Chapter Five: You Don't Know Me at All

The soft wind had picked up slightly over the last several minutes. Or so it seemed to Willow after the turbulence of first Anya's and then a moment later Buffy's unexpected arrival and their even more abrupt departure. Together. That worried Willow nearly as much as Buffy's casual brutality of a total stranger.

True the guy had been a jerk and an asshole, and was likely about to do far worse to Anya then had been done to him. But seeing Buffy's open display of strength, hearing her sound so blase as she threatened a normal human had thrown Willow into a tailspin. She didn't know how to react to it. She had just sat on her stool frozen with a mixture of confusion, shock, and fear pumping through her as Buffy proclaimed Sunnydale to be her fiefdom and if anyone didn't like it they should get out now.

"A-are you a-alright?" Tara's shaky voice asks close to her as the blonde witch clutches her hand. Amazingly the feeling of the older girl's warm hands touching her calms the redhead dramatically.

Willow nods her head, "I've never... I mean there was the other night, but even that wasn't. She was just so distant, like she didn't care. She looked like she could of killed him and just... Smiled while she did it. Like she would have enjoyed doing it?" She shudders slightly feeling a chill race down her spine.

Tara wraps Willow's hand in both of hers lending the redhead what strength she has. "Whatever's wrong with her you'll figure out a way to help her," She assures Willow confidently without a single miss uttered word passing beyond her lips.

Willow smiles at the conviction in Tara's voice. "We should probably go find Buffy. Let her know what's happened," she suggest even though she doesn't want to move from where she's sitting for all the money in the world.

"Isn't she suppose to be meeting you here for lunch?" Tara inquires actually having heard something from their earlier conversation.

Willow's smile broadens as Tara found the excuse she was looking for to stay right where she was. "And it wouldn't really make sense to go running all over town looking for someone when their going to be showing up you're at anyway," she whispers conspiratorially to Tara.

Tara returns Willow's smile with one of her own. The two witches simple sit staring at each for several minutes with neither saying anything to ruin the magic of the moment. Then something that Anya had said before all the commotion springs into Willow's head, "oh," she groans thinking of a few ways to kill Anya that she'd like to try.

"What?" Tara questions sensing Willow's distressed.

"Anya," Willow answers quickly. Taking a deep breath she rushes on, "that's what I meant about her, she has this way of just blurting whatever is on her mind out. And since she's got sex on her brain twenty-four hours a day most of what gets blurted out has to do with sex and I just hope your not offended by..."

"I'm not," Tara says quietly seizing her opportunity to let Willow know how she feels. She had thought she could put aside her feelings for Willow. Keep them hidden, or at bay, but the more time she spent in her company the more she just wanting Willow to know everything about her. Especially the way she felt towards her.

Willow pauses at Tara's admission, "you're not?" She asks in a soft slightly confused voice. Tara blushes lightly but maintains eye contact with Willow as she gives a slight head shake. It was the first time Willow realizes just how often Tara does blush around her. "Does that mean you're a...?" She falters unable to finish the sentence. Tara nods slightly going even redder in the cheeks. "And you like me, like me?" She fumbles a little, her voice an octave softer then when she asked her previous question. A significantly larger nod and suddenly Willow can feel her own cheeks heat up. "Wow," the redhead breathes out stunned as everything slips into place; the stares, the asking her to repeat a lot of stuff, the shy looks, the blushing. "Wow," she repeats just as softly.

"I-I'l-I'll un-under-understand i-i-if y-y-you w-w-want m-m-me g-g-go," Tara says softly taking Willow's silence for rejection.

Feeling Tara start to pull her hands away Willow quickly tightens her hold on the blondes hand bringing her other hand up to insure she doesn't go anywhere. Looking Tara straight in the eyes she asks in a firm voice, "why would I want you to leave?" Not giving Tara the chance to answer her question she rushes on, "because you have feelings for me? Maybe even love me. Sure it's a shock, and I never saw it coming, and I don't know if I'll ever return your feelings, but that doesn't mean I want you out of my life. Far from it. I like you, I like hanging out with you, and quite frankly I haven't been this happy in months. I don't know if it's affection, or love, or just what it is but I do know I want to get to know you better, so you're not going anywhere," she finishes with a forceful nod of her head.

Again Tara's caught, spellbound by Willow, by her convictions and passion, as the young girl goes on and on. The difference between this time and all the others is that this time Tara heard every single word that gushed out from between Willow's full lips. She doesn't know how long the two of them sit there. Tara lost to Willow's determined gaze, Willow making sure that Tara wasn't going to try bolting like a startled doe.

That was how Buffy came upon them nearly ten minutes later. With her head hanging low, as she crosses the coffee shop, she misses all the questioning looks people give her. She drops down dejectedly on the stool Anya had dragged over. Sighing heavily Buffy settles her extra foamy vanilla latte on the table in front of her, "my life sucks," she mumbles before dropping her head to the table with a slight thud.

The sudden sound snapping the witches out of the spell they had woven around themselves with a start. "Hey," Willow says rubbing the tiny blonde's shoulder. "What's wrong Buffy?" She questions concerned for her best friend's well being.

"Riley asked me out," she mumbles without looking up from her vantage point.

Willow and Tara share confused looks as Willow inquires, "and that's a bad thing?"

Buffy lifts her head, noticing the hand holding going on between the two witches, something that only deepens her depression as she gives her simple one word answer, "yes."

"But I thought you wanted to go out with him?" Willow questions clearly confused by her friend's response.

