The Best of Both Worlds by DarkWiccan

Disclaimers: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters associated with the show are owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy and their affiliates. If they belonged to me, none of the horrors of season six would ever have happened, and Willow and Tara would be on their honeymoon by now. But they don't, so for now I borrow and kindly ask the big, scary corporate lawyer-guy to look the other way. Also, even though W/T don't belong to me, this story does. Please don't plagiarize.

Spoilers: Um.. yeah… the entire series up to Season 5 and some reference to Season 6. A medial amount of actual dialogue taken from the show is used in telling this story. Particularly from the episodes "Tough Love," "Spiral," "Weight of the World," and "The Gift". Italics, asterisks, or bold type font does NOT denote these segments in any way, they simply exist in the story as a part of the world. I once again beg Mutant Enemy's lawyers for forgiveness.

Feedback: Yes, please. But I have a Fire Extinguisher to put out all flames.

Note: I am a playwright by trade, so as a result, I am heavy on the dialogue, light on the descriptions. So if you like reading Charles Dickens and his six chapters describing a buffet, you'll hate my writing style.

Also, it would probably be a good idea if you watched the last four episodes of season 5, if you haven't already. Otherwise, there is a good chance that you'll find yourself very lost and confused.

Pairing: Willow/Tara

Summary: What happens when a hardcore Buffy fan accidentally gets zapped into the series?

"Baby," Tara said in a hushed voice to the redhead sprawled half on top of her. "Baby, darling."

The blonde witch couldn't help but snicker at her girlfriend's nonsensical dialogue. Her chest bobbed up and down with silent chuckles as she tried to keep from bursting into all out laughter. But seeing Willow's head bounce on top of her chest as a result of her attempt at containing herself, only caused the blonde Wiccan to laugh that much more.

"Earthquake," Willow mumbled, coming out of her dream-state, "Tara, we have to get to the door… What's so funny?"

"You mean there isn't one," Willow asked, sitting up, then taking a moment to scrutinize her girlfriend, her eyes narrowed, "You're the earthquake."

Tara couldn't take it anymore, and broke down in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Willow took advantage of her lover's weakened state, and pounced on top of her, straddling her hips.

"Let's see," Willow began, in her best, "Seis-Mom" impression, "It would appear that the epi-center of this particular quake was located in the region of Maclay, and was brought on by a fit of giggles originating somewhere in the area of the tummy." To punctuate her point, Willow began tickling Tara's belly mercilessly. The blonde witch shrieked and squirmed, trying to get out from under her girlfriend's fiendish attack. "The shockwaves then proceeded out in a radial pattern," the redhead continued, "toward the areas of the hips," tickle, "sides," tickle, "and most importantly, underarms and neck."

"Yes, yes, yes," Willow responded, a wicked glint in her eye. She quickly began tickling Tara all over her body, her fingertips skittering across the sensitive flesh with reckless abandon. Tara wiggled and giggled and finally managed to dislodge Willow from her position on top of her by bucking her hips hard enough to throw her girlfriend off.

Willow landed on her back with a bounce near the edge of the bed. "My turn," Tara smiled, mischievously, and quickly began her own attack, with guerilla tactics, no less.
The two witches' morning tickle-fest quickly turned into something more passionate, as nightshirts and sleeping shorts were quickly discarded in favor of the more pleasurable tactile feeling of skin on skin. The girlfriends continued to make love well into the morning, allowing themselves the luxury of each other, especially since neither of them had a class until the afternoon.

Anne Dixon brought her 1987 Honda Accord to a screeching halt in front of her small apartment building. The slender, young, brunette leapt out of the tiny vehicle and, after grabbing several shopping bags out of the back seat, made her way as quickly as possible into the tenement and up the three flights of stairs to her home, apartment C21. Wrestling frantically with the key, she finally managed to open the door. Falling inside, she dropped her bags and dove for the TV remote, clicking on the small set in her living room. The sounds of Nerfherder playing the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer theme song, filled the darkened apartment.

"Damn," she said, "Missed the teaser. It's a re-run though, so I guess I'll live."

Picking up her dropped parcels, she carried them into the bedroom as the sounds of commercials emanated from the television in the other room. Emptying the bags onto her bed, Anne paused to take in the major disaster area that was her room. A whiteboard scrawled over with equations in messy handwriting took up one corner of the room. An altar to Gaia took up another. Above her bed was a map of East Syracuse and the outlying areas. Her desk and floor were littered with books and papers on quantum physics, parapsychology, ancient and modern magicks, reports on telekinesis, and various scientific tools and magickal artifacts.

"What a mess," she mumbled to herself. Now she turned her attention to her newly acquired goodies.

"White sage, sacred sand, sea salt, and most importantly," she said, holding a shiny, gold medal up to the light, causing it to shimmer slightly, "the Medallion of Translocation. Who'da thunk one of these things would actually exist? Or that you could special order them through the Pyramid CollectionÓ?"

She quickly set to work assembling everything she would need to cast her spell. Realizing that her bedroom was far too cramped to hold the necessary sized circle, she moved her project out into the living room, shoving her couch toward the TV set and wall.

Returning to her bedroom, she made one last quick glance at the map above her bed.

"Hmm," she murmured, "Two blocks should be enough. Kinne St. Elementary School, here I come."

Rubbing her hands together, she walked back out into the living room, and began marking out the sacred circle in sea salt. After placing the proper runes to mark north, south, east and west, she lit the sage, and sat down Indian style within the circle. Picking up the bag of sand, she scattered it on and around herself, before lifting the medallion and beginning to chant:

Anne squinted her eyes tightly shut and waited. Nothing happened. Opening one eye, she looked confusedly a the medal and tried again:

She looked up and saw that the television was still on. Willow lay writing something down in a notebook, Tara lay next to her, holding her hand.

"Down to every last thing I do with you," Willow grinned, looking Tara in the eye.

Anne smiled at the playful exchange onscreen. Sunnydale, I wish, she thought to herself, wouldn't that be cool.

She took a deep breath and focused on her point destination as hard as she could. Clutching the medal tightly in her hand, again she spoke:

"So what time do you want to go to the multicultural fair tomorrow," Tara asked her Willow as they crossed an open field on the edge of the U.C. Sunnydale Campus.

"Oh, hardy-har…," Willow was about to add another "har" when something caused her to stop in her tracks. "Whoa," she said, "Did you feel that?"

Anne opened her eyes, and surveyed the world around her. She was definitely not in her apartment. Alright, she thought, triumphantly, I did i… Oh, Shit! She looked down in time to realize that she was about fifty feet up in the air, a footage that was rapidly decreasing as she found herself accelerating toward the ground below.

"I don't know," Willow answered, "Maybe. Do you think Buffy will be at the Magic Shop?"

The redhead followed where her girlfriend was indicating and saw what appeared to be a body falling from the sky.

The two witches quickly ran over to the fallen individual, who had landed face down, belly-flop style, on the ground.

"No kidding," commented Willow, "You hit the ground like a sack of potatoes from Mars! Where did you come from?"

"Up," was the answer, as the person weakly raised an index finger in the said direction.

"Well, yeah," stated the redhead, "But there's nothing up there from which to come from."

"I think so," the ill-equipped skydiver replied. After a weak attempt at pushing up with her arms, she finally asked for, "a little help, here?"

"Oh, of course," Willow replied, glancing at Tara, they each took one of the stranger's arms, and helped her to a standing position. Willow could now verify that their interesting companion was, in fact, a woman, and strangely unharmed. The lovers waited for the girl to regain her breathe.

Anne looked up and tried to figure out where she had landed. This definitely was not Kinne Street Elementary School. She turned to thank the two Good Samaritans who had helped her, and was startled as she took in the worried faces looking back at her.

"Alyson Hannigan," she questioned, feeling slightly dizzy, "and Amber… How did I…"
But she fainted before she could finish her thought.

The pair stared at the unconscious woman a moment longer before Willow spoke again, "Okay, you stay here, and I'll go get Buffy."

"Right," Tara concurred. With that, the redhead was off and running in the direction of the magic shop.

"So, I was thinking of holding an end of the world clearance sale," said Anya, as she moved out from behind the counter at the Magic Shop and over to the research table where Giles was sitting, going over a text on Glorificus. "You know," the former vengeance demon continued, "In case Glory succeeds."

"BuffyyouhavetocomequicksomegirlfelloutoftheskyoncampusandshefaintedandTaraiswithherrightnowbutIdon'tknowhowlongshe'llbeunconsciousorifshe'sdangeroussoyou'dbettercomerightnow!"

Buffy, Giles, Xander and Anya, along with several shop patrons, stood staring dumbly at the wild redhead who had burst through the shop door vomiting forth a stream of indiscernible information.

"Kay," said the slayer, unsure, "All I got out of that was 'Buffy' and 'come right now', so I guess I'm on my way somewhere."

"Yes. Tara's with her. She fainted a couple of minutes ago, and I don't know how long she'll be out. We should get back as soon as possible."

"Buffy, report back to me as soon as you're able," Giles said, suddenly lowering his voice, aware of the customers in the store, "You-know-who might be behind this."

"She's still out," said Tara as the rest of the gang approached her and the sleeping stranger.

Everyone looked up to the sky before looking back down and staring confusedly at the fallen woman.

