Spike sat on the edge of Dawn's bed. She lay in it, silently crying. Willow followed him in. Why wouldn't she leave?

"It's just what I do." The words came out calmly.

He reached for a pillow and pressed it down on Dawn's face. He heard Willow gasp behind him.

"Come on Will, you've known me, how long?" It was almost funny that she didn't get it. "This is all I'm here for. It's what I am."

His hands pushed the pillow tighter around her head. Slowly her struggle got weaker and weaker. Any second now she'd be dead.

"Spike, stop. No, god, no. Stop!" The witch pleaded behind him.

"What?" He asked.

Stop what? He couldn't think. He was killing his sister. Didn't she think he'd stop if he could? But this was what he was. What he'd always been. A killer. A monster.

There was a rasp under his hands and Dawn's body finally stilled. There he'd done it. He'd killed his sister.

"I keep telling you. I figured it out. This is my gift."

Then they were back in England again. He was laying on the floor, rolling his fire truck across the carpet. Willow stood over him but he ignored her. She wasn't part of this anyway. Then his mum was coming through the door. His father followed her in. He'd died almost three years after this and they'd moved to America a few years after that.

His mother knelt down to show him the baby in her arms.

"We're calling her Dawn." She told him as she pulled back the blanket.

Then they were in the Magic Box. He slid the book back on to the shelf. He knew what this moment was. He hated himself because of it. Willow watched him with a frown on her face.

Then he was in the garage. Buffy stood before him. Her hands were cut and burnt. The bruises Glory had given her were still colouring her face. She looked up at him with those open green eyes of hers. He was vaguely aware that Willow stood watching him. But he didn't care.

He put a hand around her neck and pulled her forward to meet him. Her lips were soft and cool. Memories of the will-be-done spell washed over him. He knew what it was like to loose himself in her lips, her curves, her hands in his hair, her voice as she whispered naughty things in his ear.

Ben's shouting reached his ears but he didn't move from her embrace. Then Dawn was screaming. Still he couldn't move. All he could do was deepen the kiss with Buffy. His other hand grasped Buffy's hip. Her tongue met his and he groan.

Willow grabbed his arm and pulled him round.

"What are you doing?" She shrieked.

"Letting my sister die." He answered hollowly. What else?

He was standing next to his mother again, watching baby Dawn wiggle around.

"I could be the one to look after her sometimes." He said looking up into his mother's kind eyes as she smiled down at him.

Then he was walking down the hallway at Revello Drive once more. Willow followed him.

"Spike, will you just listen to me? You have to stop doing this." She insisted, dogging his every step.

Why was she still here? She didn't belong.

"Doing what?" He asked.

"Killing Dawn."

"Why?"

"Because it never happened. You never killed your sister!"

"Will, I did this." Was the hallway longer than he remembered?

Willow ran around him and blocked his path into Dawn's room. Spike barely looked at her.

"In your imagination. None of this is real. Your stuck in some kind of loop." But Spike pushed past her.

He didn't understand what she was talking about. He had to kill Dawn now. She was there laying on her bed again, tears in her eyes. Tears he'd put there. Willow shouted at him to leave her alone but he couldn't. He killed his sister.

"What is this?" Willow asked.

"My gift. This is what I do."

"No." Willow said. "This."

And they were in the Magic Box again. He put the book on the shelf again. Then he did it again. And again.

"What is this? This happened. I know its small but it's something..."

"Don't go there, Will." Spike scowled.

He didn't want to talk about this. Didn't want to admit it. Wanted to leave. Go back to LA or Buffy or even Dawn. It was all better than this. None of those things were real.

"I'm not, you are. Your trying to show me something." Willow insisted.

Of course it was all about her. Even in his own head.

"This is when I quit." Spike didn't feel quite as hollow as he said it, like he was becoming more solid.

"You did?" Willow asked scrunching up her face.

Of course she didn't understand.

"Just for a second." He put the book back on her shelf.

