Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Untitled
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters.
The night started out like every other night in Sunnydale. The light breeze fluttering though the air, the moon's full light shining over the quaint town, and one little slayer kicking some major ass.
Assisting her were her usual companions Willow and Xander, each trying their best at killing one vampire while Buffy tacked five down with incredible agility and ease. Buffy dusted off all that was left of the vampire remains and strode over to the struggling fighters. Within the blink of an eye, she stabbed the vampire in the chest and he vanquished into a big dusty pile of ashes.
There was a moment of silence as Xander stumbled forward a little. "We-we had that all under control, Buffy," Xander said, out of breath. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and sighed in relief. "I was just starting to get serious."
"Yeah," Willow agreed. "We were just about to reveal our master plan, but then you came and ruined it. Shame on you, Buffy." Willow gave Buffy a half-hearted scowl.
"Well, sorry to ruin your new game plan, but I just wanted to make sure that you guys were alive so I don't have to grieve over more deaths." Buffy looked down and a long silence shadowed over the trio.
Willow and Xander gave each other one of their looks. They were both thinking the same thing: Buffy shouldn't be out patrolling so soon after her mom died and the way Tara was taken over by Glory's powers. If she put off her emotions any longer, she was going to explode from all the stress she was going through.
"Uh...I think we should just get back," Willow said, breaking the awkward silence. She walked over to Buffy and linked their arms together, leading Buffy away from the fighting area. Xander followed closely on the other side of Buffy.
"Yeah, I bet Dawn's bored out of her mind with Spike babysitting her," the tall, yet hefty man informed. "He's probably showing her different techniques on how to kill an innocent."
***
"Agggggh! Spike, help me!" a young girls screams echoed through the hollow vampire hideout.
A few silent moments passed and Dawn screamed once again. "Spike! Help!"
A scurry of footsteps rushed to the living area of the cavern and Spike looked around, ready for battle. "What is it, love?" He asked, stake in hand. He didn't see anything odd....no Glory, no demons. Just a small replica of Buffy standing on his bed.
"That! There!" Dawn screeched pointing wildly down at the floor. "See it?"
Spike squinted to where she was pointing and saw a small ball of fluff scurrying across the floor. He sighed and lowered his weapon. "That's it?" he asked. He strode over to the animal and lifted his foot, ready to smash it to a pulp.
"No!" Dawn screamed once again. She reached out her arm as if to stop him frantically. "Don't kill it."
Spike gave an exasperated sigh and scooped the rat up in his hand. He walked over to the entrance to his cavern and threw it outside. "Better?"
Dawn didn't say anything. She just slowly lowered herself to the ground, only slightly embarrassed over her little fiasco.
Spike closed the front door and strode over next to Dawn who sat down on his bed. "It's just an animal," he said. "It's not that big a deal if it were dead or alive."
Dawn glanced at him, feeling her defensive side coming out, but didn't turn towards him. "Everything deserves to live. Just because it's an animal doesn't give it any lesser of a right."
"Ok, there, little sprite. Well if everything deserves to live, how come Buffy wants to kill me all the time?" Spike scoffed at the irony.
Dawn looked at him this time, not really knowing how to answer. It was her luck that she didn't need to when Spike's front door opened. In walked Buffy followed by Willow and Xander. Xander had a look of pain on his face.
"I think somebody hit me in the head with a rat," he winced, rubbing his head.
Spike had total disregard of Xander and Willow. He stood up from the bed and tried to put on his best look. "Hello, there, Buffy," he said. His sexy voice echoed through the hollow cave, bouncing off the walls and into Buffy's ears.
As sexy as he was, sexy isn't what she needed right now. She cringed at the sight of him. He was a grade A stalker. It gave Buffy the creeps most of the time even though he was just trying to help. His constant visits to her house at night weren't exactly what she needed all the time. Especially when she was already on edge with all the new responsibilities.
Buffy ignored his welcome. "Get your things, Dawn. We're leaving."
Dawn stood up and looked at Spike sympathetically as she walked past. She grabbed her book bag from next to his lone couch and tugged it on her shoulders. Xander led Dawn out, lightly guiding her though the darkness of the outside. Willow looked back at Buffy, who didn't make the effort to move, and followed Xander outside. When they were a good distance away, Buffy raised her eyes to Spike.
"Thanks for watching her," she said, pocketing her hands in her coat. "I-I know I haven't really been Miss Benevolent to you, but I want you to know that I really appreciate you watching her when I can't. It's really proving to me that you may have changed after all."
Spike stared at her, touched at her sincerity. This is the first time she said more than 'shut up, Spike' in the past 48 hours. Spike took a deep breath and took a chance: "But I've been telling you this since the moment I changed. Why couldn't you believe me then?"
Buffy raised her eyes to his face, studying it. She was being as sincere as she could be without giving him any hints....why is he ruining it? "How could I trust you?" she asked, feeling her anger rise a bit. "You eat people for a living, Spike. You aren't exactly Mr. Noble, if you know what I mean. Besides, the only thing that made you change was that little chip in your head. You haven't changed by choice. Just by lack of options."
Spike was ready to retort, but decided that it was better not to. He got what he wanted; her sincerity. That's a good start, in his opinion.
"Alright, Buffy," Spike said. "You're right. But I think you're friends are waiting on you, so you better get going."
Buffy looked back out to the dark night, her super abilities allowing her to see past the dark. "You're right," she said. Then without anything such as a good bye, Buffy walked out the door, feeling his eyes on her back the whole way out.
When Buffy caught up with Xander and the gang, she kept quiet on the walk home. She was tired and she didn't like being so mean to Spike all the time. But that's all she knew of him. Anger, somebody to take things out on. She still wasn't used to the fact that Spike was now human....well partially. He had his soul, so that makes you human, right? She was so used to everything sliding off his back, but now he had all these new feelings. It was going to take some time getting used to.
Dawn slowed her footsteps to walk in time with Buffy. "You shouldn't give him such a hard time," Dawn whispered in the quiet night as if trying to keep what she was saying from Willow and Xander. It really didn't help though since the night was so quiet. You could hear everything.
Buffy looked up at her sister with a look of amazement on her face. It was as if Dawn had been reading her thoughts.
"I know," Buffy replied. "It's just...complicated. I want to be nice to him when he's not getting himself into trouble or when he's not bothering me, but as we all know, it's rare for that to happen. It's just....instinct for me. Kill the vampire. Be mean to the vampire. And I've been thinking: in a way it's like when Spike got his soul, mine was taken away." Buffy paused to think that over. It could have very well been possible. I mean, she kills vampires and demons as a living. Anything's possible in Sunnydale.
Dawn stopped and grabbed Buffy's elbow. "Why do you think such stupid things?" Dawn asked, irritated at her sister's denseness. "You still have your soul." Dawn's voice quieted down a bit as she whispered to herself: "At least you have your soul. I wish I had one." Xander seemed to be the only person who noticed what she said and he gave her a side long glance.
Willow slowed her footsteps. She couldn't help but overhear their conversation in the silence of the night. "Dawn's right, Buffy." Willow looked at Buffy's stunned reaction and quickly explained. "Not about you being stupid. Because you're not; you're very intelligent. I mean she's right about the part about you still having your soul. It's there, but I think it just needs to be pampered a little more often, you know?"
Buffy stared at Willow with a blank expression.
Willow once again began to explain. "Like, when's the last time you had some time to yourself while getting a spa treatment or something? You haven't done anything like that since...," Willow trailed off, "Well, ever. I think you need to take a day or two and find that soul of yours again. We can do it by watching sappy movies and eating a lot of junk food and gaining that freshman 15 everyone dreads." Willow gave her one of her goofy smiles and her 'go get 'em' enthusiasm.
