Summary: We rejoin our intrepid band some two months after the end of part II as they continue training for the prophesied battle with Glory. This part begins a crossover with Highlander. If you haven't read parts I and II, it'd probably help to do so before reading this one. It helped me, and I wrote the silly things...
Notes: Had to take some time and think about this part. And since too much thinking ( have you ever tried to write a Scottish accent? ) gives me a giganimous headache, it took a LONG time. Kinda said what the heck and decided to do a crossover. Which of course led to more thinking. And more headache-y-ness. Enjoy! And as ever, All Hail to The Goddess Willow ;)
Disclaimer: Still Joss's. Still Fox's. Still broke. What's a guy to do?
WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NOW? PT. III
By screaminheathen69
...And it shall come to pass that in the days following the Fall of The Hellmouth that The Key shall come into Its own, and shall discover Its Power anew.
And it shall also come to pass that The Beast once thought destroyed shall rise up once more to plague The Earth, and Glorificus shall once again seek out The Key.
And there shall come a Day of Reckoning, when Champions Old and New shall join with The Chosen, The Witch, and The Key, and all shall balance on the Power of The Key.
For if The Key has not learned control of Its Power, then Dawn shall become Dusk, and Twilight shall forever fall on all The World.
Prologue
Two Months Ago...
...Kennedy was dusting vamps as fast as she could, but she was losing ground. Willow had taken a blow to the skull just as she was about to cast a spell, and was down.
Dawn had managed to relieve a Vykar demon of its sword, and was holding her own. She and Rona were back to back trying to protect three college students who'd gotten trapped inside the club. She could see Kennedy and Willow, still on the dance floor. There was a huge pile of dust and bodies around them, but more kept coming. Dawn could see Kennedy tiring, and Willow was stirring groggily but wasn't back on her feet yet.
She could see clearly when Kennedy finally faltered, could see the vampire grab her by the throat, could see a large Ammunak demon reaching for Willow.
Could see it clearly.
And couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.
Inside her, something twisted up.
Could see the vamp going in to bite Kennedy.
Could see the other demon picking Willow up by her long red hair.
The thing twisting in her gut got worse.
Started to give.
And finally, snapped.
And as she screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO", a brilliant green aura surrounded her, seemed to shrink in on itself for an endless moment.
And then exploded outwards with the roar of an erupting volcano, vaporising every demon in a five block radius, except for a certain ensouled vampire...
...As the shockwave faded away at the scene of the fight, it still caused ripples in the ether.
Ripples that were felt throughout this dimension, and a few neighbouring dimensions as well.
In Devon, every member of the Wicca Coven that had helped Willow to find herself stopped in their tracks and turned as one to face the west, wondering at the immense power that had revealed itself.
More ripples; In China, a group of Jjhind'I demons howled and huddled together, searching for cover as their sensory horns seemed to ring and vibrate.
More ripples; In a darkened room in Liverpool, Ethan Rayne woke from a nap and sat bolt upright, not knowing what it was that he was sensing, but his chest tightened in fear all the same.
All through this level of existence and more, beings who could sense power shook with fear and awe at the sheer magnificence of what they were feeling.
And in a part of this world that some call southern California, in a crater where once stood the town of Sunnydale, the ripples were also felt.
Felt by something thought dead for two years, a Beast of unparalelled strength and cruelty.
It stirred, and slowly recognising the ripples for what they were, awoke.
Some of the rubble shifted.
Then heaved.
And exploded out and away from the creature that had awakened.
As the dust settled, a lone figure could be seen.
A young woman stood there, breathing deep and stretching the kinks from joints and muscles long disused.
She stopped moving, and tilted her head to the side, sniffing the air.
She could sense it. That one thing she coveted most in this world or the next.
Her Key.Her beautiful, powerful, wonderful Key.
The Hellgoddess known as Glorificus smiled, a truly nasty smile, as she began to make her way up and out of the crater.
As she reached firm ground, she paused to find the trail again. There it is, she thought to herself. Time to go get my Key.
She started walking, following the trail of energy that was leading her towards Los Angeles.
"I'm ba-ack."
Chapter the First
It had been an interesting couple of months.
Nope, sorry, understatement. It had been an unbelievable couple of months.
Since arriving in England, Dawn Summers had been going nonstop, right along with her sister and the rest of their group. She would grouse occasionally about the fact that she hadn't had any time to go sight-seeing the entire time they'd been here, but only because, after all, she was Dawn and grousing was her duty. And she took pride in doing her duty.
They had gone into seclusion with the Wicca coven in a secret stronghold the Watchers had maintained deep in the Highlands of Scotland. Only Giles, Buffy, and Willow had left at any time, and then only to go collect new Slayers as they were located. So of course, Dawn and most of the rest of the group were starting to go a little stir crazy.
The Slayers had been training nonstop, honing their skills to a fine edge preparing for the raid that was being planned on the temple fortress where they hoped to find more information concerning the prophesied coming battle with Glory.
Willow had also been training hard, and her power had grown to an unprecedented level, surpassing both Giles' and the coven's wildest expectations. Willow was quite pleased with her progress. "And I did it without going all dark-and-veiny, too."
But the prime focus of attention had been Dawn herself. She had been struggling to access the Power within her, the Power she had let loose only that one brief time at The Bronze, and had been unable to access since. The same Power that the Prophesy said she must learn to control to stop Glory from destroying the world.
She was so far beyond irritated at this point, it wasn't funny. They'd tried everything they could think of, and then invented some more things, but nothing had worked. Dawn had even gone so far as to pick a fight with two of the new Slayers, to see if that would jar something loose. The only things that got jarred loose were three of her teeth. Buffy was not pleased.
"Maybe we oughta go clubbing," she suggested one evening after supper. Buffy and Willow gave her an odd look indeed.
"Clubbing?" asked Willow.
"Yeah. Go out for a night on the town. Maybe pick a fight with a batch of vampires. I'm starting to think the only way we're ever gonna get anything to happen is if we get into a situation like that night at The Bronze."
Buffy didn't say anything, but her eyebrows clearly expressed "?".
Willow hugged Dawn. "Only as a last resort. It'd be nice if you could learn to control your Power somewhere other than a life or death situation."
Dawn let it go, but couldn't stop thinking about it. It was driving her nuts. She had all this Power, maybe more than Willow even, and she couldn't figure out how to use it.
She would wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, shivering and sweating, after having the nightmare she'd been having off and on for years.
The nightmare where she relived that awful night two years ago when they had battled Glory.
That awful night Buffy had died.
Only now, the nightmare was different. Now she was trying to stop Glory, but couldn't access her Power. In this version, they all died, and Glory loosed Hell on Earth.
Yup. Driving her starkers, as Spike would have put it if he was still around. She wished he was here, felt like he could help her sort this out. He was smarter than he let on most of the time, and had always had an uncanny ability to see right through to the heart of the matter. She missed that.
I've got to figure this out. For all we know, Glory is already back, and here I sit and can't do one damn thing more than I could when I got here. She grimaced. Well, except for the ability to eat Scottish food without throwing up. Gawd, but I'd kill for a couple of cheeseburgers and a big ol' chocolate shake...
Chapter the Second
For two months now Glory had lain low, gathering her strength and rounding up her minions. The few that were left anyway.
