Black

[vampmogs]

BLACK

Summary: This is a story that takes place in season eight before 'The Long Way Home.' The story deals with how Dawn turned into a giant, a possible fling between Buffy and Xander, what Willow and Giles have been up to, how Kennedy died and why Xander has a problem with Buffy calling him a watcher. The story also deals with a new threat to the slayer army and Willow.

Rating: NC17- Not very graphic sex scene.

Chapter One

As Buffy Summers' combat boots crunched against the icy pavement, she gritted her teeth together and braced for the cold wind that lashed against her face.

Tiny stings of pain fell against the slayer's cheeks and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying her best to shield herself from the cold. As much as she hated to admit it, "I'm way too Californian for Scotland," she thought.

The slayer wondered if she could ever acclimatise to the Scottish weather, or the familiar voice speaking through her ear.

"Buff?" Xander Harris asked through the earpiece nested uncomfortably in her earlobe. Buffy stopped for a moment with a gasp, her eyes darting around wildly as she looked for her attacker but then sighed as she registered that it was just Xander.

She began pacing again as the cool breeze blew against her face. After receiving no initial reply Xander pressed on, "Everything kay?" he asked.

"This is your chance Summers!" she thought, "tell him how things are a couple of counties over from okay! Tell him about Scotland, about the castle, Dawn, the slayers, him- us; oh god what would you even call it?"
"Peachy" she sighed in reply.

Buffy hoped that sounded far more convincing out loud than it did in her head. In her head it sounded incredibly lame, reeking of uncertainty and that nagging feeling that she wasn't cut out for this.

"Buffy" Xander said sternly, not buying into her unconvincing optimism. "What's really up?" he asked. "Damn Xander," she thought, forgetting how well he knew her.

"Nothin" Buffy lied as she pushed her finger into her ear and tried to rearrange the earpiece into a more comfortable position.

"It's just- why do I have to wear this stupid ear thingy, it's not like I haven't patrolled on my own before" she muttered.

"We've talked about this" he replied. "In fact if my memory serves me correctly, and I hope it does since I lost my eyeball and not my mind, we talked about this yesterday"

"I know" Buffy grumbled. "It's just I'm a big girl and I really don't need a running special features commentary on Buffy's nightly patrol!"

"What you need is backup Buff" Xander corrected her. "We don't know this place, it's unexplored territory and you're a bigger target than ever now." Xander explained.

"Splainy?" Buffy said as her forehead creased into a frown.

"Being the slayer always made you pretty well known. But you've moved up from a B grade celebrity to a full fledged A grade celebrity, with the complementary crack addictions and jail time to boot" Xander teased.

"Being the head slayer of a slayer organisation makes every demon and vamp out there pretty well versed on who you are. Every nasty out there looking to take out this fancy little operation will be looking at you as the straw that breaks the camels back" Xander said as Buffy's eyes fell upon Glasgow's inner-city architecture.

"Great so instead of the everyday run of the mill nasty I have coming at me I'm now a global target- and a straw" she thought.
"And you have this on good authority?" Buffy asked, "being a Watcher an' all"

"Damn right sister, and with a little help from Giles-"
"Speaking of, where is Giles?" Buffy asked.



Bath,
England.

The warmth of the fire baked his neck as Giles folded up the letter against the wooden dining table and smoothed it down with the palm of his hand.

As he reached for an envelope he stopped, staring at the window beside the back door of his home and watched just for a moment to see if anyone else would be staring back at him. "Can never be too careful, not since the change."

After a few seconds Giles' eyes fell from the door and onto a spare envelope, snatching it, he placed the letter inside and pressed down on the seal. The Watcher wrote the address on the envelope's cover then stared down at the name above the address,

Jenny Calender



Glasgow,
Scotland

"Kenny!" Dawn squealed as he went to tickle her side. The young woman swatted his hand away as she playfully slapped his cheek. "I'm trying to eat!" she said, lifting up her hand and gesturing to the sandwich in her grasp.

"You American girls and your food!" Kenny teased, "No wonder you Americans are all so fat!" he taunted.

Any other guy would have gotten a punch to the nose but Dawn couldn't get mad at this guy, perhaps it was his accent or his sparkling blue eyes. Perhaps it was because he had the self confidence to say such a thing in a castle full of girls, or perhaps it was because of her heart and how it fluttered every time she was around him.

