Author’s Note: Sorry that this has taken so long to get out, it’s just a lot has been happening in my life recently and so writing has taken a bit of a back seat, anyway here is the final chapter of The Special Two, hope you enjoy.

A heavy, oppressive stillness had descended over the city, like the dark clouds that covered the sky, promising snow before too long, and it was beginning to put people on edge.

At that moment Buffy was doing her best impression of a caged tiger, stalking restlessly back and forth across Giles’ new apartment, wearing a noticeable groove into the plush carpet.

“Maybe you should go and do some training Buffy, it might help relieve some of your tension,” Giles suggested, in a vain attempt to halt his former charge’s incessant pacing. “Or here’s an even more outlandish notion, you could sit down and actually help me wade through all this.” He gestured at the mountainous pile of books and papers that sat on the table in front of him.

“You know me and books go together like oil and water Giles,” Buffy replied, not even breaking stride. “I’m the muscle remember, you’re the brains. Have you found out anything new?”

“You mean in the five minutes since you asked last, no not overly,” Giles sighed and leaned back in his chair, removing his glasses and massaging his forehead wearily. “Angel’s sources have been somewhat more illuminating then my own, but not by a large margin.”

Buffy paused in her pacing. “So what do we know then?”

Giles cleared his throat and replaced his glasses, leaning forward to read his notes. “All I’ve been able to decipher so far are vague references to Dawn’s child wielding some form of great power for good in opposition to a source of great evil-“

“The First.”

“-Which isn’t actually named as such,” Giles continued, ignoring Buffy’s interruption. “It could be The First or it could be something else entirely. Plus there’s also mention of a war.”

“An unknown evil and a war, great, just in time for Christmas.” Buffy slumped down into the chair opposite her Watcher. “You know I actually wanted Dawnie to grow-up and have the normal life that I never had. Go off to a regular college not full of vampires and demons or on top of a Hellmouth, meet some nice guy, get married, have a 9-to-5 job and live in a house in the suburbs surrounded by a white picket fence. She’d have a couple of cute kids that I could visit occasionally, be their favourite aunt and spoil them rotten.

“Instead she’s become part of some ancient prophecy, fallen in love with a Slayer, and Faith of all Slayers, gotten mystically pregnant and now the greatest Evil in the world wants both her and her unborn children dead.”

“I know things have turned out somewhat differently from what you would have wanted for Dawn,” Giles remarked softly. “But did you ever think to ask her how she wanted her life to turn out?”

Buffy’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times; making it clear that the thought had never crossed her mind. “I guess not. I mean I know that Dawn has kind of resented the fact that after Willow did her mojo and all those other Slayers were empowered that she wasn’t one of them, that she remained a normal teenage girl. But I was just relieved that she wouldn’t have to go through everything I went through.”

“And having viewed your life from close range I’m sure Dawn probably has a similar opinion.” Giles commented lightly.

“Maybe, I just wanted her to have what I couldn’t,” Buffy mumbled. “Isn’t that what all parents are supposed to want for their children?”

“Is that how you feel, like she’s your daughter?” Giles asked curiously.

“In a way,” Buffy answered. “I mean ever since Mom died I’ve been more mother to Dawn then sister and because of that whole Key thing, the way she was made out of my blood, technically I am her mom.”

“I’m sure Dawn doesn’t see things that way.” Giles said kindly.

“I hope so,” Buffy shook her head and forced herself to think of something else. “Anyway we’re kind of getting off topic here, any recent news on what The First’s been up to?”

“As a matter of fact there has been something, very recently.” Giles said somewhat reluctantly, he had been wrestling on whether to tell Buffy his news ever since it had arrived via a Council agent last night, but now the moment had arrived it was almost a relief to tell her.

Buffy went completely still, her body held rigidly in her seat as all sorts of badness ran through her mind. “Giles, what’s happened?” she asked tightly.

“It appears Azekarul’s Vault has been stolen,” Giles replied, getting straight to the point. “And all evidence points to The First taking it.”

“Avocado’s what now?” Buffy asked, a frown creasing her forehead.

“Azekarul’s Vault,” Giles repeated firmly. “It’s a magical crystal reputed to hold in it’s depths a powerful army of demons-“

“An entire army of demons in one little crystal,” Buffy frowned harder. “Sounds worse then a phone booth full of college students, how did that happen?”

“Well, you remember what I’ve told you about the age before the rise of man,” Giles settled comfortably back into ‘Watcher’ mode. “When demons ruled the earth, warring incessantly upon each other.”

“Um, yeah sure.” She didn’t of course, but she knew if she said that then Giles would spend the next hour expounding on world history before getting around to anything that she was remotely interested in.

“Over time Azekarul and his army became the most dominant faction in those wars,” Giles explained. “He grew so formidable that all other demons came to fear him. They knew they couldn’t defeat him in an open battle and so they pooled their resources, joining forces to cast a powerful spell that banished Azekarul and his entire army into the crystal.”

“And now this crystal’s been stolen,” Buffy said slowly. “Shouldn’t it have been heavily guarded or in Fort Knox or something?”

“It was, guarded that is,” Giles answered. “It was put in the care of several powerful beings centuries ago and they’ve kept it hidden and protected ever since. However a few days ago it came to the Council’s attention that something had happened to them and so an agent was sent to find out what was wrong, to her horror she discovered that all the guards had been slaughtered and the Vault was missing.”

“And what makes you suspect The First, besides the obvious It’s completely evil theory.”

“The grounds surrounding the guard’s home were littered with the bodies of hundreds of different types of demons,” Giles continued. “The most prominent among them were the bodies of dozens of Bringers.”

“Sounds like they put up one hell of a fight at least,” Buffy murmured. “So what happens when The First opens this Vault?”

“The end of the world,” Giles stated simply. “Azekarul and his army are not like the demons and vampires that walk the Earth now Buffy. They are pure demons, undiluted by any kind of mortal blood.”

“You mean they’re like Mayor ‘I want to be a giant snake’ don’t you?” Buffy knew what the answer was, but still needed to hear it from Giles.

“Yes, and worse.”

