Ch.39

As the summer was coming to a close, we went to the beach where we had fun. From throwing a football to relaxing on a towel while Willow started the grill with magic. Buffy called it witchfu and I chuckled while holding Buffy in my arms. When a storm came out of nowhere, I looked up and sent out a pulse of magic.

The storm cleared up and I told them. "That wasn't Willow's doing, the storm I mean. There's another magic user, it feels like a vampire, that's trying to make it rain over Sunnydale. Likely so they can walk outside during the day. It's no big deal, their power is nothing compared to my own. Xander, good before the hungry slayer eats us all."

They laughed and Buffy smiled while asking if I can find the vampire. I nodded and told her we'd deal with it after we eat. I kissed her neck and while she told me that I'd make my own mark on her if I'm not careful. I growled lightly and Xander cooked the burgers and hotdogs.

After we ate, I lead the way to where a dead worker was standing outside a broken coffin with dirt in it in front of a would be castle illusion. I told them. "Everyone, meet Dracula. Dracula, meet everyone."

They were shocked and I grunted as we heard Dracula's voice. He wanted to be free of his casket so I freed him of it, capturing him in the Carolina's grasp spell and watching him burn in the barrier, turing to smoke and reforming repeatedly. I told him to take his brides and leave town by tonight or I'd teleport his ass into the sun itself and leave him there to spend eternity reforming and turning to dust. He agreed and I flung him with telekinesis into his fake castle.

I unleashed all my power and the sky darkened. He was terrified by the power I brought to bare and I spoke coldly. "By night time Vlad, or your impaled ass will roast as a sun spot. I know why you came here and now you know the consequences of what you wanted old man."

He showed his illusioned face and growled before saying. "Very well."

I waved a finger and a bloody trail carved on his face. "No tricks. You kill anyone else or try your compulsion on my friends and I'll make your years as a slave seem like a pleasant memory."

My hair and eyes turned back to normal and we left. Tara asked what he wanted and I grunted. "He wants Buffy as his newest bride. Dracula is well known and doesn't travel far from home because he requires special needs. There are few reasons he'd come to Sunnydale and of them only Buffy would merit bringing his wives as well while moving in to a fake castle."

Buffy asked. "Fake?"

I nodded. "Everything from his appearance to the castle is an illusion. I'd have dusted his ass permanently, but with his abilities it takes more power than I'm comfortable with to kill him for good. He practices an old form of magic called expression. Basically, it strengthens the will of the user and from there magic is easy. He simply wills himself to take other forms and in the case of his immanent demise he wills himself to become air particles like fog which he can then reform into a solid body."

I turned to Tara and Willow. "Side note, expression is a grey area of magic and as close to dark magic as you can get without actually using dark magic. It's violent and unpredictable for young witches because they haven't mastered their minds so their wills are fleeting and always changing like your will it so spell."

Willow grimaced and Xander asked. "So what's he look like under the illusion?"

I grimaced. "An old man in his eighties from the looks of him. He's vane and he's drunk his own koolaid so he mostly believes his own power unless confronted with an overwhelming force, hence my show of power."

Buffy told me she'd stay at my place tonight and if he comes knocking somehow I can keep my word. I agreed and we left to go hang out at the mansion. Buffy had her mom and Giles come over for the night and Dracula left town. I'd made sure if it before pulling Buffy into our bed.

A couple days later everyone got memories of Dawn who showed up while most of my tattoos had vanished. I had to put more on which wasn't fun, but hey, the things we do for friends. Buffy ended up asking Giles to be her watcher again so he stayed and began training her again at my place where there was plenty of room with a training gym already built in to the courtyard. Days later I got a call to the magic shop where I did a spell to reveal what happened.

Images of vampires showed up as an illusion of Mr.Bogarty was surrounded and killed before the vampires sacked the place, took some books and a cheap unicorn statue while saying Harmony's name. I told them what was said by the vamps thanks to lip reading and Buffy laughed about Harmony having a gang. I took a bit of Mr.Bogarty's blood and my hair turned black with my eyes.

A ball of fire appeared in my hands and I chanted. "Let those who cry out in pain be silent as their attackers suffer the gains."

The ball of fire turned black and I dropped the blood from Mr.Bogarty into the flame. It grew into a burning spirit of fire and I told it. "Go, make those who killed you suffer your wrath and face death with you before passing on with a clean heart."

The spirit smiled and vanished in a flash of flames. I turned to Buffy. "It'll kill the four vampires that killed him, burning them alive. As for Harmony, I'll leave her to you."

She nodded and I told her where they were before she asked me to take Dawn home. I agreed and we shared a kiss before Giles commented on the overhead. Snorting, I told him now wasn't the time to worry about buying a shop. I left and took Dawn home with me.

Buffy was already on the hunt so I told Joyce how an innocent supply run turned into a murder and vampire hunt. I told her Dawn didn't see much and I brought her home while Buffy went to deal with Harmony. I stayed with Dawn and ordered pizza while Joyce went to the Art Gallery. Buffy came home with the books Harmony's gang stole and said Harmony fled while throwing axes at her.

I told her I'd go check out the weapons and repair them if needed. Buffy shook her head and used her ring to give them to me. I smiled and kissed her sighing. "One of the best decisions I made this summer was giving the scoobies rings. They won't store magic like Giles's and mine, but they definitely come in handy."

Buffy agreed, saying she loved the design of hers. It was two dragons coiling around each other and barely raised as their mouths nestled a ruby heart. Dawn asked when she could get one and I told her when Buffy says so. Buffy told her they're dangerous and deadly which was true. Hell, even Joyce was hesitant to use hers.