Buffy's thoughts wandered for a few seconds as she considered Willow's suggestion. It's true that she hasn't really taken time out for herself. It seemed nice, but she couldn't.
"It sounds tempting Willow, but I just can't. With Glory after Dawn and mom and Tara gone, it makes me more determined to put an end to Glory. I can't get a mud bath or watch movies while I know that psychotic killer's still out for me and my friends."
Willow's energetic face went solemn as she realized her plan didn't work. "I guess you're right. But maybe we can still do the movie thing when Glory's dead, right?"
Buffy smiled sweetly and nodded to her best friend, letting her know that it was a promise.
Xander stepped into the conversation, his sarcastic side taking over. "Yeah, well now that we have the whole soul searching event planned, let's say we get out of here before we get attacked by another vampire or a demon who doesn't really give a rat's ass whether you need to find your soul or not because in fact he wants to eat your soul."
Buffy, Willow and Dawn each gave Xander a wide-eyed look, startled at his sudden outburst. Realizing that he actually gave words to his thoughts, Xander gave a sheepish smile. "I'll shut up now."
***
The next morning, Spike laid in his bed clad in only the white thin sheets that covered his body. His arm lay carelessly over his eyes, blocking the obscure sunbeams he knew was on the other side of his sunlight ridden 'house.'
Spike turned in his bed, letting the sheets fall to the side, revealing his bare back. "Buffy," he murmured in his sleep, completely unaware that he was in fact sleep. The dream was so real...
In his dream, Spike was getting ready to kiss Buffy. His face was closer, closer, closer, closer....
"Spike!"
"Wha-?" Spike groaned, lifting his head from the bed. He looked around his room, forgetting where he was. Then suddenly remembering. "Ah, bloody hell!" he yelled as he stood up and threw on some clothes. He was just getting to the best part of his dream. It frustrated him that he couldn't have her in real life and in his dreams. Maybe it really was impossible to win Buffy over.
"Who goes there?" Spike asked, grabbing a dark gray wool blanket from his couch. He walked up the ladder and to the door.
"It's me, Dawn," the voice replied.
Spike wrapped the blanket over his body, shielding him from the deadly sunlight and he opened the door, feeling a pang of urgency as he did. Dawn stepped into the room and he closed the door, throwing the blanket down in the process.
"What is it?" He asked her. "Is everybody alright?"
Dawn smoothed down her hair and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Buffy's alright, Spike."
Spike was taken aback by Dawn's bluntness. How could he have been so obvious? "Uh-well....then why are you here? Buffy would stake me with a Redwood if she knew you were here while you skipped school." He led her down the ladder and into his little homey place.
Dawn took a seat down on Spike's couch and crossed her legs. She sat there oblivious to her inconvenience as she rummaged through her book bag. "I didn't skip all of school," she murmured as she scanned a packet of papers. "Only half of school. I have, like, two study halls at the end of the day and my art teacher really doesn't care if I go to class or not."
"Like that makes it better," Spike said. He walked over to his small kitchen area where he had a fridge stocked with pigs blood in large mugs. He reached in and pulled out a mug, placing a nice umbrella straw in it. He took a second to take a sip and then he placed the mug onto the coffee table next to Dawn.
She looked at the mug as if it were infected, but then quickly averted her eyes when she caught him staring at her.
Spike disregarded her look and sat there in silence still, waiting for Dawn to continue.
She didn't say anything.
After a few minutes of silence, Spike finally gave out an annoying sigh. "Well?"
Dawn glanced up from the papers she had been reading. "Well what?" she asked, totally clueless to what he was talking about.
Spike slapped his knee as a sign of his impatience with her lack of common sense. "Well, I was having a great nap when all of a sudden I hear a banging at my door and then this little bugger who's supposed to be in school come waltzing in, expecting me to have my door open for her all the time. I at least want to know why you're here. You can't expect me to let you lounge out here like a little teenage hang out or something."
Dawn nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, I guess I did come her for another reason besides just wanting to hang out. Well...the thing is...." she trailed off. "You see....no, how do I put this?"
"Get on with it," Spike said, sounding a bit more annoyed than he actually was. She was coming to him for advice for Pete's sake. Not Willow or Xander or Anya. He felt a little bit of pride as if he accomplished something.
"I was getting to that," Dawn stated firmly, irritated that he wasn't patient. "Well, Buffy and I were kind of having a little chat about souls and everything. About how she thinks she's lost hers because she's a slayer and...."
"What?" Spike asked, suddenly interested. "She thinks that she lost her soul because she's a slayer? That's absurd. That's crazy. That's-"
"-not the point," Dawn finished for him. She was really starting to get annoyed at the way he jumped at the sound of her name. He was becoming too much of a puppy dog. "My point is that since I'm the key and I don't have a soul, I was wondering if I could talk to you about....getting mine. Since you went and got yours and everything." Her childish face lit up as she looked to Spike with hope.
Spike's face, however turned dark and he shook his head. "Nope. Sorry kid, can't help you out there." He stood up from the couch across from her and walked back over to the kitchen, trying to busy himself by rummaging through the refrigerator.
"Huh?" Dawn asked, her face falling as she followed him into the kitchen. "But-why can't you help me? I really want one bad and I didn't think that it would be that complicated for you to tell me how to get mine. I didn't think it was that big a deal."
There was a moment's silence, but then Spike suddenly slammed the fridge door shut and stared at Dawn with the most malicious look he's ever given the poor child. "No big deal?" he repeated. "No big deal? I'll let you know that it was a very damn big of a deal." Spike began to stride towards her menacingly without even realizing it. Dawn staggered backwards, truly afraid of Spike for the first time. She stumbled back until she came back to back with the cold stone wall. She squinted as he continued raging, nose to nose with her. His eyes seemed blank as he stared her down, but she could really see everything he went through as she looked into them. All the pain and heartache just to be noticed. "I went to hell and back to get this thing that lives inside of me. This thing that torments me day and night just because of one thing. I went through unbelievable amounts of torture and neglect and starvation that I almost quit through my quest. But I'll be damned before I face something I can't measure up to. I'll be damned before I quit." Before he knew it, Spike's anger had made him change into the dreadful thing he was forced to conceal. His upper brow lowered way past his eyes, giving him a scowl-ish look that only a vampire could express. His fangs lowered and though had no intention of eating her, he couldn't stop his transformation.
Spike looked into the deep dark pits of Dawn's eyes and it was only then that he realized she was trembling in complete fear. He took a few steps back, giving her some room. He expected her to scurry out of the way or say something, but she didn't. She stood rooted to the spot staring at his devilish face.
Feeling that he couldn't take the look of fear and disgust on her face anymore, Spike transformed back to his original self. "Sorry, little bit. I didn't mean for that to happen. It was just...instinct for me."
Still Dawn didn't say anything.
Not knowing what else to do, Spike reached out his hand to take hers in. Some kind of gesture he wasn't really sure why he was doing. It must come with the soul territory or something. "It's still me," he said gently. For a split second, Spike thought she might actually take his hand. She extended her hand outwards, and just when he thought she was going to grasp it, she grabbed her book bag which was lying on the floor next to him.
Spike lowered his hand in defeat and walked over to his bed and sat down.
Dawn walked over to the ladder and hesitating before she climbed up. "Was it worth it?" she asked, her voice cracking a bit.
Spike glanced up, amazed that she was still speaking to him. He already knew the answer. He would have known it even if he didn't have his soul.
"Hell yeah," he replied as Dawn gave him a half smile, then disappeared up the ladder and into the sunlight where Spike could never follow.
