Disclaimer: Any character that you've seen on the show is owned by Joss, not me.
Colleen: Buffy's successor both as the Slayer and as the guardian of the Hellmouth.
Jordan: Psychic chosen by The Powers That Be to guide the Slayer with The Visions.
Holly: The daughter of a human and a Sellar Demon.
Mike: Something previously unseen on this Earth: A Living Vampire.
Dawn: The ancient energy known only as The Key given a human form.
Aaron: Although not the most powerful warlock in the world, this teenager has developed an impressive amount of power.
*****
Dawn looked over at Colleen while they sat in Health Class. Colleen sat they way she usually sat in this class. While failing at being nonchalant, Colleen spent the entire class stealing glances at the other side of the room. On the other side of the room sat the boy known as Eben Valmont. Eben sat in the room and to anyone that didn't know him he would seem to be any other normal student at Sunnydale High School. He sat not really paying attention but still copying down the notes that the teacher put on the board. If anyone else thought that there was anything off about Eben it would just be the fact that he hadn't really made an effort to make any friends. In the three weeks that Eben had been living in Sunnydale he really hadn't talked to anyone that much.
When the Scooby Gang had first seen Eben they had tried to find out why he was at their school. They also made an effort to try to get him into their group. However, Eben made it very clear that the reasons that he was there were his own and that he didn't have any intentions of hanging out with the Scoobies. Colleen took this news kind of hard. She made an effort to talk to Eben on her own. Dawn knew that Colleen thought that she could start a relationship with Eben. Although Colleen didn't really go into details, she said that Eben made it clear that he wasn't interested in a relationship.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" Dawn asked Colleen. "The usually Friday slay and Bronze combo?"
"Probably," Colleen said as she looked up from her notebook towards Dawn. "You and Aaron don't have any plans for the two of you?"
Dawn chuckled. "I don't think Aaron ever really thinks about making plans for just the two of us," Dawn said with a smile. "I'm sure we'll spend time together later though."
Colleen gave Dawn a smile. "Oh I get it," Colleen said. "Some private time between you two and the bed?"
"No," Dawn said, "I mean, not exactly. I don't think either of us is anywhere near ready for that." Dawn paused as she remembered that Colleen wasn't a virgin. "I mean, not to say that you weren't ready when you did it."
Colleen laughed. "It's okay; I didn't think you were calling me a slut."
"That's good because I wasn't trying to," Dawn said. The bell rang and the two girls gathered their things and headed towards the door. They walked out the door right behind Eben. As Eben turned the corner walking away from Colleen and Dawn he happened to look over his shoulder. He gave them a smile and then walked off.
"I just don't get it," Colleen said. "What is he hiding?"
Dawn shrugged. "Maybe we just need to give him time? Like with Holly."
"I don't know," Colleen said as they walked towards the exit of the school. "For some reason I think it's different."
"What's different?" Jordan asked as he rounded a corner and joined up with Colleen and Dawn.
"Eben's reasons for not wanting to hang out with us as opposed to Holly's reasoning," Dawn told him.
"I wouldn't eliminate the possibility though," Jordan said. "I mean, we don't know anything about Eben. Maybe he is afraid of hurting us too."
"He wasn't really afraid to hurt Mike," Colleen pointed out.
"That was a misunderstanding though," Jordan said. The three of them spotted Aaron and Holly waiting for them at the doors. Normally Dawn and Colleen got a ride with Aaron and Jordan and Holly got a ride with Mike but today Mike had conditioning for Basketball. Mike decided that he was going to try to be a superhero and play basketball at the same time.
"Hey," Aaron said as he saw Dawn. He leaned in and gave her a kiss. She smiled at him and they held hands as they walked out of the school.
"Holly," Colleen said to the blonde girl, "Do you think Eben might be keeping his distance for the same reason that you used to?"
Holly shrugged her shoulders. She had considered this before. "I'm not sure. I mean, he isn't really acting the way that I used to but you can never really tell how a person would react to a situation."
"Do we really want someone like that joining our ragtag group of underdogs?" Aaron asked. "I mean, the guy throws three punches for every one word he says."
"Maybe you should take a hint from him," Dawn teased her boyfriend with a smile.
"Jordan," Aaron said to his best friend, "Would you like to sit shotgun?"
"No way," Dawn said. She and Jordan exchanged a look and then ran to the car.
