So, finally, I am posting another piece of the story. Sorry It's taken so long.
For everyone who sent kind words of encouragement this last week, thank you. It meant a great deal.
B & C, my true, unflinching, stalwart harassers. Thank you. And, as always, this is for you.
Title: Darkness Falls Author: KrisBo5 (Kris, obviously)
Email address: KrisBo5@aol.com Feedback: Sure, I’d love it.
Distribution: This story is the narrative form of four spec scripts I have written for BVS, each of which is registered with the WGAw, so please don’t publish it or reproduce it in any way, shape, or form. If for some reason you’d like to, just ask first. It’s the polite thing to do.
Spoilers: Season 6, “Entropy” and “Seeing Red” episodes.
Rating: The story in its entirety: PG-13 to NC–17. This includes sex, violence, language.
Pairing: Willow and Tara, first, foremost, forever! However, Buffy and the others are here as well, Buffy and Dawn most especially.
Disclaimer: Hey, I didn’t create these characters, those kudos belong to Joss and crew. I’m just borrowing them for the story I did write.
Summary: The mythology surrounding the creation of the first Slayer(it sounds like a Buffy story, but have no fear, this is all about Willow and Tara).
Note: Things from here on out? Ain’t gonna be pretty. Angst and loss and pain. Read at your own discretion.
Darkness Falls, Part Two: Maelstrom(1B)
“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.” Emily Dickinson, Poem Number 1741
I’m choking! I’m choking! I’m dying! Willow’s eyes bulged wide in terror as she became conscious, as she became aware that she could not breathe, as she became aware that there was some. . .
thing down her throat and it was killing her. She lifted both hands to her mouth, preparing to yank out the homicidal offender.
Buffy, still sobbing, rushed forward, and grabbed her best friend’s hands. “No! Willow!”
Willow began to thrash.
Buffy! What are you— help me! Tears blurred her green eyes as she stared at the Slayer in disbelief.
Help me! I’m dying!Buffy held Willow’s hands tight as she looked towards the nurse’s desk, surprised no one had come when she had screamed for Tara just a second before. “I need help in here!” she yelled loudly. A nurse stood up from behind the desk, her eyes registering her own disbelief at ‘Rosenberg, W.’ struggling in the blonde woman’s arms. “
NOW!” the Slayer screamed, sure everyone on the entire floor had heard her.
The nurse pressed the ‘Code Blue’ button, unsure exactly what was happening, then dashed out from behind the desk. “Code Blue— STAT!” she yelled as two other nurses and Dr. Stevens ran towards her.
Dr. Stevens’ face was grim as he ran full bore towards Willow’s room, knowing that this might have been the outcome for this patient. They had had no luck in determining what had caused Willow’s sudden onset of CE, and they were no further along at this time. And, now, she was Coding. As he reached her door, however, he stopped abruptly, causing the three others to bump into each other. “What the. . . ?” he said, his eyes and mouth wide open in complete disbelief.
“She’s choking!” Buffy yelled, seeing the open-mouthed amazement on the good doctor’s face. “Do something for Christ’s sake!” she ordered as she struggled to maintain her hold on Willow’s arms.
The Slayer’s harsh words acted as if she had actually struck him, and he shook his head several times. Then he sprinted across the room to Willow’s bedside and grabbed onto Willow’s wrist and looked at his staff. “Sharon, get the four-point restraints,” he said, his voice much calmer than he himself.
No, God, what are you doing? Willow strained against them, gagging more fiercely with each attempt to free herself. She turned her terrified eyes to her best friend.
“Willow?” Dr. Stevens said, placing one hand on her shoulder while the other held her wrist. “Willow, calm down. You need to calm down,” he said, trying to get her attention.
I need oxygen! I’m dying!“God damn it, would you fuckin' do something!” Buffy screamed, moving one of her hands to her best friend’s other shoulder.
