(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 9

"Are you absolutely sure you two are prepared for this?" Giles checked with the two nervous looking witches that stood across the shop from him.

Between them, a large red pentagram was crudely drawn on the floor, the paint still wet as the preparations for the spell were hurried through.

"We're ready" Willow and Tara said, almost exactly as one, as they formed a triangle with the Watcher, and Angel, Spike, and Buffy took their places in between the three people with the power.

A dish had been placed in the centre of the pentagram which itself was only able to fit on the floor space because all the furniture had been pushed back against the walls. They were about to tear through the fabric of dimensions, it required space.

Giles reached out for the lighter which Spike duly passed to him in silence, glancing across at Buffy who offered him a hopeful smile. This spell had to work, it just had to.

"Vulcanus, Plutus, Erebus" Giles said loudly as he flicked the lighter shut and held the candle high. Willow and Tara shared a nervous look before turning their attention back to the Watcher before them and concentrating, "Inter nos imperiosous quod erat demonstrandum, post hoc ergo propter hoc libento concedo optus"

A noise like thunder started up, growing louder still as Giles knelt to light the contents in the dish on the floor with the candle in his hand. He moved back just in time as the flames shot up three feet in the air, making the whole circle gasp. Giles glanced between Willow and Tara who continued with the spell.

"Oh mighty Gods of darkest power" they intoned, "We beseech you to work our will"

As they spoke Angel stepped forward, a knife now evident in his hand which he held over the flaming dish on the ground.

"We ask for your power to be our power, for our power to be your power" the witches continued as Angel pressed the blade to his opposite palm and cut deep, his own blood running down into the flaming mass beneath.

"We offer the blood of life" Willow and Tara repeated three times as Angel stepped back, passed on the knife to Spike who repeated his grand-sires actions, and then on to Buffy who also bled into the fire.

Spike hadn't really wanted her to be a part of this, she had no need to suffer for the sake of his child. The fact she was prepared to spoke volumes to him, but there was little time to be thinking of these things now as the spell continued, working up some very intense magicks.

A cold wind seemed to whistle around the shop, despite the fact no doors or windows were open, and as thunder and lightening cracked and banged above them, the fire in the centre of the circle of friends crackled and flashed so many colours, before settling on a dark, blood red, the colour of Quor'toth's own unholy skies.

"Now what?" Spike asked quietly when the spell seemed to have reached a semi-climax and plateaued.

"Now..." Willow gasped, as it seemed something was almost trying to prevent her breathing, "Now it gets interesting" she grinned almost maniacally before something took hold of her body and she convulsed horribly along with Tara and Giles.

The power they possessed and that which they were calling to hit each other full force and within the three chosen vessels it fought and writhed like wild animals doing battle.

"Oh my God" Buffy gasped at the sight of her father-figure and two of her best friends clearly suffering something horrible.

They began talking over each other, yelling and screaming even, the Latin words with which Giles had begun the spell. The cold breeze among them grew to a raging wind that seemed to cool Buffy inside more than out. She could barely breathe she was so cold and yet she knew she was not suffering as much as her friends. Willow and Tara both looked to the skies with eyes as black as night and Giles was still on his knees, slightly in and slightly outside of the pentagram on the floor. He looked wild, possessed almost, as he screamed at the sky beyond the ceiling that didn't seem to hamper his view.

A loud bang like a shotgun blast erupted from the centre of the flaming dish on the ground, sending Angel, Spike, and Buffy cowering away afraid of being hurt or blinded by the bright and violent eruption. Glass blew out of cabinets, statues smashed to the ground, the very foundations shook, and then... it was over.

"Oh, Buffy" Giles offered a half-smile to the Slayer as she appeared in the kitchen doorway, "I am so sorry if I woke you" he apologised as she sat at the counter with a mug of hot chocolate between his hands.

"It's okay, Giles" Buffy assured him as she sat down on the next stool, "You can't wake a person who can't sleep" she said with a shake of her head, "Actually, I thought you'd be the one sleeping, that spell must've taken so much out of you"

"Not enough it would seem" he smiled wryly, hating that their last chance to bring the children back had failed. It had caused some damage and mayhem, but no tear in the fabric of dimensions, not even a small one.

"Why Giles?" Buffy asked, running her hands over her face, though her question was not entirely about the spell now, "Why would The Powers That Be give Spike a child, a miracle baby, and then let someone take her away to somewhere so awful"
"I wish I could say I knew exactly the reason" Giles told her with a sigh, "As it is my knowledge is very limited, however..." he paused to take a sip of his drink before continuing, "I do know something about Annaliese, and indeed Connor"

"Something you didn't tell Spike and Angel?" she checked, and her Watcher nodded, "What is it, Giles?" she asked, not sure whether she should be worrying or not about what he was about to say.

"There are prophecies" he began to explain, "Various ancient texts and so forth to which the coven I visited had access. They speak of two beings, with power and strength, and though they are borne of inhuman creatures, they shall fight for good"

"Annaliese? And Connor?" Buffy guessed, and her Watcher nodded.

