Part 23

Buffy and William were tightly bound and being carried aloft by the demons that had apprehended them. Buffy's mouth was gagged and the ropes that bound her hands and feet had been magiked. She couldn't break them or even work them loose. She assumed that William was in the same predicament.

William had given up struggling with his bonds. Doc had planned his attack well, but had still managed to make at least one mistake. Buffy wasn't the only one who hadn't been aware that the chip was non-functional. The little lizard man had sent humans to capture him. Humans! Spike spared a split second to thank the Powers for having the foresight to take care of that particular problem. Still, he had no clue about what was going to happen now. If he lifted his head enough, he could see Buffy still wriggling and squirming. She was a fighter to the end, that one. It was no wonder she'd lasted so long as a Slayer. He'd been a stupid prat to even believe he could take her on all those years ago. Together they would figure out a way out of this mess. He had faith in her.

The rabble carrying them was slowing down. William glanced over to see where they were. Of course Doc would want them brought here. He'd known somewhere inside himself this that had been the destination all along. The wreckage from the old metal tower was still strewn all over the ground. He looked at Buffy to see if she had noticed. Her widened eyes told him that she had.

*****

Giles sat at the table with Willow and Xander. Dawn was standing by the door looking outside while she sipped a cup of hot chocolate that Willow had made for her. Giles rubbed his forehead. "I'm really quite. flustered about all this. I thought that whatever Doc was doing involved only demons. I never would have anticipated he would attack the school."

"None of us did." Xander told him.

"Let's go over this again," Willow said. "I just know that there's something we're missing."

Xander snapped his fingers. "What about that dream Buffy had?"

"Right," Giles thought for a moment. "We've already discussed his reward."

"But what else did he say?" Willow asked.

"There was talk about getting it right this time." Giles continued to fight down the panic he felt rising in his chest. He would do Buffy no good if he didn't keep his wits about him. "Let's go over exactly what went wrong the last time."

"OK." Willow took a deep breath. "Doc went up on the platform to cut Dawn. I saw him up there and sent Spike up."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Xander said. "And Doc blew him off like a pesky mosquito."

"Right," Willow said. "Then he cut Dawn and Buffy pushed him off, then closed up the fissure herself."

"So we know that Buffy was his biggest obstacle." Giles replaced his glasses and shook his head in confusion. "But what was it that Buffy said about the knife?"

"It was bloody," Dawn muttered, then turned to face them. "It was covered with blood and he told Buffy it was tainted."

"Was it covered with your blood Dawn?"

Dawn stopped and here eyes widened. "No! The blood was Spike's."

*****

Anya was exhausted. When she had reached the school gymnasium pandemonium reigned. There were terrified teenagers and teachers everywhere, but no sign of William or Buffy. She and Halfrek had their hands full granting the wishes of all the people who just wanted to be home, safe and sound. One particularly brilliant teacher had even wished that the fire would be gone. Hallie had taken care of that in quick fashion. Now, not quite an hour after the two vengeance demons had arrived on the scene, nearly everybody had been evacuated.

"Hallie, have you seen any sign of them?"

"No, Anyanka. They aren't here."

"I need to go back an tell the others what's happening."

"You go ahead. I can take care of what's left." Halfrek wrung water out of her curly dark hair. "I hope somebody wishes this water away!"

"I know this isn't what our powers were meant to be used for." Anya looked at her friend gratefully. "Thank you for helping them."

"It's all right." Halfrek told her. "Good grief, this is Halloween. I had nothing to do but my nails anyway."

Anya waved goodbye, then vanished.

*****

Giles whipped off his glasses again. "Spike's blood? Are you quite sure?"

"I was there, Giles," Dawn told him defensively. "I remember. He stabbed Spike in the back before he threw him off the tower."

"And this was before he cut you?"

Dawn nodded.

"Tainted!" Willow exclaimed. "He. he said that the blood was tainted, but he would fix it this time."

"Willow," Giles leaned toward the former witch. "Exactly what was to happen when the Key was used?"

"All of the dimensional barriers would be broken."

"And what happened when Dawn was cut with that knife?"

"A big tear in the wall of."

"A tear?" Giles looked around excitedly. "There was only a tear."

"But it was huge!" Dawn told them. "And growing."

Willow's eyes flashed in discovery. "But it was relatively small, considering we are discussing the breakdown of every dimensional boundary."

"Spike's blood interfered with the process!" Giles pounded his fist on the table.

Anya suddenly appeared in the room, exhausted and dripping wet. "They're not there!" she told them, then slumped to the ground as her legs gave way.

Xander hurried over to help her up, but she turned to Giles' waiting arms. "I'll be all right." she assured him. "Just a little worn out."

"Who's not there?" Willow asked.

"Buffy and William. The demons took them and left everyone else there to burn to death."

"Do you need to go back there?" Giles' voice was full of concern.

Anya shook her head. "No. The fire is out and most of the people have been sent home. I don't think any humans died."

"Not yet." Xander said.

"Xander?" Dawn rushed over to him. "Do you think they're going to kill Buffy?"

"I'm sorry Dawn. I shouldn't have said that. If Doc wanted her dead he would have killed her at the school."

Giles helped Anya to a chair. "Can you sense where they are?"

Anya shook her head mutely.

"If Doc is going to go back in time to that night, he probably wants to be physically close to the place where it happened." Willow told them.

"The tower?" Xander asked.

"But why would he want to take them back with him?" Dawn demanded. "One Buffy was able to stop him, so why would he want two?"

Willow touched her arm. "If Doc is successful in taking them back there, there won't be two Buffys or two Spikes."

Giles nodded his agreement, "She's right. If present Buffy collides with past Buffy."

"They will cancel each other out, Willow said grimly. "No William and no Buffy."

"But he needs a power source, right?" Dawn begged Giles for confirmation.

"Well, yes, he said. "It. it would have to be a quite large source if he wanted to. to fuel moving a group of any size - an enormous source if he is planning on taking an army of demons along."

Willow frowned. "But there aren't any sources around that large. I know. I tried to drain everything available after Tara was killed, even." She stopped and looked at Dawn, her eyes wide. "Even Dawn!"

"Me?" Dawn squeaked. "He wants to use me? Then why didn't they take me too?"

Xander threw his hands up in the air. "There were so many kids running around, plus you were wearing that blond wig. Maybe they grabbed the wrong girl."

"Oh no!" Dawn exclaimed. "Chelsea was dressed just like me."

"How would he know?" Anya asked.

Willow glared over at her impatiently. "Know what, Anya?"

"How would Doc know what everyone was wearing? When you all busted in here, I barely recognized you myself, what with all the ratty wigs and gloppy makeup. He must have had a scout to tell him what people were wearing."

Xander and Willow looked to each other as realization set in. "That . bimbo!" Willow sputtered.