Going to Graceland (SPN/Btvs) Ch. 6
Title: Going to Graceland (SPN/Btvs) wip ch 6
Author: Noturbaby
Fandoms: Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13 - R
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer do not belong to me. This is for fun not for profit.
Post series for Buffy
Summary: A retelling of end of SPN season 3 -- Dean’s deal with a Buffy twist.
This is a continuation of my story Reasons to Visit Cleveland. You don’t have to read that to understand this. All you need to know is that Faith and Buffy met Sam and Dean and hooked up and want to again.
Rufus Turner, Bela Talbot, looking for Dr. Benton
Willow spoke up, "Giles? Is Lilith who I think she is?" All eyes in the room focused on her.
"Yes, Willow. Lilith is another name for the First," Giles answered affirming her worst fear. His words had a sobering effect on the room.
The only one unaware of what Giles was talking about was Dean. However, he could tell the man's words terrified the others. "The First?"
"The first evil," Buffy answered calmly.
"The reason Sunnydale is a crater," Sam told his brother.
"Oh, hell no," Dean began, his face growing pale.
"How is it possible that Lilith is even walking around? I sealed her in the hell mouth," Buffy asked Giles over the speaker phone.
The watcher sighed, "Last spring, a gateway to hell was opened in Wyoming. Several demons escaped, including Lilith." The Winchesters exchanged looks.
"Why is she disguising herself as a little girl?" Xander asked. "She used to go right for the full on mess with your mind."
"No one wants to hurt a little girl," Dean answered. "No one's even going to suspect its her."
"Good point," Giles admitted. Then he asked, "Who said that?"
"Dean, Sam and Dean Winchester are with us. They may have a lead on Mena Chandler," Buffy answered.
"Oh, uh, excellent," Giles answered. "Mr. Singer has told me much about you. I look forward to working with you. I should be arriving the day after next. We'll talk more then."
Bela had eaten better meals, had tasted better wine, but, in Canaan, Vermont, this place is what passed for a four star restaurant. At this point in the game, Bela felt she deserved the finest, always. As she looked to the waiter to bring the check, she was slightly startled to see a man had joined her.
The man took her bottle of wine and poured the last of it into a glass he snagged from another table. "Dining alone?" he asked before sniffing the wine and tasting it.
Bela raised a brow, un-amused. "Let's not make small talk."
"Life's too short, I agree," the man leered. "I've come to collect."
Bela scanned the restaurant quickly. "I can't hand it over to you here, now can I?"
"But you have it?" the man asked grinning.
"Yes, I have the Colt," she spoke quietly as she dabbed her lips. "Like taking candy from a baby."
"I'm sure the boss will be pleased," he replied. "However, she has one more task for you. Before releasing your contract."
Bela's eyes became indignant. "I have already done everything she asked. I thought a deal --"
The man silenced her with a look. "Not my fault you're a lousy negotiator." He leaned back in his chair. "Give me your purse."
"What?" she hissed quietly.
"Your bag. Give it to me," he instructed with an outstretched hand. Bela relinquished her Prada with a huff. The man, smiled, reached inside and retrieved the Colt. He slipped it into his suit coat causing Bela to utter an outraged gasp.
"Wasn't born yesterday, dearie," the man chuckled. "My boss wants Sam Winchester dead. You do that, the contract will be null and void."
Bela's mouth fell open, but she quickly regained her composure. "Shouldn't be a problem."
"Good." the man patted her hand and left her table.
Bela slumped back in her seat. This wasn't how it was supposed to go down. She hoped she'd be able to spend the rest of her evening without seeing the other demon she'd been working with.
When the conference call with Giles ended, there was still plenty of tension in the room. Keisha didn't know any of them that well, but she knew one thing that always helped. "Well, I don't know about any of you, but I'm starved. Any chance we can order some take out?"
The room resounded in "yes's", all except Andrew. Andrew stuttered for a moment, "Uh, um, well…uh."
"What, Andrew?" Faith asked in annoyance.
"Well, you see. Most places won't deliver here. Too many, uh, problems. So, uh," he stammered.
"Fine," Dean answered. "Just tell me what you all want and where I should get it and me and the," he paused before nearly calling Andrew a twinkie, "kid here, will get it."
Andrew beamed, surprised at the invitation to go with the hunter. Sam just raised his brows in surprise, knowing his brother was up to something.
On their way to the Double Happiness Chinese Restaurant, Dean grilled the eager Andrew for information. "So, uh, Andrew, were you with Buffy and the gang when they faced the First last time?"
