Author's Notes:

I've been cleaning up the first few chapters (very minor things, like grammar and a few word subsitutions). I don't know if my followers get notices about edits of earlier chapters, but I promise that while they hopefully flow better now, there is no reason to reread. Unless you want to.

Standard disclaimers: Joss Whedon and his talented staff of writers blah blah blah (but not a disrespectful blah blah blah).

Finally convinced the hubby to watch Buffy with me, and partway into S2, I've realized that Buffy ran extremely hot and cold with Angel. So it's not just Spike she can't make up her mind about. Interesting.

Buffy stood in the middle of the park, looking around. This was where she'd killed the transformed cobra, but she had no idea where to go next.

"Not a lot of underground places 'round here," Spike commented through a cloud of smoke. She waved it away with a cough.

"I don't think she'd be underground. She's a god, not a vampire. Can't see her hiding out in a crypt".

"Nothing wrong with a crypt".

"Yeah. Except, at least she seems to have taste".

"Oi!"

She smiled at him. "No, I think she's going to have a nice place". She spun in a circle. "Which would you say in the poshest building near here?"

Spike turned too, examining the possibilities. "That one," he said definitively with a pointed finger.

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "Why?"

"Based on the scabby minion types that just went inside. Come on," he wrapped his hand around hers and tugged her forward.

She glanced down at his larger hand, realizing something. "Hey. You stopped painting your nails!"

Spike rolled his eyes but didn't slow down. "You just notice this now? I'm amazed anything gets past you".

"Sorry I've been too distracted to notice your bad fashion sense lately!"

"Not lately, sweetheart. Stopped painting them months ago".

"Oh". Buffy considered that. "Well I guess it just looked so much better I forgot to say anything". Okay… that didn't make any sense, but she held her head high and went with it. "Do you think she's okay?" she went on in a quieter, more tremulous voice.

Spike halted abruptly, right outside the building, pulling her into his embrace. "Yes. Glory's going to want to hold her out as bait. S'what I'd do".

Buffy leaned back so she could look deep into his eyes. "If you were still evil".

Her eyes were drawn to his throat as he swallowed. "Right. If. Which I'm not". He swallowed again when she reached out and caressed his bobbing Adam's apple.

"You didn't kill all those knights," she said quietly, her eyes moving up to his lips, fingers still hovering over his throat. Totally inappropriate timing, but it seemed important to know. "Did you want to?"

His response was deep and low. "Yes".

"But you didn't. Would you have killed them all if I wasn't there?"

"Buffy. Pet. You can't… that's not… It was a battle. People – good people, bad people – they kill the other side in battle. It doesn't have anything to do with being evil. It has to do with staying alive".

"Do – do you feel bad about the ones you killed?"

Spike let out a sigh like a whimper. "Don't ask me questions you won't like the answer to, luv," he said in a subdued voice. "'M doing my level best to not be evil, but it doesn't make me broody and remorseful-like. You know that".

And she did. What more could she ask of him, really?

"Spike," she said softly, "I still…" It cost her something to go on. "I do mean what I promised. To stand by you. I can't… it's harder now, after everything… but I still want to help you. You're…"

"Shhh, pet," he cut her off. "S'more than I deserve from you, I know".

They were both standing perfectly still, motionless except for the soft rise and fall of their chests. Buffy wrenched her eyes away from his lips and rested her head on his chest, feeling it move beneath her. Why did he breathe when he didn't need to? She'd have to ask him later.

With a heartfelt squeeze, she let go and stepped away. "Mom," was all she said, and he was striding forward beside her once more, opening the door to the lobby.

The elevator was going up when they entered, and it didn't stop until the display read 'P'. Buffy rolled her eyes. "Penthouse. What'd I tell you? Delusions of glory".

Spike chuckled at her pun and gestured down the hall. "Stairs? Be sneaky-like?"

"I still don't understand. Why would Ben be living with Glory?" the Slayer said quizzically as they headed back downtown.

Spike huffed in exasperation. His girl wasn't always the brightest. "Not living with Glory. Is Glory".

"That's just silly. You can't be two people at once".

"No, it makes sense. Explains why Glory was gone after the truck hit her, and Ben was there. And why the wanker was in drag. They must have switched".

Buffy pouted. "Why are you so obsessed with Ben? Geez, he just gave me his phone number. Glory is the one we need to be worrying about".

He glared at her, but she didn't seem to be fooling around. She really couldn't keep the thought that Ben was Glory in her mind. "Ahhh…. I get it. Tricky mojo".