Buffy sighs, "so didn't I. The whole nice, normal boyfriend. That's what I was going for, that's what Riley is, only its not. I mean how can I have a relationship with someone when I can't even tell them who I am. Or how do I explain it when I have to suddenly rush out in the middle of our date because there's a sudden apocalypse, once maybe I could get away, but twice. It's not fair to either of us," she rants angrily.

"Well maybe you could tell him," Willow suggest in a subdued voice finding it hard to read Buffy's mood.

"Right that would go over great. Hi honey guess what. I'm this super strong woman who's destiny it is to save the world night after night. Oh and by the way darling don't worry about the trash I'm way stronger then you anyway so I'll take it out with me on my way to kill evil creatures and for the last time no you can't come with me. You know I'll just be too worried about you getting hurt to effectively fight the bad monsters."

"Well sure when you put it like that," Willow mopes.

Buffy sighs, "look its no big," she mutters picking up her drink.

"But it is," Willow states angrily, "you deserve to be happy. You deserve to have someone that'll make you happy."

Buffy shrugs, "something will come along Will."

"You shouldn't have to settle for something that comes along," Willow argues. "You should have magic and romance, and all the things that everybody else gets to have. Just because its your destiny to save the world doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to enjoy everything else the world has to offer."

Buffy blinks surprised to hear Willow speaking so passionately, or sounding so vehement in her argument. She appreciated what her friend said and gave Willow a smile to show her so, but she didn't really feel like discussing her lack of a love life any longer. Especially not when something more interesting was obviously going on between Willow and Tara. "So anything new I should know about?" She asks with a sly grin that causes both girls to blush to the roots of their hair.

Anya looks crossly at Buffy as she pushes open the door to her apartment, "I was positive I locked that when I left here last night," she comments in a dry voice.

Buffy shrugs as she enters the cluttered room, "yeah well. Live in a lousy neighborhood and you never know who's gonna wonder in off the street," the tiny slayer informs her.

The ex-vengeance demon looks around her apartment with a keen eye, "nothing seems to be missing," she says slowly. "You'd think that a decent thief would have taken something after taking the time to break in. That's just unprofessional," she grumbles, disappointed in the level of professional pride among thieves in Sunnydale.

"You're assuming there was something here worth taking," Buffy remarks acidly.

"What's not to like?" She question annoyed that Buffy would make such a rude statement. Buffy shakes her head as she pulls out her cigarettes, "no you don't," she tells Buffy snatching away the pack. "I have at most another fifty to eighty years left. You will not be shortening my life by forcing me to inhale second hand smoke."

"Anya if you don't give me those back I'm going to shorten your life by fifty to eighty years," Buffy growls lowly.

Anya quickly hands the cigarettes back after a hasty look into Buffy's cold eyes, "fine. Go ahead kill me slowly."

Buffy snorts pulling out a cigarette, "trust me Anya. If I was going to kill you it would be anything but slow. You're annoying enough when you're not pleading for mercy," she finishes lighting the unfiltered end of her cigarette.

Anya glances at the crushed out stub of a half smoked cigarette, "it was you," she gasps in amazement. "You're the one that broke my lock. You were just going to let me go around..."

"Anya I really don't have time for this right now," she cuts in as she exhales a large cloud of smoke.

Anya swallows hard, "right you wanted to know about... How do you know about Lurky?"

Buffy faces away from Anya as she walks over to flick her ash into the saucer she had used this morning. "A friend told me about him," she answers in a low, soft voice.

"Is that how you got sent back here, passed his trails and wished to be sent three years into your past so you could avert some type of apo..."

"No, that's not what I wished for," Buffy hisses turning around to face the eleven-hundred year old young woman. "Do you think I'd want to come back to relive three of the hardest years of my life, or to watch myself live through the hell I had to. Do I really look like that big of sadomasochist to you?"

Anya shrugs, "from what I've seen of you over the last day. Yes, you definitely enjoy the pain. Both inflicting it upon others and having other people inflict it upon you," she answers not bothering to pull any punches with the enraged slayer. "What have you been doing with your time since you've been back?" She asks looking over Buffy's bloody clothes, "you've been out killing things haven't you. Fighting, looking for something that can hurt you, something you can hurt," she goes on before stopping to take a deep breath. "The others might be too afraid to tell you that," she pauses for a moment, "hell even I feel like I'm going to soil myself anytime now, but unlike everyone else I have something you need so I'm safe for the moment."

"What makes you think I won't just beat you to get the information I want out of you?" Buffy asks allowing the menace to shine in her voice. "Like you said, I enjoy pain."

Anya swallows hard again, "nothing, but then again nothing would prevent it anyway. Torture however takes time and there's no guarantee that what I tell you would be true," she answers the slayer truthfully. "Besides there are other ways to get what you want."

Buffy glares inhaling the last of her cigarette. Crushing the spent stub out in the impromptu ashtray she turns her full attention on Anya asking in a harsh whisper, "what do you want?"

Locking eyes with Buffy Anya answers, "amnesty for Xander and myself."

Buffy laughs, "you want..." Getting herself back under control she returns her gaze to the older girl. "Tell you what, you keep Xander leashed like a good little lap dog, and I won't beat him death every time I see him. How's that for Amnesty?"

"I don't think you really understand how this bargaining works Buffy. I have something you want, you can guarantee something I want," she says confidently. "Are you beginning to pick up how this going to work out?"

"Should have expected something like this from you," she smiles almost approvingly.

"Leave Xander alone," Anya repeats in a hard voice. She was hoping Buffy would agree to her proposal, or at least make a counter offer. Something a little bit more reasonable then her last offer. What she was truly hoping the tiny blonde didn't do was tell her to screw off a split second before she got on with torturing her for the information she wanted.

