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Chapter 30

“Where the hell are you going?” Buffy asked from the back door, as Spike closed the shed door. She stood, arms crossed, eyes sad and lifeless, and waited for his answer.

“I’m going to find our kids,” he replied, glancing up at her only briefly.

“You were going to go without telling me, weren’t you?”

“You should stay here.”

“No,” Buffy replied angrily. “If anyone should stay here, it’s you.” She stormed out onto the back porch, and Spike moved up to stand in front of her.

“I have every right to go out there.”

“I didn’t say you didn’t. But I’ve already lost you once this year, and I don’t plan on losing you on the same night our…” She took a deep breath. “I’m coming with you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Yes I do. I have to go. We’re going to find them.” Buffy crossed her arms in a ‘that’s that’ type manner, and Spike nodded.

“Alright, luv. Let’s go get our kids.”

“I’m coming too.” Xander, who’d just returned from his own excursion came walking into the back yard.

“Any leads?” Buffy asked, the color returning to her face with each moment.

“It’s not much, but the guy who runs the bar on Main said he saw an unmarked van about three hours ago. It was speeding East. Tore through a couple intersections, caused a few minor crashes.” Buffy and Spike looked at one another decisively.

“We’ll start there.”

“I’m coming too. I can do a few locator spells.”

“Great,” Buffy nodded.

“I’m coming too.” Dawn came walking out of the house with a crossbow in one hand and an axe in another.

“Dawnie, you should stay here,” Buffy said quietly, “in case someone calls.”

“No!” Dawn cringed. “I’m not staying. I want to help. I know you blame me, and that’s fine, but…”

“I don’t blame you, Dawn,” Buffy said softly, stepping up in front of her sister. “I’m sorry if that’s what you thought. I’m just…I’m afraid.”

“Well I’m going to help.”

“You can help me by staying here, out of harm’s way.”

“But…”

“I’m not trying to be the big sister right now. I’m trying to be smart and keep somebody by the phones. We don’t know who has them, and we don’t know if they’ll call. Maybe the police will call. I don’t know. But, somebody has to stay.” Dawn, realizing her sister had a point, nodded and handed her the weapons.

“I’ll call if anybody calls here.”

“Thanks, Nibblet,” Spike said with a nod. “Everyone ready?” Nobody said a word otherwise. “Then let’s get going.”

***

In true patrolling fashion, the small group gathered outside of the car for further briefing on the situation. They were parked in front of an abandoned warehouse outside of town, east of the bar, where the owner had claimed to see an unmarked van. It was a long shot, but Buffy knew that it was possible that the kidnappers were inside. Anything was possible in her world.

“Spike and I are going in around back. Willow, you try a locator spell. See if you can channel…something.”

“Mystical energy. Got it.” Willow moved out of the way to give it a try.

“Xander…I need you to go in the front. They’re more than likely not there, but they could be hiding the babies there.”

“Alright,” Xander said quickly. “I’m ready.” Buffy nodded and looked at Spike. As they headed for the building, a gasp from behind them made them all spin to look back.

“Wil?” Buffy asked.

“Amy,” she hissed, her eyes blackened as she stood. “Amy’s here.” Buffy watched her friend standing there stiffly, eyes straight ahead.

“Wil, take us to her,” Buffy whispered, almost inaudibly. But the witch could hear perfectly. Willow started out ahead, and they all followed silently. Buffy held her hand out, her fingertips reaching for the warmth of Spike’s hand, and when she found it, they clasped onto one another desperately.

The air grew colder, and Buffy tensed up. She was holding her breath, her heart was pounding, and she was growing dizzy. But, she calmed herself, and she continued on.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For what I said to you.”

“There’s nothing to forgive, luv,” he assured her. “You’ve said much worse things to me in the past. It was nothing.”

“I’m still sorry. It’s a good thing that you’re human. It’s just…I felt…”

“Helpless?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

With a wave of her hand, Willow commanded the double doors to open, and they did so with a heavy crack against the cement wall, busting them off the frame. Buffy shivered at her friend’s power, and she closed her eyes, gripping Spike’s hand tighter.

Willow spoke a few syllables of Latin, and a bright glow filled the dark passage.

“This place reminds me of the factory in Sunnydale,” Xander commented quietly.

“That place was much more homey,” Spike protested.

“Yeah, to an evil vampire,” Xander muttered.

“Will you both shut up? Let her work,” Buffy snipped, flashing a glare at her friend and her husband.

The passage took several twists and turns, before they came upon another set of much heavier doors. There was an electric hum emanating from the other side, and they all prepared themselves, as Willow forced the doors open with her mind. Buffy didn’t even want to take a stab at what color her friend’s eyes had become, but her hair was a dark brown, not quite black, and Buffy hoped her friend could pull herself away from the darkness before it was too late.

