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Chapter 24

Several hours later, Dawn came out of the dining room to check on Buffy. For her part, Buffy was bored to tears, but her slowly deteriorating condition prevented her from leaving the confines of the couch. The spell Giles had done last night had helped, but whatever was coursing through her body was quickly adapting, bent on its destructive path. At the rate things were going, Buffy figured she had a few days left.

Wiping the negative thoughts from her mind, she looked up at Dawn. “Hey, Dawnie! How’s the research coming?”

Dawn sat on the floor next to the couch and faced Buffy. Her sister's expression told her all she needed to know. They were getting nowhere. She reached out and ran her hand down Dawn’s hair. “Don’t worry, Dawnie. We’ve faced worse than this and been fine. You’ll see.”

“I know. It’s just that Giles, way smart. And, Wesley and Fred, they’re both also good with the research. We should have found something by now.”

“It’ll come, Dawnie. So, is everyone taking a lunch break?”

“I think so. Can I get you something? Some more soup?”

“Soup would be of the good,” Buffy lied. The thought of eating right now unsettled her already sore stomach, but she needed to give her sister something to do to take her mind off things.

“One bowl of chicken noodle soup coming right up,” Dawn replied, getting to her feet.

~*~*~*~*~

Dawn brought her sister her soup then returned to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. Giles joined her in the kitchen, asking where the other girls were.

“They went back to the festival. Today is the last day.”

Giles mumbled some kind of acknowledgement; he almost dropped the pot he was filling with water when Dawn squeaked.

“Oh god. I almost forgot! Giles, I’ve got to go pick up something I forgot to get yesterday. Will you be okay here without me for a couple hours?”

“Hmmm, oh yes. Fine. Go ahead.”

“Thanks, Giles! Oh, and can you let Buffy know where I went? I don’t want her to get worried.” She rushed off to grab her purse and was out the door in a whirlwind of teenage exuberance.

~*~*~*~*~

She held the sword before her ready to block her attacker’s thrust. She couldn’t see his face because of the hood, but she knew she was dealing with evil personified. Over and over he swung, trying to find an opening. Each time, she blocked him. But she was growing weaker. Soon her tired arms would give way, allowing him the chance to connect his sword with her vulnerable flesh.

On a particularly violent round of thrusts and parries, his hood fell back revealing his face. Black, soulless eyes started back at her. Unusual markings adorned his face. A maniacal grin transformed his features. All too soon, her arm strength gave out and his sword ripped into her stomach.

His face twisted with glee as his aim was true. Buffy dropped the sword and clutched at her middle, attempting to stem the flow of blood. She glanced down at the wound taking her eyes off her attacker. There was no blood. Moving her hands away from her injury, she noticed that her stomach had turned blue. She glanced at her hands to see that they had become pale with rivulets of blue snaking up from her fingertips to disappear beneath her shirt.

“What have you done to me?” she screamed.

“The time is at hand for us to rule and you are the link standing in our way. When you are gone along with your line, I will be given a place of honor in the new order. It is just a matter of time.”

“Nooo…” she moaned. Then her voice became stronger, defiant, “You will not succeed. I have defeated worse than you could ever dish out. I will not let you win.”

He walked forward towards the girl resting on her knees, her body racked in pain, yet still staring up at him mutinously.

“Succeed?” He ran his hand down her face to cup under her chin. “I have already succeeded.” Damius released her face, letting her body crumple to the ground.

~*~*~*~*~

Spike came awake to the sound of an erratic heartbeat. “Buffy,” he whispered, throwing off the sheet. Pausing long enough to throw on a pair of jeans to cover his naked body, he raced out the door and down the stairs.

“Buffy!” he hollered, running unerringly towards the living room. The heartbeat that was once erratic was now very faint. He pulled up short when he saw her looking so lifeless laying on the couch. For a moment, he thought she was dead, she was so still. But he calmed, reminding himself that he could still make out her heartbeat, however faint it was. That had him rushing forward again to her side, kneeling before her. He lifted a trembling hand to her face, praying that she would open her eyes and look at him. He’d never been more scared in his unlife.

“Buffy, love. Wake up. Look at me,” he pleaded. He reached out to smooth her hair from her face and was shocked by how cold she felt. Panic started to set in, and he looked up towards the entryway to see Angel standing there, torment mirroring his own.

~*~*~*~*~

Spike’s anguished cry had people running from various places of the house. Angel had heard Spike rush by the room he was taking a nap in. He, too, had heard the erratic heartbeat but had been slower to react because of his lack of sleep. But he wasn’t far behind Spike when he finally reached the living room.

Giles, Fred, and Wesley had come rushing out of the dining room. They came to a halt when they noticed Buffy’s appearance as Spike knelt beside her. She had obviously deteriorated rapidly in the last few hours. It was a good thing Dawn had left to go to that market, Giles thought as he gazed at the unconscious Slayer lying on the couch.

