“Dad!” Dawn cried. “Spike, it’s my dad! Get off him!” She ran around the island to help her father up, dusting him off.

When he was standing, Hank Summers glanced around angrily. “What is going on here?!” he cried.

“They thought you were a burglar, Dad,” Dawn explained. “Spike was protecting us.”

Hank was not so easily consoled. “Well, I’m not. And if you’d been paying attention, you’d have seen my car in the driveway,” he pointed out.

“Sorry,” Dawn muttered.

At the sad expression on her face Hank relented. “Oh, no harm done, I guess,” he admitted. “You were protecting her, after all. Protecting…all of you,” he said slowly, realizing he knew none of the faces looking at him expectantly.

“Oh! Dad! This is Spike…and Willow and Xander and Tara! They’re my friends,” Dawn said importantly.

A chorus of, “Hi Mr. Summers,” was mumbled.

“Well…hi kids…” Hank said hesitantly. “You’re friends of Dawns?”

“And Buffy’s,” Willow spoke up. “We went to high school with Buffy.”

Something new clouded Hanks’ eyes. “Ah. I see. I thought you were a bit older than Dawn.” He turned back to his daughter. “After your sister left so abruptly I thought it best that I come down here myself and talk with you. We’ve got a lot to go over, honey.” Suddenly his face broke into a smile. “Gosh…look at you! You’ve grown so much! And your hair! Long as ever…you look just like your mother.”

She’d been prepared to be angry with him, but nothing could have pleased Dawn more than his compliment. “Yeah?” she grinned.

“Absolutely,” Hank assured her. “Come ‘ere, kiddo.” He held his arms wide and Dawn went to him, only slightly uncomfortable with his embrace.

The Scoobies exchanged glances, unsure what to do next. Finally Tara cleared her throat. “Um, Dawnie, Willow and I are just going to go upstairs to get that book, okay? We’ve really got to be getting back to the…”

“Church meeting!” Xander supplied quickly.

Tara and Willow threw pained expressions his way. “Library,” Willow corrected through gritted teeth.

“Right,” Spike helped. “That book club we’re in at the Library.”

Dawn pulled back from her father. “Right. The book. For the club.” She joined the group as they began to exit the kitchen.

“You’re in a book club? On Friday nights?” Hank asked them.

They stopped and turned to him slowly. “Uh-huh?” Willow said, more of a question than a statement.

“Well, I must say, that’s interesting…reading’s always a good activity…but Dawn, I think you’d better sit this one out. We’ve got a lot to talk about. Your sister wasn’t all that interested in what I had to say yesterday, so perhaps…” he glanced around. “Where is Buffy anyway?”

“Uh…” Dawn began, throwing pleading expressions at her friends.

“Book club retreat!” Xander told him. “Yeah…the Buffster just can’t get enough of them. That’s why she came back so quickly from her visit to you. She really couldn’t stand the thought of missing the book club retreat. Been planning it for months.”

Hank knitted his eyebrows. “She didn’t mention anything about that. She just told me she’d be at the Hyperion Hotel if I needed her. Which I did…no one was there. Huh.” He shrugged. “Regardless, Dawn…think you can skip a night of reading to hang out with dear old Dad?” he asked, chuckling.

Dawn’s eyes widened in panic. “Uh…Dad, I’d love to, really, but…I’m…”

Tara saved her. “She’s leading the discussion group tonight, Mr. Summers. We’ve been planning it for a really long time and Dawn’s worked extra hard on it. I’d hate to see her have to miss it.”

Mr. Summer’s expression fell for a moment. “Oh well, I don’t suppose I could ask you to miss that. We can always catch up tomorrow. It’s a little late for a reading group, though, isn’t it?” He went on before anyone could think of an answer. “I bet it’s one of those fun midnight societies…you kids think I’m not up on what’s hip, but I still remember a few things from back in my day,” he laughed.

The group twittered appreciatively, except for Spike who laughed heartily, though hollowly.

