![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skylar0graceTitle: Fractured Hearts Trilogy: Part Two - Collision
Author: SkylarGrace
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It was bound to happen…
Spoilers: All of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Disclaimer: ‘Supernatural’ and all related characters are copyright Eric Kripke, Kripke Enterprises & The CW Network. No infringement intended. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. No infringement intended.
Author: SkylarGrace
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It was bound to happen…
Spoilers: All of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Disclaimer: ‘Supernatural’ and all related characters are copyright Eric Kripke, Kripke Enterprises & The CW Network. No infringement intended. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. No infringement intended.
Chapter Four
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials – Chinese proverb
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials – Chinese proverb
Dean woke up the next morning and rolled over to find Sam still asleep. Quietly climbing out of bed, he showered and dressed before heading down the stairs. Smelling coffee, he followed his nose into the kitchen to find Owen sitting at the island drinking coffee and reading an old book. A fresh pot sat in the centre, surrounded by four mugs. Taking one, he filled it with coffee and sat opposite Owen. Owen looked up at Dean.
“Didn’t sleep well, huh?” he asked. Dean just groaned. Closing his book, he stared at Dean.
“So, how long have you been in love with her?” he finally asked Dean.
Dean’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
Owen shook his head. “Come on man. I’ve known you for too long.”
Dean scoffed at him. “Obviously you have known her longer.”
Owen laughed. “That was ten years ago and it was one date. You have absolutely no reason to be jealous of me. I’m not gonna try and steal your girl.”
Dean sighed. “She’s not my girl.”
Owen shook his head. “Why not? You’re in love with her; she’s in love with you. What’s the problem?”
Dean looked down into his coffee as he pondered the best way to explain it. “I didn’t tell her about the Devil’s gate.”
Owen stopped as his hand reached for the coffee pot. “What? Why didn’t you tell her?”
Dean put his head in his hands. “I won’t bring her into that.”
“She’s a Slayer.” Owen filled his mug up with coffee.
Dean looked up from his hands. “Exactly! She has enough things coming after her already. She’ll be better off if I’m not in her life. We closed the Devil’s Gate but we weren’t in time. Now there are numerous demons out there vying for a bit of Dean Winchester and not in a good way. I’ve already had one demon purposely mess with my family. I lost Mum, Dad; Sam lost Jess. When they realise that she’s a part of my life, they’ll track her down too.”
“Do you hear yourself? Are you crazy? You’re giving her up, you’re letting these demons win. You can’t keep yourself from living cause you’re afraid of what might happen.”
Dean sat up straight. “I’m not putting her in the firing line just to prove a point. I won’t put her in that position.”
“Shouldn’t she get to decide that?” said a voice behind him.
Dean turned around to see Buffy standing in the doorway.
“Um, I’m just going to go look for something,” Owen said, standing up and walking out of the room.
He went and sat in the lounge room and watched the staircase, hoping to divert Sam or Dawn before they went into the kitchen. He had a feeling Buffy and Dean had a lot to talk about.
~
Sam woke up and saw that Dean was already awake. Grabbing a towel and some clean clothes out of the duffel bag, he opened the bedroom door in time to see Dawn opening the bathroom door with a towel still wrapped around her hair. She gave a small smile.
“Ah, I didn’t know anyone was still asleep. I’m not sure how much hot water is left,” Dawn said, sheepishly bowing her head.
“It’s okay. I’m used to cold showers.”
Dawn’s head shot up with a look of confusion and a deep blush. Realising how his sentence sounded, he explained, a small blush creeping into his own cheeks.
“I mean, Dean has really long showers. I try to get up before him so I at least get some hot water.” He gave a small smile, hoping she believed him. Considering the large smile she gave in return, he thought she did.
“I know what you mean. We have a school of slayers in Cleveland, well actually we have a few, but the one in Cleveland is the biggest. It is more like a boarding school because the girls live there and we train them. I was in Africa recently recruiting a few girls, trying to find as many as I could. I came back a few months ago because Buffy needed someone to wallow with and…” Dawn clamped a hand over her mouth. “Oh no! Please don’t tell her I told you anything. She’s trying really hard to pretend that ‘him’ being here is not affecting her. I know she would definitely kill me if she found out I had just told you. I’m…”
“Dawn!” Sam said, moving toward her and her eyes widened. “I’m not going to say anything to her. I promise.”
Sam stopped right in front of her and Dawn’s head dropped to the floor. She was silent for a moment and Sam wondered if he should take a step back but Dawn looked up at Sam, her eyes slightly moist.
“Does he even love her?”
Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her into her room. Once they were inside, he closed the door behind him. Dawn moved and sat on her bed, pulling the towel from her hair. She picked at it. Sam sighed and sat down next to her.
“Yes. He is in love with her,” he said finally, looking over at Dawn. She looked up at him and he saw fire in her eyes. He knew she was protecting her sister.
“Then why did you leave? Willow told me that you left with him. Said it was the best thing to do.”
He could see the pain in her eyes. It seemed like she was sizing him up. Sam held up his hand. “I didn’t say it was the best thing, I said it was the right thing.” Dawn opened her mouth to say something. He just shook his head and continued. “I agreed with his reasons. Look, you don’t know about our family. You don’t understand.” He stopped when he felt his throat tighten. Dawn laid a hand on his arm.
“Then help me to understand.”
He looked into her eyes and sighed. He knew it would come out sooner or later. And he thought he may be falling in love with Dawn; if she were going to run, it would be better if it was sooner rather than later.
“We had a demon coming after our family; it had been for 25 years. It killed my mother. My dad found out it was a demon and had been hunting it until it got him just over a year ago. He raised us to be hunters.” He took a breath. “It killed my girlfriend at college too, anyone that had been close.” He looked up at Dawn, his voice a little stronger now. “Dean is trying to protect her. A little while ago we were there when the Devil’s Gate was opened and we closed it but some demons got out. A lot of them were because of our family, because of Dean. There are a few that are out for blood.”
Dawn softened. “Don’t you think we could help? I mean no one has better resources than we do. We could help you find them, defeat them.”
“Then what? Do you know about the contract he has?”