“How long before the First can open this Vault thingy?” Buffy asked, a sickly sense of dread filling her stomach.

“There is at least some good news on that front,” Giles leaned forward in his seat. “See the Vault was never supposed to be opened; it was meant to be a one-way trip. There were many traps and safeguards incorporated into its design intended to help ensure it remained that way. The power required to deactivate them safely and open the Vault itself would be enormous.”

“So we’re talking what days, maybe weeks?” Buffy hazarded a guess.

“Even for a being like The First I’d say more like years.” Giles replied.

“Unless The First figures out some quicker way to get it open.”

“That is a possibility,” Giles conceded. ”But let’s not get our hopes up.”

“You know suddenly my idea of running away and hiding is looking better and better,” Buffy said gloomily. “I hate sitting around in one spot waiting to be attacked, it makes me feel all exposed.”

“You told me that Dawn vetoed that idea and I think she was right to,” Giles said firmly. “When the twins arrive they will need a safe, stable environment to grow-up in and they’ll have that right here.”

“Right where The First will know to find them,” Buffy pushed her chair back and stood up. “We need to know what that prophecy means Giles and we need to know it soon, Dawn’s due in six weeks and I’d prefer to know before then.”

“I’m working as fast as I can,” Giles protested. “And the Council is providing as much support as possible, but we do have our limits Buffy.”

“Fine, at least tell me how we can stop The First from opening this Vault?”

“The Vault itself is to all intents and purposes indestructible, there’s ample evidence of people trying and failing rather spectacularly to destroy it.” Giles lapsed into a thoughtful silence. “The only thing I can think of is to steal it back and hide it again, this time in a more secure location. But finding The First will be extremely difficult, it could be anywhere and so could the Vault.”

“I’ll get the guys started on it now,” Buffy strode over to the door. “But in the meantime Giles do me a favour?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t mention any of this to Dawn, or Faith for that matter, they’ve got enough to deal with at the moment.”

“As you wish.” Giles promised without hesitation.

“Good.” Buffy walked out the door already focused on finding The First. No doubt It was hiding away in some mouldering tomb or dark, dank cave which Willow’s magic would locate quickly and this thing could be dealt with, long before Dawn would even know it had happened.

The light of the many candles that filled the room sparkled and bounced off the numerous gold and jewel encrusted items. Heavy, rich tapestries hung from the walls and lent it a warmth that was at odds with the bare earth floor and dripping rock ceiling that made it clear that the room was in fact a cave, if a rather more well-appointed cave then was natural.

All of the opulence however seemed lost on the short, stocky young man who crouched in the middle of the room. All of his concentration was instead fixed on the hexagonal black crystal that sat on a small table in front of him.

“It’s amazes me that such great power can be contained by something like that.” He whispered softly, there was no reply from the kneeling Bringers on either side. The First straightened and circled the table slowly. “Of course that does raise the question, how can I get that power out here where I want it.”

“A similar question had occurred to me.” Answered a harsh, rasping, voice, it’s difficultly in speaking making it clear that English was not it’s preferred tongue.

The First stopped circling, a small smile spreading across Its face. “Azekarul?”

“Who else.”

“You can communicate outside of the crystal, that’s interesting.” A spark of amusement flaring in The First’s eyes.

“The ones who guarded me for so long made it possible, they liked to talk to me,” Azekarul explained. “Some gloated at my downfall and my imprisonment, others used it as an opportunity to persuade me to reform my ways and serve the forces of light, offering to free me if I would.”

“Did that work?” The First enquired.

“Three days ago I felt them fall, cease to exist.” Although The First couldn’t actually see Azekarul’s face It could tell he was smiling, or at least in some way evincing his enjoyment. “I could sense their pain and fear as their bodies were broken and their essences torn from them. It’s the closest thing I’ve come to feeling any kind of pleasure since I was caged inside this accursed crystal.”

“Good I’m glad to hear that Azekarul,” The First reached forward as if to stroke the crystal’s side, instead Its fingers passed harmlessly through the walls. “And once I set you free you will have more carnage and destruction then you could ever desire.”

“I look forward to once more wreaking my vengeance on my enemies,” Azekarul purred. “And bringing them as low as they brought me.”

“Ah, well there’s a small flaw in that plan.” The First drew Its hand back. “All of your former enemies have passed on and are nothing but dust now, even the great Illyria is gone, even if It did make a rather belated and pathetic comeback.”

“All of them gone,” Azekarul pondered slowly on this new information. “Then who now walks the earth in their place?”

“Humans.”

“Mortals?” Azekarul sounded astonished. “How could that possibly be?”

“They are surprisingly strong in their own strange ways.” The First replied. “And casting the spell that imprisoned you severely weakened most of your contemporaries who then foolishly proceeded to wipe each other out, paving the way for the mortals rise. The scattered remnants have since been either finished off by the mortals or have been contaminated by their blood and become half-breeds.”

“And this is the carnage you expect me to wreak, on mortals and half breeds.” Azekarul sniffed disdainfully. “I’d almost prefer to stay in here.”

“And I’d be happy to oblige you.” The First snapped sharply. “However I find myself in need of your services and there are still some on this wretched earth who will at least provide you with a challenge.”

“We shall see about that,” Azekarul said ominously. “That does bring me back to my first question though, how will you go about getting me and my army out of here. Others have tried in the past and I have felt their inevitable failure, even your power may not be enough to break through.”

“Oh it will be,’ The First answered confidently. “There is an upcoming event that will provide me with power enough to set you free.”

“And that is?”

“The birth of a mortal child they think will save the world.” A derisive sneer flickered into existence onto The First’s lips. “They call her the hope of a new age and she will indeed usher in a new age, but it will be an age of darkness, death and destruction, your and my age not the age of light that they imagine.”

“When?” Azekarul demanded suddenly eager.

“If my calculations are correct, in a few weeks,” The First replied. “Ample time to prepare things properly for your coming out party.”

“Good,” Azekarul was by now practically salivating at the idea of release after the millennia spent inside the crystal. “I will ready myself and my forces and once free we will ravish the earth, leaving nothing untouched. Nobody will be able to stand in our way.”

