Title: End of Days

Chapter: Chapter Twenty Two – The Return

Author: Queen Akasha

Rating: NC17 in some chapters

Summary: B/S. Season Seven. (As it should be, by Queen A)

Disclaimer: My cloning experiments are not working out as well as I had hoped. The Spike I have right now seems to be out of sorts, kind of edgy, not taking to being shackled to my bed as well as I had hoped. He's acting, dare I say it, kind of crazy. (Oh, I guess my clone is working OK after all. Crazy!Spike is better than No!Spike, isn't he?) Thanks to Joss for the idea. (grudgingly)

Spoilers: This is my fictional season seven. Anything up to the end of S6 is fair game. I'm Alternate Universe from about "Normal Again." (Spike didn't get his soul)

Distribution: If you want, take. If you tell me, I'll send you updates. >)

 
  "Dawnie, can you hand me those matches?" Willow asked. The two were in Willow's room, laying out all the pieces for the spell that they were going to attempt. Willow set the last candle in place, and looked at her creation with satisfaction. A ring of salt, mixed with crushed Duszynk crystals, was laid on the floor in a circle exactly seven feet in diameter. Seven white pillar candles, made of pure bees-wax, were spaced at precise intervals around the periphery. Six sacred objects were laid in the center, among them the rare and powerful Horn of Enigma. Willow and Dawn were freshly showered and naked under plain white cotton robes, their hair hanging unbound around their shoulders. Willow carefully lit the candles with the matches Dawn handed her. The blinds were closed, and Dawn flicked off the light switch. The late evening sun glowed behind the shuttered windows, but the room was illuminated only in the soft glow of the candles. Willow smiled. It was perfect. Only one more thing to do, now.

"Uh, Willow," Dawn asked nervously. "Are you sure this will work?"

"I hope so, Dawnie. I really want to thank you for all your help," Willow replied. "I don't know if I could have done this on my own."

"You're welcome, Will," Dawn said warmly. "I miss Tara too. I can't wait to see her. Buffy and Giles won't be mad at us when they see Tara."

"You're right," Willow said, stepping into the circle. Dawn moved to step in with her, and Willow said, "Oops. Forgot my book on the dresser. It's the seventh sacred object. Can you get it for me, Dawn?"

Dawn nodded cheerfully, and walked the few steps to the dresser to retrieve the book. As soon as Willow judged that she was out of range, she took a deep breath, and, gathering her powers, lifted her hands, and incanted "Potentia Murus." A sparkling barrier sprang from the salt and crystal circle with an audible 'snap'. Dawn whirled around. "Willow," she cried. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Dawn," Willow said, looking at her through the shifting luminescence of the barrier. "It's too dangerous for you."

Dawn rushed to the wall of energy, but was thrown to the ground. "Willow," Dawn said confusedly, standing up, "you said you needed my help to bring Tara back."

"I lied," Willow shrugged unfeelingly, with a touch of the Willow that had tried to end the world. "I'm sorry, Dawn," she said, forcing herself away from that version of herself. Everything must be pure for this to work, and irritation or anger wouldn't be a positive force. "I did fib, a little, but I did need your help. Giles was watching me so carefully."

"I thought you needed me to bring Tara back," Dawn wailed.

"I didn't lie to you about that, Dawn," Willow answered. "If I was bringing her back, it would take at least the two of us. But we both know that bringing her back would be a mistake. Look at Buffy. That worked out well for her, didn't it?"

"You're not bringing her back?" Dawn puzzled. "That's not a little fib, that's a downright lie. And what are you doing, then?"

Willow smiled gently. "I can't bring her back, Dawn. You know that. But I can't live without her." She slowly drew a silver dagger from its hiding place in her sleeve, the true seventh sacred object. "She's not coming to me. I'm going to her."
 

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Half a world away, in the arena in Cairo, Flagg stood in position with his troops, a mixed bag of demons and vampires, with, surprisingly, a few humans, who were almost scarier than the demons. "Gather round closely, my friends," Flagg said, loosing his 'eye' upon the world and searching for Sunnydale. "The time is almost here. In order to benefit the more, uh, flammable of us," he smiled widely at a vampire near him, causing the vampire's eyes to bleed, "we will not be arriving at our destination until after sunset. Make sure all seats are in the upright position, and your trays secured." Several of the demons looked puzzled at this. *Morons,* Flagg thought, once again bemoaning the fact that his army had no general. He did have Celex, but he was more of a figurehead than a leader. And Flagg himself hated to lead. He was more comfortable manipulating from the shadows. But Spike. He would have been magnificent as the army's general. Flagg felt a flash of irritation with himself, that he had so badly misjudged the blonde vampire. Who would have thought that he really did love that girl, that 'Slayer'? It was indeed unusual for soulless demons to love that strongly. Flagg had been certain that once Spike was de-chipped, he would have returned to his former ways. *Water under the bridge,* Flagg thought resignedly, *but when I see him, ....... * He left the rest of that thought unfinished, as his roving 'eye' informed him that sunset in Sunnydale was imminent.

