Well, sorry this is late, but… exams. Big-time having to study, no matter how much I avoid it. And this chapter was an absolute… well, let's just say it was damn hard to write. The beginning was, anyway.

Chapter 19: Beginning of the End

Willow looked at her watch. Nine o'clock. They only had half an hour more before it was all over. They'd been hiding in a dorm room all night, and the usual occupant of the room was out of town. It had been Dawn's idea to stay in the building, and so far it seemed to be working out.

Willow was torn between going out of her mind with worry, and trying to be optimistic. The good news was that Glory didn't have Dawn, so the world wasn't going to end, but they had no way of knowing if everyone else was okay. None of the rest of the scoobies knew where they were, and they couldn't really leave to check if they'd been to Willow and Tara's dorm room.

Willow had considered calling Buffy's house a thousand times, but she wasn't sure if she should. At least, not until after nine-thirty. Hopefully if would be safe then.

The main problem was that they were bored out of their minds.

They'd had nothing to do since they'd entered the room. They had to leave the lights off, and they were afraid to move around in case there were demons watching the building or something. And the room the were in was supposed to be empty, so they had to stay quiet to avoid notice from the other students living on the campus.

They'd run out of things to talk about a while ago, and now sat in silence, worry settling into their minds. No matter how many times they tried to tell themselves that everything would be okay, they found themselves fretting.

After all the waiting, Willow wondered if maybe it would have been better if she'd been with Buffy, been there to do what she could with magic. Rationally, she knew she wouldn't have done much good, but it was just so frustrating.

Dawn was regretting her suggestion of hiding in the building. At least if they had gone somewhere she would have something different to look at. Dorm rooms really weren't the most exciting places in the world. She tried to keep her mind off the fact that her sister and the friendly neighbourhood vampire were out there risking their lives for her, but things like that tend to beat you over the head if you ignore them. She couldn't help but wonder if she was really worth all the trouble.

Oh, that's right. They had to protect her, or she'd cause the end of the world.

The thought was bitter, but Dawn had to admit that she wasn't really being fair. Buffy loved her, she knew that, and she was fairly certain that Spike at least liked her. Sometimes she wondered how much of that was for Buffy's sake, since he was so head over heals in love with her.

Once again, Dawn regretted the thought. Spike had shown her more than once that he really did care about her, and not just as Buffy's sister. Ever since he'd… changed… and started living with them, she'd had the opportunity to spend time with him without Buffy telling her not to. He'd even hugged her a couple of times. That had been a shock.

And he'd made breakfast. Spike had been surprisingly domestic during the last week. She suspected that it was mostly to help out Buffy, since she had been under a lot of stress lately what with Glory and a pending apocalypse and all that.

Dawn knew that there was a lot more going on between those two than they had let on to everyone else. They hadn't tried to hide it from her, and that meant more to her than she could say. She hoped that if they all got through this alive things could go back to the way they'd been this past week, just without the stress and fear. And maybe Buffy and Spike could do the whole 'tell the friends about the relationship' thing. Dawn really wanted to be there when they broke that news to Xander and Giles. She suspected Willow already knew something, and she'd be cool about it anyway. But Xander… she knew Buffy would kick her out of the room for that one.

Dawn took a moment to consider Tara and Willow. Tara was relatively new to the group, having only been around for a little over a year, but Dawn liked her. She was nice, and she never treated her like a kid. Tara hadn't known Dawn since she was a lot younger like the others, so she didn't treat Dawn like she was still 11 years old. Not that the others did it consciously, but what with their altered memories and all, they could help it.

Somewhere in all those false memories there was probably a 'protect Dawn at all costs' clause or something. It was like they were all her surrogate older siblings or something. But while it was nice to have people who loved her that much, it sometimes got annoying when they insisted on treating her like she was fragile.