He was filled with hurt again as he realised, once again, that his brother was dying for him.
“Of course we know. Buffy has the whole Watcher’s Council working on it. And I know he can’t get out of it but…” Dawn was cut off by Sam turning to look at her. His eyebrows were knotted together.
“What do you mean he can’t get out of it?” Dawn felt her stomach tighten. ‘Was it possible he didn’t know?’ Sam stared at her. Afraid he knew what the answer was, why Dean had been acting the way he had about Sam trying to get him out of the deal, he slowly stood up.
“It’s just…” Dawn sighed. “If he breaks the contract, tries to get out of it, tries to save himself, then the demon will take you. It was part of the deal.” Sam looked at her horrified. “I thought you knew.”
Sam features darkened. He scowled and turned towards the door.
“Sam, wait!”
He didn’t even slow down as he walked over to the door and threw it open.
~
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Buffy asked, sitting across from Dean. “I could have helped you.”
“You don’t know that.”
His voice had taken a hard edge. He told Sam that he didn’t do chick flick moments; he wasn’t good at expressing his emotions and he didn’t like it.
“We’d been hunting this demon our whole lives and that was just one. Now there’s a whole bunch more.”
“But we have almost endless resources. We have texts and slayers. We could put a stop to this. Why won’t you let me help you?” Buffy was a little hurt by his tone. Didn’t he see what she was trying to do?
“Because I am in love with you Buffy!” he said exasperated, standing up from his stool. “Because I will not lose you. I won’t let it be my fault you are dead.” Dean had seen what his mother and Jess’ deaths had done to his Dad and Sam. Losing her would be bad enough. But knowing it was his fault…
“Dean -”
“You can’t get out of it?” interrupted a very angry Sam from the doorway.
Dawn was standing beside him looking very guilty and Owen stood behind them looking confused. Dean and Buffy both frowned at Dawn. She gave an apologetic smile.
“Son of a bitch!” Dean exclaimed to no one in particular, shaking his head.
Sam stormed toward him. “It’s true?”
Dean turned to face him. “It was my decision Sam. My choice!”
Owen stepped into the room past Dawn who remained sheepishly in the doorway.
“What did you do Dean?”
“I died and he sold his soul to get me back. I’ve spent the last four months trying to get him out of it, doing everything I can think of and he knew all along! There is no way out!” Sam said furiously.
Owen turned to Dean, seemingly calm. “How long did you get?”
He noticed Buffy look at her hands on the counter and cringe. Dean sighed.
“One year,” Dean answered.
There was a silence around the room. Dawn stood in the doorway looking guilty for causing the scene before her. Buffy sat at the counter, her head bowed and eyes closed and a hurt look obvious on her face. Owen was standing beside her watching Dean’s face. He had known Dean for a number of years, fought side by side with him. He knew the lengths he would go to, to protect those he loved.
Dean was watching Buffy. It caused him pain to see her so upset. He wanted to turn to Sam and reassure him but he didn’t know what words to use or how to calm down his obvious rage. Sam was furious. He couldn’t separate one thought from another in his head.
The blinding pain hit Sam like a freight train. He screamed out in pain and Dean caught him before he hit the floor. Dawn rushed forward but was stopped by Buffy. The others stood back while Dean held onto Sam. In thirty seconds it was over. Sam sat up, breathing heavily and holding his head. Owen moved over to a cupboard and pulled out a box of Panadol. He filled a glass with water and handed it to a very grateful Sam.
“Alright Sammy, what did you see?”
“It’s Sam.”
Dean just gave him the same older brother stare he had been giving him his whole life. Sam moved away from him and sat at the counter, looking up at Dawn. Buffy saw the exchange and her body tightened in fear.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no.”
Dawn put her arm around her older sister. Buffy put her head in her hands, took a deep breath and looked up at Sam. Her jaw was set firmly.
“Tell me the details.”
Sam finished swallowing the water. He addressed Buffy but he threw glances often at Dawn.
“An old building, stone, I think; like in a castle. You were unconscious in front of a fireplace on what I think was the first floor and there was blood all over the fireplace behind you. I think it may have been yours. You had been beaten pretty badly. Dawn was tied to the balcony on the second story. She didn’t appear to be hurt, but she wasn’t awake either. Dean was trying to get to her but frankly getting his ass handed to him.
It was definitely the Jhe but they had a large number of vampires working for them. I saw what looked like one of the demons chanting by the balcony door. Dean managed to reach Dawn and started trying to free her when a demon killed him.” Sam looked at Dean. As angry as he had been, the vision had felt real. The pain of losing his brother had felt real. He turned back to Buffy. “Dawn woke up, started chanting. I think it was a protection spell but it was too late. The demon that killed Dean stabbed her and the portal opened.”
Sam closed his eyes. Dean put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and was relieved when he didn’t shrug it off. Buffy took a moment to digest the news. It was like Glory all over again. She looked to Owen and saw the sympathy in his eyes.
“Is there any place like that around here?”
“Not really. We don’t have a lot of big houses here, especially not old. But about 40 minutes east there are some old mansions. Could be what you are looking for, though they are mostly standing over the beach.” Owen looked to Sam for confirmation.
“Sorry, I didn’t see water. But it doesn’t mean it isn’t the right place. The balcony was over lawn though.”
“Did you see us?”
Sam shook his head. “No. Only Dawn, Buffy and Dean.” He and Dawn looked at each other.
“Let’s go into the lounge room. I’ll see if I can track down this house. It may be where they are holed up and if we can find it, we could take them out first,” Owen said.
Buffy nodded. “Good idea.”
They all moved from the kitchen to the lounge room. Sam and Dawn sat on the lounge whilst Buffy and Dean hovered above their respective siblings and Owen sat on the floor typing away on the laptop. As houses from the area became visible in satellite images, Sam tried to see if any were familiar.
The lounge room window suddenly shattered as a body came through. Buffy and Dean dropped into fighting positions whilst Dawn and Sam leapt off the couch, Owen coming to stand beside them. The man who had entered slowly stood up from his crouching position on the floor. A smile broke across his face before his eyes turned black.
