Disclaimer: The majority of these characters are owned by the creative monster that is Joss Whedon and not by me, otherwise I would be a shut in my million dollar mansion and would have servants at my beck and call, which I don't.



Feedback: As always, your damn skippy I want feedback, good, bad, whatever.



Distribution: Hey, if anyone wants this fic, please just e-mail me, I'll probably be more than glad to let you use it.

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Randy Jacobson made his way down the street, enjoying the clear night. He was returning from the ball field after a particularly long afternoon ball game with his friends. This was the summer between his junior and senior year in high school and he was attempting to make the most of it. He walked along, enjoying the warm summer evening, not a cloud in the sky, just stars, sparkling like finely polished jewels in the night sky. Randy hung a right and walked towards the woods, intending to take a path that led essentially right into his backyard. His parents disliked their sixteen year old son walking through the wooded path alone, they had told him this a number of times.

"Some weird shit happens around here after nightfall boy," Randy muttered, mocking his father's voice.

Frankly Randy didn't care what his parents thought, cutting through this path shaved 15 minutes off of his walk home. Granted, some weird things happened here in Sunnydale, like people disappearing without a trace, weird cult stuff, nothing really major though.

'All the same stuff that's happening all over this messed up planet,' Randy thought to himself.

None of this scared Randy though, when he looked into the mirror he saw a 6'3 200 lbs wrecking machine that no one in their right mind would want to mess with. He had been in his fair share of scraps in his young life, all of which the other guy had come out on the worst side of it, so to him, whomever was stupid enough to try and mess with him was more than welcome.

He made his way into the woods, tossing a baseball into his glove, the sound of the ball hitting leather was the only sound save for his feet stepping on dry braches and twigs.

Randy turned the bend, the same one that after so many walks through here he had come to know as the halfway point, and stopped. Ahead of him stood a petite blond, dressed in black and red. She tilted her head and looked at him and he was captivated. She was absolutely gorgeous, she was unlike any other woman he had ever encountered.

"Hi," she said, smiling a brilliant smile, even in the darkness it was apparent. "What's a handsome young man like you doing out alone, shouldn't you be with your favourite girl?"

"I..I..I'm just going home," he stammered, his legs felt weak for a second, his stomach turned over like a dog doing tricks, his heart was pounding like a jackhammer.

The blond's smile seemed to widen some more, as if she could feel what he was feeling.

"Going home," the blond said "On a spectacular night like tonight, no one should be at home. How about you stay out with me and we'll, oh I don't know, make out on the path?"

Randy could feel his dick getting hard, he could almost cut the sexual tension with a knife. The blond approached him, her movements were elegant and fluid, almost like running water. She reached him and put her arms around his neck and locked her blue eyes on him.

"Wanna make out?" she asked, flashing that smile again.

"Do I!!!" Randy breathed excitedly, his penis answering before his brain had time to register what had been said. His body was alive with energy, he could feel the blood rushing though him, his head pounded with it.

The blond leaned up and kissed him, full on the mouth. Randy though he was going to explode right there, his body instinctively pulled in closer to hers, driving his hard-on into her lower stomach.

She giggled slightly and pulled away from him, locking her eyes onto his face. She licked her lips seductively and began kissing his cheeks, then down to his neck. Randy smiled slightly, the guys would not believe him when he told them this story, but at that point he didn't care, this was getting good.

Randy moaned and open his eyes, wanting to see her lithe body move against his. When his eyes opened, he saw the white haired man leaning against the tree, not more than five feet ahead of them.

"What the.." Randy said.

He wrapped an arm around the blond and pulled her back from him.

"What are you some sort of sick shit," he asked the white haired man.

"Just enjoying the show," the man said, not moving from where he leaned.

"Yeah, well, shows over freak," Randy said, "I suggest you get moving before you start bleeding."

The man smiled, an arrogant smile that made Randy's blood boil. The white haired man just remained perfectly still, looking at Randy like a cat would look at a mouse.

"Maybe your fucking deaf," Randy said, the anger in his voice barely under control "I said get the hell out of here."

"I don't think so," Morningstar replied.

Suddenly Randy was grabbed roughly from behind by the blond. He yelped and tried to break free, but he was held firm. He struggled again, but the blond held fast, not letting him move. She had a grip like steel.