We watched movies instead and not ones from this universe either. I made a true universal tv remote that tapped into what other earth's were watching. We watched John Wick and Kung Fu Panda back to back before it was Dawn's bedtime. While Dawn went to bed, I held Buffy who fell asleep in my arms while we waited for Joyce to get home.

When she did, I carried Buffy upstairs and put her to bed before telling Joyce that pizza was in the oven. I grabbed my jacket and keys before telling her to tell Buffy I'd do a quick patrol before bedtime myself if she wakes up. Joyce agreed to do so and thanked me which I only shrugged to. She smiled and asked me knowingly. "You must love her an awful lot."

I smiled. "More than any words can express Miss.Summers."

I left to go on my own hunt with my hellhounds who ate damned well. Gnarl the magic immune demon was one of many on the menu while vampires were turned to dust as they were burned or torn apart. My beasties and I scoured all twelve cemeteries in town taking out the nests before we moved on to warehouses and all the abandoned buildings in town. We saved plenty of people and I compelled the mortuaries to start putting wood splints into those that died of bite marks and blood loss.

It wasn't hard, just a few vivid threats, some snarling from my hellhounds and plenty of cash incentives. I suggested closed casket in case they turn to dust and anyone asks questions. As for the hospital blood issues, I simply scoured the night shift doctors and nurses, letting my hellhounds have their fun with the hidden vamps. Once those were taken care of, I called it a night.

Vamps didn't show up as demons when scrying for demons in general which had made it harder, but not impossible. Most of the nests and bigger groups had been dealt with for now, but demons liked the hellmouth and there would always be more to take their place eventually. A couple weeks Xander took the others apartment shopping thanks to his construction job I'd helped him get. I stayed to help Giles unpack and rearrange the Magic Box, his new shop he'd just bought.

When Toth, a Tothric demon, showed up looking for Buffy, I waved a hand and broke it's neck. I took the small staff it had with my gloves on before trying to get my hellhounds to eat the demon. They pissed on it instead and made a bigger mess. I sent them back and incinerated the mess, piss and all.

I told Giles that the Tothric demons were now extinct. He asked about the staff and I told him it was a Ferula Gemina. I washed and cleaned it saying it was made it fluids I didn't want to think about. After that, I put it away saying I'd be keeping it.

I told Giles what Ferula Gemina do while we continued to work. When the others showed up, I went over the items listing before telling Giles some of his magical artifacts listing was wrong. I told him about the Burma idol, some of the focusing crystals and warned him what some of the items could do. I showed him the sobekian blood stone and the transmogrification tablet, telling him never to sell them together because they transmogrify snakes into big demonic creatures that obey the caster to the death.

Anya said I was right and I gave her a scowl before telling Giles he should keep his dark magic book collection in his ring and use the second story for real magic books and items while the rest of the shop would be for tourists except the ingredients. I took the lord of the dance talisman and told Giles to lock it up because the one who uses the chant will summon a demon lord to take them to hell as his bride in exchange for temporarily turning the town into a death dance with singing.

Xander liked the sound of dancing and singing, but I told him the dancers would do so until they magically caught fire and burned alive. I added that he could summon the demon if he didn't mind being the demon lord's bride in hell. He grimaced and changed his mind rather quickly. Giles told them about the Tothric demon and the magical weapon I gained while we worked to help him get the shop ready.

Xander soon got his apartment and a promotion at work so things were going well for him and Anya. Giles had his shop and. I'd suggested he hire Anya since she liked and needed the money. I was busy with college and my relationship with Buffy so I didn't care to work at the moment. My own scholarship paid for everything while I'd paid for everyone else's tuition.

Weeks later Joyce had a fainting spell in the kitchen and we ended up at the hospital where Dawn found out I had a resting heart beat of twenty beats per minute. I told her it was nothing to worry about because it was my own meditation and calming teas that cause it, plus her sister whose presence calmed me. I had a checkup when it worried Buffy and told her to watch the monitor they hooked me up to. It spiked quickly and sped up to that of nearly seven times it's resting rate as I looked at her.

I put her hand over my heart and told her it was fine because it beat for her. She smiled and I kissed her before meditating for a few seconds. It calmed down and went as far down as eighteen beats per minute. The doctors were baffled and yet they let me go.

I told them I was a Buddhist martial artist with an extreme control over my body. I buttoned up my black shirt and Dawn asked if I was anything like the movies. I chuckled and told her no, that I can speak English or Chinese without lip issues and unless it was Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, the martial arts was all choreographed and fake. She asked why I wasn't bald and I smiled, saying Buddhists, like many other faiths, don't have any specific physical requirements.

I let the doctors unhook me and told Dawn. "Besides, I'd look silly bald and I doubt Buffy would like it so the hair stays, but if you want, I can see about getting Joyce to shave you bald."

She said no and never while I chuckled lightly. Joyce found us and asked if everything was alright. I told her I was fine, but that I was worried about her. I drove us to their place and spent several hours using magic to find the problem with her.

I stopped and grimaced before Buffy asked what it was. I sighed. "I found what's wrong, but magic can't heal her. In fact, she needs to take off her ring now and make a few preparations."

Dawn asked. "It's bad isn't it? What is it?"

I waved her off as Joyce handed me her ring. I sighed. "The healing power of the ring was causing more damage than helping. Only a handful of things it couldn't protect you from and you had to go and develop one of them."

She sighed. "It's cancer isn't it?"