“OK now I’m full, I cannot eat another bite.” Dawn announced, pushing her plate away and patting her swollen belly.

Faith glanced over at Dawn’s plate and frowned, even in the soft candle light she could tell that Dawn had barely even touched her food. “Are you sure baby?”

“Uh huh,” Dawn nodded emphatically. “Thank you for that, and all this it’s nice.” Dawn waved a hand at the beautifully set table, the carefully prepared food and the gentle, romantic music in the background.

“That’s OK,” Faith shrugged uncomfortably. “I thought you deserved it, you’ve gone through a lot lately.”

Romance and seduction had never really been Faith’s strong suit, for her romance had usually consisted of some fast, bass-heavy music, a good-looking stranger, too much alcohol and the nearest bed or convenient place to lie down or lean against. So when the idea for a romantic evening with Dawn had occurred to her she had sat down and had a long talk with someone who had a little more experience in these matters. Willow had suggested some more appropriate things, and had also helped to convince the Slayers who had been rostered on for guard duty to take the night off by temporarily strengthening the protection spells on the apartment.

“So that’s it, there’s no other reason for all this,” Dawn watched Faith carefully for any kind of reaction. “No point to this romantic evening for just the two of us?”

Faith shifted uneasily in her seat, furiously concentrating on her now tasteless food. “No.”

Dawn didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at her until Faith finally had to look up. “Faith.” She said, The Tone entering her voice.

Faith chewed the lump of food in her mouth slowly and then swallowed heavily, the worry and tension in her body obvious to the young woman sitting across from her. “OK I was hoping to put this off till later, and I wasn’t actually expecting to feel this nervous before asking you but now that I’m about to do this I really am.” Faith swallowed hard again and wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans. “I don’t really know how to say this and you know I’m not great with the whole fancy words and stuff, I actually asked Willow to help with this part but she’s even worse, I probably would have been here for days if I had of taken her advice which I’m suddenly thinking may have been a good idea because it may actually have been shorter-“

“Faith,” Dawn cut through the Slayer’s babble. “You’re starting to scare me a little, just say whatever it is you want to say.”

“OK just say it, that’s a good idea, just say it,” Faith frantically patted at her pockets, for a moment fearing she had lost the one thing she couldn’t afford to lose, not tonight. Then she felt the small square box in a pocket and relief flooded through her system. “Anyway here it goes. Dawn I love you,” Faith fell to one knee in front of her and opened the box. “Will you marry me?”

Dawn didn’t say a word; she just sat there staring at the ring, chewing her lip thoughtfully. It was a really nice ring, the gold was beautifully patterned and a small diamond sat sparkling at its centre, she could almost guess on the countless hours Faith would have spent on its choosing.

“This is the part where you say yes.” Faith prompted her anxiously.

Dawn deliberately lifted her gaze to meet Faith’s. “No.”

“That’s great, you had me-wait did you just say no?” Faith asked, confusion writ large on her face.

“Yes, I mean yes I said no.” Dawn hurried to correct herself.

“Oh.” Faith looked completely deflated, like a balloon with all its air let out.

“I mean besides the whole legality thing, it’s just with everything going on with the twins and the prophecy and The First, now’s not the best time for us to be getting married.” Dawn quickly explained, trying to get Faith to comprehend the why of her answer.

“No, no it’s cool, I understand.” Faith said dully, looking down at the now useless ring that almost seemed to be mocking her, suddenly become the symbol of everything stupid she had ever done in her life. All kinds of thoughts raced through her mind mostly involving the violent destruction of said ring, each one more wild and dangerous then the last

“No it’s not cool,” Dawn answered, striving to reach out to her devastated girlfriend in some way. “It’s not that I don’t love you, you know I do and I always will, but right now is not a good time.”

“Right.” Faith nodded listlessly.

“Faith please listen to me,” Dawn was almost pleading now. “This isn’t about you, this is-” she stopped. “Faith can you please get up or something, it’s really hard to talk to you when you’re kneeling like that.”

Faith blinked a couple of times, not even realising that she was still down on one knee, and then eased herself up off the ground. She moved woodenly over to the nearest chair and slumped into it, setting the ring carefully down on the table next to her.

Dawn reached over and took one of Faith’s limp hands. “Faith,” she took a moment to compose herself and figure out exactly what she wanted to say. “Just because I’m saying no to you now doesn’t mean that I don’t want to marry you.”

That statement seemed to finally get through to Faith, who went from looking completely dejected to looking completely confused again. “Right. Huh?”

“I would love to marry you Faith, and someday I’m sure I will, but I don’t need the added stress of trying to plan a wedding right now.” Dawn squeezed Faith’s hand in reassurance.

“Wait so you want to marry me, but you still won’t.” Faith repeated slowly, trying to figure this out for herself. “Is this some more of that crazy ‘I’m pregnant’ logic?”

“No,” Dawn said firmly. “Just hold onto the ring and wait until the right time comes along, then ask me again.”

“Hold onto the ring,” Faith looked down at the ring and it was…just a ring again, a piece of precious metal and stone and nothing more. “I guess I could do that, it makes more sense then throwing it into Boston harbour anyway.”

Dawn’s eyes widened with shock. “You were going to throw it into the harbour?”

Actually she had planned on doing something much more extreme, but she wasn’t going to tell Dawn that. “Yeah, well you know me, not great at dealing with my anger issues.”

“I have noticed that,” Dawn smiled gently. “That’s probably something you should work on what with two small children on the way.”

A long awkward silence followed, broken only by the soft sounds of the music in the background.

“So, um, I guess I kind of killed the mood didn’t I?” Dawn asked finally.

“Yeah, you kinda did.” Faith agreed, caressing the back of Dawn’s hand with her thumb.

“Oops, sorr-“ Dawn paused mid-sentence, grabbing Faith’s hand tightly as a startled gasp came from her lips

“Dawnie, what’s wrong?” Faith asked worriedly.

“I don’t know…I just felt-” Dawn answered uncertainly, but before she could get any further she cried out loudly once more, clutching Faith’s hand hard. “OK I think that was a contraction.”

