Disclaimer: I don't own any BTVS characters, Joss and associates are the owners. If I owned them then I wouldn't be writing fan fic.
Feedback: Reviews are what keep me going so please review. Flames are not appreciated so please do not post any.
A/N: Sorry, you guys for the long wait but I'm finally. I know, I know, I took way too long to update but I finally did. Don't worry though, I plan to update more frequently to finish this story soon. Really, I will try. I'd also like to remind you guys that I'm playing with the timeline and the reason why Dawn and Buffy are at school is that in my story the school is year round instead of traditional. (Year round schools usually start around July or August. It depends on the school. For my story I chose July, ok. Right now the story has moved into the middle of August. I'll try to move along the story in the coming chapters.
Crap. Only ten minutes left 'til four o'clock. Okay, Summers don't panic there's still plenty of time left, Dawn told herself as she walked hurriedly down the street. Stupid Mrs. Gordon, of all the days to talk to her after school she had to pick today. Hello today was her first day on her first job. Of course, Mrs. Gordon hadn't known that today she was in a hurry but she just couldn't help but be annoyed at her teacher. At least she hadn't been in trouble, on the contrary her teacher actually praised her work. She was glad that her teacher recognized her efforts in the class but still, it didn't help with the fact that her teacher's little congrats speech made her miss the bus which meant that she had to wait for another one.
Just one more block that's all she needed to walk. She glanced at her watch, five more minutes that's all she had left. A sense of relief rose in her three minutes later as she reached her destination. Dawn stared at the large purple sign with sparkling white letters that read "Sunnydale Treasures" above the store's entrance. This was it, she was finally here and it was now or never. She took a quick, deep breath before entering the small shop.
"Hello there," greeted a middle-aged woman from behind a display stand filled with maps.
She had red hair that was pulled into a bun and was wearing a blue sweater and some old jeans.
"Hi, um, Mrs. Rogers, it's me Dawn," the teen greeted.
"Dawn Summers right? The new employee." Mrs. Rogers acknowledged. She glanced at her watch and said, "You made it on time. Good. Last kid we hired hardly ever came in on time; that's the reason we ended up firing him."
Dawn nodded and began to play with the backpack strap on her shoulder. Without any further words, Mrs. Rogers made her way towards the main counter, which was about ten feet away. She went around it and began to search for something in a drawer. A couple of seconds later she took out what she had been looking for.
"Here's your I.D. badge," Mrs. Rogers finally spoke as she motioned for Dawn to take it.
Dawn walked towards the counter and took the badge from her. "Thanks, Mrs. Rogers."
"No problem. Let me explain some stuff. As you know Sunnydale Treasures is a gift shop and although Sunnydale is small place you're going to be surprised that business does come our way. You see a lot of people stop by on their way to big cities such as L.A. which is good for us. Other people actually come to Sunnydale to visit family or what have you and like to get souvenirs while others come 'cos they're interested in the going ons 'round town.. We sell a lot of stuff that has to do Sunnydale's strange history," Mrs. Rogers enlightened.
"What kind of stuff?" Dawn wondered. When she came to apply for the job, she hadn't really paid much attention to the products in the shop. All she cared about then was getting a job, which she had accomplished.
"I'll show you, but first things first, you gotta do your work. Today you're going to help clean out the back room and then you're going to get whatever merchandise needs replacing around here from the back, okay?" Mrs. Rogers ordered.
"Sure, I'll do it. That is what I'm here for," Dawn smiled.
"Aww, Buffy look at these shoes. They're so cute." Willow held up a pair of baby shoes. "They're so tiny."
"I'll say. You'll need to try foot binding if you want to squeeze into that shoe," Buffy teased.
Much to the Slayer's surprise, Willow showed up today at her cubicle as soon as school ended in order to convince her to accompany the said witch to the mall where she was going to buy some books. In reality, it had been a devious ploy by the witch in order to get Buffy to look at baby stuff.
