Some parts of this chapter were taken from Aragorn II Elessar's story 'The Apocalypse is here'. Thank you to him for letting me use it.
Thank you to Bl4ckHunter for his help with this chapter.
Xander's apartment
Night
Faith, Dawn, Xander, Klaus, Elijah and Enzo were in Xander's apartment in New York, as the Compound was compromised following Amy and Lucien's attack.
Dawn sat on the couch, wrapped in a ball as she cried. Xander sat in a chair a few feet away, seemingly oblivious to everything around him. Faith stood in the kitchen, tears running down her face. And standing near the doorway, the Mikaelson brothers and Enzo stood awkwardly, feeling out of place.
"Any idea what we do now?" Enzo asked quietly.
"I am at a loss. Niklaus?" Elijah asked as he glanced at his brother.
"The redheaded witch may be able to get us home. But she was captured by Lucien and the other witch. And we cannot defeat Lucien, he is too powerful. I…I do not know what to do," Klaus admitted, hating feeling so helpless.
"Our situation is made more complicated by the absence of the blond Slayer, who appears to be the leader of this group," Elijah noted as he glanced towards Dawn, Xander and Faith.
Klaus almost growled, knowing Elijah was right. Buffy had left not long after they had arrived at the apartment, shaken up and broken from losing the last mentor and parental figure she had. Klaus couldn't help but think of Hope and how broken she had been by Hayley's death. The father in him couldn't help but worry for Buffy.
A voice that sounded like Cami told him how far he had come. Klaus tried his best to ignore it.
Hearing them talking, Faith took wiping a deep breath before the tears from her face. While she was still torn up over Giles, she knew they needed to pull themselves together. Amy and Lucien were still out there, along with Rayna, Stefan and Kai. And they had Willow.
"Still nothing?" Faith asked quietly as she walked back over to Dawn and Xander.
Dawn took a deep breath, wiping her own tears before shaking head, looking down at the phone in her hand. They had tried calling Buffy when they noticed she'd left but she hadn't answered.
"So…what do we do now?" Xander finally asked lowly.
"I don't know Xander. I really don't," Faith admitted, realizing how out of her depth she was.
Giles was dead, Willow was captured, and Buffy was MIA. Faith really wished someone could give her some help right now, because she needed it.
Almost as if in answer to her wish, there was a knock on the door. Everyone looked towards it, a silence descended on the group. Weariness settled in Faith's stomach, given that not a whole of people knew about this apartment. So who was knocking?
Using hand signals, Faith signaled to the others to stay back, picking up a stake and putting it behind her back just in case. Reaching the door, she slowly opened it, staring at the person on the other side in shock.
"Hey Faith," Spike greeted her as she stared in shock.
"Spike. How are you…" Faith trailed off, in a bit of shock.
"Long story. Can I come in?" Spike asked pointedly.
"Uh, right. Xander," Faith called back as he approached, staring at Spike in disbelief.
"Uh, come in," Xander said uncertainly and Spike walked inside. "How are you alive?"
"Yeah, we thought you burned up with Sunnydale," Faith said as she closed the door.
"I did. Long story, but the short version is I'm back," Spike said as he saw Dawn staring at him. "Hey Nibblet."
For a moment, Dawn just stared at him. Then, she jumped at him, grabbing him in a hug as she sobbed into his duster. Spike momentarily stumbled before returning her hug, tenderly stroking her hair.
"I missed you to Dawn," Spike said gently before looking up at Faith and Xander. "I heard about Giles. I'm sorry."
"What are you even doing here?" Xander asked a hint of his old hostility entering his voice, which Spike pointedly ignored.
"You think no one is gonna notice a massacre in Central Park? It's been all over the news; Buffy and Dawn were seen on some cameras leaving. I figured you lot had some involvement in this," Spike said as he released Dawn. "Been helping out Angel with some things. Was on my way out of LA when I heard about what was going on. Headed to the Compound, saw the downstairs. So I called Andrew, he told me where you might be. Where's Buffy and Willow?"
As the Scoobies began catching Spike up to speed, The Mikaelsons and Enzo eyed him oddly. There was something about him. Once Spike was all caught up, he looked over at them, immediately sensing they were vampires.
"So you blokes are from this other world?" Spike asked wearily.
"Yes, although we are here to help," Elijah assured him.
"We have a common enemy. If this Amy is working with Lucien, she is more dangerous than you can imagine," Klaus warned him.
"No kidding. He may be the strongest vamp I've ever come across," Faith added and Spike frowned.
"And Amy has Will to. Why would she want Willow?" Xander wondered, worried for his best frowned.
"Could be lots of reasons, I can think of a number of rituals involving a powerful witch," Spike said, frowning as he imagined them all. "None of them good. We need to find Buffy."