She had put them to work trying to find out what had happened in Sunnydale. And more importantly, what had happened to Dawn and Buffy Summers. She wanted her Key, but she also wanted to put some serious hurt on that bitch of a Slayer.
She had made her way to a small town not far from Sunnydale first. She had needed to feed, and she had needed a new body. It irked her no end that she still needed to share bodies with a human, but she didn't really have a choice as long as she was stuck on this miserable little dirtball.
But she figured she could deal. She knew what it was that she had felt, knew exactly what the power was that had awakened her. Her Key had found a way to tap into its Power, which meant that Dawn Summers was still alive and kicking.
So she found herself a new host. And she couldn't imagine a better host. A beautiful young woman who just happened to wear the same size as her.
And also just happened to be something special, though she didn't know exactly what she was.
She was a Slayer.
Chapter the Third
Dawn and Willow were sitting on the floor in front of the massive stone fireplace, meditating.
Well, Willow was meditating. Dawn was on the verge of falling asleep, would in fact have long since been asleep but for the pain emanating from her stiff legs. She had come to the conclusion that whoever the jerk was that had decided sitting lotus style was good for meditation should have been dragged into the town square and beaten with sticks.
She was trying, really, but she just couldn't seem to get the hang of the whole 'inner peace' thing.
This was Willow's latest brainstorm, and it simply wasn't working. Dawn tried to shift a little, trying to relieve the stiffness in her legs, and managed to tip clear over, her head smacking the floor and giving a dull thud. She managed to stifle her Ow!, but Willow heard the thump and snapped back to reality.
"Huh? Oh, Dawnie, what happened sweetie?" She tried not to giggle at the sight of Dawn trying to untangle her legs, right herself, and rub the sore spot on her head all at once.
"Grrrrr. Had a cramp. Fell over. Quit laughing."
Willow got up and tried to help Dawn extricate herself from her tangle. "I'm sorry, giggle but if you could snicker see yourself..."
Dawn finally got to her feet and shot the red head a dirty look. "Oh, just shut up. You just wait 'til the next time you make a fool out of yourself, we'll just see how funny you think that is."
Willow affected an innocent look. "Mois? Whatever do you mean? When have I ever made a fool of myself?"
Dawn was walking around the room, trying to ease the cramps in her legs. "Tried to be all helpful for Buffy and called up that troll guy, Olaf." She started ticking off points on her fingers. "Did that 'My Will Be Done' spell and made Giles Blind, sicked a bunch of demons on Xander and Anya, and nearly got Buffy married to Spike. Got high on Dark Magyck, wrecked the car and broke my arm. Ran around in Vamp Willow's whory outfit. That whole 'I'm dating a guitar player' phase. Wigged out and tried to destroy the world. Worried yourself into not being able to be seen by your best friends in the world. Oh, and let's not forget that night that me & Spike walked in on you, Tara, and the Buffy-bot..."
Willow face went as red as her hair. "Okay, okay, 'nuff said!"
Dawn started to say something else, but Willow clapped her hand over Dawn's mouth. "No, seriously, you swore you'd never mention that again!."
Dawn said something, but it came out "Mmmhmmumphrrmmmnn" as Willow was still covering her mouth.
"Oh, sorry." She took her hand away. "What was that?"
"I said,' I had my fingers crossed', so nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!" She stuck out her tongue, and then let out a yelp as she ducked to avoid the pillow Willow threw at her.
"Ha! Missed m-" The next pillow smacked her square in the face.
"Ha! yourself, Little Miss Smarty-Pants."
The pillow fight quickly devolved into a tickling match, and soon both Dawn and Willow were laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
"Wow, if I had a camera, I could sell pictures of this on the internet and make a bundle."
Willow and Dawn froze, finally taking notice of the group standing in the door watching them. Xander was standing there with a stupid grin, framing them with his fingers as if he was shooting a film. Kennedy was looking over his shoulder through his framed fingers. "I'd check those pics out."
The two young women scrambled to their feet. "Um, hi guys. When didja get back? Thought you were gonna be all rock climby today."
"We were. One of the caribiners broke, and Buffy and a couple of the other girls got some bumps and bruises and a few pretty bad rope burns, so we decided to call it a day."
"Where's Buffy?" Dawn asked worriedly.
"She headed up to her room, said somethin' 'bout soakin' in the tub. No big, Dawnie, she'll be fine in a day or so. One of those nifty Slayer perks, don'tcha know."
Dawn quickly went to go see how her sister was doing. As soon as she was gone, Willow walked over to Xander and Kennedy. "Is it really okay, or were you just being Mr. Comforting?"
Xander sighed and glanced up the stairs. "It could've been bad, Will. There were five girls above Buffy when the caribiner broke. She managed to get herself braced and held onto the rope to keep them from going all the way to the bottom. The rope burned right through her gloves. She's probably gonna need somebody to hold her fork for her for a few days."
Willow was horrified. "Oh, Goddess." She took Kennedy's hand. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I was already to the top. Buffy got the worst of it."
"I should go see how she is." Willow started for the stairs, but Xander stopped her.
"Nah, let Dawn go take care of her for a while. We could use your help with the rest of 'em, though."
Willow hesitated, then sighed. "You're right. They need a little sister time." She turned and gave Xander and Kennedy a grin. "Okay, Nurse Willow at your service. Show me the invalids."
They gathered up a couple of first aid kits and headed for the common room to see to the injured Slayers.
Chapter the Fourth.
Dawn knocked on the door to Buffy's room, and not getting an answer, nudged the door open. "Buffy?"
Still not getting an answer, she opened the door the rest of the way and went in. "Buff?" She could hear the sound of running water in the bathroom, and walked over to the door.
"Hey, Buffy, are you all right?" She peeked around the doorframe. Her sister was standing at the sink, holding her hands under the running cold water. Dawn could tell by the set of her jaw that she was clenching her teeth in pain. "Xander told us that you had some rope burns, are they... oh God!"
Buffy's hands were raw and bleeding. It was all she could do not to scream from the pain. Dawn rushed over to her side. "OmiGod, Buffy, we need to get you to a hospital!"
"No." Buffy had to talk through grit teeth. "No hospitals. We're trying to stay hidden, remember?"
"Hiding, schmiding. You need serious help. C'mon, we're gonna get Giles to take us to the nearest doctor."
"No, Dawn..."
"Yes, Buffy. We. Are. Going. To. A. Doctor. So shut up."
Buffy took one look at her sister and her next refusal died on her lips. The sheer determination was plain on her little sisters face. "Alright already. We'll go." She looked down at her hands.
"Maybe bandages would be a good idea..."
As Buffy was the only one with serious injuries, only she, Dawn, Giles, Willow and Kennedy made the two hour drive. The witches from the coven had made her drink an herbal tea that eased the pain and made her drowsy, so the drive was far more bearable for her than it otherwise would have been.
Giles had insisted that Dawn stay behind for her own safety, but she had thrown the temper tantrum to end all temper tantrums and he had finally conceded. Grudgingly. He was hoping that if anything should happen, between his and Willow's magic, and Kennedy's Slayer abilities, that they would be able to keep the Summers' girls safe.
He knew a trustworthy doctor in Glenfinnen, so he new that Buffy would be in good hands, but the risk they were taking by going to a public place was enormous. They had no way of knowing if Glory had resurfaced yet, and he worried that if the wrong person (or demon) caught sight of them that word might possibly get back to her.
