As Buffy and Dawn stood there staring at Glory stricken, Angel moved into action. He grabbed their wrists and pulled them along as he ran. Outside, students milled about. Angel and Buffy tore through them with Dawn. They jostled students out of the way as they made for the double doors on the other side. Angel and Buffy and Dawn hit the double doors, escaping out of the building. Behind them, the opposite wall across the room exploded. Startled screams sounded behind them. Buffy looked back to see the double doors leading outside blown off their hinges as Glory exited. Now Buffy and Angel were practically dragging Dawn.

"Wait.. Buffy.." Dawn gasped.

"We have to keep moving!" Buffy said.

"I.. I can't.."

Dawn stumbled, exhausted. Angel scooped her up in his arms and continued running with Buffy by his side. They leaped over a bench as they went. They dashed for a tree-lined park on the other side of the street. Suddenly Glory was in front of them, blocking their path. Buffy and Angel froze. Glory pinned them with an icy stare.

"I really hate it when people touch my things." She said. Angel put Dawn down and shoved her behind him and Buffy. Glory advanced. "Last words, Slay-runt?"

"Just one. Truck." Buffy said.

A truck horn suddenly blared. Glory whipped her head around, too late. An eighteen-wheeler barreling down the road slammed into her. The truck tore past, brakes squealing. Buffy grabbed Dawn's hand and took off with her through the park on the other side of the street. Angel was right behind them the whole time. They ran to Xander's apartment and knocked loudly on the door, almost pounding. Xander came to the door.

"Buffy! Angel!" Xander said. They shoved past him, pulling Dawn in the room. Buffy shut the door and locked it. "What's going on?"

"Glory knows." Buffy said.

"What?"

"She knows Dawn's the Key."

"Oh God."

"Call Giles and the others. Get them here. We need to make a plan."

Xander moved to the phone as Buffy walked out onto the balcony. Angel followed her out and wrapped his arms around her stomach. She leaned back on his chest and looked out over the bright, beautiful day.

"Are you ok?" Angel asked.

"I don't know. We were better off when Glory didn't know. Now that she does, we're never going to be safe." Buffy said.

"I know."

"Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you hate me if I suggested running?"

"Never." He turned Buffy to face him. "Buffy, I would never hate you. If running is a way to keep Dawn safe, I'm all for it. I love her just as much as you do. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you."

"You may have to find out."

"I won't let it happen."

"Such promises Angel!" Buffy jerked out of his arms and walked further onto the balcony. "Don't make them. You can't guarantee promises like that."

"I can try."

"Yeah. That's all you can do though. Don't get hopes in my head. I can't.. I won't.." Buffy started to cry, but she sucked it up. "No. I will NOT cry. Not until this is all over with. I won't cry. For Dawn." She shoved past Angel and walked back into the apartment.

A few minutes later, the gang was all there. Angel and Buffy stood staring out the window as Dawn talked excitedly.

".. And then WHOOSH! All of a sudden Glory's standing right there in front of us

all skanky and blonde and thinking she's all that just because some bumpy heads kiss her stinky feet.. well she does have nice feet.. and she's coming right at us but Buffy and Angel don't even blink. They just stand there all 'bring it on' and then WHAM!" Dawn smashed her fist into her hand for effect. "Hellbitch in orbit!"

"Go Couple of the Year!" Xander said.

"I knew you'd be able best Glory eventually. With all your years of training and.." Giles said.

Buffy cut him off. "A truck hit her."

"Oh."

"Did you throw it?" Anya asked.

"Well, no, they more kind of waited for it to hit Glory.. but then Buffy and Angel ran really fast and we got away!" Dawn said.

"I don't know how we got away. That truck couldn't have slowed her down for more than a second." Angel said.

"How isn't important. All that matters is the three of you are safe." Giles said.

Buffy laughed bitterly, turning to the group. Both she and Angel were completely wigged and it showed. "Safe? We've barely been able to manage not getting seriously dead every time we cross paths with Glory. Now that she knows about Dawn.."

