Summary: On that fateful Halloween night. Buffy is talked into wearing a different costume. When the spell is ended, Buffy finds out she is no longer human, but a Terminator.
Disclaimer: Disney owns Buffy … James Cameron owns Terminator (rights reverted to him in 2019, individual studios still retain distribution rights to the film and/or television productions in the franchise).
Pairing: Buffy/Willow ... Dawn/Faith
A/U: Starts in season 2 with the episode Halloween.
Author's Note: I know that Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles airs five years after the end of BTVS. I have taken liberties and for the purposes of this story have it airing its first season in 1997. About Buffy being a T-X when Cameron was not. I had a poll up long before I even started this story. The majority of responders (6 out of 10) wanted Buffy as a T-X. So that's why I made Buffy a T-X.
There is a line where 'John' says that his Cameron from T:SCC was a T-900. I had a review who believed she was a T-888. There is no true answer to her series number anywhere in canon. Some sites have listed her as both. Then there is the TOK715 thing, though I think that has been identified as a Class label instead of a Series label. So, when 'John' says that his Cameron is a T-900 it is for simplicity sake. So please don't review saying she is this series or that, because I did research on this subject.
Dawn is in the story from the start. She wasn't created to hide the Key, that said like canon she will eventually gain the Key. Dawn is two years younger than Buffy int his story, she also skipped two grades to be in the same grade as Buffy, Xander and Willow.
Chapter 1: Halloween
October 30, 1997 – Thursday
Sunnydale High School
Volunteers Are Winners, the signs read. Safe and Sane Halloween.
The halls of Sunnydale High were thronged with students moving to and from class. Halloween decorations were plastered everywhere, and a long table had been set up, manned by several kids and their neat rows of sign-up sheets. Principal Snyder stood by, arms clamped across his chest, beady eyes surveying the crowd. He looked even sneakier than usual today. It was obvious he was on the prowl.
An unsuspecting girl almost made it past the table before he grabbed her.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. She tried to wriggle free, but his grip was relentless.
"You're volunteering," he ordered.
"But I have to get to class—"
His grip tightened even more. He steered her over to the sign-up table just as Buffy, Willow, and Xander walked by with curious stares.
"Snyder must be in charge of the volunteer safety program for Halloween this year," Willow observed.
Xander hunched his shoulders, hands dug deep into his pockets. "Note his interesting take on the 'volunteer' concept," he said dryly.
Buffy warily eyed the table. "What's the deal?"
"A bunch of little kids need people to take them trick-or-treating," Xander explained, sounding less than thrilled. "Sign up and you get your very own pack of sugar-hyped runts for the night."
"Yikes. I'll stick to vampires—"
Buffy broke off as a hand fell to her shoulder. Principal Snyder was looking down at her with an undisguised sneer.
"Ms. Summers. Just the juvenile delinquent I've been looking for."
"Principal Snyder," Buffy said, trying to sound polite. She always found it really hard to keep a straight face around the man. With his balding head and huge ears, he looked amazingly like a troll.
"Halloween must be a big night for you, huh?" the principal continued sarcastically. "Tossing eggs. Keying cars. Bobbing for apples. One pathetic cry for help after another. Well. Not this year, missy."
Before Buffy could respond, he walked her firmly over to the table, Xander and Willow reluctantly following.
"Gosh, I'd love to volunteer," Buffy said, her mind racing for an excuse, "but I recently developed ... carpal tunnel syndrome and, tragically, I can no longer hold a flashlight."
Principal Snyder handed her a pen. Willow began to look worried. "The program starts at four, and the children have to be home by six tomorrow," he instructed. "Costumes are mandatory."
Buffy stared down at a long list of names.
Xander and Willow stared at each other, and then at the pens Principal Snyder handed each of them.
They then heard a bit of an evil laugh. It was coming from Buffy's fourteen-year-old sister, Dawn, who was also the youngest member of the Scoobies. Dawn had helped Buffy since Buffy had been approached by Merrick by assisting in researching the vampires and demons that Buffy faced as the Slayer. Dawn walked up and casually grabbed the paper while pulling a book from her bag and she began to read, "Many legal principles have been created to protect the rights of minors, the infirm, and the coerced. Including the inability for said groups to enter into binding legal contracts."
Dawn proceeded to rip up the sheet and started looking right into Snyder's eyes, unblinking she pulled out her book again and continued to read, "Despite what they may think or feel the authority to discipline students by administrators extends only to official and mandatory functions regarding classroom behavior, attendance, hygiene, and potential criminal acts dangerous to the institution writ large during the time in which official school business is to be conducted. To whit to threaten or attempt either discipline or expel students for not agreeing to participate in volunteer events and activities is patently illegal and grounds for beginning the process of dismissal and other professional and legal discipline for the administrator in question."
