Jessie Sammler, Vampire Slayer
Chapter 4
Author: j_rock873
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jessie and her family are visited by a few members of the Scooby gang. How will they react when a certain redhead and blonde try to explain what's happening to her?
Disclaimer: I own nothing from either show
Reviews: I would like them. Constructive criticism is ok.
Author's note: The italicized words in this chapter represent the telepathic conversation Willow has with Buffy and Jessie.
A minute later
At the sound of the first ring, Rick calmly opened the door while Jessie hid behind him. As much as she tried, she couldn't stop herself from peeking around him
"Can I help you?"
It's her, Buffy.
"Yes, if you don't mind me asking, does Jessie Sammler live here?" Are you sure?
I'm positive.
"Yes, she does. I'm Jessie's dad, Rick Sammler."
"Hello, I'm Buffy Summers. Can we speak to her, I mean all of you, for a little bit?"
"I guess that would be ok. Come on in."
The family watched Buffy enter as she was followed by a younger brunette, a redhead, and another brunette. Lily led them to the family room as Rick grabbed some chairs from the dining room for their visitors to sit on. Then he, Lily, Grace, and Zoe sat on the couch while the three other girls went back to their original seats. Eli decided to stand beside Karen. The four newcomers sat down slowly and remained silent as they were introduced to the rest of the family.
"This is my wife, Lily; my stepdaughters, Grace and Zoe Manning; my son, Eli; my ex-wife, Karen; my daughter, Jessie; and her girlfriend, Katie Singer."
"Nice to meet you," Buffy, Dawn, and Willow responded together as Kennedy started staring back and forth between Jessie and Katie.
"Kennedy."
"Oh, sorry. It's nice to meet you," she chimed in.
"It's nice to meet you too," everyone, except Jessie and Katie, agreed.
Jessie became uneasy at Kennedy's stare while Katie was becoming annoyed.
"I guess it's my turn for the introductions. As I said a few moments ago, my name is Buffy Summers. This is my sister, Dawn; my best friend, Willow Rosenberg; and her girlfriend, Kennedy."
"So, what brings you to Evanston, Illinois?" Katie questioned as they all could feel the tension level start to rise abruptly.
"Uh, I'm not sure what's the best way to handle this, so I'll just come out and ask. By any chance, have you suddenly gained strength and can't understand why, Jessie?"
"Uh, yeah, I have. Is that why you're here? To explain what's going on?"
"Precisely."
"So what's going on with our daughter?"
"Mom, I can handle this. So what is happening?"
"Well, I know it might be hard to believe, but you've become a slayer like me and Kennedy."
"A slayer? What's that supposed to mean?"
"A vampire slayer. The strength you now have gives you the ability to slay vampires and demons."
"What about them?" Jessie wondered as she pointed to Willow and Dawn.
You can tell them I'm a witch, Buffy, but you better lie to them about Dawn. We don't want them totally freaked out.
"Willow's a witch, and Dawn is just my sister."
"Are you trying to get us to believe that my little sister has been chosen to fight the undead and demons? Not to mention your friend over there being an actual witch?"
All four girls smirked at hearing the word "chosen".
"Yes, Eli," Dawn assured him as they all could see that he was about ready to start flirting with her sister, "And by the way, don't try to start flirting with Buffy. She's not interested. She prefers older men, don't you, Buffy?"
Buffy rolled her eyes as Willow giggled.
"Sorry, a little inside joke between us," Willow announced.
"Alright."
"Eli's right. We want some proof," Zoe finally spoke up as she looked directly at Buffy.
"Ok, we'll show you."
"How?"
"Buffy will lift Karen up while she sits in that chair, Jessie will do the same to Katie, and I will use my magic to raise the couch with the four of you on it."
"But I can't do that, Willow."
"Yes, you can, Jessie. Just give it a try."
Katie, Jessie, and her family were astounded when the three girls did exactly that. This turned into fear in the minds of Karen, Lily, and Zoe.
"Is there, uh, anything else we should know about the change or changes in Jessie?"
"Yes, Karen, there is. Her hearing and appetite for food will also change," Buffy informed them.
"How much will her appetite grow?"
"Well, we can't be exactly sure on how much, but after a slaying it will at least double."
Buffy and the rest of her group became puzzled as everyone, besides Jessie, gave them a huge smile while the other blonde just rolled her eyes.
"She will also be able to sense when vampires are nearby."
"I can communicate telepathically with Buffy, Kennedy, and Jessie."
"Yeah, right."
"I'll prove it, Grace."
Jessie, if you can hear me, nod your head and pick Katie up once more. When you set her down, tell them that you need to talk to us alone briefly. Buffy isn't telling them everything, and I can sense that you want to tell us something too. You'll want to bring Katie with you. It concerns her as well.
They all watched as Jessie stood and picked Katie up again. As she set her down, she planted a kiss on Katie's cheek. Then she turned to her family.
"I need to talk to Buffy and Willow in private. We'll be back soon. Come with us, Katie."
"Uh, ok."
