Disclaimer: Joss Whedon still owns everything. Alas, I have not been gifted with large amounts of money from any of these endeavors.
 
The confrontation grows nearer….
 
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Chapter 28
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Buffy and Spike only managed a few hours of fitful sleep before giving up and rising to make their way through the tunnels. When they got to the Magic Box around ten o’clock they found the scruffy figure of Wesley Wyndam-Price ensconced at the research table. He swallowed once, clearly trying to control his trepidation about being in a room with vampires, but he managed to say, “Good morning.”
 
“Hi, Wesley. It’s been a while,” Buffy said. She made no move to shake his hand, but she smiled a bit to try to put him at ease. “I’m going to go in the training room. Call me if you need me,” she said, as she disappeared into the back and closed the door.
 
“Being around humans is still hard for her. The hunger’s pretty bad when you’re a fledge,” he explained to Wesley.
 
“I quite understand,” Wesley said. “Giles tells me you’ve been working on the translation. I’ve read your notes – you’ve made quite a bit of progress.”
 
Spike shrugged. “Not enough yet. We need to find out where these bastards are so we can interrupt their ritual.”
 
Willow and Tara were there, also aiding in the research. “We’ve had a little bit of luck figuring out what the ritual is about,” Tara said.
 
“Tell me,” Spike said. Buffy reentered the room as well. The others looked up in surprise. “Vampire hearing,” she explained quietly. “Tell us what they plan to do.” She moved over to stand next to Spike, who wrapped one arm around her.
 
“The ritual starts about six hours before midnight on the appointed day,” Willow read from her notes. “They all dedicate themselves to their gods, everyone contributing blood to a big bowl to pour on a sacred altar. Then they have a bunch of chants that they say – basically a really big portal spell variant. Then exactly at midnight, they, um, perform the sacrifice.”
 
“So we need to get there before midnight,” Spike said.
 
“Wherever there is,” Buffy added. “No word on that yet, huh?”
 
“I got here early this morning,” Wesley said. “We’ve gotten farther, but we still have to figure out a couple of key lines in the spell.”
 
“I have faith that we’ll get it done on time,” Giles added. Buffy nodded, bit her lip, then returned to the training room again.
 
After a moment of silence, Spike pulled off his duster and sat down next to Wesley. “Show me what you’ve got then,” he said, and they all went to work.
 
A few hours passed. Lunch was brought in by Anya and Xander – sandwiches for the humans, blood for the vampires. Buffy took hers alone in the training room, feeling self conscious about drinking blood in front of her friends and the Watchers. After lunch they resumed the research. At some point Tara was going cross-eyed from staring at the books and got up to stretch her legs. She wandered around the shop for a bit, then on a whim went in to see Buffy.
 
Buffy was doing a series of gymnastic moves on the pommel horse, her normal athleticism heightened even further by the vampire blood in her veins. She did an amazing flip and landed about two feet from Tara, surprising them both. “Did they find something?” Buffy asked anxiously.
 
“Not yet,” Tara said, shaking her head. “I just needed a break for a moment. Can I t… talk to you?”
 
“Sure,” Buffy said. Tara sat down on the couch, while Buffy sat cross-legged on the floor with her back against the wall.
 
“I just w… wondered how you’re doing,” Tara said simply.
 
“Struggling would be the right word,” Buffy replied. “It’s just so much.” Tara nodded and they lapsed into silence for a moment. Then Buffy spoke up again and said, “I’m sorry that I scared you at Giles’ place the other night.”
 
“It’s okay,” Tara said. “I didn’t understand how hard it was for you. “
 
“It’s hard to get used to,” Buffy said. “It’s like there’s this other driver in your brain trying to take the wheel all the time. I have to fight it almost constantly. It almost hurts sometimes.”
 
“You seem to be in control now,” Tara observed.
 
Buffy shrugged. “I had a good meal not too long ago. Being in here pounding on things helps too. Spike says it’s worst the first few weeks or so.”
 
“The claim must help too,” Tara said.
 
