Santana breathed heavily and stood across from Sunshine, the vampire slayer, with her fists outstretched.
"Okay, one more time. You're the who?" Santana demanded.
This tiny Asian girl had shown up, unexpected, at Angel's windowless basement apartment, hell bent on kicking Santana's ass and claiming she was a vampire slayer, which was clearly more than alarming to Santana because a), as far as she knew, the real slayer, Buffy Summers, was still alive and well and b) Sunshine was really short, and dressed like a freaking toddler.
"I'm the slayer," Sunshine frowned, "And you can't stop me! Even if you kill me, another slayer will be sent to take my place."
"Okay, can you stop with the slayer stuff? Buffy is the slayer!"
"What's a Buffy?"
"She's the slayer!"
"There is only one slayer, and that's me!"
"Okay, listen, Sunny, how about we both back off for a second and I take you to the slayer and her watcher until we can figure this all out?"
"Why should I trust you? You're a vampire!"
Santana sighed irritably. "Look, you're the slayer, right? So if I bring you to the wrong place, you can just kick my ass and dust me."
Sunshine looked reluctant, but she nodded, fists outstretched, and let Santana lead her to McKinley High.
xxx
Sunshine's first day in Lima, Ohio, was both more exciting and confusing than she had expected, but she was really willing to give herself to her calling. The Watcher's Council had promised to get parents green cards so they could come from the Philippines and live in America with her. Now, she was just afraid that maybe she wouldn't be needed in Lima, after all. The vampire, though evil and skanky, had been telling the truth. She wasn't the only slayer, even though there was only supposed to be one.
"Your watcher is Sam Agbuya," said Will Schuester, another young man dispatched from the Watcher's Council.
He was pacing around the high school choir room that the vampire had brought Santana to, with three of his students sitting and watching intently on plastic chairs, even though it was early in the morning and the sun would be coming up soon.
"Yes," Sunshine replied to him.
As soon as she had arrived with the vampires and proven her heightened strength to Mr. Schuester and his students, he had hastily made a phone call to the girl named Buffy, urging her to come to school early.
"We've met," Will nodded, "He's well respected."
"So he's a real guy?" Santana raised an eyebrow, "As in, non-fictional?"
"And you're called...?" Mike asked, looking up at Sunshine.
"I am the vampire slayer," Sunshine folded her arms.
"We got that, honey, he means your name," smirked Santana.
"Oh. Sunshine Corazon," she replied, "The Watcher's Council moved me here from the Philippines."
The others heard quick tapping footsteps approaching from the hall and turned to the door as Buffy rushed in, with Rachel quickly tagging along behind her.
"What is this about a new slayer?" Buffy said right off the bat, folding her arms in front of her chest and eyeing Sunshine.
"Should we be talking about this in front of civilians?" Sunshine asked uneasily.
"Relax, these are my friends," Buffy frowned.
"I don't understand," frowned Sunshine.
"Sunshine, there are a few people," started Will, "Who know about Buffy's identity. Tina, Mike, Sam and Rachel are some of them."
"And you allow this?" Sunshine asked him.
"Well..."
"The slayer must work in secret. For security."
"Well, of course, but with Buffy some... flexibility is required."
"Why?" Sunshine frowned.
"Mr. Schuester," Rachel frowned dramatically, "Can we please pause the discussion so you can explain why there is another girl claiming to be a vampire slayer in Lima?"
"Looks like there's been a really big mix up," said Buffy, agitated as she took a seat next to Sam.
"How is this possible?" asked Rachel, "Two slayers at the same time."
"I don't know," Will shook his head, "The new slayer is only called after the one before her has died, so..."
"Buffy," Tina gasped, "You were dead."
Buffy squirmed in her seat. "Only for a minute."
"I don't think it matters how long. Technically, you were dead and that probably triggered the activation of a new slayer."
"You died?" asked Sunshine.
"Just a little," Buffy rolled her eyes.