Chapter Five
Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great - Comte DeBussy-Rabutin
“Give me what I came for and I’ll leave you all alive.”
“Only if you ask nicely,” Buffy replied with a smile.
She moved forward to attack. The man raised his left hand and she was flung backwards into the wall behind Sam and Dawn. Sam and Dawn backed further down the room trying to make for the back exit whilst Owen moved to get some weapons from behind him. The man moved his hand toward Dean and flung Dean in the same direction as the fallen slayer. With satisfaction, he dropped his hand and advanced, his eyes focused solely on Dawn. Buffy and Dean got up from their heap on the floor. The man turned to them and growled.
“Get down!” he yelled in frustration.
His hand shot forward and a ball of green energy shot out. Dean pushed Buffy to the side but the ball stopped a metre in front of him, hitting a yellow wall. Buffy stood up as the demon looked shocked. He raised an eyebrow.
“Got yourselves an effective little spell. How much can it hold?”
He gave a smile and a series of blasts shot from his hands. They all stopped short. He glared and eyed the group in front of him, stopping when his eyes fell back on Dawn who was standing slightly off to the side. Her lips were moving and her head was bowed in concentration.
“It only works as long as you’re alive,” he said, flicking his right wrist.
A small pot behind Dawn was flung into her, knocking her over and effectively dropping the shield. Buffy and Dean advanced on him again
“Not today kiddies. I’ve got business to attend to.”
Raising his hand again, they were both flung into the wall hard. Dean slid down, unconscious. Buffy battled for consciousness as she struggled to stand. This time, he flung her into Owen, sending them both into a wall and into a heap on the floor. From her spot, Dawn reached out and grabbed Sam’s hand. Drawing on his energy, she spoke a few words and they both disappeared. The demon screamed in anger. Turning around, he left, running from the house.
~
Buffy and Dean started stirring. Buffy looked over to the fallen desk on the floor and realised Dawn was gone. She stood up in a panic.
“Dawn?”
Dean sat up. His head was killing him. He opened his eyes when he heard Buffy yell for Dawn, panic obvious. Looking at the desk where he last saw them, he realised both Sam and Dawn were gone. He stood up.
“Sam?”
Their eyes met across the room. It was if there was a mirror placed between them; fear and panic reflected in each others eyes. Buffy and Dean ran to the window and looked out. Although it was day, there was no one on the street.
“Dawn?” “Sam?” both yelled simultaneously.
Buffy turned to Dean crestfallen. He placed his arms around her and held her momentarily before letting her go and moving quickly to Owen.
“Thurman? Man, are you okay?” Owen groaned and Dean helped him sit up. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Good. Now let’s get on this computer and find the damn house.”He tried to keep the anger out but it showed.
“What was that?” Dean asked turning back to Buffy as Owen moved the laptop onto his lap.
“The shield? A friend of ours taught it to Dawn before she died.”
“Would it have drained her energy?” He remembered what Sam had said about Dawn being unconscious in the vision. Buffy shook her head.
“Eventually it would have but she can hold it for a while and it wasn’t up that long. But she was knocked down by that desk. I don’t know if she would have even been conscious.”
Buffy cringed when she remembered Sam had told her Dawn looked unconscious on the balcony and a tear started to well up in her eyes. Dean pulled her into a hug.
“We’ll find her. I promise,” he whispered.
Owen looked up at the two briefly before turning his attention back to the computer. “I obviously didn’t see the house but I am looking for houses in the area with the same characteristics. Balcony over lawn, stone, two storey, etc.”
Buffy and Dean moved over to the computer and stood behind him looking at the satellite images, Dean keeping his arms around Buffy’s waist and offering comfort.
~
Sam groaned and lifted his head. He looked around and saw nothing familiar. It appeared that they were lying in a park. He moved over to Dawn and rolled her over. She was still out. Picking her up off the ground, he carried her in his arms to a park bench. Realising the need for a location, he tried to determine where they were but there were only trees surrounding them. Sam gently shook Dawn. He had no idea what had happened. He remembered getting hit by the desk, feeling Dawn reach for him and then feeling really tired. He woke up here.
Dawn slowly came to. She felt a warm body against her and snuggled into it. Then her headache hit. She raised her hand to her head and groaned in pain. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw Sam’s green ones, looking down at her concerned. Her face flushed and she sat up abruptly.
“Where are we?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. I have no idea where we are or how we got here.”
Dawn looked away for a moment with a pensive look on her face then looked back at him with wide eyes as she stood up and looked around.
“Oh no. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Dawn spun around trying to look for a street sign or landmark but found only trees. Sam grabbed her wrists and looked in her eyes.
“Tell me what happened?” he asked softly. Dawn looked down.
“I knew he was coming our way and so I did the only thing I could think of and teleported. But I needed more energy because I was taking you so I used yours,” she looked up at him ashamed. “I’m really sorry Sam.”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I don’t mind. But we need to find out where we are.”
He looked around for a path. Finding one, he led her to the right and hoped it led out of the park. Dawn followed him, allowing him to lead holding her hand. After a few moments of walking, he turned to look at Dawn.
“Why did you take me with you?”
She blushed and gave a half smile. “I didn’t want to go by myself?”
Sam smiled. He turned back to see light shining through the trees. As they came to the street, Dawn searched for a street sign.
“I know where we are,” Sam said, “I saw it when we came in.” Sam pointed to the left. “I think it was this way. I remember seeing this park sign on the way here.”
“When I teleported us, I was trying to concentrate but I couldn’t concentrate properly. I guess we ended up here. At least it wasn’t in a wall or something,” she half-heartedly joked.
Sam smiled at her, looking her straight in the eyes. “I trust you.”
~
Buffy was frantically pacing. It had been an hour and with each passing minute, she got more and more wound up. She had given up looking at houses. She needed to do something. She heard footsteps on the porch and tensed. She turned to Dean and saw that he had straightened too. Owen reached for the sword beside him. They heard a low voice. Buffy moved to the wall.
Her muscles relaxed when she saw Sam’s head poke through. Dean strode past her and pulled his brother into a hug. As the door opened wider she saw Dawn.
“Dawn!” she said running to her. As she hugged her, she heard Dean speak.
