The Turok-Han were screaming now at the top of the corridor. Any second they would charge down and slaughter them like livestock.

Suddenly Dawn span around and bolted for the right hand fork of the corridor, and out of reflex, everyone followed her almost immediately.

The super vampires launched down the corridors, howling as they smelled the fear drifting up the hallway from their trapped prey.

She reached a set of double doors and threw them open, ushering everyone inside.

The Turok-Han were no less than thirty feet away.

Buffy took a position protecting Dawn from the oncoming hordes of vampires. Six Slayers, Xander, and Fred had ran inside.

Twenty feet.

Gunn, Faith and seven more Slayers were inside.

Ten feet.

Buffy shoved Dawn backwards into the doors and stepped backwards herself, just behind the priest. She felt a presence to the side of her and somehow knew it was Angel.

Seven feet.

Connor pulled Angel inside, and she felt a hand pull on her arm. She spared a look and saw it was Spike, urging her to hurry.

Five feet.

Giles grabbed her other arm, and she saw Wesley pull the pin out of a grenade. Between them, Spike and Giles had dragged her backwards through the doors and she could see the double doors led through a small passageway, no more than six feet long and four feet wide, to another set of double doors.

The doors closed behind them and Wesley threw the grenade over his shoulder, and then threw himself into the trio and making them stagger into the room beyond the second set of doors and to the ground.

A second later, the grenade exploded and wreckage and dust billowed into the room.

Buffy coughed once and then sat up. They were beaten and bruised, but safe – at least, for the moment.

She stood and took stock of the room. They were in the drama hall of the school; while not the biggest room in the school, it was large enough for them to set up a temporary base of operations. There was a balcony for lighting set up around near the ceiling which would make an excellent defensive location. The stage could be barricaded and a bunker could be fashioned which they could hold at least for a brief time.

She nodded approvingly to herself – this was as good as any for a safe refuge; Dawn had done well.

**********

“I wonder if they’re dead yet,” pondered Anya as she lounged in the driver’s seat of the school bus.

Lorne, who had suddenly found himself regretting his decision not to follow the others into the war torn school, sighed for the second time in as many minutes.

“I doubt it,” said Andrew from just behind her. “I mean, they’re all Slayers, right?”

“Yes, but even an army of Slayers can’t hold out forever against the massed legions of darkness.” She paused for a moment. “One of them has to have died.”

“Alright,” said Lorne firmly, standing up. “That’s it. We’re going in there.”

“But…what about those snarls we heard?” Andrew almost whimpered.

“That’s why we have to go. They need our help.”

“We’ll see about that,” stated Anya, clutching the radio she had commandeered protectively. She squeezed the button on the side and spoke. “Come in, warriors of light. Can you hear me?”

A second passed, and then they heard Faith’s voice once again. “Yeah, we could do with some of those supplies you’ve got holed up there.”

Lorne snatched the radio off Anya. “Where are you, honey?”

“In the…uh…the drama hall.”

“We’ll be right over.”

“No, wait – there’s an army of Turok-Han outside, and we’ve blown up the only entrance.”

Andrew gently took the radio out of Lorne’s hands and sheepishly spoke into it. “Uhm…aren’t there fire exits usually around in case the main one is blocked for some reason? It’d be against the law to have a big room like that with only one exit, I think anyway.”

There were a few moments silence, and then Faith spoke up again. “You’re right Andy, there’s a door that leads right outside. Good thinkin’.”

He smiled meekly and handed the radio back to Lorne. “How can we reach you, kitten?”

Another moments silence. “Hang on a sec,” Faith said.

Anya looked pointedly at Lorne, as if it was his fault Faith had stopped speaking.

Then she spoke. “Something’s goin’ on; we can’t get the door open.”

Anya snatched the radio back. “It’s quite simple,” she said condescendingly. “You push down on the bar, and that makes the door swing open. I’m assuming you know how to open conventionally handled doors.”

“Put Lorne back on.” She grudgingly surrendered the radio.

“There’s a skylight on the roof, maybe you can drop some stuff in.”

Lorne looked behind him at the mountains of supplies unenthusiastically. “Uhm...I don’t think so, sugar plum.”

“Maybe we could beam it in,” muttered Andrew. Lorne looked at him pointedly, then handed him the radio.

“Oh…yeah,” he said. Then, into the radio; “Maybe we could teleport it into the hall.”

There was yet more quiet. “I don’t think we could manage that, Andy.”

“Of course, you’re a human,” muttered Anya pompously. Lorne sighed again.

“Would you people stop muttering? Some of that stuff might be helpful!”

