Buffy Kills Creatures, Dawn Beats Creepers

A/N:

Thank you MistressAshley for the rec! (Also, have I told you guys yet how much I adore her work? Especially her new Buffy/Crowley fic that I hope she continues? *grins*)

The first scene includes dialogue from Empty Places. I certainly do not own that and thank the good Mr. Whedon and his writing team :)


Buffy Summers ambled carefully down the sidewalk, amidst the chaos of dozens of people preparing to vacate Sunnydale. A shop owner placed a 'Closed' sign on his window and ran down the street. Another store was subtly getting looted by men wearing sunglasses. Suitcases rolled over the ground. Children followed parents like ducklings. Sunnydale was empting out.

Out of all the apocalypses, her fellow Sunnydalians had decided that thisone was bad enough to move out. If that didn't tell her something, then she didn't know what.

"Hey you!" she heard a friendly, and familiar, voice call. Buffy turned to see Clem waving from Volkswagen beetle.

"Can you believe this mishegas?" he asked as she strolled over to his car.

Buffy smiled wryly. "It's like these people have never seen an apocalypse before." She glanced at the suitcases in the backseat. "And you're just out for a quick spin, right? Maybe out to the 7-11... in Nebraska..." She trailed off as Clem gave her a sheepish smile.

"It's getting bad here. Really bad. Hellmouth acting up again, people feeling it, getting crazier. And you can't swing a cat without hitting some kind of demonic activity. Not
that I...swing cats. Or eat...Nope. Cutting way back. Cholesterol." He balked and amended his statement. "Morals. I mean morals."

"Right."

"We've seen bad stuff in this town before, but, you know... this time, it's like, it just seems...different. More powerful. I don't think anyone's gonna be able to stop it – I mean... I'm sure you're gonna do fine," Clem backpedaled. "Complete faith in you. If anyone can do it, you can, 'cause...you rock! If you save the world, I'll come back, we'll have a drink." He winced and attempted to remedy his statement. "When! When, I mean! When you save the world. It's gonna be great! With the, you know... rocking..."

Buffy smiled weakly at his display of support. Great. Not even the demons thought she stood a chance against the First Evil.

"Maybe... maybe you should just get out of town this time."

"Yeah. I probably should."

Clem's eyes widened, like he remembered something. He held up an envelope and waved it slightly. "Hey, that reminds me…I was going to mail this, on account of wanting to leave like a bat outta the Hellmouth, but I figure it'd be better to tell you in person."

"What?" Buffy asked warily.

Clem glanced around nervously, and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Last night I was at Willy's and some vamps came in."

Buffy was unimpressed. "Uh-huh."

"They killed Willy."

Buffy pressed her lips together in regret. Willy was garbage but he was still human. She never wished him dead – well, okay, maybe that onetime after he sold Angel to Spike for Drusilla's spell… "That sucks," she said instead.

"And they're coming for you next," Clem told her.

Vampires? Coming for her? Loud, hysterical laughter spilled from her lips. Her stomach clenched painfully at the sheer amount of her laughter and she had to place her hands on her knees for support. Looking up, she saw Clem gazing at her in bewilderment. "I'm…sorry," she gasped between giggles. "It's just…I mean, sweet of you to worry…but," she giggled some more. "I mean, the First Evil wants me dead, has sent prehistoric vampires at me, and now some pathetic vampswant me?"

Clem waited for her hysterics to end. "Buffy." He paused, looking unsure. "I don't know if they're normal vamps."

That killed her mood. "Huh with the not-normal now?"

"They smelled...bad." He made a disgusted look. "Sweet and icy, like pure sugar melted and frozen."

She gave him an incredulous look. "So, they smell like popsicles?"

"Listen, you know how there's different demons?" Buffy nodded. "Well there's a kind that considers themselves vampires – true vampires – even though the most of us consider them just another type of demon. They're stronger than a normal vamp, though."

Buffy studied Clem with a critical eye. "So what are you saying?"

He gave her a soft smile. "Just be careful, Buffy."

She nodded, and he pulled away – leaving her more stressed out than before.


James, Victoria, and Laurent stalked the dark streets of Sunnydale, pleased that more humans were out tonight than the previous night. According to that barkeep most of the humans were leaving but it appeared that those who had yet to leave were attempting to drink their sorrows away. They approached a place in the warehouse district called 'The Bronze' and shuddered slightly at the pounding music emanating from the dance club. Vampire ears were notoriously sensitive and anytime they were around loud noises, such as music, they consciously had to lower their sensitivity. Some vampires were then less able to hear at all, having trouble changing their ears from lowering the volume of certain noises and increasing the volume of other noises, but the three of them were older than most. It would not be terribly bothersome.

"We should feed," Laurent suggested as they heard a quiet cry coming from the back of the dumpster. "It will be hard to control the bloodlust inside a club full of sweaty humans, all stacked like together like blood-filled sardines in a can."

James inhaled greedily, found what he was looking for, and entered the shadows of the back alley. There he found a half-breed – disgusting, the lot of them – feeding off of a teenage girl. With a smirk, he yanked the vampire away from the girl and into Victoria's arms.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?" the male half-breed, dressed inconspicuously in jeans and a band t-shirt, shouted. His face was still wrinkled with the visage of the demon and his lips were stained with blood.

Victoria threw him against the wall. "Why, I'm the vampire slayer!" she declared in her trademark girlish voice. James always enjoyed the dissonance between her fierce looks and sweet voice. It was especially amusing to see how victims reacted to it.

