Slayage: a DeadWar drabble series

[Mabus]

Rating: PG-13 (violence and some disturbing images--and questions)

Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon.

Characters: Buffy, Willow, OC Sadha Kaur, and OC Slayers Dena Greer and Brittany Morgan.

Prompt: "Guilt"

Length: 300 words

Notes: I'm hard at work on "Rough Edges", but the Open_on_Sunday prompt produced prequel plot bunnies....


"You maniac!" Willow stared as Dena cut the creature's heart from its chest.

"It's a demon," Dena grumbled. "What're you whining about?"

"He was helping us train you!"

Dena rose lithely from the corpse's side. "I thought you wanted lots of Slayers," she growled menacingly. "Well, we kill demons. It's what we do."

"And this--" Willow gestured at the body. "It doesn't bother you at all?"

The novice Slayer got right up in her face. "Nope. Killing demons makes me the good guy. One day," she finished, "we're gonna kill 'em all."

Struggling not to lash out, Willow turned away.

****

Brittany watched them fight.

She got it, she really did. Nearly all the other Slayers were younger. They were powerful, and excited. It was good versus evil. It was important.

It made her want to sick up.

"They don't have souls," Buffy explained, increasingly impatient.

"So the difference between them and us," Brittany questioned, "is that they don't feel guilt?" The Slayers dispatched the last couple of fledges and, cheering, poured out of the cemetery.

Buffy shifted uncomfortably. "The difference is, we slay because it's our job. Not because we like it."

"Right." Brittany grimaced. "That's what my aunt says."

****

"She scares me." Buffy stared. "I know, I'm an uber-witch goddess with a Slayer girlfriend. It's...hell, it's not even about me."

"She scares you." Willow nodded. "Because she likes killing demons?"

"I know it sounds absurd, Buffy, but--"

The oldest living Slayer shook her head and sighed. "No. I get it. Will, I've tried to kill most of my friends once or twice--because I had to. It was my job. You know that. If I felt too bad about it, I couldn't function. But if it didn't bother me at all.... She scares you. Sometimes I scare myself."

[Mabus]

Sidelined

*One year after "Slayage"*

Sadha didn't even have to breathe. She still felt as if she were choking.

Noraini had been the last of her sisters; an hour ago she had walked into the rising sun.

It wasn't enough. She'd betrayed her oaths, and her cause, and the sacrifices of her own Slayer. Death wasn't nearly enough. Not for what she'd done.

Fight the war. That was what they'd taught her. That was what it meant to be a Watcher. But all it had ever meant was the line trickling through their fingers, one girl after another.

It was time to win the war.

[Mabus]

*during the end of "Be Good Sweet Maid"*

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon.

Characters: Giles, Kate Lockley, Faith


"She shouldn't be here," Kate muttered.

Giles simply sighed and said nothing. It wasn't the first time they'd had this argument.

"You've admitted she's a murderer. She's escaped from prison. I don't care why she did it--she's still guilty."

"If she returned, she'd be punished all the more severely, and for helping save the world twice."

"Yes," Kate admitted reluctantly. "That's why I haven't turned her in."

"Actually, I thought perhaps you'd realized this was a more appropriate...atonement for her behavior."

The detective shook her head. "The law's the law, Rupert. You're not above it."