"Hah," Dawn said as got to the passenger door first. "I win."
"You cheated," Jordan said. "I'm not exactly sure how yet but I know that somehow you managed to cheat in some way."
"Now now kids," Aaron said as he unlocked his jeep. "I'm not even going to bother starting this car if you're just going to fight."
*****
Aaron dropped Holly and Colleen off at Holly's house. They had a project that they needed to work on for their History Class and decided that they should try to get it done this afternoon before they had to do any slaying. Colleen had only been over to Holly's house a few times. Holly wasn't really a big fan of having group meetings at her house.
"Hi Ms. Nils," Colleen said to Holly's mother as they walked through Holly's living room towards her bedroom.
Ms. Nils looked up from her newspaper and gave Colleen a small smile. Holly's mother wasn't exactly thrilled with Holly spending so much time with her friends lately but she wanted her daughter to be happy. "Hello Colleen," Ms. Nils said to Colleen as Colleen and Holly got to Holly's room.
"This project looks pretty easy," Colleen said as she looked at the guidelines for their project. "It shouldn't take that long."
"Yeah," Holly said. "But I'm glad that we're getting this out of the way."
"Yeah," Colleen agreed, "Especially when you consider that any time that we plan on doing it we might have to drop everything to go save the world."
"Save the world," Holly said with a small laugh, "That just sounds so weird."
"I guess we haven't really saved the world a lot," Colleen said reflecting on the last few years. "I guess it's only been two or three times, depending on how you look at it."
"That's still so unreal," Holly said.
"Especially when you consider what other teenagers do with their time," Colleen said.
Holly laughed. "We have the choice to just hang out at the Bronze all the time or go out and kill demons and we go with the demons every time." Holly paused. "Well, most of the time."
"It's weird though," Colleen said. "It's like it should feel like we're missing out on all this normal high school stuff but most of the time it just doesn't feel like that. I guarantee our circle of friends is closer than any other circle of friends in school."
"Definitely," Holly said with a smile.
"Seriously," Colleen said, "You and Dawn are my best friends. I'm closer with you two than I am anyone else on this planet."
Holly smiled really large. Sometimes she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have such amazing friends. Suddenly, Holly remembered what Jordan had told her about talking to Colleen about her feelings towards Mike. If Colleen hadn't said what she had said right then there was no way Holly would have even thought about bringing up the conversation.
"You're my best friend too," Holly said to Colleen. "And that means that we can tell each other anything right?"
"Of course," Colleen said to Holly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong really," Holly said. She was nervous as to how Colleen would react to what she was going to tell him. "It's just something that I really need to tell you."
"Go ahead," Colleen said to Holly, curious as to what could have her friend so nervous. "I'm not going to judge you or anything."
"Okay it's just," Holly paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I have feelings for Mike."
Colleen tried to contain her surprise. Her face hid what she thought on the inside. Mike? Mike Mike? Her Mike?
"I know it's stupid and I know that you guys love each other but I had to tell you," Holly said. "It's just that I kept it inside for so long that I had to tell you."
Colleen really thought hard about what she was just told. It was true that she had been in love with Mike and it was true that a part of her was going to keep loving Mike. However, that didn't change the fact that what her and Mike had was over. Neither of them was really thinking about trying again. And she had just told Holly how good of a friend she was to her and she meant it. When it came down to it, Colleen wanted her friends to be happy. If Mike and Holly could make each other happy then Colleen wasn't going to stand in her way.
"Just a couple of corrections," Colleen said to Holly. "Mike and I might love each other but we definitely aren't in love anymore. There's a difference. And besides that it is definitely not stupid. I think that you guys could be great together."
Holly was shocked. She smiled wider than she had ever smiled in her life.
"I'll tell you what," Colleen said. "I'll see if I can get a vibe from Mike on the situation or maybe even talk to Aaron and Jordan and see if they know anything."
Holly couldn't help it. She started to cry. Holly had cried several times when she was upset, but this was one of the few times that Holly was crying because she was happy. She was happy because she finally belonged. She reached across and hugged Colleen who just smiled.
*****
Dawn and Aaron lay on Aaron's bed. They were both on top of the covers with their clothes on watching television. Although Aaron and Dawn were both beginning to realize how much they loved each other, neither of them were really eager to advance their relationship physically. Neither of them thought they were ready for that.