“Where the hell were you guys?”
Sam pointed behind him to Dawn. “She teleported us out; it didn’t work so well and we landed in the park.”
Owen came up behind Dean with a flask. “Sorry man,” he said apologetically. “But we have no idea if it is you.”
Sam took the flask and took a swig of holy water before passing it to Dawn. Owen sighed in relief.
“Teleporting huh? You are just a bundle of tricks, aren’t you?”
The five moved inside, Owen repositioning himself at the laptop. Dawn and Sam sat back on the lounge and Dean and Buffy stood above them like concerned parents.
“You know you shouldn’t be teleporting in a battle Dawn. You don’t have the reserves. Besides, how did you take him with you?”
Buffy frowned. Willow had taught Dawn that teleporting took a fair bit of energy out of someone with Dawn’s skill level. At the moment she could only take herself and Willow warned against it in battle as it could tap all of her energy, leaving her defenceless. Dawn glanced at Sam before looking up at Buffy.
“I sorta borrowed it?” she said a little sheepishly.
“What?” Dean asked confused. Buffy turned to Dean.
“She took some of Sam’s to get them both out.” She turned back to them, this time addressing Sam concerned. “How do you feel?”
“I feel fine. I was a little tired when I woke up but I feel fine now.”
“You’re lucky she didn’t drain you.” Owen said, speaking up.
Dean started to get worried. “What?”
Dawn stood up getting a little angry at the accusatory direction this was taking. “I can choose how much I take. I was careful.”
Owen held up his hands. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I just know that you can’t always control how much you take from someone you don’t know. You don’t know their strengths and weaknesses or how much they could stand to lose.”
Dawn turned to Buffy, desperate for someone to understand. “I could feel his energy. I only took what I needed to get us safe. That’s all.”
“It’s okay,” Sam soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder. Dawn calmed and leaned back into the lounge and Dean saw the affection pass between them. He decided to trust Sam in this instance and he relaxed his stance. Buffy wasn’t going to admonish Dawn in front of everyone, so she changed the topic.
“Are we anywhere on this house yet?”
Owen showed Sam the different houses and Sam recognised the third. “That’s it I think. Same brickwork, same balcony.”
“Well,” Buffy said nodding, “I’ll do a little recon tonight. See if they are there or not. You guys stay here and do what you can to protect the house. You up for that Dawn?” Dawn nodded.
“I’ll go with you,” Dean said raising his hands before Buffy could speak. “You need to get out there somehow and if we split up, we can get it done faster. If something happens, we’ll know.” Buffy just nodded.
~
The drive to the mansion was done in silence, neither one knowing what to say. Dean parked a short distance from the mansion, just behind the woods surrounding three of the sides. Buffy turned to face him.
“I’ll take the left side, you take the right. We only need to know what we are facing, numbers and stuff. We’ll meet up round the other side. Okay?”
She opened her door, holding her stake in her hand and Dean put his hand on her arm. She turned back to him. “Be careful.”
“You too.”
Exiting quietly from the car, they moved in opposite directions toward the mansion, staying close to the shadows. Buffy dusted four vamps along her path. On the first floor Buffy could see a nest of vampires. There were thirty or so and lights were coming from the second storey. She saw one demon move in front of a window but that was all. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t move close enough to see more without risking being spotted. As she reached the halfway point, a vampire jumped her from behind trying to take a bite out of her neck. Buffy scolded herself for not paying enough attention to her surroundings.
“Sorry,” she whispered, “but I’m with someone else tonight. Maybe later?”
Buffy threw him over her shoulder. He landed in front of her and she moved down to stake him just as he reached up and pulled her down, twisting the arm holding the stake around, causing her to yelp in pain. As she hit the ground beside him, she rolled, trying to get some distance and ignoring the pain in her elbow. She flipped into a standing position, squaring off against the vampire again. She kept one eye on him whilst she looked for her fallen stake.
The vampire lunged at her once again and Buffy used the force of it to push her back, taking him with her as she flipped them both. Her elbow screamed in agony. She delivered one good punch before he pushed her off, sending her into a nearby tree. A stab of pain ran up her spine as she shakily stood on her feet, using the tree to stand. The vampire smiled as he advanced. Buffy steadied herself for the next attack as her attacker burst into a cloud of dust, leaving behind a worried looking Dean. She gave a small smile and sunk to the ground.
“Buffy are you okay?” Dean asked running over and falling to his knees beside her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
Buffy nodded. “Just give me a sec.”
She started shouldering off her leather jacket and was surprised when Dean leaned forward to help. Glancing apologetically as she hissed in pain, he helped her get both arms out and she took a look at her elbow. It wasn’t broken but it was definitely dislocated and already an ugly purple colour. Without having to ask, Dean held both parts of her arm as she leaned her head on his chest, took a deep breath and pushed it back into place. Tears ran freely down her face and Dean just held onto her, making sure her arm was free. After the wave of pain subsided, Buffy pulled back and looked at Dean. He gave her a small smile and took off his jacket and outer shirt, using the shirt as a makeshift sling. After tying the knot around her neck, Dean put his jacket back on, draped hers over her shoulders and helped her stand.
“Ready to go?”
“Yeah. Thanks,” she said, giving him a small smile. He returned the smile and led the way back out of the woods surrounding the mansion.
“What did you find?” Buffy asked, breaking the silence.
“About five or six vampires inside. There is some sort of altar set up on the sea side. I also saw maybe three or four of those Sisterhood demons. You?”
“Four vamps, five including the one you took out, patrolling the area. Maybe thirty inside. I only saw one demon on the second floor.” Dean looked over at her as she held her arm in the sling. She noted his look.
“Slayer healing. I’ll be as right as rain in no time!” she said cheerily before a frown fell over her face. “Does rain fix things? I mean, okay, droughts, yeah, but anything else? Was that phrase invented for droughts?” She turned to look at Dean and saw a huge, genuine smile on his face.
“What?”
Dean continued to smile as he looked ahead. “Nothing.”
The tree line finally broke and the Impala appeared before them. Dean opened her door and held it open as Buffy got in. Buffy gave a shy smile as Dean closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.
