Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Pretender. You'd never mix them, right? Nevertheless, OneHipKitten asked me for them and I complied. I'm actually pretty happy with the result. Three drabbles. I'm not posting this as a deviation because it's essentially fanfic--and because it's a drabble-saga.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Blood is thicker than water.

You'd have to be as brain-dead as my brother to think differently. Even so, we're unusual, us Parkers. In both worlds. Family and Family. Bound by first blood, bound by second blood.

Jarod wasn't of the first, but he was supposed to be of the second. He was supposed to be mine. We choose our Family carefully, and we wanted him back.

I wanted him back. Without him, I was nothing, the lowest rung in our hierarchy. With him…we could work our way to the top.

Somehow, he found the Slayer.

He's a liability now.


*_*_*_*_*_*

Jarod hit the river about noon. He crossed it and traveled a few yards downstream, crossed it again, circling around the underbrush on that side, crossed it again, and repeated the process a few more times until he was sure his scent was thoroughly confused. It would stop them from using the hounds.

It wouldn't stop Parker, but he had to take the time now to find any advantage he could.

Before night fell and Parker was on his tail again.

He needed more time.

More time to convince her to stop, if she could be convinced.

He wasn't sure.

*_*_*_*_*_*

In the end, the Slayer…slayed. Slew. Whatever.

The vampires—and there were a lot of them tonight—turned to dust under their stakes. The Slayer and her allies made short work of the clan—Powerful as they were, they were no match for her and her friends.

Then it was only Jarod and Her. They stood, her hand on his heart, her lips shining red in the moonlight, curved into a smile.

The Slayer raised her hand to dust Her.

In the end, the Slayer was only human, and no human could see beauty—however twisted—and strike it down.