Of course this isn't something she shared with Kenny, instead she pretended to be offended and shoved him back as she scoffed out loud.
"I need to eat!" Dawn snapped as she munched on the sandwich.

"I still can't believe you live in a castle!" Kenny said with admiration as he looked around the massive kitchen they sat in.
"It's not like home but I like it I guess" Dawn shrugged. "I mean at home we-"

The kitchen door flung open as Xander and Buffy stormed in.
"I could have taken him!" Buffy snapped as she tossed a crossbow onto the kitchen counter with a clank.

"Satsu was just trying to help!" Xander reassured her as he hurried after the slayer. Both halted with a surprise as Dawn and Kenny stared up at them from the kitchen bench in the middle of the room.

"Hi guys" Dawn said nervously as she looked down at the crossbow.

"Ah hey" Xander said as he rubbed the back of his head and stared down at his feet. "How's things?" he groaned.

Kenny frowned as he looked down at the crossbow, "cool!" he exclaimed.
"Antique weaponry" Dawn said hurriedly. "My sis is kind of a history nerd" Dawn rambled with a nervous chuckle as she tried to hide her face with her hair.

It was bad enough she had to keep Kenny far away from the control room or the helicopter landing pad on the castle roof, that she had to say Buffy ran a orphanage for female teens, that Xander dressed like Nick Fury because he took his role as a Comic-Con official way too seriously.

"And now this," Dawn thought. "Sure the Californian blonde is the antique weaponry buff, I'm sure that will go down as well as Xander's lame explanation for us buying out the castle. Cousins of the Hiltons, I mean what was he thinking?"

"Kenny" Buffy said with a disapproving glare. You could hear the suspicion in Buffy's tone, the kind only an older sibling or a mother could give.

"Lets go!" Dawn said, tossing her sandwich onto her plate and snatching Kenny's hand. She hauled him upwards and dragged him past Buffy and Xander out of the kitchen.

As the door slammed shut behind them Xander waited until he could hear their voices fading away as they made their way down the corridor.
"You gave him the look" Xander said to Buffy as the two of them stared each other down.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy spluttered.
"The look. The look you promised Dawn you wouldn't give anymore. Ya' know, that look you get like your just about to start staking" Xander lectured. "You shook on it remember? That you'd never do that again" he reminded her.

"Oh please" Buffy scoffed, "I didn't give him the look!" Buffy walked towards the refrigerator and swung it open, leaning inwards and peering inside.

"What are you doing?"
"I'm starved!"
"Are we going to talk about this?" Xander asked.
"Who took the non-fat yoghourt!" Buffy whined.
"Buff"

"Ok look. I'm not happy here, I get that but I'll get over it." Buffy confessed. "Satsu shouldn't have jumped in like that. I could stake one vamp all on my own."

"She was following orders" Xander said as he leant against the kitchen bench. "My orders."
"Bad orders" Buffy said as she slammed the refrigerator shut. "Did I mention the bad?"

"Once or twice." Xander hissed as he stood up stiffly and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Me and my bad orders."
"Oh don't get like that!" Buffy moaned. "I'm not undermining your authority or whatever. You're a good Watcher!"

Xander turned away, "nice one Summers" she thought. Buffy made her way towards him, reaching out and grabbing his hand gently. Her fingers curled around his and she slowly brought his arms down from his chest and his hands into hers.

Staring into his face Buffy smiled. "I'm sorry" she said softly. Xander's serious face melted and his lips formed into a smirk.
"And this- right now." he whispered softly. "Are you sorry for this?" "Oh boy" she thought.

"Xander-" she said awkwardly, looking away. "I- I?"
"I shouldn't have-" Xander said, pulling his hands away and stepping back. "I should go- go check on the girls. Get a sit rep on everything." he said with embarrassment.

"You don't have to go" Buffy said, moving towards him. Xander stepped back again, "I mean we could stay hear and eat some ice cream or something" Buffy suggested.

Xander's eyes widened,

Grinding hard, gasping for air as she straddled him. He moved his hands up her bare back, his fingers clasping her flesh softly.