"What the hell is going.." Randy began.

He felt two sharp objects dig into his throat. He tried to scream, but he was hit with a sudden intense orgasm that rocked his body. He moaned and twitched in her grasp, the though that she was biting him didn't seem to matter, it wasn't happening to him, at least he didn't think it was.

Everything began to go blurry, he looked up to see Morningstar approach him, that arrogant smile still spread on his face. The sides of his vision was going dark, everything looked like he was looking through a glass bottle.

"What's happ.." he gurgled, blood running freely down his neck.

He slipped to unconsciousness and Buffy held him for another minute, drinking deeply. Finally she let his limp body drop to the ground. She was panting, her eyes wide, her game face was on.

"Oh...wow.." she breathed. "Did I ever not know what I was missing!"

She licked the blood from her teeth and her face switched from demon to human. She turned and looked at Morningstar. He loved the way she looked right now, her face flush, blood running from the left corner of her mouth, he breasts heaving.

"Come on lover," she said, smiling. "I have some business to take care of now that we've had lunch."

"And what would that be?' Morningstar asked, approaching Buffy and laying a slender hand onto her face.

"We're going to get my sister," Buffy exclaimed cheerfully. "Big sis is back and looking to bring Dawnie back into the family."

  • * * * * * * * * * * * *

Silence

Not a word had been spoken since they had left LA a few hours previous. Wesley sat at the wheel, his eyes fixated on the road ahead. Angel sat in shotgun, looking out the window, staring into nothingness, his eyes tired, his posture slouched. Cordellia and Gunn where in the back, the brunette sleeping while the young black man listen to his discman.

Angel sat there, the scenery whipping by him, with him not even noticing. His mind was running the conversation that had been had many hours previous between himself and the Oracle.

BEFORE



"We had decided that the one known as Buffy Summers was to be given another chance at life," the Oracle said.

They all sat in the chair in the main lobby, Angel in an armchair, Cordellia and Wesley on one couch, the Oracle on the other. Angel had put one of his silk shirts on, leaving it unbuttoned.

"She was one of the greatest Slayers in history," the Oracle continued "and losing her was unexpected."

"Unexpected," Cordellia said, "aren't you people the all know, the all pwerful, so very god like, responsible for my continuing brain trauma?"

"You'll do well to mind your self receiver," the Oracle responded.

"Receiver!!" Cordellia shouted, "Do I look like a Direct TV dish, I don't get five hundred channels you ignorant son of a.."

"Cordy please," Wesley snapped.

Cordellia snorted and sat back on the couch, pouting.

"The one known as Dawn Summers was prophesied to die, not the Slayer. But for one reason or another, something went awry."

"Buffy wasn't much for following prophecies," Angel said.

"It was decided that Buffy Summers would be brought back to fight the good fight. Life was breathed back into her body." the Oracle said.

"She rose, as planned. What was not seen was the presence of the vampire known as James Morningstar."

Angel sat up much more strait in his chair and looked at the Oracle in disbelief.

"Morningstar," he breathed. "You pulled her out of death and out of the grave to battle Morningstar. Jesus she was probably to weak and confuse to stake a newly turned vamp, much less that blood thirsty bastard."

The Oracle shook it's head.

"No warrior, he was an unexpected factor. Regardless, the vampire killed Buffy Summers and he brought her to the side of the dark."

Angel's eyes grew wide.

"Oh God ....no" he whispered.

"He turned her?" Wesley asked.

"Yes," the Oracle responded. "She will rise tonight. No one is sure what to expect."

The Oracle looked at Angel.

"She must be destroyed," it said. "No one could think of a warrior more qualified than you."

Angel shook his head.

" I can't kill her, I love her," he said, just above a whisper.

"She's no longer the Buffy we all knew," Wesley said. "You know that Angel."

Angel rubbed his hands over his face and sat back in the chair.

"This can't be happening," he mumbled.

"But it is," the Oracle said "and you must help stop it. Her friends will try, and they will fail without your help. We are dealing with a Slayer that is now also a vampire. She will be extremely powerful and dangerous."

"Especially adding Morningstar into the equation," Angel said.

