Various S7 finales...Scroll down or use your finder for:
"Why?"; "Appeal"; "Some Like It, you know...";"White House";
"An Occurence at Sunnydale High...";"Afterword";"MSS (the Iraqi Foreign Minister) to the Rescue"; "Someday...She'll..; and onto "First Therapy"...
Note: If you're looking for the one where Andrew marries the First,
that's the ending from the full tale "The Foot That Wouldn't Die..." on the Cicelyverse page...
first up...
Why?
Summary: After defeat, the First explains why she/it decided to blow its/her
existence on one last gamble...
***
The defeated First, now corporeal in Morphy Buffy form glared at the gang...And
Principal Wood, now revealed as the First Good...Buffy comforting a badly
wounded but at last much beloved William, a revived Jonathan (dead only a few
seconds, thanks to vasoconstriction, saved by Wood at the gravesite) stands by
with Andrew...Willow and Giles carefully watching the now helpless Morphy about
to be returned to Hell...
"Well..." Morphy Buffy sneers... "You win...Nothing...The balance is restored
and I just go back...There'll be others coming...And in time you'll all die..."
Willow eyes her...Puzzled...
"But you knew the First Good would be able to act once you violated the
balance...Why did you do it?..."
"Why?..." Morphy glares...Looking at the First Good...
"Was it because I revived Buffy?...Cheated you...?" Willow askes...
"Please..." a very Buffy hand on hip glare...
"She's hardly the first Slayer ever resurrected...You people are much too full
of yourselves over these little victories..."
But then...?
"I've been running through all my most evil minions these past six...Hell,
Warren Mears was my most successful...Can you believe it?..." Morphy frowns...
I needed to take matters into my own hands...Otherwise...she actually looks a
little...Embarassed...
"Needed some time to generate new leaders...And now, I'll get it anyway...Our
First Good being such a fool as to agree to the new truce..." she sneers at
Wood...
Tell her...Wood commands...Quietly, but sternly...
She sighs...
"Do you know who I'd of had to turn to...If I hadn't come...?"
"Buffy?..." Willow asks brightly...Buffy, bug‑eyed, stares at Willow...
Hey?...
Sorry...Willow sheepishly looks at her friend...Just...You're the only one of
us with power who hasn't gone Evil...And there was all that "the Law" thing...
"No...That was what I was hoping would happen last year...But she never turned
Evil..And Spike gave in to William, of all things..." Morphy sulks...
Look...she waves...
A misty figure appears...
A tall, monacled, bald German officer...In Luftwaffe coat...
With a large, fat minion forming beside him...In German soldier outfit...
"Reeepppoortt..." the officer calls...
"Herr Commandant...All minions present und accounted for..." the fat minion
salutes...
"Very good, Shultz...All right, Miss Summers...I just vant you to know...That
you are now dealing...With the toughest POW camp commandant in all of Hell
(Hits self with riding crop...Yehow!)...And that there will be no escapes from
Sunnydale in my tenure..."
"Klink!..." Morphy rolls her eyes... "Why would they want to escape!?...You're
supposed to be planning to destroy them, you idiot..."
"Ah...General Burchalter...How nice to see you...Such an attractive form you've
taken..."
"Klink!...Shut up and return to Hell..." Morphy frowns...He and Schultz
vanish...
"See what I mean..." she sighs to Willow...
I had to stop it...
***
"Appeal...
A table and chairs under TV cameras...A worn, but resigned...And now
corporealized Morphy in Buffy form sits in her chair awaiting her
cue...Eyeless Harbringer priests about her...
One sighs to his fellow... "Demon God..I can't believe it...We're
whipped?...After only that feeble effort...That dimwitted Ubervamp?...
A few ridiculous mind games?..."
I tore my eyes out to join this team and this is the best we can
do?...he shakes his head...Striking his fellow...
"Sorry..."
"We did get the Watchers..." his companion notes...
Though how did Joe ever manage to get that bomb in there?...And set it
off?...I mean, ya know...He pats his eye sockets...
"Guess that stuff about the heightened senses to compensate is
true..." the first one reflects...
But...Undamn me...the first priest sighs...How could we flop like
this?...
"That Andrew didn't even have to bring out the superweapons from last
season..." he notes mournfully...
I mean...If the Slayer'd frozen us, used invisibility, let her Wicca
pal magically blast us...I could bear it...We'd've gone down with a
little dignity...
"You don't know the Master Plan, do you?..." his companion smiles...In
the wrong direction...
Over here, Fred...his friend hisses...
Oh...Sorry...
"What..."Master Plan"...?"
"Ok...Look...For centuries the First has supported us, a countless
horde of eyeless priests and followers..."
Yeah...That's one compassionate evil boss...And she wasn't even able
to retain solid form then...
"Right...And except for our previous try with Angel...We haven't
exactly piled up a lot of evil effort points towards our pensions..."
Yeah, the first priest nods...I was kinda worried about that...What
with the high cost of living in Hell these days...
"Exactly..." Fred smiles...So...
So...?
"Buffy Summers defeated us...We're surrendering...To an American
Slayer..."
So...?
"Don't you read history, Mike...? What happens when a defeated group
or nation surrenders to a rep of the good ole US of A?...The South,
Germany, Japan..."
"They gotta take care of us..." Mike stares...Somewhere...In wonder...
"Exactly..." Fred beams...
From now on, we are defeated former opponents...And therefore, wards
of the United States of America...
"If our First can pull it off...Avoid screwing up the surrender with
some crazy last outburst..." Mike notes...
"Are you kidding?...She's corporeal now...She's gonna need a home and
some kinda federal assistance too...Unless she wants to take that job
at the Demon's Hoof, dancing in Ms. Summers' form for the local
underworld every night...Nah..The one thing to worry about is...Can
she look pathetically defeated on camera?...Win America's generous
heart?..."
Hmmn...They instinctively try to look over at her...And remember...
The stage and camera lights come on...
"Quiet!..." a voice hollers...
"Ok, First..." a technician signals...Morphy frowns then peers at the
camera...
"Look at the red light..." the tech tells her... "And remember even
Mr. Harris over in the booth there can kill you now..."
Yeah, yeah...she grumbles...Looking over to the booth where Buffy and
crew...Buffy with arm about William...Giles and Willow narrowly
glaring back at the First...
"Hi...Do you know me?...I'm The First Evil...Before the Big Bang,
before the Big Crunch, before the Big Anything...I was there..."
"Yesterday...I and my forces of Evil submitted to The Slayer...Your
Slayer...The American Slayer..."
"We're beat...I give...But...Now that my people have surrendered...I
ask you, the American people...To take a good look at my poor
followers..."
The cameras sweep over the pathetic Harbringers...
"Blind since joining my cause...Many of them were severely disabled in
the fight with your American Slayer..."
She adopts a very winsome Buffy look...In the booth, Buffy frowns,
glaring...
Hey...
"They followed their leader blindly...Literally...To this sad
outcome...And now, as defeated former foes...They look...To you, the
generous American people...For aid..." the First sighs...
"With Evil now defeated and helpless...Won't you help?..."
Listen to that sobbing...She's got em eating out of her hand...I feel
it...Now you see why she kept practicing taking Summers'
form?...Priest Fred hisses to Mike...
Not really, Mike replies...I tore my eyes out before I ever got a look
at Miss Summers...
***
"Some Like It, you know..."
S7 finale...
***
The First, in Morphy Buffy form, leers at Buffy and William, now
almost in her territory...
Buffy having agreed to surrender her life to restore the balance of
the universe and spare the Slayer line and Earth...William refusing
her pleas to abandon her to Death, determined to follow
her...Anywhere...
The others gone, safely behind on Earth...
Standing on the brink of Hell, Morphy Buffy prepares to savor her
triumph...What a fool to accept her offer...But then, the Slayer
always was a noble, self‑sacrificing moron...
"Now, Buffy...We will be One in Hell...As soon as you send Lover Boy
here away..."
"Not a chance..." William frowns...
If she goes, I go...
"It's not your time, go back to Earth..." Morphy insists...
Make him go, Buffy...Or our deal is kaput...
Buffy smiles at William...
"He'll never leave me..." she turns to Morphy... "So..."
A faint sound is heard...Oddly like a car horn...
"Bout time..." William grins...
What?...What is going on here? Morphy stares...
"William won't leave me..." Buffy nods at him...
"So I won't go..."
"We Have A Deal!, Slayer!?" Morphy fumes...
"And...I'm breakin' it..." Buffy smiles... "I'm entitle to a
life...God knows I've earned it...And I want it..."
"YOU'RE IN MY LAND, NOW...YOU, FOOL!!..." a furious Morphy rears
up...Buffy, in seven foot, viciously cruel form...
"Actually...Not quite..." Buffy points out...
"Hell begins over there...This is intermediate ground..."
Over there...William agrees, and grabbing Morphy from the side with
Buffy on the other, shoves her back across the Hell boundary...
"I'm not done with you!..." Morphy shrieks...Crossing back...Turning
to summon minions...