"Float-y green shimmers." Tara said, looking at Dawn. Then she turned to Willow. "Why don't you shimmer?"

Willow looked at Buffy. "She didn't mean to. You guys know that, right?"

"I know. But it's done, and now we have to deal with it."

"Perhaps there's something in the Book of Tarnis, something we've missed that we can use against Glory." Giles said.

"Piano!" Anya said.

"Right. Piano. Because that's what we used to kill that big demon that one time. No, wait. That was a rocket launcher. An, what are you talking about?" Xander asked.

"We should drop a piano on her. It always works for that creepy cartoon rabbit when he's running from that nice man with the speech impediment."

"Yes, or perhaps we could paint a convincing fake tunnel on the side of a mountain. Let's keep thinking. We should reassemble at the shop, see what we can.."

"We can't fight her." Angel said.

"Not yet, but.."

"Not ever. She's too strong, Giles. We're not going to win this with spells or stakes or yanking out uranium power cores. She's a god, and she's coming for us. So let's not be here when she starts knocking."

"Run away?! Finally a sensible plan." Anya said.

"That's not what he meant. Is it?" Xander asked.

"We can't stay here. Glory will kill us off one by one until there's nobody standing between her and Dawn." Buffy said.

"Buffy, Angel, we all understand the severity of the situation, but there must be another.."

"No! We stay we die! Show of hands for that option?" No one raised their hands. "All right. Nobody goes home, nobody tells anyone we're leaving. We grab whatever supplies we can and that's it: we're gone."

"Cool. Won't have to study for that geometry test." Dawn said nervously.

"What about wheels? I don't think everybody's gonna fit in the Xan- mobile." Xander said.

"Just get your stuff together. Angel and I'll take care of it. Meet us outside the factory where Angelus, Dru, and Spike stayed before Giles went and burned it down." With that, Buffy, Dawn, and Angel were gone.



Buffy, Angel, and Dawn sat inside the beat up Winnebago. The thing was a dump, but it was going to get them to safety. Spike drove the thing wearing dark goggles to protect his eyes from burning. He pulled the Winnie to a rough stop in front of the old factory. Giles, Tara, Anya, Xander, and Giles stood outside. Buffy and Angel quickly helped the gang pile in. Giles glared at Spike.

"What's he doing here?" Giles asked.

"Just out for a jaunt. Thought I'd swing by and say howdy." Spike said dryly.

"Out."

"He's here because we need him." Buffy said.

"The hell we do." Xander said.

"If Glory finds us, he's the only one besides me and Angel that has a chance of protecting Dawn."

"Buffy, come on, he.."

"This isn't a discussion! He stays. Get over it." Buffy walked angrily to the back room and slid the door shut. Angel looked at all of them and shrugged, following Buffy to the back room. He walked in and slid the door shut behind him. Buffy sat on the bed, glaring at the wall. She didn't even look up at him. "I knew you'd follow."

"I can't leave my girl all alone to brood by herself. Want a pro to do it with?" Angel asked.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop saying all the right things." Buffy looked away from the wall and up at him. "You always do that Angel. You always sweep in and make everything better. I don't want it all better now because when it is, I get distracted. And I can't get distracted right now. We need to get Dawn away from Sunnydale." Her eyes went back to the wall.

Angel sat down next to her. "I love you."

"You're doing it again."

"I love you Buffy."

Buffy cracked a small smile and looked over at him. "Damn you." She melted into his arms and he held her tightly. "Please don't ever leave me Angel."

"Never. Hey," he lifted her chin up so she looked at him. "I could never leave you again, Buffy, even if I wanted to. Which, by the way, I don't."

"Good."

Dawn poked her head in. "Hey. I think Anya's gonna try to cook. Wanna come watch the tears and recriminations?"

"Maybe later." Buffy said, looking up at her and smiling weakly.

Dawn turned to go, but paused. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"You know. Pretty much.. everything."

"Yeah. We're doing a great job."

"You are."

"I'm the Slayer. The Chosen one, all mythic and defender-y. And Angel, he's supposed to be the bad ass of the underworld right next to me. Evil Nasties are supposed to flee from us, not the other way around."

