THE NEW WORLD: A THOUSAND YEARS AGO
Clutching the grimoire in her hands that she had borrowed from Ayana, Marianna Von Swartzschild slowly made her way through the small village, in search of a certain brunette beauty.
Tatia Petrova.
Walking past the small hut over to the river, Marianna smiled brightly as she spotted Tatia and her son Ivar sitting in the grass, making flower headpieces for the upcoming celebration "Tatia."
Tatia glanced up from Ivar a small smile grazing her lips as she spotted the young witch "Marianna. What a surprise. I thought you were spending the day teaching Henrik to read."
"He fell asleep halfway through the book." Marianna admitted with a small chuckle before a sly grin covered her lips. There was a reason she had gone looking for the doppelganger.
Moving to sit down beside her she stroked Ivar's hair as he moved to sit in her lap.
Her Godson was a bubble of pure light.
"I saw you with Elijah last night."
At her words, Tatia blushed "I was discrete."
Marianna merely shook her head in amusement as she took the flower the small boy handed her "I'm his younger sister, I am prone to spying." She teased before offering the single mother a reassuring smile "I'm happy for you both. It's about time Elijah had some happiness in his life. And I have never seen him as happy as he is like when he is with you."
As Marianna started tickling the little boy causing loud giggles to echo through the woods, Tatia smiled before reaching out and squeezing Marianna's hands softly "Thank you, Marianna."
At the contact, Marianna's eyes widened confusion filling her as she felt a wave of power coming off the other girl.
A power she had never felt before.
It was dark and old, unlike anything she had come into contact with.
Taking a nervous deep breath Marianna quickly kissed the top of Ivar's head before handing him back to his mother "You're welcome. Welcome to the family Tatia."
With that, Marianna rushed off.
While she had always gotten a supernatural sense off of Tatia, mainly due to her status as a Doppgelganer if the Traveller guides were anything to go off, this power was beyond that.
So much older, the pure essence of it was almost...demonic.
Rushing into the hut she sighed in relief as she spotted Esther cooking over the flame in their small kitchen.
The elder witch frowned as she turned to face her adopted daughter "Marianna what is it? What's wrong?"
"I was with Tatia. Mother, when she touched me, I felt so much power. I think Tatia is The Slayer."
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA: PRESENT DAY
Driving through the darkened streets of Sunnydale on the way back from Chicago, Stefan turned onto the next road, following the instructions to the apartment Damon had organized for them.
Knowing his brother, Stefan was fully expecting it to probably be some sort of penthouse with a fully equipped bar.
Just as he turned down the next street, Stefan froze as he spotted that familiar honey hair spinning through the air.
Buffy.
She was across the street fighting off a large vampire just outside of an abandoned warehouse.
Spotting the vampire launch her into a fence, Stefan quickly pulled over the car and rushed over.
Buffy didn't need help, however.
Just as he arrived Buffy pulled out a stake and turned to the larger vampire "...and I'll jam this poky wood stick through your heart." She snarked before driving the stake into his heart, turning him to dust.
Buffy, who had still yet to notice Stefan's presence, sighed as she placed the stake back in her jacket "Well I think that sets the world speed record for closure."
"Buffy."
At the sudden call of her name, Buffy's head shot up already ready for another fight. Spinning around her eyes widened as she spotted Stefan behind her, who quickly raised his hands in defense.
"Whoa, it's just me."
Buffy sighed in relief before placing a hand on her chest as she tried to catch her breath "God. Seriously, don't sneak up on people like that. You make noise when you walk, you stump...or yodel."
At the familiar phrase, Stefan couldn't help but smile "I'm sorry. I will stomp or yodel next time, promise."
Buffy chuckled "Good." She breathed before tucking her stake into her jacket pocket "But really you shouldn't be out in this town after dark."
Stefan shrugged "I only just go back into town, I figured I would have been back earlier but—"
"Let me guess, California traffic is a hell of a lot different from that in Virginia."
"You could say that." He laughed before glancing around the area, not spotting her car anywhere in sight "Let me give you a ride home."
Buffy hesitated slightly, the poor guy had literally driven for hours, if it was her she would be passed out in bed by now "I don't know, don't you just wanna go home and well...crash?"
Stefan chuckled again, he had missed talking to her so much "Yeah, but I'm a night person. Come on."
With that, he held out his hand toward her, praying that she would take it.
Buffy eyed his hand skeptically before glancing up at him, after a moment she shrugged "I'm beat anyway. 5 vamps in one night can make a girl sleepy." Stepping forward she took his hand in hers not noticing the way he inhaled tightly at the contact "Thank you." She said as she tapped his hand, clearly a friendly gesture before letting go.
