It's Not Where You Start Out (15/17)
by Kelly Frieders
raykel2@cox.net

Genre: Drama, B/S
Rating: PG-13, nothing you wouldn't see on the show
Disclaimer: Spike's not mine. Wish he were, but my husband might object. Buffy and all the rest aren't mine, either. I'm just borrowing them from Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy for a while.

Summary: Post "The Gift." Way post "The Gift," actually. Takes place sometime the following year. There's some new interest in the Key and an old enemy is back in town. Spoilers for everything up to and including "The Gift."

----------

15.

For like the hundredth time, Buffy caught a glimpse of her reflection in the hall mirror as she walked by and almost jumped to see Dawn's face looking back at her. It was hard to get used to, being someone else. Being someone else while spending all day with a robot trying to be you was worse.

"Let's go to the Magic Box or something," Buffy said restlessly. "Maybe it would be best to get out of the house. I'm not all that thrilled about them wrecking the place again anyway."

"But it's much safer here," the robot chirped brightly. "I can protect you much better indoors."

Buffy sighed. "The whole idea is to *let* them grab me, plastic girl." Suddenly she had new appreciation for Dawn's resistance to her playing bodyguard all the time.

"But I'm supposed to look as if I am protecting you," the robot returned. "It won't look like I'm protecting you if I let you wander
around outside."

"We won't be *wandering.* And I never forced Dawn to stay indoors all day. I'm going nuts in here. Let's go."

The robot shrugged. "All right."

Buffy went to the hall closet, automatically reaching for her leather jacket, then remembering she handed it over to the robot who pulled it on. Buffy grabbed Dawn's denim jacket and put it on instead.

The two girls headed towards town, Buffybot looking around warily for signs of trouble while Buffy tried hard to look like she wasn't doing exactly the same thing. The afternoon sun shown through the trees, warming her through her jacket as they walked.

When they reached town, they headed toward the Magic Box. If the monks were keeping tabs on them, that would be a likely place they'd watch, although Buffy decided they probably shouldn't stay long because they weren't as likely to get attacked in a public place. And if they did, Anya would be upset.

The bell jangled as they walked through the door and Anya looked up from the counter. She gave them a very false smile.

"Buffy! Dawn! What are you doing here? I thought you two were going to be somewhere that wasn't here today."

"Dawn wanted to go for a walk," Buffybot said matter-of-factly.

"Don't worry, Anya, we won't stay long," Buffy added.

"Okay, *Dawn,* thank you *Dawn,*" Anya replied, her fake smile widening a notch.

Buffy rolled her eyes. Obvious much? "Okay, it's boring here anyway," she said, putting as much teenage petulance into her voice as possible. "Buffy just wanted to stop in and say hi."

"Yes, that's right," the robot agreed.

"Let's go then. I'm hungry."

"Okay."

They turned around and left, much to Anya's obvious relief, and Buffy tried to think where to go next. She wanted to stay outside, somewhere easy for them to get to her, but she didn't want to look too obvious. "Let's go to the Expresso Pump," she suggested.

"Okay."

Buffy sighed. Even with Willow's programming, the robot was just too damn agreeable. She resisted an urge to kick it, and the two of them headed toward the Expresso Pump. They were not far from the coffee shop when out of the corner of her eye Buffy saw a figure approach them and she froze.

"Dawn!"

Trying hard to be casual, Buffy turned toward the voice to see Dawn's friend Lisa waving at her. How in the world was she going to fool Dawn's best friend? "Hey Lisa!" she smiled, waving.

"I was so worried about you when you didn't show up for school today. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I can't really talk right now, though." She leaned toward Lisa conspiratorially and nodded toward the robot. "Buffy's going all uber-protective."

"Well why don't I just hang with you guys then?" Lisa asked. "You going to the Expresso Pump?"

Buffybot shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea, young lady. It's much better if I protect Dawn alone."