Buffy shakes her head as she says, "that's just not going to happen. As long as he's in the same room with me his mouth is going to be moving. Words are going to flow out from between his lips. Words I'm going to find very offensive and I'm going to have to beat him," she smiles at the thought. After a moment she dreamily adds, "repeatedly."

"You'll kill him," Anya chokes out.

Buffy's smile broadens deeply, "now you're beginning to see the beauty of my plan. I knew you'd be able to appreciate it. Inflict as much suffering as possible, dragging their pain out, until they die a miserable, broken person."

"I'm not going to tell you anything about Lurky without you agreeing to this," Anya tells her sensing Buffy's mounting impatience.

Buffy shrugs unconcerned by Anya's declaration. "Here's the thing Anya. A little fact you might not be aware since you used to torture people as punishment for their supposed crimes. The more you enjoy it, inflicting unimaginable pain on another living being. The more that sensation of causing someone pain fills you with joy, the quicker you are to break. Usually," she says never losing her smile.

What are you doing? Umad questions her.

Whatever it takes to get Spike back, she answers inside her head as she says aloud, "I'm kinda hoping I don't have to find out Anya."

You can't torture Anya, she's our friend. You can't just go around torturing our friends.

"You were a friend of mine, kind of," she informs both of them. With a deep sigh she adds, "just tell me what I want to know and you can go back to enjoying your life with Xander."

Work something out with her, she cries desperately feeling Buffy preparing herself for what she felt she had to do. Cut a deal, give her Xander's amnesty. Would it really be that bad if...

Yes! She rages back as she spins away from Anya clutching her hair. Or don't you remember seven years of having to listen to every hateful thing, every veiled innuendo, every spiteful comment that ever came out of his mouth with a deaf ear. First because I chose Angel over him and then later because I was with Spike instead of him. I'm not going to put up with it again, and I'm not going to let him do it to her.

Even if it means never having Spike back at your side?

I may never have Spike at my side again anyway, she answers Umad with just a touch of resignation. And sometimes there are things more important then personal happiness.

Dawn sighs inside Buffy's, her, head. She could tell Buffy wasn't about to budge from her position. What about making a deal that gives you an out? She finally asks coming up with the only thing she can think of.

Like what?

Anya watches the tiny slayer as she paces back and forth in her small room. She was finding the display rather disturbing. Buffy had her eyes closed yet she never came close to knocking anything over as she wound her way through the room. Her mouth was constantly moving as if she was holding an argument with herself. A fact that gave credence to everyone's suspicions that the older Buffy was mentally unstable. She wasn't able to hear what she was saying to herself and for that she was sort of grateful, especially when she seemed to become angry with herself. Besides that listening to an insane person argue with themselves wasn't as entertaining as most people would think. Most of the time what they said came out as nothing more then unintelligible gibberish because you never knew who was talking at any given time.

"Here's the deal," Buffy says turning around to face Anya. "He gets ten comments, remarks, jokes, insult, whatever, anything that I find offensive ..."

"Which would be pretty much everything," Anya snaps.

Buffy gives her indifferent roll of her shoulders, "...that he can make in my presence without me hitting him," she finishes giving her the details of her deal. "That of course is dependent on you giving me useful information about Lurky," she adds pulling another cigarette out of her pack. "I suggest you take the deal Anya," she says igniting the end of her cigarette. "This way, with careful planning, Xander at least has a shot at living a long healthy life. Besides you really wouldn't like me going back to my original plan."

God do you always have to threaten people?

It gets their attention.

Remember, you catch more flies with honey then a stick.

Anya sighs, it wasn't what she had been hoping for, but it was better then nothing at all. Like Buffy told her with planning she could in fact keep Xander from harm. All she had to do was make sure Xander and future Buffy were never around each other long enough for Xander to open his mouth. "When you took Lurky's trails what did you wish for?"

"Well it wasn't so much a wish as a statement of fact," Buffy replies as she exhales billowing smoke.

Anya takes another deep breath, "fine what did you say to Lurky," she amends.

"Give me what I want or I'll kill," Buffy says defensively.

Anya rolls her eyes, "by the lower beasts. What were you thinking?"

"What? Its not like I had to say anything. He can read my mind. He knew what I wanted."

"Really! You wanted to be three years in the past?" Anya asks derisively pointing out the obvious.

Buffy flicks her ashes in the saucer as she mumbles, "not really my first choice, but hey now that I'm here why don't we see what I can do about correcting everything. Starting with your boyfriend," she threatens idly.

Anya ignores Buffy's threat as she replies, "Lurky is a very special demon. Unlike us vengeance demons who have to work within the guide lines set by the person's stated wish he has a slightly broader scope. He can look into a person's heart and mind to see what they truly want. If the person's indecisive, unsure, or in anyway hesitant then he has free reign to do as he pleases in granting the wish, so long as he gives the person what they wished for. That's why going to him is really a double edged sword, even if you past the trials you more then likely not going to get what you want."

"So me being here..."

"Is somehow related to what you wanted," Anya finishes for her. "Possibly to, as you stated, correct the past. Only you hardly seem to be correcting anything so that probably wasn't the crux of your desire."

"Spike," Buffy says softly. "I wanted to be with Spike."

"I'm assuming Spike died in the future," Anya comments not waiting for Buffy's answering nod before she shakes her own head. "If that was all then he probably would have sent you to whatever dimension Spike's essence went to. More then likely killing you instantly. No you must have wanted something specific, or possibly too much," she says her facing lighting up.

"What?"

"If there was nothing you clearly wanted above anything else, like if everything was all tumbled together, then Lurky.."

"Could do what he pleases as long as he gives the person what they want," Buffy finishes for her.

