A/N: Hello all. Soon I will be putting up a list of slayers and other assorted 'magic' users. Just for reference. Just an fyi, I have surgery on 3/25. I'll try to update again before then, but not sure if I'll be able to.

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.

******

Dinner was quite a bit quieter that evening, even with the number of people quadrupled from breakfast that morning. Occasionally, suspicious looks were cast in several directions coming from several of the different tables, and the tension in the room continued to grow. Finally, one person had enough.

Rick Castle tossed down his napkin and turned to face the one eyed man who kept staring at him. "Did I do something to you?"

"Castle…" Beckett hissed.

"No," he shrugged her off. "This guy is staring at me like I slept with his wife or something… I didn't sleep with your wife did I?"

"Dad!"

"Ignore your father dear," Martha told her granddaughter. "He thinks he's being amusing."

"You look like him, a lot like him, but not like him," Xander stated.

"That made a whole lot of no sense," Rick deadpanned.

"The asshole who poked out Boy-Toy's eye there, looked a bit like you," Faith enlightened the author, as she speared a piece of steak with her knife.

Rick's face was horrified, and he looked a bit squeamish. "A person poked your eye out?"

"With his thumb," Xander nodded.

Now Rick looked a bit green and he pushed his unfinished plate of food away.

"You can handle looking at dead bodies at crime scenes, but this grosses you out?" Beckett taunted.

"It's different," he protested. "I mean it's sad and all, but they're already dead… he's not! He's a living, breathing guy!"

"Dad, it's okay, I'm sure he knows you're not the same guy," Alexis, the man's daughter, and one of the new slayers soothed.

The older redhead on the other side of the table from him rolled her eyes, "Oh for God's sake, Richard, quit being so melodramatic. The boy was obviously looking at you because you resembled the man."

"He wasn't as big, you're a lot bigger and your hair's different," Xander decided to add. "And he was a priest."

Beckett started laughing, "Well then, it definitely wasn't Castle. I'm sorry; I'm not trying to laugh at your pain."

Xander gave her a small smile. "That's okay. It was a long time ago. It was just a bit startling."

"There are all kinds of look alikes going on around here," Morgan said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Ain't that the truth," Dawn snorted as she eyeballed Seeley Booth.

"I don't know why you're looking at him," House sniped. "I could swear I had you and that little redhead, Vi as patients."

Dawn looked at Vi who shrugged.

"What happened to the guy?" Gibbs asked from a nearby table. Everyone was listening in interest now. From the things they'd heard as they'd shuffled around getting clothing and rooms, the 'Scoobies' hadn't lived the easiest of lives. "The guy who poked out Mr. Harris's eye with his thumb?"

"His name was Caleb," Faith responded with a sneer. "He was a woman hatin' freak."

Buffy met the NCIS agent's icy blue gaze with her own sea-green. "I took my scythe and sliced him down the middle from sternum to groin," she said very calmly. "He killed innocent women, killed potential slayers, girls that were mine to take care of… he was going to kill Faith and Xander distracted him. Caleb went after Xander because Xander's special." Buffy leaned forward on the table. "You don't go after mine, hurt mine, or kill mine without paying a price."

For a moment Gibbs flashed back to the Mexican desert, a Marine M-40A1 Sniper Rifle with hand-loaded Lapua 308 boat tail, full metal jacket, and moly-coated rounds, and a certain drug dealer who'd taken two of his. He wasn't so sure this girl was so very different than him.

Cordelia gasped and stood, her eyes turning their milky white, indicating a vision was oncoming. Slowly she began spinning, her arms out to her sides, her head turned up towards the ceiling. "Little Wizards in the ground clutch their wands, can't make a sound. Most so young, their lives cut short by the evil that is Lord Voldemort." Cordy stopped spinning, placing both hands on her heart, her eyes wide. "Hurry, hurry it's going to be a race; quick before he finds their secret hiding place." Her eyes fell shut, and she began to slide to the floor only to be caught by Neal Caffrey, who moved forward just in time to catch her.

"Uh," he stammered.

"Now can I call her Coma Chick?"

"House," a woman hissed. "That's how you got that black eye!"

Buffy and the other Scoobies were already moving, getting ready to go wherever Cordy led when she awoke.

Cordy's eyes fluttered open meeting Neal's, she smiled slightly, "Pretty eyes," she murmured.

Neal smiled charmingly, "Right back at you." Then he helped her sit up fully.

"I saw exactly where we need to go," she called after her friends. "Oh! And…" she started staring at everyone until she stopped at McGee and his sister. "These two have to come too."

People began to stand and follow their rescuers as they left the dining hall and headed to the room where they normally conjured portals. All of the Scoobies were armoring up, and loading weapons onto their persons, even Cordelia who Xander was handing a sheathed short sword and an intricately carved crossbow.

Gibbs was snapping questions at the brunette seer, and finally she just turned and started poking him. "Look Buddy! They were in the vision! They're healers and where we're going, we're going to need healers or people are going to die… kids are going to die…"

"I'll go," Sara McGee didn't even look at Gibbs. He wasn't her boss after all.