“It does. Puts an extra brake on the demon, having Spike in my head. It’s a little weird, having my husband also be my sire. There’s something about your sire that is really hard to disobey. Makes me amazed that Spike was ever able to break up with Drusilla.”
 
“I guess it did take a hundred years,” Tara observed.
 
“True,” Buffy agreed. They sat in silence for another moment before Buffy said, “Tara? Can I ask you something?”
 
“What is it?” Tara sensed that Buffy was struggling with something big.
 
“If we… if we find her, can you take her?”
 
Tara’s face became a mask of confusion. “Take her? But you’re her parents!”
 
“But we can’t raise her,” Buffy said miserably. “I can’t take her to school, or the doctor, or to the park or anything. We can’t be there for her in the daylight. Living always in the dark - that’s no life for a child.”
 
Tara was floored by the request. “I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure what sort of guardian I’d be.”
 
“You took care of… of Dawn,” Buffy choked on her sister’s name.
 
Tara’s eyes misted at the thought of the teen she had been so close to. “I guess I did. But I don’t think I could take your daughter from you. You need her, and she’s going to need you.”
 
“Could we, at least, make you her guardian? Could you be there for her in the day? I just… I don’t want her to go to strangers,” Buffy said, trailing off to a near whisper.
 
Tara’s heart broke for Buffy, and she understood. Two parents who are legally deceased make a lot of things difficult. “Of course I’ll help,” Tara said at last. “I won’t let anyone take her away from you. But you’ll always be her mother. I can’t take that away from you either.”
 
“Thank you,” Buffy whispered. She got up and walked over to Tara. Tara stood up, slightly warily. Buffy swallowed, then tentatively pulled Tara into a hug. Tara hugged her back, and the two friends comforted each other.
 
********************
 
The research wore on, and on. When night fell, Buffy and Spike took a break for patrol then came back, stopping for some sustenance from the butcher’s on the way. Everyone was poring over books, making notes, and arguing back and forth about translations. Spike joined back in, while Buffy retreated once more to the training room. Finally, everyone had had enough. As midnight approached, Giles was downing aspirin, Xander had fallen asleep on the table, and Tara’s eyes were drooping. Spike looked around at them all, touched that they were working so hard on his and Buffy’s behalf, but also realizing that they were getting nowhere at present. “Everyone stop,” he said suddenly.
 
The others stopped what they were doing and looked at the vampire. “We’re all too tired to think. We need to take a break for a couple hours, get a fresh start.”
 
“But the ritual is tomorrow night,” said Giles. “We are running out of time.”
 
“And we’re going to miss something if we’re all running on empty,” Spike interrupted. “Everyone needs to get a few hours of sleep.”
 
“Spike’s right,” said Wesley. “We’re spinning our wheels at present. Everyone needs to get some rest.”
 
Willow and Tara stood up. Anya nudged Xander who woke up with a bleary look on his face. “Xander, maybe Willow and Tara could come to our house. That way we’re all in one place if we’re needed.”
 
“Good idea,” said Giles. “Get some rest, and come back in the morning.” The four Scoobies said goodbye and stumbled out to get some sleep. “I think I also will go to my apartment for a few hours. Wesley?”
 
“If it is all the same, I may stay here a little longer. I can catch a nap in your office.”
 
“I think me and the missus will stay as well,” Spike said. “Catch some kip in the training room.” Giles headed out, and Spike went to find his wife.
 
Buffy had stretched out on the couch, and was dozing lightly. Spike took off his duster and nestled in beside her. She awoke with a start. “Any news?” she asked.
 
“No. We all need a break for a few hours,” Spike said. Buffy nodded and burrowed into Spike’s chest. They wrapped their arms around each other and soon appeared to all the world to be a pair of entwined corpses.
 
Wesley continued staring at books in the other room for another half hour before sitting back in disgust and rubbing his eyes. What am I missing? he wondered. He dozed right where he was for a while, then woke, rubbed his face, and addressed the pile of books again. For a change of pace he looked over the books Giles had brought from England, which described the Dwak Dlam’s own prophesies. He looked at the phrase ‘the space between’ and was struck with an idea. He pulled another book or two off the stack, and began intently comparing texts.
 

