Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Since I have already stolen Drogyn and hopefully given him a better death than Joss did; you won’t be all that surprised that I am playing with the Angel timeline. I’m just borrowing one more character. But I promise to give him back in the same condition I got him in.

Dialog taken from “No Place Like Home” by Doug Petrie. Dialog taken from Triangle, written by Jane Espenson

Many thanks to my beta No_Promises. The wonderful banner is by 3hours.

---

“Can’t risk it Nibblet. Need your blood to send her away. Don’t know what my blood might do to you.”

“Good point, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t. Dawn could carry the Dagon Sphere to keep her safe.” Buffy put aside the grossness of what she was suggesting to the back of her mind. Right now she needed to concentrate on keeping them all safe, if they had to drink a little blood to do it so be it.

“You lot sure you want to do this?” Spike asked the group.

“I don’t see any other way, Spike.” Tara answered him. “We can’t stay here for ever. We need to get to the research the council left. Plus we’re going to need more supplies and food. All of us can’t carry the sphere.”

“Yes, I need clean clothes.” Anya stated.

“I’ll head over in a few and try to get you some stuff. Hopefully they’re still wandering about looking for us.” Spike went over the weapons to grab a few non lethal ones and Buffy joined him. “I think you should take Tara with you. She’s immune and that spell she did slowed them down. Plus if Anya’s invite didn’t work she can get into the apartment to pack a bag. I’ll stay here and watch over them.” 

“Sounds like a plan. But let’s get this blood thing over with in case anyone finds you while we’re gone.” Buffy nodded her acceptance to Spike she watched as he picked up a knife. Making a shallow cut on his wrist he walked over to Joyce and Buffy and had them wipe some blood on a finger and swallow it. Once they had both taken some he and Tara prepared to leave the cave.

“Wait!” Tara’s loud voice shocked everyone. The shy blonde had never used that tone with anyone before. “Willow!”

“Tara, I know we’ll get her back.”

“That’s not what I meant. We need to do a protection spell. She’s going to start searching for us with magic.” The blonde quickly opened her bag and took out the items she had taken from the store before they had fled. Placing a crystal on the ground in front of her she lit two candles and situated them to her left and right. “Dragon fog and chameleon sight, I command the shrouded sea. I blend the mist, I mix the light, Refract, around, behind, hide us from sight those that seek to harm.” “Dracocaligo, et cameleon visus, præcipiam Nubibus mare. Ego miscetis caligo, ego miscere lucem, refringere, circum, post abscondite nos a conspectu qui quærunt nocere.” With a flash of light the candle wicks flared and then went out. “That should mess up any locator spells for now.”

Joyce was quiet as all this was going on. She knew Buffy was the slayer but all of this was a little hard to handle, out of control PTB, witches and keys.

“Where to first ducks?” Spike asked Tara, he was a little in awe of her. She pulled that spell off without a hitch and so far no one was being chased by demons, going blind or engaged.

“The apartment. We don’t know where the people Kaledena has under her control stay. It’s late enough already, Xander might be there sleeping by now.” The shy Wicca practically screamed the last of her sentence as Spike took a turn doing 50 mph the car, stolen from a parking lot at a liquor store, sliding on the pavement.

Working quickly Spike managed to pick the lock after checking to see if he could hear any heartbeats in the apartment. “Sounds clear, but there’s so many soddin’ people in this building I can’t be sure.” Spike tried to enter the apartment, bouncing off the barrier, apparently an invitation given by the tenant when they aren’t in the home wasn’t enough for the vamp to enter. “Well that didn’t work. Go on get what demon girl needs. Be careful an’ be quick.”

Taranodded and hurriedly made her way to the bedroom. Pulling a suitcase out of the closet she furiously packed some clothes for Anya. Making her way back to the front door she stopped and grabbed some food from the cabinets to add to the supplies they had in the cave. Meanwhile Spike stood guard outside in the hallway. A quick tap on the wall had Tara running over to Spike. “Someone’s coming Glinda. Gotta get outta here.” Closing the door as quietly as possible, the pair ran into the stairwell just as Xander and Willow turned down the hallway.

The stop at the magic box was much easier. Anya had kept the information from the council in a locked cabinet under the register. It was a stroke of good luck that the papers were still there. “I’m thinking Kaledena was so pissed that you lot got away she had them looking for us instead of burning this stuff.”

“She seemed really mad that her thrall didn’t work on me and Anya.”

