LEGAL A/N: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters belong to Joss Whedon, 20TH Century Fox Television, UPN, The WB and CW. 24 and all characters belong to Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow, 20TH Century Fox Television, Imagine Television, Real Time Productions and Fox Network. No profit is being made off of this and no copyright infringement is intended.

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 11:00 P.M. AND 12:00 A.M.

11:00:00 P.M. PST

Xander paced nervously back and forth while Buffy returned from the front of the store. "The doors are all sealed," Buffy announced, then took a seat on a stool near the table that Tara was stretched out across. James was quiet as he sat on the overturned bookshelf, paying careful attention to the actions of the Scoobies.

Willow stood anxiously beside her, fixing the blanket that covered her. Her eyes were full of guilt and dismay. There were a million things that she could be doing right now to help her, but she withheld the dark demon within her.

Buffy watched her closely and understood how hard it must have been. She glanced over to Xander to see his glossed-over gaze facing the ground. In his case, there was absolutely nothing that he could do to find her except roam the streets frantically, which Buffy would not allow him to do. He could have already lost the woman he loved, and he was helpless either way. As she continued to watch her two friends, something finally occurred to her.

This is what they were like the night that Buffy decided to sacrifice her life. It was the right thing to do, or so she thought… but it crushed her family. It only made things worse for them. So was it the right thing?

A few moments later, they heard a gasp as a breath of air filled Tara's lungs. Willow, Xander, Buffy and James looked over at her in an instant as her eyes popped wide open. Tara found herself staring up at the ceiling of the Magic Box and tried quickly to sit herself up.

"Be careful," Willow said as she gripped her arm. "Oh, god, Tara – we were so worried!"

"They took her…" Tara breathed in bewilderment. "I lost her… I'm so sorry… I-I tried…"

"Slow down," Buffy comforted.

"What happened?" Xander asked with his eyes wide and frantic. "Who took her?" he demanded.

"Back off, Xander," Willow replied with a furrowed brow. "She just woke up – give her a minute."

"We don't have a minute!" Xander exclaimed. He turned back to her as Tara gripped her throbbing head. "Who took her?"

"Spike," Tara replied through gritted teeth, clutching her head. "Spike… took her…" James watched their reactions, but kept his eyes glued on Buffy. She nearly lost all the color in her face and he could tell her stomach turned at the sound of his name. She swallowed hard as she looked down at the ground with eyes of shame. Before Willow and Xander could take notice of her expression, she quickly moved away, masking it from them in darkness.

11:04:21 P.M. PST

Dawn pulled back the comforter of her bed as she stood in her pajama pants and tank top inside her bedroom. She glanced at the clock with a frown. Why haven't Willow and Xander called about Buffy? she anxiously mused. "If somebody dies," she declared, "I'm so not going to Mrs. Bohn's class tomorrow."

At that moment, she heard a creak outside her window. Dawn paused quickly and turned to see the branches of the cedar tree outside brushing past the glass. She suddenly felt on edge and hoped that Buffy would fly through the door and rescue her again.

No, she thought to herself. I don't need that. I can do this on my own. I can protect myself. She went to her dresser and pulled out a stake. The second she turned around she opened her mouth to scream. Spike was standing behind her and gripped her mouth closed.

"Shh," he whispered in her ear as he moved her out of the door. "They're coming." They walked down the hall and rushed down the stairs as quietly as possible.

Once they reached the foyer, she was able to see the silhouettes of vampires standing outside the front door and living room windows. They tried to peek in through the drawn kitchen curtains. They were completely surrounding the perimeter of the Summers house.

"What are they doing?" Dawn whispered in terror.

"You're safe," Spike reminded her as he guarded her as the protective older brother he had become to her. "They can't come in."

11:09:58 P.M. PST

James watched intently from the sidelines of the Magic Box as Xander and Buffy remained in mid-quarrel. "We have to leave now!" Xander snapped as he furiously paced about. "We have to hunt him down until he tells us what we did with Anya."

