Title: Hello Goodbye -Part one

Author: Jeffrey Patrick

Description: Takes place after “The Gift.” The Scoobies deal with their grief, but find that there may be a way to bring the Slayer back.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but some Quickdraw McGraw underoos, and penchant for dragging friends into my tangled web of fiction. Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own all things Buffy related.

“Ow! Bloody hell!” Spike screamed, holding his head in pain. He had punched Xander, forgetting the pain. He opened his eyes just in time to see Xander’s fist connected with his nose. He stepped back to avoid the next punch, but Xander kept swinging. The next blow caught his chin, knocking him into Tara. She gave Willow a worried look and stepped out of their way.

“Xander, stop,” Anya pleaded. She turned to Willow. “Make them stop.”

“No thanks,” Willow said. “Spike has it coming.”

“B-but he can’t really fight back,” Tara noted. “He can’t defend himself.”

“Then he gets dusted,” Willow said coldly. “I see no wrong there.” She turned back to the ancient text that she was studying.

“Giles?” Anya asked, hoping the Watcher would stop the brawl.

Giles shook his head and stepped between Spike and Xander.

“Move, Giles!” Xander demanded. “You heard what he said.”

“Yes, I did. But I’m not letting you take your frustration out on him in my shop.” Rupert Giles removed his glasses, and put a hand on Xander’s shoulder. “Go to the back and cool down. Spike will be gone when you return.”

“Why should I go?” Spike protested. “I was just calling it like I saw it.”

Giles grabbed the vampire by his collar and began moving him toward the door. “Buffy’s sacrifice was heroic and noble. How dare you say it was the easy way out?”

“The girl was at the end of her rope, Rupes. She was ready to cash in long before we got to that construction sight.”

Giles glared it him so intensely that Spike voluntarily stepped outside.

“If you ever say anything remotely similar to that in my presence,” Giles said, “I’ll stake you myself. Do you understand this?”

Spike looked at him for a moment before turning away. “Fine. Live in denial.”

Giles slammed the door and turned to see Dawn heading for the training room. “Dawn, I’m not sure Xander is up for company just now.”

“He’ll be okay,” Dawn said. “I just need to talk to him.”

She stepped into the back and found Xander sitting on a stool in the center of the room. He was staring at a big, puffy suit. There were tears rolling down his cheeks. Dawn approached him from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck. He looked back at her and smiled.

“How’s my Dawny?”

She released her embrace so he could wipe his tears on the back of his sleeve. “About as good as you are.”

He sniffed and tried to regain his composure. “That good, huh?”

She grabbed a stool and sat facing him. “You shouldn’t let Spike get to you like that. He just… He doesn’t know how to deal… with everything.”

“He can join the club.”

“Yeah. But… we all deal… in our own way. His is just… more…”

“Wrong.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Xander leaned forward. “There is no maybe, Dawn. Buffy did what she did to save us… and the world.”

Dawn looked away. “But she was also… tired… of the constant fight. She had lost so much.”

Xander took her hand and gave her his patented smile. “But she was determined not to lose you. It was Buffy’s decision. She died a hero.”

Dawn nodded weakly. “I know she did.”

“You given much thought to what I asked you earlier?” Xander asked.

“About staying with you and Anya?”

“Yeah.”

She smiled. “I think I would like that. At least, until we hear from Dad. Giles offered to stay at the house with me, but…”

“It’s hard to be there,” Xander finished. “I can imagine.”

Dawn looked at the padded suit. “What’s up with that? I saw you staring at it when I came in.”

Xander smiled. “I was just… Well, I had that on… the last time I really… told her how great she was. Damn. I hate the word ‘was.’ It just seems so…”

“Yeah,” she nodded. She looked up at him. “She loved you. All of you. Even Anya.”

He smiled at that. “I know.”

Dawn stood and pulled him up by the hand she was holding. “Come on. Let’s check on the others.”

“Hey, Dawn…”

“Yeah?”

Xander smiled at her warmly. “You know that Buffy isn’t the only one that’s proud of you, right? We all are. We all love you so much.”

She grinned. “I know, silly. Come on. I think we should talk to Willow.”

Dawn and Xander made their way back into the shop. Willow was flipping through a spell book. Tara looked on. She was obviously worried. Anya stood behind the register, and was the first to notice Xander and Dawn re-entering the room.

“Is it better now?” Anya asked. “The pain? Because you haven’t been yourself Xander, and…”

Xander stepped behind the counter and hugged her tightly. “You’re hurting too. I know.”

Dawn sat down next to Willow and rested her head on the young witch’s shoulder. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Nothing,” Willow lied. “Just trying to keep occupied.”

“You seem… far away.” Dawn glanced over at Tara.

“She’s looking for a spell,” Tara offered. “Something to…”

“That’s enough, Tara,” Willow said coldly.

“Is it?” Tara asked flatly. She took another step closer. “Your secret could get you in a lot of trouble.”

That statement caught Xander and Anya’s attention. Giles caught it as well, but was too busy with a customer to stop and question it.

“What secret?” Xander asked. “If there’s a secret, I should know it. I’m a great secret keeper. Unless… you know… they’re private secrets of a naughty nature…”

“She’s looking for a resurrections spell,” Tara said softly.

Dawn got a horrified look on her face. “B-but… those are dangerous. You said so yourself. And when I tried the one for Mom…”

“You tried one for your mom?” Anya asked.

“Spike helped her,” Xander said, recalling his trip with Spike to Doc’s. “Will, Buffy wouldn’t want this. Not if it could go wrong.”

“So what SHOULD I do, Xander?” Willow stood up and got in his face. “Nothing? You do enough of that for all of us!”