"Oh," interjected Willow, "She did say something about a miscalculation before she fainted."

"How do you like that," commented Buffy, "Fall out of the sky and the first thing you do is start insulting people. Sounds like Glory to me."

"No, Buffy," explained Willow, "She didn't call us names. She named us. Um, she called me Alyson and Tara, Amber. And then she just…passed out."

"Alyson and Amber, huh," said Xander, "Well, they don't sound like evil or mystical type names. Then again, there was this girl named Amber in my preschool who went around stealing other peoples crayons and not giving them back, and then telling the teacher that you hit her for no reason, when you never even laid a hand on her and…. Um, never mind."

"Okay, now that we're back in the here and now," continued Buffy, glaring one last time at Xander before she turned back to Willow and Tara, "You guys have any idea who she might have been talking about?"

The blonde Wiccan stopped in mid-sentence as the girl began to stir on the ground.

"Mom, I don't wanna go to school," the brunette mumbled as she started to blink open her eyes. She looked up to see four very strange, yet familiar faces, staring down at her. "Sarah Michelle Gellar? Nicholas Brendon? How did I end up in Hollywood?"

"Yeah," she replied, warily getting to her feet, taking a moment to find her balance. "Man," she continued, "I was only trying to go two blocks. I jumped the entire country. Go me!"

"East Syracuse, NY," the girl answered, "You know, it is so cool to meet you guys. I really love you on the show."

"Show," said Buffy, confounded, "What show? I think it's time we played a little game I like to call 'Interrogate the Strange Girl'. Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, where are my manners, I'm Anne, Anne Dixon," she said, extending her hand, "Loved you in Cruel Intentions."

Buffy shook Anne's hand out of hospitality, but quickly reclaimed her fist to her side. "Okay," the slayer resumed, "Anne, where do you think you are?"

"Willow," Anne finished, and then proceeded to point and name the remaining Scoobies, "Tara, Xander, and Buffy."

"Oh, my God," Anne interrupted, "I zapped myself into the show! Oh my God! Joss is gonna kill me! What am I gonna do! I could be on TV right now! Oh, crap! My friends could be watching me! Hello, Dave? Cynthia," she said to no one in particular, "I'm gonna fix this, I swear!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," interjected the slayer, "Calm down! What show? What are talking about? There is no show."

"Yes there is," Anne tried to explain, "You just don't realize it because you're on it. I don't see how this could happen. I mean, you guys don't even exist. This place doesn't even exist. How could I teleport to somewhere that didn't exist?"

"Um, I'd like to vote 'no' on the whole us not existing thing," said Xander, "Because I, for one, have existed my entire life."

"Couldn't have leapt somewhere that doesn't exist," the brunette clarified, "This must be an alternate reality. Of course! It all makes sense. It's basic quantum theory."

"Quantum Theory states that instead of there being one universe, there is actually an infinite number of realities stacked on top of each other. So, you know, different dimensions and stuff," explained the redhead.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Anne, "The question now is how closely this reality matches that of the show."

"Where I'm from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer is just a TV show. You," Anne said, indicating Buffy, "Are played by an actress named Sarah Michelle Gellar. You run around fighting demons and vampires with your friends, Willow, and Xander. You have a watcher named Giles… any of this sound familiar?"

"Okay, now, timeline," Anne continued, turning to Willow and Tara, "Are you guys friends, or are you guys… friends."

"Oh, um, Tara's my girlfriend if that's what you mean," Willow smiled, taking the blonde's hand.

"So, we're past the first part of season 4," now she looked at Buffy, "Are you an only child?"

"I'm sorry," Anne said, offering her condolences, "Um, okay, Willow's hair is still really short, and Tara's all right. So, that means…"

"Oh, um," covered Anne, "No reason. Uh, Buffy, you, or rather someone or something, I should say, that looks a lot like you haven't…um…done anything with… Spike… right?"

"Things are matching up pretty well," Anne muttered to herself, "Which means that we must be in season five after episode 18, so the next… oh no."

"Willow, Tara, you two wouldn't happen to be planning on going to a multicultural fair today, would you?"

"Um…I, uh…don't know if I should answer that or not. My presence here alone is already messing with the natural order of things. What I know may not even apply here. But, then again, if Dawn exists, then it's pretty certain that Glory exists too…"

"Listen, if you know something," Buffy picked up, taking a step in Anne's direction.

"The Medallion of Translocation, I had it in my hand when I left. Where'd it go?"

"Translocation," Anne clarified, "It's what I used to leap here. I can't get home without it."

Everyone began searching the ground with his or her eyes, hoping to find something.

"Well, we can look for it later," Buffy said after several moments, "The sun is starting to set. We need to get back to the Magic Box. Anne should definitely meet Giles."

Everyone mumbled in agreement, and the group started in the direction of the magic shop.

It is possible, Anne thought to herself, as Giles excitedly poured over texts discussing spells for jumping dimensional barriers, that I could change things. I mean, after all, I know how Buffy could defeat Glory without having to die herself. I could stop Tara from getting brain-sucked. I could even try and convince Willow to give up magick before she starts to lose control. I could create a near-perfect Buffy world. But… should I? After all these people are just that, people. Not characters on a show. I don't necessarily have the right to go fixing things to how I think they should be. On the contrary, think of all the pain I could spare them, if I only open my mouth and tell them what I know.

"And you say that vampires and demons don't exist in your world," Giles asked, looking up from another ancient tome.

"Huh," said Anne, pulling herself from her thoughts, "Oh, yeah. Well, demons do exist, only, they don't look like guys in masks. They rarely take the form of a human unless they're possessing one. And you can't really fight them by slaying them. You have to kinda… cast them out."

"But you said in your reality vampires don't exist," Buffy queried, "How is that possible if demons do? I mean, a vampire is a demon."

"In your world a vampire is a demon, but where I come from… Well, let's just say that in all my studies, I have never come across a real vampire. And, it isn't as if I haven't looked, either. In my world, they're just a myth. But, then again, so are you. A modern myth, but, a myth none the less."

"Buffy said that you have information," Giles cut in, "That you know things that are to happen in relation to Glory. That you may know how to stop her."

"Well, uh, that's kind of tricky," Anne began, hesitantly, "I mean, I, uh, know what's going to happen on the television show. Um, but, I don't know if it would have any bearing on this world, or if… If by telling you what I know that I might make things worse…"

"But you could make them better," Buffy interrupted, "That is a possibility. One you can't ignore. If you know how we can kill Glory, then you should tell us. It's only fair."

"It's not a question of what's fair or not," Anne tried to explain, "It's… it's…"

"A question of ethics," Giles finished. The Scoobies looked to the Watcher to explain. "Anne has the rather unique , er, problem of being in a situation where she could conceivably warp our world to her liking. Almost like…"

"All events are chained together," Anne leveled, "If I alter one link in the chain, the rest are irrevocably affected. I'm not going to say that I like, or agree, with everything that's happened in the timeline of the show. But, the one thing that I really love about the storyline is that it stays true to life, and life isn't always fair. I have to respect that. I have to respect that these are your lives. I'm sorry, but, I don't think I can help you."

"You're right," said the slayer, "These are our lives. But this isn't a T.V. show. We actually have to live with the consequences of what happens here. We can't just tune in next week. We're stuck in this reality day to day. And whether you mean to or not, you are offering us a way to take a different path. Make a different choice, and maybe, just maybe, come out all right on the other side. Because I've got a feeling that whatever is set to happen on your little 'show' isn't good, for any of us."

Anne lowered her gaze to the floor. This was a very tough situation. Buffy did have a point. Maybe, she thought, maybe I can change one event, and then alter another to make sure that everything else that was meant to happen does. But how? And what would I change? What would I fix? How would it affect the people they are to become? There is honor in defeat, and it is part of life that we learn from our mistakes.

"Alright," Anne broke in, "I'll help. But only to change one thing. And you have to promise to help me get home. After that, you're on your own."

After a few moments of nervous fidgeting, Anne began, addressing the two witches, "Willow, Tara, tomorrow, shortly before the fair, the two of you will get into a fight. A big fight, and a bad one. It will end with Willow storming out to go to the Magic Box, and Tara going to the fair alone. This can't happen."

"Why would Glory want to hurt Tara," Xander questioned, as Willow cast a worried glance at her girlfriend.

"You'll find that out tomorrow," Anne explained, "But, in order to get that information, Willow still needs to be at the Magic Box. So, I suggest that you two try not to get in a fight, and that you both come here tomorrow instead of going to the fair."

"If we know," Tara rationalized, "then maybe we can avoid it a little more effectively."

"Alright," Anne said, pinching her sinuses between her thumb and forefinger, trying to stop the headache that was beginning to manifest, "I'll tell you. But, in the back room, it's kind of… personal."

"Certainly, go right ahead," he responded, taking off his glasses to clean them.

The three women exited into the training room, leaving the remaining Scoobies at the research table.

"Well I, for one, don't think this is a good idea," Anya chimed in. It was the first time she had spoken since Anne had arrived at the shop.

"Now you say something," Xander asked, as he looked at his girlfriend incredulously, "Your timing is impeccable."

"It's not as if any of you would have listened to me, anyway. Goodness knows you never do."