“Buffy,” Dean began as he sat in his seat and closed his door.
He turned to face her just as she moved toward him, using her good hand to hold his face as she kissed him. Dean was momentarily surprised but responded in kind, deepening the kiss and once again enjoying the feeling of her soft lips against his. Kissing her now made him realise just how much he had missed it, how much he had missed her. As he pulled back, he saw her smiling at him.
“Let’s go tell the others what we found,” he said, returning her smile.
The engine rolled over effortlessly and the Impala drove off into the darkness.
“Didn’t sleep well, huh?” he asked. Dean just groaned. Closing his book, he stared at Dean.
“So, how long have you been in love with her?” he finally asked Dean.
Dean’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
Owen shook his head. “Come on man. I’ve known you for too long.”
Dean scoffed at him. “Obviously you have known her longer.”
Owen laughed. “That was ten years ago and it was one date. You have absolutely no reason to be jealous of me. I’m not gonna try and steal your girl.”
Dean sighed. “She’s not my girl.”
Owen shook his head. “Why not? You’re in love with her; she’s in love with you. What’s the problem?”
Dean looked down into his coffee as he pondered the best way to explain it. “I didn’t tell her about the Devil’s gate.”
Owen stopped as his hand reached for the coffee pot. “What? Why didn’t you tell her?”
Dean put his head in his hands. “I won’t bring her into that.”
“She’s a Slayer.” Owen filled his mug up with coffee.
Dean looked up from his hands. “Exactly! She has enough things coming after her already. She’ll be better off if I’m not in her life. We closed the Devil’s Gate but we weren’t in time. Now there are numerous demons out there vying for a bit of Dean Winchester and not in a good way. I’ve already had one demon purposely mess with my family. I lost Mum, Dad; Sam lost Jess. When they realise that she’s a part of my life, they’ll track her down too.”
“Do you hear yourself? Are you crazy? You’re giving her up, you’re letting these demons win. You can’t keep yourself from living cause you’re afraid of what might happen.”
Dean sat up straight. “I’m not putting her in the firing line just to prove a point. I won’t put her in that position.”
“Shouldn’t she get to decide that?” said a voice behind him.
Dean turned around to see Buffy standing in the doorway.
“Um, I’m just going to go look for something,” Owen said, standing up and walking out of the room.
He went and sat in the lounge room and watched the staircase, hoping to divert Sam or Dawn before they went into the kitchen. He had a feeling Buffy and Dean had a lot to talk about.
~
Sam woke up and saw that Dean was already awake. Grabbing a towel and some clean clothes out of the duffel bag, he opened the bedroom door in time to see Dawn opening the bathroom door with a towel still wrapped around her hair. She gave a small smile.
“Ah, I didn’t know anyone was still asleep. I’m not sure how much hot water is left,” Dawn said, sheepishly bowing her head.
“It’s okay. I’m used to cold showers.”
Dawn’s head shot up with a look of confusion and a deep blush. Realising how his sentence sounded, he explained, a small blush creeping into his own cheeks.
“I mean, Dean has really long showers. I try to get up before him so I at least get some hot water.” He gave a small smile, hoping she believed him. Considering the large smile she gave in return, he thought she did.
“I know what you mean. We have a school of slayers in Cleveland, well actually we have a few, but the one in Cleveland is the biggest. It is more like a boarding school because the girls live there and we train them. I was in Africa recently recruiting a few girls, trying to find as many as I could. I came back a few months ago because Buffy needed someone to wallow with and…” Dawn clamped a hand over her mouth. “Oh no! Please don’t tell her I told you anything. She’s trying really hard to pretend that ‘him’ being here is not affecting her. I know she would definitely kill me if she found out I had just told you. I’m…”
“Dawn!” Sam said, moving toward her and her eyes widened. “I’m not going to say anything to her. I promise.”
Sam stopped right in front of her and Dawn’s head dropped to the floor. She was silent for a moment and Sam wondered if he should take a step back but Dawn looked up at Sam, her eyes slightly moist.
“Does he even love her?”
Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her into her room. Once they were inside, he closed the door behind him. Dawn moved and sat on her bed, pulling the towel from her hair. She picked at it. Sam sighed and sat down next to her.
“Yes. He is in love with her,” he said finally, looking over at Dawn. She looked up at him and he saw fire in her eyes. He knew she was protecting her sister.
“Then why did you leave? Willow told me that you left with him. Said it was the best thing to do.”
He could see the pain in her eyes. It seemed like she was sizing him up. Sam held up his hand. “I didn’t say it was the best thing, I said it was the right thing.” Dawn opened her mouth to say something. He just shook his head and continued. “I agreed with his reasons. Look, you don’t know about our family. You don’t understand.” He stopped when he felt his throat tighten. Dawn laid a hand on his arm.
“Then help me to understand.”
He looked into her eyes and sighed. He knew it would come out sooner or later. And he thought he may be falling in love with Dawn; if she were going to run, it would be better if it was sooner rather than later.
“We had a demon coming after our family; it had been for 25 years. It killed my mother. My dad found out it was a demon and had been hunting it until it got him just over a year ago. He raised us to be hunters.” He took a breath. “It killed my girlfriend at college too, anyone that had been close.” He looked up at Dawn, his voice a little stronger now. “Dean is trying to protect her. A little while ago we were there when the Devil’s Gate was opened and we closed it but some demons got out. A lot of them were because of our family, because of Dean. There are a few that are out for blood.”
Dawn softened. “Don’t you think we could help? I mean no one has better resources than we do. We could help you find them, defeat them.”
“Then what? Do you know about the contract he has?”
He was filled with hurt again as he realised, once again, that his brother was dying for him.
“Of course we know. Buffy has the whole Watcher’s Council working on it. And I know he can’t get out of it but…” Dawn was cut off by Sam turning to look at her. His eyebrows were knotted together.
“What do you mean he can’t get out of it?” Dawn felt her stomach tighten. ‘Was it possible he didn’t know?’ Sam stared at her. Afraid he knew what the answer was, why Dean had been acting the way he had about Sam trying to get him out of the deal, he slowly stood up.
