Chapter Text
*****Before the World Went to Hell*****
Buffy could not believe that Dawn was graduating from college already. Leave it to miss smarty pants to finish a four-year degree in three. It had surprised Buffy when she had chosen Brown University in Rhode Island, but they had one of the top five linguistic programs in the country. Giles had been pushing Oxford while Willow had been pushing Columbia in NYC, which also had a top-notch linguistics program. Stanford in California did, too, which is where Angel's son Connor was located, and Angel was hoping she would go there. However, Dawn wanted a college that was all her own. A college with history and one her mother had tried to get into but could not. Buffy hadn't known that when she had applied, but Dawn had eventually shared why it was Brown that made the final cut.
Buffy lived overseas with Willow and Xander. Xander was head watcher while Giles was head of the Council with Buffy his second. Xander would never be the kind of Watcher who knew a bunch of dead languages, but he did know a few demon ones. Giles planned to groom Dawn as his eventual replacement. Of course, she planned to get her graduate degrees in more boring subjects, but their mother would have been thrilled and so very proud.
Naturally, Willow was head witch, and she recruited and trained all witches. She also oversaw the magical training of any watchers who showed magical affinity.
Faith was in charge of the Cleveland house, but she was coming to town for the graduation, too. Buffy was picking her up at the airport since her flight had gotten in the day before. They wanted to recover from jet lag before the graduation ceremony that night.
She saw Faith and waved at her.
"Looking good, B," Faith said, embracing her. Buffy had hit twenty-five and felt pretty damn fabulous.
"How's Cleveland treating you?" Buffy asked.
"Well, it's cold like it is here," Faith said. "Leave it to little D graduating in December instead of May. At least I get to wear my very nice leather coat."
Buffy laughed, nodding. "That's exactly what I said. Xander got me one that's lined with the softest fake fur. Feel," she said.
Faith stuck her hand inside Buffy's coat. "Nice," she said. Then she gave Buffy's breast a squeeze just to put that outraged expression on her face.
Buffy slapped her hand. "What the hell?"
"I bet that's the most action that breast has seen in months!" Faith said, snickering.
"You are so wrong!" Buffy protested.
"Maybe but not about the action," Faith said with a knowing grin, throwing her arm around her sister slayer.
Faith had matured and settled a lot the past few years, but she was still Faith.
"You are incorrigible," Buffy said. "I've missed you." The rough year they all had after defeating the First had put to bed all past resentments and issues between them.
"Of course, you have. You've been stuck with those stick-in-the mud Brits," she said.
"Not so much. There's been a few hot Italians," Buffy shared with a smug grin.
"Nice!" Faith replied with a hip bump. "So who all's here?"
"Giles, Will, and Xander flew in with me. Andrew wanted to, but Giles needed him to stay with Robin to keep a lid on things," she said.
"I can't believe that dweeb has managed to be so useful over the years," Faith remarked.
"Well, once he got over his hero worship, his natural intelligence was able to shine through," Buffy said. "Angel and Spike should be here, too. Illyria is driving."
"Really? The three musketeers are coming? Cool!" Faith said, smiling.
"More like three stooges," Buffy said, grinning. "Spike and Angel still bicker like an old married couple and Illyria beats on them like a mean stepdad."
"So they brought the entertainment," Faith observed with a chuckle.
"I think Clem and Lorne are coming, too," Buffy said. "Gunn is staying to answer any calls while they are away."
"How did Lorne and Dawn become friends?" Faith asked, surprised.
"She's applying for grad school in anthropology and interviewed him last fall," Buffy said. "She wants to learn how to handle the various demon sects the Council deals with."
"And no one deals with more, better than Lorne, so he was a good one to talk to," Faith agreed.
As they passed an airport television, they paused as the news had a breaking report.
"The death toll is rising in the new virus that has now reached pandemic levels across the globe. The CDC has announced that all international air travel is closed indefinitely. Reports of the virus killing and the bodies reanimating and eating people have been confirmed by dozens of countries around the world," the newscaster reported.
Buffy and Faith looked at each other, and both immediately pulled out their phones.
Two hours later, Buffy, Faith, and Giles had given instructions to all the slayers they could get a hold of. No one had been given any warnings from the Powers. It was definitely man made.