By the time they arrived at their destination, it was late in the evening and Buffy was sound asleep. As Giles knocked on the door, Kennedy scooped Buffy up and carried her up the path. "You sure we can trust this guy, Giles?"
"Yes, he's been a friend of mine for many years, and a friend to the Watchers as well."
The door opened and an elderly gentleman stood there. "'Allo, then, who's there at this hour?" He squinted a bit into the darkness, and a huge grin broke across his face as he recognised Giles. "Ripper! 'Aven't seen you in years. Well, don't just stand there, laddie, come in, come in."
Giles and the doctor embraced like long lost brothers as the rest of the group filed in. "Tobias, it's wonderful to see you. I do wish it were under better circumstances though."
Tobias had already taken in the group and rightly assumed that Buffy was in need of his aid. "Well, bring 'er on in to the office, and we'll 'ave a look at 'er then."
Dawn and Willow had both been having doubts after seeing the quaint cottage exterior of the house. But as Tobias opened the door to his office and flipped on the lights, they all were pleased to see a very modern facility. Kennedy laid Buffy on the examination table.
As the doctor gently started removing the bandages from Buffy's hands, he asked what had happened. Giles took his glasses off and started cleaning them with his handkerchief. "Err, well, we were doing a bit of rock climbing old man, and there was an accident."
Tobias shot Giles a quick look, then went back to his examination. "Fine, fine, if you don't wanna tell me the details, then don't. I well remember some of your 'training accidents' when you were up there back in your youth."
The girls all looked at Giles, and Giles just looked uncomfortable. "Umm, well, yes. I suppose you would." He quickly intercepted Dawn's question. "How are Buffy's hands, then?"
"Tha' her name?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm. Interestin'. Well, I expect she'll be right as rain in a week or two. Looks like they're already healin' well. I can give her somethin' fer the pain, and some antiseptic creams to help speed it along. Damned lucky, she was. Any deeper and tha' rope woulda severed tendons."
He headed for the medicine cabinet. "As it is, I'd like to keep 'er 'ere fer a coupla days, just to make sure infection doesnae set in."
Giles started to protest, but stopped when Willow put her hand on his arm. "I think we could stay for a few days, Giles. While Buffy's resting, we can use the time to get some supplies. And if I can find a computer, I really should check my emails, see if Angel has sent any updates or anything."
"And maybe I can get a cheeseburger somewhere." Dawn was salivating at the thought. Willow and Kennedy laughed, and Giles just rolled his eyes.
Tobias laughed. "Ye can use my computer if ya want, luv."
Willow lit up like a Christmas tree. "Ooo, really? That would be swell!"
"Sure, sure. Let me get young miss Buffy bandaged up here, and I'll go fire it up fer ya... er, miss?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Willow, this is Kennedy, and Cheeseburger Girl over there is Buffy's sister Dawn."
Tobias grinned and gave a short bow. "Pleased to make yer acquaintance. Tobias MacLeod at yer service." He finished wrapping Buffy's hands, and then washed up.
"Come on then, let's get you to that infernal machine." He looked sideways at Dawn. "Might even be able to come up with a cheeseburger for ya, young miss Dawn."
Dawn's eyes lit up. "You may just have become my most favorite doctor ever!"
Tobias smiled. "Truth be told, I've a fondness for 'em meself. I've got a distant cousin tha' introduced me to 'em when I was a pup, and I've loved 'em ever since."
"Is he American?"
"Nay, but 'e spends a great lotta time there. Bounces back 'n forth between there and France. Duncan's 'is name, Duncan MacLeod. 'E's the one what gave me that computer. Let's us keep in touch a bit easier. Quite the timesaver too. Order all me equipment and medicine online."
He gave Giles a knowing smile. "'Course, 'e's been 'round a good long while, knows lotsa nifty ways o' makin' life easier." Giles quirked an eyebrow and shared the good doctor's grin.
Dawn was looking back and forth between them. Once again, she knew she was missing something. Oh well, I'll just hafta dig it out of him later.
Chapter the Fifth
An hour later, Willow was still sitting at the computer. Buffy was still asleep, and the rest were in the kitchen finishing off a late meal. But she was still staring at the screen, still not quite believing what she had read.
And reread.
Six times now.
Spike was back.
For the seventh time, she read the email Angel had sent her almost two months ago.
Hiya Willow. Hope things are going well over there. Wherever over there is. There's something I figure you ought to know. We're not sure about the hows or the whys, but Spike is back. A package came in the mail nineteen days after Sunnydale... you know... anyway, when I opened it, the amulet fell out, and next thing you know, there stands Spike. Only he's not solid. Not a ghost, but something else. Fred calls him 'non-corporeal-y-ghost-like', whatever that means. She's trying to figure out a way to re-corporealize him. Not much success so far. He wanted to know where Buffy and Dawn are. I told him somewhere in Europe. I've talked to him since then and filled him in about Dawn and Glory. He wants to help, but he's pretty much trapped here. With me. Apparently, he's attached to me until we can make him solid again. I may have to stake myself. Anyway, he's keeping his mouth shut. He understands the need to keep things quiet. No word on Glory yet, I'll email updates whenever I can. Tell everyone I said hi, and my love to you, Buffy, and Dawn.
P.S. I haven't told Spike about this email account, or that I can get ahold of you guys. I'll leave it up to you to decide if you want to let them know he's back or not. Kinda fun watching him twist in the wind. Take care.
There were other messages from Angel, as well as from Faith, Amanda, and wonder of wonders, her parents. But she kept coming back to this one. On the one hand, she was glad Spike was back, but on the other, this could put a serious crimp in the Buffy/Angel situation. She couldn't imagine Spike giving up on Buffy.
But slowly, quietly, she laughed to herself. Complications. Guess this means the world ain't gonna blow up after all. She sent a quick reply back to Angel and the others, careful not to drop any clues as to there whereabouts. Then, after printing out all the messages, she shut off the computer and headed for the kitchen to do something about the rumbly in her tumbly.
As Willow walked into the kitchen, she caught the tail end of what sounded like a tall tale being told by Tobias. Something about a couple of his clansmen and immortality. She shrugged. They'd all heard and seen far stranger things. People coming back from the dead; been there, done that. She grabbed a couple of burgers from the counter and wolfed the first one down before starting on the second at a more leisurely pace.
Dawn quirked an eyebrow at her. "Hungry much?"
"Urm hrm."
"Any emails?"
"Urm hrm."
"Any news in those emails?"
"Urm hrm."
"Any chance of you not talking with your mouth full any time soon?"
"Urm hrm."
Dawn opened her mouth to continue, but Giles quickly stood between her and Willow. "Whenever you've finished Willow, you're obviously quite hungry."
Willow grinned around bites of her cheeseburger. "Urm hrm."
Giles took a deep breath, somehow managing to not roll his eyes. "I'll just go look in on Buffy, then."
He walked out of the kitchen, muttering to himself. "Doomed, we are. Doomed."
As Willow finished off her second burger, Kennedy handed her another. "Thanks, sweetie." She promptly took a bite to head off another round of questions from Dawn, who promptly rolled her eyes and stalked off after Giles.
Also muttering. "...Witches, anyway. grumble grumble..."
Willow, Kennedy and Tobias sat and snickered. "Yer just one big extended family, aren't ya?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"It's a good thing, tha' is."
Kennedy took Willow's hand. "I'm starting to understand that." They sat there just smiling at each other for a minute.