***
On the other side of town, another blonde beauty, counterpart Buffy, sat in her luxurious apartment being waited on hand and foot by goblin like followers. And like Buffy, death was a specialty for this woman, but by far more powerful. Her Goddess abilities outweighed the mere slayers times a hundred. But all of Glorificus' power was useless because of one simple thing. The key.
"Where's my key, damn it!" Glory bellowed though her apartment. She was hear by everyone in the living space, even Ben who was trapped away in her deep inside, a slave to her body.
One of Glory's minions staggered towards her. "Oh, beautiful, powerful Glorificus. We have just received word that the key is on the loose, walking around with no protection from the slayer. Would it be wise if I, and your devoted adherents go after the innocent?"
Glory smiled and stood up, ecstatic to hear such good news. "No. I will go after the girl myself. You stupid zombies couldn't capture her if she were already tied up and on my patio. This is the type of job a woman has to do herself."
"Yes, your excellence. Your holiness. Your.....exuberance."
Glory rolled her eyes and looked in the mirror. "But I can't go out looking like this," she said, tisking at herself. She had on Ben's clothes. The changes come so quick that she'd become used to popping up in the weirdest places, but she wasn't used to his dreaded style. "Go. Fetch me my red Gucci dress with the red heels. It's time to collect my key and be placed back in my rightful place among the Gods."
***
Dawn sighed as she looked up into the sunny light as she walked from Spike's hideout. Ever since Buffy's talk about souls, Dawn really wanted one. She felt incomplete without one. She wondered if she would feel things differently if she had one. Sure, she had lots of feelings, but it was all just programmed into her, so to say. She's not natural and something that's not natural doesn't have a soul. Dawn stopped walking to glance down at a pebble on the pavement. I bet even that rock has a soul. Just why can't I?
"Uh...Dawn?" a voice asked out of nowhere. Dawn spun around to be face to face with Xander and Anya.
"H-hi," Dawn stammered. Great. I'm busted now. I could count on Spike not telling Buffy I skipped school, but not Anya. She has such a big mouth.
Xander narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Did...I miss something? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"Wha-?" Dawn asked. She glanced down at her watch. It was 3 o'clock on the dot. "School's already out, Xander," Dawn said calmly. "I was just walking-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Anya interrupted. "Isn't your school in that direction?" Anya pointed from where her and Xander were coming from. "Why would you be walking the other way?"
"Well, there's an explanation for that," Dawn said trying to think fast.
"And isn't your house in that same direction?" Anya interrupted once again.
Dawn nodded. "Yeah. but-"
"Ooh! I'm learning my way around Sunnydale already, Xander," Anya squealed. "And Xander and I live that way," she continued, pointing to their right.
"Anya," Xander said, stopping her. He gave her a look that said 'you're overdoing it' and she instantly shut up.
"I was just going to the Magic Shoppe so I could help Giles out," Dawn answered, thankful that Anya talks a lot or she wouldn't have come up with an excuse.
"Oh, well we just came from there," Anya said. "The Magic Shoppe is in that direction." She turned around and pointed to where they were just coming from.
Xander ignored her. "But Dawn, the Magic Box closes early on Friday's. You know that."
Dawn could feel her face getting hot. She hated to lie and could never think of something off the top of her head. "Uh...well. I told Giles that I'd help him stock some new items that just got shipped in."
"Done," Anya perked, giving Dawn a proud smile. "I did everything and I even alphabetized all the items by category."
"Ok," Dawn said slowly. She had nothing else. Her mind went completely blank. "Well, I guess I better be going." She started to walk off, but Xander stopped her by grabbing her elbow.
"No, wait. We'll walk you home. Glory could be out looking for you."
Dawn began to feel like she was being suffocated. They were asking so many questions. It was like she was being interrogated or something. "It's ok. I can walk on my own." She pulled out of his grasp a little bit. She walked past the two in the direction of the Magic Box.
Xander and Anya just looked at each other. "Uh, I don't think you understand, Dawnie," Anya said, following her close behind. Dawn turned around to hear her. "Glory is out looking for you."
When Dawn didn't say anything and just gave her a blank look, Anya repeated, saying each word slowly. "Glory-is-out-looking-for-you,"
"I heard you the first time," Dawn said growing irritated. She hated the way everybody was treating her like a child....she was older than all of them if you think about it! They should be listening to her.
"But then what happens after that is if you get caught. Poof. The end of the world. Dimensions collide, demons swarm the earth, and I'll never get to learn anything about little old Sunnydale again." Anya made little hand gestures to go along with her little lecture.
"Anya's right," Xander said. "Well...at least part of it. It's not safe with you here alone."
Dawn sighed. "Well I don't want to go home right now. Can you walk me over to Willow's?"
"Sure," Xander said. "There's no harm in that."
As if on cue, Willow turned the corner guiding Tara by her side, nearly bumping into her friends.
"Willow!" Xander said, stating the obvious. He looked at Tara who was leaning on Willow for support. "And Tara."
"We were just talking about you," Anya said. "We were going to take Dawn over to your house Willow."
Willow glanced down at Dawn. "Well, ok. I just need to stop at the Magic Box real quick. Giles asked me to stop over to help him with some sort of incantation. He thinks that it may help Tara."
Dawn looked at Tara with guilt. It was her fault that this happened to her and all those other people. She truly was evil...
"Ok," Dawn said. "I guess I'll see you guys later," she stated, urging them to leave.
Anya gave Willow a big smile. "You live in that direction."
"Uh...thank you," Willow said. "Now I know in case I get lost....." She looked at Xander for an explanation, but he just shrugged it off.
"We'll be going now," Xander said.
"Such pretty green light!" Tara exclaimed. She was acting as if she saw the most beautiful thing in the world. She reached out to touch Dawn's hair, but then pulled back as if Dawn was electricity. "Such purity." Tara's head drooped onto Willow's shoulder as if talking were a task in itself.
Dawn started to feel rather uncomfortable with Tara's crazy talk. Some people who were walking by looked at Dawn as if she were an alien.
"Uh, you think you can handle this, Willow?" Xander asked.
Willow looked at Tara then back at Xander and nodded. "Alright. See you guys later." He grabbed Anya's hand and they walked off together.
Willow looked at Dawn and gave her a smile. "Uh, does Buffy know that you're going to be with me?"
Dawn shook her head. "I'll call her from the Magic Box to let her know. Don't want her to worry. Can't ever let Buffy worry."
Willow detected a little bit of spite and sarcasm in Dawn's voice. "Buffy has a lot on her shoulders right now. I know you know this, but everything just came crashing down on her at once. It's hard."
Dawn's face softened and she nodded. "I know." She looked at the struggling red head and gave her a hand with Tara. "Let me help you." Dawn supported half of Tara's weight onto her shoulder. She could feel her chest tightening up inside. She never meant for any of this to happen. "Willow," Dawn said. "I'm really sorry that I did this to Tara."
Willow slowed her pacing and looked at Dawn. "You didn't do this. Glory did this. And don't blame yourself. It doesn't help at all to take all the pressure. Just look at Buffy."
Dawn laughed at that as she remembered the time Buffy zonked out. That was pretty funny in her opinion.
Within minutes the trio were finally inside of the Magic Box. It was rather dark inside and the usual crowded place was eerily empty. They were never used to seeing the store closed.
"Giles!" Willow called through the store. She placed Tara down in one of the plush couches and gave Dawn a look as if to say 'watch her for me.'
Giles walked into the front of the store with a book in his hand and his glasses in the other. "Oh, hello Willow and Tara." He put his glasses back over his eyes and looked at who else was there. "Hello to you too, Dawn. I wasn't expecting you here any time soon. I don't think we-do you want something to drink? I think we have some...milk or something in the back refrigerator."
"No thanks," Dawn said. "I think I'll just take a look around instead."
