Brave New World
Chapter One

Author's Note: This is the prelude which tells you what's happened in the two years since Graduation. Dawn is used in this fic 'cause I needed a few more girls. This is two years after the battle.

Buffy Ann Summers was twenty years old. And she was already tired of life. This life, anyway. She cast her eyes over her troops and sighed. They were an army, when did that happen? What happened to being people?

Army, she thought with an ironic smile. A group of bedraggled resistance fighters, that's all they were. The real US army had entered Sunnydale over a year ago. Some branch called the Initiative that the government sent. But the Mayor soon took care of that. Every soldier that didn't have the sense to run, he had killed. Even Riley Finn, who had vowed to join Buffy's "army" and help them.

Buffy leaned heavily against the wall and her mind wandered. Inevitably, it was to the battle two years ago her mind rested on, and the events since…

Her plan had been crazy, she knew that. But they had backed her. It was going to be fine. Everything was going to go to plan.

Only it didn't.

Somehow, the Mayor sensed it was a trick.

"Hey! You remember this? I took it from Faith. Stuck it in her gut. Just slid in her like she was butter….You want to get it back from me. Dick?"

And she had run, skidding into the building and running for all she was worth. But the Mayor didn't follow. Instead, he gnashed at a group of vampires and tossed his head in her direction. She only realised the plan hadn't worked when she glanced back and saw ten vampires tailing her instead of the Mayor. She slowed and used her own momentum to spin into a kick that knocked two vampires over. She wrenched a stake out of her pocket and attacked, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.

She knew even then that they had failed, but some small part of her rebelled against it. They were the good guys; they were the ones that were supposed to win. Where were the Powers That Be, how could they let the bad guys win?

There had to be a way.

Looking back, she realised it was probably these thoughts that threw her off. After a while, she realised she was being overpowered, drowning in vampires. She barely heard Giles yell her name as he ran into the building and began attacking the vampires.

Thankful for his presence, she attacked with new ferocity and made herself believe they would win. Because they had to.

When the last vampire had dusted, she had turned to Giles for advice when she realised there was a vampire missing. She had stared around at the explosives packed into the library and grabbed Giles, dragging him up the stairs to a window. She smashed it open and saw the vampire racing toward the plunger. She had thrown herself out of the window, but she had been too late, staking him even as he activated the explosives.

It was like she turned in slow motion and saw Giles throw himself from the window, the explosion pushing him further than his leap would have. He had landed in a crumpled heap, but he was alive. He told her to save the others, to call a retreat. She swore to him she would come back to him before leaving to find the others.

Buffy had thought she had seen a lot. But it was… It was carnage. Bodies lay heaped and broken. Some with neck wounds and others killed by the explosion. Other students ran for their lives, chased by laughing vampires.

Her eyes ran over the bodies of her classmates and her knees turned to jelly when she saw the familiar faces of Xander and Cordelia. Xander's face no longer laughing and joking, Cordelia's face no longer sneering or mooning at Wesley. Their faces were bloodied and bruised, one of Xander's arms slung over Cordelia in what Buffy saw as a desperate attempt to save her life.

Instead, it ended both of theirs.

She forced down the bile that rose in her throat and pushed forward, toward Oz who was locked in combat with a vampire. She ran toward and saw him knocked unconscious she staked the vampire and turned. She saw Wesley, his fingers twitching slightly and his eyes blinking. She reached down and grabbed his arm, yanking him to his feet even as she scanned the crowd and saw Willow and Angel back to back. Willow was hacking furiously as the remaining vampires attacked, Angel obviously sticking close by to protect her.

"Wesley," she had said urgently, shaking him to get him to focus, drawing a shout of pain from him. "Listen! You wanted to do something! This is nothing, Wesley! You're alive, that's more than can be said for - Listen to me, get Oz and Willow to Angel's mansion! GO!"

His eyes had taken in the loss and he realised that it was over, they had lost. So he had stumbled forward, dragging Oz away from the battlefield, calling to Willow who was crying as she hacked with the sword she had taken from a dead student. The two of them half carried, half-dragged Oz toward the mansion.

Buffy went to Angel's side, ignoring for now the Mayor who was gloatingly gorging on the bodies. The two of them took out the last vampires and when Buffy staked her final opponent, she looked back at Angel, hoping for help in her last stand against the Mayor. But as she turned, Angel was knocking his last opponent to one side and racing toward the Mayor, his demon snarling.

The Mayor looked up from his meal to watch - as did Buffy, who had frozen in terror - as the last vampire snatched a crossbow from the hand of a student.

And fired a bolt into Angel's back.

Into his heart.

