A/N: I hope you guys will continue to read and review, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Aaron Hotchner moved as silently as he could through the building. He had a feeling the more noise he made the more attention it drew from those… things outside. He and Derek had left their makeshift refuge to bring back water for the group. When they'd made it to the Shoe Carnival, they'd barricaded themselves into the employee breakroom. There had been vending machines, and Hotch had hoped there would still be bottled water in said machines. There had been a few snacks and a few sodas, but the majority had been cleaned out by what he could only guess had been looters. Since this had begun they'd definitely run into their share of those, he thought grimly.

The two men slipped back into the break room, and Rossi, Reid, and a large black man by the name of Mitch Jones, slid the two vending machines back into place in front of the door. They'd run into Mitch and his group of refugees from Lima Ohio a few blocks down. The group had been escaping from a bus that had been rammed by a dying zombie victim. Later the group had explained how they'd been returning from watching their children perform at a Show Choir competition when they'd had to change course due to road blocks and accidents. The Lima group had been fighting for their lives, those creatures overpowering several of them, and it had been fortuitous that the FBI agents had happened upon them. Between the BAU agents and the Lima group, the survivors had managed to get to this shoe store.

Upon entering the shoe store they had run into looters; armed looters, probably the same damned looters who'd cleaned out the vending machines. The looters had been fleeing the building, and began open firing. Prentiss had taken a bullet to the left side of her abdomen, and another man, Burt Hummel, had been shot in the leg, shattering one of the bones. There were also a few survivors from the bus who'd taken on injuries in their attempt to escape the accident. One man, Leroy Berry, was gravely ill. Hotch knew they needed to get help soon.

After dropping off the water he was carrying, Hotch moved back over to Morgan, Rossi and Reid, who looked to be in deep discussion. "What's going on?"

Rossi leaned in, speaking softly, "The man, Fred, and Mr. Fabray almost came to blows. Between Mitch, Richard and me, we managed to keep them separated."

"Mr. Rutherford, Richard, told me that Fred, he was driving their bus, he has alcohol problems and anger issues. And I guess Mr. Fabray considers himself above most of the others due to his income bracket. Mitch said that Mrs. Fabray was one of the first victims after the bus crash," Reid explained.

"Great, so we're dealing with the end of the world and we're stuck with a mean drunk and a snob," Derek murmured as he shook his head.

The BAU had been nearby investigating a series of murders in town. They hadn't even known what was happening until Garcia stopped answering her office phone. Suddenly, none of their phones, cells or landlines, had been working, and panic had set in. That's when they'd started seeing the infected. The first place they'd holed up was the hotel they'd been checked in at. It was there that Penelope found them. She had Jack and Henry with her. When JJ had asked where Will was Garcia hadn't been able to answer her blonde friend. JJ hadn't spoken since.

Garcia had spoken to Hotch and Morgan. She'd explained to them that as soon as things started going crazy, she'd seen a computer message about the breach of something called 'Angelspawn'. She'd gone to JJ's thinking she'd get Will and Henry, they'd go pick up Jack, and then rendezvous with the rest of the BAU. Except, when she got to JJ's, Will had already been infected. It was only by sheer luck and timing that he hadn't gotten to the baby. Garcia had wept as she confessed to beating in the former cop's head.

"How are you feeling, Leroy?" Hotch murmured as he approached a thin black man lying on the ground.

The man tried to smile through his pain, "I'm dying, Mr. Hotchner. We all know that, though I thank you for asking. I'll be with my Hiram again soon." He coughed a little, and blood came up with his spittle.

"You can't talk like that. We're going to get you some medical help. We're going to get all of you help."

Tears filled Leroy's eyes. "I just wish I could see my little girl again. Tell her that I love her. Tell her how proud I am."

"Our babies were amazing today," one of the other Lima residents who'd taken to trying to make Leroy more comfortable spoke. She'd introduced herself as Nancy. "Your Rachel was simply amazing."

"I'm so grateful we got to see them perform," he wheezed. "I hope they're okay…"

"You just have to have faith they are," Nancy told him. "That teacher of theirs, he won't let anything happen to them."

Leaving Leroy to Nancy, Hotch moved over to Emily. "How are you doing, Emily?"

"Don' worry," she slurred, her eyes glassy. Sweat was pouring from her fevered body. "They're coming for us. Soon. They'll be here, and they're, we're amazing. My God, so beautiful and amazing, Hotch…"

"She's hallucinating," Derek looked worried.

