Everyone watched tensely as Ben examined Giles, his doctor's bag close at hand.

"You, uh, forgot to mention the costume party outside." Ben said.

"Sorry. I-I didn't know who else to call." Buffy said.

"No, it's okay. I mean, yeah, not exactly the way I pictured seeing you all again.

"Thanks for coming."

"My pleasure." Giles was still unconscious, his breathing labored. Buffy hovered as Ben finished applying a fresh dressing to the wound. "I think I got him stabilized, but there's a lot of damage. We need to get him out of here."

"The guys with the pointy swords kinda have other ideas."

"Don't they always?"

"I know this must seem extra outer limits.."

"This? Nah. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. You know, emergency room, full moon on a Saturday night.."

"If things get too weird, just let me know. I'll understand."

"Don t worry about me. I won't leave till I've worn out my welcome."

Buffy smiled kindly. She turned and walked with Angel into the garage where the General was tied up. Spike and Xander were talking.

"Great plan." Xander said. "And while all the hacking and slashing's going on, what are you going to be doing? Throwing migraines at em? The ice has definitely frozen back over."

"Look, we stay here, we all die. At least this way some of us might.." Spike said. Buffy cut him off. "No." They turned. She tried to be confident, but her voice was tinged with denial and fear. "We're all going to make it. I'm not losing anyone. Check the supplies. See if anyone's hungry." Xander and Spike left.

"Dissension in the ranks. Seldom the harbinger of glad tidings." The General said.

Buffy snapped. She whacked the General hard across the face. "Shut up!"

He spit blood, eyeing Buffy sadly. "Poor, frightened girl. You've no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

"Then why don't you fill me in?"

"Would it make a difference?" Buffy stared at him. "What do you know of the Beast?"

"Strong. Fast. Hellgod." Angel said, walking up.

"From a dimension of unspeakable torment."

"A demon dimension, we know. There were two other Hellgods that ruled with her, weren't there?" Buffy asked.

"Along with the Beast, they were a triumvirate of suffering and despair, ruling with equal vengeance. But the power of the Beast grew beyond even what they could conceive.. as did her lust for pain and misery. They looked upon her, what she had become and trembled."

"A god afraid?"

"Such was her power. They feared she would attempt to seize the dimension for herself, and decided to strike first. A great battle erupted. The very bowels of Hell trembled as the war of the gods spanned a thousand years. In the end, they stood victorious over the Beast barely. She was cast out, banished to this 'lower' plane of existence, forced to live and ultimately die trapped within the body of a mortal, a newborn male, created as her prison. Her own living Hell."

"Wait. Male?" Angel asked.

"That was her punishment. To finish an ageless existence buried deep inside the flesh tomb of a normal average human man. A man that would grow, age, and eventually die, like all the rest of us. That is the Beast's only weakness."

"Kill the man, and the god dies."

"Unfortunately the identity of the human vessel has never been discovered."

"I don't understand. I've seen Glory. Not a whole lot going on in the hairy chest department." Buffy said.

"You have seen a glimpse of the true Beast. Her power was too great to be completely contained. She's found a way to escape her mortal prison for brief periods before her energies are exhausted and she's forced back into her living cell of meat and bone."

"What about me?" Dawn asked. Buffy and Angel turned. Dawn was standing in the doorway of the garage. "What about the Key?"

"Dawn.." Buffy started.

"I want to know."

Buffy nodded and turned to the General. He looked over at Dawn. "The Key is almost as old as the Beast itself. Where it came from, how it was created: the deepest of mysteries.

All that is certain is that its power is absolute. Countless generations of my people have sacrificed their lives in search of it, to destroy it before its wrath could be unleashed."

"But the monks found it first."

"Yes. And hid it with their magicks."

"Why didn't they destroy it? If the Key's as dangerous as you.." Buffy started.

The General cut her off abruptly. "Because they were fools! They thought they could harness its power for the forces of light. They failed and paid with their blood."

"What do I do? What was I created for?" Dawn asked.

"You were created to open the gates that separate dimensions. The Beast will use your power to return home and seize control of the Hell she was banished from."

Buffy started to laugh. "That's it? That's Glory's master plan? Go home?"

"You misunderstand. When the Key is activated, it won't just open a gate to the Beast's dimension. It's going to open all the gates. The walls separating realities will crumble.

Dimensions will bleed into one another. Order will be overthrown and the universe will tumble into chaos. All dark. Forever."

Buffy stopped laughing. Dawn looked stricken. She walked out into the main area and over to a window. Buffy and Angel followed after a minute.

"Dawn.." Buffy said.

"You think it's true? What he said?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know."

"Destroyer of the universe. Guess cutting school doesn't seem so bad now, huh?" she asked Angel.