“But you’re not due for another six weeks.” Faith said, the awkward events of the previous few minutes suddenly banished from her thoughts.

“Somehow I don’t think somebody’s caring about the right due date,” Dawn pointed out. “Damn.”

“What now?” Faith asked, half expecting to see a head popping out from between Dawn’s knees.

“My water just broke.”

Faith glanced down at the floor and saw the pool of liquid seeping into the carpet. “Crap, what do we do now?”

“We do have a plan for this remember, we went to all those classes. Grab my bag and get me to the hospital, preferably before the twins decide to do this on their own.” Dawn told her. “Just like we practised.”

“Right, practised. Right.” Faith stood up abruptly. “I’ll go get the bag.”

She ran out of the room, returning just as quickly with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder and a radio clutched in her hand. “OK everything’s in the bag except the radio; do we need to take anything else?”

“I think it might help if I came along too.” Dawn said dryly, smiling and shaking her head at the sight of Faith panicking. She could face the end of the world with barely a flicker yet with something far more normal and natural, like a pregnant woman about to give birth, Faith was rapidly falling to pieces. It was, in an odd way, kind of endearing.

“Right, you, of course.” Faith hurried over and helped Dawn up out of her chair, supporting her as they moved slowly towards the door.

“This is really happening isn’t it?” Faith asked as she opened the door to let Dawn through.

“Yes it is. And Faith, remember to breathe.” Dawn replied.

Faith smiled nervously and moved back into the apartment, quickly blowing out the candles and doing a check around before shutting the door behind them, leaving the apartment dark and empty, the sounds of their departure echoing around ever more softly, mixing with the now forgotten music still playing on the stereo.

The members of the Scooby Gang plus partners were all sitting in a place where they had at one time or another spent far too much of their time, a hospital waiting room. As waiting rooms went this one scored quite highly it had a fresh coat of not-too-stained paint, comfy chairs and magazines that were only a few weeks out of date instead of the traditional years, this coupled with the fact they were here to welcome life to the world rather then potentially see it leave should have had them in a good mood, instead tension and apprehension filled the air as they each sat with their respective partners in their own corners of the room, separated from the others, lost in their own thoughts.

Xander and Alex sat silently next to each other staring blankly at the wall, their fingers entwined together, Buffy and Angel sat opposite, their concern obvious on both their faces, if anyone hadn’t believed the formerly star-crossed lovers were back together again one glance at their interlocked hands would have dismissed any doubts.

Willow and Kennedy sat slightly further apart from the others, exchanging occasional whispered comments with each other that were inaudible to the others while Giles just stood quietly by himself, sporadically removing his glasses to give them a clean before replacing them to their former position.

“How long has it been?” Xander abruptly broke the uncomfortable silence that filled the room.

Buffy looked up at the clock on the wall then quickly back down again, as if she really didn’t want to know the answer. “Almost two hours.” She answered dully, before lapsing back into stillness.

“Oh.”

Things had seemed so much brighter earlier in the evening when Buffy had first received the panicked and confusing call from Faith on her phone. The only three words she had really been able to make out were Dawn, birth and hospital but that was all she had really needed to know. She had tried to assure Faith that she was coming as soon as possible, and then she had quickly rang the rest of the Gang and told them to hurry to the hospital as well.

When they had arrived Dawn’s labour had seemed to progress smoothly and it wasn’t too long before Dr. Santos was wheeling her into an OR saying it would be soon and they shouldn’t worry, except as Buffy had just reluctantly pointed out that had been almost two hours ago now, and the mood in the waiting room had rapidly descended as the minutes had ticked endlessly by.

“What’s taking so long?” Buffy whispered, turning to look at the door through which Dawn had been wheeled an age ago, smiling bravely at everyone as she was moved away with Faith resolutely by her side.

At that moment Faith unknowingly share Buffy’s concerns as she looked down at Dawn’s sweat soaked face. Dawn was clutching her hand in a death-grip any Slayer would have been proud of, sending waves of disregarded pain up Faith’s left arm. She knew Dawn had never been what you would call weak, exposure to numerous demons, vampires and amorous college boys had made her tough, but this seemed to be taking too much out of her and if it didn’t end soon Faith was terrified about what the result might be.

Dawn threw her head back and let out a loud cry of pain as another powerful contraction wracked through her body, sending shudders of pain through her slim frame. Dr. Santos and the midwife urged her on to greater effort, telling her it would all be over soon, assurances they had been repeating over and over again for the last hour.

Faith gently brushed back a damp lock of hair from Dawn’s face, unable to do anything to help and feeling utterly useless because of it. “It’s OK baby, it’s OK.” She soothed, entirely at a loss for what she could or should be saying right now.

“Faith.” Dawn whispered softly.

“Yeah, what is it.” Faith answered, eagerly leaning forward to catch Dawn’s softly spoken words.

With surprising speed and strength Dawn’s other hand whipped out and grabbed Faith by the collar, pulling her even closer. “Next time there’s a prophecy and a mystical pregnancy,” Dawn said through gritted teeth. “You’re the one getting pregnant.”

“Um sure Dawn, whatever you say.” Faith managed to answer, completely taken aback, not only by the ferocity of Dawn’s grip but also by the pain and anger that filled her beautiful blue eyes.

“Oh no.” Dr. Santos said, swiftly followed by some fluid Spanish that, although Faith didn’t have the faintest clue what it meant, was clearly swearing of some kind. He stood up abruptly and began barking orders to the nurse and midwife who scurried off in different directions, out of all the shouting and confusion the only words Faith was able to pick up on was something about an emergency c-section.

“What’s going on?” Faith was getting more and more worried by the second, but her attention was quickly diverted as she felt Dawn’s hold slacken on her clothes and hand. “Dawnie?”

Dawn blinked a couple of times, appearing vague and lost as she swayed back and forth and then looked up at Faith, the anger in her blue eyes being replaced with fear. “Faith…” was all she managed to get out before she slumped back onto the bed, unconscious.

“What the hell,” Faith got up off her seat and ran towards Dr. Santos. “What just happened?”

