What are we gonna do now?

by screaminheathen69

This picks up at the end of 'Chosen'. The gang heads to LA to figure out their next step, only to stumble onto a prophesy concerning one of their own and an old enemy.

2. What are we gonna do now part II

This is the continuation of 'What are we gonna do now?'. We rejoin our intrepid band later that afternoon.

I spent a long time trying to decide which way I wanted to take this from where I left off, partly because I wanted to see what happened once Angel season 5 got going. Hafta say, the 19 day interval between the collapse of the Hellmouth and Spike's rather painful arrival in Angel's office gave me some much appreciated lee-way to keep going... And of course, all hail to The Goddess Willow. ;)

Of course, everything still belongs to The Great Joss (and Fox), I'm merely borrowing his creations to play for a little while. My apologies for any damage incurred whilst playing

WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NOW- PART II

By screaminheathen69

Chapter the First

..."OwOwOwOwOwOwOwDammitOW!" Robin Wood was most definitely glad to be out of the hospital, but he'd figured out real quick that he still had a lot of healing to do. Just getting out of the car and into the lobby had been a godawful chore, even with Faith and Buffy supporting him. As they came to the base of the stairs, he stopped, looked up and stared dismally at the climb ahead of him. "Can't I just sleep on one of those nifty round couches here in the lobby? I mean, they look really comfortable. I could get used to 'em. Honest."

Faith grinned, not letting her concern show. "I dunno, might freak out some of the girls if they came down in the middle of the night and saw you in your boxers." She bugged her eyes out.

Buffy laughed at the face Faith was making. "Yeah, besides, I think sleeping on a round couch might, like, deform your spine or something."

"Right, B. Then we'd have the Arch-Back of the Hyperion Hotel lurking around the lobby, probably'd scare off the new trainees when they come in."

"True, true, can't have that."

"Alright already, I'll go upstairs. Just not for a while, o.k.?"

Faith tenderly wrapped her arm around him, steered him toward one of the aforementioned couches. "No problem, babe. You just let me know when you're ready. I'm here to take care of ya."

Robin grit his teeth as he sank slowly onto the couch, then let out a long sigh of relief as he got relatively comfortable. "So does that mean you got one of those cute little nurse uniforms?"

"You'll just hafta wait 'til later to find out. Consider it an incentive to heal up quicker..."

Robin looked over at Buffy, who was busily studying the woodwork while trying unsuccessfully not to eavesdrop. "Suddenly I find myself all motivated."

Buffy grinned. "Motivation. It's a wonderful thing." She started up the stairs. "Holler if ya need anything, kiddies. I'm gonna go find Angel and Willow."

"Later B." Faith sat down carefully next to Robin. "Seriously, if you need anything, you just tell me. I wanna get you healed up quick-like."

"There's just one thing I'd like to know, actually."

"What's that?"

"Did you mean what you said the other night?"

Faith took a deep breath, let it out, stared down at her shoes. "Yes. Yes I did."

Robin smiled. "Good." He cupped her chin, turning her face so he could look her in the eye. "Because I love you too. And I want to get healed up, so I can show you just how very much in love with you I really am."

Faith's smile could have lit up Meremac Caverns. "Oh, thank God. I wasn't sure if you felt the same, but I was hoping... This is kind of a new thing for me, ya know? I didn't wanna screw up..."

"It's pretty new for me too, dearheart, but I say we figure it out together."

"Sounds good to me."

"Me too." He kissed her cheek. "Now, the next big step..."

"What's that?"

He looked at the stairs again. "All those steps," he said forlornly.

Chapter the Second

Buffy wandered around for fifteen minutes before finding Willow and Angel sitting in the library. They were poring over an old manuscript that Wesley had found that contained a copy of the curse. They were comparing the translation Wes had started against the one Jenny Calendar had done years before, seeing if they could find a loophole around the 'happiness clause'. Angel had surprised Willow when he had told her he'd been learning to read the old Kalderash dialect, and had already found several errors in the translations.

Buffy leaned against the door frame and listened to them talking quietly, not wanting to interrupt. Angel knew she was there anyway, of course. "C'mon in, Buff."

She smiled to herself. Shoulda known I couldn't sneak up on him. "How'd you know I was here? I was tryin' to be Inconspicuous Girl."

He flashed a grin over his shoulder. "Vampire. Icky sense of smell and all that."

"Right." She walked over and sat down next to Willow. "One of these days I'm gonna wear different perfume and deodorant and see if I can fool him. Just to mess with his head," she said in a conspiratorial tone.

"Wear that stuff that Faith used to wear, that stuff would kill any odor. Twice," Willow muttered without taking her eyes off of the text.

Buffy snickered at that thought. "Used to make my eyes water like mad, anyway."

"It was kinda unmistakable," Angel chuckled. "Made it easy to track her down, though..."

Willow sat back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. "No kidding. Even I Could follow that scent. If the eyes stopped watering and the sinuses stopped burning, you knew you were off the track."

They all laughed at that. Buffy nodded her head at the text. "Any joy, Idea Girl?"

Willow and Angel both shook their heads. "Nope. Not yet anyway. Angel has found a few errors in the translation, but nothing that amounts to anything. But there's also a lot more written here than just the one curse, and we still hafta translate all that." She looked at them both. "It could take a while. Even with Miss Calendar's translator program, and Angel, Giles, and Wesley helping, it could take... well, years. I just don't know. I'm sorry."

Buffy sank down into her seat, looking forlorn. Angel just looked thoughtful. Willow took Buffy's hand and put on her 'resolve face'. "Don't go gettin' all depressed on me, I just said it could take a while, not that it would never happen. You've just gotta keep the faith."

"She's right," Angel said quietly. "It's just a matter of time."

"See Buff? Even Captain Moodypants over there knows how to make with the positive attitude."

Buffy smiled. "I know. Just wish things were different, I guess."

Angel had been thinking furiously for the last few minutes, trying to make a decision. "Buffy, Willow, there's something I think I should tell you. I haven't said anything before now, because I wasn't letting myself get my hopes up, let alone yours, Buffy, but I think it's finally time to come clean."

Both women stared at him, curiosity plain on their faces. "It has to do with this prophecy we discovered about four years ago..."

Chapter the Third

Later that afternoon, Willow went looking for Buffy. Angel's revelation about the Shanshu prophecy had surprised her, but it seemed to affect Buffy deeply. After Angel had explained it to them, he'd gone to get the Scroll of Aberjian for Willow to study. Buffy had sat there for a minute, then excused herself. Willow wasn't sure what to think, Buffy didn't seem to be taking the news that Angel was destined to become human as well as she would have thought.

Willow finally found Buffy in the basement. She was beating the Hell out of a punching bag, muttering under her breath angrily. Willow stopped in the shadows, trying to hear what the obviously incensed Slayer was saying.

