In Your Blood

Authors introduction:-

The second story I ever wrote was a Highlander Buffy crossover. More than ten years ago. I never finished it. Not because I didn't want to, but it just wasn't working. I tried to write it again as a REDUX, my personal description when completely re-writing a story from the very start, not just tweaking it on a second draft. Again it didn't work, there were too many problems with the character and the story wasn't unfolding the way it should.

Highlander has always been one of those universes I love, but never had any luck writing for. Next to Terminator it's caused me the most trouble when trying to crossover with anything. Especially Buffy.

However, I have always come back to it. Time and time again. There's something about the idea I can't let go and introducing it into other universes opens so many possibilities I just can't leave it alone.

A few months ago I went back to that long abandoned second story and retooled it once again. Throwing out a lot of the extraneous nonsense I worked on it some more and the result was War of Kings. A fun one off that just bounced along in the writing process. Everything sort of worked for me there, as my fellow writers will know sometimes everything just clicks and the story writes itself. The things holding me back all those years ago vanished.

I enjoyed it so much I decided to try and write a sequel. Here it is. Enjoy.


Disclaimer:-

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and related characters was created by Joss Whedon and is owned by Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox

Highlander (the TV series) and related characters was created by Peter Davis and Bill Panzer and is owned by Gaumont Television


Chapter One

It was dark, so dark that you couldn't begin to describe it.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

There was no light, no sound. Nothing. An absolute nothing.

You couldn't even feel. Not hot nor cold, hard or soft. Not even a heartbeat. Just an all encompassing numbness. The total silence was oppressive in this empty black abyss.

There was no time here, no before or after. Just the endless now. Memories of before were a vague blur of unfamiliar thoughts and half formed ideas.

No sense of self was left to them.

They simply existed in this nothing

Then all that changed. In an instant there was a horrible cracking noise. With a shock Dawn was suddenly awake. Like the firing of a starters gun she was back. The night mare was over.

The sound that woke her had been loud, so loud she had felt it.

She might not be gone anymore but she had no idea where she was or what happened. She tried screaming but the only sound she made was a dry squeak. Gasping for air Dawn realised there was something over her face and mouth. Covering her, trapping her

Confused and desperate she struggled against it. Clawing at whatever it was, but she could only just move her arms. She kept banging into something, hard. What ever it was rang like a bell. Dawn tied to kick her legs free, but they too were wrapped up and bouncing off metal.

Wherever she was it was pitch black, cold, and terrifying like nothing she'd ever felt before. Eventually she tore enough of it from her face. Finally gasping for air she found it stale and thin, but breathing was breathing.

It meant she was alive, and not that other thing. For how long that was going to last she had no idea.

The only thing she knew for certain right there and then was that she was trapped. Locked in a box no bigger than herself.

Banging around Dawn fought against the situation, Her screams were still weak but if she could get someone, any one to hear her they would set her free. They had to, right?

She had almost given up hope when, as if from nowhere, there was light. She felt two hands grab her legs and pull. With a squeak Dawn fell out of wherever she was into the blue tinted freedom. Her arms finally, truly, free she could tear free of the cloth covering her. Kicking out at the hands they let go of her.

Gasping for fresh air she felt like a fish thrown back into the water. After a few gulping breaths Dawn finally looked around.

She'd been in what had to be giant metal box. There was a wall full of them in a room with hideous off green walls and harsh neon lights overhead. Dawn was no dummy and knew exactly what it looked like, but her mind rebelled at the idea. She swallowed, her heart beat pounding against her ribs and a deafening buzz loud in her ears. Somehow she knew she wasn't alone, even though she hadn't seen anyone else yet.

'Hello again.' A half familiar English voice said from off to one side.

Speechless Dawn pulled what was left of the flimsy sheet closer around herself, suddenly realising she wasn't exactly dressed and around a virtual stranger.

It was that other Immortal, the one that had killed Buffy's boyfriend. He was carefully looking up and to the left. Not at her exactly, but close enough. 'I was never really an officer, but I was a gentleman. More than once actually.' He admitted. Still not even glancing at her he threw a bag she barely caught. 'You might want to put those on. I… Recovered them when no one was looking.'

Looking inside and seeing her clothes from what had to be the previous night Dawn stammered; 'How… How did…?' her voice was still dry, but already sounded better. At least to her.

'Luck. Blind chance.' He shrugged. 'Or I could have been following you for the last couple of weeks.'

'My own private stalker?' She shot back. Swallowing painfully. 'Why?'

'I would of thought that was obvious by now. Come on and get dressed. You'll be surprised how often people do actually check on morgues.'

It took Dawn a couple of minutes to get dressed under the blanket. Sure her hair was a mess, she had next to no makeup and the less said about what she'd left in the bag the better. 'Did you do this to me?' She asked after a moment.

Adam was checking the door. 'No.' He said and Dawn almost believed him. He finally turned to look at her. 'What do you remember?' They asked her, something dangerous behind his eyes.

Frowning she looked down at herself and back up. 'I… I don't.' She admitted, coming up with nothing. No answers. She drew a complete blank when a sudden thought came to her. 'Oh my god, Buffy! Where's my sister?'

