Wow I finished this one fast. Days even. Bloody Mary is one of my favorite Supernatural episodes so I think it was easier for me to write than the other two... it's getting to all the good Supernatural episodes now so I think they will be coming more frequent now. Thanks for all those who have reviewed for the last chapter and I hope I get more this time round.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Eric Kripke owns Supernatural and it's scripts and Joss Wheedon owns Buffy. This was made for fun.
I used the TwizTv script for Supernatural Season 1, Episode 4 "Bloody Mary"
Buffy knew the Winchester brother's were looking for their father and along the way they would hunt down anything supernatural to help save lives but what she didn't know was that they hardly had a break from it, maybe two possibly three days they would just hang out until something that sounded supernatural came along. During the days they had nothing to do Buffy saw different sides to the Winchester's, well Sam wasn't attached to his laptop nearly as much and occasionally gave into Dean's influence – who was also going out a lot more than usual and bringing girls back to the motel; thankfully Buffy managed to persuade them to let her get a room of her own so now she didn't have to worry about walking in on him during one of his escapades.
They did find another case that involved a demon of some kind taking down planes so Buffy decided not to get involved in that one and let Sam and Dean so what they did best. When they got back Dean looked like he aged years, later she was told by Sam that Dean had a fear of planes and the one they were on nearly crashed which Buffy found hilarious and Dean vowed his revenge on her. After the case involving the plane they didn't find another case worth per suing for a few more days so it gave them enough time to get Buffy a box load of fake I.D's, Passports, Health Insurance Cards, and anything else she would have needed. Dean, thinking he was funny and getting his revenge on her, occasionally put what he thought were funny names like 'Bunny' or 'Britney' on a few of the I.D's which she didn't find very amusing – which only made Dean think it even funnier.
Not so long after she finally had her I.D's did Sam found something that sounded worth investigating and they were now driving hundreds of miles. Buffy still wasn't a fan of long driving journeys, she assumed it was because she was used to walking or running everywhere. So sitting in the back of a car for an hour on end wasn't what she thought was relaxing or entertaining.
Dean, as usual, was driving and Sam was sat in the passenger seat asleep. Buffy leant closer to Dean's seat and poked him in the shoulder. "Why don't I ever get to ride up front?"
Dean quickly glanced over his shoulder and laughed lightly when he saw her face hidden behind large sunglasses. "Because..." was all he said as he parked outside a hospital.
Buffy raised an eyebrow and moved the sunglasses from her face and onto her head. "Well wouldn't it make more sense for Lanky here to sleep in the back where he can stretch out?"
It was as if Sam was listening in as not even seconds after she said it did Sam start crying out "Jessica!" over and over.
Buffy gently put a hand on Sam's shoulder and gave him a little shove, "Sam, wake up."
Sam instantly jumped and opened his eyes; looking around a little sheepish he saw concern on Buffy and Dean's face. "I take it I was having a nightmare."
Buffy nodded, "Yeah another one." She'd heard him a couple of times screaming out his girlfriends name, it was getting more and more frequent.
Sam sighed and rubbed his temple, "Hey, at least I got some sleep." He tried to joke but nobody found it funny.
"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this." Dean said using his 'big brother' voice.
Ignoring him Sam looked out the window behind Buffy, "Are we here?"
"Yup, welcome to Toledo, Ohio." Dean said without enthusiasm.
Picking up the paper on the dashboard Sam examined the article; Buffy hovered over Sam's shoulder and also read the article: An obituary for a man called 'Shoemaker, Steven'. Buffy wasn't sure what had happened to the man, she usually let Sam and Dean do that stuff and she just kicks ass when she needed too. "So what do you think really happened to him?" she asked anyone of the two who would answer.
Dean stopped the car outside a hospital. "That's what we're gonna find out. Let's go."
Getting out the car Dean shut Buffy's door keeping her inside the car, "Not you"
Buffy glared at him, "Why not? I have I.D's now so you can't use that excuse."
Dean sighed, "Because it's gonna look shady if three people go inside."
"Then let Sam stay here. He looks like he could do with another rest. He looks like crap."
Sam laughed, "Thanks"
Buffy sighed and got out the car, "I dont mean it like that." Shutting the door behind her, a little too strong as the car rocked slightly for a few seconds, she turned to Dean, "Look, Sam needs rest; even I know he's not sleeping well so why dont he sleep in the car and I come with you and see what you guys do best."
After looking from Sam to Buffy for a few minutes Dean sighed, "You okay to stay out here for a while?" He asked Sam.
Sam nodded, "Yeah, she's right. I could do with a nap." Sam smiled at Buffy, "Go on, you need to see us in action anyway."
Buffy smiled and clapped, "Alright!" She hugged Sam then slapped Dean on the arm that almost toppled him over, "C'mon Action Man." She didn't wait for him to regain himself as she headed to the hospital entrance.
Dean rubbed the arm Buffy slapped and he glared at Sam, who was wetting himself with laughter, "Shut up."
Sam stifled back another laugh, "I don't think she means to hurt you. It's her way of affection."
"Well if she keeps it up I'm gonna lock her in that morgue and leave her to freeze to death" Dean growled as he started to head to the hospital.
"On the plus side you have a new nickname!" Sam called and started whooping and laughing as he got inside the car.
Dean shook his head and growled, "Bloody Action Man... I'll show her Action Man!" he grumbled as he met up with her inside the hospital.
"What took you so long?" Buffy asked with an amused grin on her face.
Dean just stopped in front of her, "The morgue's this way." He said deliberately ignoring her question. When they got to the morgue there were two desks but only one person. Dean looked at the name on the empty desk as he walked over to the morgue technician sat at his desk. He was dressed all in blue scrubs, bald, and looked completely bored.
