Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow

Previously:

Joyce chuckled to herself, glancing back down at her crossword puzzle. She had a sharp pain in her head and felt slightly dizzy. "Maybe I should see a doctor," she said to herself, writing a note to make an appointment the following day.

Chapter Twelve:

"Okay, no way in hell Cyclops is better than Wolverine," Xander argued, giving the somewhat gangly Englishman sitting across from him an incredulous look. "I mean, hello, metal claws. How cool is that?"

"It is cool, I'll give you that much," Callum argued back. "But from the stand point of weaponry and attack advantage, Cyclops clearly comes out on top. He can shoot laser beams from his eyes at great distances. Wolverine, on the other hand, has to get within a few feet of his opponents before he can do any real damage. I rest my case," Callum declared, sitting back triumphantly.

"I still think he's cooler," Xander mumbled in defeat, though smiling. He clearly didn't have enough male friends, Spike most definitely not qualifying, Riley mostly hanging out with Buffy, and Giles seeming as more of a father figure than friend. It was nice to have another guy around for him to talk to, as Anya usually got quite bored when he went off on the X-Men or any other comic book hero.

"So what do you all do for fun around here?" Callum asked, remembering the days he had spent partying and going to concerts without a care in the world. While Kara had survived the first apocalyptic battle and many after that, Callum hadn't, nor had he been aware that demons and vampires even existed before the world came tumbling down. He had lived quite a normal life. Sharing a flat with a couple of his mates, he spent most of his days peddling "off the back of the truck" merchandise on street corners. At night, he and his friends would go to bars or clubs and get wasted while listening to some ridiculously horrid band wail away on stage. But it all seemed quite extraordinary to him at the time. He fancied that he had grown a bit since then, though he wouldn't mind knocking a few back with Xander, as long as Kara didn't find out.

Xander and Anya both looked at each other before responding together, "The Bronze."

"The Bronze is Sunnydale's premier night club," Xander said somewhat mockingly. "We went there in high school, we still go there now."

Callum smiled. "So not much to do then, yeah? Oh well, I guess we got enough save the world crap to keep us busy a while."

"Pretty much. Just a non stop demon Ferris wheel here in good 'ol Sunnydale," Xander replied as the bell over the Magic Box door jingled into life. Kara sauntered into the store, smiling warmly at the group of people gathered inside, with Spike in tow.

"Uh, what's he doing here?" Xander asked.

"Spike is gonna be hanging around a lot from here on out," Kara answered. "So get used to it. We need his help and honestly, he's not that bad of a guy."

Xander snorted, but stayed quiet. Spike stood beside Kara with a 'cat that ate the canary' smile on his face that Xander wished he could beat off. "Giles, I think now's a good a time as any to go over what we know about Glory," Kara said, turning to the man she had called a grandfather what seemed like ages ago. "And Spike will be joining us," Kara added, much to Giles's disdain.

"Very well," he said resignedly. Though he doubted Spike's usefulness and willingness to cooperate with them, he had to trust that Kara knew what she was doing. If Spike had been particularly helpful in the future, maybe he could be now as well.

"Don't worry all," Spike said smugly. "I'll take good care of you."

Kara sighed and glared over at her vampire counterpart. He hadn't been this arrogant in her timeline, though he had never been docile. Dawn had socialized him a bit while they were together. It would take some getting used to, but Kara hoped he would lay off once the novelty of his new found position in the Scoobies wore off. "Come on," she said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him into the back training area with Giles.

Closing the door on the front of the store, the three sat down at a small table Giles had set up. Opening a blank journal, Giles picked up a pen and prepared to write. "Start at the beginning. I want to know everything that's supposed to happen. Try to remember every detail, they could be exceedingly important," he stressed. "And are you sure Spike should be here for this? Buffy won't particularly like it," he added feebly.

Kara smiled at his attempt. "I know. I've already told Spike about Dawn and The Key. I trust him, even if none of you do. It doesn't take a curse or a spell to win back a soul," Kara said thoughtfully. "All you need is the determination to do what's right. Spike's had many opportunities to rain chaos on Sunnydale. You think a little chip could stop that? He doesn't need to be able to hurt people to destroy the world. He simply saw an opportunity to be something more than he was and he took it," Kara said in his defense. "I've entrusted Spike with the responsibility of protecting Dawn," Kara added, though she knew he would ultimately fail in that regard if things proceeded the way they had before.

"As you wish," Giles acquiesced. Glancing over at the demon sitting across from him, he still harbored his doubts, but wondered how Kara could see what he clearly could not. Was it that Spike had her fooled or was he really on a path to win back his own soul, a path of righteousness? Either way, Giles was determined to keep a careful watch on the vampire.

"Okay. This is a long story," Kara said, sitting back in her chair and closing her eyes, dredging up in her mind every story she had ever been told about Sunnydale. "To begin with, Riley needs to see a doctor as soon as possible. As a result of his programming at the Initiative, his heart isn't quite right," Kara said. "Now, onto Glory. She's known as The Beast. Obviously, she can appear as a human. Curly blonde hair, kinda pretty, complete bitch. She's really strong and has some sanity issues. In order to keep her mind straight, she has to suck the sanity out of other people," Kara said and was rewarded by looks of disgust from both Spike and Giles.

"How the bloody hell does that work?" Spike asked.

"Well, she doesn't suck the sanity out per say. She more like sticks her hand in your head and forms a connection between her mind and yours," Kara added. "Glory knows that the slayer is protecting The Key, so she'll be periodically sending demons out to try to kill or capture Buffy."

