Dawn could not believe what was happening. An hour ago she and her sister Buffy were having a long deserved vacation in a Roman castle when suddenly Angel and his gang showed up at their door. This in itself was not that surprising as Buffy had told her Angel was coming for a visit. What truly surprised Dawn was the fact that Angel's gang now included Spike who Dawn had thought died in closing the Hellmouth a year or more ago?
"Spike! What the fuck are you doing here?" Dawn asked surprised.
"Well Bollocks. Sweet Bit isn't happy to see me." Spike said sarcastically pulling Dawn into a hug.
"What my young and completely innocent little sister," Buffy starts before suddenly turning and death-glaring Connor who was looking at Dawn's arse "…was trying to say was 'Spike you are supposed to be dead. How are you not dead'?" Buffy finished finally taking her eyes off Connor .
"What Slayer comes back from the dead and I don't ask one question but when I do it, I am subject to 20 questions" Spike said turning towards the Slayer.
"Hey, if I remember correctly I got the full smack down as well," Buffy said.
"Can we just get over Spike's return from the dead already" Angel said getting frustrated
"You. A phone call may have been nice: 'Hello Spike's Alive and well'," Buffy said turning on Angel.
"I wanted to tell you but Spike made me promise not to tell and by the way Andrew totally knew and he so didn't have a promise to Spike," Angel said pointing to the man who had just appeared in the room
"Hey, what did you have to dob me in for and I totally also promised Spike," Andrew complained loudly.
"We all know that's bollocks Andy Pandy so don't even pretend" Spike said turning towards Andrew.
" are you doing here? You, Vi and Kennedy were meant to be fighting on the German Hellmouth Mund der Hölle," Buffy turns on the man who she is already pissed at for not telling her about Spike.
"Well, you see Willow wanted to come and visit Kennedy to get her lesbian loving and you said it wasn't safe for Willow there so she brought Kennedy to her," Andrew explained quietly to Buffy as he was still quite scared of her.
"So in other words Willow magically transported you, Vi and Kennedy here just to make sweet love to Kennedy," Buffy asked disbelievingly
"Well yeah," Andrew said.
"Kennedy, come kiss me Snug Muffin," Willow called out running down the stairs in the nude.
"Kennedy isn't alone. Wills go put some clothes on" Buffy said to her friends
"Shit" Willow muttered running up the stairs embarrassed. Surprisingly she isn't followed by Kennedy.
"So that explains Spike, Angel, Andrew and Vi but who is the weird blue chick and Mr Green Bean?" Dawn asked.
"I am Illyria the Merciles, God of the Demon Age and almighty warrior," Illyria chanted. Buffy turned to Angel and gave him a look that said 'really?'.
"Don't ask," Angel said in return.
"I am Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan but my friends call me Lorne." Lorne told the group.
"Right, I think I am going to stick with Mr Green Been," Dawn said
"I wouldn't if I were you Niblet. Lorne can get violent if he wants too," Spike added.
"Angel?" Faith said running down the stairs pulling the man into a hug.
"Faith come back to bed," Xander called from upstairs.
"Wait. You're with Whelp? I thought you had a thing for Principal-You-Killed-My-Mother" Spike said turning to Faith.
"He cheated," was all Faith said like it ended the discussion.
"Hey Connor ,What you up too?" Faith said turning to the teenager who until that moment had largely gone unnoticed.
"Not much. Had a nice trip to hell but not much else to talk about really," Connor said.
"Trip to hell huh? That must have been nice," Giles said walking into the lounge from the study.
"Oh shut up, English" Faith said causing the group to laugh.
After that everyone seemed to split into their own conversations. Eventually Xander came down fully clothed in search of Faith who were soon followed by a fully clothed Willow and Kennedy. The conversations only came to an end, however, when the phone rang.
"Hello, Buffy Summers speaking," Buffy answered as she walked out of the room leaving the rest of the people chatting.
"Hello Buffy . The name's Whistler," the person on the other end of the phone told her.
"Oh Whistler," Buffy said faking being nice.
"Yeah, so you heard of me?" Whistler said, sounding not convinced
"O My God, totally" Buffy said in her fake nice way.
"That's good. That makes what I have to tell you a whole lot easier," Whistler said.
"What do you want?" Buffy said suddenly dropping the polite act.
"What have they told you about me?' Whistler asked her.
"Nothing honestly," Buffy said.
"See here. What I do, I don't do out of choice. I don't have a choice" Whistler said on the other side of the phone.
"What do you mean you don't do it out of choice? Everybody has a choice," Buffy said to Whistler.
