PART FOURTEEN: Trouble At Home
Faith and Kennedy came in from driving to the magic shop in warp speed. "Any luck?" Buffy asked as she saw the two girls enter.
"No, and the whole place was trashed," Kennedy answered looking at Faith.
"Red, have you located her?" the brunette slayer asked walking into the living room where Willow and Fred were, trying a locating spell. The redhead sighed in defeat.
"No, not a thing," the Wicca said looking up. Majority of everyone was in the backyard, kitchen, and living room. Though everyone started to leave the living room to give Willow and Fred space to work.
Just then, the front door was ripped off its hinges and flew though the hallway. Everyone watched it as it crashed to the ground. It was silent as Caleb walked through the front door, followed by about 12 bringers.
"I wouldn't worry about her. I'm sure she's fine...bleeding to death," Caleb announced walking fully in with a wide smile.
Kennedy charged at him. "Kennedy! NO!" Buffy yelled. But Caleb already grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air.
"You know, you are all pretty stupid to actually think you can beat us," Caleb stated before throwing the potential across the room into a wall. Everything seemed to start in slow-motion. Potentials, hearing all the noise, came pouring in and the bringers that came in with Caleb charged at them. Buffy saw several emotions run through the girls' faces. There was fear, worry, excitement, anger, eagerness...everything was just happening so fast.
The older slayer barley even processed everything through her head as a full out battle took place in her very own house. "Vi! Go out back and grab some weapons!" Buffy ordered, finally charging into action. The potential nodded and took off fast to the backyard, only to fly back through the door. Bringers started coming in through the back.
Caleb advanced on a potential who was fighting a bringer and with one swift move, lifted the girl off her feet and threw her out a window. Buffy stared in horror as bodies, both bringers and potentials, were flying out of windows and against walls.
"Buffy!" Faith yelled as she saw a bringer come up behind the older slayer. The blonde whipped around and grabbed the bringer's arm, twisting it, then punching him square in the face before taking his own knife and stabbing him in the chest with it.
Faith tried to make her way to Buffy when she saw Caleb. The bringers could wait; the potentials could take care of them. But Caleb? He was killing potential after potential as if they were mere flies.
Buffy quickly looked at Faith who met eyes with her and nodded. The slayers were going to have to take care of Caleb themselves or he was going to kill every potential. It was bad enough that bringers were all over the place.
Willow pushed Fred as a bringer came at them and thrust out her hand muttering a spell that caused the bringer to fly backward into another bringer. "You ok?" The redhead quickly asked turning to the brunette. Fred quickly nodded as another bringer came at her with an axe. The usually shy brunette quickly got up and kicked him in the chest, grabbing the axe and kicking him again before swinging the axe, taking the bringer's head off. Willow stared at her as Fred quickly looked back at her. Her hair was wild and sweat ran down the side of her head.
"What?" the brunette asked. Willow just looked at her and then the axe. Fred smiled.
"Angel and the gang taught me a few things," the brunette quickly said before kicking another bringer. Another bringer tackled Willow to the ground as she muttered another spell, causing the bringer to catch on fire. The redhead got back up and ended up back to back with Fred as she stood, axe in hand, her own back against the Wicca's.
"Fair enough...but less talk now, more fight," Willow said before muttering another spell at a bringer.
In another part of Sunnydale, Giles' house...
The sun was starting to set and Dawn, along with Andrew headed towards Giles' door. "Well that should be good. I think all of us should head back to the house. Buffy will need your help and will need all this information," Dawn stated picking up her light jacket that she had brought with her. Dawn and Andrew had been gathering supplies all day and then went over to Giles to check on the guys.
Spike had gone out to his sources to get information as Wood and Giles did some research. The blonde vampire had actually gotten some good useful information. They were going over each other's information and cross referencing as Andrew and Dawn found them. They quickly filled them in on both situations.
"We could use some help with all this stuff anyway," Andrew added standing by the door.
