Not Beneath Me - Chapter 28 (The End Is Nigh)
By Tasha

Previous Chapter Summary: Glory broke into the Magic Box shortly after Dawn cut herself on one of Angel's weapons. The scent of her blood was enough to give away her status as the Key to Glory. After a heavy battle in the Magic Box, Glory's minions kidnapped Dawn. The serum was finished, and our band of warriors (along with some extra help from Lydia and some Watchers) invaded Glory's home to get Dawn.

Chapter Summary: The Scoobies, Fang Gang, and Watchers continue their fight against Glory and her minions. Spike tries to stop Doc from starting the ritual. Will Dawn be cut or killed? Will anyone have to sacrifice themselves this time around? Will they finally defeat Glory and remove any threat of her return?

NOTES: The place of the portal opening has changed for my story. We're going to assume that Glory's minions were a little smarter, and they picked a place for the house to be built that was where the portal would be. Instead of building a tower, the portal will open outside of Glory's third story window. Also there are no Knights. You might have noticed that I didn't mention them when the Council showed up even though they were in that episode.

(Disclaimer and Distribution notes are listed in the Prologue of this story. Thank you ahead of time for reading and accepting or abiding by them.)

'Single' quote marks surround thoughts in this story. "Regular" quotes are around spoken words.

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"SPIKE!" Dawn yelled and closed her eyes seconds before the world went black around her.

Spike grabbed Doc's wrist in a tight grip. He halted his downward stroke into Dawn's skin. He was glad that Dawn passed out. It would be easier if she didn't have to see what might happen to her next.

Doc's strength was unusual for a creature his size. He kept the back and forth battle over control for the knife going for several minutes. Neither seemed to be gaining any headway over the other. He grew increasingly frustrated at the delay for the ritual. "Why do you fight for them, vampire? You owe humans nothing."

"You're right." Spike twisted Doc's wrist. "They are mine to protect because I love them." He kicked the demon in the stomach and pushed him closer to the window.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy hit the ground with a thud after another powerful hit from Glory. She gasped to force breath back into her aching lungs.

Glory looked down at the crumpled form of the Slayer. "She isn't really your sister." She kicked Buffy under the chin and sent her flying into the other wall. "Why do you resist this? Her only purpose is to be my Key. She is my destiny."

Buffy snuck a hypodermic from one of the downed Watchers she landed next to against the far wall. She tucked it into her palm, and she slowly lifted herself from the ground. "The only destiny you have is to rot in hell for the rest of time you twisted bitch."

Glory's eyes widened in surprise. She hit the floor with Buffy's arms wrapped around her after Buffy charged at Glory in a full run. She tried to beat against Buffy's chest, but she felt herself weakening. "No! No! NO!" She screamed.

Buffy repeatedly punched Glory's face. The plunger of the hypodermic was fully depressed, and the whole needle was embedded in Glory's arm. "You ... will ... never ... touch ... my family ... again." Each word was punctuated with a different punch to Glory's face and body.

Once the serum took full effect, Glory's weakened body morphed back into Ben's. Ben choked on the blood that forced its way into his mouth from punctured lungs and other organs. "Please ... please stop," He choked out.

Buffy jumped off Ben. "It's over, Ben. Tell her she's lost." She ran up the stairs to reach Dawn in time to watch Spike and Doc fly out the window.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Doc kicked Spike's feet out from under him. He stabbed the vampire in the chest and abdomen several times with delight.

Spike groaned with each slice into his skin. 'Bloody Hell that still hurts,' He thought to himself. He shoved his knee up into Doc's stomach and threw him off balance.

The two demons exchanged punches, kicks, and dodges. The longer the battle continued, the closer to the window's ledge they came. Spike started to gain more headway, and he knocked Doc's knife out of the window.

Doc growled, "If I can't complete my mission, then I can at least take you with me to Hell." He grabbed the lapels of Spike's duster. Using their precarious positions at the window's ledge, he threw his weight outward. They both tumbled out of the house into the wood fence below.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lydia sliced through another brown robed minion. She laid her axe against the wall and surveyed the area. A couple of her fellow Watchers had fallen in battle, but it looked like almost everyone was accounted for. She assumed that Spike, Dawn and Buffy were on the next level.

Xander and Anya walked over to Lydia. "We've got quite a mess to clean up this time," Xander stated with his arm around Anya's waist.

Willow and Tara levitated several of the dead demons into a pile. "Where is Angel?" Tara asked.

"He headed up the stairs to the half-level landing after Buffy dropped Glory," Wesley answered.