"Yeah. It was awesome. And scary. Mostly scary," Andrew admitted. "I helped with the training of the potentials…." He proceeded to tell Dean the entire tale, only embellishing his own bravery once or twice.
After learning that Willow was the witch responsible for changing the Slayer mythology forever by turning the potentials into full Slayers, Dean was compelled to say, "I've never met a 'Glenda'. All the witches I've ever met have been evil bitches. Actual killers, ya know?"
Andrew nodded. "Oh, Willow was plenty evil. She got super powerful after raising Buffy from the dead. And then, after her girlfriend got killed, she went on uber-witch psycho killer rampage. Total dark side," Andrew added feeling authoritative for knowing the history.
"Huh," Dean wasn't sure what to think.
"She flayed my best friend, then she came after me, but Buffy saved me. That's how me and Buffy became close."
Dean's brows shot up, but then he nodded slowly taking in what Andrew said. "Willow hasn't been evil for a while, right?"
"Oh no, not for ages, thank god. I wouldn't want her to come after me ever again," Andrew admitted. "Xander talked her down and she got help. After all, the battle with the First was after that. She's all good now. Powerful, but total Glenda."
"Yeah, seems like someone you'd want on your side in a fight," Dean replied. Then he braved asking what had peeked curiosity the most, "So, what do you know about raising Buffy from the dead? That seems .."
"Intense?" Andrew offered. "I wasn't there, I don't know, but I heard she had to claw her way out of her grave." He shuddered and made a face.
Dean balked when he heard that. He didn't want to think about Buffy being dead, let alone digging herself out of a grave.
"Ooh," Andrew cooed, "are these Elvis glasses?" He went to slide the pair of sunglasses off the visor.
"Don't touch those" Dean snapped.
Andrew's hand flew back to his side.
The moment Dean left, Xander turned to Buffy. "Your Plan B sucks."
Buffy nodded in agreement, "It's not ideal, but--"
"Buffy, I don't want the guy going to hell, but," Xander lowered his voice to a harsh whisper, "bringing you back, harnessing that kind of power, pushed Willow close to the dark magic."
Willow rolled her eyes. "Xander," she sighed, "I've done far more powerful spells since and not gone 'dark'."
Xander sighed, he knew that was true, it was also the least of his fears. Turning to Buffy, he asked, "I know you like the guy, but is he worth risking everything to fight the first, again?"
"How I feel or don't feel about him doesn't matter," Buffy began feeling defensive. "It's my job, it's our job."
"Yeah, I know," Xander muttered as he stalked off.
Buffy huffed as she watched him walk away. She hated arguing with Xander about anything. Willow judged Buffy's expression and knew she was frustrated. "Xander lost a lot the last time." Buffy looked up at her. "He's probably just worried about it happening again." She looked over at Keisha to emphasize her point.
Buffy rested her head in her hand and sighed heavily. She didn't want anyone to lose anyone or anything, either.
Sam felt Faith's eyes on him. For most of the night, she had stayed close to him, watching him. He wasn't sure why, but he thought it might have had something to do with the argument they had when Buffy and Dean arrived home. Now, he wasn't sure how to explain his 'zombie' case in Pennsylvania to Faith or Dean so that they'd understand how important it was.
Faith took a seat next to him. "See, Sam, I told you we could help," she said with a hopeful look into his eyes.
Sam gave a small smile, "Yeah, you did. And you were right." He bumped her arm. "Not crazy about Plan B, though."
Faith chuckled, "Yeah, well, don't worry, it won't come to that." She looked at her hands, for a moment. She was sure Sam had been keeping something from her earlier, but so much had happened, she didn't know if she should bring it up.
"Faith," Sam spoke in a near whisper, "I'm going with Dean tomorrow."
Faith's eyes widened and she nodded. She knew he wasn't going to hang around forever.
"I'm going to have him drop me off in Eerie."
Faith was shocked. "The zombie case?" she asked too loudly.
Sam looked around but the others seemed wrapped up in their own conversations. "I don't think it's just a zombie case." Faith narrowed her eyes in interest. "I think it might be a way to save Dean," Sam whispered.
"Really? How?" Faith whispered back.
"I don't know yet. I mean, I'm not sure." He took her hand. "I won't know until I get there. But my dad's journal mentioned a similar case and I gotta see if it can help Dean."
Faith felt grateful Sam had taken her hand. She relaxed knowing that he trusted her. "Sam, I'll go with you."
Sam's face lit up, "You will?"
