Spike rushed into the front door seeing Buffy, Xander, Tara, Willow and Anya all sitting in the living room in various places. Anya was sitting on Xander’s lap to allow room for Buffy, Tara and Willow to sit on the couch. Spike went and perched next to Buffy on the arm of the couch thankful someone had thought in advance to close the blinds. Buffy without thinking scooted over to make room for him to fit on the arm nicely. Xander yelled, “Who invited the blonde menace to the rescue party?”
Buffy frowned, “I did. I need him here. If what Anya says is right, two of us can slip into the improperly closed portal and Spike’s the most logical choice.”
Xander stood up almost dropping Anya on the floor, “Yeah take the blonde who can’t sunburn so he can dust leaving you alone. Oh wait, he can dust. That’s a great idea actually. Only you still need someone else to go with you to help you scatter the ashes and then actually save Dawn.”
Spike rolled his eyes, “Alternate dimensions means no burning issues. It’s like a dream come true actually.”
Xander grinned, “Perhaps she can leave you behind when she returns. The world would be a better place without you.”
Spike stood up and tried to throw a punch and held his head from the attempt while gazing Buffy on the arm, who had stood up to stop the fighting.. Buffy glared at him but said nothing as Anya spoke up eager to get this show on the road, “Okay take me to the glowing spot on the map.”
Buffy led the way with Spike by her side, followed next by Xander and Anya and lastly Tara and Willow who fell in step behind them.
Anya sat on the floor with Tara and Willow by her side as the others stood outside the circle of candles. They were no longer lit and there were black marks on the floor that appeared to have been made by a portal opening. Anya sighed, “It’s still open but won’t be for long. The problem is, once it’s closes you can’t reopen one there. So whoever is going, needs to go now. Hopefully Dawn can get you back. If not well…good luck.”
Spike looked at Buffy, “We ready?”
Buffy nodded and walked into the center of the candled area along with Spike. Tara bent down, relighting the candles as Willow and Anya started chanting. Tara joined in on the chant and when the three joined hands, Spike and Buffy were gone in a flash. They continued chanting and the candles blew out leaving behind even more black marks, which Xander bent down to touch them, “Are they okay? Is it closed?”
Anya nodded, “We closed it. Now all we can do is wait.”
The gang walked away back to their lives as Xander continued to rant about Spike being allowed to go along with Buffy and how she really needed to dust the guy when she returned.
Spike landed on the ground with a loud thud and as he stood up, Buffy was flung pretty much into his arms. He reached his arms out to steady her and she smiled gratefully. They looked around and found themselves in the middle of a forest. Buffy looked around and tried to joke, “I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore, Spike.”
He chuckled, “Nope, don’t think we are even in Sunnyhell anymore, love. I think the portal worked. Wonder if the bit is around here.”
Buffy looked around nervously, “Wonder what lives in these woods.”
Spike shook his head, “Honestly, pet, I don’t even want to know. Let’s see if we can find a trail telling us what happened to your sis.”
She nodded and he said, “Stay put. Don’t worry I can always smell to find you again. Goal is to see if I can find footprints or a trail of some sort and I can’t really smell anything but your scent and Dawn’s blood right now.”
She nodded, worried but sat down pulling her feet under her. She hated waiting but he had a really good point. What good would her messing up Dawn’s trail be? She would just have to be patient. She sat for what seemed like hours but in reality it was probably only about 30 minutes, before Spike returned. She stood up looking at him hoping as he frowned not looking all that hopeful, “Well, she was here. Definitely is a blood trail but it stopped almost immediately. So I’m guessing it didn’t do much damage to your sis. I’m thinking it wasn’t the same spell Glory was planning to use or Anya couldn’t have closed the portal and more damage would have been done.”
Buffy nodded still not feeling so great about this situation. She sighed, “So shall we follow the trail?”
Spike frowned, “Um Buffy love, there’s something else.”
Buffy’s mind started spinning as she wavered slightly in her stance, “What?”
Spike hesitantly admitted, “She wasn’t alone. I don’t think it was her kidnappers either. It looked like lots of bloody footsteps. They were bare footed but weren’t human nor the Davric demons I’m used to. I’ve seen a footprint like that before but I can’t place where. They go towards what I’m guessing is north.”
Buffy nodded trying to be strong, “Well what are we waiting for?”
Spike chuckled glad to see her so strong as he glanced up towards the sky with a smile, “Did you see that beautiful blue sun? It’s amazing. A bloke so could get used to living here. No sun restrictions and it’s really beautiful.”
Buffy frowned but nodded. She just wanted to get out of here fast. She looked at Spike who was staring at her so she asked, “What are you staring at? We need to get Dawn and get out of here fast.”
Spike nodded and sighed. It appeared like this trip was going to be miserable with her. He wished for just this once that she would learn to appreciate his company rather than be annoyed by it. Perhaps this adventure would be just what they needed.
They were so busy walking that neither of them noticed the foggy mist appearing behind them and the white haired lady with fair skin who appeared in it. Her blue dress flowed around her as she watched the two wander through the woods. She said not a word and disappeared just as quickly as she appeared without a trace.
Buffy and Spike walked side by side in silence for what seemed like hours. Based on the blue sun, it had been hours. The sky turned colors from vivid purple, to yellow to now a bright pink. The only words that were mentioned were an occasional, “Watch out for that branch” or “I wonder what’s making that sound.” Those were mostly from Spike but Buffy was annoyed. She didn’t feel much like talking. In fact she wanted to just get out of here. She hated strange worlds. She hated being in places she wasn’t familiar with and being in situations she couldn’t just beat her way out of.
She sighed as she looked over at Spike who returned the glance. They paused walking for a minute and she was thankful as she sat on a rock. They were standing in front of tall cliffs. Spike frowned, “Well the trail stops here. I’m guessing they took her up and over the sodding cliffs. I can’t really prove it but it’s what the trail suggests.”
He sighed and kicked the stone in front of him yelling, “Bloody Hell.”
Buffy frowned looking at how tall the cliffs were and felt uneasy. She was the Slayer. She slayed things not climbed things. It was really high too. Now she wasn’t afraid of heights or anything but that was really high and steep. She looked up at Spike and confirmed, “The blood trail did stop right?”
Spike nodded. He was tempted to say something of helpfulness and comfort to the Slayer but knew it wasn’t always appreciated. He shrugged biting his tongue for once and turned around annoyed with her and himself, “Let’s go. We can’t dally down here all day. Nightfall will be on us soon and I’d like to have shelter in the cliffs. Besides you can’t see in the dark.”
Buffy frowned, “Perhaps the sun won’t set.”
Spike shook his head, “I don’t think that’s the case based on the simple fact when we arrived the bloody sun was over there.” He pointed to one direction and then pointed in the opposite, “and that’s where the sun is now. Based on my internal clock, I’m thinking another 3 hours of daylight max and that’s assuming a lot.”
Buffy frowned really not liking the idea of being alone in this place in the dark. She stood up stretching her sore legs, “Let’s go.”
Spike nodded and together they started the climb.