Lots of dialogue here snagged from the Buffyverse Dialogue Database, a few lines from Into the Woods, Triangle, and Checkpoint, and lots and lots from Blood Ties. I’ve altered them to great degrees when it suited me. :D
--




“Anya? Can we talk?”

Buffy blinked sleepily at Xander from where he was standing over the couch, looking troubled. “Sure.” She sat up, shifting to the far end of the couch so that Xander would have lots of space.

Xander took the seat, staring over at her uncomfortably. “I don’t think I’ve ever made it clear, and maybe that’s why this is going on…but I’m in love with you. Powerfully, painfully in love. The things you do… the way you think ... the way you move ... I get excited every time I'm about to see you. You make me feel like I've never felt before in my life. Like a man. And it’s killing me that you don’t want to be around me anymore, but I’m going to respect it, because I love you and I want you to understand that.” He shrugged uneasily. “I just thought you might want to know.”

Buffy started tearing up. This Xander she could believe was good to Anya. This Xander made her understand why he had proposed. And this Xander- dammit !- didn’t make her feel better about the way that she’d treated Spike in comparison to him.

Also, was that you make me feel like a man stuff in the guy handbook? Because she’d been all flattered when Spike had said it to her, but if was just a standard thing, like telling a girl she looked beautiful when she was hideous, then she was going to have to reevaluate the whole day before Glory, and-

But enough about Buffy. This was Anya’s moment.

“Why?” she asked finally.

He frowned at her, puzzled. “I told you. Because-“

“No, if you really love h- me, why do act like you’re ashamed of me all the time? You ignore me in public, or make me stop saying whatever it is I try to say…”

He looked down. “Because I’m an idiot.” He turned to gaze at her, his eyes wide in apology. “Because there’s something about the Scoobies…we need each others’ approval. Desperately. And I brought you into the group, and I’m so afraid that they’re not going to be okay with it…”

“That’s stupid,” Buffy said. She meant it. He was saying everything that she would say a year later. Did everyone feel that way? Was Willow just as scared about Tara, and Xander about Anya, as I was about Spike? Come to think of it, Willow kept Tara a secret for almost half a year of college… We all dealt with it differently. Willow tried to keep her relationship with Tara from us. Xander tried to keep the quirkier sides of Anya’s personality from us. And I tried to keep Spike from everyone, period.

The words came to her then, as she finally understood. “You’re all so worried about each other’s approval that you screw up all the other relationships you might have. Sometimes it works out anyway, sometimes it doesn’t. But if you stopped focusing on how much they might disapprove and what someone else could bring to the group, you’d all be a lot happier. Look at me. I’m what? A thousand years old?”

“Eleven hundred and twenty two,” Xander corrected with a frown. “Don’t you-“

“Yeah, whatever.” Buffy waved it off. “Thing is, I’ve been around for a long time. I know stuff. Lots of stuff. But no one will listen to me when I tell them, because you won’t listen to me and they take their cues from that.”

Xander didn’t say anything, waiting for her to continue.

“Or Tara.” Buffy was on a roll. “She’s really sweet and a good listener. But Willow shuts her off from the group so we just see her as Willow’s sidekick and not her own person. Or Spike-“

“Whoa.” Xander held up a hand. “I draw the line at Spike. Spike is not our friend.”

“Fair enough,” Buffy conceded. She didn’t even dare imagine that Xander and Spike would get along. Ever.

“But you’re right,” Xander agreed. “You really are. And I’m going to try…” He swallowed. “I think you were right when you said that we shouldn’t have sex for a while, and try to restart our relationship. But since then, you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Oh.” Buffy blinked. “You noticed.”

He smiled fondly at her. “Yeah.”

“What do you want?” she asked with trepidation. Maybe, if she absolutely had to, she could kiss him. Once. No tongue. He was practically her brother, for god’s sake!

But his answer surprised her. “I want us to be friends.”

“Huh?”

“I want to hang out together, not to do coupley things, but just to spend time together, getting to know each other the right way. We can watch old movies on the couch and bother Buffy on patrol and I’ll come visit the Magic Box just to say hello.” He patted the couch. “And I can sleep on the couch sometimes, too. We can hold off the boyfriend-girlfriend stuff for a week or two.”

Buffy smirked, inwardly sighing with relief at the new, temporary reprieve. “You do know that you’re the girl in this relationship, right?”