"Hey, can I help you?" The morgue technician asked.
Dean nodded, "Hey. Yeah. We're the uh...med students."
The morgue technician looked from Dean to Buffy, taking his time looking Buffy up and down as he spoke, "Sorry?"
Buffy didn't look like a med student: dressed in a lilac skirt that stopped under her knee, a lilac spaghetti strap top and cork wedges with lilac straps, complete with her white sunglasses on her head. She may not have looked like a med student but Buffy was good at lying.
"Oh Doctor..." Dean took a quick glance at the name on the empty desk again, "Figlavitch didn't tell you? We talked to him on the phone. We uh…We're from Ohio State. He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It's for our paper." Dean explained with an unusually pleasant grin. If I didn't know him, I'd think it was genuine! Buffy thought when she saw the grin.
The morgue technician was still eyeing up Buffy as he spoke, "Well I'm sorry, he's at lunch."
Dean and Buffy looked at each other, signalling that they both knew he was checking her out.
"Oh well he said uh…Oh well, you know, it doesn't matter. You don't mind showing us the body do you?" Dean asked, deliberately waving a hand in front of Buffy to get his attention.
The morgue technician seemed to have come out of his trance and shook his head, "Sorry, I can't. Doc will be back in an hour, you can wait for him if you want." He said to Dean in a slimy tone.
"An hour? Ooh. We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then." Dean looked over at Buffy and she nodded, "Yeah." Was all she said with a smile.
The morgue technician still wasn't buying it. "Uh look man, this paper's like half hour grade, so if you don't mind helping us out."
"Oh look man, no." The technician said with a large smile.
Dean turned around and sighed, "I'm gonna hit him in his face I swear."
Buffy gave the technician a little smile before turning her back to speak to Dean, "Let me try."
"What are you going to do?" He asked unimpressed.
Buffy smirked, "If it's one thing I'm good at its persuasion" before she turned around Buffy straightened out her clothes and stood straight, which pushed her boobs out – Dean didn't fail to notice and also smirked as she wiggled her way and sat on the edge of the morgue technicians desk, who didn't take his eyes from her boobs as soon as she turned around.
Buffy put on her sweetest 'persuasive Buffy' voice and smiled, "Listen..." she looked at the technicians nametag, "Rodger," she giggled, "I really have to get back to Columbus but I have to see this body because if I dont I won't graduate and I won't become a doctor. You know," Buffy played with the collar on the technicians white jacket, "I was hoping to come here when I graduate but if I dont see that body I won't. You can help a girl out, right Rodger?" she ended with a little pout and her best pleading eyes.
The morgue technician looked at her pleading face for a second before his features softened into a small smile, "Follow me." He said as he got up and headed though double doors at the other end of the morgue.
Buffy got off the desk and smirked as Dean walked up to her, "And that's how it's done"
Dean smiled, "That was awesome! How the hell did you know how to do that?" he asked as they followed the technician.
Buffy shrugged, "I used to be a cheerleader, that kinda thing comes natural."
Dean stopped and watched Buffy follow the technician to the body with a dumbfounded look on his face, "My God..." He laughed and scratched at his head as he followed.
When he caught up with them Dean noticed that the body was already out and was covered over in a white sheet. "Now the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding." Dean confirmed more than asked.
The morgue technician pulled back the sheet that was over the corpse Buffy stifled a gasp when she saw nothing in his eye sockets, just blood. "More than that. They practically liquefied."
Buffy put her hands inside the white jacket and pulled out a pair of glasses, putting them on she asked, "Any sign of a struggle? Maybe somebody did it to him?" she saw Dean shake his head at her.
The technician shook his head, "Nope. Besides the daughter, he was all alone."
Buffy leant closer to the body, "What's the official cause of death?"
The technician sighed, "Doc's not sure. Massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked, pulling Buffy away from the body.
"Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen."
"The eyes—what would cause something like that?" Buffy asked, shaking Dean off her arm.
The technician scratched his head, "Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims."
"Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?" Dean said with a bit of a smile.
"That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor."
"Think we could take a look at that police report? You know for, uh…our paper." Dean asked.
The morgue technician sighed, "I'm not really supposed to show you that."
Dean turned his attention to Buffy, "What?" she whispered. Dean nodded his head toward the technician and Buffy clicked on. She turned to face the technician and smiled, "Aww come on Rodger." Buffy cooed and walked closer to him and played with her blond curls.
The technician smiled at Buffy and sighed, "Okay... but don't tell anyone, especially my boss."
Buffy smiled, "Scouts honour!" she held up a hand and crossed two of her fingers and she giggled as the technician went to get the police report.
As soon as he was gone Buffy straightened up and her smile was gone, taking the glasses off she sighed, "God I forgot how tiring that is"
Dean just looked at her like she was Jesus reincarnate. "That... is gonna be useful in future."
When the technician finally arrived with the police report Buffy also managed to persuade him to make a copy of the report then they left and headed back to the Impala where Sam was asleep in the back. They woke him up and told him everything they found out and showed him the police report. "Might not be one of ours. Might just be some freak medical thing."
Dean looked at Sam, "How many times in dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?"
Sam didn't even have to think, "Uh, almost never."
Dean smiled and pointed, "Exactly"
Sam sighed and sat up in the back. "All right, let's go talk to the daughter."
Sam was about to get out the back and Buffy was about to get in when Dean raised his hand. "Uh-Uh, you get to ride in the front Blondie."
Sam and Buffy both looked at each other and then at Dean, "What?" they both asked at the same time.
Dean smirked and pointed, "You earned it. Oh Sam you should have seen her, Man. She was like an alien, like a completely different Buffy – A nicer one actually – possessed her. She had that Idiot wrapped around her little finger. I tell ya that could become useful. Now get in the front Goldilocks."
