Chapter One

            Where had she gone?

            Keeping track of the little bit seemed to be far more trouble than all his encounters with the Slayer had been. Throughout all the chaos, carnage, and flames, Spike had managed to lose Dawn when none of that was actually happening. Instead, the bint had fled off after seeing the corpse of the Buffybot. Rekindling old memories of the real Buffy no doubt, causing the girl to rush off.

            But to where? Where on earth would Dawn have gone?

            Back to the Summers' house was probably Spike's best bet at this point. He could check in at the Magic Box to see if Willow and the gang were still around, but they would probably stake him on site if he appeared Dawnless. But…but that wasn't why he was so concerned. If he were to lose Dawn, again, his promise to her would forever be broken.

            Not again…

            The Magic Box would be his best bet at this point. It was closer than the house. Plus, there were more alleys that Spike would be able to slip through on the bike to get to the shop—staying off the open road would be good when there was a demon heard in town.

            But somehow, moving through the raging hell of Sunnydale towards what would likely be the ashes of the Magic Box, Glory's tower had caught the vampire's eye. Or at least the brief sight of the tower before dust clouded the smokey night air.

            She was there, at the tower, now. Dawn. She had to be. It was the only place that she would flee to. It was the only place in Sunnydale that marked the spot of the fallen Slayer. That's where she would go.

            Pushing the stolen motorcycle to its edge, Spike dashed towards the tower.

*          *            *            *

            Only Anya had questioned what the loud clatter had been, but everyone had pieced together where Willow was leading them by now. Willow's new awareness of magicks helped her sense the presence of her spell, which helped her steer the group in the right direction—but now it was clear to everyone that Buffy had headed back to the tower. The tower built by Glory's monks and minions. The tower where Dawn was bled and gateways and dimensions were opened.

            The tower where Buffy had died.

            Why go back? What could Buffy possibly want at that tower? To die again?

            "We have to hurry," ordered Willow.

            Not even glancing back at Xander, Anya, or even Tara, Willow's limping pace quickly accelerated into a fast sprint towards the tower. Willow's eyes locked onto dust that had arisen from the fallen wreckage of the tower; right on the spot where the portal had opened and Buffy had scarified herself. If she had only gotten there sooner, the tower would still there, and she could learn what had become of Buffy.

            Even as Willow rushed towards the tower, she could steel feel the strong presence of her spell. Only a living creature would be giving off that strong of a magickal radiation. Buffy had to still be alive.

            "But she's broken. I think we screwed it up." Anya's words echoed throughout Willow's head. All Anya had done the entire way over towards the tower was repeatedly bring up the possibility that something went seriously wrong with the spell during the biker attack, and Buffy had come back wrong. But they had all seen Buffy when she was fighting Razor. She was still very reachable. With Buffy still alive, there was a chance she could still be brought back.

            Willow heard the other three catching up behind her, as she appeared before the remains of the structure. But what Willow saw before her chilled her every muscle, forcing her eyes to amplify and all her true dread to overcome her.

            Straddling the corpse of her once living sister, Buffy Summers was punching and punching and punching what was left of her younger sister's bloody skull. The sound of it drowned out Willow's sickened gasp, as the Slayer's fist continued to pound at the dead flesh, completely lost in it and unaware of what she was doing. She was lost in the rage and confusion of it all.

            All the trauma that had built up from that night, had literally pushed her and driven the girl insane.

            And it was Willow's fault. But there was nothing she could possibly think of now. Nothing she could do. The Wicca dropped to her knees and shouted her friend's name in hopes that it would reach her, but the Slayer was too far gone.

            "Willow!" It was Tara's voice, tired and out of breath. The three sets of footsteps came up from behind her, slowing as she turned around. Tears streaked down Willow's already pale and tired face. "Willow? Willow what's…" But as Tara came closer towards Willow, she saw what remained of what Willow had resurrected. "O-oh my god. Dawn!"

            "What? Dawn? What's she—" Xander stopped dead in his trail, when he and Anya both caught sight of Buffy, viciously mauling and pummeling the fallen body of Dawn. "Dawn!"

            Xander, Anya, and Tara left the weeping Willow and hurried towards Buffy. She didn't even take note of them as they approached. Death. Destruction. Only set and focused on killing…her sister…

            This was what Willow had brought back.

            The three tried getting Buffy off Dawn, which only enraged the Slayer even more. Buffy swatted Xander away with a single punch, followed by Anya, but Tara was thrown off guard when the Slayer lashed out a kick that sent the witch tumble into the ruins of the tower. The fragments of the fragmented building started to collapse around Tara.

            "NO!" Anger penetrated Willow's brief suspension, forcing her back onto her feet. She could feel the power coursing through her even before she shouted again. "Tara!" The rage and energies just seeped out of Willow's hands as dark electricity shot out and hit Buffy. With one strike, the shock left the Slayer's body still.

