***
"This is so cool," Andrew said to Xander as he munched on his Funyuns and watched everybody else in the room grasp for answers. "It reminds me of that 'Next Generation' episode when the Holodeck took over the whole ship."
"Good one!" Xander offered his hand in a high-five. "They should have never trusted the Holodeck."
"Will you two please stop it and help me come up with some answers?" Buffy snapped. "We're getting nowhere."
"I'm hungry," Dawn whined. "Can't we just stop and order a pizza?"
"How can you eat at a time like this?" Buffy wanted to know. "I want to fix this."
"What's to fix?" Dawn asked airily. "It seems to me that the only person who has a problem with anything is you."
"What?!" Buffy couldn't believe her ears. "You don't have a problem with this? Things are not right!"
"For you, maybe," Dawn answered sullenly. "You always go around all bossy with everyone and having to have things your own way. You bug Dad all the time and now you don't want him to marry Anya. I wish you'd just go away!"
Buffy's mouth dropped open in shock. "Dawn, how can you say that? You're my sister!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!" Buffy stopped and shook her head to clear her thoughts. They were getting way off track here. She didn't have time to get in a quibbling match with Dawn, who couldn't even remember why they always quibbled.
"Willow," Buffy pleaded, "help me! We've got to get this right again."
"I... I want to help you Buffy, of course."
"This had to be caused by the spell."
Willow's lip began to tremble. "Do you really think so? I'm so sorry..."
"Don't start Willow," Buffy warned her, "it won't help. We've got to be calm and rational."
Willow tried to smile. "I can do rational. Watch me. Rational girl here."
"Okay then, what could have gone wrong?"
"I don't know!" Willow burst into tears and ran into the bathroom.
Buffy turned to Giles. "This is going well."
"Perhaps," Giles squirmed uncomfortably, "perhaps we all need some time to... to adjust. This is really quite disconcerting."
"No, we don't need time. We need to fix this. Now."
"Then you fix it Miss I-Wanna-Be-The-Boss," Anya told her after stepping between Buffy and Giles. "You're the only one who seems to be making a case about this and now you've gone and upset Willow. Again." She turned and strode to the door leading to the other room. "I'm going to unpack and order room service and see if Oprah is on. She's supposed to have Dr. Phil on today."
Giles brightened. "Dr. Phil? I'll be right there dear. Buffy, you understand that I need to think this through, don't you?" He gently took her arm. "I promise that I will sit down with you later and get to the bottom of this. It could be that things are irrevocably changed. If that's the case we might be better off not making matters worse." He turned and left, closing the connecting door and leaving her staring at its gray starkness.
"Worse? He thinks this can get worse?" she muttered under her breath. She watched Dawn stride over to the phone and start punching numbers. "Who are you calling?"
"I'm ordering a pizza."
"You know I don't like you to eat pizza."
"Who cares what you think?" Dawn stuck her tongue out at Buffy and proceeded to order a large supreme.
Buffy rolled her eyes and wondered why whatever had made Dawn into Giles' daughter hadn't bothered to tweak her personality a little. If Giles had a daughter, wouldn't she be pleasant or just a little more agreeable? At the very least she should have an English accent. This was just Dawn with different supervision.
She turned at the sound of the television blaring out the theme to "Dr. Who".
"See? I told you it was on at eleven-thirty," Andrew stated.
"Great," said Xander. "If you hadn't remembered we'd have missed it. When is the marathon?"
"Not until next week. We should have a party. It would be cool. I was thinking that we could have English snacks."
"What kind of English snacks?" Xander asked.
"Like scones and crumpets."
Xander leered, "I could go for an English crumpet."
"Oh, I get it." Andrew let out a snort and they both commenced with the strange giggling again as they sat on the end of the bed to watch some guy in a long scarf and really crazy curly hair move around the lamest set Buffy had ever seen. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, then moved to the bathroom door.
"Willow, are you all right in there? Because me out here with the nerd brigade and you in there with the mood swings is not of the helpful."
The door opened almost immediately. "Hi Buffy! All better now, see?" Willow flashed a big, toothy smile and hopeful eyes at Buffy.
"Good," Buffy sighed, "then let's try to figure something out here without becoming emotional. Can we do that?"
"Of course. Whatever you need."
Buffy considered moving back into the room for the discussion, but between the pouting teen sitting on one bed and the geek patrol on the other, she decided that the bathroom was a better bet. "Sit down," she indicated the closed toilet to Willow, and then perched on the edge of the bathtub.
