Chapter 24
"Wow, that was some kinda rush, you okay Robin?" asked Faith.
She looked at her husband who was lying flat on his back, breathing heavily.
"Just give me a moment okay, I don't have slayer healing powers," he said tiredly.
"How do you feel Willow?" asked Xander.
"Pretty good actually, all part of being a Goddess, spells like this aren't half as draining as they used to be," said Willow.
"Now, I guess all we can do is play a waiting game," said Giles.
"You do think Buffy and Spike will be okay though, right?" asked Dawn.
"Dawn I am not gonna make you promises I can't keep, you're nearly all grown up now, and deserve to know the odds, it could be dangerous," said Willow.
"What kind of portal did you send them through exactly?" asked Dawn, getting more alarmed by the minute.
"Calm down, Spike is pretty cool, he'll look after Buffy," said Andrew.
"The hero worship that wouldn't die, that's cute," said Faith, looking him up and down.
Andrew blushed, and looked away. Faith helped Robin onto his feet, sitting him down in the shade of one of the many Joshua trees that were native to the area.
"Have a little confidence, you guys, think about it, Buffy has died more than once, Spike has only just got back from dying for the first time, ah second if you count when he was vamped, so I think they have both had enough of the dying for now," said Xander.
"Not making me feel better," said Dawn.
"I think I'd better shut up," said Xander.
"Good idea," agreed Willow.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
They had stepped through the portal, it had been black and silent at first, and Spike's initial thought was that they had been sent to some kind of non- existence by mistake.
"Where are we?" Buffy asked.
"Buggered that's where," said Spike.
"Been there a few times before I should have recognised it, wait I hear something," she said.
There was a roaring noise, like that of a great battle, it was getting closer and closer, they could see a light coming towards them from a great distance.
"Do you think we are dead?" She asked.
"I don't think so, although I can understand why it might look that way," said Spike.
"Sunnydale," said Buffy.
"What?" asked Spike in confusion.
Buffy never got to answer as there was a blinding flash of light, Buffy could hear the screams of young girls in the distance, they were back in the hell mouth, she could sense it. An angry horde of Turok-Han vamps were running toward them, fangs bared and weapons held high.
"Oh my God!" said Buffy.
"It's okay, I'll protect you, just gotta remember how to do what I did the last time we were facing vamps," said Spike.
"Since when did I need protecting?" she asked.
Spike raised his hand, as much as he concentrated, nothing was happening. Buffy looked at the advancing vamps. Where was a mystical scythe when you needed one? She thought to herself.
"Anytime now would be good Spike," she said nervously.
"I am trying! But I am starting to get the idea that my powers are useless here," Spike replied desperately.
"Spike!" Buffy screamed
The vamps rushed toward them, Buffy braced herself for the onslaught, her hand tightly gripped in Spike's, if she was going to go down, she wanted to die at his side. She closed her eyes and waited for death to find them, they were helpless against the thousands of super strong vampires that were almost upon them. Several moments passed nothing happened, she opened one eye, but they were gone, Spike turned and looked in confusion.
"What happened?" she asked.
"They just went straight through us, as though we weren't even there," said Spike.
They both turned and looked behind them, the vampires were still there, but they carried on charging, Buffy looked up, she saw something that made her gasp out loud, up on a high precipice, she could see herself, and Spike and all the potentials looking over the edge.
"I think I know why those vampires didn't even see us, it's because this has already happened, they are ghosts of the past," said Buffy.
"If this is a time portal that Red has sent us to, how are we supposed to change things or whatever it is we are supposed to do?" asked Spike.
"I haven't figured that one out yet, but I want to get up there, where all the fighting is," said Buffy.
"Once a slayer, always a slayer," mumbled Spike.
"That is very true," she grinned.
"How are we actually going to get up there?" asked Spike.
"Following the route the Turok-Han went, would be a good start," said Buffy.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"I can't take this, not knowing what is happening, that's my sister and the guy I have come to love as a brother in there, risking their asses, are you sure there is nothing we can't do to help them?" asked Dawn.
The group looked at Dawn, she hated the varying degrees of pity she read on their faces. Dawn looked at the ground in helpless frustration.
