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.
*****
Holly was sleeping peacefully on top of Mike's bed. Her clothes were on and she wasn't even under the covers. She had just been incredibly tired after school but still wanted to go over to Mike's house. When she had decided to stay up late studying for her French test she hadn't considered what kind of consequences it would have on her afternoon.
Mike smiled as he watched Holly sleep. He was lying next to hear idly playing with her long blonde hair. She looked so calm when she was sleeping. When she was sleeping, there was a small smile on her lips. Holly didn't smile a lot while she was awake. Although she didn't walk around looking like she was devastated, she just wasn't the kind of person that smiled in excess. Mike loved her smile though.
Mike thought about waking Holly up, but he thought that it would be better if she got some rest. The Scooby Gang had been really busy lately. The army of vampires that seemed to roam the streets of Sunnydale every night had gone from curious to alarming. Everyone had hoped that the sudden increase would go away just as quickly as it happened, but it had been going on for months now. Something had to be done and soon. It takes a lot of humans to keep that many vampires sustained.
Wanting to get something to drink, Mike got up off of his bed. He made sure to get up slowly so he didn't wake up Holly. Walking from his room to the steps he passed by Jack's room. He paused while he was passing his room. He heard not one but two voices coming from the other side of the door. Curious, Mike knocked on Jack's door before walking in. Jack looked over from his computer and gave Mike a smile. Sitting next to Jack was Eben.
"Hey Mike," Jack greeted his soon to be step brother. "What's going on?"
"Nothing much," Mike said, trying to not obviously give Eben an inspecting eye, "Just got a little bored in my room and decided to come see what you were up to."
"I thought Holly was over?" Jack said, still looking at Mike who was now sitting at the foot of Jack's bed.
"She fell asleep," Mike explained. "I didn't want to wake her up."
"Tired her out," Jack said with a wicked smile. Mike tried to laugh off his comment but knew that he was blushing, despite him and Holly not really progressing to that point in their relationship yet.
There was a silence in the room after Jack's comment. Jack looked to Eben and then back to Mike. "Oh yeah," Jack said. "Mike do you know Eben?"
Mike nodded, looking Eben directly in the eye. "Yeah we met a few times."
"What's up," Eben said, giving Mike a friendly greeting while never breaking the eye contact.
Jack noticed the tension that seemed to exist between Mike and Eben but didn't really comment on it. Instead he tried to carry on a normal conversation. The conversation mostly consisted with Jack talking to Eben and Mike without Mike or Eben talking to each other. Eventually, Jack excused himself to use the restroom.
"So," Eben said after Jack was out of hearing range. "What do you want?"
"What do you mean what do I want?" Mike tried not to completely flip out. "This is my house. What the Hell are you doing here?"
"I'm hanging out with my friend," Eben told Mike very matter-of-factly.
"Do you think I'm stupid or something," Mike said, quickly loosing patience with Eben. "Let's review the facts. A new string of evil comes into Sunnydale and at the same time you conveniently show up and strike up a friendship with the one person at Sunnydale High School who lives with me while at the same time making no efforts to have any ties to the people you knew before you came here. Forgive me if I'm feeling a little paranoid."
"You're not jealous or anything are you?" Eben gave Mike a small smile that made Mike want to punch Eben in the face more than he already did.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Mike demanded of Eben.
"I wouldn't blame you," Eben continued. "I mean, first your girlfriend and then your step brother, I would feel threatened too."
Mike snapped. Without even really thinking about what he was doing he took a swing at Eben. He should have connected hard with Eben's chin but all he hit was air. Eben teleported a few feet away to avoid the attack. Mike spun around and attempted to go after Eben again but Eben stopped him by levitating him a foot off the ground. Mike swung in vain but couldn't come close to hitting him.
"Calm down," Eben said with sudden seriousness. He set Mike down just as Jack entered the room.
"So do you guys want to play some X-Box or something…" Jack trailed off as he watched Mike storm past him and out of the room.
Mike walked all the way back to his room and made it a point to slam his door behind him. The sound was so loud that Holly instantly sat up in bed. Mike looked over at her and felt like an ass for being inconsiderate enough to not remember that she was sleeping.