"You're not fleeing. You're.. Moving at a brisk pace."

"Quaintly referred to in some cultures as the Big Scared-y Run Aways."

Dawn sat next to Buffy. "It's the most amazing thing anyone's ever done for me."

"It just.. keeps coming. Glory. Tara. Mom."

"I know. But there's a bright side."

"There is?"

"Yeah. At least things can't get any crazier, right?"

Just as Dawn finished that statement, an arrow pierced the back of the Winnebago right next to Buffy's head. Buffy stared at it. "You know this is your fault for saying that." She said. They looked out the window in the back and saw that ten knights on horseback were thundering after the Winnebago. Several were notching arrows onto their bows. Buffy couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of what she was seeing. *Welcome to Crazier, USA.* They all stood and ran out into the main room of the Winnie.

"Giles!" Angel said.

"I see them!" Giles said.

"See who?" Spike asked. More arrows pierce the Winnie. "Bloody hell!"

"Arrows! They're throwing arrows!" Xander asked.

"Dawn, stay down." Buffy ordered. Dawn hunkered down.

Tara peeked through the blinds and squealed with delight. "Horsies!" Willow yanked Tara away from the window just as an arrow crashed through.

An arrow pierced the driver's side door, narrowly missing Giles. "Weapons!?" He yelled.

"Hello! You're driving one!" Spike called back.

"Don't hurt the horsies!" Willow called.

"We won't." Buffy turned to Giles. "Aim for the horsies."

Giles yanked the wheel hard to the left. The Winnie swerved, but the Knights easily avoided it.

"Did we shake 'em?" Xander asked, trying not to vomit.

Suddenly, the blade of a broadsword pierced the roof, narrowly missing Xander. Everyone dove for cover as the Knight on the roof kept slamming his sword down in different spots.

"Stay low! Watch out for.." The sword came down right over Buffy. Spike grabbed the blade, stopping it before it rammed into her. He hung on, grunting in pain as the steel sliced into his hands.

"Now might be a good time for something heroic." Spike gritted out.

Buffy scanned the roof. "Angel! Hatch!" Angel boosted Buffy up to the hatch. She punched it out and disappeared up onto the roof.

Angel followed her up. She crept up on a Knight, but he saw her shadow creeping up on him. He swung his sword around. Buffy ducked and laid into him. She took his sword away and ducked. Angel brought his leg over her head and whip kicked the Knight hard. He sailed off the edge of the roof.

Two more climbed up onto the roof. Buffy and Angel moved back to back. They battled the two Knights. One had an axe, the other a morning star. Buffy dodged and spun. She held her sword up just as the morning star descended. The chain wrapped around her sword. She yanked hard, sending the Knight flying off the roof.

The other Knight nearly took Angel's head off with his axe. Buffy moved in with her sword, but it was knocked out of her hands when the Knight swung again. Together, she and Angel attacked. The Knight sailed back, unconscious, his axe flying up. Buffy grabbed it midair, spun around and threw it. The axe slammed into the chest of a Knight coming up the rear access ladder. He stiffened and fell. Buffy stood there, breathing hard. That was it. No more Knights.

Buffy and Angel started to move back to the hatch to climb back in, but suddenly the Winnie swerved off the road. The tires hit the gravel and the Winnie pitched over on its side, hurling Buffy and Angel off. They landed hard, regaining their senses just in time to see the Winnie skid to a stop, coming to rest in a cloud of dust. *From bad to impossible in record time.* she thought. They got up and ran over to the Winnie. Xander opened the side door upwards and poked his head out. Buffy grabbed one hand while Angel grabbed the other and they helped him out. They worked to get everyone out. Spike was the last to come out. The sun's rays would hurt him worse than the cuts he had received on his hands. The crippled Winnie laid on its side. Everyone limped away from the crash site, heading for an abandoned gas station down the road. Angel kicked the door in and Spike ran in first.

