Kansas?
Buffy lightly slaps Willow's face as she pleads "Will, Will, come on. I need you. You have to get us out of here. Come on, Will. Wake up!"
Willow's battered and bleeding face looks up at Buffy and takes a moment to recognize her. Drunkenly she lifts her arm and points. Power flows from her to a point in the air and a portal starts to form.
Buffy does her best to ignore the monstrous howls and snarls growing ever closer. She knows Willow will come through despite her injures. Just in case, she grips the hilt of her broken sword tighter. She promises they will not take them alive.
"It is done." Willow rasps and passes out once more.
Buffy drags them both through the portal. The portal's light is blinding and she is forced to shut her eyes. As they exit the portal, she opens her eyes to find they are in a corn field. Definitely, not England. It looks more like the American Midwest. Where they are is not that important at the moment, she has to find help for her and Willow. She knows she cannot go much farther before her strength fails her but she also knows that Willow will bleed to death if she doesn't get help soon.
Ignoring her blurring vision, Buffy drags them through the corn towards a farmhouse she can see in the distance. It takes all her concentration to keep moving forward. She is having more and more trouble drawing a breath and Willow gets heavier and heavier. Determined not to give up, she push on.
Chloe is enjoying a quiet day on the Kent farm just relaxing on the porch basking in the sun. Clark and most of the league are off planet preventing some epic disaster. Only Draggon was left behind so Earth wouldn't be completely undefended. As if she didn't know, Clark meant so she wouldn't be undefended. She swears he thinks she is the most fragile thing in all the universe. Normally this would totally piss her off but it so hard to be mad when he is being so sweet. 'Damn him.' she thinks with a mental laugh.
Spending time with Draggon is not torture by any means. He is still working on human customs but he has managed to loosen up some. Who knew Impulse could be a good influence on anyone? Right now, Draggon is taking care of the farm chores. They both know it is just another excuse for him to be near her at the farm but he knows enough not to admit that Clark asked him to watch over her.
Suddenly, Draggon comes running out of the barn yelling for her to get in the house. 'Like that is ever going to happen.' she thinks. She may not be a front liner like him but she is still a member of the league. She jumps up and runs after him. She follows him into the corn field where she sees two badly injured young women making their way towards them. When the blond sees Draggon, she puts her friend down and lifts a broken sword. It is clear she intends to fight. Trying to avoid an unnecessary battle, Chloe shouts "Wait. He is friendly."
Tracking the source of the dimensional rift to midway into the back cornfield, Draggon knows this can only be an attack. No one who knows the value of this location would approach that way. Preparing for battle he races into the field. He knows Chloe is following but he did try to warn her of the danger. He didn't expect her to listen but he promised Clark he would try. Why Clark cannot accept Chloe is able to handle herself, he does not understand. Even more surprising is that Chloe puts up with this over protectiveness.
As he approaches the source of the rift, he sees two injured females. Realizing there is no way they can pose a threat as they can barely stand, his mind switches over to figuring out what he can do to help them. When the blond female lifts her weapon, he pulls up. He raises his claws defensively but keeps his distance. Chloe's shout does not seem to convince the woman so Draggon takes a few steps back to reassure her.
'Oh great, another demon. Leave it to me to find the only demon infested part of the Ohio or wherever we are.' Buffy thinks to herself. She puts Willow on the ground as gently as she can and brings her broken sword to attack position. She tries to defiantly shout "You will not take us alive." but no sound comes out of her cracked throat. Still her posture should get the message across to whatever it is.
When the demon stops, she thinks it is just studying her before attacking but the shouts of small blonde girl running behind the demon give her pause.
Almost completely out of breath when she reaches the group, Chloe needs a second before she can say "He is friendly (pant) we are friendly (pant) I am Chloe (pant) let us help you. (pant) Need to work out more."
"I wish you no harm. Clearly you and your friend are injured. Let us help you. It what we do." Draggon says seriously.
"What are you Superheroes or something?" Buffy says with as much sarcasm as she can muster.
