Dreams Do Come True

Title: Dreams Do Come True

Author: Kirsten Tapp

Standard Disclaimer: Buffy, the vampire slayer doesn't belong to the author, but to Joss Whedon, WB, etc. The characters of Cassandra, Marcus, Stephanie however do belong to the author. No copyright infringement intended.

Rating: PG - some graphical violence

Lightening was such a common occurrence these days in LA. People just carried on with their normal everyday and nightly business. Even freakish displays of lightening such as tonight's multi coloured light show didn't spark the interest of the passers by.

In a mental institute on the out skirts of LA, Ethan Rayne raised his head to glance out of the window at the spectacular sky. A smile crossed his face. "She is coming." The smile broadened. "And soon I will be free."

Sunnydale

Cassandra rarely dreamed. Visions came and went, but dreams were rare. This dream felt so real. His breath on her neck, his lips on her skin, his fingers gliding through her hair. How she loved this dream.. Forcing her eyes open, she found herself looking into a familiar pair of warm brown eyes. "Stephen." Her face lit up as she reached out to caress his face, to make sure he was real.

"Happy Birthday Princess." Stephen couldn't believe how one person could get more beautiful every time he saw her. The only sign of her true age was in her eyes and yet, even they still showed the innocence of the eighteen year old she had been.

"I missed you." Cassandra reached out and pulled him closer. It always surprised the both of them how two creatures with such cold skin could generate so much heat between them.

Stephen chuckled. "How much." He kissed her lightly at first, but a year apart made it impossible for either of them to control their passion.

Xander looked up at the ceiling as the group sitting around the dinning table heard yet another bang from upstairs. "How long is that now? Four hours?"

"Five." Anya bit into a piece of toast. "The first hour they actually used the bed." She sipped her coffee. "That crash sounded like a lamp, so I'm guessing they moved onto the dressing table from the floor."

"Hey, if your husband only came home once a year you'd be clocking up some mileage in the bedroom too." Buffy fed Stephanie her breakfast while trying to consume some of her own.

Dawn screwed up her nose. "Why does he only come home once a year? Does he work overseas or something?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "He can't. I don't know what the deal is, but he can only return once a year in human form. I guess that's why Stephen tries to make that one day and night Cassandra's birthday."

Willow poured some orange juice into Dawn's glass. "I guess it really gives Cass something to look forward to on her birthday." She blushed when she realized how that must have sounded. "I mean, you know, seeing Stephen."

Another bang from upstairs shook the mansion. Tara frowned. "Was that a door?"

Oz nodded. "The Princess makes the most of the whole room." He poured some cereal into a bowl.

It had only been a couple of months since Joyce Summers had died and Cassandra had been more than happy to have Dawn move into the mansion. Everybody had pitched in so that Dawn hadn't felt the lose of her mother so much. It was also a load off of Buffy's shoulders as well.

The fax in the corner of the room started to ring, changing the focus of everyone's attention. Giles, who had arrived earlier, went to see what was coming through the fax. A look of alarm crossed his face. "I think somebody had better go and get the Princess."

"Oh come on Giles." Xander hoped the Watcher was just over reacting to whatever news he held in his hand. "It's her birthday. Can't she have one day off?"

"Not when Ethan Rayne's on the loose." Giles frowned at Xander. "The fax is from Angel. He thinks Ethan is heading this way."

Buffy handed Stephanie to Dawn. "How the hell did he break through Cass' binding spell?" She headed upstairs. She had only gotten up the first couple of steps when she saw Cassandra and Stephen coming down towards her. "Did you have a vision?"

"Yes. I am not impressed with the timing." Cassandra read the fax sheet that Giles handed her. "Buffy. Can you give Angel a call and ask him if Cordellia had a vision about this. Two visions are better than one." She looked down at her daughter in Dawn's arms. "Dawn, are you alright looking after Stephanie for a while, so that I can get changed?"

Dawn nodded. "Sure." She wanted to feel as though she were helping in some way. She knew that Buffy wouldn't allow her to go along with the group if they had to hunt something.

"Thanks." Cassandra ran back upstairs with Stephen right behind her.

Xander kept his voice low so as not to upset Dawn. "This is bigger than just Ethan causing his usual trouble, isn't it."

Giles nodded. "I'm afraid so. If Ethan has managed to break Cassandra's binding spell, he must have had some sort of help. It could mean that the other binding spells may have been broken as well."

Oz joined them. "So I guess we can expect more company, like Drusilla and a load of trolls."