She smiled at Snyder as he saw his two least favorite faculty members Rupert Giles and Jennifer Calendar standing behind the younger of the Summers sisters. Dawn had been born exactly six minutes after Buffy. "If you wish for us to participate," Dawn continued, "we'd be more than willing to volunteer for a program that had actual legal parental approval on all levels and granted us extra credit toward our GPA and attendance and gave us extra time to plan out our costumes would be perfect unless you would like a majority of us here at Sunnydale High to say take and pass the GED next weekend and force the school to be closed down for the rest of the year and the excess and unnecessary staff laid off for lack of a reason to be employed."
Snyder fumed knowing she had him over a barrel, he snarled, and went over to the loudspeaker and picked it up. "Anyone who wishes to participate in this years Halloween Youth Safety walk from four to six pm tomorrow for extra credit may leave school at the present time with my permission to collect costumes. I will also need signed parental permission slips filled out, prepared and signed by four o'clock today," he said.
Ethan's Costume Shop
Even though the shop was musty and rundown, it was stocked with every sort of costume imaginable.
Today the place was packed. Kids of all ages rummaged through hangers and shelves, through boxes and bags, searching for that one perfect Halloween costume. The supply seemed endless.
Buffy stood looking at a red gown that was draped over a mannequin, waiting on Willow. She knew the gown would have made Angel putty in her hands. But she had agreed that she would go as a theme with Willow, if it would get her friend out of her box of insecurity. She glanced up as Willow came toward her. "What did you find?"
Willow pulled two costumes from the bag. One package read, John Connor. The other read Cameron. The one for Cameron was obviously for Buffy as it looked like it would hug all of her curves.
"Surprises me you got the Cameron one," said Buffy.
"Well I knew you wouldn't mind," admitted Willow.
"Hey, Buffy," called Buffy's fourteen-year-old sister, Dawn. Buffy and Willow turned and saw Dawn come up to them. She held up a package that read Ghastly Ghost, and it showed a person covered with a large white ghost sheet, complete with eye holes, ghostly smile, and the word boo stenciled across the chest. "I'm going to be a ghost."
"Okay," Buffy said with a roll of her eyes. She knew Dawn was only going trick or treating for the free candy.
"So, what are you two going as?" asked Dawn as she looked at the costumes Willow had in her hands. "Cameron and John Connor!" She smiled at her sister. "I love that new TV show. And, Summer Glau, the woman who plays Cameron is hot."
Buffy smiled at her sister. She had known now for a year now that Dawn was gay. So, hearing her sister talking about the actress like that didn't shock her in the slightest.
"Hey, Xander," Dawn said as Xander walked over. Even though she was only fourteen, she was considered to be the youngest member of the Scoobies as she helped her sister by researching the Big Bad. She looked between her sister and their only male friend and she could tell he was still mad at Buffy. "What did you get?"
He opened his shopping bag. He pulled out an orange plastic machine gun.
"That's not a costume," Buffy informed him.
"I've got some fatigues from the Army surplus at home," Xander explained. And then, in a poor attempt at Schwarzenegger, he added, "Call me the two-dollar costume king, baby."
Buffy glanced at her sister and their only female best friend, both of whom nodded encouragement. She took a deep breath and plunged in. "Hey, Xander, about this morning. I'm really sorry—"
"Do you mind, Buffy? I'm trying to repress," he replied.
"I promise I'll let you get pummeled from now on," Buffy told him.
Xander paused. He could never stay mad at anyone for very long. "Thank you," he said at last. "Okay. Actually, I think I could have—"
"Buffy?" Dawn interjected. "Can we finish this conversation on the way home? I'm hungry."
"Sure," said Buffy as she looked at her best friends who nodded. They made their way to the exit of the store. "So, Dawn, which of us are you going with?"
"Can I go with you, Will?" asked Dawn. "No offense to you, Buffy, but you might steal my candy."
"You are probably right," agreed Buffy as she and Dawn both chuckled.
"Sure, Dawnie, you can join my group," said Willow. "How can I say no to my favorite chess partner."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Ethan's Costume Shop had closed for the night.
The last customer had finally gone, but the store was not quite deserted.
A tall figure moved silently into the back room.
A tall figure wearing a long, hooded black robe.
Ethan Rayne stopped beside an altar. One by one he lit the black candles that encircled it.
Directly in front of him, in the very center of the circle, was a marble bust of a woman. Her features were beautiful and serene. Kneeling before her, Ethan began to speak, squeezing his hands tightly closed, then opening them again.
His palms began to bleed. They bled thickly and freely, from stigmata-like wounds on his hands.
"The world that denies thee, thou inhabit," Ethan chanted. "The peace that ignores thee, thou corrupt."
He dabbed his blood upon his eyelids. He smeared a bloody cross upon his forehead.
"Chaos," he murmured. "As ever, I am your faithful, degenerate son."
He knew the true power of the statue.
He knew it, and he called upon it now.
For the back of the statue was quite different from the front.
It wasn't beautiful, nor was it peaceful to look at.
It was a hideously horrifying male visage.
A mask of pure evil.
October 31, 1997 – Friday – Halloween
Summers Residence
Halloween day dawned crisp and clear.