"Boss, I have to go. My sister's going, and if there are kids there that need help…"

"You're a healer now, McProbie?" DiNozzo asked, trying to hide his concern at the thought of his partner and friends going somewhere where Tony wouldn't have his six.

Tim shrugged. "I don't know, Tony. I know I feel different; I have for the past few days but I thought it was all because of everything going on." Tim turned to Abby who was biting her bottom lip and watching them. "I always wait to say the right thing, or really just to say anything to you, and now I feel like an idiot. I kept telling myself that we had plenty of time…"

Abby stepped forward, "McGee?"

Tim moved to Abby and crushed his lips down onto hers, holding her face in his hands. He finally pulled away, and she looked at him from glazed eyes. "I love you Abby Scuito. I have always and will always love you." He didn't wait for her to speak, just let her go and moved off with his sister.

"McGee," Gibbs called just as the two McGees' were passing him. They both stopped and were startled when he gave each a head slap. "You both make sure you get back here safely."

Rachel and Brittany hadn't even waited for an invitation, moving forward to accept weapons from Buffy.

Dean and Sam were just sitting back, and Puck moved over to them anxiously. "Aren't we going?"

Dean looked at the teen and knew this was going to be one of those hard lessons he and Buffy had been talking about. "Nope."

"Why not?"

When Sam saw that Dean wasn't going to speak, he explained, "They're going to an alternate reality. We don't know how their magic works, or what's going on in that world, except for obviously something bad. So the slayers, the two healers and a few witches go in. Cordy will go because she's the seer. We stay here and make sure everything keeps running smoothly."

"This is bullshit." Puck's eyes were trained on Rachel, his lips thinning and hands clenching in anger.

"It sucks, but it's the way it is. Deal," Dean told him bluntly. "You and me? We don't have much protection against wizards and spells. If you went in there where do you think Rachel's attention would be? And Buffy's and Faith's, because they take care of the people they consider theirs… if we were supposed to go then it would have been part of the vision. You're gonna learn real quick that there are some things we do and then there are some things the slayers do."

"But she's so small," Puck whispered, his heart pounding in his chest at the thought of Rachel going to an alternate reality and away from him.

Dean gripped his shoulder. "Dude, look at them, ALL of them… every one of them is small."

"Why? Why them?" Puck asked.

"I asked Summers that once," Dean admitted. "She said that it was so the monsters would underestimate her."

Sam grinned. "Funny really. When we first met the Scooby Council, and that's completely what they were calling themselves I swear, we underestimated her, Dean tried to send her home, but the creature we were fighting didn't. It peed itself and asked for mercy."

Dean's lips twisted up in memory. "Ten foot fucking Culdero demon cryin' for its mama."

"Why does Xander get to go?"

The brothers shared a look. "Dude, Xander… he may have started out as human as me, but he's had enough shit thrown at him and enough prophecy's written about him that he ain't what he always was," Dean shared.

"Well what is he then?" All three men turned to look at the new person entering the conversation. The brunette man smiled. "Sorry, Michael Westen. He's one of the people who got us from the hotel in Miami… good aim for only one eye."

Sam shrugged. "He's had several titles, none he wanted. The Slayer's White Knight. The One Who Sees. The Heart of Sineya… and he gets to go because magic never acts right around Xander."

"Well, that and those are Xander's girls, every one of them. And there's no way he's letting them out there without him."

Before anything more could be said Rachel came running up throwing her arms around Puck. "We're going soon, kiss me," she demanded.

Puck didn't even hesitate, melding their mouths together, and wrapping his arms around her as tight as they could go. "You be careful out there, Berry."

"I am always careful, Noah. I have far too many things going on for something to happen to slow me down," she told him primly.

"What's Chang's mom arguing with Buffy about?" Puck asked, his attention drawn over to where Buffy, Mrs. Change and one of the young slayers were in deep conversation.

"She isn't," Rachel shared. "Shen wants to go, but Buffy says you have to be fifteen to go out in the field. Mrs. Change actually speaks Chinese so she's explaining that to Shen." The little girl yelled something in the foreign language and stomped off. "Obviously, Shen was not pleased with Buffy's decision."

"Are you sure you're okay to go? You haven't gotten much rest, and it's been a rough day," Puck worried… then he winced as he realized he was sounding like a chick.

"Noah, I'm fine," she assured him. She kissed him once more and then turned to move to the other slayers.

Puck looked at the Dean and Sam who were both smirking at him. "I'm gonna wait for her to go through the portal before checking to make sure I still have balls."

Buffy looked at Giles. "We'll be back soon."

Giles watched his slayer, his children, and the new slayers move for Dawn's new portal and began to pray to all the gods he knew of.

**

Draco Malfoy slid along the thin tunnel slowly, trying to breathe as little as possible. Occasionally he would have to stop as his robes would get caught on a root, or rock, jutting out. All he wanted to do was stop, his muscles ached, and his bones twinged from overuse, but he knew he couldn't stop. Too many people needed him. He smirked slightly; and how was that for a laugh, people depending on the King of the Slytherins.

