Author's Note: "Home", Part III.

The first section is exposition. Skip it, if you don't feel like reading it. But if you do, you'll discover why Elizabeth randomly popped up into this world for no apparent reason.

Then, you get to see Glory.

And finally, finally, you will receive your answer to the question in the plot summary: Can Slayer strength restrain a thoroughly angry Donna Noble from hitting Riley?

(Go Donna!)

By the way, yes, when Buffy talks about "Future-Future You", she's referring to "Something". Which... I have finally worked out how to completely rewrite from scratch so it works! And will do so, as soon as I get some spare time.


Part III

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"The Key to Time is an energy source," the Doctor explained. "A terribly powerful energy source. One with the power and strength to put time on pause across the entire universe, all at once. It can completely shatter this reality and rebuild it from scratch. You heard this once before, even if you don't remember."

Buffy could vaguely remember. She had heard this before. Back when she'd first met the Doctor.

"You… said whatever was locked away was worse than the First," she recalled. "Worse than the original evil in the universe."

"It is," said the Doctor.

And Buffy knew it had to be that bad. Because the Doctor wouldn't even consider killing innocent people if it was anything less.

"But that's the Key as a whole," the Doctor continued. "Thing is, the ancient powers who made the Key knew how powerful it was. So they split it apart into six segments, and scattered them across time and space. Each segment could look like anything, or anyone."

"And Dawn is a segment," said Buffy.

"Dawn is the seventh segment," the Doctor explained.

Buffy blinked. "I thought…"

"There are only supposed to be six segments," the Doctor confirmed. "But there was an accident. The segment of the Key to Time that resided on Earth — the Great Seal of Diplos — was kept in a hyperspacial dimension. It bled energy from the Key back onto the planet. When I removed the segment, the energy remained."

"That monk told me the Key was energy," said Buffy.

"But each segment has its own special powers," the Doctor said. "The Great Seal of Diplos gave its wielders the power of matter transmutation — the ability to bend reality, turn energy into something concrete."

"Dawn."

"Yes," said the Doctor. He gave a small sigh. "The Key was supposed to have been destroyed, and if it had been, there would never have been enough energy left to do this. Except… I needed it. So I fixed it — in secret, mind you — retrieved it, then used it."

Ah, now Buffy was starting to understand the denial. Because if everyone else thought the Key was destroyed, then the safest thing for the Doctor to do was confirm their suspicions. Make sure no one knew it hadn't been.

"After that," said the Doctor, "it became my job to make sure the Key was safe."

"Okay, so now that crazy-punch-holes-through-concrete-walls-lady is after it, you can just use your TARDIS to take Dawn somewhere safe," Buffy said. "Somewhere far away from here. Another planet or another time or something."

"Dawn is the seventh segment of a six segment Key," said the Doctor. "I've checked the readings, and she's stable here. But if she ever leaves this solar system — or even just enters the vortex — bad things will happen."

"What kind of bad things?" Buffy asked.

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck. "Best case scenario? Holes and cracks in the void, causing misplaced or temporally important persons to fall through from other universes. Completely randomly, mind you, and at completely unrelated times. You might not notice, and I might not notice, but at some point in the future, pop! Some other you might appear, out of thin air, completely randomly."

"That's not so bad," said Buffy.

"Depends on the person you're displacing," said the Doctor.

Buffy thought of all the alternate universe versions of people that could pop up in her life, and decided that… on second thought… she really didn't want that to happen. Get an Evil Angel in there, or a transformed-Mayor, or even a First Evil who had an actual physical form and substance — yeah, that could be really, really bad.

"And the worst case scenario?" Buffy asked.

"The energy Dawn is carrying will destabilize the Lock," said the Doctor. "And if that happens, the universe will end. Or… worse." He sighed. "Believe me, Elizabeth, Dawn can't travel through time. She can't travel more than one parsec through space. She has to stay here and now."

"That's why you've been coming back so often," said Buffy. "You couldn't just take her with you."

"It was Donna's idea," the Doctor confessed. "Dropping in to check up on you. Although… as the date-time marker draws closer, I might have to stay longer." He made a face. "Living in real time. That's rubbish."

"What date-time marker?" asked Buffy.