"Crowd in, fellows," he called pleasantly. Celex, at his side, moved nearer to Flagg, but some of the closer demons balked. Even demons seemed to be afraid of Flagg. "Come on now, guys," Flagg wheedled. "This dragons heart is pretty small, and if you're too far away, not all of you may be transported. Wouldn't want to leave parts of you behind, now, would we?" At these words, the demons all crowded closer in. The stench of them was sickening. Flagg sighed. He should've had a full grown dragons heart, and there would have been no problems. *Yet another thing Mr. Spike has to answer for,* he thought, thinking of their future meeting with glee. *Oh, yes, he will pay.*

Flagg waited until the demons had finished jostling for a closer position. He carefully pulled the small dragons heart out of his pocket (less a few pieces gingerly shaved off, which were stashed in another pocket). Holding it in his fist, he visualized Sunnydale. Letting his power gather, he muttered under his breath. A Luoma demon standing beside Celex accidentally listened to some of the words, and immediately was struck deaf. It was almost comical, the way he pawed at his four ears with his stubby purple fingers. The other demons, nearby, saw this and promptly covered their ears, or whatever passed for ears among their kind. When Flagg felt his power crest, he pumped the fist containing the heart in the air, and screamed, "Vehere Hui Omnipotens Sunnydale!" He felt the familiar tugging in his chest as the spell began to teleport them. *Hope most of us make it,* he thought, although the sight of some partial demons may be amusing. He growled. Spike would pay for his transgressions. Flagg would see to that. Oh yes. He would pay dearly.
 

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"Xander! Anya!" Giles called, spotting the couple in the airport terminal. The newlyweds stopped, and smiled at the familiar sight of Giles. They hurried towards him, holding hands.

"G-man!" Xander exclaimed. "How's it hanging?"

"Uh, IT, I'll have you know, is hanging just fine, thank you for asking," Giles replied. "What are you two doing here?"

Anya held out her left hand and twitched her fingers. Giles looked confused, and Anya sighed. "We're married now!" she explained proudly. "Elvis Presley married us in Las Vegas!"

Giles looked at Xander for confirmation, to find Xander nodding happily. "Well, uh, congratulations are in order, then," Giles said, shaking Xander's hand. Anya grabbed him in a tight bear hug, and Giles indignantly squeaked, "Oof!" She let him go, and Giles chastely kissed her cheek. "Had to kiss the bride, you know," he said to Xander.

"What are you doing here, Giles?" Anya asked. "Are you returning to England? We haven't had our wedding reception yet, and since you didn't know we were getting married, you won't have purchased us a gift. Perhaps you can mail one?" she said hopefully.

"Don't worry, Anya," Giles smiled. "I'm not leaving yet. I'll have plenty of time to get you a, uh, gift."

Anya smiled in satisfaction. "If you're not leaving, why are you at the airport. Were you meeting us? Are you developing psychic skills?"

"No, Anya," Giles shook his head, silently laughing, "Although if I had known you were arriving, I would have certainly met you. No, I'm meeting Buffy and Spike. Their plane has landed, and they are just clearing customs. They should be here any minute."

"She found him, then?" Xander asked rhetorically. "Of course she did," he answered himself. "Is Evil Dead willing to help us? Did Buffy have to bring him back in chains?"

Giles sighed. He hadn't had a chance to explain Buffy and Spike's new 'relationship' to Xander, and didn't look forward to it. "Xander," he started, "About Spike,"

Giles was, thankfully, interrupted by the sight of Buffy and Spike walking towards them, arms around each other, accompanied by a huge smiling black man. Buffy smiled at them, but Spike only had eyes for her. Giles noted Buffy's happy countenance, and the renewed bounce in her step, and felt a resigned acceptance. If Spike could make her this happy, Giles wouldn't contest their relationship.

Xander was dumbstruck. Here was Buffy, clinging on to Evil Dead like he was the last man on earth. Check that; the last evil demon on earth. And Giles wasn't doing the funky chicken, which meant that he must've KNOWN about this. And what was wrong with Buffy's hands and feet? They seemed to have been coloured on with strange red ink. "Buffy," Xander choked out, "What , ....... ," Xander seemed to have lost the power of speech.