"Sorry," Mike said. He was obviously still pissed off.
"What's the matter?" Holly asked him.
"Whatever is going on with these vampires coming after me," Mike stated, "I think Eben knows more than we do."
"So what can we do about it?" Holly asked.
"I don't know," Mike admitted, "But we're going to do something soon."
*****
"I already tried," Colleen complained as the Scooby Gang sat in the lounge of the school before classes started. "He said no."
"Yeah but he also said no about the dance," Jordan pointed out. "But he changed his mind about that."
"He made it pretty clear that he wasn't interested in becoming a Scooby," Colleen responded.
"I'm sorry," Holly interjected, "But that's such a stupid name."
"It's worth a shot," Dawn told Colleen, ignoring Holly's comment. "It's not like we couldn't use him on our side."
"He's up to something," Mike said point blank. "I think he knows what I am."
"Keep in mind that he has absolutely no evidence to back that claim up," Aaron pointed out. Mike flashed Aaron a look of ingratitude for not helping him. "Hey, the kid creeps me out too. I'm just speaking the truth."
"Mike does have a point though," Holly defended her boyfriend. "Why out of everyone at Sunnydale High School would Eben possibly want to befriend Jack? Especially after he gave us the distinct impression that he wanted nothing to do with anything like friends."
"So what do you want me to do?" Colleen asked.
"Why don't you just try to see if he does actually know about Mike?" Jordan asked Colleen. "Maybe he can shed some light on what's going on."
Colleen sighed. "Okay," she said. "I'll try."
Aaron rolled his eyes at her. "Don't even act like you don't want to talk to him."
*****
Aaron had parked his car a full ten minutes without getting out of it. He sat in the driver's seat with Dawn right next to him in the passenger seat. Although they both had empty apartments waiting for them upstairs, they stayed in Aaron's car kissing passionately.
"Mmm," Dawn said as she took her lips off of Aaron's.
"I second that," Aaron said with a smile as he leaned back into Dawn. She backed away from him.
"Let's go upstairs," she said. "This middle compartment is digging into my side."
Aaron pretended to be annoyed. "Fine, if comfort is that important to you I guess we can get out of the car." Aaron smiled as they both got out of the car and walked up the steps from the parking garage into the building.
"Let's go to my apartment," Dawn said as Aaron tried to stop at his floor. "Anya and Xander are both at work."
"Do you have something against my place?" Aaron asked Dawn.
Dawn laughed at him. "No," she told him, "It's jus that we're there all the time."
"Can I help it if my parents are always out of town?" Aaron said to her while they walked towards her apartment.
"Does that ever bother you?" Dawn asked while she unlocked the door. "That your parents are never there?"
Aaron shrugged. "Not really," he told Dawn as he pulled back the hair that was covering her neck and kissed the exposed part of her shoulder. "Especially now that I have you to keep me company."
Dawn laughed as she leaned back against the door while Aaron kissed his way up from her shoulder and then onto her lips. Suddenly, she didn't feel the door behind her to lean on and her and Aaron both crashed to the floor inside the apartment, landing in a very compromising position.
Aaron pushed himself off of Dawn and looked up to see Xander holding the door open and Anya with someone he didn't know in the family room looking at him lay on top of his girlfriend.
"Yeah um," Aaron said as he stood up, blushing a bright shade of red. He reached out towards Dawn and helped her up. "Give me a call later," he said to Dawn. He turned to Xander and Anya and gave them quick good byes before he was out the door.
Dawn wasn't as lucky. She had to stay in the room and take what was coming to her. Reluctantly, she met her guardians in the eye and for the first time saw the other man in the room.
"Giles," Dawn said with excitement as she ran over and gave the British man a hug.
"Don't think that I'm going to help you get out of trouble," Giles said with a smile while he returned Dawn's hug.
"Dawn," Xander said while he shut the door. "We need to talk."
*****
Colleen paced nervously while she waited for Eben to get done at his locker. She still had yet to really get a chance to talk to him after Homecoming. She was slightly nervous which was making her worried. She had a fairly good idea what any relationship with Eben would be like if it were even possible and she wasn't really eager to try it. She hoped that her nervousness was for a completely unromantic reason.