"I'm just as concerned for Anya as you are, Xander," Buffy tried to explain calmly.

Willow was working diligently as she held a pack of ice against Tara's forehead while she tried to clean the cut on her check from where she hit the floor. Tara was seated on Buffy's stool which she gave up for her. They both glanced over at them, tuning into their tennis match every so often.

"Then why aren't we gone already?" Xander demanded.

"Look," Buffy sighed, "I would be there in a heartbeat if we were absolutely positive that Spike is respon—"

"Where's the un-positive-ness?" Xander exclaimed with disgust. "It's not like we need to call Dick Wolf! Tara's memory – not to mention her face – is pretty strong evidence."

"But it doesn't explain why he would do this," Buffy shook her head. James stared at her attentively, closely watching her reactions and emotions. There was something that she was hiding. Every time the 'Spike' named was mentioned, there was a twinge of pain and shame that flashed in her eyes. His mind went back to the comment Brick Spain made earlier that evening when he found Buffy and James in the alley alone.

"We all know that Spike's chip doesn't allow him to hurt…" Buffy nearly stopped in her sentence, faltering for a moment as her mind flashed back to the unsavory things she had done with Spike. "He can't hurt humans," she declared, a bit of darkness and remorse associated with the statement. "He knows that. Why would he try to hurt Tara? What would he want with Anya?"

"I don't know!" Xander shouted with unnatural fury. "Maybe it's the fact that he doesn't have a soul!"

"Xander," Willow said, his anger catching her attention. Tara took the ice pack out of her hand as Willow entered the conversation as a referee. "We all need to just… calm down and think," Willow breathed nervously. "Buffy has a point. What's his plan?"

"Don't you get it?" he barked back. "He doesn't need a plan! He's evil! He's a demon! A monster!"

"Then why did you let him fight by your side when I was gone?" Buffy defensively stated. She was growing far too weary of his loathing for Spike and her patience was stretching thin. "Why did you leave him with Dawn?" she asked. "He's fought with us through hell and—"

Xander lunged across the floor and pointed his finger in her face furiously. "Don't patronize him!" he spat lividly. Buffy was taken aback for a second by his hatred, fueled by his guilt for leaving Anya alone.

"Xander!" Willow snapped.

"Hey, back off!" James bellowed, standing up and taking his stand at her defense only feet a couple of feet away from Buffy and Xander.

"Stay out of this!" Xander hissed at him.

Buffy got in Xander's face with narrow eyes. "No, you stand down," she ordered with a quiet, but deadly serious tone. "And you think about whether or not you wanna make this personal."

He gazed at her in silent anger, steam running through his veins. Xander kept this for several moments before he finally stated, "Personally? You should have run a tree branch through his heart a long time ago." With that, Xander turned around and marched off headed towards the basement to be alone. He slammed the door as he continued, leaving Buffy and Willow numb in his wake.

Buffy was still for a few moments as she watched him go. James saw her expression melt away into a face of coldness and despair. Her guilt overwhelming her, she walked off and disappeared into the training room. "Buffy," Willow called after her, "wait…"

She glanced over to Tara for assurance. "Go ahead," Tara responded, and then Willow rushed off to aid her friend.

James and Tara were left alone in the shattered store. He looked over at her to see her sad expression as she gazed down at the ground, her head shaking in bewilderment. "This is all my fault," she whispered to herself.

"Don't say that," James stated. He looked over at him. "Sometimes these things just happen. People you love get hurt. If there was something that you could've done, I'm sure you would've done it."

Tara stared at him with a grateful heart and eyes brimming with tears as she lowered the ice pack. "Thanks," she nodded with a half-smile. He returned the gesture warmly and caringly, but noticed that Tara's face fell flat as she gazed frozenly at his chest.

"What?" he said, glancing down at his dirty, partially blood-stained, orange-and-white striped shirt.

"My god," she breathed with bewilderment. "That is one hideous uniform." He looked up at her, somewhat embarrassed, but mostly amused. He stared back down at the shirt in total agreement.