"Ah. You don't know about that?" The Doctor ran over to the central console, and tapped at a few buttons. Then he waved Buffy over to the monitor.

Buffy looked at it. There, on the monitor, was a reading for "Dawn Summers." Age, weight, height, projected timeline, species, everything.

"It… doesn't say anything about her being the Key," Buffy realized.

"The TARDIS scanners can't pick it up," the Doctor explained. "Not when it's in human form. Neither can any other technology. Even the most sophisticated technology wouldn't be able to trace it based on the energy alone. It's impossible."

"But I worked it out," said Buffy. "I did a spell."

"To see the traces of what the monks did to create it, yes?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I did, as well," said the Doctor. "At least, before I realized I could…" His face fell, and for a second, he looked terribly, terribly lonely. Then he perked up. "But, yes! Normally, if there hadn't been all this do-hickey about creating another segment, would have been completely untraceable. Except the Time Lords figured out a way."

"What way?"

The Doctor turned off the monitor. "Every segment has a distinctive time signature," the Doctor explained. "One point in space and time when everything converges, all the patterns overlap, and the segment's powers can be activated in a massive, universe-altering way. That point in time and space is traceable. That's how we did it."

"But you said if Dawn was ever activated…"

"The universe would collapse," said the Doctor. "And that's if we're lucky. If we're unlucky… it could be far, far worse." He looked over at Buffy. "Well, that about wraps it up for me. Your turn. What about this woman?"

"I don't know that much," Buffy confessed. "Just… there's this woman. Really, really strong. She's after the Key. She captured this monk, and she was torturing him for answers. And she's got serious attitude issues."

"Human?" asked the Doctor.

"Not punching like that she isn't," said Buffy.

"But humanoid," the Doctor said.

"Yeah," said Buffy. "She's sort of… curly blond hair, gray eyes, a little taller than me. The monk called her… the abomination."

"Abomination?" asked the Doctor. He winced. "Ooh, that's bad."

"Why?" asked Buffy. "What is she?"

"Could be anything!" said the Doctor. "It's a title, often used by the Daleks, given to things that were absolutely despicable, even by their standards."

"So… whoever this is… she's worse than Daleks," Buffy realized. "And she wants the Key."

The Doctor and Buffy both looked at each other for a moment. "Donna," they said, together, and started to run.


"Brave, glorious Glorificus!" cried one of the minions. "We beseech your grace, honor us with your splendor, shine down your favor—"

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Glory, as she touched up her makeup in the mirror.

"We have reason to believe that there is someone else after the Key!" the minion said. "Someone… dangerous."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Glory. She rolled the tube of lipstick in her hand closed, and capped it. Then she turned to face the minion. "What sort of dangerous?"

The minions all looked at one another.

"We believe," ventured one, "he is a Time Lord."

Glory stared at them. "A Time Lord?"

The minions all nodded.

Glory started laughing. Then laughed harder. She collapsed forwards, grabbing one of the minions towards her. "A Time Lord?" she asked, through laughter. "A Time Lord?" She threw the minion across the room, as she got to her feet, her laughter dying away and morphing into a surge of anger. "You going to tell me the Easter Bunny's after this thing, too? Leprechauns? Dragons?" She kicked the leg of the vanity table, and it came crashing down to the ground. "I want real threats, you got that? Real problems! I don't want to hear these made up stories about made up dangers trying to steal my very real Key!"

"Yes, yes, yes, your holy Glorificus!" the minions pleaded. "Whatever your holy Glorificus wants!"

"But… the red-haired lady confirmed that he is a Time Lord," the minion she had thrown across the room protested. "And the girl seemed to agree."

"Anyone can say they're a Time Lord," said Glory. "Have you heard the number of humans who call themselves gods? Trust me, the Time Lords are dead, gone, and wiped out of the universe." She ran over to the minion, and picked him up by the ear. "So. Stop picking up on fairy tales. And find me my Key!"

"But… but your magnificent wonderful glorious grace, we saw him," one of the other minions protested. "We saw him appear out of the air, in a magic, travelling blue box."

"A blue…" Glory trailed off, her face turning into a frown. "Oh." She dropped the minion onto the ground, and sat down on the bright red sofa in the center of the room. "Oh."

"Your magnificence?" the minion asked.

