Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: There is some mention of happenings from the season 8 comics. I don’t think it’s a spoiler, cause I’m being vague, but consider yourself warned. Thanks to BTL for the beta.
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Chapter 22: Freedom

There was a loud moan from somewhere upstairs drawing Buffy’s attention from Xander, who was running on the lawn, to Anya and Giles for a moment.

“Xander can’t be running outside,” Buffy nattered away, more to herself than to Spike. “But look there he is.”

“Is he stuck here too?” Spike asked.

“Wouldn’t he be in the house then?” she responded.

They both looked at each other for a moment, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. Buffy raised her right index finger as if to say give me a moment. Without a word, Buffy headed into the kitchen.

At once, the rank smell of spoiled food hit her nose.

“Oh my god, we’re out!” she called out. She ran back into the living room. “We are free of the self cleaning oven syndrome.”

“And I was hopin’ that little feature would stay,” Spike continued.

Anya screamed upstairs.

“I suppose we should tell them,” Buffy said pointing up.

“Don’t look at me!” Spike started.

“But it’s Giles. It would be weird.”

“Anyway that you look at it, you aren’t going to be comfortable with this,” he continued. “You might as well get it over with right now.”

With a sigh Buffy trudged up the stairs to the second floor, stopping when she was confronted with Molly‘s bed room door. Buffy raised her hand to knock, her ears waiting for some sound that she was going to meet with a naked Giles or Anya on the other side. All seemed quiet. She knocked.

There was scuffling on the other side of the door and hushed whispers. Buffy inwardly cringed. She had mental visions of naked Giles running around trying to find his clothes. That was something she didn’t want floating around her head.

“Anya? Giles?” Buffy called when there was no more noise.

Suddenly the door was opened, the air from the hallway sucked into the room with the motion of the door.

“Yes?” asked Anya, standing fully clothed in the doorway, revealing Giles still zipping up his pants.

“The portal is closed,” Buffy announced, practically running down the stairs again immediately. Once she returned to the living room, she was met with Spike’s cocky grin.

“See anything traumatic pet?” he asked her.

“What do you mean the portal is closed?” Anya asked, following closely behind the slayer. “It better be worth it if Giles only had the time to make me…”

Buffy held up her hand, interrupting Anya. “If you finish that sentence, I WILL vomit.”

Anya rolled her eyes at Buffy’s squeamishness. “Fine, how do you know that the portal is closed?” she asked.

Buffy turned to the window and spotted Xander running back towards his car parked out on the street. “Just try it ok?” Buffy asked.

With a puff of smoke, Anya disappeared, just as Giles came down the stairs, missing the whole conversation.

“I take it we are free then?” observed the watcher.

“Bloody well hope so, the smell is starting to give me a headache,” noted Spike.

With a smile Buffy moved towards her fiancée and gave him a peck on the cheek. “And you’re dead, so if you’re the one complaining, it must be really bad.”

“Funny pet,” he retorted. “It’s your house that smells though.”

Their banter clearly annoying him, in his already peeved state (from having been interrupted upstairs) Giles stepped towards the door and stepped out onto the porch, startling Xander.

“Holy disappearing act G man!” Xander shouted at the watcher. “You went Invisible!”

“I beg your pardon?” Giles asked the babbling young man.

“Rhymes with Blinvisible? Poof you were gone!”

“Apparently there was a portal leading to another dimension just past the doorway. A dimension created by Dawn. Or so Anya suspects,” Giles explained.

“But it’s closed now?” Xander asked.

Giles nodded.

“And Anya, and Buffy and Spike are all safe?”

As if on cue, Buffy appeared at the door, her sometimes overly dramatic sensibilities take full advantage of the situation.

“I’m free!” she laughed happily to the blue sky.

Xander looked at his friend, then to her watcher once more. “You can hardly tell that she’s 123 years old, can you.”

“Where is Amy?” Giles asked. “Did she return to Los Angeles for assistance?”

Xander shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but Buffy cut him off.

“You brought Amy?” Buffy asked. “You brought one of the people that the Initiative would most like to get their hands on? What were you thinking?”

“I think my concern for your safety was paramount in my mind,” responded Giles.

“And that’s sweet Giles, stupid, but sweet,” Buffy noted giving her watcher a smile. “Amy’s been captured hasn’t she?” Buffy asked Xander.

“Yep,” the carpenter answered.

“Well that’s wonderful,” Buffy grumbled. “Cause Amy and the military have a great history. Well I guess we’ll have to save her.”

“Ya think?” spat Xander.

Buffy had a retort, but remained silent. She knew more about Amy’s character and the stupid dangerous things she did. Buffy didn’t exactly trust Amy. Yes, she felt bad that she’d been a rat for so long, but really the last time Buffy lived this time line, Amy was still ratty. If Buffy had anything to say about it, there would be no magic addiction, and certainly no revenge on Willow. Buffy gave an involuntary cringe, remembering just who was Amy’s boyfriend the last time she’d had had anything to do with Amy. It was gross, and Buffy dealt with gross on a daily basis.

“Of course!”