"Oh hell." Giles rubbed his forehead. "I'd forgotten about them."

"Can we bind them again before they escape?" Willow and Tara joined the group. "I mean we could use a location spell if they have broken loose and bind them before they get too far." Willow shuddered. "Especially those trolls."

"That may not be our best or first option." Buffy walked back into the room. "Angel says that Cordellia saw a woman in her vision. She thinks that she's the one behind the broken binding spells. Since she also saw Cassandra in her vision, it's a sure thing she's heading this way."

Oz frowned. "Did Cordellia give a description of this woman? Maybe we can find her before she finds Cass."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "The best she could do is: White trash with a bad blond dye job."

"Great." Xander forced a gleeful tone. "That covers fifty percent of the female population of Sunnydale." When he got filthy looks from the females around him, he clarified his answer. "Present company definitely not included in the fifty percent."

"Well, perhaps we can find something in the library." Giles suggested. "Willow why don't you see if you can find anything similar on the computer."

"You mean binding spells being broken?" Willow wasn't quite sure what she would be looking for.

"A mass of broken binding spells." Tara suggested helpfully.

"Oh great. It's going to be another chaos filled week." Anya volunteered sarcastically. "Just what we live for. At least those of us who are alive."

Xander hurried his girlfriend out of the room before Cassandra came back. There were times when Anya's lack of tack out did even Cordellia's reign of tactlessness in Sunnydale.

Oz turned the page of yet another book. "It would help if we had a slightly better description of who we are looking for." He shrugged his shoulders. "Not that it ever stopped us before."

Cassandra leaned back against Stephen's chest and looked over at Oz. "It wouldn't make a difference if we did. The woman is some sort of glamour. Depending on who was looking at her, she would appear as someone different, even a different sex."

"Why would Cordellia see her as a woman then?" Buffy tried to follow the logic. Though most of the time with demons, there was no logic. "Wouldn't she see the glamour as a man?"

"Not necessarily." Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Cordellia's visions come from the Powers that be. Who knows where they get them from."

"So in other words, she's getting a spectators view passed on to her. The spectator therefore must have been a guy." Xander looked quite proud of himself.

"Or the spectator's a gay woman." Anya didn't even look up from the book she was reading, so she missed the hurt look on Xander's face, at her dismissive comment.

"Got it." Willow's excited cry from behind the computer brought the whole group running. "Boy. They have a glamour for every occasion, don't they."

Stephen stood behind Cassandra with his arms around her waist. "So what's this glamour for? Sucking the life and soul out of a birthday?"

"This one's your basic revenge demon. Somebody made a mighty big wish to bring this one forward. That and a sprinkling of a few selected herbs." Willow pointed to a paragraph on the screen.

Tara looked over at Cassandra. "Could it be as simple as someone trying to grant you a birthday wish and using the wrong herbs." She looked nervous when everyone turned to look at her. She didn't like being the center of attention. "It's j..j..just the sp. spells look s..s..similar." She always stuttered when she was nervous.

The group thought about Tara's comment for a moment. Then the same idea occurred to all of them. "Spike!"

"Probably wished for a birthday, you'd never forget." Oz commented.

"Physco vampires, insane warlocks and multi colored trolls." Xander nodded. "I think you're going to get his wish."

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Lucky me and I didn't have to blow any candles out to get the wish that I didn't want."

Buffy glanced out of the tinted window. "The sun's still out so I'm guessing Spike will be home. I'll go and see if I can get some details out of him."

Giles nodded in agreement. "We have a better chance of fighting whatever he's let loose, if we know which spell we have to reverse."

"Want some company?" Xander knew that Spike couldn't hurt any of them while he still had the chip in his head. It didn't stop him from not trusting the vampire, especially if Harmony was still hanging around.

Buffy shook her head. "No. I don't think I'll have any trouble with Spike." A disgusted look crossed her face. "As sick as this is going to sound, I think he actually had the best of intentions when he cast the spell."

Tara pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Unfortunately, the best of intentions don't help if you don't know what you're doing. Witchcraft is dangerous at the best of times."

"It's down right lethal when you have no idea what you're doing." Willow wondered what other spells Spike may have attempted.

"Better get over there quick before he attempts a spell to get that chip out of his head." Anya chipped in. "If he's this bad at witchcraft, he might end up exploding his own head."

Xander looked over at his girlfriend. "And that would be a bad thing why?"

Anya stared at him as though he was insane. "Have you ever seen someone's head explode? It takes months to clean up the mess."

