Buffy's Back Yard, Sunnydale, California, A Split Second Later (March 2003/Tuesday Fandom Time)

[brat_inslayage]

As soon as the nausea-inducing head trip had begun, it ended. God, Kennedy hated teleportation, especially the unfamiliar kind, and oh, yeah, the against-her-will bit really sucked. She'd been tensing to tackle Amy to the ground when she got spirited away, and the initial moment of disorientation left her stumbling forward a step before she got her equilibrium back.

The sun must have come up at some point while she was dealing with Amy; once she blinked the shock of early morning light out of her unprepared eyes, she realized she was back in the Summers back yard, facing the gate.

She shook her head. "That was a hell of a thing..."

But she was the only one here. From what Amy had said, she'd expected to get sent to wherever the "bad guy" was, and Amy seemed to think Willow was the bad guy, so... What was the deal?

Willow	The figure of Warren came through the gate, carrying a gun in his hand. "Think you can just do that to me? That I'd let you get away with it?"
Kennedy	Oh. That was the deal. "Do... get away with what?" Kennedy demanded, confused. And then she saw the gun. Warren turned this place into a shooting gallery, she remembered Xander saying, and... oh, god. "Okay." She held both hands out, forcing herself to speak calmly. "Let's not get excited."
Willow	The figure of Warren came closer to Kennedy. "It's too late for that. This is what I am. I made it happen, and I'll make it stop."
Kennedy	This made sense somehow, Kennedy was sure of it; she just hadn't figured out exactly how yet, and she didn't exactly have a whole lot of time to find out, did she? She was going to have to talk her way out of this one instead of fight her way out. This was... going to be new. "Willow," she said, slight emphasis on the name, "what did you make happen?"
Willow	The use of her name certainly hit home. "You were there, bitch! You saw it! I killed her!"
Kennedy	Kennedy was about to argue when something funny about that sentence caught her attention. "You mean him," she replied, looking straight at Willow (not Warren, not Warren)-- it was a question as much as it was an argument.
Willow	"Her, him - " Willow/Warren got angrier and pointed the gun at Kennedy. "You know what I mean!"
Kennedy	Okay, gun pointed at her now, no pressure really, just... Kennedy flinched before she could stop herself. "But you said her."
Willow	"No, that was Warren." The angry look wasn't going away.
Kennedy	"No, it wasn't." How she was keeping calm in the face of that look was beyond Kennedy, especially now that certain suspicions about Amy's spell were clicking. "You said I was there. Who did you kill, Willow?"
Willow	"It was your fault, slut!" It was also apparently fun with non-specific pronouns all over the place. "You tricked me! Got me to forget!"
Kennedy	Okay, that first part was harsh, and didn't sound at all like Willow, which wasn't earning the late Warren any points in Kennedy's favor. But the last bit-- the specifics of Amy's spell made sense now. In a twisted way, it really was elegant. Kennedy kept her eyes on Willow as she quietly, deliberately answered her own question, the one they'd been avoiding for weeks. "Tara."
Willow	"Shut up!" The tears started to come. "Shut up! You do not get to say her name. Offering it up to whoever's there. Tricking me into kissing you." Willow stumbled on her words, looking as lost as she felt. "I didn't — I didn't mean..." Willow took a shaky breath. A note of pleading came into her voice. "What - what I'm saying, I—I can't make - Kennedy, I can't hold on. He's winning."
Kennedy	That one hurt more than a little bit, but Kennedy didn't even care if it did; Willow's grief and confusion were way more important than whatever claim she might have wanted to make. One day back in a high school class, she'd wondered what was so terrifying about love. I've seen what it can do to people, Fiona had told her at the time. I've never seen anything more terrible in my life. She hadn't gotten it then, but-- looking at Willow, in danger of getting lost inside this stranger's body-- she did now. "No," she said, gently but firmly, risking one step closer despite the gun. "Not gonna let that happen."
Willow	"I'm being punished." Willow was weeping in earnest now. "I - I kissed you just for a second, but it was enough. I let her go. I didn't mean to."
Kennedy	It didn't matter what Willow looked like any more; Kennedy couldn't mistake that raw emotion as belonging to anyone else. "Kissing me didn't mean--"