“Ok, then…well, I guess we’ll get going. I’ll be home later, Dad,” Dawn said.

“Be sure one of these nice gentlemen walks you home, Dawnie.”

“We will,” Xander grinned.

“Oh, and Dawn. If you see your sister…tell her I’d like to talk to her right away,” Hank added.

“Buffy? Oh…I don’t know when she’ll be back. Sometimes these retreats go on for days,” Dawn told him.

“Typical,” Hank muttered. “Just as I expected. Your sister still hasn’t learned any responsibility, has she, Dawn? I’ve been here ten minutes with you and I can tell, you’re the leader in the family. Buffy certainly wouldn’t have ever been a book club at your age, I can tell you that.”

“Buffy’s a good person, Mr. Summers,” Willow defended her friend.

“Oh, I’m sure she is…and I love her dearly. But…I can’t help but think that perhaps this is just too much for her here, alone,” Hank began.

“She’s not alone, Dad,” Dawn cut in. “She’s got me. And all of us…and more friends at the…book club. We’ve got a big family. And…she had mom.”

Tara and Willow smiled at her.

“Honey,” Hank said, putting his hands on his youngest daughter’s shoulders and looking her in the eye. “Your sister’s a little stressed. It’s not surprising, what with how this past year has gone. She was…well, frankly she was talking crazy when she came to visit me. She snapped at one point and left the restaurant. And…well, I suppose you’ll find out eventually. She got into a fight. A street fight.”

“Oh…did she?” Dawn murmured, unsurprised.

“I can see that doesn’t shock you. I’m worried, sweetie. She said some unbelievable things. About demons and…vampires…” he seemed to notice his wide-eyed audience. “We’ll talk about this later,” he assured his youngest. “Enjoy your club. I’ll just stay here overnight, okay? Got a spare bedroom?”

“Uh…you can sleep in Buffy’s room dad, or in mine. Willow…she sorta lives in mom’s room now,” Dawn sighed.

“Great.” Hank flashed them a smile. “Have a good night! And if you see your sister…tell her I’d like her to come home right away, okay?”

“Will do, Mr. Summers,” Xander told him. “But Buffy…she’s in a whole other world. With the books.”

Dawn elbowed him sharply in the side and beamed a smile at her father.

The group turned with relief and headed down the hall. Willow ran up to get the book and was back down in a flash. They hurried out into the streets.

“This is so not what we needed right now,” Willow moaned.

“That’s your pop?” Spike asked. “Let me tell you, I’ve never appreciated your mum more.”

“That’s my dad…not that I’ve seen him in three years or anything,” Dawn muttered. “He can’t find out that Buffy’s gone. He’ll flip.”

“He’s not going to, don’t worry,” Tara reassured her.

“Right. This spell is gonna work and we’ll have her back, and Angel, lickety-split,” Willow chimed in.

*~*~*

All but fused together, flesh to flesh, their bodies buzzed with passion. An electric tingle scored their skin, burned it in the oh-so-right way. Every sense was heightened, every touch, no matter how light, brought pleasure.

She’s ready. You’re ready. Now! the voice screamed inside Angel.

Yes, now, he murmured, lost in the dream world.

Now, Buffy agreed, lying back, her breath coming quickly as his body covered hers.

Angel devoured her mouth then moved down her body, memorizing it, worshipping it. Everything about her was beautiful, wonderful. He never wanted to leave, couldn’t imagine not touching her. This was where he belonged, where he was supposed to be. Being without her was not an option, had never been.

Once, fleetingly, he’d considered leaving her, but in the end he’d been too weak. Without her he was nothing.

Together you were powerful, alone you’re dead. The words, edging on familiar, drifted into his mind and then lazily flowed out. He didn’t know where they’d come from or what they meant.

When you kiss me, I want to die. He heard her hiss this to him.

I’m weak. I’ve never been anything else. His own voice, shouting at her.

