Dead Man's Blood
"I don't feel right about doing this," Faith said, sitting in the center of the circle Willow drew in the middle of the room.
"We're out of time. We've got to do something," Willow answered.
"Don't you think we've messed with her mind too much already?" Faith asked.
"Then she'll be used to it," Willow replied. "Giles will be here in a few minutes. Try to clear your mind, focusing on the phrase we told you would be the trigger."
Faith sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't want to do this. We didn't exactly part on good terms."
"You're the only Slayer we've got that she knows. Now shut up."
Faith bristled at the rebuke but did what she was told. Willow and Giles, who had entered as she argued with Willow, began chanting in some archaic language. Faith could feel the trigger, as well as all Buffy Summers had been, enter her. As soon as someone spoke the right phrase to Buffy in her presence, Buffy would receive everything Willow was putting into Faith.
From both Spike's and Dawn's reports, Buffy had been happy and slowly remembering everything on her own. Faith saw this as unnecessary, but Azazel was scheduled to come out of hiding soon. According to Giles, Buffy was needed to hunt and kill the bastard.
Willow and Giles's chanting got louder and Faith gave into the pain. Throwing her head back, Faith let out a blood curling scream. She whas blind to the other two in the room with her. Willow and Giles watched, black eyes glinting in the darkness.
Spike was waiting at the door when Faith was ejected out of the room. "You want to help Buffy, right?"
"Yeah, but this wasn't my idea," Faith groaned.
"I know, I heard. Does Dawn know?"
"I don't know. As far as I know, it's just the four of us."
"Not even the Whelp?" Spike asked, lighting a cigarette.
"I'm sure he doesn't know. He was the first to object to Red bringing B back to life in the first place. After that fuck up, he's gotten more cautious," Faith guessed.
"I know what they're after," Spike said.
"Which who?"
"The Winchesters. Didn't you notice that no one bothered to look into their family history?" Spike asked. "Buffy's an extra two years older than she should be. Annabeth Winchester went to school with Buffy Summers. The Winchesters became nomads a few months after the mother burned up in a fire on her younger brother's six month birthday. If I could find this out, why couldn't the Scoobies?"
"I don't know, but there's something more going on here. The prophecy doesn't give a timetable, so why do they think time's running out?" Faith asked.
"They have been acting strange lately, kinda like. . . oh bugger."
"What?"
"I think they're possessed."
"By what?"
"Demons, and they're the ones running out of time. Azazel is stepping up the game, and he needs the Slayer out of the picture. Now she's remembering slowly enough for it not to interfere with her life. Throw everything on her at once and who knows what she's going to do as she tries to assimilate the information."
"How long do you think they've been possessed? And how to we check?" Faith asked.
"I'm not sure, but I'd bet not long before you all began your search for Buffy, or right before," Spike guessed.
"So, about all year," Faith surmised.
"What's the trigger word, so we can avoid it?"
"Vampire Slayer."
Buffy was sitting in a restaurant with Dean and Sam. Sam was sulking over his coffee and Dean was looking for cases in the newspaper. "Alright, there's not a case in all of Nebraska. What do you have, Buffy?"
"Nothing worth looking into, at least not around here," she answered, sipping her coffee.
"We could head east, back to New York, and Sammy can meet up again with Sarah. What do you think?" Dean grinned at Sam "She's a pretty cool chick, smokin' hot, right? You two seemed pretty friendly. What do you say?"
Sarah was the daughter of a man who ran an art auction house in upstate New York Last week they had helped her get rid of a haunted painting, where the spirit of the girl who was in the portrait was killing people.
It was one of the calmer cases. The Texas case at the beginning of the month was worse, combining people's misunderstanding of cult symbols, the internet, and two stupid ghost hunters that didn't know what they were doing. Harry and Ed were convinced that they were real paranormal investigators, and had, in fact, made the job worse when they posted the story of Mordechai Murdoch online. The tulpa gained power and had been very hard to get rid of, until Buffy blew up the abandoned house that he supposedly lived in.
"I donno, maybe some other time," Sam brushed off.
"Does the name Daniel Elkins mean anything to either of you?" Buffy asked.
"Rings a bell. Why?" Dean asked.
"A man in Colorado by that name was found mauled in his home," Buffy read, before turning the computer to Dean so he could read it. Dean glanced through the article before turning the computer to Sam.
"Sounds like the police don't know what to think. First they said bear attack, now they think it's robbery?" Sam asked.
"Hmm, Elkins, Elkins," Dean muttered, flipping through the pages of Dad's journal. "Here, look at this." He turned the book around so both Buffy and Sam could read it.
"You think that's the same person?" Buffy asked.
"It's a Colorado area code," Dean reasoned. "It's a shot."
"You think that Buffy and her family's after this gun?" Faith asked. She and Spike were sitting in Spike's DeSoto, on their way to Colorado, Dawn in the back seat.
"I'm almost sure of it," Spike confirmed.
