Chapter 1

Buffy paused outside of Spike's crypt to catch her breath.  So many things had happened in the past twelve hours.  Buffy didn't blame Tara for inadvertently telling Glory about Dawn's true identity.  It wasn't like the Wicca had done it on purpose. However, being chased by the crazy Hell-god wasn't Buffy's idea of fun.

It was time to get out of Dodge... well, Sunnydale, anyway.  Buffy knew that Spike would probably know a good place to hide.  He did tend to piss people off enough times to need a good hiding place.  Buffy herself tended to keep her mind on the things about the bleached blond vamp that made her mad.

Bufffy had run scared when Spike had declared his love for her.  She had let everyone think she was disgusted by the vampire's confession.  She knew deep down it had been because she was deeply attracted to him that scared her the most.  After he had refused to give Dawn up to Glory, the Slayer had known Spike would do anything to make her happy.  The thought of that power and drive scared her.  Especially since Buffy wished she could just crawl into his arms and forget everything.

Buffy opened the crypt door, and she peeked inside.  "Spike?" she called out. "Are you decent?"

"Be right up."  Spike's voice drifted up from the hole at the other end of the crypt.  "Make yourself at home, Slayer."

Buffy let herself into the vampire's home.  She looked around for a place to sit, and she finally settled on using the sarcophagus that she had found Spike laying on after his escape from Glory.  Buffy got comfortable, and in a matter of seconds, her mind wandered to everything that had happened in the past few months.  She barely felt the tears drench her cheeks. How was it that she felt safest inside a cemetery in the crypt of one of the very demons she was supposed to kill?  She was overwhelmed by her thoughts and emotions.

"Buffy, luv.  What's wrong?"  Spike's concerned voice broke through Buffy's self-imposed trance.  "It's not Dawn, is it?"

"I can't lose her," Buffy whispered.  "I already lost Mom."  Her voice hitched with a sob.  "I can't lose Dawnie, too."

"You're not gonna lose her, Buffy."  Spike cautiously reached out to brush the tears from one of the Slayer's cheeks.  Seeing the Slayer in his crypt after the incident with the chains was strange enough.  Add to that she was in his crypt with her guard down enough to let him see her cry.  He wasn't sure how much affection she was willing to accept from him, but he was willing to offer her whatever amount she was willing to take.

"Glory knows who she is," Buffy's voice cracked.  "Tara accidentally told her.  We gotta leave Sunnydale.  I figure if we can get somewhere far enough away, we can wait till Glory's time frame runs out."

Spike thought hard for a few moments.  He snapped his fingers.  "I know the perfect place to hide."

"I knew I could count on you."  Buffy threw her arms around Spike's neck, and she pulled his face down for a quick kiss on the lips.

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

Giles jumped back from the curb.  An RV with tinfoil covered windows came to a screeching halt in the alley behind the Magic Box.  He gulped when the door swung open, and a pale hand was thrust out into the sunshine.  Giles realized there was a piece of paper clutched in the now smoking appendage.

"Get this stuff from inside, Watcher."  Spike's rough, accented voice flowed out of the darkness inside the vehicle. "It's for a concealment charm."  The vampire stepped out of the shadows a bit more, and he pulled his hand back inside.

"What's he doing here?" Giles demanded.

"Just out for a jaunt, Rupes." Spike smirked.  "Thought I'd swing by and say howdy."

"Out," Giles growled.  He went to grab the vampire by the lapels.

"He's here because we need him."  Buffy's pale face appeared over Spike's shoulder, and she laid a hand on his shoulder.  "I need him."

Spike's face read both shock and immense happiness over the Slayer's words.  Even if she didn't love him, Buffy willingly told the Scoobies that she needed him and his help.  Those words went a long way to help lessen the sting of Buffy's previous revocation of his invitation to her home.

"The hell we do."  Xander moved forward to stand next to Giles in a united male Scooby front.

"I'm not gonna argue," Buffy replied.  She squeezed Spike's shoulder harder to show him her support.  "Dawn, get in now."  She waited for the teenager to squeeze past her and the vampire.  "If any of you want to come with us, that's great.  If not, find yourself a place to hide."

"I'm going with you, Buffy," Anya announced.  "I've always endorsed the 'run as fast as you can' plan."

"Good.  Maybe you can get the stuff for the concealment spell," Buffy replied.  She snatched the papers from Spike's hand, and she thrust it at the ex-vengeance demon. "Hand your bag to Spike."

Anya handed Spike her small travel bag before fumbling for the shop keys in her purse.  "Will you be paying for this?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll work something out after the apocalypse," Buffy answered.  She smiled when Anya nodded happily.

Anya hurried to unlock the door of the Magic Box.  She looked over Spike's list, and she was glad to see that there weren't any exotic ingredients on it.  Anya rolled her eyes when she heard  Xander begin to speak.  She always grimaced along with the other Scoobs about Spike's presence, but she didn't really have anything against the vampire.  Besides, anyone as old as she was knew that regular humans couldn't handle a Slayer's strength if she wasn't faking her orgasm.

"But it's Spike," Xander protested.  "Just a few weeks ago, you were willing to dust him over the bot, and now he's your best bud.  What is wrong with you, Buff?"  He pointed a finger at Spike.  "He put a spell on you, didn't he?"

"Look, Xander, if Glory finds us, he's the only one besides me that has any chance of protecting Dawn."  Buffy included the other Scoobies in her pointed glare.  "Either you can come with us..."  She waved her arm at the RV.  "Or, you can find your own way out of town."

"We're going with you," Willow replied.  She took Tara by the shoulders to guide the brain-damaged woman towards the vehicle door.  Willow gave a tight-lipped smile to Spike and Buffy as they moved out of her way.

"That was the last of the Tagas root," Anya said when she approached the RV.  She brushed past Xander and Giles, and she hopped onboard the vehicle.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Spike chuckled.  He turned around to grab some goggles off the dashboard. After he put on the eye protection, he slid behind the steering wheel.  "I seem to remember the shop was out before when the Watcher was blind."

"Anya, you and Willow do the spell in the back room," Buffy ordered.  She looked at other male Scoobies still standing outside.  "You coming or staying? Decide now because every second we waste brings that bitch closer to my sister."

Giles and Xander looked at each other before they reluctantly got into the RV.  Buffy slammed the door behind them.  Then, she took a seat in the other captain's chair next to Spike.  She wasn't giving either male Scooby a chance to stake Spike.

Spike sucked in his cheeks, and he smirked at Buffy.  "Buckle up, baby.  Daddy's puttin' the hammer down."

Buffy rolled her eyes at the vampire.  She giggled when the RV lurched forward making Xander and Giles bump into each other.  She didn't usually laugh at the misfortune of her friends, but at the moment she didn't feel like placating either of the male human Scoobies.

Dawn fell back into the bench seat around the little dining table.  She gave a mental jab in the air at how her sister was finally treating her best friend like he mattered.  She hoped that during the trip that Buffy would realize how different Spike really was now.

"We're done," Anya said as she came out of the rear of the RV.  "The concealment charm will be in full effect by the time we leave Sunnydale."

"It'll last till we get to Los Angeles?"  Buffy glanced over her shoulder at Anya.

"It should," Willow's voice came from over Anya's shoulder.  "Spike knows his spells, that's for sure."

"Thanks, Red."  Spike shot a look at Buffy.  "It was the Slayer's idea."  He turned his attention back to the road.

"Everyone get comfy," Buffy said.  "It takes two hours on a good day."  She settled back in her seat, and she closed her eyes in exhaustion and stress.

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

"General Gregor, sir."  A young knight entered the room where the leader of the Knights of Byzantium held his war talks.  "The Key is gone."

"What do you mean the Key is gone?"  General Gregor demanded.  He waited impatiently for the younger man to answer.

"We were tracking the Key, sir, when it suddenly disappeared," the knight answered.

"How is that possible?"  General Gregor didn't like the sound of that.  If the Beast had the Key, all would be lost.

"Unknown, sir."  The young knight stood nervously in front of his commander.  The General had been in a terrible mood ever since they had learned that Sir Orlando, the General's protegeé, had fallen victim to the Beast.

"Send two men out to check on the Slayer's whereabouts," General Gregor commanded. "Also, send another two men to check on the Beast's minions.  Make sure they don't have the Key."

"Yes, sir."  The young knight saluted before he left to obey the General's orders.

Several hours later the same young knight returned to the war room.  "Sir," he panted from his sprint down the hallway from the mage's room.  "The Key is in Los Angeles, along with the Slayer and her friends."

"That is not good," General Gregor growled.  "Gather the troops. We need to get rid of the Key before the Beast can use it."

"At once, sir."  The young knight saluted.

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

"The Slayer has taken the magnificent one's Key and ran away," Jinx cried out as he entered Glory's penthouse apartment.