The vampire whimpered, but then peered harder at her. "Wait, the Slayer has straight hair."

The three of them chuckled. On the ground behind the dumpster, the teenage girl just gasped for breath.

"You're right – I'm not her," Victoria stated airily. Without warning she snarled and plunged a stake into the vampire's heart. "I'm worse," she growled. When her opponent was nothing but dust, she giggled merrily and twirled her stake. "That's such a fun game."

Laurent broke out into a small smile as he helped pick up the crying girl. "It is so hard to find a worthy hunt. Such a shame that not even the half-breeds here pick up much of a fight."

The girl quieted her sniffles and gazed at them all gratefully. "Th-thank you for saving me," she whispered.

Cradling her to his chest, Laurent smiled. "Ma petite chérie, we did save you…for dinner."

Fortunately, the girl's voice must have already been hoarse from previous screams – James ever so preferred the soft whimpers of terror when he was eating.


Dawn arrived at The Bronze with Faith and the Potentials that night. After a day of researching with Andrew, she was exhausted (mmkay, more so from Andrew than the research. Generally speaking, she enjoyed research). She had combed through dozens of online police reports and news stories and they finally had a lead on Caleb; Giles had sent Spike and Andrew to go investigate. She only hoped that they would find something to help them.

'Stop that!" she chided herself. She needed to calm down and stop worrying. The attack at the winery had recently happened, Xander was suddenly looking like Captain Morgan (minus the barrel of rum), and most of the girls were bruised or had broken bones, like Rona. Stress was at an all time high and death was kinda imminent at this point. Ergo, dancing was needed.

Sashaying onto the crowded dance floor, she gave up her thoughts and focused on the music. Her hips moved of their own accord, in time to the sultry beat. Dawn wore one of her favorite Bronze outfits – or at least one of her favorites that Buffy wouldn't kill her for wearing – and noticed several boys eying her in her tight red shirt. Their approval didn't truly matter to her, but it made her feel good – wanted, young, on the verge of the beginning rather than the end. She flushed with happiness. The music soaked through her pores and filled her; she relished the tremble of the bass against her skin.

Dawn was unsure of how long she danced by herself. Several boys her age attempted to engage her, but she brushed them off like ants. Honestly, just why did guys think that grinding their hips into her backside was an appropriate invitation to dance? When the next guy did it –one who she could feelwas too happy about being near her – she decked him across the face. Seeing him fly backwards made her grin with satisfaction. Maybe she wasn't strong or powerful enough to handle the creatures of the night, but she could handle the creepers of the night.

She smiled in amusement at the thought as her eyes traveled over the crowded bar. But her smile died when she saw two red eyes peering at her from the balcony.


The club was noisy. Human writhed on the dance floor and struggled to walk through the heavy crowds. While whatever it was devoured people from below, it seemed like the humans were attempting to devour each other.

"It's like sex on the dance floor," Victoria stated with distaste. She had been made during the 1800s and had been a proper lady – more or less – during her day.

The three of them were standing on the balcony observing the humans like lab mice in a cage. Feeling cheeky, James stood behind his mate, wrapped his arms around her waist, and began to imitate the young men below. She laughed. Her voice tinkled like wind chimes and he chuckled in response. To their side, Laurent just raised an amused eyebrow. He was new to their 'coven' and while they were not family – not in the way James and Victoria were – there was an extent of trust and general friendliness there.

Victoria had been the one to invite Laurent into their fold, because he filled a needed niche. James was an expert tracker and Victoria was the Houdini of vampires when it came to escape, but Laurent possessed a subtle charm that allowed him to easily blend in with humans when necessary and persuade them to his will. He lacked the streak of humanity that James had lost long ago.

As he danced against his mate, James' eyes roved over the dance floor. It was said that the Slayer frequented this establishment. They had yet to visit her house – James felt that was too easy to just visit a human's home. There was no tracking involved with that; it was akin to setting a bear trap.

On the dance floor he did spot a girl who moved with a sense of grace that he typically attributed to the supernatural. Was she the slayer? He watched her with interest and zoned his senses in on her. His sense of smell was better than any he knew – although he did hear that the Volturi possessed one vampire with senses that could rival his own. James had the ability to weed through a roomful of smells and narrow in on just one. He did so now with this girl.

She smelled soft and sweet…but there was an underlying hardness…Watermelon. James smiled. Yes, she smelled of watermelon. Hard on the outside, but sweet and juicy on the inside. He licked his lips in desire and pressed Victoria even harder against him, but wishing it was the girl down below.

Her red shirt drew him in, taunted him like the matador de torosseduces a bull. He watched her hips rock back and forth in a pendulum motion. Her feet moved lightly and occasionally she even twirled girlishly; it would make her chestnut curls fly through the air and beg to be touched.

A boy came up behind her, obviously aroused, and attempted to dance with her by imitating the sex-like moves that other couples were performing. The girl whirled around and punched the boy so swiftly that he flew backwards onto his ass. James grinned. This girl, whoever she was, was unlike any mortal he was used to.

He smelled her scent again and instantly knew that she was his new hunt. He would have her.

Then the girl, smiling, looked up around the room. Her eyes met his, and they widened in surprise. James, ever the scoundrel, winked at her.

"I'll be right back," he murmured to Victoria and Laurent.


A/N:

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