Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow

Previously:

"We just lost two of our best fighters," Xander declared. "I'm not seeing much hope here on the fending off Glory front."

Willow nodded gravely. "Neither am I."

..................

"Two can play this game. Enough sitting around and hoping the slayer will screw up. No, this time, I'm takin' the fight to them. If they won't tell me where my Key is, I'll just find out for myself," Glory growled as she walked toward Sunnydale General. "And there'll be hell to pay."

Chapter Twenty:

Faith groaned and rolled her head to the side as she awoke. Opening her eyes, she quickly blinked them several times to dispel the foggy cloud covering the world. She tried to remember what happened and where she was, but she found it incredibly difficult to think. "Hey," a gentle voice beside her said. Turning her head toward the sound, she tried to remember why it sounded so familiar. Her eyes focused on the face in front of her and she found herself smiling slightly.

"Hey," she croaked out, her voice cracking. Her throat was bone dry and her tongue felt thick and heavy in her mouth.

"You feel okay? You want anything?" Buffy asked, leaning forward and tenderly caressing the side of her girlfriend's face.

"Water," Faith said, wetting her lips and closing her eyes.

"Here," Buffy said, putting a glass of water up to Faith's lips. She gratefully drank, satisfied when her thirst had abated. "How do you feel?" Buffy asked, setting the glass of water down on the bedside table.

"Kinda like I got shot," Faith answered dryly, a small smile playing on her lips.

"About that," Buffy said, grabbing Faith's hand with her own and tracing circles on her skin. "Do you remember anything that happened? Do you remember who shot you?"

Faith thought for a moment. She clearly remembered walking into the alley and hearing the click of the gun. When she turned around, who did she see? "Yeah, I remember," Faith said after a couple of minutes. Looking over at Buffy, she gently squeezed her hand. "B...it was Riley."

.......................

"So, whoever thought coming to the hospital was a good idea clearly forgot how incredibly boring it is here," Xander said, slumped over in his hard, plastic hospital chair. "The nurses aren't even hot," he complained and promptly was smacked on the arm by Anya. Both Kara and Callum smiled.

"I'm gonna go get some coffee, anyone want?" Tara asked, rising from her seat. The group collectively declined and Tara disappeared in search of a coffee machine.

After a quick search, Tara found the machine and slipped a dollar bill into the slot. As the coffee slowly poured into the cup, Tara sighed and closed her eyes, running a hand over her face. It had been an incredibly long day and she couldn't wait to climb into bed that night and fall asleep wrapped in Willow's arms.

"Excuse me," someone said from behind her. Tara turned, only to come face to face with Glory. "How's it going?" Glory asked with a wide, menacing smile. "Not that I actually care or anything."

"I w-won't tell you anything," Tara said defiantly, raising her eyes to meet the hell god's.

"Oh silly, you don't have to worry about that. I wasn't planning on asking," Glory replied. A white ball of light surrounded Glory's hand as she raised it and pressed it to the side of Tara's skull. "I was just gonna jump right in."

Willow could hear Tara's scream from the waiting room. Leaping to her feet, she rushed out to the coffee machines with practically the entire Scooby Gang in tow. "Tara!" She yelled upon seeing her girlfriend crumpled to the floor and Glory standing triumphantly over her.

"Oh, it's the little witch," Glory said, then paused. "Well, the other one," she added purposefully.

"What did you do?" Willow growled, her voice low and menacing. Kara glanced over at her. Staring into the red-haired witch's eyes, she could see flecks of black beginning to appear.

"Willow!" Kara stressed. The witch didn't look at her. Moving over to Giles, Kara put her hand on his shoulder, leaned up, and whispered in his ear. "If Willow uses magic against Glory, she'll start down the path toward destruction. We have to stop her," Kara hissed. Looking back at her, Giles nodded.

"I agree, but how?"

"Suspend her magic?" Kara asked, moving around to stand beside him.