"I would be loathe to say that I didn't agree with you, Anya," Giles commented, putting his glasses back on, "But, Buffy did make a rather compelling argument."

"At any rate," the watcher continued, "The wheels have already been set into motion. It's too late to go back and try to do anything about it now."

"I'm so sorry, Baby," said Willow, holding Tara's hand and tucking a stray strand of gold hair behind her lover's ear.

"No, I'm sorry, Willow," Tara replied, "I should never have let such stupid thoughts get into my brain."

"Yeah, but, I shouldn't have blown up the way I did," conceded Willow, "I acted like a total child."

"I forgive you, too," the redhead replied. The two leaned in for what was meant to be a quick kiss, but which quickly turned into something more passionate.

"May I remind you two that you came back into this room where there are still people," Buffy chided. The pair quickly broke apart, their faces flush with embarrassment.

"It's okay, I didn't mind," smiled Xander, who then got a quick hit to the arm, courtesy of Anya. Giles sat with his back turned to the lesbian gay-type lovers, cleaning his glasses furiously.

"I did my part," Anne said from the training room door, "Now, how do I get home?"

"I'm afraid that is going to take a bit more research," said the watcher, regaining his composure, and replacing his glasses on his nose, "Particularly since I've never heard of this medallion that you used to get here in the first place. I fear you may be stuck in this world for the next couple of days."

"That's alright," Anne conceded, "I always wanted to visit Sunnydale. Might as well take advantage of the opportunity."

"My place, I guess," said the slayer, "I've got the extra bed. What, with mom gone, and all."

"I am very sorry, Buffy," Anne said, "In my world, thousands of fans mourned your mother's death with you. And, even though it probably doesn't help to say, if I had been here, there is nothing I could have done to have stopped it from happening."

"Thank you," said Buffy, holding back tears, "Well, I have to patrol. Xander, Anya, could you take Anne to your place for now? Oh, and, pick up Dawn, she's at Michelle's. I'll be by to get them both later."

"Oh, well, um, great," said the redhead, taking Tara's handing and starting toward the door, "See you later."

Anne chortled quietly to herself, a silly grin threatening to overtake her entire face.

"Oh, nothing," Anne replied, "It's just so neat to see the two of them actually interacting in a, you know, girlfriend type way. On the show, they're kind of censored. Especially when you guys were on the WB. Now that you're on UPN, well, we get to see a little bit more, but, not much."

"A world where there are no vampires, and Willow and Tara have their smoochies censored," Buffy commented, "Take me with you."

"Oh, c'mon, they can't be that bad," said, Anne, Buffy merely held her gaze, "They couldn't be worse than Xander and Anya, right?" again, Buffy remained silent, only raising her eyebrows to communicate her point. "Wow."

"Well, I'm off," said the slayer, grabbing her coat and heading for the door, "I'll see you guys later."

"Yes, good night," said the Watcher, "And do be careful. Anne, why don't you come with Anya to the shop tomorrow morning. We can start work early researching a way to get you back."

Xander, Anne and Anya made their way through the darkened streets of Sunnydale. Anne's face rarely changed from that of slack-jawed wonderment as she took in the landmarks she had grown to know so well. Xander rambled on and on, trying to coax and prod Anne into giving him information about his future, but the brunette merely tuned him out as she went over things in her head. Rationalizing out the potential new chain of events.

Because Tara won't go insane, she surmised, Glory will not find out that Dawn is the key. But, Glory needs to find out, because if she doesn't, then Buffy won't die. If Buffy doesn't die, then she and Spike won't get together, and I kinda liked the idea of Buffy and Spike together. So somehow, Glory needs to find out about Dawn, and in the next couple of days…

Anne came to a stop as she looked up across the park and saw a familiar sight. Glory's place, she thought to herself.

"Hello," questioned Xander, approaching her, "Earth to Anne? There's a little thing we do in this reality called 'walking' it helps us get from place to place in ways that standing still has never done." He looked up to see what had captured Anne's attention so completely. "Oh," he said, "Yeah, that's it, home of the Big Bad herself. Don't worry, we'll protect you from her. She may try to come after you if she finds out that you're here and what kind of threat you could be."

"Right," Xander replied, frowning slightly. He took up Anya's hand and the trio began walking again.

"Stupid, bloody slayer. Who does she think she is, anyway," growled Spike as he roamed the UCS campus, kicking an empty soda can in front of him. "Little Miss High and Mighty, taking away my robot. I loved that thing! And if I had had to pay for it, it surely would of set me back a few quid, so, so sod on her! Miserable bloody… hello?" Something on the ground had caught his eye. "What have we got here," he said, leaning down to pick up the shiny object. "Pretty." He held the medallion up to the moonlight, causing it to glow. "Mine." He shoved it in the pocket of his leather trench coat, and continued on his merry way.

Willow and Tara lay naked under the covers kissing each other gently. Finally, they broke apart, and Tara snuggled down onto Willow's shoulder, wrapping her arm around the redhead's middle. The pair lay silently for a moment, basking in post coital afterglow.

"That of all the events that Anne could have changed, she chose to stop you and I from fighting."

"She didn't just stop that, Tara," Willow reasoned, "She stopped you from getting hurt, or maybe even killed by Glory. She saved your life, and maybe by saving your life, she saved all our lives. Like she said, all events are chained together."

Tara nodded, feeling the skin on Willow's shoulder brush against her cheek as she did. So soft, and warm, and safe, Tara liked safe. She snuggled closer and tightened her grip across the other girl's body.

"Well, keeping the woman I love alive and safe is definitely a trust earning activity in my book," Willow replied.

"But, that's my point," Tara leveled, "How do we know that what she says would have happened, is really what would have happened? We have no way of knowing what we would have fought about tomorrow, or if we would have even fought at all. I mean, it seems like an argument that we would have had eventually, but…"

"Wait a minute," interrupted Willow, "What do you mean 'it seems like an argument we would have had eventually'?"

"Just what," Willow interjected again, raising up to a sitting position, "I would have thought that the past two hours would have settled your concern as to whether or not I'm actually gay."

"Oh, no, Honey, that fact is loud and clear," the blonde witch soothed, "That's not what I was talking about…"

"I was talking about…the magick…and…how powerful you're getting," explained Tara, "its kind of scary."

"I scare you," Willow asked softly, her eyes casting a look of concern and confusion.

"A little," Tara admitted, "But not necessarily a bad scary, more of a good scary. Like the Grand Canyon."

"Once, when I was eight, my parents took me. It was the only road trip we ever went on."

"I don't know," Willow replied honestly, "I guess maybe because it was so big and overwhelming and I was so small…but…it was also really pretty. I remember it being pretty. So…are you saying that I make you feel small?"

"No, Willow," Tara answered, "I'm saying that you overwhelm me a little. But, if you want, I could help you to focus your power more effectively, so that it won't end up doing the same to you."

"Yeah," Willow said softly, "I hate the idea of overwhelming you. Come to think of it, I don't much like the idea of whelming you, either."

Tara chuckled slightly and kissed her love delicately on the lips, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, baby," Willow answered, sniffling a little, "So, are you gonna come back to snuggle central? It's getting kind of lonely over here."

Tara didn't need to be asked twice. She quickly scooted back down into her original position, and swiftly drifted off to sleep in her love's arms.

"So, let me get this straight," said Dawn as she, Buffy and Anne entered the Summers' residence. "Where you're from, we're all on some kind of TV show?"

"No, you aren't. The actors who play you guys are," Anne explained, "Where I'm from, you guys don't exist except for being characters on a TV show."

"An actress by the name of Michelle Trachtenberg." Dawn looked slightly lost and confused. "She probably doesn't exist in this reality."

"I refuse to answer on the grounds that I may incriminate myself," Anne answered briskly.

"You can't expect me to tell you something like that," Anne tried, "I mean, what if I tell you and, it's not who you thought it was and then you end up getting upset, or jealous. Or the person who it is gets all cocky, and arrogant. Can't have that happening. It could mess with morale." During her speech, the two sisters had begun to stalk toward their house guest. "Buffy, remember what happened last year when Spike tried to split you apart from the Scoobs? Not a pretty sight. You don't want anything like that happening again. Do you?"

Buffy brought herself and Dawn to a halt, "Dawn, she's right. There are too many important things going on right now to risk getting all caught up in something as unimportant as who Anne's favorite character is. I think we should just let it go."

"Why don't you run upstairs and get ready for bed, while I get Anne set up down here on the couch."

"Anytime," the slayer replied, "But, just between you and me… it's me isn't it?"

"Okay, nevermind," Buffy relented, and went to fetch some bed linens and pillows. "Hey," she added, just before she left the room, "Thanks for sleeping down here. I mean, I know I offered mom's bed, but, Dawn's still a little, raw…you know?"

"I understand.…I watched it all. It was hard just to watch. I can't imagine what it must feel like to actually…feel it."

Buffy smiled sadly, and continued out of the room. Anne simply sat and watched her go. Tomorrow I will betray her, she thought, Am I doing the right thing? Her thoughts hung in the air as she leaned back into the inviting cushions of the couch and fell asleep.

The bell over the door to the Magic Box rang loudly as the two witches entered the shop. Giles looked up from the book he was studying intently and smiled as the two women approached the research table, hand in hand.