"Why a gun?" Dawn asked. "Guns can't kill anything."
"That's generally true," Spike confirmed, "but there are exceptions to every rule."
"You gonna tell us, big guy?" Faith asked.
"I'm more worried about being able to get that gun. It's been off the grid for ages, no one knew where it ended up, until it resurfaced a few years ago," Spike started to explain.
"A few like five, or a few like fifty?" Dawn asked, knowing that Spike's sense of time was a little off.
"More like the second one," Spike said. "No one knows how Elkins got the Colt, but somehow. . ."
"The Colt, as in Samuel Colt?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah. You've heard of the Colt?" Spike asked.
"I thought it was a legend. Rumor has it that that gun can kill anything. I found out about it shortly after Buffy. . . died," Dawn admitted. "Do we know why Buffy wants it?"
"Not yet," Spike admitted, "but I'm willing to guess that something hurt them, and they want revenge."
It was the middle of the night by the time the Winchester siblings reached Manning, Colorado, and Daniel Elkins' house. The house was a mess. Every bit of furniture that was in the room was on its side. Papers, pictures and clutter were everywhere.
Dean entered first and carefully made his way into the house. "Looks like the maid didn't come today!"
"Hey, there's salt here by the door!" Sam called.
"Like protection against demon salt, or 'opps, I spilled the popcorn' salt?" Dean called.
"It's a ring," Buffy reported. "You think Elkins was a player?"
"I'd say so. He's got a hunting journal that goes back to the sixties," Dean said holding up the book he was flipping through.
Buffy led the way further into the cabin. "Looks like whatever attacked him had friends," Sam said, pointing with his flashlight to the busted skylight.
"And they put up one hell of a fight," Buffy agreed, looking around. "What's that by your foot?"
Dean looked down and saw a long, narrow box. "A gun case, but whatever was in it is long gone." He cocked his head and knelt on the floor taking a closer look at something.
"Find something?" Sam asked, joining Buffy and Dean on the floor.
"Maybe. Scratching in the floor." Dean found paper and pencil on the floor and made a rubbing of the scratches.
"Death throws?" Sam guessed.
"Or maybe a message," Dean said, holding the rubbing up. "Look familiar?"
"Three letters and six digits? It's a mail drop," Buffy concluded. "Just the way Dad does it."
"When are you planning on talking to her?" Dawn asked, watching Buffy and her brothers leave the house.
"We have to be careful. Vamps did this, and that involves Buffy's trigger word," Spike whispered. "We've got to be careful, but I've got a plan."
"What is it?" Faith asked.
"We find the vamps first, and do what we do best."
Sam watched as Buffy and Dean entered the post office and retrieved a letter. When they got back in the car, Dean passed the letter around. "J.W. John Winchester?" Sam asked.
"I think so," Buffy said.
"Should we open it?" Dean asked, but was deprived an answer when someone rapped on the window. "Dad?"
Dad opened the back seat of the car and got in, Buffy sliding over to make room.
"Dad, what are you doing here? You okay?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Sammy. I heard about Daniel. I got here as fast as I could, in time to see you three at his place."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Sam demanded.
"You know why!" Dad insisted. "I had to make sure you weren't followed. You did a pretty good job covering your tracks, by the way."
"We learned from the best," Buffy said softly.
"How come we never heard of this Elkins guy?" Sam asked. "Why didn't you mention him to us?"
"We had kind of a falling out," Dad admitted. "He was the one who started me in hunting. Where's his letter?" Buffy silently handed it to him and read over his shoulder. "Son of a bitch! He had it the whole time!"
"Had what?" Sam and Buffy asked at the same time.
"When you searched the place, did you see an antique Colt revolver?" Dad asked.
"There was an empty case, but no gun," Dean said.
"They have it," Dad muttered.
"You mean whatever killed Elkins?" Dean asked as Dad got out of the Impala and bent over to speak through the window.
"We've got to pick up their trail," Dad said.
"You want our help?" Buffy asked with skepticism. "After Chicago?"
"Dad, we don't even know what we're up against," Sam pointed out.
"They were what Daniel Elkins fought best. Vampires."
Spike, Faith and Dawn were heading into town when Faith cried out, "Stop!" Spike slammed on the breaks, barely avoiding the person who had collapsed in the middle of the road. Faith jumped out of the car and over to the prone figure. "Oh man, did you choose the wrong car to stop!"
The vampire opened his eyes and let his face change, taking on the ridged face of the demon within. The second set of teeth descended and the vampire hissed at her. Faith crossed her arms, unimpressed. "You're gonna have to do better than that," she said rolling her eyes.
Spike got out of the car and walked to Faith's side. "These two are mine," he growled, his own demonic mask exposed, golden eyes burning holes in the vampire on the ground.
"Not if we take them from you," the vampire on the ground taunted. Nine more melted out of the darkness.