Willow was a bit different. She still sometimes spoke to Dawn like she was younger than she really was, but she tried to help with older stuff. Willow had wanted to teach her some magic, but Buffy hadn't let her. Buffy was so over-protective, but it showed that she cared, and not just because of the memories in her head.

Buffy and Spike were out there tonight, risking their lives for her. And she was just sitting there, doing nothing. It was so frustrating.

"Hey, Willow," whispered Dawn. "We've waited long enough, don't you think? Can't we go back to your room so we can do something? I'm going out of my mind just sitting here worrying."

The sympathy in Willow's eyes told Dawn that she understood completely. "I wish we could, Dawnie," she whispered back, "But we have to wait to make sure. I know that the waiting's hard, but it'll only be about another half hour. It won't kill you. Moving might. And hey, end of the world, too."

"I get it, I get it," Dawn mumbled. "I just wish I knew."

Willow didn't say anything, but Dawn could she that she felt exactly the same. Tara probably did as well, but she was harder to read. Dawn settled back on the floor for another spate of waiting.

It was weird though. Something almost always happened to disrupt their plans. So far, they didn't know if anything had gone wrong. Were Xander's group okay? Were Buffy and Spike still alive? Although most of the thought probably came from fear, Dawn had been certain that someone would have tried to kill her or something before the night was over. So far, her fear appeared to be unfounded.

A bright light suddenly flashed in the room, and they were all momentarily blinded. Dawn could hear Willow and Tara scrambling around in their bags for anything they could fight with, but Dawn sat frozen. She couldn't see a thing, and she was rooted to the spot. Her last thought before something rendered her unconscious was that maybe her fear wasn't so unfounded after all.

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Spike groaned as pain flared in his chest. What was it with that crazy hellbitch and putting bloody great holes in his body? He was waking up far too often lately in too much pain and afraid he might have pieces missing. Still, he was waking up, so that meant he wasn't dead. Unless he was in Hell, which was actually a plausible possibility.

He opened his eyes slowly, almost afraid to find out where he really was. He sighed in relief when his mind registered familiar surroundings. The Slayer's mum's room. His room now, really. Not that he'd spent much time in there recently, but that was a happy memory for another time.

Now, Spike just wanted to know how he got back there. There wasn't anyone else in the room with him, and he had to fight down a sudden panic that rose in his chest when he thought of Buffy. Where was she? Was she just downstairs, or did something happen to her? What about the 'bit? If Glory had managed to get her… No, that hadn't happened. The world was still around.

Spike's thoughts were so filled with dread that he forced himself to move. Pushing away the pain he rolled off the bed onto his feet, and for the first time took a good look down at himself. His chest was covered in bandages, but they were soaked with blood. Considering that vampires didn't normally bleed profusely, Spike could tell the wound on his chest was very serious. The amount of pain he was in leant towards that impression as well, but he'd learned to deal with pain. It could be shut out when necessary.

He walked slowly over to the closet and got out a clean shirt. His one from earlier that night was nowhere to be seen, and he could assume it was probably in no shape ever to be worn again. If he kept being beat up like this he was going to have to go shopping.

Bloody hell.

Hearing voices outside his room, Spike quickly buttoned up his shirt and opened the door to find Giles and Xander arguing quietly. They both turned to him when they heard the door open, and Spike thought they both looked slightly surprised.

"Hey mates," he said, "What's doing?"

Giles gathered himself together a little more quickly than Xander. "Spike. You're, uh… up."

Spike smirked slightly, but Xander jumped in before he could say anything. "Evil dead. Awake. Good. Think you're up to running without your heart falling out?"

"Xander!" snapped Giles.

"Kiddies," said Spike slowly, "What's going on?"

Giles sighed and indicated to Xander that he was free to talk. "We brought you back here after Glory nearly dusted your ass. Buffy thought she'd convinced that creepy old guy that you were the Key, but now she's worried that he's worked out it's really…" he trailed off as Spike bolted down the stairs and out the front door.

