Author's Note: This one took a little while to get right. I'm on a bit of a Buffybot binge of late, so hopefully the chapters are gonna keep coming! Enjoy!


Chapter 14: Betrayal

Dawn felt the skin prickle on her neck as the jaws widened a hair's breadth away. She braced herself against the pain to come, squeezing her eyes shut all the more tightly. Then she felt the rush of movement beside her, and the sound of a body falling back against earth. Opening her eyes, Dawn looked in disbelief as Justin lay flat on his back several feet away, looking up in anger and surprise at a newly arrived figure.

"You picked the wrong night, mate. And the wrong bloody girl!"

Spike. Spike had come for her.

Dawn put a shaking hand to her neck, feeling the unbitten skin and finding it sufficiently reassuring. She forced herself onto unsteady legs, all the while keeping her eyes on the two vampires in front of her.

"Back off dude," Justin warned him, his bestial eyes flashing dangerously. "This is none of your business. Find a girl of your own!"

Justin was a vampire. Until this moment, Dawn's thoughts had been too chaotic, too rapid, too panicked to properly process the information. Her first kiss had been with a vampire. Everything she had felt, everything they had shared had been nothing but a lie, a trick – meant to lure her out here to die.

"It's Halloween you nit!" Spike spat, stressing every word between gritted teeth. "We take the night off – those are the rules!"

"Says who?"

This voice was new and unfamiliar, calling out from across the clearing. The sound was followed by the sound of several car doors slamming shut. Dawn turned to see that another three vehicles had pulled up underneath the trees, each of them containing two or three passengers. As they stood and began to circle the clearing, it became apparent that they shared the same demonic appearance, and soulless yellow eyes.

"Get out of here Dawn," Spike hissed, his head spinning around to half-face her, before turning back to the other vampire who had just spoken.

"We don't follow no rules," the first voice continued contemptuously. "We're rebels!"

There was a resonant thunk of wood, and the offending vampire dissolved into dust.

"You're not rebels," Spike remarked acidly, loading another wooden bolt into his hand-crossbow. "I'm a rebel – you're just a load of wankers in the woods."

The stand-off became a fray. By the time Spike finished his insult, Justin had picked himself off of the ground, running at Spike with a ferocious growl tearing up his throat. Spike sent a savage kick directly into his chest as Justin charged, knocking him back just before another three of the newly arrived vampires came into striking distance.

Spike was on the cusp of piercing another with his weapon, but just as he fired his hand-crossbow, a dark-haired female vampire with blood already running freely down her chin wrenched the weapon upwards, causing it to fire uselessly into the air.

Finally feeling the frozen grip of fear release her, Dawn turned from the fray and sprinted headlong into the trees. She had no weapons – no stake, no holy water – nothing that might have helped Spike or herself. She cursed herself for being so thoughtless. Regardless of it being Halloween, a few reasonable precautions would have been easy to prepare. Nonetheless, the only thing to do now was run.

Even as she tore deeper and deeper into the trees, Dawn reckoned she had a fairly good notion of what direction she needed to go. For now, she thought her best option was to try and lose the vampires amongst the trees, before suddenly changing direction and breaking out onto the open, well-lit roads. Dawn continued to sprint for what felt like forever, until a sudden pain spasmed in her side, forcing her to stop for breath.

The woods were quiet, dark, and deep. They seemed entirely empty but for the ragged sounds of Dawn's own breathing, and the distant, strangely disquieting rustle of dying autumn leaves on the wind. For a few precious moments, Dawn felt a growing confidence that she was safe. She let out a long breath of relief, before starting to move again between the trees at a more measured pace.

Then she heard a sound that sent chills up her spine.

"Where you headed Dawn? I thought you said you wanted to stay..."


"Spike?!"

The name echoed around the blank stone walls of the crypt, though they provoked no answer. Buffy stepped inside, searching thoroughly for any sign of her former lover's presence. But there was nothing. The lamp and television were both dark, the candles cold and dead. Slightly disheartened, Buffy moved to the trapdoor in the far corner, lifting it quickly and gazing down the ladder beneath. There was still no light, no sounds from below.