Colleen didn't have time to ponder her feelings much longer because before she knew it Eben was walking towards her down the hall. She tried to keep to the shadows and when Eben was right in front of her she grabbed him and pulled him into the closet with her.
"What are you doing?" Eben asked Colleen after he figured out what had happened.
"We need to talk again," Colleen said to Eben as she locked the door. She turned around and looked towards the taller boy and noticed that he looked a little bit nervous. At first it confused her, but then she realized what he must have been thinking. "No I didn't mean that we are…I mean, not that I wouldn't be…Well I mean, it's not like…" Colleen and Eben were suddenly both very embarrassed and turned away from each other. In the back of her mind, Colleen actually found it a little funny that despite how hard Eben tried to be a badass that he could actually be nervous about being in a closet with a girl.
"Let's try this again," Colleen said. "Enough is enough. The vampire situation is starting to get out of control. You know something that we don't and it's stupid for us to be keeping information from each other."
"What makes you think that I have information that you don't?" Eben asked Colleen. Colleen was now fully aware of how awkward Eben felt in this situation. She decided that she should fully take advantage of the situation. Not because she wanted to, but for the sake of the world.
"I don't know," Colleen said with a playful smile as she took a step towards Eben. With her Slayer senses, she noticed the way that Eben began to sweat a little. "I mean, it's just I feeling I have. Right here." Colleen put her hand on Eben's chest and tried not to smile while she felt how fast his pulse went.
"I'm sure that if you did have information," Colleen said as she started talking lower and leaning in closer to Eben. "We could figure out some sort of an exchange."
"An exchange?" Eben repeated.
"A reward," Colleen said, talking lower and leaning in closer to Eben.
"A reward," Eben said, doing the same thing that Colleen had done.
"Okay?" Colleen asked in a whisper, her lips about an inch from Eben's lips.
"Okay," Eben whispered as he leaned in to kiss Colleen.
"Okay," Colleen said in a normal tone as she suddenly moved quickly to the closest door and unlocking it. "Come to the Magic Box around 6:00."
With that, Colleen left a very confused Eben in the closest and began walking towards the exit of the school with a broad smile on her lips.
*****
All throughout Cassio's lair were scattered books and other volumes. Each of the volumes had something in common with each other. They all provided absolutely no information about the Living Vampire. However, Cassio's luck had suddenly changed. Now Cassio had a lead in the form of the Oracle.
"So this is the big competition that I keep hearing all about," Cortez announced his presence with his arrogant voice booming through the abandoned warehouse that Cassio choose as a lair. Cassio suddenly closed his book and threw it under a pile of other books while he stood up, looking for the sound of the voice. He finally saw that Cortez was staring right at him, flanked on each side by three rough looking vampires.
"Huh," Cortez said as he eyes Cassio up. "I was expecting a little bit more."
"So you must be Cortez," Cassio said as he tried to not feel intimidated by the older vampire's presence. Slowly his minions were beginning to flank his side. "I heard that you were in Sunnydale."
"Probably for the same reason as you," Cortez said. He walked forwards and right past Cassio without even flinching. Cortez eyed through all the papers on the table and Cassio hoped that he wouldn't see the book on the floor.
"Which is the same reason that every vampire is getting to Sunnydale as soon as they can," Cassio tried to keep up the conversation.
"The prophecies are all pointing towards this time," Cortez agreed. "And the word at Willy's is that you have a big lead on the prime candidate."
"Is that so," Cassio said. He began to back up and lean against another table. Cortez looked up from the information on the table and back over to Cassio. He noticed the way he seemed to try to cover something on the table.
"Yes it is," Cortez said as he walked towards Cassio. Not only was Cortez older than Cassio but he was also taller and all around bigger. Standing right in front of Cassio, he could easily see over Cassio's head and down to the table behind him.
"What's this," Cortez said as he reached passed Cassio and picked up a book from the table. The book was the Sunnydale High yearbook opened to a page with Mike Dalton's picture circled in red ink. Cortez smiled and slammed the book shut.