Giles walked into the room and stood behind the sofa so that he could look down at both Buffy and Spike. He hadn’t seen Spike this devastated since Buffy had jumped off the tower to save Dawn’s life.

“Spike,” he began, his voice breaking.

Spike looked up at the watcher. “Rupert, what happened? The magic?”

“The magic was only a temporary fix, Spike, not a cure. Apparently, whatever is invading Buffy’s body has overcome the feeble spell we cast last night. Right now, our only hope lies with finding this Draemuir demon and determine what he has used to harm Buffy.” He glanced around at the others as he said this. Then he turned back to Spike.

“Spike, let’s get Buffy back into bed.”

Spike looked up at the watcher and nodded. Almost reverently, he lifted Buffy into his arms to carry her back upstairs to her bed. The others trailed behind him.

~*~*~*~*~

Dawn came home a few minutes later. She hid her gift that she had purchased for Spike in the office before heading towards the living room to check on Buffy; she could hear the faint tunes of the TV. When she got there, she was surprised to find the TV on but no one there. Frowning, she turned and started for the dining room.

‘That’s weird,’ she thought to herself when she noticed the books still scattered out on the table but finding the room was empty as well.

“Giles,” she called as she walked into the kitchen. No one. Everyone was gone. Then, she noticed the quiet. Eerie quiet, the something-bad-has happened type of quiet. ‘Buffy,’ she thought and raced upstairs to look for her sister.

She screeched to a halt just inside her open doorway when she saw everyone in her room.

“Buffy,” she whispered. Five sets of eyes turned to look at her. Her gaze settled on the piercing blue of Spike’s.

“’Bit,” he got out, pushing away from the bed and walking towards her.

“Is she– ?“ Dawn began, but couldn’t finish the thought and started to crumple to the floor. Spike reached her before that could happen and pulled her in to a hug, attempting to sooth her.

“No, Platelet. She’s sleeping, is all. See,” he replied and turned her towards the sleeping figure lying on the bed. “Why don’t you go sit next to her?”

Dawn nodded and walked on shaky legs to the bed and sat down in the chair that had been pulled over.

Spike’s anger was slowly reaching the boiling point; he needed some type of release or risk going crazy. Turning away from the scene, he stormed out of the room and headed up to the third floor. Maybe a little exercise would help. Angel looked at Giles for a moment then followed Spike. Between the two of them, they should be able to work off some of their helpless frustration.

“Dawn, why don’t you stay here and keep Buffy company. We’re going to head back downstairs and continue our research. Come and get us if she wakes up or starts thrashing in her sleep.” Giles told her, after the two vampires had abruptly departed.

Dawn nodded distractedly as she took her sister's hand in hers, her eyes not leaving her sister’s face.

~*~*~*~*~

Spike walked into the training room, game face already on. Reaching the wall with the weapons, he pulled down a sword and walked towards the far side of the room. Angel took his shirt, shoes and socks off, leaving just his pants on to match Spike’s attire. He, too, grabbed a weapon, slipped into game face as he turned around and faced Spike.

They weren’t really battling against each other. But their demons needed a release, needed to inflict violence. Sparing with each other gave them that. It also prepared them for when they finally found Buffy’s attacker. And it was when, not if, for there was no doubt in either of their minds that they would find him. They were predators, and the hunt would be on tonight. They were just waiting for the sun to set.

For now, they sparred.

~*~*~*~*~

Angel and Spike had showered and just finished their mugs of blood when the sun disappeared over the horizon. Grabbing Angel’s empty mug, Spike rinsed both mugs out in the sink. A short trip to the dining room to inform Giles that they were off to patrol, and Spike was out the door and on the move, leaving it to Angel to gather the slayers and catch up.

“We will find him, Giles,” Angel said after Spike left. “We’re not coming back until we do. We’ll take the girls out for a while. But we can’t have them with us on this hunt. This is something we have to do alone. They would only slow us down.”

Giles nodded at him. “Just be careful. We don’t know how powerful this demon is. Try to bring him back alive.”

Angel gave him a look, but wisely made no promises.

~*~*~*~*~

After the patrol party left, Giles and the others got back to work. He gave himself a few more hours to try and find some alternate means for Buffy before he had to voice his interpretation of the prophecy Wesley had received and the additional passage he had found. Pushing his grim thoughts aside, he willed himself to find the right book to make the situation better.

The three were deeply engrossed in their respective books when the phone rang about an hour later. Giles stood up so fast his chair toppled over; he rushed off to get the extension in the office.

“Hullo,” he gasped out after his un-watcher-like dash to the office, praying he'd gotten to the phone before the person hung.

“Giles?” a female voice questioned.

“Willow?”

“Yep, it’s me. I just wanted to let you know that I’m on my way. I was in France when I got Buffy’s email this morning, and I caught the first flight out. I’m at the airport now and should be there in about an hour.”