… They were holding hands in front of a great rift in the earth. It was black inside, and it seemed the hole was filled with living beings, moving in a swarm. A light shone forth from the blackness, like a star in an empty sky. But the light started fading and they had no choice but to jump into that abyss…
 
The two vampires woke at the same moment, panicked and breathing unnecessarily. Did we share that dream? Spike asked.
 
Demons in a gigantic pit? With a light inside? Buffy said.
 
Yeah. What do you think it means?
 
Buffy shook her head. I don’t know. It was… Her eyes widened. The hellmouth.
 
Spike’s eyes grew large in turn. Of course. Is that were the demons are?
 
In the other room, Wesley sat up. “Of course. It all makes sense,” he murmured aloud.
 
Buffy and Spike came into the main room. They stopped short – light was streaming in the windows, as the sun had risen. “Wesley? Did you say something?” Buffy asked.
 
“I know where ‘the space between’ is. It’s inside the hellmouth,” Wesley said with a triumphant look in his eyes.
 
“We just had a dream. We saw a pit, full of demons, with a light inside,” Spike said.
 
“It stands to reason,” Wesley explained. “I was looking over the original text of the Dwak Dlam prophesy. The translation ‘the space between’ is not quite correct. It’s more like ‘the well between’. It’s a place where the two dimensions are close together. “
 
“So we need to go in there?” Buffy asked.
 
“It all fits. They need somewhere nearby where they can invade from. They need to be near enough to the human world to get… supplies. To… to keep the baby alive.”
 
“Until the sacrifice,” Spike said softly.
 
“We need to call the others. This is…”
 
“No,” said Buffy. The men turned to look at her in confusion. “I don’t want them with us.”
 
“But why?” asked Wesley.
 
“It’s a suicide mission,” Buffy said. “If we are very quiet and extremely lucky, we may have half a chance of finding her and getting out of there. But only half a chance. The others don’t even have half a chance of surviving that. I don’t want more deaths on my conscience.” Her voice was quiet but firm, and her mouth was set in a grim, determined line.
 
Spike understood her point, and looked at Wesley. “Can you help us keep them out of the way? We don’t want to hurt their feelings, but they’re going to be a hindrance and a worry.”
 
Wesley chewed his lip thoughtfully. “But couldn’t you use Willow’s magic? Or Giles’ know-how?”
 
“Wesley,” Buffy said quietly. “My mother and sister are dead. Emma is the only family we have left. We need to do everything we can to get her back. But I don’t want my friends in the way.”
 
The former Watcher contemplated this further. Finally he nodded. “I see your point. What is your plan then?”
 
“It’s hard for us to move around until nightfall. Let’s get as much information about these things as we can. Their weaknesses, their fighting style, anything that we can find about them,” said Spike. “Can you just… bury this information?”
 
“Alright,” Wesley agreed. The three of them sat down at the pile of books with new focus.
 
***********************
 
The others rolled in around nine, still looking tired, but fresher. Wesley quietly buried the information that pointed to the hellmouth in the bottom of a stack and appeared to be working on the locator spell. He provided Willow with a translation that would render the spell harmless – it wouldn’t work, but nothing untoward would happen. Willow spent the rest of the morning with Tara, reading over the spell and gathering ingredients. Tara thought that Wesley looked off somehow in his aura, but attributed it to his being exhausted. Buffy and Spike were devouring every source Giles had on the Dwak Dlam, while Giles, Xander, and Anya worked on getting more information about the ritual. For several hours they worked in near silence, everyone feeling the pressure of the impending deadline. Xander went out to get some snacks at some point, but hardly anyone felt like eating.
 
In the mid afternoon, Willow decided to attempt the locator spell with whatever information she had. She and Tara cast a circle, and arranged a small enchanted mirror, several candles, and some foul smelling incense inside of it. Willow sat facing the mirror, gazing into it intensely, chanting in a strange tongue. But although everyone could feel the power swirling through the room, nothing happened. Willow repeated the spell, and again power flowed from her, but seemed to dissipate and go nowhere. Finally, she fell back, exhausted.
 