"Tara, Willow so good to see you this morning," the Watcher beamed, "I must admit that despite Anne's warnings, I was slightly worried for your safety."

"I'm afraid not. Well, not yet, anyway. There are quite a few spells that deal with inter-dimensional travel, unfortunately most of them seem to generate from the, uh, darker forces," Giles explained.

"No it's not," Giles agreed, "It leads me to wonder what sort of spell she used to get here in the first place. Whether it was of the good or the bad will remain to be seen until we are able to locate the medallion that she lost. And, given what I've been able to learn so far, it is never a good idea to 'teleport' using more than one spell. In other words…"

"It's not safe for her to go home by any other way than she came," Tara concluded.

"Oh, er, downstairs with Anya doing inventory. Anya said something to her about making herself useful while she's here."

The lovers headed down into the basement where they found Anya sitting on top of one of the tables talking mercilessly of her and Xander's love-life while Anne stacked and labeled various magickal potions and ingredients.

"Hi guys," Willow announced cheerfully, cutting Anya off, "How's it going down here?"

"Thank you," she replied, almost looking as though she might shed tears of joy, "thank you so, so much." She gave Tara a warm hug of thanks and bolted up the stairs.

"Great," said the former demon, "Now who am I going to get to inventory all these new items?"

"But, my job isn't inventory," Anya whined, "It's minding the register and all that glorious money."

"Because somebody had to train the new girl," Anya explained, exasperated at the silliness of the question.

"Um, Anya, Anne is not the 'new girl'. She doesn't work here. She's just visiting," Willow tried reasoning.

"Whatever," Anya sighed, "I should get back upstairs. Why don't you guys finish putting this stuff away?"

"You know, down here in the basement…working…alone." Tara emphasized the last word with a raise of her eyebrows and her trademark half-smile.

"Sure, An, no problem," Willow said suddenly, "You run along upstairs, we'll take care of the rest of this, uh, business."

"Great," said the former vengeance demon as she started up the basement steps, "Just try not to break anything while you're having sex."

Upstairs, the shop bell rang cheerily as Xander entered, arms full with boxes of Krispy KremeÔ Doughnuts.

"Yes I am," Xander replied, stealing a quick kiss as he continued over to the research table to unload his burden. "And how is our inter-dimensional traveler this morning?"

"Not so much I'm afraid on either Glory or Anne's situation. I was hoping Willow and Tara might be able to shed some light on the latter," said the watcher, taking a sip of coffee.

"Where are the two witchy Wiccans anyway," Xander asked, glancing around the shop.

"No," Anne interceded, "I'm sure they're just having inventory, er, doing intercourse, I mean…Doing Inventory!"

"Well someone had better stop them," Giles bit out, wiping his tie clean of coffee.

There was a long pause as everyone in the shop regarded one another for the necessary task.

"No!" The rest of the shop replied, causing Xander to sit back down. "I just offered," he mumbled.

"What, and then just pretend that we didn't know what was going on," asked Giles.

"Well, this is no fun," said Anya, "Are we just going to sit here in silence, twiddling our thumbs until they finish having orgasms or Buffy gets here?"

"She had some stuff to take care of at the University, and then a parent/teacher meeting at Dawn's school," Anne explained.

"Dawn's been skipping school since her mom's death. Her grades have been dropping. The school is concerned."

Once again the shop bell rung and those inside looked up to see Buffy enter with Dawn in tow.

"O-kay," the slayer said carefully, "Giles, can I talk to you a minute? In the back."

"Dawn, stay here". Buffy stated firmly, "Will, can you help her with her homework?"

"Sure, Buffy," said Willow, sitting down next to Dawn at the research table as the slayer and watcher headed into the back room to talk.

"Xander," Anne warned, shaking her head slightly. Willow noticed their silent exchange, and used the opportunity to re-focus Dawn's attention on her schoolwork.

"Anne," Tara said, changing the subject, "I've been meaning to ask you, um, what kind of spell did you use to get here?"

"I don't know," Anne explained, "I mean, I do, but I don't. I was only supposed to go two blocks. It was a simple teleportation spell."

"Pagan, actually," Anne replied, "Tenth generation, or so. The spell that I used hadn't been functional in over four hundred years. But, I locked on a way to make it work again."

"Well, the necessary ingredients plus a little dose of quantum physics," Anne illuminated, "I returned the science to the magick."

"Hey, guys," said Willow, interrupting, "Sorry, Tara. Um, could I borrow you for a second?"

"Great, then you'll know what to do. If you wouldn't mind," Willow gestured to the floor.

Anne and Xander nodded and began to lie down on the floor. Tara looked on warily.

"Oh, that's fine," replied the redhead, "I'll do it. Um, Dawnie, you stand in the middle of us and, I'll lie here so…Xander, stop it, you're obtuse."

"Well, I think you guys are 'a cute' triangle," Dawn said trying to keep a straight face. She failed, and everyone started giggling uncontrollably just as Buffy and Giles returned from the training room.

"What is this," asked Buffy in an angry tone, "I thought I told you to do your homework."

"I was," replied Dawn, moving toward her sister. The human triangle broke up and Willow moved to Dawn's side.

Willow stepped in and tried to calm the older Summers' sister down. Tara, Xander and Anne looked on from the research table.

"It was supposed to happen. I could have stopped it, but it was too important," Anne explained.

"Fine! Don't listen to me," Dawn shouted and ran back over to the table, hastily gathering her things, trying to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Dawn, listen to me," Anne said softly, "I know you're thinking 'What does it matter? I'm not real so who cares about homework?' But, you are real, and after all this is over, when Buffy kicks Glory's ass and you're still here…well…I don't know about you, but, I'd hate to be held back in school, or worse, sent to live with my absentee dad. Think about it."

"What do you know about it," Dawn snapped as Buffy approached the table to get her.

Dawn blinked back her tears and let her sister lead her out of the shop. Willow turned from the place where she and Buffy had been standing, her face expressing feelings of anger and hurt. She walked back over to the table and grabbed her coat, extending her hand to Tara.

"Willow," Anne interceded, "You can't go. Either of you. I know you're hurt and upset. Buffy said some things that were out of character and out of line. I know you want to take Tara back to the dorm and get changed and go to the fair. But, you can't, you have to stay here. At least until after three 'o' clock."

"One of Glory's minions will arrive at some point between two and three. I'm guessing around two-thirty. It'll have that information I was telling you about," Anne explained, "It would probably be best if Tara hid down in the basement before it gets here. Glory can't know where she is. We need to keep her safe."

Willow regarded her girlfriend with worried eyes. "Then that's what we'll do," she said. Tara took Willow's hand, and they gazed at each other lovingly.

"You just said, 'When Buffy kicks Glory's ass'. You know that Buffy's gonna win," he leveled.

"You mean that by you keeping me from being killed by Glory, Buffy is now in danger," Tara inquired, her voice shaky.

"No. No, you never died," Anne spoke hastily, "No, you just… Glory just kinda… I can't talk about this."

"SHE'S THE SLAYER! WHEN ISN'T SHE?" Anne howled, desperate to release the pressure she was suddenly under. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I...I agreed to one change and, and I gave it to you. I just…I want to go home."

"Then let's find you a way," Giles offered quietly, "Willow, Tara, I found several more texts on teleportation spells. They're sitting on my desk, would you?"

"Sure Giles," Willow answered, leading Tara out of the room, her gaze never leaving Anne.

"Now, Anne," the watcher said, taking a seat at the table, "You said that you 'created' the spell that you used to…er…jump here?"

"Where I come from, magic in any form, whether for stage or for, I guess what you'd call 'real', has to have a basis in scientific fact," Anne began, "Quantum theory poses that nothing is a solid. Everything is just a bunch of particles mushed together to look solid, and it's our brain that takes the final step in convincing us it is. Like this table, for example, isn't really here. It's just a bunch of sub-atomic particles called quanta that have come together in the shape of what we identify as a table. Theoretically, if I could completely and totally convince myself that this table didn't exist, I could walk right through it, because it was never even there to begin with."

"Okay," said Xander, "so you can walk through a table. That doesn't explain how you ended up here."

"Yes it does," Anne argued, "Just on a bigger scale. Okay, so everything is made of these quantum particles, right? Push your hands together as if you were praying. Now, you've brought your two hands together as one unit, but, you can still see the holes. There are places where your hands can't touch, can't fuse and will therefore never be complete or solid. The same goes for everything. These little quanta come together to form tables, chairs, people, dimensional barriers, but nothing is solid. The trick is finding the holes that line up and just…walking through."

"Because a quantum particle is smaller than an atom, so you have to assume that any holes are going to be the same size or smaller. The spell helps to re-arrange the existing particles for a split second, giving you a better chance of fitting through. The medallion was supposed to be able to help in the quantum displacement."

"Kinne Street Elementary School," Anne finished, "I guess I allowed myself to get distracted. I was watching an episode of Buffy when I cast the spell."

"Willow, have you heard any of this," Giles inquired of the redhead as she and Tara returned to the table, setting down a couple of books.

"Yeah, we could hear it from the other room," Tara answered for her girlfriend, "There's just one thing I don't understand…"

"What do you mean that 'real magick' has to have a basis in science," Tara continued, "Isn't magick the absence of science?"