“It’s just…” Dawn sighed. “If he breaks the contract, tries to get out of it, tries to save himself, then the demon will take you. It was part of the deal.” Sam looked at her horrified. “I thought you knew.”
Sam features darkened. He scowled and turned towards the door.
“Sam, wait!”
He didn’t even slow down as he walked over to the door and threw it open.
~
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Buffy asked, sitting across from Dean. “I could have helped you.”
“You don’t know that.”
His voice had taken a hard edge. He told Sam that he didn’t do chick flick moments; he wasn’t good at expressing his emotions and he didn’t like it.
“We’d been hunting this demon our whole lives and that was just one. Now there’s a whole bunch more.”
“But we have almost endless resources. We have texts and slayers. We could put a stop to this. Why won’t you let me help you?” Buffy was a little hurt by his tone. Didn’t he see what she was trying to do?
“Because I am in love with you Buffy!” he said exasperated, standing up from his stool. “Because I will not lose you. I won’t let it be my fault you are dead.” Dean had seen what his mother and Jess’ deaths had done to his Dad and Sam. Losing her would be bad enough. But knowing it was his fault…
“Dean -”
“You can’t get out of it?” interrupted a very angry Sam from the doorway.
Dawn was standing beside him looking very guilty and Owen stood behind them looking confused. Dean and Buffy both frowned at Dawn. She gave an apologetic smile.
“Son of a bitch!” Dean exclaimed to no one in particular, shaking his head.
Sam stormed toward him. “It’s true?”
Dean turned to face him. “It was my decision Sam. My choice!”
Owen stepped into the room past Dawn who remained sheepishly in the doorway.
“What did you do Dean?”
“I died and he sold his soul to get me back. I’ve spent the last four months trying to get him out of it, doing everything I can think of and he knew all along! There is no way out!” Sam said furiously.
Owen turned to Dean, seemingly calm. “How long did you get?”
He noticed Buffy look at her hands on the counter and cringe. Dean sighed.
“One year,” Dean answered.
There was a silence around the room. Dawn stood in the doorway looking guilty for causing the scene before her. Buffy sat at the counter, her head bowed and eyes closed and a hurt look obvious on her face. Owen was standing beside her watching Dean’s face. He had known Dean for a number of years, fought side by side with him. He knew the lengths he would go to, to protect those he loved.
Dean was watching Buffy. It caused him pain to see her so upset. He wanted to turn to Sam and reassure him but he didn’t know what words to use or how to calm down his obvious rage. Sam was furious. He couldn’t separate one thought from another in his head.
The blinding pain hit Sam like a freight train. He screamed out in pain and Dean caught him before he hit the floor. Dawn rushed forward but was stopped by Buffy. The others stood back while Dean held onto Sam. In thirty seconds it was over. Sam sat up, breathing heavily and holding his head. Owen moved over to a cupboard and pulled out a box of Panadol. He filled a glass with water and handed it to a very grateful Sam.
“Alright Sammy, what did you see?”
“It’s Sam.”
Dean just gave him the same older brother stare he had been giving him his whole life. Sam moved away from him and sat at the counter, looking up at Dawn. Buffy saw the exchange and her body tightened in fear.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no.”
Dawn put her arm around her older sister. Buffy put her head in her hands, took a deep breath and looked up at Sam. Her jaw was set firmly.
“Tell me the details.”
Sam finished swallowing the water. He addressed Buffy but he threw glances often at Dawn.
“An old building, stone, I think; like in a castle. You were unconscious in front of a fireplace on what I think was the first floor and there was blood all over the fireplace behind you. I think it may have been yours. You had been beaten pretty badly. Dawn was tied to the balcony on the second story. She didn’t appear to be hurt, but she wasn’t awake either. Dean was trying to get to her but frankly getting his ass handed to him.
It was definitely the Jhe but they had a large number of vampires working for them. I saw what looked like one of the demons chanting by the balcony door. Dean managed to reach Dawn and started trying to free her when a demon killed him.” Sam looked at Dean. As angry as he had been, the vision had felt real. The pain of losing his brother had felt real. He turned back to Buffy. “Dawn woke up, started chanting. I think it was a protection spell but it was too late. The demon that killed Dean stabbed her and the portal opened.”
Sam closed his eyes. Dean put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and was relieved when he didn’t shrug it off. Buffy took a moment to digest the news. It was like Glory all over again. She looked to Owen and saw the sympathy in his eyes.
“Is there any place like that around here?”
“Not really. We don’t have a lot of big houses here, especially not old. But about 40 minutes east there are some old mansions. Could be what you are looking for, though they are mostly standing over the beach.” Owen looked to Sam for confirmation.
“Sorry, I didn’t see water. But it doesn’t mean it isn’t the right place. The balcony was over lawn though.”
“Did you see us?”
Sam shook his head. “No. Only Dawn, Buffy and Dean.” He and Dawn looked at each other.
“Let’s go into the lounge room. I’ll see if I can track down this house. It may be where they are holed up and if we can find it, we could take them out first,” Owen said.
Buffy nodded. “Good idea.”
They all moved from the kitchen to the lounge room. Sam and Dawn sat on the lounge whilst Buffy and Dean hovered above their respective siblings and Owen sat on the floor typing away on the laptop. As houses from the area became visible in satellite images, Sam tried to see if any were familiar.
The lounge room window suddenly shattered as a body came through. Buffy and Dean dropped into fighting positions whilst Dawn and Sam leapt off the couch, Owen coming to stand beside them. The man who had entered slowly stood up from his crouching position on the floor. A smile broke across his face before his eyes turned black.
Chapter Five
Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great - Comte DeBussy-Rabutin
“Give me what I came for and I’ll leave you all alive.”
“Only if you ask nicely,” Buffy replied with a smile.
She moved forward to attack. The man raised his left hand and she was flung backwards into the wall behind Sam and Dawn. Sam and Dawn backed further down the room trying to make for the back exit whilst Owen moved to get some weapons from behind him. The man moved his hand toward Dean and flung Dean in the same direction as the fallen slayer. With satisfaction, he dropped his hand and advanced, his eyes focused solely on Dawn. Buffy and Dean got up from their heap on the floor. The man turned to them and growled.
