A/N- You know, I always get excited when I reach the double digits in chapter numbers. So here it is folks, without further ado, chapter ten! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Darkwing Duck or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of their related characters. Darkwing Duck belongs to Disney, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. All is done for fun, not profit.

Chapter Ten- Are You There, Willow? It's Me, Buffy Summers.

Buffy found herself wondering, as she, Darkwing, and Mindy stood on Morgana's front porch, if anyone noticed this weird, creepy manor right in the middle of downtown St. Canard. She did not have long to wonder, as the door—completely of its own volition—opened wide for them. Darkwing eyed the two slayers and shrugged.

"I've always taken that to mean, 'come on in,'" he said.

The three crossed the threshold, the door slamming shut as soon as they had cleared it. Following closely to Darkwing—who was the only one, other than Morgana herself, who really knew how to navigate the house—they eventually came out into the familiar living room, where Morgana sat upon her couch, her two pet bats circling her head, and a spider relaxing on her shoulder.

She glanced up from her dusty spell book, smiling only briefly as her eyes searched the group. However, when they landed upon Mindy, her gaze turned icy. She rose, crossing her arms, and moved only a few steps forward.

"I'm so glad you hurried over, Dark, darling," she said, not a scrap of warmth in her voice.

Darkwing arched a brow. He glanced backwards at the two slayers that had followed him in, as if he had missed something. When he turned back to Morgana, confusion was infused in his next question.

"What's wrong, honeywumpus? Did something happen?" he asked. Then, placing at hand to his chest, he added, "I didn't do anything, did I?"

He sounded a little afraid at that one. Finally, with a sigh, Mindy stepped forward.

"Actually, Darkwing, I think that cold shoulder is directed at me. Morgana and I've met, previously," she said. Then, with a half smile, the young slayer added, "But we've never been formerly introduced. My name's Mindy."

She extended a hand and let it hang there. For a moment, it looked as if Morgana was not going to accept the handshake. But with a roll of her eyes, she grabbed Mindy's hand and shook it once, releasing it quickly.

"I know who you are, vampire slayer," Morgana said, moving back to sit on the couch.

"Wait, wait. You knew about vampire slayers?" Darkwing asked, moving to sit with her.

Morgana shrugged. "I managed to keep the prejudice out of my voice when I met Buffy since I knew, on sight, that she had bigger problems to deal with… but, Dark, my entire family are nothing but monsters and demons. My own father has been hunted by slayers before. I'm sorry, but I sort of grew up with a pre-established prejudice against them."

"But… she's just a kid," Darkwing said, his voice flailing.

Mindy's eyes grew bright, a small smile on her face. "I've heard of your father. Moloculo Macawber, right? Oh, yeah, I've heard of him. He gives the Watcher's Council trouble on a regular basis."

Morgana gave a small laugh. "I bet he does. I've tried to get him to stop terrorizing the normals."

Mindy laughed. "Yeah, I know. The Watcher's Council thinks very highly of your efforts."

It was almost as if Morgana's icy demeanor toward the girl visibly melted. She smiled brightly at her and shook her head.

"Oh, really? Well, it's nothing, really. I could be doing more."

"Excuse me!" Buffy interrupted, making the "time-out" symbol with her hands. "Um, I really hate to break up this touching new friendship, but why'd you call us here, Morgana? Did you find something? Darkwing said that it sounded important."

"Oh, dear, yes! I do have something that you need to see! Or rather, hear," she said, standing.

She lifted her spell book up with her and snapped her fingers. Her podium came running, stopping just before her so that she could lay her book upon it. She cleared her throat, and flipped only a single page.

"Out of sight, but not of mind, let her voice be heard in kind!" Morgana shouted upwards.

In the brief moment that the simple spell had taken place, a massive gust of wind had kicked up, throwing open the manor's windows and billowing the curtains. Lightning had flashed, and thunder had crashed… and it had all ended as soon as Morgana had finished saying the words. With a satisfied smile, the duck-witch shut her book with a snap, and retook her seat upon the couch.

"Um," Darkwing said, looking all around, "honey, what exactly was all that?"

"Buffy?" came a voice that did not belong to anyone in the room.

But it was one that Buffy knew immediately. Throwing her eyes up at the ceiling, she smiled.

"W-Will? Is that you? Willow?" she shouted.

"You don't have to yell, Buffy. I can hear you just fine, and you should be able to hear me just as well," her disembodied friend replied.

Mindy's eyes narrowed as she looked to the witch that was fully present in the room.

"What is this, Morgana?" she asked.

"It's the quickest—and frankly, easiest—spell that Willow and I both knew so that the two could communicate across the inter-dimensional barriers. The other one is much too time and energy consuming to do at the moment," she answered.

Darkwing rose, staring up at the ceiling alongside Buffy.

"You know the person talking?" he asked. "I mean, she's from your world?"

"Yeah," Buffy said, grinning from ear to ear. "One of my besties."

Turning away from the Masked Mallard, she gazed back up at the ceiling and continued her conversation.

"Will, are you a sound for sore ears! Oh my God, have I been worried! Where's Dawn? What happened at the warehouse after I poofed? Is everyone all right?"