//Young lady?// Lisa mouthed at Buffy, who had a moment of blind panic. Recognition of Buffy's friend had been part of the robot's original programming, but it had never occurred to her or Willow to add *Dawn's* friends in. The robot had no idea who Lisa was and was on the verge of blowing the whole thing.

She looked at Lisa, putting on an embarrassed look and mouthed back //I told you.// To the robot she said "Buffy, could you *be* any more lame?" To Lisa she said "I think it's better if I just go along with the warden quietly. I'll call you tomorrow."

Lisa frowned. "Okay. But we've *gotta* talk. You missed an interesting day today. You know the thing with Kirstie? She totally went there, and you-know-who is still all bummed."

Buffy had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. "No!" she cried, faking it. "Okay, we *so* need to talk. I'll call you tomorrow, I promise."

"We really should be going," the robot put in. "It's not a good idea for you to stand around on the streets."

"No, it really isn't."

Buffy jerked her head around to find five of the monks' black-clad mercenaries standing in a loose semi-circle around her. There were at least two more in the shadows of a nearby alley, and likely several more nearby. Her heart froze. They'd finally come for her. And standing right in the middle of it was Lisa.

----------

Spike felt a small pang of nostalgia as he sat in his former home, playing with the rabbit ears on the telly that they'd brought, along with a generator, from his flat at the Magic Box. The old crypt was dusty and full of cobwebs after so many months of disuse, but in a way it was good to be back. Yes, the Magic Box flat was convenient and had indoor plumbing and cable, but there was something about a crypt that just brought a vampire back to his roots.

Except his roots were pretty much dug up out of the earth and destroyed now, weren't they? He looked over at Dawn who was sitting on top of the sarcophagus, swinging her legs against the side, waiting in perfect teenage boredom and impatience for him to fix the reception. Sod the nostalgia and the bloody roots. He'd take the present.

"You gonna get the picture back any time soon or should we just go for a nice game of charades?"

Spike bristled, but didn't turn towards Xander. Okay, maybe not *all* of the present. Although the comment itself was typical of the back-and-forth taunting that typified their relationship over the last several months prior to Wednesday night, his tone had a hard edge to it that made Spike grind his teeth in irritation. Biting back an angry retort, he mumbled "Give us a sec." He adjusted the rabbit ears a small fraction and the fuzzy snow on the screen resolved itself into something resembling a picture. He stepped back, smiling at his accomplishment. "There you go."

Dawn cocked her head sideways. "Wow, I can almost tell what that is," she quipped, though in a much more playful tone than Xander.

"Well you're so bloody brilliant, you give it a go," he returned lightly, sweeping his arms towards the telly in a grand motion.

"Fine." She jumped down off the stone tomb and went to the television. She pulled on one of the antennae, adjusting it slightly, and the picture suddenly became clear. "There," she said with a smile of triumph.

"Bleeding show off," he muttered.

"Not that it matters. Not like there's anything on," she said, flipping through the channels.

"There's always--" Spike began.

"NO 'Passions,'" Dawn replied, cutting him off with a look of disdain. Spike scowled at her.

"Why don't we forget the TV, Dawnster. We could play a game. Life or something," Xander suggested.

"Oh, but Life just isn't any fun without Anya trying to sell her children for money," Dawn said sarcastically. "Hey, why don't you guys teach me how to play poker?"

"There's an idea," Spike said. "You bring a deck of cards in that stack of stuff, builder boy?"

"Yeah, there's a *great* idea, let's teach a fifteen-year-old to gamble," Xander replied icily.

"Oh please, it's just a *game,*" Dawn complained. "We could use Doritos for chips."

"That'll work." Spike went over to the corner where they'd stashed a cooler and a grocery bag full of snacks.

"Grab me a soda too," Dawn said.

He rooted through the grocery bag until he found the Doritos, then opened up the cooler. He pulled out a plastic bag of blood so he could get to the soda underneath.

