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Chapter 26
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Buffy spent the rest of the afternoon resting, letting her body heal, and feeding on the blood Giles had brought. It sickened her slightly to realize she had an inherent preference for human versus animal blood, but she filled up on both while her wounds knit themselves together. Spike had gone off to Willy’s to call Giles to set up a meeting for that night. Giles had a thousand questions, but Spike had put him off with, “Just get everyone together at your place, yeah? And don’t invite us in until Buffy sees how she’s handling it.”
 
He returned through the tunnels to find Buffy lying curled up on the bed. She was thinking about Dawn, and Spike could read the pain in her thoughts as she recalled her sister’s laugh, her face, the annoying things she did. He came and lay down behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist silently, sharing in the memories. You loved her, Buffy projected.
 
Yes. She was like a sister to me, and I wanted to protect her. I let you both down.
 
Nothing you could have done, Buffy responded. There were so many of them, and they were strong. You could have been killed as well, and there would be no one left to go after Emma.
 
Doesn’t mean I’m going to forgive myself, he thought.
 
Neither will I. She turned to face him. “When are we meeting the others?” she asked aloud.
 
“Right after sunset. About an hour from now,” Spike said. “They’re going to meet at Giles’ place. I told them not to invite us in right away.”
 
Buffy knit her brow, confused. “Why not?”
 
“Want to see how you react first. Sometimes fledges can’t fight the hunger well at first. Don’t rightly know what’ll happen with a turned Slayer.”
 
Buffy nodded. She let go of him and got up, pacing around with her arms wrapped around her, her thoughts in complete chaos. “What do we do, if we find her?” she asked finally. She looked at Spike, who had cocked his head in puzzlement. “If we save her, then what? How can we raise her?”
 
“Got no answer for that, pet,” Spike admitted softly. “Perhaps Giles’ could take her on, or the witches. Do the things we can’t do in daylight.” She paced around a bit more, then sat on the bed again, totally lost as to what to do. He sat down next to her, equally dejected. All our hopes and dreams up in smoke, he mused. They ended up lying back on the bed, arms wrapped around each other, thoughts drifting until Spike felt the sunset.
 
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The Scoobies were assembled once more in Giles’ living room. They were subdued, unable to think of anything to say, and waiting with trepidation for Buffy and Spike to arrive. When the doorbell rang, they all jumped, but Giles took a deep breath and went to open the door.
 
“Spike. Buffy. How… how are you?” The situation was as awkward as any the watcher had ever encountered.
 
“We’re hanging in,” said Spike. “Does this place have a balcony or a patio?”
 
“Yes, there’s a balcony. Why?”
 
“If Buffy and I go up there, we can sit there and meet with you, but not go inside just yet. Let her get used to the sensation, yeah?” He turned to Buffy. “Is that okay, love?”
 
“It’s fine,” Buffy said in a tired sounding voice. Giles nodded and closed the door. He explained to the others and they moved chairs into his bedroom, grouped in front of the screen door to the balcony. Giles opened the sliding doors wide and put out a few snack tables to use as desks. Buffy and Spike walked around to the back of the building, and gathering their strength, made the leap up to the second floor in an impressive display of vampiric talents.
 
The others gasped as the two vampires gathered themselves and sat down in the lawn chairs Giles had placed on the balcony. “Hi,” said Buffy shyly. She heard their heartbeats, racing like they were running a marathon. She could smell the blood in their veins, and the fear they felt. She felt her fangs itching to descend, but she ground her teeth to maintain control. Spike pulled out a flask from his pocket and handed it to her. A bit of O neg to take the edge off. She took a sip of the proffered blood and thanked him silently.
 
Tara spoke first, “Buffy we’re so sorry about D… Dawn,” she stammered.
 
Buffy bit her lip and nodded. “Where… where is she now?”
 
Giles related his summoning of the police. “They will need to hold the body while the investigation is underway,” he said. “I told them I was Spike’s cousin. They may be convinced to let me arrange the funeral, but I’m not sure when.”
 
Buffy swallowed back her tears and said, “So tell us what we need to know to find our baby.”
 
“Right,” said Giles. He handed a photocopy of a sketch through the doorway to Spike. “Is this what you saw?”
 
Buffy looked over Spike’s shoulder and shuddered visibly. “Yes. There were a bunch of them. They had this other one with them who was smaller. Its eyes were… sewn shut or something, but it still seemed to be able to…” She couldn’t continue, and Spike wrapped one arm around her while handing the drawing back to Giles.
 