Willow	"No, she was never gone," Willow insisted, even as she cried harder. "She was with me. We should have been forever, and I — I let her be dead. She's really dead." Willow fell to the ground, sobs going through her body. "And I killed her."
Kennedy	The thing was, Kennedy agreed with that; they'd have been perfect together if you asked her, and watching this was just breaking her heart. The unmistakably Willow-like vulnerability of those words made the jarring contrast of Warren's features irrelevant, and Kennedy couldn't help grieving a little right along with her. She couldn't agree with the last part, though. She moved closer toward Willow, terrified and a little desperate. "Willow, no."
Willow	"Please, baby, I'm so sorry." Willow looked skyward, still crying. "Come back! I'm sorry! Come back..."
Kennedy	She was slipping away fast, Kennedy realized-- except she wasn't going to let that happen. No way in hell. "Willow," she said again, and dropped to her knees in the grass. "You didn't do anything wrong. This?" She waved a hand, indicating Warren's likeness, then slowly and steadily moved in closer. "This is magic, and I think I know a little bit about magic... and that's really not the point here, is it?"
Willow	Willow looked at her warily. "Wh - what are you doing?"
Kennedy	Kennedy looked into the face of the man who'd killed Tara, reminded herself very firmly that Willow was in there, and swallowed around the lump in her throat. "I don't know, but I hope it's the right thing," she answered softly, and leaned in to kiss her. Like Karla bringing Raven back from the brink those several times, only Kennedy didn't even remember that right now; this was just a desperate and impulsive gamble. There were a million things she wanted to say, and not enough time to find the right words to say them, so this-- (she'll never really be gone, not between you and me; cry all you need to, I understand and I'll be here; you're not a horrible person, you're amazing, I love you and I'm not losing you now) She closed the distance between them and hoped like hell that she managed to communicate that somehow.
Willow	The kiss started slow, but then increased in intensity. The appearance of Warren faded away, replaced with Willow once more looking like herself again. Well, herself in a tired and confused sort of way. But still, her.
Kennedy	"Huh," Kennedy remarked with a tired sort of laugh that was just this side of hysterical in sheer relief, sitting back on her heels. "I am good." Take that, Amy Madison.
Willow	"It's me?" Willow brought a hand up to touch her face and see if it felt familiar - or at least familiar in a good way. "I'm back?"
Kennedy	Definitely a good way. "Yup." Kennedy grinned weakly at her, and no, she couldn't stop looking at Willow; she almost couldn't believe that had worked. Falling over out of exhaustion now that the adrenaline was wearing off almost seemed like a good idea.
Willow	"Thank you," Willow said, though those two little words weren't nearly enough for all that Kennedy had done. Willow could understand the urge to fall over though. "I'm glad it's me, but I'm so tired."
Kennedy	"Been a long night," Kennedy replied as she got to her feet and held a hand out to help Willow up. They probably had a lot of talking to do, but that could wait until after sleep. "But I'm glad it's you too." "...you all right?" It was a loaded question, she realized as soon as she asked it.
Willow	"I'll be better after tea," Willow replied.
Kennedy	"Done deal." They could get to figuring out the all-right-ness later, but for now, Kennedy was fine with just holding onto Willow as they headed back into the house. "I'll definitely make you some tea." Start with the little things, right?

[[last one for the week. nfi/nfb, ooc-okay as usual, with warnings for threatened gun violence and discussion of npc character death, and adapted with some tweaks from btvs 7x13, "the killer in me." it felt weird not switching between willow and warren for icons, just fyi. (i tried to and everything but damn alyson hannigan's sadface of i cannot look at this and not bawl. like i couldn't do it.) willbedone gets my immense thanks once again for the preplay on this.

also, full disclosure just to make nookiepowered feel better, i totally bawled coding this.]]

Comments

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

[[*weeps with you*

HERE, HAVE A HAPPY ALY ICON?]]

[nookiepowered]

[I LET HER BE DEAD. KJDHSKLJDSHLIDHSIODGSPUDYV:SIDUGS:IODUHSLIDYGSUILDYBSLIDBSKJDNBSKDJHBSUDVSODYVSLUDHVSLDHVBSJDHBSJDHBSLIDG*IYVG:PUHG:HU. It's right up there with "They put her in the ground" and... Anya's entire speech from The Body.]

[brat_inslayage]

[[I BAWLED EVEN AT JUST THE TEXT OF THAT, OKAY. I FUCKING BAWLED.]]