"No," JJ whispered, startling all of them into looking at her. Her eyes were huge in her pale face. "No. She's right. They're coming, and we're going to have to move fast, but they won't leave us here. They save the world, and now we're part of them, so we will too. A Legacy… Emily and I are part of something so big now."

"They've stopped the end from coming so many times," Emily's voice, still slurred, was full of awe.

JJ turned her attention to Hotch, "Don't shoot them."

The portal opened into a dark and muffled silence. Rona and Vi stepped through cautiously, swords drawn in one hand, guns in the other. They could hear the creatures on the outside constantly ramming into the walls, doors and windows of the establishment. After verifying it was clear, Vi threw the small beacon stone through the portal to signal the others to enter.

The rest of the group stalked out, each taking a fighting stance as they moved. Buffy was quiet as she gave her orders, "Dawn, hold the portal and shield. Nora, Caridad, guard her. First thing we do is find the evacuees, then we worry about supplies." She didn't wait for anyone to agree, just moved forward; already sure her orders would be followed. "Kit?"

"We pinpointed life-signs to the back, left quadrant," the girl responded.

"Gunn?"

"We're getting about three hundred of those things surrounding us. So far the building is holding, but there are some weak spots."

"Let's try to make this a quick retrieval," Buffy grimaced. She did not want to get overrun by those things.

They moved as a unit towards the back, and found a hallway leading back to where they assumed the employee areas were. They finally came to a metal door with a small glass inset window. The window had crisscrossed wiring in it.

They all looked at each other for a moment. "Dude, I'm not looking. That clearly states dumb idea. If this was a scary movie, then whoever looks in that window, something would come shoving through and piercing through their eye into their skull," Dean stated.

Sam looked at his brother with disgust, "And you say I'm a chick?"

"Maybe we could knock?" Brittany suggested with a bright smile, still stroking her gun lovingly.

Faith was about to do just that, when a voice called out.

"Who's out there?"

"This is Buffy Summers, and … guests," she looked at her friends and shrugged. "We're here to rescue you?"

Jordy started snickering, "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" he murmured, causing Connor and Gunn to snicker.

They heard murmuring and Rachel got antsy. "This is Rachel Berry, are my dads in there?" she called out.

"Rachel!" the soft cry came.

They heard a lot of scraping and then the door was being opened slowly, four men with guns trained on them.

Buffy smiled at the tall, dark haired man in front. "I'm Buffy, and we really are here to help you," she told him holding both hands up.

"You have weapons," the good looking black man aiming his weapon at them accused.

"You seen them things with the chompers," Faith snorted and clicked her teeth at him. "Ain't no way I'm comin' out on a retrieve without some of my best friends."

"Daddy?" Rachel was practically quivering.

The tall man lowered his weapon. He looked at the very petite brunette looking so hopeful in front of him. "I'm Aaron Hotchner. Call me Hotch. Your Daddy's back here."

The girl followed him without a second thought, Faith, Brittany and Dean moving with her. The Lima parents were crowding around, asking questions about their children.

"Brittany?"

"Mom?" Brittany's head jerked up, she immediately holstered her gun and ran to her mother trying to watch her strength as she hugged her.

"Oh, Brittany!" the small blonde woman moved forward quickly, hugging her daughter to her.

Rachel looked at the parents as she moved towards her own father. "The Glee club kids are all okay. As are a few hockey players."

"My boy? David?" an older, worn man asked.

"Dave Karofsky?" Rachel asked. "Yes he's okay. So is Tommy." She gave him his privacy as he began to tremble and moved to sit down.

"Thank God you people are here! This is horrendous! I demand to know what is going on? I want to be taken home immediately!" A tall man with graying blonde hair had stepped forward and was almost yelling in his arrogance.

"Sir, we'll get to you in a minute," Gunn told the man.

Brittany looked to Rachel and mouthed the words, 'Quinn's Dad'.

"We've got twenty two people, a few injuries, but three major injuries," Hotch murmured to Buffy. "One of ours was shot by looters, one of the Lima people was shot in the leg and the bullet did a lot of damage, and the other was attacked by those things."

Buffy closed her eyes. If one of these people was attacked by the zombies there was a distinct possibility he or she had been bitten. She moved over to JJ, and crouched to meet her eyes. "Hi there little sister."

"I'm older than you."

Buffy shrugged, and took the pale girl's hands into her own. "Yeah, but I've been doing this longer, so I feel older."

