Disclaimer: Don't own or claim rights to BtVS or TFATF
A/N: I'm having trouble finishing the last part of Freshman Summer, so am moving on. I will get around to finishing the other story eventually.
"Dom?"
The tall man hissed at the sound of his cousin's voice. "Xan? What's the problem? Do you need me to come get you?"
"It's Jesse," Xander whispered. "My Jesse. God! I can't believe it."
"What happened?" Dom asked, heart heavy.
Xander laughed, but it was an empty sound. "Monsters, Dom. The things that are in your nightmares. They're real."
Dom hesitated. "Freddy Krueger's real?"
"No!" Xander all but shouted. "God! I hope not!" he added. "No. Vampires. Demons. They're real. Please believe me," he whispered.
"Talk to me."
"Vampires. They're here. They got Jesse. They turned him. God! He was right there. He was different, Dom. He was … strong." Xander stopped for a moment, then went on. "He was right there, Dom. Right in front of me. And I had a stake out, right in front of me. And he was saying that I couldn't do it, I didn't have the guts to do it …" He took a shuddering breath. "And then a girl bumped him, Dom. Bumped him right onto my stake. And he was gone. And the last thing I saw was his eyes, his face. The way he looked at me. I was holding the stake, and he's gone, Dom. Jesse's gone."
Dom leaned back against the wall, trying to think. "So what now?"
"What now? School on Monday. And no one's even going to think anything happened. That's the way it is around here. You know, I didn't even think about it, but we have a weekly obituary about a mile long around here. And people go missing all the time. Leading cause of death? Death by barbeque fork. How weird is that?"
"Is there going to be a funeral?"
"No. He's just going to go down as missing. He dusted, Dom. There's nothing left. What can I do? Go back and scoop up his ashes, take them to his parents, and say 'sorry about your loss'?"
"What about the cops, Xan? What about the adults?"
"The cops?" Xander laughed again, a little hysterical this time. "They're useless. They don't even come out at night unless they really have to. And the adults are worse than useless. They're blind. They won't see. Most people just won't see, Dom."
"So why you?"
"Why else?" Xander cleared his throat. "There was a girl." Xander waited for Dom's laughter to stop before continuing. "Yeah, yeah. So there was a new girl, Buffy. She transferred after burning her old school's gym down. Vampires," he added in explanation. "She was expelled, and no LA school would take her. Or, I guess, no LA school that her mom wanted her to go to would take her. So she came here, to good old Sunnydale. Where we have lots of vampires. Which works, 'cause apparently she's this mystical 'Vampire Slayer'. I'll tell you now, she could kick your butt, and the rest of the team's at the same time. Buff's buff," he added.
"So she's, what, Supergirl? You got a Supergirl named Buffy?"
"Um, yeah? She can still get hurt, but you know. She's really fast and strong. Really strong!"
"Yeah?"
"I don't know if she forgets how strong she is when she thumps me, or if she does it on purpose. But I can be man enough to say it hurts!"
"And she kills the vampires?"
"Yeah. We help. Just not so much with the vampire-slayage. 'Cause, you know, not so super."
"So how do you do it? How do you kill the vampires?"
"Ah, all the usuals. Stake to the heart is popular, and also cutting off the head, or burning, or daylight. I think garlic doesn't work. It just stinks. But they are supposed to have really sensitive noses, so that might just make them want to stay away. Um. Oh, they can't come into your house unless you invite them."
"So all the classics?"
"Yeah. And they're faster and stronger than us. Which is why Buffy's … the way she is."
Xander sighed, and Dom let the silence hang for a moment. "Do you want me to come pick you up? I can drop you back Sunday night, in time for school."
"Could you? I just want to get away for a couple of days. Just … not here."
"I'll be there in a couple of hours."
"Thanks, Dom."