“Get down!” he yelled in frustration.
His hand shot forward and a ball of green energy shot out. Dean pushed Buffy to the side but the ball stopped a metre in front of him, hitting a yellow wall. Buffy stood up as the demon looked shocked. He raised an eyebrow.
“Got yourselves an effective little spell. How much can it hold?”
He gave a smile and a series of blasts shot from his hands. They all stopped short. He glared and eyed the group in front of him, stopping when his eyes fell back on Dawn who was standing slightly off to the side. Her lips were moving and her head was bowed in concentration.
“It only works as long as you’re alive,” he said, flicking his right wrist.
A small pot behind Dawn was flung into her, knocking her over and effectively dropping the shield. Buffy and Dean advanced on him again
“Not today kiddies. I’ve got business to attend to.”
Raising his hand again, they were both flung into the wall hard. Dean slid down, unconscious. Buffy battled for consciousness as she struggled to stand. This time, he flung her into Owen, sending them both into a wall and into a heap on the floor. From her spot, Dawn reached out and grabbed Sam’s hand. Drawing on his energy, she spoke a few words and they both disappeared. The demon screamed in anger. Turning around, he left, running from the house.
~
Buffy and Dean started stirring. Buffy looked over to the fallen desk on the floor and realised Dawn was gone. She stood up in a panic.
“Dawn?”
Dean sat up. His head was killing him. He opened his eyes when he heard Buffy yell for Dawn, panic obvious. Looking at the desk where he last saw them, he realised both Sam and Dawn were gone. He stood up.
“Sam?”
Their eyes met across the room. It was if there was a mirror placed between them; fear and panic reflected in each others eyes. Buffy and Dean ran to the window and looked out. Although it was day, there was no one on the street.
“Dawn?” “Sam?” both yelled simultaneously.
Buffy turned to Dean crestfallen. He placed his arms around her and held her momentarily before letting her go and moving quickly to Owen.
“Thurman? Man, are you okay?” Owen groaned and Dean helped him sit up. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Good. Now let’s get on this computer and find the damn house.”He tried to keep the anger out but it showed.
“What was that?” Dean asked turning back to Buffy as Owen moved the laptop onto his lap.
“The shield? A friend of ours taught it to Dawn before she died.”
“Would it have drained her energy?” He remembered what Sam had said about Dawn being unconscious in the vision. Buffy shook her head.
“Eventually it would have but she can hold it for a while and it wasn’t up that long. But she was knocked down by that desk. I don’t know if she would have even been conscious.”
Buffy cringed when she remembered Sam had told her Dawn looked unconscious on the balcony and a tear started to well up in her eyes. Dean pulled her into a hug.
“We’ll find her. I promise,” he whispered.
Owen looked up at the two briefly before turning his attention back to the computer. “I obviously didn’t see the house but I am looking for houses in the area with the same characteristics. Balcony over lawn, stone, two storey, etc.”
Buffy and Dean moved over to the computer and stood behind him looking at the satellite images, Dean keeping his arms around Buffy’s waist and offering comfort.
~
Sam groaned and lifted his head. He looked around and saw nothing familiar. It appeared that they were lying in a park. He moved over to Dawn and rolled her over. She was still out. Picking her up off the ground, he carried her in his arms to a park bench. Realising the need for a location, he tried to determine where they were but there were only trees surrounding them. Sam gently shook Dawn. He had no idea what had happened. He remembered getting hit by the desk, feeling Dawn reach for him and then feeling really tired. He woke up here.
Dawn slowly came to. She felt a warm body against her and snuggled into it. Then her headache hit. She raised her hand to her head and groaned in pain. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw Sam’s green ones, looking down at her concerned. Her face flushed and she sat up abruptly.
“Where are we?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. I have no idea where we are or how we got here.”
Dawn looked away for a moment with a pensive look on her face then looked back at him with wide eyes as she stood up and looked around.
“Oh no. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Dawn spun around trying to look for a street sign or landmark but found only trees. Sam grabbed her wrists and looked in her eyes.
“Tell me what happened?” he asked softly. Dawn looked down.
“I knew he was coming our way and so I did the only thing I could think of and teleported. But I needed more energy because I was taking you so I used yours,” she looked up at him ashamed. “I’m really sorry Sam.”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I don’t mind. But we need to find out where we are.”
He looked around for a path. Finding one, he led her to the right and hoped it led out of the park. Dawn followed him, allowing him to lead holding her hand. After a few moments of walking, he turned to look at Dawn.
“Why did you take me with you?”
She blushed and gave a half smile. “I didn’t want to go by myself?”
Sam smiled. He turned back to see light shining through the trees. As they came to the street, Dawn searched for a street sign.
“I know where we are,” Sam said, “I saw it when we came in.” Sam pointed to the left. “I think it was this way. I remember seeing this park sign on the way here.”
“When I teleported us, I was trying to concentrate but I couldn’t concentrate properly. I guess we ended up here. At least it wasn’t in a wall or something,” she half-heartedly joked.
Sam smiled at her, looking her straight in the eyes. “I trust you.”
~
Buffy was frantically pacing. It had been an hour and with each passing minute, she got more and more wound up. She had given up looking at houses. She needed to do something. She heard footsteps on the porch and tensed. She turned to Dean and saw that he had straightened too. Owen reached for the sword beside him. They heard a low voice. Buffy moved to the wall.
Her muscles relaxed when she saw Sam’s head poke through. Dean strode past her and pulled his brother into a hug. As the door opened wider she saw Dawn.
“Dawn!” she said running to her. As she hugged her, she heard Dean speak.
“Where the hell were you guys?”
Sam pointed behind him to Dawn. “She teleported us out; it didn’t work so well and we landed in the park.”
Owen came up behind Dean with a flask. “Sorry man,” he said apologetically. “But we have no idea if it is you.”
Sam took the flask and took a swig of holy water before passing it to Dawn. Owen sighed in relief.
“Teleporting huh? You are just a bundle of tricks, aren’t you?”
The five moved inside, Owen repositioning himself at the laptop. Dawn and Sam sat back on the lounge and Dean and Buffy stood above them like concerned parents.
