Warning: Rated T for now, but may change later to M for darker subject matter.

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel belong to their copyright holders, I own nothing.

Chapter 6: Never Too Late

There wasn't a part of the day where Dawn wasn't worried about her sister. Where was she? Was she okay? When would she return home? Would she even return home? There were so many worrisome questions plaguing her mind. It made her feel stupid. She was probably worrying for no reason. Buffy could certainly take care of herself.

But Dawn couldn't help but ask the question: What if? There were unlimited possibilities. Really, anything could've happened. That was what worried her.

Plus, the fact that Giles, Giles of all people, wasn't even worried made her even more nervous. This ran deeper than just the fight they had last night.

Eventually, later in the afternoon, Giles did get out of bed, moaning. After taking some kind of meds, he came over to talk to Dawn. He started by apologizing about how he treated her this morning.

"The truth is, I had a little too much to drink last night," he said to her. "Or, rather, a lot too much. Anyway, that's beside the point. I know you're worried about your sister. I guess the truth is that I'm worried too. But deep down inside, I know she's fine, and you know that too. She's just angry."

"What were you guys even fighting about?" Dawn prodded.

Giles sighed. "Buffy thinks I made the wrong choice. She doesn't see how I've helped her."

Dawn took a shaky breath. "What did you do?"

"I let an innocent person die and I blamed it on Buffy."

Shocked, Dawn sat completely still. She didn't know what to say, how to react. It took her a minute to compose herself. "Why…why would you do that?"

"It was for the greater good, trust me. Now, because of me, Angel and Spike will leave her alone. They won't rely on her, they won't call, and if we're lucky, they won't love her anymore. Buffy needs to move on, Dawn, don't you see that?"

"That's not your call to make!" Dawn stood up. Then she thought. "And what do you mean Angel and Spike? Spike's not…" The look on Giles's face told Dawn that Spike was, indeed, alive. Or undead.

Dawn stormed out of the room, unable to comprehend everything. Just a little bit, she was beginning to understand why Buffy had run off last night.

Later, when the sun was finally starting to go down, Buffy's senses were heightening. Her stomach rumbled with hunger, a new taste for blood. Her eyesight was fascinating, getting better and better as the sun went down. Her nose was sniffing out potential victims so far away. She could barely stand still.

The whole day, she's explored where she was. A house—a very large one at that. The house was where Vamp Master stayed, along with many of his most loyal minion/servant/followers type deals. All his others were spread about, he said, so they wouldn't be tracked down too easily. Whenever Buffy walked past one of Vamp Master's followers, they looked at her with complete awe. Whether they were jealous or curious, she wasn't sure.

"Once night falls upon us, word of your new status will spread like wildfire," Vamp Master told her. "My followers will not be able to contain themselves."

"Let it be that way, then," Buffy had stated.

The large house also held many humans that the vampires could feed on during the day, if they had to. Buffy managed to control herself. She wanted to be completely starving for the feast she was planning on having at night with Vamp Master.

The sun was taking forever to completely fall. It seemed no matter what, Buffy would look in the direction of a covered window and see just a hint of sunlight left. She was in the room she had awakened up in earlier that day. Vamp Master had told her it was officially hers for the time being.

The door opened. She turned around, hungrily, seeing who would come in. Of course it was the big boss, though. He just couldn't seem to leave her alone. Buffy couldn't help but think how useful that could be to use him, then.

"Night's almost here," Vamp Master told her, coming over and sitting on the bed next to her. "I've devised a plan for us tonight. You are hungry and need to feed, so we shall do that first. Then, I'd like us—together, mind you—to go to my followers. Even though news of your turning will spread, they won't believe it until they see it. You'll have to-"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said: No. What, do you have a hearing problem?"

"Oh, um, no, I do not," he stammered.

"This is my first night," Buffy told him. "I'll do what I want. Not your little plans. I have plans of my own."

"Buffy, I strongly advise that-"

"I don't care. You're either with me, or against me. It's your choice."

"Oh, Buffy." He reached over and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm with you. I'll always be with you." Suddenly he grabbed her hair and yanked it a little, causing a little pain. "But you have to be with me too. This is a give and take relationship. I sired you."

