#childrenofcharacter

Mandi found herself frantically running through the woods as the sun began to rise in the sky somewhere on the outskirts of New York City desperately searching for any sign of a corpse, the corpse in question being Buffy Summers’ son who had recently been killed by Drusilla. She knew that the rising sun would eventually set once again and if she did not get to Tristan Summers’ body in time then he would rise again as a vampire, a vampire they would have to kill and she wanted to spare Buffy of that heartbreak but as she continued to charge through the endless woods she began fearing she would never get to Tristan in time. Of course she was not alone in her search or in her despair as Spike was held up in an abandoned hospital nearby, having no choice but to stay in the shadows as the growing sun would turn him to ashes if he did not. Spike hoped with all of his undead heart that witch Mandi Jenkins would deal with Tristan before either Buffy or Angel had to deal with their undead child, knowing Buffy would never come back from killing her own son and fearing Angel would do anything to protect any form of the child that until recently he had no idea he had.

Drusilla had found herself a small cave within the woods to find shelter in and hide from the burning power of the sun after burying the child she had claimed as her own, not wanting to leave him alone but knowing her vampirism would only lead to her burning if she attempted to stand in the direct sunlight. She stood within the caves in a rare moment of not knowing for the psychedelic Drusilla as the sun was only beginning to set giving the slayers and their friends plenty of time to find where she had buried Tristan not knowing if she would get to the slayer’s son before they would, wondering if Tristan would be killed once more before he even had a chance to rise.

Willow sat next to Buffy as the two sat within the first class seating on an airplane heading straight for New York City fearing the worst possible outcome as she continued to stare at an emotionless Buffy who was at the window seat staring blankly into the sky, the two not sharing a single word since the redheaded witch was forced to tell her blonde haired best friend that she may have to slay her own son. “I am sick of the sacrifices,” Buffy announced, breaking the silence between herself and Willow as she turned to face her bewitching friend. “I am done with the heart wrenching surprises how the chaos always bleeds throughout my life how people I care about become body after body…all I ever wanted was to protect him from all this and now I have no idea what he is becoming.” “I know Buffy,” Willow replied as she reached out her hand and held her friend’s hand. “I really wish things did no turn out like this that we could have saved him but in a way we still can…” “I do not want to kill him Willow!” Buffy said as her voice began to break and tears began falling from her eyes. “Maybe we can try giving him a soul somehow? I mean it would not be the exact same spell as Angel’s but hey if Spike can get himself a soul then I can surely whip one up somehow for Tristan.” Willow suggested, hoping to find some last-minute fix to get themselves out of the dreadful situation they were heading straight for. “And then what everybody he kills until then is on us for not being able to stop it?” Buffy asked as tears continued to fall down the cheeks of her face. “I hate that I always have to choose between the world and who I love!” “Last time Angelus payed a visit Wesley, Fred, Gunn and a heavily possessed and pregnant Cordelia had him locked up in a cage maybe we can take a page out of their book and keep him locked up until we re-soul him.” Willow told Buffy before coming to a worrying realisation. “Although when Tristan had a soul and was human, he was killing people and attempting to kill you and Angel so even if we do get his soul back…” “He will just go straight back to trying to kill us all, there is already far too much blood on his hands, the vampirism with or without a soul will only help him to cause more pain and take more lives.” Buffy cried, knowing that there was no way out of what she had to do. “He is my son; I took him into this world and because I failed to protect him, I am going to have to be the one who takes him out of this world.” Willow wanted so badly to say something that would comfort Buffy or think of something that could stop her best friend from feeling the pain of losing her child but she knew as much as the slayer herself knew in that moment that there was no magical solution to their problem and that Tristan Summers had to die again, so instead of rambling more or trying to come up with solutions she already debunked in her mind she just continued to tighten her grip on Buffy’s hand, tighter and tighter, letting her know that whatever Buffy had to face she would never have to face any of it alone.