“We are,” Dr. Stevens said, his voice regaining some of its composure. A nurse moved up beside Buffy with a pair of leather straps with padded cuffs.
Willow’s eyes widened even more at the sight of the restraints, and she turned her terrified emeralds to Buffy.
No, no, no, no, no. Buffy, please. . . no. . . . Buffy gripped Willow’s shoulder and shook her head, confused. Willow’s eyes darted to the nurse, then to Buffy. To the straps, then to Buffy. She thrashed her head back-and-forth.
Buffy glanced at the nurse, then Willow. To the straps, then Willow. With lightning-fast Slayer speed, she reached out and grabbed the nurse’s wrist, stopping the woman from tying her best friend down to the bed. “No. Stop,” Buffy said, looking at Dr. Stevens though her hand remained on the nurse.
Oh, God, Buffy, thank you, thank you.“They’ll keep her secure— she won’t hurt herself, and we can remove the breathing tube,” he stated, glancing towards a male nurse.
“I said no. She doesn’t want them,” the Slayer replied, glancing at the male nurse as well, giving him her best ‘back off, Buddy, if you know what’s best for you’ stare.
“Then she needs to calm down. Right now.”
Buffy looked down at Willow. “Will,” she said, her voice soothing and low. Willow looked at her. “You have to hold still. He’ll take it out and you’ll be okay.” The Slayer released the nurse and placed her hand on Willow’s forehead, reassuring her. “Okay?”
Willow’s body slowly began to give up it’s fight, resignation and exhaustion and terror winning out over everything else.
Yes, okay, okay. She nodded, closing her eyes briefly.
“Okay,” Dr. Stevens said, releasing his patient and turning towards the crash cart beside him. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and retrieved a Kleenex. He turned back to Willow and reached out, peeling off the adhesive tape before grabbing hold of the tube.
Buffy moved her hand from Willow’s forehead and set it on her shoulder once again. “Okay?”
Willow nodded.
I can breathe. I can breathe. In. Out. In. Out. In.“Okay. On three, I want you to take a deep breath and cough as hard as you can.” Dr. Stevens faced the redhead more fully. “Ready?”
Willow nodded.
. . . Oh, God, hurry, hurry, I’m dying. . . .“Okay. One. Two. Three.”
Willow took a deep breath and exhaled, coughing as she did so. Dr. Stevens began pulling the tube from her throat. The redhead lurched forward off her pillow as she expelled the air from her lungs, convulsing slightly as, finally, the last of the tube was removed.
“Eeks,” Buffy said, taking in the foot-long piece of plastic that, here-to-fore had been down her best friend’s throat.
Willow hacked and gagged, desperately sucking in lungfuls of air; each inhalation brought forth another round of cacking from the redhead until, exhausted and teary-eyed, she collapsed backwards onto her pillow.
Oh, God. . . my. . . I'm. . . dying. . . . She closed her eyes and tears slipped from their corners, running down her face into her hair.
Dr. Stevens dropped his stethoscope to Willow’s chest and listened intently.
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.He wrapped the instrument around his neck and took a penlight from his pocket; with his thumb, he opened each of Willow’s eyes, flashing the beam across them, checking their dilation reflexes. He clicked off the small light and returned it to his pocket, shaking his head from side-to-side.
“What?” Buffy asked, holding Willow’s hand tightly.
Willow opened her eyes and looked at the doctor.
Oh, God, what? I’m dying. I’m dying.“It’s— I just don’t understand. It’s a. . . I don’t know.” Willow tried to sit up, but Dr. Stevens put a hand on her. “Whoa, hold on there.”
“Bu—” Willow started, her voice raspy and harsh; she seized up in another coughing fit, holding a hand to her chest as pain drilled into her.
Oh, God, ow.Buffy released the redhead long enough to grab the pitcher of water and pour a glass. She held it in front of her best friend’s lips. “Here, Will, take a drink.”
