Just A Little Piece Of Paradise
Summery: Set aprox. 6 years after Surprise. Assume Dawn has been strengthening the powers she began to use at the end of Surprise. Willow and Granddad Giles have been helping the twins hone their magical abilities. Buffy and Spike have claimed eachother and married. As much as I'd love to write that scene, I have a 14 year old sister who likes this verse.
Chapter 1
"Finally my revenge shall commence!" Thoth screamed into his dark, dank cave. "My Agrat-bat-mahlaht shall return."
Putting the finishing touches on the twins' sixth birthday cake, Buffy stared out the kitchen window. She watched the twins playing tag with Dawn, Xander, and his daughter, Abigail. The passed six years have been heavenly. Well as heavenly as like could be when you're the slayer who averts annual apocalypses, has a vampire as a husband, and two magically inclined children who enjoy mischief.
Buffy sighed as she felt two arms wrap around her waist. "Thank you," she told Spike, knowing it was him.
Spike turned her around and pinned her against the counter. "For what, Luv?"
"Everything," She replied kissing him deeply.
"Eeewww!" the twins screeched simultaneously, but quickly getting over it. "Can we have cake now Mummy?"
Smiling at Ziva, Buffy kneeled down to her level. "I told you before kiddo, we have to wait till Granddad, Willow, and Tara to get here."
Hearing the front door open and slam shut, everyone rushed into the living room. There stood Giles, Willow, and Tara with their arms full of old books. "We have a problem," Giles said in a voice Buffy knew all to well.
"Why don't you take the kids into the kitchen, Dawn, and get them some cake." She waited till they had left the room before turning back to Giles. "Giles spill."
"It would seem that another unstoppable evil is out to destroy us again," Giles explained opening one of the books. "Apparently Thoth, the God of magic, has found a way to go back in time in order to destroy William Ashford before he become a vampire. This of course causing you two to never meet and forcing the twins into nonexistence."
Spike hugged Buffy closer. "First why? Secondly, since when have prophecies come in detail?"
Willow spoke up, "Well, Thoth was the reason Satan expelled Agrat from his domain. Thoth and Agrat were lovers and he wants revenge for her death. It just took him a while to workout the kinks. And to answer your second question, recently the tales of impending doom are getting easier and easier to decode. Call it experience or whatever, but this prophecy reads like a child's storybook. Well it would if a kid's book was full of violence and impending doom."
"Alright, so what do we have to do?" Xander asked.
Giles started to clean his glasses again. "Tara, Willow and I have concluded that we need to go back in time to destroy Thoth. Time travel is very draining so he will need at least a week before he can attempt anything else. The problem is that there can't be two of the same entities in the same time."
"And how do you propose that we get around that problem let alone travel time?" Spike asked, not entirely liking the way things were going.
Tara began to say her part. "I figured that only you and Buffy needed to travel backwards, seeing that Thoth should be weak enough for you to kill without the twins assistance. I also found a spell that would allow you to virtually posses William's body. You would have your memories and your strength without destroying the space time continuum."
"Cool. Now that that's settled, how do we get there? Do I have to posses somebody to?" Buffy asked.
"No Buffy. You may walk through with your own body. We can most likely open the portal into William's home, so we can do the spell quickly as you join him," Giles said still avoiding one point of topic.
Raising his hand Xander questioned, "Is it me or have we skipped around the whole how part of the trip?"
Once again Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them. "The safest way we could figure was using the key."
"The key?" Buffy inquired. It took her a few seconds to catch on. "Dawn!"
Hearing her name shouted she ran into the living room. "What?"
"Dawn, we need you to open a doorway between time so Buffy and Spike can stop a God from destroying our futures," Willow said calmly.
Looking at Giles she asked, "Do you think I'm ready for something that huge?"
Putting a hand to her cheek he replied, "Dawn you are ready for anything you set your mind to."
"Okay. Lets do this thing," Dawn said getting revved up.
Still a little unsure, Buffy finally consented. "Fine just let me say goodbye to the kids."
"No need. Once you kill Thoth you will automatically be transported back to the time right after you leave. It will be like you never left," Tara explained.
Dawn cut her finger as she concentrated on the time and place Giles had explained earlier. After a few moments a silvery portal opened. "Neat."
Dressed in period clothing Willow had rented for them Buffy and Spike grasped each other's hands. "It'll be fine, Luv. And if Dawn screwed up the dimension, we can always ground her till the end of law school," Spike said causing Buffy to smile, and Dawn to give a resounded Hey. As Willow, Tara and Giles finished their chanting, Spike began to fad. Smirking he said, "See you on the other side."
Giving everyone one last nod goodbye, and getting one more "Be careful" from Giles, Buffy turned and faced the portal. "Here goes nothing," She said stepping into the unknown leaving everyone behind.