DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their other respective owners.

A/N ABOUT THIS STORY: As you can tell, I've taken several scenes directly from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Rings, word-for-word in the dialogue. This is not to rip off any of the real writers because I respect their work and I am not a plagiarist. This is an artistic ploy to put the reader in the mindset of where they are and is essential to the story. The Buffy episodes used were episodes (6.1-2) "Bargaining, 1 and 2" written by Marti Noxon David Fury, (7.17) "Lies My Parents Told Me" written by David Fury Drew Goddard, (7.18) "Dirty Girls" written by Drew Goddard, (7.19) "Empty Places" written by Drew Z. Greenberg, (7.20) "Touched" written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner, (7.21) "End of Days" written by Jane Espenson Doug Petrie and (7.22) "Chosen" written by Joss Whedon. The Angel episode used was "Orpheus" written by Mere Smith. The movies used are, of course, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, written by Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien (if you didn't know that, you just suck).

4. Into Hell:

Lightning flashed around Buffy's now vacated grave only a few minutes after the spell had been aborted. A bolt of red lightning shot out of the sky and buried itself into the grass beneath her tombstone. Inside the coffin beneath the soil, a rotting corpse stared lifelessly into the darkness as a red cloudy mist surrounded it.

A soul was ripped through space and time and jammed back in to the body of Buffy Anne Summers. The body began to regenerate itself suddenly until the flesh was as living as it was when the Slayer had jumped off of the platform into the portal in late May. Buffy could see nothing but darkness and felt as if she were drowning backwards, her flesh regenerating as her spirit entered.

She gasped for air and struggled to breathe, but her throat and tongue were as dry as a desert. Her eyes burned, thirsting for tears, and her skin tingled and seared as if it were burning. A wave of natural emotions that she hadn't felt all commenced at once, her brain nearly overloading as the nerves fired again.

Her blood slowly began to flow again as her heart began to beat, which eased some of the pain. Buffy wanted to scream, but her voice could not be found. It was as if every part of her body was had been asleep for years. Her body began to jerk involuntarily for several moments until she finally was able to regain control of her hands. She reached out and hit something hard, causing even more pain in her tingling fingers and palms.

Buffy banged on the hard, flat surface in front of her, at first assuming that she was blind or had no eyes. Her voice finally found her again and she let out small, whimpering screams as the horrible realization set in. She was trapped inside.

Her fingers began to tear at whatever was in front of her and she scratched and pulled at whatever hollow surface was before her. She could feel one of her fingernails tear off, but that didn't slow her pace. In horrible terror, she finally broke through the wood of the lid of her coffin as thick dirt poured in, nearly suffocating her.

I'm underground, she finally thought. I'm going to die. I'm going to die… Oh, God, I'm going to die here…

She grabbed on to the wooden hole and yanked down on it, slicing her flesh even further as splinters of wood impaled her palms and fingers. Dirt as heavy as boulders poured down on Buffy's face, but she kicked and dug her way through it. Buffy felt as if she were sinking to the bottom of a lake as she furiously swam upwards through the soil.

Finally, the hole was wide enough to pull herself up through. She painfully tried to lift herself out of the hole in her coffin, still digging upwards. Terrifying thoughts ran through her head. What if she was digging the wrong way? What if she had a broken bone and couldn't get out? Everything hurt so much she had no way of sensing any injuries.

She got to where she could stand in the place she had been lying down. With all of her might, she pulled her foot up on the lid of the coffin and pushed herself upwards even further, cramming her hands against the dirt above her. She was running out of oxygen fast and she could taste or smell nothing but bloody earth violating her.

She felt her eyes stinging as dirt entered, causing tears to flow. For the first time she realized that she had eyes. Buffy continued to dig as terror and the lack of oxygen wrapped around her throat, and finally she reached a piece of earth that was easy to dig through. What felt like an eternity, but was no more than ten seconds later, Buffy's fist burst through the soil of her grave.

The second hand popped up and she clutched the green grass with bloody fingers, pulling her head out of the dirt. She could see dim light and felt cold wind on her face as she gasped for air. She pulled herself further out of her grave and was hunched over on her stomach. Buffy crawled completely out on the grass like an earthworm, revealing her muddy black dress and filthy legs.

A net of dirt-covered, long blonde hair fell into her face as she struggled to see clearly, a blur intruding on her eyes as the dirt was washed away with her tears. She lay out on the grass, panting in fear as her eyes searched around the dark forest. Birds squawked faintly over the whistle of the breeze and a low, indistinct rumbling could be heard in the distance. Her ear drums ached – everything was far too loud.