"Oh no, what do we do?" Jinx's mate Gronx twisted her hands in anguish.  "Her gloriousness will be so disappointed in us."

"We must have a nice selection of brains for her divine greatness to touch," Jinx announced.  He clapped his hands to gather the other minions.  "Everyone, get as many humans as possible."

"How will we keep this from the shell?" Gronx asked.  "He already wants his own life.  He's unhappy giving her luminous scrumptiousness use of his body.  He doesn't understand that without her, he wouldn't exist."

"I'll handle Ben," Jinx announced. "The rest of you worry about getting the humans."  He shooed the minions away before going to his mate to soothe her fears.

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

Spike brought the RV to a shuddering halt outside the demon bar, Caritas.  He glanced over at Buffy, who had dozed off in the chair beside him.  He hated to wake her, since it was obvious she hadn't had much sleep lately.  Spike smiled at the memory of how she had defended him to the Scoobies.  "Wake up, Slayer."  Spike reached out to touch Buffy's shoulder. "We're here."

Buffy sat up, stretched, and rubbed her eyes. She glanced back at the others dozing in different spots around the RV.  Dawn used one of Giles' shoulders as a pillow while Anya used the other.  Xander had his head in Anya's lap.  Willow and Tara had taken the bed in the back.

"The portal's inside the bar," Spike said softly.  "The only problem is we have to go through contained in a car or something."

"What?  Why?" Buffy whispered in reply.

"If we don't we might not end up together."  Spike glanced at the now stirring Scoobies.  "Not that I wouldn't mind losing the droopy boy somewhere along the way."

"Spike," Buffy admonished gently.  She grinned when the vampire smirked at her unrepentantly.  "What about the RV?"

"It might be too big."  Spike tilted his head in thought.  He moved to where the Watcher was waking up.  "Rupes, I need a run down of the cars outside."

"I will not.."  Giles' objections were cut off before he could gather enough steam to voice them.

"Just do it, Giles," Buffy interrupted.  She was still mad at her Watcher for his solution of the whole Glory/Hell-God situation.  She thought by now he would have understood that she would protect anyone she cared about, especially her sister.

"Fine," Giles replied huffily.  He waited for Dawn to slide out of his way.  Giles grumbled under his breath as he made his way out of the RV.

"The spell's probably ended," Anya muttered sleepily. "Should we do it again?"  She stretched and yawned.

"No, we'll be in hidin' in just a few, pet," Spike answered.  He liked the demon girl.  Of all the Scoobies, it was she and Tara who were the most accepting of his presence.

The RV door snapped open, and Giles stomped inside. "It must be a slow night.  There's a convertible and a couple of jeeps."

"Which one can fit the eight of us?" Buffy asked.  She knew she wouldn't be the one driving, whatever car they used.

Giles looked around at the others while he considered the cars.  He knew they would have to hotwire which ever one he decided on.  Giles finally settled on the convertible.  He knew that the eight of them -- he was sure Buffy wouldn't leave Spike behind -- could squeeze into its bench seats.  Giles also knew he could hotwire the convertible in a pinch.  He turned to Spike and Buffy, and he muttered, "The convertible."

"Good choice," Spike drawled. He peeked out the door.  "The sun's far enough down for good shadows.  Everyone grab your stuff."  He winked at Buffy and Dawn before he was out the door and across the parking lot to the convertible.

"Everybody ready?" Buffy asked.  She put her arm around Dawn, and she gave her little sister a hug.

"Tell me why we're trusting Spike?" Xander demanded.  "He's probably just doing this to get us killed for taking his toy away."

"We don't have time for this," Buffy said.  "Again, come or stay.  Your choice.  Let's go, Dawnie."  She dragged her sister out of the RV.  Buffy didn't even turn to check if her friends were following them.

"How's Spike gonna get us and a car inside?" Dawn whispered.

"Good question, Bit," Spike said.  He pulled a small bag out of his pocket, and he tossed it to Giles.  "Go put this by the wall, Watcher.  Then, everybody, saddle up."

Spike glided his hand down the fender of the convertible.  He couldn't wait for the poofter to find out his Angel-mobile was missing.  Spike had recognized the elder vampire's scent as soon as he went to hotwire the car.

Buffy and Dawn scrambled into the front seat of the black, topless car where they waited for the others.  Anya and Willow manuevered Tara into the backseat.  The brain-damaged woman had been strangely quiet on the journey to Los Angeles.  Xander squeezed himself into the back with the three women, grumbling the entire time.  He continued to throw dirty looks at Spike, who slid behind the steering wheel.  When Giles finally slammed the car door behind himself, Spike waited expectantly for something to happen.

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

INSIDE THE CARITAS

"Tell my mother..."  Lorne wondered what he should have his cousin Landok tell his mother.  It wasn't like there was any love lost between his family and himself.  "Oh, tell her I threw myself into the sacrificial Canyons of Trelinsk."

"I feel we will meet again someday, Lorne," Landok announced.  He glanced at the portal opening behind him, but before he could react a deafening boom echoed through the empty nightclub.

Angel blinked in surprise when he saw his car lurch through the hole in the wall.  Before he could react, the vehicle sped through the portal to Lorne's home dimension.  There was no time to do anything before the portal started to close, sucking Landok with it.

"Was that your car, Angel?" Cordelia asked in disbelief.  She stared at the spot where the convertible had disappeared.

"I think it was," Wesley replied.  "Who was driving, though?  I don't think I recognized whoever it was."

"Yes, my car," Angel growled.  "Spike was driving with Buffy and Dawn riding shotgun."

"What?" Wesley gasped.  "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Angel answered.  "It was all of Buffy's friends, too."  He sighed heavily. "We better prepare for something really bad.  Buffy never runs from a fight."

"Maybe we better consult with some of our contacts," Wesley said.  "There has to be more to it than Buffy running."   He found the behavior at odds about what he knew about Buffy.

"Maybe Spike kidnapped them," Cordelia grumbled.  "It's not like he hasn't done if before."

"Kidnap them all?" Angel shook his head in denial.  "Spike's not that good.  There has to be another reason.  When I saw her at her mom's funeral, Buffy mentioned that the Council had tried to strong arm her."

"I'll call my contacts at the Council," Wesley replied.  His mind was already on which of the people on his list would have the information they needed.

"Let's go back to the office first."

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

The convertible screeched to a halt.  The occupants looked around at the sun-drenched woods.  It was then that they noticed that the vampire driving the car wasn't on fire like expected.  As one the group, expect Tara, raised their faces to stare at the double suns.

"Bloody hell."

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

"General Gregor! The Key!  It's disappeared, again!" the mage yelled over the noise of the marching knights.

"Well, find it," General Gregor yelled back.

"Sorry, sir, but it's no longer in this dimension."

Chapter 2

 Spike looked around with a secret delight.  This was even better than he'd hoped for.  He waved his hands in front of his face to examine how the pale skin glowed in the twin sun's light.

"Well, this was unexpected," Buffy said as she stared at Spike.  Dawn and she giggled at the vampire's antics in the sunlight. "Don't know if you'll freckle, but you might burn," she called out.

"We're in Pylea, aren't we?" Anya asked.  She came to stand by the Slayer and her sister.  "We need to be careful here.  The demons here see humans as slaves."

"What do you suggest we do?" Buffy asked.  She was eager to hear what the ex-vengeance demon had to say since the woman was being so much more tolerable than the others at the moment.  Buffy just hoped that Spike hadn't got them into a worse situation than the one they'd just escaped from.

"I'm sure Xander and Giles will protest, but I think we should pretend to be Spike's slaves," Anya answered.  She crossed her arms in front of her chest.  "You would be his consort and bodyguard, Buffy.  Being the owner of a Slayer would make Spike legendary, even if it's just pretend."

"What are you talking about, Anya?"  Xander came up to stand by the women.  "What kind of ridiculous suggestions are you trying to give?"

"That's enough, Xander."  Buffy gave her friend a tight-lipped glare.  She was sick and tired of Xander always putting Anya down.  Buffy wasn't too blind not to notice how Xander tried to strong arm his girlfriend into the exact pigeon hole he wanted her in.  "I asked Anya for her help.  I think her idea has merit.  If the demons here think that humans are slaves, then the smart thing to do is have our resident demon pretend to own us."

"I will not!" Xander shouted.  "Buffy, what on earth is wrong with you?"

"I will do anything to protect Dawn," Buffy growled.  "And I know Spike will too, unlike some people in this group who are more than willing to sacrifice her."

Dawn gulped in horror at Buffy's revelation.  She hadn't realized that some of the Scoobies, and she wondered which ones, had pushed at Buffy to kill her.  "I gotta go to the bathroom, Buffy.  Be right back."  Dawn stumbled towards the nearby bushes.

