Bring Me To Life – A Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel Crossover Event

Part 54

Line in the Sand


Sunnydale, California—Back Alley, Marcelina Avenue — 8:03 p.m.

Days Left Before the End of Days: 14


CRASH!

The vampire went sailing into a row of trash cans in the alley as Connor kicked it away from yet another helpless and hapless blonde woman that happened to be wandering around the wrong corner at the wrong time in a seedy area of downtown Sunnydale at night.

With some annoyance, Connor briefly wondered if there was something about California that made people stupid when the sun came down before he returned his focus to the fight at hand.

Bleeding from the mouth, the vampire growled at Connor. "Kid, you just made—"

"Yeah, yeah, biggest mistake of my life," Connor gruffy snapped as he rolled his eyes, jumped up and kicked the demon in the face. He grabbed the vampire and hurled it into the second one coming up behind him.

Most young guys would opt to blow off steam after being pushed away by their girlfriend, not being able to save a kid from dying and being told their mother wanted to abort them before they were born by drinking, sex, partying or drugs.

Connor, however, wasn't like most guys. He only knew one way to vent his problems—with his fists.

Preferably, at some ugly thing that bumped in the night.

The second vampire had gotten up and tried to bum rush Connor, but the angst-ridden, furious teenage warrior was ready for him, sweeping his legs out from underneath him and kicking it in the face. The first vampire had managed to recover and leapt at Connor, only to have the teen grab him in midair, use his own momentum against him and throw him right into the side of the alley.

Raining down punch after punch after punch on the hapless demon, Connor grunted and growled louder in between blows, letting out all his rage.

Thinking about Matthew, dead because of him.

POW!

Thinking about Dawn, sad and alone, pushing him away.

POW!

Thinking about the First's words about his mother wanting to kill him before he was born.

POW!

Thinking about all the rage and pain that was his life, simply because Angel was his father.

POW!

Because he was "special".

POW!

Because he existed when he wasn't supposed to, and nobody bothered to ask him how he felt about that.

POW! BAM! CRACK! POW!

The dazed, bloody vampire wheezed beneath the super-powered teen as it coughed out its own blood. "Stop...please...seriously, kid, what the hell's your problem?"

"My problem?" Connor's teeth bared in a sneer, hitting the vampire again. "Life's my problem."

He whipped out the stake from his waistband.

"And this? This is your problem."

SHUCK!

The stake smashed right through the vampire's sternum where his heart was, and the demon exploded into ashes not one second later, leaving Connor panting, revved up and still not satisfied.

Yet so lost was Connor in his rage that he barely noticed the second vampire, teeth out and snarling, rise up behind him, aiming to finish him off…

SWISH!

...before the sound of an arrow caught his sensitive ears, the bolt whizzing over Connor's head and neatly embedding itself in the surprised undead demon's chest, promptly dusting it.

Connor whirled in surprise to find his unexpected savior...

"Gotta learn to watch your back, kid."

Kate Lockley offered him a sardonic smirk as she stepped out of the shadows, crossbow in hand.

Mildly embarrassed that he let that vampire nearly get the drop on him, Connor glared at her in irritation. "I had him!" he snapped.

Unimpressed, Kate shook her head. "You didn't have squat," she coolly replied.

"Look who's talking."

No sooner had they heard that drawling voice than did a second arrow come flying out of nowhere, zipping straight past behind Kate and Connor and impaling the chest of a third, unseen vampire trying to sneak up on them both. The demon looked stupefied before it burst into a cloud of ashes.

Out of the shadows, Lindsey emerged, a crossbow of his own lowering as he smirked at both Kate and Connor.

At the sight of him, Kate scowled, seething. Right now, Lindsey was the absolute last person she wanted to deal with. "What the hell are you doing out here?" she coldly demanded.

"Watching your back, from the looks of it," Lindsey wryly grinned. "You're welcome, by the way."

Kate gritted her teeth, irritated. "No thanks, McDonald. You can watch my back leave, I've got nothing to say to you," she icily retorted.

Lindsey's smile faded a bit at those biting words, noting he was right back to being 'McDonald' with Kate instead of his first name. Deep down, it still hurt him to know that Kate had held him responsible for the loss of that kid, Matthew.

"What are you doing out here, anyway?" an impatient Connor directly asked Kate, ignoring Lindsey.

Deciding to do the same, Kate turned her back to Lindsey and stared the teen warrior sternly in the eyes. "I saw you sneak out while I was working with the other kids. You had that scowl-y look on your face, the kind kids get when they're up to no good. You stay a cop long enough, you get real familiar with it."

"I don't need your help," Connor sneered at her, a bitter look in his angry blue eyes. "I don't need anyone's help."

He started to walk away from them, but Kate followed behind, as did Lindsey, as they tracked Connor towards a nearby park.

"That's where you're wrong, Connor," Kate said simply.

She heard him scoff. "Oh, wow, she knows my name! And here I thought you just thought my name was 'kid'," Connor groused, a little arrogantly as he coldly chuckled.

At that, Kate grabbed his arm and spun him around, a no-nonsense stern look in her eyes despite knowing full well that she was no physical match for Connor in the strength department. "Cut the 'angst mode' crap," the ex-cop said with a tone of warning in her voice. "Trust me...that doesn't get anywhere with me."

Connor scowled at her, clearly not in the mood to listen to another adult lecture him...when he saw Kate's seasoned, yet beautiful blue eyes soften at him.

"Look...I know what it's like to want to do something crazy after you've had a bad day or a bad week," she began, earnestly. "But friendly advice? Whatever it is that's eating you up, violence isn't going to make it go away, no matter how many vamps or demons you decide to go out and pummel. You're just throwing more gasoline on the fire. So if you're ready to talk about it? I'm more than ready to listen."

Kate knew a thing or two about angry teens and kids. She'd gotten used to dealing with them in the last two or so years. And sometimes, she had learned a while back, all kids like Connor really needed was to know someone was listening.

Connor hesitated. He wasn't accustomed to trusting people so easily. After he'd been lied to his whole life, he found it easier to trust himself than anyone else.

"He's...he's dead because of me," the broody teen quietly confessed, the dark, angry part of him cursing himself for being so weak to share his feelings to someone he barely knew, but the other part of him just wanting someone to finally pay attention to him. Pay attention to how much he was hurting inside. "Matthew."

Kate's eyes widened, feeling sucker-punched by the unexpected mention of that sweet kid's name. A kid she loved. A little boy she promised to protect. A little boy she failed. Emotion welled up in her throat for a moment before she sucked in a deep breath, letting Connor continue.

Crestfallen, Connor's shoulders sagged as he looked up at the evening sky of Sunnydale, his eyes misting in emotion. "I just...I laid there, useless, and I couldn't stop him. Caleb. I hit him with my best shots, and he took me apart like I was nothing. I would have watched him kill Dawn right in front of me and there would have been nothing I could have done. And instead, I saw him kill Matthew. He just...he just cut his heart in two and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop him. Because I was too damn weak. Now Matthew's gone...and it's all my fault."

Kate barely knew what to say. What could she say?

Behind her, Lindsey's eyes fell in guilt as he looked away. Caleb. Always Caleb, he thought bitterly. Even after all these years, even after leaving Wolfram and Hart, one of the worst of his sins still followed him. Still causing others pain, suffering. And Lindsey knew he was in part to blame.

"Connor…" Kate began, searching for the words as she looked at him, reaching out a hand to bring Connor's crestfallen gaze to hers. "Listen carefully to me. You didn't kill Matthew. Caleb did. Nobody misses Matthew more than me, believe me, but I know that if you could have protected Matthew, you would have. You wanna know how I know that?" Off his questioning gaze, Kate gave him a wane, yet warm smile. "Because that's exactly what your father would have done."

Connor's eyes were a mix of confusion and resentment yet a spark of some pride at her words. Even resenting his father, there was still some part of him that wanted, yearned for Angel to be proud of him.