“Hey. I have no male friends. What did you expect?” He grinned, bending over to kiss her on the nose. She panicked and turned so he hit the cheek, and he backed away. “Right. Just friends.”

“Treat me like you treat Buffy!” Buffy said brightly.

He laughed. “I’ll try. But I still am a red-blooded male… I just want us to work out.”

And then she felt a pang of jealousy, not the first of the night.

For the first time in her life, she was wondering, why couldn’t I have been more like Xander?

--

“So you’ll all be alright taking care of the shop while I’m away?” Giles asked worriedly.

“Absolutely,” Willow assured him. “Right?” She looked expectantly at the others.

“Maybe we should let Anya take charge, guys,” Xander suggested. “She is the most experienced one here, and we’ve all seen how good she is at selling stuff.” They beamed at each other, and Buffy couldn’t help but envy the two of them. Their relationship was so perfect, and she’d just sent another man out of town…

Willow scowled. “Really, Xander?” she asked sarcastically. “Anya in charge?”

“Although,” Anya said, smiling at Willow, “I’d appreciate some help, of course. And you are the witchy one! Well, one of the witchy ones,” she added hastily, nodding to Tara, “And whichever witchy one wants to be the witchy one who…”

Buffy hid a smirk. Anya was spending way too much time with them. Now she’d picked up the babbling.

“I think Willow will be fine,” Tara interjected, smiling softly.

“Yeah.” Willow looked distinctly befuddled at how things had turned out. “I guess I’ll come by between classes. Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens ... but it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know, insane.”


Tara smirked. Well, as much as Tara could ever smirk. “I said ‘quirky.’”

“Anya?” Buffy said tentatively. “Could I talk to you for a minute?”

Anya looked startled. “Sure.” She followed Buffy into the training room.

“I just wanted to thank you,” Buffy said, shifting uncomfortably. “For…you know. If you hadn’t spoken to me, I probably would have chased Riley down and forced him to stay here. And I’m not sure that that would have been the best choice.”

Anya smothered a laugh. “Yeah, good thing Xander wasn’t the one to talk to you. I’m pretty sure he had a man-crush of his own on Riley.”

Buffy laughed, more out of surprise that Anya had made a joke than anything. “He totally did!” She lowered her voice. “You know, if you two weren’t so close, I’d have thought that Xander was-“

“The gay one?” Anya finished. “Completely.” They shared another chuckle, and Buffy was startled at the kinship she suddenly felt with Anya. Maybe they could be friends, after all…

“But how are you? Really?” Anya asked, serious again.

Buffy sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not going to say that it doesn’t hurt, but…it’s not like when Angel left. I think I didn’t really love him. He was a rebound, in the end. Just a really, really long rebound.”

She turned to see Anya gazing at her with compassion and understanding, and her eyes widened worriedly. “But you and Xander are fine, right? You’re my happy ending couple!”

Anya averted her eyes, and Buffy felt a sudden surge of panic. “Right?”

“Right,” Anya said, smiling, and Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Xander and Anya were okay, everything else was, too.

After that, her day seemed to get better and better. Her mother was up and about for a few minutes, she and Dawn were getting along, and then, long after dark, she had an unexpected visit that left her far happier than it should have.

“Spike?” she asked curiously, squinting out her window at the little orange light his cigarette made from under the tree.

The light went out. She grinned. “I’ve already seen you there, you know.”

“Right,” he said, defeated. “Uh…”

“Oh, tonight you’re worried about coming into my room?” Buffy snarked. “Didn’t stop you a few days ago.”

He was in front of her in a moment, smirking triumphantly. “I’m going to take that as a blanket invitation.”

“Watch yourself,” she said, poking him in the chest. That was Spike, always testing his limits… and as unsure as she was about him these days, it was nice to know that there was something that hadn’t changed.

Wait. What was that in his hand, tucked behind him where she couldn’t see it? “What is that?” she demanded, trying to peer around him.

He pulled it out from concealment and held out the box of chocolates.

Oh. Wow. She was not going to think about what this meant.

“I…uh…I had a whole speech practiced to give with it, but I kept getting angry and beating up the mannequin, so I think it’s best if I just don’t say anything. Well, except that I’m sorry about Riley. Well, not about him. He was an idiot. But that it didn’t work out.”

She smiled as he stumbled over the words. “You practiced your speech on a mannequin?”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly try it with Harm,” he grumbled.