"Magick is the absence of science as we understand it," Anne leveled, "As it has been taught to us. Science is the study of the world around us, and trying to explain how and why things happen the way they do. We've forgotten that we, as a collective conscience, actually make the world the way it is. Because we have the ability to make the world the way it is, we also have the ability to make changes. Just using our minds. That's the science of miracles. The science of magick."

"Then, according to what you're saying, anything is possible," concluded Willow.

"Yes and no," Anne answered, "Sure, you can make small changes in your own reality, in your own point of view. But, big changes, like...um…well, like destroying a God, you can't just think well, 'Glory doesn't exist, therefore she doesn't' because too many other people believe she does. You have to go in and physically kick her ass in front of her followers for them to even begin to believe that she is fallible and therefore capable of being destroyed. Am I making sense?"

"I hate to break up this little pow-wow you guys," Anya spoke up, "But it's ten minutes after two o'clock."

"Oh," said Giles, "Tara, I suppose you should head down to the basement. Willow, er, no, second thought, Xander, why don't you keep her company. Anne, I suppose you'll want to stay up here."

"Actually," Anne said, rising, "I sort of wanted to check out the training room. See if it's as big as it looks on TV."

"Oh, uh, yeah, with Willow and Tara," Anne covered, "I was kind of focused more on them, then on my surroundings. I'd like to get a better look around. Plus, it would probably be good if the minions didn't see me."

Xander and Tara headed down into the basement as Willow and Giles started a new conversation. Anne carefully pocketed a piece of paper she had been scribbling on, and went into the training room.

"Giles, do you think that I've gotten too powerful," Anne heard Willow ask as she shut the training room door behind her.

Anne listened very carefully to the conversation on the other side of the door. Listening for her cue. The dialogue has changed, but the timetable should not have, she thought to herself.

Then she heard it, the sound of Giles opening the door beside the register and slamming it into the minion on the other side. She listened closely to the familiar exchange.

"AH! Ow, eh, don't! I'll tell you…anything…please! Whatever you want…just ah…anything!"

"I'm supposed to watch … we're watching the slayer's people while Glory fetches the key."

"Too late! Too late! Glorificus will find the witch and there's nothing you can do to stop her!"

"She's the new one among you… it wasn't hard to figure out. The glorious one will have found her by now, I'm sure."

Silence followed, then Anne heard Giles unceremoniously kicking the minion back out into the alley. This was her chance. She had to act quickly. Dashing out the side door of the training room, Anne bumped into the minion in the alley.

"Here," she said, her voice shaking, she shoved the piece of paper that she had pocketed earlier into the scabby hands of the small creature, "Give this to your mistress. Go. Now!"

Leaving the confused minion standing alone, she scrambled back into the shop through the training room door. Taking a moment to steel herself, she re-entered the main room of the shop.

"Did you find out everything you needed to know," Anne now asked, trying to keep her tone even.

"What would have happened," the blonde witch asked, her voice quavering, "if I had gone to the fair?"

"Glory would have found you there," Anne explained, "And once she discovered that you were not what she thought, she would have taken your sanity."

"Oh," Tara replied softly, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "Thank you…thank you…for saving me…"

"Ssshhh," Willow comforted, taking her lover into her arms, and stroking her back. 'Thank You', she mouthed to Anne over Tara's shoulder. Anne only nodded, doing her best to hide the sadness in her eyes.

"Well," Giles began, "We can use Glory's misinformation to our advantage. I think it would be best if we all acted as if Tara were the Key. We might be able to keep Glory off of Dawn's scent long enough to figure out a way to destroy her. Glory, not Dawn, obviously."

"Now, we have to focus on keeping Tara as safe as possible for as long as possible," the watcher continued, "You girls probably shouldn't go back to your dorm for now. It may not be safe."

"Why don't they stay with you tonight," Anne offered, "Then Buffy can go with them tomorrow so that they can get some clothes or anything else they might need."

"That's an excellent idea, Anne, thank you," Giles replied, "What do you both think?"

"Well, in the meantime we can continue to research. Willow and Tara, you can focus on a spell for Anne. Xander, you and I can continue to look up texts on Glorificus."

Everyone nodded their assent and they quickly set back to work, not noticing that Anne had begun nervously biting her fingernails.

"Someone whom I've never seen before, your most majesticalness," the creature responded somewhat nervously.

"Female. Young. I'd say early twenties. Rather plain looking. Of course, everyone is plain compared to you, your most stunningly exquisitefulness."

"Well, whoever she is, she had better be telling the truth. Because if she isn't, and I find her," Glory smirked, her eyes taking on a dangerous sparkle, "I use her for my lunch."

"But, something tells me that she's telling the truth, and betraying a friend. I like her already," Glory said, letting the piece of paper in her hand, fall open on to the floor.

THE SLAYER'S SISTER IS THE KEY
SHE WILL BE AT THE BLONDE WITCH'S DORM TOMORROW AFTERNOON.
DO NOT ACT ON THIS INFORMATION UNTIL THEN

The afternoon of the next day came quickly, and Anne found herself recruited by Buffy and Dawn into helping Willow and Tara relocate of few of their things to Giles' apartment. Around one-thirty, the five girls settled down in Tara's dorm room to eat lunch.

"I have," Anne queried, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to. It's just that right now, or I should say the 'now' as this relates to the show, we're getting close to the season finale, so big stuff is about to go down. I guess I'm kind of nervous about being in the middle of it. I've never been what you'd call a fighter."

"Well, maybe with the changes that have been made, we won't have to deal with the 'season finale'. Or we could at least put it off until after you've made it home," Willow offered.

Suddenly the entire wall to Tara's room was ripped open, revealing the Hell Goddess standing in the fissure, an evil grin on her face.

"Oh, I don't want the little witch-bitch," Glory explained, "No, she just doesn't have what it takes to be key material. But, I think I know who is." Glorificus turned her evil gaze to Dawn. "Hello…sis."

The women took off running with Glory hot on their heels. The Hell Goddess quickly cut the group off.

The witches, Anne and Dawn bolted in the direction of the Summers' home as Buffy began to get into hand-to-hand combat with Glory.

"How did you find out," Buffy asked, fighting desperately to keep her opponent on the defensive and backing toward the street.

Glory was cut off as she was struck blindside by an oncoming semi-truck. Buffy paused only for a moment to collect herself, before starting into a sprint that would take her all the way home.

Buffy came bursting inside of her home practically pulling the door from its hinges. Her eyes were wild and her jaw clenched as she set her sights on the young woman sitting nervously on the couch.

"You," she said, hauling Anne to her feet and slamming her into the archway of the living room, "You knew, didn't you?"

"Oh my God, you really are strong," Anne commented through the searing pain shooting down her back.

"Answer me!" The slayer yelled, shaking the girl by her shirt collar, "You knew! You knew that was going to happen and you didn't say anything?!? Why!?"

By this time, everyone else at the house, having been called earlier, was now standing behind Buffy, watching the dramatic scene unfold. Only Dawn stayed seated in a chair by the antique desk, her arms folded across her chest.

"I can't interfere," Anne sobbed, half pleading, half explaining, the collar of her shirt now painfully chaffing the skin of her neck under the slayer's grasp. "I wish you could understand."

"Buffy," Willow said softly, "Listen to me." The slayer quirked an ear in the direction of the redhead, "Okay, so Anne knew and didn't tell us. Well, it's too late to worry about that now. All that matters is that Glory knows Dawnie is the Key and, we have to do something."

Reluctantly, Buffy let Anne go, the brunette sliding to the floor with difficulty, her back screaming in pain.

Giles was the first to speak up, "Perhaps we should reassemble at the magic shop, see if there's anything…"

"No, not ever." Buffy interrupted. "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."

"That's not what she meant." Xander explained, then turned to the slayer, "Is it?"

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

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

"Giles, I can't defeat Glory. She's too big. She's going to win. I don't know anyway to stop her. Obviously Anne isn't going to give any useful information. At least, not until it's too late. We stay, we die. Hands up for that option."

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

"What about wheels?" asked Xander softly, "I don't think everybody's gonna fit in the Xandermobile."

Buffy grabbed her jacket and bolted out the front door in the direction of the cemetery.

Four hours later and the group sat huddled in an abandoned gas station in the middle of the desert. Byzantium Knights, who were being kept at bay due a protection spell that had been cast by Willow and Tara, surrounded them. Giles lay injured, almost mortally, by a spear one of the knights had successfully launched into the driver's side window of the Winnebago Spike had pilfered as a way to get the gang out of Sunnydale and on the run. The group had been successful in capturing the leader of the knights, Gregor, and had tied him to a pillar in one of the gas station's rooms and interrogated him for information. All of which Anne was able to confirm as accurate. Now, Buffy paced near the station's front door, watching the Knight's priests try to break through Willow and Tara's protective barrier, and waiting for Ben to arrive with medical aide.

"Buffy," Anya prodded gently, "Would you…could you stop pacing? You're making me nervous and Xander motion sick."

"Knew how she found out. How Glory found out about Dawn. It doesn't make sense."

"Then how," Buffy asked again, "How did she get from Tara to Dawn in six degrees or less?"

"Buffy, what you're feeling is important," Tara comforted, "But, you don't want to waste your energy trying to answer a question that has become...forgive me…become irrelevant."

