(12/2/2016) I'm at a lack of witty commentary. Moving again for the second time this year and it suuuuuucks. But this will be the last one for a long time so, yay!

Thank you ArmyWife22079, RHatch89, philly cheese dude, thedarkpokemaster, missmeow1968, and Mystery Guest for the reviews! All you favoriters and followers leave a word and get fluffy bunnies!


The problem became annoyingly clear a short time later. Hallowed ground could only mean a church, of which there were exactly forty three. For a town of only 38,500 inhabitants it seemed a little extreme. To those who knew a Hellmouth lay under the city's foundations the high number of comforting sanctuaries was perfectly acceptable.

Most of them continued perusing books hoping to find a counter to du Lac's methods including, surprisingly, Bela. Dean whittled stakes and watched over Willow's shoulder as she hacked into various security cameras around town to see if they could pinpoint the vampires' movements. After showering, Cordelia volunteered to go on the suggested donut run and came back with coffee and pastries for everyone.

Buffy and Kendra sequestered themselves in Giles' office in order to get to know one another better. If they were going to be sharing the mantle of the Slayer it was best, in the Watcher's opinion, that they know who they were fighting with. Their conversation ended up being relatively brief; unlike Jo, Buffy discovered that she had very little in common with Kendra. A good deal of that was due to the latter's aberrant upbringing; apparently once her people identified Potentials they were taken away and trained in isolation. It was thought to be a great honor.

A few hours in, Xander and Sam interrupted the Slayers' privacy to retrieve more books. "Excuse me, ladies," the teenaged boy said jauntily.

"Need one of those compendiums," explained Sam. He pointed between the two Slayers.

Xander reached over to retrieve the volume. His proximity caused Kendra to look embarrassedly at the floor. When the boy commented, "Nice knife!" in reference to the one the newer Slayer was holding she nearly dropped it.

Once Xander left the room, Sam asked Kendra, "Why is it the kid makes you flip out but me and Dean don't?"

"Because you are hunters," she stated matter-of-factly.

"So?"

"It means you are more ape d'an human."

Sam pressed his lips tightly together, irritated, and shot his sister a pleading glance. "Oh no," Buffy corrected, "Sam and Dean are mostly human. They wear clothes, they don't pee on the carpet, all that stuff. Besides, we wouldn't want to insult the apes by putting them on the same level."

"Thanks," her brother said flatly.

"You're welcome," Buffy replied.

"Hey, can either of you think of any way to narrow down our church choices? There's no way we have enough time to check every single one."

"D'ey would have to be abandoned," Kendra suggested.

"Yep," agreed Buffy. "Really don't think whatever Spike has planned falls into the 'bystanders are welcome' category."

Sam sighed. "Willow already said that narrows it down to an even dozen. Still too many."

The three went quiet as they contemplated possible strategies. Buffy decided to attempt smalltalk to break the uncomfortable silence. "I'm guessing dating isn't big with your Watcher either," she told Kendra.

"I'm not permitted to speak wit' boys."

"Unless you're pummeling them." Buffy paused. "Wait a minute."

"What?" asked Sam.

"That guy! The sleazoid Kendra knocked around in the bar."

"You t'ink he might help us?"

"Hold up," Sam interjected. "Both of you don't need to go. I'll take Buffy; Kendra can stay in case one of those Taraka guys shows up."

The newer Slayer gave him a withering look, but Buffy agreed. "We don't know if there's more than bugman and gun-lady around."

Kendra gave a long, drawn-out sigh. "Very well."

Dread laced through Sam's veins. Whatever was coming in the next few hours would be violent and undoubtedly deadly. Dean was still slated for Hell and a fatal injury would cause his debt to be called in early. "Do what you can to keep our brother here," Sam told Kendra.

Buffy's eyes widened as she realized why the request had been made. Kendra, however, was annoyed by the prospect. "How am I supposed to do dis?"

"Tell him he can bring in his guns," answered Sam.

"That'll work," agreed his sister. "If there's anything Dean likes, it's handling his pistol." She scrunched her face up in disgust. "That came out really wrong."