Tobias was a quick study. "P'raps I ought to let you two lasses 'ave a bit o' privacy." He started to get up, but the girls stopped him.
"No, no, no privacy needed." Willow went to pour him another cup of tea.
Kennedy gave Tobias a grin. "Well, not right now anyway." Willow blushed, and Tobias laughed heartily.
"Ahh, young love, 'tis a beauteous thing."
"No arguments here."
Willow sat back down with yet another cheeseburger, and started munching on it. Kennedy leaned against the counter. "So, how about those emails, Red? Any big news?"
"Well, yeah. Some interesting stuff."
Kennedy waited for her to continue. "Well?"
"Umm, I'm not sure now is the time, sweetie." She nodded her head towards Tobias.
"Dinna worry, lass. I know full well 'bout Watchers, Slayers, an' things tha' go bump in the night. And I've long known the need to keep me trap shut. Just ask me clansman Duncan 'bout tha'. I'll nae be spreadin' word 'bout anything tha's 'appened 'ere, nor 'bout anything I 'appen to overhear."
"Oh. Okay. Sorry, old habit." Tobias waved off her apology. "Anyway, no word on Glory yet. Not sure if that's of the good or not, but we'll hafta wait and see, I guess. Actually got one from Mom and Dad, believe it or not. She wondered if I was still gay." She rolled her eyes as Kennedy and Tobias laughed.
"I sent her a reply and told her that as soon as we get back, we're gonna go and spend a month with 'em. That oughta give her a coronary."
The three of them were still laughing as Dawn and Giles came back into the kitchen. "Buffy's still snoozing. What's with the funny?"
Kennedy told them, and more laughter ensued. Even from Giles. "You're apt to wind up spending your entire stay visiting her in the critical care ward."
"Probably. Just couldn't resist."
"Any word of Glory?"
"Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Zero."
"I'm not sure whether to think that's good or bad..."
"That's what she said." Kennedy was smirking.
"Well, great minds... anything else?"
"Yup. Got a couple from Faith. Typical Hellmouth fun and enjoyment being had in Cleveland. Nothing apocalypse-y so far, but plenty o' demon to go around. She said they've also taken in thirteen new Slayers since they got there. Training's going good so far."
"Good, I'm glad things are going well for them. Is Robin still there?"
"Yup. And apparently he gets a bit grumpy-ish when she takes the ring off when she goes on patrol, but he's dealing."
"Ring? Oh, ring. Well." A huge grin spread over Giles' face as it sank in. "Marvelous. I do hope we can make it back in time. Have they set a date yet?"
"Nope. I got the impression that the current thinking is 'wait and see if the world ends or not'."
"Lord, that could take years. I'll probably be dead and buried if they wait 'til then."
"Well, we'll just hafta bring ya back then, won't we? I think I still have that spell somewhere..." She grabbed her purse and started rummaging through it.
Giles affected a horrified expression. "NO!"
Willow just giggled.
"Er, anything else?"
"Yup, Amanda says things are going great at the Hyperion. As of three weeks ago they had fifty three Slayers in residence, plus four Watchers and two Wicca. Angel drops in when he can to help train and fix the broken stuff. Here, I printed 'em all out. There's a few from your Watcher buddies in London, too."
She handed the pile to Giles, except for the one about Spike. "Umm, there is this one other message we need to talk about. It's from Angel."
Giles looked up from his reading. "Yes?"
"It's about Spike..."
Chapter the Sixth
Later, Willow went looking for Dawn. She found her in Tobias' den, curled up in the corner by the fire. She was quiet, but her puffy red eyes belied the fact that she'd been crying.
Willow sat down next to her and wrapped her in a hug. "You okay Dawnie?"
"Yeah. I guess. I'm happy he's back, but..."
"I know. Once Buffy's awake, we'll decide what to do."
"It's just..."
"Just what?"
Dawn scrunched down even more. "Is it my fault he's back?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, I've been wishing for him to be here ever since Sunnydale. Especially since we found out about Glory. And 'Boom', just a few days after we figure out that prophesy, he's back. He's a ghost, sure, but he's back. So I gotta wonder, with my past history with the wishes and that whole 'Power of The Key' thing, is it my fault?"
"Oh, sweetie, I don't think so. Angel said the amulet came to Wolfram & Hart in the mail. D'you have any Postal Powers that you haven't told me about?"
"No."
"Well, there ya go. Just another fine example of that thing we've come to know and love as 'Sunnydale Normal'."
"I suppose. But he's a ghost. Why bring him back as a ghost?"
"Who knows. But I betcha he won't be all ghosty for long, not with Fred on the case." She leaned in and spoke in a conspiritorial tone. "I think she just might be even brainier than me. And we all know how rare that is..."
Dawn laughed a little at that. "Yeah, we all know how smart you are Will. I mean, like you'd ever let us forget."
Willow mock strangled her, and they laughed quietly. Just then, Kennedy poked her head in the door. "Hey, kiddies, Buffy's waking up."
"How are you feeling Buffy?" Giles was sitting on a stool next to her.
"Mmmm. Sleepy. Maybe a little dopey." She gave a lopsided grin. "Really, reeeeeeally good, actually."
"My sister, the dopehead, everybody." Dawn pulled up another stool and plopped down next to Giles.
Buffy tried to focus on her hands. "Maybe too dopey, my hands are all fuzzy and white."
"Err, those are the bandages, dear." Giles patted her shoulder gently.
"Oh." She squinted. "Well, that explains the white at least."
She looked around the room until her gaze settled on Tobias. "So, what's up, doc?"
Tobias tried to imitate Elmer Fudd. (Imagine, if you will, Elmer Fudd speaking with a Scottish brogue.) "Well, tha' wascawy wope awmos' cut wight thwough to yer tendons, but ye're gownna be jus' fine."
When every body stopped giggling, Buffy tried to sit up. "Kewl. So let's get outta here."
Giles, Dawn and Tobias all pushed her back down. "Nay, young miss. Ye need to stay 'ere fer a coupla days. The rest of yer group 'as already agreed to tha'. And besides, I insist. It'll be nice to 'ave the comp'ny."
"But-"
"No!" Dawn interrupted.
"But-"
"Don't make me zap you back to sleep Buffy." Willow tried to look threatening, but without the dark roots, it didn't quite come off.
Buffy fell back, the effort of trying to sit up having tired her out. "Okay, fine. Restin' Up Girl, that's me." She paused, sniffing the air.
"Do I smell cheeseburgers?"
Chapter the Seventh
"Tell her."
"But-"
"Just tell her, Willow. She needs to know."
"I know she needs to know. It's just the timing... I mean, is this really the time for her to start worrying about Spike?"
"Her choice, not ours. Tell her Willow." Dawn put on her version of 'resolve face'. Having spent years around various exceedingly stubborn people, she knew how to do it quite well.
Willow looked to Giles for support. To her surprise, Giles was nodding. "Dawn's right. While I certainly agree that there are far more important matters that require her attention, well..." He crossed his arms and sighed. "I most certainly don't want to be the poor soul who tells her about it later. Do you?"
Willow started to say something, then stopped, thinking. "Umm. No. Not so much. Guess I'll go make with the telling, then."
"Good plan."
"Probably oughta go take care of that, huh?"
Dawn nodded vigorously.
"Okay. Here I go." She sat there, looking at the door. "Yup. Aaanny second now..."