"It might be irrelevant," Buffy countered, "But that doesn't mean I don't need to know. Anne, do you have any idea of how Glory figured Dawn out?"

Anne sank back against the wall where she was seated. She gingerly felt the gash on her right cheek where a piece of the Winnebago had collided with her face in the crash. Her thoughts raced a mile a minute, wrestling with her guilt. Should she speak, or stay silent?

"So," Buffy pressed, "Glory already knows, and we know that Glory knows, and Glory knows that we know it. We're very knowledgeable. So it can't hurt to tell us. Right?"

"There are things," Anne began, "Future things. Important things that are meant to happen. But, because some stuff changed, it was possible that these important future events would never occur. I couldn't let that happen…"

"What are you saying?" The slayer's eyes narrowed and she released her grip on the traveler, causing the girl to slump backwards against the wall.

"I'm saying that…" Anne paused, it was too difficult to admit. Almost. "I'm saying that I told her."

Buffy didn't hesitate. She socked Anne clean across the jaw, knocking her unconscious. Tara started to rush to the fallen girl's side, but Buffy stepped in.

Everyone stared at Anne lying broken on the floor. No one dared move. Silence followed for what seemed like an eternity. But the sound of a vehicle approaching amidst the medieval army outside broke the stillness.

"Thank God," said Buffy, "Willow, Tara, come with me, we need to open a door in the spell barrier so that he can get in. Can you do that?"

Forty-five minutes later, Ben had successfully cleaned and dressed the watcher's wounds.

"I think I've got him stabilized," the young intern announced, "But we need to get him to a hospital."

"You want me to take a look at her," Ben asked, indicating the still unconscious Anne.

"Look," said Buffy, apologizing, "I know this must seem extra 'Outer Limits' to you."

"This?" Ben asked, "Naah. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. You know, emergency room, full moon on a Saturday night."

"Don't worry about me." Assured Ben, "I won't leave until I've worn out my welcome. Mind if I take a look around. See if anyone else needs attention? I mean, other than the girl on the floor who you obviously hate."

"I don't know," Tara answered, "Because I don't think Anne is such a terrible person?"

"Buffy's just under a lot of pressure. She's really scared. It'll be okay," Willow soothed.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm suddenly back at square one with the entire group," sighed Tara.

"No," replied Willow, "Baby, it's fine. You're fine. Once all of this is over, things will go back to normal. You'll see. Like I said, Buffy's just kind of got a nasty case of the wiggins."

Tara sighed softly and leaned in to steal a kiss from Willow's lips, then curled up into her love's arms.

"Sorry." Said Ben, gently removing Dawn from Giles' side so that he could take the wounded man's pulse.

"I don't have to." Ben answered, filling a syringe with pain-killer, "I just know that sometimes terrible things happen to good people. It shouldn't, but...it does. It's nobody's fault. It's just the way life is."

"Is that gonna help?" Dawn inquired. When the young Doctor didn't answer, she became concerned, "Ben?"

Ben suddenly lost his grip on the syringe, dropping it on the ground. He raised a shaky hand to his forehead, and his eyes grew wide with fear. Quickly he bolted into the main room where Buffy and the others had been waiting. Dawn followed him in.

"You don't understand, I gotta get out, open a door now!" The young intern was now clearly panicking. Buffy and Spike ran to Dawn's side.

"No!" Ben screamed in pain, raising his hands to his head and suddenly morphing into the Beast herself, Glory. Glory turned Ben's last movement into a stretch, slowly bringing her arms down and looking around.

Buffy and Dawn looked on in horror as the slayer stepped defensively between her sister and the Hell God.

"Well, what do you know." Smiled Glory, "Little Ben finally did something right."

"Hey, it's Gregor." Glory commented before picking up a stray hubcap and throwing it, chakram style, into the general's chest, killing him instantly. "Now it's not."

Spike charged with Xander close behind. Glory hit them both sending them backward into a wall. Tara and Willow lowered their heads and began to chant softly. Buffy rushed at Glory only to be quickly rebuffed and sent flying into the two witches, knocking them all to the floor.

The Hell Goddess turned her attention to Dawn, now left unattended, and grabbed the girl by the wrist, yanking her toward the door.

Buffy painfully tried to get up as Glory crashed outside stealing Dawn away. The knights surrounding the small station quickly moved into attack formation.

"Yeah, right!" Glory piffed at the spell barrier momentarily holding her back from a hasty exit. Swinging her free arm, she broke a hole in it, stepping through and pulling Dawn with her. The knights began yelling battle cries and attacked.

"Dawn!!" Buffy cried as she emerged from the building, trying unsuccessfully to make it to the hole Glory had created in time to squeeze through. She turned and ran back into the station, limping slightly, "Willow!! Get it down now!!"

Willow and Tara quickly began to chant as Buffy ran back out again, "Hear, hear my plea. Circling arm protecting me…"

By the time Buffy had made it outside again, Glory was gone, and all of the knights had been slain. She walked forward slowly, looking around at the corpses in horror.

The rest of the Scoobies burst out, with Spike carrying Anne on his shoulder, slowing down only when they caught the sight in front of them.

Spike pointed to the car. "Get the keys," he said. Xander ran back into the station.

"Buffy!" Willow shouted, approaching the slayer, "Buffy, we have to find Dawn. We, we can't let Glory…"

"Buffy?" Tara questioned, suddenly realizing what had happened, "Buffy!" Tears ran down Buffy's face.

"Buffy," urged Willow, "you have to get up! We need you!" Buffy only sat, staring off into space. "Buffy, please! Buffy..."

"Separate," Willow said casting a spell to break the two quarrelers apart. Spike and Xander each skidded to a halt, regarding each other, and Willow, with trepidation.

"Buffy's out," Willow continued, "Glory has Dawn. Sometime real soon she's gonna use Dawn to tear down the barrier between every dimension there is. So if you two wanna fight, you do it after the world ends, kay?"

She paused for emphasis, before laying down her plan. "Alright, first we head back to Sunnydale. Xander will take Giles to the hospital. Anya and Tara will keep an eye on Anne. Spike, you find Glory. Check her apartment, see if she's still there. Try anything stupid, like payback, and I will get very cranky. Everyone clear?"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing," Anya asked the redhead as she checked over her ingredients for the spell she was about to cast.

"I think so," Willow answered honestly, "I don't know. It's not exactly well explored territory."

"Baby," Tara said, crossing to her lover, "a spell like this could be dangerous for Buffy, and you."

"I will." Willow pressed her lips to Tara's in a deep and passionate embrace. Anya made no attempt to look away.

"What do we do if that Anne girl wakes up," the ex-demon inquired, matter-of-factly.

The girlfriends reluctantly broke apart so that Willow could answer the question. "Um, I don't think she's any kind of physical threat. Just keep her here and try and get some more information out of her, if she'll talk."

"I don't know. Hopefully not very." Willow kissed Tara again, quickly this time. "Wish me luck," she said to Anya.

"Thanks." Willow gathered her candles and headed through the bedroom door, glancing back at Tara one last time, 'I love you', she mouthed. Tara nodded and smiled as her lover disappeared into the bedroom.. "Good luck," she said, softly.

"I'm sure she'll be alright," said Anya, "Willow's a very powerful witch. Especially considering the short time that she has been practicing."

"I know," Tara agreed, her brow slightly furrowed, she continued to stare at the bedroom door.

A groan from the couch alerted the two women that their company was regaining consciousness. Tara and Anya quickly made there way to Anne's side.

"Mmmfgh," the brunette droned, opening her eyes to take in her new location. She started to massage her bruised jaw, but stopped. "Um, don't you think the ropes are a bit much," she asked, referring to her bound wrists.

"Would have," Anne questioned, then the sudden realization hit her, "She's gone catatonic by now, hasn't she?"

"It was supposed to. Don't worry, Willow will reach her. You'll have the slayer back full strength in under an hour," Anne assured.

"Tara, what am I gonna do? Where am I gonna go? To Glory? Yeah, right. You guys are the winning team. I know this. You can trust me."

"Well, that really is the issue here, isn't it," noted Anya, "I mean, you sort of destroyed any established trust when you betrayed Dawn to Glory. When you betrayed us to Glory."

"No, I didn't, well, I mean, yeah, I did. But, it was only to make sure that things ended the way they are supposed to," Anne explained, "I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I was only trying to help…. And these ropes really do hurt."

"I think we can untie her," Tara finally relented, removing the binds from Anne's wrists.

"Well, fine," said Anya, "But I get the 'I-told-you-so' if Buffy comes out and goes all 'kablooey'."

"Oh, great," sighed Anne, "You guys don't remember yet. Didn't Spike go over this at the gas station?"

"Ben is Glory and Glory is Ben," Anne explained very, very slowly, "He is human, but Glory must inhabit his body in order to function in this plane of existence. Glory and Ben are one and the same. Sort of."

"Yes. They know each other in the sense that they ARE each other," Anne clarified, already knowing that this entire conversation was going to be useless until the magic holding Ben and Glory together collapsed. It seemed a lot funnier on T.V.

"So…what are you saying," questioned Anya, "That Glory and Ben are the same person?"

"Yes, I think that's what she's saying," Anya confirmed, "But in what capacity?"

