DAY 5

David tried to concentrate. He was trying to focus on outlining his recent review of the story of Naillig's Crown. He was sure that his decision to come had been the right one, he was finally in the thick of things, but in many ways it was just as unfulfilling as sitting back in Giles' flat in England. He was still on the outside. Yes, he was finding ways to make himself useful, researching and learning yet he felt as though a veil still hung between his world and the one in which his mentor and the others lived. He struggled to find a way around the barrier, because he had seen the shadows and knew that there were things beyond his world. He ached to understand them.

Just now, though, he was finding it increasingly hard to work, because not only was he battling his own frustration, he was being watched. Andrew had made his way through the kitchen where David sat at the breakfast table still littered with mugs and plates. The younger man had gotten himself a cup of coffee as an excuse to stay in the room. Now he stood, leaning against the counter, forgotten cup in hand, his eyes never leaving the likeness of the blonde demon he had admired.

Frustrated, David threw down his pen and lay open his hands loudly on the tabletop. "What?" he demanded.

Andrew jumped, then in a vain attempt to hide his curiosity, raised the cup to his lips only to yelp with pain upon heedlessly discovering how hot the liquid actually was.

"Wart," David shook his head.

"No, um, well, I was just…." Andrew set the cup down and slid into another chair at the table with David. "It's just that you're so much like him."

David turned his head and drew a bead on the nervous man with a calculating eye. "Am I?" he asked.

"Well…not so much like him as like him. You look like him, I mean. And, you are a little, kind of…um…scary."

David hid a wry smile. If only this twit knew. "You're bonkers."

Andrew looked hurt then lowered his voice conspiratorially, "No, but Spike was crazy once." Alan raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Yes," Andrew sensing a reluctant curiosity in David began with a knowing air, "it was before my friend and I returned from Mexico where we had been hiding out incognito. That's…Cognito's not the name of the place, you know. The place was called Los Calabazos, which meant something good because the owner said it suited us when we checked in. Anyway," the young blonde shook his head and started his tale anew, "Buffy found Spike in the basement of the high school, acting all Ophelia-esque. He had lost his mind after getting his soul and falling victim to the First who was using a song to trigger him, making him hunt as a vam-pyre again."

David stared at Andrew, wondering what to ask first. He chose, "Spike got a soul?"

"Yes!" Andrew's movements grew more animated, "He went on a quest and won one from a demon who lived in a cave in Africa."

David thought about Spike. The man he'd tracked through over a century's worth of family stories and Watcher's volumes. In everything he'd learned about vampires, there was nothing to indicate the desire to obtain their lost souls. Each new fact about Spike was like seeing a glimmer of light on a moonless night, except then you wonder if you saw it at all. Then his expression darkened, "But…he was huntin' again?"

"Oh yes, 10 or 20 people, from what I gather. But he wasn't responsible. He was triggered, as I said, by a song. Something about maidens in the morning. His mother used to sing to him when he was but a child back in dear old foggy Londontown."

"Early one mornin', before the sun was risin'," David began to sing softly. Andrew gasped, wide eyed. "M'own mum'd sing it to me. Seems it was a family tradition. So, what happened, with him huntin' and all?"

"Oh, well, Buffy stopped him."

"Stopped him? 'S obvious she didn't stake him."

"Oh no, Buffy would never…she…," Andrew said the words with as little jealousy as possible, "she was in love with him."

After Buffy's display the previous day, David wasn't completely caught off guard by this comment, but he was still looking for answers. "A Slayer? In love with a vampire?"

"Opposites always attract, like Ying and Yang, Roger and Jessica Rabbit, Batman and Catwoman. Yes, they were in love. But, really I'm not sure how true to those titles either of them was anymore." Andrew continued, absorbed by this train of thought, "Truly Spike was no longer a vampire in the original sense of the word. He hadn't killed any humans he hadn't been tricked into killing, for several years, by choice. He had overcome the bloodlust that holds most of that kind in a cycle of thrill and need for thrill. I believe that through Buffy he found the desire and the strength to overcome his base nature, to break free of his demon and to become a man again."