She took a deep breath. "Willow, I want you to think over the spell and tell me what you think might have gone wro..." Buffy stopped herself to rephrase, "what you think could have happened to have changed things."
Willow's forehead crinkled in thought, as her large eyes seemed to study the walls of the small room. "It was a simple spell. It only had a few ingredients, and those were clearly marked. The incantation was simple too. I don't see what could have gone wrong." Willow bit her lip nervously. "Buffy, are you absolutely sure that the spell did go wrong? Really, are things that messed up?"
"Well let's see," Buffy began to count the points on her fingers, "Anya isn't dead, Giles is acting like he's had an overdose of Prozac, Xander has been geekified and Dawn is Dawn, but she's Giles' daughter and not my sister at all." Buffy paused, "Is she still a former big blob of energy?"
"You mean the key?" Willow asked. "Yeah, there was the whole Glory thing with the Knights and crazy people and you dying."
Buffy frowned. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Why not?"
Buffy thought carefully before answering. Why were some thing so different and others the same? It seemed that everyone had the same memories of each other, but the relationships were just skewed somehow. The two realities just didn't add up. "Because the only reason I could die in Dawn's place was because she was made from me, because she was my sister. Don't you see? This doesn't fit. The monks sent her to me because I could protect her. Why would they send her to Giles? Giles was the one who wanted to kill her!"
Willow began to look distressed again, so Buffy changed the subject. "What about Anya?"
"What about her?" Willow asked. "Why do you keep saying that she's dead?"
"Don't you remember the fight in the Hellmouth?"
Willow nodded.
"Anya never came out of the school, did she?"
Willow shook her head.
"And remember what we've been doing all this time? We've been traveling all over the country finding Slayers. Was Anya with us?"
"No." Willow's voice was soft and her eyes didn't meet Buffy's.
"So where did she come from?"
Willow lifted her head and took a shaky breath. "I guess we need to go talk to Giles."
Buffy hugged her friend. "Thank you Willow." Buffy pulled back. "I've got one more favor to ask."
"Anything, Buffy."
"You knock."
Willow's face dropped. "Do I hafta?"
***
"This is so cool," Andrew said to Xander as he munched on his Funyuns and watched everybody else in the room grasp for answers. "It reminds me of that 'Next Generation' episode when the Holodeck took over the whole ship."
"Good one!" Xander offered his hand in a high-five. "They should have never trusted the Holodeck."
"Will you two please stop it and help me come up with some answers?" Buffy snapped. "We're getting nowhere."
"I'm hungry," Dawn whined. "Can't we just stop and order a pizza?"
"How can you eat at a time like this?" Buffy wanted to know. "I want to fix this."
"What's to fix?" Dawn asked airily. "It seems to me that the only person who has a problem with anything is you."
"What?!" Buffy couldn't believe her ears. "You don't have a problem with this? Things are not right!"
"For you, maybe," Dawn answered sullenly. "You always go around all bossy with everyone and having to have things your own way. You bug Dad all the time and now you don't want him to marry Anya. I wish you'd just go away!"
Buffy's mouth dropped open in shock. "Dawn, how can you say that? You're my sister!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!" Buffy stopped and shook her head to clear her thoughts. They were getting way off track here. She didn't have time to get in a quibbling match with Dawn, who couldn't even remember why they always quibbled.
"Willow," Buffy pleaded, "help me! We've got to get this right again."
"I... I want to help you Buffy, of course."
"This had to be caused by the spell."
Willow's lip began to tremble. "Do you really think so? I'm so sorry..."
"Don't start Willow," Buffy warned her, "it won't help. We've got to be calm and rational."
Willow tried to smile. "I can do rational. Watch me. Rational girl here."
"Okay then, what could have gone wrong?"
"I don't know!" Willow burst into tears and ran into the bathroom.
Buffy turned to Giles. "This is going well."
"Perhaps," Giles squirmed uncomfortably, "perhaps we all need some time to... to adjust. This is really quite disconcerting."
"No, we don't need time. We need to fix this. Now."
"Then you fix it Miss I-Wanna-Be-The-Boss," Anya told her after stepping between Buffy and Giles. "You're the only one who seems to be making a case about this and now you've gone and upset Willow. Again." She turned and strode to the door leading to the other room. "I'm going to unpack and order room service and see if Oprah is on. She's supposed to have Dr. Phil on today."