"Buffy may have a problem with are the Lei-Ach demons. See, Tara's family has this old wives tale that all of the women in the family turn into demons on their twentieth birthday," Kara said.

"Way to keep 'em in check, yeah?" Spike added.

Kara nodded. "It's not true, obviously. But Tara doesn't know that, yet. She performed a spell in my world that would keep you all from seeing her demon side. However, that also keep everyone from seeing any demons at all, so when the Lei-Ach demons attacked, no one could see them. We can prevent that whole catastrophe though," Kara said.

"The next demon is the Spawn of Sobek. He's this giant snake like creature that Glory conjures to snuff out The Key, which it does. Buffy was able to kill it before it could report back to Glory, but it was a close call and one I'd rather avoid," Kara paused for a moment, wondering how much she wanted to reveal to Giles. If she prevented Glory from brain sucking Tara, Glory wouldn't find out that Dawn was The Key. Though on the surface that seemed like a good thing, Kara didn't want to change too many of the events that were supposed to happen, otherwise, things could turn out much differently than she expected.

When she saw Spike strolling toward the Magic Box that evening, she decided it was time to clue him in on some things. She told him everything she knew about Glory and Dawn and the way things were supposed to turn out if no one interfered. Though Spike wasn't happy with her plan, he supported it and her. Glancing over at him, she could see that he was thinking the same things.

"Giles, before I say anything more...I need you to understand something. If I change every bad thing that is supposed to happen, we won't know anything about the future anymore. In the end, Glory captures Dawn and Buffy has to sacrifice herself to close the portal. Willow, Xander, Tara, and Anya resurrect her, pulling her out of Heaven, and causing Buffy some serious mental issues," Kara said. "But if we keep Glory from capturing Dawn, I won't know how to stop her. I know how to save Dawn and Buffy, but only the way is if things happen as they did before."

Giles sat back in his chair, removing his glasses and cleaning them thoughtfully. Though he didn't want to put Buffy or Joyce through the pain of Glory capturing Dawn, but he could see Kara's point. "You're certain we can stop Glory from opening the portal?" He asked gravely. Kara nodded.

"How does it happen?"

"Glory brain sucks Tara. Tara then accidentally reveals to Glory that Dawn is The Key. Buffy decides that the best plan of action is to hit the road before Glory can find Dawn, but the Knights of Byzantium thwart the escape. Giles, you're wounded, and everyone takes refuge in an old gas station. The Knights surround the building, but Buffy captures their leader and holds him hostage, using him to barter for a doctor. She calls Ben because she knows him from her own hospital experiences," Kara explained before being cut off by Giles.

"Ben? I'm sorry, who is he?" He asked in confusion.

Kara stared at him for a moment. She knew she had explained all about Glory and Ben to the Scoobies not long ago. How could he have forgotten already? Then it dawned on her. Glory was using magics to keep her relationship to Ben a secret. Kara smiled. "Just an acquaintance of Buffy's. No one important," she said. Spike looked over at her, knowing she was lying, but remained silent. "Anyway, Glory comes and takes Dawn. Then Glory has all of the crazy people she brain sucked build her tower where she can perform the ritual to open the portal. The night of the ritual, you guys set Tara loose and she immediately goes to the tower," Kara paused. The Scoobies had used the Buffybot Spike had Warren build in their attack against Glory. With Spike no longer lusting after the blonde slayer, hopefully anyway, there wouldn't be a Buffybot.

Skipping all that, she continued. "Buffy and Willow fight Glory, Willow using magic and Buffy, obviously, her fists. With Faith and I here, this part should be a bit easier on everyone. Willow also uses magic to restore Tara's sanity. She uses black magic, however, and eventually becomes addicted to it. We can prevent all of that by researching a better spell for her to use after the battle. Anyway, Buffy defeats Glory and you kill Ben so she doesn't have to. But, during all of this, a follower of Glory went up into the tower and cut Dawn, letting her blood open the portal. No one could stop it and Buffy had figured out by this point that since she and Dawn share the same blood, Buffy could close the portal by sacrificing herself. Which she did. End of story," Kara said, taking a deep breath.

"I'll begin researching a spell for Willow and contact Riley about his heart. When I get a chance, I'll have a talk with Tara about her demon issues," Giles said, immediately formulating plans. "We should keep a careful eye on Glory, make sure things progress as they did before. If she finds out about Dawn in some other way, it could destroy what chance we have of stopping her," Giles stated.

Looking over at Kara, he had a sudden, newfound respect for the young woman. She had many difficult decisions laid out before her, but he felt she was choosing admirably. He knew Buffy wouldn't be pleased that Kara was willing to allow Glory the chance at capturing Dawn, but he understood that it was their only way of saving her. He just hoped Buffy would understand that as well.

"I think that's all we need to cover for tonight. Spike," Giles said turning to the vampire. "Would you keep watch over Glory, see what she's doing, who she's contacting. Report back here tomorrow."

Spike nodded and left, eager despite himself. Giles took in the tired looking girl sitting across from him and smiled warmly. "Go get some rest. There's nothing more we can do tonight," he said. Kara smiled gratefully in return. Rising to her feet, she quickly stretched and walked out into the main room of the Magic Box.

Turning to Callum, she asked, "Walk me home?"

Note: Sorry if most of this was just a recap of Season 5, but I wanted to kind of lay the plan out there.