"You're not gonna drink that now, are you?" Dawn asked, noticing the packet in his hand. Even with all the time they'd spent together she'd never gotten used to watching him drink blood. He usually avoided it around her.

"No, pidge, I just brought it in case we'd be here a while. I prefer my blood warm."

"I'll bet," Xander snorted.

That was the last straw. Spike stood up and whirled around, the soda still in one hand, the blood packet in the other. "You got a problem, Harris?"

"Yeah, Spike, I gotta problem. Have I not made that clear?"

"Oh yeah, you're coming in loud and clear. The protective big brother bit is just getting a bit stale. Time you got over it."

"I'll get over it right about the time we're sweeping you into an ashtray."

"Stop it," Dawn cut in, but they ignored her.

"You're big with the talk now, aren't you? You want me dusted? Be a man and just do it yourself."

"Now that's the best idea I've heard all day."

Spike snorted derisively. "You haven't got the stones to try."

"Just give me a reason, Spike."

Now Spike laughed. "Regular Dirty Harry now, aren't you? Face it, Harris. Your real problem is you can't handle the fact that Buffy likes a little bit o' the undead--"

Xander launched himself at Spike, knocking him backwards before Spike recovered. With a roar he grabbed Xander by the shirt and hurled him across the crypt. Xander landed in a heap, but was mostly unscathed. He jumped up quickly, and was readying to come at Spike again when Dawn suddenly jumped between them.

"STOP IT!!!!" she screamed.

They both stopped, staring at Dawn. Her face was a mixture of anger and fear.

"Both of you just STOP!" she said again. She turned to Xander. "You are being a complete jerk, do you know that? You should hear yourself. GET OVER IT."

Spike snorted in agreement, but then she turned on him. "And how is he supposed to trust you if you throw him across the room like that? You're supposed to be here protecting me and instead you're gonna kill each other?"

Spike realized with shame that he'd actually scared her. The one person who'd always been in his corner and he'd managed to give her reason to doubt him. He looked down at his boots.

"Just stop it, okay?" Dawn went on. "I thought *I* was supposed to be the immature one."

She paused, and Spike looked up at her again, trying to think of something to say, but nothing came to him. When she saw that she had managed to subdue both of them, a self-satisfied smile spread slowly on her face. "Now are we gonna play some poker or what?"

----------

"Honey, you really should just relax. The spell will alert you when something's wrong. You don't need to keep checking up on her."

Willow looked over at Tara, who was seated at her desk with a history book in front of her. Willow was sitting on the bed, trying to read her programming homework, but she was mostly just flipping through the pages and drumming her fingers on the book restlessly. "I know. I'm just nervous. If we screw up, if we're not there when they do the ritual. Well, what if we were wrong, Tara? What if it *can* hurt her?"

Tara got up and sat beside her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. "It will be fine. The spell will work. They're probably
taking her back to the church anyway."

"Yeah, I know. It's just... we lost her once, you know? Makes me all clenchy."

"I know," Tara replied, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "C'mon. Do some homework or read or learn a new spell. Something to take your mind off Buffy."

Willow looked at her lover, an impish smile forming on her lips. "I know what might *distract* me," she said slyly.

Tara raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What might that be?"

Willow leaned toward here. "Why don't you come here and I'll show you."

Tara smiled and leaned in to meet her. Willow snaked an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"Distracting enough?" Tara breathed after a moment.

Willow curled her fingers into Tara's soft hair. "I think I could use a little more--"

She cut off suddenly, jerking away from Tara.

"What?"

"It's Buffy. She's under attack!"

----------

Buffy went reflexively into combat mode, then immediately forced herself out of it. She was supposed to be the protectee, not the protector.

"Dawn, get back!" the robot yelled at her, moving into position between her and the men.

"Lisa, get the hell out of here," Buffy whispered fiercely as her mind whirled, trying to figure out how she could get Lisa to safety without blowing her cover. The five mercenaries on the street were converging on the robot, who executed a spin kick that knocked back three of them. Grabbing Lisa's arm, Buffy started backing away.

