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Author's Chapter Notes:
Joy is still lost, so there is some angst here. I promise she'll be rescued in time for trick-or-treat.
The faces that greeted them were uniformly grim as Buffy, Spike, and Willow arrived at the rendezvous coordinates a short time later. The dimension designated for critical event briefings had been chosen, in part, because the sunlight there had no affect on vampires. A few other vampires had been involved from time to time, but it was Spike’s pivotal role in the Council’s work that prompted this choice of venue. The black and white Council teachings of old had long since been supplanted by many shades of grey. Demons of many types were now employed throughout the formerly all-human enclave committed to saving the world from evil.

The assembled operatives cleared a path as Willow walked purposefully into the center of the group, drawing Buffy and Spike with her. The determination burning in the powerful witch’s eyes was all it took to silence the assembly and focus everyone’s attention on her. “We have no time to spare,” she began. “Listen carefully because every second counts. Joy is lost between dimensions. Some of you know exactly what I am talking about because you’ve been lost there too. The rest of you will have to wait until after Joy is found to get a more thorough explanation of this phenomenon. Right now, you only need to know how we intend to find her.”

Spike took Buffy’s hand as they stood, listening to Willow convey her instructions. Very little time had passed since she’d learned Joy was lost, yet Willow’s plan was clear and elegant. She divided the group into teams and assigned each team a sector. The teams were to fan out and systematically search until Joy was found. Willow provided magical enhancements to aid the searchers and everyone was instructed to bring Joy directly to either Buffy or Spike, whoever was closer, when she was found. Before setting off with their teams, Council operatives who had themselves been lost told Buffy and Spike how to minimize any long term trauma when the lost part of Joy was reunited with her other half.

Finally, the crowd began to thin as the teams left. Buffy spotted Giselle approaching from across the clearing. “Giselle, what are you doing here?” Buffy asked, taking the nanny’s hands in hers.

“I had to come when I heard my Joyous was lost,” the lovely violet-skinned demon explained. “I go now to tell my sisters and brothers how to search. Each one will shift to look just like me. That way little one not to be afraid. She will think my sister and my brother is her very own Giselle.”

“Oh, Giselle!” Buffy said, starting to cry, “That’s such a wonderful idea.” Spike was just a few steps behind Buffy having stopped briefly to speak with Willow. By the time he caught up to where she stood talking with Giselle, tears were streaming down Buffy’s face. Buffy tried to tell Spike what Giselle had told her, but her sobs made it impossible for her to speak.

“No worries, love,” he said, gathering her into his arms. “I heard what Gigi was saying.” Turning to the nanny he said, “Thank you, for what your family is doing, and for making Buffy cry. I wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold it in without hurting herself.”

Giselle flashed Spike her exaggerated and slightly bizarre smile. She was usually so good at mimicking human attributes, the strange smile was a jarring reminder that Giselle’s human appearance was just one of the infinite forms she could assume. “I best run to tell my sisters and brothers how to look,” she said, bobbing her head slightly in acknowledgement of Spike’s thanks. “I will see you at home with our little girl so very soon.” With that she was gone, stepping through a portal which would take her to her home dimension.

Buffy clung to Spike for another moment, then took a deep breath. Looking up at him, she managed a wan little smile. "I'm okay now," she said, wiping away her tears. "I don't know what I expected, but I was surprised to see so many people here and to feel so much love. Giselle was just the last straw. I actually feel much better now."

Spike kissed her on the top of the head and then drew slightly away. "We have to split up,” he said, knowing instinctively she was all business now. “As soon as one of us has her, the other will go to Dawn's to prepare the Widget for her other half. Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m as ready as I’m going to be,” she said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. “What were you talking to Willow about?’

“She’s going to magically boost my hearing,” Spike said. “I’m sure I can pick out the Widget’s heartbeat with a little help. I’ll start searching my part of the grid as soon as she’s finished the spell.”

“Okay, then I guess this is it,” Buffy said, looking determined. “I’ll see you at Dawn’s with Joy then.”

“Yes, love,” he agreed, “at Dawn’s with the Widget. But let’s find her quick, okay? We’ve got trick-or-treating to do.”

They parted after one more kiss, Buffy leaving with her team as Spike went to find Willow.

As soon as she was in motion, Buffy focused entirely on the task at hand. She’d been on enough missions to pretend this was just one more puzzle needing to be solved. But she still had to push other thoughts from her mind, thoughts that threatened to interrupt her concentration. She wouldn’t think, for example, that a search for one small girl lost between dimensions was even less likely to be successful that a search for one needle in a haystack. She wouldn’t think that, unlike the others who had been lost between dimensions, Joy was just a child, not a trained Council operative familiar with extra-dimensional travel. And most particularly, she wouldn’t think about whether Joy had ended up in a benign dimension or had landed instead in a place hostile to humans. If she let her thoughts go down any of those paths she would dissolve in despair. There was simply no time for that.

Meanwhile, Spike approached Willow as she finished giving her assignment to the last of the search teams. A moment after the team disappeared into a portal she turned to face him.

“I appreciate what it means that you’ve asked me for this spell,” she said to Spike, her eyes fixed on the ground. “I know exactly how you feel about magic. Under the circumstances, I’m grateful you’ll let me try to help.”

Spike shook his head, “Red, we don’t blame you,” he said, lifting her chin with his finger. “You were about to share what you’d learned, right? It was more a question of timing than anything. Hey, I was hesitant about using the portals for travel with Joy. I didn’t follow my gut. Am I kicking myself now? Of course I am. What’s done is done. Come on, let’s get me all magicked up so I can go find my girl.”

“Okay,” she said, with an expression that was half wince and half smile. “But I need two minutes to check the spell. You can look this over until I’m ready,” she said, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. “I ranked all the dimensions in order of their danger to humans. The search teams are starting with the worst ones. I saved the biggest and the baddest ones for you. Fortunately, if this spell works, you’ll be able to cover a lot of area very quickly.”

Spike had already memorized the portal coordinates that would take him to his hunting grounds when Willow returned, book in hand. “It’s pretty straight-forward,” she said, finding her place on the appropriate page. “Hold on.” Taking Spike’s hand in hers, she began to chant.


A/N: Sorry for the long break between updates. I know the saying is “art imitates life” but for me it’s more like “life interrupts art”. I’m very proud to announce that this story has been nominated or Best WIP, Future Fic, and Plot at the 17th Round of the Love’s Last Glimpse Awards. Many thanks to whomever it was who nominated me. I encourage you to check out all the nominees at http://www.loveslastglimpse.com/awards/index.html.





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