Chapter 10: "Apocalypse, Arrival and Spikenapping"
A half year had passed by since Buffy's death and the appearance of the two part-Saiyajins in Sunnydale. One month ago they'd finally given up with searching a way to bring Buffy back to life and Trunks back to his own dimension. After straight research for five month and reading each bock at least twice they reluctantly called it an end, because deep down in their hearts they still had hope that Buffy would be back some time. It was hard for all of them, but especially for Dawn. After Giles had heavy-heartedly announced that they would stop, Dawn had screamed at him, accused him that he didn't care, stormed out of the shop and when she finally had been up, broke down. She had really, truly hoped that they would find a way. And now all her hopes were destroyed with those few single words Giles had said – It's over. The others had decided to give her some time alone and so it had first been late in the night, when Spike went to her room with two mugs of cocoa and talked to her. He had found her lying on the bed with her back turned to the door, Mr. Gordo clutched tightly to her chest.
Flashback
The tears had finally stopped flowing, but she still didn't feel like getting up or maybe even leaving her room. It still hurt so much. She had now completely lost her. Her sister was dead and she wouldn't come back, never, just like her mom. It shouldn't have been Buffy, it should have been her to jump. Her sister was more worth than she was – she was just a thing, a key!
"Hey Lil'Bit," she suddenly heard a soft voice saying.
She turned around to see Spike standing there, holding to steaming mugs. "Go away," she said and laid again down with her back to him.
Spike sighed, sat down and placed the two mugs on her bedside table, before he laid his hand on her shoulder, feeling her flinch under his touch. "Nibblet…"
"It should have been me," Dawn suddenly said. "I am the key. I was the one who'd opened the portal and I should have been the one to close it. If I had jumped, everyone would've been happy. Buffy would still be here, then."
"But she would have been unhappy, Dawn," Spike told her calmly. "She loved you and wherever she is now, I'm sure that she is happy, seeing that you fare well, that you are taken care of and mostly be proud of that you've become a strong and beautiful woman."
"But I'm just a thing, not more… I shouldn't even exist," she argued.
Sighing exasperated, Spike ran a hand through his hair. "I thought we were already through this. You are real, no matter what you think, you are. We all love you, Dawn, the person that you are and not the mystical blob of energy that you were. But Buffy loved you more than anyone else. You know what happened to her, after you were kidnapped by Glory. She couldn't bear losing you – that's the reason why she jumped. You were more to her than a simple sister. You were a part of her. When Giles had told us that night that the only way to close the portal was to kill you, Buffy refused doing that. When he had explained her what would happen, if she saved your life after the portal was opened, told her that everyone on this planet would suffer unbearable torment and death, do you know what your sister had said?" Dawn shook her head, but turned to look at Spike with a curious look on her face. "She said that if that happened, the last thing you would see is her protecting you."
"Is that true?" she wanted to know.
"Every single word," Spike said. "You can be proud of big sis. She had prevented how many apocalypses? Six? Seven?I know it is hard, for all of us, but after everything she had done for us, we should also do something for her and let her rest in peace. So stop blaming yourself, because it has been her time and I think she knew this. She was ready to leave this plane of existence and go over to the next one – one where she doesn't have to be the Slayer ever again."
End Flashback
That night the two of them had still talked for a long time, mostly reliving memories of Buffy until Dawn had fallen asleep during one of Spike's stories. Be brave. Live. For me. After that night Dawn finally accepted that Buffy was dead, but that she would see her again, some time when it was her time to pass away and until then she would do what her sister had told her.
For Trunks it also wasn't easy to accept that he could never go back to his own world. He would never see his mother again and he knew that he couldn't stop Cell from going to the past or destroying his world. But in this world he wasn't alone. He found love and friends. He and Pan were now a couple for about three months and almost inseparable and somehow he liked this life. He was now working on a regular basis in the magic shop and developed new weapons to fight demons and he was still training the girls. He was of course worried and angry that he couldn't do anything to protect his world, but at least he was now able to help protecting this world – his new home.
Pan was slowly getting parts of her memory back without even noticing it. She was having strange dreams now and then about her and Trunks, well the other Trunks, but she didn't know it, and about some other people. Trunks had once shown her a picture of the Z-Warriors, which had been taken when he had been in the past, and she recognized them as the people of her dreams. But both, Trunks and her, always thought that she saw the people through their bond and that she was dreaming of them because of that. They never even thought about the possibility that those dreams could have been hidden memories of Pan.