"Emily's hurt."

Buffy nodded. "I know. But we're going to take care of her. Besides, just like you, she's a slayer now, and us slayers, we're resilient."

Tina sat in the portal room watching the glowing green doorway and thinking about the vision she'd had earlier in the day. It had been as if she was moving through water, and the words coming from her mouth had just been there. She hadn't known she was going to say them, but then she had, and the images flying through her mind while she'd been saying them had been… amazing. Tina knew she really needed to sit and write everything down, but she was still having problems accepting that she could be changed so distinctly forever. She just kept asking herself, was this real? Was this going to be more than a one time thing?

"Are you okay?" Artie had wheeled himself into the room and was looking down at her where she sat against the wall.

Tina looked up at him. "I think so."

"Does your head hurt? Sam said that it might." Artie had spent the last forty five minutes with the other man asking questions about visions and the side effects.

"No. I took some ibuprofen right after. Who knows, maybe this was just a one time thing, like he said…"

"Do you think so?"

Tina began shaking her head. "No. I don't know how to explain it, but… I feel different. I just know that I'll have more."

"Okay," Artie nodded. "Then we'll go with that."

She lowered her face, not wanting to look at him as she felt a tear slip from her eye. "I'm more like you now," she whispered.

"What do you mean?" he frowned, very confused.

"Remember that fight we had? When I told you my stutter was fake? You said how you didn't push people away, the chair did it for you, you were different and I would never understand…"

"Oh, Tina," he murmured. "Come here," Artie demanded. She scooted up and moved until he could pull her into his lap and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I got over those stupid feelings a long time ago. I don't care if you have visions or you don't have visions. I care about you because you're you. You're amazing, and one of the coolest people I know."

Tina relaxed into his embrace, and reached up, kissing him, relishing the fact that he kissed her back with just as much enthusiasm.

"Daddy?" Rachel finally dropped to her knees next to her father.

Leroy opened his eyes and began to cry seeing his little girl next to him. "Am I hallucinating?"

"No. I'm here to rescue you; you and Dad. Where's Dad?"

"My Baby," Leroy wept. "They, those things, the bus crashed and we were trying to escape. We ran into those FBI Agents, Agent Hotchner and the others… we were almost here and they got him… They took Hiram, pulled him from my arms, and he started screaming," both Leroy and Rachel sobbed now. "I asked… I asked the agent… Agent Prentiss not to let him die like that. She shot him in the head, and it was horrible, but I was glad, Baby, I was glad." The older man's body was wracked with his cries. "I was glad because it meant he didn't hurt any more. His screams, Baby… he hurt so much."
Rachel held him close to her, trying to control her own tears. "I know, Daddy. It was right. The agent did right. He wasn't in pain anymore. It's better now."

"Baby, my bright shining star, I'm so glad I got to see you again," he whispered.

"You're going to be okay, Daddy, I'm taking you home. Buffy, all of them, they saved us, and took us to this amazing, and safe place. And I'm a slayer now, Daddy. I'm strong, and fast, and I'll take care of you…"

"Rachel, I'm dying," he told very carefully. He shifted and pulled up his shirt to show his chest and sides wrapped in bloody bandages. "They got me too many times, sweetheart… their teeth and hands…"

Horror twisted in Rachel's heart. Her father had been bitten. He was going to turn into one of those creatures, and it was only by some miracle he hadn't already. She felt her world shattering. Her kind, gentle father was going to be one of those things. She'd failed him. She hadn't arrived in time to save him, or her Dad. Now she'd lost them both.

"Daddy, I have to talk to Buffy about this, Okay? I'll be right back," she murmured. She stood on shaky legs, and moved over to the blonde slayer. Her eyes didn't quite focus as she spoke, "My father's been bitten. I'm going to stay here with him until the end." She finally met Buffy's eyes. "I will not let him become one of those things."

Buffy's heart ached for the girl in front of her. She knew what Rachel was saying. "Do you want me to take care of it?" Buffy offered.

"No. He's my father. I will take care of him." Rachel turned on her heel going back to her dying father.

"Are you people crazy along with stupid?" The man now identified as Russell Fabray snapped out. "I demand we leave this instant!"

"If you don't shut up so we can get this figured out I will punch you in the face to shut you up, do you understand," Connor hissed.

"You can't talk to me like that," the man gasped, affronted.

