I'm liking this story idea... Heh...
She awoke in a casket. She couldn't breathe at first, and it took her a while to register where she was. After figuring it out, she knew she would have to dig her way out of the box, or she'd die a slow and painful death. So she scratched away at the lining which soon gave way to wood which soon gave way after some pain and blood (which was quite disorienting and new) to dirt. The dirt poured into the casket, onto her face and into her mouth. It clouded her vision but she kept digging her way out. Had she been able to think about anything other than staying alive, she might have laughed at the parallel to a vampire; she was the slayer, digging her way out of the ground.
She pulled herself out of the grave and into the fresh air, which she took into her lungs. It was painful, but satisfying. She felt the grass beneath her hands and squeezed, she longed to be back in the field where the grass was soft and wind even softer. But it was dark here, and there was fire and screaming. They've sent me to hell.
She wondered if she'd just imagined heaven, imagined the walk, her mom, her friends, the beach. Castiel. She wondered if it was a lie. Had the two universes really merged when Glory opened the portal, she was bound to find out sooner or later. Castiel had never revealed to her the difference between their respective vampire races. She wondered if they turned to dust.
It didn't take long to find her way back home, the walk was the complete opposite of her walk to her house through heaven. Everyone was angry, there was fighting, and her feet hurt. The sensation of pain was one she'd forgotten over many years of warm sunlight and mojitos with her mother. The pain, everything, it was disorienting. She found her way to the place she died, wondering if perhaps she could go back to where she was, back to the happiness, the warmth. But Dawn found her first, and she remembered Dawn, she couldn't let her down.
She also remembered Spike and as he sat across from her, cleaning her hands and talking about how long she was gone, she couldn't help but smile, remembering Castiel's friends description of him.
"How long was it where you were?" He asked and she blanched.
"Longer." She replied, it was the truth. Spike looked at her as though he'd been made whole again, but he was also scared. She wondered if she could call to Castiel as the Winchesters did. She wondered if he would come. When she was finally alone she tried. Sitting in the middle of her bed, her legs pulled up against her.
"Cass?" She whispered, looking up at her ceiling as if he'd fall through it any minute. But he didn't come, her ceiling stayed in tact and she fell asleep literally praying that Castiel would save her.
In the end they wound up fighting off a demon that had been created through the spell Willow performed to bring Buffy back. Buffy wasn't mad that Willow had brought her back, just sad and confused. Life was strange, she would need time, but they didn't seem to understand that, they wanted her to thank them. They thought she was in hell, and she let them believe it.
So she told Spike that she wasn't. Because he could keep her secret, he had to, he loved her. She had just finished telling Spike about heaven when Castiel appeared.
"Bloody hell." Spike jumped back, further into the shade, "Where'd you come from?" He asked, Castiel turned and looked at him, squinting.
"Buffy are you aware of the vampire behind you?" Castiel asked and Buffy turned, a smile appearing on her face as she saw him, her first genuine smile since returning. She pulled him into a tight hug and Cass shifted awkwardly beneath her grasp, but hugged her back eventually
"You found me." She said.
"You prayed." Cass replied, shrugging, as though it should have been obvious he'd come.
"You prayed?" Spike scoffed, they shot him a dirty look.
"He's an angel." Buffy explained, Spike nodded.
"Right, and I'm the bloody Queen of England." He said, Castiel tiled his head.
"You're not a woman." He said and Buffy shook her own head.
"It's a figure of speech." She said, "So listen, is there any way you can get me back?" She asked, Castiel looked at her sadly.
"I'm sorry, there's no way." He was genuinely sorry and she half smiled, shrugging.
"Figured it was a long shot... Just thought I'd ask." She sighed, suddenly finding her feet very interesting.
"Well I just came to tell you that the Winchesters will be here any moment. If you need advice about how to assimilate back into society, they're the ones to ask. They've died plenty of times." Castiel said, "Dean has been to Hell, Heaven and Purgatory."
"Wow, they've had the grand tour." Buffy said, slightly impressed, "I'm assuming the Hell from your dimension is like the actual burny, torturey kind, and not the 'we're gonna make you do hard labor' kind? How'd he get out?"
"I pulled him out." Cass said, slightly proud.
"Coolness." She replied, turning to Spike, "I guess let's go back inside, do you wanna come?" She turned back to Cass, but he was gone.
"Bye." She sighed, and began walking back into the Magic Box.
"So you have an angel buddy now?" Spike asked, "An actual angel, not just a prat named Angel?"