"Very romantic," David chucked and Andrew straightened in his chair.

"Buffy really wasn't a Slayer any more either."

"Yeah, read 'bout it. Quit when Travis put her to trial."

"Yes, well, from what I've heard she did quit working for the council officially, but in her heart, she was still a Slayer until she died again. When she came back she was changed, at least from what I've heard. I didn't meet her until shortly after her…regeneration. Anyway she continued staking vamp-yres, but she was also struggling with finding herself. She was a reluctant Slayer, lost and unsure. In many ways Buffy and Spike were kind of like, in the same lifeboat in a whirlpool. The world called them to act one way, but when they were together the rest of the world disappeared. Alone they were no longer what their titles demanded, so instead of blood and violence, they shared of themselves. As Spike drew upon Buffy's strength to conquer his demon, Buffy also found his search for humanity proof that it could be done, and if by him, then she knew she could rediscover hers as well. And the more they grew, the faster and higher their flame burned until…" Andrew's voice had risen as his story flowed and when he stopped he found himself emoting in the kitchen. He lowered his arms self-consciously.

David asked, "Until?"

"Well, it was doomed, wasn't it? History has shown that life can support a passionate love or a passionate life, not both. If the First hadn't closed in, they might have found happiness, but it was all too much. Something had to give." Alan shook his head. "What?" Andrew was hurt. You don't believe me?"

"Oh, I'm sure you believe it, but seems to me that dangerous people leadin' dangerous lives, some are gonna die, that's it."

Andrew sat back and thought. He had spent the last few years watching the world around him and had learned a few things, regardless of what they thought of him. He had risen from being an obscure little brother, to one of the Trio, had ridden the wave of evil that had crashed over him when he'd killed his best friend. When he had shattered, the Scoobies had taken him in and under their watchful eye he had however crudely, carved out a niche for himself within their world. He looked at David who, although he resembled the man that Andrew had grown to cherish, couldn't understand. "No. You're wrong, my friend." Andrew stood up and pushed in his chair slowly under the kitchen table. "When you've stood side by side with a friend and watched them accept death for the greater good, seen them sacrifice themselves for a cause, then maybe you'll begin to understand what it is the world demands of it's superheros."

David watched thoughtfully as Andrew left the room and wondered again what lay behind the veil.

#####

Buffy had made up her mind already. Despite the loss of her own Slayer abilities and the potential danger in leaving herself defenseless for the first time in years, it was necessary to reverse the Slayer spell. There were millions of girls at danger who didn't even know it, and that was worse than any apocalypse she'd ever had to fight back. It was, after all, her decision as always, to sacrifice Buffy for the greater good. She could take that risk for herself, had already committed to doing so. It was easy when your heart was in so much pain to invite it to end. But this time the others were involved, particularly Faith was at jeopardy. So Buffy had stepped outside as the debate raged on in the next room.

"Uh, hi."

Buffy turned to see Dawn entering the terrace and closing the door behind her. "Hiya," she answered.

"Can we talk for a minute?" the younger Summers girl obviously had something on her mind.

"Of course, Dawnie. Any time. Let's sit down." They walked to the bench where Angel and she had talked about sparkling. They'd been so busy, that seemed so long ago. "What's up?"

"Well, I wanted to apologize again about that thing with Spike." Dawn looked down at her hands, carefully folded in her lap. "It really was my idea, you know."

"Your idea, his doing. I know. I get it. It's okay."

"I miss him too, Buffy. He was like my big brother, part of our family." Buffy closed her eyes. No matter how much pain she felt there was always more. "Seeing David just brought it all…I wish I had told him how much…," Dawn sniffed.

Buffy reached out and took her hand. "You know how people sometimes put us together in a sentence? They'll say "those Summers girls" or "the Summers sisters"? And how our blood is the same? Remember?" Dawn nodded, she'd noticed. "Spike always said he could see right through me. Knew exactly when I was lying, about what and why. It was uncanny how he knew what I was thinking before I thought it. I bet that he could do that with you too. I'm pretty sure he knew how you felt about him even before you did."

