Part 8: Shattered

Oz glanced over at Eric as he ran a stop sign, nearly sideswiping another car. There was something wrong that night; you could smell death. Even if the Hellmouth always stunk of it, there seemed to be even more this night. The closer they came to the hotel, the more powerful the stench became.

Oz should have known better than to pull his friend into this, but he hadn’t known what else to do at the time. All he knew was that some person had sent him an anonymous e-mail with a detailed file by some Dr. Lang on Buffy and Spike and what she had done to them. At the very end of the message had been a warning about Willow and the parasite demon, though how this person knew about it he didn’t know.

At the time, he had been in Tibet, and had planned on setting out for the States right then and there when he found out there was a spell that could make Willow Willow again. If done right, that spell would bind Willow’s magic. Without the supernatural element, the parasite demon would have died. But a freak snow storm had trapped him, so Oz had called a friend that he had once ran with, Eric.

Eric was like Oz, a werewolf, but he also knew how to control the beast within. He had met him shortly after leaving Sunnydale in his journey to find himself. Eric had been at a bar that Oz was playing at, asked if he could sit in for a session, and the two had been friends since then.

Oz knew that Eric’s wife, Katie, had been a powerful gypsy witch when she was alive and had taught her sister, Marie, everything she knew. All it took was a simple phone call, and the two had set out in Oz’s place, even allowing him to call the shots with every move they made. It was his decision not to tell the others what was happening; but it would have been too dangerous. He regretted that now.

When Oz had finally made it to Sunnydale that night, they were going to do the spell then he was going to try and explain to the others about the deceit. Now everything had been shot to hell and he was just trying to stop the woman he loved from hurting someone, or worse.

The Taurus came to a screeching halt in front of the old hotel. It looked still as the vacancy sign flashed, which gave him a chill. This whole scene reminded him a little too much of that Hitchcock classic. All that was missing was Norman Bates in drag. Eric ignored it, jumped out of the car, and started to call for his sister-in-law.

“Marie!” the young man yelled as he grabbed the door handle. It was locked. He jerked on it a few times, banged on the door, and called again, “Marie! Open up!”

When still no answer came, Eric looked over at Oz, took a step back, and kicked the door open. The old plywood gave easily enough, but something was still blocking their way. Both men pushed on the broken door to let themselves in. Oz paled at what was on the other side of the door.

Marie’s body was slumped against the plywood, her eyes glazed and staring off into nothingness, as trickles of blood dripped from the ends of her mouth and from the many cuts on her face and body. Her left arm was raised above her, a sharp piece of glass jammed through it to keep it in place. But those injuries hadn’t killed her. The prefect gash across her throat had.

Oz turned away from the sight, but the image would be forever burned in his mind. The air was thick with her blood, calling to the wolf inside of him. He wouldn’t let it out. He couldn’t let it out.

Something written on the pale, brown wall caught his eye. Willow had left it, a message in Marie’s blood. ‘Bring Me The Key!’

“Oh, God,” Eric said, snapping out of his shock. “Van.”

The blond-haired man charged through the adjoining doors into his own dark room with Oz close behind. Unlike Marie’s room that was full of violence, this one sat perfectly still, except for a very small, balled up figure in the corner.

“Daddy?” it said in a small, frightened voice.

Eric flew to it and grabbed his son into his arms.

“I was scared,” the child whimpered. “I wanted to be brave, but I was scared and hid.”

“It’s okay,” Eric soothed. “You did the right thing by hiding.”

The tips of Oz’s lips turned down. He couldn’t imagine what Will-that thing would have done had it know about the kid in the next room. God, she must have known about them being here the whole time and was using them as a distraction for the others! How could he have been so stupid?!

Van pulled away from his father, his eyes sparkling from his tears. “Did Re go to be with Mommy?”

The father sighed at his son, rubbing the side of his head like Marie always had. “Yeah, big guy. Marie went to go be with Mommy in heaven.”

“But I don’t want her to go,” he cried.

“I know,” he told his son. “I didn’t want her to leave either.” Eric pulled his son close again and gave Oz a look. He wasn’t in this any longer to help out a friend. He wanted revenge now.

**********

Spike sat on the coffee table in front of the slayer, doing his best to try and keep her from slipping into whatever fantasy world that was beckoning her to come. He couldn’t let her, she needed to be here to help find Dylan. But even if that were true, and they both knew it, it didn’t mean that the world wasn’t inviting and that she didn’t want to go to it.

Good Lord, he was no good at being the level-headed one, but he had to be right now; no matter how much his demon screamed to go out there, find Red, and tear her apart to get Dylan back. But right now, he had to keep Buffy here, with him. He would listen to his demon later.

Spike watched as Buffy’s eyes began to glaze over, then spat her as harshly as possible, “Slayer!”

She blinked at him, but still had that blank look about her. Her mind hadn’t even picked up that the word had sounded mean as he intended. So much for a reaction like he had hoped for.

Spike moved closer to her, took her hands into his, and held them up between them. “Listen to me,” he said, forcing her to keep eye contact with him. “We’ll find her, but you have to stay with me here. You hear me, love?”

She slowly jerked her head up and down to show she did understand, but he had to wonder as she looked away. “Come on, Slayer. I need you to snap out of it.”

Connor had trailed in a while ago and made camp down at the end of the couch next to Dawn who was still sound asleep. Willow had said something about having put a sleeping spell on them; and, after trying to wake the girl by bribes of large sums of money and telling her that her favorite band Creed was outside, Spike fully believed it. She must have slipped it into that potion she and Glenda were cooking up earlier.

Angel came downstairs having deposited the still injured Joyce in her room after making sure she would be alright.

“How is she?” Connor asked lowly as his father joined them in the living room.

“She should be fine. I don’t think she broke anything, but Joyce will be sore in the morning.”

Spike’s grandsire gave a sad look towards the parents who had lost their child, then looked over at Connor. Almost felt like he was failing at this all over again, only it wasn’t his child this time; it was Buffy’s.

“How’s she doing?” he asked Spike, nudging his head towards Buffy.

“Barely hangin’ in there,” he sighed. “Have you got a hold of Rupert or the others yet?”

“No. Whatever she did to Dawn, she must have done to them too. Or she met up with them later and did something worse.”

“Worse?” Connor echoed, not understanding. Angel looked over at his son and raised an eyebrow, and the boy seemed to suddenly understand.

“We need to get back to the shop,” Angel told them. “If they are okay, we’ll need the others’ help.”

“It won’t do you any good,” a new voice told him. Spike looked up from the dazed woman in front of him to find Giles coming in through the front door. The Watcher came to a dead stop when he saw Buffy. “Good Lord, what happened?”

“Willow,” Angel said in a low voice.

“Oh, dear,” he said paling. “I had hoped I would be wrong.”

“What? You knew something was up with Red?” Spike asked, his anger flashing through his eyes. If the Watcher knew and didn’t tell them, so help him-

“No,” Giles replied, shaking his head. “I didn’t suspect until I found she had put black water mist into the potion earlier this evening.”

“Black water mist?” Angel repeated. “Isn’t that the stuff that makes you sleep like a rock?”

“Yes. When I started to feel the effects, I mistook it for pure exhaustion and drank coffee. The caffeine counter acted the spell.” The Watcher turned his eyes to the young boy at the end of the couch. “Connor, run into the kitchen and get a Coke or some tea or anything with caffeine in it and give it to Dawn. It should wake her up.”

Nodding his head, the kid disappeared into the kitchen and left the adults to talk.

“So, what do we do?” Angel asked like some sort of child looking for answers. None of them even had to ask about what, or who.

“That depends,” Rupert sighed. “What does she want?”

“The Key,” Buffy answered her voice barely above a whisper. Spike looked back at the young woman; her eyes were still empty and haunted as she slowly shifted to face Giles. “She wants to trade Dylan for the Key.”

Giles blinked and drew in a deep breath. “Oh, dear Lord.”

Wait a minute. Rupes knew what this ‘Key’ thing was? She told the Watcher but she couldn’t tell him? Maybe they hadn’t come as far as he had thought.

“Wait,” Angel spoke up. “What key?”

A sharp hacking sound diverted their attention away from the subject for a moment, as Dawn began to cough furiously from having a Coke poured down her throat. Funny, he hadn’t even felt the younger version of Peaches come back in. The Niblet rolled on her side, trying to cough up the soda he had forced her to take in, then sat up on the couch in a groggy state.

“What’s going on? Where’s Mom?”

Spike heard Buffy’s breath hitch as she looked at her sister before she leapt out of her seat and took off up the stairs.

Dawn blinked from the couch, confused as the others. “What? What did I say?”

**********

Willow sat perched on the edge of the desk, regarding the child before with quite a bit of curiosity. All of this for her? How strange. There didn’t seem to be anything special about her, besides the fact that she wasn’t supposed to exist. She had never seen the child do anything extraordinary, except maybe for the fact that she was already able to shock Xander and Giles into complete silence from time to time by repeating things she heard her father say. Other than that, she seemed just like Jessie.

But Willow hadn’t been freed from that damned dimension to take Xander’s daughter. No, once more it involved Buffy and her family. Willow felt the anger start to build in her. It was always about Buffy, everything was. Buffy knows what’s best, Buffy will be able to defeat it, Buffy stopped the apocalypse. Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. It’s always about Buffy.

Well, Buffy had left a mess when she ran off with the bleached blonde Billy Idol wannabe, and left poor Willow to clean it up. What did Willow get in return? A one way ticket to a place without light, without love, without hope. She had her life taken away, and for what? So Buffy could live hers and have the bastard child of a demon. Typical.

That’s not fair, a voice from somewhere in the back of her mind whispered. It wasn’t Buffy’s fault.