Giles nodded as he and Willow sat down at a table next to Tara. He placed the book on the stand and began to explain to Willow the incantation.
Meanwhile, Dawn began to explore the shelves, looking to see if she could spot anything on souls. In the matter of a few minutes she had scanned over seven shelves in the store and she came up with nothing. It began to seem hopeless until she bumped into the ladder that stretches to the small balcony overlooking the store. Up there were the most dangerous spells. Spells that even Willow and Tara weren't up to date with. Those were just the kind of spells she needed.
Looking back at Giles and Willow, Dawn climbed up the ladder, careful not to make too much noise. When she was safe on top, she glanced around at the familiar place. This is the same place where she found the book that brought her mother back from the dead. She didn't want to head in that direction again...
Dawn scanned some other books and finally found a book that read "Lost Souls." She reached for the book and pulled it out from between the other books. "Lost Souls" was extremely dusty and she had to hold back a sneeze. Dawn whispered the name of the book as she opened it up to a random page. Pictures of different types of beings being tortured by un-nameable demons graced the pages of the book along with a load of text. She winced as she looked at a picture of a fourteenth century human being stabbed with tons of spears and stakes just to receive his soul. It was unnerving.
Still, Dawn forced herself to continue through the pages. She was determined to do this. She was going to live as a real human with a real soul no matter what possible. She flipped through some more pages until she came to a heading that said "Retrieving your Lost Soul."
"Bingo," Dawn whispered to herself. She tore out the pages of the instructions and looked at the ingredients. "Tablespoon of....witches blood?" Dawn questioned. She thought of how she was going to get witches blood on such short notice, but then continued on reading. "Uh...breath of the being whose soul wants to be reclaimed, a piece of beings hair, witches sand, sacred stones, and....the guidance of one who..."
"Dawn?" Willow called out.
Quickly, Dawn stuffed the papers in her pocket and stood up. "Uh, yeah?" she asked a little bit shakily. She was starting to be completely on edge. Kind of like Buffy.
Willow stared up at Dawn. "Is everything ok?"
"Yep," Dawn replied. She gave Willow a weak smile.
"You...didn't see anything up there that you shouldn't have, did you?" Willow asked. "That balcony is restricted. You know that."
Dawn began to climb down the ladder. "Yeah, I know. And no I didn't see anything I wasn't supposed to. I was just looking around a little bit to pass the time."
Reluctantly Willow nodded. "Alright then. Well, let's get going. The incantation's a flop. Giles said he'd keep doing more research in case he finds anything else."
"Alrighty then," Dawn replied and followed Willow to where Tara and Giles sat quietly.
"Oh, hey," Willow said, suddenly remembering. "You forgot to call Buffy to tell her that you're going to be coming over."
"Oh yeah. I'll do that when I get to your house, if that's ok."
"Sure." Willow reached down and lifted Tara gently from the couch. Giles assisted her. "Whelp, we better get going. I'll talk to you later, Giles and I hope that maybe you can find another incantation spell that might work next time."
"I'll keep searching. You three be careful now."
***
Buffy stood in the lone house, waiting for nearly an hour. Dawn still wasn't home from school and it was making her seriously worried now. She wouldn't mind it so much if she would have just called and told her that she was going to be late.
"I got to go look for her," Buffy said to herself. She grabbed her house keys and pocketed them when she hear the phone ring.
Buffy stopped short and stared at the phone for a second. "That better be Dawn," she muttered. She strode over to the telephone and picked it up. "Hello?" she asked.
"Buffy, it's me," Dawn said from the other line.
"Thank God," Buffy said. "Now, where the hell have you been?"
"Calm down, Buffy. I'm over Willow's house. I went with her to the Magic Box after school and I'm going to spend the night over here, ok?"
Buffy hesitated for a second. Maybe Willow's house wasn't the best place to be. She already had enough on her mind with Tara and having to protect both her and Dawn if there was a need would be too tough on her. "I don't know, Dawn," Buffy said. "I'd feel a lot more safer if you were here with me."
"Please," Dawn pleaded. "We'll be careful. Besides, Glory knows where we live. She'll be expecting me to be home with you and she could kidnap me and then the whole world could end. Just like that."
"Well, alright," Buffy agreed. "Just make sure that you don't go out after dark. Keep the weapons in easy access spots. Oh, and make sure that Willow casts a protection spell on her house. Just in case..."
"I know, Buffy. I got to go now. I'll talk to you later."
"Alright. Bye." There was a slight pause. "Wait!"
Dawn began to grow irritated with Buffy. "What?"
"Call me if anything happens. I'll be there in a heartbeat."
"Ok. Bye."
"And make sure that Tara eats her vegetables. We want her to get better."
"Ok!"
"And one more thing!" Buffy hurried.
Click. It was too late. Dawn already hung up the phone.
Buffy placed the receiver back on the cradle. "I love you," she finished in the quiet house.
***
"What'd Buffy say?" Willow asked as she walked into the guest room with a box of juice for Dawn.
"Uh, the usual. 'Where've you been, young lady?' 'Don't go out after dark.' Blah, blah, blah." Dawn took the bottle of juice and drank it quickly. "Anyways, she wants me to be home in an hour."
Willow frowned a little bit. "Oh. And I was just about to get out my favorite movie. Shrek."
"Saw it a hundred times already," Dawn replied. "I can recite the whole thing by heart."
Willow gave a little chuckle and glanced back at Tara who was laying on the couch in the living room watching Tom and Jerry. A look of pity came over her eyes, but she quickly shielded her pain from Dawn.
"So, what do you want to do until you leave? Play Parcheesi? Uh, Monopoly? No, that's too long....how about-"
"Let's cook," Dawn suggested.
Willow looked at Dawn with a blank expression. "Cook? But...I don't know how to-"
"Neither do I. But it'll be fun." Dawn said. She stood up from the couch she was sitting on and strode over to the kitchen.
"Well, what do you want to cook? Something that requires boiling water? Or something that requires hard work?"
"Hard work."
Willow pouted. "I was afraid you'd say that."
Dawn looked through some of the cupboards. She couldn't find anything in there that would serve as a good test subject. After having no success, Dawn walked over to the refrigerator. She opened the freezer and peered through the icicles. There was frozen chicken lying in there, frozen vegetables, and ice. That was it.
"Well, we don't have many choices," Dawn said. She gave a little look of discouragement and looked inside the fridge. There wasn't much in there either. Just the necessities. Milk, juice, pop. But she did see something that made her smile.
"Cookies!" Dawn exclaimed. She reached in and pulled out the cookie dough. She plopped it onto the counter.
"Cookies? Good idea," Willow agreed. "That's really simple and doesn't require mixing stuff."
"Alright, I need a knife," Dawn said.
Willow pointed to the cupboard next to her and Dawn peered inside. She grabbed a large pointy knife and gave a side glance at Willow who was busying herself with the oven.
"Uh, how big should I-?"
"Nooooo!" a bellow erupted from the living room. Willow spun around in horror as she realized it was Tara who was screaming. She rushed into the living room. "What's wrong? What is it?"
"The-the mouse is-" Tara struggled with her words. "-is going-going to die!" She pointed frantically at the television.
Willow looked at the cartoon to see Jerry trapped in a corner by Tom who was holding a pitchfork and gave a soft sigh. "It's-it's ok, Tara," she soothed. "The mouse isn't going to die, see?"
They watched Tom and Jerry for a few more seconds and just like she predicted it, Jerry ducked into his mouse hole just before Tom could get to him. Tara gave a squeal of approval and continued to watch. Feeling the need to, Willow sat there with Tara for a few more seconds, just in case Jerry was in a sticky situation again.
"Uh, Willow?" Dawn asked suddenly.