"Oh, yes...You are..." Voices cry...Misty images suddenly
appearing...Taking form...Joyce, Jonathan, human Drusilla, Eve,
Cassie, and dozens, hundreds, thousands of others...
"You are in interdimensional territory now..." Joyce notes...
Where we can act...
The Spirits and the Light...
Damn...Morphy fumes...
I always forget that clause in the contract...
"Go on, Buffy...We'll deal with her now..." Joyce beams at her
daughter...
Jonathan and others from her and William's pasts waving...Hey...
"William..." Joyce calls...
"Be good to my girl..."
"I will..." he nods...
The horn blasts again...Louder...And out of mists a car of all things
appears...A convertible...
Angel of all people at the wheel...Someone beside him as well...He
waves to them...
"Our ride..." William grins over at the surrounded Morphy, cut off
from Hell...
"You took your time..." he grouses at Angel as he and Buffy climb
in...
"Had someone to pick up..." Angel notes...As they see...Darla, sitting
beside him...
A little reward for her selflessness to Connor and my own efforts...he
beams at her...She shyly nodding to the others...Hi...
Buffy looks at William...Well, does solve one last problem...
"We'd better get moving...Other Hell minions may try to capture us..."
Angel notes, starting off...
Buffy and William rather quiet in back...
"So...Buffy...I guess we can scratch one more Apocalypse, eh...?"
Angel calls back...Adjusting the mirror to see...Oops...
Best perhaps to keep the eyes on the road...he notes to Darla...
Happy moans now coming from the back...
"Well..." Angel glances at the still shaken...Soul just rescued from
Hell...Darla...
"Guess all's working out for the best..." he returns to watching the
"road"...An interdimensional path to the return portal...
More happy moans...Oh! William!...Darling!...
"Yes...It was all fate...Us finding each other again...And finally
learning our souls were meant to be together...Darla..." Angel pats
her hand...
"Angel..." Darla hesitates...
"This is wonderful...But I have to be honest with you..."
"I led a terrible life...Back as a human...I mean earlier...The one
you didn't see...Lots of men..."
"I forgave you long ago, Darla..." Angel pats her hand...
Oh!...Will...Will...William!!!...From the back...
"Angel..." Darla sighs...As they dodge a few desperate minions on the
"road"...
"I was terribly difficult to live with...As a human...Greedy and
demanding..."
"You've changed, dearest...I believe in you..." Angel beams, watching
the road...
"Ummn...I may not be able to have more children, you know..." Darla
notes sadly...
"We have our Connor...And we can adopt..."
Oh!!!!!!!...William!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmmn...Is everything?...Angel checks the mirror...Whoa...Yeah, all's
well...
Hmmn...Versatile little fellow, that poet...He returns to the
"road"...
"Angel..." Darla gives up...And pulls off the mask from her face and
head...
"I'm Doyle...It's always been me...Living off and on as "Darla" all
these centuries via my demon nature..."
"Sorry..."
I knew that...Angel nods...
Beaming...
***
White House
Another finale...
Spoilers...Beware...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Summary: Season Seven alternate ending...Just a little fun fragment...
At the Hellmouth seal...The gang is ready for the final act...Though saddened
by the loss of several SITs...And dear Anya...However a wounded Faith tended by
Xander is doing what she can to comfort his sorrow...
Andrew having successfully conned the First into believing he is a collaborator
again has been able to allow Willow to corporealize the First who had hoped to
steal Buffy's physical form and enter the Buffyverse...(I mean, no sense
winning if you can't physically savor the triumph...)
The First, trapped in her own now corporeal form has been tossed back into the
Hellmouth...
Suddenly, for the first time, the long‑heralded Caleb appears, alas...Much too
late...He looks round for the First...Hey?...
He turns to Andrew...Who shrugs...
"What is going on here?...Where's our Mistress..." he stares at Buffy...Nope,
Andrew shakes his head...She didn't quite make it...
"The First has been corporealized, shot, stabbed, staked, and thrown into
Hell..." Andrew eyes him...
Go...He turns and tells the oldest and most loyal Harbringers...Who not having
seen what was going on...
"Round up the usual suspects..." They stumble out of the chamber, Caleb staring
after them...
The younger Harbringers confusedly mill about, beginning their reversion....
Always wanted to say that, Andrew grins at Dawn...The gang turns to
Willow...Now struggling to recharge in case this weird Caleb guy has anything
to him...Buffy and William start unlimbering...Faith struggles to her feet,
Xander holding her back...
Caleb shakes his head...Well, competent management is at last at hand...
"Slayers..." he sneers, unaware that the game's already lost...The Harbringers
still around already slowly regaining their old human forms...And a desire to
sue somebody over the mutilation thing...
"I am Caleb...Chief min..." Dawn rams a stake into him...
Eehew...Dawn stares at the blood, then the others...Thought he was a vampire...
***
The First is whipped, Xander has lost Anya but gained Faith, Willow's with
Kennedy, Dawn's free to whine again...At a very content Andrew...And now Angel
has finally come in at the very end to claim his girl...After she and William
did the little job of defeating Evil and are ready to seal the Mouth forever...
But...Will has decided to do the noble thing...Buffy should go with Angel...If
he is her true love...He looked at Buffy carefully as they stood by the
seal...Angel beside her beaming happily...He hadn't thought it would go so
well, after the two years absence and all...
But he'd had important things to do...
Like sex with Darla?...Buffy asked innocently...
Sorry...she smiled...
"By the way...You ever get round to helping Dru?..." she asked pleasantly...
"Will's very concerned about her..."
Ummn...
First thing when we get to LA...Angel noted...
"You want me to go with him?..." Buffy stared at William...
"You're part of his work...I guess..." William eyed her...Looking in her
face...
The thing that keeps him going...I suppose...he looked over at Angel...Who
nodded happily...Why, certainly...
Even if he hasn't tried to help you or even check on you...Or Dawn when she was
alone...In more than two years...Will thought...Still eyeing her...Buffy
returning only a noncommital look...
"If you don't go with him...You...Might...Regret it. Maybe not today, maybe
not tomorrow...But after that and for the rest of your life..."
Absolutely...Angel nodded again...
What girl of mine wouldn't...he thought...Looking over at Faith...Who
glares...Geesh ya haven't even been back with Buf ten minutes, you little...
"And..." Will sighed... "I've work to do here...Amends to make and all..."
Yeah...Angel nodded...And say, maybe you could deal with Dru while you're at
it?...Knowing her better than me and all...
Buffy gave him a slightly narrow look, and turned to William...
"You were a victim, too, William..." Buffy began, Angel happily cutting her
off...
"Yes, indeed...But kudos...Welcome back to the fight..." Angel beamed...Patting
Will on the shoulder...
"I've no doubt you'll play a fine little part in the ongoing struggle against
Evil..." he smiled...Striking a noble, slightly brooding pose...As Wesley came
up with a camera...
So where was Broodo anyway during that fight?...Buffy thought...But gave Angel
another brief smile as he turned to her...Would she stand in as the First?...So
Wes could get a shot of him defeating her...For the agency's sake, you
understand...
Faith and Willow roll eyes...
"After all, you'll be working for me there now...Darling..."
She looked at him...What...?
Working together at my agency...Side by side...he noted...Boss and junior
partner...
And God, Connor and I could use some help around the house...he thought...Hope
she's learned to cook at last...
"Ready, Buffy...?" he asked solemnly...
Oh yeah...she nodded...
And shoved him into the Hellmouth which sealed behind him...Wesley stared in
shock...
Mitigated by the thought that he was now head of AI...
"Don't think he'll be back this time..." she grinned at the shocked, but quite
pleasantly ...William...Offering her arm to be taken...
But...he stared...At the sealed Mouth...
Eh...She waved a hand...
"His hair sticks up funny...And he's bloody stupid..." she beamed at Will...
"And...Frankly my dear...I don't think he gave a damn..."
And I sure as Hell don't...
The rest of the gang eyed each other...
And let out a collective sigh of relief...Hell, he left her alone
post‑resurrection for two years...And how far away is LA?...Twenty minutes by
train?...
"Who was that tall guy anyway...?" Andrew hissed to Dawn...Another of my sis'
more jackassish former boyfriends...Later...she hissed back...
"William..." Buffy smiled at him as they headed out... "I think this is the
start of a beautiful relationship..."
Ok...Faith leaned on Xander, exaggerating her need for support, perhaps...
"Lets blow this joint...And get a few drinks in you, you poor cutie..." she
hugged him...
William won't be the only "beneath" a Slayer tonight...
"Careful with my bag, Andrew...And pick up your feet..." Dawn told him as they
followed Buffy and Will out...
You did real good, I'm proud...she beams...
"Yes, dear...er Dawn..." he nods gratefully...
Willow behind, eyes Kennedy...You don't think...?
"Eh, it's a perfect match...If Buffy doesn't kill him..." Kennedy shrugged...
"Dawn loves the attention, he needs someone to worship, and she'll keep him on
the straight and narrow..."
***
The battered First, locked now in Buffy form and returned to Hell under duress
shortly before eyes the fallen...Literally...Angel...
"I always did like ya, Angel..." she shyly notes...