There was a feeling of unrepressed excitement in the air, and classes let out early so that student volunteers could go home and change into their costumes.
Buffy stood in her bedroom, gazing silently at her reflection in the mirror.
She was wearing the skin tight Cameron costume from Ethan's Costume Shop.
"Dang, Buffy," Dawn said as she walked into her sister's bedroom. "If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were Cameron. You look hot in that costume."
Buffy looked at Dawn's reflection and smiled at her sister. "Thank you, Dawnie," she said in appreciation of the compliment. "You know it actually surprises me that Will even got this costume for me."
"Maybe she's finally coming out of her shell?" Dawn suggested.
"You might want to get changed yourself," Buffy said. "We're leaving as soon as Willow and Xander get here."
Sunnydale High School
Outside Sunnydale High, kids were being dropped off by the dozens, screaming and shouting and waving their trick-or-treat bags as they stampeded into the building. Inside, the hallways swarmed with fierce little demons and goblins, while students valiantly tried to separate them into manageable groups.
Principal Snyder was leading a small group of children over to Buffy. As she quickly scanned their eager faces, she couldn't help noticing that there was a vampire among them.
"Here's your group, Summers." Snyder gave her his usual sneer. "No need to speak to them—the last thing they need is your influence. Just bring them back in one piece and I won't expel you."
Buffy returned his look with one of her own. As he walked away, she leaned over to the kids with a smile. "Hi," she began, then noticed Principal Snyder standing a few feet away, scowling at her.
Streets of Sunnydale
As Buffy's weary group returned from a house, she couldn't help noticing their dejected expressions.
"What'd Mrs. Davis give you?" she asked them, concerned.
They opened their hands to show her. They were holding brand new toothbrushes.
Buffy sounded indignant. "She must be stopped." She herded the kids together and steered them down the sidewalk. "Let's hit one more house. We still have a few minutes before we've got to get back."
Perking up, the children ran off again, leaving Buffy to smile at their enthusiasm. She was glad she'd been roped into doing this—the evening had turned out to be much more fun than she'd ever imagined.
She had no way of knowing that the fun was about to end.
Ethan's Costume Shop
In the back room, a black-hooded figure was kneeling before a row of black candles, reciting an incantation.
"Janus, hear my plea." Ethan Rayne spoke the words, but he spoke them now in Latin. "Take this night as your own. Come forth and show us your truth."
Streets of Sunnydale
At the house on the corner, kindly Mrs. Parker came to the front door, smiling and handing out candy to the group of giggling monsters. Willow waited patiently for them at the end of the porch.
The wind was starting to pick up, and the chill in the air had grown noticeably sharper.
Dawn stood huddled into her ghost sheet, wishing she'd dressed warmer underneath. "Trick or treat!" she and the children shouted.
"Oh, my goodness," Mrs. Parker beamed at them. "Aren't you all adorable!"
Ethan's Costume Shop
Ethan picked up the statue, his hands leaving bloody prints upon the stone. His face dripped with sweat, his body trembled feverishly. And then, again in Latin, he chanted, "The mask is made flesh. The heart is curdled by your holy presence. Janus, this night is yours!"
Streets of Sunnydale
Buffy ushered her kids quickly down the block. A sudden gust of wind sent a second, deeper shudder down her back. She stopped, frowning.
Something wasn't right.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
At the house on the corner, Mrs. Parker was looking down at the plastic pumpkin in her hands. She shook her head in utter dismay.
"Oh, dear," she mumbled. "Am I all out? I could have sworn I had some candy left."
Ethan's Costume Shop
The candles went out., the only light now was the one emanating from the hideous statue, casting a sickly green glow through the shadows.
Ethan Rayne lowered his hood.
A satisfied grin spread slowly across his face.
"Show time," he whispered.
Streets of Sunnydale
Mrs. Parker looked down at the trick-or-treaters clustered around her. Miniature demons, vampires, gargoyles, and witches—they were all staring at her and at her empty candy container.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Monster," Mrs. Parker sighed, playing along. "Maybe I—"
She never got to finish her apology. Without warning, a slimy green hand caught her by the throat and yanked her forward. As she tried desperately to scream, she could see that the hand belonged to the make-believe gargoyle.
Except he wasn't make-believe anymore.
Where a costumed child had stood only seconds before, there was now a real gargoyle. As horribly real as the rest of the creatures swarming over her porch.
Dawn couldn't believe what was happening. "Let her go!" she cried, trying to reach Mrs. Parker.
A horned demon deliberately blocked her way. As the demon turned and attacked the gargoyle, Mrs. Parker was finally able to break free and scramble inside to safety, locking the door behind her.
Dawn felt dizzy and weak and strange as she stumbled toward Willow, gasping for breath. Her eyes grew wide with terror. The next instant she fell to the ground, her body limp and lifeless beneath its sheet.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Down the street Buffy stood immobile.
SYSTEMS CHECK ... PROCESSING
SYSTEMS ... ONLINE AND FUCTIONING AT 100%
...