"She drowned," said Will, "But she was revived."
"So there really are two of them," said Sam, wholly impressed.
"This is a very rare situation," said Will, "I'm not sure how to go about this."
"What's the big confusion?" Buffy furrowed her brow, "It's a mistake, she's not supposed to be here, she goes home. End of story. No offense, Sundance, but I'm not dead and having you around creeps me out a little bit."
"I can't just leave," Sunshine protested, "I was sent here for a reason. All the signs indicate that a very dark power is on the rise in Lima."
"And what's your big plan?" snorted Santana, "Attack people randomly until you find a bad one."
"You're not a person," said Sunshine, "You're a vampire."
"Hey, Santana is our friend," Buffy frowned, standing up and nearing Sunshine, her shoulders rigid.
"How can you keep acquaintance with a vampire?" Sunshine demanded, "She's evil and... skanky."
"Hey!" Santana snapped.
"She's got a point," Rachel mumbled in the background.
"Listen, Mini-Berry, and I call you that because even the hobbity hobbit of all the hobbits in the shire can loom over you like the freakin' Empire State building; yeah, I'm a vampire. Yeah, maybe I can be a little bit evil. Who isn't? But skanky? I prefer promiscuous and even then, you better watch your little Filipino tongue before you run your mouth or else I might just unleash a little someone we like to call Snix and she will go all Lima Heights on your tiny ass!"
Sunshine clenched her jaw and stared, bewildered, at Santana. Buffy could only smirk, amused.
"Right," Will sighed, "Listen, Sunshine, through very rare circumstances, Santana was granted a soul. So while, yes, she's a vampire, she won't hurt anyone."
Rachel snorted.
"And so is Angel," Santana nodded.
"Angel?" Sunshine wrinkled her nose, "You mean Angelus? I've read about him. He's a monster."
"No, he's good now," said Buffy.
"He has a gypsy curse." Santana shrugged.
"He has a what?" Sunshine raised an eyebrow.
"Just trust me on this, alright?" Santana grumbled.
"Why should I?" Sunshine folded her arms, "He looked like just another animal to me when I-"
"When you what? What did you do to him?"
"I-"
"What did you do?"
xxx
"Angel?"
Buffy had broken open the door of the backroom of Willy's Demon Bar. This was the place Sunshine said she had locked Angel up, to wait for his doom as the sun rose behind the window. Now that Buffy was here it seemed that Angel was not, but there also was no mound of dust on the floor to indicate that he had died in here.
"No ashes," Sunshine said what Buffy was thinking, "I didn't kill him."
"Good, so maybe Santana won't kill you," Buffy frowned at the girl. She'd made Santana stay behind, hiding herself in Mr. Schuester's office to avoid the morning sun for the rest of the day.
"Whoa," came a voice from the backroom door and Buffy turned to see it was Willy, the barowner, with his hair slicked back, "There's a lot of tension in this room."
Sunshine ran forward and knocked Willy to the ground, straddling him and holding his arms down.
"Doesn't anyone just say hello where you come from?" Buffy snapped, standing over the struggling pair.
"This one is hiding something," said Sunshine, "I can feel it."
"That's great, but we're not gonna get anything out of him if he's unconscious."
Buffy pulled Sunshine off of Willy and tugged him up by his red bowling shirt, slamming him against the wall and watching him writhe under her grip.
"What did you do to Angel?" Buffy asked.
"My buddy Angel? You think I'd let him fry? I saved his neck. He was about five minutes away from being crispy critter."
"Where did he go?"
"He said he was gonna stay underground to, you know, recuperate."
"Are you telling me the truth?"
"I swear on my mother's grave! Should something fatal happen to her, God forbid."
"Then the vampire is fine," said Sunshine, "We'll go back to your watcher for orders."
Buffy grimaced. "I don't take orders. I do things my way."
