The Fallen Slayer {1}

Save My Soul

Jeremy Gilbert was in front of her.

Her little bear was standing across from her in the cage her mind had forged and the sight of him made Buffy sick to her stomach.

This was not the reunion Buffy ever would have imagined.

In those brief moments when she allowed her mind to think of him, not once had she imagined seeing his face again while trapped in a metal cage that was a figment of her imagination.

This whole thing was wiggy.

Tapping his knuckles against the 4-inch metal bars, Jeremy couldn't help but bark out a laugh at the irony of the situation. Of course, the two troublemakers of the Summers family would be reunited in a cage. The two of them had the highest arrest counts since their Grandfather Seth Summers, who had been arrested at least 17 times for possession.

"You and me in jail again. Gramps would be so proud we broke his record."

Buffy rolled her eyes at the statement "Seth was so drugged up he used to think he was in the waiting area of a hell, waiting to see the devil and that Grandma was the angel that broke down the door every time."

"He always did want to smoke with the devil." Jeremy argued with a playful glint in his eyes "Always said he thought he would be a cool dude and have the good pot."

Ignoring him, Buffy tapped her nails against one of the metal bars trying to pretend that those familiar whiskey-colored eyes weren't drilling into the side of her head. It was different being around her mother and father in this weird hallucination state. Her mother had been dead for years and despite how complicated her feelings about her father's murder were, it was nothing compared to the way Jeremy's death had affected her.

Her little bear's death had crushed her soul into a million pieces.

Their relationship was probably one of the healest relationships in Buffys' life. Yes, they had argued and disagreed but never to the degree she and Elena had. Buffy and Jeremy had always trusted and supported each other, the connection between them running deep in both of their hearts far before their connection as hunters had formed.

He had always been her baby brother, long before the declaration that she saw Elena as a sister.

Jeremy had been her Achilles heel and like most had assumed when something had happened to him, she had lost her damn mind. The jokes about how she would lose it if anyone hurt Jeremy had become a reality.


Jeremy had been murdered and Buffy had become a demon.

"Let's not get with the memory lane, Jerbear." Buffy snarked, continuing to tap her nails against the metal bars as her harsh gaze focused on Jeremy "Tell, me what you...or technically speaking my soul want, oh enlightened one."

Jeremy snorted at her snarky tone before moving to sit down on the floor, his legs splayed out as he leaned on his elbows trying to get comfortable "I am going to spit some facts at you which might make you gag." He warned, bringing one knee to his chest as he started grinning at her teasingly "You are my sister B. You are a devoted friend, a hero who saved the world a lot and is now tutoring herself because you have been told your entire life that nothing you did was enough."

Despite the way his words hit her straight in the heart like a bullet breaking through her skin, Buffy just swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to gag dramatically "I'll raise you an eww and cringe." She mocked before waving him off, trying to force his image away.

She would rather deal with Hank right now, which was saying a lot.

"We're done here. This is kind of a bore. I'll make you a deal...I'll be nice and then you can go get a brain."

There was a brief moment of silence followed by the echo of Jeremy's boots hitting the floor as he slowly approached her "The real Jeremy wouldn't give up on you. So I guess I am channeling that annoying stubborn Summers trait."

Technically speaking if they were going by blood, Jeremy and Buffy had been the last two members of the Summers family standing.


Now it was just Buffy...and Joy.