Willow shook her head. Of course it was Buffy’s fault. It’s always Buffy’s fault. It was Buffy’s fault that Angel lost his soul. It was Buffy’s fault that Ms. Calendar died. It was Buffy’s fault Faith turned evil. It was Buffy’s fault that Willow got bit by Harmony because she didn’t save her at graduation. It was Buffy’s fault they were nearly killed that night in the house with Riley. It was Buffy’s fault that Adam was released. It was Buffy’s fault that Riley didn’t stay and she got taken that night. It was Buffy’s fault that Willow got sucked into hell with Glory. It. Was. Buffy’s. Fault!

Willow pushed herself off the desk and walked over to the pen that held Dylan. The toddler was standing up, looking around the strange new surroundings, trying to determine if she should be scared or not. The witch grinned at her. Yes, she had a lot to be afraid of.

The cell phone rang, turning her attention away from the little blonde-haired girl. Right on time, as usual.

Willow casually walked over to where she had left the little black flip phone, and lifted it to her ear. “Good evening, Mr. Travers.”

“Ah, Ms. Rosenberg,” the proper British man said on the other end. “I take it everything has gone well?”

“I had a slight problem with some nosy werewolf and his little girlfriend,” she sneered. “So, I had a little fun.”

“It’s taken care of then? Excellent. So, you have the child?”

Dylan watched Willow intensely, as if she were able to hear what the two were talking about. That just made the witch’s evil smile grow. “Yes, I have her. As a matter of fact, she’s looking at me right now.”

She could almost see Travers smiling like the cat that ate the canary on the other end of the line.

“She’s a cutie, Mr. Travers,” Willow told him, walking back over to the pen and bending down in front of the baby. “Too bad you’ll never get to see her.”

Travers’ breath caught on the other end. “What?! What are you talking about?! You will bring her to ME!”

Willow laughed softly. “And, Mr. Travers, why would I do that?”

“Because we had a deal,” he hissed.

“I’m changing our arrangement,” she told him.

“Why, you double crossing little bitch! I’m going to send you straight back to hell where I found you!!”

The red head laughed at him again as she stood. “Calm down, Quentin. You’ll give yourself a stroke.”

Willow began to focus in on her mental picture of Travers. He would be standing there, in his office, clutching the phone tightly in his hands until his knuckles were white as sheets. His eyes would be blazing with anger, and she could see his nose flaring as his breathing becoming heavy with hate.

She could feel his hate within her. She could feel it making his chest tighten; she could feel the tightening move to the back of his head. She was in his head, she could see what he saw. Her mind began to clamp down in the back of his brain, blocking the flow. The pain, the delicious pain. Willow could see the flashes of light before his eyes that were becoming blinding. The world was spinning, faster, harder. He couldn’t stand anymore, and fell into the blackness with a groan.

Willow snapped her eyes opened, still holding the phone up to her ear. “Have a nice life as a vegetable, Mr. Travers,” she said coldly, then clicked the phone off.

**********

Buffy stood at the crib in her room, staring down at that stuffed animal that Dylan always adorned whenever it was near. A dog. Her daughter had named her stuffed dog Willow. God, she should have gotten a clue, but she didn’t want to hear what the child was telling her. And now that she hadn’t, Dylan was gone, and it was her fault.

The slayer felt him watching her from behind, but she dared not turn around to face him. Instead of forcing her to look at him by saying something incredibly stupid like she expected, he stepped inside silently and pulled the door closed behind him.

“You want to tell me what this Key is, love?” Spike asked calmly.

But Buffy refused to say anything. Please don’t do this to me, she thought, clutching the dog. Please don’t make me choose.

“Give it to her,” he told her as if he she were some sort of small child who had just been told to give back a toy to another kid. Buffy spun around on her heels and looked at him. “Give her the Key.”

The slayer bit down on her lip and said weakly, “I can’t.”

“Well, do you have it?” he asked a bit more heated. She nodded her head yes, lowering her eyes once again to the toy she held. “Then give it to her,” he ordered.

“I told you,” Buffy said, turning back to the crib. “I can’t.”

“Give her the soddin’ Key, Buffy,” Spike said as coldly as she had ever heard him.

“I can’t,” she bit back, her own pain and anger rising.

“Bloody hell, woman. She has Dylan! Give it to her!”

“I can’t.”

He grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her around, and held her in front of him. She had never seen him so angry, not even he was trying to kill her all those years ago. “What kind of mother are you?”

Breaking his grip on her, she punched him hard across the face. “I can’t!!”

“Why the hell not?!”

“Because it’s Dawn!” she said before she even realized it. Silence passed between them as he stared at her. It felt oddly better that he finally knew, though she didn’t know how it could help them now. Buffy’s anger began to die as his shifted to surprise and shock. She told him softly, “Dawn’s the Key.”

He blinked at her, his mind refusing to accept what she had said. “What? No. I’ve known the Bit since-“

“It’s not real,” she said sadly, shaking her head. “Nothing before two years ago is.”

He shook his head as he tried to understand what she was telling him. It had to be wrong. “But I remember…”

Slowly, Buffy moved away from him and went to her bed. She sat down and looked blankly at the floor as she told him what she remembered from before. Even now, after two years, the story felt strange to tell, but it was the truth. How does the saying go? Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.

“She was what Glory was after. Why? I don’t know. All I know is that there were these monks, and they said that they needed to protect the Key from her. So, they sent her to me, complete with memories for me and everyone we’ve ever met. I don’t know what the Key does, but it must be something pretty powerful for them to go through all that trouble.” Buffy paused for a moment, and looked down at the animal she still held. “She is my sister, Spike, my blood. They made her from me. She’s a part of me, just like Dylan.” She looked over at him, unshed tears blurring her visions. “How am I supposed to choose? Tell me. I want to know! How do I choose?!”

He shook his head, looking every bit as confused and torn as her. “I don’t know, love.”

Buffy felt herself begin to cry. She hated that she couldn’t do anything. She hated that she was against her best friend. She hated that she felt like she should give Dawn over to Willow to save Dylan. She hated that no matter what she did, someone she loved was going to get hurt or die.

Spike sat down beside her, and pulled her to him, letting her cry into his shoulder.

The two never heard the teenager that had come up the stairs to see what the shouting was about; they didn’t know that she had heard. But Dawn Summers now stood beside her sister’s door with her world effectively shattered.

*********

Part 9: Truths and Consequences

Steven sat on the couch, waiting for his father and the British man to come back from the kitchen. This whole place was strange to him, much stranger than Los Angeles. It wasn’t that this place had more demon activity, though he had no doubt that it did, but it felt...familiar, like he was home. Angel had said something about this place being on the Hellmouth, maybe that had something to do with it. After all, he had grown up in Quortoth, a hell dimension. Yeah, now that he thought about, that was the feeling he was getting off this place.

The young boy looked up when he heard someone charging down the stairs that Dawn had just ascended a moment ago.

He wondered if Buffy and Spike - and he thought the people in LA had strange names - knew they were arguing loud enough for everyone in the house to hear. It had quieted down a few minutes ago, but Steven had learned over time that that necessarily wasn’t a good thing. It might just mean that one killed the other, although he doubted that. They liked each other, something which visibly bothered Angel, though Steven didn’t know why. He would have to ask Cordy about later.

Dawn charged down the stairs and out the door without a word, though her face was distorted in pain and confusion. He frowned at that; he didn’t like seeing her in pain. After chancing a glance towards the kitchen, Steven took off after her. With all that’s going on, Dawn going out by herself was not a very good idea, not with this Willow person running around at least.

He hung back in the shadows, barely keeping behind her, as to not alert her of his presence. Something had upset her badly, and he knew how it felt to want to be alone, so he gave her space. If something should come up, he would protect her, though.

The teenage girl’s pace slowed as she ran into the park, and she started to yell to the sky, “Willow! Willow!!”

Steven’s eyes widened. What the hell was she doing?!

“Willow!” she screamed again, her voice echoing through the empty park.

“I’m not Willow,” a voice answered. Dawn spun around to find a vampire standing in full game face. A devilish grin played on his lips as he continued, “But you’re dinner. Guess Willow can be desert.”

“Stay away from me,” the girl warned, her body unintentionally falling back into a fighting stance.

The vampire laughed at the girl, knowing she wouldn’t be much of a challenge against him. He lunged at her, only to be tackled to the ground by Steven. The dazed vamp struggled under the boy’s surprisingly strong grip as Steven lifted the stake he always carried with him.

“Well, she did warn you.” He then drove it into the vampire’s heart, causing the creature to explode into a cloud of dust under him.

Steven got up off the ground and turned to face Dawn. But instead of receiving a thank you, her eyes narrowed in on him as she bit coldly, “What the hell are you doing here?”

The boy couldn’t help but blink at the tone. “Saving you?”

Dawn’s voice became tight as she fought back her tears. “You can’t save something that’s not real.”

Looking at her strangely, he asked, “What?”

“Oh, look,” a woman said from nearby, causing both the teens to jump. Willow was leaning against a nearby tree, her arms crossed and an insane little smile on her face. Steven moved between her and Dawn; though, if she were as powerful as he thought, he didn’t know how much good it would do. The red head pushed away from the tree and slowly started to walk towards them. “If it isn’t the Scooby-In-Training and Angel Investigation’s Junior Detective. What? Decided to play Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys tonight?”

Steven growled the best he could at the woman, but he didn’t know how intimidating it sounded. Judging by that smile, not very. Willow looked down at the stake in the boy’s hand and laughed.

“Careful, kid. You could put someone’s eye out with that thing.”

With that, he lunged at the witch, not caring if she was more powerful than him. In lightening fast movement, Willow jerked her hand up and he saw the dark magic coursing through it before it hit him straight on. His body twisted in pain as the black magic threw him backwards towards Dawn before he landed hard on the ground, unconscious.