Dawn looked at Giles and Kennedy. They both shrugged. She nodded her head at Willow and raised her eyebrows.
Giles and Kennedy sighed, walked over and picked Willow up, carried her over to the door and stood her there.
Willow scrunched up her face. "Don't wanna."
Kennedy shrugged again. "Dunno what to tell ya Red. Just another one of those little trials, right Giles?"
"Yes. Exactly." He nudged Willow a little closer to the door.
She shot all three of them an evil look. "Fine, I'm going. But vengeance shall be mine." She quirked an eyebrow, then turned and went into Buffy's room.
They stood there in silence for a minute. Dawn was the first to speak. "Does anybody else feel the need to say 'gulp'?"
Giles and Kennedy just nodded.
In the next room, Willow was sitting next to Buffy, waiting for her to wake from her nap. She was thinking furiously.
Oh, hiya Buff. Feeling any better? Oh, by the way, Spike's back from the dead...
Say, Buffy, guess who's back from the dead. Again...
Hey there, Buffy. Got some emails from back home. Faith's good, my mom's wondering if I'm still gay, and, oh yeah, there was this one from Angel about Spike...
Aarrgh!
She was sitting there nervously clenching and unclenching her hands, so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Buffy stirring.
"'Morning, Will. Or is it evening? Windows would be nice, ya know?"
"Oh! Um, yeah, it's morning. Little after ten o'clock, I think. Really should take the time to find my watch, ya know? It'd be awful handy for the knowing of the time and all that, right? Handy things, those watches, yessiree..."
Buffy scrunched her eyes at Willow. "Whoa, there, babble girl. Still not up to babble speed here." She sat up. "So what's with the full on babble-action? Haven't seen you this nervous since we were heading out to take on the First."
She paused as a horrified expression came over her face. "Oh, God, it's not Glory is it?"
"NO! Um, no, definitely not Glory, or anything apocalyptic-y. Just some news from home, actually. Got some emails."
Buffy hunched back down onto her bed. "Geez, Willow, don't scare me like that."
"Sorry. Um, here, I printed out the whole batch. There's some pretty good stuff in there. You might wanna look at the one on top first, though."
Buffy took the stack from her and settled back to read. "So, whadda we got here? Faith giving us a blow by blow account of her and Robin's nightlife, or... oh."
Her voice lowered to a whisper.
"Oh, my God."
Chapter the Eighth
"So."
Buffy and Giles were standing in the garden behind Tobias' house. She had wanted to watch the sunset, and Giles hadn't felt she should be alone.
"Yes?"
"Willows mom's still wiggin' about the lesbian thing, huh?"
Giles chuckled. "Apparently so, yes."
"And impending nuptials on the Cleveland front. Who'da thunk..."
"Indeed. I am quite pleased for them both, though."
"Me too, me too. Just... surprised."
"It's a huge step for Faith. I'm more certain than ever that she's on the right track."
"Yup. Track. Good."
"And it's certainly good news that things are going well back at the Hyperion."
"Umm Hum."
"Yes, and that bit about Fred turning Wesley into a frog was rather interesting, too."
"Uh huh. Huh?"
"Thought so. This thing with Spike has thrown you a bit, hasn't it?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, c'mon. Wouldn't you be thrown?"
"Oh, I'm thrown. But if I understood Fred's message properly, Spike is probably better off being back here. Even if he is a ghost. Or whatever he is. He was in Hell, Buffy."
"Yeah. Great reward he got for saving the world, there." Giles started to say something, but she waved him off. "I know, I know, a few years of good deeds doesn't make up for a hundred years of evil, blah blah blah. But... damn."
Giles wrapped an arm around her. "He'll be all right, Buffy. Between Wesley and Fred, they'll have him solid again in no time."
"Yeah. And then you know what the first thing he'll do is, don'tcha?"
"Come looking for you?"
"Come looking for me. Especially if he knows about Glory. And in trying to come save the day, he'll probably lead her right to us."
Giles nodded. "I'd say that was quite likely, yes. So what do you think we should do?"
Buffy pondered that for a few minutes. Sighing, she turned to face her Watcher. "For now, nothing. If we don't communicate with him, he shouldn't be able to figure out where we are. Not like he'd be much help at this point anyway, right? I mean, what can he do when he's all ghosty? Shout insults at her and flip her the old two fingered salute? It'd just piss her off, and she's already a big enough pain in the ass as it is."
She headed back inside Tobias' house. "So, we leave him to Angel, and we deal with Glory."
Giles stood there for a second, then started in after her, shaking his head. "I'm not altogether sure who's getting the better end of that deal..."
Chapter the Ninth
Meanwhile, back in LA...
Glory had been trying out her new host's body. She'd been dumbfounded to discover that she was in control all the time, whether her body was in ascendence or not.
The girls mind was still present, but buried deep under Glory's overwhelming desire to find The Key. It wasn't much more than a nagging voice in the back of the Hellgoddess' mind. Sorta like a conscience, but not as bothersome.
And the combination of Slayer-strength with her own natural power... well, that was just... intoxicating.
Glory had not the first doubt that she could take on the whole lot of 'em - Slayers, witches and all - and trounce them without so much as a chipped nail.
She'd been testing her new strength in and around LA, mostly on vampires and assorted other demons, when she was contacted by a group of girls led by a rather nervous young man.
A group of Slayers and their Watcher, come to tell her all about being a Slayer, and take her back to their hidey-hole.
Which is just precisely what she'd been hoping for. She hadn't been able to find out the exact location of their base of operations, and the trail left behind by her Key had gotten confused once she hit LA.
But she was fairly sure that if she got inside, became just another one of the girls... well, who knows what nifty tidbits of information she might be able to stumble across.
Or beat out of someone.
And then she'd go get her Key.
And that bitch Slayer.
Hit me with a troll's hammer will ya...
Chapter the Tenth
In the week and a half since they had returned to the Watcher's keep, Buffy had been taking it easy. Not so much because she wanted to, but because she wasn't given any other choice.
She loved her friends, really she did, but if they kept hovering over her, she thought she might have to start maiming people. But all in all, she was healing quickly,and figured to be back in action in a few more days.
Dawn was quite the happy camper these days. When they had been preparing to leave Glenfinnen, Tobias came out to the car carrying a cooler. "A wee gift for ye, young Miss Dawn. It ought to hold ye over for a bit." The cooler was packed full of ice and hambuger meat. Dawn adopted him into the Summers clan on the spot.
Tobias had taken Giles aside while the rest were loading into the car. "Look, lad, I dinna mean to pry, but I know ye all are in a bit of a bind with this 'Glory'. Could ye use any more help?"
Giles stammered a bit, trying to think of a way to tell his old friend that there wasn't much he could do.
"Nay, not me ye daft git." He leaned closer and lowered his voice. "I were thinkin' 'bout Duncan. Last I knew, he an' Kate were back in Paris. They could probably be 'ere in a day or three."
Giles had to think hard about that. A fighter of Duncan MacLeod's skill would be a welcome addition indeed. He sighed. "No, as welcome as he would be, I think it best if we continue to keep this quiet."
He laid his hand on Tobias' shoulder. "And besides, you know how important he is. He's quite probably the best of the Immortals, and all our hopes rest on him."
"Aye. But still, if I should see 'em in the next few weeks..."