"Four years (punch) Four years he knows this (punch/jab) Doesn't say word one to me about it, oh no (punch/kick) the one thing we've wanted for years (kick/jab/jab/back kick) it's been prophesied (punch/punch/jab/punch) he's destined to become human again (jab/jab/elbow/kick) and still he doesn't tell me (punch) for my own good (spinning back kick) 'cause after all, he's the only person in the known universe (jab/jab/jab) that has a clue what's best for me (elbow/elbow/punch) makes all these decisions (punch) never asks how I feel about any of it (kick) never mind that maybe I can help him (kick/kick) nope, just decides it all for the both of us (punch/kick/jab) just like he did when he turned human the last time..."

"WHAT?"

Buffy span around to face Willow. She hadn't even realised she was there. "Oh. Nuts. Uh, hiya, Wills. Didn't here you come down..."

Willow was in shock. "Human? When was he human? And how did I not know about it? How could you not tell me that?"

Buffy wrapped her arms around herself, looking everywhere but at Willow. "It's kind of a long story, Willow."

Willow got herself under control, walked over to Buffy. "Time. I've got it. Make with the storytelling."

Buffy looked at Willow, could see the hurt there, but also concern. She sighed. "Okay, but let's find a place to park for a while, I don't wanna tell this standing up."

After they had found an out of the way corner where they wouldn't be interrupted, they got comfortable. Several minutes ticked by, with Buffy not saying anything. "C'mon, spill it," Willow finally prodded.

Buffy gave a tired sigh. "You remember Thanksgiving four years ago?"

"Geez, who could forget, what with the ghosts of the Shumash tribe trying to kill us, and Xander getting syphillis, and Angel sneaking around... Oh, right. Sorry."

"No, it's fine. Do you remember when I went to L.A. after that?"

"Sure. You said you ran into Angel, but you didn't have much to say otherwise. Is that when he was human?"

"Yes. Just for one day. We were attacked by a Mohra demon, and Angel chased it into the sewers. They fought, Angel killed it. But somehow some of the Mohra's blood got mixed with Angels, and it made him human. He came and found me by the beach. In the middle of the day. In full sunlight. Can you imagine it? We spent the most amazing day together. It was perfect. Perfect, Willow. We were both so happy. While I was asleep, he found out the demon wasn't dead, and went after it. Almost got himself killed. He realised that he wasn't much of a champion as a human. He had these oracles turn back the clock twenty-four hours, so that he could kill the Mohra when it first attacked and not get it's blood mixed with his. He came back to his apartment and told me what was about to happen. That he would be the only one to remember what had happened. I don't think I've ever hurt as bad as I did in that moment. He never even asked me. Never talked to me before he made one of the biggest decisions in either of our lives."

Willow was sitting there, mouth agape, looking for all the world like a gaffed fish.

Buffy looked at her best friend, tears welling in her eyes. "But the worst part... oh Gawd, the worst part... I remembered all of it. All of it, Will. I had to turn and walk out of that office and pretend I didn't remember the best day of my life. Had to pretend that I didn't know that the man I loved gave up our life together so he could go on being a champion. Had to pretend for the last four years that it wasn't tearing me up inside knowing what I had. And lost. Because he decided for both of us."

The tears were free flowing now. Willow, sobbing herself, hugged her friend to her fiercely, trying to sooth away some of the pain. "Why haven't you told him that you know?"

Buffy made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a grunt. "Are you kidding? Angst Boy? It'd kill him."

Willow leaned back. "Can't get much deader that he already is, Buff."

Buffy managed a small laugh. "Maybe not. Broodier, though."

Willow grinned a little at that. "Doesn't need any help there, does he?"

"Nope."

"If it helps Buff, I think I understand why he hasn't told you about the Shanshu. He's not that sure of it. He and Wes have been working on translating the Scroll for four years now, and still haven't got it all. In fact, when they first got it, Wesley was positive that the Scroll said Angel was going to die. I really think he wanted to be absitively sure about it before he told you."

"Oh."

Buffy sat there for a minute, staring at her bruised knuckles. "Just once, it'd be swell if things could be non-complicated, ya know?"

Willow took Buffy's hands in her own. "I'd be scared to death if that ever happened. It'd surely be one of the signs that the End is truly nigh..."

Chapter the Fourth

Faith had finally gotten Robin settled into his bed, where he had promptly dozed off. She had sat there contentedly for a while, just listening to him breathe, a little smile on her face. She couldn't quite believe how relieved she was that Wood was going to be alright. Or how attached she had become to him. The whole 'head over heels in love' thing was something she'd never believed in. Lust at first sight, sure, but love? Not hardly. Until now.

As she sat and pondered current events, something she hadn't thought about for several days suddenly occured to her. Oh, Hell. What kinda life am I gonna have with the law breathing down my neck?

Frowning, Faith quietly left Robin's room to go find Angel or Wesley. Gotta be something I can do about this...

Angel and Wes were in Angel's office. Angel was up to his chest into the safe looking for the Scroll. Faith laughed as she walked through the door. "Damn, Wes, did the safe get hungry for some vampire kibble?"

Wes stifled a chuckle as Angel jumped at the sound of Faith's voice and hit his head on one of the shelves in the safe. "OW!" He backed out rubbing the tender spot on the back of his skull, shooting a dirty look at her. "No, the safe isn't possessed. I think. We were hunting for this," Angel said as he waved the scroll at Faith.

"What's that?"

"The Scroll of Aberjian. Lots of prophesies. Very important, in an extremely vague sorta way..."

"Oh. Cool. Anyway, you two got a minute? I just thought of something that might need to be taken care of."

Angel sat down at his desk, gesturing for Faith and Wes to make themselves comfortable. "Sure, no big rush with this. Willow's gonna get all researchy on it, but it'll wait."

Faith sat down and took a deep breath. "Umm, it just occurred to me that I'm an escaped felon. It'd kinda slipped my mind the last couple of days, recent events and all, but here I've been all happy about starting a new life, and I still have the old one waiting to bite me in the ass and send me back to prison."

Angel and Wes both nodded. "Now, you both know I had no problem paying my debt, and if I hafta go back, I will. But isn't there something we can do about it? A 'Just Saved The World From Yet Another Apocalypse Get Out Of Jail Free' card or somethin'?"

She looked pleadingly at them both. "I just got my life back on the straight and narrow, and now there's..." She stopped, embarrassed at what she was about to say.

Wes leaned closer to her. "...And now there's...?"

Faith stared at the floor as she mumbled "Robin."

Angel and Wes shared a smile as she admitted what they already knew. Wes wiped the grin off his face. "Pardon? Didn't quite catch that last..."

Faith looked Wes straight in the eye. "Robin. Wood. Guy I'm in love with. Completely, totally, head over heels, ass over tea kettle, wicked in love with."

She turned to Angel. "And one of the really big reasons I don't wanna go back. He's good for me, Angel, and I don't wanna lose him."

Wes laid his hand on Faith's. "You won't lose him. As for prison, we shall have to see what we can do." He turned to Angel. "It seems to me that with our new connections, we ought to be able to do something about this."

Angel grinned. "Seems like. I mean, what's the use of controlling an evil law firm if ya can't get some good use out of all those lawyers, right?"

He walked over and knelt in front of Faith. "We'll sort it out, Faithy. I promise. But 'til we do, it might be a good idea if you lay low. No need in attracting unwanted attention to yourself, right?"

Faith heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Right."