“Huh? Willow, I’m confused. You’re saying you’re here in Rome? Right now?” he asked.

“Yep. Buffy sent me an email this morning. Giles? Where is Buffy going?”

~*~*~*~*~

“Giles? Where is Buffy going?”

The innocent question of Willow’s played over and over in Giles’ head. He gripped the phone tightly in his hand and debated how to respond. In the end, he took the easy way out. ‘Better to tell her in person,’ he reasoned.

“We’ll discuss everything when you get here.”

“Okay. Oh, the luggage turnstiles are starting. I’ll see you in a bit. Bye, Giles.” Then the line went dead.

Heaving a sigh, Giles went back to the dining room to let the others know about Willow arrival.

“Fred, Wesley, you remember Willow?”

At their nods and murmured assents, he went on. “Well, apparently, Buffy sent her an email telling her to come. It appears she’s in Rome as we speak and should be here within the hour.”

“Well, that could be a bit of good news, actually, Rupert.”

“How so?” he asked. At this point, he’d take any good news he could get.

“For one thing, this whole attack on Buffy has me puzzled. If it were a normal battle, her Slayer healing abilities, such that they are, should have easily been able to repair the damage done to her body. This leads me to believe that some type of magick may be involved, maybe even some form of the dark arts.”

Fred picked up with Wesley’s thought, and finished for him. “And, if magick is involved, it would give off some type of residual energy, almost like a homing beacon. And, who better to find that signature than a witch?” she exclaimed, excitedly.

“Yes, of course. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before! I guess with all that’s happened, I didn’t even think about the possibility of this attacker doing magick.”

It was the break that they had been looking for, and the three got back to work, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the redheaded witch.

~*~*~*~*~

It was dark when the taxi pulled up to the house. Thanking the driver, Willow grabbed her bags and made her way to the front door.

~*~*~*~*~

A splash of red dashed by as Spike rounded the corner. They were on their way back to drop off the girls so that Angel and he could go hunting. ‘Red?’ Then he sniffed the air. It was her. He broke into a jog to catch up with her. Stopped and stared as she raised her hand to knock on the door.

“Hey, Red!”

At the sound of that name, one she hadn’t heard in so long, Willow whirled around. She took in the bleach-blond hair, the black duster and clothes.

“Spike?”

“Yep!”

“But how? You died… you know… in Sunnydale… with the whole fire and whoosh thing… then the whole huge crater thing,” she babbled.

“You can thank the good people at Wolfram and Hart. They brought me back. Thought the Big Bad was gonna be on their side. But I haven’t been on that side for awhile now. I stuck around helping out Angel in L.A. Now I’m here.” As he finished his brief summary, Angel and the others walked up.

“Angel? What are you doing here? What in the world is going on?” she asked, confused.

“Let’s go inside, Red. We’ll let the watcher explain. Then you can go say hello to Buffy.” He walked past her and opened the door, picking up her bags and went. Willow trailed after him, thoroughly perplexed, followed by the rest of the patrol party, who were unusually quiet.

~*~*~*~*~

“Oi! Watcher!” Spike hollered and he walked through the entryway and dropped Willow’s baggage in the foyer. “Willow is here!”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Spike could hear Giles mutter. “Damn vampire, doesn’t have to shout. Could just walk down to the bloody dining room.”

“I heard that,” Spike smirked as he reached said dining room.

“Willow, hello. It's good to see you,” Giles greeted. “You’ve met Fred and Wesley, of course.”

Willow bobbed her head yes, as she came into the room. “Uh, Giles? What’s going on? Why are all these people here? And where in the world is Buffy going that I had to leave France and rush to Rome and say goodbye?”

That last question effectively silenced everyone in the room. If Spike could, he would have paled even more.

Giles stood up, snatched the glasses off his face and whipped out his handkerchief to begin a thorough cleaning. He didn’t know where to begin.

“Um, actually, Buffy isn’t going anywhere. She’s hurt. Badly, as a matter of fact. She was probably scared when she wrote you and wanted to have you near.” The color drained from Willow's face at Giles’ words. Deflated, she collapsed into one of the dining room chairs.

“But, how?” she whispered.

“We’re working on that. And, now that you’re here, we’re hoping you could help.”

“Anything!”

Giles put his cleaned glasses back on his face and sat back down. He told Willow everything that had happened to Buffy with regards to her attacker, including the part that magick might be involved.

“So, since you’re here, we were hoping you could do a type of locator spell that could pick up on any dark magicks that may have been conducted in or around Rome.”

Both Angel and Spike perked up Giles' words, intuitively sensing what he was trying to accomplish.

“No problem. You guys still keep your magick room stocked, right?”

At Giles’ nod, Willow said she needed to grab a few things and would be back momentarily. Spike turned to Angel, an excited gleam in his eye.

‘Finally. They were getting somewhere!’ he thought.

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