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Chapter 20 – Are You Ready?


Buffy wandered around a house that used to be her home, walking onto the
back porch as the final rays of the sun faded away. She was going on two
hours of sleep, too nervous to rest any longer than that, and she was
becoming more agitated as the darkness crept up on her. Running her hands
along the sleeves of her sweater, she tried to ward off the chill that was
creeping through her body.

Buffy jumped when she felt strong arms encircle her waist, relaxing when she
felt Spike’s lips brush along her neck. “You worried?” he murmured, pulling
her closer to him.

“Yeah,” Buffy said softly. “I am.”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he whispered, breathing in
the scent of vanilla.

“It’s not up to you,” Buffy replied, turning to look at him.

Spike closed his eyes for a moment before deciding to let it go.
“Everyone’s ready.” Buffy took a deep breath nodding as she moved to walk
past him. Spike grabbed her arm, looking deep into her eyes before she
passed him. “Are you?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

* * * * *

Buffy took a deep breath as she stood outside a mansion that was on the
outskirts of Sunnydale. A spell, similar to a locator spell, pointed them
in this direction, but now that Buffy was here, she wasn’t sure if she could
do this. She was suddenly, desperately, wishing for her trusty hammer that
she’d had, but even if she did have it, she wasn’t strong enough to lift it
anyway.

That’s what scared her the most. She was at full strength when she died.
Now, she was little more than a girl. She had strength and she had speed,
but the Slayer part of her felt like it was gone. She didn’t have the
confidence she had when sparring with Spike and Angel.

“Are you ready?” Angel asked softly, standing slightly behind her.

“It’s now or never, right?” Buffy replied, trying to smile before turning
and kicking the door in. Okay, so maybe she did have a lot more strength
than the average girl, but she was still nervous.

“It’ll come back to you, luv,” Spike whispered, standing opposite Angel.

Buffy nodded but was soon distracted as Glory’s minions came rushing at
her. “Let’s do this,” she said, a grin appearing on her lips as the three
of them backed away from the door, staying close together in the open land.

Buffy fought, almost lazily, as she kept an eye on the door, waiting for
Glory to appear. She found herself smiling when Cordy, Gunn, and Xander
appeared behind the minions that they were fighting, taking them by surprise
and dispersing the numbers.

“Well, this was certainly rude,” a voice announced from the direction of the
house.

Buffy quickly killed one of the followers before turning her full attention
to the Hell-God. “What can I say,” Buffy replied with a shrug. “I like a
big entrance. Or exit, in your case.”

“Look at the brave little warrior girl,” Glory said mockingly as she put
her hand over her heart. “Coming all the way here to scare me with two
vampires and a handful of worthless friends.”

“This is who we’re supposed to be scared of?” Cordy asked with a smirk.

“Pathetic, isn’t it?” Xander replied with a laugh as Buffy suppressed a
smile at the outraged look on Glory’s face.

“Come on,” Cordy said, rolling her eyes. “I was tougher than this chick when
I was in high school.”

Buffy didn’t have time to be amused at Glory’s expression before she
attacked her. Taken by surprise, Glory was quickly thrown off as Buffy went
into full Slayer mode. The moves came back to her with a force as she fought- flying kick, right
hook, spin kick to the stomach. Buffy could feel the adrenaline coursing
through her, but began to get nervous as Glory seemed to remember who she
was up against.

With a solid hit to Buffy’s stomach, Buffy was sent flying back at least
twenty feet. She painfully got to her feet, wincing at the pain that seemed
to explode through her body as Xander came running over to assist her.
Buffy turned to see Spike and Angel both lunge at Glory, taking her by
surprise as they relentlessly struck out at her.

Buffy looked around, breathing heavily as she tried to spot Willow.
“Xander, where are they?”

“They’re working on it, Buff. It could take some time.”

“We don’t have time. I thought they were ready.”

“Cordy went to check on them- she should be back soon.”

Buffy took a step forward when she felt Xander’s hand on her arm. “Let me
go, Xander. They need my help.”

“Buffy, you’re hurt, you’re no match for her right now. If you try to fight
her now, you could die.”

“Yeah, and if I don’t try to fight her now, they’re going to die. I’m
going.”

“Is this all you got?” Glory asked, advancing on Buffy, leaving two bruised
and bleeding vampires behind her. “Because, I gotta tell you, it’s not very
effective.”

“I’m rash and impulsive,” Buffy said with a shrug. “It’s a flaw.”

Buffy made it a few steps before a powerful voice seemed to bellow out of
the darkness. “Discede!”

Buffy watched as Glory disappeared, Willow and the others jogging over to
Buffy. “Well, you’ve certainly gotten more powerful with that spell,” Buffy
commented, bracing her hand against her back as they walked over to where Spike and Angel
were painfully standing. “But what happened to the plan?”

“It’s going to take a little longer, and it may be a little more
unpredictable than we originally planned,” Tara said softly.

“Oh boy,” Buffy said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Just the kind of
thing you want to hear when it comes to a spell…unpredictable.”

Spike hurriedly made his way to Buffy, taking her face in his hands. “Are
you alright?”

“You’re the one bleeding, and you’re asking me if I’m alright?” Buffy asked
with a soft smile.

“Because no matter how much I bleed, I’m not in danger of dying as a result of
internal injuries,” he replied with a worried expression.

“I’ll be fine. I guess we’re about to find out if my Slayer healing is
still fully intact.”

“So, where is she?” Angel asked, looking around.

“She’s close,” Wesley said, keeping an eye on the surroundings.

“We should get started again,” Giles said softly.

“Yeah,” Willow agreed. “Let’s hurry.”





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