"You think?" Dawn sniffed again.

"Guarantee it."

"I hope so."

The two sisters sat in the garden holding hands and remembering their friend.

"Buffy?" Dawn broke the silence. "I understand about the spell. But it's dangerous." Buffy nodded in agreement. "And I'm afraid. We have so little left, you and I. Please don't leave me again."

Buffy hugged her little sister strongly, "I'm not planning on going anywhere. Most I'll lose is the Slayer title and that's been wearing a little thin lately. Okay? I trust Willow. It'll all be for the good."

Dawn nodded with very little certainty. "I love you, you know that, right?"

"Back atcha. I never thought I'd get used to having a little sister…but you're my world, you know?" They sat back on the bench and watched the sun set. Silence gathered around them as night fell. Dawn longed to talk to Buffy about David, and how everything in their lives seemed to be leading them somewhere…final, but just sitting still seemed enough for now.

The door to the terrace opened softly and Faith stuck her head out. "Buffy? You out here?"

Buffy and Dawn both stood up. "Right here," Buffy answered, giving Dawn's hand one last squeeze. "Ready?"

"Uh-huh. We're set up in the dining room, best size and location for the spell."

"Be right there."

"Okay. Gotta do it soon." Faith looked at Dawn, "Sorry, kid, just the principals this time. You're going to have to wait out here."

Wanting to argue, but knowing it was futile, Dawn nodded. With one last hug for her sister, Buffy followed Faith into the hotel.

As they approached the doors to the dining room, Faith paused and turned back to Buffy. "We've had some crazy ideas in the past, B, but this is the worst. I argued with both our Watchers loud and long against this idea. A world without Slayers? What's that about? I mean, I get it in theory, but hell…. And, between you and me? I'm just plain scared."

Buffy thought of all the things she could say. She could repeat the arguments about how it was necessary, how it was their duty, about sacred responsibility toward fellow man. But in the end she said what she felt. "Me too. But not doing it…would be wrong."

Faith flashed Buffy a smile and said, "Thanks B. I knew you could clear this up for me."

Robin stopped them as they made their way to the dining room. Looking worriedly at the brunette Slayer he now adored, he asked, "So you're going to go through with this?"

Faith hesitated, then reached out and kissed Robin impulsively. "Gotta do the right thing by all those girls, Rob. This one's not about me."

"Everything's ready," Andrew called from down the hall where he had been assisting in preparing the space for the reversal spell.

"That's our cue," Buffy said softly, edging her way toward where Willow waited. Slowly Faith released Robin from one last hug and then she followed Buffy toward their new destiny, whatever that was.

#####

The shades had been drawn and all of the tables and chairs removed to another part of the hotel. Andrew had closed the doors and the Hyperion's large guest dining room was now empty except for Willow, Faith, Buffy, the scythe and the heady aroma of some powerful incense. Willow planned to draw energy from the other two, finessing her magic, trying to avoid tearing power from the others as she had from Kennedy the time before. The three women knelt in a circle around the scythe, holding hands as Willow began.

#####

Angel ran breathlessly into the lobby of the Hyperion late that night carrying his life in his hands, or rather, Cordy's life. He sensed the power of the spell in the next room, but knew that it was going to happen with or without him. "Wes! Giles! Where are you?"

The two Watchers had sent the rest of the crowd to bed and had since then been wearing a pathway outside the dining room with only Robin and Andrew as company. Relieved to have something else to think about, they arrived at Angel's side within seconds. Pulling a black velvet bundle from under his coat, Angel placed it gently on the reception counter. The three men huddled around the object as Angel pulled back the layers of fabric to reveal an intricate, ancient circlet of gold.

"Oh, my God." Giles exclaimed. "You've found it!" and he was at a loss for words.

"Naillig's Crown? I never really believed… I thought it was a metaphor," Wesley's voice trailed off as he began to examine the delicately carved designs that decorated the Crown, sacred to long ago peoples, "It's beautiful."

"I don't much care what it looks like," Angel dismissed the art appreciation class. "Will it work?"

"But where? How?" Giles sputtered.