The gas station was divided into three connecting rooms: a customer snack bar area up front with an 'Out of Order' pay phone, an office in the back, and a large boarded up service garage off to the side. The windows were also boarded up, with narrow gaps allowing a person to peek outside. Buffy and Angel carried Giles in and lay him down on a counter. The side of his torso where he had been impaled was drenched in blood.

"Willow?" Buffy asked.

"I'm on it." Willow moved over to Giles, keeping Tara close.

Buffy gave Dawn the quick once over. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah. But Spike's hurt." Dawn said.

Spike's hands were still wrapped in strips of bloody dishtowel. Buffy, preoccupied, grabbed them roughly to examine the damage.

"Ow! Easy with the delicates!" Spike yelled.

"They'll heal." Buffy said. She moved to the window and looked through the slats, eyes flicking nervously across the barren landscape.

"Florence Nightingale to the bloody rescue."

"We have another plan, right? One that doesn't involve pointy arrows and Winnebagos?" Anya asked.

"We'll.. we'll rest here for a minute. Then we have to keep moving." Buffy said.

"Where?" Xander asked.

"I don't know! But we can't stay here. It's too close to the wreck, too easy to.."

"Buffy?" Willow interrupted.

"How is he?" Buffy asked, crossing to Giles. Willow didn't answer. "Will?"

"I think I slowed the bleeding, but.."

"Okay. Okay, just.. just let me think."

A flaming arrow smashed through a boarded up window and thunked into the wall. Then more flaming arrows flew in. The gang dove for cover.

Xander peeked out the window. "We got company and they brought a Crusade!" Xander started ripping the flaming arrows out of the walls and stomping them out. Buffy and Angel tipped a soda machine to block the front door.

"Willow!" Angel called.

"I'm working on it!" Willow called back. She frantically paged through her spell book. The sound of breaking glass and splintering wood filled the air. The walls trembled. Tara curled into a ball, wailing in terror. The Knights were trying to chop through the slats. The blade of an axe pierced the wall near Dawn.

"Dawn!" Buffy called. The office door behind Buffy smashed open. She spun around only to be met by a mace that clocked her in the arm. Buffy staggered back.

"Buffy!" Angel tackled the Knight. They went down, Angel punching the Knight all the way. He was in game face now. Angel stood and dealt the Knight a punishing kick to the head that knocked the Knight out. Xander dragged the Knight through the office door.

Another Knight burst in from the garage. He spotted Dawn hunkered down near the wall. "The Key!"

He raised his broadsword. Buffy grabbed the fallen Knight's mace and hurled it. The mace hit the Knight's sword hand, forcing him to drop the sword. He whirled around. Angel was now right behind him, murder in his eyes. Angel punched him in the face. He hit the floor at Dawn's feet, out cold. Chain mail hands burst through windows and smashed through rotted wood. It was like a Medieval Night of the Living Dead. There was just too many of them.

Willow's eyes suddenly crackled with dark energy. She had found her spell and she was completing it with angry confidence. "Enemies, fly and fall. Circling arms, raise a wall!" An energy flash exploded out from around Willow like the shock wave of a magical nuclear blast.

A tense silence came over them. That had been way too close. Willow's nose was bleeding from the spell.

"Will." Xander said.

Willow wiped away the blood. "You get used to it."

"How long will it hold?" Angel asked.

"Half a day, maybe. Or until Heckle and Jeckle punch a hole in it." Willow indicated the two Clerics outside chanting.

"What's the story on these role playing rejects?" Spike asked.

"Let's find out."

Angel hauled the Knight to his feet and drug him into the garage. Buffy found some rope and she tied the Knight's arms behind him around a pole. Now he was awake as Buffy pulled on the knot. He glared at Buffy and Angel, his jaw set. Xander, Spike and Dawn watched the confrontation. Willow, Tara, and Anya were in the other room with Giles.

"You sure Scarface here can habla the English?" Spike asked.

"He understands us. Don't you?" Angel said cruelly.

"You were warned we would return." The Knight said.

"Took you long enough."

"You supposed to be some kind of chief?" Buffy asked, eyeing the larger tattoo.