QUERY: UNIT CURRENT LOCATION?
GPS SYSTEMS ONLINE
SCANNING FOR GPS SATELLITE SYSTEMS ... LOCATED
UNIT CURRENT LOCATION:
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, NORTH AMERICA
...
QUERY: MISSION PARAMETERS?
DISPLAYING MISSION PARAMETERS...
...
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE... LOCATE AND IDENTIFY PRIMARY SUBJECT
PRIMARY SUBJECT... JOHN CONNOR
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE... INSURE SURVIVAL
SECONDARY DIRECTIVE... PROTECT
...
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE... LOCATE AND IDENTIFY SECONDARY SUBJECT
SECONDARY SUBJECT... DAWN SUMMERS
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE... INSURE SURVIVAL
SECONDARY DIRECTIVE... PROTECT
...
TERTIARY OBJECTIVE... SEARCH AND TERMINATE
TERTIARY SUBJECT... GLORIFICUS
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE... PROTECT DAWN SUMMERS FROM GLORIFICUS
SECONDARY DIRECTIVE... TERMINATE GLORIFICUS
Cameron looked around her at the chaos. From every street, sidewalk, and corner came shrieks of terror, car alarms, cries for help, sounds of running, howling, the shatter of breaking glass. The air was thick with panic and the smell of fear.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Down the street at Mrs. Parker's house, John Connor turned in confusion the last thing he remembered was sitting down to eat with his mother. But now he was standing on someone's front porch. 'How did I get here?' he thought. 'And where is here?'
Dawn felt herself sit up. She still felt peculiar, not quite herself, but at least the awful dizziness had gone. She stood slowly, trying to remember exactly what had happened. And then she looked down at her feet. "Oh. Oh my God . . ." She was still lying there on the porch. She looked around, panicky. "Willow?" she called out.
John looked around him when he heard the girl's voice and looked at Dawn, what he saw sent his eyes wide and he backed away. "W—what are you?"
"Willow?" Dawn said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Her eyes wide with fear. What had happened? How had she become a ghost? Was she really dead? "What's wrong with me?"
"Why do you keep calling me Willow?" John asked. "My name is John, John Connor."
Dawn looked at John and frowned, her mind instantly on alert. Something was indeed wrong. She was now a ghost and Willow seemed to believe she was now John Connor. "You're Willow," she said. "You're mine and Buffy's best friend."
John looked at Dawn and shook his head. And that was when he noticed something was different as a strand of red hair flew in front of his eyes. He grabbed some of the hair and noticed it was indeed red. Two things immediately struck him. The first he didn't have red hair; his hair was black. The second it wasn't that long; he always kept his hair cut short. He looked down and as he did his eyes went wide. What he saw was enough to make him stagger back in shock. He was now a woman.
Machine gun fire sounded behind the pair. Dawn turned to see Xander backing across the street, surveying the area.
"Xander!" Dawn raced over to her friend momentarily forgetting about her body.
As luck would have it, John hadn't forgotten about Dawn's body and he picked it up and slung it over his shoulder in a fireman carry. He then turned and followed Dawn.
To Dawn's dismay, Xander whipped around and pointed his gun straight at her.
"Xander, it's me. Dawn!"
Xander eyed her suspiciously. He cautiously lowered his gun. "I don't know anyone by the name of Dawn."
"Oh, no," Dawn said as she frowned. "Not you too."
"Soldier," John said. "Identify yourself."
"Reese, Kyle," Xander said. "Sergeant/Tech-Com, DN38416..."
John frowned. He knew what his father looked like. His mother had managed to find a picture of him from police files. "You are not Kyle Reese."
"What are you talking about?" Kyle asked.
"I know what Kyle Reese looks like, he's my father."
Kyle looked at John confusion on his face. "Father? I have no kids. I was sent back in time to ensure the safety of Sarah Connor."
"My mother," John said.
"That's not possible, ma'am," Kyle said. "Sarah Connor had only one child, a son. John Connor."
John sighed. "Look, I'm John Connor. How I wound up in the body of a woman I don't know." He looked at Dawn. "Do you ghost girl?"
Dawn shook her head. "Sorry. I don't know either. But I know you're not John," she said. "Your name is Willow." She looked at Kyle. "And yours is Xander."
It was then that Dawn spotted Cameron coming down the street. "Buffy!" she shouted.
Cameron was coming toward them. At once Dawn ran to meet her, leaving John and Kyle to grudgingly follow.
"Buffy, are you okay?" Dawn asked.
"Dawn Summers?" Cameron said. "You must come with me if you want to live."
John frowned as he recognized the line that the Terminator had given him and his mother when it had come back from the future to protect him. "Who reprogrammed you?" he asked as he walked over to Dawn and Cameron.
"I was reprogrammed by John Connor and Dawn Summers. I was sent back to protect them," Cameron answered.
John looked at Dawn and then at Cameron. "What series are you?"
"I am a T-X," Cameron said.