Anya gave Lorne a funny look, and then took the radio from Andrew. “Of course you couldn’t manage it, you’re just a human,” she said.

“So are you.”

“Yes, but I was a Vengeance Demon for several centuries, in case you didn’t know, and I happen to remember all of the tricks of the trade.”

**********

Anya’s voice continued to float from the small mechanical object.

“A teleportation spell is complicated unless you’ve done it unconsciously for a thousand years – which, incidentally, I have.”

“Anya, you said you could only teleport yourself back when…in the woods.” Buffy had snatched the radio angrily but stopped herself from mentioning the ‘murder’ word, even if Willow was noticeably absent.

“Yes, but I was also a Vengeance Demon and in serious trouble with my bosses as it was, so I couldn’t risk attracting any more attention or you’d have had D’Hoffryn on your ass as well as Evil Willow.”

“Oh…uh…okay then.”

“As I was saying, that spell can be adapted to a larger area but unfortunately I’m all out of mojo since I’ve become mortal again. Willow might have been able to help in that area, but unfortunately she’s been kidnapped by a guy with more mojo than everyone in this dimension combined.”

“That’d be a factor in her being able to help.”

“I might be able to help with the spell,” supplied Wesley suddenly. Buffy turned to face him. “I’ve recently…dabbled in the dark arts, and I’ve found myself surprisingly adept. Rupert, maybe we could pool our collective powers to pull this off.” Giles nodded and they took the radio to a corner to converse with Anya about the spell.

Buffy wandered over to where Angel was standing. “Dark arts…?” Angel just shrugged. “Oh…” she said. “Do you remember when you just woke up after we were all split up? And Wes talked to you on your own about something that looked really serious?” Angel nodded. “Well…what was that thing?”

Angel sighed. “He thinks Connor is still the person who sank me to the bottom of the ocean.”

“Do you really think…?” asked Buffy, looking over at the teenager. He was chatting amiably to one of the Slayers, Katie. He just looked like a kid who was trying to impress a girl he liked.

Angel said nothing for a few moments. “I really don’t know,” he said finally. “I tried to help him by sending him away and making him forget…but maybe there’s still a part of Quor’Toth in him.”

She wordlessly linked hands with him, sensing he needed a proverbial shoulder to cry on just now. He squeezed back.

“He’s pretty messed up, you know.”

“Connor?”

“No, Wes. He doesn’t let anyone see it, but I know him well enough to know that something’s eating him up inside.”

“…What?”

“I think it’s what he did last year. Part of the clean slate for Connor was that everyone else had to have one too. Now everyone can remember, and with Gunn and Fred and Lorne, that isn’t really an issue…but Wes kidnapped Connor and was driven out by the rest of us. He’s having to deal while all this is going down, and it’s taking its toll. He can handle it, but he’s under a lot of pressure.”

“Yeah…I’ll try cutting him a little slack; he had to spearhead the attack on the school as well as come up with the entire plan. I don’t think that helped.”

“There was something else he brought to my attention, too…he said that while we were separated, just after the Erus Veneficus’ attack in the street, that the Spike with us was the First.”

Buffy stared uncomprehendingly, unable to take on this piece of information all at once.

“He said he did a number of things to make him suspicious, but the clincher was when Spike walked into a house, uninvited, while the owner was inside and alive.”

“Oh my God…”

“Yeah…he said the biggest clue was finding Spike’s coat draped over me while the First was standing there, complete with leather duster.”

“But he has it now…”

“I’ve seen him touch other things – y’know, like the hundreds of super vampires just now – but what worries me is where he’s been while we were all separated…he was obviously close enough to get his coat back; Wes said he hid it under a drainpipe to keep from alerting the rest of us.”

Buffy thought for a moment. “Angel…what if Spike isn’t the one we have to be worried about?”

“What do you…?”

“Well, if Wes hid the fact that the First was among you as Spike on more than one occasion, then that suggests he has some kind of motive because if it was me in his position I wouldn’t have waited a second to tell the rest of you.”

“But he…he’s been fighting.”

“And what about when he and the Erus Veneficus had a little chat about life, the universe and everything?”

“You don’t think…?”

“I’m not saying anything – all I’m suggesting is that we try and keep an open mind about his motives. He hasn’t tried anything yet, but if we’re prepared for anything then he won’t catch us off guard, if he tries something.”

“He wouldn’t…he just wouldn’t.”

“You said it yourself, he’s betrayed you in the past, if he’s gotten into his head that he needs to do it again then he’ll do it – for the greater good.”

Angel was unable to answer that statement, knowing it to be true but unwilling to admit it.