"Yeah. I'm going to get going now." Buffy had gotten used to having an unusual life. There were still times when the people around her were too strange. "Dawn! I'll be back soon. Stay with Cass ok."

"Sure." Dawn was still looking after Stephanie, so for the moment she was keeping busy.

Spike stood admiring his handy work. The crypt was still covered in cobwebs, but he had found some pieces of furniture which had been thrown out and had added a few other touches. "Looks more homely."

"Love what you've done with the place." Spike spun around to find Buffy standing behind him. Buffy walked around the crypt checking out the extra bits and pieces. "Who's your maid service though? You might want to change it, they seem to have missed all of the cobwebs when they were dusting." She stopped right in front of him. "So cast any spells lately Spike?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Should have known this wasn't just a social visit. What/ The Princess doesn't like her birthday present? She's not having her dreams come true?"

"More like her nightmares." Buffy stood with her hands on her hips. "I need a copy of the spell you cast so that we can reverse it."

Spike was genuinely alarmed. "How could that have gone wrong? What, her husband didn't turn up to give her a bit of birthday slap and tickle?"

Buffy gave an unladylike snort. "Stephen would have turned up even without your spell. You've brought forth some sort of glamour, who is undoing all of Cass' binding spells."

Spike shrugged his shoulders. "So why don't you and your little Scooby gang just bind them again."

Buffy spoke as though she was explaining something to a child. "Well first we have to stop the glamour. Then we have to figure out how many of the binding spells it has broken. The second part probably won't be a problem considering the demons and evil people that Cass has bound will probably turn up on our doorstep. Now give me the damn spell."

Spike begrudgingly picked up a book and flicked through the pages until he found the spell. "Here." He managed to look slightly ashamed. "Tell her Royal Highness I'm sorry."

Buffy couldn't believe she felt a slight twinge of sympathy for the vampire. "Thanks. I will." She turned and walked out of the crypt.

Ethan walked along the streets of Sunnydale looking from side to side as he moved. The Summer's house was completely empty, not even a trace that somebody had once lived there. The same could be said for the house across the street where he had heard Cassandra lived. It was as if they had both disappeared off the face of the earth. Ethan knew the Slayer would never leave Sunnydale permanently while there were vampires around. "Where are they." He muttered under his breath. "I owe the Princess a birthday present." He continued down the street, rambling insanely under his breath, completely unaware that he was being watched.

Marcus remained hidden in the bushes beside the Summer's house. Buffy had asked him if he would mind bringing over the last of Dawn's gear from the house. As he had come around the side he had spotted Ethan checking inside the house and the one across the street that his mother used to live in. Thinking it was wiser to stay put, he had been watching Ethan the whole time. Once Ethan was a safe distance away, Marcus walked over to his car, loaded the last carton into the back and headed towards the mansion. Something wasn't right in Sunnydale. Something other than the usual bump in the night stuff.

Buffy handed Tara the book Spike had given her, still open at the appropriate page. "He said he used this spell. I'm no expert but it doesn't look as though it's that bad to me."

Tara shook her head. "No, it's fine as long as he didn't substitute any of the ingredients."

Willow looked over Tara's shoulder at the spell. "Which he probably did, considering how hard the last three ingredients are to come by."

"So we need to know what Spike substituted them with first, don't we?" Oz's face remained expressionless as usual.

Giles shook his head as he too looked over Tara's shoulder at the spell. "No. I think we may have enough to go on to at least send the glamour back to where it came from." He glanced at both Tara and Willow. "The two of you get started on a location spell to find the glamour." He turned to face the rest of the group. "The rest of us will work on finding the unbound creatures the old fashioned way."

Xander scratched his head. "Well, we know Ethan's on his way here, thanks to our vision network." He looked questioningly at the former watcher. "But we don't know what else is free or in fact if anything else is free."

"Xander's right." Buffy chipped in. "Besides, won't they all just head straight for the Princess."

Stephen cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "I know that I'm not around much, but with all of you moving into the mansion, won't you all be a lot harder to find?" He looked down at his wife, who was cuddled up in his arms. "None of you are in the same places that you were in a year ago. Even if Drusilla's loose and finds you, she can't come in without an invitation."

Anya frowned. "What's up with that. I thought vampires could go into other vampire's homes."

Cassandra grinned. "My name's not the one on the ownership papers. So as long as the person who's name is on the ownership papers still has a soul, no vampire may enter uninvited."

