8/7/2016 - Been pondering the next BtVS/SPN crossover to do. Thinking of making Buffy their sister next time. Whole new relationship to write about, especially if I started somewhere towards the beginning and had daddy Winchester in the mix. Problem is, going to run out of Buffy waaaaaaay before Supernatural and I don't want to get tangled up in that Twilight thing.

Also, I have no freaking clue what I'm doing with these semi-romantic scenes. If anyone has some suggestions I am all ears.

Anyways, thank you Mystery Guest, xxRomanceGirlxx, Jennee77, and thedarkpokemaster for the reviews! And whattup all y'all following and favoriting!

Buffy woke up feeling wonderful.

It wasn't so much the sex (although that had been fantastic), it was the feeling that she was waking up in the right place with the right person. With Riley, there had been cuddles and sweet talk. With Parker there had been coffee and lies. With Angel… well, best not to think of what happened after Angel.

With Dean it was apparently going to be spooning and snoring.

There were no windows in the bedrooms, so judging the time by the sun was out of the question. When Buffy tried to reach for her phone, Dean murmured something unintelligible and tightened his arm around her body. She sighed happily and snuggled closer in.

It didn't matter what time it was. The day could wait.

"Has anyone seen Buffy?" asked Giles.

"Not since last night," replied Sam from the refrigerator. He looked at the clock. Eleven-ish, so maybe a brunch…? The younger Winchester pulled out eggs and sandwich fixings and handed them off to Tara.

"Wh-What about Castiel?" queried the witch.

"Nope."

The Watcher adjusted his glasses. "Ah well. I'll prepare the coffee."

Spike knew where she was.

He could smell them both in that room even over that rancid meal the Goliath and the witch were making. It was maddening. Why couldn't Buffy see that hunter for what he was? All Dean had of value was his looks and, apparently, whatever was in his pants. Other than that, the man was an uneducated, coarse-mouthed hick. Had good taste in music though.

They hadn't seen the vampire when the pair took their little jaunt to the tourist site and he'd gotten an earful of juicy gossip. When Buffy told Dean about Captain Forehead and the two of them had stomped off yelling, Spike had quietly celebrated. He'd hoped that it drove enough of a wedge between them that the Slayer would put these brothers behind her when all this was done. After that, well…

There were times Spike had envisioned catching her in a moment of weakness, maybe comforting her after Dean put her to the curb a final time. Then the girl would be his.

Now she was back in that stupid twat's bed. There would be no chances now. Except…

That connection thingy the Winchester had with Amara gave Spike an idea. Granted, like most of his ideas it was half formed and had a lot of openings for something to go wrong, but it was at least there. He missed, just a little, those days with Angelus, Darla and Dru; the elder vampires were always good with the plans and he and Dru were experts at chaos.

"Hey, Spike!" Dawn greeted cheerily as she came around the corner and headed for the kitchen. "Whacha doing?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking."

During their meal, the elephant in the room was the fact that Dean hadn't come to eat and Buffy hadn't slept in her room. All of them, save Spike, felt happy for them, if by varying degrees. The vampire looked down into his mug of heated blood and glowered.

Anya walked in as they were giving Giles a good-natured ribbing over how many books he'd gushed over since they had arrived. Apparently the Watcher had nearly cleared an entire shelf's worth of Men of Letters research and was looking forward to more. The ex-demon grabbed some bread and some eggs and smashed them together before sitting beside Dawn.

"How's Xander?" Giles wondered.

"Better," Anya replied around a mouthful of scrambled egg. She swallowed and continued. "He did his stomping around and yelling and then actually cried a little, which was weird, then we had sex and went to sleep. Where's Buffy?"

As most of them were thrown by Anya's unwillingness to conceal her intimacies, Spike snarled, "Ask Dean."

Sam cleared his throat and Giles appeared distinctly uncomfortable. Wide-eyed, Dawn glanced around at everyone and began to ask, "You mean they're–"

"Phone call!" Sam interrupted as he pulled out his vibrating Samsung. The caller ID made him roll his eyes. "Crowley," he informed the others then demanded into the phone, "What?" The hunter listened to the demon speak for a bit and then put him on speakerphone. "Repeat that again."