Giles brightened. "Dr. Phil? I'll be right there dear. Buffy, you understand that I need to think this through, don't you?" He gently took her arm. "I promise that I will sit down with you later and get to the bottom of this. It could be that things are irrevocably changed. If that's the case we might be better off not making matters worse." He turned and left, closing the connecting door and leaving her staring at its gray starkness.
"Worse? He thinks this can get worse?" she muttered under her breath. She watched Dawn stride over to the phone and start punching numbers. "Who are you calling?"
"I'm ordering a pizza."
"You know I don't like you to eat pizza."
"Who cares what you think?" Dawn stuck her tongue out at Buffy and proceeded to order a large supreme.
Buffy rolled her eyes and wondered why whatever had made Dawn into Giles' daughter hadn't bothered to tweak her personality a little. If Giles had a daughter, wouldn't she be pleasant or just a little more agreeable? At the very least she should have an English accent. This was just Dawn with different supervision.
She turned at the sound of the television blaring out the theme to "Dr. Who".
"See? I told you it was on at eleven-thirty," Andrew stated.
"Great," said Xander. "If you hadn't remembered we'd have missed it. When is the marathon?"
"Not until next week. We should have a party. It would be cool. I was thinking that we could have English snacks."
"What kind of English snacks?" Xander asked.
"Like scones and crumpets."
Xander leered, "I could go for an English crumpet."
"Oh, I get it." Andrew let out a snort and they both commenced with the strange giggling again as they sat on the end of the bed to watch some guy in a long scarf and really crazy curly hair move around the lamest set Buffy had ever seen. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, then moved to the bathroom door.
"Willow, are you all right in there? Because me out here with the nerd brigade and you in there with the mood swings is not of the helpful."
The door opened almost immediately. "Hi Buffy! All better now, see?" Willow flashed a big, toothy smile and hopeful eyes at Buffy.
"Good," Buffy sighed, "then let's try to figure something out here without becoming emotional. Can we do that?"
"Of course. Whatever you need."
Buffy considered moving back into the room for the discussion, but between the pouting teen sitting on one bed and the geek patrol on the other, she decided that the bathroom was a better bet. "Sit down," she indicated the closed toilet to Willow, and then perched on the edge of the bathtub.
She took a deep breath. "Willow, I want you to think over the spell and tell me what you think might have gone wro..." Buffy stopped herself to rephrase, "what you think could have happened to have changed things."
Willow's forehead crinkled in thought, as her large eyes seemed to study the walls of the small room. "It was a simple spell. It only had a few ingredients, and those were clearly marked. The incantation was simple too. I don't see what could have gone wrong." Willow bit her lip nervously. "Buffy, are you absolutely sure that the spell did go wrong? Really, are things that messed up?"
"Well let's see," Buffy began to count the points on her fingers, "Anya isn't dead, Giles is acting like he's had an overdose of Prozac, Xander has been geekified and Dawn is Dawn, but she's Giles' daughter and not my sister at all." Buffy paused, "Is she still a former big blob of energy?"
"You mean the key?" Willow asked. "Yeah, there was the whole Glory thing with the Knights and crazy people and you dying."
Buffy frowned. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Why not?"
Buffy thought carefully before answering. Why were some thing so different and others the same? It seemed that everyone had the same memories of each other, but the relationships were just skewed somehow. The two realities just didn't add up. "Because the only reason I could die in Dawn's place was because she was made from me, because she was my sister. Don't you see? This doesn't fit. The monks sent her to me because I could protect her. Why would they send her to Giles? Giles was the one who wanted to kill her!"
Willow began to look distressed again, so Buffy changed the subject. "What about Anya?"
"What about her?" Willow asked. "Why do you keep saying that she's dead?"
"Don't you remember the fight in the Hellmouth?"
Willow nodded.
"Anya never came out of the school, did she?"
Willow shook her head.
"And remember what we've been doing all this time? We've been traveling all over the country finding Slayers. Was Anya with us?"
"No." Willow's voice was soft and her eyes didn't meet Buffy's.
"So where did she come from?"
Willow lifted her head and took a shaky breath. "I guess we need to go talk to Giles."
Buffy hugged her friend. "Thank you Willow." Buffy pulled back. "I've got one more favor to ask."
"Anything, Buffy."
"You knock."
Willow's face dropped. "Do I hafta?"
***