“I’m not trying to place blame on anyone, I just think it’s a situation we need to stay aware of.”

“…Okay. But he wouldn’t.”

“Right.”

They stood in silence for a few moments more and then moved away.

Unaware that Spike stood from afar, glaring at them as they had held hands.

**********

“Fingers crossed,” whispered Faith as she watched Wes and Giles murmured some kind of chant, and suddenly Lorne, Andrew and Anya all appeared with the supplies from the bus in exactly the same place as they’d been left. Without the seats to support them, they crashed noisily to the ground and Faith winced as she heard several things crunch unhealthily.

Then an orange shimmer flickered along the walls and faded as quickly as it had appeared.

“Dammit,” shouted Wesley.

“What happened?” asked Angel.

“Someone’s put up a magical barrier around the hall. They must have been waiting for us to teleport the others inside.”

“So…?”

Wesley looked at the vampire levelly, patiently. “It means we’re trapped here now. All of us.”

“Can’t you just teleport us back out?” asked Fred.

“No,” explained Giles. “It needed two people liaising in two locations in order to use the teleportation.”

“How does the spell work?”

“It creates a tunnel in the gap between dimensions,” Anya piped up. “One person at the beginning, one person at the end. The people or things at the beginning pass out of our dimension, through this tunnel, then out at the other end. It doesn’t matter what’s in between because it uses the empty spaces between the dimensions.”

“You mean like a magical wormhole?” pressed Fred. Wesley nodded an affirmative. “Wow,” she said. “Scientists have been trying to create a stable wormhole for years, and the demon community’s been using them for millennia.”

“Well, it’s a crazy world,” interrupted Angel. “About this barrier penning us in…?” he prompted.

“They were obviously waiting for us to do the teleportation spell, and then once it succeeded it, like you said, penned us in. We’re all trapped here now, ready to be picked off at either the First’s or the Erus Veneficus’ leisure,” stated Wesley.

Buffy gave Angel a significant look, and Angel tried to ignore it.

Wesley gave them each a speculative look.

Quickly changing the subject, Buffy asked, “Can we break through it?”

Wesley shook his head. “I’m guessing it’s the Erus Veneficus who’s put it up in which instance we don’t have a chance at breaking through it. If it’s the First’s Bringers, then we have a slightly better prospective of punching through but it’s still unlikely.”

“Well then,” said Lorne, rubbing his hands together cheerfully. “I guess this is home for a while! Everyone can help me set up a base camp, and we’ll see about watering you gorgeous horses down.”

The crowd dispersed, leaving a core few standing in the middle of the hall. Angel and Buffy broke away from the others and she whispered urgently, “There’s no way this is a coincidence.”

“It was Anya’s idea,” Angel protested.

“Nuh-uh, he actually did it. Besides, you heard what she said – one person in one place, one in another. Why did Giles have to help?”

Angel was unable to answer these accusations. He trusted Wesley with his life, but he knew if the Erus Veneficus had imparted some kind of threat to Wes back in that alley then he’d do whatever he felt was necessary to protect everyone’s interests. Angel both respected and feared that element of his personality – the utter single-mindedness that had once been devoted to reading ancient volumes and texts could now be turned to anything – and that included bringing ruin to his enemies. And he knew Wes had once said to Gunn, “If you try to get nobody killed, you wind up getting everyone killed.” That was the part that scared him. If Wes was operating some motive unknown to the rest of them, who would he try to save? Were they all expendable?

He looked at Buffy helplessly, and she arched an eyebrow at him. “I know you don’t want to admit to the possibility, but if he double crosses me I’ll kill him.”

With that she walked away.

“Wait just a damn minute,” said Angel, grabbing her arm and pulling her back around. “Let’s not forget that Spike has been God-knows where for the past God-knows how long. He could be the one with the deal with the Erus Veneficus.”

“I dunno who to trust anymore,” said Buffy, “But I know I can trust Spike.”

“And I know I can trust Wes. Kind of a stand off we have here, ain’t it.”

She stared at him, not quite hostile. She turned and walked away, and he let her go.

**********

Wesley stood regarding the walls, leaning against a small podium. Buffy stood, regarding Wes. Was he capable of betraying them? She looked at all of the facts.

The Erus Veneficus hadn’t killed him outright when he confronted the wizard – just the opposite in fact, the magic man laid a few facts down for the former Watcher, explained this Hierarchy of dimensions in a nice and friendly manner – Wes is returned unharmed.
Wes hid the fact that the First was posing as Spike from the rest of them, actively going out of his way to cover up the ancient evil’s actions. And now, after he performs a spell which no-one thought he was capable of carrying out they get trapped in this miserable little room, ready to be slaughtered like sheep.
Plus the fact he’s been known to betray his friends in the past didn’t add up for her. She didn’t trust him any more.

