Jessie Sammler, Vampire Slayer
Chapter 51
Author: j_rock873
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The girls celebrate getting into college and deal with the loss of a slayer.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from either show.
Reviews: I would like them. Constructive criticism is ok.
Author's notes: Sorry to disappoint you, but it won't be Kennedy who dies.
March 5th, 2004; the girls apartment, around 4:00 PM
Dawn and Jessie were in the mood to celebrate. They had gotten into almost every college or university that they had applied to. The acceptances all seemed to come earlier this week. All of them offered at least a partial scholarship.
"So where did you two get into again?" Faith asked as she shared the excitement and happiness with Buffy, Dawn, and Jessie.
"I got into Harvard, NYU, Columbia, Stanford, and USF," Jessie answered with a smile.
"I also got into Harvard and NYU. I got into Yale, Princeton, and UC/Berkley as well," Dawn said with an equally big smile.
"So which ones do you two think you want to go to the most?" Buffy questioned even though all of them pretty much knew the answer.
"I was thinking of either Columbia or Harvard, but I'm leaning toward Harvard. If I went to Columbia, I would be close to Grace, maybe even live with her again if you can believe that," Jessie commented with a laugh before speaking again, "Harvard is close to her but not too close. Both are around demonic hotspots in case I want to be a slayer for more than a few years. Then again, going to college in California or Florida has also seemed interesting."
"I kind of like idea of both Harvard and UC/Berkley, but I'm leaning toward Harvard."
"Well, we know the reason for Harvard, yo, but why UC/Berkley? I mean you've lived in California for almost your entire human life."
"Well, Berkley isn't too far away if Jessie wanted to go to Stanford."
"So she's the main reason for your choices?" Buffy assumed although she could understand why.
"Well, she is my girlfriend, and I don't want to be too far away from her because long distance relationships never work."
"What do you think about that, J?" Faith inquired as she arched an eyebrow at the blonde.
"I agree with her," Jessie declared before looking directly at Dawn, "but I want you to make sure that I'm not the only factor when you make a final choice."
"Why, don't you think we'll last? Are you planning on dumping me after you find someone that you might like better at Harvard?"
"No, I don't plan on dumping you at Harvard. I'm just being realistic, ok?"
"I still choose Harvard. If things get really bad, I could always transfer. I don't think I could handle being away from you. If we went to separate schools, the frequent teleporting could put a strain on our relationship too."
"I guess I can understand that, so it's Harvard for both of us?" Jessie guessed with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, if that's ok with you?"
"It's five by five, D," Jessie announced before being caught up in a kiss with her girlfriend.
"We're still here you know," Buffy mumbled as she saw Dawn try to intensify the kiss.
"Sorry," the happy couple apologized together before Dawn started giggling.
"It's ok, D. I think we should celebrate. What do you think, B?"
"Definitely," Buffy agreed before giving Dawn a tight hug.
"Uh, B-Buffy, I can barely breathe," Dawn gasped.
"Oh, sorry, I'm so happy for you, Dawnie. I'm proud of you too, Jessie," Buffy stated as she turned around and hugged the other blonde.
"Thanks, I'm kind of proud of us myself," Jessie mentioned as Dawn hugged her this time, "What no hugs for us, Faith?"
"The hugging thing isn't me, yo."
"But you hugged my family on Christmas Day," Jessie reminded the brunette.
"That was only because it was the holidays."
"One hug won't kill you, will it?" Buffy challenged as she smirked at Faith.
"Ok," Faith relented before hugging both girls at the same time.
Both girls laughed at how Buffy got Faith to hug them.
"So we go tell Giles, grab something to eat, patrol, and then celebrate at the club?" Dawn suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Jessie decided with a smile.
After Giles congratulated the girls, they grabbed a bite to eat and headed back up to the apartment. As Jessie called her family to let them know the good news, Dawn sat beside her on the couch. Buffy and Faith sat on the loveseat by the couch. Faith had sat down first and pulled the blonde onto her lap. Jessie then handed her phone to Dawn. Apparently, Jessie's family wanted to congratulate Dawn as well. That night's patrol had pretty much been eventless, so when it came time to hit the club, they were more than ready.
