Spike ran. He ran until he thought his injured leg had surely broken into a dozen pieces, and all the wounds that had half-healed from Glory's tortures had reopened and spilled his borrowed blood all over himself and the street. But no pain he endured could match the blinding panic that seared through him now, the all-encompassing terror that drove him past the point of all his endurance.
The Knights of Byzantium were gone. All of them. What poor sods were still left alive were surely being held as food for the Hell Bitch. The rest were dead, slaughtered like cattle and left to rot on the killing field. The apartment complex was in flames, the fire casting blood red shadows on the surrounding buildings and flooding the nearby park with toxic, black smoke- smoke he used as cover in which to make his desperate escape.
The plan seemed simple enough. When Glory was weakened, she either found a victim to brain-suck or lost her ability to hold Ben back. All they theoretically had to do was wait until Glory morphed into Ben and then kill him while he was vulnerable. It was a very simple plan. Because vampires were immune to the forgetting spell that Glory/Ben cast that made humans forget they had seen one switch to the other, Spike would watch for Ben and alert the knights of his whereabouts. The knights would then attack and kill Ben, striking too quickly for any of Glory's minions to stop them.
All of this had been decided after he had guided them to the apartment and showed them the small room with Ben's meager possessions. Neither the intern nor the God was home, but a handful of minions were there to guard the apartment. They tried valiantly to fulfill their duty, but the knights overpowered them and barged into the living room. They didn't kill them, and when Spike asked why they didn't just slit the minions' throats, he was told that Glory would simply reanimate any minions that were killed.
After his claims were substantiated, the knights went to lie in wait while he scouted for Glory or Ben. It wasn't long before he spotted the intern's nancy-boy car pulling into the apartment complex's parking lot, and he alerted the troops.
How was he to know that the poof had guts? The little wanker actually fought back and Glory's crusty minions actually came to his defense. Things still would have been alright, but then the Hell Bitch came out to play and all Hell broke loose. He'd known that the Bitch was strong, but nothing could have prepared him for the ferocity of her attack or the carnage that she left in her wake. The rout was an upset that even the great Angelus would have appreciated in his days of soulless killing and mayhem. He barely escaped with his unlife, using the explosions from erupting gas lines to cover his fleeing form, and now he was running, running for the Magic Box because he knew it was just a matter of time before Glory discovered that Dawn was the Key.
He flew through the doors of the Magic Box where he knew the others would be if Giles had found his letter. He didn't even bother to slow down as he bolted into the store, and was met with a fist to the face. He reeled back from the impact, collapsing to the hard floor, and looked dazedly up at a supremely pissed off Watcher who was rubbing his fist.
"You stupid idiot! You traitorous son of a bitch!" Giles accused.
"There's no time! You gotta get outta here! The Knights are gone and Glory's gonna come gunnin' for ya! You gotta rally the troops and bugger out NOW!" he countered angrily.
"What have you done?!" the Watcher roared.
"What you wouldn't do! I found someone who'd help me! But it all went wrong and now she's gonna come for ya!" he yelled back, struggling to his feet in spite of his wounds.
"What were you thinking? You've betrayed us all!"
"What the hell is going on here?" Buffy demanded, coming into his field of view. She was dangerously angry and he feared for his unlife again.
"Buffy, let me explain…"
"You irresponsible idiot!" Giles seethed.
"Giles…" Buffy warned, then turned to him, standing near to him, arms crossed. "You. Talk."
By now the others had gathered around, staring at him with concerned and worried expressions on their faces. He scrambled to think of a proper explanation that wouldn't give everything away.
"Right. It's like this. When Glory was playin' peel the vamp, I found out somethin' real interestin' about our Hell Bitch. Way I figure it, works like this: when Glory was kicked out of Hell Central, the only way they could do it was to tie her to a human form, a mortal form. Now this form lives as long as the Hell Bitch does, but it's not invulnerable. While she had me, I found out that the mortal form is our favorite intern, Ben," he explained in a rush.
"Ben? Ben from the hospital?" Buffy asked.
He swallowed and nodded. "The very same. So, I did some diggin' and I confirmed that if you get rid of Ben, you get rid of Glory."
"Kill the man and the God dies," Tara commented, her eyes opening wide.
He nodded at her, trying to catch his breath. "Exactly. Well as soon as I knew for sure. I told Giles."
Buffy rounded on her Watcher. "Wait a minute. You knew about this?"
Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them vigorously. "Yes. Spike told me what he had discovered."
"You're telling me that Spike told you about a *major* weakness in Glory and you didn't tell me?"
"Buffy… I was exploring… other options."
"Other options?" she repeated incredulously.
"We wanted to avoid killing an innocent if at all possible," Giles explained.
"He's no innocent. Tonight proved it for me. He knows damn well what's goin' on!" he spat back.
"So what happened?" Buffy ordered. "What did you do?"
He cringed under her hard stare but was determined to hold his ground. "Well, Watcher wouldn't help me, and I couldn't do it myself because of this damn chip they shoved in my brain, so I went to someone who would. I looked up our resident idiots in armor."
"The Knights of Byzantium," Willow breathed.