She moved in rhythm against him, that rhythm he remembered and loved so well. They made music together, as cheap and corny as it sounded. But it was their music, their tune and he missed hearing it; feeling it.

She moved in and kissed him passionately on the lips and he kissed her back, exploring her mouth again. Her hands fell against his chest and she sat up, grinding harder and faster and as she moaned and her whole body stiffened for that "pleasure moment".

She let out a small scream, not that anyone upstairs would hear, they were busy being occupied themselves. He didn't think she would care if they had and as much as he tried to act as if he frowned upon this, he loved this about her.

Her hand flung outwards and knocked the ice cream tub to the floor, it fell against him and ice cream splattered against his face.
They laughed.

Xander hurried out of the kitchen, passing two slayers through the hallway, one called out to him but he couldn't reply. "Focus Xand" he thought. "Focus."

He turned down another corridor, passing the various paintings on the wall and two more girls who chatted outside the control room. He passed them, entering the large room and stepping up onto his platform.

His fingers curled around the bars of the platform and he stared at Leah and Rowena on the large monitors in front of him.
"Renee get me a sit rep" Xander said. "Get me something to focus on."


Unknown,

Kennedy sat in the empty room with anticipation. Her eyes fixated towards the very centre of the room and the blank space that filled it. She waited, pulling back her sleeve and staring at her watch she realised she'd been waiting for almost two hours now.

Pushing her sleeve back down Kennedy shuffled uncomfortably, slayer or not, sitting cross-legged for this long would strain anyone's back.

"Come on red" she whispered. Kennedy couldn't help but worry. She knew Willow could handle herself, but that was in this reality. There was nothing definitive about what Willow could encounter on another plain, for all they knew Willow could be the bottom of the food chain in another dimension and Kennedy wouldn't be there to help her.

As she stared blankly at the centre there was a knock at the door behind her and she jumped in surprise. Kennedy scurried onto her feet, no one knew where they were so she ruled out any hopes of it being a friend.

But as far as she knew she didn't have any enemies, or at least any sworn enemies. She was just Kennedy, nothing particularly interesting about her. A slayer amongst thousands of other slayers, "part of the problem," she thought.

Kennedy slowly reached for the knife in her waist band and as she removed it she tucked it under her sleeve and slowly made her way towards the door. Opening it Kennedy was relieved to see the concierge from the front desk outside her doorway.

"Hello ma'am" he said with a grin flashing on his face.

The concierge was a short stubby man, with a thick black moustache that reminded Kennedy of Mario. His forehead was constantly glistening with sweat and the hair he managed to have left was slicked down against his scalp.

"Hi" Kennedy said with a suspicious snarl. "Is there a problem?" she said sternly.
"Not at all. I was just checking to make sure everything is to your satisfaction." the concierge said with a large grin from ear to ear.

"It's fine" Kennedy said with a nod. The stubby man peered over her shoulder, leaning on his toes to get a better look. His eyebrow arched upwards in surprise as he noticed the lack of furniture in the room.

"What happened to all the-"
"I'm really tired" Kennedy interrupted blatantly. "Do you mind?" she said, reaching for the door and slowly closing it.
"Oh- not- not at all" he stuttered, still trying to peer over her shoulder.
"Ok good night" Kennedy said, ready to slam the door on his nosey little face.

"Oh just one thing ma'am" he said, his hand reaching out and stopping the door from closing completely. "Your girlfriend-"
"Yeah." Kennedy snapped.
"You'll never see her again" he sniggered.

It took a moment for Kennedy to register what he said, but before she could he had already flung the door open and stepped into the room. The man backhanded her in the face and Kennedy was hurled backwards across the room.

Her body was flung like a rag doll as she was propelled backwards and she crashed into the wall behind her. The slayer fell with a thud against the floor, slamming her head painfully against the wooden floor boards below.

Kennedy groaned in pain as bright colours swirled in her eyes, shaking her head Kennedy tried her best to regain composure as the chubby man walked menacingly towards her.

As she looked upwards she thought she must have been concussed as his body crackled and shifted into the guise of a slick black demon. When the demon grinned this time, he revealed large jagged teeth and his eyes glowed a deep read.

