Disclaimer:        Any character that you've seen on the show is owned by Joss, not me.

Colleen

The new slayer

Jordan

Psychic who receives The Visions

Dawn

The Key

Aaron

Currently exploring magicks

*****

            When Colleen was asked by her kindergarten teacher to draw a picture of her dream she drew a picture of a girl being killed by a vampire. She never understood why her teacher made her go talk to Dr. Campbell. She never understood why her parents gave her a long talk when she got home. And she never understood why her teacher never hung the drawing up with the other students' drawings. The next time her teacher asked her to draw her dreams Colleen drew a princess riding a unicorn which seemed to make everyone happy.

            Colleen never told anyone that the dream of the girl being killed by the vampire never went away. She never told anyone that it wasn't just one dream but many different dreams and in each one she was a different girl from a different time. Even when she did start to dream about playing in the WNBA she still had the dreams with the vampires.

            Six months ago everything changed. Six months ago Colleen was told that she was Colleen, the Vampire Slayer. Everything just became so clear that day. The dreams that she was having suddenly made so much sense. She was glad that this wasn't a burden that she would have to carry on her own. She had Dawn, Aaron, and Jordan. Recently she gained Holly as a powerful ally and one day hopefully also as a friend. She has Mike now too.

            When Colleen began to become close to Mike her worse fear was that one day he would find out the truth about her. Her worse fear ended up being a dream come true. Mike was completely supportive of her and understood the importance of what she was doing. What's more, she could talk to Mike about things that she didn't want to bring up with the others. She could talk to him about fears that she was having that she would never tell the others.

            "Well I think you can take him," Mike told Colleen.

            "We have fought exactly one time," Colleen explained to Mike. "I couldn't even touch him because it burnt so much."

            "Well then bring a fire extinguisher," Mike said. Colleen had no way to no for sure over the phone but she knew that he was smiling the smile that always got to her.

            "I guess that is an option," Colleen told him.

            "Couldn't you get back up or something?" Mike asked her.

            Mike knew about Dawn, Aaron, and Jordan but Colleen had never told him about Holly. She decided that it wasn't her place since Holly wasn't technically part of the group.

            "Well Aaron's going to be doing the spell that we found in that book," she told Mike. "And Jordan and Dawn will be there."

            From the book that they had managed to steal from Martyr's old hideout Aaron had found the way that they could defeat Phoenix. It was a fairly powerful spell that could only be cast by whoever sealed the Hellmouth, which meant that it had to be Aaron. The problem was at the same time Phoenix would be trying to kill Aaron in order to open the Hellmouth. There was a one hour window of opportunity and the only options that were possible were either that Aaron would be killed and soon after the world would follow or Phoenix would be destroyed.

            "I've concluded something," Mike told Colleen.

            "And what's that?" Colleen asked him back. She liked the way that he would change the subject whenever it got too dark.

            "I'm going to help too," Mike informed her.

            "What?" Colleen said as she felt her heart drop. "No, you can't."

            "Why?" Mike asked. "Dawn and Aaron don't have any powers and they still help."

            "Aaron knows magick," Colleen said to him. "And Dawn has grown up knowing about demons."

            "But still they don't have any powers and they still find a way to help you," Mike told her.

            "You are not going to help," Colleen told him. "I'm serious. You're not going to be there."

            "Why not?" Mike asked her. "I went on patrol with you those times. Just give me an axe or something and I'll be fine."

            "I don't want you to get hurt," Colleen told him.

            "But you don't care if your friends get hurt?" Mike asked her back.

            "That's different," Colleen said. "We're in this together."

            "So then why can't I be in it too?" Mike asked her.

            Colleen was starting to get frustrated. "Because, if you ever got hurt it would be my fault and no one else's."

            "Actually," Mike retorted, "It would be however hurts me fault."

            Colleen looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was 12:30. "I have to go to bed. It's going to be a long night tomorrow."

            "Then I guess we'll finish this conversation tomorrow," Mike said.

            "The conversation is already finished," Colleen told him. "Good night."

            "Good night," Mike said as he hung up the phone. "And it's definitely not over."

*****

            "Are you saying that I should have told him that it's perfectly OK that he should want to kill himself?" Colleen asked Dawn first period the next day.

            "No I agree that you made the right choice," Dawn told Colleen. "I'm just saying that I know how he feels. You know, to know about all this but to not be able to help."

            "He would just end up putting himself in danger," Colleen said. "And that would mean that I would have to rescue him. It would put the mission in jeopardy!"

            Dawn laughed. "You sound like my sister's ex-boyfriend."

            "There's too many ways that this plan can go wrong already," Colleen said. "And right now my whole concern is trying to make sure that Aaron doesn't die. Throwing Mike into the mix will just be too much."