So, back to the keep they'd gone, with Buffy supervising training, and Dawn and Willow continuing to work on that whole 'Power of the Key' problem. Dawn was at least more upbeat about it now. Nothing like a few good old fashioned artery clogging cheeseburgers to raise ones spirits.
Buffy was in the common room watching several of the girls fighting with staffs when Xander wandered in looking for her. "Yo, Buffster, we got some company coming up the road. Giles wants you and a couple of the recruits to come up front."
"Okay. Vi, Emily, Caridad, come with us. The rest of ya, keep training. Never know when you're gonna get into a stick fight, right?" She and Xander headed for the front door, Slayers in tow. "Any idea who it is?"
"No, but Giles said that they came right through the wards that he and Willow put up, so apparently they're friendlies. We hope." Buffy rolled her eyes.
As they came into the entry hall, Giles and Willow were standing by the window. Buffy could see headlights bouncing up the drive. Xander nudged Giles. "Yo, G-man, any idea who's comin' a callin'?"
"No. And don't call me that."
"Sure, Rupes."
Giles sent a withering look at Xander. "On the other hand, 'G-Man' isn't so bad after all."
At the sound of a knock, Willow stifled her grin and opened the door. "Tobias! Hi!" She swept the elderly doctor into a bear hug.
"Hullo lass. Not that I'm not enjoyin' this, but me bones aren't as strong as what they once were."
"Oh!" She let him go and steadied him, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry."
"Dinna worry yerself. I dinnae mind a bit. Hullo Ripper, Buffy."
Buffy gave him a quick hug as Giles shook his hand. "Tobias, good to see you. I, umm, see you brought some friends with you."
"Aye. I know what ye said when last we spoke, but I couldna help meself. Ye need all the help ye can get. And ye'll nae get better help than these." He gestured to the four people standing behind him.
"This is Amanda, Adam, Kate, and me clansman, Duncan MacLeod." The four Immortals nodded in greeting. Duncan stepped forward.
"We're here to help, if you'll have us."
Chapter the Eleventh
Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Xander, Willow, Kennedy, Andrew, and two members of the Coven were sitting across the table from Tobias and the four Immortals. As it turned out, it seemed that they could be a great deal more help than just adding muscle to the mix. Adam and Amanda both had first hand information about the ancient temple the Slayers were planning to assault. Amanda was finishing telling of her experience.
"That was the most afraid I've been in my life. And that's saying something. It was my first experience with honest to God magic. I didn't have a clue what I'd gotten myself into."
Giles and Willow were both taking notes. He glanced up at Amanda. "Umm, since it was rather a long time ago, are you quite certain that you'll be able to recall your way around the place?"
She nodded vigorously. "Oh, you better believe it. The memory is permanently burned into my brain. I couldn't forget that place if I tried to."
"Well, good. Knowledge of the interior layout would be a absolutely tremendous asset."
She gave the group a lopsided grin. "Besides, I figure maybe this time I can actually get out with the gem I went in after the last time."
Adam and Duncan both rolled their eyes while Kate snickered. "Amanda..." Duncan drawled her name out while shooting her a dirty look.
"Hey, here to help, greater good and all that. But hey, if a gem happens to fall into my pocket along the way, what's a girl to do?" Duncan just sighed and shook his head tiredly. Buffy and Willow glanced at each other and grinned. It was obvious that this was a long standing argument. Probably very longstanding, considering the source.
Adam shifted in his chair, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Look, just so we're all perfectly clear... we are talking about the Temple of D'arrsinog'auphous, right?"
Giles nodded. "Yes."
"The one halfway up the side of a mountain square in the middle of the bad part of the Steppes of Khazakstan?"
"That's the one, yes."
Buffy nudged Giles and asked in a loud stage whisper "There's a good part of the Steppes?"
"Yes. Hush." A few snickers passed around the table.
Adam gave Duncan a sideways glance. "Detemined to make me lose my head, aren't you?"
Duncan gave him his patented lopsided grin. "Of course."
Adam shook his head and muttered something under his breath. "Okay. I think I remember a way in that won't require us to scale the entire damn mountain." That got everyones attention.
"You've been there as well, then?" Giles was on the edge of his seat, all restrained excitement.
"Yeah. Was there when it was built, actually. And for a good while after."
"When it was- but-" Giles was stammering. "It was built almost three thousand years ago!"
"Three thousand, two hundred and sixty two years ago." He scrunched up his face. "Maybe sixty three. Calendars left a lot to be desired back then."
Giles was astonished. "Methos?" Adam nodded. "Oh my God. I thought you were just a myth."
"A fairly common notion. One that I try to encourage, as a matter of fact. Immortals have this rather irritating habit of trying to lop off my head whenever they figure out who I am. Really gets old."
Giles sat back in his seat, dumbfounded. "Wow," was all he could think to say.
Xander smirked and leaned towards Buffy. "See, toldja he'd come around to the 'less said' method eventually."
As the laughter faded, Giles shot Xander a nasty look, then turned back to Adam and Amanda. "You two may have just saved the world. We've had absolutely no luck getting any information about that accursed temple. We were starting to think we were going to have to go in blind. The casualties could have been... horrendous."
"We'll do whatever we can. If you have some sketch pads, I think Amanda and I can draw most of the layout."
"Marvelous. I believe Willow has a drafting program on her computer as well." Willow nodded.
Duncan leaned forward. "As I understand it, you're training Slayers here, right?"
Buffy nodded. "Yup. They've only been Chosen for a few months, but they're coming along nicely."
"Well, if you'd like some help with the training, all four of us are experts in several different martial arts. Good with swords too..."
Willow grinned. "I'll bet."
Buffy stood up and walked around to stand next to Duncan. "Not only would we like the help, we'd love it. And I promise we'll even try not to get too close to your necks." She offered Duncan her hand.
He stood and shook it. "That would be most appreciated."
Buffy faced the table. "Okay kiddies. Let's kick some ass."
Chapter the Twelfth
Glory was getting bored. She'd been at the Hyperion for a couple of weeks, and hadn't found much out so far. She knew the basics, sure; Prophecy, Dawn getting all powerful, the Scoobies heading somewhere in Europe to try to find a way to beat her. But that was it. Nobody here had a clue where they actually were, or how to get ahold of them. Only an untraceable email account. She was starting to think maybe it was time to start taking some stuff apart. Or maybe some people. She was tired of slinking around.
She was also starting to think it might be worth the risk of going to Wolfram & Hart's offices to see what she could find out there, but hadn't quite talked herself into it yet. There had been that one nasty incident with the Senior Partners a few decades back, and she figured they might still be holding a grudge. They could be so moody.
She had been sitting in her room, sulking, when one of the resident Watchers had popped in to check on her. She'd begged out of patrolling that night. Cramps. No man ever argued with the excuse of cramps, especially with a Slayer. The hotel was mostly empty. She'd said the Hell with it and drained his brain.
Slowly.
She'd discovered that if she took her time, she sometimes could absorb memories. And this time, it paid off. This Watcher knew about several secret strongholds the Council had kept hidden, and there were three or four he had thought to be the likely spots for Giles to have taken his group.
He had also thought it likely that Angel knew which one it was, but was keeping it to himself.
Hmmm, guess it's time to meet & greet everybody's favorite vampire...
Chapter the Thirteenth
Dawn was officially sweating her butt off.
