~* Buffy Goes to Stars Hollow *~

_Author's Note: No, Jeanette you aren't crazy. I did publish this before but with two chapters to go til the end. But problems came up and with the length of time the story somehow got erased off here. So I am reposting and then will complete it.


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“Why do you want Kate?” Buffy asked. “Is she still alive?”

“She lives,” the vampire sneered. “Not for long. The end is only a matter of time slayer. She will be one of many that will face the end sooner.”

“Where is she?” Buffy asked.

“Underground,” the vampire said. “But you won’t find her.”

“Where?” Buffy said digging in the stake further.

“Do you think they would tell us?” the vampire laughed. “ This master is smarter than the others. We handed her off to another group, who will hand her to another and so on. You won’t find her.”

“Why Kate?” Buffy asked again.


The vampire laughed. Buffy plunged the stake into his chest and sunk to the ground as he dissolved into dust.


“Why did you kill him?” Dawn asked. “He would have said.”

“He bothered me,” Buffy replied. “He wasn’t going to say. We will figure that out later.”

Buffy got to her feet tucking her stake into the back of her jeans. “ Now what was this about a spell?”


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After the explanation of the spell Buffy took a moment to digest all the information.

“That would explain the love for pastries and my overwhelming sugar rush. Which is kind of cool except for the feeling that might heart might pop out of my chest at any moment.” Buffy added as an after thought.

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am,” Dawn said, starting to feel like a broken record.

“Buffy! Are you alright my love,” Michel cried as he rushed to her aid.

Buffy frowned at Dawn. “ You are really going to have to make up for this. I preferred it when I thought he hated me.”

“I could never hate you,” Michel said. “ I was probably just having a bad day.”

“You made me pay you back for the post its I used,” Buffy sighed. “Per post-it!”

“It was a joke most definitely,” Michel said trying to think back. “Though that does sound like me.” Michel added.

“No it wasn’t, you made a huge deal,” Lorelai said from behind him. “ And frankly I don’t blame you. You work really hard Michel if you want I can fire her for you. I have that power.” Lorelai beamed at him.

“Hey wait a minute!” Buffy said.

“You can’t fire her,” Michel said with disgust. “She makes the day so much better.”

“I need a donut,” Buffy sighed.

“Ok, this is started to stray from the deal at hand,” Willow pointed out. “ We need to find Kate.”

“Right,” Buffy said dropping the donut on to the table. “ Hard to concentrate. How long is this spell supposed to last?”

Dawn looked up at the clock a grimace on her face. “ A little over three hours,” she said timidly.

Buffy shook her head, rubbing her temples with her fingers. “ Ok. My head is a little fuzzy. I have weird thoughts going on,” she said more to herself than to the others. I must concentrate she thought. Time to get into slayer mode.

“Will, we have to do something about them,” Buffy whispered nodding her head behind her to indicate Michel and Lorelai.
Willow nodded and as she waved her hand the two of them fell gently to the floor in a dead sleep. “That works,” Buffy said.

“What about Luke?” Dawn asked.

“He is in the closet with Xander,” Dawn said smiling a little at her word choice.

“Are they? Do they?” Buffy trailed off unable to bring herself to finish the sentence.

Dawn smiled at the image. “ No. Luke lusts for Kate and Xander lusts for himself…. so on second thought sticking him alone might not be a good thing.” Dawn added as an afterthought.

“Maybe we could use Luke?” Willow suggested.

“How?” Buffy and Dawn asked at the same time.

Willow started pacing voicing her thoughts out loud. “ Ok, go with me on this. Usually under a love spell such as this- people feel a connection to each other, almost like a tracking sense. Just like I know where Xander is at all times right now. If we tell Luke that Kate is kidnapped it will make him go search for her. With the spell affecting both of them to each other it should strengthen their bond to one another. It’s a long shot but it might get us somewhat close.”

Buffy thought about it. “ It sounds good Will, but I’m a little nervous about taking Luke into a potential fight. I mean these people rarely deal with petty theft let alone vampires.”

“I’ve seen people in love spells,” Willow said remembering the spell Xander cast that had her going crazy as she wielded a knife in hopes to kill him than live without him. “ They go crazy. If Luke thinks they are hurting her I’m pretty sure he can fend for himself. If not I could protect him with magic.”