"Spike?! We require your assistance. Dawn has gone missing! I need to find her!"

The empty darkness hovering beneath Buffy did not answer. A moment later however, the high, clear sound of a scream from outside did. She did not hesitate. In the fragment of a moment it had taken her to process the sound, Buffy switched over to her slaying protocols, sprinting from the crypt with unparalleled speed before charging through the cemetery, vaulting over graves and headstones with mechanical precision. She crossed the border into the trees without so much as slowing down, winding and weaving effortlessly past each trunk as she followed the fading sounds of struggle. Moments after they had faded away into ominous silence – Buffy found their source.

Beside the bottom of a large oak tree, lay the body of a teenage girl. She was face down, her limp and lifeless limbs strewn about violently among the rotting brown leaves.

Above her, stood the large, shadowed silhouette of a vampire.

Buffy froze, her eyes locked on the fallen figure. Her slaying protocols vehemently demanded she engage the vampire and slay him without hesitation, yet Buffy could not seem to redirect her gaze.

In that moment, she was so sure it was Dawn.

Feelings Buffy could not hope to process flooded over her. Failure. This was her failure. It had been her duty, her mission to protect Dawn from harm – to keep her safe, and happy and well. To make lunch for her, and brush her lovely hair in the mornings. To watch TV with her and listen to her stories of school life. To go with her to parent-teacher meetings. She felt empty.

This was her fault. This was all her fault. It seemed to be the only thought that Buffy could process. In this moment, Buffy was sure that this simple sight was the single most horrible thing her files had ever recorded.

"What the..." the vampire began as he turned, wiping his bloodied mouth with his arm. Then he sniggered, beginning to take lazy, easy-going steps towards her. "Oh, hey there beautiful. What, are you feeling left out? Well..."

The vampire paused for a moment, turning to look at Dawn's body and shaking his head. "She's sleeping now – what she doesn't know wouldn't hu-"

Buffy's right arm rocketed from its place at her side, slamming into the vampire's head and knocking him savagely against a tree trunk. There was a sickening crack, and his body slid limply down to the ocean of dead leaves at her feet. Still, Buffy only had eyes for Dawn.

She took slow, jagged steps towards the body, as though her joints had all but corroded away. The idea of her sister's lifeless form seemed inconceivable, like a lively house full of laughter and joy suddenly left empty and silent. It didn't make sense. It was impossible. It was wrong.

Slowly, Buffy crouched down, attempting to softly move the long hair that covered her sister's face, her touch a gentle caress.

But it wasn't her face.

Now that Buffy could see her more clearly, that fact was becoming all the more apparent. The clothes were different from what Buffy had seen Dawn wearing earlier in the evening, and even in the darkness it was now clear that the hair was the wrong shade. Buffy had never seen this girl before.

She pressed her fingers to the girl's neck, feeling for a pulse, but there was nothing. Buffy's initial assessment was correct; she was deceased.

Buffy felt some semblance of functionality return. It was not Dawn. Dawn was alright – she must be alright. She had to save her. Still, the comfort was not absolute. Even if she did not know this girl, Buffy still reasoned that she was ultimately to blame. She was the Slayer – and vampires were running amok on her watch. Willow and Tara had told her that there was no need to patrol, but the evidence of her own eyes told her otherwise. This was her responsibility. She had been unable to see that, just as she had been unable to see through Dawn's lie.

Buffy rose to her feet, turning to face the still floored and groaning vampire. With one swift moment, she sped towards him, grabbing him by the shirt with one hand and pinning him back against the tree. He cried out in pain, his deep-set yellow eyes bleary and unfocused.

"Are there others?" Buffy asked sternly. "Where are your friends?"

The vampire was stuttering incoherently, eventually managing to spit out a few words. "Wh-what are you man?"