Except of those strange dreams, her life was fine. At day she was going to
school, together with Faith, like a normal girl and at night they were fighting
demons and vampires. Surprisingly for all of them it turned out that both girls
were pretty smart. After a few problems at the beginning, they didn't have any
further problems and were actually writing very good tests. Well, once or twice
they had been called into the principal's office after having been in a fight,
but it didn't bother them that much, because they were just fighting others
when they had reasons. Those reasons were for example helping other people or
when someone who thought he was strong, really pissed them off. But soon
everyone at school found out that it was better not to piss them off or enrage
them, if you didn't want to visit the infirmary.
All in all, life couldn't be better. In the last month there was even something you could call peace in Sunnydale. It was rare that someone was nearly killed and the gang hadn't seen a vampire in a long time. Almost every night they came home without killing something. They should be happy about this, but, believe it or not, the Scoobies were bored stiff by this lack of fighting and killing evil. Especially Dawn was disappointed by this. When she turned fifteen about a month ago, the others finally allowed her to go slaying with them, since she was now as strong as a normal Slayer would be, thanks to Trunks' training. And how many vampires had she slain since then? One, the one and only she met during her patrols in the last month. It was calm, almost too calm.
"Guys, I'm bo-ored," Dawn pouted. "B. O. R. E. D. I really don't know how any normal youth could live in Sunnydale…" She leaned back in her chair and crossed the arms over her chest. She, Pan and Faith just got back from school and met with the others in the Magic Box. Faith was looking through the shelves and Pan sat in Trunks' lap, her arms around his neck, when the bell at the door announced that someone had entered the shop.
"Trunks! Customer!" Anya shouted from the back of the shop.
Trunks sighed and easily lifted Pan up, placing her on the chair after he got up. "Stay there. I'll be right back."
"I think Dawn is right," Faith told the others. "Nothing has happened. Simply nothing…"
"Yeah, but I have some hope that tonight happens something, because of the full moon in the next three nights. And if there are just a few werewolves. I just want to fight something," Pan said.
"Pan could be right," Giles said absently while he was flipping through the pages of some old book. "So, who wants to go patrolling tonight?"
At that moment, Trunks came back, followed by Spike. He was the one who came through the door. "I think that would be Spike and me."
"Can I come with you?" Pan wanted to know.
"No hon, sorry. Tomorrow is a school day and as far as I know do you write a test in history, right?"
"Yes, I write one tomorrow. But I still can go patrolling. Please?" she asked him with puppy-dog eyes.
"No Panny, and this is my last word…" he said softly and kissed her.
"But…"
"Pan, listen to Trunks. This test is important for your education and I think that Spike and Trunks will be okay to patrol without you," Giles told her sternly.
"Come on P, you can't argue with them about that. Let's go home, maybe we could still study a bit or watch TV," Faith said.
"Okay…" Pan gave in. "Dawn? Are you coming too?"
"Yep. Bye everyone!" With that they left the shop.
~*~
"Nancy told me you wanted to talk to me?" Buffy asked, when she entered Quentin Travers' office in the Watchers' Council.
"Yes, I wanted to tell you that your flight to Sunnydale goes tonight at 7pm," he told her.
"Finally… I've waited long enough…"
"But before," he interrupted her, "you need to be informed about the people there. Follow me please…" Travers got up and led Buffy through a long hallway to a dark room with a screen in the front. "Stevenson, is everything ready?"
"Yes, sir. Everything is set."
"Very good. Buffy, please sit down and remember what I'll tell you now." Buffy obeyed and Quentin went to a slide projector. With a remote he showed the first picture. It showed a teenage girl with long and smooth brown hair. "The Key, Dawn Summers. Was sent in form of a sister to the former Slayer, 15 years old. She's our main target. Whatever happens, you have to eliminate her." He pushed a button and the next picture of a middle-aged man appeared. "Rupert Giles. You already saw him here. He's the Watcher of Faith and, well, Pan. He also watches over the Key. He owns a shop in Sunnydale, called the Magic Box." On the next picture she could see a girl with long dark hair and eyes of the same color "Faith. Slayer. Disobeyed the Council several times. Killed humans and had been imprisoned for that. She's strong and stubborn." Another girl appeared on the next picture. This time one with shoulder length black hair. "Pan. She has lost her memory, when she fell, or jumped, off a roof. We made them believe that she's a Slayer. Is extraordinary strong, but she's still a mystery for us." The next picture showed a pale young man with bleach blond hair. "William the Bloody, also known as Spike. He's a vampire, but can't hurt humans due to a chip in his head, put in there by the government. He has already killed two Slayers before he got the chip. Protector of the Key. He shouldn't be a problem for you." Next picture: a girl with red hair sitting next to another girl with blond hair. "Those are Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay. Both are witches and very powerful. Willow is also a specialist concerning computers and is able to hack into almost every system. Those two women are also an item." Next Picture. "Alexander LaVelle Harris, called Xander. Normal human. No specific powers. He really won't be a problem for you." Next picture. "Ex-vengeance demon Anyanka. Known as Anya in this world. She knows some things about magic. Engaged to Harris." A new photo appeared. "This is Trunks. We don't know much about him. Comes from another dimension and is extreme powerful. Be careful around him. We are thinking that he has secrets… So, those were the people from Sunnydale you need to know. But now I want to show you pictures of friends of them who live in L.A." He clicked and the next picture was seen on the screen. "Angel. Vampire. Cursed with a soul. In vampire circles better known as Angelus. Owns an agency. Angel Investigations. Be careful around him." Next picture. "Cordelia Chase. Lived in Sunnydale, works now for Angel. She gets visions from the Powers That Be." With one last click the last photo appeared. "And Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. He was one of our Watchers, but he was unqualified, so we fired him after his fiasco with Faith. He's also working for Angel." Travers put the remote on the table and sat down on a chair next to it.
