A/N: Can you believe I forgot to post chapter ten! Argh! Here it is! Just to add a little info on the story….this is what happened between chapters nine and eleven...hope it won't confuse you guys.

Chapter Ten

Patrolling the graveyards of the city of Seattle was not as exciting as patrolling the cemeteries of Sunnydale, California. While they fought dozens back at their old hometown, they barely staked four a night in the rainy city.

Which was probably why it was unusual for the two Slayers to hear a blood-curling scream that was unmistakably Dawn's echo from the other side of the memorial park. Faith and Buffy glanced at each other, both wearing similar bewildered expressions, before setting off at a run towards the direction of the scream.

"What did Dawn get herself into now?" Buffy muttered crossly under her breath.

"Beats me, B." Faith said as she sprinted along side Buffy. "Besides, Spike's supposed to be with her."

Several seconds later, they skidded to a stop in front of an unpleasant scene. A man wearing a dark blue suit was beating the shit out of Spike while two other men held him by his arms. Dawn, who was still yelling at the top of her lungs, was being dragged towards a black SUV. The only man dressed in a black business suit was standing amidst all the chaos, a smug smirk plastered on his face.

The two Slayers saw red.

And all hell broke loose.

…

"So how long have you been staying in Seattle?" Logan asked Sam conversationally. The four of them had taken a break in the kitchen, treating themselves to some of Logan's left-over pasta. The cyber-journalist could not help but marvel at how identical the twins were. They were exact mirror-images of each other. And to think that they weren't born from the same mother. The wonders of genetic science. Logan thought, immensely impressed.

"A couple of months," Sam replied with a shrug. "I just came from San Francisco. I kept on jumping from one place to another, you know. Didn't like to stay at one place too long."

"Alone?" Logan asked curiously. "What about your siblings."

Sam shrugged again. "I stayed with a few of them for a while. Then we decided that it was best if we split up. We figured that if Manticore -- " she stopped short of her sentence, her gaze fixed on something behind him.

Alec's face broke into a grin. "Hey Buffy, Faith, Spike." But as quick as the grin came, it immediately disappeared. "What the hell happened to you? You guys look like shit."

"Gee, thanks so much for the compliment." Buffy said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But we already know that." Indeed they were looking a bit worse for wear. Spike, being the worst. His face was a mass of bruises, and he was limping slightly. The women, looked a tad better. Faith sporting a cut lip and a nasty-looking gash above her left eye, and Buffy was cradling her arm, which was apparently broken.

Oh, and they were covered with grass stains, as well.

"Hey, you're that girl I ran into the other day." Sam said to Faith with a small grin. "Small world."

Faith didn't smile. "Dawn got kidnapped."

"What?" Logan blurted out.

"Who?" Alec said at the same time.

"My younger sister," Buffy said. She looked tired. Obviously, they had run into some major trouble quite a few minutes ago. And they were obviously here to ask for some help. "We were out patrolling when these guys attacked Spike and dragged Dawn off."

"Didn't you help?" Alec asked incredulously.

"Obviously, moron!" Max said smacking him in they head. "Why the hell would they look like that if they didn't help?"

"Bitch," Alec snapped at her, a playful glint in his eyes.

"Asshole," Max answered back, her expression similar to his.

"Enough!" Logan cut in. He turned to look at their guests. "Who attacked you?"

Buffy sighed and sank into an empty chair beside Max. "Really strong guys wearing spiffy designer suits."

"And when we say strong, we're talking about them barely feeling pain." Faith elaborated. "We were giving them all we've got and they barely walked off without a scratch. Well, we managed to kill one of them…but in they end they won and tied us to a tree. That took us a pretty long time to get out of."

"They tied two Slayers and a vampire up?" Alec shook his head in disbelief. "Unbelievable."

Buffy's mind instantly flashed back to the end of the fight.

Flashback

"Where the hell are you taking her?" Buffy yelled as she struggled with the binds. The black-clad man – evidently the leader of the group, casually sauntered over to her, an ugly smile marring his sharp, yet handsome features.