Anya nods, "within reason, but since your here I guess it was," she says as she watches Buffy carefully. She could almost see the wheels turning inside the tiny blondes head as she began thinking about what she was going to do next.

The subterranean complex like always bustled with activity. Doctors and scientist rushing from one place to another with purpose. Soldiers standing ready to move at the first sign of insurrection, while others move throughout the compound patrolling their stark corridors with a keen eye looking for anything that might be out of place.

A few however move through the sterile halls with little outward concern for the events taking place around them. Wearing puke green sweats and carrying small gym bags it was easy to tell the trio were heading to the compounds gymnasium. "So demon girl turned you down flat?" Forest says with a little chuckle, "what happened to all that wholesome Iowa charm your known for?" He continues with a light glint in his dark eyes. He liked Riley, trusted him with his life, but sometimes he thought the mid-western farm boy had a stick shoved up his ass.

Riley shakes his head, "I have know idea. One moment we're clicking, then the next thing I know she was walking off muttering something about a slow agonizing death. Or something like that," he says in a slight fog as he still tries to figure out what had happened.

"Tell you what it is," Forest replies. "You don't have any freaky qualities. And these here demon chicks like their man with something a little extra. Foot long tentacles, scales, maybe a third eye. Face it man you're way too normal to be getting yourself that piece of ass."

Riley's face reddens slightly at Forest's implication that he couldn't get Buffy to go out on a date with him. "What you don't think that I can't get her if I want her?" As far as he was concerned Buffy should be grateful he had even shown the slightest interest in her when he thought she was human.

"Man, she shot you down dead. There's not even enough left of you're chance with her to try resuscitation. It's DOA"

"You thinks so?"

"I know so," Forest answers.

"If you're so sure then put your money were you mouth is," Riley challenges him.

Forest smirks lightly, "a bet?"

"Yeah," Riley agrees. "I got a thousand bucks says she'll agree to a date with me."

"Your awfully sure of yourself," Forest says considering the bet as they cross into the vast gym. "It has to be a real date, it can be some spontaneous meeting where the two of you decide to share dinner or something. You have to ask, she has to say yes."

Riley nods his head as he extends his hand. "What about a time limit?" Graham asks before the two can shake hands.

Forest thinks for a moment, "before we tag and bag her ass," he says taking Riley's hand.

"Done," Riley says as the two of them shake.

Buffy's fist slams into a large green scaled demon chest, who even on his knees, had a head that was still a foot over hers. This was the third demon she had come across since she had entered Sunnydale's sewer system fifteen minutes after leaving Anya's apartment. The ex-vengeance demon had been extremely helpful in figuring out how she had managed to get back here, just as her information had helped her figure out what she had to do in order to get Spike back.

One of the demon's slime covered tentacle like arm smashes into Buffy's chest sending the tiny slayer flying back to crash into the concrete wall before falling to the muck covering the floor. She's back on her feet launching herself at the creature before he had the chance to get back to his full height. Her right foot smashes into his chest toppling him like a giant statue crashing to the ground.

She was going to be leaving tomorrow night. She knew that much, but she didn't know what she was going to be doing between now and then. Well there's always this nifty thing called sleeping, Umad reminds her as she begins to pummel the demon's excuse for a face. People say it's great for things like resting. Recharging ones batteries, but hey what do I know.

There's a lot of time between now and when I'm going to be leaving, Buffy informs her.

So you're just gonna run around in the muck, beating up on the hapless residents of our fine sewers? Isn't there anyone that you want to go see? You know someone you don't want to kill.

I already saw Jonathan, Buffy answers lifting the demon into the air and hurling him against the wall. His soft body enables it to survive what would have been a killing impact for a lot of other creatures.

Dawn snorts at her older sister's comment, please you so wanted to kill him before I talked you out of it. Buffy considers that as she steps on the demon's squishy back and grabs hold of it's head. With a savage jerk she rips the thing's head from his shoulders releasing a thick stream of watery, yellowish fluid from the gapping wound. Well that was kinda gross.

Buffy laughs at that. Out of everything she had seen over the years to find there was a little piece of her that still found something as mundane as the color of a demon's blood to be gross amused her.

It's not funny, Dawn informs her.

Yes it is.

Is not.

Is so.

Not.

So.

Not.

So.

Stop that, Dawn says gruffly as their voices almost seemed to merge together at the end.

Kinda of confusing hugh? Buffy asks Umad as she gives her head a mental shake to clear it up.

No, Dawn answers. Really confusing, she replies with a tired sigh. So is there anyone that you want to see? She inquires after a moment.

Mom, she replies, tomorrow though. I want to see her one last time, just in case.

Yeah, Dawn agrees. It'll be nice to give her a hug, talk to her.

Buffy turns around in the tunnel as she looks for the nearest way out of the sewers. And I figured I'd stop in and pay Faith a visit tonight. Let her know there's somebody out here that cares about her.

Dawn smiles inside Buffy's skull as she makes her way to one of the service exits. That'd be nice too.

Xander checks the clock on Giles' mantle for the tenth time in the last ten minutes. Turning his head straight again he takes back up the pacing he had stopped to the look at Giles' clock. Anya had agreed to meet him here after her and Buffy had talked out whatever Buffy had wanted to talk to her about. It was now quarter after four and still no sign of Anya.

Xander didn't understand that. Neither of them had much in common with the other, aside from the fact they could talk forever about nothing at all. With Anya it was sex, or reminiscing about her glory days as a vengeance demon, or both. With Buffy it was clothes, what creatures she killed the other night, and what guys she found datable. A category he had never fallen in to.