Shrugging off the worry, Buffy walked into the room, where a vortex swirled open and growing larger by the minute.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. Sitting in the center of the room was Amy, eyes closed, hands outspread, fingertips sparkling with red energy.

“AMY!” Willow screamed, her voice more deafening than the sound of the spinning portal. Amy’s eyes flew open, but the look on her face didn’t show surprise or shock.

“It’s too late. They’ve gone through.”

“Undo it,” Willow ordered, walking across the room, standing in front of Amy, as Spike, Buffy, and Xander gathered round. Buffy held firmly onto the axe, threatening to swing at any moment.

“I can’t. They’ve already gone through.”

“Pull them out, then,” Spike growled.

“He gave me strict orders not to!”

“Who?” Buffy asked, placing the cold steel to the witch’s neck.

“If you kill me, you’ll never see them again,” she warned, eyes serious, a bit of mischief lying somewhere underneath.

“Undo it now, Amy,” Willow warned, eyes and tone of voice blackening. “You know what I can do. You know.” Buffy caught a glimmer of fear for a moment in Amy’s gaze. “Whatever you did, you undo it, or this is going to be a lot more painful on you than it already will be.”

“Willow, you don’t understand,” Amy started, deciding to take a different approach. “They made me, and I…”

“Save it,” Xander ordered. “Stop this.”

It was a standstill, two witches staring at each other, neither one backing down, as Willow began to chant a spell that obviously had Amy freaking out. Buffy and Spike were both at the point of preparing to knock Amy over, hopefully disrupting the vortex.

A snapping sound began to form in the swirling mass, and the Slayer turned toward it.

“He’s not finished yet!” Amy screamed at Willow.

“Not finished what?” Buffy demanded.

“Where are they?! Where are my kids?”

“He won’t hurt them!” she pleaded, as Willow came close to ending her spell, which Amy obviously knew was going to end badly.

Finally, unable to take it anymore, Spike knelt down next to Amy, knife at her throat.

“You bring him out, whoever he is, and if he’s anything at all, even made them cry, I’ll kill him, and Red here will kill you.”

“He just wants to know…he wants to know…”

“Hecate, bless me with your power. Hecate release…”

“NO!” Amy screamed. She frantically spoke something in Latin, and the room began to shake. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. “They’re coming!” Spike instinctively grabbed for Buffy, and they held onto one another, as they were knocked to the ground. Amy flew back, landing hard against the door, and Willow and Xander were blown to the side. The vortex began to swirl unstably, and the snapping grew louder. Finally, a gush of what could only be perceived as wind, came whipping out of the center, knocking them all flat as they tried to stand. Spike covered Buffy, hoping he could pin her down and manage saving them both from whatever was about to happen.

But as quickly as the portal had gone unstable, it was gone, and standing in the center of the room was a man with two infants wrapped in his arms. Buffy was the first to look up, and her eyes filled with shock, surprise, and anger as she forced herself to stand.

“You,” she seethed through clenched teeth. Spike, Willow, and Xander all looked up to see the kidnapper.

“Buffy, I…”

“No!” she screamed. “You don’t speak to me. You don’t look at me.” He looked away. “Wil…the babies.” Willow rushed over to take the babies, quickly handing one to Xander, and they both examined them for harm.

Buffy lunged at him, knocking him to the ground. She’d always been stronger than him.

“Buffy, wait!” he exclaimed.

“Shut up, Riley! Shut the hell up!” She packed a punch right into his jaw, and he brought his hand there to sooth the hurt. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“Where’s Amy?” Willow asked suddenly. They all turned to see that the place Amy had landed by the door was empty, and the door was slightly ajar. Willow handed the other baby to Xander, and she rushed out to see if she could find her. Buffy turned her full attention back to Riley.

“Please, let me ex…”

“Shut up,” she growled, hitting him again. Spike, coming to his senses, pulled Buffy off of him. She fought him every step of the way, but soon, Riley was getting to his feet, and Spike was lunging at him, tossing him back against the wall, picking him up by the throat, squeezing the breath out of him.

“I’ll kill you. Don’t think that I won’t. Don’t think that just because I’m not a demon anymore that I won’t rip your bloody throat out and dance on your sodding grave.” Riley struggled, clawing at Spike’s hand, trying to pull it away from his throat.

“I…explain…I…can…” he gasped.

“Spike,” Buffy said softly, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“He took them, Buffy! He could have killed them!”

“Spike, let go.”

“No! I was supposed to protect them! We were supposed to…and he took them!”

“Let go!” Buffy ordered. “Let him go! We need answers, and he’s no good to us dead.” Spike squeezed his neck just a little tighter before finally letting him go. Riley’s knees buckled, and he fell to the floor gasping for breath. As he looked up, all he saw was Spike’s boot coming toward his face, and then everything went black.





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