Buffy's leg healed relatively quickly. Within a few days she could stand, and a few days after that she was fighting again. But the injury left a thick, ropy scar on her thigh and she couldn't seem to shake the limp. Her and Angel's relationship had healed in a similar manner. On the surface it was as if nothing was wrong, but deep down they both carried scars they'd rather not talk about.

She woke up with Angel still beside her and smiled faintly. There was so little in their lives worth smiling about. He was already awake, probably had been for hours, and was just watching her with his pensive brown eyes. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," she replied, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. "What time is it?"

"Almost time to get up." He ran his fingers along her forehead, smoothing her unevenly-cut hair out of her eyes. "Guess what."

"What?"

"This is the one hundredth time we've woken up in this dimension."

Buffy's attention narrowed. "Really? A hundred already?"

"Mm-hmm," he replied. "We've survived ninety-nine nights. Think we can handle one more?"

Buffy grunted and sat up, combing her fingers through her hair. "We'll survive as many as we have to in order to find a way out of here," she told him grimly. Angel nodded in agreement.

"Eat something and we'll take a few hours to look for something," he told her. They had begun exploring the forest a few weeks before, searching for anything that might hint at a way home.

Buffy quickly ate two the the chewy, tasteless strips of dried meat they had managed to preserve (after countless failed attempts) and used water from one of the buckets to wash her face and comb out her hair. "I'm ready now. Let's go."

*****

Xander stood on the sidewalk, looking up the concrete stairs that led to the high school door. He had his backpack slung over one shoulder and his skateboard leaning against his leg. He could remember with perfect clarity the first time he had seen Buffy, in this exact spot, and how he had hurried to inform his friends how hot the new girl was. How last year, he had stood here again on the first day of school, accompanied by Buffy and Willow, ready to take on the new year and whatever evils came their way. Now he stood by himself as the other students flowed past on either side of him. He looked at them in contempt. They were like sheep, with no idea of the dangerous world they lived in. But Xander knew. And he knew something else, besides.

Buffy wasn't coming back.

Willow didn't see it. She still talked about what she'd do when she saw Buffy again, the things she'd tell her. Giles didn't see it either. He never stopped looking for her, following whatever lead he got, no matter how weak. Only Xander knew it, deep in his gut, that he was never going to see his friend again.

Xander wasn't shocked or even particularly surprised. Bitter, to be sure. But it was only to be expected. After all, every good thing in Xander Harris' life eventually went away. His grandparents,the only ones in his family who actually cared about him; Jesse, his best friend until the vampires got their hands on him; and now Buffy. It was only a matter of time before Willow left, too. And with Oz in the picture, the wheels were already in motion for that loss.

"Xander! There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?"

He blinked and turned slightly confused eyes to Cordelia, who was converging on him like a cat stalking a bird. "Oh...uh, hi, Cordy."

"Do you honestly expect me to walk to my first class by myself?" she demanded, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the doors. "Seriously, don't you know anything about being a decent boyfriend?"

And life went on. Xander Harris had learned never to look back.

*****

Buffy hadn't noticed it, and even if she had she wouldn't have cared, but she had changed. Drastically. She was harder, tougher, and much more brutal than she had ever been. She slammed her knife in the demon hound's neck with savage efficiency and twisted to open the wound. She didn't even bother to watch the creature die; she was already dealing with the next one.

The bodies were starting to pile up. The hounds were particularly insistent tonight; Buffy couldn't remember the attacks being this intense since their first night. She could see Angel out of the corner of her eyes but couldn't spare him a glance as they worked together to fend off the enemy.

Two of the hounds lunged for Buffy at the same time. She dodged on and grabbed the other, dodging it's deadly talons as she swung it around between her and the other hound. The free hound tore at its companion, trying to get at Buffy. All she had to do was hold the creature until it stopped moving. Then she tossed the body aside and drove her knife through the other beast's eye.

She was blindsided by yet another hound and knocked off her feet. She narrowly missed the fire and rolled up into a crouch. The hound growled as it stalked toward her, talons scraping the stone floor. It lunged toward her, mouth wide open. Buffy reached down, snatched up a burning stick, and shoved it down the creature's throat. Its howl of pain turned into a gurgle as it thrashed about. Buffy backed away out of range of its claws and waited for the thing to die. It took a few minutes.

"I think that's all of them," Angel said, startling Buffy. She looked up, seeing all the bodies scattered around them, and then out at the horizon. Sure enough, the sky was turning from black to royal blue, the clouds edged in gold.

"About time," Buffy said. "Was it just me, or was that worse than usual?"

"It was pretty bad," Angel agreed. He slipped his knife into his belt and inspected a tear in his shirt. "Are you hurt?"

"Not badly," Buffy replied, flexing her hand. It was reddened and blistered from the fire, but it wasn't anything Angel needed to worry about. "Guess we'd better start cleaning up." She reached down to ind a hold on the hound's scaly, spiny body as the glowing edge of the sun cleared the horizon. Bright sunlight filled the cave, and when it faded, all that was left were the corpses.

*****

"I told you. Didn't I tell you? I was right. I'm always right!" There was no dimming the smugness permeating the female's essence. Her companion gave a long-suffering sigh and didn't bother trying.

"Yes, you did tell me," he said. "And so they've passed the second test. But the third is the hardest and the most difficult. Many others have failed."

"Not them," she said decisively. "There's too much riding on their success. They cannot fail."

"If they do, we must have a contingency plan to preserve the Endless," he told her. "I could summon the Iníon Llyr. She would help us."

"She is worlds away dealing with her own problems," she said dismissively. "Besides, what use is a sea goddess in the Labyrinth?"

"Well, then, what about the bean-sidhe or the Aelfir? I'm sure even the Rage Child would help under these circumstances."

"No, no, and no."

"We must be prepared in case they—"

"They will not fail," she interrupted sharply. "I will not allow it!"