Shadow Over Hellmouth Chapter 90: The Gift, a buffy: the vampire slayer fanfic

"The Gift"

Based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episodes "Tough Love" Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner, "Spiral" Written by Steven S. DeKnight, "The Weight of the World" Written by Douglas Petrie, and "The Gift" Written by Joss Whedon and the Angel Episodes "Belonging" Written by Shawn Ryan, "Over the Rainbow" Written by Mere Smith, "Through the Looking Glass" Written by Tim Minear, and "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb" Written by David Greenwalt

Buffy was surprised to find herself summoned to a meeting with Principal Stevens regarding Dawn. It was at the end of the school day. Stevens sat behind her desk. Buffy and Dawn sat in chairs on the other side of the desk.

"You lied to me?" Buffy asked Dawn, glaring at her.

"Didn't...lie...e-exactly."

"Really. What about all the times I asked you how school was, and you said 'Fine'?"

"Well, it was! You didn't ask if I was in it when it was fine."

Buffy sighed and looked at Stevens. "I-I don't know what to say. I-I'm sure you're aware that the past few weeks, you know, have been kind of hard for Dawn. Not that I'm saying that's an excuse."

"I understand. Your mother was a lovely woman, and we'll all miss her very much. I know how difficult it must be."

"It is. Especially for Dawn. She-She's just a kid."

"Well...I think we both know that Dawn is a lot more than 'just a kid'." Stevens leaned forward. "She's a talented young girl...with a sharp mind...when she puts the effort in."

"Look. I realize that there's been some ball-dropping, but I'm sure this will all-"

"Dawn, why don't you wait outside for a few minutes?" Stevens requested.

Dawn was very scared. She looked over at Buffy, who gave her a nod. Dawn got up and left. Buffy watched her go with a sigh. The principal gave Buffy a stern look. Buffy faced her head-on.

Dawn and Buffy walked into the house. Buffy closed the front door and locked it.

Tara walked out of the kitchen. "Hey, what's up? How'd it go?"

Dawn was sullen. "Hi."

Buffy managed a weak smile. "Hey."

She and Dawn sat at the dining room table.

Katrina walked downstairs. "Hey."

"Uh, Dawn, why don't you get started on your homework? Uh, if you need help..." Buffy turned to Katrina. "Katrina, could you?"

Katrina nodded.

"Okay." Buffy stood up and headed toward the kitchen. "Tara."

Buffy and Tara walked into the kitchen as Dawn opened her bookbag.

"How'd the meeting go?" Tara asked.

"Well, it..." Buffy smelled something. "Is something burning?"

"Oh, uh, the pizza that I was baking got burned. It kept going after the timer hit zero."

Buffy frowned. "That's concerning."

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend baking anything unless you stay and watch it. Anyway, I went to Wok Like an Egyptian in the mall and got some takeout: pork dumplings in Jahannamfire sauce."

"Cool. Is the pizza a loss?"

"Nah, but you're gonna want the dumplings after eating it, trust me."

"Okay. So, as it turns out, Dawn's been skipping school."

"What?"

"Yeah. I think..." Buffy sat at the island. "I think she's still taking Mom's death hard and...feeling like nothing matters. And, honestly, I can't really blame her."

Tara put her hand on Buffy's shoulder. "I-I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"All of those times that I dropped Dawn off at school. I sh-should have waited until I saw her go in."

Buffy put her own hand on top of Tara's hand. "It's not your fault. I've dropped her off and left as well. I just don't know what I'm gonna do. I mean...she's fucking up. I'm fucking up."

"Hey, you don't get to blame yourself either, sweetie. You're just going to have to put your foot down with her."

"I try. It's just...my foot's not used to being put down."

"Well, there are four adults living in this house. We'll all help raise Dawn, but you're gonna have to set some rules. She needs you to do this."

Buffy was nervous. "Right. She needs me."

Tara felt sympathetic.

Buffy gave her a small smile. "Okay." She nodded. "I can do this."

Tara smiled. "I know you can."

They kissed.

"So...big day's two days away. You ready?" Tara asked.

Buffy nodded. "Yup. I stopped by City Hall on the way home. I'm officially licensed."

Later, Dawn was sitting at the table while Buffy stood. Buffy was folding dish towels on the table while Dawn was doing homework.

"Okay, so, I-I think the next step is to make a chart. A schedule."

Dawn gave her an angry look.

"I'll write down all the things that you're supposed to do and when you have to do them, and then I'll leave a box next to it, which you can mark with an X when you've accomplished the task."

Dawn stared at her with a sullen expression.

"What? You want gold stars?" Buffy rolled her eyes. "Okay. You can have gold stars."

"I don't want gold stars." Dawn scoffed. "I don't want any of this." She put down her pencil and crossed her arms.

Buffy paused in her towel-folding. "I'm just trying to give you a normal life."

"Well, good luck." Dawn returned to her schoolwork.

Buffy stood and stared at her.

Dawn paused, then looked up warily. "What?" She rolled her eyes and sat back. "What am I doing wrong now?"

"This is for real, Dawn."

"No, it's not. Why would my exciting graph of chores be real? Who cares if I get an education, anyway?" Dawn slammed her textbook shut, then folded her arms again.

Buffy slammed her hand down on the table, making Dawn jump and wince.

Buffy stared at her sister. "Damn it, Dawn. This is serious."

"Why? Why should I care about any of this?"

"Because they'll take you away!" Buffy yelled.

The two of them faced off across the table.

Dawn unfolded her arms, scared. "Take me away? What do you mean?"

"They'll take you away from us. That's what your principal told me when you weren't in the room. If we can't make you go to school, then Tara and I won't be found fit to be your legal guardians." Buffy resumed folding towels.

Dawn absorbed this for a moment. "Where would I go?"

"I don't know. Dad, maybe, or foster care. I-I didn't really want to ask."

Dawn paused, then scoffed. "You could've told me that."

"I just did."

Buffy continued folding as Dawn sat there.

That night, inside a fancy restaurant, Angel, Kate, Cordelia, and Gunn were sitting at a table, eating dinner.

"You wanna try some of this sashimi?" Cordelia offered Gunn.

"That's the raw fish? Maybe when Hell freezes over."

Cordelia craned her neck to look around the restaurant.

"What are you looking for?" Kate asked.

"Celebrities. They wouldn't put them out here in the 'B' section. They put them back in the dark."

"Not like here...where it's brightly lit and...open, and everyone could stare at you and..." Angel paused. "It's a little exposed. Kind of public."

"Oh, yeah, that public thing. It happens when you go where the people are." Gunn clapped him on the arm.

Angel looked around the restaurant. "Oh, no, no, no. I-I-I like the people. Normal people. I wanna get out and be one of them. You know. Celebrate Cordy's good news."

"Oh, it's just a commercial."

Kate lifted her wine glass. "Just a national commercial. Here's to you."

They all clinked glasses.

"Guys, I can't drink. I have to be up at 4:30 in the morning for the shoot. But please...continue with the toasting and the praising."

Gunn smiled. "You're gonna knock 'em dead and make a ton of cash."

Angel nodded. "What he said, but - but don't leave us when you get famous."

"I'm touched. But don't worry. I can't leave you guys while I'm still the proud owner of the mind-shattering, ever-more-debilitating visions." Cordelia took a sip of water from her wine glass, then went back to eating. "I feel a little guilty."

"Don't. I mean nineteen dollars for a...sashimi couscous appetizer is money well spent. How was it, anyway? Pretty good?" Angel asked her. "I mean it ought to be pretty-"

"It's delicious, but that's not what I feel guilty about."

"Oh." Angel saw Kate looking at him. "I'm not cheap; I-I'm just old. I-I remember when a few bob got you a good meal, a bottle, and a tavern wench." He paused, noticing Cordelia's frown. "You were saying?"

"I was saying I feel guilty leaving you guys in the middle of a case to go do this commercial."

Kate shook her head. "Mmm, we have it under control. Angel will get a hold of his informant first thing in the morning."

"And he..." Gunn looked at Angel. "Well, is it a he or an it?"

"Actually, both."

"Well, then he-slash-it points us to the big, bloated thing in your vision."

Kate looked at him. "The Haklar demon. In fact, Angel's informant will lead us to the demon's feeding grounds, where we will kill it to death."

Cordelia smiled. "Ooh, sounds like fun. If you guys want more wine, don't let me stop you."

Angel shook his head. "Oh, no more wine for me. That imported stuff goes right to your head."

"You think we should get a flamethrower?" Gunn asked.

"For the Haklar?" Kate asked. "I hadn't thought of that."

Angel looked at them. "I mean...if you guys want to order another bottle..."

Gunn thought for a moment. "Of course, if we wound up in a tight space, we could burn each other."

Kate nodded. "Right. Right."

Gunn looked at Angel. "Well, you're the boss. You'll decide."

Kate took a deep breath. "A flamethrower is big and loud. Might call attention where we don't want it."

"Oh, God." Cordelia scrunched up her face.

"What is it? What do you see?" Gunn asked.

"Moo..."

"Moo? Some sort of cow monster?" Kate asked.

"Move. I think the sashimi is coming up."

The others jumped up off their chairs as Cordelia doubled over, pulling the tablecloth and dishes off the table as she was violently sick, then she vomited on the floor.

"They'll take that off the bill, right?" Angel asked.

In Huntsville, Alabama, Vi walked through the Chinese buffet, loading food onto her plate. She picked up just a little of each of the things that she wanted - with the exception of pork dumplings, which she loaded up on. Then she returned to her booth and sat down across from her mother.

"That's all that you're having?" Felicia asked.

"Nah, this is just Round 1." Vi picked up her fork and dug in. "Fight!"

Felicia watched her daughter stuff herself. "Maybe go a bit easy on that. You don't have Slayer metabolism."

Vi ripped open a dumpling with her teeth. "Well, if I'm chosen, those extra calories will be burned like that." She snapped her fingers.

Felicia sipped her Pepsi. "I thought you didn't wanna be chosen."

"Objectively, who would?" Vi asked. "The hours would absolutely suck."

"That's not all that would suck. You know what else would suck?" Felicia asked.

"What?" Vi asked, chewing on the pork.

"The vampires." Felicia giggled.

Vi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Funny, Mom."

"I thought so." Felicia paused. "Looking forward to summer vacation?"

Vi paused and sipped her Pepsi as she thought about that. "Depends."

"On what?"

Vi frowned. "On if you can keep Mike off my ass for the entire summer."

Felicia sighed. "That's asking a lot. I'm not sure I can manage that."

"Well, then can we go away for the summer?" Vi asked.

Felicia frowned. "And who's gonna pay the bills?"

"Bills are overrated."

Felicia sighed. "Vi, I wish I could shield you from this, but...if it's true that you're a...Potential...I think you oughta do what he says."

Vi picked up a piece of fried chicken. "Seriously?"