"Shut up." Buffy scoffed, they both walked into the room where her friends looked ready to ask her more questions when she was saved by the bell at the entrance to the shop ringing. In walked two men, one was about ten feet tall and the other was the brooding type of handsome.
"I take it that's the Winchesters?" Spike asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"I hope so." Buffy sighed.
"How can I help you?" Anya shouted before anyone else could greet them, "Are you in need of magical supplies? Let me know what you need, I am the owner of this establishment and as such am great at taking people's money!" She grinned widely up at them, they looked at each other and smiled.
"Uh, we're looking for Buffy?" The shorter, brooding one said.
"I'm me... I mean she's me... I mean, Hi, I'm Buffy." She stammered, walking up to him and holding out her hand.
"Dean Winchester." He said, shaking the offered hand, "This is my brother Sam." Sam waved awkwardly, "Cass tells us you need our help uh- figuring stuff out."
"Cass?" Willow asked, walking up to them, "Who's Cass?" She looked from the Winchesters to Buffy.
"Cass is an-" Sam began, but Buffy cut him off.
"A-an expert! On dimension stuff." She said, raising her brows at the Winchesters who caught on immediately.
"Yeah, he's real big on that... Stuff." Sam cleared his throat, holding his hand out to Willow, "Your name?"
"Oh, I'm... Willow." She said, shaking his hand timidly, "I'm Buffy's friend person."
"How did you happen to meet this Cass guy, Buff?" Xander asked, walking up to them, still as distrusting of strange men as ever. He eyed Dean suspiciously who narrowed his own eyes at the distrusting friend.
"Online." Buffy said quickly, "Last night, I was googling." She said, smiling awkwardly, "I'm gonna go now. I have things to discuss with the Winchesters."
"I don't know, Buff. Maybe one of us should go with you. Weird guys and all." Xander said.
"I'm a big girl, Xander, I can take care of myself." Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Oh I know that better than anyone here, probably... But you did just get back..." He looked to Willow for help.
"Yeah, Buffy... I don't know if-" Willow began, her eyes all full of concern.
"I'll stay here." Sam interjected, "That way if Dean tries any funny business, I'll be here for you to... Question." He cleared his throat and walked to the table, setting the bag that hung on his shoulder down onto the table, "We have a case here anyway."
"A case?" Anya asked hopefully, "Does this case contain copious amounts of money?"
"Uh, no..." Sam looked back to Dean who shrugged and then followed Buffy, who was hurrying out the door. Xander sat down next to Sam and kept his eyes narrowed at the taller man.
Buffy walked along the nearly empty street and Dean caught up to her.
"What was that about?" He asked, "I mean I know we have a person in common, but maybe you should have informed him that you were gonna lie to all your friends."
"I just don't want them to know I was in heaven." Buffy said, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Why?" Dean asked, still confused.
"They thought I was in a Hell dimension." She said, Dean raised his brows, still confused.
"So why don't you want them to know that you weren't suffering?"
"Because they pulled me out, they thought they were saving me. It'd be too much to tell them they yanked away my happiness." She found a bench and sat on it, Dean followed.
"I get that." He said, "So what are you having problems with?"
"Everything." She sighed, turning to him, "It all hurts... Just breathing. I don't know how I did it for so long. I've had a destiny ever since I was 15, and when I died, it was finally lifted from my shoulders... Now that I'm back, I feel the pressure again. And it sucks."
"I understand that. But at least you got years of happiness. Try being in Hell for 40 years and inadvertently starting the apocalypse because you didn't want to get tortured anymore." Dean sighed and Buffy stared at him, her eyes full of sorrow.
"Wow." She said, "Our lives have sucked."
"Yeah." He laughed spitefully.
"But at least Cass pulled you out." She said, Dean smiled involuntarily.
"Yeah." He said again, though his tone was lighter this time, "Well we'll be here for a couple days, got a poltergeist a few streets away... Shouldn't take too long to wrap up, but we will be here if you need us."
"Thanks." She smiled but didn't move, "Can we just sit here for a little?"
"Sure." Dean shrugged, liking the idea of just doing nothing for a bit.
Spike stared at the tall moose of a man who was conversing with the redhead about hacking algorithms, wishing he could be with Buffy out in the sun. If for no other reason than watching her with that Dean character. He seemed slutty. He didn't like it. The door chimed and Spike turned hopefully, but saw that it was just the little bit.
"Guys you'll never believe what-" She stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of Sam, "H-hello." She said, tugging at her backpack strap. Spike scoffed, now Dawn would have a crush on the moose and their lives would be really interesting.
