DISCLAIMER: I don't own Buff, Angel, any of their respective gangs. I don't own God. I'm fairly sure he owns me though.
TIMELINE: End of Season Five.
SPOILERS: All of Season Five.
FEEDBACK: Yes please. I like feedback. You can even write and tell me it's crap, I don't care
This is in response to Sunnie's challenge below, posted at the BA_Fluff mailing list
Basic Plot: Re-write of The Gift. (BOO!! HISS!!) Yes, I know it's been done SO many times. But, anyway, this time Angel and the L.A gang are there. And instead of Buffy jumping into the portal, Angel does. How can this work you ask: Well, you forget Angel did drink from Buffy so he does have `Summers' blood' in him.
Must Haves:
Spike w/ chip, but not in love with Buffy.
Riley getting dissed and dismissed for Angel
Xander and Cordy fighting but then found in a closet (can you say time warp?)
Anya hooking up with Spike
Leather pants
Riley bashing
Comparing Angel and Riley
Dawn having a major crush on Angel
Optional:
A game of truth or dare

Angel dying
Big fight (verbal or physical)
Lorne
Angel mentioning he's Irish not American.
Fight about the countries( Ireland vs. Britain

Los Angeles, 2001

"Well, I still think the British army guys were better dressed." Cordelia fought back. Angel glared, Wesley sighed. The argument had been going for a good half an hour at the very least. It had started innocently enough, with the three of them watching the movie Michael Collins on one of their rare days of inactivity. Then, Cordelia had made some random comment about the English being better dressed than the Irish. Angel hadn't taken this well.

"They oppressed us for seven hundred years Cordelia! In some parts, they're still causing trouble! And all you care about are dumb clothes. You want to know why they're better dressed than us? Because they took all out land and food and money so they could afford good clothes and we couldn't even afford shoes!" He railed against her. Cordelia didn't bother trying to hide her surprise at Angel's outburst. Usually he kept his anger locked away until he happened upon a demon needing to be eliminated.

"Angel... Calm down." She said. He stopped to look at her and saw a little fear in her eyes. In that second, all his anger dissipated and he sat down beside her.

"I'm sorry Cordy."

"What was all that about anyway?" She asked gently.

"I remember... Before I was a vampire, I remember how the English could be. For a long time I thought they existed only to screw us over. The Irishman in me just came to the fore there for a minute. Sorry." He sighed.

"You're Irish, huh? I don't remember you ever telling me that before." She grinned. "That why you and Doyle were such good pals?"

"Must be." He agreed. The phone rang shrilly from the office. Wesley got up.

"I'll get it. You two... carry on fighting or whatever you're doing." He smiled at the two of them before going off into the office.

"How come you don't have an accent like Doyle's?"

"I haven't been to Ireland in a long time. It disappeared somewhere along the way."

"You've been to all those places in Ireland?" She asked. He smiled a little.

"Some of them. Never went to Cork. But I was in Dublin. The bit at the beginning of the movie?"

"The Easter something?"

"Yeah. I helped. I had only recently taken charge of my soul again, and thought I'd join the fight. I had to leave though."

"Why?"

"Patrick Pearse noticed I didn't die." Angel said wryly. "He mentioned it to a few friends."

"And they got the wrong end of the stick?"

"Pretty much." He said. "In a way, I was glad. I wouldn't have liked to end up in a British jail for years to come. I felt guilty about leaving them to lose." He said.

"Angel, you feel guilty for leaving laundry for a day or two." Cordelia pointed out with a grin. Wesley came back in, looking somewhat grim.

"That was Giles."

"What's wrong? What's happened to Buffy?" Angel was up on his feet before the other two could draw breath.

"She's fine. More or less. Less, actually. They're currently trying to save her sister Dawn from a Hell-god called Glory."

"Dawn? What does a god want with Dawn?" Cordelia asked. "She's just a kid."

"Giles didn't say. He's asked us to come to Sunnydale as extra muscle, if you will."

"We'll go as soon as the sun sets." Angel said authoritatively. Then he paused.