The words seemed to come from nowhere.

I want to take comfort in you and I know it’ll cost me my soul and a part of me doesn’t care! Now the voice screamed.

Suddenly he gasped.

Something was…changing. Something inside him.

Buffy was oblivious, too enraptured in the moment, but he felt it. He felt his face change, then revert back to its human form, time and time again, of its own will. He felt the control slip from him, felt the demon inside push through, tossing the Soul aside. It tore at him for a moment…a pain seared through him…and then…

Nothing. It was over as quickly as it had started. He felt lighter. He felt alive. He felt…

Free, he rasped.

Mmm? Buffy murmured. She lay under him, arms stretched over her head, her mouth parted, shaped into a perfect ‘O’.

Angel’s eyes remained closed. He was…confused, momentarily stunned. The last he remembered was…

And then he caught her scent.

Her. His mate. The Slayer.

Buffy, he hissed, allowing her to hear him.

She smiled, her head lolling to the side. Yes.

Angel’s eyes snapped open. She was here…half-naked and waiting for him, willing.

He didn’t yet remember all the details…how they’d gotten here. What they were doing…well, that part he’d figured that out so far…and he knew the rest of the memories would come back in time.

He looked down at her, so abandoned to the feelings she was being force-fed. Well, well. What did he have here? So the Soul’d somehow wormed its way back into her…good graces. How wonderful for him. Bad for her. He’d waited for this moment…for her to be his prisoner, his captive. Willing was fine. Unwilling was always better.

She wriggled now, urging him to continue, and the movement caused him to gasp at the pleasurable shock of their grinding bodies, realizing in a split second that the Soul had been just as aroused as she before its release.

Angel smiled wickedly. Perhaps bad for her could wait…just a little while.

*~*~*

“We’ve got to hurry!” Dawn cried, bursting through the door of the Magic Box.

“What? What happened?” Cordelia asked, rising from the table.

“We’ve got trouble, right here in River City,” Xander told them. “Mr. Summers decided that a trip to the ‘Dale was in his weekend plans and he’s set up camp at the house. And he’s waiting for Buffy.”

“Oh no,” Wesley moaned, dismayed. “What did you tell him?”

“You don’t want to know, but have you read Great Expectations lately?” Xander replied, leaving Wesley confused.

“What happened?” Cordy repeated.

Dawn was gasping. “We got home and he was there. Spike attacked him. We thought he was a burglar. And he’s here, to stay. Until he talks to me and Buffy. And he’s really not happy with her right now. He said…he said she’d talked crazy in LA. She told him about the vampires and he doesn’t believe her!” Dawn exclaimed, once again on the verge of tears. “He’ll never believe us if we tell him about the portal!”

Cordelia and Gunn exchanged a glance. “Dawn…if we have to, we’ll convince him that your sister’s not a loony. There are a ton of us here to back up the Slayer lore,” the seer told her.

“He said Buffy’d left the restaurant they were in and got into a street fight. Mr. Summers saw her fighting vamps?” Tara asked.

Cordy nodded, sighing heavily. “Yeah. Okay, I was waiting for us to get Buffy and Angel back before letting Dawn in on all this…and just so you know,” she sidelined when Dawn looked disgruntled, “it’s not that I don’t think you’re old enough to hear it, I just thought your sister would want to be the one to share. Anyway. Buffy comes to LA, I get a vision about her being attacked by some vamps and a couple of these guys,” she yanked a thumb towards Jimnub, “and Angel sets off to help out. Gunn and I followed as backup and they defeated the baddies while we did a stellar job of guarding your dad. But he witnessed a mondo-fight. Maybe a dozen vamps.”

“Your sis can rock when she’s all riled up,” Gunn grinned at Dawn.

Cordy rolled her eyes again. “Buffy sent him home, we did some recon, she went back to your dad’s place and they had a big fight.”

“About what?” Dawn asked.