"So what do you want to do tonight?" Dawn asked Aaron.
"I thought we were patrolling?" Aaron said to Dawn. The groups for that night's patrol were Colleen, Holly, and Jordan and then Mike, Aaron, and Dawn.
"I mean after that?" Dawn asked Aaron.
"Bronze I guess," Aaron said. "And then me and you could get a movie or something and come back here."
Dawn pulled herself closer to Aaron. "That's sounds good."
"So how has your training been going?" Aaron asked Dawn. Aaron knew how important it was for Dawn to learn to fight. Ever since she had regained the knowledge of her existence as the Key Dawn had been eager to make the most she could out of herself.
"It's going good," Dawn told Aaron. "I mean, I'm nothing compared to Buffy or Colleen but I'm learning."
"You shouldn't really compare yourself to them," Aaron told Dawn. "They're slayers. That's setting the bar a little high."
"I know," Dawn said. She sighed a little. "It's just that I've been around for so long and really, I haven't done anything. As long as I've existed and I've never really been a positive benefit on the world."
"I disagree with that," Aaron said as he rolled over on top of Dawn. "You've completely changed my life."
Dawn smiled as her and her boyfriend kissed.
*****
"Dad," Mike yelled through his house. "I'm home." Mike didn't really have time to talk. He needed to get upstairs, take a shower, and then get over to Aaron's.
"Mike?" Mr. Dalton called through the house.
Mike sighed. "Who else would it be?" Mike's mother had died when Mike had been really young. He never knew her.
"Can you come in the family room?" Mike's dad called to him. Mike sighed again. He really didn't have time for this.
"Can it wait till tomorrow?" Mike asked. "I'm kind of late."
"No," Mr. Dalton said. "It's important." Reluctantly, Mike stopped and began to run back down the stairs. He got to the family room and wasn't expecting what he saw. Mike's dad was sitting with his girlfriend, Stephanie Coban. The weird part though was Stephanie's son, Jack, was sitting there as well.
"Mike you know Jack right?" Mike's dad asked him. Mike and Jack were in the same grade in school. At one point they had been in the same circle of friends but that was long before Mike had become the Living Vampire. Jack had actually helped the Scooby Gang last year, although Jack didn't really know what he had done.
"Yeah," Mike said as he gave Jack a nod hello. Jack gave him a similar greeting. "What's going on?"
"Stephanie and I have really exciting news that we wanted you two to be the first to hear," Mr. Dalton said as he held his girlfriend's hand. There was a pause that Mike guessed his father did for dramatic suspense. "We're engaged!" Ms. Coban held out her hand to show off her engagement ring.
"That's great," Mike said, genuinely happy for his dad. "Congratulations. I have to go."
"Mike wait," Mr. Dalton said, starting to get impatient with his son's impatience. "That's not all."
Mike sat down with a small sigh that he hoped his dad hadn't heard. He really didn't have time for this.
"Stephanie and Jack are going to be moving in?" Mr. Dalton announced.
"What?" Jack said shocked. This must have been the first he had heard of this little piece of news. "When?"
"As soon as we can sell our house," Stephanie told her son.
Mike and Jack flashed each other a look. Neither of them really knew the other that well and now they were going to be living with each other? This was going to make Mike's life a lot more complicated.
"Dad I'm seriously happy for the two of you but I really am late and I have to go," Mike said as he headed upstairs to his room without waiting to be told no.
*****
"Jack Coban huh," Dawn said while on patrol. "Well I guess there could be worse step brothers to have."
"I'm cool with Jack," Mike said. "I mean, STDs aren't airborne so I'll be safe." Dawn and Aaron both laughed at Mike's joke. "The thing I'm worried about is how I'm going to keep doing our extra curricular activity."
"A step brother might make it hard to sneak out," Aaron said.
"Especially one that could be sneaking out at all time of the night to see his latest conquest," Mike said.
"Being that close to this whole thing," Dawn started, "He's going to find out sooner or later."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Mike said. "I would feel relieved to know what exactly is out there."
"I think in most cases ignorance is definitely equivalent to bliss," Aaron agreed with Dawn."
"So you would be against Plan: Just Tell the Truth?" Mike asked his friends.
"Telling someone like that is almost not fair," Dawn said.
"Speaking of not fair," Aaron said when he spotted Colleen, Holly, and Jordan in the cemetery that they were patrolling, "It's not fair to try to steal our kills. This is a competition."
