Disclaimer: Not mine...That recurring dream of a Naked Spike in my bed....mmmmm
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Chapter 29: Monsters in the Closet

Willow stormed back into 1630 Revello drive livid. She was the Scooby witch, not Tara. Why wouldn’t Buffy let her help? Stupid knowing things from the future. She had to make them see, see how she was in control of her magic, not the other way around. But what to do?

As it usually was with Willow, lately anyway, her eyes lighted upon one of her spell books. With a flick of her fingers the book shot out at her, and nimbly she caught the heavy volume opening it to a spell she had been looking at for some time.

Tapping into hidden power. She had been wanting to do the spell for herself, but now was not the time to think selfishly.

Willow picked up the phone and dialled.

“Amy?” Willow asked. “I need help with a spell.”
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“Do you really think that this is the right thing to do Willow?” asked Amy looking over the spell that the red headed witch had placed in front of her.

“It’s not a matter of right or wrong, it’s a matter of need. Dawnie just can’t go around without knowing how powerful she is. Power like that can’t be ignored. She could be very useful to the Scooby gang.”

“It looks dangerous though, Willow, this is like nothing I’ve ever done before.”

Willow stood up from Amy’s kitchen table. “Are you scared? Is that it? Scared of power?”

“Little bit, ya. Isn’t that a healthy fear though?”

Willow sent a confused look at her fellow witch friend. “You are starting to sound like Buffy.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” retorted the witch. “I can’t help you with this Willow, I’m not that kind of witch anymore.”

“And what kind of witch is that Amy?” asked an angry Willow.

“Your kind of witch Willow.”
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Willow sat in the dank darkness of an abandoned crypt, the spiders had long scampered away from the witch and her magic potion ingredients. The vials of strange liquids, baggies of herbs and the dozen or so candles had all been laid out for ease of use. Before her sat a small cauldron, bubbling away over a candle.

The witch was muttering to herself. “This will show them, show them that my ideas and my magic are useful. After I do this spell they will be so grateful. Dawnie will like me above anyone else. They will wonder how they ever got along before.”

Willow changed her muttering to chanting and slowly the cauldron and it’s contents began to glow.
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Buffy woke up to a vampire purring next to her. A naked vampire. With a smile and a playful push, she woke him up.

“When did you get in last night?” she asked, her voice sounding like she just woke up, cause, well, she did.

Spike groaned and rolled onto his back, putting his left forearm across his forehead. “I could ask you the same thing pet,” he said with difficulty.

Last night, after Spike had found the spell, and Willow had stormed out of the Magic Box, they had gone out to the Bronze for some ‘We just found the spell that’s gonna save the world’ partying. Somewhere in the course of the evening, Buffy and Spike had gotten separated, Buffy sticking with Dawn and Spike finding himself completely sloshed and making Xander and Giles join him in finding some demons to play poker with.

Buffy knew that he hadn’t come home by the time she had, or at least he hadn’t been in their bed.

“What do you mean, you could ask me the same thing?” she asked.

“You weren’t in bed when I came up here, Buffy, that’s what I mean.”

“I was too, you were just too drunk to notice.”

“Oh?” His eye brows raised. “Maybe it’s the other way around then?”

Buffy rolled her eyes just as a scream came from Dawn’s room. Instantly, Buffy was up, robed and in the teen’s bedroom. The sleepy vampire only milliseconds behind, having managed to find his pants. Looking into Dawn’s room, Buffy noticed nothing amiss at first. There were clothes and papers all over the place, a normal occurrence for Dawn’s bedroom. There were a few broken pieces of furniture too, which weren’t normal for Dawn’s room.

“Buffy!” shouted Dawn, “It’s in the closet. Big furry, with tusks and a bill, there’s a demon in my closet.” Dawn was pressed her back against the far wall of her room, clad in Care bear PJ’s.

“Nibblet, aren’t you a bit old for being scared by monsters in the closet?” asked Spike.

“Not kidding Spike! Buffy, do something!”

Nodding, Buffy turned and went back into her room, grabbing the sword she kept under her bed, and returned to Dawn’s room.

“Spike? Open the closet door,” ordered Buffy, stepping into a defensive posture.

Spike shrugged and did as he was told to.

There was nothing in the closet.

“Dawn...” said Buffy with a hint of disapproval.

“I swear Buffy, it was there, big, furry, tusks and a duck bill. I’m not lying.”

Buffy sighed and laid the sword down, before sitting on Dawn’s bed. Patting the bed spread next to her inviting Dawn to sit with her.

“What were you doing before you saw the demon?” the slayer asked.

“I...I was getting dressed, I went to my closet and opened the door,” explained Dawn.

“The closet door was closed?” clarified Buffy.