"Doesn't sound too difficult," Buffy told him.
"You may be right, but I can just warn you. Don't underestimate them. I don't want to lose my best Slayer."
Buffy got up and walked up to Travers and clapped him on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll take them down one at time. They won't even notice what's going on until it's too late." She turned around and walked to the door. "I'll go and pack my clothes. I'm on my room when you're looking for me."
"Do you really think it's safe to let her go to Sunnydale?" Stevenson asked after Buffy left.
"I think it's safe. This girl is extraordinary. In a few days," Travers said, smirking confidently and clicked back to the first picture, "the Key will be dead."
~*~
"I can't believe it…" Trunks said, shaking his head. "Nothing, again. Not even a werewolf." He and Spike have been patrolling on all twelve graveyards of Sunnydale and in the forest, but they didn't find anything.
"I know it sounds strange when I say it, but isn't this kind of – scary? I mean, we're in Sunnyhell, on the Hellmouth. Demons and vampires are supposed to live here." Spike stopped and lit a cigarette. "Want one?" he asked Trunks, but the half-Saiyajin shook his head. "Okay…" He put the cigarettes back into his pocket. "Tell me Boxer Boy… why didn't you want Pan to go with us?"
"I already told you. She has school tomorrow and writes an important test," Trunks told him.
"Liar. That's not the whole truth. I've noticed it. Every time when there's a full moon you're going with anyone but Pan on patrol. There must be a reason for it…"
Trunks sighed. "Saiyajin instincts…"
"Saiyajin instincts? Sorry, but you have to explain it a bit better…" Spike said raising an eyebrow.
"Saiyajins are influenced by the full moon. They act more after their instincts then."
"So what?"
"You must know… I don't want to force Pan into something and I know that my instincts would take over when I'm with her and…"
"And?"
"Those instincts will tell me to … mate with her… And I know that I could force her to that and I don't want that. I don't want to sleep with her when she isn't ready…"
"Ah, I understand… don't worry, I'll support you in the following months…" Spike said as he slapped on the young Saiyajins shoulder.
"You… you understand?" Trunks asked disbelieving.
"Yep, why shouldn't I? That I'm a vampire doesn't mean that I don't understand how you feel," Spike answered and Trunks could hear the hurt in his voice.
"You really loved her, didn't you?" Trunks wanted to know, when he looked at the sky.
"Yes, I still do. It almost tore me apart, when she died, but I had to be strong. I promised her to protect the Lil'Bit, and I had to be strong, for her. Luckily you, Faith and Pan helped me a lot. I know it sounds strange, but I've never felt something like this before. If I believed in it, I would say it was true love."
"I know what you want to say. You feel the same for Buffy as I feel for Pan." For the next minutes they stood next to each other in silence. "I think we should go now. The sun will rise soon."
~*~
It was early in the morning, around 8.30am and Giles sat on the couch in his living room. Next to the many old books on the table was a cup of cold coffee. Giles' hair was messy and he was wearing the same clothes he already wore the day before. He was obviously searching for something in those books. Suddenly he got a look of shock on his face and jumped up, getting another book from his shelves and leafed through it and the look on his face changed from 'shocked' to 'realization and shock'. "Bloody hell." He quickly went to the phone and dialed a well-known number. "Hello? … Spike? It's Giles. … Where are the girls? … Oh, yeah right. … And Trunks? … Then wake him up … and - and send him to the High School. … He shall get the girls when they've finished their test … I'll explain everything later. … Yes, in the Magic Box, as soon as possible. … Spike! Please, it's important! So, do what I say! Bye!" He hung up, grabbed his car key and left his apartment.