Their precautions ended up being necessary. Dean was immediately interested when his brother and sister said they had a source to shake down, but when Kendra demanded he show her the Impala's trunk arsenal his attention wandered. A chance to show off his Baby's custom interior to someone that could actually appreciate its bloodthirsty splendor was always a good thing.

When Sam and Buffy arrived at Willy's the bar owner gave them panicked glances and attempted to flee. Sam's long legs caught up to his scurrying pace easily. The hunter threw the miscreant to his sister who slammed him against his own rack of alcohol. "Angel," Buffy snarled. "Where?"

"I-I-I have no idea!"

The Slayer reared her fist back and punched him in the nose. Willy clapped his hands over his face and let out a squawk in protest. "Honest! I don't know where Angel is!"

"Maybe you should hit him some more," Sam offered.

"I do like my hitting!" his sister replied. The fist wriggled in preparation to shoot forward again.

"You know, m-maybe I did hear something about this ritual," Willy said, suddenly obsequious. "Yeah, i-i-it's coming back to me. But, uh, I'd have to take you there."

"Let's go."

"Hold up, Buff'," Sam urged as he placed a hand on his sibling's shoulder. "We should at least call the others."

"Text them quick or nothing. I'm going."

Sam sighed and did as she asked, making certain that his message conveyed a sense of urgency. He'd been so caught up on preventing Dean's death that he had forgotten about Buffy's penchant for jumping into fatal situations. She couldn't possibly think she could take on Spike, his probable cronies, and whatever members of the Order of Taraka that were there waiting for them all by herself.

The younger brother was beginning to feel haggard, worry about both of his siblings' disregard for their lives pulling him to his limit. They were all the family he had left and he would let himself be broken before he would let them go.

He just hoped he wouldn't have to.


Angel and Drusilla were trussed up, the censer was lit, and all Spike had to do now was to call up the demon and get the ball rolling. He shoved his hands into a set of welder's gloves and picked up the smoking reliquary. "Eligor," he chanted, "I name thee. Bringer of war, poisoners, pariahs, grand obscenity."

The vampire swung the foul smelling implement and continued. "Eligor, wretched master of decay, bring your black medicine."

"He can't."

With a clang the censer fell to the floor. Murderously irritated, Spike turned towards the high-pitched voice near the door and beheld a young, blonde child in a fancy chiffon dress. Two demons in soccer moms, their stench wafting over from across the room, flanked her. As for the girl…

There was power there. Great power. What was unusual was that the demonic miasma she exuded had an almost seductive note to it. If it wasn't for the fury Spike felt at being interrupted he might have fallen to his knees in supplication, just like the morons that were supposed to be guarding the doors. "Who the hell are you?" growled the vampire.

"Pretty girl," Drusilla whispered, her eyes lit up in adoration. "Have you come to give me birthday presents?"

"No," Angel moaned deliriously. He made a weak, futile attempt to free himself. "No no no."

The girl's eyes rolled back and became fathomless orbs of pure white. Her minions blinked and followed suit. Their eyes, however, were the standard black. "I am Lilith," she said clearly, the child's form and voice in stark disparity to her aura.

"And?" scoffed Spike.

"Lucifer gave her a crown," Drusilla crooned. "A red, red crown. He molded her into a beautiful horror." With a malicious glee, the madwoman smiled. "She was the first."

"First what?" Her paramour's eyes narrowed. "First demon?" Drusilla answered with a tired giggle.

"Eligor is dead dead dead," Lilith sang. "But I'm here!" Her expression brightened. "Do you want to play?"

"I don't have time for silly games, love," Spike said with a smirk. "Now take your lesbian parents there and bugger off!"

The girl frowned and waved an arm still somewhat pudgy with baby fat. Spike found himself slammed into a side wall. "I don't like rude people," Lilith pouted. "I like your girlfriend, but you're not nice." She twisted her wrist and something inside the vampire's body crunched. Another gesture and Spike dropped onto the floor. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the wood.

"Spike," Drusilla pleaded.

"Fine, fine," he acquiesced. With more bravado than actual physical strength Spike stood and wiped the blood from his lips. "So then. What do you want?"