Hmmn...Trapped in Hell by one of my own girls...But the Boss, a mighty force of
evil...In a reasonably hot bod... "Likes" me...Could be worse...Angel notes...
"Ang...gel!!!" a holler as Darla's demon runs up...The First glares...Darla's
demon glares back...Both glare at Angel...Eyes narrowing...
Nope...Couldn't be worse...
"Hellllppp!!!!!!"
***
"An Occurence at Sunnydale High..."
Summary: another S7 finale...
Final victory...The First leered in triumph in her Morphy Buffy form as she
surveyed the dead SITs, Sunnydale at her feet...The Ubervamp army surging forth
from the Hellmouth Gate...US forces called to defensive positions by Agent Finn
falling back...A badly wounded Willow unconscious in the care of a fleeing
Rupert Giles, who without any real hope, was attempting to reach some temporary
haven where the remnants of the Council/Slayer forces could be rallied...And
Buffy Summers, her sister beside her, a prisoner...Mourning the destruction of
her heroic Will, who'd died saving her from a horde of charging Ubies...
And now the final step...To assume Buffy's physical form, merging with her
despairing spirit...In this world at last, with her Hell‑given powers at her
disposal...Her beaming chief minion, Caleb beside her...Harbringers
kneeling...The First savored the victorious moment...
Oh, and that bloody stupid guy from LA with the hair?...History...
"Now, Slayer...You'll see why I permitted you to live this long...You will be
my host in this world, Buffy...The darkness in you, a gateway for me..."
Manic laughter from the First...
"Your strength is gone...You can't fight me off now..." she grinned...
"Only question is...Will we kill our lil' Dawn right away?...Or keep her for a
pet?..."
She reared up, hands extending towards a struggling Buffy's head...
"If you thought Glory's brain drain was something...Watch this..." she
leered...
A brilliant flash as her hands touched the Slayer's head...Final vic...
***
Jonathan eyed the crumpled, now corporealized, and all too mortally human form
of the First on the ground before him, in front of the Hellmouth Seal...Never
opened...Andrew looking as well...
"Looks like we got her..." Jonathan noted...Turning what appeared to be Buffy
Summers' identical twin over... "Neat spellcasting, Andrew..." he smiled at his
friend... "She really believed that whole illusion...The whole phony year...Her
victory over the Council and Buffy and everything..."
"Figured I might as well make her happy while we corporealized her and let her
own backed‑up power destroy her..." Andrew now looked away...A little too
human...
"Wish she hadn't taken Buffy's form though..." Jonathan echoing his thoughts...
"Gross..."
"You sure she's dead?..." Andrew looked a bit nervously...
"Dead as a human can be, thanks to you..." Jonathan examined the body
carefully...
"Great acting by the way...And thanks for not killing me back there..."
C'mon...Andrew frowned...Like I'm dumb enough to have fallen for that "you'll
be a god"...crap...
"She did do a good Warren, though...I must say..."
"Just think of it...We got the First..." Jonathan shook his head...
"Well, she put herself in our hands when she tried to bring me to the Dark Side
in Meieco..." Andrew solemnly noted... "And let me know about the knife and the
Seal..."
Guess she wasn't quite aware how much we knew about her...And about
corporealization spells...he smiled at his friend...
"God...We got the First...All by our lonesome..." Jonathan sighed...
"Think anybody's gonna believe us?..." he looked at Andrew...
"I think we better make sure Buffy's around when we show any of her gang this
corpse..." Andrew noted...
Especially William...Jonathan agreed...
Afterword..."
Summary: The First has been defeated and driven back into Hell...With consequences...
***
The Law...That's me...
Buffy Summers...Judge, Jury...
Executioner...
I sat on a pretty hard wood bench...Looking round...
The gang seated behind me...Xander wearing a flower in his suit...For our poor Anya...The others quiet and composed...Only Dawn stared at me...Torn, I know...
From his seat, to the side further back, Angel gave me a hard look...Dutifully pleading...
For my sake, Buffy...That look said...
I shook my head slightly...Trying not to look too harsh...
He'd come back to help, after all...
At last...And a leetle too late...
And, very likely, more for his Connor's sake than the world's or mine...In any case a fair bet to put my sake at the bottom of any list...
Still, gotta give the bloody stupid twit his due...So I gave him a wan smile as I shook my head...
"Buffy..." Giles eyed me from where he sat beside me...
"Don't do this...Not to yourself..."
Or William...he stared at me...Pressing my hand...
"No..." I replied simply...
"Miss Summers...?" the Council member next to me on the other side chimed in...Ronsom, I think his name was...The guy Giles had saved back in England... One of the very few Original Council left...
"This has to be done..." I said quietly...
Justice must be done...At last...
"William isn't..." Giles began...I waved a hand...Again looking behind...
From a side bench, I saw Robin Wood...Staring at me...Oddly content...Not happy, mind you...Just...Content...
It wasn't exactly what he'd hoped for all these years...But Justice was being done...Accounts settled...At last...
The bailiff waved us all to rise as the judge entered...She moved right along to business...Got the preliminaries and details out of the way quicker than I had expected...And came to my little matter...
"Miss Summers...?" she gently asked me...For the second time, I realized...
I blinked...I was so exhausted I'd half‑slept through the thing...
"Do you understand the gravity of the charges against you?..." she asked...
"Yes..." I replied coolly...
"And...That this is a matter of first‑degree murder?..."
"Your Honor..." Ronsom and Giles rose quickly...I as well...
"Ma'am...!" I called, cutting them off... "I want to dispense with my legal counsel and enter my plea of guilty...Now..."
She stared at me...But...
Ronsom begged for a few minutes in her chambers...But she shook her head...No grounds to deny my request...The little hole he and Giles had dug for themselves...If I wasn't crazy when I'd been taken after the fight with the First...Hadn't been responsible for all that property damage and endangerment...And had only been defending myself against all those strange blind cultists who'd chosen Sunnydale for their bizarre rally...Then I wasn't crazy when I...
"Miss Summers..." the judge paused... "Are you pleading guilty to the murder of Mr. William Soames Walthrop...On May 20, 2003?..."
"Your Honor!..." Ronsom, backed by Giles...
"Yes..." I replied quietly...
I am...
I felt the gang behind me...Their eyes on me...Xander's desperate attempts to break through to me, somehow...Willow's resignation...And attempted understanding...And Dawn...Dawn, so much a part of me...Loving me...Furious that I would do something so foolish as confess to the murder of a vampire...
Hating me that I'd murdered the man we'd both loved...Even if she might never admit it to herself...
***
It might have been the happiest of endings...We'd won, thanks to William...Even after Robin, bent on revenge, betrayed our efforts to the First and we were very nearly defeated...
Thanks to William...Whom no one but I trusted in the end...He'd led the First to destruction, having long realized what she was feeding on...My own darker side...
Only fair...As it had been taken from her back at the beginning of the Slayer line...
And being, like Dawny, to some extent at least, part of me...She'd been unable to deny him...Sure he'd come back to her...Even without her brainwashing...And with the soul...
He always did come back to us after all, didn't he?...
And so, she'd followed him right into Willow's trap...Well...She'd wanted my body as physical host in this world...Hard to properly savor victory on Earth without being able to exist there...And we were linked, after all...So, it was in the nature of a consolation prize that she got physical existence in a corporealized copy of my body...Her very own...
But, oddly like her ole pal, the Mayor...She'd been planning to trade invincibility for a new physical form...Well, guess you gotta do what you gotta do...And maybe in my body with my soul gone it would've worked out...But not in a weak normal human copy of my body...
Hey, she got to experience Death at last...And they say travel broadens the heart as well as the mind...Maybe she'll be a little kinder to her minions in Hell from now on...
Guess she wasn't all that surprised anyway...She'd told Willow as Cassie she'd expected to "shuffle off this mortal coil..." Maybe she knew she'd fail and just wanted to give us a hard run for our money this time...
Who knows...Maybe I'll find out soon if they give me death...No...
No...William will speak for me...I may hafta do a leetle time in Purgatory or Limbo or wherever...But he'll speak for me...And it'll be all right...
After the fight...That was when the trouble started...
The First was gone...The Hellmouth dead at last...No more vamps or demons or whatever would ever be coming through to this existence at least...
I was out of a job...Cause see...When the First went and the Mouth faded out...The demons fled back with her...Including the vamps...
Population of Sunnydale just recovered over 1,500 lost human citizens, a few lost quite a while...William teased after Willow explained the situation to us...Anxious that I not follow my plans to resume my normal Patrol schedule...
Innocent humans there, Buf...Vamp bodies, unfortunate side effect, but all human‑souled again...
Just gotta see the situation is properly explained to them...And plenty of animal blood's on hand...
Alls well that ends well...
And it was nice to see Angel and his gang...Late for the ball as they were when they arrived a few hours later...
He was naturally pleased to know Angelus was gone for good...But he was the one who voiced the thought that my William had already been thinking...
"My God...Poor Dru..."
Poor Dru...All alone in LA...Human again, in that horror of a body...Ripped out of Heaven, no doubt for such a gentle soul...And I know something about what that's like, I can tell you...