"Hey." Sam smiled, standing up. He towered over Dawn, but that only served to make her more giddy. She eagerly accepted his outstretched hand, "Sam Winchester."
"Dawn Summers." She said, "A-are you here b-because of Buffy?"
"Yeah." He said, "Something like that."
"Sam and his brother are hunters." Willow explained, "They fight the bad guys like us."
"Oh!" Dawn exclaimed, "Where were you last year." She muttered.
"In a completely separate dimension." Sam said, they all looked at him strange.
"Huh?" Xander asked.
"Well it's sort of complicated, Castiel could explain it to you better than I could probably... But when that God, Glory, opened the portal, and Buffy jumped, thus closing it, our worlds merged together." He held his hands out and clapped them together as if that explained everything, "So we sort of all got smooshed into one world."
"Interesting." Willow said, "So you and your brother fought monsters in a different dimension?" She smiled, "Cool."
"Well it's not that cool." Sam sighed, running a hand through his long locks, "The supernatural creatures in our world were similar to yours, but different as well... Take vampires for example." Sam said, looking around the room, his eyes landing on Spike. Spike shifted for a moment, wondering if the tall man knew he was a vamp.
"What about em?" Spike asked, trying not to sound defensive.
"Well here they can't go in the sunlight and can be killed by a simple stake." Sam laughed, "It's almost too easy." He said.
"Well how were they in your universe?" Spike asked, abandoning his attempt at trying not to sound offended.
"They could go out in the sun, but didn't like to. They had a ton of sharp fangs, and could only be killed by cutting their head off."
"Did your vampires merge with ours?" Xander asked, looking to Spike. Spike knew he was contemplating throwing him outside and seeing if he burst into flames.
"No, but we're slightly worried they might." Sam said, "I don't know what kind of super hybrid they'd create."
"What about demons? What kind do you guys have?" Anya asked, excited to talk about her time as a vengeance demon.
"We... Have... Demons." Sam said, shrugging, "They're just demons. I mean there's knights of hell and crossroads demons... But they're just demons. Black eyed son's of bitches that make our lives hell."
"No but, like, vengeance demons, what kinds of those do you have?" Anya pushed smiling, Xander patted her hand.
"Let it go, honey." He said.
"I guess any demon could be after vengeance. But usually it's the ghosts that want that sort of thing." Sam said, Anya tilted her head, seemingly disappointed.
"You guys had a heaven and a hell?" Xander asked, Sam nodded, "Great who knows what you brought with you."
"Didn't you hear him?" Dawn said, highly offended that Xander would blame the tall masterpiece in front of her, "It was Glory. Not them." The bell rang as the door opened and Spike perked up as he saw Buffy walk in, though he was immediately seething again to see that she was smiling with Dean.
"Oh, Dawnie." She said, Dawn approached them, fawning again over the other Winchester brother, "This is Dean, Dean this is my sister Dawn."
"Hi." She whimpered and barely managed a wave.
"Dawn." Dean smirked, walking past her to Sam.
"Ready to get to our hotel, Sammy?" Sam stood and began gathering his things when they heard a familiar voice.
"You two are harder to find than a bloody needle in a bloody haystack." Everyone in the room turned to the man who was brushing off his suit while still complaining, "And I find you in this one horse town that appeared out of literally nowhere one day." He looked up from his suit to find all the eyes on him.
"Crowley." Dean growled, "What do you want?"
"And how'd you just appear?" Buffy asked, ready to fight.
"Oh, hello." Crowley said, his brows raised. He stuck his hands into his pockets and strutted up to the slayer, "Just my height." He winked at her and continued to Sam and Dean.
"Ugh." She scoffed, frowning as she turned and watched him continue to walk to the Winchesters.
"What?" Dean complained.
"Just dropped in to say hi." He held up his hands in surrender, "Honest."
"We're really not in the mood for this right now, dude." Dean rolled his eyes.
"I came to see your new friends. You know every since this dimensions business, it's been bloody interesting out there." He wondered around the shop picking things up and setting them back down. Anya followed him, worried he was going to drop something.
"Ex-demon, you are." Crowley said once he caught sight of her, he sniffed the air, "They have so many interesting breeds here." He said to the room, smiling, "I'd like to rule them all of course, but one can't be too hasty when building a kingdom."
"What are you some sort of dungeon master?" Buffy asked, unimpressed.
"King of Hell." Crowley said, Willow stood from the table, suddenly very angry.
