Dawn of Destruction

By: Morrigan & Blacknblue2


Note from the Authors: Although this fic has been moved from the Morrigan account, Now that we finally got the joint account registered!  Thanks, BSB, for your help! *LOL*

Blacknblue2: "Thanks, Morrigan for welcoming me into the fold, and for buggin' me until I agreed to co-write a fic."

Morrigan: "And, I would like to thank you, Blacknblue2, for your added bits while beta'ing my stuff, which made the stories all the better, while giving me enough to see that you were wasting a talent and, therefore, deserved to be pestered until you gave in!"

Both: "We hope you enjoy our story and would love to hear from everyone. So, please, leave a review and give us something to *squee* and *jump* all over the place about because... That's half the fun! Thanks!


Disclaimer: Joss, Joss, Mr. Whedon, you rule!

We give you all credit, for which you are due.

We offer no dispute. We know you own all.

And, thanks, cause our muses are having a ball! ~*Bows*

---

The seconds are ticking ever away.

Our life giving nectar it dwindles each day.

My skin, once so youthful, showing muscles so toned,

now clings like old parchment stretched o'er my bones.

I'm not ready to fade. I'm still drawn to the light.

It's too soon for me to go quietly into the night.

Yet, I look all around me, and all that I see

Is a world that is parched and as withered as me.

Can nothing be done?

Can our lives not be saved?

I deny this! I shall not let my home be my grave!

If given the option to change what I see

I must gladly reply

I choose you o'er me.

Standing o'er your ashes, we shall thank you in kind.

With vitality restored, we leave your world behind.

~Morrigan



When the first tidal wave hit, no one in Sunnydale paid it much attention. After all, a flood in Hai'an barely made mention in California news. However, it was when the third tidal wave hit, and the news was rife with phrases like 'inexplicable weather patterns' and 'around the globe', that they really took notice.

Three tidal waves; the first in Hai'an, China, followed by one in El Arar, Somalia, in Africa, and a third in Caiguna, Australia. All the cities were within 25 miles of the coast, so it could have been discounted as a coincidence.

However, when Giles heard one news report say that the tidal waves appeared to have started inland, and ended at the ocean, he decided that it was time to call the scoobies together, and alert them to the matter. It was clear that some supernatural research was in order.

It wasn't until a few weeks later, when the first disaster relief workers were finally able to reach Hai'an, that they found the first portal.

---

"Guys! Hurry, come listen to this!"

Willow had been sitting in the middle of Buffy's living room floor, watching her favorite tv show, when it was interrupted with a breaking news report. What she saw caused her to nearly spill all her popcorn as she jumped and leaned forward for a closer look, certain that her eyes had to be playing tricks on her.

But, as the reporter began her story, Willow realized, with sickening clarity, that was not the case.

She swallowed a lump in her throat as the rest of the group scrambled in to see what she was calling them about. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'This can't be good.'

As everyone gathered around the tv, curious expressions turned to looks of shock. Quite a distance behind the reporter, but still visible, was a swirling and shimmering vortex.

Panicked relief workers were being interviewed, talking a mile a minute about the strange apparition.

"Well, that can't be good," said Xander, while everyone in the room nodded in silent affirmation.

Everyone, that is, except Dawn.

"Oh my God, you guys!" She stammered, still staring at the screen. "That's... That's a portal, isn't it? Like the one that Glory wanted to open." Her voice grew small and quiet as she leaned unconsciously closer to her sister and asked again, "Isn't it?"

Buffy put her arm around her sister as she, too, continued to watch the shimmering gateway, behind the reporter. "It looks like," she answered, her voice far away to match her fears. Her mind flooded with the memories of her last encounter. Memories filled with tears and pain and death.

---

Alone in his crypt, Spike was having a very similar reaction.

"Oh, God, no!" He said, staring with horror as the broadcast came on, "Not again!"

"Passions is on!" He exclaimed, completely oblivious to the words being spoken by the pretty news anchor. Picking up his remote, he changed the channel to another local station, which would be playing the same episode he was currently watching, only to throw it across the room in frustration when he found the broadcast on that channel as well.

Deciding that he would have to settle for a rerun, Spike got up from his chair and began to put a tape into his beat up VCR. Then he saw it.

"What the bloody..." He knelt down in front of the tv and his eyes widened in shock and recognition as he took in the sight.

Seconds later, Spike rushed to the door of his crypt, grabbing his duster on the way, before pacing just beyond the sun's reach for the last few minutes it took for it to completely go down.