"Let go of me." He did as she commanded. "We can do all your little plans later. I have my own for the first half of the night, though."

"And what would those be?"

"Giles. For what he did, he needs to pay."

He paused. Then the pause grew into silence. Until: "Giles was your Watcher, right?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"What does he need to pay for, exactly?"

Buffy jumped off the bed. "What do you care? It doesn't matter—he just needs to pay for what he did to me. If you don't care, I'll take care of him myself."

"No, Buffy, I want to help you. We're a team."

"That's strange. You're not acting like we're a team."

"Fine; you want Giles, we go after Giles. I just hope seeing the face of an old loved one won't be too much for you."

"The way I feel inside," Buffy grinned, "nothing can be too much for me."

Night fell. With the night, tears began to fall from Dawn's eyes. Buffy hadn't been home, much less called or anything. She was so worried about her sister it was almost unbelievable. At this point, Buffy was all she had left. They'd already lost their mother, and Dawn didn't want to lose her big sister.

Along with these thoughts, she couldn't get her mind off of Giles. No wonder Buffy stormed out the night before. Still, she should've come home.

Did Giles really think he did the right thing? He said he let an innocent person die and blamed it on Buffy. Dawn couldn't believe it. So then, Angel and Spike blamed Buffy for the death of someone that must've been important? That was what Dawn was figuring.

Why in the world would Angel and Spike believe Buffy would let someone die, though? They knew her well enough to know she wouldn't do that. Their judgments must've really been clouded by this person who died. Who was the one who died? Giving they must've been around with Angel and his crew it could've been Wesley, a woman named Fred, or another guy named Gunn. Or maybe that one demon; what was his name? Dawn couldn't recall.

That train of thoughts led her to another question. How was Spike alive? Why was he with Angel in L.A.?

A loud pound on the front door to the apartment caused Dawn to jump. Then there was another one. It was like an excessive knock.

Against Dawn's better judgment, she couldn't help but think that it might be Buffy out there knocking on the door, wanting to come inside. This thought caused her to jump up and practically run to the door. At the door, she threw off the unlock button and opened it. Jubilance filled her spirits.

"Buffy!" Dawn cried.

Buffy stood outside the apartment, her hands in her pockets. She smiled. "Dawn, hey."

Dawn leaped out and hugged Buffy. Buffy wasn't sure what to do. A part of her told her she should hug back, but the smell of Dawn's blood was getting in the way of her being able to move.

"What's wrong?" Dawn questioned, retreating off of Buffy. She backed up back inside the apartment.

"Nothing. There's just a-a lot going on, Dawn. Something happened last night. Something awful."

"Is that why you didn't come home?"

Buffy didn't have a chance to answer. Giles suddenly appeared almost out of nowhere. "Who's at the door?" he was asking. Then he looked up and saw Buffy. He took a deep breath.

"Wow Giles," Buffy commented. "No drink in your hand. I'm proud of you."

"Buffy, come inside. We should really talk, and we can't do that with you in the hall."

Luckily, he had said just the words Buffy wanted to hear. She stepped inside the apartment and closed the door behind her. She stayed by the closed door, though, not wanting to go anywhere else. Dawn and Giles stayed where they were, too.

"I'm not going to apologize for what I did," Giles began. For the moment, Buffy stood there and listened to what he was going to say. "I stand by it. But perhaps I could have, uh, found a better suited way to deal with it. It's too late for that now, though. What's done is done. I think we'll find everything will work out."

"Oh, Giles, it's never too late," Buffy played innocent. "Can't you call Angel and Spike and tell them the truth?"

"I-I refuse to do that."

"Hm," Buffy took in what Giles had said. She remained silent for a few moments. "Wrong answer."

Much to both Giles and Dawn's surprise, Buffy's face morphed into one of a vampire's. Because of the instant shock, neither knew that to do. They stood there, staring at Buffy, wondering if what they were seeing was really true or if they were just imagining things.

Trying to compose herself, Dawn began to scream. She didn't know what else to do.

Buffy leaped forward, smacking Dawn out of the way onto the floor and attacking Giles. She wrapped herself behind him, holding him together and in place with her new vampire strength mixed with her old Slayer strength. Giles could barely move, barely breath. She brought her face extremely close down to his neck, ready to prick it and feel the blood run down her throat.