The second the contact broke, Stefan frowned.
His heart had almost skipped a beat when she had taken his hand, but she had released it almost as quickly as she had taken it.
Stefan sighed but just as he moved to lead her to the car he froze as he spotted something on the ground behind her, illuminating the space around it with an orange hue.
"Buffy, is this yours?" He asked as he moved around her and picked the glowing orb off the ground.
Buffy just stared down at the glowing yellow ball in Stefan's hands confused "No. It's not." She whispered as she took the ball from him, eyeing the object intently.
Where the hell had it come from?
As the two started walking back to the car, Stefan glanced over at her curiously "What is it?"
"Let you know as soon as I find out."
**
After reluctantly leaving Buffy's, Stefan approached the penthouse suite that Damon had 'rented' for them.
Just as he was about to knock on the door Damon opened the door and grinned at him with a glass of bourbon in his hands "Hello, brother."
Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother's smug gaze before pushing his way into the lavish hallway, making his way toward the living room.
"Well, look who's Mister Grouchy." Damon muttered before closing the door and walking into the living room where his brother had disappeared to.
What the hell was Stefan's problem?
Entering the room, filled with floor-to-ceiling windows and endless bookshelves Damon moved to sit opposite his brother "Did you get it?"
Instead of answering, Stefan merely pulled out a glowing white vial from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of Damon.
Glaring down at the vial that had pretty much ruined his life, Stefan couldn't help but clench his jaw. The one glowing vial of liquid had torn away everything from him in less than a second.
Driving Buffy home tonight had been a constant reminder that hidden away in his pocket was the thing that tore away her memories of him. Tore away their plans for the future.
"I got it. This is what Klaus used to take her memories away."
Damon grinned down as he picked their one piece of hope in his hands. Their Buffy was deep down inside of her, buried in the darkness all because of this stupid potion.
"Looks like you and I won't be meeting the pointy end of blondie's stake anytime soon...unless she's pissed about all the crap in Mystic Falls still."
**
CHICAGO
"Resurget ex favilla, liberare animum et iterum sumendi eam formam. Ruina carne."
Klaus whispered as he held his bloody hand over his sister's amulet, awaiting her arrival from her prison. He hadn't meant to lock her up again but she had been annoying him with all the shoe shopping and comments about his visits to Buffy that he had ended up launching a shoe at her head.
Accidentally causing the heel to go straight through her eye.
Spotting the familiar black and red mist beginning to rise, Klaus smirked and moved to take a seat just as Marianna's form finally appeared on the floor in front of him.
Mary huffed rubbing her forehead softly before stretching her aching limbs out as she glared over at her brother "You do realize I'm not your own personal genie right?"
Klaus merely grinned at her "Are you sure about that, Marianna? Because it seems as though you grant my every wish."
"Can I go back to my prison now?" She asked rolling her eyes at his previous comment.
"Not yet my dear. You know what to do."
At his request, the witch hesitated ever so slightly. With the Salvatores now in Sunnydale, she would have to search for a vision where Buffy was alone. It was the only way to not rise Klaus's suspicions.
Standing she grabbed the Crystal Ball off the table and placed it directly in front of Klaus before closing her eyes, allowing her mind to drift to the small town in California.
Searching carefully, finally she found Buffy Summers. She was currently watching a movie with Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett, all three of them hiding behind pillows before screaming, scattering popcorn everywhere.
That wouldn't do.
However, an event from early in the evening would work perfectly.
A light slowly started to form inside the ball before finally, an image of Buffy battling a large vampire appeared in the center of the crystal.
Buffy grunted as the large vampire tossed her against the metal fence just outside of the abandoned warehouse.
As he goes to hit her she ducked.
"I've always wanted to kill a Slayer."
Buffy just shrugged "I've always wanted piano lessons." She snarked before standing and punching him in the gut. When he barely flinched she sent her fist upwards hitting him in the jaw, causing him to stumble "So really, who's surprised we have all this unexpressed rage?"
Leaping up she kicked the vampire causing him to growl at her angrily before he blocked her next blow and sent a swift jab to her face.
Falling back, Buffy collided with the fence. As she tried to regain her balance the vampire threw his arm out. Quickly she raised her hand and caught his fist, "But honestly, I think I'm expressing mine better." She hissed before she brought her leg up and kicked him in the groin.
As he groaned in agony, Buffy swung her arm out and backhanded him, she then shoved him away causing him to crash into the metal fence.
"Tell you what." She teased as she approached him and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back before shoving him face-first against the fence "You find yourself a good anger-management class..."
Ducking under his arm as he swung at her again, Buffy slammed her fist into his face before grabbing her stake.
"And I'll jam this poky wood stick through your heart."