"No wonder you died," sneered Sunshine.
xxx
Spike moved to the bed, looming over a sleeping Drusilla and giving her a peck on the side of her head. Drusilla groaned slightly.
"I was dreaming," she said sleepily, her thin eyelids still closed.
"Of what, pet?"
"We were in Paris. You had a branding iron."
"I brought you something."
"And there were worms in my baguette."
Spike skipped across the room to retrieve Drusilla's gift.
"Your sire, my sweet," he grinned devilishly.
Angel had a rope tying his hands behind his back and his broad frame was weak after spending so many hours locked up so close to sunlight. He grunted painfully as Spike hoisted him up and pushed him towards Drusilla.
"Angel?" Drusilla smiled.
"Now all we need's the full moon tonight. He will die and your health will be fully restored, my black goddess," he dropped Angel to the floor, took Drusilla's hand and hungrily kissed it, "My ripe, wicked plum. It's been-"
"Forever," Drusilla finished his sentence, and passionately kissed him, running her black painted fingernails through his bleached white hair.
"Spike, let me have him," pleaded Drusilla, "Until the moon."
Spike smiled. "Okay, you can play, but don't kill him. He mustn't die til the ritual."
Drusilla nodded, a maniacal expression in her eyes. "Bring him to me."
xxx
"Sunshine, I've talked with your watcher and we both agree until we stop Spike and Drusilla, you and Buffy should work together," said Will, leaning back into the desk in his office as his students bustled about on the other side of the walls.
Sunshine and Buffy sat reluctantly in the chairs opposite Mr. Schuester desk and Santana sat behind him, scowling disdainfully at Sunshine.
"So you think that this Spike is trying to revive this Drusilla to health?" asked Sunshine.
Rachel and Tina stood by the door, curiously watching the two slayers.
"Yeah, and we've learned that Drusilla's not just evil, but-"
"Batshit crazy," said Santana.
"Right," said Will, "And if she's restored to full health, well, there's no telling what she might do."
"Then we should stop Spike," said Sunshine.
"Ooh, good plan, let's go," Buffy said, mockingly chipper.
"Buffy," scowled Will.
"It's a little bit more complicated than that, Powerpuff," Buffy smirked.
"Buffy's right," said Will, "Spike has called on the Order of Taraka to keep Buffy out of his way."
"The assassins?" Sunshine gasped, "I read about them in the writings of Dramius."
"Which volume?" asked Tina.
"Six, I think."
"How do you know all this?" Buffy asked suspiciously.
"I study," said Sunshine.
"So obviously you have a lot of free time."
"I study because it's required. The Slayer Handbook insists on it."
"There's a slayer handbook?" Tina asked, intensely interested.
"Handbook? What handbook? How come I don't have a handbook?" asked Buffy.
"Is there a t-shirt, too?" Santana smirked.
"I didn't think you'd need the handbook, Buffy," Will shrugged, "Listen, Figgins has been looking for you. I think it's a good idea if you make an appearance at the Career Fair."
Buffy nodded reluctantly. "Fine."
"Buffy is a student here?" asked Sunshine.
Buffy frowned. "Yes."
"Right. And I imagine you're a cheerleader as well," Sunshine smirked.
"What's wrong with cheerleading?" Buffy snapped.
"Nothing, it was a joke! You're seriously a cheerleader?"
"Also, Buffy, once all this is dealt with," said Mr. Schuester, "We'll have to start practising your solo for Sectionals."
"Buffy's getting a solo for Sectionals?" Rachel gasped.
Buffy groaned. "A duet, actually, with Sam. Will, don't you think I'm a little busy?"
"What are Sectionals?" asked Sunshine.
"Oh, a show choir competition for our glee club," said Will.
"I love show choir," Sunshine grinned.
Rachel frowned sourly by the door. "Too bad we're not recruiting any new members."
"Actually," Mr. Schuester frowned sheepishly, "I forgot to tell everyone in glee club, but, Finn has decided to quit."