Faith and Spike stood in a fighting stance and let the coven attack. What they weren't counting on was one of the vampires going after Dawn. Three of the vampires were staked before Faith was forced to surrender and the coven beat Spike to a pulp.
Dad led them to an abandoned cabin on the outskirts of Manning to use as a base for the hunt. Sam, Dean, and Buffy dragged their things into the cabin then Dad sat them down and started filling them in.
"Most vampire lore is crap. A cross won't repel them, sunlight won't kill them. A stake through the heart only works under certain circumstances, depending on the wood the stake's made of and who's wielding it. But the stories got the bloodlust part right. They need fresh human blood to survive. They were once human, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late," Dad explained. "It's been a long night. Get some rest."
They didn't sleep for very long, getting five hours. "Dean, Sam, Buffy, wake up. Time to go," Dad ordered.
Buffy and Dean groaned, stretching.
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"A young girl called 911, reporting a robbery. Police got there and found an abandoned car, people were missing. It's the vampires," Dad answered opening the door.
"How do you know?" Sam asked, sitting up.
"Just follow me on this, okay?" Dad asked, exasperated.
An hour later, the four of them were standing ten yards from the scene of the disappearances. "Stay here, don't move," Dad ordered, making his way over to where the cops were mulling around, looking for clues.
"Dean, that car look familiar to you?" Buffy asked. Dean followed her gaze and saw the cherry black DeSoto in the middle of all the police attention. "He's here, he didn't leave."
"Who?" Sam asked.
"Spike," Dean answered, recognizing the car. "Though I don't know why he would be here."
Buffy didn't pay any attention to Dean or Sam, instead walking to the left of Spike's precious car, heading into the woods. She didn't have to go very far once she stepped into the forest. There was a very clear path to follow and within a few minutes she found him, half under a fallen log, covered in blood.
"I've got you, Spike," she whispered, taking off her leather jacket and draping it over the tree branches above his head.
The sudden darkness caused Spike to look up at her. "Buffy?" he moaned.
"Yeah, Spike?" Buffy whispered, stroking his forehead.
"You're here. . . Faith, Dawn taken. . . . Vamps did it," Spike said, haltingly.
"I need to get you help," Buffy muttered. "Can you stand?"
"I think so," Spike replied, slowing pulling himself up. Slowly, the two of them made their way back to the Impala. "No, my car," Spike protested.
"Dawn managed to call 911. Cops are crawling all over your car," Buffy warned.
"I need my car. Has my blood," Spike insisted, as the two of them broke the tree line and walked out onto the high way.
Buffy nodded and helped Spike to his car, neatly avoiding the cops, since all their attention was on Spike. "Our address is in your pocket, as well as my phone number. Stop by after you've recovered."
Spike nodded and dove into the cooler behind the driver's seat. Buffy turned and walked back, not noticing that she was walking beside her father until he spoke. "I thought I told you not to move."
"I knew him, I couldn't not help," Buffy defended herself.
"He tell you anything?" Dad asked.
"He confirmed that vamps were responsible, and that they took two people," Buffy answered.
"Anything?" Sam demanded.
"It was them, alright. Looks like their heading west, we're gonna have to double back to get around this detour," Dad answered.
"How can you be so sure?" Sam demanded.
Buffy rolled her eyes. Sam hadn't been this confrontational with Dad since the month before he left for school, when he knew he was getting out. The petty fighting was only going to get worse. "Spike was in the woods. He confirmed it was vamps," Buffy answered.
"How do we know we're going in the right direction?" Sam asked.
Dad rolled his eyes and sighed, but took something from his pocket and held it out. "I found this."
"What is it?" Dean asked, picking it up to get a closer look.
"It's a vampire's tooth," Buffy answered, without looking at it. "A second set of teeth descend when a vamp feeds on a live person."
"Let's go," Dad ordered, walking to his truck. "Hey, Dean, why don't you touch up your car a bit before you get rust? I wouldn't have given her to you if you weren't going to take care of her!" Dean stared at his father, offended.
Sam was driving, following Dad and scowling the whole time. Dean was sitting next to him, reading out of a book Dad had told them to read. "Vampires usually nest in groups from eight to ten. Smaller packs are sent out to hunt. Victims are taken to the nest where the coven keeps them alive, bleeding them from anywhere from days to weeks. You think that's what happened to Spike's friends?"
"That probably what Dad thinks, though it would be better of Dad told us!" Sam huffed.
"So, it is starting!" Dean sighed.
"What?" Sam asked.
"We've been looking for Dad for the better part of a year, now we're not with him for more than a few hours and you're at each other's throats already," Buffy explained.
"No," Sam denied. "Look, I'm happy he's fine, okay? And I'm happy that we're all hunting again."
"Good," Dean huffed.
"But it's the way he treats us like we're children!"
"Oh god." Dean groaned.
"He barks orders, Dean! He expects us to follow him blindly and keeps us on some shitty need-to-know deal." Sam continued.
"He does what he does for a reason," Dean countered.