~*~
Dumbfounded Spike hung up the phone. "Why was he so upset?" He asked no one in particular and shrugged. "Well, better wake up Trunks… But I'm not sure if he likes it." Grinning he walked up the stairs. "Boxer Boy!"
Just a few minutes later, both were sitting in the kitchen and Trunks was drinking his coffee. "So, what did Giles exactly say?"
"Well, nothing… Just that I should send you to get the girls and that we will meet at the shop. Nothing else… But he really sounded upset." Both thought a bit and then Spike suddenly lightened up. "Hey, maybe there's a new dangerous demon in town or the Hellmouth will reopen again."
Trunks smiled. "But if we don't go now, we won't find out. I'll drop you off at the shop."
~*~
About half an hour later Trunks was standing in front of the Wilkins High, waiting for the three girls. 'Hey Pan! How far are you with your test?' he asked through their bond.
Startled Pan jumped up from her chair, much to the surprise of the teacher. Grinning the typical goofy Son-grin she sat back down. 'Trunks? Don't scare me like that! I'm almost finished.'
'Sorry… How far is Faith?'
Pan looked over to the other dark haired Slayer and smiled as she closed the test book. Faith looked at her and smiled back. 'She has just closed her book.'
'Good, then I just have to look for Dawn. Meet me outside at the parking lots. We have to go to the shop. Giles is waiting there for us. Spike said Giles was upset at the phone.'
'New demon?' she asked him grinning.
'Could be… But now finish your test. I'll go get Dawn and Faith.'
'Okay.'
~*~
Another half an hour later Trunks, Pan, Faith and Dawn arrived at the Magic Box. All the other Scoobies were already gathered, just waiting for them so that Giles would finally begin to explain everything. "So, what's the deal?" Faith asked as she sat down.
"Yeah Giles. You got us out of school, so there must be something important. Is there a new demon or something like that?" Pan wanted to know.
"Well, to be precise…" Giles began but was interrupted by Xander.
"Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, the betting office is still open! Who wants to bet?"
"I say someone's out to kill the Slayer," Dawn said, giving Xander five dollars.
"Trunks and I think that there's some dangerous demon who's looking for something," Pan told him, giving him ten dollars, five from Trunks and five from her.
"And what do you think Faith? Everyone else has already said what he or she thinks," Xander wanted to know.
"Xander, please, that's not the time for bets," Giles said despairing.
"The Hellmouth will reopen again tonight," Faith told him and handed him also five dollars.
"Okay G-Man, what's up?" Xander asked as he counted the money.
"Well, Faith was right. The Hellmouth will reopen again," Giles admitted, cleaning his glasses.
"Okay, but Faith, you have to share the money. Spike also said it was the Hellmouth," Xander told them. The two man smirked at each other and everyone who hadn't been with the Scoobies for the last six months would ask themselves why they didn't hate each other more. Well, after Buffy's death the group grew closer together, resulting in a truce of Xander and Spike.
"Finally some action!" Pan shouted grinning from on ear to another, while Faith and Spike high-fived each other and received the money from Xander.
"Pan, please… it's serious. When the Hellmouth opens again, it could be the end of the world," Giles told her.
"Aw, come on Giles… We have two Slayers, a Key that is as strong as a Slayer, two witches, a vampire and a half-alien…" Faith said. "This should be fun."
"But this time we can't all fight against the monster… And proceeding from the last time, the monster could have grown again…" Giles said.
"And why can't we all fight it?" Faith wanted to know.
"Well… This prophecy says that three demons will open the Hellmouth. They will be on three sacred places, which will be the corners of a triangle. The intersection of the bisector of the angles will be on the Hellmouth."
"So, we just have to kill those three guys and everything will be fine?" Spike asked.
"If it was that easy, I wouldn't be worried," Giles told the vampire. "We have to stop them from doing a ritual to open the Hellmouth, but we don't know what and where those sacred places are… That's the problem."
"Then I'll guess we have to find out. I'm sure Red here finds a few maps of Sunnydale and so called 'sacred places' on the Internet," the peroxide blond vampire said, turning to Willow.
"What are you all waiting for?" Pan asked excitedly. "Let's save the world!"
~*~
While every one of the Scoobies was busy in Sunnydale, Buffy arrived on the airport in Sunnydale. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a black tank top, which showed a bit of her belly. Leaving the terminal she stepped out of the customs hall and looked around. "Finally." she simply said, when she went to a taxi that should bring her to her hotel.
"Your name, please?" the receptionist asked her, when Buffy wanted to check in at her hotel.