"Yeah. Them. Anyways, I figured if they were willin' ta kill a little girl in order ta stop Glory, they'd be willin' ta kill an intern in trade for killin' Glory herself."
"Go on," Buffy prompted.
"First off, I'd like ta say that the knights already knew Dawn was the Key. I didn't tell 'em. Turns out, they came and got the bloke Glory brain-sucked, but he was at the hospital the night Dawn went into the loony ward. He saw her and recognized that she was the Key. He must have let it slip when his buddies came to get him," he admitted. "So they were already plannin' a full frontal attack on you in order to get Dawn. I just made 'em go after a bigger fish."
Buffy nodded that she understood and he continued, his eyes never leaving her face.
"Well, I was right, and as soon as I proved ta them that I was tellin' the truth, they were more than willin' ta go after the Hell Bitch herself and leave Dawn alone."
"How nice of them," Buffy commented dryly.
"But something went wrong, didn't it. You said we were all in danger," Anya interrupted.
"Yeah. Somethin' went wrong all right. When we attacked Ben, the blighter fought back, then he traded places with his worse half, and she blew us all to kingdom come. When I got out of there, the whole block was on fire and what was left of the knights were bein' rounded up by Glory's minions. I slipped out in the smoke and came runnin' here. Now Glory knows that her secret is out and she's gonna come gunnin' for us. She also got the knight that's all loony. My guess is he'll tell her about Dawn pretty soon."
"We gotta get out of town," Buffy said.
He nodded. "Already planned for that. Nicked a Winnebago and stashed it behind the shop."
"So that's where that ugly camper came from! I was going to call the police and have it towed," Anya admitted.
"It's a good thing you didn't. It's you lot's ticket out of here. Grab your toothbrushes and a pair of clean knickers and bugger out."
"You stole a camper?" Buffy asked dubiously.
"What? It's big enough to tote the whole Scooby crew. Could've nicked a Porche but I figured you wouldn't want to leave anyone behind."
Buffy pursed her lips thoughtfully. She had the Slayer look on her face, the one that made all the tough decisions and executed all the difficult plans. Spike was glad to see it because it meant that Buffy was already figuring out what they were going to do next.
"Okay. Glory knows where Dawn and I live so we can't go home. Wills, you and Tara go back to your place and get supplies. Xander, Anya, you do the same. Giles, we have to talk but not right now. I need you to gather whatever you think we'll need. Move people. We have a half hour. Let's get going," the Slayer commanded.
The group took their marching orders and scattered. Knowing that Buffy had everything under control, Spike gratefully sank down onto the bench at the reading table. He was in considerable pain and glad for the rest. Too much had happened in too short of a time, and he was nearing his breaking point. He let his head fall to the table and closed his eyes, allowing himself a brief respite from the chaos that sought to consume him.
He'd dozed off when the aroma of warmed blood roused him, and he lifted his head to see Tara placing a tall container of heated blood in front of his nose. Her eyes were hooded and full of concern.
"Back so soon?" he asked.
"I never left. Willow is getting the things we need. I wanted to stay here and make sure you were alright."
He gave her his trademark smirk and winked at her as he gratefully accepted the food. His expression fell, however, when he tried to sit up and pain lanced through his body, making him gasp. Tara pushed the blood towards him.
"Eat. There are herbs in it that will help with the pain."
He nodded and reached for the container, raising it to his lips. His hand only shook a little bit as he drank it down.
"Thanks, luv," he sighed when he was finished.
"This is what you meant, wasn't it. About not betraying us," Tara said softly.
He lowered his eyes and refused to answer.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I did. Told the Watcher," he replied.
"Why didn't you tell Buffy?"
"Same reason Giles didn't want to tell 'er. Ben's human. Didn't want 'er ta have to make that choice."
"Yes, well it was my choice to make," Buffy's angry voice interrupted as she slammed the Gruth'lak battle axe down on the table. A sullen Dawn was behind her.
"What else are you keeping from me?" she demanded, her expression brooking no argument.
He swallowed heavily and tried to quell the fear in his heart.
"There's a demon I killed. A nasty bloke I heard served the Hell Bitch. I lopped off 'is head with that very axe, but I may have left somethin' important behind in 'is place. I heard about it later, a wooden box he kept scrolls in, but I never got the chance to go back an' look for it."
"Where is it and what am I looking for?" Buffy ordered.
"Buffy! No! You can't go," Dawn cried.
Buffy looked to her sister, then back to him. "Tell me what I need to know."
"Buffy!"
Buffy looked back to her sister. "If what Spike says is true, then this guy may have had something that can help us. I'm the only one not doing anything else. I can go and be back before the others get here. Glory didn't know where this demon lived, did she?"
"I dunno. I was only there the once. I doubt she'll go lookin' for him tho. He was small fish," he admitted.
"So it's probably safe then. Where am I going?"
Reluctantly he told her where Doc had lived and described the small wooden chest he and Xander had taken from the apartment in the previous timeline. He really hadn't wanted to tell her, but he feared her wrath if he refused, and he simply wasn't up to dealing with her anger.