It will be all right...William quietly told him...And us...
"I'll take care of her...Poor lamb..."
Great...Angel nodded happily...
I blinking...William?...
"You'll take care of her...?" I asked...Hoping he was referring to the gentle art of mercy‑killing...
Surely novice nun Drusilla would want that...What kind of apprentice nun would want to live over a century after her time in a vamp body?...A mass murdering vamp body...?
No such luck..."Yeah..." he nodded...
"I'll look after her...Someone has to..."
Absolutely...Angel nodded again...Poor Dru must be cared for...
Thanks, William...he beamed...
"She murdered you!..." I suddenly burst out in a scream...
"Are you crazy now too?..." I said...
Or just...In love...I thought, despairing...But did not dare say, even in my fury...
But I finally choked it out...
"You love her...That much?..." I stared...
"Someone has to help her...Someone should care...And in her way, she tried to care for me...Her soul too, I'm sure of it..." he frowned at me...
"Compassion matters...Especially now...The First was beaten by it, in the end, really..."
I saw him for a moment...In my house...Patching my hands as I stared at him...Spike still in control but for the chip...And yet...William, still able to reach out...Love...And care...
And me...Yeah, I believed in him, gave him a chance to prove himself...But I didn't help him get his soul back...I didn't fight to be with him, free him from the hideous darkness inside him when I could've...
I was The Slayer...The Law...And couldn't take the chance...
And now...He was leaving me...
For good, I knew...Dru would always need him to survive human in this world...And with my luck, she'd choose to...
"Anyway...Summers..." he sighed... "Angel's here...Angelus is gone...You've got your own true back...Your little soldier is no longer needed..."
Angel gave me a glance...Not entirely the joyful look of a true love, but dutifully ready to take me on...
And convenient to have a Mommie for Connor...Even if the little punk was old enough to get away with using that love spell jacket on me...
Yeah...He could deal...
Lucky me...
William gave me a smile, coming close...I grabbed him, startling him...And the others, watching...
"Do you love her...?" I hissed...
"Tell me..."
"She needs help, Buffy...And you don't any more...Besides..." he looked at me strangely...
"You don't love me...Or at least you're still afraid to..."
I trembled, staring...Holding his hands...
No...I told him desperately...No...
"Don't go...Not if you don't love her...William..."
Angel looked a mite perturbed...Hmmn...
Has something been going here between them?...he whispered to Willow...
"If you don't...Or won't love me...I have no reason to stay..." William eyed me...
He waited...Shaking his head as I just stared at him...
Robin Wood, now under Xander's guard watching us...Realizing before anyone else that he was going to get part of his vengeance at last...
"Goodbye...Miss Summers..." William gave me a gentle smile, removing my hand as I stared at him...
Angel moving to take his place at my side...
"No!!!..." I screamed at William... "I love you!!!!..." As I staked him...
His joyful dust falling over me like a shroud...And a blanket...
Mine forever...Never to leave me...
Not that he would've...Permanently...He'd've found me in Heaven as I found him on Earth...But you know me, I'm the impulsive type...Can't wait and all...
And just a wee bit jealous...
***
Ronsom, the Council's ablest lawyer as well as Watcher of high standing, and Giles thought the court would never convict without a body...But I'd thought of that as well...And had insisted on DNA testing of the dust on me...Everywhere, never to be washed off completely even by the strongest shower...And the traces of his tissue on his clothes...
And that...With my guilty plea...And Robin Wood's eyewitness testimony...Was enough...
There were still enough questions to make it difficult for the jury to consider death...I got 30 years in prison...Which seemed reasonable to me...
The important thing to me being that William was legally certified as a human being...My little gift to my beloved...He was a man again, nobody could deny it...The good ole US of A legal system had spoken...
Robin was quietly content...We'd come to represent two sides of the same coin in his mind, you see...And I'm glad for him...As I'm sure William is...Hope he finds peace at last...
I managed to explain things to Willow when she came by before sentencing...With a dutiful Angel in tow...Whom I dismissed after pressuring him to care for Dru as William would've...
The competition should make it work for him...The twit won't be able to bear the thought of losing out nobilitywise to my guy...I'm gonna have Willow keep tabs and occasionally apply the screws to him myself by phone and mail...William would want that...And love it...
Hell, she was always his responsibility...And the key to his full redemption if he'd ever had the brains to realize it...
But after I got rid of him...I told Willow why...
The First's last taunt, even as she died and returned to Hell...To let me know why I'd spared my William all these years...Why I'd wanted to trust and love him in spite of all my Slayer caution...And my hard Slayer selfishness...
"I was the one who drove him to Dru...In 1880...Willow..." she staring at me...I nodding...
"I was the Slayer then too...In London...And I loved him...Took him as my lover...And secret husband...Hoping I could beat the Slayer's curse and have a normal life...But I loved him so much...And I realized when Angelus and crew came to London, they'd be after him..."
My Watcher wanted him dead...And told me about a certain demon who granted wishes...Halfreck...
"She took my place...And made him believe I had rejected him...And our marriage...For the reasons he'd always feared I would...That he was "beneath me"..."
Honestly thought I'd saved him...But...I sighed...
Willow stared at me...And you killed him?...she gasped...
"The Slayer..." I spat out the word... "Couldn't take the chance that the First was lying...I wouldn't accept the story even as he told me he'd leave if I didn't give him a sign...Some hope...And I almost didn't...But just at the end...I remembered...Watching his face from the balcony when he ran out of my house in London that night..."
And I knew...I had to prove to him...I still loved him...
"And I did...And he's with me now...And will be in Eternity..."
Better late than never...I grinned at her...
***
"Yet Another Finale...MSS (Muhammed Saeed al-Sahhaf) to the Rescue..."
Summary: Another S7 finale...Iraq's Minister of Information comes to assist the First...
The silliest one yet, I know...And just a rush job...But the bonus is...If you haven't seen the site...But loved his press conferences...
www.welovetheiraqinformationminister.com (hilarious...My press conference below is mostly his own actual stuff with appropriate editing...Hope they have one equally good about Georgie Bush...)
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Archive this?...Are you kidding? I have a reputation to maintain...Oh, well but only so you can get the dance scene with "The Glove"...
***
"Another Finale...MSS (Muhammed Saeed al-Sahhaf) to the rescue..."
4/10 - M.S.S. begins "administrative leave". Last quote, via John Burns of NY Times:
"I NOW INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE TOO FAR FROM REALITY."
Latest Update 13 April-
Iraqi Minister of Information Muhammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (M.S.S.) not included in "Death Pack" playing cards distributed to coalition forces. International uproar.
NBC News: M.S.S. "curiously absent."
Rumor circulate as to the One and Only's whereabouts...
But we know where he is...
And today, he appeared...Exactly where we figured...
In Sunnydale...
***
Iraq, April 10th...
Caleb, chief minion of the First, makes his weary way through the battered Baghdad streets to meet his contact...
Hell, I can't believe this clown is worth all this effort...he sighs to himself...
Still, after all the recent defeats in Sunnydale...The First's chances for victory ain't lookin so good...Yet again...
But...Geesh...Why me?...Organizer of the First's greatest triumphs to date...Slaughter of the world's supply of SITs...Well, about 80% of them...Destruction of the Watchers' Council..Practically all of them...The ones in London...In that building...
So how was I to know a bunch were out for tea?...And the Slayer's Watcher had slipped out with the data on Our Leader...
Well...It's not like the First has ever been one to make with the gratitude...But heck...I actually molded some of those idiotic Harbringers to form a reasonably effective fighting force...
Not my fault if the ones not under my direct command screwed it...
"So...the First's Caleb...?" Buffy appears suddenly from around a battered street corner...Mobs of looters rushing by...
Gulp...Slayer?...Here?...
So...She already knows me...He couldn't help relishing the thought...
My rep's starting to...
"Time you were dealt with, buddy..." Buffy glares...Tensing as if for a staking...
"Mercy on me, Slayer!!...I'm human!..." Caleb drops to his knees...
She shakes her head...
"You idiot!...Did you forget I could read the minds of those in my service?...You coward, you worthless..."
Ma'am...? Caleb leaps up...A hasty bow...
"Just be glad I still don't have Buffy's body and need fools like you!!...Or you'd be touring Hell right now!!..." the First shrieks at him...
"Now go find our man...And bring him to Sunnydale while he's still intact..."
"Ma'am...?...If I may...?"
What?!...she eyes him sourly...
"Is this....Minister al-Sahhaf so important...? Surely we don't need..."
"We need somebody to fire the troops up!...Sow discord in the enemy's ranks...Weaken their resolve!..." the First hollers at him... "God knows you and your clowns need all the help they can get..."
And Goebbels just isn't available for Earth duty...Yet...
"Now go...Find him and bring him to me...!"
But...? Caleb pauses...
Yes!!!?...she furiously glares...
"What if...? Well, there's a lot of ambiguity in this war...Some say this, others that...Hard to know exactly who's..."
"He's one of us...I say so and it's so!...Leave the "ambiguity" to the talking heads shows...And leave the recruitment to me...He'll be happy to join up and come with us..."