“Faith please, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the room.” The doctor rapidly moved to block her path.

“I’m not going-“ Faith stopped as her gaze fell on the large pool of blood on the floor of the operating room, she knew there was only one place that all that blood could have come from, “-anywhere.”

The doctor shuffled himself across further, obstructing her view. “Dawn started to bleed out in a rather dramatic fashion, hence her unconscious state. I’ve since managed to stem the flow for the moment but I need to do a caesarean section ASAP if Dawn and the twins stand any chance of survival and so I need you to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Faith repeated automatically as her brain struggled to take in what was happening or what he was telling her.

“Faith you have to go.” Dr. Santos gently placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to guide her towards the door.

Faith roughly pushed him away and stood her ground. “I told you I’m not going anywhere.”

“Faith please, you can’t stay in here while I’m operating.”

She could see the pleading look in his eyes but instead she looked towards the still figure lying on the bed, who was now surrounded by a crowd of bustling medical staff. “Promise me you’ll take care of her.” She whispered finally.

“I’ll do the best I can.” Dr. Santos replied.

Faith nodded woodenly, some part of her knowing that this was the most she could ask of him. She then proceeded to do the hardest thing she had ever done in her life, she turned around and walked slowly out the door.

Faith wandered blindly down the corridors of the hospital, not knowing or even caring where she was going, until by some chance she came upon the room in which Buffy and the others were sitting.

Buffy was the first to see her, and when their eyes met a dam broke inside Faith and she collapsed to the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

Buffy and Angel quickly moved to either side of her to support her and then carried Faith gently to a chair. It took a long time before Faith had calmed down enough for them to make any kind of sense of what she was saying, all the while clinging desperately to Buffy while the blonde awkwardly tried to comfort her.

“She’s going to die,” Faith sobbed, the first coherent thing she was able to say. “She’s going to die and leave me. She can’t leave me, I don’t know how I can go on without her.”

“She’s not going to die,” Buffy countered softly. “She’s a Summers woman remember, we’re built tough.”

“You didn’t see what I saw,” Faith shook her head stubbornly. “There was so much blood and she looked so fragile and pale.”

“Blood,” Buffy said uncertainly. “How much blood?”

Faith refused to answer, burying her face in Buffy’s shoulder as she started to cry again.

“Maybe you should go in there Willow,” Buffy uncomfortably patted Faith on her back. “See if you can help.”

“I don’t know Buffy,” Willow said uncertainly. “The mystical and the medical tend to be unmixy things and giving birth is a very delicate process…” Willow slowly trailed off, leaving the rest of them hanging.

“Will?” Buffy asked cautiously. “Will what is it?”

“Can’t you feel that?” Willow whispered, her eyes fixed rigidly on some spot in mid-air.

“Feel what, what’s going on Will?” Kennedy cut in, alarmed by her lover’s behaviour. Living with Willow had got her more used to magic and its effects, but it still freaked her out majorly on occasions, like right now.

“The power, it’s surging, the Key…” Willow keened eerily before managing to pull herself out of it, blinking a few times as reality forced itself back onto her consciousness. She looked around realising that everyone was now looking at her strangely even Faith, who was over her little emotional outburst and was looking very self-conscious about it. “I guess you guys aren’t as attuned to things as I am, the twins were just born and their birth released a whole heap of mystical energy into the ether, which will probably have every demon from the lowest to the highest in the nearby vicinity making tracks for the hospital.”

“I think the few dozen heavily armed Slayers on guard outside might dissuade them from trying anything.” Giles reassured her.

“This mystical energy, it won’t have any side effects will it,” Xander asked nervously. “I mean we’re not all going to start growing an extra head or turn sterile or something, are we?”

“No,” Willow answered with a smile. “It was powerful but completely harmless.”

“And Dawn, how is she?” Faith asked impatiently.

Willow frowned softly in concentration. “I don’t know, I can’t tell with all that stuff floating around and blocking me.”

“Then can you go check, please Will anything you can do.” Buffy pleaded with her.

“I guess I can try.” Willow said reluctantly, but before she could move the door to the room opened and Dr. Santos walked through, his blue scrubs specked with blood. “Buffy.” Willow gestured towards the doctor standing in the doorway.

Buffy shook Faith gently and helped her to stand up, the dark-haired Slayer wiping her eyes as she braced herself for the worst, the rest of the Scoobies moving in behind them.

“How is she?” Buffy demanded as soon as she could.

“There were some complications I’m afraid, and Dawn lost a lot of blood-“ He began.

“Just tell me if my sister’s going to be OK.” Buffy interrupted roughly.

“She’ll be just fine after she’s had time to recuperate, and the twins are both surprisingly fit and healthy considering their premature state.” Dr. Santos assured them.

The rest of the Gang broke out into relieved smiles and began congratulating each other either by hugs or handshakes, depending on how well they knew the other person.

Faith was oblivious to all the goings-on behind her; there was only had one thing on her mind. “Can I see her?” She asked eagerly.

“She’s still asleep, she’s recovering from what was quite an ordeal.” Dr. Santos warned her.

“I don’t care I want to see her, I need to see her.” Faith insisted, that one desire filling her entire being.

“Well perhaps one of you can go in and sit with her,” the doctor said doubtfully. “But no more then one.”

There was a slight pause before Buffy spoke up. “You go in Faith, I’ll see her later.”

“Are you sure?” Faith asked, more out of courtesy then anything else.

“Yeah, you should go, be with her,” Buffy gave her a gentle nudge towards the door. “Besides if she wakes up and finds me by her bedside she’s just going to start asking for you.”

“Thanks B.” Faith smiled at her a little uncertainly, not quite sure if Buffy’s gesture meant she was finally OK about her and Dawn, before quickly following the doctor through the door.

As soon as she walked through the door into Dawn’s room Faith wished she hadn’t insisted quite so strongly on seeing her first. Dawn lay unmoving on the bed like some kind of sleeping princess from a fairy tale, except in Dawn’s case instead of being encased in a glass casket her body was covered by large numbers of tubes and wires that led from her to the various beeping and humming machines that sat next to her.