"I'll go see if he needs any help," Giles offered. He left the rest of the group to see what the others were doing. He stopped at the edge of the landing. He watched Angel having a chat with Ben.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Angel reached Ben shortly after Buffy headed the rest of the way up the stairs. He crouched down next to the choking human. "You've caused us a lot of trouble, boy."

Ben stared up into the vamped visage of Angelus. The anger in Angel's voice was palpable, and he visibly trembled under the vampire's gaze. "I couldn't ... I couldn't stop her."

"But did you really try hard?" Angelus sneered. "Instead you lie here because Buffy let you live." He held up his hypodermic for Ben to see. "She can't find it within herself to kill a human, no matter how evil they may be."

Ben gulped. "You don't have that problem, do you?" He spoke honestly and evenly despite his fears.

"No, I don't. I've killed far more innocent humans in my time and for far less motivation. You came after my family, and that can not be allowed."

Giles watched the interaction between the two with much interest. He should have felt revulsion at the evil intent from the demon he hated more than any other, but he had to admit to himself that he would be doing the same thing to Ben if their places were reversed.

Angelus pushed the hypodermic plunger to squirt a little of the liquid out the needle. "We really aren't sure what effect a larger amount of the serum would have on any supernatural being." He looked down at Ben. "I could just drain you, but then I'd have to deal with the effects in your blood."

Ben wanted to scream, but he doubted that anyone still alive would help him. He stared at Angelus with contempt but a hint of understanding.

Angelus buried the needle in Ben's neck with precision. He emptied the entire contents of the hypodermic in one fast push. He sat back to wait for the human's death in peace, but he noticed Giles standing a few feet from him.

Giles put out a hand to motion Angel not to speak. He wasn't there to lecture Angel about his choice. He agreed with it. "It's what must be done." He handed over his own hypodermic as well. He nodded his agreement, turned around, and moved around Angel to get up the stairs.

A surprised Angelus injected the serum from Giles' needle into the other side of Ben's neck. He only had to wait a few seconds for the full effect of the serum to take over Ben's entire system. He used his vampiric sense of hearing to make sure that Ben's heart no longer beat before he went to join Giles.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy pushed past Giles. "Cut Dawn loose. I have to get to Spike," She called out behind her as she ran.

Angel was pulled down the stairs when Buffy reached him. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Some demon and Spike went out the window." Buffy ran towards the front door. "There was a fence down there and ... Oh my God!" She stared at the two bodies impaled on the fence posts beneath Glory's third story window.

"Buffy." Angel shook the sobbing Slayer. "He's not dust, Buffy." He tried to reason with Buffy, but she was inconsolable. He resorted to something he never thought he'd do as his souled self. He slapped Buffy hard across the cheek.

Buffy looked up at Angel with tear filled eyes. She was in shock. Was she to gain Dawn's life only to lose Spike's? She wasn't sure she could live with that any more than she could live without Dawn.

"He's not dust," Angel clarified. "Wood plus vampire equals dust."

Angel's words broke through Buffy's grief filled mind. She ran over to the fence. She slipped on the bloodied innards of the demon Spike originally fought against. "Okay whatever that demon was, ewwwww." She ran further down the line of fence posts until she reached the bloodied black form of her Mate.

Angel kept pace with Buffy. He took in an unnecessary breath at the sight of Spike impaled on the post. He was glad that he swallowed his pride enough to give Spike the ring.

"Spike?" Buffy timidly asked. She cradled Spike's head in her hands. "Oh God, what do I do?" She looked over at Angel for his help.

"You can stop calling the poofter God, for one thing." Spike's eyes opened. He was clearly in pain, but he was conscious. "Last time I checked Angel was only a moniker."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Giles carried Dawn down to the main level. The young teen was exhausted. Whatever preparations had been made for the ritual zapped her overall strength. "Where did Angel and Buffy go?"

"They ran outside," Cordelia answered.

"We thought it best to take care of the details in here as they did not ask for assistance." Lydia wiped her hands off on her slacks. "How do you propose we take care of the evidence here?"

Xander finished bandaging the wounds of one of the male Watchers. "I think we need to get the wounded and dead of our own back to the Magic Box." He stood back up. "Then we torch this place."

"Is Glorificus taken care of?" Wesley asked.

"She and Ben are both dead," Giles explained. "Ben wasn't able to survive the wounds he sustained from Glory's injuries."

"I see. How unfortunate." Wesley adjusted his glasses. "For Ben that is."

"Yes, quite." Giles walked to the door. "I think I'll lay Dawn down in my car."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Spike? Oh God, are you all right?" Buffy tried to figure out how to get him off the post.

"I have a bloody fence post in my chest, Slayer. How do you think I feel?" Spike wasn't mad at Buffy, but he was irritated at the situation in general. He knew he would be a pile of dust if Angel hadn't given him the ring. The fact that he owed the wanker for saving his life irked him.

