Giles...
"For my part I should have seen the problem was even more complex than
the fear and shame for Will Cicely felt...That mighty life force of
hers...Her drive to live and triumph that made her both greatest of the
Slayers and one of the few to win her freedom, made her full rebirth
especially difficult...Though these things are usually hard, with the
Buffy personality so strong, it was no wonder she came to perceive
Cicely as an different individual entirely...And a rival...One who
could be made to take on all the guilt and pain of failing William more
than a century ago...It's largely my fault for following Buffy's lead
so blindly, assuming Cicely was returning without difficulty, guiding
her...As well as for leaving them alone...I'm afraid you are right
Dawn, she, to an extent, deceived me as well..."
"My friend Buffy?..." Willow stared...
"Is suffering from what appears to be a case of multiple personality
disorder as a result of problems in her reincarnation only magnified by
her relationship to our poor William...You see, my friends, as I told
Will when he first came to me, I have indeed been consulting therapists
carefully for our Buffy...Our friend, Ms. Rosenberg, is not inhabited
by Cicely Walthrop's spirit, voluntarily or otherwise...She is
Cicely...Always was..."
***
They stood on the first steps of what had been the grand staircase of
the Addams home...Preserved or restored in its elegant beauty...He
looked up to the second floor...
"Will?...You shouldn't have brought me here again..." Buffy
tried...Looking round nervously... "I want to go..."
"No, I have to tell you the story, Buffy..." Will held her arm...She
somehow drained by his grip, unable to break free... "You should hear
it from someone who was there, not vague memories and what you found in
the archives...This is where we came together...And where I saw her for
the last time..."
"William, please...Don't...We should go...Look, you're right...They are
going to come..."
"That night I stopped there for a moment, after Halfreck'd told me I
was beneath her...Cicely didn't want me...I'd half expected it,
really...Even though we'd secretly married just the day before...I was
ready to believe...No..."
She stared at him, still unable to pull away... "Please...Don't" she
whispered
"...I knew what she'd said was true...Just as Spike knew it when you
said it..."
"No..." she hissed...Her face distorted... "I didn't know...William, I
love you...It was her fault, she was weak...Cowardly"
"You, don't you mean?...Or haven't you made up your minds yet?...But
odd how one little piece of a memory out of place sticks in the
mind...You see, just as I left...Not even consciously recognizing as I
saw...I saw her, up there..." he pointed... "I didn't fully realize
that it was a genuine memory until Giles took me to the archives, or
what it meant, seeing her there...She was hiding up there,
watching...And it was Halfreck who came down to me..."
"She was a fool!...She couldn't handle it...I know everything that
happened, Will...I've remembered it...So many times..."
"She'd loved me so much she'd tried to let me go..." he sighed... "And
I repaid her by not believing in her, betraying her...Even if I allow
that I did sense her memories in you..."
"You wanted me to tell you who I was..." she tried... He put up a
hand...Please...
"I know who you are..." he shook his head... "Come on, play the
part...You wanted it, you have it...Lets go up..." he pushed her to the
stairs... "No..." she grabbed the railing...
He stepped past her... "Fine, then...I'll go alone..."
"Wait, you can't..." she looked at him, a frightened, haunted look in
her eyes...But not fear for herself as her eyes darted up... "I'll
come...Will, wait..." she went up to him as he climbed the wide marble
stairs...
"You have to come back down...The windows upstairs..."
"They're closed now...And that didn't stop you before..." he continue
up, she following nervously... They reached the second floor, staring
down the hall to Cicely's old room...
"Come on...It's your own room...Anyway, Buffy's been there..." he
headed down the hall, all rooms closed...Pausing at the entrance...
"Will?...Why don't we go?...It's not good for me, she..."
"Oh?..." he'd halted and turned on her... "What will ‘she' do,
Cicely?...You certainly have nothing to fear from yourself..." He
turned the doorknob and opened it with a hard push...The heavy door
swung open...He stumbled over a box of files in the dark, nearly empty
room...Found a switch and a light clicked on...