"Exactly." Draggon replies completely missing the sarcasm.
Chloe, having recovered her breath, approaches cautiously. "I know it is hard to believe here in Kansas but he is a member of the Justice League. I swear we only want to help." Chloe explains.
Buffy has no idea what a Justice League is but it doesn't sound evil. With few options and trusting her gut, she lowers her sword. She tries to stay on her feet but finds herself on her knees.
Chloe rushes forward while Draggon still keeps his distance not wanting to startle either stranger. She looks over the blonde then turns to the red head. "I think you will be ok. Your wounds look mostly superficial but your friend is hurt much worse. She has lost a lot of blood. My power will let me heal her but it takes a lot out of me so you will be alone with Draggon. Don't worry he won't hurt you. He is a good guy." she says with a bright smile.
Buffy nods at Chloe too weary to do more. She will accept any help to save Willow and worry about the price later. When she sees Chloe placing glowing hands on Willow, she assumes the girl is a witch. She is not expecting Chloe to then slump over in a ghastly shade of pale. "She looks, oh my god, she is dead!" Buffy exclaims as her enhanced slayer sense confirm Chloe no longer has a heart beat. She tries to move to the poor girl who just died helping them but the demon is there first.
"This is what happens sometimes. She will recover." he says in a way Buffy thinks is meant to be reassuring.
"She gets better from dying?" Buffy remarks before her exhausted and now overloaded brain shuts down. In a very ungraceful way, she falls face first into the Kansas mud.
With three unconscious human females lying around him, Draggon ponders the best way to get them all to the house. He picks Chloe up and puts her on his shoulder. The red head she healed goes on his other shoulder and the blonde he lifts with his tail. It takes a bit of effort to get them all in the house but he manages.
Thanks to Chloe's healing, there is no sign of injury still on the red head so Draggon checks the blonde first. He bandages several wounds but none appear serious. In fact, he can see them healing as he works. She must be an enhanced human to heal so quickly.
Willow wakes with a brutal headache. She squints her eyes to look around and sees she is in a house. She has never seen it before but it looks homey and inviting. As she examines the room, she sees a demon kneeling next to Buffy's unconscious form. For a moment, Willow's heart stops fearing for her friend's life but then she notices the tender way the creature is bandaging Buffy's wounds. 'Wow, those demons really worked them over.' she realizes. Wait wasn't she dying? Looking at her own body, she can see the holes in her clothes and all the dried blood but her skin is healthy and pink. Clearly, someone used magic to heal her. 'Why not Buffy?' she wonders.
Trying to speak takes several tries as her throat is so dry. When she manages it, she asks "Where are we?"
The creature turns and approaches. His massive frame is intimidating but Willow forces herself to stay relaxed. He could have killed them easily since they are not dead he must be friendly she reasons.
"You are in Kansas on Earth. I cannot be more specific because the location of this house is a secret. Have no fear; I will not harm you or your friend. I am Draggon proud member of the Justice League. You are safe." he says with surprisingly good English.
"Thank you for help us. How did you heal me? Can you do the same for Buffy?" Willow inquires.
"When my friend, Chloe, recovers I am sure she will heal her if she needs it. I don't think it will be necessary though as your friend is not like normal humans. Her wounds are healing fine on their own. I only bandaged them to stop the bleeding." Draggon explains.
Realizing she had skipped over introducing herself, she adds "I am Willow and that is Buffy." She coughs a bit from her dry and sore throat so she asks "Can I get something to drink? Water perhaps?"
"It is a pleasure to meet you. Of course, the sink is over there (points to the open kitchen area); glasses are in the cabinet next to it. Please help yourself to the frig. I don't have to eat as often as humans so I am not the best host. Please let me know if there is anything you need." he says in a friendly manner.