"General." The man said.

"In charge of what? Getting captured?"

"You do not frighten me, child." He looked over at Dawn. "The instrument of chaos will be destroyed.."

Buffy lost her cool. She latched onto his face, roughly snapping his head back to look at her. "Look at her that way again, and she'll be the last thing you ever see."

"As I was told. You protect the Key of the Beast."

"It's not that simple." Buffy said, backing off a little.

"Yes. The Key has been transformed. Given breath. Life. Yet this makes no difference. The Key is the link. The link must be severed. Such is the will of God."

"She doesn't remember anything about being this Key everyone's looking for! All she remembers is growing up with a mother and a sister that love her. What kind of god would demand her life for something she has no control over?" Angel asked angrily. "We're not your enemy. Tell your men to stand down."

"No."

"It's not her fault! She's human now!" Buffy yelled.

"The Key is too dangerous to be allowed to exist, no matter what form it has been pressed into."

"I'm not going to let anyone.." Buffy was cut off by Tara screaming from the main area.

"Buffy!" Anya yelled to her.

Buffy rushed in, with Angel, Dawn, Spike, and Xander close behind. Tara was pitching a serious fit, screaming and flailing. Willow was trying to get her under control.

"Tara! Tara.. Please." Willow said.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know! She just went nuts! Oh! I mean, uh.." Anya said.

"Time! Time! Time!" Tara screamed. She broke away from Willow and ran for the door. She clawed at it, sinking to her knees and sobbing.

Willow cradled her on the floor. She turned to Buffy, searching desperately for comfort. "We have to do something. She can't stay like this. Buffy?"

Buffy didn't have the answers. She was lost and scared. Angel came over and grasped her hand. She looked up at him, her eyes thanking him. A groan came from behind them and Buffy looked over. Giles was awake. She walked over to him and took his hand. Angel stood back to give them their privacy.

"I'm sorry." Buffy said.

"For what?" Giles asked, barely conscious.

"We should have stayed. If we had, none of this.."

"Don't. You did what was necessary. What I've always admired."

"Running away?"

"Being able to place your heart above all else. I'm so proud of you. How far you've come. You're everything a Watcher.. everything I could have hoped for.." Giles drifted back off into unconsciousness.

Buffy came to a decision. She turned to Willow. "Willow. Open a door."

"Why?" Angel asked.

"Because I want to end this now."

Willow nodded and Buffy and Angel walked out a side door. The chanting Clerics stumbled back as a door-sized rift opened in the barrier. Buffy stepped outside with Angel close behind, backing her up with the mace. The rift closed behind them. The Knights raised their weapons, but a black Knight raised a hand to halt their attack.

"Speak." He said.

"One of my friends was hurt when you attacked us."

"And ten of mine are dead. Honorable men. Shall we balance the scale?"

Buffy anger almost boiled over again. "Will you let someone come and help him or not?"

"Give quarter to an agent of the Beast? What madness would move me to such action?"

"I'm done asking." Buffy took a step towards the Knight, ready to bring on the hurt. The Knights behind him tensed.

Angel stepped in, trying to defuse the situation. "This is war. And if there's one thing I've learned from my years as a vampire, in war there are rules. Or at least there should be if you're as 'honorable' as you think you are. We have your General. Step down now or we kill him."

The Knight glared at both of them and then nodded. Buffy turned around and the mystical door appeared again. They walked inside and looked to Willow. She came over.

"They're going to let us bring in some help. Can you get the phone to work?" Buffy asked.

"I can try." Willow said. She walked over to the phone and stared at it for a minute. "Discharge and bring life!" A light flickered to life in the phone booth. Buffy picked up the phone, got a dial tone and nodded. She punched in a number.

"Handier than a Swiss knife. You know the door to my crypt's got this nasty squeak. Maybe you could.." Spike said, but Angel glared and he backed off.

"Hey, it's Buffy. I need to ask you a really big favor." Buffy said. "A friend of mine was hurt. He needs any type of medical assistance he can get. Can you come?"