Out of Line

SETTINGS: After 'Get it Done'.  Buffy and Kennedy talk.  (No B/K!!  Honest!)

DISCLAIMER: Not mine.

NOTE: The quotes taken aren't direct quotes at all.  I saw the ep last night and I'm just going off memory…(Yay for kaaza, home of the Buffy eps!!)

ONWARDS:

She sat alone in the basement, thinking about what the hell had just happened.  The other Potentials were all sleeping, crammed in every corner of the Summers' household that had enough space for a small body to curl up into.  Kennedy however, couldn't sleep.  She was exhausted, drained both mentally and physically, but still she couldn't sleep.

And that maggot comment…that really hurt.

The first had taunted her, had placed some of the blame onto Kennedy for Chloe's suicide.  And Kennedy was feeling incredibly guilty for being so harsh on the younger girl. 

Chloe was an idiot.  Chloe was stupid.  Chloe was weak.

Whilst Kennedy thought that Buffy had been incredibly harsh with her comments, she also knew that the Slayer was right.  Chloe had been weak.  She'd let her insecurities get the better of her, and had let the First manipulate her into killing herself.  Kennedy idly wondered what form the First had taken to convince Chloe to do something like that.

Kennedy hit the punching bag with everything she had in her, trying to let her frustrations out onto something that wouldn't fight back.  She'd been down there for about twenty minutes and so far no one had bothered her. 

"That never really works."

The voice was soft.  She turned, startled.  She hadn't even heard anyone enter the basement, but then again, the owner of the voice had had seven years training in being stealthy and silent.

"Any suggestions?" Kennedy asked.

Buffy shrugged.  "Talking usually helps."

Kennedy looked away and hit the punching bag once more just for good measure.  She took off the bindings from her wrists and walked towards Spike's empty cot, seating herself on the edge of it.

"Will kinda freaked you out tonight, huh?" Buffy asked, sitting herself on the cot as well.  She sat so daintily that Kennedy hadn't even felt the cot rock with her weight.

Kennedy nodded.  "I didn't know she could do something like that."

"She's pretty powerful," Buffy said.  "Like you said, she is the most powerful person here."

Kennedy looked up, startled by Buffy's admission of not being the strongest out of the group.  There was something in the Slayer's eyes though that Kennedy had never seen before.  She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something…off about her.

"So that thing upstairs, you were just trying to get us to realise our Potential," Kennedy said, trying to clarify Buffy's statement.

The Slayer just shrugged.  "Something like that."

"Did you really say that thing about not all of us making it?"

Buffy nodded.  "Yeah.  As much as it sucks, we aren't all going to make it.  And at this point in time, I really don't think any of us are going to make it.  Not even me."

Kennedy looked at the Slayer, worry clearly in her eyes.  Buffy had never been this…candid with her before.  She'd never really spoken to Buffy all that much, except when Buffy had asked her to lead the other Potentials in some simple martial arts training.  Kennedy had been more interested in Willow than in the Slayer, and suddenly sitting here talking with her, Kennedy was beginning to wonder just what the Slayer really thought would happen in the end.

"And me?  Do you think I'll make it through?"

Buffy looked at her, as though she was chewing over that thought in her mind.  Eventually Buffy just sighed and shook her head.

"You won't."

Kennedy was shocked.  Then again, she'd asked for an answer, and she'd just been given one.  But to hear Buffy state so bluntly that she didn't think Kennedy was going to make it through the battle just seemed cruel.

"Well, we still gotta try, right?" Kennedy said, trying to swallow down the big ball of fear that had just risen in her throat.

Buffy sighed and shook her head.

"I don't see why.  It's just so…pointless.  I mean, why even bother fighting anymore.  We're gonna lose no matter what we do," Buffy said.

"You're just gonna give up?  Just like that?" Kennedy asked angrily. 

"I'm not," Buffy said defensively.  "I'm just saying…you don't need to be here.  You should be off somewhere with your friends and your family instead of here fighting a war that we don't have a hope of winning."

Kennedy looked at her, completely in shock.  "So what?  You're just asking me to leave?"

"I'm telling you to," Buffy replied.  "One less person isn't gonna make that much of a difference.  You're not really needed here.  And you were kinda harsh with Chloe today."

Don't listen to it.  Buffy had said not to listen to the First, but now she was agreeing with it?!

"You told me to ignore what the First had said," Kennedy argued.

"I was trying to not let you blame yourself."

"So you blame me?"

Buffy looked away, but Kennedy heard the silent answer very clearly.  Buffy was blaming her for Chloe's death.  Kennedy jumped off the cot and began pacing back and forth across the room.

"I can't believe this!"

"I'm not saying it to get you to feel guilty," Buffy said soothingly.  She stood up and walked towards her.  "I'm just trying to show you how much influence you have over some of these girls.  I spoke together before she killed herself, she said that she was really upset about how you treated her. They don't need a bully."

"No, they've got you for that!" Kennedy yelled angrily.

The door to the basement opened, and both Kennedy and Buffy looked up the stairs to see who their intruder was.  Kennedy looked shocked when she saw a familiar face at the top of the stairs.  Buffy just looked disgusted.

