Chapter 25

To Protect Her

A/N: Chapter twenty five of the series. I want to thank the following:

Tamara (aka ladycat or margaret)

Mnmbelle

Dany Hethrington

Caroline Tremblay

Dar (aka BMOM9008)

Rsrain6 (aka samson)

And of course, one more time, all of you together, for

Igore

And Luba Kmetyk.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and be so kind to write a review.

Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in airing the shows. Original characters are mine.

Feedback: Sure, as you wish.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

North London

December 2017

Buffy looked at the sky through the kitchen window and frowned.

She'd been too upset with both Dawn and Annie to notice the gathering of clouds outside. Leave it to London to start raining and cutting off the last hour of sunlight.

Something in her head clicked and she picked up the phone and called Giles.

"Sorry, Buffy, but have you seen the sky?" Giles said as he picked up the call.

"Saw it right now." She said. "Guess that means you're not coming, right?"

"Don't think so." He replied. "At least not for an hour or two. Will have to upgrade the search right now. We didn't realize rain could change all plans."

"Ok. I'll be there in five."

"There's no need to…"

"I want to be there." Buffy said. "There were no clouds yesterday or before that. This rain looks too suspicious to be natural."

"Very well, see you here, then."

Buffy hung up, picked up her cell, her keys and walked outside. Dawn noticed and walked behind her.

"Buffy?" She asked. The slayer turned around and pointed up. Dawn nodded, but shrugged.

"This is London, right? Rainy and foggy all year long?"

"Still, it's suspicious."

"What about Giles?"

"Called him already." Buffy said, already inside her car. "We'll meet over there, to see if something bad could happen tonight."

"Do you think…?"

Buffy looked into her sister's eyes and nodded.

"If it is today…"

Dawn nodded, and saw her sister take off in the Smart car. She walked back inside and locked the door. She heard a noise behind and turned to look, seeing Annie walking down the stairs, still wearing the leather coat.

"There's gonna be rain." She said.

"Your mom already saw." Dawn replied walking into the kitchen, Annie following behind.

"She left me behind." Annie said, sitting at one of the kitchen's stools. "Even after I asked her to let me fight."

"Look, honey, she wants you to stay inside the house." Dawn said. "It's safer here."

"How do we know that?" Annie asked. " I was home 'safely' when that crazy vampire kidnapped me years ago."

Dawn cringed but she couldn't let her niece take the upper hand.

"That was different and you know it." Dawn said. "You won't convince me, and I won't let you out of my sight."

"I can help." Annie said.

"I know how you feel, dear." Dawn said, coming close enough to her niece and caressing her head. "Felt the same when I was your age. Went out in the night to help and only succeeded in making things worse.

"What happened?"

"Let's just say it was the darkest moment in our history." Dawn said. "So, yes, you will stay here, and you will let me protect you."

"There won't be anything you'll be able to do if they come tonight." Annie said.

"Of course I can." Dawn said.

"Protect me?"

"Till the end of the world."

"Even if it happens to be tonight?"

"Even if it is tonight." Dawn said. "Made a promise to a lady."

-------------------

A recently awakened Willow yawned as she stared at the Locator Screen.

She stared at the blinks moving and noticed Buffy's coming closer to the Council.

"She's almost here." She said.
"What about Faith?" Xander asked.

"She's nearby. Called her and said we should call when the army attacks, not when we think so." Xander and Giles frowned. "Right, that's Faith for you."

"Our active slayers are already inside the building." Xander said. "They're ready for every thing."

"What's our head count?" Giles asked.

"412 watchers, and 398 slayers." Xander replied.

"Shouldn't there be the same number of both?" Giles asked.

"Some slayers are patrolling." Willow replied. "They are gathering the info we've been receiving for the past days."

"Fourteen slayers less." Giles corrected.

"Just because there will be war it means vampires or demons won't try to feed." Xander said.

"Other times the demon activity has been unusually low before an apocalypse." Giles stated.