Glory held up a hand. "Shut up, I'm thinking." She mulled it over in her mind. "So. He survived, huh?"

"We… we didn't hear a name," the minion on the floor volunteered. "But the red haired lady did call him… Spaceman."

Glory sighed. "You morons, that's not his name! He calls himself 'Doctor.'" She lounged on the couch. "You don't even remember the War, do you? Tiny little brains like yours. I bet you barely understand what a Time Lord is."

The minions looked at one another, clearly not sure exactly how to best answer this in a way that would make them sound competent enough for Glory not to kill them straight out, but still be humble and groveling at the same time.

"I couldn't take part, of course," said Glory, with a sigh. "Stuck here, on Earth. In exile. While the rest of the universe launched itself into a War that every Hell god worth its salt participated in. A War across realities, across all of time and space. Oh, I wanted in on that! All that death and destruction and chaos? Makes me a little tingly just thinking about it."

"What a terrible, horrible, ghastly thing that you could not take part," the minions said. "You would certainly have put all others to shame."

"Yes, I would, wouldn't I?" asked Glory, musing on it. "The Time Lords might have thought they were gods, but… oh, if they met me, I'd have shown them. I would have been amazing. I should have been amazing." Her elated imaginings dropped away, as she remembered the reality of her situation.

"We shall find this Time Lord that thinks himself so high above your amazing worshipfulness," said the minions. "And we promise, we shall dispose of him for you."

"You idiots," said Glory. "I don't want him disposed of. I want him here. Bound hand and foot — I'm not a fool like Sutekh." She thought a moment. "And don't tell him my name. Time Lords are supposed to be smart. Let's see if he can work it out."

"At once, your wondrousness!" said the minions.

She gave a small grin. Because she'd figured something out. Something very important. A Time Lord — a race that never existed. From a planet that never existed. From a time that had been erased from the universe. That made this particular Time Lord completely outside of reality. And Glory knew what that meant.

The Doctor hadn't come to Sunnydale to find her Key.

He'd already found it.


"Donna!" cried the Doctor. "Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Having fun?"

Donna shoved her armload of shopping bags into the Doctor's hands, and turned back to Dawn. "We've been keeping busy."

"We've been trying to figure out why none of us remembered Donna getting shot," said Dawn. "I vote super-secret-magic-thing."

"Oi, I say Spaceman did something clever," said Donna. "So what was it?"

The Doctor blinked. "Not… entirely sure, really," he said. "Odd sort of temporal disturbance. No idea what could have caused it."

"Oh, it's like a time loop or something, right?" said Dawn. "And you're going all Groundhog Day and stuff."

The Doctor made a face. "Nah," he said. "Wrong taste in the air for a time loop. And, well, any rate, didn't wind up back where we'd started, did we?" He glanced over at Buffy, noticing the troubled look on her face. "You… all right?"

Buffy just kept staring ahead, the horror evident in her eyes.

Dawn went over to her. "Buffy?"

Buffy turned to Dawn, and snapped herself out of it. "Yeah, sorry, it's just sunk in that… I forgot. All of it. Even…" She looked over at the Doctor. "How could I forget something like that?"

"Well, human psyche being what it is, it's hardly surprising," said the Doctor. "Minds only hold one timeline at once. Start breaking that timeline apart, and you wind up losing track of what's real, and what's not."

"Riley almost shot you," Buffy whispered. "He shot Donna."

"No, he didn't," the Doctor insisted. "Every part of that incident, everything that happened got wiped out. Donna is fine. Perfectly fine." He leaned in a little closer. "Besides," he said, so softly that it was barely audible, "he had a good reason. You might have done the same."

"You know, Riley was kind of crazy and nearly dying at the time," Dawn volunteered.

"That doesn't mean he can just go around shooting people!" Donna protested. "And it certainly doesn't mean he's allowed to tie up Skinny, there."

"Doctor," said Buffy, "this… isn't the first bad thing that Riley's done to you. I mean, I know it's all in your future, and I know future-future you said it was ultimately for the best, but… I remember it. And it was really bad."

The Doctor's eyes darkened. "What sort of horrible thing?" he asked. "Destroying the world? Killing my companions? Or just slaughtering any innocent person he could—"

"No, it wasn't anything like that," said Buffy. "It was just… you know. Torture and stuff. And it wasn't even really Riley who tortured you, it was just—"

"But Riley didn't hurt anyone else?" the Doctor asked.