"What is?"

"Nothing". He switched the unconscious minion to his other shoulder. "Let's get this scabby lump back to the Watcher, see what he can get out of it".

"Buffy! You're back!" Xander said when they entered the Magic Shop. "But I'm guessing from the lack of Mom-age that you were unsuccessful".

"Oh we found Glory's alright. But she's cleared out. Did get a consolation prize at least," she pointed to the minion. "Maybe he – she? It? Will have answers".

Spike deposited the creature on the ground. "Gonna have to clean the leather now," he grumbled.

"You know what was weird? Ben – you know, nice intern Ben? He's living with Glory".

The others looked at Buffy. Spike spoke up, sure it would be a futile exercise. "No, luv, Ben is Glory. They're one and the same. Two beings in the same body. Time-sharing, if you will". Absolutely nobody seemed to cotton on, and he sighed.

"Why would Ben be living with Glory?" Willow wondered.

"That's what I was asking!" Buffy exclaimed. "And Spike says he dresses in drag. Good thing I never called him for a date".

"I did learn some useful information from the General," Giles interrupted. He said that the Beast was banished to Earth 25 years ago, to inhabit the body of a newborn male. If only the identity of the vessel could be discovered, the human could be killed, and Glory along with him".

Spike gritted his teeth. "Bloody hell. Ben. The vessel is Ben. We kill Ben, we kill Glory".

Buffy rounded on him. "Look, Spike, this jealousy thing is getting out of control. I have no interest in Ben. There's no need to be making death threats against him!" The others were staring at him in equal amounts of horror and disquiet.

"GAHRRR!" he screamed. "You lot!" He had to force himself to keep from ripping all their heads off. He closed his eyes, counting backwards, trying to ignore them.

"What's on his last nerve?" Xander asked sotto voice.

"I have no idea". Buffy sat down at the table. "Any other progress?"

"I've got the Buffybot up and running," Willow told her.

"And we found the Dagon's Sphere!" Anya said proudly, holding it up, then shooting a guilty smile at Xander.

Looking at the clock, Buffy said, "Dawnie asleep?"

"Up there," Giles pointed to the book loft.

"I don't think Glory's going to bother us tonight. Why don't we all try to catch a few winks? I know I'm running on fumes".

Spike listened to the others agreeing with the Slayer, but he couldn't add his voice. He was nowhere near tired yet. He sat down next to Buffy. "Gonna go see that fellow I told you about, see what I can find out".

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks Spike. You've been a real – ass..et". Buffy chuckled tiredly at her joke and laid her head down on the table. He stroked her hair for a few minutes, until he felt her relax, ordered the Buffbot to guard the others, and left to go find Doc.

He would have liked to pack Buffy and Dawn back in a car and taken off again, but there was Joyce. He loved Buffy's mom too, maybe not as much as the girls did, but enough. Enough that he couldn't leave her behind, even though he suspected the chances of saving her were slim to none.

He was back before the sun rose, the ornate box full of scrolls that Doc had tried to burn clutched in his hands, Doc himself dead on the floor of his apartment. Shame, that. The old demon was a valuable resource.

Spike listened to the sounds of slumber, gentle breathing and calm heartbeats, then laid down on the floor near the books, ready to catch a little kip himself.

It was barely past sun-up when Buffy woke, smacking her lips groggily and wiping the drool from her mouth with disgust. Sleeping at a table was not a pleasant way to spend the night. She stretched, trying to work out the kinks, and looked around.

Her friends were strewn about in various postures of repose. Yawning, she stood up to check on her sister. Spike was sleeping at the foot of the ladder to the loft, his coat bunched under his head for a pillow. He looked like a fallen angel, all sleepy yumminess. She smiled involuntarily at the sight of him, then shook her head to clear the thought. The number of inappropriately lusty thoughts she'd been having for the vampire had been increasing lately. If she kept this up, she'd be jumping his bones any day now, and it wasn't a path she was going down.

What she'd told him last year still stood. She couldn't trust him, couldn't give him her heart the way she wanted to. Only yesterday he'd kidnapped her and run, against her express wishes, proving she couldn't rely on him to do what was right. And that meant no jumping him, no matter how much she might long for even one of his bone-melting kisses. That path would only lead to more heartbreak.

She couldn't take any more.

Buffy squirmed, trying to suppress the desire that was building. If only she didn't remember their 'wedding night', didn't know what she was missing out on. It just wasn't right that necrophilia was what got her motor revving.