I nodded. "A brain tumor. It's small and thankfully it'll have slowed it's growth after the ring's off. Still, you need to call and get a second medical opinion. Tell them whatever you need to and get it taken care of. It's size and location will begin to cause auditory and visual hallucinations. Possibly even a near psychotic break with reality and if it throws off a blood clot-"

I turned to Dawn and told her to go get my cellphone from my jacket in Buffy's room. She scowled and Joyce asked her to which she did. I told her and Buffy once Dawn was really gone. "If it throws off a blood clot now or anytime right after the surgery they might not find it until after you die. It could be days before the clot triggers an aneurism and kills you instantly I'm afraid. This is very serious and while I can cure most diseases simply by pulling things from other dimensions or my ring, I've never found a cure for cancer. No magic, no science and no other stuff I have access to can help you right now."

I rubbed my temples. "You need surgery and as soon as possible. While I'm fairly certain I could make you immortal, immortals can die. Immortality only means you'll never die of old age after all. I'm no doctor and even with advanced technology and all the magic in the world, I'm helpless to help you in this."

She nodded and said she'd make the calls. I took my phone when Dawn came in. "In that case I'll fly in the best doctors from around the globe to help. I might not be able to do anything, but they can."

She thanked me and I waved her off. "Thank me next year when we look back on this and laugh."

She smiled and agreed while I made the calls. I spent tens of millions flying in surgical doctors, getting a private hospital operating room and everything they'd need. I made sure all the medical expenses were paid in full before Joyce had me go with her to make a living will. Days later Joyce was in the hospital and I had Dawn duty while helping at the magic shop.

When Buffy came with the Dagon Sphere, She asked what it was. I grunted. "It's a Dagon Sphere."

She raised an eyebrow and I tried to touch it. I sighed when I was blasted back on my ass. I groaned and sat up. "That hurt."

I sighed. "Dagon spheres are protection orbs. They give off an energy that repels divine power and hurts beings like bound gods or those with divine magical artifacts."

I took off my ring an told her to set it down. I tossed my ring to it and it ricochet like a bullet. I caught it and sighed. "Wherever it was, it was meant to protect someone or something from someone who had divine power. Odds are someone's getting brutally dead or robbed by someone else thanks to this being here."

I put my ring on and closed my eyes before picking up the orb carefully. Electric sparks covered my hand and I told Buffy. "Be very careful. Even the other reality had mortal bound gods in human form. The powers that be who guide Angel are gods and the old ones in the deeper well are similarly demonic gods after a fashion. Gods are fickle and don't always appear as they should. Some demonic ones look human and some human looking ones are demonic."

I tossed the Dagon Sphere to Buffy. "Had I been a real god it would've weakened me and made me vulnerable to mortal weapons. As it is, it's energy sparks with my own amped up energy from my ring amongst other things. Be careful Buffy and wear your resurrection ring. Whoever that was meant to guard against will be powerful and very well could be a mortal bound god, trapped in human form by the other gods they pissed off."

She nodded and Xander told me to go with her tonight just in case. I agreed, but for now Buffy took Dawn to the hospital to see Joyce. Joyce was getting all kinds of tests done to ensure that the one tumor they did find was all she had so they could remove it all at once if possible. Later that evening Buffy did a meditation dream walk saying a crazy man said they came at her through her family.

She had issues with Dawn before we headed to deal with the owner of the Dagon Sphere. I ended up getting knocked around by Glory the hell goddess. We grabbed the holy man and fled, learning Dawn was the key just before he died. I told Buffy that the blonde bitch is a goddess and we needed to prepare. That night we spoke to Giles and I told them about Glory being a mortal bound goddess.

The next day Buffy and I moved out of the dorms using our rings. We went to the magic shop and I sifted through all the books Giles had out using magic. I set all of them aside and shook my head. "There's nothing here on or new friend. Bring out the texts and scrolls from the other dimension. I know I've seen her somewhere and it could've been there."

Giles agreed and took the books on the table into his ring. More were added to the table in greater volume. I grimaced and went through it all magically while a redneck asked if they were all magic books. I told him to buzz off because he was ruining my concentration.

He started talking about frog people and I zapped his ass into a frog before telling Giles. "Get him away from home and he'll turn back on his own."

I went back to searching and Xander asked after a minute. "So whats the verdict?"

I grimaced and made all except one book disappear. I gave the others to Giles and told them. "There's a passage in there about the knights of Byzantium searching for a key to destroying an abomination. It's vague and not at all helpful, but I think it's what we're looking for. Maybe the Watchers council has what we need, but if they do they'd never share it easily. It seems that even Wolfram and Hart doesn't know everything after all."

Tara and Willow came in as Donny, Tara's big brother and former frog, changed back. I told Tara her brother interfered while I was doing magic and when he mentioned frog people I turned him into one. I told Donny. "No offense, but unless you're looking for a fight, you shouldn't irritate a warlock while they're doing magic. FYI you may have a craving for flies and feel like hopping instead of walking for a few days. Croaking not withstanding."

He scowled and ribbited to my smirk before calling me a demon. I shrugged. "No more than you. All people have some potential with magic, I just learned how to tap into it. Besides, calling me a demon is a gross exaggeration and only proves your own ignorance. There are thousands of species of demon and I'm exactly none of them. Just because I know how to use magic doesn't mean I'm a demon. After all, your own sister Tara can do magic and she's not a demon."

Tara flinched when Donny said she was. His father came in and I waved a hand, pinning the little bastard to the ceiling. Tara asked me to stop and I dropped him hard. He bounced off the floor and groaned as I told him. "If you've come here expecting to insult warlocks and witches dumbass, do remember that this is a magic shop and there are enough curses in here to disembowel your redneck ass and banish you to a hell realms so dark you won't be able to tell what's eating you."

My eyes and hair turned black while my skin paled and black veins covered me. Tara's cousin called me a demon with her father and I tilted my head. I raised my hand and Tara grabbed my arm asking me. "Please stop."