That I can believe...Caleb thinks, looking round the battered street...
"Now go get him...Or die tr..." A huge explosion!...
"Caleb?..." The First looks at the blast crater...
Shit...My best minion...Damn...
A cautious-looking fellow, but of unmistakable appearance, peers from around a corner...
"Miss...?" he stares, consulting a photo sent him by fax just before his last press conference...
She stares back, instantly recognizing her quarry...Well, not a total loss...
"Hey...Minister al-Sahhaf?..."
"First Evil?..." he eyes her...She nods...The One and Only, she beams at him...
Hmmn...Rather attractive...he notes...But she could be an American agent...
"No way..." she shakes her head... "It's me...The First...Remember when I appeared to you and your boss ten years ago...Somewhat different form then..."
Yeah...he nods...As my boss' beloved Stalin...And promised us utter victory over the forces of America if we invaded Kuwait?...
"Hey...These things happen..." she frowns, but brightens... "But now...We have one last chance for victory..."
Ah...Chemical weapons?...A nuclear attack on Washington?...al-Sahhaf eyes her...
Better...she beams...
"We're gonna take out the Slayer line...And I'm gonna take the current Slayer's body...And release a horde of Uber-vamps onto Earth..."
Plus a bunch of other really Evil guys...she notes...
Oh...
Ummn...She senses a tad less enthusiasm then she'd hoped for...But the guy has been through a lot
recently she notes to herself eyeing the blasted rubble...
"I got lots of evil guys comin'..." she insists...
"And Hitler, Stalin, and Mao are already senior partners in an LA law firm...They'll be there..."
You'll see...It'll be good...er evil...Very Evil...
Very...Nice...he nods politely
"These...These "Uber-vamps"...?...Are they the same as that fellow who was iced in California by the Slayer?..."
Geesh...Even here in Iraq, they've heard about that?...the First sulks...One minor setback...God...
"I did say...A horde..." she frowns...
And all of them...Sensitive to daylight?...the Minister eyes her...
Thought this guy was Mr. Positive Spin?... the First glowers...
"The other guys coming later aren't...And our Ubies will destroy all opposition before sunrise..." she insists...
"I thought you were inclined to take a positive view of things, Minister al-Sahhaf...That's why I had my minion Caleb contact you..."
"Well...Yes...Once I join the team, I'm a team player..." he notes... "But before I sign on the dotted line...I mean...Look around you...I've been burnt twice already..."
Not to mention...Been bombed, shot at, chased from building to building like an animal...And that was by Saddam in peacetime...
C'mon...she beams at him...One more time for the First...
"We really need that ole "their rotting heads are being cut off and will grace our victory parade..."..." she eyes him hopefully...
And California's a lot like Iraq...Only much wealthier...And safer...In places...Right now...
Well...he sighs...
Shadows of ground attack aircraft appear around them...
"Deal!..." he yelps...
***
April 20th...
Look!...Andrew points at the television...Calling the available SITs, Buffy, William, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Dawn over...
A man...A rather familiar man...Stands in front of a large world map...
"Hell Ministry of Information" in large letters above...
"Today..." the man announces... "I bring the latest reports of Our Leader's coming triumph!..."
"I assure you, the First will never be defeated...And if she is to seem to be defeated, it is only a ruse of cleverness!"
What are those reporters doing there?...Buffy eyes Willow as they look at the reporters in their chairs...
"Ah...They'll cover any that remotely sounds like a war now..." Andrew shrugs...
Geesh...They coulda come here and interviewed us...Buffy thinks...
A reporter stands, ready to ask a question...But first...Nice to see you back on the airwaves, sir...
"Thank you, infidel lying dog...Nice to be back...And may I say...Wonderful country you have here..."
"Regarding the First's minions...? Is it really wise to employ a force of blind minions against the forces of Light...?"
They know all about the First and her minions and nobody's helping us...? Willow thinks...
The Minister...Lovingly known as MSS to the reporters...Glares...
"No, you foolish fellow!...It is not unwise to make use of blind minions!...It is a sign of our superiority that we can make such good use!"
Another reporter rises...Yes?...MSS politely points...
"A question about the Slayers-in-Training...? About how many would you say have made it to...?"
"There are no SIT infidels left in Sunnydale. Never!...My feelings - as usual - we will slaughter them all...Our initial assessment is that they will all die"
"But...If they're all dead...?"
"I blame Al-Jazeera ? they are marketing for the Slayer!...God will roast their stomachs in hell at the hands of Harbringers...We have destroyed their shovels ? We have driven them back."
Muhammed...the First appears to him...Hissing...
"The Slayer uses a stake...Not a shovel..."
Oh...
"Excuse me...Let me correct you..." he glares at the reporters... "We have destroyed their stakes...They're coming to surrender or be burned with their stakes."
"But..." A reporter points out... "The Slayer's had quite a successful record to date...Aren't you and the First worried that..."
"No I am not scared and neither should you be!...We are not afraid of the Slayer. The First has condemned her and her minions. They are stupid. They are stupid" (dramatic pause) "and they are condemned...We have them surrounded"
"The Buffy newsgroups say..." one reporter began...
"The Buffy boards are all about lies! All they tell is lies, lies and more lies!...Lying is forbidden in Hell. Our First will tolerate nothing but truthfulness as she is a being of great honor and integrity. Everyone is encouraged to speak freely of the truths evidenced in their eyes and hearts...Let the infidels bask in their illusion...because we will behead you all"
He paused...The First beaming at him...That's the old spirit...
"I triple guarantee you, there are no SITs in Sunnydale...That British blonde man is not worth an old shoe..."
"The defeat of the first Ubie..." a female reporter began...
"We have given them a sour taste...Anyway...The new SITs are most welcome. We will butcher them...We will welcome them with bullets and shoes."
"We are in control. They are in a state of hysteria. Losers, they think that by killing one Uber-vamp and trying to distort the feelings of the people they will win. I think they will not win, those bastards."
"We have placed them in a quagmire from which they can never emerge except dead!"
"I speak better English than this villain Buffy!" Hey...Buffy glares at the set...
"They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Sunnydale]. They are not in any
place.. This is an illusion ... they are trying to sell to the others an illusion."
"Their failure in this regard is abysmal. They want to tell the world (changes thought) ? as a matter of fact, they do not respect the world, they want to tell taxpayers and the domestic public to keep them deceived (sentence incomplete) as heard. We will embroil them, confuse them and keep them in the quagmire. They have begun to tell more lies so that they might continue with the perpetration of their crimes. May they be accursed."
"We will kill them all........most of them."
"They are like a snake and we are going to cut it in pieces."
"They do not even have control over themselves! Do not believe them!"
"They are nowhere near this town ..they are lost in the Mohave desert...they can not read a compass...they are retarded."
"Faltering forces of infidels cannot just enter Hell, a country of 26 billion beings and lay besiege to them! They are the ones who will find themselves under siege. Therefore, in reality whatever this miserable Buffy has been saying, she was talking about his own forces. Now even the Summers' home is under siege."
He pauses from his tirade...First-rate...And I oughta know...The First gives him a thumbs-up...As do several Harbringers...
Well, they meant to give him the thumbs-up...But, you know...
William looks around...Eyeing Buffy...
"First must be usin' invisible Harbringers..." he smiles...
MSS resumes...
"Our estimates are that none of them will come out alive unless they surrender to us quickly...We're giving them a real lesson today. Heavy doesn't accurately describe the level of casualties we have inflicted."
Huh?...The SITs look at each other...
"I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have started to commit suicide under the walls of Sunnydale. We will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly...The infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the Hellgate. Be assured, Hell is safe, protected."
Ummn...The First waves at him...
Don't give away the battle plan, Muhammed!...she anxiously hisses...
"What about...Baghdad International Airport?..." one reporter smiles...The others glare at him...Don't get him started on that one...
"NO", snapped al-Sahhaf, "We have retaken the airport. There are NO Americans there. I will take you there and show you. IN ONE HOUR!...We defeated them yesterday. God willing, I will provide you with more information. I swear by God, I swear by God, those who are staying in Washington and London have thrown their mercenaries in a crematorium."
Ummn...Muhammed...? the First tries to get him back on track..."Last war...Old news...Focus, please..."
"What about the reports of Harbringers surrendering and being restored to Humanity...?" another reporter rises...The majority equally anxious not to embarrass their old friend try to help pull him back on course...
"Those are not Harbringer soldiers at all. Where did they bring them from?...Just look carefully, I only want you to look carefully. Do not repeat the lies of liars. Do not become like them. Once again, I blame al?Jazeera before it ascertains what takes place. Please, make sure of what you say and do not play such a role."
"Search for the truth. I tell you things and I always ask you to verify what I say. I told you yesterday that there was an attack and a retreat at the Slayer's home."
Yeah...They attacked...And retreated...Dawn noted...
"They will be burnt. We are going to tackle them...We blocked them inside Sunnydale. Their rear is blocked...Their casualties and bodies are many...We chase them here and they chase us there."
"But...Sir..." a female reporter rises... "Isn't it true that the Slayer's army is training for an assault on the Hell forces even now...And that the other Slayer, Faith...Is moving to join them..."