Giles ordered Andrew to get as many supplies as he could and call in all the slayers. No patrols unless going for supplies. They had their own well and generator, so he told them to focus on diesel for the generator and canned goods and personal hygiene products. As they lived in a castle, he felt confident that they would be safe. Vi and Kennedy would keep the girls in line.
They tried to keep it out of their minds while Dawn's graduation ceremony happened, and then they took her out to dinner to celebrate.
Then they saw a man collapse a table.
"Call 9-1-1!" his table companion yelled.
Dawn pulled out her phone and did so.
"He told me he didn't feel well," the woman sobbed. "I shouldn't have insisted we go out."
The paramedics got her guy onto a stretcher, and then the paramedic said, "There's no pulse." He began doing chest compressions. Then his partner got the defibrillator ready, and they shocked the chest. Nothing. They began to transport the man out of the restaurant to the ambulance. Then the man's eyes opened, but something wasn't right.
There was still no pulse, but he sat up and bit the paramedic.
Dawn watched in horror as the man jumped off the stretcher and began eating the paramedic.
Moving into action, Illyria, appearing as Fred, ripped out the man's spine, and he continued to still eat the paramedic's face.
The screaming in the restaurant reached ear-piercing volumes. Finally, Illyria took out her knife and stabbed the guy in the temple, and he went still.
"God, what a nightmare!" Buffy exclaimed.
"I'm going to be sick," someone behind them said, retching.
When the paramedic opened his dead eyes, the panic rose again.
"Damn," Faith said.
This time, Illyria didn't bother ripping out his spine, stabbing the poor guy's brain before anyone else could get bitten.
"This is a nightmare," Dawn observed.
Little did she know that this was just the beginning.
*****Three Months Later*****
Buffy would never believe after all their many saves that the world could end almost overnight by a stupid virus created in a lab overseas. She was just so grateful that she was with Dawn when the world fell apart. They were basically living on campus, protecting as many people as possible, but it wasn't sustainable.
Illyria and Willow had been working with Dawn to help her open portals with her mystical key blood. Illyria insisted that she could detect the energy in Dawn, so Willow did a spell and determined that she was right. The key power was within Dawn. Then Illyria, herself and Willow made a journey to the Deeper Well and gained just enough of her power to open portals once again. She was determined to leave Earth. First, she went to Los Angeles and got Connor and Gunn. Connor insisted on bringing his adopted parents and siblings. After the fall in Los Angeles, he told them about the supernatural and meeting his bio dad. However, he did not tell them his birth parents were vampires. That just didn't make sense to anyone. Now, though, the world was so crazy that none of it mattered. Angel was just relieved to have his kid with him and grateful to the human family for making Connor so happy.
Connor wanted to leave, too, and was trying to convince them to go with Illyria. He didn't want his human family to fall to the virus, so any demon world was fine to him as he was raised in one and turned out just fine.
"This planet is dying," she said with a disdainful sniff.
"We can go to Pylea," Lorne said. "I never thought I'd want to go back to that musicless, joyless hell hole, but this world is not what it was. Cordelia changed some things when she was queen there. Maybe it's not so bad."
"There's no virus there?" Connor's mom asked.
"No," Angel said.
"Wait, Cordelia was really queen?" Buffy asked.
"She was," Lorne said, smiling at the one fond memory he had of his home. "My queen. I never thought I'd be glad she was gone, but at least she doesn't have to be here to see something worse than vampires."
"I can't leave this world," Buffy said. "But I want Dawn to be safe."
"I'm not leaving you," Dawn said stubbornly.
They argued for hours about who would go to Pylea and who would stay. Finally, Angel and Spike decided that since the sun would not kill them there, they both would go. Illyria would open portals to several slayer houses across the world and get as many slayers who wanted to leave. Giles would go and let them know it was okay with Buffy. Those who wanted to stay and kill the infected and help humanity could do that. Giles was going to go with them to Pylea. Every six months, they would rendezvous and see if things were better to return. Giles didn't want to leave his planet, but he also didn't want to leave all the slayers who wanted to leave.
"Giles, we need you to survive for as long as possible," Buffy said. She wasn't ready to lose him, and she definitely didn't want to see him turned into a zombie.
"All right," he said, reluctantly agreeing.