A few minutes later, Jessie's bedroom
"Why did Jessie bring us up here, Willow?"
"I think you need to tell Jessie about what you didn't mention downstairs."
"What would that be?"
"I think you know what I'm talking about," Willow mentioned with an arched eyebrow as she glanced over to her girlfriend, who knew exactly what Willow was talking about.
"Willow, I don't think we should tell them that."
Willow just continued with the arched eyebrow.
"Alright, fine. Even though the second never really happened to me, your appetite for food isn't the only hunger that will grow. Our friend, Faith, said it happens to her after a slaying. She calls it a case of the double h's."
"I can also confirm that," Kennedy admitted as she looked at her girlfriend, which got the redhead to blush a bright red.
"What are you talking about? Oh, that," Jessie commented as she realized why the smile appeared on Katie's face.
"Is there anything you want to tell us, Jessie?"
"Like what?"
"Like why you rolled your eyes as the mention of food while your family gave big smiles."
"Well, I kind of have a problem with anorexia. I'm seeing a doctor about it."
"You mean a shrink?"
"Yes, Dawn, a shrink."
"Sorry, I won't bring it up again. I'll let you in on a secret if it helps you at all."
"It might."
"Ok, well, there's another thing we didn't mention downstairs. I'm not completely human."
"Really? How?"
"I used to be a ball of energy known simply as "The Key", but some monks used some of Buffy's DNA to turn me into a sister."
"WOW! I bet that has caused a few problems."
This made Dawn, Buffy, and Willow frown briefly.
"I guess that's something you don't want to talk about."
"We'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else."
"We promise," Jessie and Katie agreed.
"We discovered that a hell goddess could have used my blood to help herself return to her own dimension."
"So what happened?"
"Well, she captured me, had one of her followers cut me, and I bled a little."
"But you're still here, so you obviously stopped her. How did you do it?"
Kennedy watched silently as the other three described the whole Glory situation. At the mention of Tara, Willow became misty-eyed while Dawn comforted her. After they were finished, they all headed back downstairs.
"So, did you have a nice talk up there?" Lily prodded with a slight smile.
"Yes, we did. Now we should finish talking with you. Anything else you want to know?"
"Yes," Karen, Rick, and Lily asserted at the same time.
"Ok, fire away."
"How did this happen?" Rick began as all eyes focused on Buffy and Willow.
"I performed a spell that made it possible for Buffy to share her power with all the potentials, so that they could help in defeating The First. It awakened hundreds, possibly thousands of potential slayers."
"The First?" Jessie's parents asked at the same time again.
"Yeah, a great evil that could have destroyed the world. Many of them died in the fight."
"So witchcraft is the reason? You're the one responsible for putting Jessie in danger?" Karen growled.
"Yes, but it won't be for her like it was for Buffy and Faith," Willow tried to convince them.
"You should be ashamed of yourself."
"Hey, not to be rude, but if it wasn't for my girlfriend, you could have been dead soon."
"Yeah, Mom, you should ease up a little."
"What do you mean it will be different for her?"
"When I was chosen, I didn't have hundreds of slayers watching my back. It was originally supposed to be one girl for every generation."
"If it's supposed to be one girl, then what's the explanation for the potentials, I mean former potentials?" Lily inquired as confusion spread throughout their family.
Buffy sighed loudly before speaking again.
"When a slayer died, a potential would become the next slayer."
"Died? Do slayers die a lot?" Jessie replied as a small amount of fear appeared on her face.
"Unfortunately, yes. Most slayers in the past didn't live past the age of eighteen or nineteen. I…"
"You what?" Katie interrupted.
"I died twice."
"If you died twice already, how are you here now?"
"My friends brought me back. Xander used CPR the first time. Willow used magic the second time."
"How did that feel?" Karen quizzed the blonde, not realizing until she was finished how she herself sounded like a psychologist.
"I'd rather not talk about that."
"So you're saying that if Jessie was to die, that she could be brought back?"
"Katie."
"I want to know, Billie. I think we all want to know, right?"
Jessie and Katie glanced briefly at Jessie's family, who all nodded yes, as they waited for Buffy's answer. Buffy debated on how to respond until she saw all of the nods.
"Yes, but you should be careful. It's dangerous."
"Why?"
At that question, Dawn began to sob and buried her face in her hands. As she felt Buffy put her hand on her shoulder, she stood up, raced to the front door, opened it, and closed it behind her almost as loud as Jessie had done earlier.
"Uh, excuse me for a few minutes."
"Take all the time you need," Rick told her as almost everyone looked on in concern for Dawn
"Thanks."
After Buffy left the room, the next question was directed to the redhead.
"Is she going to be alright?"
I shouldn't be asking this, Jessie, but could you smack him upside the head for me.
Ok.
"OW, what did you do that for, Jessie?" Eli whined as Katie, Grace, and Willow smiled.
"Duh, it was a stupid question to ask, Eli. Sorry about that, Willow." You've got to love that slayer strength.
"It's ok. It was just really traumatic for Dawn." Yeah, we do.