Where am I? Buffy thought. Where's everyone? This isn't my home…

Slowly, with legs feeling like wet noodles, she came to a wobbly stand as she gazed around in mass confusion. She turned around to see a dark stone in front of her at her feet as her vision slowly cleared. Buffy's expression was frozen solid as she read the name, not recognizing it until a few seconds later as her own. Her eyes widened as the engraved words laughed at her, mocking her and terrifying her, and she stepped backwards in trauma.

She was in hell. This was not her home.

"Oh, no!" Rosie breathed in terror as she stared at the table in shock. "Oh, no! What happened?" Screams erupted as the crowd of nearly a hundred took off in a rabid and terrified dash, running in every direction and tripping and trampling over everything in their path.

"What was that?" Pippin's chest heaved in fear. "Merry, what was that?" He turned to his friend to see a baffled and equally fearful expression plastered on his face.

"Mr. Frodo!" Sam shouted, dropping to his knees as he helped Frodo up. Frodo came to a stand and turned towards the table to see Buffy completely gone.

"Buffy…" he breathed. "Buffy…?"

"She up and disappeared," Sam exclaimed, stunned. The five hobbits looked out at the crowd as a table was overturned and screams continued to howl over every other sound. Sam grabbed Rosie by the arm protectively as he pulled her away from the retreating crowd.

"We have to get out of here!" Sam announced as he, Frodo and Rosie made for their homes. Pippin followed but halted, realizing his friend was still frozen with fear behind him. Pippin grabbed Merry's arm and dragged him off through the crowd, following the others closely.

Their feet beat hard on the dirt path as they raced down the road, trying to keep from being run over by the other fleeing hobbits. Pippin suddenly smacked into a pair of tall legs as he looked up at Gandalf in fear.

"Gandalf!" he exclaimed, eyes wide. "She's gone! She's gone!"

"Who is gone?" he asked with deep concern. He looked over at Frodo, Sam and Rosie as tears streaked Rosie's cheeks.

"She's disappeared…" Rosie breathed hard. "She was there, then… she wasn't."

"What has happened?" Gandalf demanded of Frodo. "Where is Buffy?"

"She vanished," Frodo heaved with worry.

Gandalf froze, his eyes set firmly on Frodo's face as he asked gravely, "Like Bilbo did?"

Frodo looked up at him, fear setting into him for a moment, before he replied, "Yes. I-I mean no. It-it wasn't the same." He breathed hard as he continued, "There was red light… and howls… thunder…" The hobbit shook his head, "It was a horror I've never seen."

Gandalf, Sam, Rosie and Pippin looked at Frodo intensely while Merry was still traumatized into a daze. "She's in danger," Frodo declared as he thought to himself. "She's in danger. This I know for sure. I can feel it."

Gandalf stared down at the hobbits as he made a final decision. "Come, we fly," he declared, switching his staff to his other hand. "This shall be repeated before the King."

Buffy limped through the concrete streets of Sunnydale and gazed around idly and fearfully, still just barely able to see. She felt as if she were watching a horrible movie, as small fires blazed in her path and distant screams were heard over the roar of engines and machinery. Where am I? Buffy thought to herself. Where am I?

Nothing smelled right in this world. The air was thick of a foul odor that tried to choke her. Mordor, she realized. I'm lost in Mordor. How did I get here? Maybe she had been patrolling on the eastern end of Gondor and had gotten lost. But that didn't make much sense. Nothing looked right.

I was in the Shire, she remembered finally. Frodo… She looked around for something, anything that looked like her friends. She looked down at her feet and noted that she was walking on a very long slab of stone that was beginning to hurt her feet. But she wasn't near any mountains.

The Party Field, she remembered. There was a party… my party… Sam, Rosie… Merry, Pippin… Gandalf was there. No, he wasn't… no, he left…

Thoughts raced through her muddled mind, running together and mixing with random memories that didn't make any sense. Where was she? She could not have been in anything remotely close to the Shire.

God, that smell… she observed again and she felt as if she were going to vomit. Another scream let out, this one even nearer to her than the others. She came to an immediate standstill as she stared around at her surroundings, still not being able to make out where she was.

A fire burned close by. It appeared as if a rock were on fire. Buffy walked a few steps closer to the gigantic, shiny, burning boulder and squinted her blurry eyes, trying to make it out. It had glass.

A rock with glass? she thought. It was made out of some sort of steel. For the life of her, she could not recognize what was in front of her as it burned freely before her. A loud buzzing sound grated her nerves as she turned quickly to see another, smaller, metal object whizzing past her with a small flame on it. Something that looked similar to a person in shape threw the fiery ball near her and it exploded into a bigger ball of fire as it crashed. The loud vehicle buzzed away as Buffy backed up in fear and watched it go.

