Alleyway next to the High School

Buffy stopped running and quickly scanned the area for anything she could use as a weapon. Luckily, she was able to find jack squat. "Nice Buffy, Just run into a dark alley with no weapons in sight, super smart idea." Buffy said to herself as she power walked deeper into the alleyway. As she continued to do a combination of running and walking she stopped, and realized that she couldn't hear any footsteps behind her. She turned around quickly and could see as far back as where she entered and to her despair there were no vampires. "They must have gone back inside. Great, best night ever." She took one step forward before she heard a sound behind her. She turned around as fast as she could but apparently not fast enough. The vampire punched her in the face which sent her staggering back a little. Fear was starting to take control of her senses and she thought about making a run for it, but as soon as the thought reached her legs she bumped into another vampire and saw one more approaching. They were closing in on her and she came to the conclusion that she had never before been more terrified. The only night that might have come close was the night she discovered these demons. She immediately felt a blow to the right side of her head and she hit the ground hard.

"Buffy?" She heard from the distance. A split-second later she heard one of the vampires cry out before bursting into a ball dust. She focused her eyes on a man approaching and was ecstatic to find that it was Merrick with a bag strapped on his shoulder and a crossbow in his hands. "On your feet!" He shouted to her before the vampires charged him. She did as she was told and watched as Merrick threw a stake to her and was tackled to the ground. Merrick was holding his own with a tall vampire while the other came for Buffy. She gripped the stake tightly in her hand and started to back away.

"Follow your instincts" Buffy heard it in the back of her head and for some reason, her fear vanished. The vampire swung his left fist and then his right but neither made damaging contact. She blocked almost every attack until she was sure she had the upper hand. Then she plunged the stake deep into his chest and watched as he stumbled to the ground and burst into dust. She looked up at Merrick and noticed that he was still fighting. She picked up her stake, took a deep breath, and chucked the stake straight into the vampire's chest. Merrick nodded his approval while dusting himself off.

"What's going on?" Merrick asked while gathering all of his equipment. Before Buffy could answer, Clark came running to their side. He noticed that Buffy's hair was disarranged, and Merrick looked bothered.

"I guess they got here before I did." Clark said, getting puzzled looks from both Merrick and Buffy.

"You knew about the vampires?" Buffy asked, surprised. Clark instantly thought about Whitney, but decided to only tell her what she needed to know at this moment.

"My friend Jesse is the leader. He said something about creating an army for Lothos." Clark looked on as Buffy and Merrick's eyes grew wide.

"They went inside." Buffy informed as she started walking towards the doors.

"There's no time to waste. We get in, kill the vampires, then we leave." Merrick said sternly.

Inside the gym

The music was bouncing off the walls as teenagers spun and cabbage patched on the dance floor. The only teens that truly seemed out of place were Clark's friends. Xander, Chloe, Willow, and Pete were all on edge in their formal attire. They all couldn't help but look around for signs of Jesse. They wouldn't even attend the bathroom without a partner. As Chloe looked out at all the other teens having the night of their lives she quickly came to the realization that she should be having the same experience.

"Alright, I've had enough. I'm not going to waste my night away terrified of the possibility of Jesse showing up, and neither are any of you." Chloe declared while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, you know what, Chloe's right. Let's get on this dance floor, and shake what our parents sadly gave to us." Xander said, somewhat convincingly.

Chloe grabbed Pete's hand and Xander grabbed Willow's. As soon as they started dancing the anxiety that hung around them began to fade. Slowly but surely they were going to make sure that this would be a night to always remember.

Elsewhere in the gym, Jesse watches as Chloe and the others let loose. He watches them like a predator would watch his prey. Each step he takes he makes sure to keep his back a little hunched over. He scans the entire room for potential people to take for Lothos, and when he sees her it's almost too perfect. There she was in all of her grace, glory, and beauty, Cordelia Chase, dancing in the middle of the crowd. He moved fast and light as a feather before tapping her on her shoulder and giving her a little shock.

"Ow" Cordelia said as she turned around and saw a devilishly handsome Jesse McNally. She knew exactly who it was standing before her so she knew this wasn't going to go anywhere. Yet, there he was looking at her with his thumb and index finger barley touching his lips. "What do you want?" She asked in a "as if" tone. He silently chuckled and grabbed her hand, leading her to a more secluded area of the dance floor. "Hey! Hello! Cave-man brain. What are you doing?

"Shut up." Jesse replied. Completely letting his dominance bleed through his dark shirt.