**********

Buffy slowly walked down the stairs, still clutching the stuffed dog as the shock and daze began to wear off and reality set in. She had to find Dylan; she had to stop Willow from doing whatever it was she was going to do with the Key. She had to do…something. Spike was at her side, having been relatively quiet since the revelation about Dawn. Buffy knew it was a lot to fathom in such a short amount of time, but they didn’t have time to deal right then. No, they had to get Dylan back first.

“Buffy?” she heard Oz ask from ahead of her.

The slayer looked up to see the werewolf standing in her open doorway, that Eric guy standing behind him. Her old friend looked paler then she could ever remember seeing him, and the sandy blond-haired man behind him had blood smeared on his clothes and face. “Oz, what happened?”

“That witch killed a friend of mine,” Eric bit coldly.

Buffy felt herself draw in a sharp breath and she barely resisted the urge to place her hands over her mouth. “Willow killed someone?”

“Not her,” Oz corrected. “The demon did.”

“It was her!” He narrowed his eyes in on the werewolf and said, “You can fool yourself Oz, but you can’t fool me. She killed Marie, and nothing you say about it being the demon’s fault will change that.”

Buffy looked down at the toy she held. Willow killed someone, had taken a life. Does that mean she would do the same to Dylan? She couldn’t think about that right then. But-“Why would Willow kill her?”

Eric and Oz looked up at the dazed slayer. The two men exchanged a look before Eric explained, “She was going to do a spell that would have killed the demon, but wouldn’t have harmed Willow except for the fact that she wouldn’t have her magic anymore.”

“It’s kind of like taking the bullets out of gun,” Oz tried to illustrate. “You know, no bullets doesn’t change the gun, but it just can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“Also, the demon can’t live in a creature that’s not supernatural in some way. Without her power, it would die,” Eric finished.

“So, basically, we bind Red’s power and she’ll go back to normal?” Spike simplified.

“Basically, yes,” Oz agreed. “But we need a pretty powerful witch to do this. I mean, it’s not exactly a spell found in ‘Beginner Guide to Witchcraft’.”

Buffy and Spike looked at one another, both knowing what the other was thinking, before saying together, “Tara.”

Blinking, Oz asked, “Willow’s girlfriend?”

Spike nodded his head and said, “Yeah. She might not look like it, but Glenda packs a pretty powerful magical punch. She can do this spell of yours no problem.”

“We better get back to the shop before Willow or that thing realizes that too.” Buffy turned slightly towards the living room and called, “Giles!”

A scurrying sound came from the other room and, moments later, the Watcher appeared. “Buffy? Is everything-Oh, dear Lord! Oz?!”

“Hey, Giles,” the boy said, sounding a lot like the old Oz they had known from high school.

Giles looked from him, back to Buffy, before asking, “What’s going on?”

“Later. Right now, we need to get the others up and about. Will your little Coke trick work on them?”

“It should,” he said, nodding his head.

“Coke trick?” Oz asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Good,” Buffy went on before turning to her old friend. “We wake Tara up, she can do your spell, and we’ll be good.”

“If nothing else, Glenda can do a location spell for us,” Spike said. At Buffy puzzled look, he took the stuffed animal from her hand and held it up. “She has Dylan. We find the poppet, we find Red.”

“Right,” Buffy nodded.

Looks like they just got themselves a plan. May not be a good one, but it was better then nothing, Eric though.

“Um, guys,” Angel said from the living room, drawing the others’ attention to him. He was looking around, his brow knitted together as he searched for something. “Where are the kids?”

*********

Dawn tried to stand firm and unafraid as the red head approached her. Try and remember this is Willow, she told herself. Willow wouldn’t hurt anyone. But she had hurt Connor, and she looked like she had enjoyed it. She had hurt her mother. She had taken Dylan. No, this wasn’t Willow. This was…evil.

“Now, Dawnie, I know Buffy taught you better than to go bellowing for the bad guy,” Willow mocked, stalking the teenager like she was prey.

“I know what you want,” Dawn said, trying to sound brave, but her voice was trembling along with her body. She swallowed hard before continuing, “I know who the Key is.”

The red head’s eyes became wide at that as a large grin spread across her face. “The Key is a person?!”

Dawn shifted on her feet to make herself more sure. But with Connor lying on the ground unconscious by a simple flick of Willow’s wrist, she didn’t know how sure she looked. “Yes.”

“Who, Dawnie?” the witch asked in an excited voice. For a moment, she almost sounded like the old Willow again, instead of this insane one that had taken her place. “Tell me who, and this will all be over with.”

The teen swallowed hard. “Me.”

Willow looked blankly at her for a moment, almost as if the information was refusing to sink in. She blinked, then said, “You?”

“That’s right,” the child went on, sounding more sure of herself. Dawn crossed her arms, and lifted her head slightly like she was standing Buffy down over the TV remote instead of facing crazy Willow. “I’m Glory’s Key.”

Willow’s eyes narrowed in on Dawn making the woman look more evil then anyone the teenager had ever seen before in her life. The look made Dawn think about the time Anya had caught her stealing a necklace from the display case. Dawn had thought she had never seen evil and hatred in such a pure form then the expression on the ex-demons face as the teenager held the piece of stolen merchandise. Now, looking at Willow, Dawn realized Anya had nothing on her. The teenager’s confidence dissolved quickly and she began to look around for any way to make a quick get away if needed.

“Don’t toy with me, Dawn Summers,” she said walking forward, which pushed Dawn back. “I have no time for your childish games.”

“It’s true,” Dawn told her, her voice trembling again with emotion, but not the fright from before. This time, it was from pain. Pain of never being told who she really was. Pain from causing this whole mess. This was all her fault. If she was never sent to Buffy, Willow would have never been sent to the Shadow World, Dylan would have never been taken, and Connor wouldn’t be hurt now. It was her fault.

Willow studied the teen for a moment before she decided that Dawn was telling the truth. The teenager thought that would have made her happy; she was going to get what she wanted. But, instead, the red head’s face became harder, if that were at all possible.

“You?” the witch hissed. “I died for you?”

“You’re not dead, Willow,” Dawn dared to point out.

Raising her hand again, Willow threw Dawn across the ground like she had Connor. The teenager landed with a hard thud, skidding just short of the parking lot pavement. She scrambled to her feet, but Willow simply kept her hand up, causing the teen to freeze in her tracks. The teen stood there, unable to move any part of her body, as Willow came to her.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Dawn,” she told her evenly. “I did die and went to hell. I went to hell because of you…a whinny, pathetic, useless brat! Tell me, is that fair?!”

Dawn cast her eyes to the ground. “No,” the girl whispered.

“Is that fair?!” Willow screamed in her face.

“No,” Dawn answered in a voice a bit louder than before.

The witch leaned in close to the girl’s face and sneered, “Because of you, my life was taken away.” She snorted a laugh as she drew back. “Once again, a Summers girl is the source of my misery.”

Dawn squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight back the tears. But she could feel them already rolling down her cheeks.

“You have what you wanted,” the teen managed. “Let Dylan go home.”

Looking at her as if she had sprung another head, Willow asked, “Now why would I do that?”

Dawn felt her heart sink. “You said you would!”

Shrugging, Willow turned away from the frozen teenager and went over to the still knocked out Connor. She kicked him in the side and said, “I lied. I’ve gotten pretty good at that lately.”

When the boy didn’t wake up, Willow smiled, lifted her hand up, raising his body into mid-air. He hung there like a limp, rag doll, as Willow grinned like a Cheshire cat. For the fun of it, the witch reached over and pushed lightly on his leg. His limp body began to spin like a record, much to Willow’s amusement.

“You see, Dawnie, the way I see it, she’s another Summers girl, which means people are going to get hurt because of her. I’ll be doing the world a favor by getting rid of her now, before she has a chance to cause any harm.”

Dawn felt her face pale. “You’re going to kill us, aren’t you?”

Willow started to walk back to the girl, Connor’s limp form floating behind her like a puppy dog on a leash.

“Dylan? Most definitely. Him? Probably, but he looks like he’ll be fun to play with first. As for you, Dawn,” she leaned in close to her, “I have something very special planned for you.” Willow began to stroke the side of the teen’s face gently. “Tell me, Dawn. How would you like to go see Glory in hell?”

*********

Part 10: Where You Learn

Buffy sat in the passenger seat of her mother’s SUV watching through the dark, rain streaked window as houses and business went by. It had started to rain again soon after they discovered the kid’s disappearance. The slayer had been frantic at first, along with Angel, insisting that they go out and find them. Giles had been the one to point out that they did not have time to go in search of the teenagers, not with Willow in her current state of mind. Reluctantly, both Angel and Buffy had agreed that getting rid of the demon was the top priority at the moment. Still, she was worried.

Spike glanced over at her for a moment, then turned the utility vehicle to go down Main Street to Giles’ shop. “Don’t worry, love. Niblet’s fine.”

“But what if Willow finds her?” she asked quietly. A spark lit behind Buffy’s eyes as another thought crossed her mind. “I mean, doesn’t Dawn know better then go running off when there’s a crazy demon running around?”

“One, she’s got the Poof Part Two with her if she does run into trouble,” he told her as he pulled into an empty parking space outside the Magic Box. Killing the engine, he went on, “And two, Red doesn’t know that Dawn is this Key, so she won’t be lookin’ for her.”

Buffy sat back in her seat and sighed. He might have been right, but that still didn’t make her feel any better about leaving her sister out there.

Damn it, Dawn. We had enough to deal with without you running off and getting yourself killed, she thought bitterly as she continued to stare out the window into the dark night.

He frowned while he studied her. She seemed so lost at the moment, and he felt helpless to do anything. He didn’t know where Dylan and Red where, and Dawn had basically disappeared without a trace.

“I shouldn’t have been selfish,” she said lowly in the dark. “I shouldn’t have wanted her.”

“What?” he asked lost from her line of thought.