“Willow, honey, are you okay?” Tara asked, moving to help her up.
 
“Yeah. Just dizzy,” Willow said, gratefully accepting Tara’s help to get to a chair.
 
“What did you see, Wils?” Xander asked hopefully.
 
“Nothing,” Willow said, shaking her head sadly. “Nothing happened. I’m so sorry.” She looked up at Buffy and Spike with tears in her eyes.
 
Buffy and Spike seemed strangely unmoved by the failure. “It’s alright, Willow,” Buffy said consolingly. “I know you tried.”
 
Xander wondered if this emotionless response was a product of exhaustion or a side effect of being vampires. Aloud he said, “So what do we do now?”
 
No one said anything for a while. Then with a sigh, Giles said, “We keep looking. There must be a clue somewhere.” The group took a collective deep breath, and dove back into the research.
 
Buffy and Spike reviewed their notes on the Dwak Dlam, all the while having a conversation in their heads. We need to get going. We shouldn’t wait until sunset, Buffy said.
 
Think about it, love, Spike responded. Their ritual takes several hours. Before the ritual starts, they have nothing to do but guard Emma. Once the ritual starts, they’re preoccupied. Plus, if we do manage to get her, we’re going to have to run for it. Pretty hard to do that if the sun’s out.
 
I guess you’re right, Buffy admitted. But this waiting is killing me.
 
Me too, love. But we know they need her alive for this ritual, so we know that she’s still okay. We just need to get to her.
 
We’ll need weapons.
 
We’ll stop by the house on the way, Spike suggested.
 
The day seemed to crawl by. Finally, the sun set and the vampires stood up. “I’m sorry guys,” Buffy said. “I… I need to get out of here for a while. It’s getting hard to deal with…”
 
“We understand,” Wesley said quickly, having caught Spike’s eye. “We’ll keep working.”
 
“If you find anything, call the house. We’ll check there after we eat,” Spike said. Buffy and Spike turned to go.
 
Giles caught up with them at the door. “Don’t give up yet. We still have a few hours.”
 
Buffy turned troubled eyes to her mentor and friend. “I know you’ve all done your best, Giles. But I just… I need to go.” Giles nodded, and the blond couple left, leaving the Watcher staring at the closed door in despair.
 
Buffy and Spike lost no time getting back to Revello Drive. They found the doors locked, but Spike punched in a window in the kitchen door and reached through to unlock it. “I’m thinking that a battleaxe might work for me, but you might want something you can handle one-handed.” He led the way through to the living room where the weapons chest was.
 
Buffy stopped at the entrance to the living room, staring at the floor. Spike felt the twinge of pain float through her mind and turned to look at her. “Is that where you found her?” Buffy asked quietly.
 
Spike followed her gaze to the carpet. His mind involuntarily brought up the image of Dawn’s broken body and sightless eyes, and they both shuddered. “Yeah,” Spike whispered in answer to Buffy’s question.
 
Buffy bent down and put her hand on the carpet, her vampire senses taking in the faint, lingering scent of Dawn and death. She winced as her mind replayed the screams, and the sudden silence. After another moment she stood up and faced Spike with determined, cold eyes. “Let’s go kill those bastards,” she said. Spike nodded, and they both moved as one to the weapons chest.
 
A short while later Buffy and Spike stood in the basement of the ruined high school. Spike had two daggers at his belt and a battleaxe gleaming wickedly in his hands. Buffy also wore two daggers, but carried a short sword in the other hand. Are you ready? Spike asked.
 
Almost. She faced him and pulled his head down for a kiss. Whatever happens, I love you. Don’t forget that.
 
He ran his free hand down the side of her face tenderly. I love you, Buffy. To the end of time, I love you. They kissed once more, then squaring their shoulders they walked over to the edge of the jagged rift in the earth. The bottom wasn’t visible in the darkness, but there was no choice. Taking each other’s hands, they jumped.
 
TBC