"Travers. Buffy Travers."
"Okay Ms. Travers. You're in room #224. Enjoy your stay."
After Buffy has unpacked her clothes, she went to the bathroom and took a long bath, relaxing before the beginning of her mission. "Let's see, tonight I will slay a few vampires and maybe I'll meet some of my 'friends'."
~*~
"Giles! Giles! I think I found something!" Willow shouted excitedly to the back of the shop.
"What is it?" the Watcher asked. He and the others were now standing behind Willow, looking over her shoulder at the screen.
"Look, here's the Hellmouth," the witch said pointing to a dot at a map. "And those," she typed something on her laptop and a triangle appeared on the screen with the bisectors of the angles, which were crossed at the dot, "are the sacred places." She pointed to the three corners of the triangle. "The two down here are altars, but I don't know what it is at the third point."
"Let me see." Anya shoved the others away so that she could also see what was going on. "Oh, that's easy. That's an old temple. Used by some monks about thousand years ago." Everyone stared at her. "Hey, it does have its advantages of being an 1122 years old ex-demon."
"Thank you Anya… This is really good. I also just found a spell to close the Hellmouth again, if the demons succeed with their own spell. But it is kind of dangerous and I would need the help of Willow and Tara," Giles said.
"Okay Giles. What shall we do?" Willow wanted to know.
"Well, to be honest. We need one experienced magician or witch to lead the other two. And I think the most experienced among us is you Willow."
"That's okay with me. Do you have a plan?"
"Yes, I have… We split into four groups. Three groups go to the sacred places and the last group goes to the Sunnydale High, fighting the monster, in case the demons will succeed. I thought that the groups would look like this. Group #1 is Willow and Spike, #2 Tara and Faith, #3 Dawn and me and #4 Pan and Trunks. Xander and Anya can self decide if they want to go with us, but I need at least one who practices magic and one fighter in the first three groups. Any questions?"
"Yeah, I have one," Spike said, remembering what Trunks had told him about the full moon and it's effects of Trunks, if he were with Pan and the most likely consequences of that situation. "Why can't I go with Trunks and Pan with Willow?"
"That's simple. We don't know how strong the monster has gotten. And Pan and Trunks are the two strongest here. That's why I send them together. Any more questions? No? Good, that's the plan." So, Giles explained the gang the plan he has thought of. Spike, Faith and Dawn should either kill the demons before they could finish the ritual, or fight them back, if they have finished it, while Willow, Tara and Giles were doing the spell, because as long as the Hellmouth was open, those demons were invincible. Pan and Trunks should go to the Hellmouth to fight back the monster, to prevent that it spread across Sunnydale. According to the prophecy, the demons will open the Hellmouth around midnight, so they decided to go to the places before 12 o'clock.
~*~
A few hours later everything was set and the groups were on their ways. Everyone had the things they needed and each group also had a walkie-talkie. It wasn't a long way from Giles' shop to the ruins of the Sunnydale High, but Pan noticed that Trunks was unusually silent the whole time. She for herself felt a strange sensation in her body since the sun was down and Trunks was near, but she couldn't lay a hand on it. After a short walk they finally stood in front of what was once the High School. Pan took Trunks' hand and squeezed it a bit, motioning with her head to go inside. Giles had explained them the way to the former library, where the Hellmouth was and so they searched their way through the rocks and remainders of the mayor until they stood around a hole in the floor. "So, that's the Hellmouth," Pan said somewhat in awe and Trunks just nodded. "And what shall we do now? Wait and hope that this beast won't show up?"
"I think that is a good idea, but I first tell Giles that we're here."
~*~
'Giles? It's Trunks,' Giles heard at his walkie-talkie.
"Is everything okay with you?" he asked.
'Yes, everything's fine. No monster till now.'
"Good, but watch out. We're almost there. Over."
'Over and out.'
Giles and Dawn reached the altar just in time to see how a demon in a black cape blew out the candle in front of him. At exactly the moment where the light went off, an earthquake erupted through Sunnydale. "Giles? What was that?" Dawn asked him worried.
"We're too late," he simply stated and grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Trunks! We weren't in time! It's beginning!"
'Okay! We felt the earthquake!'
~*~
"Willow? Spike? Xander?" Faith shouted in her walkie-talkie, while she and Tara were now running towards the temple after the earthquake. "Did you feel that?"
'Yes, we're too late. It's starting! Go to the place and tell Tara to position herself. She and Giles will feel when I've started.'
"Okay, but be careful!" At that moment, they reached the altar. Instead of stopping at the point like Tara did it, Faith went on and knocked the demon a few feet away. "Tara! Now! I'll take care of him!" Tara nodded and got down on her knees, straightened her upper body and stretched her arms to both sides.