“Bad enough she got her claws in the others. Don’t know if the blood trick‘s gonna work on them now. Might ‘ave to figure something else out.” Spike voiced his concerns as the two made their way back to the car. The streets were empty this late at night except for the occasional demon. Neither occupant felt the urge to slay anything; the need to get back to the relative safety of the cave overrode anything else. Parking the car on a side street near the campus the two quickly made their way through the woods to the cave.

After a good night sleep and a breakfast of poptarts and juice boxes the revised Scooby gang started deciphering the information the council had left on Kaledena. There were things that they already knew about the former PTB and facts that while they didn’t know them before didn’t seem all that important. The problem of how to remove someone from Kaledena’s influence was proving difficult. “I can’t see any other way. She either has to be banished or killed. If we manage to banish her as soon as she crosses over into the other dimension her hold on them breaks. If we kill her the same thing happens.” Anya was blunt in her assessment of the fate of the humans under her control. “But killing a PTB? I don’t know about you but I don’t want to try it. She tossed Spike around like he was nothing.”

“But what about Spike’s blood? It makes you immune right? So why don’t we just get some into Giles, Xander and Willow?”

“Buffy immunity only works to prevent it doesn’t cure. Think of it like a cold. You can be immune to a germ so that if you are exposed to it you don’t get sick. But if you don’t have an immunity to that specific germ and you get exposed you get sick. Immunity doesn’t work after the exposure.” Tara tried to explain.

With a huff Buffy put down the papers she had been reading. “So what do we do then? Can we capture them and tie them up somewhere?”

“Nope.” Dawn was the one to answer this time, “Cause she can see what they see right? And hears what they hear? They could let her know where we are and what we’re planning.”

“When’d you get so smart?”

“Always was you just never noticed.”

Joyce interceded before a sisterly argument could break out. “Okay so from what it says here there is a ritual that has to be performed to send Kaledena away. Do we have any idea what it is or how to perform it?” 

“No. And I doubt the council knows either. I swear I don’t know how they have lasted as long as they have. The information they have about demons is useless!”

“Anya the council has been fighting vamps and demons for, well forever! I think they know what they’re talking about.” Buffy felt compelled to defend the watchers. Granted they hadn’t done much for her since she had been called but she trusted that the information they had was right.

“Really? Are you sure? Because I was a demon for a thousand years and I can tell you most of Giles’ books are wrong.”

“Okay ladies, we can discuss that later. Right now we need to figure out the ritual to send Kaledena back to where she belongs. If it’s not in these books how do we find it? Is there someone we can contact?” Joyce tried to steer the conversation back on track to the immediate threat.

“We could call the council but I don’t know the number.” Buffy ignored Anya’s snort of impatience. “Giles probably has the number but I don’t think he’d be willing to give it to me right now.”

“Yeah well by now Watcher’s probably done a dis-invite for me. So someone else has to get it from his place. I can pick the lock but I doubt I’ll get in the flat.” Spike gave his opinion.

Since everyone seemed to be tossing out suggestions Dawn piped up with hers. “So we have to stake out Giles place so we can break in. But we can’t let them see us?”

“I can do a locator spell. That way we’ll know if they are there or not. That should make it easier to get in right?” Tara offered.

“I say we go first thing in the morning.” Spike suggested. “They won’t be expecting it. I can get there through the tunnels. Got enough shade that early for me. Glinda can do her spell. If they’re not there I pick the lock Buffy runs in and grabs Rupert’s address book. We high-tail it back here and figure out who to call for help.”

The others thought over the plan. No one was happy with it but no one could think up a better one either. Everyone tried to keep themselves busy unpacking their supplies making small talk. Finally Buffy couldn’t stand the inaction any longer. Getting up and making her way down the tunnel they had entered through. “Slayer?! Where you headed?” Spike asked as he caught up with her.

“I can’t sit still. I should be out there stopping her instead I’m hiding in a cave.”

“Gotta keep the Nibblet safe. That means you hole up then you hole up.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Buffy had been wandering through the tunnel taking a side shoot she hadn’t noticed on her way in, in the darkness of their arrival. “What happened here?” Buffy noticed a rock slide blocking the end of the tunnel.

“Chamber that had the gem is right above us. The opening is right here.” Spike pointed to a small hole in the ceiling. “The tunnel we used to find it was over there. Must have collapsed after I found it. Never got back to get the rest of the treasure, between chasing after Peaches and getting captured. Fair bit of jewels in there.”

“This part looks pretty safe. Let’s go exploring.”