"Wolfram and Hart have very big vaults, and very good records. It was there all along." Wesley looked up at his boss with a mixture of surprise and revulsion on his face. He didn't think he'd ever get used to having resources, or the idea of who supplied those resources. "So, what next? We just place it on her head, right?"

Giles gave the others instructions to call them back if anything happened, as Wes was already halfway to the library for the text. Within moments he returned with the small volume open to the appropriate section. "It says only that once the crown was placed upon the head of the Eldest, and that she arose to save her People."

"Okay, well, let's get to it then." Angel picked up the gold headdress from the counter, surprised at how light something could be and still contain such hopes, such power. He took the steps three at a time and when the two Watchers arrived moments later, he was already kneeling at Cordy's bedside.

#####

Dawn stayed in the garden for a while after Buffy left, feeling helpless, alone and very much the frightened little girl she ought to have been instead of the tired young woman she'd become. She stared up at the sky.

"Star light

Star bright,

First star I see tonight…"

Suddenly, another, deeper voice finished her poem,

"I wish I may,

I wish I might,

Have this wish I wish tonight."

Dawn spun toward the voice only to find her face covered by a chloroformed handkerchief. As his minions gathered up the unconscious girl, Magus laughed, "Bet mine comes true first."

#####

Wisps of silver smoke began to encircle the triad of women kneeling in the center of the room, their shapes undulating, materializing and disappearing seemingly at random. Buffy kept silent but watched intently as the clouds congealed at the center of power and subtle pulsation of lights illuminated them more and more erratically. The ceiling and walls seemed to recede as the spell took more and more space.

Faith's eyes darted from scythe to witch to Buffy, taking everything in, ready for anything, fearful and yet defiant as always.

A vortex formed within the cloud above them, spinning slowly at first, then building speed. The pulsating lights above them began instead to flicker and crackle with power..

Willow was focusing on the spell, concentrating all her power on retrieving the worldwide supply of Slayer blueprints.

The twirling elements above them continued to grow in strength and as the two slayers watched, the Scythe that had lain on the floor began to mimic the motion of the clouds, spinning clockwise with more and more intensity, until it looked more like a spinning power saw than anything else. Then the blade began to levitate, threatening to decapitate all of them if their circle had been just inches smaller. It rose until it met the clouds and the lightning contained in them flashed off the metal, striking it and sending showers of sparks down on the women.

Buffy turned her head to shield her eyes from errant sparks and only then realized that Willow was deep in a trance, repeating the same entreaty over and over again, "Return to the Source".

Looking down at her arms Buffy saw that they were covered with tiny beads of moisture. The moisture, however, was not emanating from the clouds, but from within herself. She watched as another bead formed near her right elbow and realized she could feel it being drawn from her, out of her, and pulled toward the center of the spell. Looking over at Faith, she saw the same phenomenon on her as well. "It's sucking us dry," she thought briefly, "We'll all be piles of dust when this is over."

Then it was. Over.

The clouds began to disperse rapidly, scuttling toward the now reappearing walls. The Scythe fell from what was certainly a much greater height than a ceiling would have been and landed with a "whoosh" and a loud clanging on the tiled floor, bouncing once and then settling at Willow's feet.

After a few moments of silence, Buffy realized that their hands were still clasped, nearly fused to each other, and began to wriggle her way free of the circle toward a light switch.

With the introduction of electric light, Willow blinked, now coming out of her trance. "What happened?" she asked with effort.

"Wow," Faith uttered, looking brushing off her legs as she stood. She had never been present during one of Willow's major spells before, only known that she was capable of them. "Wow," she repeated.

Willow turned her gaze toward Buffy at the light switch, "Well? Did it work?"

Buffy did the only thing she could think of to test the theory. She punched the wall. It hurt. Her knuckles began to bleed and the wall was none the worse for wear. Nodding she reported, "Looks like you've single-handedly done what vampires haven't accomplished in over 50,000 years. You've eliminated the Slayer line, Wils."

