Once again, I forgot to update this story on this site. I finished this chapter about 5 weeks ago. I'm about to start chapter 10 and realized my oversight. I hope you enjoy the update. Sorry for the long wait!

Chapter 9: It's about the Blood

******A Week Ago, in Sunnydale*****

Willow and Xander were walking home after going to the movies. Oz didn't like it when Willow went out after dark, but he had a gig out of town. Both were being vigilant. Neither realized they were very close to a certain demon bar.

"So, when do you think Buffy's going to come back?" Xander asked Willow.

Willow shrugged. "I don't know. She's really liking the whole Yellowstone Ranch cowgirl thing that she's doing," Willow said.

"I'd give a shiny nickel to see the Buffster on a horse," Xander said, grinning. "The slayer slays at ranching in Montana. Who'd have thought that?"

Willow giggled as they walked past the alley.

Little did they know that an employee of Willy's was throwing out trash and overheard their remark. The demon ran into the bar to share his piece of gossip.

******Where We Left Off******

"What's wrong with Buffy?" Lee asked, looking at his dad and Rip.

"Your sister accused Buffy of being a freak," John said, glaring at his daughter.

"What?" Lee asked, glaring at his sister. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because no one can break a neck of a bear as effortlessly as she did. The girl has something wrong with her!" Beth insisted.

Rip was so angry and disappointed that he brushed past her and went out the door to find his daughter.

"Do you want us to lose her when we just found her?" John asked Beth. "We have no real ties to her but what she allows. You don't want to be a mother or even like your own kid, that's your problem. Clearly, you are more broken than I ever dreamed." He moved to stand directly in front of her. "You ever talk like that to her again, and you and I are through."

"You would choose her over me? You barely know her!" Beth exclaimed, angry and hurt.

"It's not about choosing her over you. Damn it, she's your daughter, Beth! I love her first because she is yours, which makes her mine, too," John answered. "You are the only one who cannot see how perfectly she fits into this family, regardless of how different she may be. I don't care if she's the Incredible Hulk, a mutant, or an international spy—whatever the reason she is so physically capable matters not a damn bit to me. It doesn't matter to Lee or any of her uncles, or to Rip, we just love her. It's sad that your heart is so closed off that you can't even manage to love your own daughter, Beth."

With that, John turned and left to follow Rip, who was almost in the barn. Buffy was so fast that a horse was required to catch up to her.

Lee looked sad as he gazed at Beth. As the oldest, he and Beth had a very special relationship. It was to Lee that Beth ran to as a young girl whenever Kayce or Jamie made her mad, or a boy at school pissed her off, or upset her. Lee understood more than any of her siblings just how damaged their mother's death had left her. Kayce, not Beth, was the one who shared what happened to their mother, Evelyn, after her horse bucked her and fell on top of her. The horse had gotten spooked because of Beth. According to Kayce, in their mother's dying moments, she looked at Beth and said, "She did this. Let her undo it." Beth ran and got their father, but their mother was dead by the time he returned.

Both Lee and their father assured her, it wasn't her fault. The horse wasn't as well trained as it obviously should have been. A child, who wasn't even riding the horse, shouldn't have upset a horse like that just because she was crying and scared. Beth, though, never got over it. She hated horses from that moment on, and she never forgave herself.

"Beth, it's okay to love your daughter," Lee finally told Beth. "You're not Mom. You don't need to make Buffy feel the way Mom made you feel."

Lee's words left her stricken, and she quickly turned and all but ran to her room.

Lee sighed in resignation and went outside, hoping he would catch up with his family and find his niece.

Buffy was already in the woods, and she kept running.

All she could think about was her mother, Joyce, telling her to not come back if she left to fight Angelus. Her bio mom, Beth, calling her a freak, demanding she tell them her truth. Buffy, though, didn't want them to look at her in fear or pity if they found out her truth. She didn't want Rip to reject her, too. Her adopted father, Hank, hadn't wanted her this summer or any of the breaks in the school calendar. It was like out of sight, out of mind with him. Finding Rip was a gift she hadn't realized she wanted. Giles was her mentor and male role model; he loved her. Buffy knew that, but he was not her father. Rip was, and he had been proud of her the past few weeks. Buffy could sense his approval and growing affection.

Now, it was all in ashes because Beth was broken in ways that not even Buffy could mirror or understand. The viciousness inside of her seemed endless, and Buffy didn't know what she did to deserve it. All she knew was she didn't want to be around the woman any longer.

Finally, the darkness was making it harder to see, so she slowed down.

That's when she heard a growl.

By the time John and Rip made it to the tree line, they could hear a fight taking place.

"What the hell's happening?" John asked as he jumped off his horse. He grabbed his rifle and a flashlight while Rip did the same.