"Well good luck with that Spike, because she's not answering our calls," Xander snapped.
"Xander, stop," Dawn said, looking at him pleadingly.
"Would there be a place Buffy may go to get away from everything?" Elijah inquired and the Scoobies plus Spike looked over at him.
"What do you mean by that?" Faith demanded.
"She's just lost someone close to her; maybe she just needs to get away from everything. Go somewhere where she feels safe," Enzo supplied.
"When everything would get too much for me, I would retreat to my art studio, paint," Klaus supplied. "Is there somewhere where Buffy might do the same?"
For a moment, it was silent as the Scoobies looked at each other helplessly. Then, Dawn remembered something.
"There might be," Dawn said and they all looked at her. "When I was seven, our parents took us here on a family get away. I remember there was one place where Buffy said she felt free, where the rest of the world just fell away."
New York
Later that night
At the top of the Empire State Building, Buffy sat down, her eyes red and puffy from crying.
Giles was gone! He had been there with her for over seven years now. He wasn't just her Watcher, even if he'd started out like that.
Rupert Giles was her father, not Hank Summers. And she knew, she'd known it ever since she'd stopped him from going after Angelus over Jenny.
He made his mistakes, but he loved her like she wanted her father to and after her mom was gone, Giles was the only parent she had left.
Now he was gone!
Buffy felt someone come up beside her. Looking up, she saw it was Dawn. Her sister knelt down beside her and pulled her into a hug and Buffy felt the gates open again. She clung to Dawn, crying into her shoulder.
"Giles," Buffy sobbed.
"I know," Dawn said a crack in her voice as she held her sister.
Buffy was barely aware when Xander came up on her other side, grabbing both Summers women in a tight hug. For a moment, it was silent except Buffy's crying.
"Buffy…there's someone here to see you," Dawn said lowly.
"Dawn, I'm really not in the mood to see anyone," Buffy said as she pulled back, sniffing as she wiped her eyes.
"I think you'll change your mind in a minute," Dawn said with a weak smile.
"Buffy."
Buffy froze at the sound of the voice behind her. Dawn and Xander stepped as she turned, turning around in disbelief. Spike stood a few feet away, Faith, Klaus, Enzo and Elijah standing a few feet behind him.
"Spike?" Buffy asked in disbelief, glancing at Dawn who nodded in confirmation. "How…"
"It's a long story Buffy," Spike said gently, his eyes shining with compassion. "I know about Giles. I'm sorry."
"You hated him," Buffy said with a humorless laugh.
"And he hated me," Spike pointed out. "But I know what he meant to you Buffy. If anyone understands what you're feeling-"
"Don't you dare say you know what I'm going through Spike," Buffy snapped, suddenly angry. "Giles is dead. And I feel like it's my fault. If I had just sent Klaus and Elijah into their cells, gone after Lucien…he died because I needed to play the hero instead of doing my job. So I'm gonna find a way to send them all back to where they belong. If they die…I don't care. I'm done."
"Come on Buffy, I know you better than that. You couldn't stand to see me suffer, even after what I did to you. You're not gonna let people die if you can help it," Spike said with a slight smile.
"Buffy, he's right. Just…just listen to him," Dawn pleaded from behind her.
Buffy was about to snap at her when Spike spoke again.
"When I was human, my mother was sick," Spike said and she looked at him in bewilderment. "When Drusilla turned me, I turned her to make her well again."
"You did what?" Buffy asked shocked as the Scoobies looked at Spike in horror.
"Exactly what I said. I was newly turned myself, I didn't know what it would do to her," Spike said, his eyes filled with guilt and pain. "Unlike me, she didn't retain her feelings of love. She became a true monster, said…awful things. I staked her. It took me a long time to get passed that. So believe it or not Buffy, I do understand blaming yourself for the death of a parent."
For a long moment, it was silent. Then, Klaus spoke up.
"You are not the only one who has lost someone to Lucien," Klaus said and they looked over at him. "His bite is lethal to vampires. He bit….he bit Camille."
"You loved her," Buffy noted, seeing the pain in which he spoke her name and remembering Lucien going on about wanting to kill someone named Cami as Klaus nodded.
"I didn't think I was capable of truly loving someone more than myself outside my daughter…until her. She saw beyond the monster I was to see the man that I could be. Lucien bit her to punish me, to make me watch her slowly die. And he was successful," Klaus said, looking physically pained as he remembered losing Cami. "If anyone understands your grief, it is me."
"I want to kill him. I want to tear him apart with my bare hands," Buffy said, her voice shaking as she tried not to break down.
"And I understand that to. But I can still hear Camille's voice, even now, telling me violence won't make me feel better. She was right, and it won't make you feel better either," Klaus said gently. "And sending us back home, it won't make you feel better."