"You don't want to leave the party just yet, little girls, now do you?"

Buffy spun quickly and yanked Lisa to the side. Another mercenary made a grab for her, but until she knew Lisa was safe, she couldn't play possum just yet. Sidestepping the burly man who was obviously expecting someone a little more helpless, she kicked his leg out from under him and elbowed him in the back. He fell to his knees, crying out in pain.

"Dawn?" Lisa cried in surprise.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Buffy grabbed Lisa's arm and took off at a run down the street.

Two more men stepped out from an alcove between shops and Buffy skidded to a stop, Lisa running into her. Quickly changing directions, she darted out into the street, still holding tight to Lisa's arm. The men were not far behind. When they hit the opposite curb, Buffy gave Dawn a hard shove away from her.

"Get out of here, Lisa! They want me, not you!"

"Dawn, this is crazy, you can't--"

"GO!" she shrieked, "Go find my--*Buffy's* friends! Tara and Willow, Stevenson Hall!" Then she ran the opposite direction, putting distance between herself and her sister's friend, and hoping giving Lisa a task to complete would keep her out of harm's way.

The mercenaries hit the curb and Lisa took off away from them. To Buffy's relief, both men followed her, ignoring Lisa completely. Buffy doubled back, crossing the street again, trying to get back to where her double was still grappling with two of the five original men. She ran past a few startled passers-by, wondering with irritation why they would pick a populated street in the middle of the daylight for their attack. Then again, this was Sunnydale, home of the fabulous Hellmouth. Nothing surprised the locals anymore.

Suddenly an arm reached out and grabbed her around the waist, nearly toppling her over. Buffy stifled the urge to kick out and free herself. //Think like Dawn. What would Dawn do?// Allowing herself to be pulled into the man's grasp while weakly struggling against him, she screamed "BUFFFYYYY!!!!"

The man holding her quickly clamped a hand over her mouth as the robot turned in their direction. The moment's distraction allowed the mercenaries attacking it a chance to get a quick blow in and the "Slayer" fell heavily to the ground. Buffy, meanwhile, continued her struggle against the man -- men now, actually, another joined him -- holding her. It took all her will power to keep from doing what her instincts were screaming for: fight, kick, kill. But she kept up the act, allowing them to drag her away from her "big sister."

The robot jumped up, but with Buffy being dragged off, Willow's programming adjustment kicked in and she allowed herself to be
overpowered again. One of the men clocked her from behind and she went down hard as if unconscious.

Buffy smiled under her captor's hand. They'd pulled it off. But her smile quickly faded when something sharp pierced her arm. Wrenching her head around she saw one of the men holding a syringe.

"Night-night little girl," he said, leering at her. Then the world faded away.

----------

Tara grabbed their backpacks, pre-packed with the elements they would need to create their illusion, and threw Willow's to her as they rushed out of their dorm. They had Xander's car, parked in front along the curb, and they quickly threw their packs inside. Tara opened the door on the driver's side and Willow started towards the passenger side when they stopped at the sound of someone calling Willow's name. Looking up, Tara saw Dawn's friend Lisa running toward them like something very big and nasty was at her heels.

"Willow!" she cried again, skidding to a stop beside the car. "You have to help! Dawn and Buffy are in trouble!"

"We know," Willow said, rushed and a little distracted, then she stopped. "How do *you* know?"

"I was with them. We were on Main Street not far from the Expresso Pump and a whole bunch of guys just appeared out of nowhere and started attacking Buffy. I'm pretty sure they're after Dawn. She told me to find you guys -- I think they got her when I left and I don't think Buffy could hold off that many on her own."

"Wait. You were with them? And Dawn told you to find us?"

"Yes," Lisa panted.

Willow looked at Tara across the roof of the car. "Why would she do that? She knows I'm tracking her."