"You okay, Nib?" Spike called out. He had heard the entire conversation, and as surprised as he was by Buffy's agreement with Anya's slave suggestion, he was equally surprised to find out that one of her friends had suggested such a thing about Dawn.  Didn't they know by now that Buffy would do anything for someone she loved?

"I'll be right back, Spike."  Dawn waved at the vampire.  "I'm not wandering off."  The teenager plunged into the bushes.  She pushed through the undergrowth until she broke through the other side.

"Look what you did, Xander," Anya grumbled.  "You made Dawn upset.  Crying is not good for the complexion no matter what your age is."

"Anya," Xander said in and exasperated tone.  Sometimes he wished she'd be a little less blunt about things.

The ex-vengeance demon threw her hands up in the air.  Her frustration with her boyfriend was growing exponentially since Buffy had shown up with Spike in tow.  Anya rarely showed it, but she knew that the Slayer was the leader of their little group.  If Buffy wanted Spike to give her orgasms, or to protect her sister, who was she to stand in the Slayer's way.

"Spike!  Buffy!" Dawn's shriek echoed through the woods, scaring the birds out of the trees.

Buffy and Spike responded to the girl's scream.  They crashed though the foliage where Dawn had disappeared just a few minutes before.  When she screamed again, they sped up.  Buffy burst through the other side of the bushes just a few moments before Spike.

"I found myself a nice young cow," the Pylan demon, Klempt, growled.  He grinned down at the girl that his pet had pinned to the ground.

"You touch her and you die," Buffy snarled.  She was tired of creatures trying to hurt her sister lately.  First Harmony, then Glory, and now some other type of beastie.

"More cows," Klempt chortled when he saw the two blonds.  This was an unexpected bonus!

Spike slipped into game face.  "Slayer, you help Nibblet.  I'll take care of big and ugly here."

Klempt stepped back when the blond male revealed his own demonic self as a vampire.  When the vamp had called the small blond cow 'Slayer', the Pylean demon realized he might be in trouble.  The vampire had to be powerful to have the Slayer under his command.  He turned and ran as fast as he could, abandoning his pet to its fate.

Buffy quickly dispatched the demon pet, and she helped her sister up off the ground.  She dusted Dawn off as she checked her over for wounds.  Once she was satisfied, she turned her attention to Spike.  "We need to find somewhere to spend the night."

Spike was still in awe of being in the sun, but he knew that the Slayer was right. Being caught out after dark could prove very dangerous.  Not to mention they needed to get back to the Scoobs before something happened to them.  He escorted Buffy and Dawn back to the rest of the gang.

"Are you sure there's a village in that direction, Anya?" Giles was asking the ex-vengeance demon when Spike, Buffy, and Dawn pushed their way out of the brush.

"Of course, I'm sure," Anya replied.  "Really, Rupert, I do know what I'm talking about sometimes."

"You tell him, demon girl."  Spike smirked at Anya.

"Let's go." Buffy set off in the direction that Anya had indicated after they had hidden the convertible.  "I'd rather not be out in the open after dark."

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

"What did you find out?" Angel demanded when Wesley walked in the front door of the Hyperion. He had become more and more restless over the hours since his convertible had disappeared with Spike and the Scoobies.

"The demons are leaving Sunnydale," Wesley answered. "Also, quite interestingly, there have been more missing reports filed there in the last few hours."

"Vamps?" Cordy asked. She glanced out the glass door behind Wesley, and she noticed it was still daytime.

"No.  Witnesses say ugly midgets are doing the kidnapping."  Wesley raised an eyebrow.  "Typical Sunnydale.  Most of the witnesses said that they didn't realize the circus was in town."

"Seriously," Gunn asked.  "People actually thought that?"

"When you live in Sunnydale, you quickly learn to live in a state of denial," Cordelia replied.  "My parents still think that Spike's assault on the school was 'gang members on PCP', and that happened three and half years ago."

"Maybe we should go up there to check things out," Angel suggested in a mild tone.  He figured if he didn't act too agitated that the others would agree with him.  He wasn't too happy with the thought of Buffy running away from her duty.

Lorne burst through the front door of the hotel.  He was out of breath and sweating bullets.  He staggered to a couch, and he collapsed onto it.  "I was invaded by some knights looking for their key," Lorne panted. "They weren't happy when I didn't know what they were talking about."

"Are you okay, Lorne?" Wesley asked.  His voice was tinged with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, sweetcheeks," the empath demon muttered.

Wesley looked around at the others, and he made a snap decision.  "Nothing much is happening around here.  Let's go to Sunnydale.  I'm sure all the answers are there."

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

"Where did that green demon disappear to?" General Gregor demanded.  He looked around the bar room.  "Are you sure this is the last place the Key was?"

"The demon snuck out the back, sir," the young knight replied.  "The seer is positive that this is the where the Slayer disappeared with the Key."  His lip curled in disgust at the line of alcohol bottles behind the bar.

"Can we follow them?" General Gregor bellowed.   This whole situation was getting out of hand.  "We must remove the Key."

"I can try, sir," the seer answered absentmindedly.  He was busy trying to activate the portal in which the Slayer had disappeared.

"Try harder," Gregor growled.  He flung himself into a nearby chair, and he pinched his nose in frustration.

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

"Who are all these people?" Ben snarled.  He stared at the prisoners chained to the walls of the penthouse.  He came home from work, tired and ready for a hot shower, only to find his space invaded by extra minions and humans.

"They are for her magnificent Gloryness," Jinx bowed to Ben. "She is going to be very unhappy."

"Why is that?"  Ben's curiosity got the best of him.  He figured anything that got Glory upset was interesting news.

Jinx sighed loudly. He thought that Ben was entirely too curious for his own good, but the diminutive minion decided that there wasn't much the young human could do about things.  "The Slayer and her little band of do-gooders have stolen her lusciousness' Key and disappeared."

"Well, isn't that special?" Ben quipped.  "Guess her worthlessness is gonna just be suck here on little old Earth."

"You're wrong," Jinx protested.  "The Slayer cannot hold out against a god!"  He twisted his hands together in desperation.  The shell was causing too much stress on the already overtaxed minion.

"Maybe not physically," Ben taunted, "But it doesn't take much to out think the insane bitch."

"Don't say that," Jinx screamed.  "You should be grateful that she is willing to share all that she is with you."  He shook his fists at the taller male.

"I'd be more grateful is she'd just let me live my life," Ben sneered.  He wondered how mad he could make the scabby little creature.  "Personally, I'm glad the Key's gone.  Now maybe Glory will kick your disgusting ass to the curb for failing her."

"She would never do that," Jinx cried.

"Sure she will," Ben goaded the minion.  "You lost the Key.  I mean, you are the head minion.  Maybe I should leave her a little note telling her of your failure."

"No, I won't allow that."  Jinx didn't want to disappoint his glorious god.  He was more than willing to do anything she wanted, even to die for her, but he didn't want Ben's lies to cause her pain.  Jinx advanced on the shell that housed Glory.  "You will tell her divine magnificence nothing, you worm."

"Takes one to know one," Ben mocked. "Now, I need to hit the shower.  I have a second shift at the hospital.  Maybe tonight I will finally find a drug to suppress her supreme bitchiness."

"You will not!" Jinx screeched.  His mind slowly slipped further into an frantic state.  "You will do nothing to impair Glory."  Jinx rushed Ben, knocking the taller human to the floor.  The minion stood over the young man while he kicked him viciously in the head.

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

Klempt urged his horse on towards the palace.  He knew that Brother Silas needed to know about the newest demon and its Slayer cow.  He had no idea why they were here in Pylea, but he knew it couldn't be a good thing.

Klempt burst into the courtyard, and he leaped from his mount.  He rushed inside where he fell at the feet of the tattooed-faced priest.

"Where is the Seer?" Silas demanded.  He had an important job to do for his bosses, and he hoped the idiot groveling at his feet hadn't messed it all up.  "Come on, speak up."  Silas kicked Klempt.

"Brother Silas, there was a girl right where you said, but the vampire was with her.  He had a Slayer with him."

"What?" Silas screamed.  "The vampire wasn't supposed to get here yet."  He kicked the groveling demon again for good measure, and because it felt good.

"The-the girl cow called him Spike," Klempt offered.  He hoped that Brother Silas wouldn't kick him again.

Silas stared down at the demon at his feet.  "Spike?  Not Angel?"

"No, Brother Silas."  Klempt nodded as vigorously as he could with out cracking his head on the floor.  "That's what the girl cow said, all right."

Silas turned to sweep out of the room.  He needed to contact his bosses.  Something in their plans had gone terribly wrong.  Silas hoped that the Senior Partners didn't take it out on him.

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

"Slayer, we could have one little problem," Spike said in a quiet voice once he pulled Buffy to the back of the pack.

"What problem?" Buffy returned in her own quiet tone.  The whole situation could be filled with problems.