The others looked surprised, and Rachel gazed down at the floor. "Because of me?" she asked.
"No, it's not you, Rachel. He has a really busy schedule with football."
"Mike and Sam and Puck play football and they didn't quit," Rachel shook her hair back, "You don't need to sugarcoat it, Mr. Schuester."
Will shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yes, well, the point is, with Finn and Kurt gone, we only have eleven people left on the club and we need twelve to qualify for Sectionals."
"I'd be willing to sing," said Sunshine, "I have some experience singing in my school in the Philippines."
Will smiled happily. "No kidding? You should audition for me after we sort through this mess. Maybe if you're good enough, you can have that duet."
"What?" Buffy raised an eyebrow.
"Now the new girl's getting a solo?" snapped Rachel.
"Well, Buffy, you didn't want a solo in the first place," said Will, "And Rachel, you can take a break from one competition."
"Fine," sighed Buffy, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Career Fair to get to!"
Buffy rose from her seat and stormed out of the room, striding down the hall towards the student lounge, where a bunch of stalls would be set up for each different career opportunity.
"Buffy, wait up!" she heard Tina call behind her, and Buffy slowed down.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly as Tina and Rachel caught up with her, "The mini slayer really gets on my nerves."
"We can tell," Tina smiled subtly.
"She's just so... studious and Slayer Handbook-y and what was that about cheerleaders? What has she got against cheer, huh?"
Rachel nodded. "I completely agree. I thought I'd be glad to know someone who was even shorter than me, but I just find it unnerving."
"Will probably wishes I was Mega Studygirl," Buffy pouted.
"Buffy," Tina sighed, "You'll always be Mr. Schuester's favorite."
"I wonder," Buffy shrugged.
"Of course you will," said Rachel, "You're his slayer. The real slayer."
"It's not that. I just... I wonder if it would be so bad to be replaced."
"You mean, like, letting Sunshine take over?"
"Maybe. Like maybe after this whole Spike and the Order of Taraka thing, I can be like, 'Sunshine, you slay, I'm going to Disneyland'."
"But... Not forever, right?" Tina asked hopefully.
"No. Disneyland would get boring after a few months, but I could do other stuff," Buffy shrugged, "Career Fair stuff. Maybe I could even have a normal life."
The girls wandered into the Career Fair, watching other kids sign their names at the stalls and listen to adults talk about their careers.
"Ms. Pillsbury said I should look at law enforcement, duh, and environmental design," said Buffy.
"Environmental design? That's landscaping, right?" asked Rachel.
"It's my fault for ticking the shrub box," Buffy smirked, "But landscaping is so out, so law enforcement it is."
The girls' eyes wandered to a woman dressed in police gear at a stall, standing up and reading through a list.
"Alright, listen up and answer when I call your name," said the cop, "Buffy Summers."
Buffy reluctantly raised her hand and strolled over to the woman. The cop looked up at her, put down her checklist and whipped her gun out of its holster, pointing it at Buffy's head. Buffy darted down as the cop fired a shot, and the students around her shrieked and ran away in a frenzy. Buffy dodged forward and headbutted into the cops abs, throwing her to the ground. The cop fired shots wildly as Buffy struggled to reach the gun she was holding.
The gun fell out of the cop's hand and clattered to the floor, but the cop just kicked Buffy off of her and removed another gun from her ankle. Suddenly, Sunshine appeared and kicked the second gun out of the cop's hand and kicked her to the floor.
The cop sprang up and took a shocked Morgan Ru by the neck, taking a knife out of her pocket and holding it to the cheerleaders jugular. The cop backed away with Morgan in her grip, and then threw her down and ran out of the exit, Sunshine running after her.
"Buffy!" called Rachel, "It's Mike!"
Buffy turned towards her friends and rushed over to Rachel. They looked down at Mike, who was clutching his arm and wincing in pain. Tina crouched near him, tears stinging her brown eyes.
