Author's Note: Happy Mother's Day!

Tim watched Lucas fumble with the parts of the Buffy-bot with an expression of concern on his face. It was two days since it attacked the teen and he had spent the time trying to repair the damage Xander did with the ax. He was wearing the sling, but his lips were pressed together in a thin line and his face was white from the pain. Lucas didn't complain, but anyone could see he was hurting quite a bit. Tim sighed and left the living room, finding Anya in the kitchen.

"Did he fix her yet?" She asked, looking over some papers from the magic shop.

"No, and I'm worried about him. I've seen him after an injury, even if he's pretending nothing is hurt, he's never this quiet." Tim rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm afraid something else is bothering him."

"Have you asked him?" She looked up, and Tim saw that the pages had probable addresses for Warren listed, along with possible defensive capabilities. While the Scooby Gang wanted to rush in the minute they found him, Tim insisted they wait, both to get some intel and for Lucas to heal enough to help if needed.

"No, I didn't exactly want to try. Lucas can be very stubborn about that kind of thing. He's always worried that people think he's some weak kid. Even after what happened with the Eco-terrorists, he wouldn't talk to anyone until Ben and I cornered him in his room. That was a bad idea, he had a panic attack and broke down. I guess it helped in the end, but he was pretty embarrassed for a while. And mad, extremely mad."

"But why doesn't he just tell someone when he's upset? I don't understand why guys do that."

Tim smiled at her annoyance "it's just a thing most males do."

"Well that's stupid."

"I know," he sighed, "the connection of this time and the interface really shocked him. But I think Lucas will be fine after we get this taken care of, he always bounces back pretty quickly."

"How can you be so optimistic? How do you know this won't be the thing that we can't defeat?" Anya crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, seemingly frustrated at his positive attitude.

He shrugged, "I guess I just have to believe I have God on my side."

"Oh you do? Which god? I know a few personally too. They might help us if you ask nicely." She dropped her arms and looked at him with new enthusiasm.

Tim opened and closed his mouth several times trying to think of a proper answer. "I... I... Uh... Ok, I'll ask him." He walked away from her, shaking his head.

He started to head back into the living room but stopped when he saw Xander and Lucas working together. "How does it feel?" Xander asked hesitantly, holding the damaged robot head steady for him.

"Hurts like a bitch." Lucas admitted scowling. "The sling helps some, but I can't work very well with it on."

He leaned away from his work and ran his good hand through his mop of blonde hair. "Thanks for helping me… and just being here. I… um, I'm not really comfortable being alone with this thing." Lucas snorted, "I'd even be ok with Mr. Ogre teeth being around right now."

"Ogre teeth? Oh, you mean Spike?" Xander started to laugh, "I'll have to remember that one, but it doesn't really work."

"Why not?"

Xander rolled his eyes and smirked. "Ogres have an under bite, that's the teeth that stick out. A vamp's main fangs are on the top."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Thanks… I'll remember that for the next time I run into an ogre. Now I know the difference."

"Nah, the smell will hit you way before you get close enough to see teeth."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, they don't really bathe." He looked at Lucas searchingly. "So… um… how are you?"

"What do you mean?" Lucas narrowed his eyes.

"Oh well… you know… You um, have just been really quiet the last few days… Since um…"

"Since we found out that no matter what we do here, Warren will go free and be able to mess with me and the ship in the future?" Lucas snapped back, his face turned from fury to ashamed in moments. "I'm sorry… I just feel like this is kind of hopeless." He smiled apologetically at Xander.

Xander smiled back. "I get that, don't worry. We've been through a lot of stuff like this… well, not exactly like this, but bad stuff."

"How do you deal with it?"

He shrugged, "I donno know, I guess you just do whatever you have to in order to survive. And to help the people you care about survive too."

Lucas eyed him critically, "you can be pretty insightful when you try."

"And that's why I don't try too hard, people might expect it of me." Xander grinned back.

The quip earned a groan from Lucas, "you sound like Ben."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Good… most of the time."

Tim quietly stepped back from the door, feeling that things were working out well without him interfering. Anya was still in the kitchen, now watching him oddly. "What's wrong?"

"I… I'm not sure…" She blinked several times and leaned on the counter. Tim recognized the expression and made a wild grab for her. Anya gasped once before she disappeared. "Baise!" He cursed harshly and ran from the room.

"What happened?" Lucas stood suddenly when he saw the look on Tim's face.

"Xander…" Tim started, unsure of how to tell the man. "I'm sorry, but the timeline shifted again. Um… your… Anya… she's gone."

Xander blinked at him in confusion. "Anya? Who's Anya? I've never heard of her."

"We need to find him now, before anyone else vanishes." Tim tried to order in his most official voice.

Willow looked skeptical. "You told us to wait before, and none of us know this Anya."

"I explained all this…" Tim said in frustration, trying to control himself.

"I agree with Tim." Tara said cautiously, trying to be the voice of reason. "If she was moved or taken out of the timeline, we wouldn't know who she was because we didn't see it, right?" She received several head nods. "And if someone else is taken out, we won't know unless we all stay together and stop this."

Willow wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's waist. "ok, but I don't want Dawn to come with us. Someone needs to stay here with her." She glanced at the vampire sitting in the corner. "Spike?"

"Of course, you know I'll keep an eye on the little pet." He said with an eye roll.

"Hey! I'm the same age you guys were when you started fighting demons. I don't need a babysitter." Dawn complained. She glowered at Spike threateningly, "if I have to stay with you, I'll talk about boys all night and paint your nails."

"What color?" Spike challenged.

"Anything but black."

"Oh bloody hell…"

Tim interrupted the argument, "Lucas is staying here too."

Lucas jumped up, and bit back a scream as he jostled his arm. "I definitely don't need a babysitter. And you need me with you." He struggled to regain his composure, "I'm fine." He said through gritted teeth.

Jayde slowly stood up and put her hand on his uninjured shoulder, "I'm staying here, I'd like you to as well, Lucas."

"Why are you staying?" He asked in surprise.

"We just think it's for the best." Willow interrupted when Jayde didn't answer. "She... um... neither of you know the area."

Lucas looked at the group gathered, "fine… I'll stay with Dawn and Jayde. I'll see if I can get any farther with the robot."

"I'll help you." Xander offered.

"Oh great, now it's a right proper tosser party." Spike said scornfully. "I think I'll stick with the witches and uptight navy boy here."

Tim nodded, "we'll need the extra protection, and that makes it an even split."

"Perfect compromise," Dawn said scathingly, "no one is happy, and we'll probably all die."

"Those are the best ones." Xander teased. "And at least this way you and I can talk about boys without Spike being a jerk about it." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her from the room.

Tim watched them with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Huh... I think the timeline just made Xander gay."

"Nope," Willow laughed, "we wouldn't remember him any other way if it did. He's just being protective and trying to keep her from sneaking out. I've seen it before."

"Do you think talking about boys with Lucas will keep him in line?" Jayde asked Willow, unsuccessfully hiding a smile.

Lucas snorted, "only if they've designed software."