"If you and your Scoobs are my 'slaves'."  Spike made quote marks in the air.  "I wouldn't be drinkin' pigs blood."  He mentally cringed while he waited for the explosion.

Buffy sighed before she scrunched up her nose.  "Hadn't thought of that."

"Need to get our stories straight."  Spike shrugged.  "You think on the blood situation while we go o'er our story, yeah?"

"I'm your consort, right?" Buffy asked. "What's a consort exactly?"

Spike ducked his head in embarrassment, and he shuffled his feet.  If the thing about the blood hadn't gotten an explosion from the usually uptight Slayer was sure to.  He just hoped that his explanation didn't make him lose the little ground he had just recently gained with the woman.  "As my consort, you would be my closest companion, in and... um... out of bed?"  He ended the statement in an almost question.

Buffy raised an eyebrow at the self-conscious vampire.  She had already decided to give Spike a chance, and she figured she could start now.  "Okay, works for me, but what about the others?"

"Buffy?"  Spike blinked in surprise.  "Are you serious?"  He gave her a disbelieving look.

"Of course I am," Buffy said.  She gave her vampire a wide, warm smile.  She waved him off towards the others.  "Now I've got a problem to solve, and you've got some stories to come up with."  She reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Right," Spike replied with a huge grin on his lean face.  He grabbed Buffy's hand and gave it a squeeze before he went to talk to Xander.

Spike fell in beside Harris.  "I need t'talk t'you, whelp."

"What?" Xander spit out.  He had seen Buffy kiss Spike, and he wasn't too happy about it.

"You remember anything about being that soldier boy?" Spike asked.  He didn't give a rat's ass what the boy's problem was.  This whole jaunt was entirely for the Summers' women's benefit.

"A bit," Xander answered begrudgingly.  He remembered lots more than he ever let on.

"Good.  Your cover story is that you're in charge of my security.  Now act like it." Spike commanded.

"What?" Xander exclaimed.  "I am not your slave!"

"Take it up with Buffy."  Spike moved off to talk to Giles.  He offered the man a cigarette as they walked.  "Time to dust off that alter ego you like to pretend doesn't exist."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Giles glanced at Spike as he took the offered cigarette.

"You and Red are my magic workers in this little scenario," Spike replied.  They paused long enough to light their cigarettes.  "Tell anyone that asks about Tara that you channel her magic for yourselves."

"I would never."

"Yeah, I know that and you know that, but the idiots around here don't know that," Spike said.  He glanced over at Anya, his mind already working on what to tell the ex-vengeance demon. He turned back to Giles.  "Tell Red the story.  Oh, the Slayer's my consort and droopy boy is head of security."  He didn't wait for a reaction.

Spike went to Anya, and between the two of them they came up with the idea that she would be in charge of the financial aspect of the whole thing.  Spike agreed to let her negotiate for their room and board when they arrived at the town.

"What about me?"  Dawn bounced up to Spike when he moved away from Anya.  She knew he was concocting a cover story for everyone, and she hoped that he had some kind of awesome role for her.

"You just be who you are, Nib," Spike replied.  "The Slayer's bratty little sister..."

"But..."

"Who I keep around to keep my woman happy."  Spike grinned at the girl.  He was glad to see she was back to her usual happy self after Xander's slip about killing her.

"Your woman?"  Dawn squealed.  "Are you serious?  She agreed?"  She knew she must have missed something earlier when she was helping Willow with Tara.

"Wouldn't say if if she hadn't."  Spike was still very surprised by the Slayer's actions.  He just hoped that when they got back home she didn't go back to popping him in the nose at every turn.

"I knew it.  She does like you." Dawn gave Spike a hug before she bounced off to talk to Buffy.

Chapter 3

Spike turned on his side to glance over at the other bed in the room.  He realized that Dawn wasn't in bed with Buffy where she should be, and he swore under his breath.  Spike thought she had learned about wandering off in this dimension the day before when she'd been attacked by the demon.  Guess he was wrong.  He got up out of the bed, tugged on his boot, and went out to search for the teenager.

Once he was outside in the hallway, Spike ran into Giles and Xander.  He nodded a greeting to the two humans before he asked, "You seen the Nibblet?  She snuck out already."

Both Xander and Giles shook their heads, but they agreed to help the vampire search for the girl.  They each knew that she was a trouble magnet, more than Xander was ever a demon magnet.  Before they went downstairs to the common room of the inn, they checked in with Willow, who hadn't seen Dawn since the night before.  The three males soon discovered that the teenager wasn't downstairs, but as soon as they stepped outside, they heard her voice.

"Don't you dare touch her," Dawn shrieked.  She stood between the Pylean demon and a cowering human woman.  "I'll sic Spike on you!"

"I'm not afraid of the vampire, you little cow," the demon growled. 

"Yeah, well, that's what they all say," Dawn said bravely and proudly.  "Till they realize that he's William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers."

The demon gulped in sudden fear.  Even here, in a dimension where vampires didn't exist, they had heard of William the Bloody.  He was the only vampire to kill Slayers in actual combat rather than by trickery or subterfuge.  The demon knew that Spike wasn't a creature to be crossed if he was pissed off.  A low menacing growl caused the demon to step hastily backwards.

"That's right, you best step back," Spike snarled in his best master's voice.  "You hurt the Slayer's sister, and not even I will be able to control her."

"R-really, really s-sorry," the demon stammered.  He gestured towards the cowering woman.  "I'll just take the runaway cow and go.  No-no harm done, yeah?"

Spike glanced at Dawn, who was shaking her head at him, and he sighed.  "Tell you what, you forget about the cow, and we will leave your limbs intact?  How about that?"  He felt Xander and Giles move closer to him.

The demon broke and ran.  He was more than capable of taking on two female cows, but he was quite sure he wouldn't make it out of a fight with the three males unscathed.  Not to mention, the idea that the fight sounds would make the Slayer show up too.  The demon decided that for his health, he would stay as far away from the Skunmulsh Inn until the vampire and his cows were gone.

Dawn turned to the woman, and she very quietly said, "I'm Dawn.  This is Spike, Xander, and Giles.  What's your name?"

"I forgot." the woman whispered in terror.  "It's not important."  She glanced through her long hair at the four human looking people.

"Of course it's important."  Dawn cautiously approached the woman, and she held her hand out to her.  "Dawn Summers of Sunnydale, California."

The woman jerked up to stare at Dawn in surprise.  "California?  How'd you get here?"

"Spike brought us."  Dawn blanched when the woman cowered away from the vampire.  "No, no, not to be his cows or anything, I promise.  We're just hiding for a little while."

"Are you sure?" the woman asked cautiously as she peered at the three males.

"Oh absolutely," Dawn assured the woman.  "Now why don't you tell us your name?"  She edged closer to the woman.  "We refuse to call you Cow."

"My name?"  The woman scrunched her nose.  "What is my name?  Winifred."  She nodded her head at first, and then she shook it.  "Not Winnie.  Never Winnie."

"Fred, maybe, luv?" Spike asked.  Just what we need, another loony bird, he thought to himself.  He knew he couldn't say that out loud without being whapped upside the head.  "Why don't we go inside?"  He moved slowly towards Fred.  If there was one thing he knew how to do it was how to approach someone less than sane.  "We're all a bit hungry.  We can have some breakfast."

"Tacos?" Fred asked expectantly.  She smiled at the handsome man.

"They don't have tacos here?" Dawn replied indignantly.  "Well, that's just one more strike against this dimension, I tell you!"  She put her arm around Fred's slender shoulders.  "I tell you what, when we get home, we'll get some take out from Taco Bandito's.  They're the absolute best."  She guided the woman inside to meet the rest of the group.

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

Buffy paused at Spike's elbow.  When he looked up at her with those beautiful blue eyes that she had tried to ignore since she had met him, she tilted her head towards the front door of the inn.  He gave her a minute nod before he gave his excuses to the others at the table, and he stood to follow her outside.  Behind him, he heard Fred whisper.

"He really likes her, huh?"  Fred watched the handsome vampire follow the petite blond woman outside.

Spike and Buffy walked to the edge of the inn's yard, and they went into the small copse of trees.  When they were out of sight of the buildings, Buffy whirled around to confront the vampire.

Spike wondered what he had done wrong, and he was surprised with what Buffy had to say.

"We need to hunt down some kind of animal so you can eat, Spike," Buffy announced.  She glanced around the wooded area.  "How exactly are we gonna do that?"

"You're gonna help me, Slayer?"  Spike smirked at the girl.

"That was the plan," Buffy said in an exasperated tone.  "If you don't want it, then I'll just go back inside."  She turned to leave.

"Don't be so hasty, pet."  Spike reached out to grab the Slayer's arm.  "Just wasn't expectin' anything from you."