"Are you okay?" she asked him.
"Yeah," Mike grimaced, "I mean, I'm shot. It's odd. And painful."
Sunshine approached. "She's gone," she said breathlessly.
Morgan Ru hobbled over to them , bewildered. "Was that a demonstration?" she asked.
xxx
"She was definitely one of the Taraka gang, Will, and way gun happy," said Buffy, leaning against Will's office desk.
"Is Mike okay?" asked Will.
"The paramedics said it was only a scrape, thank God," sighed Tina.
"The Taraka are definitely serious," said Santana, standing in the office with her arms folded.
Buffy glanced gratefully at Sunshine, who was standing by the door. "Fortunately for me, so is Sunshine."
"Seeing as you two are going to be so busy with the burden of your predetermined destinies, I don't think either of you are going to have any time to rehearse for Sectionals, so-"
"Rachel," Tina hissed, "Priorities."
"I've figured out the rest of the ritual," said Will, "It requires Drusilla's sire and it has to be done during the new moon."
"But that's tonight," said Sunshine.
"Exactly. I'm sure the assassin was here today to kill Buffy before she could put a stop to things."
"Wait," said Santana, looking grave, "They need Drusilla's sire? You mean, the vamp that made her?"
"Yes," said Will.
Santana groaned sheepishly as they looked at her. "Dammit... Drusilla's sire is Angel."
"What?" said Buffy, disbelieving, "But..."
"It was back when he didn't have a soul. I mean, it wasn't his fault. I sired Jacob when I didn't have a soul," Santana shrugged, "It's a vampire thing."
"Will this ritual kill him?" Buffy asked Will.
"Yeah," sighed Will, rubbing the back of his neck.
Santana clenched her jaw. "We need to find where this ritual is going to take place."
"We have five hours before sundown," said Buffy, "Don't worry, Santana, we'll save Angel."
"Angel?" asked Sunshine, "But our priority is to stop Drusilla."
"I agree with Sunshine," said Rachel, jutting her chin in the air.
"Of course you would, Streisand, you'd like nothing more than to see me miserable," Santana snapped at Rachel before turning to Sunshine, "Look, Thumbelina, you have your priorities, we have ours, and right now they mesh. So you can either help or you can get out of our way."
Sunshine sighed. "I'm with you," she said reluctantly.
"Good, 'cause I've had it," said Santana, "Spike is going down."
"You can't leave, Santana. Sunlight?" Buffy reminded her.
"Right," Santana nodded, "Sewers it is."
In the empty school, Santana, Tina, Rachel and Will sat around the office, engrossed in their books and computers. Sunshine, Buffy, Sam and Mike sat in the choir room, whittling stakes and sorting through a bunch of the medieval weaponry Mr. Schuester kept. Buffy found a crossbow in his stash, the one she'd always had her eye on, and was confident that she'd get to use it this time.
"So there are other students who know you are the slayer?" Sunshine asked Buffy as they whittled by the piano.
"Yep."
"Did anyone explain to you what secret identity means?"
"Nope. Must be in the handbook, right after the chapter about personality removal."
Sunshine placed a small, nimble hand on the crossbow.
"Be careful with that thing!" snapped Buffy.
"Maybe when this is over you can show me how to use it," Sunshine said hopefully.
Buffy smirked. "When this is over, I'm thinking Hawaiian pizza and teen movie fest. Possibly something from the Ringwald oeuvre."
"And the blond boy," said Sunshine, shyly looking over at her shoulder at the boys who were carving stakes and talking loudly about the Footloose remake, "Is that your boyfriend?"
Buffy nodded. "Sam. He's... enthusiastic, about all this supernatural stuff."
"Your life is very different than mine."
"You mean when I occasionally get the chance to have one? I guess so."
"I was raised by my watcher," said Sunshine, "I only get to visit my mom when I'm not training or studying."
"Really?"