"By God, I think this is rather very unlikely. This is merely a prattle. The fact is that as soon as they reach the Hellgate , we will besiege them and slaughter them....Wherever they go they will find themselves encircled."
"As for the mercenaries who advanced to the perimeters of Sunnydale High and resealed the Hellmouth, I would like to remind you of something. I will mention something that will make the picture clear for you and help you to understand what took place at Sunnydale High. Most of you probably saw the American movie "Wag the Dog". I hope you remember it. Some of their acts that took place at dawn yesterday and today are similar to what happened in "Wag the Dog". If we succeed in keeping them isolated, and we are determined to do so, we might let them taste a second mini Dien Bien Phu tonight. The European journalists remember it well. Our estimates are that none of them will come out alive unless they surrender to us quickly. They are completely surrounded now."
"Any apparent Slayer gains were a cunning ploy by the First to lure the enemy into a trap...Our armed forces, according to their tactics, are leaving the way open..."
"We are surrounding them and pounding them. The whole trend has changed and we are going to finalize this very soon.''
Thank you...He nodded and went out...
Buffy turned off the set...Eyeing Willow...Who shook her head...Can't trace it...
"It's the basement of Sunnydale High..." William told them...
"You're sure...?" Buffy stared...
He looked back at her...Hello?...How long did you leave me there?...
Back at the First's lair...In Sunnydale High's basement...Harbringer Mike eyed...well, he would've eyed...Harbringer Fred...Ummn...Great speech, huh...?
Ye...ah...Fred nodded uncertainly...
"Think we could make to the Slayer's before the First gets back?..." Mike hissed...
***
The First and MSS share a light moment just before dressing for their (premature) victory party...
***
April 30th...Evening...Sunnydale High Auditorium...
Victory party...Well, tentative victory...
The First beams in her resplendent new physical body...Buffy's physical body...
Dancing with MSS to the Scott Joplin tune... "The Glove"...
Play
Played by her rather hot (straight from Hell, she grins at MSS) orchestra of Harbringers...
He in tux, she...Naturally...In black gown...
MSS surprisingly light on his feet...But befitting his career of fast-thinking pr flak of crazed dictators...
"You see..." al-Sahhaf beams back as he spins her round... "Ms. Summers foolishly attacked us head-on right after my last press briefing...And you were able to possess her...Via her dark link to you...As we planned..."
Yeah...she nods...Still...
"We didn't exactly inflict major losses...The others all got away..."
And Buffy's soul is still here...I rushed things taking her body so soon...It'll be 48 hours before my Hell strength rises back to normal and I can shove her soul out for good...she notes, a worried frown...
But can't resist a bright smile at MSS...Gee...Kinda nice these human feelings...All these...Hormone...Things...
"There is nothing to fear...Our enemies' heads are being cut off and rotting on the roads...They are a hundred miles from Sunnydale..." MSS notes firmly...
Yeah...she smiles at him...So evilly confident...So good-looking in that uniform still on under the tux...
Buffy never could resist a guy in a cool outfit...
Still...Somehow...This feels...Odd...
Wrong...
"Darling..." al-Sahhaf pulls her close...Sensing the First is ready to become a...True Woman...
Yeah...? she looks at him, lost in those big eyes...Her doubts drowned by a wave of...Hormones...
First time ever in a corporeal form, after all...
A scream from a Harbringer pulls her back...In the nick of time...
Wait a minute...?...Buffy would never fall for this guy...she eyes her MSS...
On the other hand...The hormones wash back in....
But al-Sahhaf is a bit perturbed himself...
Even if the Slayer army must be "100 miles away"...
William and the old gang supported by the SIT army, Riley's Initiative troops, and some guy from LA and his pals smash into the upper auditorium...While Faith and Willow rush in on the ground floor...
"Muhammed?..." the corporealized...And vulnerable First rushes to her big strong Information Minister...
"Aren't they 100 miles away?..."
"How the hell should I know?..." he stares back... "I'm only an information minister...Not a psychic...Where's your intelligence service...?"
Ummn she stares...
"What should we do...Muhammed?" she asks desperately as the fumbling Harbringers are clearly only being allowed to survive by the enemy in hopes of restoring them to Humanity...
"Lady...?!" he shakes her... "You're the First Evil!...You come up with something!..."
Damn these dictators...Saddy was the same way...That first night he went to pieces...
Ummn...Oh...The First stares wildly...
"I think Buffy's soul is screwing with my consciousness...Oh, damn!..." she sighs...
"She deliberately let me possess her..."
"Got that right..." Willow grins at her...
"Hey...Willow..." the First beams brightly...
Ummn...It's...Me...Buffy...
"Drove the First out and all..."
"I don't think so..." Willow smiles...
Not yet anyway...Faith?!...
Faith grabs the struggling First...
"Well...A great victory for America and the forces of Light..." al-Sahhaf beams nervously...
"As an innocent bystander...I'll be..."
"Damn you, al-Sahhaf!"...And I can do that, she notes to Willow and Faith...The First shrieks at him...
William grabs him...Riley comes over...
"Uncle Sam wants you...Mr. Minister..." the man-in-black smiles...
"Our pleasure, mate..." William hands the shaken MSS over...
"Guess I'll be "shuffling off this mortal coil"..." the First sighs to Willow...
Yep...Just like you said...Willow nods...
"I did do a little better on this one...Didn't I?..." the First asks sheepishly...
God...This is the last, the very last dictator I ever serve...al-Sahhaf sighs to himself...
Even if she is much hotter than Saddam...
Hmmn...I wonder if Ms. Summers might...Possibly...
"Absolutely..." Telepathically catching the thought, the First turns to him, quickly grabbing a last little win... "Buffy's crazy for you...That's why I lost..." she nods solemnly...Smiling at Willow...Faith unable to suppress a grin...B will never live this one down...
"She definitely wants you to call her when you get allowed phone calls..."
Buffy's soul screams within...William stares...Wondering...
My girl has gone for some strange types...
Angel standing near, looks bored...When the heck can I get outta here and back to "My" city...?
Heh...I may be defeated and goin' back to Hell...But I still got it...the First grins wickedly...
***
And another Finale, S7... "Someday...She'll..."
Spoilers...
***
The forces of Light, united, stand clustered around, mourning their losses in even as they contemplate their victory...
Mad Caleb, a powerless, shattered wreck, ready to be taken off to be handed over to the authorities both federal and state,
seeking to have a word with him...His boss, after her near triumph...Or so she'd thought...In seizing Buffy's body and control of
the "superweapon", Death's Scythe, trapped and finally beaten...By Buffy's loving William, who had been turned to Humanity
by the First, her bizarre little joke...But a foolish move that had given him his chance to dissipate her mystic energy...At what
the gang...And the recovered Buffy, kneeling beside him...Could see was the cost of his life...
Phew...Angel thought, standing by...Somewhat miffed by Buffy's rather cool attitude towards him...
And I thought I wanted to be the One...
She whispered gently to William as he lay, writhing...Holding his hand, stroking his head...Dawn came slowly over...Close
enough now to hear...
"...Go to Hell, you creep!..."
Her eyes bulged...Buffy...?!...she raced over...In fury...
"Buffy?!...How could you say..." she began...
"That's what I said to Angel when I left him that last time, darling..." she paused and looked up at Dawn...
A gentle smile breaking over William's face as he died...
Angel, wincing...Damn that supersensitive vamp hearing sometimes...
Oh...Dawn stared...In that case, carry... "Buffy!..." she cried...Kneeling beside William as well as the others hurried over...
Buffy turned back to him... "Will...William...William, I love you..." Oh...she sobbed, realizing...Kissing his dead face...
Geesh...Angel turns to Willow, now moving towards the group coming to William...
"I come all the way out here..."
The whole twenty minute ride?...Willow asks sweetly, pausing...And on such a bad hair day...?
"Yeah...It was nice of ya to come out here at the last possible moment to keep the First from kicking "your" little city apart..."
she glared at him...Continuing over to William...
"And I'll see you again...I swear..." Buffy laid William's head down gently and stood up...Clutching the scythe...Pity the
remaining Bringers are returning to Humanity...Could really use a first-rate kill victim right now...Say some real Parker-level
jerk...Or, say one who abandoned me when I needed him...She eyes Angel...Narrowly...
Eh, if not for him and his lack of support, I'd've never seen the real love of my existence...And God knows I don't want Connor
on my hands...
She catches sight of Willow coming through the group...Pausing to hug a mourning, shattered Xander...Anya, Caleb's last
victim...
Ah, help at hand...
"Willow!..." she turned to the Wiccan...
"Resurrection spell...!"
Ummn...Buf...she began, looking over to Giles...Maybe it would be best if...I mean, he's at pe...
A rather hideous glare from the Slayer...A First-level glare...
"I've got a good one..." Andrew perked up...
"Willow...?...Resurrection spell...!!...Lets have it!...Right now!..." Buffy cried...Raising the scythe...
"You sure we got the First out of her...?" Angel hisses to Wesley...