The Slayer and her crew would need to know about this. And, if it meant that she or Dawn were in any kind of danger, he had no intentions of failing them again.

As the last of the sun's rays sank below the horizon, he raced out the door, heading toward Buffys house.

'A hundred forty seven days, I mourned her loss' he thought, 'I can't go through that again. An' I won't. I only just got her back.'

Dawn and Buffy were brought out of their morbid ruminations by the sound of someone pounding on the front door. Casting a glance at the two sisters holding each other on the couch, Tara gave Willow's arm a gentle squeeze before standing and walking towards the door, which she opened to admit a rather panicked looking Spike.

Dawn immediately broke away from Buffy, flung herself into Spikes arms, and started sobbing against his shoulder.

"Not again!" She sobbed. "Why does this have to happen again?"

"Shhhh, Bit," Spike soothed. "Won't let anythin' happen to your big sis." Unconcerned with some of the more curious and less than pleased vibes he was getting from the room's occupants, he focused his attentions on the shaking girl he held in his arms, one hand stroking softly through her dark auburn hair as he added, "Or you either, for that matter. You know I won't. Protect you both 'til I'm dust, I will."

Still standing by the door, Tara didn't miss the hurt expression that crossed Buffy's face, although it was quickly hidden behind a weak smile.

During Buffy's... absence, Spike had spent every waking moment watching over the slayer's kid sister. The group used to laugh and groan amongst each other, referring to him as Dawn's un-dead parental *shadow.* But no one ever said anything in front of Dawn.

Regardless of each person's own feelings about Spike, it had been plain to see that she had a connection with him that the rest of them couldn't touch. Buffy had placed her sister's care in his hands, and the two of them held on to her wishes - and each other - like two castaways clutching a life preserver.

To them, Spike had become more than just a babysitter, while Dawn had grown to be much more than his charge. They had become family.

Tara averted her eyes then from the little scene that was playing out before them all. She knew that it was hard for Buffy. It was written all over her aura. She struggled each day to be everything that she could for Dawn, but always seemed to come up short. Buffy had told Willow and herself as much, on occasion. It wasn't that she resented the relationship that Dawn had built with Spike when she was gone. It just hurt to be on the outside, coming second to him, now that she was back, when Buffy, herself, desperately needed a familial bond to cling to.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Tara moved off toward the kitchen. "I'm going to make some tea," she called back to the group, "Does anybody else want some?"

"I'll help," said Willow, standing up to follow Tara into the kitchen.

"Is there any scotch, by any chance?" asked Giles, looking rather lost.

"I'm sure we can find something," Tara answered, smiling gently at him.

Spike gently eased Dawn away, and asked, "What do you think, Bit? Are you up for some tea?" She just scrunched up her face, causing him to laugh. "How 'bout you and I have some hot cocoa, then?" He offered. Dawn smiled, agreeably.

Buffy was pleasantly startled when Spike turned to her and asked, "How bout you, Buffy? Want to join us for some hot cocoa?"

Within 15 minutes everyone had filed through the kitchen, returning to the living room with various cups, mugs and glasses of liquid comfort.

Settling down beside Anya, Xander mused aloud, "I wonder what's gonna come through that thing. It's just hovering there. All shiny and swirly and foreboding. Like it's mocking us. It gives me the wiggins."

"Maybe," Willow piped up, "Maybe, it's just a teleportation window... You know? It's possible. Someone could have gone through, and it left the window open... Like a marker?"

"I don't think so, Willow." Giles replied, gravely. That wouldn't explain the strange tidal occurrences that have sprung up since this discovery. It cannot, I'm afraid, be a mere coincidence." Then, softly, under his breath, he added, "We aren't that lucky."

"It could be aliens." Anya quipped, suddenly. All eyes turned to her, in confusion. "What?" She asked, "You think *all* those people who talk about being abducted are crazy? Why, I remember back in 1765, this one guy..."

"Well, so what?" Buffy interrupted, speaking out for the first time, on the subject. "So, it's a portal. No big deal, right? I mean, all these things are happening thousands of miles away from us. There's no reason to just assume that it's going to affect us, here in Sunnydale! Hell, not *everything* mystical that happens has to be demonic and evil, does it?"

"Uh, Slayer," Spike spoke up, from his place in front of the tv, "I Don't fancy bein' the one to draw your eye his way, but... I'nt that Captain Cardboard on the telly?"

Dawn grumbled as she glared at the dark uniformed soldier, who appeared to be taking measurements of the portal, while speaking into a walkie-talkie. "I knew it was something evil!