"She's right," Lindsey said, chiming in despite part of him knowing he should probably have kept his mouth shut. "Look, kid, I know you're hurting. But you can't blame yourself for what happened that night. I know. I was there. It was a shitshow from the beginning. Mistakes were made all around. It doesn't mean you're to blame for—"

"Yeah, you'd know all about it, wouldn't you, McDonald?" Kate whirled around, the warm look in her eyes suddenly vanishing as she glared at Lindsey with a coldness that could have made the warm California air around them drop 50 degrees. "Being how you and Caleb are family and all. Brothers to the bone, right?"

At that, Connor's eyes widened. "What?"

Lindsey fought not to flinch at the fury in her eyes. "Kate, listen…"

"No, shut up, you listen!" Kate practically spat back at Lindsey as she stalked forward towards him, not wanting to hear a word of his explanation. "Half the reason this is happening is because of you. Because of yet another scumbag that you let out on the street while you worked for Wolfram and Hart." She shook her head in disgust. "But what really pisses me off is that even they wanted to get rid of Caleb, but you just couldn't do it, even though you knew how sick that son of a bitch was, how evil, because he was your brother. Didn't matter that he butchered kids and women and got his rocks off on it, no, you just had to let him off the leash, and now look what happened because of you!"

Putting it all together, Connor glared at Lindsey accusingly. "Wait, you knew about Caleb? He's your brother? And you didn't say anything?"

"What was I supposed to say?" Lindsey bit out tersely, yet directing his earnest gaze at Kate. "Kate, look...I've spent my whole life trying to clean up Caleb's mistakes. It's just how I was raised. You have to look out for your family. But eventually, I realized that he wasn't really ever a part of my family. He was...a mistake." He looked down, regretfully. "My mistake. And I pay for it every time I look in the mirror."

Kate shook her head, unconvinced. "And you think that makes it okay? Because you're sorry now?"

"It'll never be okay," Lindsey said, honestly, as his sad blue eyes met hers. He knew that. No matter how guilty he felt or how sorry he was, it would never bring back all the people Caleb murdered because Lindsey was the one who had set him free time and time again. "Kate...I had no idea it was Caleb. Or maybe part of me just didn't want to believe he was back. When I figured out that I couldn't control him, I just wanted to get rid of him. Be done with him and put as much distance between me and him."

Lindsey sighed as he swallowed. "But the more that's happened to me the last few years, the more I've realized that I can't run away from my problems. I know it doesn't take back anything I did, anything I helped him do, but I'll do whatever it takes to bring Caleb down and stop him and his new pals. Even if it kills me." The former lawyer's eyes were filled with sincerity and purpose as he looked into Kate's apprehensive blue orbs, wanting nothing more than for her to believe every word he was saying. "I'm done being my brother's keeper."

Kate felt her head and her heart fighting with one another. There was a part of her that truly wanted to believe Lindsey and she didn't know why...and there was another part of her that warned the seasoned ex-detective not to trust him. And she had no idea which one to listen to.

"Well, shoot! Cain and Abel reference. Didn't figure you for the type to follow the Good Book, seeing as how you hated church growing up, and all."

That cold, mocking tone laced with a Southern twang that came from the darkness made Lindsey's hairs stand up on the back of his neck. No. No, not again. Not him. Not now...

Connor, familiar with that voice, whirled around, stake in hand, while Kate, now more alert, spun on her heels and drew her crossbow.

From behind a large tree, Caleb slowly coiled around to the front, making his presence known.

His eyes were dark and cold, his smile a mile wide as he delighted in the fury in Connor's eyes, the apprehensive yet hostile stare in Kate's face and, most deliciously, the shock and disbelief in the eyes of Lindsey. His own flesh and blood.

Caleb's voice was a scornful drawl as his eyes met Lindsey. "But while y'er butchering scripture, here's a passage for ya—John 3:15. 'Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.'"

No sooner had he uttered those words than did six knife-wielding Harbingers suddenly appear from the shadows, surrounding the three heroes, who alertly turned their weapons and attention to them.

Even as he took his fighting stance, Lindsey stared coldly back at the sadistic eyes of the ghost of his past.

Yet Caleb merely smiled. Like a shark eyeing its prey. "But eternal life's the least of your problems right now, isn't it, little brother?"


Sunnydale, California

Summers Residence, Buffy's Room – 8:14 p.m.


Dawn quietly crept into the bedroom of her older sister, Andrew fretfully following close behind.

As he clumsily banged into a nearby nightstand, Dawn glared at the geeky demon conjurer.

"Out!" Dawn quietly growled at him. "You're supposed to be my lookout in case Buffy comes up!"

Andrew pouted at that. "But how come I have to be the lookout?"

At that, Dawn gave him an unimpressed look that would have put McKayla Maroney to shame. "Because I know my way around here better than you do...and because hell will freeze over before I let you root through my sister's private drawers. That's just gross."

"I wouldn't!" Andrew protested. "I didn't even take anything the last time I was here looking for the gu…"

Off Dawn's wide-eyed gape at him, Andrew backpedaled. "The, um...the guu-um. Yeah. Gum."

That did nothing to earn Dawn's confidence. "Just stay outside. I have to figure out where Buffy put the keys to Spike's chains. The sooner we can find that, the quicker we can get Spike out of them and figure out how to get Faith out of there."

Andrew looked hesitant. "I don't know...maybe Spike going after Faith isn't such a good idea. If this Caleb guy's as bad as everybody says he is, maybe Buffy's right about keeping him—"

"No," Dawn said harshly, before she softened her tone as she looked at Andrew somewhat gratefully. "You...you did the right thing telling me, Andrew. We're doing the right thing. So, um...thanks."

Taken aback a little by Dawn's kind words, Andrew fidgeted, giving her a crooked smile. "You're...you're welcome, I guess."

Dawn uneasily peeled her gaze from Andrew. Part of her was still uneasy around the former Trio sidekick, but she could also see how hard he had seemed to be working hard to earn the trust of Team White Hats. And besides, he seemed to be on her side about this, and the amount of people she could trust in this house seemed to be dwindling these days, so Dawn couldn't exactly afford to be picky with allies.

"Okay," Dawn said as she turned back to Buffy's top drawer she had already begun to carefully root through. "Now let's get this over with before Buffy comes back, and we should be able to sneak Spike out lickety spli…" Her eyes widened. "Oh no."

"What?" Andrew asked, anxiously.

Dawn looked dismayed as she stared at the drawer. "The keys...they're not here! They're always here! Buffy must have moved them!"

"Oh, that's bad," Andrew grimaced, before he suddenly heard the sound of soft footsteps quietly start moving up the stairs. "And it's about to get worse...I think Buffy's coming!"

Dawn looked panicked, knowing her big sister would be furious if she found Dawn in her room, let alone found out they were trying to spring Spike from his makeshift jail. "Oh, God...Andrew, stall her!"

"What? Me?" Andrew quietly yelped.

"Yes!" Dawn quietly insisted. "Give me five minutes, and I can take care of the rest. But keep Buffy out of here until then. Got it?"

Andrew hesitated. "But I—"

"Just do it!" Dawn yelped in hushed tones, shooing Andrew out the door as she resumed her search for the chain keys.

Andrew panicked and fidgeted as he saw Buffy's silhouette rounding the corner, his mind hurriedly trying to come up with whatever excuse he could muster.

At last, Buffy appeared at the start of the hallway, looking tired and irritated, needing badly to take a quick nap before she could figure out what to do regarding Faith's captivity.

"Um...uh...Buffy! Hey, Buffy! Hi, Buffy, hi, Buffy," Andrew greeted nervously, mustering up false enthusiasm.

Buffy tiredly shook her head. "Andrew, not now. I'm tired and I've got a lot on my mind, so if you could just move—"

"Wait!" Andrew blurted out, to Buffy's surprise, as he slightly angled his body to block his path. "Um, I, I just...I wanted to check with you about the meal preparations. Um, do you want the pot roast tonight, or the Chicken Francese? Because the pot roast might be a little salty, but I know we've kind of been going strong on chicken the last few days—"

Buffy waved her hand in the air dismissively as she tried to push past him. "Whatever, Andrew. Pot roast, chicken, possum on a stick, do whatever you want, okay? I've got a million things to worry about right now, so the menu really isn't on my list of priorities—"

"Wait!" Andrew yelped again.

