Summary: Glory has figured out that our heroes are in England. Bad things happen. Go figure.

Notes:I refer you to the notes from part three, as regards giganimous headaches resulting from the thinking too much...

Disclaimer: Yup, still Joss's, still Fox's, still broke. Suing me would constitute a frivolous and malicious misuse of the American judicial system. Or, in other words, just plain silly.

WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NOW? PART IV

By screaminheathen69

Angel stormed into the reception area, Slayers in tow, bellowing at the top of his lungs. "Wes! Fred! Gunn! Lorne! Where is everybody?"

At least twenty people in transit through the lobby stopped in their tracks, wondering who Angel was mad at this time. And whose blood he and the two Slayers were covered in.

Harmony walked around her desk. "Fred's in the lab, and Wes and Gunn are in Wes' office. Lorne is... somewhere, doing something Hollywood-y. Want me to get 'em, boss?"

"Yes! I want all of 'em in my office ten minutes ago!"

"Um... ten minutes ago literally? Cause, ya know, they've got this neat gizmo down in the lab..."

Angel paused in the door of his office just long enough to growl, then slammed the door.

"Never mind." She sprinted for Wesley's office.

Angel called the infirmary and had them send a medic to his office to check out the two Slayers.

"I'm sorry, but what were your names?"

One, a small brunette, answered for both of them. "I'm Melanie, this is Victoria." The redhead sitting next to her waved shakily. They were both obviously in shock.

Angel was pretty much in shock himself. He couldn't believe that a creature as powerful as Glorificus had been hiding right under his nose. God only knew how much she'd been able to find out about where Dawn and Buffy were.

Wes and Gunn came barreling into the office, followed closely by Fred. "What's- Oh, my God. What happened? Are any of you injured?"

"I don't think so." Angel looked down at the blood on his clothes and shuddered. "This is all somebody elses. Several somebody elses."

Fred was kneeling next to Melanie. "Oh, Lord. What happened?"

Angel and the two girls traded looks. He sighed. "Glory happened."

Gunn froze in his tracks. "Glory?"

"Yup."

Wes gulped visibly. "She's here in LA, then?"

"Yup. For a while now, apparently. Right under our noses, hiding in plain sight."

Fred stood up and turned to stare at Angel. "What. Happened?"

Angel told them.

When he'd finished, there was an extended silence as the import of what had happened sank in.

There was a knock at the door. Angel looked up to see Eve standing there. "Someone call for a medic?"

"Yes, send 'em in." Two medics came around Eve and started checking out Melanie and Victoria.

Eve sauntered into the office, taking in the somber faces. "So... who died?"

Wes and Gunn somehow managed to get between her and Angel before he could rip her throat out. He stood there, a low growl audible thoughout the room.

Wes turned to Eve. "I really do think it best that you leave now, Eve. A great many good people have died tonight, and this is not the best time for you to be making snide remarks."

"Okay, fine. I'll just find out later anyway." She shot Angel one of her trademark smirks, then turned and headed out to find a private spot to make a call. I bet he'd just love to know about this...

Angel started pacing. "We need to get ahold of Buffy and let her know about Glory. Any ideas?"

Fred was sitting at Angel's desk. "Well, I just sent an email on the secure account, but who knows when Willow will be able to check her messages."

"Yeah, really. One response in two months, I'm not gonna hold my breath that she'll be checking it any time soon."

"If you had breath to hold, that is..."

Angel shot Gunn a dirty look, but went right on pacing. "We need an alternative."

Just then Spike walked through the wall. "Right. There ya are, Peaches. Figured out 'ow to get hold of Buffy yet?"

"We're working on it, Spike. So unless you have an actual useful idea, shut up."

Spike rolled his eyes, went to flop down on the couch, and promptly dropped through to the floor below. "Bugger!"

Angel grinned. Wish I had that on tape.

He turned back to the group. "Work the problem people. I want alternatives."

Chapter the Second

Later...

Glory had treated herself to a long, hot bath after calling her minions and telling them to arrange a flight to London. Then she had taken her time rummaging through the closets, finding an outfit that suited her. The clothes make the Goddess after all.

Finally satisfied with her selection of shoes, she made her way downstairs to wait for her ride to the airport. She stopped on the landing, admiring her handiwork from earlier. Aaah, nothin' like a slaughter to perk a girl up! She was surprised to see a young man sitting on the reception desk.