Buffy and Sam both looked at each other and Sam got back in the car and Buffy walked around to the passenger side and slid in next to Dean. Getting herself comfortable she sighed, "I could get used to this seat" she nodded and put her sunglasses back on her face. She could hear both Sam and Dean chuckle as Dean started the engine and pulled out the hospital parking lot.
----
The whole ride over to Mr. Shoemaker's home Dean was telling Sam everything Buffy did inside the morgue to the morgue technician, he was still going on about it when he parked the car outside the Shoemaker house.
"I swear Sammy it was the freakiest thing ever. It was like one minute she was her usual annoying self and then all of a sudden she was like... this alien. I swear it was the freakiest thing I've ever seen." He chuckled as he got out the car.
"Okay can we drop it now" Buffy sighed as they headed up the path into the house.
Dean was still chuckling when they entered the open door into the house. The entire house was filled with people in black and all three of them looked at their own clothes. "Feel like we're underdressed?" Dean whispered as they walked through the house and followed people as they went out the back. Dean tapped a man on the shoulder and asked for the eldest Shoemaker daughter. The man pointed to a group of teenagers sat on patio furniture furthest from the house. All three stop when they reached them Dean coughed to get their attention and looked at one girl, eyes bloodshot, short brown hair sat between a younger girl and a blonde about the same age. "You must be Donna right?"
"Yeah."
Sam smiled. "Hi uh—we're really sorry."
Donna smiled lightly, "Thank you."
"I'm Sam, this is Dean and Buffy. We worked with your dad." Sam said gesturing to himself, Dean and Buffy.
"You did?"
Buffy nodded, "Yeah, I'm sorry for your loss. I know how it feels to lose a parent... I wouldn't wish it on anyone."
"This whole thing." Dean cut in before Buffy started crying along with Donna and her friends. "I mean, a stroke."
"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now" one of Donna's friends snapped.
"It's okay Charlie. I'm okay." Donna said.
"Were there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?" Dean asked.
Donna shook her head, "No."
The youngest girl turned around on the bench and looked at her sister. "That's because it wasn't a stroke."
Donna shook her head, "Lily don't say that."
"What?" Sam asked.
Donna looked up at Sam, "I'm sorry, she's just upset."
Lily spoke up again shaking her head, "No, it happened because of me."
"Sweetie, it didn't." Her sister pleaded.
Buffy bent down beside the younger sister, "Lily why would you say something like that?"
Lily hesitated for a moment then looked at Buffy, "Right before he died, I said it."
"You said what?"
"Bloody Mary-" Buffy looked straight at Sam and Dean then back to Lily, "Three times in the bathroom mirror. She took his eyes; that's what she does."
"That's not why dad died. This isn't your fault." Donna said.
"I think your sister's right, Lily. There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?" Dean asked.
"No I don't think so." Lily said quietly.
Buffy stroked Lily's hair before standing up. "We should go," Buffy said then looked to Donna, "Again I'm sorry about your dad."
Donna nodded and said goodbye to the three and they hastily entered the house.
"Well?" Buffy said.
"This is definitely a case." Sam said and started up the stairs.
---
Reaching the bathroom Sam pushed open the bathroom door and all three saw a pool of dried blood stuck to the floor tiles. "The Bloody Mary legend- Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Asked Sam.
"Not that I know of." Dean said as he walked into the bathroom.
Buffy followed Dean into the bathroom whereas Sam knelt on the floor and examined the bloodstain.
"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, no one dies from it." Sam stated getting up from the floor.
Dean opened up the medicine cabinet, "Yeah well maybe everywhere it's just a story but here it's actually happening."
"The place where the legend began maybe?" Buffy asked getting in the bathtub and looking around at the tiles, Dean shrugged his shoulders as an answer.
Sam stood next to Dean, "But according to the legend, the person who says—" Sam noticed the mirror on the medicine cabinet was facing him and shut it, ignoring Dean's giggle, "The person who says you know what, gets it. But here—"
"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah." Dean finished.
Sam nodded, "Right."
Dean scratched his head, "Never heard anything like that before. Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, "you know who" scratches your eyes out."
Buffy got out the bathtub, "its worth checking in to." Sam said.
Buffy held up a finger to shush Sam, "Someone's coming" she said and within seconds they heard footsteps along the corridor. Hastily all three came out of the bathroom just in time to see one of Donna's friends, Charlie, coming down the corridor.
"What are you doing up here?" Charlie asked when she stopped in front of them.
Dean looked around at his brother and Buffy, "We—we, had to go to the bathroom." He explained.
Buffy and Sam looked at Dean then smiled and nodded to Charlie.
Charlie crossed her arms, "Who are you?" she asked.
"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad." Dean said.
"He was a day trader or something, he worked by himself." Charlie added.
Dean laughed, "No, I know, I meant—"
"And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that? So you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming."
Sam stepped forward. "All right, all right. We think something happened to Donna's dad."
Charlie nodded, "Yeah, a stroke."
"That's not a sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else." Buffy stated.
"Like what?"
"Honestly? We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth." Dean stated.
"So… If you're gonna scream, go right ahead." Buffy said.
Charlie stared at Buffy for a second, "Who are you, cops?"
"Something like that." Dean suggested.
"I'll tell you what. Here." Sam reached into his pocket, pulling out some paper and a pen and started writing something down. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange; out of the ordinary…just give us a call." He handed the paper to Charlie, who nodded, and he started down the hallway with Dean following.
"You know it wasn't a stroke" Buffy stated to Charlie when the boys were out of earshot, "We can help... Just give us a call if something else happens." Buffy waited for Charlie to nod before heading down the hallway to find the boys.