"I am the Slayer. And you will tell me what I need to know."

The bleary eyes went wide, and finally managed to focus on Buffy's face. She recognised the terror in his face.

An arm jutted out to the side, pointing wildly deeper into the woods. "We... we're meeting at the clearing – where all the college kids go to make out – now, now you'll let me go, right? I helped you – and you're gonna let me go?"

Buffy stared hard at him for a moment, briefly considering. "No. I cannot let you hurt anyone else."

Her free hand pulled a stake from inside her red leather jacket, and Buffy jammed it straight into the large vampire's chest, in the spot directly above the heart. His mouth went wide, his face a picture of abject terror before his body dissolved away.

Buffy did not even hesitate long enough to perform her perfunctory pun, dismissing the program with growing ease. Before the dust had finished falling, she had already vanished into the rustling trees.


The unmistakeable sound of Justin's voice immediately made Dawn jump. She swivelled around on the spot, trying to identify the direction she had thought the voice had come from. Yet Dawn could make out no movement, nothing besides the thick tree trunks and the unruly brush of the undergrowth. She looked up, wondering if perhaps he was hiding amongst the upper branches, waiting to pounce.

"Justin, please..." Dawn begged, backing slowly away through the trees. "Don't do this!"

"Don't do what?" Justin laughed, his voice now coming from an entirely different direction. He allowed the question to hang in the air for a moment, as Dawn continued to move away, failing to stop herself from tripping over stray roots and hidden rocks as she went.

"I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you think... well, not exactly."

Her heart racing ever faster in her chest, Dawn started to run again. She had now lost any sense of direction, and her cramping side still rebelled with pain, but the fear was stronger.

"Are you still trying to escape?" Justin called out, the sound coming from in front of her this time, causing Dawn to slide to a halt, turning around and picking another direction.

"Is this a game? A dance? It's a little late to be playing hard to get... after you've already given me such a sweet taste..."

Tears of terror now flowing freely down her face, Dawn leapt over a fallen log in her path, only for Justin to emerge suddenly from behind a neighbouring tree, catching the front of her jacket in mid-air and lowering her feet to the ground.

"And now I need a little more," Justin said, his demonic visage still plain on his face.

"I... I thought you liked me," Dawn pled weakly, desperate to say anything to save her life. Her genuine hurt at his betrayal however, leaked through into her tone.

Justin frowned, an oddly sincere look coming onto his face. She felt a hand placed on the small of her back, before Justin pulled her close as if in a lover's embrace "I do, don't you see? And you like me too..."

"I... I did," she admitted. That was the worst part of all of it. She wondered if this was how Buffy felt, when she first learned Angel was a vampire; the betrayal, the fear, the feeling of foolishness. She should have been able to tell. She should have noticed something.

"So that's why I'm going to make you like me – an immortal, a vampire... Zach wanted Janice, but I-"

"Janice? Zach wanted..." The sinking feeling in Dawn's stomach swiftly became a screaming void. "N-no! No you can't!"

Justin looked puzzled, the hand on the front of her denim jacket moving to squeeze her left arm. "Why not? I like you, you like me, I drink from you, you drink from me – and we have an eternity to do whatever we want... I thought it was a pretty sweet deal."

Dawn struggled vigorously against Justin's iron embrace, but succeeded only in prompting the teenage vampire to press her up against the nearest tree as she thrashed and kicked at him.

There was no anticipation this time. No build up, no drinking in of the moment by her attacker. His head dove towards her neck, fangs met flesh, and Dawn felt nothing but the pain. Her flailing arms went limp, her legs stiffened and all trace of resistance drained from her body. Even Dawn's emotions, her fear, her guilt – all were burned away by the eviscerating agony that coursed through her veins. A single cry of utter suffering managed to escape her lips and fresh tears bloomed in her eyes. Dawn barely noticed when her legs gave way beneath her, and Justin followed her down onto her knees.