"What reason!" Sam demanded.
"Our job!" Dean shouted. "There's no time to argue, no margin for error, alright? Buffy, back me up!"
"Dad is doing the best he knows with what he has," Buffy said. "If that means letting us know something a specific time, then so be it."
"That might've worked when we were kids, but not anymore!" Sam pointed out. "Haven't we been through enough? I mean are both of you telling me that you're cool with sitting back and letting him run the show?"
"If that's what it takes," Dean answered, after a slight pause. Buffy didn't answer.
Kate wasn't sure what was different with the humans that were brought in last night, but there was something highly unusual about them. Both women were unafraid of them. Every other human the coven brought to to their lair were begging for their lives by now.
The younger girl observed the coven going about their business like she was used to living with vampires. Nothing any of them did phased her, but she did keep her neck covered, not letting anyone near it.
The older girl was actively bantering with some of the coven, trying to persuade a few of the boys to untie her so they could have some 'fun'. There was something about the older girl that caused Kate's blood to curdle in fear, but she didn't know what it was. She smelled spicy, like cinnamon and red peppers.
The odd thing was that no one, not any of the fifteen vampires in her coven, had any desire to bite the two of them. It would be encroaching on another's property, and no one wanted to enrage William the Bloody or Angelus. Even through neither had been active for a few years, they each had fierce reputations, and they already were tempting fate by taking them forcibly from that car in the first place.
For now, the two would be safe. Kate and Luther would have to hope that the vampire the women were taken from didn't let William or Angelus know what happened.
Buffy was in the passenger's seat this time, having switched with Dean. "Yeah, okay. Got it." she flipped her phone closed. "Take the next exit."
"Why?" Sam asked, barely keeping his temper in check.
"Because Dad thinks he's got the vamp's trail," Buffy answered. "And before you ask, I didn't ask how he knew."
Sam inhaled deeply before he slammed his foot on the gas pedal and passed Dad's truck before turning the car across both lanes, causing Dad to stop. Sam jumped out of the car and stormed over to Dad, face red and breathing fast.
"Oh, shit," Buffy exclaimed.
"Sam! Get back here!" Dean shouted, as both he and Buffy got out of the Impala, intending on stopping the inevitable confrontation.
"What the fuck was that?" Dad demanded, slamming the door to his truck as he got out and stormed up to Sam.
"We need to talk," Sam demanded, nostrils flaring as he continued to breathe harshly.
"About what?" Dad demanded.
"How about everything? Anything?" Sam shouted, shrugging. "What's the deal with this gun? Where are we going?"
Dad and Sam were about a foot apart, each glaring holes in the other, neither willing to back down. Dean and Buffy glanced at each other, wondering if this was the time when they would have to choose a side, their dad or their brother.
"Sammy, come on. We can Q&A after we're done with the vampires," Buffy said softly, gently trying to pull Dad away from Sam.
"Your sister's right. We don't have time for this!" Dad shouted.
"Last time we were together, you said it was too dangerous and you took off. Now, out of the blue, you need our help! Something big's going on and we want to know what it is!" Sam demanded.
"Get back in the car!" Dad ordered.
"No," Sam answered coldly.
"I told you to get back in the car," Dad repeated, his tone unyielding.
"I heard you," Sam hissed. "I said no."
"Alright, this has gone far enough!" Buffy insisted, forcing herself between her father and her brother. This fight was reminding her of the one between Angel and Riley. "There has been enough testosterone poisoning for one night. Back up right now, or I swear that neither of you will walk away with all your body parts." She glared at Sam then turned to her father. "Either of you willing to take that chance?"
"Look, we're all tired, let's talk about this later, alright?" Dean said, trying to pull Sam away.
Sam let him, muttering, "This is why I left in the first place!"
"What was that?" Dad demanded.
Sam turned around, glaring at Dad over Buffy's head. "You heard me!"
"That's right ! You left. Your brother, sister and I? We needed you! You walked away, Sam!" Dad shouted, attempting to walk forward, only to be stopped by Buffy. "You walked away!"
"Stop!" Dean cried.
Sam ignored him. "You were the one who told me not to come back, Dad. You closed that door, not me! You were just pissed off that you couldn't control me anymore!"
"Alright, that's enough," Buffy declared. She punched Sam, causing him to crumble. Dean caught him and dragged him back to the Impala. She turned to her father. "Say one more word, and you'll be sleeping in your truck."
Dad raised his hands, palm out and backed away to his truck. Buffy joined Dean in getting Sam into the back seat. "Did you have to hit him?" he asked wearily.
"He'll be up in a few minutes, long enough for one of us to be behind the wheel. It was the best option I could come up with. I would've hit Dad, but I didn't want to drive the truck."
The Winchesters had a guest when they arrived back at their cabin that night. "Was wondering where you all disappeared to." The words were accompanied with the snick of a Zippo. The flame lit up Spike's face as he lit his cigarette. "Hello, luv."