"Uh, this is not an apocalypse." Willow said. "This is the Senior Partners trying to murder the slayers."

"The average demon wouldn't know about Balance." Xander continued. "That's why we need to keep on patrolling."

"Fine, but I don't want any of you leaving the premises." He said. "We'll lead the attack from here."

"It should be down there." Xander pointed outside. "We should fight with them."

"Let's not place ourselves in unnecessary danger." Giles replied. "Should a fight arise tonight, Wesley is still inside the building, as well as Connor."

"The slayers won't follow them to battle." Willow said. "They don't trust them."

"if the need should arise, I'll send you to the battlefield." Giles said. "Until that moment, we'll stay here and plan."

Xander sighed, and was about to reply when an emergency message appeared on the Locator Screen.

Willow frowned and sat on her battle station, playing the video message.

The Locator Screen refreshed and an image of one of the patrolling slayers appeared.

"I need to speak to Rupert Giles, soon!" The girl on screen said.

"He's right here." Willow said. "Speak."

"Good night, sir." The dark haired slayer said. "I apologize for not reporting earlier, but we were following a trail a nest of vampires had left behind yesterday. When we found their safe place we found something in the basement."

"What is it, Jean?" Giles asked.

"Jean?" Willow whispered, leaning towards Xander.

"A slayer from Pittsburgh." Xander whispered back. "One of the best. Buffy trained her personally."

"We fond a shrine similar to one depicted on your book sir." Jean Howlett answered. "A dangerous one. Let me show you."

The slayer moved her cell phone and the camera built in it showed them what the slayer said. Giles and Willow gasped and Xander itched to know what had they seen.

"What is it?" Xander asked, feeling truly blind for a second.

"Xander, it's…"

"Turok hans." Giles interrupted. "It's a portal, similar to the hellmouths."

"Whoa." Xander said. "Thought there were only two hellmouths and one was closed."

"Thought so as well." Jean said over the line. "But this marks are consistent with those displayed on the hellmouth located in Sunnydale."

"And the wheel…"

"What wheel?" Xander asked as he heard Willow's words.

"The wheel, sir." Jean's face appeared again onscreen. "Is used for sacrifices. Blood rites."

Xander flinched and the image was soon in his mind, remembering how he had been used to open the hellmouth and the first turok han had found his way into the world.

"We believe the vampires we traced wanted to sacrifice someone here and open the door." Jean continued. "But we have no idea why. A turok han would kill them as well."

"Mind control, perhaps?" Giles asked.

"It would take another vampire to enthrall them, sir." Jean replied. "It takes an old vampire to actually mesmerize other vampires."

"Unfortunately, Jean, there is one." Giles said. "Look, just gather everyone in your pack and get back here. Right now."

"Very well, sir, we'll…"

Jean's words were cut short as the image jerked out of control and kept sending the message from an awkward angle as it landed.

Giles and Willow lost their breath when they saw Jean was struggling against a turok han. The next seconds went s fast they seemed like a blur.

The last thing they saw in the screen was Jean's battered face as she crashed next to her now discarded cell.

End of Chapter

A/N 2: Jean Howlett is a character previously used in one of my stories. I created her for the 'Enough-Closure' storyline. She's a slayer from Pittsburgh, trained by Buffy and presumably one of the strongest, at least in my imagination. I haven't taken the time to describe her physically, but I imagine her to be as short as Buffy, her hair is dark and curly. Big, almond eyes. Round face and her body is similar to Sarah M. Gellar's. And yes, she is physically based in someone I know.

The name Jean comes from Jean Grey, character of the X-Men, property of Marvel Entertainment Group. The last name Howlett is actually Wolverine's real last name. Wolverine, James Howlett, Logan or however you want to call him is also a character property of Marvel Entertainment Group. As a sucker for lost causes, I got their names together, hence the 'Jean Howlett' moniker.

Music for today:

Mogwai – 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong

Evanescence - Anywhere