[A/N: We are steps closer to coming toward a resolution. . . . perhaps. I’m not sure how I feel about a sequel to this, although some of you are asking for it. I don’t know. There’s more story to tell, but if there’s no interest in it, I won’t bother. Thanks to everyone who’s stuck with me this long and who’s willing to go further. This is all for you. Enjoy. Thanks go to Tam for her lovely beta effort and to Addie, because without her support, this would not be anywhere close to being at the point it's at. Title (from one of my favorite songs)and quotes are as attributed. Disclaimers in full force and effect.]

Previously: Willow has broken through the shields at Revello Drive; the mansion has been destroyed, although quite a few vampires managed to escape. This picks up shortly after the last installment; and like that one, the action is all simultaneous.

Book Two. Chapter 61. Comes a rattle and hum


In the howling wind comes a stinging rain
See it driving nails
Into the souls on the tree of pain
From the firefly, a red orange glow
See the face of fear
Running scared in the valley below

Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue
Bullet the blue

In the locust wind comes a rattle and hum
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome
You plant a demon seed
You raise a flower of fire
See them burning crosses
See the flames higher and higher
U2, Bullet the Blue Sky, from the album The Joshua Tree, 1987


News of battle! News of battle!
Hark. ‘Tis ringing down the street
And the archways and the pavement
Hear the clang of hurrying feet.
News of battle. Who has brought it?
William Edmonstoune Aytoun, Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers


March to the battle-field,
The foe is now before us;
Each heart is Freedom’s shield,
And heaven is shining o’er us.
B. E. O’Meara, March to the Battle-Field


From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night,
The hum of either army stilly sounds,
That the fixed sentinels almost receive
The secret whispers of each other’s watch.
Fire answers fire, and through their play flames
Each battle sees the other’s umbered face.
Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs
Piercing the night’s dull ear; and from the tents
The armorers accomplishing the knights,
With busy hammers closing rivets up,
Give dreadful note of preparation.
King Henry V (IV, Prologue)






His side ached, a sharp hitch preventing him from inhaling deeply, yet he pushed himself to keep up with the others. However, he had at least fifteen years on Wesley and the rest were other than human anyway. Giles fought past the pain, struggling not to fall too far behind.

They were racing full out for Revello Drive, Buffy’s desperation to protect Dawn and Connor communicating itself quickly to the others. Once their cell phones had stopped buzzing the second time, they set off for the house, Buffy in the lead, with Spike just steps behind her.

And he was very much bringing up the rear.

Giles wasn’t out of shape, but he was considerably older. He watched as Spike said something to Buffy then started dropping back. As he neared, Rupert pushed his legs harder, listening to his own harsh breathing. Spike paced him effortlessly, his eyes on the Slayers racing ahead of him.

“All right, Watcher?” Spike didn’t look at him, though Rupert could feel the weight of his concern all the same.

“Holding up.” Giles could barely rasp out the words.

“Only one person can smash through those shields this fast.”

“Probably.” Giles could feel the pain creeping through him, clutching around his lungs, constricting them.

“Need you an’ Oxford to work on the mojo. You gonna be okay?” At this Spike did angle his head, eyes narrowed, listening closely to Rupert’s labored breathing. “Never mind.”

Without waiting for the lie he knew Giles was going to try for, Spike looped his arm around Giles’ waist, taking the burden of movement from him.

“Hold on, old man.”

And Spike pulled even with Lawson, motioning him to grab onto Giles from the other side. Grudgingly grateful for the help, Rupert grunted something unintelligible at the two vampires.

Spike just set his face forward and ran.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Dawn heard the noise of the alarm when the first shield fell, coming awake from a semi-sleep state. Tara’s presence and kiss had gone unremarked, the teen uncertain of the reason behind it. She snapped to awareness, though, at the first strains of the high-pitched bells and the door slamming behind Tara.

Startled, she looked around, wondering what – or who – had destroyed the shield. Dawn carefully rolled herself to a sitting position on the edge of her bed, facing the door of her bedroom. Knowing Tara, she probably had a new set of wards and shields around her room and their best chance for staying safe was staying put.