Aragorn stared at Gandalf in frozen silence, his mouth partially agape. Sitting beside him, he could hear his wife let out a shaky breath of fear. Though it had taken days, Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, Rosie, Merry and Pippin stood in front of the King's throne inside Minas Tirith, the city of Gondor.

Aragorn could not quite believe his ears. He looked away from the White Wizard, deeply disturbed as his eyes fell upon the ground. Aragorn looked over at Arwen as she made another tiny exhale, her eyes firmly placed on the floor as well.

"We know not of her location at this point," Gandalf explained, "or the devilry that caused her disappearance."

Aragorn's eyes fleeted around the hall as he struggled to find his voice. He finally asked with a fearful voice, "And you are sure that she is gone?"

Frodo nodded with wide eyes of despair as he added, "I do not know where she is, but I know that she is not safe." Aragorn's eyes fell upon him suddenly as Frodo declared, "Before she disappeared, I could feel her emotions. She was afraid. I believe that she still is, wherever she may be."

"You're connected to her somehow?" Aragorn asked.

"Yes," Frodo nodded, "but not for very long." He looked down in sadness, "I'm loosing her."

Merry stared at Frodo as his eyes widened at the statement. He turned to Aragorn and said more words than he had since the moment she vanished. "We have to find her!" he declared.

Gandalf replied softly with his eyes on the ground, "We may already be too late."

"Which is why we must act quickly," he answered, turning to Gandalf.

"He is right," Aragorn announced. They turned to the King as he stood up and declared, "She must be found. Now." He stared at Gandalf, "We cannot abandon her to whatever suffering Frodo believes she may be enduring. We shall not."

"How can this happen?" Sam declared. They turned to him to see him still fixated with wonder and horror. "I mean, one day we find her in the Pelennor Fields without a clue of how she got there. When she wakes up she doesn't remember a thing. Then one day she just vanishes without a trace. How does something like this happen?"

"Sam makes a good point," Rosie declared, nervously adding as their eyes fell upon her. "I-I mean, we don't know how she got here… how are we supposed to find her when she disappears?"

"Why did she come here in the first place?" Pippin asked, and then he looked up at Gandalf. "When we first met her and her friends?"

"She has not mentioned them very much at all," Gandalf answered as he contemplated. "Her friend… Willow… the sorceress… she said that they were performing a spell that went awry somehow."

"We weren't doin' any spells," Sam declared to Gandalf, then Aragorn. "Honest."

"Then how was she taken if not by magic?" Arwen asked.

Frodo thought to himself, then turned to Gandalf, "Is there any other way that—" His sentence was cut off as he stared at Gandalf with concern. "Gandalf?" he repeated, looking up at the wizard.

They turned to him to see the old man in deep contemplation, seemingly slightly disturbed. "What is it, Gandalf?" Pippin asked.

He snapped out of it and looked down at the hobbit, then turned to Aragorn. "King Elessar," he addressed him, "how much are you willing to risk for her return?"

"How could you ask me that?" Aragorn asked of him honestly. He contemplated to himself for several seconds, not able to push Buffy out of his mind to even think clearly. Fear and trepidation set in, until finally the answer was clear to him. "To that I answer that I would sacrifice whatever was required" he calmly declared"because that would also be her reply. She must be found."

"You believe you know of a way to ensure that?" Arwen asked Gandalf in puzzlement.

"I do believe so, my queen," he answered with a look of worry on his face. "But the threat – the danger – is far greater than any menace we can imagine." He turned to Aragorn, "Are you sure you're willing to take that risk?"

"Aye," he nodded, "I am."

"Very well," Gandalf declared, then turned to the others with a deep breath. "Listen closely. Here is my proposal."

Buffy stood atop the platform that she jumped off of four months before. She gazed down at the town of Sunnydale from Glory's tower, her sight having fully returned to her. She had encountered people in an alley not far from there. Three women and a man who reached out to her, who called her by name, and who she suddenly had an urge to protect from the orc-like monsters that attacked.

The lights sparkled in the darkness of the night as a word for the place finally formed on her lips. "Sunnydale…" she whispered, her brow crinkling as memories poured into her skull:

'Don't let go…' she remembered Sam's voice in her mind. 'Don't you let go…'

Buffy ran down the walkway, steadily crossing the platform and as she reached the end she leapt off the edge in a glorious swan dive. She plummeted through the air and disappeared into the swirling cloud portal.