Dawn nodded. “Why? What’s important about the door?”

Buffy exhaled forcefully.

“What is it Buffy?” asked Dawn. “You know something!”

Buffy stood up from the bed, and picked her sword. “I do know something Dawn. Get dressed and I’ll tell you about it when you come down stairs for breakfast.”

Dawn nodded again and turned towards her now open closet. “Spike!” she screeched.

“Bloody Hell nibblet you’ve got just as many shoes as the Slayer does!”
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Half an hour later the Summers family and Tara were sitting down at the breakfast table. Willow had failed to come home at all the night before. Tara suspected that she had gone to her parents until her rage quieted down.

“So are you going to tell me?” asked Dawn, pouring herself a bowl of Rice Krispies.

“I am,” said the Slayer gulping down her orange/grapefruit juice. “I think what’s happened is what’s supposed to happen in ten years Dawn. You’ve tapped into your ability to use your key powers.”

“Very cool,” said the teen munching on her cereal.

“Right now it’s unfocused. So every time you open a door, no matter what do you are trying to open, you open a portal to a different dimension. Obviously when you tried to open your closet this morning you opened a demon dimension where big furry things with tusks and duck bills live.”

Dawn nodded, taking in the information.

“When you closed the closet door, you closed the portal. Simple as that.”

“So, every time she opens any door this is going to happen?” asked Tara.

“Until she learns to control it, until she explores her power more. When this happened before, for me anyway you were already a Watcher and had the resources of the Watcher’s Council to help you develop your powers. I don’t know why this has happened now.” Buffy got up from the table clearing away dirty dishes.

“This is so cool, I have key powers,” said Dawn with a huge smile on her face.

“You might not think it’s so bloody cool when you open a door to a dimension with demony creatures in it that come out of that doorway nibblet,” observed Spike.

“I’ll just have to be really careful what doors I open,” said Dawn.

“And makes sure that you don’t go into any of those dimensions, we won’t know where to look for you and you might be stuck there for a very long time,” continued Buffy.

Dawn nodded again. “Right, so I get boys to open doors for me for the rest of my life, I’m good with that. Bring on the return of chivalry.”
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Buffy was vacuuming in the afternoon when Willow arrived home.

Before Buffy could even greet the red headed witch, Tara was at the top of the stairs.

“Where have you been?“ asked Tara loudly, shocking both Willow and Buffy.

“I needed some me time,“ Willow tried to explain. “To cool down. I get what Buffy was saying last night. I need to work on control.“

“You did a spell,“ said Tara her arms crossed. “I can see it in your aura.“

“A little one?“

“Doesn’t look little Willow... What did you do?” asked Tara in a scared voice.

“Just a spell, it’s not a big deal,” said Willow, walking up the stairs trying to get past Tara.

Buffy peered around the corner of the living room and looked at Tara. She wasn’t a happy camper.

“You are doing to many spells Willow!You are using too much magic. What do you want me to do, just, just sit back and keep my mouth shut?” said Tara following up after Willow.

“Well, that'd be a good start.”

“If I didn't love you so damn much I would!”

“I, I'm sorry, okay?”

“It's not that easy.”

“Well, what do you want me to do? Reverse time and take it back?” Willow laughed. “'Cause I could probably...”

The door to the witches’ room closed and Buffy could no longer hear what was going on. As much as she wanted to hear the outcome of this fight, Buffy decided to give the couple some privacy. Buffy had a hunch, that is was Willow who had done a spell on Dawn, though she had no proof. It didn’t do to go about accusing friends of casting spells.

Buffy sincerely hoped that Tara would finally be able to talk some sense into her friend.
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“Crone,” greeted Dawn coming home from school.

“I’m not a crone!” protested Buffy. “How did school go today? Any weirdness?”

“Well duh, there is always weirdness, Janice is experimenting with orange, so not her colour and Martine Savant, a girl in my art class, bumped into Brian Collins, the hottest boy in the school, and spilt red paint all over her new white blouse and all over Brian’s new shoes. They were screaming at each other for like a half an hour before the teacher sent them to get cleaned up.”

“Dawn? The portals?”

“Oh, right, no I had other people open doors for me the entire day, it’s all good, no wacky dimension hoppers.”

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh and, when Andrew makes parole in a couple of months, he wants to know if he can stay here. His parents have been less than supportive of his rehabilitation from criminal master mind,” said Dawn hopefully.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “His parents won’t take him back now that he’s been to jail...”

“Basically,” admitted Dawn.

“I suppose,” said Buffy with a sigh. “It wouldn’t be the same without the guestage.”

“Oooh! Thank you Buffy!” gushed Dawn, enveloping her sister in a hug. “He’ll be good! I promise!”
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tbc...