Chapter 35 - Fool of Me

“We have to help Spike.” Anya’s voice broke the silence in Giles’ apartment. She sat up in her chair at the dining room table, watching Giles as his eyes fluttered up from the spot of dust he’d been staring at for the past hour. Next to her, Xander cleared his throat as if she’d been talking in her sleep.

“And why do we need to help Spike when Buffy and Dawn are the ones in danger?” said Xander, twisting in his seat to glare at her.

“He asked me to help him.” She jabbed Xander in the arm. “And he needs help right now.”

“What are you going on about, girl?” said Giles, tilting his head to the side in a way that reminded her of Spike.

“When did you talk to him?” Xander grabbed her arm and had that intense ‘what were you doing talking to a demon’ expression she abhorred.

Anya looked from one man to the other and contemplated how she’d explain what had happened to her. She could tell them she’d shared a body with Luke, the Portal Jumper, and that she’d existed in two dimensions simultaneously. Or, she could say that the thought spell Willow, Giles and Tara had cast had been a test created by the Devil. Yes, she’d say then to Xander’s open mouth stare. She’d meant, it was that Devil. He also was Luke’s father and had lost his son soul because of a witch. When he saw Giles kill Glory (also known as Ben) and watched Willow bring Buffy back from the grave, he got pissed. And that’s when everything started to go wrong for the Scoobies.

That explanation might work, she thought to herself.

She looked into Xander’s large brown eyes and then glanced at Giles. A blurry moistness had settled around his irises. He didn’t look like he could hang in there much longer. That made up her mind.

“I spoke to Spike with my mind.”

“Oh?” Xander frowned. “Telepathically?”

“Yes, telepathically.” She shook loose of Xander’s grip. “You should not be surprised about my being able to read minds. I talked to you and Giles from inside the fireplace yesterday.” Hopefully, communing with Spike telepathically wouldn’t be that far-fetched of a notion for them to believe.

Giles pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. “Anya, we’ve got a lot to worry about and Spike giving you messages in your head is okay by me, but only if he’s got something to say about where we can find Buffy.”

She sighed. It was a good thing she’d decided to leave out the part about standing next to Spike in the cemetery as he and Luke fought it out. If Giles was going to be agitated, she hadn’t said something to send him too far over the edge.

“Luke still has his hooks in me. And while we’ve been sitting here waiting like lumps of coal for Buffy and Willow and Dawn to walk through the front door all safe and sound…” she paused, deciding to give her ex-boyfriend some credit. “And although Xander figured out how to get everybody back to the real Sunnydale…we forgot something. Something important.”

“Which was what pray tell?” asked Giles, pressing his glasses to his nose with his forefinger.
“Dawn is the Key and she can travel through portals.”

“We didn’t forget that,” grumbled Xander.

“I have a point here if you’d let me make it.” She rolled her eyes at him impatiently. “When I granted Carlo his wish...”

“We bloody well know about that.” Giles’ tone was sharp. “You turned the boy into a vengeance demon.”
Anya huffed. If Giles and Xander were going to keep interrupting her, she was going to scream. “When I granted Carlo his wish, I disrupted the balance of Luke’s precious nature of things, which was a good thing. I think. Anyway, Carlo gave Dawn the strength or courage, or whatever, she needed to trick Luke and then she and Spike got away from the park.”

Giles rested his elbows on the table, his hands folded neatly, waiting. Xander’s eyes stayed on her face.

Anya took a deep breath. “Dawn teleported from dimension to dimension pulling Spike along with her.”
“How do you know that?” said Giles and Xander, their questions uttered in unison.

“Trust me, I know these things, okay?” said Anya. “Besides, I told you that Spike told me.”

“When he was talking to you inside your head?” Xander was using his most sarcastic voice.

“Yes, that is exactly right and if you interrupt me one more time, I will do something evil to you.” She turned from Xander and looked at Giles. “Dawn brought Luke through the dimensions, but don’t ask me how I know that, okay?” She glared at Xander.

“Okay, I won’t,” he agreed solemnly.

“Please continue,” said Giles.

“Buffy was in the park with Spike and Luke, and Willow. But Dawn left Buffy there deliberately.”

“Why?” asked Giles.

“We would have to ask Dawn that question.”

“If she’s traveling through dimensions, how can we ask her?” said Xander.

“She is no longer dimension hopping,” said Anya.

“How do you know that?” Xander said and then slowly raised his hand.

Anya could practically see the wheels turning inside his brain.

“Don’t tell me. Let me guess…Spike?”

“Yes, that’s right,” responded Anya. “Dawn’s back in the real Sunnydale, too.”

“Where is she?” said Xander.

