Chapter 5. Business Affairs.

Dean and Sam come in behind as well as Dawn who is surprised to see her dad with a gun to his head. They then see a ghostly hand on the trigger of the gun. Dean pulls out a gun and both Summers girls are freaking out with all the guns in the room.

Before Dean could shoot, a sudden burst of wind comes through the window, knocking the gun out of Hank's hand.

"What the…" says Dean, still prepared to shoot the spirit if he can find it.

Buffy quickly tries to grab the gun Hank dropped, but it gets kicked by an invisible being. The gun slips out of her hands and it slides under the bed. Dean quickly grabs hold of Buffy and helps her up.

"What's going on?" asks Dawn, feeling very scared.

"There's a spirit here who wants to kill your dad," Sam explains.

"What?"

"Enough with the talking, Sam," says Dean. "Be quiet. We need to find her."

"She's still here," says Buffy. Dean looks at her with a puzzling look. The four stay close to each other, looking all around the room for any signs of the spirit. Dawn sticks her hand into her pocket and pulls out something when something else grabs her.

"Dawn!" Buffy and Sam yell as the spirit takes her and is about to slam her against the wall, when she smacks the spirit with her talisman that protects her from evil spirits. The spirit lets her go and she falls onto the floor. Sam rushes over to her and helps her up.

"What did you do?" asks Sam.

"I've got a lucky charm," says Dawn. She shows him the talisman. "Thanks, Willow."

Buffy quickly rushes to her dad's side. He looks at Buffy and hugs her. Dawn runs over to him and he hugs her as well. He kisses them both on the forehead and looks around. Dean and Sam are still on the alert.

"I think what it was is gone," says Buffy.

"What was it?" asks Hank.

"An evil spirit," says Dean. "She's trying to take her revenge on all business men."

"How do you know this?"

"Cause we've been tracking it." Dean rolls his eyes and wants to kick himself for telling Mr. Summers the truth.

"I think there was something else in here," says Buffy, looking around. She reaches for the gun from underneath the bed and hands it to Sam, who is the closest to her.

"Dean, I think she's right," says Sam. Dean looks at his brother, then at Buffy. He puts his gun away and walks over to her.

"Did you feel it, too?"

"Sammy here is a little sensitive in that department," says Dean. Sam shakes his head.

"You sense spirits?" says Dawn. "That's cool."

"I sensed it, too," says Hank. Everyone looks at him, surprised that he could feel a presence of a spirit. "It was familiar."

"It felt like…" says Buffy.

"Mom," Dawn finishes her sister's sentence. "She's here. In this room. Mom."

"Dawn, it couldn't…"

"I saw her before. She was trying to warn me and she's trying to warn us again."

"Dawn, you know that could have been the First…"

"It wasn't. It was her. Ask her yourself." Dawn bursts out of the room. Buffy runs after her and the others follow close behind.

Dawn grabs her bag and pulls out some candles. She places them in a circle and begins to light them up. She then grabs a small booklet and goes to a significant page that says To Summon a spirit.

Buffy, Dean, Sam, and Hank arrive at Dawn's doorway to see her begin to chant a spell. Her eyes are closed as she recites the words slowly just as Willow had taught her to.

"Dawn, what are you doing?" asks Buffy.

"Hear these words, hear my cry
Spirit from the other side
Come to me, I summon thee
Cross now the great divide"

A wind blows throughout the room and a bright light appears in the middle of the room. Its intense brightness dies out as a figure is standing in the middle. A familiar figure.

"Mom?" says Buffy.

Sam and Dean look at each other, then back at the spirit. They don't pull their weapons out to scare her away. The two look in awe at how beautiful she appears in front of them. They've seen many spirits, but Joyce was more like an angel.

"Yes, Buffy, it's me," says Joyce, nodding her head as she walks closer to her eldest daughter, who is in tears already.

"Joyce," says Hank from behind Buffy, Dean, and Sam. They all part ways to let him through. He walks over to Joyce and is dazed by her. "How could this be happening? How are you here?"

"Hank," says Joyce, trying to touch his face, but she knows she could not. "Our world is not made up of black and white. There are other beings in this world that many don't know exist. Buffy has fought them for years."

Hank looks at his daughter, surprised that she has been getting into fights like the one last night. He then realizes the reason why she burnt down the gym in her school in LA.

"Why didn't you…" Hank says as he runs his hand through his hair, trying to reel in all this new information. He turns to Buffy. "It must have been hard for you. Why you? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't tell anyone or I might endanger them," replies Buffy. "At first it wasn't the smoothest ride, but I met these great friends." Buffy bows her head and Joyce smiles at her daughter. She knew that she is talking about Xander and Willow, and of course Giles. "I did try to tell you both, but you thought I was crazy."

"I'm so sorry." Hank shakes his head, feeling sad that he didn't believe his daughter that one time she started babbling on about vampires. "I should have believed you. I didn't want to because I didn't want to believe it. I didn't…"

"What are you trying to say, Dad?"

"Last night wasn't the first time I was confronted by monsters."

Buffy's eyes widen, feeling in shock that her father knew about her strange world of vampires and monsters.

"You knew."

"Buffy…"

"How could you send me to…?"

"I wanted a normal life for you, Buffy, and…"

"I wanted a normal life, but that didn't happen. That's just tough, Dad." Tears are starting to sting at her eyes. Buffy just leaves the room.

"Okay, that went well," says Dean. The other people in the room look at him. "What?"

"Dad, I can't believe you knew," says Dawn.

"When you live long enough in LA, you tend to meet up with a lot of these beings," says Hank. "But recently it has been quiet."

"That's cause of Angel." Dawn rolls her eyes.

"Who's Angel?"

"Never mind." Dawn exits the room and tries to find Buffy. Hank is about to follow her, when Joyce's voice stops him.

"Hank, let her go," says Joyce. "I think it's about time you all get some sleep tonight."

"I guess we can talk this over in the morning." Hank leaves the room.

"Hi, I'm Sam Winchester," says Sam, greeting Joyce.

"I know who you two are," says Joyce.

"You do?" asks Dean. Joyce nods her head.

"The powers that be, as crazy as they can be, care for people like you and your brother. Especially you, Sam. You have a gift."

"What do you know about it?" asks Sam, curious if she could give him some answers.

"It's power. Power that evil wants to control, but only you can choose to use your power for good or evil."

"What about the evil spirit?" asks Dean. "Is she gone?"

"Yes, for now," replies Joyce. "She will try again."

"Have any ideas how we deal with her?"

"No, but I'm sure you can get help from Buffy and Dawn. Buffy has been through things like this for more than eight years, and Dawn for more than five. Trust them. They know what they're doing." Joyce then disappears. Dean and Sam exchange looks with each other.

"Talk about meeting the parents. Way too soon." Dean nods his head and leaves the room. Sam laughs at that and follows his brother out.

AN: The Spell that Dawn recites is straight from Charmed. Although I wished I'd made my own spell. I was just lazy. LOL. Enjoy!