She grinned broadly. “I think it’s cute.”

“Oi!” he said, outraged. “Or…okay.” He held out the chocolates, looking at her expectantly, and she took them, tentatively.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever given me chocolate before,” she admitted, setting them down. They were a bit bedraggled, but it was the thought that counted, right? And she was touched, in spite of the little alarm inside her head blaring VAMPIRE! VAMPIRE! STAY AWAY! “Thank you,” she said, almost shyly.

He ducked his head. “Yeah.”

“So, you’re still with Harmony?” The words escaped from her mouth before she could stop them.

His eyes glinted with something she couldn’t help but recognize. Hope. Stop leading on the evil vampire! “Not really. She’s just…hard to shake, yeah? But I can get rid of her in a second.”

“Um.” Buffy looked away. It was suddenly far too stuffy in the room, far too cramped. She needed to escape. “I’ve got to… I’m really tired,” she said suddenly.

He backed away instantly. “Right. Sorry.”

But as he turned away, she whispered, “Thank you.”

He inclined his head in a nod and climbed out the window.

And when she checked, the orange flame still smoldered under the tree.

--

It had not been the best of weeks for Buffy. First, there was the whole friends thing with Xander, which had sounded good in theory, but if he tried to kiss her one more time, she was going to give up the whole plan and just break up with him. Then Willow had started a spell at the Magic Box, completely disregarding her, and she’d gotten annoyed on Anya’s behalf and they’d fought. Then the troll. This time, too, they managed to get a hold of his hammer, and Buffy made a mental note not to forget about it when it came to Glory. And now the Council had come to Sunnydale. Fantastic. As if she needed more Watchers around.

Right now, though, she was sitting cross-legged on Spike’s sarcophagus, listening to him rant about past!Buffy.

“And I thought we were getting along alright! She took the chocolates, fine enough, and she thanked me! Twice!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Buffy interrupted. “You gave her chocolates?”

Spike shrugged self-consciously. “I wanted to cheer her up after the Soldier Boy left.”

“You don’t even need me anymore,” Buffy marveled. If he’d given me chocolates the first time around…

Oh, who am I kidding? I would have burned them. Probably in front of him, too.

Spike shot her a grin. “I still like having you around.” He resumed his pacing. “Anyway, I stake a vampire for the bint, yeah? She could’ve at least been grateful! But no, then she starts yelling at me, so I start yelling at her, and by the end, I just want to tear her throat out!” He frowned. “Well, and shag her to the floor, but that goes without saying.”

Buffy shook her head. “Maybe she just had a bad day.” She couldn’t remember what would have prompted past!Buffy to get irritated with Spike. God knew it had happened enough times for all of them to blur in her head.

“Well, she didn’t have to take it out on me! I’m not her sodding punching bag!” Spike insisted, agitated.

“Not yet,” Buffy muttered.

Sharp vampire hearing picked it up. “What’s that, pet?” Spike asked, a note of warning in his voice.

Thankfully, she was interrupted by the door crashing open and the sudden flash of sunlight that hit Spike. Instinctively, she tackled the vampire to block him from the deadly light and ended up on top of him. “Sorry,” she breathed, gazing into sharp blue eyes.

He reached up to brush the hair out of her face. “Not a problem,” he murmured.

“Oh,” said a voice from above them. They jerked apart, startled. “I…didn’t realize you were here, Anya,” past!Buffy said awkwardly.

Spike looked chagrined, then seemed to remember that he was angry with her. “Right. The Slayer.” He stood up, thumbs tucked into his jeans, feigning nonchalance. “For a second there, I was worried.”

Buffy watched past!Buffy’s face carefully. Her eyes were fixed on Spike, but Buffy could still see a hint of…jealousy? Perfect. And it had been lucky that she’d interrupted them, too. Buffy had been a split second from crashing her lips into his. And if “Anya” and Spike had kissed…everything would have changed.

She followed Spike’s gaze to where her mother and Dawn stood hesitantly at the door.

Oh god, Mommy… She felt heaven, so close again after so long. Her mother was there, standing, whole if not healthy…

Spike’s voice broke her out of her reverie. “So what’s with the family outing?”

“I need your help.” Past!Buffy had started out sounding confident, but then her eyes had flickered to Buffy in the middle and she was suddenly uncertain. Buffy stayed quiet, meeting past!Buffy’s gaze evenly.