"No it isn't," Jordan said.
"Yeah whatever," Aaron said.
"What are you guys doing here?" Mike said as he pulled out his schedule for that's night's slaying. Aaron had in fact begun making schedules to help them optimize their efforts. "We definitely have this cemetery tonight."
Colleen pulled out her schedule. "Whoops," she said. "I guess we went the wrong way after our last spot."
"I wouldn't consider it a total loss," a new voice said from behind the group. Everyone turned to see Cassio standing not that far away from them. "At least not from my perspective."
"Is this Cassio?" Mike asked.
Colleen nodded. "That's him." She talked to Cassio. "Six against one really isn't looking good for you Cassio."
Cassio looked around. "Oh I guess I did forget to bring my vampire lackeys." He shook his head in a mock form of disappoint. "What could I have been thinking?" Cassio snapped his fingers. Suddenly from all sides robed figures surrounded the Scooby Gang. "Maybe that I would have the Cult of Luther on hand?"
None of the Scoobies were extra worried as the Cult attacked them. From what they could tell, the Cult appeared to be human. However, when one of the members stood in front of Holly and waved his hand in front of her, leaving Holly paralyzed, everyone got a lot more worried. One by one, almost all of the Scoobies were neutralized. The last Scooby capable of moving was Dawn, but the three men quickly approaching heard didn't look good for her.
"Dawn," Jordan spoke directly into Dawn's mind. "You have to teleport and get out of here." Dawn looked confused. She didn't want to leave her friends but if she was captured she couldn't really help them. "Do it!" Jordan urged her. Right as the men were in range green energy danced around Dawn and she disappeared.
"Well that's disappointing," Cassio said as he approached the Scoobies who were all frozen in place. "But all things considered, five out six isn't bad."
*****
Dawn appeared in her room right beside her bed. When she materialized she instantly fell onto the bed. She came close to falling asleep but she knew that she couldn't do that. After lying down gathering her strength for a few minutes Dawn stood back up. She walked over to the weapon's chest that sat at the foot of her bed. After rummaging threw it she pulled out a small dagger and a broad sword. She closed the chest and walked over to her dresser. She opened a drawer and pulled out a silver locket that Aaron had given her. She put the locket in her hand and opened it to see the picture of her and Aaron looking back at her.
"Locate," Dawn said to the locket. A small blue arrow appeared above the locket and spun around a few times before finally settling on a direction. Dawn smiled to herself. Aaron had enchanted this locate so if Dawn ever needed to find Aaron she would be able to.
Dawn put the necklace around her neck and let out a sigh. She knew that she was going to have to do this sooner or later and decided that now was definitely going to have to be the time. Putting her dagger in the waistband of her pants and holding the sword at her side she walked into the family room of her apartment.
"Xander," Dawn said as she interrupted Xander from watching television. "I need your help."
*****
The cemetery where Dawn's friends had been attacked was now deserted. It was quiet and calm until there was a sudden swirl of green energy. As quickly as the swirl appeared it disappeared, leaving only a girl and a man.
"Dawn that was amazing," Xander said as he faced Dawn, holding the sword.
"Thanks," Dawn said as she leaned on Xander for support.
"Dawn, are you okay?" Xander said with concern, helping Dawn stand up.
"I'm fine," Dawn said as she balanced herself. "It's just that teleporting takes a lot out of me."
"Maybe you should rest," Xander suggested.
"There's no time," Dawn told him. They had already wasted a lot of time with explanations. Xander and Anya had wanted to know how Dawn had manifested her ability to teleport. Dawn gave them a very abridged version of the story. They had been concerned but understood that it was something that Dawn needed to do.
Dawn took the locket in her and opened it again. She gave the magic word and the arrow once again appeared. Xander and Dawn walked in the direction it pointed. As they walked, Xander gave a little chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Dawn asked him.
"I never realized it till right now," Xander told Dawn.
"Realized what?" Dawn asked.
"How much you've grown up," Xander said to Dawn. He sighed. "None of us wanted this for you, especially not Buffy. No one wanted you to have to live this kind of a life. We all wanted you to live a normal, safe life."
Dawn's expression changed to a sad one for an instant but then went back to a serious one.
"But the thing is none of us realized that you were going to end up just like her. Just as brave, just as loyal, just as good of a friend," Xander said. "This might not have been what Buffy would have originally wanted, but seeing you now, I know that she would be proud."