Getting up Willow makes her way to the sink, finds a glass and takes a long drink of water. 'Wow, the water is so clean and refreshing.' she thinks. It has none of the aftertaste that Sunnydale's water had. Answering the grumbling in her stomach, she peeks in the frig. Finding an apple, she takes a bite and walks over to check on Buffy. She moves a stray stand of hair from Buffy's face and gives her a light kiss on the cheek careful not to wake her. They had been through so much Buffy deserves a nice long nap. Looking at her tattered clothes, she asks "I don't suppose there are some spare clothes I can borrow?"
"Chloe will not mind sharing some of hers and I think Lois' old clothes will fit your friend. Come with me, I will show you were they are stored." Draggon explains and heads carefully up a set of stairs that creak under his weight.
Following, she finds him digging in a hall closet. The sight brings a smile to her face. She never expected to see a demon doing something so domestic. After a minute, he brings out a box which is marked "Lois". He then takes her to a bedroom. He knocks respectfully on the door then enters. Willow drops her apple when she sees the dead girl carefully tucked in the bed. Panic starts to overcome her as she realizes this is one twisted demon. She starts to back out of the room.
Seeing the look of horror on Willow's face, Draggon assures her "She will recover."
'Crap, he thinks she is just resting. What the heck did her and Buffy walk into this time?' frantically flashes through Willow's mind. When the girl in the bed suddenly sits up gasping, Willow runs out of the room. In her still weakened state, she trips and stumbles down the stairs. She hits a bookshelf opposite the bottom of the stairs hard and stuff rains down on her.
All this noise wakes Buffy who jumps up and looks around for the threat. She sees Willow lying against a bookcase wiping glass out of her hair. Chloe comes running down the stairs with Draggon in tow.
Chloe says calmly "It is ok. I bet that freaked you out. It does everyone the first time they see me come back from the dead. It is just how my healing powers work."
Willow is trying to process what the girl said when Buffy comes over and helps her to her feet.
"It is ok, Will. They helped us." Buffy says reassuringly.
"You don't understand. She was dead." Willow explains.
"Well, I have died like what 3 times now?" Buffy points out.
"Good point." Willow concedes. "Sorry, I should be used to all the weird stuff with the life we lead. (sheepishly) I was afraid your friend there was one twisted evil puppy who liked to keep people as pets. It has happened before." Willow explains.
"Draggon is one of the good guys. (points to a symbol on his clothing) He is a member of the Justice League, just like me." Chloe replies.
"What is a Justice League?" Buffy asks.
"You don't know the Justice League?" Chloe replies stunned. These girls either have been living in a cave or they are from a lot farther away than they thought.
Draggon stands straight and tall as he says with pride and conviction "The Justice League is a group of beings who use their various abilities to protect the people of this and other worlds from the forces of evil."
He has been hanging out with Clark too much again Chloe realizes. "Basically, we are the good guys." she clarifies.
"Sorry, we have never heard of you but we are pretty busy. We save the world too." Buffy explains.
"Do you mind if we use your phone to call out friends?" Willow asks.
"Sure. (picks up phone and hands it to Willow) Use this one." Chloe replies.
Willow dials one, then another and another number trying to reach Slayer HQ but they all come up as either wrong numbers or not in service. That confirms her theory. "I can't reach HQ because I don't think we are on our Earth. I must have portaled us to a parallel world. Sorry." Willow admits.
"That would explain a lot." Buffy and Chloe remark together. They share a brief moment as they look at each other then they both smile and laugh.
"You owe me a coke." Buffy adds.
Draggon tries to be helpful by saying "My scanner detected the portal you opened. It will contain the dimensional coordinates to get you back to the world you just came from."
"We don't want to go back there. That was a hell dimension. We went there to kill a demon lord who was trying to destroy our world. As you saw, we barely made it out of there but we got the bastard." states Buffy.
"Besides we don't travel using tech, not when my girl Will is here to work her magic." Buffy adds.
Chloe raises an eyebrow when she sees Willow blush. She knows that look. It is exactly the one Clark gets when she compliments him. 'Are they more than friends?' she wonders. Since there is no polite way to ask, she just files that suspicion for later. "Is there anything we can do to help?" she inquires.