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Crouched in a tree, Buffy scanned the campus grounds. There wasn't a demon to be seen, and considering that the place had been crawling with them earlier, she was fairly certain it was a bad sign. She wasn't sure if Will had gotten Dawn out, but she just knew that they weren't in there any more.

If Doc had taken Dawn, there was only one place he would be. One place, one time for the ritual. Buffy checked her watch. Twenty minutes, and it was going to take her at least ten to get back to the construction site.

She dropped from the tree and started running. If he hurt Dawn… oh, Doc was so going to pay for making her run all the way across town lugging enough weaponry to outfit an army. Buffy was just hoping she'd get a chance to use all of it.

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When Dawn came to she was lying on a concrete floor. She could hear the sounds of hammering and sawing coming from somewhere close by, but other than the noise, she was alone. She looked around to see if she could determine where she was, but the room was bare except for some wooden crates and a table shoved against one wall.

She got up and moved quietly to the door. It was locked, but she had expected that. She tried to peek through the crack between the door and the frame, but it was too thin to see anything. And there weren't any windows, either, and she needed to find a way out of there.

Moving over to inspect the table, Dawn rooted through the drawers, hoping to find something, anything, that she could use as a weapon. No such luck. Torn pieces of old paper, a snapped in half pen, and a hairbrush.

Dawn briefly considered trying to pull a slat out of one of the crates, but even if she had enough strength for it, it probably wouldn't do her any good. She didn't have time anyway, since someone was unlocking the door. She quickly jumped up onto the table, pulling her legs underneath her and trying to look like she didn't know what was going on.

Completely oblivious. Ignorant. If she didn't know she was the Key, then she wasn't the Key. Logic? Who needs it?

The door opened and Doc walked in. It took Dawn a moment to recognise him, then her eyes widened in surprise as it clicked.

"You… you can help me," she said. "Please, help me get out of here."

Doc gave her a small smile, and Dawn's heart sank. She just knew that this guy wasn't of the good. He'd just seemed so nice before. And Spike had taken her to see him, so… damn, why did everyone have to be evil?

Dawn steeled herself, and prayed that her voice would be steady. "Where's Glory?"

Doc's smile didn't change. "Well, she got a little… blown away by the turn of events."

"She's dead?"

Oh god, please please please please please…

Doc shook his head. "I wouldn't think so. Not unless your sister actually had the guts to kill her human host. But she's definitely indisposed."

"So why…"

"Why did I bring you here? What do I want with the Key? My own reasons, and strangely, not ones I'd care to share." His tone was so even, measured. It was starting to get creepy.

"You know my sister's going to stop you," Dawn said, trying to sound confident.

"The Slayer? No, I don't think she will. It would be interesting, but it is unlikely. After all, she believes that she's convinced me that the Key is really that vampire you were with when I first met you."

"Spike?"

Doc nodded. "Spike. Yes. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that she'll have a hard time finding him. Unless she's looking for dust."

"Dust… you mean… no, that's not…" Dawn forced herself not to cry. Spike wasn't dead, he was alive. Well, okay, not actually, but he wasn't dead dead. Nope, no way. Doc was wrong. Buffy would never have let Spike be staked.

Doc smiled again. "Don't worry about it, kid. Think of it this way. The world's about to end, and your vampire friend would have suffered torment and agony for all eternity. Now, he's just dead. It's really a blessing."

He paused, and looked at his watch. His eyes flashed black as he looked up at her. "Well, would you look at that. Time's up."

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Buffy stood at the edge of the construction site. Nothing had changed drastically since she was there earlier, but she had only minutes before the ritual was meant to start. She had to find Doc before he laid a finger on Dawn. Once the ritual started, once Dawn started to bleed, there was no stopping it. Giles had been very adamant that she made sure the ritual was never started. The only way to stop it… she refused to think about it.

Kill Dawn.

