CRADLE

Disclaimer, etc. as on first chapter.

Disclaimer, part two: I know nothing about Magic, nor do I claim to, but I needed an explanation, and it made sense in my head. That'll make sense when you read it ;)

A/N: Right. On we go towards the final furlong of this fic. Only a few more chapters to go, I think. Many thanks to everyone who's held in there this long despite the long delay for Chapter 21; all the reviews and everything really mean a lot =)

Anyway. As for this chapter – back to the Summers residence we go, and then a few physical and mental journeys to be started before the ending. The Anya/Willow conversation may seem initially pointless, but trust me, there's a reason for it. The Giles/Xander conversation is just plain odd, and I have no idea where it came from. And just when you thought the angst was over… *evil smile*

Cradle

Chapter Twenty-Two

Spike's de Soto pulled up outside the house a little before sunrise, as the sky was starting to turn a dark blue. It was still safe enough for him to get out of the car without bursting into flames; he'd managed to time it just right, for once. As he was peering out of the window to check, everyone else clambered out of the back of the car, one by one, stretching their legs and rolling cricks out of their necks.

Dawn had fallen asleep on the journey home and was leaning groggily on Anya, still only half-awake. Willow, still a little unstable after her own ordeal, was being semi-supported by Xander, and Giles was holding the door open for Spike as he carefully extricated Buffy from the passenger seat, still unconscious. The vampire managed to get her out, nodded a thanks to her Watcher, then indicated for him to take her off him and inside. Giles looked briefly confused, until Spike explained:

"I'll take the books back to the Magic Box; you deal with the Slayer." Despite his brave, helpful front, however, it was obvious that he wanted to stay as close to her as possible until she woke up.

"It's all right, Spike," said Giles. "We'll move the books to my car and I'll take them."

Spike smiled a relieved, grateful smile, and led the way into the house. Once inside, he laid Buffy on the still slightly mangled couch, making sure she'd be comfortable when she woke up and laying his duster over her while he was at it. Giles was the last in, shutting the door behind him. Anya helped Dawn stumble up the stairs towards her room and re-emerged a few seconds later, while Xander helped Willow to a chair.

All eyes were on Spike as he positioned himself on the floor by Buffy's head, absently stroking her hair. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly turned to Giles. "Well?" he asked. "What now?"

The Watcher scratched his head thoughtfully, clearly as concerned for her as everyone else. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I didn't anticipate this."

Willow offered: "I guess we wait til she wakes up."

Giles nodded, agreeing, as Anya re-emerged from upstairs. "How's the Bit?" asked Spike, equally concerned for her as he was for Buffy.

"Exhausted," she said. "Not that I blame her."

"Well, we're all tired," said Giles, " but the sooner those books are back at the Magic Box where they belong, the better, in my opinion."

"I'll go with you, G-man," said Xander, moving over to the front door, waiting for the Watcher to follow. "I'm sure Spike can look after the girls."

His sudden indication of trust wasn't lost on the vampire, but the brief moment of implied reconciliation between them was broken by Willow, perturbed, saying: "Hey, we don't need no man to look after us… Right, Anya?"

"No," she agreed. "But still… hurry back?"

Willow rolled her eyes, and Giles and Xander headed back out to the car to set about moving the books again. Spike hadn't been paying attention to the conversation around him, his thoughts focussed on Buffy as she lay on the couch. He seemed completely oblivious to the presence of anyone else in the room. Willow and Anya exchanged a glance, and then the former struggled to her feet and headed over to him.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Um. Spike?"

He sighed, and snapped out of his reverie as he turned to face her. "Yeah?"

"I was just thinking. That couch is on its last legs. Buffy'd be more comfortable upstairs, and there's a chair in her room, if you want to stay with her. And, uh, you can be sure Dawn's okay, too." Spike was obviously considering the possibility, but he looked worried by the idea. Willow seemed to understand. "I know you're worried about what Xander or Giles might think, but… you proved yourself tonight, helping us, and getting her out of there, too. It'd be best for her, Spike."

"Yeah," added Anya. "Screw what they think."

He looked back at the comatose Slayer. "I guess you're right, Red." Just as carefully as before, he wrapped her in the coat and picked her up again, heading towards the stairs.

Willow called after him when he was halfway up. "You want some blood or anything?" A 'no, thanks' filtered down the stairs as Spike rounded the corner and vanished into Buffy's room. After a few seconds, Willow shrugged and sat down on the couch, which creaked slightly in complaint, and was joined by Anya soon after. They sat in silence for a while.