This time, Buffy fixed him with a stunned, yet suspicious look. "Andrew, what the hell is wrong with you? You're acting really weird...er."

Realizing he couldn't see Dawn from this angle and knowing he desperately needed to buy more time, Andrew hastily maneuvered his way around Buffy, turning her so that her back was turned from her room while he could directly see the room. It was a risky move, Andrew knew, for he could no longer block Buffy with his own body...well, for as long as one could hold off a supernaturally powerful warrior like a Slayer with his lack of overall strength. But he had to take it in order to get a better sense of when Dawn was finished looking for those keys.

"Um...you're-you're right," Andrew stammered, smiling nervously. "It's just…" His brain hurriedly thought of excuses that could distract Buffy long enough. "...um...it's just...the vineyard. What happened there was...I still can't believe it, you know?"

His words had the desired effect, catching Buffy by surprise before her eyes fell briefly, the horrible memories of their failed attack the night before flickering unbidden before her eyes.

Andrew winced inwardly at how hurt Buffy looked, feeling terrible that he had to resort to these kinds of tactics. But it was working, so there was that. And as long as he could buy Dawn time to get the keys to free Spike, that was all that mattered. Stay on mission, he told himself. Like Captain Kirk in Star Trek. Be the Kirk, Andrew, be the Kirk…

"It's just...Xander, I still can't believe it," Andrew went on. "I mean, I know he probably doesn't like me all that much, but...he's a great guy, and...brave, and...and he's the only one here who knows my anime references."

That much was true. Andrew realized from the start that he was the least popular person in the Summers household—which is something being picked on in high school and middle school had prepared him well for—but he still had his liking for all of them. How could he not? He was living among superheroes, or the closest thing possible. Xander was...well, he was the one he could most relate to. Even though he knew Xander thought little of him, Andrew couldn't help admiring him for being brave enough to risk life and limb to fight evil alongside his friends.

The reminder of Xander sent a wave of grief crashing against Buffy's defenses, but she bit hard on her lower lip to steady herself...not noticing how Andrew darted his glances to the doorway.

Recovering from that, Buffy gave Andrew a sad smile. "Yeah...yeah, Xander's great," she quietly agreed. "But he'll be okay. In time. We just need to keep focused on what we have to do and make sure what happened to him wasn't for nothing."

Dawn's head quickly peaked out of the room, giving Andrew a fleeting sense of hope that she had finished her search. But his hopes were quickly dashed when she shook her head and motioned with her hands silently for him to keep stalling before ducking back inside.

Panicking for a moment, Andrew quickly squelched the urge to freak out by masking his face with another twitchy, nervous smile at Buffy.

"Look, Andrew, it'll be fine. It's really nice of you to be worried about Xander, and when he wakes up later, maybe you can cheer him up by baking him those double chocolate chip cookies of yours he likes," Buffy offered with a tired, yet somewhat grateful sigh, now trying to wrap it up. "I'll let you know when I'm visiting him next. But I really have to get going now."

As she began to turn, Andrew immediately realized he had to resort to another trick. So he quickly imagined the saddest things he could think of: killing Jonathan, his brother Tucker picking on him growing up, and the cancellation of "Babylon 5".

And with that, Andrew immediately burst into tears, silently impressing himself at his acting skills.

The sight of Andrew crying caught Buffy off guard, but no more so than how the nerdy ex-Trio member suddenly fell forward and collapsed into her arms, sobbing desolately.

"Andrew…!" Buffy blurted out in shock. "What are you—?"

Andrew hurriedly thought of more words to stall. "It's just...I...I miss Jonathan!" he blurted out through the sobs. "I...I miss him so much...and I know that everyone hates me because I killed him...and well, siding with Warren when he was trying to kill all of you guys...and the whole Dark Willow thing. I'm such a...a...a terrible person…"

Awkwardly, Buffy patted him on the back, confused as to what to do. "Uh...there, there…" she murmured in extreme discomfort, her eyes darting around as if looking for a way out of this.

Andrew silently looked up from Buffy's shoulder to find Dawn's head peeking out again, eyeing him in shock and confusion at this latest tactic. Mouthing silently, "Keys?" to Dawn, the young brunette shook her head, motioning for him to keep stalling before she disappeared back into the room.

Not quite knowing what to do, Buffy gently pried Andrew from her arms, holding him at arms' length. She hadn't seen him cry like this since a few weeks ago when she pretended to try and kill him so his tears could close the Seal of Danzalthar he had opened with Jonathan's blood. Despite herself, something in Buffy took pity on Andrew.

"Andrew," Buffy began, earnestly. "Look, I...yeah, you did do some terrible things. I liked Jonathan, all things considered, so yeah, killing him? Not happy about that. And yes, you did side with Warren, another bad life choice. But the important thing is that you've been willing to admit you were wrong and try and change. Most of the people I know and care for have made some of the worst decisions. Willow, Angel, Spike, Cordelia, Giles, Anya...but they've been willing to admit when they were wrong. They try and make amends for that. Every day." She sighed as she gave him a wane smile. "It's not going to be easy for you. It's going to be probably the hardest thing you've ever done. But if you really want to change, you can. You'll have to work for it, every day. But you can make a better tomorrow for yourself if you give yourself a chance to."

She let her hand gently rest on his shoulder, giving him an encouraging smile. "For what it's worth, I'm willing to give you that chance. In my book...you've earned it."

Andrew felt moved by that, and simultaneously, felt even more ashamed at his deception in aiding Dawn like this. All he had wanted since he had come to know of the existence of Buffy Summers, the Slayer, was to gain her friendship. Earn the friendship of the Scoobies. Be a part of their incredible, yet strange and dangerous world. Now here he was, being given that which he had longed for just as Jonathan had...and he was lying to Buffy. Deceiving her when she had just placed her trust in him.

He felt even smaller than he normally did.

Suddenly, Dawn's head popped out again, part of Andrew expecting her to motion to stall for more time...only this time, her hand dangled a set of black keys, a big smile on Dawn's pretty face. Andrew silently sighed in relief as he saw Dawn begin to exit. But then, Buffy's body was suddenly shifting back towards the door. She'll spot Dawn for sure! Andrew inwardly yelped.

"Now I've really gotta go," Buffy sighed. "I need a nap badly before I figure out what to do about Faith…"

Before he even knew what he was doing, Andrew quickly leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Buffy's cheek.

The simple act was enough to draw a wide-eyed Buffy's full attention back to Andrew, shocked at his rather brazen act. "Andrew!"

Even Dawn quietly paused for a moment, her jaw hitting the floor, the Key silently sure Andrew was about to get sent flying into the next town by her P.O.'ed sister.

"Sorry," Andrew stammered, floundering as he tried to come up with an excuse for Buffy not to pound him into floorboards. "It's, um...it's just...thank you, Buffy. That-that-that means so much coming from you. I mean, all I've wanted the whole time is for your approval. I mean, who wouldn't? Because you're so...so brave...and, and strong, and...and you're beautiful. Like, Angelina Jolie in 'Tomb Raider'-beautiful. Or, like, some kind of mix of Sarah Connor from 'Terminator' and Sigourney Weaver in 'Aliens 2' beautiful. You're just so...so, um...well, beautiful, really."

Buffy's brow furrowed in confusion, before a look of understanding slowly dawned on her face.

She had seen that kind of look in Andrew's eyes before...a lot, in fact, just not from him. In Hemery High, she had seen countless guys give her that 'I'm crushing on you' look. Xander, Jonathan, Angel, Spike, Riley...all of them had given her that kind of moony-eyed look before. Silently, she was a bit surprised, as she had thought Andrew was openly gay, or at least he had given her that impression. But Buffy supposed it was easy to misread that sort of thing.

While Andrew was definitely not Buffy's type, she didn't have the heart to break his. So she decided to let him down gently.

