Chapter Four: New Friends and Old Enemies

One thing that marks Buffy Summers as different from the Slayers that came before is the presence of people in her life. Most previous Slayers only relied on their Watchers. Where possible, Watchers would take potential Slayers out of their homes to train them for the time (if it came) that they were called. If they weren't called, they usually went on to become Watchers. It was a workable system, except some girls always fell through the cracks. That usually didn't matter, but if one of those girls was called it always meant a long period of readjustment for them.

Buffy didn't 'readjust.' She does things her way. It has led to trouble with the Council, but it has also kept her alive much longer than most other Slayers. The presence of friends, who often fought alongside her, is a major force for good in Buffy's life. It is a simple truth: she would be less than what she is if it were not for her friends.

Dawn scowled as she ran home. (Stupid Janice just had to get the cutest little earrings.) The only shop that sold them was halfway across town, meaning that she was now running home after dark. She could take care of herself, but Buffy would freak. (At least she's alive to freak,) a voice that sounded an awful lot like Mom told her. (At least she's okay enough to freak.)

She was jolted out of her reverie by a scream. Dammit. She stopped, and made up her mind. She wasn't Buffy, but she was wearing a cross necklace and did have a stake on her. (Just in case.) She would go to the source, make a distraction, and RUN LIKE HELL!

As she neared the source of the scream, she saw a terrified woman running away and she heard the sound of fighting. Buffy was there. Dawn felt curious. She liked to see her sister in action. A quick look couldn't hurt. She cautiously entered the alley… and saw a strange girl fighting four vamps. For a split second she thought it was Faith, but no. This girl's hair was too dark and too straight.

Cass didn't know what her opponents were, but they were definitely not 'gang members on PCP.' One of the… things charged at Batgirl but she evaded it easily. He swung but she dodged and countered with a right hook to his jaw. His head snapped back but he only looked surprised, probably at the force of her blow. Then he looked angry. His next swing connected.

(Strong and fast. Clearly a meta.) She was supposed to stay away from metas but she had no choice now.

She ducked a second's swing. (Time to end this!) She sprang forward and rolled underneath his legs, sticking a hand up and nailing him in the groin. He went down, clutching himself and moaning. It was a cheap shot but effective.

She heard somebody trying to be quiet. This person was watching. She remembered her lessons. (Deal with the primary targets first, then assess the secondary target and respond accordingly.) She spun and kicked the third in the side of the head. He dropped to all fours, but remained conscious. (He's tough.) She kicked him in the jaw, causing his head to snap back. He collapsed, unconscious.

Turning to gauge the potential second threat, she saw a girl about Robin's age standing at the mouth of the alley. She was holding a wooden stake and her body language was non-threatening. (That's an odd weapon to carry. Small town girls that age would carry pepper spray.) The girl entered the alley and went to the groaning, groin-clutching thing. She aimed her stake at its heart. "What are you doing?" Cassandra demanded. She would have gone to the girl, but Mikey and the other last remaining thing rushed her, hindering her movements.

"Staking the evil undead, duh?" the girl snapped. "Somebody has to do it and you lost your stake!" She plunged her stake into the thing's heart, and it exploded into a pile of dust.

(What the hell?) Cass thought.

"One vampire down, three to go! Woo-hoo!" the girl cheered as she went to the unconscious thing. Was it really a vampire? She knew about vampires. Dick and Tim once made her watch monster movies with them, They tried to scare her after, but she got the jump on them. (Stupid boys.) She remembered that Batman once told her that he had fought vampires before. Vampires must be real. He didn't lie.

"Hey!" Mikey shouted, but Cass punched him in the nose. Her hand hurt but Mikey dropped, whining and blubbering. She saw the girl plunge her stake into the unconscious vampire, and it also turned into dust. Her third opponent looked at her, looked at the girl, looked back at her, and ran off into the night. Mikey got up and followed him, still blubbering.

"Well, two out of four is better than none," the girl said as she came closer. "How'd you lose your stake?"

(What is going on?) Cass thought. She arrived at a snap decision. (Play along. Find out.)

"I dropped it."

The girl winced. "Ouch," she said sympathetically. "You must be pretty new. How long have you been a Slayer anyway?"

(That's what those vampires called me.) She carefully schooled her features into an expression of surprise.

"Who taught you that word?" she asked. The girl grinned.

"Don't worry- I know all about Slayers. My sister's one- well, I guess she's one of the other two. You've been active for about a year, right?"

"Something like that." The girl nodded, as if she expected that answer.

"And the Council never bothered telling you about us." It wasn't a question. The girl looked disgusted. "Why am I not surprised?" She extended her hand. "I guess I oughtta start fixing that. I'm Dawn, Dawn Summers. My sister Buffy's one of the other two Slayers. Faith's the other one."

"Candy," Cass told her as she shook the girl's hand. "Faith?"

"Long story," Dawn told her. "Don't ask. Where's your Watcher?"

(Watcher?) "Doing recon."

"Wow," Dawn said, sounding very impressed. "Your Watcher must be beyond awesome. All the ones I've met have had huge steel rods crammed up their butts, except Giles. Even he was pretty stiff when I first met him."

"My Watcher is really awesome."