"You're part of the group."  Buffy huffed in exasperation.  "I'm not gonna let you starve."   She put her hand over the vampire's hand on her arm.  "Now, I know vamps can smell things much better than us mere humans.  So, why don't you rustle something up, and we'll catch it?"

"Right, luv."  Spike closed his eyes, cleared his senses of the warrior standing next to him, and sniffed the air.  It was only a matter of seconds before he got a whiff of an animal hiding several hundred yards away, deeper inside the wooded area.  He nodded at the Slayer, and together they snuck off towards the beastie.

The catch was unsurprisingly easy for the two supernatural creatures.  Buffy slightly wrinkled her nose when Spike slipped into game face.  She realized that the closest she had ever gotten to watching a vampire feed was when she fought Luke her very first week in Sunnydale.

Spike seemed to know what the Slayer was thinking, and before he sank his fangs into the dead animal, he said, "Works better when the heart is beating."

Buffy blanched at the vampire's words, but she continued to watch as he fed.  She gasped and jumped back when Spike suddenly transformed beyond his usual vampiric guise.  His face was more demonic, and he had horns around the rim of his face.  Buffy whipped out her stake when he dropped the dead animal to turn red eyes on her.  Buffy cleared her throat.  "Spike?"

Buffy's only answer was a deep purring sound that came deep from within the vampire's chest.  She gave Spike a suspicious look when he came towards her, but this time she stood her ground.  Her eyebrows shot straight up when he dropped to his knees in front of her, and he buried his face in her stomach.  The purring now vibrated through Buffy's body.

"Spike?" Buffy muttered softly.  She giggled when the vampire rubbed his face harder into her stomach.  His horns tickled her in all the right spots.

Spike, buried deep within his primal state, was glad he had made her laugh instead of getting himself staked.  He let the Slayer help him rise and lead him back to the inn where they were staying.  He was relying on her to make sure no one else staked him either.

Buffy got Spike to the inn, up the backstairs, and to their room without anyone seeing them.  She was very glad about that since he'd gotten very growly when he realized that there were some extra demons coming down the road on horses.  Buffy pushed Spike into the room, startling Dawn and Fred.

"What the heck?"  Dawn looked at the green skinned demon her sister had just brought into their room.  She squeaked when the demon rushed her, but her fear soon turned to giggles when he started to purr and sniff her.

"It's Spike," Buffy said softly.  "He did that to me, too."  She glanced back over her shoulder at the empty hallway.  "I'm gonna get the others and be right back."

Buffy rounded up the others from their rooms.  She cautioned them to let her enter first, just in case Spike got upset.  All the Scoobies knew that the vampire didn't care much for Xander and Giles, but the vampire merely growled before accepting the two males.

"What the hell?" Xander blurted out.  He knew that Buffy believed that the creature was Spike, but he wasn't so sure.  "How do you know that's Spike?"

"He was feeding off an animal we caught."  Buffy shrugged.  "Then, presto chango, he looked like that."  She went to stand by Spike, who grabbed her hand and rubbed it against his face.

"Why is he doing that?" Giles asked while he eyed the affectionate acting vampire.  He wanted to snatch Buffy away from Spike, but he wasn't too sure he would be able without the Slayer getting upset like she had the day before when he had protested the vampire's presence.

"Oh, he sees Buffy as his clan leader," Anya announced guilelessly.  "He knows she's the strongest, plus you know, he loves her."  She tilted her head to the side.  "I've seen it before, you know.  Vampires aren't solitary creatures.  Usually when they're left by themselves or separated from their clan, they'll make themselves minions and companions."

"Spike can't do that," Dawn said.  "He can't make any vampires."  She reached out to put her hand over Spike's.

"Right," Anya replied.  "So, even though he doesn't like some of us -- that means you, Xander and Rupert -- he does see us as his family.  He really is a very odd vampire, you know."

"I guess we can handle that," Buffy said.  "But, what are we gonna do about the green... ness and horns?"

"How much longer do we have to be here?" Willow asked from her seat.  She had her arm around Tara's shoulders.

"Another twenty-four to forty-eight hours just to be on the safe side," Giles answered.  He studied Spike's playful antics with Dawn and Fred before he sighed.  "As much as I hate saying this, we need to have Spike back to normal."

"Bet if he had some blood from our dimension, he'd be okay," Anya said.  "Then, we need to talk about how we're gonna get some money to cover our expenses here." 

"Just where are we gonna get blood from our dimension?" Xander asked in a confused voice.  "It's not like we can pop out to a butcher shop."

"Duh."  Dawn rolled her eyes.  "Got plenty of blood right here."  She waved her hand at the group.  "All he has to do is give Buffy a little bite, and he'll be good as new."  She was startled when Spike growled at her.  "Okay, okay, no biting.  Just a little bloodshed into a cup.  How about that?  Fred and I even volunteer to go find the straw.  Giles can chain you up in the bathtub.  It'll be just like old times."

Spike snorted at the teenager to let her know all was forgiven.  He snuggled up against Buffy, and he inhaled her familiar scent.  His rumbling purr grew louder and louder until it filled the room.  Spike ignored the blustering Watcher and the protesting Scoobies.  He had what he wanted sitting right next to him, petting his hand.

"I don't think this is appropriate," Giles said.  "If he gets accustomed to your blood, Buffy, there's no telling what it'll do for him."

"Oh, hush, Rupert," Anya admonished the older man.  "It's not like Spike's a fledgling.  You do know if he wanted to get us all, he is a master vampire.  He could have set himself up like the Master did and had minions bring him fresh kills.  It's not all that complicated."  She shook her head at the Watcher's attitude.  With a final roll of her eyes, she went out to find something for the Slayer to catch her blood in.

"Well, it looks like there's no talking you out of this," Giles huffed.  "But as the only dissenting vote, I'll just go downstairs and be quiet."  He tuned to leave the room.  He really wondered where everyone else's minds were, letting a known evil vampire sup on Slayer's blood.

"Wait for me, G-man," Xander grumbled.  "I totally agree with you."  He followed the Watcher out of the room.

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

Angel looked up from the newspaper he was reading when the rest of A.I. entered the Crawford Street mansion.  "You guys find anything out?"

"Not really," Wesley answered.  "The magic shop answering machine doesn't say anything out of the ordinary.  I did find one witness who mentioned seeing an RV in the alley way behind the store yesterday, but she was busy with her own customers."

"Lorne, if they ended up in your home dimension, what can they expect?" Gunn asked.  He flung himself down on the couch next to Angel.

"Nothing good, unless your Spikey boy can convince the Pyleans that he is a great warrior and owner of the others," Lorne said sadly.  "Humans are slaves in my home dimension.  Yet another of the many reasons I got out when I could."

"Buffy would never go for that," Angel said confidently.  Then he got a worried look on his face.  "Does that mean they could get hurt?"  He leaped to his feet.  "We have to go after them!"

"Why do you keep forgetting Buffy's the Slayer?"  Cordelia shook her head.  "I'm sure she can take care of herself.   Besides, the mall here is having their annual Apocalypse sale, and I still have bunches of your money to spend."

"The mall has an Apocalypse sale?" Gunn asked.  He looked at Angel and Wesley, who both had resigned looks on their faces.

"Every May!"  Cordelia smiled happily.  "Never know when it might be your last."  She picked up her purse, pulled Angel to his feet, and pushed the vampire towards the door.  "You guys keep looking for info.  If you need us, we'll be at the Sunnydale Mall."

Angel moaned almost silently.  He should have known better.  Nothing stood between Cordelia and shopping.  Not even an apocalypse.

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

"Was the portal opened by the Key?" General Gregor demanded of the head seer.

"No, sir."  The seer didn't look up from the bowl of water he was peering into.  Flashes of light and distant images flickered beneath the surface.  "There is no way to tell how the portal opened.  The most powerful magic in this building is the Furies' non-violence spell and the most current is on that..."  He pointed behind himself. "Wall.  It was disassembled and reassembled fairly recently."

"When can you have the portal reopened?" General Gregor asked while he glared at the seer.  His impatience was starting to make the other knights restless.

"I can open a portal at any time, sir," the seer replied.  "I just can't guarantee that we'll end up in the same dimension as the Key."

"I'm willing to take my chances!"  Gregor turned to the young knight, and he gave a wave of his hand.  "Get the horses in here.  Men, saddle up.  The Key is the link.  The link must be severed.  Such is the will of God."

Within fifteen minutes, the knights were assembled atop their steeds, each one ready to follow their leader into the unknown.  The seer opened the portal, and the knights galloped through. 

"May god have mercy on your souls," the seer said softly.  "I sure as hell hope some of you end up together."  He emptied his bowl into the sink behind the counter.  He followed the route that Lorne had taken earlier, and he crept out the back door.