Buffy smiled and looked at Spike. Spike looked at Xander and said, "What does it look like, Monkey Boy? Buffy and I are together. To-GE-ther. We're a couple."

Xander felt dizzy, and crouched down, putting his head between his knees. Anya patted his back helpfully. After a few deep gulps of air, Xander was able to lift his head and look at Buffy. "Buffy," he croaked, "Spike has you in his thrall, like Dracula did. We need to get you away from here."

Buffy smiled again. "No thrall," she said to Xander, reaching down to help him to his feet. "And no leaving, either. Xander," she said gently, "I love him."

Xander felt a cold chill down his back. "But Buffy," he pleaded, "he's a killer. An evil, soulless killer. The only thing holding him back is the chip. You know that."

"No chip either, Xander," Buffy explained. Xander blanched and turned even whiter than he already was, rivaling Spike for paleness. "You have to trust me," she continued.

"Yeah, trust Buffy," Spike said, glorying in Xander's reaction. "I'm not gonna, ..... , GRRRR!" he growled suddenly, making a threatening motion in Xander's direction. Xander flinched and fell backwards, hitting his head on the floor.

"SPIKE!" Anya and Buffy yelled in unison. "That wasn't very nice," Buffy continued, as Anya knelt to check Xander's condition.

"Just teasing the boy," Spike replied, chastened.

"He's OK," Anya said, helping Xander to his feet. "You're just lucky you didn't harm my husband permanently!"

"Your WHAT?" Buffy and Spike gulped together.

"It's going to be a long night," Giles sighed, glancing at JB. "I assume you're the JB that Buffy has told me so much about." JB nodded and held out his huge hand to be shaken.

"Very good to meet you, Mr. Giles," JB said, in his deep and purring voice. "Buffy has also told me a great deal about you, all of it good, I hasten to add."

"Just Giles will do," Giles replied, shaking JB's hand. "I'd like to introduce Xander," Xander shakily allowed his hand to be engulfed in JB's, "and Anya."

"Oh, I know Anyanka," JB smiled. "Congratulations on your marriage, little one," he said, enfolding Anya in a large and warm hug, causing Xander's eyes to become even larger in his head. "What kind of a demon is he?" JB asked, tilting his head at Xander.

"Oh, no demon," she replied. "He's a human. And he's normally less, uh, reactive than this. He doesn't handle surprises well."

"Interesting," JB said. "Well, all the best. Be happy."

"I'm planning to be," she replied.

"Yes," Giles said, "sorry to interrupt, but none of us will be very happy in the future if we don't figure out a way to stop the impending apocalypse. My calculations say it will be soon. I couldn't pin down the exact date, but,....,"

"My turn to interrupt, Giles," JB said, "but it's begun. We'd best be going if we mean to have any affect on the outcome. My staff will gather the luggage. Shall we?" He gestured towards the door.

Giles and JB walked together, deep in discussion. Buffy and Spike, who threw a mocking glance over his shoulder at Xander, followed, arms still wrapped around each other. Xander and Anya walked behind, rather more slowly.

"The end of the world?" Xander said. "On the day after our wedding? That is so not fair. And, who is this JB guy anyhow?" He looked slightly jealous.

"Xander," Anya said placatingly, "I haven't seen him for years. And we were never serious. We just dated two or three times. His family came between us. And I never felt about him like I feel about you."

"His family?" Xander said. "Who's his family?"

"Well, mostly his father," Anya answered. "I always called him Luke, but you'd know him better as Lucifer."

Xander stopped walking, turned and grabbed Anya by both shoulders. "JB is the Son of Satan?" he asked, in a high quavering tone.

"Uh-Huh," Anya replied.

"And you KNOW Satan?" he squeaked. Anya nodded. "Socially?" His voice, impossibly, went up another octave. She nodded again.

Xander shook his head. "And I was worried about Buffy and Spike! My wife used to date the son of the Prince of Darkness."

"Now, Xander," Anya chided, "I have never even met Ozzy Ozborne, and his son is much too young for me. Oh," she said at his expression. "You didn't mean Ozzy's son. You meant JB."

Xander took her hand, and hurried to catch up with the others. "Anya," he said, "you're an amazing woman. I love you, but sometimes you scare me."

"Good," she said, smiling at him. "That's how it should be. We better hurry, now," she said. "I don't want the world to end before I have my bridal shower."
 

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TBC
 

A/N Oh, we're getting to it now! (Rubs hands in glee.)

Please please review – Queen_Akasha@telus.net

Thanks for reading.