"Very clever." Giles was impressed. Cassandra had taken every precaution to keep the occupants of the mansion safe.

Marcus walked into the room at that moment. "Hey Dad." He waved hello to Stephen once he had put down the carton of Dawn's belongings. "Were you expecting some company?"

Cassandra nodded. "Not of a good kind. Who have you seen?"

Marcus sat down on the arm of the sofa beside his mother. "There was a guy looking around your old place and the Summer's house. I didn't recognize him, but he sort of looks like that Ethan Rayne guy you described to me. Didn't you bind him in a mental hospital a few months back?"

"Yes." Cassandra frowned. "Someone or something let him loose. A problem we are trying to fix at the moment."

"No offense Cass." Oz piped up. "But what's to stop Ethan from using a location spell to find you?"

"The protection spell she cast over the mansion." Willow sat down beside the coffee table and spread out a map. She uncapped a marker pen and wrote a G on the map. "Ok. This is where the glamour is at the moment." She wrote an E on the map. "And this is where Ethan is at the moment."

Xander lent forward and looked at the map. "Well, for starters our old friend Ethan is heading in the wrong direction. That buys us some time right?"

Buffy nodded. "Right. We don't know who else is loose at the moment so why don't we start with the glamour." She started to issue instructions. "Willow, Tara and Anya, you three see if you can reverse Spike's birthday present." She looked out of the window. "We still have an hour to sunset so even if Drusilla is loose, she won't be able to make a move for an hour. I'm guessing the trolls will stay put for that hour as well. Dawn, we need you to stay taking care of Stephanie." When she saw the down hearted look on her sister's face she changed her tone to one a little less commanding. "You have the most important job. Cass and Stephen need to know Stephanie is with someone they trust."

Dawn realized she really was helping. At least she felt included and part of the team. "No problem."

"Right." Buffy was back in command mode. "Everyone else grab a weapon of choice. We'll head out. If you see something walking around that should be bound, be careful, but try and contain it until Cass, Anya, Willow or Tara can get to you and perform the binding spell. All clear." Everyone nodded. "Ok let's head out."

Too many years fighting demons had them working as a skilled fighting unit with Buffy in command.

Spike instinctively knew when the sun had gone down. It was an extra sense he had acquired when he became a vampire. "Alright Drusilla." He spoke more to break the silence than anything. "Where are you and your multi colored friends hiding." He walked out of his crypt into the bleak darkness. Suddenly a yellow haired troll ran across his path. "Looks like it's time to play follow the troll." Spike shrugged his shoulders and raced after the little creature.

"Hey. I have a question." Xander and Oz were keeping six or so trolls cornered. Xander kept his eyes on the trolls as he spoke. "How do we know if the girls have reversed the spell and sent the glamour back to where it came from?"

"Would an expressive fireworks display be a good enough sign for you." Oz was staring at the night sky, which had suddenly lit up.

Even the trolls looked up to see what Oz was talking about. Xander thought he actually heard the trolls utter a curse word under their breaths.

"Bye bye guys. Been nice seeing you again." Xander waved good bye to the trolls as Cassandra came into view.

"Go back to where you came from." Cassandra waved her hand in the air and the trolls disappeared. "Right. Let's move on to the next section of Sunnydale."

Xander and Oz followed her to her car and climbed in. "Where to next?" Oz sat in the front passenger's seat next to Cassandra. Then he saw the D marked on the map. "Never mind. I think that I just answered my own question."

Ethan knew someone was following him. He felt slightly concerned considering the bizarre things the night sky was doing at the moment. So busy looking at the sky was he, that Ethan walked straight into Buffy and Giles. Ethan smiled pleasantly at the twosome. "Hello Ripper. Nice night for a walk, isn't it."

"Not when you're in town Ethan." Giles smiled at his old acquaintance, yet the smile never reached his eyes. "You look as though you've lost something."

"Or someone." Buffy look was as icy as her tone. "Aren't you supposed to be incaserated in a mental hospital in LA."

The smile left Ethan's face. "Yes. Well, they let me out for the weekend to visit an old friend." He started to walk away from them.

Out of the darkness, Willow walked chanting the binding spell. She finished up pointing her finger in the air in front of her as though she was pushing a button. "Play."

"No!" Ethan's horror at that one little word was indescribable

"Bye Ethan. Don't come back." Buffy quipped as Ethan disappeared. "Well, as always it was a pleasure to see him. Not!"

"Where to next?" Giles looked at the map. "I think I can guess where Cassandra will head."