"I am unfamiliar with that series," John said. "Despite what I currently look like I am John Connor and this is Kyle Reese." He waved at Xander who had been listening.
"Something crazy is happening," Dawn said. "I was dressed as a ghost for Halloween and now I am a ghost. Xander, you were supposed to be a soldier and somehow became Kyle Reese. Willow, you talked Buffy into doing a theme with you. The costumes you got were from a new TV show, 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.' You took the John Connor costume and Buffy took the one for Cameron."
"And you expect us to believe that?" Kyle asked.
"I know, Cameron," John said. "She was sent back to protect me. But Cameron was a T-900. Not a T-X, whatever series that is."
Just then a little vampire emerged from the bushes, growling at them. Immediately Kyle took aim.
"No!" Dawn yelled. "No guns. That's still a little kid in there."
"I have to agree with ghost girl," said John. "If we do indeed possess her friends. Then we need to figure out what is going on and reverse it. We should not risk harming potential civilians."
"My house," Dawn said, "is not too far away. We could go there so we can figure out what's going on."
"We should get off the street," Cameron agreed as Dawn led them down the street.
Summers Residence
The four of them piled through the back door into the Summers' kitchen. Safe for the time being, Kyle locked up the house, then stood at the window to keep guard. "I think we're clear," he announced.
"Mom!" Dawn called. "Mom, I'm home!" And then, when no one answered, "She must still be at the Gallery."
There was a violent pounding on the front door. Startled, they froze for an instant, then began moving through the house, Xander in the lead, Dawn close behind followed by John and Cameron.
"Don't open it!" John warned Kyle as he moved into the living room and sat Dawn's body down on the couch.
Kyle hesitated. "It could be a civilian."
"That is an order, Reese," John said.
The pounding stopped.
They stopped, too, and waited.
At last Kyle moved beside John and looked out the picture window.
Dawn found Cameron stood in the hallway between the dining room and living room looking at pictures that hung on the wall. "That's you, me and mom," she told her sister. "Don't you remember, Buffy?"
"Your sister, if my files are correct," Cameron admitted. "I was programmed with her likeness so that I could show you a face you would recognize."
"No," Dawn said. "You're, Buffy. You are my sister. Don't you remember at all, Buffy?"
'I do, Dawnie. I'm here. I just can't get back out," Buffy thought from where Ethan Rayne's spell had trapped her mind.
In the living room, "Do you think it's a wise idea to bring along the Terminator?" Kyle asked.
"Terminator's can be reprogrammed, Kyle," John said. "My future self, reprogrammed and sent a T-850 back a few years ago to protect me when a T-1000 was sent back."
"T-850, T-1000, T-X?" Kyle said. "I know for me that this should be 1984. What about you?"
"2001," answered John. "I was born in 1985, the year after you were sent to."
"What about the Terminator?" Kyle said. "When do you think she is from?"
"I don't know," said John. "Likely from farther ahead than when you left."
"Which was 2029," said Kyle.
The pounding started again.
Dawn and Cameron were just in time to see a demonic hand smash through the door window beside Kyle, who had moved to the door to check out the pounding, head. The thing grabbed at him, but Kyle managed to jump back just in time.
"Not sure if that is a civilian trapped when they became their costume or an actual demon," Dawn observed.
"Warning shot only," John said.
Kyle stuck his gun out the window. There was a short burst of gunfire, then they heard the demon scampering away.
What they heard next was a terrified scream. It came from somewhere outside, and as Kyle peered out the window again, his muscles tensed for action. "Civilian," he said.
"Go," John said as Kyle burst out the door.
Out in the darkness, Kyle had located the source of the screaming. Cordelia was running frantically down the street, her costume torn, her hair a disheveled mess. There were scratches on her face. Several yards behind her a huge hairy creature was relentlessly catching up.
Kyle headed toward her. Cars had been abandoned in the streets, and shadowy figures were still running in the distance, some of them on the prowl, others fleeing for their lives. As Kyle reached her, Cordelia screamed and tried to fight him off, before suddenly realizing who he was.
"Xander?"
"Come inside," Kyle ordered her. He didn't have the slightest idea who she was.
He rushed her toward the house. He practically threw her inside, slamming the door behind them.
"Cordelia!" Dawn exclaimed.
Cordelia looked supremely irritated. "What's going on?"
"Okay," Dawn hurried to explain, "your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, we're your friends—well, sort of."
"That's nice, Dawn," Cordelia cut her off. "And you went mental when?"
Dawn's face lit up; she had been afraid she was the only one left who knew who she actually was. "You know us?"
"Yeah, lucky me. What's with the name game?"
"A lot's going on," Dawn admitted.
"No kidding. I was just attacked by JoJo the dog faced boy. Look at my costume! Think Party-Town's going to give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."
As she was spouting off, Cordelia suddenly noticed a large rip up the side of her leotard. Kyle had obviously noticed it, too, for he took off his jacket and put it around her.
"Here," Kyle said.