Felicia nodded. "Seriously. Train. Grow stronger. Learn. Your life might depend on it someday."

Vi bit off a bit of the skin. "Mom...do you ever wish I was never discovered to be a Potential Slayer?"

Felicia nodded. "All the fucking time. But I don't know who...or what...makes these decisions. Who gets chosen, and who doesn't? Who's a Potential, and who isn't?"

Vi sighed. "Well, whoever or whatever is in charge of it, I wish it'd leave me the fuck alone."

Felicia sighed. "Me, too."

"Would you be willing to come to my training sessions with me?" Vi asked.

"What?" Felicia asked. "I don't think Mike would like that. He kinda made it clear that he wanted me to stay out of the way."

"Please?!" Vi begged. "He's so...cold and by-the-book. It'd be nice to have a friendly face there."

"Besides you?" Felicia asked.

Vi smiled, pleasantly surprised.

Felicia laughed. "Okay, I'll try to come to your training sessions."

"Thanks."

"I might not be able to always make it, though, just so you know. It'll depend on my work schedule."

"Understood." Vi ate the last bite of her egg roll, set down her fork, and stood up. "Vi wins! On to Round 2!"

Felicia laughed. "Go attack the food, my ferocious fighter."

Vi happily headed toward the buffet.

The next day, Cordelia reported to Stage 6 in a big, white warehouse to shoot a commercial. The stage was made up to look like a sunlit beach.

After changing into a bikini, Cordelia, wearing a heavy, white bathrobe, noticed Angel standing on the stage and stepped up to him. "What are you doing here?"

Angel smiled at her. "Getting a tan. Ha. Not bursting into flames?"

"So...what are you doing here?"

"I have to ask you a question. In your vision, did the Haklar demon-"

Cordelia grabbed him by the arms as she saw someone coming. "Shut up. The director's come in." She looked at the director. "Hi. I just wanna say thanks for casting me."

"You're welcome. Lose the bathrobe."

"Excuse me?"

"What's wrong? You don't speak English? The wardrobe. I need to see it. Lose the robe, princess."

Cordelia stared at him for a moment, and he snapped his fingers a few times.

"Sure. Sure." Cordelia slowly took the robe off to reveal she was wearing a very skimpy bikini dotted with seashells.

"Turn around."

Cordelia did so, slowly.

"Well, nothing wrong there. Okay, turn."

Cordelia turned to face him again.

"When does she go to makeup?" His assistant looked at his notebook.

"I've already been to makeup."

"Really." The director looked at his assistant. "Then take her back. Tell David to get rid of those circles under her eyes. She looks like a refugee from an abused women's shelter."

"I had food poisoning."

The director looked at her. "Yeah, right. You eat. Good one." He looked at his assistant. "Tell David I'm supposed to wanna sleep with this woman. I don't. Do you wanna sleep with her? Of course, you don't."

Angel glared at him. "You're out of line."

The director turned and stared.

"Apologize to her."

"Oh, let me guess. Wanna-be rocker or part-time male model. I could go either way on this one."

Angel took a step closer to him. "I said apologize to her."

"Really?" He leaned over to his assistant. "Get security."

Cordelia stared at Angel. "Angel-"

"Who the hell do you think you are, huh?" Angel asked the director.

"I think I'm the director." He looked at Cordelia. "And I think you're real smart for bringing your unemployed boyfriend onto my set, telling me how to film my commercial. That's really helping your career."

Cordelia put her bathrobe back on, took a hold of Angel's arm, and pulled him away from the director. "I'm sorry. Uh. He won't bother you anymore."

"Oh, I know he won't. Because security is gonna toss his ass in about two minutes. Now, get into makeup and hope they can work miracles." The director left.

Cordelia turned to face Angel.

"Do you want me to rip that guy's head off for you?" Angel offered. "Because, you know, I can. I can actually just rip his head right off his body. I can do that."

"Are you trying to ruin my career? I mean is this, like, a conscious effort on your part?"

"No. I just-"

"You need to go. Now."

Angel let out a deep breath.

"Why are you still here? Go!" Cordelia yelled.

"Look, I have to ask you a question."

Cordelia let out a deep breath and folded her arms in front of her. "What?"

"In your vision...the Haklar demon that you saw, did he eat his victim whole, or did he just rip out the liver?"

Cordelia made a disgusted face.

'Cause, I mean, it's a funny story; according to my informant, liver-eating Haklars have different feeding grounds than people-eaters, and I need to know what kind it was, so I can track it down and kill it."

Cordelia nodded, then shook her head and turned to walk away. "I hate my whole fucking life."

Gunn was sitting on the round bench in the lobby of the Hyperion, watching Kate pace.

"So...this Heckler demon we're supposed to kill-"

"Haklar."

"This Haklar we're supposed to kill. Give me the specs. What I need to know?" Gunn asked.

Kate stopped pacing. "The Haklar, descended for the Klensan Order demons, can weigh as much as three tons as an adult male. It awakes from its hibernation during alternating full moons only to feed and mate - often simultaneously. Incapable of traditional speech, the Haklar has learned to communicate with each other via a pattern of carefully-timed facial ticks, similar to our own Morse code. The Haklar prefers a warm, moist climate where it can-"

"Kate."

"Yeah?"

"I meant how do we go about killing it?"

"Oh. Your standard slice and dice."

The door opened, and George and Rondell walked in.

Gunn got up to greet them. "Hey. What are y'all doing here?"

"Got a situation."

"Kate, these are Rondell and George."

Kate shook their hands. "Nice to meet you."

"The situation, what is it?" Gunn asked.

"What else?" Rondell asked. "Vamps."

"Pack of them making McKenzie Park their new personal restaurant."

Gunn thought about that. "Got a lot of homeless sleeping there."

"They be the meals."

Gunn nodded. "Sounds like what we need to do is set a trap."

"Trap's already set."

"It is?"

"We know the drill. Everything's in motion."

"Oh. All right. You just need me to-"

"Lend us your truck."

"You want my ride?"

"It's still tricked out for killing, ain't it?"

"Well, yeah. But-"

"We wanna go in with everything we got."

Gunn threw a quick look at Kate. "Count me in, then."

"What about the Haklar?" Kate asked him.

"Angel gets a lock on its crib, page me."

Angel came in. "Haklar is living on the North Shore of Lake Hollywood. We better hurry. They've got a 5K race starting there in a half-hour."

Kate looked at Gunn. "Consider yourself paged."

Gunn looked from Kate to George and Rondell. "I got to take this. Wait for me, though. I'm through, I hook up with you guys at base camp, we head out together."

"Yeah, whatever, G." Rondell bumped George. "Let's roll, man."

The two of them left with Gunn looking after them.

Kate walked up to Angel. "Angel, is everything all right?"

Angel handed Gunn an ax, then picked up another one and tossed it to Kate before getting one for himself. He sighed. "I-It's Cordy."

"What about her?" Kate asked.

"Headaches getting worse?" Gunn asked.

"What happened?" Kate asked.

"Nothing happened. It-It's just..." Angel paused. "Heh. Acting is her dream job? I mean...that's the world she really wants to live in? With people like that? I don't get it."

"Who are you talking about?" Kate asked.

"Mr. 'Hey, I'm an L.A. director, you know, shooting a commercial, so I must be the center of the universe' guy? It's just, like, if you wanna make it in show business, you just pretend you're on the food chain? I mean all we do is save the world. And the way he talks to her. It's like she's his commodity. Like she's his slave or something. And you know what the worst part is? She took it. When was the last time Cordy took shit from any of us?" Angel asked.

Gunn frowned. "Never."

"Exactly! He's also got her wearing this...flimsy swimsuit that covers like..." Angel twisted the ax handle between his hands as he looked up at the ceiling. "...nothing."

"Shouldn't we be off killing something?" Kate asked him.

"Absolutely. Let's get this show on the road."

The three of them headed out.

Cordelia was on the fake beach, spreading suntan lotion on the guy laying on his stomach between her and another girl. "Goes on smooth, like a lover's kiss. It's the only suntan lotion good enough for our man."

"Cut. Cut." The director stepped up to Cordelia. "You're in his light."

"Still?"

"I told you twice, you have to bend over more."

Cordelia frowned. "If I bend over any more, my tits are gonna fall out of my top."

"And then you'll be out of his light. See? Everybody wins."

Cordelia motioned towards the lights. "But isn't there something we could do-"

"I didn't hire you to play Ophelia. Show the cleavage, say the line. Got it? Or you wanna waste more of our time?"

Cordelia thought for a moment. "Got it."

The director left, and Cordelia looked down.

Dawn was standing at the island, making sandwiches for breakfast for herself and the others. It was her turn to make breakfast today. The others weren't up yet.

Buffy walked downstairs. "Hey."

Dawn looked at her. "Hey. Breakfast's almost ready."

"What did you make?" Buffy asked, wary. Then she noticed a sandwich and took it. "Eggplant, that's me." She picked up another sandwich out of curiosity. "Salami with..." She looked at the sandwich and made a disgusted face. "...ew, peanut butter?" She gave it to Dawn.

"Yeah, like eggplant is normal. It's what, half-egg, half-plant?" Dawn asked. "'Cause that's just unnatural."

Buffy stuck out her tongue and took a bite of her sandwich.

"Don't forget tonight." Dawn paused mid-bite. "Oh, are we still on for tonight?"

Buffy nodded. "Mmm-hmm. Just please don't skip school anymore."

"Deal." Dawn finished her sandwich and picked up her bookbag. "Okay, I'm off."

Buffy stared at her, then grabbed her keys off the island. "I'll drive you."

The sisters headed for the door.

"You don't trust me?" Dawn asked.

"I'll trust you once I see you're inside the school."

Dawn stared at her, upset.

Buffy was silent for a moment. "Trust is earned, Dawn." She unlocked and opened the door.

Dawn walked outside, and Buffy followed.

That evening, Buffy drove Dawn, Tara, Amy, and Katrina to the ice rink for a local figure skating competition that Dawn was participating in. Buffy and the Slayerettes were performing the song for her routine. Sandy joined them there.

As the band was setting up their gear, Dawn sat at a table and changed into her ice skates.

"Up next, Dawn Summers."

Holding onto the table, Dawn stood up and walked out onto the ice. She skated to the center of the rink. The spotlight came on, shining down on her. Dawn looked at her sister and nodded.

Buffy started playing her guitar, and Tara joined in with her keyboard, Katrina and Sandy joined in with their bass guitars, and Amy joined in with her drums.

Dawn started skating. She didn't attempt anything difficult at first, mostly just skating forwards and backwards.

Buffy watched her sister's routine while playing and singing, the others occasionally joining in with chants:

"Gloria,
You're always on the run now.
Running after somebody,
You gotta get him somehow.
I think you've got to slow down
Before you start to blow it.
I think you're headed for a breakdown,
So be careful not to show it.
You really don't remember,
Was it something that he said?
Are the voices in your head
Calling, Gloria?