"Cheers to the happy couple and their future at Harvard," Buffy told them as she raised her glass in the toast.
"Yeah, make me and B proud, girls," Faith added.
The girls knocked their glasses together and began to drink when Buffy's cell phone rang.
"Hello? What?"
The girls watched as it seemed Buffy was having trouble understanding the person on the other end. Dawn became confused as Buffy handed the phone to her.
"Here, your Spanish is better than mine. I don't know what's going on. All I understood were Willow and Chloe's names."
"Uh…ok, and the official language in Brazil is Portuguese. Although they also speak some Spanish, English, and a variety of others," Dawn replied as she took the phone, listened for a minute, and began talking to whoever was on the other end.
"When did you learn to speak Portuguese?" Buffy interrupted
Dawn then whispered a few words over the phone before facing Buffy.
"Oh come on, I thought you knew I was bi…lingual," Dawn chuckled, making Buffy groan while Jessie and Faith laughed loudly, "Actually, multilingual since I also speak Spanish and a few others. Oh by the way, she was speaking Spanish. I just felt like teasing you a little," Dawn informed with a smirk before continuing the phone conversation.
Jessie and Faith smirked at Buffy's annoyance at Dawn's comments. As Dawn continued to talk and listen to the other person, her roommates saw her getting more upset.
"No," Dawn murmured softly, worrying them a little before shouting, "NO!"
When Dawn hung up, she saw that she had the attention of half of the club.
"What's wrong, D?" Jessie quizzed softly as she placed her hand on Dawn's shoulder.
"We need to get out of here now. I'll explain as soon as we get outside," Dawn described as she grabbed her coat and ran out of the club.
A few minutes later, outside the club
When Jessie caught up to her, Dawn hugged her and let tears run down her cheeks.
"What's wrong with Willow and Chloe, Dawnie? Did one or both of them get hurt in a demon fight?" Buffy grilled as she became really worried.
"It's more serious than that. We need to get to Brazil as soon as possible. When we get there, I'll teleport Xander too."
"What's so bad that you need to teleport Xander, D?" Faith muttered as she wrapped her arms around Buffy.
"Chloe was out patrolling with one group while Willow was with another group."
"I thought they were usually in the same group?" Jessie interrupted.
"They normally are. Apparently, one of the other slayers had a family emergency, so Willow filled in for her."
"And?" Buffy interrupted this time.
"Unfortunately, this night they came across some demons Chloe's group was having trouble with. Long story short, Chloe's dead."
"WHAT? Chloe's DEAD?" Buffy interjected.
Shock appeared on Jessie and Faith's faces as Dawn nodded.
"We need to get over there before Willow snaps again. As soon as we get there, I'll teleport Xander. She's going to need all of her friends there."
"Damn," Buffy and Faith groaned at the same time as all four girls raced back to the apartment.
They informed Giles of the terrible news before getting everything they needed together and teleported to Brazil.
A few minutes later; Willow and the slayers' home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the family room
The girls arrived to see Willow weeping on one of the other slayer's shoulders as her hair flickered between red and black every ten seconds.
"Willow, what happened?" Buffy chimed in as she quickly sat down on the other side of her best friend.
Willow just sobbed as the other slayer let go of her, and she fell into Buffy's arms. Dawn began speaking again to the slayer that had been holding Willow. For a second time, Jessie, Buffy, and Faith listened to a conversation they didn't completely understand.
"She says her and Chloe's group were battling a few demons when the one Chloe was fighting somehow got the upper hand. When its talons crossed over Chloe's chest, it was deep enough to puncture her lungs and cut into one of the valves to her heart. She died within minutes. The last thing she said was, 'Tell Willow and my family I love them. Also, tell Jessie, Buffy, and Faith I'm sorry I let them down.'"
"Why did she think she let me…I mean us down?" Jessie wondered.
"Because you were the one who trained her the most, and she idolized Buffy and Faith. She was one of the members of their fan clubs, not that she didn't idolize you; it's just that she idolized them more since they battled The First."
"Ok."
Faith and Jessie stood silently as Buffy continued to hug Willow and offer words of consolation. Dawn chanted the spell and a minute or two later, Xander was running to his best friends as Vi stood by Dawn, Jessie, and Faith. Jessie and Dawn both felt a tear running down their cheeks at the sight of the trio hugging and hearing what were Chloe's last words.