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

"What are you doing?" Gronx screeched.  She ran over to pull Jinx away from Ben's prone body before she dropped to her knees to check on the human shell of the hell-god Glory.  Gronx checked his pulse several times.  She started to wail at the top of her lungs which agitated the other minions and the human captives.  "You killed him, you foolish, foolish man!  My mother tried to tell me that someday your temper would get you in trouble!  Now you've done it!"

"What?" Jinx asked in a confused voice.  "What did I do?"  He looked down at his mate and the large pool of blood under Ben's head.

"You killed Ben, you fool," Gronx screamed.  "Now her divine gloriousness is dead, too."  She leaped to her feet, and she slapped Jinx with all of her might causing him to fall to the floor.  "I'm going home to Mother."  Gronx kicked the fallen demon in the side before she stormed out of the penthouse.

"Oooo, her magnificence is gonna be so mad at you when she returns," one of the other minions chortled.  "You won't get to be head minion next time, Jinx.  Heck, you might not even survive her rebirth she'll be so pissed."  The minion's voice and face turned malicious.  "I hope I have a front row seat."  Then, he too kicked the downed male.

The other minions each took a turn kicking Jinx, until he laid on the floor moaning in pain long after the other minions had left the building.  Jinx crawled to his feet, and he stood there shaking with terror and pain.

"Hey, you gonna let us go soon?"  A frightened voice echoed through the quiet room.

Jinx turned to look at the chained humans.  He knew he had to come to a decision soon.  Without the other minions to keep the prisoners quiet, it'd be only a matter of time before they'd call attention to themselves.  Jinx gave the humans one final look before he skedaddled out the door. 

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

"Brother Silas?" Klempt called out questioningly.  He knew Silas had talked to his bosses, and he wasn't too sure that the priest was too happy at the moment.  It wasn't a good idea to cross Brother Silas when he upset.  "I have a new report for you?"

"I'm sure you do," Brother Silas growled.  "Fortunately for me, I have better things to do.  The Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart have decreed that the Groosalaug must be called forth to fight the vampire and his Slayer cow."

"I thought he was only to be called forth if she showed up?"  Klempt hoped that his asking the question didn't get his body dismembered.

"Things change," Silas replied.  "Now, go call forth the Groosalaug."

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

"We're happy you're back to normal, Spike," Anya told the vampire.  "Your regular vampy face is much more attractive than the green skin and horns."

"Thanks, luv."  Spike smirked at the ex-vengeance demon before he turned to smile at Buffy.  "Now can anyone tell me where the Watcher and the Whelp wandered off to?"

Chapter 4

"What on Earth is Buffy thinking?" Giles grumbled to himself.  True, he agreed that Spike needed to be back to normal, but he hadn't suggested that Buffy be the one to feed the vampire.  "It had to be all that purring," he continued to mutter.  "Now they think he's some kind of big pussy cat, instead of an evil vampire.

"They've all lost their minds, Giles," Xander replied.  "It's all Spike's fault, you know.  It was his idea to come here to this funky dimension.  There has to be something about this place that makes the women all go wacky."  He nodded vigorously.  "We should go out and investigate."

"I don't think that's very advisable, Xander," Giles muttered.  "They might mistake us as cows."

Xander eyed the demons sitting around the inn's common room.  "Look, we can't talk here.  Let's at least go outside."  He practically dragged the older man outside.

The rebels watched the inn with a great deal of interest.  They had heard the rumors about the newest demon and his slaves.  The rebels were interested in finding out more about them since the whispers basically said that there was a magic user and a strategist in the group.  The leader of the human insurrection group knew that to defeat their oppressors they were going to need both magic and strategy.  That was why he selected six of his finest men to kidnap the two they needed.

The kidnappers waited until the two men were next to the trees before they leapt out to drag their quarry into the undergrowth.  Quick taps on the head had them unconscious and easily transportable.  The six rebels hoisted the two men over the extra horse, and they quickly rode off unnoticed.

Xander groaned loudly.  His head hurt worse than that time he got drunk with Faith.  His mouth felt about the same as it had back then too.  Xander went to move his hand, and he realized that both hands were immobilized.  He opened his eyes to find that Giles was lying on the ground next to him.  It was then that he realized that they were modeling the latest in wooden stocks. Xander heard feet running away, and a young boy shout out.

"Sasha, tell Leader that they're waking up."

It was only a few moments before several adult men showed up. By then, Giles had woken up too.  He groaned in pain, and now he felt like an idiot for letting Xander drag him out of the inn.

"Gentlemen, I'm Leader," the roughly clothed man addressed both Giles and Xander.  "You are our guests."

"Guests aren't usually restrained in this fashion," Giles replied with as much dignity as he could muster.  "It seems instead that we're your prisoners."

"No, no, my good Mage."  Leader hurried to reassure the confined man.  "We weren't sure of your reaction when you awoke." He snapped his fingers, and one of the other men hurried to help Giles to his feet.

"Why are we here?" Xander demanded just before he slumped in despair.  "When we get back, Spike's in so much trouble," he grumbled.

"You're here because we heard that you..."  Leader pointed to Giles.  "... Can do magic, and you are a strategist.  We have need for your talents.  Plus, you are no longer the possessions of that demon."

"Hey, we're not..." Xander started to speak.

"Be quiet, Xander!"  Giles hushed the younger man.  Then, he turned his attention back to the rebels.  He knew he needed to put a spin on things that let them get out of the situation unscathed.  "My colleague and I are not so much slaves as we are independent contractors.  We are paid for our services."

"Yeah, right.  Mercs," Xander said.  He struggled to his feet to stand next to Giles.

Leader glanced at his second in command.  "There is no way we can pay you what the demon does, but I suppose we can take up a collection of some kind.  Our freedom from the demons here is priceless.  We just want to be treated fairly."

"May we have a few moments to consult?" Giles asked Leader.

Leader nodded before he waved the other rebels away.  He watched the two outworlders converse for several long minutes. When the older of the two waved him over, Leader was pleased to find that they would be helping.  No payment necessary.

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

"I threatened the bartender," Buffy said after she slipped into the bedroom she shared with Dawn and Spike.  "He said they went outside before the midday meal.  That was hours ago."

"Any clues outside?" Willow asked.

"I haven't gone outside," Buffy answered.  "I want Spike to go with me."  She gave the vampire a small nod when he grabbed his duster, and he went to stand beside her.

"Can Fred and I go, too?  We're sick of being cooped up inside."  Dawn put her arm around the older female.  "We'll stay on the porch.  I promise."

When Buffy looked like she was about to protest, Willow piped up, "We could use a bit of fresh air too.  Anya and I'll stay on the porch with Dawn.  How about that?"

"Yeah."  Dawn smiled brightly.  "We'll all go."

"Fine."  Buffy acquiesced.  "But on step off the porch and you're grounded for life, Dawnie."  She opened the door, and she gestured for Spike to lead the way.

Once outside, Spike and Buffy searched the grounds while the others did indeed stay on the porch talking about the scenery.  Spike found the spot where the missing Scoobies' scents were mingled with several unknown scents, but before he could call Buffy over to investigate several men clad in black leather and face covering helmets rode up on horseback.  The vampire noticed that there was a dark-haired man in the midst of the others that smelled demonic.

The man leapt from his horse, and he pulled his weapon from his saddle.  He said in a challenging voice, "I am the Groosalugg.  I have been charged with vanquishing the vampire demon and his Slayer from our dimension."

On the porch, Dawn, Anya, and Willow stood to place themselves in front of Tara and Fred.  All three simultaneously geared up for both battle and retreat.

"Vanquishing?"  Buffy laughed.  "Someone's watching too much Charmed."  She moved to stand between the newest threat and the other female Scoobies.

"Charmed?  What is this charmed you speak about?"  The Groosalugg looked at the petite blond female with confusion. "I challenge you to fight to the death."

"You have no idea how many times I've heard that," Buffy sighed.

"He doesn't look all that tough, Buffy," Dawn called out.  "You and Spike can totally kick his butt."

The Groosalugg found himself staring at the young woman.  He blinked before he muttered in a dazed voice, "She's so beautiful.  So graceful. A goddess."

"Too young for you!" Spike growled.  He stepped directly in front of the taller man.  He snapped his fingers in front of the Groosalugg's face.  "Get your eyes off the Slayer's sister, you great bloody pillock."

"No, no dating for Dawnie till she's thirty," Buffy replied under her breath.  "Because it looks like she's not gonna be able to keep the demons away any better than the rest of us."

The Groosalugg's eyes dropped to the vampire's face.  "She is the Slayer's sister?  She is perfection."  He tilted his head in thought.  "She would not consent to courtship if I hurt you or the Slayer, would she, vampire?"

"Told you, she's too young," Spike said.

"Yes, I understand."  The Groosalugg nodded slowly.  "I will wait until such a time as you and the Slayer agree to let me court her."

"Groo, get your lazy ass in gear," one of the masked riders snarled.  "Brother Silas is expecting results."