“Dylan,” Buffy answered quietly. “If I hadn’t been selfish about wanting her, none of this would have happened. This is all my fault.”

“Love, look at me,” he told her firmly. When she refused, he reached over and gently turned her face to see his. He fought back a deep frown when he saw she was near tears again; he hated seeing her in so much pain. “This is not your fault.”

“But if I wouldn’t have had Dylan, Willow-”

“Would have found someone else to take to get her Key,” he cut her off still using a soft voice, though he had felt an angry pang when she had even suggested that she should have not had their child. “And it probably would’ve been Dawn herself.”

“But she has our baby, Spike. Something she knows that we would both do anything to get back,” she told him. “And now Dawn’s missing with Connor. And I don’t know what to do here. I can’t give Willow the Key, and she won’t give Dylan back if I don’t.”

He sighed as he regarded their dilemma. Red wouldn’t give up Dylan without a fight, even if they did give her Dawn, but Buffy didn’t seem to want to believe that. It was hard for the petite blonde to accept that her one-time best friend had crossed over to the ‘dark side,’ even if it was with the help of a demon. No, they both had to realize that this was the demon they were dealing with, not Willow, and, like all good demons, it would double-cross them in a second flat. But he couldn’t tell her this, though he was sure she already knew it in the back of her mind.

“We’ll, think of something, pet,” Spike chose to say instead.

Buffy leaned into his hand that was still touching the side of her face. “Say it for me,” she told him. “Tell me we’re going to make it through this.”

“We will make it through this, like we always do,” he swore.

That made her smile a little, even though she knew it was a lie.

**********

It felt like someone was drowning him, his lungs were tight, as the ice-cold liquid continued to pour down his throat. A moment of panic passed through him when the memory of what he had done to his father over the summer came rushing back. Oh, God, what if this was revenge? What if his penitence for doing that to Angel was for him to suffer the same fate? It would be an appropriate punishment for dishonoring his real father in such a way.

His world was hazy enough as he came to and found himself being held underwater, a murky face barely visible above him. Steven gripped at the invisible arms that held him down in vain. This was where he was going to die, he just knew it.

There was a muffled cry of terror - was that Dawn? - but the figure refused to let him up. Blackness was threatening again as gasps of air started to escape from his painfully tight lung and up to the surface. He felt his body starting to give up when the invisible hands stopped pushing him down, and lifted him upward out of the water.

Steven gasped and coughed at the same time, spitting out the gallon of water he had taken in and trying to give his lungs the air they so desperately wanted. The action made his head hurt, and his body still ached from what Willow had done to him earlier. His whole body screamed in agony, but he wouldn’t show it. He was strong, not weak, and he could handle anything this witch could deal out.

“Please, stop,” a girl whimpered from nearby.

Steven coughed once more, then lifted his head to see both Dawn and Willow standing at the edge of the swimming pool he had just been emerged in. The witch was using her magic to hold him above the water right then, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before he was below the surface again. She looked as if she was enjoying the pain she was causing him, but Dawn just looked on horrified and helpless from behind.

“Stop?” Willow mocked, slowly turning her head to see the teenage girl out of the corner of her eye. “Why? I’m just having some fun until it’s time to send you on your way.”

“He doesn’t deserve this!” the brown-haired girl exclaimed, her body frozen in place.

Willow chuckled lowly to herself before turning her gaze back to the boy that hung above the swimming pool. She slowly began to pace along its edge, her eyes locked with his as an insane grin played on her lips. Her boot heels echoed through the large room that had an over powering smell of chlorine from the indoor swimming pool, with the only other sound being his continuous deep breathing.

“Doesn’t deserve this,” she repeated lowly. “He doesn’t deserve this. Angel might disagree with that. What do you say, Connor? Do you deserve this?” She pause mid-stride, and said, “Or do you prefer Steven?”

The boy lowered his head, and then lifted it with a hot fire burning behind his eyes. At that moment, he definitely looked as if he were the son of Angelus. “I’ve made mistakes. I’m trying to pay my penitence for them.”

“Pay your penitence?” Willow laughed. “How? By helping your father ‘help the hopeless?’ That’s a laugh.”

The invisible arms dropped him again, making him land with a huge splash in the pool. They then began to push him down again as Dawn’s muffled screams filtered through the water. Willow walked to the edge of the pool and looked down at the boy below.

‘At least Angelus had an excuse,’ he heard her voice say in his head. ‘He didn’t have a soul when he did evil. He didn’t choose to be a monster like his own son.’

Steven ground his teeth together as he focused in on the woman over him. ‘You mean like you are now?’ he thought back, not sure if she heard him or not, but not really caring either.

Willow’s smile was replaced by a deadly frown before the arms jerked Steven out of the pool and swung him into the wall behind Dawn. The teenage girl screamed loudly as the boy groaned in pain. The world was spinning now, and his body wouldn’t allow him to push himself up on his own. The red-headed woman walked over to him, reached down, grabbed him by the throat, and then slammed him against the wall again, causing the already large hole he had made to become even bigger.

His hands vainly wrapped around her arms that held him, while she looked at him with the coldest eyes he had ever seen in his life. There was no goodness there, no life, no humanity - only death. Death and darkness.

“No, boy,” she hissed at him, tightening her grip on his throat to where she was about to break his neck. “Thanks to Buffy and Dawn, I never had a choice.”

His head was hurting again, the pressure building up from the circulation that she had cut off. He felt so tired, so tired and weak. He wanted to stop her, he needed to stop her, but he was so tired.

When darkness started to come again, she released his throat and let his body fall to the ground with a loud thud. Steven couldn’t move; his body refused to even allow his mind to have such a thought. What it wanted was the one thing he didn’t have time for right at the moment. It wanted rest.

Willow smirked again at the teenage boy that lay at her feet, then turned to girl who had watched the whole act in terror.

“Well, then. Guess that means it’s time for the real fun to begin, huh, Dawnie.” She walked over to the frozen girl, and pinched her cheek like she was a little child. “Come on. Let’s go see that pretty little niece of yours. Now, I believe you know the way to the principal’s office.”

**********

The whole store had a silent tension about it as the other members of the Scooby Gang slowly came to thanks to the help of Giles’ two hour old, cold coffee. None of them had particularly enjoyed being forced to drink it, but it had done the trick, and now they had three more Scoobies and one Fang Gang member on the case.

Cordelia frowned as she looked around the room at the other members of the group, all of whom looked like this was the worst night of their lives. Buffy and Spike had trailed in shortly after the seer awoke from her impromptu nap. They both looked awful, and, from the explanation that Giles had given them about what had happened that night, she could understand why.

Xander had refused to believe it at first, that Willow would do anything to hurt them. Oz had tried to explain, even had Giles back him up on it and Anya agreed, but Cordy’s ex had simply shook his head and kept repeating that it had to be some sort of mistake. This was no mistake, though. Cordy could feel that Willow was no longer herself, and this demon or whatever had taken her over completely; it only allowed her to think that they were her own thoughts.

Oz’s friend, Eric, stood over in a corner, his arms crossed and a deep frown embedded on his face. Cordy hadn’t liked him before, with thinking that he was trying to hurt them and all, but now she was really worried about him. Before, he had no intension of hurting any of them, even if they didn’t know that, but he did now. Even without her visions, Cordy could easily see that if he got to Willow before the rest of them, that spell that Oz was trying to explain wouldn’t matter too much.

Angel was leaning on the counter, only half listening to what was being said among the Scoobies. He was lost too deep in his own thoughts, worry with whether Connor was alright or not. They both knew the kid could take good care of himself, he had proven that time and time again, but the not knowing is always a killer. She would have to remember to yell at the kid when they got home.

“So, you think you can do this?” Oz asked Tara, handing a thick, old book over to her.

The young wicca frowned as she looked at it; blood from the pervious young witch still smeared on the cover. Ignoring it, Tara opened the book to the marked page, and began to read over what was needed. “Yeah, I can do it. I’ll just-I’ll just need a few things.”

“This won’t...hurt Willow. Will it?” Xander asked cautiously, looking from Tara to Giles, back to Tara.

“From what I understand, it won’t,” Giles reassured.

“Does it really matter?” Eric bit bitterly from his corner.

“Hey man! That’s my friend you’re talking about!”

“Who killed mine,” he pointed out coldly.

Xander shrunk back painfully as Anya laid a hand on his shoulder. The poor guy looked as if he were losing Willow all over again. Of course, Cordelia supposed he sort of was. Damn the Hellmouth. Always has to go screwing up people’s lives. That’s why she moved to LA, where people screw up their own lives without any demonic help...most of the time.

The ex-cheerleader sighed and glanced over to the large table that sat in the middle of the shop. That little boy of Eric’s was sitting there, quietly playing with some of Dylan and Jessie’s toys. They hadn’t even bothered to try and wake the infant. Chances are she would have just made things more difficult at the moment.

Poor kid. He’s had it rough. To think he had been in the room next door when his aunt was killed. She shuttered at the thought of him hearing her scream as Willow tortured and then killed her. Swallowing hard, Cordy walked over to the table and sat down next to the kid.

“Hi,” she said with a small smile. “Whatch’ya doin’?”

The three-year-old glanced up at the strange woman beside him, then went back to the rolling the little ball back and forth on the table. “Playing ball.”

“I can see that,” she said, nodding her head. “So, what’s your name again? Car? Truck?”

The little boy laughed slightly at the playful teasing. “Van,” he told her.

“I knew it was some kind of vehicle.”

He gave a childish giggle, and Cordy laughed softly as well. Good, then maybe the kid will feel a little better.

Eric had stopped listening to what the others were saying to watch the stranger speak with his son. She really did seem to have a way with kids, and he was glad she was trying to make Van feel better, but they had more important things to worry about at the moment.