"It's not you. You know that." Angel said, stepping up to her and looking her in the eyes.

"You should understand, Angel. It's in me, isn't it? It's inside me." Dawn paused and then looked at Buffy. "What are we going to do?"

"I won't let anything happen to you, Dawn. Angel or me." Buffy slipped her hand into Dawn's. "I promise." Buffy kissed her sister's forehead and walked over to the office. Angel followed her. "I don't know what to do, Angel. For the first time in my life, I have no clue what to do."

Angel walked up to her and folded her into his arms. "Shh. It's ok. We'll figure this out."

"We can't go to dad's. I can't put him and Lindsey in that kind of danger. Mom knew. She was willing to put herself in that kind of danger because it was Dawn and me and because she knew it was right. Of all the sappy, childish things I could day right now, the one I choose is: I want my mommy."

"She's here." Angel pointed to Buffy's chest where her heart was. "She'll always be there Buffy. All you have to do is look and you'll find her strength. And you'll always have me. I'll never leave you and I'll help you through everything."

Buffy pulled Angel tightly to her. "Angel, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You don't understand! I got to get out! Open a door! NOW!" Ben yelled.

Buffy and Angel rushed out of the office and ran into Spike as they headed into the garage. "What happened?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know! He just freaked out!" Dawn said.

"LET ME OUT!" Ben yelled.

"Will, open a.." Buffy started.

"NO!" Ben screamed, cutting Buffy off, and then Glory was standing there. Ben was gone. He had probably run off or something. All they knew was that the thing they were running from was there.

Glory looked around, taking in the scene. "Well what do you know!? Little Ben finally did something right."

"The Beast." The General said, terrified.

"Hey! It's Gregor!" Glory grabbed an old rusted hubcap off the workbench and flung it. It buried itself halfway into Gregor's chest, killing him. "Now it's not."

All hell broke loose as the gang attacked. It was a short confrontation. Glory was done fooling around. Spike went flying into Xander and Anya. Willow's eyes crackled with Dark Magic as she geared up a spell. Buffy and Angel were slammed back into her. They all went down, dazed. Glory latched onto Dawn.

"Buffy!" Dawn screamed.

Buffy scrambled to her feet as Glory punched through a door. She hit Willow's barrier and sneered in contempt. "Yeah right." She reared her fist back and bellowed as she slammed it into the barrier. Glory blew a jagged hole in it. It crackled, already beginning to close up.

"Dawn!" Buffy screamed.

Glory yanked Dawn through the hole. Buffy dove after them, but didn't make it before the hole closed. She crashed into the restored barrier. Buffy ran back into the garage. "Willow! Get it down! Now!"

Willow was dazed. She tried to focus on the spell. "Hear-hear my plea.. circling arms

protecting me.."

Buffy ran back out. Willow's barrier crackled and dissipated. Buffy rushed out and froze in horror. The ground was littered with the broken bodies of the Knights and the Clerics. The black Knight exhaled his last blood-soaked breath. The rest of the gang spilled out, equally horrified by the carnage. They started talking and yelling, but Buffy didn't hear any of it. She trembled, tears filling her eyes. The Slayer collapsed to her knees, totally shutting down. Her promises had meant nothing. She'd failed, totally and completely. Her friends' voices faded out and Buffy sunk into herself.



"Buffy!" Angel yelled. "Buffy! Wake up! Come on baby, you have to wake up. We have to save Dawn."

"She's not responding." Willow said. "Let's get her inside."

Angel picked Buffy's limp body up off the ground and carried her inside to a couch. Spike stayed outside, hot-wiring Ben's car. Angel sat down beside Buffy, massaging her back and neck, trying to get a response out of her. The gang started to assemble everything and get ready to leave. Angel continued to rub Buffy's back. He kissed her lips gently. Nothing.

"Baby. Come on." He was on the verge of tears. "Dawn. She needs us. She needs you. Come on Buffy."

Anya looked after the wounded Giles, who struggled to sit up. Tara sat huddled off in a corner by herself. Xander and Willow looked at Buffy and Angel. Spike came in wiping his hands on a rag.

"Better part of a century spent in delinquency just paid off." He said. "Hot-wired Ben's auto. Who's for getting the hell out of here?"

"All in favor, let's do it." Xander said. He looked at Giles. "You good to go?"

"Never mind about me. How's Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Same. Still."

"It's been almost half an hour." Willow said.

"The Slayer'll be all right. Won't she?" Spike said.

"Try again, Angel." Xander said.

"I've been trying." Angel snapped. "She's not responding to anything."

"Angel.." Willow said.