"Gloria,
Don't you think you're fallin'?
If everybody wants you,
Why isn't anybody callin'?
You don't have to answer.
Leave them hangin' on the li-ine, oh-oh-oh,
Calling Gloria.

"Gloria (Gloria),
I think they got your number (Gloria).
I think they got the alias (Gloria)
That you've been living under (Gloria).
But you really don't remember,
Was it something that they said?
Are the voices in your head
Calling, Gloria?"

Dawn successfully completed a triple Axel. The audience applauded and cheered. Buffy beamed with pride, then she resumed singing:

"A-ha-ha, a-ha-ha, Gloria,
How's it gonna go down?
Will you meet him on the main line,
Or will you catch him on the rebound?
Will you marry for the money,
Take a lover in the afternoon?
Feel your innocence slipping away;
Don't believe it's comin' back soon.
And you really don't remember,
Was it something that he said?
Are the voices in your head
Calling, Gloria?

"Gloria,
Don't you think you're fallin'?
If everybody wants you,
Why isn't anybody callin'?
You don't have to answer.
Leave them hangin' on the li-ine, oh-oh-oh,
Calling Gloria.

As the band finished playing, Dawn finished her routine. Everyone applauded for her.

Suddenly, Glory ran out onto the ice, picked up Dawn, slung her over her shoulder, and ran away. Dawn screamed. The crowd started murmuring.

Buffy set down her guitar and ran after them. She jumped into the air, did a somersault, and landed in front of them. Glory stopped.

Buffy whirled, grabbed Dawn by the hand, and ran straight through the front door, outside. Glory laughed and started after them. Amy held up her left hand. Glory suddenly couldn't move. She made an angry face. Amy wrapped her other arm around Tara, who held up her right hand.

Glory went flying backward, through the side of the building, into some bushes.

Katrina, Sandy, Amy, and Tara ran outside. Buffy and Dawn ran across the parking lot. Buffy still had Dawn by the hand.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled.

"We have to keep moving!"

"I can't!" Dawn fell to the ground.

Buffy hauled her back up, scooped Dawn up in her arms, jumped over a bench, and continued running. She crossed a paved pathway, heading toward the street. Buffy ran onto the sidewalk, and suddenly Glory was in front of them. Buffy put Dawn down, and they both stared fearfully at Glory.

Glory stared at them. "I really hate it when people touch my things."

Buffy got angry. "Your 'things'?"

Dawn just stood there, scared.

"Last words, Slay-runt?" Glory asked Buffy.

"Just one. Truck."

Glory looked to her right, too late, as a huge semi smashed into her.

Buffy and Dawn ran off in the other direction.

Kate followed Angel into the Hyperion, dabbing at her brow with a handkerchief. "Has it-"

"Stopped bleeding? Yeah."

They stopped as they spotted Cordelia sitting, hunched over, on one of the seats in the lobby.

Kate frowned in concern. "Cordelia."

"Hi."

Cordelia looked up at them, then back down at the floor.

Angel took a step closer. "Look, I just wanna say...if I was out of line today-"

Cordelia straightened up. "If you were out of line? If?" She got up. "You're comfortable with your use of the word 'if' here, are you?"

Angel threw a look at Kate, then turned around as Cordelia walked past him.

"I'm sorry I embarrassed you."

Cordelia let out a breath. "Who am I kidding? I embarrassed myself. I just wanted to act, that's all. For them to like me, because I was good. I never wanted to feel like this." She paused. "I thought Gunn was with you guys."

Kate shrugged. "He was. After the fight, he had to go home to take care of some vampire business."

"How was the big fight? All big and...fighty?" Cordelia asked.

Kate smiled. "We managed to kill the Haklar just as it was about to devour a group of power walkers."

Angel shook his head. "Horrible."

"I know. I saw it in my stupid vision, remember?"

"No, not the Haklar, the power walkers. I mean...walking, I get, but power walking? Why not just run for a shorter time?" Angel shook his head. "Weird. Plus one of them hit her."

"A power walker did that?" Cordelia asked, looking at Kate.

"Apparently, she felt I disrespected the Haklar's culture by killing it."

"This town sucks." Cordelia scrunched up her face and put a hand up to her head. She doubled over, groaning. She straightened back up, still clutching her head.

Angel hurried over.

Cordelia got blurry images of a girl wearing a locket taking a book off a shelf and opening it. Suddenly, a large man came from behind and grabbed her. She was carried off, screaming.

"You're okay?" Angel asked Cordelia.

"Why does everyone always ask me that? Do I look okay?!"

Angel backed a few steps away.

"What did you see?" Kate asked.

"A woman. She was at the public library. I think she works there. She was reading a book. Then a large guy grabbed her and carried her off."

Angel checked his watch. "We better get to the library. They'll be closing soon."

Kate nodded. "Right."

The three of them got ready to head out.

The gang regrouped at the Magic Box. Giles and Jenny were there as well.

Dawn stood in the middle of the room. "A-And then whoosh! All of a sudden, Glory's standing right there in front of us, all skanky and blonde and thinkin' she's all that just 'cause she has nice feet."

Everyone stared at her except Buffy, who was peering out through the closed window blinds.

Dawn cleared her throat. "A-And she's comin' right at us, and Buffy's just standing there, not even blinking, like 'Bring it on', and then wham!" She smacked one fist into her other hand. "Hell-bitch in orbit."

Jenny grinned. "Go, Buff!"

Giles smiled. "I knew you'd best Glory eventually; I mean all - all your years of training-"

"A truck hit her."

"Oh."

"You threw it at her?" Sandy asked Buffy.

Dawn tried to play Buffy's role up. "Well, no. She more kind of waited for it to hit Glory. Uh, but then Buffy and I ran really fast, and we got away."

"I don't know how we got away. That truck couldn't have slowed her down for more than a second."

Giles shrugged. "Well, how isn't important; all that matters is that the two of you are safe."

Buffy scoffed, then turned to look at him, angry. "Safe? We've barely been able to manage not getting seriously dead every fucking time we've crossed paths with Glory."

Giles and Dawn felt chastised.

Giles thought for a moment. "There must be something in the Book of Tarnis that we've missed, something we can use against Glory."

"We can't fight her."

Giles was surprised. "W-Well not yet, no, but-"

"No, not ever. She's too strong, Giles. We're not gonna win this with - with stakes or spells or pulling out some uranium power core. She's a god, and she's coming for us. So let's just not be here when she starts knocking."

"Run away?" Amy asked.

Buffy looked at her. "Well, we can't stay here! She'll just kill us off one by one until there's no one left standing between her and Dawn."

Giles frowned. "Buffy, we all understand the severity of the situation, but there must be another way."

"No. We stay, we die. Show of hands for that option."

Everyone was silent.

"All right. Nobody goes home; nobody tells anybody we're leaving. Just pack up whatever supplies that we need, and that's it; we're gone."

Dawn smiled. "Cool. Don't have to study for that Geometry test."

Buffy turned to look out the window again.

"Why did Glory take Dawn?" Katrina suddenly asked.

Buffy turned and looked at her. "What?"

"Glory said she was gonna kill your friends and family, right?" Katrina asked. "Why'd she take her instead of punching her head off?"

Buffy made a disgusted face. "Jesus Christ, Trina." Then she started thinking. "I don't know why. But...she indicated Dawn was her property."

Now, Katrina was disgusted. "One person doesn't own another."

No one said anything for a while.

Dawn gathered her nerve. "Thanks."

Buffy looked at her. "For what?"

"You know. Pretty much everything."

"Yeah. I'm doin' a great job."

"You are."

Buffy scoffed. "I'm the Slayer. The Chosen One. All mythic and defender-y. Evil nasties are supposed to flee from me. Not the other way around."

Dawn walked over to stand beside Buffy. "You saved me. It's the most amazing thing anyone's ever done for me."

They looked at each other for a moment.

Dawn looked away. "What are we gonna do?"

Buffy frowned slightly, then put her arms around Dawn's shoulders and pulled Dawn close, resting Dawn's head on her shoulder. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." She looked at everyone. "We're all gonna make it. I'm not losing anyone."

There was a knock on the door. Buffy and Giles looked at each other in surprise and confusion.

Buffy turned and peered through the blinds. She saw Gloria standing by the door. She looked at the others. "It's Gloria."

The others didn't know what to make of that.

Buffy walked over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it. "Gloria."

"Can I come in?" Gloria asked.

Buffy stepped aside.

Gloria walked into the Magic Box and smiled. "Thanks."

Everyone suddenly saw Gloria as Glory, even though there was no difference in their appearance. Buffy and Dawn stared in horror. Buffy pushed Dawn behind her. Everyone else was surprised and scared.

Sandy rushed at Glory with a yell, Amy right behind her. Glory hit Sandy, and she crashed backward into Amy. They both fell against the wall. Buffy rushed at Glory as the ladies tried to get up. Glory hit Buffy, and she crashed into Tara, both of them hitting the wall and then falling to the floor.

Glory turned to look at Dawn, giving a little laugh. Dawn was frightened. Glory ran forward and grabbed Dawn. Katrina grabbed Dawn from the other side, but Glory pulled her free and began running out.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled.

Buffy painfully tried to get up as Glory, dragging Dawn by the hand, ran out the door.

Buffy limped outside and looked around. "Dawn!"

Gunn walked into the gang's quiet base camp and saw one of them standing guard.

"Junior, where is everybody?" Gunn asked.

Junior wouldn't answer or even look at Gunn.

"What's wrong?"

When he still didn't get an answer, Gunn moved on to find the whole group standing silently together in another room. They parted to let Gunn through to the front, where he found Rondell laid out on a pallet.

Gunn crouched down next to George. "What...?"

George turned Rondell's head to the side, exposing a vampire's fang marks on his neck.

"Did they make him drink?" Gunn asked.

"We don't know."

Gunn closed his eyes and turned his face to the side.

In the main room of Glory's apartment, Glory stood, wearing a simple black dress. To her left, Dawn sat on a sofa, bound and gagged, whimpering with fear.

"Relax! I'm not gonna kill you." Glory frowned in puzzlement. "Not in the mood. What do you think that's about?"

Dawn just stared at her.

"In mercy does my power lie." Glory frowned again, slapping herself in the head. "No, retard, in torture, death, and chaos does my power lie. So tell me, why am I not popping your head like a zit right now?"

Dawn had no idea.

"Maybe I'm just hungry. No, I'm not hungry. Uhh! Just a little tight in the skin is all. I've been waiting an eternity - well, twenty-five human years - and it all comes down to tonight. The portal shall open. And I shall return to the hell I came from. Where I'm gonna rain down more super-sized portions of slaughter, mayhem, and bloodshed than you can even dream about." Glory paced, then sat down on another sofa to Dawn's right. "So how come I ain't happy? Got everything I ever wanted. Still, something's off." She twirled her wrist a few times - as if it was stiff. "I don't know. What do you think?" She looked at Dawn.