Lilith gave him a beaming grin. "Oh, yay! I knew you wanted to be good. I just need an itty, bitty favor, pretty please?"

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"I need you to kill someone! Isn't that fun?"


"Hey."

Sam and Buffy came to a halt at the greeting. The church Willy was directing them towards was just ahead.

Standing in the dim light of a parking lot lamp was a young woman, pretty, with long blonde hair and bangs. She wore a canvas jacket over jeans and a pair of ankle boots that Buffy coveted. Once the stranger noticed that she had their attention, she headed towards them.

Willy, who had walked nearly all the way to the church before noticing he was no longer being followed, jogged back over to join them, annoyed. "What's the holdup…? Hel-lo," the bartender leered once he got a good look at the woman. "And who do we have here?"

"You don't want to go in there," she said, ignoring Willy's pathetic attempts at flirtation.

"Yes, I do," countered Buffy. She began stomping towards the doors.

"Lilith is in there."

"Who's that?"

Irritated, the woman told Buffy, "Someone you don't want to fuck with. Just wait and she'll be gone. Then you can go in and rescue Angelus."

"Wait," Sam said as he pulled his sister back. "How do you know all this? Why should we trust you?"

"I'm trying to help you," the woman replied, frustrated. "You're not ready."

"Ready? Ready for what?"

The woman cocked her head as if listening to something in the distance. "She's gone. You're safe now."

"Hold up," Buffy called. She walked up to the stranger and looked up at her. "If you know about this then why don't you come and help."

The other blonde gave her a smile that was somewhere between pitying and condescending. "I can't." She then focused her gaze at Sam. "Be careful."

As the woman turned on her heel, Sam made to go after her. He was arrested by a howl of pain from inside the church. The sound captured Buffy's attention immediately. "Angel," she gasped and rushed for the church doors.

Sam shook his head. The woman could wait. Whatever the stranger's motives were, Buffy's safety was paramount. Dean had a hard time understanding their sister's affections for Angel, and truth be told Sam did as well, but the younger brother was quite certain that Buffy was in love. Knowing what he would have done, how far he would have been willing to go, to prevent his own fiancée's murder made him both vigilant and apprehensive. Who knew how far Buffy would go to protect her vampire?

As Sam quickly followed his sister, Willy called out, "Hey, good luck in there! I'm just, ya know, gonna go check on my bar."


As soon as Dean got the text from Sam, he demanded to know what churches were in walking distance of Willy's establishment. An abandoned one was relatively close, a place once known as St. Avellino's. Dean then announced that he was taking off and if anyone else was going with they better get their ass in gear. He pocketed a stake and a handgun and marched off towards where he'd parked the Impala.

Turned out that all of Buffy's friends were ready to go. Xander and Cordelia piled into the cheerleader's car while Giles slid in the front, and Kendra and Willow into the back, of Dean's Baby. Bela, however, winced at her injury and gave them all a rousing, "Cheerio!"

They made it there in record time, the flickering lights from inside the church belying its supposed derelict state. Much to his passengers' astonishment, as soon as he cut the engine Dean leapt out from the driver's seat and pelted for the door. "Bloody fool," Giles muttered as he and Kendra followed suit.

Cordelia's car came, suspiciously, several minutes later. When Xander emerged holding a large bucket of industrial strength adhesive, Willow lifted her eyebrows. "You'll see," her friend promised.

Willow stayed near the cars armed with a cross and a stake (and the Impala's keys as a last resort) while the other two headed inside. They were met with the sight of two large vampires engaged in furious hand to hand combat with Dean. Intermittently the hunter would fire his gun to slow his opponents up. His teeth showed through a maniacal grin as he ducked under the heavy handed swing of one vamp and came up with his stake to dust the other.

Past a busted door Buffy, Kendra, and Sam were fending off Spike and a horde of vampires. Angel hung limply on the altar, his hand joined with Drusilla's, and what looked like part of the du Lac cross stabbed through both their hands. Buffy kicked Spike in the face and rushed over to her boyfriend. She then desperately tried to free him from his bonds.