"I'm sorry. Things just went from worse to numbingly terrifying and my girlfriend isn't responding to anything. She's catatonic."

"I know." Willow sat beside Angel and stroked his upper arm. "We'll get her back."

Spike walked up and looked Buffy in the face. "Buffy! She can't just be brain dead. I mean she's still Buffy. Somewhere, in there. Right?"

"Spike, come on. We're not getting Dawn back by sitting around here." Xander said.

"You're not getting Dawn back any way you slice it, Harris. That's for Buffy and Angel to handle."

"Good. Panic. That ought to help."

"It's like she's in some kind of fugue state." Anya said.

"We should move her. Unless we shouldn't. Should we?" Willow asked.

"Couldn't that make it worse? I think I read that somewhere."

"I am so large with not knowing." Xander said.

"Impossible to know for sure. Losing Dawn, after all Buffy's been through.. I think it's pushed her too far, into some kind of catatonia." Giles said.

"You don't need a diploma to see that. Snap her out of it. Buffy?" Spike started to shake her. "Oi! Rise and shine, luv."

"Spike!" Anya said.

"Come on, people, the girl's endowed with Slayer strength. Hardly the time to get dainty. BUFFY!"

"We tried that." Xander said. Spike punched Buffy.

"We didn't try that." Anya said.

Angel punched Spike so hard it sent him across the room. "Touch her again and I kill you."

"Are you insane!? We could be dealing with neurological damage here. You want to kill her?" Xander said.

"We've got to do something! I can't just sit here watching. You waste time with kid gloves. I'm willing to gamble when all's said and done.. Buffy likes it rough." Spike said. Angel lost it. He punched Spike so hard a tooth came flying out of his mouth. "Do that again, I'll have a piece of you."

Angel punched Spike again. Spike took it and lunged at Angel. Just as they locked, Willow looked up and quietly spat out through gritted teeth. "Separate." Spike and Angel were suddenly tossed back by some invisible force. Both came to a sliding stop, just out of fisticuffs range. A bit freaked, they both looked to Willow. So did everyone else, awaiting explanation. Willow let the pause ride, eyeing each of them, but never moving. When she did speak, it was with calm, quiet intensity. "Buffy's out. Glory has Dawn.

Sometime real soon she's gonna use Dawn to tear down the barrier between every dimension there is so if you two want to fight, you do it after the world ends. K? All right. First, we head back to Sunnydale. Xander'll take Giles to a hospital. Anya's looking after Tara, and Spike you find Glory. Check her apartment first; see if she's still there. Try anything stupid like payback and I will get very cranky. Everyone clear? Or do we have questions?" Anya raised her hand. "Anya?"

"What will you and Angel do?" Anya asked.

"Angel and I will help Buffy."

"Ok then." Anya helped Giles to his feet. Angel brushed himself off and picked up Buffy. Willow put her arm around Tara, and they all started moving toward the exit.

"The world is spinning. Straight, to the new day. Big day, big, big day.." Tara mumbled.

"Uh, Will? Now, uh, don't turn me into a horned toad for asking, but what if we come across Ben?" Spike asked.

"Nothing, I don't think a doctor's what Buffy needs right now." Willow said.

"Well, yeah. 'Specially not one who also happens to be Glory."

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"You know.. Ben is Glory."

"You mean Ben's with Glory?" Willow asked.

"'With' in what sense?" Xander asked.

"They're working together?" Anya asked.

"No, no. Ben is Glory. Glory's Ben. They're one and the same." Angel said.

"When did all this happen?"

"Not one hour ago! Right here, before your very eyes! Ben came, turned into Glory, snatched the kid, and phht-vanished. Remember?" Spike said. Everyone but Angel stared blankly at him. Spike looked at Angel. "You do remember?" Angel nodded. "Is everyone here very stoned?" He turned back to the hang. "Ben. Glory. He's a doctor. She's the Beast. Two entirely separate entities, sharing one body. It's like a bloody sitcom! Surely, you remember!" More blank stares.

"So you're saying.. Ben, and Glory.." Xander said.

"Have a connection." Anya finished.

"Yes, obviously. But what kind?" Giles asked.

"Ah! I get it. Very crafty. Glory's worked the kind of mojo where anyone who sees her little presto-chango instantly forgets. And Peaches and yours truly, being somewhat other than human, stand immune." Spike said.

"So, Ben and Glory are.. the same person?" Willow asked.

"Glory can turn into Ben, and Ben turns back into Glory." Xander said.

"And anyone who sees it instantly forgets." Anya said.

"And a kewpie doll for the lady." Spike said.

"Excellent. Now. Do we suspect there could be any kind of link between Ben and Glory?" Giles asked.

"Might be best if we explain on the way.." Angel said.