"What do you think Wes?"

"I think you're right. I'll call Gunn to see if he's in." Wes nodded, his confidence growing with every assurance from Angel that he, Wesley really was worthwhile.

"Sunnydale?" Cordelia asked. Angel nodded. He noticed how unsure she looked suddenly.

"Come on, time to show Sunnydale the new Cordelia."

"Thanks for the omission of 'improved' Angel." She grinned. "I'll head back home now to get some stuff."

"You need a hand?"

"No, I'll get Dennis to help. See you later." Cordelia headed out the door.

Angel, Wesley and Gunn were waiting in the Plymouth outside Cordelia's apartment. They had been waiting for at least half an hour, and it didn't look like Cordelia was going to be ready any time soon. Sighing, Angel got out of the car and went to the door. It opened on it's own.

"Hey Dennis, how are you?" He asked. "Cordelia ready yet?" The lights flickered a couple of times.

"Angel? Can you help me?" Cordelia called from her bedroom. He went in. Her suitcase was stuffed so full she couldn't close it.

"We're only going for a few days." Angel told her. She merely gave him a look. He opened the case fully and removed two pairs of shoes and the winter coat. Then, he easily closed the case. She opened her mouth to object, but closed it when he glared at her. He carried it out and she followed.

"See you soon Dennis!" She called. She heard the lock turn in the door and headed down the path to the waiting car.

"They're coming, right?" Buffy looked out the window of the Magic Box anxiously.

"Yes. Wesley told me that they'd drive down at sunset."

"Which was over two hours ago. They should be here by now." She told them.

"Buffy, they were bringing Cordelia. What chance is there that she'd be on time?" Xander said, affection colouring his words. Anya looked at him strangely, but said nothing. The sound of a car pulling up outside was heard, and soon, the Los Angeles delegation came through the door.

"Hi!" Cordelia said breezily. Wesley and Gunn soon followed, with Angel lagging behind. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be back in Sunnydale, yet a part of him sang out at the thought that any second, he would see his Buffy.

"Hi." A soft voice at his side whispered. He turned. There she was. Buffy. His beautiful Buffy.

"Hi." He murmured back, feeling exhilarated just to see her standing there, less than a foot away. But he sensed more. He could feel how absolutely terrified Buffy was. It scared him, how much she felt. He'd never felt that from her before. When, if, he got the chance, he would speak to her. He stood silently as Wesley introduced Gunn to the group and then continued on.

"Giles, what's the situation?" Wesley asked, much more forceful than those still in Sunnydale had ever seen him.

"Well, it's somewhat of a problem. Glory is a Hell-god. She wants to get back home and needs the Key to do it?"

"What's the Key?" Cordelia asked. Worried glances were shared by all.

"Why don't you all sit down, and we'll explain everything." Willow said.

Dawn sat on the steps up to the 'dangerous' books. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He was so beautiful. How had she forgotten that? Maybe she'd never noticed before. How could that be? She tried to concentrate on the conversation, but couldn't tear away from him. How had she never noticed before? Maybe it was because then, he'd been with Buffy. Maybe it's because she'd been younger then. But now, she couldn't take her eyes off Angel. Now she understood a little better how Buffy had felt when Angel was here. Dawn understood a little of what made Buffy stick with Angel. She was still staring at him when he looked up. Seeing her looking, he grinned and winked at her. She beamed back. Angel had smiled! Angel had winked! At her!

Angel looked up at Dawn with concern. So, she was the Key. Glory the god wanted to kill her. Angel recalled that century or five he spent in Hell. One thing he remembered was talk of the mysterious female Hellgod, said to be one of the most feared and terrible of all the Hellgods. He was told to be grateful that she was in exile so he would not have to face her tyranny. He looked up at Dawn again. She was a pretty girl, and reminded him of Buffy in some ways. She looked scared out of her wits. He grinned and winked at her- a very un-Angel like action, but she perked up. He felt glad. He hated to see Dawn in pain as much as he hated to see Buffy the same. He recalled a time when he wasn't as soul having, and he would watch Buffy sleep. He also watched Dawn. She was younger then, not even twelve. She was completely innocent and unaware of the darkness that existed in the world. Angel shook his head. He remembered it, but it wasn't real. Dawn wasn't real, or she hadn't been until recently.