"Dad...You said she'd be falling all over you?...Isn't she gonna be my new mom?..." Connor whispered...
The house needs cleaning...And I got no socks...he whined...
"And that Dawn is kinda hot...Is she as easy as you said her sis was...?" he asked innocently...
Ok...Find a fawn...I can do that...Buffy nods as Willow goes down the checklist...
***
And another one...Finale S7... "... 'Someday...She'll...'...Again"
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Spoilers...
Archived, if you can believe it, with my other S7 finales at the Buffy Rebecca verse...
www.angelfire.com/zine2/buffyrebecca/mss.html
("..."The Buffy newsgroups say..." one reporter began...
"The Buffy boards are all about lies! All they tell is lies, lies and more lies!..."
-Muhammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Iraqi Information Minister (on adminstrative leave) "Another Finale...MSS (Muhammed Saeed
al-Sahhaf) to the rescue...")
Spoilers for "End of Days"?...oh yeah...
***
The Slayer army, deep inside the Mouth, is winning a hard-fought battle...Buffy has mown down the now rather pathetic Ubies
right and left...A revived, but battered and faltering Caleb is veering back and forth between suicidal rage and utter panic...Luck
for me, he's insane, the First in Buffy form thinks...Else he'd be outta here...
However, she still has one last card to play...Eyeing Angel fighting near Buffy...She continues to urge William, likewise near
Buffy to murderous jealousy...Whispering to him of his beloved's betrayal...After all he's been through for her...Her obvious
rejection...Her...
"Right, got it, love..." he hisses... "She's back with Broodo..." Cutting her off...As he fights off several charging Ubies...
"She's never cared a damn about yours truly...I get the picture...Hell, I wrote the book..."
You could avenge yourself, Will...Destroy them...she whispers...
Buffy calling to him to follow them deeper as the Ubie force takes to its heels and retreats...Caleb stumbling after them...Angel
still beside her...
He follows...
Why do this, William...? Why let her use you like this?...She's destroyed you more than once you know...Morphy Buffy leers as
he moves down the passage...
She suddenly takes the form of Cecily... "You're beneath me..." Cecily sneers at him...As he moves on...
She was Cecily...In 1880, William...Admit it...You've always known that...It was her then too...Destroying you...Condemning
you...Sending you to Drusilla and a hundred years of horror...
"Was she, love?...I always thought there was something familiar about her..." he halts...
Buffy's voice calling back to him...
"Coming..." he calls to her...
Buffy's whipped puppy...Cecily's bloody awful poet...the First sneers at him...
Lapdog...she glares...
By the way...she looks down the passage...
Where are they going?...
He eyes Morphy Buffy steadily...
"So...What's your offer?..."
What?...the First blinks...
"Unlike Spike, William needs more than the joys of bloody vengeance, girl...What do I get for joining the Dark Side and taking
out the Slayer and Brooding Boy for you?...And I gotta point out, your side is not looking too attractive right now..."
Ummn...Hmmn...Didn't think it'd be this easy...she thinks...
Well...Whatdaya want?...Cause I can give ya anything...she smiles...
"Anything, eh...?"
Sure...But where the heck are your friends going?...she looks away, towards where the Slayer army can be heard fighting the
fleeing Ubie force...
Be right...she starts to fade...
"I want Buffy..." he hastily interrupts her...She stops her fadeout...
Ummn...Well...
"You did say...Anything, lass...Or was that anything...With qualifications...??"
Ummn...Well...If you help me, I'll be able to enter and possess anyone...Even Buffy...she replies brightly...
"Will...iam!?..." a call from down the passage...
"We'd best get after them..." he notes, starting down again...Morphy nods, following...
"On my way, Slayer...!" he calls back down...
"I don't like your odds, love...And I doubt if Buffy would allow herself to be possessed...Especially if I'm to 'destroy her'..."
he eyes Morphy...
Oh...Right...she rolls her eyes up and bites her lips in very Buffy style...
Well...I could be Buffy for you...
"I've had my fill of imaginary Buffys, thanks..." he shakes his head...
They enter a wide cavern where the Slayer army is heavily engaged by, but overcoming a last-ditch Ubie defense line...Caleb
trying to slip away to a side passage...
Where the priestess he "killed" the other night smiles at him...
"Now, sister...I killed you..." he stares, a bit annoyed...Can't Evil win even one little one...?
"So you did...But, as I told the Slayer...We've been around a long, long time..." the old priestess smiles...And crumples the mad
preacher into a small, bloody ball...With, naturally, a few accompanying screams of agony...
See what I mean...William eyes a startled Morphy as they watch...
Your odds do not look good...
I could...Take physical form...And once you kill Buffy and Angel...I could pretend to be Buffy, take her place...We could,
albeit a bit more slowly than my original plan, eventually rule the world...Morphy desperately suggests...
"That'd take a lot of power, pet..." William eyes her...
I doubt very much you've got that much left...
Oh...Really...? she sniffs...
Why back down there at the Core of Hell, I've still got enough power to blow the world apart...
"Uh-huh..."
Watch... "This..." Her voice becoming audible as she suddenly takes corporeal form as a twin of Buffy...
"Like what you see...?..." she turns round...Staggering a bit...Quite a power drain...Hmmn, maybe we should get outta
sight...she pulls him back...
"Go ahead...Cop a feel..." she grins... "The real thing now...Physical as Buffy ever was..." she hits a stone wall...
Ouch...Maybe a leetle too physical...she stares at the blood...
"Nice..." he nods...
"Now...Your part of the bargain, William..." she eyes him...
"Absolutely..." he nods...
I always keep my word to my own true...he grins...
"Andrew...Got all that...?" he calls...The First looks round...What?
"Core of Hell...Main power source...First is now corporeal and kinda vincible..." An invisible Andrew reads from his notes...
"Did you get that, Willow?..." invisible Andrew calls into his equally invisible cell phone...
"We see it...A big volcanoey thing...Giles is setting charges..." they hear...
"You bastard!!!..." Morphy shrieks... "I go corporeal for you...Not to mention all the nice things I said to you back in that
rathole of a school basement...And you pull this...?!!"
The Slayer army comes running back from the chamber where the First's Core of Power is about to go boom...Buffy and Angel
bringing up the rear...
"Sorry, pet...I did say I keep my word to my own true..." William smiles at the screaming First...
Hmmn...She does look like Buffy...Angel eyes the hysterical hellion...
"Hit the dirt!..." Willow yells...Checking her watch's second hand...
Kaboom...!
They stagger to their feet...All well...
The First looks woozily around...
Hmmn...Powerless, eh...
Best to try a quick case of amnesia...
"What?...What happened...? Who are you people?..." she stares round...
"Hi...Bye..." Buffy puts the scythe to good use...
Eehew...She really has developed her violent side...Angel stares...
"Don't worry..." Willow pats him... "The First's spirit is immortal...She's just powerless and trapped here now..."
And not likely to bother us again for quite a while...
"Well..." Buffy beams at William... "Thank God she fell for it..."
Yeah...he sighs a bit...Eyeing Angel...
"Well...Congrats, Slayer...Ladies...And Gentlemen...Guess we may as well head back..." he gives Buffy a wan smile...
"You and Pointy-hair must have some catchin'-up to do..."
"Will...?" Buffy stares... "You didn't really believe...?...Me and...Angel?...Back together...?"
Angel stares now...Huh...? But...
"Hell, we're just friends...Barely..." she glares at the Brooding One...Who continues to stare...It slowly sinking in...
Huh?...But...Buffy...he begins...
"I thought you'd..."
"Forgiven you...?...For not helping me with Glory?...For not helping Dawn?...For telling me we had taken different roads when
I met you...And not even offering me a loan?..."
Sure...she glares...I forgive you...
"But...If you think, you brooding jackass...You can just waltz in here...Try to show me up, tossing Caleb around...And I'll just
throw away the guy who's been there for me every day and night for the past two years...?"
Especially when you aren't even planning to stay...And you have no plans to spend any time trying to find a way to be with
me...
"Not to mention...You sure seem to have found ways to overcome your little roadblock to happiness with several ladies in
LA...Including the mother of your child..."
Still...she paused... I do forgive you...And we're friends...
"But...I think I'll go with the guy who wants to live for me...Now...And won his soul back for me...And..."
Who knew me a century ago...she beams at William...
"You knew...?" he stares...
"It came in bits and pieces, Will...Still coming...But, yeah...Only I don't think it happened quite the way you remember it...At
least from my pov...Cecily's, that is..."
But we can work that out later...she smiles...
"But...Buffy..." Angel stares... "Someday...In the distant future...When I complete my quest...And can be happy once again..."
"Yeah, yeah...Great...Tell it to Darla...Her soul, I mean..." she waves a hand... "She's the girl for you..."
"Lets go, William..." she offers an arm...
You weren't really attracted to the First, were you...? she asks him as they head out...Angel still staring behind them...
"Well...She did remind me of your darker side...And it's always had an attraction for me..." William smiles at her...
Cecily, eh?...he cocks his head at her...
"There's a story, Will...I'm just starting to piece the memories together..." she hastily notes...