"Spike, you look better," Buffy said as she got out from behind the steering wheel, ignoring the enraged stare Sam was trying to kill her with.
"Is this everyone?" Spike asked, pushing off the cabin wall. "I don't want to have to repeat myself."
Dad got out of his truck and stomped over to Buffy. "What the hell was that back there?"
"That was me getting tired of you and Sam fighting. He's fine, by the way," Buffy answered.
Dad spotted Spike standing at Buffy's shoulder. "Who are you?"
"Dad, meet Spike, the person I was helping this afternoon," Buffy said. "He's got friends who were kidnapped by the vamps. He's going to help."
The look in Buffy's eyes prevented Dad from arguing.
The next morning Spike led the Winchesters to the vampires' lair. They watched as one drove a car up to the barn door. The driver was met by another male vamp and ushered inside.
"Son of a bitch, they're really not afraid of the sun," Dean breathed.
Buffy turned to Spike, her mouth open and prepared to ask a question, but was stopped when Spike answered it. "He was cursed, luv, and solar vulnerability was part of it."
"Direct sunlight hurts like a bad sunburn. The only sure way to kill them is beheading. And yeah, they sleep during the day, but that doesn't mean they won't wake up," Dad informed them.
"So walking in isn't the best plan," Dean reasoned.
"Actually, that's the plan," Dad smiled.
They walked back to the cars in silence. Spike was worried. Buffy might not remember who she was, but that didn't mean that the vamps inside wouldn't. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, was legend, everywhere he went, creatures of the dark had heard of her, and most knew what she looked like. Buffy would be vulnerable in there if any of the vampires recognized her.
Faith had the advantage of not being as well known, so she should be fine, especially if the vampires recognized her as belonging to Angel. His own mark was on Dawn, but he wondered if his mark was protection enough.
"Buffy, take these," he said, holding out the stake that Kendra had named Mr. Pointy, and three stakes made of yew. "You won't need to behead them. Use these."
Dad looked up at Spike. "What do you know that I don't?"
"Quite a bit," Spike answered, looking Dad in the eye.
"Dad, we've got an extra machete if you need one," Dean called from the trunk of the Impala, not paying any attention to Buffy and Spike.
Dad glanced at Dean then back at Spike before heading to his truck. "I'm good," he said, watching as his weapons rack extended from the back of the truck. He got out the weapons that he wanted and watched Sam and Dean arm themselves. "So, you really want to know about this gun?"
Sam glanced from Buffy to Dean, taking in the looks on their faces before answering. "Yes, sir."
Dad took in a deep breath. "It's just a story, a legend really. I wasn't sure it was real until I read Daniel's letter. The story goes like this. Back in 1835, when Hally's Comet was overhead, durning the Siege of Bexar, they say Samuel Colt made a gun, a special gun. He made it for a Hunter, a man like us, only on horseback.
"The story goes he made thirteen bullets. The hunter used the gun half a dozen times before both he and the gun disappeared. Somehow, Daniel got ahold of it. They say this gun will kill anything."
"Anything?" Dean repeated. "Like supernatural, anything?"
"Like the demon?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, like the demon," Dad confirmed. "Since I picked up its trail, I've been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun and we may have it."
"Be careful, Buffy," Spike whispered. "A lot of people are looking for that gun." Buffy nodded and followed her brothers and father to a low hanging window.
Dad went in first, followed by Dean, Sam, Buffy, and Spike. Dad took off and Buffy and Spike quickly took point, walked silently through the room where vampires had fallen to sleep in hammocks hung haphazardly throughout the room.
Buffy cringed when she heard one of the boys run into a beer bottle, but the clink of it falling didn't wake anyone up. The four of them made their way to the front of the barn, where two people were tied up to a post, apparently asleep.
Spike released a deep breath when he heard their heartbeats and hurried to help Sam untie Faith and Dawn. "You okay, Bit?" Spike whispered, brushing Dawn's hair from her forehead. "All in one piece?"
"Spike?" she whispered, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "You're here?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"What took so long?" she demanded in a whisper.
"Ran into some friends," he answered, pointing to Buffy, who was helping Dean open the cage in the corner. There was a loud crash from the hinges dropping. Faith jerked, opening her eyes and recognized Sam and Spike in an instant.
Faith wasn't the only one the noise woke up. There was a thump and Dad ran out, with Kate and Luther behind him. The vampires came to a halt when they saw Spike standing in front of Dawn, Buffy at his side.
"This is something I wasn't expecting. Who are you?" Luther demanded, letting his demon out.
Spike answered the call, transforming his own face. "I'm William the Bloody. You took something that belongs to me and my Sire."
"You're William the Bloody?" Kate scoffed in disbelief. "I'd expected you to be a bit taller."
"Never judge people on their height. It makes people cranky," Buffy quipped, stepping forward and causing Kate and Luther's attention to shift to her, something that Spike was trying to avoid.
"Who are you?" Kate asked.