It all felt so…artificial and wrong, like Dawn was being violated in some way that Faith had to physically restrain herself from ripping the tubes and wires out of the helpless woman’s unconscious body and whisking her out of there, protectively wrapped up in her arms. Instead she moved silently over to a chair by Dawn’s bedside and sat down, tentatively reaching over to take Dawn’s cold, motionless hand.

“Oh god, what have they done to you,” Faith whispered softly, tears leaking out from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. “You know taking into consideration all that’s happened maybe I should have just taken Buffy’s advice and stayed away from you, at least then you wouldn’t have been put through all this.”

Faith maintained a silent vigil by Dawn’s side for hours, vainly looking for any sign that she was going to wake up, before finally the frantic events of the day and the late hour caught up with her and sleep overcame her.

When she opened her eyes again she knew she was dreaming, gone were the sterile hospital walls and the intrusive machines and even Dawn, in their place was a broken and dying land of bare rock and blasted hillsides, a dark, threatening sky hovering overhead. Few things broke the bleak monotony of the view, some twisted, stunted trees clung to life nearby but it was the lone figure, standing atop a nearby hill that caught Faith’s attention.

The figure was tall and slim and even though she had her back to Faith the Slayer would have known that body anywhere, the long, lithe legs, the impossibly small waist, the long, flowing hair. “Dawn.” Faith whispered, a small smile appearing on her lips.

She ran eagerly towards the figure, the steep slope forcing her to change her run into more of a fast jog, but as she got closer to the top of the hill she realised that she was mistaken and that the girl waiting for her wasn’t actually Dawn.

Her figure was similar but this girl was more athletically built, slightly taller, more toned and when she finally turned around and Faith caught a glimpse of her face she saw she was younger then Dawn, in her mid-to-late teens rather then her early twenties.

Faith slowed and stopped a few feet short of the strange girl and studied her closely, she could have almost passed for Dawn’s twin sister she resembled her lover that closely, except this girl’s face was slightly more rounded and not as long and thin, and she had a wicked looking scar that ran from her temple down her right cheek, stopping at her chin, plus she sported a more…well-developed chest region then Dawn could ever have laid claim to, even after she fell pregnant.

The teenage girl had the same vivid, intelligent blue eyes though, which at that moment were studying Faith as closely as the dark-haired Slayer had been studying her. “Hi Faith.” The girl said shyly and smiled softly, revealing dimples that were the mirror image of Faith’s own.

Faith had never once claimed to be a genius, but it didn’t take one to guess who the girl standing in front of her was. “Hey, Hope,” she answered back. “Um…how’s it going?”

Hope sighed and turned away. “Not that good actually.”

“Yeah I had kinda noticed that,” Faith looked around at the hellish landscape that surrounded them. “Where are we anyway?”

“The end of the world,” Hope replied. “Or to be exact slightly after the end.”

“The end of the world huh,” Faith repeated, not totally shocked to hear that. “What happened?”

“Apocalypse, demons,” Hope answered simply. “Apparently I’m not allowed to tell you any more then that, but I can give you this warning, beware Azekarul’s Vault.”

“Azekarul’s Vault, what’s that some kind of demonic game show?” Faith looked mystified.

“Ask Giles or Aunt Buffy,” Hope told her. “Or Mom might know, though I doubt Aunt Buffy will have told her yet.”

Faith made a mental note to confront Giles or Buffy about this Vault thingy as soon as she returned from the hell she currently found herself in. “Where are we exactly, I mean besides the whole end of the world, I don’t recognise any of this.”

“I think we’re roughly about five miles north of Boston,” Hope informed her quietly. “I can’t be anymore exact then that, the world’s changed a lot recently.”

Faith scanned the grey, hazy horizon in vain for any kind of sign of human habitation. “So where’s Boston?”

Hope pointed towards something Faith had taken to be a hill. “See that pile of debris there?”

“Yeah.” Faith answered, her heart sinking as she guessed what was coming next

“That’s all that’s left.”

“Oh.” Was all that Faith could manage to say.

“If you think that’s bad, you should see what’s happened to LA or New York.” Hope stated flatly.

Faith stared mutely at all that was left of her home, the city she had grown up in, her thoughts conflicted. Part of her was gleefully rejoicing in the city’s fate, her childhood hadn’t been made up of many things that led to happy memories and there had been days when she was younger when she had wished a disaster like this upon the city, but most of those memories had since been replaced with far happier ones of her life with Dawn and so she felt torn in half between joy and sadness, regret and delight. “Why did you bring me here?” She asked impassively.

“I didn’t, a…friend did, though only ‘cause I asked her, she was totally against the idea.”

“So why did you then?”

Hope turned to face her, staring her frankly in the eye. “Because I need your help.”

“It’s a little late for that now don’t you think?” Faith was finding it difficult to keep this clone of Dawn’s eye; it was kind of creepy how closely Hope resembled her girlfriend.

“I don’t mean now,” Hope dismissed Faith’s comment with a wave of her hand. “I mean before this, before the end, while me and William are growing up.”

“I don’t get it.” Faith shook her head in confusion.

“What I mean is-“ Hope paused, her features hardening. “Get behind me Faith.” She said quietly.

“What, why?” Faith heard a low growl behind her and turned to see four grey, bumpy, ugly creatures moving up the slope towards them. She recognised them instantly from the last battle above the Hellmouth of Sunnydale. “Uber-vamps” She whispered.

Hope walked in front of her, shielding her from the creatures. “Hope maybe we should-“Faith began.

“Don’t worry Faith,” Hope flashed her a smile. “This is what I was born to do.”

The uber-vamps circled them warily, spreading out to both sides before leaping to the attack.

What happened next took Faith completely by surprise, the scythe, Buffy’s scythe, the Slayer’s scythe just seemed to appear in Hope’s hands from out of nowhere and she went about using it with practised ease, swiftly staking the two uber-vamps to either side before smoothly decapitating a third with a casual swing of the blade.

Number four managed to avoid the scythe and landed a powerful blow to the girl’s jaw, but Hope barely even flinched, she returned the blow with interest and sent the uber-vamp flying through the air, its crumpled form landing heavily on the ground.