            Dawn nodded. She wondered if Aaron had known just how serious the risks of casting the spell on the Hellmouth were when he first cast the spell. He hadn't told her about the exact specifics of the spell so Dawn had no reason to doubt that he didn't try to keep this from her too.

            "Come on," Colleen said. "Let's go talk to Holly. See if she has any concerns about tonight."

            Holly, as she usually was, was sitting in the bleachers of the gym during P.E. However today she wasn't reading a book. She was mostly just staring at the other end of the gym and looked very deep in thought. She didn't notice Colleen and Dawn till they were right next to her.

            "Thinking about tonight?" Colleen asked.

            Holly nodded. "Yeah," was all she said.

            "Are you OK?" Dawn asked.

            Holly nodded. "How is Aaron doing?"

            "Surprisingly he hasn't been complaining," Dawn said. "And I don't know how well you know Aaron but that is very surprising."

            "Hey Colleen," Mike said as he approached her slowly. For the first time Dawn noticed the way that Mike tried not to look in Holly's direction. Holly completely looked down when Mike got close to her. "Can I talk to you?"

            "If it's about what you asked last night the answer is still no," Colleen told him flatly.

            "It's not," Mike said to her.

            "OK," Colleen said as she walked off with him.

            Dawn waited till they left before she talked to Holly. "Did something happen between you and Mike?" Dawn asked.

            Holly looked uncomfortable. "We used to know each other when we were younger." She paused for a moment as if to consider what to say. "It's just awkward now, you know? Like if you stop talking to someone for so long that you don't really know what to say to them."

            "Yeah I know what you mean," Dawn said not entirely believing what Holly told her.

            "That jerk," Colleen said when she came back. "He lied. He was trying to tag along with us tonight still."

            "Wait," Holly said. "He knows that you're the slayer? He knows what we're doing tonight."

            "Yeah," Colleen said. "He found out a few weeks ago." Colleen noticed the panicked look in Holly's eyes. "I haven't told him anything about you though. I wouldn't violate your trust like that."

            "I just really don't like people knowing about it," Holly said. "That I'm a demon."

            "Part demon," Dawn pointed out. "You have a soul. Besides, what you are doesn't dictate who you are."

            "I still wouldn't want people to know," Holly said quietly.

            "I know what you mean," Colleen said to her. "You don't see me walking around with a t-shirt that says 'slayer.'"

*****

            "I hate painting," Aaron said as he got back from the supply table with some green paint. "I hate paints." He poured out a little bit of the paint onto his palette. "I hate brushes." He walked to the supply table and returned the paint and walked back to his easel. "And most of all I hate art class." Aaron dipped his brush in his paint and then flicked the paint onto his canvas.

            "Looks good," Mike said as he walked over to Aaron's easel.

            "Thanks," Aaron said. "I call it flicking various colors of paint at a canvas so I don't think about the fact that an insanely powerful demon is going to try to kill me tonight at midnight."

            "I hope that's just a working title," Mike said.

            "Yeah," Aaron said looking over the painting, "It'll probably end up being called like 'Velvet Sunset' or something."

            "So tonight's the big night, right?" Mike asked.

            Aaron nodded. "Oh really? I hadn't thought about it. Much. In the last two milliseconds. OK that was a lie."

            "I take it your nervous?" Mike asked Aaron.

            "I try to think of it less as being nervous and more as being sane," Aaron said.

            "So where is all this going down at?" Mike asked nonchalantly.

            "Right above the Hellmouth," Aaron told him.

            "Where is that?" Mike asked.

            "You don't know?" Aaron asked him. Mike shook his head. "It's right below the library."

            "Really?" Mike asked with interest.

*****

            "I am not going to let him know how scared I am," Dawn resolved as she walked into Aaron's apartment. His parents were still out of town. She was positive that this was bad because Aaron would worry about ever seeing them again if something happened. "I am going to be brave for him." Dawn knocked on Aaron's bedroom door.

            "Come in," Aaron called form his room. Dawn walked him and saw him sitting crossed legged on his bed meditating. He kept his eyes closed so Dawn sat down on his floor waiting for him to finish.

            "I saw you peek," Dawn laughed and threw the tennis ball that was on the ground beside her at Aaron. He opened his eyes and caught the ball. "Nice reflexes."

            "Thanks," Aaron said as he sat down the ball.

            "Getting ready for tonight?" Dawn asked him.

            Aaron nodded. "Yeah. I'm trying to get focused."

            "Is this spell a lot harder than the other one?" Dawn asked him.

            "Yeah a little," Aaron said. "It shouldn't be as draining but there is the added pitfall of having an uber-powerful demon trying to kill me this time."

            "But Colleen and Holly will be there," Dawn said. "And you'll have Jordan and me for moral support."

            Aaron tried to take all of the fun out of his face. "Dawn, how often am I not kidding around?"

            "Recently or as a whole?" Dawn asked him.