~*~
"Trunks, it's coming. I can feel it. It's powerful," Pan said as she and Trunks waited for the monster to appear. Not even a second later there was a second earthquake and the heads of the monster came out of the hole. It growled and lunged with its heads at the two fighters.
"Pan! Watch out!" he shouted, but too late and a tentacle sent Pan already in a wall. He tried to go over to help her, but was too occupied with the rest of the monster.
Groggily Pan opened her eyes and looked at the sky. Dark clouds were moving by fast and she could see flashes and felt how the wind was getting stronger. "So, this is how the end of the world looks like. But not as long as I'm still alive." She got back up and lunged at monster.
~*~
About a minute later Willow, Xander and Spike also reached the place and Spike immediately lunged at the demon. Willow knelt down and put with Xander's help some things in front of her. She then grabbed her walkie-talkie. "Giles? Are you ready?"
'Yes I am. Dawn takes care of the demon. You can start.'
Without answering, the witch put the walkie-talkie away and stretched her arm from her body. She closed her eyes and began to chant something in Latin. After she chanted the first three lines she could feel how she was connected with Giles and Tara and the Hellmouth.
~*~
All three were now connected by the spell and the more Willow chanted the more they could feel the wind getting stronger, saw more and more lightnings and they could hear thunder in the distance, but they also felt how strong the magic was Willow used to close the Hellmouth.
But they weren't the only ones who were busy. Spike, Xander, Faith and Dawn, as well as Pan and Trunks were also quite busy to hold off their opponents. Giles was completely right with what he had found out about those three demons. No matter what they tried, the demons absolutely didn't want to die. But their fight was also getting more difficult, because of the steady stronger growing storm and the rain, which began to fall.
For a short moment, Xander was able to catch a look at Willow. At the exact moment her eyes jerked open, but they first glowed golden before they went black and Willow began to chant even faster in a language Xander couldn't understand, but he could hear that it wasn't Latin anymore. "Spike! Is that supposed to happen?" he asked the vampire pointing to Willow.
"I don't know, but I hope it works!" Spike answered as she pushed the demon away from. "And fast!"
~*~
Pan slowly began to worry. At first it was quite easy to stop the monster, but it was getting more difficult with every minute. Both of them have hit the wall quite a few times, but fortunately none of them were hurt badly until now and they hoped it would remain this way. Trunks had just cut off one of the tentacles, but in this time he didn't pay attention to another one that hit him forcefully and let him flew through a few walls. "Trunks!" Pan shouted worried and instinctively put her hands to her side. "You just wait. Kame hame – HA!" A blue ball was formed between her palms and a blue beam hit the monster, letting it fall a bit back into the hole.
~*~
Xander didn't believe his eyes, as well as Spike, Dawn and Faith, because Willow, Giles and Tara all moved their arms to the direction of the Hellmouth. "What the hell is going on here?" Spike asked.
"I don't know man."
Suddenly Willow closed her eyes again. "Tartre (A/N: 'close' in a language I just made up)! Tartre!" She opened her eyes again and they were now glowing blue. "TARTRE!"
In the palms of the three kneeing Scoobies small blue spheres were formed and at the last 'Tartre' blue/white beams were sent to the direction of the Hellmouth.
~*~
Pan stared in awe at what was happening right in front of her. From three different directions came three beams, which collided directly over the hole. Trunks came just back into the room as Super Saiyajin, when the beams at the point where they met each other formed a huge blue and white sphere with sparks all around. He tried to shield his eyes from the glaring light as well as Pan, but they weren't prepared for the huge explosion not even a second later. This explosion caused a shock wave, which sent both part-Saiyajins through the next best wall.
~*~
The Scoobies could see a light flicker a few hundred meters away and when the beam died in the palms of the three, they collapsed. At exactly the moment where the beams died, the demons and the storm died as well and it was still just raining a bit.
Worried Xander and Spike were at once at Willow's side. "Willow? Will? Are you okay?" Xander asked almost crying.
"Xander?" Willow said groggily. "Did we do it? Did we close the Hellmouth?"
"Yes, I think you did. Look, the storm's gone and the demons are dead. But please, don't scare me ever again like that, okay?"
"Okay… have you already talked to Giles and the others?"
"Not yet, but I'm sure they're fine. Hold on a minute, okay?" Willow nodded weakly and Xander took the walkie-talkie. "Hello? Here's Xander. Everything okay at you?"
'Yes, I think so. Giles is a bit weak, but fine. I'll bring him home now.'
'Everything's five by five. I'll also bring Tara home.'