"Why aren't you dust?" Buffy motioned for Angel to grab Spike's legs. She stood at his head with her hands under his shoulder. "Not that I want you dust, but shouldn't you be dust?" She babbled.

"You'll have to thank the wanker for that one," Spike muttered.

"You should be a bit more grateful that I saved your life, Spike." Angel carefully lifted Spike's legs up. He moved at the same level that Buffy did to raise Spike's entire body off the post.

"You're welcome to take the credit for this one, Sire," Spike taunted. "You get to tell her what you did to save my life." He was going to get a great deal of pleasure out of seeing Angel get his arse kicked by Buffy for lying about the ring.

"Tell me what?" Buffy and Angel lowered Spike to the ground. She opened Spike's coat. The hole in his abdomen and chest made her sick to see. She reached into her boot for a dagger to slit her wrist to feed Spike some of her blood.

"Won't need that, sweetheart." Spike held Buffy's wrist away from the knife. He lifted his shirt for her to witness the wound rapidly sealing itself. "All better soon." He scratched at the healing wound. "Damn, but that itches though."

"How ..." Buffy's eyes darted between Spike and Angel rapidly. "Someone had better explain this to me real soon."

"The Gem of Amara." Spike held up his right hand for Buffy to see the ring on it. "Responsible for saving my ass today." He mimicked his words from the day in the UC Sunnydale Quad.

"I thought you destroyed that." Buffy jumped to her feet. She faced off toe to toe with Angel.

"I made it look like I destroyed it." Angel defended himself. "If everyone thought it was destroyed, no one would come after it. I was still able to keep it safe without the threat from anyone else finding out about its existence."

"And you've had it all this time?" Buffy asked.

"Yes," Angel said simply. "I picked it up on my way back to Sunnydale this morning. I thought we might need it. Guess I was right."

"I should be fire spitting mad at you, Angel." Buffy waggled a finger in Angel's face. "You're lucky that it saved my Mate's life because that is the only thing keeping me from staking you right now."

Spike stood up next to Buffy. His injuries were all healed. Although he felt a little lightheaded from the blood loss, he knew he would be able to replenish the bloody supply soon.

"I meant what I said about accepting what was done." Angel looked between Buffy and Spike. "I don't like it, but I won't interfere. I hope you believe me now."

Buffy wrapped her arms around Angel and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Angel."

Spike stepped forward, wrapped his arm around Buffy's waist and extended his hand out to Angel. "Thank you."

"We should get back to the others." Angel was uncomfortable to be the focus of their gratitude. His gut still overturned at the thought of losing Buffy to Spike, but he reasoned that it was in his best interest not to interfere. "Ben is dead, but there is a lot of clean up."

"How many did we lose?" Buffy walked back to the house with Spike at her side and her arm curled around his waist.

"Harrison and Parker from the Watcher group," Angel informed them. "I'm not sure about anyone else, but I thought I saw the core group of Scoobies on our way out."

"Good." Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. She feared the casualty count after every apocalypse. If they only lost two people, they were very lucky this time around. Glory's minions had numbered in the several dozen. They were seriously outnumbered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wesley, Lydia, Cordelia, Willow, Tara, Anya, Xander, and three others walked out of Glory's house simultaneously. Giles watched the group as they moved towards the cars. He consoled a waking Dawn that everything was all right.

Buffy, Angel and Spike headed for the cars as well when they saw the rest of the group on their way there. Hugs and tears were shared between friends and family in celebration of their survival of yet another apocalypse.

"Good to see you in one piece, Spike." Giles clapped Spike on the back. "We were worried that you were a vampirekabob."

"Caught a lucky break." Spike buried his hands in his duster pockets. "Missed the posts." He wasn't ready to explain that the Gem of Amara still existed. He wasn't sure what Giles' reaction would be to the news.

Giles caught a flash of gold and green on Spike's hand, but he filed his inquiry away for another day. "I'm going to take Dawn to the hospital for a check up."

Buffy nodded her agreement. "Spike and I will join you. We need to tell Mom that we're safe."

"Indeed. You're mother will be worried." Wesley motioned to the rest of the group. "We'll get the wounded into Cordelia's car. We should be able to patch them up at the Magic Box."

"Excellent idea, Wesley." Lydia smiled at the former Watcher. "I will send a team to retrieve our two fallen comrades. We need to bring their bodies back with us to England."

"The rest of you should go home, and get some sleep as soon as you can." Giles directed Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya to Xander's car. "We'll meet at the Magic Box tomorrow afternoon."

Everyone nodded, headed to the various cars, and disappeared into the night for different destinations.

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(To Be Continued)