Angel stood up and smiled. "But it'll cost you one thing."

She looked up at him uncertainly. "What's that?"

"I get to give you away at the wedding, Mrs. Wood..."

Angel had to duck quickly to avoid the rather heavy lamp that Faith threw at him...

Chapter the Fifth

Later, Willow, Angel, and Wesley were sitting around Angel's desk in full research mode. Willow knew she would soon be very busy helping to find new Slayers (not to mention delving deeper into her new powers), so she wanted to get as much digging as she could done now. She was studying the Scroll and the translation of the Shanshu prophecy, asking questions occasionally.

She scrunched up her nose, squinting at one portion of the text. "What's this bit up here?"

Wes leaned over to look at the Scroll. "What bit?"

"This bit here. The part that looks like a drunk chicken was walking around in it's own droppings."

"Oh. That bit. Well, truth to tell, we've had no luck translating that bit."

Angel grinned lopsidedly. "For all we know, it may have been a drunken chicken traipsing around in it's business."

"Yes, very old Scroll after all. Who knows what kind of environment it was written in."

"Ha ha. Very droll." Willow rolled her eyes at the two of them, trying not to giggle. Failing, but trying. "Have you got a copy of this I could have? I figure you probably won't want me to take the original on the road."

Angel sat up in his chair. "On the road? Umm, you, like, planning on leaving...?"

Willow stifled another giggle. She could see the near panic in Angel's eyes. "Relax, Tall, Dark, and Broody. Not just yet anyway. But I figure once Giles gets back we'll be figuring out the next step. And I'd just about betcha that there'll be a trip to England in there somewhere for a few of us. He and I both need to touch base with the Coven, and then there's that whole 'obliterated Watchers Council' to deal with. Hence all the researchiness now, and the taking of copies for the furthering of the researchiness."

Angel sagged back into his seat, looking slightly less worried. "Oh. Okay."

"Did I hear somebody getting all researchy in here?"

They all turned to see Dawn leaning against the door frame. "Hi Dawnie," Willow said. "Yup, we're just talkin' about such interesting things as ensouled vampires becoming human again and such."

"Oh, kewl, is that that Shitzu prophecy?"

Wesley and Willow both cracked up.

"Shanshu," Angel said indignantly.

"Whatever. Can I see? Junior Watcher here, don't forget. Gotta keep with the learnin'."

"Sure." Willow handed the Scroll to Dawn.

As Dawn studied the Scroll, the smile slowly faded from her face. Willow and Angel were caught up in conversation about the curse again, but Wes noticed the expression on Dawn's face. "Dawn, is something wrong?" Willow and Angel stopped talking and turned to look at Dawn. She looked as if she'd been punched in the gut.

"This is about me," she mumbled. "This whole section is about me."

"What part do you mean, Dawnie?" Willow asked as she walked over to Dawn.

"This part here. Looks like drunk chicken tracks. It talks about Glorificus, and it talks about The Key."

Angel and Wes had crowded around her by now too. "Where does it say that?"

Dawn pointed to one group of scratches. "That's Glory's name right there, and this over here is The Key. I can't read all of this, but some of it's about Glory wanting The Key, something about the End of the World, and I think this says something about the Death of a Champion." She cocked her head to one side, squinting at the text. "I think."

Willow's eyes had glazed over. "Oh, Goddess, that's a pretty darned good description of our final battle with Glory." She went quiet for a minute, obviously reliving that awful night in her mind. Angel laid his hand on Willow's shoulder. He hadn't been there, and would always feel that he should have been.

Wesley was looking closely at Dawn. "How did you learn to read this? We haven't been able to find anything on this anywhere in almost four years of searching."

"Giles managed to find a few things, and hid them from the watchers for fear that they would find out what I was. After we beat Glory, we found some more stuff at her place. We spent a lot of time translating it, to try and figure out where I came from. Never did get that figured out, though. Then Buffy got ressurrected, and this stuff got sidelined."

Dawn looked up at the group. "I need Giles. Is he back yet? I think he still has the diaries we were keeping our translations in."

Willow scrunched her eyebrows together, thinking. "No, haven't seen him since Buffy told him to go have some fun."

Wes looked thoughtful. "I think I might have an idea where I might be able to find him, but probably not for another couple of hours."

Angel gave Wes a sideways glance. "Where's that?"

"Well, he still likes to sing, doesn't he?"

Chapter the Sixth

Angel found Buffy in her room. She was sitting on the balcony, knees drawn up to her chin, staring vacantly at the setting sun. He paused in the door, trying to decide if he should interrupt her reverie or not. He knew perfectly well that she hadn't taken the news about the Shanshu prophecy well. Or more to the point, that he hadn't told her about it. Probably oughta let her get over her mad, he thought. No. I've been quiet too many times the last few years. Time to get things out in the open.

"Hey, Buffy. Umm, some of us are going out in a while, gonna see if we can find Giles. Wes thinks he knows a couple of pubs that Giles might be at." He took a couple of steps closer to her, carefully avoiding the brilliant sunset streaming through the open doorway to the balcony.

"Dawn translated some text on the Scroll of Aberjian that we hadn't been able to. It was about Glorificus and the Key. She thinks Giles might still have the materials to translate the rest of the text. She's kind of worked up about it."

Buffy shifted slightly, didn't respond.

Angel moved a little closer, still avoiding the light. "So, anyway, we're gonna go see if we can catch him. Hate to interrupt his time off, but I don't think Dawn's gonna calm down until she talks to him."

Still no response from Buffy. Man, she must be really mad at me this time.

"Well, anyway, just thought I'd let you know where we were going. Taking your sister along and all."

Still nothing.

Angel sighed. "I'll talk to you later, then." He turned to go.

Buffy let out a loud sigh of her own. "Wait." Angel stopped and turned back to her hopefully.

She was still facing away from him. "No more secrets, Angel. No more not telling me things to protect me. No more making huge life altering decisions that concern both of us without talking to me about it first." She rose and turned to face him. "You should have told me about the Shanshu thing a long time ago. You should have discussed going to the Oracles and turning back the clock on the one perfect day of my life with me before you went and did it." She kept right on talking, ignoring the flabbergasted look on Angel's face as he realised that she remembered what had happened. "I'm a big girl now, chock full of responsibility. I can take care of myself, and believe it or not, I am actually capable of making decisions for myself. May not always make the right ones, but hey, I'm human."

She stepped closer to him, still framed by the sunset. "I understand that you guys aren't sure about the prophecy. I understand that you didn't want to get our hopes up. And I don't care. You still should've told me. I think I deserve to know about something as important as that."

She walked over to him and cupped his face in her hands. "Even though I'm still unfinished cookie dough, you're still the love of my life. No. More. Secrets. Okay?"

"Okay."

She pulled him closer, and lowered her voice to a more dangerous tone. "Good. 'Cause understand, if I catch you keeping secrets from me again, you and Mr. Pointy are gonna have a nice little chat. Clear?"

He gulped audibly. "Clear."

"Good." She cocked her head to one side and quirked an eyebrow. "Now that Angst Fest 2003 is over, what was that about taking my little sister to a bar?"