He could hear murmuring and coughing up ahead, so he knew that he'd reach the others soon. Bits and pieces of dirt continued to fall on him, and every once in awhile some of it would get into his mouth. Draco would simply spit it out and continue to move forward. Finally he reached the end, and as he fell through the opening he felt a horrible stinging sensation ripple over his face and hands.

"Bloody Hell!" he screeched. "Who put up the damned Net of Nettles spell?"

Hands were already moving towards him to help him to his feet. "Sorry, Draco. I put it up as a precaution," Neville mumbled.

"I wish someone had bloody well warned me," Draco snapped.

"Leave him alone, Draco," Hermione's exhausted voice immediately took the piss out of the irate boy. "He was just trying to protect us."

"It was a good spell, Longbottom," Draco murmured, before moving over to where their injured lay. The babies in the area had begun crying when he'd yelled out, and now their mothers sought to calm them. "This is all I was able to get, Uncle," he spoke, handing Severus Snape the miniaturized bag of potions and components he'd been able to filch from the ruins of Hogwarts. While Snape looked over the items, Draco moved closer to the boy who lay wheezing nearby. "I was even able to grab some food," he told the ginger-haired girl who sat beside the boy.

Ginny took the small pouch from her family's former nemesis, with a small grateful look. "Thanks, Draco. I'll go see what Pansy and I can put together with this."

"How's my father?" he asked.

"Sleeping. He's a little feverish, but he's holding his own," Hermione shared. She sat between Harry and Lucius, watching over both.

The lighting in the dug out hovel was poor, but it was good enough that the Malfoy heir could see how feverish and pale The Boy Who Lived was. "Still with us, Potter?" he murmured.

Harry tried to chuckle, but it came out a dry rasp that almost sounded painful. "For now, Malfoy… you might get your wish you know… I think I'm dying…"

"Always so dramatic, Potter," Draco scowled.

Harry did manage to chuckle now. "Yo-you aren't so bad, Draco Malfoy. I'm glad in the end I could call you friend."

"Oh don't be a pillock," Draco snapped. "I didn't go out there where all the Deatheaters and You Know Who is just to have you up and die on us!"

"Move, Draco," Snape murmured as he moved up between the two boys. "This isn't going to feel good, Potter."

"Snape… Snape… I wanted… I've wanted to apologize… I love my f-f-father, but I saw what he did, they did… so wrong…"

Hermione, leaning against the dirt wall on the other side of her friend, began weeping, her hands subconsciously squeezing her rounded belly. "Harry," she tried to soothe.

Snape grimaced as he put the thick paste on the deep lacerations running lengthwise across the teen's chest. "Cover his mouth, Draco."

Draco did so quickly, before the scream could escape and break the silence.

Millicent Bulstrode, who'd been helping Pansy and Ginny cook, began sobbing, and it was Fred and George who moved to help the girl. "There, there," Fred began.

"No tears now," George finished.

"We're all going to die here," she whispered.

"Not possible," Fred scoffed.

"We're far too stubborn to die like this," George agreed.

Harry's cries had died down as he'd passed out from a mixture of pain and the numbing solution in the paste, and Snape moved on to Blaise Zabini's wounds.

Hermione rolled her head to look at Draco. "What's it like out there?"

"Wretched," he told her honestly. "Everything's burning. I apparated to Hogsmeade, The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley… I even went into Muggle London… Everything's destroyed," Draco kept his voice loud enough for the rest of the people to hear, but not loud enough to disturb Harry. "There were…these… creatures. They could tell where I was. There were actually Deatheaters fighting them. I saw McNair throw an Avada Kedavra at one and it did nothing… it was a person, or it used to be a person, but not any more…there were a lot. Muggles and wizards…" There were gasps at his words. "I saw one… eating a dead body."

"Merlin," Katie Bell's voice was barely heard.

"And the air… it was hard to breathe up there."

"World's turned to shite," Marcus muttered.

"The world is dying," Snape sank back on his heels.

"That's not what Harry's prophecy said would happen," Ginny stated as she began passing out food.

"No, but it is what is happening," the normally unpleasant man reiterated. "The air is becoming unstable, cities are crumbling, people are dying and coming back to some semblance of unlife… and that's not due to He Who Shall Not Be Named."

"Maybe not, but he's still out there looking to finish us off," Marcus growled. "And we're just plonked down here, the whole lot of us."

"Marcus is right," Hermione's voice trembled. "He's constantly searching and we sit down here hiding, some of us dying by the moment just to linger a few seconds more."

"You'd have been better off without me," Snape murmured. "Eventually I will not be able to hide myself from his prying eyes." He didn't say it, but they knew he was including Lucius in that category; he too possessed the dark mark.

"We wouldn't have made it this far without you," Ginny knelt near the former potions master. "Harry, Lucius and Blaise would've died, Tonks would've died in childbirth, and 'Mione would've miscarried…"

Ginny's words were broken off as a rumbling began, and small winking will 'o wisps began flashing. The safety precautions to announce they'd been found had worked. Those in hiding now knew they'd been found.

The top of their underground haven was ripped off in one great strip, small pieces of debris floating down upon them. Maniacal laughter broke the air, and those who'd been in hiding stared up, finding themselves surrounded by at least thirty Deatheaters and Lord Voldemort himself.