4

U.S.S. Serenity NCC-1687

CommanderBritany Evans sat in the captain's chair while Pelia started screaming instructions as the emergency repair crews. "What happened?" The slayer asked as she punched controls in the arm of the chair trying to get some answers. "Unknown," Lieutenant Bahl's voice rang out over the cacophony of noise, "Shields and weapons down Commander." Brit growled. If there was one thing she hated more than not knowing where her captain was; it was being out of control, "Do we have sensors?" Lieutenant Ellen Oliver pulled up whatever reading she could, "Short range only Commander." Brit inwardly cheered. One thing finally went right, "Can you see what's going on?" Ellen gasped at her reading, "I see, but I don't believe. We're in Sector 0-0-0-1, Earth, and judging from the pollution content of the atmosphere late twentieth to early twenty-first century Earth."

The news hit Brit like a physical blow to the chest, "Watson, Hail the captain." Anari shook her head, "The main comm array is down, but maybe I can bounce a signal off a satellite."

"Do it," Brit said as she looked over at Pelia, "Any idea how long it will take to get us up and running?" Pelia looked up at the Commander, "I can get up stabilized in a couple of hours, but fully operation will take days deary. Then there's the whole mess of my missing granddaughters."

Revelo Drive Sunnydale, California

Buffy was a little shocked. It has been over two hundred fifty years since she had been in this room. This room that now sat as wreckage at the bottom of the Sunnydale crater. "We're in trouble," she said as she looked around at her companions. "We're in the past and judging from the surroundings, a bad spot."

Pike looked at the captain, "How bad is it?"

Buffy looked at Dawn who shrugged, "We're on the Hellmouth."

"Not just that," Buffy said, "But there are past versions of me, Dawn, and maybe Spike wandering around. Not to mention the rest of the Scoobies, and them spotting us would be majorly of the bad."

"And I doubt we can just sit in this," Chapel commented while looking around, "Teenage girl's bedroom." Buffy groaned and made her way towards the closet, "This was my teenage bedroom."

"OK," Buffy said as she started going through clothes and picking out a few outfits, "I know where we are, but not exactly when. We need to blend in." She threw a ball of clothes at Chapel, "So normal clothes, and no ranks. Where's Dawn?"

Dawn slipped back in the room wearing some of her old clothes, "Well, my room and clothes were there so that means we can narrow it down to between two thousand and two thousand three."

"Were you adopted?" Chapel asked, "Joseph never told me that part."

"No," Dawn said with a nervous tone, "I wasn't born so much as created. It's a long story and we don't really have time for it now." Buffy groaned, "We really don't. Stay here, I'm gunna check and see if some of Dad's old clothes are still in the attic."

A few minutes later they all stood wearing clothes of the time. Somehow Spike had managed to find a black shirt and jeans in the box while Pike was wearing a plaid shirt and blue jeans. "Well," Spike said as he shrugged into his coat, "Best to get a move on then. Find your officers and get out of here before I run out of juice."

"Juice?" Pike asked a bit confused. "Yeah," Spike replied, "Circuitry in the lining of the coat. Keeps me nice and safe from the sun during the day." Pike looked confused for a moment before it clicked, "Right. Vampire." He looked up at his fellow captain, "So any idea where my officers are?" Buffy looked out the window for a moment at a sight she had thought to never see again, "If they brought them here, there is only one place to go."

"The Hellmouth," Dawn finished, "But why this one here and now?"

"Buffy, are you here?" the group heard from downstairs.

"Mommy?" Dawn squeaked.

With a bit of panic on her face Buffy urged everyone to be quiet, "Yeah mom!" she yelled, I just needed to get something."

"Ok Sweetie, I'm on my way to the gallery. Remember I have a date with Brian tonight. Make sure Dawn gets dinner before you go on patrol." Buffy's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she called, "I will."

She noticed that Dawn was visibly shaking. "Calm down Dawnie."

Pike looked at the two women, "I'm guessing this has some significance." Dawn nodded, "Our mom dies the day after tomorrow."

Suddenly Buffy's spine went ramrod straight, "We have a bigger problem. Glory is here, and for all intents and purposes there are two keys wandering around."

"And the hits just keep on coming," Dawn said.

"Who is Glory?" Chapel asked with her hand slightly raised.

"Hell god," Buffy answered with a clipped tone, "Wanted to use Dawn's blood to open a dimensional portal."

"But you stopped her," Pike stated with an unsure tone in his voice. Buffy nodded, "We did, but I died."

"OK," Pike said in answer, "Let's just do our best to get this over with before my headache gets any worse."

Buffy snuck out of her room to make sure her mom was really gone, "OK guys, we need to keep a low profile. Especially those of us with past selves wandering around."

U.S.S. Serenity NCC-1687

Commander Evans sat in the center seat of the bridge watching systems begin to blink back to active status. "Commander, we have short range communications back online, Lieutenant Watson said from her console as Pelia climbed out from under it. "We've linked into the Earth's satellites," Pelia stated, "It won't be the best connection, but it'll work."

Brit nodded from the captain's chair, "Hail the captain."

Sunnydale, California

The group of time travellers were walking down an alley off the main street in town when Buffy heard a chirp go off in the pocket of her jeans, "Finally, some good news." She pulled it out and flipped it open, "Summers here."

"Captain," came her first officers static filled voice, "We're on the dark side of the moon conducting repairs until we have the power to shield ourselves from the Earth's satellites. What's your status?"

Buffy looked around to make sure nobody was around, "Taking a stroll down memory lane. Do you have transporters?"

"Negative Captain. Most systems are still on auxiliary power. I can have a shuttle sent down to you."

"No," Buffy said, "Make sure the deflectors and transporters are top priority. I have a feeling we'll need a quick exit when this is done."

"Understood. Slayer Protocol Delta."

"What's Protocol Delta?" Pike asked clearly out of his element."

"We check in every hour," Dawn answered him, "If we miss one they scramble a shuttle with a full squad." Buffy looked at the group with a commanding stare, "We don't want that. A squad of slayers from the future running around Sunnydale would sow chaos."

"Where would Spock and La'an be held in this small town?" Chapel asked.

"I assume they were taken for a ritual," Dawn stated, "If I had a tricorder I could probably find them, but best guess… The old high school basement."

Chapel looked confused for a moment, "Why would they take them there?"

"Because the entrance to the Hellmouth is in the basement."