“Well it is our only option right now,” Buffy said wishing she could come up with something else first. The past two weeks were the most normal of her life even while keeping a secret. However it was much easier keeping a secret when vampires weren’t attacking every day. And now she was thrown right back into the fighting and already the people around her were getting involved. How would she explain this?

“Well if this doesn’t screw me over for a raise I don’t know what will. “ Buffy said.

“Do you think I could just say goodbye to Xander first?” Willow asked as she let Xander out of the closet. Before Dawn and Buffy could say anything Willow threw herself into Xander’s arms.

“A forgetting spell may be in order after this,” Buffy said. Buffy and Dawn looked away as Willow kissed him.

“Doesn’t she remember she’s a lesbian?” Buffy asked.

“Wow I didn’t know that was possible to do with a tongue…” Dawn said thoughtfully. Buffy covered her eyes and turned her to the wall.

“Just be still, close your eyes and think of your country,” Buffy teased. “Come on Willow,” Buffy called.

Willow came over to them looking sheepish. “ Sorry, sometimes it gets too hard to control.”

“Not a problem,” Buffy said. “There are things you wouldn’t believe you could do with donuts.” She laughed, and then paused. “ I didn’t say that.”

Willow and Dawn nodded. “ I don’t think Xander should go,” Willow said. It was hard enough with him around to concentrate.

“How will we keep him here?” Buffy asked. Xander usually insisted on helping.

“Stick a mirror in front of him,” Dawn said,” that should keep him busy.”

“Well I think it’s time to let the beast loose,” Buffy suggested.

“I’ll get Luke,” Willow agreed.

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Twenty minutes later the four of them were walking through the Stars Hollow cemetery. Buffy wrapped her arms around her body to keep the heat in as she walked.

“Wow, a town with only one cemetery,” Buffy whispered to Willow. “ Who thought it was possible?”

“Freaks,” Willow smiled, her teeth chattering from the cold.

The grass snapped under their feet as they moved through and around the headstones following behind Luke. After they had told Luke, he had done just what Willow had said and gone crazy with rage. A couple of lamps would definitely have to be replaced tomorrow, another thing to explain, Buffy thought.
Finally Luke had set out walking towards god only knew. Buffy hoped this worked because they were running against the clock. It didn’t help that they were all under a spell and now a kidnapping to add on top of it. Another thing Buffy would have to explain. Hopefully Kate was all right and if so, hadn’t seen too much. As she thought about it, she didn’t know Kate that well. But if the vampires wanted her she must mean something to them but what could it be? These were the times that she wished Giles was here, he usually suggested the things she thought about herself but coming from him it just made her more sure of herself.

In a way she would always need a watcher, because Giles was more a father than a boss type. She missed his fatherly ways and even the way he’d look annoyed at her for jumping head long into danger. If he were here he’d probably give a “oh dear” and clean his glasses. That thought made her smile.

Luke stopped in front of them and turned. “She’s under the ground?” he said more in surprise than fact.

Buffy pointed towards a crypt. “ Maybe there is a tunnel entrance in there,” she suggested. There were always tunnels in the crypts back home.

Luke turned and headed to the crypt pulling open the door so hard Buffy half expected it to rip off the hinges.

Sure enough there was a small entrance in the back. “Big gaping holes of death,” Buffy muttered. “ Luke let me go first.” She pushed in front of him before he could protest and lead them down a winding passageway…deeper and deeper into the dark.


As they got deeper each turned on their flashlight. “That smell is familiar,” Buffy said wrinkling her nose. “ Funny enough, I didn’t miss it.”

Dawn smiled despite the fear of walking headlong down a narrow dark tunnel in the direction of the bad guys. She always preferred the plan of her running in the opposite direction of the bad guys. But she felt responsible and thus she walked towards the evil. It was that or stay at the Inn watching the donuts as Buffy had suggested.

Then the mistakable sound of running water filled the air. “What the hell?” Buffy said out loud.

As the path narrowed they turned a corner and found the culprit of the sound. Running along side them was a water tunnel. The snow must have been melting pretty fast because the chill from the water made them shiver and it was flowing pretty fast.