            "Willow?" a small voice numbing called back.

            "NO!" Willow ran towards the spot where Tara had landed. Even before she reached it, a pulse of energy pushed away all the remnants of the tower that had cushioned her fall. She instantly grabbed and cradled Tara in her arms, who weakly smiled back at her. "Tara?"

            "I'm ok," she said quietly.

            Xander and Anya began to move as well. Xander glanced over at the bodies of Buffy and Dawn, and slowly towards Willow and Tara.

            "Is she gonna be alright?" asked Xander gravely.

            Willow's still blackened eyes met Xander, something—was it fear?—filled Xander and caused him to look away. "The winds knocked out of her and she's got some bad cuts and bruises, but other than that—"

            "Will, you know I wasn't talking about her." Xander's eyes were locked on the body of their best friend. The same body that they had already had to put into the ground.

            "She's alive," reassured Willow. "The bolts should have only knocked her out."

            "You know that's not what I'm asking."

            She didn't answer. Willow pulled her eyes away from Xander, and back towards Tara. She was still alive, and that's what counted right now. Willow hadn't lost her. As uncontrollably as Buffy was towards Dawn, Willow just kept on stroking Tara's hair and holding her tightly. Willow couldn't stay silent for long—she needed to get Tara out of there, as well as the others, and figure out a way to fix what had happened to Buffy. "I…I don't know."

            "Oh, he's talking about if your spell somehow brought Buffy back wrong," elaborated Anya, "like possessed, or as a demon or zombie, or you know, insane." Willow struck Anya that caused the ex-vengeance demon's eyes to widen and force her to step back.

            "I don't know," cried Willow. "Everything seemed to have gone correctly with the spell—and we all saw Buffy before the tower. She seemed to be settling in to things again, like she was still there. Like maybe the spell and everything went right, but with the circumstances of…everything, it was just too much. And from all this she's gone insane."

            "Oh, so it couldn't possibly be your spell then," Anya shot back.

            Before the argument could erupt further, Xander stepped in between the two. "Stop! Just stop it. We…we need to figure out what we're going to do. The biker gang's still here, Tara's hurt, and Buffy's…well, we have to find a safe place to put her. Where she won't hurt anyone else."

            "What about Dawn?" asked Anya.

            Xander took another deep breath and shook his head. "Dunno."

            But Willow had pieced things together. "With the demon attacks and everything, she probably wasn't the only casualty. If we just leave it here there's nothing that'll bring this all back to Buffy—"

            "No!" Anya was appalled by Willow's suggestion, simply leaving the body instead of taking the responsibility. "We can't just leave her here. It-it just wouldn't…be right. What if someone finds the body and eats it, or use it for parts, or something sick and twisted. We can't—"

            The roar of a nearby motorcycle cut Anya off, and all four knew that they had to get out of the open. The Hellmouth still wasn't safe, even with Razor dead, his boys were still in town and looking for trouble.

            "Fine," said Willow sternly, rising up and helping Tara in the doing. "I'll teleport her to a hospital or something, and she'll be safe there. In the meantime, we need to help Tara before Buffy wakes up." Tara groaned and pushed off of Willow. "Can you walk?"

            Tara nodded. "I'm a little dizzy, but I'll manage."

            Willow smiled sweetly towards Tara, but that warmth faded upon Xander and Anya. "Can you two take Buffy?"

            "She won't wake up will she?" asked Anya.

            "Not for awhile," Willow insisted.

            The two quickly complied.

            "Go up on ahead," said Willow, kneeling down next to Dawn's body. "It'll take a moment for the spell to work, and there's no need to wait."

*          *            *            *

            All he could do was watch. That's all he could ever really do, because Buffy always seemed to be out of his reach. But, before she had left, Spike had been fine with that. Even though she knew what he was, she still treated him right with respect that he didn't even deserve, but she was still kind. Now, Spike wasn't even sure what Buffy had become.

            The vampire watched the Scoobies drag the still breathing body of the Vampire Slayer away from the destruction of Glory's tower. It had been them. They brought Buffy back. After the entire summer of working with them, helping them, and protecting Dawn…and Dawn, she was gone. Her fragmented body remained as Xander, Anya, and Tara, with the unconscious Buffy, left the scene, leaving Red next to the Slayer's kid sister.

            Her. She had done this all.

            Willow.

            She was the only one who had tapped into the dark arts—well, her and Rupert, but it hadn't surprised Spike when he learned that the Watcher had shipped himself back to England. Of all the Scoobies, she had been the most controlling and distant that summer—ordering for Spike's help, but never really keeping him in the loop about things. Simply using him as a tool for survival.

            This night was a confirmation of that all.

            And Spike watched with disgust as the witch's eyes darkened and she burned away the body of the fallen girl, clearing away any proof of what happened. Fixing her mistakes to her liking.

            Spike knew Buffy would be the next thing that Willow would try to fix.