Buffy watched Angel as Giles spoke. She watched how his face stayed neutral, seemingly not reacting to the news that Dawn was the Key, Glory wanted the Key and they had to keep the Key away from her or the world would more or less end. Then, she saw him look up at Dawn. He smiled. He winked. She was surprised. Angel wasn't the smiling and winking kind. A bizarre jealous feeling shot through her. She immediately felt ashamed. She was jealous of her fourteen-year-old sister because her boyfriend- ex-boyfriend- winked at her. Buffy knew Angel was just being supportive of the clearly terrified Dawn, but something inside her wished it was her that Angel was here for.

"Well, I think it would be best if Wesley and I researched. Buffy, Angel, you should patrol."

"What about Dawn?" Angel asked immediately.

"There's a protection spell around the Magic Box. No Hell gods allowed." Willow told him. He nodded, getting to his feet.

"Patrol?" He asked Buffy, as if asking her to dance. She smiled a little, and got up.

"Be careful." Giles warned as they went out. Then he and the rest of the group resumed their study of books.

"How have you been?" Buffy asked him. How was he supposed to answer that? Was he to tell her how he nearly went crazy, fired his friends and slept with Darla?

"I've... Been OK." He said finally. "You?"

"Nope. Since you came to see my at my mom's.... Nothing seems to be going right." She sighed despondently. Without thinking, he took her hand in his own.

"Shh... Don't worry. We'll get through this. We will."

"We?" She asked, bitterness creeping into her voice.

"Yes. We." He said, looking right into her eyes. She looked back into the chocolate brown pools and felt like she was drowning. Drowning, but without pain or fear.

"I missed you Angel." She whispered.

"I missed you too." He replied. He bent down, as if to kiss her. Instead, he simply hugged her tightly. A part of Buffy was relieved, while another was disappointed.

"Friends?" She asked nervously, remembering what Spike had once told them.

"We'll try." He smiled.

"That's the second time tonight. Is your face hurting?"

"What?"

"Smiling."

"Oh." He smiled again in spite of himself. "I've been feeling... lighter recently. Not too light." He hurried to reassure her. "But not like the whole world's out to get me. But not like there's no hope. There is hope." He said, his eyes shining.

"That's what I'm told." Buffy said. "But I'm beginning to wonder."

"Don't."

"Why not? So far, all I can see is that everyone leaves me! My dad, my mom, Riley, you. And now someone wants to take Dawn away from me! What have I done to deserve all of this?"

"Don't think like that, Buffy. Your mother didn't want to leave you. I didn't want to leave you."

"No? So why did you?"

"You know why I left." He said softly.

"To give me a normal life." She scoffed.

"In part. But I also knew that if I stayed, we would break the curse. Maybe not like last time. But I don't know what it is that will make me perfectly happy. I worried that just seeing you smile or something might do it. Or we wouldn't be able to resist each other. I couldn't do that to you again, Buffy." Her eyes widened. She had never really thought of it like that.

"You're right." She said glumly. "I could never have resisted you much longer." She said.

"Same here. I didn't want to hurt you. And I know I did by leaving. But you have to understand that if I stayed, chances were I'd only hurt you much, much more." He told her, looking sadder than she'd seen him. She began to truly understand how he felt about leaving her. She realised that it had hurt him just as much as it had hurt her. Maybe even more. They continued their patrol in silence, but it soon became clear that there were no demons of any kind in the vicinity.

"We should go back." She finally spoke. He nodded.

"Sure." They headed back to the Magic Box in silence.

When they arrived back, they found everyone arguing over where the new arrivals would stay.

"I think we should stay at the mansion. There's enough room for us all and we can carry on researching." Cordelia said.

"I'm not sleeping in that horrible old place." Anya said.