As the searing pain began to fade, Dawn said a silent prayer in her mind:

I'm sorry Buffy. I'm sorry I couldn't live in this world like you wanted.

"You will not hurt my sister!"

Justin withdrew his fangs, practically leaping to his feet to face the intruder. He turned just in time to receive a severe kick to the side of his face, goading a furious animal growl from between his jagged fangs.

Dawn looked up in disbelief to see her older sister standing before her, a look of utmost determination in her face. Her eyes did not move from her prey, her fists raised and ready for the next bout. Dawn felt a rush of emotions that forced an unbidden, hoarse sob from her throat.

It was Buffy – she was back. She was here to save her.

Justin recovered quickly from the assault, launching a punch at Buffy's head, but Buffy merely ducked under the blow. She took the opportunity to use his momentum against him, grabbing the offending arm with both of her own and flipping Justin over her shoulder to collapse in a heap on her other side. Dawn noticed a pointy shape tumble out of Buffy's jacket as she completed the move, tumbling down amongst the mess of woodland debris at their feet.

"She... is... mine!" Justin bellowed in outrage, clambering to his feet and charging his opponent again. He launched another several feverish blows towards Buffy, who went on the defensive, backing off as he persisted in his desperate assault.

"No," Buffy countered matter-of-factly, deflecting another punch before kicking him straight between the legs. "She is not."

Justin crumpled with a breathless wheeze, falling forwards onto his knees. Buffy reached into her jacket for her stake, but Dawn was there faster. She threw herself forward, grabbing the fallen stake from the ground and driving it hard into the left-hand side of Justin's back. He let out one final groan, his head snapping around to fix Dawn with a disbelieving glare, then faded away. Just as though he were any other monster.

"Your wound," Buffy remarked in a level voice, instantly moving to Dawn and examining her bleeding neck. "Are you very badly damaged?"

The choice of words, along with the unique cadence of speech, returned Dawn's fantasy to the grave. This wasn't her older sister, risen from the dead to save her. It was Buffybot. Still, the relief she felt was undiminished. That face still represented safety, comfort, and home, no matter who happened to be wearing it.

"I-I'm alright," Dawn said as she shook her head, even though she felt anything but. "Buffy... I'm so glad you found me." Dawn sobbed as she spoke, diving forward to wrap her arms around the robot. Dawn clung to her for several moments, though she could not help but notice the embrace remained unreciprocated, with no trace of Buffybot's usual affectionate fervour.

Instead, Buffy merely lifted her mechanically to her feet, grabbing her right wrist in a grip like a vice and began to tug her roughly through the woods.

Now the adrenaline of the moment was passing, Dawn felt light-headed. The jerky movements that pulled her along as Buffy yanked her through the woods only made her feel dizzy and nauseous, and she found the entire experience deeply unpleasant.

"Buffy..." Dawn began as she winced at another pull. "Buffy that hurts."

Dawn felt the grip loosen ever so slightly, but not nearly enough for Dawn to kid herself that she might be able to pull herself free.

Dawn tried again. "You... you don't have to drag me you know. You... you can let go – I'm not going to run off or anything."

Buffy did not so much as turn around. "No," she said firmly. "You could be lying. I have to get you home."

"Lying?!" Dawn protested, her voice catching in disbelief. "Buffy I'm not lying – why would you think..."

"Because you already did," Buffy explained, her voice sounding somehow coarser than Dawn had ever heard. "I could not tell then – so how could I now? I can't trust you."

Those words hit Dawn like a stone. The faint shadow of guilt which had followed Dawn from the house that evening now hung heavily around her neck. She hadn't just nearly thrown her life away for a boy who only wanted to use her, she had also broken the trust of someone she had tried to treat with consideration and respect, even when others didn't deem her worthy of it. Someone who thought of her as family.

Dawn did not complain again as they travelled. She merely allowed herself to be dragged mutely through the nocturnal landscape, lost in her own self-recriminations as they made their way towards the distant, familiar lights of home.