Faith and Angel had also found themselves on a different airplane heading to New York as Angel began his quest to find his son reminding him all too well of the troubles he faced with his firstborn son Connor but despite all the chaos that ensued with Angel and Connor, Connor had never lost his soul which gave Angel the undying hope for their relationship to be redeemed. Angel had only came face to face with his second son Tristan a hand full of times and each time it had resulted in his son trying to kill him, which was before he lost his soul and began his process into joining the undead population. The vampire with a soul wanted to mourn his son’s death, grieve the man he could have been or even learn to love the monster his son would become but all he could feel in that moment was rage, rage towards Buffy for never telling him about Tristan until it was too late, rage towards Willow for accidentally losing him within time and rage towards Faith for keeping their secrets from him. “This would never have happened if I was there to protect him!” Angel announced to Faith, ending the awkward silence between the strained friends. “You were not there, Angel…B, Willow and I tried everything to protect your kid, but the monsters just kept coming.” Faith replied, trying to justify her betrayal while knowing she could not. “I owed it to B to be there for her after everything!” “You owed it to Buffy?” Angel snapped at the redeemed slayer. “What about me? I always had your back and yes you had mine until you helped keep my son away from me.” “It was not supposed to happen like that Angel, Willow opened that portal to the past, but we were all meant to go through it. Nobody meant to take him from you or abandon him to be raised under Drusilla’s delusions but that is what went down and all I can say is I am sorry.” Faith explained, knowing it would not help their fractured friendship. “If I was there or if I had known where he had been sent…” Angel began to say. “It is just like Connor all over again only this time the craziest vampire in all of existence, the woman I tortured before turning has stepped in to play pseudo parent to my child. Holtz has nothing on her!” “I am not giving up on Tristan I saw something in him the moment I met him and vampire or not…” Faith declared, making it clear she had not giving up on Angel’s son just yet. “He is a god damn vampire!” Angel shouted at her, raising his voice so loud that the other passengers on the plane began to take notice. “There is no other way out of this that does not end with a stake in my son’s chest and that is because of you, Willow and Buffy!” Faith wanted to argue Angel’s fear away but she knew she could not, she wanted to apologize until Angel accepted it but she knew he would not and so she just shut her mouth and embraced the silence once more as they travelled to New York hoping to save Tristan just like she had hoped time and time again since that first day they met outside Tristan and his vampire ex Dante’s demonic dive bar but she knew the odds were few and far between and that if she did try to save Buffy and Angel’s son she may even have to go up against his parents to do so.

Daylight was at it always is limited, and just like that the sun rose and the sun set as Mandi found herself lost within the woods located somewhere near New York City but as darkness once again returned she was far from alone as somewhere in those very woods was Tristan’s slayer mother Buffy, his vampire father Angel, Faith, Spike and unfortunately for her Drusilla too. Mandi had spent all day searching for Tristan’s makeshift grave but had found nothing, she had tried spell after spell until she had exhausted herself and still nothing it was like Drusilla had seen all this coming which for once she did not but Drusilla had not lived as long as she did without knowing how to survive and those survival instincts had clearly extended to her soon to be rising son Tristan. Suddenly Mandi began to feel the hairs on her neck rise as she heard a loud crackling noise which sounded like somebody had just broken a tree branch forcing her to turn around and face the noise coming from behind her only to be left shocked to see Drusilla now standing in front of her in full vampire face. “Did you mother never tell you not to go into the woods at night?” Drusilla asked, sounding as sinister as she always did before letting out a haunting giggle. “Talking of mother’s, you sure turned out to be the worst one in history Dru.” Mandi snapped at the female vampire, trying to hide her fear behind her fury. “We came with you that day and it was the worst decision we ever did, following you has turned out to be a mistake for everyone involved.” “Now let us not exchange such harsh words not on the eve of my son coming back to me.” Drusilla replied. “Do not worry I have not forgot about you; you will be my baby boy’s first feed as a vampire!” “Figures you would want me dead; I mean you killed Tristan and then there’s Dante who let’s face it might not have been you, but it was certainly because of you.” Mandi told Drusilla, as she began to think of a spell to use against her. “No!” Drusilla repeated frantically as she tugged on her own hair manically. “Dante was supposed to be here…” As Drusilla continued to cry “No” frantically a quick thinking Mandi began chanting in a long forgotten language summoning a fireball between in the air between the witch and vampire just and just as Drusilla began to notice what she was doing the fireball launched its way towards Drusilla launching itself into her chest and sending Drusilla backwards into the dirt as Mandi quickly began running away from the vampire and further into the woods now only hoping to make it out of the woods alive.