Faith beamed at him. "That's why you wanted to work that case, huh? You think it'll help Dean."
Sam nodded. "Dean's afraid if he breaks the deal, I'll die. This case, I think, might have a way around that."
Faith nodded, "Okay. How are you gonna convince Dean?"
Sam shrugged, "I don't know. I was thinking maybe playing the 'last case from Dad's journal' card." He looked at her to judge her reaction.
Faith made a face. "Yesh, kinda low, Sam." Sam sighed in frustration. "It'd probably work, though," she admitted making Sam look hopeful.
With her head in her hand, Buffy looked drained. Willow pouted as she considered her friend, "Are you all right, Buffy?"
"No, not remotely," she looked up at her best friend. "Will, why is it every time I like a guy, there's something wrong with him?"
Willow pulled out a chair to join her. "What's wrong with Dean?"
Buffy looked at her in shock, "Going to hell."
"Because he loves his brother. Says a lot about what he's willing to do for those he loves," Willow argued.
Buffy gave her a skeptical look.
"Like drive from Memphis to Cleveland," Willow added.
Buffy scoffed, "That wasn't about love. That was more about getting -" She was interrupted by Keisha plopping into the chair next to her.
"Oh my god. This is all so romantic I could die," Keisha dramatically whispered .
Buffy raised her brow, "What is?"
"You and Dean!" Keisha whispered looking at Buffy then Willow as if it should have been obvious. "I can't get Xander to let me keep a toothbrush at his place. Dean, on the other hand, chooses to drive you home from Memphis!" Keisha sighed, but Buffy shook her head. Keisha ignored her and went on, "It's too bad Sam ruined it by telling you about Dean's deal.." Her eyes go wide when she realized what she said, "I mean it's good 'cause we can save him, but," she shrugged.
"But what?" Buffy asked amused by Keisha's take on the situation.
"Just think, Dean wanted what could be his last memories to be about you and making you happy, agh!" she whined and collapsed onto the table. "I'd be happy with a place for my toothbrush."
Buffy felt herself beginning to blush but she shook her head. "It's not like that, trust me." She couldn't believe Dean would care that much for her. When she saw how Willow was smirking at her, Buffy added emphatically, "Really, it's not." Willow's raised brow showed her disbelief.
When Dean and Andrew finally returned, Dean's eyes swept the room, easing when he saw Sam talking to Faith. Then he searched out Buffy. Meeting her eyes, he was surprised to notice they had lost the angry glint they had earlier. She almost seemed to be smiling at him. Though Dean smiled back, he felt off balance.
As they finished the meal, Dean leaned over to Sam to whisper, "Hey, we're leaving at 7am, so I'll pick you up…" Dean stopped himself when he saw the look on Sam's face. "What?"
"I'm not going with you, exactly," Sam said then bit his lip.
"What?" he glanced at Faith, whose eyes were on Sam. "Oh, right. Uh, okay. I'll see you when I get back, I guess." He hid his disappointment from them.
Sam saw his brother's eyes cut to Faith and he shook his head. "Dean, Faith and I are going to Pennsylvania. There's a case."
Dean squinted, "Right, zombies. Like we don't have enough going on." He rolled his eyes and leaned back. He was about to push himself out of the chair, when Sam stopped him.
"Dean, it's not just zombies," Sam looked to Faith who tried to nod encouragingly. "I think it's Dr. Benton."
Dean narrowed his eyes at the name. "Didn't Dad take care of…"
"That's just it," Sam interrupted excitedly. "I don't think he did. I think Benton is at it again." Dean nodded slowly. "I was thinking, why not finish up some unfinished Winchester business."
Dean leaned back taking in his brother's enthusiasm for the case. "Unfinished family business, eh?"
"We'll do the research, make sure it's him, find where he's set up shop. Then, when you get there, you and me will take him out," Sam concluded seeming as excited as a kid.
"Okay, Sammy, sounds like a plan," Dean answered, hiding the displeasure he felt with a smirk. "I guess I'll see you later." He rose to leave.
Buffy chose that moment to join them. "Did you say something about leaving?"
"Yeah," Dean looked down and cleared his throat. "You know, Buffy, you don't have to go with me, tomorrow." Buffy's eyes snapped to Dean's face, Sam and Faith looked equally uncomfortable. He tilted his head as he looked at her, "I mean, Andy said there's bunch of other slayers here. The guy wanted to meet one. Doesn't mean it has to be you." Dean headed for the door.