Sunshine nodded. "I don't have any of the things you have. You get to be a slayer but you also get to have friends and a boyfriend and go to school and be a cheerleader and get solos in glee club. I don't have anything but my calling."
Buffy frowned mournfully.
"Don't feel sorry for me," said Sunshine.
"I guess it just sounds so lonely."
"I don't think about it," said Sunshine, "I know my training is going to benefit me and the world someday."
"Don't you ever get sick of training and just want to chill out with junk food and bad movies?"
"No," Sunshine shook her head, "I give my life to the calling. I follow the rules my watcher gives me and the technique I learned to fight with."
"Technique is great and all, but a slayer has to be creative. I always have to improvise and learn how to go with the flow. Don't get me wrong, you have potential-"
"Potential?"
"Wait a minute," something suddenly occurred to Buffy, "That bartender, Willy, the sleazoid you pummeled at the demon bar?"
"You think he might help us?"
"I think we might make him."
xxx
Buffy slammed Willy the bartender against his bar as the sun set, grabbing two handfuls of his shirt and holding him against the surface.
"Honest, I don't know where Angel is," he said, raising his hands.
"And this ritual? What have you heard?"
"Nothing! It's all hush hush."
"Just hit him, Buffy," Sunshine said impatiently.
Buffy shrugged and smirked at Willy. "She likes to hit."
"You know, maybe I did hear something about this ritual," said Willy, "Y-Yeah it's coming back to me. But I'd have to take you there."
"Let's go," said Buffy.
"First we have to return to your watcher," said Sunshine.
"Excuse me? While we run to Will, this whole thing could go down."
"But it's procedure."
"If by procedure you mean brainless. If we don't go now, Angel could die."
"Is that all your worried about?" asked Sunshine, "Some vampire's boyfriend."
"No, it's not all, but it's enough."
"This is what I feared. Your vampire friends cloud your judgement. We can't stop this ritual alone."
"Are you listening to me? He could die!"
"He's a vampire. He should die. Why am I the only one who sees it?"
Buffy glared at Sunshine and whipped around, tugging Willy away with her.
xxx
There was a big, stony chapel just on the border of Lima that Willy had dragged her to, leading her down a drafty hallway lit with a few red candles, paintings of saints and apostles leering down at her.
"Here we go," said Willy, "Don't ever say your good friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."
Buffy followed him around the corner and her heart stopped when she saw four bulky figures looming over her, one being the female cop who'd almost shot her and her friends earlier at the Career Fair. Willy smirked at them.
"Don't ever say your good friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."
The four assassins wasted no time in grabbing at each of Buffy's limbs. She struggled futilely against their iron grips as they lifted her off the ground and carried her through the hallway, following Willy. He strode into the main mass hall of the church, where Buffy widened her eyes to see Angel tied up at the alter, his shirt off and sweat and bruises against his pale, toned skin. Drusilla was next to him, smiling malevolently and Spike was holding a book. The bleached vampire looked up from his old manuscript and frowned, his face wrinkled and demonic.
"Here's your slayer," said WIlly, his hands on his hips.
"You moron," frowned Spike, "You bring her here? Now?"
"You said you wanted her!"
"In the crowd, pinhead! I wanted her dead!"
"That's not what I heard! Word was, there was a bounty on her dead or alive."
"You were wrong, Willy."
"Let go of Angel!" said Buffy, struggling against her captors.
Spike frowned at the slayer. "It bugs me, too. Don't worry, in the next five minutes he should be dead. Don't worry about Angel, though, he's got something you don't have."
"What's that?" Buffy asked through gritted teeth, glaring at Spike.
"Five minutes," he said gravely, "Patrice?"
On Spike's command, the cop removed her gun from her gun strap and pointed it at Buffy. Before she could shoot, a wooden panel of the wall broke open and Sunshine was spiralling in, looking even tinier than usual as she flitted through the air. She crashed in the Taraka assassins and freed Buffy from their grip.