"Dawnie, it's a path that they have to travel alone, besides I don't have the strength to sustain the portal for more than they, you wouldn't want to be trapped in another dimension, now would you?" asked Willow.
"Andrew, wanna take Dawn for a walk, I think she could do with the activity," suggested Faith.
"You've seen one pile of sand, you've seen them all," said Dawn sarcastically.
"It was just a suggestion," said Faith.
Dawn was surprised when Andrew pulled her to her feet, literally dragging her off the rock she had been sitting on.
"What do you think you are doing?" she asked angrily.
Andrew linked his arm through hers and pulled her along with him.
"Taking some good advice that's what," said Andrew.
Dawn quickly shut up, not sure how to take this new masterful Andrew, as she let him lead her away.
"Don't get lost," said Willow.
"And don't do anything I wouldn't do," said Faith.
Robin chuckled at Faith words.
"Knowing you, that leaves a lot of scope for badness," said Robin.
The group were glad of the silence that fell after its two youngest members had gone for a walk, none of them really in the mood to talk. They didn't really know what they would say to each that would have any meaning or use in their current situation, and they knew it was important that Willow was not too distracted from channelling her energies into keeping the portal open.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Spike and Buffy had been running for several minutes, trying to keep up with the army of Turok-Han.
"These guys are a lot fitter than they look," said Spike.
They managed to catch up with the vampires and leapt up over the edge just before they did, they both turned and watched as the Turok-Hans attacked their past selves and the potentials.
"I wanna help, it's like watching the end of a movie, which you wish had a different ending, but you can't do anything about it," said Buffy.
"I don't think we were sent to this precise moment in time, just to watch how we did in the final battle love," said Spike.
Buffy gripped Spike's hand tightly in hers as she watched potentials die, one after the other, nameless girls that she hadn't even tried to connect with.
"I should have spent more time with them, tried to get to know them, but you know me, emotionally retarded," said Buffy.
The tears slid down her cheeks as she looked up at Spike. He wiped them away; Spike watched in fascination as the past Buffy wielded her scythe.
"I was right about that weapon being worth ditching me for," said Spike in awe as he watched the battle.
Spike gasped and his hand dropped away from hers as he witnessed the past Buffy, get run through the gut with one of the vampire's swords.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
"When was I supposed to tell you? Before or after you went all glowy like the sun?" asked Buffy.
They watched the scene replay, the first taunting Buffy, and as she defiantly rose from the ground, it just vanished.
"So that's how you did it, you defeated the first with words, and your defiance?" asked Spike.
"Haven't you noticed before now, I am good at defeating people with words, especially those I care about," she said sadly.
They heard a voice above the noise of the battle. The cavern was filling with light.
"Buffy!" called a voice they both knew all too well.
Buffy knew this part, she knew what was coming next, and she also knew that she didn't have the strength to see it for a second time. Spike started walking forward as if drawn by an invisible force, Buffy held on to his sleeve.
"No, I don't want to see it, not again," she said pleadingly.
The hell mouth was growing brighter by the second.
"I have to love, the amulet is speaking to me, and I have to go," Spike touched the amulet on his chest, he could feel the power humming through it, like once before.
Buffy swallowed down all her fears, there was no way she was gonna be left here without him, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to witness this time, with the real Spike by her side. They ran after the past Buffy as she ran to 'Spikes' side.
The little scene had already partially played by the time they reached them; the past Buffy was reaching out to lace her fingers with the past Spike.
They both stood and watched themselves, it felt weird to say the least, they watched them join hands, it was then that the amulet Spike was wearing around his neck began to glow like before, and Buffy and Spike felt themselves being sucked into the bodies of their past selves.
"Spike! What's happening to us?" asked Buffy.
It went dark for a second, and they both lost consciousness momentarily when they both opened their eyes, they were facing each other, not as spectators but as their former selves, their hands aflame and tightly linked as before.
"Oh my god, I think I know what's happened and what I have to do," said Buffy.
Spike was confused, and in total agony, he could feel all the pain and sensations running through his body, that he had suffered that fateful day.