Kennedy looked back at the Slayer, confusion in her eyes.  Buffy just smirked evilly and gave a quick shrug. 

"Can't blame someone for trying right?" Buffy asked.  Except, it wasn't Buffy.  Buffy was standing at the top of the stairs, looking as shocked as Kennedy.  The Buffy that was standing down in the basement was the First.  "Well, it's been enlightening.  See you round, maggot!"

The First disappeared with a flash of light, and the real Buffy was racing down the stairs to get to Kennedy.

"Are you okay?  What did it say?" Buffy asked hurriedly.

Kennedy was struggling to let her mind catch up with what had just happened.  How the hell ad that been possible?

Kennedy reached out and touched Buffy's hand to make sure that the Slayer truly was corporeal.  She was solid.  Buffy gently led Kennedy back over to Spike's cot and sat her down.  She knelt in front of the Potential Slayer and looked at her incredibly confused eyes.

"What did it say to you?"

"That I should leave.  That I shouldn't be trying to fight in a war we couldn't win.  That we were all gonna lose and that I was gonna die anyway," Kennedy answered.  She looked up at Buffy, tears in her eyes.  "It blamed me for Chloe's death."

"No," Buffy said firmly.  "What happened to Chloe wasn't your fault.  It wasn't anyone's fault except for the First.  Don't start blaming yourself for evil manipulating other people.  The First fed on Chloe's insecurities and convinced her that she wasn't wanted around here even though she was."

Kennedy tried to take in the words that Buffy was saying, but she was still doubting it.  She was beginning to blame herself even more for what had happened to Chloe.  She looked up at Buffy, a question in her eyes.

"How can the First take your form?" she asked.  "I mean, you're not…dead.  Unless you are.  You're not, right?"

Buffy shook her head.  "I'm not dead.  Not anymore."

"Anymore?"

Buffy nodded sadly.  "It's a long and complicated story that doesn't need to be told at…two in the morning.  Suffice it to say I was dead for a little while, but…I got better."

"So, there really are two Slayers then?" Kennedy asked.

"Yup."

"Have you met her?"

Buffy nodded.  "Met her, fought her, nearly killed her.  She's currently in prison for manslaughter."

Kennedy's eyes widened in shock.  She hadn't been expecting that. 

"It was an accident though, right?  Her killing someone?"

"The first death was.  The other one…not so much."

"But…why?  She was a Slayer."

Buffy sighed and thought about how to answer that question properly.  Of course, the answer was simple.  She just didn't like that answer because it was true to herself, not just to Faith.  And, her little trip to the desert had just confirmed it.  The Slayer's power came from the darkness.

"She was a Slayer.  Faith.  She still is one.  But…the darkness inside her got the better of her.  And she used her power for evil instead of for good.  Darkness is…well, seductive I guess.  It consumes you, devours you.  It's not something you wanna play with," Buffy explained.

Kennedy caught the subtext.  It wasn't that hard.  Buffy wasn't just talking about the Slayer named Faith.  She was talking about herself.

"And you?  What's your darkness?"

Buffy sighed.  She looked pointedly at the cot that they were sitting on.

"Him."

"Spike huh?"

Buffy nodded.

"Well, at least you've got good taste.  He's pretty much a hottie."

"I thought you were more into girls," Buffy commented.

"Oh yeah, for sure," Kennedy replied with a smile.  "Just cos I look at the merchandise, doesn't mean I hafta buy it."

Buffy grinned and shook her head, wondering whether she'd been so forthright about what she had wanted in relationships when she'd been Kennedy's age.  Speaking of which…

"How old are you anyway?"

"Nearly eighteen," Kennedy replied.  "You?"

"Just turned twenty-one," Buffy replied. 

Kennedy nodded and her head snapped up, just remembering something vital.  Buffy looked at her curiously, recognising the body language.

"What?  What is it?"

"The First," Kennedy said.  "You…it said something."

"Yeah…" Buffy prompted.

"It spoke to Chloe.  I think that's how the First was getting to Chloe.  By using you."

Buffy paled at the thought.  Chloe had killed herself because of something that 'Buffy' had said.  That can't have been good.

"It kinda makes sense I guess," Kennedy said quietly.  "Who better to demoralise people than their leader?"

"Dammit!  I can't believe I never thought of the First using my form like that."  She sighed softly and covered her face with her hands.  "I guess that means the others are gonna hafta be told not to listen to me until they verify that I'm really real."

Kennedy grinned a little at that.  "You're gonna get bruises from the amount of people who are gonna sit there poking you."

Buffy couldn't help but smile a little at that image as well.  She stood up and looked down at Kennedy.  "Get some sleep okay?  You and Wills can sort stuff out in the morning."

Kennedy looked at the Slayer with narrowed eyes.  "How do you know that me and Willow aren't doing so great?"

Buffy just rolled her eyes and put a hand on Kennedy's shoulder.

"You couldn't be more obvious if you tried.  I know you really like her, Kennedy.  But if you can't get around the magic thing, then…then I don't really know what to tell you.  But if you can love her, magic and all, then tell her that.  Cos she's worth fighting for."

Kennedy nodded, knowing she had even more to think about now.  She gave the Slayer a half-hearted smile.  "Thanks."

"Anytime."