Buffy followed him. "What? When I've almost got all of "Back in Black" side one memorized? I think not," she smirked. Dean blinked at her reply. "And I don't want to miss my chance at memorizing the lyrics to 'Enter Sandman' or that Judas Priest tape you've got."
Dean rolled his eyes at her joke, "Buffy, I'm serious. You just got back from your trip to L.A.. Then we, uh, -- I'm sure you have more important things to do than another road trip with me."
Buffy paused when she saw his serious expression. "Dean, I'm going because this guy might know how to get my scythe back. My scythe. To. Kill. Lilith."
Dean nodded, "'kay." He continued towards the door.
Buffy stepped up to him, "Spending more time with you is just a bonus." She put her arm through his and rested her head on his arm as they walked towards the door.
Dean dragged a hand over his face and stopped. He pulled his arm from her, "An hour ago you could barely stand to look at me. Now you want to drive eight hours with me, I don't --"
"Look, yes, I was angry. But you explained why you did it and I'm over it," Buffy replied though Dean's expression told her he didn't believe her. She sighed, "Okay, I'm still a little annoyed. I wish you would have told me about the deal." She looked into his eyes, "But, I thought, I could spend the next three weeks miserable and angry or I could spend the next three weeks with you."
Dean nodded slightly, despite the fact that he didn't believe for a second that he'd been forgiven or she'd gotten over it.
The following afternoon found Dean on a rickety porch in Canaan, Vermont. After ringing the bell and pounding on the door, he was greeted with a gruff, "What?"
"Ah, I'm Dean Winchester, I'm a friend of Bobby Singer's," Dean replied.
"So?"
"You told Bobby about a British chick making contact with you. Could you tell me where I could find her?" Dean asked the door since the owner of the voice hadn't opened it, yet.
"No."
"Course not," Dean muttered to himself. "Look man--" The door opened, cutting Dean's remark off. "Don't look man me. I'm not your man."
Dean looked abashed, "Sorry, sir. But if you could help me --"
"Do I look like I wanna help you?" Rufus asked brusquely.
Dean swallowed, "I'm gonna say no."
Buffy moved to stand next to Dean, allowing Rufus to see her for the first time. "Could you help me?" she asked with a coy tilt of her head. "I've got this bottle of scotch, is this any good?"
Rufus' eyes lit up at the sight of Buffy and the bottle. He held the door open wider to usher them in.
As they sat around his kitchen table, Rufus poured each of them a glass of the scotch. He placed a folder on the table and slid it towards Buffy. "This is the information I have on that chick."
Buffy smiled genuinely at him, "Thank you, Mr. Turner."
Rufus smiled warmly, "Call me Rufus."
Dean shifted in his seat, "So, uh, Rufus--"
"Didn't say you could call me Rufus."
Dean blinked, "Right, Mr. Turner, about Bela. If you could tell me, us, where she is."
He studied Dean for a moment. "No pea-shooter gonna save you, kid," Rufus said before taking a sip.
Buffy and Dean exchanged looks, "What makes you so sure?" Dean asked surprised Rufus Turner knew of the Colt.
Rufus shook his head sadly, "Cuz that's the job kid. Even if you managed to scrape out of this one, there's just gonna be something else down the road. Folks like us, there ain't no happy endin'. We all got it comin'."
"Well, aint you a bucket of sunshine?" Dean smirked.
Rufus shook his head and turned to Buffy. "Miss, she's got your fancy weapon, too."
Buffy leaned toward him, "Please, where is she keeping it?"
"She's got it a storage facility I'm renting to her. It's covered in wards. Plenty of people want to get their hands on that blade. Not just people, either, demons do, too."
Dean was getting impatient, but Buffy remained calm and repeated her question, "Where is she?"
Rufus smiled, then handed her a scrap of paper. "She's still there. She hasn't returned to the storage, yet, so I know she's still in town."
"Thank you, Mr. Turner," Buffy said with gratitude as she and Dean rose to leave.
Faith tugged at her skirt for the millionth time. "I look like a librarian," she muttered through her gritted teeth.
Sam looked her over, appreciating the way the skirt clung to her backside. "A hot librarian," he whispered.
She glared at him, "You are so making this up to me." They followed the coroner into the morgue. "Were there any strange marks where the liver was ripped out?"
Sam was still grinning when the coroner turned to him. "The liver was not ripped out," the coroner announced as Sam, Faith and the coroner moved to the fridges, and the coroner opened one of the drawers and slid the body of out. "It was removed. Surgically. By someone who knew their way around a scalpel. Didn't you read my report?"