Dean moved in, sneering at the man. "Let me explain this to you. We're not going anywhere until Rachel's ready to go," he spoke softly hoping the brunette couldn't hear him from where she sat with her father; his hopes weren't high, knowing she had the slayer enhanced hearing. He knew the pain she was going through. He remembered having to point a gun at his own father. "So, until that time I suggest you shut the fuck up, or I'll let Connor shut you up."

The man shut up.

Dawn, Nora and Caridad stood by the portal and kept a careful watch to make sure no zombies infiltrated the building. Dawn was also holding up a shield spell in addition to the portal, but they still wanted to keep on their toes.

"Dawnie," Buffy came over the com.

"Yes?"

"We're going to be a few."

"Everything okay?"

There was silence for a moment. "Rachel's father is dying. He was bitten."

Dawn winced. Poor Rachel. She really liked the other girl. It would be nice when they had a few minutes to sit and get to know each other. "Okay."

"I'm sending Kit, Oz and Jordy back to you. Do you think between you and Kit you can figure a way to get supplies funneled through the portal?"

"Magically?"

"Yeah."

"I'll see what we can come up with."

"Thanks.".

**

Quinn watched quietly as the boy Carlos measured ingredients and poured them into his small stainless steel pot sitting on a Bunsen burner. Willow had explained that different potions called for different cooking utensils, and that one should consider even those utensils as ingredients. She'd also told Quinn that not paying attention to those small details could cause serious problems. The redhead had seemed to know what she was talking about.

Willow had been super nice, taking Quinn under her wing, trying to explain what had happened, why she had passed out, and what would be happening. Quinn was having some serious issues with the thought of being a witch… especially where it coincided with her religion.

Quinn had been raised to know that her God was both a merciful God and a God who loved her, and she loved her God, but didn't the bible state Thou shall not suffer a witch to live? Did this sudden bequeathing of power mean that God had turned his back on her? Was it because she was pregnant?

"Are you all right?" Willow's soft voice brought Quinn from her thoughts.

"I'm fine."

"I know this can all be very overwhelming." Willow's eyes didn't miss Quinn's hand moving up to tangle with the delicate cross around her neck. "I'm here if you need to talk."

"I just don't quite know what to believe in anymore… my parents, people who are supposed to be 'good Christians', threw me out of their home when they found out I was pregnant, but you, who are either Jewish or …"

"Wiccan," Willow supplied.

Quinn gave her a smile, "Thank you. But you, who are Wiccan, save us, give us everything we need, and offer help at every turn. But the book I've been raised to believe in and follow, all my life, says I should hate you."

"I'm not going to malign your beliefs, Quinn," Willow stated softly, "but I will state this, that book was written by a man, and men are flawed. You're obviously old enough now to know what's right and wrong and how you should be treating others. That's what you should hold onto." The two girls watched as Carlos continued with his potion. "Having this power isn't easy, Quinn. There are horrible temptations out there… horrible things that you could do to other people. We're going to teach you the right way to use your power. And we'll try our best to make sure you never stumble."

"Thank you," Quinn whispered.

"Hey!" Mercedes stuck her head in the doorway. "For some reason boxes of shoes are flyin' out the portal! That dude, Xander wants everyone down there to start stackin' 'em up"

"I love you so much, Daddy. You and Dad were the most amazing parents I could ask for."

"Sometimes… I think…we… pushed… too hard," he wheezed.

"Never too hard, Daddy. Never." Rachel knew it wouldn't be long now. "I'm going to sing for you, Daddy. Remember when you used to sing for me? I always loved that. It always made me feel so special…
You're the end of the rainbow, my pot of gold,
You're daddy's little girl to have and hold.
A precious gem is what you are,
You're Dad's bright and shining star.
You're the spirit of Christmas, my star on the tree,
You're the Easter bunny to Dad and me.
You're sugar you're spice, you're everything nice,
And you're daddy's little girl.
You're the end of the rainbow, my pot of gold,
You're daddy's little girl to have and hold.
A precious gem is what you are,
You're Dad's bright and shining star.
You're the treasure I cherish so sparkling and bright,
You were touched by the holy and beautiful light.
Like angels that sing a heavenly thing,
And you're daddy's little girl… I'll always be daddy's little girl…"

By the end of the song there was a slight smile on Leroy's face, and the last breath left his body. One last low sob was choked off as Rachel gave her Daddy one last kiss on the forehead. She took his wallet and belongings he'd set aside and she stood up. Everyone flinched at the sound of the gun firing so closely in the small room.
**