"The Hell that Buffy was in?" She asked, rubbing her fingers together. Tara got up, she'd been very quiet the entire time, but she was beginning to rub a hand down Willow's back.
"Calm down, Will." She said softly, her shoulders hunched slightly. Crowley smirked.
"No." He smiled, walking to Spike. Spike stood up straight, his jaw clenched slightly. He could smell Crowley, the stench of rotten eggs made his stomach turn, "Tell me, does the slayer always make a habit of hanging out with vampires?" He asked, turning back to Buffy.
"Spike is domesticated." She said, Spike scoffed.
"Thanks a lot." He said, she shrugged.
"Why are you here?" Dean asked, annoyed that Crowley was walking around acting like he owned the place. These people had no business with him.
"Came to see how you're fairing, now that the mark is gone." Crowley feigned concern.
"I'm fine." Dean said, holding out his arm. There was a faint outline where the mark of Cain had once been, it was nothing more than a faded scar now.
"You're welcome." Crowley said, "I never did get a proper thank you."
"I'll send a card." Dean replied, Crowley once again held up his hands in surrender.
"Fine, if you're gonna be a baby about it." He headed up the stairs of the Magic Box, "Just thought you should be concerned about demons discovering that the vampires of this dimension can be possessed."
"What?" Buffy and Dean asked at the same time, but Crowley was already gone.
"God, do they all do that!" Buffy asked, turning to Dean and Sam.
"Just him and Cass." Dean replied.
"I'm sorry, did ol' king of hell just say that I can be possessed!?" Spike piped up, "Is no one else going to worry about this?"
"We heard." Buffy said.
"Is wittle ol' Spike afwaid of a big bad demon?" Xander teased, Spike gave him the finger.
"That can be easily fixed, which... You should probably all get one anyway." Dean said.
"Get one what?" Dawn asked. Her question was answered by a simple tugging at the neck of his shirt. She nearly fainted at the sight of his bare chest with the anti-possession sigil inked into it.
"This keeps the demons out of ya." Dean explained.
"I'm sorry, demons possess people?" Xander asked.
"Yes." Sam answered shortly.
"But, how- and why?" Xander asked, shivering slightly, "Gives me the heebie jeebies."
"Heebie jeebies?" Dean asked, slightly amused.
"Well basically, all demons want is to get out of hell because the place blows."
"Big time." Dean added, a few people looked at him strange, mainly Willow.
"And when they leave it, they have no form, they're just smoke clouds basically... And so they ram themselves down helpless victims throats and bam, they're whole." Sam sighed, running his hand through his hair, from somewhere behind him, Dawn nearly fainted.
"So now they can possess Vamps?" Buffy asked, "How?"
"Well, vampires here a-are just half humans, half demons, aren't they?" Tara asked, Willow turned and half smiled, nodding, giving her encouragement.
"So demons don't need to possess someone with a soul?" Asked the slayer, Dean looked to Sam who shrugged.
"I guess not." Sam said.
"Bloody great." Spike groaned, "Where can I get this tattoo?" Sam turned and opened is bag, digging through it for a moment until he found what he was looking for. He threw something small at Spike, who held it up, "What do I want with a keychain?"
"It's the anti-possession sigil, and it'll keep you safe till you can get it tattooed." He reached back into his back and pulled out another one, throwing it to Buffy, "You'll probably want one too. Nothing worse than a demon slayer running around."
"How'd you know I was-"
"Cass told us." Dean interrupted, "Said you had some super strength and a destiny and all that crap."
"Wow, you really told this guy a lot." Willow said, and Buffy turned to her, a slight smile on her face to hopefully calm Willow's nerves.
"It was an in depth interview thingy. He had to make sure there was a real reason to send these guys out here." She said and swung her arms a bit, turning back to the brothers, "So, did you wanna come patrolling with me tonight? Or are you pretty booked what with your poltergeist stuff?"
"Uh, poltergeist stuff won't be too time consuming. We just have to go through some records, figure out what exactly happened in the house-" Sam started.
"Yeah, Sammy's good with that computer junk. I'm better with the fighting." Dean punched Sam's arm playfully.
"I think we're both just fine in that department." Sam said, slapping away his brother's hand.
"But, uh, yeah, we'll come out with you." Dean shrugged, "What's the worst that could happen."
They continued to talk for the next hour or so until the sun started to set. At that point they all left the magic shop, filing out one after the other. Spike didn't notice he'd left his anti-possession keychain behind.