Faith nodded, "Of course we did. Oh, it was uh, it was riveting. It's a real page turner. Just delightful."
Faith's response made the coroner's eye's roll. "Get out. Get out, now."
Faith and Sam quickly made their way out, Faith, though, was trying not to laugh. Sam, on the other hand, was irritated. He'd been hoping to get more information.
Faith paced in the hotel room. She had told Sam that research was not her thing, yet here they where researching. Sam looked up from the pages of his dad's journal, "According to this, Benton's picky about where he sets up his lab. He likes dense forest with access to a river or stream or some kind of fresh water."
Faith tilted her head, "Why?"
Sam made a face, "Because that's where he likes to dump the bile, and intestines, and fecal matter."
"Gross, I so did not need to hear that," Faith groaned. She pulled out a map they were looking at earlier. "Didn't you find something like that?"
Sam's face brightened, "Yeah." He looked over her shoulder at the map. "These are all old hunting cabins." He said pointing at the map. "They've mostly been abandoned for years."
Faith turned to him beaming, "Then what the hell are we waiting for?"
Bela locked the hotel room door, only to be pinned to the wall by Dean. His eyes narrowed and his gun leveled at her rib cage he hissed, "Where is it?"
"It's gone. Long gone. Sold it ages ago," Bela smirked at him. Dean cocked the gun he's holding. "Going to kill me, Dean?"
"Yeah," he snarled. Buffy's eyes widened, but she hid her shock.
"You're not a cold blooded killer, Dean," Bela said coolly.
Suddenly Buffy stepped forward. "Abby here has her own problems, Dean."
Bela quickly recovered from hearing her real name. She also hid her shock at seeing Buffy when she's been expecting Sam. With her face showing disgust, she turned to Dean. "Really, Dean. Please tell me you didn't try to impress this tramp by bringing her on a job." Dean answered with a back hand across her face.
Buffy ignored Bela's gasp, and put her hand on his shoulder. "It was ten years ago today her parents died."
"You mean she killed them," Dean said stepping back from Bela.
They both leaned menacingly towards Bela. "No, Bela, I mean Abby, had a demon do it. Didn't you? You have a deal that's come due."
"How do you know?" Bela didn't disguise her shock.
Dean backed away from her shaking his head. "We could have helped you. Not that I would want to, but Sammy would. But, you took our only hope, our only weapon, and sold it to the highest bidder."
"My scythe. What did you do with it? Is it still in the storage?"
"You're a slayer?"
"She's THE slayer. Now, the scythe. Or did you sell that, too?"
Bela glared momentarily, then cast her eyes down feigning tears. "It's gone, too."
Buffy sighed in frustration and stepped towards the door. When she did, she saw an herb pinned above the door. "Dean, give her a bag."
Dean looked annoyed, but begrudgingly, Dean pulled one of Willow's hex bags from his pocket. "Here, it'll stop the hell hounds. You're still gonna die, but," he shrugged.
Bela took the hex bag and turned it over in her hand.
"So, what was it? The demons said they'd give you your soul for our weapons?" Dean asked.
Bela nodded. "Yes, but then they changed it."
Dean looked irritated. "Color me shocked. Just can't trust a demon, huh?"
Bela looked at the hex bag and then at Dean. "They wanted me to kill Sam." Dean paled, his eyes huge. Bela turned to Buffy, "Your scythe is in the storage container. A demon named Ruby wanted it."
Buffy nodded curtly. "Why are you telling us this?" Dean asked. "What's in it for you?"
Bela shrugged, "Maybe you can kill the bitch that holds our contracts."
Dean and Buffy exchanged looks. "You know who hold my contract?"
Bela nodded, "Lilith."
"Sam!" Faith yelled for the hundredth time. "Sam!" She looked around the wooded area not hearing anything. "How could I lose a sasquatch like him in the woods?" she muttered to herself. "Sam!"
She closed her eyes and listened as carefully as she could. All she could hear was the wind in the leaves and the birds. Taking a deep breath to calm her worries, she decided to focus on one direction at a time. She was rewarded with finding several bent branches. Following that path, she was soon rewarded again. This time with the sound of a cell phone ringing.
In panic, she ran toward the sound. Cursing before she answered it. "Dean?"
"Faith! Hey, we got the scythe and we know who holds my contract." Faith could hear the relief in Dean's voice and hated to ruin it.
"Dean, it's Sam. I've lost him. We're in the woods looking for Doc Benton. Sam's gone."