Unable to straighten up fully, Dawn got to her feet anyway. She had a weird feeling about this, about who was attempting to get through to the house. It had to be Willow.

Connor whimpered in his sleep, drawing her attention. Okay. So. If that’s Willow trying to get through, we’re okay. For now. But Miss I-wanna-be-Voldemort will probably get through. So we need to hide.

Shuffling her way around the bed, Dawn stared down at Connor for long minutes. Dunno how we’re gonna do this . . . .

Dropping slowly down to her knees, Dawn rested against the side of the bed, gasping for air, and fighting to stay conscious. Dark spots danced behind her closed eyelids as she pressed a hand against her ribs.

When she finally gained some control over the pain, Dawn reached for Connor, who was looking up at her with solemn eyes. “C’mon little man, can you help me here? Gotta get a hiding place, so the bad witch doesn’t find us.”

Connor rolled onto his belly, crawling forward, toward her. “I swear dude, you are one smart rugrat.” She shook her head in amused disbelief as he seemed to listen to her. “I need you to scoot over here. Good baby.”

Guiding him with her hand, Dawn pressed against the bed, holding him high against her shoulder. Her left side had taken the brunt of her injuries so she held Connor against her right, hoping his kicking feet would stay still. Trying not to move too much, Dawn stayed on her knees, then slowly knee-walked over to the far corner of her bed. Slumping between the night table and her dresser, Dawn sat against the wall. Okay so, it’s a lame hiding place. I don’t . . . I can’t run and hide, so presenting a small target should work. I hope anyway.

Sweat and tears stood out on her face and though every inch of her body ached in protest, she held onto Connor.

The baby settled again, his fist wrapped around her long hair, face tucked against her neck. He whimpered once then stilled. “We’re gonna be okay. Tara’s here and Buffy and Spike will protect us. We’re gonna be okay.”

She wasn’t sure which one of them she was trying to convince.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Xander knew what was happening somewhere else in Sunnydale right this moment. Somewhere between the Magic Box and Crawford Street – the mansion specifically – Buffy was fighting. And not just Buffy. Giles. Faith. Wesley. Oz. Spike. All of them, though he really didn’t want to think too hard about Spike’s part in this, fighting together to stop Angel.

He’d tried going home, but the apartment had been too quiet, reminding him all too clearly of the hours before they’d run from Glory. That idea hadn’t worked, so he’d headed toward the hospital, prepared to sit with Cordelia until he remembered Gunn and Fred were there and his presence wasn’t needed.

So now here he was, standing outside the Magic Box staring at the window, wondering why.

Why Spike and not him? Why did Buffy constantly seek out the vampires? Why it mattered so much that she did.

Mostly, though, he was wondering why he was acting like this. Is it just because of Spike? Aside from the evil dead thing, Spike wasn’t that bad a guy. So why?

Why was he standing here, like a jerk, when he could be helping? For nearly six years, he’d been there whenever Buffy needed help, no matter who else was.

Xander stuck his hands into his pockets and stared at the expensive display in the window. He didn’t like this feeling or the way his thoughts were going. He liked being a part of Buffy’s life, liked helping her save the world, even if he wasn’t always all that much help. He’d always done his best, tried to at least.

Until lately.

If he were being honest with himself, Xander could admit he was jealous of Spike and his place in Buffy’s life. Xander jumped as a fire engine roared past, sirens blaring and, in a flash of insight, he knew exactly where that fire engine was headed.

This was the first fight in six years he wasn’t a part of; wasn’t helping to fight.

I don’t. . . . This isn’t right.

I should be helping.

Doing something.

Anything.

He had no idea where Buffy and the others might be. . . . Except, I do know where Anya is.

And Tara.

Dawnie and Angel’s kid.

With a newfound sense of resolve, Xander pulled out his keys, then headed for Revello Drive.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


She could hear the murmur of voices behind her, and she caught the sound of Spike talking to Giles. Buffy let the voices wash over her, holding onto the sounds, letting them give her focus, just one more way of keeping the panic from overwhelming her. Spike had dropped back to make sure Giles kept up, because at this moment, they couldn’t afford to lose anyone.