The souled vampire rubbed his forehead. He went from feeling utterly exhausted to near dead. This had to be some sort of nightmare, just another in the long line that had haunted him for the pass six weeks. Soon he would awake to find that only 15 minutes had passed since he last looked at the clock.

"What are we going to do?" Cordellia asked.

Angel sat there, trying to get his head clear. This couldn't be a nightmare, even he couldn't have dreamed up anything like this.

"We leave at dusk," Angel said, "We can get to Sunnydale in a few hours. We spend the day gathering up weapons and attempting to get ahold of Giles, warn them of what's coming. We gotta find Gunn to, we're gonna need all the help we can get on this one."

The Oracle stood up.

"Good luck to you warrior," it said.

Angel looked up at the Oracle with bloodshot eyes.

"Gonna need more than luck on this one."



NOW



Angel rubbed his face, feeling the growth beginning there. Cordellia had been right, he looked like hell. The lack of sleep and constant fighting had taken it's toll, and it worried him. He knew if it was going to come down to a battle, and with Morningstar being involved in this there was no doubt in Angel's mind that there would be, that he would not be at his best.

He looked at the huge sign as they approached, the same one he had seen in the rearview mirror when he had left the Hellmouth 2 years ago. The huge rising sun, tossing off golden rays in every direction, over a small community. The huge words pained in blue underneath.

"WELCOME TO SUNNYDALE. A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE!"

Angel looked out at the town below.

He just hoped they weren't to late.

  • * * * * * * * * * * * *

Xander Harris blew one of his long locks out of his face and sighed. This was shaping up to be a weird day even by Sunnydale standards. He sat at the table in the middle of the Magic Box, surrounded by the tools and books of the occult, not a place he had imagined for himself a few years back, before Buffy Summers had changed his life.

He had been in love with her once, not the same love he had for her just before her death. Back in high school, he had been painfully in love with her. He loved just sitting back and watching her, whether she was interacting with someone, or just walking by, he loved making a mental note of every move she made. But, he had found out the hard way that she didn't love him back. Sorry, she did love him, just not in the same way that he had loved her. She was so hung up over Angel and it killed him, every time he would see them together, it felt as if someone had turned a knife in his guts. So when Angel had turned and killed Jenny Calendar, a part of him had been rejoicing, because now Buffy had no other choice but to stop loving Angel and kill him and he, Alexander Harris would be there to comfort her.

But it didn't happen that way. She had slayed Angel, but rather than turn to Xander for comfort, she had ran. Xander never forgot that day, how he had felt, how if it had not been for his selfishness, Buffy would never have killed Angel, and he wouldn't have lost one of his closest friends. From that day on, he promised himself that he would be a friend to Buffy, rather than a jealous jaded wannabe lover.

But now she was gone, or so he had thought. The weirdness factor had hit an all time high this morning when he and Willow had discovered Buffy's empty grave. Giles, Willow and himself had gone their separate ways on a Slayer hunt, hoping that she would turn up, alive and well.

But that was what had given Xander an uneasy feeling. Even in the Hellmouth, people aren't suppose to come back from the grave alive and well. Usually if they came back, it was undead and thirsty.

He had gone back to his apartment, as agreed upon, thinking about the hole in the ground that led to his friend's so called final resting place, trying to make sense of it all.

THEN



Xander slid the key into the door lock and opened it with a click. He turned the door handle and opened the door. He enter the small hall that was the entrance way and he removed the light jacket he had been wearing and hung it up in the closet. He set the hanger back on the rack and headed towards the living room.

The apartment was modestly furnished, Xander had spent all the money he could afford to get this place and had moved a bunch of his furniture from his room into the apartment. Anya had bugged him for weeks to let her go shop for furniture, until he had said yes. She had been like a kid in the toy store, hoping up and down on couches and trying to convince the salesman to let her and Xander knock boots on one of the beds to test it. Xander had spent all the money he could to get the stuff for Anya, around the time he realize how madly he was in love with her.

"Hello?" he called out "Dawn?"

He looked around the quiet apartment and listened carefully. He could hear the sounds of kids playing two apartments over from him, and somebody pounding an Eminem CD above him, but his apartment was quiet.

Deathly quiet.

He walked over to the guest room door, which was still closed, despite the fact that it was getting late in the morning.