“Great. I need your cash,” Spike retorted, still stung from the night before.

“I’m serious.” Now there was a hint of fear in past!Buffy’s voice. Buffy remembered the visit from Glory that had her really trusting Spike for the first time and shuddered. “You have to look after them.”

From the moment Spike had seen past!Buffy’s fear, though, he’d been sold, and Buffy knew it. “Alright, then.” Then he was welcoming Dawn and her mom into the crypt, and Buffy smothered a smile. This would be the start of a great friendship for the three, she knew. If she’d suspected it back then, she might’ve taken her chances with Glory.

Past!Buffy said her goodbyes to her mother, then moved to Spike. “Thank you,” she said finally, and brushed her lips against his cheek. He gaped at her, stunned, and she gave him a sad smile.

Buffy followed her out the door. “Headed to the Magic Box?”

“I’m late,” past!Buffy muttered, avoiding her gaze. “The Council’s at the Magic Box, waiting.”

“Oh.” Buffy searched for something else to say, and came up blank.

“Um…you and Spike…do you hang out a lot?” Past!Buffy was clearly doing her best to sound casual.

Buffy shrugged. “Sometimes,” she said offhandedly. “We’ve got some stuff in common. Being demons and all.”

“Is…is Xander okay with it?”

Buffy smirked. “Like I’m going to tell Xander that I’m friends with his worst enemy? I think not.” She finally took pity on her younger self. “Besides, it’s not like there’s anything for him to have to be okay with. We’re friends, that’s all.”

“You seemed kind of cozy back there,” past!Buffy pointed out almost accusingly.

Buffy raised an eyebrow at the girl. “Trust me. There’s only one girl Spike’s interested in right now.”

Past!Buffy flushed.

Then they were attacked, and their conversation was never finished.

Buffy watched as past!Buffy defeated the soldiers and headed on toward the magic shop rapidly, her breathing slowing and her posture relaxing as she moved, regaining the confidence that she’d been swiftly losing over the past few days.

Buffy felt a surge of almost sisterly pride in her past self. She was going to be fine.

--

Stupid birthday, Buffy thought, waiting for the awkward silence after Dawn had given her gift to abate. Something always goes wrong.

Still, as her birthdays went, this wasn’t so bad. Dawn was suspicious, but that was natural. Everyone was acting strange around her now, but they’d get used to it, just like Buffy did. Although it was still unnerving sometimes. Like now, with Dawn giving her a memento of something that had never happened.

A knock at the door jolted them all, and her mother, Willow, and Xander all raced for the door at once, grateful for the reprieve.

“I wonder who’s here?” Giles said. “It’s rather late at night for a call, don’t you think?”

There was a sudden commotion from the door, and Buffy jumped up to check it out. What she saw didn’t please her at all. “Spike. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” Xander growled.

“’ve got a birthday present!” Spike protested, and her stomach flipped. Stop that! she admonished it. “I jus’ want to give it to Buffy.”

“Oh, we are not falling for this,” Xander snapped. “Buffy doesn’t want your severed arms or stolen smokes, Spike. Get out of here.”

She could feel all their glances burning into her, waiting for her cue. Xander, waiting for her to kick Spike to the curb. Anya, waiting for her to let Spike in. Her mother, waiting to see how she’d react to the vampire who’d given her shelter a few days before. Giles, waiting for her to assure him that there were no vampires in her life. And Spike, waiting for her to defend him…or at least let him join them. She felt a surge of annoyance. Why was he doing this to her? She had far too much on her mind than to worry about a vampire with some twisted sort of romantic interest in her.

She turned deliberately, heading back toward the couch with her presents. She only caught sight of Spike’s betrayed glance for a second, but it was enough to make her irritable with guilt.

Typical. Buffy Birthdays never end well.

“You are not doing this,” Anya hissed from beside her, disappointment and anger mixing on her face and making Buffy feel like dirt.

“Not letting the evil vampire celebrate my birthday with my family?” Buffy asked nonchalantly, feeling some spiteful satisfaction at the way Xander was watching Anya with suspicion. She deserved that, anyway, the way that she and Spike had been acting the one time she’d seen them alone together. Ha! She wasn’t jealous, just protective over Xander. Right. “I’m pretty sure I am.”

Anya glared at her. “Don’t you dare treat him like your dirty little secret!” she snapped in a low whisper.

