Standard Disclaimers Apply

-The Willows-

Willow thumped her computer. It had been decades since she had a computer with any internal connections that would react to being thumped - hell, Spike and Xan could play vamp strength hacky sack with the thing and it wouldn't notice - but the instinct was still there. Sometimes technology needed to be hit.

"This should be working!"

"I'm sure it will, Little Tree. William and the kitten went farther than we planned, but they are in the right place and can help themselves to the Key." She looked at her Sire, trying to translate Dru-speak into something that made sense. For all their bond in blood and mutual magic use, she had to admit she was the worst of their family at understanding the mad vampire.

"You think we sent them back to far?"

"No no, back just enough but off to the side, I felt you pull them windershins of us."

Willow put it aside for later consideration and tried to figure out why she didn't have a signal to Xander. She was certain that the cyber magic linking his palm display to her computer should have followed the tether that the time travel spell kept between them. She had specifically coded this magic to keep an active connection, even to the point of maintaining a common timeframe between the two groups.

Spike had argued that factor, saying that the whole advantage of time travel should be taking however long it took in the past without running down the clock in the present, but she and Xander had argued the advantages of consultation and research if they ran into problems and Dru had semi-coherently supported them. But what was the point of running down the clock if she couldn't get a decent signal to- PING!

A plain text? She opened it quickly. "Wills - weirdness. Right time but you and me are still alive and here. They were doing mojo here and think we're their answer. Can't raise you, boost the signal, huh?"

"Pulled to the side, was it? Farther but the right amount back?" She spared her sire a small scowl as she sent out an all-call to the online coven for support and pricked her finger on the ritual spire beside the keyboard. "Someday I'll understand what you're saying before it's redundant."

Drusilla laughed happily and leaned down to kiss her. "Your mind runs straight along, Little Tree, stops at the red lamps and signals for the track change. You cannot see how to dance in the square and still make tea time with the Bishop."

With a sad smile, Willow kissed her back. She had been disappointed when Spike pointed out that she wasn't advancing in magic learning it in the instinctive, symbolic way that Dru used and should perhaps pursue a more modern method that would match her organized mind. But her sire had never resented losing her as a student and collaborating on large magics was always a wild ride.

Seeing three coven members had spired on, she routed their support into the tether and tried to raise Xander again. This time she was relieved to see a familiar smiling face. "Wills! Perfect! Can you tell Spike that we agreed decades ago that a sunlight kill counts and we're out?"

Willow resisted an urge to bang her head on the desk. "Seriously? You're playing Slayer Hunt at a time like this?"

"Well, technically, they started it, but I think we should still abide by the rules. Spike wants to kill them all because they tried to stake me, and he says we shouldn't give credit for a sneak attack, but-"

"Okay, okay, I get the picture." She reached for her visor. "Put me on a table or something, okay? Now sunlight kills do count, as long as the area of sunlight is either too large to get out of quickly enough, or if doing so would have put you at a serious disadvantage for continuing the fight. If you have a reasonable escape route, it's a draw."

"See!" The visor had kicked in and Willow took in the little shop, Xan and Spike and... Wow, her and Xander. "I told you it counted. Human me for the win!"

"Yeah, wow, human you grew up even yummier. And I got some dress sense!"

Xander's face fell. "It's only been a couple of years too! I told Dru she should wait to turn me because I didn't want to be carded for all eternity, but nooooo..."

"This is fascinating and all," and oh wow again, it was Buffy! "But do you think maybe we could move on to something more relevant?"

"Oh, of course!" She turned back to Xander. "So human you gets kill credit and you can't slaughter them, but Spike's been holding out for a 'they hurt my Xan!' corollary to all the rules so he's allowed to come back later even though wins usually give them lifetime immunity."

"This is more relevant?"

"Well, yeah!" Xander said cheerfully. "It means you guys win and we play the whole Glory thing your way. Though I still don't know why you went all stake-y to begin with..."

"Seems to me that the Key is still a person in this timeline." Spike put in casually. "A person they like, and they figured the mystical splitting would kill 'em."

A variety of surprised and shifty expressions swept the small group, but the human Xander was the first to speak. "What do you mean 'still' a person?"

"Well from the research we did, and by 'we' obviously I mean 'me' because Spike and Xan were too busy killing demons..." Willow quailed only slightly under her sire's glare and reminded herself that he was in the past of another timestream and probably wouldn't be mad at her by the time he got back... or two minutes from now, for that matter. "It seems that the guardian monk guys first tried to hide the Key by making it into a living person, but the knights found and killed him, returning it to its energy form. Not too bright, since that just made it easier for Glory to find and use."

"Huh." Her Xander gave this some thought. "So... will the energy extractor splitter saver thingie kill a human form key? Because it looks like that's not an option."

Willow popped a screen over her visor view and started searching. "I'll have to look into what we know about the ritual and how the key power was actually matrixed. I might be able to examine it remotely as well once you find whoever it is."

Another round of shifty looks didn't surprise her. "Looks like we've got a line on that, Red," Spike said as he settled back against the counter and pulled Xander into his arms. "But if we're playing by the sodding rules and working with this lot, you'll need to come up with a plan that won't hurt whoever it is before they'll trust us."