“How about Revello Drive?” offered Anya.

“Makes bloody good sense,” said Giles.

Anya’s eyes pinged-ponged from Giles to Xander. “This means we have to leave the apartment.” She implored. “Now.”

The two men looked like they’d been told to swallow a chicken. She watched their Adam’s apples strain up and down in their throats, looking as if they were about to explode.

“I hadn’t felt imprisoned until you said we had to leave,” said Giles, gulping down the lump in his throat. “I imagine that there is no guarantee we are in the real Sunnydale unless we see for ourselves.”
“It’s the only way to be sure,” she said.

Anya looked at Xander, slumped back in his chair, his head buried in his hands. He had counted on Willow and Buffy and Dawn showing up, saying everything was okay, assuring them that the good guys had won. Anya knew Xander. He trusted his girls to save the day.

Xander pushed his chair away from the table noisily and stood up.

Giles snapped to his feet and looked around his apartment.

“Shall we take your car, Giles?” Xander asked.

“Yes, indeed.” He proceeded across the room, snatching a set of keys from the desktop.

Anya grabbed a sweater from the coat rack and slipped it on. It swallowed her, most likely it belonged to Giles, she thought as she tugged it over her short skirt. She didn’t have time to worry about how she looked though. The only thing on her mind was getting to Dawn and finding Spike. She closed the door firmly behind her and turning, followed Giles and Xander into the courtyard and out into the crisp night air.

__________________________________________

Dawn heard the doorbell and sat up. The clock on the nightstand said six o’clock. From the hint of sunshine coming through the blinds, it was morning. She dropped her head into her hands. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep. Between thinking about Carlo and worrying about Buffy, she thought she’d never sleep again.
“I’m coming,” she shouted, flinging the covers off of her body. She slipped into the fluffy pink terry cloth robe lying on the back of the chair next to the bed, covering her blood-covered cut-off jeans and t-shirt. Rethinking her decision, she shimmied out of the robe and flung it back into the chair. She then marched across the room, opened her bedroom door and hurried down the stairs.

As she reached for the front door, she hesitated. How odd, she thought. She hadn’t even considered who might be knocking. The fact that they hadn’t floated in through her bedroom window or emerged from a hovering portal in the corner or appeared in her closet looking like a man-sized black cloud was all that mattered.

A ringing doorbell was the act of sane human beings.

She swung the front door open.

“Dawnie!” Anya rushed into the room sweeping her into a big bear hug. Dawn stood rigidly in Anya’s embrace as Xander and Giles scurried into the house, each giving Dawn a quick nod before disappearing in the direction of the kitchen.

She squirmed out of Anya’s arms. “What are you doing here?” She snapped at the vengeance demon. “Where’s Luke? Waiting in the bushes to attack?”

“No, no, no.” Anya muttered. “I’m not with him anymore. The spell, it’s over. I’m no longer that demon.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“We don’t have time for you not to.”

Anya maneuvered past Dawn and followed the men into the kitchen.

When Dawn walked into the oblong room with the counter dividing the space, the first thing she thought of was that the scene reminded her of old times. Almost. Except Buffy was missing and she didn’t expect Spike to come flying in through the back door, blanket flaming.

Xander was rooting around in the refrigerator and Giles had already started to boil the kettle on the stove for a cup of tea. Anya paced, ringing her hands.

“What are you here for?” Dawn turned to Anya.

“We’ve got to get Spike and Buffy and Willow back.”

“We can get Spike and Buffy,” she began and then felt the eyes of both men on her. “But I don’t know about Willow.”

“What do you mean?” said Xander. “Is she…?” His voice wavered.

“No, she’s not dead,” said Dawn. “But she might as well be.” She knew she sounded cold, but she didn’t care about Willow after what happened to Carlo. “She can’t be helped. She’s going to kill Buffy and Spike if we don’t help them. She’s joined Jacob and she’s in league with Shemhazi, too.”

“That can’t be good,” said Anya calmly.

“I don’t believe she can’t be saved,” said Xander, leaning against the counter, exhaustion covering his face.

Dawn turned to Giles. “Whta't the plan?”

“It’s Anya’s plan.” He nodded at her but kept talking. “We’ve got to give Spike a power boost, I believe.”

“Yes, that’s it,” said Anya. “But we don’t have a lot of time.” She looked around the kitchen. “Are there any roots in the cabinets? Did Willow or Tara leave something we can use?”

Dawn glared at Anya for a long moment. “Look in the cabinet above the toaster. I think there are a few things there.”

“I’ll go check Willow’s room. She and Tara always keep some herbs and roots there.”

“Good,” said Anya. “We’ve got to work fast. Buffy’s running out of time.”

to be continued...