"My mother was a servant to the Powers That Be. My father was her pure blooded demon champion so when I was born the first child of servant and champion was born. The Powers That Be choose me as their earthly representative until such a time as another champion and servant bear fruit," Whistler explained.
"Good. That's great. What has that got to do with me?" Buffy asked getting frustrated.
"Well, The Powers have sent you and your friends a mission that if you complete all of the friends you have lost will be returned to you," Whistler explained.
"So if I complete a task set to me by The Powers everybody who died will return?" Buffy questioned.
"Yes, but only those you wished to be returned to you will be returned to you," Whistler said.
"Ok fine. What's the mission?" Buffy asked .
"Do you know the difference between a Vampyr and a Vampire?" Whistler asked.
"There isn't any," Buffy said.
"That is where you are wrong. AVampyr is demon in a human body while a Vampire is a undead bloodsucking human," Whistler said.
"Bullshit. I have been a Slayer for just over nine years and I have only ever come across these so called Vampyr," Buffy said.
"Before you knew about all this stuff you had never seen a Vampyr either but does that mean they didn't exist?" Whistler said.
"I had seen a Vampyr, I just didn't know it," Buffy said.
"How do you know that isn't the same with vampires?" Whistler said.
"Fine okay. Whatever what does this have to do with the mission?" Buffy asked.
"Well it is up to you and your gang to stop a Vampire Apocalypse but it won't be easy. This will be you're hardest battle yet," Whistler said.
"Okay. Whatever. Can you say when and where the Apocalypse is going to happen?" Buffy asked.
"Mystic Falls, Virginia," Whistler said.
"We're on it, Buffy said before hanging up the phone and walking back into the lounge.
"Who was on the Phone, B?" Faith asked.
"Some nutcase talking about the difference between Vampyrs and a Vampires and how we had to stop another Apocalypse in Mystic Falls," Buffy said.
"Wait. Mystic Falls?" Giles asked.
"Yes Giles. Mystic Falls but the guy was crazy," Buffy said.
"I don't think he was Buffy," Giles said.
"He said if we stopped the Apocalypse, The Powers That Be would return our fallen friends. He was crazy," Buffy said.
"The Powers that be?" Angel asked.
"Yes Angel, The Powers That Be. Don't tell me you believe it too," Buffy said getting frustrated.
"The Powers have done the impossible before," Spike said.
"Not you too Spike," Buffy said.
"Buffy, I think we should check it out. Even if it is bogus it is better to be safe than sorry," Dawn said.
"Yeah Buff, What is the worst thing that could possibly happen?" Xander said.
"Come on Buffy. We'll be fine," Willow encouraged.
"Fine, we leave for America in the morning. But when you die it is your own faults," Buffy said angrily.
"You think we're going to die? You never think we are going to die," Violet asked surprised.
"I only say that because if what the nutcase on the phone said is true it will be the hardest battle to date," Buffy said.
"Fuck" Kennedy said loudly.
"It's okay Kennedy. If we win everybody we love who we lost will come back to life," Buffy said sarcastically causing the room to explode. Eventually Buffy managed to calm everyone down and got them to listen to her but not before they convinced her that she should take the call seriously and do everything in her power to get it right.
"Willow, get Oz and his werewolves on side. Dawn, call Riley and see if we can get army support and approval for landing. Giles, get as much research as you can on Mystic Falls and the difference between Vampyrs and a Vampires. Xander, get Statsu and Rene and put them on Mund der Hölle. Faith, call your ex boy toy and get him over here. Kennedy, Vi, go and select weapons. Andrew, prepare the jet for take-off. Any questions? Yes Xander?" Buffy said .
"What Watcher do you want on Mund der Hölle?" Xander asked.
"I can't afford to waste one right now. Add Rowena and one of my decoys and all will be good," Buffy said. After that everybody scatted leaving the room empty except for Angel, Spike, Connor, Illyria, Lorne and Buffy
"So what do we do? Because I can assure you I am seeing my friends again. The Powers owe us," Angel said to Buffy
"Spike, Angel find Harmony. She has been nagging me to give her a soul and right now I need as many champions as possible. Connor, call some of your allies in LA. I think we will need as many as we can get. Illyria, stand guard. Lorne, I don't know what can you do," Buffy said frustrated.
"I do a killer back massage and trust me girl you need it," Lorne said.
"Okay Lorne, I will see you in my bedroom in 10 minutes. Everybody else, piss off," Buffy said.
Buffy had been feeling nauseous for the past six or so hours. She couldn't help hating planes. If it was just down to how she felt they would have just teleported to Mystic Falls but she knew teleporting a group as big as hers would be a disaster so instead she was forced to swallow her discomfort and just get it over with.
