Title: Stricken

Author: TigerTiger02

Chapter: The Beginning

Summery: While stopping in the town of Widowsvale Dean and Sam stumbled across the biggest unknown to the world, including them, the Slayer. At the same time Joce has been left by Faith to continue to investigate a strange creature that attacked Alex in the woods. And now is when the Winchester Boys and the Hunted Slayer come to meet.

Disclaimer: Alex and Joce are the only people of my invention; Widowsvale is a place I conjured up, if it resembles or is anyone's town then it was purely coincidence. Supernatural and Buffy: the Vampire Slayer are owned by their respective creators.

Spoiler: "Chosen" for BTVS and "Dead in the Water" and beyond for Supernatural.

Dedication: to Tarryn the inspiration of Alex and half the funny lines, to Nikki who is the partial inspiration of Joce.

Joce frowned as she struggled to light her cigarette in the cemetery.

"Fuck!" she cursed again as her bangs fell back into her eyes, and were nearly put aflame by the lighter. Finally she managed not to singe her bangs and light her cigarette. The night was cold and windy and all she had on her was her leather jacket and a fading black hoodie. The night was not going well.

Faith had left earlier, which meant she was alone in this small town, which also meant she had no way to leave if things got bad. She didn't know exactly what was happening here, but it was bad. People were being mysteriously killed off by something that only Alex had encountered, and the only half-sane girl wasn't talking.

So Faith had gone for reinforcements, who knew how long that would take. It had beaten Alex so badly that she had to be hospitalized, that was nearly a month ago. She shivered when she thought of Alex's broken body; she had looked so horrible that Joce had voiced that maybe they should just let her die. Faith had been adamant and now the girl was in psyche ward.

And so Joce waited, for what she didn't know. Did she wait to be picked off? Did she wait for it to come to her and kill her? Did she wait for the vampire that was now clawing her way out of her own grave, yep you betcha!

It took a couple of minutes before the confused woman stepped out of her grave.

"Oh for god's sake! They just had to bury me in this ugly old thing! And my god these shoes! I hate these shoes!" Joce could only blink as the woman fretted over her family's choice of an outfit. She finally looked up with gold eyes.

"Oh, hello." She said very calmly, "Are you here to make me dead… again?"

"Well… yeah it is kind of my job, as a Slayer…" Joce murmured. Was she really having this conversation?

"Oh, well before we fight to your death can you give me a moment to take these shoes off and make this thing more suitable for fighting?"

"Have at it." Joce said. She placed the cigarette on a nearby headstone, confident that she would finish the newly sired vampire before it would burn down. Finally the woman got into a clumsy fighting stance.

"I was taking Tae Kwan Do before I died you know, I was just starting out, a yellow belt."

"Oh? Good you might actually be a challenge." the woman laughed.

"Somehow I doubt it." She said just before she flew at Joce. Joce grunted as the woman's punch connected with her forearm, a good thing that Joce was good at blocking.

"Damn that's a good right hook you got there."

"Thank you." The vamp said as she went into a flurry of kicks and punches.

They are both silent as they move around the graveyard, and they come in contact with a nice tree by a mausoleum. Well Joce is actually thrown into it but it's all the same. She's managed to secure a branch that could be used for staking. She quick about it and the woman seems surprised.

"Oh…" she whispers and then she is ash in the wind. Joce frowns slightly as she picks up her cigarette.

"Fuck." She murmurs, noting that it's nearly a quarter gone.

A black car roars down the road. Inside are two brothers.

"Dean, can we please get better tapes, I'm sick of listening to AC/DC."

"Nope." Dean chirps from the driver's side.

"Well can you at least tell me where we are going?" Sam asks.

"Nope."

"Fine!" Sam snaps out and then rolls over to sleep. Dean pauses a minute and wonders if maybe he should tell Sam, but how could he tell him when he didn't even know where they were going? He sighed slightly and glanced at a sign. "Widowsvale?" he questions out loud, sure why not? He was tired and they did need to stop and check out some possible leads to not-to-good-doers. He made the exit.