Ugh.

Neither was it fair that she was a twenty year old woman who'd gotten intimate a grand total of three times – four for her body. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in getting naked with a hunky man, she was – very much so. Vibrators only went so far. The problem was, nobody much interested her after Spike. And he was way off limits, especially considering the very mixed signals her body was sending about him.

Desire mixed with extreme uneasiness was not a good combination.

She stifled the urge to straddle him and kiss those sinful lips until he woke, instead climbing the ladder and peeking at Dawnie. Her sister was still in dreamland, rump in the air the way she used to sleep when she was small. An overwhelming feeling of love shot through her. Nothing would get to Dawn. And nothing would harm her mom either.

Resolve firmly in place, she went back down and quietly woke the others, letting Spike sleep on.

"I don't like this plan either, but it's the best we've got," Buffy said resolutely, choosing a sprinkled donut from the box. "We have to assume Glory is going to be there early too, setting her own trap, so we've got to go now".

Anya eyed the Slayerbot. "It's too bad we don't have a Dawnbot too".

"Damn. Why didn't we think of that earlier?" Xander said.

"Whatever. Too late now".

"I'm just saying – after cell phones for all, the next project is robot doubles of everyone. Imagine the possibilities," Xander joked.

"Xander Harris, you are going to distract me from my job with ill-timed lust-ridden thoughts!" Anya smacked him. "I can't be distracted by the thought of two Xanders right now".

Spike smiled slyly as he caught Buffy's eye, and she blushed furiously, remembering his reaction to two Buffys.

"Yes, well, lusty thoughts aside," she mumbled as Dawn squealed, "Ew. Teenage ears!" at the same time.

Buffy tried again in a more authoritative voice. "Is everybody clear?"

"Your wish is my command, m'lady," Spike said facetiously with a mocking half-bow.

"Don't start" she warned him, and turned to Dawn. "You – stay with Xander and Giles, no matter what, do you understand me? I'll come get you soon, with Mom safe and sound, and she's going to want to see you".

Dawn gave her a skeptical smile. "Sit on the sidelines and do nothing. Got it".

"Your role will be the most important," Giles said seriously. "Not letting Glory get her hands on you is the only thing that matters".

"Let's go Dawnie, G-man. We've got some serious hiding to get started on," Xander added.

"Xander, I don't know how many times I have asked you to refrain from calling me that ridiculous name," Giles groused as they headed out the door, gently tugging Tara along with them.

Buffy watched them go. "Is this really the best plan?" she asked the others, panic suffusing her voice.

Nodding firmly, Willow said, "Yes. Even if it's a big fat trick and Glory isn't waiting at the school, she shouldn't be able to find Dawn or the caves, not with the wards Giles has".

"And I need the rest of you with me, to rescue Mom," Buffy conceded in defeat.

"Exactly," Anya said. "Now glamour me up. I can barely take the anxiety I am feeling any longer. I need to be doing something".

Peering out the boarded-up windows of the abandoned shell of the high school with Spike, Buffy shifted nervously. "Where is she?" she hissed.

Spike spoke into her ear, so low she felt rather than heard the words. "She'll be here. Found those minions of hers lurking in the school, didn't we?"

"I don't know. I just have the feeling something is going to go horribly wrong".

Placing his hands on her shoulders and rubbing gently, Spike said, "Look. You and I can't even tell it's not the real thing out there". She looked, and she had to agree. Buffy, Dawn and Willow appeared to be standing on the front steps, waiting uneasily for Glory to arrive, but in actuality it was the Slayerbot, Willow, and Anya glamoured to look like Dawn. "You'll see. She'll be here any minute now and we'll rescue Joyce, be the big heroes".

She relaxed slightly under his ministrations, leaning back into him. "I don't know what I'd do without you," she whispered. He didn't answer, only nudged her. Glory was stepping out of a limo, yanking her mother behind her, minions following along. Buffy stiffened, going into full alert. As soon as Willow cast her spell, it was on her to get Mom out of there.

She couldn't hear what they were saying, but Glory appeared to be objecting to Willow's presence. Smart. Willow had been the only one to even hurt the god.

The argument went on for several minutes, and Buffy's muscles were screaming with pent-up tension. All they needed was for Glory to let go of her mom and let her walk forward, just far enough away so Willow could cast the spell she'd found. Once it was cast, Glory would be immobile for close to two minutes. They hoped. Buffy and Spike would use the time to spirit the others away in the zippy little red sports car parked to the side of the building. There was no plan to fight the god in any way, only to rescue Joyce and run.