"Thanks Cassio," he said as he patted the younger vampire on the shoulder. "And don't worry about this. I'm sure you'll have your time one day."
Cassio didn't move from the spot where he stood until Cortez and his men had left with broad smiles on their faces. Once he heard the door shut, he allowed himself to relax. He angrily walked over to the table he was at before and grabbed the book he threw under the table and began to read again.
"I'm sure my day will come too," Cassio mumbled to himself. "Asshole."
*****
"What's going on?" Dawn asked Xander, Anya, and Giles as they sat down in the family room. "Shouldn't you guys be at work?"
"Dawn," Xander said, "Some things have happened that we need to talk about."
Dawn tensed up a little bit. Despite trying to be honest with her guardians she still had a lot of secrets that she kept from them. "What's going on?" Dawn asked.
"There's going to be some changes," Xander began to try to explain what was happening. He thought it would be best if they broke the news slowly. "Dawn-"
"I'm pregnant," Anya gleefully announced abruptly, completely interrupting Xander.
"Oh my God!" Dawn exclaimed with a broad smile on her face. Her and Anya both stood up and embraced in a big hug. "Anya that's incredible."
"I know isn't it," Anya said to her. "I mean, first we have you as our fake child but then now we get to have a real child of our own."
Dawn ignored Anya comment. "Yeah, that's um, great." She was still really happy though and they hugged again.
"Congratulations," Dawn said to Xander as she sat back down on the couch next to Giles. "But why did Giles have to here for this?"
"Well," Xander said. "That's the other news."
"Anya and Xander's too be arrival isn't the only change," Giles began to explain.
"Some other stuff has come up," Xander continued. "Dawn-"
"Xander got a promotion which is going to mean much more money and much more space to live in and in a whole new state," Anya again interrupted her husband.
"Anya, can you let me get a sentence out?" Xander asked Anya.
"You're moving?" Dawn said in shock. "We're moving? Xander, I can't move. You know I have things going on right now that I just can't abandon." Dawn looked nervously over at Giles. She wasn't sure if anyone had told him what had been going on with her.
"That's where I come in," Giles began. He took off his glasses and looked towards Dawn. "Dawn, I can't say that anyone is too pleased with your decisions. Furthermore, we're even more concerned with you're new abilities." Dawn looked down at her feet while Giles talked. Giles sighed and continued. "However, we all now that you are Buffy's sister. We're becoming more and more aware of that as you get older. You have the same fire inside of you that she had. Lord knows that there would have been no way to stop Buffy from her calling, even when she thought that was what she wanted. And even though the calling is not yours, you chose it anyway."
Giles had stood up by this point and was pacing the room. "Anyway," he began again after pausing. "With Anya leaving the Magic Box behind I have decided to reclaim my ownership. This means that very soon I'm going to be looking for a house in Sunnydale. And since living in a house by yourself can get very lonesome, I was wondering if you would care to move in as well."
Dawn looked up from her feet and gave Giles a look of awe. Suddenly, she ran from the room and gave the older man a huge hug. Giles smiled to himself and hugged Dawn back.
"Thank you Giles," Dawn said to her sister's former watcher.
"You're welcome," Giles said. After Dawn had let him go he put his glasses back on. "Now don't think that this lets you off the hook for your little display you put on when you came in. I want to sit down with this boy and have a long talk with him."
Dawn was instantly blushing a bright shade of red.
*****
Mike pulled into Holly's driveway and picked her up. They exchanged pleasant greetings and kissed, but Holly could tell that there was something wrong with Mike.
"Okay Mike," Holly said, making her voice sound more serious than it had been. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Mike lied to her.
"Mike," Holly put her hand on Mike's knee and looked into his brown eyes. "Tell me what's going on."
Mike sighed and pulled into the closest parking lot. He parked his car and shut off the engine. "I'm afraid," Mike finally admitted.
"Afraid about what?" Holly asked him with concern.
"I'm afraid of what Eben is going to tell us," Mike had been looking straight ahead into space. He turned to face Holly. "I'm afraid of what I'm going to find out about myself."
Holly hadn't been expecting Mike to say that. "Mike," Holly said, not really knowing what to say. "Whatever information that Eben has it's not going to matter. We know you better than anyone else."
