Dawn of Destruction

By:  Morrigan and Blacknblue2



A/N:  Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter up, but we hope you love it so much it makes up for it.


Disclaimer:  We don't own the characters, but we probably wouldn't turn them out if they showed up on our doorstep.  And certain vamps have an open invitation.




Her lips were so much sweeter than he had imagined.

He had fantasized about kissing her, and doing so much more than that, more times than he could count, ever since Red's bollixed *Will be done* spell.  But all of those had some element of danger involved.  Their *dance* escalating and evolving into a savage lust-fueled attack of lips and entangled sweat slicked limbs.  The mutual knowledge of the danger they held to one another, only further sparking the scorching blaze between them.

But this...  This was so much better.  And far more frightening.

The quickening of her heartbeat and the little sighs that escaped her were enough to make him as light headed as a gangly, virginal teenager.  Her lips parted, granting him entry, and when his tongue brushed against hers, she melted in his mouth like candy.

A throaty moan passed his lips, merging with a matching one from Buffy.  He gently cupped her face, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone.  Buffy's own hand came up to cover his, and she broke away from his lips, causing him to fear for a moment that she would stop this.  But she simply turned her head to gently kiss his palm, before attaching her lips to his, once again.

Buffy's other hand came up to the back of his neck, tangling in his hair.  She used that hand to gently pull him closer, sealing their mouths more firmly together.  In the background, they both heard another episode of Whose Line come on, and reluctantly pulled away from each other.

Spike gave Buffy a quick kiss on the end of her nose, causing her to smile shyly up at him, before turning back to the TV, leaving her head cradled in his lap.  Spike turned to watch the TV, as well, but began carding his hand gently through Buffy's hair.  Buffy wrapped her arm around Spike's leg, holding tightly, as she lost herself in the show.

---

"What do you mean, you can't tell *me* anything Riley?"  Dawn asked, through a mouthful of french fries...

She had called him, as promised, as soon as she got into the car with Willow and Tara, but because of the whole pizza parlor cover, it had taken her a while to actually get through.  Fortunately for Dawn, she was smart enough to tell the guys that she wanted to speak to their manager, concerning their less than flavorful anchovies.

"Nuh-huh, you never said that you couldn't say, as in 'No, I don't know what happened,' what you specifically said was that you couldn't tell *me.*  So, come on, Riley.  What gives?  My sister is gonna kick my butt if I don't bring her back some information, and if she kicks mine, I am *so* gonna kick yours.  And don't think I couldn't mister!  Cause, - "

Willow and Tara exchanged surprised glances, before fixing Dawn with twin looks of disapproval.

"Think Blueberry pancakes, Dawnie," Willow whispered, sternly.  "Not combat boots!"

Sighing, Dawn nodded her head and rolled her eyes, dramatically, before plastering a big fake smile on her face, that was sure to come across in her voice, and starting again.

"Ha-ha...  You know I'm only kidding, right?  But, seriously...  What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Ten minutes and zero information later, Dawn sighed, then said, sadly, "No, I understand, Riley.  It's classified.  I get that, really I do.  I'm just so worried about Buffy.  Remember what happened last time there was a portal?  She died!"  Dawn's voice broke.  "It's okay, though. I know you'd help us if you could."

Dawn winked at the two wiccas across from her as Riley, having not known of Buffy's death from the portal, began stammering about regulations before finally giving in and asking, "Dawn, where are you right now?"

"Doublemeat Palace.  Why?" she answered.

"Just, don't move," he said.  "Ten minutes, don't leave."  Then he hung up.

Nine and a half minutes later, a young man tripped next to their table, dropping a package right next to Dawn.  She was about to call him back when she noticed her name written across the top.

"What's this?"  Dawn wondered aloud, picking up the box, and setting on the seat beside her.  The two wiccas leaned over the table to peer down at the box as Dawn split the packing tape with her plastic knife and peeked inside.

The contents appeared to be a DVD, some rolled papers, and a cell phone.  Taped to the phone was a short list of speed dial cues, with Riley's name being on the top.

After closing the box, once more, Dawn covered it with her jacket, took a big sip of her milkshake and smiled proudly at Willow and Tara before boasting, "Am I good, or what?"

---

At the Magic Box that evening, Dawn proudly produced the package.  Willow already had the DVD in her laptop, so they decided to watch it before really examining the other contents of the package.

They all watched as Kevin walked over to the portal and did the reveal spell, causing the portal to glow green, while his team looked on.  Then another figure walked into the screen and started another spell.

"What were they thinking?!" shouted Tara, completely livid.  "That was completely irresponsible of them!  I can't believe they disregarded everything we told them!"

Everyone was startled by Tara's outburst, and Dawn was the first to hesitantly break the silence.

"What are they doing?" she asked.

Tara sighed, sadly, pulling herself back together.  "Remember when we told them, whatever you do, don't compromise the barrier?  Well, they didn't listen."  She kept talking, more to herself than to Dawn, "I can't believe they deliberately removed the barrier."

Within minutes, the portal began to shake, red lights began to swirl within the green glow.  Shortly, thereafter, blinding white flashes of light began to shoot forth as the barrier began to crumble in upon itself.

And then, it all stopped.  The portal shimmered softly, once more, looking no different than it had before the spell.

But looks were deceiving.

Richard stepped forward and reached for the portal, letting his hand pass through to the other side, experimentally.  After a few seconds, he looked back to the rest of the group and nodded, apparently giving the okay for them to pass through, since they all began to step forward.