“There is no secret!” Buffy hissed back. “And if there were, it wouldn’t be your business! This has nothing to do with you!”

“You have no idea,” Anya muttered.

What the heck was that supposed to mean?

“Something you want to share with the rest of the class?” Willow asked from where the rest of her companions were watching them argue, worried.

Anya gave them a bright smile. “Nothing! Buffy and I just need to have a little chat.” She pulled Buffy toward the kitchen.

Buffy yanked her arm out of Anya’s grasp. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “Can’t you just get this ridiculous delusion out of your mind? Spike and I are not, and will never be, together!”

“So, what? You’re just going to count on him when it suits you, and ignore him the rest of the time?” Anya’s eyes were dark with anger. “You’re just going to pretend that he’s just your enemy? What happens when you start sleeping together? You’ll keep that a secret, too?”

“I told you, I wouldn’t sleep with Spike! Ever!” Buffy insisted.

Anya gave her a knowing look. “Uh-huh. And you’re not attracted to him at all.”

Buffy flushed. “That’s so not the point. And you’re one to talk, with the visiting him, and the straddling…”

“You’re jealous,” Anya accused.

Buffy’s jaw dropped. “I am not!”

“You are. And you’re so embarrassed about having feelings for Spike that you’re just going to drive him away.” Anya had hit a nerve, and she knew it. “The man comes to give you a present, and you won’t even let him in the house. Keep treating him like this, and he’ll be out of town before you sleep with him.”

Buffy had had enough. Anya had crossed one too many lines. “Shut up or get out,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m going back to my party.”

As she passed the back door, she saw a shock of white hair through the window. Spike had been on the back porch. Great. She heard Anya open the door and say in a low voice, “I’m sorry. I tried.”

“What an idiot,” Xander was saying bitterly. “As if he could try to buy his way into the group. He’ll never be one of us.”

Buffy sank back onto the couch wearily. “Don’t. Just…don’t.”

Stupid birthday.

--

And the night only worsened as it went on.

By the next morning, Buffy was furious. Of course. It wasn’t enough that Spike had to crash her party, but now he had to destroy Dawn’s life, too?

She burst into his crypt, jaw set with barely restrained anger.

He looked up from where he was sitting on a coffin, polishing his nails. “Morning, sunshine. If you've come around for eggs or sausage, I'm fresh out.”

She grabbed the lid of the coffin and yanked it out from under him.

He poked his head out from inside the coffin. “Hey, careful! These are wet.”

She slid the lid back at him, pinning him against the opposite side of the coffin. “How could you let her find out like that? From books and papers? You hate me that much?”

Spike wasn’t taking her bait today, though. “I was just along for the ride. Not like I knew she was mystical glowy key thing. Nobody keeps me in the bloody loop, do they?” His eyes glared out at her, daring her to disagree.

Buffy gritted her teeth. It was Spike’s fault. She was sure of that. “You could have stopped her.”

“Oh, yeah, here it comes.” Spike threw up his hands. “Something goes wrong in your life, blame Spike. Newsflash, Blondie-“ He heaved the lid off of himself, tossing it aside. “If kid sis wants to grab a midnight stroll, she'll find a way sooner or later. I just thought she'd be safer with Big Bad looking over her shoulder.” He stalked closer and closer as they spoke, and Buffy felt a frisson of lust pass through her at the look on his face. What? No! Stupid attraction, acting up now…

“You didn't think you could keep the truth from her forever, did you?” Spike demanded. They were practically nose-to-nose now. “Maybe if you had been more honest with her in the first place, you wouldn't be trying to make yourself feel better with a round of Kick The Spike!”

She smashed her lips against his, surprising even herself with the passion and need behind the kiss. He was still, frozen in shock and wonder for an instant, and then responded, pulling her closer, molding his lips against hers, parting her lips to slip his tongue into her mouth and do battle with her own. She stumbled backward with the force of the kiss, and he followed, backing her up against the wall of his crypt.

“Buffy,” Spike gasped against her lips. “Can I…?”

In response, she kissed him harder, reaching her arms around his head to pull him even closer until they were practically fused together, lost in each other and the overwhelming need.

They parted, and Buffy sucked in a ragged breath. “Oh, god, Spike…” He kissed her sweetly on the lips, his eyes shining.

