A/N: A thousand thanks to my beta, OrinForeverCrimson! My apologies for this release being soooooo incredibly delayed. So, please read and review, but most importantly, enjoy!
The fight had raged on for what must have been hours. To Buffy, it seemed as if the fight was all she could remember. It was a good thing that the former Slayer could no longer feel physical fatigue because she was feeling mental fatigue badly enough. Watching her friend battle for this long, knowing that the odds were stacked against him, was emotionally draining. Buffy wanted so badly to jump in and help Spike against his angelic opponent, but she knew that not only would that be a violation of the rules that the Powers had laid out for her, but that such an action was physically impossible in their current location. While onlookers were allowed in the many Chambers of Trials, actually aiding the petitioner was expressly forbidden. Buffy couldn't even offer her moral support, as she was also unable to speak while the Trials were in progress.
Buffy watched on in silence as the fight picked up pace once again. Spike was limping pronouncedly due to the knee injury he suffered against the angel's armour earlier in the fight. He had done well to put that leg behind him for the majority of the battle since the injury occurred, minimizing the opportunities for the winged warrior facing him to take advantage of. Still, the celestial had landed a few blows to the leg and knee, and each one had caused severe pain to wrack the already battered vampire. Spike knew that he had to make a move soon if he wanted to finish the fight with a favourable outcome. Spike decided to lay a trap that he hoped his fellow fighter could not resist.
Spike closed the gap towards the angel as quickly as he could manage, keeping his left leg back as he neared his opponent. He threw a phantom punch with his right arm and sold it for all it was worth. The angel jerked to his left, easily avoiding the blow, however the celestial did not anticipate what would come next. Spike followed his fake punch with a devastating left hook, pivoting his torso without changing his stance or losing any momentum. The surprise blow land on the angel's ribs, directly on the seams of his armour. Spike knew immediately that most of the bones in his left hand were shattered. He also knew that the angel had at least two badly broken ribs and possibly several more cracked. It was then that Spike set his trap.
Spike had propelled his last blow off of his damaged knee, which he now left in front of himself and unprotected. Spike cursed loudly and with gusto, cradling his mangled left hand in his right. Spike didn't have to sell his pain; that part was all too real. What he did need to do was make his leg look like a viable target that he had simply forgotten about due to his new agony. The angel, reeling from the almost debilitating pain in his side, saw the leg and Spike's distraction and, hoping to finally finish the fight, took the bait.
The angel launched everything he had at Spike's front leg with a vicious sweep kick. Spike reacted instantly, leaping off the ground with his good leg before bringing his damaged left leg down on the surprised and vulnerable wings of the angel. His leg collided with a resounding crack, splintering both of the angel's left side wings while also snapping Spike's knee in the process. Both warriors screamed in agony as fresh pain ripped through them in waves. Spike's knee was damaged beyond repair now. He thought that he would not be standing again anytime soon, but the vampire knew that he had suffered worse before. Very little could compare to the torture that Glory had put him through earlier in the year. For the angel, however, this was the worst sort of hell that he could imagine. Never before had he been so injured. The celestial had been wounded before, almost fatally, but never had his wings been targeted. He writhed on the ground, fighting to stay conscious. Spike looked over, saw that the angel was still awake, and knew that he had to change that.
Spike used his right leg and arm to crawl over to the nearest cave wall, then began to claw his way to a standing position. When he was standing on one leg, Spike looked back towards his foe and almost fell over in shock. The angel had found a way to stand. He was battered and severely injured, but he could still fight. When his eyes met Spike's, they both knew that the fight would indeed be over soon.
The angel lurched awkwardly towards Spike, his balance being off in ways that he never thought possible. Spike walked with one leg by dragging his left leg behind him. Spike wanted to scream with every step that he took, but he refused to give in to the pain. Both opponents formulated new stratagems based upon their uniquely debilitated conditions, and both knew that this would be the last shot at survival. The men came together in a devastating collision.
Spike once again launched himself off of his right leg, but this time threw a scissor kick while at the same time pivoting his torso and throwing a tremendous left hook. For his part, the angel had predicted something similar and threw all his weight behind a double fisted hammer blow, using his good wings to provide added momentum.
Spike's kick shattered the angel's right set of wings, while his punch shattered the winged warrior's jaw. However, the celestial had timed his blow just right, putting of his remaining strength into the attack. The hammer blow caught Spike directly in the chest and sent him hurdling into the cave wall behind him. Spike hit the rock with spine breaking force, his neck snapped back, slamming his head into the wall as well. The sound was so sickening that had Buffy been corporeal, she would have thrown up from sadness and shock. As it was, she sank to her knees and hung her head in grief as Spike crumpled lifelessly to the floor.