"Can you still sense her?" Tara asked, concerned.

Willow closed her eyes, then nodded. "Yes. They're--" she cut off, frowning. "She's unconscious."

"But you can still sense her?"

"Yes."

"Then let's not worry about it now. We need to get to the church."

Willow turned to Lisa. "It's okay, Lisa. We planned this, okay? Dawn's safe, I promise. We're... not going to the church," she finished to Tara. "They're taking her somewhere else."

"Do you know where?"

"No, I can just tell they're headed in the wrong direction. They were downtown, like Lisa said. The church is on the west end of town. They're headed east."

"How do you know--?" Lisa began.

"I don't have time to explain, Lisa. Go home. Tara and I will help them. And Dawn is safe, I--"

"Willow!" Tara cried out in horror as Willow collapsed to the ground on the other side of the car.

----------

Brother Ondrih had been quietly meditating when the back door of the van opened. He opened his eyes, squinting a little in the glare from the sunlight streaming in, then smiled as two figures in silhouette slid a limp form inside.

"The girl," one of the silhouettes said. As Ondrih's eyes adjusted to the light he could see that it was Hawk. Ondrih looked down at the form lying on the floor of the van. It was indeed the Key.

"And the Slayer?" Ondrih asked.

"She won't be getting up for a while," Hawk grinned.

"You're sure?"

"Do you hear her banging at our door?"

"Good point. Where are the rest of your men?"

"They'll meet you at the place you specified," Hawk replied. "All but five of us."

Ondrih frowned. "Why not all of you? I need you to guard the ritual. We will not be interrupted again."

"Nine men can guard just fine. Besides, the Slayer don't know where you're going. I've got something else to do and I need four men to help me do it."

"The *upir* -- the vampire," Ondrih sighed.

"Yeah. He's gonna be meeting the pointy end of a wooden stake for what he did to me last night."

"And you cannot wait until you have finished your work here?"

"Nine men is plenty to guard," Hawk repeated firmly. "Call me crazy, but if I'm gonna go after a vampire I kinda wanna do it before the sun goes down."

Brother Ondrih considered this. The man was obviously obsessed with revenge and would likely be of little use anyway. And this *was* the same *upir* that had attacked him. He waved his hand dismissively. "Fine, go then."

Hawk grinned and backed out of the van. "Good luck with your ritual." He then slammed the door and the van was dark once more.

Ondrih turned toward the front where Brother Viktor was behind the wheel. "Proceed, Viktor."

Viktor started the car and the lurched forward.

"Brother Ondrih?"

He looked over to see Brother Josef hovering over the girl, looking apprehensive. "What is it, Josef?"

"She has been enchanted."

"What do you mean? The spell that created her?"

"No. Something else. A... a connection."

Ondrih frowned. "Can you break the spell?"

"I believe so, Brother."

"Do it then. Perhaps the Slayer is trying to track the Key."

Josef hesitated. "Is something else the matter?"

"I'm not sure. As you pointed out, this girl was created by an enchantment. I could see it on her before; she had a green aura about  her. But now I no longer see the aura."

"What do you make of this? Are they blocking it somehow?"

"Possibly. Something is definitely... off about her. Not a spell, but something that seems wrong. But otherwise she seems--"

"Yes, Brother?" Ondrih prompted when Josef trailed off.

"Natural. Like a true human."

"Yet you know this cannot be so," Ondrih snorted. "They have merely found a way of blocking her energy, perhaps with the other spell. It is not our concern. Our concern is eliminating that which God did not create and returning the Key to its proper form. Now break the connection spell."

Josef quickly closed his eyes and chanted, praying for the spell to be broken. After only a few moments he opened his eyes. "It is done. The connection is broken."

----------

Willow opened her eyes to find a worried Tara and a frantic Lisa hovering over her. As soon as she did, Tara gave a relieved smile and helped her sit up.

"Are you all right? What happened?"