“Van,” he said softly, bringing the two’s attention to him. “Stop bothering the nice lady.”

“Oh, he’s not bothering-”

Cordy took in a sharp breath as the whole room changed from the Magic Box to the swimming pool in the new high school. She saw Willow standing there, at the edge, looking down into the water as Dawn cried behind her. Her old friend’s face suddenly fell before she jerked her sight to the wall behind her, as the witch pulled a figure out of the water and slammed him into wall. Cordelia gasped when she saw who the figure that lay crumpled on the ground was.

“Connor?” she said in a weak voice, stumbling out of the chair and trying to move closer to them.

She watched in horror as Willow bent down and lifted the young boy up by the throat and slammed him against the wall again.

“Cordy?” she heard Angel’s voice say from beside her.

The seer turned from the vision to look at her boss who was now standing at her side. The others were looking at her strangely, but she didn’t care. The seer turned back to the side of the room where she had seen the vision, only to find that it was now gone and replaced with the back area of the Magic Box.

“Cordy,” Angel said to her again. “Cordy, what did you see? Where’s Connor?”

“She has him,” she told him. Cordelia watched a wave of terror run over his face, but she looked past him to Buffy, which was standing at the counter next to Spike. “She has Dawn too.”

“Oh, God,” Buffy said in a low whisper, her face paling before Cordelia’s eyes.

“Well, where is she?” Spike demanded. “Do you know?”

The seer shook her head yes. “The high school,” she told them, choosing to leave out the part that she had been torturing Connor for the moment. If Angel knew, he would have been more gung-ho about killing her then this Eric guy was at the moment.

“Right then,” Spike nodded, heading over to the weapons case. “Glenda can get to work on the spell while the rest of us try and keep Red busy.”

“Me and Eric can’t go,” Oz informed them quietly.

As the rest of the group looked at him curiously, Eric exclaimed in hot temper, “Of course we can go!”

“No, we can’t,” he repeated, slowly shaking his head. “You said it yourself, Eric. This demon can survive in supernatural host. Once Tara’s able to bind Willow’s magic, it’ll be looking for the first supernatural host it can find. Thanks to our more primal nature, that means me and you.”

“What about Spike and Angel?” Anya spoke up. “Won’t they be worse then you two if Willow’s demon decides to make one of them its new home?”

“No,” Xander said, shaking his head. “They both already have demons in them. There can only be one demon in a body at a time.”

Spike looked at him for a long moment, blinked, then said, “Congratulations, Whelp. You just added savant to your title.”

“He didn’t come up with that by himself,” Cordy bit out. “We found that out when Giles’ dope demon came to town in high school.”

“Guess it’s back to bein’ just an idiot then, Harris,” Spike shrugged before another thought struck him. “Giles’ dope demon?”

“Wait a minute. If she has Dawn, will it be able to jump into her?” Buffy asked; fear etched on her face.

Giles frowned for a moment, considering the questions as the others, besides Spike, looked on in confusion. Dawn is human, why would she be worried about the demon being able to jump into her?

“I don’t believe so,” Giles finally said. “From what I understand, the Key is pure energy, which means that it’s neither good nor bad. The demon needs the hate just as much as the supernatural to survive and the Key doesn’t have this. Dawn might, but the Key is just energy that’s in her. Think of it like an aura, it’s part of what she is, but she’s just human.”

Buffy slowly nodded her head, as if she understood, but the rest of them were completely lost. Cordy frowned. So Dawn was this Key. No wonder Buffy looks horrible.

“Wait,” Xander spoke up finally. “The Dawnster is the mystical keyie thing? Um, hello. Kinda of like to know how that happened?”

“Later,” Buffy told him in her take charge kind of voice. “Oz, you and Eric can help Tara with the spell. You too, Giles.”

“Me?” the Watcher spoke up, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, you’ve wielded some pretty heavy mojo in your day, Watcher,” Spike agreed. “Might not be as powerful as Red, but, if Wolf Boy’s right, then it’ll be more than enough to keep this thing alive.”

“I suppose so,” he said lowly.

“I’m staying too,” Anya told them. “Someone has to keep an eye on the kids.”

“The rest of you are with me,” Buffy said. “Remember, we don’t want to hurt Willow, just keep her busy for a while.”

Cordy sighed as the group went about gathering their things. No, they didn’t want to hurt Willow if they didn’t have too. But if what she saw was any indication of her old friend’s state of mind, not hurting her didn’t look as if it would be an option.

**********

Part 11: Beneath the Surface

She felt like a puppet, with Willow pulling the strings. Her body only moving upon the witch’s command. She had no free will of her own to run even if she wished to do so. Now she knew how minions felt.

Dawn walked into the principal’s office behind the red head, faithfully following her mistress like a puppy on a leash. She couldn’t think of this…thing as Willow anymore because she couldn’t hate Willow, but she hated this woman with every fiber in her body. This witch hurt people, and did it with a song in her heart and a smile on her lips. She was easy to hate, even if she wore one of Dawn’s best friend’s bodies.

Dawn stopped just a few feet from the door by an invisible barrier as Willow continued on towards the large desk. The witch flicked her wrist, sending the desk crashing off to the side like it had been a beach ball some kid had decided to kick around. Dawn flinched from the impact, her mind momentarily wondering back to the wounded Connor downstairs beside the pool. He was so much stronger than Dawn and Willow took care of him like he had been nothing. How could the teen ever think that she would be able to do something to save her niece? She wouldn’t even be able to save herself.

Willow’s eyes were locked on something that had been behind the desk, and that was when Dawn noticed the play pen with the little child standing inside of it. The baby’s eyes were locked on the red-headed woman that was walking towards her, but the child didn’t seem afraid, just curious.

“Dylan?” Dawn whispered upon seeing her niece alive and well.

The baby looked past the woman before her and finally saw the teenager that had entered with her. The child’s face lit up when she saw that it was her aunt.

“Dawn!” she cried happily, holding out her arms to be picked up by the family member.

The teenager fruitlessly jerked at her body, trying to make it move, but finding that she still had no control over it. Willow laughed softly.

“Sorry, my little kitten,” she told the baby. “But Auntie Dawn is going to do a little something for me before I even let her think about coming near you.”

She reached over to touch the side of Dylan’s soft head, but the child drew back as if her hand were on fire. That just caused Willow to smirk even more. “Just goes to prove that babies aren’t as dumb as people think they are,” she snorted before turning away and heading over to a black bag that she had stashed in a corner.

Willow took the bag and went to the center of the room, then began to empty it on the floor. A large book fell to the ground with a loud bang, and Dawn recognized it as the one that had been responsible for sending Glory and Willow to that awful Shadow World. The teen felt her stomach drop as Willow picked it up, and began to flip through the pages.

“So many memories,” the witch said wistfully. “So few good ones.”

She sighed as she closed the book and put it over on top of the file cabinet. Willow then walked back over to the items the still laid on the ground, and picked up a much shinier object. The room’s artificial light danced off the blade of the odd dagger as the witch held it up high and close to her face to inspect it. The menacing looking weapon sent chills down Dawn’s spin from the knowledge of what her one-time friend intended to use it for.

“He had such great plans for this weapon. Did you know that?” Willow said as if Dawn understood what she was talking about. “He told me that he was going to use this to cut into your tender flesh and give the world a light show like it had never seen before. He really was a silly, arrogant little puppy. Only talked about wanting to be with the Beast, so I was more than happy to send him to hell with her. That was such great fun, Dawnie. You should have heard the way he screamed.”

“Willow, please, if you’re somewhere in there, don’t do this,” the teen begged.

The red head brought the blade away from her face and looked at the young girl strangely before she started to laugh.

“Oh, Dawnie, you really are good for a laugh.” The witch walked calmly over to the teen, the dagger swinging at her side before she locked her arms behind her back and leaned in close to the Key’s face. “I am Willow, the real Willow. That other one was a pathetic weakling that I needed to be rid of to embrace my real destiny. This is who I am meant to be. I knew that when I met the other me, the vampire me. I didn’t think so then, but now I know why she loved this so much.” Dawn shuttered slightly as her old friend moved in close to whisper in her ear, rubbing her cheek against the girl’s and pressing close. Willow whispered, “Because hate is so much fun.”

The teenager squeezed her eyes shut trying to hold in the tears that came from both knowing that her friend really was gone, and the fear that was building inside of her. This caused Willow’s mirth to grow as she turned away from the girl and began to play with the knife’s sharp edge.

“Now, let’s see,” she thought aloud. “Do I want to go ahead and send you to hell, or do I want to kill that little bastard niece of yours first? Hum? Which do I choose? On the one hand, I’ve been waiting to get rid of the Key since…well, forever. On the other, it would be kind of fun to make you watch my little kitten being skinned. What do you say, Dawn? Want to see me flay the little precious like an animal?”

Willow giggled when Dawn looked like she was going to be sick, making the decision for her. Yeah, the Key suffering like she did was just what she wanted.

“Flay it-“

A strange, powerful sensation came over her, causing the witch to stop in mid-sentence and look over her shoulder and out the window. They were coming; she could feel them as they approached. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice screamed in relief that she might actually be stopped, but she ignored that and latched onto another voice that was telling her that this might prove to be more interesting than she thought.

Rolling her head lazily back over to Dawn, she said, “Well, looks like there’s going to be more of a pre-show than I thought. But five against one doesn’t sound really that fair. Does it? Let’s just even up those odds, shall we.”

The witch’s eyes became jet black while she chanted. Oh, yes. This was going to be great fun.

**********

Xander and Cordy struggled to keep up with the group of determined parents as they marched towards the newly rebuilt high school. He noticed the three parents walk in-step with each other, and Xander could almost hear a drill sergeant yelling at him for not keeping formation with them. Clinching his teeth together a little tighter, he hurried to get in line and unconsciously went to keeping in step with them. So solider boy still lives after all.