She left in a swirl of blond and black leather and he watched her go with some amusement. It seemed ironic that he would be in her place this time around. Since he had been trying to keep the Scoobies one step ahead of Glory, Buffy had only had to fight the Hell Bitch twice, unlike the four or five times she'd gotten beaten by Glory the last time around. Nor had she had to face her best friend's lover getting brain-sucked and then have to save Willow from becoming toast herself.
While this Buffy was tired and scared, she wasn't beaten. Last time, Buffy had been completely drained, exhausted and soul weary. It had led to her catatonia when Dawn was finally taken, and broke her in a way he never ever wanted to see her broken again. That Buffy had been ready to give up, ready to die just to end the pain. He remembered what Buffy had told him about her conversation with Giles on the night of her death; how she was tired and didn't want to live a world that kept demanding that she sacrifice the ones she loved. That Buffy had been a shadow of her former self. This Buffy remained undefeated.
It suddenly struck him exactly how much he had been able to change this time around. Even though all of the major events remained the same, he had been able to spare Buffy a great deal of pain by avoiding certain situations or by taking the pain on himself. So far, if anyone had been defeated by Glory, it was him, but not even that could be said because he was still unliving and in full control of all of his faculties. Therefore, while he hadn't been able to alter the timeline significantly, he had affected a staggering amount of change with his efforts.
The realization gave him the first glimmers of hope he'd felt in a long time. If they ran, no Knights were around to waylay them. Giles would never be skewered, Ben would never be called to treat him, and that meant Ben wouldn't do his Glory switcheroo and grab Dawn. All they had to do was hold out for a few more days, and Glory would lose her window of opportunity to use Dawn to open the portals. They could do that, couldn't they?
"What are you thinking?" Tara questioned, drawing him out of his thoughts.
He looked at her and gave her a smile. "I'm thinkin' this plan might just work."
Both she and Dawn blinked at him.
"Well, that's good," Tara said.
His smile broadened. "Yeah it is."
"Did you really go to those Knights to try to save me?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, Nibblet, I did."
She slapped him across the face. Hard.
"You stupid IDIOT! You could have gotten yourself killed!" she screamed.
He rubbed his stinging cheek. /Pint-size packs a punch. Oww./
"Dawn!" Tara reprimanded.
"You put yourself in terrible danger for me. What if they hadn't believed you? What if Glory had gotten you again and killed you this time? What would we have done without you!" Dawn continued, starting to cry.
"Oh, Nibblet. I'm sorry," he said, softening and reaching for her. He'd been through too much and suffered too much pain to care about what the others would think. Dawn was precious to him, as precious as Buffy, and she needed him to hold her and prove to her that he was still with her.
She fell into his arms, aggravating all of his injuries, but he didn't care. She was safe in his embrace and he planned to keep it that way. All they had to do was wait until Buffy and the others got back, then they would run and hide out until Glory's time was up. Finally a simple plan that would work where all the others had failed.
Neither he nor Tara were prepared for the alarms that suddenly went off or explosion that blew in the storefront windows. They barely had time to register that the advance warning spell Willow and Tara had placed around the Magic Box had sounded off before the blast knocked them back. Tara screamed as she was thrown to the ground by the pressure wave and was knocked unconscious. Spike, still holding Dawn, was flipped upside down and slammed by the heavy table as it blew over and knocked him into the bookcases. Dawn was underneath him, protected from the brunt of the impact by his body, but they were both trapped by the broken table and the bookcases that had collapsed on top of them.
"Spike!" he heard Dawn cry.
"Dawn!" he answered, struggling to use his back to dislodge the debris on top of them so he could see if she was injured.
Suddenly the weight on his body was lifted away and he looked up to see Glory looming over them.
"Well, well, well, lookie here. It's my Key in a neat kiddie size package."
He struggled to rise, to keep Dawn out of her clutches, but the hell god simply grabbed him and threw him like rag doll. He sailed clear across the store and hit the glass counter, shattering it under his weight.
/No…/ he thought as he watched Glory drag Dawn from the rubble. /No. God, please no…/
"You and me are gonna have so much *fun,*" Glory said with a sadistic smile as she pulled the weeping, struggling teen behind her.
"Spike!" Dawn screamed. "SPIKE!!"
He couldn't move, shards of glass stabbed him along his back. His leg was bent at an odd angle, the fingers of his left hand mangled and broken. Still, he used his right hand, grasping at the floor even though it was littered with glass that sliced into his palm, and tried to drag himself from the wreckage to get to Dawn.
/Dawn. Must save Dawn…/
"SPIIIIIIIKE!!!"
"DAWN!"
"Ta kiddies. See you all in Hell!" Glory taunted as she forced Dawn from the shop.
"DAWN! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
He reached out one helpless hand at the empty air where Dawn had been, the image of her terrified, pleading face burning itself into his shocked mind.
/Dawn… She took Dawn. Glory has Dawn. I failed. I failedifailedifailedifailed. I FAILED!!/
Blackness clouded his vision, crushing him under its weight. He couldn't take it, not after all he had been through, all he had done to try to protect Dawn and Buffy. His mind shattered into a million pieces and scattered like a supernova exploding out into the universe. Then he saw and felt no more.