#####

Upstairs, kneeling at her side, Angel was vaguely aware that he was looking like Cordelia Chase's Prince Charming, but he didn't care. His only thought was bringing her back, so that he could look into her eyes and tell her he loved her, at last. Wes and Giles huddled at the door, torn between their duty to their Slayers, in the midst of a powerful spell, and witnessing the results of using the legendary Crown. Rationalizing that the spell had only just begun, they watched silently as Angel gently tamed a stray hair that had fallen across Cordelia's nose. He looked down at the sleeping visage and hesitated.

Angel wasn't sure what she would do when she awoke. Everything had been going so badly when she'd "disappeared". Connor, Jasmine, Wolfram and Hart…everything in their lives had influenced them apart. Not just demons or evil plots, but disruptions of their hearts and very souls. Would she even remember him? Have any feelings toward him at all? Would she return as the heartless creature she'd become? He rubbed a hand over his face. Suddenly tentative, he looked back at the Watchers for advice.

They both shrugged and Giles humbly offered, "No time like the present."

"Yeah," Angel muttered, "I guess platitudes are all you can get this far out on the limb." He shook his head. There was nothing but to do it. Wes stepped forward and slipped himself behind Cordelia, lifting her gently into a sitting position where she rested against his chest. Angel took a deep breath, as he ceremoniously raised Naillig's Crown between his two hands and lowered it gently onto Cordelia's head.

#####

Dawn awoke with a start. She lay handcuffed, face down on a cot inside what appeared to be a prison cell. "Aha," a masculine voice sighed. "Awake at last, eh?"

Dawn's foggy brain tried to look at the other being, but her muscles wouldn't listen. Instead she only managed to see the bottom 3 feet of her prison. There was a cot, a sink, a stool and a toilet. "All the comforts of home?" the large man suggested with a smirk. Peering out between the bars as best she could, she saw two tree trunks, which she quickly identified as her jailer's legs but, try as she might, she couldn't raise her eyes to his face. Looking beyond the man's bulk, she saw that her room stood within a larger room that appeared to be a warehouse of some kind.

A single dim bulb hung from the ceiling outside her cell but, although the light hurt her eyes, she tried once more to see the face of the man outside. When she failed, she asked, "Who?" Her voice sounded raspy and cracked.

"Who? Who am I?" the man chuckled. "Let's just say that we had a mutual acquaintance a few years ago. You were on…speaking terms…with my sister."

Dawn shook her head futilely, "Sister?" She knew that word.

All that followed was a malevolent silence so deep that when footfalls suddenly rang through the room, they frightened Dawn more completely than she would have thought possible. The large man turned toward the sound and smiled. "She's awake," he announced with something like pride.

Dawn tried to raise her head, or to turn over so that she could see the oncoming menace and failed once more. As her head fell back to the thin mattress beneath her, two small, highly polished and finely detailed men's shoes appeared in her vision. The tops of the shoes were brushed by tailored pants which sported a crease that would 'cut paper' as her mother used to say. As she watched the new visitor squatted down to look her in the eye. "There you are, my dear. So nice to see you again."

#####

Ovchi paced back and forth, walking sentry outside the building where his master… no… companion… was with that strange little man. They had captured something and taken it inside instead of killing it this time. No matter. If eating was not on the agenda, then Ovchi preferred it outside anyway, the night air was refreshing, the stars and moon tantalizing and other prey was always nearby. And yet….

There was something in the air, something familiar, but…not. What was it about the smell of the thing they had trapped that was haunting him? Raising his hackles and putting him on edge? He paused and sniffed again without finding an answer, so he scratched an ear and resumed his patrol, reminding himself that fear was his enemy's dominion, not his.

An unlucky rat ran across the lot where the animal paced. Killing always made him feel better…but tonight, as Ovchi enjoyed the satisfying crush of rodent bones between his teeth, he wondered what memories he might find behind the floodgates he'd closed so long ago.

#####

When the room had cleared of smoke and other effects, Faith stood uneasily, wondering what to do next. She had been a Slayer for…well as long as she cared to remember and with her powers gone…. She struggled to maintain a carefree attitude, but suddenly everything was awkward. She felt ….weak…. and she didn't like it.