They slowed to a stop in front of the school and looked up at the large building. It didn’t matter what the school looked like in the light of day, seeing one after dark, when all life has deserted it, always gave the building a strange yet fascinating energy. It was true that he had spent more than his fair share of nights in the old school, researching in the library until dawn some days, or preparing with Buffy for a great battle when the Scoobies themselves were just trying to make it through high school; literally and figuratively. But he had never been in this school after dark, not even when he was helping in its construction at the beginning of this year. In all honesty, he had hoped he would never have to step foot on the grounds after dark ever again. Well, he had hoped to be a multibillionaire by the time he was twenty-one and be dating Kirsten Dunst who would always wear that sexy little cheerleading outfit from ‘Bring It On.’ Funny how things never turned out like he hoped.

Buffy, who was standing in the middle of the group, took a deep breath, then said, “Angel, you take Cordy and Xander and check out the south end. Me and Spike will go check out the north.”

“Wait, why do we get to baby-sit Zippo down there?” Cordy asked rather annoyed at the suggestion.

The slayer glared at the seer, having no patience for arguments this night. “Xander helped build the place, so he knows the layout better than you two. It just makes more sense for him to go with you.”

Angel nodded his head in agreement. He reached over and touched her arm, earning a glare from Spike which both the older vampire and the slayer ignored. “Just be careful, okay?”

Buffy gave weary smile. Maybe their friendship would be salvageable. “We will,” she assured him, before following Spike up the stairs and going inside.

“Hey!” Xander called. “How do we let them know if we find Willow?”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll be able to follow your manly screams of terror,” Cordy said sarcastically before charging up the stairs and heading into the school. Xander scolded at her as he heard Angel chuckle lightly before heading after Cordelia. Rolling his eyes, the carpenter did the same.

The three snuck along the dark hallway, cautiously checking each classroom they passed. So far, everything had turned up empty. Xander couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing. It would be good if he didn’t have to face off against Willow, but it was a bad thing if she had hurt the kids, or worse.

They reached the end of the corridor, and came to a large pair of doors. Angel studied it for a moment, then jerked his head over to Xander. “What’s in here?”

“The gym,” he answered after confirming it with the mental blue prints in his mind.

Cordy’s body tightened at that as she marched over to the door and jerked them open forcefully. An empty basketball court greeted her.

“Where’s the pool?” she demanded.

“Um, through there and down the stairs,” Xander answered, pointing to a door on the other end of the court.

The seer took off across the court, the two men following close behind. She jerked open the door that lead to the pool below, the overpowering sent of chlorine hitting Xander hard in the face as they raced behind Cordy down the stairs. With the way their footsteps where echoing up the stairwell, there would be no way they would get the element of surprise if Willow was waiting for them.

Cordelia jogged inside of the large room that held the indoor pool, and let her eyes scan over the eerily still room. The pool seemed to glow from the lights placed inside, which cast a pale blue shine onto the white walls and pillars. The room was also chilly from someone having left the large windows at the top of the walls open, letting the night air drop the room temperature about ten degrees.

“Connor?” she said lowly before running over to broken wall where a body laid.

“Connor!” Angel exclaimed, hurrying after her.

The boy groaned lowly from within as the two skidded to a stop next to him, Cordy gathering the boy into her arms as Angel looked him over. The kid was in pretty bad shape from what Xander could see, with a least a broken arm and a concussion from that glassy look in his eyes. Plus there was the fact that he looked like someone had decided to through his clothes in the washer with him still in them.

“Connor,” Cordy said gently while the teenager started to come to. “Connor, are you okay?”

“What happened?” Angel demanded.

“Willow,” he answered lowly. “She has Dawn. We got to help her.”

Connor tried to lift himself from the floor, only to fall back down with a loud thud. “Hey, you’re out of this,” Angel told him, moving to help the boy up. “We need to get him out of here.”

Cordy nodded her head in agreement, while Xander went to the kid’s side to help his father lift him. Connor groaned from being touched, and lifted his head to say something to Angel when he saw something behind his father. “Look out!”

Angel turned just as a large, slimy hand smacked him hard across the face. The force of the blow sent the Master vampire rolling away from the group. Cordy and Xander’s heads shot up at the move, and they found an ugly, green Swamp Thing look-a-like demon standing over them. Connor growled as the creature leapt after his father.

“Angel!” Cordy yelled, scrambling to her feet to try and help the vampire, only to have another one of the creatures plow into her and cause them to both go crashing into the pool.

“Cordelia!” Connor yelled as the young woman and creature disappeared into the deep end of the pool.

Xander wasn’t sure what was going through his mind, but what he did know was that he got to his feet, ran to the edge of the swimming pool, and dove in after his ex. Okay, that just confirms the fact that he has been hanging out with Buffy for way too long. It was odd, almost like he was watching a movie of himself while the action was going on; not even the bitterly cold water changed that. Everything about the night had just felt so surreal, and this was no different.

He swam as fast as he could towards the young woman who was floating just above the bottom the pool, her hair flowing out around her like a halo. Her eyes were closed, and Xander could detect a faint trickle of red coming from a small cut on her forehead. He had almost reached her when something swam into his side, knocking him hard to the pool’s bottom with a heavy weight on top of him. Though his vision that was blurry from the water, Xander could clearly see it was the demon that had knocked Cordelia into the pool.

The creature bent down close to him, and revealed its razor sharp teeth. Xander open his mouth to yelp, but ended up taking in a mouth full of pool water which was effectively choking him. He struggled with the demon, but the creature seemed to be at home in the water. Swinging his arm as fast as he could, Xander hit the demon across the face, but he knew it could only do minimal damage at best. The punch, however, did lift the creature up enough to where he could squirm out from under him, and the carpenter started to kick for the surface, his lungs begging for some air.

The demon wrapped its arms around his waist halfway up, and Xander began to kick for all he was worth. He nailed the creature in the stomach, but it still held on tight; almost as tight as his lungs were filling at the moment. Xander began to pound the creature in the head the best he could, but the punches were slowed by the water. He had to get air, he couldn’t live without, and that was his only concern at the moment. The creature loosened its grip a little, and Xander kicked it in the head on his way up, then used it as a springboard to shoot upwards towards the surface.

He gasped desperately for air when his head broke through, and he began to cough up water. His mind had barely registered that Angel was still trying to battle the other creature, and that the injured Connor was trying to help the best he could, before Xander felt a hand around his ankle and pull him back under.

Xander fought the creature the best he could, but the demon had learned from the last time and chose to hang back, but keep him pulled down until simple biology took over and he would die from suffocation. The carpenter struggled in the grip as he was pulled farther below towards Cordy’s body that still hung suspended in the water.

A cold realization washed over him as he realized that he was going to die there in that pool. Well, he always knew he would die in high school. No, he couldn’t die now. Anya needed him! Jessie needed him!

He began to fight even harder, but with the creature so far away from him, there was little he could do. His lungs were hurting again, and he was vaguely aware that small air bubbles were escaping from his mouth. The pool was growing darker and his head was hurting so badly. Oh, God, he was about to die.

He was barely aware that something else had jumped into the pool. Probably the other demon joining his friend to make sure that the job was done. Xander’s tired body began to still and he would swear that the demon smiled when it saw this. The Scooby’s head dropped as he felt the darkness coming on strong, and then the demon did something strange. Its grip on his ankle loosened and then completely let go. The carpenter managed to open his eyes and saw that it had been Angel who had joined them in the pool, and had broken the demon’s neck.

A smaller, weaker arm began to drag him to the surface as Angel dove deeper for Cordelia. When his head broke the surface for the second time, Xander was literally sick with water. He would have sworn that he coughed up a couple of gallons before the weak arm laid him to rest against concrete side. Xander continued to cough before he turned his head weakly and saw Connor bobbing beside him, looking a bit stronger than he had a moment before. Still, the arm Xander thought the kid had broken hung useless at his side and the boy stared down into the water where his father and seer still were.

The two bobbed there in the water for a moment, waiting for the other two to come up. Cordy had to have drowned. He had almost drowned and he hadn’t been under as long as she had.

The vampire broke the surface a moment later, dragging the seer up with him. She hung loosely in his grip as he swam over to the two at the side of the pool. Xander managed to push himself up onto the side, helped Connor up, then the two of them dragged Cordelia up with them. Her lips were blue and Xander had a sudden flash back to his sophomore year with Buffy and the Master.

Temporarily forgetting his own brush with death, he found that she did have a heartbeat, though a faint one, but what she needed was air. Xander went to work. He pinched her nose before blowing his precious oxygen into her water-filled lungs. When he had done this several times, and she had not started to breath on her own, he mumbled, “Come on, Cordy. You have to breathe if you’re going to yell at us for not saving you sooner.”

Angel was kneeling at her other side, holding her hand in his as Connor stood over the group, watching in an odd fascination at what the dark-haired man was doing to his friend.

“Cordy, you have to wake up,” Angel told her, as if that would make her do it. “You can’t die on me now. I won’t let you.”

Xander blew into her mouth again and felt her body tense under him. That awful gurgling sound he had made himself a few minutes ago rose from throat before she began to spit out water. Xander moved away to allow her room to get rid of the liquid, but Angel leaned in closer as she coughed.

“Cordelia?” he said.

“Angel?” the seer said as she rolled her head towards the vampire, and blinked in confusion. “Did we win?”

Angel smiled; Xander winced. Since when did he smile like that? Angel pulled Cordy close and kissed her. Connor smiled at the action, but Xander felt his face scrunch up.

“Oh, man. I didn’t want to see you macking on Buffy in high school, and I really don’t want to see you macking on my ex-girlfriend!”

Cordy broke the kiss and turned to her old flame. “Emphasis on the ex part, Xander.”