A week later; Dallas, TX; Chloe's home, after the funeral
Chloe's parents had made all of the funeral arrangements. They chose to have a small ceremony. Willow was honored that Chloe's family offered for her to sit beside them during the funeral, but she politely refused. She chose rather to sit with her best friends, who sat beside her on both sides. Dawn, Jessie, Giles and a few other slayers chose to sit behind her and their friends. When the girls gathered at Chloe's home, they talked briefly with Chloe's family before grabbing a bite to eat and talking with each other. As Willow's best friends tried to comfort her, Dawn, Jessie, Faith, and Vi sat in the few chairs across from the couch. While Dawn and Faith became wrapped up in a conversation of their own, Jessie began thinking back to the moment she first met Chloe's family. They were introduced to her family by Willow after arriving shortly before the ceremony.
Around two hours earlier
"Mr and Mrs. Smith, Melissa, and Brian, I'd like to introduce you to my friends. This is one of my best friends, Xander Harris and his girlfriend Vi; my other best friend, Buffy Summers and her fiancée, Faith; Buffy's sister, Dawn and her girlfriend, Jessie Sammler. Everybody, this is Chloe's parents, Mr and Mrs Smith; Chloe's younger sister, Melissa; and her older brother, Brian."
"Yeah, we kind of figured that, Red," Faith teased the redhead, getting small laughs from everyone.
Jessie and her friends couldn't help but notice Chloe's family had begun staring at her. It had started making her uncomfortable.
"Oh, you're that 'Jessie'," Melissa determined with a half smile as the rest of the family realized the same thing and smiled at her.
"Uh…Maybe," Jessie mumbled as she took a step back.
"What do you mean by that Jessie?" Dawn asked as she took Jessie's hand before Jessie could take any more steps away from the group.
"The first time we talked to her after she went to London, she talked about you, Buffy, Faith, and Jessie. Jessie came up first though."
"Uh, what did she say about me?" Jessie prodded a little nervously.
"She told us about how you were the one who trained her the most," Chloe's mom explained before Jessie attempted to take another step back in fear of what they would say or do to her next, "Don't worry, Jessie. We're not mad at you. She and the rest of us knew the risks of her choosing to join in on the fight. When she came home for Christmas, we saw how well you trained her. You all gave her the confidence she never felt she had before then. She also mentioned how she enjoyed watching you beat another slayer in a fight. I think her name was Kennedy."
"Or as she put it, you kicked Kennedy's ass," Melissa revealed, making almost everyone else listening laugh as Jessie blushed and Dawn gave her a loving smile.
"She also mentioned that you sang like an angel, Dawn had a crush on you, and you had your own fan club," Brian confessed before smiling at Dawn.
It was Dawn's turn to blush. She glanced down at the floor until Jessie whispered into to her ear to look at them.
"Would it be too much to ask for a favor from you?" Chloe's dad directed to Jessie.
"I guess it would be ok."
"I know it might be a lot to ask, but would you sing at our daughter's funeral?"
"Uh, sure," Jessie murmured a little hesitantly, "What song or songs would you like me to sing?"
"Well, she liked a few kinds of music, but her two most favorite songs were a little sad. They're 'Calling All Angels' by Jane Sikenberry and that one you sang after the fight. What was that one again, Melissa?" Chloe's mom muttered to her daughter.
"'Hallelujah' by Jeff Buckley," Dawn divulged as she accidentally interrupted Melissa, who was getting ready to answer her. "Sorry," Dawn finished as all eyes turned to Jessie.
"It's ok," Melissa told her as she didn't take her eyes off of the blonde.
There was a brief silence as Jessie fought back a tear while Dawn squeezed her hand gently.
"If it's too painful for you, we could pick some other songs," Mr Smith offered.
"No, it's alright. I can sing those," Jessie answered. What are you thinking? You know how that song gets to you. You should have listened to them. They gave you a way out of singing that song.
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Smith asserted.
"Yes," Jessie confirmed with a smile as the grip Dawn had on her hand got a little tighter in support of her girlfriend.