11:17:56 P.M. PST

Anya continued her frantic run down a street and stopped suddenly. She was still too close to the factory and knew she had to make it away from the docks to be anywhere near safe. A van pulled out onto the street that she was on as she dived into an alley.

She heard the tires screech to a sudden halt and she knew she had been discovered. Terrified, she jumped onto her feet and ran down the alley and to the next street. A quick glance behind her revealed that two vampires were onto her as they raced down the alley behind her.

"No!" she screamed, her fear getting the best of her. She maintained her mad dash until she turned the corner of the old firehouse and disappeared from view. The vampires appeared as they ran out into the middle of the street and paused in confusion.

"Where'd she go?" one of them declared nervously.

"Keep your mouth shut!" the older, other vampire ordered. He pointed down the left side of the building. "You go that way. We'll meet in the back." They parted ways as the older vamp headed for the right as the amateur ran down the left. They both exited the street and disappeared into the alleyways and away from each other's sight.

The older vamp suddenly heard a crash coming from the other alley. He knew she was there. He bolted towards the back street and ran along the back side of the abandoned firehouse towards the alley where his friend had to have caught her.

The vampire dashed into the left alley and froze. The other vampire was nowhere to be seen. He looked down and saw shattered glass on the ground next to a pile of dust. He glanced up at the side of the building to see an empty silver box with a shattered glass door.

Anya stepped out of the shadows wielding a fire axe and pulled it back, slicing the vampire's head off from behind. She didn't loiter long enough to watch his dust settle as she ran with the axe down the street.

11:24:34 P.M. PST

Elijah arrived at the Summers home by a large black van with Goliath and six other vampires to add to the two dozen already there. The van slowed to a stop and the side door slid open. Elijah jumped out, followed by his second-in-command and the others behind them.

"Status?" Elijah shouted as he walked up the sidewalk. He gazed around at the perimeter to see the vampires covering the ground and the second story around the windows. If there was a way in, they would find it.

A nearby vampire, dressed in black like the others replied, "She hasn't let us come in, sir. She was tipped off by Spike."

"What do we do now, sir?" Goliath asked with an evil smirk.

"We continue waiting," Elijah stated.

The nervous vampire added, "But sir – Sophie has failed. The Slayer might know our plan. She might already be on her way—"

"Which would only make our job easier," Elijah clarified rudely. "The intent of this operation is to use the Slayer's sister to lure her out into the open so they could attack! Now get back to work! We'll wait as long as it takes!"

11:32:19 P.M. PST

Dawn stood back at the top of the stairs in the shadows against the wall as Spike stood inches away. Every light in the house was out, but all the outdoor lights were on which made the potential intruders easy to spot. "Why are they doing this?" Dawn asked fearfully. "What do they want?"

"You, Little Bit," Spike explained. Dawn's stomach felt like it was going to drop out.

"Why?" she exclaimed. "Why me?"

"You're the Slayer's sister," Spike answered, eyeing the doors and the roaming silhouettes closely.

"Why me?" Dawn repeated, with an agonized sigh.

"Hey," he said caringly, turning back to her with a serious face. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." The moment he affirmed the statement, all the lights on the street went off and the silhouettes disappeared. Dawn jumped as Spike went back on alert and grasped her arm.

"What happened?" she whispered, wide-eyed.

Spike gazed down the staircase at the windows outside. He could not distinguish any figures anymore, and could barely see anything. "They shut off the power," he declared. Suddenly, they heard a crash through the living room window.

Spike rushed down the stairs to see a black canister roll across the wooden floorboards of the living room. "What the hell is that?" Spike declared, watching it until it rolled to a stop. A half-second later, it exploded at the base of the couch and erupted into a fireball, setting the couch on fire.

"Bloody hell!" Spike spat as he dodged the flames. He ran back to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl sitting next to the sink – one of the dozens that Willow had washed earlier. He filled it with water, then rushed back to the living room. Now, the couch, curtains, and coffee table were quickly becoming an inferno.