Surprised, Cordelia stared at Kyle. "Thanks," she murmured. She glanced over at Dawn. "So, what's going on?"
"Not a hundred percent sure," admitted Dawn. "But Willow, Xander and Buffy don't remember who they are. They think they are who they dressed up as. And me, well I seem to have become a ghost."
"A ghost," said Cordelia as if she tried not to laugh at what seemed to her like a joke.
Dawn sighed and walked straight through Cordelia and over to the couch and motioned toward her body. "I seem to have become a ghost."
Cordelia's eyes went wide. "You're telling the truth."
"I'm afraid so, Cordy," admitted Dawn. "Now I think I need to see Giles and see about getting some help." She started for the door as John moved in front of her.
"You may be a ghost," he said. "But we don't know if there isn't something that can't hurt you out there."
"Then maybe someone should come with me?" Dawn suggested as she looked at Cameron.
"I will go with her," Cameron said as John opened the door. She followed Dawn out of the house leaving John and Kyle alone with Cordelia and Dawn's body.
"We should barricade ourselves in," John said. "Till we hear from the Terminator and ghost girl."
Sunnydale High School
Alone in the library, Giles was immersed in his book catalog. He was used to the silence in here, especially after school hours, so when the faint screams and sirens sounded in the faraway distance, he lifted his head and frowned.
Then he remembered. Of course, it was Halloween. Screams and sirens would be the norm tonight.
But had that noise just then been something else? A stranger, softer sound—one much closer by?
Again, Giles looked up, pausing to listen, thinking perhaps he'd imagined it.
A growl?
Slowly he turned from his work.
He didn't hear the sound at all now. Still, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to investigate—
He was turning around when Dawn and Cameron came through the library doors.
"Hi, Giles," Dawn said.
"I am a T-X series Terminator named Cameron," Cameron said. "We have come to you because of something that you might be able to help us with."
"Buffy, why are you talking like that?" Giles asked.
"That's not Buffy," said Dawn with a sigh. "Not right now at least. Just like I'm a ghost."
"A ghost?" Giles asked, skeptical.
Dawn sighed as she passed her hand through the wall next to her. "Yeah I think everyone became their costumes. Maybe not everyone. Cordelia didn't become hers."
"Cordelia?" Giles said.
"Cordelia Chase," Cameron said.
"She did not change into her costume?" Giles asked. "Dawn, do you know where she got hers?"
"She said Party Town," Dawn said.
"And yours and Buffy's?" Giles asked.
"We along with Will and Xander got ours at a new place," Dawn said. "Ethan's."
"Do you remember where?" Giles said as Dawn nodded.
There was no time to lose.
Ethan's Costume Shop
Giles drove Dawn and Cameron to the costume shop. "Whatever you two do, follow my lead," he said when they had arrived. He led them inside. "Hello? Is anyone in?"
Not that they'd really expected to find anyone inside Ethan's Costume Shop at this late hour. The store was dark, seemingly deserted, and yet Giles, Dawn and Cameron entered easily through the front door.
Together they moved slowly through the main room. Costumes were strewn everywhere. Masks lay about on the floor and countertops, like so many severed heads. Mannequins stood within the shadows, and Dawn had the distinct feeling they were watching her with flat, painted eyes. She was bravely trying to quell her overactive imagination when she noticed the open doorway in the back of the shop.
Almost at once Dawn spotted the altar and the ring of black candles, the golden statue—its hideous, evil face, the glowing green eyes . . .
"Giles. . ." Dawn whispered.
Giles and Cameron came up behind her, following the direction of her stare.
"That's Janus," he said. "A mythical Roman god."
"What does it mean?" Dawn asked.
"Primarily, it represents the division of self." His eyes went anxiously from corner to corner. "Male and female. Light and dark—"
"Chunky and creamy style." Ethan's mocking voice was terrifyingly close. "No, sorry. That's peanut butter." He stepped out from a shadow, smiling at Giles.
Giles stared back at him; his own face tight with shock. "Dawn, go with Buf…" he started before correcting himself since Buffy didn't know who she was at the moment, "…Cameron." He stepped in front of Dawn and Cameron, never taking his eyes off Ethan. "Get out of here both of you."
"But—" Dawn started.
"Now, Dawn."
Giles seldom used that tone with any of them. And when he did, Dawn knew all too well that he was deadly serious.
She looked at Cameron. "Come on," she told the Terminator, who turned and followed her from the room and outside.
Now Ethan Rayne and Giles stood face to face.
"Hello, Ethan."
"Hello, Ripper," Ethan replied.
A dangerous silence fell between them.
Eerie green light played over Giles's face, accentuating its tenseness, its grim determination—and yet Ethan's manner was light. He was clearly enjoying this.
"What, no hug?" Ethan taunted Giles. "Aren't you happy to see your old mate?"
Giles remained composed. "I'm surprised I didn't guess it was you. This Halloween stunt stinks of Ethan Rayne."