"I always kinda liked it." Angel remarked from his place in the doorway. "And I think Cordelia's right. We can't all stay in here, but we can go there. It's simple enough for you to put a protection spell round the mansion, isn't it Willow?"

"Sure. We've got everything we need." After a few more minutes' discussion, the group headed to the mansion.

It was surprisingly clean and tidy, with the remainder of Angel's old furniture still there. They settled down as soon as Willow and Tara had completed the protection spell. As the night wore on, they began to tire of research, and took lengthier breaks. Dawn had settled down in a corner of the garden, where the jasmine still grew. It had begun to get cold, but she had only a coat on.

"Are you cold?" A voice called. She turned to see Angel standing there, partly illuminated by the light from inside.

"No." He came and sat beside her on the hard floor.

"You smell that?" He asked.

"What?"

"The flowers."

"Sure. What are they?"

"Jasmine. It's night-blooming."

"Oh. Great." Dawn said, not really caring.

"I know it's hard. I won't pretend to know how you feel, but I know it's hard." He told her. She looked up at him with shining eyes.

"Yeah."

"But Dawn, whatever you were before, the person you thought you were... It is you. You are Dawn Summers. Nobody can ever take that away from you." He told her, holding her gaze.

"No? Glory wants to."

"But she can't. Nobody can make you feel bad without your permission." Angel told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You are Dawn Summers. She can't take that away from you."

"But she wants to kill me."

"Dawn, you have a super-hero sister. Buffy won't just let you be taken away. You know that." Dawn nodded. She did know that.

"Will you help her?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah. I won't let anyone hurt you Dawn. I mean it. I promise." He said solemnly. She looked at him in a way he'd seen Buffy look at him, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Did Dawn have a crush on him? He stood up.

"You should go inside Dawn. It's cold." He said. She looked a little crushed at his change in tone, but went inside anyway.

"Is she OK?" Buffy's voice said. He turned around.

"I thought I was the one who did the sneaking up." He said. She smiled.

"Well, now you know what it feels like. She has a crush on you." Buffy said, smirking.

"Does she?" He asked.

"Nice attempt at clueless Angel. Of course she does. She's got eyes." Suddenly, Buffy stopped. The conversation was becoming too... She wasn't sure what, but whatever it was, it shouldn't happen.

"She's scared." Angel said.

"Yeah? She's not the only one. I've never fought a god before. And every time I fought her, it was like.... Like I had no power, no strength. I doubt I even wrinkled her designer dress."

"She's got a thing for clothes?"

"Totally. When we first found out about her, I remember describing her as Cordelia, only evil."

"Oh. Don't let Cordelia hear that. She hates competition." Buffy laughed a little in spite of herself, in spite of her fear.

"I'm glad you're here Angel." She said.

"Me too." He said, gazing at her intensely. She felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny, and so went back inside.

The researchers were coming up with nothing, and it frustrated all of them. So, after several hours, Giles suggested that they give up for the night. As they all settled down to sleep, Buffy realised that sleep wasn't forthcoming. She lay there, wishing for sleep. Suddenly, a loud crash came from another room. She shot up, and went into the grand hall. Anya was already there, looking shattered.

"What happened?" Buffy asked. A for-once-speechless Anya merely pointed to a door. It opened, and Xander and Cordelia came out of the closet, both red-faced and adjusting clothing.

"Xander?" Anya managed to choke out. He looked at her in a mixture of guilt, horror, mortification and shame.

"Anya... I'm...." He started, looking from Anya to Cordelia back to Anya again.

"I'm sorry." He said honestly. But Anya put her hand up to silence him.

"Don't." Was all she could say, before running out of the mansion. Buffy glared at Xander and Cordelia, before running after Anya. She found her sitting on the stone steps.

"Anya?"

"Leave me alone."

"No." Buffy's blunt answer silenced Anya's objections. Buffy sat beside Anya and put her arm around her shoulder.

"Buffy..." Anya wailed. "He.... He was meant to be different!" Buffy herself felt like crying for the girl.