Sam was the one that suggested they go to the local library for research.
"Say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gonna be some sort of proof—like a local woman who died nasty." Dean said quietly as they entered the library entrance.
"Yeah but a legend this widespread it's hard. I mean, there's like 50 versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more." Sam replied quietly as they entered the actual library.
"All right so what are we supposed to be looking for?" Buffy asked silently.
"Every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspapers—public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill." Sam explained.
Dean sighed, "Well that sounds annoying."
"No it won't be so bad, as long as we…" Sam stopped when they reached the row of computers, which all had an 'Out of Order' sign on them and sighed, "I take it back. This will be very annoying."
"We're gonna be here all night." Dean sighed.
Buffy sighed also, "Well, looks like you guys won't need me-"
"What?" Dean was shushed by everyone in the library for raising his voice, "Sorry!" he whispered and turned back to Buffy, "What the hell are you talking about?"
Buffy just shrugged, "Look I'm a Slayer; I slay. I don't do research, I'm useless at this stuff. So why don't I get us checked in at a motel and leave you two here"
Dean laughed sarcastically and held up a hand, "Haha! No! There's no way your touching my car."
All three sighed and Sam spoke up, "Alright look I can stay here and try dig stuff up, you two can check in and have a look online. I'll meet up with you guy's in a couple of hours."
Buffy and Dean started to head out the library when Sam called them back, "Buffy? Make sure he actually does research and not clogging my laptop with porn." He laughed.
Buffy nodded and when they turned out the library Dean laughed, "It's not the laptop I'll be clogging up."
Buffy looked at Dean with disgust then just laughed, it should have surprised her but it didn't at all.
----
Buffy was glad to have her own room. She enjoyed her time with the boys but they forget a girl needs her privacy. As soon as Dean gave her one of the room keys she agreed to come to his room in a couple of hours she just wanted to shower and sort out her stuff. When she was alone Buffy showered and changed into red leather trousers and a black tank top then emptied her Duffel completely – when she was staying in the same room as Dean and Sam she always kept a couple of things in her duffel because she didn't want to answer any questions – she hung all her clothes in the wardrobe and neatly lined up her many, many shoes.
Reaching the bottom of the bag Buffy hesitated a little before pulling out the large wooden box. She sat on the edge of her bed and gingerly opened the lid and tried not to cry when she looked inside: the first thing she saw was the picture of her, Willow and Xander laying in her back garden – they were about sixteen when the picture was taken, Buffy was plumper then, Willow didn't look any different except her hair was shorter, and Buffy forgot how gangly Xander was back then, Buffy traced her fingers over her friends faces before putting the picture beside her and picking up another: her and Dawn on one of Buffy's birthdays, Buffy remembered that Dawn was about twelve when the picture was taken and she was suddenly filled with love and grief and silent tears started running down her cheeks. Moving on Buffy held up a picture of her, Dawn and Joyce, her mother – it was taken a few weeks after they moved to Sunnydale and Buffy remembered how happy her mom and Dawn were when they moved.
"I love you Mom..." Buffy muttered as she put the picture with the other two.
Digging deeper into the box Buffy pulled out a large two bladed knife, Faith's knife, the knife she took from Faith and gutted Faith with. Digging again Buffy pulled out a tiny silver ring and burst into sobs almost instantly when she thought of who gave it to her. Buffy couldnt really grasp how much heartache she'd had over the years and is still standing from it. When she put the ring on her finger, which still fit like a glove even though she hadn't worn it in years, Buffy cried a little harder and thought of Angel, still able to feel the love she has for him in her heart. Buffy lay on the bed and pressed the ring on her finger to her lips. She wasn't sure how long she stayed there for but when there was a light knocking at her door she choked back tears, wiped her eyes and answered the door. Dean stood outside the door looking impatient. As soon as he saw her he put his hands on the door frames, "We gotta go... Charlie called Sam and-" he stopped when he saw her puffy eyes and tear streaked face and he stiffened, "What happened? You okay?"
Buffy nodded, "Yeah, It's nothing. I'm fine." She smiled, though the smile didn't reach to her eyes, and she didn't look at him as she spoke.
Dean wanted to press, but he didn't, "Kay. Well we got a call from Charlie. We're heading over to her now, get your coat."
Buffy nodded, took her short leather jacket from the back of one of the chairs and picked up the room key and left the room, slamming the door behind her. Dean watched her the whole time she got to the car, "You sure you're okay?"
"I'll get over it." Buffy stated as she got in the back of the car.
They met up with Charlie at the local park; she was already sitting on one of the benches when they arrived. Buffy sat beside Charlie as she cried, Sam stood in front of her and Dean sat on the back of the bench, his feet on the seat. Through sobs, Charlie told them about one of her friends that were at the funeral, some blonde girl but Buffy couldnt pull out a face, anyway Charlie told them about a conversation they had about Bloody Mary then the next morning they found her dead in the same way as Mr. Shoemaker.
"And they found her on the bathroom floor. And her—her eyes. They were gone." Charlie said through sobs.
"I'm sorry." Sam said softly.
"And she said it." Charlie looked from Buffy to Dean to Sam, who all looked at each other too, "I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?"
All three shook their heads, "No, you're not insane." Dean said.
Charlie sighed, "Oh God that makes me feel so much worse." She put her face in her hands and cried.
Buffy rubbed her back to calm her down, "Look. We think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained." She said.
Dean nodded when Charlie looked around, "And we're gonna stop it but we could use your help."
Charlie thought for a moment, "What do you need me to do?"
----
"You think she can pull it off?" Buffy asked Dean and the three perched on the porch roof waiting for Charlie to let them in. All Charlie had to do was to get Jill's room to herself for a while and let them in. Buffy wasn't so sure that she could pull it off.