"I haven't the power," Giles admitted. "But I do know another way."

"Oh, what's that?" Kara asked, watching as Giles rushed forward and elbowed Willow in the back of the head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Xander asked as Willow collapsed to the floor unconscious.

"Saving her from herself," Giles said, then glancing down at Willow, muttered, "Sorry."

"Okay, I gotta say, I didn't see that coming," Glory said, watching the interaction with a mildly amused interest. "No matter though. I still know who the Key is. That's right folks, and I know she's right upstairs," Glory said gleefully. "Time to get what's mine."

...................................

"Do you think Faith's gonna be okay?" Dawn asked, glancing over at Spike. They were sitting in her mother's hospital room. Joyce had fallen back asleep about twenty minutes ago and was resting comfortably. Dawn couldn't have been more relieved, yet, she was worried about the dark slayer. Even with slayer healing, a bullet was a bit much to recover from and, though Buffy hadn't told her yet, Dawn had a feeling Faith and Buffy were a bit more than friends.

"Aw yeah. She'll be up and kickin' in no time, pet, just you watch. Probably up and kickin' at me too," Spike said, smiling over at Dawn.

"Yeah. I hope so," Dawn said, then quickly amended, "I mean, I don't hope she's up and kickin' at you. Just up and kickin' in general."

"Yeah, I figured as much," Spike replied amused. Dawn looked over at Spike tentatively, wondering if she should voice the question plaguing her mind.

"Spike?" She asked, getting the blonde vampire's attention.

"Yeah, Nibblet?"

"That chip in your head...are you here just because you have it...or are you here because you really care what happens to us?" Dawn asked uncertainly.

Spike looked over at the young girl. He could see by the intensity of her eyes that the answer he gave would make or break the world for her. Smiling at her, he slung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "It's like this," he said. "When I first started helping you all out, yeah, it was because of the chip."

"Oh," Dawn interjected, visibly crestfallen.

"But," Spike added, "then I got to know the lot of you. While I'm not exactly everyone's biggest fan, and despite the fact that it goes entirely against my nature as a demon, I started caring about all you. Still do. It's a nasty little thing it is," Spike finished and was rewarded by a brilliant smile from Dawn.

"I knew you weren't all bad," Dawn said happily.

"Now I didn't say that," Spike said desperately, still hoping to cling to some of his former glory. He was about to say something else when he felt an incredible wave of power coming towards them. "Dawn," he said lowly, rising to his feet.

"What? What is it?" Dawn asked, jumping up beside him, visibly afraid.

"Move to the window," Spike instructed, turning and leading her over to the third story window. Pulling it open, he looked down. It was a long fall. "We've got to jump," Spike said, looking back at Dawn.

"What? No way. Why?" Dawn asked, looking at him as if he were insane.

Suddenly the hospital room door burst open, the wood cracking and breaking. Pulling Dawn closer to him, he shielded her from the flying debris. When the dust cleared, he could see Glory standing in the doorway. "That's why," he said and frantically began helping Dawn out of the window.

"Oh, no. You're not going anywhere," Glory said angrily as she advanced toward them. "I want my Key."

"Oh, bugger this," Spike said and, grabbing Dawn, launched himself out of the window. They seemed to hang in mid air for a moment before plummeting down to the earth. Air rushed up at them and Spike closed his eyes, shielding them from the pressure. Rolling them so that he would hit the ground first, Spike tensed as he felt the earth rapidly approach. He slammed into the parking lot pavement, the air rushing out of his lungs and every bone in his body trembling from the impact. "You okay, Nibblet?" Spike asked, once he had regained the power of speech.

"Yeah," Dawn muttered, rolling off Spike and flopping to the ground. Looking back up at the window they had just crashed out of, she could see Glory glaring down at them. "I think we should run," Dawn said, rising to her feet and pulling Spike up with her.

"Good plan," he muttered as they took off into the night. "Here's the real question," he said. "Where are we gonna go?"