"And who do we have here?"

"A fan."

"A fan, huh? Always nice to have a fan club. So you gonna tell me why I shouldn't just go ahead and kill you?"

"You're welcome to try. But I do have some info that I'm pretty sure you want."

Glory was meandering her way across the lobby, trying not to get blood on her heels. They were the only pair she could find that both suited and fit her. "Start talkin', meatbag."

"A little over fifty miles from Glenfinnen. The Watcher's Keep. That's where your Key is." He tossed an envelope to her. "Map and directions are in there."

Glory hefted the envelope in her hand. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this?"

The young man grinned. "You kill the Slayer, it hurts Angel. That's all the reason I need."

"Just workin' a little vengeance, huh?"

"Yup."

"I can appreciate that. Still haven't heard a good reason for not killing you, though."

"Like I said, you're welcome to try."

By then, Glory was standing in front of him. "Okay." She backhanded him across the face, sending him flying across the room.

She stood there amazed as he stood up and smiled. "Damn, it actually worked. I was wondering about that."

"You're protected."

"Yup. You can beat on me all night, won't do you a bit of good."

Glory saw two of her minions coming through the door. "Never mind, my ride's here anyway. Gotta go kill me some Slayers. Thanks for this, though." She waved the envelope at him.

"Glad to be of service. Just make sure it's painful."

"Oh, no doubt about it sweetie. Long, drawn out, and excrutiating." She threw him a brilliant smile, then turned and flounced out the door.

Back in the lobby, Lindsey smiled to himself. Here comes the pain, Angel. Enjoy.

Chapter the Third

Dawn was glowing. A brilliant, pulsating green glow.

She was also floating a hundred feet or so above the ground.

Buffy was ready to have kittens. Willow and Xander were trying to calm her down.

"C'mon, Buff, this is what she's been trying for since we left LA."

Willow nodded. "Yeah, so this is of the good, Buffy. We should be making with the encouragement."

"I'll encourage the daylights out of her. I just wish she'd come down here and let me encourage her on the ground."

Xander looked up at Dawn, shielding his eyes from the light. "She'll come down eventually, Buffy. Don't worry about it. She's just trying to get the hang of it, that's all."

Buffy turned on Xander. "Don't worry! Are you kidding me? Am I the only one that remembers what happened the last time she got all glowy and floaty?"

Xander and Willow stared at each other for a second. Xander pantomimed falling down and mouthed 'thud'. Willow said "Oh" and looked up at Dawn.

"Dawnie, maybe ya oughta come down now. Huh? Pleeaaaase?"

"Oooo, brainstorm!" Xander was grinning like an idiot. "Yo, Dawn, if you don't get down here, I'm gonna go raid your hamburger stash."

Suddenly, Dawn was standing beside him. "Oh, I soooo don't think so." Xander jumped back three feet, landing squarely on Buffy's toe.

"Sheesh, Dawnie. Don't hafta give a guy a heart attack."

She smiled, the glow fading away as the aura seemed to recede into her. There were still little sparkles of green in her eyes, though, hinting at the Power within. "C'mon, girls. I feel the need for a burger fix." She hooked her arms through Buffy and Willow's and headed back inside.

Xander stood there for a second, then followed after. "Not just the girls, I hope..."

As they neared the kitchen, Buffy paused and sniffed the air. "Daaaamn! Somethin' smells good!"

Inside, Duncan was toiling away preparing a large meal. He and Giles had agreed that a little celebration was in order, and Duncan had volunteered to play chef. Amanda and Kate were helping out. Well, Kate was helping out. Amanda was mostly just sitting on the counter and giving out lots of not so helpful advice. She felt she'd already done her bit in helping Dawn to break through to her Power.

Duncan was in the process of peeling potatoes for the roast. And on the verge of taking a sword to Amanda.

"You know, you really ought to turn the heat up a little under that roast. It'll take forever at that temperature. Aren't you gonna cut those potatoes into smaller chunks? Those are kinda big."

"Amanda." He took a breath. "Look, if you really want to help, do me a favor and start getting the salad ready, okay?"

She looked at him askance. "Me? Salad?"

"You. Salad." He gave her a toothy grin.

She hopped off the counter and edged torward the door. "Umm, ya know, I think I'll just go check up on Dawn..."