Spike glanced down at the measly bowl of water. "Bugger," he sighed in defeat. Dawn rushed up beside him and stared at the fire in astonishment.
"When did we get a fireplace?" she exclaimed.

"When we pissed them off by not inviting them in," he answered.

"Buffy's gonna be so mad!" Dawn declared before she bolted to the kitchen. "She'll never leave me alone in the house again!" Spike followed her and watched her reach under the sink and grab a fire extinguisher. The phone on the wall began to ring, but both of them ignored the calls. Dawn was crossing the kitchen window when Spike noticed another lick of flame coming from the darkness outside.

"Dawn!" he shouted, tackling her out of the way. Another firebomb crashed through the window as Spike yanked her off of the ground and into the foyer. It exploded, taking the kitchen table and the fire extinguisher with it and leaving a pillar of flame behind.

"We have to get outside!" Dawn screamed.

"We can't!" Spike explained. "There's too many out there!"

"I think that was their point!" she responded. They heard another crash coming from the back near the laundry room.

11:38:48 P.M. PST

Anya finally got far enough away from the docks to stop. She approached a payphone and grabbed the receiver, dropping the axe on the ground. She quickly began to dial a number and was interrupted by a recorded operator.

"If you would like to make a call, please hang up, insert fifty cents, and try again."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Anya hissed with frustration. She hung up the phone and began to rapidly dial another number.

11:39:31 P.M. PST

Buffy hung up the phone in disgust. Willow, Xander, Tara and James were all back in the Magic Box front store after a few minutes of break time. All of a sudden, the phone began to ring again. She picked up the receiver and quickly began, "Dawn?"

The operator-machine responded, "You have a collect call from—"

"Pick up the phone!" Anya screamed into the receiver, loud enough for everyone in the Magic Box to hear.

"—Would you like to accept the charges?"

"Yes!" Buffy and Xander shouted simultaneously as he rushed over to the phone and joined her.

"Speakerphone!" Willow shouted frantically. "Speakerphone!"
"The green button!" Tara clarified. Buffy pressed the green speakerphone button to hear Anya's frenzied voice.

"Xander? Are you there?" she shouted.

"I'm here, hon!" Xander exclaimed with sounds of relief and fear mixed together. "I thought I'd never hear your voice again…"

"I got away from them…" Anya shouted. "But they're still after me!"

"Where are you, sweetie?" Xander declared, his voice breaking.

Anya breathed, her heart racing inside her chest as she glanced around the dark, deserted street. "I'm a little ways out of town," she replied. "A mile-and-a-half away from the docks on the corner of… DuBose and Dennard."

"I know it," Willow declared.

"Who's after you?" Buffy asked. "Is it Spike?"

"No, it's these other vampires," Anya tried to explain. Her voice tightened as her nerves began to take hold of her. "Uh… they-they said something… something about Dawn."

"Dawn?" Tara repeated, her eyes wide.

"Who's Dawn?" James asked her.

"Buffy's little sister," Tara explained.

Buffy stared down at the phone in horror. "She hasn't been answering," she tensely replied.

"Xander," Anya began, "I think they're gonna—" Anya felt a hand on her arm as she was ripped away from the phone. The line went dead and all they could hear was the monotone beeping of the disconnected phone line.

"Ahn?" Xander exclaimed, his eyes widening. He shouted at the phone desperately, "Anya!"

Buffy stared up at Xander, instantaneously moving into action. "Xander, Willow, take Xander's car and get to the location Anya just gave us."

Willow asked, "Where are you going?"

"I have to get home and make sure Dawn's okay," Buffy nervously explained. She began to run for the door and stopped, turning to James. "You're coming with me."

"As someone who can help," James declared. "Not as a suspect."

"I don't have time for this," Buffy shook her head.

Willow stated firmly, "Tara's not staying here alone."

"I'm not staying here at all," she boldly responded. They turned to her as she dropped the ice pack on top of the table. "I'm going with Buffy."