"These last two years," Mike began to stare blankly again. "I've felt like nothing has been in my control anymore. From the time that I found out about vampires and demons, to where I almost died, to where I suddenly have super powers, it just all feels like I'm being strung along. Like someone else is calling the shots in my life. And it all just feels like I'm being set up, like all this buildup is just getting me high enough so I can fall just enough."
"Don't think like that," Holly told Mike. "You can't think that you don't have a say in your own life. Everyone is in control of their own destinies."
Mike laughed a little. "How can you say that when we have spoken to The Powers That Be?" There was a silence for a moment as both Mike and Holly just stared into space. Mike shook his head to himself and spoke quietly. "I've been the boyfriend, the cheerleader, the victim, and now the hero. What if the next part that I'm supposed to play is the villain?"
Holly had heard enough. Grabbing Mike by the sides of his head, she pulled him close and kissed him several times. Holding the last kiss a little longer than the others, Holly slowly pulled back.
"I love you," Holly told Mike. "I know that we haven't been dating for that long but I have loved you for a long time." Tears were coming down Holly's cheeks and Mike was beginning to say the same. "And I love you enough to know that I will never let you become the villain."
Before Mike could respond, Holly leaned back into him and they kissed again.
*****
Jordan walked the entire way from his house to Aaron's apartment. He had no idea why Aaron insisted that he walk to Aaron's apartment instead of just picking him up on their way to the Scooby meeting, but he didn't really mind the walk. Reaching Aaron's door, he knocked and Aaron let him in only a few seconds after he stopped knocking.
"Were you waiting by the door?" Jordan asked in confusion.
"Yes," Aaron admitted.
"And I find myself asking why?" Jordan said to Aaron.
"Well see, Dawn's guardians sort of caught us in a compromising position," Aaron explained to Jordan.
Jordan had to stifle a laugh. "Are you serious?" Jordan asked him.
"Yeah," Aaron told him. "And now I'm too afraid and slightly embarrassed to go over there by myself to get Dawn."
"I see," Jordan said. "And this is where I come in."
"Exactly," Aaron told him as he grabbed his coat. "Are you ready?"
"For distraction duty?" Jordan asked him. "Always."
Jordan and Aaron left Aaron's apartment and walked downstairs towards Dawn. Staring at the door for a moment, Aaron knocked and then held his breath until someone came and opened the door.
"Oh it's you," Anya said as she opened the door, giving Aaron a smile that teased him for what he was caught doing. "Come in," and then she turned and yelled through the apartment. "Dawn, your boyfriend is here."
Aaron and Jordan walked into the apartment and saw Xander and the man that he didn't know sitting in the family room. He couldn't wait for Dawn to come out so they could leave.
"Aaron," Xander said to Dawn's boyfriend, "This is Giles. Giles, the boy you know from earlier is Aaron. The other one is Jordan."
"Ah yes," Giles said. "The psychic."
Jordan flashed Aaron a confused look and Aaron turned to him and just shrugged. Dawn came out just as the introduction had been made.
"Okay," Dawn said as she grabbed onto Aaron's sleeve. "Let's go." The hurry in her voice was evident.
"Not so fast young man," Giles said towards Aaron while Dawn was still pulling him towards the door. "I would like to have a talk with you."
"We're late Giles," Dawn told him when they were at the door. Aaron looked between Dawn and Giles, having no clue what was going on. Jordan followed behind Dawn being even more confused than Aaron.
"Another time then," Giles said, a little bit of annoyance in his voice.
Dawn and Aaron were the first out of the door. Jordan turned towards Giles and Xander. "It was nice meeting you," Jordan said before he shut the door.
"Okay," Aaron said once they were walking to his car. "What was that about?"
"It's a long story," Dawn told him.
"Can I have the cliff notes?" Aaron asked her.
"Xander and Anya are moving," Dawn told him. "Giles is Buffy's old watcher and I'm going to live with him so I can stay in Sunnydale. He wants to have a talk with my boyfriend."
"A talk?" Aaron said mid stride. He stopped. "But he's British."