I snorted and lowered my hand as I returned to normal. "Make them leave. They can't just come in here and insult us because they're jealous of our magic. I can see it in their minds, they treat the women witches in your family like shit and call you demons to keep you in line. They don't even know what a real demon looks like. These redneck hypocrites are more demon than you ever will be Tara."

I glared at them. "Leave and if you ever return you'll find yourselves in that dark place being eaten alive, I swear to you. Tara will never know you're dead. You sick fucks deserve worse."

I turned and headed to the back gym to blow off some steam. Buffy came with and asked if I was alright. I shook it off saying that I, in my infinite wisdom, read their minds when the idiot called me a demon. I told her a sexist prick's mind wasn't the best place to be.

She worked out with me until the Lei-Ach demons showed up. We killed all four of them and Tara's family returned only to be sent away for good when Tara refused to go with them. We celebrated her birthday the next evening and I even sang Something Just Like This and Paris for the party. They all had a blast and Dawn asked why I ever gave up being a rockstar.

I chuckled and told her I had more important things in my life then and that fact remains true to me even now. I gave Tara a Scooby ring and gave her a copy of all the non dark magic books, tomes and scrolls I had so she and Willow could learn and share together. I told her the ring was Buffy's gift while the books were my first gift. I handed her another more special book. "That's my second gift to you. It's my own grimoire, all the spells I personally made or adapted to special yet practical uses."

She hugged me and thanked me saying it was perfect. I nodded and told her she now had all the magic spells besides dark magic that I knew so she could become an extremely powerful witch. I tapped the book I gave her. "Inside is how I learned to create magic reserves inside my own body to boost my power and grow strong fast. It's not always pleasant or practical, but I'm sure you and Willow could adapt it to your needs."

She nodded and thanked me again, saying she'd cherish it. She gave Buffy a hug while thanking her for the ring. Buffy told her it was something she should've had me do earlier. She sighed and told Tara that she was always a Scooby so it wasn't much.

Tara said she loved it and I warned her of it's dangers. A week later I had to save and patch up Buffy when she got herself stabbed by her own stake thanks to a vampire she was fighting. The vampire was torn apart by hellhounds before I carried Buffy home and healed her.

The ring, plus her slayer healing and my spells had her healed in no time flat or nearly so. She still had to take it easy for a day and she decided to do that while learning about other slayers that died. In the meantime my hellhounds and I slaughtered dozens of nests throughout the day and night before I heard news of Joyce getting worse. The doctors had found stage three breast cancer and tumors in her stomach indicating stomach cancer.

They managed to find it all, but it would take multiple surgeries and chemotherapy treatments if she survived the first procedure to remove the one in her brain. I got to Buffy's house and saw her talking to Spike. I told him to piss off or I'd get mean and even with his shotgun on him, he didn't want to find out what that meant. He left and I took Buffy with Dawn to the hospital.

We stayed there the whole night and when it was time, we heard from the doctors while Dawn was asleep. The tumors started from the brain and spread to the fat pockets along the body, becoming cancerous in some places and benign in others. They said they could remove most of it, but the stomach ones were the worst even beyond the stage three breast cancer. It was going to get bad before it gets better. I held Buffy and gave the doctors all the information they wanted.

When they left, I told Buffy I had an Egyptian artifact that could store someone's soul and put it in another body of things get too bad. I told her I hadn't mentioned it before because it's dark magic and very bad for the sanity of the soul in question if it stays in there too long. I told her I didn't have anything else because even if I could clone Joyce, the human clone bodies only last a day before the body dies systematically via organ failure. She said we weren't there yet and I agreed, just giving her the options we had available to us.

I took Dawn out for ice cream before taking her to school. I met Buffy at the hospital after she went out and fought Glory again. She asked me to stay at the hospital in case the doctors needed something and to keep an eye on Joyce incase there's changes in her condition. She said she'd go pick up Dawn in a bit so I held her and told her I'd always be there for her no matter what happens.

A couple days later I patrolled with the gang while Dawn and Buffy stayed with Joyce in the hospital. After a while things got weird with a Queller demon being summoned from outer space. Riley's group showed up tracking it and from there we met up at the hospital and killed it before it could kill a ward full of mentally unstable people. The men with Riley were all sporting tattoos boosting their abilities so I knew they were fucking shit up in the supernatural society elsewhere.

Still, they took the body to be dissected for weaknesses and burned. Their new General couldn't give a fuck about making bionic demon super soldiers and would rather know how to kill them efficiently and be done with it. I took my own samples and left it at that, not caring that they took the demon away and only asking that they send me a full detailed report on the demon's physiology so that I could add it to records for later generations of slayers and hunters.

The General didn't see any harm in it and offered similar knowledge for more magical ink. By morning I had my reports on every demon they'd come across alongside physiology and recommended kill methods. I gave them their ink and a hard drive of every demon know, their characteristics, motives and what to watch out for. I'd collected the information from all the watcher's diaries and demonology books I'd taken from all over.

The General was surprised I had something so useful and thanked me. I shrugged and told him we were both fighting wars and right now a goddess in human flesh was brain sucking the locals from what I can tell and summoning up all kinds of bad news. He offered support and I shook my head. "Your men, even with the tech, weapons, armor and tattoos would be finger paint to her. Trust me when I say a confrontation with the army would only make things worse. We'll find her weakness and end her or I'll banish her to a hell realm even if it kills me. If we fail you'll know and you'll be more than welcome to bring everything to bare because the world will be in jeopardy no doubt."

He grunted and told me that if he didn't already know I had an army of hellhounds that were part dragon and dire wolf he'd insist. I snorted lightly as he sighed saying they had other fights to pick. They left and soon Joyce went into surgery the next day. It was a long day of waiting with twenty two hours of surgery to remove the tumors, cancerous growths and everything. She survived the surgery and while we waited, Giles took a trip to England to get what the council can find on Glory.