Later he had managed to shove Sam into their room and was now out on the porch having a sit and some fresh air. This town was silent and nice, there was definitely nothing going on here. But even as he was ready to go inside a girl came rambling up. She was dressed in low riding jeans; her black hoodie and leather jacket were open, revealing a too short shirt so it showed an expanse of her stomach and a naval piercing.

She carried a crossbow in one hand and had a sword strapped to her waist. Her long black hair was whipping around in the wind and the cigarette dangling from her full, lipsticked red lips impaired her singing. She glanced up at him but didn't seem to care that he noted her unusual accessories.

"Morning." He called out. She started slightly and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What time is it?" she asked as she ambled up the short set of stairs. He glanced at his watch.

"Four." He replied, "Well nearly." She nodded, not fazed by the early, or late for what she hunted, time.

"Figures, I thought there was something off with the numbers this evening." She muttered.

"What was that?" Dean asks, suddenly alert. Her eyes snap back to him, from where she's been eyeing a stretch of forest.

"Hmm?" She's seen something, and she knows what it is and what it can do. Dean's so sure of he would bet the Impala.

"What did you see?" he prods. Maybe she's not like how she appears. Maybe she'll crumble. She doesn't.

"Deer." She says without hesitation, but he knows she saw something. He knows from the way she discarded the cigarette. From the way her hand dropped down to the handle of the sword. From how she lifts the crossbow slightly, he knows that she's seen something and she knows what's out there. Now he'll have to loosen her tongue if she won't willingly tell him. He puts on his best innocent and charming act.

"Say, would you like to join me for a drink?" he asks. Although this is partially for information, he knows that he's also attracted to her, with luck he might be able to… well for lack of a better phrase, bed her within a couple hours. She pauses for a moment and really looks at him. He can tell that she's taking each of his features and deciding if she would be physically attracted to him. It starts from his hair and ends somewhere around his boots.

"Nice boots," she says finally and then mentally adds on 'Nice Boots. Wanna fuck?'. "Let me go discard of my props and call a friend."

"A friend?" he questions, while mentally leering.

"She might be back in an hour and I want her to know that I might be out." She says, he can't decide on whether or not she's lying so he takes it as the truth.

Joce knows that she shouldn't be eyeing this guy the way she is. It's stupid and reckless but she can't quite help it. His eyes are decidedly pretty, with their seemingly innocent wideness and full lashes; the color is a brilliant, fiery hazel. His facial structure is perfect; he could be a model for all she knew. His lips are the way she likes them, full, supple, and sensitive but without the overdone pout. He is broad shouldered; she likes that. And he's tall (she thinks about 6'0), just the way she likes it, but still shorter than some of the men she's dated. If he is 6'0 like she suspects then he is a good five inches taller than her.

He looks well built under the simple t-shirt and leather jacket; his legs appear to be strong in their tight jeans. She nearly starts to drool right there. She has a feeling that he might know more then he is letting on, possibly he might know what kind of creature is out stalking the night. Her libido unfortunately makes the decision for her. She's been a Slayer for two years, that's a long time not to have sex. She went from a promiscuous and happy 22-year-old to a celibate solemn 24-year-old. She says yes and disappears into her room.

She stores her weapons and remembers to store a dagger in her boot, and a stake or two in her pockets. She washes her face and puts on some liner and lipstick. Joce remembers what she's wearing under the coat and changes her shirt to tank top under a sheer white long sleeve. She dials up Faith.

"Hello?" a sleepy voice asks.

"Hey Faith, I think I might have a lead down here."

"Joce? What time is it?"

"Four here, why?"

"Why are you up at four?"

"Just got in," she replies distractedly, the cute guy outside is waiting for her; she has to make this quick, "there's this guy here, I think he might have checked in tonight, anyway I think he might know something."

"Joce the attacks have been happening for the past two months, he can't be connected." Faith explains.

"I know that!" Joce snaps, "I think he might have an inkling of what it is though. I mean he didn't even flinch when he saw my weapons-."

"Wait he saw your weapons?" Faith interrupts, "What did he say? What did you say?"

"He didn't say a thing but when I told him I had to make a call I also mentioned that I needed to put my props away."

"Yeah okay, wait what?"