The door swung opened. Vamp Master stood there with a slick grin on his face. He didn't come in.

"Invite him in," Buffy whispered in Giles's ear. "Do it."

"Come…come in," Giles gasped.

"Ah, you must be Buffy's sister. Quite a beauty," he said, approaching Dawn.

"Leave me alone!" She screamed. She was still on the floor, backing away slowly.

"Buffy," Giles continued to try to plead. Even as he did, he could feel it wasn't working. Buffy had complete control over him and would kill him if she wanted to.

"Don't even try," she told him. "You see what I am, now? You see what you did to me? This is your fault, Giles. I gave up because I saw nothing but you and your lies manifesting into everyone hating me. You did this to me, Giles." Buffy laughed obnoxiously. "Thank you."

He felt the sharpness of her teeth pierce his skin. The blood rushed out into her mouth quickly, immediately causing a sense of dizziness to overwhelm him.

Just as he was feeling weaker and weaker and on the verge of unconsciousness, she let go of him and threw him to the ground. He landed in a position where he could still look up and see her.

"I'm not gonna kill you," she wiped the excess blood from her mouth. "At least not yet. No, I want you to live with the fact that you did this to me. For now. Trust me, though, I will be back. And next time you won't be so lucky." She looked at Vamp Master, who was calmly watching over Dawn, controlling himself from attacking her. "Hey!" she called to him. "Let's get out of here."

"Are you sure? I thought you wanted to-"

"Yes," Buffy said as snotty as she could manage, cutting him off. "Bye Dawnie. Don't worry; you'll definitely see me again. Maybe next time I'll turn you. How fun would it be to be vampire sisters?"

"Get out," Dawn spoke shakily.

Buffy left, Vamp Master trailing behind her. Once gone, Dawn rushed over to Giles, quickly grabbing a towel to cover up the bloodied wound of Buffy's teeth in his neck. He looked weakened, but Dawn knew he'd be okay. Buffy didn't take too much of his blood.

Dawn stayed by Giles as he drifted off into some kind of black out/slumber. She remained right by his side, making sure he was breathing and his heart was still beating. Since he couldn't see her, Dawn let all her anger and sadness out. She cried, cried streams and streams and let out a few small whimpers. She did that the rest of the night, unable to move out of fear that Buffy would come back.

"That was exhilarating!" Buffy shouted. "Oh, jeez, I want to do it again. I need more. More blood."

"Okay," Vamp Master said, leading her to an area where there'd be plenty of people to choose from.

"I really wanted to hurt him," Buffy continued. "Like, really. Do you think I accomplished that? Maybe not as much as I'd like to. Next time, though, definitely next time. Next time I'll make both of them scream so loud they won't be able to hear themselves think. I've introduced myself to them, though. That means everyone else will know eventually. That's what I want. I want them to see me coming, to expect it. And I'll hit them all where it hurts. Giles and Dawn first. Then Xander. Willow. Kennedy and Faith."

"You want to kill all your friends?" he asked.

"Who said anything about killing? Maybe eventually, sure, but torture sounds more appealing." She let out a shrill laugh. "Angel and Spike certainly make the list. Oh, boy, I could just imagine the looks on their faces when they saw me."

"Buffy, slow down." He stopped walking and stood in front of her, looking into her eyes. "I didn't turn you so you'd extract revenge on everyone you want to. I did it so we could be rulers. I'm already known as Vamp Master, Buffy. You could be my queen. That's what I want. I want you to join me."

This time, before she could stop him, he kissed her.

"Wow," she said when he pulled away.

"So what do you say?"

"Yes. Of course. We'll rule together."

His grin was the widest grin she'd ever seen.

The thing was, in that kiss, Buffy wanted to ask him his real name, but realized what needed to be done. He needed to die. And who was more capable of killing him than her? Why learn the true name of one she was just going to kill? Before that was to happen, though, she had to be known as his precious Queen. Then, once he was dead, she'd have control over all of his followers. Plenty of followers to help torture everyone she wanted to hurt.

Buffy was feeling very excited about her plan.