"I'm not sure what to tell you Buffy. I don't think you were dreaming." Willow told her friend with concern in her eyes.

"I was dreaming. I know I was. I saw things… things that I shouldn't… couldn't know otherwise. I had to be dreaming. There is no other way to explain it." Buffy was really confused. She couldn't figure out what was going on. She had told Willow about her dream about hell. Willow wouldn't tell her what was going on but she kept insisting that it wasn't a dream.

"I'm not sure what it was…well… I have a theory…"

"What is it?" Buffy cut her off before she could finish. She had suspected that it had been more than a dream. After all it hadn't really felt like a slayer dream, it was more like when the first had sucked her into Angel's dream… only this time this was clearly not Angel's dream. This wasn't some memory from the past this was the present. This was what was really happening. Buffy didn't know how or why she knew that she just knew.

"well… it could be… it could be…"

"… just spit it out Willow!" Buffy was really starting to get impatient. I don't have time for this. What I saw could be happening right now. I have to hurry, or Angel and Spike could die. Willow looked at her friend menacingly. She didn't like how impatient Buffy was behaving, and its not like her theory is completely solid, but if its true than it could have serious consequences.

"I think that you may have been astral projecting." Willow finally told her friend.

"Astral WHAT?? I couldn't have been astral projecting. That's a witch thing… and Giles told us that it is a very advanced ability. I'm not a witch… you must be wrong… there's no way."

"Hear me out Buffy. I think you were actually in hell. I think that you astral projected yourself there some how. Anyone can astral project if they have a source for their power, and you have that source. That source is you slayer powers. You, like it or not, are a supernatural being, and that allows you some amount of magical ability. Besides, I don't' think you did it on your own…"

"What do you mean you don't think I did it on my own? Was someone messing with my head? Was someone in my head!?" Buffy seemed to be freaking out now. The idea of anyone being able to get into her head like that was just plain creepy. Willow had been in her head, but that was only to get her to come out of her catatonic state. Besides… that was Willow.

"Well you know how the First pulled you into Angel's dream back when we were in high school?"

"yeah…"

"I think that's sort of what happened to you last night. I think some greater power stepped in and allowed you to astral project into hell. I think that there was something there that you were supposed to see… something that might help us get everyone out of hell."

"I don't get it though… why would an evil higher power want to help us get Angel out of hell." Buffy was really confused now. It just didn't make any sense. Well… The astral projecting thing kind of did. It explained why everything had seemed so real while she was in hell, but the whole higher power stepping in… that was a different story. She only knew of one higher power that had been able to do that in the past… the First… and the first was gone, or out of commission, or what ever you call a big evil that can't be killed, but was recently beaten down very badly.

"maybe its not evil… maybe it's the Powers That Be that want your help. Maybe its some other great power… that just so happens to be good." Willow told her friend.

Willow knew that she was pulling at strings. In all of their time living on the hellmouth there were very few reasons to believe that there were any higher powers out there that weren't evil. She could really only point to three instances in seven years of fighting evil… The first time was when it snowed on Christmas that one time, the day that Buffy had convinced Angel not to kill himself. The second thing she could point to was the fact that Buffy had been in heaven. If there is a heaven than there must be a good higher power out there. The last instance she could point to was when she did the spell that made all of the potentials slayers. That time she had been the one to feel it. All of the other times it had been someone else experiencing it with Willow just watching. That time had been different. It really convinced her that there was some good in the world… but that was almost a year ago now, and a lot had changed. Her girlfriend had died and come back to life, some great evil was after them again, and the entire city of Los Angeles along with all of their friends living there had been sucked into a hell dimension.

"Right Willow, because the Powers That Be care sooo much about two vampires." Buffy's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "If they cared so much than they would have done something to stop this. Hell, they wouldn't have let Angel or Spike die the first time… you know Angel and Acathla, Spike and the first. If the Powers That Be really cared they would find a way for Angel to experience happiness without loosing his soul. The Powers That Be don't care about anyone except for themselves, and the people that they have chosen to be there warriors here on earth. Believe me. I know."

"You don't know Buffy." Willow said suddenly. "Believe it or not, the Powers That Be have taken a great interest in both Spike and Angel. How do you think Angel ended up in Sunnydale in the first place? How do you think Spike got back from hell after defeating the First?"

"The Powers That Be brought Spike back?' Buffy asked her friend.

"I don't actually know for sure… but I think that's who did it… or at least they had a hand in it." Willow explained.

"Well it's about time they started caring! Now maybe they can help us get them out of hell." Buffy said.

"That's what I was trying to say before… about the astral projection thing. Maybe the Powers intervened in order to show you what you needed to get everyone back into our dimension… maybe that was there plan to get everyone out of hell."

"Seems like a lame plan to me." Buffy said. "After all, I'm not very good with the whole research thing. I'm better at the hitting part. Couldn't they have sent you or Giles… You both know more about what the glowy ball thing might be. It's not like I'm the only one they could send. Both you and Giles are much better at the whole magic thing. There were a lot better people that they could send."

"I don't know if that's true Buffy." Willow explained. "It may be that they needed someone with a connection to the people in hell… or maybe they needed a slayer… or maybe they didn't want anyone with manifested magical abilities…. I don't know, but they chose you for a reason."

"But you meet all of those requirements… except for the whole slayer and magical power thing. You were their friends too." Buffy pointed out.

"Maybe they needed someone who was more than a friend. Someone who really cared… or loved the people that were in hell… or it could be just one of those slayer vampire things. You may not like it, but you have a connection to the undead because of your slayer powers… Or it could be that thing that you told me about back in college…"

"What thing?" Buffy asked.

"You know… that thing with Angel… how you always know when he's around whether you see him or not." Willow suggested.

"Oh, but that's like a slayer thing. He's a vampire and I'm a slayer and so that's why I can feel him. Right?"

"Do you feel when other vampires are around or is it just Angel? And if you do feel all vampires how do you know that it is him? Have you ever been able to tell whether or not Spike was around?' Willow quizzed her friend. She was actually really curious to know how this whole thing worked. That way she could help the new slayers out better; also it would give some insights into the whole Angel thing that Buffy hardly ever talked about.

"I don't know… I mean I CAN always tell when there is a vampire around. I guess that is one of the whole slayer power things, but I also always knew that it was Angel. Whenever he was around it was different. I just knew it was him. Actually that's kind of how I found him in my dream… or not dream… Astral projection or whatever. I always thought the reason that I knew it was him and not just any old vampire was because he had a soul. That's why he would feel different, but you know, no that I think about it I didn't know when Spike was around. Spike always just felt like a vampire. You think this might have something to do with my… what do you call it?"

"Well if you were Astral projecting, then you were actually in hell… or at least your soul was, so I guess you can call it your trip to hell. And that might have something to do with it, but I'm not sure. However that would be able to explain why the first had such an easy job pulling you into Angel's dream back in the day."

"Right well, as much as I enjoy reminiscing about past experiences, I really need to get downstairs to do training with the girls so lets get on with it okay Will? Buffy seemed irritated the same way that she always seemed whenever the topic of either Angel or Spike came up, and unfortunately due to the recent events it seemed to be coming up more often. Which of course led to a crankier Buffy and everyone was getting just a little sick of it.

"Fine Buffy, but I need you to tell me what you saw in your trip to hell. I need to know what was on the papers that you saw on the wall, and I need you to describe the 'glowy ball thing' to the best of your ability so that Giles and I can do research on it."