Irritably, Crowley said, "The last ingredient involves Lucifer. I'm with him… her now. They would like to negotiate an exchange for their cooperation."

"Excuse me," Giles interjected. "What do you mean, 'they'?"

From the speaker came the unmistakeable sound of a scuffle with a female assailant. It ended at a thump and a short cry of "Ow!" from Crowley. Something picked up the phone and yelled, "Hey! You! It's past time you returned that thing you stole from me, isn't it?"

They all recognized the voice. A pale, breathless Dawn fearfully whispered, "Glory."

There was blonde hair tickling Dean's nose, and it was wonderful.

Strange to wake up and want to stay with who you were in bed with. Not some skank or lonely waitress from the current town they were hunting in, but a woman that he thought he'd never regret waking up to. There were, however, a few minor tweaks to be worked out, one of which was the fact that there were pieces of metal stabbing him in the chest from her prosthetic. When he tried scooting a bit away, Buffy turned around and faced him. "Hey," she murmured.

"Hey yourself," Dean responded. "We might wanna get up. Bet you it's late."

"Don't wanna," she pouted. Buffy proceeded to snuggle in closer, her head nestling into his shoulder. "Let's stay in bed all day."

The hunter kissed her on the forehead, and continued kissing gently down her face. As her lips met his, he thought staying in bed all day might be a grand idea.

Then someone rapped on the door and Sammy, his eyes theatrically covered with one hand, stole inside. "Dude!" Dean objected as Buffy squeaked and hid her head under the covers. "Knock!"

"I did," his brother replied confusedly as he closed the door. "Hey, Buffy."

Muffled by blankets, the Slayer said, "Hi Sam."

Disbelievingly, Dean watched the younger Winchester hand over Buffy's shirt then take a seat on the couch across from the bed. "There a reason for this or are you just being annoying?"

"We have a problem," Sam explained. Dean handed his bedmate her clothing underneath the covers.

"Great. Now what?"

"The last ingredient on Crowley's list has something to do with Lucifer. Thing is, Glory's with him."

Buffy popped out of the covers, her shirt mostly on, to say, "What?"

Sam sighed. "She wants her Key."

"No way in hell. Pants, gimmie!" the Slayer demanded. Dean leaned over the side and handed Buffy the requested garment. She shuffled them on under the blankets and stood up. "So what now?"

"Well, we agreed to a meeting. Giles and Tara are getting spells ready, like shields and stuff. We don't know what's going to work on the Hellgod anymore and pretty much nothing's going to work on Lucifer. Soon as Cass gets back we need to head out."

"To where?" asked Dean as he put on his own pants.

"Lawrence. Stull Cemetery." The brothers exchanged furious looks. "Lucifer thought it was funny."

"I'm not getting the funny here," Buffy stated.

"City where we were born," explained Sam. "Cemetery's the place where we shoved Lucifer back in his Cage."

Dean's shoulders tightened at the memory of watching his little brother hurtling himself and Michael into that swirling gateway. There were a few places on Earth he would never like to return to and that tiny, weed laden graveyard would probably rank in the top five. The hunter shook himself out of his reverie when Buffy stomped out of his room and slammed the door behind her. They could faintly hear her calling for her sister down the hallway.

As Dean continued dressing, he realized that Sam was still in the room. His brother's face reflected a strange mix of worry and hilarity. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah, well, your face don't look like it's saying 'nothing.'"

The younger Winchester shrugged. "I'm just… happy for you that's all."

"Oh come on," his brother groaned as he tied his laces.

"Okay, okay. Just don't screw this up."

"What? Why?"

Sam stabbed a finger towards the door. "Because I'm pretty sure you'd have about half a dozen people beating your ass down for it, and at least two of them can cast spells."

"Oh crap." Dean suddenly hurried for the door.

"What?"

"We forgot to let Rowena out. Hope she didn't piss on the carpet."

As Sam followed, he called out, "Dude, she's a witch! Not a dog."