Both shined their flashlights into the woods and saw Buffy surrounded by a gang of men. She was fighting them in a way that blew their minds. They knew how capable and strong that she was, but neither man dreamed that she could move like this. Buffy was moving and ducking and kicking like she fought this way all the time.

"Buffy, move out of the way," John ordered as he aimed his rifle.

Buffy glanced up and mentally groaned. "Grandpa, get back. A gun won't hurt them much," she said as she stabbed one in the heart.

Rip looked in disbelief as it turned to dust. "What the hell?" he exclaimed.

John shot his rifle anyway at the one creeping up on her. The man howled and glared at John, who finally realized the faces were all wrong. "What are they?" he asked as his heart raced in fear.

Lee was now running up on his own horse, jumping off quickly and grabbing his own gun as he heard his father shoot. "Who are they?" he asked.

"What are they is a better question," John replied. "Buffy, how can we help?"

"They are vampires. You have to stab them in the heart with wood," she said as she demonstrated, turning another to dust.

The three cowboys were more than a little rattled, but they were used to dealing with dangerous situations and quickly rallied. Rip pulled one off his daughter while Lee grabbed a large stick and broke it in half, giving a piece to his dad.

John was determined to help his granddaughter fight these monsters and wasted no time in stabbing one in the heart after he dodged a hit from the vampire. Relief filled him as it turned to dust. He forgot to pull out his stick, however, so he was once again without a weapon. Then Lee hollered, and John moved to help him.

Buffy was a bit anxious to have her new family see her fight vampires, but it was good to see that they were quickly adjusting. It was something that should not have surprised her since they had been raised much differently than her. If she had been raised in the Dutton family, she might have taken her calling more in stride. However, her life as a spoiled Los Angeles princess had not prepared her for a life of death and demon guts or expulsion and isolation. The men who worked with her father and her family were some of the strongest and toughest men that she had ever met. Now she was about to find out how much they could handle.

Lee was on the edge of panic as this insanely strong guy with a deformed face was trying to bite him with his very sharp teeth. The teeth looked like fangs. Was his niece telling the truth?

"I will drain you dry," the man said.

Lee let out a screech of terror as his father pulled the monster away. Before either man could do much, Buffy was there, kicking out with her foot, knocking the thing so hard into the nearby tree that leaves fell.

Before any of the men could move, she was jabbing her piece of wood into a vampire that was attacking Rip.

"No one hurts my father!" she yelled. Then she quickly threw the stake into the vampire who had hit the tree and was back on his feet.

The men watched as the last one turned to dust, but Buffy didn't relax. She anxiously peered into the woods.

"Is that the last of them?" John asked.

Buffy shook her head. "No. At least three took off," she said. "I'm not sure why they'd be up here."

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" John asked, moving closer to check her out, shining his flashlight over her.

"I'm fine," she said, giving him a small smile. "Are you guys okay?"

"I'm never going to sleep again," Lee said with a shudder. "I might need you to sleep in my room tonight to protect me from the monsters that have invaded our land!"

Surprised but amused by his response, Buffy laughed as her father just pulled her into a hug.

"You are so amazing in every way," Rip whispered into her ear as he held her. "I am sorry about Beth. She's got a lot of cacti in her, but that's not all she is. I hope you won't let her run you off."

"No one who can fight monsters the way Buffy does would ever run from a few verbal insults from my daughter," John said, giving her a pointed look.

Buffy sighed. She was so outmaneuvered by all of them. "Aren't you guys just a little bit concerned that Beth has a point?" she asked.

"Beth is the freak," Lee said. "She's been given this amazing gift of finding out the baby she thought was dead is alive. She believed that she'd never be a mother, and now she is. Instead of being happy, she is a big ole bitch. We love you and your crazy ninja skills. So, is there a school I can go to? I want to learn those ninja moves, too!"

Buffy never felt so immediately accepted in her life as she did in that moment. Her uncle was so damn cool, and she loved him in that moment so completely. He would never know how much she needed that right then. Her father looked at her with the same love and pride, and she stared up at her grandfather.

"It's my turn," he said, holding out his arms.

Buffy didn't hesitate to run into his arms. Somehow, her grandfather's arms made her feel so safe even though she knew that she was the stronger of the two.

Her mother, Joyce, had come around to accepting Buffy, and Buffy missed her. Knowing she was adopted didn't really change how she felt about her mother. It made her feel differently about herself. However, the Duttons shared the same blood as her, and when she was with them, she just knew.

It was always about the blood. This was her family, and no one was going to make her feel like she didn't belong with them.

*****To Be Continued*****

Season 5 premieres tonight, so I hope you enjoyed this. Reviews are great. Thanks!