A/N: Thanks to my lovely betas AthenaHahn and BlackNBlue2

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Buffy slid a thin-bladed dagger from a hidden sheath in her vest and handed it to Anya. “Check the back door and make sure it’s locked would you? I don’t need anything sneaking up on us.”

“On it Buffy. I’ll take Xander with me so he won’t get in your way.” Anya said, taking the dagger and making her way into the kitchen, dragging Xander with her.

Spike smirked, “So how many more of those things do you have tucked away in your vest?” He ran his eyes across her chest. “And why didn’t I find them last night? Thought that thing was a corset of some kind.”

“It’s a little of both, and here,” Buffy handed him the twin to the dagger she had given to Anya. “Use it in good health.”

Joyce wrapped her arms around Dawn and asked, “Mother, who is out there?”

Without looking at Joyce, Buffy answered her in a hard tone of voice. “Angelus for one, the stupid asshole, approximately 15 various demons, and Hank…” Buffy trailed off on the last name and hoped Joyce hadn’t caught it.

Unfortunately, Giles had and remarked on it. “Hank… as in Hank Summers, Joyce’s ex-husband?”

Joyce gasped and cuddled Dawn closer. “He’s HERE? Why is he here?” Something resembling understanding appeared in Joyce’s eyes. “He is not taking Dawn from me. The judge told him he couldn’t have her, couldn’t even see her. So he is NOT taking her away from me!”

“Relax Joy; he won’t be taking anyone anywhere. Except maybe himself to the morgue.” Buffy said as calmly as she could.

Willow gaped at Buffy. “You mean you are going to kill him for wanting to see his own daughter?”

“No, I’m going to kill him for wanting to use Dawn as a sacrifice to his bosses,” Buffy snapped irritably.

Spike growled audibly and tightened his grip on the dagger. “Red, make yourself useful and put up a barrier around the house… doors and windows.”

“Excellent idea, Spike. I think we need some time to get a little information on this problem.” Giles said. “I’ll give the girls a hand with that barrier spell and mayhap Buffy can fill us in on the details?”

“I’ll tell you what I know, which isn’t much,” Buffy said softly, never taking her eyes off the door. “But we don’t have much time. They’re almost here.”

“Tell us what you can Luv,” Spike said gently.

“Please Mother, if it involves Dawn, I NEED to know,” Joyce looked scared and at the same time indignant.

“Very well,” Buffy said, noticing that everyone else was listening as well. “A couple of months ago, Cassandra had a vision regarding Dawn. The details were sketchy but a couple of things were very clear. One was the New Moon, which is in 2 night’s time…”

Willow interrupted excitedly. “OH! And it’s the winter solstice in 2 nights. Longest night of the year. Oh this isn’t good at all”

“Indeed it isn’t. Added to that is the fact that Cass saw Hank’s face…” Buffy trailed off, looking sheepish. “What took me so long getting here is the fact I did a little digging on Hank. Seems he recently joined a new law firm. Wolfram and Hart.”

“Wolfram and Hart? Isn’t that the law firm in LA? One of the most prestigious from what I understand,” Giles asked, intrigued.

“Yup, that would be them,” Buffy replied.

Spike interrupted, “Why would Hank Summers be working for a demon law firm?”

“Beats me, but I think he likes the benefit package. Extended lifespan, money out the wazoo, lack of scruples,” Buffy snarked. “But part of the application is a sacrifice. A virgin sacrifice. And it’s preferred if the sacrifice is related to the applicant.”

Joyce was outraged, “You mean that lousy son of a bitch wants to sacrifice my daughter so he can get a fucking job with a bunch of demonic lawyers? Over my dead body!”

Xander stepped forward, “Okay G-man, backdoor is secure, as are the upstairs windows. Willow and Tara managed to ward all the doors and windows, but I think we,re running out of time.” Turning to where Joyce and Dawn were sitting, Xander said, “Dawn, Mrs. Summers, I would like to apologize for my behavior towards Dawn earlier. And I just want you to know that nobody is gonna touch Dawn without going through me first.”

“So are we talking complete body sacrifice here, or just a small blood-letting?” Anya asked.

“I looked into it, well as best I could before Joe was locked out of their computer systems. It’s a combined sacrifice. Blood, sex and death combined to seal his bargain with the senior partners.” Buffy stated softly. “Hank has no problem with having sexual relations with minors, it’s the reason the judge didn’t grant him visitation rights. He was caught in flagrante delicto with the underage babysitter. Fortunately, he does have some scruples, and draws the line at incest. Unfortunately, it looks like he found someone, several some ones, to perform the actual ‘physical’ act. Most of which are provided by Wolfram and Hart. All of them in fact, except one, from the looks of it.”

Spike quickly caught on to what she was saying and his eyes bled to pure gold as his demon rushed forth, ready to defend his Nibblet.

Willow’s eyes almost popped out of her head as she came to the logical conclusion. “You mean… he’s gonna let all those demons… Just so he can get a job? Not while I still drawn breath!” Willow was incensed.

“Willow-girl, listen to me. I want you and Tara to take Dawn and Joyce down to the basement, cast a protection spell. Nothing comes in OR out. Take the others as well. I’ll hold them off up here. Anya, I want you to contact D’Hoffryn; he owes me big time. If I cant stop them… I want him to get them out of here.” Buffy started issuing orders, fully expecting the others to follow them.

As everyone started down into the basement, urged on by Joyce, Spike stayed beside Buffy. “I’m not gonna leave you to take on that bunch by yourself Luv. I’ve got your back.”

“Thanks Spike, I just hope we can stop them all. My senses are picking up at least 100 demon signatures.” Buffy said quietly.

“Bring it on, I love a good rough and tumble,” Spike said with a fangy grin.