“Stay close to the wall,” Buffy instructed tugging her hat down on her head.

“This doesn’t seem right,” Willow said out loud.

“Walking through a sewer drain in winter?” Buffy asked. “ Seems like a typical Saturday to me.” She added sarcastically.

“No I mean there’s an energy,” Willow said. “ I feel like I’m walking against something. Don’t you feel it?”

Buffy concentrated. “No I don’t…”

And then the ground began to shake. From past events- when the ground started shaking it always led to terror and death. “Get down,” she yelled over the sound of the earth cracking above them.

Buffy reached for a pipe sticking out from the wall but her mittens made it impossible to get a good grip and they slipped off. With a cry of panic, Buffy fell backwards and hit the water with a loud smack. The icy water hit her like an electric shock.

“Buffy!!!!!!” Dawn screamed as she reached for her sister.

Buffy sputtered to the surface reaching for her hand. The icy water threatened to pull her under.

“Willow!” Dawn yelled. “Help me!”

Willow struggled to get up but she was pinned under a piece of pipe that had fallen over her midriff. The pain coursed through her body as she searched the water for Buffy. “I…I can’t get free,” Willow screamed.

The water wrapped its icy fingers around Buffy’s body as it pulled her under. Buffy’s lungs burned with the cold water that rushed down her throat as it pulled her under again and again. She kicked her legs as hard as she could, banging them against the solid concrete of the walls. As she fought the current she saw glimpses of her sister getting farther and farther away. Panic began to override the calm she tried to maintain, as her body was tossed around in the current over taking her strength. She was out of control and she couldn’t do anything about it.

She reached out her hands frantically struggling to hold onto anything that was sticking out as the water began to make her body numb. With one last desperate attempt she kicked her legs only to be pulled further under. The water closed over her head pitching her into darkness as her lungs burned for air.

The cold hurt her body as it stabbed her flesh. Her fight started to fade as the water took her further down spinning her around and around in its current. Buffy felt the water coarse down her throat and fill her lungs like icy knives and then she felt a warm sensation run through her veins as she eyes closed and the small shred of light she had above her faded into nothingness.

Dawn watched her as her sister was swept around the corner and felt her heart drop into her stomach. The feeling was similar to watching her sister swan dive from that platform a few years ago. Her body shook with unshed tears as she struggled to her feet. The shaking of the earth hadn’t last that long but it was long enough to steal her sister from her again.

Dawn turned back to Willow, who even in the small piece of light they had, looked pale from shock. Luke had been knocked unconscious momentarily but was now trying to pull the pipe off Willow.

“Help me,” he muttered to Dawn under his breath.

Dawn had to tell her legs to move and finally they did, and she stumbled towards him. Focusing she grabbed one end of the pipe and used every bit of strength she had to pull the pipe off Willow. Willow slid herself away, leaning against the wall.

“Buffy,” she said under her breath as tears mixed with the dirt on her face. “ I couldn’t save her. I tried but I couldn’t see…I…”

“We can still find her Willow. Get up, we have to go.”

“We have to find Kate,” Luke said.

“We will find them both,” Dawn snapped. “Buffy is the only one that can help her.”

“I can do it,” Luke said stubbornly. “I will rescue Kate.”

“You will listen to me,” Dawn said. “If we separate they can pick us off. Willow felt something they must have this booby-trapped; they know we’re here. We have to stick together.”

Willow got to her feet slowly. “ Dawn’s right. Come on.” She grabbed her flashlight and began to walk in the direction that Buffy had gone.


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As time went by Dawn felt the hope begin to fade as well. The tunnel seemed endless and she was brought back to memories of the movie Labyrinth where the pathway was never ending. Dawn hadn’t seen any new landmarks to mark the passing of time; it was the same concrete tunnel as she had seen for the past ten minutes.

When hope began to fail she saw a turn in the tunnel up above. Dawn’s step quickened as she hurried to the end. As they turned the corner they saw where the water dropped to a cavern below.

Dawn began to run as the tunnel opened up at the end. They came to the end of the path where it turned again and went in a large circle. There was a door directly opposite across the small cavern.