Buffy sighed. "No," she admitted.

The Doctor grinned. "Well, then, probably doesn't matter," said the Doctor. "Particularly if it winds up being for the best. I'll deal with all that when it happens to me."

"But it's not just that!" said Buffy. "Doctor, this wasn't just a drugged out thing or a nearly dying thing. Riley's been trying to work out how to kill you for a while."

"Says the woman who tried to drive a sword through my head the first time she saw me," said the Doctor, with a wink.

That look of horror still lingered on Buffy's face. "Yeah, but… I thought you were evil, and... I didn't even know you!" Buffy said. "Riley… he didn't want to kill you the day he met you. He waited until he got to know you. He's seen you saving the world, he's seen you saving my life, and he still…" She shivered.

"Oi!" said Donna. "This Riley bloke. I want a word with him."

"Go ahead," said Dawn. "He's right over there."

Donna snapped her head to look where Dawn was pointing, at the blond haired, blue eyed man walking towards them. The Doctor, it seemed, was loaded down by enough shopping bags that he wasn't obviously visible from a far ways away. Either that, or Riley had some nerve coming over there.

Donna marched right up to Riley, her hands clenched by her sides, her red hair streaming behind her with every step. And the moment she got close enough, she smacked him across the face.

Riley blinked at her, confused.

"You shot me!" Donna shouted at him.

It was obvious when the memory came back to Riley, because everything about him changed. He went tense, his jaw dropped, and he stared at Donna in horror.

"Oh, God, I'm… I'm so sorry!" Riley protested.

"Yeah?" said Donna, pointing her finger in his face. "Well, let me tell you something, Sunshine. You can't just shoot people and expect to get away with it. And you can't just tie someone up and shoot their best mate just because Skinny was getting cozy with your girlfriend!"

The Doctor dumped the shopping bags on Buffy, and ran over. "Donna," he warned. He took her by the arm, and tried to lead her away. "Let's not upset the slightly psychotic boyfriend who carries loaded firearms, yes?"

"Look, I'm really, really sorry," Riley said. "For… all of it. For everything I did to both of you. I was sick. There was something… but I've had it taken care of, and I'm feeling a lot better now. I really, really never meant to hurt… ow!"

This last exclamation was said in response to Donna's second slap.

Buffy dropped the shopping bags in front of Dawn, and ran to help the Doctor restrain a struggling and clearly pissed-off Donna.

"Don't think I'm finished with you!" Donna snapped. "Cause I've been hearing a lot about you. I've heard you've been torturing him, and trying to kill him since the moment you met him. Which means this next slap's long overdue!"

Donna tried to surge towards Riley again, and the Doctor and Buffy just barely managed to restrain her. Slayer strength, it seemed, was no match for a thoroughly angry Donna Noble.

Riley took a nervous step back.

"Oi!" Donna shouted at him. "Don't you dare walk away from me, mate! I don't know what kind of Hollywood Movie you grew up in, but real people don't fantasize about tying up other real people and shooting them in the head!"

"I know," said Riley. "I didn't mean it. I just… lost control." He glanced over at the Doctor. "You understand what that's like."

The Doctor gave Riley a cold, steady glare, then finally managed to tug Donna away from him. He put his hand across Donna's shoulders, and turned her to walk away.

"Hey!" Riley shouted. "You come back here, Doctor! I'm not done with you."

The Doctor didn't say anything.

Dawn, now carrying the shopping bags, took one look at Riley, then darted after the Doctor and Donna. Buffy hesitated, looking between Riley and the group retreating from him.

"Buffy," Riley pleaded.

Buffy swallowed. "My… sister," she said. "I'm sorry, I have to…" She gave a small shrug, then spun around, and raced after the group.

Riley's eyes narrowed, as he watched them leaving the shopping mall. His entire body began to shake with repressed anger. "I'm more a man than you are, Doctor!" he shouted. "And one of these days, I'm going to prove it!"

The Doctor didn't even look back or acknowledge Riley had said anything, as he lead the others out of the shopping mall. The Doctor was done with Riley Finn.

Forever.