Rising from the Wreckage

Disclaimer: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, et al. No copyright infringement was intended. The storyline, however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

Summary: Begins right after the car accident in Wrecked. This time, however, Willow doesn't stand for Buffy's attitude anymore after spending a night high on magicks and just getting out of a car accident. She's a bit mad and it shows.

For only a moment the quiet night was broken with the sound of a hiss of steam as it billowed from the crunched and mangled hood of the car. The wreckage laid pressed up against a strong, stone pillar, which effectively stopped any further retreat the witch and key tried to make. With a grunt and groan of pain Dawn slowly started to come too as her blurry eyes took in the scene around her. Exhausted, she managed to call up some reserve strength to push the door open and heard the metal click and pop as it finally gave way. She stumbled and clutched her left arm close to her chest in a vain attempt to lessen the pain, she made her away around the vehicle that now looked like an accordion and noticed Willow's unconscious form slumped forward, head resting on the steering wheel.

Before she could even react a demon lunged forward, if she had a moment to really think about it, Dawn wouldn't have been surprised to find that the demon wouldn't give them a break long enough to get their minds back in order, but, as it were, she didn't have much time to think about anything other than to survive. It managed to catch up to them while they both laid unconscious and now Dawn was left to fend for herself. The teen couldn't help the scream that forced itself from her lips; her instincts kicked in and she pushed as hard as she could and ignored the pain that shot up her injured arm. Dawn knew she stood no chance to really fight the demon and did the next best thing. She dropped to the ground and frantically clawed her way under it, a move that was severely hindered by the uselessness of her arm. Before she could get all the way underneath the demon recovered his footing, grabbed Dawn's legs, and pulled her roughly across the cement ground.

Dawn managed to quickly flip herself over onto her back and kicked with all her might; the adrenaline that raced through her system gave her extra strength. She needed another distraction, but there was nothing around to aid her in her plight until she began to clutch at the ground once more. She pulled up a handful of dirt and threw it into the demon's eyes and used the time it took to clear his vision to run. He was too fast and easily recovered and grabbed Dawn once more. The teen struggled hard and pounded exhausted limbs against his bare chest.

He lashed out, sending the back of his clawed hand to crash into her face and it sent Dawn down the alley to land with a thud. With the last ounce of reserve, Dawn once again tried to crawl away and yet the demon persisted, as it snarled at her and drew near.

"Dawn!" Buffy cried out as her trained eyes quickly took in the scene. Her instincts immediately kicked into high gear and Buffy attacked with vicious punches and kicks. She clearly had the advantage, but the demon got some hard shots in as well. Spike, who followed quickly behind Buffy, knew the demon was taken care of and brought his attention to the injured teenager who rested up against a pillar.

Almost as suddenly as it began the demon started to tremble and shake, added snarls and screeches of pain to its lament, only to just vanish before everyone's eyes. What stood behind him, however, was a sight even worse. Willow, blood dripping down her forehead from a cut along her hairline, leaned weakly against another pillar, purple sparks of electricity jumped wildly from her fingertips and eyes completely black.

"No, no!" Dawn cried out and it broke the intense moment between Witch and Slayer.

"Dawn." Buffy stated simply and rushed to her sister where Spike tried his best to assess the severity of her injuries.

Dawn, now that the immediate threat was gone and she could allow her mind to process the events that just took place and allow her body to feel the pain it was in, cried. "Uh... he was after Willow. She made the car drive... don't!" Dawn was cut off when Buffy tried to look at the teen's arm that she continued to hug close to her body. "No, don't!"

"I need to see, okay? Let me see your arm." Buffy tried to coax her sister. She knew Dawn was hurt and in considerable pain but the stubborn streak in the teen refused to let Buffy in to handle the situation.

Willow, who finally managed to get some strength back into her body, rushed up to the scene as Buffy started to pull Dawn to her feet with Spike on the other side.