She jumped as two heads of lettuce floated up in front of her. "Dawn's fine. Need a hand in here?"

Duncan looked over his shoulder at Dawn, Buffy, Willow, and Xander. "Sure. The more the merrier. Somebody wanna cut up the lettuce for the salad? Since Amanda has already snuck out the door, that is."

Dawn grinned and walked over to the sink. "Not a problem." She squinted a bit, concentrating. The two heads of lettuce floated over to the sink, along with a large colander and two sharp knives. "Let's see if I can do this..."

The knives started slicing through the lettuce, hesitatingly at first, but surer by the second as Dawn got a feel for handling them through her Power. The lettuce fell neatly into the colander, the knives floated down into the sink as the water turned on and the colander swished around and rinsed the lettuce off.

Dawn let the colander down into the sink to finish draining, then turned to face the astonished onlookers. "What's next?"

Duncan took a second to find his voice "Umm, I think there are some carrots and cucumbers in the fridge."

"Kewl. More slice & dice."

"Here, Dawnie, let me." Willow's eyes went glowy, the refrigerator door opened, and the aforementioned cucumbers and carrots floated over to the sink. She then floated over two more knives, and she and Dawn raced to see who could slice up the veggies quicker.

Giles walked in. "What's everybody staring at. Oh." The knives were moving so fast, they were visible only as a blur. Yet the sliced up veggies were falling neatly into the bowl.

When they finished, Dawn and Willow turned and laughed at the five people standing there, jaws hanging open. Willow took Dawn's hand. "Let's go see what else we can do!"

They went out to find something to experiment on. Buffy turned to Giles. "Is that normal?"

"What? Oh, you mean..." He pulled out his handkerchief and started cleaning his glasses. "I have no idea, Buffy. Dawn's Power is a complete unknown to us. We have no way of knowing the full measure of it."

"I know, but... she's only been able to tap into it for a few hours, and look what she can already do! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad about it, especially now that we know Glory's back on the scene, but how can she know how to control it this well this fast?"

Giles wasn't sure how to answer her. Duncan cleared his throat. "Um, if I may..." Giles nodded.

"If I've understood everything I've been told since we got here, your sister was once an ancient, powerful, mystical energy force, right?"

"Yup."

"So, what I'm thinking is, now that she's tapped into that Power again, maybe the control just comes naturally. I mean, if this Key has been around since pretty much forever, then control would probably be automatic by now, wouldn't it?"

Giles rubbed his chin, thinking. "Yes, that could be it. Even in her first use of it at The Bronze, she had enough control to spare Angel from her blast."

"So if she has that much natural control already, with practice she'll be able to do even more, right?" Buffy asked.

"I should think so, yes."

Buffy stared off in the direction Dawn and Willow had gone. "Ya know, with her and Willow both practicing, things are apt to get miiighty interestin' around here."

Chapter the Fourth

Willow was trying hard not to think about what she had felt the day before. Still being connected to the Slayers, she had felt the deaths at Glory's hands. She and her fellow witches had also been able to feel when Glory killed their sisters. And Dawn had also been able to sense what was going on, and was the one to confirm that it was indeed Glorificus. Now that she had tapped into her Power, she was aware of a connection with Glory. And she could feel Glory getting closer.

So she, Willow, and Bethany from the Coven were working on a way to mask Dawn's essence from Glory. "There's gotta be a masking spell in one of these books," muttered Willow. She was thumbing rapidly through a thick tome.

"I know there is. I remember seeing it. Once. A while back." Bethany tossed a book to the side as she reached for another.

Dawn was sitting on the other side of the table, meditating. A green tinged aura flickered around her. "You'll find it, guys. Don't worry," she mumbled.

"Sure we will Dawnie." Willow threw an uncertain look at Bethany, who shrugged and dug back into her book. Willow glanced at Dawn. "Whatcha doin', sweetie?"

"Trying to get a read on Glory. I can tell she's getting closer, so I'm trying to see if I can tell where she is."

"Oh. Um, that's good and all, but be careful she can't backtrack to you."

Dawn smiled. "I know. Chill."

Willow turned back to her reading, muttering to herself. "'Chill' she says. Right. I'm gonna chill, Hell Goddess Bitch of the Century is probably on her way here, she says 'chill'. Uh huh. Suuurrrre. Next thing you know, I'll be talking to myself..."