Cordelia and Xander spotted the same "nurse" that had attacked them in Bela's hospital room. Xander thrust the bucket at the cheerleader who ran back into the hallway. "Hey, bug boy!" he called. The monster whipped his head around. "Yeah, that's right. I'm talkin' to you, you big cootie!"

The teenager then sprinted after Cordelia, slammed the door, and locked it. They watched in satisfaction as the carnivorous insects scuttled out from the bottom crack and were trapped in an enormous pool of adhesive. As soon as the trickle of bugs had slowed, the pair began stomping them flat.

Dean rushed into the nave, both his vamp opponents dust, to see Buffy being yanked off of Angel and then backhanded to the ground by Spike. "Hey!" the hunter barked.

The tow-headed creature, his face in its monstrous form, gave Dean a snarl before continuing the effort to free Drusilla from her sire. Before the hunter could reach the pulpit the limp female was in Spike's arms. Angel was left to collapse onto the floor.

Seeing there was a dearth of options, Dean sent a bullet into Spike's face. The vampire's head snapped sideways, his cheek burst open to expose wolf-like canines and bone. "Bloody hunters," he snarled as he gently lay his lover on the floor.

Dean emptied his clip into the chest of the approaching vampire. Not a single shot slowed Spike's advance. The creature then grabbed Buffy's eldest brother by the lapels and yanked him forward with a growl. "I don't like you," Spike said, "but I think I'll do you a favor. How about I send you off to see dear old dad?" The vampire opened his mouth and bit down on the side of Dean's neck.

Sam, who was in the middle of fending off the blades of the faux policewoman from Buffy's career fair, saw his brother's plight and cried out urgently out for his sister. The Slayer rushed at Spike and pulled him off of Dean as Sam landed a knockout fist to the Taraka member's head. As Buffy's eldest brother fell to the floor, the vampire stumbled back and gave a grotesque laugh.

"Vampire," Kendra called. Spike turned around and was allowed one astonished glance before the newer Slayer grabbed him by his shirt and tossed him to the back of the pulpit.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Spike shouted as he picked himself off of the floor. Unfortunately for him, two supernaturally endowed girls were there waiting for him.

"It's your lucky day, Spike," Buffy told him.

"Two Slayers," Kendra added as she punched the vampire in the eye.

"No waiting!" finished Buffy as she punched him in the other eye. The vampire then fell to the floor, prostrate.

The pair of Slayers took time to savor their triumph. They then they caught sight of smoke drifting up from behind the altar. Unbeknownst to anyone, Spike's earlier flight had knocked over a good number of the candles that had been lit for the ceremony. As Buffy and Kendra gaped, flames licked up the rotten muslin curtains and set the wall ablaze.

"Time to go!" Sam yelled as he shouldered Dean's pale form.

The Slayers shouldered Angel and managed to clear the pulpit mere moments before the worn timbers of the roof groaned and gave in to the heat. Spike and Drusilla, as well as the burgeoning fire, were buried under a cascade of wood, cloth, and reliquaries.

They all paused a moment to admire the spectacle. "You think that killed them?" Sam wondered.

"You really wanna stick around to find out?" Xander countered. With some final, wary glances towards the pile of detritus the group left the church. Having her vengeance on the insect man made Cordelia generous and she offered to drive Willow and Xander home. The rest went in the Impala as Sam drove his brother to the emergency room.


For reasons that neither Sam or Dean could fathom, the doctors and nurses were almost nonchalant about the second "animal" bite in two days. They merely sighed tiredly and took Dean away for treatment. When the younger brother asked Giles about it, he shrugged and said, "We're on a Hellmouth. What did you expect?"

Eventually Dean was set up in much the same manner as Bela: with transfusions, pain killers, and a sterile bed. After determining that Buffy's brother was going to be all right, Giles offered Kendra a couch to sleep on and the two of them walked to his home. He called several hours later, just as the sun was peeking over the hills, apoplectic with rage.