Smiling at him softly, Buffy carefully began. "Andrew...I'm, I'm flattered, really. You're...you're really sweet. And you can cook your socks off. But I...I just don't see it ever working out between us. I mean, no offense, but I have a certain type—"

"Type?" Andrew asked, confused.

"Right," Buffy nodded, feeling uncomfortable but trying to break it to him gently. "And besides, you...you wouldn't be happy with someone like me. I mean, I have all these...issues...and, um...um, baggage, and… and problems, and-and-and baggage and...and all sort of stuff, this kind of heavy mental...psychological...I said 'baggage', right?"

Andrew's eyes widened in understanding. "Wait, you think I—?"

"Look, you're going to make someone really happy one day, I know it," Buffy smiled at him, patting his shoulder. "Someone who loves you for you. And just know when you do, I'll be happy for you. As a friend." She added with emphasis, "Just a friend."

His cheeks tingling red from embarrassment, Andrew looked up to see Dawn finally rounding the corner and making her way to the other stairs, sneaking down quietly.

Andrew sighed in relief again, but decided to play along. "Right...well, I'll try to get over it. T'is better to love and lost than to...whatever that saying goes. Okay, bye!"

And with that, Andrew hurriedly turned around and rushed down the stairs, leaving Buffy alone, stunned...yet smiling.

"Nice kid," she mused aloud with a quiet, much-needed laugh. "Weird...but nice."


Sunnydale, California

Back Alley, Marcelina Avenue — 8:13 p.m.


Lindsey eyed his loathsome half-sibling with disgust. "Caleb."

"Lindsey!" The madman in black coldly smirked. "Oh, come on, now, why the long face, l'il brother? I could swear that you're not happy to see me after all this time. The McDonald boys, together again! Ain'tcha happy to see me?"

About as happy as I'd be seeing a tumor diagnosis. Lindsey felt his knuckles tighten, his fingers practically twitching as they held onto his crossbow. There he was. Caleb. Looking as demented and as arrogant and vile as he ever did. "I was hoping the next time I saw you, it'd be in a box," Lindsey icily replied.

Caleb shook his head, his cruel chuckle lifeless. "Now, that's hurtful. Really, you wound me. I mean, after all, you worked so hard to get me off the hook with the law that I figured you'd be pleased to know what I've been up to. Come on, now, Lindsey...ain'tcha just a little bit curious?"

Narrowing her eyes in hate, Kate knew instantly who this man was. Caleb. She'd seen the photograph in the Wolfram and Hart files Lindsey had shown them earlier. The same bastard who killed Matthew, she mentally growled in rage.

Before she knew it, Kate's finger had squeezed hard on its crossbow, sending a deadly arrow flying towards Caleb's heart…

...only for the mad preacher to easily swat it away, as if it were merely a fly, sending it spinning harmlessly to the other side of the park.

Caleb smiled darkly as he eyed a surprised, yet glaring Kate, wagging a warning finger at her. "I'd mind your manners, woman. That one was free. The next one's gonna cost you. Dearly."

Looking to Lindsey, Kate saw him subtly shake his head at her, warning her not to try anything stupid. Kate looked back and glared at Caleb, but opted to play it safe for now. She knew she still had her sidearm strapped to her side, and she was a pretty quick draw. She had no idea if Caleb could dodge bullets, but she'd have no problem testing that theory if it came down to it. For now, she had to figure out how to get the three of them out of here.

"She's not the one you want, Caleb," Lindsey said, stepping protectively in front of Kate and Connor.

His older half-brother smirked knowingly. "No, I don't reckon she is."

Lindsey decided to bite. "Then what do you want?"

Caleb's smile never left his face. "To do something we haven't been able to really do much in a long time...talk. Brother to brother. Like when we were kids. Fun times, remember?"

Lindsey's blue eyes went glacial as they stared at Caleb, the horrid memories of growing up with Caleb flashing in his mind's eye. For Lindsey, it was anything but fun, and he knew that Caleb knew that.

With Matthew's face flickering in his mind, a scowling Connor had heard enough. "Talk this, asswipe!"

"Connor, wait!" Lindsey shouted, but he was too late and too slow to stop the much faster supernatural teen.

Connor lunged at Caleb, stake in hand, aiming for his heart...only for Caleb to sidestep his attack, disorient Connor with a powerful headbutt, and smoothly and cruelly drive the teenage warrior's head right into the tree behind him, Connor's skull cracking against the unforgiving bark.

"Connor!" a shocked Kate shouted, aiming her crossbow again at Caleb.

As Connor slumped unconscious to the ground, Caleb pointed at Kate warningly as he stood over the fallen teen.

"You jerk that trigger finger, ma'am, and I send this little punk back home to ya in a pine box. And I think you lot have seen enough dead kids already," the First's servant smirked chillingly at them, giving Kate a knowing look. As if he knew how much Matthew's death still tore at her heart.

"Kate...he's not bluffing. He'll do it," Lindsey told her quietly. "We can't risk it."

Scowling at Caleb but not willing to risk Connor's life, Kate reluctantly agreed, lowering her crossbow ever so slightly. She had met enough killers to know when they meant business. And Caleb's lifeless eyes clearly weren't lying.

"Look, I'll get my boys to back off, if you just act civil and have a little chat with me," Caleb assured Lindsey, almost politely. Yet his smile was still mocking. "You should like that offer, Lindsey. You made your living talking once...didn't ya?"

Seeing no alternative way out of this that didn't involve his or Kate's death, or Connor's, Lindsey nodded as he stared hard at the mad preacher. "Fine. Get them to back off...and we can talk."

Smiling in satisfaction, Caleb put two fingers to his mouth and let out a whistle. Immediately, the Bringers fell back into the shadows, disappearing to wherever they came from.

Letting out a snort of air, Lindsey's eyes never left Caleb as he started to move forward.

"Wait!" Kate quickly grabbed his arm, feeling concern—and worry, though she couldn't explain why—for him. "What are you going to do?"

Lindsey sighed warily as he looked at Kate. "What any lawyer worth his salt does...try to talk him to death."

With that, the two half-siblings slowly walked towards each other until there was only a foot of distance between them.

Two brothers. One trying to be good. The other relishing in his evil.

Cain and Abel.

Dark and light.

Caleb and Lindsey. The McDonald brothers together again.

The smirking preacher sized up Lindsey. "See? Isn't this nice? Just two brothers hanging out, getting on like the Good Book says?"

"Cut the 'brother' crap," Lindsey coldly retorted. "The only brother I have is Earl. You've been dead to me for a long time, Caleb."

The smirk fell from Caleb's face. "Now that's just rude," his psychotic older half-brother said warningly, and for a moment, Lindsey wondered if he'd made a mistake by playing that card so soon.

He did have one ace up his sleeve, however. He still had that spring-loaded pistol hidden in his sleeve. With a quick enough draw, Lindsey figured he might be able to get off a shot at Caleb, something in the gut to save time. He'd save that for his last resort. For now, he needed to buy time.

"What the hell happened to you?" Lindsey asked, figuring he might as well try getting some kind of intel out of the defrocked priest. "Last I heard of you, I told you never to come near me again."

"Well, more specifically, you said I couldn't come near Wolfram and Hart and our family again, tadpole," Caleb grinned again. "Thought you'd respect the finer points of technicalities."

"What. Did. You. Do?" an irritated Lindsey ground out.

That infuriating grin graced Caleb's face again and Lindsey felt the urge to whip out his gun and blow it off. Permanently.

Caleb drawled smugly. "Let's just say...I found salvation."

"The First Evil," Lindsey concluded.

"Oh, we'll get to that," Caleb chuckled shortly. "I kinda dug the whole preacher cover y'all had me do during all them jobs I did for you law folk. Got the wheels spinnin' on how to make that work for me. Keep on doin' the good work I like to do."

Lindsey narrowed his eyes, disgusted by the...thing...in front of him. "Killing women. Girls. That's your idea of good work?"