"Oh, crap!" Dawn's eyes snapped open.

Willow yelped, then caught her breath. "What?"

Dawn stood up and took a deep, shuddering breath. "You're right. She knows exactly where we are. And she's on her way here."

Willow's eyes looked like they were going to bulge right out of her skull. Bethany shrank into her chair. "Oh, Goddess..."

Dawn turned and headed for the door. "I think we better go tell everybody. We've got some packing to do."

Buffy's hands had finally healed to the point Tobias felt it was safe for her to start training again, so she had asked Duncan if he'd give her a few pointers on swordfighting. She was a natural with a blade, but realised that she was an amateur compared to these Immortals.

She was using a katana for the first time, and found she preferred its balance better than the blades she usually used. But even with her speed, strength, and experience, she was losing ground to the far more experienced Immortal.

She was having a ball.

"You tend to telegraph your next move, you know." Duncan was grinning.

"Didn't even realise I knew Morse code. Yay me." She broke into a flurry of parries and thrusts, which Duncan easily blocked.

Buffy decided it was her turn to shine, and jumped over Duncan's head, twisting mid-leap and landing with her sword at his neck. He froze mid turn, and gulped visibly. "Interesting move, that."

"Yeah, isn't it?"

"What d'you call that?"

She stepped back and lowered her katana. "Improv, Slayer style."

He whipped his blade up, stopping it just short of her neck. "I'd call it lowering my guard."

"Point taken. Truce?"

He cocked his head to one side as if pondering. "Truce. Let's go get a drink, I'm parched."

They put their weapons away and left the training room.

"Buffy!"

Buffy and Duncan turned to see Dawn, Willow, and Bethany running towards them. "What's up, Dawnie?"

"Glory. Coming here." Dawn stopped in front of Buffy.

"Here?"

"Yup."

"Here, as in 'right here'?"

"Yup."

Buffy was speechless. Duncan cleared his throat. "Um, how soon?"

"Soon. She's coming fast. A few hours, maybe. I'm not sure."

Buffy's mouth was moving, but no sounds were coming out. In her mind, she was flashing back to the last time she had faced Glory.

Duncan looked at Bethany. "We'd better go get everybody together."

She nodded nervously. "Right." They headed off to round up the rest of the troops.

Willow walked over to Buffy and put her hands on the Slayers shoulders. "Buffy?" Buffy didn't respond.

Dawn reached over and gently shook her sister. "Buffy, what is it?"

When Buffy finally answered them, she spoke so softly they had to strain to hear her.

"I don't know if I can do this..."

"Do what?"

"This. Glory." She hugged herself, shivering. "Die again."

"Oh, Buffy, you're not gonna die!" Willow gathered her into a hug.

"Really? How can you be so sure? The last time we faced her, I died. I just..."

"Oh, come on." Dawn got in Buffy's face. "Yes, you died. But Glory didn't kill you. You killed you, you dumbass. Saving me. Because of that creepy little jerk who just had to play with his knife. You'd already beaten Glory. You won, Buffy." She took a step back.

"And this time, we're gonna kick her sorry ass all the way back to whatever Hell Dimension she came from. This time, it's for keeps."

Buffy and Willow were staring at Dawn, taking strength from the certainty in her eyes. Dawn shrugged and grinned. "Trust me."

"Okay."

"Kewl. Now let's go pack. I really don't wanna be here when Hell Bitch arrives."

Chapter the Fifth

An hour later, the entire group assembled in the common room to come up with an answer to the question Andrew had stumped Buffy and Giles with twenty minutes before; "So, um, where are we going? Just curious."

Buffy was standing next to Dawn. The only reason she wasn't pacing was because there wasn't enough space to pace in the crowded room. "We are soooo not ready yet."

Giles was cleaning his glasses. Again. "I agree. We need another safe haven, if only for a little while. Dawn needs more time to master her Power, and we need more time to formulate a strategy. But I hesitate to go to any other Watcher safehouses. If Glory has found this one, I must assume that she has discovered the locations of others as well."

Xander was scratching under his eye patch. "Okay, right there with ya, G-Man. So where do we go from here?"

Giles fidgeted with his glasses. "Er, well, I really don't know."

Buffy stared at him. "You, Mr. Answer Guy, you don't know?" She was trying and failing to hide a grin.

Giles put his glasses back on and shot her an arch look. "Well, I've not had time to think about it, have I?"