"Just…well, this is going to seem redundant, especially to me…forget it." Anne massaged her temples, "Not that you need to be told to."

The door to the bedroom swung open and Willow stepped out. "She's back." She smiled as Buffy entered the main room.

"Buffy, thank God. We were so worried." Tara cast a grateful glance at her girlfriend. Willow smiled. Then frowned.

"She wasn't going anywhere, Hon. I don't think she really meant to hurt anyone."

"Guys," Anya said, stepping in, "Um, not to discount anyone's feelings here, but, there is a Hell God out there about to unleash all manner of, er, Hell… on Earth, and we might want to try and focus on stopping her."

"They're probably at the M-Magic Box by now," said Tara, now strangely afraid of her girlfriend's best friend.

"Yeah, you're right," said Buffy, "That's how she got Dawn back at the gas station. Ben changed into her."

"Yeah. Well, good info to have. Although we certainly could have used it earlier," Buffy said pointedly, looking at Anne, " Let's go."

Anne crossed behind the group and sat in a small red-velvet chair, realizing that from this point on, she was only an observer. She allowed her thoughts to wander over the coming series of events. We go fight Glory, Doc opens the portal, Buffy jumps in, She dies, Willow brings her back, Buffy and Spike hook up… I think. Wait…wait a minute…

"Someone's in trouble. Outside, in the alley," Buffy explained, removing her jacket and heading toward the back. "I'll be right back."

Everyone watched her go, everyone except Anne, who was suddenly very much in her thoughts, her brow furrowing with concern and fear.

"I wish there were, Tara. I've gone over these texts several times now, and as I said before, there is little margin for error. If the ritual is started, Dawn will, no, must die in order for it to stop."

"I didn't say that…" Giles began, but he was interrupted by the re-entrance of the slayer.

"The key is living energy," Giles explained, "It needed to be channeled. Poured into a specific place at a specific time. The energy would flow into that spot, the walls between the dimensions break down. It stops, the energy is used up, the walls come back up. Glory uses that time to get back into her own dimension, not caring that all manner of hell will be unleashed on Earth in the meantime."

"Um," interjected Anya, "But only for a little while, right? The walls come back, er, no more hell?"

Wait a minute…wait a minute, Anne's mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to connect the events. Um, okay, uh, I stopped Tara from going insane, therefore Willow hasn't used dark magic. So, um, she can't bring Buffy back. Or, can she? I don't know. Crap. This isn't good. Okay, wait. Go through it again, Anne.

"Shit!" Anne exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "Um," she tried to cover, "I just realized that I left the coffee on back home." The group stared at her for a moment, confused by the irrelevant outburst, before returning to their conversation.

Alright, so maybe it doesn't matter. I mean, Willow could be so distraught over losing Buffy that she goes to the dark texts anyway. After all, she did give Dawn that book on raising the dead in "Forever". It'll be okay… yeah… it'll be okay. I think. Oh, man… Anne was now furiously biting her fingernails.

"If the ritual starts then every living creature in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death." Giles stated firmly, "Including Dawn."

Oh, God, Anne realized, Even if Willow does turn to the texts, she won't be as versed in them as she would be if she had started using Dark Magick now. She won't be as powerful, and it's possible that because of that she won't be able to bring Buffy back. I have to stop this. I have to stop this!

"Okay," said Anya, "But I'm still not hearing enough ideas. She's a God, let's think 'outside the box'."

"Yes, Anya," Giles joined, "apart from your incredibly uninfectious enthusiasm, have you anything else to contribute…"

"When Buffy first met Glory, she found that magical glowy sphere that was meant to repel Glory," Anya rationalized. "We've got it in the basement. It might drive her away or hurt her. Oh!," she said, crossing to the bookshelf, "Olaf the Troll God's enchanted hammer. You want to fight a god, use the weapon of a god."

"Nah, that things too heavy…" Spike began to protest as Buffy lifted the hammer with ease. "Yeah, good."

"You couldn't have figured that out in tenth grade?" Willow chided. Tara slid her arm around her lover's waste, holding her closely and giving Xander a coy grin. The young man only gulped and tried not to look embarrassed.

"Well, we have some ideas that could actually get Glory on the run," said the watcher, "But, uh…"

"Um, actually," Anne piped up, capturing the gang's attention, "You know all that information that I've been holding back from you guys? Well, is it too late in the game to say that I've changed my mind?"

"How do we know that it's the truth," Spike asked as he pulled a large, gold coin from the pocket of his trench coat and began flipping it in the air with his thumb.

"It's not yours," answered Anne, her heart-rate increasing, "it's mine. It's the Medallion of Translocation."

"Great," said the slayer, "I guess you can go home now. Leave us all here to die. Or let your own dimension get ripped apart when Glory succeeds."

"No," Anne replied, holding the medal to the light so that it glistered, "I'm not going anywhere. Glory is. Listen up."

Twenty minutes later Anne had revealed everything she knew of the upcoming battle, down to the tiniest detail. A plan was formed, and Buffy and Spike went back to her place to get weaponry. Xander and Anya searched the basement to find the Buffy-bot and Diagon Sphere, and Willow, Tara and Anne hit the books to see if they could find any new spells that might be useful in the fight. Meanwhile, Giles set to work sharpening the weapons already at the Magic Box, and everyone counted down the minutes to the impending battle.

"It has to," Willow replied, "I don't think Anne is lying. Besides, why would she? She has as much to lose as we do."

"No one's gonna die," assured Anne, dropping a new book on the research table. "I swear. Anyway, we've already won. Or, I should say, you've already won. I've given you every detail, every nuance of this fight. There's no way you can't win."

"Do you know what I do back 'home'?" Anne asked, her voice filled with self-loathing. "I'm a data-entry clerk for American Express. I make just enough money to pay my bills. I live alone, no pets. And the only thing I do other than eat, sleep, and work, is watch Buffy. I mean, yeah, I've got friends, but the only thing we have in common, the only thing we can all relate to is Buffy, a television show. The one thing in my life that makes me happy. A fantasy world that, until now, I always thought was impossible to have. But here I am and I feel like I've been given a second chance. And I don't… I don't want to go back."

"Yeah, I did. Because I was afraid of messing with the natural order of this world." Anne continued to explain, "But, something occurred to me. The second I zapped into this dimension was the second that the natural order was destroyed. And, there was nothing I could do to fix that. I kept thinking, if I change one thing, and then fix something else so that the order of events fell back into place, everything would be okay. But, I was wrong. Then I remembered something that my mom said to me when she was diagnosed with lymphoma, she said, 'Everything happens for a reason.' That's when I got it. That's when it hit me. I was meant to be here all along. I jumped into this dimension with the knowledge that I have so that I could help you. Help you to defeat Glory, and make things here on the Hellmouth a little better. Maybe even give you the happy endings that you all deserve. At least until the next 'Big Bad' makes their appearance."

"Are we set," asked Buffy as she and Spike entered the shop, arms full of weapons.

"Just about," answered Xander, coming up from the basement, "Need a little help with the Bot. She's kind of heavy on-account of all the heavy metal innards."

"I'm on it," the slayer replied, heading down the stairs. "Need to get her changed, anyway."

"You guys go ahead and start heading out," Buffy called from below, "I want to brief the Bot on a few things. We'll catch up in a couple of minutes."

The rickety-tower loomed large over the approaching warriors. The sounds of welding and the smells of brick and hot metal filled the air.

"I could use a little courage," the redhead replied. Spike held out a flask of whiskey. "The real kind," Willow clarified, taking Tara's hand, "But, thanks."

The lovers approached the entrance to the compound with trepidation. Each removing a small bag of magick powder from their pockets, they began to chant, "Luminos Verde. Luminos Verde. Luminos Verde." On the third chant, they blew some of the dust into the air, creating a ball of glowing green light. One of the insane workers caught site of it, and moved toward it.

"To Us," Willow answered, as she and Tara, still holding hands, stepped in between the Hell God and the worker. Willow grasped Glory's skull and Tara the insane man's. Lightening bolts of blue energy coursed through them all causing them to be suddenly blown apart from each other in four different directions.

"What the fricken hell did those bitches do to me," Glory asked, stumbling to her feet.

"I said a brain, you worthless dirt." Both minions bowed away. "Big day. Got places to be. Big Day. Need a brain." She laughed as she looked up at the sight before her, "Suppose I could always use yours."

"Okay then," answered Buffy confidently, holding her hands behind her back, "Come and get it." When Glory didn't move, she commented again, "You don't seem very well."

"Your two little dykes gave me kind of a headache there," Glory answered, massaging her temples. "But if you think this is going to last anymore than eight seconds…"

"I notice you're talking," Buffy interrupted, "Where as in your position, I would attack me."

"Go guard," Glory ordered as best she could. The minions scampered away and quickly formed a human wall using the workers the Hell Goddess had brainwashed.

"It's strange," noted the slayer, "You're not as blurry with speed as usual either."

"It's not them." Buffy said, producing the Diagon Sphere from behind her back, "It might be this. I heard it's supposed to repel you. My guess is… you probably shouldn't touch it either." The slayer lobbed the sphere to Glory, who caught it and easily crushed it in her hand.

Buffy used the distraction to step in and punch the Hell God in the face, and the fight was on. Buffy quickly had Glory on the defensive, pushing her back toward one of the compound's walls.