'Maybe Dawn still feels sick,' he thought to himself.

He knocked on the door lightly.

"Dawnster, you in there?" he asked through the door.

He could hear bare feet against the hardwood floor and the sound grew louder as they approached the other side of the door. The door knob turned and the door opened. Dawn stood there, dark circles under her eyes, she was still in her PJ's.

"Hey Dawn," Xander said. "How ya feeling?"

"She's gone isn't she?" Dawn asked, her voice flat and tired.

"Uh..yeah, Anya left for work around the same time I left," Xander replied.

"Buffy," Dawn said. "She's not there is she?"

Xander looked at the young girl with a look of shock.

"Was she here?" Xander exclaimed. "Is she..."

Dawn shook her head.

"I just.....I knew she wouldn't be there," she whispered.

She told him about her awaking at 3 in the morning with the feeling that Buffy was back, she was alive, she had come back from the dead.

"Whoa," Xander said. "But how could you have know that she'd.."

"When I first awoke, I was excited, my body was shaking with this..this energy. Then suddenly, after a few minutes, it was gone and replaced with..with this fear." Dawn explained.

She looked up at Xander, so much hurt and emptiness in her eyes.

"Something is wrong," she said, beginning to cry. "I want to be so happy right now, but I'm so scared Xander and I don't know why."

Xander swallowed what felt like a huge lump in his throat. Dawn was scaring the hell out of him, she seemed so sure that the hair on his neck was standing up on it's ends.



NOW



Xander shook his head.

"Yup, one weird ass day," he muttered.

It was nightfall now and the Scooby Gang were gathered around the table. Willow and Tara sat next to each other, Dawn in one of the plush chairs, Anya and himself next to each other and Spike sitting on the stairs that led up to the top level of the shop. Xander looked at the blond hair vampire, smoking his cigarette. He still didn't like Spike, even though he was the only thing really keeping the demon population in check since Buffy had died. Even still, Xander didn't think he'd be to shaken up if one of the vamps Spike ran into on patrol got the best of him.

Giles stood up in the middle of the floor. His hair was a mess, his clothes wrinkled, basically the same way he looked every day since Buffy's funeral. Xander had suspected that he'd been drinking, he had seen his old man enough times to know what a bout with the bottle the night before looked like.

Giles had called Xander an hour before and told him that he should get to the Magic Box as quickly as possible. When he had asked why, the former Watcher had said that he would explain it all when they got there. He also said to bring Dawn and Anya. Xander informed him about his conversation with Dawn earlier and this seemed to distress the Brit even more.

"Just come Xander, I'll explain it all," he had said.

Now, six of them sat in the shop, eyes focussed on Giles, waiting to see what was the emergency.

"So Rup?" Spike asked, "What's so bloody important that you came banging on my crypt door like a madman. Apocalypse, demons run amok, vampire legion? Come on now, get to talking, that is what you do best is it not?"

"We...we..well yes," the former Watcher began.

"Earlier today, Willow, Xander and I discovered that Buffy's grave was ...ah empty."

Spike leaned forward.

"Did you say empty mate?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes, empty. We split up and went to search for clues, to see if Buffy had come back to us for one reason or another. After a futile search on my part, I returned to my apartment to find this message," Giles said.

He carried the shop's answering machine over and place a tape in it, then pushed play.

"Giles, it's Angel," the voice on the tape said. "I have some really bad news for you."

"What does the poof have to do with this?" Spike asked

Giles held a finger to his mouth in a shushing motion to Spike.

"I had a visit from an Oracle today, sent on behave of the Powers. I was informed that they brought Buffy back from the dead, given her a second chance at life." the message continued.

Everyone in the room save Giles, and Dawn exchanged hopeful looks of joy.

"But unseen to them was the presence of a dangerous vampire known as Morningstar. When Buffy rose, he was there and he...he ...he turned her Giles. I'm on my way down, along with Wesley, Cordy and Gunn. Please, call me as soon as you get this message, my number is..."

Giles hit stop on the machine and looked at everyone in the room.

"She's been vamped," Spike whispered, reaching into his duster and removing his golden cigarette case out and pulling one out, placing it between his lips.