"I'm going out with him for a drink." She leans against the counter and twists the cord of the phone in her hands.

"Oh really?"

"It's not what you think, I'm going to try and get information out of him."

"Sure, you say that now but that's going to be the last thing on your mind later. Look, have some fun tonight, don't worry about him, he's probably just someone who stumbled onto our territory and does some hunting from time to time, there are plenty of those guys around and some are actually good. Anyway, for god's sake Joce, loosen up and get some already. I'll be back in two days." There was a click and Joce sneered at the phone before placing it on the receiver.

She steps outside and breaths deeply. The guy turns around, "By the way, I'm Dean Winchester." He says and his voice is soothing and slightly melodic. Joce can't help but smile.

"Jocelyn Croft, but people call me Joce." He gave a smile as he escorts her to a car.

"Is the nearest bar far?" he asked. Her eyes went wide as she nodded.

"Nice car…" she can't help but purr out as she runs fingers over the sleek black paint, it was a '67 Chevy Impala Fastback Coupe.

She nurses a vodka cranberry as they talk.

"So what exactly do you do for a living?" he finally asks, she nearly chokes.

"I work for a traveling theater company. This time they're doing some sort of medieval play or something so I've been going around buying weapons that were once used. Of course I had to test my prototypes out and see if they would work without actually killing someone."

"And did they?"

"Perfection." That's when there's a shudder up her spine. A vampire. Honestly they had only been there twenty minutes and already there was one. Joce can't decide what lie she's going to tell Dean when one presents itself.

"Excuse me for a moment, I should call my brother, tell him to leave the chain undone." He says politely. She can't believe her luck.

Joce waits until he's out of sight before standing and following the vamp with the lady outside. They are making out when she gets there.

"Didn't your mama ever tell you not to play with your food?" She throws out. The vampire jerks away. She doesn't even note that Dean is coming into the alley from where they parked the car.

"Slayer…" the vampire hisses, "Your blood will make me more powerful, and I will drink you until you are dry."

"You guys should really get new lines; I've heard that one five times tonight. It's over done. How about you use, 'Slayer, you are much more powerful then I am, so now I will allow you to stake me until I am ash in the wind, no please don't beat me with my rib'."

The vampire lunged and Joce was thrown to the ground. She head-butted him and leapt up. He scrambled up and Joce smirked. "Let me guess you're the one that had been trying to make this a vampire town? You can't be a Master yet, so I'm guessing you've been scraping by the past twenty years and trying to keep you head down." The vampire snarled at her, "Yeah thought so, clothing is outdated, and you are stronger then any vampires I've encountered in this whole damn town."

"Thank you, now shut up, I like my food silent." The vampire finally said.

"And I like my prey to lay back and not fight me, but you just can't always get what you want."

"Shut up now, Little Girl!" the vampire snarled out. She flung her fist out and caught his cheek. The vampire stumbled away from the force and then growled before lashing out. The fight was lasting longer then it should have, the alcohol was affecting her. She hadn't been this slow. She fumbled for her stake as it managed to catch her against the wall and began to strangle her. Suddenly the vampire drew back and snarled.

Behind it was Dean with a dagger. His eyes went wide just before the vampire lashed out. He was flung to the ground and the vampire began to stalk toward him.

"Idiot boy, did you really think a simple dagger could harm me?" it laughed, "how noble of you, coming to her aid. But don't you realize? She is evil!" Joce took the moment while the vampire was distracted and tapped his shoulder. He turned and she plunged the stake into his chest.

"Evil? Give me a break…" the vampire broke down into dust. "I mean honestly, I may have broken the commandments and totally committed the seven deadly sins but evil? Women always get a bad rep." she snorted out.

"A Slayer huh?" Dean said to her left. She turned.

"Oh fuck me!" she cursed.

"Gladly, but only if you tell me what's going on."

"Go home Hunter, you're on our territory now." She said coldly.

"Oh? You and what army?" Dean bit out; damn he should have known that she would turn out to be a bitch.

"Leave now."

"Tell me what's going on here, I already know about you Slayers so you can forget about keeping your little secret. What I want to know is what did you see in the woods? Why are you here?" Joce let out a long breath.

