Dark are the Shadows
BTVS/Dark Shadows crossover
Ms Hunter Ash
ripperbard7@yahoo.com
frost29@post.com
Rating: PG13
Pairings: Buffy/Quentin, Xander, Anya, Giles/Angelique, Willow/Tara, Barnabas/Roxanne, Julia/Thomas
# # #
“Willow.”
The two witches looked up as Angelique approached them. “Willow, do you know where we are?”
“On a small road between 58 and 15 – we're west of 15,” Willow said. “Past Hodge in the middle of nowhere, why?”
“Tara, you and I are going to reach out and contact Barnabas if we can,” Angelique said. “You should be able to reach him and I'll lend some of my own powers. He and I are connected, after all.”
“The three of us could try,” Willow said. “Me and Barnabas talked mentally when he was bricked up in that wall.”
“He can relay the information to someone to get out here and help,” Angelique suggested. “If they can get here in time.”
“Let's try it,” Willow said and Angelique sat down as the three of them formed a triangle.
Dawn sat with her head on Buffy's shoulder against another wall.
Dr. Ben spread things out at a sink and began cleaning them with alcohol.
“You!” Gregor called softly. “You aren't part of this, are you?”
“Friend of the family,” Ben answered without turning around.
“Would you die for them?” Gregor asked. “Because that's what your future holds if you side with them.”
“It's my life, and I'll do what I please with it,” Ben said as he turned angrily.
“It's not just your life,” Gregor countered. “Unimaginable legions will perish, including everyone here. You can stop this. You can save all their lives by ending one. The little girl. The key. Destroy it, and the will of the beast will be broken, she will fade, a distant memory ... and all of this madness will end. You will save countless lives.”
Ben walked away and went back over to Giles and picked up the man's wrist.
Dawn got up and walked over. “It's because of me. It's all my fault. You don't know what's happening.”
“I don't have to,” Ben said as he opened his bag and extracted medicine from a bottle with a syringe. “I just know that sometimes terrible things happen to good people. It shouldn't, but ... it does.”
He looked at Dawn and then injected the medicine into Giles.
“Is he going to be okay?” Dawn asked.
Ben turned away and dropped the syringe.
“Ben?”
The doctor moved into the small room. “I have to get out of here. Now!”
“What's wrong?” Buffy asked and looked at Dawn.
“I don't know, he just freaked out.”
“Will, open a door,” Buffy said.
“No, not now!” Ben yelled and then winced and morphed into Glory.
“What the hell?” Angelique muttered as she and the witches turned to look.
“Well, what do you know. Little Ben finally did something right,” Glory said with a smile.
“The Beast.”
“Oh hey,
it's Gregor!” Glory said cheerfully and she reached down and
grabbed a discarded hubcap and flung it like a frisbee, impaling it
into the General's chest. “And now it's not.”
Spike ran at the hell-god with Xander behind him and Glory grabbed Spike and threw him into Xander as chaos broke out.
Buffy charged Glory and they exchanged blows until Glory backhanded the Slayer into Angelique.
Willow and Tara began chanting and Glory grabbed Anya and threw her into the witches, limbs akimbo. Dawn's eyes widened as Glory grabbed her by the wrist.
“Buffy!” Dawn screamed as the hellgod dragged her out the door and to the barrier.
Dawn could see the knights rushing to grab their weapons and armor.
“Oh right,” Glory muttered and held out a hand and tapped the barrier causing a large gap that she pulled Dawn through.
Buffy reached the barrier just as it closed. She could hear the knights yelling and the sound of weapons upon weapons.
Buffy limped back to the building. “Willow, the barrier!”
Willow raised her head and her eyes blackened. She nodded.
Buffy ran to the barrier, still limping badly and it collapsed as she reached it.
The Slayer looked around in horror.
She walked among the knights, finding all but Dante dead.
“We have to....” she vaguely heard Willow stammer.
“The Beast,” Dante whispered.
Buffy collapsed to the ground and lifted his head into her lap. “How do we stop it?”
“Once blood flows...” Dante whispered. “I...pray for me. I... die with hatred... in my heart.”
“We all hate Glory,” Buffy said softly.
“No...for... you...” Dante said. “Your fault.... oh, words come.... your gift is...”
The Knight stopped breathing.
“Get the keys to the doctor's car!” Spike was yelling. “Buffy, come on! We have to stop her!”
Buffy didn't move.
# # # #
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA
“After twenty-five years, it comes down to tonight!” Glory said with a smile and then frowned. “I require more groveling at this point!”
Glory's demon minions ran into each other in their haste to get to Glory to please her.
“That's better.”
# # #
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
“Buffy, we have to go,” Willow urged.
Buffy nodded absently but didn't move.