Neither of the boys answered her, Dean just shrugged, they all stiffened when they saw Jill's bedroom door open but relaxed when they saw it was Charlie who turned the lights on and opened the window and they all climbed in.
"What did you tell Jill's mom?" Buffy asked when she climbed in. Sam climbed in next and took the green duffel from Dean so he could get in, when Dean was the last to get in he shut the curtains.
"Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things." Charlie said as Sam pulled a camcorder out of the bag, "I hate lying to her." She sighed.
"Trust us; this is for the greater good. Hit the lights." Dean told her and Charlie turned out the main light. Dean rummaged through the bag and pulled out his EMF reader.
"What are you guys looking for?" Charlie asked.
"We'll let you know as soon as we find it." Buffy said, pulling out a flashlight from the top of her boot. Turning on the flashlight, she examined under Jill's bed.
"Hey, night vision." Sam said to Dean who pressed a button for the night vision on the camera, "Perfect." Sam said as he aimed the camera at Dean, Sam could clearly see Dean through the night vision.
Dean posed when he saw the camera on him, "Do I look like Paris Hilton?"
Sam, Charlie and Buffy laughed. Sam headed to Jill's closet and started filming around the mirror. Turning on the EMF reader Dean started scanning the room.
"So I don't get it. I mean…the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?" Buffy asked as she stood up and walked into the bathroom.
"Beats me." Dean said as he crossed the room and stopped in front of Charlie, "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place." Dean didn't ask it was more of a demand at Charlie.
"It's just a joke."
Dean hovered the EMF meter over Jill's bed, "Yeah well somebody's gonna say it again; it's just a matter of time."
"Sam," Buffy called from the bathroom, Sam came into the bathroom and Buffy pointed to the mirror, "Check that." She said. She could feel the energy coming from the mirror.
Sam filmed along the mirror slowly. When he got to the bottom of the mirror he stopped about the middle of the frame. Buffy looked at what was on the camcorder screen, blood running from behind the mirror.
"Hey." Dean and Charlie turn to look at Sam. "There's a black light in the trunk, right?"
Dean nodded and opened the curtains and climbed out the window. Buffy helped Sam take down the mirror.
"How did you know that was there?" Sam asked as they gently pulled the mirror from the wall.
Buffy shrugged, "I didn't know if anything was there I just had a feeling that something might be there. Like pins and needles in my hand when I placed it over the spot." She explained as she helped carry the mirror into the bedroom.
Sam laughed and shook his head, "That's some gift you've got there" he muttered and Buffy laughed.
Dean climbed back through the window with the black light just as Buffy and Sam got the mirror on the bed, mirror side down, and threw Buffy the light; Sam peeled off the brown paper that was on the back of the mirror and Buffy shone the black light over the back of the mirror. Near the centre of the mirror out shone a gory looking handprint with the words "Gary Bryman" written underneath; the lettering made Buffy think of the 'Goosebumps' writing.
"Gary Bryman?" Charlie read out with surprise.
"You know who that is?" Sam asked.
Charlie shook her head, "No."
Buffy turned off the black light and shoved it inside the duffel. "So what do we do now?"
Sam hung the mirror back in the bathroom, "I guess we find out who this Gary Bryman is as he's our only lead." Coming out the bathroom he threw the camcorder to Dean who put it in the duffel and zipped it shut.
"You go stall while we get out of here... meet you outside." Dean said to Charlie.
As Charlie left the room the other three climbed out the window as quietly as they could, climbed down the gutter, and ran to the car. Charlie was already waiting by the car.
Buffy, Dean and Charlie waited for Sam at the same park they met Charlie at. Sam did the research on Gary Bryman as it was concluded that Buffy and Dean just fought over who did less research than actual research so they were sent to wait at the park with Charlie while he found everything out. As usual Sam didn't take very long; half an hour later he was back with a sheet of paper.
Tapping Dean to move up the bench Sam sat down, "So, Gary Bryman was an 8-year-old boy. Two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry. But nobody got the plates or saw the driver."
Charlie froze, "Oh my God." She spoke quickly and looked like she was going to throw up.
"What?" All three asked.
"Jill drove that car." She answered without looking at any of them.
Dean exchanged looks with Sam, "We need to get back to your friend Donna's house."
----
Ten minutes later they arrived at Donna Shoemaker's house and after an awkward discussion on Sam and Dean wanting to see the bathroom mirror Donna let them upstairs while Buffy and Charlie waited downstairs with Donna.
"So you worked with my dad?" Donna asked Buffy when the boys were upstairs.
Buffy nodded, "Yeah, I'm a.... secretary for his company. I'd seen your father around a few times. He was a good man." Buffy lied through her teeth.
Donna didn't say anything for a moment. "And those guys worked with him too?"
Buffy just nodded and tried not to smile when she saw the pair coming down the stairs. Obviously once she saw the looks on their face she knew it wasn't good news.
"Donna, who is Linda Shoemaker?" Sam asked as politely as he could.
Donna moved towards the staircase then faced them, "Why are you asking me this?"
"Look, we're sorry, but it's important." Sam stated.
Donna glared at them all before speaking, "Yeah. Linda's my mom okay? She overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident, and that's it." As soon as she said 'Sleeping pills' they all looked around at each other. "I think you should leave." Donna added.
Dean raised a hand, "Now Donna, just listen."
"Get out of my house!" She yelled as she ran up the stairs.
"Oh my God." Charlie sighed and crossed her arms, "Do you really think her dad could've killed her mom?"
Sam thought, "Maybe." He replied.
"I think I should stick around." Charlie stated.
Dean nodded, "All right. Whatever you do, don't-"
"Believe me, I won't say it."