He glances at the sofa as he makes his turn to go back the way he had just come from and once again spots Spike lounging on the broken sofa. The vampire had been there ever since he had arrived, never moving from his spot unless it was to heat up another mug of blood. Which he always brought back with some type of condiment. Chips, or crackers, or anything that gave a little texture to his blood.

The worst, as far as Xander was concerned, was when he first arrived. Spike had been lying on the sofa, much as he was now, his coffee cup full of blood on the floor next to his head and he had been dipping a Hershey chocolate bar into the cup before eating the blood covered section of chocolate. He had almost walked out of the door right then without looking back.

"What are you doing here?" He finally asks becoming flustered by the vampire's presence in Giles' apartment. It was like an omen, or some other portent, that unspeakable horror was about to descend upon them.

Spike looks up from the book Giles was having him use in place of a sleeping pill. "Not that it's any of your sod all business," he pauses for a moment as something seems to dawn on him. He looks back up at Xander, "right. It is none of your business so bugger off," he sneers going back to his book. "Sides Slayer should be back sooner or later. Then we'll be getting out of here. Go out, kill a few things," he says absently having forgotten about Xander entirely as he contemplates his favorite activities of the past couple of days. "Make a bloody night of it."

Xander blinks as he gapes at what Spike had just said. "What makes you think Buffy would want anything to do with you, the vampire she's despised since you first showed up Sunnydale. You're the bane of her existence..."

Spike manages to zone Xander's rant out. A surprisingly easy task considering the volume of his voice and the sporadically wide hand gestures that soon began accompanying whatever he was saying. He was busy remembering the first time he had ever encountered the slayer in a one on one situation.

It was in the alley just outside the bronze. She had just finished staking the vampire he had set up. There had been a brief almost flirtatious moment between the two of them. A few moments only as they took the other's measure. There had been a sense of heat flowing between them, but then she had realized he was a vampire. From that point on the war between the two of them had been on, with only a few truces called on account of apocalypse and sodding wankers who like to shove pieces of high tech electronics into his head.

Aside from those few occasions the two of them hated each other with a fiery passion. They went out of their way to make the other's life as miserable as possible. Which wasn't too hard considering their razor sharp tongues and rapier like wits. Talking peaceably with each other was much like navigating a minefield blindfolded. Only when he didn't spend at least part of his day verbally sparring with her he felt as if something was missing.

"... now your just a harmless..."

"You know," Spike cuts in glad he had missed whatever else Harris had said. "I should've ate you back when Angelus offered me your throat," he growls tossing the book to the floor. Moving to quickly for Xander to see he's suddenly right in front of the young human. "Do you even see the same stuff as everyone else? Out of all you wankers I'm the only one she likes," he points out.

"Oh you were talking about evil Buffy," Xander breathes out sounding slightly surprised. "I thought you were talking about the real Buffy," he says with a wide grin.

Spike smirks at him, "who says I wasn't?"

Xander gapes at the bleached vampire. He couldn't believe his audacity, his arrogance and bravado. Spike was chipped, harmless, he should have been showing more diffidence to those he was forced to depend on for his safety. After all even he could walk up to him now and shove a piece of would through his heart and there wasn't a thing Spike could do to prevent it.

Yet Spike stood in front of him, his disdain for Xander practically dripping off of him. "I'd be careful Spike," Xander says warningly. "Buffy's not always going to be around to protect you..."

Spike snorts at the thought of needed Buffy as guardian. "Like I'd need the chit to keep me safe from the likes of you," his voice oozing with the contempt the feels for the human standing in front of him as he cuts him off.

"Since I'm one of those people you can't hurt," Xander points out smugly.

Spike gives Xander his best evil grin as he replies, "anytime you want to put that theory to the test. My head may hurt for a while afterwards, but you'll be dead a might longer then that," he finishes his voice full of the self confidence he doesn't feel. There however no way in hell that he was going to allow himself to be bullied, intimidated, or pushed around by the likes of Xander Harris, bloody get extraordinaire that he was.

Turning his back on the fuming boy with no fear of retaliation, at least none that was going to occur any time soon, Spike walks into the kitchen. He pulls open the door to Giles' fridge, letting out a relieved breath once he was out of Harris sight. Just like he wasn't going to allow Xander to build his ego up by pushing him around, he wasn't going to let him see that he was getting to him. "Sodding wanker's out of blood all ready," he grumbles loudly as he slams the door closed once he's regained his composure.

Giles had mentioned earlier that he was running low on blood, but there was no need for Harris to know that. Instead he grabs a large glass out of the cupboard and fills it nearly to the top with the best scotch the watcher had available. Re-corking the bottle he lifts his glass slowly in order to savour the aroma of the liquor before taking a slight pull, luxuriating in the feel of the harsh fluid flowing down his throat.

The front door swings open admitting Buffy, followed closely by Willow and Tara. Each one wearing a look of mild concern. Buffy pauses looking at the door as it swings closed, "guess I was right," she murmurs with a shrug.

"Where's Anya?" Xander demands looking straight at Buffy.

"She's not back?" Willow responds her face showing a little more worry then it had a few seconds ago.

Xander shakes his head, "she was suppose to be meeting you," he points a finger at Buffy as he makes his statement, "at the Expresso Pump."

Buffy sighs softly wishing she didn't have to tell Xander this, but since nobody was going to she opens her mouth to speak when the door opens again. "Ah, good you're all here," Giles says pushing the door close. "Marvelous job you did there," he continues giving Xander a slight smile.

"It's about time you're bloody back," Spike gripes loudly. "Did you realize I was out blood? I've been sitting around here starving. Hell even Harris was starting to look tasty."

Giles blinks at Spike's question, "of course," he cuts in to Spike's comments. "I told..."