"Buffy glanced at the map and saw the D. "Let's go."

Stephen ran after the trolls with Marcus right beside him. "We've got to corner these things off somewhere so Tara can catch up."

Marcus nodded in agreement. "Is this what they call family bonding? Cause I'd prefer a slower pace." Finally they managed to back the trolls up against a brick wall.

Tara came running up behind them. "Give me .a . minute." Struggling to get her breath, she panted out the binding spell. When the trolls disappeared into thin air the threesome looked at each other somewhat disillusioned.

"I wish I could say that's something you don't see everyday." Marcus shook his head.

"Since I met your mother, I've seen a lot of things on a regular basis, that I only used to see in my nightmares." Stephen slapped his son on the back. "But then I got to spend more time with your mother while she fought them, so I guess it all evened out."

Tara pulled out the map. "Where should we head next?"

Stephen looked over her shoulder at the map. "Cassandra will head straight for that D."

"Let's go join her then." Marcus had already started walking in the right direction.

Spike slid to a stop as the troll approached the mansion that Buffy and Cassandra lived at. Grabbing the troll, he tucked the creature under his arm and started walking towards the mansion at a calmer pace. "Where are you Drusilla?" He knew she was close by.

"Spike, my sweet." Drusilla glided out of the shadows. "She's moved into our home. I can't get in." She pouted. "The little girl won't let me in."

"It's not our home anymore Drusilla." Spike calmly explained as he got a firmer grip on the troll, which had started to struggle.

"You're defending her." Drusilla's expression changed to fury. "And the Slayer. Traitor!" She lunged at Spike.

Spike had known Drusilla far too long not to have anticipated her move. He quickly side stepped so that Drusilla missed him completely and ended up face down in the mud. That only made her madder.

Standing slowly, Drusilla glared at Spike through the mud covering her face. "Betrayer." She practically spat the words out.

As she took another run at Spike, Anya, Willow, Tara and Cassandra walked up behind him. Turning to make a dash for it, Drusilla found Buffy, Giles, Stephen, Marcus, Oz and Xander behind her. She slashed at Stephen with her nails, but Stephen grabbed her by the wrists before she could do any damage and spun her around to face the spell casters. "Now!"

The spell could barely be heard above Drusilla's insane screaming. As the last few words were uttered, Stephen let go of Drusilla and Spike threw the troll at her. The both disappeared in a blaze of light.

"No offense Mom." Marcus' voice broke through the deafening silence. "But your birthday's really suck."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Buffy smirked. "I'm sure there were a few highlights this morning."

Cassandra wrapped her arms around her husband. "There's still a few hours left to my birthday." She glanced over at Spike. "And you. Next time say it with flowers."

Spike hung his head in shame. "Sorry." He finally looked around him. "Is that everything rounded up and bound again?"

Willow nodded. "We managed to reverse your spell before too much damage was done."

Anya huffed. "I can think of better ways to spend my evenings." She looked up at Xander. "Can we go now, I'm hungry."

"Perhaps it would be best if we returned to the mansion." Giles pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Dawn will no doubt be wondering what is going on."

The group starting walking towards the mansion. For a moment Spike followed them, then deciding that it wasn't really a good idea, he turned and headed back to his crypt. "Happy Birthday Princess." He muttered under his breath.

"Thank you." Cassandra's voice drifted over to him with the night breeze.

Buffy watched through the bedroom window as Cassandra and Stephen said good bye. "It's a good job neither of them needs to breath." She spoke more to herself that to anyone in particular. She had sensed Dawn come into the room. "You did good tonight." She looked at her sister standing beside her and then back out the window.

"What is it about them that makes you so sad?" Dawn glanced out the window as well. "They look happy enough."

Buffy shook her head. "They're happy when they are together, but a year is a long time to be apart from someone you're in love with. I thought it was bad enough me being in Sunnydale with Angel in LA."

Dawn considered what Buffy had said for a moment. "I bet she gets lonely."

Buffy thought about her own circumstances. "I'm sure she does."

Stephen knew it was time to go, but each time he had to leave it became harder. "I love you." He ran his fingers down her cheek. His fingers were already becoming transparent.

"I love you too." Cassandra took a step back. Stephen was going back to his ghostly form and she could no longer hold him. As she watched, he faded from sight. Slowly she turned and walked back into the mansion. "Time to wake up and go back to the real world." She murmured to herself as she climbed the stairs to put her daughter to bed.

For once Sunnydale was quiet and peaceful. It wouldn't last.

THE END