After saying goodbye to Charlie Buffy couldnt get out that house quicker. "What the hell is going on around here?" Buffy asked as the three of them rushed to get in the car.
"Now," Dean stopped as he started the car, "we go to the motel and dig up as much as we can." To which he and Buffy sighed unhappily.
Buffy had been helping search for any kind of lead on Bloody Mary for over an hour, there was a reason why Buffy never did research and that was because she was bad at it. She hadn't got anywhere by the time she fell asleep at the table surrounded by books and papers. She woke when she heard the printer moaning away but she refused to open her eyes.
"Wait, wait, wait, you're doing a nationwide search?" She heard Sam say.
"Yep. The NCIC, the FBI database—at this point any Mary in the country who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me." Dean replied.
When she looked up the room was messier than when she fell asleep: there were papers stuck to walls, papers all over the beds and tables. Sam cleared a seat at the table and gave Buffy a 'enjoy your sleep?' smile before carrying on with their conversation "But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town."
Dean shook his head, "I'm telling you there's nothing local, I've checked. So unless you got a better idea"
Sam scratched at the back of his neck, "The way Mary's choosing her victims, it seems like there's a pattern."
"I know, I was thinking the same thing."
"With mister Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run." Sam prompted.
"Both had secrets where people died." Dean finished. Buffy found it amazing that these two boys could fight till they were black and blue yet they could reach what each other were thinking.
"Right. I mean there's a lot of folklore about mirrors-that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them."
Dean thought as Sam was talking, "Right, right. So maybe if you've got a secret, I mean like a really nasty one where someone died, and then Mary sees it, and punishes you for it."
"Whether you're the one that summoned her or not." Sam added.
Dean smirked and pressed a button on the laptop keyboard that sent the printer whirring. "Take a look at this." Dean got up from his seat and poured two coffees and handed one to Buffy.
"Enjoy your very loud nap?" He asked casually as he perched on the edge of the table and drank his coffee.
Buffy blew on the hot coffee and rolled her eyes; she didn't bother answering him and drank the coffee instead. Sam took out the papers that were printed and examined two together. "Looks like the same handprint."
"What is it?" Buffy asked, sliding her feet underneath her.
"Her name was Mary Worthington—an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana." Dean replied as he put his shoes on.
Buffy put her coffee mug on the table, "You're going now?" Buffy looked at the clock on the wall, "Dean its 3.30 in the morning."
Dean shrugged, "You dont have to come. We can take care of this; you go to your own room and, you know, paint your nails...or whatever." Dean smirked as he put on his jacket, Sam laughed at Dean as he put his jacket on.
Buffy rolled her eyes and got out of her seat, "Dean, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not your average girl. I dont have time to do my nails... I wish I did but I dont. Besides when I do they always chip when I get into a fight."
Dean looked at her and shrugged. "So what are your plans then?"
Buffy also shrugged. "I was thinking patrolling."
She watched Sam and Dean look to each other before looking back at her, "Patrolling?" Dean asked.
Buffy nodded, "Yeah. Patrolling; you know when you go out for a walk and kill any nasties you find on the streets." She saw the blank looks on the pair's faces and rolled her eyes, "You're kidding? You mean you guys don't patrol? Okay, you guys do what you have to do and I'll go patrol. I'll see you guys in the morning." She didn't wait for any answer as she left their room and headed into her own to change into comfier clothes to fight in.
---
As she was changing she heard the growling of the Impala as it sped off. She changed into a pair of old jeans she'd patrolled in before, a thin black sweater and her red leather jacket. Weapon wise Buffy armed herself with the Jackal, Faith's blade, and hid another blade in the top of her boot in case she lost the Jackal, she also hid a couple of stakes in the inside pocket of her jacket too just in case.
Buffy hadn't patrolled since she came back and it was going to take her a while to get over the routine she used to use: scope out The Bronze, then the graveyard, then the centre of town, then the other graveyards before heading home. Buffy had no clue where the graveyards were around here. Buffy decided to start at the nearest bar and she stayed there for an hour and found nothing, the bar pretty much stayed empty, so she moved on and just wandered the streets for hours – she thought she found a vampire a couple of hours in but it was just a man mugging a woman about her age, she managed to retrieve the bag from the mugger so that pepped her up a bit. Buffy only now started to realise how different Sunnydale was to everywhere else. By now Buffy would be on her seventh kill of the night if she was busy. The streets were always swarming with demons or vampires but here there was nothing.
She gave up by 5am and headed back to the motel, she was still itching for a fight when she got back and she would have took it out on a punch bag but she didn't have one so she had to resort to shadow boxing instead for an hour. By 7am Buffy had tired herself, showered and had just tucked herself up for some sleep and it felt like minutes later there was hasty banging on her door. Buffy looked at the clock by her bed and she was shocked to see it read nearing 5pm, groggily she got out of bed and answered the door; before she'd even opened it fully Dean barged in followed by Sam with his arm around Charlie.
"Charlie?" she looked to Dean as Sam sat Charlie on the bed, "What happened?"
Dean shrugged, "Just cover everything with a reflection." He stated as he draped Buffy's dressing gown over the large make up mirror. She was suddenly very glad for wearing her 'Yummy Sushi' pyjamas – no matter how silly they made her look at least she wasn't cold. Buffy nodded and got a load of sheets out the closet and hung them over the bathroom mirror and over the mirror inside the closet door and she put her clock face down on the table. Dean shut the curtains.
Sam sat himself beside Charlie, "Hey, hey it's ok. Hey, you can open up your eyes Charlie. It's okay, all right?" he stated softly and Charlie looked up slowly.
"Now listen. You're gonna stay right here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you." Sam told her in a soft voice.