That was a week ago. Now the preparations were ready. Surprisingly, only about thirty slayers wanted to abandon Earth. Most wanted to stay to help as many people as possible. Nearly all of the watchers, however, opt to leave Earth. Their slayers encouraged them, and they felt it was important that they live and be alive somewhere. That would leave the slayers free to focus on protecting strangers and not worrying about them.
They had fortified their slayer locations as soon as the virus broke out, so they were working to save people and bring in those that seemed trustworthy into their groups. Giles and Faith, the most untrusting, cautioned them about trusting everyone.
"In times like this, people will turn into the very worse versions of humanity. They will do the most vile things to survive," Giles cautioned.
"Survival of the fittest in its worst form," Faith said grimly. "I saw it in prison. This will be awful."
"Faith and I will travel around with Willow, Dawn, and Xander and save those we come across," Buffy said.
"I think I can help you know who deserves saving," Angel said, approaching her.
Buffy looked at him curiously, and then he pulled her in for a kiss. There were more than a few whistles, eyerolls from Xander while Dawn made gagging noises. Spike looked both pissed and wounded.
Buffy gave him a bemused look. "That felt different," she remarked.
"It was," Angel said. "I passed on my visions from the Powers."
"Excuse me?" Buffy asked.
"Cordy gave them to me before she died," he shared. "I get visions of people who need help, and now you will."
"That's great!" Willow enthused.
Xander nodded. "I thought I saw something blue, but then I wanted to gouge my one eye out," he said with a smirk.
Angel gave him an annoyed look. He put his hand on Buffy's shoulder. "I think it will help," he said. "Be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Don't worry," Faith said. "I'll keep her safe."
"As if," Buffy said, offended.
"You either," Angel said to Faith, pulling her in for a hug. The three of them stood together as Spike approached. "Watch out for men traveling alone on the road. They will look to harm women and steal everything you got."
"For sure," Spike agreed. "Keep Little Bit safe."
"With my life," Buffy vowed.
Spike nodded.
"Back-to-back, you two can damn near handle anything," Angel said. "Don't let the past come between you. Spike and I bicker a lot, but he knows, and I know that no one will fight for me more than he, and no hell will keep me from him. The two of you need to develop that same fighting chemistry, so that nothing can take you down."
Buffy looked at Spike, who grinned but nodded. Then she glanced at Faith, who blew her a kiss. "We will," Buffy said.
"Definitely," Faith agreed.
The four of them put their arms around the shoulders of one another for a group hug, knowing it could be the last time they were together. For Faith, it was particularly difficult as Angel was the only person left in this world that she knew would never let her down, her best friend.
When they broke apart, he pulled her aside. "Don't be afraid to get close to Willow and Xander. Don't let their possessiveness of Buffy bother you," he advised. "Do what I always did. Ignore it and just be their friend. Eventually, they'll stop being jealous and just see you."
Faith nodded. Xander already mostly did that. She hoped Willow would eventually, too.
They hugged one last time and everyone said a final goodbye as Dawn cried in Giles' arms.
"You can go with him, Dawn," Buffy said gently.
"No, I can't leave you," Dawn said. "It's just hard to leave him."
Giles' eyes were wet, and he knew exactly how she felt. It was like he was torn in two. His responsibility to his slayers, and his love for his family—because that was what they were—made this goodbye the most difficult of his life. However, he knew this was not the final goodbye, and he would trust in that.
"You have the power to come to me," he told her. "Remember that."
She nodded. "Don't let the Pyleans treat you like a cow," she advised. "Lorne says that's what they call humans."
As Illyria opened the portal, Connor's mother shrieked, "What?"
However, Illyria pushed her through with Connor trailing after her, glaring at Illyria. Naturally, she didn't care a bit. All too quickly, the large group was gone.
It was just the five of them. When the president of the university discovered that Dawn's very handy friends had left, she was very upset.
"They were so strong!" Christina Paxson stated. "We need them."
"Don't worry, B and I are still here, and we'll teach you how to be strong," Faith boasted.
They spent a month doing exactly that. With Angel, Spike, and Illyria there, it had not been necessary to allow others to do much except organize supplies. Now, though, Buffy began planning for their long-term survival.