Kennedy noticed that his scaly skin was slick and wet and as he walked towards her he left puddles of what looked like black puss on the floor.
"What are you!" she snarled as she staggered onto her feet.

"The thing that's gonna eat your girlfriends brain!" the demon cackled. "Mmm I can imagine it now, all that tasty goodness. Do you know how many bounties she has on her head? There's a couple of demons out there that'd love to tap into that potential"

"Not gonna happen!" Kennedy snapped.
"And the rest of em, they just wanna kill tha Wicca bitch that's upset the balance."

Kennedy had, had enough. She lunged forwards, letting the dagger slide down out of her sleeve and into her hands. Kennedy felt the power coursing through her veins as she bounded towards the demon, she was fast and she knew it.

She twirled, swinging the blade towards the demon's face. He weaved out of reach from the blade and struck her hard across the face.

Kennedy was thrown into a spiral by the force of the punch but used the momentum of the speed to spin around and she kicked outwards. The slayer buried her foot into the demon's chest and he stumbled backwards with a pained grunt.

Kennedy advanced again, lifting the blade above her head and bringing it downwards towards him. The demon's hand lunged out and snatched her wrist.

She grimaced as his slimy fingers curled around her wrist and squeezed it tightly. His fingers dug into her flesh drawing blood and Kennedy hissed in pain.

She struck out at him with her free arm, slamming an elbow into the demon's face. Its' bone crunched and the demon's head snapped backwards with a satisfying crack. Kennedy yanked her hand away and plunged the blade into the demon's chest.

Kennedy half expected him to turn into dust or to crumble into a pool of black liquid. Instead he just laughed. The slayer stepped backwards in horror as the demon stared downwards at the knife and to Kennedy's surprise the handle that prodded out from his chest disappeared into a cloud of black mist.

The demon looked into her eyes and smiled,
"Magic" he said with a devious smirk. "Too bad your girlfriends not here now, she could have made things interesting."

The demon's eyes burned a bright red as he reached out and pressed his palm against Kennedy's chest.
And then everything went black.



Bath,
England.

In the past few months Rupert Giles had been followed seven times. He remembered his naivety the first time he had been attacked and how foolish he was to believe he wasn't important enough to be noticed.

It had been a miraculously sunny day in December and to take full advantage of the sunshine he took a day off from the hardships of locating new slayers.

He'd finally mended his relationship with Olivia and on her travels she had stopped off at Bath for what Spike once referred to as a "quickie." Giles chose to think of it more elegantly but nevertheless, Spike was right.

The two of them had taken a trip to the Roman Baths when they had been attacked. After receiving a broken arm and nearly drowning, Olivia decided it was best for she and Giles to part ways for good. Like so many others close to him, his love life had been a victim of the life he felt obliged to live.

Ever since then Giles had been more prepared, and now it was part of his daily routine to always be suspicious of the people around him. He had left for the post office two hours ago and having stopped off nowhere else he only finally returned home.

The post office itself was only a ten minute drive away but fearing that he had been followed Giles took various detours around town until he felt confident no one was following him home.

Sighing with frustration he placed his glasses on the coffee table in front of him and sipped some tea as he made his way to the answering machine. Noticing there was one message he hit play with curiosity.

"Giles it's me Willow!" Willow blurted out frantically on the tape. Giles' eyes widened with surprise and he placed his china cup down on a set of draws as he continued to listen. "Something's happened, something bad. It's Kennedy!" she rambled frantically.

Giles felt his gut sink like a bag of pebbles, she had already been through so much with Tara and if something had happened to Kennedy he wasn't sure she could handle that. "She's dead Giles" Giles slumped down into the chair beside him.
"Dear Lord" he muttered.

"I came back- I mean I came back from another dimension and there had been an attack. I found her Giles-" Willow began to sob and Giles felt his heart breaking. "I need to speak to you!" The tape ended with a click and Giles sat up in concern.

Suddenly something shifted in the shadows from the hallway of the house and as he quickly reached for a knife under the couch Willow Rosenberg stepped out into the light.
"So here I am" she said with a weak smile.



Glasgow,
Scotland

Buffy looked into her wardrobe and rolled her eyes with annoyance. Whenever she was sad she would put something nice on to make herself feel better- that or go beat the snot out of some creepy crawly. Now, she could do neither.

