Title: Past Glory
Author:  Sandy <sp23twop@yahoo.com>
Rating:  NC-17
Pairing: Spike/Buffy
Spoilers:  S5 up to Tough Love, AU after that although elements of S6
will appear throughout the story.
Disclaimer:  Alas, not mine, I just borrow them occasionally
Feedback:  Gives me the warm fuzzies
A/N:  For the purposes of this story, the Knights of Byzamtium,
although suspecting that the Slayer is protecting the Key are not
aware that Dawn is the Key.


Chapter 1

When his door slammed against the wall, he opened his mouth to give
the Slayer hell.  Bint never knocked, just busted in as if she owned
the joi...  One look at her face and he was hopping off the
sarcophagus, going up to her and grabbing her shoulders.

"Buffy, what's wrong?"

She was frightened.  No, it was more than that.  She was terrified.
He'd known Buffy for four years now and he'd *never* seen her
terrified.  Angry, confused, tired, sad, scared, sure he'd seen all
those emotions and more.  But never terrified.

"She knows, Spike," Buffy whispered.  It was as if she were incapable
of drawing enough air into her lungs to form words.

Spike felt fear clench at his gut.  "What?"

"Glory.  She knows Dawn's the Key."

"How?  How did she find out?"

"She found us.  Me, Dawn, Willow and Tara.  Tara started going on
about green glowing energy, looking at Dawn."  Buffy managed to pull
in a gulp of air.  "Willow had developed a spell.  A way to suck
energy out of Glory and feed it back into Tara.  She weakened Glory
enough that we were able to escape from her, but she knows and she'll
come after Dawn and I can't protect her, Spike.  I can't fight Glory;
she's too strong."

Buffy was beginning to hyperventilate, her words rushing out of her
almost too quickly to understand.  Spike began running his hands up
and down her arms in a soothing manner.  "Shhh, Slayer, calm down.
We'll figure something out.  Have you told Giles?"

"Of course I have.  But he can't fight her any more than Willow or I
can.  Willow only weakened her temporarily.  She'll get strong
again.  We have to get away, Spike.  I have to take Dawn and leave
town.  Now."

"Right then.  The DeSoto's not running, but I can steal a car and
you, me and little sis will hit the highway.  Get away from Sunnydale
and the Hell Bitch.  We'll be fine, pet.  I'll take care of you.
Both of you."

Buffy was shaking her head.  "No.  It has to be all of us.  Don't you
see, Spike?  If I just take Dawn and run she'll come after the
others.  I have to keep them safe too."

Spike sighed.  He'd known as soon as he said it that she wouldn't
just go off with him.  Of course she'd want her little gang of
Scoobies with her.  Well, so be it.  She'd come to him for help, and
he'd help her even if it meant having the entire lot of them tagging
along.  His mind was already racing, considering and then rejecting
one idea after another.  When he finally came up with one that he
thought would work, he looked down into the tiny Slayer's large, wild
eyes.

"So we'll need something bigger than a car, but without too many
windows.  Wouldn't do for the car thief to burst into flames during
the big getaway now would it?" he joked lightly.

"Spike," Buffy started hesitantly.

"Listen to me, Buffy," he said seriously.  "We need to get out of
town now.  That means we steal something fast and leave.  No time for
moral qualms, pet.  We take what we need and we go.  Right?"

Buffy bit her lip but nodded her head.  She wasn't exactly sure why
she had turned to Spike in this moment of crisis.  She had just known
instinctively that he would know what to do.  After all, he had over
a hundred years' experience in making a fast getaway when things got
too hot.  Spike moved away from her grabbing up his duster and
flinging it on.  Going to a chest he began removing various items and
shoving them into his pockets.  Tossing a short sword and a crossbow
back to Buffy he said, "Just in case we run into any of Glory's
scabby little minions."  Once he had everything he needed, he led
Buffy to the trapdoor that led to his lower chamber.

Buffy was amazed at the sudden change in him.  He was acting assured,
in charge.  It was rather unnerving.  She was seeing a Spike she
hadn't seen in over a year.  The Big Bad in action.  Without
hesitation she followed him.

Once they were in the lower level, he headed for the tunnels that ran
under the entire city.  "I have an idea of where we can find a
getaway vehicle, but we need to make a couple stops first."

"Spike, we don't have time to make stops.  Let's just get the car and
get out of here, okay? "

"We have time to make these stops, Buffy," he insisted.  "In fact us
being able to stay hidden from Glory depends on them."  Stopping he
turned to Buffy and once again held her gently by her
shoulders.  "You need to trust me, pet.  I know what I'm doing."

Buffy looked solemnly at the vampire and nodded.  "All right, Spike."

He gave her shoulders a brief squeeze and then turned to lead the way
again. At last they came to a door that he opened and entered.  Buffy
was surprised to find herself in the basement of The Magic Box.

"Spike, what the hell are we doing here?  This is one of the first
places Glory will look for us."

"We won't be here long, luv.  Just need to pick up some things."  He
quickly climbed the stairs and entered the shop.  "You got any money
on you?"

"No, but I hardly think Giles will expect us to pay for anything
under the circumstances," Buffy snapped.  She was agitated, wanting
to leave Sunnydale, to get as far away from Glory as possible as
quickly as possible.

Spike just walked over to the cash register and gave it a good
thump.  The cash drawer flew open and Spike pulled money from the
till.  "How long does Giles think we need to hide out until the Bit's
safe?"

"Until after midnight on the twenty-second."