“Are we going to have to worry about him going all Angelus on us?” he demanded, crossing his arms.

She turned back Angel, who just smiled and shrugged. “Maybe,” she grinned, knowing full well that neither one of them would let that happen, but it was fun to watch Xander sweat.

“Oh, this just great,” the young man said; throwing his arms in the air before he stood up and looked up at the ceiling. “Could my night get any better?”

“Um, guys,” Connor broke in, looking at the emergency exit door that was now opened. The rest of the group turned to see what he was looking at and found several different demons were standing there, ready for a fight.

Cordy and Angel scrambled to their feet before the group took off for the door they had come in through. “It was a rhetorical question!” Xander exclaimed, cursing himself for jinxing them like that as the demons began to chase them.

The group charged up the stairs and back into the gym, slamming the metal door behind them as they exited. Angel leaned against the door while the others went in search of something to barricade the door that was threatening to open at any second. The other three found the crate that held the basketballs nearby and began to push it towards Angel.

“You just had to say that, didn’t you?!” Cordy spat at him angrily as they placed the bin in front of the door. “God, you really are Zippo!”

“Hey, you better be glad this Zippo came along with you or you’d be annoying the hell out of some angel instead of us!” He bit back as they started to the main entrance once they were satisfied that the crate would hold back the demons for the time being.

Angel rolled his eyes. It was like being with two small children who didn’t like each other. He might love Cordy, but this really was getting on his nerves. “Guys, would you please just-“

The group froze when they walked into the main entrance where they had split up with Buffy and Spike and found that more demons were making their way towards the school. What? Did someone ring the dinner bell or something? Calling all demons, we have an injured miracle child of two vamps, a seer who almost drown, a carpenter who almost drown, and a vampire who saved them from the frying pan only to lead them into the fire.

Connor fell back into a fighting stance along with his father, and both Cordy and Xander instinctively lifted their fists. Yeah, this was going to be fun.

**********

Part 12:

Part 12: The Light

Oz watched as Tara and Giles prepare for the spell, and his mind momentarily wondered back to poor Marie. This was what she had been doing moments before Willow came. This had been what the witch was doing before the red-head killed her. His heart dropped at the thought of the young women. Marie might have died physically, but he knew that once Willow was Willow again, she would die from the knowledge of what she had done.

“I think that’s everything,” Tara said softly, looking around at the changed surroundings.

Giles nodded his head in agreement as he looked down at the circle they had drawn on the floor with the black pot that rested in the middle. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before handing her the ingredients, which included some of Willow’s hair that they had found in Tara’s brush in her purse.

Anya was watching from the counter she was leaning on, and Oz could already see her trying to think up a way to clean up that circle on the ground before they opened on Monday.

Van was still at the table, but his head was down on his crossed arms and he had eventually drifted off to sleep. The ball that he had been playing with earlier that evening was resting gently beside his feet as the boy slept. Though he had wanted his own toys earlier, he had pretty much claimed the ball as his own. Oz couldn’t help but wonder if Buffy or Anya would be able to tear their child’s toy away from the kid.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to do this?” Giles asked as Tara stepped into the circle, sat down, and he handed her the book Marie had been using earlier.

“I’ll do it,” she said with a strange confidence for Tara. “For Willow.”

“Besides, if you can’t bind her magic, I’m sure Buffy and the others will be able to destroy her before she does any real damage,” Anya offered, which earned her a glare from Giles. “What?”

Oz shook his head and looked around the store once more. That was funny, he didn’t see Eric anywhere. The werewolf walked over to the back entrance, and glanced into the training room as Tara and Giles began to mix the ingredients. He wasn’t there either.

Growing more worried by the moment as to where his friend could have gone, Oz went over to the sleeping boy, and gently shook his shoulder. Van drew in a deep breath as his sleepy eyes opened and looked at the young man before him.

“Hey, Van. Where’s your dad?”

The boy’s eyes fell closed again while he made a showing of shrugging his shoulders before he made himself more comfortable. “Don’t know,” the boy mumbled into his arms. “Told me to give you this.”

The kid sat up a little, and produced a folded piece of paper that he had been hiding under his arms. Oz took it and the kid was asleep before he had a chance to even open it. He frowned when he saw what it said.

Oz,

Take care of Van for me.

Eric

The werewolf crumpled the piece of paper in his hand, knowing full well that his friend indeed had gone off after Buffy and the others. As Tara prepared to read from the book, Oz thought to himself, Damn it, Eric. I hope you know what you’re doing.

**********

Buffy and Spike crept along the hallway towards the new principal’s office. Spike had made a good point about how, if Willow was holed up in the school, she’d probably want to be near the Hellmouth. No place closer than the room that was built directly over it. This all had been way too easy so far. She hadn’t set any traps for them or tried to stop them in anyway. It was almost as if she wanted them to come. That scared Buffy more than anything. Traps she could handle, direct invitations meant that Willow wasn’t worried about them being able to stop her.

The two stood on either side of the door, silently waiting for the other to give the singal to go. This was why she always liked working with Spike. He could just look at her and know what had to be done. Their priorities were Dawn and Dylan and keeping them safe until Tara could do the spell. They didn’t want to hurt Willow, but, if it came down to her or their family, they would.

Buffy paused at the thought. Since when had it become their family? As in belonging to both of them together. Yeah, Dylan was theirs, she understood that, but she had included Dawn in that last thought. Did that mean that he had become a member of her family?

Who are you kidding, Buffy? He’s been a member of the family since before Dylan was born, she thought.

He smiled at her wearily, silently reassuring her that it was going to be alright. There was no mistaking the concern and love in those eyes. When this was over, they really were going to have a very long talk.

She sighed deeply, looked towards the door, then nodded her head. He copied her movement, reached for the door, and the two walked in ready for a fight.

The room was rather dark, even with the artificial overhead light, but Buffy could make out the broken desk off to the side. The oak furniture had been basically broken in half with sharp ends sticking out, waiting like long knives that wished to stab anyone unfortunate enough wonder to close. She would have to remember to keep Spike away from that side of the room.

But a small movement from the middle of the floor was what drew Buffy’s attention. Sitting there quietly was Dylan, smiling at her parents as if they had just showed up to pick her up from Giles’ apartment or Xander and Anya’s, instead of saving her from mortal danger.

“Daddy! Swayer!” she smiled happily, holding her arms out for them.

Buffy rushed forward to her daughter, only to be thrown back hard by some sort of barrier. She hit the ground hard and slid back a few feet to Spike, who bent down to help her.

“You alright, love?” he asked, helping her up, all the while scanning the room.

Before she could answer, a small voice whimpered, “Buffy.”

The slayer and vampire turned and saw Dawn standing off in a dark corner, her body stiff as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” the teenager said. “I thought if she got what she wanted, then she would let Dylan go. I didn’t mean to make things worse.”

“Funny how people who never mean to make things worse always manage too,” another woman’s voice answered from their other side.

Buffy jerked her head over and watched as Willow shimmered - yeah, that’s a good word for it - in from the shadows. A childish, insane grin played on her lips as she looked at the parents before her. Buffy heard Spike growl lowly as his body tensed; that was when she noticed the rather large dagger that her friend was holding in her crossed arms.

“Now, come, come, Spikey,” Willow laughed. “Is that anyway to greet an old friend?”

“No,” he bit back, Buffy feeling his body coil up like a cat does before it pounces on its prey. “But you’re no friend of mine. Are you, Red?”

“Oh, looks and a brain,” Willow said, jerking her eyebrows up before turning to Buffy. “Look’s like you got a smart one this time.”

Spike leapt at the red head. Buffy watched as the witch’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, then jerked her arm around like she was swatting away a pesky fly. Spike was knocked off course by the motion, and sent crashing into an opposite wall. The slayer jumped to her feet while her friend was temporarily distracted, but Willow just jerked her head towards her old friend. It felt like someone had knocked her in the head with a sledgehammer and sent the blonde flying back. Buffy landed with a hard thud back on the ground, and slid across the floor until she hit the bookcase set up beside the door.

An evil grin grew on the witch’s face as she slowly started to walk towards a dazed Buffy. The slayer blinked several times, trying to clear her slightly blurred vision. Willow bent down in front of her old friend, and said, “Now you want to see what I can really do?”

Willow spread her hands wide and a black fog engulfed Buffy, an electrical current causing her whole body to tense in pain. When Buffy refused to scream, the witch increased the voltage, knowing if it went up much more it would kill her.

A cold growl was let out, distracting the witch from what she was doing for a moment. Spike was coming after her again, but Willow rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Down, boy,” Willow said. The witch once again swung her free hand, and sent him sailing directly at the sharp ends of the desk before he crashed into it.

“NO!!”

**********

Tara sat in the middle of the circle, concentrating on the picture of Willow in her mind. She was helping her, that’s all. She was trying to take Willow’s magic for good reason. Willow would understand once she got back to normal.

Giles held the book open, and she began to read from it and do as it said.

“Child of light, cannot be dead.

The darkness within, has been fed.”

*********

Buffy looked in horror as he hung there mid-air, her own pain temporally forgotten, as the sharp end of the desk began to dig into his skin. Spike’s face contorted in pain as he groaned lowly. The slayer tried to get to her feet to help him, but found that some invisible force held her in place. She couldn’t even move her arms that rested on the ground. It felt like she was glued there.

Willow grinned as she stood, forgetting about the slayer in favor of her new toy. She walked across the room slowly, switching the dagger from hand to hand until she reached him. He was leaning forward on the desk. If he took in a breath, he would be dust. She bent down low to his face, and studied him for a moment.

“Does it hurt?” Willow asked like a small child. “I bet it does.”

“Go to hell,” he bit at her coldly through his teeth.

“Been there, done that, looks a lot like Jersey,” she said. “But maybe you’ll like it better than me.”

“NO!” Dawn screamed as Willow moved her hand over to his back to push him down.