The slayer stared down at three pairs of ugly combat boots lined up at the bottom of the wardrobe and hanging up was her combat vest and pants with some boring t-shirts and one nice pair of jeans.

Since moving from California Buffy hadn't really had the opportunity to shop for nice things and as shallow as she felt for feeling this way, she missed having them. She couldn't exactly just go out on patrol either, the castle was guarded on every angle by at least three girls and the ride to town was only a short helicopter ride away.

Shutting the wardrobe behind her Buffy looked around at her room. It was at least twice the size of her room back in Sunnydale. The floors were wooden floor boards with a giant rug over the top and her bed alone felt like it was close to the size of her old room.

Upon first glance it was quite elegant and Buffy appreciated that she was given the biggest room in the castle. However, it didn't feel like home and she missed her old room greatly.

There were so many memories in that room, of her Xander and Willow, of Angel sneaking into her window at night. Of Dawn coming into to console her after Riley left and her mother sitting at the edge of the bed with her loving advice.

"Buffy!" a voice yelled behind her arch-shaped wooden door. "Duty calls."

"What's going on?" Buffy asked as she stepped out into the corridor and was met by Leah. Leah had been with them since they first moved to Scotland and as her long red hair shimmered in the soft glow of the corridor it reminded Buffy of Willow. "God Will where are you?" Buffy thought as she stared at Leah.

"Emergency ma'am" Leah said before gesturing Buffy to follow her. Buffy didn't really know what to expect, her best bet was that some nasty had infiltrated the castle boundaries.

It had happened twice before and Buffy needn't do anything, it was dealt with by the guards but nevertheless she appreciated being kept in the loop.

As they turned to the corner Buffy witnessed a large circle of girls at the doorway of one of the dorms. Then Xander and Dawn emerged from outside the circle, motioning for her help.

"What's happened?" Buffy said with concern. Some girls parted to either side of her, allowing Buffy followed by Xander and Dawn to enter the dorm room. At this point Buffy didn't really know what to expect.

"No!" Ren?e snapped, yanking her pillow and holding it close to her chest. Another slayer, Rosanna had both hands on her hips and was giving Renee the bitchiest look one could convey with their eyes. The kind of look that made a guy squirm and run for cover.

"Whoa what's going on?" Buffy said with confusion.
"Domestic dispute" Xander grunted from behind.

"Huh?" Buffy said with a scowl.
"This bitch won't get out of my bed!" Rosanna shrieked, pointing her finger wildly at Renee.

"Ah lets not say anything we might regret!" Xander interrupted.
"It's not her bed!" Renee protested, turning to Buffy for council.

"Ok guys seriously this isn't the end of the world. It's just a bed" Dawn reassured them. Buffy looked with surprise at Dawn, "boy she's grown up. When did this happen, where was I?"
"What?" Dawn spluttered as she noticed Buffy looking at her. Buffy put her hands up in defence and turned away as a proud smirk curled at the ends of her lip.

"Okay guys we can figure this out. Who's bed is it?"
"Mine!" they shouted simultaneously.

"Tag your it" Buffy said to Xander, pushing him in front of her.
"Nuh- uh" Xander said as he stepped behind her again. "This is your jurisdiction slay gal. I'm just here to frown disapprovingly."

"Okay" Buffy sighed, "Ren?e has been here longer right?" she said to Rosanna. "Right?"
"Right" Xander added.

"So ah what's the problem?" Buffy said to Rosanna.
"I was told I could have this bed!" Rosanna explained. "Everyone said she wouldn't care. She's pretty much non existent anyway. Always volunteering for the graveyard shift or in the control room- that or reading comics. I mean yuck!" Rosanna spat.

"Okay just hang on a moment!" Xander demanded. Buffy and Dawn looked at him in both surprise and pride. "Renee keeps her bed and Rosanna you can get another bed kay?" Xander ordered.

"Now everyone get to bed, shows over and for the record- comics are a respected medium for intelligent storytelling!" Xander yelled after the girls as they all returned to their dorms.

"You kay?" Buffy asked Renee as she still clutched her pillow to her chest. She nodded sadly and Buffy nodded comfortingly to her before she followed Dawn for the doorway. Xander walked up to Renee and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey it's all good. Your doing good work and ya know comics can be sexy" Xander said with a grin.