The hard part however was not vomiting. It was easy when the seatbelt sign was off. She simply ran to the bathroom and spewed in there but now they were going in for landing which meant sitting in her seat. So while attempting not to hurl, Buffy planned.
"So with Riley and Sam along with Oz and the She Wolf , Us and our allies plus the AI and all of its allies we should have about 30 in total," Buffy said from her seat on the private jet.
"Buff, calm down. You said yourself it was probably nothing," Dawn said from her position next to her.
"That was before you told me what we had to gain from winning," Buffy reminded her sister.
"Okay, okay, whatever. We will be there soon and then you can do an actual number count," Dawn said sarcastically.
"Shut up. You are making me want to hurl," Buffy said.
"Oh please. I didn't do that. I know all about your fear of flying because I have it too," Dawn reminded her.
"Really?" Buffy asked surprised.
"Der, I am made from you. If you like something, I like something. If something makes you want to hurl, something makes me want to hurl," Dawn said.
"So that's why we always fall for the same guys?" Buffy said catching on.
"Wow, you just figured that out?" Dawn asked surprised.
"Shut up," Buffy said as the plane landed.
"You shut up," Dawn said unplugging her seatbelt. The auguring went on for many minutes until they were interrupted.
"Seriously, you two, can you stop fighting for more than a minute?" Faith said from behind them.
"No Willow. We're sisters what do you expect?" Buffy asked her friend as she exited the plane.
"Buffy Summers. long time no see," Riley said pulling the girl into a hug.
"Nice to see you too, Finn. Thanks for comin' along for the ride." Buffy said to her ex.
"It's cool. I was heading there anyway. Army mission. At least now I know I won't need back up. I have support from the largest security company in the world," Riley said.
"So where is Sam these days?" Buffy asked trying not to get too close to her now married ex-boyfriend .
"She's right here," Sam said. When Buffy turned she was surprised to find the woman pregnant.
"Oh. When are you due?" Buffy asked her.
"July 15th," Sam answered. Buffy looked around to see if she could see everyone. She felt like someone was missing.
"Gang, number count," Buffy called out to her group.
"Giles," Buffy called.
"Here Buffy," the British man replied.
"Xander," Buffy called,
"Right here Buffster," Xander said while fixing his eye patch,
"Faith," Buffy called.
"I am five by five, Buff," Faith replied.
"Andrew," Buffy called.
"Holla friendolla," Andrew replied.
"Spike," Buffy called.
"I'm here Slayer. Don't get you're knickers in a knot" Spike said.
"Angel," Buffy called.
"Here," Angel said.
"Lorne," Buffy said.
"I'm here, Peaches" Lorne replied.
"Illyria," Buffy called.
"The Mighty Warrior is here," Illyria replied back in a mighty battle cry
"Dawn," Buffy called.
"Here sis," Dawn replied.
"Harmony," Buffy yelled.
"Hi Buffy," Harmony yelled back.
"Vi," Buffy said.
"Here," Vi replied.
"Willow," Buffy called. There was no reply
"Willow," Buffy called louder.
"I am sorry Buffy, Kennedy was keeping me busy," Willow said running out from behind the plane while trying to fix her outfit .
"That explains where you and Kennedy were," Buffy said trying not to sound amused.
"Are our guests here yet?" Buffy asked.
"Yes Robin, Gwen and Kate got here about an hour ago and Oz and Nina got here about twenty minutes ago" Riley said.
"Robin, Gwen, Kate, Oz, Nina, get our here so we can go," Sam yelled into the army base.
"She's really hormonal right now," Riley explained.
"Ok then," Buffy said with a laugh,
"God Sam, don't be a bitch" Oz said jokingly.
"Shut up, Mutt" Sam yelled back.
"Who are you calling a mutt ,you bitch," Nina said getting defensive.
"Hey, that's my wife," Riley said getting involved.
"Great to see you too Oz who's the she wolf" Buffy asked changing the topic from the impending fight.
"That would be my ex-girlfriend, Nina Ash. I only found out she was with Oz when Connor tried to get her on side but was surprised to find she already was," Angel said from behind Buffy.
"Robin, you betray me again I kill you. Remember that includes breaking my best slayer's heart," Buffy said threateningly ,
"Thanks B," Faith genuinely surprised at Buffy niceness.
"Gwen, Kate don't know you but Angel assures me you are the top in what you do," Buffy said to the other two,
"Thanks, I guess," Gwen said.
"Yeah thanks," Kate said.
"So we are all here. Let's hit the road. We need to leave now if we want any chance of making it by sunrise," Buffy said.
"On the road again. I can't wait to get on the road again," Lorne sang happily.
"Mystic Falls here we come," Buffy said with a laugh.