"Giles told me once that 'If it's guilt you're looking for, Buffy, I'm not your man. All you will get from me is my support. And my respect', Buffy said sadly, as she remembered the moment he consoled her over Angel losing his soul. "Even after Angelus killed Jenny…he was just worried about me."
"It's part of being a father. You put your child before yourself," Klaus said softly, thinking of Hope.
"So maybe Giles didn't die for nothing B," Faith said gently and Buffy frowned, looking away in thought.
Slayer Compound
Later
The group returned to the Compound, pointedly not going down stairs as they tried to figure out a plan.
"Okay, so Lucien is evil and deserves to die. What about the others?" Buffy asked, looking at the three Dimensions Hoppers.
"Stefan is a remorseless killer with his humanity off. But when it's on, he's one of the best people you'll ever meet," Enzo assured her and Buffy nodded.
"Okay. So how do we get his humanity on?" Dawn wondered.
"You can leave that to my brother and me," Elijah said and they all looked at him. "One of us merely has to compel Stefan to turn it back on."
"Compel?" Spike repeated.
"In our world, vampires have the ability of compulsion, sort of mind control," Enzo explained.
"Normal Vampires aren't able to compel each other, but Elijah and I are Originals, the first vampires in history on our world. All vampires come from us. So we can Compel Stefan to turn his humanity back on," Klaus explained.
"Okay, that takes care of him then. What about Rayna? She's basically a vamp serial killer. And not all vampires on your world seem evil," Faith noted as she glanced at the dimension hoppers.
"I know she's a monster, but I need you to let her live," Enzo insisted and the Scoobies and Mikaelsons looked at him in bewilderment. "It's complicated, but I need her to live, otherwise the woman I love will die. Please."
"You realize you're asking us to let a serial killer on your world go free just for one woman," Buffy pointed out.
"I know. And I'm still asking," Enzo said as he looked her right in the eye.
For a long moment, it was silent as Buffy and Enzo stared each other down. Then, Buffy sighed.
"Promise me no one will get hurt," Buffy said directly.
"Can't promise that. But I can promise that she won't be able to go on any of her rampages for a while," Enzo said and Buffy nodded.
"Guess that's gonna have to good enough," Buffy said reluctantly. "Okay, and Kai?"
"Don't think it matters much. From what he said, he was taken just before Damon killed him," Enzo mused.
"So either way the bloke's dead," Spike noted and Enzo nodded.
"I say we capture him, Will wipes his memories once we're done, and then we send them all home," Faith shrugged.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Xander agreed.
"But what about Lucien? I mean, he kicked Buffy and Faith's asses, no offense," Dawn said apologetically.
"No, you're right. We're never gonna get Willow back or stop Amy if Lucien is a problem. Klaus, you said you killed him before. How?" Buffy asked as she turned to the Hybrid.
"By returning him to an ordinary vampire," Klaus said.
"Our sister Freya is a witch. She was able to come up with a spell to undo the transformation he'd undergone by using the power source that turned him," Elijah explained.
"Which was what?" Spike asked.
"The power of dead New Orleans Witches. Which we are in short supply of, never mind a witch to perform the spell," Elijah said grimly and they deflated.
"Maybe not," Klaus said, something occurring to him. "We may not have the Ancestors, but we have a power source that is very similar. A source that exists inside us."
"The Hollow," Elijah realized. "Niklaus, using this power is dangerous."
"If this Willow is as powerful as Buffy claims, she should be able to handle it without letting it corrupt her," Klaus said with certainty.
"Hate to burst your bubble big guy, but we're still short on a witch to make the spell. Because I think something like that would need to be modified to suit this Hollow or whatever," Xander pointed out. "And we don't have a witch."
"Yes you do," Dawn said and they all turned to her in shock. "I can't cast the spell, but I can write it."
"I'm sorry, what?" Buffy asked in shock.
"Since when do you dabble in magic Dawn?" Spike asked surprised.
"Since Willow and Tara broke up. When Tara and I would meet for milkshakes, she'd teach me a bit of magic to. After she came back, Willow started teaching me a bit to. I'm nowhere near Will's level, but I can write the spell, as long as one of you knows it," Dawn said, glancing at Elijah and Klaus before looking at Buffy. "I can do this Buffy. Trust me."
"Are you sure. Because we don't have room for mistakes here," Buffy said as she looked her sister directly in the eye.
"I wouldn't have even brought it up if I wasn't sure. I can make the spell, and then we get it to Willow," Dawn said with certainty and, after a moment, Buffy nodded.
"Okay. We're in business, so let's get to work," Buffy ordered, for the first time feeling hopeful that they could solve this problem.
Hope you all liked Spike showing up.
And there's the plan to deal with Lucien. Hope it makes sense.