Chapter the Seventh

Angel, Buffy, Dawn, Wesley, Willow, Kennedy, Fred, and Gunn had somehow all managed to cram into Angel's Plymouth. Willow was happily sitting in Kennedy's lap, long red hair streaming in the wind as they drove with the top down. Buffy was sitting in the front between Gunn and Angel, looking up at the lights and chuckling to herself.

Angel glanced over at her. "What's so funny?"

She shook her head. "Oh, nothing really. You. This car. I mean, come on Angel, a vampire driving a convertible in southern California? Don't get me wrong, it's a nice car and all, but geez..."

Gunn was grinning. "Ya know, I think I asked the same question the first time I was in this thing."

Wes chimed in from the back, talking around Dawn's shoulder. "Yes, I've often wondered about that particular bit of self destructive behaviour myself."

Angel rolled his eyes. "Aw, c'mon guys."

Fred nudged Dawn, grinning. "Yeah, really. I mean, imagine what would happen if the top blew open while you were driving down the freeway in the middle of the afternoon."

Dawn laughed. "Poof! The cops would hafta bring their dustbusters to the wreck."

Angel hunched down in his seat, glowering. "Don't listen to 'em, old girl. They just don't understand." He patted the dashboard gently.

Wes bit back his laughter as he noticed where they were. "I think this is the place right up here." Sure enough, as they pulled to a stop, there was a sign by the door of the bar that said 'Open Mike Night Tonight - 9 to 1'. They all piled out of the car, the group climbing out of the back seat reminding Angel of the old Keystone Cop movies.

"You sure he'll be here Wes?" Fred was stretching the kinks out of her back. It was cramped in the back seat with five people crowded in like that.

"No, not positive, but as I recall, Giles used to like to come here on occasion."

"So we'll check it out," said Buffy as she held the door open for Angel. "Age before beauty."

Angel muttered under his breath. "Age. I'll show ya age."

Buffy just smiled sweetly at him. "What was that dear? Didn't quite catch that."

"Grumble grumble car grumble grumble age grumble nothing..."

The group found a table near the back and settled in. Dawn immediately tried to order a beer. Buffy, Angel, and Willow just looked at her. She quickly amended the order to root beer. "Just kidding. Sheesh."

The first two singers were something less than great, and got a half hearted response from the crowd. As the second singer finished murdering Great White's 'Once Bitten, Twice Shy', Buffy pulled her fingers out of her ears and studied them closely. Willow leaned over and whispered "Whatcha lookin' at Buff?"

"Just checking to see if my ears are bleeding, that's all."

"Well, it's almost over. The bartender said there's only one more guy backstage, and he's new, so maybe we'll have to go check out the other place Wes was talking about."

"I don't know whether to be happy or worried about that..."

"Oops, here we go..."

As the spotlight came up on the stage, they saw Giles sitting there on a stool, holding a guitar. "Good evening, folks. This is an old favorite of mine. It's been a while since I've sung in front of a crowd, so please forgive me if I'm a little rusty."

He started strumming the guitar, and gently started singing 'Behind Blue Eyes'.

Buffy smiled. She leaned over and rested her head on Angel's shoulder. "I love this song, especially when he sings it."

Angel put an arm around her shoulder. "Wow. He's really good." They all shut up and let Giles' voice carry them away for the next two hours. Giles was called back for two encores before the owner finally started shooing people out so he could close up. As the bar slowly emptied, Giles walked back to the table where his friends were still sitting waiting for him.

Willow jumped up and gave him an enthusiastic hug. "Oh, Giles, that was wonderful. I'd forgotten what a great singer you are."

He returned her hug, smiling and trying to hide his embarrassment. "Thank you, Willow. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy singing."

He took Buffy's hand. "And thank you for making me take time off. I needed it more than I had realised."

She just shrugged and smirked. "See? Know what I'm talking about."

Angel smiled as Giles sat down with them. "You know, you really oughta sing for Lorne and let him read you."

Gunn snickered at that. "Yeah, definitely. He'd probably love having somebody sing for him that can actually sing. Especially after four years of having you slaughter Barry Manilow tunes."

As the three members of The Fang Gang cracked up at the thought of that, the rest of the group looked incredulously at Angel, who looked like he was trying to disappear into the upholstery. "Barry Manilow?" Buffy gasped out. Willow was speechless.

"Yeah," he said defensively. "I think some of his songs are pretty. So?"

Gunn was almost breathless from laughter. "Oh, c'mon boss. You went to his concerts for Chrissakes."

"Yeah, I believe the technical term would be 'Huge Fan',"said Fred.

Buffy was shaking with laughter as she leaned over and whispered in Angel's ear. "See. No more secrets."

"I think I may wish that this one had stayed a secret."

"Oh, I think that's a given. You are now officially forever doomed to be the butt-end of neverending Manilow jokes." She leaned back in her chair. "Kinda makes life worth living, I tell ya."

Angel shot a pleading look at Dawn, who took pity on him and changed the subject.

"Giles, we found this on an old scroll that Angel has had for a few years." She pulled a copy of the Scroll out of her pocket and handed it to Giles. "See if you recognise the writing in the upper right corner there."

Giles squinted at the copy in the dim light. "This bit that looks like a drunken chicken was walking about in its own droppings? Oh. Oh, dear..." He got very quiet.

"Oh, dear."

"So you do recognise it."

"Yes. Yes indeed. Oh. Dear."

He looked up at Dawn. "We need to see if we can still access my diaries. Willow, do you still have those copies you saved to computer disc?"

Willow sat there for a second. "Goddess, I'd forgotten I made those copies. All of 'em that I had went bye bye with Sunnydale." She sat there pensively for a moment, then brightened. "But I sent copies to Wes for safekeeping, just in case."

Everybody looked at Wesley. He was looking a bit surprised. "Oh. Yes. Umm, I believe I put those in the safe at the hotel."

Everybody turned to Angel. "You mean that bundle of cd-r's in the back?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Oh. They're still there, I saw them earlier when I was hunting for the Scroll."

Gunn was hiding his smirk behind his hand. "So, in other words, you two had a way to translate that part of the text for what, a couple of years now, and didn't even know it?"

Wes and Angel both shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "Umm, yeah, I suppose so."

"Did you ever even look at them?" asked Willow.

"Well, no..." said Angel.

Wesley had a sheepish expression. "They were his private diaries. I didn't feel I should look at them unless it was absolutely necessary."

Fred was giggling as hard as Gunn. "And then you completely forgot you even had them, right?"

Wesley sank down into his chair. "Well... yes."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Fine bunch of detectives. Geez." She stood up and shrugged on her jacket. "Let's get back to the hotel and dig out those discs."

She started for the door. "C,mon, Angel. We'll even let you put in your Manilow c.d. on the way back if you want to."

As the group cracked up at the expression on Angel's face, he followed them out to the car, grumbling again.

Chapter the Eighth

Back at the Hyperion, Angel was still grumbling as he got the discs out of the safe. It had predictably been one Manilow shot after another on the drive back, and he'd finally pulled the car over and refused to go any further until the entire group had promised not to make any more cracks about his musical preferences. They had all promised, and the trip was completed in silence.