'No!' the familiar voice of a young woman cried out to her.

"Dawnie, I have to," Buffy whispered in reply, as she held her eyes closed tightly.

"Buffy?" a timid voice called from behind her. She opened her eyes and frowned at the sound of the familiar voice. Slowly, she turned to see a young, long-haired, teenage girl standing at the other end of the platform with an amazed expression.

"Buffy," Dawn breathed in wonder. "Buffy… how…" Her sister gazed at her in apprehensive confusion. "Is it you?" Dawn whispered, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "I mean, really?" She took a step towards her baffled sister as the tower suddenly shifted and creaked. Dawn clutched a nearby pole in terror as the tower was once again still.

Dawn looked back up at Buffy to see her turn towards the end of the platform and slowly step towards it. "No!" she called out, and Buffy was still. "Don't!" she desperately cried. Buffy was still as she stared out at the sky, then looked back down at the ground.

"Don't jump, Buffy," Dawn shook her head fearfully. "Just walk to me, please!" No reply came from her as she continued to stare at the ground. "Please?" Dawn pleaded. The tower moaned once more as Dawn apprehensively began, "I'm your sister, Dawn. We were up here once. And then you… you… went away. Please, don't do that again. I need you to be here."

The tower shifted again and Dawn clutched the pole even tighter in terror. "Oh, god," she breathed. "Buffy, this tower was built by crazy people and I don't know how long it's going to hold up."

Buffy continued to stare below her. Dawn gazed at her from behind, "Talk to me!" Tears rolled down her cheeks as she desperately added, "Please… just… say something."

Several moments of silence passed before Buffy finally asked with a small, weak voice, "Is this hell?"

Dawn stared at her in puzzlement, "What?"

Buffy turned around towards her sister with a terrified and crushed expression as she repeated, "Is this hell?"

"No," Dawn shook her head. "No… this is… home." As soon as Buffy heard her reply she became deeply disturbed, struck with fear like a lightning bolt. "You're here, with me," Dawn smiled. "Where ever you were – whatever happened to you – it's over now. You're here to stay."

Buffy swallowed hard with dread as she stared at Dawn at the other end of the walkway. The tower shifted again and creaked threateningly as Dawn let out a scream. "Buffy, please, listen to me!" Dawn shrieked. "We have got to get off this tower!"

"This is home," Buffy declared in despair, not being able to believe it. "This is home…"

"You told me I had to be strong…" Dawn cried, tears now freely falling, "and I've tried. But it's been so hard without you." Buffy wasn't looking at her anymore; she was looking at the ground again. "I'm sorry," Dawn sobbed. "I'll do better, I promise! If you're with me… Stay with me, please. I need you with me. I need you to live. Live." Her words rang in Buffy's mind with haunting familiarity, "For me."

Buffy could hear no other sound but those words echoing in her mind. Slowly, she turned around to see Dawn's face as suddenly she remembered. She remembered where she was. She remembered where she went. And now, she could not forget what she had.

"Buffy!" Dawn screamed as the tower trembled again with ferocity and Dawn crouched down. A piece of the tower broke loose and fell down, smacking the concrete hard.

Buffy spun around towards her sister with wide eyes, "Dawn!" She bolted across the walkway and grabbed her sister, pulling her back on her feet as they ran onto the stairs in the body of the tower. They raced down a single flight with many more to go as Buffy's eyes quickly searched around. She spotted a pulley nearby with a rope going through it.

With a giant leap, Buffy jumped off the tower with Dawn's hand in her grip as she grabbed onto the rope with her other hand. They fell towards the ground as Dawn screamed in terror and they finally came to a stop. The rope burned more skin off of Buffy's palm as she looked down at the ground, still a great distance away from them.

The rope suddenly gave way and they plummeted to the ground, landing hard on their feet. Buffy gazed up at the air as the giant tower began to break apart and fall to pieces; the huge platform broke loose and raced towards them.

Buffy pushed herself off of the ground, still holding on to Dawn, and both of them rushed out of the way of the walkway as it crashed on the spot where they landed. Buffy and Dawn ran away from the tower as it collapsed, crumbling to a pile of metal rubble as it rumbled and roared.

The girls finally stopped running when they were clear of the construction site and they rested against a chain-link fence. Both of them panted hard as Dawn turned to her sister, "Buffy…?"

Buffy looked over at her tensely as Dawn suddenly threw her arms around her sister and cried over joyously, "It's really you. You're really here. You're here with me. Everything's going to be okay now." Trepidation and tension set into Buffy's green eyes as she heard Dawn declare, "You're home."