Buffy walked over the where Tara was sitting vigil over her lover and the catatonic vampire.

"Any change?"

Tara shook her head. "No. I'm sorry, Buffy. But I'm sure Willow is doing everything she can to bring Spike back. It just might take some time."

"We don't have time, and every minute Glory has Dawn, the less of it we have."

Tara frowned. "I know, but…"

"Buffy..." Giles called.

Turning her head, the Slayer looked at her Watcher and sighed.

"Let me know if she so much as twitches," she said to Tara.

Tara nodded and gave her a watery smile.

"What did you find?" she asked

Giles hesitated, then haltingly answered, "Well, according to these scrolls, there is a way to stop Glory."

Buffy waited for him to continue, but when he finally did, his voice was awkward and unsure.

"I'm afraid it... Buffy. I've read these very carefully. There's not much margin for error. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Might help if you actually said it," she replied dryly.

"Glory plans to open a dimensional portal by way of ritual bloodletting," he told her sadly.

"Dawn's blood?"

"Yes. Once the blood is shed at a certain time and place, the fabric separating all realities will be ripped apart. Dimensions will pour into one another with no barriers to stop them. Reality as we know it will be destroyed, and chaos will reign on Earth."

"So how do we stop it?"

"The portal will only close once the blood is stopped. And the only way for that to happen is ..." He paused then looked directly at Buffy and said grimly, "Buffy- the only way is to kill Dawn."

Buffy gave him a blank stare then set her jaw. "Not an option. Give me something else."

"Buffy... we might not have any choice."

"Explain it to me again," she insisted calmly and slowly.

"The Key was living energy. It needed to be channeled, poured into a specific
spot at a specific time. With all attendant ritual, of course. The energy would flow
into that spot, the walls between the dimensions break down. It stops -- the
energy is used up -and the walls come back up. Glory uses that time to get back to her
dimension, not caring that all manner of hell will be unleashed on Earth in the meantime," Giles answered.

"But only for a little while, right? The walls come back, no more hell?" Anya interrupted.

"But that's only if the energy is stopped. And now that the Key is human ... is Dawn ..." Tara replied, proving to the others that she was listening from her spot on the floor.

"The blood flows, the gates will open. The gates will close when it flows no more," Giles recited from the scroll. "That will be when Dawn is dead."

"Why blood? Why is it Dawn's blood, why couldn't it be, like, a lymph ritual?" Xander huffed, upset.

"Because blood is life," Tara whispered.

There was a pause as everyone digested what Tara had said, then Buffy moved on.

"Okay, pretty simple math, here. We stop Glory before she can start the ritual. There's still a few hours, right?"

"If my calculations are right, but Buffy..."

"I don't want to hear it..."

"I understand that..." he tried again.

"No you don't understand! We're not talking about this!" she yelled.

"Yes we bloody well are!" Giles yelled back, standing up. "If Glory begins the ritual... If we can't stop her ..."

Buffy stepped up to him, defiant and enraged. "Say it. Come on, we're bloody well talking about this, tell me to kill my sister!"

"She's not your sister," he reminded softly.

"No. She's not. She's more than that." Buffy stopped, trying to find the right words. "More than family... my sister, my daughter..."

"She's your sister and your daughter?" Xander said, confused.

"She's me. The Monks made her out of me. I hold her and I feel closer to her than... It's more than just the memories they built, it's physical, it's... Dawn is a part of me. The only part that I..."

She stopped unable to go on. Tara left her place by Willow and Spike's side, and came over to hug her.

"We'll solve this. We will," the young witch promised.

"Buffy, if the ritual starts, every living creature in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and Death. Including Dawn," Giles said sadly.

"Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her."

Giles shook his head. "You'll fail. You'll die. We all will."

"I'm sorry. I love you all, but I'm sorry."

Anya raised her hand. "Okay, all in favor of stopping Glory BEFORE the ritual! Suggestions? Ideas? Time's a-wastin' ... Oh! Willow! I bet Willow's got some dark
spell a'brewin'. Make her a toad, little hoppy toad, then we hit her with a hammer..."

"What about Ben? He can be killed, right? I mean, I know he's an innocent, but, you know, not, like 'Dawn' innocent. We could kill... a regular guy..." Xander offered, then hung his head when Giles looked at him. "God..."

"It's doubtful he'll surface again this close to the ritual. Especially after the Knights' failed assassination attempt. We have to expect it's Glory we're dealing with," Giles countered.

Anya began to panic. "Well somebody come up with something!"

"Should we join essences and become superslayer again?" Xander suggested.

"That worked against Frankenbot, but to kill a true god... I don't think it's enough. And I need you guys conscious ..." Buffy replied with a sad shrug.

"But we don't have to kill her, just stop her from performing the ritual. I mean, there's just the one time she can do it, right?" Tara said.

"Yeah, we get her on the ropes, we just gotta keep her occupied till it's too late!" Xander enthused.

"Okay, but I'm still not hearing enough ideas, she's a god, let's think outside the box!"

"Anya, apart from your incredibly uninfectious enthusiasm, have you anything to contribute? Any ideas on how to fight a god?" Giles commented testily.

"How about we don't pick on my gi..." Xander began but Anya cut him off.

"The Dagon's Sphere!" the ex-demon piped up.

"Sorry?" Giles said.

"When Buffy first met Glory she found that magical glowy sphere that was meant to repel Glory. We've got it in the basement. It might drive her back, or hurt her... oh!" She ran across the room and waved at the Troll Hammer. "And Olaf the Trollgod's enchanted hammer. You wanna fight a god, use the weapon of a god."

Buffy crossed to it and picked it up, hefting it easily.

"I like this."

"Built for squashin'!" Anya cheered, waving her fist.

"Good heft to it. I just might do some damage with this. Thanks Anya."

"Here to help. Want to live," came the simple reply.

"Well. We have some ideas. And a little time to come up with some more. Could give Glory a decent run, but ..." Giles said.

They all looked to where Spike still lay motionless and staring with Willow, her eyes closed, sitting cross-legged next to him.

"But we still have no idea how to find her," Buffy murmured.