Okay, so she was going to think about it. It was kind of hard not to. It's not like she would ever actually do it, but she just couldn't get the image out of her mind. Dawn dying… it was Buffy's worst nightmare come to life. She's let the whole world go to hell before she killed her sister.

Giles had told her what she hadn't wanted to hear. He hadn't liked it, but it was his job. He'd sworn to protect this world, like she had done, but Dawn wasn't his sister. Dawn wasn't created from his blood. Dawn was hers. And she wasn't going to let her die.

Her eyes swept over the construction site, trying to work out where the ritual would take place. She turned her gaze upwards, and she was able to make out a platform high up in the darkness.

Considering it a fairly safe assumption that the ritual would occur up on that platform, Buffy ran into the building surrounding the tower. The stairs in that massive tower were the only way up, and she wasn't going to let anyone get in her way.

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Spike staggered into the construction site. This was the only place he could think to come, and he hoped he was right. Ritual was meant to be here, so if Doc had the Nibblet, then she'd be here too. The Slayer should be around somewhere as well, she was smart enough to work this out.

He stopped for a moment, his senses alert, trying to ignore the pain that had steadily worsened as he ran from Buffy's house. There was something… there! Buffy's scent. She'd been here just a few moments ago. He looked towards the large tower at the centre of the site, the darkness not hampering his enhanced vision.

There was someone moving up there. He couldn't see who, but he could guess. It was about to start, he hadn't been fast enough. There was no way he could get up there in time.

He just prayed that Buffy could.

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This high, the wind was freezing. Then again, maybe that was just the fear. And the fear? Well, that could have something to do with the crazy demon guy standing in front of her holding a big-ass knife.

And the fact that she couldn't do anything about it wasn't helping. Dawn whimpered as Doc took a step towards her. The platform she was standing on ended about a foot behind her, but she couldn't move to jump off. Her wrists were tied to two poles sticking up from the edge of the platform, and she had very little room to move. She'd tried to fight when he tied her up, but for a guy that looked harmless, Doc was really strong.

Dawn closed her eyes as Doc moved closer. She wished she had been able to kill herself when she'd tried. She was going to die now anyway, but if she'd done it before, she wouldn't be causing the end of the world. If she could just get free to jump…but the ropes were too thick, the knots too tight, and she wasn't Buffy.

Buffy… why hadn't she come? Or Spike. But Doc said Spike was dead. Was Buffy so upset over Spike that she hadn't realised what was going on? How would she have known, anyway? Willow and Tara were meant to have taken her somewhere. How would Buffy even know that she had been taken?

Dawn couldn't stop a tear falling as she realised that nobody knew where she was or what was about to happen. It was hopeless. Finally, after all the fighting, after every time Buffy and her friends had battled the forces of evil to save the world, this was how it ended. The Slayer's sister. Bleeding on a platform a quarter of a mile high, opening a portal to destroy dimensions.

Damn. This sucked.

She felt the knife cut through her shirt, then slashing her shallowly across the belly. She cried out in pain, and only a few seconds later Doc made another cut. Dawn bit her lip to try and distract from the pain, and waited for the knife to return again.

It didn't come right away, and Dawn couldn't stand it. She opened her eyes, wondering why she couldn't just die already. The sooner she died the better, apparently. Doc was standing with his back to her, and it was only after he shifted a little that she noticed that there was someone else with them on the platform.

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Buffy stood stock still, temporarily stunned. Had she made it in time? There were no big multi-dimensional portals around, and Dawn was alive. She couldn't tell if she'd been hurt or not. She glared at Doc. If he'd hurt her… well, she was going to kill him anyway, but she'd make it a lot more painful.

He smiled, and Buffy's anger took control. She strode forward, covering the distance between them in three large steps. He opened his mouth to speak, but he never got the chance. Buffy threw a punch that connected with his head, swept his legs out from under him, grabbed his shirt, and threw him from the platform with as much strength as she could muster.