Buffy struggled for all she was worth, but whatever Willow had done to her was holding fast. Her eyes were wet as she looked up and found that he was looking back at her with apologetic eyes. She couldn’t lose him! Not now! Not when she finally realized that she-

Buffy felt something move past her, brushing her slightly while it leapt through the air with a loud growl. Willow turned at the sound, temporarily forgetting about Spike and what she was about to do, when the thing rammed into her and knocked her to the ground.

**********

Tara crumpled up the maple root and let it fall into the pot.

“Her spirit is strong, her flesh is weak.

A demon control, through her it does speak.”

*********

Buffy watched as Willow and the half transformed werewolf struggled on the ground; the sandy blond on top of the witch, snapping at her viciously. The red-heads eyes became jet black as she fought with him, and a build up of energy exploded around her, sending him flying in the opposite direction of her. He crashed hard into the wall, breaking it upon impact.

Willow pushed herself up, wiped the side of her mouth that had a thin trickle of blood running down it, and locked her insane eyes on the panting creature.

“Oh, another puppy to play with,” she laughed, bringing the dagger up and slowly walking towards him.

*********

Tara held up the few red hairs they had gathered and looked at them for a long moment. This was it, the moment of truth. Willow, please forgive me for what I am about to do, but you’re more then your magic, Tara thought. She just hoped Willow realized that.

“Bind her magic, so she may do no harm,

So that the demon cannot be armed.”

She dropped the hair into the pot, and the room exploded with a blinding white light.

*********

Willow was halfway to her destination when Buffy saw her stop dead in her tracks with a jerk. Her eyes were wide as if in pain, and she dropped the dagger to grab her head.

“No,” Willow said lowly, stumbling backwards. “No! Not now!!”

A white light began to build around Buffy’s friend, very dim at first, but soon it was almost blinding. The slayer pulled at her arms to try and cover her eyes, but the magic held, so she squeezed her eyes into thin slits when it became over-powering. She could barely make out the figure that was standing in the middle of the room, near Buffy’s strangely quiet daughter, as Willow turned her head up towards the sky and began to scream an ungodly scream.

The light seemed to stop for a split second before exploding like a firework and spreading throughout the whole school. For all Buffy knew, it could have been through all of Sunnydale.

The slayer shut her eyes tight for a moment, but opened them just enough to watch as Willow’s body began to spasm before an entire separate entity was pulled forward from her. The ugly beast continued to scream as Willow began to quiet, before the creature was engulfed in the white light. A second later, the light was gone, its only memory the spots that where before Buffy’s eyes.

She watched as Willow gave out a sigh, then slumped to her knees and fell forward completely unconscious.

**********

Xander brought his arm away from his face as the light died and blinked several times to get his sight back. The others were doing the same while the carpenter tried to decided exactly what happened. He glanced towards the entrance where all the demons were coming, and felt his face jerk in surprise when he saw that they were all gone. There was nothing out there except the cloudy sky that was starting to welcome sunrise.

“Okay, now that was just cool.”

**********

Tara slumped backward from the circle, giving out a deep sigh of exhaustion. Giles dropped the book he had been holding for her to read, and went to her side, cradling the weakened girl. That spell had taken a lot out of her. Hell, it had taken a lot out of him and he hadn’t even done it. He couldn’t imagine what it must be doing to her.

Anya and Oz walked over to the two, concern on their faces as Oz bent down next to her.

“So, you think it worked?” Anya asked.

*********

The first thing Dawn was aware of once the light was gone was that Willow was lying on the ground. The second thing she realized was that she could move again. True, it was stiff movements, like when she had ridden to long in the car, but she could move nonetheless.

Buffy pushed herself up off the ground as Dawn ran across the room and scooped her niece up into her arms. The two women quickly checked the child over, and were pleasantly surprised to find her unharmed. Buffy let out a sigh of relief, before giving her sister a quick once over. Dawn too was unharmed for the most part.

Spike groaned loudly as the invisible force that held him against the broken desk let go and allowed him to fall away from it. He landed hard on the ground, and Dawn watched her sister hurry to his side. The baby clung to her aunt as she slowly approached the couple.

“You okay?” Buffy asked gently touching the wound on his chest.

“Nothin’ a few pints of the ‘red stuff’ won’t cure,” he told her with a weak smile, that she returned. He rolled his head slightly, and looked up at Dawn. “What about the poppet? She alright?”

“Yeah,” Dawn said, swaying with the little girl. “She’s…sleeping?”

The parents exchanged a confused look before getting up off the ground and inspecting the child for themselves. As her aunt had said, the eleven-month-old was fast asleep in her arms, her little fist near her mouth that was hanging slightly open. Buffy smiled sweetly at the little girl, touched the side of her head, and then placed a small kiss on her forehead.

“So, can we go home now?” the teenager asked wearily.

Buffy smiled and nodded her head. “Yeah. Demon gone, you and Dylan are safe. I say we get the others to help with Willow and Eric and get-“

“Wait,” Spike spoke up. He moved between Buffy and Dawn, and began to study the slayer.

“Spike, what are you doing?” Buffy asked.

“Wolf Boy said that thing will jump into a supernatural host, right?”

“Yeah,” she answered, still not following his line of thought.

“Well, slayers aren’t exactly normal, now are they, love?” he asked.

Her eyes widened at the suggestion. “You think it could be in me?!”

“I don’t think it just disappeared.”

“Spike, you idiot. I would never hurt Dylan or Dawn!”

“No, I don’t think you would. But you wouldn’t know if you were infected,” he pointed out.

“I’m not!” she bit back.

“How do you know, pet?”

“Because I do!”

Dawn pulled Dylan closer to her as the parents continued to argue. There was a demon that could jump into a different host? That wasn’t good. And if it did jump into Buffy, that would be even worse.

“Just want to be sure the poppet’s safe here, slayer,” he told her.

“She is! It’s gone!”

“Buffy-“

A blood curdling scream rang through the room and Dawn turned just in time to see the werewolf charging at her and Dylan, the knife that Willow had planned on using in hand. Dawn screamed as the knife cut through the air, and pierced through soft skin.

**********

Buffy didn’t think, she reacted. She saw Eric coming after her baby and her sister, and she moved. That simple step would change everything - she knew that - but she had to protect them. They were hers, and she wouldn’t let them be harmed.

Her body moved in front of the other two just as Eric prepared to slam it into Dawn’s stomach. Buffy’s face jerked from the sharp pain that came with the impact, and the two beings stood there looking at one another, connected by the weapon in his hand and in her stomach.

Eric smiled a toothy grin at her, his eyes yellow from halfway being changed, and his blond hair covering more then half his face. “You might have saved the angel from this fate, but you sealed yours,” he told her lowly, a glint of insanity behind his eyes; the same insanity that Willow had possessed moments before. Looks like Oz had been right about that demon.

Buffy heard a roar and then watched as Spike wrapped his hands around Eric’s head and popped his neck, killing both the demon and the man. As the werewolf’s body fell to the ground, the knife slipped out of her stomach, and Buffy was quick to cover the wound. She looked up and saw Spike growl once more at the body at his feet, then look up at her, his eyes wide when he saw what had been done to her. She managed to shake her head to not alarm Dawn who she had her back to.

“Dawn,” she pushed, barely turning her head back to her sister. “Get Dylan out of here.”

“Buffy? Are you okay?” Dawn asked, moving closer to her sister.

The slayer forced a smile and nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied. “Now, please, get Dylan out of here.”

Dawn didn’t believe her, she could feel she didn’t. The teenager looked to Spike, but the vampire simply agreed with her sister. “Please, Niblet. We’ll take care of Red.”

The young girl bit down onto her lip, not liking that they were obviously hiding something from her, but turned and left like she was asked. Buffy was barely managing to stand by the time the door shut, and she slumped to the ground in pain. Spike went down with her, holding her to him as he sat on the ground and kept her elevated slightly on his bent up knees.

He reached down and gently pushed her hand away to survey the injury. She watched as his eyes grew wide and scared, but he tried to mask it when he looked at her again when she yawned. She was so tired.

“Hey, come on, Slayer,” Spike said nervously as she lay there, all anger gone from the argument they were having just moments before. “Can’t let you get too comfortable here. Got to get back to the others and all.”

She smiled weakly at him, her own hostility forgotten. “That good, huh?”

He laughed, but it didn’t reach his frightened eyes, as he shook his head. “Na, just a scratch. You’ll be up and about, threatenin’ to kick my sorry ass before you know it.”

Buffy laughed softly at him. “Don’t lie to me, Spike,” she warned. “You’re not any good at it anymore.”

It was funny, the wound suddenly didn’t hurt so bad anymore. In fact, she didn’t feel it at all. Something in the back of her mind screamed that this was a bad thing, but it didn’t feel like it. It felt…right, like this was how it was supposed to work out. She had saved her daughter and her sister, but it was going to cost her. Strange thing was, she didn’t mind. Still, there were things to be taken care of.

“Spike, do you remember your promise?” she asked him, her voice sounding soft even to her. He blinked, and she could clearly see how shiny his eyes were. “Keep her safe. Raise her right.”

“We’ll raise her right,” he told her firmly.

Buffy shook her head. “No, but you will.”

She felt her strength leaving her. It wouldn’t be long now. She was actually looking forward to it.

He pulled her a little closer to him, and pressed his forehead against hers. “I love you,” he said, as if that simple statement would make her stay.

It was getting darker fast, and she felt as weak as she ever had. Still, a small smile crossed her face and she managed to push herself up and kiss him lightly.

“I love you,” she told him in a hushed voice before falling into that eternal slumber she had always dreamed of, leaving him there to cry for her.

**********

AN: Okay, going to tell you know, this is not the end of the series, so don’t be too upset with me. More to come soon, I promise.

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