"Got him," Giles happily announced, as he reloaded his crossbow, prepared to take out another minion.

The rest of the group joined the fray, except for Anne, who stayed back, waiting for her opportunity to make her move. She watched as the Scoobies swung, kicked and punched their way through the crowd of lost souls whose only thought was to protect what they were told.

A low groaning sound caused Anne to look to her left, seeing the man who Willow and Tara had lured removing himself from a pile of rubble.

Anne looked back over to where Willow had landed just in time to see the redhead crawling on her hands and knees to her girlfriend's side, the two women embracing tightly, safe in each other's arms.

"She always finds you," Anne whispered under her breath. Her gaze returned to the fray, where she was able to make out Buffy and Glory in close combat. Suddenly, Glory struck Buffy hard across the face, knocking the slayer's, or rather the Bot's, head from its shoulders. The brunette smirked as she saw the real Buffy step in behind the Hell Goddess, Troll Hammer already in full swing. The impact sent Glory up and into a wall, temporarily disabling her.

The slayer quickly made for the tower stairs, knocking a minion out of her way. Glory was up on her feet and in fast pursuit, cutting Buffy off. The pair began to fight viciously. Anne watched everything unfold. Running like clockwork, she thought to herself. Now she looked to see the Scoobies being slowly pushed back by the workers and minions. She moved up to a large piece of equipment and squatted behind it. Giles, Anya and Spike, all retreating from the sudden offense of the opposing side, shortly joined her.

"Over there," Anne indicated to a spot by the wall where Glory and Buffy had landed after falling off the tower.

"You lost your hammer, Sweet cheeks," Glory taunted, standing up, "What are going to hit me with now?"

Suddenly a two-ton wrecking ball slammed through the wall, knocking Glory for a loop.

"Whatever's handy," Buffy replied, reclaiming her hammer form the ground, and taking off in chase of where the Hell Beast had landed.

"Nevermind. Here I go." The brunette started off, pausing one last moment, "Spike, don't forget the ax."

"Don't worry. I've got it." Anne nodded nervously, and took off at a sprint, hoping to beat Buffy and Glory to their final destination.

"As long as Buffy can keep Glory down long enough it doesn't matter," said Giles, breathless, "There's only a few minutes left to start the ritual."

Spike sprinted toward the base the tower just as Tara and Willow cast a spell parting the crowd in half. He bolted up the rickety stairwell to the top of the tower where he found Doc and Dawn waiting.

"This won't take long." Spike rushed at Doc. The small demon went to grab the vampire's wrist to twist it behind his back. Spike anticipated the move and quickly countered, grabbing Doc's arm instead, twisting it, and forcing the little man to his knees, holding him there.

"Not this time," said Spike, raising the ax he had concealed in his coat, and striking Doc's head off. "I made a promise to a lady." He shoved the newly decapitated body off the tower's plank, and watched it fall to the ground with a satisfying "splat, crunch."

"Alright than, Bit," Spike said tenderly, "Let's get you out of those nasty ropes."

Meanwhile, down below, the battle between Glory and Buffy raged on with the slayer still landing very solid blows to the Hell God's face using the troll hammer.

"Then today's your lucky day," said the slayer, striking the God again, causing her to do a one-eighty, facing the world that had been behind her.

"No one important," Anne replied. "Here hold this," she said, giving Glory the medallion.

A flash of light, and a burst of energy sent Anne flying backwards through the air in a high arc. Buffy rubbed her eyes, trying to get the spots in front of them to go away. The rest of the group came rushing over, including Spike, who held the grateful Dawn in his arms. They all looked to see where Glory had been, only finding the lifeless body of Ben in her place.

"He could have saved me," Dawn explained, "But instead he made a deal with Glory. That if she succeeded, she'd have made him immortal. He was no better than her. I think… I even think he was worse."

"It's over now," said Buffy, going to her sister's side and taking her into her arms.

"Oh. Um… when she cast the spell a big burst of energy sent her flying over that way," Buffy answered.

The group quickly made their way in the indicated direction, trying to find any trace of their new friend. Willow and Tara led the way, turning a corner in the compound, as the rest followed.

Anne lay impaled on a length of rebar sticking out of tangled mass of rusty scrap metal. She was conscious, but pale, she'd lost a lot of blood.

"Shh," comforted Tara, doing her best to stay calm, "Just try and stay still. We'll get help."

"I don't think that'll do any good," Anne strained, "This isn't like when Cordelia fell on that rod when she caught Willow and Xander kissing in the warehouse in season three. This is worse. I can feel it."

The rest of the Scoobies had now caught up with Willow and Tara, and stood silently watching, helpless.

"Go. No point in two of us dying," the brunette smiled sadly, "Please go. Please."

Spike glanced warily at the rising sun. If he was going to go, it had to be now. He nodded to Anne glumly, "Thank you. Thank you for helping me save her."

Anne only smiled, tears now streaming down her face. She knew there wasn't much time left. Spike left the scene, heading to the safety of the sewers.

"Listen to me, "Before I go. I want to thank you for letting me into your world. It was the best…"

"Buffy," Anne called, "Come here." The slayer complied and approached the fallen woman. "This is gonna sound cra…Give Spike a chance. He's a good…demon…once you get to know him… He's in love with you."

"Willow," Anne continued, now desperately clinging to every breath, "listen to Tara… Be careful… with your… magick. Don't… get cocky."

"I will," Willow answered. "I mean I won't… I mean…," she too now started to cry.

"You both… should move in… with Buffy," Anne gasped, "She'll need help… with money…and Dawn."

"Okay," said Tara. "I just have one last question to ask…before…" Tara found herself at a loss for words.

"Why me? Of all the things you could have changed, why did you choose to save me? Why?"

"That's easy," Anne replied, "You and Willow are my favorite characters." Anne's body tensed one last time, and then relaxed, at peace.

Everyone gazed silently at the body in front of them. No one knew what to say, or do.

"It's not fair," Willow said finally, her voice barely above a whisper, "It's just… it's not… it's not fair…. She shouldn't have died here. This wasn't her home."

"No," corrected Buffy, "If it wasn't for her, I'd be dead…. She saved my life."

"I'm coming, Darling," Tara answered, a little frustrated with Willow's impatience. "I'm not as fast as I used to be, especially with this load to carry," she sighed, patting her swollen belly.

"What am I thinking," said Willow, chastising herself, "Here, Baby, let me help you."

"I'm alright, Willow," Tara chuckled, batting her love's helping hands away. "Stop fretting."

"Hey, I'm allowed to fret. It is perfectly all right for me to fret over my pregnant wife. In fact, I enjoy it."

"No," answered Tara, "We would have made it eventually. It all depends on how fast my aching feet can carry me."

"Oh," answered Xander, "We couldn't get a sitter. All the 'sitters' are kind of… here."

"Yeah," Willow agreed, chuckling, "That reminds me, Dawn emailed me this morning. She says Stanford is great, she's having a blast."

"That's good. I'm glad to here that," said Xander, genuinely pleased. Suddenly, his expression turned south, "I, uh, guess we should do what we came for."

"Yeah," Willow sighed in agreement. She took a deep breathe before continuing, "Buffy, Anne, it's been a year since we were last here. It's always seemed strange to me that you both died during the same time of year, even though it was three years apart. I guess, Anne, you were right about 'season finales'. Buffy, with Faith still in jail, there's been no active slayer on duty, so the Council…. The new slayer arrived a little while ago. She's so young… only fifteen, like you were. We don't really see her or her watcher much. We've stopped patrolling as often, especially now that Xander and Anya have little Joyce, and Tara and I… Buffy, you'd be so excited… Tara and I are expecting our first. We're due in a few months. Well, she's due… anyway, it feels like I am too."

"Um, Dawn is still in college, and doing really well. You'd be very proud of her. She's dating a boy named Malcom… But don't worry, he's a real boy, not like robot-demon Malcom. Well, um, that's all the news, unless….Xander?"

"That pretty much sums it up, Buff," Xander said, taking over, "The construction business is doing well. Anya just loves doing the number crunching, as you know. Giles sold his share of the Magic Box to her, and that's doing really well too. Tara's been working there part-time reading 'Tara Cards'…get it? Me neither. Oh, um, I guess Will should tell you this, but her software company is doing good too. Other than that, it's just plain old Sunnydale. Home Sweet Hellmouth."

"Anne," Tara began, "Willow and I found out that we're having a little girl. We've decided to name her 'Anne' because your name's Anne, and so is Buffy's middle name, so it works out really well. We came to realize a long time ago all the opportunities you gave us thanks to your short time in this world, and we wanted to recognize that as best we could. Thank you, for everything."

Willow and Xander took this as their cue to set several bouquets of flowers on the adjoining graves. Tara stood and watched, unable to bend down due to her current predicament. That done, Willow stood and regained Tara's hand in her own, preparing to leave.

"What," complained the redhead, "But, their burgers aren't even meat! They're vegetable compound."

"Alright," sighed Willow, "If little Anne wants a Double Meat Medley, little Anne gets a Double Meat Medley. Let's go."

Xander resumed standing also, and the three friends headed out the cemetery, leaving the gravestones behind them.

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The Best of Both Worlds

By DarkWiccan

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