Of course, as soon as he parked the car in front of the hotel, Buffy and Gunn had started right back in...

He gave the discs to Willow, who immediately set about firing up her laptop. Giles sat down next to her. "I think it starts in the one from 2001. It's been awhile since I even looked at any of this."

Dawn pulled a chair over next to them. "Yeah, about halfway through that volume, and into the next one."

Angel looked at the three people sitting at his desk, and realised he wasn't going to be getting to use it any time soon. It was also obvious that the study of the Shashu prophecy and the curse had effectively been back-burnered for a while. He didn't mind that, though. It was easy to understand Dawn's need to know more about where she came from. He slipped out the door and headed to the kitchen to get a snack.

As he went to push the kitchen door open, it swung open and slammed squarely into his nose, knocking him flat. He looked up to see Buffy standing there, a glass of warm milk in her hand and her jaw on the floor.

"Ohmigod, I am sooo sorry." She knelt down and dabbed her sleeve at the blood pouring from his nose. "I didn't have any idea you were there. Oh, geez, it's really free-flowing..."

She was babbling. Angel started chuckling. As he saw the confused look on her face, the chuckling turned into uncontrollable laughter. "What? What's the funny? I really didn't know you were there! I swear!"

As Angel slowly got control of himself, he reached over and took her hand. "It was just the perfect way to end this day, Buff. Every time we turned around today, we managed to hurt each other a little bit more. This was just the parting shot. 'Vampire gets broken nose while going for 3 A.M. snack'. Serves me right for getting the munchies in the wee hours."

She sat down next to him, laughing a bit. "I am sorry. Really." She looked at her now blood drenched sleeve, looked back up at him wryly. "Know any good cleaners around here?"

"Just let me have it. Believe it or not, I know several good ways to get blood out."

She put her hand to her chest, adopted a shocked expression. "No! Really?"

They sat there in companionable silence for a few minutes. Angel finally broke the silence. "I suppose as part of that 'no more secrets' thing, maybe we ought to try to ease up on the whole hurting each other thing, too."

Buffy tilted her head to one side. "Deal." They shook on it.

Not letting go of his hand, she stood up and pulled him to his feet, then leaned over to pick up her glass of milk. "Really do need to go crash. Must be getting old, don't handle three A.M. as well as I used to." She started up the stairs.

"So, does that mean you're gonna ease up on those Manilow jokes now?" he called after her hopefully.

"Yeah, like that'll actually happen," she drawled over her shoulder. Smirking, she continued on to her room.

Angel stood there for a moment admiring the view as she went up the stairs, then shook his head, shrugged, and went to get his snack. Oh well. Worth a try.

Chapter the Ninth

The next few days went by peaceably enough. Wesley, Giles, Dawn, and Willow continued digging into the Scroll of Aberjian and the Kalderash texts, occasionally aided by Fred in between her trips to the labs at Wolfram & Hart. Fred was feeling more than a bit overwhelmed with her new responsibilities, and taking time to do some good old fashioned research was the equivalent of taking a long break for her.

Buffy and Angel seemed to have made peace, and were relaxed and easygoing around each other. In between Manilow shots, of course. When Angel wasn't helping with the research or at W & H, he was helping Buffy and Faith train the new Slayers. In fact, with Willow still being able to sense the new Slayers, they had tracked down three more in L.A. All three girls had discovered at least some of their new abilities, but of course to say that finding out about vampires, demons, and the truth about things that go bump in the night was a bit of a shock would be something of a massive understatement.

Kennedy, and surprisingly, Amanda, had quickly shown themselves to be natural leaders. They were put in charge of training sessions, and took some of the girls out on patrols. "Nothing like on the job training," had been Buffy's reply when Wesley had raised objections to the relatively inexperienced Slayers going out on patrol. Wes couldn't really argue with that, but still worried. Buffy took him aside. "Look, Faith and I are going to trade off following them to make sure they don't get in over their heads. But we can't mollycoddle them, or they'll never be able to get out on their own." Wes agreed to this, and he, Gunn, and Angel volunteered to help keep an eye on things.

Willow and Kennedy continued to get better aquainted with each other, and Kennedy was helping Willow experiment with her powers in between bouts of research. One morning everybody in the hotel had awoken to find themselves floating face down three feet above their beds. Down in the lobby, Willow, hair turned a bright white and surrounded by a brilliant glow, just smiled quietly to herself as Kennedy laughed at the sound of people hollering for Willow to let them down.

Robin Wood helped out with the training as much as he could, which was primarily in an advisory capacity. He was healing well, but still had a way to go before he was up to doing any serious physical activity. And he wanted to do some serious physical activity. So did Faith. One night, he brought up the fact that he still owed her her surprise. "You already did surprise me, remember? Back on the bus? I thought you were gone..."

He smiled gently. "That one doesn't count, dearheart. I've got something better in mind..."

The nightly Dungeons & Dragons game had picked up again, and gained several new members including Wesley and Fred. Andrew had become a full fledged Scooby by now, and felt more at home with this strange group of demon fighters than he had ever been any other place in his life. He was still a ginormous oddball, but so was everyone else here. He fit right in. He had even become useful during the bouts of research. Turned out he new how to translate some of the text on the Scroll, and suddenly found himself a valuable commodity. He was loving every second of it.

Xander and Angel had managed to put aside their intense dislike of each other, and had gone together to visit Cordelia. Angel had sworn him to secrecy, as he was still keeping her location top secret. They had sat with her for a few hours, Angel holding her left hand, Xander her right, talking to her, filling her in on current events. Trying to forget the fact that she was in a coma. Later, as they were driving back to the Hyperion, Xander tried to discretely wipe a tear from his eye.

"She looks good."

"Yeah."

"Pale, though."

"Yeah, I know. I have them open the blinds during the day to let in some sun, but it just isn't the same."

"Guess you could always have them put her in a tanning bed a couple of times a week."

"Not a bad idea. She'd like that..."

"Yeah..."

The Bronze, no surprise, became a regular destination. Buffy, Angel, Willow, and Kennedy even managed to slip off a couple of times. Also no surprise, the place continued to be vampire free.

Reports began to trickle in as the few remaining Watchers got word about what had happened. Some of them had already made contact with new Slayers, and were unsure of what to do next. As the greatest concentration seemed to lie in Europe and Asia, Giles was thinking more and more that he needed to get back to England. The need to train new Watchers was becoming more obvious all the time, and he was the logical person to get things started. He was reluctant to go, however. The more they translated of the Scroll, the more uneasy he got. He couldn't explain it yet, but he was starting to get a very bad feeling about some of it...

And then, after a week had gone by, they finally got it all sorted out...

Mostly...

Chapter the Tenth

"Buffy?"

Buffy, fast asleep, didn't respond.

"Uhh, Buffy?"

Buffy stirred slightly.

"Buff-y..."

Buffy rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head. "Mmnotwakeleevmelone..."

"BUFFY!"

Buffy sat bolt upright, stake appearing in her hand as if by magic. "What? Who? Where?" She groggily took in the fuzzy shapes in her doorway, realised slowly that they were Dawn, Willow, and Giles. "Huh?"

