Back in Sunnydale....

"Giles! Can I go to the Bronze?" yelled Dawn from upstairs.

Giles was sitting in the living room, reading. He put his book down and looked at his watch. Six o' clock. "When will you return?"

Dawn stood at the top of the stairs. "About ten."

"Who will you be going with?"

"Some friends from school."

"I suppose. But, you have to call Xander to take you there."

Dawn squealed. "Thanks Giles. You're the greatest."

She ran back into her room.

Giles sighed and went back to his book.

Dawn pulled on some jeans and a tank top. She slipped into her shoes, ran a brush through her hair, grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She came down the steps and grabbed her coat. She ran to the phone and dialed Xander's phone number.

"Hello?" answered Willow.

"Hey, Will. Were's Xander?"

"He's right here." She handed the phone to Xander.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Xander. It's Dawn. Will you please take me over to the Bronze. Giles said I could go if you drove me over there."

"I guess. I'll be over in five minutes."

"Kay. Thanks."

"No prob."

"Bye."

They hung up.

"Make sure someone walks home with you," said Giles, never looking up from his book.

"I will. Don't worry. I can handle myself."

Dawn waited outside for Xander outside. After about two minutes she started to feel wierd. She wasn't sure what it was, she just had the feeling someone was watching her.

She looked around, and when she saw no one was there, she just shrugged it off.

Xander pulled up in his car. Dawn jumped in the passenger's seat.

"Thanks Xander," she said as she buckled her seatbelt.

"Hey, no problem. Anytime," he said. They pulled out of the driveway and headed for the Bronze.

Xander dropped Dawn off at the front.

"Call me if you need a ride home," he said.

"Okay. Thanks again," she said, and ran inside.

She spent the first few hours hanging with her friends. Dancing, listening to music, and just having fun.

Dawn started to get that feeling again. Her friends were talking and laughing, not noticing that Dawn had stopped talking.

"Hey, Dawn," said Janice. "What's the matter?"

Her friends looked at her.

Dawn shook her head. "Oh, nothing. I'm fine."

Janice shrugged and went back to telling her story.

After a few minutes, the feeling returned. She decided she wanted to see what it was.

"I'm going to get a drink," she said. "Anyone want anything?"

No one did, so she made her way over to the bar. She laid a bill on the counter and asked for a soda. While the man got her drink, she looked around. She didn't see anyone out of the usual. The man gave her her drink and change and she returned to her table.

A few minutes later, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned and gave a small gasp. "Spike?"

Spike gave her a small smile. "Hey, Bit."

"What the Hell are you doing here?"

"Just seeing how you're doing."

She looked at her friends, who had stopped talking and were watching Spike and her.

"I'll be right back," Dawn excused herself and led Spike to another table.

She sat across from him, arms crossed over her chest.

"So. You came back," said Dawn flatly.

"Yeah. I did."

"You wanna tell me why you left without saying goodbye?"

He looked at the table. "I'm not one for goodbyes, Bit."

"You could have left a note."

"I wasn't thinking at the time."

"Yeah, you're right, you weren't thinking. Just like you weren't thinking when you almost raped my sister," she said harshly.

He didn't say anything back. He just looked at the table, not being able to meet Dawn's eyes.

"That wasn't my intention," he said softly.

"Well, then, what was your intention?" her voice started to rise. "To leave us when we needed you the most? Do you know how much we went through starting the day you left?"

He looked up in confusion. "What happened?"

"It's not like you care. It's not like you care, that Buffy almost died. Again. It's not like you care that Tara *is* dead. It's not like you care, that Willow almost killed us and everyone else in this sorry world." The tears brimmed her eyes. She brought her hands to her face, her elbows on the table. She wiped away the few tears and rested her hands on the table.

He stared at her in shock. "What?"

"Didn't you hear me? You're not deaf, Spike. Tara is dead! Willow went Wicca on us, and almost killed Buffy, after Warren almost killed her."

"Tara's dead?" he said in disbelief.

"I'm not saying it again. You heard me."

"Oh, god."

"Yeah, Spike. Oh, god. Oh. Fricking. God. Maybe, if you hadn't been such a coward and ran away from your problems, you could have been there to help. Maybe Willow wouldn't have gotten so out of control. Maybe Warren wouldn't have shot Tara."

"Dawn, I-"

"No," she said, getting up. "Don't talk to me. You think about how much pain you put us through by leaving when we needed you, even after you told us you'd never leave. You just sit here and cry your eyes out. I don't care. Just think about it. Then, maybe, we can talk. Until then, leave me alone."