A sheepish grin crossed Willow's face for a moment but it disappeared quickly. "It's amazing how there can be a human small enough to fit into such tiny shoes or how you and I were even that small to begin with."
"Yeah, it is amazing," Buffy agreed. "It seems just like yesterday that I was a little girl. Life was way easier back then. Don't you miss it?"
"Yeah but now we're here. All grown up and hey now you're going to have a little one in a couple of months," Willow grinned.
"Hey, Will what time is it?" Buffy asked, as if suddenly remembering something.
"6:00pm," The red head replied. "Why? Worried about Dawnie?"
"No, I gotta run. Today's my doctor's appointment." Buffy answered. "See ya," Buffy said as she whirled around and headed towards the store's exit.
"Bye," Willow called after her and sighed. "Guess, this means I gotta go to. Time to hit the books," she told herself as left the store.
An hour later Buffy was in the doctor's office impatiently awaiting her doctor's return. Her eyes roamed over the room searching for anything interesting to calm her nerves but unfortunately, there was nothing. This was room was plain unlike the other rooms in the building and the one painting that did adorn it was drab and too small. Suddenly the door swung open and in strode, Dr. Matthews, a tall, slender woman just reaching her fifties.
"Well, Buffy, it looks like everything is okay," the doctor said as she examined the chart that she came in with.
"So, everything is okay?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, just don't forget to eat healthy. Proteins and calcium are important okay."
"What about exercise?"
"Exercise is okay to do. Walking everyday for thirty minutes is a good idea or aerobics but don't overdo it. You don't want to hurt yourself and your baby in the process," the doctor explained. "Well if those are all your questions then we're done for today. I'll see you in a month."
"Yeah, those are all my questions." Buffy said, as she prepared to leave. "Bye, Dr. Matthews."
Before leaving the clinic, she made a quick call to verify how Dawn was doing. Apparently, Dawn was just leaving her job and was heading home. The Slayer was relieved to know that Dawn was fine and genuinely happy with her job. On her way home, Buffy made a pit stop at an ice cream shop. By the time she came out the sun's last rays had long disappeared and the night had dawned upon the city.
As she walked down the street, she saw a figure coming from her left. She could sense that it was a vampire and as it stepped into the light, she could tell that it was a newly risen vampire. Although the vampire had obviously tried to get rid of the dirt, loose particles still clung to his clothes. The Slayer walked past the vampire as if she didn't know what he was. While she didn't want to fight to risk her baby's welfare she couldn't let this vamp roam any further into the city. She decided that she would have to make this dusting as quick as possible.
As she turned around, she saw that the vampire was staring at her looking puzzled. He was a young man around her age. Quickly she loosened the stake from her sleeve into her hand.
"Buffy? Buffy Summers?" The vampire questioned no longer looking puzzled.
Meanwhile in the cemetery Xander and Anya were just about to start patrol. A cool breeze swept through the area, rustling the trees. Xander felt an unusual tingling, which he tried to ignore. Anya shivered and rubbed her hands over her arms in an effort to warm herself.
"A bit chilly, tonight huh?" Xander broke the silence as he scanned the area.
"Yes, it is. I could be home right now, you know. All nice and comfy but no! I have to be right here," Anya moaned.
"You shouldn't have come then. I could have handled it," Xander said. Anya made a noise of disbelief which Xander ignored. "Hey, don't you think it's weird that it's a cool night? I mean it's kind of cooler than normal."
Anya looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess you're right. It should be hot. It hasn't been really hot lately though. Not enough to make you want to sleep naked anyway."
Before Xander could say anything, a large vampire tackled him from behind. Anya glanced worriedly at Xander as he struggled with the vampire. Xander grunted as he tried to get the vampire off him, but the vampire's weight was too much for him.
"See, you can't handle this by yourself," Anya remarked as she approached the tussling figures with a stake in her hand.