Jordan and Dawn stopped walking and turned back to stare at Aaron. "What does that have to do with anything?" Jordan asked Aaron.
"British people intimidate me," Aaron explained.
*****
When Aaron, Jordan, and Dawn got to the Magic Box they found Mike, Holly, and Colleen sitting on the curb waiting for them.
"Oh yeah," Dawn said as Aaron went to unlock the door. "Anya closed the shop early today."
"Anya closed the shop early?" Colleen asked in disbelief. "But how will she cumulate more money?"
Everyone laughed as they walked into the shop. Jordan, who was the last person in, almost closed the door on Eben, who had just arrived.
"Sorry," Jordan said as he opened the door and let Eben in.
Eben came into the shop with a backpack on. Colleen noticed the way that he looked slightly embarrassed and awkward and smiled to herself.
"Here," Eben said plainly as he set the backpack on the circular research table. "This is all the information that I have."
Everyone moved to sit around the table and see what Eben had brought. In the backpack were several different books. All of them were collections of various prophecies. There were bookmarks on certain pages which contained information on the Living Vampire.
"And the Living Vampire and the Slayer shall have known each other," Aaron read from the first book he opened. It was the same prophecy that Cortez had said to Colleen that she had in turn told the Scoobies. Aaron continued to go through all of these books.
"Where did you get these from?" Holly asked Eben.
"They were my father's," Eben told her.
"Why did he have these books?" Colleen asked Eben.
Eben just smiled. "Just because I'm helping you doesn't mean I'm becoming one of you. I still have my secrets and you have yours."
"How did you know?" Mike asked as he pulled out a newspaper clipping. It was from last year when Mike had been playing Varsity as a sophomore and the newspaper had done a profile on him. Eben had circled Mike's picture in red ink. Mike did not look happy about finding that among Eben's books.
"I was sent a Vision," Eben said to Mike.
"And you're vision told you that Mike was the Living Vampire?" Jordan asked Eben. Eben nodded. Jordan looked a little disappointed. "How come I didn't get a Vision about it?"
"Maybe because you already knew that?" Dawn said to Jordan while she opened a new book. The book was written in a language that Dawn didn't even recognize. "What language is this?" Dawn asked Eben.
Eben looked over at the book in Dawn's hands. "Oh that one," Eben said. "I don't even know. It was with all of these other books though so it most likely deals with the Living Vampire."
Aaron looked over at the book as well. "I'm not positive," Aaron said as he took the book from Dawn's hands. "But I think this isn't a language at all. It's a code that some occults used a while ago. If this is what I think it is then I have a codec back at my apartment."
"How sure are you that it is that code?" Colleen asked Aaron.
Aaron shrugged. "Not very," he admitted. "But it would be worth a shot to go and get it."
"I'll go with you," Mike told Aaron. "I need to take a break."
No one said anything about the tension between Mike and Eben while Aaron and Mike left the store.
*****
Cooper, one of Cortez's fledglings, patrolled the streets of Sunnydale with two other vampires. Cortez had sent out several of these groups, each with a picture of Mike Dalton in hand. Copper was getting very bored with this whole reconnaissance mission. He would much rather just be ripping the throats out of some patron at the Bronze. However, Cortez was the boss and what ever he said Cooper did.
Cooper was glad that he didn't give up though, because as he walked down a sidewalk he watched as Aaron and Mike drove by in Aaron's Jeep. Smiling, Cooper and the other two vampires chased after the Jeep. Vampires can move incredibly fast when they need to. They can move fast enough to keep up with the Jeep for the 10 blocks to Aaron's apartment building. When Aaron and Mike were getting out of Aaron's car, the three vampires were right by their side.
"Can we help you?" Mike asked the three men that stood in front of him.
"Mike Dalton," Cooper asked. Mike nodded. "Perfect." Cooper and the other two vampires shifted into game face and rushed Aaron and Mike. Mike took less than a second to react and was fighting back against the three vampires, barely keeping them at bay. Aaron stood between Mike and the door to the complex, not sure what to do.
"Go," Mike said. "Go get the book and then get back down here fast."