Spotting a familiar figure about to approach the blonde, Mary quickly ended the vision to make sure Klaus avoided seeing Stefan and opened her eyes "Can I go now, or do you want anything else?" She asked spitefully.
Despite her questioning him, Klaus was silent, merely sitting there with a small smile grazing his lips.
One she had never seen on his face.
What the hell was happening right now?
"She is quite remarkable."
At the almost loved-up tone, Mary couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow. Niklaus had always argued that the Slayer was for power but alas the look on his face was saying otherwise.
First, getting her a job, spending time with her on the weekends once a month then his efforts to teach Buffy how to paint, something he had no idea that she knew about.
"You haven't come to feel for have you brother?" She taunted "I thought only the weak let themselves open to feelings."
The smile promptly disappeared.
"Of course not." Klaus snapped before rolling his eyes as she merely continued to watch him unconvinced "Just an observation."
Mark chuckled "Oh I'm sure."
"I'm done with you now." Klaus hissed angrily before speeding over to her and snapping her neck.
**
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA
After tracking down Angel, Buffy rushed to the top of the hill in a panic.
She couldn't let Angel be manipulated by The First. Reaching the top of the hill overlooking all of Sunnydale, her widened as she spotted Angel.
He was by the edge waiting for the sun to rise.
However, just as she started to move toward him, everything changed around her.
The streetlights began to fade in and out of existence.
The cliff started to melt and trees appeared out of nowhere.
Frowning, Buffy glanced around in confusion as instead of standing on the hilltop, she was standing by a lake in some time of Quarry she didn't recognize.
What the hell was happening right now?
Hearing rustling behind her, Buffy spun around and sure enough she found herself standing opposite a male figure surrounded in darkness.
"Angel?"
The man stepped forward and Buffy froze as she spotted an unfamiliar figure standing in front of her. He wasn't as tall as Angel and she couldn't see his face, everything was slightly blurred.
Like something was preventing her from seeing him.
"I should have died that night." The man said, "Just like I had chosen."
Buffy just quirked an eyebrow, honestly, she had no idea what in the hell was happening right now. Why was her memory changing into this?
None of this made any sense.
"Wait, what? What is happening, who are you?"
The man just continued as though he was following a script and unable to break from it.
"Every single person that's been hurt...every single life that's been lost, it's because of me. I'm weak and I let people get hurt. It's my fault."
Buffy's eyes widened and before she could stop herself, the words practically forced themselves out of her mouth.
It was like she had no control.
"You're weak. Everybody is. Everybody fails. Everybody feels guilty for things that they have no control over that occur because of the choices they make."
Buffy groaned as her feet started moving forward, moving closer to the mysterious man before her "My first Watcher wouldn't have died if it was not for me. Jenny and Kendra are dead because of my choices. Because I was weak. But we have to live with that and try to make amends."
Stepping back, Buffy yanked on her hair, trying to get her body to shake itself from the weirdness that was occurring "Whoa, what the hell? Am I in some weird sort of play universe type thing or something?" She mumbled to herself before turning back to the man who merely watched her unable to stop replaying the original memory of that day.
"I made a choice, Buffy. And because of that choice, a lot of people were hurt."
Buffy groaned, was this whole Shakespearean bit going to end any time soon?!
Biting her tongue, Buffy tried to clamp her jaw shut, but she had no control. No matter what she did, words she didn't remember just began spilling from her lips "Yeah, you did. But you also made the choice to go against your nature to help others. To use the power inside you for good."
"Don't." He argued before groaning slamming his hand to his chest harshly and despite the fact she couldn't see his face, at that moment she could sense the pure pain and guilt surrounding the man.
"It hurts me, Buffy. It hurts me, knowing what I've done, and that pain—that pain is with me all the time. And every day, I think that if I just—if I just give myself over to the blood I can make that pain stop. It would be that easy, and every day, I fight that. I'm so terrified that one day I'm not gonna want to fight that anymore, Buffy."
Before she could even utter another word to question this weird reality, Buffy found her feet moving again"Okay, why am I walking?" She asked herself as she stared at her moving feet "Stop, stop moving!" She screamed sighing in relief as suddenly her feet come to a stop"Thank you."
However, she froze as she realized she was now standing in very close proximity to the mysterious man.
Finally, the last of her control snapped and she was completely lost to the reality.
Her body was being consumed by the dream.
She just couldn't fight it anymore.
"I was the reason, Angel lost his soul." She whispered, her voice cracking"It was my fault that a monster was released onto this world. Like you, I live with the pain. I was responsible for the deaths of everyone he killed. But I fight that urge to just give up, which is what you do. Fighting it's hard and it's painful and it's every day. It's what we have to do. And we can do it together."