Willow’s shaking hand covered Buffy’s as she brought the plastic cup to her lips, sipping gingerly. As she swallowed, her other hand went to her throat, the simple task sending a spark of pain shooting through her.
OW! She pushed the cup away, and leaned back further into the pillow.
Buffy set the cup down on the table and took hold of Willow’s hand again. “Little better?”
Willow nodded a silent thanks to the Slayer, giving her a half-hearted smile.
“Oh. My. GOD!” Dawn exclaimed.
“Holy—” Anya started.
“Shit!” Xander finished.
Everyone in the room turned their eyes to the door, finding the three Scoobies there, mouths agape, stunned expressions on their faces.
Buffy’s smile lit up the entire room. “Hey, guys, look who woke up.”
“Willow?” Dawn said, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.
Willow smiled and opened her mouth to speak; thinking better of it, she lifted her hand towards the teen, beckoning her closer. Dawn rushed across the room, practically knocking Dr. Stevens out of the way, and flung herself into Willow’s arms, sobbing loudly.
Dawnie. . . .Xander and Anya took flight then as well, hurtling themselves at the redhead’s prone form, latching on for dear life. “Willow,” Xander whispered into her ear, “thank God, thank God.”
Xander. . . okay, breathing becoming an issue. . . again. Willow cleared her throat, deciding to give the speaking-thing another try. “Guys?” she said, her voice still rough and low. Everyone just held on, as if they had not heard. “Guys.” she repeated, forcing more sound into her voice.
Everyone sprang away from her, standing up and hovering over her. Waiting.
“Willow?” Dawn asked
“Are you okay?” Xander asked.
“Are you dying again?” Anya asked.
Willow shook her head and smiled. “No, I’m— I’m fine. Just, you know, a little tight on the squeezing there.” Everyone laughed and smiled and relaxed, staring at the redhead for several seconds.
Are you dying again? Willow’s brow suddenly creased as Anya’s words echoed in her mind.
Am I dying— what the Hell? “Dying?” she blurted out, her confusion evident in her voice.
“Oh, yes,” Anya offered. “Dying. Well, actually, brain-dead. Victim of Catastrophic Event,” the Vengeance Demon finished, a cheery smile covering her lips.
“Anya!” Xander admonished, giving her his best ‘shut the Hell up’ look.
“What?” she asked, raising her hands. She looked at Dr. Stevens quickly. “That’s what he said. Though, honestly, I don’t think that word means what he thinks it means.”
“Anya!” Buffy, Xander and Dawn all yelled at the same time.
“What!”
Dr. Stevens stepped closer to Willow, getting everyone’s attention instantly. “Willow,” he began, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to step out for a few minutes,” he said, indicating the hospital staff and himself, “let you talk with your friends a bit, and then I’ll come back and speak with you. Okay?” He and the others left the room, closing the door behind them.
As soon as it was shut, Willow looked at Buffy. “Buffy?”
Buffy sat down on the edge of the bed and held Willow’s hand in her lap. “What do you remember?”
Willow hesitated for a moment, trying to recall the events of the day. She shook her head and said, “I got stung.” She paused. “I fell.” She touched her cheek and forehead cautiously. “Ow by the way.” The Scoobies all smiled that their Willow’s sense of humor was still intact. “Then, it was weird. I got numb, I mean my whole body, like it had fallen asleep and couldn’t move anymore. And, God, I was so tired. I had to go to sleep.”
“Anything else?” the Slayer asked.
“Well,” Willow said, fiddling slightly with the tape holding one of her IV’s in her skin. “I had some crazy dreams.”
“’bout what?” Dawn asked.
“Um, well, it’s all just kinda like images, all jumbled together, but I was lying down but I was rolling. And someone was pushing on my cheast and yelling, but it was all muted and far away. And I kept hearing crying, but it was loud and I wanted to— I tried to— tell whoever it was to stop, that it’d be okay, but I couldn’t move. Then there were these sounds, beeps and fooshes. . . .”