'With the authorities I should imagine. Trying to come up with a story that they'll accept. She needn't bother, Rome's an old city. It's used to the occasional unexplained murder.'

'Yeah, because that makes things all better.' Dawn snarked back, already feeling better. 'Seriously though, were you following me?'

Adam rolled his eyes. 'Yes, and before you give me some long winded reason why that's a bad idea can I point out now that you're alive, again, we should get out of here. Unless you want to try explain things.'

'I wouldn't know how.' Dawn pointed out, matching the attitude he was giving her. 'Not until, I don't know, you tell me!'

'Then let's find somewhere a little more convenient, shall we? Where we're not going to be arrested ourselves.' He gave her another minute to pull her shoes on and the pair of them sneaked out.

Adam was good at sneaking, he had to be. Hiding out in the same city as the Slayer that wanted to rip your head off? Sneaking was kind of a prerequisite. Dawn followed as closely as she dared, all the while her mind racing. Trying to remember what happened was like exploring a toothache. Painful and getting her nowhere. The best she could manage was going somewhere without Buffy. An argument. A big fight. Something nasty with breath that could melt steel and people screaming her name. Then darkness.

Shuddering she looked back to Adam who was waving her to a fire exit. She'd met her rescuer slash stalker slash former kidnapper maybe a month or so earlier. While Buffy was dating the then still alive Immortal. It turned out the charming thousand or so year old Italian wasn't the only one of his kind like he claimed. And that the others ran around chopping each others heads off.

Adam, if that was his name 'cause who knew with these people, was another one. The Immortal had done some pretty nasty things to a girl he'd adopted at the turn of the last century. Reading up on what had happened almost made Dawn sick. When she found some evidence it wasn't some sob story the man had invented she had been.

Of course, even if Dawn had told Buffy her former boyfriend was a murdering rapist there was little chance her headstrong sister would believe it. Dawn stopped at what looked to be a service entrance that lead on to the sun drenched street. Adam stepped out into the daylight, 'What's wrong?' He asked urgently.

'I… I can't go out there.' She admitted.

'What?'

Dawn shook her head. 'I died right? I mean I was dead?' She dreaded the answer.

'For about six hours.' He told her like it was the most normal thing in the world. 'Why?'

Taking a breath Dawn looked at the daylight again. 'If I'm back it's because…'

'You're Immortal, not a vampire.' Adam told her with a shake of his own head before making sure he was standing fully in the sunlight. 'I can prove it. Give me your hand.'

Nervously Dawn reached out and took his hand. The morning sun was warm, but not burning like she expected. After a tense moment she stepped out into the alley herself.

Adam was still smirking at her. 'Hey, I've never exactly died before. Okay?' She snarked at him.

He just laughed back.


Buffy was, to put it mildly, pissed. She was going start killing things soon. All night she'd been cooped up in the police station trying to come up with something to explain what had happened. She didn't even know the full story and was angry with herself for sending Andrew away.

It didn't help that while she had gotten quite good at ordering coffee her Italian was pretty much limited to asking if the seat was taken and if she could get that to go.

Thankfully one of the officers, who knew a little English, was able to get a translator. Buffy had enough time to come up with something they'd believe. A mugging gone wrong. She didn't expect it to hold up, not everyone was a incompetent as the good old Sunnydale Police. To make it sound more believable Buffy gave an exaggerated description of a vampire she took out the night before. A big guy, more neck than brains. She might have gone a little overboard with the whole thing, but between her, the translator and the old fashioned sketch artist it actually looked right.

Buffy was explaining what had supposedly happened for what felt like the thousandth time, while looking at the sketch, when there was a commotion over with some of the officers. She picked up a few hushed words with her Slayer hearing. Recognising just enough to know they were talking about her.

'What's that about?' She asked the Officer that knew English, fixing them with a glare. After a moment or two they folded and muttered something.

The translator wasn't anymore immune and they told her that Dawn's body had gone missing!


Dawn checked her shadow again. Yep, still there and she was still not on fire, so Vampire was off the table.

Now outside she could finally start to collect her thoughts. She still couldn't remember the last night, but she was beginning to think a little clearer. The first problem was she still didn't trust this guy, but was in no shape to run or to fight him off. 'My phone? Did you pick it up too or…'

Adam shook his head. 'I'd think your sister has it by now. Why?'

'I… I need to call her.' Dawn struggled with the words. What could you say in this situation? 'Tell her that I'm… I'm back.'

He spun on her; 'You're joking, right? You want to call your sister and then what? "Oh, Hi there, not dead. Long story, talk to you later. Bye"?'

Dawn fumed at his sarcasm. 'It wouldn't be the first time. Come on, my sister's the Slayer. Do you really think this is the strangest thing to happen in our, in my life?'

'So you've died before?' He looked at her strangely.

Dawn half shrugged. 'Well not so much me, but Buffy has. She came back. Twice.'

He had that same expression on his face. It was unreadable, old and mysterious. 'Come back or brought back?'

'Huh?'