Dean shouted back, "Can't say that in her case there's much of a difference."

"Absolutely not."

Dawn crossed her arms stubbornly and swore not to act like a child. "Buffy, this isn't your decision to make."

"I am your older sister and legal guardian. It is my decision to make no matter what you think!"

The younger Summers threw her resolution out the window. "Yeah, well I'm really a big blob of green energy that's a gazillion years old! So who's older than who now, huh?"

"Is that what this is about?" Buffy asked incredulously. "I thought we went over this already. You are not some glob of energy. You are my sister." She placed her hands gently on the young girl's cheeks. "I love you, and I don't want to lose you."

"I know." Tears were beginning to spill. Dawn knew her sister thought she was frightened of Glory, but her fear was seated in something far worse. Maybe it was time to get her secret out into the open. "Buffy…"

The Slayer sighed and moved her hands to her sister's shoulders. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out, okay?"

Regardless whether she told her now or later, Buffy was going to find out. Later was better than now, however, in Dawn's opinion. Besides, what her sister didn't need right now was another distraction. Speaking of which, there was a perfect way to change the subject. "Are you boinking Dean?"

"Dawn! That's none of your business!"

"Uh, yeah it is. Can I plan the wedding?"

"What?"

"That's what sisters are supposed to do, right? Plan the cake and the music and stuff?"

"Oh my God," Buffy gasped as she flung her arms up and headed for the hallway.

"Just so you know, as a bridesmaid I want to wear pink!" Dawn called from her doorway.

Her sister stuck her palms over her ears and uttered loudly, "La la la la la!" The pseudo-song continued as she walked away.

Dawn leaned against her doorframe and bit her lip. There was no way, after everything that had happened, after she had lost her arm, that Buffy would be okay that her sister had made a literal deal with the devil. She just hoped that one day she would be forgiven.

The drive to Lawrence was going to take a few hours, so the remainder of the day was spent in preparation. Rowena, grumpy at being locked up, reluctantly helped Giles and Tara prepare spells she thought might at least slow their adversaries if it came down to a fight. The Winchesters noticed that the elder witch didn't have the same wariness around Tara that she'd had around Willow. In fact, a few times the woman displayed outright contempt for the quiet young woman. When Sam made to put an end to it, Tara shook her head. She would bear any indignation if it meant getting Willow back.

Dawn was appointed snack master (which explained why they left with more candy bars than food) while Buffy fixed a spaghetti dinner to be eaten before they left. Spike and Dean tuned up the BMW, the Impala, and the Buick that the vampire had taken a liking to. The two worked with the music cranked far enough up to stymie conversation.

Anya, Xander, and Sam stocked weapons and ammo. Sam noticed the younger man was abnormally grim, his mouth set in a thin line as he cleaned out pistols and counted ammo. To cover up his silence, Anya held a mostly one sided conversation about anything and everything. This included missing California, interesting pages from the Kama Sutra, her hair color, and whether or not blueberries or blackberries were tastier. Sam tried to keep up and failed.

Eventually the cars were packed, dinner had been eaten, and Castiel had returned. A satchel with the spell ingredients was on his shoulder. Dean went to put it inside the devil's trap jail cell and the seraph followed close behind. "Dude," the hunter said after locking the doors, turning around, and finding Castiel nearly nose-to-nose with him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Avoiding Xander Harris. I'm fairly certain he wants to punch me again."

Dean shrugged and began walking towards the garage. "Yeah, well, kid needs to get over it. If this goes south he's gotta work with all of us if we're going to survive. Oh, and hey, no zapping over there by yourself," he demanded as they descended the stairs. "Need you in my car."

"Why?"

"You get to babysit Rowena."

Castiel sighed.

The trip was uneventful other than a memorable pit stop where Dawn vomited spectacularly onto the cement. She played it off as candy overindulgence, unwilling to voice the growing terror she felt with every mile. Several times during the drive the girl had been tempted to just blurt out what she had done, but just couldn't drum up the courage to speak the first word.