Reflexively, Willow stood up and turned around to face Dawn. She just opened her mouth to reply, but instead she looked down at her arm in shock. She had a long slash across her forearm.
"Oh, my God!" Dawn said. "I'm-I'm so sorry Willow. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to know how big you wanted me to make the cookies."
Willow looked at the cut. It wasn't that bad, but it was bleeding pretty quickly. "It's ok, Dawn. It's just a scratch. But can you get me a rag or something?"
Dawn turned to leave just as another bellow came out from Tara. "Nooooooo!" Thinking that Jerry was cornered once again in the cartoon, Willow turned back, but then realized that she cried out because of her cut. Tears welled in her eyes and she began to cry out.
"Tara, it's ok," Willow soothed. "It's going to be fine. It's just a scratch."
Dawn came back with a rag from the sink and Willow placed it over her cut. "It'll be ok, Tara. You'll see." She held onto it for a few seconds, expecting the bleeding to stop, or at least slow, but it didn't. It just continued to soak the rag.
"Uh..." Willow said. "Here." She gave the rag to Dawn and placed her hand over her wound, chanting silently to herself. A bright green began to emanate from her arm and a second later, she lifted up bloody hand to reveal that the scratch was no longer there. "All better."
Tara stopped crying for a second and stared at the flawless arm.
"Uh...I'll get rid of this," Dawn interrupted. She took the rag into the kitchen out of sight from the two. But instead of throwing the rag away, she placed it into a sandwich bag and hid it in her book bag.
A few seconds later, Dawn crept to the bookcase where the red-head witch kept all her potions and ingredients. She dug into her pocket for the spell and read the other ingredients. Witches sand and sacred rocks. She opened it up and pulled out a bottle of the witches sand and then the sacred stones that possessed the powers of past witches. She didn't know how many she needed, so she grabbed four. Quickly, she placed them into her book bag along with the rag and closed it.
"Uh, Willow!" Dawn called. "I just remembered that I had to do something. I need to go right away." Dawn tugged the bag on her shoulders and pulled her hair out from underneath the obstructing item.
"What?" Willow said. She walked into the kitchen with a worried look. "Is everything alright?"
Dawn gave her a reassuring nod. "Yeah. I just remembered that I had to tutor somebody in Algebra at five o'clock and I better get going if I don't want to be late."
"But what about the cookies?" Willow asked as she followed Dawn to the front door.
Dawn turned around. "We'll do it next time. I promise." From where she was standing, Dawn peered over Willow's shoulder. "Bye, Tara. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Dawn," she replied weakly. She gave her a small smile and continued to watch cartoons.
"Well, be careful," Willow said. "And call me if you need anything or if anything happens. Ok? Do you need a stake? You should always carry an extra stake in your book bag in case something happens."
Dawn rolled her eyes. Her and Buffy were a lot alike in different ways. "I have one! Bye, Buff!" Dawn called back jokingly.
It flew right over Willow's head though as she waved to the younger girl, then closed the door.
After a few minutes of walking, Dawn looked back at Willow's house to see if she was watching. Unfortunately, her eyesight wasn't a hundred percent so she just assumed that the coast was clear. She did a full U-turn in the other direction and began walking towards Spike's place. In order for this to work, she had to do it when he was sleeping during the day or else if he knew what she was doing, he wouldn't cooperate.
Dawn continued to walk in his direction, making sure that she wasn't being followed by any of Glory's minions. Dawn looked at her watch. It took her forty five minutes to walk to Spikes....that should be plenty of time for him to leave since it usually got dark around six o'clock.
Being as quiet as she could be, Dawn tiptoed to the nearest bush and hid inside of it. She felt a little grossed out by the thought of the bugs that could be crawling through her hair at the moment, but she quickly pushed that thought aside and concentrated on Spike's lair.
About fifteen minutes passed by and it was already dark. The only light you could see was the faint pink in the sky from the sun which already set. Dawn could feel a tingle in the back of her neck as she realized she was messing with some serious stuff. Buffy would absolutely kill her if she knew she was doing this or anything with magic in that case. Dawn pushed that thought aside too as she peered through the dark. "Ok," she whispered. "He should be leaving any minute now..."
Three Hours Later
"When is he going to leave!" Dawn practically yelled. She looked at her watch. It was nine o'clock. Well after dark. She couldn't see his hideout at all anymore. It was way too dark for her. She closed her eyes for a second and felt her whole body relax. All she wanted to do was sleep. She felt her head bob down and quickly opened her eyes. "Don't fall asleep," she whispered to herself. "He better leave soon or I'm gonna drag him out myself..."
Just as the words came out of her mouth, the door to Spike's hideout opened and he took a few steps into the darkness. He took a deep breath into the air and closed the door. She lost sight of him after that because his clothes blended in with his surroundings so well. She could only see a faint white that was the top of his head as he started to walk off.
"Go, go, go, go," she whispered. Her legs were numb from so much crouching and she was sure that she probably extracted head lice from the bushes.
As soon as she opened her mouth, Spike stopped in his tracks and took a look around.
Oh, no. You're such an idiot, Dawn, she thought to herself, She held her breath as she pleaded for him to leave.
Another moment passed and Spike reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It was his cigarettes and his lighter. He popped it in his mouth and lit it up, providing Dawn with a better visual of him as the fire cast eerie shadows across his hollow cheekbones. Then it was dark again as he placed the lighter back in his pocket and continued to walk off without a second glance back.
After waiting a few minutes to see if he would return for a forgotten item or something, Dawn finally crept out from the small space she was hiding in. Every bone in her body cracked as she stood up and stretched. Quickly, before being seen, Dawn crept into Spike's lair. There were two parts to it. There was the top level that really wasn't anything besides the entrance, then when you walked down the ladder, it led to his place. Dawn decided it was better to stay on the top level until Spike got home. There were only a limited amount of places she could hide in his hardly furnished hideout, so it was best she stay up there. She picked the furthest corner from the door and dragged a crate so she could be concealed behind it.
Only a few minutes passed and Dawn's eyes drifted closed and she fell into a deep sleep.
***
Spike stood outside of Buffy's house, watching it as if her were her guardian angel. But an angel he was not. He threw down his last cigarette and stepped on it, glancing down at all the butts he left behind under her large oak tree. Some of them still burned faintly as the cool night's breeze fueled them. Spike crouched down underneath the tree and rested his head against the trunk. He didn't know why he was here. He was really just wasting his time. Buffy would never love him. Not after all he did to her. All the pain he caused to her family. Still though, he felt this yearning to be as close to her as possible. He felt this need to protect her though she very well did not need any. In fact, she should be protecting him.
Spike sat as stiff as a board when he saw Buffy's silhouette from inside the house. She seemed to be pacing back and forth as if something was worrying her. Her moderately long hair flipped as she suddenly turned around to pick up something....a phone. She talked for a few seconds and then hung up, grabbing a jacket on the way out.
Spike pressed himself against the tree even closer to prevent from being seen. He glanced back at Buffy who walked down the walkway, stake at hand. She was almost all the way down when she stopped. She glanced down at the front of the walkway where she saw a cigarette butt lying there. She gave out an irritated sigh. "Come out, Spike. I know you're there."
Spike's heart jumped when she said his name. He knew that she felt his presence even before she found the cigarette. He saw it in the way she walked down cautiously. Also because his late night visits were becoming so ritualistic she expected him to be there. Still, he took a deep breath and stood up to face her, putting on his coldest face possible.
"Hey there, luv," he said.
"What are you doing here, Spike?" she asked him. "I've got patrolling to go do."
"Well, that's why I'm here. I'm gonna help you," he replied. There was a pause then he remembered something. "Well what about the little pigeon? You just gonna leave her there all by herself?"