The younger vampire snuggled back and Willow spared a moment of annoyance at them for taunting her with cuddles when she could look but not touch. "Well, since we don't need to leave enough Key-ness for Glory to work with, that should be easier, right? And while Wills and Dru work on that, we can go kick some ass! Do you think we should take out the knight dudes first or the Hell Bitch?"

The human Xander, who she noted with some amusement was trying very hard not to watch himself get comfortable with another man, spoke up. "So, you mean you really will help take out Glory? The spell worked at least that much? Did you bring any mystical doodads that could make that a viable plan? Because we're already seen hellgod versus vamp and it wasn't pretty for the vamp."

At the mention of mystical doodads, Willow's own human counterpart gasped and spoke for the first time since she'd seen her.

"The gem of Amara!"

Willow blushed as everyone, including a holographic version of her younger self who was sitting on the table, stared.

"Um, I don't think that will help with Glory," Xander said in confusion.

"No, I mean vamp you and Spike, with the standing in sunlight and making rules about what happens when people get technical kills!" She tried to look at the pair's hands, but one of Spike's was stuffed under the younger vampire's jacket, and both of Xander's seemed to be looking in Spike's back pockets for something. Except she didn't think those body suits had pockets... "Buffy didn't get the gem away from Spike in that reality! Except, I thought there was only one?"

"There can b-EEP!" Vampire geekiness was cut off by a sire's tongue in the ear. "Jeee! Ah! Okay, sorry, no Highlander!"

"Get it away from me?" Spike looked away from the ear to consider her. "How'd she do that then, the Watcher figure where it was first?"

"Um, no, you were fighting her in the daytime and she kinda yanked it off your finger so you had to scramble for shade before you combusted." Both vampires looked flabbergasted at the story.

"So I was, what, wearing it right there on my hand like some ponce, waving it around in case she didn't get the 'This is the only thing protecting me, cut my hand off' billboard on her own?" He nuzzled vamp Xander and shook his head sadly. "See, luv, this is why we couldn't wait to get a couple of more years on you before turning. Clearly I would have been a bloody useless moron without you and Red around as me minders."

"Well, you were going through a bad time," Anya put in sympathetically. "Dru had just dumped you again, and you were making bad choices. I mean, you were dating Harmony."

Xander leapt from Spike's arms, ending up beside his human self and gaping, betrayed, at his sire. "Harmony Kendall! The Cordette who Cordy called shallow? And when you say dating, clearly you mean... Ew! Ew, ew, ick, bleh! You and Harmony?"

Human Xander took a shot at reassuring himself. "Well, not really him and Harmony, it was the Spike who didn't take you and Wills back as a courting gift for Dru. And, well, not exactly Harmony either, she was vamped during Graduation. And like Ahn said, it was a really bad time for him... I'm pretty sure he never actually liked her."

"Well..."

"Can we move on here?" Buffy seemed really stressed. Willow figured she and Xander had more cause, they were the ones dealing with evil twins... Though weirdly, not so much. The holographic Willow on the table was nothing like the psycho dominatrix who had flirted with her and tried to make the Bronze into a playground. "Like to the part where you guys have something to offer in defeating Glory?"

"Sure, Buffster, we're on the case." Vamp Xander was apparently just as good at soothing things over as the real one. "I guess the main question is if we want to try to take the human guy out first or just go straight to a throw down with the goddess?"

"There is a human involved with Glory?" Willow saw her shock echoed on the other Scoobies' faces. "Wouldn't she just suck his brain?"

"Ben Wilkinson." Spike explained. "And not so much involved..."

"Ben?" Buffy looked confused. "He's an intern at the hospital, he was helping treat my mom. What does he have to do with Glory?"

Vampire Xander looked sad as he tried to break the news. "Well, what Spike's telling you is this Ben guy... Glory..."

"So, they have some sort of connection?" Her Xander seemed to be trying to follow the conversation but having no more luck than she was."

"Do you lot all have plugs in your bleeding ears? Ben! Glory!"

"But what about them?" Willow was concerned at the vampire's anger but didn't know what to do about it.

"Sire!" The holographic her broke in before Spike could start yelling nonsense again. "We're looking at a very powerful obfuscating spell, you aren't going to get through with repetition or volume."

Vamp Xander nodded. "Okay, so are we immune because we're undead or because we don't belong in this timestream?"

"Could be either, you'd have to tell another vamp and see if it remembers."

He nodded then grinned and turned to Anya. "Hey, orgasm chick! Didn't you say something earlier about there being a Spike around here too that you're on some kind of terms with?"

"Oh yes!" Anya ignored Xander's rather obvious 'no' gestures. "He has a crypt over in Restfield. He's been very helpful during this entire Glory ordeal."

"Right then! Let's go, sire. If this Spike is immune to the spell he can help us with Ben and if he isn't, we can make fun of him for not turning Wills and me when he had a chance." The pair of vampires headed out into the street, leaving behind a confused group of Scoobies.

Two minutes later, Xander darted back into the door and grabbed his palm display which was currently projecting a cranky, foot tapping vampire Willow and left again with an embarrassed laugh.