Before any of the could reach his side, however, Richard disappeared as he was suddenly jerked through the portal, only to be thrown back through, seconds later, flying past all of them and slamming, head first, into a tree with an audible crunch, falling to the ground, afterwards, in a mangled heap.

Before any of his team could reach him to check his vitals, they were once again taken by surprise when the portal shimmered once more, immediately followed by a tidal wave coming from the portal, sweeping them all out of the view of the camera.  Willow quickly fast-forwarded through quite a lot of rushing water, and slowed down again when the portal seemed to close again, cutting off the water supply.

"Wait, what are those things standing next to the portal, now?" asked Xander.  "And why didn't they get swept away, too?"

"Those are the Mahe'era demons we talked about," answered Giles.  "And I believe they came through the portal with the tidal wave."

"Sweet googly-moogli!" Xander shouted, "Why didn't anyone mention they were built like The Thing?  I would have remembered someone mentioning that!"

"Big guy made out of rock from the Fantastic Four comics," Willow pre-empted Giles, as he opened his mouth to ask for clarification.

The creatures stood ankle deep...  That is, of course, assuming they had ankles, in the swirling flood waters.

Their eyes glittered in the moonlight, like cold lifeless gems as their massive heads turned left and right, surveying area around them.

One of them seemed to stare straight down at the camera.  It began to walk step, after earth shaking step, the water splashing under it's enormous feet like puddles.  The scenery darkened, as a shadow fell over the camera, and then there was nothing on the screen but snow.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and say that's not a good thing."  Said Xander.

The rest of the Scoobies silently agreed.

Dawn began to ask, "So are these Mahelah"

"Mahe'era," interrupted Spike.

"Mahe'era," continued Dawn, rolling her eyes, "demons causing these tidal waves?"

"Not directly, no," answered Giles.  "It certainly does appear that way, however, Mahe'era demons have no ability to produce water, and have very little in the way of magical ability.  They also live under water. It would seem that they're simply letting in a little of their world, for lack of a better term, every time they open a portal."

"But," Buffy spoke up, frowning and shaking her head.  "If these, Funky, Medina demons"

"Mahe'era, Pet," Spike corrected, again, "Not, Madina."  He tried, unsuccessfully to hide his amusement at Buffy's mis-pronunciation.  'Funky Medina,' he thought.  'Now, that's a bloody riot!'

"Mahe'era!," Buffy repeated.  "Whatever!" She rolled her eyes, much like her younger sister, then continued.

"What I was going to say is, if these demons have no magical abilities, then how are they opening portals?  They can't be doing this themselves. Someone else has to be doing this."

Giles' was silent for a moment before answering, "You're correct, Buffy.  They must be working with someone who has magical abilities."

"Well, is opening a portal easy?" asked Dawn.  "Is it like, anyone can do it, or is it really hard?"

"Opening a portal takes a lot of power," answered Willow.  "We're talking about a high-level magic user, here."

"But, the snakey guy opened the portal with my blood.  Did he have a lot of power?" asked Dawn.

Tara spoke up, "You're the key, Dawn.  That's how he opened the portal.  But there were a lot of things coming into alignment at that time that made it possible.  That's why he only had a short time to open it.  He wouldn't have been able to open portal after portal, like is happening now."

"I see what you're saying," said Willow.  "To keep all these portals stable, this guy has to have more power than I've ever seen."  She turned to Giles.  "Do you think it's a big group doing this?" she asked, "kind of like a coven?"

"It is possible," Giles answered, with a thoughtful expression upon his face.  In all actuality, we know next to nothing about the Mahe'era demons' world, or the other beings that may dwell within it.  It would stand to reason that the Mahe'era are acting as guardians to the doorways, under the orders of a higher and more powerful being, or beings."

"Well, in that case, our next step would be to figure out a way to find out who or what is doing this,"  Buffy concluded.  "And, more importantly, why."

"Don't care much about the why, myself," Xander stated, frankly.  Just the who and the where so that we can kill 'em.  Preferably with lots of explosives."

"Yes," Anya agreed.  "Explosives are good!  All corporeal beings can explode.  But, these portals are all very far away, and I don't see how we are going to get there.  I mean, as much as I hate to admit it...  None of us have the financial resources to get there."  "And, Buffy, something tells me Riley thinks of this as his baby.  He's not going to send a team to take us there."

Spike spoke up for the first time, from the open doorway, where he had been standing.  Looking down at his Zippo he was currently fiddling with, he said, "Let's just work on things one step at a time.  You all see what you can dig up on the who and where.  Then, we can see to the how."

Buffy shook her head, uncertain after hearing Anya's argument.  "I hate to say it, but Anya is right.  We have to try, but Riley will probably try to turn this into a personal career highlight.  And, I don't have the means to get there myself.  Much less to bring anyone else with me."

She sighed and pushed her long blond hair back from her face, before looking out into the room, a blank, defeated look in her eyes.  "The counsel isn't going to fund this.  They don't approve of me, as it is.  And, they would most likely just say it was out of my jurisdiction, anyway.  Once we figure this out, I don't know anyone I can get the money from, to get us where we need to
go."

Spike blew a plume of smoke out the door and nodded, silently.  His jaw clenched, and he squinted up toward the ceiling.  A look of indecision seemed to play about his features for a moment.  Finally, he sighed and cast his eyes Buffy's way and said, "Oh, bugger...  Yes, you do."

"I do?"  Buffy blinked at him in confusion.  "Who?"

Spike pitched the cigarette butt out the door and slumped casually, in the doorway, tucking his hands into the pockets of his duster.  Shrugging, in a guilty fashion, he answered her, quietly, "Me."