She hurried to the window...Closed, thank... "Will?!...Don't open
that!..." she grabbed at him as he pulled the ladder to the roof
down...
Staring up at the sunlight beaming down on him...
"Will...?" she gasped...
"I'm not guilty...And the light is not judging me...As Cicely's never
judged me..." he breathed hard, feeling the sun... “Just shining down
on me, caring for me...As she did...And wanted to...”
He looked at her evenly...
"And here I had to stop...But you went on, Buffy..."
"Well..." she nervously smiled... "At least you believe..."
“It was Cicely...Last night...” Will said...Looking at Buffy...
“It was her...I wasn’t lying, Will...” Buffy nervously pleaded...
“But it was with your permission...You in control...She never
possessed you...It was only my being here that lead her, poor sweet
soul, to consider accepting your oh, so generous offer...” he
paused...
"It was brave of you to risk that jump...It could have killed even
you...Your way of dying for me?...But it was cruel of you, terribly
cruel, to let me think my Cicely had any hand in driving you to it..."
"Will?..."
"My gentle Cicely...Who only wanted a life and a love...Like you,
Buffy...And she was every bit as worthy in her time...Though nothing
prepared her to face you..." he sighed...
"There is an evil act...A murder...Planned here..." he eyed her... "But
I was totally wrong...God and my poor, poor Cicely forgive me..."
"Will...Listen to me..."
"How can a memory be killed?...It can't be done unless you either kill
the bearer of that memory...Or turn that memory into something
physical...Hateful...Malevolent...And force the bearer to destroy
it...And that's what you planned to do to my Cicely, Buffy..."
"Will...I let..."
"Yeah, the key word...Let...You, the greatest Slayer...Let Cicely
in...Offered to share, didn't you?...My God, you?... You who let Angel
be sent to Hell rather than mar your perfect score?...You consent to a
draw?...Oh, please...You hated Cicely from the moment your memories
drove you to find her in the archives and you realized she was the
woman Spike had described that night years ago...And that she wasn't
the bitch he claimed, but in fact...Your competition...And you guessed,
perhaps rightly, that she was the real reason I wouldn't come arunning
after you...But you couldn't get at her, there's the rub...What a pity
you'd missed your chance at facing off with her in Heaven..."
"I love you, damn you...I would have, would die for you..." she said
quietly... "But all you ever saw, could ever see, in me...Was her..."
"So you set out to make me hate her...Have me kill the memory and then
let Willow destroy the soul of the evil bitch possessing her poor
misguided by love and guilt friend...You knew it could be done after
Halfreck...But I wonder if even that would have been enough..." he eyed
her...She faced him calmly, though her hands were clenching tensely...
"She had her chance...She failed you...I wanted mine...But you'd never
give it to me unless..."
"Unless I'd come to see her as evil...Trying to steal your body...Poor
Buffy the victim...But you knew I never did quite buy that even with
Giles backing you up...Though you were clever enough to try to convince
me you'd let yourself be tricked into it...For love of poor ole William
...But Cicely is no body thief, desperate as she was to be with me
again...Willing as she was to accept your kind offer to share
existence...An offer you made to bring her out where you could finally
put her notch on your belt...With the usual unmentioned assist from
your friends..."
He paused, shaking his head… “Kudos for a beautiful job,
Slayer…You did have me going with that jump in the lake by crazy
mourning Cicely…”
"She guided me there and she did want to mourn you and what happened
there…If I pushed it a little …It was all for love of William..."
Buffy stared at him coolly...And put up a hand... "And it can still
be...If I have to go though with it, for you...I will...It was her with
you yesterday...I have to help her but she can be with you if I allow
it...And she knows enough about me to fool even the guys now...We can
still share, for you..."
"We'll never know, now...Perhaps, if you had been dealing honestly with
my poor wife...Maybe I would have been weak enough to agree..." he said
coldly... "But lucky for me, we'll never know..."