"What finer work is there?" Caleb asked incredulously as he smiled. "That's the thing about churches. Say you repent and they just take you in like a stray dog. All it took was a couple of mia culpas and a nice smile and they let me right on in. Wasn't long before I got the hang of the sermon thing. Did a nice tour thumpin' down in the Sun Belt spreading the Word and whatnot as my cover, and those idiots in the flock ate it right up. Like sheep."

Lindsey felt his stomach turn at his repulsive half-sibling's recollection. "You used the church to cover up your killing sprees."

"Oh, no, Lindsey. Not just cover up. Feed it." Caleb's eyes glinted dangerously in the dark, smiling with actual joy as he recalled how he picked out young Sunday girls, women, and earmarked them for death. "They came right to me. Hell, I didn't even have to try hard. Just a few words of conviction and a decent workout regimen to keep me slim in all the right places and those little whores were practically treatin' me like Elvis. And after I...well, cleansed them...I got real good at hiding bodies. And none of them were ever the wiser, thanks to that little clean slate you gave me, brother."

Then Caleb winked at him in 'gratitude'. "Much appreciated."

Shame and guilt flooded Lindsey as he felt his teeth grinding in his mouth. Those poor girls, he couldn't help thinking. They probably had loved ones, family, and they were gone because of this...animal...in front of him. An animal he set free on the world with no way to trace him. Kate was right...I'm just as guilty of what Caleb did as he is…

Kate heard every word and fury enveloped her soul at how glib, how remorseless Caleb was at describing those victims. Every part of the former L.A.P.D. policewoman screamed that she should drill this bastard right between the eyes with her semi automatic. But she knew she had to wait. She couldn't risk Connor's life, and for some reason that she couldn't explain...she couldn't stand the idea of hurting Lindsey.

"Still, I was getting a bit bored after a while," Caleb continued. "Was starting to get restless, even as I went from one church to the next. Was starting to wonder if this was all there was. And then…" he smiled knowingly at Lindsey. "...then I was saved. No...I was chosen."

Lindsey had an idea of what exactly "chose" his psychotic half-brother. "The First Evil," he uttered quietly.

"Bingo," Caleb winked. "The original sin itself. Said it had been watching me. Studying me. It liked my work. And it told me all about the great plans it had for this world, heck, for all life. Its great vision...and the role I could play in it if I wanted to. And most importantly...it told me about her."

"The Slayer," a grave Lindsey guessed without too much effort. He had seen how obsessively Caleb had looked at Buffy that night in the vineyard. LIke the devil had been brought out in his eyes. It was a look Lindsey was all too familiar with all his life. Whenever Caleb got that look in his eyes, innocent people would get hurt. People would die.

Caleb gave that sick chuckle again. "How could I resist? I jumped at it. And it bestowed its gifts unto me. And all of the fixin's that come with it. The strength, the knowledge, the endurance...Hallelujah, it made me all man. Its plans are amazing, l'il brother, it makes my toes tingle. But being able to rid the world of an entire line of those filthy females sullying up the natural order of things, asserting their will and power over us? Like putting the cherry on top of a sundae."

"You never liked ice cream," Lindsey said dryly, recalling yet another of Caleb's childhood idiosyncrasies.

"You're right. Still don't, it's all cold and thick, no thanks," Caleb gave a fake shudder before his smile returned. "But the best metaphor I could think of for now."

Lindsey figured that this was as much as Caleb was going to share about The First for now. But there was one thing that was bothering him. "So if you're so damn happy being The First's lapdog...what do you want from me?"

The way Caleb now looked at him, surprisingly earnest, unsettled Lindsey.

"Why, to give you what you always wanted, little brother," Caleb said. "Power. Real power. The kind that you and I have always been dreamin' of having ever since we had to grow up in the damn squalor Daddy provided for us."

Lindsey could barely believe what he was hearing. Surely he couldn't be serious…

"You want me to join you," Lindsey uttered in incredulous surprise, staring at Caleb like he was insane...which he was, frankly.

Kate watched in shock, not quite believing what she had heard, either.

"Of course I do!" Caleb glibly smiled. "You and me, the McDonald brothers. At the forefront of a new world order."

Lindsey shook his head in disgust. "Why would you ever think I'd want to be a part of something like that?"

"Because I know you, little brother," Caleb replied, his eyes glinting with madness. "I've always known you. Ever since we had to grow up together in that squalor our pa left us in. Ever since then, you've always craved one thing...power. Real power. The kind where you'd never let life dictate your circumstances ever again. The kind where you're the one callin' the shots. The kind where you finally get to do the steppin' on people instead of being stepped on. You thought you had that kind of power at Wolfram and Hart, but that was just child's play. A nice salary, a few calls to make a person disappear and whatnot? Just a drop in the bucket. But real power? Life-altering power? That's the kind of juice I'm ridin' shotgun with nowadays. That's what I'm offering you."

Lindsey stared at the monster that shared his father's blood with him in revulsion. "You're out of your mind. You know that, right?"

Caleb leaned in closer, that damned knowing smile not leaving his face. "Am I? Or do I just see what's coming and decided to get ahead of the curve? The glory's coming, Lindsey. You can either get left behind and stomped on like Daddy and your sweet mama were all their lives...or you can know what it's like to be a part of the winning team. Playing with the Slayer, that Angel fella and their pals will only get you cut down like a piece of grain. Don't you want to be part of a winning side for once? And not a loser like our father was?"

Lindsey had enough, stepping in closer and scowling at Caleb with a hatred so hot he thought it would melt him from within. "Don't you ever talk about my father! Dylan McDonald wasn't much for money, yeah, and he wasn't always the brightest guy, but he had a big heart, and he was honest, he cared, and he loved me. All of us! And for whatever reason I couldn't understand, he loved you, too, Caleb. Only you were drowning so deep in your own hate and whatever your pilled-up mom did to you that you couldn't see it. And if he were here right now, he'd be disgusted by you. How the hell a good man like him could spawn something like you I'll chalk up to one of life's cruel jokes."

"Yet you were always there. For me, Lindsey," Caleb kept smiling, something akin to warmth, or as close as his dead heart could process as warmth, passing in his eyes. "You kept bailing me out. Keeping me away from the chair, from too much trouble? In a way, if it weren't for you...I wouldn't have been around to be the man I am today."

Lindsey had to choke down the bile that rose in his throat at the thought of being responsible for the horrors that Caleb had committed. "Yeah. You're right. I did help you out. And God, I wish I hadn't. Every life you took, every sick, horrible thing you've ever done, I played a role in it because I threw you a life line when I should've let you drown. And that's on me, and I'll never be able to wash that out of my soul. But I can promise you this much—as long as either one of us is still breathing, I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago...put your sick ass down. For good."

Caleb said nothing for a good long moment, and that made Lindsey tense up, ready his wrist to eject that spring-loaded semi-automatic handgun. The staredown between the two brothers dragged into eternity…

...until at last, Caleb smiled again. "Well, if that's how ya feel, little brother, I guess I can't move you. You're practically Gibraltar, ain'cha? But that does leave me in a little bit of a bind. See, I promised the Big Boss that I'd come back with something useful...either your allegiance to us, or Angel's location. And like you remember from my days doin' all those hits for your company—sorry, former company—I do hate to not deliver on a promise. Makes me look unreliable, y'know? So can you help a brother out and tell me where Angel might happen to be?"

Lindsey glowered at Caleb, but said nothing.

Caleb chuckled in amusement at his younger half-brother's defiance. "Good for you, Linds! Ya finally learned to stand up for yourself. Stand your ground. But unfortunately for you and your friends here...ya picked a really bad time to do it."

And in a blur of a movement, Caleb suddenly seemingly vanished from Lindsey's sight…

...and was right behind an unsuspecting Kate the next, disarming the surprised ex-policewoman before he had his hand around her throat and hoisted her into the air. Kate gasped and wheezed, her one hand pinned behind her back while her free hand tried to keep Caleb from strangling her.

"NOO!" a surprised Lindsey shouted, twisting his wrist and ejecting his handgun into his palm, taking quick aim at Caleb.