Two days later he was still gone and Joyce was in recovery while the doctors made sure they got it all. At that time Willow and Anya conjured up a troll with the troll God's hammer. I was at the Bronze listening to Spike telling me how I didn't deserve Buffy while Xander complained about being stuck on losing sides of Willow and Amy's arguments. I told Spike I knew I didn't deserve Buffy and that I'd never be good enough for her, sighing. "That doesn't mean I won't do my damnedest with whatever time I have alive in this world to make her as happy as I possibly can."

I took a shot on the pool table and turned to Xander. "As for you, you did the right thing in avoiding taking a side. They'll figure themselves out eventually and by then any side you choose will be the wrong one. Avoidance is key in your situation."

I bumped into a troll and it growled at me. I frowned and told it to fuck off. He tried grabbing me and I dodged, pulling a sword and cutting his arm off. He roared and swung his hammer, missing as I took his head off.

I put away the sword as green blood spilled everywhere. His body fell and I made it vanish into my ring with the hammer and the mess. I cleaned myself with magic and told the two. "I sure as hell hope that was conjured or something because if someone's turning people into trolls then I just murdered an asshole."

Spike lit a cigarette and told me to join the club. I grunted and Willow arrived with Anya a minute later. Buffy was right after them and Spike was more than willing to say I killed the troll that was possibly a cursed human without hesitation. I gave him a droll stare and told them the fat troll was talking about eating babies, raping virgins and drinking ale.

I brought out the hammer and grunted as I nearly dropped it. Buffy took it with ease and I snorted, putting my hands to my chest. "Da mihi vim!"

A shimmer of a glow passed over my body and I smiled, taking the hammer back with ease. "It's not permanent, but I can reapply it in an hour when it wears off. This is a divine weapon. It feels like my ring."

I swung it a few times before handing it to Buffy. "It can hurt Glory even without the Dagon Sphere. With it we might be able to kill her if we can slow her down."

Buffy put the hammer away and Anya said it was the troll she'd turned her ex into a thousand years ago. I grimaced and told her he ate babies and raped women according to him so I wouldn't apologize for what I did. She shrugged saying she didn't care because it was his fault she'd become a vengeance demon. I didn't comment and turned to Buffy. "Do you hate me?"

She shook her head. "No, you did the right thing with the information you had. Besides, he was evil if he ate babies and raped people."

I sighed and told her he was likely more troll than he ever was human after a thousand years as one. She had to agree with me on that one and conceded the point. I waved a hand and the other humans forgot they'd seen anything magical. Spike complained to Buffy. "What? That's it? He goes off and murders a bloke in cold blood and you'll forgive him, but not innocent vampires just doing what comes naturally to them?"

I snorted and told him the troll swung a divine hammer at my head and tried to kill me. Buffy asked him why he was even here which Xander replied to telling her all the things Spike had told me when he came over to watch us play pool. Buffy looked to me and I shrugged. "I knew I was never good enough for you the moment I met you. I just tried to make you as happy as I could. I don't need Spike to tell me what I already knew."

She scowled and told Spike to leave before she stakes him. He left via stalking off and she told me I was more than deserving of her. She sighed saying it was her that didn't deserve me. So I popped her on the butt and picked her up by her ass, kissing her before saying that I don't allow anyone to talk bad about those I love, not even themselves.

She smiled as I set her on the edge of the pool table and made out with her. Xander, Anya and Willow made up and made things clear. Giles returned that night with no news and instead said we were basically waiting on the watcher's council. The next night we had a Scooby meeting because the council called and said they were coming to Sunnydale.

The next evening the council arrived and Buffy got worried. I told them to leave and they said they'd give us a day to think about everything. When they were gone, I set a file on the table in front of Giles. "I should've told you before, but I took the liberty to apply for dual citizenship on your part and ensured it was pushed through this morning. I knew when you said they were coming that it was a vulnerability they might take advantage of."

He thanked me and I shrugged. "It's completely legal and above board so there's no reason to fear them. As for your green card status, it's been revoked as of noon today. They have no leverage over Buffy through you now."

I turned to Buffy and stroked her head. "This is going to hurt, but you'll know everything a slayer's supposed to. Are you ready?"

She nodded and I kissed her forehead before giving her the information. Thousands of books on everything from demons to history, how to track and how to kill them. Everything is learned about slayers and demons. She flinched hard as I added all my experience with weapons in a mental white room.

Literally thousands of years practicing every weapon known to man and so much more on the swords. She had a severe migraine so I put her to sleep and held her, telling Giles. "By the morning she'll know everything I do about weapons, martial arts, demons, slayers and watchers. She'll need practice with the physical stuff, but she'll adapt fast. I didn't do it before because the more she knew beforehand the easier it would be on her."

He nodded slowly and I told him I'd take her home and we'd get the next day over with. Buffy was doing a lot better the next day and we practiced martial arts in the back yard. She mastered every form after three times and began fighting me evenly in mixed martial arts, deadly kill techniques and soon, weapons. Of all the weapons we used and she mastered, the sword was the farthest she went and very quickly. She hadn't reached my level with it, but she was better than any other swordsman I'd ever fought besides Hawkeye and Old Sword which was something in and of itself.

The watchers council had seen it all and while impressed by our deadly high speed dance of blades, they pretended otherwise. They questioned me alone about everything from my skills, powers, knowledge and abilities to my relationship with Buffy, Faith and all of it. By the end I felt like I'd been strip searched and nearly violated by a Haxel beast.