Then it hit her, and her face screwed up in horror. “Oh, god. Spike!”

He regarded her sudden change of mood warily. “That’s me.”

“I cannot believe I just…” She pulled away from him, panicked. “I just…”

She turned tail and raced out of the crypt, wiping off her mouth as she ran.

--

Spike was at a loss. Where had he gone wrong? She’d initiated the kiss, seemed more than okay with the passion and energy, and then bolted. How did that make sense? Buffy took the term “hot and cold” to a new extreme. Now, she was avoiding him even as she barked out orders to find Dawn.

“Anya. Will you stay here in case she shows up? Xander, Giles, you guys take the center of town. Willow, Tara, west side. I'll get the east side.”

“I’ll come with you,” Spike offered, stepping forward as the others piled out.

“Like hell you will,” she hissed, darting a glance back at Anya’s very observant, steady gaze. “I can’t talk to you right now.”

“So we’re pretending it never happened?” Spike demanded.

Anya’s head hit the counter with a loud thunk. “Here we go again,” she muttered.

Buffy turned, directing her ire at a new victim. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Right here, in case Dawn shows up,” Anya retorted. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

Spike flashed her a grin before he followed Buffy out. “So we’re pretending like it never happened?” he repeated. He’d been dreaming of that moment for months now, of taking Buffy, all spur of the moment-like… It had been everything he’d dreamed of, all passion and fire, and it wasn’t the sort of thing a man gave up, especially when he was in love with the chit. It had come as a shock when she’d deviated from the script and ran from him.

Although to be fair, his daydreams usually didn’t get that far.

“Yes,” she said firmly, eyes facing forward.

“Fine,” he muttered. It wasn’t fine, but at least he’d been able to speak to Anya for a few seconds before the rest of the Scoobies had shown up at the Magic Box, and she’d clued him in.

“Buffy might be…difficult,” she’d warned him. “Just go with it. Trust me, once she starts with you, she’s not going to be able to stop. Let her come to you.”

So he was going to drop it. For now. But Anya had better know what she was doing. Spike wasn’t exactly the poster boy for patience.

“Dawn! Dawn!” Buffy called as they entered an empty playground.

“Yeah, that should do it,” Spike said sarcastically. He wasn’t feeling quite so charitable toward her anymore.

“Shut up,” Buffy snapped.

Spike rolled his eyes. “The nibblet scampered off to get away from you. She hears you bellowing, she's going to pack it in the opposite direction. Can't say I blame her,” he added, feeling particularly caustic.

Buffy stopped, staring at the ground. “You were right.” Spike stared at her in astonishment. Was this actually the Slayer apologizing to him? What was next? Was she going to admit that she wanted him? “This is my fault. I should have told her.” She looked devastated, and he couldn’t help but put a comforting hand on her arm.

“Look, she probably would have skipped off anyway, even if she never found out. She's not just a blob of energy, she's also a fourteen-year-old hormone bomb.” He sighed. “Which one's screwing her up more right now, spin the bloody wheel.” She managed a sardonic smile, and he shrugged. “You'll find her, just in the nick of time, that's what you hero types do.”

She turned to look into his eyes searchingly, pleading with him voicelessly to make it right. “You’ll find her,” he said firmly.

Her lips quivered slightly. “And then what?” she murmured finally.

Spike had no answer for her.

--

Buffy was going to explode from the tension.

No one had found Dawn yet. And something had changed from the last time, too. Past!Buffy was supposed to check the hospital and make sure that nothing else had happened to Dawn. They were supposed to find Dawn there.

But instead, when past!Buffy had suggested the hospital, Spike had said, “Just call them. We’ve got no time to lose.”

And she had. Dawn hadn’t been brought in, of course. So they wouldn’t know that Glory was there, threatening her little sister.

Oh, god.

Dawn wasn’t going to survive if she didn’t say anything. This was the tower all over again.

And she couldn’t change that decision.

“Buffy,” she said quietly, and the arguing Scoobies all turned to her. “She’s at the hospital. She wasn’t brought in, but she’s in one of the labs there.”

Past!Buffy’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know?”

She could have lied, made up some ridiculous excuse that would have made no sense and had them even more suspicious of her. But Dawn’s life was at stake, and everything depended on them hurrying there. The only solution was being honest. Well, as honest as she could be without failing her mission.

She took a deep breath. “I’m Anya, from seven years in the future.”