"Well," said Anya, "I'd say that went well, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah. Apart from the whole, y'know, me-being-unconscious, having-to-change-the-plan, and Buffy-nearly-dying-again thing…" She was being sarcastic, but gave Anya a friendly smile to prove it wasn't personal.

"Well, yes. But apart from that… at least the Magic's back where it belongs." Pause. "And, uh, I happen to think you were very brave to purge it like you did. I don't think I could have done it."

"Oh, it was nothing," she said, waving a hand dismissively. "It had to be done. I mean… it was my fault…"

Anya didn't really know what to say to that comment, so she said nothing, and hoped her silence was reassuring. Then, the silence in the house got too much. "I feel like watching some mindless infomercials. How about you?"

"Sounds good."

The ex-demon looked around half-heartedly for the remote control for the television, neither of them particularly wanting to get up. It was, of course, nowhere to be found. Then, she spotted it on the other side of the room… crushed beyond redemption. It hadn't escaped the fight between Spike and Xander unscathed, apparently. "Oh, well…"

"It's no problem," said Willow. "I told myself to lay off the spells for a while, but… one little one won't hurt." Thus saying, she waved casually at the television and muttered something that sounded vaguely Latin. Nothing happened. She leaned closer, trying again, louder and firmer. Still nothing. Confused, she examined her hand, as if that held the answer to the problem. Before she could think too hard about it, however, Anya shrugged.

"Looks like we'll just have to do this the hard way." She got up and turned the television on manually and then returned to her place next to Willow, who was now looking decidedly worried by her failure to use magic. "I'm sure you're just tired, Willow," she suggested. "Purging that bad Magic took a lot out of you, I imagine. Just rest, and tomorrow you'll be fine."

"Yeah. I guess so…"

Magic Box…

Neither Giles nor Xander had remembered that there were no shelves left in the shop upon which to put the books. As such, when they arrived, before they could do anything, they had to loosely reconstruct a semi-secure container from some of the debris near the back. Luckily, with Xander's skills, this didn't prove too difficult, and they managed to build one from the remains of a weapons chest, a large piece of wood to serve as the lid, and several heavy bricks on the top to keep it safe. Then they covered it with more of the debris, just in case anyone found it and decided to use the books.

This kept them occupied for about an hour, where the only words that were exchanged were various instructions and suggestions. The air between them was still somewhat awkward after Xander's near-staking of Spike, and Giles wasn't entirely sure how to approach the subject. The car journey back to Buffy's house passed in mutual silence; that is, until they stopped at a set of lights, and it got too much for the older man to put up with.

"All right," said Giles, suddenly, "this is utterly ridiculous."

Xander was puzzled. "It's only the first set of lights we've hit, Giles. Chill."

"That's not what I mean."

"Oh." Giles cast him a briefly serious glance, and then he understood. "Oh… Okay, just let me know how disappointed you are with me and get it over with."

"It's not that simple, Xander." He sighed. "You know what you did was wrong, and you're obviously sorry for it, for Buffy's sake if not Spike's. The problem is, she expects me to be the one to talk this out with you. And my problem is that, right up until you nearly staked him, I was considering doing the exact same thing myself."

"What?"

"When Buffy told me what had happened… I just wanted him gone, too."

Xander considered this. There seemed little point in asking why, because he'd felt the same. "So I guess the problem really isn't between us, is it?" Giles shook his head. The lights changed, and he pulled off as Xander continued. "I think Buffy and I managed to clear the air, and she's got no problem with you. The problem is… that we've got no more reason to hate Spike."

"Precisely."

"And that shouldn't be a problem, really, should it? If we're not hating him, it's meant to make life easier…"

"But it doesn't."

"Weird." They didn't appear to be getting anywhere. Giles tried to summarise it better.

"What it boils down to, I feel, is that we all love Buffy, and that makes us protective of her, because we're her friends. It doesn't matter that she's the Slayer and protects the entire town on a regular basis. And I think, after last year and everything she went through, that we've all been possibly too protective of her. Especially after Angel…" He stopped at another set of lights, muttering, "Oh, for goodness' sake…" as Xander carried on his train of thought.

"Exactly, and it's not like Spike and I were ever on the best of terms. After Anya, I…" He stopped, not particularly wanting to re-visualise it or even think about it. "But I think we all have to accept that he really does love Buffy, as unlikely as it seems."