"Fine," Xander agreed and began for the door.

Willow pleaded, "Tara, you're head—"

"I'm fine," she defended. "I don't need anyone to hold my hand." Willow was taken aback for a moment, stung by her blatant declaration and reminded once again that Tara wasn't under her advisement or authority anymore.

"Let's go," James replied, staring at Buffy with firm eyes. "We're running out of time."

11:51:41 P.M. PST

Elijah stood out on the front lawn as the first level of the Summers home continued to burn slowly. Too slowly. "This is taking too long," Elijah declared to Goliath, standing at his side. "They should have come out by now."

He stared intently into the flame. They could hear distant wailing of sirens quickly approaching. "Time is no longer on our side," Goliath stated as the vampires slowly began to stop and take notice. "The police will arrive soon."

"Why aren't they coming out?" one of the vampires snapped in frustration. Elijah continued to stare silently into the flame. A realization suddenly came over him.

"The sewers," he calmly, slowly and furiously declared. "They went through the sewers."

11:54:59 P.M. PST

Dawn and Spike ran hand-in-hand through the dark, dank sewers as he led her away from the Summers residence and down Revello Drive from beneath the street. He, too, could hear the approaching sirens.

Dawn kept running behind Spike, feeling like her slipper-ed feet were barely touching the water covering the floor of the tunnels. Spike was flying through the air while Dawn struggled to keep up. The smell of dead things and things she didn't want to picture threatened to choke her. It was pitch black all around her and she felt like she was going to smack into a disgusting, grimy wall any second.

They finally arrived in a tunnel that had dim light at the end. They must have made it to another block where the power was on. "Spike, slow down!" Dawn pleaded.

"We can't!" he replied as he rounded a corner. "They're right behind us."

"Wrong," they heard a voice boom. Spike and Dawn froze as she nearly crashed into him. Spike's eyes were wide as he faced Elijah and several of his vampires behind them. A twisted smile was planted firmly on his ex-leader's face as he stood in a relaxed stance with his hands inside his pockets.

"Run!" Spike ordered as Dawn rushed off down the tunnel as fast as she could.

"Cut him down," Elijah calmly ordered. The vamps opened fire on Spike and rained down a multitude of bullets on him. He was taken to the ground as he felt fiery stab wounds in his stomach and chest… seventeen in all. He could count and feel every single one.

Spike's beaten body fell to the ground and lay there at Elijah's feet. He stared down at the traitor intently for several seconds. Spike's eyes were fixated on him as Elijah softly declared, "I shot a tracking device into your heart."

Spike's eyes widened. Elijah grinned, "Kid's smart. But stupid enough to trust you." Elijah kneeled down at stared him in the eyes. "I knew you'd come in handy." Spike stared up at his face in horror.

"Go get her," he softly ordered as Goliath and a few other vamps took off like cheetahs on the Serengeti.

Goliath leading them, they raced down several tunnels with inhuman speed. Goliath himself moved like a freight train with the threat of obliterating anything in his path. He could smell Dawn's warm, sweet scent from miles away it seemed. However, the faster he ran, the more it seemed to dwindle away from him.

Finally he turned the corner and disappeared into a tunnel that was shrouded in complete darkness. He stopped in the pool of disgusting water covering the ground of the tunnel as he and the other vampires stared around in the dark. He listened hard for a heartbeat nearby, but could not distinguish one. Her scent was lost as well.

He looked down the tunnel and saw an uncovered manhole and several rungs leading up to the road above.

"Sneaky girl," he hissed as he darted down the tunnel and up the rungs. The vampires followed him and disappeared up the ladder and onto the street.

After several still seconds, Dawn pushed herself up out of the murky water before she vomited. Sopping wet, she took a deep breath and glanced back and down the tunnel to see that it was clear. Alone, she bolted down the tunnel into the thick darkness ahead.


11:59:58…

11:59:59…

12:00:00

Should I continue the story, or dump it? Review and let me know.