“Alright then,” Giles said, taking a deep breath. “They’re called the Dwak Dlam. They are a race of warrior demons from another dimension.”
 
“What do they want?” Buffy asked.
 
“Power,” Giles replied. “They are more or less trapped in their dimension. If you think of the different dimensions as rivers, each world flows in its own channel. Some beings like the Kratash can climb over the banks, and some can’t. But sometimes the bank between two channels gets thin enough to break through. The barrier between our world and the Dwak Dlam will be the thinnest it has ever been in a few days, allowing them to be able to get their entire army through to our world.”
 
“But what do they need Emma for then?” asked Spike.
 
“They have a prophesy,” Giles explained. “They believe that if they sacrifice a particular child at the moment that the barrier is thinnest, then the barrier, and many other similar barriers between worlds, will be open to them for all time. They will have the ability to move at will between worlds and destroy everything in their path.”
 
“Where did you find all this stuff?” Xander wondered.
 
“The sources took ages to track down,” Giles said. “The last time the Dwak Dlam were known to attempt this was 1000 years ago. A small number of their warriors got through before the appointed day, just as they did here, but they were somehow prevented from completing the sacrifice. The chronicle was very old, and unclear on that point.”
 
“How do we stop them?” Buffy asked tersely. She was growing tired from the effort of controlling the vampire within her, and she took another drink of blood to calm herself. Anya noticed Buffy’s agitation and unconsciously moved a little closer to Xander. “It’s okay, Anya,” Buffy said when she saw Anya’s movement. “I… I won’t hurt you. It’s just… hard right now.”
 
Giles spoke up again. “The ritual needs to take place on the full moon, which is three days from now. We will need to find them before then.”
 
“Where do we look?” Spike asked.
 
“The sources mention ‘the space between’. I took that to mean some interdimensional location that they can exist in temporarily. We need some sort of locator spell that can go between dimensions.” Giles turned to Willow, “We’re going to need your help.”
 
“I’m on it, Giles,” Willow said. Willow paused for a moment then asked, “Was there something wrong with my spells? Is that how they got in?”
 
Buffy looked away, struggling to keep control. “Wards didn’t get put up,” Spike said softly. “Buffy fell asleep, and I didn’t wait to see if they were up. You’re not to blame, Red.” He squeezed Buffy’s hand, and she silently said, Thank you.
 
“Can you tell us anything more about these things, Buffy?” Giles asked gently.
 
Buffy spoke haltingly. “They’re huge. I punched one… square in the face. It hardly even paused. I couldn’t get to my weapons or to Dawn…” She broke down and covered her face, unable to continue.
 
Tara’s heart broke for her, and she instinctively came out onto the balcony to comfort her friend. “Buffy, it’s not your fault…” she began, kneeling down and putting a hand on Buffy’s shoulder.
 
Instantly the vampire demon blazed to life inside her. It was like she was starving, and someone had put a sumptuous meal in front of her. “Get away!” she shrieked as she vamped out, backing away from Tara as far as the balcony would allow. “Stay away from me!”
 
Tara jumped backward, retreating within the magical barrier of the doorway. The others gasped in horror at Buffy’s transformation. It had been possible to pretend, before this, that she was the same as before. They were all completely horrified at the visible sign of what she had become.
 
Spike leaped to his feet and gathered Buffy in his arms. “Shh, shh, love. It’s alright,” he soothed. She shuddered in his grasp as she fought the hunger as well as the shame of having frightened her friends. Spike spoke to the others, “We need to go now. Buffy’s still too new at this. It can be painful to try to control at first. Please keep us informed about what happens. I’ll stop in at the Magic Box tomorrow morning, yeah?”
 
Giles nodded. “We’ll let you know as soon as we locate them.”
 
“I’m so s…sorry everyone,” Buffy whispered, averting her still vamped face.
 
Xander surprised them all by saying, “We’re still with you Buffy. We won’t let you down.”
 
Buffy nodded. Then she and Spike jumped from the balcony and took off into the night.
 
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By the time they reached the crypt, Buffy had regained enough control to force her human face back to the fore. They went inside and Buffy headed straight for the fridge. She drank two containers of blood cold before she was able to slow down enough to share in the container that Spike had heated in Clem’s microwave. “Feeling better, love?” Spike asked as she finished the third container and wiped her mouth.
 