Xander worked to move vehicles and buses around the gated area where they began moving people to, which was away from the outskirts of the campus and the more comfortable dormitories. Buffy convinced President Paxson that they needed to focus on a portion of the campus that would be their main area that they would spend 90% of their time living and protecting. The older part of the campus had basements, which were ideal for storage and hiding places if invaded. First, they moved all the buses and vans the school had access to around the perimeter to keep the walking dead from easy access. It wouldn't deter humans, but it would make it harder for the dead to get to them.
Then Xander took some of the spikes off gates on other parts of campus and used to create what he called shish kabob zombie traps around entry points. Then he taught the older staff members who didn't succumb to the virus and die already the fine art of whittling. Much longer spears than stakes as they had to stay out of reach of the biters as Xander called the zombies.
"Zombies is what they are," Faith insisted stubbornly.
"Zombies are things in movies. This is real," Willow argued.
"Biters works for me," Xander said.
"Dead heads," Dawn offered.
"It's the walking dead," Buffy argued.
"Rippers in honor of our very own Ripper?" Xander suggested.
"That's just wrong," Buffy said, frowning.
"Rotters 'cause they rot," Dawn suggested.
"How about Creepers because they give me the creeps?" Willow offered.
"We shouldn't make them too scary," Buffy replied. "That's why I think zombies should be eliminated as a name for them. They're not demons. They're the infected, but if we call them that, it implies, they can be cured, but they can't. They're dead. There's no soul there. It's like freeing a body a vampire has stolen. That's how we should look at it. They really are just the walking dead driven by a primal desire to spread their disease like the virus they really are."
"Okay," Willow said. "Then walkers it is."
"Works for me," Faith said with a shrug.
As they began training the group of fifty on campus how to fight, they used the term, and eventually, it caught on.
It was another month when summer was at its peak that they felt it was okay to leave the group. They had spent seven months with them.
The leadership of the school was very upset that they wanted to leave. Nearly a dozen times, Buffy and her friends had saved the group from zombie invasions or men that wanted to take what they had since Angel and Spike left. The professors no longer blinked at Willow's use of magic or Buffy and Faith defying the laws of physics. In the down time, Buffy allowed the science professors to test their strength for amusement since there was no internet. The men had theories and enjoyed the slayer's manual that Giles had left behind. The history professors, in particular, were fascinated, and distracted from the horror in the world by this new discovery. Illyria had refused to hide her light under a bushel, so it had not taken long before nearly everyone knew about their supernatural origins. Although she had terrified them, Faith and Buffy they adored.
When their very own Valkyries announced their departures, they were heartbroken, especially the professors, who had been so fascinated by their learning about the rich slayer history.
"But how can we be your watchers?" Professor Decker asked. As soon as they learned about what a watcher was and read the slayer manual, three of them had declared themselves watchers-in-training. They were history professors and one linguistic professor.
"You will just have to share the stories and teach about us to others," Buffy told them, wondering what Giles would think about her new cult following. "Watch out for slayers or other girls who seem special. We have to help others in the world. I can't just stay here. It would not be right."
The men nodded, vowing to do so as most of the women cried.
"You are right," Professor Decker said. "You must help others."
It was hard to leave as they had been with the group so long. Buffy had been getting visions during her time there, and they would take trips and help save those they could. However, something insidious was growing in the country besides walkers. The evil in humanity as they fought to survive was stomping out all the good in people.
"People are so afraid," Dawn said.
Willow nodded. "They'll do anything to survive—some anyway," she said.
They drove away from Brown after a tearful goodbye. President Paxson was sobbing, convinced they were doomed. Finally, Faith told her, "Get a grip. You're the leader. Act like it. They don't need to see their leader act so afraid. If you can't be strong, then step aside and let someone else lead."
"That's a good idea," Buffy said. She looked at Jack Turner, their athletic director, who was a former Marine. "You might have to take over."
He nodded. "We'll be okay. Thanks for everything," he said.
"Don't worry," Dawn said. "I'm only a portal away. I'll check in on you guys." She hugged the ones she was close to, her favorite professors in the linguistics department.
They loaded up the SUV that they were going to use. It had room on the top to tie down luggage and put stuff in the back. Obviously, they knew the highways would be an issue, but Faith and Buffy were confident that they could clear the roads as they went—a public service.