"Who the Hell is this?" demanded Spike.
"It's your lucky day, Spike," said Buffy.
"Two slayers," said Sunshine.
While Sunshine fended off Spike, Buffy chose to attack the cop, who she was surprised to find had retractable knives up her sleeve. Buffy widened her eyes at the daggers the cop was wielding, until suddenly the cop staggered back, an arrow just having blown through her chest. Buffy looked up and saw Will standing at the entrance, a crossbow in his hand and a serious look on his face. Sam, Mike, Tina and Rachel were gathered behind him with an assortment of weapons in their hands.
Buffy didn't have time to worry about her friends, so she decided to leave them to it while she fought another member of Taraka. The last she could tell, Sam had started a fist fight with one of them and Rachel had jumped on another ones back, which would have looked hilarious to anyone who wasn't already trying to fight a vampire or an assassin. Buffy drove a stake through the abdomen of the assassin she'd been fighting, and looked back at Sunshine, who Spike was belting viciously.
"Sunshine!" Buffy called, "Switch!"
Sunshine flipped around and used Buffy's back as a catapult to send her jumping in the other direction to fight one of Spike's lackeys.
Spike leered at Buffy. "I'd rather be fighting you, anyway."
"Mutual," Buffy glared, sending high kicks to Spike's chest and face. He blocked one of the kicks with the back of his steely arm and gave her a blow to the stomach. Buffy recoiled, and then lunged forward and spun Spike around, throwing him behind a pew. With just a little bit of time on her hands, she rushed over to the altar and began tearing at the ropes that held Angel's hands behind his bag. The vampire groaned, weak and disoriented. Before Buffy could finish freeing him, Spike had tugged her from behind and threw her out of the way.
Buffy groaned, clutching the back of her head, and felt Will's steady hands helping her up. Spike, still up at the altar, snatched a red candle from its holder and threw it towards the heavy drapes that hung over the stained glass window, sending the fabric into flames. With fire separating them, Buffy could only watch as Spike lifted Drusilla into his arms and fled, leaving Angel at the burning altar.
Buffy grabbed the crossbow out of Will's other hand and swung it high above her head, throwing the whole contraption at Spike. He stumbled forward, with Drusilla in his arms and fell into a brittle church organ. The foundation of the organ started to break apart and the entire monstrous instrument fell into a mound on top of Spike and Drusilla, covering them completely.
"I'm good," Buffy sighed to herself, before to turned toward the altar where Angel was still struggling to rise. "Angel!" she cried at her friends, "We need to get him out!"
Sunshine frowned with determination.
"Cheerleader!" she said to Buffy, "Lift!"
Sunshine leapt at Buffy and with cheerleading and ass-kicking instinct, Buffy cupped her foot and lifted the tiny girl into the air. Sunshine hugged herself into a ball and flew through the air, over the flames and landed impressively on her feet on the other side. Buffy watched, distressed, as Sunshine lifted Angel, looking twice her size, over her shoulder and started to break through a stained glass window and tug Angel out.
"Let's meet them on the other side," said Buffy, turning away with her friends.
xxx
Buffy picked at her fingernails in the backstage of the auditorium of the Lima town hall.
"Stop that," Sunshine demanded with a smirk, "I should be the one who's nervous. I have the solo."
Buffy grinned. "Don't remind Rachel."
The girls stood behind the layers of red velvet curtains separating them from the stage and listened to a competing team belt out 'Call Me Maybe'.
"We've got this in the bag," Buffy nodded to herself.
The others were leaning over vanity tables, getting their makeup perfect, and some of the guys were fixing their ties. Mr. Schuester had picked out beautiful two-tone chiffon dresses for the girls to wear, probably with the help of Ms. Pillsbury.
"Thank you, again," Buffy said to Sunshine, other show choir junkies milling around, getting ready for their performances, "You were amazing. I'm actually kind of sad that you have to go back to the Philippines when all this is over."