"Of course."  Groo nodded to Spike before he turned on the horsed escort.  "However, I don't think the results will be what he expects."  With a roar, he caused the horses to rear, unseating the riders.  The fight didn't last very long.  The masked men were no match for the combined fighting experience of Spike, Buffy, and Groo.

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

"You can't do a frontal attack against a stronger force," Xander protested.  He tapped the map lying on the table.  "This kind of fight can only be won by guerilla warfare."  He rolled his eyes when the rebel leader gave him a blank look.

"By being sneaky," Giles clarified.  "Create a diversion, and then strike several different points at once.  While they're looking ahead, you hit the weak spots."

"We need Buffy," Xander said.  "And I can't believe I'm saying this, but Spike too."  The dark-haired man looked disgusted with himself at the suggestion.

"Why is your owner so important?" Leader asked.

"I hate the scrawny bastard," Xander replied.  "But even I have to say he's handy in a fight."  He thought about the gang's escape from the Initiative the year before and the vampire's role in the whole incident.

Leader waved at the six rebels that had brought Xander and Giles to the camp.  With clear, concise instructions, he dispatched all eight men to go back to the inn for the others.

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

General Gregor realized that he was without the rest of the knights.  He was alone in a harsh, fiery dimension, cut off from all allies.  Gregor found the air hard to breathe, as it was filled with harsh chemicals.  He saw a protected spot among the rocks, and he urged his horse towards it.

Gregor hoped the other knights were some place better than this one.  He wondered how long it would be before someone would be able to rescue him.  He realized the foolishness in following the Slayer across the dimensional horizon.  Looking around, he realized that vegetation was too sparse to keep his horse alive for long.  Gregor dismounted, took the tack off the animal, and he petted its nose.  He looked up at the blood red sky and barren landscape, and he wondered how long he would be able to stay sane in this world.

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

"See, didn't I tell you the sales were awesome?"  Cordelia smiled brightly at Angel.

The vampire grunted his answer.  He couldn't figure out why he was so tired, and Cordelia was still so full of energy. After all, he was the one with the vampire stamina.

"Hey."  Cordelia nudged Angel in the ribs.  "Didn't Wes mention kidnappings by ugly midgets?"

"Yeah.  Why?"  Angel glanced at Cordelia.  He shifted the packages he was carrying.

"Well, look over by that dumpster."  Cordelia jutted her chin in the direction she wanted the vampire to look.  "Look at that creepy little creature.  Go catch it, big boy."

Angel sighed in protest, but he knew better than to cross Queen C.  He shoved her bags at her, and he went after the smaller demon.  Angel quickly caught the minion, holding him by the scruff of his neck.

"Now don't kill him, Angelus," Cordelia chided mockingly. Sometimes knowing an infamous vampire came in handy.   "We need him around for the torture later."  She primly marched off towards the mansion.

"Angelus?" the minion squeaked.  "Torture?"  He tried to kick the vampire in a desperate attempt to get away.

"Hold still," Angel growled as he shook the demon.  Then, he took off after Cordelia.

"Please, let me go," the minion pleaded. "I don't know anything."

Cordelia opened the front door of the mansion, and she stood back to let Angel and his passenger go in ahead.  After she closed the door, she called out, "Hey, Wes, we found you an ugly midget kidnapper."  She dropped her bags in the foyer.

"He says he doesn't know anything," Angel snarled. "Personally, I think he's lying."  He shook the minion. "Bet he knows why the Slayer left town."

"Doesn't matter anymore.  Jinx was a bad boy," Jinx replied.  He hung limply in Angel's hands.  "It took her Glorificus self sixty-five million years to get enough power to be born, and I ruined it."  Jinx burst into tears.

"What are you talking about?" Cordelia demanded.  She walked up to Jinx, and she poked him in the shoulder.

"Her divine greatness."  Jinx stopped crying long enough to see the blank looks.  Then, his sobs became more pronounced.  "She fell from her rightful spot in Hell.  It took so long for her power to return, and that nasty Slayer stole her Key."

"Buffy has a key?" Wesley asked.  Obviously things were far more serious in Sunnydale than he had imagined.

"Not a key. The Key," Jinx wept.  "The Key to open the dimensions so Glorificus could go home."

"Buffy's not a thief," Angel said darkly.

"Matter of opinion," Jinx replied. "Her magnificence will be so angry with me.  I just hope after another sixty-five million years she will have cooled off a bit."  He shuddered at the thought of the punishment his God would treat him to when she was reborn.

When Angel relaxed his grip, the smaller demon made a quick kick, and Jinx was loose.  He ran for the exit before his captors could react.  He needed to work on making things right with his mate.

"Let him go," Wesley said when Angel and Gunn went to follow the minion.  "So, Buffy has a key that this Gloificus wanted. I bet there's a time limit on the portal opening.  There always is."

"So, they'll be back soon?" Gunn asked.  He wanted to meet this infamous Slayer, Buffy Summers.

"Oh yes, I'm sure of it," Wesley answered.  "All we need to do is wait for them.

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

"Brother Silas, the Groosalugg has returned," Klempt informed the WRH employed priest. "He brought the vampire and the Slayer with him."

"What?" Silas bellowed.  Things just weren't going the way they were supposed to be going.  "He was supposed to kill them. What is he thinking?  I own him, and he's going to be sorry."  He left the room to go confront the half-demon.

Silas stormed through the castle to the huge front doors.  Several of the younger order members raced to open the doors for their leader. Silas entered the courtyard just in time to see the Groosalugg and his two 'prisoners' defeat his honor guard.

"What is going on?" Silas demanded.  "You were to get rid of this problem, Groosalugg."  He waved towards the two grinning blonds.

"I have found perfection," Groo said as if that explained everything. 

"You'll be waiting until she's eighteen," the vampire growled.  He still wasn't sure about this guy dating the Nibblet, but he knew that he didn't want them sneaking around together behind his or Buffy's back.

"Of course."  Groo nodded his head at Spike.

Three loud explosions rocked the courtyard.  Brothers of the order poured out of the castle as rebels flowed through the front gates. Silas roared in anger as his troops were easily surrounded and defeated.

Chapter 5

 "And the head dude was just sucked up into a portal of some kind?" Dawn asked.  She grabbed a chip off the tray Buffy was preparing for the post-apocalypse party.

"Yep, it was sight to see."  Buffy's eyes flickered up towards the ceiling.  "You think they'll be able to make Tara better?"

"Of course they will," Dawn replied confidently.  "Willow's got plenty of help up there."  She giggled.  "Did you see Wes' face when he was introduced to Fred?"

"Yeah."  Buffy gave a smile.  "It was really sweet."

"What do you think about what he said about the scabby minion?"  Dawn grabbed another chip.

"Spike and I went by the penthouse that we rescued him from."  Buffy shrugged.  "That intern Ben was dead, and we let some prisoners go."

"So, you think the scabby minion that Wes told us about is the same one that killed Ben?"  Dawn glanced at Buffy when some knocking sounds came from upstairs.

The Slayer shrugged again before she picked up the chip tray.  "Giles says with Ben dead Glory has no power here."

"That's good."  Dawn grabbed the dips and salsa.  "I always thought that Ben was a little weird.  Remember when I was talking to him and the next thing I knew I was talking to Glory?"

"Yeah, I can't believe we didn't put it all together," Buffy said.  She entered the living room where Spike was on the couch watching television.

Spike looked away from the show he was watching, and he interjected his opinion, "Bitch probably had a spell on them.  I've seen it before."

"You're saying if Glory had turned into Ben while you were being tortured you'd have remembered?"  Dawn put the dips on the coffee table.

"Sure."  Spike nodded.  "Those spells don't work on vamps.  I think it's something to do with being undead."

"But Buffy's supernatural."  Dawn took the chip tray from her sister, and she set it down next to the dips.

"Like werewolves, she's sill human just like you."  Spike reached out to grab a chip, and he popped it in his mouth.  After quickly chewing and swallowing, He said, "They're almost done upstairs.  How long before Harris and the demon girl gonna be back with dinner?"

"Shouldn't be too long," Dawn replied.  She sat down beside Spike.

"Yeah, I called the order in before they left."  Buffy sat down on the other side of the vampire.  "I just hope Xander picks out some good movies."

"Wonder if you'll dream about the cheese man, again?" Dawn laughed.  She thought that particular nightmare was hilarious.  Who else but Buffy would dream about cheese?

"Giles said that was because of the joining spell," Buffy protested.  "No more dreams with the First Slayer for me.  She's scary."

"So, you and Spike gonna go out on a date?"  Dawn decided to change the subject.  "I mean, besides on a boring old patrol?"  She smirked when Buffy blushed bright red.

"I don't know, Dawnie," Buffy answered as her eyes darted to Spike's face.  "I haven't been asked yet."