The man merely shook his head taking a step back as she moved in front of him "No, I don't deserve to live."
At his words Buffy found herself grabbing his arm and forcing him to face her, she wouldn't just let him do this "You are not staying here. I won't let you."
Without meaning to the figure shoved her off causing Buffy to stumble back falling to the ground.
He bent down and grabbed her arms forcing her to look him in the eyes. Well more accurately for her, the blurred green eyes in front of her "Look at me, I'm a monster! Do I really deserve to live? The world would be better off without me."
At his words, Buffy couldn't help but let out a small sob as tears started streaming down her face, she couldn't keep it all in anymore.
"What about me? I love you so much." She whispered before shoving him away from her "And I hate it! I tried to ignore it, it's why I wouldn't say it, cause of what happened last time. I kept you at arm's distance trying to keep you out. But it didn't help. I hate that it's so hard...and that you can hurt me so much, but you also helped me heal. I was broken when I met you, and somehow no matter what I did to try and keep you out, you wormed your way into my heart."
Wiping viciously at her tears, Buffy reached into her pocket pulling out a ring that had her frowning.
She had seen this ring before.
But where?
"But if you're too much of a coward to keep fighting then take this..." With that, she shoved the ring into his hands before stepping back and gesturing to the water "...and throw it in the quarry and burn. If I can't convince you that you belong in this world then I don't know what can. But don't expect me to watch or to mourn for you."
With one more shaky breath, she glanced at that blurred face once more, before a feeling of failure spread through her gut.
Despite not really knowing why this ring was so important, or anything about what was happening, Buffy in her heart knew she couldn't force him. He had to make the choice for himself, so she walked away no matter how much it broke her heart to do so.
"Buffy."
Buffy shot up in her bed gasping loudly.
Trying to control her breathing she looked down at the other side of the bed only to find it empty.
Letting out a slight relief, Buffy leaned back against the headboard. Grateful that she wouldn't have to explain to Riley she had been dreaming about another guy. Resting her elbows against her knees she ran her fingers through her hair before slowly she pressed her fingers against her lips.
The last thing she had felt before the dream had ended was a kiss.
The dream had seemed so real, and that kiss...it had seemed so familiar.
Buffy shook her head before glancing at her alarm clock, spotting the time she forced the dream out of her mind and dragged herself out of bed.
Walking out of her room she walked down the hall and pounded on Elena's door "Come on sleepy." She yelled "Get up, it's Giles' bigger than big day. It's his grand opening."
"No. I'm sleeping just bring me back a flying broomstick or something."
Buffy chuckles before pushing the door open and walking into the room and opening the curtains causing Elena to moan again as she tried to bury her face into the covers.
"Move it." Buffy snapped before heading out and down to Jeremy's room intent on torturing him with the sun as well.
**
"So what do we need to do?" Stefan questioned curiously as he, Bonnie, and Damon all surrounded the new Salvatore living room.
They were now one step closer to getting Buffy's memories back, so they needed to start figuring out a plan for how this was going to work.
Damon who was standing by the bar pouring himself a drink frowned as he spotted two familiar faces missing from the Mystic Falls team "Where are the siblings that always get kidnapped?"
Bonnie sighed as she placed her grimoire and the memory potion back on the table.
Today it was the Gilbert's job to keep Buffy distracted and gather information.
"Elena and Jeremy are spending the day with Buffy. They're at the Magic Box."
God how Bonnie wished she could be there for the opening instead, but she had drawn the short straw.
At the unfamiliar name, Stefan frowned, unsure of what the hell had been happening here in Sunnydale since he left "Magic box?"
"You've missed a lot brother." Damon told him simply before turning back to the witch "So can we get this mission back on track? This town is cute and all but I want to get the hell out of here."
Bonnie sighed as she glared down at her grimoire wanting nothing more than to curse at the damn thing "It's not just gonna take a day Damon." She explained as she glanced up at him "This spell is complicated and stronger than anything I have ever done. I'm not as powerful as Mary, sacrificial magic has no limits. I do."
Damon shrugged "And I care about your limits because...?"
"Damon." Stefan hissed before turning and sitting across from Bonnie. She was their only hope, he wasn't going to risk pissing her off "What do you need, Bonnie?"
Bonnie groaned as she turned to the kinder brother out of the two of them "I need to break down the components used to make the elixir. If I get one wrong ingredient then it could end up erasing Buffy's memory for good. She'll never remember. Or something worse... I need to do a spell that will separate the potion back into its original components."
Downing his drink, Damon, who clearly had no idea how truly complicated dark magic could be, merely shrugged "Doesn't sound that difficult."