"Isn't this the part where you are supposed to say 'I love you?' asked Spike, his teeth gritted against the burning that was starting to build inside him.
The Powers that be, must have betrayed him, led him to this, so he could what? Burn to death again, like he hadn't had enough of that the first time around.
Buffy looked at him as fresh tears fell down her cheeks.
"I do you love you, you stupid man, and that is why I am not going anywhere, so don't even try to think about sending me away," she said angrily.
" Oh God Buffy I love you so much, I'd do this every day for eternity if it meant keeping you safe, but it's happening again, I can feel it, you have to go, and now," said Spike forcefully.
" Go where, so I can do what? Live like a zombie, a half person without you; already tried that. There is nothing you can say that will make me go this time, I know what I have to do, I am staying right here, I'll never leave you Spike, never," she replied.
Their hands were still joined and afire, but Buffy couldn't feel anything, but a total sense of rightness of what she was about to do, she stepped forward, and wrapped her free arm around him and held tightly to his burning body. Spike wanted to push her away, but he was pinned to the wall as before. She closed her eyes tightly and held on to him, as they were both engulfed in fiery flames.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dawn and Andrew had walked for quite a while, Andrew wore a goofy smile on his face, Dawn had even let him hold her hand for awhile, he had high hopes that she would let him try the kissing experiment again when this was all over. They had almost reached the others; dawn slipped her hand out of his. Ok so she wasn't ready to go public yet, but he would work on that, with the ferocity of one of his evil takeover schemes.
They were both startled as they heard a high-pitched scream. Dawn's eyes widened in alarm, she looked at Andrew.
"That was Willow," she said as she broke out into a run.
They both arrived back, breathless. Willow's head was bowed, her shoulders shaking.
"What is it Willow?" asked Dawn, panting from her recent exertion.
"The Portal, it's gone," said Andrew pointing to where it had been.
Dawn paled, the meaning of it hitting her full force.
"They're dead," she said as she slid to the desert floor unconscious.
TBC
A/N Sorry I know that is an evil ending to the chapter; will get on with writing chapter 25 ASAP
"Wow, that was some kinda rush, you okay Robin?" asked Faith.
She looked at her husband who was lying flat on his back, breathing heavily.
"Just give me a moment okay, I don't have slayer healing powers," he said tiredly.
"How do you feel Willow?" asked Xander.
"Pretty good actually, all part of being a Goddess, spells like this aren't half as draining as they used to be," said Willow.
"Now, I guess all we can do is play a waiting game," said Giles.
"You do think Buffy and Spike will be okay though, right?" asked Dawn.
"Dawn I am not gonna make you promises I can't keep, you're nearly all grown up now, and deserve to know the odds, it could be dangerous," said Willow.
"What kind of portal did you send them through exactly?" asked Dawn, getting more alarmed by the minute.
"Calm down, Spike is pretty cool, he'll look after Buffy," said Andrew.
"The hero worship that wouldn't die, that's cute," said Faith, looking him up and down.
Andrew blushed, and looked away. Faith helped Robin onto his feet, sitting him down in the shade of one of the many Joshua trees that were native to the area.
"Have a little confidence, you guys, think about it, Buffy has died more than once, Spike has only just got back from dying for the first time, ah second if you count when he was vamped, so I think they have both had enough of the dying for now," said Xander.
"Not making me feel better," said Dawn.
"I think I'd better shut up," said Xander.
"Good idea," agreed Willow.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
They had stepped through the portal, it had been black and silent at first, and Spike's initial thought was that they had been sent to some kind of non- existence by mistake.
"Where are we?" Buffy asked.
"Buggered that's where," said Spike.
"Been there a few times before I should have recognised it, wait I hear something," she said.
There was a roaring noise, like that of a great battle, it was getting closer and closer, they could see a light coming towards them from a great distance.
"Do you think we are dead?" She asked.
"I don't think so, although I can understand why it might look that way," said Spike.
"Sunnydale," said Buffy.
"What?" asked Spike in confusion.
Buffy never got to answer as there was a blinding flash of light, Buffy could hear the screams of young girls in the distance, they were back in the hell mouth, she could sense it. An angry horde of Turok-Han vamps were running toward them, fangs bared and weapons held high.