"But I can't keep that up forever. I'm gonna die, aren't I?" She asked looking at all three of them.
"No. No. Not anytime soon." Sam replied. Buffy looked at Dean with a 'What the hell is going on?' expression on her face. Dean sat himself beside Sam, "All right Charlie. We need to know what happened."
"We were in the bathroom. Donna said it."
"That's not what we're talking about." Dean shook his head and saw the shock in Charlie's face, "Something happened, didn't it? In your life…a secret…where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it?"
Charlie hesitated for a moment, "I had this boyfriend. I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know?" Buffy couldn't begin to tell her how much she understood from those three lines. "And one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said "Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I'm gonna kill myself." And you know what I said? I said "Go ahead." And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just…I didn't believe him, you know? I should have."
Buffy was too shocked to say anything and she actually fought back tears as images of Angel flashed through her head. Dean looked to Sam, "We gotta find that mirror." Then he looked to Buffy, "Will you stay here and watch Charlie?"
"No." Both Buffy and Charlie said together.
"There's no way I'm letting you two do this without me." Buffy added, "Charlie can stay here where there are no reflections on anything and as long as she doesn't move from that spot she'll be fine."
Charlie nodded, "I'm okay. She can go."
Before they even had a chance to protest Buffy ran to her closet then the bathroom to change.
----
"You know her boyfriend killing himself, that's not really Charlie's fault." Dean said as he drove to the antiques store in the pouring rain. Buffy suddenly wished she'd worn a jacket instead of her blue sweater.
"You know as well as I do spirits don't exactly see shades of gray, Dean. Charlie had a secret, someone died, that's good enough for Mary." Sam stated with an un-amused grin.
"I guess." Dean said quietly.
Buffy sat forward, "You know, I've been thinking. It might not be enough to just smash that mirror."
Sam looked at Buffy and nodded, "Yeah me too." He said almost shocked that she thought of it too.
"Why, what do you mean?" Dean asked looking from Sam to Buffy.
"Well Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it." Sam explained.
Dean thought for a moment, "Well how do you both know that's going to work?"
Buffy shrugged and Sam sighed, "I don't, not for sure." Sam added.
"Well who's gonna summon her?"
"I will. She'll come after me." Sam said. Buffy was about to say she would too but the shock of Sam saying he would completely threw her off.
It seemed that he threw Dean off too, "You know what, that's it." Dean pulled the car over and turned to Sam, "This is about Jessica, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret that you killed her somehow? Sam, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night—it's gonna kill you. Now listen to me—it wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place." He yelled and refrained himself from shaking his little brother.
"Dean..." Buffy said.
"I don't blame you." Sam finally said.
"Well you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done." Dean stated getting angrier every second.
"I could've warned her."
Dean looked at Sam like he just gave birth to a turtle, "About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen! And besides, all of this isn't a secret, I mean I know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway."
"No you don't." Sam spat.
"I don't what?"
"You don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything."
"What are you talking about?" Dean almost growled.
"Well it wouldn't really be a secret if I told you, would it?" Sam spat again.
Buffy coughed, "Okay, not wanting to interrupt the family feud because it's not my business but Sam, Dean is right. I dont know what happened with your girlfriend but it sounds like you couldnt have prevented it..." Dean looked at Buffy and smiled at Sam. "And you are not summoning Mary... I am."
Dean and Sam both looked at Buffy, "What?!"
"Not you as well" Dean sighed.
"I'm the Slayer; this is what I'm born to do. It's my responsibility. I'm not having either of you die because of this."
Dean looked at Buffy a little surprised. "No. I don't like it. It's not gonna happen, forget it. Both of you."
"Dean that girl back there is going to die unless we do something about it. And you know what? Who knows how many more people are gonna die after that? Now we're doing this. You've got to let me do this." Sam protested and looked at both Buffy and Dean.
Buffy sighed, "Fine. But I'm staying with you."
Dean growled, "My god it's like you're both itching to die."
"Been there, done that remember?" Buffy joked.
Dean eyed Buffy then looked at Sam, "You too are so alike you should get married and have freakishly strong kids." He said as he started the car and carried on driving a little slower than usual due to the pouring rain.
----
When they arrived at the antiques shop Dean still didn't want either of them to summon Mary but he realised he didn't have much of a choice. He was finally starting to calm down as Sam was picking the lock of the front door.
"You know if you let me do it, it would be much faster." Buffy stated. Buffy wasn't one to use lock picks, she could just twist the handle hard enough to make it open for her. However they both just ignored her and Sam eventually unlocked the door. When they entered the entire shop was filled with mirrors.
"Well…that's just great." Dean sighed and pulled out a picture from his jacket pocket, and they all took a quick look. "All right let's start looking."
All three split off into different directions, "Maybe they've already sold it." Dean yelled a few minutes later.
"I don't think so." Came Sam's reply a second later, he waved his flashlight so Buffy and Dean could find him. Dean pulled out the picture again and confirmed that Sam had in fact found the mirror.
"That's it." Dean sighed and looked at Sam, "You sure about this?" he asked, hoping Sam would chicken out. Sam thought for a second before handing his flashlight over to his brother.
Sam turned and looked at himself in the mirror and sighed, "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." Sam paused and looked at Dean, who gave him and unsure look, Buffy tensed up. Sam picked up the crowbar. "Bloody Mary."
All three held up their crowbar and waited for her to come. They were suddenly distracted by the flashing lights from the front of the shop.
"I'll go check that out. Stay here, be careful. Smash anything that moves." He started walking away but quickly turned and whispered to Buffy, "Keep him alive." Before leaving them and heading to the front of the shop.
Buffy was about to say something to Sam when she heard the breathing, seeing Sam heard it too they both looked around but saw nothing. Buffy knew she was here. She could feel her.