“Something on your mind?” he asked without turning around.

Buffy coolly met his calmness. “Yeah, I was just wondering how you managed to pull off that spell.”

He frowned slightly, perhaps sensing the faint air of hostility emanating from the Slayer. “I told you, I recently dabbled in the dart arts. This,” he said, shaking the shotgun he was carrying, “Isn’t the only thing I’ve picked up along the way since I’ve left Sunnydale.”

She studied his face, trying to get any indication he might be lying. He just regarded her emotionlessly.

She nodded. “Just wondering.”

He tilted his head, and they stood looking at each other for a few seconds more. She turned her back and walked away.

**********
Angel grabbed Spike’s shoulders and rammed him against the wall, hidden from the others by a large fold up seating area up against the wall.

“Alright you son of a bitch, what have you been getting up to this past couple of days?”

Spike shoved back at Angel, forcing him to let go. “What’s all this about, peaches?”

“We all thought that you were travelling with us after the Erus Veneficus spread that fire across the street, but you weren’t; it was the First. Now, where were you and what were you doing?”

“None of your God-damn business.” He tried to push past Angel but got slammed against the wall once again.

“Spike, I swear – if I find out the thought of double crossing us has even crossed your mind for a second then you’re worse than dead.”

“Double cross? Says the man who spent a night at the First Inn?”

“It bled me over that Seal.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah…come to think of it, I seem to remember a similar story…what was that…oh, yeah – it was ME,” retorted Spike.

“That’s all in the past – and I mean it Spike.”

“Me, double cross you? Trust me, you’re the last person in the world I’d worry about hurting or betraying. But Buffy? I could never do that to her. Not after all this time.”

“Spare it Spike, I was with her longer than you, so don’t start on the old ‘all this time’ routine.”

“Ah, the great Angelus, who’s done everything I have already, except twice as many times and twice as well. Except this. In fact, I’ve done a lot more than you ever will, and a hell of a lot more times than you’re capable of with Buffy.”

Angel glared at Spike. “What were you doing?”

“Well, the first time was in the ruins of a house, and then we moved it into my crypt – one time, when she was invisible - ”

He slammed against the wall again.

“Alright, Peaches, calm down,” chuckled Spike. “What’s there to explain? I lay in that house for a while, out cold, then I woke up and the Erus Veneficus told me to stay away from Buffy.”

“Why?”

“I dunno, something about me being a wild card or something. Then I helped Faith and Gunn find Nibblet. After that, I stopped him hackin’ into the scythe and that’s why he crashed the research party at Buffy’s to snatch the witch.”

“So you met with the Erus Veneficus while you were away, more than once?”

Spike narrowed his eyes at Angel, sensing a trap.

“Answer the question, Spike!”

“…I did.”

Angel let go of the younger vampire abruptly. He glared in his face for a moment longer before storming off.

“You’re crazy, do you know that?” called Spike, but nevertheless feeling a little less sure of himself after seeing the look on Angel’s face.

**********

Half an hour later, Wesley emerged from a rushed conference with Giles and Anya. “I think we can do it,” he announced.

The occupants of the hall turned to listen.

“We think we can create a magical tunnel from here to somewhere in the town,” he continued.

“What about when you said you needed two people to do the spell?” asked Buffy.

“We’ve added a variable element to the spell incantation. It basically means that we can tell the tunnel into what conditions we want to go – so we’ve told it that we want somewhere near shadows, so the undead among us don’t get burned alive, we’ve told it to not appear anywhere fatal like inside a wall, things like that.”

“Couldn’t we appear in China or somewhere?” asked Faith.

“No – we’ve powered down the spell so it only takes us within twenty miles or so of our current location. We can’t narrow it down further than that.”

“Within twenty miles? So we could appear in the chamber with the Seal in it? Or a corridor filled with Turok-Han?” pressed Buffy.

“…That’s a possibility, yes.”

Troubled murmuring filled the small hall.

“But,” he continued, “The chances of that happening are minimal.”

“No, Wes,” Buffy cut him off. “I think that it’s more than likely that’ll happen. I think we’ll probably appear right next to the Erus Veneficus, actually.”

“…What?”

“I mean, you said it yourself earlier, you need two people to make this tunnel. And the person you think is responsible for penning us in here – right after you performed the spell which allowed him to do that, by the way – you’ve already met and had a nice long talk about everything with, and I think you’re gonna lead us right to him.”