Finally Willow threw up her hands and walked away, in the direction of the car. She could still cast the spell, no matter the distance, but it might be weaker. Buffy hopped from foot to foot. "Come on, let go of Mom…" she muttered under her breath. But Glory didn't, gesturing for 'Dawn' to walk forward first.

"It's not going to work," she told Spike. "We're just going to have to fight her head-on". She quickly moved the few feet from the window to the front door, now able to hear the conversation.

"… you worthless meatbags," the Hellgod was ranting. "I have things to do, dimensions to return to and I don't appreciate you stalling like this. Give me the Key that is just pretending to be your sister, or Mommy dearest gets it". Glory sniffed Joyce's head. "I don't think her brain is going to taste very good, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice".

Anya began to move forward, but then a voice rang out. "Stop!"

"Oh, no no no!" Buffy moaned. It was Dawn, the real Dawn, standing across the lawn, holding a dagger over her heart, ready to be driven in. To make matters worse, the girl was on the end of the school opposite the getaway car.

The Slayer pushed the doors open, heedless that she was blowing her cover.

Glory gave her a disgusted look. "Does everybody have a twin here but me?"

Dawn called out in a quavering voice, "Let my Mom go or I'll kill myself. I know you need me alive for the ritual, that's why the Byzantium guy wants to kill me. No living Key, no returning home".

Glory sniffed. "Ballsy, kid. But can you really do it?"

"Yes!" Dawn said, wincing as she pushed the dagger in a tiny fraction. Buffy stood frozen, unsure what to do.

"I'll let you in on a secret," Glory said, licking Joyce's cheek. Joyce shuddered, but remained quiet. "The monks were tricky, making you human. Gave you blood, DNA, family, the whole deal. Which means, if you're the Key… well then Mommy is part Key too". She smiled, and the sight was terrifying. "I can actually use her to do the ritual – even after I suck her mind out. The priests say her color's a bit more blue than green. Not the right shade. It won't be nearly as pretty, probably take a lot more time and effort, but…" she shrugged. "A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Trade or don't trade. It's win-win for me".

Buffy thought her heart might have stopped. Spike was at her side, completely still, sizing the situation up. "What's the plan?" he whispered.

Willow's voice echoed his question inside her head, startling her.

"Willow?" she said aloud, taken aback.

"I can hear you. What should we do?"

"I'm going to send Spike after Mom. You still do your spell to stop Glory. Tell Anya to have the Slayerbot get her out of there and run interference. I'll get that so-dead sister of mine".

Willow was silent while she relayed the message, then said, "I'll start the spell in exactly 60 seconds. If Spike doesn't have your mom free by then, she'll be frozen too. On my mark. Now".

Buffy had handed Spike the Dagon's Sphere during the pause and reiterated the plan. When Willow said 'now' she yelled "Go!" and took off running across the lawn, unmindful of anything else. Two minions stepped in her way and she shoved them aside, soon reaching her sister.

"You are in so very much trouble!" she growled, tossing the girl over her shoulder and running full-tilt for the car, the dagger dropping as they ran. She could see Spike doing the same to Joyce ahead of her, the 'bot and Anya well ahead of them. Glory stood as though transfixed, and Buffy began to think they might get out of this after all.

It wasn't to be. A minion appeared from nowhere, tripping Buffy and sending her crashing to the ground. As soon as she regained her feet, Glory was there, no longer immobile, ripping Dawn away.

"Nice try, but you should know better than to mess with a God, loser". Buffy attacked, giving it her all, but like before, it didn't even faze the Hellgod. The minions were there too, getting in her way, another one stepping forward as soon as she defeated the previous one.

She tried to stop Glory as she dragged Dawn to the limo, but the Hellbitch put on a burst of super-speed and was in the car, the limo squealing away before Spike could get back with the Dagon's Sphere.

Buffy collapsed onto the ground. Spike tried to haul her back up, but she lashed out at him. "It's over," she keened. "Over, over. She has Dawn. Ohhh… Over… What now?" she wailed at him.

Spike slapped her, her head rocking backwards. "We do what you do best!" he said fiercely. "When the chips are down, that's when you're at the top of your game Slayer. Now come on! It's NOT over yet!"

His words sunk in, and with a great, shuddering breath she pulled herself back together.

"You're right. We rescued Mom, we'll do the same for Dawn".

With one last agonized glance in the direction the limo had gone, she climbed to her feet and marched determinedly to the car where her mom was waiting.