Power of the Slayer

Chapter One

Takes place as Buffy Season 5 ends and Supernatural Season 4 begins.

Glory fell to her knees, her nose bleeding, as Buffy Summers stood over her with the troll god's hammer.

Glory looked up at Buffy, gasping and on the verge of tears. "Stop it…"

"You're a god," Buffy growled at her. She swung the hammer at Glory's face, knocking her back onto the ground. "Make it stop."

Buffy walked over and knelt beside Glory, raising the hammer and hitting her in the face over and over and over again. Glory lay on the floor, blood all over her face and struggling against the pain. She suddenly morphed into her brother Ben, and Buffy lowered the hammer.

"I'm sorry," Ben told her.

"Tell her it's over," Buffy spat at him. "She missed her shot. She goes. She ever, ever comes near me and mine again…"

"We won't," said Ben quickly. "I swear."

Buffy dropped the hammer on the floor and hurried away towards the stairs to the tower.

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Dean Winchester closed his eyes tight against the images around him. Horrible, inhuman screams echoed all around him in this nightmare place. He desperately prayed that they wouldn't send him another poor victim to torture, and yet, a small part of him that he did not want to acknowledge actually wondered how much he could make this one scream.

He couldn't really remember how many souls he had destroyed, and yet he could still remember each and every face as it pleaded with him to stop, to just end it. He couldn't imagine what was going on at the surface, nor did he really care. His entire world consisted of one endless scream after another—most of the time, his own.

Dean wasn't really sure what was going on around him at the moment, though. Something seemed to be happening, as though the demons were on edge. No, more than that—they were scared. Something was coming…

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Buffy climbed up the ladder to the tower, reaching the top and finding some old guy in front of her little sister Dawn, slicing her sides with a butcher knife.

"…flow…free…" he was saying.

"Dawn," said Buffy, walking towards them.

"Buffy!" Dawn gasped in pain.

The man turned towards her, holding the knife in front of him. "This should be interesting."

Buffy didn't even flinch or break stride; she just shoved him right off the tower on her way to Dawn.

"Here," said Buffy, fiddling with the restraints on Dawn's wrists.

"Buffy, it hurts," moaned Dawn as blood began dripping onto her feet.

"I got it," said Buffy. "Come here. You're gonna be okay." She unclasped the restraints and wrapped an arm around her sister.

Blood dripped from Dawn's toes and fell through the air, stopping in midair as a small circle of light appeared where her blood had touched. The circle of light grew, opening up into a portal.

Buffy led Dawn towards the stairs until Dawn stopped and turned to her. "Go!"

Dawn looked down at the portal and back at her sister. "Buffy, it's started."

Buffy turned, and they watched as the portal grew larger, creating a giant hole under them. A bolt of lightning surged from the portal and hit the main street below, caving the street in as people screamed. A building was hit by another lightning bolt, incinerating it instantly.

Buffy looked back at her sister.

"I'm sorry," Dawn told her quietly.

Buffy shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

Dawn darted to the side, making to run towards the end of the platform.

Buffy grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her back. "What are you doing?"

"I have to jump," Dawn told her. "The energy."

"It'll kill you!" Buffy told her.

"I know," Dawn said quietly. "Buffy, I know about the ritual. I have to stop it."

"No," said Buffy.

The tower shook underneath them, making them both stumble.

"I have to!" Dawn insisted. "Look at what's happening!"

Buffy looked around as more lightning crackled. A huge dragon burst out of the portal and buzzed the tower, flying away.

"Buffy, you have to let me go," Dawn told her. "Blood starts it, and until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop."

Buffy stared at Dawn in anguish.

"You know you have to let me," said Dawn as a tear fell down her face. "It has to have the blood."

Buffy froze at those last words, remembering everything that had happened over the past year.

"'Cause it's always got to be blood," said Spike as he sat in The Magic Box.

Buffy put her hand to her chest wound. "It's Summers blood." She placed her blood-covered hand in Dawn's own blood-covered hand. "It's just like mine."

"She's me," Buffy told her friends. "The monks made her out of me."

"Death is your gift," the First Slayer told her in her desert quest.

"Death…" said Buffy.

Buffy stared at Dawn, the truth dawning on her.