Hope was on it before it could rise, the scythe raised over its prone form, the sharp wooden end pointing directly at its heart. “That was rude,” she thrust the scythe down, staking the uber-vamp into dust. “We were talking.”

“Sorry about that,” Hope smiled apologetically, tucking the scythe back into the makeshift sheath from which it had appeared just moments before. “Now where were we?”

Faith continued to stare at her with blank astonishment, her jaw hanging loose. “How did you…I mean I’ve never seen…What the hell was that?”

“Oh I forgot, technically you’ve never seen me fight before have you?” Hope bit her lip nervously.

“No, that was…amazing.”

“Thanks,” Hope ran her fingers through her damp, dark brown almost black hair. It was a darker shade then Dawn’s hair Faith noticed, closely resembling her own in fact. “Oh I remember now, I need your help.”

Faith glanced at the small piles of dust on the ground, all that was left of the four uber-vamps that had attacked them. “I don’t see why.” She said honestly.

“I need you to help train me and William, while we’re growing up.” Hope continued stubbornly.

“I didn’t, I mean I don’t?” Faith asked, struggling with which tense she should be using.

“Not really, I mean you were there but you never really took an active part,” Hope explained. “Mom once told us about when you were attacked by another Slayer and how you had to kill her to save your own life. She said you were never quite the same afterwards, that you lost something, your hunger for the kill.”

Faith shifted around uncomfortably. She had never admitted to anyone quite how much Jane’s death or her own encounter of the dying kind had affected her, but it didn’t surprise her that Dawn had noticed anyway, she had always been good at that kind of thing. “Do you know about my past, the things I did when I was around your age?”

Hope nodded slowly. “Yeah I do, your story’s told to all new Slayers, as a warning about how things turn out if you abuse your power.”

“Sounds about right,” Faith laughed bitterly. “Anyway after what happened with Jane I didn’t want to go back to that, I didn’t want to risk turning back into the monster I once was. Not around Dawn, or you and your brother when you arrived. So since then I’ve tried to keep myself restrained, out of harms way. It hasn’t been easy but it’s worked, I haven’t once tipped over that edge and I’m not going to do anything to risk doing that again.”

“You won’t, even if you do let go,” Hope said softly. “Mom will keep you on the straight and narrow, believe me.”

“Sounds like that’s coming from first-hand experience?” Faith asked.

Hope nodded and rolled her eyes. “She’s done it for me for my entire life, I mean there’s been a couple of close calls but nothing jail-worthy.”

“Why is this so important to you?”

“Because we lost,” Hope answered simply. “We fought and lost. Will and I were trained by the best Giles, Aunt Buffy, Uncle Angel and Uncle Xander but we still lost. And you always fought differently to them, with a fire they just didn’t have. I need you to help me get that fire Faith, me and Will you can’t forget him in this. It might be the thing which tips the scales, which will help us win.”

“I don’t know if I can give it to you,” Faith said doubtfully. “It’s kind of an inbuilt thing.”

“And as your daughter and son I’m sure we’ll have it too,” Hope replied. “I just need you to bring it out of us.”

Faith stared at her silently, reluctant to say yes, to what might happen if she did, and then she switched her view to the hell that this girl called home, to the future. “OK, I’ll try,” she promised.

“Thank you Faith,” Hope hugged her impulsively, holding her close. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

“Um, you’re welcome.” Faith awkwardly hugged the slim, young woman back. “So is that the all you wanted?”

“Well no, it actually wasn’t even the major reason,” Hope admitted. “Mostly I need you to convince the others, Aunt Buffy, Giles, Uncle Angel…Mom, about what you’ve seen here, about what’s to come. You need to make them understand just how serious this is and get them to prepare for it.”

“It’s the end of the world,” Faith confirmed with a nod. “You can’t get much more serious then that.”

“And partly I just wanted to see a familiar face.” Hope said quietly.

“A familiar-“ Faith stopped, the realisation of what that statement meant sinking in. “Hope, where is everyone else?”

The look on Hope’s face quickly confirmed Faith’s darkest fears.

“Oh god, you mean...” Faith struggled to comprehend this fact, everyone was gone, dead, her friends her family… “Even me and Daw…your Mom?”

“You were amongst the first to die,” Hope whispered. “The First’s ultimate revenge for defying It and bringing me and Will into the world.”

“So why are you still here?” Faith asked. “I would think The First would have wanted you out of It’s way as quickly as possible.”

“I think It’s keeping me alive to punish me,” Hope told her. “To force me to watch the world die and suffer along with it.”

At that moment Faith happened to glance down at her left hand and noticed that she could see right through it, like it was fading away or something. As she watched with growing alarm the fading spread from her hand right the way up her arm.

Hope noticed it as well and swore softly. “The spell’s wearing off, you won’t be here for much longer, please remember what I’ve told you and what I’ve asked.”

“I won’t forget.” Faith assured her, before quickly fading away into thin air.

Hope sighed heavily. “I hope that was the right thing to do.” She said out loud.

Another girl close to Hope’s age walked out from amongst the nearby dying trees she had been hiding amongst. “I hope so too, that spell was something else. I know that you had planned for…for her to do the spell, but I’m nowhere near as powerful as she was, it took a lot out of me.”

“Yeah.” For a moment Hope stared off into the distance, oblivious to the present, her mind lost in the more pleasant past. Eventually she shook herself free of those memories and determinedly focused back on reality. “Are you OK Alyssa, no major side-effects or anything?”

“Except for the splitting headache I’m sure to get in the near future, I’m good.” Alyssa smiled gently, touched by Hope’s obvious concern for her. “Thanks for asking.”

“We should get out of here,” Hope scanned the sky and nearby ground for any signs of movement. “I’m sure some of The First’s finest are already on their way here now.”

“Are you sure you shouldn’t have told her about William,” the other girl asked cautiously. “It might have helped prevent all this.”

Hope shrugged her shoulders. “I might have, but I told her as much as I dared.” She trudged off down the slope, not checking to see if Alyssa came with her.

“Do you think what we did will make things any better?” Alyssa asked, quickly following Hope down.