"I know. He is a good guy... Most of the time. But Cordelia..."

"She was his first love and means more to him than I do!" Anya howled.

"Maybe Anya, maybe. But I know he cares about you."

"What is it with men? They say they love you but then they go and have sex with someone else." Buffy had no answer.

"There is someone Anya, somewhere, that will love you so much he'll do anything for you. He'll worship the ground you walk on and he won't ever want anyone but you." Buffy promised her. Buffy herself was thinking of Angel.

"But that was supposed to be Xander!" Buffy was left again without an answer.

"I can't tell you that all is going to be well. I can tell you that he does care about you. I think maybe, him and Cordelia, it doesn't mean anything. Maybe he is the one."

"They were in a closet!"

"I know. But that's all they had a lot of the time. Just making out in closets. With you Anya... He was a grown up." Buffy said, groping for an answer that could possibly make the girl feel better. But if she was honest, she didn't think such a thing existed.

"Cordelia! What were you thinking?" Xander said, pacing up and down.

"Me? What about you?" She shrieked.

"Me? It's all your fault! I was perfectly happy before you arrived!" Xander shouted. "Now my girlfriend thinks I don't love her!"

"You don't!"

"I do!"

"So why were you in a closet making out with me!" Cordelia looked genuinely hurt.

"I don't know!"

"Find out!" She yelled before turning on her heel. Xander slumped down onto the sofa and put his hands in his head.

"What did you do to her?" A growl came from the doorway. Xander looked up to see Angel standing there, looking more than merely mad.

"I..." Xander stopped, for the first time in his life truly lost for words. Angel came over.

"If you hurt her, I'll kill you." He said.

"I didn't.... No, I probably did hurt her. And Anya. You should just kill me now." At Xander's defeated tone, the anger left Angel (mostly) and he sat down.

"What happened?"

"I don't even know. One minute me and Cordelia are arguing about which books to read next. Then, I'm coming out of the closet to run straight into Anya. I don't know what came over me."

"Well..."

"OK, I know what it was. I just don't know why. I love Anya."

"You should talk to Anya." Angel advised. "Be honest. That's all you can do. And then it's up to her. She may not want you back."

"I know." Xander got up. "Thanks Angel." He smiled tightly, before going out into the garden.

Just a second later, Buffy came back in.

"Angel?" She said, seeing him sitting there.

"Yeah. Come and sit down."

"Why?"

"I need to talk to you." Angel sucked in an unnecessary breath. He was going to use his own advice to Xander himself.

"I have to tell you something."

"What? Quit with the cryptic thing." She demanded.

"In LA... Darla..."

"Darla? What about her? What did she do to you?" Buffy asked, knowing that Darla had been brought back.

"It's not so much what she did to me..." He trailed off, losing his nerve. Then, he regained it. "It's what I did to her."

"You staked her? Cause that would be a good thing." Buffy said. Then, she looked into his eyes and realised that he wasn't talking about that.

"You...." She trailed off.

"I slept with her. Buffy..." He went to apologise, but Buffy was already on her feet and out of the mansion. Angel slumped back in his seat.

"Well done, Peaches. Bloody well done." Spike said, appearing in the room.

"Go away Spike." Angel said through gritted teeth. He really didn't want to be dealing with Spike right now.

"No. I want to know what you did to Buffy that made her run out of the house in the middle of the... well, nearly dawn." Spike said. Angel looked up. Since when did Spike call Buffy anything other than 'Slayer'.

"What's going on Spike?" Angel asked.

"Nothing. I just... We're friends now. Sort of. Captain Cardboard was never much help when it came to dealing with things that go bump in the night. So I helped her. This buggering chip..."

"Makes you care?"

"No. I make me care." Spike said, honestly for once. "The chip just started me thinking about stuff. And these bloody Scoobies are so..."

"They make you want to care, make you want to help people." Angel remembered.

"Yeah. So bloody goody goody. Makes me want to heave." Spike said, but Angel wasn't buying it.

"What did you say?" Spike asked.