"…is your gift…"

Buffy slowly turned towards the end of the platform, watching as the sun rose in the distance. She turned back towards Dawn with a calm face.

Dawn stared at her with wide eyes, already knowing what Buffy was going to say. "Buffy…no!"

"Dawnie, I have to," said Buffy.

"No!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Listen to me," Buffy told her. "Please, there's not a lot of time, listen."

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Dean reluctantly opened his eyes to see what was going on. His eyes were immediately greeted by demons and blood and torture and gore, and he winced, wanting to look away from it again. But something kept him from looking away: a sense that something big was going down. It wasn't often that demons got afraid when they were in their element like this.

Something was shining off in the distance, surging its way through the demons and the chains. Dean frowned as he squinted against the otherworldly light, trying to make out what it was. Whatever creature or person the light was, it appeared to be headed straight for him.

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Buffy stroked the side of Dawn's face and kissed her tenderly on the cheek, giving her a reassuring smile as tears began to fall down Dawn's face. Buffy turned and ran down the platform towards the end of it as Dawn burst into tears. Buffy leapt off the platform, swan-diving into the portal underneath it. She fell into the portal and hung there, wincing in pain. The portal began to writhe as Buffy convulsed inside of it.

"Dawn, listen to me," said Buffy. "Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do."

Buffy slowly stopped convulsing and closed her eyes as the portal shrunk and disappeared in a flash. The sun rose on the warehouse as Willow, Tara, Giles, Xander and Anya approached the pavement under the tower.

"Tell Giles…tell Giles I figured it out," said Buffy. "And—and I'm okay."

The five of them stared at Buffy's lifeless body lying amid the debris. Spike fell to the ground, crying as he stared at Buffy's body.

"And give my love to my friends," said Buffy. "You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong."

Dawn slowly came down the stairs of the tower, holding her sides in pain. She spotted Buffy's body and began to cry again.

"Dawn, the hardest thing in this world…is to live in it," said Buffy. "Be brave…live…for me."

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Dean tried to shy away as the blinding figure drew closer to him, reaching a hand out for him. For some reason, Dean could feel a sense of calm emanating from the figure, which threw him off at once. For all he knew, that was the figure's way of luring people into a false sense of security. He turned and began to run away from whatever this was when he felt something latch onto his left shoulder.

Dean suddenly felt himself surging backwards, the creature with a hold on him dragging him upwards. Dean yelled as he tried to fight the figure, but the creature was too strong for him. As the creature gripped onto him, he felt everything getting lighter and less oppressive, as though he were waking up from a deep sleep.

Without warning, the world went dark, and Dean felt a jolt through his whole body as everything became suddenly sharp and distinct—more real than what he'd felt the past forty years. And as his world snapped to attention, he felt something surge within him, filling him with a strength he'd never felt before. He pulled in a harsh breath, his throat protesting the rough treatment. He tried to sit up quickly, but his head collided with something not one foot in front of his face.

Dean coughed a couple of times, his throat screaming at him. He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out his lighter, flicking it a couple times before it sparked to life. He found himself inside a pine box coffin, and he looked around his confines in confusion.

Am I back?

"Help!"

His voice was so hoarse, like he hadn't used it in…forty years. He coughed as his voice scratched against his throat.

"Help! Help!"

Dean raised his hand and banged against the wood panels in front of him, but nothing budged. Clenching his jaw in frustration, he pulled his arm back as far as it would go and surged it forward, punching right through the wood and into dirt. He brought his arm back, and dirt began pouring through the hole onto his face. He turned his head to the side and took in a deep breath, punching through the wood again and pulling it apart.

Dean surged through the dirt, trying to pull himself up and out. He was surprised to find himself moving through the dirt fairly easy. Before long, he felt his hand break through to air, and he grabbed onto the ground with both hands, pulling his head towards the surface. He pulled in a huge breath when the dirt fell away. He groaned as he pulled his torso and legs out of the dirt, and he fell back onto the ground, panting.

Dean finally stood and looked down at the cross at the head of a turned-up area of dirt. He then caught a look at the area around the grave: a bunch of trees toppled over, all spraying out from the grave. He couldn't help but wonder if the otherworldly creature that he had seen had been the one that had pulled him out. If so…it must have been pretty powerful to cause this to happen.

Dean took a second look around, feeling something inside of him…He felt strong…alive…