Buffy ignored Willow's concern as she fought to control the anger she felt towards her best friend. Not just anger; disappointment, fear, and concern, all boiled just below the surface, but the strongest emotion was anger for how Willow not only allowed Dawn to get hurt but was the main facilitator in it. "Okay, we need to get her to a doctor," Buffy announced as she refused to look at Willow.

"Is she okay? Is she okay?" Willow became frantic as she tried to find out Dawn's condition. She wanted to help but Buffy quickly shooed her away.

Willow didn't know what to do with herself. Through her panic she knew she'd crossed a line, especially when Buffy was so aloof to her, but she needed to know Dawn was okay. "No, Dawnie!" she cried out as they tried to get Dawn out of the alley.

"I mean it, stay away from her!" Buffy warned, her patience grew thin quickly as Willow kept rushing around the small group.

Willow ran in front of them and stopped their slow progress out of the area. Willow clearly lost any semblance of control she had and broke down, "Dawnie! Dawnie, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, it was an accident! I didn't see, I'm so, so sorry."

Dawn didn't have the same reservations about keeping her cool around the way-ward witch and let her anger clearly show on her face as she glared at Willow. Before anyone could react Dawn lashed out and slapped Willow hard across the face, though, in their overcharged states, Willow barely registered any pain and was in shock more than anything.

The three began to walk again, Buffy couldn't hold the slap against her sister because even she wanted to smack some sense into Willow at this point. Willow was beside herself with guilt and grief and collapsed to the ground in hysterical tears.

Spike looked to Buffy and gave a slight nod to let her know that he could handle Dawn on his own and the Slayer turned to the crumpled mess that was once her strong, proud, best friend.

"I screwed it up, everything! Tara..." Willow started to spiral into a fit of uncontrollable self-pity.

Buffy grabbed Willow's arm and pulled her to her feet without care if she held on too tightly. To see how her sister was hurt and to have Willow turn it into a self-loathing escape pushed Buffy over the edge. This all had to stop and it was going to stop this instant. "Yeah, you know what, you did screw up. You could have killed her! You almost did!"

Buffy shook Willow and cut her off, "No, I don't want to hear it. This isn't about you now, Willow. This is about Dawn. About how she trusted you! Looked up to you! And now there is a young girl whose heart is crushed and probably has a broken arm and concussion on top of it. I don't want to hear 'oh woe is me' from you right now." Buffy's voice quickly edged to cruel and she caught herself. Buffy had to force herself to take a deep breath before she tried again with slightly less venom. "This is going to stop now, do you understand? It will stop now or you will have to leave the house. I love you, Will, I do, but I have to think of Dawn first."

Willow's tears slowly dried up and left streaks along her face, which were made more prominent from the dust and dirt that lay on her cheeks. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the intense words that came at her from the person who was supposed to be her best friend. The one who now acted all high and mighty. The one who could barely spend a moment with anyone other than herself. The one who spent most of her time wallowing in her own self pity.

Willow's eyes narrowed at the challenge Buffy presented and she took a step back to face her friend completely. "How dare you?" Willow shot back.

Buffy expected anything really, anything but the returned indignation. She knew this would quickly move towards a fight and wasn't sure it was the best thing to do at the moment. "That's where I stand, Willow, now if you don't mind I'd like to make sure my sister is okay," Buffy spat out the words.

"Oh, sure, walk away! Walk away just like you've done all year, Buffy! Ohhhhh, the big, bad slayer has to run away whenever things get too close." Willow taunted. She didn't know why she felt the need to push her friend. In fact, she knew it was probably the most outrageous thing to do; egg on a pissed off slayer whose sister she just hurt. Not the wisest move she'd ever made considering her sudden track record, but just as Buffy felt the need to draw the line, Willow needed to get certain issues out as well.

Buffy spun on her heels to face the redhead, her eyes narrowed to near slits and she let her anger release. "Who do you think you are?" She asked, her voice low and dangerous. "You're whacked out on magicks, you take my sister to some dealer and nearly get her killed because of some stupid demon *you* conjured up and you have the audacity to question me?"