"Fine, and how is it at you, Pan? Trunks?"
~*~
Pan slowly emerged out of the piles of rocks and Trunks climbed back through a hole in a wall. She bent down and picked up the walkie-talkie. "Yes, Xander? I think we're okay. Monster's gone, hole's closed. Me and Trunks are going home now."
'Okay, I'll bring Willow home, but I don't know what Spike is planning… Hey Spike! No, I'm talking to her.' Pan could hear sounds of fighting over the walkie-talkie and chuckled lightly.
'Pet? It's me, Spike. I'm not going home. I'll see if there are still some vampires outside who celebrate that the world didn't end.'
"Okay Spike. See ya tomorrow."
'See ya.'
"Okay Trunks, I think we should go back now. I'm cold and my clothes are all drenched," Pan said shivering. Trunks nodded, took her hand and together they left the ruins of the Sunnydale High.
About ten minutes later, the rain had stopped in the meantime, they arrived at 1630 Revello Drive. Trunks wanted to go through the front door but Pan stopped him. "Trunks, we're all muddy and drenched. I don't want to make everything dirty inside. We can go through my window."
"Okay." He lifted her up and flew her in her room. Inside he let her down and when he saw that she was still shivering, he pulled her in an embrace. She rested her head on his chest, but he flinched away and winced.
At that moment Pan noticed that his shirt was not just wet from rain, but that there was also some blood on it. "Trunks, take that off," she demanded worried.
"It's okay, it isn't that bad. It will be gone by tomorrow."
"Nonsense, take it off. I have to see how bad it is." After Trunks looked in her eyes, he obeyed her and Pan felt again this strange sensation, when he looked into her eyes. Wincing lightly he pulled off his shirt and Pan could see a relative small cut over his chest, which was already healing. Carefully she traced with her finger along the cut and felt how a shiver ran down Trunks' spine. She looked back into his eyes and felt the sensation inside her body growing.
When Trunks looked into her eyes he couldn't control his Saiyajin instincts anymore. He lifted up her chin and pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss. While she wrapped her arms around his neck, he put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. He slowly pushed her backwards until both were lying on her bed, still kissing, just breaking the contact for the need of air and undressing.
After a few hours they laid next to each other, totally exhausted. It was the best both of them had ever experienced and Trunks felt that their bond was now almost completed. Almost. But now he was ready to complete it. He carefully rolled over to her and bit her gently in her neck. Acting after her instinct, Pan lifted her head and also bit him, marking him as hers. At exactly that moment memories flooded her mind. Memories of her family, friends, her adventures, the other Trunks, Goku and much more. After they let go of each other, Trunks laid back, his arms still around Pan and fell immediately asleep for exhaustion. Pan followed shortly afterwards, and she had a smile on her face. She remembered.
~*~
In the middle of the night Bulma jerked up in her bed. She didn't know how and why, but she suddenly knew where Pan was. But it was as if someone had told her in her dreams. She quickly got out of the bed, put on a bathrobe and ran to her lab. After typing something in her computer she grabbed the phone and dialed a well-known number. She waited impatiently and almost fell from her chair as she heard a sleepy 'Hello?' on the other side. "Gohan? It's me Bulma!"
'Bulma? What do you want? It's 4am.'
"Gohan, I found her! I found Pan!" Bulma told him excitedly.
'Sorry Bulma, but can you repeat that please… I just thought you said that you found Pan.'
"That's true! I found Pan! I suddenly knew where she is!"
'Oh, okay…' he said, still sleepy, until his mind suddenly registered the true meaning of Bulma's words. 'YOU WHAT? I come over, at once! Make the machine ready! We have to go! NOW!'
"Gohan! Wait! I think we should wait till morning! I still have to program the coordinates… You haven't seen her for six months, don't you think you could wait another few hours?"
'Sorry, Bulma… It's just, I'm so happy… Wait a minute… Videl is just coming down… VIDEL! BULMA FOUND OUR LITTLE PANNY! Oh oh, she just fainted… Okay Bulma, at eight o'clock. Make sure that everything is ready… Oh, and I think that just Goten, Trunks, Vegeta and I should go… We don't know what kind of world she has gotten into… It would be safer…'
"Okay, I'll tell them… Bye Gohan!"
'Bye Bulma!'
"Okay, and now telling the others." Bulma got up and went to Trunks room. She knocked and waited for an answer, but it didn't come. "TRUNKS! WAKE UP!"
After waiting a few seconds she heard footsteps inside and then the door opened. "Mom, what do you want? It's in the middle of the night."