“It can’t have made them any worse.”

This time when Faith awoke it was to the more familiar and slightly less hellish surrounds of Dawn’s room in the hospital. She stretched and yawned, the shreds of her dream still clinging to her, and then turned to check on the patient who she discovered was in turn silently watching her.

“Morning sleepyhead.” Dawn whispered, her voice sounding harsh and raspy.

Faith only just stopped herself from scooping Dawn into a crushing hug, instead settling for a much gentler kiss to her forehead. “Dawn, how long have you been awake?”

“An hour or so,” Dawn replied, luxuriating in the feel of Faith’s lips on her skin. “Some of us don’t intend to sleep the entire day away, even after we’ve had major emergency surgery.”

“You should have woken me.” Faith chided her softly.

“But you’re so cute when you’re asleep, plus you looked like you needed it-” Dawn was interrupted by Faith’s lips pressing tenderly against her own. “Though if I had known this was going to be your reaction I might have done it sooner.”

“How are you feeling?” Faith asked immediately after the kiss ended.

“Like I’ve just tried to push a bowling ball out from between my thighs but then someone decided to slice open my stomach and pull it out through there instead.” Dawn answered bluntly.

“Oh,” Faith wasn’t quite sure what to say after that. “Um, maybe I should go get a doctor.”

Dawn nodded her head in agreement, still looking tired and pale.

Faith quickly exited the room and went in search of Dr. Santos, when she found him Faith practically dragged him in the direction of Dawn’s room. This time when he suggested she stay out of the room while he checked Dawn over Faith merely nodded and then went off in search of the nursery.

It was only as she was making her way over there that it finally hit her, she was now a mother…father… moth…parent, she had children of her own that she was responsible for and she was going to have to help raise and take care of, and be all authoritative and adult.

Faith stopped momentarily and leaned weakly up against a nearby wall; it was at times like these that she deeply regretted quitting smoking because she could kill for a calming cigarette right now.

She took a deep breath before she moved off again, dragging her feet a little as if she could put this thing off, when she finally arrived she found the rest of the gang staring through the large glass window at the dozens of babies in the room.

As soon as they spied Faith everyone ran over, bombarding her with questions about how Dawn was and if she was awake yet.

“Yes she’s awake and talking,” Faith informed them once the flow of questions had slowed a little. “The doctor’s with her now, checking her over and stuff.”

“But she’s OK?” Buffy demanded.

“She’s tired and sore but other then that she’s of the good.” Faith answered. “So…which ones are ours?” She asked nervously, gesturing towards the nursery.

Buffy took her by the hand and guided her up to the window. “Those two there, that’s Hope and that’s William.” She said, pointing towards two babies near the front of the room.

Faith had never understood why people thought babies were cute and lovable, she’d always found them kind of wrinkled and ugly. But seeing the twins for the first time, her and Dawn’s twins…didn’t change her opinion in the slightest, though she had to say that the twins were slightly less wrinkled and ugly then all the other babies in the room, but that was probably just her parental pride getting the better of her

It wasn’t until Dr. Santos arrived and informed them that they could all visit Dawn, briefly, that Faith realised she had been standing at the window gazing in on those two little bundles for far longer then was necessary, and strangely she didn’t seem to mind it at all.

Faith reluctantly tore herself away and caught up with the others as they made their way to Dawn’s room, walking up alongside Buffy. “Hey B, can I ask you a question?”

“I think you just did.” Buffy quipped back.

“What’s Azekarul’s Vault?” Faith asked, ignoring Buffy’s lame attempt at humour.

Buffy stopped and gaped at her. “Where did you hear about that?”

“I’ll tell you all about it when we get to Dawn’s room, I want her to hear about this as well,” Faith replied, feeling a certain amount of smugness at Buffy’s shocked response. “Believe me it’s one hell of a story.”

For all of the time the Scoobies had been vigilantly watching over the twins none of them had noticed a figure standing over them, seething with impotent rage, but then The First could always disguise It’s presence when It wished too.

It continued to stand there for a long time after they left, glowering at the twin sources of It’s intense frustration. It was hard to believe that anything that small could be such a significant threat to something like Itself.

Not for the first time The First found Itself wishing for physical form so It could deal with them directly, snapping their tiny, fragile little necks would give It such pleasure and be such a sweet relief, snuffing out their threat to It in a single, violent instant, instead the worst it could do to the twins was a piercing glance.

“Humans, you can’t even rely on their disgusting biology.” It muttered angrily, It had delayed the capture of Azekarul and his army just so it could coordinate their release with the twins birth, now It would have to wait years until all the proper alignments occurred and artefacts were gathered before It could even begin to try, and even then there was no certainty of success.

And of course by then the twins would be fully grown and a much greater threat to It, at least the girl would be, the boy was an anomaly that shouldn’t have existed, and as such he made for intriguing possibilities that could possibly be exploited to It’s advantage.

“If I have to wait years for my ultimate victory then so be it,” The First whispered darkly. “The passing of time does not bother me girl, I have infinite patience. But when my time comes I’ll make sure you live long enough to see your parents and friends and all your little Scoobies die in the most painful and violent ways I can devise.

“If you knew what I have planned, what’s to come you would tremble and weep little one. Enjoy your pathetic little life while you can, I’ll see it all destroyed and you a broken, lifeless shell before the end.”

The First gave the sleeping babe one final look, before fading away to begin It’s preparations for the coming war.

Author’s Note 2: OK I’ll admit it is a little bit of a sucky ending but I wasn’t quite sure how to finish things and this was the best I could come up with. Before anyone asks yes there probably will be another sequel to this story though not for a while, I’ve been writing this story on and off for the last two and a half years and to be honest I need a break from it.

I do already have an idea for the sequel however, it will be set sixteen years after the events in this story when the twins are the same age as Buffy and the original Scoobies were in Season One of the TV show and it will be based mostly around Hope’s life although the usual suspects, Buffy, Dawn, Faith, Angel and of course her brother William will make frequent appearances if in slightly different roles as responsible adults, I will however be writing other stuff so keep an eye out for it and as always reviews are very welcome.