They moved on to Buffy's test which I was glad I'd given her my language package for. She aced the basics and broke a rib of one of the watchers while impaling a mannequin with the watcher's axe. Buffy went to say she could do it better and I stopped her, telepathically telling her that they needed her more than she needed them and they wanted her at their mercy while calling her inadequate so they can put themselves back in charge. Buffy's eyes narrowed and she told them their tests were done for now.

I left and found Glory in Buffy's house where I got very violent. I used a sword and broke it on her indestructible hide before she shoved the rest into my right lung. I growled and my hair and eyes turned black as veins grew all over. I called out the hellhounds and had one take Dawn away to Buffy while the other two tore at the hell bitch.

I dodged and weaved, eating a senzu bean to heal before blasting her back with magic. We tore up the living room fighting until she killed by hellhounds when their fire did nothing to her. I bounced her around as I grabbed her from behind and pinned her with a thickening spell. I drained the magic from her and she screamed before punching a whole where my right lung should be thanks to my dodging at the last second to avoid a fatal injury.

I drained more of her dark power before she threw me through the wall and into the dining room. She tried her brain sucking shit and thankfully Buffy stopped her before she could drain my mental energies completely. An iron fire poker to her head knocked her off of me and Buffy helped me up. I held up a hand and thickened the air again, telling Buffy telepathically to hold on.

I teleported us to the magic shop where the hellhound and Dawn had arrived. We made it and I coughed up a mouth full of blood on the watchers having tea before falling over. I brought out a bean while psychically telling Buffy to make me it while I passed out not knowing whether I'd wake up again. I woke up hearing Buffy telling Dawn not to make too much noise.

I breathed in without pain so either I was dead and I'd finally made it to heaven or they'd healed me with the bean. I cracked my eyes open and sat up seeing the watchers still looking shocked. I groaned and held my head, telling them it was so hard to focus. I growled telling Buffy I needed to face Glory again to get back what she took.

I had vertigo as she told me I'd barely survived the one encounter and two of my hellhounds were dead. I grunted and told her it was a must that I face Glory again or I'd soon lose control of the dark magic in me and go evil myself. I poured all the magic I took into my ring before sighing and hearing the watchers talking. I ignored them and turned to Buffy who said my hair and eyes were still black with the veins.

I sighed and closed my eyes, meditating which was harder now than ever before. When my body returned to normal, all that remained black was my eyes and I could do nothing about them for now. The others had arrived while I was out and Anya was mopping up the blood. Buffy told them there was no more games, no more tests.

She told them they needed her more than she needed them. One of the watchers pointed out my condition and I growled. "I may be hurt, but I'm not dead yet dumbass. We know Glory's a goddess and we have two weapons that can possibly kill the bitch when combined. If I get ahold of her first I'll drain the bitch of magic and her sanity before I bury the troll god hammer in her fucking head!"

The magic shop shook and the lights flickered. Buffy told me to calm down and relax. I leaned into her and sat down, tired while buffy told them we can possibly beat Glory without them, what we need is to know what happens if we fail. She told them that if they don't quit their shit then we'll still beat Glory and they can take their happy useless asses back to England and eat scones.

I raised an eyebrow and saw she was angry so I didn't comment. She got Giles's job back with backpay alongside all the information they could gather on Glory, the

Hell Goddess. We knew her past and full agenda before the council left, wishing us luck. The others came down from the second floor and I took Dawn to the hospital at Buffy's request.

The next day was Buffy's birthday and I wasn't exactly myself, but I managed to give her one of my two Arkanstone pommel elf swords. I held my head and rocked a bit and she stroked my hair, kissing my head as I groaned while channeling my magic into my ring again. The pressure lightened up a bit and I relaxed as my ring glowed brighter. She said it was sweet and once I was better she'd thank me. I nodded slowly and breathed out as I closed my eyes. "It's ten thousand years old and elf made. The stone is worth a kingdom or a small country if you don't like it. It gives healing and speed to the user and it'll never break or dull. The stone is called an Arkanstone, the heart of a mountain. Very rare and made naturally in heavily magic rich volcanic mountains."

I rubbed my temples and took the pain relievers Giles offered before stumbling upstairs to pass out in Buffy's bed. I didn't miss the whole Dawn incident and the hospital run Dawn did the next day which caused Willow to teleport Glory. I had repaired the house with a single use of magic that gave me a massive nose bleed the morning we'd returned to the house. I'd slept fitfully the whole night and day until the incessant fire alarms went off.

I told Buffy through groans. "Get the others, need Willow and Tara in case of Glory. Go to the hospital, she'll be there."

Buffy nodded and kissed me, telling me to go back to bed which I shook my head lightly to. I touched her cheek. "Distract her, use the ball and hammer, I get back what I lost and she dies."

Buffy agreed reluctantly and we headed over in my truck with me barely driving. Xander drove from the magic shop to the hospital and we arrived in time to look around before finding them in the break room with a dead security officer. They fought while Xander held the Dagon Sphere and Buffy beat Glory around. When I got a chance to get behind the hell bitch, I growled. "Scream for me!"

I shoved my fingers into the side of her head as I did the only magic I could at this point, dark magic. I took the mental energy she stole back and then some by millions of times. She bucked me off and I knocked over some lockers. I stood up with magic and grunted. "Nice strength, want to see mine?"

I took out the orbs of Nezzla'Khan and embedded them in my chest before chanting. "Da mihi vim!"

I walked to her and punched the hell bitch through several walls at the speed of a locomotive. I growled and followed her out and grabbed her, pulling her up as she screamed. I drained all the magic she had in her into my ring instead of holding it inside myself. It was simply too much for a mortal body of any strength to handle hence the need for her to brain suck so many.