As she finished waking up, she could see the concern on Giles and Willow's faces. And the look of outright terror on Dawn's face.

"We finished the translation..."

It was a very sleepy group indeed gathered in Angel's office. Not for long, though. Giles and Willow were pacing nonstop, somehow avoiding a collision , while Dawn stood stiffly by Angel's desk.

"So what's the what?" Buffy was fighting back a huge yawn. And losing.

"It's... well, it's..." Giles was at a loss for words for once. He handed Buffy a piece of paper. "Just read this."

Buffy rubbed her eyes and squinted at the paper. Angel, Wes, and Faith crowded around so they could read over her shoulder. The room went deathly quiet as they read what had been translated from the Scroll.

...And it shall come to pass that in the days following the Fall of The Hellmouth that the Key shall come into Its own, and shall discover Its Power anew.

And it shall also come to pass that The Beast once thought destroyed shall rise up once more to plague The Earth, and Glorificus shall once again seek out The Key.

And there shall come a Day of Reckoning, when Champions Old and New shall join with The Chosen, The Witch, and The Key, and all shall balance on the Power of The Key.

For if The Key has not learned control of Its Power, then Dawn shall become Dusk, and Twilight shall forever fall on all The World.

There was more, much more, but that was the gist of it. As the paper was passed around to the rest of the group, Buffy walked over to Dawn and hugged her. Dawn was shivering. "Hey, sis, nothin' to worry about, right? No big. It's just the end of the world."

She looked at Angel over Dawn's shoulder, her eyes showing the fear she kept out of her voice. "Again."

Chapter the Eleventh

Two more days had gone by. Two days of nonstop research. Two days of frustration when the research didn't yield any further clues. Even with all the resources at Wolfram & Hart, they had been unable to find any more information concerning the prophecy.

In desperation to learn more, Dawn had even sung for Lorne. He wound up with a twenty four hour migraine (which he insisted was at least in part due to her choice of N-Sync), but couldn't give her any real answers. "Sorry, Dawnie Buns, all I can remember of it was bright lights and explosions. Couldn't tell the Who from the What."

Dawn was, predictably, a mess.

"The Key shall discover It's Power. What power? What is it that I'm supposed to be able to do? And when is this supposed to happen? I mean, c'mon, it shall come to pass ? When, dammit?"

She stopped pacing and plopped uncerimoniously into a chair. "Geez, I think my head's going to explode."

"Maybe that's your power, Dawnie," said Xander. "Exploding Head Girl, that's you."

Dawn shot him a dirty look. "Would somebody please...?"

Angel, who was standing closest to Xander, clouted him in the back of the head.

"Thanks."

"Glad to do it." Angel was wearing a stupid grin.

Xander crossed his eyes, or would have if he still had two. "Concussion! You're all witnesses. Anybody know a good lawyer?"

Angel, Gunn, and Fred all answered "No."

Lorne chimed in. "Hundreds of evil ones, though."

"Oooh, that might be just what I need. Any of 'em any good at wrongful injury lawsuits?" He leered at Angel. "Just watch it, buddy, if you ain't careful, I'll wind up owning all this." He gestured around at the hotel.

"Sure. Just let me show you what this month's bills are..." He dug into the top drawer of Cordelia's desk and pulled out a bulging file folder, and threw it on the desk in front of Xander. It landed with a loud thud.

Dawn rolled her eyes. She knew they were trying to cheer her up. "Is Giles still on the phone with Merry Olde England?"

Angel glanced into the office. "Yup. Oh, and there's another big ol' bill, too."

Xander's eyes were bugging out. "It costs that much every month just to keep the doors open ?"

"Yup."

"Never mind. Don't wanna sue. Keep it, Dead Boy, it's all yours."

Angel looked over at Dawn and grinned.

Giles came out of the office, followed by Buffy, Willow, and Wesley. Dawn jumped out of the chair expectantly. "Well?"

Giles looked at Buffy, who nodded. "We think we might know where to find some more information. The coven in England believes they know where there is a cache of ancient scrolls and books, and they believe there may be some prophecies concerning Glory amongst them."

Dawn was looking more hopeful. Giles cleared his throat. "However, the location this cache is being kept at is very well protected."

"Protected how?" asked Angel.

Giles looked at Buffy again. Both had pained expressions. "Well, that they know of, the cult that has gathered the collection, mercenaries, demons, and several protection spells. And that may just be for starters. It's in an old temple high on the side of a mountain. Very difficult to reach, let alone breach." He sighed. "This is going to be exceedingly difficult."

He looked Dawn in the eye. "Perhaps even impossible."

The hope had faded from Dawn's face. Buffy walked over to her sister and put her hands on Dawn's shoulders. "We'll figure this out, Dawn. I promise." Dawn nodded.

Angel sat down next to Fred. "So what's the plan?"

Buffy took a deep breath, then turned to face him. "The plan, as it stands right now anyway, is in two days, Giles, me, Dawn, Willow, and others yet to be named are going to England. "

Angel's face fell. Buffy continued. "We're gonna get together with the coven and the Watchers that have reported in, and we'll figure out the next step."

"Yes, we need to reestablish the Council anyway, and we can do that while we're getting our strike team together." Giles paused, and smiled. "I should think that with a team of Slayers and witches, we should be able to do some serious damage."

Buffy was still looking at Angel. "We still have to decide who's coming with, and who's staying here. There are plenty of Slayers over there to fill out the team, so we'll only be taking a few with us. The rest will need a place to stay and train..." There was a questioning tone to her voice as she trailed off.

Angel sighed. She's leaving even sooner than I expected. Damn. He stood up. "No problem. Just consider the Hyperion to be Slayer Central. As we find more, we'll bring 'em here and do what we can for them."

Buffy smiled gently. "Thanks."

Angel walked over to her and took her hand. "You know me. Mr. Helpful."

He turned to the rest of the group. "Well, if we only have two days, then tonight we all have one last night out at The Bronze." He smirked. "On Wolfram & Hart, of course."

"Oooo, goody!" Buffy was bouncing on her toes. "I can finally borrow those strappy heels of Faith's..."

Chapter the Twelfth

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Decisions had been made, and packing had begun. The group going to England consisted of Giles, Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Kennedy (Willow had pouted when it had been mentioned that Kennedy should stay behind to continue working with the new Slayers. In the end, 'resolve face' firmly in place, she had won, and was now quite the happy camper), Vi, Caridad, Chao-Ahn (as there was a Watcher on his way back to England from China who could speak her language fluently), Xander, and much to his surprise, Andrew.

He had taken Buffy aside to ask why he'd been included. She just grinned. "Well, duh, we want you to keep helping with the translations. Not to many people around that can speak - umm - well, whatever that language is. Besides, you're part of this group now. I'da thought you'd be happy to go."

"I am, I am. I just... I guess it just surprised me, that's all. I mean, you guys could barely stand me for the longest time."

"Well, you kinda grow on a person, ya know?" She took a step closer and rested her hand on his shoulder. "We need you, Andrew. Dawn needs you. We hafta figure this out." She sighed. "She's my sister. I can't lose her."