"Rome."

As one, everybody turned to look at Adam. He cleared his throat. "We should go to Rome. At least for a few days."

Duncan leaned back in his chair, studying Adam thoughtfully. "Why Rome?"

"There are a few things there I need to pick up. If I can find them, that is."

"What kind of things?"

"Things that will help us get into that temple, that's what kind of things."

"Oh."

Kate had a far off look. "Haven't been to Rome in a while..." She was lost in her memories.

Vi was sitting next to Kate. "When was the last time you were there?"

"Oh, Eighteen Thirty-something. I'm not sure."

"Wow." Vi was still having trouble with the fact that these young looking people were hundreds of years old.

Adam smiled, then turned back to Giles. "Anyway, I need to find these things, and I know a place that should be safe enough for a few days. After that, I think we can head for Khazakstan."

Xander pulled a sour face. "The family vacation fun spot that everybody's just dying to go to."

Buffy grinned. "Thrill-a-minute, baby."

"Can't wait to go on the rides," Dawn piped up.

"Glad I packed my bikini, might have a chance to catch some rays," said Kennedy.

Willow was gazing dreamily at Kennedy. "Mmmm, you in a bikini..."

Giles caught himself staring at Kennedy and shook his head. "Er, yes. Right then. Rome it is. Let's finish packing, shall we? And don't let's forget the weapons, hmm?"

"Can't go on vacation without the weapons," Buffy said to Willow as they were leaving the room.

Willow nodded. "Nosirree, gotsta have them weapons for a proper family trip. Yup."

"And a bikini! Hafta have one of those. We should make a list for all future panic-y packing occasions. Put 'weapons and bikinis' right at the top."

"Yup. Very important, that. And the suntan lotion. Gotta protect the skin. Don't want the premature wrinkles." Their voices faded down the corridor as the room emptied out, leaving Giles and Duncan sitting there.

Duncan shook his head, smiling. "They're in good spirits, at least."

"Indeed." Giles sighed. "We're most likely doomed." With that, he stood up and went to finish packing.

Duncan laughed quietly, then got up and went to find Kate. Things were definitely going to get interesting.

Chapter the Sixth

All the luggage had been stacked in the front hallway. The sound of muted conversation could be heard amongst the group as they waited for the cars to be brought around. It had been decided to forgo the airport and make for the nearest train station, and then take the chunnel to France. It might take longer, but they hoped by splitting up that they might avoid detection.

Buffy and Giles were arranging groups, as well as trying to figure out what could be taken and what had to be left. There simply wasn't enough room in the vehicles to take everything.

Dawn was standing just outside the door, staring off into the distance. She'd been trying to damp down her Power, but was still trying to sense Glory. Strangely, the closer Glory got, the harder it was to sense her. Almost as if she was dampening down her own power.

Three cars and two large vans pulled around and stopped at the front door. Duncan hopped out of his car and made a grand gesture. "All aboard that's going aboard. The bus leaves in twenty minutes."

As Buffy and Giles started sorting groups into vehicles, Willow walked over and stood next to Dawn. "C'mon, sweetie, time to go."

"Yeah, I kn-" Dawn froze. Her eyes darted around. "Oh, crap."

She grabbed Willow's hand. "Barrier, Willow. Now!"

Willow didn't stop to ask why. She concentrated, her eyes glowing white, and a force barrier sprang up around the house.

Buffy turned to Willow. "Willow, what's going on?" Just as she finished her question, a blue and blonde blur slammed into the force barrier, setting it to shimmering.

Glory had arrived.

She slammed a fist into the barrier, testing it. "Damn, Red, you've improved. Only gonna slow me down for a while, though."

Willow sent more strength into the barrier, her hair starting to turn white. "Maybe. Maybe not. Kinda curious to find out myself."

Glory leaned into the barrier, pushing a little harder all the time. She looked at the Summers sisters and smirked. "Hiya, Slay-bitch. Hello, Dawnie. Long time no see."

"Hello, Glory. You're lookin' pretty good. Considering that the last time I saw ya, your face was all caved in and bloody." Buffy edged closer to Dawn, who was frozen in place and staring at Glory.

"Well, you know how it is. Get buried for a while, have a nice rest, it's good for the skin. You do know what I'm talking about..."

"I've got an idea, yeah."