"Right on," Dawn grinned. "So what are you here for? Your Watcher hear about some brewing Big Bad we oughtta know about?"

(Uh…) "I can't say in public," she replied evasively. Dawn nodded in understanding.

"Gotcha. Never know what could hear you. Come with me. I'll take you to the Magic Box."

"Magic Box?"

"Yeah. It's kinda our base of operations. It's this way- come on." Dawn started walking away. Cass started thinking frantically.

"What about my Watcher?" she asked. "Shouldn't I get him?"

Dawn slapped her head. "Duh! Sorry, my bad." She turned back to Cass. "Go track down your Watcher, and then come by." Dawn gave her directions. "Got it?"

Cass repeated the directions and nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Cool!" Dawn beamed. "Bye!"

"Bye," Cass waved as the girl left. She considered what she had learned. This town had vampires, but there was a girl here named Buffy that killed them. The vampires could be the cause for the high death rate, and if they were then this Buffy would have to be the cause for the decline in the death rate. She had to tell Batman. He would be very interesting in meeting this 'Buffy Summers.'

Willy was in the back of his bar, getting some more whiskey out. A pack of M'Fashnik demons had just come in, and boy they loved their whiskey.

"Hi Willy," a voice said in his ear. He jumped.

"Oh great," he groaned. (The Slayer.) "What do you want?"

"I want to know about clowns with white skin, green hair, and red lips. You know, the ones that work with vamps."

"I don't know what you're-" he was cut off by her hand on his windpipe. "I mean, I heard they're gonna be having fun at the college tonight. Some archaeology teacher's office."

The hand tightened a bit. "And?"

"And that's all I heard!"

The hand tightened more. "And?"

"And I mean that's all I heard! The people 'round here are terrified of the Joker, and they're really scared of this vamp he's working with, although they also say she's hot." Her hand relaxed.

"See you later, Willy," she called as she sauntered out the way she must have come in.

The Slayer had changed, Willy mused as he rubbed his throat. He'd heard some weird rumours at the end of the summer- first that she was a robot, then she died in that big fiasco with the tower that Glory's minions built- but the girl that was in here was definitely the Slayer. It was just that she changed. Even the underworld noticed. For a long time she fought harder, but with less care, almost like she wanted to die. That changed recently, but she was still off. In the old days, she would have stuck to verbal intimidation, but now she went straight to the physical.

He heard the sound of angry customers, and got the whiskey. "What is the world coming to?" he asked himself as he left the storeroom.

The Batman had quickly shed his Matches disguise before tailing the vampires.

"Are you sure this is where we're goin'?" one of the vampires asked another.

"Yeah. Don't ask me why. It's not like any hot college chicks are gonna be here this time of night."

"We're here because the new boss is psycho!" a third hissed. "She's almost as scary as Drusilla is!"

"I still say you're talking out of your ass when it comes to this 'Drusilla,'" the first muttered. "You make her sound like a total nutjob."

"That's 'because she is, jackass," the third snapped. "Newbies," he added in disgust.

"Oh, like you're so much older than the rest of us," the second mocked.

The Batman had no idea who the vampires were talking about, and filed the name 'Drusilla' away for future reference just in case, but at the moment he didn't care. They were leading him to their rendezvous place with the Joker, and that was what mattered. He had radioed Batgirl, and gave her coordinates. She would be able to find the college.

They were leading him to an average-sized college campus. The sign revealed it to the 'the University of California- Sunnydale.' It looked normal, just like the rest of the town did. The Batman scowled. In a world where super-powered aliens were not considered unusual, a horde of malevolent demons had preyed on a human town for over a century, and nobody noticed. It staggered belief, and begged to be rectified, but not now.

He followed them through the campus and into a small building, where he saw others of their kind waiting for them. "You're late," he heard one of them snap at to the trio.

"Why does the boss want us all here, anyway?" the first vampire hissed.

"You'll know when it's time, and not before." The Batman stiffened at the sound of that voice. It had been years since he last heard it, but he remembered it all too well. Dala. He thought he destroyed her. (Apparently not. If she's alive, could that mean that the Monk is alive as well? The Monk and the Joker, working together?) The thought sent a chill down his spine.

"Speaking of time," Dala continued. "Isn't it time that you come out of the shadows? I know you're there."

The Batman remembered the enhanced senses of vampires. Dammit. He thought that he had managed to elude them. Maybe his steps were enough for 'ordinary' vampires, but not an older, more powerful vampire. He readied a special razor-edged batarang. Ten vampires and no Batgirl meant that this was going to be difficult. Just as he prepared his throw, a blond girl emerged. She seemed to be completely at ease.

"You wanna tell me what you're doing here?" he heard her ask in a light tone of voice. "Professor McGonagall is a real stickler when it comes to office hours- well, about that and about no Harry Potter jokes when she's around. I took a class with her once and man-"

"I want her alive!" Dala snapped. Several of the vampires charged the girl, who drew a stake and instantly fought back. She was good, very good. Her reflexes alone pegged her as a meta, and her apparent strength sealed the deal. This was Sunnydale's protector. He considered just watching her, but she was badly outnumbered. He threw his batarang at the nearest vampire as he leapt into the melee.