            "No," Aaron said. His face was humorous. "I'm being serious."

            "What is it?" Dawn asked him.

            "I don't want you to be there tonight," Aaron told her. "I don't want you to get hurt."

            "Why is everyone trying to make everyone else's decision about what they are doing tonight," Dawn said. "There is no way that I am not going."

            "No seriously I think," Aaron realized what Dawn said. "Wait, who else is trying to make up someone else's mind?"

            "Mike wanted to come help out tonight but Colleen told him no," Dawn told Aaron.

            "He was talking about it with me today," Aaron told Dawn.

            "I think he really wants to be there for Colleen," Dawn explained. "It's really sweet. Crazy, but sweet."

            "Then why don't you just walk away?" Aaron asked her. "No one will say anything about it."

            Dawn looked at Aaron very intensely. She was doing it to be mean but just so he would know that she meant what she was about to say. "Mike is trying to come into the group when we're about to go do something incredibly dangerous. I have been here since day one. There is no way I wouldn't go."

            "It was worth a shot," Aaron said.

            "Besides," Dawn said. "I am a better fighter than you are."

            Aaron laughed. If Aaron was going to be dieing tonight he was glad that he was spending time with Dawn. He wasn't sure how he felt about Dawn. He knew he cared about her a lot, but he wasn't sure if it went beyond friendship or not. Besides that, he had no clue how Dawn felt about him. He reached over into his desk drawer and pulled out two envelopes.

            "Here," Aaron said as he tossed the envelopes to Dawn.

            "What are these?" She asked.

            "They're letters," Aaron said. "I need you to make sure they get read by the people that need to read them if something happens to me."

            "Aaron, nothing is-" Dawn was interrupted by Aaron.

            "Just promise me that they will get read," Aaron said. "Promise me."

            "I promise," Dawn said.

            Aaron smiled. "Good," he said as he grabbed his backpack. "Then let's go."

            Aaron walked out of the door first. Dawn looked down at the two white envelopes in her hand. The one on top had "Mom and Dad" written on it. She looked at the one beneath it and smiled. It read "Dawn."

*****

            "Well," Aaron said while he began setting up once again upon the library floor. "Ten minutes till midnight and I'm still not dead."

            Jordan helped him set up his supplies. He hadn't really talked to Aaron about all the things that Jordan knew Aaron was feeling and he knew that he had missed his chance.  He wasn't going to let this night go on though without saying something.

            "Did I ever tell you thank you?" Jordan asked Aaron.

            "For what?" Aaron asked while he finished setting up for his ceremony.

            "For helping me become everything that I am now," Jordan told him.

            "You don't seem that much different to me," Aaron said.

            "I am," Jordan told him. "Trust me I am. Before I moved here I was so afraid to just be myself and I always felt like I had to keep everything in. I know that a lot of it was me but you helped too. You're my closest friend."

            Aaron smiled. "I feel like I should hug you right now but what with the lotus position and all."

            Jordan laughed a little. "I just felt I had to say it."

            "Yeah in case I die," Aaron sad with a sad smile. Jordan started to say something but Aaron stopped him. "Not that I want to or anything and not that I'm not going to try like hell not to."

            "You're not going to die Aaron," Jordan said. "I promise."

            At that moment the lights died. All the power in the school was shut down. The clock stopped with three minutes left before midnight. Holly and Colleen stood vigilantly on either side of Aaron. Dawn and Jordan hung back a little bit. Aaron's breathing was getting faster and faster. Holly shifted into her demon form the second that Dawn's wrist watch beeped for midnight.

            "As the sun rises in the east and sets in the west so do I wish to complete the cycle," Aaron began when vampires began to pour into the room from the in front of and behind him. He continued the ceremony even as the fighting started. "Seconds pass and turn into minutes and from minutes into hours," Aaron continued while trying to annunciate all of his words despite his fear.

            There were about 18 vampires against Colleen, Holly, Jordan, and Dawn. It was definitely not looking like it was going to be a fair fight.

            "Secret weapon Dawn," Colleen said to her as she dusted a vampire but got punched by another. "Now!"

            "Right," Dawn said as her and Jordan each lit the top of the torches they were carrying. They ran in opposite directions in crowds of vampires who weren't paying attention. In the cramped space of the library the vampires were close to each other and when one caught on fire the vampires surrounding them were also quickly caught on fire.

            "Too bad this didn't work when we tried this on their lair," Dawn said reflecting on their failed attempt to burn the vampires in the house on the edge of the cemetery. Jordan took his torch and lit the circle of white powder that surrounded Aaron. Aaron was too busy concentrating on his spell to even notice the mystical flames that were now protecting him.

            "Hey," Colleen said as she managed to stake another vampire. There were only about three left at this point. "We might actually pull this off." Colleen wasn't looking when Phoenix came from behind her and swatted her across the room. She hit the stacks hard but she got up on her feet as soon as she fell.