Andrew put on his brave face. (Which mostly just made him look constipated.) "I'm your man. You can count on me as we embark on this brave new adventure into the unknown-"

"Yeah, yeah, save the speech. Go pack." She shooed him upstairs.

It had also been decided that some attention should be given to the now rumbly Hellmouth in Cleveland. Faith had volunteered for that duty. "Could be fun, I can go check out the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, maybe catch a hockey game." Robin was going with her, as well as Rona and several other Slayers. Angel had talked them into waiting until Wolfram & Hart got her record cleared. It was taking more time than he'd originally thought, as her record was rather thick. Prison breaks tend to have that effect, after all.

Amanda was going to stay at the Hyperion to continue working with new Slayers as they were found. Two Watchers who'd been stateside were on their way to L.A. to help run things and do research when needed.

But for now, it was time for one last night out before everyone spread to the winds. Willow had worked a small glamour for Faith. To everyone in the group, she looked like she always did, but to the general public (and especially the police), she looked like somebody else entirely. "No sense getting busted while on our little expedition o' fun, right?" Angel had come up with the limos again (seven this time, there were several more Slayers than before), and once more the group was assembling in the lobby. Willow was standing arm in arm with Kennedy next to Angel. It had begun to sink in that this might well be the last time this group was together, and voices seemed muted amongst them.

Angel glanced around the lobby. "So who are we waiting on this time?"

Kennedy piped up quickly. "Not us. We got the delays taken care of earlier." She waggled her eyebrows and shot a smirk at Willow. Willow's face quickly began to match the color of her hair.

Angel smothered a grin, looked around again. "Okay, again I ask, who..." He stammered to a stop as he caught sight of Buffy and Faith coming down the stairs. His mouth kept working, but no sounds came out.

The two Slayers paused on the landing. Faith nudged Buffy. "Yo, B., I think you got his full attention." Faith was wearing a low cut slinky red dress with black heels.

Buffy just smiled. She was wearing Faith's strappy high heels, along with a sleeveless white blouse and a burgundy micro-mini skirt. It was definitely an outfit designed to capture his attention. And any other red-blooded-male, too. Dawn reached over and pushed both Angel's and Xander's jaws shut with an audible click. She leaned in towards Xander. "Breathe, dude."

Faith walked over and took Robin's hand, while Buffy walked over and hooked her arm around Angel's. "Shall we?"

Angel shook himself out of his reverie and grinned down at her. "Yes, let's."

As they all headed out the door, Faith, Dawn, and Rona started singing "Gotta dance, gotta dance, gotta dance". They all wanted a night to remember.

Sometimes, you get what you wish for...

Chapter the Thirteenth

The night had started off well enough.

Much enjoyment was had by all. Faith and Wood seemed to be touching all night, even when they were shooting pool. There was a bet, and Faith won. They immediately disappeared, and shortly thereafter, there were reports of loud crashes and noises coming from the storeroom. Nobody felt brave enough to go investigate, though...

Dawn and Rona couldn't find any takers for pool, so they played each other. First one would win, then the other. They were determined to find out who was better, and attracted a large crowd as the evening progressed.

Willow and Kennedy were wrapped up in each other on the dance floor, swaying slowly. Even during the fast songs. After a while, people stopped giving them funny looks.

Buffy and Angel rarely left the dance floor. During one of their breaks, Buffy disappeared. Angel was standing at the bar with Wesley and Gunn. Wes glanced around. "Where did Buffy get off to?"

"Dunno. Said she had something to take care of. Probably one of those 'female things'." He rolled his eyes, and the three friends shared a laugh.

"'Female things'?" She asked from right behind him. Angel jumped and landed squarely on Wes's toe. He spun around, mouthing apologies to Wesley as he turned.

"How'd you do that?"

"Can't you tell?" She sidled closer. "Different perfume. Said I was gonna hafta mess with your head one of these days, didn't I?"

"Okay, you got me." He pulled her to him. "Now, the real question is, what are you gonna do with me now that you have me."

"Part two of my devious scheme. C'mon." She pulled him out onto the floor and waved to the band. They started playing a song, which Angel quickly recognised as 'Mandy'. He looked down at Buffy with a surprised expression. "No Manilow shots, I swear. Just thought you might like this for a slow dance, that's all."

They were inseparable for the rest of the evening.

The trouble didn't start 'til around midnight.

The local demon population, which had been somewhat diminished over the last two weeks, had gotten wind of the Slayer's night out. Demons that normally wouldn't give each other the time of day decided that they had a common cause; Take out the Scoobies, Angel Investigations, and as many Slayers as they could get their hands (or fangs, or claws, or horns) on. So with no real plan other than the usual torture, maim, and kill, they descended en masse on The Bronze.

A young couple stepped out the door and froze in their tracks at the sight of the motley group coming down the street. They took one look and bolted back inside and headed for the bartender. "I think you might wanna call the cops, man. You would not believe what's coming down the street." His girlfriend nodded vigorously.

The bartender just shrugged. "It's L.A. Weird is normal around here. Why should I be worried about this-"

Just then, three vampires and a Mohra demon came barreling through the door, screaming at the top of their lungs. The bartender dove for the phone.

Dawn and Rona, who were at a pool table near the front door, reacted first. They broke their cues and quickly dusted two of the vamps, then Dawn grappeled with the third vampire as the Mohra backhanded Rona so hard she flew back over the pool table and landed in the middle of the stunned onlookers. As she struggled to her feet she yelled at them. "Run, dammit! Get the Hell outta here!"

More demons continued to pour in the front door, and from the sounds of the thumping on the rear exit, it was obvious that there was another group trying to get in there.

The Mohra was stalking Rona around the pool table. Buffy and Angel both recognised it. Angel grabbed some darts from a nearby dartboard and threw them quickly at the jewel in the Mohra demons forehead. They hit at almost the same instant Buffy's small holdout knife did. The Mohra instantly crumpled to the floor.

They both said "Nice shot." Buffy pulled Mr. Pointy and plunged into the melee. Angel grabbed a cuestick thrown to him by Faith and waded in right after. Dammit, why didn't I bring a sword?

They just kept coming. There was every type of demon Buffy could think of, and a few new ones to boot. The fight began to spill back into the street. At first the Slayers thought this was a good thing, as it gave them more room to move. But once some of them got outside, they quickly began to realise the sheer numbers they were facing. While these certainly weren't the Turok-Han, there were still plenty of mean and nasty demons, and there were hundreds of them.

Some of the newer and less trained Slayers fell quickly. Even the more seasoned ones were starting to tire. Buffy had lost Mr. Pointy and was fighting barehanded now, ignoring the pains shooting through her right shoulder where it had been dislocated. She'd lost sight of Angel in the press, and was trying hard not to worry. Oh, God, this is bad.

Kennedy was dusting vamps as fast as she could, but she was losing ground. Willow had taken a blow to the skull just as she was about to cast a spell, and was down.

Dawn had managed to relieve a Vykar demon of it's sword, and was holding her own. She and Rona were back to back, trying to protect three college students who'd gotten trapped inside the club. She could see Kennedy and Willow, still on the dance floor. There was a huge pile of dust and bodies around them, but more kept coming. Dawn could see Kennedy tiring, and Willow was stirring groggily but wasn't back on her feet yet.