"No!" she had screamed as Angel turned back to her, his hand clutching the arrow that protruded through his chest, his face melting back to human.

"Buffy," he had said. "I love -"

But his words were lost in a scream of dust. She had choked and looked up at the Mayor.

"You lose," he had said in a hoarser version of his old cheery tone.

"Wait and see," she had yelled and turned, running as he dove on her, sliding along after her. She leaped the bodies and ran toward where Giles lay. She heard the Mayor's mocking laughter as he let her go and felt her knees liquefy again as tears ran down her face unchecked.

She had fallen by Giles's side and started to pull him up into her arms. She froze when she realised he wasn't breathing.

For the first time since becoming the Slayer, Buffy Summers screamed in grief, loss and rage.

Turning back to the Mayor, she stared at him, cursing him, swearing revenge. Then she walked away and left him to his meal.

She didn't go to the mansion, she went home, praying her mom had left a telephone number she could call to warn her not to come back. If she had thought the battle would not reach her home, she was wrong.

A note pinned to her front door read For Faith, and the door swung open easily beneath her fingertips to reveal her sister curled, shaking and rocking on the bottom of the stairs.

Through the gibberish her thirteen year old sister babbled, Buffy could make out only one thing, "Mom's not breathing, Buffy. She's not breathing."

And she bundled her sister into her arms and left her house without a backward glance.

Back at the mansion, she found Wesley tending to Oz, talking quietly to Willow as she sobbed beside him, clutching Oz's hand.

"Buffy?"

Willow had looked up and ran to her friend, wrapping her arms around her and Dawn.

"We lost," Buffy had said numbly as Wesley drew Dawn away to check for shock. "We're the only ones left."

"Angel?" Wesley asked in increasing panic. "Giles? Xander?"

"All gone," Buffy whispered."Cordelia too. The Mayor wins."

Wesley gulped and turned back to Dawn.

Willow sank to the floor beside Oz.

And Buffy… Buffy cried.

Buffy could not tell you how long she remained in that tortured limbo, she could only tell you that those first days were the hardest days of her life. She lived in the mansion with Wesley, Willow, Oz and Dawn, only ever venturing out to bury the bodies of her friends and mother in her back garden, beneath the rose bush, steal food and lurk at the back of the crowd at the Mayor's meeting with Wesley.

Buffy could tell you that losing her friends, her Watcher, her mother and the man she loved ached. But she could never describe the gut wrenching pain and the feeling that this was all her fault.

She watched her town crumble, swallowed by demons, shut off from the rest of the country and the world. She had watched it all and blamed herself.

Until the day she heard two demons talking, laughing and mocking her efforts. The efforts of her dead friends who had died Heroes.

She had returned to the mansion with new purpose. She pulled her fellow survivors together and created the first resistance, even teaching her sister how to handle a weapon. Thirteen-years-old was far too young and Buffy knew that, but Dawn had listened to her mother die as she hid and this army needed every one they could get.

Even scared little girls in pain, forced to grow up too quickly. They needed everyone.

Six months after the battle, they received three new members to their cause. Anya Jenkins returned to Sunnydale after meeting the half-demon Alan Francis Doyle, who revealed to her he had been sent by the Powers That Be to help the resistance in Sunnydale. Another Witch, Tara Maclay, had been running away from home and when she met Anya and Doyle. Through her frightened stutter, she offered her services. Anya, for her faults, came back though she knew the Mayor had won because of her strange feelings for Xander Harris.

Buffy had seen them whilst out on her usual patrol for people living just outside the Sunnydale border and had called the rest of the team to make sure the latest members returned safely. Buffy had learnt that outside Sunnydale, the Mayor had no power and could not leave the boundaries of the place from where he drew his strength.

When the gang arrived, the Mayor's men had tailed them.

They had fought. But it was something they did almost daily. Only this time, it seemed the people the lackeys were after were in fact Doyle and Tara. Recognising a fellow Witch, Willow had grabbed Tara's hand.

"Do you know a protection spell?" she had asked urgently.

"Y-yes."

"Help me."

Above the sounds of the fight, Buffy could hear chanting, a brief glance back had told her the two Witches were creating a palpable energy field that pulsed out to surround the resistance. But a demon knocked Wesley to one side and made for the Witches.

Oz had turned in time to see the claws raise to strike Willow down. With a wolf-like roar, he leapt on the demon, dragging it to the ground.

But though his sword gutted the demon, his neck was broken.

Another warrior was lost in the cause.

And yet more tears were shed.