When Buffy got to us, I put the hell bitch in a head lock and Buffy beat her down with the troll god hammer. Eventually she fell and I released her while the others and I watched as she turned into Ben, a male nurse and the guy who gave me a heart exam with the male doctor before. Buffy told him to stay away from us and she'd let them live. Ben agreed and I growled, going to finish the job.

Buffy stopped me and I looked to her gaze before letting it go. "If he's lying-"

Her gaze softened. "Then we know how to stop them now. Besides, you're back and we're safe, let's just go home, please?"

I nodded slowly and repaired the hospital while erasing minds of the fight as we left. Soon it was as if we'd never been there to begin with. Buffy sat Dawn down and I told her what she was. I told her I got a peek into Glory's mind and sighed. "They key's original form is that of pure energy devoid of evil or good, just power needed to unlock the door between dimensions…all dimensions."

I leaned back into the couch as I told her and all the scoobies. "The key was created billions of years ago when the old ones first came into being and magic was still new to this reality. The first gods who apposed the First Evil made and formed the key, throwing up a massive wall that separates this reality from all the other hell dimensions. Some of the first race became gods, some have into the First's evil and became old ones and others fled becoming the gods of the other dimensions or old ones there like Quar'toth the old one that the dimension outside of this reality is named from."

I turned to Dawn. "Glory didn't have a hand in your creation, she wasn't even a god back then. Those that became the powers that be or whatever helped form your energy, but mostly it was life itself, the seed of wonder, that gave birth to you."

I told them what the seed wonder was, pure magic created with this reality's birth and the dreams, hopes and beliefs of all things. I told Dawn. "There is no more evil in you than there is in any girl your age and although you weren't born like us, it doesn't make you any less human or anything less than Dawn Summers, Pumpkin Belly, Pain in Buffy's butt, Dawnster and Dawnie."

I flicked her forehead and she rubbed it with tears in her eyes. I sighed. "Reality is only as real as our shared perception and all of us remember you, Dawn, so you're as real as anyone here and if anyone ever tells you differently, you come tell me and I'll make them less real by making them disappear."

She snorted lightly and hugged my side before she hugged Buffy and her mom. I turned to Giles. "Glory won't stop, not until the equinox has passed and the alignment with it forcing her to wait millions of years more or she succeeds. If she does, the walls between dimensions will crumble, reality will bleed over and our world will fuse with the thousands of demon and hell dimensions out there. Even the heaven dimensions won't be safe and that would be the end of us as the old ones return and humans are relegated to livestock and eating by the millions."

I turned to Buffy. "I stopped this once for you love, but if I get another chance I will end it even if I have to kill Ben as well. For now I recommend you all stay at my place. It's warded with enochian sigils so even gods can't find you there unless they know where there is and bring down the wards first, giving us time to teleport across the globe, I hope."

They agreed, Joyce included, and soon we were at my place. We soon heard about Drusilla's return to town and Buffy took Xander to check it out telling me to stay close to her mom and Dawn to teleport them out if necessary. I missed the Spike issues, but I got the gist of it and heard Willow did the uninvited spell on Buffy's house so he couldn't get in. I held Buffy that night, and told her I'd do anything for her, but I wouldn't let her die even if it killed me.

Joyce was feeling remarkably better a few weeks later. She was going out with a guy named Brian while Buffy, Xander, Anya and I were going to a spring break party. Dawn was with Giles at my place so someone was always with her. Buffy and I danced until Spike showed up.

I broke his arm in several places and told him if he ever came near Buffy again sniffing around I'd castrate him with a searing knife so he can't get it back. A robot girl showed up looking for Warren Mears and tossed Spike through a window before leaving. The next day Buffy and I went out to find Warren and stop a potential robot rampage. We found Warren and the robot found Warren's human girlfriend.

We fought said robot and I got thrown for a loop after she tossed me off and Buffy gutted her with a plank from a teeter-totter. The robot threw some more punches until Warren and his new ex fled. The robot calmed down when it started to run out of power and I got up to hear it's last goodbye. I took it into my ring and Buffy raised an eyebrow.

I snorted. "Trust me, it's not for sex. I have to use magic to keep up with you as it is, babe. No, I was thinking it might go a long way in understanding robotics, perhaps eventually becoming free labor that builds houses for homeless and raise crops for starving third world countries. I'd keep the programming crap that psycho put in it out and just build them with set goals and laws to do no harm. Heck, maybe one day they'll help fight demons in an army fashion so you and I can retire to a private island where bikinis are considered overdressed."

Buffy warmed up to that idea quickly and kissed me. We got back to my place in a hurry when Xander and Willow called. We arrived as the paramedics left and everyone was in tears. Joyce had died sometime after we left but before they got back from taking Dawn to school.

I held Buffy as she cried and I told her I should've done more somehow. Giles handed me the millennium ring and I frowned. He said she'd been clutching it when she passed away. My eyes brightened and I put it on, telling them to be quiet so I could focus.

I reached out with my mind and found nothing. I took it off and threw it at a wall barking. "Damnit!"

I sat down and held Buffy in the hallway. I told them. "It's an ancient Egyptian magical artifact that can manipulate and store souls, be they in pieces or as a whole. I gave it to Joyce in case anything went wrong and she wanted to store her soul until we could find her a new body or remake her body with a spell we haven't learned yet."

I rubbed my temples and sighed. "She didn't have enough time to store it-"

I looked to the indent on the wall and back to Giles. "How may spikes were there when you took it from her?"

Giles frowned and I demanded. "HOW MANY?"

He answered after a second. "Four, I think."

Xander picked it up and there was four on it still so I grabbed Buffy's chin and looked her in the eyes. "There's still hope. The millennium ring has five spike like pointers that direct the user in the cardinal directions and one for the thing they seek. If she has one in her hand still then she might've had time with it having broken off. If we can get it back, I can repair it and if her soul or a piece of it even is inside, we can save her and bring her back."