"Okay, while I'm getting the things here we need, you run down to the
market and get some other things we'll need.  Blood for me, enough
for a couple days, a carton of cigarettes, five or six large rolls of
aluminum foil and a couple rolls of duct tape.  We'll have to stop
somewhere on the way and buy the rest of the supplies.  Take the
tunnels so that anyone watching the store won't see you."  Shoving
the money into her hands he gave her directions through the tunnels
telling her he'd meet her there as soon as he was finished here.
Buffy was going to ask him about the aluminum foil, but instead of
wasting time she took the money and returned to the tunnels.

As soon as Buffy left, Spike ran up the stairs to the restricted
section of the shop.  This was where Giles kept the most powerful
grimoires and spellbooks.  Casting his eye over them, he quickly
found the volume he was seeking.  Opening it up, he flipped through
the pages until he located the proper spell.  Reading the archaic
language as easily as if it were English, he sighed in relief.  Yes,
that was exactly the spell he had in mind. Noting the ingredients the
spell required he returned to the main floor and began gathering the
needed items placing them in a large Magic Box shopping bag.

Buffy was waiting for him surrounded by bags holding the items he'd
told her to purchase.  Spike gathered them up leaving her
unencumbered in case of attack and once again began leading the way
through the sewers.  After what seemed to Buffy like endless miles of
twisting and turning he stopped and set his packages down.  Lifting
up his hand, he cut her inquiry off before it had even left her
lips.  Standing taut, it was obvious that he was listening for
something.  Breathing in through his nose, he sampled the air for
scents.

Assured that he could detect nothing he turned to Buffy and said
softly, "Wait here, pet." Silently as a ghost he entered an
underground parking garage. Buffy watched as he made his way up to a
large RV. Reaching into his coat pocket he removed something and then
began poking at the door. Seconds later the door was open and Spike
was hurrying back to Buffy. Picking up the packages again he told
her, "Come on, Cinderella, your carriage awaits."

Buffy quickly found out what the aluminum foil and duct tape were for
when Spike began covering the front windshield and side windows.
With Buffy helping him, they soon had the front of the RV sun proofed
leaving only a space large enough for Spike to see through as he
drove. Once they had finished, Spike's head disappear under the
steering wheel of the vehicle. She heard a couple clicking sounds and
then the motor started. Spike leaned back up with a triumphant grin
on his face. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the most
outlandish pair of goggles Buffy had ever seen. Placing them on his
face he turned to Buffy and asked, "Where to, pet?"

For the first time that day Buffy smiled.  She couldn't help it; he
looked so ridiculous.  Taking the seat next to him she gave him
directions to where the gang were no doubt impatiently waiting.

When the RV pulled up to the curb where the Scoobies stood, Buffy
exited the vehicle giving Dawn a hug and ushering everyone inside.
Giles stopped when he saw who was sitting at the driver's
seat.  "What's he doing here," he growled.

"He's helping me."

"We don't need his help," Giles insisted coldly.

Buffy looked at her Watcher and said calmly, "Spike is a member of
this team.  He's helping me protect Dawn.  He stays.  Deal with it."

"And I suppose it was his brilliant idea to get this monstrosity as
an escape vehicle?"

"We needed something that would carry all of us."

"Might I suggest a van?"

"Tight squeeze for eight people to live in a van for three nights,
don't you think, Rupert?"

"I wasn't talking to you," Giles snapped.  "Buffy, we might as well
have a neon sign flashing over us telling Glory where we are.  We
need something inconspicuous, not a bloody great motor home."

"Doesn't matter how big something is if no one notices it," Spike
smirked.

"And you think no one's going to notice the Sunnydale chapter of On
the Road?" Xander asked.

"Not once the witches get done they won't."

"What are you blathering on about?"

"Cloaking spell, Giles."

Giles hesitated for an instant and then said grudgingly, "Yes, well
they could probably cast a cloaking spell long enough for us to sneak
out of town and get a few miles between us and Sunnydale.  The
problem arises when the spell wears off.  We don't know how many
minions Glory has or where they're situated."

"Don't matter how many she has.  We stay cloaked until it's too late
for her to use the Bit to open that portal."

"Spike, Willow has grown in strength considerably this past year, but
she still isn't strong enough to maintain a spell this powerful for
over forty-eight hours.  I would never even ask her to try."

"Don't need her to maintain it by herself," he answered with as much
patience as he was able to muster.  "She has her girlfriend there..."

"Who has just recently recovered from one of Glory's attacks and is
hardly in any condition..."

"I can help Willow," a soft voice chimed in.  "I know I'm not as
strong as she is but I'm fine, Mr. Giles, really.  I c-can help her."

"There see, she's all better and willing to aid in the cause."

"Even is she is, it's still too..."

"For fuck's sake, Giles, I thought you were the one here with the big
Watcher Academy brain.  Think outside the box, man.  We have Willow,
we have Tara, we have you - and I know you've dabbled in the occult
even if you aren't very good at it what with botched up truth spells
and all."  This earned him a glare that he answered with a
smirk.  "We have demon girl there who knows a thing or two about
magic, and we have me.  I'm a vampire, Giles, in case you've
forgotten.  I don't particularly like magic, but I use it when I need
to.  Between the five of us, we have more than enough power to keep
that spell going long enough to hide from that tarted up cunt of a
god."

Giles looked around and then slowly nodded his head.  "Perhaps you're
not the complete waste of space I always thought you were, Spike.
Very well, we need to stop by The Magic Box..."

"No, we don't," Spike told him smugly.  "Have everything we need here
already."  Looking at Buffy he said, "Pet, get the bag I stashed
under the table and give it to Willow.  The spellbook and everything
she needs to cast the spell are in the bag.  You start the spell,
Red, and I'll get this puppy going."

Lowering the goggles into place, he gave them all a wicked grin.
"Buckle up, kiddies.  Daddy's puttin' the hammer down."

tbc...