She could almost imagine her friend raising her hands to calm her. More than ever before, Buffy felt the ache for home.

"Everyone's fine, Buffy. The demons just sort of left after you poofed. Dawn's a little upset, but she's not hurt. Then I talked to Morgana and found out that you were in her world, which, let me tell you, saves us a lot of trouble on our end," Willow answered.

"You know Morg?" Darkwing asked, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Who's that?" Willow asked.

"Oh, that's, well, my boyfriend, Darkwing Duck," Morgana answered.

"Oh, pleased to meet you," Willow said.

"Yeah, likewise," Darkwing responded.

"I'm Mindy," Mindy put in, staring up at the ceiling as well.

"Yeah, Mindy's a vampire slayer in this world. They have slayers in this world too, Will," Buffy said.

"Oh, really? That's so strange. I wonder if the origin is the same?"

"With the Shadow Men stealing a girl from a nearby village and imbuing her with the essence of a demon?" Mindy asked.

"Yes! Wow. Our worlds are so completely different, but so alike in so many ways. Do you know that they even have Star Wars in their world, Buffy?"

Buffy laughed. "Andrew would be happy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all acquainted?" Darkwing asked. When he got mumbles of assent, he said, "Now, is anyone going to explain how my girlfriend knew about your dimension? And how your friend knew about our dimension?"

"You know, Will. You did know about a world full of talking ducks—no offense, guys. That does raise some questions… like, why not mention it to the rest of the Scoobies?" Buffy asked.

The usage of "Scoobies" got some stares, but no one asked any questions. There were just so many already on the plate.

"Well," Morgana began, "Willow and I were trying to keep it all under wraps until we got a bit more networked."

"Got what networked?" Mindy asked.

"Well, I've been playing with inter-dimensional magic—what little that humans can actually access without working full-on with demons—for a while now. I happened to be working on establishing connections with other dimensions on the same night that Morgana was doing a little magical experimenting herself. We both accidently stumbled into The Black Room—"

"The Black Room?" Darkwing asked.

"Long story, Dark. But the short of it is that Willow and I decided to start an inter-dimensional witches' coven. We've been slowly working on communicating with other dimensions since then."

"But not travelling?" Mindy asked.

At this point, both witches sighed and said, "No. Not travelling."

"And so we are back to our problem," Darkwing said, all but collapsing back onto the couch.

"Afraid so," Willow said.

"But… but this will help, having the two of you able to communicate, right?" Buffy asked.

"It can't hurt."

"Wait… I don't get it. Why can we talk to other dimensions, but not travel to them?" Mindy asked.

"Well, it takes a lot of work just to work a spell to get a voice across the barrier—a lot more than what it seemed a minute ago. I can't begin to describe the power necessary to do it with a whole body. Without the spell we need, it's virtually impossible," Morgana sighed.

"Super secret spell, again?" Buffy asked.

Morgana nodded as Willowed muttered, "Yes."

"But, wait… Negaduck did it," Darkwing said, standing.

"He's right," Buffy and Mindy said in unison.

"Who did it?" Willow asked.

"What do you mean, 'Negaduck did it'? How? Who'd he bring across? Because if you're talking about Negaduck crossing over from the Negaverse, that's an entirely different issue. You see, there's a tear in this world between our two dimensions. And believe me, Dark, that's a hell of a lot easier to maneuver. I wish there was a tear between ours and Buffy's world," Morgana said.

"No, I mean, he brought NegaBuffy into our dimension," Darkwing said, shaking his head.

"Who? Who are we talking about?" Willow asked.

"You mean, there's a negative version of Buffy in our world too?" Morgana asked, wonder in her voice.

"A vampire negative version," Mindy nodded.

"I'm lost," Willow said. "Someone catch me up."

And Buffy did, telling Morgana and Willow both the story of the appearance of her negative, vampiric counterpart. She told them about the fight at the power company, and everything that had happened since she had last been at Macawber Manor. At the end of it, Willow whistled.

"Wow. And this Negaduck… he's Darkwing's doppelganger?" Willow asked.

"Evil doppelganger, yes," Darkwing answered.

"And I've got to tell you, I wasn't too thrilled about meeting vampire me. It was so not a day at the beach," Buffy said.

"Welcome to the club. We're thinking about getting shirts," Willow huffed.

"Huh?" Darkwing asked.

"Oh, Will's already been there, done that," Buffy said, in lieu of explanation.

For a moment, it looked like Darkwing was going to question the situation further. But he only sighed, waving it off. Buffy turned her eyes back to the ceiling.

"Hey, Will? Would it be possible for me to talk to Dawn? It'd make me feel better to, you know, hear from her."

"Sure, hang on," Willow responded.

No one spoke for a moment, all eyes in the manor turned to the ceiling. In these quiet moments, Buffy found herself wondering why exactly it was the ceiling that they all chose to stare at to talk to Willow. It was not like her home dimension was above Darkwing's, was it?

"Buffy?" Dawn's voice sounded.

"Dawnie! Dawn, how are you? Are you all right?" Buffy asked, fighting the urge to climb the couch to get closer to the ceiling.