Buffy started walking. He followed close behind. "Not that it's any of your business, but Dawn's at Willow's house. I've got to stop over there for some quick supplies, then I can start patrolling."
"I'll come with," Spike said.
"Great."
***
Willow was reading a book when a loud banging at her front door made her jump. She placed the book down and walked to the door cautiously. "Who is it?" she asked, her curiosity taking over her.
"It's me. Buffy."
"And me. Your friendly neighborhood vampire."
Willow groaned as she opened the door. "Hi, Buffy. Nice to see you."
Spike seemed a little offended by her ignoring his presence, though in reality he couldn't care less if she acknowledged him or not. He still just liked to annoy them from time to time. "And what about me? Aren't you happy to see me?"
Buffy walked into the house and Spike tried to follow, but was suddenly pushed back against his will. "What's that?" he questioned. "You're blocking me from your house? And after all we've been through..." He feigning his distress.
"It's a new kind of shield that only blocks assholes," Willow said suddenly.
Spike was taken aback by her bluntness, but then quickly recovered by chuckling. "I didn't know you had it in you," he said. "Bravo."
Buffy ignored Spike and walked with Willow into the kitchen while Spike stood at the doorway, whistling a tune.
"Giles called me and told me there's an infestation of vampires in the cemetery. I need some more supplies. All my stakes are dulled out or broken and I have no axes."
"I have just the things you need," Willow said. She walked over to the living room and pulled a large chest out from behind the couch. She opened it and inside was some heavy artillery. "Pick your choice," Willow said.
Buffy looked through the chest and grabbed the lightest weapons she could find. She placed them into her coat pockets and closed the chest. "That's it I guess," Buffy said. She walked to the front door and turned to face Willow. "I'll see you later."
She turned to leave with Spike, but then turned around once again. "Oh, and how's Dawn?"
"Hmm?" Willow asked. "Uh...well, she's good the last time I saw her. You should be the who knows anyways. Is Xander over your house watching her right now or something?"
Buffy gave her a blank look and things started to begin to fit together. "You mean she's not here spending the night?"
Willow furrowed her eyebrows together. "No. She came over, but left at around five o'clock. She said that she had to go tutor somebody for Algebra."
"Uh-oh," Spike tisked. "Liar, liar, pants on fire," he said.
Buffy looked back and elbowed him in the face, growing frustrated and worried. He stumbled backwards and fell to the pavement.
"Ow!" he said, clutching his forehead.
"Oh, no. Something must have happened. Willow, you stay here incase she stops by or if you find out anything. Call Giles and tell him the situation and ask him to help us. Spike, me and you split up after we stop by my house again. I need to make sure she hasn't called or anything."
Spike stood up. "What makes you think I'm gonna listen to you?" Spike mumbled. "You just hit me in the forehead!"
Buffy's face grew dark as she grabbed Spike's collar and brought his face close to hers. "I'm gonna do a lot more if you don't help me, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah," Spike mumbled once again. "Heard it all before."
"Be careful, Buffy," Willow called as the two departed from her doorstep. "You too, Spike. I guess."
Spike just waved his hand in the air, acknowledging her effort to care for him.
Buffy took quick long strides to her house, feeling anxious. She glanced back at Spike who trailed behind a little, despite his tall stature. "Hurry up, Spike. We need to hurry home. I have this awful feeling that Glory has her."
Spike caught up with her quickly. "I don't think she got her, luv. If she did, the dimensions would be crashing right now probably." He tried his best to comfort her.
Buffy was still doubtful. "Let's hope you're right." She ran the rest of the way to her house and up the stairs and Spike followed her into the house. The light was blinking on the answering machine. "There's a message!" she said hopefully. She pressed the button quickly and waited for the message to play back.
"Uh, Buffy, it's Willow. I called Giles and told him that-"
"Crap!" Buffy yelled and stopped the message, She slammed her fist into the table and took a deep breath. "Ok, now what me and you have to do is..." Buffy trailed off.
Spike caught the look on her face. "What is it?"
She motioned for Spike to be quiet and walked into the living room. She could feel a strange presence. She stared in the dark room, feeling a bit confused. She could have swore she left the light on.
Buffy stood there in the room quietly. She then turned back to Spike. "I think we should-"
"Watch it!" Spike yelled. He grabbed Buffy and pulled her out of the way of a demon...wait, it wasn't just any random demon. It was one of Glory's minions.
Buffy spun around and put her guard up. "How'd they get in? What about the shield?"
Spike shook his head. "Don't know, luv. Guess those witches shields aren't what they used to be." He lunged forward and tried to attack the minion, but he just dogged out of the way.
Spike reached for the demon once again and succeeded in grabbing it, putting it in a choke hold. "Got you now, huh?" Spike said, breathing a little hard.
"Please don't kill me!" the demon croaked out.
Spike squeezed his arms together tighter. "And why wouldn't we want to do that? It's so much fun killing demons who stray from the pack." The demon's breathing was shorter and lighter. "Tell us what you want," Spike said.
"I'll tell you nothing until you let go of me."
Still having a rough hold, Spike looked at Buffy for her consent. She gave a slight nod and he let go of the warty creature.
"That's more like it," the demon said. He straightened his garb and took a deep breath. He glanced at the two of them and made a run for it.
"Oh, no you don't," Spike said. He grabbed him from the back and threw him over her shoulder. He landed on the coffee table, breaking it into hundreds of pieces.
"I'll never tell you!" The demon said. "No amount of torture can make me reveal that-"
Buffy strode over to him menacingly and grabbed the collar of his shirt. "No amount of torture, huh?" she asked. She reached into her coat and pulled out a stake.
"I'll tell," the demon rasped. "Just don't kill me." Buffy still held onto him, making sure that he didn't try to get away again. "We came for the innocent. The key."
"The key," Buffy repeated. She let the demon go. Glory obviously didn't have Dawn. That was the upside. The downside was that Buffy didn't have her either.
"Get out of here," Buffy said to the minion. "Tell Glory that if she wants the key, she's going to have to come for it herself because you guys aren't doing a very good job of it."
The demon didn't say anything in reply. He just ran off into the night.
"Wha-?" Spike started. "What did you do that for? We could have killed him. After everything they've done to you, I would have jumped at the chance to pluck every wart off their body."
Buffy folded her arms in defense. "They don't have Dawn. They don't know anything. And when Glory comes for her next time, I'll be ready for her."
Spike still scoffed and muttered under his breath, "You said that last time, didn't you?"
Buffy grew irritated. "Spike, if you have something to say, please, just say it. Don't hide it."
"You do it too, Slayer. Don't deny it, either. You hide things all the time. I can see it in your eyes. You hide things from your friends, you hide them from Dawn, and you hide them from me. So don't be too quick to judge."
"Ok, I don't really have time for this. Dawn's missing. That's all I know. She's not with Willow, Glory doesn't have her. The only other person I can think of is Xander and Anya, but I doubt that they know where she is." Buffy could feel herself begin to lose it. "We could try some of the kids from school, but it's late and I'm sure they don't know where she is." She began to pace the room. "Uh...we can-"
The phone rang, interrupting her in mid-sentence. She dashed to it and picked it up, nearly dropping it in the process.
"Dawn?" She asked. "Is that you?"
"Uh, no, Buffy. It's me, Giles."
Buffy's heart sank. "Giles, thank God. I can't find her and I don't know what to do. Do you know where she could be?"
She could hear the exasperation in his voice. "Unfortunately no. We have to do a sweep of Sunnydale. She can't of gone far."
Buffy nodded, taking a deep breath. "Ok. I need you to call Xander and Anya. Tell them what's going on so we can search. Spike and I will get started." She hung up the phone before he could say anything else.