"Cool," Brian smiled at the cute display between the young couple.
The funeral had gone well. As Jessie sang "Calling All Angels", Chloe's slayer friends, who agreed to be the pall bearers, carried Chloe's coffin slowly to the burial spot. Unfortunately, Jessie made the mistake of remembering seeing the smile on Chloe's face during the pre-funeral wake. As Jessie began singing "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley, everyone saw her fighting back more tears and heard the heartache as she sang. It had brought everyone except Faith and Xander to tears. When she finished, Jessie slowly paced back to her seat and cried as Dawn wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The comforting gesture helped Jessie relax into the hold.
Back to the present
"J, are you alright?"
"Huh?" Jessie chirped as she now saw all of her friends watching her.
"She asked if you were alright," Dawn responded as she nodded toward Faith.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something I'd rather not discuss right now," Jessie confessed calmly.
"Alright, as long as you're ok," Dawn told her before giving the blonde a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Jessie," a male voice called out from behind her.
"Yeah?" Jessie asked as she turned to look at Chloe's family.
"We just wanted to thank you for singing those songs. We saw how painful it was for you to sing that last song," Mr. Smith stated with a smile.
"Chloe was right," Mrs. Smith announced as she walked toward Jessie.
"About what?" Jessie wondered as she stood up.
"You can sing like an angel," Melissa complimented before Jessie was hugged by both her and Mrs. Smith.
Everyone smiled while tears ran down Mrs. Smith and Melissa's cheeks.
"Th-Thanks," Jessie stuttered before being kissed softly on her forehead by Mrs. Smith.
The family then excused themselves politely before walking away to talk to some other family members.
"Are you ok?" Dawn asked this time as she lightly placed a hand on Jessie's shoulder.
"I think so," Jessie mumbled, "I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?"
"A soda would be nice," Dawn admitted.
"Ok."
"Hold up, J, B and I will join you. Right, B?"
"Yeah, would you like something too, Willow?" Buffy questioned her best friend.
"W-Water, please," Willow pleaded as Dawn sat down beside her.
Faith smiled for a second as a memory of her first meeting of Tara popped into her head. Both Jessie and Buffy were smirking at her as the three entered the kitchen.
"What?" Faith grunted with a smirk.
"What were you just thinking about?" Buffy inquired as Jessie reached for some glasses and filled them with soda and ice.
"The first time I met Tara at the Bronze. You know…during the body swap," Faith chuckled.
"Oh, right," Buffy groaned with a roll of her eyes before hearing Jessie sigh, "What's up, Jessie?"
"It's just that after hearing all of the nice memories you have of Tara, I wish I could have met her."
Jessie waited as they grabbed a few beers for themselves and some water for Willow.
Meanwhile
Willow was resting her head on Dawn's shoulder and wiping away more tears while Xander and Vi were talking with Melissa and Brian.
"Dawn."
"Yes?"
"I don't mean to sound selfish, but is something wrong with me? I mean am I cursed or something?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Whenever I get close to someone I love or like at least a little, they leave me. Both Oz and Kennedy cheated on me and left. Well, we kicked Kennedy out, but you know what I mean. Tara and I had just got back together before she was killed. I didn't even get a chance to figure out my true feelings for Chloe before she died. I'm starting to think I'm destined to be alone forever."
"You're never totally alone. We're here for you, and I'm positive you'll find someone else."
"Thanks," Willow said softly.
Before either of them realized it, Dawn's kind words at Willow's grief had made Willow begin kissing Dawn. The kiss was broken by the sound of breaking glass. They turned to see Jessie start crying again as shattered glass, soda, and ice lay on the floor just in front of her shoes. Then they noticed everyone else's shocked and confused gapes.
"J-J, w-wait. It's not what it looked like," Dawn yelped as she chased after the sobbing blonde. There were various expressions shared among everyone else in the room before Buffy, Faith, and Willow followed the couple.
When they reached the other girls, they saw Jessie crying on a porch swing while Dawn stood there with tears on her face.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME, D!" Jessie let out through sobs.
"It's n-not wh-what it l-looked l-like, I sw-swear," Dawn bawled.