“You know you shouldn’t be teleporting in a battle Dawn. You don’t have the reserves. Besides, how did you take him with you?”
Buffy frowned. Willow had taught Dawn that teleporting took a fair bit of energy out of someone with Dawn’s skill level. At the moment she could only take herself and Willow warned against it in battle as it could tap all of her energy, leaving her defenceless. Dawn glanced at Sam before looking up at Buffy.
“I sorta borrowed it?” she said a little sheepishly.
“What?” Dean asked confused. Buffy turned to Dean.
“She took some of Sam’s to get them both out.” She turned back to them, this time addressing Sam concerned. “How do you feel?”
“I feel fine. I was a little tired when I woke up but I feel fine now.”
“You’re lucky she didn’t drain you.” Owen said, speaking up.
Dean started to get worried. “What?”
Dawn stood up getting a little angry at the accusatory direction this was taking. “I can choose how much I take. I was careful.”
Owen held up his hands. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I just know that you can’t always control how much you take from someone you don’t know. You don’t know their strengths and weaknesses or how much they could stand to lose.”
Dawn turned to Buffy, desperate for someone to understand. “I could feel his energy. I only took what I needed to get us safe. That’s all.”
“It’s okay,” Sam soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder. Dawn calmed and leaned back into the lounge and Dean saw the affection pass between them. He decided to trust Sam in this instance and he relaxed his stance. Buffy wasn’t going to admonish Dawn in front of everyone, so she changed the topic.
“Are we anywhere on this house yet?”
Owen showed Sam the different houses and Sam recognised the third. “That’s it I think. Same brickwork, same balcony.”
“Well,” Buffy said nodding, “I’ll do a little recon tonight. See if they are there or not. You guys stay here and do what you can to protect the house. You up for that Dawn?” Dawn nodded.
“I’ll go with you,” Dean said raising his hands before Buffy could speak. “You need to get out there somehow and if we split up, we can get it done faster. If something happens, we’ll know.” Buffy just nodded.
~
The drive to the mansion was done in silence, neither one knowing what to say. Dean parked a short distance from the mansion, just behind the woods surrounding three of the sides. Buffy turned to face him.
“I’ll take the left side, you take the right. We only need to know what we are facing, numbers and stuff. We’ll meet up round the other side. Okay?”
She opened her door, holding her stake in her hand and Dean put his hand on her arm. She turned back to him. “Be careful.”
“You too.”
Exiting quietly from the car, they moved in opposite directions toward the mansion, staying close to the shadows. Buffy dusted four vamps along her path. On the first floor Buffy could see a nest of vampires. There were thirty or so and lights were coming from the second storey. She saw one demon move in front of a window but that was all. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t move close enough to see more without risking being spotted. As she reached the halfway point, a vampire jumped her from behind trying to take a bite out of her neck. Buffy scolded herself for not paying enough attention to her surroundings.
“Sorry,” she whispered, “but I’m with someone else tonight. Maybe later?”
Buffy threw him over her shoulder. He landed in front of her and she moved down to stake him just as he reached up and pulled her down, twisting the arm holding the stake around, causing her to yelp in pain. As she hit the ground beside him, she rolled, trying to get some distance and ignoring the pain in her elbow. She flipped into a standing position, squaring off against the vampire again. She kept one eye on him whilst she looked for her fallen stake.
The vampire lunged at her once again and Buffy used the force of it to push her back, taking him with her as she flipped them both. Her elbow screamed in agony. She delivered one good punch before he pushed her off, sending her into a nearby tree. A stab of pain ran up her spine as she shakily stood on her feet, using the tree to stand. The vampire smiled as he advanced. Buffy steadied herself for the next attack as her attacker burst into a cloud of dust, leaving behind a worried looking Dean. She gave a small smile and sunk to the ground.
“Buffy are you okay?” Dean asked running over and falling to his knees beside her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
Buffy nodded. “Just give me a sec.”
She started shouldering off her leather jacket and was surprised when Dean leaned forward to help. Glancing apologetically as she hissed in pain, he helped her get both arms out and she took a look at her elbow. It wasn’t broken but it was definitely dislocated and already an ugly purple colour. Without having to ask, Dean held both parts of her arm as she leaned her head on his chest, took a deep breath and pushed it back into place. Tears ran freely down her face and Dean just held onto her, making sure her arm was free. After the wave of pain subsided, Buffy pulled back and looked at Dean. He gave her a small smile and took off his jacket and outer shirt, using the shirt as a makeshift sling. After tying the knot around her neck, Dean put his jacket back on, draped hers over her shoulders and helped her stand.
“Ready to go?”
“Yeah. Thanks,” she said, giving him a small smile. He returned the smile and led the way back out of the woods surrounding the mansion.
“What did you find?” Buffy asked, breaking the silence.
“About five or six vampires inside. There is some sort of altar set up on the sea side. I also saw maybe three or four of those Sisterhood demons. You?”
“Four vamps, five including the one you took out, patrolling the area. Maybe thirty inside. I only saw one demon on the second floor.” Dean looked over at her as she held her arm in the sling. She noted his look.
“Slayer healing. I’ll be as right as rain in no time!” she said cheerily before a frown fell over her face. “Does rain fix things? I mean, okay, droughts, yeah, but anything else? Was that phrase invented for droughts?” She turned to look at Dean and saw a huge, genuine smile on his face.
“What?”
Dean continued to smile as he looked ahead. “Nothing.”
The tree line finally broke and the Impala appeared before them. Dean opened her door and held it open as Buffy got in. Buffy gave a shy smile as Dean closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.
“Buffy,” Dean began as he sat in his seat and closed his door.
He turned to face her just as she moved toward him, using her good hand to hold his face as she kissed him. Dean was momentarily surprised but responded in kind, deepening the kiss and once again enjoying the feeling of her soft lips against his. Kissing her now made him realise just how much he had missed it, how much he had missed her. As he pulled back, he saw her smiling at him.
“Let’s go tell the others what we found,” he said, returning her smile.
The engine rolled over effortlessly and the Impala drove off into the darkness.