'Witchcraft. Magic. Did someone cast a spell to bring her back, or did she just get better?' He asked and Dawn was reminded of when they first met. The wiggins he'd given her, only this time it was a thousand times more intense.

She shuddered. 'Oh, magic. The second time.' Dawn casually shrugged as she tried to hide the fact she was desperately searching for somewhere to run to. 'The first time was CPR.' Then a thought came to her. 'How did you do it with me? Is it like an Immortal trick, bringing people back? If, you know, they're not really just kinda… Gone?'

Adam chuckled. 'What happened was nothing to do with me. You really were dead, no half measures You came back. That's how it works.'

'But magic, right?' Dawn asked desperately.

Adam shook his head

'Oh… Crap.' Dawn swore under her breath. The only thing that kept her from running in the opposite direction from him was that, thankfully, even though it was still early the streets weren't empty. There were enough people to make a scene if she needed to. 'So you really think I'm like you?'

'I can prove it.' He told her, a smug smile on his face.

'How?' She asked. 'Because I'm not looking forward to a demonstration.'

His smile became even more smug. 'You've had a headache, ever since you woke up. It's like feedback on an old speaker stack, right behind your eyes. It comes in waves and you've never felt anything like it before.'

Dawn looked at him in shock. He was right, she'd almost missed it with everything that was going on, but it was exactly like he described. 'How…?'

'I've got the same. Sort of.' He explained. 'We call it the Quickening. The energy that makes you and me Immortal. It reacts when another of our kind comes in range. Think of it as an early warning. You feel that, you know someone is nearby.'

'Right.' Dawn took that onboard. 'Not exactly proof though.'

'You have another explanation?'

'You kidnapped me, drugged me with something and now you're trying to convince me of this whole thing.' She suggested.

Adam nodded for a moment before it was his turn to ask; 'Why?'

'I don't know, but if I was Immortal why didn't you just chop my head off?' She challenged. 'That's what you guys do isn't it? Chop each others heads off until there's only one of you left. Or are you just taking me somewhere out of the way before making with the whole sword thing.'

He laughed, easily. 'It doesn't work like that. We have rules Dawn. A big one is if you find another, you train them. Teach them our ways.'

'Then you cut their head off?'

Adam stared back at her. Telling her exactly what he thought of that idea.

Dawn looked at him carefully. 'So wait, you want to train me? If I am an Immortal that is.'

'I can guarantee you are.' He stopped and pointed across the road. It was the Hotel Dawn was living at.

'So you just walked me home. I hope you don't expect me to invite you in.'

'To be honest I don't think that's a good idea.' Adam stuck his hand in his pocket and came out with a piece of paper. 'My phone number. Take some time to come to terms. Talk it out with someone you trust and then call me. Tell me what you decide.'

'If I say thanks but no, what happens then?'

Adam shrugged, 'I'll leave you alone. If someone else offers to train you you'll have to make up your mind again. If a headhunter comes looking, then that's your problem. Not mine.'

Dawn bit her bottom lip and took the paper. If nothing else it was a way to track him down. As soon as she toucher the paper, however, he grabbed her wrist. Sharply.

She tried to pull back, but he was a lot stronger and held her firm. Before she could scream he held up three fingers between them. 'But if nothing else remember this. There are three rules you must never break. All fights are one on one, no interference allowed. Especially not from mortals, and that includes Slayers.' He lowered a finger slowly. 'Second, it ends only when you take their head, or them yours. In the end there can be only one. Finally, there is one golden rule no one will dare break. Neither should you.'

'No food after midnight?' Dawn quipped nervously.

Adam let go of her arm. 'That's Gremlins, so no. The golden rule; Never fight on holy ground.'

'Wait, what?' That wasn't what she was expecting. 'Holy ground?'

'Holy ground. A church, mosque, sacred tree. All of it is literally sacrosanct. Not even the most evil of our kind will attack you there.'

'Why not?'

'Trust me, it's better that you do not know.' He smiled grimly and Dawn got the impression he was telling the truth. 'But if I was you I'd also stay away from power stations, large amounts of explosives and anything easily flammable.'

'I like to do that in general.' Dawn admitted.

Adam's smile became a grin. 'Like I said your a smart one. You'll be calling me, until then take your time. After all, it's not like old age is going to be a problem.' With that he left her standing there.

Taking a breath Dawn stood there for moment. The strange headache fading away as he vanished into the gathering crowd. Prodding herself into action she crossed the road and headed inside. Nodding to the person at reception Dawn headed up the stairs.

A few floors later she headed down the corridor to the group of rooms she shared with Buffy and Andrew. Buffy would still be out but Andrew was a different story.

Dawn knocked on his door, but there was no answer. Not until the second time of trying. 'Sorry, it's not a good time.' Came his muffled voice.

"You're telling me!' She shouted at the door. 'Let me in Andrew.'

The door flew open and the nerd gaped at her 'Dawn! You're alive! How? What happened?' He stammered.

'That is a long story.' She said. Holding the scrap of paper with the phone number. Before she could say anything more Andrew threw his arms around her and hugged like there was no tomorrow.

End Chapter One