Aaron nodded and rushed towards the door. Just as he was leaving though, Cooper caught sight of the book in his hands and immediately recognized it as a text called the Davenport Volume. Cooper knew how valuable and rare that book was and attempted to go after Aaron to retrieve it but couldn't get through Mike.
While Mike continued to fight the three vampires, Aaron ran as fast as he could towards his apartment. Once he was in his bedroom he completely wrecked his normally clean room while looking for the codec. He found the book, but in his rush and panic he had forgotten the Davenport Volume in his room.
Aaron quickly left his apartment with the codec in hand. He locked his door and when he turned around Mike was fighting against Cooper and one other vampire in the hallway. Mike had managed to stake one of the vampires in the parking garage and was now in the process of staking the other vampire against one of Aaron's neighbor's door.
Cooper saw that he was now outnumbered. Looking to see what door was Aaron's, Cooper rushed past Aaron and jumped out of the third story window. Aaron and Mike ran to the broken window and looked down to see Cooper running into the streets.
"Where is he going?" Mike wondered out loud.
"Reinforcements?" Aaron suggested.
"For us or for him?" Mike asked.
"Both," Aaron said. "Let's get back to the shop."
*****
"You're sure it was the Davenport Volume?" Cortez asked Cooper while they and several other vampires stood outside of Aaron's apartment door.
"I'm positive," Cooper told him.
"And are you positive that this is the apartment it was in?" Cortez asked him. Cooper nodded. Cortez then knocked on the door several times. Since Aaron was at the store and his parents were once again out of town, no one answered. Cortez waited a minute or so at the door.
"Hmm," he said to himself. "Looks like no one is home." He sighed. "Oh well." He lifted up his hand and snapped his fingers. Several vampires began dumping gasoline on the door and throughout the hallway.
"We're either going to flush that book or keep it out of anyone else's hands," Cortez said to himself with a smile. Once all the cans of gas were emptied Cortez pulled out a book of matches. Lighting one, he lit the match and let it drop to the floor, which immediately created a raging fire. All of the vampires ran to the broken window and jumped out to get away from the fire. Hiding in various places around the apartment building, the vampires waited for the Scooby Gang to arrive on the scene.
*****
Mike and Aaron burst into the Magic Box with only the codec in their possession. "We have trouble," Mike announced.
"What's going on?" Colleen asked. "Where is that other book?"
Aaron looked down at his hands and finally realized that he left the other volume at his apartment. He slapped himself on the forehead, feeling like a moron.
"I must have left it at my place," Aaron admitted.
"And that's the big problem?" Jordan asked in confusion.
"No," Mike told him. "Some vampires attacked us at the apartment complex. One of them ran off."
Holly wrinkled her nose. "I wonder what that is all about."
Suddenly, Dawn's cell phone went off in her purse. She pulled it out and answered it.
"Hello," Dawn said into the phone. "I'm at the Magic Box. Why what's…" Dawn's face contorted into and expression of shocked horror. "No! It can't be…okay…okay…we're on our way." Dawn hung up the phone and everyone looked at her.
"My apartment complex is on fire," she announced. Everyone let out a little bit of a gasp.
"That can't be a coincident," Colleen announced. "We have to get there now." Colleen looked to Dawn and Dawn nodded. Colleen turned to Eben. "Are you coming?" Eben nodded as well. "Then let's go."
Eben wasn't sure what happened, but suddenly they were traveling though a green light.
*****
When they arrived at the apartment complex, the Scooby gang was shocked at how quickly the fire had spread. Dawn looked around frantically and finally saw Xander and Anya. Even though she was a little fatigued from her teleportation, she still raced over to them.
"Where's Giles?" Dawn asked them.
"Back at his hotel room," Xander explained.
"Are you guys okay?" Dawn asked them. They nodded.
"Dawn!" Colleen shouted. Dawn looked to Colleen and then to where Colleen was pointing. Vampires were appearing from all around the perimeter of the complex.
"Looks like we were right," Mike said with a sigh. Colleen, Mike, Holly, and Eben all scattered and started to attack different vampires.
"Dawn," Aaron said as he and Jordan raced over to her. "We need to get into my room and get that book."