"I thought you might be interesting in that I found out where Pan is and that you, your father, Gohan and Goten will go at eight o'clock to the other dimension and bring her back," she told him with a Vegeta like smirk.
Suddenly Trunks was fully awake. "Is that true mom? You found Pan? That's wonderful." He grabbed his mother and whirled her around.
"Trunks! Stop!" she said laughing.
"Oh, sorry mom," Trunks said and sat her back down. "It's just I'm so happy and that I finally can apologize."
"I know Trunks… Okay, now I just have to tell your father… I'm sure he will be happy as well."
~*~
"Hiya Vegeta!" Goku greeted him grinning. They were still at that lake and Goku was fishing a bit.
"Kakarotto. You again in my dream can just mean one thing."
"Yep, she remembers everything. The bond is completed."
"Good… Does the woman already know?"
"I just told her… Of course she doesn't know that it was me…" he said.
"Okay. Then I think I have to get up early this morning. I guess she already called your brat."
"You're right… I just wanted to tell you. And, I think it will be better if you go first alone to her… Remember: shop called Magic Box. Because I don't know how Gohan would react if he sees Trunks, I mean, Mirai Trunks. But I'll visit her later and tell her that you would come."
"Don't worry, I'll do that somehow… I think I go again, before the woman wakes me up. And I'm sure she will."
"Okay, and Vegeta?"
"What is it, Kakarotto?"
"You'll find a small present on the chair next to your bed. Hide it and show it first to the others when you've all met Pan," Goku told him with a secretive smile.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, but I'll do what you say. Goodbye Kakarotto."
"Bye Vegeta!"
~*~
Vegeta woke up and looked at the chair. There was a small bag. He got up and opened it. Inside he found seven spheres, the Dragonballs. He chuckled lightly. "Kakarotto… I would have never thought that I would say it some day. Thank you." He put this bag into another small bag, which he intended to take with him when he goes to the other dimension.
He did that just in time, because not even ten seconds later Bulma came burst into the bedroom. "VEGETA!"
"Shut up woman. I'm not deaf."
"Oh, sorry. I though you were still sleeping…"
"Well, it was hard not to notice how you jumped out of our bed… But I guess it was a sign for that you finally found Kakarotto's grandbrat."
"Yeah, you're right… You, Trunks, Gohan and Goten will go this morning at eight o'clock to get her."
"Okay," he simply said and got back to bed.
~*~
"Angel Investigations, hello? … No, he's not here. But I'll tell him that you've called. Bye!" Cordelia quickly wrote a note and placed in on the desk. At that moment Angel and Wesley entered the office.
"Hey Cordelia! Something new?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, strange enough but there were some phone calls… In the middle of the oww."
"Oww?" Wesley asked, but when he saw that Cordelia grabbed her head he realized what was happening. "Oww!"
"Vision!" Angel shouted and was immediately at her side.
"Dragon… large dragon… Sunnydale…." But that was not all that Cordelia saw. She somehow felt that this dragon wouldn't be a danger and she saw Dawn standing in front of him. There were also pictures of Buffy and she heard the words 'human' and 'vampire'. As the vision faded she sat back down.
"A large dragon in Sunnydale? We have to go there at once!" Angel said and grabbed his coat. "Wesley, Cordelia, are you coming? We'll call Gunn and Fred later."
"Sure!" they answered in unison and followed him, but Cordelia smiled unnoticeable, because she knew more about the meaning of this vision than Angel or Wesley. But she didn't want to tell them, yet, in case she had misunderstood this vision and she didn't want to get her friend's hopes up.
~*~
Spike was now going over the cemeteries for two hours and he already killed two vampires, who came out of their hiding places. Suddenly he heard the sound of fighting and followed it. He just saw the dust of a vampire and how a stake was thrown at him. He barely dodged it and got back up. "Bloody hell Slay…" he answered instinctively, but then recognized the person in front of him. "…er."
"Wow, you know what I am? I'm impressed."
"B-buffy?" he asked choking.
"And you know my name! May I now know you're name?" the blond woman in front of him asked smugly.
"B-but… It's me. Good ol' Spike."
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Spike? Ah, William the Bloody. You're the chipped vampire." She let out a short laugh, but this laugh was nothing like Spike remembered her to laugh. This sound was cruel and cold. "I saw a picture of you yesterday. You're harmless. And I have to kill you… But I think, first I will have some fun." She lunged at him and he barely could block her attacks.
"Slayer – Buffy - what happened to you?"
"Oh, I've trained a lot… Spike!" She threw a roundhouse kick at him and hit his head. He was thrown around by this attack and hit a wall with his head. He just felt how he was sliding down the wall and the last thing he saw was Buffy standing over him, before everything around him went black.