Seconds ticked by as she waited for a chance to stake the vampire. Xander managed to elbow the vampire's chin momentarily confusing it and with that Xander pushed the vamp slightly and he rolled out from beneath the vampire. The vampire lost no time in grabbing Xander's leg again, preventing his escape. Anya quickly reached down to stake the vampire but before she could react, it was knocked out her hands.
Another vampire had shown up. He was short in stature and completely bald. He licked his lips as he assessed his prey. Anya stared at him disgusted. Her eyes quickly went to the stake, which the vampire noticed. He laughed and made no attempt to stop her. Quickly, she made a grab for the stake. As she did so, she flung some dirt up to the vamp's face with her other hand. The vampire growled angrily as he blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear his vision. She kicked him and then tried to drive the stake in his chest. Unfortunately, she missed and the vampire took this opportunity to retaliate by hitting her face. She almost fell but the vamp grabbed her and hauled her away.
"What are you doing?" She yelled as she tried to break his grip. The vampire didn't say anything as he carried her away.
Xander upon hearing Anya's cries hurriedly destroyed his opponent. But as he ran to help Anya, the foreboding feeling that he had earlier returned and this time more intense than before. He didn't stop his pursuit though.
Suddenly he heard his name.
"Xander."
Xander froze. It wasn't Anya. It was a familiar voice, one that he hadn't heard in years. No, it couldn't be. It wasn't him. He had to be hearing things. Xander felt his stomach tighten with uneasiness.
"Well, well if it isn't my best bud," the voice said.
Xander turned slowly, still not quite believing what he was hearing. He stared at the familiar face of a grinning young man.
"J-J-Jesse," stammered Xander, eyes wide with shock.
"Glad to know you still remember me," Jesse remarked with a hint of contempt. " And hey, you're still alive. Didn't really expect you to survive so long. I thought you'd be vamp food or at least one of us." His face shifted into that of a vampire.
Xander took a step back. "I could say the same about you. Well the whole being alive or um, undead thing. And how is it that you're undead again?"
The vampire simply grinned. "You shouldn't worry 'bout that. I'm thinking you should be worried more about what's to come." He bared his fangs.
Xander braced himself for a battle.
"I don't really want to do this," Jesse said insincerely. "But you know how the saying goes 'an eye for an eye"
Xander winced as he remembered the night he staked the vampire before him. He hadn't wanted to do it. After all, Jesse had been one of his best friends when he was alive. It was during that time that he'd first met Buffy and his life had taken a whole different direction.
He had been scared on that night, but he had tried his best to be brave. He hadn't wanted to believe that Jesse was truly gone, but it was true. Jesse was no longer Jesse; instead, a demon had taken over his body. In the end, Jesse got impaled on his stake by accident. In a way, it had made the pain slightly easier to bear. It had been difficult to get through his head that he wasn't actually killing Jesse.
"You were going to do the same to me," Xander reminded him after a span of silence. "And besides you aren't him."
"Of course I am him," Jesse laughed harshly. "It really hurt you know." He patted his chest.
"I'm sorry about that," Xander responded sincerely. A few moments passed before he said, "That kind of thing happens a lot to vampires around here."
Jesse shook his head. "You think you see everything but you don't. I've got news for you, pal. You aren't going to see what's coming, by the time you do, it'll be too late," He paused before saying, "Not even she can stop it".
Xander stared at Jesse, the feeling in his stomach getting even worse after hearing his words. He tried to ignore his words, thinking of what he was going to say next when he heard Anya's voice.
"Xander!" Xander turned his head and saw that Anya was coming towards him along with Willow and Dawn.
A second later when he turned his head, Jesse was nowhere in sight. Xander blinked in confusion. "What the hell?" He knew vamps were fast but they weren't that quick.
"Are you alright?" Willow asked.
"I'm okay," Xander mumbled as he turned towards Anya. "Are you okay? What happened?" He noticed Dawn looked particularly down.
"I'm fine, no thanks to you though," Anya replied. "And what were you doing here standing all alone, anyway?
Before Xander could answer, Willow cut in. "Xander we need to talk. Something's going on."