Dawn cried out with relief as Buffy broke the ropes restraining her. As Buffy helped her away from the edge, neither girl noticed a few drops of blood drip down Dawn's feet, falling through the metal mesh of the platform. They were almost to the stairs when they heard the noise, like someone ripping fabric.

Buffy froze. Her eyes darted to Dawn, and for the first time she realised that she was bleeding. In one moment, her world was shattered. The portals had been opened. Doc had hurt Dawn, and there was only one way to save the world.

No. She wouldn't kill Dawn. That wasn't a way.

Apparently, Dawn didn't seem to think so. Her attention was focused on the rapidly widening portal, and as she looked over to Buffy she made her decision. Doc had been very forthcoming on the nature of the portal, for some reason. He was probably just one of those guys that liked to hear themselves talk. So the portal needed her blood to close? Well, she'd opened it, so it was only fair.

She had to do this quickly, or she'd lose her nerve. She took a moment to examine her sister's face. There was something… Buffy was trying to work it out. Dawn tore her gaze away. She had to do this now, before Buffy stopped her.

Buffy's eyes widened as Dawn tried to leap past her. She reacted without thinking, catching her, and holding her arms to her side. "Dawn, what are you doing?" her voice was filled with panic.

"Buffy, I have to. Please."

Buffy shook her head. "No. No, you don't. There has to be another way."

"There isn't, Buffy." Dawn pleaded. "Look at what's happening. Doc said it wouldn't close until I was dead. My blood opens it, my blood closes it. This is the way it has to be."

Buffy shook her head again, refusing to accept it. There was another way, there had to be. She racked her brain, searching. A memory surfaced, and she grabbed onto it, desperate for another solution.

"It's Summers blood. It's just like mine."

"She's me," Buffy whispered. "She's me."

"Who is?"

"Dawn. She's me. The monks made her out of me. My blood. If her blood can open the portal, and her blood is my blood…"

Buffy closed her eyes as realisation sunk in. There was another way, and she was it. Dawn's blood was her blood, and either would be enough to close the portal. It was her, Dawn, or the world, and it definitely wasn't going to be Dawn. Letting the world go to hell wasn't really an option either, so that really just left her.

What a drag.

She opened her eyes again, and gave Dawn a weak smile. "I'm not going to let you die, okay? It doesn't have to be you."

It took Dawn a moment to realise what Buffy was saying. Her eyes widened in shock and fear. "No, Buffy… you can't…"

"I have to. It's the only way."

"No…" Dawn choked as a silent sob racked her body.

Buffy put her hand over Dawn's mouth, silencing her. "Dawnie, listen to me. There isn't much time," she took a deep breath. "I love you. I've lived longer than a Slayer should, but you've only just been given your life. You deserve a chance to live it. I've done my time, and I'm okay with it. Tell Giles that, and tell him not to worry, or be sad, because I'm doing this for the people I love. Tell my friends… I don't know. Make up something cool, tell them I said it," that seemed appropriate, for some reason, "And tell Spike… tell Spike that I love him, and that I'm not afraid any more."

Tears ran freely down Dawn's face. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't. She held a ragged breath as Buffy leant over and kissed her goodbye. This wasn't real, this wasn't real… Buffy took a step back from her, her eyes conveying the depth of love in her soul.

With a final glance, Buffy turned her back to Dawn and began to run. Her foot hit the edge of the platform and she dived, her arms spread wide. Dawn was afraid to watch, but she couldn't turn away. Her sister was about to die… was killing herself to save the world.

This wasn't right, things shouldn't end like this.

Suddenly something rushed past her, and after a shocked moment, she realised it wasn't going to.

End Chapter 19

It's not going to end like The Gift, I swear it's not. I do have an original thought somewhere in my head. At least, I think it's original. I was kind of hoping to make this the last chapter, but then that original thought came out and slapped me over the head while I wasn't paying attention.