“Yeah. Sorry I freaked out there.” She felt completely embarrassed at her lack of control.
 
“’S alright, pet. I don’t know of many fledges who wouldn’t have torn Tara’s throat out rather than back away. You did fine.” He looked her over then said, “Fancy a patrol? Sometimes finding something to kill takes the edge off.”
 
“I think I could really stand to kill something right now,” she agreed. They grabbed some stakes and went out. The cemeteries seemed to be crawling with vampires and demons that night. Apparently word had spread about the attack on the Slayer’s house, and even though no one knew for sure who had done it, many vamps and demons were ready to claim it was their doing. The first group of vampires they encountered didn’t recognize her, and said, “Hey, new girl. Don’t want to be seen with Spikey there. Slayer’s got him totally whipped. Come hang with some real vampires.”
 
Buffy and Spike looked at each other, raised their eyebrows, and drew their stakes. The ferocity of Buffy’s attack almost frightened Spike. Glad I’m on your side, pet, Spike thought as she ripped the head of a vampire with her bare hands. The battle was fierce, short, and dusty for the other vampires. They dusted their hands off and went on. Every group of celebrating demons they encountered thought that a turned Slayer was the funniest thing they ever saw, until she vamped out and destroyed them, Spike joining her in ripping them limb from limb.
 
Buffy would have gone on for hours, but Spike said, “Sunrise in a little while, pet. Best get home.”
 
“How can you tell?” she asked as she fell in beside him.
 
He stopped for a second. “Close your eyes for a moment.” He tried to intensify the sensation in his own head, that odd feeling that came when the sun was threatening.
 
Buffy felt it, and then realized that she too had that strange prickly sensation going on faintly in the back of her head. “That’s awfully useful,” she said, opening her eyes and moving on. As they walked she became more aware of scents as well. She could tell when vampires had been near, could smell small animals in the distant bushes. “I think I’m starting to develop that weird vampire smelling thing as well.”
 
“Happens to the best of us,” Spike answered. They reached the crypt and made their way downstairs. Buffy was grateful that Clem was still away. She didn’t think she could bear being in her own house just yet. “Where are we going to live when this is all over?” she wondered aloud.
 
“Guess we’ll figure that out if we survive,” Spike said with a shrug. They moved about somewhat mechanically, taking off jackets and shoes, all the little things they used to do home. Suddenly Spike sat down on the bed, as if something had switched off inside him.
 
“What is it?” Buffy asked, coming to sit beside him.
 
“It all just… hit me for a moment,” he said, dropping his head into his hands. “Never got to see her. The baby. Don’t know… who she takes after. How big is she? She’s a few weeks early. Will she even make it?” The pain of the dashed dreams resurged, and he fought the rising tears.
 
“Come here, Spike,” Buffy whispered. She lay down on the bed and pulled him after her. They wrapped their arms around each other and held each other close, their tears mingling on their cheeks. She pulled him into a kiss after a moment, and they slowly, hesitantly began to take solace in each others’ bodies. Hands ghosted over muscles and curves, lips met and parted, tongues searched and caressed. Their clothes were discarded slowly, and they felt each others’ cool flesh. Am I… do you still want me? Buffy broke away and searched his eyes, afraid to hear his answer. He had always talked about her heat, the fire of being inside her. Did he still find her attractive now that the fire was out?
 
His eyes gazed steadily back, pulling her into their depths. You are still so beautiful, Slayer, he thought, caressing her face like it was a precious statue. I’ve always loved you, Buffy. Not the Slayer, nor just your body, but you. Buffy. The girl. You will always be the one I love. Never doubt that. He kissed her then, and rolled them over so he could sink slowly into her center. Buffy moaned at the feeling of him filling her. It was like she was somehow whole again, like she had been missing some part of herself until that moment.
 
Their thoughts intertwined, pleasure mixing with the ever-present loss, love for each other mixed with anger at the cruelty of it all. As they reached their climax they both vamped, sinking their teeth into each other and drinking deep. Be mine. Please be mine. I can’t do all this without you, Buffy pleaded as she tasted him.
 
Nothing else matters. Just us, together right now, Spike responded, savoring her blood and the tight grip of her quim. Whatever comes will come. Just be here with me now. You know I’m yours.
 
And you know I’m yours, she replied. Then they fell over the edge, crying out in ecstasy and heartache.
 
TBC