"And I'll be with my Cicely in Heaven, soon, please God..."
"No!...No!!..." she grabbed at him, pulling him back from the ladder,
both stumbling over the various storage boxes and scattered files
dumped about in the otherwise empty room... "Will...I only wanted you
to love me!...Me...And forget her and the past...Why is that so
hard?!...I..."
"William!!...Buffy!!!..." Giles' voice from the front...She held Will's
arm tightly now...
"William, please...I...If you like, she can stay...We'll be one...I'll
convince them she's gone or never was here…That it was all just to
get you to come...I'll tell them anything, everything...Just...You said
you'd be with me to the end of the world...You loved me, you died for
me...Me...And I was ready to die for you...Look, we'll run, if we have
to...I won't let Willow get her...Will, I can't bear it if you go..."
she was absently fumbling with the necklace now...
As she used to when she was nervous...Will suddenly remembered...That's
why it stuck in my head in the National Galley...The artist got it
wrong...Cicely never let that necklace lay still...
"Buffy...If I am William...Lover, husband of Cicely...How can I betray
her, knowing her soul lives and waits for me?...Maybe you modern people
can't understand this sort of thing but you know I can't do it dear
heart...Even if all that's left of Cicely is in you..."
"Sometimes...Sometimes...I don't know anymore..." she eyed him... "We
only know we love you, Will...Please, lets go...I'll never drive her
away...I..."
"Because you can't my poor dear..." Giles had come up behind them,
stepping through the doorway, Henri beside him...
"Giles!...No...I'm all right!...Don't let Willow..." Buffy twisted
back...
"No, Willow won't..." he sighed... "Oh, my poor tormented dear...I've
failed you...I should have realized, not let my fears of the past’s
crimes prevent me from learning the truth ...Forgive me, Cicely..."
"Giles...You mustn't..." Will began... "Cicely is not..."
"No...We couldn't without destroying or demonizing her, Will...One
can't live without one's soul...Thank God Henri was able to prevent us
from trying..."
Buffy and Will looked at him...
"It is my fault, my friend..." Henri came forward... "I was worried,
sincerely...But I thought when you came to London all would be well
shortly...I'd no idea Buffy had grown so strongly as a personality that
she could block her own self's natural return..."
"I..." Buffy stared...
"You are Cicely, my dearest friend..." Henri smiled... "There is no
spirit to contend with, and no enemy to fight...And I have fulfilled
the pledge I made to you in your last days when you spared me and gave
me my hope of salvation...You have found William again...And saved him,
at last..."
"It's a common thing in reincarnation and I am a fool to have failed to
see it..." Giles sighed... "Though in Buffy's case what with her
constant battles for survival and her mighty will to live...Cicely's
will of course but she was not open to that knowledge...The situation
was exceptional...You see, when the reborn personality is strong, it's
frequently slow to or will not accept the past life without much
struggle, often abetted by well meaning friends and family who fail to
realize they are seeking to thwart a natural process..."
"You've been chasing your own spirit shadow, my dear..." he smiled...
"Though Henri might have alerted us..."
"I was pledged to remain silent, by you, Cicely...You still feared the
Council would try to prevent even your reborn form from seeking
William...Which is why I think you came up with the scheme of having me
join the Council and appear as an eminently suitable future mate until
you ‘contacted' Cicely and we could persuade him to come...For over a
century I've been waiting for your return, trying to protect this
husband of yours from the consequences of his demon's escapades..."
"Hmmn?..." Will stared...
"You were quite a handful, my dear sir...Though thankfully your own
prowess was considerable enough to prevent my and my people's services
from being too often required over the years...By the way Angelus meant
to kill you when you reached Italy in 1894, Will...Fortunately I
suspected from my surveillance of your pride that he might be planning
it...He not being one to long tolerate a two man show...And Darla
confirmed it when I...Met with her and Drusilla while holding the two
of you for your safety...He naturally thought better of it when I
proved to be a formidable opponent and later his curse removed him as a
major threat..."