After Oz's death, Willow had shut down. She rarely came out of her shell and the spark had faded from her eyes. Buffy and Dawn tried to coax her out of her shell and Wesley also expressed his concern. But the only time Willow came briefly back to life was to practice spells with Tara and receive magickal knowledge from Wesley who, despite his previous oafishness, was quite knowledgeable on the subject.

Wesley warned Buffy that Willow was powerful. She knew what he was saying. Willow would want revenge and Wesley wasn't sure if Willow would ever come back from it. Though it seemed the quiet Witch, Tara, was anchoring her for the time being.

A month after Tara, Doyle and Anya's arrival, William the Bloody returned on the heels of the Intiative, who had set up their operation on the Sunnydale border.

Having been in Mexico since he last saw Buffy, he hadn't heard of the change in Sunnydale's fortunes. He had merely returned for another crack at the Slayer. Instead, he ran into the soldiers and was consequently chipped, used as a guinea pig for the military's experiments. When he escaped the soldiers, her found a welcoming committee sent by the Mayor, a vastly more effective set of demons than last time he had visited Sunnydale, back when Angel had still been alive. Buffy and Willow had been patrolling and had saved Spike, not realising who he was.

He was unconscious when they pushed him into the back of the car and it was only when Buffy turned in her seat as Willow floored the accelerator that she recognised him. But his legs and spine were broken and Willow pointed out that while he couldn't hurt them, they could get information out of him about what was going on outside Sunnydale, if anyone was going to try and help.

Both knew this vain hope had faded months ago.

But Spike knew nothing and was forced back into a wheelchair when Willow begged Buffy not to stake him while he was helpless. The only reason Buffy did as Willow asked was because Willow seemed almost herself again whilst she tended to the grumpy vampire. After a while, Buffy noticed Spike's insults became almost fond and once, she actually heard Willow laugh again.

And anyway, Buffy had more important things to think about. Like the fact that the military thought they could take down the Mayor. Their biggest mistake was experimenting on some of the Mayor's lackies.

Even Buffy couldn't save them and the Initiative was wiped out.

When Spike was up and about once more, he existed on the blood bags that the military dropped on a weekly basis along with food and supplies. Riley Finn had arranged this only days before his death at the hands of the Mayor himself. It was the only help provided, as the rest of the country decided to ignore the Sunnydale situation after what happened to the best soldiers in the Initiative.

Spike swore allegiance to the resistance in a bid to get his revenge on the bastards who had forced him into a wheelchair again.

Buffy didn't give a damn about his reasons; all she cared about was the fact she had someone strong on her side. But she didn't trust him. None of them did until he saved Willow and Wesley from a Fyarl demon, putting his own unlife at risk barely weeks after he left the wheelchair.

So things remained almost calm, with Buffy and her friends keeping to the mansion and the small area surrounding it, only venturing out to patrol at night, aiding the escape of many Sunnydale residents. Sunnydale was split, the Mayor allowing the people the run of the town during the daylight hours, but as soon as dusk fell, it was the devil's playground. Many had tried to run and the Mayor had killed them all. The rest gave up hope and tried to go about their daily lives, oppressed and beaten. The Mayor let the humans live, unless they strayed outside at night, and he never did anything about demons killing during the day. This was a demon's town now after all.

The only humans he and his followers openly hunted in the daylight hours were Buffy and her army.

They also hunted the US army when they rolled into town a year after Graduation. They had big plans to kill all the demons, defeat the Mayor and return Sunnydale to the humans. They failed miserably and there were yet more bodies for the night crawlers to feed on.

And with each body, Buffy's rage mounted.

But somehow, in all the mayhem and death and chaos, some light shone through.

Occasionally, Buffy and Dawn would forget the loss of their mother and waltz around the mansion with Wesley. And sometimes, Buffy forgot the aching hole in her heart where Angel had been and allowed herself to laugh. There were times when Willow and Anya could talk about Xander without breaking down, times Wesley could admit he had started to fall in love with Cordelia, times Buffy could remember Giles without blaming herself.

And sometimes, people looked at each other and saw something new.

Tara had long ago admitted to Doyle that she had fallen in love with Willow. Somewhere between the fighting and the hiding and the fear, she had grown to be in awe of her magickal partner's power. She had grown to trust and respect her.

And somewhere along the line, this had blossomed into love.

But Tara was aware of Willow's feelings for Oz and she had not said a word, preferring Willow's friendship, the occasional hug and hand-hold to anything that could destroy their friendship. And now, a year and a half after her arrival in Sunnydale, Tara's feelings continued to grow.

But Tara had not noticed Spike.