"Oh my God!" said Buffy.
"It's okay, I'll protect you, just gotta remember how to do what I did the last time we were facing vamps," said Spike.
"Since when did I need protecting?" she asked.
Spike raised his hand, as much as he concentrated, nothing was happening. Buffy looked at the advancing vamps. Where was a mystical scythe when you needed one? She thought to herself.
"Anytime now would be good Spike," she said nervously.
"I am trying! But I am starting to get the idea that my powers are useless here," Spike replied desperately.
"Spike!" Buffy screamed
The vamps rushed toward them, Buffy braced herself for the onslaught, her hand tightly gripped in Spike's, if she was going to go down, she wanted to die at his side. She closed her eyes and waited for death to find them, they were helpless against the thousands of super strong vampires that were almost upon them. Several moments passed nothing happened, she opened one eye, but they were gone, Spike turned and looked in confusion.
"What happened?" she asked.
"They just went straight through us, as though we weren't even there," said Spike.
They both turned and looked behind them, the vampires were still there, but they carried on charging, Buffy looked up, she saw something that made her gasp out loud, up on a high precipice, she could see herself, and Spike and all the potentials looking over the edge.
"I think I know why those vampires didn't even see us, it's because this has already happened, they are ghosts of the past," said Buffy.
"If this is a time portal that Red has sent us to, how are we supposed to change things or whatever it is we are supposed to do?" asked Spike.
"I haven't figured that one out yet, but I want to get up there, where all the fighting is," said Buffy.
"Once a slayer, always a slayer," mumbled Spike.
"That is very true," she grinned.
"How are we actually going to get up there?" asked Spike.
"Following the route the Turok-Han went, would be a good start," said Buffy.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"I can't take this, not knowing what is happening, that's my sister and the guy I have come to love as a brother in there, risking their asses, are you sure there is nothing we can't do to help them?" asked Dawn.
The group looked at Dawn, she hated the varying degrees of pity she read on their faces. Dawn looked at the ground in helpless frustration.
"Dawnie, it's a path that they have to travel alone, besides I don't have the strength to sustain the portal for more than they, you wouldn't want to be trapped in another dimension, now would you?" asked Willow.
"Andrew, wanna take Dawn for a walk, I think she could do with the activity," suggested Faith.
"You've seen one pile of sand, you've seen them all," said Dawn sarcastically.
"It was just a suggestion," said Faith.
Dawn was surprised when Andrew pulled her to her feet, literally dragging her off the rock she had been sitting on.
"What do you think you are doing?" she asked angrily.
Andrew linked his arm through hers and pulled her along with him.
"Taking some good advice that's what," said Andrew.
Dawn quickly shut up, not sure how to take this new masterful Andrew, as she let him lead her away.
"Don't get lost," said Willow.
"And don't do anything I wouldn't do," said Faith.
Robin chuckled at Faith words.
"Knowing you, that leaves a lot of scope for badness," said Robin.
The group were glad of the silence that fell after its two youngest members had gone for a walk, none of them really in the mood to talk. They didn't really know what they would say to each that would have any meaning or use in their current situation, and they knew it was important that Willow was not too distracted from channelling her energies into keeping the portal open.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Spike and Buffy had been running for several minutes, trying to keep up with the army of Turok-Han.
"These guys are a lot fitter than they look," said Spike.
They managed to catch up with the vampires and leapt up over the edge just before they did, they both turned and watched as the Turok-Hans attacked their past selves and the potentials.
"I wanna help, it's like watching the end of a movie, which you wish had a different ending, but you can't do anything about it," said Buffy.
"I don't think we were sent to this precise moment in time, just to watch how we did in the final battle love," said Spike.
Buffy gripped Spike's hand tightly in hers as she watched potentials die, one after the other, nameless girls that she hadn't even tried to connect with.
"I should have spent more time with them, tried to get to know them, but you know me, emotionally retarded," said Buffy.
The tears slid down her cheeks as she looked up at Spike. He wiped them away; Spike watched in fascination as the past Buffy wielded her scythe.