Buffy’s eyes darted to the heart monitor and now-silent respirator. “Anything else?”
“I heard a man talking, I think it was that doctor who was here. And he was saying something about. . . .” Willow paused and closed her eyes, trying to recall the images. “Science? Or people? Helping people? That I could help them. I don’t know.” Willow opened her eyes again, looking directly at Buffy. “Then you. I heard your voice. And. . . .”
Tara. Tara! How could I not think of her until now? “Tara. Where’s Tara?” Willow said, her voice rising suddenly as she sat up in the bed.
Buffy squeezed the redhead’s hand tight. “She’s here. Dawn,” the Slayer said, looking at her sister. “Can you get her? She’s in the bathroom.”
“Yeah, sure,” the teen answered, smiling broadly at the prospect of being the bearer of such great news. She turned and bolted from the room.
Tara. Hurry.Buffy stared at Willow for several seconds, weighing her words. She cleared her throat quietly.
“What?” Willow asked, her eyes pinging from the Slayer to the Scoobies and back again. “What is it?”
“It wasn’t a dream, Will,” Buffy finally said. “All that stuff? It happened to you.” Willow’s brow furrowed. “The paramedics gave you CPR, all the way to the hospital. And it was all of us crying and yelling. And the doctors yelling.”
Willow shook her head, confusion still lighting her features.
What?!“It’s true, Will,” Xander said, dropping a hand to her covered ankle.
“And it
was Dr. Stevens and Tara and me talking. About you. Telling your parents about what had happened and maybe helping other people if you could.”
“I-I don’t understand,” the redhead said. “Help people do what? Tell my parents what?”
Buffy fidgeted, then looked her best friend in the eyes. “That you were brain-dead.”
Willow’s mouth went slack and, if at all possible, more color drained from her face.
What? Her mouth moved, trying to form words, but nothing emerged.
“You
were brain-dead,” Buffy stated again. “And Dr. Stevens wanted to help other people by—”
“Organ donation,” Willow said, finishing her best friend’s sentence for her, words finally audible.
Buffy nodded. “Yes.”
Silence filled the room as Willow took a moment to absorb the information.
Brain-dead? That can’t be. . . my brain’s not dead. . . I’m talking to my friends. . . I’m talking to myself. . . no, that can’t be right.“It’s a good thing you woke up before they donated your organs,” Anya finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the room.
“Anya!” Xander said, a horrified expression on his face. After a second though, he looked back to Willow. “I can’t be too mad at her, Will. She’s right.” Anya smiled triumphantly.
Willow tried to smile, but failed miserably, thinking how close she came to actually having her organs removed from her body while she was still alive.
Oh, God. . . . She looked at the Slayer. “Buffy? How— how did this happen? What’s going on?”
Buffy shook her head. “I don’t know, Will, I don’t know. It’s why everyone’s freaked out.” New tears sprang to the Slayer’s eyes. “All I know is, you’re back.” Buffy smiled as a tear slipped from her eye and rolled down her cheek. “You’re back.” The Slayer wiped the tear away hastily and looked at Xander. “Can you go check on them? See what’s taking so long?”
The carpenter smiled and squeezed his best friend’s leg. “You betcha.” He moved to the door and just as he reached out for the handle, it burst open.
Dawn rushed in, dragging a candy-striper in behind her.
“Ahh!” Xander said, jumping back away from the swinging door.
“She’s gone!” Dawn screamed, out of breath and pale.
“Who?” Anya asked.
“Who’s gone?” Xander asked.
Tara.“Tara,” Buffy said, rising from the bed and facing her sister. She released Willow’s hand and moved to the teen. “What happened?” she asked, glancing at the confused young girl standing beside Dawn.
“Tell her,” Dawn ordered. “Tell her what you told me.”
“Well, I. . .” the girl started, a little wary at the eyes riveted on her. “I just saw her,” she continued, indicating Dawn, “and I asked her if she needed some help.”