            Holly tried her best to fight Phoenix by herself. She was training with Colleen and had learned to fight a little better. She dodged Phoenix's attacks but she wasn't going to keep it up for long. She kept up with though long enough for Colleen to come back into the fight with a sword that she had burrowed from the Magic Box. As they were fighting against Phoenix Holly secretly hoped that Aaron would hurry up.

            Holly was the next to go down from a powerful blow from Phoenix. Colleen turned to see if Holly was alright and when she did Phoenix would up to hit her even harder. Dawn snuck up on him and sunk an axe into his back. While it did stop him from attacking Colleen it didn't seem like it hurt Phoenix as much as it annoyed him. He pulled the axe from his back and while he was preparing to turn to strike Dawn, Colleen sunk her sword into his chest. She held onto the sword with all her might and Phoenix sneered at her. Soon though, the sword became burning to the touch and Colleen had to let go. Phoenix batted her away and did the same to Dawn. He smiled as he approached Aaron.

            "That wasn't too difficult," Phoenix said as he held the sword above his head. Aaron just continued to chant even though his eyes were locked with Phoenix. As Phoenix moved to step across the flame a red barrier suddenly appeared and violently forced Phoenix across the room.

            "A barrier spell," Phoenix commented. "So you didn't just skim through that book." Aaron didn't react. He just continued his chant. "Too bad it won't protect you from this." Phoenix picked up a chair and hurled it at Aaron. Aaron came close to missing a beat on his chant but didn't when the chair suddenly altered its trajectory must unnaturally. Aaron looked to Jordan thankfully.

            Phoenix followed Aaron's gaze to see where Jordan was standing. Moving the chair at the speed it was traveling at had really fazed Jordan. Phoenix took advantage of that by hurling a chair at Jordan which connected and left him unconscious.

            "Now let's try that again," Phoenix said, this time picking up the entire table. Before he could throw it though Holly was on him and took the table in her hand forcing it to the ground. She landed a few punches but before she knew it she was across the room again. Phoenix smiled and picked the table up again.

            No one was sure where he came from, but at that moment Mike appeared out of his hiding spot in the library, ran to Phoenix, and sunk his axe into Phoenix's knee. Phoenix stumbled on his leg for a moment and Mike took the axe and tried to hit him again but Phoenix blocked him and gave him a blow that left him on the ground.

            "You can mess with me," Colleen said as she hit Phoenix hard enough to knock him off balance. "You can even mess with my friends." She said as she hit him again. "But never touch my boyfriend again." Colleen kicked him with everything that she had within her. He stumbled back but quickly recovered.

            Right as Phoenix was about to hit Colleen time seemed to slow down and all the sound drained from the room. The flames around Aaron died down and his eyes flickered red once as the spell completed. Phoenix looked towards him with horror as he seemed to deflate. In a moment and with a flare of red energy he shrunk from about eight feet to almost six feet at the same time reducing his strength and the heat of his skin.

            "I think things just got a whole lot more even," Colleen said as she sunk into him with a melee attack. Every time he tried to hit her she was ready with a block. When he finally did manage to hit her Holly was right there to back him up. Together, Holly and Colleen knocked Phoenix hard on his back.

            "Colleen!" Dawn shouted as she threw her the sword.

            Colleen caught the sword, twirled it around her wrist so she didn't drop it, and stood over Phoenix pointing the sword at his heart. "Goodbye Phoenix," Colleen said as she sunk the sword into his chest. His eyes flew open and a moment later he erupted into flame. There was nothing left, not even any ashes.

            Holly helped Aaron stand up. His stance was wobbly and he looked very drained. Dawn helped Jordan to his feet and he rubbed his head. Colleen checked on Mike. She turned him over and he opened his eyes.

            "That was incredibly stupid," she told him as she kissed him on the lips.

            "Remind me to never be stupid again," Mike said.

            "Someone should do that for me too," Aaron said as he attempted to walk without Holly's support.

            "Come on," Colleen said as she picked Mike up. "Let's go get you home."

            "Wait," Aaron said as they left the library. "Aren't we going to have some post Armageddon fun?"

            "Later," Colleen said. "Right now I need to make sure that he doesn't die. Call my cell."

            "How are you going to leave like that?" Aaron asked as Colleen left. "Call my cell."

            Jordan began to walk on his own as well. The four of them looked at the severe damage caused to the library. Aaron clapped his hands. "Who wants to go get something to eat?"

*****

Author's Note: So that's it. Think of it as the season finale. That's season though, not series. Check out my next fic in the Sunnydale series called Sunnydale: Secrets Better Left Untold. As you can tell it's going to have a lot to do with secrets that the characters have. Chapter one should be posted by the end of the week. Please leave me feedback if you read this story. Tell me if you liked it or hated it. Thanks again for reading.