Dawn just stared at her.

"Imagine what you'd feel with my fingers wiggling in your brain."

Dawn was very scared.

"It doesn't kill you. What it does...is make you feel like you're in a noisy, little, dark room..." Glory frowned and fidgeted uncomfortably. "...naked and ashamed...and there are things in the dark that need to hurt you, because you're bad...little pinching things that go in your ears..."

Dawn began to cry.

"...and crawl on the inside of your skull. And you know...if the noise and the crawling would stop...you could remember how to get out."

Glory contemplated this as Dawn continued to cry quietly.

Then Glory turned to look at Dawn again. "But you never, ever will."

Dawn forced herself to stop crying and look Glory in the eyes, saying nothing.

"Fine. Let's get crazy." Glory caressed the side of Dawn's face with her hand.

Dawn whimpered and tried to pull her face away.

Angel followed Kate and Cordelia into the public library.

The librarian looked at them. "If you're planning on checking out anything, you've got about five minutes."

Cordelia looked at her. "Actually, we're looking for someone that works here."

"Who's that?"

"Okay, she's...tall. She has brown hair about down to here." Cordelia indicated her waist. "Wears glasses, pretty..."

"Sorry."

"She wears a locket, shaped like a ball or - or an apple, I think?"

"An apple? Fred wore one of those."

"Fred?" Angel asked.

"Winifred. Everyone called her Fred."

A distant memory surfaced in Cordelia's mind.

"Do you know where we can find her?" Angel asked.

The librarian stared at them for a moment, then pulled a folded flyer from under the desk counter and handed it to Cordelia. "Fred disappeared five years ago. They never found her. Police said if she didn't show up in the first week..." She paused. "Well, we all stopped hoping a while ago."

Cordelia stared at the picture on the flyer. "Yeah, I've seen this before. Winifred Burkle. Disappeared May 7th, 1996." She handed the flyer to Angel. "This is her."

"Can you tell us anything about her?" Kate asked the librarian.

"She worked here in the library with me. She was studying to be a physicist."

Kate frowned. "The day she disappeared..."

"Oh...it was creepy. One minute, she is cataloging in the Foreign Language section, and, the next minute, she's gone!"

Angel looked at her. "Thank you."

He, Kate, and Cordelia walked away.

"So what now?" Kate asked.

"Cordy, is there anything that you can tell us about the man that took Fred?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, like distinguishing marks? Clothing?" Kate suggested.

Cordelia concentrated on the details in the vision. "Um...he had a card in his shirt pocket. Like a...a security card. It reads...Ye Olden Days."

"What's that?" Kate asked.

Angel looked at her. "Local Medieval Times knockoff. I went once. Wasn't very good. More ren fair than medieval."

"So you think Fred was taken there?" Kate asked.

Cordelia shrugged. "It's all that we got."

Buffy put down the phone. "Okay, everybody, fan out. We've got to find Glory. If you find her, don't try anything stupid. Get somewhere safe and call me. If you don't find her, come back here and do research." She looked around at everyone. "Everyone clear?"

They nodded.

Sandy stepped forward. "I'll check the hospital."

Buffy looked at her. "Why there?"

"Well, your Gloria friend works there, right?"

Buffy frowned. "We're looking for Glory, not Gloria."

"Well, yeah, but Gloria happens to be Glory."

Everyone else was confused.

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"You know. Gloria is Glory."

Tara frowned. "You mean...Gloria's with Glory?"

"'With' in what sense?" Katrina asked.

"They're working together?" Amy asked.

Sandy frowned. "No. No. Gloria is Glory. Glory's Gloria. They're one and the same."

Everyone else was completely confused.

"When did all this happen?" Jenny asked.

"Not one hour ago! Right here, before your very eyes! Gloria came, turned into Glory, snatched Dawn, and vanished, remember?"

They continued to stare at her.

"You do remember...?" Sandy asked, uncertain, then squinted at them. "Is everyone here very stoned?"

They continued to be confused.

Sandy got annoyed. "Gloria! Glory! She's a doctor; she's the goddess. Surely, you remember."

Katrina frowned. "So you're saying...Gloria and Glory..."

"...have a connection." Amy looked at Katrina.

"Yes, obviously, but what kind?" Giles asked.

Sandy laughed sarcastically. "Oh, I get it. That's fucking great." She nodded. "Glory's worked the kind of mojo where anyone that sees her little presto-change-o instantly forgets. I guess, as a vampire, I'm immune."

Tara frowned. "So...Gloria and Glory...are - are the same person?"

Jenny came to a revelation. "Glory can turn into Gloria, and Gloria turns back into Glory."

Buffy looked at her. "And anyone that sees it instantly forgets."

Sandy sighed in relief. "Thank Goddess."

"Excellent." Giles looked around at them. "Now. Do we suspect there may be some kind of connection between Gloria and Glory?"

The others looked enquiringly at Sandy.

Sandy sighed loudly. "Glory's Gloria."

"Wait, wait, wait. Gloria? At Glory's?" Buffy asked.

Sandy rolled her eyes.

"You're saying, all this time, she's been subletting from her?" Buffy asked.

Sandy bitch-slapped Buffy upside the head.

Buffy grabbed her head in pain. "Ow!"

Sandy huffed. "Last time. From the top."

Gunn's truck pulled up, and Gunn got out. There was old wood furniture in the bed of it.

Gunn grabbed a hold of George as he stepped closer and slammed him up against the back of the truck. "You should have waited for me."

"We've been waiting on you for months, bro."

Gunn pushed him to the side and grabbed a chair from the back of the truck to add it to a pile of other broken furniture laid out a little ways away, then stood there, staring at it.

Glory entered a warehouse, followed by Dawn. Glory had Dawn by the arm. A man wielding a blowtorch was wearing a welding mask. He turned off the blowtorch and lifted the mask. Dawn recognized him as the crazy guy that accosted her outside the Magic Box. She heard rhythmic machinery noises.

As they walked through the warehouse, Dawn saw other crazy people doing various things with machinery. Glory and Dawn went to a door in the back.

Glory opening the door, peeked in, then nodded and gestured behind her. She entered, followed by Dawn. They were in a construction office.

Glory pushed Dawn into a chair and turned away, putting a hand to her head. She sat down. Then she abruptly stood up, walked over to Dawn, removed her gag, and sighed. "You okay?"

"I wanna go home."

"Sweetie...oh..." Glory took another chair, pulled it over in front of Dawn, and sat on the back of the chair with her feet on the chair's seat. "You're about to."

Dawn looked up hopefully.

"I mean your real home."

Dawn began to cry.

"As the Key! You fit the lock. Well, it's like a lock."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Dawn demanded.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know here. Hey!" Glory patted Dawn's knee. "You want a pizza?"

"No."

"Pillow?" Glory looked at the TV. "I don't know if this thing gets cable. Doubtful."

Dawn started crying. "Please. Stop."

"You nervous?"

"Yes."

Glory smiled, then got down to sit on the chair seat. "I know how you feel. It is your last night."

Dawn's eyes widened in horror.

"As, you know, a human." Glory picked up Dawn's hand by the wrist and shook it around. "This body...it's just a rental, Dawnie. Being human? It's like a costume for girls like you and me. Being something else, that's what we are."

"Don't."

Glory smiled. "What?"

"Don't call me Dawnie."

Glory gave a surprised laugh, let go of Dawn's hands, and sat back. "Huh. Wow. You know, that actually hurt my feelings."

"I'm sorry."

Glory lifted a hand. "Not the point."

Glory got up and walked past Dawn, who continued to be very scared.

"I'm just thinking, here I am, trying to make you feel better, when comforting others...not part of my life." Glory frowned. "And I'm doing it, so I can stop...feeling so..." She patted her chest. "...um..." Glory snapped her fingers at Dawn, her back turned. "Help me out."

"Guilty?" Dawn suggested, nervous.

"Guilty." Glory laughed. "That's it! She laughed some more, then stopped. "But I'm not supposed to feel guilty. I'm not supposed to feel anything. I'm - I'm...I'm a god. I'm above it. I'm ..." She looked over at Dawn. "You."

Dawn was frightened.

Glory strode back over to her. "You did this to me, didn't you? Some sort of spell-" She paused. "But no. It's not magic. It's something else." She put her hand to her head, then looked angrily at Dawn. "Still, it is you doing this."

Dawn shook her head. "I...I'm not doing anything. I swear."

"We'll see." Glory glared at Dawn. "I found out your blood is the key to the Key! All I gotta do is bleed you dry, the portal opens up, and I can go home! So knock yourself out, girlfriend. Make me feel bad as you can. 'Cause tomorrow...you bleed, little girl."

Dawn stared at her.

Glory sighed. "I'm hating this."

"What?"

"Memories. I'm starting to remember..." Glory paused. "I came to see you as Gloria. And then you saw me as me; you remember?"

"Yes."

Glory frowned. "You're not supposed to remember that! Nobody should!" She rubbed her chest anxiously. "My powers are fading! I want to help you." She groaned. "I can't do this!" She walked past Dawn and leaned against the wall, sniffling. "Help me!" She started pacing. "I'm...I'm thinking pure thoughts, and...and I'm feeling pure feelings! And...uh! I..."

She suddenly disappeared, her dress falling to the floor. Dawn stared in surprise.

Glory suddenly reappeared, naked. "...can't kill you. Damn it." She collapsed to the floor. Supporting herself on her arms, she looked up at Dawn with pleading eyes. "Help me!"

Dawn stared at her, terrified. "I don't know how."

Glory got up with a scowl. She went to Dawn, grabbed Dawn by the throat, and pulled her to her feet. Dawn gasped and was choking.

"We do this now!" Glory yelled.

Then she disappeared again. Dawn staggered back, clutching her throat.

Angel was driving them to the dinner theater.

Kate put down her cell phone. "Why isn't Gunn answering our pages? What if he's in some kind of trouble?"

Cordelia looked at her. "Or maybe he's in the middle of his stake-o-rama."

Kate sighed. "Angel, please stop by the hotel. We'll leave him a message."

After giving herself a while to recover, Dawn ran for the door. Glory suddenly reappeared, blocking her path. Dawn grabbed a pillar for support, gasping.

Glory smiled. "We need a little girl time."

Dawn glared angrily at Glory.

Glory put her hands to her face, then rubbed the sides of her neck. "How do they do it?"

"Do what?" Dawn asked hoarsely.

"People!" Glory walked toward Dawn. "How do they function here like this in the world with all this bile running through them? Every day, it's whoo-oo." She wiggled her hand at Dawn. "You have no control. They're not even animals; they're just these meatbaggy slaves to - to hormones and pheromones and their - and their feelings. Hate 'em!"

Dawn stared at Glory.