“Come on, pet, snap out of it!” Spike urged.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
“All right, Buffy needs our help,” Willow said after a moment. “Glory has Dawn. Sometime real soon, she's gonna use Dawn to tear down the barrier between every dimension there is. So we move now before the world ends, okay? All right. First we head back to Sunnydale. Xander'll take Giles to a hospital. Anya's looking after Tara. And Spike, you find Glory. Check her apartment, see if she's still there. Try anything stupid, like payback, and I will get Very Cranky. Everyone clear? While Xander and Spike help Giles to the car, Tara, Angelique and I will try and reach Barnabas and let him know we're going back to Sunnydale. He can call Angel and crew before we hit cell service. Come on.”
Barnabas sighed as he and Roxanne flew in a private plane towards Sunnydale. Then his hand tightened around Roxanne's and he closed his eyes. “I hear you,” he whispered. “Tara?”
//Tara?//
//Barnabas, Glory has Dawn, we think it's happening tonight or tomorrow!// Tara sent to Barnabas.
//Roxanne and I are on our way!//
//We don't have cellphone service yet. Call Angel and get them moving, please.//
//Consider it done. I'll call Quentin as well.// Barnabas responded.
//Fuzzy... losing the energy. Hurry.//
//Tara? Tara?//
Barnabas opened his eyes and pulled out his cellphone. “Tara contacted me,” he said to Roxanne. “Glory has Dawn. Yes, this is Barnabas Collins.”
He turned on the speaker.
“Barnabas, I'm afraid we don't....” Cordelia began.
“Tara contacted me through our connection,” Barnabas said.
“What?” they could hear Angel exclaim.
“They don't have cell service where they are,” Barnabas said. “They're heading back to Sunnydale. Glory has Dawn. It could be the beginning of the end of the world. We're flying to Sunnydale but it'll be two hours, I believe.”
“We'll get there,” Cordelia said. “See you there! Call us, we're out the door now.”
Barnabas looked at his phone as the call dropped. “Good.”
“Barnabas, your hands are better but still not up to strength,” Roxanne said softly.
“You heard the price if we fail,” Barnabas said. He dialed Quentin's number.
# # # #
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA
Dawn looked around the office inside a warehouse from the chair where Glory had shoved her. Having a large group of insane people suddenly stop building whatever they were building to stare at her and start chanting, “The Key, the key, the key...” … okay, that had been creepy.
The teenager swallowed as a demon in a long robe began chanting and spread a weird paste on her forehead.
“What are you doing?” Glory demanded.
“I must anoint the key,” the priest said.
“Get out!” Glory snapped and roughly rubbed the paste off. “Ridiculous hanger-ons.”
She looked at the girl. “Are you okay?”
Dawn began to cry. “I want to go home.”
“Oh, sweetie, you are going home!” Glory said as she pulled a chair up in front of Dawn. “Not that fake suburban nightmare the monks cooked up for you. I mean your real home. As the key! You fit the lock. Well, it's like a lock. Hey! You want a pizza?”
“No,” Dawn whispered.
“Well, I doubt that little tv thing gets cable,” Glory said thoughtfully.
“Please stop.”
“Are you nervous?” Glory asked.
Dawn nodded her head.
“I know how you feel. It is your last night,” Glory said and shook her head as Dawn looked horrified. As, you know ... a human. This body ... it's just a rental, Dawnie. Being human? It's like a costume for girls like you and me. Being something else, *that's* what we are.”
“Don't!”
“Don't what?” Glory asked.
“Don't call me Dawnie,” the girl snapped.
“Huh. Wow. You know, that actually hurt my feelings,” Glory said as she got up out of the chair. “I'm just thinking, here I am trying to make you feel better, when comforting others ... not part of my life. And I'm doing it, so I can stop ... feeling so ... um ... help me out here.”
“Guilty?” Dawn suggested.
“Guilty. That's it!” Glory exclaimed. “But I'm not supposed to feel guilty. I'm not supposed to feel anything. I'm, I'm ... I'm a god. I'm above it. I'm ... You!”
Dawn suddenly looked frightened.
“You did this to me, didn't you?” Glory demanded. “Some sort of spell, you've been hanging with the wicca, you could've... but no. It's not magic. It's something else. Still, it is you doing this.”
“I didn't do a thing!” Dawn protested.
Glory opened the door and looked out.
“Anoint this thing now!”
“Know what they're all chanting for out there, Dawnie?” Glory asked. “Blood. 'Cause we found out your blood is the key to the key! All I gotta do is bleed you dry, the portal opens up, and I can go home! So knock yourself out, girlfriend. Make me feel bad as you can. 'Cause tomorrow ... you bleed, little girl.”
# # # #
“Buffy?” Willow asked. “We should go to the hospital and find out about Giles and see your mom.”
The Slayer didn't look at her friend.
“How goes?” Tara asked softly and Willow shook her head.
“She's shutting down,” Willow said. “It's too much for her. We've got to get her back.”
“How?” Tara asked.
“I don't know,” Willow admitted.
# # # #
The door to Glory's apartment crashed in and Spike stepped in. He clicked on the light and looked around an empty space. He lit a cigarette as he took in a circle of twigs with runic symbols.