“And?” the Slayer pressed.
“She asked if I’d seen a blonde woman come out of the bathroom.”
“
And?”
“And I said no. I said the only blonde woman I saw came out of this room and went out the stairwell exit.”
Oh, God, Tara. . . .“Did you see where she went?” Buffy asked.
The girl shrugged. “She got into a car and left.”
“What car?” Xander asked.
“A black limo,” the girl answered, her eyes darting around the room. “Is she famous or something?”
“Or something,” Xander said, ushering the young girl out the door quickly. Once she was gone, he closed the door and leaned heavily against it. “Fuck.”
Dawn took hold of her sister’s hand. “Buffy? Is it. . . ?”
Buffy covered her mouth with a hand and closed her eyes briefly. “Oh, God,” she whispered, knowing exactly what black limo the blonde wiccan had gotten in to. She dropped her hand to her side and faced Willow.
Willow was frozen.
Paralyzed.
No, no, not Tara. Not my. . . no. Without warning, the redhead threw back the blanket covering her and moved to get up.
Buffy rushed to her side and grabbed her arm. “Whoa!” She held her friend’s arm tight, preventing her from leaving the bed.
“Let me go, Buffy,” Willow said, looking at Buffy’s hand gripping her arm.
“Willow,” Dawn said.
“What’s happening?” Anya asked.
“I said, let me go,” Willow repeated. “You know where she went.”
“I know,” the Slayer said.
“I have to find her,” Willow said, stating an undeniable fact.
“I understand that, but—” Buffy said.
“No, you don’t!” the redhead yelled, startling everyone. She took a deep breath. “You don’t.” Everyone remained silent, knowing more was on the way. “I made her promise me,” she continued. “On the street, I made her promise to protect you.” Buffy straightened at the words but did not release her captive. “And she said. . .” Willow continued, closing her eyes and creasing her brow. Tara’s voice rang in her mind’s eye, crystalizing until the words were clear as glass. “She said she wouldn’t let this happen to anyone else. That she’d keep her promise and protect you. She’d protect all of us.”
“That’s Tara, all right,” Anya stated matter-of-factly.
Willow opened her eyes and looked at Buffy.
You don’t understand. You still don’t understand. “Buffy,” Willow said, looking squarely in her best friend’s eyes. “She thinks I’m dead.” Willow covered Buffy’s hand with hers. “She didn’t go with them just to protect us.” She took a shaky breath. “And she didn’t go with them just to destroy them,” Willow said, squeezing the Slayer’s hand.
Buffy shook her head slightly. “Wha. . . .”
“She went there to die.”
The air seemed to rush from the room, an internal vacuum created by the magnitude of Willow’s words.
By the harrowing truth of Willow’s words.
“Let me go.”
Buffy shook her head quietly. “No, . . . .” Willow opened her mouth to say something else, but the Slayer turned to Xander. “Get a doctor— anyone, I don’t care. Tell ‘em we’re leaving,” she said, tipping her head towards Willow. “They need to take these out, right now.”
Xander smiled and nodded vigorously. He took hold of Anya’s elbow. “Come with.” They hurried out of the room.
Buffy looked at Willow and let her arm go. “We’ll find her. . . .” the Slayer said, her voice trailing off.
Before it’s too late. We’ll find her— before it’s too late. Willow’s gaze remained on Buffy but the redhead’s thoughts drifted far away.
Back to another time.
Back to another place.
Back to another promise.
I will always find you. TBC. . .
Kris
"Frell that!"
by ZipityDoDa » Sat Aug 10, 2002 12:28 am 
(<--The infamous Mr. Thudd) As you can see I'm a wee bit short on words, so, I'll let the emoticons talk for me. 
+ 
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how are you hanging in there?
cool!
because it's never enough. i want more 
and it all started with your fic, i never had such problems with others - so it's your fault! 