"And… she does love him," added Giles. Then, from Xander's half-stunned silence in the passenger seat, he remembered that nobody else knew yet. The lights still hadn't changed, and Xander hadn't said anything. "She, um, told me the other night, after he left. I think they had some sort of argument; I'm not sure. But she was incredibly upset about something, and… told me she loves him."

"Whoa…" was all he could say. Then again, they'd all assumed as much and accused her of it countless times. "Does anyone else know?"

Giles shook his head; finally, the lights turned green and he moved off again. "Nobody. I don't think she even intended to tell me. It was somewhat an epiphany…"

"So Spike doesn't know, either?"

"He… may do. I know he's suspected it for a while. I told her to tell him…"

Silence fell in the car. Then, after five minutes or so, Xander broke through it by saying, "Well. I guess that's the end of the problem…"

They got back to find Willow and Anya both fast asleep on the couch, with the television on low and a re-run of Passions showing on it. The girls stirred as the door closed and looked around groggily. For the moment, neither Giles nor Xander questioned where Spike or Buffy were, especially considering the entertainment on the set.

Willow yawned. "Oh… hey, guys."

"Are all the books safe?" asked Anya, concern etching into her tone. Giles nodded, explaining about the precautions they'd had to take, and she seemed to relax a little. "Well, the sooner the shop is rebuilt, the better. I'm considering getting better security around all the powerful magical items, not just the books."

"That sounds like a sensible idea," agreed Giles. "And now, I think everyone needs some sleep."

"That sounds like an even more sensible idea," noted Xander. Then, as Willow and Anya got up from the couch and began to head upstairs, both he and Giles seemed to simultaneously realise that there were two people missing. "Um. This may be a completely stupid question, but… weren't Buffy and Fang-boy here before we left?"

Anya nodded as though their not being there was the most normal thing in the world, and in such a manner that implied Xander had been living under a rock for the past month. "They were. They're upstairs."

"Oh," he said, the words not really registering. "Why?"

"Willow figured Buffy'd be more comfortable in her own bed, and we let Spike sit with her."

"He's keeping an eye on Dawny, too," interjected the redhead, helpfully. Xander looked at Giles semi-helplessly; the older man merely shrugged.

"Oh. Okay." He left it at that, to everyone's obvious relief. "You okay, Will? Need any help?"

She thought about it, contemplated the staircase, decided it was beginning to look rather too much like a mountain, and gave a nod. "Yeah… Don't wanna risk my legs giving up halfway."

Xander moved nearer to Willow and they headed up the stairs. Anya called after him, "Goodnight, Xander, Willow." They repeated the sentiment from halfway up, and she made herself comfortable on the couch, again. "Are you taking the chair again, Giles? Because I don't mind swapping."

"What?" he asked. He'd not really been paying attention, his mind on Buffy's current predicament. "Oh. No, it's all right, Anya. I'm not tired, anyway. And even if I was, I doubt I'd get much sleep after tonight's events." He reached for the little book out of his pocket again and looked at it thoughtfully for a moment. "I'll be in the dining room researching so as not to disturb you."

"Oh, okay. Let me know if you need any help; I know how tedious it can get…"

"Thank you, but you should rest. I need to find out how to help Buffy."

Anya nodded, then yawned, realising how tired she was. "Okay… 'Night…" She rolled over to face the back of the couch, and was asleep within seconds. Giles watched her with a slightly amused smile for a moment, then leaned down to turn off the still flickering television before making his way to the dining room. Once in there, he thumbed through the book until he got to the few pages from which he'd read the incantation earlier, hoping it might provide something resembling useful information about getting the remaining magic out of Buffy's system.

One hour and seventeen re-readings later, it had proved less than fruitful, and reading-between-the-lines had become reading-between-the-letters, all to no avail whatsoever. He had, however, come to a few conclusions. Willow had purged the Magic from her system, as she needed to, and with it, the magic she'd also taken from him, that of the coven back in England. He doubted if she'd intended to do that – the purge seemed only to start of her own volition, and after that, the larger body of Magic had merely latched on and literally sucked it out of her. The result of this was that when Buffy absorbed it all, she had the Magic from the coven inside her, as well.