Bonnie rolled her eyes at the expected response. Given that he had been in love with a witch for 145 years, the fact that he hadn't bothered to look into the mechanics of how magic worked was bizarre to her.
"This is dark magic, Damon. Darker than anything I have ever dealt with. This potion was formed by dark magic, using light magic to pull it apart is extremely difficult and dangerous. The amount of ingredients used for dark potions, which can cause death is surprisingly high. So unless you want to do it yourself I suggest you shut up."
Bonnie then turned back to Stefan and ignored Damon's presence altogether. She was doing this for Buffy, her best friend, not for them "If I can even get it separated I still need to find a way to counter each of the ingredients and the effect they have."
Just listing off all the things she would have to do to even have a shot at creating a cure had her exhausted.
"This isn't gonna be something I can do in a night, Stefan. I'm sorry but Buffy isn't getting her memory back until this is done, and I don't how long that will be. It could be weeks, months, or longer."
Stefan's eyes widened at her words. The idea of Buffy not remembering was already killing him, he couldn't even imagine spending months around her like this "So what do we do?"
"I don't how long it's gonna take me to figure this out. So for now we will just have to keep trying to trigger her memory."
Damon couldn't help but scoff at her answer, he hadn't exactly been having the best luck trying to do that "Yeah, 'cause that's worked out so well so far. Here's an idea you're a witch do what a witch does and fix this."
"Were you not listening to me, Damon!?" Bonnie exclaimed "I don't know if I can! And even if I can I don't know how long it will take!"
Damon merely glared at her, he didn't care what it took, he wanted Buffy back. Even if it meant Bonnie dying.
Though, still to this day even without her memory...Buffy would kill him if that happened.
Damon just didn't care.
"Well, then I suggest you get started."
**
Entering The Magic Box the second-generation Summers clan all came to an abrupt stop as they took in the hilarious sight before them.
There stood in the middle of the store, wearing the most stereotypical Wizard Halloween costume with a long cloak and a pointy hat, was the one and only Rupert Giles.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, the youngest of the trio spoke up as he stared at Giles with wide eyes "Dude."
Any previous thoughts Jeremy had about Giles being cool suddenly vanished.
"Shh." Elena hissed at her brother not wanting to upset the Watcher who had been nothing but lovely to them since their arrival.
Despite her cousins now arguing, Buffy doesn't utter a single word, she merely stared at Giles, who was still smiling.
At her long silent stare slowly the smile faltered and Giles sighed before pulling off the hat and taking off the cloak. From the look on her face, he could see that she was trying so hard not to burst into laughter.
Elena offered the man a polite smile "Mr. Giles this place is amazing. You must be very proud."
Feeling Elena nudge him, Jeremy cleared his throat before glancing around the store trying his best to appear excited "Yeah, it's awesome. I mean, check out all the magic junk."
Giles huffed slightly as he placed the clock and hat down on the counter "Our new slogan."
At her Watcher's defeated voice, both Buffy and Elena glared at Jeremy causing him to wince slightly.
He hated it when they teamed up against him.
The two of them together, it was terrifying. He much preferred it when it was him and Buffy vs Elena.
"Sorry." He whispered before backing away from his family members who were both giving him looks that could kill. As he quickly disappeared to look around, Buffy and Elena approached the shop owner/watcher.
"Still not to worry." Giles assured the girls as he tapped the counter, a bright smile on his face even if it was slightly unsure "I have good feelings about this place. Magic's a small niche market, but...well, think about it. Sunnydale, monsters, supply, and demand. They'll be lining up around the block in no time."
The store was empty.
Not a single customer was in sight.
Buffy quickly plastered a bright smile on her face, not wanting to ruin his hopeful mood "Yeah. You'll be making money hand over fist in no time. Which I guess is a good thing."
Buffy looked at Elena for confirmation but the brunette shrugged "I'm your cousin, how am I supposed to know?"
"Got it. Don't ask people that grew up around Summers' women." With that, Buffy smiled before letting out a small yawn. After her vision last night, she hadn't managed to get back to sleep so she was pretty much exhausted running on 3 hours of sleep.
"You all right?" Giles asked, concern filtering in "You seem a little distracted."
Buffy sighed as she continued rubbing her forehead "I had a dream last night, kinda reminded me of the night that Angel tried to kill himself."
While Giles nodded softly, Elena couldn't help but frown in confusion, Buffy had never mentioned this back in Mystic Falls "What?"
Quickly turning to her confused cousin, Buffy merely waved it off, it wasn't that big of a deal, especially in a place like Sunnydale "Oh, yeah you don't know. During my senior year of high school, Angel went to the top of a hill and was gonna let himself burn in the sunlight. He had killed a lot of people and was feeling like he deserved to die."