Glory went behind a drafting table and leaned her arms against it. "I mean really. Is this what the poets go on about, this?" She thumped her chest, shook her head, and sighed. "Call me crazy, but, as hardcore drugs go, human emotion is just useless! People are puppets! Everyone getting jerked around by what they're feelin'. Am I wrong?" She looked at Dawn. "Really, I want to know."

Dawn leaned against the pillar, looking at the floor.

"Gonna bleed you either way."

Dawn opened her eyes and looked at Glory. "Depends on the person."

"So you're saying some people like this."

Dawn felt defensive. "Some."

"Funny. 'Cause I look around at this world you're so eager to be a part of...and all I see is six-billion lunatics looking for the fastest ride out." Glory smiled. "Who's not crazy? Look around. Everyone's drinking, smoking, shooting up, shooting each other, or just plain fucking their brains out, 'cause they don't want 'em anymore." She looked at Dawn. "I'm crazy? Honey, I'm the original one-eyed chicklet in the kingdom of the blind." She sighed. "'Cause at least I admit the world makes me nuts." Glory came out from behind the drafter's table and walked toward Dawn. "Name one person that can take it here. That's all I'm asking." She got in Dawn's face. "Name one."

"Buffy."

Glory disappeared.

Dawn strode over to the door and opened it. Dawn ran out the door.

Gunn stared at Rondell laid out on the pile of broken furniture.

George threw a match and lit the pyre.

The whole gang watched in silence as the flames licked into the night sky.

Dawn was walking down a street in Sunnydale, looking nervously over her shoulder.

"Hey, you prepubescent puke!" Glory yelled.

Dawn looked forward, horrified and very scared.

"Okay, first thought, just totally spontaneous, unfiltered, off the top of my head: fucking rude!" Glory pinned one of Dawn's arms behind her and forced her farther into the alley.

Dawn grunted in pain.

Glory let go. "You probably think I won't waste any precious blood of yours 'til the ritual. You're right. But I know a thousand ways to hurt you that won't spill a drop."

Glory shoved Dawn in the chest. Dawn stumbled backward with a yelp. She backed up toward some stairs leading up to a door. Dawn ended up sitting on a stair, clutching the metal hand-rail.

Glory advanced on her. "You know all those pesky feelings I've been having, like guilt, empathy? I'm gonna take 'em and mash 'em back down where they belong, okay? Now..." She stroked the side of Dawn's face. "...let's have big-girl fun." She grabbed Dawn's chin. "Just you and..."

She disappeared.

Dawn slowly got up and started edging away.

Glory eventually reappeared. "No, no, no!"

Glory grabbed Dawn and threw her across the alley. Dawn slammed into a dumpster and fell to the ground.

"Stick around, chica." Glory advanced on the frightened Dawn. "I'm going home, no matter what you do."

Glory looked to the side, reached down to grab an empty beer bottle, and disappeared. Then she reappeared. Glory grabbed the bottle and slammed it against the side of the dumpster, breaking it. She held the broken edge up to Dawn's face. Dawn cringed away in terror. Glory pulled Dawn away from the dumpster, threw her across the alley, then threw the bottle against the wall, shattering it. Dawn crouched on the ground, staring at Glory in fear. Glory kept disappearing and reappearing. Dawn watched this, wide-eyed. Glory walked over to Dawn, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to her feet. She whirled Dawn around in a circle and disappeared in mid-whirl. Dawn fell to the ground again. Glory reappeared, slid down a wall, and disappeared.

Glory reappeared and stared at Dawn, who stared back fearfully.

Glory got up, went over to Dawn, and held out her hand. "I'm sorry."

Wary, Dawn lifted her hand to take hers. Glory grabbed her wrist instead.

"No!" Dawn yelled.

Glory pulled her to her feet and led her out of the alley. They came out onto the street.

Kate was standing at the counter, writing a note for Gunn.

"Hey."

Kate turned to the door. "Gunn! Where have you been? We've been worried."

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay. It's fine. So if you're ready-"

"I'm not going."

Everyone looked at Gunn.

"What?" Angel asked.

"Tonight, I lost one of my crew. I should have been there, but...I'm sorry, but I can't! I know that makes me..." Gunn shook his head. "I don't know what it makes me. But I figured I just owed it to you to tell you face to face."

Everyone stayed silent.

"Wish you luck. Please. Find her."

Gunn and Angel looked at each other for a moment, then Gunn turned and left.

Angel leaned on the counter, across from Kate.

Kate looked at him. "Gunn does have...responsibilities...ties...people to take care of."

"So do I. But right now, we have a missing person to find."

"So we're leaving?" Cordelia asked.

Angel shrugged. "I guess so."

In the Magic Box, Buffy heard sounds in the alleyway outside and went to listen at the door.

"Gave me a pretty good run there. Bet the blood's just pumpin'. Bet it's hot."

"Don't hurt me."

"Don't hurt you?" The speaker laughed.

Buffy opened the door and popped her head out. "Hey, what's going on?" she asked innocently.

A large male vampire turned his head to glare at her.

"Help me! Call the police!" a teenage boy yelled.

"Get outta here, girl." The vampire turned back to the kid.

Buffy emerged from the doorway. "You guys havin' a fight? 'Cause, you know, fighting's not cool."

The vampire turned to glare at her again.

"Get out of here!" the kid yelled.

"No." The vampire turned fully toward Buffy. "No, she wants to stay. I don't mind a little appetizer."

Buffy gave him a small frown, walking forward. "Have you ever heard the expression, 'biting off more than you can chew'?"

The vampire frowned, shaking his head.

"Okay. Um...how about the expression, 'Vampire Slayer'?"

"What the hell you talkin' about?"

"Wow. Never heard that one. Okay. How about 'Oh, God, my leg, my leg'?"

The vampire growled and lunged at her. She ducked his grab, punched him in the face, and kicked his leg. His knee buckled, and he fell to the ground.

"Oh, God! My leg! Uhh..."

"See? Now, we're communicating."

The vampire surged up, grabbed Buffy, and threw her against the wall. He grabbed her again, but she pushed his arms away, punched him in the face, kneed him, then went around behind him and kicked him into the wall. He landed against a dumpster, turned, and backhanded Buffy, who stumbled forward toward the boy. The boy leaped out of the way. The vampire punched Buffy again, picked her up, and slammed her down on top of another dumpster. Buffy kicked the vampire, cartwheeled off the dumpster, and kicked him again, then again, and then yet again. On the final kick, he landed on his back among a pile of wooden boxes. They all shattered. One of the shards of wood flew toward Buffy, and she caught it. As the vampire lunged up out of the boxes, she staked him with the piece of wood.

Buffy stared at the body. "Wow. Been a long while since I met one that didn't know me." She turned to go, paused, and looked at the kid. "You should get home." She began walking back toward the door.

"H-How'd you do that?"

"It's what I do."

"But you're..." The boy paused. "You're just a girl."

Buffy paused in the doorway. "That's what I keep saying." She walked through the door.

Buffy walked down the hall and into the main room. Amy was sitting at the round table with Giles beside her, looking at books. Tara, Katrina, Sandy, and Jenny were checking various books elsewhere in the room.

"Something goin' on out back?" Amy asked.

Buffy walked over to the table. "Vampire."

"Oh."

Buffy sighed. "Anything?"

Giles was sitting at the table with a few books open in front of him. "Nothing."

Buffy thought for a moment. "Fuck it, we're going out. Amy, Tara, spells. Everyone else, grab weapons."

Tara walked over to her. "What are we gonna do, Buffy? She's a god. Let's think outside the box."

Buffy threw up her hands. "Any suggestions?"

Everyone thought in silence for a moment.

"The Dagon Sphere!" Jenny suddenly exclaimed.

"Sorry?" Giles asked.

"When Buffy first met Glory, she found that magical...glowy sphere that was meant to repel Glory. We've got it in the basement. It might drive her away or hurt her."

Giles shrugged. "Well, we have some ideas, if we could actually get Glory on the run, but, um-"

"But we still have no idea how to find her." Buffy sighed.

Angel, Cordelia, and Kate walked up to the ticket counter at the entrance.

"How many?" the man at the ticket counter asked Angel.

"Three."

After Angel paid, the three of them walked into the castle.

"Okay, we split up. If we don't find her in thirty minutes, we'll meet up in the dining hall. Got it?" Angel asked.

Cordelia and Kate nodded.

Glory entered the back room of the warehouse. Dawn was sitting on the floor with her knees up to her chest, eyes closed. Glory walked over to her and crouched down.

Dawn opened her eyes and looked at her. "Why are you doing this?"

"Poor, frightened girl. You've no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

Dawn crossed her arms over her chest. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Wouldn't make a difference."

Dawn stared at her, unsatisfied.

"What do you know of me?" Glory asked.

Dawn shrugged. "Strong. Fast. Hell-bitch."

"Hell-god. From a dimension of unspeakable torment. A demon dimension. I ruled with two other hell-gods. We were a triumvirate of suffering and despair. Ruling with equal vengeance. But my power grew beyond even what they could conceive. As did my lust for pain and misery. They looked upon me, what I had become...and trembled." Glory smiled evilly.

"Gods afraid?" Dawn asked nervously.

"Such was my power. They feared I would attempt to seize our dimension for myself - not an unreasonable assumption - and decided to strike first. A great battle erupted." Glory suddenly looked very bitter. "In the end, they stood victorious over me...barely. The fuckers cast me out. I was banished to a lower plane of existence, forced to live and eventually die trapped within the body of a mortal...a newborn male, created as my prison. But my power was too great to be completely contained. I've found a way to escape my mortal prison...for brief periods, before my energies are exhausted, and I'm forced back...into my living cell of meat and bone, but even it doesn't want me and casts me out. I'm a god in exile...far from the hellfires of home and...sharing my body with an enemy."

"What about me?" Dawn asked.

"The Key...is almost as old as me. Its power is absolute. The Key is...living energy."

"But that's not me. I'm just a kid."

"Well, we'll see. You were created-"

"It."

Glory glared at her briefly, then shrugged. "It was created...to open the gates that separate dimensions. I will use its power - by way of a ritual bloodletting - to return home and seize control of the hell that I was banished from. It needs to be channeled, poured into a specific place at a specific time. The energy...will flow into that spot; the walls between the dimensions break down. I use that time to get back into my own dimension."

Dawn laughed. Glory looked at her in surprise.

"That's it? That's your master plan? To go home?" Dawn asked. "You're an idiot."

"I am a god."

"The god of what, bad home perms?"

"Shut up!" Glory patted her hair. "I command you, shut up!"

Dawn tried to get her laughter under control. "Yeah, okay, sorry, but I just had no idea that gods were such fucking lightweights."

Glory scoffed in disbelief.

Dawn smiled in pride. "My sister, the Slayer, is going to kick your skanky, lopsided ass-"

Glory checked out her ass in dismay.