"I-I don't know. What did happen?"

"You just collapsed," Tara said.

"I'm not sure--" her eyes widened as it hit her. She could no longer sense Buffy. "The connection, it's broken! I can't sense Buffy any more!" She tried to jump up as panic started to squeeze her heart, but her head started swimming, so she sat back down again.

"Whoa, slow down honey," Tara said, holding her arm.

"Tara, I can't sense her! What happened? Oh my god, they couldn't have done the ritual, could they have? Not so quickly, not on the move!"

"No, no way. It's too complicated," Tara assured her.

"But why can't I sense her? " she asked frantically. "They wouldn't... they didn't..." she couldn't even form the words that spoke what she feared most.

"No, she's fine, she must be. They want the Key. The won't get it if they kill her," Tara assured her. "They must have broken the guidance spell somehow."

"Okay, I am *so* confused," Lisa said suddenly. "I thought Dawn was the Key, not Buffy."

"She is," Willow said. "It's very complicated, Lisa, but Dawn's safe."

"How can she be safe when those men have her?"

"That wasn't Dawn, that was Buffy," Tara said. Willow shot her a look, but she replied "She's worried about her friend. She deserves to know."

"How could that be Buffy? I know what Dawn looks like and that was Dawn. Besides, Buffy was with us too."

"That was a robot," Tara told her. "Like Willow said, it's very complicated."

"And we don't have time to explain it right now, okay?" Willow turned back to Tara. "We have to find her, Tara. If something goes wrong and we're not there-- I don't even know where to start looking. They weren't going to the church."

"You're sure?"

Willow nodded. "They were going east."

"If they knew about the connection spell, they could have done that on purpose to throw us off," Tara suggested. "Maybe they doubled back?"

"I don't think so," Willow said, her voice suddenly preternaturally calm as she forced the panic aside so she could think. "Think about it. We already stopped them there once. It makes sense to go somewhere new where we couldn't find them." She started to get up again, this time more slowly. Tara helped her.

"So how do we find them?"

Willow looked at Lisa. "Did you hear anything? Did they say anything about where they were taking Buffy? Any clue at all?"

Lisa's brow furrowed as she concentrated. "No, I don't think so. Mostly they just ran after us and called us 'little girls.' I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Willow tried to give her an encouraging smile, then turned back to Tara. "What about that nether-realm ritual? We located her once before using that."

Tara considered a moment, then shook her head. "No, you said she was unconscious, right? It won't work if she's unconscious. Plus, remember how intense it was? We'd be spent. We wouldn't have any energy left to help her."

"Okay," Willow nodded as she started to pace back and forth beside Xander's car. "We need to find her another way then." Abruptly she stopped pacing and her head shot up. "Willy!"

"Willy?"

"The guy who runs that sleazy demon bar? Spike got information from him last night. He knows one of the monks' henchmen. He might know where else they'd go."

"Do you think we have that much time?"

"We don't have a choice!" Willow snapped.

Tara recoiled and Willow instantly felt guilty. "Tara, I'm sorry. I'm just so worried. We really *aren't* sure what that ritual will do to
her. We need to be there to help her."

"I know," Tara replied softly.

"Okay, we need to get to Willy's then." She moved toward the still-open passenger door of Xander's car while Tara hurried around to the driver's side.

"What can I do?" Lisa asked.

Willow looked at Lisa. She reminded Willow a little of herself back in high school. Well, except for Lisa was popular and outgoing and not really an A student. But still, the best-friend-who-wants-to-help role was something she understood well.

"Why don't you go back to where they jumped you guys. Be *very* careful. If you see any of those guys still around, I want you to find a phone and call us at a bar called Willy's Place. If they're not around, see if you can find the robot, the one that looks like Buffy. Take her to the Magic Box if you can." Then without waiting for a response she got into the car, which Tara had started while she was talking to Lisa. "Let's go," she said to Tara. "Let's see what Willy knows."

NEXT

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