The water fell into a pool at the bottom. Dawn looked over the side shining her flashlight into the murky pool. “Do you see anything?” she asked Willow and Luke who were doing the same thing.

“No…I can’t…” Willow began and then her voice stopped.

Dawn moved her flashlight to the same place that Willow’s shone. In the middle of the pool was Buffy-laying face down in the water.

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“Buffy!” Dawn yelled, though it was useless. Buffy’s arms were at her side as she bobbed in the water. The white dress she was wearing made her look like an angel Dawn remembered thinking. Buffy wasn’t moving.

Dawn handed her flashlight to Willow. “I’m going in.”

“It’s like thirty feet down Dawn. You don’t know how deep it is. Let me see if I can lift her,” Willow said as she prepared to use magic. She frowned, her face showing panic.

“Willow! Hurry!” Dawn said tearing her eyes away from Buffy.

“I can’t!” Willow said. “My magic isn’t working!”

“You think we’d let you use magic down here?” Came a deep voice from behind them.

They spun around but there was only darkness. “Where is Kate?” Luke demanded.

“You dare to ask me questions? I don’t really think you are in the right position to make orders of me,” the booming voice said again.

The voice felt like it was coming from everywhere around them. Dawn spun around trying to find the person or thing the voice belonged to. Damp cold began to spread to her bones as he teeth began to chatter against her will.

“Where is she?” Luke demanded again.

“He’s under a spell he isn’t thinking,” Willow said her voice edging on hysteria. This voice was creating a weird sensation in her body like mind numbing fear.

“Yes. The spell. Thank you Dawn,” the voice said. The use of her name felt so intimate and creepy that Dawn shivered. “You caused a distraction for me to act. I hadn’t planned to yet, but I can’t let opportunities go to waste.”

“End of the world opportunities?” Willow asked.

“That will come in time,” the voice said. “For now I like to have my fun.”

Willow and Dawn inched closer together, grabbing onto each other in the darkness.

“What are you going to do with us?” Dawn asked, not sure if she really wanted to know the answer to that.

“You wanted to see where Kate was. And now you will…” the voice grew louder as it seemed to come from right in front of them. A blast of cold air hit before everything went black.


When Dawn came too the first thing she noticed was how warm she felt. And then she felt something hard pressing into her back. Opening her eyes she found herself looking around a cavern right from the movies, complete with jagged pieces of earth hanging from the ceiling and coming up from the ground. A fire pit sat in the middle of the cavern and a fire was blazing. It was how hell was always depicted.

Her arms were tied behind her back and her legs were tied at the ankles in front of her. Turning her head she saw Willow tied beside her and Luke on the other side of Willow. She couldn’t remember how she had got here. She remembered a flying sensation as she seemed to float through the tunnels and now she was here- all in the blink of an eye.

“Dawn are you ok?” Willow whispered. She didn’t see anyone around her that could hear her but she didn’t want to risk it nonetheless.

Dawn nodded. Then she remembered the last glimpse she had of Buffy and felt the despair spread through her insides. “No.”

“I’m so sorry Dawn,” Willow said knowing she should say something but wasn’t sure what.

“Why are you sorry? This is all my fault. Buffy is dead because of me and my stupid spell,” Dawn said disgusted with herself.

“Buffy might not be dead,” Willow said.

“You saw her Will and there is no one that was around to pull her out. She is gone because I like a boy.” The whole thing with Jess was ridiculous to her now. She was a horny girl who cast a spell that had her sister killed, Kate kidnapped and possibly dead and the three of them tied up. She wished she were the one that fell into the water and died.

And yet because she was the reason this had all happened, she felt like she had a duty to keep fighting. No matter how much she wanted to curl up in the fetal position and pray that the end would come quick and painlessly.

“Do you see Kate?” Luke asked.

“No,” Willow answered shaking her head. The gash on her forehead and the throbbing in her legs mixed with the fear of the unknown and she feared she might pass out. She couldn’t think now of Buffy, the grief was too much to handle on top of this. She would put it away and think on it later when she had proof that her best friend was stolen from her.

The only sounds in this cavern were the crackling of the flames that cast shadows against the jagged rocks of the cave. And if you were to listen really close you could also hear the soft cries of a young girl who’d lost the most important person to her.