"I told her that I slept with Darla." Angel said. "A few weeks ago." Spike snickered.

"You and the old sire, huh? When I heard she was back I just knew you two..." Spike trailed off when he saw the look on Angel's face.

"I didn't do it for fun. She drove me crazy. She made me so... miserable. I just wanted to feel something else."

"So you felt her?" Spike sniggered.

"Yeah." Angel slumped further down in his seat. Spike then did something he didn't expect to do- he went to find Buffy.

"Go away Spike."

"How did you know it was me?"

"You're the only one that smokes." She said. He threw his cigarette down onto the ground. Buffy hadn't gone far and was currently sitting on the hilltop.

"What's up Buffy?"

"Nothing."

"No it isn't. I just spoke to Angel."

"Then you know what's up." She retorted. He approached her.

"No. Buffy, you don't understand. I can't believe I'm sticking up for the old poof, but... He didn't do it for kicks, or for love. He did it because she drove him crazy to the point of being at rock bottom."

"How do you know?"

"I looked at him in there. And you know, at least he was honest."

"Yeah, he's a great man of our time." She said bitterly.

"Give him a chance, Buff." Spike said, before turning away and walking back to the house before the sun came up.

"What's the matter?" Dawn appeared in the doorway of Angel's room. He was shuttered up in the room away from the sun. But at that moment, he wanted to go for some kamikaze sunbathing. How was he supposed to tell Dawn that he broke her sister's heart? Again.

"What's the matter?" She repeated.

"Nothing."

"Why is Buffy in her room crying?" Dawn asked, allowing a little coldness to enter her voice. Angel looked at her.

"Because I hurt her. Again." Dawn softened.

"I bet you didn't mean to." She said. He laughed harshly.

"Yeah. What does that matter?"

"If you talk to her..."

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

"Maybe she does, you don't know." Dawn said.

"No, she doesn't."

"Did anyone tell you that you're a stubborn old man?" Dawn said. Angel had to crack a smile at that one.

"It's been mentioned before."

"Please talk to her, Angel. Please." At Dawn's pleading, Angel got up. He doubted this would be easy, but he realised that he deserved it.

However, the planets were clearly aligned to give Angel as much grief as possible within the next few days. He came out of his room to find everyone- with the exception of Buffy- in the main room. Xander and Cordelia were on opposite sides of the room, glaring at each other. Anya was glaring at both.

"He's really here?" Willow said in a hushed tone.

"I just saw him. He demanded to know where we were all holed up. He said he'd be along. But I didn't tell him where we were." Xander told them. At the sight of Angel, they all shut up.

"What's going on?"

"Angel..." Cordelia started.

"What's going on?" He repeated.

"We're not sure." Tara said. Realising that they weren't going to talk to him, he walked through the room towards the room Buffy was in. He knocked softly.

"Go away Angel." He heard. He knocked again.

"I know it's you Angel. I know your knock." She said. He stifled a laugh. He knocked again. This time, the door swung open and he was confronted by a mad slayer.

"Please?" He asked, smiling winningly. She said nothing, but simply went back onto the mattress she'd put down there. He followed her in and shut the door.

"I don't love Darla. I never did."

"That makes me feel a whole heap better Angel. Thanks for that." She spat.

"Let me finish." He said. "I don't love her and if she didn't know exactly how to mess with my mind, it wouldn't have happened." Buffy opened her mouth to speak again, but he continued.

"Darla spent several months trying to make me crazy and she succeeded. I thought I could save her, but Drusilla came along and proved I couldn't. Then, when I thought I couldn't get any lower, I did. That was the worst moment of my life and now it's even worse because of what it's done to you."

"Was she good?" Buffy asked. Angel looked at her. How was he supposed to answer that one?

"No." Simple. Direct. To the point. Would she buy it?

"I don't believe you." She didn't buy it.

"I'm not begging you to." He said. "I will tell you that it was the exact opposite of your birthday." He said softly, before turning to leave.

"Wait." She said. He stopped. "Do you mean that?"