"Look let's get back to the motel and we'll talk there." Her eyes darted around the ally rapidly, "I'm in mood to repeat what happened to Alex."

"And what happened to Alex?" he asked.

"Like I said motel first."

Dean turned to Joce.

"My room." He said before she could say anything.

"Why your room?"

"Because my brother would want to know about this too." Joce groaned.

"Fine but let's go to my room first, I want to make a call and grab a couple of things." He followed her into her room. Weapons covered almost every inch. There were several books and cloths littering the floor. In the garbage can there were various take-out boxes and wrappers from well-known fast-food joints.

"Well I can see that you've been here for awhile." He remarked. She shot him an annoyed look, "Well it's kind of obvious, how long?"

"Six weeks in a couple of days. At first Giles sent us here to investigate the spike in animal related killings. After a week it was apparent there was a Master vampire trying to turn this into a vampire town, and not only that but there was something here that none of us have ever seen. A demon that we haven't encountered, and that's saying something considering what we've seen." She gave a shudder but continued to gather up books as she spoke,

"Anyway it certainly seemed like a werewolf but Alex hacked into the coroners files and looked at the marks, nothing. We tried to go through the Watcher's Database but Willow had told us we wouldn't find much in there considering she's been too busy to finish it and Giles is too much of a technophobe to even consider doing it. We called Dawn and Buffy but Buffy wasn't willing to allow Dawn out of her sight, not after what happen two years ago and six months ago. So then about a month ago Alex went hunting around the woods with Faith. I kept to the two cemeteries, as it was my turn. Unfortunately Faith and Alex got separated. Since the cemetery I was in was close to the woods I was able to hear her scream along with Faith…" she paused and her face fell.

"What happened?" he prodded gently.

"It nearly killed her, she might not be able to walk again or have full usage of her left arm. Faith and I debated on whether or not we should just let her die but she didn't have the guts to do it. Alex won't talk about what happened and is in the psyche ward at the hospital now… Faith went for reinforcements earlier; she won't be back for another two days."

"Good god…" Dean muttered.

"Yeah, pretty much. Hold on a minute." Joce hit the redial on the phone. "I know I'm sorry," she said into the phone, "no Faith that's not why I'm calling… yes it is about- Faith! His name is Dean Winchester… you've heard of him? Oh his father… yeah… basically… you don't mind? Good… I will… not going to happen now… fine. Bye."

Dean felt certain that they were talking about him, but that could be because Joce kept shooting him looks every couple of words. She let the phone fall back into the cradle and gathered up some books.

"Need help?" he asked and gestured to the heavy tomes that she was picking up, it was enough to even make him grunt with effort. However she blinked over them and there wasn't even a wince as she picked them up and sauntered toward the door.

"Sam! Get your lazy ass up! We have something!" Dean called as Joce stepped in behind him. Joce let the books drop on the table and watched what had to be a 22-year-old leap up from his bed startled. She let out a dry chuckle as he got into a clumsy fighting stance.

"Whoa there Tiger, why don't you put some cloths on and we'll talk." Joce said. Sam flushed deep red and hurriedly pulled on some pants and a shirt. Finally he turned questioning eyes to Dean.

"Who is she? And why is she here?" Sam asked.

"She is Joce Croft, and she's here because I asked her to be here." Joce smirked slightly.

"Neither of you mind if I smoke, do you?" she asked and then added on, "It's kind of something I picked up from my friend Spike, a nervous habit if you please. And who wouldn't be nervous around Angel…"

"Spike? Angel?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Yeah a couple of good-vampires-with-a-soul. Used to be known as William the Bloody and Angelus." Sam's eyes went wide while Dean merely raised an eyebrow.

"You mean you know them?" Sam asked, "How is that… never mind I really don't want to know."

"Good, because it's a long story and I lack the patience to tell it." Dean leaned forward.

"I thought William the Bloody didn't have a soul… I thought he had perished in the collapse of Sunnydale."

"Oh he did, but that doesn't mean he stayed dead… anyway that's not the reason why I'm here…"

"Well, you'll have to tell me about Spike and Angelus, was it, sometime." Dean says flirtatiously.

