CHAPTER TWO

Buffy woke slowly, her body felt heavy from the forced sleep. The bed was not her own and she could hear men arguing nearby. Obviously, not home. She kept her eyes shut and willed her body to stay limp. Maybe they wouldn't notice...

"She's awake," a gravely voice exclaimed.

Well, there goes that plan.

She exploded up and stood on the hard mattress. Her body went into automatic fight stance as she gained her bearings.

This had to be the trashiest hotel room she'd ever seen. Her face wrinkled with disgust. Spike's place had more charm.

The name in her head was a knife to her gut. Her look of disdain flashed to pain before she hardened her expression again.

The micro-expression was not lost on the men in front of her.

"Are you...okay? Are you hurt?" The tall man, Sam, seemed concerned.

"Uh, Sam. She leaped onto the bed like it was on fire. Pretty sure she's going to be okay." Dean's voice was annoyed.

"Someone had better tell me what the hell is going on. Where am I? Why am I in a hotel room that's obviously going to give me hepatitis? Who are you people? What was that thing in the cemetery?" Her questions came out rapid fire.

"That thing," Sam said carefully, "was a demon."

They went silent and watched her intently. Were they...were they gauging her reaction?

"Uh huh..." her tone was patronizing. "I got that much. Why did it look human?"

"What do you mean?" Cas asked. "All demons require a human vessel."

"Since when?" she was honestly surprised. The majority of "looks human" she'd encountered had been vampires.

"Okay Barbie," Dean began.

"Buffy," she growled out. "My name is Buffy. And if you want your organs to stay intact you'll quit with the cutesy nicknames."

His green eyes raked up and down her body. She saw the smile ghost across his face before he reined in his expression. Ugh. Like that was gonna happen.

"So you know about demons," Sam said plainly. He was obviously the peace maker of the group. She immediately thought of Willow and felt a spark of kinship with the man.

"I do. How do you know about demons?" She didn't get a supernatural vibe from the guys. But the way they'd taken out that demon had been fast and efficient. They knew what they were doing. This wasn't a bunch of frat boys rescuing a damsel in distress. They'd been trained at some point.

"We're hunters," came from Sam.

"What the hell is a hunter?" Nothing they said made any sense.

Dean snorted and made his way to the other bed. He laid back and placed his hands behind his head. His blatant calm sent irritation skipping down her spine. He'd decided she wasn't a threat to him and was taunting her.

Sam noticed the direction of her glare and sent her an apologetic shrug. "Why don't we sit down and talk about this?"

"I'd rather not," she spat out.

"Can you at least stop standing on my bed?" Sam's question held an amused tone.

Buffy felt embarrassed and sprang lightly to the small space at the foot of the bed. She placed the window at her back and the group in front. Crashing through glass wasn't her favorite way to leave a room, but it would work in a pinch.

Dean's glance was appreciative. She really wished he'd stop looking at her like that. It created a sense of discomfort, but at the same time it reminded her of the naked hunger that used to lurk in Spike's gaze. That made her hurt.

Dean pushed himself to a sitting position with the headboard at his back. "What are you?"

She was about to snap back until Sam stepped in, "What my brother means is, you move faster and are stronger than the average human. Especially for a girl." Yep. This guy was definitely the Willow of the group.

She shoved her hair back and realized it was loose around her shoulders. Dammit, she'd lost another elastic. She took a deep breath and huffed it out hard. Giles would have her ass for this if he ever found out. Thankfully, there was an entire body of water between them now.

"I'm the Slayer. Well, I'm a slayer now."

The brothers looked at the third man in silence. Buffy noticed he still hadn't removed his trench.

"I will have to consult," was all he said before disappearing. Was that a wing beat she'd heard?

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" she shouted.

Sam jumped up at her exclamation, "It's fine. Castiel is an angel."

"Yeah, he went to ask his feathery friends if they've ever heard of a slayer," Dean supplied.

Her heart was pounding. She'd seen a lot of weird things in her life, but a disappearing angel was a new one.

"How do you think he forced you to sleep?" Dean was just full of helpful commentary. Buffy felt the same irritation she'd felt around Spike; and buried it deep inside before it turned into something else.

"Spell?" she said simply. These guys were idiots.

Both men made a noise of disgust.

Sam spoke first, "Like we'd hang out with a witch."

"Hey," her voice held venom, "my best friend is a witch. A powerful one."

Sam raised an eyebrow at that. Dean's look of disdain only deepened.

"Seriously?" Sam asked.

Buffy nodded. "Did you hunters know the world nearly ended recently? Again?"

To her surprise, the boys burst into a fit of laughter.

She placed fisted hands on her hips and sighed loudly. Yep. She needed to punch someone.