The world had become both a ghost town and a graveyard.
It was a heartbreaking thing to face day after day, but they did it.
When they got tired of the road, they would find a house and stay in it for a week or two. Most places had water but no electricity. If they didn't have water, Xander would figure out how to get the water working. If he couldn't, they would pick a different town to stop in. The girls insisted on water and showers whenever they stopped.
Buffy was too busy keeping them alive to notice that her baby sister was falling in love with her best guy friend. It took Xander three months to realize that Dawn didn't want him to ignore the fact that she was all grown up. Of course, she had to make the first move, and Xander felt extremely guilty, insisting they tell Buffy.
"Not until, we have sex," Dawn announced.
Xander looked around quickly, afraid Buffy heard her say the word. Dawn laughed. "She went to forage, and Willow is fooling around with Faith right now," Dawn informed him.
Xander's eyes widened. "What?" he asked.
"You know that Faith swings any way she wants, and Willow would never hit on Buffy," Dawn said. "It's only natural that she would begin looking at Faith."
"Really?" Xander said.
Dawn nodded. "Does that bother you?" she asked.
"Not really," Xander said. "But then Buffy's like the fifth wheel."
"Buffy is our leader, and our everything is so many ways," Dawn said. "She could never be a fifth wheel."
"That's good to know," Buffy said, coming up to them. "But what are you talking about."
The would-be couple exchanged a glance. Xander shook his head while Dawn nodded, grinning.
"I was just telling Xander that Willow was fooling around with Faith since she's available, and I was trying to seduce him since I have been in love with him forever," Dawn said, looking at Xander the entire time she spoke. She reached out and took his hand.
"That's a lot for me to take in," Buffy said, looking between the two of them. Xander looked a bit shell-shocked.
When the couple started kissing, she walked away, shaking her head. "Gee, Xander was as surprised as I am," she muttered. She wanted to go tell Willow, but she didn't want to see Willow making out with Faith.
"Guess I'll go find some walkers to kill," Buffy announced, doubting they were listening.
She smiled, however. It was good that her friends were finding some happiness in the new hellscape they were in, and her sister would never find a better man than Xander. If she felt a pang that he would no longer think of her first, she pushed it down. This was good. Dawn deserved her Xander-shaped friend.
A vision filled her head, and she followed it to a nearby town, glad to have a distraction. She rubbed her temple. Angel could've warned her about the stabbing headache that came with the visions.
*****Some months later*****
They had just finished the nasty job of taking out a group of cannibals in Terminus, Georgia.
"We gotta get rid of those signs telling people to go there," Willow said.
Buffy and Faith were still in a killing rage. It made them sick what they had to do in Terminus. Killing humans wasn't something slayers were supposed to do.
"You had to do it," Xander told them.
"Of course, you did," Dawn echoed. "Those people were luring people in, making them think they were giving them sanctuary, robbing them and then eating them! I have never seen such evil in my life!"
"Angelus would've been proud to know them," Willow added. "You two did what you had to do. We all did. There's no reason to feel guilty. They might've been human, but they were every bit as soulless as Angelus."
Buffy nodded. "I know. The visions showed me the place. The Powers wanted us to find that place and save those people," she said. "It's just so revolting that humanity is reduced to this."
She began to clean the scythe as Faith wanted to scream.
"I really need to find a horde and do some damage to something that can't beg for mercy as I kill it," Faith said, feeling like a murderer she was once imprisoned as.
Willow pulled her in for a kiss. "You are not a murderer any more than the guy who flips the switch on the electric chair for the state," she said. "Or the doctor who injects the lethal injection."
Faith allowed Willow to comfort her for a long moment.
"There's a horde a few miles that way," Buffy said, pointing. Her sensitivity to the walking dead was getting stronger all the time. Faith was able to sense them like demons, but Buffy could sense them miles away. Of course, the vision often gave her a nudge too.
"Time to go hunting," Faith said eagerly.
Both slayers wiped out the faces of the cannibals they'd killed with countless walkers.
It was the only way they could sleep at night.
*****A Few Months Later*****
Buffy had been getting vision after vision about victims of these so-called Saviors. They terrorized other communities that had managed to cobble together some sort of life, bullying them into giving a tithe. If they refused, the group would kill someone to force compliance. It was brutal but effective.
