Chapter One

Disclaimer: I think it's bluntly obvious that nothing here is mine. Everything is credited to Joss Whedon, my TV god and meanie at the same time

Willow Rosenberg sighed, turning around to face her television. She began flipping through the channels, finding nothing good. She sighed, growing very bored. She frowned, knowing that her life must have been the most screwed up life she had heard of.

In most towns, if a person were to walk in there and say "Hey, wanna kill some vampires?", they would probably be sent to a mental institution. But not Sunnydale. This town is reined by vampires. No decent human would ever even think about going outside one second after sunset. Police officers on the night shift always quit as soon as they found out their shift.

Willow sighed, remembering Buffy. She had come to Sunnydale in 1997, transferring from some school in Los Angeles. When she first saw her, Willow thought that Buffy Summers was just another one of Cordelia's friends and no one special. Just someone else who would be mean to her, teasing her through graduation. Then she found out about vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. And that they were real. And Buffy was Chosen to stop them.

She had been happy. This girl, a superhero person and she had picked Willow as her best friend. Then that year, right around some big dance at the Bronze, Willow couldn't quite remember what, an ancient evil vampire was supposed to rise. He had bitten Buffy and then drowned her. Angel, Buffy's vampire crush, was got there shortly after but since he had no breath, he couldn't bring her back. By the time he got her to Mr. Giles, the librarian and Buffy's Watcher, it was too late.

Willow sighed once more, wishing things could just go back to the way they were before. Back then, in Sunnydale 1997. Things now were total chaos everywhere; hell let loose on Earth. Since no one had been able to kill the Master, he was still undead, residing at the Sunnydale Mall along with his band of vampires, including the first woman Willow had ever loved, Kendra.

Willow knew that Kendra had never shared the same feelings that she had, but she still cared about Kendra with all her life. Kendra had been called to Sunnydale the day following Buffy's death. She was the new Chosen One, there was nothing that could stop that.

Except the Master.

While on patrol with Giles and Willow, Kendra had decided to run ahead, for she knew of a place where vampires would be gathered, but she thought that the best way to kill them would be to have her go ahead with Giles and Willow following behind them. Her plan probably would have worked, provided that the Master didn't know about it. But, since he did, Kendra never saw the harsh light of day again. The Master had created history that night. And Kendra was the first Slayer ever to be sired.

Willow sighed, pulling herself out of her misery, walking over to the door, opening it. She smiled at the young teenaged girl in front of her. "Dawn, hey," she said with a smile as she opened the door a bit more to let Faith's sister inside.

Faith was the Slayer called once Kendra had been turned. Dawn had been sent to Faith for protection in the form on Faith's younger sister. Not that the Slayer had actually cared what anyone thought. Sure, she had protected the little girl, but only because it was her duty. In the end, Faith had been killed by Vampire Kendra, summoning the current Slayer, Kennedy. Giles had taken Dawn under his arm, raising her as her legal guardian.

But things with the Watcher were not right. Technically, he was not the Watcher to any slayer besides Buffy. But all the Slayers came to Sunnydale because of all the evil, their Watchers coming with them. Most of the Watchers have been killed within their first day or so, thus causing Giles to train the Slayers.

"Hey Willow," Dawn began as she stepped inside the apartment. "Is Tara around, or just you?" she asked curiously, referring to Willow's current girlfriend. The two of them had met by chance when Willow and Giles had saved Tara from a vampire on their way home from getting some food. After that night, Tara had given Willow her phone number, just in case Willow would ever need anything. They had been dating ever since.

"Tara's at the university studying," Willow began, wondering how on earth Tara could keep up with her schoolwork during times like these. Even Willow herself had chosen not to go to college for fear that one of her later classes might run a bit too late and she would find herself victim to the next vampire. But she still learned since she was fortunate enough to help Tara study often. "Why?"

"Well, Giles is circling around the building," Dawn explained. "He wants me to bring the two of you out. He said there's something important and he and Kennedy are going to need some magickal help."

Willow nodded. Magick was another one of the numerous glues that held her and Tara together. Through their combined power, the two of them could do almost anything the white magicks had to offer, as well as a few things dealing with darker magicks. "Well," she started, "if you give me a minute to change and run a crush through my hair, I'll be right there then we can pick up Tara."

Dawn nodded. "Alright, that seems fair," she stated as she headed out of the apartment. "And I still find that ceiling fan very attractive," she said with a smile.

"I know you do," Willow said as she shooed Dawn out of the way. "And I don't mean to be rude, but I do have to change," she said with a laugh.

Dawn nodded again. "Right. I'll be with Mr. Giles in the car," she said as she closed the door to Willow's apartment before rushing quickly out to the car.

Willow smiled gratefully as she rushed over to her bedroom and over to her closet, quickly scanning it for dark colors. Vampires were quickly drawn to anything bright and the last thing Willow would want to do would be to draw attention to herself. She sighed, grabbing a brown sweatshirt and hastily putting it on as she searched for black pants.

After successfully changing Willow scanned the apartment for a bunch of crosses, stakes, and holy water. According to Dawn, Giles always kept piles and piles of garlic in his car. Feeling quite confident with herself, Willow walked out of the apartment, locking all five locks as she did such. One can never be too safe in Sunnydale. She knew vampires could not enter a private residence, and she was proud to say that no vampire had ever crossed that threshold, not even Angel. But a demon could enter and that was not something she and Tara needed.

"Thank god!" Giles said as Willow jumped into the passenger seat. As soon as the door was closed, Giles floored the accelerator.

"Woah, you're a speed demon?" Dawn asked as she raised an eyebrow at her guardian.

"Nope," Kennedy said, shaking her head as she peered out the darkened back window of the van. "We've got company."

"Company in form of who?" Willow asked as she reached for one of her crosses. "Vampires? Demons?"

Kennedy squinted slightly to catch a slightly better look. "Vampires," she announced.

"Random?" Giles asked as he kept driving.

Kennedy shook her head once more. "Not so much."

"Spike and his group?" Dawn asked with a gulp.

"Everyone," Kennedy announced. "Spike, Drusilla, Kendra, Cordelia, everyone."

Willow nodded. Spike and Drusilla had come to Sunnydale shortly after Kendra had been killed by the Master, thinking Sunnydale would basically be a Slayer-less town. And Cordelia...Willow chuckled slightly. Of all the people she had thought might get sired, Cordelia was never one of them. Especially considering who the former cheerleader's sire was. She sighed. Cordelia had been sired by her old friend Jesse the night of the Harvest. Back when Buffy was still around. Back before Willow had realized she was a lesbian. But after Jesse's death and Buffy's, things were different.

"Willow?" Kennedy asked curiously as she looked over at the witch.

"What?" Willow asked as she once again came back from memory-land. "Sorry"

"Save it," Giles commanded as he stopped the van. "We have work to do," he said as he stepped out, armed with crosses, holy water, and garlic.

"Right," Kennedy added as she too stepped out, everyone else following in her lead.