Buffy watched them at the doorway, paying particular attention to the hand he rested on Renee's shoulder. She didn't want to feel like she did but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"C'mon Buffy what are you sixteen! Get your act together!" she thought. Buffy noticed Xander and Renee turn towards her after realising she still stood in the doorway, and that was her cue to disappear.

"Night!" she called out behind her in her exceptional pleasant voice. Then as she strode hurriedly down the halls she remembered Xander knew her better than anybody, and her cheeks turned red.



Bath,
England

Giles lowered his glasses as he stared upon Kennedy's body on the bed. Looking upon her he was reminded of the fragility of a slayer's life, of how Buffy looked when he stared upon her body. Willow sat at the edge of the bed, a tear trickling down her cheek as she gazed at Kennedy. She turned to Giles, wiping the tear from her cheek.

"I didn't know what to do" she whispered softly. "I- I couldn't just leave her there- alone" Willow stammered. Giles walked towards her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm very sorry" he said softly. "If there is anything I can do-"
"There is" Willow interrupted.

"Yes?"
"She didn't die naturally" Willow said. "Which means I can bring her back"

"Willow" Giles said sternly, placing a cautionary hand out in front of him. "You can't. Not after Buffy"
Willow sat up quickly, "No" she said, "this isn't the same, I don't think she's dead, dead I think she is still alive somewhere" Willow rambled. "I just don't know where, or if I am right which is why I need your help"

"I don't follow" Giles said with a scowl. Willow gestured from him to come closer as she walked around the bed and sat beside Kennedy.

Reaching softly for her face she brushed the hair off her forehead and slowly opened her eyes. The witch gestured for Giles to come closer, and he placed on his glasses as he slowly made his way to the bed and peered in closer. The Watcher's stared in surprise at Kennedy- her eyes were a deep black.

"I've read about this before" Willow explained. "I think whatever demon did this to her, he sucked the essence out of her"
"And therein lies the complication" Giles added as he remembered past teaching of the Watchers Academy.

"If a soul is removed in such a way it doesn't go to the afterlife. Instead it goes to the ether"
Willow nodded, "Like Angel and Spike's soul right?" she asked.

"Hmm" Giles grumbled as he began pacing back and forth. "And if the soul is in the ether then it can be placed back inside the body" he muttered. "But we need to know what demon did this to her. Were they any clues left at the scene?"

"Only this" Willow replied as she rummaged in her jacket and pulled out a small test tube. Giles took the test tube and lifted it into the light, inside was some kind of black slime or puss.

"We should run some tests. I'll copy the information to Xander and Buffy-"
"No!" Willow blurted out. Startled, Giles jumped a little. "Sorry" Willow said patting his arm softly, "I just mean- Buffy, she may not understand. She might not understand that this isn't the same thing and I don't want her to think that I'm-"

"I understand" Giles said. "I'll get one of my sources to take a look at this. In the meantime you don't leave my side, we don't know if the demon was after you"

"You think it could have been after me?" Willow squeaked.
"Perhaps" Giles conceded. "We don't know for sure this wasn't a random attack" he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled dryly. "No need to panic"



Glasgow,
Scotland

Buffy entered the control room and immediatly noticed that the mood was different. It was usually hectic and noisey but it was oddly silent as everyone stared up at the computer screens on the walls.

"Xand?" Buffy said with concern as she walked up to Xander who stood on his plattform, his attention fixated on the screens as well. "What is going on, sounded urgent?"

"It is" he replied, his eyes still focused on the screen.
"Should I worry?" Buffy asked.

"Panic" Xander replied with a groan. Buffy looked up at the screen and her eyes widened in alarm.

Four girls lay lifelessly on what appeared to be an apartment floor. As the camera zoomed in on their faces Buffy could see their eyes were a deep black.

"Where is this?" she stammered.

"Italy" Xander replied grimly. "Andrew's villa."
"Andrew is he-"

Buffy noticed the image change on the screens with a flicker and her attention turned back to the monitors. "Oh god" she gasped as Andrew's corpse appeared on the screens.

"I'd say it's serious" Xander said.

END OF CHAPTER ONE