Then Buffy got a vision of an Asian man, young getting his head bashed in with a bat. One of his eyes were hanging out as he reached for his wife. She saw a flash of several people crying, a dead bearded man with his head bashed in was in the circle of people around the Asian guy.
"I have a new group of people," she said. "This one will be difficult."
"I love difficult," Faith said with a grin.
Buffy had gotten just one glimpse of the demon she needed to slay.
The thing was, he was no demon.
He was just a man; his name was Negan. His name was in the wind, echoing in her head. He was the linchpin.
*****A Highway****
They dove a mile from where they could see all the cars. Dawn opened a portal directly behind them. Willow cast a notice-me-not spell over them as they approached the large group of about a hundred roughnecks armed that surrounded the group they were there to save—at least they hoped to prevent one or two of them from being beaten with a baseball bat. They spread out; Buffy and Faith taking opposite sides of the RV they knew Negan was coming out of very soon.
The poor group of people were clearly terrorized. Willow could sense that one woman was ill, and she peered closer, crouching and touching the ground. Her eyes widened as she realized the woman was pregnant, and the new life within her was in distress.
Buffy watched as a reasonably attractive man wearing a leather jacket and red scarf stepped out of the RV, carrying a baseball bat that was wrapped in barbed wire. She felt sick as she realized that he was holding the murder weapon that would cause the poor Asian guy's eye to pop out and kill the red headed bearded guy. Even now, she saw the defiance in the redheaded man's eyes. He was a fighter, and he was really pissed.
Negan, holding the bat, had a Cheshire grin on his face, clearly enjoying the power he wielded and the fear he invoked. His confidence was both appealing and sickening in light of what she knew he was going to do. If she met him in a club before all this, she would've found the guy's cockiness sexy. Now, she wanted to beat him with the non-barbed end of his own bat.
She listened as the man announced to the group, "I am Negan," as if he was God himself. Then he berated Rick for killing a load of Saviors, which made Buffy look at the Rick guy with new eyes. The boy next to him wore an eye patch like Xander. She bet that was his boy, and she couldn't help but wonder how the kid lost the eye.
Then Negan began to explain his New World Order, "You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me." The man really believed he had the right to everyone's stuff. The sheer audacity of the man was astounding.
She saw Faith roll her eyes across the way, and Buffy mimed sticking her finger down her throat. Faith's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Xander, though, looked grim with rage. He wanted that guy dead—she could tell, especially when he began talking about his bat.
"I'm going to let you live so that you can work for me, but I have to beat the holy hell out of one of you as punishment for killing my men," he said as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. Of course, they couldn't object. He held up the bat, looking at it in reverence. "This is Lucille. And she is awesome. We set up the roadblocks. Trying to teach you a lesson, but you just weren't getting it. Now I have to decide who gets the honor of dying." He seemed amused by the redheaded guy's defiant look. When he seemed to get close to the Asian, Buffy knew it was time.
She nodded to Faith. It had been decided that she would go in first, looking all blonde and beautiful in her red leather pants, black camisole and black leather jacket. Her hair was normally kept in braids, but she let the blonde locks out. The length now was in the middle of her back, and Willow had worked her mojo, making sure it had the siren appeal, sure to draw the eye of every man.
"Excuse me," Buffy said, waving her hand. More guns than she could count pointed at her. Her scythe was strapped to her back, so her hands were up and weaponless.
Negan, always happy to see a beautiful woman, smiled at her. "Now, who might you be?" he asked.
"I'm Buffy," she said with a bright smile. "I was hoping to interrupt if you don't mind."
"I never mind being interrupted by a beautiful woman," Negan said, giving her a dimpled grin.
Damn, that smile was potent. How could evil be so charming? Buffy wondered. Then she remembered Giles quoting an old bible verse, Satan shall appear as an Angel of Light. Or something like that. He must certainly be the devil.
"Were you planning on beating one of these men here with that bat?" Buffy asked him.
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," Negan said. "They set fire to a dozen of my men, so killing one or two of them is not that harsh a punishment really."
"Maybe not, but I've been sent to save you," Buffy said.
"Save me?" Negan said, laughing. "Honey, I'm the leader of the Saviors, I save people. It takes a harsh hand to keep things in order on this new world we find ourselves in."