Spike had grown quite fond of the redhead whilst he was crippled. She was the one that checked his legs; tested if he could feel and gave him stolen brandy when it hurt so bad he could barely see. And after a while, he stopped wanting to kill her and her friends and saw this group of people as his only way of getting back at the people who had made him weak.

Willow was the only one who had trusted him enough to patrol with him, and now, though he was now a somewhat trusted member of the group, he still preferred to patrol with the Witch.

The night was balmy and the streets deserted, as they always were when night fell. Spike wondered why they bothered to patrol, what human would be stupid enough to leave their house at night? And he said as much to Willow.

"Maybe they might be sick of waiting, living like this. Maybe they wanna end it by any means possible," Willow answered emotionlessly as they strolled along the street.

"There's that great kamikaze spirit again," Spike retorted, twirling his stake and glancing at her. "You sound like you fancy a look round the Mayor's insides."

"Sometimes I do," she shrugged. "After Oz died, it was all I could think about. Revenge."

"'Cause being a tasty snack for the Mayor's a great revenge," he snapped, agitation niggling at his shoulders. "What are you going to do, give him a stomach ache?"

"Hey, coming from Mr-I'll-Kill-You-'Cause-You-Broke-My-Legs-And-Spine, that's not very mind changing. Anyway, who said he'd eat me? I could take him."

Spike snorted.

"What? What that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Just that… Yeah, ok, Red, you're pretty strong, but you're not ready to take on the Mayor yet. None of us are."

"What would you know? You've not seen all I can do!" she protested, throwing up her hands.

"I've seen enough," he replied calmly, eyeing her thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you had plenty of time to see when you were in that wheelchair of yours."

"Shut up, Willow. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes I do! You're jealous. Jealous that I'm the only one that might have a chance against the Mayor. You hate that I'm stronger than you!"

"You bloody well are not!"

"What you gonna do, huh? Bite me? Go on, I've been waiting for this Mr-Nice-Guy act to drop. Oh, you can't. The chip. Huh."

Spike stopped and she turned to look at him. He glared at her; breathing hard and wondering why the fact that she didn't trust him hurt so damn much.

"You don't trust me?" he asked.

"I didn't say -"

"That's what you meant!" he yelled. "Fine, you don't trust me! I'll just leave you here, you dumb bint! Let the night time nasties have a taste!"

"Go on, see if I care, you big lug!"

"I'm not the one who wants to get the Mayor and doesn't rightly care if she dies in the process!"

"Oh, like you care!"

"I soddin' well do as it happens!"

She stared at him for a moment, before chortling a little.

"Spike, you don't care about anyone."

"Fine. I don't care. Just remember, Red, you don't know me and you never have," he turned on his heel and started to walk away, calling over his shoulder, "but I know you and the sooner you get over wolf-boy, the happier you'll -"

A bolt of energy zipped up his back, knocking him to the floor. She was glaring down at him when he rolled over.

"You don't know anything about me and Oz," she hissed. "Nothing! You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love! You don't know what I feel or why I don't give a damn anymore! You don't -"

He jumped up and grabbed her upper arms, staring intensely into her eyes.

"I do, as it happens," he said and kissed her hard on the lips.

Buffy leaned over the balcony railing, having moved out of the main room to the upper levels while her thoughts took her on a miserable jaunt down memory lane. She wondered when Willow and Spike would get back from patrol, hoping they were ok.

Wesley approached her slowly and leaned on the balcony beside. It was strange, she decided, that not only had Wesley become a trusted ally and good fighter, but he had become a close friend. He was barely recognisable from the pompous oaf he had been two years ago. He glanced at her and smiled a little.

"Thinking?" he asked.

"Yes."

"You shouldn't think too much about the past."

"The past is what brought us here, Wes. While we're here, I can't forget it."

"I know that. But I worry that it's tearing you apart."

"I can handle it," he didn't answer that and there was a silence until she said. "There's a battle coming, y'know."

"I know."

"One day, we're gonna have to fight the Mayor if we ever want this town back."

"We'll just have to make sure we fight on our terms and when we're ready," he nodded.

"And if it's not on our terms, and we're not ready?" she asked, facing him.

He looked at her, then glanced backwards, towards the sounds of sparring downstairs.

"We'll still stand a fighting chance. And at least, we'll go out fighting," he grinned.

She smiled at that.

"We have to be ready soon. I can't stand much more of this."

"Neither can I. Buffy, I've been thinking…" he returned his gaze to the night sky and let his voice tail off.

"Yeah? What about?"

"Faith," she was silent and he hesitated before continuing. "One day, she may wake up. What then?"

Buffy looked at him, the stony face of a Slayer who was waiting for her moment.

"Then, if it hasn't started already, the war begins."