"Yeah why are you here?" Sam asked with an edge to his tone, clearly he did not like his brother bringing a seemingly useless woman to their room. Joce shot him a glare and Dean sighed deeply.

"Well if you shut your trap for one minute I'll spill." Joce said petulantly.

"Fine." Sam ground out.

"Alright… so Giles the Head of the Watchers Council gets some reports from the Coven that…"

Twenty minutes later Joce leaned back in her chair and waited Sam to finish absorbing what she had told them.

"So… you're saying that you are here, alone now, and hunting for something that you don't even know what it is… and it nearly killed your friend, who is a very good fighter."

"Ding, ding, ding, what do we have here for Sammy, Bob?" Dean mocked.

"I told you stop calling me that, jerk!" Sam said as he punched Dean harshly on the arm. Dean winced.

"Yowch!" Joce snickered.

"Try having a Slayer do that."

"You keep mentioning Slayer's what are they… I mean other then a shitty metal band…" Sam muttered.

"Hey!" Dean ground out as he smacked Sam behind the head. "Anyway, Sammy boy, I swear Dad mentioned them somewhere in his journal. Or maybe he just mentioned it to me…"

"He probably did. Among most hunters we pass by unnoticed. They just think that we're a bunch of cocky girls playing hunter. But of course we aren't. But your father is one of the more knowledgeable hunters. And we've apparently had dealings with him before." She shrugged briefly.

"We? As in plural? Dad only mentioned that there was one. In California." Dean said.

"Oh, there was only one of us. But there was with whole throw-down with the First Evil and now there's a whole army of us."

"Wait, First Evil?" Sam said incredulously.

"Focus on one subject at a time, boys, I know it's hard with such a pretty lady in front of you…" Joce said jokingly.

"And how right you are… le petit butterfly…" Dean said as he grabbed her hand and began to ravish it and her arm with kisses. Leave it to Dean to never miss an opportunity to flirt even in potential danger. Joce giggled and flushed deeply. Frustrated by her evading answer, Sam snorted and rolled his eyes, clearly not amused by Dean's antics either.

"Oh for god's sake, get a room you two!" Sam said finally as Dean continued to say nonsense declarations about her beauty and vowed never to sleep again in her presence since she was the sun, and as he continued to kiss her hands. Dean pulled away and pouted.

"Maybe you should leave the room then." He said haughtily and raised an eyebrow in challenge. Sam gave a disgusted noise once more and picked up his coat.

"Yeah maybe I should." He said angrily as he pulled on the coat and left while slamming the door. Joce pulled her hand away gently and turned slightly disappointed eyes to Dean who made no move to pick it up again.

"Jesus, I just don't get why he has to be so damn sensitive." Dean by then had gotten up and was pacing. Joce stood and placed a hand on his arm.

"Maybe I should go after him…"

"Yeah maybe I sho- wait what?"

"I mean you are the one who pissed him off… and I'm not related to him… he might tell me why he stormed off like that."

"Oh I'm sure I already know the answer to that one…" Dean muttered, "But if you want to lose sleep and go play therapist, be my guest."

"Well if you want to go talk to him feel free to let me know." Joce growled out, how could this guy be so damn seductive one second then the next is a complete dick.

"Fine, just go get him so we can finish this little tête-à-tête."

"Fine." Joce growled out, turned around, and slams the door behind her. Dean winced; he knew he shouldn't have said that.

"You should come back inside." Joce said softly to Sam.

"And why should I?"

"We need to finish this so you guys can leave."

"Who said we were leaving?"

"It would be a good idea for you guys to leave. This is one where you have no business intervening." Sam turned to her, he was clenching his jaw and grinding it as his nostrils flared, a sure sign he was pissed.

"Yeah and how do you know that it is not our business?" he asked while stepping too close to her. Joce fought the urge to show him her near perfect left hook as they stood chest to chest. He was trying to intimidate her as he towered over her, glaring defiantly at her. Joce tossed her head.

"What? You think this is scaring me? Look, Pal, you're going to have try a hell of a lot harder then this to scare me, I'm the thing that makes the things that go bump in the night wet their pants. You don't scare me one bit, so back off."