"So then you weren't kissing one of our friends while I was getting us something to drink? Why did you do it? I thought you loved me. Didn't I say or show it enough that I loved you too? Or did you just get impatient and/or angry because I said to you on Valentines Day that I didn't love you as much as Faith and Buffy love each other or as much as I loved Katie?"
"Jessie, it wasn't..," Willow tried to say before being cut off by Jessie.
"And how could you do that to me, Red? I've saved and defended your best friend's little sister many times and was able to admit to her that I loved her on Valentine's Day. Sure, it's not as much as I just said, but it's there. You think that just because you lost your girlfriend that you can kiss mine? Maybe I should leave you two alone, so you can finish what you started."
"JESSIE!" Buffy warned her and concluded as she looked at both Dawn and Willow, "Don't be that way. I'm sure there's a reason why they did what they did, right?"
Dawn was now sitting beside Jessie, hugging her, and crying too. Willow's head was now lying on Buffy's shoulder as tears could be seen on her face as well. Jessie had resisted at first but gave in and laid her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.
"O-Ok, ex-explain," Jessie stuttered as she removed her head from Dawn's shoulder, wiped away tears, and glimpsed back and forth between Dawn and Willow.
"Well, I've been a mess since Chloe died. It took so much energy not to lose it like I did when Tara died or Kennedy cheated on me. I know that everyone's trying to comfort me. It just felt so good that when it was Dawn's turn, I was overwhelmed. I lost control and kissed her. I would never intentionally hurt either of you since the time I spent in England after Tara's death and the chaos following that. I swear."
"Ok, I understand. Can we go now? I've embarrassed myself enough."
"You haven't. We understand how seeing that could upset you," Dawn affirmed.
Jessie got up and headed back into the house without saying a word to anyone. Dawn looked at the rest of them before following her. When they entered the house, they found Jessie apologizing to Chloe's family.
"I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I didn't mean to cause a scene at your daughter's funeral and in your own home. Can you forgive me?"
"There's no need to apologize. Crying happens at funerals. As for what happened here, Melissa and Brian explained what happened. No harm done. Brian cleaned up the mess after you left," Mr. Smith explained.
"Ok, well, I think we're going to head back home," Jessie revealed.
"We understand. Have a safe trip, and don't ever think that we're mad at you for what happened to Chloe," Mrs. Smith informed her as she hugged Jessie again.
Then the rest of Chloe's family gave her a hug before they hugged Dawn, Buffy, Faith, and Willow. Willow paused for a second before speaking to Melissa and pointing to the cross around her neck that used to belong to Chloe.
"I think Chloe would have wanted you to have it. Take good care of it, ok?"
"I promise," Melissa pledged before hugging the redhead one more time.
Almost ten minutes later, the girls' apartment
"So do you two want to join me and B at the club?" Faith encouraged the younger couple.
"I'm not really in the mood for hanging out at the club. I think I'm going to go down to the gym for a workout," Jessie revealed as she headed for the bedroom.
"Can I join you?" Dawn asked carefully since she wasn't sure what to think about Jessie's current mood.
"I kind of want to be alone right now," Jessie admitted before entering the bedroom and immediately closing the door behind her.
"Do you think she's going to be upset with me for a long time?" Dawn questioned as she sadly peered up at her sister.
"I really don't know. I'm sure she's still hurting from seeing the kiss."
"But it was an accident."
"That doesn't mean it stops hurting instantly. Give her some time, D," Faith added, "Pretty soon, things will be back to normal, and you two will be all over each other again."
"Faith," Buffy growled, "I really don't want to hear about my sister getting all hot and heavy with her girlfriend."
"Wouldn't it be more like hot and skinny, or hot and sweaty?" Faith teased.
"Shut up," Dawn requested before chuckling.
That stopped as Jessie left the bedroom in a pair of sweats and a tank top, grabbed her coat, walked past the three of them without saying a word or even looking at them, and closed the door behind her.
"Damn, did you two just feel a brief chill too?" Faith joked.
"Shut up," Dawn snapped at Faith's ill timed attempt at sarcastic humor before heading into the bedroom and almost slamming the door.
Buffy glared at Faith as the girls left the apartment in their trip to the club. Faith just sighed as she closed and locked the door behind them.