"Though they are no longer in this world, and I know it is hard for all of us to accept" he sympathised as he put his hand over hers on the counter top and squeezed it, "This is perhaps how things were supposed to happen" Giles considered, "Perhaps, in this other world, where such terror and horror exists, perhaps it is there where they can make a difference once day"

"Maybe" Buffy said, nodding her head, causing tears to cascade down her cheeks.

She loved Annaliese as if she were her own child, and the full force of that motherly affection she felt was making the loss of the child hit her much harder than she ever could've imagined.

If what Giles said was true, Buffy was glad to know there was at least a reason for the tragedy they must all endure, a purpose for the children being here and being taken away as well. The real pain came from knowing that if what her Watcher was telling her was accurate, it meant that neither Annaliese or Connor would not be returning to this world any time soon.

"Oh, my dear" Giles felt terrible for his almost-daughter as moved to hug her close.

Buffy had endured too much these past months, more than any young person should have to deal with. Her mother's passing and then the terrible battle with Glory, from which it was a miracle they'd all escaped unscathed, now all this with Annaliese whom he knew she'd formed a great attachment with. Buffy was the nearest thing the baby had to a mother, much as it seemed Cordelia might have been for Connor given the chance. It certainly seemed to hurt them just as much to lose the children as it had hurt Spike and Angel.

"You should try to rest, Buffy" Giles advised her as he rubbed her back and she attempted to stop sniffling into his shoulder, "Even if you only sleep an hour or two, you'll make yourself ill if you don't at least try to relax"

"Okay" she said shakily, nodding her head as she pulled away from him, "Goodnight, Giles" she said as she headed for the door. He opened his mouth to answer with something inappropriate like 'sweet dreams' or 'sleep tight'. Eventually he closed his mouth again realising it was probably best just to say nothing, to leave the Slayer be. Perhaps she was better left alone to come to terms with this.

Upstairs, of course, Buffy was not alone at all, and as she passed by the room that had long since become Annaliese and Spike's room she spotted him standing by the window, bathed in moonlight. Even from here she could see the sadness written across his face, in fact she was sure she could see tears.

"Spike?" she whispered as she stepped into the room and his hand immediately went to his face, wiping away the droplets he would rather her not see.

"Alright, luv?" he asked her, his voice hoarse from the crying he'd rather not admit to, and yet she knew anyway, they both knew that.

"Kind of what I was going to ask you" she admitted as she came to stand beside him, "Before I realised what a stupid question it was" she forced a half smile that didn't last.

"Just can't wrap my head around it, is all" Spike shook his head, eyes still focused out the window at the dark sky and silver stars that studded it, "Got the biggest bloody miracle handed to me, everything was just getting so soddin' perfect with Annaliese, and you..." he stopped when he realised what he'd said, "'M sorry, pet" he said, turning away but her hand on his arm made him look back at her.

The moonlight lit up her face, made her look like an angel, though such heavenly creatures should never be so sad or tear-stained.

"You did have me" she admitted softly, "You do have me, Spike, I..." even Buffy herself wasn't sure what she was trying to say and it frustrated the hell out of her. Now wasn't the time or place anyway, she knew that, and yet it had to be said, it had to be done. Too much time had passed, too much had happened both between them and around them. It was now or never, and damn it she wouldn't risk it being never.

With a determination fuelled by the tragedies she had lived through, and knowing chances all too easily slipped through her fingers, Buffy stepped in closer to Spike, her hand sliding behind his head and pulling him into a deep kiss. She didn't know how to explain what she was feeling, apart from admitting those three little words that honestly scared her half to death, but she could show him, she could make him understand. Of all the people in her life, Buffy had come to realise that Spike was the one who always seemed to understand her, even back when he was evil he seemed to know things about her that even she couldn't explain. They'd come so far, been through so much together, and now they'd come to this point, this time when it was be together or say goodbye for good. Nothing held them together anymore, nothing but each other.

"Buffy" Spike said her name as he pulled away from her slightly, and breathed unnecessarily, his forehead resting against hers as they held onto each other, "Please God tell me this means what I think it does" he begged of her, "What's happened here, losing Annaliese, it's damn near killing me knowing I lost her, but if this is just..."

"This" she interrupted, "is me trying to explain, Spike, trying to let you know that... that you still have me, that we have each other" she explained, "I... I love you" she said shakily, smiling slightly when she realised she'd finally done it, finally admitted her feelings and she truly meant them too.

The words she said were as pure a truth as anything ever had been, and as much as this might be the worst time and place to be making such admissions, she was still glad to have done it.

When Spike fell into her arms, crying like a child, Buffy wasn't sure why it was. It could easily have been over Annaliese, or shock and joy at her own words to him. Whether it was either or both these reasons, or any other, it didn't matter. He needed her right now and she held him close, rubbing his back and trying to comfort him as she rested her head on his shoulder and shed a few more tears herself.

Too much emotion today, too many things happening all too fast. As glad as she was to have her feelings out in the open, and the blessed relief that came with knowing she and Spike could be together now and maybe even be happy, she wouldn't wish for another day like this one had been, not ever. She prayed that the future would be brighter and that the fates would grant them all some happiness, for a while at least.

To Be Continued...