"Ah-ah-ah...I wouldn't do that," Caleb taunted, lowering a wide-eyed Kate in front of him, making her a human shield. "She's pretty, Lindsey. I'm guessin' ya got a little thang for her? Blondes always did drive you crazy. Time hasn't changed ya that much, little brother."

Lindsey cursed silently under his breath. He was a damn good shot, but there was no clear shot he could take at Caleb without it risking hitting Kate. "You bastard! Let her go. NOW!"

"I will," Caleb nodded, pleasantly. "After you tell me where Angel is."

Lindsey growled angrily. "God DAMN YOU, Caleb, let her go, or I swear I'll blow your Goddamn head off!"

Now Caleb scowled back angrily. "You watch your mouth, Lindsey! You know I don't much like that kind of language." For emphasis, he tightened his grip around Kate's throat, making her gag and gasp for air desperately. "It makes me ornery."

As he looked around, Lindsey realized his options were practically non-existent. Connor was still out cold. Caleb and his boys had him outmanned 7-to-1. And he couldn't fire off a round at his repulsive sibling without potentially harming or killing Kate in the process.

"Damn you, Caleb, leave her out of this! I told you, it's me you want!" Lindsey demanded, trying to talk some sense into the mad preacher.

Yet Caleb shook his head. "Nope! Sorry, counselor, you had your window to bargain with me, and the statute of limitations on that offer is now expired. So we're doing this my way now. Here's my new offer—either you tell me where Angel is, or I snap this blonde whore's neck like a tree branch. Think it over, but I'm going to count to three. And if you haven't made your decision by then, or if you make the wrong decision…" He squeezed Kate's slender throat again, making her helplessly cry out in pain. "...then I'll make a decision of my own. One..."

Off Kate's eyes desperately glancing at him, shaking her head in a plea for him to not say anything, Lindsey felt his resolve waver. "Caleb, stop it!"

"I think not," Caleb replied smoothly. "Two…"

"Okay, okay! England, alright?" Lindsey blurted out, desperately. "He's in England. The Cotswolds."

Caleb didn't buy it. "Gotta do better than that, Lindsey. Why in the world would that man head over to the other side of the ocean when the fight's right here?"

Kate shook her head, eyeing Lindsey desperately. "No, Lindsey, don't say—urrk!"

Caleb's hand squeezing around her throat smothered her words. "Excuse me, miss, but I do believe you're intrudin' on a family conversation, ya hear?" he drawled in a low hiss of a voice.

"Let her go, and I'll tell you," Lindsey tried to bargain.

"Or maybe you tell me, or I snap your little whore's neck," Caleb replied smoothly.

"Quid pro quo, Caleb," Lindsey retorted smoothly, holding up his gun and slowly laying it on the ground as a sign of negotiation. "You want my intel, you guarantee me her safety. If not, I'll gladly go down swinging, but you'll have to tear my tongue out before you get anything outta me."

Caleb mulled that over.

"Alright, counselor," he smirked. "I accept your little deal. But if you don't deliver, you all die, right here , right now. And that you have my word on."

With that, he simply tossed Kate through the air, the ex-cop crashing to the ground in front of Lindsey.

"Kate! Kate, you alright?" Lindsey hurriedly asked as he helped her up to her feet.

Kate could barely speak, coughing and clutching her sore throat as she sagged onto his shoulder for support.

"Quid pro quo, little brother," Caleb reminded him. "Best tell me why Angel would be hanging 'round Jolly Old England before I give the word to my boys and they cancel Christmas for y'all forever."

Despite knowing what revealing that information meant, Lindsey reluctantly realized he had no choice.

"The Deeper Well," he said at last, glaring at Caleb. "He's at the Deeper Well."

Caleb frowned in confusion. "Now why would he possibly want to go there? The only thing that could possibly be there aside from corpses of dead false gods is…"

He trailed off, a look of understanding, and a flash of dread, washed over Caleb's eyes. It was for but a moment, but Lindsey could see it plain as day.

"Well, I'll be damned," Caleb muttered in astonishment.

"Probably," Kate spat, rasping out the word in disgust.

Glaring at Kate for a moment, Caleb composed himself again, laughing. "Seems you lot have been busier bees than we gave you credit for." As the Bringers started to close in on them, Caleb held up his hand, halting their advance. "I realize this usually is the part of the evening where we double-cross you folk and leave your bones for the vultures, but I'm in a sportin' mood, Lindsey. So you get a pass...for now. You take your woman and the boy and get on home now. Make use of the time you have left. Which, between you and me...ain't a whole lot."

Caleb and his forces began to slowly walk away, but out of the corner of his eye, as he saw his little half-brother tending cautiously to a reeling Kate, something inside Caleb just couldn't help himself.

"One last thing, little brother," Caleb called back, getting Lindsey's attention. "What you said about Daddy being ashamed of me if he were still alive?" Caleb chuckled darkly. "You're probably right. Heck, I could always see it in his eyes, he was ashamed of me back then. No matter how much I wanted him to accept me as I was. He never understood what it's like to walk in my shoes. Probably why I didn't feel so bad about slicing his tractor's brake line that day."

At that, a look of horror and realization slowly washed over Lindsey's handsome features, his mind reeling at what his psychotic half-brother was telling him.

Kate looked at Lindsey in shock, quickly understanding. Oh, my God...he didn't…

Lindsey shook his head in disbelief. "No," he said quietly. "What happened to Dad was...it was an accident."

Caleb only gave him an evil, knowing smile. "Was it? He taught us both everything about that tractor. The ins and outs. Tractors are a funny thing. Sturdy, powerful, sure and mighty as righteousness. But one little cable gets nicked? And the whole thing becomes death in a metal box."

"Ask yourself, little brother...who would possibly know how to architect such a terrible, horrible accident to our dear old daddy? More importantly…"His eyes glittered with madness as they met Lindsey's stunned blue eyes. "Who would want to?"

His evil laughter, the look of amusement in his black, foul eyes told Lindsey that he wasn't lying. It felt like being thrown into the coldest water imaginable for Lindsey. His father...his poor father...who had always tried to give him everything he could despite not being able to give much. Who tried to teach him an honest way to live, morals Lindsey had forsaken later in life, but he had tried to teach anyway out of love for his son…

...and he was gone...because of this monster?

Because of his own brother?

Abandoning all sense of reason, all sense of danger, Lindsey's eyes took on a dark, deadly glare…

...and then he let out a rage-and-grief-filled scream...the same scream of a 16-year-old boy who had lost his father that horrible day... as he lunged at Caleb, his hand drawing out a switchblade that was ready to carve itself, and his father Dylan's name, right into his disgusting half-brother's face.

POW!

With a backhand, Caleb launched Lindsey back through the air as if he was nothing more than a fly.

"Lindsey!" Kate screamed as she ran towards the fallen body of Lindsey, who was laying on the ground, dazed and bloodied.

Caleb's evil laughter filled the air all around him, filling a wounded Lindsey with a fury and grief that enveloped his soul.

"Give the Slayer my regards. See you soon, little brother," Caleb winked at him.

And in a purple flash, he and his minions were gone. As if they had never been there at all.

Kate cradled Lindsey in her arms as he lay on the ground. "Oh, my God...oh, my God...Lindsey...are you…?" Are you what? Okay? Stupid question, Kate. You heard what that son of a bitch just said. Just admitted to…

Lindsey stood, shocked, reeling, Caleb's words reverberating in his head. He staggered slowly towards a tree in his daze, leaned against its bark, his eyes wide and his world rocked.

He blinked once. Twice. Felt his eyes getting warm, burning. His father...his own father...Dad...daddy…

The truth hit him all at once. He had done this. All those years covering for Caleb. Protecting him. Cleaning up his messes. Being his keeper. And all this time...he had taken something from Lindsey's family that they'd never get back. Never…

...and I did this...I...I helped him kill my daddy…

BAM!

Lindsey grunted as his fist met the unforgiving bark. BAM! Again as he hit it a second time. BAM! A third time.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

He grunted again, louder and louder with each fist, losing all sense of time, all sense of...everything.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

And he let out a scream. Of frustration. Of fury. Of grief. Of the greatest agony.