Then Spike was standing next to Willow, watching himself put the book back.

"I remember. I was at the Magic Box, reading. Nothing special about it. Then it hit me."

"What hit you?"

Spike put the book back on the shelf. He turned to Willow.

"I can't beat Glory. Glory's going to win."

"Spike, you can't know that. Not for sure."

"I didn't just know it. I felt it. Glory's going to beat me." Suddenly next to her again he turned. "And in that moment of knowing it, Will..."

"I wanted it to happen." Spike put the book on the shelf again.

"Why?" Asked Willow, shocked.

Spike almost wanted to laugh. If she were Buffy he wouldn't have had to say anything else. She would have got it. Why was it a centuries old vampire knew him better than his best friends in all the world?

"I wanted it over. It's too much." Spike thought maybe there should have been tears in his eyes, but all he felt was numb. "If Glory wins, then Dawn dies. And people would feel sorry for me, but it would be over. I imagined what a relief it would be."

Spike put the book back once again.

"I killed my sister."

"Is that what you think?" Spike looked up, having almost forgotten she was there.

"My thinking made it happen. Some part of me wanted it. So, in the moment Glory took Dawn..." He trailed off. "I know I could have done something better. And I didn't. I was off some fraction of a second. And this is why. I killed my sister."

They were silent for a moment while Spike watched himself put the book back again.

"I think Buffy may have been right." Willow shouted sharply. "Snap out of it!"

Spike jumped. "What?"

"Hello! Your sister's not dead yet! But she will be if you stay locked inside here and never come back to us." Willow stepped towards the Spike in front of the bookshelf.

"I don't think I can." Spike frowned and looked around.

"Okay unlike Glory, the Slayer is also human. You get to be. You feel everything you're doing and I admit, I have no idea how hard that must be- but you have to do it."

"And what if I can't?" Spike asked.

"Then I guess you're right. And you did kill your sister." With that Willow turned and headed for the Magic Box door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" He asked her.

She turned back to him.

"Where your needed. You coming?" She asked hand out stretched.

Spike turned and watched himself put the book back one last time. Right. Work to do. And with that he grabbed Willow's hand.

As Spike returned to himself he took a deep breath. It took him a minute to realize where he was. Xander and Anya's bedroom. They were back in Sunnydale. And... Dawn had been taken.

As he looked at Willow, the sobs erupted from his throat. Spike buried his head in his hands. God, Glory had Dawn. He felt Willow's hand on his shoulder. He didn't know how long they were like that but when his tears tapered off and he took some deep breaths, he looked up at her again.

"You okay, Wills?"

She nodded. "You?"

Spike nodded back and they headed into the front room. Anya and Tara were asleep, sitting up on the couch. Willow left them and went to get herself water and something to eat. Entering Spike's mind had taken it out of her and she had to get her strength back. Spike followed her.

"Where's everyone else?" His voice rasped from crying.

"Xander said they'd head to the Magic Box when Giles was released. Buffy went to go track down Glory." She pulled a glass out of the cupboard.

"By herself?" He frowned.

Worry for Buffy roiled his stomach. But he couldn't go chasing after her. She wouldn't get too close. Buffy was smarter than that.

Behind them, Anya stirred.

"Oh, you're back." She stretched and rubbed her eyes. "Giles called. Buffy and Xander found the ritual text. They're going through it all right now."

"Glory?" Spike asked.

"Her apartment was empty. Sorry." She said shaking her head.

Spike nodded. They had to get over there. He told them as much. It took longer to get out of the house than Spike would have liked but he understood. Willow had to take care of Tara. When he entered the Magic Box, Giles gasped saying, You're back, like he'd been on vacation and not having a mental breakdown.

He was glad to see Buffy sitting on the stairs leading to the restricted section. He didn't say so but he hoped she could tell.

Then Giles started talking. A ritual bloodletting. Dawn's blood. Hell raining down on Earth. Everyone dying.