“Dawn, I’m so sorry…he wants to take you back to LA to live with him.”

“What?!” Dawn cried. “No! No way! I want to stay with here with Buffy!”

Cordy moved to stand in front of the young girl, placing both hands on her shoulders. “We know…that’s what Buffy told your dad…but…he didn’t believe her after the fight. He seems to think she’s a little crazy, which, most times I’d be agreeing with…but I know she’s not crazy when it comes to you, to taking care of you,” Cordelia said sincerely. “I know she loves you. That was obvious even when I was living here…and it was obvious by how upset she was when she got back to the hotel last night. She was crying and way, way mad.”

“How mad?” Dawn sniffled.

Cordy smiled. “Mad like you just came in and told her you were dating Spike.”

“Hey!” came the indignant vampire’s response.

Now Dawn grinned, wiping at some stray tears.

“She loves you. And I know, for a fact, that she’s going to fight tooth and nail for you when she gets back. And so are we. So…for now? Let’s forget about your dad and worry about this, okay?” Cordelia encouraged.

The seer glanced up then to see the surprise on Willow and Xander’s faces. “What?” she asked.

Her high school chums both gave her small smiles. “Nothing,” Xander replied as Willow moved over to the table.

Cordy shrugged and walked past him to get a book off the shelf. “I always knew that was in there somewhere,” he whispered to her.

She turned her head slightly to look into his eyes. “I learned it from you,” she told him, then squeezed his shoulder and headed back to the table.

“Found it!” came Tara’s happy cry. She held up the book. “It’s an astral spell. Willow and I can astral project ourselves into their world and find Buffy and Angel…and maybe talk to the demons about getting us physical access.”

“Or have them release Angel and Buffy outright,” Wesley said.

“Is it dangerous?” Dawn asked.

Tara glanced sideways at Willow. “Sort of. If anything interrupts us while we’re in the astral state it could have serious physical effects.”

“Like what?” Spike asked speculatively.

“In the astral state you’re sort of between sleep and consciousness. If we’re disturbed here, we’ll lose our hold on the astral world. If there are any loud noises or other interruptions, *zoom*…right back in our bodies,” Willow explained. “And…well, you know…if we have a heart attack or something, but…that’s pretty unlikely.”

“Despite the new circumstances, or perhaps because of them, I see no reason for us to hold off any longer than necessary. Willow, Tara, how long will it take you to set up?” Wesley asked.

“Wait. You’re going to go over alone?” Gunn asked.

“Our real bodies will be here,” Tara explained. “We’ll be like…”

“Ghosts,” Willow supplied. “We can be heard and seen, but we can’t get hurt.”

“So your souls won’t be in danger,” he surmised. “They said you were one of the ones with a strong soul,” Gunn reminded Willow.

“Nothing will happen to us,” Tara assured him. “It’s an out of body experience. The only way for us to get hurt is if our physical bodies are disturbed or harmed.”

“And we’ll be standing over you with copious amounts of huge weapons of the slice-and-dice variety, so no worries there,” Xander chimed in.

“You guys done this before?” Gunn asked.

Willow shook her head. “I haven’t, exactly…but…in high school we battled a kid who brought forth a nightmare demon and astral projected all our worst fears to hunt us down.”

Cordy slapped a hand to her forehead. “My hair…and…those science nerds…and my hair!” she wailed.

“Hey, at least you didn’t have some Killer Klown from Outer Space on your tail…and the chocolate I ate…” He made a face. “Didn’t sit so well that night.”

“I sang. Opera,” Willow reminded him pointedly. “In an Oriental robe of some kind, with bad makeup.”

“You win,” Xander conceded.

Gunn smirked, shaking his head. “What I would have given to spend a day in your high school. Makes drive-bys look like nothing.”

“Buffy got turned into a vampire,” Dawn told him helpfully. “And Giles forgot how to read.”

Gunn’s eyes widened in amusement. “That was his nightmare? You were right,” he turned to Cordy. “I don’t need to meet ‘im. I work with him every day.”