Glory glanced at Giles. "And then there's the Watcher. Big, strong Watcher. The hero who suffocated poor Ben while he was laying there all battered and broken." She pushed a little harder, and Willow glowed brighter. The barrier held.

Dawn was trying to do something, anything to help Willow, but she couldn't think straight. Her proximity to the Hellgoddess had set up a buzzing in her mind, making it impossible for her to concentrate.

Willow could tell Dawn was having trouble, and she was unsure of how long she could maintain the barrier besides. Glory kept pushing harder, and Willow found she was having to dig deep to keep up. How did she get so much stronger?

And then she realised she could sense the Slayer that Glory had possessed. Oh, Goddess, no wonder she's so much more powerful. We're screwed if we don't get out of here.

She sent her thoughts to Buffy, Giles, and Bethany, explaining what she had discovered. Any ideas? I can't keep this up indefinitely.

Bethany was the first to speak up, or think up. Teleportation spell?

Giles perked up at that thought. Possibly. Do you know one?

Bethany: Yes. But it's a low powered spell. It's only good for moving small objects.

Giles: I think we might have enough power amongst us to juice it up a bit. Buffy, keep Glory talking. Willow, we need Dawn for this.

Willow: Okay, I'll try. She seems awfully distracted, though.

Giles: Just try.

Willow: Okay. Dawn? Sweetie? We need your help. Dawn?

To Dawn, it seemed that the buzzing in her mind picked up a new tone. She slowly realised it was Willow.

Dawn: Hunh?

Willow: Dawn, honey, we need your help.

Dawn: Help?

Willow: Yes, sweetie. We need to add your Power to ours.

Dawn: Power?

Willow: Yes!

Dawn: Power. Oh, right. I can't think straight, Will. It's like a jillion bees are flying around inside my skull.

Willow concentrated a bit, slowly getting a feel for the buzzing that Dawn was distracting Dawn. Focus, Dawnie. You can control this. It's just 'cause Glory's so close. You hafta tune it out. Like this. Willow sent Dawn an image that reminded Dawn of a brick wall. She concentrated, and the buzzing diminished.

Dawn: Oh, I get it. It's just like building a wall.

Right. Hurry, Dawnie, I don't know how much longer I can hold her.

Dawn looked at Willow, could see the strain starting to show. What do you need me to do?

Willow: I'm gonna link you with Giles and Bethany, they'll tell you what to do. I've gotta concentrate on the barrier.

Dawn: Okay. Giles, what do you need? The buzzing was fading rapidly now as she erected block after block in her mind.

Giles: We're going to try a teleportation spell. We'll need a big infusion of power from you to make it work.

Dawn: Okay. Tell me when.

Giles: Right. Er,we're also going to need to drop the barrier for the spell to work.

Dawn: Oh. Which'll give Hell Bitch over there her chance to stomp us into the ground... Dawn looked at her sister and Glory. Buffy had walked over and was actually leaning against the barrier in front of Glory, taunting her. Glory was getting madder by the second. Buffy seemed to be enjoying herself.

Dawn glanced at Willow. No way she'll have anything left to throw at her when she drops the barrier.

Giles: No.

Dawn: Guess that leaves me. She thought for a few seconds, then slowly a grin spread across her face. I have an idea. Say when.

Giles took a deep breath, nodded to Bethany, and thought to Willow and Dawn; NOW!

Willow dropped the barrier.

Buffy and Glory both fell forward, but before they even realised what had happened, Dawn had moved between them, stopping Glory with one open palm against her navel.

Dawn grinned. "Hi."

Glory looked down at Dawn's hand, then back up at Dawn. Green energy flared around Dawn's hand, focusing into the palm.

Glory opened her mouth to speak just as an enormous discharge flared against her stomach, hurling her into the air and over the cliff.

Dawn shook her hand, trying to get rid of the tingling. "Bye. Bi-yatch."

She sent her energy to Giles and Bethany. Bethany muttered a phrase in Sumerian, and the entire group, luggage, cars and all, disappeared just as Glory came speeding back up the hill.

She stood there staring at the empty space where moments before her quarry had stood.

"Well. Crap." She looked down at her now ruined blue dress. "And still another outfit ruined."

She started back towards town. I'll get 'em. Right after I get some new clothes. Back to red, though. Never could pull off blue...