Spike cleared his throat when Dawn gouged her bony elbow into his ribcage.  He was a little nervous about asking the Slayer for a date. The last time had turned out so badly that it gave the Big Bad a bit of a complex.  Spike grunted when Dawn poked him even harder in the ribs.  Where on earth did the girl get such razor sharp elbows?

"Oh, quit poking him, Dawn," Buffy muttered.  She turned to the vampire, and she smiled shyly.  She was a modern woman.  She could take the reins.  She could do the asking!  "So, you wanna go out Bronzing with me?"

"You sure, Slayer?"  Spike stared at Buffy in awe.

Buffy twisted her hands in her lap.  Her voice dropped to a whisper, "I'm sorry I freaked out when you told me you feelings, Spike.  I just wasn't ready, especially after Riley's betrayal."

"Buffy?"  Spike covered her hands with one of his own before she accidentally hurt herself.

"I've always known you..."  Buffy bit her lip for a moment.  "... cared for people.  Otherwise holding that stake on Drusilla that time would have never worked."

Spike winced when Dawn elbowed him again.  "Quit it, Nibblet. Just give me a moment to gather m'thoughts."

"I want to be more," Buffy said.  "I want to be friends."  She looked at the vampire with hope in her eyes.

"I'd like to try that, too." Spike's undead heart expanded with happiness. He had his crumb at last.

Xander and Anya staggered in the front door, laden down with food and DVDs.  Xander yelled out, "Hey, where is everybody?"

"Let me help."  Dawn leapt to her feet.  She rushed into the foyer to help Anya take the food into the dining room.  Mexican food for ten people was quite heavy.

Xander entered the living room where he ignored the fact that Spike and Buffy were holding hands.  Maybe if he ignored it, it would go away on its own was his motto these days.  Xander put the movies on top of the television, and he repeated his question, "Where is everybody?"

Spike lifted his eyes to the ceiling, tilted his head, and listened carefully. He nodded slightly before he answered, "They're fixin' Glinda.  Should be done in a few."

"What movies did you get?" Buffy asked before Xander could blast the vampire for answering him.

"You know, finding story lines that are about dimension hopping was hard."  Xander turned to look at the pile of movies.  "So, I got the first season of that SciFi channel show Sliders.  Ahn wasn't any help whatsoever.  So, I settled on Event Horizon and the Matrix movies."

"Come and get it," Dawn yelled up the stairs.  "Tacos are here, Fred."

The slender waif-like woman appeared at the top of the stairs, followed closely by Wesley.  When they reached the bottom she was startled by the voices that sounded upstairs, but she visibly relaxed when she recognized Willow's voice.  Fred smiled shyly at Wesley when he helped her pick out some food.  Together they settled at one end of the table.

Spike and Buffy got their food, and they settled at the opposite end of the table.  They waited for everyone to get settled before Buffy announced, "Spike and I are going on a date Friday night at the Bronze.  If anyone wants to protest, do it now because I don't want to hear it later."

"I..."  Xander's voice became muffled when Anya's hand covered his mouth.

"Xander is very happy that you're happy," Anya said.  The past few days had given the ex-vengeance demon more confidence in herself.  She no longer was bothered by Xander being uncomfortable with what she said.  "Now, shut up, Xander.  Our friends don't want to hear it."

"On that note," Spike said.  "It's nice to have you back, witchlet."  He spoke directly to Tara, who sat to his right.

"It's good to be back," Tara replied shyly. She smiled at Willow.  "I'm just glad Willow and Giles were able to find a spell to restore me."

"A toast, everyone."  Buffy held up her cup of soda.  "We survived yet another apocalypse without any of us dying."

"To Spike and his idea to go to Pylea."  Dawn held up her cup.  When Xander hurumphed from his spot, she shot him a glare that if he hadn't been fighting the supernatural for years would have made him turn tail and run.  The others hastily raised their cups, too.

"Cheers!" Everyone said as one, and they each took a drink.  There was some polite chatting as they all dug into the food in front of them.

Spike swallowed the bite of enchilada, and he asked Wesley, "So, did Peaches stake that bitch Darla again?"

"What?"  All eyes turned to stare at the smirking vampire, except a blustering Wesley and an oblivious Fred.

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

"Where's the General?" Dante yelled.  His horse skidded to a halt.  Nearby he saw is brain-addled friend Orlando and the general's aide-de-camp.

"Not here, sir," the young knight answered.  "The seer wanted to tell him we'd get separated unless we were confined together in a solid object, but the general didn't want to listen."

"Any ideas where we are?"  Dante dismounted to help Orlando off his stead.

"No, sir."  The young knight shook his head.  "Last thing I saw was the blue vortex."  He looked up at the clear, blue sky, and said absentmindedly, "You know when I was little my grandmother warned me about swirly vortexes.  She'd say, 'Alex, my boy, whatever you do, don't jump through any portals.  You never know where you might end up.  Might be heaven, or hell, or maybe the dimension without shrimp'."

"Which are you hoping for?"  Dante seated Orlando beneath a tree.

"Oh, the one without shrimp, without a doubt," the young knight replied while he threw off his chain mail.  "I'm deathly allergic to shellfish."

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

"What are you doing?" Gunn asked a game faced Angel.  The dark-skinned man had found the vampire's actions perplexing since the return of his car.

"Making sure that idiot didn't scratch my baby."  Angel intently studied his convertible.  "When will Wes be back?"

"He just called."  Cordelia walked out of the mansion.  "Spike spilled the beans about Darla's return.  I don't think Buffy's too happy with you right now, Angel."

"How the hell did he know?"  Angel looked at the brunette woman in shock.  He had been very careful not to let the Slayer know about some of his less than savory actions.

"Guess that crazy ho-bag Drusilla came for a visit right after you tried to burn her and Darla," Cordelia said sarcastically as she shrugged her shoulders.  "There was some kind of big blowup at the time.  I didn't care enough to get the full details."

"Great," Angel grumbled.  "When will Wes be ready to go?"

"He said he wanted to stay here for a few weeks."  Cordelia put her hand out.  "Give me the keys.  I want to put my stuff in the trunk.  Then, we can go back to Los Angeles."  She snapped her fingers when Angel was slow on the uptake.

"Sounds good to me," Gunn replied.  "I don't know how you guys lived in this town for so long.  It's so damned weird."

"That's life on the Hellmouth," Cordelia quipped.  "Weird, bizarre, and sometimes entirely too ookey.  Let's go."  She slammed the trunk closed, and she got in the front passenger seat of the car.

"Her majesty has spoken," Gunn said.  He leapt over the side of the convertible into the back seat.  "Wes'll be back when he's ready."  Gunn was ready to get back to the big city.

Angel stared broodily at his two friends.  He wasn't as eager to leave Sunnydale as they appeared to be.  He hadn't been happy when Xander had delivered his car to him.  The Scooby male had given him a pitying look before he had skedaddled off. Angel hadn't thought too much of it, but now that he was behind the wheel, he could smell that Spike had driven the car back from Los Angeles with Buffy sitting next to him.

Gunn's cell phone rang, and after he had hung up, he leaned forward to say to Angel, "That was Lorne.  He thinks Wolfram & Hart is up to something.  We need to go."

Angel sighed as he put the thought of Spike and Buffy aside.  There would be time later to come back to Sunnydale to see what was going on with those two.  Right now, there was a problem back in his town that needed to be taken care of immediately.  He turned the key in the ignition, and the old car roared to life.

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

"Silas, we gave you a simple task," Wolf said.  "Separate the vampire from his Seer and destroy her.  What happened?"

"I don't know," Silas moaned.  His body was in constant pain, making thought difficult. "I don't know why the vampire had a Slayer with him.  The blond scum had a better team than you anticipated."

"Angelus isn't a blond," Ram replied.

"We lost control of Pylea," Hart said.  "We are very disappointed with you Silas."

"I'm sorry," Silas screamed when more pain filled his body.  "I will not fail you again.  Please give me another chance."

"We will think about it," Wolf remarked.  "In the mean time, tell us more about this vampire and the Slayer."

Silas wetted his dry lips before he spilled his guts.  He hoped that Wolf, Ram, and Hart would be pleased enough with the information to let him live.  When he was done, he passed out into the blessed darkness of unconsciousness.

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

Gregor blinked in surprise when a portal opened near his resting place, but before he could really react a man dropped through the hole.  The portal closed as quickly as it had opened.  Gregor hurried over to the man.  He had been in this hellish dimension for several weeks, and he was glad for some human companionship.

The man groaned, and he opened his eyes.  He first looked at Gregor and then up at the fiery red sky.  "They just had to send me here," he whispered to himself.

Gregor leaned closer to catch the words.   He pulled back slightly, and he asked, "Where are we?"

"Quor-toth."  The man grimaced in agony.  "The worst of the worst."

The End.