Faith had untied herself by now and jumped up, gently pushing Buffy away, taking one of her yew stakes. "Doesn't matter who she is. I'm the one you have to worry about." She watched as Luther gave the order to attack.
Buffy ignored Dad's rushed order to run as Faith started attacking. She tossed a stake to Spike and the two of them joined Faith in dusting the coven. Buffy herself took out seven vampires without breaking a sweat.
When the fight was over, she walked into Luther's bedroom, grabbed the Colt, and walked out the main entrance, only to find Sam, Dean and Dad waiting for her with worry and fear written all over their faces. "What?" she asked, as Faith, Dawn, and Spike walked out of the barn behind her.
"What do you think you were doing?" Dad shouted, fear and anger clear in his voice. "What do you think you are? A vampire slayer!"
Buffy fell to her knees, head flung back and released a blood curdling scream as she and Faith collapsed. A bolt of pure white light shot from Faith into Buffy.
Spike watched with pain etched on his face. He watched as the essence of Buffy Summers was forced into Annabeth Winchester. All of Buffy's thoughts, opinions, beliefs and everything else were forcing Annabeth to make room and assimilate.
*Flash*
"To make a vampire they have to suck your blood, and you have to suck their blood. It's like a big sucking thing. Mostly, they're just going to kill you."
*Flash*
"Who are you?"
"A friend."
"Yeah, well maybe I don't want a friend."
"Didn't say I was yours."
*Flash*
"I don't suppose you have a key on you?"
"They don't really like me dropping in."
"Why not?"
"They really don't like me."
"I can't imagine why."
"I knew you would've found this entrance sooner or later, though I thought you would've found it sooner."
"Sorry you had to wait. Look, if you're going to be popping in and out with this wise man act, can you at least tell me your name?"
"Angel."
*Flash*
"Well, there's got to be a way around it!"
"Listen! Some prophecies are mutable. Buffy herself had thwarted them again and again, but this is the Codex! There's nothing in here that doesn't come to pass!"
"Then you're reading it wrong!"
"I wish to god I were! Tomorrow night, Buffy will face the master and she will die."
"They say how he's going to kill me? Do you think it'll hurt? Were you even going to tell me?"
"I was hoping I wasn't going to have to, that there was some way around it."
"I got a way around it! I quit!"
"It's not that simple!"
"I'm making it that simple! I quit! I'm fired! I resign, you can get someone else to stop the Master from taking over!"
"I'm not sure that anyone else can. All the signs indicate. . ."
"The signs? READ ME THE SIGNS! TELL ME MY FORTUNE! YOU'RE SO USEFUL SITTING HERE WITH ALL YOU'RE BOOKS! YOU'RE REALLY A LOT OF HELP!"
"No, I don't suppose I am."
"I know that this is hard. . ."
"What do you know about it? You're never going to die!"
"You think I want anything to happen to you? You think I could stand it? We just have to figure out a way. . ."
"I already did. I quit, remember? Pay attention!"
"Buffy, if the master rises. . ."
"I. Don't. Care! I don't care. Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't want to die."
*Flash*
"You're dead!"
"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty, which is more than I can say for you."
*Flash*
"Like I wanted to stick around after that."
"What?"
"You have a lot to learn about men, kiddo. Although I guess you proved that last night."
"What are you saying?"
"Let's not make an issue out of it. It happened.
"Was it me. Was I not good?"
"You were great! I thought you were a pro."
*Flash*
"I'm going to out on a limb and say that there's a new Slayer in town."
*Flash*
"You're weak. Everyone is. Everyone fails. Maybe this evil thing brought you back, but if it did, it's because it needs you, and that means you can hurt it. Angel, you have the power to do good, to makes amends. But if you're not going to try, you really are a monster."
*Flash*
"Faith, we need to talk about what we're going to do."
"There's nothing to talk about. I was doing my job."
"Being a Slayer's not the same as being a killer. Faith, please don't shut me out. Sooner or later, we're both going to have to deal."
"Wrong."
"We can help each other."
"I don't need it."
"Yeah, well who's wrong now? Faith, you can shut off your emotions if you want, but that's not going to make this go away. Eventually they're going to find the body."
"There is no body. I took it, weighted it, and dumped it. The body doesn't exist."
"Getting rid of the evidence doesn't make the problem go away!"
"It does for me."
"Faith, you don't get it. You killed a man!'
"Buffy, you don't get it. I don't care!"
*Flash*
She was standing on a ledge looking down. Faith was lying in a trash truck, knife sticking out of her belly.
*Flash*
"Professor Walsh? That simple recon you sent me on, wasn't a raccoon. Turns out it was me, trapped in the sewers with a faulty weapon and two of your pet demons. If you think that's enough to kill me, you really don't know what a Slayer is. Trust me when I say you're going to find out."
*Flash*
"You didn't think I was going to find you, did you?"
"Buffy, let's talk."