Chapter the Seventh

In a field near a river north of Rome, there came a sound like the popping of a champagne cork, a flash of light, and suddenly three cars, two vans, and a large group of Slayers, Watchers, wicca, and Immortals appeared from the ether.

An elderly man sitting on the river bank holding a fishing pole looked back and forth between the newly arrived group and the bottle sitting beside him. He shook his head and quietly started pouring the bottle into the river.

Willow collapsed unceremoniously and started giggling. "Oh my Goddess, I thought we were toast!"

Dawn flopped down next to the exhausted witch. "Toast with strawberry jelly." She started giggling too. It was infectious. Soon, the entire group was laughing, relieved that they had faced Glory and survived.

Buffy sat down next to her sister. "Nice move back there. Where'd you come up with that from?"

Dawn shot a sheepish glance in Xander's direction and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Huh?" Buffy and Willow both leaned closer.

"From Goku, okay?"

"Go-who?"

"Goku. The Super Saiyan."

Buffy's eyebrows were saying '?' again.

Xander was smirking. "Guess all those hours we spent watching Dragon Ball Z finally paid off."

Dawn shrugged and grinned. "It was all I could do not to yell 'Kamehameha'."

Andrew piped up. "Nah, to do the Kamehameha Wave you hafta start with your wrists locked beside you like this..." He trailed off as he noticed the odd looks he was getting from some of the group. "Sorry. Guess you're either a fan or you're not."

Buffy shook her head and turned back to Dawn. "Maybe I should start watching this show."

"Ahh, yes, yet another convert to the DBZ faithful." Xander pulled Willow to her feet. "Don't mean to rain on everyone's parade, but where are we anyway?"

"North of Rome. I think..." Giles answered.

Duncan nodded. "We are. I recognise the countryside."

Kennedy walked over to stand next to Giles. "So, what next?"

"Er, well, I suppose we should find some accomodations first. And then I suppose Adam will want to go after... well whatever it is that he's going after."

Adam nodded. "Right. After we get settled in, I'd like to borrow one of the cars. And maybe a couple of your Slayers. There might be some call for brute strength to recover a couple of items."

Giles glanced at Buffy, who shrugged. "Yes, I suspect we can arrange something. Well, everybody into the cars, then. Off we go to Rome."

As they got into the car, Willow noticed that Buffy was smiling. "Why the smile, Buff?"

"Happy. I've always wanted to see Rome."

Chapter the Eighth

The next morning, Adam, Willow, Kennedy, and two other Slayers left bright and early to recover the items Adam had assured the group were necessary for the upcoming assault on the Temple of D'arrsinog'auphous. He hadn't gone into any detail, but had let on that there was more to the temple than had been dug up so far.

They had gone to the Colisseum, arriving early to sneak in before the tourists started showing up, and had spent the better part of an hour trying to find a hidden doorway. Unfortunately, Adam had managed to forget the exact location.

After about the fiftieth snarky remark, he snarked right back. "C'mon, it's only been about two thousand years since I've been down here. Can you remember where you were two thousand years ago? No, don't answer that."

Willow sighed. "C'mere, let me try sumthin'."

Adam hesitated. "Like what?"

"Oh geez, ya big chicken, I'm just gonna see if I can jog your memory. It won't hurt."

As she placed her hands on either side of his face, she smirked. "Much."

He managed to not let the fear show. Much.

Willows eyes glowed white briefly, then she stood back. "Remember any better?"

Adam stood there for a few seconds, staring off into space. "I've just recalled where I left a gold bracelet. Thirty-one hundred years ago. Wonder if it's still there..." He shook his head and marched off down the corridor. "This way."

Willow shot Kennedy a brilliant grin and followed after.

Adam stopped near a recess in the wall and tapped a seemingly random pattern against the stone. A door ground open slowly, revealing a dark stairway. Adam shot Willow a grin. "There we are. Knew I'd remember it eventually." He pulled out a flashlight and started down the steps, followed by the others.

"Great. Wonderful." Willow was grumbling as she pulled yet another cobweb out of her hair. "Buffy and Dawn are out seeing the sights with Duncan and Kate, and here I am, wondering around in yet another musty old tunnel, covered in cobwebs." She caught Kennedy's eye. "Betcha there's booby traps down there too."

"You'd win that bet," Adam tossed back over his shoulder.

"Swell. Just swell."

