Chapter 4

“Angel?” Xander noticed that the vampire was uninvited. “Huh, that’s weird.”

“You’ve gotta get Buffy!” Angel cried from the porch. “She has to invite me in; you’re all in danger.”

“Yes, thank you,” Anya replied. “We’re aware of that.”

Giles gestured toward the door. “Ah, Dawn, could you?”

“Wait a minute.” Xander held up a hand to stop her. “How do we know he’s not evil?”

“I’m not evil!”

“Good enough for me,” said Anya, in that tone of voice she used sometimes where no one was quite sure if she was serious or sarcastic.

Angel’s eyes bugged out with anxiety. “Please, just –”

“What are you doing here?” Xander demanded.

“I’m not sure. I went through a portal. I – I was following Buffy.”

“Vampire Buffy,” Tara clarified.

“Yes. So, you know?” Angel peered at them through the doorway.

“Buffy – our Buffy – is taking care of it now.” Moderately convinced that Angel wasn’t dangerous, Giles gestured to Dawn again. Dawn looked uncertain, but she gave the invitation.

Once inside, Angel explained to them how the Willow and Giles of his world had come up with a plan to go back in time, using some sort of spell, to get to Buffy before she was turned. But the spell hadn’t worked and instead of ending up in the past, they’d traveled to another dimension.

“How strange,” said Giles. Ever the scholar, his mind was already puzzling through the intricacies of such a spell that could have caused this result. “Tell me, what –”

He was interrupted as the door burst open again, this time revealing Willow followed by Spike, still carrying an unconscious Buffy.

“Clear the couch!” Spike placed her down as soon as the sofa was vacated. “Buffy, love, wake up.” He grasped her shoulders and shook her. “Buffy!”

Xander grabbed his arm. “I don’t think shaking her’s gonna do any good.”

“Spike?” Buffy’s eyes fluttered open and his movements slowed to a halt. “I’m okay.” She lifted her gaze to take in the rest of the group. “I’m okay. I – Angel?” Her voice was soft and breathy with disbelief.

He was immediately at her side. “Buffy.”

Spike’s jaw tightened, steeling himself to be pushed aside in favor of the souled vampire, but he didn’t leave his perch next to Buffy on the couch.

“He’s not your Angel,” Anya said. “He’s Vamp Buffy’s Angel, who, as it turns out, is from an alternate dimension. With, I should add, no help from me.” She directed this last comment at Willow, who rolled her eyes.

Buffy sat up and tried to digest all of the information being thrown at her. “I – oh – um. Sorry, my head’s a little woozy.”

“It’s all right, love,” said Spike. “Lie back.”

“What’s he doing here?” Angel eyed his progeny with a suspicious gaze. Spike, never one to back down from a challenge, stood and faced him.

“It’s okay,” Buffy said wearily. “He won’t hurt us.”

“Buffy, it’s Spike!” Angel’s facial expression indicated that she should realize the danger.

“I know that,” she told him, with more force in her voice now as she suddenly realized what she’d known all along. “And I’m saying we can trust him.”

“Are you sure about that?” He eyed Spike again, then looked hard at Buffy. “He’s the one who did this to you. To the other you. My Buffy.”

She sighed. “I know, Angel. But it wasn’t my Spike who did it.” At the possessive term, Spike’s head jerked toward Buffy. Their eyes met again, just as they had earlier in the Magic Box, but this time, she gave him what he’d asked for. His face softened into a small, grateful smile, which she returned. “This Spike just saved my life. And before that, he nearly died trying to save my sister.”

Angel furrowed his brow. “You don’t have a - oh.” He looked over at the unfamiliar teenage girl who’d invited him in. “I guess that’s you.”

Dawn rolled her eyes and asked Buffy, “What did you see in him?” Spike smirked. He knew there was a reason he liked the little bit.

Angel shook his head. “It’s just - things are different here. My Buffy doesn’t have a sister and –”

“And in our world you ditched us and went to L.A.” Dawn didn’t bother to hide the bitterness in her voice. Even though they were Buffy’s boyfriends, they were a part of her life, too, and she felt just as abandoned as her sister did when they left. While Angel’s departure was now years ago, Riley’s sudden disappearance had reopened old wounds that hadn’t quite healed yet.

“Look, this is all terribly interesting,” Giles cut in, rescuing Angel from the open-mouthed, speechless reaction he was having to that information, “and once we’re all out of danger it would be lovely to sit around and discuss the differences between our dimensions, but I really think we ought to focus our attention on defeating this vampire version of Buffy.”

“Well, what are we going to do?” asked Anya. “She’s already kicked Spike’s ass - and Buffy’s. And Willow’s not looking too hot, either.”

Willow’s head snapped up. “Hey!”

“Yes, thank you, Anya,” Giles said. “Now if anyone has anything useful…”

“I had this idea,” said Willow. “When we were trying to find ways to fight Glory. Remember when we all joined with Buffy in that mind meld thing to defeat Adam?”

“Yeah, not doing that again.” Buffy got up from the couch. “I really don’t wanna tempt the wrath of the First Slayer right now.”

“No,” Willow agreed, “but if Buffy merges with a different power source, she’d be more powerful. Maybe powerful enough to defeat a much stronger opponent.”

“Who – or what – did you have in mind?” asked Giles.

“Dawn.”

Buffy didn’t even need to think before answering. “No.”

“She’s pure energy, right?” Willow argued. “If we could tap into that, without –”

“No!”

“But –”

“It’s her life energy,” said Buffy, unconsciously moving to stand between Willow and Dawn. “You can’t take it away. What if it kills her?”

Willow grimaced. “It wouldn’t take that much.”

“I can’t. I can’t do it.”

“What about someone else?” Tara suggested. “Someone else stronger than human.”

Willow nodded, acquiescing. “We could try combining essences with a vampire, to give you the same advantage as Vamp Buffy.”

“I’ll do it,” Angel immediately offered.

“No, I’ll do it,” said Spike, not about to let Angel lay claim to Buffy and any melding that might occur. To his surprise, Buffy nodded her approval.

“I’m gonna need some stuff,” Willow said. “From the Magic Box. Tara, can you help with the spell?”

“I can try.”

“Let’s go then,” Buffy said, taking charge once again. “You, me, Tara, and Spike. And Angel,” she added, glancing at him. It couldn’t hurt to have a little more muscle. “The rest of you st–”

“Nuh-uh,” said Xander. “We’re not staying here.”

“We’re all going this time,” Anya added.

Buffy pleaded with them with her eyes. “I need you to keep Dawn protected.” Just beyond her vision, she could see the image of the guy in the alley, could hear his neck snapping, could see herself killing him. No, she couldn’t let her friends anywhere near this battle.

“Buffy, if you think there is any way you’re going to leave me here while you go off and do something dangerous, you are seriously deluded,” Dawn told her. “I’m not sitting around and waiting to find out if you’ve been killed.”

Buffy looked anguished, possibly on the verge of a breakdown. Spike quickly stepped in and offered a compromise. “Look, a few of us will go to the Magic Box, get the mojo, and come back here right quick.”

“And fight the vampire where?” Buffy asked.

“Here. Outside.” Spike indicated the front lawn with a tilt of his head. “Everyone else stays inside, safe in the house.”

Buffy closed her eyes briefly and sighed. “Fine. How do we get my vampy self over here?”

“Oh, she’ll come.” Spike glanced at Angel, who nodded solemnly. “They always come home.”