The three cars parked just outside of Stull Cemetery's wrought iron gate and their occupants, armed with guns and angel blades, headed for the interior. Rowena balked at picking her way through the dirt in her heels and gown until Castiel shoved her, hard. He still resented having an "attack dog" spell cast on him, particularly because it had inadvertently caused an angelic sister's death.

With the moon out and clear skies the place was illuminated rather well. Still, Sam and Dean swept the area with their flashlights just in case. Dean's froze over a circular area. While other areas in the graveyard showed bits of green grass and small, weedy flowers, this spot remained permanently yellow. The only plants that managed to push out from the soil were stunted and barbed. Gently, Sam put his hand on his brother's shoulder and the two of them shared a moment of silent commiseration.

"So where is the blighted devil?" Spike asked loudly as he lit up a cigarette.

In his ear, a familiar female voice whispered, "Boo."

The vampire started and swiveled around. Lucifer's smirk was set unnaturally onto Willow's lips while Crowley and Glory were standing nonchalantly nearby. Spike backed away while muttering, "Bloody hell."

"It really is," Lucifer sighed as the Winchesters and the Sunnydale residents cautiously approached. "So! Doggy here says you need me for a spell."

"Does Rover want to elaborate?" called Sam.

"We need his–her blood," Crowley answered, irked at the new cognomen. "That would require a bit of cooperation on her part."

"Could just beat you down," Dean growled at Lucifer, "pick the blood off our knives."

"Pff, please," the archangel snorted. She waved a hand and the humans (and vampire) found themselves smashed face first into the ground.

"Ow," Xander uttered. "Worms. Mouth."

"Willow!" Tara cried.

"Oh don't start this up again," Lucifer said, annoyed. Then, mockingly, she wailed, "Willow! Cass!"

"If you kill us," growled Castiel, "you will never be able to contact our Father."

"We've each got half a spell," added Giles, "and I'm betting none of you know where we've hidden ours."

Crowley and Rowena exchanged brief glances. Of course they knew, but both of them relished the secret. If they revealed the location, Lucifer and Glory would no doubt kill all of them and then plunder the Men of Letter's Bunker at their leisure. Better to wait until one or both of the parties were obliterated and then they could plunder at their leisure. After eliminating their mother/son of course.

The archangel gave an exasperated huff of breath and released her hold. "Fine. I've got something you want, you've got something we want. Fair trade."

While brushing detritus from her front, Buffy stated firmly, "She's not getting her Key."

Surprisingly, Glory smiled broadly. "Oh, the Slayer is just so cute when she's stupid!"

Buffy glared. "Stupid about what?"

Crowley snapped his fingers and Dawn let out a stifled shriek. She hurriedly pulled up a sleeve to reveal a set of blood-red letters etched into her skin. Buffy, alarmed, noticed that the sight made Sam pale and caused Dean to angrily shout, "When the hell did you do that?"

"What?" the Slayer demanded, panicked as she grabbed her sister's wrist and peered at the words. "What did he do?"

"Your dear sister made a deal," explained Crowley. "While we were on top of that… eccentric tower."

"What kind of deal?" Buffy snarled.

"Standard, mostly. Ten years for getting her off that platform before the hellhounds come to collect."

"And then?"

"She goes to Hell," a shaken Dean said quietly. Desperate, the hunter latched onto the one thing Crowley said that might give them a reprieve. "What do you mean 'mostly'?"

"Oh!" the demon exclaimed, affecting surprise. "Back of her neck, that's the proviso."

Buffy and Dean both lifted Dawn's hair. It was in some incomprehensible language. Furious, the hunter called, "Translate this, you dick!"

"'Should the client decide to revert to her natural state and be utilized as was initially dictated at creation, the client's soul, should it be preserved, will afterwards no longer be the property of the contractor and will then be handed off to its original designation.'"

Both Buffy and Dean stared, blinked, and jointly said, "What?"

"If Dawn goes back to being the Key," Sam responded, breathless with horror, "she'll go to Heaven instead of Hell."

"But only if she's used to open the dimensional portals," Giles added, just as shaken. "And only if she actually has a soul."

Dawn turned around, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry, Buffy. I'm so, so sorry."