"Lindsey," Kate softly tried, pulling him away from the tree even as he thrashed, his knuckles bloodied and smeared with bits of bark. As dirty as his soul was…

Kate could only try again. "It's alright...shhh, Lindsey...it's alright…"

Lindsey buried his face in her shoulder, letting out a grieving, curdling scream.

Kate let him. She let him funnel out his pain, his heartbreak. After all, she too, knew all too well what it was like to lose a father to the foul hand of murder.

"It's alright," she gently soothed him, even as his screams began to break down into anguished sobs. The cries of a teenage boy still crying out for his father. "Shh...Lindsey...I'm here...it's alright...I'm here…"

And Kate held him quietly in the darkness of the empty street. Two children still crying out for their parents to come and hold them, make them feel safe and warm and loved. Knowing all the while that they were never coming.

Never again…


Sunnydale, California—Summers Residence, Basement

Now


Dawn and Andrew hurriedly rushed back down the stairs.

"Spike!" Dawn said, spotting the vampire struggling in his chains against whatever unseen evils were torturing Faith miles away. "We have the keys. Are-are-are you okay?"

Panting heavily yet breathlessly, Spike gave the teenage Summers girl a wane smile. "Attagirl, Nibblet."

Andrew nervously looked over his shoulder now and again. "Yeah. Had to go through a bit of...well...self-esteem-crushing humiliation to get it, but no big. Um, so we're going to be hurrying up with the rescue, right?"

"Trying to," Dawn grunted, hurriedly twisting the key into the lock of Spike's right shackle, unlocking it. "It'll be okay, Spike. We'll have you out of here in no time, then we can head over to the vineyard and get Faith out of there."

"I can't let you do that."

All eyes darted to the top of the stairs…

...where a disapproving, scowling Buffy Summers stood. Hands on her hips. A deadly serious look in her hazel green eyes.

Dawn gulped, realizing she was busted. "Buffy! Um, I…"

"Hand over the keys, Dawn," Buffy ordered. It was not a request, her tone made that crystal clear.

Andrew fidgeted slightly under the withering glare of The Slayer. "Um, uh, Buffy, for the record, I'd like to point out that I advised against this at one point, but —"

"Really want to think about shutting up right now, Andrew," Buffy warned him crisply.

Swallowing nervously, Andrew complied. "Got it. Me shutting up now."

"Buffy, please!" Dawn pleaded. "Faith's still alive! We can't just leave her there, you have no idea what they're doing to her! It's horrible, Buffy—"

"And I get that," Buffy patiently said. "We're trying to figure out a safe way to get her out, but not like this, Dawn. You guys will just end up getting killed, and I'm not about to let that happen. Keys. Now."

At the demand in the tone of Buffy's voice in the word 'Now', something inside Dawn woke up, had finally had enough. She was done letting her sister tell her what to do.

Dawn stood up straight, her blue eyes steely. "No."

Buffy froze for a moment, her brow raised incredulously. "What?"

While the tone made her flinch inwardly, Dawn sucked in a breath and bravely held her ground. "I said 'No'."

Gritting her teeth, Buffy found her patience rapidly approaching its breaking point. "Dawn, I'm not joking. Give me those keys, or—"

"Or what?" Dawn said, anger laced in her voice. "Or you'll beat me up? Ground me for, what, the tenth time? Or, here's a thought...maybe you'll kill me to save the world. That's what you told Giles you'd be willing to do, right?"

Stunned, Buffy recoiled backward for a moment. "What? Dawn, what are you—?"

"Don't even try to deny it!" Dawn said accusingly, hurt in her big blue eyes. "I know what you told Giles a few weeks ago. I know that you said you'd be willing to let me die to save the world. Go ahead, deny it! Look me in the eye and lie to my face!"

Buffy opened her mouth for a moment, but no sound came out. She stood there a moment, speechless, a look in her eyes that was both sad and guilty.

Squashing that down quickly, Buffy tried to take charge of the situation again, hopping down in one agile leap that put her less than three feet apart from her baby sister. "Dawn, we'll talk about that later. But I can't let you free Spike and I can't let any of you go back there. Give me the keys. Now!"

Shaking her head angrily, Dawn gripped the keys harder. "You want the keys?"

She shoved them into her pocket, shifted her weight to the balls of her feet and cocking her hands in a fighting stance, like Connor and Spike had taught her to in all those training sessions. She glared at her older sister, no longer seeing her family, her greatest protector...but rather seeing a threat.

Against her. Like the ghost of her mother warned about months ago.

Dawn's voice was laced with a steely challenge. "Come and get them."

As he dangled in his one remaining chain, Spike quietly pleaded with Dawn. "Nibblet...please...don't do this. Not over me. She's your family…"

Buffy looked at her in a mix of shock, hurt and disbelief. "Dawnie," she said softly. "I...I'm not going to fight you. I don't want to fight you."

But Dawn was far beyond words now. As far as she had been concerned, this had been a long time coming. Her fists were cocked, her focus was locked and she was ready to blow.

"Yeah?" Dawn growled. "Too bad...because I want to fight you!"

With that, Dawn lashed out with a brutal high right kick that just barely sailed by Buffy's head, the Slayer's lightning-quick instincts kicking in at the last second. She managed to block Dawn's second and third attempted blows, but she didn't anticipate the knee that Dawn had driven into her gut with tremendous force and impact.

Stunned, Buffy doubled over in pain before Dawn lashed out with a ferocious punch that caught Buffy clean on her right cheek, knocking her backwards.

Sprawling against the wall, Buffy clutched her surprisingly sore cheek before she looked up in shock and horror at her sister, who had curled up back into her fighting stance, ready for Round 2.

Despite her disbelief, Buffy recognized the power behind those blows. That wasn't ordinary human strength. Those were supernatural blows. Beyond human. But...how?

Dawn glared at her. "That all you got?"

While her familial instincts were urging her to calm her sister down, to end this needless violence, the other side of her, the warrior, The Slayer, was shifting into attack mode, Buffy feeling her instincts yanked in so many places at once it was dizzying.

"Dawn, enough," Buffy said, her tone taking on that of an angry parent. "Stop this."

"You're the Slayer, aren't you?" Dawn taunted. "Make it stop."

Dawn lashed out again with a Muay Thai-style kick that Connor had taught her. The blow had just barely missed Buffy, who was spending practically no time on offense and more time on defense as she dodged and evaded the flurry of surprisingly fast, strong and competently-executed kicks and punches that her baby sister was trying to belt her with.

"Stop it! Damn it all!" Spike shouted, trying desperately to pull himself free from that last chain binding him, but to no avail as he saw the two Summers sisters rumbling in the cramped basement.

Buffy had a million questions flying through her mind—How was Dawn this strong? How was Dawn this fast? When did Dawn learn to fight? When did she learn to fight like this? Was this a part of her being The Key? How did she know about that talk with Giles? How does she know Faith's alive? What would Mom think if she saw us like this?—but none of them could be answered right now, as she was too busy trying to avoid getting flattened by the force of her sister's surprisingly powerful blows.

"Dawn, you don't understand, letting Spike and you head to the vineyard is a bad idea. It's too dangerous!" Buffy insisted as she ducked under Dawn's wild swing…

...only to get caught in the face with a sweeping kick that sent her reeling backwards to the other side of the basement, crashing against the punching bag.

"I'm so sick of you telling me what to do!" Dawn gritted through her teeth as she pressed her attack, throwing an impressive cross block kick-right hand combination at her older sister. "You never trust me! You never listen to me! You're too busy pretending to be Mom, but you're not Mom, Buffy! You'll never be Mom!"

Those words hurt Buffy deeper and worse than any of Dawn's blows could, even as she tried to push through that pain and evade Dawn's persistent attack.