“Buffy…!”

“So, you can go through your portal – but I’m staying right here, and I say that anyone with any sense stays here with me.”

Stunned silence bridged the gap between the two.

“This is outrageous,” Wesley said finally.

“I don’t think so, Wes.”

“Obviously,” he retorted. “I have no intention of helping the Erus Veneficus or any of our enemies, I’m just trying to get us out of here because nobody else seems capable of doing so.”

“Meaning?”

“Well, you’ve hardly done your utmost to get us out. In fact, all you seem to have done is stand around this hall.”

“Now that’s outrageous - ” started Spike, automatically leaping to his Slayer’s defence, but Angel cut him off.

“Says the man who’s met up with the Erus Veneficus at least twice during the past two days.”

Buffy stared at Angel, then at Spike.

“Have you…?” she asked.

He couldn’t look her in the eye, and struggled to find something to say. Buffy knew his guilt by just looking at him.

“It was to stop him breaking into the scythe.”

“Which was the sole factor in him coming and kidnapping Willow.”

“Uh…yeah.”

“You son of a bitch,” said Kennedy, glaring at Spike with intense disgust.

“We don’t have time for this, said Wesley suddenly. Then he said the semi-familiar words of the tunnel spell – sure enough, after a few seconds a wall of slightly distorted air appeared in front of him. “If anyone wants to come with me, away from this hall and to freedom, then all you have to do is step through the portal. If anyone wants to stay, then that’s fine too – but I won’t be coming back for you.”

Gunn instantly stepped forward. “Like hell I’m stickin’ around here, sittin’ on my ass waitin’ for those Turok-Han to bust their way in here and kill us all. I’m there, English.”

Wesley smiled at Gunn, as if privately he’d worried that he’d be the only one taking the trip through the portal.

Fred joined them, speaking quietly to Gunn and Wesley. “I spent four years in a hell dimension because of a portal, so if I’m a little nervous before I step through you can’t really blame me.”

Kennedy then joined them. “I don’t know where we’ll end up, but if it takes me closer to Willow then I’m going through.”

“Me too,” said Xander. “Same reason.”

“I’d like to join you guys,” said Angel, “But I still think taking the Seal is the most important thing we can do here, and we’re more or less right next to it. I think I can do the most good here, in the long run.”

Wesley nodded at the vampire, understanding.

“I think you all know where I stand on this,” said Buffy, folding her arms resolutely.

“I’d be inclined to stay here, too,” said Giles.

“As would I,” said Anya. “I still have to be convinced about the stability of the portal.”

Fred seemed to grow smaller, and Gunn put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

Lorne smiled at her. “I know you have a few portal issues, but you’ll be fine – trust me.”

“You’re not coming with us?”

“I’d love to, believe me. But, I think I can do the most good here.” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “I get the impression a lot of the new Slayers are gonna stick to who they know best, and that means staying here with Buffy. They’re a pretty messed up group of girls, and I’m far from a friendly face, but I’m gonna stick around and see if I can help them through this.”

“Alright,” smiled Fred. “Keep in touch.”

“You’d have to…staple my tongue to the roof of my mouth to stop me,” said Lorne after a moment. “And don’t ask me where I got that from.”

Connor had walked over to Angel. “Dad…I’m gonna go with Wes and the others. I can’t sit around here any more, I have to go and do some damage to something.”

“Alright,” said Angel after a long moments thought. “Just…be careful. Take care of yourself.”

“You too.”

**********

After everything was settled, Buffy’s group had swelled considerably after Lorne’s prediction had proved correct.

Wesley nodded. “Alright then. I wish you all the best of luck.” He went to step through the portal.

“Wes, hold up,” called Faith. She turned to Buffy. “Sorry, B. I just figure they should have a more experienced Slayer, too.”

Buffy looked surprised for a second, then nodded her unneeded consent. Faith joined the other group.

“Hang on,” she said, and passed Faith two of the four radios. “Just to keep in touch,” she said, shooting a look at Wesley. “And be careful.”

“I will. You too.”

The two groups faced each other, not quite friends but not quite enemies.

“Well then. If that’s all?” asked Wesley. When no-one replied he stepped through the portal. Fred, clinging to Gunn’s arm, quickly followed. The group of people followed him, some surely and some hesitantly.

Faith glanced over at Angel, the last person to go through.

“We’re never done.”

“No, we’re not.”

“Take care.”

“You too.”

She smiled and then stepped through the portal. Then, through natural means or from some command of Wesley’s, the portal disappeared, leaving the hall in silence.