Luke struggled against his bonds that dug painfully into his skin. Lying on his side he managed to work his arms under his butt. Then he sat back up and pulled his arms under his legs and rested them on his lap. Willow’s eyes darted around the cavern to see if anyone had noticed as her heart began to race.

Luke grunted with pain as he worked the bonds so that they were loose enough to pull over his wrists. Once free, he started to work on the bonds around his ankles.

Willow chewed the inside of her lip in worry. This was too easy. They had thought of everything, including her magic and yet one of them was able to slip so easily from rope? It didn’t make any sense.

“Luke,” she whispered. “ I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“I’m going to rescue Kate,” he whispered back as he pulled the last of his bonds free. “ What else should I do? Sit here and wait until they return?”

Dawn looked up at him tearfully. “ Will you,” she said through trembling lips, “ will you please find Buffy Luke? Please find Buffy. I know you love Kate and want to find her, but please, please can you find Buffy first?” Dawn broke into sobs that racked her body as she kept repeating her last plea.

Luke bent down in front of her. He put his finger under her chin and tilted her face up to meet his. Even with the foggy events of the spell in his mind, Dawn felt like she was really looking at Luke and believed him completely when he replied. “Of course I will.”

Then he was gone.


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Deep in the recesses of the cavern Buffy’s body floated in the murky, icy waters of the pool. Just before she had passed out she had felt a falling sensation and managed to suck in some air before she was pulled under again.

Her survival instincts kicked in enough to swim, slowly and with great difficulty, to a small raised stone platform in the center. Somehow she found the strength to raise herself up onto the platform, which thankfully, was only an inch above the water before she passed out again. Anyone looking down at her would assume she was floating on top of the water.

She thought she heard voices from above her, but everything seemed so far away. Her mind seemed somewhat alert and yet when she tried to send instructions to the rest of her body it wouldn’t work. Seconds later the blackness stole her away again.


He splashed into the water beside her grabbing a hold of her and turning her onto her back as he dragged her to land. He lifted her up onto the cold stone of the platform and placed his head on her chest to check for breathing. Her chest rose softly and her pulse was weak but steady.

He turned her on her side and hit her back hard enough to make her exhale loudly and some of the murky water spurted out of her mouth as her eyes snapped open. Buffy started to spit out water as she struggled to sit up.

He put his arm around her back to support her as she sucked in huge gulps of air. Buffy’s throat burned and her body felt like it was nothing but a bag of bones as she sat for several moments breathing in air. “I never thought I would be so grateful to smell sewer air,” she said weakly.

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Back in the cave Dawn and Willow waited anxiously counting the minutes that Luke had been gone.

“I wonder if he found her?” Dawn asked, afraid to hope.

“I don’t know Dawnie.” Willow responded. “ I hope so.”

“I know the answer to that,” came the voice again.

Willow and Dawn turned towards the voice and only saw a robed figure standing to the right of them.

“Looks like Luke got free,” the voice said as if it were amused by the concept. “ It would seem the slayer lives.”

Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. “ Really?” she asked.

The robed figure nodded. “ Which is a little disappointing. However, it would have been too easy for me if she had simply drowned. What would they say about that at the water cooler tomorrow?” The robed figure laughed at its own joke.

“Where are they?” Dawn asked.

“Well Luke is right here,” the robe figure said pointing to the vampire that appeared with a beaten up Luke.

“Where’s Buffy?” Dawn asked. She looked at Luke. “ You saved her right?”

“ Luke wasn’t with Buffy when we found him,” the robe figure informed her.

“I thought you said Buffy was alive,” Dawn said fearing that it had all been a game and Buffy was still laying in the water somewhere.

“Oh, the slayer lives. But our boy here wasn’t the knight in shining armor.” The robe figure said. “ It would appear that there is another player.”

Willow and Dawn looked at each other in bewilderment. “ Then who?” Dawn asked.

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Buffy wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve as she leaned against his chest for support. “Thanks,” she said gratefully turning to her rescuer.

Her eyes widened in surprise that soon turned to shock as he began to speak. “It wouldn’t be a Saturday if I wasn’t saving the day pet.”

Buffy’s lips formed the name that her mind couldn’t yet comprehend. “ Spike?”

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