She walked away from the table, leaving Spike in a daze.

"You guys, I have to go," she told her friends, grabbing her purse.

Her friends were also dazed by her outburst, for they had been watching and listening to anything they could hear.

"Bye Dawn," they all said, and she left.

They watching Spike slam his fist on the table, breaking it in half, then storm off. They turned back to each other.

A girl raised her eyebrows. "Damn."

Dawn picked up the payphone and dialed Xander's number.

"Hello?" said Xander.

"Xander. It's Dawn. I need you to pick me up."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"No. Just come. Now." She hung up the phone.

Three minutes later, Xander pulled up next to Dawn.

"Dawn, what is it?" he asked as she hopped in the car.

"I just wanted to go home."

"I know, but you sounded pretty urgent on the phone."

Dawn sighed. "I...I just....I saw Spike."

"What?! What'd he do? What happened?"

"Nothing. I just told him everything about what happened when he left and it got me upset. I just wanted to go home."

"That bastard. I can't believe he'd show his face here."

"Are you going to tell Buffy?"

"I better. She would get mad if I didn't."

Dawn nodded.

They reached Dawn's house.

Giles was standing outside.

Dawn stepped out of the car. "What's wrong Giles?"

Giled walked up the car and got in. "I need to speak to Willow. I was going to go there, then I saw you two pull in."

"What's wrong?" asked Xander, pulling out of the driveway once Dawn had gotten back in.

"I got a call from the covon in England. They heard heard than Willow had used her powers to kill a human being and they said I either have to bring her to England and they with trial her, or they will turn her in to the police."

"Oh god," said Xander. "They won't hurt her, will they?"

"With the extremity of killing another human being, they will more than likely, strip her of her powers."

"What do you mean, strip her of her powers?"

"As you know, she is a very powerful witch. She always has been. Even before she started studying the Black Arts. When they strip her of her powers, they take away that power. She will be like you. She would still be able to do spells, but they would be just as effective as if you were doing them."

"So, they'll make her normal."

"More or less."

"When this happens, she can't ever be as powerful as she was a few weeks ago?"

"Well, she could, but it would take a life-time to reach the level of power she was at."

They drove the rest of the way to Xander's house.

Willow was watching TV. "Hey guys. What's going on?"

"Willow," said Giles coming up to sit next to her. "I have to tell you something."

He explained the covon's actions to her abuse of magic.

Willow looked terrified. "What will they do? I'm I going to jail? I don't want to go to jail. They have big mean men and bad food."

Giled put a hand on her arm. "You won't go to jail, if you come with me to England. The worst I can think the covon will do is strip you of your powers."

"So, I'll be powerless. Helpless. I can't do that, Giles. I can't go back to what I was," she said, shaking her head.

"You won't be helpless, Willow. You are a very smart and intelligant girl. Magic was only a part of you, it's not who you are."

"That was the only thing that made me more than normal."

Xander raised a hand. "I'm normal."

"You almost married a vangence demon and you saved the world. That's not normal."

"And you, grew up on the Hellmouth, was girlfriend to a werwolf, tried to destroy the world, brought your best friend back from the dead, and fought a Hell god and lived to tell how you whopped her skanky ass. I don't think you quilify is normal either."

Willow smiled alittle. But the smile soon faded. "Are you sure that's the worst they'll do?"

Giles gave her a smile. "Positive. They even told me that was what they were probably going to do."

"What about Buffy? She needs to know you're going to England. Dawn needs a place to stay and stuff."

"She can stay with me," said Xander.

"Oh, and Xander," said Dawn. "Don't forget that other thing we have to tell Buffy."

"Oh, yeah. The Evil Dead is back in town. He had a chat with Dawn."

"Oh, dear lord," muttered Giles. "We must call Buffy right away."

"I'm on it," said Xander. He ran into the kitchen and picked up the phone. He punched in Angel's number.

"Hello, Angel Investigations," said a perky voice. It was Cordelia.

"Hey, Cordy. It's Xander let me talk to Buffy."

Cordelia called for Buffy.

Buffy came running down the stairs, laughing, with Angel at her heals. She jumped over the counter just before Angel could grab her.

"It's Xander," said Cordelia. She handed the phone over.

Buffy gave Angel a look and took the phone. "Xander?"

"Yeah. It's me. Listen, you're not going to like this very much, but........"