"Oh no, I don't think talking is in order now."
"She needs help!"
"Help? Do you have any idea what she did to me? Do you care?"
"She wants to change. She has a chance. . ."
"No chance. Jail."
"Buffy, I'm sor. . ."
"Finish that sentence and I'll beat you to death."
*Flash*
"The Key, you must protect the Key. For centuries it hat no form at all, just my brethren. Then the Abomination found us. We had to hide the Key, so we gave it form, molded it flesh, made it human, and sent it to you."
"Dawn."
"She is the Key."
"You put that thing in my house?"
"We knew the Slayer would protect."
"My memories, my mother's. . ."
"We built them."
"What is she?"
"Human. Now human, and helpless. Please, she's an innocent in this. She needs you."
"She's not my sister."
"She doesn't know that."
*Flash*
"She needs to know that she's still part of this family and that we love her."
"It's not that simple! We're not going to be able to fix this with a hug and a kiss and a bowl of soup! Dawn needs to know where she came from. She needs real answers!"
"She needs her sister, Buffy, not the Slayer."
"The Slayer's the only one standing between Dawn and this god from the bitch dimension that wants to shove her into some kind of lock and give her a good twirl!"
*Flash*
"Are you alright? Did she hurt you?"
"Why do you care?"
"Because you're my sister and I love you."
"No I'm not."
"Yes, you are. Look, it's blood. It's Summers blood. It's just like mine. It doesn't matter where you came from, or how you got here. You're still my sister."
*Flash*
"Dawn, listen to me. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work I have to do. Tell Giles I figured it out, and that I'm okay. Give my love to all my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing to do in this world, is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."
*Flash*
Memory after memory played through Buffy's head as she screamed on the ground. She didn't notice Dean rush over and pull her into his lap, Sam and Dad on her other side.
"What's wrong with her!" Dad demanded, talking the Colt from Buffy's limp hands and pointing it at Spike.
Spike didn't answer, didn't have to. Buffy stopped screaming after several tense minutes. She pulled herself to the side and threw up. Faith fell still.
"Buffy?" Dean called, rubbing her back.
"You alright, luv?" Spike asked, though no one was sure if he was talking to Buffy to to Faith, who had just sat up.
"Buffy?" Dawn called.
"Dawn?" Buffy asked. She sat up, ignoring Dean. "Where's Dawn!"
"I'm right here. How are you feeling?" Dawn crouched beside Buffy, next to Dean.
"What's going on? Who are they?" Buffy asked, looking to Dean, Dad, and Sam before returning her attention to Dawn.
"Buffy?" Dean's voice sounded like it was going to break. Buffy looked back at him and back to Dawn.
"Sleepy," Buffy responded. She pulled on Dean's jacket, trying to get closer to him. She snuggled into his lap and fell asleep.
"What just happened?" Dad demanded.
"You activated a spell we were trying to avoid," groaned Faith.
"How?" Sam asked.
"Let's start at the beginning, shall we?" Spike suggested, lighting a cigarette. "This is the story of a girl, who jumped off a tower and saved the world, only to have her friends screw it up for her."
The Winchester men looked at Spike in confusion.
"To make a long story short, your daughter is the reincarnation of my older sister, at least that's the theory Willow came up with. But I'm not sure I can trust any of the information she gave us," Dawn said.
"Reincarnation?" Sam and Dean repeated.
"Why can't you trust her?" Dad asked.
"Both Red and Buffy's Watcher started acting weird just before we found a prophecy referring to the Boy King, the Returned and the Protector," Faith answered. "It was around last August that we discovered that a spell Willow did three years ago wasn't the fluke that everyone at the time thought it was."
"Willow's a witch?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, a pretty powerful one. She's a Wicca, getting her power from the Earth, rather than worshiping a demon," Dawn confirmed. "About three years ago, she tried to bring Buffy back from the dead, but was interrupted by demons riding motorcycles. They broke the Urn on Osiris, breaking the spell."
"A year after that I was killed and brought back by the worshippers of a demon called the First, a demon so old that it claimed to be the root of all evil," Faith picked up. "The point was to cause an imbalance on the good vs evil spectrum by having two Slayers. The First was released, as well as another demon, called Azazel."
"You released Yellow-Eyes!" Dad hissed, the tension in the air climbing up tremendously.
"I was an unwilling participant," Faith denied. "Dying isn't a pleasant experience, though I'm glad it's just been the once."
"Anyway," Dawn continued. "We discovered Buffy was alive in August when I was kidnapped, yet again. The gang used my blood to track me, find out where I was so they could get me. When Willow cast the spell, there were several possibilities. One option was Palo Alto, one in Oklahoma City, one in Canada, and one was in Ireland. Giles sent teams to each location. He got an interesting report back from the group that went to Oklahoma. They claimed to have seen Buffy with a man with sandy colored hair."