"I just lost two of my friends in the last week, and you don't even care!" Dawn shouted, her eyes stinging and blurry as she fought her tears and her sister at the same time, lashing out wildly at Buffy with the martial arts combinations Faith and Connor taught her. "Anna, Matthew...and you don't even remember their names, do you? Xander's lying in a hospital bed, he could've died, and it's like you're too busy to even want to see him! I've been going through all this stuff, and you haven't even bothered to ask me about it! I got these powers right under your nose and you didn't even notice! But why would you? I was just The Key to you, right? Something to keep away from Glory? I was never your sister, not in your eyes! You never cared about me! I was just a burden to you, right? You still don't think I belong here! You never thought I mattered in the first place!"

"Dawn, that's NOT true!" Buffy hotly insisted, her own eyes beginning to mist at the hurtful words her sister was hurling at her...along with the deadly crescent kick Dawn had tried to take her head off with, which Buffy narrowly avoided as she tried to maneuver her towards a corner to cut off her space of attack.

"Guys, stop!" Andrew shouted as he tried to jump between them.

Big mistake.

He found out the hard as Dawn's thrust kick, aiming at Buffy, caught him right in the face. Buffy, already annoyed with Andrew for being a part of this deception, grabbed the scrawny nerdling and hurled him effortlessly through the air to the other side of the room like a sack of garbage. Andrew's body collided with the wall, and he fell in a dazed heap.

"Why yes, Captain Picard...I'll fire all phasers…" he drunkenly muttered as his head swam.


Upstairs, Giles, Wesley, Darla, Gunn, Anya and Fred were gathered around the living room table, finalizing their plans to rescue Faith.

"So, we're in agreement," Giles told the group, making sure they understood.

"One person goes in the lair, we draw out the rest with distractions and hold them off long enough for Faith to be sprung," Gunn nodded. "Seems simple enough."

"It should be Buffy that enters the lair," Wesley said, skimming the schematics for the vineyard's layout which Fred had managed to download after hacking the archived files of Sunnydale's Planning Department. "She has the best chance of all of us in entering and exiting safely with Faith."

"Meanwhile, we provide the diversion," Anya said. "Assuming they're dumb enough to take the bait, should be easy-peezy."

"They'll take the bait. Trust me, I know the type," Darla replied calmly, standing next to Wesley as she pointed to several spots on the map. "They won't be able to tolerate the brazenness of us barging in on their little compound. Just make sure we draw out their reinforcements here, here and there, and that should clear a path for Buffy."

Fred sighed, worriedly. "I just hope we can make it in time. I can't even imagine what Faith must be going through in there."

Gunn reached out and gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "I know, Fred...but that girl's tough. She won't crack easily. In the meantime, we've got to do our job and…"

Gunn broke off, hearing the sound of scuffling and banging from below. "What in the hell is that?"

Giles looked to the basement door. "I hear it, too," he said warily.

CRASH!

The basement door exploded off its hinges as Buffy and Dawn came barreling through it, the two sisters tumbling on the floor together as they wrestled with each other.

The sight shocked the Scooby and Team Angel members, as well as drawing a crowd of surprised Potentials who barreled downstairs to see what the commotion was.

Rolling to their feet, Buffy and Dawn stared at each other, eyes locked in combat.

"I'm setting Spike free, Buffy! We're going to help Faith! You can't stop me!" Dawn said, determination in her eyes.

An equally willful stare from her angry older sister met Dawn's gaze. "Can. Will. Sorry, Dawnie," Buffy replied grittily.

"Stop calling me that!" Dawn shouted as she threw another series of roundhouse kicks at Buffy, the Slayer agilely avoiding each one, blocking the last one before she swept Dawn's leg out from under her, knocking her to the ground.

"Last chance, Dawn," Buffy barked. "Stay. Down."

"Screw. YOU!" Dawn growled back, her legs shooting up and kicking Buffy away.

Giles angrily tried to keep the peace. "ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!"

But the two sisters ignored him, Dawn slashing the air with more surprisingly effective blows and kicks that Buffy was forced to block or evade.

"Guys, STOP IT!" Fred shouted fretfully. "You're supposed to be sisters!"

As Dawn landed another kick that sent Buffy colliding with the wall of the living room, eliciting gasps from the Potentials watching, the blue-eyed teen felt her eyes mist as she glared at Buffy, who was clutching her ribs as she eyed Dawn warily.

"No…" Dawn replied to Fred, her eyes gazing balefully at Buffy. "...my sister's dead."

Buffy stared at her little sister, the Slayer's expressive hazel-green eyes wide in hurt, literally feeling her heart break at those words. Dawnie…

Letting out a scream, Dawn launched herself again at Buffy, but this time, Buffy was ready for the brunette's attack. Ducking under Dawn's punch, Buffy wrenched the extended arm behind her, pinning it behind Dawn's back before she wrapped her own legs around Dawn's knees. Gravity did the rest as the two fell to the ground, Dawn squirming and struggling and groaning in protest as she thrashed helplessly in Buffy's martial arts lock, almost a rear naked choke.

"Okay, look," Buffy began quietly, talking into Dawn's ear. "I don't know what the hell got into you, Dawn, but you better knock it the hell off right now. There's no way you're going to the vineyard and there's no way Spike is, either. I can't risk either of you, now give me the goddamn keys!"

"Well...you're right about one half of that bloody sentence, Ducks," a familiar British voice said from the corner.

Buffy, Dawn and the others all turned in shock to the entrance of the basement.

Spike.

Unshackled, disheveled and determined.

A dazed Andrew appeared behind him, clutching his head.

Buffy stared at him in stunned disbelief. "Spike...how did you…?"

"That's for me to know and you to lose sleep over, Slayer," Spike coldly replied. To Andrew. "Thanks, kid. Nice assist down there."

Andrew, dazed and possibly concussed, gave him a crooked grin. "Hey...all in a work's day honest...no wait...an honest work's days...no, that's not right, either…"

Spike shook his head. "Someone give Spanky a Tylenol or somethin'." He purposefully began to walk towards the door. "Gonna go see a preacher about a girl."

Releasing her hold on Dawn, Buffy hurriedly stood and moved to stop him. "Spike...Spike! We'll get Faith out, I promise, but you can't just head out there, you'll die!"

"Already dead," Spike replied, his tone sub-arctic as he didn't even look at Buffy, not losing his stride for the door once.

Buffy insisted hotly. "Spike, don't make me do this! I won't let you throw your life away, if you just give me some time, we can save—"

As Spike swung the door open, he was glad for a moment he couldn't breathe. For the sight on the other end of the door would have taken his breath away.

Buffy, who also saw the same sight, felt her jaw drop as she stared at the figure in front of them in shock. "Oh, my God."

As did everyone else in the room.

"It can't be," Gunn muttered.

"...How?" a floored Fred gasped.

"I don't believe it," a stunned Giles murmured.

"My God," Wesley wondered aloud.

Dawn glanced up, her eyes wide in surprise as her hands flew to her mouth. "No way…"

Spike's hardened gaze softened. His once-cold blue eyes warmed. His voice, dropped to almost a quiet hush, uttered one simple, soft, solitary word...

"Faith."

Pale, bleeding, cut and bruised everywhere, her hair disheveled, missing one of her boots and her clothes torn, blood-stained and tattered, obviously tired, the bloodied-yet-unbowed brunette Slayer offered Spike a shaky, crooked half-smirk. "Hey."

Faith stood there for a moment, her brown eyes locked with Spike's blue orbs.

Then she quietly drawled a simple question.

"You gonna let me in, or what?"

And then her legs buckled and her body swooned, falling towards him as she lost consciousness, Spike quickly catching Faith in his arms before she could hit the ground amid the gasps of everyone in the house.

The last thing in Faith's mind before she lost consciousness was one word. A word she hadn't been able to think of for seemingly forever since the vineyard, hell, since she was Called.

Safe…


To Be Continued..


Next: Angel must choose—happiness with Buffy, or certain death to reach Hope's Dagger?

And The First makes a move that will rock Sunnydale to its core…


And just how did Faith escape certain death at the hands of the First and its minions? And what did she endure through her captivity? That, my friends, is a story for another time...or another chapter in the near future. Let's just say...it wasn't pretty...

More to come! Let me know what you thought; feedback is welcome. Peace!

-Best,

Jean-theGuardian