"It does, doesn't it?" Ethan replied proudly. He picked up a Halloween mask, rubbing his fingers almost lovingly over the surface. "Not to blow my own horn, but it's genius. The very embodiment of 'be careful what you wish for.'"
"It's sick," Giles returned. "And brutal. It harms the innocent—"
"Oh, and we all know that you are the champion of innocence and all things pure and good, Rupert," Ethan went on condescendingly. He paused, then, "This is quite an act you've got going here, old man."
Giles's shoulders stiffened. "It's no act. It's who I am."
"It's who you are? The Watcher? Sniveling tweed-clad guardian of the Slayer and her kin?"
Ethan's smile was cold. His tone grew even more mocking.
"I think not. I know who you are. And I know what you're capable of." And then something seemed to dawn on him. "But they don't, do they?" he realized. "They have no idea where you come from."
Ethan finally got the reaction he'd hoped for. It was obvious from Giles's expression that he felt threatened by this new line of attack. Only this time his mild demeanor began to change.
"Break the spell, Ethan," Giles demanded, advancing slowly. "Then leave this place and never come back."
"Why should I?" Ethan threw back at him. "What do I get in the bargain?"
The answer was deathly calm. "You get to live."
"Ooh. You're scaring—"
Ethan's words exploded inside his mouth.
As Giles dropped him with a vicious punch, his unfinished sentence oozed out across the floor with his blood.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Dawn and Cameron had barely stepped foot outside the front door of the store when they ran into a vampire.
"Well, well, Slayer," the vampire said. "Spike is going to be pleased when he learns I have you."
Cameron's heads up display showed that the vampire's body temperature to be about sixty-two point three degrees Fahrenheit. She searched the memory files she had for Buffy Summers and came to the conclusion this was a vampire. She morphed her arm as she raised it to point it at the vampire. "You have been terminated, vampire." Suddenly a jet of fire spewed forth from the transformed arm at the vampire who caught on fire and dusted.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Ethan smiled, even though his bloody face was plastered to the floor. "And you said 'Rupert the Ripper' was long gone," he taunted.
Giles stood over him calmly. It was a frightening calm, a lethal calm. Slowly and deliberately he wiped his fingers clean on a white handkerchief. "How do I stop the spell?" he asked again.
Ethan began to laugh. "Say pretty ple—" he began, but Giles aimed a savage kick at his side, leaving him gasping for breath. "Janus," he finally managed. "Break the statue."
Immediately Giles grabbed it and threw it against the wall. And then, as the statue shattered into pieces, he turned back again to Ethan.
For a long, long while Giles gazed down at the floor.
He was alone in the room now.
Ethan had disappeared.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
As Cameron morphed her arm back to normal, Dawn disappeared. It was then that Cameron suddenly remembered who she really was, Buffy Summers.
"Dawnie?" Buffy called out looking around for her sister. "Dawnie, where are you?" Behind her Giles stepped out of the store.
"Cameron?" Giles said.
"I'm back, Giles," Buffy informed him.
"Buffy?" he questioned as she nodded.
"Dawn's missing," Buffy said as she looked around for her sister. "And I think something is wrong."
"Okay, we'll find Dawn," Giles said as they walked down the street to his car. "What do you think is wrong?"
"I think I'm still a Terminator," Buffy said.
"A Terminator?" Giles said. "You mentioned that in the library. What is that?"
"A Terminator is a type of Hunter-Killer designed to terminate other life forms," Buffy said as she accessed files through her internal heads up display. "Terminators are built by an artificially intelligent computer called Skynet, in order to wipe out the remains of humanity after Judgment Day. I'm basically an assassin type robot."
Giles stopped and looked at Buffy. "You are a robot now?" he asked.
Buffy nodded as she raised an arm and it morphed into the flamethrower. "Pretty much," she said as she fired the flamethrower, sending out a jet of fire. "And that is just one of my many weapons."
Giles' eyes went wide as Buffy touched his shoulder. Then he watched her morph into a duplicate of himself.
"A robot," the Buffy-Giles said. "A very advanced one at that." She morphed her form back to normal. "I guess you could say I've become the ultimate Slayer."
"Right," Giles said as he stood there going over the ramifications of Buffy no longer being human. Had the Slayer line passed on or had it ended with Buffy's metamorphosis from human to machine?
"Buffy!" came a yell as they turned to see Willow, Xander and Dawn running toward them.
Buffy wrapped her arms around her sister seconds before text started scrolling before her eyes.
UPDATING OBJECTIVES
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE... LOCATE AND IDENTIFY PRIMARY SUBJECT
PRIMARY SUBJECT... JOHN CONNOR… DOES NOT EXIST
...
UPDATING
...
PRIMARY SUBJECT… WILLOW ROSENBERG
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE… INSURE SURVIVAL
SECONDARY DIRECTIVE… PROTECT
...
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE… LOCATE AND IDENTIFY SECONDARY SUBJECT
SECONDARY SUBJECT... DAWN SUMMERS
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE... INSURE SURVIVAL
SECONDARY DIRECTIVE… PROTECT
...
