CHAPTER TWELVE – THE TRANSIT

Willow opened her eyes and the demons that were coming towards Spike suddenly stopped in front of the invisible barrier she had created. The Scooby Gang tried to defeat the ones who had already gotten further.

Zoey felt insecure about what to do. Without a real plan, she punched some of them while Buffy, Angel, Faith and Spike killed them one by one. She heard the sounds of fists and kicks and then they all stopped.

Buffy gasped. "Alright, we're done with these." She looked down at the dead bodies on the floor. Then she looked at all the other demons trying to get through the barrier. There were so many of them. Angel's apartment was definitely ruined.

"OK, um," Buffy said, "We have to do something. We have to take on the others too!"

"And then what?" asked Spike. "Don't you see how many there are, Buffy? You can kill a hundred, but there'll still be a thousand more!"

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" she yelled.

"I don't know, how about we come up with a plan!" he replied just as loud.

"What kind of plan?" she asked, becoming furious. "This is the plan. Or do you have a better idea? No? I thought so. You're the reason they came here in the first place, I mean, they're clearly after you! You are putting us all in danger, so I don't really think that you get to have a say in this!"

Then they were quiet, just staring at each other. There was tension between them that Zoey couldn't even define. It was Spike and Buffy. It was always complicated.

"They'll leave," Dawn said quietly after about half a minute.

"What?" asked Buffy. She hadn't really listened.

"They'll leave, won't they? I mean, sooner or later they're gonna realize they won't get through."

"Can they even understand us?" asked Zoey. The demons really did look like people, but they looked apathetic. They did not react to anything.

"I don't think so," said Buffy. "I'll go get something to drink."

On her way to the fridge, she had to pass Spike who was blocking her. When he noticed this, he turned around and he and Buffy exchanged a look for about two seconds before he stepped aside and let her get some water.

xxxxx

The demons actually had left. After twenty-six hours.

"They were pretty obstinate," said Willow.

"How long is the barrier gonna last, Will?" asked Dawn.

"I don't know exactly. I'll renew it when it's time."

"For some reason, these guys give me the creeps," said Zoey. "They look like people, but they're like zombies or something."

"Maybe they are zombies," said Xander.

"Right!" said Zoey, smiling. "Zombies exist in this world! See, I almost forgot about that."

She noticed that everyone was looking at her. "Sorry," she said. "Guess that's not helping." She drank the last sip of her coffee. "What the hell…?"

She had almost swallowed a necklace that was at the ground of her cup. Zoey carefully took it out. "Hey, did someone lose a necklace and put it in my coffee?" She looked from the Scooby Gang back to the necklace. "Why would anyone do something like this?"

"I didn't do it," said Willow.

"I don't think any of us did it." Buffy looked at it. "It looks a little cheesy."

"Looks expensive," said Zoey. It had a long silver chain and the pendant was just as silver – except for a beautiful blue crystal in the middle of it. "Hey, let's sell it and make a fortune!"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Willow took it out of Zoey's hand and looked at it. "I mean, stuff doesn't just… come to you, out of nowhere."

"In this world it does."

"Not often," Willow said.

"Let me see that," said Giles and took it. "Well, I don't remember seeing this anywhere before." He hushed for a while, then he looked up.

"Hey, look, it's the Giles-epiphany-face!" said Zoey.

"The what now?" said Xander.

Zoey waved dismissively. "Oh, I call it that. He always makes that face when he's just figured something out."

Giles gave her a little smile. "It's still odd to hear you talk about me like we've known each other for years."

"I have known you for years."

"OK," said Buffy, "What's the epiphany, Giles?"

"Right, well. I think, I think… that it might be just what we were looking for. Or, well, planned to look for."

"You mean the Transit thing?" asked Zoey.

"It's possible," said Giles.

"Well… how do we know?"

"Maybe you have to put it on," suggested Dawn.

Zoey looked around. "N-now?" she asked. "Wait. Wait. We have to talk about this first though, right? I mean, I don't exactly have a plan."

"What happened to talking to the creator of… us?" asked Buffy.

"Yeah, I know, but… what if something goes wrong and I don't come back?"

The sentence just slipped out. Zoey hadn't really thought about it. But then it occurred to her. She didn't want to leave this crazy world. She didn't want to leave the Scooby Gang. And she didn't want anything to go wrong because she also wanted to save the Buffyverse. Because it's amazing, she thought. This world can't end. It's too damn great to end.

"It won't go wrong," said Willow. "And if it does… we'll find a way."

"I don't wanna go alone." Zoey shook her head. "I can't go alone. If I go back to where I came from by myself, I will seriously question if any of this was real."

"Hey, why doesn't Spike come with her!" said Faith.

They all looked at her.

"Isn't it obvious?" she said. "She'll have someone with her, someone strong, plus, these demon guys won't be able to kill him, or us. I don't think they're gonna be able to follow him into other dimensions."

Zoey looked at her. What she said made perfect sense. She looked at Spike. "Would you come?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I could get away from this barmy world."

Zoey smiled. "It's a great world."

"A– are you sure?" said Buffy quietly to Spike.

Spike looked at her surprisedly. "I can stay," he said, "If you –"

"No." Buffy shook her head. "No, I guess it's better if you go."

"But you can't let anyone take a picture of you or anything. Don't even show your face. People might recognize you."

"What?" asked Spike.

Zoey sighed. "There's an actor in my world who looks exactly like you, just a few years older and not peroxide blonde, remember!"

"I was played by a mortal?" he asked.

"Of course you were played by a mortal, Spike, there are no immortals in my world! I think." Zoey looked at the necklace. "OK. Do we just… put it on?"

"I guess," said Buffy.

Zoey put the chain around both her and Spike's neck. They just stood there, wearing the very same necklace. For three minutes. Zoey laughed a little. "OK. It's obviously not the Transit. That would've been a huge coincidence anyway. And we were worried about all this stuff…" She shook her head. "And it's not even… whoa."

"What is it?" said Willow.

"Did you feel that?" Zoey asked Spike.

"If you mean a bloody needle piercing my head followed by a head rush, then yeah."

"Yeah, that's exactly what it felt like," said Zoey. "Oh my God! This isn't the Transit! This is something that kills peop–"

But Zoey couldn't finish that sentence. Not because she was dying. It was because she felt a jolt and in the next moment she was in her room back at home. With Spike.

to be continued! How will Spike adjust to being in this new world? Will they find Joss Whedon? Stay tuned!