Dawn nodded to Aaron but took a final look at the area outside of her apartment building. She watched as people were pouring out of the building and into the hysteria of the much too public fight. The four demon fighters were doing their best to keep their fight in the shadows. Luckily for them, everyone was more preoccupied with the burning building. Dawn watched as a vampire made it past Holly and was coming towards the people leaving the apartment. Xander saw him too and seeing a piece of stray wood he managed to catch the vampire by surprise and stake him. Giving Anya a kiss on the cheek, he went over to try to help the others, punching the vampire that Holly was fighting in the face, knocking him towards her.
"Let's go," Dawn said, and the three of them disappeared in a swirl of green energy."
*****
Aaron's room was incredibly hot, and the flames would be making their way inside at any second. When the three teenagers arrived in the room, they began to cough from the smoke that was quickly replacing the air. Aaron wasted no time and grabbed the book, as well as a few other books and magickal items. He threw them all in a backpack and returned to Dawn's side.
"Do you have everything?" Dawn asked him. Aaron took one last look at his room which would seen be nothing but ash.
"No," Aaron said. "Let's go." With sad expressions on their faces, Dawn teleported the three of them to the Magick Box. When they reappeared, Dawn had to sit down for a moment to rest. Aaron walked towards the back of the store and tried not to think about all of the irreplaceable things that he was losing.
"Dawn," Jordan said as he sat down next to Dawn, "Do you think you can handle a few more jumps?"
"Why?" Dawn asked Jordan.
"There might be people still inside the building," Jordan explained. "I could reach out for them, sense where they are. Dawn, I don't think I could handle someone dying in a fire that was our fault."
Dawn saw the way that Jordan's eyes seemed to plead at her. "Let's go," she told him.
*****
Colleen dusted the vampire she was fighting and was caught by a blow to the back of her head. Turning around, she was confronted with Cortez looking at her with a smile.
"Why?" Colleen asked with a furious whisper.
"Why?" Cortez repeated Colleen's question. He landed another blow to her face. "Isn't the fact that I'm a demon reason enough?"
Colleen and Cortez began to engage in a furious battle. Cortez had managed to knock the stake out of Colleen's hands and it landed far enough away that she wouldn't be able to get it. Even without the chance to dust him, Colleen still fought hard against her opponent.
Cortez knew that there was no chance for him to get the Living Vampire tonight. As he looked around he saw that most of the vampires were already dust because of the four warriors and Xander. When the tables had turned enough that Cortez knew he had to get away, he gave Colleen one last kick to her head and ran off. Although he hadn't won anything that night, he knew that he had dealt a blow to their spirits.
*****
"Is everyone all right?" Xander asked everyone who was gathered at the Magic Box. The six Scoobies, Eben, and Anya all said yes or nodded. Nobody was in any kind of mood to be light or joke.
Colleen and Eben were both towards the back of the store. Colleen turned to him and saw the way that he just watched what everyone else was doing. She moved closer to him.
"Shouldn't you have teleported off by now?" Colleen asked him.
Eben shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure that everyone was okay."
Colleen gave him a smile. "Thanks," she said. "For everything.
*****
Xander, Anya, and Dawn were in Anya office. Before Xander or Anya could open their mouths, Dawn got the first word out.
"I'm not going to change my mind," Dawn told them point blank. "They need me. They need my powers. I'm not going to leave."
"We figured as much," Xander said with a half smile. "Summers women are always the most stubborn."
All three of them had tears that were beginning to form at their eyes and roll down their cheeks. In one night they had lost everything, including their small family. Anya was the first to move. She ran over to Dawn and gave her a hug.
"Don't die, Dawn," Anya told her as she cried. "Don't die. Please?"
Dawn continued to cry as she hugged Anya back. "I won't," she told her. "I promise."
*****
Author's Note: Another longer than I expected chapter. What's going on with me lately? Anyway, as usual, you must now review. Please? Other than that, some other big news. I've started my first story outside of the Sunnydale Universe. I'm going to be continuing Ajaya's story from Kantayra's Seventh Slayer Universe. If you've never read any of Kantayra's incredible fiction then I suggest that you do it now. She's one of the best author's out there.