“Har, ahar,” Wesley laughed dryly.

“I’ve done it before,” Tara told them meekly. “I can guide and anchor Willow.”

All eyes turned to her. “You have?” Willow asked, a little hurt. “You never told me that.”

Tara looked at her with sad eyes. “I see my mom. She’s the one who taught me…taught me how to go outside my body, to see things that most people can’t.”

A smile flickered across Willow’s face. “That’s nice,” she said sincerely.

“So…what do we need to do?” Spike asked, getting restless.

Before Tara could answer, Willow spoke. "I--is this really a good idea for me? Shouldn't, maybe, someone else do this? What if...what if I can't stop?" she whispered.

"You're the most magically inclined person, Will," Tara told her, smoothing Willow's red hair. "And I'll be with you every step of the way. I know it's a lot to ask...but I'm here for you. I'll help you, before and after, if you need it."

Willow smiled nervously and nodded.

Tara stood up. “We need somewhere familiar and safe for the both of us, somewhere we know our way around in case it takes a while for you to get off the ground,” she told Willow. “Is here okay with you?”

“We spend most of our time here anyway,” Willow pointed out.

Tara smiled. “Good. Now…we need to dim the lights and lie down. I’ll walk you through it. Are you tired at all?”

Willow hesitated, then nodded slightly. “Yeah, a little.”

“No, that’s good, that means you’re susceptible. Astral projection takes place in that time when you’re not awake and you’re not asleep. Don't let yourself slip into a dream, try to hold your concentration and keep deepening the sleep state. Try to summon an object in your mind to focus on…your third eye. See with that, rather than your two regular eyes,” she explained as they cleared the table and the two witches stretched out. Dawn brought them two small throw pillows to make them more comfortable.

“We need blankets, too, do we have any here?” Tara asked, sitting up on her elbows.

“I think there’s some in the training room,” Xander offered, and ran back to check.

“Sometimes it gets cold when you do this, your physical body feels cold, like how your body temperature drops when you sleep? So better to keep it warm. If you think about your physical body while in the astral state, you’ll just come right back here,” Tara warned. “Also, you need to take off any jewelry.”

They removed rings, necklaces and earrings, giving them to Cordy for safekeeping, and Xander returned a moment later with an army blanket, which he carefully spread over the two girls.

“Ok. Now, just relax and I’ll tell you what to expect. You’ll close your eyes and start to relax each part of your body…let yourself go,” Tara began, her voice very soft. “Everyone else must remain absolutely quiet throughout the experience. Maybe some of you might want to go back to the training room, just in case.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anya grumbled.

Tara continued, speaking now to Willow. “Your sense of hearing and touch will vanish and you will start to see images float across your mind. It might take you a while to get used to it, but I’ll be, and I’ll guide you through it all. Don’t feel bad if it takes a few times, okay?” she asked softly. “But hopefully it won’t, since I’ll be there with you.”

Willow nodded, closing her eyes and concentrating on her breathing and on Tara’s gentle voice. “Eventually you’ll start to feel the vibrations. Try not to concentrate on them,” Tara instructed. “Just allow them to happen and don’t get scared. They’ll pass. When you achieve projection your body might feel heavy. You may not even be able to move some of your limbs, but don’t worry. That passes if you relax enough. Sometimes you’ll hear noises…a buzz or hum. Ignore it. When we get there, I’ll find you, I’ll show you how to get to where Buffy and Angel are.”

“This seems pretty complicated,” Dawn whispered to Anya, who nodded.

“The vibrations aren’t always so bad,” the ex-demon told her. “They can be quite pleasurable, if you know what I mean.” She elbowed Dawn knowingly and turned back to the table.

Tara was silent now and the Scoobies watched as the two girls lie on the table, hands folded over their torsos, eyes closed and breathing steady.

Chapter Thirteen: Bursting the Bubble
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