"Then you had better had picked up something fresh," Spike declares in a huff as he comes into the front room to take the bag Giles is carrying. "Not like that sodding shit you picked up the other day. Bloody stuff was so old..." his mumbles fade to an incoherent level as he carries the bag back into the kitchen.

Giles shakes his head at the vampire's odd behavior. Not that his normal behavior was anywhere close to normal, this just felt a little stranger. As if he was up to something.

"Where is Anya?" Xander again demands.

"We're not exactly sure," Buffy answers slowly.

Xander seems to takes a slight step backwards even though he doesn't move aside from his eyes rapid blinking. "You called up this morning wanting to talk to her," he says after a few seconds.

"It wasn't me," Buffy informs him.

"I talked to you myself," He says following Buffy as she moves to sit at the counter. "Are you trying to tell me I don't know the sound of your voice?"

"It was the other Buffy," Willow tells him before he can say anything else. "She showed up at the Expresso Pump, beat up some guy that was trying to beat up Anya, then dragged her out, and we haven't seen her since."

"I didn't even see her then," Buffy points out. "You know since I wasn't there."

"Chit's finally decided to take you wankers out," Spike says stepping back into view as he takes the graham cracker he was dunking into his blood out. Letting the excess blood drip back down into the mug. Once he's satisfied he brings the cookie to his mouth and bites off the blood drenched object.

Giles shakes his head slightly. It didn't seem to matter what he brought into his house for himself to snack on. Spike would eventually find it, smother it in his blood, and then eat it, effectively making it inedible to the retired librarian. He had done it with the Wheat-A-Bix, vanilla ice cream, and now Graham crackers. He just prayed that Spike hadn't found his stash of Hershey bars.

"God," Xander groans. "Could you be anymore of a pig?"

Spike smirks, "I could always try being more like you," he says dunking his cookie again. "But it would take me too much of my time for me to devote it to being useless bugger like you."

"Hey," Willow pipes up. "Xander's not a bugger, whatever a bugger is," she adds softly looking down trying to remember what a bugger is. Whipping her head back up she also adds, "he's not useless either."

"And maybe, if you keep believing that then someday it just might be true," he says before taking another bite from his cookie.

Buffy looks up at Spike forcing the smile from her lips. She subconsciously looks him over as her eyes come up to meet his. "You can leave anytime you want," she informs coldly.

"What and miss out on Xander's wit?" He responds bitingly as he finishes off the last of the cookie. "I wouldn't dream of it," he says smirking broadly as he looks down at her. He could almost lose himself in her soft, yet fiery flecked eyes.

The door swings open again. Spike forces himself to look up at the sudden sound that pulled Buffy's gaze from his. This time Anya walks in out of the night. She glances around at everyone staring at her, "what?" She asks feeling very self-conscious at the moment. "Do I have something on my face, my hair? It's the clothes isn't it? I knew they made me look fat."

"Their all just surprised to see standing and all," Spike tells her. "They all thought you'd been done in by the Slayer."

"What?" Anya says with a questioning look then she remembers how her and Buffy had left the Expresso Pump. "Oh, that," she continues with a negligent flip of her hand. "She just wanting some information on some demon that had annoyed her. She was thinking about going and paying him a visit and just wanted to know all she could about him."

"And did you by chance happen to tell her?" Giles inquires politely.

Anya nods, "but only after I worked a deal that was extremely beneficial," she answers proudly beaming at Xander.

"You worked out a deal?" Buffy questions suspiciously remembering the last time Anya had done something on her own.

"I very good one as a matter of fact," she replies turning her head to stare at Buffy.

"What might the details of this deal be?" Giles questions his voice equally suspicious as Buffy's had been.

"That she wouldn't hurt Xander," She tells them all with a broad smile.

Giles shakes his head as Buffy blinks. Willow stares dumbly at her best friend's girlfriend while Spike drinks his blood unconcerned by the proceedings. Buffy knew she shouldn't have been surprised by her statement, after all it was Anya, but still. "That's it?" She finally manages to ask.

"That was all that you asked for?" Giles questions hoarsely. "There was nothing else that you could have thought of asking for?"

"It was my information," She responds stiffly. "If she wants something from the rest of you. Then you can make your own deals with her. I got what I wanted."

Giles sighs deeply, he shouldn't have expected anything different from Anya. Only he had hoped. "And just what perchance did you tell her?"

"I got seven contacts inside the apartment," Style informs the two other members of his team as he looks through an advance pair of government issued binoculars. The entire group was lying in the brush, their camouflage doing a remarkable job at keeping them hidden from any stray eye that may pass over them. "Everybody but Seventeen reads as human."

"We know how much that means," Craiger replies remembering the file they had read this afternoon before beginning this assignment. Buffy Anne Summers may look and act like your average collage co-ed but underneath that veneer was something completely inhuman.

Bevens grunts sourly as he observes, "just because they walk, talk, and act like us don't make them us."

"This means our operation is going to take longer then the professor thought," Style remarks. "We're going to have to find out if they're nothing more then sympathizers or if they're like the girl."

"If they separate who do we stay with?" Bevens questions.

"Orders or we stay with the blond, map out her movements and activities," Style answers. "We'll be sure this place gets tapped. From there we'll be able to isolate her circle of friends and find out just how far this threat extends."

Striding down the long hospital corridors, black coat swishing around her legs as it flared out just enough to keep it from scraping along the polished floors. The tiny slayer drew almost every eye as she passed them. A few, turning curious gazes. to watch the young lady, with a murderous glint in her eyes, as she storms pass them.