"We found the prophecy a few weeks later in the beginning of September," Faith continued. "Giles and Willow kept a close eye on Buffy since then, even sending us on missions to try and answer some of our questions. One of which includes the three of you. For some reason, that blood spell only found Dawn after that one time."
"If Willow's science is to be trusted, I'm your sister," Dawn said. That announcement caused all three Winchester men to turn their full attention on her, rather than split it between her and Faith.
Dean was examining her carefully. She had the same delicate features that Buffy possessed, had Dad's blue eyes and Sammy's brown hair coloring with Dad's straight texture. He could see his attitude in her, his loyalty.
One glance at Sam told Dean that he was thinking along the same lines, but it was clear that Dad wasn't. "How?" he demanded.
"Four years ago, there was a Hell Goddess named Glory," Spike began. "She was banished from her Hell Dimension by her fellow gods in order to keep her from taking over. Glory needed a specific piece to get her home, somethin' called the Key. When she found out the Slayer had it, she started gunnin' for her."
"Why didn't the Slayer just hand over the Key and let the god leave?" Dad asked.
"The monks that protected the Key couldn't anymore. They took it and transformed it. They gave it flesh and blood, made it human and gave it to the Slayer in the form of a little sister so she would protect it with her life," Dawn explained. "I freaked when I found out. Didn't take it well at all. They Key destroys the boundaries between dimensions. Once the blood starts, it only ends when the blood stops."
"In the end, to prevent Glory from going home, and Niblet from being killed, Buffy jumped into the portal that Glory's minions had started," Spike concluded.
Dean, Sam, and Dad looked at the girl curled up in Dean's lap, surprised and in awe.
"The spell your father activated was forced into me by Willow. If anyone said 'Vampire Slayer' to Buffy while I was around, she would be forced to remember who she was at once, rather than gradually, like she had been," Faith said.
Buffy didn't wake up for two days. The Winchesters didn't leave her bed, neither did Dawn. It wasn't Dawn she called out for this time. "Dean."
"Yeah, darlin'? You alright?" he asked, brushing hair from her forehead.
"I had the weirdest dream," she muttered, voice muffled with sleep. "I was a vampire slayer in California." She sat up and accepted the coffee that Dean handed her.
"I don't think it was a dream," Dean said, pointing to Dawn.
Buffy followed Dean's finger and saw Faith and Spike on the other side of the room, and Dawn beside him. "Buffy? Do you know who I am?" Dawn asked. She wasn't sure if the monk's memory trick was going to work.
"Dawnie?" Buffy's voice cracked as she pulled her sister into a hug. "I've missed you so much! Have you been behaving for Spike?"
"Yeah, he's been great. All I could ask for, though he was no substitute for you."
Buffy smiled softly. "Dean, Sam, meet your younger sister, via a blob of mystic green magic."
"You sure she's our sister?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure. The monks made her out of me," Buffy explained.
"Welcome to the family, kid," Dean said, ruffling Dawn's hair.
"As nice as this is, I've got to get going," Dad said, pulling on his jacket.
"That's it? You wait until I'm awake then you're out the door?" Buffy asked.
"You're alright, that's what matters. Now I've got a demon to kill."
"You're going after the demon alone?" Sam demanded. "After all Buffy's been through, you're leaving her?"
"You don't think I'm your daughter anymore, do you?" Buffy accused. "I'm still me, Dad. I'm still Annabeth. The only part of me that's changed is me knowing where I've been. That doesn't change who I am and where I'm going. I swear."
"I trust you, Buffy. I know you're the same person you were," Dad reassured her. "But we need to kill the thing that killed your mother. You stay with Dean and Sam. They're going to make sure that you're going to be alright. I'm trying to keep you safe."
"Dad, with all do respect, but that's crap. Buffy doesn't need to be sidelined. We need to stay together. We're stronger as a family, and that's the best way to help Buffy get back to normal. Routine," Dean insisted.
"I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. I can't watch my children die. You're mother's death almost killed me, and I'm not going to go through that again," Dad confessed.
"What about us, Dad?" Buffy asked. "What happens to us if you die and we could've done something about it? If anything, I'm better than I was, and we've got another Slayer, a top notch researcher, and a vampire that knows more than all of us combined when it comes to the bad things. What's to loose?"
"He's a vampire?" Dad asked, grabbing the nearest knife.
"He's one you're not allowed to kill. You got some of your vampire lore wrong. Spike lives off of animal blood," Buffy explained. Dad looked as if he were going to protest. "If he goes on a rampage, I'll kill him, alright, but give him a chance. He's been taking care of my sister for the past three years."
Dad sighed and looked around the room, wondering how in Hell he had gotten where he was. "It scares the hell out of me. You and your brothers are all I've got, but I guess you're right. We are stronger as a family. So, we go after this damn thing. . . together."
Buffy let out a breath she was unaware she was holding. "Yes, sir," she, Dean and Sam chorused, each with a small smile on their face.
"Just one question," Dawn said, raising her hand. "Why are we going after Azazel?"