"Xander," Dawn said. She had no idea what to say.
Xander pointed at a crypt that they were standing in front of. "I think that's where we're going."
Dawn nodded and closed the locket. Cautiously, she and Xander walked into the crypt. The crypt appeared to be normal until they worked their way to the back. There they noticed an opening that lead to a winding flight of stairs lit by several torches.
"This brings back memories," Xander said as he and Dawn began their decent down the steps. "It's kind of like going to a High School Reunion only without all the fat former cheerleaders."
Dawn and Xander walked down the narrow winding staircase without being able to see the bottom. Eventually, they reached the end, only to be confronted by two guards. Xander meant to try to keep Dawn behind him but before he could do anything she snapped into action. These must not have been the same men that attacked Dawn's friends because they didn't perform the freezing spell.
In less than a minute, Dawn had fought and beat her guard, leaving him unconscious on the ground. Xander also fought his guard, hitting him with the flat side of his sword and then punching him in the face a few times for good measure.
"That was fun," Xander said.
"There will be more," Dawn told him. She pulled out her necklace and checked which was to go. "This way," she said.
*****
In a different room in the underground chamber the other Scoobies were all unconscious and chained to the walls. Jordan and Aaron were both bleeding from their wrists. Standing in front of Mike was Cassio. He took his fingernail and swiped it across Mike's wrist. Taking his finger to the bit of blood the trickled out of Mike's cut and tasting it, Cassio's eyes lit up with delight.
"Finally," Cassio said to the monk who was in charge of the cult, "I was starting to get nervous."
"This is
the one?" the monk asked Cassio. Cassio nodded his head yes. The monk
approached Mike and held his hand above Mike's chest. The palm of his hand gave
off a white light. "There's magick at work here."
"What kind of magick?" Cassio inquired.
"Powerful white magick," the monk told him. "It keeps this boy's soul in place."
"So I'm guessing that my Ladron isn't going to be able to get past this magick," Cassio said.
"No it won't," the monk told him.
"Can you reverse the spell?" Cassio asked.
The monk shook his head. "You're going to have to find out exactly what spell is causing this."
"Huh," Cassio said with a sigh. "That could be a problem."
Suddenly, Dawn and Xander burst into the room. While Cassio was shocked Xander was able to shove his sword through Cassio's gut. Although it didn't kill him, it did cause him a lot of pain. Xander punched him in the face and Cassio stumbled back. Xander turned around only to be face to face with the monk. The monk waved his hand and Xander was frozen. As the monk turned around he was face to face with Colleen, who knocked him out before he got the chance to knock her out again.
Dawn meanwhile was doing the same thing to Aaron that she had to Dawn. Holding him around the waste she teleported the both of them a few feet away to remove him from his shackles. Once he was out of the chains he woke back up.
"What happened?" Aaron asked.
"Later," Dawn said, still holding onto Aaron, "Free the others," she told him.
Aaron pointed towards Holly, Mike, and Jordan's shackles individually and each time he said "Liberato," and each time his friend dropped to the floor free of the chains.
Meanwhile, Colleen fought with the injured Cassio. Colleen's stakes had been taken from her while she was chained up. The sword was on the other side of the room so Colleen was just trying to keep him at bay.
"Colleen," Aaron said getting Colleen's attention, "We have to go." Colleen knew that more members of the cult would be on their way. She reluctantly gave Cassio one last blow and stood in a close group with her friends. They were encased in a green glow and then they were gone.
*****
"Colleen is really a good fighter," Xander said from the front seat of Aaron's jeep. Mike and Dawn were in the back. Xander was trying to make small talk. "I mean, from what I saw she seemed to have the whole Slayer thing down."
"Yeah," Dawn said. "Buffy would be happy that she took her place."
There was a pause after talking about Buffy. "So Mike," Xander said breaking the silence, "Do you have a date yet for the Homecoming dance?"
"Not yet," Mike said when Aaron stopped in front of his house, "But I have an idea. See you guys tomorrow," Mike said as he walked to his house. Mike did have someone in mind, and he wasn't sure how his friends were going to react, but he hoped that she would say yes.
*****
Author's Note: So what do you guys think of the special guest star? As always, any feedback whatsoever would be appreciated. The next chapter should be a good one because it's all about the big school dance.