Again, why was it the ceiling? Maybe it was some sort of off-shoot God complex. A disembodied voice talks to you, you automatically assume "up." It was better than assuming "down."

"Buffy! I'm fine! Buffy, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! If I hadn't been there—"

"Oh, shut up! What're you even saying? This could not be further from being your fault! But you're okay? So is everyone else? What was that flash of green light from you?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, I think I can explain that. You see, the spell to hop dimensions without creating a permanent tear requires the usage of the Key," Willow input.

"Oh. But still, not your fault, Dawnie. I'm sure that it would've happened whether you had been there or not," Buffy said.

"She's right, Dawn," Willow said.

Dawn did not respond. After a few moments, Morgana shook her head.

"So what are we going to do about getting Buffy home?" she asked.

"Well, we have the Key safe and sound here in our world," Willow began. "Not that that is particularly necessary…"

"Yay. Go me," Dawn said, sounding less than thrilled.

"But we still need that spell. That's going to take some doing. But you know what they say… two heads are better than one. Maybe with our group working on it here, and your group working on it over there, we can have this puppy solved in no time."

"Well, actually, you guys take your time with that," Buffy said.

Collectively, the group turned to gape at her. She crossed her arms, planting herself firmly in place.

"It's my fault that Negaduck got the bright idea to bring NegaBuffy here. It's my fault. I won't leave you guys to deal with my mess. I can go home after I clean her clock."

Darkwing huffed, crossing his arms. "I think I can handle it just fine, thank you."

"Even so, I take responsibility for my screw ups. I'm not leaving until I help you fix this. I'm not that kind of person."

Darkwing's brow lifted as he glanced back at the slayer, but he said nothing. Willow sighed.

"Well, you might have plenty of time to clean up after yourself anyway… unless you can get this Negaduck to spill the spell to you."

Darkwing and Morgana laughed. "I think you'll have better luck getting it from a demon," Darkwing said.

"Well, there you have it. Our plan so far. This spell is getting a little taxing, guys, so I'm going to sign it off," Willow said, her voice already growing faint.

"Be safe, Buffy!" Dawn managed to shout.

"You too!" Buffy yelled back.

"We will… home. Promise," Willow said, her voice fading in and out.

And then, they were gone. Buffy turned around to Morgana, Darkwing, and Mindy.

"All right, then, guys. Darkwing, since you seem to have a lot of experience with this, how does one go about fighting themselves?"

Darkwing grinned. "Practice."

#

Willow sighed. She turned to Dawn, who looked a little red and blotchy around her eyes. She patted the girl's shoulders and shook her head.

"Dawn, you heard it from Buffy herself, this is not your fault. Why don't you go rest? I'll continue to do some research."

Dawn nodded and left the room without a word. But, instead of heading up the hall to her own bedroom, she turned and made her way into the sitting room. With a couple of quick glances to make sure that no one was around, she went to the lone telephone in the room and dialed a cell number she had memorized.

Two rings, and then a familiar cockney accent answered.

"Yeah?"

"Spike?" Dawn whispered. "Is that you?"

"Dawnie? What's wrong? Why are you whispering? Are you hurt?" he asked.

She could tell that he had just removed a cigarette from his mouth. She grinned. Sometimes, no matter the reason, talking to a familiar friend just lifted your spirits.

"I'm fine. But, I need your help. Are you in Cleveland?" she asked.

"No, but I can be. Tonight, if it's urgent."

"It is. I need some help gathering an item. Buffy's in trouble, and I think this item will help her."

No answer at first. Dawn sighed.

Her research had led her to only one possible spell that might work… but to do it, it required the Kwoe Crystal, which was protected. By big, mean, ugly, nasty demons. And several of them.

"Niblet, why not ask the witch or the cyclops for help? Surely they want to help Buffy," Spike said finally.

"I can't. I mean, they don't think that this can help her, but… but I think that it's her only chance. Please. Will you help me?"

Another silence. Dawn felt her stomach twist. It was a little white lie. After all, hiding the Key would have to wait until Buffy had returned from her little forced vacation… just to be safe. But Dawn was not having to fake the conviction in her voice. This spell was necessary, vital, if she was going to remove herself as a threat to the slayers.

"I'll be there in an hour," Spike said.

Dawn sighed in relief. "Thanks. I'll call you to tell you where to meet me."

"Fine."

She heard the click as the call ended. Slipping out of the sitting room, she dashed up the hallway to her room. Once inside, she grinned. It would take only minutes for her to ready herself for the upcoming fight… and then she would be one step closer to ridding herself of this stupid Key.

As for sneaking out of the Cleveland House undetected, well… thank God she had been an unruly youth.

End Notes: Okay, so why is Dawn hell bent on removing the Key if the Key is going to transport people whether it is there or not? Let's just say, Dawn's a little paranoid and disbelieving of that. I must apologize for all the talk in this chapter, but I promise that I have plenty of action coming up in this story. The crap has only begun to hit the fan for our heroes. Also, I have a new poll up on my profile here at … neither of the choices really have to do with either the DW or the Buffy verse, but if you feel like influencing someone's choice just for the heck of it, come on by and vote! Well, I hope everyone enjoyed it. Please review!