"Maybe so," Buffy said, smiling at him. "However, I have a gift. I get visions of people who need help. I saw you bashing in the head of that man—" she pointed to the Asian—"and that redhead with the beard."
Negan frowned, not sure he liked knowing this stranger could see through him so easily. "If I'm killing them, how are you saving me by stopping that?" he asked.
"Killing them leads to the destruction of your entire life and everything you built," Buffy warned. Her vision had not shown her that, but she knew it was true.
Faith appeared. "We would like to offer you an alternative," she said.
Negan's eyes feasted on the brunette, sex on a stick, who just appeared in his camp, wearing a red shirt with her black leather pants and leather jacket. "Damn! Another one! And it's not even my birthday!" he exclaimed. He looked at his guys. "Did you guys order me two hot babes?"
"No sir," they said.
"We would fight you for their lives," Buffy offered.
"I don't hit women," Negan said, losing his smile. "Not ever."
Buffy was surprised. How could someone so brutal and sadistic have a line that he wouldn't cross? "So you will beat someone's head in with a bat, but you won't hit a woman?" she asked.
Someone from the crowd offered, "And kids. He gets enraged if anyone hurts kids."
"Are you two alone?" Negan asked Buffy.
"No," Buffy replied. Xander appeared with Dawn next to him. Willow appeared directly behind Maggie, startling all of them.
"Damn," Negan exclaimed. "More beautiful women. Where did she come from?"
"Willow has a gift that no one else has," Buffy said.
"This woman is sick and pregnant," Willow said, bending down and touching her. "What's your name?"
"Maggie," she said.
"How far along are you?" Willow asked.
"Four months," Maggie said. "Something's wrong. We were just trying to get to the doctor at Hilltop. That's all we were trying to do."
"How about you let me and Faith fight your strongest guys?" Buffy suggested. "If we win, you don't kill anyone."
"Well, that's not exactly fair," Negan said.
"Don't worry. I'll go easy on them," Buffy said, grinning.
Negan laughed. "No, I meant, they killed a lot of my guys, and I was only going to kill two of theirs," he said.
"Okay, we'll fight one person for each of them," Buffy said.
Faith counted. "Eleven," she said. "I'll take five and you six?"
"Sounds good," Buffy said.
"Let's do something about all these guns," Willow said. "I don't want anyone getting trigger happy and accidentally shooting anyone."
"My men don't shoot unless I tell them to," Negan said.
"That's good," Willow said. "I'd hate to take your guns."
"Man," Negan said, amused and not offended by her threat. He didn't believe she could take his guns. "Four beautiful, sassy women. The blue-eyed over there hasn't said anything yet, but I can just tell by looking at her, she's sassy too. And another one-eyed guy. What the hell's going on with the one eyes? Not enough that people are coming back from the dead? People gotta go poking out a guy's eye?"
"That's Xander," Buffy said. Then she pointed at each. "That's Faith and Willow. The blue-eyed girl is my baby sister, Dawn. Xander lost his before the end of our world saving my life from a serial killer dressed as a priest."
"Now that's a good story I want to hear some day," he said.
"Well, if we don't end the day as enemies, maybe I'll tell you someday," Buffy replied.
Negan gave her a contemplative look and then nodded.
"Okay, now that I know who my party crashers all are, let's see what you got," Negan said. He nodded to some of his men.
The group kneeling was all made to stand and give space to Buffy and the first Savior to fight her. He had long hair and didn't seem much of a fighter.
"Don't hurt her too badly, Jared," Negan said. He figured he'd let his top guys put her down and end the charade. A greater chance of her going to bed with him later.
However, it took Buffy ten seconds to put him down.
Daryl exchanged a look with Rick, neither knowing what to think about the newcomers who seemed hell bent on saving them. However, they were grateful for the reprieve.
David didn't fare any better as the woman was too fast for any hits to land on her. She went through four guys without any effort at all. Finally, she said, "How about the last two come at me at the same time?"
Negan nodded to two others who were eager to put down the beautiful butterfly. However, the result was the same. She kicked one so hard in the knee that he went down screaming and knocked the other out cold. Then she winced, looking guilty. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to hit that hard!" she exclaimed.