"So how do we stop it?" He asked, worried by the look on his Watcher's face.

"Spike... The only way is to kill Dawn."

For a second it didn't compute. A bubble of laughter pushed it way out of his throat. Looking at the others, he could tell Giles, Xander and Buffy had talked about it before he arrived. It was probably the reason Buffy was sat on the stairs away from them.

"No." It's all he could say.

Giles tried to argue but Spike interrupted him. He wasn't going to hear it. They spent a while going over the text. Buffy even pitched in but she didn't say a word. Clearly, she was as angry as him.

"Oh." Willow said frowning.

"What?" Spike snapped.

"It's... Oh." Willow's eyes flickered up at Buffy.

"What is it Willow?" Giles asked, slipping off his glasses and giving them a thorough cleaning.

"It says here the monks used two beings to create Dawn's form. One of light and one of... Darkness." Willow looked between Spike and Buffy again.

"What?" Buffy asked sounding more high pitched than normal.

Xander followed Willow's gaze. "No!"

"Yeah. I mean I always thought it was weird Dawn wasn't a boy. Or like a clone of Spike... But wow." Willow said scanning the papers in front of her.

Giles put his glasses back on and began reading over Willow's shoulder. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"See; 'And so they used two beings to create the form which would house the Key. A warrior of light and a warrior of darkness. Enemies and Allies alike.' That's got to be Buffy, she's the only warrior of darkness we've ever allied with." Willow explained.

Spike somehow wasn't surprised. As the words had left Willow's mouth, he felt how right they were. And they'd always had a connection, the two of them. He remembered one time when Dawn had turned round and told him Buffy was way cooler than Drusilla would ever be. And she was supposedly still an evil vampire back then.

"What about Dru?" Xander asked.

Spike rolled his eyes. Dawn looked nothing like Drusilla. But there was something of Buffy about her. Now he knew, he could see it.

"Well, she's not exactly a warrior of darkness is she? Vampire? Yes. Souled, also yes." Willow argued.

Spike turned to look at the vampire in question. She had a far away look in her eye, like she was remembering days gone by. Ignoring the other's argument he approached her.

"You alright, luv?" He asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped at the contact.

"Oh, yeah. It's just... She looks a bit like my sister. I always thought so but..." Buffy shrugged and shook her head a bit.

Spike nodded and turned to the others.

"Any other time, this would be interesting. But it doesn't help us now so lets bloody get on, yeah?"

They sat in silence for a while searching the writings for any other way to stop the ritual. But Giles' words hung heavy around them. He wasn't going to kill his sister. He'd decided that when he left his head and joined the fight once again. He was going to do everything he could to keep Dawn alive. Death wasn't going to be his gift. No matter what The First Slayer had said.

He heard a noise outside and went to investigate. The vampire he found didn't know who he was. It had been a while since that happened. One that wasn't crawling out of the dirt, not hissing his name. Slayer. He staked it and saved the guy it was going to have for lunch.

When he got back inside he asked Giles to go through it again.

Giles went over the facts again. If the ritual started Dawn had to die. The flow of blood had to be stopped. That was the way Giles put it. As if that would make it more palatable. Like Spike could make himself think of his sister as an object. Then Xander was asking, why blood? Like that mattered.

"Of course it's got to be blood." Buffy sighed.

"We wasn't talking about dinner, thank-you." Xander snapped back.

"Blood is life, lack brain. Why do you think we eat it? It's what keeps you going. Keeps you warm. Keeps you hard. Keeps you other than dead. Course it's got to be her blood." She tapered off.

They'd just have to hold Glory off. Stop her from doing the ritual until it was too late. He said as much but Giles basically told him that that was no guarantee and he should kill his sister anyway. It may have been the fool proof plan but Spike wasn't doing it.

She was his sister. She was more than that. She was him. And Buffy.

"If the ritual starts, every living thing in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death. Including Dawn." Giles said sternly, as if he didn't already know.

"Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her." He answered defiantly.

"You'll fail. You'll die. We all will."

"I'm sorry." He said shaking his head. "I love you all but I'm sorry."

888888888888888888888888888888

Buffy listened to Xander and Anya have a 'we might all die' shag under her feet. She missed those. She wouldn't have minded one herself right now. Her last one was during the Cuban missile crisis. She still wasn't sure if Angelus had understood what had been happening. She'd been so sure the humans were going to end the world, that Angelus's vague reassurances that the pixie's told him they'd live, made very little difference.

She lit a cigarette as she listened to their grand finale. It seemed the boy had at least marginal skill.

Then they were mumbling to each other and her distraction was gone. Soon they'd be marching off to battle a Hell God and she couldn't help but think she wasn't coming back. Still, least it was a death worth dying. She'd always hoped it would be a Slayer though. Buffy sighed.

Then he came out the back room. Spike headed over to Willow. Giles didn't follow him out. Buffy had to guess the Watcher had tried to persuade him one more time. It would never work. She didn't know why he was trying. The Slayer would never kill Dawn.

Anya and Xander appeared, followed by Giles.

"I've got to grab some weapons." Spike said as he joined them.

"I'm looking for something in a broadsword..." Xander mimed swinging a sword.

"Don't be swinging that thing near me." She snarked.

"Hey, I happen to be-"

But she cut him off. "A glorified bricklayer?"

"I'm also a swell bowler." he came back, making Buffy roll her eyes.

"Has his own shoes." Anya came to his aid.

Buffy opened her mouth to mock him some more but Spike spoke up.

"Buffy. Your with me."

She followed the Slayer out and headed back to Revello. When Spike opened the door, he paused on the threshold. Buffy supposed he hadn't been back here since Glory had come after Tara. Then he was running half way up the stairs.

"Weapons in the chest by the TV. I've gotta get something upstairs I'll be..."

"Spike." That stopped him.

He turned back to her and she knew she had to say it now. This was probably going to be her last chance to talk to him in private and she didn't want all the Scoobies gawking a her.

"I..." But he spoke.

"We're not all going to make it."

Her heart clenched but she put a smile on her face.

"Yeah. Hey, I always knew I'd go down fighting. Never thought it would be for this side... Or for this reason." Buffy pictured Dawn in her head again.

She still couldn't wrap her head around how something so good had come from her. In any way.

"I'm counting on you, Buffy. To help protect her."

"Till the end of the world. Even if that happens to be tonight. No body touches the Little Bit while I'm around. I promise." She looked him right in the eye as she said it.

Buffy wanted him to know she meant it. Spike went to turn round and Buffy stepped forward to stop him. He stopped and looked at her.

"I..." Buffy lost her nerve. "I'll be here. Get your stuff."

Spike ran up the stairs and Buffy moved to the weapons chest. It was probably better that she didn't tell him. Buffy didn't want to get in his head. And she didn't want her last memory of him to be rejection. She would stick with this. Trust. Camaraderie.

They hurried back to the Magic Box, weaponry in hand. Willow sent Tara off and she followed at a distance. Buffy handed the weapons over to Giles, picking out the sword she wanted. Spike turned to look at them all.

"Everyone knows their jobs. Remember, the ritual starts, we all die. And I'll kill anyone who comes near Dawn." He glanced at Giles and then turned to follow Willow out.

"Not exactly the St. Crispin's Day speech, was it?" She snarked, breaking some of the tension the Slayer had left in his wake.

"We few..." Giles hefted his sword, heading for the door himself. "We happy few."

"We band of buggered..." She finished for him.

When they saw the tower, Xander split off and they waited a few before following Willow and Tara in. Spike went one way carrying the Orb and the Troll Hammer, while Buffy lead Giles and Anya around the other way.