"That bloody thief took off with some of my bleeding books!" he shouted through the speakerphone. "Rare volumes, ones that cannot be replaced. If I ever see Bela Talbot again…"

"Yeah, well, get in line," Dean said. "The hell you doing at the school this early anyways?"

"I came to verify whether or not the bleeding Order of Taraka would return. Apparently with the death of their employer Spike's bloody contract is null and void." The repeated thumps of books being knocked over echoed from the library. Giles then proceeded to mutter a stream of some very unGiles-like phrases that left Sam gaping and Dean impressed.

"Buffy's sleeping," Sam interjected. "I was going to call the school later and tell them she has a family emergency."

"Nah, don't bother," yawned Buffy as she uncurled from the hospital chair. "I'll go. Just need to head home to freshen up. And Giles: wow. I didn't even think you even knew some of those words."

Flustered, the Watcher cleared his throat and his language. "Buffy, Kendra said that she would go back to the hospital to speak with you before she heads home. She's most likely outside."

"Okay, thanks."

"We'll let you know when we head out," said Sam. "Bobby said there's signs of a witch coven out in Massachusetts."

"All right," replied Giles. "Do be careful."

After the call ended, Buffy left the room to go find Kendra. That left Dean to scorch under the glower of his brother. "What?" he groused.

"You stood there," Sam said, his fists clenched. "I saw you standing there and waiting for Spike to come charging at you."

"I was shooting at the fucker, if you weren't paying attention."

The younger brother's voice rose. "And you couldn't do that from, say, behind something? Anything? You couldn't be, oh, backing up at the same time?"

"What's the big deal?" Dean asked irritably. "Came out all right in the end."

"What's the big —" Sam cut his shout off before he could draw undue attention. In a hissing whisper he berated, "Look at where you're at! In the hospital with the side of your neck practically torn out. What is wrong with you?"

"Sammy," the elder brother sighed, "no matter what, one way or the other I'm going. What makes the difference if it's now or later?"

"It makes all the fucking difference!" The rare profanity had Dean pressing his lips shut tight. Sam gesticulated harshly in lieu of yelling. "We've barely had time to figure a way out of your deal and you're risking your life for no reason."

Dean finally let his own temper loose. He kept his voice to the same sibilant tone and volume. "The fucking Watcher said he had nothing, Bobby had nothing, what else is there? I told you: we go back on this deal and you're dead!"

"I'm supposed to be dead!"

"So am I."

The brothers were at a seething impasse. Neither was willing to admit to their folly; either Dean's decision to sacrifice his life for Sam's or Sam's fruitless endeavor to discover some way out of a crossroads deal. Had both been mobile they would have already come to blows as a method of relieving their frustration with one another. As it was, Sam was sorely tempted to plant a fist into his brother's face and Dean was straining not to leap up from his hospital bed to tackle the overgrown idiot in front of him.

The tension broke with the bouncing return of their sister. "Hey, so Kendra's going to ride in an airplane seat back home instead of sneaking into the cargo bay and… what the hell is going on with you two?"

"Nothing," mumbled Dean. Sam repeated the sentiment.

"Uh huh. Yeah, sure."

"Listen, Buff'," Sam said with a valiant attempt to filter his annoyance with Dean out of his tone, "we've got a long drive out to Massachusetts after this. You sure you're going to be all right?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," she replied, her cheery demeanor belying the usual heartache she felt whenever her brothers departed. "I'll just, you know, be here on the Hellmouth with all its Hellmouthy fun."

"We'll check on that church before we go," Dean offered. "Try and see if that blonde dickwad survived."

"Okay. You'll call, right? And text?"

"Of course," Sam assured her. He gave her a hug.

Buffy headed for her elder brother and gave him a hug as well. "Please," she whispered in his ear, "don't give up."

"I won't," Dean told her, lying.


Determining which ashes were vampire and which were burnt church turned out to be impossible. Sam and Dean called Buffy to give her the information and a final goodbye before heading out of the city.

Giles met with Kendra one final time in order to pass along his analysis of her performance. Mostly the Watcher told her that despite how well trained she was she needed to remember technique and books weren't everything. He then called a taxi for her and gave the driver a generous amount to get her to the Santa Barbara Airport safely. Once there, the lack of luggage sped Kendra through security and into the waiting area for her flight.