Walking through the apartment, he found a small, barren room with the only light coming from a bare bulb. The room had a small sink, an unmade single sized bed with a small side table and clothing hanging on hangers on a wall.
Spike frowned as he took in hospital scrubs with Dr. Ben's hospital ID clipped to one.
“Glory is Ben and it won't sink in with the others,” Spike muttered. “Bollocks.”
# # #
Quentin helped Giles put on a jacket. The Watcher had attempted to pull it on but he was obviously stiff on the left side and in considerable pain.
“How are you doing?” Xander asked.
“It only hurts while I answer pointless questions,” Giles grumbled. “Where's Buffy?”
“She, uh, is kinda shutting down,” Xander said.
“Can you continue to stay with Joyce?” Giles asked Quentin.
“And tell her what?” Quentin asked. “She knows something is wrong.”
Giles frowned. “I'll talk to her. This won't be pleasant.”
The three men glanced over and saw Spike checking out a medical cart and watched him slip a bag of blood into a jacket pocket before he walked over to them.
“Maybe we should check out some of Glory's victims,” Quentin suggested.
“The mental ward?” Xander asked. “I checked it out. The vegetable section's closed. Nobody there. It's like they all just got up and walked away.”
“Bollocks, that's not a good sign,” Giles mumbled.
“And I checked out Glory's flat,” Spike said. “Looks like the Great One has scampered.”
“Gone to perform her ritual with Dawn,” Giles surmised. “Leaving us entirely clueless.”
“Not entirely,” Spike said. “I know this bloke. Well, not so much a bloke so much as a demon. But still bookish and he's all tuned into the nastier corner of this our magic world. It's a bit of a last resort, really, but still, we might persuade him to suss out Glory's game plan.”
Spike started to light a cigarette and frowned at a No Smoking sign. “Sound worthy?”
Giles nodded obviously reluctantly.
“Off we go then, meet back at the shop?” Spike suggested.
“I'll go with him,” Xander said and started to follow the vampire.
“Leaving us to talk with Joyce,” Quentin observed.
“Which is harder, I wonder?”
# # # #
Glory leaned against a wall of the warehouse and sighed. “I'm hating this, Murk.”
“And this would be what exactly, your holiness?”
“Memories!” Glory snapped. “I'm starting to remember the things Ben did. People he spoke with, stuff he wore... Hey, kid!”
Glory walked over to where Dawn was sitting in a chair with the demon priest next to her.
“I came... he came to see you, didn't he?”
“Ben?” Dawn asked.
“Yeah, Ben,” Glory said. “You called him to the desert when you were hiding from me and he came. And then he was me, you remember?”
“Yes,” Dawn said slowly.
“See?!” Glory exclaimed as she looked at her minions. “She's not supposed to remember that! Nobody should! No one remembers he turns into me! The cloak between Ben and me is fading! I almost helped her! He... I wanted to. I can't do this!”
Glory turned and grabbed the demon priest by his robe, pulling him close.
“Get him out of me,” Glory demanded.
“What?”
“Ben!” Glory yelled. “The human meat-sack who's infecting me! Do your mojo, make an incision, or removal, or whatever you gotta do. Help me!”
She began pacing. “I'm... I'm thinking his thoughts and... and I'm feeling his feelings! And...I...I...”
The hellgod morphed into Ben.
“I can't kill the girl,” he declared.
Then he morphed back into Glory. “Damn it!” The hellgod collapsed to the floor. “Priest, help me!”
“Th-this I cannot do,” the priest stammered. “You risk terrible magics in opening the portal and nothing comes without a price. This... is yours.”
Glory got to her feet with a scowl. “Gods don't pay.”
In a flash she was by Dawn again and she grabbed the girl by her throat.
“We do this NOW!”
# # # #
“Where to?” Cordelia asked as she, Angel, Wesley and Gunn entered Sunnydale.
“Start at the mansion,” Angel suggested.
# # #
Joyce started to smile when Giles and Quentin walked into her hospital room but quickly frowned. “Rupert? You're hurt! Where's Buffy and Dawn?”
“I'll be all right,” Giles said. “Buffy is at the mansion... we have to get Dawn back.”
“Oh God, no,” Joyce whispered and Giles sat down on the bed and took her hand.
“We will get her back!” he said firmly. “I'm the only one that was hurt so everyone is at their top best. Angel and the others are on their way and so is Barnabas and Roxanne, they'll be here in the next hour or so. We're taking a small army to handle Glory.”
“Do you know how to defeat a god?” Joyce asked softly.
“We will before tomorrow night,” Giles responded. “Angelique or Anya will be here soon. We don't think Glory would come for you but we're not going to take any chances. Joyce, we'll get her back.”
“All right,” Joyce said softly. “Can we be alone for a moment, Quentin?”
“Absolutely, I'm going to head to the mansion,” Quentin said and stepped out.
“Rupert...”
Giles moved to sit next to Joyce and wrapped his arm around her as she broke down.
# # # # #
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