"I telephone Angel back as soon as I heard this. He is on his way down as of dusk, he should be hear within the hour. Until then we wait, we stay here and..."

The door of the shop opened and all eyes turned to see Buffy standing there, wearing the black and red dress, her blond hair huge around her shoulders. Behind her was a tall slender man, his hair shock white. The first thing Giles noticed though were his eyes.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Buffy asked pleasantly.

Everyone stood up slowly, not taking their eyes from the two vampires the whole time.

"Come on guys, where's my hugs, my 'Welcome back from the dead Buffy' celebration. Figure you don't come back from the dead to often," she said.

"Don't come any closer," Giles said, trying to not let the emotion show in his voice.

Buffy pouted out her bottom lip.

"What, don't you guys love me anymore?" she asked.

She stepped down the two small stairs to be on the main level. She looked from person to person until her eyes fell on Dawn.

"Hey Dawnie," she said. "I missed you so much. Come here baby, I just want to hold you."

Dawn kept a level gaze with Buffy, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Buffy," she whispered.

Buffy smiled and extended her arms out. Dawn started to go towards her, but Giles put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"We know what you are Buffy," he said to her.

Buffy's look went from joy to hate as she shifted her gaze from her sister to her former Watcher.

"Oh," she said, menace hanging from that single word. "Than that changes things around a bit."

Buffy looked back at Morningstar, who stepped down and put an arm around her shoulders.

"This is my new friend.."

"Morningstar," Giles said evenly.

"Don't interrupt," Buffy snapped.

Xander looked over to his left and saw the wooden cross there. He moved over quickly and grabbed it and stepped in front of his friends, holding it at eye level as he approached the two vamps. Both the vampires back up a step and growled, sounding like two large dogs that were cornered.

"Buffy," Xander said, his voice cracking halfway between the syllables.

"I've come for Dawn," Buffy spoke, "that's all. We're giving you the chance to walk away from this. You were my friends, you deserve the option to get out of this. I just want my sister with me and for you all to leave town, and you will be unhurt."

"You know we can't let you do that," Giles said.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders.

"Then you die, plain and simple. If I have to tear through you all to get to my sister back, I will," she said.

"Buffy, please, what are you doing?" Willow asked, near tears.

Buffy glanced at the redhead then back at Giles.

"Your call Giles, do you want the blood of these people on your hands? I'll make you watch each of them die before I kill you," Buffy snarled. "So just give me back my sister and we don't have to do this."

Xander stepped closer with the cross, he didn't know where he got the strength to move, he felt week and sick all at the same time listing to this. Morningstar put on his game face and roared at Xander. He could smell the stench of rotting flesh coming out of his mouth, it made him want to get sick even more.

"Get out," he whispered.

Morningstar started to laugh, which pissed Xander off. The rage burned through everything else. He pushed the cross, closer to the tall vampire, who's laugh turned into a hiss in the space of a second.

"Come James," Buffy said, wrapping her arm around the vampire's waist, "let them play hero for tonight. You all know that this isn't over. Without me, you're a rag tag group of book readers and low level witches."

"I didn't want it to come to this," she said, a trace of sadness in her voice. "You people were everything to me at one time."

She turned and opened the door.

"I'll be seeing you all," she called back over her shoulder.

The door closed and the room seemed to sigh. Willow was crying, Tara holding her. Xander still stood in the middle of the room , holding the cross in his hands, his knuckles white and his hands shaking. Dawn stood there, staring at the door, tears running down her face. Giles pulled up a seat and flopped down, and he fought the urge for a Scotch on the rocks. He suppressed the urge to do so, he refused to do his drinking in front of the kids.

Spike meanwhile, hadn't taken his eyes from the door. As soon as Buffy had stepped through the door, his acute senses could almost see the power that radiated off of her and he was captivated by it.

He had been excited the whole time she had been here, by her darkness, a direct contrast to what she once was. A vampire Buffy could work in his benefit, Christ, with the exceptions of Dawn and Red, he could care less what happened to the rest of these wankers. He wanted her even more than before, something he didn't think possible.

He smiled that half smile that he had perfected over the past century. This had the potential to be very good.



I just want to scream hello

My God, it's been so long

Never dreamed you'd return

Now here you are

And here I am

- Pearl Jam "Elderly Woman"