"-back to whatever place would take a cheap, whorish, fashion-victim ex-god like you." Dawn started laughing again.

"Don't laugh, girlie. It means you die."

Dawn stopped laughing.

"Look, I...I wish there was another way."

Dawn shrugged. "And I wish you'd fall on your head and drown in your own barf, so...I guess we're both disappointed."

"I think...it'll be quick. I'll do what I can to..." Glory stopped and sighed. "That little nagging pinch of humanity that makes me go for the hurt instead of the kill. Lowering myself to trade blows with the Slayer when I should have just put my fist through her fucking heart."

"Or maybe you just can't take her."

Glory stood up, pulling Dawn to her feet. They faced off.

"Hmm, funny thing. You've been here for a few hours now, and I haven't seen big sis galloping in to save you. She probably knows what a terrible mistake that'd be. But that's people for ya. They're pretty worthless."

"She's not afraid of you."

"Oh, no, sweetie baby. I'm talking about the ritual. 'Cause, you know, I bleed you, the portals open, but, once you die, they close. The faster you die, the better for your sorry species."

Glory put her hand on the side of Dawn's face. Dawn was scared.

"I'm bettin' Buffy knows that. I'm guessin' she isn't gonna show. And if she does..."

Dawn winced in pain as Glory's fingers tightened on her head.

"...it might not be to save you."

Glory shoved Dawn aside. She fell to the floor on top of a grating. Glory smirked at her.

"Fuck you!" Dawn yelled. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Glory disappeared.

Cordelia opened a door and noticed it was a cramped bedroom / dressing room. There was a young woman with long, brown hair, wearing glasses, sitting in a chair, staring oddly at her reflection in the mirror.

Cordelia walked into the room and closed the door. That startled the woman, who looked at her.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

"I'm...new." Cordelia walked over and sat in the chair to her right. "What's your name?"

"I forget. It's not important." The woman paused. "Where did you come from?"

"Across town. How long have you been here?"

"I was born here. I-I mean...not really. I j-just...some-sometimes, I think I was. I mean...I don't think it was my thought. I forget certain words. How'd you get here?"

"Drove."

The woman's eyes lit up. "But - But if it's true...I'm not crazy. Well, crazy, but I'm not wrong."

Cordelia stood up, walked, and looked around the room. "Hey, great place."

The woman glanced back at her. "You mean it?"

Cordelia hesitated. "Suuure."

The woman looked away from her.

"So, uh...so you don't wanna talk to me?" Cordelia asked.

"I can't, huh?"

"Why won't you?"

"Because...you're not real. Or I'm not real. Somebody here isn't real, and I suspect it's you. So, if you're not real, that means I'm dead now. Dead. And with me being dead and you not being real, I can hardly be expected to have some big conversation with you at the moment, because it's just a little too much pressure, all right?!"

Cordelia held up her hands. "Okay. Okay."

The woman nodded.

"You've been here a long time."

"Always." The woman paused. "Not always. But yes...a long time. You're lucky to not have experienced this."

Cordelia shrugged. "My parents were busted for tax fraud, and my trust fund dried up overnight. We all have our struggles."

Cordelia spotted something on a shelf and picked it up. It was a California driver's license for Winifred Burkle, living in Los Angeles, brown hair, 5'6", 114 pounds, expiration date: 03-01-98.

The woman turned around with a smile. "I had a dream. I had a name."

"Winifred."

The woman stood up, hurried over, and pulled the license out of her hand.

"You're the girl from my vision!" Cordelia exclaimed.

"What?"

"Oh, yeah, I've got visions coming out of my ears, sometimes a little blood, too."

"That's...kind of weird."

"Yeah. They called you Fred. You were studying to be a physicist."

"That's my dream."

"You disappeared from a library five years ago."

Fred shook her head. "Stop it."

"It's not a dream, Fred."

"It's not?"

"No."

"And my head's still on?"

Cordelia gently pushed her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose. "Yeah."

Fred smiled. "You're real?"

Cordelia smiled and nodded.

Fred's smile melted into a frown, and she started to shake her head as she moved a few steps away from Cordelia. "No. No, I don't want you to be real."

"Why?"

Fred turned back to face her. "Because! You're nice. And bad things will happen to you here." She shook her head and looked down, twisting her fingers together. "Bad things always happen here."

"No, no, no. Nothing bad's gonna happen. I-It's gonna be okay. We - We can take you out of here."

"We?"

"Yeah. Me and my friends. We - We can take you back."

"Can't get back. There is no back."

"No, there is. So you wanna get out of here?" Cordelia suggested. "I wanna go home. I wanna be in my bed. I wanna...order some Thai food and read the latest issue of Marie Claire. I wanna be doing anything but be here!"

Fred let out something between a laugh and a sob. "Oh. I forgot. Laughing." She glanced around. "You don't leave. They use you as a slave. Then your body gives. Gone."

"Well, that's not happening to me, okay? I have friends here. We're here to rescue you."

"I tried to leave. I couldn't."

Before Cordelia could answer, the door opened.

A man walked in. "Who are you?!"

"I'm-"

"Intruder!"

"What's going on?" Cordelia asked.

Another man walked in. They each grabbed a hold of one of Cordelia's arms and dragged her toward the door.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Cordelia started kicking them.

"Oh, no!" Fred cried.

Buffy was in the workout room, punching the punching bag. She alternated hands and hit it with a steady rhythm.

Tara was standing close by, watching her. "You sure you're not going to tire yourself out?"

Buffy stopped punching. "I'm sure." She resumed punching.

"We're...still working on ideas."

Buffy stopped punching and stretched her arms. Buffy walked slowly over to the sofa in the corner and sat. Tara paced slowly over to the sofa as well and sat down to Buffy's right.

Buffy started crying. "I just wish that...I just wish my mom was here." She paused. "The spirit guide told me...that death is my gift. Guess that means a Slayer really is just a killer after all."

"I think you're wrong about that."

"It doesn't matter. I'm sick of death, no matter who's causing it. If Dawn dies, I'm done with it. I'm quitting."

Angel and Kate had been captured and were forced to act in the dinner theater. They were put in chains, and two warriors pulled them out on stage, in front of the audience.

"For the crime of assault...against those judged to be your betters...you are to be detained until Her Royal Highness passes sentence upon you."

Kate looked at her captor. "I'm guessing community service is out."

He glared at Kate, who raised her chin a little. The warrior stepped in front of Kate and hit her hard in the stomach. Angel tried to come to her aid but was restrained by a warrior.

Kate coughed and slowly straightened back up. "Too bad. I really like those orange vests."

The warrior hit her with a hard right fist across the chin. Kate spun around and managed to catch herself against a block.

Angel stared at her. "Kate, stop."

The warrior moved to stand in front of Kate, who met his eyes without flinching.

"Put them away."

The warriors led them away.

In the warehouse, Glory smiled. "Okay, bitch, it's almost stab time." She moved toward Dawn.

Dawn was scared and backed away. "No. No! Aah! Buffy!"

She continued to scream as Glory grabbed her arms and dragged her away. Glory opened the door leading outside.

Glory dragged Dawn into the courtyard area where the crazy people were still working. Sparks flew from someone's welding. Dawn looked up apprehensively at a huge metal tower built out of scaffolding. It stretched into the air above the warehouse. At the top, a narrow walkway protruded out into the air. Dawn continued to stare up at the tower as Glory led her to some stairs at the base of the tower, and they began to climb.

Angel and Kate were brought to a set of flimsy doors concealing the set of the throne room.

"Prisoners! The day of judgment has arrived. Approach! The venerable monarch is prepared to pass sentence on upon you."

Angel looked at Kate. "One."

"Open the doors."

The guards opened the doors and led the prisoners forward.

"Two."

As they stepped through the doors, Angel suddenly turned and slammed his shackled fists into the stomach of the nearest guard as Kate also attacked the guards around her.

They were interrupted by a loud throat-clearing. They turned to look - and froze in their tracks, their eyes going wide, their mouths dropping open.

They stared at Cordelia, sitting on a throne, surrounded by courtiers, wearing a skimpy, shimmery outfit and crown.

Cordelia smiled. "Hi, guys."

"Cordelia?" Kate asked.

Angel stared at her. "You're...safe."

"Little bit. They made me their ruler."

The soldiers pulled the prisoners to their feet.

"But this is fantastic!" Kate exclaimed.

"Well, it's not like my throne couldn't use a few extra cushions, but I'm really not gonna complain, because...throne?"

Kate held up her chained wrists. "You could order them to release us!"

Cordelia gave her a demented smile. "Yes. I really could."

"Shall we gut the prisoners now that you might dine on their ignoble flesh, oh Most High?" a guard asked.

"You're most high if you think that's gonna happen. Besides, shouldn't there be some extended groveling first?" Cordelia asked.

"Cordelia?" Angel asked.

"Okay. Off with their heads!" Cordelia ordered.

Some of the guards drew their swords to obey as the prisoners flinched in the hold of the rest of them.

Cordelia smiled. "Just kidding."

The guards froze with the blades only inches away from the prisoners' throats.

"Release them."

Angel and Kate were unshackled.

A guard helped Cordelia down the steps in front of her throne. "Your Majesty, I must protest. To allow dangerous criminals to roam free in your presence?"

"You're gonna make me use my 'important voice', aren't you?" Cordelia held up a hand. "Leave us!"

The cast members on the stage slowly filed out of the throne room set and shut the doors behind them. The curtain lowered. The audience could be heard applauding.

"What happened?" Angel asked Cordelia.

Cordelia turned to face him. "I found the girl from my vision, Fred. She was captured and forced to live here and act in this stupid production. Then some assholes came in, hauled me off, and made me act as the princess."

"You found Fred?"

"Yeah, she's in her dressing room. I think they keep her drugged."

In the main room of the Magic Box, Amy sat at the table, reading books. Sandy was loading a crossbow at the counter.

Buffy and Tara walked up to her.

"Where's Trina?" Buffy asked Sandy.

"Uh, she had to go home for some reason."

Buffy and Tara walked up to Amy.

"Ames, what do you got for me?" Buffy asked.

"Some ideas."

Buffy and Tara sat on either side of her.

"Well, notions. Or theories based on wild speculation. Did I mention I'm not good under pressure?" Amy asked.

Buffy gave her a reassuring smile. "I have faith in you, Amy."

"You're the strongest person here. You know that, right?" Tara asked her.

Amy frowned. "Well...no."

Buffy took Amy's hand in her own. "Amy, you're my best shot at getting Glory on the ropes, so don't get a jelly belly on me now."

"Well...I-I...do sort of have this one idea. Well, I've been charting their essences. Mapping out. I think...if I can get close enough, I might be able to reverse what Glory did to everyone. Like, take back what she took from everyone. It might weaken Glory or...make her less coherent. Or it might make all of our heads explode."

"Buffy."