She'd kept after Amanda ceaselessly, wanting to try her sword fighting skills against the Immortal, until Amanda had finally given in.
Who's bright idea was this? Oh, yeah. Mine.
Dumbass.
She held her own for a good while, but now it was clear that the Immortal was just stringing her along. In fact, she was grinning ear to ear. Sort of a 'Cat that ate the canary' type of a grin.
Dawn was rapidly coming to the realisation that she still had a Helluva lot to learn.
Leaning against the far wall, Buffy had long since come to the same conclusion, but had decided to best way for Dawn to learn this particular leeson was to learn it the hard way. So she watched and held her peace.
"She's had some training, hasn't she?"
She answered Duncan without taking her eyes off of the duel. "Yeah. Life on the Hellmouth, good for the survival skills-learning. We'd started training together before everything went to Hell with the First. She really enjoyed the swordplay parts of it."
Duncan leaned next to her, studying the fight with a keen eye. "I could tell. Doesn't look like she's enjoying it so much right this minute, though."
Buffy smiled. "Bit off just a bit more than she thought she did." She shrugged. "It'll be good for her. Giles and I are both pretty good with swords, but you guys are so far beyond us, I'm a little bit jealous."
"Don't worry, I've seen what you Slayers are capable of. Even with a sword, I'm not sure I could take any one of you."
"Let's not find out." She leaned closer. "Umm, Amanda's pushing this pretty hard, isn't she? My little sis, not so much Immortal, ya know."
"Well... she has been known to get carried away. Occasionally. But she doesn't look like she's gone totally berserker yet, either."
Buffy shot him a look, one eyebrow disappearing behind her bangs. He shrugged. "It'll be alright. Don't worry."
Buffy stared at him for a few seconds, then turned back to the fight. "I'd feel a whole lot better about it if you sounded just a little bit more sure of yourself."
Dawn was panting for breath. Her arms felt like lead weights. But she was not gonna back down. Nope. Gawd, doesn't she ever get tired?
Amanda, for her part, was enjoying herself. The young girl wasn't bad, showed a lot of promise. She just needed to learn when to back down. So she kept pushing Dawn, ignoring how tired she was herself.
But she also kept pushing because she knew what Dawn was capable of. She'd had a long chat with Willow about Dawn, and their inability to find a way to access her power. It seemed the only way she'd done it before was under extreme duress. So Amanda had decided to see if she could apply a little duress, just under more controlled circumstances. Hence, the drawn out fight. She thought if she pushed hard enough, got Dawn backed into a corner, then maybe she could find that power again.
She could tell that Dawn was tired, was starting to let thoughts of quitting enter her mind. She threw a wink in Duncan's direction. Here we go. I hope this works.
I hope if this works she doesn't kill me...
She began to rain blow after blow on Dawn, the young girl barely able to keep up. "What'sa matter, sweetie? Tired? Poor widdle girl gettin' all wore out?"
She mounted a vicious attack, moving faster with each lunge and thrust of her blade. Buffy pushed off the wall, started to say something, but Duncan grabbed her arm and shook his head no. He gave her a look that seemed to say "Let it happen". Buffy looked uncertain, but finally relaxed into a ready stance, in case things went too far.
Somehow Dawn was keeping up, though she didn't have a clue how. What's the deal with this bitch?
She did a quick back flip to gain some space and breathing room, but Amanda was right with her. "Old trick, honey. Gee, you're starting to look worried. Scared?"
Dawn shot her a scowl. "As if. Just surprised somebody as old as you has this much energy, that's all."
Amanda smothered a grin. Girl had spunk. She affected a scowl of her own. "Old? Dearie, you don't know from old."
She leapt into a fresh flurry of strikes, forcing Dawn to shut up and concentrate completely on the task at hand. Just a little more... C'mon...
Buffy was clearly fighting the urge to stop the fight. Only Duncan's reassurring hand on her arm kept her from jumping in between her sister and Amanda. By now, the fight had drawn almost the entire population of the keep. They all stared on in rapt fascination.
Dawn tried to counterattack, but the far more experienced Amanda saw it coming and parried easily, using it to launch a fresh barrage at the exhausted girl. "Shouldn't start what ya can't finish, Dawnie. Guess it's about time for me to finish this for both of us."
She went after Dawn,cold fury written on her face, swinging her sword so quickly the blade whistled through the air. She knew exactly what she was doing, but Dawn didn't know that. She was sure that this madwoman was trying to kill her. She cried out as Amanda's blade flicked across her cheek, drawing blood.
Across the room, Willow leaned forward sharply as she felt... something. Whoa! What in the name of Gaia is that?
Amanda had the feeling she was almost there. She couldn't describe it, but her skin was crawling just like that time so long ago in the Temple of D'arrsinog'auphous. Just one more nudge...
She took one step back, throwing off Dawn's attack, then swung up from under Dawn's sword, knocking it clattering across the floor. "You're through, little girl!" She lunged in, swinging for Dawn's neck.
The blade never connected.
Oh my God, her eyes are glowing!
It seemed to happen in slow motion, though it only took a fraction of a second. Dawn reached up with her left hand and grabbed Amanda's sword by the blade, stopping it cold. Then she made a casual motion with her right hand, almost like a gesture of dismissal, and Amanda found herself flying across the room, landing unceremoniously in a pile of training weapons.
At the Hyperion, Glory's head snapped toward the east as if yanked by a string. Ooooooo, yeesssss!
The entire room seemed frozen in time. Dawn just stood there, eyes glowing, aura pulsing, still holding the sword she had taken from the Immortal.
"Kiss my cute little butt, old woman."
She looked at the sword. Tilting her head and narrowing her eyes, she sent the sword floating over to the weapons rack Amanda had crashed into, settling it into a niche. Amanda stared at her blade, then at Dawn. "'Bout damn time. Now maybe I can go take a nap."
Chapter the Fourteenth
Glory was grinning. That evil, nasty grin she did so well. She still wasn't positive, but with that burst of Power from her Key, she'd narrowed down the possibilties to the two strongholds in England.
And since England wasn't an especially big island, she liked her odds.
She looked down at the mumbling form of the Watcher she'd just fed from. He was, of course, completely insane. No way he could identify her as his attacker.
But, maybe she could still use him.
She morphed back into her Slayer body, picked him up like a ragdoll, and headed downstairs hollering for help.
Amanda (the Slayer, not the Immortal. Too damn many Amanda's & Adam's in the sci-fi world.) came running up from the laundry room. "What's wrong? Omigod, what happened to Teddy?"
"I don't know, I found him sitting in the hall, just sorta talking to himself. He's acting all crazy like."
Amanda knelt beside him. "Teddy? Teddy, do you know who I am?"
He stared at her with huge eyes. "Not her, nope, not her. Glowing, glowing, bright green and glowing..." He trailed off in a sing song voice.
Amanda looked at Glory. "I think maybe I'd better call the boss."
"Who, Buffy?"
"Well, no, the other boss."
"Giles?"
"Er, no. Angel. He'll know what to do."
"Oh. Sure, sounds like a plan." Inwardly, Glory smirked. Just who she'd hoped they'd call.
Twenty three minutes later, Angel burst through the door, followed by a dozen Slayers, a Watcher, and two Wicca. "Where is he? Oh. Damn."
He took in the huddled form of Teddy. "Geez. What happened to you, man?"