"Don't worry Slayer, we'll take good care of her." He sneered, strongly emphasizing the word 'Slayer'. Buffy wondered how they knew about her. Perhaps he was a demon? But her senses didn't tell her so…which only confused her all the more.

"Who are you?" she asked. "And what are you going to do with Dawn?"

"That will be for me to know, and for you to find out." The man said, his smile broadening to a cold grin. "And let's just say that your sister will be enjoying a much better life after everything will be done."

"If you lay one finger on my sister…" Buffy trailed off, her eyes glittering dangerously. "I will hunt you down and kill you."

He laughed mirthlessly. "You know what they say, Slayer. Try, try, try, until you die."

And with that he spun on his heel and left.

And the three of them could only watch helplessly as the SUV disappeared from their sight.

End Flashback

"But why does he want Dawn?" Max asked with a frown.

"Now that's the million dollar question," Alec said.

"No," Buffy shook her head. "The million-dollar question is what they're going to do to her." She turned to the four seated on the table. All were wearing the same curious expressions. "We know why they want Dawn."

"Why?" Almost all of them asked at once, save for Max's twin who seemed slightly out of place in the conversation, considering she did not know any of them.

Spike, who had not said a word since their arrival, answered for them all. "Because she's the Key." At the blank faces he was met with, he further explained. "The Key is an epical powerful energy source created by some unknown monks in some bloody unknown place. It was transformed into flesh and blood – transformed into Dawn. So, Dawn is basically a key to open portals that lead to other dimensions."

"So all they have to do is perform some rituals and use a few drops of Dawn's blood and they will be able to open the portal that they want to open." Buffy elaborated. "And if that certain portal leads to a certain evil dimension then hell will be unleashed on Earth. Is that clear?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Crystal clear, B."

"I wasn't talking to you." Buffy glared at her sister Slayer.

"We'll help," Max volunteered. She nudged Alec with her shoulder.

"Oh, me too."

"I'm in." Sam said with a small smile. "I'm Sam, by the way."

"Thank you," Buffy said sincerely, then rounded on Logan. "Now can you please help us look for this new bad guy in my life? Willow, Giles and Xander will be here in a few minutes with the weapons and stuff."

"Of course," Logan nodded and made for the computer room. Buffy and Spike instantly following. Faith stayed behind, eyeing the left-over pasta hungrily.

Alec cocked an eyebrow. "Help yourself."

Faith didn't need to be told twice. The three X5s watched in interest as the once full plate started to shrink, smaller, and smaller. Feeling their gaze on her, she shrugged. "Slaying can make a girl hungry." She smirked impishly at Alec. "Not to mention, horny."

Alec leered at her. "Oh really?"

Max smacked him in the head. He smirked at her. "Jealous Maxie?"

"In your dreams, Alec." She rolled her eyes.

"What do you know about my dreams?" he grinned mischievously at her.

That earned him another smack in the head. "I don't even want to know."

Faith and Sam watched this interaction interestedly. The brunette Slayer leaned over to Sam and muttered under her breath in a voice that went by unnoticed by the two bickering X5s. "Talk about unresolved sexual tension."

Sam nodded solemnly.

…

In a covert territory somewhere in Seattle…

Ames White observed the young girl thoughtfully. She was seated quietly on the cold, metal floor of the examination room on the other side of the glass wall that separated them. She was unaware of his scrutiny, because all she could see when she looked at the glass wall was her reflection.

Right now, she was staring at the tightly-shut steel door on the far side of the room, as if willing her sister and her friends to burst in and rescue her. White smirked. You'll be dead before they find you. He thought cynically. The Conclave had been very keen in keeping everything under wraps. And the security in the compound had been doubled. Certain precautions had been made to make sure that nothing interrupted the impending ceremony.

Again his thoughts drifted to the girl – the one her sister called Dawn. It was ironic how a tiny girl like her had the power to unlock hundreds of gateways that could open to dangerous dimensions. He could only wonder why the Conclave wanted to open such dimensions.

He didn't care much for the human race, but there was an extreme possibility that the Cult's lives would be risked.

Unless the Conclave planned on bargaining with demons.