The night had moved quickly for the both the Scooby and the A.I. camps, distracted as they were by all the catching up. It was well into the wee hours of the morning when a single noise silenced all conversation in the room. A strangled shout of anguish burst forth from Spike's lips, drawing all eyes to him. It was immediately apparent that Spike's physical condition, which had been healing faster than the normal rate for a vampire, was now several factors worse than when Giles and Xander had dragged him from the ruined basement of Warren Mears' home. His chest was a literal mass of fresh bruises and welts and the pillow underneath his head was dark with blood.
There was a flurry of simultaneous activity as everyone crowed around Spike. They all began to talk and shout and even cry all at once, making a fairly incoherent cacophony throughout the room. Just as soon as the commotion began, Cordelia was greeted with another vision from the Powers That Be. She was shown images of the fight between Spike and his angelic opponent as well as that of Buffy crying silently once the fight had stopped. Then she was given a mental image of Dawn. Cordelia didn't quite understand that part, because Dawn was in the room with her and not in whatever realm Spike and Buffy were in. As if sensing her confusion, the Powers sent an additional image of Dawn holding on tightly to Spike, speaking words that Cordelia could not understand before they both were surrounded by a softly glowing pink light.
Cordelia slumped as the vision faded, only to be caught by the perceptive Angel before she could hit the floor.
"Another vision?" Angel asked, already knowing the answer. Cordelia only nodded in response before standing back up and putting her mental faculties back together. Satisfied that she was fine, she walked over to the frantic Dawn.
"Dawn, honey, it's going to be okay," Cordelia said soothingly as she pulled Dawn to the side.
"It-it is?" Dawn's eyes were red and her face was wet and she sniffled as she spoke. Everyone had their eyes trained on Cordelia and Dawn as the former Sunnydale diva explained what the last Summers had to do.
"You need to reach inside yourself, Dawn, and tap your potential." Dawn, who had not had a full night's rest in several days, was perhaps the most confused she had ever been in her life.
"What... what do you mean?"
"You're the Key, Dawn, and there's a door that you need to open."
After what seemed like a lifetime, there was a noise from across the cavern. Buffy looked up hopefully through bleary eyes, only to see that it was not Spike but rather the angel who stirred at last. Buffy briefly recalled that the angel had also fallen to the ground in a heap, unconscious from the damage that Spike had inflicted. Now, the angel groaned in pain for several long minutes before finally coming to his senses.
"Ogdoad," the angel rasped out weakly. His jaw hung at an awkward angle, causing the words to be even more slurred. Not long after the angel had spoken, the robed figure that had guided Spike through his trials appeared. The angel's face was such a mess that his eyes were swollen to the point that the robed man had to stand there for several minutes before the angel realised that his call had been answered.
"I have won. Send me back home." The angel struggled with each word, doing his best to pronounce them in spite of the pain each syllable brought him.
"I can not, Mikhail; you have not won." As Buffy watched, she witnessed the angel's features change from a bloody, deformed mess to a look of pure shock. Buffy was certain that the new look matched her own. The robed man also saw the look upon the celestial's face and reiterated his conditions for victory. "Only one of you can leave these chambers." As he understood the Ogdoad's full meaning, Mikhail hung his head in sadness and let it rest there for several moments before he nodded slightly.
"So be it," he said numbly before looking determinedly towards Spike's prone form. Mikhail tried to rise several times but each attempt ended in failure, sending him sprawling back to the ground. So badly was the angel's sense of balance impaired, he could not even manage a kneeling position. Resigning himself to crawl, Mikhail began to drag himself towards Spike.
Any hope that Buffy may have felt when the robed man had said that the fight wasn't yet over was rapidly fading with every inch that the angel moved in Spike's direction. Buffy knew that if Spike didn't get up, the next time the angel called for the robed man there would be no argument over who had won the battle.
"I am not!" Dawn's protest surprised Cordelia, causing her to almost drop her hold on the young girl's arm. When she recovered, Cordelia knew that the tender approach wasn't going to work. That was fine with Cordelia; playing nice wasn't her speciality.
"Oh yes you are, Missy! And now you've got to figure out how to tap into that big ball of energy that you used to be if you want to save Spike." Cordelia let go of Dawn's arm and folded her own in front of her, almost daring Dawn to contradict her. Dawn looked as if she was going to start yelling in typical Dawn fashion but instead she swallowed her arguments.
"How do I do that?" Dawn's voice was quiet but determined. Sensing that determination, Cordelia turned towards the rest of the group.
"I think everyone in this room knows more about this kind of magic mumbo-jumbo than me," Cordelia said as she scanned the Scoobies. "Except Xander," she quickly added with a smile, provoking an injured "Hey!" out of her lover from years past.
"Well," Giles began, ignoring the final exchange between Cordelia and Xander, "if we start from the standpoint that Dawn can access her energy just like any other magically attuned person, it shouldn't be too difficult." Dawn's face brightened a little at the confidence that Giles was showing in her.