"'E's obviously gone 'round the bend, peaches. Ya know, nuts. Starkers. I-n-s-a-n-e." Spike faded into view next to Angel.
Glory smothered a grin at the sight of Spike. Bonus!
Angel gave an exasperated sigh. "Shut. Up. Spike. Soooo not in the mood for your crap right now."
"Hey, I was quite happily chattin' with Fred in the lab, an' suddenly here I am. I ain't the one that attached me to you ya know. Pouf."
Angel turned on Spike. "Ya know, I really can't wait 'til Fred makes you solid again, Boy. 'Cause then I can stake you."
"Riiiighhtt. We all know how you wanna stake me, Forehead Boy." Spike was swaggering around the lobby dangling a limp wrist as he said the last. He was studiously ignoring the low growl coming from Angel.
Suddenly he froze and squinted. He started darting his head around, looking for something. Angel was staring at him, wondering if Spike had finally lost it. "What now, Spike?"
"Not sure. I felt something. Familiar-like. Can't place it though..." He stopped turning as he caught sight of Teddy.
Insane Teddy.
Insane, mumbling about glowy green energy, Teddy.
He swung back to Angel. "She's here!"
"Who?"
"Me."
Every head in the room turned toward the young Slayer standing at the bottom of the stairs. She smirked back at them, and morphed into her own body. "Just lil' ol' me."
Angel took a few steps forward. "And who, pray tell, are you?"
Glory nodded torward Spike. "Ask blondie over there. He knows." She lowered her voice to a purr. "Don'tcha?"
Spike finally managed to find his voice. "Glory. Long time, no see. I'm happy to say."
"Aww, now, is that any way to greet old friends?"
"Never had that many friends. Guess I never learned the proper etiquette."
Angel was staring at Glory. This was so not something he'd expected. The only way Buffy had beaten Glory before was with a mystical weapon. Something that was in mighty short supply at the moment. Here he was with a group of relatively inexperienced Slayers, a novice Watcher, two low powered witches, and no weapons to speak of. And Spike.
Crap.
While Spike and Glory were trading barbs, the two Wicca had been preparing to cast a spell to bind Glory in a force field. They knew it wouldn't last long, but they hoped it would be enough to get everyone clear of the building. Angel started sliding to his right, hoping to keep Glory fixed on him and Spike.
She wasn't fooled for an instant. With blinding speed, she was by the witches, hands on the back of their necks. "Uh, uh, uh. Naughty witches." There was the sickening sound of their necks snapping.
Half a world away, as Amanda was picking herself up and dusting herself off, Willow, Dawn and all the witches present looked to the west as one.
Buffy stopped midstep. "Dawn? Willow? What is it?"
Dawn and Willow exchanged glances. Dawn turned back to the west, eyes glowing ever brighter. "It's her."
Amanda and the other Slayers quickly took fighting stances, having no doubt that they were in for the fight of their young lives.
Glory grinned evilly as she let the bodies drop to the floor. Suddenly, she was beside Amanda, holding her up by the throat.
"One chance, Big Boy. You tell me where my Key is, and I don't snap Twig Girls' neck." She gave Amanda a little shake.
"But I don't-"
"Wrong answer." Snap.
Angel could see the life seep out of Amanda's eyes. Glory threw her body at Angel, and just as quickly had two more Slayers by the throat.
As he lowered Amanda's body to the floor, he stared at Glory with a look of pure hatred. She just smiled.
"Well? Gonna tell me what I wanna hear? Or do I keep going?"
"Europe. I swear to you, that's all I know."
"Not good enough." Snap. She let the girl in her right hand drop.
"Dammit, I can't tell you what I don't know!" Angel was livid.
"But I bet you can find out. Big man at Wolfram & Hart, you've got access to all sorts of talent. I betcha somebody over there can find out where my Key is. Otherwise..." She glanced up at the girl still dangling from her left hand, then at the rest of the group.
"So many necks, so little time."
Angel was torn. He didn't want to tell this psychotic bitch how to find Buffy, but he couldn't let any more of the people he was supposed to be protecting die either. He couldn't make a decision, he felt he'd be betraying Buffy's faith in him either way.
"Just tell 'er."
He turned to Spike, not believing his ears. "What?"
"Just tell her." Spike was staring daggers at Glory, wishing once again to be corporeal. "It's the only way to stop 'er killing all these kids. Besides, Buffy's put 'er in 'er place before. She can do it again. Not to mention Willow 'n the Nibblet. Bitch don' stand a chance."
Angel stared at Spike, trying to find the flaw in his logic. The only one he could see was whether or not Glory would keep her word and leave without any more killing.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock." Glory took a step closer to Angel. The young girl, he didn't even know her name, was trying desperately to break Glory's grip, but simply couldn't match the Hellgoddess' Slayer enhanced strength. He looked back to Spike, who nodded.
"I'm not seein' much option at the moment, mate. They can 'andle 'er. I know it."
Angel seemed to shrink in on himself. "Okay."
Glory cocked her head as if trying to hear. "Hmm? What was that?"
"Okay, dammit. Just let her go. We'll go to the office and see what we can find out."
"Oh, I don't think so. As long as I've got these (she gestured at the remaining eleven Slayers) you'll do exactly what I tell you. I'm not going anywhere near Wolfram & Hart. Not all that many usable hostages there."
"Fine. Let me make a call, then."
"Go to it." She was wearing an extremely self satisfied grin.
She turned to keep an eye on Angel as he went over to Cordelia's old desk, presenting her back to several of the Slayers. They glanced at each other, and in unspoken agreement, attacked Glory from behind.
It was the worst thing they could have done.
Still holding her victim by the neck, she started swinging the girl like a club, sending Slayers flying. Screaming, Glory threw her through the wall and out into the street. She was dead before she hit the pavement. Six girls piled onto Glory, enraged at what she had done, but she shrugged them off easily, killing four and horibly injuring the other two.
Angel was hollering for everyone to stop, but it was too late. Glory was in a blind rage, and wouldn't stop until they were all dead. Angel grabbed the two Slayers that could still move and sprinted for his car. His only hope was to try to get back inside the protective wards at Wolfram & Hart and regroup.
Spike was still standing there, cursing Glory for all he was worth, when he started fading. "Oh, bollocks. 'Ere I go again..." The last thing to fade away was his two fingered salute.
When Glory finally calmed down, she realised that Angel was gone.
And that she was covered head to toe in blood. Well, crap, now I hafta go take another bath. And my shoes are ruined.
She headed upstairs to get cleaned up and decide on her next step.
"Guess maybe it's time for me to go on a little trip. I hear England is just lovely this time of year."
She stepped over Amanda's body and made her way up to her room, singing quietly to herself.
"Gonna go get my Key, gonna go kill me a Slayer..."
To be continued.
God help me...
This thing started out with what was gonna be a small little crossover, but it just kinda took on a life of it's own. Highlander was yet another series that got canceled before its time (Slight touch of bitterness about the impending end of AtS, not to mention Buffy, Farscape, Dark Angel, Firefly, John Doe, Babylon 5, Crusade... okay, so I did mention them...), so it's been kinda fun working in that universe too. If you haven't seen the DVD release of Highlander:Endgame, Kate (or Faith) and Duncan got back together at the end. Tobias is a creation of my own fevered imagination. Which you probably already knew.
Feedback is a wonderful thing, so please do! Peace in the Valley and all that stuff... ;)