Then they were fighting minions and crazy people. She lost sight of Spike but could hear him and the God going at it over the din of the battle she was surrounded by. She'd killed four or five demons but the humans kept getting in the way. She landed a punch to someone's head and almost crumped at the pain that ran through her skull. Bits of rubble hit the ground but Buffy wasn't sure if they were being thrown or if the tower above them was falling down.

When Xander finally joined them they had been pushed back behind a heap of rubble and a large congregation had formed around the bottom of the stairs. She couldn't even plough through with all the humans milling about.

"If Spike can keep Glory down long enough, it won't matter. There's only a few minutes left to start the ritual." Giles adjusted his glasses, sounding somewhat surprised and hopeful.

Buffy looked up to the top of the tower again. She'd heard Dawn scream out to Spike earlier. Now she made out the slight form of Dawn and...

"Someone's up there." She said to the others, feeling the panic rise within her.

Suddenly Red's voice sounded through her head.

"Buffy. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." She answered back, pushing aside her hesitation at the witch poking at her brain, not taking her eyes off of the top of the tower.

"Who? What?" She heard Giles murmur but she ignored him.

"Is someone up there with Dawn?" The witch asked.

"Yeah. Can't see who."

"Get up there. Go now." Willow's voice shouted desperately.

"But-" She looked back as the seething masses of humans in her path.

"GO!"

With that Buffy was up and running. Everyone parted like the Red Sea around her curtesy of the witch. Buffy was up the stairs, grasping up ladders and spending every ounce of super speed to get up there. She had to save Dawn. She was two levels from the top when the scent of blood hit her nose. Dawn's blood.

When she reached the top, she barely had time to take in Doc making shallow cuts to Dawn's abdomen. Dawn screamed her name when she saw her and the smelly demon spun round.

"Doesn't a fellow stay dead when you kill him?" She asked.

"Look who's talking." The demon smiled at her.

She didn't have time for this. She had to save Dawn.

"I don't smell a soul anywhere on you... Why do you even care?" The demon asked, sounding vaguely intrigued but probably scheming a way to sway her to his side if he could.

But Buffy didn't answer him. She attacked snarling. Buffy dodged his tongue as it came speeding out at her neck. Grabbing his arm she twisted it behind his back. Without hesitation she threw him off the side of the tower.

Dawn was crying when she untied her. Buffy tried to pull her away, back to the stairs but Dawn pulled against her.

"What are doing?" But as she said it, lightning lit up he sky around them.

"It's started." Dawn yelled over the sudden howl of the wind.

The portal opened under them, crackling and hissing with light. Dawn tried to pull away from her again but Buffy wouldn't let go. Dawn's blood filled her nose and waves of magic pulsed through her from the portal.

"I can end this." Dawn implored, begging Buffy to let her end her own life.

Under her feet she could feel someone bombing it up the tower. It could only be Spike. Her Slayer come to save the day. But it was too late.

"It needs the blood!" Dawn screamed.

And then it all clicked for her. Blood. She grabbed both of Dawn's shoulders. She could feel Spike getting closer; she didn't have time.

"Bit, do you trust me?" She asked, shaking the girl slightly.

Dawn looked up at her.

"Yes." She answered with certainty.

"Close your eyes." And the girl did.

Buffy took a moment to memorise every detail of her face. Then she moved the girls hair to the side and leant in. She bit down as gently as she could but still she felt Dawn flinch and the chip shock her. She took two mouthfuls, hoping it would be enough, just in case her own diluted blood wasn't. Buffy didn't want to take more from the already bleeding girl.

As Dawn opened her eyes again, Buffy looked behind her to where the portal was opening.

"Buffy... No." Dawn said as she realized Buffy's plan.

"I gotta Dawn! If I don't, your brother will. You need him more than me. The world needs him." Dawn started crying again and Buffy felt the prickle behind her eyes. "Do something for me? Tell him... Tell him I love him. Will you do that for me, Bit?"

Dawn nodded through her tears.

"You live. For me."

And with that Buffy turned, taking two running steps and launching herself off the tower and into the portal beneath.