Lawson hadn’t been able to give them an accurate count of how many vampires were in the mansion when the explosion occurred; only able to give them a total of sleeping bodies. Harmony’s presence came only as a slight surprise. While names meant nothing to her, the sheer number of vampires in the mansion was staggering. With any kind of luck, all those vampires they’d just faced had been the remainder of Angel’s forces and they wouldn’t have to face large numbers elsewhere.

Seizing on the thought of Angel, Buffy refused to allow the rising panic any more leeway. They were going to be safe – and this was just going to be a false alarm.

Buffy clung to the thought, even as she pushed herself to run faster.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Harmony stared at what was once the front door of Buffy’s house and smiled. “Well this is certainly new. And kinda interesting.”

Motioning to Glynnis, she stepped closer, avoiding the splintered pieces of wood, wondering out loud what had been strong enough to destroy the door.

As she stepped onto the porch, the house shook and light flashed inside the entryway. “Hello? Anyone here?”

Stopping at the doorway, held back by the barrier, Harmony peeked in the house. “Willow? Is that you? What the hell did you do?”

The three girls in the hallway froze, turning to look at the vampires. A stray pulse of power flared, arching through the room, shattering the mirror by the door.

“Hey! Watch it, Willow, you almost hit me with that!” Harmony frowned, waving her hand in the general direction of the mirror. “Did you do something to your hair?”

“Shut up Harmony.” Willow snapped at her. Tara took advantage of Willow’s distraction to throw up a quick protective barrier. Grabbing Anya’s hand, she tugged her up the stairs.

They only got as far as the landing when Willow broke through the flimsy barrier, sending a bolt of energy up toward the two. “Did you really think that was going to work?”

Tara turned to face Willow, who stared up at the two girls. “I didn’t expect anything.”

She pushed away from Anya, presenting a full target for Willow, while whispering to the other blond, “Now would be a good time.”

“A good time for what? Do you really think you’ll be able to fight me off together?” A sneer marred Willow’s face. “I don’t think you’re going to get very far, but hey, feel free to try.”

As the words left her mouth, her hand lifted and an arc of green lightning flared from her fingers. At the last second, Tara deflected it away, causing another jolt to shake the house. Tara stumbled back, accidentally knocking into Anya, who lost her footing as a second bolt of energy flowed from Willow’s fingertips. The flaring end caught Anya squarely, despite Tara’s attempt to block it. She stumbled, toppling down the stairs, knocking Willow off her feet in a rush.

Torn between going back downstairs to help Anya and somehow getting the two children away, Tara hesitated until the sound of Harmony’s laughter filled the hallway.

Disentangling herself from Anya, Willow glared at the two vampires smirking in the doorway and sent a fireball winging toward them.

Harmony shrieked, ducking to the side away from danger, while Glynnis just stepped out of the way. Figuring Willow would be occupied with the two vampires, Tara whirled around and headed for Dawn’s room.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Angel, with Drusilla right beside him, ran through the dark streets of Sunnydale, heading straight for the Slayer’s house. The two vampires paid no heed to following streets or boundaries, running through yards and jumping over fences.

Before long, they were running onto Revello Drive, half a block away from Buffy’s. The crisp smell of magic filled the air, and Angel sped up. The sound of screeching tires and a blue blur passed right in front of them, and Angel pulled Drusilla back, barely in time to avoid being hit by a car as it flew by.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The moment it was dark enough, Jenner had sent most of his people out, half to look for Glynnis and the others looking for something to eat. He stayed in, waiting for some word from Hawkins about what was going on with Glynnis.

Like everyone else in Sunnydale, he heard the muffled explosion and the subsequent wail of emergency vehicles racing toward the disaster. Unlike most of the denizens of Sunnydale, Jenner had some idea the disaster was connected to the struggle between Spike and Angel. Before his curiosity could get the better of him, his cell phone was ringing.

He hated the things, but he insisted all of his people have them; and Glynnis, who should have had hers, had left it on the bed next to Hawkins before she left.

“What?”

“She’s with Angel. Won’t listen to me at all.” Hawkins didn’t waste any time giving him the bad news.

“Fuck. Any idea what they were planning?”