"We just need to guide her a little," Tara said, looking to Willow for support. To her dismay, Tara saw that Willow looked as distraught as Dawn did; maybe even more. Tara knew that she and Willow needed to talk, and soon, but first Spike needed to be saved. Tara reached out and took Dawn by one hand and Giles by the other. She led them over to Spike before switching out positions so that Dawn was in between herself and Giles. Tara looked back over her should at Willow, hoping that she would come and help, but the fearful look on her face almost broke Tara's heart.
"Just... reach down inside yourself, Dawn. Close your eyes and look within your mind."
"Find your centre," Giles said, picking up where Tara left off. "Shut out everything else and concentrate." Dawn, hand in hand with both Giles and Tara, did as she was told. She closed her eyes and searched within herself, looking for her magical centre. Her mind became focused, letting go of all the feelings from the past several weeks. She no longer heard the encouraging words that Tara and Giles said to her. She let go of the rush to help Spike, somehow knowing that it would only distract her. She let her mind drift within itself, somewhere between conscious and subconscious, until she saw it: a tiny ball of swirling pink energy.
Dawn sent her mind towards the ball, seeing it grow slowly in size as she neared it. When she was close enough to touch it, the ball had grown to size of a large clothes basket, just large enough for a teenage girl to curl up in. Suddenly, Dawn knew that was exactly what she needed to do. In her mind's eye, she entered the sphere. She hugged her knees to her chest and let the energy flow over and into her. It was a comforting experience, one she knew intimately from prior experience but could not say how or why. And as her mind lay there, curled up within the energy, Dawn gained all the knowledge she needed for the task at hand. Dawn opened her eyes and turned immediately to Angel.
"Now," she said, pointing to the knife that Angel held in his hand. The vampire investigator almost didn't follow the instructions given to him by Dawn, mostly because he could scarcely believe that the girl in front of him was Dawn. Instead of flowing, waist length brown hair, Dawn now had calf length platinum hair with pink streaks woven throughout. Her eyes were no longer brown but were instead an infinite blue that Angel had to fight to look away from. Angel, as if prodded further by the motionless Dawn, was shocked back into action, cutting his arm and holding it above Spike's mouth so that the blood would find its mark.
As the blood fell into Spike's open mouth, the gathered crowd stared at both the process and its orchestrator in silence. The blood's flow slowed to a trickle as Angel's arm healed itself. When the last drops fell, Dawn began an incantation that no one, not even the groups' most experienced magic wielders, could understand. As she continued to speak, Dawn began moving her arms and hands in complex motions along with the spell. Suddenly, bright pink runes sprang to life and began circling around both Dawn and Spike. Tara reflexively reached out a hand to the young girl as the runes appeared but Giles was able to stop her from interfering.
"I do not think that would be wise," Giles said breathlessly as he continued to hold the Wiccan's arm. As if in response, the runes began to crackle with brilliant blue arcs before rushing out into Angel before he could react. The blue energy made contact with the now healed wound on Angel's arm. It then raced over, around and into the stunned vampire before leaving just as quickly as it had appeared. A drained and unconscious Angel collapsed in the waiting arms of Cordelia, who was in turned helped by the surprised but attentive Wes. The energy, after departing Angel, rushed into Spike's still open mouth. As the crackling energy disappeared into the comatose vampire, Spike began to shake violently. As he convulsed, Dawn began speaking louder and faster, forging a hypnotic rhythm of seemingly erratic movement. Blue light shone brightly out of all Spike's wounds before they rapidly began to mend. Just the wounds healed and the motions and words reached a crescendo, Dawn whispered words that were barely loud enough to hear but were easy for the awestruck onlookers to understand.
"Come back to me, Spike. I need you. I love you. I believe in you." As if to punctuate her words, tears streamed down her face until a single tear fell and landed upon Spike's brow.
After a long, painfully difficult trek across the cavern floor, Mikhail finally dragged himself within reach of Spike's prostrate form. There the angel rested to slow his laboured breathing. When his lungs no longer burned with exertion, Mikhail withdrew his blade from it's sheath. As he did so, the room lit up with light that the sword gave off. To Buffy's bleary eyes, the sword appeared to be made purely of flame. The Slayer watched in resigned horror as the angel used the sword to bring himself to a kneeling position. The angel began to speak but, given his shattered jaw and the pain he went through speaking to the Ogdoad, he thought better of it. Instead, he put his sword to his head and sent his thoughts into the sword and let it speak for him.