"No. Not until you tell me why you don't think I have any right to be here." Sam growled out.

"Fine but you asked for it." Joce ground out before she reached over, grabbed his wrist, and then hauled him over her shoulder. Sam landed on the ground with a grunt and Joce put a boot on his chest. "Happy?" she asked. Sam shoved her foot off his chest and stood up.

"Yes. Very." He ground out, leaped up the steps, and disappeared into his room. Joce followed after him and took her seat once more.

"Right, well you guys want to know what a slayer is? I'm kind of surprised your dad didn't say anything, he's known about the Watchers for a very long time."

"Yeah well he's never been much of a talker, only mentioned Slayers once beside that page entry, he's just very, very secretive…" Dean muttered. Joce paused a moment to light her cigarette before she spoke.

"Okay so the world was not paradise in the beginning, actually it was for demons. Point is it was hell. And before we drove them out, a demon infected a human, thus the vampire was born."

"Hold up a second, you're saying that the world was hell… and now is a remnant of hell?" Dean asked.

"Why do you think there are hellmouths?" Joce shot back, "Anyway vampires are totally demon, and they're like half-demon. There are no true demons anyway, or at least not many. But basically any demon you see is only a half-breed. And vampires look like a human. When a personally is infected with one the demon part takes over the human body. Basically it makes a human suit and climbs on it. So you act basically the same as you were before you were dead, only immoral."

"So basically vampires have no souls." Sam stated. Joce gave a harsh laugh.

"Soul is just another word for a conscience, for guilt and remorse. Which is what we have… well most of us have it…"

"Okay… so what do these Watchers and Slayer have to do with this?"

"Well like I was saying soon this demon infected everyone it bit and fed its own blood to. There were also half-breeds and such. The situation was getting a little out of control so a group of men got together, the Shadow Men, and they took a girls heart from her-."

"What?" Dean shouted and stood quickly, his chair clattered on the ground and Joce sighed.

"Yes, her heart. Like I was saying they took her heart out of her and imbued her with the strength and skill of the vampires. They were as strong and fast as the vampire. They had the senses of a vampire and even little touch of ESP, prophetic dreams… so on and so forth."

"Okay, so what? You've been a Slayer you're whole life?" Sam asked.

"Nah only ever since I was old enough to handle a weapon I've been training. And the training only got harder when I reached puberty. I was nearly the age we are called after all."

"Eighteen?" Dean asked, taking a wild stab.

"Try fifteen, and most of us don't even make it past that. Anyway when I reached eighteen they knew that even though I still had the potential to be a slayer I would never be one, I was too old. So I started to train as a Watcher. Some of us who don't make the cut keep working for The Council and some go into the world. I stayed on. I eventually dreamed of others and realized that I was actually a Slayer. Later Willow came for me and spilled.

"Anyway these Shadow Men do this heinous thing to this girl. They tell her what she has to do and then watched over her and made sure she did what she was supposed to do, hence the moniker of Watcher and Slayer. But then she dies, no one knows how she died but she did and that's when the power transferred to another girls… and so the line started. One falls and another rises from her ashes. Slayer's are always girls probably some sick cosmic joke, and well… you know the rest of the story. She alone will fight the vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness. She does not walk in this world. She is the Slayer, blah blah blah, yada yada yada..."

"Wow." Dean mumbled.

"Yeah, try telling that to a three year old, that was how old I was when they came for me."

"Wow." Dean repeated.

"Did I break him or something?" Joce asked Sam. Sam shrugged.

"Dunno, probably… his small mind takes awhile to process things." Dean immediately leapt up and tackles Sam to a bed while twisting his arm behind his back.

"What was that Sammy?"

"Don't call me that… and get off of me, you weigh a ton." Dean rolled away from him and turned back to Joce.

"So, what now?" Joce shrugged.

"We wait for Faith to get back. We'll go to the hospital tomorrow and see if I can get anything more out of Alex."

A/N: Well…. This is the new and improved version. I was reading over the older chapters and realized how bizarre and random they were so I'm starting to spiffy them up a bit.