Through Willow's guidance and a little determination, she had, at least, managed to get it all out of her system again afterwards, although it had seemed touch and go for a while. Unfortunately, because the coven's magic didn't reside in the books, it had no incentive to return to them. Giles also knew that Magics of different 'temperaments', as it were, tended not to get along, and would normally stay as far apart as it was possible to do so. This, he figured out, accounted for why Buffy still had it in her system. The force of the Dark Magic returning 'home' had been so great, she'd been knocked unconscious, and after the strain of trying to keep her mind focussed, he guessed that she'd probably welcomed the oblivion as soon as it had beckoned.

Waking her up, therefore, didn't seem to be an immediate problem, although everyone was clearly worried that it was more serious. However, Giles was adamant that the coven's magic was not only benevolent, but benign and useless, as it had already served its purpose. And since Buffy had no use for it, it was merely lying dormant. This, though, was the problem. Buffy didn't know how to do magic. Even after Willow's brief lesson, he doubted she'd want to go through it again. The only way to get rid of it was to have it removed.

And the only person who knew how to remove it was the person who'd made it in the first place.

Finally, something was making sense. Wearily, he took off his glasses and rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes, then put them back on and got up, heading towards the telephone. He thought for a moment, then dialled a number, waiting for the person on the receiving end to pick up as he rubbed away the migraine he could feel forming between his eyebrows. After a few seconds, someone picked up.

"Hello? Vivianne?"

On the other side of the world, a tired-looking woman with dark brown hair glowered into the phone. "Yes…? Rupert?"

"Did I wake you?"

"It's four o'clock in the morning. Of course you didn't," she muttered, sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot about these blasted time zones."

She smiled. "How did it go? Did it work?"

"Yes. Although not quite as smoothly as I'd hoped. But, um, obviously, the world didn't end."

"Obviously." There was a pause. "Did you want something, or do you just delight in calling me at ungodly hours of the day?"

"Oh, yes. I apologise, Vivanne, I'm exhausted and my mind isn't really working. Um… I have a problem."

"Again? You've really got to stop getting yourself into trouble, you know. It's not good for you." She yawned and raked a hand through her somewhat unruly hair, trying to wake herself up so she'd be able to help. "What's the problem?"

She listened intently as Giles recounted the past month he'd spent in Sunnydale, occasionally nodding to herself as she took in all the information. When he explained about Buffy's involvement, she had to bite her tongue to stop herself preaching at him about letting amateurs handle dangerous Magics. Giles knew that already, and she knew Giles, and knew that he wouldn't have endangered his Slayer unless it was the final resort.

"…so," he finished, "you see my dilemma."

Vivianne looked momentarily thoughtful. "So our Magic is in the Slayer."

"Yes."

"But she's unconscious?"

"For the moment. I'm fairly sure she'll come round soon."

"I see. And you don't think she'll be willing to try and purge the Magic herself?"

"No. It was incredibly harrowing for everyone involved, Vivianne. I don't want to put her through that again."

"No, no, I understand completely, Rupert. Um…" She thought. "All right. There's only one way to get it out of her. I need to gather the coven and we need to reverse the spell that created it in the first place. That should just make it… vanish."

"You're sure?"

"Mm. It's not permanent; you know that. It was only meant to be in you for long enough to help the Rosenburg girl. It was meant to just fade after a certain time, but I can see that's not an option in Buffy's case."

Giles breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. When can you gather the coven?"

"Tomorrow." She looked at the clock, and sighed. "Today, even…"

"Wonderful. And you're certain the reversal will work over such a long distance?"

She laughed, then realised he was being serious. "Goddess, no. You'll… you'll have to bring her here, Rupert. To Devon. It'll be a few days at the most, to make sure she's… intact, and whatnot."

He sighed heavily. He was pretty sure Buffy wouldn't mind a trip to England, but he was absolutely certain that Spike wouldn't like the idea. But he'd convince everyone somehow. "All right. I'll let you know when we're coming. Thank you, Vivianne."

"My pleasure…"

"Good… morning."

"Yeah. 'Night."

The phone went down. Giles slowly disconnected his end of the call, not really thinking about what he was doing, and replaced the receiver. He cast a glance at the stairs, a little worriedly, then decided there was really no other option. He'd have to take Buffy to England. As soon as possible.

To be continued…

A'N: Yup, sorry, cliffhanger again! And didja like how I did the twist on Willow going to England there? Hehe. Okay, again, many apologies for the lateness of the chapter, but at least it's not as late as the last one ;) Keep those reviews comin', folks!