"Bwah!" Willow scoffed. "I'm not the one with the problem here, Slayer," Willow drew out Buffy's title, mocking it. "I'm not the one who's been moping around here like some puppy that's just been kicked. Well boo hoo! I'll tell you what, Buffy. I'll go. I'll go and let you all try to find a way to get through your problems without me to cry to. Without me to run to when you need something hacked into or when you need a heads up to tell you that you're about to get jumped or worse! I'm tired of you telling me one minute to do a spell for you and the next minute have everyone jump down my throat that I'm out of control. Maybe while I'm gone you might actually figure out that living life isn't as bad as you make it out to be. Yeah, I'm sorry you're hurting, but you know what, so are the rest of us."

Buffy took in the words and knew that there was some level of truth and felt a pang of hurt when she heard that Willow planned to leave. She went to step in and end this before it got completely of control but Willow was to have none of that.

"No! You always get to have your say, now it's my turn." Willow saw that Buffy was ready to jump in and wanted her moment to get this all out. "Did you even notice when Tara left? No!" Willow took a deep breath. "The one person in all the world who I love more than life itself left me and moved out and you barely even noticed. Were you just too wrapped up in yourself to care or did you not even realize how important Tara was to me in the first place?"

"Nice way to treat someone you claim to love so much!" Buffy shot back before she could censor herself.

Willow's mouth snapped shut before she could respond. Her body stiffened, almost as though Buffy's words were a physical blow. Willow slowly shook her head and ended the conversation. She walked past her friend but stopped and faced her, their noses practically touched. "Screw you!" she whispered, her voice harsh and she slapped the Slayer hard across the face.

Buffy's slayer instincts would have stopped the strike if she ever thought Willow would have done anything like that in her life. Still, it was a surprise as her face snapped sideways and when she looked back Willow already stormed away.

"Okay, just try to get some rest," Buffy urged as she helped Dawn into her bed after their long night at the hospital. The teen nodded and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Buffy went to her room, pulled out a pair of boxers and a shirt and made her way into the bathroom. She allowed the steaming water to splash and hammer into her skin, and her muscles finally relaxed, albeit only slightly. She was too tired to even enjoy the sensation and opted to hurry up and just get to bed.

By the time she stepped from the shower the room was a mass of fog. She quickly toweled off, dressed, and brushed her hair through. As she stepped into the hall her eyes drifted to the room that was once her mother's. She noted that, though it was closed, it was slightly ajar and figured she'd at least check on Willow. She didn't know if they'd get past this, but her friend had also been injured in the accident and no one took the time to see just how badly she was hurt. She quietly pushed the door open a little further, her plan was to just peak in and make sure things were okay. Problem was, things were far from okay.

Willow, true to her word, made sure she was gone, and opted to leave before they even got back from the hospital. She pushed the door open quickly and flicked on the light by the bedside. Closet and dresser drawers were left open, empty hangers clear evidence that the Witch was really gone. Vacant slots on bookshelves told the tale that Willow had taken the most immediate needs that she could get out of the house in time and left. Her eyes went to a note that rested on the bed.

That was is. All Willow would say. Not even a 'Dear Buffy' or 'Love Willow.' Sure Buffy was still angry that her friend had gone so far over the edge but she couldn't stop loving the redhead. She'd done plenty of stupid things in her own life that to simply destroy their friendship over this one issue would be insane at best. They just needed time to work through it, but apparently Willow had other ideas. Buffy decided that it was probably for the best. It would give them all time to calm down and get their thoughts in order.

With a heart-aching sigh, Buffy turned off the light, clung to the small note, and closed the door behind her before she threw her drained body onto the bed.

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Rising from the Wreckage

Chapter 1

By AmberBenson Fan

Amberbensonfan@hotmail.com