"It worked!" Willow cried startling the others out of their thoughts. "I didn't know… I mean, I thought it would but…. That was amazing!"

The three were speechless for another moment, then Buffy turned and opened the door to the dining room to tell the Watchers that they were out of work. "Giles! Wes? Hey guys, where are you?" She'd expected to find them plastered to the other side of the door, but they were nowhere to be found. Instead they heard a call from the lobby.

"Dawn?" Fred called, her voice filled with annoyance. When Buffy, Faith and Willow arrived, Fred was walking back towards the kitchen to look for Dawn there, for the third time.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked hurriedly.

Fred jumped at Buffy's words. "Oh, gosh. You startled me. I just…I'm looking for Dawn. You haven't seen her, have you? She was supposed to help me make dinner and she's disappeared."

"She probably just ditched you for a better offer then," Faith suggested, but Buffy was instantly concerned.

"That's what I was th…," Fred began but was interrupted

"She's missing?"

"Well," Fred equivocated for Buffy's sake, "I don't know that she's missing. Just that I can't find her and I've been through the place three times already."

"I left her out in the garden. Have you checked there?"

"I called and called," the young scientist replied, but Buffy was already running out.

"Dawn!" the ex-Slayer shouted as she burst through the French doors to the darkened garden. "Dawnie!" There was no answer. Willow, Faith and Fred followed her out into the night. "How long were we in there?" Buffy demanded of Willow.

"No more than 'alf an 'our, I think. Wasn't long." David answered as he joined the group. He had heard them calling for Dawn and had followed them hoping for an opportunity to take part. Maybe even help.

"Damn. Okay then, one more search of the hotel top to bottom. Everybody helps – call the others." Buffy turned to rush back into the hotel when something caught her eye. Footprints in the dirt. "Whose are these?" she asked anyone who was within earshot.

"Those are certainly large," Fred pointed out. "And surprisingly deep." I don't believe anyone within the hotel would be capable of this kind of signature step."

Buffy fell to her knees, scouring the area for more clues. Fred ran for flashlights while Faith and David checked the perimeter fence. After only minutes they had the evidence they needed to know that Dawn had been abducted. Buffy struggled to maintain her composure, but as she examined the threads of coarse fabric they'd found, the obliterated lock at the gate and the unusual tracks throughout the garden, she had the horrible sensation that this had all happened before.

Buffy began to tremble. Without her Slayer powers how would she be able to rescue her sister? If, that is, they were ever able to discover why and where Dawn had been taken.

It was Willow that put it together first. "Oh Goddess, Buffy, with everything else that's happened since… we just forgot. We all forgot."

"Forgot? Forgot what?" Alan asked for Buffy who was speechless with worry.

"We all forgot that Dawn is the Key."

#####

Nothing happened for long seconds after the crown came to rest on the top of Cordy's head. The three men simply stared at the motionless woman in the bed and those who were breathing, barely did that. Angel, whose hopes had been the highest, finally lowered his gaze from Cordy's face. He picked up one of her tiny hands and enveloped it in both of his, raising her fingertips to his lips. "Cordy," he whispered.

"I am so sorry," Giles offered to Angel. "We'll keep looking. There must be some…." But the words caught in his throat. "Angel!" he managed to squeak. When he heard his name and the way it was said, Angel's head snapped upright and he found himself looking into Cordelia Chase's beautiful hazel eyes.

"Angel?"

For a moment Angel couldn't feel anything except his lack of a heartbeat. His hands and body went numb and brain function was definitely in question.

"Angel? What happened?"

The amazed vampire finally found his tongue, "Cordy? Cordelia. I… Is it you?"

"Well, of course it's me. Who else would it be?"

"That's a very, very interesting question. There are whole worlds of possibility."

"What are you talking about?" Cordy's gaze fell to the men at the door. "Wes? What is this teary-eyed vampire talking about?"

"Well…," the younger watcher began and then stopped himself. "Teary-eyed?"

"No, wait," Angel interrupted, making no pretence at hiding his emotion. "There's something I have to tell Cordy first. Before anything else gets explained or said, or done, either for, by or to anybody."