"So, that's the master plan, is it?" Spike said.
"That's the only thing we got," she replied. "For right now, you and I need to split up and search in different ways. Meet back up here in an hour to report if you see Dawn, ok?"
Spike nodded carelessly. "Alright, Commander Buff."
***
Glory walked the dark streets of Sunnydale, desperately searching for the key. She had been searching for the past few hours and she came up with nothing.
"Damn it!" She screeched, irritated. She slammed her fist into a nearby building, crushing the bricks as if they were made of butter.
She dug her hand out from the bricks and stared at it. Her knuckles were bright red. Without really thinking about it, Glory brought her hand to her face and licked the wound, just to see what it tasted like. There was only one word to describe it: disgusting.
"I hate this filthy body!" Glory raged as she continued to walk down the streets. People gave her weird glances and whispered amongst themselves.
"Glorificus!" a voice called.
Glory stopped and turned around to face her most trusted demon. He sauntered to her and bowed at her feet. "Did you get it?"
Her devoted follower hesitated. "No, your wonderfulness, but I can assure you that the slayer doesn't know where the key is as well."
Glory could feel her rage rising. "And you expect me to believe that's good news?" she screamed. She brought her hand back and slapped him across the head. He fell backwards, but quickly got to his feet.
"Go. Continue searching," Glory commanded. "I'll be home. If you find her, don't scare her away. Call me and let me know where she is. I'll take care of her myself."
***
Five hours past, but it seemed much too quick for Buffy, who sat on her porch steps; the check point. She had met up with the gang every hour and they still haven't found anything. She was just waiting for everyone else to arrive.
"Where are you, Dawn?" Buffy whispered as she looked up at the fading moon. The sun was just beginning to rise. The pink light through the sky made everything a little better to see. "You have to be alright. You have to be."
"She's fine," a voice said from behind the shadows of the house. Buffy didn't even jump. Having Spike live in her shadows was something she was getting used to fast. Almost too fast.
"How do you know?" Buffy said. "She could be dead for all we know. Or lying somewhere hurt."
Spike sat down next to Buffy. "Nah. She's a big girl. She can take care of herself."
Buffy turned away from him and scoffed. "What do you know..." It wasn't a question.
Spike took a little offense to that. "Well, I've been living for 200 years, so I would say that I know a lot."
Silence passed between the two. There was so much tension between them at this point.
"Any word about Dawn?" another voice asked. This time it was Xander and Anya. They both stood in front of Buffy and Spike looking as tired as can be.
Buffy shook her head and Giles walked up to the porch. "Nothing?" he assumed.
They all shook their heads.
Giles sighed. "Well, I don't think we'll be successful in finding her when we're all too tired to move an inch. We should all get home and get some rest."
Spike stood up and stretched. "Now that's something I can agree with you on, old man," he said. "Anyways, the suns coming up and it's past my bed time." He looked at the depressed blonde girl. "I'll come back and help as soon as it gets dark," he said to her.
He half expected her to ignore him, but she looked up and gave him a blank stare. "Thanks."
He gave her a small smile before he walked off briskly.
"So," Xander said. "What are we going to do? Are we going to meet up later and look some more?"
Buffy nodded. "As soon as we're all rested in case of a fight then we'll start searching again. But I...I don't think I can sleep knowing that she's out there with Glory after her."
Anya took a step towards Buffy. "Well, look at it this way. If Dawn is dead by someone other than Glory, then that's a good thing, right? No dimensions colliding...."Everyone was staring at her and she could feel the heat rising to her face. She must have said something wrong. "No end of the world.....did I-"
"Stop," Xander said, grabbing her shoulders. "Just don't...say anything else."
Anya looked hurt and deep down inside she really was. Xander never took her side no matter what she said. It was giving her doubts about their relationship. She knew from experience....any boyfriend who takes the sides of others really didn't love you.
"Uh, I should be going now," Giles said. He bent down and gave Buffy a hug. "Everything will be fine. I promise."
Buffy forced a smile and watched as he walked off.
"We should be going too," Xander said.
"Bye, Buff," Anya said, seeming sincerely regretful. "Sorry if I said anything wrong."
"That's ok, Anya. See you later."
Buffy sat there on her porch a little while longer, watching the sun rise. It was a beautiful sight. As she stood up, she felt her heart hope that Spike made it home safe without being burnt to a crisp.
***
" 'This is what it's like when world's collide,' " Spike sang to himself as he just reached his house just before the sun rose. He locked closed the door behind him and paced the first level of his lair. He stood there for a few seconds, wondering where on earth Dawn could be. " 'So this is what it's like.' " He gave it another thought, but then climbed down the ladder. He was beat from the nights searching. Now it was time for him to sleep. No worrying about Dawn, about Buffy, or about anything else.
Spike took off his shirt and threw it in the corner. Not finding enough energy to take off the rest of his clothes, he fell forward onto his bed, causing his rusty old bed springs to creak and groan loudly.
"Huh?" Dawn groaned. She nearly fell forward. "He's here?" she asked herself. She glanced down at her watch. It read four thirty in the morning. She shook her head to clear it. She was seriously lacking some sleep and she had plenty of time to conduct this spell thingy. She could do it later in the day. Dawn rested her head back down against the crate and closed her eyes. "I can't wait to get my soul," she whispered into the darkness, then drifted off to sleep.
A few hours past when Dawn awoke once again. She heard some kind of rustling nearby. Thinking it was Spike, she held her breath and waited for him to show up and catch her. She forced herself to be quiet and continued listening. She could hear Spike snoring from downstairs.....it couldn't have been him. Then she heard it again....rustling.
She stood up and straightened her clothing. Cautiously she walked to the door and cracked it open a bit. The morning light seeped through the small crack and she shielded her eyes, trying to see what was out there. There was nothing. She closed the door once again and waited a few seconds before moving so her eyes could become readjusted to the dark.
"It's just your imagination," she said and walked back over to her spot. She looked at her watch. It read nine in the morning. "I guess I better get this started."
***
Glory laid in her bed, an arm covering her eyes to shield her from the sun. She was having such a nice sleep. Dreaming about her finally getting the key. Well, she was having a good dream...until the phone rang.
"Ugh!" she groaned and reached over to grab the phone.
"Glorificus?"
"What?" she yelled. "I'm busy right now."
"I know where she is."
Glory's mood suddenly changed for the better. "The key?"
"Yes, your elegance."
"Ok. Just make sure that she doesn't go anywhere. Where is she at?"
"She's at the vampire's lair. The vampire who befriends the slayer."
Glory hung up the phone and gave a shriek of happiness. "Ohh! I'm gonna get my key!" She stood up from the bed and rummaged through her closet. "But what am I going to wear?"
***
"Morning, Giles!" Anya said chirpily. She danced around the Magic Box happily, completely awake and ready for the task of selling and retailing.
"Morning, Anya," Giles said, yawning. He walked over to one of the couches and sunk into the soft material. "Where's Xander?"
"He's up in the restricted area sleeping. You know, I don't understand how you humans are not morning people. Morning is the loveliest time of the day."
"Uh, quite, quite, yes," Giles mumbled, not really listening to her. He closed his eyes for a split second. Anya wouldn't have it though.
"Oh, no you don't. You do not sleep on business hours." She grabbed him and dragged him to his feet. "Go do something. Make yourself useful."
Giles nodded sleepily and walked over to the ladder leading to the restricted area. He climbed it and found Xander laying there with his hand over his face.
"Come to escape Miss Morning Sunshine?" Xander asked.
"Very much," Giles agreed. He laid on his side, facing the books while Xander got up.