There was no need to leave more of an impression in the minds of the doctors, nurses, and other people who were likely to see her as she visited her sister slayer. So instead of going there directly she had broken into her old room on campus, gotten a change of clothes, and used the showers there to clean herself up. A few people, that she vaguely remembered from her time living in the dorm, had greeted her as she went about her business but she hadn't paid them the slightest bit of attention.

Inside her skull Umad had been silent for awhile now which was both good and bad. She was surprised at how much she liked talking to the voice she imagined wearing Dawn's face. At the same time she was mildly concerned about the fact that she seemed to be so independent. That she didn't know some of the simplest things about her life, about how angry she was at her one time friends. Why she was angry at them.

She would have figured if she was going to have a split personality it would at least have the decency to know everything about herself. Then again wasn't that one of the reasons people make up little voices. So they can shield themselves from something they'd rather not face.

As she approaches Faith's room she scowls at the oppressive catacomb like feeling of this section of the hospital. She feels anger at herself bubble to the surface. Eight months Faith had been down here and never once did she come to pay her a visit. Never once did she even think about here sister slayer lying in some dank, dark, almost subterranean room.

People had always considered her good and kind and loving and considerate, when in reality she had been nothing more then a spoiled brat who didn't take responsibility for the things she had done. She had been in that alley right along side Faith when Finch had been killed. Did she accept her part of that murder. Of course not. It was easier to foist the entire thing on Faith. She had staked him, it was her fault he was dead. I, Buffy, had nothing to do with it.

Stepping into the room she gasps softly. She had never seen Faith like this, looking so small, so weak and vulnerable. Faith had always been so vibrant, so full of live, in her own slightly dark and morbid kind of way. This was definitely not something that she was going to allow. Not if there was anything that she could do about it.

Walking over to the bed she takes Faith's hand in hers. Closing her eyes she forces her mind and body to relax completely. She doesn't know how long she stays like that, nor does she care. Her only thought at the moment is reaching that deep dream world that Faith and herself used to communicate with each other when they had both been close to death.

There was no sense of shifting or sliding or anything like that. One moment she was in Faith's hospital room the next she was standing in Dawn's bedroom at her house. She instantly wonders how Faith knew about this when even she hadn't known about Dawn's coming. There had been that dream were the First Slayer had tried to kill all her friends. At the beginning Tara had been in this room as well. Had she been talking about Dawn's arrival as well.

"Hey B," Faith whispers into Buffy's ear. Buffy turns around to look at the brunette with sadness in her eyes. "Gotta say I'm liking this look on you. All grim and dark," she continues with approval. "Finally got down off your high horse and rolled around in the muck with the rest of us."

"You knew about Dawn?" Buffy asks in a soft voice.

Faith shrugs as she hops on the bed. Lying on her side she props her head on the palm of her hand. "Little Miss Muffet counting down from seven three o?" She inquires with a frown. "Gotta forgive me B," she mutters as she points a finger to her head, "things aren't exactly five by five up here right now." She smirks sexily at Buffy, "so Dawn, hugh. Kinda like it, gives that promise of a new day feeling. Like maybe today's gonna be better then yesterday," she continues as she rolls over onto her back. "But yeah, Dawn's always real close in here. Sometimes she's so near you can almost hear her. If you listen real close."

Buffy shakes her head as she realizes monks must have been preparing Dawn a long time before they actually sent her to Buffy. Sitting down on the edge of the bed she begins saying, "look I didn't come here to talk about Dawn..."

Faith quickly hops up off the bed cutting Buffy off. "You haven't got a frigging clue why your here," she says with a grin as she pokes a hard finger into her chest, "your all confused here," she takes her finger and shoves it into the side of her head, "just like I'm all messed up here. You gotta make it clear before you can get what you want."

Buffy gives Faith a tight smile. It was confirmation, if of a slightly dubious nature, of what Anya had told her. "That's what I'm here for," she says taking Faith by the hands. She leads her over to the bed, "to help clear this up," she points to the side of Faith's head.

Faith sits down Indian style on the bed, "I don't think you can," she replies in a tiny voice.

"Of course I can," Buffy responds following Faith on to the bed copying her sitting posture. Again she takes the brunette's hands, "this is something Willow taught me."

"Red," Faith smirks a little surprised. "You sure this isn't meant to kill me?" She questions with a slight frown on her lips.

Buffy can't help but smirk as she says, "trust me. Follow what I'm going to teach you and you'll be out of here in no time." After a moment she adds, "I really am sorry for the way I've always treated you."

Faith shrugs her shoulders, "it's in the past B."

Everyone, with the exception of Spike, had congregated by the door Xander had repaired that afternoon as they made ready to depart the watchers apartment. They had spent the late afternoon, early evening discussing what they were going to about the revelations Anya had brought to them. The best plan they had come up with was to have Buffy try to talk to herself in the morning. Anya thought it unlikely that Buffy would attempt confronting Lurky again so soon.

"Thanks for supper," Buffy comments as she grabs hold of the door handle.

"Yes," Anya chimes in. "Thank you for feeding all of us poor unemployed slackers. It was most gracious of you. We'll be back tomorrow night so you can feed us again," she says seriously as she pulls Xander out the door. "We're going to go back to Xander's and not have sex since Xander is still incapable of performing properly because..."

Xander finally manages to clamp a hand over her mouth, "sometimes I just don't know what to do."

"Well for starters you could let the bloody chit finishes," Spike encourages from the couch. "As dull and uninteresting as your sex life is, hearing about you performance problems might still bring a smile to my lips," he finishes with an evil smirk smeared across his face.