"I was right about that weapon being worth ditching me for," said Spike in awe as he watched the battle.
Spike gasped and his hand dropped away from hers as he witnessed the past Buffy, get run through the gut with one of the vampire's swords.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
"When was I supposed to tell you? Before or after you went all glowy like the sun?" asked Buffy.
They watched the scene replay, the first taunting Buffy, and as she defiantly rose from the ground, it just vanished.
"So that's how you did it, you defeated the first with words, and your defiance?" asked Spike.
"Haven't you noticed before now, I am good at defeating people with words, especially those I care about," she said sadly.
They heard a voice above the noise of the battle. The cavern was filling with light.
"Buffy!" called a voice they both knew all too well.
Buffy knew this part, she knew what was coming next, and she also knew that she didn't have the strength to see it for a second time. Spike started walking forward as if drawn by an invisible force, Buffy held on to his sleeve.
"No, I don't want to see it, not again," she said pleadingly.
The hell mouth was growing brighter by the second.
"I have to love, the amulet is speaking to me, and I have to go," Spike touched the amulet on his chest, he could feel the power humming through it, like once before.
Buffy swallowed down all her fears, there was no way she was gonna be left here without him, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to witness this time, with the real Spike by her side. They ran after the past Buffy as she ran to 'Spikes' side.
The little scene had already partially played by the time they reached them; the past Buffy was reaching out to lace her fingers with the past Spike.
They both stood and watched themselves, it felt weird to say the least, they watched them join hands, it was then that the amulet Spike was wearing around his neck began to glow like before, and Buffy and Spike felt themselves being sucked into the bodies of their past selves.
"Spike! What's happening to us?" asked Buffy.
It went dark for a second, and they both lost consciousness momentarily when they both opened their eyes, they were facing each other, not as spectators but as their former selves, their hands aflame and tightly linked as before.
"Oh my god, I think I know what's happened and what I have to do," said Buffy.
Spike was confused, and in total agony, he could feel all the pain and sensations running through his body, that he had suffered that fateful day.
"Isn't this the part where you are supposed to say 'I love you?' asked Spike, his teeth gritted against the burning that was starting to build inside him.
The Powers that be, must have betrayed him, led him to this, so he could what? Burn to death again, like he hadn't had enough of that the first time around.
Buffy looked at him as fresh tears fell down her cheeks.
"I do you love you, you stupid man, and that is why I am not going anywhere, so don't even try to think about sending me away," she said angrily.
" Oh God Buffy I love you so much, I'd do this every day for eternity if it meant keeping you safe, but it's happening again, I can feel it, you have to go, and now," said Spike forcefully.
" Go where, so I can do what? Live like a zombie, a half person without you; already tried that. There is nothing you can say that will make me go this time, I know what I have to do, I am staying right here, I'll never leave you Spike, never," she replied.
Their hands were still joined and afire, but Buffy couldn't feel anything, but a total sense of rightness of what she was about to do, she stepped forward, and wrapped her free arm around him and held tightly to his burning body. Spike wanted to push her away, but he was pinned to the wall as before. She closed her eyes tightly and held on to him, as they were both engulfed in fiery flames.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dawn and Andrew had walked for quite a while, Andrew wore a goofy smile on his face, Dawn had even let him hold her hand for awhile, he had high hopes that she would let him try the kissing experiment again when this was all over. They had almost reached the others; dawn slipped her hand out of his. Ok so she wasn't ready to go public yet, but he would work on that, with the ferocity of one of his evil takeover schemes.
They were both startled as they heard a high-pitched scream. Dawn's eyes widened in alarm, she looked at Andrew.
"That was Willow," she said as she broke out into a run.
They both arrived back, breathless. Willow's head was bowed, her shoulders shaking.
"What is it Willow?" asked Dawn, panting from her recent exertion.
"The Portal, it's gone," said Andrew pointing to where it had been.
Dawn paled, the meaning of it hitting her full force.
"They're dead," she said as she slid to the desert floor unconscious.
TBC
A/N Sorry I know that is an evil ending to the chapter; will get on with writing chapter 25 ASAP