(3/2/2021) Okay, so I caved. Actually, I watched some Supernatural and got inspired. Besides, at this point, Whedon's sort of reaping what he sowed. All them Hollywood dumbasses are.
This isn't nearly the full chapter, but I thought after my last dystopian message I'd put out a snack.
Morning arrived, closing out a night of horror and despair.
Joyce brought Bobby back to Sunnydale late in the afternoon. With her bags already in the trunk and her goodbyes to her daughter sent she left almost immediately. It was required that she lay admonishments regarding the health of Buffy and her siblings upon Bobby before Joyce could comfortably go off to her sister's home in Bakersfield. Assurances were made and at least one family member was safely away.
Bobby immediately headed for the Sunnydale library where a frantic Giles was trying to locate his Slayer or her brothers or anyone who knew what the bloody hell was going on. He'd gotten a terse text from Buffy an hour earlier saying she was going to do what she had to do and then nothing following. Her big brother's only response had been to yell at the Watcher to take care of it while he tracked down Sam and his demon bitch.
Hours passed during which Bobby laid out the results of putting together months of occurrences and signs. Both Giles and Wesley had paled at his explanation. The former immediately dove into his books for a solution; the latter made repeated attempts to convince the Watcher's Council to intervene. Their knowledge could mean the difference in their ability to stop the incoming horrors.
They had convinced themselves of something all right, but it wasn't what any of them expected. Repeated instances of dereliction and apparent ineptitude meant Wesley was considered unfit for duty. He was subsequently fired. A lifetime of training and loyalty tossed out in an instant. Understandably, the young man was, for the moment, inconsolable and useless.
Bobby got a call from Dean as Giles was attempting to soothe his younger counterpart. The elder Winchester had, by virtue of a little luck and some deception, been able to find Sam holed up in Visalia (in a honeymoon suite of all things). Bobby gave the headstrong man a warning. "Remember, when you talk to Sam it's gotta be about getting him back, not pushing him away."
"Right," Dean agreed unconvincingly.
"I know you're mad, Dean. I understand. You got a right to be, but I'm just saying. Be good to him anyway. You gotta get through to him."
Dean had every intention of following Bobby's advice. Then Sam had defended Ruby from a killing blow. He just refused to listen to reason, saying Dean wasn't strong enough to do what Heaven had mandated. Sam desperately wanted to be trusted, he wanted to take charge. "No," Dean refuted. "You don't know what you're doing, Sam."
"Yes, I do."
"Then that's worse!"
"Why?" Confused, his heart heavy, Sam once again tried to make his case. "Look, I'm telling you—"
"Because it's not something that you're doing, it's what you are! It means—"
"What?" Dread lanced through Sam's veins. His eyes teared, knowing what Dean was about to proclaim, hoping against everything he wouldn't. "No. Say it."
And even though Sam couldn't tell, it broke Dean's own heart to follow through. "It means you're a monster."
Brimming with power, the demon blood a luscious fire in his veins, Sam lashed out. His fist smashed into his brother's face, a blow Dean vaguely noted was a lot stronger than usual. Regardless, the elder Winchester responded in the only way he knew.
He punched back.
When Sam had finished growing they had discovered his great height didn't make much of a difference in terms of hand-to-hand fighting. In fact, at times it became a hindrance, as his largeness gave his sparring partners a larger target. Once Buffy (easily a foot shorter) had entered the hunting sphere openly she proved even the biggest opponents had no advantages when it came to well placed blows and a quick pair of feet. The eldest and youngest of the three had often compared Sam to a lumbering Tyrannosaurus Rex; deadly if he landed anything, but flailing clumsily otherwise. He'd responded more than once by using his body mass to flatten them onto the floor.
Now it was if his unwieldy overgrowth meant nothing, his muscles honed to a lethal edge. Sam shrugged off punches as if they were swats, and his returns were given with interest. Blood was dipping down both brothers' noses and mouths, but Dean's quivering limbs and slowly decreasing impacts obviously showed which of them suffered more.
In a final surge of strength, Dean punched Sam, who staggered. Sam's fist snapped and his brother went flying through the cheap decor. Before he could really think about what he was doing, Sam was on top of Dean, hands wrapped around his neck.
The younger Winchester remained only long enough to incapacitate the elder. Sam stood and loomed over his big brother, his burden, and declared, "You don't know me. You never did. And you never will."
Dean didn't mean to. He really didn't. But before he could really think, he was spouting the same ultimatum their father had given when Sam had announced his intentions to abandon the hunter life and go to Stanford. "You walk out that door, don't you ever come back!"
And just as he'd done before, Sam left.
At the same time Bobby was warning Dean against doing exactly what he'd eventually do, Buffy was switching off Faith's speakers. "Thought I'd stop by," she said calmly, belying the rapid pounding of her heart.
With a smirk, Faith asked, "Is he dead yet?"
"He's not gonna die. It was a good try, though. Why? Why would you do this?"
"You don't know what's about to happen, do you? Man, you are so out of the loop!"
"I don't care. I don't care what crazy shit you've gotten into this time. Besides, I found a cure."
"What is it?"
"Your blood."
They bantered, Faith's nonchalance and obvious glee serving to wipe away the last of Buffy's doubt. She pulled a long blade from inside her coat, one she hoped Dean would forgive her for borrowing without asking. "You told me once I was just like you. That I was holding it in."
Looking delighted, Faith asked, "Ready to cut loose?"
"Try me."
"Okay, then. Give us a kiss."
They fought, destroying Faith's opulent apartment before crashing through the glass onto the terrace. As evenly matched as they were, the battle was now down to endurance, and Faith's waned first. A simple mistake, an overconfident swing with a weaponized metal pipe going too far off to one side, and Buffy plunged her blade into the other Slayer's flesh.
Both stared at the wound shocked, frightened, and horrified. Buffy was frozen at the sight of blood welling between her fingers and the red spreading across Faith's belly. She jerked out the knife and Faith shoved her away. "You did it," the dark-haired girl said weakly, but proudly. "You killed me."
Buffy couldn't speak, couldn't move. She'd taken a life, a human life. What repercussions would she face now? Was saving Angel worth so much? What would her brothers say? Giles? What would her mother say?
She was brought abruptly to focus by the sound of Faith's boots mounting the concrete railing. With a bloodied, satisfied grin, the other Slayer said, "Still won't help your boy, though," and tipped backwards off of the terrace.
Too late, much too late, Buffy surged forward . A tremendous clatter echoed down the street as the girl's body landed into the back of a trunk hauling the remnants of a grocery delivery. It roared off into the night and took with it the only thing that would have made all of the trauma worthwhile.
more to come soon!
Acknowledgement : Some lines of dialogue are taken directly from the episodes, "When the Levee Breaks" (SPN 4.21), "Graduation Day, Part 1" (BtVS 3.21), and "Graduation Day, Part 2" (BtVS 3.22).