"She's here." Buffy whispered. "Keep a lookout."
Suddenly Sam smashed the mirror to his right, then one on the left. Then Buffy saw her in the mirror to her right and didn't hesitate to smash it, then the one behind her after catching a glimpse as she turned around. There was only one mirror left near them; her mirror. Both Sam and Buffy faced the mirror.
"Come on. Come into this one." Sam spat.
"Sam I dont think its working." Buffy whispered hastily. When he didn't say anything Buffy moved slightly and saw him staring at his reflection oddly. Then she saw the blood dripping from his reflections eye and she heard Sam struggle to breath. Yelling his name she threw manoeuvred the crowbar above her head but her own reflection took a life of its own too and she had a sharp pain in her eyes as her reflection bled out. Buffy gasped for breath but she couldnt get it.
"It's your fault." Sam's reflection spat out as Sam clutched at his heart, "You killed her. You killed Jessica."
"You call yourself a Slayer to hide who you truly are," Buffy's own reflection spoke venomously and Buffy felt a pain in her chest like a white hot poker and she also grabbed at her heart, "You're a murderer."
"You never told her the truth—who you really were." Sam's reflection started up again and Sam fell to the ground struggling for oxygen. "But it's more than that, isn't it? Those nightmares you've been having of Jessica dying, screaming, burning—you had them for days before she died. Didn't you!?! You were so desperate to ignore them, to believe they were just dreams. How could you ignore them like that? How could you leave her alone to die!?! You dreamt it would happen!!!"
Buffy's reflection spoke at the same time as Sam's and she fell to the floor at the same time.
"All these years you never told a soul. They never saw you for who you really were – they never saw the demon growing inside you. Your boyfriend. You killed him!! You drove that sword through his chest even though you knew he was good again?! You could have chosen a different way to close that portal but you wanted out so you killed him. And then Faith. You drove that dagger into her stomach like she was made of butter and, for once, you didn't care whether she lived or died. And then there's Mommy dearest. You know it was your fault. You knew there was something still wrong with her but you were caught up in your own drama to help her. You're mother died slowly, painfully, and alone and it's all your fault! She'd still be here if you weren't such a selfish bitch!"
Both Buffy and Sam were close to passing out with lack of oxygen and the pain in their eyes were unbelievable, they could feel the blood running down their faces, the pain getting worse the angrier Mary got. Buffy shut her eyes ready to pass out when she heard the grunting and the smashing of the mirror and she fell to the floor coughing as she sucked in much needed oxygen.
"Sam, Sammy!" Dean yelled kneeling beside his brother and holding his face in his hands.
Sam opened an eye, "its Sam." He said pointedly.
"God, are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah." Sam said sarcastically to his brother.
Buffy coughed, "Don't worry about me guys. I'm alright." She joked.
Dean crossed over to Buffy and pulled her arm over his neck and pulled her over to Sam, he pulled Sam's arm over his neck also and he helped the two of them walk out the shop. But he stopped when he heard the crunching of glass, knowing there wasn't any at his feet. When he turned himself, Sam and Buffy around they all saw Mary climbing out of the mirror. Buffy felt that pain in her chest and eyes again and she felt herself fall to the ground as Dean fell. Buffy saw Mary walking closer to them and she knew if she didn't think of something quick all three of them will die. She didn't know why she picked up the mirror beside her but she was glad she did as Mary stopped in her place and started choking herself.
"You killed them! All those people! You killed them!" Buffy heard Mary's voice screaming from the mirror. Mary clutched at her throat and fell to the ground and shattered like glass on the floor. Buffy instantly felt the pain leave her body and all three of them gasped for breath and Buffy threw the mirror in her hands and it shattered as it smashed into the floor. Buffy breathed hard and fell back and lay on the ground.
Dean sat up and examined all the broken glass around the shop, "Hey guys?"
"Yeah?" Buffy and Sam said at the same time.
"This has got to be like…what? 600 years of bad luck?" he joked.
Sam chuckled weakly and Buffy laughed as she slowly sat up.
"Hey how did you know that if you showed her reflection it would kill her?" Dean asked as he got to his feet.
When she got to her feet Buffy shrugged, "I didn't." She helped Sam up from the ground, "I was going to throw it at the bitch." When she saw Dean slowly raise a smile she laughed. All three laughed as they left the shop.
----
When they got back to the motel it was almost morning and it took them a while to convince Charlie it was over once they got back to the motel but eventually they got her to look into a mirror and she finally believed them. Buffy was surprised that she actually stayed in the same spoke only instead of sitting up she was laying down.
"So this is really over?" Charlie asked with a smile as Dean pulled up outside her house.
Dean turned to look at her in the back seat and nodded, "Yeah, its over."
Charlie smiled, "Thank you." She said and shook Dean's hand and hugged Buffy who sat with her in the back seat and she got out the car.
"Charlie?" Charlie turned around when Buffy called her name, her head hanging out the window, "Your boyfriend's death…you really should try to forgive yourself."
"No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen." Sam finished, understanding exactly what Buffy meant.
Charlie smiled and nodded faintly then continued up the path to her house.
Dean punched Sam lightly in the shoulder, "That's good advice." He stated which Sam chuckled.
When they drove off after a few minutes Dean spoke up, "Hey Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Now that this is all over, I want you to tell me what that secret is."
Sam sighed, "Look…you're my brother and I'd die for you, but there are some things I need to keep to myself."
Dean just nodded then Buffy saw him look at her in the rear view mirror and she shook her head, "No way, I dont know you well enough to spill." She laughed.
Dean just shook his head, "you two are a match made in heaven." He mumbled as he drove back to the motel.
Well there you go. That was my version of Bloody Mary, I hope you enjoyed it.