"Yeah." He said. "Pure happiness with Buffy opposed to pure desolation and misery with Darla? Buffy, there's no comparison." He told her, then he left her alone to mull that one over.

Mull it over, Buffy certainly did. Suddenly, the betrayal didn't seem quite as horrific. It wasn't some spiteful act aimed at her heart, but the act of a lonely, unhappy, slightly crazy person who couldn't be with the one person he actually loved. Of course, there would be no quick, easy forgiveness, and she despised Darla even more than ever before. She sat alone for a little longer, but was interrupted by Dawn. She didn't have the heart to turn her sister away, so allowed the girl to sit beside her.

"Hello." Dawn said softly. "Angel talked to you?"

"Yes." Buffy turned to her. "Did you have anything to do with this?" She accused.

"He didn't think you'd listen. I made him come in here anyway."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Dawn said. Buffy smiled a little.

"You have a crush on Angel, don't you?" She asked. Dawn's reddening face and silence were the only answer Buffy needed.

"But he loves you. Even if I weren't just some kid, I still wouldn't have a chance. Nobody has a chance compared to the great Buffy. If what Xander says is true, Angel never even noticed Cordelia at first, despite her best efforts." At that memory, Buffy laughed a little. This was true. No matter what happened, Angel always seemed to have eyes for Buffy alone. Even when he was Angelus again, she was all he ever thought about. If she wasn't so wracked with insecurity, Buffy might have been able to believe it inside her heart.

"Besides, we might all die soon. Carpe diem." Dawn told her elder sister. Buffy looked at her.

"Carpe diem? Where did you hear that?" She demanded.

"Calm down. I saw Dead Poets Society at Michelle's the other day."

"Oh. OK. Maybe you're right."

"I am. I'm the Key. I must be right." Dawn said. Buffy stood up.

"Fine. But that's the last time you get to use the Key excuse today."

"All right then." Dawn smiled as her sister squared her shoulders and left the room

Anya was finding it difficult to stay in the main room with everyone. She was feeling many different, conflicting emotions and she was having difficulty controlling them, or even understanding them. She tried to remember how she'd felt with Olaf before making him into a big, hammer-swinging troll. But it was so long ago. This seemed so much worse anyway. They were probably going to die within the next few days, and her boyfriend didn't love her.

"Love's a bitch, ain't it?" A cockney accent asked.

"Leave me alone Spike." She said dully. He sat beside her.

"No."

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Because for some sodding reason I feel bad about letting you mope alone."

"That's not like you." She said.

"Tell me about it."

"I don't understand. I thought he loved me, but he obviously doesn't because he went with her and I... I'm a demon, I don't understand all this.... stuff!" She finished in frustration. Spike put his arm around her.

"He doesn't deserve you." He said.

"But I wanted him to deserve me." She wailed. Spike understood that one.

"I know."

"How do you know?"

"Because of Drusilla. And because of Buffy."

"You love Buffy, don't you?"

"I don't know. She drives me crazy, just like Dru. But I wouldn't ever stand a chance. Not with Angel in existence." He said, a little sadness in his voice. Without warning, Anya kissed him. Surprised and taken aback, Spike kissed her back for a moment. Then, just as suddenly, Anya pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She said, before picking up and running out.

What of Glory while all this was afoot? Well, she was searching for her Key. She became increasingly frustrated and angry. Even the new shipment from Versace Couture was helping.

"Go and find.... My Key!" She shouted angrily.

"How do we do that your divine fragrance?" One of her minions asked. She thought for a moment, her head beginning to ache. How she'd love to suck out one of that Slayer's friends brains. That was it!

"Find one of the Slayer girl's friends. Bring one of them here." She said.

"But... But... Your celestial magnificence..." One of the minions started.

"What!" She screamed.

"We tried that with the vampire." The minion cowered.

"I know. But you're going to bring one of the Slayer's friends here, I'm going to suck their brain and send them back. That should get her attention. And I'm told that crazy people are very perceptive." Glory told them. "Now, GO!" She yelled. The minions ran off in all directions hoping to please their mistress.

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