“We need to have a well formulated plan,” added Giles, rubbing his eyes.

“So we need to gather the troops,” admitted Buffy.

“We can just leave her, going back to LA will waste time!” Xander added, his voice teetering on the edge of hysteria.

“Well we certainly can’t go after them with no plan, and the four of us!” shouted Spike from the inside of the house. Can we bloody go already this house stinks!”

“What is that smell?” Xander asked.

“Rotting food,” noted Buffy moving towards Spike’s parked Desoto.

“I know that,” Xander said wrinkling his nose. “But rotting what exactly?”

“I think it was the blood I left heating in the microwave,” admitted the Slayer. “Giles, can you take Angel’s car? Xander, you take Cordelia’s? We’ll never hear the end of it if those two princesses don’t get their cars back.” Buffy opened the driver’s door of Spike’s car. “Let’s go Honey!” she yelled super sweetly towards the house.

With a groan, a black clad vampire, holding his leather jacket over his head ran smoking towards his car. Jumping into the car and nearly ending up head first into the driver’s seat, Spike was closed into the car.

“I still say it’s a waste of time to go back to LA,” Xander muttered.

“Then you better hope that none of us get pulled over by the police for speeding,” mentioned Giles heading towards Angel’s car.
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Anya popped back to the Hyperion hotel to find that the whole gaggle of scoobies and AI gang were not in the lobby. She tapped her foot a moment, annoyed that no one was where she expected them to be. What she had expected was that they would all be exactly how she left them. With a sigh, she headed up the stairs wondering if anyone really cared that they were saved from the house.

Not even a giggle was coming from the second floor. Anya instinctively touched her amulet, assuring herself of her immortality as she rounded a corner at the end of the hall where the scoobies had been housed.

The only way Anya knew that she could be killed was by decapitation, she just hoped that whatever was around the corner was not wielding a sword or axe aimed at her neck.

“AHHHHHH!”

Anya blinked at the person emitting the scream that ruptured her ear drums.

“Yes, scream louder, demons fear a screaming slayer,” Anya said sarcastically.

“Make noise or something!” barked Molly, catching her breath. “Did you even try to tell people you were here?”

“No,” Anya admitted. “No one was down stairs.”

Molly shrugged. “Angel, and his group left on a case. The rest of use are up in Dawn’s room. She’s really sick. We need Buffy. I’m on my way to check on Graham in the basement. Mr. Bradford is watching him.”

Anya continued down the hall and entered the room, noting the looks of concern on Tara and Willow’s faces as she stepped towards the bed. ]

“Dawn, you look like crap,” Anya observed.

“Thanks Anya,” Dawn moaned.

“No, really, you do.”

“Did you bring Buffy back with you?” Tara asked. “Dawn’s not doing well.”

“She won’t get any worse though,” explained Anya. “You forgot to close a door behind us. We were trapped in a portalled dimension you created by not closing the closet door. It’s closed now. Xander saved us all.”

“Xander saved you?” Andrew asked. “He’s like Han Solo…”

Anya smacked Andrew in the back of the head. “Cut it out, nerd boy.”

A phone rang and everyone, except Dawn jumped to get it, hoping from some word from Buffy. Nate picked it up first.

“Nate, it’s Buffy. I need details about where the pseudo initiative’s base is. Details on how to get in and what their defences are,” Buffy said, forgetting any preamble. “Pass the phone to Andrew.”

With a nod that Buffy obviously couldn’t see, Nate passed the phone to Andrew who was looking like he was suddenly much more important and vital to the plan than he had been in a good long time. Nate headed out of the room.

“Andrew, it’s Buffy. I need 1 mug of O positive blood heated to room temp, 1 cup of Earl Grey tea, 1 cappucino, a jolt cola and two dozen doughnuts ready for us when we arrive. Pass the phone to Dawn.”

“I would just like to say…” Andrew started.

Buffy cut him off. “Now, Andrew!”

Andrew nearly dropped the phone in response to her bark but managed to pass the phone to Dawn before nearly running out of the room.

“Hey Dawnie,” came Buffy’s voice through the phone, he voice much softer. “How’s it going?”

“Well, I feel like crap with a captial C,” Dawn responded. “I’ll feel better when you get here and bring your healthy healing blood with you.”

“Can you last until I get there, or do you need me, like yesterday?”

“I can wait. What’s going on? Nate and Andrew just left, Andrew was muttering about a scared duty to aid the slayer.”

“I sent him on a doughnut run.”

“That would do it.”

“And Amy’s been captured.”

“Bummer.”

“Yep.”

“So Nate’s interrogating my boyfriend again?” Dawn asked.

“Ya, you ok with that?”

“No, not when I can’t be down there with him. I’m scared for him Buffy, he’s tied to a post in the basement. He’ll never forgive me.”

“Dawn, he tried to kidnap you.”

“Oh and you and Spike haven’t done worse? He made a robot out of you and you beat him up for years.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“Course that was before you came back from crone’s ville with all the shiny new teeth.”

“You must be feeling better, you have all the witty retorts.”

“Just get back soon, 'Kay?”
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Tbc…