"I...Am Cicely?..." Buffy gasped... "But why didn't..."
"The process of recovering the past life must be a natural one,
Cicely...I'd hoped it would all proceed easily when you found me out
from the archives and you asked of Cicely and requested my help in
learning all I knew of her...I went along with your scheme of summoning
Cicely's spirit while feigning distress and fear in order to stay as
close to you as possible...I was sure once William came to England you
would complete the process without trouble...I'd no idea just how
strong and independent a force Buffy, the modern self, had become...Or
how much she'd come to love William even without the full restoration
of her memories..."
"But if you knew...If Cicely charged you..." Will spoke quietly... "Why
didn't you simply kill me?...How could she have wanted me to survive as
Spike?..."
"You'd intruded on the Prophecy of the Slayer, Will...She'd learned in
trying to save you that the Council held the knowledge she was doomed
to be called to return to fight the great battles of this time as she
has been called back in the past...But you were an unplanned
feature...A distraction that might hold her soul back...A problem..."
"So we killed you in the way most guaranteed to keep you from Cicely's
soul..." Giles sighed...
Henri nodded... "She knew your soul hadn't left Earth, was clinging to
Spike in some vague hope...But release your soul to the void and there
was no guaranteed she could find you again...Cicely no longer trusted
in her faith or any vague hopes of future bliss and
reconciliation...She knew what Council prophecy decreed and determined
that if she must be forced one final time to return to Earth, she would
find you there and keep you with her always...She knew you still loved
her, stayed on for love of her...So, she left Humanity’s protection
against Spike to the Council, its Slayers, and God...And your soul’s
protection, at least from non-human enemies, to Spike...and me...”
“Yes...” Giles sighed... “I’m afraid in no small part thanks to
me and my efforts you, Buffy and your original self have come to odds
with each other...But you are truly one, however much two distinct
personalities have emerged in you...”
“Mother...” Dawn had come up behind Henri with Xander, Dru and
Willow close behind... “It’s all right, now...You’re home,
Father’s home...You’ve saved him, Mother...It’s over...”
“Father...” Will breathed...”Father..” .Xander smiled at him...
“I’m Cicely?...” Buffy whispered, looking to Will who stared at
her...
“Am I?...” she asked him, brokenly... “Tell me...I don’t
know...”
“...Buffy...It’s true...” Dru began, gently...Stepping into the
light of the room...
“No...” Buffy hissed...Accent pronounced again...Necklace tightly
gripped...Backing... “No, not now!...Not you!!...” she raised
clenched fists...
“No, Cicely!...” Will grabbed her, Henri and Xander moving to
help...She tossed the Immortal aside, against a wall, threw Xander back
toward Giles, and broke away from Will... “You shan’t have
him!!...No!!!...” she screamed at Dru, feeling...
For a stake, Dawn realized... “Giles!...”
“Willow!...” Giles called...Willow tensed...
Then Buffy stopped, staring at a Dru who remained quiet before her....
“I’m not here to take him from either of you, Cicely...Just to help
get him back to you...And to hope, someday...You can forgive me...”
she looked at her...Will moved in front of her as Xander helped Henri
to his feet...
Buffy staring at Will a moment...And suddenly, knelt...
“Oh, please...Have mercy...Don’t...” she said to Dru, tears
running, hands twisting... “Kill me...Don’t...Take him...”
“No, Cics...” Will moved to her, knelt, taking a hand... “No one
is taking me from you again...”
“Wait, Willow...” Giles told her, waving her back...As Dru went to
the kneeling, sobbing Buffy...
“Don’t...Please...” she whispered as Dru knelt by her...
“I won’t, Cicely...See, the light?...On him?...He’s safe
now...” she waved to indicate the sunlight now streaming down on the
spot where Will knelt by them... “He’s here and he’s safe with
you...”
“And see where your daughter is waiting for you?...Dawn?...” she
called...
“It’s all right, now...It’s all right...” she whispered,
rocking the sobbing Buffy in her embrace...
***