“They were heading to the Slayer’s house.” Hawkins paused, then said, “Angel’s place exploded. I’m not sure how many of his people got out.”

“Where are you now?”

“Just passing the shop we were in last night.”

“You’re still tracking her?” Jenner pulled on his boots, preparing to head out.

“Yeah. I’m thinking Spike’s group is heading back there too.”

Thinking over his options, Jenner sighed. “Stay put. I’ll meet you there in a few.”

“Right.”

Jenner headed for the door, disconnecting the call.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Connor curled tighter into her side, soft whimpers sounding in the air, while his tiny fists and feet broke through the hold she had on him. The walls shook and Dawn fought back the scream of fear building in her throat.

Whatever was happening downstairs couldn’t be good, and Dawn was finding it hard to stay put.

C’mon Buffy, where are you? Now would be a good time to come home and save us. The house shook again, the ceiling plaster cracked and flaked down on them. Now would be a really, really good time.

There was noise outside her room, the sound of muffled voices, though Dawn didn’t think that was a good thing. Thumps and thuds sounded, and she knew something or someone had fallen down the steps.

More noises, louder upraised voices and Dawn hugged Connor closer, wrapping him up tighter in his blanket.

C’mon guys. . . Come home. Please.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Xander drove through the streets, weaving in and around rescue vehicles, trying to get a glimpse of how bad the mansion was. The closer he got to Crawford Street, the more people he passed, all of them outside, standing around and gawking.

Flames could be seen from a block away and police cars had blocked off access to anyone but emergency personnel. Xander slowed to a crawl, his eyes scanning through the crowds, looking for signs of vampire activity.

He hit the brakes hard when he thought he caught a glimpse of Drusilla, but it turned out to be one of the neighbors in a long coat, watching the firemen fight the blaze.

Unable to get any closer or a clearer view of the mansion, Xander drove past an empty ambulance, heading straight for Buffy’s house.

There was very little traffic heading away from the mansion, and it took Xander less than two minutes to travel the distance between the two places. Driving hard around the turn onto Revello Drive, Xander narrowly missed hitting a figure that burst out of a side yard halfway down the block. It was only once he was past that Xander realized he’d almost run down Drusilla.

Damn. Maybe I should. . . . . Before he was finished that thought, Xander was in front of the house. He parked the car and was out of it before he saw Harmony on the porch.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Faith pulled even with Buffy, her eyes constantly scanning sideways, looking out for more vampires. They were only about a block away from Revello Drive and as they neared, Buffy started pushing herself harder, running flat out.

At the same instant, both Slayers felt the tingles. “Vamps,” was Buffy’s unnecessary comment.

“Yeah.” Faith paced her, Buffy’s increased worry communicating itself clearly.

Spike, who’d been behind them for blocks, suddenly appeared on Buffy’s left, his face set in grim lines.

“He’s here, pet.”

“Thought so.” Neither one glanced at the other, though Faith could feel the tension between them.

“Gonna slip to the side, right?”

“No, we go in together.”

Spike dared a look then and the sight of Buffy’s face made him falter; he lost a half step, seeing the tears slip down her cheeks.

“Right.”

All talk died then, since the house was now in sight.

Xander’s car was parked out in front, and two female vampires had him by the arms, while Angel systematically slapped first one side of his face, then the other.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The transition from the Otherworld to another dimension was never easy, much harder on him than the hounds. There was always an adjustment, moments of disorientation when he couldn’t get his bearings. He fought the dimensional warp, reeling from both the transition and the pull of the Hellmouth.

Something’s not right.

The normal vibration of the Hellmouth was higher, charged with dark magics and unusual energy.

Two of the younger hounds whined, yelping with the desire to be off hunting. Mael, the lead hound, growled low in his throat, warning the others to settle down. Soft whining complaints issued from numerous canine throats and the alpha lifted his head to stare at the Huntsman.

Magic was strong in the air and instead of holding them back, he decided it was time.

There was only one witch on the Hellmouth with the power and foolishness to attempt spellcasting of this caliber, this strong enough to leave a signature at this distance.

With a nod of his head and a hand motion, the Huntsman let loose the hounds.



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