She could see clearly when Kennedy finally faltered, could see the vampire grab her by the throat, could see a large Ammunak demon reaching for Willow.

Could see it clearly.

And couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.

Inside her, something twisted up.

Could see the vamp going in to bite Kennedy.

Could see the other demon picking up Willow by her long red hair.

The thing twisting in her gut got worse.

Started to give.

And, finally, snapped.

And as she screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO" , a brilliant green aura surrounded her, seemed to shrink in on itself for an endless moment.

And then exploded outwards with the roar of an erupting volcano , vaporising every demon in a five block radius, except for a certain ensouled vampire.

As the light faded away, it was a stunned group indeed that was left standing. Buffy could see Angel across the street and ran over to him. "What the Hell was that?"

Angel was trying to collect his wits. The blast hadn't hurt him, but it had sort of itched. "I dunno." He shook his head, as if trying to clear out the cobwebs. "Willow, maybe?"

"If it was, she's been practicing some new spells without telling me about them", Giles said as he stumbled over to stand next to them. "But whatever it was, it emanated from inside." He started for the now demolished door, the rest of the group staggering along behind him, Buffy cradling her right arm.

And as they came to the busted out window, they froze and stared in awe at the sight that greeted them.

The sight of Dawn, lit from within by a brilliant green glow that pulsed and moved and flowed like a thing alive, floating four feet off the floor. Her eyes were bulging, unfocused, and she was gasping for breath.

Angel, Buffy, and Giles traded confused and shocked looks, then looked back at Dawn. Yup, still glowing and floating.

Buffy shook her head and found her voice. "Guess she found her power..." Buffy climbed over the wreckage and stopped near Dawn. Past her, she could see Willow and Kennedy struggling to their feet.

She stepped a little closer to her sister, took a deep breath. "Dawnie?"

Dawn just floated there, still panting for breath. "Dawnie? Honey, please answer me."

Still nothing. Buffy started to sweat. "Dawn, please, come back to me. I can't lose you."

She reached up and took Dawn's hand. She gasped. It was like touching a live wire. "DAWN!"

Dawn twitched, and suddenly seemed to come back to herself. The aura vanished with a sound like the popping of a balloon, and Dawn fell to the floor.

She sat there for a second in a daze, then turned to see the concerned group standing around her.

"What happened? And where did all the demons go?"

Buffy couldn't help herself. She broke into hysterical laughter as she pulled her sister up into a fierce hug. "Don't worry about it, I'll clue ya in later."

Chapter the Fourteenth

The next morning, the Scoobies and the Fang Gang gathered to try to make some sense out of what happened. Everyone present was sporting an injury or three, except for Dawn. Which was giving her a major wiggins, since she could remember getting several bruises and cuts in the course of the fight.

Willow was holding an ice pack to the back of her head. "You don't remember what happened at all, Dawnie?"

"I remember you on the floor. Kennedy protecting you. Her slipping and a vamp going for her throat, and another demon pulling you up by your hair."

Willow grimaced. "So that's why my scalp feels like somebody poured red hot lava on it."

Dawn nodded. "I remember thinking Oh god, they're gonna die. And I can't stop it. Why can't I stop it? And then I think I screamed something." She looked at her sister. "Then waking up on the floor with you standing there and all the demons gone."

Fred had a tremendous black eye and a cast on her right index finger. "You yelled Noooooo so loud I think they coulda heard you in the next county. Then your eyes sorta bugged out, you know, like they do in a Bugs Bunny cartoon? And this green glow just exploded out of you, and there was this sorta shockwave that flew out and zapped every demon in the place. When I picked myself up off the floor, you were just floating there, all glowy and panting."

"Not just every demon in the place, but every demon in a five block radius." Angel's lip was split, and he had bruises in places he didn't know could bruise. "Except me. Thanks for that, by the way."

Dawn shrugged, gave a small smile. "You're welcome. Just wish I knew how I did it."

"Me too." Buffy's face looked like it had been used as a punching bag, and her right shoulder was still sore from where it had been dislocated. She knelt next to Dawn. "But I promise you, we'll figure it out." She smiled gingerly, as her mouth still hurt something awful. "We have to, 'cause I think you may have just out-powered Willow over there."

"Good, maybe I won't hafta be the 'big gun' all the time after this." Kennedy laughed and squeezed Willow's hand. Her left arm was in a sling, and along with a multitude of bruises, and she had a large bandage on the left side of her neck.

Angel had used the resources of Wolfram & Hart to clean up the damage done at The Bronze, and the club would be reopening in a week or so.

He had also made arrangements for the six young Slayers that had fallen during the battle. Buffy was taking their deaths hard, but knew there was nothing she could have done about it. Sometimes it comes down to numbers, and the demons had definitely had them.

If not for Dawn, they would quite probably all be dead.

As the time neared for their departure, Buffy and Angel found some time to slip off and have a long talk. They had finally gotten back to a good place, and now they had to separate yet again.

"I'm not going to promise to call or write regular. We're gonna be so busy over there, I probably won't have time to sit and even think about calling or writing."

"I know. I'm used to it. Hell, we're both used to it." He shrugged. "At least this time, it's not because we're mad at each other."

"Yeah. Still the Almighty Suckfest, though."

"Ain't it the truth, ain't it the truth..."

Buffy had taken Faith aside as everyone was making their farewells. "Look, as far as I'm concerned, the past is over and done with. I know you're back on the side of the Angels again, and that makes me happier than I can begin to tell you." She laid her hands on her Sister Slayer's shoulders. "I know you'll do great in Cleveland, and I know you'll take good care of these girls."

She grinned. "I guess what I'm saying is, I have faith in you Faith." She drew her into a hug, and was surprised to see tears in Faith's eyes when she let her go.

"Thanks, B- Buffy." She gave Buffy a lopsided grin. "I think I finally have a little faith in me, too..."

Later, as their plane was winging its way across the Atlantic, Buffy was lost in thought. Most of the passengers were asleep, including Dawn, who was nestled up against Buffy, but Buffy couldn't sleep. She was worried, and she was scared.

They'd had a glimpse of Dawn's power, and it was formidable. But was it enough? Could her sister master her power in time to defeat Glory? There were so many questions, and not enough answers. So what else is knew? Maybe Willow was right. Maybe it's better if it's complicated. If it was easy, it'd probably all be over.

She rested her head on top of Dawn's and sighed. Go to sleep, dummy. You've got a busy day ahead of you...

...And it shall come to pass that in the days following the Fall of The Hellmouth that The Key shall come into It's own, and shall discover It's Power anew.

And it shall also come to pass that The Beast once thought destroyed shall rise up once more to plague The Earth, and Glorificus shall once again seek out The Key.

And there shall come a Day of Reckoning, when Champions Old and New shall join with The Chosen, The Witch, and The Key, and all shall balance on the power of The Key.

For if The Key has not learned control of Its Power, then Dawn shall become Dusk, and Twilight shall forever fall on all the World.

To be continued...

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