"Well just one dance." Cordelia said feeling defeated yet, slightly turned on. They danced until the music stopped. Without saying a word, Jesse looked towards the doors and nodded his head in their direction. Cordelia looked back at her friends who seemed to not notice her disappearance and, nodded her approval. She held his hand tightly and led the way outside of the gym. "Gotta say McNally, I like this…" He banged her head against a locker, instantly knocking her out. He looked around and saw one of his vampire men approaching.

"Take her." Jesse ordered. He then turned around and scanned the gym for Chloe, but right before he found her he felt someone grab both of his arms. He looked over his shoulder and saw none other than Clark Kent. Before he could even react he was outside and standing a few feet in front of Clark.

In one of the school hallways

Buffy and Merrick charged through the school hallways until they heard the sound of multiple footsteps approaching. Merrick put his hand over Buffy's shoulder and peered out from the corner. Four vampires, casually walking with passed out teenagers swung over their shoulders. He looked back at Buffy and nodded in his oh so knowing way. She responded by gulping and following his lead. When they emerged from their hidden corner the vampires managed to see them almost immediately, but almost was not fast enough. Merrick had already shot from his crossbow and the other vampires looked on as one of their own burst into dust. The three remaining vampires dropped their teenagers and sprinted down the hallway. Buffy felt her slayer instinct rise in her again, and this time she was sure that she wouldn't fight it.

Outside in the alleyway next to the high school

"Jesse, you have stop this." Clark said as he looked on at a person who was a shattered resemblance of the boy he used to be. Jesse smirked, and took a few steps back.

"I'm not entirely sure how we got here Clark, but by the looks of it we're not that different." Clark's bemused expression was making its way through his entire body. Jesse watched as Clark took a step back. "Don't act like that. You're not human either! What the hell are you Clark? Some kind of demonic thing from-"

"It doesn't matter what I am. I'm not going to let you hurt my friends. Hurt our friends." Clark became a stoic, emotionless figure. Jesse's appearance hurt him, Jesse's words hurt him, but he knew Jesse wasn't himself.

"Clark, the majority of the people in that room aren't your friends. I bet the majority of them knew that you were going to be the one strapped to that cross tonight. Now before you kidnapped me and threw me out here, I was on my way to getting Xander, Willow, Pete, and Chloe out of that room. I just needed to get all of those other low-life's a little wet, and then snap. They're fried." Clark could see Jesse growing more and more insane by the second.

"They never did anything to you." Clark retorted more aggressively now.

"Oh come on Clark. I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for you and for all the others like us. The ones nobody bothered to turn an eye towards; especially when we were the ones getting bullied and humiliated. Hell, they might as well have turned the other way and sprinted down the halls."

"What happened to you, to all of us I could have prevented, but I didn't because I knew right from wrong, and I knew that I would be scooping down to their level if I allowed myself to step up and take revenge. I can understand your pain."

"But that's just it Clark. I'm not in pain anymore. I have a gift, and for the first time in my life I actually have a purpose." Jesse turned his body, but before he could make a full 180 Clark was already on the other side of him.

"So do I." Clark could see sparks lighting up in Jesse's eyes as Jesse grabbed him and started sending electric currents threw Clarks body. Clark felt the heat reaching every inch of his skin, but before it could do any real damage Clark threw Jesse on top of a nearby pickup truck. Jesse laughed and shot up unscathed. "Give up Jesse." Clark said with warning hanging at the end of every word. Jesse smiled and slammed his hand on the truck; sending electric currents straight to the engine. Clark looked on in a state of bewilderment until the car started moving in his direction. Jesse had powered the car to full speed and was controlling it without actually being in it. The car was going so fast Clark didn't find the time to brace himself for the impact. Clark's grip was immense on the hood of the truck. As it thrashed left to right Clark hung on tight; until the impact of his back connecting with a brick wall was too much to bear. Both the truck and Clark went crashing through the wall and to Clark's surprise it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.

"You just don't give up do you Clark?" Jesse asked as he calmly was making his to Clark. When Clark got up and stood on his two feet he was able to see the image of Buffy and Merrick not too far behind. Clark looked on in horror as he saw Buffy raise her hand. From this moment on it felt like everything went in slow motion for Clark. He saw the stake leave her hand and it was now on its way to pierce Jesse's heart. Clark ran as fast as he could and right before it hit Jesse Clark grabbed it. The air was still with silence as everyone looked on at Clark holding the stake that was positioned right behind Jesse's back. "Thanks Clark." Was all Jesse said before he sent an electric charge that sent Clark flying into Buffy and Merrick's direction. When the three of them looked back up Jesse was nowhere to be seen.

"You're a bloody fool." Merrick spat out, aggravated.

"I couldn't let you kill him. The Jesse I know is still in there." Clark saw the understanding in Buffy's eyes, but Merrick's were cold. Merrick looked at him as if he were a misbehaving child that was about to receive the time-out of a lifetime.