Buffy looked up at the sound of Giles' voice. Across the room, she saw Giles and Jenny gathered around something.

Amy gave Buffy a small smile. "I'll try to work it."

Buffy thought for a moment. "If it comes down to the wire, and there's no other choice, use the enjoining spell. I'll God-Mode the bitch."

Amy was uncertain. "The First Slayer's gonna be pissed."

"So I'll put her in her place again." Buffy got up and walked away, putting her hand briefly on Amy's shoulder as she passed.

Giles was holding the Dagon Sphere.

"That's good. That could be pivotal. Thank you guys." Buffy took the sphere from Giles and examined it.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door.

Angel, Cordelia, and Kate were sword-fighting on the stage against a bunch of warriors - with Fred behind the heroes.

Angel ran after one of the warriors. "Come and face me, you spineless coward!"

"Uh! Why'd you add that coward thing?" Fred asked. "That's really gonna piss him off."

The warrior attacked Angel. Angel drove a sword into his chest. The warrior backed off the sword, unharmed.

"This guy...he doesn't feel pain?" Angel asked Fred.

"Oh, he - he feels it, but...he overcomes all things. Good luck."

One of the warriors lunged at Fred with his sword.

Fred closed her eyes. "Make it quick. Make it quick."

Kate blocked his attack and then kicked the warrior, knocking him down to the floor.

One of the warriors was fighting Cordelia. "You and your filthy princess can go straight-"

Cordelia swung her sword as hard as she could, and the warrior's head went flying off his neck.

Cordelia frowned. "Your princess is tired of hearing you yack, asshole."

The warriors' eyes started glowing red.

"What the fuck?!" Kate exclaimed.

Fire came out of the warriors' mouths. The building started shaking.

Fred shook her head. "Bad things always happen here."

"Everybody out!" Angel yelled.

The audience got out of their seats and started running for the exits. Angel and Cordelia followed.

"Come on!" Kate yelled at Fred.

Fred grabbed a hold of Kate's hand, and Kate pulled her along.

Once everyone was safely out of the building and across the parking lot, they turned and looked back. The building completely collapsed to the ground. Fred watched, a big smile spreading across her face.

Kate turned to Fred and found her staring at her. "You okay?"

Fred clapped a hand to the side of her head. "Beautiful lady...saved me from the monsters."

Kate looked at her with a slight smile.

"Bye." With that, Fred ran off.

"Hey. Wait a minute." Kate hurried after her and grabbed her hand. "Come back to our hotel with us. You can stay there while you...readjust."

Fred looked into Kate's eyes. "Okay."

They headed for Angel's car, Fred continuing to hold Kate's hand.

Fred looked at Cordelia. "What's with the clothes?"

"Oh. They made me a princess."

"They..." Fred paused. "Really? Oh." She looked down. "When I got here, they...they didn't do that. Well. That's nice for you."

At the top of the tower, Glory was tying Dawn to the tower with rope. Dawn stood there, scared. The wind blew her hair around. Dawn looked down and saw her bare feet on the edge of the platform and, far below, the crazy people moving around.

Glory finished tying Dawn up and turned to leave. She looked back. "I'll come back to you soon."

Cordelia, Kate, Fred, and Angel entered the Hyperion's garden court.

"Tacos!" Fred yelled.

The others jumped.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to holler at you. I love tacos. Do they still have them?"

Kate smiled. "Yeah, they didn't outlaw tacos."

"Are - Are you sure about that?"

"Trust me. Tacos everywhere." Kate smiled. "I'll get you some."

"Thanks. I've been trying to make an enchilada out of mystery meat."

"Huh. How's that going?" Kate asked her.

"There is work to be done." Fred looked at Cordelia. "I know you're not an actual princess. What do you do?"

"I'm an actress."

"Oh. That's nice."

Cordelia shrugged. "Last job I had, you should have seen the horrible thing they made me wear! It was this tiny, skimpy, exploitative..." She looked down at her present, skimpy outfit. "Uh, nothing like this!"

Angel pushed the double doors open, walking into the lobby. "There's no place like home."

Cordelia, Kate, and Fred followed him into the hotel.

The gang walked around a corner. They all stopped walking and looked up at the tower rising up into the air above them. They all stared at it.

"What is that?" Sandy asked.

Buffy shrugged. "Amy, you're up."

"Need anything?" Katrina asked Amy.

"Could use a little courage."

Katrina kissed Amy on the lips.

Amy smiled. "Thanks."

The gang entered the warehouse. The crazy people were still doing various things with machinery and metal. A hand grabbed Katrina's shoulder from behind and spun her around.

"You. What are you doing here?" Glory asked, dazed.

"She's with me." Amy grabbed Glory's head.

Glory screamed as blue lightning began to flicker around her. Bright blue light streamed from Glory's head to Amy's hand. Suddenly, a blast of power separated them. All three went flying in different directions. Amy and Katrina crashed into piles of wood.

Glory landed on her back on the concrete and sat up. "What the fuckin' hell did that bitch do to me?" She clutched her head. "She made a little..." She paused. "She made a hole. Just like the other one. Uh, I need a brain to eat." She stood up, put a hand to her forehead, and began to walk distractedly. "Big day. Locked out. I got places to be; big day. Need a brain." She looked directly in front of her and scoffed. "Suppose I could always use yours."

April stood there with her hands clasped behind her back. "Okay, then." She growled. "Come and get it."

Glory started to smile, then looked away and moved her arms as if in pain.

"You don't seem very well."

"Your little witch bitch...gave me kind of a headache there. But if you think this is gonna last more than eight seconds-"

"I noticed you're talking, whereas, in your position, I would attack me."

Glory stood there unsteadily.

"It's strange, you're not as blurry with speed as usual either."

"The witch-"

"It's not her." April revealed the Dagon Sphere from behind her. "Might be this."

Glory looked alarmed.

"I heard it's supposed to repel you. So my guess is...you probably shouldn't touch it either."

April tossed the sphere at Glory, who caught it instinctively. The sphere lit up and seemed to warp the air around it when it touched Glory's hand. She made a pained face and dropped her hand to her side. She slowly crushed the sphere, and the light went out as it crumbled.

"You're gonna wish you-"

April punched her in the face. Glory stumbled back, and April kicked her, then punched her again and again and again.

Above, Dawn looked down, and her eyes widened as she spotted them.

Below, April flipped Glory over and slammed her down on a pile of bricks; she tried to punch her, but Glory rolled aside, and April ended up punching the bricks. April tried to punch again, and Glory grabbed her arms, then threw her across the room.

Glory stood up straight. "You know what?"

April punched.

Glory grabbed her fist. "I'm feeling a little better. And now? I'm a little bored."

"Oh, I'm sorry. 'Cause you're about-"

Glory kicked her in the face. April's head went flying off, leaving her body standing. The body fell over as Glory stared in bewilderment. When it hit the floor, sparks flew out of the exposed wires in the neck.

"Hey, wow, Britney Spears is a robot." Glory looked around. "Did everybody else know Britney Spears was a robot?" Glory smiled in triumph. "Is that all you got, Slayer?! C'mon! Show yourself!"

"Glory?"

Glory stopped smiling and turned. "Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Faith. The Vampire Slayer. And you are...?" Faith punched her in the face.

Glory flew across the room, crashing into a wall.

"You're not the brightest god in the heavens, are you?" Faith asked.

Glory got up. "You want a piece of me, Slayer?"

Faith smiled. "Bring it on."

Glory ran at Faith and jump-kicked her in the jaw. Faith flew backwards, grabbed a dangling chain with her feet, flipped upside down, and launched herself at Glory. Glory fell back into a pile of scrap metal.

"Buffy! I'm up here!" Dawn yelled.

Buffy looked up as Dawn screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Buffy!" Dawn screamed.

Buffy ran toward the tower, leaping over a pile of bricks and onto the stairs.

Glory picked herself up, looked over, and saw Buffy running up the stairs. "Oh, no, you don't!"

"Buffy! I'm up here!" Dawn screamed.

Buffy was midway up the stairs. There was one last level, after which the stairs ended, and the only way up was via ladders. Buffy was ascending onto this level as Glory arrived in front of her and hit her. Buffy kicked Glory, then Glory kicked her into the scaffolding. They exchanged a few more blows. Glory grabbed a piece of chain and used it to swing around the side, knocking Buffy aside. Buffy fell aside, got up, took another kick from Glory, swung around the scaffolding, kicked Glory, ducked a punch, went around Glory, and kicked her from behind.

Dawn looked down. "Buffy!"

Buffy tried to continue climbing, but Glory hit her in the leg, making Buffy gasp in pain. They exchanged some more blows, then Buffy resumed climbing up the outer scaffolding. Glory went around beside her and climbed up as well, then kicked Buffy as she was scaling up a pipe. Buffy slid back down to the previous level.

Buffy ran up a ramp and kicked Glory in the face. She swung at Glory and hit her a couple of times; she also hit a ladder, which fell aside.

Glory hit Buffy in the face, and she lost her balance. As she fell backward, she grabbed Glory, and they both fell off the tower.

They both hit the concrete below, a few feet away from each other. Buffy got to her feet. Glory did, too. Buffy grabbed Glory by the shoulders and pushed her away. Glory wound up a few dozen feet away, beside a wall.

"Your karate's shit, sweet cheeks. What are you gonna hit me with?" Glory asked.

"I'm not."

Tara and Amy arrived, flying high in the air, and fired fireballs at Glory from the palms of their hands. Glory screamed in pain.

"That's my girl." Buffy turned and ran off.

Sandy, Katrina, Jenny, and Giles took refuge behind a machine. Sandy straightened up to peek over the top of the machine. A brick hit her in the forehead. She ducked down again, annoyed. The group of crazies was standing between them and the stairs, glaring at them.

"Are you sure we're not allowed to kill them?" Sandy asked no one in particular.

Jenny gave her a stern look. "They're out of their minds. It's not their fault."

Katrina nodded. "Amy will restore their sanity when this is over."

Giles was panting. "As long as...Buffy can defeat Glory."

Buffy hit Glory with her fists. Glory kicked Buffy back. Buffy charged at Glory and slammed head-first into her chest. Glory was knocked backward.

Glory regained her balance. "That all you got, you cunt? Any last words?"

"Yeah." Buffy smiled. "IDDQD, bitch." Her eyes suddenly glowed orange.

Glory was confused by this. The Lady levitated into the air and extended her hands, palms outward, Glory was hit by an invisible force. The Lady kept up her attack. Glory didn't seem able to fight back, just standing there, reeling each time that the Lady hit her. Dawn looked down at the fight.

The Lady continued hitting Glory.

Glory had blood running out of her nose. She gave the Lady an anguished look. "You're just a mortal. You couldn't understand my pain."

"Then I'll just have to settle for causing it." She hit Glory again.

Glory reeled to the side, recovered, and turned back. "You can't kill me."