I tilted my head. "Perhaps in a robot's body of nothing else for the short term."

Buffy asked if I was serious and I nodded. "Deadly."

I got up and told them to search the house for the missing spike and we'd head to the hospital to get her personal effects if it's not here with us. We found it in her jewelry box upstairs and I sighed, telling buffy after checking it. "You really should thank Dawn about going on with the Harry Potter stuff. Apparently Joyce took a page from that book series and made a soul container for safekeeping."

I held it up and looked it over before sighing. "It's just a piece of her soul, but it's enough if I use sacrificial magic and sacrifice a piece of my own soul to strengthen hers. We can bring her back if she's willing."

Buffy hugged me and cried so I held her for a long while before telling her I had to fuse it now or risk the artifact weakening the longer they're apart. I brought out the bracelets and hesitated as I laid out the ring. I turned to them and warned them. "Whatever you do, don't touch me until it's over or you could die."

They nodded grimly and I put the bracelets on. They heated up and I grunted as they glowed and turned a searing red. My roar and the smell of burning flesh alarmed them a great deal. When it cooled down, I fell over panting something fierce and sweating up a storm.

I stood straighter after a while and told them it was safe. Xander asked what it was and I grimaced. "All magic has a cost. These are the most powerful dark magic artifacts in the history of Egypt. They control the power over life and death in a very literal way that rivals gods. The cost to access that power isn't important right now. Let's save Joyce and worry about stuff that may never have been to begin with later."

I held up my hands and the ring pieces flew into them, melding together into the millennium ring once more. I touched my chest and a glowing multicolored ball of energy came out. Giles asked. "Dear lord, is that-"

I nodded. "My soul, such as it is, yes."

I chanted in Arabic. "Adhhy biqiteat min ruhi li'astaeid 'ukhraa."

A piece of the ball tore off and I screamed bloody murder as my eyes, ears and nose bled. The ring heated up and burned my hands before I dropped to the floor in convulsions. When I came to, I told them. "It's done. It's over."

Buffy held me up and called me an idiot, saying she almost lost me too. I sighed and told her I'd do anything to make her happy and I don't regret it. She sighed and told me she loved me. I kissed her before telling her. "Let's go deal with the drawbacks before I reach you all how to talk to Joyce until we can find or make her a suitable body."

She nodded slowly and I took off the bracelets that burned the eye of Ra into my skin on both wrists. I grimaced and put the bracelets away while we got Dawn, dealt with the body issues and met up with everyone at the hospital. While we waited in the break room, I put had each of them hold the ring with one hand and told them to relax their minds. I pulled us into the ring and we met with Joyce.

She hugged her daughters and I explained what I planned. She was hesitant before she told us it was her time and if she didn't go now her soul would never be allowed in the heaven realms again. She told me it was alright and that Osiris had agreed to remove the banishment this once if they let her go. They looked to me and I didn't say a word, instead Joyce spoke. "Jesse used an artifact that was forbidden. By sacrificing his right to enter heaven and a part of his soul, he was able to pull me back to this side and anchor me here."

She looked at me and I shrugged. "It's a small price to pay to protect those I care about. Besides, I can't imagine I'd be too welcome there anyhow and my soul will heal given enough time."

Joyce shook her head and said I was wrong on both accounts because my soul was going to be restored and the price unmade so that the natural order can continue or our reality and the boundaries between life and death will disappear completely. I frowned and she sighed. "I'm human and I died a human death. Not even a god can defy the laws of nature to that degree without extreme consequences. Osiris will turn back the clock and take my soul to heaven if you all agree to let me go and live your lives. It's my time."

I clenched my fists and she looked to me again. "He says to give you a message. Those items aren't to be used again in this reality or your punishment will be far worse near time. Defying death is only for the gods apparently and defying nature as a magic user is worse or so he says."

I owed a little and growled before she waved me off and hugged her daughters. They cried and Dawn barely agreed to let her go. I woke up on the hall floor of my's house with the others and Buffy asked if it was real. I looked at my wrists and groaned as the marks burned off and bled.

On the bright side my soul felt fine again, but damned if my wrists didn't hurt. They healed though, slowly. I found the ring in my lap and whole. I checked it and shook my head sadly to their unasked questions.

I held Buffy as she cried and we went to take care of things. The others already knew having remembered everything. Buffy slapped me and told me never to do something like that again. I kissed her and told her I'd sacrifice a lot more to see her happy and healthy so I couldn't make that promise.

She called me stubborn and I kissed her before telling her I'd handle the doctors stuff. Less than a day later we picked out a coffin and two days after that we buried Joyce. I told Buffy that she and Dawn could keep the house and I'd pay to have all the repairs and stuff done or they could move in with me and sell the house. They sold the house as it turns out and moved in with me where it was much safer.

Soon Buffy left Dawn with me while she and Giles went out into the desert to do a spiritual finding. I didn't hear from them or the others who were out doing their own things for nearly two full days when they came back with a Buffy bot and news that Spike was tortured by Glory while looking for the key. Apparently the hospital was over flowing with mental patients now because of her need to feed and most of them were knights hunting the key themselves to destroy it.

I felt Glory whose power had returned after I'd stripped it away so I could only assume the true number of knights she'd brain sucked was far larger and just dead somewhere to have made such a fast turn about. I was not happy with Spike, but even Xander felt bad about his thrashing. I growled and my eyes flashed black before I put away the bot and Buffy told me I wasn't keeping it. I huffed. "You're right, you are once I fix it. If we ever need a decoy that could save your life it'll be in your ring at the ready."