After they had gone down a long way - Willow stopped counting steps after two hundred fifty three - they came to a landing. Adam called a rest stop. Everybody plopped down gratefully.

Willow was watching Adam, who was lost in thought. "Don'tcha think maybe it's about time to let us know just what it is we're down here after?"

"Yes. I suppose I ought to." He sat there for a minute, staring off into his past.

"I was there when the Temple was built. We all were, we Horsemen. In fact, we were the ones that caused it to be built. All for the glory of chaos and destruction."

"Horsemen?" Kennedy asked from where she was leaning tiredly against the wall.

"Yes, as in 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'."

Willow sat up. "There really was such a thing?"

"Yup. We were... well, we were pretty nasty. I've been trying to atone for the evil I did for a long time now." He sighed. "Probably a lost cause, but still..."

Willow nodded. She understood the need for atonement.

"Anyway, we found out about this prophesy concerning a Hell God that was supposed to come sometime in the future, and the cult that worshipped this Hell God. Went by the name of D'arrsinog'auphous."

He glanced sidelong at Willow. "D'arrsinog'auphous, by the way, translates as 'Glorificus' in the current vernacular." He leaned back and closed his eyes, remembering the events of long ago.

"The coming of Glorificus was supposed to herald a time of death and destruction the likes of which hadn't been seen since Illyria brought down the comet that destroyed the dinosaurs. To us, it sounded like great fun, and being immortal, we decided to plan ahead for it. We assumed leadership of the Cult of D'arrsinog'auphous and set them to building a proper temple for a Hell God. Took four hundred years. It wasn't so much built as it was carved from the living stone. It became a gathering place for evil in all its forms, human and demon alike. We spent a couple of hundred years using as our base of operations, returning there with our spoils to plan our next conquest."

He paused to collect himself. Willow and the rest were spellbound. "Who's Illyria?"

"She is, or was, one of the Old Ones. Your basic Hell God. Nastier than Glorificus, by all accounts. Had her own cult, probably still does. I seem to recall a prophesy about her being resurrected. Can't remember when it's supposed to happen, though. Seems she thought some of the nastier dinosaurs would make great minions, so she imbued them with intelligence and informed them that she was their God and that they must do her bidding."

He smiled ruefully. "Seems they didn't like that, and immediately rebelled. She got pissed and pulled down a comet on 'em. Kind of backfired, though. When she killed off the dinosaurs, she inadvertently put the mammals in ascendence, and we all know what happened from there."

Kennedy's eyes had glazed over and Willow was sitting there slackjawed. Adam grinned to himself. Nothing like having your history rewritten.

"Anyway, as time went by and we Horsemen eventually went our separate ways, I managed to take two very important items with me. It's those that we're after. One is a scroll, the other is a key. We'll need them to gain access to the Temple without setting off the protective wards. I hid them down here a very long time ago, setting up wards and booby traps to keep anybody but me from recovering them. When Chronos and the other Horsemen resurfaced a few years ago, he wanted the scroll and the key quite badly. He told me that Glorificus was here, but hidden, and he wanted to return to the Temple to try and contact her. Fortunately, I was able to make him think that I had lost them long ago."

"Duncan and I killed them, and I hoped that would be the end of it. And then Duncan called me up and asked if I could give him a hand helping the Slayer with some Hell Goddess named 'Glory', and here we are."

He sighed heavily. "I sincerely hope that we can finish this off once and for all. Certainly, we have to keep Glory out of the Temple at all costs."

"Why? What's in the Temple?" Willow asked.

"A mystical convergence. A focal point of evil. It's a-"

"-Hellmouth," finished Willow and Kennedy in unison.

Adam looked at them, a surprised expression on his face. "Well, yes. You know what a Hellmouth is?"

Willow and Kennedy exchanged tired glances, sighing. "You could say that..."

Willow closed her eyes and thumped her head against the wall. Gaia save us, here we go again...

To be continued

This took me a while, got this massive case of writers block about halfway through this part. I'm a little rusty on my Highlander timeline these days, so I'm probably screwing up left and right.

I, like every other one of the Buffyverse Faithful, am duly pissed at the WB for cancelling Angel. But still, well done to the cast and crew. They shouldn't have killed Wes, though. If they just had to kill someone, why couldn't it have been Lorne? Wouldn't have missed that guy one bit. Oh well.

Feedback, both the good and the bad, is much appreciated.

Later ;)