Negan was incredulous. When the Faith woman went through five of his guys with a look of pure joy on her heart, causing pain without the look of guilt he began to reassess.
"How can I get one of you as one of my wives?" Negan asked.
"She belongs to me," Willow said, giving him a cold look. "I don't share."
"I can respect that," Negan said, looking at Buffy. "How about you?"
"I don't believe in polygamy," Buffy told him.
"For you, I might be convinced to go back to monogamy," Negan told her.
Buffy moved closer to him and beckoned him to bend down, so she could whisper in his ear. "I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of. I could squeeze you until you pop like warm champagne, and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more." She nipped his ear and stepped away.
Negan groaned as he felt his body harden at her very potent words just as she planned. The minx knew what she was doing. Her next words proved it. "But I won't," she said. "I don't sleep with psychopaths who take pleasure in beating to death a man in front of his pregnant wife."
"Why do you care? These people aren't yours," he said.
Willow threw her thoughts in Rick's mind. We mean you no harm. Think about the name of your city. She read it in his mind. "Actually, that's not true," Willow said. "My uncle lives in Alexandria. We are going to be joining their community. Xander's a carpenter, and he can help with lots of things that need fixin'."
"There you go," Buffy said, giving Negan a saucy grin.
Negan looked at the people of Alexandria, and then at Buffy. Sure, he had a lot more people. He knew that eventually his people would win, but she would kill a lot of them. That wasn't what he wanted. Besides, if he pissed her off, she would never sleep with him. Eventually, someone would hurt her, and that would be a damn shame. "Fine," he said. "I will let them go as long as you are in Alexandria when I come for a visit. I would really enjoy seeing your beautiful face again."
Buffy gave him a beaming smile of approval. "I am really glad I didn't have to kill you today," she told him. All his men once again pointed their guns at her and her friends. Willow moved closer. "I told you that I don't like guns," she warned as she held up her right hand and brought it down abruptly. An invisible thread seemed to yank every gun out of every man and woman's hand.
"What the fuck?" Negan asked.
"Willow's a witch," Buffy said. "A good witch. If you don't want her to melt your guns, I suggest you leave them on the ground until we leave."
"Leave the guns," Negan ordered, alarmed at the threat. He didn't know what to think, but damn, he was so turned on and a bit freaked out at the same time.
Of course, Willow could not actually melt their guns, but they didn't know that. Buffy worked hard to contain her snicker. "Well, it was great meeting you all," she said.
"We need to get Maggie to the doctor at Hilltop," Glen said.
"I want to go with them," Willow said.
"Fine, you all can all leave," Negan said. He looked at Rick. "I'll see you in a week."
Rick nodded. She and Glen headed to the RV first with Rosita and Eugene following close behind them. Aaron stood in the doorway.
Dawn looked to Buffy who nodded. Then she opened a portal, causing more than a few to scream.
"What the holy hell is that?" Negan demanded.
"Oh, well, Dawn has a special skill set," Buffy told him. "She can open portals. Saves on gas." They had decided that a flashy show of power at the end would definitely make a clear statement.
Xander had already left behind Dawn, but Faith didn't want to leave Willow. "One of them should go with you to show us how to get to Hilltop," Faith said.
"I'll go," Daryl offered.
Buffy looked at the waif like dirty blonde guy. He looked a bit savage but tough. "What's your name?" she asked.
"Daryl," he said. "Nice to meet you, Daryl," Buffy said, holding out her hand.
Daryl looked at his dirty hand and didn't want to soil her hand with his, but she didn't hesitate to grab his hand and pull him into the portal that winked closed behind her.
Rick told Eugene, "Get us out of here." Rick didn't understand what the hell had just happened or how the redheaded woman put thoughts into his head, but they had saved the lives of at least two of his people. He would allow them on his RV. Michonne gave him a disapproving look.
"We cannot take them back to Alexandria," she said.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Willow said, giving them a friendly smile. "We are very good people to have around." She and Faith were the final two on the RV.
Negan watched the most incredible and fascinating woman he had ever seen literally disappear into thin air. "Well, damn!" Negan exclaimed. He was very much looking forward to his visit to Alexandria.
***** Chapter End*****
I hope you enjoyed my saving of Glen and Abraham.