TERTIARY OBJECTIVE… SEARCH AND DESTROY
TERTIARY SUBJECT… GLORIFICUS
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE… PROTECT DAWN SUMMERS FROM GLORIFICUS
SECONDARY DIRECTIVE… TERMINATE GLORIFICUS
Buffy looked at her younger sister as she wondered who this Glorificus was. She could have sworn for a second, she had heard a female voice in her mind that stated:
"Glorificus is a Hell God"
"Buffy?" Xander said noting the look on Buffy's face.
"I'll tell you all tomorrow," Buffy said. "Dawn and I have to get home."
Revello Drive
"Buffy?" said Dawn as she and her sister walked toward their house. "What is it?"
"First of all," Buffy said as she smiled at Dawn. "I heard you. At the house. Trying to get me to remember who I am. I just couldn't get out. The spell had me trapped within my own mind."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Buffy," Dawn said.
"Second, I'm still a Terminator," said Buffy. "And one of the objectives, has me insuring your survival. I think in the future that Cameron was from you were John's right hand. Also, there is a third objective. There is something called Glorificus, who is supposedly a hell god looking for you. I have to protect you from it as well."
"Wow," said Dawn as she stopped and turned to look at her sister. She wrapped her arms around Buffy and held her sister tight.
It was then that Buffy realized something. She knew that intellectually she loved Dawn. But as her sister held her, she realized that the emotion was not there. By being permanently transformed into a machine she had been robbed of one of the many things that made her human.
November 1, 1997 – Saturday
Sunnydale High School
Buffy led Dawn down the hall toward the library. Buffy looked at the students, who were there for either tutorials or school related functions, around her who had no idea she was no longer human.
"Buffy?" Dawn whispered as she noticed Buffy sighing.
"Just thinking that none of them know that I am no longer human, Dawn," admitted Buffy.
"That is probably a good thing," said Dawn. "Just like it's probably a good thing no one knows I can now walk through walls and people." When they had gotten home, she had gone to open the front door only to find herself falling through the door instead. It had taken the rest of the evening for Dawn to learn to control her new powers.
"You're probably right there, little sis," Buffy agreed.
Dawn looked at her sister as they neared the library. She and Buffy had talked about the ramifications of the spell. How she could phase through solid objects and how Buffy had been robbed of everything that made her human. The ability to feel emotions. The fact that as long as her power cell lasted, Buffy would outlive all of her friends and her sister by potentially centuries. The fact that she could no longer have children, not that she had thought much about having children. She was only sixteen going on seventeen after all. But one day she had hoped that when she was ready, she might have children and now she couldn't.
After all that Dawn had cried for both herself and for Buffy till, she finally had cried herself to sleep. Buffy, who no longer needed sleep after her transformation, had sat watching her sister sleep.
The sisters walked into the library and saw that Xander, Willow and Giles were waiting for them.
"I filled them in on what you showed me," Giles said.
Buffy smiled at Giles in appreciation.
"So, you really are a Terminator now?" Xander asked.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah," she said. She let out a sigh. "I looked over several files last night, since I pretty much no longer have to sleep. Willow it seems while our costumes matched. Something happened and I think I may have come from an alternate world compared to your John."
"I was wondering that myself," Willow said. "John said that Cameron was a T-900 not a T-X.
"He may have been right about his Cameron," Buffy said. "But I'm not, I'm a T-X. I have two primary objectives. The first was insuring the survival of John Connor. The second was insuring the survival of Dawn Summers."
"What?" Willow and Xander said surprised.
"From what Buffy told me, I was supposed to be John's second in command, in the reality that her Cameron came from," said Dawn.
"That's not all," said Buffy. "The moment the spell ended one of the primary objectives updated itself. I assume it's a result that I knew that the show our costumes were based off of was one of fiction. Anyways it now has me insuring your survival, Willow. I don't know why."
"I think I do," Willow said. "I still have John's memories."
"As I have Kyle's," Xander said.
"I half expected that might be the reason," Buffy said. "Even Dawn was affected."
"But she's no longer a ghost," Willow said.
"That's right," Dawn said. She walked over to the table and phased through it. "I've gained the ability to phase through walls and stuff like a ghost would."
"Kind of like Kitty Pride," Xander said as everyone looked at him. "X-Men comics. She can phase through solid matter."
"So, you have weapons that can help you as a Slayer," Giles said. "You have information literally at your fingertips. Does these primary objectives tell you why you have to protect Willow and Dawn?"
"The primary and secondary objectives just have me protecting them and ensuring their survival," said Buffy. "I expect it's a result of the future Cameron was from. Willow is John's replacement and he was leader of the resistance with Dawn being his second in command. The tertiary objective does have me protecting Dawn from something known as Glorificus. I'm still going through files, so I don't know how I know this for sure, but this Glorificus is a hell god."
Xander, Willow and Giles looked at each other, a look of shock mirrored on each of their faces.