"Well, the sun is starting to go down. I think it's a good idea to meet up," Spike said as he turned back to Giles. The old Watcher nodded, grabbing his coat.
"Ok, lets help take the supplies and go back to the house," Giles ordered as everyone else followed him out the door.
Back at the Summers' house, still in battle...
Buffy couldn't believe this was happening. It was so sudden. Buffy and Faith tried to hold Caleb at bay as Willow, Fred, Xander, Anya, and the other potentials fought the bringers. Xander had found a sword and worked his way into the kitchen, taking on the bringers as best as he could. Anya was in the back yard fighting a few of her own, and managing quite well.
Potentials were dying but so were some of the bringers. The fight wasn't going all that bad but with Caleb in the mix...it was dangerous. Soon, Giles, Spike, Wood, Andrew, and Dawn arrived to the house and saw what was going on.
"Oh my god," Dawn gasped as Andrew basically cowered in the seat.
"Let's GO!" Spike yelled jumping out of the car and running up to the house. Giles yanked out a bag he had always carried in his car full of weapons.
"Andrew, you're coming with us. Wood, grab a weapon. Dawn, stay here," the watcher ordered.
"But," Dawn started to protest. Giles shook his head.
"I don't care Dawn. You have to stay here. We have important texts in here and we can't let them have it," Giles ordered trying to get Dawn to stay put. He gave her the bag.
"Here, take this and lock the doors, if it looks bad...get out of here," he instructed. Dawn was going to protest but decided not to and nodded her head. Wood had grabbed a sword and was heading around the back of the house as an unsure Andrew followed him. All Dawn could do was sit in the car and watch as Giles turned around and headed for the house. The younger Summers sat for a moment. This was ridiculous. She had learned a lot through out the years being by Buffy's side. She wasn't some snot nosed stupid whiney sister, she could handle her own, she was a sister of a slayer.
She had been through just as much as everyone else. With renounced strength Dawn looked back at the house where her remaining family, friends, and all the people she cared for, fought. She wasn't just going to sit there in some crappy ass car and wait and do nothing. No, she was more then that. Giles said that text line just to get her to stay, she knew it, and he knew it.
The younger Summers reached into the bag and pulled out a sword and looked at it. She had some training with a sword and could use it quite well. She then looked back at the house, reason building with in her as she jumped out of the car and started running up to the house.
Inside the house...
Spike had gone right through the front door and took on the first bringer that came at him. Giles went around back to help the few potentials and Anya who was back there along with Andrew and Wood. Andrew was tossing around an axe like a fool, which made Giles smile a little as a bringer came at him from the side.
Kennedy managed to get up and fight even though she was quite winded and a little hurt. The pain wasn't all that bad. Her heart kept her going. She had to get through this. This couldn't happen...and she had to find Christine. The potential let her mind go into the fight focusing on what she was doing.
Buffy saw Spike fighting a bringer near the entrance of the house. That meant that Wood, Giles, Andrew, and Dawn were close by. She only hoped that they were ok.
Faith delivered a high kick towards Caleb's head who blocked it and grabbed her leg flipping Faith over herself into a mirror. Buffy came at him in an instant but Caleb punched her sending her flying into the wall next to Faith, who was struggling to get up.
"You honestly want to keep up this little game of yours?" Caleb asked standing where he was. Everyone was getting tired. The preacher raised his hands up smiling. "Look around you slayers!" Caleb said looking around at the people still battling. "The only place you all felt safe in...we destroyed." Caleb stated laughing. He had done a good job. The First was going to be pleased.
The two slayers watched, tired and worn, as Caleb opened his mouth to say something else when his eyes suddenly got really big and he yelled...
In a sudden moment, Caleb was sliced in two and dropped to the floor. The room seemed to freeze. And where Caleb once stood was a beaten, bruised, bloody Christine.
"You...t-talk..too much," Christine barely gasped out holding some kind of weapon in one hand before collapsing to the floor.