"Cordelia…," Angel straightened his back and looked back at the face of the woman he adored. It carried the unmistakable signs of the last few years of wear, of fighting demons and vampires, of managing Angel Investigations, of losing loved ones and losing herself. It was a good face full of miracles, one he wanted to be able to look at forever. She was looking back at him with eyes full of questions, and hope. For a moment it was as if the whole of the world consisted of these two people.

"Angel!" Fred's voice pierced the walls of the old hotel and with an edge of panic thrown in, everyone, even Angel, was distracted from what had been happening in the small bedroom. Moments later, frantic footfalls were heard on the stairs and Fred appeared at the doorway. Without a glance at Cordy she blurted out, "Dawn's been kidnapped."

Angel was on his feet instantly. "Taken? By whom? When?"

"Yes. By Glory. Just now."

Giles blinked, "Glory?"

Being called to duty just as he was about to pledge his literally undying devotion to Cordelia, was not exactly how he had planned the evening and Angel stood at her bedside, torn. Wesley stepped up, "I'll stay with her and catch her up on what's been happening. You go, Giles. Angel, go. It's Dawn."

Giles turned and ran out the door. With one last apologetic look at Cordy, Angel bent down and kissed her cheek, lingering and hoping that she might guess his intentions even though he hadn't had time to voice them. Then he was gone.

When her room had cleared, except for her English ex-watcher friend, Cordy called weakly from her bed. "Wes? What's going on?"

Running his fingers roughly through his hair, Wesley coughed, gathered his thoughts, moved to sit by her bedside and began, "Well, how far back do you remember? Do you remember when Darla was brought back from the dead?"

#####

In the time it took for Angel to reach the lobby, Buffy had pulled herself together and gone from helpless to angry. His rush into the room was halted suddenly by the power of the emotion encased within the diminutive blonde that stood in his path. Giles was not far behind and it was to him that Buffy first spoke. "Giles, they have her again."

"Buffy, I promise you, it cannot be Glory."

"No? We have the evidence. Fibers from the minions' robes, heavier than thou footprints, stronger than thou strength…and a need for the Key. All the same signs."

"But…but, it's is absolutely impossible. I promise you," the Watcher argued.

"How can you know that, Giles? It must…," Buffy argued.

"Because, Buffy, I killed her…uh, him."

"You what?" was chimed from all around the room.

"After Buffy had defeated Glory and she lay on the ground at the base of the tower, she, well, turned back into Ben and I took the opportunity to…um…" He paused again and looked down before answering, " …eliminate a future threat."

There was stunned silence throughout the room. Although many had guessed at the ruthlessness of the man who used to be known as 'Ripper', they hadn't suspected any such behavior still possible of the quiet Englishman they thought they knew.

"It was the only rational choice," Giles looked up defiantly, defending his action succinctly. "So you see. This cannot be the handiwork of Glorificus. Impossible."

David, who had joined the gathering group of worried team members, turned to Buffy "Glorificus?"

"She was a goddess that we defeated last year, no, two years ago. She was strong, solid, powerful and beautiful and she wanted Dawn because she was the key to the portal that led to her own world. It was her portal that killed me."

"Magus," Angel offered. The rest looked at him. "The huge guy with the dog, remember? He fits the description of the footprints to a tee. Except he didn't say 'Key'."

Buffy announced, "Well, I'm going to find them."

"Buffy," Xander spoke up, "you can't go out there. You aren't as strong as you used to be, remember? No more Slayer power. Whoever it is will have you for a tasty snack."

"Okay," Buffy snapped back, "then I'll just find them and call in the cavalry. And, in case you're wondering, that's you guys."

"But Buffy, you don't have a…" Buffy stormed out of the Hyperion in search of her sister before Angel could finish, "…plan."

Faith took one last glance around the room at the faces full of doubt, then turned and unhesitatingly followed Buffy out the doors. Willow, Xander, Angel and Gunn were right on their heels.

David watched them leave thoughtfully and then turned to his employer, "Giles, can we talk? I think there's somethin' else we should consider."