[center][img]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/Carnage27/buffy_zps945ee41f.png[/img][/center] The cold, damp air hung around her like a cloak. Why couldn’t the evil undead hang out during the day and above ground like normal people? Of course, they’d probably not be the evil undead at that point, but the sentiment still stood. Buffy had always hated crawling around sewers and tunnels. The smell took four or five showers to get off, and that just led to ridiculous water bills. The Slayer laughed to herself then. Thinking about bills had almost come neck and neck with worrying about what the next thing that would try and kill her. She was so mature. Well, as mature as someone can be who hunts monsters for a living. Well, it wasn’t so much of a living as it was a call to destiny. But you get the point. She had gone from cheerleader to Slayer to sister to the leader of a movement in a span of short years. She wasn't sure exactly sure how she was able to handle it. Maybe it was one of the benefits of being a Slayer. But now she was able to scrape together enough money to feed her and Dawn while her sister was at college. It was a small miracle. She could feel them now. The pack of vampires was close. They had been feeding on the local homeless for weeks but she only now figured out where their lair was. A cave off the coast tucked up underneath the Golden Gate Bridge was where they had decided to nest, and it was a pain and a half scaling the wall down to its entrance. There was probably a back way in, but she hadn’t been able to find it. So rock climbing she went. Suddenly, gunshots rang out farther down the tunnel, sending Buffy into a sprint towards them. If there was someone trapped down here, they’d be dead soon enough. Bullets didn’t work on vamps, at least not the ones normal people would be carrying. But when she got to the antechamber, all she found was ash and a big, red demon standing with an oversized gun smoking in his hand, “Hellboy.” Hellboy was a demon prophesized to bring about the end of the world who was raised by humans to fight evil. Buffy thought she had way too many friends with way too many of those qualifiers. Red, as his friends called him, almost fulfilled that prophecy too. Rasputin, the man who brought him to the world of humanity returned from the great beyond to release the Ogdru Jahad, or the seven dragons of the apocalypse in layman's terms. It was only through his friends and the memories of his father that Hellboy was able to come to his senses and stop the apocalypse. Buffy had helped too, taking care of the beast Rasputin had released upon the Earth in order to distract the BPRD. “Slayer,” the BPRD agent nodded to her while he lit a cigar. “You sis said you came to San Fran. Figured this is where I’d find you.” “What’s up?” Buffy asked as she sheathed her weapon, an ancient vampire killing weapon known as the Scythe. “Oh, you know. End of the world stuff. Same shit, different day, Blondie. We need to talk.” [center]**********[/center] [b]BPRD Headquarters Colorado Rocky Mountains[/b] "So Red's made contact?" Xander Harris asked as he closed the heavy door to Hellboy's quarters. Strewn around the messy room were piles of comic books, candy bars, and what Xander would classify as a herd of cats. He sneezed, "God I forgot about the cats. Who has the Benadryl?" The other members of the room, Willow Rosenberg and Liz Sherman, rolled their eyes at his goofy smile. "Funny," Liz groaned. "And yes, they're en route now." "Let's hope this spell works," Xander looked over to Willow. "Pressure much?" was her response. Her eyes didn't look up from the spellbook she was pouring over. Willow was a dedicated witch, and one of the most powerful of the age. If she said the spell was going to work, it would work. "As long as everyone plays their part, this will work." [center]**********[/center] "So you're sure it has to be this way?" Buffy asked as the van jumped over a pothole. "Not necessarily my favorite way of going about things." "Only way," Hellboy nodded. "We have to make sure they know." "Can I at least call Dawn?" Red shook his head, "She'll be notified." The rest of the ride was taken in silence. Buffy wasn't ready for this. Not now. Of course, duty called, and there was no turning back from that. The van ducked into a alley, coming to a stop in a dark corner of the city. The van's door slid open and Hellboy motioned towards the open door, "You're stop, Buffy. See ya soon." The Slayer stepped out, and waiting for her was someone she wasn't expecting to see, "Hey, Buff. Miss me?" [center][img]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/Carnage27/20090220214305Faith_zps0553fbd1.jpg[/img][/center] [center]**********[/center] “Well? Is it working?” Xander asked impatiently. “It would be if someone wasn’t constantly asking whether it was working or not,” Willow bellowed, coming out of deep magical concentration for only a moment to reprimand her best friend. Immediately afterward, she went back to chanting whatever it was she was always chanting. “It better work,” Liz said, taking a bite out of one of Hellboy’s candy bars as she scratched one of the kittens between the ears. “It’s the only way we’re gonna be able to get anything done.” “Sounds like most of the plans I’ve ever been involved in,” Xander sighed. [center]**********[/center] “Just like old times, huh, Buff?” Faith cackled as the two walked the shadows of the city. Faith was a Slayer who had once been unhinged thanks to the influence of dark forces. She had attempted to kill Buffy and came close. The two had been working on mending their relationship as well as Faith’s fragile mind ever since. She had made great progress recently, and helping lead a group of new slayers was a part of that. “Let’s just get this over with,” Buffy groaned. “You asked for it,” Faith shrugged from behind her before plunging a stake through Buffy’s back and through her chest. Blood flood warmly down her abdomen, coating her shirt in a sticky mess. “Like I said, just like old times.” Buffy turned, looking at Faith, her eyes wide with fear, “Why?” Then she collapsed. [center]**********[/center] “It’s done,” Willow claimed, coming out of the trance she had been in. “Worked like a charm.” “Good, I’ll go wait outside Manning’s office and wait for Red’s call,” Liz said. “You two should get back to your quarters. We don’t need to arouse anymore suspicion.” “Good point,” Xander said. “This is the longest I’ve ever had a job. Would hate to ruin that on a mission to save the world!” [center]**********[/center] She had been dead before, but this was something else entirely different. Watching as her body…or at least an exact, magical replica of her body was bagged and tagged by a BPRD and Watcher contingent was surreal. On top of that, Faith was being carted off to a BPRD jail to serve time for assassinating the leader of the Slayer movement. She played her role perfectly at least. During interrogation she’d claim she was paid off by a group of demons she had been with undercover. Now Buffy was free, free to fulfil a mission she was just given mere hours ago. Hellboy had come to her to explain. The opening of the portal during the Rasputin incident had shattered the veil between dimensions, causing possible irreparable damage to reality. Now demons and darkness was pouring between worlds at a whim, as if the world was cloaked in one, giant Hellmouth. Hellboy and the BPRD were fighting a war they couldn’t win by traditional means and Red knew it. He needed someone off the grid to help find some way to repair the damage. Buffy was the only choice, but she was too visible. She was too much of a target. So she needed to die, and die she did. Now it was time to save the world. “All in a day’s work,” Buffy whispered to herself from the shadows, turning from the scene and getting to work.