"The next person that boy kills will be on you." Merrick said, extending his finger in Clark's direction. He turned around and started walking towards the parking lot. He looked back at Buffy and she nodded.

"I'm sorry Clark." Buffy said before turning around and following Merrick. Clark just stood there for a moment longer, thinking about everything that had happened tonight. He decided to run into the gym, and check on everyone. Just to make sure everyone was okay, and they were. Xander, Chloe, Willow, and Pete were all dancing and having the time of their lives. Without a care in the world, and with that thought Clark realized that with everything he now knows, and with everything he's seen tonight. Nothing will ever be the same. He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to be as care free as they all seemed at this moment, but he was defiantly going to try. He smiled and ran home.

Outside with Buffy and Merrick

"Would you mind waiting for me? Just 10 minutes." Buffy asked. She saw Merrick's expression change from annoyance to understanding and with that he nodded. She smiled and turned around to head into the school. On her way there she realized that she was feeling a cold breeze on her stomach. She put her hand there and felt that her dress had been torn sometime during all the fighting. She quickly ran into a bathroom and saw that not only was her dress ruined, but her hair was a mess, and she had dirt all over her. She wanted to cry right there and then, but she didn't. At this point all she wanted to know was if Whitney was in there. Had he actually ditched her or had he never shown up in the first place. She entered the gym through a back door leading to the top of the bleachers. It was a dark corner so she knew no one would see her. She stood up there and looked at all the people dancing and having the time of their lives, but Whitney wasn't there. Instantly worry began to settle in the pit of her stomach, but at this point all she wanted to do was go home, take a shower, and cry in peace. She walked back outside and home is exactly where Merrick took her.

Inside the barn

Clark was using his telescope to look up at the stars when he footsteps approaching behind him. "Your Grandfather gave me that telescope when was your age. Came downstairs for breakfast one morning and there it was." Jonathan said as he reminisced about the day. Clark stopped looking through it and sat down beside it, sadness radiating off him. "Are you okay?" Jonathan asked concerned.

"Can I answer that in about five years?" Clark asked barely raising his head to look his father in the face. Jonathan chuckled and looked onto Clark with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah." Jonathan replied before exiting the barn. The sides of Clarks lips struggled to raise but they did.

"Dad?" Clark shouted right before his father fully exited. "I'm glad you and mom were the ones that found me."

"We didn't find you Clark. You found us." Jonathan smiled, and Clark returned his smile with an even bigger one. Jonathan left the barn and Clark switched on his stereo and went back to looking at the stars.

"So the dance was fun. I would've preferred punch and dancing with my girlfriends, but taking out vampires? Who gets to say they did that on Homecoming dance night?" Buffy said, completely surprising Clark. He practically jumped from his telescope.

"Buffy, what're you doing here?" Clark asked awkwardly as Buffy stood there in her torn dress. It was as if Clark was seeing her for the first time tonight and even with her messed up hair and dirt covering the sides of her face she still looked beautiful to him.

"I told you I'd save you a dance." Buffy said smiling as she made her way over to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he watched with amazement. It was as if this were all a dream. She placed her head on his chest, and they swayed back and forth for two slow songs. Clark felt so happy, but he couldn't help but feel so sorrowful for the hell that she would face tomorrow. He knew that he probably should have told her about Whitney, but he couldn't bear himself to do it. Buffy pulled away and looked into his eyes. "Is everything okay Clark?" He nodded and they swayed until she left to go home. That moment he would try to hold onto forever.

The next day

It was 2:00pm and Clark had heard someone ringing the doorbell and knocking on the front door. Both of his parents were out in the town buying more supplies so he answered it. The image in front of him would be one that he wouldn't forget any time soon. It was Buffy. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked fragile, like if he touched her shoulder she would collapse onto the floor. She looked straight into his eyes and he watched as a single tear escaped. "Whitney was murdered. They're saying it was a brutal animal attack, but Merrick already filled me in on what that means. It was Jesse wasn't it?" Clark had no idea how to answer that question all he ended up doing was nodding. More tears started flowing from Buffy's eyes. "You knew, and you didn't say anything. You saved Jesse's life and then you let him go."

"Buffy I-"

"Don't bother." Buffy left his door step and stormed straight home.

A/N: Well guys it's been over a year and I can't even tell you how much it means to me that you came back to read this chapter. I am so sorry that it's been so long, and I could sit here and type a thousand excuses, but at the end of the day I wasn't writing like I should have. My plan is to continue onward with this story, and I hope you'll bear with me. Thanks again for reading this chapter and sticking with the story for so long.