The newer Slayer sat stiffly in her chair and waited for the announcement to board. These past few days with the original Slayer had been quite the eye opener. Who could have thought it was possible to have a real girl's life after being Called? Were her people wrong? Could she have, after all, known her parents, had normal friends, met a boy?

Kendra shook her head. No. Even the Watcher had mentioned at one point that Buffy's case was unusual. It was clear that something about the other girl's upbringing had allowed her to be able to balance all of these things. Perhaps it was these hunter brothers of hers.

Sam and Dean. More anomalies. The hunters around the Caribbean were nothing like these two men. Most of them were swaggering braggarts, bloodthirsty and uneducated, whose company was generally unwelcome in any sort of cultured society. Dean's mannerisms were actually fairly similar, but his dedication to his family rather than the hunt was perplexing. Sam, however, was so different she thought he might not really be a hunter at heart. He was caring, persuasive, and, most strangely of all, intelligent.

Fondly, Kendra thought of what her Watcher would have to say about this oddity that shared his cognomen. She was still speculating as she used the facilities. When she was done washing her hands, she looked up…

And found Drusilla behind her.

This wasn't the sickly figure that had hung from Angelus; this was a gothically beautiful brunette with red, red lips and a ruffled, lacy black dress. Kendra spun and threw a backhand at the vampire, missed by scant inches, then found herself pressed against the sink with the creature's fingers around her throat.

A flight attendant emerged from a stall and drew in breath to call for help. Drusilla snapped her head to the woman, her face warping to carnivorous teeth and protruding ridges, and gave an animalistic snarl. The flight attendant collapsed bonelessly onto the floor in a faint.

Kendra renewed her struggles to free herself and was found her movements petrified by the vampire's hypnotic gaze. Those red lips curled upwards in cruel anticipation.

Drusilla's hand opened and the Slayer was blessedly free… only to find herself rocking back and forth along with the vampire, her mind screaming as her body unwillingly obeyed. "You and your friends crashed my party," said the madwoman as she slashed the girl's neck with her inhumanly sharp nails. "It wasn't very polite."

Kendra fell to the floor, her life bleeding out onto the tile. Her last sight was of Drusilla blowing a tiny kiss at her before turning to feast on the flight attendant.


Drusilla was so very, very proud of herself. Her beloved Spike was mangled, certainly, but he would heal in time. And she'd been able to fulfill the pretty little demon's request! The vampire was certain that Lilith would give her wonderfully horrible and delightful presents.

Ah, but that boy, that beautiful boy. Sam. The composer had died, but the melody still played in the boy's veins. They'd been strictly forbidden from harming him; his coda wasn't theirs to conduct. But, oh, such a song! It tickled her in and out and made her want to leap into the performance with an instrument of her own.

She walked from the lavatory, the humans' glances sliding past her as she put little drops of blindness in their brains. Even when the bodies she'd left were discovered and the screams began, the silly, silly walking dinners couldn't fathom her presence.

The mad vampire twirled like girl. With great willpower Drusilla fought the urge to dance, dance, dance, and kill, kill, kill. This place of metal birds had too many eyes, real and not, eyes that could travel cities and countries at a blink. Soon, though. Soon the brightest star would walk the earth and his brothers and sisters would burn all the eyes from their heads.

And then.

Then.

Then she could dance and kill and there would be nothing and no one to hold her back.


Acknowledgement : Some lines of dialogue are taken directly from the episode "What's My Line, Part 2" (BtVS 2.10).

Author's Note : Eligor/Eligos/Abigor is apparently the head honcho demonic general. Since Cain went and slaughtered all the Knights of Hell I figure the dude was probably on his hit list.

I based Lillith on the creepy blonde version from the last episode of season 3. The brunette was there for, like, two seconds. Plus I keep picturing her saying "ba-boom!" in Dean's head.

Saint Avellino is the patron saint of sudden death. Seeing as how the place is in Sunnydale, it seemed appropriate.