Elena's eyes widened slightly.
That sounded a lot like the time that Stefan had done just that at the quarry and Buffy had stopped him. If Buffy was thinking it had happened in her senior year, then that could only mean one thing.
Klaus replaced the memory of Buffy saving Stefan with a similar situation revolving around Angel.
He had taken real memories and altered them to fit into the Hellmouth.
"But the thing is..." Buffy focused back on Giles "...it felt so much like the flashes I've been having. And they are getting more persistent and I have no idea what the deal is."
"The visions are becoming more frequent?" Giles asked, his worry only growing given how much pain he knew the visions caused her.
Buffy nodded "Yeah. And it's getting worse Giles, it's affecting my dreams now, what happens if during a fight I have one of these episodes?"
Giles sighed as he pulled off his glasses and began cleaning them, as he always did when he was stressed or wanted to avoid looking at something "That would certainly be cause for concern."
At that moment, the bells went off causing everyone to turn to face the door just as an overexcited Willow entered the shop with Riley.
"Giles, where's your hat and cloak?" Willow asked, grinning like a child on Christmas morning.
"Yeah, the hype was out of control." Riley added with a small amused smile.
Buffy smiled before reaching into her bag and pulling out the ball Stefan had found yesterday "Actually, I have a little scooby-centric deal to deal with first. One, which is not about my flashes." She explained as everyone walked over their eyes glued to the glowing yellow ball "I put this before the group. What the hell is it?"
Elena and Jeremy couldn't help but stare at the glowing object.
This was definitely beyond all of their Mystic Falls hijinks. Sunnydale made everything they had dealt with seem like children's games.
Elena had to admit, it was fascinating, she had never seen anything like it "It's pretty."
"It kind of looks like those glow balls those crackheads bring to rave parties-" Jeremy paused as he spotted both Elena and Buffy now glaring at him.
That was the moment he knew he had screwed up.
"How do you know that Jeremy?" Elena asked as she crossed her arms.
"Dammit."
"We'll talk about this later." Elena warned sternly before turning back to the group, all of them waiting to hear where the hell Buffy had found this thing.
"I found it on patrol." Buffy explained, "Actually technically Stefan found it."
"Stefan?" Riley asked a worried tone in his voice. He had seen how both of the Salvatore brothers looked at Buffy and he didn't like it one bit.
Buffy just nodded, a small smile grazing her lips "Yeah, he got back into town last night. He was sweet. Gave me a ride home. Even let me listen to Four Star Mary the whole drive."
The mention of Four Star Mary caused Elena and Jeremy to glance at each other.
Both of them knew that in their early stages of dating, Stefan had actually taken Buffy to a live Four Star Mary concert in order to help with the fact that she was feeling homesick.
Riley just clicked his jaw slightly as a crease started to form on his forehead. He didn't know what it was about Stefan but he didn't like the guy. More accurately he didn't like the small smile on Buffy's face right now at the mere mention of the guy "Maybe more where that came from. I say we go back out again tonight."
Buffy hesitated at his suggestion.
She so did not want Riley coming, but it wasn't like she could say no.
"Um...sure."
Jeremy turned to Buffy with a frown "I thought you said it'd be easier if you didn't have to look out for anybody."
"Well, I wasn't talking about Riley." Buffy argued, willing Jeremy to shut up.
Despite his pride being slightly bruised, Riley merely smiled awkwardly "Don't worry about it."
Jeremy clearly not getting the angry looks Buffy was throwing his way merely continued "I could have sworn you did cause you were saying that he looked even cuter when he was weak and stuff. There was all this girl stuff but you said you'd better go solo and that he'd get hurt."
Suddenly Elena slapped his arm.
"Ahh! Why!" Jeremy exclaimed as he clutches his arm.
"Because you're a moron sometimes." Elena huffed before offering Buffy an apologetic smile.
As Riley stormed off into the backroom clearly embarrassed, Buffy groaned knowing that this was going to end up being a fight she so didn't want to have.
Running a shaky hand through her hair she turned back to Giles, focusing back on her other problem "About my flashes?"
"We will look into it."
**
Following Damon onto the balcony, Stefan clenched his jaw tightly as he glared at his brother back "What the hell is the matter with you?" He hissed.
Damon just sighed at the sound of his brother's voice. He had walked off to the balcony to get away from Stefan, that hadn't been an invitation for a heart-to-heart brotherly chat.
"What are you moaning about now?" He asked as he downed the glass of bourbon in his hands before glancing over his shoulder at his brother.
"Bonnie is trying to help Damon."
"And she's doing a brilliant job." Damon muttered sarcastically before rolling his eyes.
In his opinion, Bonnie wasn't working hard enough, they couldn't just sit around for months waiting for Buffy to get her memories back.