Sunshine shrugged with a smile. "It was fun while it lasted."
"Yeah, well, sure made my job easier."
Sunshine wrinkled her brow. "Why do you always do that?"
"What?"
"Talk about slaying like it's a job. It's not. It's who you are."
"Did you get that from your handbook?"
"No. From you."
Buffy shrugged. "I guess it's something I really can't fight. I'm a freak."
"You're not the only freak."
"Not anymore."
Over Sunshine's shoulder, Buffy's eyes widened to see Santana approaching in a red dress with matching lipstick, smiling subtly.
"Santana," Buffy blinked, "What are you doing here?"
Santana sighed as she glanced at both slayers. "I wanted to thank you. Both of you," she said, and smirked at Sunshine, "Even you, Mini Slayer. You saved Angel, and... well, thanks."
Sunshine shrugged. "It's my duty. Except I'm not telling my watcher about it. It's too strange that a slayer is friends with vampires."
"Tell me about it," Santana smirked, "But, really. I know it was something you didn't have to do, or want to do, but you did and if it hadn't been for you and Buffy and those dumb glee clubbers... Just, thanks, okay? Now let's not get our periods all over each other."
Buffy chuckled at Santana blushing. "Do you want to stay backstage and listen to us perform?" she asked.
"Actually, I bought myself a ticket," said Santana, "Quinn told me that Brittany had a dance solo during one of the numbers. I wanted to see her."
Buffy smiled sympathetically. "Why don't you go talk to her before we have to go on?"
"I don't know..."
"Come on. Talking to her won't hurt."
Santana bit her lip and nodded. "Where is she?"
"The green room. I'll take you there," said Buffy.
Buffy dropped Santana off at the New Direction's green room and left to give her and Brittany a little privacy. Santana breathed in deep and walked in, glad to see that her friend was alone, but confused to find her standing in a corner, her face to the wall.
"Brittany?"
Brittany turned a little, looking surprised when she was Santana.
"San... What are you doing here?" she asked, looking a little dismayed.
"I came to watch you dance," Santana said gently.
Brittany frowned and turned all the way around, leaning her back against the wall and frowning miserably. "I'm not going to dance."
"Why not?"
"Because... If I mess up, we all lose. And I know I'm going to mess up."
"You won't mess up, Britt," said Santana, sidling over to the girl and putting a sympathetic arm on her shoulder, "You're the best dancer I've ever seen."
Brittany pouted. "Then why don't you ever dance with me anymore?"
Santana frowned, guiltily, and stared into Brittany's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Britt. I'm sorry that I don't get to see you as much as I want to. I miss you, I do. But we can't be together."
Brittany sighed, irritable. "Why not? I know, you can't be happy, but... If you can't be happy, then neither can I."
Tears swelled up in Santana's eyes and she tried to look away, to blink them out. "You have Artie..."
"So just be my friend," pleaded Brittany, "Like we used to be. We don't have to be happy, but we have to be better than this."
Santana bit her lip at Brittany, who looked torn. Damn it, sometimes the girl just made so much sense.
"I want to be your friend again," nodded Santana, "I want to. I am. I'm your friend."
"You are?" Brittany asked doubtfully.
"Yeah, I just... things have to be different, okay? We have to do normal friend stuff," said Santana, tears still stuck in her eyes, "We can't kiss or cuddle or... anything. You know? We can't go back there. You know that, right? Brittany?"
Brittany nodded, frowning. "I don't care. I'll be your friend. Your normal friend... What do normal friends do?"
Santana sighed, trying to smile despite the tears. "For one thing, when a normal friend gets their own dance solo at a glee club competition, they be brave so that their other normal friend can sit in the crowd and watch them and think about how lucky she is to have such a great, normal friend."
Brittany smiled sadly. "Do normal friends go to Sectionals' after parties together?"
"You bet," Santana grinned, and held back a flood of tears as the blonde pulled her into a hug.