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?"