"Look I get it, I'm not happy about it either but you know what—"
Damon couldn't help but scoff at Stefan's words, a part of his brain thinking back to how all of this had occurred. What would have happened had Stefan not run off to Klaus a year ago to save his life "No you don't get it, Stefan."
With that, Damon moved to shove past his brother and head inside, only for Stefan to block his path a look of confusion covering his face "What are you talking about Damon?"
Despite knowing the fact that it wasn't really Stefan's fault, he was so angry. Damon needed to blame someone. So for the time being he was using Stefan as his punching bag "I blame you. If you hadn't run off to be the big hero again and try and save me she wouldn't be like this."
Stefan couldn't help but scoff at his brother's words.
Damon had to be joking, this was completely insane "You're blaming me for this? This is Klaus. Klaus did this to her."
"Yeah, he did but the only reason he was able to, was because she was saving your ass from becoming the ripper." Damon snapped getting into his brother's face "Bet she would regret giving up everything if she knew that you were running around the west coast leaving bodies."
There it was.
Stefan's final straw.
At the mention of his ripper binge following Buffy's disappearance, Stefan finally snapped. Letting out all his unresolved anger he sent his fist flying at his brother's face.
As his head swung to the side, Damon let out a small chuckle "You know you should have let me die." He hissed as he turned back to glare at his brother, a bright smirk covering his face "Think about it Stef...Buffy has no memory right now. Think about how easy it would be for me to make sure she doesn't hate me this time—"
Stefan growled and punched him again causing the elder Salvatore to stumble into the library, crashing right through the balcony doors.
Letting out a small growl of his own, Damon rushed at his brother sending his fist to his face.
Stefan groaned lightly before shoving Damon back "You blame me fine. But you blame yourself more. That's why you're being a dick. You were the one all of us were trying to save, and you hate yourself because if you hadn't been sick I wouldn't have needed to go to Klaus in the first place and then none of this would have happened."
Before the brothers could start trying to kill each other again, Elena Gilbert walked into the room.
As she took in the sight of the broken balcony doors and the glass covering the floor she quirked an eyebrow "Hey." She breathed awkwardly "I'm interrupting something aren't I?"
Stefan quickly shook his head "No. We're done here. What's up?"
Elena hesitated slightly.
Despite, not believing a word of it she didn't have time to deal with the brothers, they had bigger problems to worry about "Um...Buffy's flashes they've started to affect her dreams, talking away the memory Klaus gave her and revealing reality."
That certainly got Damon to focus "How do you know?"
"She had a dream last night." Elena then looked at Stefan cautiously, she honestly had no idea how he was going to react to this but she knew it wouldn't go down well "The night you tried to kill yourself at the quarry it was about that." Stefan's eyes widened "Turns out Klaus altered the memory, the same situation just a different person and place."
Damon stared at her for a few moments before groaning as he realized what that probably meant "Tell me it was not Captain Forehead."
Elena nodded unable to look Stefan in the eye right now "The same memory just instead of Stefan it was Angel. But in her dream, Angel disappeared and the original memory was shown."
"We're getting closer." Stefan realized.
This was the closest they had gotten in weeks.
Hopefully, soon they would have Buffy back.
Elena just smiled weakly "I have to go. I've got a shift at the hospital but when I see Buffy at lunch I'll see what else I can find out."
**
Making her way through the halls of the hospital so she could meet her cousin for lunch, Buffy frowned as a familiar face appeared next to her.
Ben.
"Hey, it's Buffy, isn't it?"
At the sound of Ben's voice, Buffy glanced over at the intern who was currently wheeling a patient into the north wing. As she faced the handsome intern, Buffy smiled awkwardly, for the life of her, she couldn't find his name in her brain "Uh..." She stuttered causing him to chuckle softly.
"Ben." He reminded her "But call me man-nurse. Everybody else does."
Buffy shook her head in amusement, however, her eyes widened as suddenly the man lying on the bed sat up, struggling against his restraints "I don't belong here, I have important instructions. Fascists!"
Quickly Ben and the other nurses tried to strap the man down.
"Now you're hurting the nice intern. Whose here to help you." Ben told the patient in a calm tone before he turned to one of the nurses "I need nine CCs of Phenobarbital..."
Buffy quirked an eyebrow as she continued to watch Ben struggle, sighing she walked over and easily slammed the patient back on his bed. The man was now unable to move under her grasp, he couldn't even make her budge off him.
Ben couldn't help but exhale in shock as he stared at the surprisingly strong girl next to him.
"Or not." He mumbled before turning back to the nurse "Let's strap him. For your own good, I promise."