Xander scowls at the couch since the evil vampire was nowhere to be seen, but says nothing. Having spent the better part of the night trying to one up Spike, but finding for every comment he made the chipped vampire had a better one just waiting to be used. Sometimes as many as two or three. "Night everyone," he says giving Anya a slight tug to get her going.

"Night Xander," Willow returns cheerfully.

Buffy pulls open the door, "see you tomorrow Xan," she says as he steps past her. "And Anya... Thank you for the information. It was a big help."

Anya smiles at the tiny slayer as Xander nudges her slightly, "now would be a good time to show your gratitude."

"Shouldn't she be the one to showing her gratitude?" Anya questions with a slight frown. "After all I am the one the provided her with valuable intel tonight. I think I should be recompensed accordingly for my time, effort, and the risk involved in me getting that information. After all I was almost severely tortured today," she points out as Xander begins to pull her away.

"Yes, but you told us because were your friends and you were concerned about our safety," he says as the two of them walk down the stone walkway.

"Next time I'm not saying anything until there's some type of mutually beneficial agreement," Anya continues as her voice fades away into the distance.

Willow shakes her head as she says, "I don't think I'm ever going to understand that girl."

"There's not much to understand," Buffy says as she turns to leave. "Come on. I'll walk you guys back to the campus before I head out for my patrol," she offers the two witches as she holds the door open. Looking back at Giles she tells him, "I'll be here bright and early tomorrow so I can have a talk with myself."

"Very well then," Giles replies with a slight nod. "If you should run across anything unusual..."

"You'll be the first person that I think of," Buffy assures him. Without being too obvious she shoots a circumspect glance at the couch that Spike was lying on. She couldn't see the vampire but she knew he was there. Tonight had just added more confusion to her already over worked brain.

Except for a few occasions, were they insulted each other with as much venom as ever, they had actually gotten along with each other. Those few tense instances, of bitter insults and biting retorts, had felt faked, or forced as if they had been doing it simply because it was expected of them.

"Yes well, very good then," Giles voice breaks into her concentration.

"Goodnight Giles," Willow says.

"G-Goodnight Mr. Giles," Tara echoes a bit more politely.

Giles again nods his head again as the three girls step out into the darkness. He closes the door slowly as he watches them fade into the night, a frown creeping across his face. Buffy wasn't the only one to notice how her and Spike's interaction had changed over the pass couple of days.

Tonight the two of them had nearly been flirting with each other the entire evening. True they had disguised it well enough and if he hadn't been looking for it he probably never would have seen it. But he had been and he did. Now the question was what should he do about it. Nothing and run the risk of having Buffy turn into the creature that her future self was, or try to put a halt to it and face the same outcome. He suddenly found the prospect of trying to navigate the future to be a very trying experience.

They stood outside Tara's hall in a circle of bright light provided by the security lamps that give a semblance of safety in the darkness of the night. Hands clasp they simply stare into each other's eyes. Time seems to stretch into immeasurable units for the two as they lose themselves in their feelings for the other.

"I'd ask you up..." Tara begins without her stutter.

"And I'd probably say yes," Willow cuts in feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. She smiles shyly as Tara drops her head slightly letting her hair hide her face once again, but not before Willow sees the blonde's face color as well. Taking one of her hands she lifts Tara's chin so she's looking the taller girl back in her eyes. "You don't ever have to hide from me," She says softly. "There's nothing you can ever do that I wouldn't want to see all of you. That sparkle in your eyes, that little curve to your lips."

"Really?" Tara questions shyly as she meets Willow's intense gaze.

"Really," Willow affirms. "I want to know you. Everything about you," she says a slight hook forming in her own lips as she hears the innuendo in her words. "I want dates, and candlelit dinners, and darkened movies, and late night rendezvous, and I want everything to be perfect, and I especially want our first time to be special, magical. Which is why I'm not going to go up," this time she looks to the ground as she finishes with a timid, "because if I did I want to make love to right then and there and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet."

Tara reaches out and brushes the tears from Willow's cheek with a gentle stroke of her thumb. Willow leans into the contact relishing the feel of Tara's silken skin along hers. "Then we'll wait," Tara whispers feeling confident for the first time in her life. "And we'll go on dates, and have lots of candlelit dinners, and darkened movie theaters, and late night rendezvous, and we'll wait, and when your ready you'll let me know," she says softly. Leaning forward slowly giving Willow all the time in the world to back away from her as she brings her lips to Willow's and places a feather light kiss on her velvety smooth lips.

________________________________________________________________________

You Don't Know Me At All - Don Henley

I woke up this morning with an attitude
looked at the headline,
put me in a real bad mood
sitting here in limbo
trying to stay sane
between the end of the summer
and the coming of the blessed rains
and I feel dirty, all the way down
I feel dirty, baby, like this pretty town
I gave you everything on a silver tray
could have been a fool for ever,
but I'm not made that way

and after all these years,
I figure it's time to say goodbye
I'm doing you a favor,
I will not help you live a lie
and believe me
if you think I'm gonna catch you when you fall
you don't know me,
you don't know me at all

I closed up the curtains
learned to confess
baby, I knew better
but you were such a pretty mess
you took my breath away
and now I want it back
Ah, you should've killed me,
you always looked so good in black
And after all these twisted roads
that we've been down together
I think it's time to say goodbye
and believe me
if you think i'm gonna get down and
crawl
you don't know me,
you don' t know me at all

ohh, ohh
(really catchy guitar part!)

and after all these years,
I figure it's time to say goodbye
I'm doing us a favor baby
you know i cannot live a lie
and when you need me
and you think I'm gonna
be there when you call
you don't know me
you don't know me at all
you don't know me at all
Not at all
You don't know me at all
You don't know me at all...