See...You remember Halfreck, Anya's demon friend?...The one who recognized you...? Who looked like Cecily?...she begins...
***
And one more finale...S7 "Safe and Sane..."
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy
the Vampire Slayer series...
PG-13
Summary: The Fates kindly lead William's soul to a reasonably nice existence...
***
The First is beaten, driven to Hell...Caleb suitably and painfully killed...
But tragic losses...Anya...Several SITs...And the William who'd saved them all...
Buffy pleading by his side...Angel watching in no little shock, suitably miffed at learning the hard way that his stock in Sunnydale has
slipped...
"William...William...I love you..." she cries to him, stroking his hair... "Don't leave me...Never...Leave...
***
"Bite down, please...Ummn..Buffy...Harder..."
Hoookkay...?...
"Yes, that's it...Just like that...One bit of a minute, please..."
Oh...hwiilliam...?
"Just a moment longer, please...Yes, that's it...Good...Great..."
William, in lab coat, his dental mirror and finger deep in Buffy's mouth...Leans back and pulls finger and mirror out...
"Auh..." Buffy groans...
"It's all right...You can spit now..." he beams at her...
She discreetly spits in the little sink at the edge of her chair arm...
"All right?..." he eyes her...
Yeah...she nods...
"Well...You did just fine...Just ten minutes wait until I check your X-rays...And one more appointment and we can call this round
quits..." he smiles...
She sits upright in the dental chair...Just one more...?
Ummn...
"So..." he begins quickly washing his hands...As she gives him a sidelong glance, trying to avoid his spotting her look...
"What's going on with you and your mother and sister these days...?...You know Uncle Rupert rarely gives me details at dinner..."
Well...she beams at him...Oh, the cloud passes over her heart again...One more appointment...She brushes it off...
"I'm going to a couple of auditions in LA next week..."
Really?...he smiles at her...Putting a few tools away...
"Nothing too big...A little part in a soap opera...And a walk-on part in a movie..."
Not too impressive...she nervously thinks...Oh...
"Oh...But I'm also trying out for a part in King Lear...Regan...?..." Or I will be, now...Good thing I remembered about that one...
Oh...Wonderful...he nods at her...Quite a challenging role...
"Just community theater..." she hastily adds...
But I'll be staying in the city for a few days...With my friend Willow Rosenberg...Remember her?...
"Of course..." he nods... "A very sweet girl...I remember from when you introduced us the last time I was in Sunnydale..."
"How's she doing...? That boyfriend of hers with the band...?"
She turned lesbian...Buffy eyes him...As in, not a chance...she happily thinks...
He did seem to like her at that party at her dorm when he was here last...she remembers...Least she says he did...
Oh...he blinks...
"Not that there's a thing wrong with that...So long as you're happy, I always say..." she notes hastily...
I concur...he grins...Writing a few notes...
"And how's your...Ummn..Boyfriend?...Liam, right?" a slight hesistance...Which she catches...
"Oh..." she sulks... "Don't mention...Liam..."
God...Please don't let Giles have told him...
"But I thought you and he were..."
We...Were...she frowns...
"He does live in LA now, right?...Has that part on that TV show?..."
he affected an air of uncaring...Watching her carefully out of the corners of his eyes as he looked through a chart...
Yeah...a curt reply...
"I don't plan on seeing him in LA...He'd be much...Too busy...In "His city" anyway..." she glares slightly...
Does he know?...Did Rupert tell him?...she wonders...
Nah...Rupert's a good guy...He wouldn't tell...
He senses her skittishness...Poor girl...Not that Uncle Rupert had told him on his return to America...Just...He knew Liam's
type...And could guess what had happened...
Swaggering bastard small time "actor" with that phony "brooding" air...Innocent, lovely young girl who dreams of a career in
acting...Acting, not just running to the films...My...er Our Buffy has loftier goals...he thinks, proudly...
He could guess why she was so skittish about ole Liam...That sodden bastard...
"So..." he grins at her... "Goin' to Hollywood...Gonna be discovered..."
Bus Stop...Marilyn Monroe...she beams back, pleased...
"Well...I'd like to do something in...Acting...Even the little places...I love playing heroines..." she grins...
"You were born to play heroines, girl..." he smiles back...
"But...The other stuff's important to me too..." she notes, eyeing him...
Happiness and all...That's the really important thing...
"They say it's the foundation of all truly successful living..." he replies...
Yeah...she stares at him...
"You've lost weight...Are you eating ok?..." she asks...
"I had the flu and my last semester at dental school was a killer..." he smiles...
But quite all right, thanks for asking...
"Sure...I mean...Cause I know all you've got looking out for now since your mother died is Rupert..." she eyes him...
"Well...Uncle Rupert takes fine care of me...Almost as good as Mum did...I'm very lucky..." he smiles...
I...Ummn...She bites a lip...
"I'm glad you came back here to start your practice, William..."
Lucky to have roots here...And a generous uncle to set me up...he grins...
Amerika...he puts on a phony East European accent...Land of Opportunity...Where Streets are Paved with Gold...
She giggles...
"Well...perhaps the reality ain't quite that...But I like it back here...I think I made the right choice in coming back here..." he gives
her a warm look...
I feel like I have family here...
Yeah...she stares...Oh yeah...
An assistant brings in the X-rays...Well, to work...he smiles...Putting them up to view...
Ok?...she asks...
"You look...Marvelleous..." he smiles at her...
Well...Almost...One more appointment...he grins...
Yeah...One more appointment...she nods...Thinking...
Time to notch it up a bit, Summers...
"You know...I really liked that time...At the Bronze..."
When you were here last...she notes...
Did you?...he eyes her... I thought you were a tad annoyed with me...
"You were kind of a bad boy that time..." she smiles at him...
"I was a kid...Trying to look American punk cool..." he shrugs sheepishly... "I must have seemed ridiculous..."
No...Not at all...she emphatically nods...
"You looked great...Though I like you this way too..." she smiles...
Guess you appeal to me both ways, William...she gives him an open look...
Ummn...he blinks...
"Sorry...Was I too forward?.." she stares...Gulping...
No...No...Not at all...
"It's just..."
"I like you, Will...Is there any chance...?...I mean I think you were kinda interested last time you were here...But Liam..." she
shrugs...
He nods...A bit slowly, but firmly...
I was...Interested...
"Mom was gonna ask if you wanted to come to dinner with your uncle...Would you say yes?..."
We could stop by the Bronze later...If you'd like...she eyes him...
Or just take a walk...?
"I'd like that very much Miss Summers..." he smiles...
"I like it when you call me Miss Summers..." she grins...
And when you call me...Buffy...
***
And a Cicelyverse Finale...S7... "In Memoriam..."
Spoilers for "Chosen"...
You might want to read my Cicelyverse page to get up to speed (
www.geocities.com/buffyrebecca/Cicelypg.html) but in a nutshell...Suppose
Buffy was Cecily in 1880...(Cicely to make it an AU)...And the truth about
the night William died was a little more complicated...
***
"Buffy...?...What do you want to do..." Willow calls, a little brightly...
Buffy looks out over the vast crater that was Sunnydale...William's grave
now...Vaguely irritated by Xander's mall jokes...She knows he means well,
he wants to kill the pain in his heart as well as the others...But...Anya is
gone...The love of his life is gone...And...He makes mall jokes...
She stares out...
"Buffy...? What do you want to do..." Dawn echoes Willow...Equally brightly,
another big one won...Hurrah...
Silence...
A flash of a vision comes to her...Horses...Carriages...Racing...Crowded
streets, London she somehow knows...London more than a century ago...A
house...A room...A settee...
Hasty words in secret corners...I love you, Cicely...I love you, William...I will
love you...Always...
Eternity is ours...
A white-haired man eyeing her sternly... "You must remember your duty,
Cicely..." "You cannot abandon duty for this man..."
Eternity is ours...
More flashes...Swirl of old-fashioned dresses...Horses, shouts... "Take me
away, William...For God's sake...Save me..."
Save me...From the Slayer...From myself...But I cannot tell him, cannot risk
losing him...
"The Angelus pride is in London, Cicely..." the white-haired man again...Her
Watcher...
"Simon, Simon...What can I do?..." her voice, she knows instinctively...But
with a British accent...
I can not send him away...
"There are ways..."
Flashes...Another Cicely, a copy...Halfreck...in her room, offering,
promising...Salvation...
"What would drive him away, Cicely?...What will save him...From the
Slayer?..." the demon doppelganger, her double she knows...eyes her...
"You're beneath me..." Tell him that...It will break his heart...
Oh...God...William!...
A sudden start...Back on the cliff looking out...
"Buffy...? What do you want to do?..." Willow's casual words...
We've won, let's celebrate...Yeah for the Slayer...
Too bad about our minor losses...
What do I want to do...? she stares...
What does Buffy want to do...What does Cicely want to do...?
Dawn senses...Without even thinking...Part of them both...Looking up in
horror...
"Buffy!..." she screams...
NO!!...Xander cries in horror...No!!!....
The wind whistling through her hair...
I want to go home...
My husband is waiting for me...
***
Go on to "First Therapy"