With the patient now completely strapped in, Ben turned back to Buffy "Not to be rampantly sexist, but you've got some serious muscles for a girl."
Buffy froze "I..."
Ben just smiled at her "Radioactive spider bite?"
Buffy giggled softly before nodding "How'd you guess?"
"I'm a doctor. Well, almost."
Suddenly the patient grabbed Buffy's hand causing the blonde's eyes to widen, however, before she could pull away his next words make her halt "Flashes won't stop. They never stop. You'll lose your mind."
At his words, Buffy felt her stomach drop as her eyes widened in horror, she just couldn't understand how the hell he knew about her flashes.
"They're coming at you. Don't think you're above it, missy. They get to your family! Your mind is two worlds!"
Buffy couldn't stop the feeling of dread filling her. Everything he was saying was digging at her little worries, the thoughts that had been digging at the back of her brain for months.
That these flashes meant more than she was willing to admit.
"Two worlds? My family? What do you mean?"
Before he could answer her the nurses started pulling him away "Get him to Exam One. Now would be nice."
With that, the patient was rolled down the hall.
"I'm really sorry about that. You here to see your cousin?"
At Ben's words, Buffy inhaled tightly, barely taking her eyes off the patient as he was wheeled away from her.
"Yeah. Just figured out something that we need to discuss."
**
The second her lunch with Elena was over, Buffy rushed toward The Magic Box, like a woman on a mission.
This was the first time she had some hint of what these flashes were since they started a year ago.
And now that they were increasing in volume she had to find out how to stop them, or at least figure out what the hell they meant.
She couldn't deal with the not-knowing anymore.
Entering the store, Buffy's eyes quickly landed on her Watcher "Giles." She called as she interrupted his conversation with Anya "I have an idea of what is giving me these flashes."
Giles's eyes widened in shock "Buffy, it's been over a year since they started. How is this possible?"
"There was a guy at the hospital he saw things. He said things."
Giles frowned skeptically.
It didn't make sense!
This just seemed very out of the blue.
A year of searching and there had been nothing, why now?
"Such as?"
"My mind is in two worlds and they'll get to my family. I finally have a family again, I don't want to lose them."
Giles sighed at her words before pulling off his glasses "Who will?"
"I don't know...yet. But whatever touched this guy, it made him see through what the rest of us are seeing. He knew someone is doing this to me, to hurt me and my family."
Giles exhaled loudly as he placed his now clean glasses back on his face. He didn't want Buffy to be disappointed, she had gone through the whole year desperately searching for anything with no results "I do believe this is supernatural Buffy. But this is still the ramblings of a madman, it's not much to go on."
"But it's a start." Buffy told them all "Look, this is getting worse, I need to find out who is doing this to me and how before I have a flash during a fight, and it ends up being me on the pointy of a stake, unable to protect the people I love."
Willow who was sitting at the circular table in the center of the store quirked an eyebrow as she watched Buffy. She had to admit she was worried, she had never seen Buffy like this "Then what?"
"Then I hunt them, find them and kill them."
**
"We have a problem."
Looking up from his book, Damon frowned as he spotted Elena rushing into their apartment still in her candy stripper uniform from the hospital.
Rolling his eyes at the out-of-breath doppelganger, Damon merely glanced back at his book, he so did not want to deal with yet another problem "We've got enough problems of our own. You deal with this one."
Scoffing in annoyance, Elena turned her focus to the more sensible Salvatore who was watching her with a concerned frown "It's Buffy."
Sure enough, not even a second later both brothers were staring at her.
As she had predicted, she now had their full attention.
"What is it?" Stefan asked.
"Buffy, came to the hospital to see me for lunch, and ran into Ben..."
"Who's Ben?"
Elena sighed at Stefan's words. She knew he was jealous but they didn't have time for it "He's one of the interns at the hospital, but that doesn't matter. Look they were moving some crazy guy and he grabbed Buffy. Told her that the flashes wouldn't stop. That her mind was in two worlds and that they would get to her family."
Damon groaned "This is not good. I'm sensing there is a bit more bad news for you to bare."
Elena nodded and took in a deep breath as she moved to sit on the couch. Rubbing her hands together nervously she glanced up at the brothers.
If they didn't find a way to stop this, they were beyond screwed.
"Buffy is now obsessed with finding out who is doing this to her. She wants to find out who is giving her the flashes."
Stefan just frowned in confusion "But no one is giving her the flashes. It's her mind trying to unlock itself."
"But she doesn't know that. Buffy thinks someone is trying to make her weaker, lose her focus, so they can hurt her and her family."
Damon sighed in frustration, if Buffy started digging she may just suspect it was them which meant that he and Stefan were dead in the water "What are we gonna do?"
"I don't know."