On the Night of the Ball
"Son of a stinkin' bitch!" Dean cursed loudly, yanking off the tie that was giving him so much trouble and tossing it to the floor. He wished it had been heavy enough to make a satisfying crash. Instead it landed silently, and then just lay there, mocking him.
God, he hated those things.
And he hated wearing suits. He would have gone to the slayer/watcher ball in a t-shirt and jeans if he hadn't been scolded by Willow, who was surprisingly scary for such a little person.
He didn't even see why he had to go anyway. He wasn't a slayer or a watcher. He wasn't even a teacher, really. So he'd helped out with a couple of classes. Didn't mean he was looking to don a pair of elbow patches and spec it up like Giles.
But Giles was all with the 'you and Sam have become respected figures amongst the students in the weeks that you've been here' and Sam had to go and get all flattered and then Dean could hardly say no.
Still, sucked balls.
"What's all the swearyness about, sweary boy?" Dawn chirped, peering her head around Buffy's bedroom door. She glanced from his sulky face to the evil tie and smiled in understanding. "Ah." She entered the room and picked up the tie. "Get over here, dummy."
"Stupid thing," he muttered, as she fixed it around his neck.
She rolled her eyes. "Stop being a baby. There...all done. You clean up nice."
Dean huffed. "Yeah, 'spose you don't look so bad yourself."
"Too right." Her dress was sky blue and puffy and glittery and she felt like a total princess. "But you should see Faith. She's a babe. Sam can't keep his horny eyes off her."
"No way?" Well, well, well. Interesting.
"Way," Dawn confirmed. "He's following her around and leaving a trail of drool wherever he goes. Totally gross."
Dawn, as usual, had been right. Faith looked positively stunning. She was floating around the ballroom in some silvery, silky looking thing, and Sam was following after her so closely that Dean almost believed she had him on an invisible leash.
He watched the two of them dance from his seat by the bar, wondering whether there was something there between them. Talk about oddest couple of the century award. But...he kinda hoped there was. They could be great.
This whole ball thing ain't too shabby, he decided. The food had been pretty darned good, and there was a whole bunch of free booze for those old enough. And more than that, people were actually smiling for the first time in weeks. He'd almost forgotten what that looked like.
There was just one thing missing. One person...
Actually, the company kinda sucked. All the people Dean wanted to to talk to were dancing. He almost wished Spike were still here, but he and Angel had headed back to LA to meet with contacts.
"Yo."
He glanced sideways. Willow had just sat down next to him, and was shooting him a sympathetic smile. She looked pretty. Her dark grey frock clung to her, and she wore it well. "Hey."
"Whatcha doin' sitting here all by yourself?"
"I'm not really in the dancing mood."
She took in his ruffled hair, and the bulging pocket stuffed full of the tie he had taken off over an hour ago. "Thinking about Buffy?"
"Always."
"Why don't you let me get you a drink?"
"No, it's on me."
"Thank you. Although it's a free bar so I don't really know why we quibbled."
He chuckled and signalled for the bartender to bring him another two drinks.
Willow peered down at the glass of neat whiskey ominously.
"You don't have to drink that if you don't want to," Dean said, sounding amused.
"It's okay, I drink whiskey all the time," she lied, taking a cautious sip. The coughing fit that followed gave away her lie. "Maybe I should just stick to white wine spritzers."
Dean was just about to order her one when the ballroom doors were slammed open suddenly. The room fell silent in surprise. People stopped dancing, the band stopped playing, the bar-staff stopped pouring.
A woman appeared through the door, small and blonde with a grin that stretched right across her face. She slid her hands over her slinky, striped dress before stepping forwards. She stopped at the top of the stairs.
Sam and Faith pulled away from each other and looked up at her in surprise. "Meg?"
Willow gripped Dean's arm tightly. "She's a demon," she hissed. And then realizing the rest of the room needed to know, she repeated it louder.
Slayers began to surge forwards, but Meg held up a hand and formed an invisible barrier. "Now, now. Let's not be hasty." She glanced over at Willow. "I know how powerful you are, witch, but you'll find it'll take even you a good few minutes to get through my wall, so you may as well listen to what I have to say."
"Damn, I knew there was something off about her!" Faith shot Sam a smug glare.
"Totally not the time, Faith," he hissed back out of the corner of his mouth.
Beside him, Dean felt Willow twitch. "Don't," he murmured. "Not yet. She might know something about Buffy. This could be the lead we've been looking for."
She clenched her fists. "Fine."
"How did you even get in here?" Giles demanded. "The place has been blanketed with protection spells against the very likes of you."
Meg smirked. "Guess I found a flaw in your little spells, teach. I got a whole load of slayer blood running through my veins right now – so I guess your little spells think I'm a slayer."
Giles jerked forwards in anger, but was held back by Xander. "Who did you take it from?"
"Chill! Trust me, I didn't take anything that wasn't given willingly."
"And what do you mean by that?"
"Well if you'd stop questioning me for just a minute, I could tell you! Jeez, can't a girl get a break around here?I am here to introduce you guys to my new best friend." Her voice got deeper and louder as she took on the tone of a commentator. "She's blonde, she's gorgeous, she's the belle of the ball, the one you've all been waiting for..." She spread her arms out dramatically. "She's Buffyyyyy!"
A hushed silence fell over the room as two new figures appeared in the doorway behind Meg.
Buffy, on the arm of a man with black eyes.
She looked radiant in a dress the colour of deep sunset. Beautiful, untouchable.
"Buffy," Dean breathed. He was out of his seat and half way across the room before anybody else had a chance to move. He stopped when he came to the barrier, and put his hand up against it.
The harsh, cold sound of Buffy's laughter sent shivers running down his spine.
She pulled away from her demon companion and the two of them stepped up next to Meg. "That's the one I was telling you about," she began. "Pathetic, right?"
"Positively puke worthy," Meg agreed.
Dean felt as if somebody had kicked him in the heart. "Buffy...what's going on?"
She sighed and folded her arms. "And so dumb, too. No wonder Daddy Winchester preferred little bro."
"You're not Buffy."
"Oh, honey pie. Yes, I am."
"Reveal," Willow murmured.
Just like Willow had suspected, Buffy's eyes turned black, eliciting gasps from all over the room.
"But I thought slayers couldn't get possessed," Andrew whispered fearfully.
Looking giddy with excitement, Meg clapped her hands. "This is fun! We should do the big reveal thing more often."
"You know, our father really wanted to be here," Buffy addressed the room. "But he was afraid he wouldn't be welcome."
"You bet your ass he wouldn't," called a gravelly voice from behind her.
Genuinely surprised, Buffy, Meg and the male demon all turned as one.
"Dad!" both Sam and Dean gasped. And then, "Bobby?"
"Uh oh," Meg sang. "Daddy's home!"
John pointed his shotgun at her. "Where's your daddy?"
"All in good time, Johnny boy, all in good time." She turned to Buffy. "I think it just got a little crowded in here."
"I agree. Perhaps it's time we left. For now."
Bobby raised his own gun. "You sons of bitches ain't going nowhere."
Meg rolled her eyes. "Cute." She flicked her fingers, sending him and John flying in opposite directions. Both of them hit walls and slid down to the floor.
Turning quickly, Buffy searched the crowd until her eyes found Sam. "We'll be seeing you very soon, Sammy. You're the only one left to join the family."
And then they strolled right out of the door.
John picked himself up and grabbed his gun, chasing after them out the door.
But less than a minute later he was back, looking disappointed. "They're gone."