"I am sorry, vampire," the sword hissed out in tones that reminded Buffy of the crackle that a fireplace makes in the winter. "But I have no choice in this matter. You were a... worthy foe. Were it within my power, I would watch over those you fight to return to. Sadly, this is not the case. I will pray for them and their safety. May you find peace in the Void." Buffy plead silently with Spike to get up, to show some reaction to the speech that the angel had dictated to his blade, but the Scourge of Sunnydale lay there motionlessly. As the angel raised his sword aloft, Buffy closed her eyes, unwilling to watch the gruesome end of her friend. Just as she closed her eyes, Buffy heard a familiar voice. The voice spoke in a whisper but it seemed to reverberate around the cavern.
"Come back to me, Spike," the voice, her sister's voice, echoed softly. Buffy was hardly able to comprehend it. How could her sister be here? She looked around the room frantically as Dawn spoke again.
"I need you." The omnipresence of the voice made it impossible to locate with her ears, forcing Buffy to search every nook and cranny of the cave with her eyes. Buffy quickly came to the conclusion that Dawn was not physically in the room with them, but it left her puzzled as to how her voice was in the room.
"I love you." Buffy's eyes were drawn to the bewildered angel who simply knelt without moving; keeping his sword poised for the killing strike while also keeping it ready for whatever new threat had appeared. As the angel craned his neck in his own attempts to locate the source of the voice, Buffy noticed a pink light descend from the ceiling and circle down to Spike's crippled body. It came to a rest on his forehead, pulsating slightly as if it were alive. Buffy suddenly knew that she was looking not at some random light, but at Dawn. Her sister, in her original form, was now pulsing softly on the head of the man who had once been her deadliest enemy, professing her love to him. And, for a reason that she did not yet understand, Buffy was happy.
"I believe in you." After saying these words, the light lifted up and away, leaving a droplet of moisture on the vampire's head that was so small that not even the Slayer could see it. As the light passed upwards, it caught the eye of the wary angel, who slashed at it as best he could from his knees. As he slashed futilely at the escaping orb, Mikhail missed the transformation taking place on the floor. A dim blue light began feverishly knitting all of Spike's wounds together, mending broken bones and torn flesh alike. As the wounds healed faster and faster, the light became a brilliant blue, drawing Mikhail's attention back to his foe only to be blinded as the blue light reached its zenith. When his vision had returned to him, Spike was no longer a heap lying deathly still on the floor but was instead standing tall and impressive before him.
"Sorry, mate, but you heard the hooded monks," Spike said sadly to his awestruck opponent. "Only one o' us can make it back home. I'll make it quick." Spike sprang into action before Mikhail had any opportunity to comprehend the meaning of his words. Spike yanked the flaming blade out of Mikhail's now feeble grasp and raised it high above his own head. He brought the blade down cleanly and swiftly, slicing the angel's head off and putting the final end to the war of attrition he and Mikhail had fought. His need for it finished, Spike dropped the fiery weapon and walked over to a speechless Buffy.
"What's the matter, Slayer, you act like you've never seen a miracle before." Spike smirked at his wide eyed friend before turning away and calling out the name of the director of his punishment.
"Og-doodad," Spike called out, badly mispronouncing the creatures name and knowing it. "Robed guy! I beat you're little test. Bring on the last one so that I can get the hell out o' here and back home." As soon as he was done speaking, the Ogdoad appeared in front of Spike. Spike started visibly, still unused to the creature's ability to appear instantaneously. Spike tried to cover his reaction by adjusting his badly damaged coat, hoping Buffy hadn't seen him jump.
"You have passed both the penultimate Trial and the final Trial, vampire," the Ogdoad said in his monotone voice. "And all in one fell swoop. Say your goodbyes to your friend while you still have time."
Spike looked to Buffy, who seemed as genuinely surprised as he was.
"What was the final trial?"
"Someone of a pure heart must both desire your return to your primary realm and be able to bring it about. The final Trial, the Trial of Friendship, has already been completed. The Key has unlocked the path for your return." Even as the Ogdoad spoke, Spike could feel himself slowly being pulled away from where he stood, like he was being drawn to another place, another plane. And indeed he was. As he began to fade ever so slightly, Buffy began to do the same. Her mission complete, the Powers were returning her to her well deserved rest in the afterlife.
"Spike, I-" Buffy began before Spike quickly cut her off.
"It's okay, luv'. I appreciate all of your help. I'll look out for Nibblet. Dyin' doesn't relieve me from my promise. I'll keep Dawn safe." Buffy closed the gap between them and placed a kiss on Spike's cheek before embracing him tightly.
"Thank you," Buffy said simply. Then, realising that this might be her last chance to pass along her well wishes to all her living friends, she separated herself from Spike briefly and caught his gaze with hers. "Make sure everyone knows that I love them, and that I always will." Spike smiled at her as he pulled her back into a hug.
"They already know, Slayer, but I'll tell 'em anyway." Buffy held her friend close as her eyes began to water. Buffy felt as if crying was the only thing she knew how to do anymore. She gave Spike a final tight squeeze and a smile before they both faded away and returned to their proper places in the universe.