The Lady hit Glory again. Dawn watched anxiously.

Glory fell to her knees. She looked up at the Lady, gasping, on the verge of tears. "Stop it."

"You're a god."

The Lady hit Glory again. She fell on her back on the floor.

"Make it stop."

The Lady went over to Glory, kneeled beside her, and hit her several more times, over and over.

Glory lay there with blood covering half of her face. "I'm sorry."

The Lady stopped hitting. Buffy's eyes returned to normal, and she reasserted control. Glory stared up at her, fear in her eyes.

"It's over. Whatever you were trying to accomplish. You ever, ever come near me and mine again-"

"I won't. I swear. You win. Again."

Buffy hurried away and ran up to the top level of the tower.

"Dawn."

"Buffy!"

Buffy strode forward, going to Dawn. "I'm here. You're gonna be okay."

Suddenly, in midair, a small circle of light appeared, quickly growing. Buffy led Dawn limping across the platform to the tower entrance. They stopped and turned. They could both see the light of the portal. It was growing ever larger. The portal was crackling and sending out lightning.

"What the fuck is happening?" Buffy asked.

They heard weird demon voices screaming in pain.

Below, Giles and Jenny stared upward. The ground shook. The crazies fell to the ground. Katrina and Amy held each other and stared up. Faith, Sandy, and Tara also stared up.

"Buffy!" Tara cried.

A crack appeared in the ground that they were standing on. They jumped back. A bolt of lightning struck, narrowly missing them.

"Did anybody order an apocalypse?" Glory asked.

Above, Buffy and Dawn continued staring at the portal. They heard faint voices coming through the portal.

"I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter. What are you doing?"

"I have to jump. The energy."

"It'll kill you."

"I know. Buffy, I know about the ritual. I have to stop it."

"No."

"I have to. Look at what's happening. Buffy, you have to let me go. Blood starts it, and, until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop. You know you have to let me. It has to have the blood."

The sky was growing lighter.

"Buffy...no!"

"Dawnie, I have to."

"No!"

"Listen to me. Please, there's not a lot of time, listen. Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles...Tell Giles I figured it out. And - And I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world...is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

The portal shrank to nothingness and disappeared. The sun began to rise. Buffy and Dawn looked at each other, their minds full of questions. Buffy looked sympathetically at Dawn and played with a lock of Dawn's hair. They gave each other small smiles. They turned and walked slowly down the stairs.

At ground level, they spotted the others and walked toward them.

Glory stared at them in contempt. "This is the group that foiled my plan? You look like the attractive, nonthreatening cast of a WB series."

Buffy glared at her and started to march toward her, full of hatred.

Dawn pulled her back. "We don't have to kill her. I mean...there's only the one time that she can do it, right? It's too late."

Buffy relented.

"What the fuck was that?" Faith asked Buffy, pointing at the sky.

Buffy shrugged. "I wish I knew." She looked over at Glory. "Care to explain?"

"How much time ya got?" Glory asked.

"Plenty."

Jenny stepped forward. "Uh, actually, Buffy, we really should get-"

"Like I said: plenty of time during the reception. Wanna attend a wedding?" Buffy offered.

Glory raised her eyebrows.

After showering and changing clothes, the gang went to the Bronze. Julie and Sunday joined them.

Jenny, Giles, and Buffy stood on the stage. Amy stood a distance away with her video camera and tripod set up, recording the ceremony. Everyone else sat at tables near the stage. Dawn had her first-place trophy from the figure skating competition, which she had learned she had won when they'd stopped at the ice rink on their way to the Bronze.

Buffy smiled. "We're gathered here today to witness the union of Jennifer Calendar and Rupert Giles in holy matrimony. I've known these two lovebirds for four years, and I never thought I'd live to see you two tie the knot. I'm honored that you chose me to perform this ceremony. Please join hands."

Jenny took hold of Giles' right hand with her left hand and his left hand with her right hand.

"Jenny, please present the ring and repeat after me."

Jenny let go of Giles' hands and got his wedding ring out of her pocket. She placed it at the tip of Giles' left ring finger.

"I, Jennifer, take you, Rupert..."

"...to be my lawful wedded husband..."

"...to love, honor, and cherish..."

"...in sickness and in health..."

"...in good times and in bad times..."

"...in perfect love and perfect trust..."

"...from this day forward and for the rest of my life."

"Place the ring on his finger."

Jenny slipped the ring onto Giles' finger.

"Rupert, er, Giles, er, Rupert, please present the ring and repeat after me."

Giles got Jenny's wedding ring out of his pocket. He placed it at the tip of Jenny's left ring finger.

"I, Rupert, take you, Jennifer..."

"...to be my lawful wedded wife..."

"...to love, honor, and cherish..."

"...in sickness and in health..."

"...in good times and in bad times..."

"...in perfect love and perfect trust..."

"...from this day forward and for the rest of my life."

"Place the ring on her finger."

Giles slipped the ring onto Jenny's finger.

"Join hands."

Jenny took hold of Giles' right hand with her left hand and his left hand with her right hand.

"By the Goddess, blessed be. True in love may you ever be." Buffy smiled. "By the authority vested in me by the City and County of Sunnydale and the State of California, I now declare you to be married. You may kiss."

Jenny let go of Giles' hands, put her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a deep kiss. The audience cheered and applauded.

During the reception, Jenny convinced Giles to join her in a karaoke duet of Pat Benatar's "We Belong". Buffy was sitting at a table with Dawn, Tara, Faith, and Glory, eating chocolate cake and drinking Champagne. Glory also had a Mimosa.

Glory picked up the glass of Mimosa. "Mmm..." She sipped and smiled. "Vitamins."

Buffy looked at Glory. "Okay, so...if I'm understanding you correctly...you weren't even living primarily in this universe, but rather an alternate universe...an alternate Earth."

Glory swallowed a piece of cake. "Uh-huh."

"And you shared a body with a guy that was born human, and, whenever he reasserted control, you were expelled into this universe until you could reassert control, at which time you would return to the other universe."

"Yeah. Once I realized what was happening, I figured I'd recreate my attempts from Earth Prime here as best as I could."

Buffy frowned, offended. "We were your backup plan? When something didn't go your way in the other universe, you figured you'd try the same shit here?"

"Wouldn't you?" Glory asked.

Dawn looked at her. "Y'know, the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Glory frowned. "Zip it, kid."

"When did you figure out that you were hopping between universes?" Faith asked her.

"When I first met Buffy." Glory looked at Buffy. "You look nothing like Buffy Prime."

Buffy frowned, irritated. "Stop saying 'Prime'. It makes me feel weird." She paused. "Anyway, what do I, er, Buffy look like in the other universe?"

Glory swallowed another piece of cake. "You look and sound like that rich bitch in Cruel Intentions - but with the fakest bottle-blonde hair imaginable."

Buffy suddenly felt self-conscious and ran a hand through her hair. "Um, so you're telling me that I look and sound like a short, scrawny Jewish girl from New York?"

"Yeah, yet still somehow from SoCal."

Buffy shook her head. "Fucking weird."

Glory smiled. "Word is you're quite the talented cocksucker."

Buffy's eyes widened in shock. "I'm straight?!"

Faith, Tara, and Dawn started laughing.

"So, anyway, why did you kidnap Dawn?" Buffy asked Glory.

Faith grinned. "Hang on, I wanna hear more about cocksucker Buffy."

Buffy shot Faith a dirty look. "Not now." She looked at Glory.

"Oh. Well, Dawn Prime is the Key - ancient energy that a group of monks turned into a human being and gave to you to protect. To this end, they altered all of your memories - and reality itself - to include her as your sister."

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other, mouths agape. Dawn gulped down the rest of her Champagne.

Buffy looked at Glory. "But my sister in this universe isn't a key."

"Well, I was desperate. You can't blame a girl for trying."

Dawn frowned. "Oh, I so totally can."

"And the portal?" Buffy asked Glory.

Glory shrugged. "I think, once the Key was activated, it didn't just open the gates to my dimension. It opened all of the gates. The walls separating realities crumbled. Dimensions bled into each other."

Buffy thought for a moment. "That's why I was able to hear Buffy Prime-Fuck!" Buffy realized what she'd said, irritated.

"So what happens now?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, what do we do with her?" Faith asked.

Buffy shrugged. "What can we do with her? Any ideas, Glory?"

"Well, I'm stuck here. Not sure why. I think my...brother in the other universe died. And I can't go home. What's a hell-god to do?" Glory asked. She grinned. "Hey, I know! I can kill shit!"

Buffy frowned. "That's kinda my thing. And I kinda get paid for it."

"All right, then I'll set up shop in LA."

Faith cleared her throat.

Glory gave them a dirty look. "What about New York? New York okay with you guys?"

Sandy walked by. "Buffy, Tara."

Amy and Katrina followed Sandy to the stage. Buffy and Tara looked at each other and smiled, then they got up and followed their bandmates to the stage.

Buffy picked up her guitar. Tara stood behind her keyboard. Katrina and Sandy picked up their bass guitars. Amy sat behind her drum set.

Buffy turned on her microphone. "Okay, last song of the party. Anyone wanna get up and show off your funky dance moves, now's the time."

Amy picked up her drumsticks and started playing. Tara joined in with her keyboard. Buffy, Katrina, and Sandy started playing their guitars. Everyone got up and started dancing.

Tara looked at Buffy and started singing:

"Think about it,
There must be higher love,
Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above.
Without it,
Life is wasted time.
Look inside your heart; I'll look inside mine.

"Things look so bad everywhere.
In this whole world, what is fair?
We walk blind, and we try to see,
Falling behind in what could be.

"Bring me a higher love.
Bring me a higher love (oh, oh).
Bring me a higher love.
Where's that higher love I keep thinking of?"

Buffy looked at Tara and started singing:

"Worlds are turning,
And we're just hanging on,
Facing our fear and standing out there alone.
A yearning,
And it's real to me.
There must be someone who's feeling for me.

"Things look so bad everywhere.
In this whole world, what is fair?
We walk blind, and we try to see,
Falling behind in what could be.

"Bring me a higher love.
Bring me a higher love (oh, oh).
Bring me a higher love.
Where's that higher love I keep thinking of?

"Bring me a higher love.
Bring me a higher love (oh, oh).
Bring me a higher love.
I could rise above on a higher love."

The band went into a short instrumental break, then the entire band sang the next part:

"I will wait
For it.
I'm not
Too late for it,
Until then,
I'll sing my song
To cheer
The night along.
Bring it!"

The band went into a longer instrumental break, then Tara sang the next two lines:

"I could light the night up with my soul on fire.
I could make the sun shine
From pure desire."

And Buffy responded:

"Let me feel that love come over me.
Let me feel
How strong it could be."

The entire band joined in singing the remainder of the song, and even Jenny, Giles, Dawn, Faith, Julie, Glory, and Sunday joined in. Everyone had a great time.