“Hey!” Anya said.

“Will,” Tara started.

“No,” Xander said. “Let her finish. I’m not magic guy, right? I don’t have the vampire strength to save the day. I’m not the Watcher with all the knowledge. So somehow… this must be MY fault. Right?”

“Xander, stop,” Dawn pleaded. “This isn’t helping.”

“That’s not what I’m saying!” Willow shouted at him.

“I know that!” He yelled back. “You don’t know what you’re saying! You’re hurting, Will! Just like all of us! But instead of talking about it, we’re all fighting and yelling and doing crazy spells!”

Willow stared at him for a minute.

“I love you, Will,” Xander said. “And I don’t wanna lose you too… even if it means I’ll never see Buffy again.”

A single tear ran down Willow’s left cheek.

“I know you miss her. I know you’d do anything to have her back. We all would. But we can’t. It’s just not right. Dark magic is… dark… and Buffy wouldn’t want that for you.”

“He’s right, you know,” Giles said, having passed his now frightened customer off to Anya, who had already hung the “closed” sign in the window. “Buffy would never want you risking your life… or in this case, your very soul… to undo a sacrifice she made willingly.”

“We may hate the result,” Xander said. “but we know that there was no other way.”

Willow turned to Dawn. “I just… I miss her so…”

Dawn hugged her tightly. “I know.”

“We all know, baby,” Tara said, leaning over Dawn’s shoulder and kissing Willow’s forehead. “But dark magic is not the answer.”

“She’s right,” said a familiar voice. The Scoobies turned around to see Cordelia Chase standing in the doorway of the magic shop. Behind her, Angel stood, draped in the light of the moon. “Dark magic is not the way.” She smiled at them. “But there IS a way.”

Several hours later -

“Maybe I’m just slow, but did anyone else understand any of that?” Xander asked.

Anya shook her head, as did Tara. Giles stood up and poured another cup of tea. “I believe I did,” the Watcher said. “May I?” he asked Cordelia.

“Yeah, break it down for us simpletons,” Xander said. Willow shot him a scowl. “And Willow.”

“I understood it,” Dawn mumbled. Xander winked at her.

“If I understood Cordelia and Angel, the Powers That Be have given Buffy the opportunity to have another shot at life. The how of this process is apparently not for us to know.” Giles sat back down at the table. “I’m assuming I have at least that much correct.”

“Yes,” Angel said. “My question is ‘why?’ They’ve never done this sort of thing for another Slayer, and it seems like the Powers always give you only the information they want you to have.”

“That’s true enough about my visions,” Cordy said. “But Buffy was… well… Buffy. The usual rules just never really apply to her.”

Giles smiles at that. “That is most certainly true. Still, Angel brings up an interesting point.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Xander argued. “Look, this may be a real shot…”

“If there’s a chance,” Dawn said softly, “we have to take it.”

“It could be a trick,” Anya said. “With the Powers it can be hard to tell.”

“Xander and Dawny are right, though,” Willow said. “If she has a shot at being rewarded, then we should be all for this. Buffy died to save us all. If anybody deserves a second chance, it’s Buffy.”

“No one here denies that,” Angel said. “Least of all me. I just… We need to be careful.”

“You be careful,” Xander said with determination. “I’m gonna get Buffy back.”

“Slow down there, kemosabe,” Cordelia said. “If what I saw was right, each of us will have to be a part of this if it’s going to work.”

“You made it sound like each of us would have a task to complete… or a sacrifice to make,” Willow said. “What kind of tasks are likely to be asked of us?”

“We don’t know,” Angel said, “which is why we act with caution.”

“While I understand your concern,” Giles said, “I stand with Xander and Willow in this. If there is a chance… even the smallest chance… that Buffy could be returned to us, I’d face the devil, himself, to see it happen.”

“As would I,” Angel said. “I just don’t want anyone going into this expecting a cake walk. We won’t be facing challenges as a group, but as individuals. Before you agree, you need to know the score.”

“No offense, Angel,” Cordy said matter-of-factly, “but the PTB never said we HAVE a choice. We’re gonna be tested. We either pass the test, and Buffy comes back…”

“Or we fail,” Giles finished.

“And she’ll never come back,” Xander said. He glanced at Willow and she nodded. “What do we need to know to pass these things?”

“It’s impossible to know,” Cordelia explained. “Each test will be different. Whatever you seek to gain for Buffy, you risk losing in return.”

“Let’s do it,” Dawn said. “We owe her the attempt, at the very least.” The gang all nodded solemnly.

“When will the tests begin?” Giles asked.

“Tonight at midnight,” Cordy answered.

“The witching hour,” Tara added.

“Good,” Xander said. “We don’t have to wait long. Do we… need anything?”

“Not everyone is here,” Angel said. “Cordelia saw Spike in her vision. I’ll go find him and bring him back here.”

“What do we need Spike for?” Anya asked. “He’s not really one of us.”

“Neither is Faith,” Cordelia pointed out, “but she was in my vision too. Angel called her and let her know what was going down.”

“Great,” Xander said sarcastically. “Let’s add a few nut jobs to the mix.”

“I don’t like it any better than you do,” Angel said. “But you said it yourself… whatever it takes.”

“I knew that’d come back to haunt me,” Xander said. “What time is it now?”

“11:13pm,” Giles said softly. “We have 47 minutes.”

“That’s… soon,” Dawn said, looking slightly uneasy.

“Then I’ll find Spike in a hurry,” Angel said, heading for the front door.

“What do WE do?” Willow asked. “In the meantime, I mean?”

“The only thing we can do, I’m afraid.” The Watcher sat at the end of the table, removed his glasses and rubbed his weary eyes. “We wait.”