"It's no use," Xander said. "No matter how much I try to sleep, I can still hear her chirpy voice. I can't take it anymore." He stretched and yawned. "I'm gonna go down there and try to calm her down. I think she drank like five cups of coffee this morning, but it was really more like just back sugar."
"You do that," Giles mumbled.
"Oh, I just remembered," Xander said before he left. He bent down and picked up a large book that had been laying there open. "I found this lying here," he said. "I think a page's torn out or something."
This suddenly caught Giles interest. He sat up and looked at the book Xander was talking about.
Xander continued started climbing down the ladder.
"Wait!" Giles said to him. "Where-where did you find this?"
"Right there," Xander said. "I found it when we got here to open the store." He paused. "Why, is there something wrong?"
Giles read the next page after and the page before, trying to determine what was missing.
"Lost souls," Giles said. "Somebody came up here and tore out a page for directions on how to retrieve a lost soul. The page after it is the incantation for a safe return. Without this page, that person is doomed to all eternity in the realms of souls."
"Lost soul?" Xander asked. Something wasn't right. Where had he heard somebody talking about souls? "Lost souls....I-I know this."
Giles looked up at Xander, a bit confused. "Pardon?"
"Um...well, yeah. I remember now. The other night Buffy, Willow, and the Dawnster and I were walking home and Dawn said something about....."
"...wanting a soul," Giles finished, understanding completely. "But she has one...well, part of one. Doesn't she know that? Just because she's the key doesn't make her totally inhuman."
"Well, I guess she'll find out when she goes all that long way for a soul and they turn her down. Well, what were the ingredients? What's required to make the spell work?"
Giles thought carefully. "Uh, it's just some fairly simple ingredients. Most of the ingredients are in the being itself. But the only one thing required is a guide. Somebody who's already been to....oh, dear."
"This is bad," Xander said. "This is really bad." He paced the balcony. "We have to call Buffy. We have to-"
"There's no time for that," Giles said. "We need to get to Spike's right away. They could already be in the other dimensions..."
***
As quietly as she could, Dawn crept downstairs into the furnished portion of Spike's hideout, being extra careful not to bump into anything. But no matter how quiet she tried to be, everything seemed louder than usual, daring to wake Spike up. She inched her way to the side of Spike's bed and opened up her book bag, cursing the use of a loud zipper. She pulled out the directions and looked at it, reading what she had to do.
" 'Use the witches sand to encircle you and your guide going counterclockwise,' " she whispered. "Simple enough." She grabbed the witches sand out of her bag and opened the top. "Counterclockwise is...which way?" she asked herself. She thought of a clock. "Ok, clockwise is in the direction a clock goes, so counterclockwise would be the opposite." She mentally patted herself on the back. I guess paying attention math class in the second grade really did help when it came to telling time.
" 'Next,' " she read. " 'Place the sacred stones in the center with you and your guide.' " She reached into her bag and pulled out the smooth marble stones. She placed them onto Spike's bed carefully.
" 'Next, use...' "
"Mmmmmm," Spike moaned as he shifted in his sleep.
Oh, no, Dawn thought. I'm screwed. She waited a few seconds and held her breath. Unfortunately the witches sand was getting to her and she could feel her chest tightening up. No, not now! You did all that icky camping for nothing if you sneeze now. You want your soul. You need your-
"A-choo!" Dawn sneezed.
There was a moments silence and she held her breath. This could not be happening....
He turned once again, facing Dawn this time. She expected him to open his eyes. "Bless you," Spike mumbled in his sleep. He continued on snoring.
Dawn let out her breath in a big whoosh. She didn't manage to wake him up. Which was good. But she did manage to give him a pretty good showering.
She looked back down at the paper. " 'Now, pluck hair from you and your guide. Place it along with the stones in the center of the circle.' " Dawn reached up to her hair and pulled out a long strand. She put it in the center of the ring and took yet another deep breath. If sneezing and plucking hair out of Spike's head didn't wake him up, she didn't know what could. Steadily, Dawn reached over the blonde's body and gently grabbed a single piece of hair. She yanked as hard and as quick as she could and prayed for the best. She held her breath once again. Spike did twitch a little, but that was it.
"Thank God," she whispered. She glanced at the paper. " 'Use the witches blood and smear the sign of the cross over you and your guides forehead, your lips, and your heart.' " Quickly, and shakily, she grabbed the rag and took it out of the plastic bag. It was mostly dried out, but she managed to smear some on her as the directions told her. She did the same to Spike., then continued on reading. Her heart was racing. She was almost done. Just a few more steps. " 'Breathe into the sacred rocks and say the incantation four times.' " Dawn bent down and puffed her breath into the rocks. She looked at the paper and began to do the last step.
" 'Taker of souls, hear my plea; give up the soul that belongs to me. I come to you in peace, I'll do whatever it takes; to become a flesh human, no matter the stakes. God will protect me, and so will my guide; so I can have what belongs inside.' " Dawn glanced up from the paper and looked at the rocks. They began to glow eerily. Her eyes widened in amazement. She repeated the incantation two more times, then hesitated before she said it the last time. " 'Taker of souls, hear my plea; give up the soul that belongs to me.' " Spike shifted in his sleep. His body began to feel hot all of a sudden. "Fire," he murmured in distress. "Fire."
Dawn kept on continuing. " 'I come to you in peace, I'll do whatever it takes; to become a flesh human, no matter the stakes.' "
"It's burning!" Spike started yelling. He began to struggle in his sleep.
Not knowing what to do, Dawn stopped and doubted herself. I can't be doing this. I don't know what I'm messing with! She looked down at her shaking hands. No. I must continue.
" 'God will protect me, and so will my guide, so I can-.' "
All of a sudden, there was a loud crash from upstairs.
"What the-?" Spike yelled, suddenly waking up. He sat up in his bed and gave Dawn a confused glare. "What the hell are you doing?!" he raged at Dawn.
"I'm coming for my key!" Glory's voice sing-sang.
Dawn could hear the tapping of her large heels as she climbed down the ladder. Then there she was. Glory in her all her godlike self. She took a step towards Dawn, but then she fell to the ground as a body jumped down the ladder, crashing into the deadly goddess. It was Xander.
"Wha-?" Glory said. She stood up angrily and punched him, sending him flying into the stone wall, knocking him out cold. Giles then made an attempt at fighting, but it was no use. He was far too weak against her powers. But he had a trick up his sleeve. And it wasn't a never ending link of handkerchiefs either. "You may be faster than us three, but I make you move sluggishly." All of a sudden, Glory stopped in her tracks. Only for a split second though. She broke free from the spell and hit Giles in the face, sending him flying next to Xander. Glory took a deep breath and walked towards the frightened girl. She gave out a cackle. "Face it, little girl. There's not where you can go. No where you can hide. Just face it. You lost. And there's nobody here who can save you."
"Wanna bet?" Spike challenged. He started to stand up, but before he could leave the circle, Dawn completed the chant. " 'So I can have what belongs inside!' " Dawn finally finished.
Dawn closed her eyes and waited for something to happen. Anything. Sparks, thunder, lightning. But when she opened them, she was still in the same room with Spike and Glory.
"Ha!" Glory spat out. "Your little spell didn't work. Now you will die!"
"What were you trying to do?" Spike asked Dawn. He stood up next to the girl and shook her shoulders. "What were you-agh!"
Suddenly, a tear in the dimensions emanated from inside the circle. The two were sucked through it into some sort of facet where time was nonexistent. Colors existed beyond their wildest imaginations and there was all sorts of evil lurking here. Around every corner, around every thought, around every crevasse.
The hell dimension.
Hey, this is the first part of my fic. The second part will be coming up very shortly. I just have to upload it on my computer. Hope you liked this part and the parts to come! The second part will be much longer.